I only buy one kind of stock. 37 of these cash cows are in my portfolio right now... and for every dollar invested in them they are sending us 69 cents in dividends. That's an effective yield of 69% a year-every year. All without leverage, options, or gimmicks. Chubb Limited provides insurance and reinsurance products worldwide. The company's North America Commercial P&C Insurance segment offers commercial property, casualty, workers' compensation, package policies, risk management, financial lines, marine, construction, environmental, medical, cyber risk, surety, and excess casualty; and group accident and health insurance to large, middle market, and small commercial businesses. Its North America Personal P&C Insurance segment provides affluent and high net worth individuals and families with homeowners, automobile and collector cars, valuable articles, personal and excess liability, travel insurance, and recreational marine insurance and services. The company's North America Agricultural Insurance segment offers multiple peril crop and crop-hail insurance; and coverage for farm and ranch property, and commercial agriculture products. Its Overseas General Insurance segment provides coverage for traditional commercial property and casualty; specialty categories, such as financial lines, marine, energy, aviation, political risk, and construction risk; and group accident and health, and traditional and specialty personal lines for corporations, middle markets, and small customers through retail brokers, agents, and other channels. The company's Global Reinsurance segment offers traditional and specialty reinsurance under the Chubb Tempest Re brand to property and casualty companies. Its Life Insurance segment provides protection and savings products comprising whole life, endowment plans, individual term life, group term life, medical and health, personal accident, credit life, universal life, and unit linked contracts. Chubb has collaboration with Marsh to secure insurance coverage for the COVAX no-fault compensation program. The company was formerly known as ACE Limited and changed its name to Chubb Limited in January 2016. Chubb Limited was incorporated in 1985 and is headquartered in Zurich, Switzerland. Read More The following companies are subsidiares of Lloyds Banking Group: A G Finance Ltd, A.C.L. Ltd, ACL Autolease Holdings Ltd, ADF No.1 Pty Ltd, Addison Social Housing Holdings Ltd, Alex Lawrie Factors Ltd, Alex. Lawrie Receivables Financing Ltd, Amberdate Ltd, Anglo Scottish Utilities Partnership 1, Aquilus Ltd, Automobile Association Personal Finance Ltd, BOS (Ireland) Property Services 2 Ltd, BOS (Ireland) Property Services Ltd, BOS (Shared Appreciation Mortgages (Scotland) No. 2) Ltd, BOS (Shared Appreciation Mortgages (Scotland) No. 3) Ltd, BOS (Shared Appreciation Mortgages (Scotland)) Ltd, BOS (Shared Appreciation Mortgages) No. 1 plc, BOS (Shared Appreciation Mortgages) No. 2 plc, BOS (Shared Appreciation Mortgages) No. 3 plc, BOS (Shared Appreciation Mortgages) No. 4 plc, BOS (Shared Appreciation Mortgages) No. 5 plc, BOS (Shared Appreciation Mortgages) No. 6 plc, BOS (USA) Fund Investments Inc., BOS (USA) Inc., BOS Edinburgh No 1 Ltd, BOS Mistral Ltd, BOS Personal Lending Ltd, BOSSAF Rail Ltd, Bank of Scotland (B G S) Nominees Ltd, Bank of Scotland (Stanlife) London Nominees Ltd, Bank of Scotland Branch Nominees Ltd, Bank of Scotland Central Nominees Ltd, Bank of Scotland Edinburgh Nominees Ltd, Bank of Scotland Equipment Finance Ltd, Bank of Scotland Foundation, Bank of Scotland LNG Leasing (No 1) Ltd, Bank of Scotland London Nominees Ltd, Bank of Scotland Nominees (Unit Trusts) Ltd, Bank of Scotland P.E.P. Nominees Ltd, Bank of Scotland Structured Asset Finance Ltd, Bank of Scotland Transport Finance 1 Ltd, Bank of Scotland plc, Bank of Wales Ltd, Barents Leasing Ltd, Barnwood Mortgages Ltd, Birchcrown Finance Ltd, Birmingham Midshires Financial Services Ltd, Birmingham Midshires Land Development Ltd, Birmingham Midshires Mortgage Services Ltd, Black Horse (TRF) Ltd, Black Horse Executive Mortgages Ltd, Black Horse Finance Holdings Ltd, Black Horse Finance Management Ltd, Black Horse Group Ltd, Black Horse Ltd, Black Horse Offshore Ltd, Black Horse Property Services Ltd, Boltro Nominees Ltd, British Linen Leasing (London) Ltd, British Linen Leasing Ltd, British Linen Shipping Ltd, C.T.S.B. Leasing Ltd, CBRail S.A.R.L., CF Asset Finance Ltd, CF1 Ltd, CM Venture Investments Ltd, Cancara Asset Securitisation Ltd, Capital 1945 Ltd, Capital Bank Leasing 12 Ltd, Capital Bank Leasing 3 Ltd, Capital Bank Leasing 5 Ltd, Capital Bank Leasing 9 Ltd, Capital Bank Property Investments (3) Ltd, Capital Personal Finance Ltd, Cardiff Auto Receivables Securitisation 2018-1 Plc, Cardiff Auto Receivables Securitisation 2019-1 Plc, Cardiff Auto Receivables Securitisation Holdings Ltd, Cardnet Merchant Services Ltd, Cashfriday Ltd, Cashpoint Ltd, Caveminster Ltd, Cedar Holdings Ltd, Celsius European Lux 2 S.A.R.L., Central Mortgage Finance Ltd, Chariot Finance Ltd, Cheltenham & Gloucester plc, Cheltenham II Securities 2020 DAC, Cheltenham Securities 2017 Ltd, Chepstow Blue Holdings Ltd, Chepstow Blue plc, Chester Asset Options No.2 Ltd, Chester Asset Options No.3 Ltd, Chester Asset Receivables Dealings Issuer Ltd, Chester Asset Securitisation Holdings Ltd, Chester Asset Securitisation Holdings No.2 Ltd, Chiswell Stockbrokers Ltd, Clerical Medical Finance plc, Clerical Medical Financial Services Ltd, Clerical Medical International Holdings B.V., Clerical Medical Investment Fund Managers Ltd, Clerical Medical Managed Funds Ltd, Clerical Medical Non Sterling Guadalix Hold Co BV, Clerical Medical Non Sterling Guadalix Spanish Prop Co SL, Clerical Medical Non Sterling Megapark Hold Co BV, Clerical Medical Non Sterling Megapark Prop Co SA, Clerical Medical Non Sterling Property Company S.A.R.L., Cloak Lane Funding S.A.R.L., Cloak Lane Investments S.A.R.L., Conquest Securities Ltd, Corbiere Asset Investments Ltd, Create Services Ltd, Credit Card Securitisation Europe Ltd, Dalkeith Corporation, Deva Financing Holdings Ltd, Deva Financing plc, Deva One Ltd, Deva Three Ltd, Deva Two Ltd, Dunstan Investments (UK) Ltd, Edgbaston RMBS 2010-1 plc, Edgbaston RMBS Holdings Ltd, Elland RMBS 2018 plc, Elland RMBS Holdings Ltd, Eurolead Services Holdings Ltd, First Retail Finance (Chester) Ltd, Fontwell Securities 2016 Ltd, Forthright Finance Ltd, France Industrial Premises Holding Company, General Leasing (No. 12) Ltd, General Reversionary and Investment Company, Gresham Nominee 1 Ltd, Gresham Nominee 2 Ltd, Gresham Receivables (No. 1) Ltd, Gresham Receivables (No. 10) Ltd, Gresham Receivables (No. 11) UK Ltd, Gresham Receivables (No. 12) Ltd, Gresham Receivables (No. 13) UK Ltd, Gresham Receivables (No. 14) UK Ltd, Gresham Receivables (No. 15) UK Ltd, Gresham Receivables (No. 16) UK Ltd, Gresham Receivables (No. 19) UK Ltd, Gresham Receivables (No. 20) Ltd, Gresham Receivables (No. 21) Ltd, Gresham Receivables (No. 22) Ltd, Gresham Receivables (No. 23) Ltd, Gresham Receivables (No. 24) Ltd, Gresham Receivables (No. 25) UK Ltd, Gresham Receivables (No. 26) UK Ltd, Gresham Receivables (No. 27) UK Ltd, Gresham Receivables (No. 28) Ltd, Gresham Receivables (No. 29) Ltd, Gresham Receivables (No. 3) Ltd, Gresham Receivables (No. 30) UK Ltd, Gresham Receivables (No. 31) UK Ltd, Gresham Receivables (No. 32) UK Ltd, Gresham Receivables (No. 33) UK Ltd, Gresham Receivables (No. 34) UK Ltd, Gresham Receivables (No. 35) Ltd, Gresham Receivables (No. 36) UK Ltd, Gresham Receivables (No. 37) UK Ltd, Gresham Receivables (No. 38) UK Ltd, Gresham Receivables (No. 39) UK Ltd, Gresham Receivables (No. 40) UK Ltd, Gresham Receivables (No. 41) UK Ltd, Gresham Receivables (No. 44) UK Ltd, Gresham Receivables (No. 45) UK Ltd, Gresham Receivables (No. 46) UK Ltd, Gresham Receivables (No. 47) UK Ltd, Gresham Receivables (No. 48) UK Ltd, Guildhall Asset Purchasing Company (No 3) Ltd, Guildhall Asset Purchasing Company (No.11) UK Ltd, HBOS Covered Bonds LLP, HBOS Final Salary Trust Ltd, HBOS Financial Services Ltd, HBOS Insurance & Investment Group Ltd, HBOS International Financial Services Holdings Ltd, HBOS Investment Fund Managers Ltd, HBOS Social Housing Covered Bonds LLP, HBOS UK Ltd, HBOS plc, HSDL Nominees Ltd, HVF Ltd, Halifax Credit Card Ltd, Halifax Financial Brokers Ltd, Halifax Financial Services (Holdings) Ltd, Halifax Financial Services Ltd, Halifax General Insurance Services Ltd, Halifax Group Ltd, Halifax Investment Services Ltd, Halifax Leasing (June) Ltd, Halifax Leasing (March No.2) Ltd, Halifax Leasing (September) Ltd, Halifax Life Ltd, Halifax Loans Ltd, Halifax Ltd, Halifax Mortgage Services Ltd, Halifax Nominees Ltd, Halifax Pension Nominees Ltd, Halifax Premises Ltd, Halifax Share Dealing Ltd, Halifax Vehicle Leasing (1998) Ltd, Heidi Finance Holdings (UK) Ltd, Hill Samuel Bank Ltd, Hill Samuel Finance Ltd, Hill Samuel Leasing Co. Ltd, Home Shopping Personal Finance Ltd, Horizon Capital 2000 Ltd, Housing Association Risk Transfer 2019 DAC, Housing Growth Partnership GP LLP, Housing Growth Partnership LP, Housing Growth Partnership Ltd, Housing Growth Partnership Manager Ltd, Hyundai Car Finance Ltd, IBOS Finance Ltd, ICC Enterprise Partners Ltd, ICC Equity Partners Ltd, ICC Holdings Unlimited Company, Inchcape Financial Services Ltd, Intelligent Finance Financial Services Ltd, Intelligent Finance Software Ltd, International Motors Finance Ltd, Kanaalstraat Funding C.V., Katrine Leasing Ltd, LB Healthcare Trustee Ltd, LB Motorent Ltd, LB Quest Ltd, LB Share Schemes Trustees Ltd, LBCF Ltd, LBG Brasil Administracao LTDA, LBG Capital Holdings Ltd, LBG Equity Investments Ltd, LBI Leasing Ltd, LDC (General Partner) Ltd, LDC (Managers) Ltd, LDC (Nominees) Ltd, LDC GP LLP, LDC I LP, LDC II LP, LDC III LP, LDC IV LP, LDC Parallel (Nominees) Ltd, LDC V LP, LDC VI LP, LDC VII LP, LDC VIII LP, LTGP Limited Partnership Incorporated, Legacy Renewal Company Ltd, Leicester Securities 2014 Ltd, Lex Autolease (CH) Ltd, Lex Autolease (VC) Ltd, Lex Autolease Carselect Ltd, Lex Autolease Ltd, Lex Vehicle Finance 2 Ltd, Lex Vehicle Leasing (Holdings) Ltd, Lex Vehicle Leasing Ltd, Lime Street (Funding) Ltd, Lingfield 2014 I Holdings Ltd, Lingfield 2014 I plc, Lloyds (Gresham) Ltd, Lloyds (Gresham) No. 1 Ltd, Lloyds (Nimrod) Specialist Finance Ltd, Lloyds America Securities Corporation1, Lloyds Asset Leasing Ltd, Lloyds Bank (Branches) Nominees Ltd, Lloyds Bank (Colonial & Foreign) Nominees Ltd, Lloyds Bank (Fountainbridge 1) Ltd, Lloyds Bank (Fountainbridge 2) Ltd, Lloyds Bank (I.D.) Nominees Ltd, Lloyds Bank (International Services) Ltd, Lloyds Bank (Stock Exchange Branch) Nominees Ltd, Lloyds Bank Asset Finance Ltd, Lloyds Bank Commercial Finance Ltd, Lloyds Bank Commercial Finance Scotland Ltd, Lloyds Bank Corporate Asset Finance (HP) Ltd, Lloyds Bank Corporate Asset Finance (No.1) Ltd, Lloyds Bank Corporate Asset Finance (No.2) Ltd, Lloyds Bank Corporate Asset Finance (No.3) Ltd, Lloyds Bank Corporate Asset Finance (No.4) Ltd, Lloyds Bank Corporate Markets Wertpapierhandelsbank GmbH, Lloyds Bank Corporate Markets plc, Lloyds Bank Covered Bonds (Holdings) Ltd, Lloyds Bank Covered Bonds (LM) Ltd, Lloyds Bank Covered Bonds LLP, Lloyds Bank Equipment Leasing (No. 1) Ltd, Lloyds Bank Equipment Leasing (No. 7) Ltd, Lloyds Bank Equipment Leasing (No. 9) Ltd, Lloyds Bank Financial Services (Holdings) Ltd, Lloyds Bank Foundation for England & Wales, Lloyds Bank Foundation for the Channel Islands, Lloyds Bank General Insurance Holdings Ltd, Lloyds Bank General Insurance Ltd, Lloyds Bank General Leasing (No. 11) Ltd, Lloyds Bank General Leasing (No. 17) Ltd, Lloyds Bank General Leasing (No. 20) Ltd, Lloyds Bank General Leasing (No. 3) Ltd, Lloyds Bank General Leasing (No. 5) Ltd, Lloyds Bank GmbH, Lloyds Bank Hill Samuel Holding Company Ltd, Lloyds Bank Insurance Services Ltd, Lloyds Bank International Ltd, Lloyds Bank Leasing (No. 6) Ltd, Lloyds Bank Leasing (No. 8) Ltd, Lloyds Bank Leasing Ltd, Lloyds Bank MTCH Ltd, Lloyds Bank Maritime Leasing (No. 10) Ltd, Lloyds Bank Maritime Leasing (No. 13) Ltd, Lloyds Bank Maritime Leasing (No. 17) Ltd, Lloyds Bank Maritime Leasing (No.16) Ltd, Lloyds Bank Nominees Ltd, Lloyds Bank Offshore Pension Trust Ltd, Lloyds Bank Pension ABCS (No. 1) LLP, Lloyds Bank Pension ABCS (No. 2) LLP, Lloyds Bank Pension Trust (No. 1) Ltd, Lloyds Bank Pension Trust (No. 2) Ltd, Lloyds Bank Pensions Property (Guernsey) Ltd, Lloyds Bank Properties Ltd, Lloyds Bank Property Company Ltd, Lloyds Bank S.F. Nominees Ltd, Lloyds Bank Subsidiaries Ltd, Lloyds Bank Trustee Services Ltd, Lloyds Bank plc, Lloyds Banking Group Pensions Trustees Ltd, Lloyds Capital GP Ltd, Lloyds Commercial Leasing Ltd, Lloyds Commercial Properties Ltd, Lloyds Commercial Property Investments Ltd, Lloyds Corporate Services (Jersey) Ltd, Lloyds Development Capital (Holdings) Ltd, Lloyds Engine Capital (No.1) U.S LLC, Lloyds Far East S.A.R.L., Lloyds General Leasing Ltd, Lloyds Group Holdings (Jersey) Ltd, Lloyds Holdings (Jersey) Ltd, Lloyds Hypotheken B.V., Lloyds Industrial Leasing Ltd, Lloyds International Pty Ltd, Lloyds Investment Bonds Ltd, Lloyds Investment Fund Managers Ltd, Lloyds Investment Securities No.5 Ltd, Lloyds Leasing (North Sea Transport) Ltd1, Lloyds Leasing Developments Ltd, Lloyds Nominees (Guernsey) Ltd, Lloyds Offshore Global Services Private Ltd, Lloyds Plant Leasing Ltd, Lloyds Portfolio Leasing Ltd, Lloyds Premises Investments Ltd, Lloyds Project Leasing Ltd, Lloyds Property Investment Company No. 3 Ltd, Lloyds Property Investment Company No. 4 Ltd, Lloyds Property Investment Company No.5 Ltd, Lloyds Secretaries Ltd, Lloyds Securities Inc., Lloyds TSB Pacific Ltd, Lloyds UDT Asset Leasing Ltd, Lloyds UDT Asset Rentals Ltd, Lloyds UDT Hiring Ltd, Lloyds UDT Leasing Ltd, Lloyds UDT Ltd, Lloyds Your Tomorrow Trustee Ltd, Loans.co.uk Ltd, London Taxi Finance Ltd, London Uberior (L.A.S. Group) Nominees Ltd, Lotus Finance Ltd, MBNA, MBNA Direct Ltd, MBNA Europe Finance Ltd, MBNA Europe Holdings Ltd, MBNA General Foundation, MBNA Global Services Ltd, MBNA Indian Services Private Ltd, MBNA Ltd, MBNA R & L S.A.R.L., MBNA Receivables Ltd, Mainsearch Company Ltd, Maritime Leasing (No. 19) Ltd, Membership Services Finance Ltd, Mitre Street Funding S.A.R.L., Molineux RMBS 2016-1 plc, Molineux RMBS Holdings Ltd, Moor Lane Holdings Ltd, NFU Mutual Finance Ltd, NWS Trust Ltd, Nominees (Jersey) Ltd, Nordic Leasing Ltd, Ocean Leasing (July) Ltd, Oystercatcher Nominees Ltd, Oystercatcher Residential Ltd, PIPS Asset Investments Ltd, Pacific Leasing Ltd, Penarth Asset Securitisation Holdings Ltd, Penarth Funding 1 Ltd, Penarth Funding 2 Ltd, Penarth Master Issuer plc, Penarth Receivables Trustee Ltd, Pensions Management (S.W.F.) Ltd, Peony Eastern Leasing Ltd, Peony Leasing Ltd, Peony Western Leasing Ltd, Permanent Funding (No. 1) Ltd, Permanent Funding (No. 2) Ltd, Permanent Holdings Ltd, Permanent Master Issuer plc, Permanent Mortgages Trustee Ltd, Permanent PECOH Holdings Ltd, Permanent PECOH Ltd, Perry Nominees Ltd, Prestonfield Investments Ltd, Proton Finance Ltd, R.F. Spencer And Company Ltd, Ranelagh Nominees Ltd, Retail Revival (Burgess Hill) Investments Ltd, SARL Coliseum, SARL Hiram, SAS Compagnie Fonciere De France, SCI Astoria Invest, SCI De LHorloge, SCI Equinoxe, SCI Rambuteau CFF, SW Funding plc, SW No.1 Ltd, SWAMF (GP) Ltd, SWAMF Nominee (1) Ltd, SWAMF Nominee (2) Ltd, Saint Michel Holding Company No1, Saint Michel Investment Property, Saint Witz 2 Holding Company No1, Saint Witz 2 Investment Property, Salisbury II Securities 2016 Ltd, Salisbury II-A Securities 2017 Ltd, Salisbury III Securities 2019 DAC, Salisbury Securities 2015 Ltd, Sandown 2012-2 Holdings Ltd, Sandown 2012-2 plc, Sandown Gold 2012-1 Holdings Ltd, Sandown Gold 2012-1 plc, Savban Leasing Ltd, Scotland International Finance B.V., Scottish Widows Administration Services (Nominees) Ltd, Scottish Widows Administration Services Ltd, Scottish Widows Annuities Ltd, Scottish Widows Auto Enrolment Services Ltd, Scottish Widows Europe, Scottish Widows Financial Services Holdings, Scottish Widows Group Ltd, Scottish Widows Industrial Properties Europe B.V., Scottish Widows Ltd, Scottish Widows Pension Trustees Ltd, Scottish Widows Property Management Ltd, Scottish Widows Schroder Personal Wealth (ACD) Ltd, Scottish Widows Schroder Personal Wealth Ltd, Scottish Widows Schroder Wealth Holdings Ltd, Scottish Widows Services Ltd, Scottish Widows Trustees Ltd, Scottish Widows Unit Funds Ltd, Scottish Widows Unit Trust Managers Ltd, Scottish Widows Fund and Life Assurance Society, Seabreeze Leasing Ltd, Seaspirit Leasing Ltd, Share Dealing Nominees Ltd, Shogun Finance Ltd, Silentdale Ltd, St Andrews Group Ltd, St Andrews Insurance plc, St Andrews Life Assurance plc, St. Marys Court Investments, Standard Property Investment (1987) Ltd, Standard Property Investment Ltd, Sussex County Homes Ltd, Suzuki Financial Services Ltd, Swan Funding 2 Ltd, Syon Securities 2019 DAC, The Agricultural Mortgage Corporation Plc, The British Linen Company Ltd, The Halifax Foundation for Northern Ireland, The Mortgage Business plc, Thistle Financing Holdings Ltd, Thistle Investments (AMC) Ltd, Thistle Investments (ERM) Ltd, Thistle Leasing, Three Copthall Avenue Ltd, Tower Hill Property Investments (10) Ltd, Tower Hill Property Investments (7) Ltd, Tranquility Leasing Ltd, Trinity Financing plc, UDT Budget Leasing Ltd, UDT Sales Finance Ltd, Uberior (Moorfield) Ltd, Uberior Co-Investments Ltd, Uberior ENA Ltd, Uberior Equity Ltd, Uberior Europe Ltd, Uberior Fund Investments Ltd, Uberior Infrastructure Investments (No.2) Ltd, Uberior Infrastructure Investments Ltd, Uberior Investments Ltd, Uberior Nominees Ltd, Uberior Trading Ltd, Uberior Trustees Ltd, Uberior Ventures Australia Pty Ltd, Uberior Ventures Ltd, United Dominions Leasing Ltd, United Dominions Trust Ltd, Universe The CMI Global Network Fund, Upsaala Ltd, Vine Street IX LP, WCS Ltd, Ward Nominees (Abingdon) Ltd, Ward Nominees (Birmingham) Ltd 1, Ward Nominees (Bristol) Ltd 1, Ward Nominees Ltd 1, Waverley Fund II Investor LLC, Waverley Fund III Investor LLC, Waymark Asset Investments Ltd, West Craigs Ltd, Wetherby II Securities 2018 DAC, Wetherby III Securities 2019 DAC, Wetherby Securities 2017 Ltd, Wood Street Leasing Ltd, and Zurich Insurance Group - UK Workplace Pensions and Savings Business. Man Who Picked Tesla, Bitcoin Makes Next Pick of the Decade" (Ad) Picking the right investment of the decade can transform your life Today, the Wall Street legend who picked the last investment of the decade months (even years) before his peers will finally reveal his new #1 pick for the 2020s. Its not 5G, artificial intelligence, EVs, or clean energy. The answer will surprise you. Click To See This #1 Pick. When The Trollfjord docked at Brnnysund, only six miles from where Per was born, the four of us hurriedly disembarked knowing our time was limited. Per and Joan could have taken us through the charming town with its colorful store fronts or to Torghatten, a famous mountain with a hole in the center, but Per chose to show us the white clapboard church where relatives were buried. His eyes moistened, and I learned he wants his ashes strewn at sea and in his beloved mountains. His country, his heritage, his people. Per told me that its a common practice for Norwegians to devote Sundays to hiking. As the four of us walked along, I wondered how many of my ancestors had also walked these paths. Had they, too, stopped to sample the raspberry-like cloud berries as I was doing? Had they, too, reveled in the crispness of the air and the sight of sheep and reindeer roaming free? I glanced over at Joan and Per who had set aside several days to spend with us. Pers love of the land runs deep, but so does his devotion to family. I believe he partly learned this from his mother who had to leave home to be a field hand at age ten. She had four younger siblings and there wasnt enough food for them all. Feeling defeated Greenland returned to her apartment. Meanwhile, the man continued the manipulation and threats. Unfortunately, the real nightmare was yet to come, Greenland said. The next time he went off his meds and I tried to leave, he began to physically harm me with the intention of making it physically impossible for me to leave. With her finances drained, her credit ruined and her car damaged by members of his family, Greenland felt alone and without options. He had successfully isolated her from family and friends. Hed also stolen her passport. What ultimately led to Greenlands final and successful attempt to leave wasnt the harm he was causing her. It was when she learned her beloved cat hadnt died from sickness, but at his hands. Greenland began to pack and hide items she could grab in a hurry. It was only what she could fit in her car: her favorite clothing, some important documents, her jewelry-making tools, laptop and printer. To this day, Greenland doesnt know how she was able to finally leave. I dont think it was courage, Greenland said. I think it was just this desperate feeling he was going to kill me. But some of those grants are scheduled to go away if theyre not used by June. City officials can apply for an extension of that deadline if they commit to completing the project for which the funding was issued. That isnt likely to happen if the state doesnt fund the remediation. Since the ad hoc committee last met March 20, several conversations have taken place between city and state officials conversations he said indicate the project likely will go forward. On hearing that, committee member Jerry Foellmi quipped, You mean in my lifetime? Jahncke said likely in the next two to three years. The projects purpose is twofold, Jahncke said. Its main focus is to clear the waterway to dredge a segment of the canal that hasnt been dredged for almost 100 years, then put a cap on the channels bottom to limit pollution from entering the canal due to runoff. Because the canal is a state-owned waterway, its the states responsibility to clean it up. But its in the citys interest that the project get done, Jahncke said and not mainly for the aesthetic and recreational appeal of the canal. A judge will allow one-time statements about medical diagnoses of two alleged suicide attempts in an ongoing homicide case, but said he will bar further discussion in court on those incidents. Patrick A. Kraemer, 50, is accused of killing his former girlfriend Traci Rataczak in 2013. Authorities found her dead by hanging in the basement of the home shared by the defendant and the victim at the time. Rataczak During a court hearing Wednesday, Judge W. Andrew Voigt said two alleged incidents in 2002 and 2008 were a side issue and that he does not want to see the trial devolve into using the victims medical history as an escape from due process. Kraemers attorney on March 16, 2018, filed a motion requesting the judge review Rataczaks medical records and an alleged history of suicide attempts, particularly involving two incidents in 2002 and 2008, and determine whether they could be used as evidence. Voigt said during Wednesdays hearing that he does not find the first alleged attempt admissible and will allow both the defense and the state to make an opening or closing statement about the medical records and facts of those two incidents. Voigt said he will not accept debate on whether the incidents were indeed suicide attempts. The Columbia Correctional Institution in Portage remains on lockdown status after 11 days, and details about why are sparse. Wisconsin Department of Corrections deputy communications director Clare Hendricks confirmed Thursday the prison went into lockdown status Jan. 14 and remains on lockdown because authorities are conducting a routine search for possible contraband that might have been introduced to the facility at any time. Lockdowns at institutions are periodically done in order to conduct a safe and thorough search, Hendricks said. Our staff continue to perform the search of the facility, and as the search progresses, the status of the lockdown will be monitored. Citing safety concerns, Hendricks could not say specifically what sort of illegal smuggled goods authorities are searching for. She also could not specify which prison staff or authorities might be involved in any possible investigations. Hendricks said all of the 840 inmates have received all their meals in their cells during the lockdown, including at least one hot meal per day. She said the staff are conforming to caloric and nutritional standards for all meals. Inmates are able to shower on a routine basis while the lockdown is in effect, Hendricks said. Nygren, who appeared with the new Democratic governor in Marinette to announce the proposed funding, said he met with Evers last week to emphasize the enormous value Marinette Marine plays in Wisconsins economy and invited him to visit. This investment will help Marinette Marine continue to compete on the world stage for years to come, Nygren said in a tweet Thursday. The work at Marinette Marine also supports hundreds of contract companies and thousands of their workers, state Sen. Dave Hansen, D-Green Bay, said. Marinette Marine CEO Jan Allman was one of the members of Evers transition team after he won election in early November. We look forward to working with the Governor and all members of the Legislature to get this across the finish line as part of the state budget, Allman said in a statement. In 2010, Marinette Marine received about $50 million in state incentives, which had been proposed by then-Gov. Jim Doyle. The incentives were part of an effort to secure a U.S. Navy contract to build 10 ships at the shipyard. Marinette Marine was subcontracted for those ships. The contracts were officially with Lockheed Martin Corp., of Bethesda, Maryland. Littoral combat ships, which came with price tags upward of $350 million, are designed for a variety of missions, including combat in shallow, coastal waters. A crash involving 10 semis took place near Mauston at about 8:21 a.m. Jan. 23, according to a news release by the Wisconsin Department of Transportation. Two injuries have been reported. Significant snow had fallen throughout the morning resulting in poor winter driving, said State Patrol Sergeant Sawyer in a statement. Our trooper had just taken the westbound exit from Mauston to respond to a crash when he observed two semis behind him. The rear semi, loaded with metal piping, crashed into the back of the lead semi, loaded with aluminum bales. The contents of the loads spilled out across the roadway. The crash slowed eastbound traffic significantly and ultimately caused another muti-semi crash, Sawyer said. An inattentive westbound semi was unable to stop in time for the original crash, swerved across the median, and crashed head on into another semi that was traveling eastbound. A total of 10 semis were involved in these crashes. Both westbound and eastbound lanes of traffic were completely blocked by spilled cargo, wreckage and jack-knifed semis. No passenger vehicles were involved. An alternate route was established through Hwy 12 at New Lisbon down to Lyndon Station. Students throughout the region may have a free sandwich available to them at Log Cabin Deli. Any report card with an A or equivalent high mark for schools not using the A-F system will receive a certificate for a free sandwich at Log Cabin Deli. The offer is good through March 15. We reached out to Mauston, New Lisbon, Necedah (schools districts), said Log Cabin Deli Owner Aaron Cuyler. It can apply to anybody honestly, even if theyre not in our target market. Anybody that comes in with a report card can get a free (sandwich)... Theyre welcome to come in. Any school is good. I wanted to do something for the community and I was thinking about what we could do for the school age kids, Cuyler said. I reached out to the Bank of Mauston to see if they would support the program. The offer is good for any sandwich on Log Cabin Delis menu. I think its a great incentive, said Mauston Mayor Brian McGuire of the program. Its kind of a recognition, not a reward, but a recognition of people doing good work. A Camp Douglas man faces criminal charges after police say he was found in possession of methamphetamine. Jerry Scheerer, 35, is charged with possession with intent to deliver methamphetamine, possession of drug paraphernalia, resisting an officer, sex offender registry violation and two counts of felony bail jumping. He faces up to 25 years imprisonment for the first charge. According to the criminal complaint: A Mauston police officer received a call Jan. 2 to a residence on Maine Street after a suspect with multiple warrants was reported to be there. Upon arriving at the residence, the officer met with an adult male who stated he lived there and saw the individual a few minutes earlier. The officer heard a loud crash from the side of the residence and saw an adult male running from the side entry door. A Juneau County deputy caught up with the subject and tackled him to the ground. The subject was identified as Scheerer. A search of Scheerer yielded a plastic baggie that was bundled with what looked to be other smaller plastic baggies and a leather wallet. More baggies were found in a different pocket along with cigarette packs and a small digital scale. My father-in-law used to joke that you couldnt even buy a pair of socks in this town, Albright said. Unfortunately he passed away before Shopko came in. I want to know what the city is doing for future business growth. My husband and I have been here for 20 years and Columbus has not always been a pro-business city. City Administrator Patrick Vander Sanden said the city is working on future growth plans through its Road Map 2050 project. Mayor Mike Thom said the plan is a chance for the community to provide input on what they want Columbus to look like decades into the future. Thom said the city is planning a large event at the Pavilion to receive community feedback. We want everyone to pipe in and give us their opinions, Thom said. We also want to set ourselves up financially for the goals the community wants to see both short-term and long-term. Albright would like to see more small businesses come to the city. On a recent Sunday, Albright drove through downtown and noticed most businesses were closed. WATERTOWN Law enforcement agencies, including the Dodge County Sheriffs Office, were on hand on Thursday while search warrants were conducted at two establishments in the Watertown area. According to a press release issued by Dodge County Sheriff Dale Schmidt, the sheriffs office along with Watertown Police Department, town of Emmet/Lebanon Police Department assisted federal law enforcement agencies with the search warrants. The search warrants occurred at Wild Rose Gentlemans Club, 4808, N866 County Road R and Dew Drop Inn, 1027 N 4th St., Watertown. Support Local Journalism Your membership makes our reporting possible. {{featured_button_text}} Schmidt said in the press release that the sheriffs office has no further information at this time as it is an ongoing federal investigation and the sheriffs office is only assisting in the investigation. It is the second time in recent months that a federal warrant was served at a Dodge County strip club. Federal, state and local authorities executed a search warrant at The Hardware Store, 942 Main St., Clyman, on Nov. 2. Officials did not release any information about what was found or the nature of the warrant at the time. Ajijaak was developed by the daughter of famed puppeteer Jim Henson and her college classmate Ty Defoe, a Wisconsin native. Its a spectacle of dances, puppets and kites that demonstrates the interconnected nature of all living things. Evening performances will benefit the Al. Ringling and International Crane Foundation, which claims Henson as a board member. Support Local Journalism Your membership makes our reporting possible. {{featured_button_text}} The local performances are the only ones that will be held in Wisconsin, and Baraboo is one of only four cities nationwide that will host Ajijaak. In the production, the crane migrates alone for the first time, learning the importance of survival and perseverance. The lavish piece uses non-traditional storytelling and blends performance styles to create an immersive experience that leave audiences thinking about their relationship to the environment. During the day Thursday, students from three Baraboo elementaries and other schools around the area will attend. Fridays daytime show will bring students from all around Wisconsin. Our friends at ICF have done a great job in getting the word out to the schools, with some crane study materials going to the teachers in advance, Miller-Lamb said. Its been a fantastic partnership and one that will benefit so many people across the state, our own little version of the Wisconsin Idea. William DeWitt Mitchell, former Winonan and at present solicitor general of the United States, has accepted the post of attorney general in the Hoover cabinet, it was announced today in an Associated Press dispatch from Washington. Offered the position in the cabinet by the president-elect, Mr. Mitchell today announced his acceptance, making the attorney-generalship the first cabinet post to be announced definitely in Washington. Word of the appointment of the former Winona man to the high position was greeted with pleasure by many residents of this city today, particularly by friends and acquaintances of the Mitchell family. Mr. Mitchell, former law partner of Associate Justice Pierce Butler of the U.S. Supreme Court, was born in Winona Sept. 9, 1871 in a house on the lot now occupied by Central Methodist Church. Son of Judge Mitchell He was the son of William Mitchell, one of the most distinguished jurists of Minnesota, a former judge of the district court of Winona and later Associate Justice of the Minnesota Supreme Court. Before being appointed Solicitor General of the United States by President Coolidge on June 5, 1925, the new attorney general practiced law in St. Paul for 29 years. He is 54 years old. Arent you saying, Yes, because the school buildings have been sold, that very well may preclude meaningful relief? said Judge Lucinda Jesson. Why should we even consider this on the merits, when the school buildings have been sold? Support Local Journalism Your membership makes our reporting possible. {{featured_button_text}} Thompson argued that the court does, in fact, have the power to reverse the sales of the schools, adding that if it didnt, the body would be completely neutered on making other decisions for cases involving school boards. But as in his response to the motion, he again said other relief is possible, asking the court to force the district to do the decision-making process over again. The role of Superintendent Rich Dahman in the boards decision was also questioned by the court. If he was the only advisor to the board during this time, the optics could appear troubling, Jesson said; Shafer responded that the superintendent does have a statutory duty to make recommendations to the school board. Its a point that Thompson echoed in his argument, however. The district failed to include the negative effects of letting teachers go and potential loss of families as a result of school closures, he claimed. Only one side was presented, Thompson said. A 59-year-old Goodview man will spend the next three years in prison and 20 more on supervised probation after he was sentenced Wednesday in Winona County Court. Doyle Barton Dionysius pleaded guilty and was convicted on charges third-degree possession of methamphetamine while in possession of a firearm in September. Winona County District Court judge Nancy Buytendorp sentenced Dionysius to 36 months in the Minnesota Correctional Institute in St. Cloud and 20 years of supervised probation. He was given credit for three days served, ordered to pay $185 in fees and serve 100 hours of community service. Dionysius was arrested on Dec. 26, 2017, after Winona County Sheriffs deputies found drugs and guns while executing a search of a Lake Village home in Goodview. Support Local Journalism Your membership makes our reporting possible. {{featured_button_text}} According to the report, Dionysius was staying at the residence and the owner wasnt home at the time of the search. Investigators found Dionysius in the residence in a bedroom. There was also another party in the home, as well as three children. In a drawer under the bed, investigators found 13 grams of a substance that field tested positive for methamphetamine, as well as over 100 baggies and a scale. WASHINGTON - A splintered Senate swatted down competing Democratic and Republican plans for ending the 34-day partial government shutdown on Thursday, but the twin setbacks prompted a burst of bipartisan talks aimed at temporarily halting the longest-ever closure of federal agencies and the damage it's inflicting around the country. Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 24/1/2019 (876 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. President Donald Trump, second from right, speaks in the Cabinet Room of the White House in Washington, Wednesday, Jan. 23, 2019, as he hosts a roundtable with conservative leaders to discuss the security and humanitarian crisis at the southern border. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh) WASHINGTON - A splintered Senate swatted down competing Democratic and Republican plans for ending the 34-day partial government shutdown on Thursday, but the twin setbacks prompted a burst of bipartisan talks aimed at temporarily halting the longest-ever closure of federal agencies and the damage it's inflicting around the country. In the first serious exchange in weeks, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., quickly called Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., to his office to explore potential next steps for solving the vitriolic stalemate. Senators from both sides floated a plan to reopen agencies for three weeks and pay hundreds of thousands of beleaguered federal workers while bargainers hunt for a deal. At the White House, President Donald Trump told reporters he'd support "a reasonable agreement." He suggested he'd also want a "prorated down payment" for his long-sought border wall with Mexico but didn't describe the term. He said he has "other alternatives" for getting wall funding, an apparent reference to his disputed claim that he could declare a national emergency and fund the wall's construction using other programs in the federal budget. "At least we're talking about it. That's better than it was before," McConnell told reporters in one of the most encouraging statements heard since the shutdown began Dec. 22. Even so, it was unclear whether the flurry would produce results. The Capitol is seen early Thursday, Jan. 24, 2019, as rain falls on Pennsylvania Avenue in Washington, with the partial government shutdown in its second month. The Senate will vote on two competing proposals today to end the impasse, but neither seems to have enough votes to advance. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite) House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., whose relationship with Trump seems to sour daily, told reporters a "big" down payment would not be "a reasonable agreement." Asked if she knew how much money Trump meant, Pelosi said, "I don't know if he knows what he's talking about." Schumer spokesman Justin Goodman said Democrats have made clear "that they will not support funding for the wall, prorated or otherwise." Contributing to the pressure on lawmakers to find a solution was the harsh reality confronting 800,000 federal workers, who on Friday face a second two-week payday with no paychecks. Senate Minority Leader Sen. Chuck Schumer of N.Y. arrives on Capitol Hill in Washington, Thursday, Jan. 24, 2019. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik) Underscoring the strains, Sen. Michael Bennet, D-Colo., angrily said on the Senate floor that Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, had forced a 2013 shutdown during which "people were killed" in Colorado from flooding and shuttered federal agencies couldn't help local emergency workers. Moments earlier, Cruz accused Democrats of blocking a separate, doomed bill to pay Coast Guard personnel during this shutdown to score political points, adding later, "Just because you hate somebody doesn't mean you should shut the government down." Thursday's votes came after Vice-President Mike Pence lunched privately with GOP senators, who told him they were itching for the standoff to end, participants said. Sen. Roy Blunt, R-Mo., said their message to Pence was, "Find a way forward." In an embarrassment to Trump, the Democratic proposal got two more votes Thursday than the GOP plan, even though Republicans control the chamber 53-47. Six Republicans backed the Democratic plan, including freshman Sen. Mitt Romney, R-Utah, who's clashed periodically with the president. In this Jan. 23, 2019, photo House Speaker Nancy Pelosi responds to reporters after officially postponing President Donald Trump's State of the Union address until the government is fully reopened, at the Capitol in Washington. President Donald Trump has done something remarkable in the government shutdown: HeAos unified the diverse new House Democratic majority firmly behind Pelosi. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite) The Senate first rejected a Republican plan reopening the government through September and giving Trump the $5.7 billion he's demanded for building segments of that wall, a project that he'd long promised Mexico would finance. The 50-47 vote for the measure fell 10 shy of the 60 votes needed to succeed. Minutes later, senators voted 52-44 for a Democratic alternative that sought to open padlocked agencies through Feb. 8 with no wall money. That was eight votes short. It was aimed at giving bargainers time to seek an accord while getting paychecks to government workers who are either working wihout pay or being forced to stay home. Flustered lawmakers said Thursday's roll calls could be a reality check that would prod the start of talks. Throughout, the two sides have issued mutually exclusive demands that have blocked negotiations from even starting: Trump has refused to reopen government until Congress gives him the wall money, and congressional Democrats have rejected bargaining until he reopens government. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell of Ky. arrives on Capitol Hill in Washington, Thursday, Jan. 24, 2019. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik) Thursday's votes could "teach us that the leaders are going to have to get together and figure out how to resolve this," said Sen. John Thune of South Dakota, the No. 2 Senate GOP leader. He added, "One way or another we've got to get out of this. This is no win for anybody." Initially, partisan potshots flowed freely. Pelosi accused Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross of a "'Let them eat cake' kind of attitude" after he said on television that he didn't understand why unpaid civil servants were resorting to homeless shelters for food. Even as Pelosi offered to meet the president "anytime," Trump stood firm, tweeting, "Without a Wall it all doesn't work.... We will not Cave!" Chris George, a federal employee furloughed from his job as a forestry technician supervisor for the U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service, fixes a bathroom faucet, Saturday, Jan. 19, 2019, in Fontana, Calif. The 48-year-old federal worker has been working as a handyman and driving for Lyft to make ends meet since the government shutdown began. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong) As the Senate debated the two dueling proposals, McConnell said the Democratic plan would let that party's lawmakers "make political points and nothing else" because Trump wouldn't sign it. He called Pelosi's opposition "unreasonable" and said, "Senate Democrats are not obligated to go down with her ship." Schumer criticized the GOP plan for endorsing Trump's proposal to keep the government closed until he gets what he wants. "A vote for the president's plan is an endorsement of government by extortion," Schumer said. "If we let him do it today, he'll do it tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow." Sen. Dan Sullivan, R-Alaska, left, and Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., the vice-chair of the Senate Intelligence Committee, arrive at the Senate prior to a vote on ending the partial government shutdown, at the Capitol in Washington, Thursday, Jan. 24, 2019. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite) McConnell's engagement was viewed as a constructive sign because he has a history of helping resolve partisan standoffs. For weeks, he'd let Trump and Democrats try reaching an accord and, until Thursday, had barred any votes on legislation Trump would not sign. In consultation with their Senate counterparts, House Democrats were preparing a new border security package that might be rolled out Friday. Despite their pledge to not negotiate until agencies reopened, their forthcoming proposal was essentially a counteroffer to Trump. Pelosi expressed "some optimism that things could break loose pretty soon" in a closed-door meeting with other Democrats on Wednesday evening, said Rep. John Yarmuth, D-Ky. The Democratic package was expected to include $5.7 billion, the same amount Trump wants for his wall, but it would be used instead for fencing, technology, personnel and other measures. In a plan the rejected Senate GOP plan mirrored, Trump on Saturday proposed to reopen government if he got his wall money. He also proposed to revamp immigration laws, including new restrictions on Central American minors seeking asylum in the U.S. and temporary protections for immigrants who entered the country illegally as children. At a panel discussion held by House Democrats on the effects of the shutdown, union leaders and former Homeland Security officials said they worried about the long-term effects. "We will be lucky to get everybody back on the job without a crisis to respond to," said Tim Manning, a former Federal Emergency Management Agency official. AP Congressional Correspondent Lisa Mascaro and AP writers Catherine Lucey, Laurie Kellman, Kevin Freking and Matthew Daly contributed to this report. This story has been corrected to reflect that the vote for the Republican plan was 50-47, not 51-47 as initially announced by the Senate. SEOUL, Korea, Republic Of - North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has ordered preparations for a second summit with U.S. President Donald Trump, saying he'll "wait with patience and in good faith" to work toward a common goal, the North's state media reported Thursday. Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 24/1/2019 (876 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. SEOUL, Korea, Republic Of - North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has ordered preparations for a second summit with U.S. President Donald Trump, saying he'll "wait with patience and in good faith" to work toward a common goal, the North's state media reported Thursday. Despite Kim's determination for another meeting with Trump, the two remain at odds over fundamental issues. Experts say a major sticking point is what denuclearization steps Kim should take to move forward stalled nuclear negotiations and what rewards Trump should provide to push Kim to take those measures. FILE - In this June 12, 2018, file photo, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, left, and U.S. President Donald Trump shake hands prior to their meeting on Sentosa Island in Singapore. The North's Korean Central News Agency said Thursday, Jan. 24, 2019 that Kim received a letter from Trump from a North Korean envoy who travelled to Washington and met Trump last week. North Korea says Kim has ordered preparations for a second summit with Trump. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci, File) The Korean Central News Agency said Kim received a letter from Trump from a North Korean envoy who met the U.S. president in Washington last week. After meeting Kim Yong Chol, Trump said he and Kim Jong Un will probably meet around the end of February but did not say exactly when and where the summit would take place. Trump tweeted Thursday that "I expect another good meeting soon, much potential!" Thursday's report said Kim expressed satisfaction with his envoy's meeting with Trump and spoke highly of the U.S. president for "expressing his unusual determination and will for the settlement of the issue with a great interest in the second summit." "We will wait with patience and in good faith and, together with the U.S., advance step by step toward the goal to be reached by the two countries," Kim was quoted as saying. Kim also "set forth tasks and orientation for making good technical preparations" for the second summit high on the agenda, KCNA said. Nuclear negotiations have been stuck since Kim and Trump met in Singapore last June for their first summit, which ended with Kim's vague denuclearization pledge that his government had previously used when it called for the withdrawal of the 28,500 U.S. troops in South Korea. A summit accord also stated that the United States and North Korea will commit to establishing new relations and join efforts to build a lasting and stable peace on the Korean Peninsula. The strongest step Kim could promise during a second summit may be abandoning his long-range missile program targeting the U.S. mainland. That step, if realized, would trigger a strong backlash from many in South Korea and Japan, which are within the striking distance of North Korea's short- and medium-range missiles. In return, Kim is seeking to get U.N. sanctions lifted. He also wants better relations with the United States to try to revive his country's moribund economy to pave the way for a prolonged rule by his family, experts say. North Korea observers say Vietnam is likely to be chosen as a venue for a second summit but there has been no official confirmation. The negotiations have replaced fears of war following a series of North Korean high-profile nuclear and missile tests in 2017 that were followed by exchanges of crude insults and threats of total destruction between Kim and Trump. Kim has so far suspended nuclear and missile tests, dismantled North Korea's nuclear testing site and parts of its rocket engine test facility and taken conciliatory measures, like releasing American detainees. The North now says it's time for the U.S. to come up with reciprocal measures. But satellite footage indicates North Korea is still running its main nuclear complex, raising questions why it's producing nuclear material if it is truly committed to denuclearization. U.S. officials want North Korea to take more significant steps such as a declared accounting of its nuclear weapons program for future inspections. The North has rejected that, saying such a declaration would be like providing co-ordinates for U.S. military strikes on its nuclear facilities. Where America retreats, chaos follows, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said in Cairo recently. Its not the sort of remark youd expect from an American diplomat only weeks after U.S. President Donald Trump declared that U.S. troops were pulling out of Syria. Is it possible that behind Pompeos severe and even pompous exterior there lurks a secret ironist? Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 24/1/2019 (877 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. Opinion Where America retreats, chaos follows," U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said in Cairo recently. Its not the sort of remark youd expect from an American diplomat only weeks after U.S. President Donald Trump declared that U.S. troops were pulling out of Syria. Is it possible that behind Pompeos severe and even pompous exterior there lurks a secret ironist? Probably not. Pompeo truly believes (like many American evangelical Christians) that the United States is engaged in a struggle of good against evil in the Middle East. "It is a never-ending struggle until the Rapture," he said three years ago. He may just be angry at Trump, in a passive-aggressive way, for abandoning Syria to the (evil) Iranian and Russian forces that back Bashar Assad, the Syrian dictator. At any rate, Pompeo is right about the chaos that will follow, but it would be wrong to blame it all on Trump. Turkeys president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, is much better informed than the American president and probably a lot smarter, too, but he is just as impulsive, just as ruthless, just as much a bringer of chaos. It was Erdogan, in a telephone conversation in mid-December, who persuaded Trump that pulling all the U.S. troops out of Syria would be a good idea. Turkey would be happy to take the strain instead. Trump has always opposed Americas endless Middle Eastern wars, so he swallowed Erdogans suggestion hook, line and sinker and tweeted his decision to pull the U.S. troops out without discussing it with anybody. Only later did the remaining grown-ups in the White House explain to him that Erdogan planned to subjugate or kill Americas main allies in Syria, the Kurds. To his credit, Trump hated the idea of betraying the Syrian Kurds, whose militia, the Peoples Protection Units (YPG), suffered thousands of deaths while helping U.S. forces to defeat the fanatical jihadis of Islamic State. Trump still wanted to bring the U.S. troops home, but now he had one condition. The Turks must promise not to invade northeastern Syria and crush the YPG as soon as the U.S. troops leave. Erdogan replied that nothing Trump said or did could stop him from destroying these Kurdish "terrorists" (who have never attacked Turkey). At which point, on Monday past, Trump tweeted that the United States "will devastate Turkey economically if they hit Kurds." All clear so far? Good. Youd never guess, from the story thus far, that the United States and Turkey have been close allies for the past half-century, but the alliance is fading fast. Erdogan has been playing his own hand in the Middle East, and playing it quite badly. The "Sultan," as his admirers call him, wants to secure his own one-man rule and re-Islamize Turkey, which had evolved into a secular and democratic republic over the past 80 years. He also wants to promote Sunni Islam throughout the region. The two goals are not fully compatible, so he shifts position a lot. When the revolt in Syria broke out in 2011 during the Arab Spring, Erdogan supported it because Assads regime is dominated by Alawites, a Shia Muslim sect. He kept the border open and let supplies and recruits flow into the rebels, including even the Islamic State extremists. When Russia intervened militarily to save Assad in 2015, Erdogan was so angry that he even had the Turkish air force ambush and shoot down a Russian bomber. But he was almost equally angry with the United States, which had made an alliance with the Kurds of northern Syria to fight against Islamic State group. The Kurds gradually choked off the aid coming in to IS from Turkey, and IS has now lost almost all of its territory. So Erdogan told Trump he could bring the U.S. troops home now, and Trump believed him. But what Erdogan actually wants to do is crush the Syrian Kurds, which he can do once the U.S. troops leave. Erdogan thinks the Syrian Kurds are allied with the Turkish Kurds, who make up one-fifth of Turkeys population, live just across the border from Syria and are currently at war with Erdogans regime. (Thats why he calls them "terrorists.") The weird thing is that four years ago, Erdogan was on the brink of making peace with the Kurds. There was a ceasefire, the Turkish Kurds were no longer demanding independence and he was negotiating a compromise settlement that enhanced Kurdish rights within Turkey. But then he lost a parliamentary election in 2015, mainly because the Kurds stopped voting for him. So he reopened the war against the Kurds, wrapped himself in the Turkish flag and won the next election on an ultra-nationalist platform. All Kurds are now the enemy, they are all terrorists and they must be crushed. Given Erdogans ruthlessness and Trumps volatility, I have no idea how all this works out. Badly, I suspect. But I actually admire Trumps refusal to betray his allies, once he realized what Erdogan was up to. You dont see that much in the Middle East. Of course, it probably wont last. Gwynne Dyers latest book is Growing Pains: The Future of Democracy (and Work). My smartphone is finally cooling off. It all started three weeks before Black Friday, in late November. Because I make most of my charitable contributions through a website, I need to offer my email address to receive a tax receipt. This has led to a proliferation of retailers and charitable organizations alike seeing me as fair game. Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 24/1/2019 (877 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. Opinion My smartphone is finally cooling off. It all started three weeks before Black Friday, in late November. Because I make most of my charitable contributions through a website, I need to offer my email address to receive a tax receipt. This has led to a proliferation of retailers and charitable organizations alike seeing me as fair game. Weeks before Black Friday, I started to receive notices about "Black Friday in October." Then when December arrived, I experienced increasingly persistent messages that I had only so many days "to make a donation to receive a tax receipt." The din continued until Dec. 31 as my phone became almost too hot to handle from the incoming barrage. Then all was quiet. Its my fault, of course. I could simply make out a cheque and mail it to the charities of my choice, but online giving is too easy. And getting immediate tax receipts via email allows me to easily corral all of the information to receive my just rewards in the form of a reduced tax bill. Are charity deductions a bribe? But as tax season approaches, now is a good time to ask whether its sound policy to offer what could be considered a bribe of reduced taxes in exchange for donating to charity. What are the positives and negatives from such a policy? What would be the effect of eliminating these tax benefits? For every dollar I donate to an eligible charity, I get about 20 to 25 cents in the form of a tax refund. But the dirty little secret is that all taxpayers, including me, must make up these 25 cents through increased taxes. And so, like all tax benefits, the charitable tax credit raises the overall tax burden. Whenever government adjusts taxation rules to offer a deduction or credit, economists call this a "tax expenditure" to distinguish it from the direct expenditures authorized by treasury boards. Just like any public spending, the taxpayer finances these tax expenditures. The more generous the relief granted for charitable donations, the more onerous becomes the tax burden. Just how much money is involved? Last year, the Canadian federal government made $289 billion in tax expenditures, of which $6.1 billion were the tax benefits associated with charitable donations. This may seem a pittance in the big picture, but we need to delve deeper. Canada incurs much of its tax expenditures by giving up tax rights to provinces; this accounts for about $56 billion. The basic personal exemption accounted for $36 billon and the credits for investing in various registered savings plans cost the Canadian taxpayer $89 billion in lost tax revenues. Money could have alternate uses A better basis for comparison among tax expenditures is the GST exemptions on things such as child care and tuition, which accounted for $5.7 billion in 2017. Among the direct expenditures, Canadas public broadcaster, the CBC, has a budget of about $1.2 billion, the Department of Defence consumes $20 billion and the federal government spends $3.5 billion on the RCMP. In this context, the $6 billion the federal government gives up because we make charitable contributions could have many alternate uses. So whats the value of stimulating and encouraging charitable donations? When we donate to charities, we directly support a favoured cause at a discount. And perhaps the incentive of a tax credit may induce more giving. However, heres the kicker: recent research suggests that most of us give not for the tax break, but the "warm glow." And so it may be unnecessary to offer a tax reduction to stimulate charitable donations. Because we all share in the burden of tax credits, we are unwittingly supporting charities we either do not care about or whose goals we dont share. Sometimes charities appear to support a cause when masking a completely different goal. I recall the shock at seeing gun manufacturers displays at the annual show of Ducks Unlimited. Tax advantage is highlighted Many appeals from charities stress the tax advantage to the donor, tainting an altruistic act with selfishness. The tax credit may also encourage charities and non-profits to become lazy, relying more on the lure of tax credits than showing donors their impact. With few exceptions, non-profits do not routinely subject their investments to independent audits to measure impact or report donation efficiency. One recent counter-example is the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, which appears to have spent almost half a billion U.S. dollars to improve teaching effectiveness and failed. Most of the big guns in Canadas charity industry issue glossy annual reports replete with anecdotes of how they spend your dollars, but few issue systematic and independent audits to show the net impact of the charitys investments. Where do charity dollars actually go? Donation efficiency the percentage of donations that translate to direct service requires work to learn what percentage of total revenues actually flow to end uses. For example, based on its most recent financial statements, the Canadian Cancer Society directed 53 per cent of its revenue to research and programs, its stated purpose for raising funds in the first place. The remainder went to fundraising, administration and advocacy. Contrast this to the Canadian Red Cross, where based on its most recent annual report, 90 per cent of revenues flow to programs. One charity I support has a donation efficiency of 85 per cent based on independent financial audits. Several countries namely Austria, Finland, Ireland, Italy, Sweden and Switzerland have removed tax benefits for charitable donations. It is time for Canada to follow suit. My phone will be thankful. Gregory C. Mason is an associate professor of economics, at the University of Manitoba. This article was first published at The Conversation Canada: theconversation.com/ca. Developers behind a major construction project on South Pembina Highway have begun teasing local residents with a two-metre high sign featuring only a lone question mark. Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 23/1/2019 (877 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. Developers behind a major construction project on South Pembina Highway have begun teasing local residents with a two-metre high sign featuring only a lone question mark. Coun. Janice Lukes (Waverley West) amped up curiosity further with her tweet on social media that people should "watch for more cranes on Pembina!" CITY OF WINNIPEG Proposed 410-unit, 15,000-square-foot-commercial mixed use development at 3021 Pembina Hwy. The location is a five-acre parcel of land at 3021 Pembina that has sat empty for more than a decade. A two-tower apartment complex at the 3021 Pembina site was granted initial approval at a Riel community committee last year. Developers have promised the building facades won't be boring. The site was fenced off several weeks ago, indicating officials are getting ready for construction that is supposed to take two years. A project official confirmed partners now hope to begin construction within the year but the design of the complex is still under wraps. They are also still getting all the building permits. "There are a lot of moving parts before we release anything," said Karl Loepp, chief operating officer of Private Pension Partners, which is spearheading the project. "The question mark was for the community to get excited about something. This is an important landmark for the community and we want to get it right," Loepp said. The site is just north of Bairdmore Boulevard between two gas stations. It was once a car dealership and is owned by Ashok Dilawri, president of Crown Auto Group. Dilawri is also an investor in the apartment complex. 'The question mark was for the community to get excited about something. This is an important landmark for the community and we want to get it right' Karl Loepp, chief operating officer of Private Pension Partners, which is spearheading the new complex The two residential towers are expected to house about 600 people in 410 units. The towers will include 15,000 square feet of commercial development on the ground floors. A rooftop dog run and patio, gym, bike storage with a maintenance area, a park and an outdoor running track are all proposed as part of the project. The ground floor was rezoned for commercial use last year and could support a grocery store, hairstylist, physician, and other lifestyle services providers. The project's target demographic has not been stated but Lukes said it is not students. It is more likely to appeal to people moving into the city from rural Manitoba and people wanting to rent apartments rather than tie up their money in a condo. Developers held a brainstorming session recently with architects and planners to discuss the building design. Developers have previously stated they want it to be a "gateway marker" with a "bold" and "dynamic" design. "Two towers have the ability to be very impactful," said Lukes. "It's a gateway to the City of Winnipeg. People will come through St. Norbert, and pow, right?" The first residential tower will be 13 storeys (160 feet) and have 172 residential units. The second tower will be 15 storeys with 238 units. The units will range in size from 600- to 1,200 square feet with varying numbers of bedrooms. Each unit will have a balcony. There will be parking for several hundred vehicles, including underground parking, plus 98 outdoor and indoor bicycle stalls. Lukes hasn't heard a cost figure but apartments that size typically go in the $50-$70 million range, and this is two towers, she said. Danny Serhal of Affinity Architecture is the architect. Project leader Private Pension Partners have been active developers in Winnipeg lately, having recently completed a large apartment complex on Sterling Lyon Parkway across from Cabela's. bill.redekop@freepress.mb.ca Residents in the Spence neighbourhood are nervous after a fourth fire on Maryland Street in the past 10 days. Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 23/1/2019 (877 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. Residents in the Spence neighbourhood are nervous after a fourth fire on Maryland Street in the past 10 days. Fire crews rushed to a three-storey apartment complex on the 600 block of Maryland Street Wednesday after getting a report of a blaze at about 9:10 a.m. One person was seriously hurt and more than 40 other people were left homeless after the first fire in this apartment building on the 400 block of Maryland Street. (Mike Deal / Winnipeg Free Press files) Firefighters said they found a small fire in the exterior stairwell of the building and put it out within eight minutes of getting the call. The fire did not damage the structure of the building, there were no injuries and most residents will be able to return to their suites. One unit had smoke and water damage. The cause of the fire is under investigation and there was no damage estimate. Benjamin Simcoe, housing co-ordinator at the Spence Neighbourhood Association, said they've been working recently with tenants and landlords about fire safety. "I think people are always a little nervous about fires, as we've had a few in the last few years, but I'm not sure as to how much this adds to that feeling," he said. On Jan. 13, one person was taken to hospital and 30 others were left homeless after a blaze in an apartment block on Ellice Avenue at Maryland Street. A day later, one person ended up in critical condition and more than 40 were homeless after a fire broke out in a three-storey apartment building on the 400 block of Maryland Street. On Jan. 21, a fire was started in the same building, which had been boarded up. An adjacent home had to be evacuated as a precaution. On Jan. 13, one person was taken to hospital and 30 others were left homeless after a fire in this apartment block on Ellice Avenue at Maryland Street. (John Woods / Winnipeg Free Press) Firefighters are investigating the cause of the first three incidents. Simcoe, who is co-ordinating a donation drive to help the 100 people who have lost their possessions after the first two fires, said one of the safety talks they organize was coincidentally scheduled immediately after those fires. "We work with small local landlords to make sure they have all the information and resources they need to keep their buildings safe," he said. "We also help tenants with advocacy support if their units and buildings are not fire safe and ensure landlords are making any changes or improvements that need to happen." Meanwhile, Simcoe said in the first few days of the donation drive, they've received $1,500 in cash and "an absolutely overwhelming response" of household items and clothes. "The donations are coming in constantly," he said. Donations of furniture, clothes, small appliances and other items can be dropped off at the John Howard Society, 583 Ellice Ave., while cash donations can be dropped off at the Spence Neighbourhood Association office at 615 Ellice Ave. Online donations are being accepted at spenceneighbourhood.org/donate. kevin.rollason@freepress.mb.ca OTTAWA Lloyd Axworthy is challenging the global community to reform a floundering asylum system that hasnt been overhauled in almost seven decades, arguing anti-refugee sentiment will otherwise continue to rise. Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 24/1/2019 (877 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. OTTAWA Lloyd Axworthy is challenging the global community to reform a "floundering" asylum system that hasnt been overhauled in almost seven decades, arguing anti-refugee sentiment will otherwise continue to rise. "Its now time to translate a lot of the rhetoric and aspirations and commitments to action," Axworthy said Wednesday, on the eve of a major report that delves into everything from smartphone apps to the global financial system. "These are specific, realistic changes, so that people can see that our governments actually have a handle on it," said the Winnipegger, a federal Liberal minister during the 1980s and 90s. The report, titled A Call to Action, will be published today by the World Refugee Council, a self-appointed body of two dozen global political figures, academics and civil society representatives. "Without bold change, the system will ultimately collapse," reads the report, provided to the Free Press before its release. The report calls for the first major rethink of global refugee law since the United Nations 1951 Refugee Convention, and compares it to Canadas leadership in nearly phasing out land mines worldwide in the late 1990s. A key part is finding money to finance the 65 million people who are displaced worldwide. Axworthy had earlier revealed one proposal: to pass laws allowing countries to seize assets dictators have "stuck in piggy banks across the world" and use the cash to house, feed and educate those who fled authoritarian regimes. The report details other means, such as global bonds that can accrue interest to be used to pay for refugee services, and preferential treatment in trade agreements and development loans for countries that either agree to take in refugees or have been forced to do so. Todays report calls for binding obligations that would have richer countries commit to resettling and funding refugees, to reverse a decline in cash for asylum seekers who are largely concentrated in poor countries. "One way to overcome a lot of the anxiety and concern is to demonstrate to people that in fact there are solutions, that there is an effort being made to change the system, reform it, clean it up, make it more effective," Canadas former immigration and foreign affairs minister said. "You can overcome a lot of the indifference and the real xenophobia thats out there." Another key plank of the report calls for an official status for internally displaced people (IDPs), who have fled their homes, just like refugees, but dont have the same rights because they havent crossed a border into another country. That issue emerged during Canadas ongoing resettlement of thousands of Yazidis, many of whom had been violently attacked by the so-called Islamic State group and forced to live in ramshackle camps, but hadnt left Iraqs border. The UN Refugee Agency estimates there are 40 million IDPs, compared with 25 million refugees, even though just 15 per cent of its own funding goes to IDPs. "Nobodys taking any responsibility for them," the former statesman said. Another idea would have counters help create smartphone apps to help people in refugee camps apply for asylum, find adequate food and shelter, take courses and receive donations. The report calls on countries to better co-ordinate refugee resettlement, hold each other to account and share stories of refugee success, such as communities whose economies have been jump started by newcomers. Those recommendations all echo the UNs Global Compact for Migration, a document that outlined suggestions on how to improve asylum systems, but attracted controversy worldwide in the lead up to its December signing. The federal Conservatives claimed the pact would undermine federal authority, despite it explicitly stating countries ought to have sovereignty over their border and asylum policies. Axworthy said todays report goes further, by touching on financial and political moves that fall beyond the UN mandate. Hes optimistic, in spite of last months imbroglio. "Theres enough goodwill out there, it just needs political leadership right now, which it really doesnt have," he said, pointing to existing programs that help refugees, which the report cites. He noted climate change will likely cause millions to flee their coastal towns and island nations in the future. dylan.robertson@freepress.mb.ca The Manitoba government said Thursday it would increase funding to public schools by 0.5 per cent next year, prompting critics to argue the amount doesnt even cover the rate of inflation. Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 24/1/2019 (876 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. The Manitoba government said Thursday it would increase funding to public schools by 0.5 per cent next year, prompting critics to argue the amount doesnt even cover the rate of inflation. Education and Training Minister Kelvin Goertzen announced the province will spend $6.6 million more on elementary and high school funding in 2019-20 than it is this year, for a total budget of $1.3 billion. RUTH BONNEVILLE / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS FILES Education Minister Kelvin Goertzen is asking school boards to cap increases in school taxes to two per cent. "I think in this environment of running more than a half-billion-dollar deficit still, which is a significant challenge for the province, I think that is a reasonable place for (school divisions) to be," Goertzen told reporters. In 2018-19, "they essentially had the same thing. There was an increase of 232 positions across the school divisions," he said, noting the vast majority of hiring was for teachers and clinicians. That's despite the province directing school divisions to cut back on administration costs by 15 per cent last year. Goertzen is asking divisions to temper administration costs again, but he wasnt prepared to say by how much. The minister also directed school divisions to cap their education property tax increases at two per cent for the second consecutive year. In Manitoba, the provincial government pays for nearly 60 per cent of school divisions operating costs, while property taxes cover the rest. Norm Gould, president of the Manitoba Teachers Society, said he doesnt believe the province should be "meddling in the affairs of local school divisions" by making decrees about property taxes and administration costs. "Its disappointing to see that and to have the government again say to school divisions, You need to look at administrative costs and keep squeezing admin costs. Theres only so many efficiencies that can be found," he said. "Its just kinda of deja vu based on last year. It was disappointing," Gould said of the $6.6-million funding boost. "It doesnt even keep pace with the rate of inflation, so it essentially translates again, for the second year, to a cut for educational funding by about 1.5 per cent." While all school divisions in Manitoba are assured of 98 per cent of their provincial funding year over year, 15 divisions will receive more money in 2019-20 and 22 divisions will get less. One school division Seven Oaks will see its funding percentage frozen. Goertzen said the divisions' funding is calculated through an "unduly complicated" formula that includes enrolment, capital costs and equalization payments. He said the funding model will be revisited after the province's newly announced review of kindergarten-to-Grade-12 education next year. The largest division, Winnipeg School Division (WSD) represents 33,000 Manitoba students and faces a 0.4 per cent funding decrease next year. "I feel disappointed and I feel that after seeing (decreases) for the last couple of years, I feel that the Manitoba government is telling us that theyre not interested in investing in education," said Lisa Naylor, chairwoman of divisions financial and personnel committee. She called last year's budgeting process "very tough" and expects more of the same this year. While she wouldnt speculate about what WSD may need to cut to make its 2019-20 budget work, Naylor noted it likely won't be administration costs. "We have nowhere to cut for administration because we already had our administration costs lower than what the government asked us to cap at last year. Weve been cutting a little bit of administration every year for the last four years, and so thats not an area that wed be looking at to reduce further," she said. NDP leader Wab Kinew noted the lack of school funding will hurt students. "The Pallister government must fund education properly, by keeping pace with enrolment and the rate of economic growth. Class sizes are getting bigger and that means Pallisters plan gets a failing grade," he said in a prepared statement. Goertzen believes Bill 28 (The Public Services Sustainability Act) will help school divisions with their budgeting, since the legislation has frozen public-sector wages for two years and salaries make up about 80 per cent of divisions budgets. The bill, which has been passed but not proclaimed by the Tory government, is being challenged in court by 29 unions. The case is set for November. jessica.botelho@freepress.mb.ca Twitter: @_jessbu Following a sleepy, snowy Christmas break, it didn't take long for Manitoba's angriest man to make his presence known. Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 23/1/2019 (877 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. Following a sleepy, snowy Christmas break, it didn't take long for Manitoba's angriest man to make his presence known. It was this past Monday, and Premier Brian Pallister summoned journalists to the Manitoba legislature with only 90 minutes notice. That is typically shorthand for "the premier is about to erupt on something and we need to get there as soon as possible." Premier Brian Pallister addresses media at the Manitoba Legislative Building at a hastily called press conference on Monday. (Trevor Hagan / Winnipeg Free Press) The topic for this hastily convened scrum was innocuously described as "intergovernmental relations." When it was over, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Quebec Premier Francois Legault and Winnipeg Mayor Brian Bowman had felt the premier's steel. Pallister lashed out with relish at Trudeau and Legault over a face-to-face meeting between the two men earlier this month. It was at this mini-summit that the Quebec premier delivered an actual list of demands he would like to see Ottawa fulfil before Canadians go to the polls in the fall. Many political observers interpreted Legault's list as a thinly veiled offer to help Trudeau buy votes ahead of an election in which Quebec will be a major focus of attention by all major political parties. Pallister accused Legault of "old-style brokerage politics." As for Trudeau, Pallister suggested he was actually enabling this behaviour. "Canada doesn't need kings pandering to feudal barons," Pallister told reporters. "What they need is a prime minister who demonstrates respect for all of Canada." It's safe to assume that Legault's brazenness raised eyebrows among first ministers from coast to coast. However, none of them convened a scrum to bash a fellow first minister. It's safe to assume that Legault's brazenness raised eyebrows among first ministers from coast to coast. However, none of them convened a scrum to bash a fellow first minister. Typically, first ministers demonstrate considerable deference when it comes to another premier's statements and decisions. When Legault presents Trudeau with a list of demands, he knows it will play well with a large segment of the Quebec population.He will be seen as a political leader standing up for his citizens. Something that Pallister should be able to empathize with. Pallister lashed out with relish at Trudeau and Legault over a face-to-face meeting between the two men earlier this month. (Trevor Hagan / Winnipeg Free Press) It's also important to note that every premier in Canada, including Manitoba's, has a "list" of stuff they want to extract from Ottawa. Pallister should be commended for not presenting his like a grocery-shopping reminder. But he shouldn't pretend that he hasn't compiled one of his own. Perhaps Pallister believes that attacking other premiers is fair ball, because in doing so, he is simply playing to his base. And there is no doubt that likening Trudeau and Legault to medieval oligarchs will earn him some knee-slapping guffaws here in Manitoba. But it's not a good look for the premier of Manitoba, or any first minister, for that matter. There is no doubt that likening Trudeau and Legault to medieval oligarchs will earn him some kneeslapping guffaws here in Manitoba. But it's not a good look for the premier of Manitoba, or any first minister, for that matter. If tradition is not persuasive, Pallister might take note that other premiers in this country have been considerably more deferential when it comes to Manitoba government decisions and statements. Last fall, when Pallister torpedoed his own carbon-tax plan essentially offering no alternative to Trudeau's national levy it put provinces with existing carbon-pricing schemes in a bad position. One of the best consequences of Trudeau's initiative is a country where similar level of carbon pricing exists in all provinces; if some provinces tax carbon and others do not, it essentially punishes those jurisdictions that have put plans in place. In this week's media scrum, Pallister flatly denied Bowman's request, noting that in this and most other aspects of provincial-municipal relations, "the tail does not wag the dog." (Trevor Hagan / Winnipeg Free Press) For the record, nobody from British Columbia, Alberta or Quebec provinces that already have some form of carbon pricing called out Pallister for his decision. And to date, Legault has not responded in kind with a response to Pallister's harsh words. That certainly makes Legault look more like a statesman than his Manitoba counterpart. As for Bowman, Pallister's most recent comments suggest his relationship with the mayor is full-on dysfunctional. Bowman drew the ire of the premier earlier in January when he asked for written confirmation of provincial support before the city drafts its 2019 budget. Bowman's request was politically provocative; the province has never provided written confirmation of provincial grants and transfers before March. Bowman did not say it explicitly, but his demands suggest pretty clearly he doesn't trust the premier to deliver on a total amount of financial support that is similar to what the city received last year. In this week's media scrum, Pallister flatly denied Bowman's request, noting that in this and most other aspects of provincial-municipal relations, "the tail does not wag the dog." It is certainly within the premier's prerogative to take a hard line on Bowman's comment. What Pallister is not entitled to is the string of misinformation he used to justify his position. It is certainly within the premier's prerogative to take a hard line on Bowman's comment. What Pallister is not entitled to is the string of misinformation he used to justify his position. He told reporters that no other province provides advance written confirmation of grants and transfers ahead of provincial budgets. The Twitterverse erupted with evidence that Alberta and Saskatchewan both provide early, formal confirmation to help local governments set their budgets. Then, as more evidence of the inherent injustice of Bowman's demand, Pallister denied that his government gets any advance information from Ottawa on federal support for Manitoba. That is also untrue; the federal government publishes full details of federal transfer payments in December of each year, three months before most provinces set their budgets. Any legitimate argument that Pallister had about the unreasonable nature of Bowman's request has been officially undermined by a torrent of untruths. As is almost always the case, these acts of aggression are big winners with core Tory supporters, who likely care little about the vagaries of intergovernmental affairs, the traditions of first ministers and facts about grants to local government. But they are not elegant. Such is the fate of a province led by a premier who loves a good fight more than he desires a fair solution. dan.lett@freepress.mb.ca Manitoba Public Insurance slashed its funding for community groups in half this fiscal year, a move that came on the heels of an assurance from the former Crown Services minister, who told non-profit organizations there was no need to fear cuts. Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 23/1/2019 (877 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. Manitoba Public Insurance slashed its funding for community groups in half this fiscal year, a move that came on the heels of an assurance from the former Crown Services minister, who told non-profit organizations there was no need to fear cuts. For the 2018-19 fiscal calendar, which began March 1, MPI cut funding for its community support program, which can be tapped by agencies dedicated to improving the quality of life of Manitobans, by 49.5 per cent. The previous year the Crown corporation budgeted $530,490 for the program, although it paid out only $355,164, or 66 per cent of the total amount budgeted. This fiscal year, MPI cut community funding to $268,000. Former Crown Services minister Cliff Cullen told non-profit organizations not to expect substantive changes in the way MPI helped them with grants. (Mikaela MacKenzie / Winnipeg Free Press files) The cut came less than a month after former Crown Services minister Cliff Cullen said in early February that agencies didnt need to fear funding reductions in the wake of the provincial government halting financial support to the Manitoba Community Services Council. "Our government has ordered no changes to funding agreement made between Manitobas Crown corporations and community groups. The Crowns have not submitted their final budgets for the coming year as of yet, but we have no reason to expect substantive changes to the types of grants and funding they provide to community organizations," Cullen said at the time. "Funding levels for community organizations are expected to remain consistent from past years, while reducing costly administrative overlap and duplication." Requests for comment were submitted to the office of current Crown Services Minister Colleen Mayer, but a spokesman directed the Free Press to MPI on her behalf. MPI spokesman Brian Smiley said in a written statement Wednesday that the corporation began a comprehensive review of its guidelines for both its community support and business partnerships in 2017. "This review was conducted with the goal of fiscal prudence in order to ensure MPIs insurance rates remain among the lowest in Canada," Smiley said. "Contributions have been revised to directly align with MPIs core insurance, loss prevention and road-safety measures." Spokesman Brian Smiley says the way MPI funds non-profit groups has been revised. (Bruce Bumstead / Brandon Sun files) While MPI moved to drastically reduce support for community groups, the funding available to businesses has remained relatively stable. In 2017-18, MPI budgeted $685,000 for business partnerships, which dropped to $635,000 this year a decrease of seven per cent. One of the groups hit by the reduction in funding for community groups is the Manitoba Brain Injury Association, a non-profit dedicated to providing services and support to those dealing with the after-effects of brain injuries. While the organization continues to receive some money from MPI for its Prevent Alcohol and Risk-related Trauma in Youth (P.A.R.T.Y.) program, which aims, among other things, to raise awareness among children of the dangers of drunk driving, it no longer receives help in its fundraising efforts for brain injury supports. "We dont have a lot of money to begin with. Were a non-profit. So even though it was a relatively small amount of money, we did feel it absolutely, because we dont have much," said MBIA executive director David Sullivan. In a written statement, NDP Leader Wab Kinew said the MBIA deserves "full, consistent funding so that it can continue to do important work," while claiming the province is refusing to take responsibility for this "damaging cut." Liberal Leader Dougald Lamont said the situation fits a pattern of behaviour for the current government, where it puts pressure on Crown corporations to cut funding, only to deny the province is responsible once the public learns whats happened. "The government has an obligation to not just hand money to businesses, but to invest in the community. I think partly this is just part of their entire mindset," Lamont said. "They want value for money, and to them, for some reason, that means giving more money to private businesses. "Its a really frustrating and strange mix because theres a real need for that kind of community investment... To only focus on business partnerships is contrary to what these organizations should be doing because there are things of value that are hard to make a profit on." ryan.thorpe@freepress.mb.ca Twitter: @rk_thorpe PARIS - The Latest on former Renault-Nissan's former chairman Carlos Ghosn as he remains detained in Japan (all times local): Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 24/1/2019 (876 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. FILE - In this April 25, 2016, file photo, then Renault-Nissan's CEO Carlos Ghosn speaks during a press conference held at the Auto China 2016 in Beijing. French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire said Thursday, Jan. 24, 2019, that Ghosn, who is fighting breach of trust and other charges in Japan, resigned as head of Renault. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan, File) PARIS - The Latest on former Renault-Nissan's former chairman Carlos Ghosn as he remains detained in Japan (all times local): 2:35 p.m. Nissan's Chief Executive Hiroto Saikawa welcomed Renault's new leadership. He told reporters at Nissan's headquarters in Yokohama, southwest of Tokyo: "This is a first step as we turn a page in the alliance." He said Nissan plans an extraordinary general shareholders' meeting, likely sometime mid-April, to dismiss former Chairman Carlos Ghosn and director Greg Kelly as board members. The company will also be taking steps in April and May to beef up governance at Nissan, he said. Saikawa has denounced Ghosn as behind various financial wrongdoing and using company assets and money for personal gain, and has said governance must be fixed. 1:45 p.m. The board of French carmaker Renault has chosen new leadership to replace industry veteran Carlos Ghosn. It has named Jean-Dominique Senard as chairman and Renault executive Thierry Bollore as CEO. Ghosn, who previously held both posts, resigned after weeks of detention in Japan, where he is fighting charges including breach of trust. In a written statement, Renault's board expressed "its confidence in the new leadership." Senard has been at the helm of French tire company Michelin for almost seven years. Bollore, who joined Renault in 2012, was appointed deputy chief executive officer of the group last November as part of the transitional leadership after Ghosn's arrest in Japan. 10:00 a.m. Japan's prosecutors are defending the continued detention of Nissan's former Chairman Carlos Ghosn, more than two months after he was arrested. Shin Kukimoto, deputy chief prosecutor, told reporters Thursday the authorities want Ghosn in custody because of fears he might tamper with evidence. Kukimoto also said Japan lacks a system for electronic monitoring of suspects released on bail. Ghosn offered to wear such a monitoring device in his latest request to be released. The Tokyo District Court has twice rejected his formal requests to be allowed out of the Tokyo Detention Center on bail. Ghosn says he is innocent of any wrongdoing. He has been charged with falsifying financial statements and breach of trust. 9:40 a.m. France's finance minister says that Carlos Ghosn, who is fighting breach of trust and other charges in Japan, has resigned as head of Renault. Ghosn has been detained for more than two months in Japan. French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire said at the World Economic Forum in Davos on Thursday that Ghosn formally handed in his resignation to Renault's temporary leadership on Wednesday evening. Renault had kept Ghosn on as chairman even after its Japanese alliance partners Nissan Motor Co. and Mitsubishi Motors Corp. dismissed him from those posts. 12:44 a.m. The board of French carmaker Renault SA plans to meet to choose new leadership to replace auto industry powerhouse Carlos Ghosn, who is fighting fraud and breach of trust charges in Japan. The board meeting Thursday is expected to name Jean-Dominique Senard of Michelin as chairman and Renault executive Thierry Bollore as CEO. Ghosn previously held both posts. Renault initially stood by Ghosn after his Nov. 19 arrest, naming temporary leadership. But the French government, a key Renault shareholder, has pressed him to be replaced. Ghosn denies Japanese accusations that he under-reported income as chairman of Nissan and other charges. French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire said Wednesday in the Swiss resort of Davos that consolidating the Renault-Nissan alliance should be the "absolute priority" of the new Renault leadership. TORONTO - Rogers Communications Inc. raised its dividend for the first time since 2015 on Thursday as it reported a better-than-expected fourth-quarter profit, but CEO Joe Natale told analysts that it may be awhile before the payout goes up further. Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 24/1/2019 (876 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. A man speaks on a mobile phone outside Rogers Communications Inc.'s annual general meeting of shareholders in Toronto on April 22, 2014. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darren Calabrese TORONTO - Rogers Communications Inc. raised its dividend for the first time since 2015 on Thursday as it reported a better-than-expected fourth-quarter profit, but CEO Joe Natale told analysts that it may be awhile before the payout goes up further. "The No. 1 priority for our cash is investing in the future of our business," Natale said in a conference call. "We will look at dividend increases, you know, as we deem appropriate but not on some sort of annual increase cycle." The wireless, cable, internet and media company also said Thursday it expects to spend between $2.85 billion and $3.05 billion on capital projects in 2019, up at least $160 million from last year when capital spending totalled $2.79 billion. Natale said the strength of its 2018 results gave Rogers confidence to increase both its capital budget and its quarterly dividend which paid out a total of $988 million to shareholders last year. Raising the quarterly dividend by two cents to 50 cents per share. The increase came as Rogers announced it earned $502 million or 97 cents per diluted share for the quarter ended Dec. 31. That's up from $499 million or 97 cents per share in the same period a year earlier. On an adjusted basis, Rogers said it earned $585 million or $1.13 per diluted share for its most recent quarter, up from an adjusted profit of $525 million or $1.02 per diluted share a year earlier. Revenue totalled $3.94 billion, up from $3.73 billion in the fourth quarter of 2017, when Rogers experienced lost sales during the important pre-Christmas period due to system malfunctions. Analysts on average expected Rogers to have adjusted earnings of $1.08 cents per share, according to Thomson Reuters Eikon. Revenue was anticipated to come in at nearly $3.88 billion for the quarter ended Dec. 31. The company said revenue growth during the quarter ended Dec. 31 was primarily driven by its wireless operations, which added 112,000 net subscribers during the quarter to end the year at 10.8 million wireless subscribers. Average monthly revenue per wireless user also increased to $65.12 from $63.46 a year earlier. However, Natale said the company's wireline segment which include residential cable and internet services also performed well despite intense price discounting from its major rival, which is Bell Canada. "There's a continued demand for broadband data to the tune of about 30 per cent growth per year. So it's very strong demand across the board," Natale said. "Our goal is to continue to leverage the power of Ignite (the company's latest internet and TV services) to offer our customers the choice and help them manage the whole home around that." Rogers is the first of Canada's three big national wireless carriers to report its 2018 fourth-quarter and year-end results. BCE and Telus are to issue their reports in early February. Last week, Shaw Communications Inc. Western Canada's largest cable company and owner of Freedom Mobile, which operates in Ontario, Alberta and B.C. beat analyst estimates with a nearly 70 per cent increase in its first-quarter profit. Companies in this story: (TSX:RCI.B, TSX:BCE, TSX:T, TSX:SJR.B) Note to readers: This is a corrected story. An earlier version had the wrong year for 2017 fourth-quarter's revenue which was $3.73 billion. The ability of drones to interfere with airliners and inconvenience their passengers has now been demonstrated on two continents, and the problem is likely to get worse as the number of small, unmanned devices multiply. Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 23/1/2019 (877 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. FILE - In this April 29, 2018, file photo, a drone operator helps to retrieve a drone after photographing over Hart Island in New York. Drone sightings reported by airline pilots over New Jersey renew questions about how to accommodate the popular devices into the nationAos airspace. The ability of drones to interfere with aviation is likely to get worse as the number of machines multiplies. Many store-bought drones come with technology to prevent owners from flying them near airports, but there are hacks, and home-built machines donAot necessarily include those protections. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig, File) The ability of drones to interfere with airliners and inconvenience their passengers has now been demonstrated on two continents, and the problem is likely to get worse as the number of small, unmanned devices multiply. Law enforcement authorities are trying to figure out who flew a drone so high and so close to Newark Liberty International Airport that incoming flights were held up briefly during a peak hour at one of the nation's busiest airports. Flights resumed within about 30 minutes much more quickly than after a similar incident last month at London's Gatwick Airport. Here are some common questions readers have about these incidents and brief answers. WHAT HAPPENED IN NEW JERSEY? The pilots of both a Southwest Airlines flight and a United Airlines flight reported seeing a drone around 3,500 feet (1,000 metres) above Teterboro, New Jersey, about 9 miles (15 kilometres) from the Newark airport, on Tuesday. As a precaution, the Federal Aviation Administration held up 43 flights already in the air and bound for Newark; nine landed instead at other airports. Another 170 Newark-bound planes were briefly delayed on the ground before taking off from other airports around the country. No video of the reported drone has surfaced. WHO WAS OPERATING THE DRONE? Authorities have not determined that. The FAA alerted New Jersey State Police and the FBI. CAN WE BE SURE THERE WAS A DRONE? Some drone operators are skeptical about a drone reported at 3,500 feet and whether pilots in a fast-moving jet could accurately identify such a tiny object. Vic Moss, a founder of Drone U, a drone-operator school based in Albuquerque, New Mexico, said many consumer drones are restricted from going that high, although home-built devices or older drones are not. There are, however, videos online showing drones at such altitudes. "It's possible, but it's just incredibly unlikely that it was an actual drone," Moss said. "Drones are the new UFO." WHAT HAPPENED IN LONDON? In mid-December, hundreds of flights were cancelled and more than 100,000 people were stranded or delayed over two days after reports of drones spotted near the runway at Gatwick Airport, a major international hub. A few days later, police arrested two men living near the airport but later cleared them, and no other suspects have been identified. Police also said that two drones found near the airport were not involved in the disruption. A few weeks later, a reported drone sighting briefly halted flights departing from London's Heathrow Airport, one of the world's busiest. WHY IS THIS HAPPENING? If the intrusions in New Jersey and London were deliberate, the motives are not clear. Officials in London said there was no indication that the Gatwick incident was terror-related. A criminal investigation has been opened into the Heathrow incident. WHAT ARE THE LAWS ABOUT FLYING DRONES NEAR AIRPORTS? Federal rules forbid operating a drone within 5 miles (8 kilometres) of most airports or above 400 feet (120 metres) without a waiver from the FAA. ARE DRONE MANUFACTURERS RESPONSIBLE? Devices from the biggest maker of consumer drones, DJI, include so-called geofencing technology designed to prevent the aircraft from taking off near an airport. A drone that is launched properly but enters a no-fly zone will hover at the edge of the zone, according to a DJI spokesman. Owners say DJI can take days to unlock no-fly restrictions around even small airports. But DJI says those requests now are automated and handled quickly. However, many drones offered for sale don't include such restrictions: They have no GPS or geofencing. CAN OPERATORS DISABLE SAFETY SYSTEMS? Yes. There are online discussions in which drone operators talk about hacks, but they involve some level of technological sophistication. "The geofences (from manufacturers like DJI) are in place, but in some cases they can be defeated it's not easy," said Tom Kilpatrick, a drone pilot who founded a drone company in Oklahoma. "They are designed to prevent the average drone operator from flying near an airport." Home-built drones would likely not have those same safety features. WHAT'S BEING DONE TO PREVENT DRONES FROM INTERFERING? DJI says it has developed technology to track nearby drones their flight path and the operator's location using mobile, ground-based units. The technology is currently only used to identify other DJI drones. WHAT ARE AIRPORTS DOING? The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which operates the Newark airport, said in a statement that agency officials met last week with counterparts from the FAA, FBI and Homeland Security Department "to review and enhance protocols for the rapid detection and interdiction of drones." A spokesman would not provide specifics and declined to say whether the airport has any anti-drone technology. After the Gatwick incident, British officials said they have deployed drone-defence equipment at other U.K. airports, although they gave few details. ARE TOUGHER RULES IN THE WORKS? Late last year, Congress gave the Homeland Security and Justice departments authority to develop and deploy a system to identify drones and disable even destroy drones that authorities consider a threat. FAA spokesman Greg Martin said any such system has to be designed carefully so that it doesn't interfere with navigation equipment used by planes. Associated Press journalist Julie Jacobson in New York contributed to this report. David Koenig can be reached at http://twitter.com/airlinewriter This story has been updated to correct that DJI says a drone entering into a non-fly zone will hover at the edge of the zone, not return its launch site and land by itself. Six years ago, Princess Auto hired a senior retail executive from Quebec in anticipation of its careful expansion into that province. Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 23/1/2019 (877 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. Six years ago, Princess Auto hired a senior retail executive from Quebec in anticipation of its careful expansion into that province. This week, the Winnipeg-based family-owned retailer announced plans for its second Montreal-area store both which will open this fall. When the company hired Marc-Andre Fournier as its vice-president of operations for Quebec, he worked out of its Panet Road head office for some time, learning the corporate culture. Subsequently, four Quebec store managers were hired more than a year ago to give them the same chance to learn about the company, which is now in its 86th year. Ken Larson, Princess Autos senior vice-president of retail and marketing, said the Quebec market has been on the companys radar for a long time. He also said its a little embarrassing that its taken the company so long to get there. When it opened its second Ottawa-area store in Kanata, Ont., 18 months ago and business was booming, it became clear there was pent-up demand in Quebec. "We were seeing all these Quebec customers coming across the border to the Kanata store, and we have all kinds of e-commerce orders coming out of Quebec," Larson said. "It just seemed to be a natural fit." Princess Auto has been producing francophone flyers, catalogues and a website for some time. Larson said while there was a language issue behind the cautious effort in entering Quebec, that was not the only reason for the delay in launching stores in the second-most-populous province in the country. "Obviously, there is a cultural element. You cant hide from that," Larson said. SUPPLIED PHOTO Princess Auto retail stores are around 40,000 square feet, approximately half the size of stories being opened by potential competitors. But, he said it also took time to find the retail deals that fit Princess Autos model. As well, he said the slow and careful expansion into Quebec was about Princess Auto learning about the Quebec market. "It was so important to have Marc-Andre and his team... understand our business and culture and vice versa," he said. "We needed to take the time to understand... what kind of market we are going to be in." The Laval store will be the 48th store in the chain that has defied the odds in the hyper-competitive hardware category. Princess Auto definitely has a number of products that, for instance, Canadian Tire might also have in its 1,700 locations. But, Princess Auto has retained a clear emphasis on niche items and those hard-to-find items like specialized metal-working tools. "We look at a lot of the other retailers as places for the do-it-yourselfers," Larson said. "We cater to the figure-it-outers. We have a neat niche market." Princess Autos stores are around 40,000 square feet, less than half the size of the stores that Lowes, for instance, is opening in Canada. (Lowes is holding the grand opening of its second Winnipeg store today.) Over the past year, Princess Auto changed its e-commerce model to ship from every one of its locations, rather than from a central distribution hub. Larson said it has really opened up the e-commerce channel for the chain. "Products and our people are the most important parts of our business, so now our customers can source something from any of our stores online," he said. "We have a crazy surplus section in all our stores. We pride ourselves in having unique items. People from across the country can see the inventory anywhere, and that is really bolstering sales." martin.cash@freepress.mb.ca BEIJING - Chinese tech giant Huawei announced plans Wednesday for a next-generation smartphone that will use its own technology instead of U.S. components, manoeuvring to gain a competitive edge and sidestep complaints it is a security risk. Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 24/1/2019 (876 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. Ryan Ding, chief of Huawei's carrier business group, holds a Tiangang 5G base station chipset, speaks during a product presentation in Beijing, Thursday, Jan. 24, 2019. Chinese tech giant Huawei announced plans to release a next-generation smartphone based on its own technology instead of U.S. components, stepping up efforts to compete with global industry leaders. (AP Photo/Andy Wong) BEIJING - Chinese tech giant Huawei announced plans Wednesday for a next-generation smartphone that will use its own technology instead of U.S. components, manoeuvring to gain a competitive edge and sidestep complaints it is a security risk. The leading supplier of network switching gear for phone companies, Huawei Technologies Ltd. is spending heavily to develop its own chips, an area where the U.S. dominates. That can reduce Huawei's multibillion-dollar annual components bill and help insulate it against possible supply disruptions when U.S.-Chinese relations are strained. The handset, billed by Huawei as the first foldable fifth-generation smartphone, will be unveiled next month at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, the industry's biggest annual event, said Richard Yu, CEO of the company's consumer unit. The phone is based on Huawei's own Kirin 980 chipset and Balong 5000 modem. The company says the Kirin 980, released in August, performs on a par with Qualcomm Inc.'s widely used Snapdragon 845. Sales of Huawei smartphones and other consumer products rose more than 50 per cent last year over 2017, showing "no influence" from Western security warnings, Yu told reporters. He said the consumer unit's sales topped $52 billion, or more than half of the $100 billion in annual revenue the company has forecast. Huawei has yet to release 2018 results for the whole company. "In this complicated political environment, we still maintain strong growth," Yu said. Chinese companies are trying to develop technology to better compete with Western suppliers in telecoms, solar power, electric cars, biotechnology and other fields. The ruling Communist Party's plans for state-led development of such industries, along with robotics and artificial intelligence, helped trigger a trade war with President Donald Trump. Both sides have raised tariffs on tens of billions of dollars of each other's goods in the dispute over American complaints Beijing steals or pressures foreign companies to hand over technology. Washington also says Chinese technology plans violate Beijing's market-opening obligations. Huawei surpassed Apple as the No. 2 global smartphone brand behind Samsung in mid-2018. It uses Qualcomm in its high-end fourth-generation smartphones and earlier Kirin versions in lower-end models. The company, based in the southern city of Shenzhen near Hong Kong, also has developed chips for servers and mobile devices. Apple Inc. and Samsung Electronics Ltd. already make their own chips. Qualcomm has far more smartphone chip technology but Huawei is catching up, said Xi Wang of IDC. "Generally speaking, Huawei's chips are equal to Qualcomm chips in performance," Wang said. "Not only at the mid-level but at the high end, Huawei can compete with Qualcomm." Huawei, founded in 1987 by a former military engineer, has rejected accusations it is controlled by the ruling Communist Party or modifies its equipment to allow eavesdropping. Its U.S. market evaporated after a congressional panel labeled Huawei and its smaller Chinese rival ZTE Corp. security risks in 2012 and told phone companies to avoid dealing with them. ZTE was nearly driven into bankruptcy last year after the Washington cut off access to U.S. technology over its exports to Iran and North Korea. President Donald Trump restored access after ZTE paid a $1 billion fine and agreed to replace its executive team and install U.S.-chosen compliance officers. Australia, Japan and some other governments also have imposed curbs on use of Huawei technology. The company has stepped up efforts to mollify security fears after its chief financial officer, Meng Wanzhou, was arrested in Canada on Dec. 1 on U.S. charges she lied to banks about trade with Iran. Huawei's founder and CEO, Ren Zhengfei, is Meng's father. In a rare public appearance, he told foreign reporters in a 2 1/2-hour interview on Jan. 15 that he would reject requests from Chinese authorities for confidential information about its customers. Yu said that despite "political noise" in some countries, Huawei sales outside the United States haven't suffered due to security concerns. The company says it serves 45 of the 50 biggest global phone companies and has signed contracts with 30 carriers to test 5G technology. "Worldwide, all the carriers love us," said Yu. Yu repeated Ren's assurances that Huawei has never received an official request for confidential information about customers. "At Huawei, we never do these kinds of things," he said. "We always protect our customer." Jeremie Dhavernas carries the weary, battle-ready look of someone slugging it out in a perpetual war. Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 24/1/2019 (876 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. Jeremie Dhavernas, staff member at the community organization Unemployment Action Movement, is seen in the organization's classroom in Montreal, Thursday, Jan. 17, 2019. Dhavernas helps people navigate the employment insurance process, from applications to appeals. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Ryan Remiorz Jeremie Dhavernas carries the weary, battle-ready look of someone slugging it out in a perpetual war. In the fight against poverty, the Quebec community worker is enlisted to help people navigate the employment insurance system. "It's a very complicated program, even just getting through to get information about it," he said at the office of Mouvement Action-Chomage de Montreal, translated as the Montreal unemployment action movement. In the wake of General Motors' announcement in November that it plans to shutter its Oshawa assembly plant this year affecting nearly 3,000 unionized workers and staff and an economy that shows signs of cooling, experts say Canadians would be wise to brush up on EI and stay alert to its limitations. Typically, anyone who loses their job through no fault of their own layoffs or work shortages, for example is entitled to benefits. Those benefits amount to 55 per cent of your weekly wage, up to a maximum takeaway of $562 per week. The cutoff point is a salary of $53,100, above which recipients receive the same amount regardless of income. Benefits flow for between 14 and 45 weeks, depending on the number of hours worked in the past year and the regional unemployment rate. The minimum threshold for time worked varies by region and hinges on employment levels. In Vancouver, where unemployment is below 6.1 per cent, an applicant needs to have worked 700 hours over the last year to be eligible. That amounts to more than four months of full-time work at eight hours a day. Workers in eastern Nova Scotia, where unemployment sits north of 13 per cent, need only have laboured for 420 hours. The most that any one recipient could reap in regular benefits is about $25,300 in high-unemployment regions and $21,350 in low-unemployment regions. The application process begins at Canadas employment insurance benefits page, which lists the personal information and employment details needed to file a request. The earlier you start the better even without a record of employment from your employer, which they are obliged to provide since a filing delay of more than four weeks after your last day of work can cost you benefits, the government warns. Employment and Social Development Canada said in an email that "the EI rules can be complicated and everyones situation is unique." "Service Canada agents undergo extensive training so that they can provide assistance to you, and ensure you receive all benefits to which you are entitled," the department said. Neil Cohen, executive director of the Community Unemployed Help Centre in Winnipeg, said many of the people he helps wind up waiting two or three months for a decision on their claims application. "The program has really been gutted to a large extent," he said, citing higher thresholds for hours worked since the early 1990s. "That's a huge problem, particularly for part-time workers, contract workers often women and marginalized communities." The appeals process can be exhausting as well, Cohen said. The Harper government overhauled the system, paring down a tripartite appeals panel that had representation from labour, business and government to a single adjudicator. Donna Wood, an adjunct professor in political science at the University of Victoria, called on the government to restore the Canada Employment Insurance Commission to a more independent status with more authority to adjust premiums. "We've got a pretty meagre insurance program...Its better than the United States for sure, but compared to most European countries, it's pretty skimpy," Wood said. Most urgently, though, potential recipients should apply as soon as they can, and seek out the help of community organizations, she said. Great-West Lifeco Inc. has signed a deal to sell its U.S. individual life insurance and annuity business to a subsidiary of Protective Life Corp. for $1.6 billion, which is below the unit's value on the Manitoba-based insurer's books. Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 24/1/2019 (876 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. Great-West Life world headquarters is pictured in Winnipeg on February 19, 2013. Great-West Lifeco Inc. has signed a deal to sell its U.S. individual life insurance and annuity business to a subsidiary of Protective Life Corp. for $1.6 billion. THE CANADIAN PRESS/John Woods Great-West Lifeco Inc. has signed a deal to sell its U.S. individual life insurance and annuity business to a subsidiary of Protective Life Corp. for $1.6 billion, which is below the unit's value on the Manitoba-based insurer's books. The deal will allow the company to focus on the retirement and asset management markets in the United States, said Great-West's chief executive Paul Mahon. We continually evaluate capital deployment opportunities at Great-West Lifeco," he said in a statement on Thursday. "With the strengthened capital position resulting from this transaction, we will also consider other capital management activities, including potential share repurchases, to mitigate the earnings impact of the sale. The business that Protective Life, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Dai-ichi Life Holdings Inc., will acquire includes bank-owned and corporate-owned life insurance, single premium life insurance, individual annuities, and closed block life insurance and annuities. Great-West Life & Annuity will retain a block of participating policies, which will be administered by Protective, the companies said. The business contributed about $120 million to its net earnings for the first three quarters of 2018, Great-West said. But the insurer expects to recognize a closing book value loss of about $93 million and transaction costs of $76 million. Great-West's shares were down more than four per cent in midday trading on the Toronto Stock Exchange to $28.03. The transaction is expected to close in the first half of this year, subject to regulatory and customary closing conditions. "This business aligns well with our long-term plans for growth and scale," said Protective's chief executive Richard J. Bielen. "The life and annuity business has been a cornerstone of Protective throughout our history and will continue to be an area of future growth for the company." The deal also raises questions about whether Great-West's next strategic move would involve Putnam Investments, its U.S. global asset manager and retirement plan provider, said National Bank of Canada Financial Markets analyst Gabriel Dechaine. The transaction Great-West Life announced Thursday has strategic rationale, but Great-West isn't in dire need of a cash infusion, he said in a note to clients. The $1.6 billion of deployable cash from Great-West's sale of its U.S. individual life insurance and annuity business will be added to the insurer's existing excess capital of $3.6 billion, and a debt capacity of $3 billion and holding company cash of $900 million, Dechaine added. "As such, we believe the sale of non-core U.S. assets will raise expectations that an M&A transaction involving Putnam is imminent." Companies in this story: (TSX:GWO) DAVOS, Switzerland - France's finance minister says thatCarlos Ghosn, who isfighting breach of trust and other charges in Japan,has resigned as head of Renault. Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 24/1/2019 (877 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. FILE - In this Feb. 12, 2015, file photo, Chairman and CEO of Renault-Nissan Carlos Ghosn addresses media during a press conference held in Paris. The board of French carmaker Renault SA plans to meet to choose new leadership to replace auto industry powerhouse Carlos Ghosn, fighting fraud charges in Japan. (AP Photo/Jacques Brinon, File) DAVOS, Switzerland - France's finance minister says thatCarlos Ghosn, who isfighting breach of trust and other charges in Japan,has resigned as head of Renault. Ghosnhas been detained for more than two months in Japan. French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire said at the World Economic Forum in Davos on Thursday that Ghosn formally handed in his resignation to Renault's temporary leadership on Wednesday evening. The board of French carmaker Renault SA is expected to name Jean-Dominique Senard of Michelin as chairman, and Renault executive Thierry Bollore as CEO. Ghosn denies Japanese accusations that he under-reported income as chairman of Nissan and falsifying financial reports.. AUSTIN, Texas - An oil and gas company operating in West Texas has donated $1 million to reach the fundraising goal for repairs to what's touted as the world's largest spring-fed swimming pool. Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 24/1/2019 (876 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. AUSTIN, Texas - An oil and gas company operating in West Texas has donated $1 million to reach the fundraising goal for repairs to what's touted as the world's largest spring-fed swimming pool. About $2 million in repairs continue at Balmorhea (bal-mor-RAY') State Park pool. Executives with Apache Corporation on Thursday presented a check to the Texas Parks & Wildlife Foundation in Austin. The historic pool, located 120 miles (193 kilometres) southwest of Midland, has been closed since last May after a partial collapse during cleaning. Experts blamed erosion linked to flow from San Solomon Springs. Officials in August announced a fundraising effort for repairs to the pool built by the federal Civilian Conservation Corps in the 1930s. Apache on Thursday pledged an additional $1 million for an endowment for Balmorhea State Park. WINNIPEG - The best friend of a woman who was shot dead during a botched robbery sang a mourning song and called for an end to the killing of Indigenous women before a judge sentenced one of the men convicted in the crime to 15 years. Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 23/1/2019 (877 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. Melissa Stevenson, centre, stands outside the Winnipeg courthouse with Henry McKay, left, and Travis Bighetty after Christopher Brass was sentenced to 15 years for manslaughter in the shooting death of Stevensons best friend, 29-year-old Jeanenne Fontaine, on Wednesday, Jan. 23, 2019. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Kelly Malone WINNIPEG - The best friend of a woman who was shot dead during a botched robbery sang a mourning song and called for an end to the killing of Indigenous women before a judge sentenced one of the men convicted in the crime to 15 years. Jeanenne Chantel Fontaine, 29, was shot in March 2017 before the house she was in was set on fire. A jury on Saturday found Christopher Brass and Jason Meilleur guilty of manslaughter. During the sentencing hearing for Brass on Wednesday, Melissa Onndinook Stevenson said in her victim impact statement that her friend was like a butterfly beautiful, small and strong. But she was also in tremendous pain after her 15-year-old cousin Tina Fontaine's body was pulled from the Red River in August 2014, Stevenson said. "She told me the death of her cousin Tina hit her hard, really hard," Stevenson said. Jeanenne Fontaine's brother testified that his sister started taking methamphetamine after their cousin's body was found. The man accused in the teen's death, Raymond Cormier, was acquitted last year. The girl had also spiralled downward after a family tragedy. Her father, Eugene Fontaine, was beaten to death in 2011. Two men pleaded guilty to manslaughter and victim impact statements at their trial described how Tina had a happy childhood but was unable to cope with her father's death and drifted away from the people closest to her. Tina's death sparked national outrage and renewed calls for an inquiry into missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls. The trial heard how three men showed up at Jeanenne Fontaine's house to collect a drug debt from her boyfriend. When he wasn't there, the situation turned into a botched robbery in which she was shot in the head and the house set on fire. One of the men, Malcolm Mitchell, pleaded guilty last month to second-degree murder and was sentenced to life. Meilleur is to be sentenced at a later date. The Crown argued that Brass and Meilleur should have known the situation would turn violent and that Brass had handed the loaded gun to Mitchell. Defence lawyers did not present evidence, but said during closing arguments that the Crown had failed to prove that a robbery was committed because a cellphone and other valuables were left untouched. They also pointed to witness testimony that Mitchell was alone with Fontaine in the bedroom when he shot her. Brass is already serving life sentences for the first-degree murder of Daniel Dipaolo, who was found dead in a Regina home in 2017, and for second-degree murder in the shooting of Bryer Prysianzniuk-Settee in Winnipeg in February of that same year. He will not be eligible for parole for 40 years. Justice Gerald Chartier accepted a joint submission from lawyers for the 15-year sentence, which will be served at the same time as his other convictions. Chartier said Brass instigated "generalized mayhem" throughout 2017 and Fontaine was one of many victims. "A young woman, innocent of any wrong-doing, was killed for a $45 drug debt," Chartier said. Outside court, Stevenson said it has been hard for family and friends to go to court for another trial of a slain loved one. But she hopes it sends a message that "the lives of our Indigenous girls matter." "She was important, she was loved and we are happy with the sentencing today," Stevenson said. "She's not held back in any way. Her spirit is free and resting." Furloughed EPA worker Jeff Herrema holds a sign outside the offices of U.S. Senator Mitch McConnell, in Park Hills, Ky., Tuesday. PANAMA CITY - Pope Francis insisted Thursday that public officials live simply, honestly and transparently as he opened a visit to a Central America that has been rife with corruption scandals and is now coping with political upheaval in nearby Venezuela. Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 24/1/2019 (876 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. Panamanians wait by the roadside for Pope Francis to drive past, in Panama City, Wednesday, Jan. 23, 2019. Pope Francis is in Panama to attend World Youth Day, the church's once-every-three-year pep rally that aims to invigorate the next generation of Catholics in their faith. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell) PANAMA CITY - Pope Francis insisted Thursday that public officials live simply, honestly and transparently as he opened a visit to a Central America that has been rife with corruption scandals and is now coping with political upheaval in nearby Venezuela. Francis didn't mention the Venezuela crisis during his first remarks in Panama after a meeting with President Juan Carlos Varela at the presidential palace. But his spokesman said he was following the situation closely, was praying for the Venezuelan people and supported "all efforts that help save the population from further suffering." Francis stuck to his script in Panama, celebrating the country's place as bridge between oceans and cultures and holding up the region's newest saint, slain Salvadoran Archbishop Oscar Romero, as a model for a humble church that accompanies the poor. He welcomed tens of thousands of young people to World Youth Day, the Catholic Church's big youth rally, and urged them to be builders of bridges of encounter, not "builders of walls that sow fear and look to divide and box people in," a clear reference to the proposed U.S.-Mexico border wall. But he warned that those same young people are increasingly demanding that public officials live lives that are coherent with the jobs entrusted to them, and build a "culture of greater transparency" between the public and private sectors. "They call upon them to live in simplicity and transparency, with a clear sense of responsibility for others and for our world," Francis told Varela and other Panamanian leaders. "To lead a life that demonstrates that public service is a synonym of honesty and justice, and opposed to all forms of corruption." Flanked by Panama's President Juan Carlos Varela, left, first lady Lorena Castillo, Pope Francis arrives at the foreign ministry headquarters Palacio Bolivar, in Panama City, Thursday, Jan. 24, 2019. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino) Transparency International estimates that as much as 1 per cent of Panama's GDP, approximately US$600 million, may have been lost to various corruption schemes during the presidency of Ricardo Martinelli, who governed Panama from 2009 to 2014. Martinelli was extradited to Panama last year from the United States to face political espionage and embezzlement charges. In addition, two of Martinelli's sons have been detained in the U.S. and are being sought on corruption charges in Panama. They are suspected of receiving more than $50 million in "undue payments" from Brazilian construction giant Odebrecht, which is at the centre of one of the largest graft scandals in history. Odebrecht has acknowledged paying nearly $800 million dollars in bribes in a dozen Latin American nations in return for favours and works contracts. That includes at least $59 million in Panama, although authorities say the real figure is likely much higher. In addition to the Martinelli sons, the scandal has already implicated former government ministers under the elder Martinelli as well as people linked to the party of the current president, Varela. The Martinelli family has denied involvement by the sons in the bribery scandal and alleges persecution by political foes. The former president also denies any wrongdoing and says he is being targeted politically. Francis' visit is taking place against the backdrop of both the turmoil in Venezuela and the ongoing migrant standoff in the United States, where the government is partly shut down over President Donald Trump's demand for congressional funding for a wall at the U.S.-Mexico border. History's first Latin American pope, who was born to Italian immigrants to Argentina, has made the plight of migrants a cornerstone of his papacy and denounced how fear of migrants was driving populist and nationalist sentiment across the globe. Speaking Thursday to Central American bishops, Francis urged church institutions from dioceses down to individual parishes to welcome and integrate migrants and serve as models for the rest of society to overcome fears of foreigners. And he urged them to look to Romero as inspiration for being a humble church that listens to the poor and accompanies them as a father accompanies his children. Francis said that young people today have few opportunities and face dangerous, difficult challenges, citing "domestic violence, the killing of women - our continent is experiencing a plague in this regard - armed gangs and criminals, drug trafficking, the sexual exploitation of minors and young people, and so on." Francis has frequently urged young people to resist easy temptations of drug dealing and gang membership, and to especially avoid the lure of corruption. It is a message that will likely resonate with the youth of the region. Transparency International's latest index of perceived corruption ranks the entire Central American region poorly, with the exception of Costa Rica. Panama ranked 96 out of 180 countries surveyed globally in 2017, better than many in the region including Nicaragua, El Salvador, Honduras and Guatemala, but still far from clean. In Guatemala, President Jimmy Morales has hamstrung the U.N.-sponsored International Commission against Impunity in Guatemala, which has pushed many high-profile investigations that have swept up politicians, public officials and businesspeople during its decade-plus of existence. In El Salvador, former President Mauricio Funes is wanted for alleged corruption and is currently a fugitive granted asylum with several family members in Nicaragua. Another ex-president, Tony Saca, was sentenced in September to 10 years for embezzlement and money laundering. In Honduras, former President Porfirio Lobo's wife has been suspected of diverting $700,000 in public funds and his brother accused of pocketing about $300,000 in government money. His son Fabio was sentenced in the United States to 24 years for drug trafficking. Associated Press writer Peter Orsi contributed from Mexico City. OTTAWA Canadas national archive has bought a book once owned by Adolf Hitler, which reveals Winnipeg had the highest proportion of Jews in the country before the start of the Second World War. Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 23/1/2019 (877 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. OTTAWA Canadas national archive has bought a book once owned by Adolf Hitler, which reveals Winnipeg had the highest proportion of Jews in the country before the start of the Second World War. On Wednesday, officials at Library and Archives Canada revealed it had procured the 1944 book in June. Its title translates to Statistics, Media, and Organizations of Jewry in the United States and Canada. Archives officials claim the book hints at Nazi plans to overtake North America; its full contents are not yet available to the public. The book, which cost US$4,500, details census reports, Jewish newspapers and community groups across the continent, sometimes on a granular level. Michael Kent, curator of the Jacob M. Lowy collection, displays the German language book Statistics, Media and Organizations of Jewry in the United States and Canada, once owned by Adolf Hitler. (Adrian Wyld / The Canadian Press) It includes Adolf Hitlers nameplate festooned with an eagle and swastika, meaning he held it in his private collection. It is marked for official use only. Archives curator Michael Kent told reporters he purchased the book in part because it helps disprove Holocaust deniers, though he expected some would accuse his institution of glorifying Hitler. "We saw the importance of bringing an item like this, that stands as an important part of Holocaust memory," Kent said, stressing that the book came through Jewish archivists and didnt financially benefit Nazi sympathizers. The book was purchased mostly with donors money, though about $1,500 came from government coffers, said archives' head Guy Berthiaume. It took extensive restoration to make the acidic paper readable. In Winnipeg, Belle Jarniewski, executive director of the Jewish Heritage Centre of Western Canada, said the book illustrates the Nazi vision of eliminating Jews across the world, not just Europe. Data in the 1944 German language book Statistics, Media and Organizations of Jewry in the United States and Canada shows population information on Canadian cities including Jewish populations. (Adrian Wyld / The Canadian Press) "This is an important piece of the historical narrative that we need to hold onto, as the historical narrative continues to be threatened," she said. "This is a very interesting piece, and I think it's important that we know about it." Kent displayed one of the last of the books 137 pages, which listed the 1931 population of the "Jewish race" in large Canadian cities. The page shows that Winnipegs population in 1931 was almost eight per cent Jewish, the highest among 16 large cities surveyed. Thats compared with seven per cent of Toronto and almost six per cent of Montreal though each of those cities counted almost three times as many Jewish people than Winnipegs 17,236. "Jews in Canada, (people) think Montreal or Toronto, but you flip through this volume and you see Winnipeg, you see Saskatoon," Kent said. "You see these small towns, and you start recognizing that Jewish life in Canada wasn't just urban." Jarniewski has pushed for Canadians to better understand the Holocaust and the intolerance it inspired within Canada. Earlier this month, the Free Press revealed shed spoken to Winnipeg students who werent aware of the Holocaust, despite the Manitoba curriculum requiring it to be taught in Grade 6. "It's so important to study this watershed event, because it was an attempt to annihilate a people, their culture, their history everything. And I think that this book does point out the extent of (Hitlers) global interest," she said. In Ottawa, the archives will display the book to the public as part of Sunday commemorations of International Holocaust Remembrance Day. dylan.robertson@freepress.mb.ca A year ago, actor-playwright Daniel MacIvor was driving between his home bases from Nova Scotia to Toronto when he got into a pretty terrible car accident while travelling through New Brunswick. This article was published 23/1/2019 (877 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. A year ago, actor-playwright Daniel MacIvor was driving between his home bases from Nova Scotia to Toronto when he got into a "pretty terrible" car accident while travelling through New Brunswick. "I rolled the car and totalled it," he recalls while on break from rehearsal in the Prairie Theatre Exchange complex at Portage Place. "I was stranded. I had no phone. I left my phone in the police car." LEIF NORMAN PHOTO Daniel MacIvor (left) and Andrew Moodie "It was pretty bad. The car was a write-off and my dog (a greyhound named Buddy) and I were stranded in Oromocto, (N.B.). "So I called some people in Toronto and they said, Call Thomas Morgan Jones, who I didnt know," he says of Jones, then the artistic director of Theatre New Brunswick in Fredericton. "They got in touch with Thomas and he came and rescued me. He came to Oromocto and picked me up and he took me to his home and he took me and my dog and he fed us and let me stay overnight," MacIvor says. "So he was kind of a saviour of mine." At the time, Jones was already the artistic director-designate at Prairie Theatre Exchange (although he had not yet been announced.) "Its very interesting that a year later, here we are and Im in his first season at PTE," he says. "So Thomas and I have kind of an intimate relationship, oddly, and that he was my Good Samaritan." With all that drama attached to a simple road trip, it makes sense then that MacIvor would be one of the countrys foremost playwrights. His work includes plays such as Marion Bridge, Never Swim Alone and Cul-de-sac, but theatregoers may have caught him as recently as last April in Winnipeg performing his monologue Who Killed Spalding Gray? at the Colin Jackson Studio. That play, and the new PTE offering, the world premiere of New Magic Valley Fun Town, were programmed by now-retired PTE artistic director Robert Metcalfe, and if youve only seen MacIvors monologue work, prepare for a more fully fleshed out multi-character drama this time out. "Its about a family in Cape Breton, a husband and wife who have been separated for many years but they are still very much involved in one anothers lives," says MacIvor, who was born in Sydney, N.S., Cape Breton Islands largest city. "They have an adult daughter who has been in and out of grad school and now shes back home because the father has been ill with a number of cancers back to back. And hes preparing for a reunion with a friend of his from high school that he hasnt seen in 30 years." MacIvor proffers no spoilers for the drama, a co-production with Torontos Tarragon Theatre, except that its laced with laughs, befitting its Cape Breton characters. "Its typically Cape Breton with a good deal of humour," MacIvor says. "Thats sort of how comedy mitigates the tragedy. And then moving through the tragedy, we find some kind of rebirth. RUTH BONNEVILLE / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS Playwright-actor Daniel MacIvor returns to Winnipeg for PTE's production of his play, New Magic Valley Fun Town. "I find it a very typically island story," he says, advancing a theory that people who live on an island are more attuned to their own mortality. "Theres a sense of when you live on an island, youre very aware there is an ending," he says. "The land ends and theres no escape from the ending, so youre always living with the ending. When you live inland you go: Well. you never know. Maybe its going to go on forever." MacIvor again found himself challenged when he took the role of the embattled patriarch Dougie. You would think it would be easy to learn lines you wrote yourself, but thats not necessarily the case. "Im equally challenged because its easier to write things than to learn them," he says, allowing that the double role of playwright and actor could also be challenging for director Richard Rose, too. "Ill say, As a writer I just want to say... "And hell say, Youre not the writer right now. Youre an actor right now, so you probably shouldnt have anything to say as a writer ..." randall.king@freepress.mb.ca Twitter: @FreepKing Viewed of Take Five - This is your final free article during this 30 day period.Stay in touch with all of the news from Winchester, Frederick and Clarke. Sign up today for complete digital access to The Winchester Star. Tennessee Department of Health specialists address an audience of Wilson Central High School parents, students and staff on Wednesday regarding a recent tuberculosis case identified at the school. Officials will begin testing possible other infected people next week. Willmar, MN (56201) Today Sunny to partly cloudy. High 81F. Winds NNW at 5 to 10 mph.. Tonight Partly cloudy skies this evening will give way to cloudy skies and rain overnight. Low 62F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 70%. We're always interested in hearing about news in our community. Let us know what's going on! Submit Paper company and wide format supplier Spicers has signed a deal to sell its Singapore property for $10.3 million as part of a proposed $147 million scheme of agreement to sell the companys entire ANZ operations to Japan-based global paper company Kokusai Pulp & Paper Co (KPP). Spicers Paper, 3 Gul Crescent, Singapore In a statement to the ASX on Thursday, Spicers said it had entered into an agreement with HLS Property to sell its 11,000 sqm warehouse/production factory site at 3 Gul Crescent, Singapore for SGD 10.1 million ($A10.39 million). Under the terms of the agreement, Spicers is entitled to receive net proceeds from the sale of approximately SGD 9.9 million ($A10.1m), and the money will form part of a return of capital to shareholders as outlined in the proposed scheme that was revealed last week. Under the agreement with Kokusai, Spicers shareholders will receive a total of about $A57.6 million in sale proceeds from the companys Asian operations, expected proceeds from the sale of properties in Singapore and Tasmania, and surplus net cash amounts as at 30 June 2019. In September 2018, Spicers sold its Asian paper businesses in Malaysia and Singapore to Japan Pulp & Paper company (JPP) owner of Ball & Doggett - for SGD 15 million ($A15.2m). Spicers last month put the 56-hectare site of its former Wesley Vale Paper Mill near Devonport on the block and announced the sale of its second Tasmanian property for $2.85 million. The site at 3 Gul Crescent, Singapore The sale of the Singapore property is subject to conditions, including approval for the change of use of the property from the Jurong Town Corporation. It is currently expected that JTC approval will be received in mid-April 2019, with final completion and the receipt of net property sale proceeds by Spicers to then follow in early June 2019, Spicers told the ASX. Once received, these net sale proceeds would form part of a return of capital to be proposed to shareholders under the proposed transaction between Spicers and Kokusai Pulp & Paper Co. Shareholders will vote on the proposed Kokusai transaction at a meeting in early June 2019. Subject to shareholder approval and the other conditions, the deal is expected to be implemented in July 2019. Mortgage brokers with the M3 Group will have access to National Bank products from the spring following the announcement of a new partnership. The partnership will enable National Bank to extend the reach of its advisory services and solutions, complementing existing white label distribution and its own network of 430 branches across Canada. "This partnership with M3 Group has many advantages for clients, to whom we will offer a great experience and quick access to tailored mortgage solutions. Our goal is to be able to meet several financial needs during mortgage transactions concluded by brokers," stated Nadine Labbe, Vice-President Retail Financing Solutions at National Bank. M3 Group operates in Quebec under several brands including Multi-Prets Mortgages, Mortgage Intelligence and Verico. "From the moment we started investing in technology, we had a clear vision of how our ecosystem would evolve, and of the opportunities that would open up for brokers. We're very proud of the work our teams have accomplished over the past few years, and that dedication and effort is now reflected in the goals of a major player like National Bank. These investments and changes posed a welcome challengebut our brokers and their customers will be the first to reap the full benefits," added Luc Bernard, Chairman and CEO of M3 Group. Lawmakers are praising the Public Utilities Regulatory Authority's decision to lower rates across all public utilities. In the past few years renowned chef Jose Andres and his nonprofit have served millions of free meals to needy Americans after such natural disasters as Hurricane Maria and the California wildfires. (CNN) -- Alec Baldwin pleaded guilty Wednesday to a violation of harassment in connection with a dispute last year over a parking spot, according to a Manhattan district attorney's office spokeswoman. The actor pleaded guilty to a violation of harassment in the second degree with a conditional discharge and participation in a short-term anger management program, said Emily Tuttle, deputy director of communications for the district attorney's office. Under New York law, a violation is not a crime. The actor will not serve time or be on probation, according to Tuttle. Alec Baldwin says he didn't punch man in parking dispute Actor Alec Baldwin was arrested Friday after he allegedly punched a man during a fight over a parking spot in New York. There are court-imposed surcharges associated with any plea, Tuttle said. The cost was not immediately available. CNN has reached out to Baldwin's attorney for comment An altercation between Baldwin and a 49-year-old man, Wojciech Cieszkowski, took place November 2. The film and TV star initially was charged with attempted assault in the third degree and harassment in the second degree. He pleaded guilty to the lesser of the two charges he faced. At the time, Baldwin denied the allegations on his foundation's Twitter account: "Normally, I would not comment on something as egregiously misstated as today's story. However, the assertion that I punched anyone over a parking spot is false. I wanted to go on the record stating as much." Related: 'Rude' Alec Baldwin fled to toilet, booted from plane The incident was not the first time that Baldwin's temper made headlines. The actor was thrown off an American Airlines flight in 2011 after refusing to turn his cell phone off for departure. The following year Baldwin got into an altercation with a photographer after obtaining a marriage license with his future wife, Hilaria Thomas. Then in 2014, the actor was taken into custody by New York police after allegedly riding his bike the wrong way on Fifth Avenue and for disorderly conduct. The-CNN-Wire & 2019 Cable News Network, Inc., a Time Warner Company. All rights reserved. At stop lights or freeway on and off ramps, youve probably seen people holding signs and asking for money. It can be tempting to hand over your spare change, but next time you may want to think twice. GREENWICH When Carol, who recently graduated from high school, lost her mother unexpectedly last month, she had to put college on hold to take care of her father. Her family is struggling to cover the funeral costs. Pete, a public housing resident who receives a disability pension, scraped to support his family after his wife lost her job. Their financial problems compounded when one of his twin daughters underwent major surgery. Maribel emigrated from the Dominican Republic about a year ago to be with her children. She has HIV and breast cancer, and recently had a mastectomy. Despite looking for work, shes had trouble finding a job. The $220 fee required to submit an Immigrant Visa Packet in order to stay in the country with her family was out of reach for Maribel. Carol, Pete, Maribel and more than 80 other Greenwich and Stamford residents in need will soon receive community donations to help them meet basic needs to survive. This whole drive was an absolute success this year, said Bill Brucker, vice president of Family Centers, a nonprofit that serves at-risk children and families in Fairfield County. For decades, Greenwich Time and the Stamford Advocate have run short stories about people and families who are in need of a helping hand during the holidays. The vignettes include the amount needed to meet their basic needs for a program known as the Giving Fund. Two local nonprofits Family Centers and Neighbor to Neighbor, which collected the case stories will ensure each family gets its individual donations after the Giving Fund raised more than $50,000 this year. We are so grateful to the community, who stepped up to help those in situational crises, especially during the holiday season, said Ceci Maher, executive director of nonprofit Person to Person, which helps families move toward stability. The individualized stories of the needs of many living on the brink of poverty help to raise awareness of the needs of underserved populations in an affluent area, Brucker said. Living here in Fairfield County, a lot of us are blessed with great jobs and resources, he said. These stories shine a light on the fact that there is a significant need right in our own community. Because of the Giving Fund, Carol will get a check for $800 to help cover her mothers funeral costs. Pete and his family will receive $500 to pay down mounting medical bills. And Maribel will get the $220 she needs to stay in the U.S. We may be living in the digital age where e-commerce reigns but that doesnt mean that a brands physical retail presence should be downplayed. In fact, brands such as Montblanc and Longines have boosted their retail presence in Singapore by expanding and refreshing their retail store concepts. In December 2018, Longines officially opened its flagship Singapore boutique located along the citys well-known Orchard Road shopping strip. Taiwanese actress and model Lin Chi-Ling was the guest-of-honour. The slender and tall beauty has been a Longines Ambassador of Elegance since 2005. The store which covers more than 1,500 square feet or around 140 square metres, is larger than brands other boutique located at Marina Bay Sands. From what we understand, more tourists frequent the Longines boutique at Marina Bay Sands while locals tend to visit the store at Wisma Atria. Longines The Longines Boutique at Wisma Atria features a centrepiece formed by five watch towers. Inside, the first section showcases the brands key collections: Elegance, Watchmaking Tradition, Equestrian, Sport and Heritage. The second section is a delight for collectors as it is where museum pieces from the brand are displayed. Known as the Heritage Corner, this is where fans of the brand can soak in a part of the brands more than 185 years of history. We hope that this boutique will become a destination for watch collectors and enthusiasts to experience watches in an elegant environment reflecting the DNA of the brand, says Juan-Carlos Capelli, vice president and head of international marketing at Longines. Speaking of experience, Montblanc had also refreshed two stores in Singapore in 2018 with their new boutique concept. Interestingly, Montblanc CEO Nicholas Baretzki surmises that online shoppers might also want to visit their boutiques to discover more about the products, enjoy the service and soak in the experience. Montblanc Montblancs newest boutique in Singapore, located at the Raffles City Shopping Centre, was officially opened in April 2018. Covering 1,124 square feet or 104.5 metres, the store offers what the brand has termed the NEO boutique concept. NEO refers to The Maison of Fine Lifetime Companions and the concept is about expressing Montblancs values: The Best of European Craftsmanship, Heritage of Sophistication, Performance and Innovation. Asia is a fast-growing region and Singapore is an important market in Asia. We want our customers to view our products and experience the brands heritage, excellence and our value-for-money offerings. Montblanc is about European craftsmanship, innovation and stories. The segments that we are in: writing instruments, watchmaking and leather, form three strong foundations of the brand and it is important to note that we are verticalised, says Baretzki. Montblanc has already established a foothold in China as it has established its presence in 68 cities. According to World Population Review, China has 65 cities with a population of more than a million and 360 cities with the population size between 100,000 and one million. Another 387 cities in China have population sizes between 10,000 and 100,000. Asia accounts for slightly over half (52.7%) of Swiss watch exports, according to statistics from the Federation of the Swiss Watch Industry FH (as of November 2018). The Far East accounts for 34.4% of total Swiss watch exports. China, Hong Kong, Japan and Singapore are among the top 10 destinations for Swiss watch exports. Between January and November 2018, Swiss watch exports to Singapore amounted to CHF1.02 billion, placing this South East Asian city at seventh spot among the worlds top Swiss watch export markets. (WGGB/WSHM) -- School officials with the Amherst-Pelham Regional Public Schools confirm that an eighth grader has died. A GoFundMe page for the students funeral expenses explained the child was found unresponsive after participating in the blackout challenge on social media. Reporter I cover a range of stories for WDRB, but really enjoy tracking what's going on at our State Capitol. I grew up on military bases all over the world, but am a Kentuckian at heart. I'm an EKU alum, and have lived in Louisville for 30 years. Louisville, KY (40203) Today Best chance for storms early, a few possible alte. Tonight Scattered storms develop, some could be severe Wilmington, DE (19810) Today Partial cloudiness early, with scattered showers and thunderstorms during the afternoon. Gusty winds and small hail are possible. High 88F. Winds WSW at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 40%.. Tonight Thunderstorms early, then cloudy skies after midnight. Low 68F. Winds WSW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 90%. New York: US President Donald Trump said in a late-night tweet on Wednesday that he will wait until the government shutdown is over to deliver a State of the Union address from the House of Representatives. The power struggle between Trump and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has reached new heights, after sustained tit-for-tat after Pelosi announced she will block Trump from delivering his State of the Union address to Congress next week. The State of the Union, which is televised nationally, is one of the main political events each year in Washington, DC. The occasion offers presidents an unmatched opportunity to detail their achievements to the American people and outline their policy priorities for the coming year. The President requires a formal invitation from the House Speaker to address the chamber, but this is usually a formality. Tiana Davis was raised by her stepfather. But a legal technicality is standing in the way of the 20-year-old being able to officially recognise him as her dad. Tiana, Adam and Leanne Davis would like to formalise their family unit but adult adoption is not legal in Queensland. Despite adult adoption being legal in states including Victoria, Western Australia and New South Wales, the age cut-off for adoptees in Queensland is 17. Tiana's mother, Leanne Davis, said she left her daughter's abusive father when she was six weeks' pregnant and his name was not on the birth certificate. "This action generates uncertainty in our friendship with China. It is a worrying trend when it appears that the principles of transparency, accountability and rule-of-law are traded cheaply for strategic leverage," Mr Hastie said. "There is only one way to make this right: Dr Yang needs to reappear on an Australia-bound aircraft in the next few days." Australian diplomats are urgently seeking more information about the reasons for Mr Yang's detention and have requested access to him. They held an initial meeting with Chinese counterparts on Thursday morning. In a press briefing, Ms Hua said the Beijing National Security Bureau recently took mandatory measures against Mr Yang for review. His case is in the process of legal investigation and his legitimate rights and interests are fully guaranteed, she said. On Thursday, Foreign Minister Marise Payne urged authorities to respond "in a timely way" to Australian officials' request to talk to Mr Yang. Responding to speculation that his detention could be linked to Australian government policy or heightened tensions between China and foreign powers over the Huawei arrest, Senator Payne said "at this stage, there is no evidence" of a connection. "Were seeking clarification on those matters. I would be concerned if there was an indication of that. So we are calling on Chinese authorities to ensure that this matter is dealt with transparently and fairly," she said in a press conference. Detained in China: Canadian nationals Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor. Credit:AP Following a tumultuous period in Chinese-Australian relations, with Beijing angered by certain policy positions taken in Canberra, Senator Payne said the relationship had been on a "positive trajectory". Asked if it was still positive this week, she said: "I am very concerned, as I have said, and the government is concerned about the nature of Mr Yang's detention but we will seek further information on that." The Australia-China consular agreement, a formal treaty between the two countries, requires that either government be informed within three days if one of their citizens is detained. Consular officials are also entitled to visit the person within five days of their arrest. While Mr Yang was detained on Saturday morning at Guangzhou airport, Chinese authorities did not confirm he was in their custody until late on Wednesday. Senator Payne said the Australian government had an expectation it would be notified of a citizen's detention in accordance with the agreement. "The notification has been delivered as required under the consular agreement, but perhaps not in the most timely way," she said. Loading Speaking from Beijing during an official visit, Defence Minister Christopher Pyne said he would be raising Mr Yang's case with his counterpart Wei Fenghe, adding that the Australian was being held in "residential surveillance" in Beijing rather than jail. "We would describe it as home detention but as Mr Yang doesnt have a home in Beijing I assume he is being held in a similar kind of situation as opposed to being held in prison," Mr Pyne said. "I will be raising with General Wei this afternoon that he be given access to consular support and be treated fairly and transparently." Dr Feng, a friend of Mr Yang, warned that "residential surveillance" could mean the Australian was detained in an extremely vulnerable situation and subject to mental and physical pressure. He said this underlined the need for the Australian government to have access to Mr Yang and ensure his welfare. Mr Yang's case has emerged soon after the Canadians were seemingly caught in the crossfire of global political tensions. Their detention appears to be retaliation for the Canadian arrest of Huawei's Meng Wanzhou at the request of the United States, over allegations of fraud linked to business dealing with Iran in violation of US sanctions. Australia has joined allies in expressing concern about China's actions. These have been rebuffed by Beijing, which was infuriated by the arrest of Ms Meng. The confidential electoral roll data of more than 16 million Australians is being used by buy now, pay later providers, debt collectors, betting agencies and marketing firms to identify individual consumers. The Age and Sydney Morning Herald can reveal data obtained by debt-collectors and data marketing firm Illion, formerly known as Dun & Bradstreet, is used by $4 billion stock market darling Afterpay and other providers to match identities to addresses as it processes customers at thousands of suburban shops including David Jones, Officeworks and Nike. The electoral data, designed to be used under the Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorism Financing Act, is accessed by Afterpay and other firms via Perceptive Communications, a wholly owned subsidiary of Illion. Afterpay CEO Nicholas Molnar in the Surry Hills office. Credit:Louie Douvis Electoral data contains the most accurate information on the addresses and identities of Australians and is used by the Australian Federal Police, Australian Securities and Investments Commission and the Director of Public Prosecutions to track offenders and suspects. Im writing from Goondiwindi, a town that sits along the Macintyre River, at the top of the Murray-Darling Basin, right on the border of NSW and Queensland. The stomping ground of David Littleproud, the Federal Water Minister. This is cotton country. Two farming executives are currently facing criminal charges for defrauding the Commonwealth. They are before the courts in Queensland for allegedly submitting fraudulent claims and falsifying invoices related to water efficiency projects that never eventuated, to the tune of $20 million. Meanwhile, infrastructure works paid for by Australian taxpayers are keeping overland flows on their land. A kangaroo stuck in the drying mud in the drainage canal of Lake Cawndilla, one of the four lakes of the Menindee Lakes. Credit:Nick Moir The practice of overland harvesting is rife; keeping water that should be flowing into rivers on farm. Corporate irrigators and their advocates often cite their low "take" from the river while they harvest this water free of charge, billing the taxpayer for the infrastructure works (otherwise known as dam walls, below ground channels, raising roads) that capture and store the water for their own private and corporate use. While some farmers in the basin have zero water allocated from the river, that doesnt stop them harvesting overland water. Meanwhile, corporate cotton crops in southern Queensland are flourishing. One cotton crop I visited this week will use 3.6 gigalitres of water by the time it is harvested, while the environment goes without. Seven towers up to 40-storeys high and another 12 towers climbing to 32 storeys would be concentrated within a small area in Sydneys inner south, under the governments preferred plans for the redevelopment of the Waterloo public housing estates. Social Housing Minister Pru Goward released the latest plans this week, to the immediate consternation of lord mayor Clover Moore and criticism from public housing advocates who argue the development will not include enough affordable housing. An artist's impression for one of the options of the redevelopment. Credit:NSW Government Under the proposal, which would create one of the densest conglomerations of development in the country, about 6800 homes would be built in an area to the east of a new metro station at Waterloo. That figure does not include another 700-odd apartments to be built almost directly above the adjacent Waterloo metro site. A woman and her son are dead after their car plunged into a river on the state's Mid North Coast on Wednesday morning. Margaret Rodwell, 79, and her son Cameron Rodwell, 54, were heading to a birthday party in Smithtown, about 15 kilometres north-east of Kempsey, when their car left the road and went into the Macleay River just after 11am. Margaret Rodwell and son Cameron Rodwell died when their car crashed into a river. Credit:Facebook It's believed the vehicle was attempting a U-turn when it careened down an embankment into the water. A rescue operation was launched involving Mid North Coast police, NSW Police Marine Area Command officers, Marine Rescue and Maritime NSW, with divers flown in by helicopter from Sydney to comb the river for the vehicle and its passengers. Three days after he attended a music festival in May last year, Julian Martusciello was online, reading about the "3500 MDMA pills seized from Midnight Mafia" at Sydney's Olympic Park. The 25-year-old from Chester Hill had a vested interest in the story, having knowingly contributed to the supply of more than 400 MDMA capsules to the festival himself, more than 10 per cent of the total number seized by police. Julian Martusciello sprints from Burwood court. Credit:Nick Moir While Mr Martusciello had attended the festival and handled some of the capsules himself, he did not carry them into the festival on May 5 last year. Instead, he had commissioned the services of 22-year-old Grace Poo, who would carry more than 1500 capsules into the festival, for Mr Martusciello and others. The price? With the popularity of the TV show Who Do You Think You Are? youd be forgiven for thinking that celebrities have the most dramatic ancestries. Comedian Adam Hills discovered a Maltese pirate in his family tree. Fellow comedian Magda Szubanskis father was a World War II Polish resistance fighter. In the US, actor Cynthia Nixon found out her ancestor was an axe murderer. That would be rather hard to beat, not to mention a terrible shock. But dont rule it out. Ive often thought that SBS should make a non-celebrity Who Do You Think You Are? I believe that many of us wouldnt have to dig very far to strike gold. Comedian Adam Hills. About 15 years ago, as if seized by a demon, I went into a genealogy frenzy. I went completely over the top. I visited obscure (sometimes awful) ancestors villages overseas. I scanned newspapers. I scoured graveyards. I discovered that family history is an addiction and its incurable. In the lead-up to Australia Day, here are some things I discovered about my background: One branch of the family were shipwrecked at Point Lonsdale in 1853, the day before docking in Melbourne. They lost all their possessions. And then this aforementioned colleague, who was living the life I was considering, pulled me aside and told me her truth. Loading You see us working mums coming to work and you hear us talking about how great it is, that being here is easier than being home. But its not true. Im stressed out all the time, I never get time to stop and relax, and I never feel like I give enough to the kids or to my job. She told me being a full-time working mum was not a decision to be made lightly, and opened my eyes to how hard it would be. I walked back to my bosss office and said, I quit. And this is why I completely understand Kelly ODwyers decision. The senior Liberal minister announced on Saturday shes the latest to leave politics, citing family reasons for her decision. In compiling photo books and in looking at all of those special moments over the Christmas period, I have seen how many of them I have missed, she said. I no longer want to consistently miss out on seeing my children when they wake up in the morning or go to bed at night. ODwyer added that she and her husband would love to add a third child to their family, and the stress of politics isnt helping those efforts. I empathise. Loading Im not suggesting for a moment that my career was as demanding as politics: far from it. But it is true that many of us mums parents know that the rigidity of some careers demands dont match with our ideas of what we want from family life. It means missing out on mornings and family dinners, working when the kids are finally asleep, and racing around to fit everything in on any available weekend time. For me, it all led to evaluating my skills and starting my own business from home. Im a full-time working mum, but its on my own terms. Its not perfect, but its better for our circumstances. Still, it makes me feel sad that there are so many talented and ambitious people dropping out of the workforce, simply because were told that we have to fit into the corporate box or get out. All manner of industries from politics to STEM and everything in between are losing the talents and skills of women (and men) who dont find the lack of balance sustainable. Families are consistently facing barriers like childcare costs and availability, as well as discrimination, and the challenge that ODwyer has faced is yet another barrier that is so hard for some of us to overcome. ODwyer tried to finish her statement on a positive note, by adding that shes sure it can work out for some. This does not mean that men or women need to choose between family and public service: they dont, she said. With the right support you can do both, and do both well. Its a tough choice, though. They might not be leading the HSC honour roll, but five schools have topped the state on what many experts consider a more important measure. A Herald analysis of five years' worth of HSC data identified the schools that have shown significant and sustained improvement to climb from the middle of the pack in 2014 to the tightly-held top 100 in last year's results. Experts say improvement is a better indicator of school quality than achievement. On that front, St Clare's College Waverley, Northern Beaches Secondary College Balgowlah Boys Campus, Lambton High in Newcastle, Bowral's Oxley College and Al Faisal College all excelled. Lambton High, a comprehensive public school in Newcastle, was the biggest mover among the schools that cracked the top 100, climbing from 374th in 2015 to 100th in 2018, with its success rate - the ratio of high scores to total HSC exams sat - improving from about three per cent to more than 15 per cent. A deepening stoush at a NSW port is becoming a focal point for a wider industrial battle between the mining industry and unions over the use of casuals. The dispute at the Port Kembla Coal Terminal (PKCT) has seen workers launch a picket-line protest this week in response to a lockout. PKCT workers and their supporters outside Port Kembla Coal Terminal on Monday after being locked out by the company. Credit:Adam McLean PKCT has offered workers, who are paid as much as $130,000 plus superannuation, a 2 per cent pay rise. Both sides to the dispute say the biggest issue is a clause in the proposed workplace agreement around job security and the use of casual workers. Up for debate: Live legislation tracker Check out the latest developments on bills pending before state lawmakers in four key topics. Trusted local news has never been more important, but providing the information you need, information that can change sometimes minute-by-minute, requires a partnership with you, our readers. Please consider making a contribution today to support this vital resource that you and countless others depend on. Washington, IN (47501) Today Scattered thunderstorms this morning, then partly cloudy during the afternoon hours. High 87F. Winds SSW at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 60%.. Tonight Partly cloudy with late night showers or thunderstorms. Low 71F. Winds SW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 40%. The rapid escalation of the crisis into a global issue suggested the strategic importance of the South American nation, which has the worlds largest oil reserves and has been seen for two decades as a foothold for Russia in the region. Under Maduro, however, Venezuela once the wealthiest country per capita in South America has slipped toward the status of a failed state, with millions of starving citizens pouring out of the country in search of food, medicines and jobs. In a tweet sent Thursday, the United States requested a meeting of the U.N. Security Council on Saturday to discuss the Venezuela crisis. Even before the current standoff, life was difficult for U.S. diplomats in Caracas. Venezuela is one of the most crime-racked countries in the world, with an average of 63 violent deaths every day, according to analysts. The country is facing skyrocketing inflation and acute shortages of food and medicine as the economy implodes. On top of that, former U.S. officials said, Venezuelan authorities routinely harass diplomats in ways ranging from aggressive surveillance to sending pro-government crowds to taunt representatives of the United States when they appear in public. Now that he was getting a visa, he said, he had decided to send for his family in Honduras so they could sign up, too. Im not sure if its best to travel with the big group or if we should take a bus to the border, he said by telephone. The use of conscripted labor at the Bisha mine was also reported by the United Nations in a 2015 report. A witness claimed that workers there were forced to work day and night and said that those who took breaks would be tied to the tree, hanging down as punishment. Nevsun dismissed the report as sensational and unbelievable. But Macron is also trying to connect with people while fending off criticism that he is aloof and elitist. He is making his way through what is known as peripheral France, communities far from Paris that have seen a sharp decline in local industry and can be difficult to reach by train, the sort of places where the yellow-vest movement originated. Zhangs most popular post was about Trumps complaint that it was too expensive to have a military parade in Washington, so he would go to France to watch its parade. Many people are critical of how much money China spends on parades so they liked that the U.S. is being frugal, Zhang said. In an Instagram post, Purnamas son, Nicholas Sean Purnama, confirmed his release. Hes back. My dads a free man! Thank you everyone for the support, he said. Supporters of the former governor gathered outside the detention center at 7:30 a.m. wearing checkered red, blue and white shirts in a nod to Purnamas outfit of choice when he was governor. A former Chinese diplomat who immigrated to Australia in the 1990s, Yang was previously detained by state security agents in Guangzhou in 2011; he was released after two days. In the years since, he has been briefly interrogated during trips to China but never held for long, friends say. This week, nearly 100 children left the site for more stable housing elsewhere in the country. Until April 10, 2019, The Hong Kong Jockey Club Series: Treasures of Time exhibition is running at the Hong Kong Science Museum. On display there are Jaquet-Droz clocks and automatons on loan from the private collections of the Palace Museum in the Forbidden City a rare move for an institution usually reluctant to allow such works beyond its walls. Treasures of Time is running in conjunction with the brands 280th anniversary celebrated throughout 2018. Jaquet-Droz The exhibition, organized with the support of the London Science Museum as well as the Palace Museum, gives visitors the chance to discover exceptional pieces, including the Jaquet-Droz creations that were the jewels of the Qing dynastys imperial collections. Essential components of life at the 18th century Imperial Court, these clocks and automatons bear witness to a relationship that dates back centuries. The Jaquet-Droz workshop in London established ties with Canton as early as 1774. Its agents there quickly won the favor of the Imperial Court of China. As such, Jaquet-Droz became the first Swiss clockmaking brand to be imported into the Forbidden City. The emperors of the Qing dynasty amassed an exceptional collection of original Jaquet-Droz creations. They were charmed by the aesthetic of the pieces and the art of astonishment exhibited by automatons in the form of clocks, snuffboxes and pocket watches. Infusing its work with poetry and the art of watchmaking, Jaquet-Droz brought to life singing bird cages and automatons that enchanted the Emperor and his subjects. This long-standing friendship between Jaquet-Droz and China saw the export of more than 600 pieces over a single decade in the time of Pierre Jaquet-Droz. Jaquet-Droz Treasures of Time also offers new perspectives on the pioneering developments to be found in these early automatons. It is their mechanical genius from three centuries ago that warranted the attention of the Hong Kong Science Museum, the London Science Museum and the Palace Museum. These watches, clocks and automatons were ahead of their time, exhibiting a degree of creativity and technical skill. They animated for the first time the relationship between nature, man and, later, humanoid automatons. Each of these pieces brings to the present day a legacy of Jaquet-Droz craftsmanship that dates back to the 18th century; miniature painting, engraving, enameling and gem-setting are techniques that keep the Art of Astonishment alive today. Speaking earlier in the day, the current first minister of Scotland and leader of the Scottish National Party, Nicola Sturgeon, said: Obviously this news this morning will be a shock to many people. But as Police Scotland have made clear this morning these are now live criminal proceedings. That means now, more than ever, it would be completely inappropriate for me or anybody else for that matter to make any comment on the situation. They have not come out on the street in violent backlash as some had feared but instead hunkered down, pleased that Kabila is out of office yet unsure whether he is still in power. Kabilas party, astonishingly for having lost the presidency, won three-quarters of the seats in Congos Senate. The man, 32, was an interpreter for U.S. troops in Afghanistan for seven years, much of that time with an ear pressed to a radio to intercept Taliban chatter that officers said provided vital intelligence. In 2013, following two militant attempts to kill or capture him, he applied for a special visa for Afghans endangered because of their work for the United States. He spoke on the condition of anonymity out of fear for his life. We have a housing stock that has a lot of single-family homes, and those single-family homes often have rooms that are empty, he said. When people are thinking about ways that they can generate more income for themselves, theyre going to start thinking about those kinds of shared living arrangements. And then people who have that need but dont have the ability to actually pay for an apartment on their own are going to start looking to those situations as a way to mitigate their housing cost. The 25,000 Amazon jobs will arrive over the course of several years. The initial 400 jobs will have minimal effect on the real estate market, experts say. Theyre certainly important jobs, but in terms of the overall real estate market, its only a little drip, said Jeannette Chapman, a senior research associate at George Mason University who is studying the move. We know what the state of the union is right now, Clyburn said during an appearance on CNN. It is chaotic. It is catastrophic for a lot of American families. So lets get that behind us and then all of us will be in a good mood. Hopefully hell be in a good enough mood to deliver it. In his lawsuit, Corsi declared that Mueller and the media were in cahoots to set in motion a legal coup detat to either indict Trump or remove him from office. On Infowars last week, Stone and Alex Jones discussed a grand scheme by prosecutors and the media to arrest both of them, as well as Joness father, Trump and Vice President Pence, to install House Speaker Nancy Pelosi as president and Hillary Clinton as vice president. Stone then predicted that Pelosi would resign and Clinton would become president. The votes will test the abilities of McConnell and Schumer to unify their sides, and likely, to negotiate with each other afterward. In other dramatic fiscal showdowns over the past decade, the Senate has almost always been the chamber that found the bipartisan solution as the House hit roadblocks, from the Wall Street bailout of 2008 to reopening of government after the 2013 shutdown. But those were crises that predated President Trumps mercurial presidency. [This unedited press release is made available courtesy of Gamasutra and its partnership with notable game PR-related resource Games Press.] LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA, Jan. 22, 2019 Stack Up, the charity that brings both veterans and civilian together through a shared love of video gaming, is proud to announce the award of a significant grant from the Center for Disease Control (CDC) and Prevention. The CDC Program Evaluation Grant purpose is to evaluate programs that are trying to meet the mental health needs of the Veteran community, specifically focused on suicide and suicide prevention. The grant award will help Stack-Up evaluate the effectiveness of the StOP Initiative our mental health and suicide prevention program and the Air Assault Program where we bring deserving veterans to life-changing video game events, as well as offer professional training and mental health certifications to StOP members. "Im excited to see the continued development in the merging of the gaming community and mental health, said Mat Bergendahl, Stack Ups StOP Program Manager. We feel our programs are doing tremendous good for our veteran community, and this generous grant from the CDC will allow us to put solid data against our feelings. It will reinforce the confidence our supporters and donors continue to show us. Stack Up helps U.S. and allied military service members get through deployments to combat zones and recover from traumatic physical and emotional injuries with the power of video gaming. About Stack Up Founded in 2015, Stack Up brings both veterans and civilians together through a shared love of video gaming through our primary programs: The Stacks, Supply Crates, Air Assaults and the Stack Up Overwatch Program [StOP]. Find out more at StackUp.org. Kushners role has been fueled by a burst of self-confidence following his help in passing criminal-justice legislation, his assistance on trade negotiations and the departure of former chief of staff John F. Kelly, who curbed his role and accused Kushner of playing government. But the efforts carry risks for both him and the president, whose boasts of being a savvy dealmaker are at the heart of his political appeal. The networks plan to stay out of the 2020 race was quietly relayed to major donors in recent months, according to people familiar with the conversations. It comes as the network has sought to shift attention from its political activities to its investments in education and philanthropy. Donors say they expect to discuss the issue at a retreat for top network contributors this weekend. Certainly, the guys who scare you are the convicted felons trying to make reentry, Sandweg said. But the number caught at the border are very low because that group is the least susceptible to [being stopped by] a wall. They are adept at evading capture. When we looked at crime rates, there was very little correlation between what was going on at the border and crime rates inside the United States. The shutdown hits day 35 on Friday, and 800,000 federal employees face the harsh reality of a second missed paycheck. The urgency about reaching a solution was plain among lawmakers of both parties, as horror stories from the shutdown multiplied. These included fresh warnings about dangers to air travel as federal workers in aviation security and safety go unpaid, and a report from NASAs Johnson Space Center that custodial services have been canceled for employees working without pay to keep the International Space Station running, and theyve been asked to volunteer to clean bathrooms themselves. So when Washington made a deal with Indian tribes, he walked the text over to the Senate and read it aloud to the senators. When one senator asked the president to read the treaty again, and then said the Senate would have to take some time to think about it, Washington gets upset and storms off and never returns to the Senate to seek advice and consent again, Freeman said. A: This is not a government or a federal administration matter or your business but I will voice my view to you on the point. To a large extent, his family name, Bolsonaro, is the reason why he has so much visibility. What has been said about him so far is the result of political accusations from people who want to criticize my administration. My son has always worked with the Rio de Janeiro state military service and has granted more than 300 different decorations and honorable titles to members of the military who [fought] in combat. Two of those are now being charged with wrongdoing. Of course, the person who granted the decoration cannot be blamed. Should any evidence become available against my son, he will be punished like anyone else and serve his penalty. But stay focused on this: Anyone in Graham-speak, ANYONE who at any time favors declaring an emergency, or who does not denounce the mere suggestion thereof, thereby abandons constitutional government. Yes, such a declaration would be technically legal. Congress has put on every presidents desk this (to adopt Justice Robert Jacksons language in his dissent from the Supreme Courts 1944 Korematsu decision affirming the constitutionality of interning of U.S. citizens and noncitizens of Japanese descent) loaded weapon, ready for the hand of any authority that can bring forward a plausible claim of an urgent need. Or an implausible one. However, an anti-constitutional principle would be affirmed. The principle: Any president can declare an emergency and repurpose funds whenever any of his policy preferences that he deems unusually important are actively denied or just ignored by the legislative branch. The Gamasutra Job Board is the most diverse, active and established board of its kind for the video game industry! Here is just one of the many, many positions being advertised right now. Location: Bellevue, Washington The Senior Community Manager is responsible for directing and conducting day-to-day Web and Social Media interactions with the enthusiasts and fans of Ghost of Tsushima. They will provide world class, personal support by engaging, educating, informing and entertaining our players, while maintaining an ongoing dialogue with the community at large. Responsibilities Engage the community across Sucker Punch social media channels while collecting feedback and addressing concerns. Create and manage contests, contact with fan sites, new posts, internal meetings, FAQ information, and researching outside forums and other news sites. Educate and inform players by writing, maintaining and updating articles within the SPP forums or other Ghost related sites. Moderate discussions, provide personal insight, offer humor, spotlight community related items, and be the liaison between players and development team. Partner with PlayStation on marketing, public relations, social media, events, promotions, and licensing campaigns from inception to execution. Attend industry related tradeshows and conferences. Preparing outgoing shipments including fan mail and promotional materials. Qualifications Minimum 5 years experience in social media, forums, public relations, and community management related fields. Passion for gaming and an understanding of the industry and how games are developed. Experience managing social media for games or a related industry on sites such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, etc. Exceptional interpersonal skills, both written and verbal. Self-motivated and proactive with the ability to work without supervision and as part of a team environment. Excellent organization and project planning skills. Must be able to exercise discretion and keep composure under pressure. Bonus AA or Bachelors degree in Journalism, Communications, or related field. Working knowledge of HTML, Premiere Pro and Photoshop. Strong personal community or network. Experience with content calendars, video content, live streaming. Portfolio and other Requirements Published writing samples and/or audio/video interviews are required for review. Applicants must be able to work in the USA and willing to relocate to the Seattle, WA area. Interested? Apply now. About the Gamasutra Job Board Whether you're just starting out, looking for something new, or just seeing what's out there, the Gamasutra Job Board is the place where game developers move ahead in their careers. Gamasutra's Job Board is the most diverse, most active, and most established board of its kind in the video game industry, serving companies of all sizes, from indie to triple-A. Looking for a new job? Get started here. Are you a recruiter looking for talent? Post jobs here. Forty-six years ago, the Supreme Court issued the Roe v. Wade decision, which legalized abortion and established the popular misconception that the Supreme Court alone determines whether abortion is accessible. In the near half-century since, states have passed more than 1,000 laws against abortion access. And with the looming threat that the court will gut or overturn Roe , we find ourselves in a moment similar to the one abortion rights advocates faced before Roe, in which the greatest possibility for protecting abortion rights and access lies in state-by-state action. That may seem like a discouraging prospect, but its a challenge that activists and elected officials should and are beginning to embrace. The current American climate tax is not only huge and growing but also erratic and unfair. Although everyone contributes to climate change through the use of energy, not everyone pays the climate tax in proportion to what they contribute. After all, the path any particular storm takes, or the direction that a wildfire spreads, depends on forces other than its victims energy usage. And those who lose their lives pay the ultimate price Hurricanes Michael and Florence killed 43 and 53 people, respectively, and the Camp Fire in California claimed 86. Just as he threatened not to surrender over the speech, Trump insists he will never cave on his demand that Congress give him $5.7 billion for a border wall. As I said, hes a slow learner. A deal that would let him claim some measure of victory has always been available. The only question is how much more political damage he wants to do to himself and his party before he takes it. The Justice Department is fighting to extradite Huawei Chief Financial Officer Meng Wanzhou, who was arrested in Canada on charges that her company busted U.S. sanctions against Iran. State Department officials have been trying to persuade allies to ban Huawei from building their 5G networks. The Federal Communications Commission even changed its rules to stop rural communities from using U.S. taxpayer subsidies to purchase network gear from Huawei or Chinas other telecom giant, ZTE. Google Chief Executive Sundar Pichais withdrawal from Maven was driven, above all, by opposition from some of the top engineers on whom Googles future rests. A Pentagon official recalls trying to explain to one of these AI gurus that the U.S. Constitution and Bill of Rights would prevent excesses by the United States. The engineer replied that these safeguards meant little to him because he wasnt a U.S. citizen. 'Yellow vest' protesters to field candidates: A group of France's "yellow vest" protesters says it is fielding a slate of candidates for the European Parliament elections. Members of the Citizens' Initiative Rally said they hope momentum from more than two months of street protests will carry the movement into electoral politics. A recent poll predicted yellow vest candidates would receive up to 13 percent of the French vote in the May 26 elections. Weekly demonstrations that began over fuel taxes gained the "yellow vest" moniker because protesters wore roadside safety vests. Hashemi, who works for the Press TV networks English-language service, was detained by federal agents Jan. 13 in St. Louis, where she had filmed a Black Lives Matter documentary after visiting relatives in the New Orleans area, her son said. She was then taken to Washington and had remained behind bars since then. The research is changing policy in some areas, with school officials, for example, considering whether to push back school start times to better match teenagers sleep cycles. The National Sleep Foundation will hold its first consumer expo in March with a wide range of offerings, including mattresses and sleep trackers a visible sign of the burgeoning sleep industry. Meanwhile, a growing number of scientists, not normally known for being advocates, are bringing evangelical zeal to the message that lack of sleep is an escalating public health crisis that deserves as much attention as the obesity epidemic. The diocese has been responding to a quickly evolving nationwide controversy that erupted over the Martin Luther King Jr. Day weekend after a video went viral showing a group of Covington Catholic High School boys on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, where students travel annually for the antiabortion March for Life. Well be getting communications out to the public to say well accept your return but we wont be able to process it until there is a decision by the General Assembly and signed by the governor, state Finance Secretary Aubrey Layne said Thursday. The longer it takes, the more disruption to the tax season and the less options we have. Thats a problem, Brown said. Its not a field anyone wants to be on, but we have to level the field between those who are furloughed and those who are working. A moderate Republican just elected to a second term in Maryland, Hogan has taken to the national stage in recent weeks to call for an end to the bitter polarization of Washington politics. He has also been vocal in demanding an end to the shutdown, citing its strong negative impact in his state. Thomas Wimmer of Ashburn shot himself in the upper body at least once and died at the hospital after receiving treatment, police said. It was unclear why he was at the hospital, where the gun was obtained and why he was wielding it. Families are losing a school they trust and a place they are comfortable with, said Christian Herr, a science teacher at Chavez Prep Middle in Columbia Heights, which will close this summer. A place that has served their kids for a very long time is now going to be gone. Linda Mercado Greene, the owner and chair of BCG Holdings Inc., the parent company for Anacostia Organics, is well known in local political circles. She was Marion Barrys chief of staff when he represented Ward 8 on the D.C. Council and is an ex-girlfriend of former mayor and current Ward 7 Council member Vincent C. Gray. She serves as one of Bowsers appointees to the Historic Preservation Review Board. 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. It also will add more than 600 nursing positions over the next three school years. Teachers had complained that some schools had a nurse on campus only one day a week, says Perez. Additional counselors and librarians are also part of the planned increase in support staff. Todays Headlines The most important news stories of the day, curated by Post editors and delivered every morning. By signing up you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy The problem now is when I call these other places, even though they are advertised as Section 8 apartments, the managers say, Nope. We are not taking any Section 8 applicants at this time, McBride said. She said if she cant find a new apartment by the end of next week, she will have no choice but to stay put and go through the eviction process. The White House is working to quell a growing anger among the 800,000 federal workers who are scheduled to miss their second paychecks this week, as many have begun calling in sick or refusing to show up for work. The Trump administration has scrambled to try to deflect the shutdowns effect on the economy, but theyve done this in part by requiring thousands of unpaid federal employees to continue doing their jobs. Apple said some of the employees who lost their jobs in the driverless-car division have been reassigned to other areas in the company. Apple said it remains committed to helping build robotic cars, something it has been working on for several years. However, it has not made as many inroads in the field as the Google spinoff Waymo. Martin Creed, Giorgio Griffa and Tatsuo Miyajima at Galleria Lorcan O'Neill. . Rome's Lorcan O'Neill Gallery presents Change Connect Continue, a group exhibition by Martin Creed, Giorgio Griffa and Tatsuo Miyajima, artists whose work "explores ideas of chance and order, of the apparent chaos of life and mans efforts to make sense of it." The gallery says the exhibited works "search for order while at the same time they accept fate and serendipity." Japanese artist Tatsuo Miyajima uses LED counters, set at differing speeds and never showing a zero, to make installations expressing the interconnectivity of all things. Italian painter Giorgio Griffa believes that the rhythms of the universe he includes those of music, poetry and mathematics - are cornerstones of his practice as a painter. British artist, musician and algebra lover Martin Creed employs rhythm, repetition and incremental changes in his artistic and musical compositions. For details see Galleria Lorcan O'Neill website. Opening at 18.00 on Friday 25 January. Baby Alex to leave Bambino Gesu hospital after successful bone-marrow transplant. Baby Alex, a 20-month-old boy suffering from a rare genetic disease, is to return home to London after undergoing a successful bone-marrow transplant at Rome's Bambino Gesu hospital. Doctors at the Vatican-run children's hospital said the child is in "good condition" - according to Italian news agency ANSA - and that the transplant treatment was concluded "in a positive way." The innovative transplant, undertaken on 20 December, involved manipulating and infusing cells taken from the father of Baby Alex. The hospital said the cells have since "taken root perfectly, adequately repopulating the hematopoietic and immune system of the patient." Baby Alex, who suffers from hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis - a rare condition affecting just 0.002 per cent of children, was transferred to Rome from London's Great Ormond Street Hospital late last year. The boy, whose full name is Alessandro Maria Montresor, was born in London where he lives with his Italian parents. Italian transport ministry to invest 425 million in Rome metro network. Rome's troubled subway system is to be modernised thanks to an injection of 425 million in state funds, following an agreement between Italy's transport ministry and the capital. The deal was signed by transport minister Danilo Toninelli and Rome mayor Virginia Raggi, both members of the populist Movimento 5 Stelle. The money will be invested over the coming months in modernising the A and B lines, including improving security measures, as well as purchasing new trains. Raggi described the agreement as: "a cascade of investments to intervene in a massive way on the metro lines of our city, making them modern, fast and punctual." Toninelli framed the deal in less effusive terms, saying it would result in "fewer breakdowns, more comfort in waiting areas and I think even more punctuality." The deal was announced the same week that sections of Rome's Metro A line were closed unexpectedly, two days in a row, due to technical faults. The temporary closures led to commuter chaos, with reports of an insufficient number of substitute buses, some of whose drivers reportedly did not know the routes. Ethiopian wanted to baptise himself in "sacred waters" of Trevi Fountain. Rome police detained a 38-year-old Ethiopian after he removed his clothes and jumped into the waters of the Trevi Fountain at around 10.00 on 23 January. The man emerged from the freezing waters without resistance, in front of crowds of bemused tourists, and was promptly handed a 500 fine by police. He justified his actions by saying he wanted to "baptise himself in the fountain's sacred waters", according to local media. The man, resident in Mestre in northern Italy, was reportedly taken to hospital for a series of examinations. This is the latest in a spate of incidents in recent years involving tourists misbehaving at the Baroque monument, from skinny-dipping to brawling over the perfect selfie. Decatur, IL (62521) Today Windy with showers and thunderstorms likely this morning...storms becoming more isolated during the afternoon hours. A few storms may be severe. High 88F. Winds SW at 20 to 30 mph. Chance of rain 100%.. Tonight Partly cloudy with isolated thunderstorms possible. Low near 70F. Winds SW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 30%. Paris Achen: pachen@portlandtribune.com or 503-506-0067. Achen is a reporter for the Portland Tribune working for the Oregon Capital Bureau, a collaboration of EO Media Group, Pamplin Media Group and Salem Reporter. You cant see, smell, or taste radon, but it could be at a dangerous level in your home You have permission to edit this image. Edit Close Vietnam ranked 92 out of 125 countries in the 2019 Global Talent Competitiveness Index (2019 GTCI), a report assessing the competitiveness of countries human resources. Compared to last year, the results of this years GTCI report showed that Vietnam slipped five places. This is the fourth consecutive year that Vietnam has been downgraded on the talent competitiveness index. Last year, the country ranked 87th. The previous year it ranked 86th out of 118 countries and territories. The 2019 Global Talent Competitiveness Index (GTCI) report reveals that Switzerland, Singapore and the US continue to lead the world in talent competitiveness, while countries in Asia, Latin America and Africa are seeing a progressive erosion of their talent base. The report confirms that talent issues have become a mainstream concern for firms, nations and cities, with talent performance seen as a critical factor to growth and prosperity. The 2019 GTCI report, published on Monday by INSEAD, the Business School for the World, in partnership with the Adecco Group and Tata Communications, is a comprehensive annual benchmarking measuring how countries and cities grow, attract and retain talent, providing a unique resource for decision makers to understand the global talent competitiveness picture and develop strategies for boosting their competitiveness. The report measures levels of Global Talent Competitiveness by looking at 68 variables. The 2019 index covers 125 national economies and 114 cities (respectively 119 and 90 in 2018) across all groups of income and levels of development.-VNA Call this leadership? It would be wise of the president to postpone the State of the Union till he gets a better understanding of the state of the union. Of course, that may not occur during the remainder of his administration. He professes concern for those whose income has been put on hold by the government shutdown but displays no concept of the hardships these people face in their inability to provide for their families. This shutdown did not have to occur. When Congress was dominated by Republicans, his border wall funding could have been approved over any Democratic opposition. The real reason for this crisis is not so much the wall but Trumps goal to discredit the Democratic Party and to attain even more power. His threat to declare an emergency to empower his building the wall demonstrates his intent. Once again, Trump conjures up the tactics of Benito Mussolini to undermine legitimate opposition and consolidate personal power. Tom proudly served his country joining the Texas National Guard at the age of sixteen. He entered the U.S. Army in Waco on November 25, 1940. He attended Officer Candidate School and was commissioned a second lieutenant in late 1942. He was an intelligence officer in the 342lnfantry 86th Division. Tom was sent as a replacement to K Company 358th Infantry 90th Division. He had a ringside seat to D-Day going ashore on Utah beach, on June 8, 1944. He was wounded July 14, 1944 in the battle for La Haye du Puits. Tom returned to E Company at the end of July in time for a 10 day, 140 mile march that saw the unit capture 1,500 prisoners while suffering less than 300 casualties. He was injured again January 6, 1945 just outside of Bastogne, Belgium. World War II saw Tom and three of his brothers honorably serving at the same time. He returned from the war as a first lieutenant August14, 1945.After the war, Tom went to work for the U.S. Veterans Administration in Shreveport, LA and Manila, Philippines. He returned to the states in 1954 ending his government service. I am really excited about it, Sandles said. I think it will be really great for this campus. It has been quite a while since we brought something brand new to the Waco campus. Many dont know the multitude of renovations we are doing behind the walls that folks pass by as they drive down the freeway. But this will be a brand new development here and something we think this campus can really use. Sandles said the project is near to his heart because both his parents are veterans who divorced when he was young. His father got custody of him and a sibling, and his mother was homeless for a time. We may think that getting someone off the street is all there is to it, Sandles said. That is only step one. When you are talking about building someones sense of self-worth, it is beyond just getting you off the street. It is putting you in a housing environment that is actually supportive, where you have the clinical and social services you need but also be somewhere that you are proud to call home. So that is why projects like this are so important. You can put them in an environment that is not just medically appropriate but it is also aesthetically appealing and can create a greater sense of worth and help them in that transition to become a more productive member of society. The Design Den at the Mayborn Museum, 1300 S. University Parks Drive, will have a storytelling event from 1 to 4 p.m. Saturday with a theme of building a dream city. Participants can also build a miniature version and make a stop motion video in the Design Den Studio. The activities will be available for all ages but are recommended for ages 6 and up. HOTCOG lunch The Heart of Texas Council of Governments will have its annual business meeting and lunch from noon to 1:30 p.m. Thursday at the Waco Hilton, 113 S. University Parks Drive. Holly Deshields with McGuire Woods Consulting will be the guest speaker. Lunch is $20. For more information, call 292-1830 or email mary.mcdow@hot.cog.tx.us. Storytelling Guild The Heart of Texas Storytelling Guild will meet at 10:30 a.m. Saturday at The Good Neighbor House, 2301 Colcord Ave. The monthly meeting includes sharing, learning and listening to stories. Youth and teens are invited to join the meeting from 1:30 to 3 p.m. For more information, call 717-1763. Polar Plunge Police in northern Maine say two children were injured and a horse was killed when their horse-drawn buggy came into the path of a trailer truck. The crash happened Wednesday afternoon in Smyrna. Police say the buggy was being operated by a 12-year-old boy who entered the roadway in front of the trailer truck. The truck struck the horse and killed it. Police say the buggy was re-directed to the southern side of the roadway, and two of the seven children riding in it suffered minor injuries. Police declined to identify the child who was operating the buggy. They also did not identify the injured children. The truck was owned by Beaulieu Trucking. (CNN) -- The White House confirmed Wednesday that President Donald Trump sent a letter to North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. Press secretary Sarah Sanders, in a short statement to reporters, said, "The President responded to Chairman Kim's letter." Kim Yong Chol, North Korea's lead negotiator on nuclear talks, visited Washington last week and spoke with Trump for 90 minutes in the Oval Office. He brought with him a letter from Kim Jong Un addressed to Trump. The meeting with Trump resulted in the announcement of a second summit between Trump and the North Korean leader at the end of February. North Korean state media reported Kim was presented the letter from Trump by Kim Yong Chol. The report called it a "good personal letter." In June, Trump and Kim met for their first summit in Singapore. The summit ended with a commitment from the North Korean leader to "work toward complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula," but since then negotiations appear to have stalled. Last week, shortly after the White House meeting, Sanders was asked by reporters why the US should believe North Korean promises about denuclearization. "We've continued to make progress," Sanders said. "We're continuing to have conversations. The US is going to continue to keep pressure and sanctions on North Korea until we see fully and verified denuclearization. We've had very good steps in good faith from the North Koreans in releasing the hostages and other moves so we're going to continue those conversations." WASHINGTON (AP) - The Pentagon says it has identified the remains of a U.S. soldier who died in a prisoner-of-war camp in North Korea in 1951. The soldier, Sgt. Frank Julius Suliman, is the third American service member to be identified from among 55 boxes of bones and other material that the North Korean government handed over to the United States last summer. By the Pentagon's account, Suliman was part of an infantry unit fighting Chinese soldiers when he was captured on Dec. 1, 1950. He was said to have been taken to a POW camp in what the Americans came to call "Death Valley." He reportedly died in March 1951. Pentagon records say he was from New Jersey, but officials did not immediately have more details, including his date of birth. Of the hundreds of industrial machinery mechanics at Polaris, Austin Powers is unique. Its not because hes an International Man of Mystery, but rather because the 18-year-old just graduated from high school last year. Number of students enrolled in FAME since it began: 2014 - 12 students 2015 - 14 students 2016 - 9 students 2017 - 16 students 2018 - 20 students Calhoun said the FAME program has a 71 percent graduation rate and so far, all of the students who complete the program find jobs in their field within nine months of completion. They added that "students may be released from the program for falling below a 'C' in any class or for too many unexcused absences at work or school." Austin Powers, 18, works on a frame at Polaris. He's in the second of five semesters that comprise Calhoun Community College's FAME program. Austin Powers, 18, works on a frame at Polaris. He's in the second of five semesters that comprise Calhoun Community College's FAME program. Ive been trying to learn every part of the plant, trying to get everything situated. And now Ive been taking calls here in assembly and welding and taking it all one step at a time, said Powers. Powers is one of two high school grads who joined Polaris through the Federation for Advanced Manufacturing Education (FAME) program at Calhoun Community College. The program launched in 2014 and places qualified students with employers over five semesters. Its a combination of on-the-job training and classroom learning geared to fast track students education. John Holley, Calhoun's Dean of Technology, said anyone who qualifies for the program can be accepted. That includes both high school graduates and adults looking to launch a new career. When Polaris came to the Tennessee Valley in 2016, they were eager to join in. Finding skilled maintenance technicians is a key part of getting the plant started and we knew that over time, relying on the existing workforce was just going to get harder and harder, said DeWayne Howell, the manager of facilities at Polaris. Howell also serves as the Scholarship Co-Chair of the north Alabama chapter of the International Facility Management Association. So we had to have a plan in place in order to start developing and training our new maintenance technicians. Howell said every time they have an opening for a maintenance technician, they go through 80 to 100 resumes just to find a couple who qualify. So having that constant pipeline is going to be more important than ever, said Howell. According to the Alabama Department of Labor (ADOL) industrial machinery mechanics are one of the highest in-demand jobs in the state. Its data shows that between 2016 and 2026 there will be 1225 openings on average each year across the state. In region 1 which extends just beyond the Tennessee Valley, its projects there will be 320 openings on average each year in that time frame. In 2017, ADOL said in north Alabama, the average annual salary for an industrial machinery mechanic was $50,725. We have to work together to let everybody, the public, everybody in the Tennessee Valley understand what is available to them and why this is a path they need to take, said Holley. Holley told WAAY 31 its crucial to continue educating parents and the public about these jobs as the demand continues to grow. The biggest part of it is explaining to them the why. Why they need to go this way, what advantage it is to them. Not just the income, but the quality of life they can have and really, what it will do for the quality of life in the Tennessee Valley as a whole, our whole community, said Holley As someone who started fixing motorcycles in his backyard at age 7, Powers didnt need much convincing. Now, he hopes he can bring others on board as well. I would like to take that into my future when other, younger kids are coming in and I would like to help them and get them in the situation that Im in now, Calhoun is holding two information sessions about the FAME program next week. The first will be held at the Huntsville campus on January 29 and the other will be on January 31 at the Robotics Technology Park in Tanner. Both sessions start at 5:30. New applicants have until midnight on March 15 to apply to the program. For more information on FAME, click here. 3:48 p.m. UPDATE: There has been a possible Corey Davis sighting in Lauderdale County. WAAY 31 has learned he may have been spotted on County Road 100, off Highway 20 near the Tennessee line. Davis is a serial rapist serving a life sentence. Police say he's a danger to the public. Florence Police, the Lauderdale County Sheriff's Office and the District Attorney's Office did a special joint investigation into Davis in 2016 that led to a grand jury convicting him. According to Sgt. Wes Gargis with Florence Police, Davis is a very detailed planner, and each of the crimes investigated that involved him were well-planned and thought through. He says Davis is considered to be extremely dangerous. Gargis says Davis still had family in the Shoals area, upon completion of the 2016 investigation. He also says he's not aware of any previous escapes by Davis. Davis has impersonated a police officer before, and Gargis says he went to extreme measures to ensure his rouse or fronts were believed by his victims. If you see him, don't approach him. Call police. Florence Police say citizens should be vigilant of their surroundings, and doors should always be locked. --- From earlier: The Alabama Department of Corrections, U.S. Marshals Task Force and state law enforcement agencies are searching for an inmate who escaped from the St. Clair Correctional Facility in Springville on Wednesday. Corey Aris Davis, 30, was reported missing from his cell during a security check at 8 p.m., according to a press release from the Department of Corrections. Davis was sentenced to life in 2017 for a human trafficking conviction in Lauderdale County. Davis is 5-feet 6-inches tall, weighs approximately 150 pounds and has blond hair and blue eyes. The public should not approach Davis and should contact their local law enforcement or the Alabama Department of Corrections at 1-800-831-8825 with information that could lead to his recapture. Prison officials report that Davis was assigned to a work detail inside the prison on Wednesday and was seen by staff and other inmates during the day. Agents from the Department of Corrections Investigations and Intelligence Division are at the prison investigating the circumstances that led to the escape. The details of how Davis escaped are pending. North Huntsville Business Association president Reggie McKenzie said he felt he needed to clear things up after hearing people criticized the mayor for a perceived lack of development in North Huntsville. "Over the years, North Huntsville has been left out in the past, but now that is changing," McKenzie said. McKenzie said he gets why some people in North Huntsville are frustrated and feel like they're missing out on the economic development happening across the city. "I'm not criticizing them. They don't have the facts," McKenzie said. He said the fact is North Huntsville is growing and has the city's full support. "The mayor has been 110% behind economic development in North Huntsville, especially over the last two years," McKenzie said. There are three big projects coming to the North Huntsville Industrial Park, located near Pulaski Pike. The city said these developments will bring in thousands of jobs. The existing Toyota plant, not to be confused with the incoming Mazda-Toyota plant, is set to expand. There's also the new Aerojet Rocketdyne plant and Facebook data center coming to the industrial park. "Hopefully in the next year or so we see a lot things happen in North Huntsville and much more to come," McKenzie said. Outside of those big three industrial developments, the city said there are plans to upgrade area roads. A new road is being built from North Memorial Parkway directly into Alabama A&M's campus to support a gateway entrance to the school and a new hotel development. "When the hotel comes in, they may need a road. They may need traffic lights," McKenzie said. There's also a planned expansion of Martin Luther King Boulevard, and a new overpass is being built at Mastin Lake Road and Memorial Parkway as part of the city's Restore Our Roads project. McKenzie said he knows often times with these kind of things it's going to take people seeing it to believe it. "People like to see something, so if they see a hotel they say, 'Oh, you're doing something,'" McKenzie said. If all goes according to plan, McKenzie said they'll break ground on the hotel in the next year. The city also said they're buying blighted properties along North Memorial Parkway to create a new park. WAAY 31 learned the city is also building a new North Huntsville library and a new Johnson Legacy Center. WAAY 31 has learned more about a lawsuit filed against a seafood business in Decatur. The civil suit was initially filed in June of 2018, claiming Ards Seafood Market sold bad oysters to a woman, leading to amputation and, eventually, death. WAAY 31 reached out to the owner of Ard's Seafood Market, Decatur City Councilman Chuck Ard, and his lawyer, and we received the following statement: My client feels terrible for the Kennedy family, but the business did nothing to contribute to her illness or death. The challenging part of dealing with raw seafood is that there may be nothing wrong with it whatsoever, but each person can have a different reaction to it. According to the original lawsuit, in April of 2017, Dawn Kennedy bought oysters from Ards Seafood Market and ate them later that day. After eating the oysters, the suit claims Kennedy got a flesh-eating bacteria and had to undergo several surgeries--resulting in the amputation of her left arm, as well as liver and respiratory failure. Kennedy claimed the seafood business failed to prevent a dangerous bacteria from getting inside the oysters and served seafood that was not fit for human consumption. Dawn Kennedy died a month after she filed her lawsuit. According to court documents, everyone involved in the case was made aware of her death in August of 2018. Because of her death, her attorney filed a motion last week to substitute her husband, Doug, in her place so that he would be the personal representative of her estate. However, the judge for the caseStephen Brownrecused himself just two days later, and so a new judge now has to be assigned to the case. WAAY 31 reached out to Dawn Kennedys husband and her attorney for a comment, but we're still waiting to hear back from them. We will continue to follow this story and bring you updates as soon as they become available. ATLANTA (AP) - A judge has ruled that a Georgia man accused of plotting to attack the White House must remain in custody while his case moves forward. Hasher Jallal Taheb was arrested Jan. 16 in an FBI sting. Authorities say he traded his car for an antitank rocket, guns and explosives and had shared plans to storm the White House with an undercover FBI agent and an FBI source. He is charged with attempting to damage or destroy a building owned by the United States using fire or an explosive. U.S. Magistrate Judge Alan Baverman on Thursday denied Taheb's request for bond, saying he couldn't be sure Taheb wouldn't be a danger to the community. Local authorities contacted the FBI in March after getting a tip saying Taheb had adopted radical beliefs. The Federal Government has called back nearly 50,000 furloughed IRS workers now that tax season is here. WAAY 31 has learned hundreds are calling in sick. This has some people wondering if they'll get their tax refunds on time. "I agree with what's happening. I agree with the shutdown, but I'm so sorry by everyone that's getting hurt by it," said Astryd Roy. Astryd Roy is a small business owner in downtown Huntsville and now that tax season is approaching, she's concerned IRS employees are not showing up for work. "I don't know if it's going to hinder my input or if it's going to hinder me getting taxes back," Roy said. Other people said this is something they can't stress over. "I'm doing my part. There's not much we can do other than move forward and file our taxes and hope the returns come through on a normal routine basis," said Jackie Ginsburg. WAAY 31 called the IRS office in Florence and according to its machine, it is also closed. However, the machine states all tax deadlines remain in effect and people should file as normal. IRS employees received a letter from the Department of Treasury on Tuesday, stating furloughed employees are not allowed to volunteer at work. Last week, the Trump administration ordered 46,000 IRS workers, more than half the work force, back to their offices to process refunds without pay. "If they have young kids and they're trying to go to work, and they can't afford to have someone to watch their children then they can't do daycare. It's a vicious circle. It affects everyone," Ginsburg said. "I'm not going to work for free, so I'd never ask anyone to work for free either, but in this economy, when you have a job with full benefits, it would be silly to put that in jeopardy," Roy said. WAAY 31 called and emailed the National Treasury Employees Union in Atlanta to find out how long employees plan to stay clocked out. We are still waiting to hear back. Union rules allow them to stay home if being furloughed is a hardship. The White House insists tax refunds will be paid out, despite the shutdown. The Lawrence County Sheriffs Office Criminal Investigation Division has arrested a Courtland woman and charged her with violating the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act. Lt. Chris Waldrep said Harrett L. Carter, 29, was arrested Wednesday. In a press release, Sheriff Max Sanders said an investigation was conducted when information surfaced that Carter wasnt living at the address where she was registered. Sanders said Carter is a registered Alabama sex offender in Lawrence County and under Alabama law has to give a three-day notice prior to a change of address. She was booked into the Lawrence County Jail and remains with a $2,000 bond. A Florence High School student has been indicted on three counts of manslaughter and one count of assault in the April deaths of three Wilson High School students in April. The indictments against Kate Boggus were handed down by the Lauderdale County grand jury. From left: Coby Hines, Braden Turner and Tyler Nelson. From left: Coby Hines, Braden Turner and Tyler Nelson. Coby Hines, Braden Turner and Tyler Nelson died in a car crash on County Road 30. All three were athletes at Wilson High. The indictments charge Boggus of driving a vehicle, which Hines, Turner and Nelson were in, at an excessive speed, losing control of the vehicle, and crashing into a tree. Boggus and another Florence High student, Kaylee McGee, were also injured in the crash. The assault indictment is related to McGee's injuries. Boggus surrendered herself Tuesday and was released on a $20,000 bond. She will be arraigned on Feb. 27. She is being tried as an adult, but can apply for youthful offender status. (CNN) -- Jeff Bezos' rocket company, Blue Origin, completed a 10th test flight Wednesday of its suborbital launch vehicle and capsule, indicating the company is getting closer to launching paying customers into space. Blue Origin said the test flight from a launch pad in West Texas "looks to have been wholly successful." The rocket, dubbed New Shepard, vaulted a capsule designed to carry up to six people into the upper reaches of the atmosphere. There were no humans on board, but Blue Origin brought in some revenue by flying a batch of research payloads for NASA. The capsule, which detaches from the rocket near the top of its flight path, climbed to more than 350,000 feet, or 66 miles, above Earth on Wednesday, according to initial data reported by Blue Origin during a webcast. Passengers on board future flights will experience a few minutes of weightlessness before the capsule falls back to Earth. The New Shepard rocket is designed to reignite its engine and land upright on the ground, while the capsule deploys three parachutes to slow its decent. The rocket is fully automated and reusable, and the New Shepard that launched Thursday had previously flown three test flights. Another version of New Shepard flew five times, while the first New Shepard test vehicle that was constructed crashed after attempting a landing in 2015. Blue Origin is squared up to compete directly with Richard Branson's Virgin Galactic in the suborbital space tourism market. Neither company has begun flying customers, but they both have plans to start sometime this year. Virgin Galactic which plans to use a rocket-powered plane to fly groups of people to the edge of space - conducted its first test flight to reach more than 50 miles above Earth last month, earning commercial astronaut wings for the two pilots aboard the plane. Branson told CNN Business last month that the success put the company on track to begin flying passengers in "five, six months time." About 600 people have reserved a Virgin Galactic ticket, worth between $200,000 and $250,000. Blue Origin, which has kept much of its development progress under wraps, has not started selling tickets nor announced a price point. Bezos has said he is funding Blue Origin by selling about $1 billion worth of his Amazon stock each year. (CNN) -- Everyone has to start somewhere, and air taxis are no exception. Boeing, the world's largest aerospace company, said it completed the first flight of its autonomous air taxi Tuesday at a small airport outside Washington, DC. No one was on board. The flight lasted less than a minute, according to Boeing, and it didn't actually go anywhere. Instead, it hovered above the runway. Boeing declined to share how high above the ground it flew. But Boeing is hailing the achievement as a milestone for its NeXt division, which develops autonomous airplanes. The flying car prototype is 30 feet long and 28 feet wide. It's designed to fly up to 50 miles at a time. Boeing and its competitors such as Airbus are betting that small, self-flying airplanes -- technically dubbed electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) -- will revolutionize transportation, especially in urban areas. Boeing believes the vehicles, more commonly referred to as air taxis or flying cars, will be a solution to traffic congestion. Although Boeing and Airbus are among the largest players in the field, there are many Silicon Valley-backed eVTOL companies, including several owned by Google co-founder Larry Page. According to Cyrus Sigari -- an investor in urban air mobility companies who co-organized an eVTOL conference last year in Bentonville, Arkansas -- Boeing's revelation signals its commitment to the space. "They have a production style product flying and have gone to the extent of publicizing [their efforts]," Sigari told CNN Business. "That shows that Boeing is taking this urban area mobility thing quite seriously. It's very exciting to see Boeing is coming out to show they really are in this." Eric Bartsch, chief operating officer at VerdeGo Aero, which develops the power systems for eVTOL, credits advances in autonomous technology, electric propulsion and drones with setting the stage for the new technology. "We have the ingredients for a different generation of aircraft that wasn't really feasible 10 years ago," Bartsch said. "We're going back to that golden age of innovation where people are trying new things." He estimates that between five and 10 other companies have done autonomous flights. Aurora Flight Sciences, the Boeing subsidiary behind the flight, is a partner of Uber's flying car network, Uber Elevate. Uber plans to deploy air taxis commercially by 2023. It's unclear as of now if those companies will be able to match those timelines. Boeing is targeting the early 2020s. But if self-driving car deployment is any indication, it could take much longer. The technology remains a work in progress. The vehicles need to handle a long list of challenging situations, from making a left turn at dusk on a road with pedestrians and cyclists to understanding which driver has the right of way at a four-way stop. Alabama U.S. Sen. Richard Shelby released the following information via press release on Thursday: WASHINGTON, DC U.S. Senator Richard Shelby (R-Ala.), chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee, today delivered the following remarks on the Senate floor prior to a procedural vote on the End the Shutdown and Secure the Border Act, a comprehensive appropriations package containing the remaining seven Fiscal Year 2019 (FY2019) bills, full funding of the Presidents border security priorities, a disaster supplemental, and a host of bipartisan immigration reforms. The proposal, outlined last weekend by President Trump, is the product of ongoing negotiations to reopen the government. Senator Shelbys remarks, as prepared, are as follows: Just a few months ago, we stood here on the Senate floor celebrating the progress we had made together in the appropriations process. We were all tired of lurching from crisis to crisis amid partisan bickering. Both sides resolved to put aside partisan differences and work together for the good of the American people. And it worked. Together, we funded 75 percent of the government on time. While we would have preferred 100 percent, it was considerably more progress than we had made in decades. Yet we find ourselves here today, more than a month into the longest shutdown in American history. It is enough to give you whiplash. Funding the remaining 25 percent of government is the task before us. Homeland Security border security is the linchpin. Are our differences really as insurmountable as they seem? They should not be, and here is why. Last May, the Appropriations Committee considered the fiscal year 2019 Homeland Security bill. That bill included money for a physical barrier at the Southern border. In fact, it included an increase in funding over the fiscal year 2018 level for a physical barrier. Our Democratic colleagues made no attempt to strike this funding, just as Republicans made no effort to strike funding for Democratic priorities in the bill. And the bill passed with overwhelming bipartisan support: a vote of 26 5. There were no fireworks or histrionics in the hearing room that day. There was no discussion of delaying the Homeland Security bill until the rest of the federal government was funded. Rather, Madam President, the committee simply decided together on a bipartisan basis to increase funding for a project that Congress had funded the previous year. The fireworks and calls for delayed consideration came later. Madam President, it boggles the mind how we have returned so quickly to standoff mode to a zero-sum mentality after making so much progress together. It is particularly perplexing considering bipartisan support is exactly what underpinned the very thing that now divides us so bitterly. Just a few months ago funding for a physical barrier at the Southern border was part of a bipartisan deal. And now we cant even discuss it. That was then; I understand. But where do we go from here; who is offering real solutions comprehensive solutions to end this impasse? The President, for his part, has proposed a serious and reasonable compromise a comprehensive solution. I commend him for that. He is doing what the American people expect: showing a willingness to work together, to find common ground. I encourage my Democratic colleagues to reciprocate. If this proposal is unacceptable, I ask my colleagues on the other side to put something on the table that could help move us off the dime. Work with us propose a comprehensive solution to get us moving in the right direction. But simply saying no demanding that we deal with border security later just wont do. If not now, when? When will be the time to secure the border? What good will more time, more talking do? The American people have been promised that border security will come later since the Simpson-Mazzoli amnesty in 1986. That is why I voted against it as a Member of the House. And look at where we are today still waiting; still talking. The drug smuggling, the human trafficking, the chaos its a real crisis. We know what must be done. Lets come together, put the bitterness behind us, and do what is right for the American people: end the shutdown and secure the border. Madam President, here is the real question before us: Is this the beginning of the end or is it just the end of the beginning? We shall find out. Attorney General Steve Marshall sent this opinion piece Wednesday reflecting upon the tragic loss of two Alabama police officers within nearly a weeks time: Barely three weeks into the New Year a time that is supposed to be full of optimism for the future Alabama has already reached a somber milestone. Our state is tied with Texas for the highest number of law enforcement line-of-duty deaths in the country for 2019. Two Sundays in a row, major cities of our state suffered the sudden loss of a beloved police officer. Each officer was performing his sworn duty to protect the public and uphold the law when he was fatally struck down by gunfire. Both faced danger without hesitation and both acted with courage and commitment, just as they had been trained. And each gave his life. The daily actions of our law enforcement personnel in the performance of their duties may seem routine work to the public, but they only see the outside. Behind the badge, polished shoes and friendly smile, stands a person dedicated to protecting the lives of Alabamians, even if their job places them directly in harms way. While there are other occupations that can be hazardous to a worker, few demand that a person enter the unknown on a daily basis to face potential personal injury and even death. Why would anyone want to take on such a job? To those who train and take an oath to become a law enforcement officer, it is not a job. It is a calling. They do not seek fame and fortune. They wear a badge with pride out of a special commitment to safeguard their community. And let us not forget the sacrifice of the families of law enforcement who wait up nights for their loved ones return. They need no reminder of the too often perilous nature of the work of our men and women of law enforcement. All of us want to live in peace and safety, but how many would be willing to walk the beat of a law enforcement officer to help guarantee that safety? Birmingham Police Sergeant Wytasha Carter and Mobile Police Officer Sean Tuder did just that. At approximately 2:00 a.m., Sunday, January 13, Sergeant Carter was on the lookout for vehicle break-ins when he was notified of suspicious activity and responded along with other officers. Two persons were stopped in a parking lot and were being searched when one pulled out a gun and shot Sergeant Carter and another officer. Sergeant Carter lost his life that morning, but his 17 years service for the Birmingham, Leeds and Fairfield police departments and the Shelby County Sheriffs Office were celebrated by a tremendous public response. Alabama sends condolences to Sergeant Carters family. At approximately 3:00 p.m., Sunday, January 20, Officer Tuder was attempting to serve an arrest warrant on a suspect in Mobile. During the arrest, the suspect shot and fatally wounded Officer Tuder, a three-year veteran of the Mobile Police Department who was previously honored as Officer of the Month. Prior to coming to Mobile, Officer Tuder served with the Palatka, Florida Police Department for two years. Officer Tuders funeral service is this Friday, and I am certain there will also be an overwhelming public turnout. His death is a painful reminder of the loss of another young Mobile police officer, Justin Billa, less than a year ago. I know I join all of Alabama in sending condolences to Officer Tuders family. More than 500 Alabama law enforcement officers have died in the line of duty during the last 100 years of record keeping. Each is a hero. All gave everything so their communities could be safe. There is a high price to pay for putting on the uniform of a peace officer. This month, Alabama knows as much about the sacrifice of law enforcement as any state in America. Law enforcement continues to take on more responsibility, sometimes with less manpower and funding. In addition to responding to calls of domestic violence, burglaries, armed robbery, assault, and drug trafficking-to name but a few-they also deal with homeland security concerns and the growing reach of cybercrime. As the Attorney General and chief law enforcement official for the state of Alabama, it is my honor to stand with our law enforcement as they stand on a daily basis between order and chaos. We cannot thank law enforcement enough for what they do for us, and we will never forget their sacrifice. The Madison County Sheriff's Office is no longer using a text message alert system. Athens was the first city to stop using the system and now others are following suit. "You know, it makes it a little more difficult, but we'll adjust," said a Madison County resident, Nicole Soh. This reaction comes after the Madison County Sheriff's Office said it would no longer use an emergency alert system to send out text messages. Instead, they'll now update the public via Twitter. Some Madison County residents said they'll miss having the alerts sent directly to their phones. "This was just convenient because it came right to my phone like a text message. It didn't require me to be on Facebook or have my Facebook notifications on, because that can be distracting," said Soh. WAAY 31 reached out to the company that provided the service. A spokesperson for Everbridge said agencies were sending out too many non-emergency text messages, causing people to unsubscribe. With a decrease in users and increase in text message rates, the company had to start charging agencies for the service. "We can talk about traffic accidents. We can talk about road construction. That may not be may not be an emergency to Nixle but it is to our citizens and the people that travel our roads. We want them to continue to have a resource to know that there is a problem out there," said Donny Shaw with the Madison County Sheriff's Office. When WAAY 31 asked Everbridge how much it would charge Madison County for the service, the company didn't give a dollar amount. It said the price is based on the size of the agency. Donny Shaw of the Madison County Sheriff's Office understands the frustration of not having the messages delivered straight to your phone. He said they'll still get the same messages out on Twitter. "Change comes with progression and I can understand the frustration but I would just say, 'You did go in and you signed up for Nixle. You had to do a little bit of work through a computer, through a website to do that and what we're offering you for free is no different than to go in and sign up again,'" said Shaw. Even though it's an inconvenience, Soh said she might be willing to use other social media. "I may have to join Twitter. I haven't taken that step yet. Hopefully things will be on Facebook, or I may just be stuck in traffic," Soh said. Ezra Koenig. Photo: Josh Brasted/FilmMagic Vampire Weekend, that band you dug way too much in college and have since kept around for nostalgic purposes, are actually back this time. After a six-year semi-hiatus that partially got extended due to co-founder Rostam Batmanglij leaving the band in early 2016, VW have announced their fourth album, due this spring, and shared a pair of new songs. Alas, the album formally known as Mitsubishi Macchiato has ditched that perfect working title and settled for what is either an homage to a very random choice in the Elizabeth Taylor filmography or a ploy to work with Steve Martin and Steve Martins banjo. Its called Father of the Bride, like, yes, the movie(s). But, also, it could very well just be an on-the-nose nod to Vulture correspondent Quincy Jones, who is the father of front man Ezra Koenigs partner (bride???), Rashida Jones (the two have a son together), which, if so, well played, sir. (Ahem, Koenig does sing We took a vow in summertime on one of the new songs.) Anyhoo, the album announcement also comes with two new songs: Harmony Hall, which credits Batmanglij (hes not gone!) and Ariel Rechtshaid as co-producers, Greg Leisz and Dirty Projectors Dave Longstreth on guitar, and HAIMs Danielle Haim on vocals. Theres also 2021, which samples a composition Haruomi Hosono made in the 80s to be played in Muji stores in Japan and credits Jenny Lewis on vocals. Koenig also told Beats 1 that FOTB will have 18 songs and the bands first-ever features, one of them being the Internets Steve Lacy. But still, no answers about why Father of the Bride?!?! Update, 1:18 p.m.: Finally, a morsel of clarity. Koenig has confirmed to Rolling Stone that the album is named after the Steve Martin version of Father of the Bride, which Koenig didnt see until recently. But just to clear up some confusion, Koenig says hes not married, but the movie did get him thinking about commitment and how its all just so intense, almost Biblical even. He says, I think everybody thinks about those things as you get older. Theres something about [the title] thats almost Biblical. Its about the ties that bind, the relationships between communities, between humans and God, between people and the land they live on. Okay! Sylvia Plath at Smith College in 1952. Photo: College Archives, Smith College Few American authors are better known and documented, and yet as little understood, as Sylvia Plath, whose writing has long outlived her suicide of 56 years ago. The perception of a writer overshadowed by her own dark legend that vision of the abandoned woman in despair may help explain the strange path to publication of a rediscovered story that had actually been hiding in plain sight for at least four decades. And the story itself points the way toward understanding who Plath really was and might have been. This week, HarperCollins released Mary Ventura and the Ninth Kingdom, a stand-alone short story originally written when Plath was 20. An allegory about life, death, and independence, it follows a young woman forced to ride a train to an unknown destination until she recognizes her own agency and makes a break for it. Aside from three childrens books released in Britain, Mary Ventura is the first newly published piece of prose by Plath since the posthumous story collection Johnny Panic and the Bible Dreams (1977). Though its never not a good time to publish Plath, it does seem worth asking how and why were seeing this story now, in 2019. Everyone loves a treasure hunt. HarperCollinss press release touted the story as a new find, unknown even to Plaths estate. There was no reason to doubt that it had been freshly unearthed from some dark English cellar, because it was odd to imagine that any of her known work would not have been mined for publication. We can already read her senior thesis, her diaries, and her letters, and yet heres a polished work weve never seen. The real story is, like Plaths own, more complicated. Originally written in 1952 for a class assignment at Smith College, Mary Ventura wasnt widely known outside scholarly circles before Faber and Faber published it in the UK earlier this month. Plath had revised the piece despite discouraging comments from her professor, then sent it to her mother to retype and submit to Mademoiselle magazine which rejected it promptly. Eventually, it went into her archives not as lost riches but as an open secret, complete with a treasure map in the form of a finding aid. Early this month, the question of the storys lostness became the subject of a Twitter flare-up the kind that quickly dies down as the messy truth emerges. On The New Yorkers website, Katy Waldman wrote a thoughtful critique of the lost story: Not even the authors estate had known the story existed until the critic and academic Judith Glazer-Raymo stumbled over it while doing research in Plaths archives. Cue Rebecca Baumann, a librarian at Indiana Universitys Lilly Library, which houses Plaths papers and ephemera. This story wasnt lost, Baumann tweeted on January 7. It is at @IULillyLibrary, where it is described in a detailed finding aid. It wasnt stumbled upon. Literally thousands of researchers have accessed this material, in our collections since the late 70s. She redefined discovered as the estate lifting their restrictions and allowing this to be published at a culturally opportunistic moment. This story wasnt lost. It is at @IULillyLibrary, where it is described in a detailed finding aid. It wasnt stumbled upon. It was given to the researcher by librarians. https://t.co/SuX9how31G Rebecca Baumann (@arkhamlibrarian) January 8, 2019 But according to Raymo, the timing really is incidental. A 1953 graduate of Smith, Raymo was a classmate of Plaths (though not a friend), and had even been a finalist for the Mademoiselle guest editor position for which Plath was selected. Raymo went on to pursue a career in higher education. Decades later, in the 1980s, she began to collect Plaths work while traveling in England. [Pieces] were available and not expensive then, Raymo recalled to me over the phone. Before I knew it, I had a collection. But she only came onto the scene after the 1982 Sothebys sale of Plaths work and papers by her mother, Aurelia Plath, which included the final manuscript of Mary Ventura and the Ninth Kingdom. The story reappeared for sale at Sothebys in 2014, but failed to sell. Two years and another failed auction later, Raymo arranged to buy the manuscript directly. Soon she realized that she had indeed purchased the revised and final version of an incredible short story. (She says she did spend time in the Lilly Library archives, but didnt come across the story there.) Raymo approached UK publisher Faber and Faber with scans of the piece. She also included it, along with Mademoiselles rejection letter, in the Grolier Clubs 2017 exhibition, This Is the Light of the Mind: Selections from the Sylvia Plath Collection of Judith G. Raymo. As a New Yorker and Plath devotee, I had never heard about this exhibit which shows how easy it is for privately held work to pass through the world unnoticed, even by a writers biggest fans. The real question is not whether the story was truly lost, but when the estate learned of the existence of a story scholars and collectors had long possessed, and why they didnt consider publishing it earlier. Having read Janet Malcolms scathing 1995 book, The Silent Woman, an intensely personal examination of Plaths posthumous gatekeepers, Im aware of the canniness of the estate. (They did not respond to my requests for comment.) If the estate had wanted to cash in on Plaths unpublished work, including Mary Ventura, they already would have done so. Plaths mother, Aurelia, and her literary executor and estranged widower, the famous poet Ted Hughes, used publication not as a cash cow but as a means to honor Plaths legacy and also to promote their own reliquary images of the Sylvia they had known. After Hughes pushed to publish The Bell Jar under Plaths true name in 1971 in the U.S. (it had been published in the UK under the name Victoria Lucas one month before Plaths suicide), Aurelia fought to counter the image of Plath put forth by her sole novel that of a depressive heroine struggling to get out from under her mothers thumb. Published in 1975, Letters Home, a selection of letters between mother and daughter, was meant to depict what Aurelia felt was Sylvias true nature. The effort backfired: Instead of redeeming the sweetness of their relationship, the letters were regarded as the pantomime of a placating daughter forced into the role of dutiful sycophant. Critics said that Plath would have been horrified by such a curated glimpse into her life. Hughes, in turn, edited and wrote introductions to Johnny Panic and the Bible of Dreams and Plaths collected poems, which were awarded the Pulitzer Prize in 1982. It almost goes without saying that Hughes was no impartial executor either. Having cheated on and left Plath shortly before the horrific London winter during which she killed herself, Hughes carried the burden of redeeming his own name as well as making hers. In addition, he bore a subtle but distinct bias toward Plaths poetry over her prose. Britains poet laureate from 1984 until his death in 1998, he writes in his introduction to Johnny Panic that Plaths ambition to write stories was the most visible burden of her life, implying that she struggled tirelessly with prose, whereas her poetry was the inspired stuff of legend. The great poet Hughes may have been an accurate judge of her talents, but theres no reason his preferences should have limited the range of work made available to the public. One thing we will never know is whether or not Plaths ambition had she lived would ultimately have centered on poetry or prose. You need only consider Plaths contemporary Adrienne Rich to see how a career could start with one focus and proceed to a rich and diverse mix of poetry and prose, the political and the personal. But Rich outlived her first marriage, and Plath did not. Since Plaths son Nicholass suicide in 2009, the estate has been managed by Frieda Hughes, the surviving child of Hughes and Plath an artist now living in Australia, removed from the literary struggle of her extended family. Mary Venturas perfunctory introduction gives no rationale for the timing of its publication though perhaps its well-timed to #MeToo and the subsequent focus on reasserting womens agency. The Hudson Review will publish the story alongside a critical introduction by Plath scholar Karen V. Kukil, an associate curator of special collections at Smith and the co-editor of Plaths collected letters (published in two volumes from 2017 to 2018). In her New York Times review of the story, Parul Sehgal underlines the importance of recovering lost work by women writers: Through their journals and letters we see laboratories of the self, as well as women becoming legible to themselves, stoking their ambition. Sehgal calls the story clumsy the overwrought apprentice work of a 20-year-old but focuses on its broader ambitions, finding it stirring in sneaky, unexpected ways. Responding to HarperCollinss focus on the storys female agency, Sehgal asks, But is agency the real point? It is not the familiar story about a heroine and her solitary triumph but a story about aid the aid women can provide each other; and aid that is possible only from other generations, from those who know something of the journey. The mythology surrounding the rush of inspiration is less sexy than the reality of a driven woman who was always revising. The journey of the story to publication is as clear a testament to Plaths ambitions and struggles as the story itself. The evidence is in Plaths writing in the margins of the Lilly Library copy, which evinces a determination to follow her gut: where her instructor had written too easy, she added, he thinks its too facile but use your own judgment. In a letter to her mother on February 2, 1953, she wrote, I know inside that [Mademoiselle] will send the story back, but I send it anyway. I deserve a couple hundred rejections, now. Itll only make me work all the madder and harder. The fragile Plath of the popular imagination is deeply at odds with the writer who wore rejection as a badge of honor. And the mythology surrounding the rush of inspiration is less sexy than the reality of a driven woman who was always revising. As a teenager, I revered Plath for the anger that fueled her swift writing. As a 40-year-old, Im heartened by the confidence that informed her determination. Whats really been discovered in this storys history is the commitment and persistence of a woman struggling with mental illness and a society unwelcoming of anything that didnt fit its definition of womens work. To credit Ted Hughes and Aurelia Plath with bringing her work to a wide audience is a disservice to a writer who would, in time, surely have carved her own place in literary history. Are there more pieces yet to be discovered? Peter K. Steinberg, who co-edited the letters with Kukil, believes that their work may well send readers and scholars back into the archives, hunting down the many pieces referred to in Plaths letters. Their focus may turn back to the creative works, says Steinberg. In the meantime, however, archives like the Lilly Library have a wealth of material waiting, impatiently I like to imagine, to be requested. Baumann, the Lilly librarian who had tweeted indignantly, looks forward to that. There is a genuine opportunity here, she says, a moment that should be seized and run with and expanded and made into a permanent reality. On reflection, her frustration over Plaths lost story was fueled by thinking of how many other women writers dont get even the archival attention Plath does, never mind the shot at republication. If it took 56 years to release this not-so-lost story, what about all the others, from other writers? Think of the backlists of independent and minority publishers who have disappeared over time, the zines and the oral histories. Baumann hopes only that all this publicity around one of the most famous women poets of the last century will encourage people to start digging in libraries and archives, and even in their own attics, for women who really are lost whose stories have not been brought to wider attention, whose obituaries remain unwritten. Zimbabwes president on Tuesday said unacceptable violence by security forces will be investigated after a days-long crackdown on economic unrest, while a doctor said the 12 documented deaths and more than 300 people wounded are likely are just a fraction of the actual victims. President Emmerson Mnangagwa called for a national dialogue among political parties and civic leaders, even as arrests continued. He spoke after skipping a visit to the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland under pressure to return home. Zimbabwes military is in the streets for the first time since post-election violence in August killed six people. This time, people report being hunted down in their homes and severely beaten. More than 600 people have been arrested, most denied bail. The army is on the forefront of orchestrating the violence, backed by ruling ZANU-PF youth gangs and police, Dr Norman Matara with the Zimbabwe Association of Doctors for Human Rights told reporters in Johannesburg. The pattern of injuries seen in the more than 300 people wounded and 12 dead showed premeditation by security forces, Matara said, and we think these numbers are just a fraction of the actual victims. Some medical professionals, accused of trying to subvert the government by publicizing the toll, now are afraid to help victims. Mnangagwa said insubordination will not be tolerated and if required, heads will roll. He defended, however, the dramatic fuel price increase that began the unrest by making gasoline in Zimbabwe the most worlds expensive. Authorities said it was aimed at easing the demand that created miles-long lines as gas stations. But Zimbabweans who had seen no improvement in the collapsed economy under Mnangagwa, who took office in 2017 after the ouster of longtime leader Robert Mugabe, lost their patience. Activists and labor leaders called for people to stay at home in protest. Others took to the streets, some looting in anger or desperation. Mnangagwas government has blamed the opposition, despite witness accounts of security forces opening fire on crowds and killing or wounding bystanders, including a 17-year-old . Everyone has the right to protest, but this was not a peaceful protest, Mnangagwa said, noting wanton violence and cynical destruction. The government-backed Zimbabwe Human Rights Commission laid the blame on security forces, saying eight people were killed and criticizing the use of the military and live ammunition. It said the government had not learned from the August crackdown, and should compensate victims of military and police brutality. Mnangagwa has previously said he is open to dialogue with the main opposition MDC party, which narrowly lost both the July election and a court challenge alleging fraud. He has dismissed a government of national unity. The opposition called Mnangagwas call for dialogue a gimmick to buy time. Mnangagwas overtures are always on Twitter. He knows where we are, yet he has chosen not to talk to us directly, MDC spokesman Jacob Mafume said. MDC leader Nelson Chamisa said his overtures at dialogue had been spurned and mocked and that people must be free to talk without fear. Arrests continued. Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights said police detained labor federation leader Japhet Moyo in the wee hours of the night just hours after releasing him. He is charged with subversion for his role in organizing the national strike along with pastor and activist Evan Mawarire. Police overnight also detained 28 people receiving medical attention at a hospital in the capital, Harare, the lawyers group said, calling it very inhumane. Zimbabwes government ordered an internet blackout in recent days as reports of abuses emerged, but the High Court on Monday ordered that full service be restored, saying only the president has the authority to order it. At Davos, Mnangagwa had planned to appeal for foreign investment and loans but faced a more difficult reception than a year ago, when optimism was relatively high about a new Zimbabwe. Indicating the severity of the economic crisis, neighboring South Africa recently turned down Mnangagwas request for a $1.2 billion loan. South Africa is now considering a bailout for Zimbabwe as long as it is affordable for our side, Foreign Minister Lindiwe Sisulu said. Meanwhile, President Cyril Ramaphosa suggested that sanctions on Zimbabwe be lifted or relaxed. Zimbabwes turmoil again brought questions about tensions between Mnangagwa and the man he had left in charge, hard-line former military commander and Vice President Constantino Chiwenga, who led the military effort to oust Mugabe. Mnangagwa and Chiwenga have dismissed reports of a rift, and they hugged upon the presidents return late Monday, chatting for 15 minutes on the runway. This is state-sponsored violence, Dewa Mavhinga, the southern African director for Human Rights Watch, told reporters in South Africa on Tuesday. Mnangagwa should not pretend that the misconduct is unacceptable to his government when they are taking no action. The Zimbabwean government's crackdown on fuel hike protesters has seen at least 12 people killed and more than 300 wounded in clashes with security forces, and as many as 600 people arrested. On Tuesday, President Emmerson Mnangagwa called for an investigation into the violence, but analysts charge his new government planned the unrest. VOA spoke to witnesses who gave some graphic and upsetting accounts of events. The stories are chilling. For the past two weeks, amid an intermittent internet blackout, witnesses say Zimbabwean security forces have been rampaging through the population, in what analysts say is a planned, coordinated attempt to quash dissent. "We had people who were shot at point blank, almost one meter away, two meters away, straight into the head, which means the intention was actually to kill. It wasn't non-intentional. And this one is also another case of a deceased person, who was actually shot point blank in Chitungwiza, into the head, he had brains all over," recalls Dr. Norman Matara, a general practitioner who left Zimbabwe last week. In Johannesburg, he showed journalists graphic photographs of the casualties, some with horrific bruises and gunshot wounds. Matara's organization, the Zimbabwe Association of Doctors for Human Rights, said they are certain the recent violence is orchestrated. Southern Africa researcher Dewa Mavhinga of Human Rights Watch (HRW) said the violence is unquestionably tied to President Mnangagwa. He was elected on July 30 amid promises to set a new course after years of repression under longtime leader Robert Mugabe. Those promises fell flat just two days later, when soldiers shot dead six protesters on the streets of the capital. Since Mnangagwa announced a 150 percent increase in fuel prices in early January, which sparked protests, the violence has mounted -- and been shockingly brazen, HRW's Mavhinga said. "During Mugabe's time, I think there was an attempt to sort of mask and hide these things and give more of a front," Mavhinga said. "But these guys, in uniform, in broad daylight, you saw on the first of August, we saw it just in this last week, so the militarization is now more open. The disregard for the law is now more open." What no one knows is why this is happening, analyst Piers Pigou of the International Crisis Group said. The most popular theory is that there is a power struggle between the president and his deputy, General Constantino Chiwenga, who was the muscle behind the November 2017 push that forced Mugabe to resign. "The question in my mind is, to what end? What on Earth is the purpose of this? Because it seems to be, in many ways, an exercise in self-destruction in terms of undermining their own reform and re-engagement strategy," Pigou said. As analysts debate the causes, the violence continues. Pigou pointed to his phone, saying while he was being interviewed even more details of violence and arrests were being reported. Show more Show less TRANSCRIPT VOA CONTRIBUTOR GRETA VAN SUSTEREN: Mr. President, its very nice to see you, sir. FORMER PRESIDENT JIMMY CARTER: Its to be with you again, Greta. Thank you. VAN SUSTEREN: Mr. President, its been 40 years since the United States has had normalized relations with China. That was when you became president, a hugely significant time in history. Why did you do that? CARTER: Well I decided to do that before I was president and I didnt know how to do it because it was always a big problem with the status of Taiwan and China. But we finally worked that out harmoniously, Deng Xiaoping and I did. And we had been through terrible wars in the Pacific. You know I had been in the Navy in the submarine when we had a war with the whole war, World War II, and also during the Korean War I was in the Pacific. And we saw that the ravages of Vietnam so there was a constant series of world in the Pacific in which we were involved including the one between China and Japan when we were on Chinas side. So I wanted to bring peace, and since 1949 there hasnt been any wars in the Pacific, I see. Part of the result of that is because of good relations between the United States and China. We have, I think it was part of the most long-term significant thing that I did when I was in the White House, was to normalize diplomatic relations with China after 30 years of conflict. And so, Deng Xiaoping and I were got to be real good friends. We admired each other. I visited him when he was almost my age in China. And I would say that he carried out his commitment of openness and reform to a very high degree of completion in China. They still have a way to go in human rights but theyve made tremendous progress. And so the relationship between the United States and China is now, and will continue to be for a long time, the most important bilateral relationship, I think, in the world. VAN SUSTEREN: I dont think younger people, younger than I, realize what a big moment in history that was. And theres a lot of pushback from the Republicans, the Taiwan lobbyand you even were, as I understand it, you began the negotiations almost secretly. CARTER: Well we did, and I got a labor leader to represent me because I wanted to be a tough negotiator. And a lot of people at the State Department were against it. So we never sent a dispatch to our representatives in China from the State Department. All of it went from the White House to China and back to the White House, we just bypassed it. VAN SUSTEREN: And no one knew? CARTER: No one knew. And of course the Secretary of State knew, Dr. Brzezinski knew and a few of us. But it was very close to held secret. And the big altercation was about what to do with Taiwan. Because after Nixon went to China in 1972 and had a so-called Shanghai Communique, it was declared that there was just one China. He refused to say which side, and we continued to say that Taiwan was the only China. And President Ford did the same thing. And I was determined to change that. VAN SUSTEREN: What was the reaction after the normalization was January 1, 1979, and a few months later of course, you signed the Taiwan Relations Act, which protected Taiwanbut after you signed, after the relations were normalized, did Taiwan contact you? CARTER: Very negatively. My Deputy Secretary of State went over to China, I mean Taiwan, and he was physically attacked on the street by irate Taiwanese. But I think the Taiwan Act that we got through the House and the Senate of the United States successfully, as you said, protected the interest of Taiwan, it protected the interest of the United States. And we had a provision in the treaty between the United States and Taiwan to warrant, to allow for a one year notice. So I gave Taiwan the notice that a year from then we would have null relationships with China and not Taiwan. And so we continued our commercial relationships. Another promise we made that we made who were not soyou know, offensive weapons to Taiwan with the potential of attacking China from Taiwanthats been, well, I adhere to that commitment completely, but some of the most successes in office, I wont say which ones, maybe departed a bit from that. VAN SUSTEREN: What was Deng Xiaoping like? CARTER: I think the secret to the quick acceptance of it through Chinese U.S. relationship by the American public was due entirely to the character and the good humor and the down-to-earth nature of Deng Xiaoping. He was an instant hit with people in Washington, D.C. and the rest of the world through news media. He wore a cowboy hat in Texas, he visited Atlanta by my request. And so I think that was his personal characteristic of good nature, down-to-earth, honest guy who came across the American public as Ok, China must be alright instead of evil people like we thought before. VAN SUSTEREN: What was the Soviet Union, what was their response? Because as they see that you and Deng Xiaoping are friends and weve had normalized relations, what about the Soviet Union? CARTER: They were quite irate and attacked us through diplomatic means who complained quite bitterly and said that we were lining that, that the United States and China would gang up against the Soviet Union. But I finally calmed them down including Brezhnev, who was the president of the Soviet Union. And we got along fairly well with both of the previous adversaries after that. VAN SUSTEREN: So fast forward to now. I mean you changed the whole course of history in terms of normalization relations. Now we have the China, which has footprints all over the world with its Silk Road initiative. Its got trade all over the world, its in our backyard, in Nicaragua, its building a military base, perhaps, in the South China Sea. I mean, what do you think of China now? CARTER: Well what Deng Xiaoping promised the Chinese people, the world and United States and me, personally, was openness and reform. And they have had tremendous reform within China. There was zero free enterprise in China before that. And after that, China has become a very dynamic, open society as far as commerce and trade is concerned. And they have several billionaires now theyve made a profit whereas before 79, no profit was permitted by anybody in China. When I visited China the year after we normalized relations, it was completely impossible for a person to move from a small village to a big city and vice versa without getting personal approval from a communist party. Thats all been done away with. Before normalization, there was zero Christianity in China, either Protestantism or Catholicism. And Deng Xiaoping, at my personal request, passed a law of complete equality of worship. VAN SUSTEREN: No bibles though! CARTER: And he, there were no bibles before that but now the number one producer of bibles in the world is a Chinese company that prints bibles and they are free to distribute in China. The one thing I asked him for was missionaries to be permitted back in China like they were before we broke up with China and he said no to that because he didnt want missionaries to come in and do what he claimed they did early on and that was to be superior to the Chinese people and change the Chinese culture. So he said no to missionaries, but my other two requests: bibles freely distributed and freedom of religion, he passed that. VAN SUSTEREN: So how do you reconcile today, I mean lets take for instance the Uyghurs. Some say its ethnic cleansing. Theyre put in reeducation camps and they dont have the religious freedoms. So how do you reconcile that? CARTER: Well although China has made great progress in human rights, as Ive just mentioned, with the Uyghurs, thats a very sad light I think on the world picture of equal treatment for people. And theres still some problems in China, which theyre trying to overcome. China has not had a war since 1979 and weve spent trillions and trillions of dollars on our own wars in Iraq and so forth. So I would say theyve done a tremendous job in their own country not only in building up their infrastructure to an admirable state of quality, but theyve also almost completely eliminated extreme poverty in China. And I think in a year or two Xi Jinping, the president, is going to announce that theyve ended poverty for all Chinese people which is a wonderful achievement. So I think theyve spent their tremendous financial resources very wisely whereas weve spent much of our financial resources on unnecessary wars. VAN SUSTEREN: Alright well you bring up finances. The current president of the United States has a trade war, he has tariffs on China. I take it that would not be the Carter diplomacy with China? CARTER: No it wouldnt. VAN SUSTEREN: I thought so. CARTER: And I think since the summit meeting that weve had in Argentina, I think weve made some progress. China has agreed to do two or three things. One is to buy more soybeans. And I think theyve made two purchases of a major size of American soybeans. Theyve also promised to open up investment opportunities about American corporations in China on things like intellectual rights and copyrights to cover that. Im not sure what progress theyve made but theyve made some progress. And my hope is that the trade talks will improve the economies in both China and the United States. When we dont get along with China, it hurts both of usnot just China, but also it hurts the United States economically. VAN SUSTEREN: Are you optimistic about the relationship between the United States and China? Are we headed in a good direction? CARTER: I think in the long term, the American people will see that getting along with China is the key to our own prosperity and our own peaceful life, and our own good life. And I think we have a temporary setback under President Trump but I cant predict what the next president will do. But Ill continue to use my influence, and the influence of the Carter Center to see that we treat China with respect with problems with China in an open fashion and be honest with both sides. And I think the Chinese are very likely to do the same. VAN SUSTEREN: Okay, how many times have you been to China? CARTER: Well before I had my cancer scare a few years ago, I was going to China almost every year. But I dont know how many times Ive been VAN SUSTEREN: Do you love China? I mean because you travel there so much. CARTER: I do. The first time I went to China, I was on the submarine in 1949, probably before you were born. VAN SUSTEREN: Not much before I was born but a little bit. CARTER: Not much before you were born, but anyway. It was right after that the Peoples Republic of China was formed and the communists took over. And so it happened to be on my birthday, which Deng Xiaoping thought was significant, October 1, 1949. I was 25 years old. So Im 25 years older than the Peoples Republic of China. I had a long time interest in China. VAN SUSTEREN: Well its fascinating to watch China because as China is doing all these business deals all over the world, and some call it debt-diplomacy. CARTER: That was part of Deng Xiaopings openinghe was going to reform inside China. And in the so-called isolation of China, in dealing with the outside world. And I think now, we are seeing it diplomatically, and with trade and investments, and also benevolent causes. China has reached out as much as possible to have good relationships with countries all over the world. Which they avoided for a long time before 1979. VAN SUSTEREN: Mr. President, it was nice to talk to you. And of course, it was particularly fascinating because this is such a monumental time in history, you know, of the normalization of relations. Because even in my time, when I was growing up, it seemed impossible. CARTER: Well it seemed impossible to a lot of people. And it had to be done, as I said earlier in the interview, very secretly because we had a lot of people opposed to it. The Republican Party was opposed to it. A lot of business interests that were dealing with Taiwan were opposed to it. And many people in the State Department were opposed to it. And so I just had to do it and I was successful in doing it. And because of Deng XiaopingsI would say generosity and his openness and his attractiveness, as a human being, it was accepted ok by the American people. VAN SUSTEREN: Thank you, sir, nice to see you. Its great to see you. CARTER: My pleasure. Thank you, Greta. Best wishes to you. VAN SUSTEREN: Same to you. South African President Cyril Ramaphosa is calling for sanctions on Zimbabwe to be lifted, saying this action would help the countrys shattered economy recover. Ramaphosa, who is to attend the World Economic Forum in Davos, made a stopover in Geneva to attend the centennial celebration of the International Labor Organization. Six months after presidential elections were held in Zimbabwe, that country finds itself in a very difficult, dangerous place. The euphoria that gripped the country after former president Robert Mugabe was ousted from power is gone. Food shortages and skyrocketing fuel prices have triggered mass protests. These have been met with deadly force by Zimbabwes security forces, which reportedly have killed at least 12 people and wounded hundreds more. Ramaphosa says his government is in serious talks with Zimbabwe on how to help it emerge from its economic crisis. He says this will not be easy to resolve. But he believes Zimbabwes economy could begin to recover if the world would lift the sanctions it has imposed. It is no longer necessary to have sanctions against Zimbabwe right now because they have embarked on a path of democracy and on a path of real recovery and we will help them best by lifting those sanctions because that in many ways would relieve the tension that is currently in the country, Ramaphosa said. During the Mugabe regime, the U.S. and European Union imposed travel and asset restrictions on top ruling party officials, top military figures and some government-owned firms in response to election rigging and human rights abuses. The sanctions do not apply to the country as a whole. Dodges human rights question VOA asked if lifting sanctions now would rob countries of the leverage they have to try to persuade Zimbabwe to improve its human rights record and to govern in a more democratic way. The South African president, who was participating in a news conference on a different subject, told VOA he was unable to respond to the question. I have been directed and instructed not to say anything further on Zimbabwe. And, as a law-abiding person and member of this Commission, I shall duly do so. So, my mouth is closed about Zimbabwe. Ramaphosa is co-chair of the International Labor Organizations Global Commission on the Future of Work. He is in Geneva for the launch of the report. Zimbabwe President Emmerson Mnangagwa has decided to skip the World Economic Forum to attend to problems back home. But no such constraints are keeping the South African president away. He says he is bringing assurances to the elite Davos gathering that South Africa is no longer tethered to the unethical practices of the past nine years. That was an apparent reference to his predecessor, Jacob Zuma, who stepped down last year while mired in corruption scandals. Zimbabwe Finance Minister Mthuli Ncube, currently in Switzerland, for the World Economic Forum, has called on countries that have targeted sanctions on Zimbabwe, to take it off their list. Ncube is attending on behalf of President Emmerson Mnangagwa who cancelled the trip to return to Zimbabwe The URL has been copied to your clipboard The code has been copied to your clipboard. In paying tribute to late musician Oliver Mtukudzi, Zimbabwe opposition MDC leader Nelson Chamisa described him as "a man full of sense of humor, a father, a loving father, a great advisor, a mentor to many, a mentor to generations. An icon to the nation." ISLAMABAD - There are signs of progress in the ongoing peace talks between the United States and the Taliban in Qatar, leading some to think they could set the stage for a politically negotiated settlement to the 17-year-old war in Afghanistan. The talks opened Monday with the U.S. team led by Washington's special representative for Afghan reconciliation Zalmay Khalilzad. Pakistani and Qatari envoys also are present. As the discussions entered a fourth day Thursday, highly placed sources told VOA the two sides have covered "significant" ground in their bid to reach an understanding on the two most difficult issues being negotiated in Doha, the capital of the Gulf state, where the Afghan insurgent group operates its political office. The Taliban announced at the outset that its representatives would be seeking a timetable for withdrawal of U.S. and NATO-led foreign troops from Afghanistan, while the Taliban side would give assurances that Afghan soil would not be used to threaten the United States or any other country. Sources anticipate the Taliban could announce a temporary cease-fire in the event of progress on its key demand of a foreign troop withdrawal from Afghanistan. The peace dialogue started last summer and Pakistan reiterated Thursday it has brought the two sides to the table to help find a peaceful end to the increasingly bloody Afghan war. Islamabad insists it has convinced the Taliban to engage in a productive dialogue with the U.S. and the two negotiating teams would be solely responsible for its "success or failure." FILE - Former U.S. Ambassador to Afghanistan Zalma FILE - Former U.S. Ambassador to Afghanistan Zalmay Khalilzad, now the special representative for Afghanistan reconciliation, speaks in Washington, D.C., April 27, 2016. FILE - Former U.S. Ambassador to Afghanistan Zalmay Khalilzad, now the special representative for Afghanistan reconciliation, speaks in Washington, D.C., April 27, 2016. A Foreign Ministry spokesman confirmed Pakistan is represented at the talks but gave no further details about any possible breakthrough. "Pakistan, as part of its shared responsibility, is facilitating the ongoing round of talks between [the] U.S. and the Taliban in Doha. Negotiations are between the two parties, that is the U.S. and the Taliban. Pakistan and Qatar are providing the necessary support and are facilitating the talks," Mohammad Faisal noted. Faisal insisted that taking the Afghan peace process forward remained a shared responsibility. He went on to say that ultimately the intra-Afghan dialogue would be vital to agree upon the contours of a future Afghan policy where Afghanistan becomes a stable and prosperous country and at peace with its neighbors. It remains unclear whether U.S. negotiators have persuaded Taliban representatives to engage in direct talks with the government. The militants have long opposed recognizing the elected government, insisting it is illegitimate. Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates also have played their role in influencing the insurgents, and their representatives were present in the last round of U,S.-Taliban talks hosted by Abu Dhabi in December. Diplomatic sources privy to the current negotiations tell VOA that because the U.S. has already shown willingness to draw down troops from Afghanistan, they believe "the Taliban will also have to concede something for an agreement" to move the process forward. If the Doha dialogue secures "even a limited conditional cease-fire," the sources say, it would be a major development because it will "practically make a political reconciliation process irreversible." New head of Qatar office Meanwhile, in what some observers call a significant development to win support of military commanders on the ground, the Taliban appointed its co-founder, Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, as the new head of the Qatar political office conducting the meetings with Khalilzad. Mullah-Baradar Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar A spokesman for the insurgent group, Zabihullah Mujahid, announced late Thursday that the induction of Baradar is meant to "strengthen and properly handle the ongoing negotiations" with the American side. Additionally, Baradar will also serve as the deputy political affairs to Taliban chief Hibatullah Akundzada, Mujahid wrote in a statement released to media. "With the appointment of the esteemed Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, the negotiation team of the Islamic Emirate (the Taliban) will continue their talks with the United States and will not bring about any change," noted the Taliban spokesman. Baradar hails from southern Afghanistan and he is still believed to be highly respected among the Taliban. He had been under United Nations financial and travel sanctions since February 2001. The Taliban spokesman claimed that besides Baradar's appointment, the Taliban leadership has made multiple changes in its military and civilian departments so that the ongoing jihadi process and political efforts can develop positively. Baradar, a former Taliban military commander and close associate of the Islamist group's founding leader Mullah Omar, had been in Pakistan's custody for more than eight years before he was set free last October at Washington's request, hoping his involvement in direct peace talks with the insurgent group would boost the peace process. The senior Afghan insurgent leader was captured in 2010 in a joint raid by Pakistani and American security operatives against his hideout in Karachi, Pakistan's largest city. He was the group's second-in-command at the time of his arrest. ISTANBUL - Talks between Syrian Kurdish forces and Damascus are seen as the latest repercussion from Washingtons decision to pull troops out of Syria. The talks could force Ankara to end its freeze in diplomatic relations with Damascus. Both developments are key objectives of Russian President Vladimir Putin. Putin on Wednesday praised the Syrian Kurdish group, the PYD, for "establishing a dialogue between Damascus and representatives of the Kurds. Moscow has been lobbying the PYD and its military wing, the YPG, to sit down with Damascus in a bid to pry away the Kurdish groups from Washington's influence. Earlier this month, White House national security adviser John Bolton appealed to the YPG to refrain from dialogue with Damascus. "I think they know who their friends are," Bolton said, referring to the Kurds. ie 2017e ieii iii e iii Kurdish fighters from the People's Protection Units (YPG) head a convoy of U.S military vehicles in the town of Darbasiya next to the Turkish border, Syria, April 28, 2017. Kurdish fighters from the People's Protection Units (YPG) head a convoy of U.S military vehicles in the town of Darbasiya next to the Turkish border, Syria, April 28, 2017. The YPG's allies in the U.S.-led war against Islamic State had largely resisted Moscows overtures. With American military backing, the Kurdish militia had taken control of a broad swath of Syria. However, U.S. President Donald Trumps December decision to withdraw troops from Syria is seen as forcing the Kurdish militia to turn to Damascus. Its the main driver, Washington's decision to withdraw its military presence. It pushed the YPG or PYD to direct talks with Damascus, said former senior Turkish diplomat Aydin Selcen. We also see press reports one of the top YPG commanders flew to Moscow for talks, he added. The decision by the U.S. to withdraw has changed the whole ball game. All [Syrian President Bashar] al-Assad has to do is to wait for the U.S. to leave for the YPG to fall into his lap. With as much as one-fifth of Syrian territory under Syrian militia control, Damascus will be accommodating to Syrian Kurdish groups, according to international relations professor Huseyin Bagci of Ankaras Middle East Technical University. At the moment the Syrians have learned lessons from the past, of how counterproductive it is to crack down on the Kurds, said Bagci. They will negotiate with the Kurds. The Russians are also there, putting the Syrian regime and the Kurds together. I think Turkey will be excluded. Ankara considers the YPG and PYD terrorist organizations as linked to an insurgency inside Turkey. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is threatening to launch a military strike against YPG-controlled Syrian territory bordering Turkey. Turkish forces remain massed along the frontier. Fighters of People's Protection Units, or YPG, gat Fighters of People's Protection Units, or YPG, gather at their outpost west of the city of Kobani, northern Syria, Tuesday, Dec. 18, 2018. Fighters of People's Protection Units, or YPG, gather at their outpost west of the city of Kobani, northern Syria, Tuesday, Dec. 18, 2018. Analysts say a deal between the YPG and Damascus could thwart a military strike. Putin appeared to make a gesture to Erdogan, though, at a joint press conference Wednesday after talks in Moscow. The Russian president claimed a 1998 Syrian-Turkish counterterrorism agreement was still active. Adana agreement The so-called Adana agreement allows Turkish counterterrorism operations in Syria against the Kurdish rebel group PKK, which has been waging a decades-long war against Turkey. Ankara claims the YPG and PYD are affiliated with the PKK. It's definitely a gesture by Putin. Many people will be surprised he [Putin] mentioned this, said Selcen. The catch for Ankara is that for the Adana agreement to work, it requires Turkey to restore diplomatic relations with Damascus. Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Turkish c Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan attend a news conference after their meeting at the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia, Jan. 23, 2019. Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan attend a news conference after their meeting at the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia, Jan. 23, 2019. Putin is playing chess with Turkey, trying to get Ankara to start talking with Assad, said Bagci. Moscow is working to end Damascus diplomatic isolation. Erdogan severed ties with Syria at the start of the Syrian civil war and vowed diplomatic relations would not be restored while Assad remained in power. With Putin resurrecting the Adana agreement, however, that could facilitate a softening in Ankaras stance. Definitely for Adana to work, you need diplomatic ties, said Aydin. Turkish Foreign Minister [Mevlut] Cavusoglu indicated there is indirect contact with Damascus and Ankara, and it may now realize it's high time to get in touch with Damascus directly. However, the problem is [that] in diplomacy, one should not paint oneself into a corner, and I am afraid Ankara did this with Syria. Erdogan has heavily played the anti-Assad card in domestic politics to whip up his conservative Islamic base, which strongly backs the Syrian rebel opposition. Sooner or later, Turkey will have to have talks with Bashar al-Assad, but the problem is how to convince the Turkish public, said Bagci. But Erdogan is a very pragmatic man. He can do this. He can say, 'Yesterday it was like this, but today we have changed our minds. Let us look to the future, and we can have economic and security gains,' and no one will oppose. Complicating matters for Erdogan: In March there are key local elections across Turkey. In addition, restoring relations with Damascus could put Ankara on a collision course with Washington, which continues to lobby for Syrias isolation. To restart negotiations with Damascus is a difficult political step [for Turkey], said Selcen. But the clock is ticking for Turkey, because the UAE, Saudi Arabia, are going back to Damascus, along with the Arab League, so that Turkey could find itself out of step. But Mr. Erdogan is a popular leader. Perhaps Erdogan might wait and see how his party does in Marchs local elections, and perhaps we could see a thaw in relations with Syria." The U.S. Senate is set to vote Thursday on competing partisan efforts to end a partial federal government shutdown, now in its second month, but neither proposal has an easy path through Congress to reach President Donald Trump's desk. One of the afternoon votes is on a Republican measure incorporating Trump's $5.7-billion demand for wall construction along the U.S.-Mexico border, plus limited immigration reforms, in a package to fund the government for the rest of the current fiscal year. The Senate also will vote on a Democratic proposal to fund the government through Feb. 8. The measure contains no border security or immigration provisions and is designed merely to reopen shuttered federal agencies and provide a window for congressional leaders and the White House to strike a deal on outstanding issues that provoked the funding impasse in December. "Theres no excuse for Senate Republicans not to pass this legislation," House Speaker Nancy Pelosi told a weekly press conference on Thursday, referring to the Democrats' proposal. "The Senate has an opportunity to pass legislation that is very simple," @SpeakerPelosi says clean CR without wall funding give Congress the ability to discuss #bordersecurity while people are being paid https://t.co/SR69bghckh Katherine Gypson (@kgyp) January 24, 2019 Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky urged Democrats to embrace the Republican measure, which would provide temporary protections for immigrants brought illegally to America as children, some of whom have been shielded from deportation by an Obama administration program known as DACA, which Trump has sought to terminate. "It's time to make a deal, and fortunately, a deal is on the table," McConnell said. "It's a deal for everyone who would rather reopen the government, invest in border security and secure more certainty for DACA recipients." Furloughed EPA worker Jeff Herrema holds a sign ou Furloughed EPA worker Jeff Herrema holds a sign outside the offices of U.S. Senator Mitch McConnell, in Park Hills, Kentucky, Jan 22, 2019. Furloughed EPA worker Jeff Herrema holds a sign outside the offices of U.S. Senator Mitch McConnell, in Park Hills, Kentucky, Jan 22, 2019. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, a New York Democrat, had a different take, saying the Republican proposal amounts to "holding 800,000 (federal) workers hostage, millions of Americans hostage, unless the amendment's authors (Republicans) get their way (on a border wall)." Of the Democratic measure, Schumer said, "We're not demanding anything. Just open up the government, and then let's discuss it (border security)." Neither proposal can pass the Senate without bipartisan support, since 60 votes will be required to advance either measure in the 100-member chamber. Republicans have a narrow 53-47 Senate majority. Trump on Wednesday reiterated his stance that a border wall is necessary for security. "I don't think we have a choice. We have to make our country safe. We have done such an incredible job with such poor tools," the president said. He further cast Democrats as a "dangerous party" and said he will not allow the radical left to "control our borders." BUILD A WALL & CRIME WILL FALL! This is the new theme, for two years until the Wall is finished (under construction now), of the Republican Party. Use it and pray! Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 23, 2019 Congressional action is not limited to the Senate. The Democrat-led House of Representatives has passed multiple bills restoring federal spending authority but omitting wall funding from all of them. Reports from Capitol Hill say House Democratic leaders are working on a new proposal that would add billions of dollars to an array of border security measures favored by the White House short of constructing new physical barriers on America's southern border. Republicans have hailed Trump's proposal as an effort at compromise, and House Democrats said they are attempting to do the same. A growing number of lawmakers of both parties have said compromise is the only way to end the political stalemate and reopen the government. "It is long overdue for all sides to come together, to engage in constructive debate and compromise to end this standoff," Maine Republican Sen. Susan Collins said. "Shutdowns represent the ultimate failure to govern and should never be used as a weapon to achieve an outcome." Virginia Democratic Sen. Tim Kaine expressed grave reservations about Trump's proposal, but said it deserves serious consideration as a starting point for negotiations. Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., speaks with Sen. Mark Warne Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., speaks with Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., as they walk to their offices Jan. 20, 2018, on Capitol Hill in Washington. Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., speaks with Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., as they walk to their offices Jan. 20, 2018, on Capitol Hill in Washington. ?"These are issues we could debate. These are issues where amendments could be offered and we could find, I believe, a compromise," Kaine said. "We ought to have that discussion and offer Democrats and Republicans the ability to take some sandpaper to it and try to make it better." The shutdown has furloughed 800,000 government employees, with at least 420,000 forced to continue working without pay and the remainder sent home, some of whom have been forced to look for temporary work elsewhere to help pay their household bills. All are set to miss their second biweekly paycheck on Friday. Nigerias leading female presidential candidate has withdrawn from the crowded field of candidates to help build a viable coalition to take on the countrys two main parties. Oby Ezekwesili announced she was dropping out as a candidate of the Allied Congress Party of Nigeria in a series of tweets Thursday. The former government minister and former president of the World Bank said the need for an alternative to President Muhammadu Buharis All Progressives Congress and the main opposition Peoples Democratic Party is an urgent mission for and on behalf of the citizenry. I have decided to step down from the presidential race and focus on helping to build a Coalition for a viable alternative to the #APCPDP in the 2019 general elections. Oby Ezekwesili (@obyezeks) January 24, 2019 Ezekwesili was one of 73 candidates running for the February 16 elections, but many believe the race is between President Buhari and Atiku Abubakar, the leader of the PDP. The PDP governed Nigeria from 1999, the year civilian rule was restored, and Buharis victory in 2015. The 55-year-old Ezekwesili led the Bring Back Our Girls campaign that raised awareness of the 270 girls who were kidnapped from their school in the northwest town of Chibok in 2014 by the Boko Haram militant group. She is also a co-founder of the anti-corruption group Transparency International. JUBA - Oil is again being pumped from fields in South Sudans former Unity state, five years after production was halted because of fighting between government soldiers and rebels. Awow Daniel Chuang, director general of the Petroleum Authority, which is part of the South Sudan Petroleum Ministry, said production resumed in parts of the state at the end of 2018, after workers repaired several oilfields that were damaged during clashes. We are also working to resume the rest of the fields, because we have five fields in that area. So now we have two fields that are already on and the rest of the field which are Amanga, Naar, and then Alhar will be coming on board very soon," Chuang told VOAs South Sudan in Focus. He says production is still limited to around 20,000 barrels of oil per day in the state. Oil exports were expected to make up most of South Sudan's foreign revenue when the country won independence from Sudan in 2011. But the civil war that broke out at the end of 2013 brought oil production to a near-complete halt. Chuang said once a new power plant opens in Juba, it will enable the government to increase oil production to 60,000 barrels per day by years end. If we have enough power, then we can open more, and when we open more, we should be expecting more oil from Unity, Chuang added. Energy shortages along with a limited capacity at Khartoums oil refinery affects the amount of crude oil being extracted in former Unity state according to Chuang. The crude oil quality being produced in block 5A is quite limited, not because it is technically limited, but it is being limited by Khartoum refinery, because Khartoum refinery does not accommodate a quality of crude oil that is very heavy, said Chuang. South Sudan loses a significant amount of crude during the extraction process, but Chuang said the government plans to utilize enhanced oil recovery technology that should increase the oil recovery rate and production. India's Oil and Natural Gas Corporation, Malaysias Petronas and China National Petroleum Corporation or CNPC all have stakes in South Sudanese oil fields. BEIRUT - Members of the Islamic State group failed Thursday to break a siege imposed by U.S.-backed fighters in the last area they control in Syria, leading to fierce fighting that inflicted casualties on both sides, Syrian opposition activists said. The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights and the Deir el-Zour 24, an activist collective, said the fighting was concentrated west of the eastern village of Baghouz near the Iraqi border that the extremists lost earlier this week. U.S.-backed Kurdish-led fighters of the Syrian Democratic Forces have captured most of the area that was once controlled by IS on the east banks of the Euphrates River and the extremists now control only two villages. More than 20,000 civilians have fled the IS-held area and hundreds of militants have surrendered since SDF began its offensive on Sept. 10. Deir el-Zour Deir el-Zour Deir el-Zour The extremists are likely to lose the areas they control in Deir el-Zour in the coming few weeks as SDF fighters press their offensive under the cover of airstrikes by the U.S.-led coalition. Rami Abdurrahman, the observatory's chief, said Thursday's fighting left 34 militants and 16 SDF fighters dead. He added that 21 IS gunmen had been taken prisoners. Deir el-Zour 24 confirmed fighters from both sides had been killed, without giving numbers. Earlier Thursday, a bomb exploded in the capital, Damascus, causing property damage but no casualties, Syrian state media reported. Syrian TV said the explosive had been placed inside a car in the Adawi neighborhood. The Russian Embassy is located several hundred meters away. There was no immediate claim of responsibility. Latakia blast The bombing came two days after an explosion at a busy intersection in the coastal city of Latakia killed a civilian and wounded 14 others. Last week, a bomb also exploded in Damascus without inflicting casualties. The Syrian capital has been relatively safe since government forces last year captured all rebel-held neighborhoods and suburbs of Damascus. Also on Thursday, in the northern town of al-Bab, which is controlled by Turkey-backed opposition fighters, a motorcycle rigged with explosives blew up in the town's center. At least one person was killed and 11 wounded, according to the observatory. The opposition's Syrian Civil Defense, also known as White Helmets, said the blast killed three and wounded 12. A gunman opened fire inside a Florida bank Wednesday afternoon, killing five people before surrendering to negotiators, police said. Zephen Xaver, 21, was arrested after the shooting at a Sebring SunTrust Bank branch, Sebring police Chief Karl Hoglund said at a news conference. Today's been a tragic day in our community, Hogland said. We've suffered significant loss at the hands of a senseless criminal doing a senseless crime. The victims were not immediately identified. A man called police dispatch Wednesday afternoon to report that he had fired shots inside the bank, Hoglund said. Initial negotiations to get the barricaded man to leave the bank were unsuccessful, so the Highlands County Sheriff's Office SWAT team entered the bank to continue negotiations, and the man eventually surrendered. Sebring, Florida Map of Sebring, Florida Map of Sebring, Florida Police didn't say what charges Xaver would face or indicate a motive. Gov. Ron DeSantis was in the region for an infrastructure tour and traveled to Sebring after news of the shooting broke. He said the Florida Department of Law Enforcement would assist Sebring police and the Highlands sheriff in any way possible. Obviously, this is an individual who needs to face very swift and exacting justice, DeSantis said of the gunman. A Sebring, Florida, police officer stands near a H A Sebring, Florida, police officer stands near a Highlands County Sheriff's SWAT vehicle that is stationed in front of a SunTrust Bank branch, Jan. 23, 2019. A Sebring, Florida, police officer stands near a Highlands County Sheriff's SWAT vehicle that is stationed in front of a SunTrust Bank branch, Jan. 23, 2019. SunTrust Chairman and CEO Bill Rogers released a statement saying the bank is deeply saddened by the tragic shooting. We are working with officials and dedicating ourselves to fully addressing the needs of all the individuals and families involved, Rogers said. Our entire team mourns this terrible loss. New Democratic Republic of Congo President Felix Tshisekedi was sworn in Thursday but fell ill during his inaugural speech. Thousands of the new president's supporters and outgoing President Joseph Kabila were present as Tshisekedi took the oath of office in Kinshasa. Tshisekedi began to speak but state television cut away from the president before he finished his remarks. Reuters news agency reports that aides sat Tshisekedi down in a chair and brought him water. It says the president later returned to the podium and explained he was exhausted by the long election process and the emotion of the occasion. Congo Poised to Inaugurate New President From Opposition Congo on Thursday was poised to inaugurate an opposition leader as its unexpected new president in the Central African countrys first peaceful, democratic transfer of power since independence nearly 60 years ago.The 55-year-old Felix Tshisekedi , son of the late opposition icon Etienne, will be sworn into office at the Peoples Palace, the seat of the national legislature in the capital, Kinshasa. Supporters who for decades backed the elder Tshisekedis pursuit of power streamed into the venue with Congo on Thursday was poised to inaugurate an opposition leader as its unexpected new president in the Central African countrys first peaceful, democratic transfer of power since independence nearly 60 years ago.The 55-year-old Felix Tshisekedi , son of the late opposition icon Etienne, will be sworn into office at the Peoples Palace, the seat of the national legislature in the capital, Kinshasa. Supporters who for decades backed the elder Tshisekedis pursuit of power streamed into the venue with Tshisekedi, 55, is the son of Congo's longtime opposition leader and leads the opposition UDPS party. His inauguration marks the first peaceful transfer of power in Congo's nearly 60-year history as an independent nation. He was declared the winner of the December 30 election that was delayed several times. Runner up Martin Fayulu has contested the results, saying Kabila conspired with the electoral commission to give victory to Tshisekedi. SEOUL, SOUTH KOREA - North Korea's Kim Jong Un has expressed "great satisfaction" after receiving a letter from U.S. President Donald Trump ahead of a second summit between the two leaders, Pyongyang's state media reported Thursday. Kim is making "good technical preparations" for the meeting, the official KCNA news agency said, in the isolated nation's first comments on the talks scheduled for next month. The letter was handed to Kim by one of his right-hand men, Vice Chairman Kim Yong Chol, who met Trump at the White House last week as the two countries seek a denuclearization accord that could ease decades of hostility. 'Great interest' in second meeting "[Kim] spoke highly of President Trump for expressing his unusual determination and will for the settlement of the issue with a great interest in the second DPRK-U.S. summit," KCNA said, referring to the North by its official initialism. The strongman said North Korea will "believe in the positive way of thinking of President Trump" as the countries advance "step by step" toward their goals, the agency added. On Saturday, Trump said a location for the summit has been decided, without giving more details. However, a Vietnamese government source told AFP "logistical preparations" were under way to host the encounter, most likely in the capital, Hanoi, or coastal city of Danang. The White House has confirmed the summit will go ahead in February. FILE - U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korea FILE - U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un shake hands after signing documents during a summit at the Capella Hotel on the resort island of Sentosa, Singapore, June 12, 2018. FILE - U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un shake hands after signing documents during a summit at the Capella Hotel on the resort island of Sentosa, Singapore, June 12, 2018. The pair first met in June in Singapore, where they signed a vaguely worded document in which Kim pledged to work toward the "denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula." But progress stalled soon afterward as Pyongyang and Washington which stations 28,500 troops in South Korea disagree over what that means. The United States expects Pyongyang to give up its nuclear arsenal, doggedly built by the Kim dynasty despite sanctions and nationwide famines. Regime survival Kim, whose family has brutally ruled North Korea for three generations, is seeking guarantees of the regime's survival as well as relief from biting U.N. sanctions. Analysts say that a second summit has to make tangible progress on the issue of Pyongyang's nuclear weapons if it is to avoid being dismissed as "reality TV." YANGON, MYANMAR - Aung Soe Htike tried to ask for an explanation when police in Yangon handcuffed him and put him in a car one evening in November of last year. But instead of answering, the small business owner said the officers told him to shut up. He told VOA he was taken to a police station, where two or three men waiting for him in a back room locked him in. It was only when they showed him CCTV footage of a man stealing a phone that he understood why he was there. The thief in the video looked similar to him; he and the thief were wearing shorts. He said he told the officers they had the wrong man, but it was of no use. For about four hours, Aung Soe Htike alleged, uniformed and plain-clothed police subjected him to violent interrogation techniques that he described as torture. Aung Soe Htikes case is one of dozens in the past year that have revealed the methods Myanmars military-controlled police force uses to extract confessions. The Assistance Association for Political Prisoners, a local rights group, said physical and mental torture is systematic across Myanmars interrogation centers. They made me sit in a stress position, they accused me of theft, they swore at me, they beat me, said Aung Soe Htike. At one point, he added, an interrogator held him in a choke hold and told him you will die tonight before forcing him to confess. His wife and some friends came looking for him at the station, and finally managed to secure his release after convincing the township police colonel that he had been wrongfully arrested. FILE - Defendants look out from a police truck as FILE - Defendants look out from a police truck as they arrive at a district court, in Yangon, Myanmar, Dec. 15, 2017. FILE - Defendants look out from a police truck as they arrive at a district court, in Yangon, Myanmar, Dec. 15, 2017. Police at Yangons Ahlone township station declined to comment on the incident when contacted by VOA. Colonel Myo Thu Soe, a spokesperson at Myanmar Police Force headquarters, said he was unaware of Aung Soe Htikes case but that police interrogations were transparent and interrogation rooms were monitored with CCTV cameras. Torturing suspects is not allowed under police regulations, he said. The Myanmar National Human Rights Commission, a nominally independent body tasked with investigating abuses, handled 29 allegations of torture by police last year, including five where suspects died in custody. Commissioner Yu Lwin Aung said he has passed Aung Soe Htikes case to the home affairs ministry, which oversees the police force, with a recommendation that they take action against the officers involved. The ministrys spokesperson could not be reached for comment. But Aung Soe Htike said there has been little progress, and is not confident an internal investigation will deliver justice. Daw Aye is still waiting for answers after her son, Aung Aung, died in police custody in September last year. When she visited him in prison before his court hearing, she told VOA, he recounted officers kicking him in the chest and back and Tasering him during interrogation. Daw Aye holds a photo of her son, who died after b Daw Aye holds a photo of her son, who died after being taken into police custody last year (J. Carroll/VOA) Daw Aye holds a photo of her son, who died after being taken into police custody last year (J. Carroll/VOA) He was arrested on suspicion of stealing a car battery, a crime she says he was innocent of. Then as he emerged from a police van at court two weeks later, he collapsed and was dead within hours. Yu Lwin Aung said the human rights commission has referred this case to the home affairs ministry but has yet to receive a response. Its a similar story for Tin Tin Aye, who said she watched as a group of police beat her son, Khaing Min Wai, when they arrested him in June. They took him to a police station, and the next morning she saw his dead body at the hospital, with marks and cuts on his face, she told VOA. Mon Mon Cho, a lawyer who is advising Tin Tin Aye, said accountability is key to preventing more cases like this in the future. The government must take action against these violent people, she said. Even though a civilian government came to power for the first time in decades following a huge electoral victory in 2015, the countrys military-drafted constitution still puts the generals in charge of three key ministries, including home affairs. For Aung Soe Htike, ending the militarys grip on the police is key to tackling a culture of violence and impunity. Until that happens, efforts to train officers in human rights will fall flat, he said. The European Union is spending 30 million euros on a five-year project launched in 2016 to help Myanmars police become a modern force that adheres to international standards, respects human rights and maintains gender awareness. But Aung Soe Htike said, It doesnt matter how much money the EU spends on them, it wont make a difference unless the Myanmar Police Force is separated from the military. A party-backed nationalistic tabloid in China has warned that the extradition battle over tech giant Huawei's chief financial officer, Meng Wanzhou, is likely to be drawn out and complex. In a sharply worded editorial, the Global Times also said Beijing should make it clear that it will retaliate against both Washington and Ottawa if the request is approved. China has already carried out what many see as retaliation against Canada for detaining Meng while she was transiting through the country in early December. Since then, Beijing has arrested two Canadian citizens and recently retried a Canadian facing drug charges, replacing a 15-year verdict with the death sentence. Although the Chinese Foreign Ministry has denied the ruling and cases are connected to Meng, Chinas Ambassador to Canada has described the actions as self-defense. The United States is seeking to extradite Meng in connection with the companys alleged violations of Iran sanctions. On Tuesday, the U.S. Justice Department confirmed it would submit a formal request for Mengs extradition before the January 30 deadline. After that, Canada has 30 days to review and approve the request. Meng can make appeals and the process could take months, if not years, until she is finally released or handed over to American authorities to face trial in court. In the editorial, the Global Times said anyone with a brain can clearly see Washingtons intention to stop rising Chinese high-tech companies in the name of the law. It also said that China should prepare for more complicated games. One thing should be made very clear: If Ottawa successfully assists Washington in the extradition of Meng, Beijing will retaliate against them without a doubt, the editorial said. Any countries and forces that persecute Chinese citizens and infringe on Chinas interests will pay a heavy price. Huawei has long been suspected of violating Iran sanctions, but it wasnt until recently that U.S. authorities reportedly obtained evidence allegedly linking Meng and others at Huawei to business dealings in Iran. Details of the allegations are likely to become clearer as the extradition process moves ahead. And while China has accused Canada of being a pawn for Washington, arguing that the case is purely political, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau noted at a press conference that Meng will have ample opportunity to defend herself in court. FILE - Canadian Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau, sp FILE - Canadian Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau, speaks during a news conference at U.N. headquarters during the General Assembly of the United Nations in Manhattan, New York, Sept. 26, 2018. FILE - Canadian Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau, speaks during a news conference at U.N. headquarters during the General Assembly of the United Nations in Manhattan, New York, Sept. 26, 2018. ?Canada is a country with a rule of law, and we will make sure that the rule of law is properly and fully followed. That of course includes the opportunity for her to mount a strong defense, Trudeau said. We are a country of the rule of law. We will stay grounded in that, the same time as we advocate and engage in serious efforts to support the Canadians who have been arbitrarily detained in China. Washingtons request to extradite the companys CFO comes amid a trade war and as the Chinese company is poised, along with others, to roll out and build the next generation or 5G networks. At a press conference in Beijing Thursday, company leaders unveiled some of Huaweis newest technologies, including a 5G base station chipset called Tiangang. The company said Tiangang will increase computing power by 1.5 times. There is no doubt that the broad-based deployment of 5G has begun, said Ryan Ding, chief of Huaweis carrier business group. As the corner stone of the digital economy and smart world (technology), the telecommunication industry is greeting a historic moment of development and opportunity. None of the companys heads made any mention of the case against Meng at Thursdays showcase. Huawei said it has already signed 30 agreements to build up 5G networks, making it a leader in the field. Despite growing concerns about security and the companys connections to the military and Chinas authoritarian party state, Huawei said consumer products saw a record $52 billion in sales last year. Huawei denies the communist led government has any sway over the company and has said it puts its customers interests first. Critics, however, find that hard to believe. It is unclear how much financial support the Chinese government has given Huawei. According to an estimate from Chinas Center for Information and Industry Development, a government backed research institute, China will spend $170 billion between 2019-2026 on the development of 5G networks. Still, even as the company highlights its progress, a growing number of countries and institutions are pulling the plug on Huawei or banning its equipment from soon to be built 5G networks. On Thursday, a youth charity funded by Britains Prince Charles announced that in light of public concerns, it would not accept any new donations from Huawei technologies. SHAH ALAM, MALAYSIA - The family of a Mongolian woman murdered in Malaysia 13 years ago hopes to find answers with a lawsuit that opened in court this week, their lawyer said Wednesday. Altantuya Shaariibuu was shot dead and blown up with military-grade plastic explosives in a jungle outside Kuala Lumpur in October 2006. Her killing touched off a scandal linked to former Prime Minister Najib Razak, but he has repeatedly denied any involvement. Two members of an elite police unit who were Najib's bodyguards were convicted of killing Altantuya. Her lover Abdul Razak Baginda, a close aide to Najib, was tried but acquitted of abetting the crime, whose planner was never determined. Altantuya was 28 and pregnant at the time of her death. There was speculation that Altantuya, who was also working as a translator for Abdul Razak, was killed to shut her up from exposing alleged corruption involving the purchase of submarines from France under Najib, who was then deputy premier and defense minister. Najib later became prime minister, until his party lost power in a shocking defeat in May last year. The new government last year ordered investigations into her death to be reopened following appeals from Altantuya's family. The family filed a lawsuit in 2007 seeking 100 million ringgit ($24 million) for the shock and trauma they suffered over her death, but the case was delayed pending conclusion of the criminal trial. Shaariibuu Setev, father of murdered Mongolian mod Shaariibuu Setev, father of murdered Mongolian model Altantuya Shaariibuu, arrives at Shah Alam High Court in Shah Alam, Malaysia, Wednesday, Jan. 23, 2019. Shaariibuu Setev, father of murdered Mongolian model Altantuya Shaariibuu, arrives at Shah Alam High Court in Shah Alam, Malaysia, Wednesday, Jan. 23, 2019. ?Lawyer Sangeet Kaur Deo said Altantuya's family wants justice for her. One of her two sons died last year, she said. The family "wants to know who ordered her murder and we hope to get some answers from this trial,'' she told The Associated Press. The lawsuit names the government, Abdul Razak and the two policemen as defendants. Burmaa Oyunchimeg, a cousin of Altantuya, testified Wednesday that Altantuya and Abdul Razak were lovers since 2004. She said Altantuya had shown her photographs of a trip to Paris with Abdul Razak in 2005, including one of her taken with Abdul Razak and Najib. "I remember I saw a picture of three people, two men and Altantuya. I asked her who they were, and she said one was the deputy prime minister and the other was (Abdul) Razak who worked with him and do business together,'' said Burmaa, the first witness in the trial. She didn't elaborate further. Najib reiterated later Wednesday that he didn't know the Mongolian nor had any connection with her. "That is slander. Lies. I never met her,'' he was quoted as saying by the Malaysiakini online news portal. One of the policemen convicted of the murder fled to Australia while his conviction was on appeal. Sirul Azhar Umar has been detained there since 2015 for overstaying his visa and has offered to return to Malaysia to provide evidence in the case if he is promised a pardon. His colleague is on death row. Altantuya's father, Shaariibuu Setev, is due to testify later this week. WASHINGTON - The Australian government has confirmed that a dual Chinese-Australian dissident and writer has been detained in his native country. Yang Hengjun, a former Chinese diplomat turned democracy activist and novelist, was detained by security agents at the airport in the southern city of Guangzhou last Friday after arriving with his wife and stepdaughter after a flight from New York. The family was set to catch a connecting flight to Shanghai. In a statement issued Thursday, Foreign Minister Marise Payne called on Beijing to treat Yangs case transparently and fairly. She said embassy officials will meet with Chinese authorities there to seek further clarification on Yangs case and arrange consular access with him as soon as possible. Yang is currently a visiting scholar at Columbia University in New York. His detention in China occurs amid the detention of two Canadian nationals in China in apparent retaliation for the arrest of a senior Chinese executive in Canada. Meng Wanzhou, the chief financial officer for Chinese telecom giant Huawei, was arrested in Vancouver on December 1 on behalf of the United States, which is seeking her extradition over alleged violations of U.S. trade sanctions on Iran. Yang may also be the latest in a string of activists and human rights lawyers who have been detained in a sweeping crackdown on dissidents since President Xi Jinping took power in 2012. ATHENS - Greek police fired tear gas to disperse crowds gathered outside parliament on Thursday to protest a deal over the name of neighboring Macedonia, as an at-times angry parliamentary debate spilled into a third day. Several thousand people massed outside the Greek legislature, some of them chanting "traitors" as lawmakers debated ratification of an agreement reached with the neighboring ex-Yugoslav state last year. The Greek parliament delayed the expected approval of the U.N.-brokered deal by a day due to an increased number of lawmakers who wanted to have a say. Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras addresses lawm Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras addresses lawmakers during a parliamentary session before a vote on an accord between Greece and Macedonia changing the former Yugoslav republic's name in Athens, Greece, Jan. 24, 2019. Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras addresses lawmakers during a parliamentary session before a vote on an accord between Greece and Macedonia changing the former Yugoslav republic's name in Athens, Greece, Jan. 24, 2019. The so-called Prespes Agreement between Athens and Skopje changes the tiny Balkan nation's name to Republic of North Macedonia, ending a 28-year-old dispute between the two countries. Although Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras appears to have secured the support of at least 151 deputies in the 300-seat house to get the deal approved, opinion polls have shown most Greeks oppose the term "Macedonia" being used in any agreement. They fear it could lead to territorial claims over Greece's largest northern province of Macedonia and an appropriation of Greek cultural heritage. "We feel betrayed," Zografos Stathakopoulos, a 47-year-old protester, said Thursday. "Most Greeks don't want this deal, but politicians are betraying us." Members of the Greek Communist Party (KKE) unfurled banners on the walls of the ancient Acropolis to protest the deal Thursday. Protesters hold a giant Greek national flag during Protesters hold a giant Greek national flag during a demonstration against the agreement reached by Greece and Macedonia to resolve a dispute over the former Yugoslav republic's name, in front of the parliament building in Athens, Greece, Jan. 24, 2019. Protesters hold a giant Greek national flag during a demonstration against the agreement reached by Greece and Macedonia to resolve a dispute over the former Yugoslav republic's name, in front of the parliament building in Athens, Greece, Jan. 24, 2019. Protesters chanted "Long live Macedonia, long live Greece!" referring to the Greek province of Macedonia. Police chased protesters on Syntagma Square, the same area of large, violent protests in Athens on Sunday. There were also protests in the northern Greek city of Thessaloniki. Parliamentary speaker Nikos Voutsis said close to 230 MPs had wanted to have their say. Most are given six minutes to speak, a rule which has been routinely broken in the highly-charged session, which opened Wednesday. The accord has already been ratified by Macedonia's parliament, and Greek parliamentary endorsement is necessary for the country to eventually join the European Union and NATO. Protesters are planning new rallies for Friday, before the vote takes place around 1230 GMT. A vote in Greece's parliament to end a name dispute with neighboring Macedonia, set to take place late Thursday, has been pushed back to Friday. A deal reached between the two countries last year would have Macedonia change its name to North Macedonia in exchange for Greece allowing Macedonia's bid to join NATO. Macedonia's parliament backed the constitutional amendment to change its name, but for the deal to be complete, the changes must also be passed by Greece's parliament. The vote, initially scheduled to be held after midnight Thursday, was pushed back several hours to Friday to accommodate the large number of Greek lawmakers who wished to speak on the issue before the balloting. The announcement on the delay came as protesters from the Greek Communist Party draped giant banners outside the Acropolis which read "No to the Tsipras-Zaev agreement." Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras attends a parl Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras attends a parliamentary session in Athens, Jan. 16, 2019. Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras attends a parliamentary session in Athens, Jan. 16, 2019. Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras and his Macedonian counterpart, Zoran Zaev, have reportedly been nominated for the 2019 Nobel Peace Prize for their agreement last year to move to end one of the world's longest diplomatic disputes - which began in 1991 when Macedonia split from Yugoslavia. But Greeks have been divided over the accord, in which Macedonia will change its name to the Republic of North Macedonia. Some Greeks say the new name still represents an attempt to appropriate Greek identity and cultural heritage, because Macedonia is also the name of Greece's northern province made famous by Alexander the Great's conquests. An opponent of Prespa Agreement holds a Greek flag An opponent of Prespa Agreement holds a Greek flag in front of riot police during a protest in Evzones at the Greek-Macedonian border, Jan. 24, 2019. An opponent of Prespa Agreement holds a Greek flag in front of riot police during a protest in Evzones at the Greek-Macedonian border, Jan. 24, 2019. The agreement has led Tsipras to lose his four-year coalition in parliament after his nationalist allies defected to protest the deal. Following the upheaval, Tsipras narrowly won a confidence vote in parliament Wednesday. The agreement has also caused protests in Macedonia, with critics there saying the government gave up too much in the deal. CAPITOL HILL - President Donald Trump said Thursday that he would accept a deal to at least temporarily reopen the federal government if it contained a "pro-rated down payment" on the U.S.-Mexico border wall he has sought for two years. Trump told reporters at the White House the country had no choice but to build a wall to keep out what he said was a "virtual invasion" by criminals, human traffickers and drugs. Trump said he blamed himself for the large number of immigrants who want to enter the United States, crediting himself for a strong economy and what he said was a record number of people employed. But he said anyone who wanted to come to the U.S. had to do so legally. Senate bills rejected Earlier Thursday, the Senate failed to end the shutdown the longest in U.S. history when it voted down two competing proposals that would have ended the 34-day impasse over funding for the wall. A Republican measure incorporating Trump's $5.7 billion request for wall construction, in addition to limited immigration reforms and government funding through the current fiscal year, failed to advance by a 50-47 vote. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky had called the Republican bill, "a pragmatic compromise that could end this impasse right away. The choice is absolutely clear and the nation is watching." U.S. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) U.S. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) leaves the Senate floor and walks back to his office on Capitol Hill in Washington, Jan. 24, 2019. U.S. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) leaves the Senate floor and walks back to his office on Capitol Hill in Washington, Jan. 24, 2019. McConnell emphasized that the Republican plan was the only one that would have received the president's signature. But Senate Democrats pushed back against the White House offer. "If it were a compromise, the president would have talked to us about it," said Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va. He went on to say that policy disagreements over immigration could be worked out, but "the difference that's hard to resolve is a party and a president who believe in government shutdowns." A Democratic proposal went down by a vote of 52-44, despite getting six Republican votes. The measure contained no border security or immigration provisions and was designed to reopen shuttered federal agencies and provide a two-week window for congressional leaders and the White House to negotiate a deal on immigration. Both proposals required 60 votes to advance in the 100-member chamber. Republicans have a 53-47 Senate majority. Congressional action has not been limited to the Senate. The Democrat-led House of Representatives has passed multiple bills restoring federal spending authority but omitting wall funding from all of them. A growing number of lawmakers of both parties have said compromise is the only way to end the political stalemate and reopen the government. U.S. Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, leaves the Senat FILE - U.S. Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, talks to reporters outside the Senate chamber at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, Oct. 6, 2018. FILE - U.S. Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, talks to reporters outside the Senate chamber at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, Oct. 6, 2018. "It is long overdue for all sides to come together, to engage in constructive debate and compromise to end this standoff," Maine Republican Sen. Susan Collins said. "Shutdowns represent the ultimate failure to govern and should never be used as a weapon to achieve an outcome." Some missing 2nd paycheck The shutdown has furloughed 800,000 government employees, with at least 420,000 forced to continue working without pay and the remainder sent home. Some of them have been forced to look for temporary work elsewhere to help pay their household bills. All are set to miss their second biweekly paycheck on Friday. Some government services have been curtailed. About 10 percent of airport security agents ordered to work have instead called in sick, some food inspections have been cut back, and museums and parks are closed. Federal courts could run out of money by the end of the month. Trump said he understood that people need to keep their pantries full. He said he "loves and respects" federal workers and appreciated the work they do. But he did not try to explain a comment Thursday by Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross. FILE - U.S. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross, on Cap FILE - U.S. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross, on Capitol Hill in Washington. FILE - U.S. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross, on Capitol Hill in Washington. Ross, who is a multimillionaire, told CNBC television he could not understand why a furloughed federal worker would have to turn to a food bank for help when he could simply take out a loan from a bank or credit union. "So there really is not a good excuse why there should be a liquidity crisis," Ross said. "Now, true, the people might have to pay a little bit of interest, but the idea that it's paycheck or zero is not a really valid idea."? His remarks followed those by Trump's daughter-in-law, Lara, who said Wednesday that missed paychecks and empty wallets caused "a little bit of pain." FILE - Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif. Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., talks to reporters at the Capitol in Washington, Jan. 24, 2019. Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., talks to reporters at the Capitol in Washington, Jan. 24, 2019. "But it's going to be for the future of our country, and their children and their grandchildren and generations after them will thank them for their sacrifice right now," she said. "But the president is trying every single day to come up with a good solution here, and the reality is it's been something that's gone on for too long and been unaddressed our immigration problem." House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, a California Democrat, said the comments reflected a "let-them-eat-cake attitude." U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has inched up slightly in the eyes of women's groups who said on Wednesday he has delivered on some promises to make the global organization a feminist institution but faces a major backlash and resistance. The Feminist U.N. Campaign, a coalition of women's rights groups, advocates and U.N. staff, gave him a grade of B-, up from the C+ it gave him a year ago. The coalition launched its report card after the secretary-general said he would be a feminist leader when he took office two years ago. Global movement In that time, the #MeToo campaign against sexual harassment and assault has become a global movement. Guterres has promoted women's rights and equality publicly, sought gender parity in leadership and rolled out efforts against sexual harassment and gender-based violence, the report said. But an internal backlash and bureaucracy threaten his progress. His efforts to make structural changes have met "considerable resistance" from staff and member states that resist women's rights, it said. Lyric Thompson, an author of the report and a director at the Washington-based International Center for Research on Women, said she thinks Guterres has "a genuine intent and interest in being a champion" of women's rights. "The question is can he do everything in his power to be a feminist leader who enables that transformation and who makes it the new normal?" she said to the Thomson Reuters Foundation. The U.N. is "years away" from being a feminist institution, and attitudes of immunity and privilege operate to scuttle equality efforts, she said. Just last week, a U.N. survey showed one third of its staff and contractors experienced sexual harassment in the past two years. Her Royal Highness Crown Princess Mary of Denmark, Her Royal Highness Crown Princess Mary of Denmark, center, address the human rights conference titled "Protecting Health Rights of Women and Girls Affected by Conflict," during the U.N General Assembly, Sept. 24, 2018 at U.N. headquarters. Her Royal Highness Crown Princess Mary of Denmark, center, address the human rights conference titled "Protecting Health Rights of Women and Girls Affected by Conflict," during the U.N General Assembly, Sept. 24, 2018 at U.N. headquarters. More than 30,000 people answered the survey, complaining of offensive jokes, remarks and sexual stories and of being touched in ways that made them uncomfortable. The U.N. has tried to increase transparency and strengthen how it deals with such accusations over the past few years after a string of sexual exploitation and abuse accusations against U.N. peacekeepers in Africa. The head of the U.N. agency for HIV and AIDS is stepping down in June, six months before his term ends, after an independent panel said his "defective leadership" tolerated "a culture of harassment, including sexual harassment, bullying, and abuse of power." 'Considerable progress' The secretary-general's office said it was pleased that the women's groups saw improvement in Guterres' handling of gender issues and agreed that more needs to be dome. "At the same time, we believe the secretary-general has achieved considerable progress within the complex U.N. system at achieving real reforms to make the U.N. a better workplace for women and men alike," his office said. Guterres, the former prime minister of Portugal, was sworn in December 2016 after a campaign in which many countries urged selection of a woman. The U.N. has not been headed by a woman since its creation in 1945. WASHINGTON - From a young gay mayor who launched his candidacy Wednesday, to high-flying female US senators and charismatic military veterans, a crowded field of Democrats jockeying to challenge Donald Trump in 2020 has already emerged and is sure to grow. All told it will likely be the largest and most diverse coterie of candidates ever, with the potential for dozens of current and former lawmakers, governors, mayors, and businessmen to throw their hat in the ultimate political ring. Here are the first politicos to enter the presidential race, 21 months before the election. Elizabeth Warren Pledges Help During Visit to Puerto Rico Democratic Sen. Elizabeth Warren promised to help rebuild Puerto Rico from Hurricane Maria and support laws to give the U.S. territory equal treatment and debt relief as she condemned President Donald Trump during a visit Tuesday to the island, which has become an obligatory stop for potential and presidential candidates.Warren demanded the resignation of Brock Long, administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency. Democratic Sen. Elizabeth Warren promised to help rebuild Puerto Rico from Hurricane Maria and support laws to give the U.S. territory equal treatment and debt relief as she condemned President Donald Trump during a visit Tuesday to the island, which has become an obligatory stop for potential and presidential candidates.Warren demanded the resignation of Brock Long, administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency. Elizabeth Warren At 69, the US Senate's consumer protection champion from Massachusetts became the most high-profile Democrat to enter the race when she announced a presidential exploratory committee on December 31. Warren is on the party's left flank, and built her reputation by holding Wall Street accountable for its missteps. Trump has already taken aim at Warren, mocking her for her proclamation of Native American heritage. Kirsten Gillibrand This senator from New York cut her teeth on the battle to end sexual assault, especially in the military, before the #MeToo movement gained national prominence. The 52-year-old fierce Trump critic is making gender and women's issues a hallmark of her campaign. King Holiday Draws out Democratic Presidential Hopefuls As Americans commemorate Martin Luther King Jr.'s contributions to the nation, Democratic presidential hopefuls are fanning out across the country to honor the civil rights leader.Sen. Kamala Harris, D-Calif., used the holiday to launch a presidential campaign that, if successful, would make her the first woman and the second black candidate to become president. As Americans commemorate Martin Luther King Jr.'s contributions to the nation, Democratic presidential hopefuls are fanning out across the country to honor the civil rights leader.Sen. Kamala Harris, D-Calif., used the holiday to launch a presidential campaign that, if successful, would make her the first woman and the second black candidate to become president. Kamala Harris The barrier-breaking senator from California who aspires to be the nation's first black female and Indian-American president announced her candidacy this week on a day honoring slain civil rights icon Martin Luther King, Jr. The daughter of an Indian immigrant medical researcher mother and Jamaican economist father, Harris, 54, began her career as a district attorney in San Francisco before serving as California's attorney general. Julian Castro Former San Antonio Mayor and Housing and Urban Dev Former San Antonio Mayor and Housing and Urban Development Secretary Julian Castro speaks during an event where he announced his decision to seek the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination, Jan. 12, 2019, in San Antonio. Former San Antonio Mayor and Housing and Urban Development Secretary Julian Castro speaks during an event where he announced his decision to seek the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination, Jan. 12, 2019, in San Antonio. A cabinet member in the Obama era and grandson of a Mexican immigrant, Castro announced his candidacy in English and Spanish on January 12 in the heat of debate on immigration and border security. At 44, the former mayor of San Antonio, Texas hopes to become the nation's first Hispanic president. Tulsi Gabbard At just 37, this congresswoman from Hawaii would be the first Hindu president if elected. A supporter of liberal Bernie Sanders in the 2016 race, military veteran Gabbard was criticized for meeting with Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad during that country's civil war, and for anti-gay positions that she has since retracted and apologized for. Democratic Mayor Pete Buttigieg Joins 2020 Presidential Race Democrat Pete Buttigieg, the 37-year-old mayor of South Bend, Indiana, says he's forming an exploratory committee for a 2020 presidential bid."The reality is there's no going back, and there's no such thing as 'again' in the real world. Democrat Pete Buttigieg, the 37-year-old mayor of South Bend, Indiana, says he's forming an exploratory committee for a 2020 presidential bid."The reality is there's no going back, and there's no such thing as 'again' in the real world. Pete Buttigieg Nine months younger than Gabbard is the South Bend, Indiana mayor who joined the race Wednesday, unveiling a resolutely future-looking and optimistic message to counter Trump's darker vision. A US Navy veteran who put his mayoral duties on hold to serve in Afghanistan, Buttigieg would become the first openly gay nominee of any major party. Richard Ojeda This tattooed, blunt-talking retired US Army paratrooper rose to prominence last year during his unsuccessful bid for a US congressional seat deep in Trump country. Ojeda voted for Trump in 2016 but feels the president has failed to meet his economic promises. He seeks to return the Democratic Party to its roots as a champion of working class Americans. Andrew Yang This 44-year-old tech entrepreneur launched his campaign with little fanfare in late 2017, warning against the dangers that automation presents to US workers. He has advocated for a form of universal basic income as a way to reduce inequality. John Delaney A wealthy businessman who served three terms in Congress, Delaney was the earliest Democrat to officially launch a bid, back in July 2017. He has crisscrossed the early-voting state of Iowa seeking to boost his name recognition. Waiting in the wings Several big Democratic guns have yet to commit, including former vice president Joe Biden and senators Bernie Sanders, Cory Booker, Amy Klobuchar and Sherrod Brown. Former congressman Beto O'Rourke is considering a run, as are billionaire New York ex-mayor Michael Bloomberg and Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti. Current and former governors are in the mix too: Washington's Jay Inslee, John Hickenlooper of Colorado, Steve Bullock of Montana and Virginia's Terry McAuliffe. JOHANNESBURG - All eyes were on Felix Tshisekedi as he was sworn in as new president of the Democratic Republic of Congo on Thursday. And he knew it, taking an unscheduled break to leave the stage because he felt, as he said, exhausted by the long election campaign and the emotion of this occasion. For the more than 80 million people of this vast, mineral rich nation, this was more than just pomp and ceremony. His swearing in on Thursday represents the first peaceful transition of power in six decades -- a historic occasion for a nation long beset by conflict, instability and rough-and-tumble, winner-takes-all politics. New DRC President Falls Ill During Inaugural Speech New Democratic Republic of Congo President Felix Tshisekedi was sworn in Thursday but fell ill during his inaugural speech.Thousands of the new president's supporters and outgoing President Joseph Kabila were present as Tshisekedi took the oath of office in Kinshasa.Tshisekedi began to speak but state television cut away from the president before he finished his remarks. Reuters news agency reports that aides sat Tshisekedi down in a chair and brought him water. New Democratic Republic of Congo President Felix Tshisekedi was sworn in Thursday but fell ill during his inaugural speech.Thousands of the new president's supporters and outgoing President Joseph Kabila were present as Tshisekedi took the oath of office in Kinshasa.Tshisekedi began to speak but state television cut away from the president before he finished his remarks. Reuters news agency reports that aides sat Tshisekedi down in a chair and brought him water. But does it represent a real change? That depends who you ask. Kabila's endorsement On Wednesday, outgoing President Joseph Kabila, who has held power for 18 years, urged the nation to accept their new leader. "It is also symbolic of the growing crystallization of democratic culture in our country that the lucky elected official, the beneficiary of this historic alternation as the head of the state, came from the opposition party," he said on national television. Congolese President Felix Tshisekedi, right, recei Congolese President Felix Tshisekedi, right, receives the presidential sash from outgoing president Joseph Kabila after being sworn in in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Thursday Jan. 24, 2019. Congolese President Felix Tshisekedi, right, receives the presidential sash from outgoing president Joseph Kabila after being sworn in in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Thursday Jan. 24, 2019. But Tshisekedi's election comes with great controversy -- he was declared the winner over objections by opposition candidate Martin Fayulu, who says he actually won the December poll. The influential Catholic Church backed that claim. Fayulu supporters protested earlier this week after his bid for a recount was rejected by the nation. Congo Poised to Inaugurate New President From Opposition Congo on Thursday was poised to inaugurate an opposition leader as its unexpected new president in the Central African countrys first peaceful, democratic transfer of power since independence nearly 60 years ago.The 55-year-old Felix Tshisekedi , son of the late opposition icon Etienne, will be sworn into office at the Peoples Palace, the seat of the national legislature in the capital, Kinshasa. Supporters who for decades backed the elder Tshisekedis pursuit of power streamed into the venue with Congo on Thursday was poised to inaugurate an opposition leader as its unexpected new president in the Central African countrys first peaceful, democratic transfer of power since independence nearly 60 years ago.The 55-year-old Felix Tshisekedi , son of the late opposition icon Etienne, will be sworn into office at the Peoples Palace, the seat of the national legislature in the capital, Kinshasa. Supporters who for decades backed the elder Tshisekedis pursuit of power streamed into the venue with Now, as Tshisekedi takes the helm, his critics say they are want to see the new president step up. Pro-democracy activist Sylvain Saluseke, a member of the Lucha youth organization, watched the proceedings from the sidelines, in Johannesburg, as his activism has put him in self-imposed exile for nearly four years. He said that while he's not entirely satisfied with how the poll played out, he has high hopes for Tshisekedi. WATCH: DRC Celebrates New President, Keeps Sharp Eye on Old One "I think he has an opportunity to express himself, at least to show -- he has shown in the past that he tends to be consensual, or listen to his base,as he calls it," he told VOA. "If that is how he is going to run the country, he will not only have to listen to as many people as possible, because people will try to control him, but I think he needs to be able to show us that he's a president that is able to take decisions and stand by them. But Kabila, who will continue in politics as president of the Senate, may not be far behind. He will be Tshisekedi's biggest challenge, says analyst Stephanie Wolters of the Institute for Security Studies. Congo's Kabila, on Eve of Leaving Presidency, Urges Unity With less than 24 hours left in his rule, Congo's President Joseph Kabila urged the nation to massively support incoming leader Felix Tshisekedi after a disputed election that surprised the world by bringing an opposition leader to power.Kabila is stepping aside after more than two turbulent years of delayed elections as many Congolese feared he was seeking a way to stay in office. With less than 24 hours left in his rule, Congo's President Joseph Kabila urged the nation to massively support incoming leader Felix Tshisekedi after a disputed election that surprised the world by bringing an opposition leader to power.Kabila is stepping aside after more than two turbulent years of delayed elections as many Congolese feared he was seeking a way to stay in office. "He doesn't have to cede a whole lot of power," she told VOA. "He will become a senator, so he will be influential in the senate. He will still be the president of the largest coalition, political coalition, in the country, with a parliamentary majority, and a grip on the provincial assembly, the 26 provincial assemblies, and on those governors." Saluseke agreed. "We know that the elephant in the room is Kabila," he said. "Kabila was, Kabila hasn't left. And as long as Kabila is still in the country and still in the deal, he will still be controlling everything and that's how we are optimistic about the country, but about Felix Tshisekedi's presidency, he has work to do." SHANGHAI - China will step up its fight against "irregularities" in the sale of health care products after a series of scandals in the industry in recent months, state media reported Thursday, citing senior officials. Zhang Mao, minister at the State Administration for Market Regulation, told China Central Television in an interview that the country's health sector was "rampant with irregularities" and plans were underway to put it under greater scrutiny. China launched a 100-day campaign at the start of the month to crack down on illegal advertising and other violations in the industry following a number of high-profile cases. "Recently, serious problems involving the health products market have been exposed, such as fake promotions, illegal advertising and deceiving consumers," the China Daily newspaper quoted Zhang as saying at the launch the campaign. Earlier this month, police arrested the founder of Quanjian Nature Medicine Technology, a traditional Chinese medicine firm, amid allegations of fraudulent practice following the death of a 7-year-old girl who had used the company's products as part of her cancer treatment. Market regulators are also investigating local branches of Infinitus, a multibillion-yuan Chinese company, after it was accused of selling products that damaged a child's heart. Many of the recent investigations have focused on "multilevel marketing" schemes in which members buy products from the company and then sell them on. Though this "direct selling" is allowed in China, "pyramid selling" which uses income generated from new members to pay off older members has been banned. Police in northern China's Hebei province said last week that they had launched an investigation into Hualin Acid-Base Technology, a local health product company accused of operating a pyramid selling scheme and misleading customers. Last week, the Guangdong provincial government in southeastern China also summoned 32 locally registered "direct sales" firms including Infinitus and the U.S.-based Amway to issue a warning against malpractice. The firms agreed to sign a pledge not to deceive consumers about the therapeutic benefits of their products, according to the official Xinhua news agency. YAOUNDE - Cameroon is struggling to get humanitarian aid to hundreds of thousands of people who fled areas of separatist unrest, some of them trapped by the fighting. Meanwhile, authorities calls for separatists to disarm and be pardoned are failing as rehabilitation centers remain empty. A group of twelve kids gather water in the early morning hours in Cameroons capital. Forty-five-year old Gwendoline Ndum took in the children a few weeks ago after they fled her home town of Mbengwi. Many of the kids had walked for days in the bush to escape fighting between Cameroon security and anglophone separatists. Ndum says some of the children cant find their parents, and she couldnt let them live on the streets, but the burden is becoming too much. She says she can no longer afford to pay the water and electricity bills or buy chicken, meat or fish. A 50-kilogram bag of rice hardly lasts for two weeks, says Ndum, because they eat only rice for breakfast, lunch and dinner. IDPs gather in Yaounde to receive assistance from IDPs gather in Yaounde to receive assistance from Voice of the Voiceless, an NGO in Cameroons, Jan. 24, 2019. IDPs gather in Yaounde to receive assistance from Voice of the Voiceless, an NGO in Cameroons, Jan. 24, 2019. Cameroons government this week said it was assisting more than 60,000 internally displaced people in the separatist areas - the English-speaking northwest and southwest. But the United Nations estimates that over 430,000 people have been displaced by the conflict. Cameroon authorities say they are unable to reach most of the displaced in need because many have fled to remote areas and are trapped by ongoing fighting. Most independent help is limited to government-controlled areas. Man receiving assistance from a government officia Man receiving assistance from a government official in Mamfe, Cameroon, Dec. 20, 2018. Man receiving assistance from a government official in Mamfe, Cameroon, Dec. 20, 2018. A woman prays for peace as about a hundred displaced people help the aid group Voice of the Voiceless collect donations of food, clothing, and bedding. The groups Christian Chindo Ngong says the displaced are helping each other because they know what its like to have nothing. He says Cameroons government must also do more to help it should end the conflict. Christian Chindo Ngong, official of the NGO Voice Christian Chindo Ngong, official of the NGO Voice of the Voiceless, says Cameroons government must also do more to help end the conflict. Christian Chindo Ngong, official of the NGO Voice of the Voiceless, says Cameroons government must also do more to help end the conflict. "The government should listen to the people, organize a dialogue, I mean an inclusive dialogue, so that we can see the end of this thing. Because no matter what we give the people, it can never make them happy. The only happiness that these people can achieve is to see their homes again." Minister of Territorial Administration Paul Atanga Nji says rehabilitation centers set up for separatists who agree to disarm and be pardoned had opened their doors and were waiting. "We have to respect the instructions from President Paul Biya that when you lay down your weapons, you are taken to the centers, you are provided health facilities, you have psychologists who are there to start educating the population, and we have training facilities in those centers." But so far, not a single rebel has taken up the offer. The rehabilitation centers in the English-speaking southwestern town of Buea and in the capital Yaounde are empty. Cameroonian elite Rapid Intervention Battalion (BI Cameroonian elite Rapid Intervention Battalion (BIR) members patrol in the south west city of Buea, Cameroon, Oct. 5, 2018. Cameroonian elite Rapid Intervention Battalion (BIR) members patrol in the south west city of Buea, Cameroon, Oct. 5, 2018. In a WhatsApp interview with VOA, separatist fighter Edward Ngafin - who refused to say where he was - described the rehab centers as a trap. He says he will not go to a government rehabilitation center and can never advise any separatist fighter to listen to any promise made by the government of Cameroon. Ngafin says he does not understand how a government that he describes as always tormenting English-speakers will suddenly claim that it cares and that it will recruit everyone. Cameroons separatist conflict broke out in 2017 amid protests against Francophone domination in English-speaking regions. Some took up arms and declared they would become an independent nation called Ambazonia. President Biya sent in the military and vowed to crush all those who refuse to disarm, saying the countrys unity cannot be negotiated. SEOUL - Adam Crapser lives in limbo, a stranger in South Korea, the country of his birth. Forcibly separated from his wife, children and friends in America, he is isolated by language and culture, left alone to navigate this sprawling city he's been expelled to four decades after being sent to adoptive parents in Michigan at age 3. FILE - Korean adoptee Adam Crapser poses with daug FILE - Korean adoptee Adam Crapser poses with daughters, Christal and Christina, and his wife, Anh Nguyen, in the family's living room in Vancouver, Washington, March 19, 2015. FILE - Korean adoptee Adam Crapser poses with daughters, Christal and Christina, and his wife, Anh Nguyen, in the family's living room in Vancouver, Washington, March 19, 2015. Crapser was abused and abandoned by two different sets of adoptive parents in the United States; then he was deported after run-ins with the law because none of his guardians filed citizenship papers for him. He told The Associated Press in an interview that he has struggled in South Korea with intense anxiety and depression, even as he searches for answers about why his life has become defined by displacement. That search has led him to file a landmark lawsuit against South Korea's government and a private adoption agency, the Seoul-based Holt Children's Services, over what Crapser calls gross negligence regarding the way he and thousands of other Korean children were sent to the United States and other Western nations without accounting for their future citizenship. The 200 million won ($177,000) civil suit, which was described exclusively to the AP ahead of its filing Thursday by Crapser's lawyers in a Seoul court, exposes a dark side of South Korean adoptions, which exploded as a business during the 1970s and '80s when many children were carelessly and unnecessarily removed from their families. The country was then at the height of a so-called "child export" frenzy pushed by military dictatorships that focused on economic growth and reducing the number of mouths to feed. There was no stringent oversight of adoption agencies, which were infamous for aggressive child-gathering activities and fraudulent paperwork as they competed to send more children abroad at faster speeds. Crapser's case also highlights the shaky legal status of possibly thousands of South Korean adoptees in the United States whose parents may have failed to get them citizenship, potentially leaving them vulnerable to deportation if they acquire a criminal record in a country that's becoming increasingly aggressive about going after undocumented immigrants. Crapser, who was named Shin Seong-hyeok by his Korean mother, is one of five adoptees who the Seoul government confirms now live in South Korea after being deported from the United States. Several of the deportees have reportedly dealt with mental health issues and served jail time in South Korea for assault and other crimes. Activists say the South Korean government has done a poor job tracking deported adoptees and that the real number is almost certainly larger. Officials wouldn't provide details about the other deportees. In South Korea, human rights lawsuits against the government can drag on for years and are rarely successful because the burden of proof in non-criminal cases is entirely on the plaintiffs, who often lack information and resources. Even if Crapser wins, the payout will likely be significantly smaller than what was demanded, considering past cases, according to Soh Rami, one of his lawyers. Crapser said the amount of money is less important than forcing officials from Holt and the government into a courtroom to face questions of accountability. He said the government and Holt are responsible for failing to follow through on his adoption and ensuring that his American parents naturalized him. Because he wasn't a citizen, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials ordered him deported in November 2016 over criminal convictions, including unlawful possession of a firearm and assault. His lawsuit also attempts to hold Holt and the government accountable for supposedly fraudulent paperwork over his adoption status. Most South Korean adoptees, including Crapser, were documented as abandoned, even in cases where they had known parents or were simply lost, which made them easily adoptable under U.S. laws. He also seeks to hold the government responsible for allowing foreigners to adopt babies without actually visiting South Korea, which Crapser blames for screening failures that led to his adoption by abusive parents. The lawsuit cites the government as responsible for allowing adoptions to be controlled by profit-driven agencies that ran on fees collected from foreign parents. It wasn't until 2013 that South Korea required international adoptions of Korean children to go through local family courts. "It's a daily struggle to survive and to continue to want to push forward and want some justice and want some accountability and want some answers,'' Crapser, now 43, told AP. "For everything to fall apart and for everything to happen the way it has, most people wouldn't be alive here to talk." Kim Ho Hyun, Holt's president, said the agency followed the laws and procedures of the time and that it was mainly the responsibility of U.S. parents and institutions to ensure that adoptees obtained citizenship. Seong Chang-hyeon, an official from South Korea's Ministry of Health and Welfare, said the government is trying to improve welfare services for deported adoptees while also consulting with Washington over possible U.S. legal changes that could prevent adoptee deportations. The U.S. State Department referred questions to the Department of Homeland Security, which couldn't immediately be reached for comment. Currently living in a cramped one-bedroom apartment in Seoul, Crapser said the deportation has seriously strained his marriage and he often sinks into dark moods over his inability to be actively involved in the lives of his children. He described the difficulties of being stuck in a country where he doesn't speak the language, including dismissive treatment at public offices and monthly visits to a psychiatrist who can't really speak English. While he talked fondly about meeting with his Korean mother every few months, he also expressed frustration over what he sees as a social stigma against adoptees here. He has eight more years before he's eligible to return to the United States. About 200,000 South Koreans were adopted overseas during the past six decades, the majority to American couples. More than 4,000 Korean children were sent abroad in 1979, the year Crapser arrived in the United States. Agency board members with ties to the military dictators of the day were less worried about child welfare than maintaining a business that brought in as much as $20 million a year by some estimates, critics say. Reached on the telephone, Crapser's birth mother, Kwon Pil-ju, sobbed and said she felt like she had "horribly sinned" against her son. She said she was single, disabled and desperately poor, and that she finally decided to give her children away because of fears that they'd starve. They also have problems communicating he can't speak Korean, she can't speak English, and they don't always have someone who could interpret. Crapser said he "definitely didn't win the lottery" when it came to his American parents. He and a sister were sent to what he says was an abusive couple in Michigan in 1979. Seven years later, the couple abandoned Crapser, then 10, and his sister, and he ended up with Thomas and Dolly Crapser, who he said would sometimes slam their children's heads against walls, strike them with kitchen utensils and burn them with heated objects. Repeated calls to the Crapser home went unanswered. In 1991, the couple was arrested on charges of physical child abuse, sexual abuse and rape. They were reportedly convicted in 1992 on multiple counts of criminal mistreatment and assault. Kicked out of his parents' house after an argument, Crapser pleaded guilty to burglary after he said he later broke into the home to retrieve a Korean-language Bible and a stuffed dog that came with him from a Korean orphanage. He was later convicted of unlawful possession of a firearm and assault. Crapser thought he had turned a corner, opening a barber shop and an upholstery business and starting a family, when he was served his deportation paperwork in 2015 after a green card application triggered a background check. "It's heartbreaking. A lot of the depression that I deal with, a lot of the hopelessness that I feel at times is attributed to the separation from my family that I created and not being able to be actually involved in their life every day like I was," he said. VATICAN CITY - Pope Francis said Wednesday that fear of migration was "making us crazy'' as he began a trip to Central America amid a standoff over President Donald Trump's promised wall at the U.S.-Mexico border and a new caravan of migrants heading north. Reporters asked Francis about the proposed border wall on the way to Panama, where he is looking to leave the sex abuse scandals buffeting his papacy behind. Francis responded: "It is the fear that makes us crazy.'' The pontiff's plane touched down in Panama City in the afternoon and he was met by President Juan Carlos Varela and first lady Lorena Castillo, who escorted him along a red carpet laid on the tarmac. Greeters wave flags Spectators waved Panamanian flags in greeting and shouted, "This is the youth of the pope!'' After a brief welcoming ceremony, he was driven away from the airport and did not have any more activities scheduled for the evening. Francis landed as Venezuela's protracted political crisis flared up, with the opposition president of the country's National Assembly declaring himself interim president and several regional countries, including the United States, recognizing him. The Vatican had said previously that the pope would refrain from explicitly referring to Venezuela while in Panama, but the developments ensured he would face questions about the South American nation during the trip. The Roman Catholic Church's first Latin American pope and the son of Italian immigrants to Argentina, Francis has made the plight of migrants and refugees a cornerstone of his papacy. He is also expected to offer words of encouragement to young people gathered in Panama for World Youth Day, the church's once-every-three-years pep rally that aims to invigorate the next generation of Catholics in their faith. People take pictures as Pope Francis arrives at To People take pictures as Pope Francis arrives at Tocumen international airport in Panama City, Jan. 23, 2019. People take pictures as Pope Francis arrives at Tocumen international airport in Panama City, Jan. 23, 2019. Panama Archbishop Jose Domingo Ulloa said Francis' message is likely to resonate with young Central Americans who see their only future free of violence and poverty in migrating to the U.S. "young people who often fall into the hands of drug traffickers and so many other realities that our young people face.'' The pope is expected to urge young people to create their own opportunities, while calling on governments do their share as well. The visit is taking place as the U.S. government remains partly shut down in a standoff between the Trump administration and Democrats over funding for Trump's promised border wall. Francis famously has called for "bridges, not walls.'' After celebrating Mass in 2016 on the Mexican side of the U.S. border, he denounced anyone who wants to build a wall to keep out migrants as "not Christian.'' Smaller turnout seen Crowds are expected to be smaller than usual for this World Youth Day only about 150,000 people had registered as of last week but thousands more will certainly throng Francis' main events, which include a vigil and a final Mass on Sunday. The Vatican conceded that the January date doesn't suit school vacations in Europe or North America, both of which typically send huge numbers of pilgrims to World Youth Day gatherings. Francis' trip, the first in a year packed with foreign travel, comes at a critical moment in the papacy as the Catholic hierarchy globally is facing a crisis in credibility for covering up decades of cases of priests molesting young people. The pope is expected to soon rule on the fate of former Cardinal Theodore McCarrick, the high-powered U.S. archbishop accused of molesting minors and adults. And he is hosting church leaders at the Vatican next month on trying to chart a way forward for the global church. Carlos Felice, a 37-year-old Venezuelan living in Carlos Felice, a 37-year-old Venezuelan living in Panama for five years, right, confesses to local Catholic priest Gabriel Agustin Guardia in an outdoor confessional, after exercising with his dog at Omar Park in Panama City, Jan. 23, 2019. Pope Francis arrived in the country later in the day. Carlos Felice, a 37-year-old Venezuelan living in Panama for five years, right, confesses to local Catholic priest Gabriel Agustin Guardia in an outdoor confessional, after exercising with his dog at Omar Park in Panama City, Jan. 23, 2019. Pope Francis arrived in the country later in the day. Vatican spokesman Alessandro Gisotti said there were no plans for Francis to meet with abuse survivors in Panama. Central America hasn't yet seen the explosion of sex abuse cases that have shattered trust in the Catholic hierarchy in Chile, the U.S. and other parts of the world. This is the first papal visit to Panama since Pope John Paul II was there during a 1983 regional tour that famously included an unscheduled stop at the tomb of Archbishop Oscar Romero in El Salvador. Romero had been gunned down by right-wing death squads three years earlier, at the start of El Salvador's civil war, for having spoken out on behalf of the poor. Salvadoran bishops had hoped Francis would follow suit and make a stop in El Salvador this time to pay his respects at Romero's tomb, since Francis canonized him in October. But the Vatican said a Salvador leg was never really in the cards. Nevertheless, Gisotti said Romero would likely loom large at the Panama gathering, given he is such a point of reference for young Central American Catholics who grew up learning about his defense of the poor. '89 invasion of Panama The Panama visit is also the first by a pope since the Vatican embassy played a crucial role during the 1989 U.S. invasion of Panama, when dictator Manuel Noriega took refuge there and requested asylum on Christmas Eve after four days on the run trying to escape U.S. troops. Noriega eventually surrendered, ending one of the more unusual U.S. military operations: It involved U.S. troops blasting heavy metal and rock music at the embassy to try to force Noriega out. Noriega, a onetime U.S. ally, eventually served a 17-year drug sentence in the United States. He died in 2017 after his final years were spent in a Panamanian prison for the murder of political opponents during his 1983-89 regime. Pope Francis confirmed to reporters aboard the papal plane that he plans to go to Japan in November. The pope also said he wants to visit Iraq, but that local church leaders have told him that the security situation is not yet right. This year, the pontiff has already scheduled trips to the United Arab Emirates, Morocco, Bulgaria and Macedonia. ISLAMABAD, PAKISTAN - President Ashraf Ghani formally dismissed a deputy of Chief Executive Abdullah Abdullah from office Thursday in a move that seems to have heightened political tensions at a critical time for the country. Ghani's office said Haji Mohammad Mohaqiq was dismissed based on an article of the constitution that gives the president authority to hire or fire government officials. However, Abdullah termed the removal "against the political agreement" that led to the formation of the National Unity Government in 2014. Abdullah Abdullah, Chief Executive Officer of the Abdullah Abdullah, Chief Executive Officer of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, participates in a session at the annual meeting of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, Jan. 22, 2019. Abdullah Abdullah, Chief Executive Officer of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, participates in a session at the annual meeting of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, Jan. 22, 2019. "In this sensitive historic phase, any one-sided decision against the aspiration of the National Unity Government will weaken the spirit of the NUG, joint cooperation, and will provoke instability," the statement read. Upcoming elections Afghanistan is preparing for a presidential election later this year, and a U.S. team's negotiations with the Afghan Taliban to find a road map to end the 18-year-long war seem to be getting serious. The Taliban has so far refused to directly negotiate with the Kabul regime. The U.S. and other regional countries are pressuring the group to engage with the current Afghan administration.A rift in the Unity Government can further complicate the situation. The NUG was formed after the last presidential elections in 2014 resulted in a serious political crisis. Both Ghani and Abdullah claimed victory and alleged massive fraud in vote counting. Former U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry helped negotiate a deal between the two sides. Political bickering Under the terms of agreement, electoral and constitutional reforms were supposed to lead to the chief executive post being formalized into the post of a prime minister. However, continuous political bickering led to delays in the process. The Afghan parliament held its elections in 2018 three years after its constitutional term had ended after repeated renewals through presidential decrees. Mohaqiq is running in the upcoming election as the second vice president of presidential candidate Mohammad Hanif Atmar. Ghani and Abdullah have filed nomination papers. While the president has constitutional authority to hire and fire officials, said Subhan Misbah, a deputy at the Lawyers Union of Afghanistan, the entire office of the CEO, including the chief executive and his two deputies, was beyond the scope of the Afghan constitution and technically "illegal." The matter, he said, was not legal, but political, and needed to be resolved politically between Ghani and Abdullah. Since someone was "illegally" appointed, it was a moot point to discuss whether he could be legally dismissed. Muhaqiq's office said he would hold a press conference on this issue on Friday. Sorry, but your browser cannot support embedded video of this type, you can download this video to view it offline. Click here to log in and see all of our other subscription options for the Mesabi Tribune, including online only & auto-renewal subscriptions. Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc chair the dialogue. At a reception for CEO of Apple Tim Cook, the Prime Minister congratulated the group on its successful business activities in Vietnam over the past time and expressed his support for the establishment of an Apple data centre in Vietnam. The PM hoped the group will continue investing effectively and transparently in Vietnam in the long run as well as serve as a bridge for US enterprises to increase investment in the Southeast Asian country. Meeting CEO of AB Inbev Carlos Brito, PM Phuc highly appreciated the groups investment in Vietnam and affirmed that the Vietnamese government is stepping up efforts to restructure the economy towards sustainable development, and improve the business and investment environment. The PM asked the group to lobby the European Union for quicker approval of the EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA) to facilitate stronger cooperation between Vietnamese and European enterprises. Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc and EC Vice President Jyrki Katainen. During a reception for Magesvaran Suranjan, President at Procter & Gamble, PM Phuc hailed the groups operation in Vietnam and suggested it continue expanding business in the country. At his talk with CEO of Adidas Kasper Rorsted, the PM thanked the European business community, including Adidas, for cooperating with and supporting Vietnam in the negotiation process of the EVFTA. The PM expressed his confidence that once the agreement comes into force, bilateral trade and investment activities will further develop, bringing benefits for the two sides people and businesses. Receiving Carlsbergs President and CEO Ceest Hart, PM Phuc hailed the corporations business success in the past time. He stressed that together with other foreign groups, Carlsberge has made significant contributions to the equitisation process of the beer, alcohol and beverage industry in Vietnam. He hoped that Carlsberg will join efforts to accelerate the EUs ratification of the EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA), helping open up new opportunities for businesses from both sides. Prime Minister meets leaders of multinational groups in DavosPrime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc receives Facebooks Vice President Nick Clegg. - VNA/VNS Photos Talking to Facebooks Vice President Nick Clegg, the Vietnamese Government leader asked the company to cooperate with Vietnam to develop its IT sector, particularly in assisting start-ups and small and medium enterprises in accessing information and developing their business via social network. Regarding the recent cases involving the spread of false information on the social network, PM Phuc asked Facebook to fully abide by Vietnamese regulations, and improve its management as well as services for Vietnamese customers, especially the authentication mechanism to prevent tampering. At a reception for Executive Vice President at Sanofis External Affairs Kathleen Tregoning, PM Phuc praised the firms projects in Vietnam, which helped protect and improve Vietnamese peoples health. He wished that Sanofi will continue technology transfer in the production of medicines, vaccines, and biological medicinal products while improving product quality and reducing medicine prices to make it accessible for all citizens. Inside a high-tech agricultural development centre in Ha Nam Province. Japanese businesses want to co-operate with local partners to develop agriculture in Ha Nam.-Photo khoahocphattrien.vn Teramoto, who led a delegation of Japanese firms operating in the fields of manufacturing, farm produce processing, forestry, seafood and cargo transport, made the statement at a working session with the provincial Peoples Committee on Tuesday. With their strengths in technology, Japanese businesses want to co-operate with local partners to develop agriculture in Ha Nam towards modernity and sustainability, he said. Vice chairman of the provincial Peoples Committee Truong Minh Hien introduced the delegation to the economic advantages and development potential of the province in terms of investment attraction policies. The locality prioritises the high-tech and support industries, according to the official. Ha Nam has reserved Dong Van III Industrial Park which features a favourable location and strong infrastructure for Japanese businesses looking to operate in the province. The province is looking to draw businesses to its high-tech agricultural zones to foster safe, clean agricultural production. While investing in the province, businesses will be supported with electricity, water, transportation, labour recruitment and security. Japan is the second largest foreign investor in Ha Nam with over 70 projects. The province appreciates the involvement of Japanese investors and hopes more enterprises from Japan will carry out investment projects in the locality, according to Hien. At the session, participants discussed other issues such as land rental, project schedules, human resources, the supply of production materials and infrastructure support mechanisms. The same day, the Japanese business delegation made a fact-finding tour to a high-tech agricultural zone in Nhan Khang Commune, Ly Nhan District. The Grand Manhattan creates a refined living environment for both local and foreign residents at the heart of District 1 From experienced foreign investors Elena Goh, a property investor from Singapore, is one of the first homeowners at The Grand Manhattan. She and her husband have been following Ho Chi Minh Citys real estate market for years. At the launch of the project, they quickly made up their mind without hesitation. The main reason is that the price of high-end apartments in Ho Chi Minh City is much lower than in other markets like Hong Kong. Meanwhile, rental yields in the city can reach 4-5 per cent, compared with the 1-2 per cent in Hong Kong. With extensive experience in property investment, Elena Goh shared, High-end properties in Hong Kong and Singapore offer guaranteed yields. Ho Chi Minh City is an emerging market, so properties are also expected to generate high rental yields. Furthermore, I have made investment in Novalands projects before, so I feel assured about this new investment. Amid the growing scarcity of land reserves in the city centre, The Grand Manhattan is deemed as diamond in the high-end residential segment. With a frontage onto Co Bac Street and Co Giang Street in the heart of District 1, The Grand Manhattan covers an area of 14,000 square metres. The project boasts a myriad of five-star resort amenities, including a shopping area and a ground floor park, swimming pool, BBQ area, sun lounges, parks, and 4,200 square metres of internal landscaping. Homeowners are extended the privilege of having parking lots in the centre of District 1. The parking lots not only meet the parking demand of second-home owners, but also contribute to the added value of the project. Meanwhile, Ly Quoc Hung, a Dutch-Vietnamese buyer, said that, "I have invested in the local market and greatly prefer the Novaland brand. As a prestigious real estate company, Novaland is renowned for handing over its projects on schedule. Moreover, The Grand Manhattan boasts a convenient parking space for its residents. Hopefully, the project will be completed as committed and create an ideal living environment for our families in Vietnam. The Grand Manhattan proffers its residents a myriad five-star amenities to professional local investors 0938551919 or visit website: For more information, please contact:or visit website: thegrandmanhattan.com.vn Actor-cum-businessman Chi Bao is also a homeowner at The Grand Manhattan. He said that after 10 years of living in the heart of District 1, he has gained a deep understanding of property value in the area. There is a strong demand for property in District 1 among foreign experts and businessmen. With regards to projects for CEOs, average rental cost is around $2,500-2,700 per unit, but they are always in scarcity. In addition, having a parking space in the heart of District 1 is one of the rare privileges in the market. Speaking at the launching event of the model apartment, Tran Quang Hai Long and his family shared, We choose The Grand Manhattan due to its prime location in District 1 with the magnificent view of Saigon River and the district neighbourhood. The model apartment with luxurious design, modern decor, airy space, and natural light will create a refined living environment for our family. Meanwhile, the smart home system will make life at The Grand Manhattan more convenient. On top of that, we expect the project will generate high yield of 25-30 per cent. On the same note, businesswoman Tran Trang Cam Tu from Tan Binh district said that this is a unique opportunity for her to own a property at the heart of District 1. Trang works in the export-import field, so she has many foreign partners visit her in Vietnam. The guests mainly stay at five-star hotels. Trang decided to buy The Grand Manhattans project to bring a more luxury living experience to her partners. This is a great way to introduce herself as well as show her hospitality to the guests. It is obvious that The Grand Manhattan meets the highest demands for both luxury living and high yields for elite customers from the local and foreign markets. Indeed, the high-end residential segmentis more sustainable than other segments. The project not only satisfies the housing demand of successful residents with high social status but also becomes a new landmark to contribute to the changing facade of a young and dynamic Ho Chi Minh City. The Grand Manhattan is expected to generate high yields for homeowners Parking space in District 1 is one of the privileges for residents at The Grand Manhattan Yang Hengjun, novelist, former Chinese diplomat and democracy activist. (Photo: Facebook) Yang Hengjun - a novelist, former Chinese diplomat and democracy activist - went missing shortly after he travelled to the southern city of Guangzhou last week, friends said. When asked about Yang's case, the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade said it was "seeking information about an Australian citizen who has been reported missing in China". "Owing to our privacy obligations we will not provide further comment," a spokesman told AFP. The Australian government is believed to be in contact with Yang's friends and family, as well as Chinese authorities. At a regular press briefing in Beijing Wednesday, China's ministry of foreign affairs spokeswoman Hua Chunying said she "did not know" about Yang's situation and "needs to get more information from the relevant departments". Authorities in Guangzhou did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The Sydney Morning Herald reported that Yang had travelled to China with his wife and son on January 18, but never made a planned internal flight to Shanghai. His disappearance prompted fears that he may be the latest victim of an increasingly broad dragnet by Chinese security services. Australia recently expressed concern about China's detention of two Canadians in apparent retaliation for the arrest in Canada of a senior executive of Chinese telecom giant Huawei. Tensions have also been strained between China and Australia in recent months. Australia banned Huawei from participating in its 5G network in August over security fears. The United States and New Zealand have taken similar steps. Yang's friend and journalist John Garnaut described him as "brilliant" and "a courageous and committed democrat". "This will reverberate globally if authorities do not quickly find an off-ramp," he warned. Yang had worked in the ministry of foreign affairs in Hainan province, but later left for Hong Kong in 1992 and the US in 1997 where he worked for the Atlantic Council think tank. He later took up Australian citizenship - although Beijing does not recognise dual nationality - and wrote a series of spy novels and a popular Chinese-language blog. Once described as China's "most influential political blogger", Yang went missing once before in 2011, describing his disappearance as a "misunderstanding" when he resurfaced days later. The Philco Predicta is a television made in several cabinet models in a 17 or 21 screen by the American company Philco (Philadelphia Storage Battery Company) from 1958-1960. It was designed by Severin Jonassen and Richard Whipple and the design director was Herbert V. Gosweiler.The Predicta was marketed as the worlds first swivel screen television. The picture tube was surrounded in Eastman plastics new product called tenite which protected the glass and gave it its greenish tint. The Predicta also had a thinner picture tube than many other televisions at the time, which led it to be marketed as a more futuristic television set. The futuristic aesthetic was influenced by an interest in space age technology, prompted by Russias Sputnik launch in 1957. Philcos advertisements for Predicta touted a TV Today From the World of Tomorrow!Predicta television sets were constructed with a variety of cabinet configurations, some detachable, but all separate from the tube itself and connected by wires. Initially introduced in 1958 for the Holiday Inn hotel chain and rolled out for general consumers shortly thereafter, the Predicta was discontinued in the early 1960s. Embracing the success of being a top food and fete film festival destination for celebrities and filmmakers each year, Hollywood event producer A-List Communications will once again bring its popular Kia Telluride Supper Suite pop-up back to Park City (Pictured: Chef du Cuisine Lanny Chin and Executive Chef Joe Zanelli of Greene St. Kitchen Photo courtesy of Clique Hospitality). In addition to cuisine by Greene St. Kitchen, guests will sip on beverages by LIFEWTR, Tequila Comisario, Sensi Tuscany Wines, Blue Moon Belgian White and Dragonfly Coffee Roasters. As it does each year, the Kia Telluride Supper Suite and its partners will serve as a premiere hospitality and fine food destination celebrating the top films and Hollywood A-list attending the film festival each year. The pop-up will again be located centrally on Main Street. As Kias first eight-passenger SUV, the all-new Telluride is several inches longer and wider than the brands award-winning Sorento and is scheduled to arrive in showrooms in early 2019. We surprised everyone when we showed the Tellurides stylish swagger on the runway during New York Fashion Week last year, and now we are showcasing our largest SUVs more rugged side in the snow and mountains of Park City, said Saad Chehab, Vice President, Marketing Communications, Kia Motors America. Telluride summits Kias comprehensive SUV lineup, and we hope festival goers will get to know Kia as the unexpected brand that we are. Kia will present the Telluride through a decor of video and still imagery within the bistro pop-up while also treating celebrities and VIP media with door-to-door chauffeur-driven car service. Photo courtesy of A-List Communications Creative libations to set the party tone will start with the ultra-premium and award-winning, Tequila Comisario, available in three expressions, including mixable Blanco, aged Reposado and Anejo. These small-batch craft tequilas, owned by Elite Beverage International, are double-distilled and cold-filtered and made from the finest hand-selected 100% Blue Weber Agave found in the highlands of Jalisco Mexico. Recent awards and ratings include the coveted 2018 Champions of the World Spirits Competition; a 98 points rating as Best New Tequila; and #1 Best Blanco Margarita by Cigar & Spirits Magazine. In addition, Elite Beverage International will also serve up their premium Sensi Tuscany Wines. Guests will be treated to the Sensi Chardonnay Toscana IGT and Dalcampo Chianti DOCG. Chianti Dalcampo scored 91 points at the Annuario dei migliori vini italiani 2016, a top record in the Chianti category. A series of fine Tuscan wines with excellent consistency and harmonious softness in taste. In addition, Miller-Coors will also return for its 4th year partnership and serve its popular Blue Moon Belgian White, the perfect craft-brand for this culinary hospitality hub. Gourmet Coffee Brand, Tamas Christmans Award Winning coffee company DragonFly Coffee Roasters will also furnish a deluxe coffee bar day and night inclusive of a signature dessert blend. Elevating the culinary hospitality experience indoors will be Greene St. Kitchen of Las Vegas led by notable celebrity chef Lanny Chin along with acclaimed executive chef Joe Zanelli. The soon to open restaurant by Andy Masis Clique Hospitality, is a dynamic, design-driven dining experience bringing gastronomic innovation to the newly renovated PALMS Casino Resort. Blending together street art and food in a distinctive way, the restaurant continues the immersive experience and extensive art program of the hotel. The Modern American dining destination pays homage to the artistic communities of New Yorks SoHo neighborhood during the early 80s. Kia Telluride Supper Suite attendees will experience top of the line chef prepared dinners and catering by the coveted Vegas entity and hospitality brand. Photo courtesy of Clique Hospitality Joining as the official water for the 2019 program is LIFEWTR, a featured sponsor of the annual Creative Coalition Spotlight Initiative Awards Gala benefit for funding for the Arts. LIFEWTR is committed to advancing creativity, starting where it all begins arts education and to that end has impacted more than 1 million students to date through arts education initiatives. LIFEWTR will continue this mission to support arts education programs in 2019, beginning with a mural project at a Florida City Elementary School in Miami, FL. Talent scheduled to attend the Collider daytime media studio within the Kia Telluride Supper Suite includes Zac Efron, Naomi Watts, Emma Roberts, Malin Akerman, Shea Whigham, Tony Hale, Mila Jovovich, Lucas Zumann, Jordana Spiro, Adelaide Clemens, Madisen Beaty, Octavia Spencer, Wendi McLendon Covey, Max Burkholder, Joe Berlinger, Lily Collins, Haley Joel Osment, Angela Sarafyan, Noah Schnapp, Mike Colter, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Rosamund Pike, Chris ODowd, Nick Hornby, and many more still to be announced. Photo courtesy of A-List Communications Brand partners also active during the day-part include mou, a luxury footwear and accessories line, who will return to Park City to gift its highly coveted winter boots and shoes to Hollywoods elite. Likewise, The Wild Immersion endorsed by Jane Goodall will be on-site with the worlds first virtual reserve. The Wild Immersion uses virtual reality to share an unrivaled 360-degree journey into Natures majestic territories to deepen our understanding of how each of us may support our planet and is presented in conjunction with the Blue Mind Fund, a non-profit starting a global conversation about the intersection between wild waters and the human brain based on the works of author Dr. Wallace J. Nichols. T he Creative Coalition will host their Spotlight Initiative Awards dinner honoring Josh Gad, Kyra Sedgwick, Tony Hale, Alfre Woodard, Tom Skerritt, Anna Chlumsky, Fisher Stevens, and Before You Know It. The awards will be hosted by actor and President of The Creative Coalition, Tim Daly. The series will also include a celebration for XYZ Films 10 Years at the Fest party and a dinner celebration for LIGHT FROM LIGHT celebrating cast Jim Gaffigan (The Jim Gaffigan Show), and Marin Ireland (Sneaky Pete) . Sony Pictures Classics will also host a cocktail party in celebration of MAIDEN and AQUARELA, their films screening at the festival. Pope Francis sent telegrams to heads of State of the countries over which the papal plane flew on Wednesday, as he made his way to Panama for World Youth Day. France HIS EXCELLENCY EMMANUEL MACRON PRESIDENT OF THE FRENCH REPUBLIC PARIS AS I FLY OVER FRANCE ON MY WAY TO PANAMA FOR MY APOSTOLIC VISIT, I SEND CORDIAL GREETINGS TO YOUR EXCELLENCY AND YOUR FELLOW CITIZENS. I PRAY THAT ALMIGHTY GOD MAY GRANT YOU ALL PEACE AND STRENGTH AND I INVOKE DIVINE BLESSINGS UPON THE NATION. FRANCISCUS PP. Spain HIS MAJESTY FELIPE VI KING OF SPAIN MADRID I EXTEND CORDIAL GREETINGS TO YOUR MAJESTY, THE MEMBERS OF THE ROYAL FAMILY, AND THE PEOPLE OF SPAIN AS I FLY OVER YOUR COUNTRY ON MY WAY TO PANAMA FOR MY APOSTOLIC VISIT. INVOKING THE BLESSING OF ALMIGHTY GOD UPON THE NATION I PRAY THAT HE MAY GRANT ALL OF YOU PEACE AND WELL-BEING. FRANCISCUS PP. Portugal HIS EXCELLENCY MARCELO REBELO DE SOUSA PRESIDENT OF THE PORTUGUESE REPUBLIC LISBON I OFFER BEST WISHES AND THE ASSURANCE OF MY PRAYERS AS MY APOSTOLIC VISIT TO PANAMA TAKES ME THROUGH PORTUGUESE AIRSPACE. ENTRUSTING THE NATION TO THE CARE OF ALMIGHTY GOD I WILLINGLY INVOKE UPON THE PEOPLE OF PORTUGAL THE BLESSINGS OF JOY AND PEACE. FRANCISCUS PP. United States of America THE HONORABLE DONALD J. TRUMP PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA WASHINGTON AS I FLY THROUGH THE AIRSPACE OF THE UNITED STATES ON MY WAY TO PANAMA, I SEND CORDIAL GREETINGS TO YOU AND TO YOUR FELLOW CITIZENS. INVOKING THE BLESSINGS OF ALMIGHTY GOD UPON YOU ALL, I PRAY THAT PEACE AND WELL-BEING MAY FLOURISH IN THE NATION. FRANCISCUS PP. Dominican Republic HIS EXCELLENCY DANILO MEDINA SANCHEZ PRESIDENT OF THE DOMINICAN REPUBLIC SANTO DOMINGO AS I TRAVEL OVER THE DOMINICAN REPUBLIC ON MY APOSTOLIC VISIT TO PANAMA, I OFFER BEST WISHES TO YOUR EXCELLENCY AND YOUR FELLOW CITIZENS, WITH THE ASSURANCE OF MY PRAYERS FOR THE PEACE AND PROSPERITY OF THE NATION. FRANCISCUS PP. The Netherlands HIS MAJESTY WILLEM-ALEXANDER KING OF THE NETHERLANDS AS I FLY OVER THE DUTCH CARIBBEAN ON MY APOSTOLIC VISIT TO PANAMA, I EXTEND WARM GREETINGS TO THE CITIZENS OF THE KINGDOM OF THE NETHERLANDS, PRAYING THAT ALMIGHTY GOD MAY BLESS YOU ALL. FRANCISCUS PP. Colombia HIS EXCELLENCY IVAN DUQUE MARQUEZ PRESIDENT OF THE REPUBLIC OF COLOMBIA BOGOTA AS I FLY OVER COLOMBIA ON MY APOSTOLIC VISIT TO PANAMA, I EXTEND TO YOU AND THE PEOPLE OF THE NATION MY WARM GREETINGS. UPON ALL OF YOU I INVOKE THE DIVINE BLESSINGS OF PEACE AND STRENGTH. FRANCISCUS PP. For thousands of young people, the arrival of Pope Francis in Panama on Wednesday afternoon marks the true beginning of the 34th World Youth Day. By Sean-Patrick Lovett There were those who had waited at the airport all day. And it was hot (33C not counting the horrendous humidity). There were those who had practiced their dance routines for months. And they added elegance and energy to the event. There were those who had created costumes and national dresses for the occasion. And they brought colour and culture to this historical Panamanian afternoon. Listen to the report 1983 The last time a Pope stepped off a plane from Rome onto the soil of Panama was 36 years ago. It was March 5th 1983. And the Pope was John Paul II. The world was still dominated by the North American and Soviet superpowers, and the Motorola Company had just launched the first mobile phone, very different to the one on which you are probably reading or listening to this report right now. 2019 The flying time from Rome to Panama City is just under 13 hours. And theres a 6-hour time difference. So Pope Francis looked justifiably tired as he walked down the steps of the Alitalia aircraft and greeted Panamanian President Juan Carlos Varela Rodriguez and the First Lady. With head bowed he listened attentively to the national anthems of the Holy See and Panama, respectively, and shook hands with the authorities present. Then, just as the security detail was dutifully ushering him into the waiting car, the Pope turned and waded into the crowd that had been trying frantically to grab his attention in every way possible. Thats when his demeanour changed dramatically. At the sight of the smiling, flushed and excited faces (not to mention the beautiful babies thrust at him from every direction), Pope Francis became suddenly animated. It was as though he had just woken up. Every sign of fatigue disappeared as he waved, hugged, blessed and beamed with obvious delight. Tomorrow On Thursday, the papal programme begins in earnest. His first appointment of the day is at the Presidential Palace where he pays a courtesy visit on the President and meets local Authorities and members of the Diplomatic Corps. He will also have an important encounter with the Bishops of Central America before lunch. But the highlight of the day, at least as far as the young people are concerned, is the opening ceremony for the World Youth Day at the Campo Santa Maria di Antigua on the Coastal Belt. But more about thattomorrow. Pope Francis has addressed the Bishops of Central America (SEDAC) in the Church of Saint Francis of Assisi in Panama City. The Pope's meeting with his brother bishops came on the first full day of his apostolic visit to Panama to celebrate World Youth Day 2019. Pope Francis has addressed members of the Episcopal Secretariat of Central America recalling the glorious history of the Church in the region that counts many men and women, priests, consecrated and lay, who have devoted their lives and even shed their blood to keep the Churchs prophetic voice alive in the face of injustice, the spread of poverty, and the abuse of power. He also touched on painful and difficult themes, including issues pertaining to migration and endemic violence. Please find below the full text of Pope Francis' speech: Dear Brothers, I thank Archbishop Jose Luis Escobar Alas of San Salvador for his words of welcome in the name of all. I am happy to be able to be with you and to share in a closer and more direct way your hopes, projects and dreams as pastors to whom the Lord has entrusted the care of his holy people. Thank you for your fraternal welcome. Meeting with you also gives me the opportunity to embrace your peoples and feel closer to them, to make my own their aspirations, but also their disappointments, and above all the unshakable faith that restores hope and encourages charity. Thank you for letting me be close to that tested yet simple faith seen on the faces of your people, who, though poor, know that God is here; he is not sleeping, he is active, he watches and helps (SAINT OSCAR ROMERO, Homily, 16 December 1979). This meeting reminds us of an important ecclesial event. The bishops of this region were the first in America to create a means of communion and participation that continues to bear rich fruit: the Episcopal Secretariat of Central America (SEDAC). It has provided a forum for sharing, discernment and agreement that nurtures, revitalizes and enriches your Churches. Farsighted bishops gave a sign that, far from being merely programmatic, showed that the future of Central America or of any area of the world necessarily depends on clear thinking and the ability to broaden horizons and to join in a patient and generous effort to listen, understand, engage and involve. And, as a result, to discern the new horizons to which the Spirit is leading us (cf. Evangelii Gaudium, 235). In the seventy-five years since its establishment, SEDAC has sought to share in the joys and sorrows, the struggles and the dreams of the peoples of Central America, whose history has been interwoven with and forged by the history of your own faithful. Many men and women, priests, consecrated and lay, have devoted their lives and even shed their blood to keep the Churchs prophetic voice alive in the face of injustice, the spread of poverty, and the abuse of power. They remind us that those who really wish to give glory to God by their lives, who truly long to grow in holiness, are called to be single-minded and tenacious in their practice of the works of mercy (Gaudete et Exsultate, 107). And this, not simply as almsgiving, but as a true vocation. Among these prophetic fruits of the Church in Central America, I am happy to mention Saint Oscar Romero, whom I recently had the privilege of canonizing during the Synod on Young People. His life and his teachings remain a constant source of inspiration for our Churches and, in a special way, for us as bishops. His episcopal motto, inscribed on his tombstone, clearly expresses the principle that guided his life as a pastor: to think with the Church. It was the compass for his life and fidelity, even in times of great turmoil. His legacy can become an active and life-giving witness for us, who are likewise called to the daily martyrdom of serving our people, and on it, I would like to base the reflection I am about to share with you. I know that some among us knew Archbishop Romero personally, like Cardinal Rosa Chavez. Your Eminence, if you think that I am mistaken in any of my assessments, you can correct me! To appeal to the figure of Romero is to appeal to the holiness and prophetic character present in the DNA of your particular Churches. Thinking with the Church 1. Recognition and gratitude When Saint Ignatius sets out the rules for thinking with the Church, he tries to help the retreatant overcome any type of false dichotomy or antagonism that would reduce the life of the Spirit to the habitual temptation to make Gods word serve our own interest. This can give the retreatant the grace to recognize that he is part of an apostolic body greater than himself, while at the same time being aware of his own strengths and abilities: an awareness that is neither feeble nor selective or rash. To feel part of a whole that is always more than the sum of its parts (cf. Evangelii Gaudium, 235), and is linked to a Presence that will always transcend him (cf. Gaudete et Exsultate, 8). So I would like to focus this preliminary thinking with the Church, along with Saint Oscar, on thanksgiving and gratitude for all the unmerited blessings we have received. Romero instinctively knew how to understand and appreciate the Church, because he loved her deeply as the wellspring of his faith. Without this deep love, it would be difficult to understand the story of his conversion. It was that same love that led him to martyrdom: a love born of receiving an utterly free gift, one that does not belong to us but instead frees us from any pretension or temptation to think that we are its proprietors or its sole interpreters. We did not invent the Church; she was not born with us and she will carry on without us. This attitude, far from encouraging sloth, awakens and sustains boundless and unimaginable gratitude. Martyrdom has nothing to do with faintheartedness or the attitude of those who do not love life and cannot recognize its value. On the contrary, the martyr is one who is capable of incarnating and living fully this act of thanksgiving. Romero thought with the Church, because before all else he loved the Church as a mother who had brought him to birth in the faith. He felt a member and a part of her. 2. A love flavoured by people This love, loyalty and gratitude brought him to embrace passionately but also with hard work and study, the currents of renewal authoritatively proposed by the Second Vatican Council. There he found a firm guide for Christian discipleship. He was neither an ideologue nor ideological; his actions were born of a thorough familiarity with the Council documents. Against this ecclesial horizon, thinking with the Church meant, for Romero, contemplating her as the People of God. For the Lord did not want to save us alone and apart from others, but to establish a people who would profess him in truth and serve him in sanctity (cf. Lumen Gentium, 9). A people that as a whole possesses, guards and celebrates the anointing of the Holy One (ibid., 12), and to whom Romero carefully listened, so as not to be deprived of the Spirits inspiration (cf. SAINT OSCAR ROMERO, Homily, 16 July 1978). In this way, Romero showed us that the pastor, in order to seek and discover the Lord, must learn to listen to the heartbeat of his people. He must smell the odour of the sheep, the men and women of today, until he is steeped in their joys and hopes, their sorrows and their anxieties (cf. Gaudium et Spes, 1), and in so doing ponder the word of God (cf. Dei Verbum, 13). His must be an approach that listens to the people entrusted to his care, to the point of identifying with them and discovering from them the will of God who calls us (cf. Address at the Meeting on the Family, 4 October 2014). An approach free of dichotomies or false antagonisms, for only the love of God is capable of integrating all our loves in a single feeling and gaze. For Romero, in a word, to think with the Church means to take part in the Churchs glory, which is to live, heart and soul, the kenosis of Christ. In the Church, Christ lives among us, and so she must be humble and poor, since an aloof, prideful and self-sufficient Church is not the Church of kenosis (cf. SAINT OSCAR ROMERO, Homily, 1 October 1978). 3. Living, heart and soul, the kenosis of Christ This is not only the Churchs glory, but also a vocation, a summons to make it our personal glory and our path of holiness. Christs kenosis is not a thing of the past, but a present pledge that we can sense and discover his presence at work in history. A presence that we neither can nor want to silence, since we know from experience that he alone is the Way, the Truth and the Life. Christs kenosis reminds us that God saves in history, in the life of each person, and that this is also his own history, from which he comes forth to meet us (cf. SAINT OSCAR ROMERO, Homily, 7 December 1978). It is important, brothers, that we not be afraid to draw near and touch the wounds of our people, which are our wounds too, and to do this in the same way that the Lord himself does. A pastor cannot stand aloof from the sufferings of his people; we can even say that the heart of a pastor is measured by his ability to be moved by the many lives that are hurting or threatened. To do this as the Lord does, means allowing this suffering to have an impact on our priorities and our preferences, on the use of our time and money, and even on our way of praying. In this way, we will be able to anoint everything and everyone with the consoling friendship of Jesus Christ within a community of faith that contains and opens a constantly new horizon that gives meaning and hope to life (cf. Evangelii Gaudium, 49). Christs kenosis involves giving up virtual ways of living and speaking, in order to listen to the sounds and repeated cries of real people who challenge us to build relationships. Allow me to say this: networks help to build relationships, but not roots; they are incapable of giving us a sense of belonging, of making us feel part of a single people. Without this sense, all our words, meetings, gatherings and writings will be the sign of a faith that failed to accompany the Lords kenosis, a faith that stopped halfway along the road. Christs kenosis is young This World Youth Day is a unique opportunity to go out to encounter and draw even closer to the experiences of our young people, so full of hope and desires, but also many hurts and scars. With them, we can interpret our world in a new way and recognize the signs of the times. For as the Synod Fathers affirmed, young people are one of the theological sources in which the Lord makes us know some of his expectations and challenges for the shaping of the future (cf. SYNOD ON YOUNG PEOPLE, Final Document, 64). With them, we will be able to envision how to make the Gospel more visible and credible in the world in which we live. They are like a barometer for knowing where we stand as a community and as a society. Young people bring with them a restlessness that we need to appreciate, respect and accompany. This is good for us, because it unsettles us and reminds us that a pastor never stops being a disciple and a wayfarer. This healthy restlessness both prods and precedes us. The Synod Fathers recognized this: Young people, in certain aspects, go ahead of their pastors (ibid., 66). We should rejoice to see how the seed sown has not fallen on deaf ears. Many of their concerns and insights took root in the family, encouraged by a grandmother or a catechist, or in the parish, in educational or youth programmes. They then grew through hearing the Gospel within lively and fervent faith communities that provided rich soil in which they could flourish. How can we not be grateful to have young people concerned with the Gospel! It whets our desire to help them grow by providing them with more and better opportunities to be part of Gods dream. The Church is naturally a Mother, and as such, she engenders life, bears it in her womb and protects it from all that threatens its growth: a gestation that takes place in freedom and for freedom. So I urge you to promote programmes and educational centres that can accompany, support and empower your young people. Snatch them from the streets before the culture of death can entice their young minds and sell them its smoke and mirrors, or offer its chimerical solutions to all their problems. Do so not paternalistically, looking down from on high, because that is not what the Lord asks of us, but as true fathers and brothers to all. Young people are the face of Christ for us, and we cannot reach Christ by descending from above, but by rising up from below (cf. SAINT OSCAR ROMERO, Homily, 2 September 1979). Sadly, many young people have been taken in by easy answers that end up costing dearly. As the Synod Fathers noted, they find themselves boxed in and lacking opportunities, amid highly conflictual situations with no quick solution: domestic violence, the killing of women our continent is experiencing a plague in this regard armed gangs and criminals, drug trafficking, the sexual exploitation of minors and young people, and so on. It is painful to observe that at the root of many of these situations is the experience of being orphaned, the fruit of a culture and a society run amok. Often families have been broken by an economic system that did not prioritize persons and the common good, but made speculation its paradise, without worrying about who would end up paying the price. And so we see our young people without a home, without a family, without a community, without a sense of belonging, easy prey to the first charlatan who comes along. Let us not forget that mans true pain belongs first to God (George Bernanos, Diary of a Country Priest). Let us not separate what he wanted to unite in his Son. The future demands that we respect the present, by ennobling it and working to value and preserve the cultures of your peoples. Here too, dignity is at stake: in cultural self-esteem. Your peoples are not the backyard of society or of anyone. They have a rich history that needs to be appropriated, valued and encouraged. The seeds of the Kingdom were sown in these lands. We must recognize them, care for them and watch over them, so that none of the good that God has planted will languish, prey to spurious interests that sow corruption and grow rich by plundering the poor. Caring for these roots means caring for the rich historical, cultural and spiritual heritage that this land has for centuries been able to harmonize. Continue to speak out against the cultural and spiritual desertification of your towns that causes a radical poverty, since it weakens their power of resistance, the necessary and vital immunity that preserves their dignity at times of great difficulty. In your most recent Pastoral Letter, you pointed out that, our region has recently been affected by a new kind of migration, massive and organized. This has called attention to the reasons for forced migration and to the dangers it entails for the dignity of the human person (SEDAC, Message to the People of God and All Persons of Good Will, 30 November 2018). Many migrants have young faces; they are seeking a better life for their families. Nor are they afraid to take risks and to leave everything behind in order to offer them the minimum conditions for a better future. Realizing this is not enough; we need to clearly proclaim a message that is good news. The Church, by virtue of her universality, can provide the fraternal hospitality and acceptance that can enable the communities of origin and of destination to dialogue and to help overcome fears and suspicions, and thus to consolidate the very bonds that migrations in the collective imagination threaten to break. Welcoming, protecting, promoting and integrating can be the four words with which the Church, in this situation of mass migration, expresses her motherhood in the history of our time (cf. SYNOD ON YOUNG PEOPLE, Final Document, 147). Every effort made to build bridges between ecclesial, parish and diocesan communities, and between your episcopal conferences, will be a prophetic gesture on the part of the Church, which is, in Christ, a sign and instrument both of communion with God and of the unity of the entire human race (Lumen Gentium, 1). This will help eliminate the temptation simply to call attention to the problem, and become instead a proclamation of the new life that the Lord gives us. Let us recall the words of Saint John: If anyone has the worlds goods and sees his brother in need, yet closes his heart against him, how does Gods love abide in him? Little children, let us not love in word or speech but in deed and in truth (1 Jn 3:17-18). All of these situations raise questions; they are situations summoning us to conversion, solidarity and decisive efforts to educate our communities. We cannot remain indifferent (cf. SYNOD ON YOUNG PEOPLE, Final Document, 41-44). Whereas the world discards people, as we are painfully aware, Christs kenosis does not. We have experienced this, and we continue to experience it in our own flesh through forgiveness and conversion. This tension requires that we constantly ask ourselves, Where do we wish to stand? The kenosis of Christ is priestly We all know about Archbishop Romeros friendship with Father Rutilio Grande, and how much he was affected by his assassination. It seared his heart as a man, a priest and a pastor. Romero was no human resources manager; that was not how he dealt with individuals or organizations, but as a father, a friend and a brother. He can serve as a yardstick, however daunting, to help us measure our own hearts as bishops and ask, How much does the life of my priests affect me? How much do I let myself be impacted by what they experience, grieving when they suffer and celebrating their joys? The extent of ecclesial functionalism and clericalism which represent a caricature and perversion of ministry can start to be measured by these questions. This has to do not with changes in style, habits or language all of which are certainly important but above all with the time we bishops make to receive, accompany and sustain our priests, real time to care for them. That is what makes us good fathers. Our priests are normally the ones responsible for making their flock the people of God. They are on the front lines. They shoulder the burden and the heat of the day (cf. Mt 20:12), exposed to an endless number of daily situations that can wear them down. So they need our closeness, our understanding and encouragement, our fatherhood. The outcome of our pastoral work, evangelization and mission does not depend on the material means and resources at our disposal, or on the number of our events and activities, but on the centrality of compassion: this is one of the unique things that we as Church can offer our brothers and sisters. Christs kenosis is the supreme expression of the Fathers compassion. Christs Church is the Church of compassion, and that begins at home. It is always good to ask ourselves as pastors, How much does the life of my priests affect me? Am I able to be a father, or am I content to be a mere executive? Do I let myself be bothered? I think back on what Benedict XVI told his compatriots at the beginning of his pontificate: Christ did not promise us an easy life. Those looking for comfort have dialed the wrong number. Rather, he shows us the way to great things, to goodness, to an authentic human life (BENEDICT XVI, Address to German Pilgrims, 25 April 2005). We know that our work, our visits and meetings especially in parishes have a necessarily administrative component. This is part of our responsibility, but it does not mean that we should spend all our limited time on administrative tasks. When visiting, the most important thing the one thing we cannot delegate is listening. Many of our everyday tasks we ought to entrust to others. What we cannot delegate, however, is the ability to listen, the ability to keep track of the good health and the lives of our priests. We cannot delegate to others the door that must be open to them. An open door that invites trust rather than fear, sincerity rather than hypocrisy, a frank and respectful exchange rather than a stern monologue. I recall the words of Rosmini: There is no doubt that only great men can form other great men In the early centuries, the bishops house was the seminary of priests and deacons. The presence and saintly life of their prelate turned out to be a radiant, constant and sublime lesson, in which one learned theory from his learned words and practice from his diligent pastoral outreach. So the young Athanasius learned from Alexander, and so many others in like manner (ANTONIO ROSMINI, The Five Wounds of the Holy Church). It is important that the parish priest encounter a father, a shepherd in whom he can see a reflection of himself, not an administrator concerned about reviewing the troops. It is essential that, despite differing viewpoints and even eventual disagreements and arguments (which are normal and to be expected), priests should perceive their bishop as someone who is unafraid to get involved, to confront them, to encourage them and be an outstretched hand when they are bogged down. A man of discernment able to guide and to find practical and possible ways to move forward during the difficult times in each persons life. The word authority is derived from the Latin root augere: to increase, promote, advance. The authority of a pastor is based on his ability to help others to grow, to give priority to his priests rather than himself (for that would simply make him a confirmed bachelor). The joy of a father and pastor lies in seeing his children grow and become fruitful. Brothers, let this be our authority and the sign of our fruitfulness. The kenosis of Christ is poor Brothers, thinking with the Church means thinking with our faithful people, the suffering and hope-filled people of God. It means realizing that our ministerial identity is born and understood in the light of this unique and constitutive sense of our identity. Here I would repeat to you the words Saint Ignatius wrote to the Jesuits: Poverty is a mother and a wall; it gives birth and it encloses. A mother, because it asks us to be fruitful, to give life, to be able to give of ourselves in a way impossible for hearts that are selfish or avaricious. A wall because it shields us from one of the most subtle temptations we can face as consecrated persons. That is spiritual worldliness, which puts a religious and pious veneer over the desire for power and influence, over vanity and even pride and arrogance. A wall and a mother that can help us be a Church that is increasingly free because centred in the kenosis of her Lord. A Church that does not want her strength to be as Archbishop Romero used to say in the backing of the powerful or political leaders but advances with noble detachment, relying only on the true strength born of the embrace of the crucified Jesus. This translates into clear and practical signs, it challenges us and calls us to examine our consciences about our decisions and priorities in the use of our resources, influence and position. Poverty is a mother and a wall because it keeps our hearts from slipping into concessions and compromises that sap the freedom and courage that the Lord demands of us. Brothers, as we now conclude, let us place ourselves beneath the mantle of the Blessed Virgin. Together let us ask her to keep watch over our hearts as shepherds. May she help us to be ever better servants of the body of her Son, the holy and faithful people of God that journeys, lives and prays here in Central America. May Jesus bless you and may Our Lady protect you. And please, do not forget to pray for me. Thank you very much. Amongst the pilgrims from all over the world visiting Panama for World Youth Day is the Alleluya Band Malawi, who have come bearing gifts and sharing their music. By Francesca Merlo Every year, for the past 7 years, Coss Chiwalo has represented Malawi at World Youth Days around the world. And every year he learns a lesson that he takes back to other young Catholics on the African continent. Listen to the report A first for all So far, says Coss, Panama 2019 has been very fantastic. What he is particularly happy about is the fact that Panama seems even further away from his hometown than Europe. Hes been to Italy numerous times but it is the first time people of Panama will be able to experience our culture, he says, the Malawian culture. To love to learn Lessons given and lessons learnt, it seems Coss loves to teach and loves to learn. Perhaps he has the love for teaching that every teacher should have: the kind that makes the student want to learn. And perhaps that is why one year ago, when Coss Chiwalo visited the Vatican with his African drum, Pope Francis asked Coss to teach him how to play African drums. This personal encounter Coss had with the Pope, he says, is what makes him always very happy, to be here with Pope Francesco, he says, having picked up the Popes Italian name on one of his many trips to the Vatican. Intangible memories Blessings, another young Malawian travelling with Coss, also loves the lessons that come from human interactions. His greatest memory so far (and there is still a long way to go before reaching the end) is that he has interacted with so many people. He emphasises that it is, in fact, very, very important to interract with people. Travelling, knowing each other, and exchanging ways of God, so that we can improve our spiritual lives. These pilgrims exchange thoughts and feelings, and not only the usual material memories, the gifts that the pilgrim tradition calls for. Their gift to this correspondent were two CDs of their own music, recognisable by both Blessings and Coss faces on the cover of one album, and the face of Pope Francis playing Coss African drum as he looks him in the eyes on the other. Perhaps this music is the best way to share both their beloved thoughts and feelings that come from human interraction and the tradition of their beloved country. Alleluya Band Malawi This music, so beautifully recorded by Alleluya Band Malawi, is yet another wonder that these young Malawians have brought to Panama. They perform it in the traditional dress that Coss says attracts so much attention in Panamas Parco Bazzara on Wednesday evening. Young Africans, wearing animal skins and carrying bows and arrows as they sing original African, Catholic hymns, is surely something new to the Panamanian stages and the thousands of pilgrims who have travelled from all around the world. Another day, another lesson. With Pope Francis in Panama for the World Youth Day events, Ghanas new Archbishop of Accra Archdiocese, John Bonaventure Kwofie, CSSp, has told "The Catholic Standard" weekly newspaper that the youth will occupy a special place in his heart and pastoral ministry, in the Archdiocese of Accra. Damian Avevor Accra, Ghana Archbishop John Bonaventure Kwofie, CSSp will be installed in the Holy Spirit Cathedral, as the new Archbishop of Accra on 1 March 2019. In an exclusive interview with Ghanas The Catholic Standard, Archbishop Kwofie said, The youth occupy a special place in my heart and pastoral plan. We often talk about the youth as leaders of the future, but they are more than that. They are also leaders of today who are building the future, said the new Accra prelate. Archbishop Kwofie has succeeded Archbishop Charles Palmer-Buckle, who was appointed as Ghanas Metropolitan Archbishop of Cape Coast on 11 May 2018. Young people are full of ideas and energy The Archbishop of Accra stated that young people are full of ideas, energy and are searching to make meaningful commitments for their future, in marriage or in a career or professional life. This, he said, implies that, they need the attention and accompaniment of their parents, priests, and Church leaders in the hard task of constructing a future as individuals and as a body in the Church, said Archbishop Kwofie. According to the Archbishop, sometimes older people feel young people disturb their peace and settled life. Instead, the Archbishop noted that It is important that as a Shepherd and with my priests, we recognise the energy young people bring to the Church and help direct it to the growth of the Church and ultimately, their own future, he said Help Restore Fort Myers Beach Arches raise money this weekend while participating in a Poker Run. Ride the Arches Poker Run will take off Saturday, Jan. 26. The run begins at Bridgettes Place before making a first stop at Shark Bar & Grill. The Poker Run will continue to Bonita Bills, Lani Kai, Castaways Bar & Grill, Gulf Coast Motorcycles and then back to PLA Cigar Bar. The run will start and end at the Indian Creek Plaza, 17284 San Carlos Blvd. Registration, which is $20 for a rider and $15 for participants, will be held from 9-10 a.m. The last bike in is at 3:30 p.m. The best poker hand splits the pot with us, Restore Fort Myers Beach Arches, Inc President Steven Ray McDonald said. He said they will have food vendors such as Mystic Grill and Dog House, music all day, raffles and artwork for sale from the 1970s at Indian Creek Plaza. He said Love Boat Ice Cream will have a kiosk at the event. Love Boat Ice Cream is donating a portion of profit, McDonald said. Its a little carnival atmosphere at Indian Creek Plaza. The raffle includes a good number of donated items from generous sponsors on the beach. He said individuals do not have to be present to win the raffle and the winners will be posted on their Facebook page. The winners will be announced at the end of the Poker Run for the raffle, McDonald said. He said they expect to have a good time with a good turnout while keeping everyone safe. Although the event is scheduled to 5 p.m., McDonald said if people would like to stay longer they are welcome to do so. The money raised during the event will go towards 3D imaging of the arch stones. We are about $3,300 of the $5,000 for the 3D imaging, McDonald said. The Fort Myers Beach Arches, built in 1924 by developer Tom Phillips, remained until November 1979, when FDOT and Lee County provided a one months notice that the arches were being taken down when the new bridge was installed. The Fort Myers Beach Jaycees, as well as others received approval from the Lee County Commissioners that they could disassemble the arches and reconstruct them in a county park. Unfortunately, that piece of information did not reach the subcontractor in time. McDonald said the remains of the arches were buried under 40 years of debris. We went out there and cut down 40- year-old trees to gain access to them. Our group rented heavy equipment and basically dug the arches out of the ground. They are now above the ground and have been 3D imaged, except for three or four said. The University of South Florida came out and did 3D imaging of the stones, McDonald said, which will give them data. He said what they plan to do is use 3D special imaging of the original location with the original stones. We will be able to see what part of the arches still exists and where they were on the original arch, McDonald said. That information will be incorporated with dimensional data with the new arch, so they can be put it back where they once were located. They came down and did the work for nothing. They did it on a field trip, McDonald said of South Florida. McDonald encourages everyone to sign the petition, so they can, hopefully, convince the Lee County Board of County Commissioners of putting the arches back up. So far there are 400 signatures. I would like to have 4,000, he said. McDonald said they would like FDOT to put their project on its agenda, so they can at least consider it in their five year plan coming up. At some point they will get us on the agenda, he said. More information can be found on their Facebook page, Restore Fort Myers Beach Arches. To say that the sun shone brightly in Tallahassee Tuesday, Jan. 8, 2019, would be meteorologically and metaphorically accurate. It was a beautiful sunny day when Babs and I were seated, with no small selfish pride I will admit, directly adjacent to the stage. We were fortunate as only 3,000 had been invited from a starting list of 130,000 party faithful wishing to attend. It was a changing of the guard and clean sweeping away of the political programs that contributed greatly to our economic devastation through Tallahassee lobbyists and the local government enablers rationalizing their relationships. Then, as if to highlight this new political truth, that singular gentleman Alligator Ron Bergeron was seated to our right. Alligator Rons family has been in Florida since the 1800s and no one knows more about the Glades and conservation than our Ron and he is also a nationally respected developer whose opinions should be noted by the wise. We talked about Big Cypress Swamp water quality, where he owns large tracks of land (my son and I had just spent New Years Day hunting there with Captivas Lt. Mike Sawicki), and I complimented him on his insightful commentaries at the recent Governors Environmental Transition Committee Meetings. Around us the Army Band played beautiful and inspirational music in the background, a little too loudly when youre up front by the speakers; I made a mental note about humility and my pride at our location. It was in that positive moment anticipating the long-awaited inauguration, in my opinion of our islands future, that we observed the procession of dignitaries cross the stage escorted by Florida National Guard Officers. For a lawyer like myself there was the Supreme Court Justices, resplendent in black. There were prior Governors Graham, Martinez and Bush, and a good friend and legal colleague I started my career under, the Lieutenant Governor, Jeff Kottkamp. Then there was the very capable Judge Ashley Moody and her family, ready to accept the mantle as our new Attorney General as well as the popular Chief Financial Officer Jimmy Patronis, whose young son clung happily, and securely, to his leg during the swearing in process. Jeanette Nunez stood and radiated the confidence she will bring to the Lieutenant Governors Office, a confidence well-earned as she is expected to be one of our most active LGs and has already taken up the reins on Healthcare issues for the Governor. All were joined by their families making it a truly a family gathering, but the main event was the First Family and they were about to deliver. Had Ron DeSantis not won the Election by ballot, then in a past millennia this would have been the moment he was elevated by Acclamation; the gathered Legions were about to roar their approval. Appearing at the top of the steps of the Old Capitol and pausing humbly to survey the crowd was a young and decisive Governor Ron DeSantis and the charming and lovely First Lady Casey DeSantis. Clearly moved by the outpouring, they paused and with one near sheepish wave to the assembled the sound rose to a deafening crescendo I suddenly missed the Army Band. Once the Oaths of Office were solemnly taken, the National Guards Artillerymen decided they were not to be outdone by the Army Band and set to their Howitzer commencing the 21-gun salute, which then caused four fighter pilots from a National Guard Fighter Wing to fly over and see what all the hubbub was about this in fairness was our favorite part and there was not an arm hair laying down within sight of that beautiful martial display of Honor and Respect. It is important to note at this point, that this day was brought about in no small part by the efforts of Island families and Lee County voters at large as our Countys high turnout in support of Ron carried the day in this Governors race statewide. It was the leadership and energy of Sanibel resident Anthony Farhat of PGI Homes, with the support of his wonderful wife Tia and their two boys in the Sanibel School, who refused to accept the predetermined election of Sugar backed candidates this year that rallied our troops. Together with Jeff Powers, Chauncey Goss, myself and too many dear friends to name here, we resolved in the Spring of 2018 to go all in to win the Governors race and force immediate action on clean water by Executive Order. This resolve was driven by the inexplicable decision of very nearly every other local politicians decision to support Big Sugars chosen candidate Adam Putnam. That support was patently opposed to their citizens wishes on water quality and against the best interest of local businesses, our economy and communities. With the grim determination of parents who can see their childrens future disappearing before their eyes, we made large personal investments, created local candidate events, raised well over seven figures and opened many speeches and rallies. We suffered, as the Bard would say, the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune being literally laughed at for our idealism given DeSantis was more than 20 points down in the Primary. What we had though was an honest candidate who was committed to SWFL and I had my personal promise that the Water Management District will be replaced with appointees who cared about the Riverine and Coastal communities. Ron DeSantis honesty and commitment to fixing our problems and demanding results, instead of photo-ops, brought us to a stunning Primary win of 57 to 36. This represented a swing of over 40 points from our starting point a blow cleanly struck for the new generation of leadership in SWFL politics. After the Army Bands Intermission Assault, I mean Act, and before the Governors Speech, we were ready to listen. What really matters at these events is the Speech and traditionally it is a clear menu of what will be served up during a Term. I for one was waiting with bated breath since my Democrat friends had assured me, he would never come through as promised, but I already knew they couldnt be more wrong about that. The speech was a love song to water quality, conservation, economic activity driven by nature and protecting citizens access to our God-given natural resources. The connection between tourism and water quality was absolute in his analysis, as were low taxes, and that by protecting our natural beauty tourism would save Floridians from tax increases by spreading the costs to visiting non-residents. Acceptance that tourism, not subsidies, anchors local economies and increases property values for all was key. As he humorously explained via a Yogi Berra aphorism: if people dont want to come nobody is going to stop them. The 40-year-old new Governor then made it clear that the role of government was to serve the people and that those who were not representing the people they were put there to represent in good faith would be removed. Not because of wild-eyed environmentalists (my characterization), in the case of SFWMD, but because the District had failed to do its job as chartered that is the cancer to be excised, terrible water quality and economic damage are the symptoms of leaving that cancer in place (my summary). Projects that have been stalled to move water South are going forward, now, and now means Now in this Governors opinion. He then fell back on his abiding faith and challenged: We resolve to leave Florida to God better than we found it. There endeth the Speech. Now, there were other important conservative issues raised that I support completely, but that were not as important to our Barrier Islands as water quality and our towns economies. By example, if anyone is planning a Sanctuary City you can forget that now and sheriffs that are more concerned with their lives than little childrens will be looking for new jobs elsewhere rightly so. Subsequent to the Inauguration, we have seen that this is the most determined Governor in recent history, he has signed Executive Orders to compel advancement of the EAA Reservoir and demanded the resignation of the South Florida Water Management District Board entirely. With that intransigent obstacle to progress cleansed, we now have a fair chance to first solve and then remediate our water quality in South Florida. I for one have been repaid in full for my efforts on the campaign and all it required for our Governor and First Lady to accomplish were a couple of bright sunny days in Office. The Hon. Jason Maughan serves as a Sanibel City Councilman The Forum on the Implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development was held in Shenzhen on Jan. 16. Experts attending the event agreed that innovation, transformation and rebuilding are essential for sustainable development, Science and Technology Daily reported on Jan. 22. In March 2018, China approved Shenzhen, Taiyuan and Guilin as demonstration zones under the sustainable development agenda. If Shenzhen can create a new path to sustainability, it will set an example for the country and world in this field, said Wu Hongbo, Co-Director of the Institute for Sustainable Development Goals at Tsinghua University. Wu explained that the country needs international cooperation to implement sustainable development through technology, adding that in this regard, China has made unremitting efforts, such as its proposal to build a global energy network, and donating the world's first 30-meter resolution global land cover data set to the United Nations (UN). In the past four decades of reform and opening-up, Chinas speed of development has surpassed that of developed countries, with rapid consumption of resources. To date, 74 Chinese cities are listed as resource-exhausted. China released its national plan for the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development on Sept. 19, 2016. To build socialism with Chinese characteristics, it is imperative for China to implement sustainable development strategies, said Qian Yi, an environmental professor at Tsinghua University. By 2050, about 2.5 billion people will have moved into cities, meaning urban dwellers will make up 70 percent of the world's total population, Wu said, noting that the fast speed of urbanization will make cities the significant areas to practice sustainable development. Will Fort Myers Beach get sucked into the kava vortex? Sisters and kava entrepreneurs Caroline and Jacqueline Rusher hope so. What started in 2017 as one kava bar in Bonita Springs has grown to four in the last 13 months. Their fourth Kava Culture location at 17979 San Carlos Boulevard opened two weeks ago, and they think its a good fit for the community. We actually had people asking us to come to Fort Myers Beach weve heard theres a lot of people that have problems with alcohol and they want a sober, safe place to go, said Jacqueline. Instead of alcohol, they serve kava, a plant in the pepper family from the South Pacific islands that has been used for medicinal and ceremonial purposes for centuries, and kratom, a leaf in the coffee family traditionally used in Southeast Asia to boost energy and concentration. The two substances are brewed into teas and mixed into creative concoctions by kavatenders. Many kava drinkers report feeling less stress, relief from chronic pain, and a general sense of well-being. Its very relaxing, it makes you want to talk and socialize without being inebriated like alcohol. You can still drive, you can still function, you can still go back to work, she said. But the social atmosphere of a kava bar can be addictive. We call it the vortex. The kava vortex. You get sucked in and you try and leave three times and then you get into another conversation. Its just so fun, she said. Kava has become a growing trend across the country in recent years, and bars like Kava Culture can currently be found in 18 states. An avid kava drinker from St. Petersburg, where the bars are popular, found his way to Kava Culture while visiting the Fort Myers Beach area. I Google-searched, kava bar near me, said Robert Sawyer. He drinks kava because it helps with his neck pain and makes him feel good. Its a great community. You never have fights in kava bars, he said, a to-go cup in each hand. Caroline agreed. She started drinking kava six years ago to help with insomnia while working a high-stress job on chartered yachts. I just fell in love with the community. Its so different than going to a regular bar or a coffee shop, because everyone talks to each other and hangs out and wants to get to know you, she said. So she called her sister, who worked in finance, and told her that she wanted to open a kava bar. I had never even tried kava, Jacqueline said. But she was swayed by the numbers their 12-ounce kava drinks sell for $14 each. Their venture has been so successful, Jacqueline quit her job and now helps run their venues full time. Most of the kava bars are set up by men, so the vibe is a little different, and some of them are not comfortable for females to go there at all, she said. They wanted to create a family-friendly space where everyone could feel comfortable. Colorful tapestries adorn the walls and cozy couches are arranged to encourage conversation. Theres a pool table, an assortment of board games for wholesome fun, and a bamboo beach bar in the back where kavatenders ladle teas from giant buckets, and guests can sink their toes in the sand under twinkling fairy lights. Its fun to see all walks of life talking to each other. You see young kids talking to older retired couples, and normally they wouldnt, but they can learn so much from each other, she said. While recent studies have shown kava can be helpful in managing generalized anxiety, the safety of kratom is more contested. The FDA has issued warnings about the herb, claiming it has addictive properties and has resulted in numerous deaths. But Caroline, a self-describe kratom activistist, said much of that backlash is due to misinformation and a lack of regulation, which means it is often mixed and sold with harmful synthetics. Were fighting for (regulation), because the plant on its own is harmless, she said. A 2018 report by Dr. Jane Babin, a molecular biology and patent law expert, supported that claim. It stated that the FDA has based its warnings on 44 cases of death over a nine-year period, all of which involved other substances. For now, kratom remains legal, but it has been banned in a handful of states and cities, including Sarasota. A lot of it is just education, and giving people the real story. I think humans are pretty open minded if theyre given the real information, Caroline said. With their brand growing quickly, the sisters plan to franchise once they open five locations. Weve had a lot of people approach us and say they want to open one, and we keep saying, well put you on the list, Jacqueline said. All of their kava bars are unique in style, but their venue on Fort Myers Beach is the only one to serve food. They have partnered with Buddha Bowls to serve vegan fare like jackfruit quesadillas and avocado toast every day until midnight. Were excited about this one. This is our biggest location so far, said Caroline. They have plans for Sunday markets, acro-yoga demonstrations, dance parties, and even dog training days. Just be careful if you go you might never leave. Valdosta, GA (31601) Today Cloudy with occasional showers this afternoon. High around 85F. Winds SSE at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 40%.. Tonight Scattered thunderstorms, especially late. Low 74F. Winds S at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 60%. Several cancers, such as prostate and testicular cancer, present unique challenges that are specific to men. Survivorship research works to address the many challenges as they arise during and after cancer treatment. This gift will be a tremendous accelerator for our efforts to identify and address the physical, mental and emotional health of those being treated for male cancers, said Dr. Ryan. San Francisco, CA USA (UroToday.com) -- Cancer mortality is higher among men than it is among women. Its estimated that more than 174,000 new cases of prostate cancer, which is the most common cancer in American men, will be diagnosed in 2019 according to the American Cancer Society. Survival rates are improving as new cancer treatments are developed and become more effective.And now thanks to a $500,000 grant, University of Minnesota researchers are able to dedicate more time and resources to assess the short and long-term impact of mens cancer treatment.Through a humanitarian organization called, TH!NK DIFFERENT Foundation, local entrepreneur and cancer survivor Scott Petinga has donated $500,000 to the University of Minnesota for mens cancer survivorship research. This research will be led by Masonic Cancer Center Member Charles Ryan, MD, Director of the Division of Hematology, Oncology, and Transplantation at the University of Minnesota Medical School and Medical Oncologist for the University of Minnesota Health.Dr. Ryan is internationally recognized for his research on prostate cancer. His studies have unraveled the roles of androgens and the androgen receptor in castration-resistant prostate cancer. He authored The Virility Paradox, a book that explores the effects of testosterone on our bodies and brains, and forms the basis for many aspects of survivorship research. Dr. Ryan joined the University of Minnesota Medical School in April 2018.Fourteen years ago, I was diagnosed with testicular cancer. While I was deemed 'cancer free' the over-treatment and lack of empirical data changed me forever. It turns out I became infertile, my hormones vanished, brain functionality diminished and presently Im experiencing muscle atrophy from the radiation therapy, said Petinga. This past December, I had the privilege to be in the presence of such a brilliant pioneer with an extraordinary vision, Dr. Charles Ryan. Together we will embark on the most advanced research in regard to cancer survivorship in men, starting with the cognitive effects of cancer therapy. With this grant along with a previous one I have spent my entire life savings in order to get better but more importantly, the research will help the countless others who will follow in my footsteps.Scott Petinga is a philanthropic serialpreneur who is using his businesses to help solve humanitarian needs. When hes not busy saving the planet, Petinga disseminates his acquired wisdom, knowledge and experience in his recently released memories No One Ever Drowned in Sweat: G.R.I.T. - The Stuff of Leaders and Champions and nationally recognized publications (Forbes, Mens Health, Thrive Global, New York Times, Playboy, Inc. Esquire, HuffPost, and Entrepreneur.) In addition, hes the founder of two additional 501(c)(3) including the TH!NK DIFFERENT Foundation, The Center for Advocacy for Cancer of theInternational (CACTI) and the Fairy Foundation. He lives in the Minneapolis metro area with his wife, spoiled dog and is also the father of three pretty amazing daughters.About TH!NK DIFFERENT FoundationTH!NK DIFFERENT Foundation is a 501(c)3 humanitarian organization that provides grants and other program support designed to spark innovative ideas in underserved areas of housing and healthcare within the United States. Visit thinkdifferent.org to learn more.Further Related Content:Read More from Dr. Charles Ryan, In Search of the Ultimate Cause of Cancer Death and Survival MONTEVIDEO (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 24th January, 2019) Uruguay continues to recognize Nicolas Maduro as Venezuelan president, sources in the Uruguayan Foreign Ministry told Sputnik. On Wednesday, Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido declared himself the country's interim president. The United States urged Maduro to step down and let Guaido to assume the presidency. Maduro responded that Venezuela was severing diplomatic ties with the United States and giving 72 hours "to all diplomatic and consular staff of the United States to leave the country." (@FahadShabbir) The Russian Embassy in Damascus is working as usual, a staff member told Sputnik on Thursday, following reports of a car bomb explosion in the same district of Adavi where the diplomatic mission is located MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 24th January, 2019) The Russian Embassy in Damascus is working as usual, a staff member told Sputnik on Thursday, following reports of a car bomb explosion in the same district of Adavi where the diplomatic mission is located. "The embassy is working as usual," the staff member said. MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 24th January, 2019) Russia and Armenia have signed a contract for the supply of the AK-12 assault rifles to Yerevan, General Director of the Kalashnikov Concern, Vladimir Dmitriev, said. "For now, I can only say that Armenia will be the first country, other than Russia, which will buy AK-12. The contract has been signed, and we are preparing a first small batch, which consists of about 50 assault rifles," Dmitriev said in an interview with Sputnik and the Kommersant newspaper. It was reported earlier that the Russian Defense Ministry adopted into service the AK-12 and AK-15 assault rifles, developed by the Kalashnikov Concern, as part of the Ratnik "future soldier" gear. The first shipment of these assault rifles was delivered to the Russian military at the end of 2018in the framework of the state armament order for 2019. MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 24th January, 2019) A new round of peace talks between the Central African Republic (CAR)'s government and militant leaders begin on Thursday in the Sudanese capital of Khartoum. The landlocked country has been suffering from a drawn-out conflict since a coup in 2013. Much of the fighting in recent years has been between Muslim-majority Seleka and Christian Anti-Balaka militias. A Sudanese diplomatic source told Sputnik that the talks could last for over a week, with mediation from Commissioner for Peace and Security Smail Chergui of the African Union, which has championed the peace effort. Other regional stakeholders who will take part in the negotiations are Chad, Congo and Gabon, the source with the Sudanese embassy in Moscow said. CAR President Faustin-Archange Touadera is expected to come, the source added. The government has made no mentioning of the president in the list of participants obtained by Sputnik. The car government delegation left the national capital of Bangui on Tuesday. It is led by Firmin Ngrebada, minister of state and chief of staff to the president. The delegation also includes Defense Minister Marie Noelle Koyara, Foreign Minister Sylvie Baipo-Temon, Justice Minister Flavien Mbara, and Reconciliation Minister Virginie Baikouva. Parties from all sides of the political spectrum - the majority, centrists and the opposition - will also be present, alongside National Assembly Deputy Speaker Jean Symphorien Mapenzi. A large group of experts and civil society representatives is likewise attending, including members of the National Mediation Council, religious leaders, human rights advocates, representatives of women groups and victims of war. The government stressed it had a "firm intention to reach compromise with armed groups in strict accordance with the constitution, national unity, territorial integrity." CAR Communications Minister Maxime Kazagui said to Sputnik that the nation's government, political parties and civil society were united in their desire to agree a ceasefire and a peace deal. He said he hoped that all stakeholders would negotiate in good faith. Mongolia has launched a campaign to promote the development of its banking sector, local media reported Wednesday ULAN BATOR, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 23rd Jan, 2019 ) :Mongolia has launched a campaign to promote the development of its banking sector, local media reported Wednesday. The campaign is part of the activities to celebrate the 95th anniversary of the development of the banking sector in the country, the Bank of Mongolia said in a statement. As part of the six-month campaign starting Tuesday, several related activities will be held across the country by the central bank in cooperation with commercial banks. "The banking sector is playing a vital role in financing the economic development of any country," Nadmid Bayartsaikhan, president of the Bank of Mongolia, said at the inauguration ceremony of the campaign. The campaign called "Development of Banking Sector in Mongolia-95" aims to increase public participation and get feedback from customers in order to improve banking operations and overcome challenges in the banking industry, said Bayartsaikhan. Currently, there are some 1,400 branches of 14 commercial banks operating in Mongolia. Nearly 6 million foreign nationals visited Albania in 2018, an increase of 15.8 percent year on year, Albanian National Statistics Institute (INSTAT) reported on Thursday TIRANA, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 24th Jan, 2019 ) :Nearly 6 million foreign nationals visited Albania in 2018 , an increase of 15.8 percent year on year, Albanian National Statistics Institute (INSTAT) reported on Thursday. According to INSTAT official report, more than 5.9 million foreigners entered in Albania in 2018. In 2018, the country with the highest arrivals of citizens in Albania and the largest increase in inflows came from Poland with 153,718 citizens and an increase of 34.2 percent compared to the previous year. Year-on-year increases in the number of visitors were also registered from Italy and the United States respectively with 20 percent and 19.6 percent. The latest batch of land parcels that Lee County has decided to pursue for its Conservation 20/20 program may be on the smaller side, but local experts say theyre important pieces of the conservation puzzle. At last Tuesdays Board of County Commissioners meeting, a motion passed unanimously to allot $30,000 for county staff to begin acquisition of seven parcels two in the Estero Bay Aquatic Preserve, two in Pine Island Sound, and three in the Cecil B. Webb Wildlife Management Area off Burnt Store Road. Lee County Conservation Lands Manager Cathy Olson said these parcels will fill in the gaps in existing county and state preserves. Its always really good to try to build onto existing conservation lands, because you get more bang for your buck that way rather than having an isolated parcel, she said. Three parcels, a combined 249 acres, are grouped together in the Yucca Pens unit off Burnt Store Road in Cape Coral. That region along the Burnt Store corridor is some of the nicest pine flatwoods we have left in Lee County, said Olson. Carl Veaux, president of the Cape Coral Friends of Wildlife, is encouraged by the move to acquire more parcels in that area. Thats good theyre doing something in the Cape Coral area. We dont get too many nominations, and this will help add to what little we have in Cape Coral, he said. Commissioner Brian Hamman, whose district includes Cape Coral, said because the area was pre-platted into residential lots, its difficult to find land large enough to preserve there. As a person that was born and raised in Cape Coral, we look for opportunities wherever we can to try and purchase land that is going to benefit Cape Coral, and I believe several properties were going to pursue here around the Yucca Pens will be a great addition to that preserve, he said. Hamman thinks its important to grow existing preserves to maximize environmental benefit, and Olson agrees. For conservation use, its much better to have bigger parcels than smaller parcels, and although these are small individually, they add onto a much bigger portion of super important hydric flatwoods in the area, she said. Hydric flatwoods are a unique ecosystem that function as both a wetland and an upland, depending on season. They have the highest plant diversity of any habitat in South Florida and are also the least protected, according to a report by Florida Fish and Wildlife. The parcels are located within the Charlotte Harbor Watershed and straddle a small creek called Greenwell Branch, which creates an opportunity for water quality improvements. Its always good to buffer the creeks from potential pollution. That area definitely recharges the water table, so that would be an important consideration as well, said Olson. According to Gladys Delgadillo, environmental policy specialist at the Conservancy of Southwest Florida, the Conservation 20/20 program recently adjusted its scoring criteria in favor of parcels that could improve water quality. We are totally supportive of acquiring parcels for water resource value, its just that he program wasnt broken, we were already doing that. Its something were watching, she said. She cited as an example parcel 572, a piece of land adjacent to the Bob Janes Preserve that scored a low 27 points when assessed for the program. This was unfortunate, she said, because the parcel has potential to be a valuable habitat for wildlife like panthers. Because it scored so low, I believe the landowner is going to go back and maybe add more land to try to make it a more attractive acquisition and score higher, but its the type of thing where some of these parcels that could be really important for wildlife maybe are scoring a little bit lower than we think is an accurate reflection of their value, she said. The other parcels in the group are mostly made up of mangroves, a vital ecosystem. Mangroves are obviously important because they provide shoreline stabilization, particularly during large storm events such as hurricanes. Theyre like a buffer against storms and theyre also major hatcheries for both commercial and recreationally important fish, Olson said. Two of those parcels in Pine Island Sound are directly adjacent to existing conservation lands one 133-acre parcel south of Charlotte Harbor State Park, and another 181-acre parcel south of Carver Preserve, a Conservation 20/20 property. We need to add to our preserves. Im thankful theyre getting the Pine Island ones, thats going to add to whats over there, Veaux said. The other two are located within the Estero Bay Aquatic Preserve one is a 9.6-acre manmade island within the Mound Key Archeological State Park, and another 91 acres of mangroves on Big Hickory Island. Barbara Manzo, chair of the watchdog group Eyes on Conservation 20/20 and former Parks and Recreation director for Lee County, is pleased with the move to pursue these parcels. The commissioners and the county were trying to focus on water quality, so I guess this is an attempt to do that. And thats good, I think that whatever land they can purchase is a good thing, she said. Theres potential for these parcels to be managed by the state, as theyre already located within state preserves, but Olson said its still too early in the process to say whether or not that will happen. If were able to negotiate a successful deal, thats certainly something we would look at, particularly for Mound Key, since the state is managing the rest of the preserve and it wouldnt really be cost effective for us to manage it. We havent had those conversations yet, she said. The Mound Key property is owned by Ted, Todd, and John McGee, who offered to sell it to the state in 2006 for $15 million, according to news accounts. In 2009, according to a previous Observer report, Lee County offered $500,000 for the property, and the owners countered with $5 million. In May last year, the property hit the market for $2.9 million, well above asking prices for the other parcels the county is pursuing. The 91-acre parcel on nearby Big Hickory Island is listed for sale by Barron Collier Partnership for $750,000, and the 32-acre and 125-acre parcels in the Yucca Pens are listed for $72,000 and $281,250, respectively. The next step in the acquisition process is to have the properties appraised and begin negotiating the purchases. At this point, we will go and get appraisals on these properties. The appraisals will tell us what the market value is of the property, if the value is over $500,000, well order a second appraisal, just to make sure that we get a correct price on it. Then they go into negotiations similar to any other real estate transactionits just dependent upon how those talks go, said Hamman. We applaud their efforts to continue to purchase, which is what they had promised the people. They are keeping their promises, Manzo said. A celebration of the life for John Robert "Bobby" Brown, 72, will be held at his residence on Wednesday, June 16, 2021, at 10 a.m. Bobby was born in Dublin, but his home was Baldwin County. He was predeceased by his parents, John Preston "Pete" Brown and Virginia Watson Brown. He was retired IT GOT INTO the 90s back home the other day and friends complained to me over the phone though guiltily because they knew Id spent a day in the ER in New York which, honestly, had been a beautiful illuminatory experience and not miserable at all, but they felt sheepish about complaining of Beyond the Stigma, a series exploring solutions to the states addiction and mental health challenges, is sponsored by the New Hampshire Solutions Journalism Lab at the Nackey S. Loeb School of Communications and funded by the New Hampshire Charitable Foundation, Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center, NAMI New Hampshire, and private individuals. Contact reporter Shawne K. Wickham at swickham@unionleader.com. To read previous stories in this series, visit: unionleader.com/stigma. In the latest court filing in a wrongful termination and whistleblower lawsuit against the Manchester school district, the attorney representing a former city principal argues the only way to get to the bottom of accusations leveled by both sides is through a jury trial. For full access, please log in, register your subscription or subscribe. Try for 99 a month for two months, cancel or pause anytime. HUDSON -- Question: The pages of a book are numbered consecutively from 1 to n. The book is divided into 12 chapters such that the number of digits used to number the pages of each chapter is the same. Compute the least possible value for n. Dartmouth-Hitchcock Health and GraniteOne Health, the latter of which includes CMC, are conducting listening sessions around the state to hear about combining the two health systems. Washington will not recognize Maduro's leadership and authority to break diplomatic relations. The United States will retain diplomatic relations with Venezuela despite an earlier decision by Niolas Maduro to sever diplomatic ties with Washington. "The United States will conduct diplomatic relations with Venezuela through the government of interim President Juan Guaido. The United States does not recognize the Maduro regime. The United States does not consider former president Nicolas Maduro to have the legal authority to break diplomatic relations," the U.S. Department of State wrote on Facebook. The statement adds that the U.S. will take "appropriate actions to hold accountable anyone who endangers the safety and security of our mission and its personnel." As reported earlier, Nicolas Maduro was inaugurated for his second term as Venezuelan president on Jan 10, 2019, after the elections held May 20, 2018, securing his tenure until 2025. Read alsoVenezuela's Maduro says he is breaking diplomatic relations with U.S. media The Venezuelan CEC claimed he had received about 70% of the votes. This marked the beginning of mass riots and an attempt to topple the country's leadership. The events began to spiral out of control as opposition leader Juan Guaido declared himself the new leader, while the National Assembly declared Guaido interim president. The United States immediately recognized Guaido a legitimate Venezuelan leader. In response, Nicolas Maduro said the country was severing diplomatic ties with the United States. He gave American diplomats 72 hours to leave the country. Russia has massed up more troops in the conflict zone. Where there were eight tactical battalions near the Ukrainian-Russian border, now there are twelve. Commander of Ukraine's Joint Forces Operation (JFO) Serhiy Nayev says Russians have tripled their reconnaissance efforts in Donbas, which indicates that they are preparing for a full-scale offensive in eastern Ukraine. "First, they increased the number of troops in the conflict zone. For example, where there were eight tactical battalions near the Ukrainian-Russian border, now there are twelve. And this is only in my area of responsibility. They also significantly increased the number of aircraft ready to take off from air bases on the other side of the front line, near Donetsk," he told the Novoye Vremya weekly on January 24. According to Nayev, Russian sabotage and reconnaissance groups became more active in Donetsk and Luhansk regions. This was established thanks to radio intercepts. The Ukrainian military revealed a special type of satellite communications used by Russian army's senior officers. The presence of Russian generals proves an ongoing regrouping of troops, which most likely means a preparation for an offensive. Read alsoRussia seeks to create "land corridor" to occupied Crimea Joint Forces Commander "The number of their reconnaissance capacities have tripled: there are more subversive groups, e-warfare units, and spies. This happens, as a rule, on the eve of an offensive," the JFO Commander said. He believes that the likelihood of an attack by Russian troops began to increase after the incident in the Kerch Strait in November 2018, where Russian security forces attacked three Ukrainian Navy vessels heading from the Black Sea to the Sea of Azov. According to Nayev, Russia's aggression in the Black Sea is part of the Kremlin's plan to seize control of the entire coast of the Sea of Azov and expand Russia's presence in the western direction, via the Ukrainian southeastern city of Mariupol, toward Russian-occupied Crimea. The military official also added that the Russian media's "news" about Ukraine allegedly plotting the "use of chemical weapons" in Donetsk, is part of propaganda support that is aimed at justifying the need for an offensive against Ukraine. No casualties were reported among Ukrainian troops. Ukraine has reported only one enemy attack over the last day along the entire frontline in eastern Ukraine. "Ukrainian Army reported no casualties in the past day. According to intelligence reports, three occupiers were killed," the press center of Ukraine's Joint Forces Operation said in an update on Facebook as of 07:00 Kyiv time on January 24, 2019. Read alsoOSCE spots 26 Grad multiple rocket launchers in Russian-occupied part of Luhansk region The enemy opened fire from grenade launchers of various types and small arms near the town of Avdiyivka. Ukrainian troops returned fire using weapons not banned by Minsk agreements. "Since Thursday midnight, Russian-led forces haven't attacked Ukrainian positions yet," the report said. Ukrainian citizens are allowed to stay in Uruguay for three months without visa. An intergovernmental agreement between Ukraine and Uruguay on the mutual abolition of visa requirements is taking effect from February 15, 2019, paving the way for visa-free travel between the two countries. "The duration of stay for citizens of Ukraine without a visa on the territory of Uruguay will be 90 days, which can be extended for another period of 90 days," Ukraine's Embassy in Argentina said on Twitter. Read alsoCitizens of 52 countries to be able to apply for Ukraine's e-visa from January 1 As UNIAN reported earlier, the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine on December 27 approved an agreement with Uruguay on the mutual abolition of visas. Over the past year, Ukraine received visa-free access to another 14 countries, rising three positions up in the Henley Passport Index (HPI), according to the latest update published on January 8, 2019. The reason is the unwillingness of the latter to renounce Ukrainian citizenship. Ukrainian Defense Ministry press secretary, Colonel Maksym Prauta says the Russian occupation authorities in Donbas have increase pressure on people who have not renounced Ukrainian citizenship. "Russian occupation administrations are increasing pressure on residents of the temporarily occupied territories in Donetsk and Luhansk regions, who are not willing to renounce Ukrainian citizenship. In particular, CEOs of certain enterprises don't pay wages, or lower them, to workers who have not obtained the so-called 'republican passports' [self-proclaimed 'Donetsk and Luhansk People's Republics ('DPR'/'LPR')", Prauta told a briefing on January 24, referring to the Ukrainian Defense Ministry's Main Intelligence Directorate. Read alsoRussian occupiers in Donbas crack down on protesting miners OSINT group At the same time, employees of enterprises are being informed about the possibility of obtaining Russian citizenship immediately if they are holders of "passports" of the "DPR" and "LPR." According to intelligence reports, rumors are being intensively spread among pensioners that the "authorities" are drafting "orders" to pay pensions only to holders of the "republican passports" and that forcible withdrawal of Ukrainian IDs is coming. This causes discontent among local elderly people due to their reluctance to replace documents to retain pensions from the Ukrainian government, according to Prauta. As UNIAN reported earlier, Russians have tripled their reconnaissance efforts in Donbas, which indicates that they could be preparing for a full-scale offensive in eastern Ukraine. The drills kicked off with commander flights. In Ukraine's Poltava region, nearly a hundred Ukrainian Army pilots are undergoing a scheduled week-long training exercise in modernized Mi-8 MSB-B and Mi-2 MSB-B helicopters, to further enhance their piloting skills, according to the Ministry of Defense. Major-General Ihor Yaremenko, head of the Army Aviation Command of Ukraine Army's Ground Forces, said that the helicopter pilot training traditionally kicked off with commander flights, involving brigade commanders, their flight training deputies, and chiefs of army aviation departments. Read alsoUkraine's spec-op forces get new, upgraded weapons, equipment President "They checked piloting techniques and instructor skills. All participants showed exquisite aerobatics. The crews are constantly perfecting their piloting skills, while their commanders are up and ready to provide the training required," he said. Over the next several days, young pilots will undergo combat flight exercises and work to improve flight safety measures. Poroshenko says that at every international meeting he raises the issue of sending a peacekeeping mission to Donbas, eastern Ukraine. Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko says Ukraine is now using all the means available to return Russian President Vladimir Putin to the negotiating table to end Russian aggression and establish peace in Ukraine. "All the means that have been used for four years. We are mobilizing now the support of the whole world for Putin to stay at the negotiating table, accept the position, including peacekeepers and peace under the national interests of Ukraine," Poroshenko told "Ukraine" TV channel after participation in the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, the presidential press service said. At the same time, Poroshenko warned politicians against speculation on this topic. "I would like to state firmly that those state-mongers who say that peace is just around the corner, that they will come and bring peace. I want to emphasize there is an aggressor around the corner, not peace," he said. The president recalled that he had touched upon the issue of the establishment of an international peacekeeping mission in Donbas since 2015. "When nobody else believed in this opportunity. To date, we have firmly secured the support of three permanent members of the UN Security Council the United States of America, Great Britain, France," Poroshenko said. Read alsoRussia to interfere in Ukraine elections as part of ongoing hybrid war: Poroshenko He emphasized that he had discussed that issue at every international meeting. "On the one hand, it was discussed at the meeting with our Chinese partners, with the Vice President of the People's Republic of China we asked him for the support of the initiatives of Ukraine and the issue of peacekeepers. We discussed that with representatives of other countries, from Switzerland to Austria. We urged them to make a contribution to peacekeepers. For their citizens to take part," the president said. "What are we talking about? What are peacekeepers? Peacekeepers are the saved lives of the civilian population of Donbas and the Ukrainian soldiers. And the fact that Putin today obstructs that, when Russia applies the veto right this just means one thing they want to keep destabilizing the situation, they want Ukrainians to die," Poroshenko said. "We will not allow this. We will apply all the instruments we have at our disposal in order to protect Ukraine, to deoccupy Ukraine," he added. EU foreign ministers meet in Romania next week. European Union foreign ministers will discuss in February imposing more sanctions against Russia over a stand-off with Ukraine in the Azov Sea, diplomats said. The bloc will also issue a demarche a formal diplomatic protest note to Moscow as early as next week over Russia's continued detention of 24 Ukrainian sailors captured during the incident in November, they added, Reuters said. EU members that have long taken a hard line on Russia, including Lithuania, Sweden, Britain and Poland, are now backed in proposing more sanctions by countries like Denmark and Slovakia. They argue that pressure from France and Germany on Moscow to free the servicemen has not borne fruit. Read alsoEurope expects Russia to immediately free Ukrainian sailors Berlin and Paris helped negotiate a stalled peace agreement for Ukraine after Russia annexed Crimea from its neighbor in 2014 and unleashed war in Donbas. In December, the two opposed new sanctions, asking for more time to negotiate the release of the Ukrainian sailors and their three ships, captured in the Kerch Strait, which links the Black Sea and the Azov Sea. With a Moscow court having extended the sailors' arrest until April, Germany and France would now be more likely to back more restrictive measures, diplomats said. "We have to apply additional sanctions," Lithuania's Foreign Minister Linas Linkevicius told Reuters this week. "Some (in the EU) say we should give dialogue with Russia a chance in the Normandy format, but I say that is not productive," he said, referring to four-way talks between Russia, Ukraine, Germany and France. Italy is among traditional opponents in the EU of sanctions against Russia, a decision that requires unanimity among all 28 member states, citing negative impact on business ties. That means any move could be limited to adding some names of Russians involved in or responsible for the Azov Sea incident off the Russian-annexed Crimea to the list of people barred from entering the EU and subject to asset freezing over their role in the turmoil in Ukraine. EU foreign ministers meet in Romania next week and are due to discuss that at their next session in Brussels on February 18, though any final decision could come later. Hundreds of thousands took to the streets across Venezuela to demand incumbent Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, elected for the second term, step aside. Ukraine's Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) says that Ukrainians support the people of Venezuela in their striving for democracy and the constitutional system. "Ukraine is closely monitoring political escalation in Venezuela, which has already led to numerous victims," MFA Press Secretary Kateryna Zelenko told UNIAN. "We support the Venezuelan people in their striving for the restoration of democracy and the constitutional order in the country and, respectively, the work of the National Assembly. Intimidation and obstruction of the parliament's work, as well as violence against participants in peaceful demonstrations should be stopped." Read alsoU.S. not to sever diplomatic ties with Venezuela "Ukraine, together with other democracies, will support steps aimed at restoring democracy, the rule of law and the constitutional order in Venezuela, a legitimately elected National Assembly should play a key role in this process," she said. Ukrainian Foreign Minister Pavlo Klimkin in turn said he believes that the Venezuelan struggle for freedom and justice in some way resembles Maidan events during the Revolution of Dignity in Ukraine late in 2013 and early in 2014. "Everyone has their own path to freedom and dignity. I am trying to avoid comparisons in foreign policy, but the struggle of Venezuelans reminds me in some way of our drive during Maidan events. We must support the spirit of freedom and justice and those who are defending their right to a free future," Klimkin tweeted on January 24. As was reported, opposition leader in Venezuela Juan Guaido earlier declared himself interim president of the crisis-stricken country, receiving backing from the United States and several Latin American governments. Hundreds of thousands took to the streets across Venezuela to demand incumbent Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, elected for the second term, step aside. Moscow insists that Crimea is part of Russia. Chairman of the State Duma of the Russian Federation Vyacheslav Volodin has instructed to invite a representative of Google to the lower house of the Russian parliament in connection with the indication of Russian-occupied Crimea's affiliation to Ukraine. "If Google takes Crimea and indicates it on a map as the territory of another country and today, it is the territory of Russia then this is a violation of the Constitution, a violation of our laws," Volodin said, according to Russian news agency TASS. Read alsoRussia mulls fines for country's maps without Crimea He believes the Security Committee of the State Duma should invite a Google representative and state the company's position, "and then make a decision." "Then they will cut off something else and assign it to another country, and then they will interfere in the same way as they interfered in the affairs of other states," Volodin added. The amendment with regard to the term "prisoners of war" in relation to the Ukrainian sailors was replaced with one that requires treating them "in line with the requirements of international humanitarian law, including the Geneva Convention," Honcharenko said. Deputy Chairman of the Bloc of Petro Poroshenko faction, member of the Ukrainian delegation to PACE Oleksii Honcharenko says the PACE Political Committee has supported two of the three amendments to the draft resolution on the situation in the Sea of Azov and the Kerch Strait related to Ukrainian sailors captured by Russian security forces on November 25. "The PACE Political Committee has just considered the Ukrainian amendments to the resolution on the Sea of Azov. I had the honor to report on them. It was decided to support two of the three Ukrainian amendments," he wrote on Facebook on January 24. Read alsoEscalation in Azov Sea: EU to send mission to Mariupol in late January journalist According to Honcharenko, the amendment with regard to the term "prisoners of war" in relation to the Ukrainian sailors captured in the Kerch Strait was replaced with one that requires treating them in line with the requirements of international humanitarian law, including the Geneva Convention. The Geneva Convention defines the term prisoners of war, so legally, this provides the same result, the official added. Moreover, the Ukrainian sailors' lawyer, Nikolay Polozov, supported the wording as well, he said. As UNIAN reported earlier, the draft resolution, titled "The escalation of tensions around the Sea of Azov and the Kerch Strait and threats to European security" was expected to be considered during an urgent debate at the PACE session on Thursday, January 24. The president stressed the importance of combating Russian aggression against Ukraine. Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko says Russia will interfere in the Ukrainian elections as part of the hybrid war the Kremlin has been waging against the country. He said Ukrainians must be protected from any influence, "primarily Russian influence," because the Russian Federation plans to exert influence during elections "as an element of a hybrid war," he said during the annual Ukrainian breakfast at the World Economic Forum in Davos, an UNIAN correspondent reports. Read alsoPoroshenko warns against threats of populism amid Russian meddling Poroshenko urged breakfast participants to ensure unity. "We should stand together and protect the country from the dangers of hybrid war and Russian influence," he said. The president stressed the importance of combating Russian aggression against Ukraine. "If we are talking about the future, we should talk about the restoration of the territorial integrity of Ukraine," Poroshenko said. The next presidential elections in Ukraine will be held on March 31, 2019. The court handed down the verdict on Thursday, January 24. The Obolon District Court in Kyiv has found Ukraine's former president Viktor Yanukovych guilty of high treason and complicity in aggressive war. Yanukovych was sentenced to 13-year imprisonment, according to an UNIAN correspondent. The verdict was handed down in absentia. Read alsoRussia used Yanukovych to try to legitimize Crimea annexation judge Yanukovych fled Ukraine amid the Maidan uprising in 2014 and has since been living in Russia. As UNIAN reported, Yanukovych was charged with high treason, complicity with the Russian authorities in deliberate actions committed to redraw the borders of Ukraine in violation of the procedure established by the Constitution of Ukraine, involvement in waging an aggressive war, that is, the crimes under Part 1 of Article 111, Part 5 of Article 27, Part 3 of Article 110, Part 2 of Article 437 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine. The document also stipulates Yanukovych was aware his actions were wrongful. A presiding judge of Kyiv's Obolonsky district court, Vladyslav Devyatko, has said Russia used former Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych to legalize their annexation of Crimea. During the announcement of the verdict to Yanukovych who is being charged of high treason and other grave crimes, Devyatko said the Russian Federation had assigned Yanukovych the role, which was to commit illegal actions on his behalf, claiming he was a legitimate president of Ukraine to legitimize the invasion of the Russian armed forces into the territory of Crimea and to justify the occupation of this territory, an UNIAN correspondent reports. Read alsoCourt finds Yanukovych's guilt of high treason, complicity in war proven "Acting as instructed by the Russian authorities, realizing the role assigned, on March 1, 2014, being in an unidentified location in the territory of Russia, contrary to the requirements of the articles of the Constitution of Ukraine, realizing the fact of the ongoing Russian aggression against Ukraine, in order to create a picture of legitimacy of the actions of the Russian Federation in Crimea and make sure the occupation of Crimea appears legitimate, Yanukovych provided representatives of the Russian authorities with a written statement from the allegedly legitimate president of Ukraine," the verdict says. After that, the judge quoted Yanukovych's letter to Russian President Vladimir Putin, which is now the key evidence of the prosecutors in the high treason case. "By such actions, Yanukovych helped Russia conduct subversive activities against Ukraine," the verdict says. The document also stipulates Yanukovych was aware his actions were wrongful. The verdict has not yet been voiced. Kyiv's Obolonsky district court believes that there is sufficient evidence proving former Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych is guilty of treason and complicity in an aggressive war Russia has been waging against Ukraine. "Despite a not guilty plea by the person accused, the court, having heard the testimony of witnesses, examined conclusions of experts, documents and material evidence, assessed the arguments of prosecution and defense, considers that the guilt of the accused in committing the crimes under Part 1 Article 111 (high treason), Part 5 Article 27, Part 2 Article 437 (complicity in conducting an aggressive war) of the Criminal Code of Ukraine is duly proved by relevant and admissible evidence," the judge said. The judges continue handing down the verdict in the courtroom. The court's spokesperson Inna Svynarenko said that the admission of due evidence in the case of state treason does not automatically Yanukovychs guilt under Article 111 of the Criminal Code (high treason), has been proven. "Now it is being proclaimed that evidence is appropriate and permissible, and each piece of this evidence is being described." She added that the ultimate decision on finding Yanukovych guilty or not guilty will be announced at the final part of the verdict. Read alsoUkraine's ex-defense minister charged with treason PGO UNIAN memo. Yanukovych is charged with treason, complicity with the Russian authorities, and deliberate actions committed to alter the state border of Ukraine in violation of the Ukrainian Constitution. He is also accused of waging an aggressive war. These are the crimes stipulated in Part 1 of Article 111, Part 5 of Article 27, Part 3 of Article 110, and Part 2 of Article 437 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine. The judicial panel of Kyiv's Obolon district court on June 29 granted the prosecution's request for special judicial proceedings in the Yanukovych case. Ukrainian prosecutors request that the court sentence Yanukovych to a 15-year prison term. The two leaders also discussed prospects for the Donbas deployment of a comprehensive multinational peacekeeping mission under the UN auspices. President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko met with UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Davos on Wednesday. The interlocutors discussed in detail the latest developments in the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine and the prospects for the Donbas deployment of a comprehensive multinational peacekeeping mission under the UN auspices, that's according to the presidential press service. The UN secretary-general confirmed his willingness to pursue measures to provide humanitarian assistance to the internally displaced persons, as well as to the affected civilian population of Donbas. Read alsoPoroshenko, Merkel agree on further pressure on Russia for release of all Ukrainian hostages Petro Poroshenko and Antonio Guterres discussed ways to ensure the fulfillment of respective UN GA resolutions on the situation with human rights in Crimea and demilitarization of the peninsula. Particular attention was paid to the consequences of Russian aggression against Ukraine in the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov. The interlocutors underscored the need for the immediate release of Ukrainian sailors, vessels and ensuring free navigation in the Kerch Strait in accordance with international law. The president of Ukraine and the United Nations secretary-general also discussed in detail the issue of the release of Ukrainian hostages illegally held in Russia and the provision of constant monitoring of the human rights situation in Crimea by the relevant international mechanisms. The "best solution" to counter foreign meddling is "responsible voting," the president believes. Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko has warned against the threats of populism for both Ukraine and Europe in general, stressing Russia's ongoing meddling in the electoral processes in European countries and Ukraine in 2019. "There is a Russian influence on the elections when Russia uses democratic instruments to influence democratic countries. We are taking measures to minimize and stop Russian influence," Poroshenko told Bloomberg on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Davos, according to the presidential administration press service. He added that the "best solution" to counter foreign meddling is "responsible voting." the president said. Read alsoPoroshenko: Kremlin banks on undermining Ukraine from within, will make use of 2019 elections Petro Poroshenko noted that in 2016 and 2017, Europe had shown people could vote responsibly. "Everyone said that in France, Germany populists would win. We keep fingers crossed that this will not happen in many European countries, this will not happen in Ukraine and this will not happen during the elections to the European Parliament," noted the Ukrainian leader. "The danger of populism is extremely high in Europe, as well as in Ukraine, which is part of Europe. We have irresponsible politicians who only make promises," Poroshenko said. Relatives of the captured Ukrainian sailors met with EU Ambassador Meglena Kuneva. The Delegation of the European Union (EU) to the Council of Europe (CoE) says it expects that Russia will immediately free 24 Ukrainian sailors captured near the Kerch Strait on November 25, 2018. "[We are] worried about their deteriorating health situation, relatives of captured Ukrainian sailors met with [EU] Ambassador [Meglena] Kuneva. [The] EU expects Russia to immediately release the captured sailors and to ensure that the injured crewmen receive appropriate medical treatment," the EU Delegation to the CoE tweeted on January 23. Worried about their deteriorating health situation, relatives of captured #Ukrainian sailors met with Ambassador Kuneva. EU expects Russia to immediately release the captured sailors and to ensure that the injured crewmen receive appropriate medical treatment. #EU4HumanRightspic.twitter.com/mfymFBS9oC EU Delegation to CoE (@EUDELCoE) January 23, 2019 UNIAN memo. On the morning of November 25, Russia blocked the passage to the Kerch Strait for the Ukrainian tugboat "Yany Kapu" and two armored naval boats "Berdyansk" and "Nikopol," which were on a scheduled re-deployment from the Black Sea port of Odesa to the Azov Sea port of Mariupol. The Ukraine Navy Command noted that the Russian side had been informed of the plans to re-deploy the vessels in advance in accordance with international standards to ensure the safety of navigation. The Russian coast guard ship "Don" rammed the Ukrainian tugboat, damaging the Ukrainian vessel. As the Ukrainian boats were heading back in the Odesa direction after being rejected passage via the Kerch Strait, Russian coast guards opened aimed fire on them. All 24 crew members on board were captured and later remanded in custody for two months, being charged with "illegal border crossing" (the sailors are facing up to six years in prison). Three crewmen were wounded in the attack. Russian-controlled "courts" in occupied Crimea ruled that all 24 detainees should be remanded in custody, after which they were transferred to the Moscow-based Lefortovo and Matrosskaya Tishina detention centers. Moscow's Lefortovo district court in the middle of January 2019, decided to keep the Ukrainian sailors in remand until the end of April 2019. Last March, as they languished in a detention centre in the Libyan city of Misrata, Kedija* and her brother Yonass epic attempt to reunite with their mother in Switzerland after eight years of separation had appeared doomed. Up to that point, the siblings from Eritrea aged just 15 and 12 had fled their homeland, survived alone in an Ethiopian refugee camp, been held for ransom by kidnappers, and finally made it aboard a vessel heading across the Mediterranean to Europe, only to be intercepted and returned to Libya. But thanks to the doggedness of their mother Semira, the intervention of governments and humanitarian agencies, and a large slice of luck, today the children are sitting in Switzerland in their mothers arms once more. "I never lost hope of being reunited with my kids again." Despite being separated for more than eight years, I never lost hope of being reunited with my kids again, said Semira, gripping them tightly as if they might still disappear, with tears of joy and relief running down her smiling face. For UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, it all began with a phone call to staff in Libya from the International Social Service a Swiss-based NGO specialized in child protection issues whom Semira had contacted for help. Knowing only that the children were being held somewhere in the country, and with just their names and an out of date photo to identify them by, UNHCR staff and their NGO partners in Libya began scouring every detention centre they had access to. But with an estimated 3,800 refugees and asylum seekers currently being held in dozens of official detention centres across the country, and others falling into the hands of armed groups and human traffickers, the chances of finding them were slim. When UNHCR Senior Protection Assistant Noor Elshin came across two skinny and pale children in Misratas Karareem detention centre, they looked so unlike the happy and healthy faces in the photo that staff had been given that it was a shock to learn that he had indeed found Kedija and Yonas. See also: French village sets an example of how to welcome refugees This is literally like finding a needle in a haystack, Noor said. Despite having them in front of me, I still couldnt believe that wed actually found them. Shortly afterwards, Semira received the call that she had been praying for her children had been found. The familys odyssey began in 2010, when Semira was forced to flee persecution in Eritrea. Rather than drag her children into the unknown, she took the difficult decision to leave them with their grandparents while she sought a safe refuge for the family. After five years of relative stability, in 2015 Kedija and Yonas were themselves forced to flee insecurity in Eritrea and cross the border into Ethiopia. Semira lost contact with them for several months while her brother, who was also in Ethiopia, desperately searched for his niece and nephew. He eventually found them living alone in a refugee camp near the Ethiopia-Eritrea border, and pledged to do all he could to reunite them with their mother, who by now was living in Switzerland. In mid-2017, the children and their uncle set off on their perilous and uncertain journey to reach Semira. The trio battled fierce temperatures, thirst and hunger as they begged rides on trucks and buses across Ethiopia and Sudan, striving to reach the southern shores of the Mediterranean Sea. But events took a dark turn at the Sudanese-Libyan border, where the group were violently abducted by smugglers, who found out the childrens mother was living in Switzerland and demanded a ransom in order to free them. UNHCR staff members advocated for the release of 2 Eritrean kids from Kararim detention center near Misrata, in order to reunite them with their mother in Switzerland UNHCR/Sufyan Ararah When Semira was unable to meet the criminals financial demands, Kedija and Yonas were separated from their uncle before being sold on from one smuggler to another, terrified and more vulnerable than ever. Then one day, several weeks into their ordeal, the siblings were unexpectedly released and left to wander lost and alone in the vast Libyan wilderness. Miraculously, they were discovered and taken in by a group of fellow Eritreans, who were also planning to take a boat to Europe and promised to bring them along. When the boat was intercepted and the children returned to Libya and detained, they were able to phone their mother, who by this time was frantic with worry. Id spent days and nights praying for them, despite everyone around me losing hope, until the day I heard my daughters voice for the first time in several months, Semira recalled. Suddenly, eight years of worry and longing fell away. After UNHCR tracked the children down, the Swiss government agreed to grant them humanitarian visas to join their mother. UNHCR worked with the Libyan and Tunisian authorities to organize the paperwork needed for Kedija and Yonas release and transport to Switzerland via Tunisia. On the morning that UNHCR staff entered the detention centre to take the children on their final journey back to their mother, their story was well known to everyone inside. They left the centre with the joyful singing and chanting of their fellow Eritrean detainees ringing in their ears. Less than 24 hours later, after an overnight stay in Tunis where the Swiss embassy provided them with their travel documents, Kedija and Yonas touched down in Switzerland where an anxious and excited Semira was waiting for them. Catching the first sight of her tired and disoriented children in the airport arrivals gate, eight years of worry and longing fell away as she ran to them and buried herself in their ecstatic embraces; safe, happy and reunited at last. *All names have been changed for protection purposes Donate Ukraine must reform its special services to get the membership in NATO. "We need to carry out the reforms to establish trust and proper interaction with the NATO intelligence community. The real integration of Ukraine into the Alliance is impossible without the integration into the NATO intelligence cohort," Head of the Foreign Intelligence Service of Ukraine Yehor Bozhok said in interview with Ukrinform. Bozhok said that he had been implementing the concept of reforming the Foreign Intelligence Service in accordance with NATO standards over the past year of his tenure. To this end, a draft law on foreign intelligence of Ukraine has already been elaborated together with Western partners. On the instructions of the President, we elaborated together with our Western partners a draft law on the foreign intelligence of Ukraine, which, in particular, aims to prevent the use of the intelligence community of Ukraine - border intelligence, military intelligence and foreign intelligence - for non-democratic purposes, the official said. As quickly as it started, it looks to be over. Friday, Public Utilities Minister -- Marvin Gonzales met with the management of WASA. The Foreign and Caricom Affairs Ministry says at no time has Prime Minister Dr. Prime Minister Dr. Keith Rowley "ever disparaged the vaccine programme in Guyana nor has he ever implied that the vaccines in use in Guyana are defective or unsafe." The One Health Company, a San Francisco, CA-based startup that aims to make canine cancer treatment accessible and affordable, raised a $5M seed funding. The round was led by Andreessen Horowitzs Bio fund, with participation from Lerer Hippeau and Y Combinator. Led by founder and CEO Christina Lopes, One Health brings next-generation sequencing to veterinary cancer. FidoCure, its flagship product, allows users to purchase treatment plans for a fixed price and have access to canine cancer care. One Health uses gene sequencing to understand the exact genetic mutation that is causing your dogs cancer. Users receive recommendations to help understand what is driving their dogs cancer and the best therapeutic implications. Genetic sequencing results are used to provide individualized, targeted treatment leveraging the latest science available in oncology. FinSMEs 23/01/2019 Both efforts had a common cause: a statewide teachers strike that forced lawmakers to do their jobs. Will there be another teacher strike this year? Thats one of the big issues of concern and gossip at the state Capitol as the legislative session nears. A lot of lawmakers including Russ appear emotionally scarred from last years brutal session and would do just about anything to avoid going through it again. Rep. Russ, our advice to you is that if you cant take the heat, get out of kitchen. And if you dont want a teachers strike, fund public schools adequately. Russ wants to take another teacher strike off the table, and hes willing to use intimidation to get his way. That seems like the road to another generation of legislative neglect of education funding and degradation of our public schools. Subscribe to Daily Headlines Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy. Frank Marcum, a former Tulsa high school teacher who was a semifinalist for the ill-fated Challenger space shuttle flight, and who continued afterward to advocate for space education and exploration, died Saturday, Jan. 19. He was 76. A celebration of his life is set for 2-4 p.m. Feb. 24 in the Rogers High School auditorium. A history teacher at Booker T. Washington High School, Marcum in 1985 joined educators from around the country in vying to become the first to go into space through NASAs new Teacher in Space program. He was one of 114 semifinalists two from Oklahoma selected from 11,000 applicants, and spent the summer of 85 training in Florida. Ultimately, Christa McAuliffe, a high school teacher from Concord, New Hampshire, was selected for the honor of becoming the first teacher in space. Months later, Marcum was at school, watching the Challenger launch on television, when just seconds after takeoff the unthinkable happened: the shuttle exploded, killing McAuliffe and everyone on board. Marcum was shaken. However, the disaster only reinforced his commitment to space exploration and his mission to inspire students and others on the subject. The bold challenge to Maduro's rule immediately drew recognition from the Trump administration, which called on Maduro to resign and said it would use the "full weight" of U.S. economic and diplomatic power to push for the restoration of Venezuela's democracy. Canada as well as Brazil, Colombia and several other Latin American nations followed suit in throwing their support behind Guaido. Maduro said he is breaking off relations with the U.S. and said diplomats needed to leave within 72 hours. "Today is a very important day for Venezuela," Laurens said, adding that the local protest was one of many being held by Venezuelans and opponents of Maduro in many locations on Wednesday. He said there are about 1,000 members of the Venezuelan community in Tulsa and the local turnout would have been higher if many did not have to work. U.S. Vice President Mike Pence this week said Maduro is a dictator who did not win the presidency in free and fair elections. The Associated Press contributed to this story. Michael Dekker 918-581-8469 michael.dekker@tulsaworld.com Twitter: @michaeldekkerTW Be the first to know Get local news delivered to your inbox! Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy. The Oklahoma Department of Public Safety could not immediately provide the costs to operate and maintain the aircraft and how it was used under the Fallin administration. Stitt said he was shocked to learn that he could not find out how many agencies hired contract lobbyists or the costs. He has directed state agencies to provide that information going back to 2015. The Oklahoma Ethics Commission has a public website that lists the lobbyists and who they work for. Stitt said between 35 and 70 state agencies hire outside lobbyists. I have determined that it is not a proper use of state funds for any state agency, board or commission to expend taxpayers money on the hiring or outside lobbyists to lobby the state legislators on behalf of any state agency, board or commission, his executive order said. He made the distinction between outside lobbyists and agency legislative liaisons, which provide information to lawmakers and are useful. But agencies should not be allowed to spend taxpayer dollars to hire a lobbyist to protect the agencys interests, Stitt said. State health officials recorded an additional three influenza-related deaths this week compared to the previous week, totaling 18 deaths statewide. Officials also reported 51 new hospitalizations this week, with 430 hospitalizations so far in the 2018-19 flu season. One death was reported this week with testing, according to data from the Oklahoma State Department of Health. Two other deaths that previously occurred were confirmed to be flu-related through testing. Three of the 18 reported deaths occurred in Tulsa County and two in Oklahoma County, according to state data. Seven of the deaths occurred in eastern regions, and four deaths have occurred in the western regions. The flu has generally affected older populations this season. Thirteen of the deaths occurred in people 65 years old or older. About 35 percent of the hospitalizations occurred in the same age group. Twenty-two percent of the hospitalizations occurred in children 4 years old or younger, according to state data. Last year, 291 people died due to the flu during Oklahomas previous flu season from September 2017 to May, the most since the department began tracking flu deaths in 2009. Less than two weeks ago, on Jan. 11, Mayor G.T. Bynum and several members of his staff traveled to Denver, to learn about that citys Office of the Independent Monitor. The trip marked the culmination of two years of discussions between Bynum and his team regarding the best way to provide civilian oversight of the Tulsa Police Department. The purpose of the trip actually was to see it firsthand, talk with the employees that work there, Bynum said. (To) really understand it at a more detail level, in a way that you only can by going to see it. City officials chose to visit the Denver OIM because, according to Bynum, anytime he has mentioned the issue to a mayor across the country, he or she has inevitably pointed to Denvers program as the gold standard. The Denver OIM received the Achievement in Oversight award from the National Association for Civilian Oversight of Law Enforcement in 2016. Jeffrey Price Krigel has been out of custody on a $200,000 bond since being arrested the afternoon of June 11 on the rape charge, which alleges that he raped a woman while she was unconscious and therefore unable to legally consent on April 29. My nightmare began with what is just a routine annoyance for most people: A small hair clip I overlooked set off the metal detector. The deputy working security at that entrance demanded that I remove my hijab out in the open in front of him and everyone else. My attorney and I politely explained to the officer that I wear my hijab for religious purposes and I do not take it off in public or in the presence of men. For me and many other Muslim women who wear a hijab, it is as much a part of us as other parts of our clothing. We wear hijab as a sign of modesty, a sign of our connection to God, and a way to emulate one of the most revered women in our religious tradition: the Virgin Mary, the mother of Jesus. I choose to wear hijab with pride as a way of showing my connection to my religion and my community as a part of my very identity. Being asked to remove my hijab in public by a man is like being asked to take off my shirt in front of him. Instead of respecting my dignity and my faith, the deputy told me that my hijab was just like a hoodie and said not only that I had to remove it, but that he was going to watch me take it off in front of the other men in line behind me. He then called for backup, and four other officers arrived who continued to demand that I remove my hijab in front of them. Corey Jones 918-581-8359 corey.jones@tulsaworld.com Twitter: @JonesingToWrite Be the first to know Get local news delivered to your inbox! Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy. Mylo, a Kansas City, MO-based digital insurance broker, raised $28m in Series A funding. The round was led by Guggenheim Partners. The company intends to use the funds to enhance its position as an innovator in the insurance industry, accelerate its current business strategy and activate additional new ways to achieve success. Launched by Lockton Companies in 2015 and led by David Embry, CEO, Mylo is a digital insurance agency that allows businesses and individuals to get expert advice, compare top-rated insurance products from multiple carriers and purchase coverage for business, group health, home, auto, life and individual health. Following the deal, Lockton Companies will continue as Mylos majority investor. FinSMEs 24/01/2019 The University of Oklahoma Police Department is investigating after a person was spotted Wednesday walking on campus in blackface days after two students were seen in a social media video in which one of them committed a similar act and a racial slur was used. OU police received calls about a man walking around campus near the north oval wearing blackface, OUPD Maj. Bruce Chan said in a brief news release. When officers arrived the man was not located and is presumed to have left campus. OU President James Gallogly, who was criticized at a campus rally on Tuesday for how hes handled university matters, issued the following statement on the most recent incident: Two civil rights groups are alleging Tulsa County sheriffs deputies forced a Muslim woman to remove her hijab in public in front of male deputies while attempting to enter the county courthouse. A spokeswoman for the sheriffs office disputed the allegations, saying female deputies asked the woman to lift her head covering after it set off metal detectors at courthouse security. Suha Elqutt was attempting to enter the Tulsa County Courthouse when she was denied entry, then forced to remove her hijab in public and in the presence of several male deputies, Council on American-Islamic Relations Civil Rights Director Veronica Laisure said. Laisure states in a news release that the council and the American Civil Liberties Union intend to file a petition in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Oklahoma on Elqutts behalf. They argue the sheriffs office is constitutionally required to make reasonable accommodations for sincerely held religious beliefs. The alleged incident occurred in early April, Sheriffs Office spokeswoman Casey Roebuck said. Roebuck disputed the two groups recounting of events. Im familiar with it and can tell you none of that is true, Roebuck said. The decision by the ACLU and CAIR attorneys to hold a self-serving press conference last year in which they made substantive misstatements and gross exaggerations regarding the incident while failing to disclose pertinent facts, led to a national media story that wasnt. Once the actual truth was exposed and applied to federal law, the Court dismissed Ms. Elqutts lawsuit at the earliest possible stage because she failed to establish there was any violation of her constitutional rights. The men and women of the Tulsa County Sheriffs Department did their jobs. This was not a case of a person being targeted for her faith. It was a person required to go through a security checkpoint, like all others, who was permitted to walk through the metal detector with her hijab in-place. Unfortunately, she then set off two different metal detectors, four different times, because she had an unknown metal object under her hijab. Once female deputies were able to look under the hijaboutside the view of any men Ms. Elqutt was cleared and allowed to proceed. There was no violation of her constitutional rights. I am truly stunned that the vindictiveness and jealousy that motivated and orchestrated this investigation has culminated in these outrageous charges, Connor said in his statement. I will trust my legal team and I will use every cell in my body and every resource at my disposal to expose this injustice and prove my innocence. Connor faces allegations of encouraging Slint Tate, a convicted murderer and client, to either carry out or orchestrate attacks on people he believed harmed him in some way. Authorities began surveillance of a contraband phone Tate used while in custody to communicate with Connor, which reportedly revealed a conversation in which the two discussed another inmate who Connor said attacked someone he knew before going to prison for a Tulsa murder. A search warrant affidavit filed last week in Delaware County District Court states that DOC personnel placed that inmate, Sterling Williams, into protective custody due to the belief that his life was in danger. Tate later told his wife he could get released from prison but that he would have to kill someone first, according to the affidavit. The community is mourning the loss of a popular local fitness instructor who reportedly drowned while on vacation in Maui, Hawaii January 19. Kristi Rains, 63, taught multiple classes, including Zumba, step aerobics, Silver Sneakers and more at Anytime Fitness at 3802 S. 113th W. Avenue for more than 10 years. Rains and her husband, Tom, left for Hawaii January 17 and Anytime Fitness Manager Shaun Fisher said Tom had just returned by January 23. She had a knack for making people feel relevant. She knew how to talk to anyone, whether it was a bad situation or stressful situation, Fisher said. Her laugh and personality were contagious. Thats why so many people cared about her. Anytime Fitness Manager/instructor Susan Bennett said Rains was a member of the gym before becoming an instructor as well and students from her classes left five cards with many signatures and well wishes at the gym. She was always enthusiastic about exercising and healthshe would put hours of practice into her classes, Bennett said. She was probably one of the most thoughtful peopleShe taught the (Silver Sneakers) class and when one of them got sick, she was good about bringing cards. - Ekuru Aukot argued the land being held by Del Monte Kenya should be given back to the people of Murang'a county - He said growing pineapples in the thousands of acres of land was a waste of resources as pineapples were a luxury to many Kenyans - Ekuru said the government should take the land back once Del Monte's lease comes to an end in three years time - He said essential crops like maize and beans should be grown there instead. Thirdway Alliance Kenya Party leader, Ekuru Aukot, has urged President Uhuru Kenyatta to consider taking over the expansive piece of land held by Del Monte Kenya Limited once the lease expires. Aukot noted once government takes over the land, it should be given back to the people of Muranga County. Send 'NEWS' to 40227 to receive all the important breaking news as it happens. READ ALSO: Uhuru, Ruto silence critics of their relationship with a lunch date in Mombasa Aukot argued pineapple was a luxury to many Kenyans therefore it was a waste of resources farming the crop. Photo: Ekuru Aukot Source: Facebook READ ALSO: Mike Sonko reveals he, Kiambu Governor Ferdinand Waititu smoked bhang together in toilet The former presidential candidate was speaking on Wednesday, January 23, when he pointed out that Del Monte had occupied the land for the last 49 years and its lease would be expiring in three years time. We call upon President Uhuru Kenyatta and in pursuit of his Big Four agenda and in particular food security, to encourage the taking over of all the land upon expiry of the lease, by the county of Muranga ," he said. According to Aukot, some of the activities carried out on the land such as diking and damming of water resources have left Muranga residents without water. READ ALSO: Ex-senator Khalwale urges Ruto's allies not to be bothered by Matiang'i's expanded mandate This is nothing short of modern-day economic slavery through historical land injustices that needs to be addressed urgently, said Aukot. He argued pineapple was a luxury to many Kenyans and therefore it was a waste of resources farming the crop in such huge tracts of land. According to him, essential crops to Kenyans like maize and beans should be grown there instead of pineapples. READ ALSO: Video of lady going for short call in jug then pouring into kitchen sink goes viral Aukot accused the firm of hiding the land's actual size while claiming there is no value for money to Kenya since it had leased the land at KSh 12,000 per acre. Photo: Africa List Source: Twitter The county should then grow affordable food in order to feed millions of Kenyans as well as significantly solve the issue of landlessness in that part of Muranga County, he added. That land should benefit the people of Kenya more if we planted maize, beans as well as food stuffs that Kenyans can afford. Pineapple is a luxury for millions of Kenyans who need unga more than pineapples, said Aukot. READ ALSO: Nakuru man arraigned in court over Facebook posts following DusitD2 attack He accused the firm of hiding the land's actual size and added there was no value for money to Kenya since Del Monte had leased the land at KSh 12,000 per acre despite it being at a prime location. Del Monte has been leasing all that land for a paltry KSh 12,000 an acre. This simply beats logic because our research shows that the adjacent land is sold at KSh 4 million for an eighth of an acre, said Aukot. He made the remarks as a friend to a Muranga County representatives group which wants the land sold to the highest bidder and the county government be involved in the lease renewal. Do you have a hot story or scandal you would like us to publish, please reach us through news@tuko.co.ke or WhatsApp: 0732482690 and Telegram: Tuko news. I Was Fired For Not Believing in God | Tuko TV. Source: Tuko - There have been several announcements circulating on social media platforms encouraging Kenyans to apply for census 2019 jobs - The two-day census exercise is set to commence on Monday, August 26 - Rotich termed the announcements as fake and cautioned Kenyans against falling prey to frauds - He warned elected leaders against politicising the exercise and allow Kenya National Bureau of Standards space to execute its mandate excellently The government has dismissed 2019 census job opportunities' advertisements making rounds on social media sites terming them fake. Treasury Cabinet Secretary Henry Rotich cautioned Kenyans against falling prey to frauds disguised as Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS) officials advertising vacancies for enumerators for the two-day population tally exercise set for Monday, August 2019. Send 'NEWS' to 40227 to receive all the important breaking news as it happens READ ALSO: Nairobi police officer who vanished on his way to hospital is found dead There has been circulation of posters online inviting Kenyans to apply for enumerator positions at Kenya National Bureau of Statistics ahead of the 2019 census. Photo:UGC Source: UGC READ ALSO: Kenyans react to Uhuru decision to give Matiangi role of supervising other CSs Speaking to the press in Nairobi on Wednesday, January 23, Rotich called on Kenyans to be keen to conform to information formally conveyed by government through appropriate channels. "The social media posts on government recruitment of population enumerators beginning in August are false. Government has formal ways of communicating such information and Kenyans should be keen not to be misled and conned," he said. The CS who was give additional responsibilities by President Uhuru Kenyatta through executive orders on Tuesday, January 23, prevailed on elected leaders to stop politicising the population tally exercise. Treasury Cabinet Secretary Henry Rotich called on politicians to desist from politicising the census exercise slated for August. Photo:Nation Source: UGC READ ALSO: Kenyan born Australian senator Lucy Gichuhi opens up about her abusive 3-decade marriage He raised concern that some utterances by politicians about the census exercise would likely compromise its execution by KNBS. "It would be wise if politicians stopped politicising this exercise before it even commences. They need to give KNBS ample space and time to execute its mandate efficiently," he said. A section of Mt Kenya leaders and those from North Eastern have differed on how the exercise should be conducted with the latter accusing the former of planning to inflate numbers in order to get a bigger share of national revenue. Do you have a hot story or scandal you would like us to publish, please reach us through news@tuko.co.ke or WhatsApp: 0732482690 and Telegram: Tuko news United Against Terror | Tuko TV Source: Tuko.co.ke Tucson, AZ (85741) Today Sunshine. Near record high temperatures. High 113F. SSW winds shifting to WNW at 10 to 15 mph.. Tonight Mostly clear skies. Low 84F. Winds WNW at 10 to 20 mph, becoming E and decreasing to less than 5 mph. Jyve, a San Francisco, CA-based platform for in-store flexible and skilled labor, raised $35m in funding. Backers included SignalFire, Crosscut Ventures, Ridge Ventures, and New Enterprise Associates. Co-founded by Brad Oberwager, Cammy Bergren, James Kairos and Sam Purtill, Jyve provides for Grocers, Brands, and Retailers with a SaaS platform that intelligently matches the needs of enterprises with the right skilled labor at scale, at the right time. The system connects thousands of skilled workers with grocery retailers seeking the following in-store needs: Merchandise: stock products on shelves, build and fill displays, audit shelf compliance Backroom: check on stock levels and input product orders e-Commerce Fulfillment: pick and pack online orders in store, and deliver to curbside or customer door Consumer Connect: in-store brand ambassadors for CPGs and retailers The platform uses machine learning to source and identify certified, skilled talent based on the merchandising and digital shopping needs of retailers and brands. By offering quality talent, Jyvers accomplish a variety of in-store jobs (Jyves) including merchandising, stocking, ordering, display building, e-commerce fulfillment, brand ambassadorship, shelf auditing, and more. As Jyves are completed, companies, gain real-time insight into on-the-ground demand and performance. After three years in stealth, the company has reached $400 million in bookings from top grocers, brands and retailers. It currently operates across 31 states and growing while 6,000 plus Jyvers have served more than 4,000 stores nationally, spanning dozens of grocery retailers and brands. Jyve has just added Anu Gupta, formerly Targets Senior Vice President of Strategy Execution and Operational Excellence, as Chief Operating Officer and Ralph Leung, a former Morgan Stanley senior investment banker, as Chief Financial Officer. FinSMEs 24/01/2019 Todays Labour Day is the second to be observed under conditions of the Covid-19 pandemic. This year, imposition of a 19-hour curfew as part of the current state of emergency makes for even greater stringency against public activity. THE legislative road has been paved for the decriminalisation of pepper spray in Trinidad and Tobago. The Firearms (Amendment) Bill 2021 was passed yesterday in the House of Representatives with no objection. Three Opposition MPs are calling on the Government and the Water and Sewerage Authority (WASA) to have a heart and stop disconnecting the water supply of errant customers during the Covid-19 pandemic. Barataria/San Juan MP Saddam Hosein yesterday wrote to WASAs executive director Lennox Sealey urging him to suspend the drive and display humanity as people are suffering and strapped for cash in the pandemic given the lockdowns. IT was a Christmas Eve-like atmosphere in supermarkets yesterday as people rushed out to stock up on supplies for the Labour Day and Fathers Day weekend during which curfew hours have been extended. During today which marks the Labour Day holiday and Fathers Day which is tomorrow, people are only permitted to be outdoors between the hours of 5.01 a.m. to 10.01 a.m. The curfew in effect on these days is 10.02 a.m. to 5 a.m. the following day. Even though there was a plea by Supermarket Association president Rajiv Diptee not to crowd the supermarkets yesterday, he said most of his member stores described the last-minute rush like Christmas Eve. Disco, an Austin, Texas-based legal technology company, raised $83m in funding. The round, which brought total funding raised to date to $135m, was led by Georgian Partners, a Toronto-based venture-capital firm with deep expertise in applied artificial intelligence, with participation from existing investors Bessemer Venture Partners, LiveOak Venture Partners, The Stephens Group, and venture-debt provided by Comerica. In conjunction with the funding, Tyson Baber, a partner at Georgian Partners, joined Discos board of directors. The company intends to use the funds to accelerate growth in the $12.5 billion ediscovery market and to continue to build products for other areas of legal practice. Led by founder and CEO Kiwi Camara, Disco is a legal technology company that applies artificial intelligence and cloud computing to legal problems to support lawyers and legal teams in improving legal outcomes for their clients. Its ediscovery solution is used by corporate legal departments, law firms, and government agencies around the world for compliance, disputes, and investigations. The company opened its London office in October 2018 and plans to establish offices in Canada, Europe, Asia, Australia, and Latin America over the next several years, both to serve local markets and to better serve its existing multinational clientele. FinSMEs 24/01/2019 Licang Cultural Park There was a time when buildings cut the sky and earth of a city apart. But now, sponge city development allows urban areas to "breathe. Qingdao, a coastal city in east Chinas Shandong Province, is fast becoming more livable and beautiful. Sponge cities, or water resilient cities, increase urban resilience to climate change through improved stormwater management. In a sponge city, the flow of surface water is slowed, mimicking the way that nature manages water, helping to reduce flooding and pollution. In April 2016, Qingdao successfully applied to be in the second batch of pilot sponge cities. For more than two years, Qingdao has stuck to the construction target of "smooth river course, beautiful shores, harmony between people and water, ecological livability and coastal features, to build a Sponge Qingdao with unique characteristics, providing an example of water resilient city construction. In 2016, Licang became the pilot district for Qingdao's water resilience, and Qingdao appointed Licang Cultural Park as a pilot project. Upon the field investigation, Qingdao put forward a design idea of "mountain control, dry stream diversion, water storage. Loushanhou community Resident Mr. Jiang, who often comes to Licang Cultural Park, explained that the changes had a positive impact, "Since I retired, my wife and I have come here every day to sing and dance. However, we couldn't come on a rainy day. Now, even if it rains, the park won't flood, so we can still enjoy our daily activities." Licang district adopts a PPP model of "basin packaging, pay for effect in construction. There are 182 pilot projects in 8 categories, such as building and community, parks and green spaces and the overall improvement of drainage, which requires a total investment of 4.87 billion yuan. By the end of August 2018, 111 items were completed across an area of 18 square kilometers, with a total investment of about 2.8 billion yuan. Forty areas are still under construction, covering an area of about 7 square kilometers. Qingdao implemented renovation projects in old residential areas such as Hupanyaju community, Huatai community and Baitongxinyuan community to solve the problems of water-logging and the water degradation in residential areas. Now, the sponge city construction of Qingdao is gradually advancing from pilot demonstration to the whole region, with more than 20 communities requesting the sponge transformation. By the beginning of September 2018, the total area of sponge city construction was about 115 square kilometers, accounting for 14.2 percent of the entire urban area, with another 62 square kilometers under construction. Qingdao is becoming more environmentally-friendly, livable and attractive thanks to the sponge city construction. Qingdao Longhu Park Walking down Qingdao Licun riverside in autumn, passers-by can see swallows fly across the water. As one of Qingdao's major rivers, the Licun river is important for flood outflow. The dry season is frequently shortened, severely affecting the water self-purification capacity. "Sponge city construction should effectively solve the problem of rain-sewage mixing, eliminate urban flood disasters and other issues, and strive to build a sponge Qingdao with natural accumulation, natural infiltration, and natural purification. Since the beginning of 2018, Qingdao has implemented ecological water replenishment for the Llicun river, which has accumulated about 9.88 million tons. Since Sept. 19, water has been replenished to the Licun river delta, and by Oct. 16, it has replenished more than 2.8 million tons, with the capacity to provide 200,000 tons of water per day. "We must strive for quick results in efficiency, and reap lasting benefits in the long run, said the person in charge of Qingdao's sponge city construction promotion department. "Qingdao plans to minimize the impact of urban development and construction on the ecological environment through sponge city construction, achieving the goal of absorbing and using 75 percent of rainwater on site and on time. By 2030, more than 80 percent of urban areas will meet the target. Foreign Trade Vocational College Today, the integrated monitoring and control platform of the pilot area based on the Internet of things and big data technology in Qingdao has almost been completed, with over 300 sets of online monitoring equipment already installed. As China's second batch of sponge city pilots, Qingdao plays a leading role in the pilot demonstration, and provides an excellent example for sponge city construction in similar cities. Under Laoshan mountain, the shore of the Yellow Sea, Qingdao can breathe. pardeepdhull@gmail.com Moscow, January 24 Russia on Thursday warned the United States not to intervene militarily in Venezuela, a close ally of Moscows, saying such a move would trigger a catastrophe. Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido declared himself interim president on Wednesday, winning the backing of Washington and prompting socialist incumbent Nicolas Maduro, who has led the oil-rich nation since 2013, to sever diplomatic relations with the United States. In an interview with Russian journal International Affairs published on Thursday, Sergei Ryabkov, Russias Deputy Foreign Minister, said Moscow would stand with Venezuela to protect its sovereignty and the principle of non-interference in its domestic affairs. Asked about the prospect of US military intervention in Venezuela, Ryabkov said Washington should steer well clear. We warn against that, he said. We consider that would be a catastrophic scenario that would shake the foundations of the development model which we see in Latin America. It was not clear when the interview was conducted. Ryabkov said Moscow expected the United States and other countries to step up pressure on Caracas. Ryabkov did not mention Maduro by name, but made clear Moscow backed his government. Venezuela is friendly to us and is our strategic partner, he said. We have supported them and will support them. Separately, Russian lawmakers said US support for moves to force Maduro from power amounted to backing an illegal coup detat, underlining how worried Moscow is about one of its closest allies losing office. The prospect of Maduro being ousted is a geopolitical and economic headache for Moscow which, alongside China, has become a lender of last resort for Caracas, lending it billions of dollars as its economy implodes. It has also provided military support. Two Russian strategic bombers capable of carrying nuclear weapons landed in Venezuela last month in a show of a support that infuriated Washington. Russian lawmaker Franz Klinzevich on Thursday warned Moscow could wind up its military cooperation with Venezuela if Maduro, whom he called the legitimately-elected president, was ousted, the RIA news agency reported. Reuters rchopra@tribunemail.com Islamabad, January 24 Pakistans Supreme Court will decide on January 29 whether to allow an appeal against its acquittal of a Christian woman who was on death row for eight years for blasphemy. The Supreme Courts decision in October last year to overturn the conviction of Asia Bibi sparked nationwide protests and death threats from hardline groups. Chief Justice Asif Saeed Khosa will head the three-member bench that will hear the review petition, filed by the complainant in the case Qari Muhammad Salaam, next week on Tuesday, the Dawn reported. Aasia, a 47-year-old mother of four, who is now in protective custody, was convicted in 2010 after being accused of insulting Islam in a row with her neighbours. She always maintained her innocence, but spent most of the past eight years in solitary confinement. The apex courts decision to acquit her had sparked three-day-long mass protests led by the Tehreek-i-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP). The protests were called off after the religio-political party reached an agreement with the government, the foremost condition of which was the placement of Aasias name on the Exit Control List. The government, however, had only agreed to initiate the legal process to place her name on the list, while also agreeing that it would not oppose any review petitions being filed against the court judgment. After her release from Multans women prison on November 7, Aasia was flown to Islamabad on board a special aircraft. She was then taken to an undisclosed place amid tight security. Authorities have remained tightlipped about her movement and whereabouts for security reasons. Qari filed the review petition in the case on November 1, 2018 at the Lahore registry of the apex court, urging the Supreme Court to reconsider its decision. The petitioner had also sought the placement of Aasias name on the Exit Control List (ECL) till the judgment is reviewed. In the petition, it has been argued that the Supreme Courts acquittal of Aasia did not meet the standards of jurisprudence as well as Islamic provisions and the normal principle of justice with reference to application in blasphemy laws. It has also asked that a member of the Appellate Shariat Court be included in the bench that reviews the judgment because this matter needs detailed in-depth consideration and due to the peculiar circumstances of the case as well as Application of Section 295-C in its time letter and spirit. It has also challenged the Supreme Courts dismissal of the alleged confession that Aasia was forced to make by the people of her village and argued that the Supreme Court should have applied the Law of Evidence differently in this case. Her case has been deeply divisive in Pakistan where there is strong support for the controversial blasphemy laws. The blasphemy laws were promulgated by former military dictator Zia-ul-Haq in 1980s. A person convicted under these laws is given death sentence. Aasia was accused of committing blasphemy in 2009. She was convicted in 2010 by the trial court and her death sentence was maintained by the Lahore High Court in 2014. Her case gained prominence when former governor of Pakistans Punjab province Salman Taseer was killed in 2011 for supporting her and criticising the blasphemy laws. A month after Taseer was killed, Pakistans religious minorities minister Shahbaz Bhatti, a Christian who spoke out against the blasphemy law, was shot dead in Islamabad. PTI rchopra@tribunemail.com Seoul, January 24 North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has ordered preparations for a second summit with President Donald Trump, saying hell wait with patience and in good faith to work towards a common goal, the Norths state media reported on Thursday. Despite Kims determination for another meeting with Trump, the two remain at odds over fundamental issues. Experts say a major sticking point is what denuclearisation steps Kim should take to move forward stalled nuclear diplomacy and what rewards Trump should provide to push Kim to take those measures. The Korean Central News Agency said Kim received a letter from Trump from a North Korean envoy who met the US President in Washington last week. After meeting with Kims envoy, top lieutenant Kim Yong Chol, Trump said he and Kim Jong Un would probably meet around the end of February but did not say exactly when and where the summit would take place. Thursdays report said Kim expressed satisfaction over his envoys meeting with Trump and spoke highly of the US President for expressing his unusual determination and will for the settlement of the issue with a great interest in the second summit. We will wait with patience and in good faith and, together with the US, advance step by step towards the goal to be reached by the two countries, Kim was quoted as saying. Kim also set forth tasks and orientation for making good technical preparations for the second (North Korea)-US summit high on the agenda, according to KCNA. Nuclear diplomacy has been stuck since Kim and Trump met in Singapore last June for their first summit, which ended with a vague denuclearisation pledge by Kim that his government had previously used when it called for the withdrawal of the 28,500 US troops in South Korea. A summit accord also stated that the United States and North Korea would commit to establishing new relations and join their efforts to build a lasting and stable peace regime on the Korean Peninsula. The strongest step Kim could promise to take for a second summit may be abandoning his long-range missile programme targeting the US mainland. That step, if realised, would trigger a strong backlash from many in South Korea and Japan, which are still placed in the striking distance of North Koreas short- and medium-range missiles. In return, Kim is seeking to get UN sanctions on his government lifted and better relations with the United States to try to revive his countrys moribund economy to pave the way for a prolonged rule by his family, experts say. North Korea observers say Vietnam is a likely venue for a second summit but there has been no official confirmation. The nuclear diplomacy has replaced fears of war caused by Kims series of high-profile nuclear and missile tests in 2017 that were followed by his exchanges of crude insults and threats of total destruction with Trump. Kim has so far suspended nuclear and missile tests, dismantled North Koreas nuclear testing site and parts of its rocket engine test facility and took conciliatory measures like releasing American detainees. The North now says its time for the US to come up with reciprocal measures. But satellite footage indicate North Korea is still running its main nuclear complex, raising a question on why its producing nuclear materials if it is truly committed to denuclearisation. US officials want North Korea to take more significant steps such as a declared accounting of its nuclear weapons programme for future inspections. The North has rejected that, saying such a declaration would be like providing coordinates for US military strikes on its nuclear facilities. AP pardeepdhull@gmail.com Washington, January 24 Democratic leaders in the House of Representatives floated the idea on Wednesday of ending a partial US government shutdown by giving President Donald Trump most or all of the money he seeks for security along the Mexican border but for items other than the wall he wants. As a shutdown that has left 8,00,000 federal workers without pay hit its 33rd day, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi essentially disinvited Trump from delivering the annual State of the Union address in the House chamber until the government is fully opened. Other leaders in the Democratic-controlled House said they were drafting a funding offer they will likely make to Trump in a letter. Representative James Clyburn, the No. 3 House Democrat, said Democrats could fulfill Trumps request for $5.7 billion for border security with technological tools such as drones, X-rays and sensors, as well as more border patrol agents. Representative Steny Hoyer, the No. 2 House Democrat, said Democrats also would discuss substantial sums of additional money for border security as part of a possible deal. He did not say if it would amount to the $5.7 billion sought by Trump. The Republican President triggered the shutdown last month by demanding money for the wall, opposed by Democrats, as part of any legislation to fund about a quarter of the government. Clyburns offer would be a significant monetary increase over bills previously passed by Democrats, which included only about $1.3 billion for this year in additional border security, with none for a wall. Using the figure the president put on the table, if his $5.7 billion is about border security then we see ourselves fulfilling that request, only doing it with what I like to call using a smart wall, Clyburn told reporters. Republican Representative Tom Cole, a member of the House Appropriations Committee, told reporters the Democratic proposal could help. Any movement, any discussion is helpful, Cole said. Weve got to get past this wall-or-no-wall debate. The battle over border security and government funding spilled over into a parallel dispute over the presidents State of the Union address. Trump sent a letter to Pelosi on Wednesday saying he looked forward to delivering it as scheduled next Tuesday in the House chamber. Pelosi previously had asked Trump to consider postponing it because security could not be guaranteed during the shutdown. But Pelosi told Trump on Wednesday the House would not consider a measure authorizing his address until the shutdown ends. Again, I look forward to welcoming you to the House on a mutually agreeable date for this address when government has been opened, Pelosi said to Trump in a letter. In a sign Trump may be bracing for a long shutdown, a senior administration official said agencies without funding had been asked to give the White House a list of programs that could be hurt within the coming weeks if the funding lapse continues. Senate plans votes The US Senate, controlled by Trumps fellow Republicans, planned votes for Thursday on competing proposals that face steep odds to end the shutdown. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell plans a vote on a Democratic proposal that would fund the government for three weeks but does not include the $5.7 billion in partial funding for a wall on the US-Mexico border. Its prospects appeared grim. The House has passed several similar bills but Trump has rejected legislation that does not include the wall funding. McConnell previously said he would not consider a bill that Trump did not support. McConnell also planned to hold a vote on legislation that would include wall funding and a temporary extension of protections for Dreamers, people brought illegally to the United States as children, an offer Trump made on Saturday. Trumps 2017 plan to rescind protections against deportation for hundreds of thousands of Dreamers has been blocked by the courts. Democrats have dismissed the offer, saying they would not negotiate on border security before reopening the government, and that they would not trade a temporary extension of the immigrants protections in return for a permanent border wall they have called ineffective, costly and immoral. Barclays economists said on Wednesday they reduced their outlook on US economic growth in the first quarter to an annualized rate of 2.5 per cent from an earlier projection of 3 per cent as a result of the shutdown. Furloughed federal workers are struggling to make ends meet during the longest government shutdown in US history. Many have turned to unemployment assistance, food banks and other support, or have sought new jobs. Reuters rchopra@tribunemail.com New York, January 24 Police in New York state on Wednesday identified three young men arrested for allegedly planning a potentially lethal attack on a Muslim community regularly targeted by US extremist sites. Brian Colaneri, 20, Andrew Crysel, 18, and Vincent Vetromile, 19, were arrested after police in Greece, New York, recovered three explosive devices and 23 weapons from the suspects homes, according to spokesman Jared Rene. A fourth unidentified suspect, aged 16, was also detained. The group were accused of planning against a community called Islamberg several hours drive from Greece, Rene said. The community of some 200 people is managed by the organisation Muslims of America, which thanked authorities for preventing a possible massacre of our community. Rene said police were tipped off by a high school student who overheard other students speaking of a next school shooter. When authorities searched homes they found weapons legally obtained by parents, but uncovered the attack plot. The kids did the right thing. When they saw something, they said something. It was a collaborative effort, we uncovered what was probably going to be a deadly attack, he said. Charged with possession of explosives, the three young men are expected to appear in court on February 5. Rene said they could still face federal charges, including terrorism. Another plot to attack Islamberg was foiled in 2015, with its author, Robert Doggart, sentenced to 20 years in prison in 2017. AFP pardeepdhull@gmail.com Caracas, January 24 Thirteen people have died during two days of unrest in Venezuela amid protests against leftist leader Nicolas Maduro, a Caracas-based rights group reported on Thursday. The deaths, mostly from gunshot wounds, were recorded in the capital and across the country, along with reports of looting in Brazilian border state Bolivar, the Venezuelan Observatory of Social Conflict told AFP. Unrest first kicked off on Monday when 27 soldiers rose up against Maduro at a command post in Caracas, calling upon people to take to the streets in a video circulated on social media. But the most fierce began Tuesday night in Caracas and Bolivarcontinuing Wednesday throughout Venezuela on a day of huge opposition-backed demonstrations against Maduro. In Bolivars San Felix, demonstrators burned a statue of former president Hugo Chavez late Tuesday night. On Wednesday, anti-riot police confronted protesters in east Caracas following the march called for by opposition leader Juan Guaido, who declared himself Venezuelas interim president as part of his aim to remove Maduro. Chaos erupted when dozens of young people, some hooded, blocked a key route through the wealthy Altamira neighborhoodonly for military personnel to fire tear gasses and rubber bullets, which were in turn met with stones from protesters. Apart from the capital Caracas, deaths were reported in Tachira, Barinas, Portuguesa, Amazonas and Bolivar states. Wednesdays demonstration, meanwhile, marked the first significant clash between the government and the opposition in the streets after violent protests left 125 people dead between April and July 2017. Juan Guaidothe opposition-led legislature head who declared himself acting presidentcalled for the protests two weeks ago. His aim is to remove Maduro, set up a transitional government and hold elections. He accuses Maduro of being a usurper following his disputed re-election in a poll dismissed as a fraud by the European Union, the US and OAS. AFP editorial@tribune.com Tribune News Service Bathinda, January 23 SAD (Taksali) president Ranjit Singh Brahmpura today said talks with AAP were still on and they were hopeful that the party would join the Punjab Democratic Alliance (PDA) in the interest of Punjab ahead of the Lok Sabha elections. Talking to the mediapersons here, Brahmpura admitted that AAP leader Bhagwant Mann had expressed his reservations on joining the PDA due to the fact that Bholath MLA Sukhpal Khaira was a part of it. Like Khaira, the AAP leadership should also show magnanimity and join the alliance to ensure that the oppositions vote doesnt get divided, he said. Brahmpura hit out at the SAD chief Sukhbir Badal for his remark regarding the formers alleged links with the Congress. He said: I challenge Sukhbir to appear before Akal Takht along with his family and so will I. His statement reflects the frustration in the Akali Dal as they dont have any issue against us. I have been an Akali for more than 60 years during which I always led from the front and even went to jail while being part of different morchas. I can never think of having any links with the Congress. Party leader Sewa Singh Sekhwan alleged that the Badals were hand in glove with the family of Capt Amarinder Singh. Brahmpura said they would also contest the SGPC and Assembly elections. Brahmpura targeted both the Congress as well as the SAD, blaming them for ruining the state. Later, the SAD (Taksali) leaders met former Takht Sri Damdama Sahib Jathedar Balwant Singh Nandgarh who extended full support to them. Tribune News Service Ludhiana January 23 Lok Insaaf Party (LIP) Simarjit Singh Bains today claimed that AAP had no place in the Punjab Democratic Alliance. Bains, who held a meeting with the district presidents of the LIP, claimed that so far the alliance consisted of Sukhpal Khairas Punjabi Ekta Party, Lok Insaaf Party, Bahujan Samaj Party, AAP rebel Dharamvir Gandhi and Shiromani Akali Dal (Taksali). Bains said in the PDA meeting yesterday, he had told the other leaders that being a primary and founder member of the PDA, he would not tolerate the inclusion of AAP into the alliance due to its convener Arvind Kejriwals apology to former SAD minister Bikram Majithia. Kejriwal spoke against Majithia in rallies saying that he would put him in jail on coming to power. Later, he apologised to him, which showed his double standards, Bains alleged. Cong bid to weaken SAD Bathinda: Former CM Parkash Singh Badal alleged that the Congress had always tried to weaken the SAD by supporting splinter groups, but never succeeded. He said: We all are Taksali Akalis. The Akali Dal has a glorious history and the people know the difference between the real and the fake. Talks on with sad (taksali), BSP: Mann Chandigarh: AAP state convener Bhagwant Mann on Wednesday said there was no issue in joining hands with any political outfit to defeat the SAD-BJP and the Congress. In a statement, Mann said all possibilities of an alliance were being explored so that it could put up a united face on the issues concerning the state and showing traditional parties the door. Mann said efforts were afoot to forge an alliance with the SAD (Taksali) and BSP. tns editorial@tribune.com Tribune News Service Amritsar, January 23 Coming out in support of dissident Taksali leaders, the former president of the Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee (DSGMC), Manjit Singh GK today opined that the Akali Dal must resolve its differences with the veteran leaders in the interest of the party. GK, who resigned from the post after charges of corruption were levelled against him, today paid obeisance at the Golden Temple. The SAD should have a dialogue with the rebel veterans. If the differences are not resolved before the elections, it would dent the partys prospects. Differences erupt in every party, but these should be amicably settled, he said. Criticising the DSGMCs former president and Takht Patna Sahib Management Board head Avtar Singh Hit for his alleged blasphemous act of equating Bihar CM Nitish Kumar with Sikh Gurus, he said: Hit has committed a blunder and he should clarify it before Akal Takht. Hit has been summoned to appear before the Takht on January 28. On charges against him, he claimed that these were planned under a deep-rooted conspiracy and the matter was under investigation. Panjoli too wants matter resolved Patiala, January 23 SAD vice-president Karnail Singh Panjoli has urged party president Sukhbir Singh Badal not to ignore hard-working and senior Taksali leaders in the upcoming Lok Sabha polls. In a letter to Sukhbir mentioning instances of seniors leaders being sidelined, Panjoli asked Sukhbir to take right steps so that the party does not face a defeat in the elections. In Patiala, senior leaders such as Sardara Singh Kohli and Manmohan Singh Bazaz have worked hard for the party. But, both these Taksali families were ignored and Jaspal Juneja was made the district (urban) president of the party, reads the letter. Party spokesperson Daljit Singh Cheema said although he was yet to see the letter, suggestions from all senior leaders were welcome. TNS shalender@tribune.com Karam Prakash Tribune News Service Patiala, January 23 Contractual Punjab teachers who had rejected the state governments regularisation policy and continued with their protests are in for a shock as the Capt Amarinder Singh regime has backtracked from its earlier announcement and ordered a 60 per cent cut in their salary. Not paid for eight months, the SSA/RMSA teachers would now get salary equivalent to their counterparts who had accepted the terms of the regularisation policy, which was announced in October last. As per the policy, teachers who enrolled under the scheme--6,060 of 8,900 SSA/RMSA teachers had said yes--were to face a 60 per cent pay cut and get Rs 15,000 (primary) and Rs 20,000 (upper primary) salary for 30 months. Their probation period was to be counted from April 1, 2018. Once the probation was over, the teachers were to draw Rs 37,000 (primary) and Rs 42,000 (upper primary), but as regular staff. Those who didnt enroll under the scheme were to continue on contract at the existing pay of Rs 37,000 (primary) and Rs 42,000 (upper primary). The government, however, has now decided that even the teachers who didnt accept the regularisation scheme would be paid on a par with those who accepted it. The state Education Department has, through a communique, already directed the District Education Officers to clear pending salaries of the protesting staff with a 60 per cent cut. Hardeep Toderpur, co-convener of Sanjha Adhyapak Morcha, said, The government has again backtracked from its own offer of full pay to the contractual teachers. They are targeting us only because we turned down their offer. Prashant Goyal, State Project Director, said, The salary cut is due to deduction in funds by the Union HRD Ministry. However, we have requested for additional funds to pay the contractual teachers their full salaries. Meanwhile, the morcha said come what may, they would hold a massive protest in front of the residence of Education Minister OP Soni in Amritsar on January 27. editorial@tribune.com Ravi Dhaliwal Tribune News Service Dera Baba Nanak, January 23 A team of Land Ports Authority of India (LPAI) today visited Dera Baba Nanak to work out the modalities for constructing the integrated check post (ICP) on the Indian side of the Kartarpur corridor and decided to acquire 50 acres for it. The LPAI team, comprising its chairman Anil Kumar Bamba and special secretary BR Sharma, held three-hour deliberations with Gurdaspur Deputy Commissioner Vipul Ujwal, Dera Baba Nanak Sub-Divisional Magistrate (SDM) Ashok Sharma, Batala SSP Opinderjit Singh Ghuman and officials of the BSF, Customs, Immigration, National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) and the PWD. The SDM, the Competent Authority for Land Acquisition (CALA), has issued a notification to acquire 24 hectares to construct the 4.25-km stretch from Dera Baba Nanak to the zero line. The decks have now been cleared for the ICP construction. It will have state-of-the-art infrastructure to facilitate travel of pilgrims. The LPAI will take over 50 acres, DC Ujwal said. An official said residential quarters for employees of the ICP will also be constructed. Cabinet Minister and Dera Baba Nanak MLA Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa said, A 200-foot-wide and four-laned road is proposed to be laid across 24 hectares. Since the Pakistani government has completed 35 per cent work, the Centre should also release funds for construction works. An official said the amount of compensation to be given to farmers in lieu of land acquisition was yet to be worked out. However, the average rate of land sold in the past three years will be taken into consideration. A 100 per cent solatium, an amount given in compensation for inconvenience, will be added to the average rate, said the official. Targeting the state government, a BJP leader said, The LPAI team visit indicates that the NDA government is committed to completing the project before the 550th birth anniversary celebrations of Guru Nanak Dev (November this year). Integrated check post: A single-window facility Integrated check posts (ICPs) have been established at all major entry points on the countrys land borders. These house regulatory agencies such as immigration, customs and border security in a single complex which serves as a single-window facility as is prevalent at airports and seaports. CrediFi, a source for data and analytics for commercial real estate finance, raised an additional $6m in funding. The round was led by Liberty Technology Venture Capital II, joined by investors Mitsui Fudosan and Maverick Ventures Israel and existing investors Battery Ventures, Viola Ventures and crowdfunding site OurCrowd. The company, which has raised $29m overall, intends to use the funds to expand its go-to-market efforts, as well as to recruit executive and team talent in New York and Israel. Founded in 2014 and led by CEO Ely Razin, CrediFi is a SaaS (software as a service) big data platform serving the Commercial Real Estate Finance market. The company provides data and analytics driven by a database of over seven million commercial properties, including multi-family, office, retail, hotel and industrial assets. It tracks $13 trillion in both balance-sheet and securitized loans, focused on transparency in understanding borrowers, lenders and transactions, enabling real estate investment decisions. Customers include American financial institutions and banks, property companies, hedge fund managers and US government agencies. CrediFi currently has 65 employees and is dual headquartered in New York City and Tel Aviv. It has just announced two new executives: Jeff Hendren as President, based in New York, and Amichai Levy as Vice President, Research & Development, based in Tel Aviv. FinSMEs 23/01/2019 editorial@tribune.com Raj Sadosh Abohar, January 23 Gurdaspur MP and PPCC president Sunil Jakhar on Wednesday said Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh had given in-principle approval to upgrade the agro juice plant at Alamgarh village, 5 km from here. A proposal in this regard was submitted by chairman of the Punjab Farmers Commission Ajay Vir Jakhar. The project would cost Rs 16 crore. Addressing a gathering during the annual state citrus fruit exhibition and seminar organised by the Horticulture Department at the new grain market here, Jakhar said the move was aimed at promoting crop diversification by utilising the capacity of the juice plant. He said the strengthening of the plant would go a long way in promoting horticulture in the region. Jakhar participated in a government function in his native segment for the first time after the Congress returned to power in the state last year. Hundreds of farmers thronged the venue to welcome him. Earlier, he inaugurated the exhibition and interacted with fruit growers and experts. The MP accused the previous government of neglecting the plant. He said the problem of waterlogging in Abohar subdivision would soon be solved as the Chief Minister had approved a pilot project for the same. Divisional Commissioner Sumer Singh Gurjar exhorted farmers to switch to organic farming. Tara Singh of Tootwala won an award in the best fruit category. In total, 23 varieties of citrus and lemon fruits were covered. At least 115 farmers won prizes in different categories. Fazilka district won 53 prizes and clinched the overall trophy, followed by Hoshiarpur 23, Patiala 18, Ludhiana 13, Fatehgarh Sahib two and Jalandhar, Muktsar, Bathinda, Kapurthala, Barnala and Pathankot one each. SSP Ketan Baliram Patil, Additional Deputy Commissioner RP Singh and other senior officials were present. Warns Sukhbir against threatening officers Punjab Congress president and Gurdaspur MP Sunil Jakhar on Wednesday warned SAD chief Sukhbir Badal against threatening government officers. He alleged that his acts showed his frustration, which is understandable since Sukhbir had dreamt of ruling Punjab for 25 years, but failed to even emerge as Leader of Opposition. Rejecting SAD charge of implicating Akali workers in false cases, Jakhar said as many as 5,000 false cases were registered across the state in the 10-year of the SAD-BJP regime. editorial@tribune.com Aditi Tandon Tribune News Service New Delhi, January 23 Priyanka Gandhi Vadras formal entry into politics today triggered speculation around whether she would contest the upcoming Lok Sabha elections. A large section of Congress strategists believes she will contest, though her brother and Congress president Rahul Gandhi left the decision to her. Asked if Priyanka could be a Congress candidate in the next General Election, Rahul said: That is up to her. The response didnt go down well within the Congress, with some seniors noting: It is alright to say that a person will choose the time at which he or she wants to enter politics. That has always been the Congress line on Priyanka, the line that she has so far limited herself to the Lok Sabha segments of her brother and mother, and that it was up to her to enter formal politics. But now that she is a party general secretary, the ideal position is for the party to decide whether she will contest elections or not. That said, the probability of Priyanka contesting the LS polls is high. It remains to be seen whether she succeeds her mother Sonia Gandhi in Rae Bareli or whether the Congress decides to field her from a third seat. Apart from Rae Bareli, the Gandhis have so far contested two other seats in UP Amethi, where Sonia started her political career as MP and later vacated it for son Rahul who has held it since 2004; and Sultanpur, held by Rahuls cousin Varun Gandhi. Congress veteran P Chidambaram, member, partys core committee for LS polls, when asked recently if Sonia would contest the 2019 LS polls, had said: I and the entire party would like her to contest 2019 LS polls from Rae Bareli but that is her decision. Party insiders say it makes sense for Priyanka to contest LS elections if the purpose is to enthuse party workers and play on the front foot as Rahul Gandhi today said. But theres a flip side too. There is always that fear of Priyanka upstaging Rahul. Fielding Priyanka in LS elections will have to be thoroughly thought through in that sense too, said a Congress leader. The ED cases on Priyankas husband Robert Vadra and the BJP charge of dynastic politics are the other factors the Congress would have to weigh in. Siblings foray into politics amansharma@tribunemail.com Satya Prakash Tribune News Service New Delhi, January 24 The Supreme Court on Thursday refused to extend the deadline for publication of final Assam NRC beyond July 31 and asked the Election Commission, state chief secretary and NRC coordinator to hold a meeting to ensure that enough officers are available for NRC work even during the Lok Sabha polls. "We are of the view that, in no circumstances, the publication of the final NRC should be stretched beyond July 31, 2019," a Special Bench of Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi and Justice Rohinton F Nariman said after Assam NRC coordinator Prateek Hajela said it might get delayed due to the Lok Sabha polls. The Bench asked Solicitor General Tushar Mehta to organise a meeting of EC, Assam chief secretary and state NRC coordinator and submit a report within a week and posted the matter for further hearing on February 5. Noting that both Lok Sabha elections and NRC work were equally important, the Bench said, "Insofar as the deployment of government staff, currently engaged in NRC work, for election duty is concerned we are of the view that both the processes i.e. the preparation of final NRC and the election should receive equal importance and proceeded with simultaneously without one affecting the other." The court's comments came after the Solicitor General, representing Assam government, pointed out that during the elections the state administration will virtually be at the service of the EC and it will have to spare as many officials as asked for by the poll panel. Mehta said in the process NRC work might get affected. Earlier, Hajela told the Bench that he might need additional hands to complete the task by July 31 as desired by the court. The NCR Coordinator, however, said the court should give him a grace period of 15 days as many officials might get diverted to election work. "In view of the Parliamentary Elections that are likely to be held, the publication of the final NRC may stretch to the end of September 2019 and if some arrangement can be made to retain some of the NRC staff without they being taken for election duty the period could be shortened," Hajela submitted. Hajela told the Bench that out of 40 lakh people left out of Draft NRC, 36.2 lakh had filed their claims and around two lakh objections had been received by December 31, 2018 - the deadline for filing of claims and objections fixed by the top court. He said the process for verification of claims and objections would start on February 15 and every affected individual would be given a 15-day notice before his/her case was taken up. The Final Draft NRC list was published on July 30 last year in which 2.89 crore names out of the 3.29 crore people were included while 40,70,707 people failed to make it to the list. Of those left out 37,59,630 names had been rejected and the remaining 2,48,077 were put on hold. amansharma@tribunemail.com New Delhi, January 24 The meeting of Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led selection committee to decide on the next CBI chief remained inconclusive, officials said on Thursday. They said no decision on the CBI director was taken at the meeting. "A list of eligible officers along with their dossiers was shared with the panel members. But no decision has been taken so far," an official said requesting anonymity. He said another meeting of the panel will be called soon to finalise the name. The meeting, which was held at the prime minister's residence, was attended by Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi and leader of the Congress in Lok Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge. The post of CBI head has been lying vacant since January 10 after the unceremonious exit of Alok Verma, who was engaged in a bitter fight with Gujarat-cadre IPS officer Rakesh Asthana over corruption charges. Both Verma and Asthana have accused each other of impropriety. Verma, after being removed from the post of CBI director, was named as the Director General of Fire Services, Civil Defence and Home Guards, a less significant portfolio. Verma did not accept the offer and wrote to the government, saying he should be considered as deemed superannuated as he has completed 60 year age of superannuation. He had taken over as the CBI chief on February 1, 2017 for a fixed two-year tenure. In a letter to Secretary of Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT), C Chandramouli, Verma said he could not accept the new assignment offered by the government as he had superannuated on July 31, 2017. The Centre has not yet made public its decision on Verma's letter. M Nageshwara Rao has been working as the interim CBI chief after Verma's ouster. Verma's resignation letter led to political slugfest with the opposition parties, mainly the Congress, accusing the central government of alleged interference in public institutions. Kharge had recently written to the prime minister terming Rao's appointment as CBI's interim chief "illegal". He had asked the government to immediately convene the meeting of the panel to decide on the new CBI chief. - PTI monicakchauhan@gmail.com Beijing, January 24 China's Foreign Ministry said on Thursday that it was not aware about any plans of President Xi Jinping's visit to India in the next two months for the second informal summit with Prime Minister Narendra Modi as reported by a Japanese publication. Japanese publication Nikkei Asian Review on Tuesday carried a report titled "Xi plans India visit, as diplomatic chess with US intensifies". The story said, "Xi intends to visit India as early as February in a move seen at countering Washington's increasingly antagonistic trade policy and aggressive Indo-Pacific diplomacy." When asked about the report, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying said, "You said this was reported by Japanese media. So it is quite interesting. I am not aware of what you said." Hua said China and India are friendly neighbours. "We attach importance to maintain high level exchanges. And the leader of the both the countries also maintain friendly communication and exchange," she said. When pointed out that the Russian media also carried a similar report, Hua said, "Chinese media hasn't reported it and I am not aware of the information you mentioned". "But we attach importance to our relations with India and we stand to maintain close communication at various levels," she said. Officials sources here on Wednesday told PTI here that there was no proposal for Xi to visit India for the second informal summit Prime Minister Modi. Wuhan summit was the first such high-level meeting ever between Indian and Chinese leaders. It was conceived by both the sides following the 2017 military standoff at Doklam which ratcheted up tensions between the two countries. The two-day summit at Wuhan during which the two leaders closely interacted for hours on bilateral and international issues has paved the way for the two countries to normalise relations on all fronts putting behind the Doklam standoff. Since then the two countries steadily normalised relations with intensified dialogue on various fronts, including the military and trade fronts. Commerce Secretary Anup Wadhawan has concluded his two-day visit to China on Tuesday after talks with Chinese Vice Minister of Commerce Wang Shouwen and Zhang Jiwen, Chinese Vice Minister of General Administration of Customs of China (GACC), to enhance Indian exports to China to reduce the trade deficit of over USD 57 billion. PTI editorial@tribune.com Satya Prakash Tribune News Service New Delhi, January 23 Justice Madan B Lokur, who was part of the five-member collegium that had reportedly agreed to recommend Rajasthan High Court Chief Justice Pradeep Nandrajog and Delhi HC Chief Justice Rajendra Menon for elevation to the Supreme Court, today wondered why the decision was not made public. Once we take certain decisions, they have to be uploaded. Im disappointed that they were not, said Justice Lokur who demitted office as a Supreme Court judge on December 30. He was speaking on State of the Indian Judiciary, an interaction organised by a law website. The collegium headed by Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi had on January 10 recommended elevation of Karnataka HC Chief Justice Dinesh Maheshwari and Delhi HC judge Sanjiv Khanna to the top court. Amid raging controversy over change in the collegiums decision, Justice Lokur said he didnt know what additional material came on record after his retirement. He said he was not privy to any additional material that resulted in change of the collegiums decision. Justice Lokur was one of the four judges who held a press conference against then CJI Dipak Misras style of functioning on January 12 last year. While Justice Ranjan Gogoi went on to become CJI, Justice J Chelameswar, Justice Kurian Joseph and Justice Lokur retired and spoke to the press expressing dissatisfaction with the state of affairs in the judiciary. Justice Lokur defended the January 12 presser, saying it brought some transparency in the functioning of Supreme Court. He also rejected allegations of nepotism in the judiciary. Justice Lokur, however, said certain changes were needed in the collegium system and some mechanism had to be there for time-bound judicial appointments. On the controversy over PM Narendra Modi visiting the Supreme Court and meeting Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi during a function recently, he said there was nothing wrong in it. rchopra@tribunemail.com New Delhi, January 24 Supreme Court judge Justice A K Sikri on Thursday recused himself from hearing a plea challenging the Centres decision to appoint M Nageswara Rao as interim CBI director. A Bench headed by Justice Sikri listed the matter for Friday for hearing before a different Bench. Justice Sikri was part of the high-powered panel which had removed CBI Director Alok Verma. As soon as the matter came up for hearing, Justice Sikri told senior advocate Dushyant Dave, appearing for petitioner NGO Common Cause, that he would not like to hear the matter and was recusing himself. You understand my position. I cant hear this matter, Justice Sikri said. To this Dave said, It is becoming very frustrating and it is giving an impression that your Lordship does not want to hear this matter. Earlier also the CJI had recused when the matter was listed for hearing. Now your lordship (Justice Sikri) is also recusing from the matter. To this Justice Sikri said, he is recusing from the matter and cant say anything. Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi had on Monday recused himself from hearing the plea challenging the appointment of Rao as interim CBI director, saying he would be part of the selection committee to choose the agencys new chief. Dave said that if Lordship (Justice Sikri) wanted to recuse from hearing this matter, then he should have done it earlier. Justice Sikri told Dave that had this been an administrative order, he would have recused from the matter but he cant recuse himself from the matter without sitting to hear the case when the order was passed on the judicial side on Monday. He further said that the questions raised in the petition are good and may have valid points but he cant hear the matter. Dave said he doesnt have any problem if Justice Sikri continues hearing the case. Attorney-General K K Venugopal, who was also present in the court, said he too doesnt have any problem if Justice Sikri continues hearing the case. The petition has sought specific mechanisms to ensure transparency in the process of appointing the CBI director. It alleged that Raos appointment was not made on the basis of recommendations of the high-powered selection committee. According to the plea, the order of October 23 last year appointing Rao as interim CBI director was quashed by the top court on January 8 but the government acted in a completely mala fide, arbitrary and illegal manner to appoint him again in complete contravention of the DSPE (Delhi Special Police Establishment) Act. On January 10, Rao, additional director in the CBI, was made interim chief till the appointment of a new director. This was after a high-powered committee headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi removed Verma as chief of the probe agency. It sought a direction to the Centre to appoint a regular CBI director forthwith by following the procedure laid down in accordance with provisions of the DSPE Act, as amended by the Lokpal and Lokayuktas Act, 2013. Besides, the petition has sought an immediate direction to the government to ensure that all records of deliberations and rational criteria related to short-listing and selection of the director, CBI, be properly recorded and made available to citizens in consonance with the provisions of the RTI Act. The plea said the government should ensure transparency in the short-listing, election and appointment process of the CBI director by publicly disclosing, including through the website, the procedure and rational criteria for short-listing candidates, if it is done. It has also sought a direction to the Centre ensuring that the process of selecting a CBI director, including composition, mandate and minutes of the meetings of the search committee, be disclosed publicly along with names of short-listed candidates so people can inform the panel of any significant adverse information they may have about any such candidate. The plea has claimed that lack of transparency in the appointment prevents any public scrutiny of the process and allows the government to exercise undue influence in the appointment process especially at the stage of shortlisting of candidates. PTI rchopra@tribunemail.com Madurai, January 24 The Madras High Court has come to the rescue of an 84-year-old woman, who had been running from pillar to post to prove she is alive after her daughter-in-law obtained a death certificate in a bid to grab her property. The High Court bench here took up the issue on its own after a media report on the octogenarians plight and directed cancellation of the death certificate of A Thottiyamal, hailing from Ramanathapuram district. A division bench comprising Justices KK Sasidharan and PD Audikesavalu on Wednesday impleaded the womans daughter-in-law and grandson in the case and also directed the authorities to cancel the death certificate issued in her name on September 27, 2016 and an inquiry into the matter. The bench also directed the Ramanathapuram Municipal Commissioner and district registrar to file their replies and cancelled the inam settlement by obtaining the womans signature by giving false information and transferring the land to her grandson Praveen Kumars name. According to the report, Thottiyammal had been living with her son A Doss, who was a sheristadar in the district court, and had 12 cents of land. She also had three daughters. Her son died in an accident in 2016. Earlier, he had transferred the land to his son Praveen Kumar by an inam settlement without informing Thottiyamal, who was 81 then. She alleged that she was misled by her son, who forged the signatures of her three daughters in the settlement. After Dosss death, his wife Meenakshi, a schoolteacher, produced a legal heir certificate to claim benefits though Thottiyammal was alive. The report said the elderly woman realised she was defrauded and lodged a police complaint, but no action was taken. Even after a directive from a local court in Ramanathapuram to take action against Meenakshi, nothing was done, it added. PTI shalender@tribune.com KV Prasad Tribune News Service New Delhi, January 23 The announcement of Priyanka Gandhi Vadras appointment as a Congress general secretary was slipped in this morning in the most unassuming manner an official communication. It set the news wires burning with TV channels scrambling to decode the big development, social media on the roll and political leaders, on either side of the divide, reacting on predicted lines. Unlike the summer of 2004 when the Congress called a press conference on a Sunday to declare the formal entry of Rahul Gandhi into politics as the Lok Sabha candidate from Amethi, his sister was not ushered in with a similar hype. For one, Priyanka probably did not need such a grand entry for she is already the behind-the-scenes brains that the party trusts and has been active since 1998-99 when her mother Sonia Gandhi took over the party reins. Priyanka was her constant companion, especially during the Lok Sabha elections, managing affairs first in Amethi and then also in Rae Bareli. Since then, she has been active in Uttar Pradesh and is credited to be well-versed with the organisation. The question is why did Priyanka choose to take over a formal role in the party and why now? The first is that having been around her mother first and brother later, she began to step up her hands-on role after Rahul took over as AICC president. So it was a question of coming to the fore and taking responsibility in a state where the party is at its all-time low in terms of representation in the Lok Sabha and with a less than honorable presence in the state Assembly. As for the timing, it can be argued either way. But as Martin Luther King once remarked time is neutral, it is what people make of it. Yet, with the BJP seeking to give its best shot to repeat the 2014 performance amid regrouping of forces opposed to it, the UP Congress too needed a leader around whom they could rally. Priyanka's presence should galvanise Congress workers. She fits in the role, playing tandem with another young but experienced Jyotiraditya Scindia under the overall stewardship of party chief Rahul Gandhi and patron Sonia Gandhi. Questions that it reinforces the BJP charge of the move being a shining example of dynastic politics cannot be wished away. But the Congress has already shown it is not shying away from the battle or being apologetic about it. uttara@tribuneindia.com New Delhi, January 24 In a punitive action, the Defence Ministry has sent five officers of the Military Engineering Services (MES) on compulsory retirement on the grounds of poor performance, official sources said Thursday. They said the orders for their removal were issued on Tuesday following approval by Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman.The sources said performance of the officers was found "poor" in an internal performance audit. The officers were serving in the rank of assistant engineers and they are being given three months' salary and post retirement benefits as per laid down guidelines. The officials had either crossed 55 years of age or completed 30 years of service. Performance of around 500 officers was analysed by an internal committee and the action was taken based on its report. In August 2017, the ministry had sacked 13 officers of the Ordnance Factory Board for poor performance following a review of the employees' performance. The MES is a premier construction agency which provides engineering and infrastructure support to the Indian Army. It is one of largest construction and maintenance agencies in India with a total annual budget to the tune of approx Rs 13,000 crore. The sources said government may continue to crack down on those showing "unsatisfactory performance". PTI rchopra@tribunemail.com Kolkata, January 24 Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu has stressed that collective leadership is the need of the hour for the Mahagathbandhan (grand alliance) of opposition parties, and said the name of the leader for the prime ministers post would be declared after the election. Naidu, the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) president, said that be it West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee or NCP chief Sharad Pawar, nobody is working single-handedly but functioning together. He came down heavily on his Telangana counterpart K Chandrasekhar Rao for skipping the Trinamool Congress (TMC) mega opposition rally in Kolkata on January 19, and described his absence from the event as drama. The absence of the BJD and Left parties at the Brigade Parade Ground national unity rally, which was attended by nearly two dozen opposition leaders, had also set tongues wagging. Naidu also made a scathing attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi and dubbed him as a publicity-seeking prime minister, who only raises slogans and never performs. There is a need of a collective leadership. Politics is for serving people. It is through politics we will form the next government. Only post-election, we will announce the name of the leader, Naidu told PTI in an exclusive interview here on January 19. The remarks came in response to a question about the possible face from the proposed coalition of the opposition parties for the prime ministers post. Nobody is working single-handedly. Not Mamata Banerjee, not Sharad Pawar, we are all together. Their (leaders in the Mahagathbandhan) commitment-level to save India is very high. It was clear during the rally in Kolkata. We all are working together, forgetting our differences. Didi (Mamata) had invited him (KCR), but he chose to skip the rally. It indicates that you are up to some drama. There are differences among political parties. (Arvind) Kejriwal has differences with the Congress, even Akhilesh (Yadav) and Mayawati joined hands in UP. It is time to come together to save the nation, he said. On the issue of electronic voting machines (EVMs), he said they were susceptible to manipulation and called for restoring the ballot paper system. Naidu said the coalition of opposition parties would soon visit the Election Commission (EC) to press for their demand to do away with EVMs and return to paper ballot. The Mahagatbandhan allies are planning to begin a nationwide debate on reintroducing ballot paper system for the Lok Sabha election. EVMs are not used in any other democracy, the TDP president said. The machines pose a big risk as the fate of the democracy lies in the hands of a computer programmer. Using EVMs means you are risking democracy in the hands of one individual, who is a computer operator or a programmer. No developed or technology-driven country, including the US, Japan or Germany, has allowed EVMs. Anybody can manipulate these machines, he said. Naidu, who had pulled out of the NDA last year over denial of special category status to Andhra Pradesh, said the common people are annoyed over the performance of the present dispensation. Modis slogans have to match his performance. That is missing. Common people have realised that he makes tall promises without delivering them. That is why they are annoyed. Because of him, the country is suffering. Today, democracy is under threat. This never happened in the past. All these sop announcements will be more damaging. He (Modi) might announce more (sops) on January 26. These are all panic reactions which will not help now. You (Modi) should have done all that in the past four-and-a-half years, he said. On the BJPs rule at the Centre during the present term, Naidu said, We have lost five years and that agonises people. You cannot bring back time. Referring to the success of previous coalition governments, the TDP leader said, Earlier, PV Narasimha Rao had a minority government and fared well post the economic reforms. Then things started rolling. After that, we had two coalition governments under prime ministers (Atal Bihari) Vajpayee and Manmohan Singh. Now, he (Modi) has an absolute majority. If you compare these four governments, all of them performed better than the present dispensation. It indicates that a collective leadership performs well with timely reforms. PTI shalender@tribune.com Vibha Sharma Tribune News Service New Delhi, January 23 As Priyanka Gandhi Vadra formally entered politics, the BJP saw the development as admission by the Congress that its chief Rahul Gandhi had failed to deliver. All in the BJP, including PM Narendra Modi, saw it as vindication of their belief that the Congress is only and all about the Gandhis. BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra said it was no surprise that the Congress had coronated someone from within the family while the PM , in an apparent swipe, remarked unlike the other parties, the BJP leadership sees the party as its family. Democratic culture and values run in BJPs blood, unlike many others where family is the party. He was interacting with Maharashtra BJP workers. Akali leader and Union Minister Harsimrat Kaur Badal said, Priyanka is the last card the Congress could play and her entry shows Rahul has been a non-starter. Union Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad called the appointment a family concern. Though the BJP believes Mrs Vadra (sic), as she will expectedly be referred to, will not affect the party prospects, sources said, adding plans were afoot to pit Union Minister Smriti Irani, who has engaged with her on several occasions, against her. Will Priyanka queer the pitch enthuse workers and upset caste calculations, forcing the BSP and SP to negotiate with the Congress. That explains Rahul Gandhi's remark today. "We will not play on the back foot anywhere, not in Gujarat and not in UP. We will play on the front foot wherever we can. Priyanka and Jyotiraditya are our young leaders who will change the direction of UP politics. So far as BSP and SP go, I want to say I respect Mayawati ji and Akhilesh. Our ideologies are similar and our fight is against the BJP. We are ready to cooperate with them wherever we can. Even if negotiations fail, Congress feels it would be in a better position to fight in UP with Priyanka as the X factor. The party has deliberately made her in-charge of eastern UP. Not only Varanasi but Gorakhpur, UP CMs hometown, too falls in the area, besides the Gandhi pocket boroughs of Amethi and Rae Bareli. That said, a Congress section remains concerned about the timing of Priyankas entry into politics with some calling it "a panic reaction. Many party veterans believe Priyanka should have entered politics much earlier, not close to the polls. The BJP attack on dynastic politics will get shriller. There will be questions on Rahul's leadership and the the perception of twin power centres within the Congress. It remains to be seen if the appointment translates into votes," a Congress leader said. In the last UP Assembly polls, Congress won just seven seats out of 403, despite Priyanka campaigning. With stakes never so high for Congress and its first family, it is to be seen if Priyanka can swing votes in UP where the Congress holds only two LS seats Amethi and Rae Bareli. It also remains to be seen how Priyanka addresses political consequences of her husband Robert Vadra's legal baggage. He faces an ED probe. Priyanka, reported to be abroad, will take up her new assignment in February. Priyanka sat with Rahul and Sonia Gandhi to pick Rajasthan, MP and Chhattisgarh CMs. She was instrumental in getting Manpreet Badal and Navjot Sidhu into the party fold. amansharma@tribunemail.com Tribune News Service New Delhi, January 24 Ahead of Republic Day, the special cell of Delhi police has arrested two alleged Jaish-e-Mohammad terrorists. Those arrested have been identified as Abdul Latif Ganaie and Hilal Ahmad of Jaish-e-Mohammad, DCP (special cell) P S Kushwah said. The arrested terrorists had procured more than a dozen grenades and IEDs from Pakistan-based handler, he said. The arrested duo had planned to throw grenades and plant IEDs in the heavy footfall areas and VIP areas in Delhi during the ongoing Republic Day Celebrations, DCP Kushwah added. rchopra@tribunemail.com Yash Goyal Jaipur, January 24 The 12th edition of Jaipur Literature Festival (JLF) opened on Thursday with the Nobel Laureate Sir Venki Ramakrishnan stressing on keeping intact personal privacy and security in an increasingly digital world. We need to recognise when people use scientific language to propagate nonsense without any evidence. When faced with these issues, we as citizens should be able to ask how valid is the evidence and how valid is the underlying science, Venki said in his keynote address The Role of Science in Todays World. How are we to judge the reliability of science itself in an era of fake news where even the existence of objective truth is questioned? There is much at stake. Science with its insistence on evidence-based facts offers a counter to some of the threats today, he warned. And we scientists must do better to bridge the divide between two cultures. Science is simply the systematic accumulation of knowledge based on evidence. In fact, we are all born scientists. And as children, we are intensely curious about the world around us. We constantly make deductions based on data. Poets and artists have reflected on the beauty of the night sky, but the images of the space from the Hubble telescope speak for themselves, he said in his 20-minute speech. Our literature and science are all ways of capturing essential truths about the world. But science has some distinctive aspects encapsulated, he said. The JLF was inaugurated by Rajasthan Art and Culture Minister BD Kalla and a book on the Bombay Serial Blasts 26/11, brought out by the Indian Express group, was released by Rajasthan Deputy Chief Minister Sachin Pilot. Amant Goenka of the Express group publications recalled with concern the terror attacks on Parliament and Mumbai serial blasts. The programme of the 2019 edition of the festival is vast and kaleidoscopic, with themes ranging from the classics, war, espionage, intelligence, politics, environment and climate change, gender issues, management entrepreneurship, science and technology, along with border areas such as fiction, adapting screenplays, mythology, crime, history, cinema, art activism and psychological aftermath of migration, its producer Sanjoy K Roy said while welcoming the guests. rchopra@tribunemail.com Jammu, January 24 The Pakistan Army on Thursday targeted forward posts and civilian areas along the LoC in Jammu and Kashmirs Rajouri district with mortars and small arms, an official said. The Indian Army is effectively retaliating. Pakistan Army initiated unprovoked ceasefire violation by small arms fire and shelling with mortars in Sunderbani sector since 0915 hours, the Defence PRO said. The Pakistan Army also targeted forward posts in Mendhar sector of Poonch district on Wednesday night, officials said. Officials said the Pakistan Army is continuously firing 120 mm and 81 mm mortars when the reports last came in. The shelling and firing has triggered panic among border dwellers. Northern Army Commander Lt Gen Ranbir Singh had said on Thursday last that a befitting reply would be given to ceasefire violations by Pakistani troops. PTI gspannu7@gmail.com New Delhi, January 24 It was love at first sight for Mahajabeen, wife of Lance Naik Nazir Ahmad Wani, when the two met at a school in South Kashmir around 15 years back. Nearly one-and-half months after Wanis death in an anti-terror operation in Shopian, Mahajabeen, a teacher and mother of two, says his immense love for her and fearless persona are a source of motivation for her to encourage youngsters to become good citizens. I did not cry when I was told he is no more. There was an inner resolve which did not allow me to cry, she said, on a day the government announced the Ashoka Chakra, Indias highest peacetime gallantry award, for Wani who hailed from Cheki Ashmuji in Kulgam district of Jammu and Kashmir. Wani, a militant-turned-soldier who had joined the Armys 162 Infantry Battalion (Territorial Army) Jammu and Kashmir Light Infantry in 2004, will be conferred the award posthumously on Saturday by President Ram Nath Kovind. He loved me so much. For me, he was my guiding light. He always encouraged all of us to make people around us happy, to resolve peoples problems. As a teacher, I am dedicating myself to creating good citizens for my state. Leading the young minds in the right direction is my resolve and I am drawing inspiration for it from my beloved husbandthe best in the world, said Mahajabeen. Refusing to share more details about their school and college days, Mahajabeen said, We met at school. It was love at the first sight. He was a great husband, always fiercely protecting us. Recalling the fateful day of November 25, Mahajabeen said she was at her parents house when the shocking news came. He had telephoned me the previous evening and enquired about our well-being. I had told him to take care of himself. But destiny had something else for him, said Mahajabeen in an interview to PTI. He always wanted to make his 162/TA Jammu and Kashmir Light Infantry battalion proud. For him, duty was supreme. He was a source of inspiration for people in our area and community, said Mahajabeen, who is in her late 30s. On November 25, 38-year-old Wani lost his life in a counter-terror operation against six terrorists in Hirapur village near Batgund, in Shopian. Under intense hail of bullets from the terrorists, he eliminated the district commander of the Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) and one foreign terrorist in a daring display of raw courage, officials said. In the ensuing gunfight, he was hit multiple times including on his head. He also injured another terrorist before succumbing to his grievous wounds, they said. Apart from his wife, he is survived by two sons Athar (20) and Shaid (18). He was a brave soldier and a hero right from the beginning. He always served for peace in his home state of Jammu and Kashmir, said a senior Army official. Wani was a recipient of the Sena Medal for gallantry twice in 2007 and 2018. He always had the interest of the nation in his heart. He operated with Rashtriya Rifles units in Kashmir. Throughout his active life he always willingly faced grave potential threats and was a source of inspiration for others, said one of his colleagues. PTI amansharma@tribunemail.com Majid Jahangir Tribune News Service Srinagar, January 24 With the killing of three local Lashkar-e-Toiba militants on Wednesday, north Kashmir's Baramulla has been declared first militant-free police district of the Valley. Three militants Suhaib Akhoon, Mohsin Bhat of and Nasir Darzi -- all residents of Baramulla district, were killed in a gunfight with joint forces at Binner in the outskirts of Baramulla town. Akhoon was Lashkar's one of the top commanders for north Kashmir and was active since December 2017. "With this (killing of three militants) Baramulla has become first district of Kashmir with no surviving militant as on date," a police statement issued after the gunfight said. "J&K Police extend its thanks to the local population for all their support in providing a better security environment in the district," it added. It is for the first time since the militancy erupted in Kashmir in 1989 that Baramulla police district has no resident militant. Baramulla had always the presence of local militants. In 2015, over 20 militants were active in Baramulla police district and all of them have been neutralised, police said. Baramulla has two police districts -- Baramulla and Sopore. While Baramulla has no resident militant, Sopore sub-district has nearly 30 active militants, including nearly a dozen locals. Senior Superintendent of Police, Baramulla, Imtiyaz Hussain said they don't have a resident militant in Baramulla police district right now. He said they have made huge efforts to prevent youth from joining militancy. "It is not killing of the militant that has been our focus. We have made huge efforts to prevent the boys from joining militancy. The families have been a great support in preventing the recruitment," Senior Superintendent of Police, Baramulla, Imtiyaz Hussain said. While the militant recruitment has been on a high after the killing of Burhan Wani in 2016, north Kashmir's Baramulla district has not seen much recruitment. Last year, when more than 190 youths joined militant ranks across Kashmir -- highest in a decade, very few youths from the Baramulla had taken up arms. Despite less recruitment, there are still 100 militants, majority among them foreigners, active in north Kashmir's Kupwara, Bandipore, Handwara and Sopore. South Kashmir's Pulwama and Shopian has the highest number of active militants among all the district. Shutdown over killing of militants A spontaneous shutdown was observed in Baramulla on Thursday against the killing of three local militants. Forces had also sealed several roads leading to old town and Khanpora to maintain law and order situation. A large number of people shouting "pro-freedom" and "anti-India" attended the funeral prayers of three slain militants. rchopra@tribunemail.com New Delhi, January 24 Maruti Suzuki India on Thursday signed a pact with the Haryana government for setting up a Japan-India Institute for Manufacturing (JIM) to train over 500 youth annually. The company will make an initial investment of Rs 7 crore to establish the model industrial training institute (ITI) at Uncha Majra village in Gurugram district, Maruti Suzuki India (MSI) said in a statement. While the state government has provided land and building, Maruti Suzuki will offer latest equipment and tools, employ industry experts as trainers and ensure students are trained in quality, safety, discipline, kaizen and other Japanese practices so that they are employable and have a sound long-term career, MSI Executive Director (Corporate Planning) AK Tomer said. JIM Uncha Majra, which will be the first in Haryana, is expected to start its first session by August 2019. Nearly 500 youth will be trained at this state-of-the-art model ITI, the company added. The institute will be located near the automobile hub of Manesar, Gurugram, Faridabad and Bhiwadi and will provide the youth with the skills to benefit from this economic opportunity. JIM is born out of collaboration between Japanese and Indian governments to create a pool of skilled manpower for manufacturing in India. The first-ever JIM by Maruti Suzuki was set up at Mehsana, Gujarat, in 2017. PTI editorial@tribune.com Sushil Manav Tribune News Service Chandigarh, January 23 With barely three days of campaigning left, candidates contesting the Jind bypoll have shifted their focus on Jind town, where nearly 60 per cent of the total voters of the constituency live. The Jind Assembly segment has nearly 1.70 lakh voters, and out of them a little over 1 lakh voters live in Jind town. The BJP today organised a road show in Jind town with party candidate Krishan Middha, Urban Development Minister Kavita Jain, Industries Minister Vipul Goel, Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattars personal assistant Rajesh Geol and several other leaders walking through the 6-km-long market stretch, appealing to people for votes. Speaking to traders in the market area, the BJP leaders said it was only the saffron party that had policies for the benefit of the traders. We have ended the practice of Inspector Raj in Haryana, which had become the bane of traders. Now, traders and industrialists dont have to visit government offices for no-objection certificates and other documents. They can simply apply online, said Vipul Goel. Meanwhile, Congress candidate Randeep Surjewala addressed a series of corner meetings in Jind town and promised to change the tasveer and taqdeer (image and fortune) of the constituency once he got elected MLA in the bypoll. Activists of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) today started a door-to-door campaign for the Jananayak Janata Party candidate Digvijay Chautala. Digvijays mother Naina Chautala also addressed meetings in the town and appealed to people to vote for the JJP. G Parthasarathy G Parthasarathy former diplomat One of Indias most remarkable diplomatic achievements has been that it has settled its maritime boundaries with all its eastern neighbours. This has been achieved, not only through bilateral agreements with Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Myanmar, Thailand and Indonesia, but also tripartite agreements to determine tri-junctions, with Myanmar and Thailand, Indonesia and Thailand, and across its eastern and western shores with Sri Lanka and the Maldives. Even arriving at a maritime agreement with Pakistan will not be difficult, once the land boundaries are demarcated. In any case, there have rarely been tensions with Pakistan over maritime boundaries. The readiness to delineate its maritime boundaries in accordance with international law gives India the reputation of being a responsible power. This is in contrast to China, which has maritime disputes with Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, Vietnam, the Philippines, Brunei, Malaysia and Indonesia. India readily implemented a verdict by an international tribunal, which went against its claims on its maritime boundary with Bangladesh. China has, however, violated the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea by rejecting a similar decision on its boundary with the Philippines. Beijing has also used military intimidation to enforce its claims. Another important factor has been Indias cooperation with Myanmar and Bangladesh. We have settled our land borders with them and are moving forward in strengthening trade, investment and connectivity cooperation. Both countries have been helpful in dealing with Indian separatist groups, which seek to operate from their soil. Tough action by Sheikh Hasina forced armed separatists and their leaders like Paresh Barua (ULFA) to move out of Bangladesh and seek refuge in Myanmar, where the writ of the Myanmar government is tenuous. Prospects for such cooperation have been augmented, as Bangladesh and Myanmar welcome regional cooperation in BIMSTEC. A crackdown by the Myanmar army on the Rohingya in Rakhine province has led to over 7 lakh fleeing the country and imposing a huge economic burden on Bangladesh. Their repatriation is becoming harder than expected. Despite negotiations and promises of aid from India, China and Japan, there are not adequate facilities for the refugees to return. Relations between Bangladesh and Myanmar have worsened, with Myanmar alleging that the refugees are being armed in Bangladesh, amid angry denials by Bangladesh. These developments are occurring when China is blatantly interfering in Myanmars internal affairs, while professing to promote contacts between the Myanmar government and insurgent groups operating across the China-Myanmar border. There are 25 insurgent groups in Myanmar, with 15 resorting to armed insurgency. The most powerful of these groups, the United Wa State Army (UWSA) operates from China, across the Shan State in western Myanmar. Indias concerns, however, arise from the fact that the UWSA is now allied to a northern alliance, comprising armed groups linked to the Kachin Independence Army (KIA). The KIA operates from Kachin, bordering Arunachal Pradesh. It has links with the Rohingya-dominated Arakan Rohingya Solidarity Army at Rakhine, bordering India. Moreover, members of the National Socialist Council of Nagaland (NSCN-K), involved in insurgency in Manipur and Nagaland, also routinely move across the Myanmar-China border. Growing Chinese influence in Kachin undermines Myanmars sovereignty. It also adversely affects Indias security interests. The United National Liberation Front of Western South East Asia (UNLFW) is a front of Indian separatist groups comprising the United Liberation Front of Assam, NSCN-K, Kamatapur Liberation Organisation and the National Democratic Front of Bodoland. It operates out of Kachin and its members and leaders reside near the border town of Ruili in Chinas Yunnan, with the freedom to enter and leave the province. The UNLFW was responsible for the ambush of 18 Indian soldiers in Manipur. The UNLFW also operates out of Myanmars Sagaing division bordering Manipur. As Myanmar faces international pressure on the Rohingya, it is turning to China for support, which is taking advantage by attempting to compel Myanmar to accept it as a mediator for working out a political settlement with the armed groups. It is also demanding Myanmars consent to go ahead with the massive, but ecologically damaging Myitsone Dam hydel project, and opposed by the people of Kachin. Given its location, the power produced will be largely consumed in Chinas Yunnan. The project has also been controversial because of the environmental impact on its huge flooding area and its location, barely 60 miles from the earthquake-prone Sagaing fault line. Japan, like India, appears to recognise the dangers of pushing Myanmar to a corner, because it will make it even more dependent on China. The attention of the international community should be on the rehabilitation of refugees, rather than propagandistic posturing on human rights. India and Japan should work jointly to persuade Aung San Suu Kyi and the military in Myanmar, and Sheikh Hasina in Bangladesh to amicably settle the issue. SAARC is now non-functional, but BIMSTEC looks promising, complementing connectivity and trade with measures for promoting better understanding between members security forces. Differences between Myanmar and Bangladesh should not be allowed to worsen, as they will undermine our efforts to promote regional cooperation in our eastern neighbourhood. uttara@tribuneindia.com London, January 24 The High Court of England and Wales on Thursday dismissed a $45-million deceit claim brought by the UK subsidiary of Punjab National Bank (PNB) against seven individuals and two companies, based in India and the US. London-based Punjab National Bank International Limited's (PNBIL) claim concerned eight loans it made between March 29, 2011, and December 1, 2014, for oil re-refining and wind energy generating projects in the US. PNBIL had accused the individuals and companies in question of breach of contract, misrepresentation and deceit. In his judgment at the High Court's Chancery Division, Chief Master Marsh concluded that the bank had failed to make an "arguable case in deceit against the defendants". "(The) core components of a claim in deceit are absent; or if they are present, they are provided as such a high level of abstraction as to be totally inadequate," he notes. Referring to the case as having "an unfortunate history", the judge also pulls up PNBIL for a lack of "frankness" with the court. "It is disturbing that the US claim was not brought to the attention of the court in a plain and direct manner from the outset. It is equally disturbing that the claimant's intention to bring proceedings in Chennai was not investigated and details of the claim was not revealed to the court," the judgment order states. The judge further observed that the failure to draw to the attention of the court the existence of the foreign claims was a "serious breach" of the claimant's duty to the court. UK-based law firm Zaiwalla & Co represented eight of the defendants against PNBILRavi Srinivasan, Trishe Resources INC (USA), Vathsala Ranganathan, Pesco Beam Environmental Solutions INC (USA), Pesco Beam Environmental Solutions Private Limited, Anantharaman Shankar, Luke Staengl and Anantharam Subramamium. The court noted that it was common ground that none of the defendants have any connection with England. However, the contracts were executed in England, the loans were negotiated here and the loan accounts are all held and operated in London. PNBIL had relied on these facts and the willingness of the borrowers and their directors to travel to London for the purposes of arranging the loans as part of its case. "The decision serves as a reminder that serious allegations of fraud have to be supported by cogent facts and evidence: speculative claims will not be permitted to proceed to trial," Zaiwalla & Co said in a statement. "The decision of the court has saved everyone concerned a great deal of time and money by being dismissed at an early stage, although the bank will still face claims for substantial costs as well as having to pay its own costs," it adds. PNB International Ltd had claimed that it had been misled and defrauded by the actions of the defendants following the granting of loans amounting to $45 million to companies in the US and India controlled by the individual defendants. The bank also alleged that money had been siphoned off and payments due had not been made under the loan facilities and guarantees. All the defendants, except one who is US-based, are resident in India and PNBIL, represented by UK-based Cubism Law, had served the proceedings by email on the defendants in India and the US. PNBIL is the wholly-owned subsidiary of Punjab National Bank (PNB) in India, which started its UK operations in 2007 and operates through seven branches around the country. It is yet to officially comment on the ruling. PTI pardeepdhull@gmail.com Davos, January 24 Embattled Renault boss Carlos Ghosn has resigned, Frances economy minister said on Thursday ahead of a board meeting at which the French car maker is to appoint his successors. A senior director from the firm received last night the letter of resignation from Carlos Ghosn, who remains detained in Japan, Economy and Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire told AFP. The Renault board is to meet Thursday at its headquarters near Paris and is tipped to name interim chief executive Thierry Bollore as CEO and the head of tyre manufacturer Michelin, Jean-Dominique Senard, as chairman. Ghosn, who had held both roles, is expected to stay behind bars for several months after seeing a second bail request denied on Tuesday. He faces three separate charges: two of under-declaring his income by tens of millions of dollars over eight years and another of seeking to shift personal investment losses onto Nissan. AFP Terre Haute, IN (47803) Today Thunderstorms likely this morning. Then a chance of scattered thunderstorms this afternoon. A few storms may be severe. High 84F. Winds SW at 10 to 20 mph. Chance of rain 100%.. Tonight Scattered thunderstorms. Low around 70F. Winds SW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 60%. Johnstown, PA (15901) Today Scattered thunderstorms during the morning becoming more widespread this afternoon. Gusty winds and small hail are possible. High near 75F. Winds W at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 80%.. Tonight Thunderstorms likely this evening. Then a chance of scattered thunderstorms overnight. Low 66F. Winds WSW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 80%. Jeff Edelstein is a columnist for The Trentonian. He can be reached at jedelstein@trentonian.com, facebook.com/jeffreyedelstein and @jeffedelstein on Twitter. With apologies to David Lettermans signature skit series of a decade ago, wed like to borrow his title to highlight a few misunderstandings about the nature of trust in business. Heres our list, followed by some comments about the flaws. Do these flawed views of trust merit actually being called stupid? You be the judge. 1. Trust is synonymous with check-the-boxsustainability practices or greening your organization. 2. Blockchain is a road to trust. 3. Loading up corporate communications with trust words du jour elevates brand or organizational trust 4. Elevating data security is a pathway to trust 5. Trust can be chemically induced. While all these ideas represent flawed views of trust, they are not all wrong in the same way. Exploring how they are flawed tells us a lot about what real trust concepts, tools and metrics look like. In each case that follows, well explore the flaw in the concept; then well give a proactive definition of trust and some valid metrics for evaluating it. Trust-as-sustainability. If your business is promoting sustainable practices, good for you. You are helping contribute to a more ecologically aware world and doing something to save the environment. You may also be creating some positive vibes for your brand, and even dare we say being rewarded in the real for-profit world for doing so. But dont confuse that with trust. The most powerful form of trust is personal, not institutional. Policies whether for sustainability or copyright or money-laundering are about as impersonal as you can get. Second, if you are indeed making money by being sustainable, congratulations but youre also raising questions about your motives. If youre doing good in order to be doing well, then your motives are sus-pect, and are actually reasons for most people not to trust you. Blockchain. First, count us among those who see the virtues of block-chain quite apart from its dubious connections to digital currencies certainly Bitcoin. Blockchain is a legitimate and powerful new tool, with valid applications that are only beginning to be scoped out. That said, blockchain doesnt enable trust it brings clarity and efficien-cy to the anti-fraud capabilities of commercial networks (e.g. documenting supply chains, or eliminating the need for title searches in real estate). You are no more likely to trust a realtor or seller with blockchain or with-out: you are simply more sure of the precise level of impersonal systemic risk of fraud inherent in the business. Again, the most powerful form of trust is personal. Those who trusted Bernie Madoff were betrayed by Mr. Madoff, not by the system in which he operated. You can reduce systemic risk by regulation or by block-chain but the decision to trust an advisor is ultimately a personal one. You cant regulate or technologize your way to personal trustworthiness. Vocabulary. It is true that consciously altering an organizations shared vocabulary can have an unconscious effect by nudging peoples perceptions and behaviors including for trustworthiness. But words alone dont do the job. In fact, if words are the only effort tak-en, they can backfire words are also the favored tool of the best propagandists in history. Context, intent and behaviors also matter. Words divorced from action including merely perceived action actively fuel cynicism. In a world where, broadly speaking, trust is on the decline, cynicism is rising. In the face of cynicism, words without action are pre-destined to produce the opposite of what was intended. CEO activism can also create a backfire effect when the words are directed at a third party while the CEOs headquarters are burning. Data Security. In most of the Western world (China is a partial outlier on this one), data security is increasingly important. At the simplest level, this is about fear of having our identities stolen and misused with economic consequences. But it also extends to concerns over privacy. Its tempting to think greater data security adds to trust. But this is the same issue we saw with blockchain, above: a reduction in quantifiable risk is not essentially about trust. Worse, getting closer to risk-free doesnt mean were increasing trust it just means lower levels of risk in our trust decisions. Since trusting is essentially a positive inclination to take a risk, higher levels of data security merely remove roadblocks: they dont say anything about positive levels of trustworthiness. Chemical Trust. Were talking about the popularly cited papers on Oxytocin, sometimes called the trust molecule. Its oh-so tempting to believe that trust can be reduced to a neuro-chemical phenomenon. But there are two powerful reasons to resist that temptation. One is that the early research appears to be just plain wrong. See here, and here, and here. Sorry, folks, it just aint true. And even if it were true that we could isolate a particular set of chemicals (or synapses, or even genes) which explain trust we likely wouldnt trust the resulting trust. Merely describing something in reductionist physical terms doesnt account for the full human meaning of trust. The only practical application of chemical trust would be through chemical induction. But consider: would you trust someones declaration of lifelong friendship if they said it under the influence of five martinis? Would you trust your child with the babysitter if said sitter showed up high as a kite on weed? Defining Trust. So far, we have only nitpicked at stupid definitions of trust. Its time for us to be more proactive, and to put our own stake in the ground. Trust is a relationship. It takes two. It doesnt happen unilaterally; its not real until a trusting party meets a trustworthy party. At the organizational level, trust must be built one stakeholder at a time. Organizations dont build trust they can only facilitate, or hinder, inter-personal trust. Its up to the people who work for them, and that begins with leadership. This means a lot of popular statements are fatally imprecise. If, for example, you see a statement like trust in banking is down, should you infer? That banks are less trustworthy? That people are less trusting of banks? Or some composite measure of both? Nonetheless, it is possible to speak more clearly about trust. The General Social Survey has for years measured the personal propensity to trust. Trusted Advisor Associates has developed the TQ Trust Quotient Self Assessment, which measures personal trustworthiness; and the Four Trust Principles, which are organizational guides to personal behavior in trust-relevant situations. Doug Conant, the former CEO of Campbell Soup, has created the Conant Flywheel, with inspiring trust as the outcome of six drivers. It is note-worthy because it emphasizes the personal nature of trust, and the critical personal role of leaders in creating it. Trust Across America has developed the FACTS Framework, which measures corporate trustworthiness. Trust Across Americas Trust Alliance has also created TAP, a 12-point guide to organizational guidelines also about the personal role of leaders in creating a trust-based organization. Other great trust models exist for measuring trust at the individual, team and organizational level. In fact we have combined them into a new Ebook called Best Trust Models. Organizational trust. If, as we have argued all along, personal trust is stronger than institutional trust, then what sense does it make to talk about trust at the corporate level? That is a very good question, and one that most trust researchers fail to address it may be the stupidest trust trick of all. Merely focusing on corporate reputation, sustainability, rules or other corporate attributes does not address the core, powerful, personal level of trust the most powerful form. Our definition of organizational trust addresses the issue head on. A trust-based organization is one in which people behave in trusting and trustworthy manners toward each other, and toward all stakeholders. The right way to think about trust is that it is all driven and experienced at the personal level: the role of the organization is to help those personal experiences become trust-positive. ____ Barbara Brooks Kimmel, pictured above left, is the CEO and Cofounder of Trust Across America-Trust Around the World whose mission is to help organizations build trust. She also runs the worlds largest global Trust Alliance and is the editor of the award-winning TRUST INC. book series. In 2017 she was named a Fellow of the Governance & Accountability Institute, and in 2012 she was recognized as one of 25 Women who are Changing the World by Good Business International. Charles H. Green, above right, is an author, speaker and world expert on trust-based relationships and sales in complex businesses. Founder and CEO of Trusted Advisor Associates, he is author of Trust-based Selling, and co-author of The Trusted Advisor and the Trusted Advisor Fieldbook. He majored in philosophy (Columbia), and has an MBA (Harvard). He has authored articles in Harvard Business Review, Directorship Magazine, Management Consulting News, CPA Journal, American Lawyer, Investments and Wealth Monitor, and Commercial Lending Review. @IsaacAvilucea on Twitter Isaac Avilucea is The Trentonians main municipal scribe. A two-time prior restraint winner and testicular cancer survivor, he relishes his reputation as the "Mean Girls" reporter that followed his 18-day stay at the now-defunct North Adams Transcript. I can help with walking tours in Denver and New York City. (TRAVPR.COM) USA - January 23rd, 2019 - I have been in business for thirty years.I have worked for travel agencies and airlines. I opened up my own business thirty years ago. I can plan any vacation you are looking for. My expertise and customer service is outstanding. I am here to make you happy and want you to enjoy your vacation. I can help with flights, hotels and crusies. NOTE: Just recently, I have added walking tours. I will personally conduct tours in Denver and New York City. We have a special walking tour coming up in March for St. Patrick's Day and for the arrival of Spring. It will be conducted on Saturday March 16th 2019. We will meet at 11am at St. Patrick's Catherdral. This is for people over fifty who would enjoy the tour but want to make new friends. Tour starts at St Patrick's Catherdral and then we will walk across the street to Beautiful Rockefeller Center and finalize in Greenwich Village. We will walk in the village and then proceed to Monte's Italian Restaurante. Prices are reasonable and delicious. Tour is 25.00 per person. One drink is on me. Dinner or appetizers will be your responsibillity. I will have a little gift for people who join the tour for my appreciation. Thank you ### The prioritization of development constraints in Africa is propelling the private sector among the key sectors that can pull both growth and political will by balancing the power relationship between the state and the private sector. By providing economic thinking focused on the private sector, the Third Africa Emergence Conference used a geometric mindset needed to sort through Africas emergencies. Through the platform of exchange that it offers, this conference provides tangible proof of the necessary cross-border vision that Africa must have on areas such as investment, entrepreneurship, the private sector and the emergence in general. This conference seems to be that machine which will shake the moribund vitality of the African Union worn down by its infernal cycles of dynamism and torpor. It is perhaps this unexpected actor of African integration that the African Union and ECOWAS are struggling to achieve. ICEA helps to understand the problems that Africans share in order to provide a global response. Infrastructures, youth unemployment, instability, the problem of funding are all bad news, evoked by President Macky Sall of Senegal, Malis Ibrahim Boubacar Keita and president Adesina Akinwumi of AfDB at the opening ceremony, along with Frances Segolene Royale, former Minister of the Environment, Achim Steiner, Administrator of the UNDP. Africa on several points is on the same wavelength and the private sector alone crystallizes a significant number of these ills. So the rise of the private sector will be a natural response to the impossible power of the states, the weakness of domestic resource mobilization, that of the African market and Africas lag in technology and digital. Most African countries, as President Macky Sall has pointed out, have taken a break in their economic paradigm, which is reflected in the search for a structural transformation of their economy; Similarly, another breakthrough is taking place in the education system, which is slowly changing to focus on the new technologies and digital technologies that are the Grail of a landmark emerging country like Malaysia. To this must be added the need for another break which is the bureaucratic break to push youth to entrepreneurship. We have a youth whose professional philosophy is to seek to protect themselves from the market by becoming employees of the private or the public service instead of wanting to conquer the market through entrepreneurship: it is said that the best way to become rich is to create a business. The weakness of the private sector in Africa is both an evil and an indicator of our level of development: no country has emerged, affirmed the president of the national council of the employers Baidy Agne, without the development of his private sector which has the ability to accelerate growth dynamics. The state needs the private sector that needs the state and the complexity of this relationship is manifested in the permanent search for a balance between the growth of local businesses and the tax burden, between the use of the foreign expertise and local expertise, between the competition of foreign companies and local businesses, between the financing of local businesses and that of social protection. But states must not be alone in the search for this balance. The private sector must rely more on its independence, organization and creativity because the true ally of the private sector in my judgment is the African private sector; the optimum growth in Africa can only be achieved if African countries link together their men and their resources. This necessitates the emergence of dynamic bodies and institutions representing the African private sector, which certainly needs the state and its reforms in the business environment, for example, but must also be a sort of spur to the political will given the role it plays in a society through the creation of wealth and jobs. Final Statement From 17 to 19 January 2019, at the Abdou Diouf International Conference Center in Diamniadio, Senegal, the third edition of the International Conference on the Emergence of Africa, CIEA III was held. The event was graced by the presence of their Excellencies: Mr. Macky Sall, President of the Republic of Senegal; Mr. Ibrahim Boubacar Keita, President of the Republic of Mali; Dr. TUN Mahathir bin Mohamad, Prime Minister of Malaysia; Mr. Amadou Gon Coulibaly, Prime Minister of the Republic of Cote dIvoire; Mr. Lee Ju Young, Vice President of the National Assembly of the Republic of Korea and; Mrs. Segolene Royal, representative of the President of the French Republic. ICEA III featured the participation of eminent personalities from partner institutions, including Achim Steiner, Administrator of the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), Akinwumi Adesina, President of the African Development Bank Group (AfDB), Hans Peter Lankes, Vice President of the International Finance Corporation of the World Bank Group. Also participating in this meeting were the leaders of international and African institutions through the African Union, ECA, ECOWAS, WAEMU, BOAD, BCEAO and eminent personalities from the private sector, academia, experts and representatives of civil society. More than 1300 decision-makers and experts from around fifty countries around the world have discussed the issue of Emergence, the Private Sector and Inclusiveness. The work of this third edition, which started with a high-level session bringing together heads of state and government, heads of institutions, and business leaders, highlighted six major underlying themes the issue of the conference. These are: Promote stability, both politically and securely, but also maintain the long-term strategy of emergence; Mobilize internal resources and encourage foreign direct investment (FDI) in strategic sectors with technology transfer; Develop human capital with special access to training-employment adequacy; Establish a network of local SMEs / SMIs through better access to financing and better consideration of local content in development projects; Broaden the size of African markets through country connectivity infrastructure and business development reforms and; Initiate a sustainable industrialization dynamic for a better valuation of raw materials. These themes were further explored in discussions in plenary sessions and parallel panels that provided answers to questions relating to the promotion of the private sector as a driver of emergence, and of inclusiveness, a guarantee of the sustainability of emergence. Following the discussions, the Dakar Conference made the following recommendations to stakeholders. States are invited to: establish the conditions for political, institutional and security stability and build a shared long-term vision that transcends political mandates; Maintain efforts to reform the business environment, build productive support infrastructure and connect to markets, as well as training to ensure the employability of young people; Pay particular attention to tax reforms, with a view to better mobilizing domestic resources and; Promote the advent of national and regional champions, and develop intra-African trade through access to expanded markets. For its part, the private sector has welcomed the willingness of states to support the rise of national champions. As such, it will have to be part of a long-term dynamic and exploit the opportunities offered by innovative public-private partnerships. In addition, the private sector is expected to play its full role in the process of enhancing African products through natural resource processing and the use of innovation. Also, it recognizes the importance of its role in the implementation of initiatives promoting the development of labor productivity as well as social and territorial inclusion. The technical and financial partners reiterate their support for the efforts of States to formulate Emergence Strategies and to mobilize additional financial resources. They also reaffirm their willingness to support private initiative, through the revitalization of the corresponding windows. The conference recognized the importance of the sustainability and institutionalization of the meetings of the ICEA and recommends that the States, the private sector and the partner institutions work to make it a powerful lever of exchange of experiences to guarantee the fulfillment of their ambitions. Thus, the fourth edition of the ICEA to be held in March 2021 in Abidjan will provide an opportunity to evaluate and learn from this initiative. With this in mind, an Executive Secretary has been appointed to operationalize the ICEA Roadmap as soon as possible. Diamniadio, January 19, 2019. Furloughed IRS employees defy order to go back to work without pay Kansas City, Mo. - Tax-filing season officially begins next Monday. The Trump administration has ordered thousands of furloughed IRS employees back to work without pay to process returns, but hundreds are defying that order. Shannon Ellis said she can no longer afford to go to work. "It's too expensive to put gasoline in. Local IRS workers arenot the border wall as they struggle to survive . . .and there's really. . . Moreover, only the most loyal of all MAGA souls would argue that voters like Prez Trump more than their money . . . Here's the local damage: Man shot, killed in Overland Park Police in Overland Park are asking the public for information after a man was shot and killed Wednesday night. Crime continues to spike in the Golden Ghetto and this time around there's a body count along with an ongoing investigation. Here's the latest: Man known as "Ninja Burglar" is in jail after breaking into 28 Kansas City businesses KANSAS CITY, MO (KCTV) -- Along 39th Street, the suspect busted his way into three businesses in one night. Police say surveillance video from those businesses and others helped them track down a serial business burglar. More deets and spy cam footage of this prolific local crook who terrorized local big for years until he was finally apprehend by authorities. Take a look: The places we're most excited to dine and drink in KC in 2019 April Fleming Kansas City produced a bumper crop of new and ambitious restaurants in 2018, and the forecast calls for a bountiful harvest in 2019. Below, a preview of where we plan to drain our bank accounts in the coming year. The Pitch continues to play ketchup to better magazines like FEAST in their desperate search for dead tree media sponsors and influence over the growing local foodie game . . . On the bright side, they did manage to come up with a pretty decent list. Take a look: KANSAS CITY, Mo. - An Overland Park, Kansas man threatened to kill a girl's family if she did not send him nude photographs, according to court documents released Wednesday. Earlier this month, Johnson County prosecutors charged Logan Paul Clements, 21, with attempted rape of a child under the age of 14, electronic solicitation of a minor and blackmail. The history of The Paseo and why some neighbors are against changing the name KANSAS CITY, Mo. - The latest debate over renaming The Paseo to honor Martin Luther King, Jr. is almost a year old. As the for a vote on the issue, 41 Action News is looking back at the history of the prominent boulevard. One year of discussion hasn't offered any consensus about a controversial proposed name change of an iconic local street . . . The Revs promised a public vote butfrom their election efforts that would've required a funding mechanism and public disclosure. Now the move to ram through legislation has encountered growing public resistance as faith community leaders look to create political and racial dividing lines whilst a growing number of residents seem to agree the 63rd street solution makes more sense . . . More background here: (Image credit: Casimiro PT/Shutterstock) Microsofts Bing search engine has been unexpectedly blocked in China without any official statement from the government. Microsoft has confirmed that its search engine is currently inaccessible in China after reports by several media entities saying Bing could no longer be accessed at least in certain parts of the country. Greatfire.org, a group that tracks which websites are blocked in China, pointed out that when China blocks a services, it takes some time for the blockade to spread across the country. Chinese officials have refused to comment on the issue, but this is not particularly out of the ordinary for the Chinese government, which rarely discusses how or why it censors particular information sources. Playing by Chinas Rules Failed When Google quit China, Microsoft saw that as an opportunity to take its place. Ever since, the company has done everything the government has asked of it and more, including censoring all content the Chinese government didnt want its citizens to see. The company has even misdirected Chinese users to governments own accounts about certain events or people. For instance, in China, Bing would redirect users to the governments own content about Dalai Lama, while outside of the country it would link to Dalai Lamas Wikipedia page. In order to appease the Chinese government Microsoft also allowed real-time interception of Skype messages within the country. The company agreed to sell a "government-approved" version of Windows that would better comply with the country's laws, including the cybersecurity law requiring back doors in tech products. To build the government-approved version of Windows 10, Microsoft had to partner with a state-run company that makes electronics for the Chinese military. Chinese Electronics Technology Corporation is also a major supplier of surveillance technology in Xinjiang. Anti-Baidu Message The news about Bing being blocked also comes days after a message about Baidu being dead as a search engine became viral in China. The message came from Fang Kecheng, a doctoral candidate at the Annenberg School for Communication at University of Pennsylvania. Fang accused Baidu, the dominant Chinese search engine in the country, of replacing many recommended web links and products with its own, thus becoming more of a marketing platform than a search engine. Bing compromised in order to have a Chinese version to get into the country. It would be pathetic if even this cant exist. We have one less alternative," Fang said. Google recently suffered a backlash and protests from its employees over the companys covert attempt to get back into China. When caught, the company said that it would be better for the Chinese users if it offered a censored search engine rather than not being available there at all. However, it seems that this strategy may no longer work anyway under permanent president Xi Jinping. Microsoft's HoloLens was first announced four years ago as a solution for the corporate and education worlds. The device, an augmented-reality headset, aims at making people more productive and creating new ways for people to learn. But at a price of $5,000, its exceedingly expensive. And that has largely limited its broader appeal. (Image credit: Microsoft) Now, though, reports are surfacing that suggest a new version of Microsoft's HoloLens is set to be unveiled at Mobile World Congress in February. Microsoft hasn't confirmed that's the case and there's still a chance that the HoloLens 2 might not be unveiled until later in the year, but if anything is certain, it's that a new version is coming. Many are hoping that the HoloLens 2 will appeal to consumers, but you should expect a lighter design, more affordable price and wider field of view, among other improvements. Here are all the latest rumors on the HoloLens 2. Price and availability It's no secret the HoloLens is expensive. So it's perhaps no surprise that Microsoft is exploring ways to reduce its price. (Image credit: Microsoft) According to a report from MSPoweruser, Microsoft is eyeing a new design that will reduce the number of parts inside the device. The move could allow for a revamped look and feel, of course, but should also bring down the price of the wearable. We don't know yet how low the price could go, but expect it to be cheaper than the current lofty figure. Exactly when it'll launch, however, is anyone's guess. Microsoft made the somewhat surprising announcement recently that it'll hold a news event at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona on Feb. 24. Microsoft didn't say in the announcement what it will announce, but it did reveal that CEO Satya Nadella, Corporate Vice President of Cloud Julia White and Technical Fellow Alex Kipman will all be in attendance. MORE: Best VR Headsets Interestingly, Kipman is the head of Microsoft's mixed reality efforts, which include HoloLens. That's largely the reason a HoloLens 2 unveiling at Mobile World Congress seems likely. A new design? Much of what we think we know about the new HoloLens design centers on a patent Microsoft filed and MSPowerUser obtained in January. (Image credit: MSPowerUser) That patent, called "Compact Optical System With MEMS Scanners for Image Generation and Object Tracking," describes a new method for creating holograms using a single light source. The lighting system would also be used to sense depth and recognize gestures. Since the first-generation HoloLens used multiple components to create the same functionality, it needed more space. The HoloLens 2 would likely be smaller and less bulky. In fact, Microsoft said that the technology would pave the way for "producing compact and lightweight NED devices." NED stands for Near-Eye-Display, a class of products the HoloLens would fall into. Wider field of view Microsofts first-generation HoloLens was hit hard by criticism that its native field-of-view of just 35 degrees wasnt adequate. Its been one of the biggest complaints about the device to date. (Image credit: Tom's Guide) However, a Twitter user going by the handle WalkingCat in 2018 discovered a patent Microsoft filed called MEMS Laser Scanner Having Enlarged FOV. The patent describes a method for offering a device like the HoloLens, but expanding its field of view from 35 degrees to 70 degrees. Interestingly, the patent was filed in 2016 and says that the actual embodiment of the technology might have an even wider field of view. In other words, Microsoft is at least hearing what people are saying and dreaming up ways to get a wider field of view in the HoloLens. Whether itll be able to pull it off in HoloLens 2 is unknown. Qualcomm Snapdragon inside In a disappointing move for Intel, which powered the first HoloLens, Microsoft is reportedly planning to rely on Qualcomm to power its HoloLens 2. According to a Neowin report, Microsoft has decided to opt for the Qualcomm Snapdragon 850 Mobile Compute Platform for this year's HoloLens 2. The processor, which is actually designed for notebooks, should be far more power-efficient than the Intel alternatives, according to reports. Additionally, the chip has built-in LTE connectivity for mobile users and will likely offer enough power for any corporate or educational use. MORE: Qualcomm's Snapdragon 850 Chip Gives Always-Connected PCs a Second Chance A Microsoft coprocessor In addition to its built-in processor, Microsoft is also planning a coprocessor that it developed to power the artificial intelligence features in HoloLens 2. In fact, we can confirm that the chip is coming to the HoloLens 2 because Microsoft itself said that it was designing it for the device back in 2017. Microsoft didn't say too much about the coprocessor at the time, but did say that it'll be designed to run continuously and process data for deep neural networks. In other words, the coprocessor won't handle any of the actual HoloLens computing needs (that's the Qualcomm chip's job), but will be able to interpret relevant information and offer artificial intelligence without relying on an external source, like the cloud, to do it. A Special Windows 10 According to several reports, Microsoft is working on a custom version of Windows 10 that will run inside the HoloLens 2. We don't know much about the software, but if it's in the works, look to hear more about it at Mobile World Congress. Apple is at last working to advance one of the most overlooked pieces of technology in phones: Batteries. The Cupertino company has hired a big expert from Samsung to head its battery development group, which we can only hope to be as successful as the A series CPU group. A Bloomberg article claims that Apple has snatched Soonho Ahn from battery maker Samsung SDI Co. as global head of battery developments. According to his profile, Ahn worked on next generation battery technology as senior VP of Samsung SDI. In the past, Apple has used batteries from the Korean manufacturer. But why start a new battery development group at Apple now? There are three answers to this: Qualcomm, the phenomenal success of the A series processors, and the lousy battery situation on Apples phones and most smartphones. Lessening third-party dependency The legal battle with Qualcomm and its dependency on that company for modems is something Apple wants to avoid on the battery front. When the Cupertino company sued Qualcomm, Apple COO Jeff Williams claimed in court, the latter company barred Apple from access to its 4G LTE modems. And right now Apple cant jump into the 5G fray because of Qualcomm, as Intel doesn't seem to be ready. MORE: Smartphones With the Longest Battery Life - A Comparison Williams said the royalty price is too damn high, adding fire to the FTC accusation that Qualcomm is effectively operating a modem chip monopoly. Regardless of the result of that lawsuit or the truth in those accusations, the fact is that Apple heavily depends on others. Third parties provide with displays, batteries and other components. Apple believes it can do everything much better Which brings us to the second factor to explain this move: Apples A series processors have been nothing sort of amazing. The custom processors have been beating everything that other manufacturers throw at it. The A12 Bionic clearly beats the latest Qualcomm Snapdragon, Samsung Exynos, and Huawei Karin. However, benchmark results show that the Snapdragon 855 has dramatically narrowed the gap with the iPhone. Understandably, this leads Apple to believe that they can do everything better . After all, the processor is the most advanced and complex part in any piece of electronics. So why not develop their own components to make them a lot better than third parties and stop the dependencies? MORE: 10 Tips to Boost Your iPhone's Battery Life It makes sense, but it may be harder. Apple bought boutique processor designer firm P.A. Semi in 2008. The company already came with ARM-based designs and tons of expertise, which crystallized in the A series. But this may be hard to repeat, and we may not see meaningful progress for quite a bit of time. The repeatedly delayed AirPower, Apples much touted custom wireless charging technology, shows that creating core technologies from scratch (as opposed to just assembling components) is hard. The simple need for better batteries And lastly, but even more importantly, theres the crappy batteries. Im not even talking about the batterygate scandal that prompted a worldwide battery replacement program to avoid further PR and legal battles. Or the fact that, despite the more efficient A12 processors, the iPhone XS' battery life is significantly worse compared to other phones with larger battery packs. Whether it's because of design reasons or safety reasons, Apple uses batteries with less capacity than its competition. Those are just symptoms of a much larger problem. The battery makers doesnt seem to be in a hurry to invent the Next Big Thing. What we really need are that pack a lot more power in much tighter volumes, with long operating lives so our phones work fast longer and we dont have to replace them at a cost for our pockets and the environment. Apple may be aiming at doing exactly that, creating a unique advantage that they simply dont have right now. Silva: No official contact made regarding Gueye Thursday, 24 January, 2019 Marco Silva has confirmed that, as far as he is concerned, there has been no official approach made for Idrissa Gueye. Despite reports suggesting that Everton have told Paris St Germain that the Senegal international is not for sale and claims, mostly in France, that an opening offer has been made and that PSG have been encouraged by the player's general agreement over personal terms, Silva is adamant that there has not been a bid so far. The Portuguese was asked about the situation during his press conference this morning and he lent credence to a report in the Liverpool Echo this week that said there has yet to be official contact from PSG regarding Gueye. For me it's new, Silva said. We haven't had one offer, not one club has made an official offer for Gana. Of course, I'm speaking with him like do with all the other [players]. He is focused on our club and he is working to give his best. There is nothing more to say about that. Asked if he felt there had, perhaps, been an illegal approach made for the player, Silva replied: Until now, what I can tell you is there are no offers have come in to us for Gana. If there's something illegal, I don't know. Meanwhile, Silva also addressed the situation regarding Yannick Bolasie who unexpectedly returned from his loan spell at Aston Villa this week. As was the case last summer when the winger was informed that he wouldn't be part of the manager's plans, Bolasie has little chance of playing first-team football at Goodison over the remainder of the season and may be farmed out on loan again, perhaps to his former club, Crystal Palace. [Another loan] is a possibility, of course," Silva said. "Until now we have had no enquiries. We will do what is the best solution for him and us as a club. "We have four wingers in our squad and we are happy with them. What I don't want is for Bolasie not to play again. It doesn't mean I have already decided what will happen. "Let's see what will happen at the end of the market. When he took the decision to come back we didn't expect it, even though he has that option in his contract. "[H]e knows [he is unlikely to get game time]. I took that decision last summer, because I realised it would be difficult for him to get the minutes he wants. About these ads [January 24, 2019] AM Best Comments on Credit Ratings of Great-West Lifeco, Inc. and Its Subsidiaries Following Announced Reinsurance Agreement AM Best has commented that the Credit Ratings of Great-West Lifeco, Inc. (Great-West) (Winnipeg, Manitoba) and its insurance subsidiaries remain unchanged following the announcement of a reinsurance agreement with subsidiaries of Protective Life Corporation (Protective). Based on the terms of the agreement, Great-West estimates that the transaction will result in an after-tax transaction value of approximately USD 1.2 billion (CAD 1.6 billion), excluding one-time expenses and subject to contingent post-closing adjustments. The value includes a significant positive ceding commission to their U.S. entities and a capital release of approximately USD 400 million (CAD 530 million). The business to be transferred, which is marketed under the Great-West Financial brand, includes bank-owned and corporate-owned life insurance, single premium life insurance, individual annuities, and closed block life insurance and annuities. This business contributed approximately USD 95 million (CAD 120 million), to Great-West's net earnings for the first three quarters of 2018. The deal consists of seasoned blocks of business from Great-West Life & Annuity Insurance Company, Great-West Life & Annuity Insurance Company of New York, The Canada Life Assurance Company (U.S. Branch) and The Great-West Life Assurance Company (U.S. Branch). The transaction is targeted to close in the second quarter of 2019 and allows Great-West to focus on the retiement and asset management markets in the U.S. AM Best notes that the transaction, while sizable, has a modest impact to Great-West's overall financial position and business profile given the company's large global footprint and product diversification. This press release relates to Credit Ratings that have been published on AM Best's website. For all rating information relating to the release and pertinent disclosures, including details of the office responsible for issuing each of the individual ratings referenced in this release, please see AM Best's Recent Rating Activity web page. For additional information regarding the use and limitations of Credit Rating opinions, please view Understanding Best's Credit Ratings. For information on the proper media use of Best's Credit Ratings and AM Best press releases, please view Guide for Media - Proper Use of Best's Credit Ratings and AM Best Rating Action Press Releases. AM Best is a global rating agency and information provider with a unique focus on the insurance industry. Visit www.ambest.com for more information. Copyright 2019 by A.M. Best Rating Services, Inc. and/or its affiliates. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20190124005830/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [January 24, 2019] iSIGN Media Announces a New Director TORONTO, Jan. 24, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- iSIGN Media Solutions Inc. (iSIGN or Company) (TSX-V: ISD) (OTC: ISDSF), a leading provider of interactive mobile proximity marketing and public security alert solutions, is pleased to announce that at our recent Annual General Meeting, Mark Thimmig, a leading expert in digital marketing and brand development, was voted onto iSIGNs Board of Directors. Mr. Thimmig is the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of California-based Conservaco, LLC and Ignite Agency, focusing on brand and product launch and re-launch through brand development, Omni-Channel, integrated marketing, public relations and communication services. Ignite Agency is one of the leading equity and non-equity crowdfunding and PR firms in the world. Mr. Thimmig brings 35 plus years of executive experience to iSIGN, having held senior leadership positions with Fortune 100/500 companies, in various executive roles including Chief Executive and President, as well as serving on various Boards as a Director. His past business experience includes the founding and leading of multiple companies along with senior management roles at General Motors, AutoNation, Phaeton Automotive Group, Vasity Group and Coopers & Lybrand. Mr. Thimmigs background includes: Global Entrepreneurship; visioning, transforming, innovating and communicating; education management; commercial real-estate; facilities development and management; finance, mergers and acquisitions; technologies and esports business development; start-ups; brand strategy and management; team building; strategic partnerships and alliances. Mr. Thimmig holds a Bachelor of Business Administration, Summa Cum Laude from Northwood University. He also attended The University of Pennsylvania The Wharton School, Executive Leadership Program and The Harvard Business School, Executive Finance Program. About iSIGN Media iSIGN, a Canadian company based in Toronto, Ontario, is a data-focused, software-as-a-service (SaaS) company that is a pioneering leader in the areas of location-based security alert messaging and proximity marketing utilizing Bluetooth and Wi-Fi connectivity in complete privacy. Creators of the Smart suite of products, a patented interactive proximity marketing technology, iSIGN enables the delivery of messages to mobile devices in proximity, with real-time reporting and analytics on a variety of metrics. Partners include: IBM, Keyser Retail Solutions, Baylor University, Verizon Wireless, TELUS and Mtrex Network Solutions. www.isignmedia.com 2019 iSIGN Media Solutions Inc. All Rights Reserved. All other trademarks and trade names are the property of their respective owners. Company contact: Alex Romanov iSIGN Media Solutions Inc. alex@isignmedia.com Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor Its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the accuracy of this release. [January 24, 2019] Food Banks Impacted by Government Shutdown Receive Unilever Product Donation Valued at Over $2 Million Unilever is donating food supplies and personal care products valued at over $2 million to food banks through its partnership with Feeding America. The nonprofit is accepting donations as government workers and contractors directly affected by the shutdown are turning to their local food banks to help put food on their tables. Unilever is also making this donation in anticipation of impacts to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). The donations from Unilever include food items and personal care products that Feeding America has identified as in-need at impacted food banks. Unilever brands will donate items with an estimated retail value of $2.1 million, including: Hellmann's condiments condiments Knorr Mealmakers Mealmakers Suave hair care, bodywash, hand & body lotion, and deodorant hair care, bodywash, hand & body lotion, and deodorant Dove bodywash bodywash St. Ives bodywash and hand & body lotion bodywash and hand & body lotion Pond's face cream face cream Axe bodywash bodywash Seventh Generation diapers and feminine products To make sure Unilever's products reach the impacted areas, Unilever logistics provider Landstar Global Logistics is donating its shipping services. "No one should go hungry or be without basic hygiene essentials because of the government shutdown," said Amanda Sourry, president of Unilever North America. "When our partners at Feeding America told us of the increased demand in impacted areas, we jumped at the opportunity to help, as did our partners at Landstar. The people impacted have dedicated themselves to civil service, and it's our turn to help serve them by ensuring their needs are met during the shutdown." In response to the increased demand created by the government shutdown, Feeding America established a Shutdown Response Fund. These resources are dedicated to supporting the network of food banks that are on the front lines of feeding families who now need assistance due to the loss of income caused by the shutdown. Resources are distributed by Feeding America based on where impacted federal workers live and how many SNAP recipients are being served per location. "Every day, the Feeding America network of 200 member food banks are on the ground helping children and families who need it most. During the shutdown, food banks have seen an increased need from hardworking men and women who struggle to put food on their tables," said Andy Wilson, chief development officer at Feeding America. "We are truly grateful to Unilever for helping people when they need it most." This donation is in addition to Unilever's regular ongoing support of Feeding America, which includes financial support, product donations, and employee volunteerism. Unilever has a 40-year history of partnering with Feeding America to provide food and supplies to millions of people facing hunger in communities across the United States. About Unilever North America Unilever is one of the world's leading suppliers of Beauty & Personal Care, Home Care, and Foods & Refreshment products with sales in over 190 countries and reaching 2.5 billion consumers a day. In the United States and Canada, the portfolio includes brand icons such as: Axe, Ben & Jerry's, Breyers, Degree, Dollar Shave Club, Dove, Hellmann's, Klondike, Knorr, Lever 2000, Lipton, Love Beauty and Planet, Magnum, Nexxus, Noxzema, Pond's, Popsicle, Pure Leaf, Q-tips, Seventh Generation, Simple, Sir Kensington's, St. Ives, Suave, Talenti Gelato & Sorbetto, TAZO, TIGI, TRESemme and Vaseline. All of the preceding brand names are trademarks or registered trademarks of the Unilever Group of Companies. Unilever employs approximately 9,000 people across North America - generating more than $10 billion in sales in 2017. Unilever's Sustainable Living Plan underpins the company's strategy and commits to: Helping more than a billion people take action to improve their health and well-being by 2020. Halving the environmental impact of our products by 2030. Enhancing the livelihoods of millions of people by 2020. The USLP creates value by driving growth and trust, eliminating costs and reducing risks. Globally, the company's sustainable living brands grew 46% faster than the rest of the business and delivered more than 70% of the company's growth in 2017. For more information on Unilever U.S. and its brands visit: www.unileverusa.com For more information on Unilever Canada and its brands visit: www.unilever.ca About Landstar Landstar System, Inc. is a worldwide, asset-light provider of integrated transportation management solutions delivering safe, specialized transportation services to a broad range of customers utilizing a network of agents, third-party capacity providers and employees. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20190124005817/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [January 24, 2019] Making Moves: ACM SIGGRAPH Reveals Leadership for 2021 Conference in Los Angeles Inching closer to its 50-year milestone, the 48th ACM SIGGRAPH conference appoints Pol Jeremias-Vila, of Pixar Animation Studios, as chair. Jeremias-Vila, originally from Barcelona, Spain, is a lead graphics engineer with the renowned animation house and has been a consistent force in helping to elevate the conference in recent years. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20190124005814/en/ Photo of Pol Jeremias-Vila at the SIGGRAPH conference in Los Angeles by John Fujii 2017 ACM SIGGRAPH "Pol has proven time and again that he is a visionary, and we cannot wait to see how that translates to SIGGRAPH 2021," noted SIGGRAPH Conference Advisory Group Chair Marc Barr. "He was a key driver of expanding on our VR offerings to the storytelling arena with the VR Theater, which has demonstrated its staying power and is currently prepping for a third year as part of the Computer Animation Festival." Jeremias-Vila's visionary status does not stop there. In addition to his credits on films such as "Incredibles 2," "Coco," and "Finding Dory," and games like "Star Wars 1313," he is a co-founder of Shadertoy.com, a website that enables graphics enthusiasts to create and share rendering knowledge. Since 2012, Jeremias-Vila has been actively involved with ACM SIGGAPH, holding multiple roles on past conference committees, including as Computer Animation Festival Director, Real-Time Live! Chair, and Virtual, Augmented and Mixed Reality Chair, as well as serving as a content contributor and juror. He holds a M.S. in computer science from the University of Southern California. "I cannot wait to get to work planning SIGGRAPH 2021 in L.A.," said Jeremias-Vila. "The conference has been a huge part of my life, and the opportunities for inspiration are endless - not to mention the chance this role affords me to give back to an amazing creative community, my computer graphics family." SIGGRAPH 2021 will take place at the Los Angeles Convention Center, 1-5 August 2021. As interest in the conference grows - SIGGRAPH 2018 hosted more than 16,500 attendees from 87 countries - and excitement builds for SIGGRAPH 2019 (also in Los Angeles), Jeremias-Vila and team are well positioned for an unforgettable ride. Pol Jeremias-Vila will follow SIGGRAPH 2020 Conference Chair Kristy Pron, media arts and pipeline developer at Walt Disney (News - Alert) Imagineering, set to take the conference on its first visit to Washington, D.C. next year. For more information on ACM SIGGRAPH visit SIGGRAPH.org. About ACM, ACM SIGGRAPH and SIGGRAPH Conferences ACM, the Association for Computing Machinery, is the world's largest educational and scientific computing society, uniting educators, researchers, and professionals to inspire dialogue, share resources, and address the field's challenges. ACM SIGGRAPH is a special interest group within ACM that serves as an interdisciplinary community for members in research, technology, and applications in computer graphics and interactive techniques. SIGGRAPH conferences, held in North America and Asia, are the world's leading annual interdisciplinary educational experiences showcasing the latest in computer graphics and interactive techniques. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20190124005814/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [January 24, 2019] Macquarie Global Infrastructure Total Return Fund Inc. Announces Tax Character of 2018 Distributions Macquarie Global Infrastructure Total Return Fund Inc. (NYSE:MGU) ("MGU" or "Fund") today announced tax information regarding its dividend distributions for 2018. The source of distributions declared in 2018 is detailed below. Under the rules applicable to regulated investment companies, MGU has elected to pass foreign taxes through to shareholders. Shareholders of the fund may be able to claim a deduction or a credit on their federal income tax return for the foreign taxes paid by the Fund. Foreign taxes paid in 2018 amounted to $0.134844 per share (on foreign source income of 91.26%) which has the effect of increasing the reportable ordinary income dividends to $1.289987 per share. A summary of the reportable dividends is provided below: COMMON SHARES (CUSIP: 55608D101) Record Date Payable Date Investment Income Short- Term Capital Gain Foreign Taxes Paid (News - Alert) Total Ordinary Income Long-Term Capital Gain 3/16/2018 3/29/2018 $0.355298 - $0.033711 $0.389009 $0.014702 6/15/2018 6/29/2018 $0.355298 - $0.033711 $0.389009 $0.014702 9/18/2018 9/28/2018 $0.405298 - $0.033711 $0.439009 $0.014702 12/14/2018 12/28/2018 $0.039249 - $0.033711 $0.072960 $0.380751 Totals $1.155143 - $0.134844 $1.289987 $0.424857 21.94% of the ordinary income for 2018 qualifies for the corporate dividends received deduction. In addition, 91.09% of the ordinary income meets the requirements regarding qualified dividend income. This information is available on our website at www.macquarie.com/mgu. About the Macquarie Global Infrastructure Total Return Fund Inc. Macquarie Global Infrastructure Total Return Fund Inc., a diversified closed-end fund, is listed on the NYSE. The Fund's investment adviser is Macquarie Capital Investment Management LLC, which is a part of Macquarie Asset Management and a wholly-owned, indirect subsidiary of Macquarie Group Limited. Past performance is no assurance of future results. Investment return and market value of an investment in the Fund will fluctuate. Shares, when sold, may be worth more or less than their original costs. An investor should consider investment objectives, risks, charges and expenses carefully before investing. Forward-looking statements are based on information that is available on the date hereof, and neither the Investment Adviser nor any other person affiliated with the Investment Adviser has any duty to update any forward-looking statements. Important factors that could affect actual results to differ from these statements include, among other factors, material, negative changes to the asset class and the actual composition of the portfolio. Investments in the Fund are not deposits with or other liabilities of Macquarie Bank Limited ABN 46 008 583 542 ("MBL") nor any Macquarie Group company and are subject to investment risk, including possible delays in repayment and loss of income and principal invested. Neither MBL nor any other member company of the Macquarie Group guarantees the performance of the Fund or the repayment of capital from the Fund or any particular rate of return. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20190124005812/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [January 24, 2019] ResMed Inc. Announces Results for the Second Quarter of Fiscal Year 2019 ResMed Inc. (NYSE: RMD, ASX: RMD), a world-leading connected health company, today announced results for its quarter ended December 31, 2018. Second Quarter 2019 Highlights Revenue increased 8% to $651.1 million; up 9% on a constant currency basis Gross Margin expanded 70bps to 58.9% Net operating profit increased 8%; non-GAAP operating profit up 15% GAAP diluted earnings per share of $0.86; non-GAAP diluted earnings per share of $1.00 "We had a solid quarter with top-line growth and gross margin expansion, as well as continued fiscal discipline to drive leverage and improved operating profit," said Mick Farrell, ResMed's CEO. "Our new AirFit F30 and AirFit N30i masks have been launched in many markets, and mask sales are growing well globally. During the quarter we further expanded our software and device ecosystems, through the acquisitions of MatrixCare and Propeller Health, to provide digital health solutions to millions more people worldwide. We are empowering people to live healthier and happier lives where they live, and we are doing this by providing innovative software, services, and solutions to improve outcomes, create efficiencies, and reduce overall healthcare system costs." Financial Results and Operating Metrics Unaudited; $ in millions, except for per share amounts Three Months Ended December 31, 2018 December 31, 2017 % Change Constant Currency (A) Revenue $ 651.1 $ 601.3 8 % 9 % Gross margin 58.9 % 58.2 % 1 Selling, general and administrative expenses 161.6 151.8 6 8 Research and development expenses 43.1 40.6 6 9 Income from operations 157.1 146.0 8 Non-GAAP income from operations 181.1 157.3 15 Net income 124.6 9.5 1,208 Non-GAAP net income 144.5 143.8 0 Diluted earnings per share $ 0.86 $ 0.07 1,129 Non-GAAP diluted earnings per share $ 1.00 $ 1.00 - Six Months Ended December 31, 2018 December 31, 2017 % Change Constant Currency (A) Revenue $ 1,239.4 $ 1,124.9 10 % 11 % Gross margin 58.6 % 58.3 % 1 Selling, general and administrative expenses 308.9 295.7 4 6 Research and development expenses 81.9 78.1 5 9 Income from operations 301.2 258.6 16 Non-GAAP income from operations 338.1 281.7 20 Net income 230.4 95.7 141 Non-GAAP net income 260.7 238.0 10 Diluted earnings per share $ 1.60 $ 0.67 139 Non-GAAP diluted earnings per share $ 1.81 $ 1.66 9 (A) In order to provide a framework for assessing how our underlying businesses performed excluding the effect of foreign currency fluctuations, we provide certain financial information on a "constant currency basis", which is in addition to the actual financial information presented. In order to calculate our constant currency information, we translate the current period financial information using the foreign currency exchange rates that were in effect during the previous comparable period. However, constant currency measures should not be considered in isolation or as an alternative to U.S. dollar measures that reflect current period exchange rates, or to other financial measures calculated and presented in accordance with U.S. GAAP. Discussion of Second Quarter Results Revenue in the U.S., Canada, and Latin America, excluding Software as a Service, grew by 9 percent compared to the prior year period, driven by strong sales across our mask and device product portfolios. Revenue in combined Europe, Asia and other markets grew by 1 percent on a constant currency basis compared to the same period of the prior year. Mask sales were strong across these markets. As expected, device sales in France and Japan were impacted as customers completed their connected device upgrade programs. Device sales outside France and Japan grew well. Software as a Service revenue increased by 63 percent, compared to the prior year period, due to continued growth in our Brightree service offerings and incremental contribution from the acquisition of MatrixCare, which closed in the second quarter and HEALTHCARE first, which closed in the first quarter. which closed in the first quarter. Gross margin expanded by 70 basis points over the prior year period, primarily due to benefits from manufacturing and procurement efficiencies, product mix changes and higher margin contribution from MatrixCare, partially offset by declines in average selling prices. Selling, general and administrative expenses increased by 6 percent compared to the prior year period, or by 8 percent on a constant currency basis. Excluding the impact of recent acquisitions, selling, general and administrative expenses increased by 4 percent on a constant currency basis. SG&A expenses improved to 24.8 percent of revenue in the quarter, compared with 25.2 percent in the same period of the prior year. Income from operations increased by 8 percent and non-GAAP income from operations increased by 15 percent compared to the prior year period. Net income increased by 1,208 percent, predominantly attributable to the one-time transition tax recognized in the prior year quarter, and non-GAAP net income remained stable compared to the prior year period. Non-GAAP measures adjust for amortization of acquired intangibles, MatrixCare deferred revenue, acquisition-related expenses, and the impact of U.S. tax reform. GAAP diluted earnings per share increased by 1,129 percent, predominantly attributable to the one-time transition tax recognized in the prior year quarter, and non-GAAP diluted earnings per share remained stable compared with the same period of the prior year. Cash flow from operations for the quarter was $129.5 million, compared to net income in the current quarter of $124.6 million. During the quarter we paid $52.8 million in dividends. Other Business and Operational Highlights Completed the acquisition of MatrixCare, a leader in software solutions for more than 15,000 providers across skilled nursing, life plan communities, senior living and private duty, for consideration of $750.0 million. Commenced the previously announced joint venture with Verily, combining ResMed's expertise in sleep apnea and Verily's advanced health data analytics technologies, to study the health and financial impacts of undiagnosed and untreated sleep apnea, and to develop software solutions that enable healthcare providers to more efficiently identify, diagnose, treat and manage individuals with sleep apnea and other breathing-related sleep disorders. Announced the acquisition of Propeller Health, a digital therapeutics company providing connected health solutions for people living with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and asthma, for $225.0 million. The transaction closed on January 7, 2019. Through Brightree, acquired Apacheta Corporation, a cloud-based Software as a Service provider offering mobile applications that empower companies to automate and streamline processes in route sales, field marketing, pick-up and delivery, transportation, and field services. Named one of America's top 100 corporate citizens for the third straight year by Forbes and JUST Capital. ResMed ranked #18 out of 890 large publicly traded U.S. companies, and #1 out of 32 "Health Care Equipment & Services" companies. Share repurchase program We have temporarily suspended our repurchase program due to recent acquisitions. Accordingly, we did not repurchase any shares during the three months ended December 31, 2018. Dividend program The ResMed board of directors today declared a quarterly cash dividend of $0.37 per share. The dividend will have a record date of February 7, 2019, payable on March 14, 2019. The dividend will be paid in U.S. currency to holders of ResMed's common stock trading on the New York Stock Exchange. Holders of Chess Depositary Instruments trading on the Australian Securities Exchange will receive an equivalent amount in Australian currency, based on the exchange rate on the record date, and reflecting the 10:1 ratio between CDIs and NYSE shares. The ex-dividend date will be February 6, 2019 for common stockholders and for CDI holders. ResMed has received a waiver from the ASX's settlement operating rules, which will allow ResMed to defer processing conversions between its common stock and CDI registers from February 6, 2019 through February 7, 2019, inclusive. Webcast details ResMed will discuss its second quarter fiscal year 2019 results on its webcast at 1:30 p.m. U.S. Pacific Time today. The live webcast of the call can be accessed on ResMed's Investor Relations website at investor.resmed.com. Please go to this section of the website and click on the icon for the "Q2 2019 Earnings Webcast" to register and listen to the live webcast. A replay of the earnings webcast will be accessible on our website and available approximately two hours after the live webcast. In addition, a telephone replay of the conference call will be available approximately two hours after the webcast by dialing +1 800-585-8367 (U.S.) or +1 416-621-4642 (outside U.S.), and entering the passcode 6179558. The telephone replay will be available until February 7, 2019. About ResMed At ResMed (NYSE: RMD, ASX: RMD) we pioneer innovative solutions that treat and keep people out of the hospital, empowering them to live healthier, higher-quality lives. Our cloud-connected medical devices transform care for people with sleep apnea, COPD and other chronic diseases. Our comprehensive out-of-hospital software platforms support the professionals and caregivers who help people stay healthy in the home or care setting of their choice. By enabling better care, we improve quality of life, reduce the impact of chronic disease and lower costs for consumers and healthcare systems in more than 120 countries. To learn more, visit ResMed.com and follow @ResMed. Safe harbor statement Statements contained in this release that are not historical facts are "forward-looking" statements as contemplated by the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements - including statements regarding ResMed's projections of future revenue or earnings, expenses, new product development, new product launches, new markets for its products, the integration of acquisitions, litigation, and tax outlook - are subject to risks and uncertainties, which could cause actual results to materially differ from those projected or implied in the forward-looking statements. Additional risks and uncertainties are discussed in ResMed's periodic reports on file with the U.S. Securities & Exchange Commission. ResMed does not undertake to update its forward-looking statements. RESMED INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES Condensed Consolidated Statements of Income (Unaudited; $ in thousands, except for per share amounts) Three Months Ended Six Months Ended December 31, 2018 December 31, 2017 December 31, 2018 December 31, 2017 Net revenue $ 651,100 $ 601,273 $ 1,239,380 $ 1,124,932 Cost of sales 267,369 251,481 512,556 469,535 Gross profit $ 383,731 $ 349,792 $ 726,824 $ 655,397 Operating expenses: Selling, general and administrative 161,579 151,816 308,881 295,666 Research and development 43,111 40,643 81,902 78,058 Amortization of acquired intangible assets (1) 15,840 11,317 28,707 23,099 Acquisition related expenses (1) 6,123 - 6,123 - Total operating expenses $ 226,653 $ 203,776 $ 425,613 $ 396,823 Income from operations (1) 157,078 146,016 301,211 258,574 Other income (expenses), net: Interest income (expense), net $ (6,809 ) $ (2,791 ) $ (9,595 ) $ (5,706 ) Other, net (621 ) (1,460 ) (3,086 ) (2,618 ) Total other income (expenses), net (7,430 ) (4,251 ) (12,681 ) (8,324 ) Income before income taxes $ 149,648 $ 141,765 $ 288,530 $ 250,250 Income taxes 21,634 132,238 54,778 154,599 Loss attributable to equity method investments 3,375 - 3,375 - Net income $ 124,639 $ 9,527 $ 230,377 $ 95,651 Basic earnings per share $ 0.87 $ 0.07 $ 1.61 $ 0.67 Diluted earnings per share $ 0.86 $ 0.07 $ 1.60 $ 0.67 Non-GAAP diluted earnings per share (1) $ 1.00 $ 1.00 $ 1.81 $ 1.66 Basic shares outstanding 142,923 142,715 142,796 142,511 Diluted shares outstanding 144,349 143,855 144,418 143,757 (1) See the reconciliation of non-GAAP financial measures in the table at the end of the press release. RESMED INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets (Unaudited; $ in thousands) December 31, 2018 June 30, 2018 ASSETS Current assets: Cash and cash equivalents $ 149,468 $ 188,701 Accounts receivable, net 477,191 483,681 Inventories 296,511 268,701 Prepayments and other current assets 140,369 124,634 Total current assets $ 1,063,539 $ 1,065,717 Non-current assets: Property, plant and equipment, net $ 381,505 $ 386,550 Goodwill and other intangibles, net 2,243,971 1,284,128 Deferred income taxes and other non-current assets 170,801 327,528 Total non-current assets $ 2,796,277 $ 1,998,206 Total assets $ 3,859,816 $ 3,063,923 LIABILITIES AND STOCKHOLDERS' EQUITY: Current liabilities: Accounts payable $ 110,335 $ 92,723 Accrued expenses 191,564 185,805 Deferred revenue 72,685 60,828 Income taxes payable 49,881 160,427 Short-term debt 11,978 11,466 Total current liabilities $ 436,443 $ 511,249 Non-current liabilities: Deferred revenue $ 76,773 $ 71,596 Deferred income taxes 79,057 13,084 Other long term liabilities - 924 Long-term debt 1,185,500 269,988 Long-term income taxes payable 125,999 138,102 Total non-current liabilities $ 1,467,329 $ 493,694 Total liabilities $ 1,903,772 $ 1,004,943 STOCKHOLDERS' EQUITY: Common stock $ 573 $ 571 Additional paid-in capital 1,460,705 1,450,821 Retained earnings 2,368,339 2,432,328 Treasury stock (1,623,256 ) (1,600,412 ) Accumulated other comprehensive income (250,317 ) (224,328 ) Total stockholders' equity $ 1,956,044 $ 2,058,980 Total liabilities and stockholders' equity $ 3,859,816 $ 3,063,923 RESMED INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES Condensed Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows (Unaudited; $ in thousands) Six Months Ended December 31, 2018 December 31, 2017 Cash flows from operating activities: Net income $ 230,377 $ 95,651 Adjustment to reconcile net income to cash provided by operating activities: Depreciation and amortization 66,453 58,945 Loss attributable to equity method investments 3,375 - Stock-based compensation costs 25,011 23,958 Impairment of equity investments 2,959 2,254 Changes in fair value of business combination contingent consideration (272 ) - Changes in operating assets and liabilities, net of effect of acquisitions: Accounts receivable, net 32,366 (26,145 ) Inventories, net (30,570 ) (20,760 ) Prepaid expenses, net deferred income taxes and other current assets (26,922 ) (2,858 ) Accounts payable, accrued expenses and other (125,190 ) 95,489 Net cash provided by operating activities $ 177,587 $ 226,534 Cash flows from investing activities: Purchases of property, plant and equipment (31,425 ) (32,000 ) Patent registration costs (4,643 ) (4,624 ) Business acquisitions, net of cash acquired (739,249 ) - Purchases of cost-method investments (2,967 ) (3,725 ) Purchases of equity-method investments (25,000 ) - Proceeds / (Payments) on maturity of foreign currency contracts (3,127 ) (3,330 ) Net cash used in investing activities $ (806,411 ) $ (43,679 ) Cash flows from financing activities: Proceeds from issuance of common stock, net 12,784 20,440 Taxes paid related to net share settlement of equity awards (27,340 ) (13,853 ) Purchases of treasury stock (22,844 ) (8,541 ) Payment of business combination contingent consideration (430 ) - Proceeds from borrowings, net of borrowing costs 1,091,230 50,000 Repayment of borrowings (352,798 ) (110,000 ) Dividends paid (105,567 ) (99,553 ) Net cash (used in) / provided by financing activities $ 595,035 $ (161,507 ) Effect of exchange rate changes on cash $ (5,444 ) $ 15,616 Net increase / (decrease) in cash and cash equivalents (39,233 ) 36,964 Cash and cash equivalents at beginning of period 188,701 821,935 Cash and cash equivalents at end of period $ 149,468 $ 858,899 RESMED INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES Reconciliation of Non-GAAP Financial Measures (Unaudited; $ in thousands, except for per share amounts) The measure, "non-GAAP income from operations" is reconciled with GAAP income from operations below: Three Months Ended Six Months Ended December 31, 2018 December 31, 2017 December 31, 2018 December 31, 2017 GAAP income from operations $ 157,078 $ 146,016 $ 301,211 $ 258,574 Amortization of acquired intangible assets (A) 15,840 11,317 28,707 23,099 Deferred revenue fair value adjustment (A) 2,029 - 2,029 - Acquisition related expenses (A) 6,123 - 6,123 - Non-GAAP income from operations $ 181,070 $ 157,333 $ 338,070 $ 281,673 The measures "non-GAAP net income" and "non-GAAP diluted earnings per share" are reconciled with GAAP net income and GAAP diluted earnings per share in the table below: Three Months Ended Six Months Ended December 31, 2018 December 31, 2017 December 31, 2018 December 31, 2017 GAAP net income $ 124,639 $ 9,527 $ 230,377 $ 95,651 Amortization of acquired intangible assets, net of tax (A) 12,271 7,697 22,258 15,710 Deferred revenue fair value adjustment (A) 1,554 - 1,554 - Acquisition related expenses (A) 5,362 - 5,362 - U.S. tax reform transition impact (A) 644 119,880 1,178 119,880 U.S. tax reform impact on deferred taxes (A) - 6,723 - 6,723 Non-GAAP net income (A) $ 144,470 $ 143,827 $ 260,729 $ 237,964 Diluted shares outstanding 144,349 143,855 144,418 143,757 GAAP diluted earnings per share $ 0.86 $ 0.07 $ 1.60 $ 0.67 Non-GAAP diluted earnings per share (A) $ 1.00 $ 1.00 $ 1.81 $ 1.66 (A) ResMed adjusts for the impact of the amortization of acquired intangibles, deferred revenue fair value adjustment, acquisition-related expenses, and the impact of U.S. tax reform on income tax expense from their evaluation of ongoing operations, and believes that investors benefit from adjusting these items to facilitate a more meaningful evaluation of current operating performance. ResMed believes that non-GAAP diluted earnings per share is an additional measure of performance that investors can use to compare operating results between reporting periods. ResMed uses non-GAAP information internally in planning, forecasting, and evaluating the results of operations in the current period and in comparing it to past periods. ResMed believes this information provides investors better insight when evaluating ResMed's performance from core operations and provides consistent financial reporting. The use of non-GAAP measures is intended to supplement, and not to replace, the presentation of net income and other GAAP measures. Like all non-GAAP measures, non-GAAP earnings are subject to inherent limitations because they do not include all the expenses that must be included under GAAP. RESMED INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES Revenue by Product and Region (Unaudited; $ in thousands, except for per share amounts) Three Months Ended December 31, 2018 December 31, 2017 % Change Constant Currency (A) U.S., Canada and Latin America Devices $ 186.5 $ 173.7 7 % Masks 172.0 155.5 11 Total Sleep and Respiratory Care $ 358.5 $ 329.2 9 Software as a Service 63.2 38.7 63 Total $ 421.7 $ 367.9 15 Combined Europe, Asia and other markets Devices $ 156.2 $ 163.3 - 4 % - 2 % Masks 73.2 70.1 4 8 Total Sleep and Respiratory Care $ 229.4 $ 233.4 - 2 1 Global revenue Devices $ 342.7 $ 337.0 2 % 3 % Masks 245.2 225.6 9 10 Total Sleep and Respiratory Care $ 587.9 $ 562.6 4 6 Software as a Service 63.2 38.7 63 63 Total $ 651.1 $ 601.3 8 9 Six Months Ended December 31, 2018 December 31, 2017 % Change Constant Currency Growth (A) U.S., Canada and Latin America Devices $ 358.9 $ 331.6 8 % Masks 326.1 294.2 11 Total Sleep and Respiratory Care $ 685.0 $ 625.8 9 Software as a Service 110.7 76.8 44 Total $ 795.7 $ 702.6 13 Combined Europe, Asia and other markets Devices $ 307.9 $ 291.6 6 % 8 % Masks 135.8 130.7 4 7 Total Sleep and Respiratory Care $ 443.7 $ 422.3 5 8 Global revenue Devices $ 666.8 $ 623.2 7 % 8 % Masks 461.9 424.9 9 10 Total Sleep and Respiratory Care $ 1,128.7 $ 1,048.1 8 9 Software as a Service 110.7 76.8 44 44 Total $ 1,239.4 $ 1,124.9 10 11 (A) In order to provide a framework for assessing how our underlying businesses performed excluding the effect of foreign currency fluctuations, we provide certain financial information on a "constant currency basis", which is in addition to the actual financial information presented. In order to calculate our constant currency information, we translate the current period financial information using the foreign currency exchange rates that were in effect during the previous comparable period. However, constant currency measures should not be considered in isolation or as an alternative to U.S. dollar measures that reflect current period exchange rates, or to other financial measures calculated and presented in accordance with U.S. GAAP. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20190124005714/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [January 24, 2019] Science-minded high schoolers offered college-level courses at North Park University's Summer Science Academy CHICAGO, Jan. 24, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Back by popular demand, North Park University will open its state-of-the-art science facilities to high schoolers who enroll in our Summer Science Academy, June 17-July 11. Now in its fourth year, the Summer Science Academy will offer credit-bearing, university-quality instruction in a supportive, enriching environment. Some Specifics about Summer Science Academy: June 17-July 11 one- and two-weeklong courses meet either in the morning or afternoon one- and two-weeklong courses meet either in the morning or afternoon Course fee $180 per week per course per week per course 2-week courses earn North Park credit credit 10% early-bird discount registration March 31st Priority registration and scholarship application April 30 Final registration May 15 To register, please visit https://www.eventbrite.com/e/summer-science-academy-2019-registration-54722682015 "These courses are a great opportunity for students to experience science as closely as it could be at a college level but with the added guidance appropriate for high schoolers," said Dr. Yoojin Choi, the program's director. New to Summer Science 2019 is Forensic Chemistry, a perfect opportunity to experience North Park's Chemistry Instrumentation Laboratory. Students learn the chemistry behind techniques utilized in examining physical evidence from crime scenes. Like all Summer Science courses, Forensic Chemistry will use hands-on, experiential learning. Students can choose from the following courses: Human Anatomy Boot Camp: Department of Biology Fins, Fur, and Feathers: Department of Biology (2 weeks) Genomes from the Chicago River: Department of Biology (2 weeks) Forensic Chemistry: Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry Body Dynamics and Comfort: Division of Health Sciences North Park started the program so high schoolers could have access to high-quality, engaging science courses, according to Choi. The idea, she said, is to foster in young people a curiosity about science, which eventually leads to their involvement in science-related careers. ABOUT NORTH PARK UNIVERSITY North Park University is a city-centered, intercultural, Christian university located in Chicago. Visit northpark.edu. View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/science-minded-high-schoolers-offered-college-level-courses-at-north-park-universitys-summer-science-academy-300784028.html SOURCE North Park University [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [January 24, 2019] ALC Appoints Andy Johnson as Chief Data Officer PRINCETON, N.J., Jan. 24, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- ALC, a recognized leader in first-party data solutions for marketers, has announced that Andy Johnson has joined the company as Chief Data Officer with responsibility for ALC's data strategy, acquisition and operations. During his 22-year career in the in the data-driven marketing industry, Johnson has held a variety of marketing, strategic and senior leadership positions with several data services powerhouses. The skills and experience he brings to ALC include managing data strategy to enable data-driven products and advertising solutions that connect data to digital media, creating a unified organization to align all data-owner relationships across platforms, brands and global teams, managing systems process and tools to produce and optimize data assets, and overseeing multi-million-dollar budgets. In his new position, Johnson will develop ALC's comprehensive data strategy to build on its first-party dataexpertise and add new data and processes to allow seamless expansion into digital media and grow existing markets. His role also includes overall management of data operations and delivery. Before joining ALC, Johnson was most recently SVP of data and audience solutions for Acxiom/LiveRamp. Prior to Acxiom, he spent 16 years at Experian Marketing services in data solutions, acquisition and management roles. He started his data career developing strategic online alliances at Infogroup. "Andy is a unique talent in our industry," said CEO Rick Erwin. "In addition to being among the most knowledgeable experts in the collection and use of person-level data, he is also an exceptional leader who exemplifies the trustworthiness and data stewardship that is so critical in the new data economy." Johnson received his B.S. in business administration/finance from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. For ten years, he served in the Nebraska National Guard, receiving the Air Force Achievement Medal for distinguished service (three times). He serves on the board for IAB's Data Center of Excellence and the Board of Advisors for Kammok. He is a frequently requested speaker on a broad range of topics at industry roundtables, events and universities. About ALC Founded in 1978, ALC has grown to become one of the industry's leading privately-held providers of first-party data solutions. Headquartered in Princeton, New Jerseyand with offices across the United States the company enables its roster of clients including the leaders in virtually every business sector to grow and improve bottom-line profitability through the innovative use of marketing information. View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/alc-appoints-andy-johnson-as-chief-data-officer-300783566.html SOURCE ALC [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [January 24, 2019] nonda, the Leading Connected Car Products Provider, Integrates Carvana Technology to Give Drivers Real-Time Sales Value of their Vehicles nonda, the leader in app-enabled automotive accessories, and Carvana, a leading e-commerce platform for buying, financing and selling used cars, today announced their partnership to provide users of nonda's ZUS Connected Car System the ability to sell their vehicle or see its current sales value within the ZUS Smart Driving Assistant App (iOS/ Android (News - Alert) ). This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20190124005731/en/ Carvana integration in ZUS Smart Driving Assistant App (Graphic: Business Wire) This new feature will be rolled out to current ZUS users in an upcoming app update, bringing this additional service to more than 500,000 users. "We are excited to partner with Carvana to bring our customers this new tool, which eliminates a pain point of vehicle owners who have to search multiple sources to find out how much their vehicle is worth, then haggle with dealerships to agree on a purchase price," said nonda VP of Global Sales Ivan Chong. "Now, customers will be able to easily view the value of their vehicle by inputting their VIN and mileage. Additionally, the ZUS Smart Driving Assistant App will provide real-time updates as the vehicle value changes over time, providing a simple and accurate estimate." "Carvana is known for being an easy, customer-centric car buying option, and selling cars to Carvana is just as easy," said Carvana Chief Product Officer Dan Gill. "We're looking forward to unlocking a whole new way for ZUS users to sell and value a car within their app." Compay representatives will announce the app integration and provide onsite demonstrations during the National Auto Dealership Association's Show at Moscone Center in San Francisco on Friday, Jan. 25, from 3 - 4:30 p.m. PST. About nonda Founded in Palo Alto (News - Alert) , Calif., nonda leads the market in offering premium connected car devices that are simple and accessible to everyone. nonda is bringing today's tech to yesterday's cars with its flagship ZUS Connected Car family of smart devices that integrate through a common app experience to improve convenience and safety for drivers everywhere. nonda's award wins include prestigious iF & Red Dot design awards, the 2017 IOT Award for Connected Car Accessory of the Year, multiple awards at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, in addition to "Fastest Growing Startup" and "Top 10 Smart Hardware" awards. For more information, visit www.nonda.co or follow us on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and YouTube. About Carvana (NYSE: CVNA) Founded in 2012 and based in Phoenix, Carvana's (NYSE: CVNA) mission is to change the way people buy cars. By removing the traditional dealership infrastructure and replacing it with technology and exceptional customer service, Carvana offers consumers an intuitive and convenient online car buying and financing platform. Carvana.com enables consumers to quickly and easily shop more than 15,000 vehicles, finance, trade-in or sell their current vehicle to Carvana, sign contracts, and schedule as-soon-as-next-day delivery or pickup at one of Carvana's patented, automated Car Vending Machines. For further information on Carvana, please visit www.carvana.com, or connect with us on Facebook, Instagram or Twitter. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20190124005731/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [January 24, 2019] AM Best Upgrades Credit Ratings of PMG Assurance Ltd. AM Best has upgraded the Financial Strength Rating to A (Excellent) from A- (Excellent) and the Long-Term Issuer Credit Rating to "a" from "a-" of PMG (News - Alert) Assurance Ltd. (PMG) (Bermuda). The outlook of these Credit Ratings (ratings) remains stable. The ratings reflect PMG's balance sheet strength, which AM Best categorizes as very strong, as well as its strong operating performance, limited business profile and appropriate enterprise risk management. The ratings also reflect PMG's strategic position as the captive insurance company for the Sony Group, whose ultimate parent is Sony Corporation (Sony) [NYSE: SNE]. PMG is a pure captive of Sony, and its role is to meet certain global insurance requirements and provide risk management services to Sony Group members. The rating upgrades reflect the improved credit risk profile of Sony, which has experienced a positive trend over the past several years. Sony has made improvements in terms of its earnings quality, increased cash flow and a significant reduction to debt. PMG's strengths are derived from its underwriting focus, conservative operational strategy and emphasis on risk management controls. PMG writes predominantly commercial property and marine for Sony, and employee benefits coverage for Sony employees. PMG's balance sheet strength is assessed as very strong, as evidenced by its risk-adjusted capitalization, excellent liquidity and conservative investment strategy. PMG's operating performance continues to be strong, with favorable net income in four of the past five years predominantly from net underwriting income. The captive is susceptible to volatility in earnings due to the low frequency and high severity losses it insues; however, PMG mitigates its exposures through the use of a comprehensive reinsurance program. AM Best remains the leading rating agency of alternative risk transfer entities, with more than 200 such vehicles rated in the United States and throughout the world. For current Best's Credit Ratings and independent data on the captive and alternative risk transfer insurance market, please visit www.ambest.com/captive. This press release relates to Credit Ratings that have been published on AM Best's website. For all rating information relating to the release and pertinent disclosures, including details of the office responsible for issuing each of the individual ratings referenced in this release, please see AM Best's Recent Rating Activity web page. For additional information regarding the use and limitations of Credit Rating opinions, please view Understanding Best's Credit Ratings. For information on the proper media use of Best's Credit Ratings and AM Best press releases, please view Guide for Media - Proper Use of Best's Credit Ratings and AM Best Rating Action Press Releases. AM Best is a global rating agency and information provider with a unique focus on the insurance industry. Visit www.ambest.com for more information. Copyright 2019 by A.M. Best Rating Services, Inc. and/or its affiliates. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20190124005704/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [January 24, 2019] Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati Expands Privacy and Cybersecurity Practice Jan Dhont Joins the Firm's Brussels Office PALO ALTO, California, Jan. 24, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati, the premier provider of legal services to technology, life sciences, and growth enterprises worldwide, announced today that Jan Dhont has joined the firm's privacy and cybersecurity practice as partner in the Brussels office. Dhont has more than 20 years of expertise counseling corporations and public sector entities on European data and privacy issues. He helps companies identify and resolve privacy and cybersecurity compliance issues in the EU; design and implement their General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) compliance programs; and respond to cybersecurity incidents. Dhont has specific experience with assisting companies in data protection authorities' investigations and representing them in privacy litigation. He works with global and U.S.-based public and private companies in several key industries, such as the pharmaceuticals, biotechnology, retail, technology, insurance, and payments services sectors. "Jan is a respected practitioner and one of the few lawyers in Europe who has been practicing EU data protection law at the highest level for more than 20 years. He has an impressive range of experience across data protection and cybersecuritywhich are areas of significant concern for our clients," said Cedric Burton, a partner based in WSGR's Brussels office who is co-leader of the firm's privacy and cybersecurity practice and leads the European privacy practice. "Jan's addition expands our firm's EU teamwhich is among the largst in and around Brussels, and places us in a unique position to assist clients as they face increased scrutiny from data protection authorities." Prior to joining WSGR, he was a partner at a global law firm since 2015, where he led its European data privacy practice. Dhont started his legal career at the Belgian Data Protection Authority. From 2000 to 2007, he was an associate at Hunton & Williams, and later Crowell & Moring, in each firm's Brussels office. In 2007, Dhont was involved in the establishment of Lorenz Law, a boutique law firm that focused on privacy and data security issues for U.S.-based public and private companies. Over the course of eight years, he successfully built a leading privacy practice from scratch. Dhont received his J.D. from the University of Leuven in 1996 and his LL.M. from the University of Brussels in 1998. Dhont is the third senior-level attorney to join the firm's privacy and cybersecurity practice in recent months. In December 2018, WSGR announced that Allison Bender joined WSGR's Washington, D.C., office as Of Counsel, and in October 2018, WSGR announced that Lore Leitner had joined WSGR's London office as Of Counsel. In addition, as of February 1, 2019, the firm's privacy and cybersecurity practice will include two more partners, Beth George and Matt Staples, who focus on cybersecurity and transactional privacy, respectively. Both were elected partner in December 2018. About Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati For more than 50 years, Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati has offered a broad range of services and legal disciplines focused on serving the principal challenges faced by the management and boards of directors of business enterprises. The firm is nationally recognized as a leader in the fields of corporate governance and finance, mergers and acquisitions, private equity, securities litigation, employment law, intellectual property, and antitrust, among many other areas of law. With deep roots in Silicon Valley, Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati has offices in Austin; Beijing; Boston; Brussels; Hong Kong; London; Los Angeles; New York; Palo Alto; San Diego; San Francisco; Seattle; Shanghai; Washington, D.C.; and Wilmington, DE. For more information, please visit www.wsgr.com. Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/138117/wilson_sonsini_goodrich_and_rosati_logo.jpg [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [January 24, 2019] Mouser Electronics Releases New All Things IoT eBook Looking at the Future of Connected Infrastructure Mouser Electronics Inc. today released a new eBook centered on industrial automation as part of All Things IoT, the latest series in Mouser's award-winning Empowering Innovation Together program. In the third and final eBook in the series, industry experts explore the innovative technologies and trends that cities are applying to emerging smart infrastructure projects. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20190124005594/en/ Global distributor Mouser Electronics has released a new eBook focused on connected infrastructure, as part of All Things IoT, the latest series in Mouser's award-winning Empowering Innovation Together program. In the final eBook in the series, Mouser experts explore the innovative technologies and trends that cities are applying to emerging smart infrastructure projects. To learn more, visit www.mouser.com/empowering-innovation/all-things-iot. (Photo: Business Wire) The book includes articles on LEDs and light fidelity (Li-Fi) lighting systems, threat modeling, and Internet of Things (IoT)-based pollution control. The new release also includes an exclusive video of celebrity engineer and Mouser spokesperson Grant Imahara in Porto, Portugal, to learn more about a local company that is transforming the city into a Wi-Fi mesh network comprised of mobile hot spots. The All Things IoT series is sponsored by Mouser's valued suppliers Digi International, Maxim Integrated, Murata and TE Connectivity. "So far in the All Things IoT series, we've seen how connected technologies are improving our lives at home and in the workplace," said Kevin Hess, Senior Vice President, Marketing at Mouser Electronics. "In this new eBook, our experts investigate the sometimes-unnoticed parts of our world where IoT can make a major difference, such as lighting, traffic, and green energy." Mouser launched the All Things IoT series with a video that followed Imahara as he visited the Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) IoT Innovation Lab to examine how IoT is impacting our workplaces and cities as a whole. Following the video, Mouser released All Things IoT eBooks focused on home automation and industrial automation. Since 2015, Mouser's Empowering Innovation Together program has been one of the most visible and recognized programs in the electronic component industry, featuring topics such as the future of human-machine interaction in Generation Robot and the amazing benefits of technologies that are Shaping Smarter Cities. To learn more about this and the rest of Mouser's Empowering Innovation Together series, visit www.mouser.com/empowering-innovation and follow Mouser on Facebook and Twitter. To read the new Connected Infrastructure eBook, go to www.mouser.com/news/allthingsiot-ebook3/mobile/index.html. About Mouser Electronics Mouser Electronics, a Berkshire Hathaway company, is an award-winning, authorized semiconductor and electronic component distributor focused on rapid New Product Introductions from its manufacturing partners for electronic design engineers and buyers. The global distributor's website, Mouser.com, is available in multiple languages and currencies and features more than 5 million products from over 750 manufacturers. Mouser offers 23 support locations around the world to provide best-in-class customer service and ships globally to over 600,000 customers in more than 220 countries/territories from its 750,000 sq. ft. state-of-the-art facility south of Dallas, Texas. For more information, visit www.mouser.com. About Grant Imahara Well known in the engineering community, Grant Imahara has paired his engineering expertise with a successful TV and film career. In addition to his roles on MythBusters and BattleBots, Imahara has worked on many famous robotic characters, including R2-D2 from Star Wars, the talking robot skeleton sidekick Geoff Peterson from The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson, and the Energizer (News - Alert) Bunny. Trademarks Mouser and Mouser Electronics are registered trademarks of Mouser Electronics, Inc. All other products, logos, and company names mentioned herein may be trademarks of their respective owners. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20190124005594/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [January 24, 2019] NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital expands virtual care with Philips AMSTERDAM and NEW YORK, Jan. 24, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Royal Philips (NYSE: PHG, AEX: PHIA), a global leader in health technology, today announced that NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital will expand its telehealth capabilities with Philips remote patient monitoring. The Hospital's affiliated physicians at Weill Cornell Medicine will use Philips eCareCoordinator and eCareCompanion remote patient monitoring software solutions for patients who are under their care. The program will help clinicians monitor patients' health from a distance, and enable timelier consultations with physicians when needed. The program is aimed to help reduce length of stay in the hospital, reduce preventable hospital readmissions, and reduce frequent costly visits to the emergency department. The Hospital's affiliated physicians at Columbia University Irving Medical Center expect to participate as well. NewYork-Presbyterian is one of the nation's most comprehensive, integrated academic health care delivery systems, dedicated to providing the highest quality, most compassionate care to patients. As a consistently recognized leader in patient-centered clinical care, medical education and research, NewYork-Presbyterian is committed to using technology to advance care. "NewYork-Presbyterian is pleased to collaborate with Philips to empower patients, who don't need to be in the hospital, to actively monitor their health from the comfort of their home," said Dr. Peter Fleischut, Senior Vice President and Chief Transformation Officer at NewYork-Presbyterian. "As a national leader in telemedicine, we are committed to adopting innovative technologies that make it easier for patients to access our high-quality, compassionate care." "As the number of individuals living with chronic conditions continues to rise, hospitals and health systems need to innovate to best manage the growing demands on their resources," said Derek Ross, Business Leader, Population Health Management at Philips. "Transformational leaders like NewYork-Presbyterian see the value of how virtual care and advanced telehealth solutions can empower both clinicians and patients with the resources needed to deliver quality care in the home to help achieve improved outcomes and reduce costs." Seamless telehealth to improve care for patients with chronic conditions Philips eCareCoordinator telehealth software platform allows clinicians to remotely monitor patients' vital signs and send patiens short surveys about their health status, while eCareCompanion allows patients to share health information such as blood pressure, weight, blood oxygen levels, and glucose levels with their care team via a tablet and connected medical devices on a daily basis. This data enables clinicians to make informed, proactive, and timely care decisions, particularly if they notice something in the patient's daily health information that needs attention. NewYork-Presbyterian patients with hyperglycemia who were part of the first remote patient monitoring clinical pilot reported an 89 percent satisfaction score. NewYork-Presbyterian recently began programs to remotely monitor patients with congestive heart failure and new mothers with high blood pressure, and will be launching programs to monitor several other clinical conditions, including those related to maternal health and diabetes. Philips' telehealth offering is part of its broader suite of Population Health Management solutions, which provide a comprehensive and proactive healthcare delivery strategy. By offering data-driven business insights, Philips' solutions enable clinicians to better understand, activate, and navigate their patient populations. Philips at HIMSS On Wednesday, February 13 at 10:30 a.m. EST, Niki Buchanan, Venture Leader of Population Health Management at Philips and Shauna Coyne, Director of Innovations at NewYork-Presbyterian, will present in the Philips Booth (#2101) on the topic of "Evolving care outside the hospital to meet consumers where they are." For more information on Philips' portfolio of integrated smart systems, software and services, including the full suite of Population Health solutions that will be spotlighted at the upcoming HIMSS Global Conference & Exhibition in Orlando, FL, Feb. 11-15, 2019, visit www.philips.com/himss and follow @PhilipsLiveFrom for #HIMSS19 updates throughout the event. For further information, please contact: Kathy O'Reilly Philips Group Press Office Tel: +1 978-221-8919 E-mail: kathy.oreilly@philips.com Twitter: @kathyoreilly Silvie Casanova Philips North America Tel: +1 781-879-0692 E-mail: silvie.casanova@philips.com Mahlori Isaacs NewYork-Presbyterian Tel: +1 347-802-5492 Email: pr@nyp.org About Royal Philips Royal Philips (NYSE: PHG, AEX: PHIA) is a leading health technology company focused on improving people's health and enabling better outcomes across the health continuum from healthy living and prevention, to diagnosis, treatment and home care. Philips leverages advanced technology and deep clinical and consumer insights to deliver integrated solutions. Headquartered in the Netherlands, the company is a leader in diagnostic imaging, image-guided therapy, patient monitoring and health informatics, as well as in consumer health and home care. Philips generated 2017 sales of EUR 17.8 billion and employs approximately 77,000 employees with sales and services in more than 100 countries. News about Philips can be found at http://www.philips.com/newscenter. NewYork-Presbyterian NewYork-Presbyterian is one of the nation's most comprehensive, integrated academic healthcare delivery systems, whose organizations are dedicated to providing the highest quality, most compassionate care and service to patients in the New York metropolitan area, nationally, and throughout the globe. In collaboration with two renowned medical schools, Weill Cornell Medicine and Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons, NewYork-Presbyterian is consistently recognized as a leader in medical education, groundbreaking research and innovative, patient-centered clinical care. NewYork-Presbyterian has four major divisions: NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital is ranked #1 in the New York metropolitan area by U.S. News and World Report and repeatedly named to the Honor Roll of "America's Best Hospitals." is ranked #1 in the metropolitan area by U.S. News and World Report and repeatedly named to the Honor Roll of "America's Best Hospitals." NewYork-Presbyterian Regional Hospital Network comprises hospitals and other facilities in the New York metropolitan region. comprises hospitals and other facilities in the metropolitan region. NewYork-Presbyterian Physician Services, which connects medical experts with patients in their communities. which connects medical experts with patients in their communities. NewYork-Presbyterian Community and Population Health, encompassing ambulatory care network sites and community healthcare initiatives, including NewYork Quality Care, the Accountable Care Organization jointly established by NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital, Weill Cornell Medicine and Columbia. View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/newyork-presbyterian-hospital-expands-virtual-care-with-philips-300783887.html SOURCE Royal Philips [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [January 24, 2019] AM BestTV: Partial Federal Shutdown Hampers U.S. Insurers' National Efforts In this episode of AM BestTV, attendees at the Insurance Information Institute's Joint Industry Forum in New York City said the partial shutdown of the U.S. federal government is hampering progress on a host of issues, ranging from floods to tariffs. Click on http://www.ambest.com/v.asp?v=jointforum1119 to view the entire program. Executives attending this forum expressed frustration with the shutdown. "This shutdown is obviously very distracting. The federal government is stalemated on its most basic function, which is providing the funding for very basic government services," said David Sampson (News - Alert) , president and chief executive officer, American Property Casualty Insurance Association. "Nothing can move forward on any of these other important key public policy issues." Roy Wright, president and chief executive officer, Insurance Institute for Business & Home Safety, and a former chief executive of national flood at the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), said, "It makes you angry that the government has not been able to come to a solution to get people back in. There are so many services that the government provides that affect the housing industry and the like, but particularly in the flood and insurance spaces." Other people that appear in this episode: Sean Kevelighan, president and chief executive officer, Insurance Information Institute; and Frank Nutter, president, Reinsurance Association of America. Recent episodes of AM BestTV include: Property/Casualty Insurers' Outlook for 2019 Positive, But With a Chance of Upheaval: Attendees at the Insurance Information Institute's Joint Industry Forum said the industry has demonstrated its ability to weather storms and other natural disasters, but will be buffeted by an increasingly contentious political climae and an advancing technology sector: http://www.ambest.com/v.asp?v=jointforum2119. Insurance Industry Honors Marsh & McLennan Companies CEO: 'A Passion for Running to Problems and Solving Them' : Insurance industry executives honor Daniel S. Glaser, president and chief executive officer of Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc., as the School of Risk Management's "2018 Insurance Leader of the Year": http://www.ambest.com/v.asp?v=insuranceleader119. : Insurance industry executives honor Daniel S. Glaser, president and chief executive officer of Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc., as the School of Risk Management's "2018 Insurance Leader of the Year": http://www.ambest.com/v.asp?v=insuranceleader119. AM Best Director Discusses Factors Behind Raised Estimate for Insurance Asbestos and Environmental Exposures: Brian O'Larte, director, AM Best, discusses the reasons behind the rating agency's increased estimate to $146 billion of net ultimate losses for asbestos and environmental exposures: http://www.ambest.com/v.asp?v=aande119. Brian O'Larte, director, AM Best, discusses the reasons behind the rating agency's increased estimate to $146 billion of net ultimate losses for asbestos and environmental exposures: http://www.ambest.com/v.asp?v=aande119. Standing Up to Risk: The Events and Issues That Built Today's Insurance Industry: In an hour-long documentary, AM Best analysts and editors examine the catastrophes, social, regulatory and technological developments that reshaped an industry and set the trajectory for tomorrow's insurance and risk management environment: http://www.ambest.com/v.asp?v=reviewpreview2018. AM BestTV covers exclusive AM Best and insurance industry information and reports, targeted topics and key developments in the insurance, reinsurance and related sectors daily. Sign up for alerts of episodes at http://www.ambest.com/multimedia/ambtvsignup.html. View AM BestTV episodes at http://www.ambest.tv. AM Best is a global rating agency and information provider with a unique focus on the insurance industry. Visit www.ambest.com for more information. Copyright 2019 by A.M. Best Company, Inc. and/or its affiliates. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20190124005669/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [January 24, 2019] Forum Financial Management Adds $378 Million With the Addition of Two Partners LOMBARD, Ill., Jan. 24, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Forum Financial Management grows to more than $3.6 billion under management with the addition of Lamia Financial Group, a wealth management firm located in Thousand Oaks, CA with $281 million under management, and Vantage Point Advisors, located in Salt Lake City, Utah with $97 million under management. Since 2018, Forum Financial Management, based in Lombard, IL, has added a total of 16 advisors to its national team of 66 advisors. Jonathan Rogers, Forum Financial Management co-managing partner, sees this type of independent advisor firm growth as a sign of strength in the face of recent industry clashes with robo advisors and acquisition-oriented firms. "We're about collaboration, not expansion for expansion sake," Rogers said. "What we saw last year was a great many independent firms swallowed up by conglomerates. It reminded us why we designed our partnership model to be different, so it can remain independent into perpetuity." In June 2018, the Financial Times noted this merger trend and the actions of "RIA consolidator" firms as it looked at the Registered Investment Advisor landscape for the fifth edition of its annual advisor survey. With headquarters in Lombard, Illinois, Forum Financial Management was one of 21 Illinois firms named to the 2018 Financial Times 300 Top Registered Investment Advisers survey. New Forum partners are Barbara Ray, founder of Vantage Point Advisors, and Christopher Lamia, founder of Lamia Financial Group. Lamia decided to bring the firm he founded in 2008 into Forum Financial Management after meeting Forum's team and recognizing the two firms shared a similar vision and commitment to clients. "You look for great people who share your philosophy for how to provide financial and investment advice," Lamia commented. "I feel quite fortunate to be part of a team with a diverse set of skills where that diversity creates an energetic environment of collegiality and collaboration. This has allowed us to succeed as an independent practice and is what will continue to fuel our growth as a Forum partner office." Forum FinancialManagement continues to attract new partners and advisors by positioning its advisors and technology to be attractive to next-generation clients. Rogers said, "Forum has the ability to serve investors who want to connect with a true advisor in a way that is consistent with today's tech-driven world." For more information about Forum Financial Management, visit www.forumfin.com Why Do Advisors Keep Joining Forum Financial Management? By Advisors, For Advisors Forum Financial Management was created as a partnership of advisors and continues to be 100% advisor-owned. Forum's leadership knows the needs of advisors and their clients, and they structured the firm accordingly for sustainable succession. In 2018, Forum Financial Management saw its highest growth in the organization's history with a total of 14 new advisors joining the firm. Transformative Technology While Forum Financial Management uses industry flagship technology for critical functions, the leadership team also saw an opportunity to use their fintech knowledge to build a proprietary CRM in the HUB, which does not just assign tasks but truly automates workflows. The HUB gives Forum advisors and client service teams hours back every day by putting client onboarding, risk tolerance, portfolio analysis, financial planning, client relationship management and the generation of custodial and RIA paperwork all in one unified system. Academic Investment Principles Forum's investment philosophy is founded in academic theory and grounded in Dimensional Fund Advisors (DFA) funds. As an independent firm, Forum Financial Management seeks the best solution for its clients, so other funds are used when Forum's Investment Committee determines such funds would provide an optimal offering. Fiduciary Advice Forum's partners and advisors have diverse experience across the disciplines of wealth management. Across the partnership, advisors rely on each other to provide the best advice possible. Client Focused, Client Facing Forum Financial Management prefers working with advisors who are committed to spending their time interacting with their clients, not running their business. Forum's leadership team looks for potential in DFA advisors running a solo practice or small enterprise practices. Forum Financial Management, LP is registered as an investment advisor with the SEC and only transacts business in states where it is properly registered, or is excluded or exempted from registration requirements. SEC registration does not constitute an endorsement of the firm by the Commission nor does it indicate that the advisor has attained a particular level of skill or ability. The home office is located at 1900 S. Highland Ave., Suite 100, Lombard, IL 60148. Before making an investment decision, please contact our office at 630.873.8520 to receive a copy of Forum's Advisory Agreement and Form ADV Part 2A, which includes Forum's fee schedule. This information is intended to serve as a basis for further discussion with your professional advisors. Although great effort has been taken to provide accurate numbers and explanations, this information should not be relied upon for making investment decisions. web: www.forumfin.com Third-party rankings and recognition from rating services or publications are no guarantee of future investment success. Working with a highly rated advisor does not ensure that a client or prospective client will experience a higher level of performance or results. These ratings should not be construed as an endorsement of the advisor by any client nor are they representative of any one client's evaluation. Generally, ratings, rankings and recognition are based on information prepared and submitted by the advisor. View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/forum-financial-management-adds-378-million-with-the-addition-of-two-partners-300783862.html SOURCE Forum Financial Management [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [January 24, 2019] MONDAY DEADLINE: The Schall Law Firm Announces it is Investigating Claims Against The Boeing Company and Encourages Investors with Losses in Excess of $100,000 to Contact the Firm The Schall Law Firm, a national shareholder rights litigation firm, announces that it is investigating claims on behalf of investors of The Boeing (News - Alert) Company ("Boeing" or "the Company") (NYSE: BA) for violations of 10(b) and 20(a) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and Rule 10b-5 promulgated thereunder by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. The investigation focuses on whether the Company issued false and/or misleading statements and/or failed to disclose information pertinent to investors. Boeing withheld from the market information about the potential hazards caused by its new flight-control system, which may have contributed to a recent deadly crash in Indonesia. The new automated stall-prevention system alegedly can cause pilots to lose control of the aircraft in certain situations. The pilots of the flight in the Indonesia crash were reportedly not aware that the plane was equipped with the new system, and allegedly not prepared to handle the risk of this occurring. Boeing now faces scrutiny from multiple government and industry officials, including the FAA. Based on these facts, the Company's public statements throughout the class period were false and materially misleading. When the market learned the truth about Boeing, investors suffered damages. If you are a shareholder who suffered a loss, click here to participate. We also encourage you to contact Brian Schall, or Sherin Mahdavian, of the Schall Law Firm, 1880 Century Park East, Suite 404, Los Angeles, CA (News - Alert) 90067, at 424-303-1964, to discuss your rights free of charge. You can also reach us through the firm's website at www.schallfirm.com, or by email at brian@schallfirm.com. The class in this case has not yet been certified, and until certification occurs, you are not represented by an attorney. If you choose to take no action, you can remain an absent class member. The Schall Law Firm represents investors around the world and specializes in securities class action lawsuits and shareholder rights litigation. This press release may be considered Attorney Advertising in some jurisdictions under the applicable law and rules of ethics. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20190124005668/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [January 24, 2019] PanXchange Launches Industrial Hemp Pricing PanXchange, a Denver-based OTC physical commodity exchange and price reporting provider, today successfully launched its industrial hemp indices, becoming the first company to offer such pricing data to the market. PanXchange now delivers spot market pricing to its members, publishing on a monthly basis, and plans to launch trading capabilities in Q3 of this year. Prices will be offered for the following hemp products: FOB Portland, Oregon Hemp Biomass FOB Portland, Oregon Crude Oil FOB Denver, Colorado Hemp Biomass FOB Denver, Colorado Crude Oil FOB Lexington, Kentucky Hemp Biomass FOB Lexington, Kentucky Crude Oil While there have been other attempts to launch hemp trading, those efforts ultimately fizzled partially because of their nonoptimal timing. With the signing of the 2018 Farm Bill on December 20, 2018, the industrial hemp industry is now primed for a period of rapid growth. Previously, despite industrial hemp's wide array of end uses, including paper products, textiles, plastics, cannabidiol (CBD) and construction materials, it had been outlawed since the 1970s. The incrased product supply and the 2018 Farm Bill's new federal distinction between hemp and marijuana have paved the way for hemp to be viewed as a commercial commodity. United States industrial hemp production has increased on an exponential scale, growing from 9,770 acres planted in 2016 to more than 25,000 acres planted in 2017. While the official figures have not been published by the USDA for 2018, preliminary estimates forecast similar growth to what was seen between 2016 and 2017. PanXchange CEO Julie Lerner commented, "We're excited to bring transparent pricing and instant market access to another new commodity, particularly a budding commodity like hemp that is just now establishing a legitimate market. The industrial hemp market is brimming with potential, and given our deep commodity experience and track record in nascent markets like frac sand, PanXchange is the perfect company to provide this market structure solution that commercial producers have been looking for." Hemp becomes PanXchange's second U.S.-focused commodities market, after the launch of frac sand in 2017. PanXchange was the first company to create a market in frac sand, and saw tremendous growth in 2018, with its client base presently representing 45 percent of all sand traded (on and offline). PanXchange's hemp market will follow the same blueprint as frac sand. If interested in learning more about PanXchange's industrial hemp products, please contact info@panxchange.com. About PanXchange: PanXchange is an award-winning OTC physical commodity trading platform that allows buyers and sellers to negotiate specific details of a trade, including the location and timing of delivery and the exact quantity and quality of the commodity. In October 2017, PanXchange successfully launched the first ever platform for the 125 million ton proppant market (frac sand), and began issuing the industry's first official price assessment (benchmark) two months later. Based in Denver, CO, the company has also been live in East Africa for three years, offering the negotiation and trade of more than 30 different agricultural commodities, and opened its fifth location in Singapore in 2018. PanXchange is protected by two U.S. patents, with three more pending, and in 2018 was selected by CIO Outlook as a Top 10 Trading Solution Provider, as well as Barchart's Startup Exchange winner. For more information, contact info@panxchange.com. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20190124005111/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [January 24, 2019] Amscot Financial Contributes Mini-Grants to 15 Non-Profit Service Groups Amscot Financial, a leading provider of convenient, consumer-oriented financial services, recently awarded mini-grants of $150 to $2,500 to support 15 different non-profit service organizations located in the Florida communities where the company serves several million consumers. "At Amscot, we want to be more than just a good business. We want to be a neighbor that stays involved in the community," says Ian MacKechnie, Founder and CEO of Amscot Financial. "Helping local organizations is a good way to do that. Mini-grants went to the following organizations: 5000 Role Models of Excellence Project, Miami. Their mission is to give minority boys hope, as well as the vision of greatness to emulate in their everyday lives. For more information, please visit: www.5000rolemodels.com Miami. Their mission is to give minority boys hope, as well as the vision of greatness to emulate in their everyday lives. For more information, please visit: www.5000rolemodels.com The Black History Committee of Orange (News - Alert) County, Inc., Orlando. Their mission is to educate the citizens of Orlando/Orange County and America about Black History. They are also committed to improving the literacy in their communities by donating funds to students who wish to continue their education by obtaining an undergraduate or graduate degree, and to help the disadvantaged community. Amscot is proud to sponsor this year's event in honor of Martin Luther King Jr. For more information, please visit: www.bhcoc.com Orlando. Their mission is to educate the citizens of Orlando/Orange County and America about Black History. They are also committed to improving the literacy in their communities by donating funds to students who wish to continue their education by obtaining an undergraduate or graduate degree, and to help the disadvantaged community. Amscot is proud to sponsor this year's event in honor of Martin Luther King Jr. For more information, please visit: www.bhcoc.com Boys and Girls Clubs of the Suncoast, Clearwater. The program is intended to help the community's youth prepare for career success, but also to develop a strong sense of civic responsibility and a lifelong commitment to serving others. Keeping the teens out of the juvenile justice system is one small part of their overall mission of ensuring they graduate on time with a plan for their future. The Youth Internship Program is designed to incorporate all of these elements while connecting youth with dedicated, caring individuals who serve as mentors and role models and who genuinely care about the unique needs and circumstances of each participant. For more information, please visit: www.bgcsun.org Clearwater. The program is intended to help the community's youth prepare for career success, but also to develop a strong sense of civic responsibility and a lifelong commitment to serving others. Keeping the teens out of the juvenile justice system is one small part of their overall mission of ensuring they graduate on time with a plan for their future. The Youth Internship Program is designed to incorporate all of these elements while connecting youth with dedicated, caring individuals who serve as mentors and role models and who genuinely care about the unique needs and circumstances of each participant. For more information, please visit: www.bgcsun.org Carolyn Taylor Pates Enterprizes, Miami. A public service charitable organization servicing the elderly, homeless, and low to no income families. They offer referral services and mentoring and feed hungry families weekly. Servicing low to no income families in South Dade and some families in Monroe Counties. Stop Hunger in our communities. Miami. A public service charitable organization servicing the elderly, homeless, and low to no income families. They offer referral services and mentoring and feed hungry families weekly. Servicing low to no income families in South Dade and some families in Monroe Counties. Stop Hunger in our communities. Citizens Alliance for Progress Inc., Tarpon Springs. Their mission is to deliver community-based services and partner with other service providers to empower and support individuals and families to foster their personal growth. Amscot is proud to sponsor this year's Martin Luther King Jr. Benefit Banquet. For more information, please visit: www.citizensallianceforprogress.org Tarpon Springs. Their mission is to deliver community-based services and partner with other service providers to empower and support individuals and families to foster their personal growth. Amscot is proud to sponsor this year's Martin Luther King Jr. Benefit Banquet. For more information, please visit: www.citizensallianceforprogress.org Crescent of Hernando, Inc. Community Clinic, Spring Hill. Their mission is to improve the health and well-being of the underserved, uninsured and indigent of Hernando County, to promote health literacy and to establish aliances that serve their community. Their school physical program provides homeless children with the opportunity to have a school physical so that they may not lose any school days. For more information, please visit: www.crescentclinic.org Spring Hill. Their mission is to improve the health and well-being of the underserved, uninsured and indigent of Hernando County, to promote health literacy and to establish aliances that serve their community. Their school physical program provides homeless children with the opportunity to have a school physical so that they may not lose any school days. For more information, please visit: www.crescentclinic.org East Tampa Business and Civic Association, Inc., Tampa. Their mission is to develop a healthy business and community climate in order to stimulate opportunities and improved living conditions for children, families and seniors in the East Tampa Community and throughout Tampa Bay. Amscot is proud to support this year's Martin Luther King Jr. Community Festival. For more information, please visit: www.etbcatampa.org Tampa. Their mission is to develop a healthy business and community climate in order to stimulate opportunities and improved living conditions for children, families and seniors in the East Tampa Community and throughout Tampa Bay. Amscot is proud to support this year's Martin Luther King Jr. Community Festival. For more information, please visit: www.etbcatampa.org Girl Scouts of West Central Florida, Tampa. They build girls of courage, confidence, and character, who make the world a better place. Amscot is proud to sponsor the Women of Distinction event which honors women whose professional accomplishments make them positive role models and inspire girls to achieve their own goals and dreams. For more information, please visit: www.gswcf.org Tampa. They build girls of courage, confidence, and character, who make the world a better place. Amscot is proud to sponsor the Women of Distinction event which honors women whose professional accomplishments make them positive role models and inspire girls to achieve their own goals and dreams. For more information, please visit: www.gswcf.org Human Development Center Inc., Tampa. The center is dedicated to opening a world of possibilities for individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities, teaching behaviors and skills they will need to live independently. For more information, please visit: www.hdcinc.org Tampa. The center is dedicated to opening a world of possibilities for individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities, teaching behaviors and skills they will need to live independently. For more information, please visit: www.hdcinc.org The Lula McGrady Foundation Inc., Leesburg. They host the "Hands Up" Backpack Program each month, going to an area in Lake County frequently visited by the homeless, and distribute Snackpacks, which are full of various food items, toiletries, socks, and other essential items the homeless need. Blankets, hats, and gloves are provided in the winter. For more information, please visit: www.lulamcgrady.org Leesburg. They host the "Hands Up" Backpack Program each month, going to an area in Lake County frequently visited by the homeless, and distribute Snackpacks, which are full of various food items, toiletries, socks, and other essential items the homeless need. Blankets, hats, and gloves are provided in the winter. For more information, please visit: www.lulamcgrady.org National Council of Negro Women, St. Petersburg. Their mission is to lead, advocate for and empower women of African descent, their families and communities. Amcot is proud to sponsor the 33 rd Annual Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Leadership Awards Breakfast. For more information, please visit: www.ncnwstpete.org St. Petersburg. Their mission is to lead, advocate for and empower women of African descent, their families and communities. Amcot is proud to sponsor the 33 Annual Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Leadership Awards Breakfast. For more information, please visit: www.ncnwstpete.org Parent to Parent of Miami, Miami. They are a community parent resource center for families of children and adults with all disabilities. With their help, parents and professionals can find information, workshops and resources to help make decisions about early intervention, early childhood, education, vocational training, employment, college opportunities, as well as the laws that protect the rights of children and adults with disabilities. Amscot is proud to sponsor the 2019 Family Engagement Picnic. For more information, please visit: www.ptopmiami.org Miami. They are a community parent resource center for families of children and adults with all disabilities. With their help, parents and professionals can find information, workshops and resources to help make decisions about early intervention, early childhood, education, vocational training, employment, college opportunities, as well as the laws that protect the rights of children and adults with disabilities. Amscot is proud to sponsor the 2019 Family Engagement Picnic. For more information, please visit: www.ptopmiami.org Plant City Black Heritage Celebration, Plant City. The purpose of Plant City Black Heritage Celebration, Inc. is to offer the community of Plant City a unique blend of African and African American Art, culture history, celebrate those who have and are carrying the torch passed on to us down the years by heroes in the search for equality and justice. Amscot is proud to sponsor this year's event in honor of Martin Luther King Jr. For more information, please visit: www.celebration2.homestead.com Plant City. The purpose of Plant City Black Heritage Celebration, Inc. is to offer the community of Plant City a unique blend of African and African American Art, culture history, celebrate those who have and are carrying the torch passed on to us down the years by heroes in the search for equality and justice. Amscot is proud to sponsor this year's event in honor of Martin Luther King Jr. For more information, please visit: www.celebration2.homestead.com Tampa Bay Times Newspaper in Education Program, St. Petersburg. The program is a cooperative effort between schools and the Pulitzer-Prize winning Tampa Bay Times to encourage the use of newspapers as an educational resource - a "living textbook." The program provides teachers with contemporary informational texts that engage students and relate academic learning to real-world experiences. For more information, please visit: www.tampabay.com/nie St. Petersburg. The program is a cooperative effort between schools and the Pulitzer-Prize winning Tampa Bay Times to encourage the use of newspapers as an educational resource - a "living textbook." The program provides teachers with contemporary informational texts that engage students and relate academic learning to real-world experiences. For more information, please visit: www.tampabay.com/nie Voices for Children of North Central Fl. Inc., Ocala. Their mission is to support physical and psychological needs of children in Marion, Lake, Hernando and Citrus counties who have a Guardian ad Litem assigned to them. They provide clothing, food, evaluations, and social interaction activities (normalcy) for the abused, neglected and abandoned children throughout the region. For more information, please visit: www.voices4childrenfl.org www.Amscot.com. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20190124005661/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [January 24, 2019] OptionMetrics to Sponsor, Exhibit, Present at the Europe EQD 2019 Forum in Barcelona OptionMetrics, an options database and analytics provider for institutional investors and academic researchers, will be sponsoring and exhibiting at the 3rd annual Europe EQD: The Volatility & Alternative Risk Premia Forum in Barcelona from January 28 - 29. OptionMetrics' Head of Quantitative Research Garrett DeSimone will also present his paper on "Implied Idiosyncratic Vol for Momentum (News - Alert) Strategy Enhancement," examining the drivers of the momentum factor. With the focus of Europe EQD on the latest in cross-asset volatility, alternative risk premia, and advances in quantitative investment management for traders, portfolio managers, and asset allocators in the Americas, EMEA, and Asia Pacific, OptionMetrics CEO David Hait, Ph.D. says his team is eager to share how options data is poviding greater insight into markets. "Options are becoming more popular with a growing number of investors in the U.S. and Europe. In fact, we're seeing increased volumes not seen since 2010," said Hait. "More conservative firms are getting interested in options too, particularly pension funds." DeSimone says his paper and presentation take a deeper look at the drivers of the momentum factor. "A traditional momentum strategy involves buying winners and selling losers based on the past 12 months returns. This strategy can be amplified by selecting stocks within the Winner-minus-Loser portfolio that have high implied idiosyncratic volatility (IVOL), which is extracted from option prices," he says. To secure a meeting with OptionMetrics at Europe EQD or for a PDF of Garrett DeSimone's paper, email Eran Steinberg. About OptionMetrics Founded in 1999, OptionMetrics distributes its IvyDB historical options databases for U.S., Canada, Europe, Asia, and global indices to corporate and institutional subscribers, as well as top business schools worldwide. It has covered every U.S. strike and expiration option on over 3,000 underlying stocks and indices since 1996. Leading portfolio managers, equity options traders, and quantitative researchers rely on OptionMetrics for extensive, high-quality data to construct and test options investment strategies, perform empirical research, and accurately assess risk. www.optionmetrics.com, LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20190124005602/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [January 24, 2019] Goodway Group of Massachusetts, First Commercial Printer In The Boston Metropolitan Area, To Install An Oce VarioPrint i300 MELVILLE, N.Y., Jan. 24, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Canon Solutions America, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Canon U.S.A., Inc., today acknowledged Goodway Group of Massachusetts as the first commercial printer in the Boston, Mass. metropolitan area to install an Oce VarioPrint i300 inkjet press. Nearly six months after installation, the company has reported outstanding levels of productivity, decreased operating costs, and new opportunities for business growth. With a reputation for recognizing industry trends and incorporating the latest technology and innovative solutions to address their customers' evolving business needs, Goodway Group sought the Oce VarioPrint i300 inkjet press. Goodway Group had the opportunity to see the Oce VarioPrint i300 inkjet press in action at Canon Solutions America's Customer Experience Center in Boca Raton, Fla. and were impressed with not only its speed, quality, and efficiency, but the technology that combines the reduced costs of inkjet with the media and application flexibility of sheet-fed production. The company noted immediate advancements in uptime, application versatility, and productivity. Since installation, Goodway Group has achieved uptimes above 95 percent. "As one of Boston's early adopters of digital technology, we are proud to now be the first in the region to acquire this groundbreaking technology," said Mike Jenoski, president and CEO of Goodway Group of Massachusetts. "It has brought great value to our business and our customers in a short time. The feedback from our customers on the quality of the prints has been overwhelmingly positive and our capacity to print a high volume of impressions has increased exponentially. We've been able to shift work from our toner devices to the i300 and saved a significant amount on operating costs." The Oce VarioPrint i300 offers Goodway Group an automated workflow and highly intuitive operation ideal for companies looking to help increase flexibility, expand application mix, take on more digital work, and leverage versatility. Since the arrival of the Oce VarioPrint i300, Goodway Group has opened the doors to even broader business opportunities. Prior to installing the inkjet press, the company landed a large project for a national client, but were limited by the speed and capacity provided by older toner devices in the company's print fleet. The Oce VarioPrint i300 allowed Goodway Group to nearly triple its capacity, taking it from a small vendor to a go-to vendor equipped to handle new and more challenging applications. According to Jenoski, the Oce VarioPrint i300 enabled Goodway Group to plan and be confident in its ability to take on high-volume requests and complex applications all while doing so profitably. "We are excited to celebrate a customer that has always embraced change and is eager to explore new possibilities provided by our inkjet technologies," said Francis McMahon, Executive VP of Canon Solutions America's Production Print Solutions. "In a short amount of time, the Oce VarioPrint i300 has demonstrated its capabilities and we are confident it will help Goodway Group of Massachusetts to remain competitive in the marketplace and improve its daily print operations." About Canon Solutions America, Inc. Canon Solutions America provides industry leading enterprise, production, and large format printing solutions, supported by exceptional professional service offerings. With the technology offerings of the Canon and Oce brands, Canon Solutions America helps companies of all sizes find ways to: improve sustainability, increase efficiency, and control costs in conjunction with high volume, continuous feed, digital and traditional printing, and document management solutions. A wholly owned subsidiary of Canon U.S.A., Inc., Canon Solutions America is headquartered in Melville, N.Y. and has sales and service locations across the U.S. For more information on Canon Solutions America, please visit csa.canon.com. Editorial Contact: Canon Solutions America, Inc. Website: Tara Vetro http://csa.canon.com 631-330-2681 For sales info/customer support: tvetro@csa.canon.com 1-844-443-INFO (4636) Canon is a registered trademark of Canon Inc. in the United States and elsewhere. Oce is a registered trademark of Oce-Technologies B.V. in the United States and elsewhere. All other referenced product names and marks are trademarks of their respective owners and are hereby acknowledged. 2019 Canon Solutions America, Inc. All rights reserved. View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/goodway-group-of-massachusetts-first-commercial-printer-in-the-boston-metropolitan-area-to-install-an-oce-varioprint-i300-300783807.html SOURCE Canon Solutions America, Inc. [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [January 24, 2019] OpenX Announces First of Its Kind Five Year Collaboration with Google Cloud That Will Form The Foundation of New Product and Technology Strategy LOS ANGELES, Jan. 24, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- OpenX today announced a first of its kind collaboration that will bring the entire OpenX exchange into the cloud with Google Cloud Platform (GCP). Through this deployment, OpenX will become the first ever major exchange to move all on-premises workloads fully into the cloud and become truly serverless. Work on integrating the five year technology collaboration began in 2018 with the companies expecting to complete the full transition to the cloud by the end of Q2, 2019. This collaboration represents an evolutionary leap forward in how advertising exchanges operate today. Every other scaled exchange utilizes physical server locations around the world to power their businesses. These legacy systems hinder scalability as they must be close to the markets they power, hamper speed and inhibit rapid innovation due to the incredible maintenance costs and capital expenditures that must be diverted to sustain their lifecycle. By joining DBM in utilizing GCP to power its global exchange, OpenX will deliver faster innovations into the market and far greater efficiency for both buyers and sellers. Specific benefits include: Speed: The move into GCP will increase the speed that bids come into the OpenX exchange allowing publishers to see greater demand for their audiences before an auction closes driving increased revenue potential. The move into GCP will increase the speed that bids come into the OpenX exchange allowing publishers to see greater demand for their audiences before an auction closes driving increased revenue potential. Scalability: Powered by GCP, the OpenX exchange will be infinitely scalable, allowing the company to support publishers as they experience traffic spikes without sacrificing monetization opportunities or latency. Powered by GCP, the OpenX exchange will be infinitely scalable, allowing the company to support publishers as they experience traffic spikes without sacrificing monetization opportunities or latency. Global Reach: OpenX's complete cloud-based exchange will eliminate the dependency for on premises servers utilized by nearly every programmatic exchnge today, allowing the company to enter new global markets almost instantaneously and scale specific locations based on their unique demands. OpenX's complete cloud-based exchange will eliminate the dependency for on premises servers utilized by nearly every programmatic exchnge today, allowing the company to enter new global markets almost instantaneously and scale specific locations based on their unique demands. Future-proofing: Google Cloud runs on the latest generation of computing power and technology. While on premise servers get outdated quickly, OpenX will leverage the latest technology through GCP. Google Cloud runs on the latest generation of computing power and technology. While on premise servers get outdated quickly, OpenX will leverage the latest technology through GCP. People Based Marketing: As OpenX focuses its product innovations and evolves its exchange to bring people-based marketing to the open web for the first time, the collaboration with GCP allows the company to build on its significant existing data asset, and eliminate any barriers or caps on the number of data points or unique identities utilized. Tim Cadogan , CEO of OpenX. "As we look at the programmatic market today, we see a sector that has experienced massive growth and adoption, but at the same time has stalled in its ability to deliver real innovation for marketers and publishers. We believe it is time to take a completely fresh look at the market and place a major bet on building the infrastructure necessary to drive the next wave of innovation. This investment and our work with Google will provide OpenX the flexibility to surge into new markets, adapt our business and billing models, expand our product suite to address the opportunity of people based marketing and provide our partners the exceptional quality and support they have come to expect." "Both OpenX and Google Cloud are dedicated to helping customers achieve their goals with cutting-edge technology," says Chris Klayko, Managing Director, Americas, Google Cloud. "This collaboration will allow for continued innovation leveraging both OpenX's Exchange Platform and Google Cloud's commitment to performance, collaboration, and big data optimization at scale." Prior to 2019, almost one quarter of the OpenX tech workforce was dedicated to maintaining legacy infrastructure. The transition to Google Cloud Platform will free resources to focus on new growth areas for the company, such as people based marketing, video and CTV. These fast growth areas have seen strong early results, with video now making up more than 1 in 10 dollars on the OpenX exchange. About OpenX OpenX powers highly relevant advertising at global scale, delivering quality and value to brands, publishers and consumers across every type of connected screen and ad format. The company's leading technology aggregates, curates and values consumer interest in real time on one of the world's largest and highest quality ad exchanges to ensure marketers reach exactly the audience they want. OpenX serves more than 30,000 of the world's most recognized brands, more than 1,200 publishers and more than 2,000 premium mobile apps. Media Contact OpenX Corporate Communications Max Nelson (650) 207-6267 press@openx.com View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/openx-announces-first-of-its-kind-five-year-collaboration-with-google-cloud-that-will-form-the-foundation-of-new-product-and-technology-strategy-300783570.html SOURCE OpenX Technologies, Inc. [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [January 24, 2019] Canada Invests in Advanced Solar Technology in Alberta CALGARY, Jan. 24, 2019 /CNW/ - The Government of Canada is using Canada's natural resource advantage to enhance our competitiveness and build our economy. This includes efforts to incorporate renewable energy technologies into the power system to create good, middle-class jobs for Canadians. The Honourable Amarjeet Sohi, Canada's Minister of Natural Resources, today announced funding for the construction of a new solar farm in southeastern Alberta. Located near Suffield, the project will create 23 megawatts of generating capacity using a novel approach designed to capture energy from both sides of the solar panel while it tracks the sun's daily trajectory. The Suffield Solar Project, developed and owned by Canadian Solar and its subsidiary, Suffield Solar LP, will employ approximately 250 people during construction and power about 7,400 households annually. It will reduce pollution from the electricity sector in Alberta and demonstrate the potential of two-sided solar panels in Canada. Funding for the project is being provided through Natural Resources Canada's Emerging Renewable Power Program. The program has committed $15.3 million over two years for the $49-million solar project, and the $200-million program is part of the Government of Canada's more than $180-billion Investing in Canada infrastructure plan. "Increasing our expertise, creating jobs and forging ahead with new technologies in high-growth industries like solar will help ensure Canada's success. On top of providing new sources of electricity to the local grid, increased awareness of renewables will help spur investment and support at the provincial, territorial, municipal and utility levels." Amarjeet Sohi Canada's Minister of Natural Resources "We are happy to partner with NRCan for this project. Canadian Solar, headquartered in Ontario, is a world-leading solar energy solution provider. This project will showcase our latest solar technology in the high-efficiency bifacial modules. Many thanks to NRCan for its support for the development of clean and sustainable energy solutions in Alberta. As an emerging industry around the world, solar project development has realized its great potential in job creation during construction, operation and maintenance. Canadian Solar is fully committed to promoting sustainable development in Canada." Dr. Shawn Qu Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Canadian Solar Quick Facts: This emerging solar technology will improve electricity generation despite snow coverage and will increase grid reliability during winter months. The new design will increase the efficiency of energy generation by 10 to 15 percent. The Emerging Renewable Power Program provides up to $200 million to expand the portfolio of commercially viable renewable energy sources available to provinces and territories as they work to reduce GHG emissions from their electricity sectors. to expand the portfolio of commercially viable renewable energy sources available to provinces and territories as they work to reduce GHG emissions from their electricity sectors. Through the Investing in Canada infrastructure plan, the Government of Canada is investing more than $180 billion over 12 years in public transit projects, green infrastructure, social infrastructure, trade and transportation routes and Canada's rural and northern communities. Associated Links: Emerging Renewable Power Program Investing in Canada : Canada's Long-Term Infrastructure Plan Investing in Canada Plan Project Map Follow us on Twitter: @NRCan (http://twitter.com/nrcan) SOURCE Natural Resources Canada [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [January 24, 2019] Universal Robots and VersaBuilt to Launch New Direct Interface for Cobots and CNC Machines at ATX West Manufacturers struggling to get CNC machines to communicate directly with their collaborative robot now have a solution: VersaBuilt's CNC Communication URCap is a simple yet powerful interface for machine tending applications with Universal Robots. Launching at Universal Robots' booth 4605 at the ATX West show February 5-7 in Anaheim, CA (News - Alert) , the URCap allows a UR cobot to easily execute any machining program stored on the CNC directly through the cobot's own teach pendant. Initially launching for Haas CNC machines, VersaBuilt will develop UR interfaces for other popular CNC makes later this year. The Haas CNC Communication URCap will soon be available through the UR+ platform, a showroom of products all certified to integrate seamlessly with UR cobots. The URCap maintains all Haas safety interlock features and works with Haas, VersaBuilt, and other third-party automatic door openers. "VersaBuilt is excited to partner with Universal Robots to provide machine shops with automation solutions designed for high mix CNC manufacturers," says Albert Youngwerth, CEO of VersaBuilt Robotics, a company helping machine shops automate thousands of part numbers of all shapes and sizes in turning and milling applications. Another testament to this mission is VersaBuilt's patented MultiGrip workholding system, soon available through the UR+ platform. MultiGrip includes an automatic vise, machinable jaws and an end-of-arm tool for the UR robot. MultiGrip was developed to address the frustration experienced when working with traditional robot grippers and CNC vises. "We ended up asking ourselves: why can't the robot and CNC use the same jaws?" explains Youngwerth. His team developed the unique workholding system that allows the robot and the CNC to share a set of MultiGrip machinable jaws for infeed, outfeed and CNC machining, resulting in reduced engineering costs, easier robot programming, faster setup time, and enhanced processing capabilities. > Visumatic's showcases cobot-controlled screw driving Joining VersaBuilt in the UR+ pipeline is Visumatic's VCM-3X.2 Collaborative Screw Driving Package delivering repeatable joining operations handled directly through the UR cobot's teach pendant. The system communicates to a screw driver control that handles a wide range of different screw driving feeds and routines. The VCM is bundled with pre-programmed fault recovery logic and Visumatic's field-proven power bit advance, bit position sensors and fastener delivery confirmation. XPAK ROBOX - first solution for random case erecting Visitors at UR's ATX booth can also experience the first solution for random robotic case erecting, the XPAK ROBOX. The box erector, powered by a UR10e cobot arm allows packagers to randomly erect any box in their suite on-demand without changeover. The collaborative design not only enables the operator to safely and intuitively interface with the machine, ROBOX also realizes approximately 60% reduction in terms of the footprint required for a similar machine using more conventional robotic technology requiring fencing. The UR10e is the largest cobot in Universal Robots new flagship line of cobots, the e-Series, showcased for the first time at the ATX West show. The e-Series sets a new standard for cobots, adding built-in force/torque sensing, unrivaled safety features, and improved precision for faster integration in a wider range of future-proofed applications. "The e-Series strengthens the core principles defining collaborative robots: fast set-up, easy programming, flexible deployment, safe operation, and a quick ROI," says Stuart Shepherd. "End-users with complex applications and diverse or uncertain future needs will benefit from the e-Series platform and our unique UR+ ecosystem, knowing that their investment will be able to grow with them as their needs change," he explains, referencing the rapidly expanding UR+ portfolio that now includes more than 120 certified UR+ products and close to 400 approved companies in its developer program. About Universal Robots Universal Robots was co-founded in 2005 by the company's CTO, Esben stergaard - the 2018 Engelberger Award Winner - who wanted to make robot technology accessible to all by developing small, user-friendly, reasonably priced, flexible industrial robots that are safe to work with. Since the first collaborative robot (cobot) was launched in 2008, the company has experienced considerable growth with the user-friendly cobot now sold worldwide. The company, which is a part of Teradyne (News - Alert) Inc., is headquartered in Odense, Denmark, and has subsidiaries and regional offices in the United States, Germany, France, Spain, Italy, Czech Republic, Turkey, China, India, Singapore, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan and Mexico. In 2017, Universal Robots had a revenue of USD 170 million. For more information, please visit www.universal-robots.com or read our blog at blog.universal-robots.com. Photos: Images of applications exhibited in UR's ATX booth available here: urrobots.com/ATX View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20190124005575/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [January 24, 2019] FoodMaven Continues Rapid Growth with Additional Funding from Top Investors FoodMaven, a Colorado-based startup, announced today that the company has closed an additional financing. Tao Capital Partners joins as an investor in the current $10M dollar round, along with funding from members of the Walton family. This round provides support for FoodMaven's ongoing rapid growth, including the company strategy of purchasing complementary food businesses as it enters new markets. FoodMaven recently announced the closing of Anderson Beef in Denver as part of this strategy. The company also announced plans to enter Dallas as its next market early this year. This round provides momentum into a $50-70M Series B projected for early in the second quarter of this year. As part of this financing, Isaac Pritzker of Tao Capital Partners joins the board of directors as an observer. Pritzker joins board members: Walter Robb, former Co-CEO of Whole Foods; Lauren Baron from Walton Enterprises; Nancy Phillips, former CEO and Exec Chair of Flexential; Chris Onan, co-founder of Galvanize and venture investor; and Patrick Bultema, Chairman, CEO and co-founder of FoodMaven. Also active on the board as observers are: a Walton family member; and Rob Lewis (representing seed investors). "We are deeply grateful for our investmet partners who share our vision of a for-profit, for-impact company, addressing issues in the food system that leads to so much food waste," said Patrick Bultema, FoodMaven Chairman, CEO and co-founder. "This financing provides support for growing into additional markets this year, as we also ramp up our investment in technology and innovations." Bultema further added, "I'm also thrilled to have Isaac Pritzker join us. It's clear Isaac, as well as Tao Capital, have both deep expertise and passion for transforming food for the better. He is a great addition to the board, that already represents so much credibility and impact in the food industry." "It is a pleasure to join such a passionate group of brilliant people working to address the elimination of food waste in the pursuit of a sufficient and sustainable global food system," said Isaac Pritzker who is a Principal at Tao Capital Partners. About Tao Capital Tao Invest, the direct investment entity affiliated with Tao Capital Partners, invests in technology, alternative energy and transportation, healthcare, education, sustainable food & agriculture, consumer, and real estate businesses that have a positive impact. Tao is an active investor with the ability to support companies through various stages of their life-cycle. About FoodMaven FoodMaven captures and creates a market for food lost in the system that's oversupplied, out-of-spec, or local food without effective access to market. FoodMaven sells this food through an online marketplace to restaurants and institutions like universities and hotels and donates it to hunger-relief organizations to fulfill its mission of all food used with good purpose. FoodMaven is good for profits, good for people and good for the planet. For more information, please visit foodmaven.com. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20190124005562/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [January 24, 2019] Addigy Predicts Higher Demand for Its Apple Device Management Products in 2019 as Enterprise Deployments Increase MIAMI, Jan. 24, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Addigy, a leading provider of cloud-based Apple device management software, today forecast greater demand for cloud-based computing device management as interest grows across enterprises globally. With increased macOS deployments in the enterprise, the need for comprehensive management solutions will necessarily rise to support management requirements.[1] In support increasing device management requirements, Addigy's full-stack cloud-based macOS/iOS Device Management platform allows for centralized management of distributed computing environments. The solution provides 24x7x365 oversight of all systems to ensure security, real-time software updates and high efficiency levels. IT administrators can thoroughly audit all assets quickly and without server setup to identify which OS versions and applications are installed, and whether updates have been applied to all machines on the network. According to Gene Munster, Managing Partner, Loop Ventures, "In October of last year, the MacBook Air and Mac Mini were announced. This has introduced systems with a lower price point to stay within IT budgets while offering the same high value features. These computers are built to compete in the PC market from both a price and specifications standpoint which will attract business customers who will also require management systems to runs these devices within an organization." "The purchasing qualifiers of these solutions are now equivalent to PCs in many respects and CIOs are taking notice," said Jason Dettbarn, CEO, Addigy. "The industry-wide lowering of costs alongside the gains in management efficiency make properly managed computing devices competitively advantageous. With a focus on macOS/iOS solution management in the enterprise, Addigy is playing a significant role in making this a reality for businesses globally." "With the availability of touch ID and facial recognition, macOS/iOS devices have best-inclass access control, making them a very viable option for use in the enterprise," added Munster. "Add to this the company's High Sierra and Mojave macOS security updates and these devices are positioned well for more secure computing environments. The pricing profile for MacBook Air and Mac Mini also makes them affordable for those replacing some or all of their PCs." Addigy Device Management Platform -- Free Trial A free trial of the Addigy is available at https://www.addigy.com/#signup-form. Tweet This: More Affordable, Secure Apple Computers to Drive Enterprise Demand for Apple Device Management in 2019 - https://bit.ly/2Bu9DCX Resources: Visit Addigy on Owler at https://www.owler.com/company/addigy Register with Addigy Today to Receive the Software: https://prod.addigy.com/signup Follow Addigy on Twitter at: http://www.twitter.com/addigy Visit Addigy online at: http://www.addigy.com About Addigy Addigy helps system administrators take control of their IT environments with the industry's most comprehensive cloud-based platform for Unified Apple Device Management. Addigy simplifies and streamlines the IT management of Apple devices with asset management, monitoring, reporting, remote command execution, customer and user management, real-time communications, and more. Contact Addigy at +1 305-330-6677 or visit www.addigy.com. Contact Addigy Call +1 305-330-6677 or email sales@addigy.com [1] Computerworld, Apple in 2019: Expect more focus on enterprise identity, device ownership, December 24, 2018 Related Video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Owc_mYGG_R0 View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/addigy-predicts-higher-demand-for-its-apple-device-management-products-in-2019-as-enterprise-deployments-increase-300783773.html SOURCE Addigy [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [January 24, 2019] La Caisse and the Government of Quebec participate in AddEnergie expansion MONTREAL, Jan. 24, 2019 /CNW Telbec/ - La Caisse de depot et placement du Quebec (la Caisse) announced, alongside the Government of Quebec, an investment in AddEnergie, a North American leader in electric vehicle charging solutions. This new transaction will help AddEnergie to double the production capacity at its Shawinigan plant and develop the next generation of products and solutions, particularly charging stations, network management software and smart grid software. This backing will enable AddEnergie to pursue growth, namely in the U.S. market, which it entered in 2018. These actions will lead to the creation of 130 additional jobs within the company. "We appreciate the trust la Caisse and the Government of Quebec are placing in us by supporting our growth and efforts to expand into the U.S. market," said Louis Tremblay, President and Chief Executive Officer, AddEnergie. "Last spring, we worked with Vermont's Green Mountain Power (GMP), one of the U.S.'s most innovative electricity providers, to install residential charging infrastructure that is connected and energy managed to support the evolution of GMP's smart electrical grid. We plan to announce several more major collaborations and the support of our partners is timely in terms of delivering the phenomenal growth that our company has experienced year after year." The investment announced today is subsequent to an initial joint investment by la Caisse and the Government of Quebec in the Quebec-based company in 2016. That investment allowed AddEnergie to meet its growth and technology deployment objectives across Canada over the last two years. "Since our initial investment, CDPQ has supported AddEnergie in its ambitious plans for growth in new markets. As the Canadian leader in its industry, AddEnergie is well positioned to carve out a leading position in the U.S.," said Mathieu Gauvin, Senior Vice-President, Quebec at CDPQ. "n addition to the financial support announced today, CDPQ will also support AddEnergie by providing access to its firmly established network of experts and global partners." "AddEnergie has enjoyed sustained growth since its beginning, and proves once again that Quebec has the know-how and resources necessary to secure a desirable position in the North American market for smart charging solutions for electric vehicles. It is with great pride that the Government of Quebec supports this dynamic company, which also contributes to meeting our greenhouse gas reduction objectives," added Pierre Fitzgibbon, Minister of Economy and Innovation and Minister Responsible for the Lanaudiere Region. Today, AddEnergie manages over 13,000 public and private charging stations, and continues to operate its FLO charging network across North America. The company expects to have more than 100,000 stations in service within the next three years. AddEnergie has enjoyed tremendous growth in recent years. It currently employs more than 150 people in 7 offices across North America, including business presences recently established in California and New York, including offices that were recently opened in San Francisco and New York. AddEnergie is positioned as a key North American player in the innovative electric vehicle charging industry. Recently, its leadership was honoured with the 2017 North American Electric Vehicle Charging Competitive Strategy Innovation and Leadership Award from market analysis and consulting firm, Frost & Sullivan. ABOUT ADDENERGIE AddEnergie is a North American leader in electric vehicle (EV) charging solutions. Founded in 2009, the company manufactures charging stations and develops network management software for all markets (residential, commercial, public). AddEnergie owns and operates FLO, Canada's largest EV charging network, and supplies charging infrastructure and network operation services to third party networks such as the Electric Circuit (Quebec) and eCharge Network (New Brunswick). AddEnergie's headquarters and network operations centre are based in Quebec City, and all products are assembled at its factory in Shawinigan (Quebec). The company also has regional offices in Montreal (Quebec), Mississauga (Ontario), Vancouver (British Columbia), San Francisco (California) and New York (New York). For more information, visit addenergietechnologies.com. ABOUT CAISSE DE DEPOT ET PLACEMENT DU QUEBEC Caisse de depot et placement du Quebec (CDPQ) is a long-term institutional investor that manages funds primarily for public and parapublic pension and insurance plans. As at June 30, 2018, it held CAD308.3 billion in net assets. As one of Canada's leading institutional fund managers, CDPQ invests globally in major financial markets, private equity, infrastructure, real estate and private debt. For more information, visit cdpq.com, follow us on Twitter @LaCDPQ or consult our Facebook or LinkedIn pages. SOURCE Caisse de depot et placement du Quebec [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [January 24, 2019] Alternative Payment Solutions, 2018: Visa Checkout - ResearchAndMarkets.com The "Alternative Payment Solution: Visa Checkout" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering. Visa Checkout is an online payment solution developed by Visa. Launched in 2014, it replaced the V.me digital wallet solution launched in 2012. It allows users to store multiple card details and billing addresses for faster checkout. Launched in the US, Canada, and Australia, the solution is now available in a total of 45 countries, including Brazil, China, Hong Kong, India, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Poland, Singapore, South Africa, the UAE, and the UK. The report provides information and insights into alternative payment solution Visa Checkout, including: Detailed insight into its business and geographical presence Comprehensive coverage of its products and services Comparative assessment with key alternative payment solutions Information on its performance, including its revenue model The company's important events and milestones Key Highlights In 2014, Visa Checkout replaced the V.me digital wallet solution. Visa Checkout in-app payments are supported by a number of merchants globally, including Dunkin' Donuts, Starbucks, Pizza Hut, Shutterfly, Parkmobile, Wyndham, and United Airlines. Visa Checkout supports all major payment schemes - Visa, Mastercard, American Express (News - Alert) , and Discover. In April 2018, the solution partnered with online travel company Rehlat, enabling the latter's customers in Kuwait, the UAE, and Saudi Arabia to pay for tickets with Visa Checkout. Reasons to Buy Gain insights into Visa Checkout's business operations, and key events. Gain insights into its product portfolio and revenue model. Assess the competitive dynamics in the alternative payments industry by comparing its performance against competitors. Topics Covered Overview Historic Milestones Benchmarking How Does it Work? Products and Services Significant Events Partner Banks and Financial Institutions in the US Supporting Merchants Companies Featured Masterpass PayPal Braintree Google Pay Samsung Pay Bank of America BBVA Compass (News - Alert) Chase BB&T US Bank Wells Fargo Mastercard Visa Discover American Express For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/3438zv/alternative?w=4 View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20190124005549/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [January 24, 2019] IGEL Adds LG Business Solutions to Growing Portfolio of Technology Partners SAN FRANCISCO, Jan. 24, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- IGEL, a world leader in endpoint management software for the secure enterprise, has formed a new alliance with LG Electronics USA Business Solutions. Under the terms of the agreement, IGEL is expanding IGEL OS device support to include LG's family of high-definition monitors and all-in-one thin client devices. "LG is widely recognized as one of the world's leading innovators of display technologies and solutions, and we are proud to be adding them to our growing partner ecosystem," said Simon Clephan, Vice President of Business Development, IGEL. "Our validation of LG's innovative IPS Displays and all-in-one thin clients for the IGEL OS is just one new example of how we are teaming with leaders in this space to bring solutions to market that are simple to manage, secure and reliable, and drive high performance and efficiency within the enterprise." LG products that will be supported by the IGEL OS include the 24-inch all-in-one thin-client monitor (model 24CK550W), the 38-inch all-in-one Curved UltraWideTM Thin Client Monitor (model 38CK950N) and the Thin Client Box (model CK500). The IGEL OS' broad feature set supports remote access and reliable multi-protocol connectivity to VDI environments including Citrix, VMware and Microsoft via the LG monitors and all-in-one thin client solutions. "IGEL's software-defined endpoint management solutions are truly changing the way enterprises approach end-user computing," said Clark Brown, vice president, LG Business Solutions. "Partnering with IGEL will help expand our enterprise business, and we look forward to eaming with our channel partners to provide their end user customers with an innovative, secure and high-performing endpoint computing experience." LG Electronics is a Gold-level sponsor for the 2019 IGEL DISRUPT End User Computing Forum events in Silicon Valley, Calif. and Munich, Germany. For more information visit https://disruptEUC.com. To learn more about IGEL's growing portfolio of technology partners, visit https://www.igel.com/our-powerful-partnerships/. IGEL on Social Media Twitter: www.twitter.com/IGEL_Technology Facebook: www.facebook.com/igel.technology Google+: https://plus.google.com/u/0/101270758605662221044 LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/igel-technology YouTube: www.youtube.com/user/IGELTechnologyTV IGEL Community: www.igel.com/community About IGEL IGEL delivers powerful unified endpoint management software that is revolutionary in its simplicity and purpose-built for the enterprise. The company's world-leading software products include the IGEL OS, Universal Desktop Converter (UDC), IGEL Cloud Gateway (ICG), IGEL UD Pocket (UDP) and Universal Management Suite (UMS). These solutions enable a more secure, manageable and cost-effective endpoint management platform across nearly any x86 device. Additionally, IGEL's German engineered and manufactured thin, zero and all-in-one client solutions deliver the industry's best warranty (5 years), support (3 years after end of life) and management functionality. IGEL enables enterprises to precisely control all devices running IGEL OS as well as Windows OS from a single dashboard interface. IGEL has offices worldwide and is represented by partners in over 50 countries. For more information on IGEL, visit www.igel.com. View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/igel-adds-lg-business-solutions-to-growing-portfolio-of-technology-partners-300783090.html SOURCE IGEL [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [January 24, 2019] QuickBridge Infographic Addresses Challenges Faced by Small Businesses During the Government Shutdown As the longest government shutdown in American history continues, QuickBridge, a financial services firm offering small business loans to businesses nationwide, released an infographic on the "8 Ways the Partial Government Shutdown is Directly Affecting Small Business." This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20190124005510/en/ The QuickBridge "8 Ways the Partial Government Shutdown is Directly Affecting Small Business" infographic statistics are based on data from a survey conducted by QuickBridge. The survey was sent to QuickBridge customers and prospects. Approximately 31 percent of survey respondents said that the shutdown is having an impact on their sales and over 30 percent expect tax refund delays and a slowdown in hiring. Roughly 50 percent of survey respondents agree that the shutdown is having a negative effect on both businesses and consumers. (Graphic: Business Wire) Infographic statistics are bsed on data from a survey conducted by QuickBridge. The survey was sent to QuickBridge customers and prospects. Approximately 31 percent of survey respondents said that the shutdown is having an impact on their sales and over 30 percent expect tax refund delays and a slowdown in hiring. Roughly 50 percent of survey respondents agree that the shutdown is having a negative effect on both businesses and consumers. With a decrease in sales and no access to government subsidiaries, many small businesses are worried about their finances. Nearly 40 percent of survey respondents see the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) partial shutdown having an impact on their plans to secure financing. The SBA serves as a key funding resource for small business owners. Not only are small business owners unable to get a loan through the SBA during the shutdown, but there will be a significant backlog once the SBA is operational again. According to an Inc. report, the SBA typically processes approximately 320 loans daily for working capital and commercial property use. This amounts to $200 million in lost funding opportunities each day. "This may be a good time for small business owners to research and consider alternative lending," said QuickBridge President Ben Gold. "While some small businesses wouldn't ordinarily seek out alternative lenders, unforeseen or emergency situations, like the shutdown, may require them to turn to other financing options to help bridge this period." The infographic addresses the many ways the partial shutdown is directly affecting small businesses, including business travel; SBA lending; tax filing; IRS counseling; and employee verification. About QuickBridge Founded in 2011, Quick Bridge Funding LLC (stylized as QuickBridge) is a privately-held financial services firm headquartered in Irvine, California with a satellite office in New York City. QuickBridge provides short-term working capital loans to small to mid-sized businesses nationwide. Since its founding, QuickBridge has provided more than $600 million in working capital to more than 12,000 businesses. QuickBridge ranked two consecutive years on the Inc.500 list and is a previous Business Intelligence Group and Equipment Leasing and Finance Association (ELFA) award winner. Visit quickbridge.com. Products offered by Quick Bridge Funding, LLC and affiliates are business loans only. The products are provided by third parties and subject to lender approval. Loans to customers in California are made or arranged pursuant to a California Finance Lenders Law License. License number: 603 J292. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20190124005510/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [January 24, 2019] Alternative Payment Solutions, 2019: Stripe - Historic Milestones, Benchmarking, Revenue Model, Products & Services - ResearchAndMarkets.com The "Alternative Payment Solution: Stripe" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering. Stripe is a global payment services provider. Founded in 2010, the solution allows online merchants and vendors to accept payments for products and services offered through their own websites and mobile apps, as well as for those offered through third-party online marketplaces and platforms. The report provides information and insights into alternative payment solution Stripe, including: Detailed insight into its business Comprehensive coverage of its products and services Comparative assessment with key alternative payment solutions Information on its performance, including its revenue model The company's imortant events and milestones Key Highlights In September 2011, Stripe was launched in the US Stripe Connect is a payment solution for marketplaces and platforms, allowing them to accept payments from end customers and then pass on the payments to merchants In April 2018, launched Stripe Billing, a recurring billing service for subscription-based businesses In September 2018, launched Stripe Terminal, a POS solution for businesses to accept in-store payments Topics Covered Overview Historic Milestones Benchmarking Revenue Model Products & Services Significant Events Partner Merchants & Platforms Companies Featured Stripe Apple Pay Alipay Adyen WePay Google (News - Alert) Pay Chase Visa Mastercard American Express Discover JCB Diners Club China UnionPay For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/6gr35m/alternative?w=4 View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20190124005487/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [January 24, 2019] Smithfield Foods Takes Major Step in Cloud Journey by Moving SAP Workloads to Virtustream Enterprise Cloud Virtustream, the enterprise-class cloud company and a Dell (News - Alert) Technologies business, today announced that Smithfield Foods, Inc., a $15 billion global food company, has successfully completed the migration of all SAP (News - Alert) systems onto a single, unified S4/HANA SAP platform on Virtustream Enterprise Cloud. According to research from Forrester (News - Alert) , 86 percent of organizations describe their cloud strategy as multi-cloud today. While 58 percent of those organizations are looking for improved performance with their multi-cloud strategy, 52 percent are looking to achieve cost savings. By consolidating their SAP applications onto Virtustream Enterprise Cloud, Smithfield is realizing both goals, while also freeing up resources for internal teams to focus on innovation. "To accomplish the next phase of our digital transformation journey, we needed a provider that had deep expertise and understood our specific requirements for mission-critical applications and multi-cloud support," said Julia Anderson, Global CIO, Smithfield Foods. "In selecting Virtustream, we have already seen incredible results such as reducing our IT costs by consolidating SOWs andright-sizing our VMs to future proof our legacy infrastructure." Through meticulous preparation, Smithfield and Virtustream developed a strategy, which resulted in the "One SAP" project, launched in July 2018 to move all of Smithfield's operations for SAP to Virtustream Enterprise Cloud. With Virtustream, Smithfield reduces consumption of their SAP environment by taking advantage of Virtustream Enterprise Cloud's dynamic, scalable, on-demand resources, which allow Smithfield the flexibility to pay for only what they consume. Smithfield is projected to save an estimated $ 3M (News - Alert) in IT costs over the next three years. "Smithfield Foods' decision to partner with Virtustream as part of its multi-cloud strategy leverages our core strengths in running mission-critical applications in the cloud," said Rory Read, president and CEO, Virtustream. "We're thrilled to have the opportunity to grow with Smithfield, support their efforts as leaders in innovation and serve as the trusted partner they require to confidently move a multi-billion dollar business to the cloud." About Virtustream: Virtustream, a Dell Technologies business, is the enterprise-class cloud service and software provider trusted by enterprises worldwide to migrate and run their mission-critical applications in the cloud. For enterprises, service providers and government agencies, Virtustream's xStream management platform and Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS) meets the security, compliance, performance, efficiency and consumption-based billing requirements of complex production applications in the cloud - whether private, public or hybrid. About Smithfield Foods Smithfield Foods is a $15 billion global food company and the world's largest pork processor and hog producer. In the United States, the company is also the leader in numerous packaged meats categories with popular brands including Smithfield, Eckrich, Nathan's Famous, Farmland, Armour, Farmer John, Kretschmar, John Morrell, Cook's, Gwaltney, Carando, Margherita, Curly's, Healthy Ones, Morliny, Krakus, and Berlinki. Smithfield Foods is committed to providing good food in a responsible way and maintains robust animal care, community involvement, employee safety, environmental, and food safety and quality programs. For more information, visit www.smithfieldfoods.com, and connect with us on Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20190124005157/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [January 24, 2019] Pie Insurance Expands into New York, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Maryland, and Nebraska Pie Insurance announced today that it has begun selling workers' compensation insurance to small businesses in New York, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Maryland, and Nebraska. These five states join Pie's coverage area, which also includes Arizona, California, Colorado, Georgia, Illinois, Louisiana, North Carolina, Tennessee, and Texas. Now more than 3.2 million small businesses in 14 states can get workers' compensation insurance online through a faster, easier online experience. Pie meets small business owners where they are, offering them easy-to-understand quotes 24/7 on desktop or smartphones. Pie uses predictive analytics and high-quality datasets to digitize the workers' compenation insurance experience, which could save small business owners up to 30% in the process. "Shopping for insurance should be simple and accessible just like other products and services we buy online," said John Swigart, Pie's co-founder and CEO. "America's small businesses deserve a better workers' comp insurance experience, as well as the ability to find savings in the process." In 2017, Pie attracted $4.3 million in seed funding from Sirius Group, Moxley Holdings, and Elefund. In 2018, Greycroft and Aspect (News - Alert) Ventures joined existing investors to bolster geographic expansion and scale operations as part of Pie's $11 million Series A Funding round. Pie operates as a managing general agency for Sirius America Insurance Company, a subsidiary of Sirius Group, offering A.M. Best A rated workers' compensation insurance. For more information, visit www.pieinsurance.com. About Pie Insurance Pie Insurance provides workers' compensation insurance directly to small businesses at www.pieinsurance.com. The company began offering workers' compensation insurance policies in 2018 with the mission of helping small businesses experience true savings and an unmatched level of service. Offering A.M. Best A rated insurance, Pie leverages data analytics, easy-to-use online features, and a seasoned team of insurance experts to create an insurance model that's as easy as pie. Pie's investors include Greycroft, Aspect Ventures, Sirius Group, Moxley Holdings, and Elefund. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20190124005145/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [January 24, 2019] Alternative Payment Solutions, 2018: Alipay - Historic Milestones, Benchmarking, Revenue Model, Products & Services - ResearchAndMarkets.com The "Alternative Payment Solution: Alipay" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering. Alipay is the largest alternative payment services provider globally in terms of transaction value. It is a subsidiary of Ant Financial Services, which is controlled by Alibaba Group Holding Limited. The report provides information and insights into alternative payment solution Alipay, including: Detailed insight into its business Comprehensive coverage of its products and services Comparative assessment with key alternative payment solutions Information on its performance, including its revenue mdel The company's important events and milestones Key Highlights In December 2004, Alipay was launched in China. Alipay offers transport payment services in 15 markets including China, South Korea, Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia, the US, Italy, and Australia. In September 2017, Alipay launched the Smile to Pay feature, allowing users to make payments with a smile during checkout at stores. In October 2018, Alipay partnered with UniCredit Bank to introduce Alipay in Hungary, enabling Chinese travelers to make payments via Alipay from 2019. Topics Covered Overview Historic Milestones Benchmarking Revenue Model Products & Services Significant Events Partner Banks and Financial Institutions in China Partner Merchants For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/gkkm6z/alternative?w=4 View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20190124005475/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [January 24, 2019] Lever Continues Rapid Growth With Addition of Toronto Office SAN FRANCISCO, Jan. 24, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Lever , the company transforming the way organizations hire, announces it will open a second office this year. The new office will be located in Toronto, enabling Lever to better support the hyper growth in North America and also scale international customer growth. Lever, headquartered in San Francisco since its founding in 2012, will also use its Canadian location to tap into an innovative pool of engineering and sales talent in support of the companys ongoing product and go to market initiatives. Opening our second office is a major milestone for Lever and is indicative of our continued growth as well as increasing market opportunities in the recruiting software and talent acquisition space, said Sarah Nahm, CEO, Lever. Were excited to be a part of Torontos growing tech community. Toronto was the clear choice for Lever, due to proximity to our customers, the size and quality of the local talent pool, its positive business climate, and perhaps most importantly, its alignment with our commitment to diversity and inclusion. Lever has begun to actively hire for the offce with the plan of ending 2019 with over 65 employees spanning the companys sales, success, product, engineering, people and IT teams. Lever is currently in the process of identifying office space in Toronto that matches the working style of its team. Key attributes will be an open floor plan, technology-enabled conference rooms and common areas that facilitate the exchange of ideas and socialization. Sourcing, nurturing and hiring talent remains the top business imperative for companies of all sizes, irrespective of industry or geographic location, continued Nahm. Our growth to date has been based on our ability to solve this problem and we will continue to expand and innovate to meet the needs of our customers all over the world. Lever has made a name for itself in San Francisco, being named the #1 Best Place to Work in the Bay Area by the SF Business Times, and a top place to work in the United States and a Best Place to Work in Tech and Best Place to Work for Women by Fortune. Lever intends to bring this commitment to culture and diversity and inclusion to the Toronto office as well. About Lever Levers Talent Acquisition Suite unifies organizations to source, nurture, interview, and hire top talent through effortless collaboration. Lever was founded in 2012 in San Francisco. The company has raised more than $73 million in funding from Adams Street Partners, Scale Venture Partners, Matrix Partners, Y Combinator, Redpoint Ventures, and Correlation Ventures among others. Lever supports the hiring needs of over 2,000 companies around the globe including the teams at Netflix, Hot Topic, KPMG New Zealand, and Cirque du Soleil. With an overall gender ratio of 50:50, Lever is also fiercely committed to building a team culture that celebrates diversity and inclusion. For more information, visit https://www.lever.co . MEDIA CONTACT: Ashley Cohen Traeger Communications acohen@traegercommunications.com 303-522-0783 [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] DAVOS, Switzerland, Jan. 23 (Xinhua) -- Chinese Vice President Wang Qishan said here Wednesday that four to five generations of the Chinese people have, going through twists and turns, probed a way forward over 70 years. He said in a special address to the 2019 annual meeting of the World Economic Forum that "we will stay true to the founding mission of the Communist Party of China 70 years ago, uphold its leadership and China's fundamental socialist political and economic systems and be guided by a people-centered development philosophy." This year marks the 70th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China. "Through trials and errors, with many lessons learned and heavy prices paid along the way, we have made great accomplishments and embarked upon a path of building socialism with distinctive Chinese features," Wang said. This year's Davos forum gathers over 3,000 participants to discuss "Globalization 4.0," a buzzword that means a new wave of globalization in a digital world. [January 24, 2019] StrongKey Urges Adoption of FIDO Protocols in Healthcare CUPERTINO, Calif., Jan. 24, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- For the last three consecutive years, the healthcare industry has been significantly more susceptible to breaches via hacking, including authentication breaches. In light of this serious threat, StrongKey announced today its strong recommendation to adopt protocols from the FIDO Alliance for healthcare organizations. Click to Tweet: .@StrongKey Urges Adoption of @FIDOAlliance Protocols in #Healthcare: https://tinyurl.com/y74acykb #dataprivacy #authentication In 2018, more than 10 million records were breached in the healthcare industry alone. When it comes to information security and protecting sensitive PHI, the healthcare industry is not always able to uphold its "duty of care." By implementing StrongKey's encryption and strong authentication solutions, which adhere to FIDO protocols, healthcare organizations ensure that their patient data has the highest level of protection available today. StrongKey's CTO, Arshad Noor, will speak at HIMSS19 on "Duty of Care and Information Security" to address these topics. Visit https://tinyurl.com/y7am52e5 for details. Adopting the appropriate tools and protocols benefit these healthcare stakeholders: Hospitals and health systems Prevent records being breached by phishing or brute-force attacks by strengthening authentication protocols. Remain trusted by patients and perform duty of care in advance of being breached. Health/life insurance providers and legal As the 9/11 Dark Overlord hack and data exposure illustrates, life insurance and legal are not safe when it comes to health-related hacks. Patients and everyone protected under duty of care Delivering FIDO-level strong authentication gives patients confidence they are the only ones accessing their data besides their trusted providers. This includes sharing medical records, giving consent and other personal information that patients believe their providers will do their very best to protect under HIPAA and duty of care. Arshad Noor, CTO, StrongKey, said: "Attackers are focusing on stealing health data to commit various kinds of fraud, such as access to care, drug diversion and claims fraud. They are finding great success because the healthcare industry, on the whole, still depends on weak authentication practices like the use of passwords. Such practices are the root cause of data breaches, and they need to change. There are technologies and resources available to help healthcare organizations comply with data protection regulations and avoid breaches, including the StrongKey Tellaro Data Protection solution." To learn more about StrongKey's solutions, visit StrongKey booth #400-31 at HIMSS 2019, Orlando, Florida, February 11-15, 2019. Visit https://tinyurl.com/ycv4whyw for details. About StrongKey StrongKey, Inc. is a privately held company based in Silicon Valley, California. It is the leader in enterprise key management infrastructure, bringing new levels of capability and data security at a price point significantly lower than other solutions on the market. Providing products and services in symmetric key management, encryption, tokenization and strong authentication, StrongKey is focused on securing data in cloud computing, e-commerce, healthcare, finance and other sectors mandating protection of sensitive data. StrongKey's solutions are installed at customer sites around the world and are key components of mission-critical business operations. PR contact: Katrina Porter Nadel Phelan, Inc. 831-440-2406 katrina.porter@nadelphelan.com View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/strongkey-urges-adoption-of-fido-protocols-in-healthcare-300783519.html SOURCE StrongKey [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [January 24, 2019] Wilson Perumal & Company Appoints Dean Hamilton as CTO DALLAS, Jan. 24, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Wilson Perumal & Company, premier management consulting firm with depth in strategy and operations and a focus on helping companies tackle complexity, has appointed Dean Hamilton Chief Technology Officer. Dean has supported Wilson Perumal & Company (WP&C) as a Senior Advisor since 2012, and in his new role will oversee the firm's technology development and directly support clients across all industries. "We have known Dean for a long time and are thrilled to have him join our team full-time. His tremendous expertise in leading and transformative technologies will be a boost for the firm and our clients," said Andrei Perumal, co-founder and managing partner of Wilson Perumal & Company. Dean has more than 30 years of experience in the technology industry, including being named by Forbes.com to their list of "The Top 8 Technology CEOs to Watch." He has deep expertise in the areas of artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning, next-generation networking, cloud computing, machine-to-machine communications, enterprise network security and next-generation "green-lighting" technology to large public companies and to venture-backed startups. "As a pioneering figure in the technology industry, Dean's in-depth areas of expertise include technology, business strategy, and product innovation. In this role, he will deliver technology solutions to simplify complex business operations and produce highly reliable processes to manage growth and control risks," Stephen Wilson, co-founder and managing partner of Wilson Perumal & Company stated. "As the market for AI and IoT application is exploding across all industries, Dean's background positions us to increase our operational agility and playbook to ultimately provide better client experiences." Prior joining WP&C, Dean was Senior VP and CTO at Persistent Systems, a leader in software product development and technology services. He expanded Accelerite's Concert IoT service creation and enrichment platform for rapid and simplified service creation, platform creation, and ecosystem monetization. Dean Hamilton, CTO, said, "I'm honored to be a part of a forward-thinking consulting firm such as WP&C, and am excited to combine my experience harnessing the power of emerging technologies with the firm's expertise helping clients to successfully navigate business complexity." Dean began his career as a software engineer and quickly became Director of Engineering for NetExpress, where he worked closely with Dr. Larry Roberts, the inventor of packet switching technology. Dean later co-founded CoSine Communications, a first-of-its-kind virtual network computing platform where he pioneered the technologies and business strategies associated with network-based computing services and network virtualization. As CEO and President, Dean led CoSine to a very successful IPO with a market capitalization of $7.1 billion, and continued on as the public company CEO. About Wilson Perumal & Company Founded in 2009 and with offices in the US and Europe, Wilson Perumal & Company is a leading management consulting firm with significant depth in strategy and operations and a focus on helping companies tackle complexity. Leveraging their unique perspective, WP&C helps companies that struggle with the complexity of today's world and need fresh perspective from a new breed of strategy consultancy. For more information, visit Wilson Perumal & Company. Wilson Perumal & Company Contact Karen H. Ma +1-972-716-3930 208189@email4pr.com www.wilsonperumal.com View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/wilson-perumal--company-appoints-dean-hamilton-as-cto-300783201.html SOURCE Wilson Perumal & Company [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [January 24, 2019] Protective Life Enters Agreement with Great-West to Reinsure Individual Life Insurance and Annuity Business Protective Life Corporation (Protective), a wholly owned U.S. subsidiary of Dai-ichi Life Holdings, Inc. (TSE:8750, Dai-ichi), announced that it has reached an agreement under which its subsidiaries, Protective Life Insurance Company (Protective Life), and Protective Life & Annuity Insurance Company, will acquire via reinsurance substantially all of Great-West Life & Annuity Insurance Company's (GWL&A) individual life insurance and annuity business. The business to be transferred, which has been marketed under the Great-West Financial brand, includes bank-owned and corporate-owned life insurance, single premium life insurance, individual annuities, and a portion of Great-West's closed block life insurance and annuities. GWL&A will retain a block of participating policies, which will be administered by Protective. The transaction represents an estimated capital investment by Protective of approximately $1.2 billion, subject to adjustment, and will be the largest acquisition in company history. It will also mark Protective's entrance into the executive benefits market. "This business aligns well with our long-term plans for growth and scale. The life and annuity business has been a cornerstone of Protective throughout our history and will continue to be an area of future growth for the company," said Richard J. Bielen, President and Chief Executive Officer, Protective. "Together, Great-West and Protective bring strength and stability to this transaction with a shared focus on serving people and doing the right thing - for our employees, our distributors, and most importantly, our customers. We are excited about the opportunity to reach new markets and provide valued protection to even more customers." "The combined strength of the businesses built by Great-West and Protective creates new opportunities for our customers who will now be very well served by Protective," said Robert L. Reynolds, Chief Executive Officer, GWL&A. "Our team is committed to ensuring a seamless transition to Protective for our customers who will continue to benefit from the product solutions we've developed to meet their needs." When closd, this acquisition will be Protective's 57th acquisition and its 50th life and annuity acquisition. It will be the fourth transaction completed since Protective became part of Dai-ichi in 2015. Dai-ichi considers Protective to be its North American growth platform and continues to aim for further expansion in the region, through both acquisitions and organic growth in Protective's retail sales. The closing is expected to occur in the first half of 2019, subject to the receipt of regulatory approvals and satisfaction of customary closing conditions. The estimated invested capital and the ceding commission are subject to adjustment per the contract. The transaction includes business written by GWL&A, Great-West Life & Annuity Insurance Company of New York and the U.S. branches of GWL&A's affiliates, The Canada Life Assurance Company and The Great-West Life Assurance Company. GWL&A's retirement and investment management divisions, Empower Retirement and Great-West Investments respectively, are not affected by this transaction. Morgan Stanley & Co. LLC is acting as financial advisor to Protective in connection with the transaction. Willkie Farr & Gallagher LLP is acting as Protective's legal counsel. About Protective Life Corporation Protective Life Corporation provides financial services through the production, distribution and administration of insurance and investment products throughout the U.S. The company traces its roots to the corporation's flagship company, Protective Life Insurance Company - founded in 1907. Throughout its more than 110-year history, Protective's growth and success can be largely attributed to its ongoing commitment to serving people and doing the right thing - for its employees, distributors, and most importantly, its customers. The company's home office is located in Birmingham, Alabama, and its nearly 3,000 employees are located in offices across the United States. As of September 30, 2018, the Company had assets of approximately $91.8 billion. Protective Life Corporation is a wholly owned subsidiary of Dai-ichi Life Holdings, Inc. (TSE:8750). For more information about Protective, please visit www.Protective.com. About Great-West Life & Annuity Insurance Company Established 125 years ago, Great-West Life & Annuity Insurance Company administers a total of $602 billion in assets for approximately 9.1 million retirement, insurance and annuity customers, as of Sept. 30, 20182. The company's offerings range from investments, life insurance, annuities and executive benefits products marketed under the Great-West Financial brand to retirement savings products and services provided by Empower Retirement, the nation's second-largest retirement plan record keeper by participants1. To learn more, visit greatwest.com. Great-West Financial is a registered mark of Great-West Life & Annuity Insurance Company. GWL&A is an indirect, wholly owned subsidiary of Great-West Lifeco Inc. and "A Member of the Power Financial Corporation Group of Companies" . 1Pensions & Investments April, 2018 2As of Sept. 30, 2018, includes accounts of Great-West Life & Annuity Insurance Company and its subsidiaries View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20190124005418/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [January 24, 2019] FCET Adds Experienced Executive to Management Team as COO ALPHARETTA, Ga., Jan. 24, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- FCET (Fuel Cell Enabling Technologies, Inc.) has entered into a two-year contract with Matt Ferguson to serve as Chief Operating Officer (COO), effective this year, with automatic renewals after 2020. Ferguson currently serves as president of Viceroy Petroleum. His 20 years of experience in the oil and gas field cover a wide range of functions of importance to FCET: Management of oil and gas production sites Engineering, design, and implementation of drilling and production facilities Negotiation, closing, and transition of substantial asset acquisitions Strategic planning and team building Ferguson says he is excited about joining FCET: "FCET's solid oxide fuel cells [SOFCs] do not require the use of fossil fuels, nor does the conversion into electricity produce any greenhouse gases. This makes FCET's fuel cells an attractive 'green' energy source, and can, among other things, help reduce methane emissions from remote oil and gas production sites that presently require diesel or gas generators for electrical power generation." According to FCET President Mark Deininger, "The addition of Matt to our management team affirms our commitment to meeting the challenges posed by the introduction of FCET's truly disruptive fuel cell technology. With growing interest in renewable energy alternatives that can help offset the imminent threats posed by climate change, Matt's experience makes him perfectly qualified to extend FCET's patented technology for inexpensive, low-temperature sold oxide fuel cells into a wide range of energy markets, starting with gas and oil production sites." Deininger emphasizes the strategic importance to FCET of Ferguson's strong ties to Viceroy Petroleum: "FCET's initial market entry will be in the oil and gas space. Matt will enable us to deploy one or more of FCET's fuel cell systems at Viceroy Petroleum well sites. This is extremely significant for us because a demonstration site that proves the viability of FCET's fuel cell system and the diminution of methane gas emissions is an important benchmark for 2019." Deininger adds: "Matt worked for ExxonMobil after graduating from Texas A&M, giving him valuable experience dealing with customers from small, family-owned production assets to large tracts held by major corporations." FCET Chairman Paul Fisher says that Ferguson's experience also qualifies him to help oversee the design, installation, and operation of the equipment needed to manufacture and assemble FCET's fuel cell systems. "Matt will immediately play a valuable role on our management team. Besides being co-founder and president of a coil tubing plugging company, Matt himself worked on and supervised projects involving the assembly and installation of facilities at more than 350 wells that cover flowing, beam pumping, progressive cavity pumps, jet pumps and drilling while optimizing operating techniques." Fisher adds: "Matt brings to FCET's management team an engineering skill set critical to the successful manufacture, installation, and maintenance of fuel cell systems, whether it be in the energy space or in other markets." For the past 16 years, Ferguson has had back-office experience as Viceroy's president, managing vendor accounts, legal affairs, general accounting, finance, communications, governmental regulations, security concerns, and human resources. He also has substantial experience managing tens of millions of dollars of production equipment and assets and has been involved in the development of quality control protocols and procedures for installing and maintaining oil and gas production processes. Contact: Mark Deininger, CEO https://fcet-inc.com 650-270-2063 208180@email4pr.com View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/fcet-adds-experienced-executive-to-management-team-as-coo-300783186.html SOURCE Fuel Cell Enabling Technologies, Inc. (FCET) [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [January 24, 2019] dynaCERT Appoints Mr. Frank Klees, Former Ontario Cabinet Minister, to Advisory Board TORONTO, Jan. 24, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- dynaCERT Inc. (TSX VENTURE: DYA) (OTCQB: DYFSF) (FRA: DMJ) ("dynaCERT" or the "Company") is pleased to announce the appointment of Mr. Frank Klees to the Advisory Board of the Company. Mr. Klees will serve as an advisor to the Company as it expands its role globally in the war against Greenhouse Gas Emissions with its made-in-Ontario Carbon Emission Reduction Technology. I am looking forward to working with the dynaCERT team as they position the company to play a major role in helping the Ontario government to achieve its Carbon Emission Reduction target said Klees. The Companys HydraGEN Technology has proven to reduce harmful emissions by as much as 50% and particulate matter by up to 65% in the heavy-duty vehicles similar to that which the government has targeted in its Environment Plan. Mr. Klees extensive experience and track record in government and the private sector makes him an ideal tactical advisor to the Company. Mr. Klees served five terms as a Progressive Conservative Member of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario from 1995 to 2014. He served in various senior positions including Minister of Transportation, Minister of Tourism, Chief Government Whip, Deputy House Leader, Vice Chair of the Select Committee on the Proposed Transaction of the TMX Group and the London Stock Exchange Group. Over the course of 19 years as an elected politician, Mr. Klees established strong and trusted working relationships with numerous levels of provincial and federal government. Mr. Klees has extensive business experience in the energy sector, financial services and real estate development. He was a co-founder and Executive Vice President of Municipal Gas Corporation, served as Corporate Director and Member of the Audit Committee and the Governance Committee of Universal Energy Ltd. and has been a member of the Supervisory Board of Rockwool North America since 2003. Mr. Klees is a senior advisor to numerous public and private enterprises and provides business development, government relations and strategic planning advisory services. We are pleased to welcome Mr. Klees to the Companys Advisory Board said Jim Payne, President and CEO of dynaCERT. His decades of intimate experience with the political landscape in Ontario will be of great value to dynaCERT shareholders especially with regards to doing business with the various levels of government in Ontario and across the country. Mr. Klees will be joining Mr. Marc Bertrand former CEO of MegaBrands, Michael Christodoulou former President of Cummins Diesel Canada and Shmuel Farhi CEO of Fahri Development on the dynaCERT Advisory Board. About dynaCERT Inc. dynaCERT Inc. manufactures, distributes, and installs Carbon Emission Reduction Technology for use with internal combustion engines. As part of the growing global hydrogen economy, our patent-pending technology creates hydrogen and oxygen on-demand through electrolysis and supplies these through the air intake to enhance combustion, resulting in lower carbon emissions and greater fuel efficiency. Our technology is designed for use with all types and sizes of diesel engines used in on-road vehicles, reefer trailers, off-road construction, power generation, mining and forestry equipment, marine vessels and railroad locomotives. Website: www.dynaCERT.com READER ADVISORY Except for statements of historical fact, this news release contains certain "forward-looking information" within the meaning of applicable securities law. Forward-looking information is frequently characterized by words such as "plan", "expect", "project", "intend", "believe", "anticipate", "estimate" and other similar words, or statements that certain events or conditions "may" or "will" occur. In particular, forward-looking information in this press release includes, but is not limited to the potential expansion into new markets, industries and segments, such as diesel- powered use of any the dynaCERT products and sales. Although we believe that the expectations reflected in the forward-looking information are reasonable, there can be no assurance that such expectations will prove to be correct. We cannot guarantee future results, performance of achievements. Consequently, there is no representation that the actual results achieved will be the same, in whole or in part, as those set out in the forward-looking information. Forward-looking information is based on the opinions and estimates of management at the date the statements are made, and are subject to a variety of risks and uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual events or results to differ materially from those anticipated in the forward- looking information. Some of the risks and other factors that could cause the results to differ materially from those expressed in the forward-looking information include, but are not limited to: uncertainty as to whether our strategies and business plans will yield the expected benefits; availability and cost of capital; the ability to identify and develop and achieve commercial success for new products and technologies; the level of expenditures necessary to maintain and improve the quality of products and services; changes in technology and changes in laws and regulations; the uncertainty of the emerging hydrogen economy; including the hydrogen economy moving at a pace not anticipated; our ability to secure and maintain strategic relationships and distribution agreements; and the other risk factors disclosed under our profile on SEDAR at www.sedar.com . Readers are cautioned that this list of risk factors should not be construed as exhaustive. The forward-looking information contained in this news release is expressly qualified by this cautionary statement. We undertake no duty to update any of the forward-looking information to conform such information to actual results or to changes in our expectations except as otherwise required by applicable securities legislation. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking information. Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of the release. On Behalf of the Board Murray James Payne, CEO For more information, please contact: Jim Payne, CEO & President dynaCERT Inc. #101 501 Alliance Avenue Toronto, Ontario M6N 2J1 (416) 766-9691 x 2 jpayne@dynaCERT.com Investor Relations dynaCERT Inc. Nancy Massicotte (416) 766-9691 x 1 ir@ dynaCERT .com [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [January 24, 2019] STADIO Holdings Limited ("STADIO") Embraces Digital Transformation with Unit4 as Part of Growth Plans for Private Higher Education in South Africa SIS Global and Unit4, leaders in enterprise systems for higher education, announce that STADIO, a Johannesburg Stock Exchange listed company invested in private higher education institutions, has appointed SIS Global (South Africa) to undertake a strategic transformation project to replace legacy finance, HR, and student systems with Unit4's cloud, next-generation education management solutions, hosted on Microsoft (News - Alert) Azure. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20190124005125/en/ STADIO has appointed SIS Global (South Africa) to undertake a strategic transformation project to replace legacy finance, HR, and student systems with Unit4's cloud education management solutions, hosted on Azure. (Photo: Business Wire) SIS Global will deliver and support a modern technology environment and transformation of core applications covering everything from finance and HR, to student and campus management for over 30,000 students. SIS Global has built a strong reputation in the African higher education market. Together, Unit4 and SIS Global will help STADIO to differentiate from the competition and drive best practice across its institutions to achieve its long-term goal of serving 100,000 students. Unit4's Business World ERP in the Azure cloud will be used to manage back-office processes across its portfolio of private universities, bringing them onto a single system. Combined with Prevero CPM, STADIO will have full visibility into departments and projects, and powerful reporting and analytics supporting strategic initiatives with actionable data. Fully integrated with Unit4's market leading Student Management solution, the software will provide a superior user experience for students and staff, best in class curriculum management and an intuitive mobile experience. Headquartered in Cape Town, South Africa, STADIO is focused on meeting the demand for quality and relevant higher education programs in South Africa. STADIO is in the process of creating its Multiversity, defined as a large, diverse institution covering a diverse range of educational courses through specialist institutions. With six institutions today, the Group's offerings include undergraduate (higher certificates, diplomas and degrees) and post-graduate programs (Honours and Masters degrees and doctorates), aimed at providing graduates with a real chance of creating employment opportunities (entrepreneurship) or finding employment. Brands within the STADO group include AFDA, Embury, LISOF, Milpark Education, Prestige Academy and Southern Business School. STADIO will replace its legacy finance and student management systems across all registered institutions and will roll out the Unit4 Suite as a standard. The transformation project will be led and implemented by Unit4 partner, SIS Global, selected for its ERP, education industry expertise and technology background, along with its ability to demonstrate a clear understanding of STADIO and the South African higher education sector's requirements. "Quality, student-centeredness and innovation are our commitment at all institutions in the STADIO Group," said STADIO CEO, Dr Chris van der Merwe. "We are focused on doing all things reasonable to enable our students to succeed. Unit4 has proven it can help us deliver this success. Unit4 will support our objective to track students' learning progress and provide appropriate interventions (learning development facilitators, tutors, online academic support, credit re-try) where needed to promote positive outcomes. Most importantly, this single end-to-end system will allow us to monitor business success and drive efficiencies, innovations and best practices across the Group to achieve our long-term goal of serving 100,000 students." "This comes at a hugely exciting time for the Student Information Systems market, as more Universities and Colleges seek to expand beyond legacy solutions and embrace cloud functionality," said Rob Hawley, CEO, SIS Global. "We work with our customers to grow, evolve and digitally transform their business to better meet changing markets. Our knowledge working with many higher education institutions, combined with Unit4's industry leading technology, will ensure STADIO can work smarter, and more efficiently taking a modern approach to delivering higher education in South Africa." "Unit4 is proud to support STADIO as it responds to the need for change in the sector and widens access to education for people in South Africa," said Austin Laird, Product Director, Higher Education at Unit4. "Our modern integrated solution for higher education combines the latest technology with 30 years' experience working with education institutions and underpins STADIO's quality teaching and learning ethos that prioritizes student success." About SIS Global SIS Global is a strategic Unit4 Partner for Sub Saharan Africa with a focus on providing Cloud Solutions which drive Digital Transformation. With 27 years of local and international experience managing and delivering advanced, complex cloud and on-premises enterprise solutions, SIS Global helps customers improve business operations and drive profit. SIS Global understands that each industry brings with it unique challenges and scenarios. As such, they have formulated specialist industry teams with a primary focus on innovation and industry alignment. By focusing on industry processes, consulting, implementation and support of industry specific enterprise solutions, we offer our clients best practice aligned with global trends. Press Enquiries Contact: Justine.Beavis@sisglobal.com www.sisglobal.com About Unit4 in Higher Education Unit4 is in business for people. We've specialised in software for service organizations since the early 1980s. Today, we build the smartest enterprise applications on the planet. Our technology is central to the organizations we serve - it improves efficiency and productivity and allows people to spend more time on meaningful work. Using the latest AI, machine learning and digital technologies, our customers can make more sense of business-critical data than ever before. We provide ERP, performance management and student information systems to over 1000 colleges and universities globally to help them accelerate growth, boost student success, and improve institutional effectiveness. Clients include Oxford and Cambridge Universities, HEC Paris, University of Waterloo, American University of Paris, Manchester Metropolitan University, Robert Morris University, Baylor College of Medicine, Hult International, and University of Dubai. For more information, please visit the website at http://www.unit4.com, follow us on Twitter (News - Alert) @Unit4global, or visit our LinkedIn page View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20190124005125/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [January 24, 2019] Applied Insight Appoints John Hynes as CEO Applied Insight, a market leader in solving complex technology problems for the federal government, backed by The Acacia Group, announced today that John Hynes has been appointed CEO. Hynes, a highly experienced industry leader, takes over the CEO role from Gavin Long, Acacia's managing partner. He will also join the AI board, which will be chaired by Long. Hynes joins AI as one of the industry's most respected and successful leaders, with over 28 years of experience growing mission-oriented technology companies that support the intelligence, defense and federal civilian communities. "It's fantastic to have someone of John's caliber on board to lead AI," said Long. "This is a vital role at a vital time for the company. Since Acacia acquired the business in 2017, we've achieved significant growth both organically and through acquisition, to the point where AI is now a real force to be reckoned with in the mid-tier. We were seeking someone with a rare combination of strategic vision, mission understanding, operational maturity and M&A experience to continue that growth story. John has all those qualities in abundance, and will be an inspirational leader for the AI team. He has Acacia's full support as well as the investment he needs to take the business to new heights." In his new role with AI, Hynes will lead the executive team, engage with senior customers, drive strategies for growth and advance the company's ability to develop innovative solutions to address real mission problems at pace with customer needs. Part of that effort will be to ensure the successful integration of AI's current and future acquisitions, fostering collaboration between small and midsize enterprises in high-demand areas of capability from advanced analytics and cloud computing to cybersecurity and mission applications. He will strengthen AI's approachto business development on major programs, ensuring an effective balance between innovation and pragmatism to deliver what customers need most. "It's a privilege to lead such an outstanding team," said Hynes. "I've followed AI's progress closely since the Acacia acquisition and have been impressed with all they have accomplished. Their Accountable Innovation strategy - closely aligning technical solutions with the needs of the people delivering the mission - is clearly impactful and has received great customer feedback. I intend to extend that impact to the missions of additional federal customers, capitalizing on AI's problem-solving culture and technology reach. I look forward to working with the Acacia team on future M&A and to enhancing AI's reputation as a place where the best talent can build a rewarding career. AI has a very exciting future." Prior to joining Applied Insight, Hynes served as chief operating officer of Engility, following his role as president and CEO of TASC, a leading provider of technology and mission solutions for the intelligence community that was acquired by Engility in 2015. Hynes' earlier leadership roles in industry included general manager of SAIC's (News - Alert) technology-enabled mission-support business and head of the security and mission assurance division at ManTech. Before joining the private sector, Hynes was a naval aviator. A graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy with a bachelor's degree in economics, Hynes also earned a master's degree in management information systems from George Washington University. He sits on the advisory board of the Intelligence and National Security Alliance, serves on the board of the Capital Area Food Bank and is a recipient of the Federal 100 Award from Federal Computer Week. About Applied Insight Applied Insight leaves no stone unturned in solving complex technology challenges for Federal Government customers. We practice Accountable Innovation, designing solutions that account for the customer's mission and the user's reality right from the start. With proven capability in advanced analytics, cloud computing, cybersecurity, mission applications and infrastructure convergence, our approach to technology empowers people to collaborate more effectively in delivering services vital to the nation. For more information, please visit www.applied-insight.com or follow us on Twitter and LinkedIn. About The Acacia Group The Acacia Group is a team of operational investors with a long track record in the U.S. Federal Government technology and services markets. We see value in technologies that enable people to collaborate in sustaining our society, from our security and economy, to our institutions and infrastructure. We invest in entrepreneurs who share that mission, bringing the capital, experience and relationships to enable them to take their business to new heights. For more information, please visit www.theacaciagroup.com or follow us on LinkedIn. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20190124005160/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [January 24, 2019] Dragos Executives and Threat Intelligence Analysts To Speak at RSA Conference 2019 Dragos, Inc., provider of the industry's most trusted industrial cybersecurity platform and services, will be speaking at the RSA (News - Alert) Conference 2019, the annual cybersecurity conference. Four speakers, Robert M. Lee, CEO, Sergio Caltagirone, VP of Threat Intelligence, Selena Larson, Intelligence Analyst and Joe Slowik, Adversary Hunter have been selected by conference organizers to share their insights, research and analysis on cybersecurity as it pertains to industrial control systems (ICS). RSA will take place March 4-8, 2019 at the Moscone Center in San Francisco, CA (News - Alert) . The full agenda can be found at https://www.rsaconference.com/events/us19/agenda. Following is a summary of presentations to be given by Dragos representatives at this year's conference. Session: Unraveling Detection Methodologies: Indicators vs. Anomalies vs. Behaviors When: Tuesday, March 5, 2019, 3:40 - 4:30 pm Who: Joe Slowik, Adversary Hunter Cyber-defense centers on "what" a technology is designed to look for, with capabilities and limitations depending on the method. Three distinct approaches have emerged: traditional IOCs, anomaly detection and behavioral analytics. Unfortunately, marketing has muddied these terms beyond recognition. In this presentation, Joe Slowik, Adversary Hunter at Dragos will critically examine each aproach and its capabilities. Session: Debunking the Hacker Hype: The Reality of Widespread Blackouts When: Wednesday, March 6, 2019, 11:20 - 11:50 am Who: Selena Larson, Intelligence Analyst There have been public narratives about the US being on the precipice of a nationwide hacker-caused blackout. What is the reality of adversary activity and the potential or likelihood of a cyber attack that could disrupt the electric grid? What are hackers currently doing in ICS networks? In this presentation, Selena Larson, Intelligence Analyst at Dragos will separate fact from (science) fiction. Session: How Long to Boom: Understanding and Measuring ICS Hacker Maturity When: Thursday, March 7, 9:10 - 9:40 am Who: Sergio Caltagirone, VP Threat Intelligence The industrial control system threat is growing quickly. But ICS hackers do not start by disrupting electric grids. Instead, they mature predictably leading them from things that go bad, to things that go boom. In this presentation, Sergio Caltagirone will explain how using ICS threat intelligence Dragos has developed an ICS hacker maturity model enabling us to determine how much risk a threat poses and predict how long until they reach maximum risk. Session: Intelligence-Driven Industrial Security with Case Studies in ICS Attacks When: Friday, March 8, 2019, 9:50 - 10:40 am Who: Robert M. Lee, CEO Most industrial security best practices are essentially enterprise security best practices copy/pasted into industrial networks. Yet that is not an effective way to reduce risk against industrial-specific threats. Instead, we can learn from ICS attacks that have occurred. In this presentation, Robert M, Lee, CEO and co-founder of Dragos will provide first-hand insights into industrial threats and the lessons learned for industrial security. Members of the Dragos Threat Intelligence and Threat Operations teams will be at RSA and will be discussing the findings from their upcoming annual Dragos Year in Review reports. To schedule a briefing or demo contact rsa@dragos.com. About Dragos Dragos' industrial cybersecurity platform delivers unprecedented visibility and prescriptive procedures to respond to adversaries in the industrial threat landscape. Dragos codifies intelligence and threat behavior analytics for effective ICS threat detection and response. Dragos also offers ICS threat hunting and incident response services, as well as Dragos ICS WorldView for weekly ICS threat intelligence reports. Learn more at www.dragos.com, or follow us on Twitter or LinkedIn. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20190124005411/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [January 24, 2019] Ctrip CEO Jane Sun Discuses Globalization 4.0 At Davos DAVOS, Switzerland, Jan. 24, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Ctrip, the largest travel provider in Asia, attended the 49th World Economic Forum Annual Meeting in Davos, Switzerland, where Chief Executive Officer Jane Sun discussed topics including big data, technology, travel safety and shared Ctrips strategy for international expansion and its plan for embracing Globalization 4.0. Photo: Jane Sun, CEO of Ctrip at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland Photo: Jane Sun, CEO of Ctrip speaks at Davos panel Under this years theme of Globalization 4.0: Shaping a Global Architecture in the Age of the Fourth Industrial Revolution, representatives at the Forum discussed the strategic ramifications of Globalization 4.0 and its future impact on global cooperation. Against this larger context, Sun discussed Ctrips role and responsibilities as a comprehensive global travel provider. China continues to be the world's largest source of outbound tourists. In order to better serve Chinese tourists around the world, Ctrip has carried out a series of international mergers and acquisitions in recent years to better create a global service platform for all. In 2015, Ctrip completed the acquisition of Travelfusion and in 2016 the company invested in Makemytrip and Skyscanner. As the tourism industry develops, Ctrip will continue to embrace new partnerships to make its global travel ecosystem even more seamless and covenient. As a result of its overseas acquisitions, international users now make up more than 45% of Ctrip customers. Thanks to Ctrips acquisition of Trip.com, an independent tourism platform providing services to global users, along with Skyscanner, a Scottish flight search platform, Ctrips total number of monthly active users now exceeds 200 million. The growth rate of international overnight hotel stays is twice that of the overall industry rate, and growth in international air tickets is three times that of the overall industry rate. New tourism industry: the era of globalization and integration Globalization and integration of the tourism industry has created many opportunities. Consumers increasingly demand a more personalized tourism experience, and tourism products are gradually becoming more diversified. In order to cater to increasing demand for personalized travel, Ctrip has been working closely with overseas local partners and providers to provide travellers a full range of options; not only air tickets, hotels and car services, but also local day trip, cuisine and shopping suggestions. Ctrip Group has grown into a one-stop travel platform, which accompanies travellers for the duration of their trip. In addition, Ctrips Global SOS is the world's first 24/7 emergency support system, integrating services with technology and data to provide timely support for travellers in times of emergencies. Since its launch in 2017, Global SOS has successfully come to the aid of travellers during disasters such as 2018s ferry crash in Phuket, the Hokkaido earthquake and the Osaka typhoon. With a 94% success rate and 70% of all calls coming from overseas, Ctrip believes that it is vital for the travel industry to establish global standards and a set of emergency response mechanisms for the safety of travellers. With more than half of the employees devoted to customer care, Ctrip is continuously upgrading services, technology and resources to ensure that our customer service teams around the world are able to keep up with our globetrotting travellers. Decentralized Global Travel Platform Apart from providing a global, integrated service to Chinese travellers, Ctrip also serves overseas users. Ctrip aims to serve local people in overseas markets by creating a decentralized global platform. With the opening of the Edinburgh call center in April 2018, and the establishment of call centers in Seoul and Tokyo at the end of 2018. Ctrip's three call centers are designed to overcome barriers to global tourism by strengthening local services. In addition, Ctrip has leveraged its technology and innovative drive to introduce the TrainPal APP in the UK. The new app allows users to save on average 40% and as much as up to 89% on ticket purchases and fully reflects the innovation and growth path of China's global integrated service providers in the era of globalization 4.0. Ctrip Group is confident that we will become a leading global travel service provider during this era of Globalization 4.0 through our focus on innovation, technology, local markets and customer care, said Jane Sun, CEO of Ctrip. Safeguarding data and using this to serve our customers remains our top priority. About Ctrip.com International, Ltd. Ctrip.com International, Ltd. is a leading travel service provider of accommodation reservation, transportation ticketing, packaged tours and corporate travel management in China. It is the largest online consolidator of accommodations and transportation tickets in China in terms of transaction volume. Ctrip enables business and leisure travelers to make informed and cost-effective bookings by aggregating comprehensive travel related information and offering its services through an advanced transaction and service platform consisting of its mobile apps, Internet websites and centralized, toll-free, 24-hour customer service center. Ctrip also helps customers book vacation packages and guided tours. In addition, through its corporate travel management services, Ctrip helps corporate clients effectively manage their travel requirements. Since its inception in 1999, Ctrip has experienced substantial growth and become one of the best-known travel brands in China. For further information, please contact: International PR Ctrip.com International, ltd. Tel: (+86) 21 3406 4880 ext 196455 Email: Pr@ctrip.com Photos accompanying this announcement are available at: //www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/bae217c6-680d-41b2-8b4b-5f4e0cf27e62 //www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/836b8612-99ef-4f26-becb-0c6dd5ca3247 [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [January 24, 2019] Compuverde Enables University to Consolidate Over 70 Storage Silos into One Unified Storage Platform KARLSKRONA, Sweden, Jan. 24, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Compuverde today announced that German state tech university Hochschule Ostwestfalen-Lippe (OWL University) has scaled out its storage across three campuses using Compuverde's vNAS solution. The software-defined storage solution has produced stronger data security, better performance and lower overhead, administration and maintenance costs. Click to Tweet: OWL University Scales Out Storage Across Three Campuses with @CompuverdeSDS #vNAS: https://tinyurl.com/ycfhl6l5 #softwaredefined Previously, the university had 70 NAS deployments spread across a myriad of small storage islands with no central and secured storage for its important scientific data. The metro cluster storage solution in place lacked support and was expensive to maintain and update. OWL University needed one unified, scalable storage solution with a global file system that could span all campuses and ensure reduction of overhead, administration and maintenance and improve the quality of backup and disaster recoery. Compuverde's vNAS solution met those criteria with flexibility and scalability: Flexibility is a key strength: Compuverde's solution allows the university to handle a broad variety of users, IoT devices, VMware deployments and data mining projects. Compuverde's solution allows the university to handle a broad variety of users, IoT devices, VMware deployments and data mining projects. OPEX efficiency increased 300 percent: By using the same hardware for access points and storage for all domains, only one shared overhead is necessary for each campus. With only one system and three storage clusters to manage, Compuverde lowers administration effort by a factor of three. By using the same hardware for access points and storage for all domains, only one shared overhead is necessary for each campus. With only one system and three storage clusters to manage, Compuverde lowers administration effort by a factor of three. Future-proof scalability: Any standardized hardware can be added so that each will take its share of the total load, automatically balancing the existing hardware and improving performance, IOPS and capacity further. Carl-Henric Mollerstrom, vice president, Compuverde, said: "As network storage needs become increasingly complex, the cost and administrative burden can be overwhelming. Our hardware-agnostic vNAS solution makes linear scaling in capacity and performance simple by adding nodes. OWL University's one-petabyte vNAS deployment demonstrates how user-friendly and easy to set up, maintain and upgrade our storage solution is for organizations of any size and industry." OWL University, Diplom-Ingenieur, Martin Hierling said: "We have tested this storage solution for about a year in our VMware environment. The support team has been very helpful with all the test cases, and all tests showed that Compuverde can handle what we need. It is easy to run, has a high Microsoft compatibility and multitenancy, runs on standard hardware and is endlessly scalable." About Compuverde Compuverde is an established provider of software-defined storage, delivering enterprise-grade general vNAS file systems, hyper-converged virtualization and hybrid cloud support. Founded by a team of storage and software experts in 2008, Compuverde delivers cost-efficient, hardware-agnostic, scale-out solutions to both large consumer brands and industrial business-to-business players. www.compuverde.com. PR contact: Peggy Tierney Galvin Nadel Phelan, Inc. 831-440-2405 peggy.galvin@nadelphelan.com View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/compuverde-enables-university-to-consolidate-over-70-storage-silos-into-one-unified-storage-platform-300783422.html SOURCE Compuverde [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [January 24, 2019] Commerce Home Mortgage Becomes Member of Federal Home Loan Bank Commerce Home Mortgage, LLC ("Commerce") - the wholly owned subsidiary of The Capital Corps, LLC - announced today that it has become a member of the Federal Home Loan Bank of San Francisco (FHLB). This achievement marks a significant milestone for Commerce, as it is now the only independent mortgage company that is approved with Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and Ginnie Mae; certified as a Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI); and a member of the FHLB. "Our membership in the Federal Home Loan Banking system offers us many of the benefits traditionally enjoyed by banks. Commerce now offers a truly differentiated platform for top mortgage originators. As we move forward, we expect that our FHLB membership will enable us to expand the spectrum of proprietary mortgage products which we are able to offer borrowers," Ted Ray, President of Commerce, said. The FHLB seeks to enable families and individuals of all income levels to obtain quality housing and become homeowners by providing products and services that help its member financial institutions expand the availability of mortgage credit, compete more effectively in their markets, and foster strong and vibrant communities through community and economic development. The FHLB's financial products and services are recognized as among the most cost-effective and versatile in the industry, as the FHLB is able to raise funds at rates that are close to Treasury security yelds. "Commerce's FHLB membership will allow us to do great things for diverse, underserved borrowers and communities by expanding relationships with and providing good loans to minority and underbanked borrowers. Our mission, as the Commerce Home Mortgage Advisory Board, is to ensure that Commerce appropriately meets the needs of the underserved and supports innovative affordable housing initiatives that revitalizes communities. Being a FHLB member with the ability to utilize the FHLB's full suite of products and services will help Commerce do just that!" stated Faith Bautista, Chair of Commerce's Community Advisory Board and Chief Executive Officer of the National Diversity Coalition. Commerce provides a full range of both traditional and non-traditional mortgage programs. Its newly launched, proprietary portfolio products are perfectly suited for prime borrowers who are underbanked, self-employed or require flexible, common sense underwriting of the loan. About Commerce Home Mortgage, LLC Commerce Home Mortgage, founded in 1994, is a national mortgage banking company that is certified by the United States Department of the Treasury as a Community Development Financial Institution, and is a non-bank member of the Federal Home Loan Bank of San Francisco. For more information: http://www.commercehomemortgage.com/ About The Capital Corps, LLC The Capital Corps, founded in 2017 in partnership with the National Diversity Coalition, seeks to give credit to the American dream by expanding access to capital to prime, underbanked borrowers. The Capital Corps is certified by the United States Department of the Treasury as a Community Development Financial Institution and oversees its wholly-owned subsidiary, Commerce Home Mortgage. For more information: http://www.thecapitalcorps.com/ View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20190124005272/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [January 24, 2019] Case IH Partners with Promoboxx to Power Local Digital Marketing Through Independent Dealers BOSTON, Jan. 24, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Promoboxx, the only retail marketing platform powered by brands, today announced its partnership with Case IH to activate its dealer network with marketing campaigns and content that broadens its digital presence, engages local consumers and increases in-store sales. This partnership solidifies Case IHs confidence and investment in its independent dealer network. By providing dealers with a local marketing platform to promote the brand and its product offering, Case IH and its dealers will increase consumer engagement, foot traffic and sales near every storefront. This year, Case IH, a company that creates innovative products and market leading agricultural solutions and services, is taking its local digital marketing efforts to a new level by making Promoboxx available to its OEM partners after receiving continuous asks for help with social media. Case IH will use the Promoboxx tool to provide independent dealers with localized content that helps dealers drive its local consumers into their stores and results in sales. Through supporting their dealers with quality marketing and advertising content, Case IH prepares them for long-term success. On Promoboxx, brands like Case IH invite members of their dealer network to participate in both organic and paid multi-channel digital marketing campaigns using pre-configured, beautiful, brand-approved content. Dealers can customize the content for its local markets nd automatically promote it to their earned and paid audiences across social, email, mobile and web channels with just a few clicks. Case IH believes in, invests in and supports its local retail partners, says Mike Stella, VP of Sales at Promoboxx. Promoboxx shares these values, and we are proud to partner with Case IH to activate its dealer network and increase local consumer engagement. We support local dealers so they can better communicate with their consumers, spend more time growing their businesses and supporting local causes that matter in their communities. Its important to us that our dealers are equipped with the tools they need to succeed, said Sy Stevens, Case IH Marketing Communications Manager. Promoboxx will give us a direct way to do that, so we can provide support where it counts. Promoboxx partners with over 90 leading brands to transform the way dealers and brands market together at the local level. By activating independent, specialty dealers with localized content and campaigns, Promoboxx creates thousands of local consumer touchpoints with a single campaign. To learn more, visit https://promoboxx.com/ or request a demo. About Case IH Case IH is a global leader in agricultural equipment, committed to collaborating with its customers to develop the most powerful, productive, reliable equipment - designed to meet todays agricultural challenges. With headquarters in the United States, Case IH has a network of dealers and distributors that operates in over 160 countries. For more information, visit https://www.caseih.com/northamerica/en-us/home. About Promoboxx Promoboxx is the only retail marketing platform, powered by brands, that enables national manufacturing brands to connect, manage, and market through their entire retail channel. With Promoboxx, brands activate independent, specialty retailers with localized content and campaigns that engage consumers, extend brand reach, and increase local sales -- creating thousands of local consumer touchpoints with a single campaign. Founded in 2010 and headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts, Promoboxx partners with over 90 leading brands -- including Chevrolet, GE Appliances, New Balance, and The North Face -- and with over 3,000,000 retailer campaigns shared, we are transforming the way retailers and brands market together at the local level. For more information, visit www.promoboxx.com or call +1 (800) 380-7502 x3. Promoboxx Media Contact Isolde Decker-Lucke Promoboxx (617) 702-9085 isolde@promoboxx.com [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [January 24, 2019] Colleen Johnston Joins Shopify's Board of Directors Shopify Inc. (NYSE:SHOP)(TSX:SHOP) ("Shopify") announced today that Colleen Johnston has been appointed to its board of directors, effective immediately. Colleen is the former Chief Financial Officer of Toronto-Dominion Bank, where as a member of TD's Senior Executive Team, she led a team of over 16,000 professionals. Prior to her retirement in 2018, Colleen spent 14 years at TD, ten of which she spent as Group Head, Finance, Sourcing, Corporate Communications and Chief Financial Officer. Prior to TD, Colleen held senior leadership roles at Scotiabank over the course of 15 years, including as CFO of Scotia Capital. "We are thrilled to welcome Colleen to the Shopify board of directors," said Tobi Lutke, founder and CEO of Shopify. "Colleen brings deep expertise in financial services, strategic growth, and organizational development acquired over the course of an impressive career. I have great confidence that Shopify will benefit greatly from Colleen's decades of experience." "Helping entrepreneurs strive for independence and success is a mission I'm proud to be a part of," said Collen Johnston. "I'm looking forward to contributing to the next phase of Shopify's growth." Colleen was recognized as Canada's CFO of the Year in 2012, an award that is presented annually by Financial Executives International Canada, PwC and Robert Half International. She was named one of the 25 Most Powerful Women in Banking by American Banker three years in a row from 2009 to 2011. She was chosen by the Women's Executive Network as one of Canada's Most Powerful Women three years in a row and in 2007 Johnston was inducted into Canada's Most Powerful Women: Top 100 Hall of Fame. Colleen has a Bachelor of Business Administration from York University's Schulich School of Business as well as her Chartered Accountant designation. In 2006, she was elected a Fellow Chartered Accountant, the highest designation conferred by the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Ontario. Colleen currently serves on the board of directors of WestJet (TSX), a global airline based in Calgary, Alberta, McCain Foods, Unity Health Toronto, and the Shaw Festival Theatre. About Shopify Shopify is the leading multi-channel commerce platform. Merchants use Shopify to design, set up, and manage their stores across multiple sales channels, including mobile, web, social media, marketplaces, brick-and-mortar locations, and pop-up shops. The platform also provides merchants with a powerful back-office and a single view of their business, from payments to shipping. The Shopify platform was engineered for reliability and scale, making enterprise-level technology available to businesses of all sizes. Headquartered in Ottawa, Canada, Shopify currently powers over 600,000 businesses in approximately 175 countries and is trusted by brands such as Nestle, Kylie Cosmetics, Allbirds, MVMT, and many more. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20190124005240/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [January 24, 2019] Navidea Biopharmaceuticals Announces Decision by Ohio Supreme Court Navidea Biopharmaceuticals, Inc. (NYSE American: NAVB) ("Navidea" or the "Company"), a company focused on the development of precision immunodiagnostic agents and immunotherapeutics, today announced that the Ohio Supreme Court has dismissed a Petition filed by Capital Royalty Partners II, L.P. and affiliated entities. On August 27, 2018, Capital Royalty Partners II, L.P. and several affiliated entities (" CRG (News - Alert) ") filed a Petition with the Ohio Supreme Court seeking a Writ of Prohibition against the Honorable Mark A. Serrott asserting that Judge Serrott's refusal to dismiss Navidea Biopharmaceuticals, Inc.'s pending Ohio litigation against CRG was improper and that Judge Serrott lacked jurisdiction over CRG with respect to the case issues. Judge Serrott filed a motion to dismiss the petition on September 18, 2018 asserting that his actions were proper and within the bounds permitted by law. Navidea also sought to intervene in the matter and also asserted that Judge Serrott acted properly in finding he had jurisdiction over CRG. The Ohio Supreme Court issued its decision without an opinion on January 23, 2019 dismissing CRG's petition. With this dismissal, the path is now clear for a resumption of Navidea's Ohio litigation against CRG. About Navidea Navidea Biopharmaceuticals, Inc. (NYSE American: NAVB) is a biopharmaceutical company focused on the development of precision immunodiagnostic agents and immunotherapeutics. Navidea is developing multiple precision-targeted products based on its Manocept platform to enhance patient care by identifying the sites and pathways of disease and enable better diagnostic accuracy, clinical decision-making, and targeted treatment. Navidea's Manocept platform is predicated on the ability to specifically target the CD206 mannose receptor expressed on activated macrophages. The Manocept platform serves as the molecular backbone of Tc99m tilmanocept, the first product developed and commercialized by Navidea based on the platform. The development activities of the Manocept immunotherapeutic platform are being conducted by Navidea in cnjunction with its subsidiary, Macrophage Therapeutics, Inc. Navidea's strategy is to deliver superior growth and shareholder return by bringing to market novel products and advancing the Company's pipeline through global partnering and commercialization efforts. For more information, please visit www.navidea.com. Forward-Looking Statements This release and any oral statements made with respect to the information contained in this release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. We have based these forward-looking statements largely on our current expectations and projections about future events and financial trends affecting the financial condition of our business. These forward-looking statements are subject to a number of risks, uncertainties and assumptions, including, among other things: any future actions by Platinum-Montaur; general economic and business conditions, both nationally and in our markets; our history of losses and uncertainty of future profitability; the final outcome of the CRG litigation in Texas and Ohio; our ability to successfully complete research and further development of our drug candidates; the timing, cost and uncertainty of obtaining regulatory approvals of our drug candidates; our ability to successfully commercialize our drug candidates; our expectations and estimates concerning future financial performance, financing plans and the impact of competition; our ability to raise capital sufficient to fund our development and commercialization programs; our ability to implement our growth strategy; anticipated trends in our business; advances in technologies; our ability to comply with the NYSE American continued listing standards; and other risk factors detailed in our most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K and other SEC (News - Alert) filings. You are urged to carefully review and consider the disclosures found in our SEC filings, which are available at www.sec.gov or at http://ir.navidea.com. Investors are urged to consider statements that include the words "will," "may," "could," "should," "plan," "continue," "designed," "goal," "forecast," "future," "believe," "intend," "expect," "anticipate," "estimate," "project," and similar expressions, as well as the negatives of those words or other comparable words, to be uncertain forward-looking statements. You are cautioned not to place undue reliance on any forward-looking statements, any of which could turn out to be incorrect. We undertake no obligation to update publicly or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise after the date of this report. In light of these risks and uncertainties, the forward-looking events and circumstances discussed in this report may not occur and actual results could differ materially from those anticipated or implied in the forward-looking statements. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20190124005232/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [January 24, 2019] Ceridian Recognized as a Gartner Peer Insights Customers' Choice for HCM Ceridian, a global human capital management (HCM) technology company, today announced its recognition as a Gartner Peer Insights Customers' Choice for Cloud HCM Suites for Midmarket and Large Enterprise Software. The Gartner (News - Alert) Peer Insights Customers' Choice distinction is based on verified feedback and ratings from end-user professionals who have experience purchasing, implementing, and using HCM suites. Gartner defines HCM suites as cloud human capital management suites that deliver functionality that enable organizations to attract, develop, engage, retain, and manage their workforces. Ceridian was named a Customers' Choice for Ceridian Dayforce, its flagship HCM platform. The comprehensive and scalable Dayforce cloud platform combines HR, payroll, benefits, workforce management, and talent management in a single cloud-based application. "Dayforce has tremendous capabilities and is highly configurable," said Lisa Bachicha, HR Director, CorePower Yoga, the largest privately held chain of yoga studios in the U.S. "With Dayforce, we are saving two days of processing time previously required to onboard new employees. We have also significantly reduced system and administrative costs, considerably increasing value." The Gartner Peer Insights tool features hundreds of anonymous Dayforce customer reviews across a wide variety of industries including retail, healthcare, and financial services. Transparent peer reviews give prospective customers valuable insight into what thy might expect from partnering with Ceridian and implementing Dayforce. "We truly care about our customers and take pride knowing that Dayforce is helping organizations to achieve meaningful time savings and cost efficiencies - all while boosting productivity and increasing employee engagement," said David Ossip, Chairman and CEO, Ceridian. "At Ceridian we have created a customer-focused culture of excellence. Ongoing feedback from our customers is critical to ensure we deliver innovative HCM technology that transforms organizational cultures and delivers on our brand promise, 'Makes Work Life Better'." To learn more about Dayforce click here. About Peer Insights Gartner Peer Insights is an online platform of ratings and reviews of IT software and services that are written and read by IT professionals and technology decision-makers. The goal is to help IT leaders make more insightful purchase decisions and help technology providers improve their products by receiving objective, unbiased feedback from their customers. Gartner Peer Insights includes more than 70,000 verified reviews in more than 200 markets. For more information, please visit www.gartner.com/reviews/home. Gartner Peer Insights Customers' Choice constitute the subjective opinions of individual end-user reviews, ratings, and data applied against a documented methodology; they neither represent the views of, nor constitute an endorsement by, Gartner or its affiliates. About Ceridian Ceridian. Makes Work Life Better. Ceridian is a global human capital management software company. Dayforce, our flagship cloud HCM platform, provides human resources, payroll, benefits, workforce management, and talent management functionality. Our platform is used to optimize management of the entire employee lifecycle, including attracting, engaging, paying, deploying, and developing people. Ceridian has solutions for organizations of all sizes. Visit Ceridian.com or follow us @Ceridian. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20190124005192/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [January 24, 2019] TechAccel Makes Additional Strategic Investments in Biopesticides TechAccel today announced the launch of RNAissance Ag LLC, a new company that holds the exclusive license to RNA-interference technology in partnership with the Donald Danforth Plant Science Center in St. Louis, MO. The new company will use the proprietary technology in the development of sprayable insect control measures. TechAccel also announced it participated in GreenLight Biosciences Inc.'s latest funding round, with an interest in collaborative research leveraging GreenLight's technology in advancing biopesticides. "We are demonstrating the potential of RNAi technology to develop into a sustainable and environmentally friendly alternative to chemical pesticides," said Michael Helmstetter, Ph.D., founder, president and CEO of TechAccel. "An RNAi pesticide is highly specific to the target insect and is not toxic to other organisms," he said. "Further, we believe biopesticides can be more effectively applied than chemical sprays, reducing cost, waste and health risks to workers and the environment." RNAissance Ag, which is pronounced "Renaissance," was formed following successful research at the Danforth Center funded with TechAccel's first grant in the "Path to Commrcialization" Program. The Danforth Center is one of the world's leading independent plant science research institutes. The RNAi technology was jointly developed by Bala Venkata, Ph.D., senior research scientist and Nigel Taylor, Ph.D., associate member, and Dorothy J. King Distinguished Investigator at the Danforth Center. "More than $40 billion per year is spent on pest control, yet over 20 percent of all crops are still lost due to insect damage," said James C. Carrington, Ph.D., president of the Danforth Center. "This new company is evidence of an exciting new technology advancing toward market with the potential to make a major impact." The two actions are part of TechAccel's broad strategy to develop safe, effective and sustainable biopesticides to address global crop losses from pests. TechAccel disclosed select additional biopesticide research and development occurring along several fronts: Leveraging a stable nanoparticle technology licensed as a form of biopesticide delivery; Piloting the injection of RNAi compounds as a delivery mechanism in fruit and nut trees; and, Continuing development of a separate, novel RNAi biopesticide approach based on research underway in Europe. TechAccel also recently announced collaborative research with AgroSpheres Inc. to explore nanotechnology in biopesticide delivery. TechAccel, the Kansas City-based technology and venture development company, disclosed these elements of its RNAi portfolio to provide context for public filings of its investments with GreenLight Biosciences and the formation of RNAissance Ag. GreenLight Biosciences, based in Medford, Mass., is a biotechnology company developing bioprocessed RNA products for healthcare and agriculture applications, including biopesticides. The company announced its $50 million Series round earlier this month. Details of TechAccel's share of the investment were not disclosed. "TechAccel and GreenLight are collaborating in efforts to accelerate the development, delivery and commercialization of RNA-based products to safely and sustainably address global pest control issues in agriculture," Helmstetter said. TechAccel declined to disclose further details about its biopesticide portfolio and partners. About TechAccel TechAccel, LLC, was founded in 2014 as a first-of-its-kind venture and technology development company in the agriculture, animal health and food tech sectors. TechAccel sources, invests in and acquires early-stage innovations. Through collaborations with universities and research institutions, TechAccel conducts advancement and de-risking research and development to ready technologies for commercialization. For more information, visit www.techaccel.net or follow @Tech_Accel. About The Donald Danforth Plant Science Center Founded in 1998, the Donald Danforth Plant Science Center is a not-for-profit research institute with a mission to improve the human condition through plant science. Research, education and outreach aim to have impact on the nexus of food security and the environment and position the St. Louis region as a world center for plant science. The Center's work is funded through competitive grants from many sources, including the National Institutes of Health, U.S. Department of Energy, National Science Foundation, and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. For more information, visit danforthcenter.org. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20190124005081/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [January 24, 2019] Ionix Technology, Inc. Announced Appointment of New Members to its Board of Directors SHENZHEN, China, Jan. 24, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Ionix Technology, Inc. ("IINX", same as ticker symbol), announced today that Mr. Bailiang Yang has been appointed as the chairman of the board of directors, and Mr. Jialin Liang and Ms. Xuemei Jiang have been appointed as members of the board of directors. Mr. Yang, holds a doctorate of engineering at the Institute of Multidisciplinary Research for Advanced Materials at Tohoku University in Japan. Prior to joining Ionix Mr. Yang served as director of Liquid Crystal Research Office of Changchun Institute of Optics, Fine Mechanics Physics, at the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Vice-general Manager of Electronic Group of Jilin Province, Technical Director & Vice President at Huayu Guanggu Co., Ltd, Vice-general manager of Dalian Daxian Co., Ltd, and General Manager of Dalian Bike New Energy Technology Development Co., Ltd. Mr. Liang holds a degree in Micro-electronics from Nankai University. Prior to joining Ionix, Mr. Liang served as general manager of Jilin Zijing Electronics Co., Ltd and general manager of Changchun Fangguan Electronics Technology Co., Ltd. Prior to joining Ionix, Ms. Jiang served as financial controller of Jilin Zijing Electronics Co., Ltd and vice-general manager of Changchun Fangguan Electronics Technology Co., Ltd. "The first TFT LCD screen in China was developed by Dr. Bailiang Yang and his team, he is considered to be one of the founders of LCD technology in China. Dr. Yang has presided over many major scientific research projects of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and is a forerunner and authoritative expert in the field of photoelectric display and smart energy," said Yubao Liu, Chief Executive Officer of Ionix. "Ionix is glad to see Dr. Bailiang Yang join our company and the board of directors. We believe that Dr. Yang is able to bring his outstanding talents, successful experience and professional knowledge in the field of photoelectric display and smart energy, and help us expand market share and create enormous value for our shareholders, partners and staff." Mr. Liu further stated, "I feel very honored to work with the new members of the board. Their addition will help us boost and improve the competitiveness of Ionix in the market, continue to gain sustainable development momentum in various industries, and obtain greater benefits andbroader development opportunities. Ionix will achieve a new leap forward in 2019." "For the past few years, as a comprehensive listed company integrating research and development, production, design, popularization and application, testing, international trading and industrialization management, Ionix has always been on the forefront of the industry and has been taking a leading place in the market full of opportunities," said Dr. Yang. "I am pleased to join the board of directors of Ionix, and look forward to working together with the board of directors and executive team of Ionix to provide more cost-effective product solutions for global users, accelerate growth and profitability for shareholders and continue to consolidate our leadership in the market. About Ionix Technology, Inc. Cambridge Projects Inc. was formed in March, 2011. On February 4, 2016, with approval of Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in connection with Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA), the company amended its name from "Cambridge Projects Inc." to "Ionix Technology, Inc." (IINX) through restructuring and is based in New York. IINX through its two subsidiaries, Well Best International Investment Limited and Welly Surplus International Limited, initially invested in four operating subsidiaries namely Shenzhen Baileqi Electronic Technology Co., Ltd, Lisite Science Technology (Shenzhen) Co., Ltd, Changchun Fangguan Photoelectric Display Technology Co., Ltd and Dalian Shizhe New Energy Technology Co., Ltd. On December 27, 2018, Changchun Fangguan Phototoelectric Display Technology Co., Ltd , which is a wholly owned subsidiary of IINX, officially announced that it has entered into VIE transaction documents with Changchun Fangguan Electronics Technology Co., Ltd, and obtained its de facto control. IINX has not only converged a range of various products, includes intelligent electronic devices, on-board hydrogen fuel batteries and photoelectric display, but also has achieved a multi-industrial combination across high-end materials, micro-electronics, fine chemicals, modern optics and so forth. To learn more, please visit our new website: www.iinx-tech.com. Safe Harbor Statement Certain statements in this press release, constitute forward-looking statements for purposes of the safe harbor provisions under The Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These statements include, without limitation, statements regarding the Company's future performance. Forward-looking statements are statements not based on historical information and necessarily based upon estimates and assumptions. The Company has based these forward-looking statements largely on its current expectations and projections about future events and financial trends that we believe may affect our financial condition, results of operations, business strategy or other developments. Although the Company believes that the expectations reflected in these forward-looking statements are reasonable, they do involve assumptions, risks, uncertainties and contingencies, many of which are beyond our control and these expectations may prove to be incorrect. We caution readers and investors regarding certain forward looking statements in the press release and they should not place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date of this press release. The Company's actual results could differ materially from those expressed in these forward-looking statements as a result of a variety of factors, including those discussed in the periodic reports that are filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. All forward-looking statements attributable to the Company or persons acting on its behalf are expressly qualified in their entirety by these factors. The Company disclaims any obligation to update these forward-looking statements except as required by law. For more information, please contact: Yubao Liu +86-159-4540-0218 Email: liuyubao11_iinx@163.com View original content:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/ionix-technology-inc-announced-appointment-of-new-members-to-its-board-of-directors-300783550.html SOURCE Ionix Technology, Inc. [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [January 24, 2019] Ryan's PinPoint Achieves Oracle Validated Integration with Oracle's E-Business Suite Ryan, a Gold-level member of Oracle (News - Alert) PartnerNetwork (OPN), today announced it has achieved Oracle Validated Integration of PinPoint with Oracle E-Business Suite 12.2. As a leading tax services and software provider, Ryan continues to enhance its software solutions to improve accuracy, compliance, and productivity for more than 14,000 clients globally. To achieve Oracle Validated Integration, Oracle partners are required to meet a stringent set of requirements that are based on the needs and priorities of the customer. PinPoint is an intelligent sales and use tax calculation engine that aims to improve accuracy, enable tax compliance, and mitigate risks. The PinPoint integration with Oracle E-Business connects with Oracle E-Business Tax for touchpoints in the order-to-cash business flow. PinPoint also centralizes and simplifies use tax accruals and validation of vendor-charged tax, enabling tax departments to gain control of consumer-use decisions. "The integration of PinPoint with Oracle's E-Business Suite is important to our clients who want to know these applications will work together seamlessly as intended," said President of Ryan Software Jayme Fishman. "The Oracle Validated Integration is a significant accomplishment and strengthensthis offering for our clients." Oracle partners must meet a stringent set of requirements that show interoperability between the applications. The tests include a standard set of scenarios promulgated by Oracle against which vendors must demonstrate they can produce the correct results. ?Achieving Oracle Validated Integration gives our customers confidence that the integration between PinPoint and Oracle E-Business Suite is functionally sound and performs as tested," said Vice President of Worldwide ISV Cloud Business Development and Marketing David Hicks. ?For solutions deployed on-premises, in the cloud, or both, Oracle Validated Integration applies a rigorous technical review and test process that helps to reduce deployment risk and improves the user experience of the partner's integrated offering." PinPoint is the industry's most intelligent tax calculation engine available for improving accuracy, enabling tax compliance, and mitigating risk. Utilizing a unique matrix weighting structure and a "no-default" transaction handling mechanism, PinPoint improves efficiency by providing the ability to effectively manage sales and use taxes for procurement activities in a process-oriented manner. Once implemented, PinPoint becomes the system-of-record for the tax department by warehousing transactions in a logical and organized manner to facilitate not only the day-to-day activities of the tax function but also ensuring reliable audit defense through embedded, client-specific tax research. About Ryan Ryan, an award-winning global tax services and software provider, is the largest Firm in the world dedicated exclusively to business taxes. With global headquarters in Dallas, Texas, the Firm provides an integrated suite of federal, state, local, and international tax services on a multijurisdictional basis, including tax recovery, consulting, advocacy, compliance, and technology services. Ryan is a six-time recipient of the International Service Excellence Award from the Customer Service Institute of America (CSIA) for its commitment to world-class client service. Empowered by the dynamic myRyan work environment, which is widely recognized as the most innovative in the tax services industry, Ryan's multidisciplinary team of more than 2,500 professionals and associates serves over 14,000 clients in more than 50 countries, including many of the world's most prominent Global 5000 companies. More information about Ryan can be found at ryan.com. "Ryan" and "Firm" refer to the global organizational network and may refer to one or more of the member firms of Ryan International, each of which is a separate legal entity. About Oracle Validated Integration Oracle Validated Integration, available through the Oracle PartnerNetwork (OPN), gives customers confidence that the integration of a complementary partner software product with an Oracle "on-premises" application has been validated and the products work together as designed. This can help customers reduce risk, improve system implementation cycles, and provide for smoother upgrades and simpler maintenance. Oracle Validated Integration applies a rigorous technical process to review partner integrations, and partners who successfully complete the program are authorized to use the "Oracle Validated Integration" logo. About Oracle PartnerNetwork Oracle PartnerNetwork (OPN) Specialized is the latest version of Oracle's partner program that provides partners with tools to better develop, sell, and implement Oracle solutions. OPN Specialized offers resources to train and support specialized knowledge of Oracle products and solutions and has evolved to recognize Oracle's growing product portfolio, partner base, and business opportunity. Key to the latest enhancements to OPN is the ability for partners to differentiate through Specializations. Specializations are achieved through competency development, business results, expertise, and proven success. To find out more, visit www.oracle.com/partners. Trademarks Oracle and Java are registered trademarks of Oracle and/or its affiliates. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20190124005075/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [January 24, 2019] Liquid.com adds language support for Traditional and Simplified Chinese TOKYO, Jan. 24, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Global digital asset platform Liquid has released language support for Traditional Chinese and Simplified Chinese, enabling customers to select their preferred language in Chinese, in addition to Korean, Japanese and English. Other languages are in the pipeline to cater for a growing base of global customers, in preparation for Liquid's next phase of expansion. "As a regulated trading platform in Japan, we are committed to building transparency and asset liquidity in the blockchain ecosystem with trusted partners in China. This is a key market for us, as interest in blockchain projects from China continues to grow globally," said Liquid CEO Mike Kayamori. Liquid is the flagship product of Quoine, a global fintech company licensed by the Japan Financial Services Agency, with more than 300 staff around the world. The Liquid platform offers a suite of professional trading tools to buy and sell Bitcoin, Ethereum and other cryptocurrencies. Liquid customers are also able to trade on margin with up to 25x leverage. For those who prefer to hold their tokens, there is the option to lend digital assets to margin traders and earn interest. Liquid provides extra security protection by keeping customer funds securely in cold wallet storage. ABOUT LIQUID BY QUOINE Founded in 2014, Quoine is a leading global fintech company that operates Liquid.com ("Liquid"), a global cryptocurrency platform that provides trading, exchange, and next generation financial services powered by blockchain technology. With offices in Japan, Singapore and Vietnam, Liquid by Quoine combines a strong network of local partners with extensive team experience in banking and financial products to deliver best in class financial services for its customers. More information is availableat Liquid.com In September 2017, Quoine Corporation became the first global cryptocurrency exchange to be officially licensed by the Japan Financial Services Agency. In October 2017, Quoine became the first licensed global cryptocurrency exchange in Japan to launch a global Initial Coin Offering (ICO), also known as the Qash Token Sale. In November 2017, Quoine successfully raised 350m Qash (the equivalent of 350K ETH or ~USD105m) in an oversubscribed ICO, to fund the growth of the Liquid platform. As part of the Liquid platform development, Quoinex and Qryptos was merged into Liquid. In September 2018, Quoine's historical trading platforms, Quoinex and Qryptos, was merged and relaunched as Liquid. Liquid is powered by the World Book, which provides customers enhanced price matching and deeper liquidity for various fiat and cryptocurrency pairs. As at July 2018, Quoine's trading platforms exceeded USD50 billion in transaction volume in the past 12 months. Liquid is one of the world's largest regulated crypto-fiat platform in the world by transaction volume, providing trading services for major cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin and Ethereum against fiat currency pairs in Japanese yen, US dollar, Euro, Singapore dollar, and Australian dollar. Liquid offers powerful trading features, which include: Margin trading of up to 25x leverage for select crypto-fiat pairings A sophisticated user dashboard for pro traders Secure cold wallet storage and KYC compliance for individual and corporate customers Proprietary World Book technology that matches orders across global order books, providing access to liquidity pools sourced by a unified platform, Liquid.com A range of new features and services are being developed as part of the Liquid roadmap, including a distributed ledger, which will allow other fintech companies to build their products and services on distributed ledger technology. Corporate Website: https://quoine.com Liquid Website: https://liquid.com Liquid Blog: https://blog.liquid.com/ Telegram Community: https://t.me/Quoine Twitter: www.twitter.com/Liquid_Global Facebook: https://facebook.com/LiquidGlobal/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/quoine Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/liquid_global/ Reddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/liquid YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/c/LiquidGlobal Liquid brand reel: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kv8dhqOnXg0 View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/liquidcom-adds-language-support-for-traditional-and-simplified-chinese-300783595.html SOURCE QUOINE [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [January 24, 2019] Wipro Positioned in 'Winner's Circle' of HFS Blueprint Report on Software Product Engineering Services 2018 Wipro (News - Alert) Limited (NYSE: WIT, BSE: 507685, NSE: WIPRO), a leading global information technology, consulting and business process services company, today announced that it has been positioned in the 'Winner's Circle' of HFS Research Blueprint Report on Software Product Engineering Services 2018. The report titled, 'HFS Blueprint Report: Software Product Engineering Services', was authored by Pareekh Jain, Senior Vice President, HFS Research, and Tanmoy Mondal, Senior Research Analyst, HFS Research, and was published in August 2018. The firm evaluated the capabilities of 25 service providers across a number of facets in two main categories - Innovation and Execution. The report recognizes Wipro's compelling vision, strategy and commitment to deliver business outcomes for customers in Software Product Engineering services. According to the report, Wipro's strong onshore presence, investment in labs and innovation are the key differentiators. HFS has also recognized Wipro's extensive range of service offerings, partnerships with start-ups, geographic delivery mix and key proprietary solutions. The report also states that Wipro has been at the cutting edge of engineering innovation with some of their key customers across automotive, healthcare, media and hi-tech industries. As per the report, Wipro's strengths in software engineering include: Strong services offerings : Wipro has 20+ years of experience of delivering software product engineering services. It has deep domain expertise in the areas of system software, cloud, machine learning, mobility, UI/UX, and other areas of digitization. Wipro is also strong in DevOps and agile methodologies. It has built DevOps platform for rapid implementation and is working with 100+ clients in agile projects. : Wipro has 20+ years of experience of delivering software product engineering services. It has deep domain expertise in the areas of system software, cloud, machine learning, mobility, UI/UX, and other areas of digitization. Wipro is also strong in DevOps and agile methodologies. It has built DevOps platform for rapid implementation and is working with 100+ clients in agile projects. Investment in labs, solutions, and innovation: Wipro has one of the highest number of patents among the service providers evaluated for this Blueprint. It has invested in multiple labs and centres of excellence (including domain specific, automation, artificial intelligence, etc.) for building POCs, solutions and frameworks. Wipro is also leveraging its own crowdsourcing platform (Top Coder) to implement innovative design and development challenges in niche technologies. Wipro has one of the highest number of patents among the service providers evaluated for this Blueprint. It has invested in multiple labs and centres of excellence (including domain specific, automation, artificial intelligence, etc.) for building POCs, solutions and frameworks. Wipro is also leveraging its own crowdsourcing platform (Top Coder) to implement innovative design and development challenges in niche technologies. Accessibility engineering: Wipro is going beyond profits and has developed accessibility services offerings for digital Inclusion of persons with disabilities. It engages with clients to address the accessibility concerns based on the industry-specific needs and legal requirements. Wipro is going beyond profits and has developed accessibility services offerings for digital Inclusion of persons with disabilities. It engages with clients to address the accessibility concerns based on the industry-specific needs and legal requirements. High value client accounts : Wipro has one of the highest number of $5 million+ client accounts among the srvice providers included for this Blueprint. It also has a good portfolio of clients that have long-term contracts with Wipro. : Wipro has one of the highest number of $5 million+ client accounts among the srvice providers included for this Blueprint. It also has a good portfolio of clients that have long-term contracts with Wipro. Quality of Customers : Wipro has one of the highest number of clients in top 100 independent software vendors (ISVs), top 10 ISVs and also in the top 25 internet companies list which denotes the client quality mix of the service provider. : Wipro has one of the highest number of clients in top 100 independent software vendors (ISVs), top 10 ISVs and also in the top 25 internet companies list which denotes the client quality mix of the service provider. Partnership with start-up companies: Wipro has established its strategic investment arm, Wipro Ventures ($100 million fund) that invests in promising start-up companies. Anita Ganti, Senior Vice-President and Global Head - Product Engineering, Industrial & Engineering Services Group, Wipro Limited said, "Wipro has one of the highest number of high-value client accounts amongst the service providers included for this Blueprint. Our strategic investment arm, Wipro Ventures, invests in promising start-ups related to software product engineering services. We also leverage our own cloud solution platform to implement innovative designs in niche technologies. We are delighted to be recognized among the 'Winner's Circle' of this HFS Blueprint and look forward to doing exciting work for our clients." "Wipro is in the Winner's Circle of our Software Product Engineering Services Blueprint Report because of its strong service offerings, a portfolio of high value customer accounts, investment in patents, labs and collaboration with startups," said Pareekh Jain, Senior Vice President, HFS Research. "Wipro has stood out in terms of the quality of clients and geographic delivery spread. Its client portfolio includes one of the highest number of top 100 ISVs and top 25 internet companies. Its innovation willingness and solid delivery capability across geographies are major reasons of high number of long-term engagements." Wipro's has over two decades of experience in end-to-end product and engineering services, across industries. Leveraging new age technologies such as IoT, Cloud, 3D Printing, Virtualization and AI, Wipro helps enterprises in their journey of digital transformation. About Wipro Limited: Wipro Limited (NYSE: WIT, BSE: 507685, NSE: WIPRO) is a leading global information technology, consulting and business process services company. We harness the power of cognitive computing, hyper-automation, robotics, cloud, analytics and emerging technologies to help our clients adapt to the digital world and make them successful. A company recognized globally for its comprehensive portfolio of services, strong commitment to sustainability and good corporate citizenship, we have over 170,000 dedicated employees serving clients across six continents. Together, we discover ideas and connect the dots to build a better and a bold new future. Forward-looking and Cautionary Statements Certain statements in this release concerning our future growth prospects are forward-looking statements, which involve a number of risks, and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in such forward-looking statements. The risks and uncertainties relating to these statements include, but are not limited to, risks and uncertainties regarding fluctuations in our earnings, revenue and profits, our ability to generate and manage growth, intense competition in IT services, our ability to maintain our cost advantage, wage increases in India, our ability to attract and retain highly skilled professionals, time and cost overruns on fixed-price, fixed-time frame contracts, client concentration, restrictions on immigration, our ability to manage our international operations, reduced demand for technology in our key focus areas, disruptions in telecommunication networks, our ability to successfully complete and integrate potential acquisitions, liability for damages on our service contracts, the success of the companies in which we make strategic investments, withdrawal of fiscal governmental incentives, political instability, war, legal restrictions on raising capital or acquiring companies outside India, unauthorized use of our intellectual property, and general economic conditions affecting our business and industry. Additional risks that could affect our future operating results are more fully described in our filings with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission. These filings are available at www.sec.gov. We may, from time to time, make additional written and oral forward-looking statements, including statements contained in the company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission and our reports to shareholders. We do not undertake to update any forward-looking statement that may be made from time to time by us or on our behalf. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20190124005283/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [January 24, 2019] Total Eren and NBT Secure the Financing for the First Phase of The 250 MW Syvash Wind Project in Ukraine from a Consortium Led by EBRD NBT AS ("NBT"), a utility-scale wind power developer based in Oslo, and Total Eren SA ("Total Eren"), a leading renewable energy Independent Power Producer ("IPP") based in Paris, have signed definitive financing agreements for the first phase of a 250 MW wind project located in the Kherson region of Ukraine. The 155M financing agreement was signed at a special meeting of Ukraine's National Investment Council in Davos. The project's start of construction is imminent. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20190124005105/en/ The onshore wind project, called Syvash wind farm ("Syvash") has been developed by Norway-based NBT together with France-based Total Eren. At its full capacity, Syvash represents a 380 million total investment. Syvash will consist of 64 wind turbines and will be located on 1,300 hectares of land in the southern Kherson region of Ukraine. Once completed, it is expected to become the country's largest renewable energy project. Syvash is the first internationally financed large-scale wind farm in Ukraine. An A/B loan of up to 155 million has been raised for the construction of the initial 133 MW phase. It will consist of a 75 million EBRD loan, while B-Loans of up to 75 million will be provided jointly by the Green for Growth Fund (GGF) and the Netherlands Development Finance Company (FMO). A parallel loan of 5 million will be provided by the Nordic Environment Finance Corporation (NEFCO). The Syvash wind farm will be built to very high international standards, conforming to EBRD Performance Standards and Equator Principles. The electricity generated from Syvash will be sold to state-owned company "Energorynok" - Ukraine's wholesale electricity market operator. Once the full project is constructed, it will have a planned production of 850 GWh per year, and will generate enough electricity to meet the needs of approximately 100,000 households in the municipality of Rivne, in Ukraine. It is expected to rduce CO2 emissions by 470,000 tonnes per year, hence creating a positive impact on the environment. The Engineering, Procurement and Construction (EPC) contract has been signed with PowerChina, one of the largest power plant construction companies worldwide and Nordex Group, a leading producer of onshore wind turbines. Construction work is expected to start in a few weeks. The project will bring economic development and significant tax revenues to the Kherson region and will have a lasting economics impact even after its construction is completed. Syvash represents Total Eren and NBT's first project in Ukraine, a country with high potential for renewable energy sources, combined with strong local support from the Ukrainian Government, the Office of the National Investment Council, regional authorities and other partners to develop the Ukrainian renewable energy market. David Corchia, CEO of Total Eren, stated: "This signature marks an important milestone for Total Eren in extending its development efforts to Eastern Europe with a project of this scale. We are proud to have mobilized, together with our partner NBT, this trusted lender group led by EBRD and look forward to starting construction and finalizing the second phase of the project. We see tremendous potential for further development for Total Eren in Ukraine." Joar Viken, CEO of NBT, stated: "We are extremely happy that we can invest along with our strategic partner Total Eren in utility-scale wind farms that will power the sustainable future growth of Ukraine. The 250MW Syvash wind farm is just the start of our plans to invest a considerable amount of capital in our large pipeline of wind projects in Ukraine over the next two to three years. With improved business climate in Ukraine and success of this international project financing, we envision that private commercial institutions and international investors will see the benefits of investing in Ukraine. In addition, we foresee potential interest for Green Bonds to financing NBT's pipeline of new wind projects in Ukraine. We look forward to working with the Government of Ukraine and our strategic partners to support our expansion plans for investing in wind power in Ukraine." About Total Eren Founded in 2012 by Paris Mouratoglou and David Corchia, Total Eren has built up a substantial and diversified portfolio of wind, solar and hydroelectric assets representing an installed gross capacity of more than 1,300 MW in operation or under construction worldwide. Through partnerships with local developers, Total Eren is currently developing numerous energy projects in countries and regions where renewable energy represents an economically viable response to growing energy demand, such as in Asia-Pacific, Africa and Latin America. Its objective is to achieve a global net installed capacity of more than 3 GW by 2022. On 1 December 2017, Total S.A, the major energy company, acquired an indirect 23% interest in Total Eren. For more information, go to www.total-eren.com. About NBT NBT AS is a developer and operator of utility-scale wind farms in emerging markets. The company was founded in 2004 and is based in Oslo, Norway. NBT has operations in Norway, China, Cyprus, Sweden, Singapore and Ukraine. For more information, go to www.nbtas.no. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20190124005105/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [January 24, 2019] Nokia to publish fourth-quarter and full-year 2018 report on January 31, 2019 Press release January 24, 2019 Espoo, Finland - Nokia will publish fourth-quarter and full-year 2018 report on January 31, 2019 at approximately 8 a.m. Finnish time (CET+1). The financial report will be made available on the Nokia website immediately after publication. Nokia only publishes a summary of its financial reports in stock exchange releases. The summary focuses on Nokia Group's financial information as well as on Nokia's outlook. The detailed segment-level discussion will be available in the complete financial report available at www.nokia.com/financials. Investors should not solely relyon summaries of Nokia's financial reports, but should also review the complete reports with tables. Nokia's analyst conference call will begin on January 31, 2019 at 3 p.m. Finnish time. A link to the webcast of the conference call will be available at www.nokia.com/financials. Media representatives can listen in via the link on that website, or alternatively call +1 412 317 5210. About Nokia We create the technology to connect the world. Powered by the research and innovation of Nokia Bell Labs, we serve communications service providers, governments, large enterprises and consumers, with the industry's most complete, end-to-end portfolio of products, services and licensing. We adhere to the highest ethical business standards as we create technology with social purpose, quality and integrity. Nokia is enabling the infrastructure for 5G and the Internet of Things to transform the human experience. https://www.nokia.com/ Media Inquiries: Nokia Communications Tel. +358 (0) 10 448 4900 Email: press.services@nokia.com [January 24, 2019] Bavarian Nordic Advances Development of Equine Encephalitis Virus Vaccine COPENHAGEN, Denmark, January 24, 2019 - Bavarian Nordic A/S (OMX: BAVA, OTC: BVNRY) reports further progress in the development of a prophylactic vaccine against the equine encephalitis virus - a rare, but potentially deadly illness. The program, which is funded by the United States Department of Defense (DoD) Joint Project Management Office for Medical Countermeasure Systems (JPM-MCS) through a multi-year agreement of up to USD 36 million, aims to develop a vaccine against three separate strains of the equine encephalitis virus, Eastern (EEEV), Venezuelan (VEEV), and Western (WEEV), for which there are currently no preventative vaccines available. The vaccine is based on Bavarian Nordic's proprietary, poxviral MVA-BN platform, which due to its large genome is able to encode multiple antigens, thus providing the potential to protect against multiple diseases. Since award of the contract in March 2018, Bavarian Nordic has received incremental funding to support the preclinical development, GMP manufacturing and most recently the funding to support a dose ranging Phase 1 clinical trial in 45 healthy volunteers. The study is planned to be initiated in the second half of 2019, with topline results available in 2020. A successful Phase 1, based on demonstrating a favorable safety and immunogenicity could lead to follow-on funding, beyond the initial contract award of USD 36 million, to support preclinical, clinical development and manufacturing to support licensure in the U.S. "As a trusted partner and supplier of medical countermeasures for the U.S. government, we are pleased to see the rapid advance of another vaccine candidate in support of the preparedness against emerging and life-threatening diseases," said Paul Chaplin, President and Chief Executive Officer of Bavarian Nordic. "We are happy to work with the DoD among many other government agencies to leverage our technology platform through research contracts like this, which have become an integral part of our business and revenue stream. Funding availability is crucial for the successful development of novel countermeasures, which could exceed USD 150 million in development costs towars licensure for a project of this type. As seen in the development of our MVA-BN smallpox vaccine, which was sparked by a small research contract with NIH more than 15 years ago, and currently under BLA review with the FDA, we have shown the way for public-private partnerships to improve the public health, now and in the future." About Equine Encephalitis Viruses Eastern, Venezuelan and Western equine encephalitis virus belong to the family alphavirus, and are transmitted through mosquitos, as well as birds and some mammals. While the viruses vary in infection rates and severity of disease, all three pathogens are associated with risks of flu-like symptoms, potential central nervous disorders, and death. All three viruses are considered as potential biological threats, having been investigated as potential biological weapons at various times in the past century. The viruses belong to the U.S. list of prioritized pathogens amongst other agents, like smallpox, anthrax and other lethal diseases, which are covered by the current vaccination policy for U.S. military personnel being deployed around the globe. However, there are currently no approved vaccines against any of the equine encephalitis viruses. Federal funding acknowledgment This project is funded in whole or in part with federal funds under an Other Transaction Authority agreement with U.S. Army Contracting Command-New Jersey through the Medical CBRN Defense Consortium, contract MCDC-17-04-001/2018-315 About Bavarian Nordic Bavarian Nordic is a fully integrated biotechnology company focused on the development of innovative and safer therapies against cancer and infectious diseases. Using our live virus vaccine platform technology, MVA-BN, we have created a diverse portfolio of proprietary and partnered product candidates intended to unlock the power of the immune system to improve public health with a focus on high unmet medical needs. We supply our MVA-BN non-replicating smallpox vaccine to the U.S. Strategic National Stockpile and other government stockpiles. The vaccine is approved in the European Union and in Canada (under the trade names IMVANEX and IMVAMUNE respectively). In addition to our long-standing collaboration with the U.S. government on the development of medical countermeasures, our infectious disease pipeline comprises a proprietary RSV program as well as vaccine candidates for Ebola, HPV, HBV and HIV, which are developed through a strategic partnership with Janssen. Additionally, in collaboration with the National Cancer Institute, we have developed a portfolio of active cancer immunotherapies, designed to alter the disease course by eliciting a robust and broad anti-cancer immune response while maintaining a favorable risk-benefit profile. Through multiple industry collaborations, we seek to explore the potential synergies of combining our immunotherapies with other immune-modulating agents, e.g. checkpoint inhibitors. For more information visit www.bavarian-nordic.com or follow us on Twitter @bavariannordic. About Medical Countermeasure Systems JPM-MCS, a component of the U.S. Department of Defense's Joint Program Executive Office for Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear Defense, aims to provide U.S. military forces and the nation with safe, effective, and innovative medical solutions to counter chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear threats. JPM-MCS facilitates the advanced development and acquisition of medical countermeasures and systems to enhance the nation's biodefense response capability. Contacts Rolf Sass Srensen Vice President Investor Relations Tel: +45 61 77 47 43 Press Release Attachment 2019-01-24-en.pdf [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [January 24, 2019] MDxHealth (R): SelectMDx Outperforms Prostate Health Index (phi) Blood Test for Detecting High-Grade Prostate Cancer NEWS RELEASE REGULATED INFORMATION Data to be presented at the 29th Annual IPCU meeting Beaver Creek, Co, January 24-27, 2019 IRVINE, CA, and HERSTAL, BELGIUM - January 24, 2019 - MDxHealth SA (Euronext: MDXH.BR) today announced data to be presented at the 29th Annual International Prostate Cancer Update (IPCU) meeting in Beaver Creek, Co, January 24-27, 2019, demonstrating that SelectMDx for Prostate Cancer urine test outperforms the Prostate Health Index (phi) blood test. The study, titled "Comparison of SelectMDx, Prostate Health Index, and MRI for Diagnosis of High-Grade Prostate' (19-010)", compared the SelectMDx urine test with the prostate health Index (phi) blood test for identifying patients with high-grade (HG) aggressive prostate cancer who would likely benefit from prostate biopsy or a multiparametric MRI (mpMRI) scan. "High-grade prostate cancer (HG PCa) has poor clinical prognosis. Thus, clinicians have to rely on PCa biomarkers and multiparametric magnetic resonance imaging (mpMRI) to screen patients prior to prostate biopsies," said E. David Crawford, M.D, Professor of Surgery, Urology and Radiation Oncology and head of section of Urologic Oncology at the University of Colorado. "We have clearly shown in this exploratory study that SelectMDx is better suited to identify patients with HG PCa prior to biopsy compared to the phi blood test". Study Design The study consisted of 39 men with a median age of 65 years and mean serum PSA 6.4 5.9 ng/mL. Patients were tested with the SelectMDx urine test, phi blood test (Beckman Coulter), and mpMRI prior to transperineal mapping biopsy after inconclusive TRUS biopsy results. Mapping biopsy identified 34/39 (87%) patients with PCa, and 15/34 (44%) had HG PCa and 18/34 (53%) had clinically significant (CS) PCa (HG or tumor volume >=0.5 cc). There were no significant differences between ROC curves of SelectMDx, phi, mpMRI PIRADS, PSA, PSAD, proPSA, and free PSA for the detection of HG PCa. Multivariate logistic regression analyses revealed that the SelectMDx test was significantly better than the other tests for detection of HG PCa ( = 5.57, p = 0.001) and CS PCa ( = 4.05, p = 0.004) See below for a summary of the performance of SelectMDx, phi and mpMRI (PIRADS > 3) for high grade prostate cancer: Performance Measures SelectMDx phi > 27 MRI PIRADS > 3 Sensitivity 80% 93% 93% Specificity 88% 29% 21% Positive Predictive Value 36% 10% 9% Negative Predictive Value 98% 98% 97% Accuracy 82% 54% 69% Dr. Jan Groen, MDxHealth's CEO, said "We are very pleased with the outcome of this study, which clearly demonstrates the superiority of SelectMDx over phi blood testing in identifying patients at high risk for prostate cancer, with high sensitivity and specificity. Combined with enhancing mpMRI, SelectMDx can spare men from prostate biopsy, offering a valuable non-invasive alternative to this expensive, painful, invasive and often inaccurate procedure." He added: "We maintain our focus on the commercialization and roll-out of SelectMDx in the United States and Europe and continue to see increased usage and adoption in clinical practice, with over 30,000 patients tested since the launch of SelectMDx two years ago." About SelectMDx for Prostate Cancer SelectMDx for Prostate Cancer is a proprietary urine based, molecular diagnostic test that offers a non-invasive 'liquid biopsy' method to assess a man's risk for prostate cancer. SelectMDx helps identify men at increased risk of harboring aggressive, potentially lethal, prostate cancer who may benefit most from a prostate biopsy and earlier detection. The test helps to reduce the need for MRI procedures and invasive prostate biopsies by up to 50%, thereby improving quality of life and lowering healthcare costs per patient. SelectMDx is available in the US and all EU member states. Since the introduction of the SelectMDx test in mid-2016, over 23,000 patients have been tested and 15 commercial contracts have been signed with US based insurance companies. The test has been included in the 2018 European Association of Urology (EAU) clinical guidelines. About MDxHealth MDxHealth is a multinational healthcare company that provides actionable molecular diagnostic information to personalize the diagnosis and treatment of cancer. The company's tests are based on proprietary genetic, epigenetic (methylation) and other molecular technologies and assist physicians with the diagnosis of urologic cancers, prognosis of recurrence risk, and prediction of response to a specific therapy. The Company's European headquarters are in Herstal, Belgium, with laboratory operations in Nijmegen, The Netherlands, and US headquarters and laboratory operations based in Irvine, California. For more information, visit mdxhealth.com and follow us on social media at: twitter.com/mdxhealth, facebook.com/mdxhealth and linkedin.com/company/mdxhealth. For more information: MDxHealth Dr. Jan Groen, CEO US: +1 949 812 6979 BE: +32 4 257 70 21 info@mdxhealth.com Consilium Strategic Communications David Daley, Chris Welsh, Jonathan Birt UK: +44 20 3709 5701 mdxhealth@consilium-comms.com This press release contains forward-looking statements and estimates with respect to the anticipated future performance of MDxHealth and the market in which it operates. Such statements and estimates are based on assumptions and assessments of known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors, which were deemed reasonable but may not prove to be correct. Actual events are difficult to predict, may depend upon factors that are beyond the Company's control, and may turn out to be materially different. MDxHealth expressly disclaims any obligation to update any such forward-looking statements in this release to reflect any change in its expectations with regard thereto or any change in events, conditions or circumstances on which any such statement is based unless required by law or regulation. This press release does not constitute an offer or invitation for the sale or purchase of securities or assets of MDxHealth in any jurisdiction. No securities of MDxHealth may be offered or sold within the United States without registration under the U.S. Securities Act of 1933, as amended, or in compliance with an exemption therefrom, and in accordance with any applicable U.S. securities laws. NOTE: The MDxHealth logo, MDxHealth, ConfirmMDx, SelectMDx, AssureMDx, PredictMDx and UrNCollect are trademarks or registered trademarks of MDxHealth SA. All other trademarks and service marks are the property of their respective owners. Attachment Click here for pdf.pdf [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [January 24, 2019] GSMA: Forty CEOs Back Launch of Digital Declaration at Davos The GSMA (News - Alert) today launched the 'Digital Declaration' at the World Economic Forum in Davos. The declaration captures key principles that serve as a guide to acting ethically in the digital era, helping companies deliver what matters most to digital citizens, industry and governments. The 40 business leaders who have already committed to the declaration span several industry sectors and include representatives from: Bharti Airtel, China Mobile, China Telecom, Deutsche Telekom, Ericsson, IBM, KDDI, KT, LG Electronics, Mobile World Capital Barcelona, Nokia (News - Alert) , NTT DOCOMO, Orange, Samsung Electronics, Sharp, SK Telecom, Sony Corporation, STC Group, Telefonica, Turkcell, Verizon, Vodafone and Xiaomi. The initiative has arisen against a backdrop of businesses and consumers experiencing unprecedented change in the digital world. It is expected that by 2022, 60 per cent of GDP will be digitised1. The imminent arrival of 5G networks will further accelerate this change. At the same time consumers are rightfully expecting more from digital services, while their trust in businesses is being tested. The Digital Declaration is a cross-industry movement of CEOs confronting these shared challenges. Its principles call on businesses to; respect the privacy of digital citizens; handle personal data securely and transparently; take meaningful steps to mitigate cyber threats; and ensure everyone can participate in the digital economy as it develops whilst combatting online harassment. Taken together, these commitments will ensure the internet is kept as an open platform for expression and a driver of innovation. "Social, technological, political and economic currents are combining to create a perfect storm of disruption across all industries," said Mats Granryd, Director General GSMA. "A new form of responsible leadership is needed to successfully navigate this era. We are on the cusp of the 5G era, which will spark exciting new possibilities for consumers and promises to transform the shape of virtually every business. In the face of this disruption, those that embrace the principles of the Digital Declaration will strive for business success in ways that seek a better future for their consumers and societies. Those that do not change can expect to suffer increasing scrutiny rom shareholders, regulators and consumers." "A positive and enabling digital future is integral to a truly empowered and inclusive society," said Sunil Bharti Mittal, Chairman of Bharti Airtel (News - Alert) - the first business leader to sign the Digital Declaration. "Such a future can only be built through constructive collaboration and continuous dialogue among key stakeholders. It is imperative for industry to make the required investments to build a sustainable digital ecosystem and maintain citizen's trust through transparent and responsible conduct with regard to privacy and data." "Backing The Digital Declaration fits into our vision to enable a progressive, free and enlightened society," said Stephane Richard, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Orange (News - Alert) , and Chair of the GSMA. "Orange fights digital exclusion with innovations that are accessible to the greatest possible number of people. We secure and facilitate our customers' digital lives thanks to our expertise in cybersecurity and in digital identity. Joining the Digital Declaration provides us with a shared vision of acting responsibly as we help our customers enter the eras of artificial intelligence and of the internet of things." Mobile is one of the most widely deployed technology platforms ever with more than 5 billion unique mobile subscribers worldwide, representing approximately two-thirds of the world's population - forecast to grow to almost 6 billion (71 per cent) by 2025. Representing the mobile industry globally, the GSMA is at the heart of many of the technological innovations already shaping tomorrow's digital society, including 5G. The industry body has worked with business leaders to shape the declaration to demonstrate the private sector's commitment to responsible leadership at a time when policymakers are facing new challenges from the evolving digital ecosystem. As we move into an era of Intelligent Connectivity, the combination of endless connectivity enabled through 5G and the Internet of Things, with the powerful intelligence delivered by big data and artificial intelligence will further transform entire industries. Through embracing the Digital Declaration, CEOs are showing their commitment to acting responsibly as they keep pace with this rapid rate of technology change. The GSMA is inviting business leaders from any sector to join the Digital Declaration and ask themselves what role they can play in creating a better digital society. Further information on the Digital Declaration, including details of CEOs that have already joined can be found here. -ENDS- Notes to Editors 1. World Economic Forum, 'Our Shared Digital Future' Report (Dec 2018) About the GSMA The GSMA represents the interests of mobile operators worldwide, uniting more than 750 operators with over 350 companies in the broader mobile ecosystem, including handset and device makers, software companies, equipment providers and internet companies, as well as organisations in adjacent industry sectors. The GSMA also produces the industry-leading MWC events held annually in Barcelona, Los Angeles and Shanghai, as well as the Mobile 360 Series of regional conferences. For more information, please visit the GSMA corporate website at www.gsma.com. Follow the GSMA on Twitter (News - Alert) : @GSMA. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20190123005491/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [January 23, 2019] KLIA Ekspres tickets now available on Sutra.my KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia, Jan. 24, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Sri Sutra Travel, an award-winning local travel agency in business and leisure travel, is partnering with Express Rail Link Sdn Bhd (ERL), the operator of KLIA Ekspres, the premium non-stop high-speed train service that connects the city centre to Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA & KLIA2). Aside from purchasing KLIA Ekspres tickets at KLIA Ekspres ticket counters, website and app, travellers can now purchase tickets on Sutra.my and TravelCompute One-Stop Travel Technology platform. Headquartered in Kuala Lumpur, Sri Sutra Travel is an online platform that provides airport transfers, accommodation, car hire, tailored tours, bus and rail ticket reservations, concert and sporting tickets and other related services to travellers. "We are definitely proud and excited to be partnering with one of Malaysia's leading travel consultancies. Having been in the tourism industry for decades, Sri Sutra Travel has an extensive market both locally and internationally. "This partnership is important to ERL as it will expand KLIA Ekspres' reach further within the Malaysian travel industry, and it makes it simle for travel agents to package the KLIA Ekspres with other local attractions and services," said Noormah Mohd Noor, Chief Executive Officer of ERL. Sri Sutra Travel CEO, Dato' Syed Razif Al-Yahya also expressed his delight in the partnership. He said: "Sri Sutra Travel is committed to provide our customers with the best service for their convenience. Now, they can purchase KLIA Ekspres tickets after booking their flights so they can travel to and from the airport seamlessly and comfortably." To purchase the KLIA Ekspres tickets, simply log on to Sutra.my and click on "KLIA Ekspres". You can select your starting location and destination (KLIA/KLIA2 to KL Sentral or vice versa), as well as the date. After selecting the number of Adult or Child (2-12 years old) tickets, fill in the contact details. Lastly, review your booking before you make the payment. Express Rail Link Express Rail Link (ERL) is the operator of KLIA Ekspres service that connects Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA & KLIA2) and the city. The non-stop 57-km journey between KL Sentral and KLIA takes only 28 minutes. Passengers can also take a 3-minute ride between KLIA2 and KLIA. ERL has been recognised locally and internationally for consistently providing high standards in the air-rail service. ERL was named AirRail Link of the Year at the Global AirRail Awards in 2012, 2014, 2015 and 2016. ERL recently won Project of the Year Award 2018 at the Global AirRail Awards (GARA) for its new trains. To date, ERL has carried 95 million passengers. https://www.kliaekspres.com/ Sri Sutra Travel SUTRA is a travel conglomerate under the SUTRA TRAVEL MANAGEMENT GROUP, well established with a large corporate and non-corporate clientele and over 500,000 travel related products & services that encompass all the travel components. SUTRA is powered and supported by a suite of applications that harness the power of travel technology effectively while being customer centric. https://www.sutra.my/ TravelCompute TravelCompute is a one-stop travel technology platform offering all-in-one travel reservation engine, travel back-office system, travel CRM, tour management system & solution for M.I.C.E industry. TravelCompute also provides big data solution for the travel & tourism industry catering to national tourism organizations, destination management companies, travel management companies, airlines and hoteliers; providing meaningful insights across the industry spectrum while enabling its partners to take effective measures out of those insights. TravelCompute also offers travel technology consulting, travel portal development and travel content integration services. http://travelcompute.com Photo - https://photos.prnasia.com/prnh/20190123/2354518-1 SOURCE Sri Sutra Travel [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] KINDERHOOK BANK CORP. SHAREHOLDER ALERT: Rigrodsky & Long, P.A. Announces Investigation of Buyout Rigrodsky & Long, P.A.: Do you own shares of Kinderhook Bank Corp. (OTC QB: NUBK )? Did you purchase any of your shares prior to January 22, 2019? Do you think the proposed buyout is fair? Do you want to discuss your rights? Rigrodsky & Long, P.A. announces that it is investigating potential legal claims against the board of directors of Kinderhook Bank Corp. ("Kinderhook Bank" or the "Company") (OTC QB: NUBK) regarding possible breaches of fiduciary duties and other violations o law related to the Company's entry into an agreement to be acquired by Community Bank System, Inc. ("Community Bank") (NYSE: CBU) in a transaction valued at approximately $93.4 million. Under the terms of the agreement, shareholders of Kinderhook Bank will receive $62.00 in cash for each share of Kinderhook Bank common stock. If you own common stock of Kinderhook Bank and purchased any shares before January 22, 2019, if you would like to learn more about this investigation, or if you have any questions concerning this announcement or your rights or interests, please contact Seth D. Rigrodsky or Gina M. Serra toll-free at (888) 969-4242, by e-mail at info@rl-legal.com, or at https://www.rigrodskylong.com/offices-contact. Rigrodsky & Long, P.A., with offices in Delaware, New York, and California, has recovered hundreds of millions of dollars on behalf of investors and achieved substantial corporate governance reforms in numerous cases nationwide, including federal securities fraud actions, shareholder class actions, and shareholder derivative actions. Attorney advertising. Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20190123005879/en/ [January 24, 2019] Safety, Income & Growth and iStar Provide "SAFE/STAR" One-Stop Capital Solution for Multifamily Conversion in Washington, D.C. Safety, Income & Growth Inc. (NYSE: SAFE) and iStar Inc. (NYSE: STAR (News - Alert) ) partnered to originate a new ground lease and first mortgage leasehold loan on an 8-story office property adjacent to the George Washington University campus in Washington, D.C. The building is scheduled to be converted into a 153-unit multifamily building beginning in late 2019 by experienced developer Insight Property Group. iStar provided the leasehold acquisition loan and SAFE provided a newly created lease under their unique "SAFE/STAR" one-stop capital program. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20190124005158/en/ 515 22nd St. NW, Washington, D.C. (Photo: Business Wire) "This was an excellent example of iStar and SAFE partnering to provide a customized, flexible capital solution with a lower cost and reduced mturity risk in comparison to other alternatives," said Jay Sugarman, Chief Executive Officer of iStar and SAFE. "The investment highlights the significant growth we have witnessed in Washington, D.C. as property owners begin to understand how a SAFE Ground Lease can be more efficient, unlock value and create a competitive advantage." This marks SAFE's sixth ground lease in Washington, D.C. over the past year, providing approximately $300 million in capital for customers to acquire, recapitalize, develop, and redevelop high quality office, multifamily and hospitality assets in the city. The ground lease features fixed annual base rent escalations and a 99-year lease term with CPI lookbacks every ten years. The existing 8-story office building will be fully renovated into a 153-unit multifamily property with a fitness center, lounge, and 3 roof decks. The property is a few blocks from the Foggy Bottom - GWU metro stop with access to three metro lines. The building is located within walking distance to nearby shops, restaurants and tourist attractions including the White House and the National Mall. Safety, Income & Growth Inc. (NYSE: SAFE) is the first publicly traded company focused on ground leases. The Company seeks to provide real estate owners with better, lower cost capital through its modern ground lease structure, while delivering safe, growing income and long-term capital appreciation to its shareholders. The Company targets major markets throughout the United States, helping owners of high quality multifamily, office, industrial, hospitality and mixed use properties ranging from $25 million to $1 billion generate higher returns with less risk. The Company, which is taxed as a real estate investment trust (REIT), is managed by its largest shareholder, iStar Inc. Additional information on SAFE is available on its website at www.safetyincomegrowth.com. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20190124005158/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [January 23, 2019] Canada and Northwest Territories announce joint investment in the Taltson Hydroelectricity Expansion Project Project will expand green energy infrastructure in the Northwest Territories and provide clean power to Yellowknife YELLOWKNIFE, Jan. 23, 2019 /CNW/ - The Government of Canada is committed to working together with provinces, territories and Indigenous communities to promote a cleaner, more reliable energy supply in rural and remote communities, reduce pollution in Canada's North and create new opportunities for social and economic development. Today, the Honourable Dominic LeBlanc, Minister of Intergovernmental and Northern Affairs and Internal Trade, joined Northwest Territories Premier Bob McLeod and Wally Schumann, Minister of Infrastructure and Industry, Tourism and Investment to announce over $1.2 million in federal and territorial investments in the Taltson Hydroelectricity Expansion project. These investments will support Indigenous engagement and fund initial engineering work. The proposed initial expansion of the Taltson project will deliver 60 megawatts of clean energy to the North Slave hydroelectric system, more than doubling current hydroelectricity capacity in the territory. This project will contribute to a cleaner environment and stronger economy: it will remove up to 240,000 tonnes of polluting emissions from the air each year, equivalent to about 48,000 cars, stimulate local economies, and provide employment opportunities for Indigenous people and all Northerners. Later phases of the expansion will connect the Taltson hydroelectric system with provincial electricity networks, creating a more integrated energy system that will allow for increased north-south energy trade. Quotes "Our government is committed to collaborating with our territorial and Indigenous partners to sustainably develop the clean power potential of Canada's North. Canada's investments in the initial stage of this major project will help to complete project studies and ensure that Indigenous peoples are engaged from the outset." The Honourable Dominic LeBlanc, P.C., Q.C., M.P. Minister of Intergovernmental and orthern Affairs and Internal Trade "The Taltson Hydroelectricity Expansion Project is more than a transmission project. It represents a key element in the Government of the Northwest Territories vision for a lower carbon economy that will increase the availability of clean, renewable energy to help the NWT reduce its reliance on diesel, help lower the cost of living for NWT residents and allow the territory to meet its commitments to address climate change." The Honourable Bob McLeod Premier of the Northwest Territories "The Taltson Hydroelectricity Expansion Project is part of a full service infrastructure corridor that will provide clean energy to mineral-rich regions of the NWT and help our government achieve the goals of its Energy Strategy, including lowering the cost of living and promoting renewable and alternative energy solutions. The Government of Canada's support will advance technical aspects of the project, and help establish a business framework for our Indigenous partners." The Honourable Wally Schumann Minister of Infrastructure and Industry, Tourism and Investment "The Taltson Hydroelectricity Expansion project will provide access to affordable energy sources, increase energy security and lower the impact of energy consumption on the environment. Today's investment reflects the important role clean energy infrastructure plays in growing the economy and creating good quality jobs for Northerners." The Honourable Navdeep Bains, P.C., M.P. Minister of Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada and the Minister responsible for CanNor "The expansion of the Taltson Hydroelectric Project is an important component of our government's efforts to transition to a clean future. Not only will this project help provide a clean source of energy in Yellowknife, it will create good jobs for Northerners and Indigenous peoples living in the area." The Honourable Amarjeet Sohi, P.C., M.P. Minister of Natural Resources Quick Facts The Canadian Northern Economic Development Agency (CanNor) is contributing $480,000 to the project to support feasibility and engineering study work and the Government of the Northwest Territories (GNWT) is also investing $120,000 for this work. to the project to support feasibility and engineering study work and the Government of the (GNWT) is also investing for this work. Natural Resources Canada and Crown Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Canada are providing $619,950 to support Indigenous engagement. to support Indigenous engagement. The Taltson hydroelectric system is located approximately 64 kilometres north of Fort Smith on the Taltson River. It currently provides power to Fort Smith , Hay River , Hay River Reserve, Fort Resolution and Enterprise. on the Taltson River. It currently provides power to , , Hay River Reserve, and Enterprise. The Taltson River system has a 200 megawatt generation potential. The initial expansion will increase capacity from 18 to 60 megawatts and link it to the Snare hydroelectric system near Yellowknife through a High Voltage Direct Current submarine cable across Great Slave Lake. Associated Links Taltson Hydroelectricity Expansion Project (GNWT) 2030 Energy Strategy (GNWT) Stay connected Join the conversation about the North: Twitter: GovCan_North Facebook: GovCan North You can subscribe to receive our news releases and speeches via RSS feeds. For more information or to subscribe, visit www.cirnac.gc.ca/RSS. SOURCE Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Canada (CIRNAC) [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [January 24, 2019] California State University Board of Trustees Grants Final Approval of Greystar Student Housing Project The Trustees of the California State University have given their final approval for a $164 million Public-Private Partnership student housing project at California State University, Sacramento between the university's nonprofit affiliate, University Enterprises, Inc., and Greystar, a global leader in the investment, development and management of high-quality rental housing properties. The new housing project will include approximately 360,000 square feet of space with 284 apartment-style units for a total of 1,100 beds in six four-story residential buildings and a one-story clubhouse. The apartments are designed to provide an additional on-campus housing option for upper division students in a mix of studio, two- and four-bedroom units. The units will feature amenities such as full kitchens and in-unit laundries. On-site amenities will include a cafe, fitness center, community room, outdoor pool, sand volleyball, bocce court, barbeques and surface parking for 546 cars and over 300 bicycles. "There was a shortage in supply of high-quality modern student housing," said UEI executive director Jim Reinhart when the deal was first announced in March 2018. "Providing additional housing will help keep the market price reasonable for our students." Bob Faith, Founder, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Greystar, statd, "This mutually beneficial partnership directly aligns with Greystar's broader efforts to develop and revitalize campus housing across the country. We are pleased to be part of an innovative solution that addresses the need for high-quality, purpose-built student housing while allowing California State University, Sacramento to preserve funds for other important initiatives." The project will break ground in May and be completed in time for the start of the 2021-22 academic year. The first phase of the project, relocating the Dan McAuliffe Memorial Ballparks to a new location is already under way. The project is designed by Steinberg Hart architects and will be constructed by Sundt Construction. "We are excited to partner with Sacramento State and UEI on this project," said Julie Skolnicki, Executive Vice President of University Partnerships at Greystar. "We are eager for the opportunity to provide Sac State students with a new, high quality, on-campus housing option. We understand the positive impacts new housing can have on students, the university and the surrounding community." About Greystar Greystar is a leading, fully integrated real estate company offering expertise in investment management, development, and property management of rental housing properties globally. Headquartered in Charleston, South Carolina, Greystar manages and operates an estimated $115B of real estate in over 180 markets globally including offices throughout the United States, UK, Continental Europe, Latin America, and the Asia-Pacific region. Greystar is the largest operator of apartments in the United States, managing approximately 500,000 units/beds, and has a robust institutional investment management platform with $32B of assets under management including $12B of assets under development. Greystar was founded by Bob Faith in 1993 with the intent to become a provider of world-class service in the rental residential real estate business. To learn more, visit www.greystar.com. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20190124005651/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [January 23, 2019] BroadBand Tower Selects Juniper Networks to Build New 5G-Ready Data Center in Japan TOKYO, Jan. 24, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Juniper Networks (NYSE:JNPR), an industry leader in automated, scalable and secure networks, today announced that BroadBand Tower, one of Japans largest data center providers, has selected Juniper Networks high-performing solutions to power its Next-Gen 5G data center situated in the central Tokyo district of Otemachi, which will support the rapidly accelerating 5G mobile and next-generation ICT infrastructure demands of the densely-populated urban capital. With this in place, BroadBand Tower will be able to offer data center services that accommodate the emerging 5G needs of their customers, including the demands for high-volume traffic and speed from major telcos, enterprises and OTTs, all while ensuring consistent high-speed connectivity to the end-user. To achieve this, BroadBand Tower required a network architecture that could provide both flexibility and programmability, which are crucial for the constantly evolving demands of the 5G era. Through a stringent selection criteria, Junipers MX204 Universal Routing Platform was selected for its ultra-high density and throughput to enable high-speed and uninterrupted network access, while the QFX5200 and QFX5110 Ethernet Switches were deployed to achieve optimal versatility, operability and stability across the network to meet exponentially growing internet traffic and data volume. Additionally, by leveraging the scalability of Junos Fusion, BroadBand Tower was able to yield greater flexibility and control of various elements across its network through a single management plane, while the implementation of a single operating system through Junos OS enabled the unified configuration of all devices, thereby reducing overall network complexity and operational costs. In further simplifying network management, BroadBand Tower selected Juniper as a single networking vendor for this project due to its proven track record of deploying high-performing and reliable networking solutions. With the new 5G data center located in the heart of Japans financial and technology hub, BroadBand Tower plans to partner with other data operators housed in the same district to expand its services in the near future. The company is also looking to migrate the network infrastructure of its other existing data centers over to Juniper in order to better manage its network seamlessly across multiple locations. Supporting Quotes We are pleased to have worked with Juniper Networks right from the start of the network design phase all the way through to implementation. Through the teams dedication and commitment, we were able to successfully deploy a network that fit our specifications one that was operationally simple, fault-tolerant and cost effective. We look forward to continuing our partnership with Juniper Networks as we work together to develop new solutions and services that meet our customers needs. - Akihiro Mizuochi, Director, System Design Group & Network Design Group, Technical Design Department, BroadBand Tower, Inc. Juniper is delighted to be able to play such a crucial role in the development of BroadBand Towers new 5G data center. This next-generation communications infrastructure that weve developed alongside BroadBand Tower will contribute significantly to the future of Japans businesses as they continue to advance into the 5G era. Through this, Juniper is yet again realizing its vision of Engineering Simplicity bringing to life a simplified, automated and secure network for our customers. - Tomohiro Furuya, Japan Country Manager, Juniper Networks Additional Resources: Follow Juniper Networks online: Facebook | Twitter | LinkedIn | | Juniper Blogs and Community: J-Net Juniper 1on1 app: Keep up with all things Juniper from your smartphone. Download the app from iTunes and Google Play store today. About Juniper Networks Juniper Networks simplifies the complexities of networking with products, solutions and services in the cloud era to transform the way we connect, work and live. We remove the traditional constraints of networking to enable our customers and partners to deliver automated, scalable and secure networks that connect the world. Additional information can be found at Juniper Networks ( www.juniper.net ) or connect with Juniper on Twitter , LinkedIn and Facebook . Juniper Networks, the Juniper Networks logo, Juniper and Junos are registered trademarks of Juniper Networks, Inc. and/or its affiliates in the United States and other countries. Other names may be trademarks of their respective owners. Media Relations: Amanda Seow Juniper Networks +65 6714 2408 amandase@juniper.net [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] Farmington, WV (26555) Today Scattered thunderstorms. Gusty winds and small hail are possible. High 77F. Winds SW at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 70%.. Tonight Thunderstorms. Low 67F. Winds SW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 70%. Poultney, Vt. Green Mountain College, located along the Vermont-New York border, has announced its closure at the end of this semester in the face of insurmountable financial pressures. With roots in Troys 19th-century Methodist community, GMC is the latest casualty of the increasingly competitive environment facing small regional schools. The decision to close Green Mountain College comes only after a tireless pursuit of multiple options to remain open, including the rigorous search for new partnerships and reorganization of our finances. Despite our noteworthy accomplishments related to social and environmental sustainability, we have not been able to assure the economic sustainability of the college, GMC President Robert W. Allen said in a letter posted on the schools website. Students said they had heard rumblings about a potential closure but the announcements suddenness surprised them. Rumors had been spreading pretty much since I got here back in the fall, said freshman Catherine Lang. But people believed a merger or closure was a few years off. That changed when students earlier in the week gathered in the schools auditorium for the news. There was an audible gasp, Lang said. The school currently enrolls just under 500 students, but that number has been dropping from 775 over the past few years according to one local news account. Lang like many classmates was drawn to GMC for its focus on environmental sustainability issues. Shes interested in learning about animal protection; other students study topics like environmental sciences, renewable energy and resort management, which is done in conjunction with the Killington ski resort. Despite the focus, the schools small size, rising costs and remote location its a few minutes from Whitehall in Washington County -- were working against it, noted observers of the higher education industry. Im not sure this could have been avoided, Bryan Alexander, a college consultant and writer said in an email. The post-millennial generation prefers cities to the country, and GMC is all about being rural, he said, adding that with an endowment of about $3 million, the school cant afford too much enrollment loss. Overall, Alexander said, the U.S. in 2012-13 may have passed peak education or conditions under which all of the nations colleges are sustainable. A prepared statement from the school states that officials there had been talks with potential partners as recently as last week, but there was nothing that would guarantee financial stability beyond the spring semester. Additionally, officials noted that "not all positions will continue to the end of the semester," and the school is planning a job fair on campus as well as assistance in finding new work for displaced staffers. The schools website notes that students will have a number of transfer options after the spring semester. The college is member of the EcoLeague consortium of environmentally focused schools. Some faculty will be hired at Arizonas Prescott College, which will store GMCs academic records. Additionally, other Vermont schools, including Sterling College in the northern part of the state and Castleton University, which is part of the Vermont state system, will accept matriculated students from GMC at the same average tuition. The school has already set up information sessions. Castleton is about 11 miles from GMC. As part of the state system, Castleton gets some level of state support. As a private school, GMC depends heavily on tuition. We can absorb them said Castleton spokesman Jeff Weld. We have capacity and various opportunities to house them. Also offering transfer agreements is Paul Smiths College near Saranac Lake. Like GMC, Paul Smiths offers majors in environmental science, hospitality and other related topics. The culture at Green Mountain is very similar to what we have here at Paul Smiths. Theres a real emphasis on sustainability, said Shannon Oborne, Paul Smiths chief marketing officer. Like other schools, she said students could transfer at the same net tuition they pay at GMC. Paul Smiths average tuition runs about $26,000 per year, including room and board. GMC has been in operation since the early 19th century when, according to the schools timeline, the Troy Conference of the Methodist Church chose West Poultney, Vt. as a spot for a school due to the deep interest and enthusiasm of the inhabitants, who also subscribed $5,000 for the institution. It opened in 1836 as The Troy Conference Academy, and later became a womens academy, then a Methodist school again and a junior college. The Methodist affiliation was dropped by mutual consent in 1970. Lang, who is from Merrimack, N.H., is aware of the transfer options but she isnt sure what shell do. Ill have to do some digging to see if I can find something similar, she said. One of her concerns: what happens to the flock of chickens and the approximately dozen goats that live on the schools working sustainable farm. Theres definitely a lot of emotion here on the campus, Lang said. A lot of people are really taking it hard. rkarlin@timesunion.com 518-454-5758 @RickKarlinTU COLONIE A Mississippi man was arrested at the Albany County International Airport on Thursday after he tried to fly back home with an undeclared gun in his baggage. Sheriff Craig Apple Sr. reports that Riley Z. Beam, 38, of Golden had a Remington Arms Co. .45 caliber semiautomatic handgun, which was not declared in his checked baggage. He did not possess a valid New York state pistol permit either, he said. 3 1 of 3 Juana Summers Show More Show Less 2 of 3 Steve Pope Show More Show Less 3 of 3 ALBANY - U.S. Sen Kirsten Gillibrand hasn't experienced a groundswell of support in her home state after launching a presidential bid last week. A Quinnipiac University poll of registered New York voters released Tuesday found the Troy Democrat is at her lowest ratings for job approval (46 percent) and favorability (41 percent) in nearly a decade. Additionally, among potential New Yorkers running for president on the Democratic line, she is the third choice. ALBANY The Legislature will consider extending certain New York City-style rent regulations to upstate tenants this year, foreshadowing a potential victory for local housing advocates who have been demanding reforms for decades. Albany's Sen. Neil D. Breslin and Assemblyman Kevin Cahill, of Ulster County, have confirmed that they are working closely with a new coalition of upstate and downstate tenant groups on a bill expanding the 1974 Emergency Tenant Protection Act (ETPA), which enabled qualifying municipalities in Westchester, Rockland and Nassau counties to opt-in to New York City's rent stabilization laws. "I've been interested in this issue for years, because there are so many various statutes, upstate and downstate, that don't have any degree of uniformity," Breslin said. The ETPA enables cities and towns with low rental-vacancy rates to enact rent guidelines for buildings that have more than six units. Advocates have also found a Senate sponsor for a state-wide "good-cause eviction" bill. Sen. Julia Salazar unseated Brooklyn Sen. Martin Dilan in September's primary by campaigning on a platform that emphasized "universal rent control." "We are hoping to introduce it any day now, hopefully within the next week," Salazar said. The eviction-prevention bill, currently only in place in rent-regulated areas, prevents tenants from being evicted without good reason, like nonpayment of rent or destruction of property. Past efforts to extend the protections upstate have not gained traction, but with New York City's rent laws set to expire in June, activists, who rallied at the state Capitol on Wednesday, are hopeful the Legislature will give the issue another look. "The entire Legislature is going to be talking about tenants rights in a way that is just very difficult to happen ... so we see this year as our moment of leverage," said Cea Weaver, policy director of New York Communities for Change, one of more than a dozen tenant and homeless advocacy groups that form the Upstate Downstate Housing Alliance. The enabling legislation that simply grants municipalities more control over their rent laws should not be controversial, according to Weaver. "The only way you would oppose it is if you are literally just doing the bidding of the real estate industry," Weaver said. It's been years since the Legislature examined statewide rent control laws, according Roger Markovics, United Tenants of Albany founder, who has fought for renters' rights in the Capital Region for more than 40 years. In the 1960s, rent control briefly was extended to Albany, but many of those original units have disappeared and efforts have since turned to incentivizing home ownership as an alternative to renting. Movements in the the 1970s and 1980s to revive the discussion were unsuccessful, according to Markovics. Rent regulations affect the bottom line of the real estate developers, who had enjoyed a cozy relationship with the Senate Republicans that previously controlled the chamber. The catch-all "universal rent reform" has recently been used to refer to a number of bills long-stalled in the former GOP-controlled Senate, such as one that would end "vacancy decontrol" in New York City, thereby protecting hundreds of apartments from rent increases. Senate Democrats, who reclaimed the chamber in November's election, saw an influx of members perceived as more tenant friendly than their predecessors. One of the Democratic Legislature's first moves was to close the LLC loophole, which for decades has enabled real estate interests to circumvent campaign finance limits and flood campaign accounts with donations by creating multiple limited liability companies. The proposed statewide rent regulations could significantly impact the Albany rental market. Thousands of families are currently on waiting lists for public housing or Section 8 vouchers, and units deemed "affordable" are still out of reach for many. Some local properties don't accept public assistance or create narrow occupancy limits, a practice that advocates say effectively discriminates against the poor. Advocates and lawmakers also hope to make it easier for upstate tenants to take legal action against landlords for unsafe living conditions. Legal advocates for inmates with disabilities have filed a class action lawsuit against Gov. Andrew Cuomo and two state agencies, charging that they're responsible for keeping the mentally ill in prison beyond their release dates for lack of anywhere else to put them. The Legal Aid Society and Disability Rights New York filed the suit Wednesday in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District. Six plaintiffs identified by initials in the lawsuit have either completed their sentences or reached their approved parole dates, yet remain incarcerated some as long as 16 months past their approved release, the lawsuit alleges. In addition to being forced to live in prison, wear standard uniforms and eat meals in a mess hall, they have also been subjected to solitary confinement, it says. The state Office of Mental Health and Department of Corrections and Community Supervision were named as defendants alongside Cuomo. The state recommends specialized outside housing for mentally ill prisoners but the lawsuit alleges the state does not provide enough of the needed space, leaving inmates to languish inside prisons even after they complete their sentences. According to the suit, OMH determined that the plaintiffs, each diagnosed with a serious mental illness, should be released to supportive housing, which typically features visits from social workers and nurses. But because the state has "failed to ensure the necessary capacity in community-based mental health housing," they are languishing in prison instead, awaiting a placement, the groups said. "Our clients have either reached their release date or fully completed their sentences, and have every right to reintegrate with their families and communities," said Stefen Short, staff attorney with the Prisoners' Rights Project at The Legal Aid Society. "It's shameful that New York state keeps them in prison simply because they have mental illnesses and need supportive housing. This is an abhorrent practice, and New York must end it immediately, and provide our clients with the resources to facilitate their release." 2019.01.23 Complaint by Bethany on Scribd The Legal Aid Society and Disability Rights New York are bringing the lawsuit under the Americans with Disabilities Act, the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, and the Eighth and 14th Amendments to the U.S. Constitution. The lawsuit seeks an injunction that would require the state to create an effective plan for community integration, which would include developing a sufficient array of community-based mental health housing. "Our clients are told, often on the day they expect to be released from prison, that they will not be leaving and must stay until community housing is located," said Timothy Clune, executive director of Disability Rights New York. "Further, documents produced by the defendants show that New York state is well aware of the shortage of mental health housing for this population. Instead of addressing this shortage the state has been ignoring the problem and our clients." Approximately 4,000 inmates a year receive mental health services while incarcerated in New York prisons, the groups said. Among inmates who go on to be released, 1,500 will have a serious mental illness and 100 will be released to a homeless shelter. There are currently 20 inmates that the groups are aware of who are awaiting placement in community-based mental health housing. The six plaintiffs identified in the lawsuit are currently being housed at Auburn Correctional Facility; Sullivan Correctional Facility in Fallsburg; Green Haven Correctional Facility in Stormville; and Fishkill Correctional Facility in Beacon. OMH spokeswoman Jessica Riley said Wednesday that the state invests close to $500 million annually for community-based housing for adults with serious mental illness, amounting to more than 44,000 units statewide. It's in the process of issuing new requests for proposals for an additional 500 units, as part of a plan to develop at least 6,000 units by 2021, she said. "This lawsuit was served to the media before it was served to us, so we can't comment on its details," she said. "However, New York funds one of the most robust supportive housing networks in the nation for individuals with mental illness." The state will provide up to $12.5 million in annual funding for the new housing, which will target individuals battling homelessness. In the immediate future, 120 of the 500 new units will be set aside for individuals with mental illness leaving the prison system, she said. The best tasting food is rarely the most beautiful. That's certainly true of the West Indian curries and pastries on view, buffet-style, at A Taste of Guyana in Schenectady. Whether you eat in or take out, the curry goat and yellow lentil dal may not strike Instagram gold, but piquant Caribbean spices leave tongues and lips tingling. We'd best place Guyana on a map. Not to be confused with Ghana in Africa, Guyana is one of the four non-Spanish-speaking countries in South America. Nestled on the northern coast between Venezuela and Suriname, it's known as the land of Six Peoples African, Amerindian, East Indian, European, Portuguese (singled out from the battling Spanish, British, French and Dutch) and Chinese and part of the Anglophone Caribbean. Such lengthy history of invasion and settlement has forged a cultural melting pot reflected in its cuisine, where Indian roti and Jamaican salt cod sit comfortably on a plate with cinnamony five-spiced Chinese chow mein. At A Taste of Guyana, food is traditional, family recipes whispering of Guyanese kitchens, with memories and nostalgia served in each heaping plate. Mohini Randall and her husband, Dennis, both from Guyana, moved to Schenectady from Queens 16 years ago. Dennis' mother, still in Queens, taught them her recipes and unique seasoning blends. At 5 a.m. each day, the couple are in the kitchen making fresh roti (Indian flatbread), to be flopped and folded into buttery envelopes, and starting the stewy meat curries and brown-rice dishes that demand time, unhurried, to slowly cook. On Saturdays, they start at 4 a.m.; such is the demand for their cassareep pork, glazed in the black, molasses-like sauce of the cassava root, plus fish cakes and cook-up rice only available this day. The small restaurant is spotlessly clean; the cube-shaped bar from a prior Italian restaurant is left unused other than as a surface to stack cups of their pepper and spicy tamarind sauces; the service counter doubles as a pastry case for baked goods most house-made, some from a Guyanese bakery in Queens and the cafeteria-style buffet. We pass down the line inquiring after katahar and fried fish, and we're served the last of the duck curry. Viewing the portion, Mohini instructs a cashier not to charge us it isn't brimming with enough duck meat then warns us that the dark stew contains small bones. We eat sliding them out between teeth, like toothpicks, stripped clean. More Information A Taste of Guyana Roti Shop & Bakery 1414 State St., Schenectady Phone: 518-346-0010 Web: Search on Facebook Hours: 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Tuesday to Thursday; 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday; closed Sunday and Monday. Price: Inexpensive. Menu and bakery: $1 to $12. Items can vary daily. Food: Traditional Guyanese dishes (Indo-Caribbean cuisine) with fresh roti bread, baked goods, goat and duck curries, and dal. Drink: Selection of soft drinks from coconut water to sweet sorrel soda. No alcohol. Ambiance: Modest, clean former Italian eatery and bar. Ample off-street parking. Noise: 1. Only a few modest tables for eating in; popular for takeout. Good for: Breakfast, lunch, dinner, extra-casual dining, takeout, families, small groups, catering. Noise rating: 1- quiet; 2 - comfortable/conversational; 3 - loud; 4 - disruptive. Price range: Inexpensive, Moderate, Somewhat Expensive, Very Expensive See More Collapse The famous Guyanese seasonings are a mash of herbs dubbed "green seasoning" and cassareep, a toxic juice extracted from the cassava root that is carefully slow-boiled to a safe, dark, grainy syrup. Side by side, it's easy to see which curries are tinged green from a heavy swirl of green seasoning; others have the telltale yellow-gold of curry powder in the fringes of leaching oil. Mohini is tight-lipped about their secret seasonings. Cinnamon, cumin and clove-scented five-spice are easy to detect; the bold flavors all end in a welcome heat, not potent enough to hurt, but their cayenne and hot peppers layer cumulatively to sting lips. We order family style, setting out silver-foil trays on a table for a feast and surveying it with pride. A quick photo and we're off, tearing flaky dhal puri flatbread filled with crushed split peas, scooping up creamed callaloo (spinach, in their version), flaked salt cod stained with tomato paste, pumpkin puree with softened garlic cloves and yellow lentil dal humming with cumin and cayenne. There are bara puffy, seasoned batter shapes made with a flour of ground split peas to plunge into tangy tamarind sauce that yields a fruity sweetness like apricots offset by garlic, winey vinegar and licks of cayenne heat. We order individual fried fish, each stiffly curled fillet with traces of its citrus soak and coating in an onion-garlic-and-pepper puree; its batter delivers a parting slap of cayenne. If I'm disappointed they don't make pepperpot, Guyana's national dish, we take solace in Guyanese curried goat. Halved boiled potatoes jostle slow-simmered meat falling tenderly off the bone. The secret is a heady, rust-colored Guyanese spice paste that's a mix of toasted garam masala and curry powder their ratios a hallmark of the chef with garlic, pepper, cinnamon, cloves and thyme that permeate the meat and a sauce kicking with traditional wiri-wiri pepper or Scotch bonnet, or both. (Mohini won't say.) By comparison, duck curry is milder and heavier on the green seasoning, and chickpea chana daal is especially thick and spiked with more curry spice. I'm quickly aware that each dish respects the balance of spice, salt and heat. A clear favorite is cook-up rice thickened with coconut milk, starchy boiled and mashed cassava, and perhaps some aquafaba "bean water" from the chickpeas, green peas, black-eyed peas all the peas peeking out through thick, creamy rice. With it comes lightly fried chicken with crisp, salty skin sweet and blackened from honey in the glaze. It's our loss that on each visit we miss the fried cassava balls really, fritters made with grated cassava and yuca (the edible root, not yucca the ornamental plant in spite of the spelling on the menu overhead), and the egg balls too, a battered egg that locks onto childhood memories of battered boiled eggs or Spam in my school canteen. Though they make extra on Saturdays, they often sell out by 11:30 a.m. You can make up for it with plantain chips or fried chicken feet not real, toenailed claws but a salty pretzel treat. End, as we did, with a plate of Guyanese pastries, most sweet enough to scrunch and gum jaws. We split one of each kind: a triangular pine tart filled with shreds of gooey, reduced pineapple; the black eye, filled with sweet black bean paste; the boob-shaped coconut bun; sugar cake resembling a frayed rock of coconut and sugar; and red cake with vivid pink coconut sugar rolled up like a pastry Swiss roll. To induce diabetic shock, wash it down with cream soda, sorrel soda or sweet Jamaican kola champagne. Dinner for three came to just under $50 with soft drinks, tax and cash tip. Susie Davidson Powell is a British freelance food writer in upstate New York. Follow her on Twitter, @SusieDP. To comment on this review, visit the Table Hopping blog, blog.timesunion.com/tablehopping. Chicago It's only been a couple of months since Eve Ewing's writing prowess graced the cover of her first Marvel series, "Ironheart." And the masses are picking up what she's putting down. And part of the fun of watching Ewing do her thing is she's just as gobsmacked as fans are when the finished products hit newsstands. So imagine the giddiness on the local comic landscape when "Wikipedia Brown" (Ewing's Twitter handle) shared the news that she got to work on "Ms. Marvel 38," to be released Feb. 13. Now, another gift for comic fans: Ewing will be kicking off the first arc of a "Marvel Team-Up" a classic series that ran through the '70s and '80s. Set for an April release, Ewing's arc will consist of three issues of the ongoing series that will pair Ms. Marvel and Spider-Man together after a science demonstration at Empire State University goes awry. Ewing will write, Joey Vazquez will do the art. "It's been wonderful to watch Eve grow as a comics writer, with each one of her 'Ironheart' scripts being better than the next," said C.B. Cebulski, editor in chief of Marvel. "With her ability to not only capture the feel of the Marvel universe, but to make her characters move so naturally through it with their actions and dialogue, we knew it was only a matter of time before she was writing more for us. With Marvel Team-Up, Eve will be able to play with different characters and lend her voice to our heroes' relationships, both old and new." We talked to Ewing before this news broke, to talk life post-Riri Williams (aka Ironheart) and pre-C2E2. The interview has been condensed and edited. Q: Tell us more about Ms. Marvel and Spider-Man. A: I don't want to reveal too much, but my goal with the story is to have maximum fun with two characters that are both really sweet and really cool people who are fan favorites (and faves of mine), and to put them both in some delightful awkward and uncomfortable situations where they have to stretch to the limits of their abilities. (Pun intended.) Q: Did Marvel reach out with the idea or was this something that you posed to the team? A: My editors at Marvel reached out with this idea and once I heard the characters involved, I couldn't resist. Q: "Ironheart" love is strong, but that was a reimagining of a character. This new endeavor is more of getting the baton passed to you. How does that translate for you as a writer/creator? A: It's a different challenge. In some ways Ms. Marvel is similar to Ironheart in that she's a newer character and I have had the chance to go back and get to know her from the very beginning, whereas I couldn't in my lifetime read every take on Spider-Man. But it feels like such an honor to be able to write a story for one of the most iconic characters ever created in pretty much the history of modern pop culture. Q: How did you feel after "Ironheart's" reception by Marvel fans? A: Continually inspired. Every single picture or story someone sends me about their mom or daughter or student or dad loving the story makes my heart swell. We've gotten equal parts love from people saying, "I've loved comics my whole life and this character is a breath of fresh air" to people saying this is their very first comic book, and both of those make me so happy. I spent most of this fall traveling around the country with (her previous book) "Ghosts in the Schoolyard" talking about school closures, and people often write me letters or come up to me at readings and tell me that that book made them cry, or it made them really angry. I think it's important to have that entire range of emotions. I think we need to get angry about the things that are terrible and unjust, and be saddened and moved to action, and I also think that we need space for play and for imagination. I'm glad I get to make people feel all those feelings. Q: How long before we see "Ironheart" hit the big screen? A: I don't know anything about anything! And if I did I couldn't tell you! But I do think that Ironheart would be a star, of course. On her own or with a team. Only time will tell. Q: What will you be talking about at C2E2 in March? A: Whatever the good people show up and ask me about! Just looking forward to having fun at our hometown con and hopefully meeting Donald Faison, Paul Rudd and Alicia Silverstone. I'm a big "Clueless" fan. Saratoga Springs Here's a mystery: How does a play by the most widely published author of the past 400 years get lost and not turn up until four decades after her death? And how does its world premiere happen in Saratoga Springs? In the case of Agatha Christie, whose publishing output is bested only by the Bible and the works of Shakespeare, her sheer prolificness is to blame. From her first novel, which debuted in 1920, until her death in 1976 at age 85, Christie published 66 detective novels, 14 collections of short stories and about three dozen plays under her own name, plus six romance novels as Mary Westmacott. The archive she left was so massive that its contents were never fully cataloged. And thus theater producer Julius Green, while researching his 2015 book "Curtain Up: Agatha Christie A Life in Theatre," was able to discover 10 previously unknown plays: five full length, five in one act. Among them was "The Stranger," an adaptation of Christie's short story "Philomel Cottage." The play was never produced, though a later adaptation, called "Love from a Stranger" and written by Christie and Frank Vosper, a popular English actor of the 1920s and early 1930s, was a hit on the London stage and was turned into two later films. One, with Basil Rathbone, was released in 1937, while the Hollywood remake, starring Sylvia Sidney, came out a decade later. The general premise is that a woman, long engaged to be married to a beau who has been abroad for years, just before her planned wedding falls in love with a "handsome and charming stranger" who has a "ghastly secret," according to promotional material. Between the two plays, "Everything is slightly different," says Patricia de Benedetto Snyder, who will be directing the professional world premiere of "The Stranger" for iTheatre Saratoga, running this weekend and next. Although there have been a couple of amateur productions since the play's discovery, iTheatre Saratoga, which employs professional actors and performs in the Riggi Theater at the National Museum of Dance, will be the first official production, according to Samuel French Inc., the publisher that handles rights for Christie's theatrical works. "The fact that it hadn't been produced but had the cachet of being a Christie play was very appealing to us," says Will Severin, president of iTheatre Saratoga. Married to the company's artistic director, Mary Jane Hansen, he is also Snyder's son and composed the music for "The Stranger." Snyder founded the New York State Theatre Institute and ran it for decades, until soon before it closed in 2010. She and her husband, William F. Snyder, established a theater company called Creative Place International the following year, rebranding its local productions as iTheatre Saratoga starting last fall. The company likes to focus on new work, Severin says, pointing to "The Stranger" and its most recent production, a world-premiere, multimedia stage adaptation of "Night of the Living Dead," mounted last fall in observance of the 50th anniversary of George Romero's groundbreaking horror film. "I enjoy doing mysteries," says Snyder, who says she has directed three Christie plays, produced a number more and directed and produced a variety of non-Christie mysteries as well over the years. She says, "Christie appeals to me as a woman who was really ahead of her time in her writing and publishing." Among her records are most widely published novelist (2 billion copies in print), most translated author (103 languages) and longest-running play ("The Mousetrap," running continuously in London since 1952, with more than 27,000 performances). Severin hopes "The Stranger" will continue to build an audience for iTheatre Saratoga, including its summer program for kids age 9 to 13 that will incorporate smart devices into interactive performances in late June and early July. With seating capacity of "The Stranger" at only 50, and with just six performances scheduled, "We'll be lucky if we break even on this," says Severin. "We're a not-for-profit theater, we love theater, we love the arts, and if ('The Stranger') can be used as a catalyst for our summer workshop, we'll be providing another cultural experience for people in our community. That's really what we're about." sbarnes@timesunion.com 518-454-5489 blog.timesunion.com/tablehopping @Tablehopping facebook.com/SteveBarnesFoodCritic ALBANY Bert Kreischer is a comedic storyteller, or a stand-up comic who tells long stories. And to make sure you know he's funny, he laughs at his own jokes most of the time, often mentioning how other participants in his anecdotes were themselves so uproariously amused by him that they were rolling on the floor with chortlement as humor-validating snot streamed from their noses. Kreischer, who performed at The Egg on Wednesday during the first of two soldout nights, is that funny buddy or uncle who's got a sufficiently skewed view of the world and sufficient regard for his ability to tell you about it that anything can become a five-, 10- or even 15-minute story. A bearded, beefy bro, Kreischer's signature move is to doff his T-shirt at the beginning of the show, strolling the stage with his round, dad-bod belly proudly preceding him, gold chain and medallion glinting against his chest hair. Alcohol and pot consumption play co-starring roles in many of his bits, as does facile grossness like fecal incontinence in public, which is apparently a family trait. While his father was the one who crapped his pants in Kreischer's 2018 Netflix special, it's the comedian himself who does it in a story he told Wednesday. "I had a fart hiding behind a poop," he said by way of explanation, with the former's urgency leading to the latter's emergence. The result was this family moment: "My daughters watched their dad wipe his ass with a shirt." Kreischer is skilled enough to have regular moments of insight and inspiration, as when congenital health problems with his purebred dog led him to this realization: "You mean Hitler was wrong? So you're telling me that if he'd won the war, blonde chicks would be walking around with hip dysplasia?" He also scored with a routine about his prepubescent daughters having their periods for the first time. While mostly funny, if not nearly as gross as Kreischer seems to think it is, the bit contained the most genuine, touching moment of the show, when his eldest daughter, suddenly confronted by this signal of womanhood, bursts into tears, saying, "I'm not ready to be a big girl now." Lively and responsive to his enthusiastic audience, Kreischer on occasion wandered off into discursions; his story "The Machine," about getting involved with the Russian mob while on a college trip, runs less than 14 minutes in the online version that has racked up almost 50 million views, but on Wednesday it went on for almost 18 minutes as a result of riffs and interpolations. He's also not as disciplined with his language as one would expect. For every vivid, original description, as when he explained that a rock climber must not enjoy masturbating because "his hands are the texture of dog paws," Kreischer reached for dull or inapt analogies, such as describing a man's atrophied arm as "swinging back and forth like a boat lost at sea." As amusing as he can be, there's also something dismayingly retrograde about Kreischer. He's a straight white male who celebrates his paternal and spousal ineptitude, admits to being at least partly racist and homophobic, and casually relies on sexist dismissals of women all the while selling out theaters and toting up tens of millions of online views for a single routine. Any competent comedian can get a cheap laugh by reinforcing his audience's common prejudices and perceptions. Great comics don't comfort. They provoke. sbarnes@timesunion.com 518-454-5489 blog.timesunion.com.tablehopping @Tablehopping facebook.com/SteveBarnesFoodCritic In Rashomon, Akira Kurosawas 1950 masterwork of multiple perspectives, three people testifying at a trial dispute the events that left a Samurai dead and his wife raped. The wife says she stabbed him. A bandit says he vanquished him with a sword. The samurai himself (channeled through a psychic) says he killed himself. Throughout the films tidy hour-and-a-half running time, events are told and retold through a churning rotation of differing standpoints that challenge the whole notion of fact vs. fiction. Whats knowable? Whats true? Which witnesses can be believed? Most of the time, says a character known only as the Commoner, we can't even be honest with ourselves. The film and its lessons sprang to mind this past week, as the flap unfolded over those Kentucky Catholic-school students at the Lincoln Memorial. Then it continued to unfold, exposing more and more layers, more and more perspectives, more and more dissertations on truth and the rush to judgment. First up was that close-up video of a teen in a MAGA hat later identified as Nick Sandmann as he stood inches away from Omaha tribal elder Nathan Phillips, singing and beating a drum. People were outraged: Look at that kids smirk. Next, videos shot from a distance that showed Phillips walking over and planting himself in front of Sandman. People were outraged: Phillips instigated it. Complicating everything were videos of Black Israelites hurling slurs at the students. People were confused: Huh. Maybe Phillips was trying to defuse the situation. Or maybe the kids were entirely victimized. Or maybe, or maybe, or maybe. Compilation videos like the one recently posted by the New York Times make certain aspects of the story a little bit clearer, but theres still no easy-peasy narrative arc to mollify all sides -- and there never will be. This is a battle of competing vantage points with no obvious resolution. With its many videos, multiple P.O.V.s and agonized grappling over what constitutes the truth, were living out Rashomon in real time. And thats a good thing. Not a facile thing. Not a comfortable thing. But a good thing. The episode in D.C. is a reminder of our constant need to question narrow assumptions, widen the angle of our worldviews and see the shared (read: flawed) humanity of people with disparate beliefs and backgrounds. Its also a reminder that the pages of history now turn at a swifter pace, putting no distance between events and the dispassionate gaze that might dissect them generations or centuries later. As the old saying goes, history is written by the victors. But whoever first uttered the aphorism (was it Churchill? Orwell? Nehru?) said it in an era when history was entrusted to historians and its victors owned the only voices heard. Thats not where we are now. Were now in the era of Instagram, an age of widespread, radically democratized access to smartphones and platforms for public discourse, and were parsing our own history as we make it. Witnesses are everywhere. Filters are few. Theres no remove between a moment and its meaning. Theres no dispassionate gaze, no one to tell us which voices matter and which voices dont and that means any and all voices can seize our attention, including those wed rather not hear. True, the gulf between right and left, Trumpists and resistance, widens with every headline, film clip and spasm on social media. But think of it this way: Were aware of the gulf for the plain reason that were aware of each other. Never before have we had such access to lives and opinions so far beyond our own. That puts the onus on us to listen. To watch. To sift through the videos and consider uncomfortable possibilities that our viewpoint isnt the only one, that no complex dispute is ever resolved by ignoring those who disagree. Maybe complex disputes are never resolved to anyones satisfaction, period. As the Commoner says in Rashomon: In the end, you cannot understand the things men do. But that doesnt mean we shouldnt try. The effort can be excruciating, even existential, as we attempt to define ourselves as Americans and human beings. But isnt it always? The nations founders were white and male. The perspectives that mattered were white and male. The arcing rainbow of P.O.V.s that surround us now complicates everything, yes, but it also gives us yet more windows of understanding. Rashomon concludes with a tip toward human decency as one character, out of the blue, surprises another with a gesture of sincere charity. After all the dark and conflicting narratives that came before, this little moment isnt much of a consolation. But its something. And thats where we stand now, struggling to wade through complicated, combative storylines to see the human essence at their core -- to see people as they are and see the world from their perspective. Maybe we disagree with them. Maybe their words and actions seem foolish, misguided, immature or flat-out wrong. But maybe, in an effort to understand why they did what they did, said what they said and spun out their stories in the aftermath, we can snatch a few glimpses at our shared humanity. Again, it isnt much. But its something. WASHINGTON U.S. Rep. Antonio Delgado, D-Rhinebeck, signed on to a new congressional task force focused on addressing chemical contamination of drinking water in places such as Hoosick Falls and Petersburgh. But at the same time, he acknowledged it will be difficult to prod the federal government to action as long as much of it remains shut down. The Environmental Protection Agency, which oversees water pollution detection and mitigation, is among the agencies affected by President Donald Trumps closing the government in a fight with congressional Democrats over funding his long-promised U.S.-Mexico border wall. One of the things Ive heard from a lot of folks back home is Im all for your priorities _ health care, water contamination but none of that is going to matter if you dont get the government open, Delgado said after a news conference to launch the bipartisan House PFAS Task Force. So thats priority number one. PFAS is the acronym for Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, a class of chemicals that includes PFOA Perfluorooctanoic acid. PFOA is the contaminant in the water supplies of both Hoosick Falls and Petersburgh. It was used in plastics factories that made products such as Teflon. It does not break down over time and has been linked to life-threatening health conditions including cancer. Delgado is among 20 House members from both parties whose districts have been impacted by often-neglected PFAS contamination. It is chaired by Rep. Dan Kildee, D-Mich., whose district is based in Flint, which won notoriety when state officials tapped into polluted river water for home use. Among the Republican members is Rep. Peter King of Long Island. Hoosick Falls has been the focus of on-going attention since PFOA was discovered in 2014. The EPA designated it as a Superfund cleanup site and its drinking water is now thoroughly filtered in equipment supplied by the plastics manufacturer that caused the pollution, Saint-Gobain Performance Plastics a multinational corporation based in France. The village of Hoosick Falls has been involved in legal action against Saint-Gobain and Honeywell International, another operator of a factory in the area. In his remarks Wednesday, Delgado said the fight is not over. Its important that we do the work to highlight the urgency, both from a health-outcome aspect but also from an economic one, he said. The companies who are responsible for the pollution in the water wells have not been held accountable. And to the extent they have, the remediation has not been fast enough. Delgado also said he is co-sponsoring the bipartisan PFAS Action Act, which would designate all PFAS chemicals as risks to human health and the environment and thus make them eligible for the Suprefund clean-up program. Hoosick Falls Mayor Rob Allen said in an interview earlier this month that the locality is intent on obtaining a new water supply to make sure that what pours out of the tap is never polluted in the first place. Allen said the state is due out with a report in April on possible alternative water sources. One of the leading possibilities, he said, is the Tomhannock reservoir 15 miles away. The reservoir is the drinking water source for Troy. Delgado said the question of a new water source for Hoosick Falls is certainly a priority of mine. The government shutdown looms large over lawmakers of both parties on Capitol Hill, and it is proving to be a baptism of fire of sorts for Delgado. The 41-year-old freshman defeated former Rep. John Faso in what amounted to a wave election that brought control of the House back to Democrats for the first time since 2011. The Republican controlled Senate is voting Thursday on dueling motions _ one with wall funding, and one without. Both are expected to fail as the shutdown enters its 34th day. Before the PFAS task force announcement, Delgado gave a brief speech on the House floor in which he mentioned a visit last week to the Coast Guard installation in Saugerties. Uniformed officers and enlisted men and women are out there in the freezing cold and not getting paid, he said. Among their duties are search and rescue and breaking up flows of ice on the Hudson River, he said. Government dysfunction of any kind is not good for the well-being of our democratic order, he said. But we are now approaching levels of dysfunction that ought not be tolerable to anyone who cares to preserve the dignity of our citizenry. Philadelphia 76ers' Joel Embiid, left, celebrates after a dunk past San Antonio Spurs' LaMarcus Aldridge during the first half of an NBA basketball game, Wednesday, Jan. 23, 2019, in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum) Thomasville, GA (31792) Today Showers and thundershowers during the morning will give way to steady rain this afternoon. High 82F. Winds SSE at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 70%.. Tonight Scattered thunderstorms early, then mainly cloudy overnight with thunderstorms likely. Isolated tornadoes possible. Low 73F. Winds S at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 60%. remaining of SUPPORT LOCAL JOURNALISM! 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. Barre, VT (05641) Today A shower or two around the area early, then partly cloudy during the afternoon. High 81F. Winds WSW at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 30%.. Tonight Partly cloudy skies. Low 57F. Winds WSW at 5 to 10 mph. Cresaptown, MD (21502) Today Mixed clouds and sun with scattered thunderstorms. Gusty winds and small hail are possible. High 79F. Winds W at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 70%.. Tonight Scattered showers and thunderstorms, especially during the evening. Low 66F. Winds W at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 60%. This subscription will allow current subscribers of The Tillamook Headlight Herald to access all of our online Subscriber-Only content, including the E Editions area. 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Click Here to Claim Your Copy (No Credit Card Required... Limited Time Only) The head of Airbus has torn into the Government's handling of Brexit, branding it a 'disgrace' and warning that the company could pull out of the UK if its ability to compete on the global stage is harmed by a no-deal departure. The Restaurant Group has hailed a 'pivotal' year despite a 2 per cent drop in core sales, following its multi million pound takeover of Wagamama. Fever-Tree is toasting full-year sales growth of 39 per cent, including a 52 per cent surge in the UK thanks to the summer heatwave. Tesco and the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) suffered an embarrassing defeat after the supermarket's former finance boss was cleared over a 250million accounting scandal. Carl Rogberg had been accused of manipulating Tesco's figures to meet targets and make the firm look more financially robust than it was. But the SFO dropped their case yesterday. Charges dropped: Carl Rogberg had been accused of manipulating Tesco's figures to meet financial targets and make the company look more financially robust than it was In a searing attack on the steps of Southwark Crown Court, Rogberg, 52, said: 'The trial has had enormous consequences on my health and exemplary career, as well as for my wife, my son, my family and my friends. I have serious questions for Tesco and the SFO about the way this case has been handled. The circumstances were never properly investigated by Tesco from the outset. 'The SFO uncritically adopted Tesco's approach. They failed to carry out a professional investigation and made fundamental errors. Truth and justice were abandoned for their commercial imperatives.' Rogberg is the final director to be cleared after ex-colleagues Chris Bush and John Scouler were acquitted in December. But Tesco has forked out 129million to the SFO as part of a so-called deferred prosecution agreement (DPA), a type of punishment without conviction. It has also agreed to pay 3million for investigation costs. The scandal emerged in 2014 when new chief executive Dave Lewis discovered a 250million black hole in Tesco's accounts. The acquittal is a major blow for the SFO which has suffered a string of failures in recent years. Lisa Osofsky, its director said: 'Tesco Stores Limited dishonestly created a false account of its financial position by overstating its profits. 'The DPA clearly outlines the extent of this criminal conduct for which the company has accepted full responsibility.' The bright lights of Metro Bank may be pulling in customers, but they failed to entice investors as the High Street lender reported disappointing results and admitted an accounting slip-up. The nine-year-old firm, whose 66 branches more closely resemble swanky hotel lobbies than traditional banks, disclosed that the accounting error meant it did not have enough capital backing some of its commercial loans. It miscalculated the weighting for riskiness given to some of its commercial property and other specialist loans, meaning more money must be set aside to fund them, though Metro emphasised it still had enough money to cover its back in the event of another financial crisis. Shareholders were also disappointed with Metro Bank's full-year profit guidance for 2018, which at 50million was 15 per cent lower than analysts' forecasts. Metro miscalculated the weighting for riskiness given to some of its commercial property and other specialist loans, meaning more money must be set aside to fund them Even though loans to customers climbed by 48 per cent to 14.2billion, deposits rose by 34 per cent to 15.7billion and customer numbers were still on the rise, shares plummeted 38.9 per cent, or 857p, to 1345p. Competition in the mortgage market was particularly intense, the bank said, echoing several of its peers. Analysts speculated that Metro may now have to run to shareholders for more cash, after completing a 300million share placing only last July. Metro declined to comment on that, but said more details on its financial state would follow in full-year results in February. By contrast, FTSE 250 technology firm Computacenter climbed 10.6 per cent, or 108p, to 1126p. Stock Watch - Learning Technologies A sparkling update from digital education business Learning Technologies has done little for its share price. It said on Tuesday that revenue would be up from 52.1million to 94million in 2018, while profit would be significantly ahead of expectations at 26.5million. There was some weakness in the content and services branch, where revenue slid 8 per cent, but it noted prior year results had been particularly strong. Investors seemed to hope for more, as shares fell 11.1 per cent, or 9.6p, to 76.8p. The IT consulting company, whose customers have included the NHS and Heathrow Airport, exceeded the slow-and-steady expectations it guided towards a year ago. Profits for 2018, set to be reported in March, would be 'marginally ahead' of predictions. It has been a bright spot on London's tech scene, as cybersecurity firm Sophos warned of subdued performance last week and numbers from Micro Focus next month are expected to be lacklustre. Sanne Group was another big loser, as it said it would wave goodbye to 'exceptional' boss Dean Godwin. The business, which helps investment firms with their administration, said he would step down after seven years at the helm to retire from the sector. Under his tenure, both Sanne's revenue and profit grew by over 600 per cent. But yesterday shares plummeted by 17.7 per cent, or 97p, to 450p. A melee of pub groups also rushed to update investors. Young & Co's climbed 0.3 per cent, or 5p, to 1480p as it bought Redcomb Pubs for 34million. After adding on the 15 new sites in London and the South West, it will now operate a 270-strong estate. Wetherspoon reminded shareholders that profit for the six months to January 27, was set to be lower than a year earlier. Even so, like-for-like sales in the 25 weeks to January 20 rose 6.3 per cent. Chairman Tim Martin said: 'Costs, as previously indicated, are considerably higher than the previous year, especially labour, which has increased about 30million in the period, but also in other areas including interest, utilities, repairs and depreciation.' Its shares dipped 0.3 per cent, or 3p, to 1193p. Marston's fortunes took a turn for the worse. The pub group, which brews Pedigree and Hobgoblin, sank 4.8 per cent, or 4.9p, to 97.9p on announcing its like-for-like sales grew by just 1.4 per cent in the 16 weeks to January 19. To reduce its debt by 200million to 1.2billion by 2023, it is slashing its investment and selling 80million to 90million of non-essential assets. The FTSE 100 had a smoother day, but still ended down 0.9 per cent, or 58.51 points, at 6842.88. RPC agreed a 782p-per-share bid with Apollo and has encouraged shareholders to sell up Packaging giant RPC has sparked anger among shareholders after urging them to accept a 3.3billion bid from US private equity firm Apollo. RPC, the latest British company to fall prey to a foreign buyer, yesterday agreed a 782p-per-share bid with Apollo, and encouraged shareholders to sell. But not all investors were impressed with the price tag, even though the deal has taken several months. David Cumming, chief investment officer at top 15 shareholder Aviva Investors, said: We do not agree with the justifications put forward by the board for their acceptance of an offer by Apollo. The price underestimates future earnings, he said, and the value of predicted growth will fall to Apollo and RPC managers. Apollo must get shareholders holding 75 per cent of the company on-side before the deal is put to a vote. RPC first announced Apollo had been sniffing around in September last year, and market analysts suggested the company could fetch 5billion. Shares in the plastics firm still jumped 4.4 per cent, or 32.2p, to 766.2p, as the bid values RPC 15.6 per cent higher than its market value before the deal became public. The collapse of Patisserie Valerie has dealt a fresh blow to Debenhams as the cafe chain closed outlets at the department store. Just hours after parent company Patisserie Holdings crashed into administration following an accounting scandal, the shutters came down on 71 cafes, with the loss of 920 jobs. The closures included 27 Patisserie Valerie cafes, all 19 Druckers stores and 25 Patisserie Valerie concessions, including 17 in Debenhams, four in Next and four in service stations. Patisserie Valerie has closed 17 of its concessions inside Debenhams stores following the collapse of the cafe chain Analysts said the closures in Debenhams were a further blow to the struggling department store chain. Russ Mould, investment director at AJ Bell, said: 'What Debenhams has been trying to do is create an experience and be a one-stop shop where you can eat, drink and shop. If those concessions go then Debenhams has even more floorspace that isn't earning any money.' Patisserie Holdings plunged into administration this week after a 40million black hole was discovered in its accounts. Administrators at KPMG said they will continue to trade the remaining 122 Patisserie Valerie stores as it seeks a buyer. David Costley-Wood, partner at KPMG and joint administrator of Patisserie Holdings, said: 'We have been pleased with the level of interest we have received and so remain hopeful of achieving a positive outcome.' But more than 2,000 jobs remain at risk, on top of the 920 already lost. Chairman Luke Johnson, who owned 28.5 per cent of the firm, attempted to keep it running by plugging it will millions of pounds of his own money and seeking a bailout from investors. But the firm collapsed after it was unable to strike a deal with lenders to extend a 9.7million loan agreement, meaning it could not afford to continue trading. Patisserie Holdings and Johnson are now facing legal action from shareholders who are expected to be left with nothing. Chris Boxall, co-founder of Fundamental Asset Management, which invested in Patisserie Valerie for clients, said: 'What has he [Johnson] and the board been doing? What questions were they asking at meetings, what things were they looking at, did they ever roll up their sleeves and have a look at the heart of the business, which you would expect from a so-called executive director which he was in this business.' Debenhams, which declined to comment, is already battling to attract customers after plunging to the biggest loss in its 240-year-history, and is now looking to close as many as 90 of its 166 stores. It is understood to be trying to find jobs in its stores for affected Patisserie Valerie concession staff. Patisserie Valerie has also cancelled a tie-up with Sainsbury's to sell its cakes in 70 stores. I recently went shopping at H&M and was charged 5p for a paper bag. I thought the Government decided that we only have to pay for plastic bags. Is this a new charge? Also, I can no longer seem to get 5p plastic carrier bags at Marks and Spencer and am instead prompted to buy a 10p one - is all of this cash heading for charity? There is no government regulation that says retailers should charge customers for paper bags Grace Gausden, This is Money, replies: Since October 2015, all large businesses - classified as those that have 250 employees or more - have been required to charge 5p for a plastic bag by law. Other smaller businesses may also decide to introduce the charge - and many have. The idea of introducing the charge is to reduce the use of single-use carrier bags, encouraging people to reuse bags to cut down on waste. However, there is no such law associated with paper bags and the Government has said it is up to individual retailers to decide if they wish to charge for them. Swedish clothes giant H&M announced in November 2018 that all UK stores (apart from those in Northern Ireland) would stop using plastic bags and start to only use paper bags, aiming to discontinue the use of all plastic bags by December 2018. It said the reason for the decision was to further reduce the waste of single use carrier bags, saying that the majority of them end up in landfill. Furthermore, it said that 100 per cent of the money made from the paper bags would go towards charitable causes, including its lead partner, UNICEF. H&M are now charging 5p for their paper bags whilst they try and discontinue plastic bags However, one of the main reasons for the plastic bag charge was to encourage people to reuse them, whereas it is unlikely that the same amount of people will reuse papers bags. Plastic bags take far longer to disintegrate compared to their paper alternatives. Paper bags get wet and disintegrate much quicker than plastic bags, as well as being less convenient to carry around and they tend to rip easily, which is why many stores have chosen to not charge for them. In this case, it would be advisable to start carrying around your own bags in order to avoid the charge. It is also worth noting that the law differs in the rest of the UK - in Scotland, customers have to pay the 5p charge for both plastic and paper bags. It is not only H&M that have decided to charge 5p for paper bags, other high street shops, such as the Body Shop and Hotel Chocolat, are also adding on the fee. House of Fraser and Debenhams have gone one step further and have faced criticism for charging their customers 10p for paper bags. Meanwhile, retailers such as Primark and Whole Foods have offered paper bags for years - but they do not charge customers for them. M&S 10p bag charge doesn't head to charity Other stores, including supermarket Tesco, have scrapped the single use plastic bags altogether, opting to only sell 10p bags for life, that are meant to be stronger and last longer. Marks and Spencer is one of these major retailers that has started to remove single-use plastics from their shops and have introduced the 10p multi-use bags in September 2018. The store said it makes a charitable donation to a number of different charities when customers opt for the 5p bag but no charitable donation is made when consumers buy the 10p multi-use bag. The 5p bags are often not as easily available at tills now. The Government said it 'expects' retailers to donate the proceeds from the plastic bag sales to go to charitable causes but it is ultimately up to individual stores to decide what they do with the funds. Increase: Plastic bag charges are set to double by next year so customers will pay 10p per bag Giorgina Waltier, Sustainability Manager for H&M UK, said: We're really excited to make the switch from plastic to paper bags in the UK. It is absolutely the right thing to do in terms of environmental impact, and we're confident that our customers want to be able to shop with us in a more sustainable way. A spokesperson for Marks and Spencer said: We introduced a new stronger 10p food bag in September 2018. These are made from 100 per cent recycled plastic and are designed to be used on multiple occasions and remove the need for single use 5p bags. Encouraging our customers to move away from single-use bags further supports our commitment to reduce our use of plastic something we know our customers care deeply about. We've dramatically reduced carrier bags usage by 90 per cent since 2008 500million fewer bags each year saved from landfill and since we introduced the new bag in September we have seen an additional eight per cent reduction in usage. Grace Gausden, This is Money, added: New plans, set out by the environment secretary, mean that plastic bag charges will soon double and shoppers will be charged 10p. The new charges will extend to all shops, not just large businesses and could be implemented by January 2020. There has been no suggestion so far that this new charge will include paper bags. The acquittal of the third former Tesco executive Carl Rogberg over involvement in an alleged 250million accounting scandal is bound to be seen as another damaging setback for the Serious Fraud Office (SFO). Rogberg and his expensive City law firm Norton Rose Fulbright lost no time in firing both barrels at the SFO and Tesco. He described the Deferred Prosecution Agreement (DPA), under which Tesco agreed to pay a 129million penalty, as a 'worthless and dishonest piece of paper' and suggested the fine was 'needlessly paid'. former Tesco executive Carl Rogberg over involvement in an alleged 250m accounting scandal is bound to be seen as another damaging setback for the Serious Fraud Office (SFO). The executive, who has had serious health issues, has the right to feel aggrieved as his whole world has been turned upside down. But there is no escaping the facts that forensic accountants uncovered a black hole in Tesco accounts and, as Rogberg acknowledges in his statement, the fiasco has been extremely damaging for employees, shareholders and pension funds. Much of the opprobrium will now fall on the SFO and its new, US battle-hardened legal warrior Lisa Osofsky who inherited a case file dating back to 2014. The acquittal of the three executives, including Rogberg's colleagues Christopher Bush and John Scouler, will certainly raise questions as to whether evidence collected for the DPAs can be effectively used against individuals. The SFO and many big companies support DPAs because they allow the decks to be cleared much more speedily. Osofsky is known to have reservations about the present conduct of financial justice in the UK. In the American judicial system white collar prosecutors are required to bring cases within 30 months, which injects more urgency into the pursuit of alleged offenders. She is also concerned about the backlog of cases at Southwark Crown Court and the knowledge base of some judges. Sir Brian Leveson, the scourge of press freedom, is regarded as the exemplar of well-conducted cases and brilliantly argued judgments when it comes to financial fraud. Finally, and most critically, legislation needs to catch up with financial wrongdoing. In recent times the law has been updated and made fit for purpose in tracking down and prosecuting corporate bribery and dealing with money laundering. But faulty, false or fraudulent accounting, of the kind that allegedly may have occurred at Patisserie Valerie, Carillion and in many other firms is fiendishly difficult to prosecute because of outdated laws. A Government less preoccupied with Brexit would be well advised to put better laws on its to-do list if the reputation of free market capitalism is to be protected. Growing pains The increasing presence of Metro Bank on Britain's high streets, at a time when the dominant players are ruthlessly slashing branches, is much appreciated. Long opening hours, weekend trading and advanced technology, which allows customers to print off lost credit/debit cards on the spot, are terrific. When I recently paid a courtesy visit to chief executive Craig Donaldson, at the Kensington branch in London, I was reassured that Metro's lending practices were scrupulously conservative. So it is shocking to discover that the bank which describes customers as 'fans' and its managers as 'growth retailers' has managed to get the risk rating on commercial loans wrong. All those who lived through the financial crisis of a decade ago will know how quickly banks which pump out loans carelessly end up in the sin bin or worse. At Metro, the lending errors mean a sharp decline in its capital cushion, stunting future expansion. The obvious answer for a growing enterprise might be to boost capital through fundraising. But having raised 300million last July there is unlikely to be much appetite. A 39 per cent drop yesterday in the share price of a bank, where confidence is everything, cannot by any stretch of the imagination be a good thing. Speaking up Jolly good that David Cumming of Aviva Investors has gone public with disappointment that plastic packaging group RPC is selling itself to private equity outfit Apollo too cheaply. He thinks the premium of 15.6 per cent doesn't recognise the growth value of the stock. Perhaps he could now publicly distance long-term investor Aviva from the efforts of its favourite corporate raider, Ed Bramson, to wreak havoc at Barclays. MELBOURNE, Jan. 23 (Xinhua) -- China's Zhang Shuai and her Australian partner Sam Stosur are through to the Australian Open women's doubles final, after a thrilling three-set victory over Czech duo Barbora Strycova and Marketa Vondrousova on Wednesday that ended 7-5, 4-6, 7-5. While it was a nervous start for the Sino-Aussie duo, falling behind in the first set 5-2, the pair managed to find their rhythm and eventually fight their way back to go one set ahead. With the Czech combo mounting their own fight back in the second, it all came down to a deciding third and final set. Although Zhang and Stosur got the early break, Strycova and Vondrousova were able to win it back in a see-sawing back-and-forth contest that had fans in Melbourne on the edge of their seats. In the end however, Zhang and Stosur were able to get the break at 5-5 and serve out the match to snatch the win. "My heart rate is so high at the moment," Stosur said after the match. "That was amazing. It was a really tough match for us. Shuai picked it up for us at the end and I'm so pleased we're into a final here together in Australia." "We're on a bit of a roll and hopefully we can keep it going in the final. It would be amazing for us, we'll do everything we can to be ready and we'll give it a good crack." The pair will now take on reigning Australian Open champions Timea Babos from Hungary and Frenchwoman Kristina Mladenovic in the final. EMILY ST. LAWRENCE, Chariho girls lacrosse, senior: St. Lawrence scored the 100th goal of her career in a 16-1 win against Lincoln. St. Lawrence finished her career with 104 goals, eight short of the school record. The team did not play last season due to the coronavirus pandemic. JOSH MOONEY, Stonington track & field, sophomore: Mooney scored in three events at the State Open meet. Mooney was second in the 110 hurdles, fourth in the javelin and fifth in the 300 hurdles. He scored all 17 of Stoningtons points. ALEX STOEHR, Westerly softball, freshman: Stoehr hit three triples and a double in a doubleheader sweep of Barrington. For the week, she was 7 for 13 with four doubles, two triples and three RBIs. Stoehr is hitting .333 for the season. Vote View Results Jabalpur, Jan 24 (PTI) The Madhya Pradesh High Court here has granted bail to an old man, charged with sexually assaulting a minor girl, on medical grounds that he was devoid of penile erection and other facts. A single bench of Justice MF Anwar on Tuesday observed, "Looking at the facts and circumstances of the case, the age of Dhaniram (68) and the period of detention, I am inclined to enlarge the applicant on bail. "As per medical evidence observation, the applicant's penile erection was missing and he was not capable for semen slide," his counsels Vasant Daniel and Vishal Daniel told the court. Dhaniram, who had been in judicial custody since November 6 last, was suffering from various diseases related to heart and prostates, they contended. The applicant had served in the Navy and after retirement, worked as a teacher in the government school, the lawyers said. The Navy and the principal of the school had issued certificates to the effect that he held a good moral character, they added. The counsels claimed that the petitioner was falsely implicated by the father of the minor, while the prosecution opposed the bail application. After hearing both sides, the court granted bail to the accused. The accused was arrested under sections 363, 366-A, 376(A)(B), 376(2)(j)(k)(i) of the IPC and sections 3-A, 4, 5m, 6 of the POCSO Act. The case was registered at the Mungwani police station in Madhya Pradesh's Narsinghpur district. The allegation against the accused was that at around 8 pm on November 4 last year, he had lured the minor girl and took her to his house on the pretext of showing her sparkling lights and sexually assaulted her. PTI CORR LAL MAS RSY RC Indore, Jan 24 (PTI) A court here Thursday ordered the seizure of assets worth Rs 17.60 lakh of a school headmaster in Madhya Pradesh. Special Judge S S Kushwaha observed that the headmaster, Ramdayal Joshi, had amassed the assets through corrupt means and thus, those should be impounded. Special Public Prosecutor Mahendra Kumar Chaturvedi said the judge ordered that the ill-gotten property worth Rs 17.60 lakh of Joshi be impounded under the Madhya Pradesh Special Court Act, 2011. The property included bank deposits, fixed deposits and jewellery, he added. On October 7, 2012, the Lokayukta police had raided several places in Mandsaur district associated with Joshi and unearthed assets disproportionate to his known sources of income. Joshi was posted in Mandsaur as the headmaster of a government primary school. PTI HWP LAL ADU RSY RC Cong MLA Umesh Jadhav who skipped CLP meet surfaces, says he is with party Bengaluru, Jan 24 (PTI) Amid reports that he was being wooed by BJP, Congress MLA Umesh Jadhav who skipped the recent CLP meeting and remained incommunicado surfaced in his native Kalburgi Thursday and said he was still with the party, but dropped hints he was keeping his options open. I havent even thought about it. Im in Congress...," he told reporters when asked whether he would remain in Congress in view of the reported offer by BJP to give him ticket for the coming Lok Sabha elections. However, the MLA, who was upset at not being made a minister, said he will go by the instructions of his voters and supporters on accepting the saffron partys offer. I cannot decide it; I will have to discuss with my voters, people and supporters about it... will take decision in the interest of people," he added. Jadhav along with Ramesh Jarkiholi, B Nagendra and Mahesh Kumatahalli had skipped the January 18 Congress Legislature Party meeting, following which notice were issued to them asking why action should not be taken against them under the anti-defection law. Jadhav, however, had written to CLP leader Siddaramaiah stating that since he was "unwell and not able to travel" he would not attend the meet. He had also requested that his absence may be "excused." Asked as to why he was not reachable by the Congress leadership all these days, the MLA said he was bit upset for some reasons and had given his phone to his brother and gone outside the state. Denying reports that he was staying in a resort or hotel, he said, he was on a personal visit out side the state. On a photograph showing him with BJP MLA Ashwathnarayan, Jadhav said it was not taken in Mumbai recently. It must have been taken some other time, he said adding the BJP MLA was his "close friend" and they knew each other for 15 years. He claimed work in his constituency was happening at a slow phase under the coalition government." I dont know why work is getting delayedthose in positions have to answer." Stating that he had expected Minister post "for the sake of development work", Jadhav said he would not take it even if offered now. Asked about reported comments by Kaburgi district in-charge minister Priyank Kharge that he can leave the party if he wanted, Jadhav said such attitude was the reason for Congress' present state. In the Lok Sabha, Congress used to have 300-400 seats. "...by making such statements we now have around 45-50you understand," he said adding it damaged the party. Jadhava took exception to a protest against him in front of his house a few days ago that he had sold himself. They should be ashamed, let them show the proof, I will work at their house, he added. According to reports, there is rift between Jadhav and Priyank Kharge and former union minister Mallikarjuna Kharge in Kalburgi and BJP was trying to take advantage of it by wooing him with the Kalaburgi Lok Sabha seat offer. PTI KSU VS VS VS VS Machilipatnam (AP), Jan 24 (PTI) A 40-year-old government school teacher was taken into custody on Thursday evening for allegedly sexually assaulting an eight-year-old girl student at Agiripalli Elementary School in Krishna district, Andhra Pradesh, police said. On Tuesday evening, the victim complained to her mother of physical pain and told her about the incident. Doctors in Nuzvid provided first aid to the girl and referred her to Vijayawada Hospital for further treatment. The victims mother on Thursday lodged a complaint at Agiripalli Police Station, following which the accused, K Venkateswara Rao, was arrested. "Rao is in our custody. The investigation is on," said Agiripalli Sub-inspector V Esubu. Cases under Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act and SC and ST Atrocity Act have been registered against Rao. "The accused has been suspended from service with immediate effect. A departmental inquiry into the incident has also been ordered," said District Education Officer M V Rajya Lakshmi. PTI CORR DIV IND IND Hyderabad, Jan 24 (PTI) A lab technician working at a private diagnostic laboratory here was Thursday taken into custody for allegedly outraging the modesty of a 20-year-old woman, police said. The woman, a student, who was suffering with sinus, had gone to the diagnostic centre for medical test on Wednesday evening, where the technician while conducting tests allegedly contacted her private parts after which she raised an alarm, they said. The woman along with her family members lodged a complaint with the police after which a case under relevant IPC sections was registered against the technician and he was taken into custody, police added. PTI VVK IND Mumbai, Jan 24 (PTI) The Bombay High Court Thursday said the Election Commission had a constitutional obligation to hold fair elections and hence should take steps to prohibit advertisements or paid political content on social media. A division bench of Chief Justice N H Patil and Justice N M Jamdar was hearing a petition filed by lawyer Sagar Suryavanshi, seeking directions to the Commission to prohibit all persons, whether politicians or private individuals, from posting advertisements related to politics or elections, or paid political content on social media platforms such as YouTube, Facebook, and Twitter, 48 hours before the election day. Advocate Pradeep Rajgopal, appearing for the Commission, told the court that the poll panel has recommended amendment section 126 (b) of the Representation of Peoples Act, which prohibits public meetings, processions, campaigns, etc 48 hours before polling. "By way of amendment, we propose to include the term electronic media in the provision," he said. The bench then noted that amendments to the Act would take a lot of time. "Till the amendment is brought, what does the Election Commission propose to do about the issues raised in the petition? Elections are coming up. The commission should have some answers," Chief Justice Patil said. The court suggested the Commission to pass orders before the upcoming elections. "The Election Commissioner can issue orders. You (EC) are not helpless. In order to conduct and hold fair elections the commission can issue orders. It is your constitutional obligation," the chief justice said. The bench has also directed a senior officer of the Commission to remain present before it next week for further hearing on the plea. The petitioner's lawyer Abhinav Chandrachud told the bench that social networking sites, such as Facebook, had advertising policies in the UK and the US, where all advertisements and paid content were subjected to strict verification process. He argued that a similar policy must be implemented in India too. PTI SP NP SOM SOM Mumbai, Jan 24 (PTI) Justifying its decision to allocate Rs 100 crore for the proposed Bal Thackeray memorial, the Maharashtra government Thursday told the Bombay High Court it was within its discretion to allot land or money for a monument for a prominent person and it cannot be questioned in court. The government made the submission before a division bench of Chief Justice N H Patil and Justice N M Jamdar which was hearing two petitions challenging the state's decision to convert the mayor's bungalow in central Mumbai into a memorial for Shiv Sena founder Bal Thackeray. The petitions were filed by activist Bhagwanji Rayani and NGO Jan Mukti Morcha in April 2017 when the government had proposed to set up the memorial. When the petitions came up for hearing Thursday, petitioners' advocates Pradeep Havnur and Uday Warunjikar sought to amend the pleas so as to also challenge the decision of the BJP-led government to allocate Rs 100 crore for the memorial. The decision was taken earlier this week. Havnur argued that the amount could be used for other important issues facing the state, while Warunjikar claimed the entire machinery was being mobilised for a private individual. Senior counsel Milind Sathe, appearing for the government, opposed the petitions, saying it was the state's discretion how much land or money should be allotted for a memorial. "Whether a person deserves a memorial or statue is up to the state government. Such state actions cannot be questioned in a court of law," Sathe maintained. The bench, while agreeing to this, however, said the court could question the manner in which a decision has been taken. It allowed the petitioners to amend their pleas to challenge the Rs 100-crore allocation and directed the government and Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) to file their affidavits by February 12. The court also issued a notice to a government trust, 'Balasaheb Thackeray Rashtriya Smarak Samiti', set up in September 2016 to carry out work for the memorial, seeking its reply on the issue. The petitioners also raised objections to the setting up of the trust and said of its 11 members, six are private persons. "The six permanent members include Uddhav Thackeray (Shiv Sena chief) and (his son) Aaditya Thackeray. If it is a government trust, how can private persons be made permanent members?" Warunjikar asked. The petitions also challenged a recent amendment to a provision in the Mumbai Municipal Corporation Act by which the civic body chief was permitted to lease any immovable property, owned by the BMC, to any person at a nominal rate of Re 1 per year. PTI SP RSY RT New Delhi, Jan 24 (PTI) Senior officials of the Indian Coast Guard met Maldivian Defence Minister Mariya Ahmed Didi Thursday and discussed ways to boost cooperation in the area. The Indian side was led by V S R Murthy, Additional Director General, Coast Guard. "Additional Director General V S R Murthy, ADG @IndiaCoastGuard Called on Hon'ble Defence Minister of Maldives Ms. Uza Maria Ahmed Didi today and discussed bilateral #CoastGuard cooperation and capacity building issues. Senior officers of MNDF were also present @DefenceMinIndia," the Coast Guard tweeted. India and Maldives share robust defence ties. Last week, the Indian Coast Guard replaced an Advanced Light Helicopter at the Gan Addu Atoll of Maldives. Maldivian President Mohamed Solih had visited India last month during which the two countries resolved to deepen their maritime cooperation. PTI PR KJ New Delhi, Jan 24 (PTI) Students, farmers and veterans along with several other groups will launch a nine-day protest meet here against the government, starting January 30. The groups, led by Left-backed All India Kisan Sabha, said the protest meet will be held at Jantar Mantar from January 30 to February 7. "On each day we will take up varied issues affecting the common people. On the penultimate day, we have invited representatives of all political parties except the BJP," said farmer leader Hannan Mollah at a press conference. Mollah said women's rights activists, labour rights activists and those affected by chit fund scams will also be present at the protest. He said during the nine days, issues faced by the people in BJP-ruled states will be discussed and the political parties will be urged to take these issues back to their constituencies for campaigns against the saffron party. Among those present at the press meet were Major General Satbeer Singh, who was representing former soldiers, and Independent MLA from Gujarat Jignesh Mevani. "The main motive of the BJP and the RSS is to divide the society. The aim of this protest is to make the public aware of their divisive nature. "The agitation will not end here or till the 2019 elections. Every six months we plan to meet and take up the burning issues of the country," said Mevani. PTI ASG SOM SOM Varanasi, Jan 24 (PTI) Posters urging Priyanka Gandhi to contest the coming general elections from Varanasi-- Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Lok Sabha constituency-- came up in the holy city on Thursday. The local unit of the Congress too demanded that Priyanka, who formally entered politics on Wednesday and was appointed the general secretary for Uttar Pradesh East, be pitted directly against Modi to galvanise voters of UP and neighbouring states. The posters featuring Priyanka Gandhi in the middle, Congress president Rahul Gandhi on the top and local Congress leader Ajay Rai, who had contested against Modi in 2014, at the bottom, have come up across Varanasi. The lines, "Kashi Ki Janta Kare Pukar, Priyanka Gandhi Ho Sansad Hamar. We want Priyanka", were printed in bold letters in the centre of the posters. Holding the posters and shouting slogans, some youth Congress workers also took out a march in the Lahurbir locality demanding that Priyanka be declared the party's candidate from Varanasi. "The Congress party soldiers (workers) are ready to make her (Priyanka) win the elections from the temple town constituency... If she contests from here, the impact would be felt in the neighbouring states as well," Rai said. "The wave of PM Modi has now faded as people want to get rid of the Modi-Shah misrule who have ruined the lives of scorers of small businessmen and rendered thousands of people jobless due to their faulty policies and chest thumping," he added. Rai expressed confidence that the Congress would win the 2019 Lok Sabha elections as well as the 2022 assembly polls in Uttar Pradesh. The country witnessed a negative economic growth during the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) rule, Rai said. Criticising the the Union government's Pravasi Bharatiya Diwas event being held in Varanasi from January 21 to 23, the Congress leader questioned why the dates of the event were changed. The event is held to pay respects to father of the nation Mahatma Gandhi, who returned to India from South Africa on January 9. The BJP changed the dates to gain political mileage, he said. PTI CORR RHL New Delhi, Jan 24 (PTI) India and Maldives on Thursday resolved to deepen their maritime security cooperation and give a new momentum to overall military ties during talks between Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and her Maldivian counterpart Mariya Ahmed Didi, officials said. In a statement, the defence ministry described the talks as "substantive" and said that the two countries will continue their counter-terror cooperation. "India and Maldives held substantive discussions on further strengthening bilateral defence cooperation here today. Both side agreed that the two countries would continue their traditionally close cooperation on issues of maritime security, counter-terrorism," it said. In the talks, Sitharaman reiterated India's commitment to contribute towards capacity building and training requirements of the Maldives national defence forces, the officials said. The issue of maritime security cooperation figured prominently during Prime Minister Narendra Modi's talks with Maldivian President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih here last month. The two countries had agreed to remain mindful of each other's concerns and aspirations for the stability of the Indian Ocean region and not allow their respective territories to be used for any activity inimical to their interests. India is concerned over China's efforts to expand influence over Maldives. Chief of Army Staff General Bipin Rawat, Chief of the Air Staff Air Chief Marshal B S Dhanoa and Vice Chief of the Naval Staff Vice Admiral Ajit Kumar P called on the Maldivian defence minister. It is Didi's first visit to India after becoming defence minister around four months back. The second round of the India-Maldives Defence Cooperation Dialogue was also held on Thursday. The Indian delegation was headed by Defence Secretary Shri Sanjay Mitra and Maldivian side was led by Chief of Defence Forces of Maldives Major General Abdulla Shamaal. Didi will witness the 70th Republic Day Parade at Rajpath as well as visit various Indian defence institutions such as the Indian Maritime Analysis Centre in Gurugram and Army Training Command in Shimla. PTI MPB RT New Delhi, Jan 24 (PTI) Lance Naik Nazir Ahmad Wani, a militant-turned-soldier who laid down his life during an anti-terror operation at Shopian in Kashmir in November last year, has been awarded the Ashoka Chakra, India's highest peacetime gallantry award. President Ram Nath Kovind will present the award to the gallant soldier's wife Mahajabeen on the Republic Day, officials said Thursday. On November 25, 38-year-old Wani, hailing from Cheki Ashmuji in Kulgmam district of Jammu and Kashmir, lost his life in a counter-terror operation against six terrorists in Hirapur village near Batgund, in Shopian. Under intense hail of bullets from the terrorists, he eliminated the 'district commander' of the Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) and one foreign terrorist in a daring display of raw courage, officials said. In the ensuing gunfight, he was hit multiple times including on his head. He also injured another terrorist before succumbing to his grievous wounds, they said. Apart from his wife, he is survived by two sons Athar (20) and Shaid (18). Mahajabeen, a teacher, said she has been trying to show the "right path" to young minds, drawing inspiration from her late husband. Lance Naik Wani joined the Army's 162 Infantry Battalion (Territorial Army) Jammu and Kashmir Light Infantry in 2004. "He was a brave soldier and a hero right from the beginning. He always served for peace in his home state of Jammu and Kashmir," said a senior Army official. Wani was a recipient of the Sena Medal for gallantry twice in 2007 and 2018. "He always had the interests of the nation in his heart. He operated with Rashtriya Rifles units in Kashmir. Throughout his active life he always willingly faced grave potential threats and was a source of inspiration for others," said one of his colleagues. He said Wani was from a humble background and used to work for the benefit of the underprivileged sections of society in his locality. "A very genial man, he was very mindful of the problems of his village and surrounding area. Wani also had many acts of selfless service to his credit in the area he belonged to," he said. Wani was awarded Sena Medal for his indomitable spirit in fighting terrorists. Ashoka Chakra is the highest peacetime military decoration for valour, courageous action or self-sacrifice away from the battlefield. PTI MPB RT Amethi (UP), Jan 24 (PTI) Congress president Rahul Gandhi Thursday said he has given his sister Priyanka Gandhi, newly entrusted with eastern Uttar Pradesh, the target of ensuring that the party forms the next government in the state. The Congress will also fight the coming Lok Sabha polls with full strength, he said at a public meeting in his constituency. His two-day visit to Amethi had coincided Wednesday with the formal entry of Priyanka Gandhi in politics, after years of speculation on whether she would take the plunge. She has been appointed general secretary for Uttar Pradesh East, while Jyotiraditya Scindia holds charge of UP West. "Priyanka and Scindia have been given a target. That is to form a Congress government in Uttar Pradesh in the next election by defeating and wiping out the BJP, the Congress president said. Unlike PM Modi, I do not talk of a 'BJP-mukt Bharat' but speak with respect," Gandhi said, referring to Narendra Modis call to free India of the Congress. Whether it is Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh or Tamil Nadu, everywhere the Congress will fight with full might on the front foot, and you will see that after the Vidhan Sabha elections there will be a Congress government in the state, he said. In the Lok Sabha polls, we will contest with full strength, without taking a backward step," he said, referring to the election just months away. He criticised the Centre government over the Rafale aircraft deal and accused the prime minister of waiving industrialists loans, charges countered earlier by the government. The watchman proved to be a thief," he said, and repeated the slogan, "Gali gali mein shor hai, chowkidar chor hai." Earlier in the morning, Gandhi visited a local Shiva temple after meeting party workers at a guesthouse. Addressing a public meeting in Salon area, he termed himself, his sister and mother Sonia Gandhi as soldiers for the people of the constituency. While Rahul Gandhi won the 2014 parliamentary elections from Amethi, Sonia Gandhi is an MP from adjacent Rae Bareli. Both fall under the turf carved out for Priyanka Gandhi. Narendra Modis Varanasi constituency and Chief Minister Yogi Adityanaths bastion Gorakhpur are also in eastern UP. Rahul Gandhi reiterated he has full respect for leaders like Bahujan Samaj Party president Mayawati and Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav and his father Mulayam Singh Yadav. The SP and the BSP recently forged an alliance for UP in the coming Lok Sabha polls, keeping the Congress out of the pact. The Congress president said the prime minister had not kept his poll promise on creating jobs, and suggested that the Bharatiya Janata Party government had slowed development in his constituency. "You will get your food park back, not 99 per cent but 101 per cent. All development projects that have been stalled by Narendra Modi and Yogiji to hurt you will be back," he said. "The BJP people are spreading hatred in the name of religion, caste and region. They get people of UP and Bihar thrown out of Gujarat, get Hindus and Muslims fight each other, he charged. Narendra Modi means hatred, he is the symbol of hatred, he said. We will remove Modi in 2019 and no one can stop this." PTI SAB SMI ASH ASH ASH New Delhi, Jan 24 (PTI) Asserting that Priyanka Gandhi Vadra's formal entry in active politics will have no impact on Lok Sabha polls, the BJP on Thursday said her appointment as Congress general secretary of Uttar Pradesh-East may have generated a buzz in Delhi but it has drawn no response from the region of which she has been made in-charge by her party. Union Minister Manoj Sinha, who is Lok Sabha MP from Ghazipur in eastern UP, said Piyanka's appointment is an attempt by the Congress to gain some importance in the state as it was left in a "bad shape" after being left out of the SP-BSP alliance. At a BJP press conference, he also played down ally Shiv Sena's praise for Priyanka, saying it is the party's "personal opinion". "Priyanka Gandhi Vadra was made a general secretary in Delhi and you people have been discussing it here. But it seems that people of the region of which she has been made in-charge are not noticing it," Sinha said, adding her presence would have no impact on the general election. He said that Lok Sabha election will be fought on a "different plane", stressing that the Modi government has "changed the lives of 22 crore families with its development policies". He also lashed out at Congress president Rahul Gandhi over his use of "impolite" words against Prime Minister Narendra Modi during his visit to Amethi, saying such language is "not used even in panchayat politics". Sinha said Rahul Gandhi's remarks were condemnable. PTI KR RT Lucknow/New Delhi, Jan 24 (PTI) The Enforcement Directorate Thursday conducted multiple searches across various states in connection with its money laundering probe into the Rs 1,500 crore Gomti riverfront development project in Uttar Pradesh's capital Lucknow, official sources said. They said the raids were being carried out in various premises of the accused and their associates in Uttar Pradesh (Lucknow and Noida), Delhi, Haryana and Rajasthan, by a team of the Enforcement Directorate (ED) officials assisted by local police. The teams are looking for documents and evidence, they said. The central probe agency had filed a criminal case under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) in this instance in March last year. The ED case was filed after taking cognisance of a CBI FIR. The CBI had taken over the investigation after the present Yogi Adityanath-led BJP government in Uttar Pradesh ordered an inquiry into the beautification project of the Gomti river front. The project was carried out by the previous Samajwadi Party (SP) dispensation. The Uttar Pradesh government had asked for an investigation into irregularities committed with a "criminal intent" in the implementation of the Gomti River Channelisation Project and the Gomti River Front Development by the state's Department of Irrigation. The CBI had filed an FIR against then chief engineers Gulesh Chandra, S N Sharma, Qazim Ali, then superintendent engineers Mangal Yadav, Akhil Raman, Kamaleshwar Singh, Roop Singh Yadav and executive engineer Surendra Yadav. Gulesh Chandra, Mangal Yadav, Akhil Raman and Roop Singh Yadav have retired. The state government had constituted a committee under retired Allahabad High Court judge Alok Kumar Singh, which had indicated prima facie irregularities in the project in its report dated May 16, 2017. The Uttar Pradesh Police had registered a case on June 19 on the basis of this report. The state government subsequently sought a CBI probe into the matter in July 2017. The Centre referred the matter to the CBI on November 24, 2017 on the basis of which the agency took over the investigation in the matter. PTI NES SRY Internet services suspended in Odisha's Kendrapara district Kendrapara (Odisha), Jan 24 (PTI) Internet services were suspended in the district headquarter town of Kendrapara in Odisha on Thursday, a day after tension prevailed following a quarrel between two groups of youths, officials said. The two groups were locked in a verbal duel on Wednesday afternoon over organisation of a function at the local government high-school playground. Prohibitory orders under Section-144 of CrPC, which were clamped on Wednesday, remained in force across the township to thwart possible breach of peace in the area, said an official. Meanwhile, normal life was affected in the district following observance of a dawn-to-dusk shutdown by an outfit to protest alleged disrespect to freedom fighters. "Net connectivity has been disabled in the urban areas. We took recourse to such precautionary steps to prevent breach of peace in sensitive areas," Kendrapara District Collector Dasarathy Satpathy said. Educational institutions were closed for the day as a precautionary measure, while patrolling by security forces have been beefed up in and around the township, he said. "The situation is peaceful in Kendrapara though normal life has been affected due to the 12-hour bandh call. No untoward incident has been reported from any part from the district so far," Satpathy said. PTI CORR SKN RBT RBT 'Pawar tied up with Cong as ideology more important for him' (Eds: Adding a word in para two and seven) Mumbai, Jan 24 (PTI) The NCP Thursday said its president Sharad Pawar had joined hands with the Congress 20 years ago, immediately after quitting it, as ideology was more important for him than personal issues. NCP spokesperson Nawab Malik made the remarks a day after Prime Minister Narendra Modi said Pawar had tied up with the Congress despite the grand old party "humiliating" him. Malik also sought to know why the BJP was "upset" now. Pawar had quit the Congress in 1999 over the issue of foreign origin of then Congress President Sonia Gandhi and formed the NCP in the same year. "After the Maharashtra Assembly and Lok Sabha polls (held simultaneously) in 1999, the BJP had offered Deputy Prime Minister's post to Pawar sahab and also called for forming government in the state," Malik said. "But Pawar sahab formed government in Maharashtra with the Congress. For him, individual ego was not a big issue, but ideology. When it comes to ideology, personal issues are not important. This was 20 years ago, but why is the BJP being upset now?" he asked. Modi, while addressing BJP workers from some Lok Sabha constituencies in Maharashtra, including Pawar's home turf Baramati on Wednesday, had accused the Congress of "insulting" the Maratha strongman despite being a senior leader of the grand old party then. Modi said what he had heard about was that Pawar had staked claim to be the Congress president and therefore, was shown the door by that party. "This can happen only in the parties led by families. And the funny thing is, the same Pawar sahab, who was humiliated by the Congress, had formed an alliance with it," Modi had told BJP workers. Modi, however, had also said that at personal level he respected Pawar for the works he carried out for the people. PTI ENM NP NP NP Caracas, Jan 25 (AFP) President Nicolas Maduro announced on Thursday the closure of Venezuela's embassy and consulates in the United States having broken off diplomatic ties with President Donald Trump's government the day before. Maduro made the call during a special session at the Supreme Court in which he accused the US of pushing opposition leader Juan Guaido, who declared himself Venezuela's acting president on Wednesday, into attempting a coup d'etat. (AFP) HMB Caracas, Jan 24 (AFP) Thirteen people have died during two days of unrest in Venezuela amid protests against leftist leader Nicolas Maduro, a Caracas-based rights group reported Thursday. The deaths, mostly from gunshot wounds, were recorded in the capital and across the country, along with reports of looting in Brazilian border state Bolivar, the Venezuelan Observatory of Social Conflict told AFP. Unrest first kicked off on Monday when 27 soldiers rose up against Maduro at a command post in Caracas, calling upon people to "take to the streets" in a video circulated on social media. But the most fierce began Tuesday night in Caracas and Bolivar -- continuing Wednesday throughout Venezuela on a day of huge opposition-backed demonstrations against Maduro. In Bolivar's San Felix, demonstrators burned a statue of former president Hugo Chavez late Tuesday night. On Wednesday, anti-riot police confronted protesters in east Caracas following the march called for by opposition leader Juan Guaido, who declared himself Venezuela's interim president as part of his aim to remove Maduro. Chaos erupted when dozens of young people, some hooded, blocked a key route through the wealthy Altamira neighborhood -- only for military personnel to fire tear gasses and rubber bullets, which were in turn met with stones from protesters. Apart from the capital Caracas, deaths were reported in Tachira, Barinas, Portuguesa, Amazonas and Bolivar states. Wednesday's demonstration, meanwhile, marked the first significant clash between the government and the opposition in the streets after violent protests left 125 people dead between April and July 2017. Juan Guaido -- the opposition-led legislature head who declared himself "acting president" -- called for the protests two weeks ago. His aim is to remove Maduro, set up a transitional government and hold elections. He accuses Maduro of being a usurper following his disputed re-election in a poll dismissed as a fraud by the European Union, the US and OAS. (AFP) AQS AQS Accra, Jan 24 (AFP) Sixteen people were killed in an accident at a gold mining site in northern Ghana, a local official said on Thursday, prompting the authorities to launch an investigation. The accident happened in the Talensi area of the Upper East region early on Wednesday near a site operated by China's Shaanxi Mining Company Limited. The exact circumstances were not immediately clear. "The death toll is 16," local government leader Christopher Boatbil told AFP, adding that management of a local mining firm had also been arrested. "The regional security council has come to join the district security council and we are going to the community to interact with the people and get a lot of information. A Shaanxi spokesman, Maxwell Wooma, said the victims were all illegal miners and that none of its staff was involved. Ghana is Africa's second-largest gold producer and exports of the yellow metal, along with other minerals and oil, drive the country's economy. The industry involves a number of major global players but small-scale, illegal mining known locally as "galamsey", which has been a persistent problem, causing frequent accidents. In April last year, six miners were killed and two injured when the roof of a tunnel collapsed at a gold mining site operated by US-based Newmont in Ghana's southern region. In July 2017, at least 22 people were killed after an illegal goldmine collapsed in western Ghana. In April 2015, three people died and 14 others required medical treatment after inhaling toxic fumes at the Shaanxi mine.(AFP) RUP New Delhi, Jan 24 (PTI) Following are the top foreign stories at 1700 hours: FGN17 CHINA-INDIA-XI Not aware of plans by Xi to visit India: Chinese FM Beijing: China's Foreign Ministry said on Thursday that it was not aware about any plans of President Xi Jinping's visit to India in the next two months for the second informal summit with Prime Minister Narendra Modi as reported by a Japanese publication. By K J M Varma FGN12 CHINA-MONKEY-CLONING China clones five gene-edited monkeys for human disease research Beijing: Scientists in China have cloned five monkeys after editing genes to induce several human diseases like Alzheimer's that they claim will help in medical research, an advance which is likely to raise fresh ethical concerns about gene-editing. By K J M Varma FGN16 PAK-BLASPHEMY-COURT Pak SC to hear review plea against Christian woman's acquittal in blasphemy case on Jan 29 Islamabad: Pakistan's Supreme Court will decide on January 29 whether to allow an appeal against its acquittal of a Christian woman who was on death row for eight years for blasphemy. FGN20 PAK-SHARIF Doctors suggest to shift Sharif from jail to hospital Lahore: Doctors have recommended that Pakistan's former prime minister Nawaz Sharif should be shifted to hospital from jail as he could be best treated there for his heart complications. By M Zulqernain FGN13 US-TRUMP-LD ADDRESS Trump delays State of the Union address Washington: President Donald Trump Thursday announced that he would delay his State of the Union address until a crippling government shutdown ends, backing down in a major spat with the Democrats over his plan to build a controversial border wall along the US-Mexico border. By Lalit K Jha FGN11 NKOREA-KIM-LD TRUMP North Korea says Kim ordered preparations for 2nd Trump meet Seoul: North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has ordered preparations for a second summit with President Donald Trump, saying he'll "wait with patience and in good faith" to work toward a common goal, the North's state media reported Thursday. (AP) PTI PMS PMS Beijing, Jan 24 (AFP) China said Thursday that Chinese-Australian author and democracy advocate Yang Hengjun was detained on national security grounds, becoming the latest Western citizen to face such accusations from Beijing. Yang's detention comes at a moment of heightened tension between Western countries and an increasingly muscular Beijing, which recently detained two Canadians amid a diplomatic row with Ottawa. Australia demanded that Yang -- a former Chinese diplomat -- be treated "fairly and transparently" and complained that Beijing had waited four days, instead of three as required, to notify Canberra about his detention. Yang was detained shortly after he made a rare return to China from the United States last week. "Beijing state security took compulsory measures against Australian national Yang Jun and are investigating because he is suspected of engaging in criminal activities that endanger China's national security," said Chinese foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying, using Yang's official name. Such accusations in China often imply espionage allegations. Similar allegations were made against the two Canadians who were detained in December. Australian Defence Minister Christopher Pyne, on an official visit to Beijing, told reporters he would be raising the issue with his Chinese counterpart later on Thursday. "As Mr Yang doesn't have a residence in Beijing, I believe he would be held in a... situation which we would describe as home detention," he said. Yang's lawyer Mo Shaoping confirmed to AFP that his client is under residential surveillance, adding that Yang Hengjun is his pen name. But Yang may not have access to his lawyer anytime soon -- a visit will require approval from the Beijing State Security Bureau, standard procedure in such cases involving national security. Australian Foreign Minister Marise Payne said earlier that diplomats met with Chinese officials in Beijing to discuss the matter and called on China to deal with the matter "transparently and fairly". Once described as China's "most influential political blogger", Yang became an Australian citizen in 2000, but is currently based at New York's Columbia University. His criticism of the Chinese government and support for democracy has in the past made him a target of Beijing's state security apparatus. He went missing during a 2011 trip to China, but resurfaced days later, describing his disappearance as a "misunderstanding". Canada's arrest on December 1 of a senior executive of Chinese telecom giant Huawei at Vancouver airport was followed days later by the high profile arrests in China of the two Canadians, former diplomat Michael Kovrig and businessman Michael Spavor. Payne said there was "no evidence" Yang's arrest was part of that trend "at this stage", adding "I'd be concerned if there was an indication of that." "It only heightens the feeling that visiting China is unsafe and that the security services may increasingly be going after people for what they say outside of China," said longtime China-watcher Bill Bishop. Relations between China and Australia have likewise been strained by Canberra's decision to ban Huawei from participating in its 5G wireless network over security fears and as the two countries have vied more openly for influence in the Pacific. Yang had worked in the ministry of foreign affairs in Hainan province, but later left for Hong Kong in 1992, before writing a series of politically tinged spy novels. He became an Australian in 2000. Yang's friends first raised concerns when the 53-year-old failed to make a connecting flight from Guangzhou to Shanghai on January 19. He was reportedly travelling with family members, including his wife, who has since posted a cryptic and emotional message on her Weibo page from Beijing. In Australia there is mounting anger that China failed to quickly notify the authorities of his detention and fears that an already difficult relationship may be further damaged. "This is not the way relations between our two countries should be conducted, at all," said Australian opposition leader Bill Shorten, criticising the slow response from the Chinese authorities. Hua countered that Chinese authorities "officially notified the Australian side after taking mandatory measures" against Yang, but she did not say exactly when. Under a 2000 consular agreement between the two countries, China was obliged to notify Australia of Yang's detention within three days and allow consular visits, unless the detainee waives that right. The issue may be further complicated by China's refusal to recognise dual nationality and allegations of Chinese "hostage diplomacy". Writers' advocacy group PEN accused China of overt repression, saying: "It's obvious that Yang would not have been seized if it weren't for his previous critical writings." (AFP) PMS PMS Mumbai, Jan 24 (PTI) Kartik Aaryan, who has entertained the audience with comedies like "Pyaar Ka Punchnama" series and "Sonu Ke Titu Ki Sweety", on Thursday said he would like to move away from light-hearted films. Citing "Andhadhun" as an example, the actor said he wants to venture into the thriller genre. "I feel comedy is the most difficult thing to do. I feel happy when people enjoy my work. I like thrillers and the anti-hero zone. I love watching them. I would like to do something in this, other than comedy. "I enjoyed 'Andhadhun'. I am offered a lot of comedy films. I want to do serious films now," Kartik told reporters. The actor was speaking at the trailer launch of his upcoming film "Luka Chuppi", in which he stars with Kriti Sanon. The film follows a small-town journalist (Kartik) and an intern (Kriti) who get into a live-in relationship to try out their compatibility before tying the knot. When asked if he is scared of getting typecast and Kartik said he is "fearless" as he is getting good work. "The film is based in Mathura and I have worked on getting the dialect right. It was new to me, as I have played urban boy roles till now. It was a fun experience. "He is the sweetest character, he is not street smart. I'm from Gwalior and we shot the film there, so it was back to square one for me," he added. Kartik's last release, "Sonu Ke Titu Ki Sweety", entered the Rs 100 crore club and the actor said life has remained the same for him. There is no difference or change in his life post the film's success as the money went to the producer, he quipped. Kriti, who has also been a part of slice-of-life comedies, said she does not want to limit herself to a particular genre. "I think coincidentally we come from doing happy films. I don't think I want to get comfortable in one space. That is not what I am looking at. My next two films are in a happy, comedy space. "For me, it is about following my instincts. I think like an audience while selecting films," she said. Directed by debutante Laxman Utekar, the film also features Pankaj Tripathi, Aparshakti Khurana and Vinay Pathak. Produced by Maddock Films, in association with Jio Studios, the film releases March 1. PTI KKP RDS RDS Mumbai, Jan 24 (PTI) Alexander Dinelaris, the Oscar-winning screenwriter of "Birdman", lamented the treatment meted out to writers in Indian film industry and wondered why they are considered the lower rung on the ladder. Dinelaris is in the city to attend the launch of actor Boman Irani's production banner, Irani MovieTone. He will also conduct a day-long screenwriting workshop for budding writers, directors and students of cinema. "I am unfamiliar (with Indian cinema) and I am just learning. I have seen handful of films and I have seen Boman's work. I am opening myself to find a bridge. Hopefully I will be well versed when we meet next," the writer told reporters Thursday. "My education (on Indian cinema) began with Boman. I did not know who he was and I had not seen his films. And at the same time I had not won anything or was not paid attention to either," he added. The 50-year-old scribe also said that he felt a connection with Irani's script. "We just connected on the story that he was writing. Here, the screenwriters are a little bit in lower packing order. That is just the way it is and I don't know why. I fell in love with his story and we just clicked immediately," Dinelaris said. The duo met when Irani visited New York and they know each other for over six and a half years. PTI KKP RB RDS RDS Mumbai, Jan 24 (PTI) After working in Bollywood for over two decades, Boman Irani is ready to shift gears as the actor now plans to produce and direct films. The 59-year-old actor on Thursday launched his production banner "Irani MovieTone" but he contends that at heart, he still remains an actor. "I will always be an actor. It is just that I have found a new craft, writing. Ever since I was a kid I used to write but was writing badly," Irani told reporters. The actor has invited Alexander Dinelaris, the Oscar-winning screenwriter of Alejandro G Inarritu's "Birdman", for a day-long screenwriting workshop, to be held on Thursday. "Over the years, I decided to learn the craft by reading books and I met Alex in New York. He is like my brother. We discussed my script and he encouraged me. "When I met Alex and his friends, I learnt so much. It is important that we share someone of his craft, intelligence and simplicity here. I am glad he agreed to come here," the actor-turned-producer said. Megastar Amitabh Bachchan flagged off the event. Irani also revealed that he has written a script, which will hopefully go on floors soon. "At the moment, we are putting our name out there. We have Alex to help young writers. The first production hopefully is the one that I have written but if something else comes, then (we'll focus on) that. "The idea is to develop good stories and if they are on the page, we will have good cinema on screen," he said. Irani has frequently collaborated with filmmaker Rajkumar Hirani, having starred in his films like "Munna Bhai" series, "3 Idiots", "PK" and most recently in "Sanju". The actor considers Hirani to be a "great influence" on his growth as an actor. He, however, steered clear of commenting on the allegation of sexual misconduct against Hirani. PTI KKP RB RDS RDS (Eds: Disclaimer: The following press release comes to you under an arrangement with Business Wire India. PTI takes no editorial responsibility for the same.) Mumbai, Maharashtra, India Business Wire India Spearheaded by Members of Council of The Institute of Chartered Accountants of India & CA. Dhiraj Khandelwal, Chairman & CA. Rajesh Sharma, Vice- Chairman Committee for Members in Industry and Business (CMI&B) Shri Vijay Goel ji ( Honourable Union Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs and Statistics and Programme Implementation) marked his presence as the Chief Guest & shared few words of wisdom. He said that chartered accountants has to play a major role in GST and other schemes of the government and helps industry to understand the ease of doing business. In the August Presence of - CA. Naveen N. D. Gupta (President ICAI); CA. Prafulla Chhajed, (Vice-President ICAI) The King of Bollywood Music Mika Singh took over the night with at "12th ICAIS Leaders And Business Excellence Awards" Organised by Committee for Members in Industry and Business "12th ICAIS Leaders And Business Excellence Awards", an annual award ceremony which identifies, recognizes & felicitates leaders who are doing exceptionally well in their functional fields. These awards were instituted in 2007 and since then, the Committee had been successfully organizing it annually and had bestowed these highly revered awards to numerous achievers and had recognized members who have reached outstanding levels of achievements. The awards were distributed in 4 main categories i.e. CA Achiever, CA CFO, CA Business Leaders & CA Innovator under various sub-categories at the glittering gala night. ICAI Awards aims to acknowledge Chartered Accountants in industry who have demonstrated excellence in their working & created value to their company's stakeholders on a sustainable basis. Award recipients were selected based on Nominations, Review of applications by CMI&B Secretariat, Auditors & Screening Committee & Selection of Awardee by high profile independent Jury panel. The Eminent Jury for the year 2019 comprised of : Jury- Chairman: Shri Keki Mistry , Vice Chairman and CEO, HDFC Ltd; Jury- Vice Chairperson : Mrs. Anshula Kant, MD - SARG, Risk & Compliance, State Bank of India ; Shri Motilal Oswal, CMD, Motilal Oswal Group ; Shri K.K. Maheshwari, Managing Director, UltraTech Cement Ltd. ; CA. Nilesh Shah, Managing Director, Kotak Mahindra Asset Management Co. Ltd. ; Shri V S Parthasarathy, Group CFO, Mahindra & Mahindra Limited ; Shri N. V. N. Ramsai, Executive Director - Finance, Indian Oil Corporation Limited ; Shri Sandeep Kumar Sultania, IAS, Secretary to Chief Minister, Govt. of Telangana ; Prof. Atanu Ghosh, Shailesh J. Mehta Institute of Management, IIT Bombay ;Shri Sajid Nadiadwala, Film Producer; CA Vikas Khemani, Founder, Carnelian Capital Advisors LLP ; CA. Pankaj Miglani, CEO, Global Business at Bharti Airtel Limited. CA. Dhiraj Kumar Khandelwal, Chairman, CMI&B, ICAI & CA. Rajesh Sharma, Vice- Chairman Committee for members in Industry and Business (CMI&B) said, "We had an excellent response of nominations which is a testament to the excellent works and outstanding commitments of our members. The Awards appropriately reflect the endless hours members had spent and contributed through immense perseverance, time, energy, innovation and leadership. In total, the office had received more than 245 nominations and finally, 29 Awardees under various categories & sub-categories had been finalised by the Jury." In 2018, the committee launched many platforms in order to explore the credentials of CAs & give them a platform to develop their ideas. Post launching of 24*7 CA Job Portal for world-class Qualified CA community, the Committee had launched a mobile application during the ceremony i.e. ICAI Business Forum to further expand the reach of the appreciated and successful CA Job Portal of ICAI and to enable the user to access portal from their mobile and perform various tasks quickly. In the recent past the committee had organized a START-UP SUMMIT in June, 2018 which was attended by more than 400 participants with an objective to connect the start ups& the investors and with special focus on ideas and startups by CA's, provided a networking platform. The Committee had also launched a 15 sitter INCUBATION CENTRE in July, 2018 and handed over the keys to the Selected Start-ups of the members of the institute & provided them the basic infrastructure facility at Incubation Centre, ICAI Bhawan, BKC, Mumbai About ICAI The Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI) is a statutory body established under the Chartered Accountants Act, 1949 (Act No. XXXVIII of 1949) for the regulation of the profession of Chartered Accountants in India. About CMI&B The prime objective of CMI&B is to encourage and enhance close links between the Institute and the Chartered Accountants in industry & business, so as to provide for them, a base of reference in terms of knowledge, expertise, skills and assistance in individual career growth through the development of an extensive and intensive relationship with organizations. To View the Image Click on the Link Below: (R-L) CA. Sandeep K.C. Jain, CA. Prafulla PremsukhChhajed, CA. Naveen N. D. Gupta, CA. Mukesh Kumar Bohara, Shri Vijay Goel ji, CA. Dhiraj Kumar Khandelwal, CA. Rajesh Sharma, CA. Prakash Sharma PWR PWR Davos, Jan 24 (AFP) Embattled Renault boss Carlos Ghosn has resigned, France's economy minister said Thursday ahead of a board meeting at which the French car maker is to appoint his successors. A senior director from the firm "received last night the letter of resignation from Carlos Ghosn", who remains detained in Japan, Economy and Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire told AFP. The Renault board is to meet Thursday at its headquarters near Paris and is tipped to name interim chief executive Thierry Bollore as CEO and the head of tyre manufacturer Michelin, Jean-Dominique Senard, as chairman. Ghosn, who had held both roles, is expected to stay behind bars for several months after seeing a second bail request denied on Tuesday. He faces three separate charges: two of under-declaring his income by tens of millions of dollars over eight years and another of seeking to shift personal investment losses onto Nissan. (AFP) PMS PMS This Page Is Under Construction - Coming Soon! Why am I seeing this 'Under Construction' page? New Delhi, Jan 24 (PTI) In a significant move, the use of indigenously produced bio-fuel for military aircraft has been cleared after months of exhaustive ground and flight trials, officials said Thursday. The Indian Air Force is expected to use bio fuel for its transport fleet and helicopters following the clearance given by the Centre for Military Airworthiness and Certification (CEMILAC). "The indigenously produced bio-fuel has been finally cleared for use by the premier airworthiness certification agency of the country," a senior defence ministry official said. An IAF official said the approval will enable the force to fulfil its commitment to fly the maiden IAF An-32 aircraft on January 26 with a blend of bio-jet fuel. The clearance is a major step for continued testing and eventual full certification of the bio-jet fuel for use on a commercial scale by civil aircraft, he said. In a meeting on Tuesday, the CEMILAC deliberated in detail the results of various checks and tests conducted on bio-jet fuel as per procedure recommended by top national and international certification agencies, the official said. "On being completely satisfied with the performance parameters, the agency has formally granted its approval for use of this fuel, produced from non-conventional sources such as non-edible vegetable/ tree borne oil to be used on military aircraft," the defence ministry said. The bio-jet fuel has been produced from seeds of Jatropha plant sourced from Chhattisgarh. "Increased demand of bio-jet fuel would give impetus to increase in collection of tree-borne non-edible oil seeds, which, in turn, will help generate ancillary income, increase remuneration for tribal and marginal farmers, and enthuse cultivation/ collection of oilseeds," said the ministry. PTI MPB RT RT Kamdhenu profit up on higher royalty income Kolkata, Jan 24 (PTI) The net profit of TMT bar manufacturer Kamdhenu Ltd for Q3-FY'19 was Rs 5.42 crore, up from Rs 4.12 crore over the corresponding period last year despite lower sales on account of higher royalty income. The company said revenue de-grew by 21 per cent to Rs 242 crore during the quarter under review as compared to Rs 305 crore in Q3-FY'18 on account of reduced B2B trading sales. "In the last few months, we have recouped our business strategy by reducing B2B trading sales and focused on improving efficiencies in own manufacturing and on franchisee based business," Kamdhenu Chairman & Managing Director Satish Kumar Agarwal said. "We are leveraging our strength of asset light business model, strong brand royalty and large distribution and marketing network. This will further lead to increased margins and better efficiencies with higher RoE and RoCE," he said. PTI BSM NN NN Spencers Retail, CESC Ventures to get listed on Friday Kolkata, Jan 24 (PTI) Spencers Retail and CESC Ventures, carved out of R P Sanjiv Goenka Group's flagship CESC Ltd, are getting listed on Friday in both the bourses NSE and BSE, a senior company official said. These two companies are non-power businesses in the power generation and distribution major CESC. "Spencers Retail and CESC Ventures will get listed on January 25 on BSE an NSE," the official said. The West Bengal Electricity Regulatory Commission (WBERC) had sought response from CESC about the demerger and the company recently clarifed that its proposed demerged entities have not received any "benefit" from the parent company. However, the WBERC had not taken any further cognizance in this regard. The three-member WBERC board is now headless without any chairman, and another member who had joined recently will move out soon to take assignment as a high court judge. CESC had taken NCLT approval under the Companies Act for the demerger of all businesses except power. Two fully paid up equity shares of Rs 10 each of CESC Ventures Limited is issued and allotted for every 10 fully paid up equity shares of Re 10 each held in CESC Limited. While, shareholders received six shares of Spencers Retail of facevalue of Rs 5 each under the scheme of arrangement. Spencers will come under retail, while rest of the businesses of CESC except power such as BPO, real estate and FMCG will be under CESC Ventures. CESC's distribution and generation demerger will remain pending until the WBERC gives green nod is available. Spencers Retail and CESC Ventures will be a part of the trade-for-trade segment for 10 trading days. CESC closed at Rs 683, up 0.57 per cent over previous close on NSE. PTI BSM NN NN North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has ordered preparations for a second summit with President Donald Trump, saying he'll "wait with patience and in good faith" to work toward a common goal, the North's state media reported Thursday. Despite Kim's determination for another meeting with Trump, the two remain at odds over fundamental issues. Experts say a major sticking point is what denuclearisation steps Kim should take to move forward stalled nuclear diplomacy and what rewards Trump should provide to push Kim to take those measures. The Korean Central News Agency said Kim received a letter from Trump from a North Korean envoy who met the US president in Washington last week. After meeting with Kim's envoy, top lieutenant Kim Yong Chol, Trump said that he and Kim Jong Un will probably meet around the end of February but did not say exactly when and where the summit would take place. Thursday's report said Kim expressed satisfaction over his envoy's meeting with Trump and spoke highly of the US president for "expressing his unusual determination and will for the settlement of the issue with a great interest in the second summit." "We will wait with patience and in good faith and, together with the US, advance step by step toward the goal to be reached by the two countries," Kim was quoted as saying. Kim also "set forth tasks and orientation for making good technical preparations for the second (North Korea)-US summit high on the agenda," according to KCNA. Nuclear diplomacy has been stuck since Kim and Trump met in Singapore last June for their first summit, which ended with a vague denuclearisation pledge by Kim that his government had previously used when it called for the withdrawal of the 28,500 US troops in South Korea. A summit accord also stated that the United States and North Korea will commit to establishing new relations and join their efforts to build a lasting and stable peace regime on the Korean Peninsula. The strongest step Kim could promise to take for a second summit may be abandoning his long-range missile program targeting the US mainland. That step, if realised, would trigger a strong backlash from many in South Korea and Japan, which are still placed in the striking distance of North Korea's short- and medium-range missiles. In return, Kim is seeking to get UN sanctions on his government lifted and better relations with the United States to try to revive his country's moribund economy to pave the way for a prolonged rule by his family, experts say. North Korea observers say Vietnam is likely a venue for a second summit but there has been no official confirmation. The nuclear diplomacy has replaced fears of war caused by Kim's series of high-profile nuclear and missile tests in 2017 that were followed by his exchanges of crude insults and threats of total destruction with Trump. Kim has so far suspended nuclear and missile tests, dismantled North Korea's nuclear testing site and parts of its rocket engine test facility and took conciliatory measures like releasing American detainees. The North now says it's time for the US to come up with reciprocal measures. But satellite footage indicate North Korea is still running its main nuclear complex, raising a question on why it's producing nuclear materials if it is truly committed to denuclearisation. US officials want North Korea to take more significant steps such as a declared accounting of its nuclear weapons program for future inspections. The North has rejected that, saying such a declaration would be like providing coordinates for US military strikes on its nuclear facilities. Doctors have recommended that Pakistan's former prime minister Nawaz Sharif should be shifted to hospital from jail as he could be best treated there for his heart complications. A four-member (second) special medical board of the Allama Iqbal Medical College/Jinnah Hospital Lahore examined Sharif, 69, in jail recently and recommended that for his "optimal treatment" he should be shifted to hospital. Sharif, who is serving a seven-year imprisonment in Lahore's Kot Lakhpat jail, was rushed to a hospital Tuesday after he complained of heart related complications. He was later discharged from the hospital and taken back to jail following the medical tests. The board also recommended some changes to his medicines to control blood pressure and diabetes besides further tests. "Given uncontrolled BP, stage 3 CKD with estimated GFR of 50 ml/ min, borderline raised troponin T level with significant history of ischemic heart disease and suboptimal care, Nawaz Sharif will benefit from hospitalisation so that optimal management and cardiac assessment can be initiated," the board, comprising AIMC principal Dr Arif Tajammul (chairman), Dr Tanveerul Islam, Dr Aamir Nadeem and Dr Shafiq Cheema, said in its report. It said that Sharif with past medical history of hypertension, T2 diabetes mellitus, ischemic heart disease and CABGH, kidney stone disease complained about post nasal drip, bilateral arm, shoulder pain and some dyspnoea on exertion. "In our assessment, the patient (Sharif) has stage 3 CKD problem, secondary to diabetic nephropathy and HTN, uncontrolled HTN and mild proteinuria, suboptimal T2 diabetes control, metabolic acidosis, post-nasal drip and nasal allergies, fatty liver, nephrolithiasis and benign renal cysts, rule out secondary hyperparathyroidism and bone disease, and underling IHD with recent rise in Trop T level," the report said. On Tuesday, Sharif was taken to the Punjab Institute of Cardiology (PIC) for examination. Doctors there suggested that he required "aggressive medication" and "regular medical follow-ups" to avoid cardiac complications. Before the AIMC board, a special PIC medical board had also examined Sharif last week and said he had vague symptoms of pain in both arms, particularly at night and numbness of toes. Sharif's daughter Maryam Nawaz and his cardiologist Dr Adnan Khan have demanded the PTI government shift him to hospital for better medical care. "Reports show his (Sharif) disease has progressed and is life-threatening. Official reports from PIC still awaited. Have been running pillar to post but to no avail," Maryam tweeted. China's Foreign Ministry said on Thursday that it was not aware about any plans of President Xi Jinping's visit to India in the next two months for the second informal summit with Prime Minister Narendra Modi as reported by a Japanese publication. Japanese publication Nikkei Asian Review on Tuesday carried a report titled "Xi plans India visit, as diplomatic chess with US intensifies". The story said, "Xi intends to visit India as early as February in a move seen at countering Washington's increasingly antagonistic trade policy and aggressive Indo-Pacific diplomacy." When asked about the report, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying said, "You said this was reported by Japanese media. So it is quite interesting. I am not aware of what you said." Hua said China and India are friendly neighbours. "We attach importance to maintain high level exchanges. And the leader of the both the countries also maintain friendly communication and exchange," she said. When pointed out that the Russian media also carried a similar report, Hua said, "Chinese media hasn't reported it and I am not aware of the information you mentioned". "But we attach importance to our relations with India and we stand to maintain close communication at various levels," she said. Officials sources on Wednesday said that there was no proposal for Xi to visit India for the second informal summit Prime Minister Modi. Wuhan summit was the first such high-level meeting ever between Indian and Chinese leaders. It was conceived by both the sides following the 2017 military standoff at Doklam which ratcheted up tensions between the two countries. The two-day summit at Wuhan during which the two leaders closely interacted for hours on bilateral and international issues has paved the way for the two countries to normalise relations on all fronts putting behind the Doklam standoff. Since then the two countries steadily normalised relations with intensified dialogue on various fronts, including the military and trade fronts. Commerce Secretary Anup Wadhawan has concluded his two-day visit to China on Tuesday after talks with Chinese Vice Minister of Commerce Wang Shouwen and Zhang Jiwen, Chinese Vice Minister of General Administration of Customs of China (GACC), to enhance Indian exports to China to reduce the trade deficit of over $57 billion. China on Thursday issued a comprehensive plan to establish a long-term mechanism for the conservation of the Great Wall, official media reported. The plan was jointly publicised by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism and the State Administration of Cultural Heritage (SACH), state-run Xinhua news agency reported. Built from the third century BC to the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644), the Great Wall stretches over 21,000-kms. There are currently 43,000 sites on the Great Wall and include 10,000 wall sections, 1,700 trench/moat sections, 30,000 examples of architecture as well as 2,200 passes and fortresses, according to the conservation plan. The sites of the Great Wall cover 404 counties over 15 provincial-level regions in China. An official said there was a need to strengthen government's role in protecting the Great Wall. "The government's role in protecting the Great Wall should be strengthened," Liu Yuzhu, head of SACH, was quoted as saying in the report. "Sections of the Great Wall built during the Qin (221 BC to 206 BC), Han (202 BC to 220 AD) and Ming (1368 AD to 1644 AD) dynasties were the key areas to be conserved," Liu said. He also urged individuals and relevant social organisations to provide not-for-provide service for the Great Wall. The Great Wall was listed as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1987. Over four million tourists visit the Great Wall every year as it is the centre of China's tourism campaign. Priyanka Gandhi Vadras seemingly sudden appointment as general secretary in-charge of eastern Uttar Pradesh, a few months ahead of the general elections, has surprised many and buoyed up the Congress rank and file. Some say her striking resemblance to former prime minister Indira Gandhi could bring back into the fold traditionalist Congress supporters who want the 'restoration' of the older days of the party's popularity to take on the mighty Narendra Modi-led BJP. Union Minister of Minority Affairs Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi said Priyankas induction is not a cause for concern for the BJP. Naqvi said to THE WEEK, It [Priyanka's induction] should worry the Samajwadi Party and the Bahujan Samaj Party, who are now in an alliance, not us. Our position in Uttar Pradesh is intact. Even the Congress leaders know the kind of progress the country is making under Narendra Modi and the popularity he enjoys, not just in Uttar Pradesh, but all over the country. He said a proclamation like this is only to seek attention. One thing is clear with this development: The leaders of the Congress are confused. They dont know which top leader of theirs is more capable, said Naqvi. Priyankas formal induction into the Congress will see her in a direct contest with Modi, who represents Varanasi in eastern Uttar Pradesh, and Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, who represents Gorakhpur, which is located in the same region. Modi was quick to comment on the induction of Priyanka. Addressing BJP workers in Maharashtras Baramati, Modi said, For some people, family is the party. For the BJP, party is family. The BJP doesnt care much about Priyankas formal entry into the Congress, Krishna Raj, Union Minister and Lok Sabha MP from Uttar Pradesh, told THE WEEK. The popularity of Modi in Uttar Pradesh is for all to see. I am camping in the state now, and I can see the admiration and love that people have for our beloved prime minister. Let her [Priyanka] be given any post, or not be given any post; it will not make any difference to the BJP in Uttar Pradesh, said Raj. Former Union defence minister and senior Congress leader A.K. Antony said to THE WEEK that Priyankas elevation will give a big boost to the Congress ahead of the elections. She will be able to galvanise the party cadre all over the country. This decision to bring her officially to the party will help us a lot, said Antony. After her marriage to businessman Robert Vadra in 1998, Priyanka, 47, limited her political activities to the family strongholds of Amethi and Raebareli in Uttar Pradesh. All these years, Priyanka was apparently sceptical of taking the limelight away from her brother, Congress president Rahul Gandhi. The decision to elevate Priyanka was met with jubilation by Congress workers across Uttar Pradesh. In Raebareli, they burst crackers to celebrate the decision. Surya Pratap Shahi, Uttar Pradesh Agriculture Minister, said Priyankas elevation will have no bearing on the state unit of the BJP. The BJP will perform well in the general elections. In UP, we will get as many seats as we can. In such a scenario, it is the SP and the BSP that has to worry, as their percentage of votes will come down, Shahi said to THE WEEK. However, Vishambhar Prasad Nishad, Rajya Sabha MP of the Samajwadi Party, said Shahi was wrong. It is a strategy on their part when they say our votes will come down after Priyankas elevation. The BJP was already suffering in UP. With Priyankas elevation, there will be further reduction in the BJPs vote share, Nishad said to THE WEEK. Congress leaders say that Priyanka is more hardworking and eloquent than Rahul. She speaks Hindi better than Rahul. Priyanka is known to work tirelessly and is a go-getter. She sets herself and the party workers regular targets and makes sure they deliver, said a Congress leader. After the BJPs Sanjay Singh defeated Congresss Satish Sharma in Amethi in 1998, it was Priyankas resoluteness and goal setting that led to Sonia Gandhi defeating the BJP candidate by a margin of more than 3 lakh votes in the general elections of 1999. Sushmita Dev, Congress MP and president of All India Mahila Congress, said Rahul has a long-term plan for Uttar Pradesh and Priyankas elevation was part of that plan. Personally, I am very happy. Apart from Ambika Soni and I, there were no women general secretaries in the Congress. Now, we have one more, Dev told THE WEEK. Our opposition has constantly pitched Rahul against Priyanka. Now, with this decision, Rahul has demolished that narrative. The land-grabbing and money laundering cases against Priyankas husband Robert Vadra is seen as a stumbling block for the Gandhi family in general, and Priyanka in particular. In 2015, the Enforcement Directorate registered a case against Vadra under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act. The Rajasthan High Court on January 21 asked Vadra and his partners to appear before the ED on February 12. Dev said this will have no bearing on Priyanka. Priyanka is a bold and confident woman. Our opposition is hallucinating if they think they can hold back Priyanka with this issue, she said. It was Congress president Rahul Gandhi who insisted his sister, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, should enter active politics. Though their mother, former Congress chief Sonia Gandhi, initially disagreed, she finally gave in to his decision. Priyanka's entry was confirmed after Rahuls request to have his sister by his side in the crucial state of Uttar Pradesh was gladly accepted by her. Priyanka, who inherited the charisma of her grandmother and former prime minister Indira Gandhi, was actively involved in key decision making in the Congress. She had played a pivotal role in breaking the deadlock over the selection of chief ministers for Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh recently. Another mission for Priyanka who will be in-charge in Uttar Pradesh will be to bring her cousin Varun Gandhi, who is BJP Sultanpur MP, to the Congress fold. Varun has appeared to be unhappy with the saffron party. Rahul had suggested to senior leaders that the Congress needed a better game plan in Uttar Pradesh after the SP and BSP joined hands. The matter was discussed in the core committee meeting held in New Delhi on January 13. Rahul announced the decision after considering the core committees opinionappoint Priyanka in a top post and send her to Uttar Pradesh. Sonia initially opposed the idea, unhappy with the idea of having both her children in active politics. Rahul said Priyankas presence will help the Congress much in a state where losing will have a huge impact in the crucial Lok Sabha polls. It will be difficult to focus on all states alone. Priyanka can carry the big burden in Uttar Pradesh, he insisted. Sonia finally agreed. Going for Varun Priyanka will also try to get Varun Gandhi, her cousin, to join the Congress, said party sources. Varun's presence will boost chances of the Congress in Uttar Pradesh. Though Varun's mother Maneka Gandhi is not in favour of it, Varun might consider switching allegiance from the BJP to Congress, sources close to the latter said. Priyanka can play a big role in persuading him. Scindia rises Jyotiraditya Scindia was promised a senior post after he agreed to let Kamal Nath become chief minister in Madhya Pradesh. Rahul and Priyanka kept the promise by elevating the young leader to AICC general secretary. -Via onmanorama Renew Europe's Historic Legend with Parthenon's pure white marble at the eve of crucial 2009 EU Elections, was the ambition of an interesting Art Exhibition, with more topical Symbols than expected, organized by EU Parliament's 1st vice-President Rodi Kratsa-Tsagaropoulou and MEP Marie Panayotopoulos- Cassiotou, Chair of the Inter-group on Family policy, during March A session in Strasbourg. According to the Ancient Legend, God Zeus, charmed by young Girl Europe, was trasformed into a strong Bull with Wings, and when she tamed him with Human affection, they flew over the Sea to live together in a New Land with large, fertile landscapes. - "There, they saw the Continent with a "Large Front" ("Eureia -opse" in Greek => Eur-opse => Europe)", reminded the Sculptor, Mary Papaconstantinou, of the European Women Association, honored by awards in Paris, Athens and Strasbourg. Thus, Europe's Legend combines Symbols of Energy and Strength, with caring Human personality, to bring towards New, large Horizons : - "Modern Art for this Ancient Greek Legend here in Strasbourg reminds that Europe, placing Human dignity at its heart, always finds the strength to overcome any Crisis towards New achievements. And EU Parliament offers Citizens a chance to artfully interact", said MEP Panayotopoulos-Cassiotou. Structured like some Rembrand's pictural sequences, Europe's sculptural exhibition forms a series of many statutes, sized and flat as a PC screen, representing many scenes inspired from the original Legend, "according to Moschos' text, a Writer of the 2nd century B.C.", said Sculptor Mary to "EuroFora".Made by sparkling pure white Marble full of Symbols, they incite to think but also to act, as in front of a Book with half of its pages full of written text, but another half, free to write on white paper..While several EU politicians think that one of the most important characteristics of the 2009 EU Elections is that from their outcome may depend Europe's Identity and Future, Culture Minister of Greece, Antonis Samaras (a former MEP) send the message that, precisely, such modern Art linked to Historic legends may help "EU Citizens search the origins of Europe's Identity".- "The Legend says that they founded a New City, Thebes, and that reminds us that Europe is always a project of Invention and Creation", added EU Parliament's vice-President, Rodi Kratsa - Tsagaropoulou.Sculptor Mary Papaconstantinou said that she "tried for years to find the same White Marble from Penteli Mountain that was used by Praxitelis and all those who created Parthenon", symbol of Democracy and one of the 7 wonders of the World.- "By shaping this millenary Greek Marble to revive Europe's Ancien Legend with Modern Art, it reminds that Europe is a Hope for a better Future after Crisis, combining Energy for Development, with care for the Human person", said the sculptor's compatriot from Chios island, famous from French artist Delacroix's historic painting, MEP Panayotopoulos - Cassiotou.She now lives with her Family close to Rhine river, at EU's heart, near Bonn, where had started to work for the first time on European issues the new EU Parliament's Secretary General, Klaus Welle :By a symbolic coincidence, Europe's legend built anew with Parthenon's marble, marked for ever the beginning of young and energetic Welle's duties as new head of EU Parliament's administration, since he saluted the retiring, out-going S.G., the experienced Harold Rohmer, shortly afterwards, at another gathering on the same floor of Louise Weiss' superb building in Strasbourg...Organisers of both events said that it was a pure coincidence. People are free to believe them, or hope otherwise...**********************Rarely united together, but posing for "EuroFora" with the statute of Europe and Zeus flying over the Sea, ChristianDemocrat/EPP's MEP Yannis Kasulides, a frontrunner Presidential candidate in 2008, former Foreign Minister and Government Spokesman, and EuroLeft's MEP Kyriakos Triantafylides, Chairman of EU - Palestinian Council delegation, from the governing party AKEL (new Left) of the elected President, disagree on almost everything, except from their common claim that Europe of the Ancient Legend, when she flew with God Zeus from Ancient Phynecia to the West, must have crossed the island of Cyprus !Hard to prove the contrary, 3.000 years later... The Indian Navy on Thursday managed to bring out the body of one of the 15 miners who had been trapped in a mine. The body was spotted last week by the team conducting the rescue operations. But it had disintegrated and slipped to the bottom of the main shaft as the Navy tried to pull it out of the flooded mine. According to initial reports, on Thursday the body was retrieved from a depth of 100 feet in the mine. The Navy personnel are trying their best to locate the remains with their unmanned Remotely Operated Vehicle (ROV), an official said. Navy divers detected the body using an ROV at a depth of around 160 feet inside the main shaft on Wednesday last. They resumed efforts to pull out the body on Tuesday on the advice of the district administration. The remains of the miner slipped away from the jaw of the ROV while attempting to pull it out of the bottom of the main shaft of the coal mine last evening, operations spokesperson R. Susngi said. It happened due to presence of pipes, cables and debris in the main shaft, he said. The Indian Navy resumed the search on Wednesday and its efforts to locate the remains have not been successful so far, he added. The operation to rescue the miners entered the 42nd day on Wednesday. In the past 24 hours, teams of pump operators from Coal India Ltd, Odhisa Fire Service and Kirloskar Brothers Ltd have discharged over 81 lakh litres of water from the nearby abandoned mines. Family members of the trapped miners have been waiting anxiously for news of their loved ones and are visiting the site regularly and they are regularly updated on the progress, Susngi said. The 15 miners disappeared inside the mine on December 13 last year. According to five miners who had a narrow escape, one of the workers could have accidentally punctured the walls of possibly another nearby abandoned and flooded mine. The state government has announced Rs 1 lakh interim relief for families of all the trapped miners and the Supreme Court is monitoring the case on a weekly basis. The next hearing is scheduled for Monday. (With PTI inputs) He will next be seen in The Big Bull Tamil actor Simbu has raked yet another controversy after he recently urged his fans to conduct 'paal abhishekam'pour milk on his cut-outsahead of the release of his film Vandha Rajavathaan Varuven. In response, the Tamil Nadu Milk Dealers Welfare Association has sought a permanent ban on the practice of milk baths during the release of superstars' films. The practice, a common sight in Tamil Nadu, involves fans bathing in milk huge cut-outs of their favourite actors. Recently, five people were reportedly injured in Tamil Nadu after a huge cut-out of actor Ajith collapsed during the milk bath, ahead of the release of his film Viswasam. Milk dealers have approached police against widespread theft of milk packets ahead of the release of films of superstars. They have demanded a permanent ban on milk baths on cut-outs, prevention of wastage of tonnes of milk and have also sought protection before the first day first show of superstar films. With Simbu making a public call to his fans to conduct 'paal abhishekam', milk dealers are also worried if this will aggravate such actions by fans of other actors in Tamil Nadu where fan culture often takes a violent turn with factions clashing before major releases. Amazon has introduced electric-powered robots named 'Scout' to deliver packages to customers in a neighbourhood in Seattle. Amazon is the latest entrant in the market for autonomous delivery to customers without a human driver. The wheeled delivery vehicles guide themselves along the pavement at a walking pace. We developed Amazon Scout at our research and development lab in Seattle, ensuring the devices can safely and efficiently navigate around pets, pedestrians and anything else in their path, said Sean Scott, the vice president heading the project, on social media. The Scout has been introduced in Snohomish County in Seattle. Scott described the Scout at being the size of a small cooler and said that six of them were being used to deliver packages to Amazon customers. Customers in Snohomish County order just as they normally would and their Amazon packages will be delivered either by one of our trusted partner carriers or by Amazon Scout, Scott said. Amazon said that the Scout robots would only during daylight hours Mondays through Fridays, making deliveries automatically, but accompanied by its employees. Based on the success of this experiment, Amazon will determine if the project should be expanded. Chinese e-commerce company JD.com uses delivery robots as does Starship Technologies, based in Estonia. The latter has tested operation in Washington, and another startup, KiwiBot, handles deliveries to US university students. With inputs from agencies The Estherville Lincoln Central School Board gave its approval for the Regional Wellness Center Board to move forward with plans to construct a splash pad next to the RWC this year. RWC Director Bob Grems said the RWC Board has wanted to install a splash pad for several years. A packet of information on the splash pad and playground was presented to the school board on Monday. The 5,000-square-foot pad and playground area will feature the following: n 40 spray features n Playground equipment n Limestone boulders for surround seating n Picnic tables n Benches n Sidewalks leading to the pad and playground n Handicap accessible The Project is estimated to cost $525,00. A fundraising campaign will begin next month and continue through May. Grems said $50,000 already has been raised and committed to the project. Since fundraising and construction will take place simultaneously, the RWC will use its funds to pay for the project with the fundraising replacing the money in the RWC budget. The splash pad was designed by Commercial Recreation Specialists of Minneapolis and will be built by local contractors. Grems says the current plan calls for the splash pad to open by early June. It will be an unstructured play area for people to meet and play. The splashpad will probably open around 10-11 in the morning and close around 7-8 p.m., Grems said. You dont need an RWC membership to use it. The playground portion will always be open to the public. Grems said the splashpad will be available both in May and September and for use by school groups or after-school groups. No staffing is needed for the splashpad area. Grems said RWC personnel will be responsible for changing out the filters. Public hearing set for Roosevelt South demo In other business, the school board set 5:10 p.m., Monday, Feb. 10 as a public hearing for the demolition of the south portion of the Roosevelt School. The UN Women,grounded in the vision of equality enshrined in the Charter of the United Nations,works for the elimination of discrimination against women and girls; theempowerment of women; and the achievement of equality between women and men aspartners and beneficiaries of development, human rights, humanitarian actionand peace and security. Placing womens rights at the centre of all itsefforts, the UN Women leads and coordinates the United Nations system-wideefforts to ensure that commitments on gender equality and gender mainstreamingtranslate into action. It provides strong and coherent leadership and technicaladvice in support of Member States priorities and efforts, building effectivepartnerships with civil society and other relevant actors. The Associate WASH Officer will beresponsible for provision of professional technical support and guidance onactivities within the areas of Water, Sanitation & Hygiene (WASH) in thelocations in the Areas of Responsibility (AOR). Furthermore, the incumbent willcontribute to formulation of appropriate project proposals and assistanceactivities that should be incorporated into the relevant operation programmesof UNHCR. The WASH Officer is normally supervised by Programme Officer and willreceive the technical backup and support from the Senior WASH Officer in BranchOffice- Kampala In order to ensure wider reach out to the refugees and otherpersons of concern and ensure their close involvement in the delivery andmanagement of the Water, Sanitation & Hygiene (WASH) services, theincumbent will need to establish an appropriate consultative and monitoringframework which would draw the experience and expertise of a wide range ofactors both internally and externally. The Training and Operational IntegrityManager will be responsible for the management of the staff training programincluding developing and presenting training materials to prepare the staff toperform the vehicle inspection activities. He/she shall prepare the trainingMaterials to train the staff to perform the vehicle inspection activities andshall organize and perform continuous training of the operational staff. He/sheshall work in close cooperation with other SGS affiliates where VIS isperformed in order to get support for training activities for vehicleinspectors and administrative staff. He/she also shall be responsible fororganizing, implementing and maintaining the Operational Integrity ManagementSystem (OIMS) including the establishment, maintenance and continualimprovement of the management system based on ISO9001, ISO14001 and OHSAS 18001accreditation and certifications through interactive implementation of QualityManagement and Health, Safety and Environment (HSE) systems in line with theglobal Operational Integrity policies and procedures. (NGO) whichspecialises in the rescue, rehabilitation, reconciliation, resettlement andfollow-up of children living on the streets. The overall objective of DP is tohave a society where every child has a chest to rest their head on and a placeto call home. Issuingreceipts to customers for the cash collected from them and maintaining aduplicate copy of the same for future reference. The Assistant Civil Engineer will assist inthe management of activities pertaining to the acquisition and management ofadministrative (office) premises in all UNHCR operations. She/he is responsibleto maintain up to date data in premises database by means of collecting,recording and analysing data. The incumbent will assist in the provision oftechnical and specialized guidance and support to the implementation of civilengineering activities of UNHCR operations in accordance with the prevailingrules and regulations. Furthermore, the incumbent contributes with technicalinputs to the development, updating and dissemination of technical guidancedocuments. Finally, the incumbent is responsible to maintain hard and soft copyof project and technical documentation and will have contacts with UNHCR staff,technical counterparts in other UN agencies, commercial service providers, etc.on relevant subject matters in close coordination with the direct supervisor. The Chief Finance & Operations Officerwill head our team in northern Uganda, where we work currently in two districts(Kaabong and Kotido) with imminent expansion to Amudat and Moroto, inpartnership with Mercy Corps under the USAID-funded program APULOU. Other Whaveoperations in the area are included in the scope of work, as and when they aredeveloped (none currently). Mercy Corps is anInternational NGO that exists to alleviate poverty and oppression by helpingpeople build secure, productive and just communities. Mercy Corps has beenfully registered in Uganda as an operational NGO. Currently Mercy Corps has anoffice in Kampala and is implementing Food Security programs which comprise ofWater and Sanitation, Livelihood and Agriculture and Conflict MitigationManagement Program in North and North Eastern Uganda. We implement programs inthe northern districts of Pader, Kitgum, Agago, Lamwo, Kaabong, Abim and Kotidowith funding from USAID, USDA, Walmart Foundation, SDC, DFID as well as otherprivate donations. Hevern gives economic development update By Amy H. Peterson Staff Writer Lyle Hevern, Estherville and Emmet County economic development director, gave an update on economic growth and opportunity in the community at Mondays city council meeting. Hevern said a local business was exploring retail opportunities in Estherville for an expanded business. The city is working with a housing consultant, Hevern said. The focus is on second floor downtown loft apartments and the addition of multi-unit housing downtown and at Meadows Subdivision on the citys north side. The consultant is going to help us figure out a plan for the second floor apartments, Hevern said. Hevern said the Estherville Area Growth Partnership was exploring a program for enhancing and replacing second story windows on downtown buildings in the near future. In April, 2018, Estherville was named one of 62 finalists in Iowa for an Opportunity Zones grant, a new economic development program administered by the U.S. Dept of the Treasury. Hevern said at the time, It will help our potential for having another source of funding for good jobs with existing or new businesses in existing or new buildings. More new, good jobs will put pressure on our housing situation, which we have also included in our application. Esthervilles Opportunity Zone includes all of the area east of Highway 4 within the Estherville city limits. Hevern said he viewed a webinar on the Opportunity Zone program. Individuals with unrealized capital gains will be able to invest in businesses and properties located in the Opportunity Zone. Hevern said the Iowa Lakes Electric Coop and Iowa Area Development Group visited with an aquaculture company, presenting Estherville as a potential site. Local investor Jeff Robinson reports the U.S. Dept. of Defense tech manufacturing project slated for Esthervilles industrial park is still alive. The U.S. government shutdown as well as the departure of former Secretary of Defense Mattis have been part of recent delays. Hevern said there are several more steps before the project is done, but Estherville is still the first of these projects located in rural areas. Hevern said a North Dakota financial software company is seeking to launch a new product from Studio 12. The wind farm, under development by Tradewinds Energy and brought to town by local investor Alan Blum will start its permitting process this year. There is not yet a timetable for construction, and the delay continues to involve the transmitters. The new emergency room at Avera Holy Family Hospital will be operational in the very near future, Hevern said. Hevern added that out of town business people are impressed, think the changes and growth in Estherville is wonderful, and more people from the area are talking about the positive things happening in the community. Hevern addressed the soon-to-be-vacated property now housing the Shopko store. The incentives that brought Shopko to Estherville included a $100,000 forgiveable loan. The EAPG billed Shopko for the balance remaining on that loan. The incentives also included $400,000 paid over five years, conditional on certain requirements being met. Two payments totaling $80,000 were made and the rest have been canceled. So we go about the process of identifying someone to go into the building. Its challenging: not many chain stores looking for space to go into, and not many mom and pop stores can use that much space, Hevern said. Council member Brandon Carlin told Hevern, Keep knocking them down. You filled the Pamida building, redeveloped the Penneys building. Well keep moving forward. City administrator Penny Clayton said, There are far too many positive things happening in Estherville to let this situation drag us down. London, KY (40741) Today A mix of clouds and sun early followed by cloudy skies this afternoon. Slight chance of a rain shower. High 88F. Winds SW at 10 to 15 mph.. Tonight Cloudy early with some clearing expected late. Low 64F. Winds SSW at 5 to 10 mph. ALTON Nominations are now open for the YWCA of Alton Women of Distinction Academy, a program that recognizes women for exceptional achievements, personal excellence and outstanding actions in the community. Honorees will be recognized during a celebration dinner on Thursday, May 2, in The Commons at Lewis and Clark Community College. The Women of Distinction celebration is largest, most visible and important tribute in the Riverbend area to professional women leaders. Family, friends and colleagues are invited to celebrate this achievement as well. At the dinner, honorees become part of the YWCA of Altons WOD Academy, committed to the YWCAs mission to empower women and eliminate racism. Tamika Capone thought she was making a smart call by traveling to Mexico for bariatric surgery. Her doctor had urged her to have the procedure to reduce her out-of-control weight and blood pressure. But her husband's health insurance would not cover the $17,500 bill. After a friend got the surgery in Tijuana for $4,000, Capone decided to do the same. Nearly four months later, the Arkansas woman is one of at least a dozen U.S. residents who returned from surgeries in Tijuana with a rare and potentially deadly strain of bacteria resistant to virtually all antibiotics, say federal health officials. Some in the group recovered, but Capone, 40, remains seriously ill despite being treated witha barrage of drugs. More for you News Urgent care clinics are prescribing too many unnecessary... If the bacteria spreads to her bloodstream, doctors say it could be fatal. "I've not yet had a patient with zero options, but this is as close as I've had," said Ryan Dare, an infectious disease doctor at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences College of Medicine in Little Rock who is treating her. The Tijuana outbreak, which includes one death, prompted the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to issue an unusual warning this month, urging travelers to avoid surgery at Grand View hospital linked to eight of the infections until Mexican authorities confirm its safety. Hospital officials did not return calls seeking comment. Nor did the medical tourism agency, Weight Loss Agents, which books procedures there and at other hospitals. A woman who answered the weight loss agent's telephone blamed reports of infections on "a competitor's smear campaign." She declined to give her name. Mexican authorities said they temporarily closed the hospital's operating unit in December, but the facility has since reopened and resumed surgeries, according to patients posting on its website. The Tijuana cases highlight the growing number of Americans getting antibiotic-resistant infections overseas after traveling to get medical care abroad. Some who were not traveling for medical procedures but fell ill and went to foreign hospitals have also contracted such infections. Officials say they are anxious to prevent such pathogens from gaining a foothold in the United States because they are so difficult to treat. "We pounce when we see them [extremely antibiotic-resistant infections] because we know they can smolder and spread," said Maroya Spalding Walters, an epidemiologist leading the CDC team investigating the outbreak. "And no one may recognize it until this becomes an out-of-control wildfire." According to Patients Beyond Borders, a medical tourism guidebook, 1.7 million Americans traveled to other countries in 2017 for medical care, and that number is expected to increase. Many like Capone travel to save money. Mexico is among the top 10 destinations. Weight-loss surgery, in vitro fertility procedures and cosmetic surgery are among the most sought treatments generally, according to the Medical Tourism Association, a U.S.-based organization whose members include hospitals, clinicians and insurance companies. There is little data about infectious diseases related to medical tourism. But the CDC has documented several outbreaks, including severe skin infections among dozens of patients who had cosmetic surgery in theDominican Republic in 2013 and 2017. Several of the infections were drug-resistant. In 2014, five New York residents contracted Q fever, a flulike illness caused by a bacteria found in goats, sheep and cows, after getting injections of fetal sheep cells in Germany. The World Health Organization considers the superbug that infects Capone - carbapenem-resistant Pseudomonas aeruginosa - one of its three highest priorities for new antibiotics. The organism packs "a double whammy," Walters said, because it has a genetic mutation that allows it to transmit its antibiotic-destroying gene to other bacteria to make them resistant as well. People can carry the pathogens in their bodies and not become infected themselves. In hospitals, where the most serious infections occur, the germ can spread on the hands of health-care workers or equipment that gets contaminated and is not properly cleaned. There have been only 86 cases of the strain reported in the United States through 2017, officials said. Half of the 12 people who came back from Tijuana with confirmed cases were hospitalizedonce they returned home to Arkansas, Arizona, Oregon, Utah, Texas, Washington and West Virginia, according to CDC officials. Most people had weight-loss surgery. Eight had had surgery at Grand View Hospital. The remainder had surgery at other Tijuana clinics the CDC did not identify. The CDC is investigating two additional cases. Most of the patients were women in their 30s and 40s and had surgeries between August and December, the officials said. Many describe devastating experiences for themselves and their families. An unidentified Oregon man died in November, according to state and federal health officials. They say they do not know whether the infection caused his death because he had other health problems. Even patients who were infected with a less resistant strain of Pseudomonas describe devastating experiences. Mindy Blohm, 45, of Riverton, Utah, said she and her husband were forced to sell their home to pay over $50,000 in hospital bills for treatment of her infection, a less resistant Pseudomonas, after her weight-loss surgery at Grand View on Oct. 31. Her wound finally healed last week, she said. Capone, whose weight-loss surgery to reduce her stomach by about 80 percent was on Oct. 8, said she is still ill. Doctors had urged her to have the procedure because at 5 foot 7 inches, she weighed 291 pounds. Her blood pressure "was getting way out of control," she said. Three days after the procedure at Grand View, as she waited in the San Diego airport for her return flight, she said her main incision started to leak. Back home in Jonesboro, she got worse. Over the next few weeks, she said she was hospitalized twice and developed an abscess that doctors had to cut open and drain. By then, tests showed she had no ordinary infection. The Arkansas health department told Capone it was the first time they had seen this organism. "They were worried about other people catching it, especially other medical staff," Capone recalled. "They told me if I see any doctor, I have to inform them." CDC's Antimicrobial Resistance Laboratory Network knew of three other patients with the same infection. But there was no discernible pattern until Capone's was reported in mid-November - it was the second linked to Grand View Hospital. "That was really the 'aha' moment," said Walters, the epidemiologist. Within days, the agency alerted state health departments about the superbug and urged them to test antibiotic-resistant organisms in people who had traveled to Mexico for invasive procedures. Capone's condition, meanwhile, grew worse. In mid-December, she was referred to Dare, the Little Rock specialist. He said her only option was colistin, an antibiotic discovered in the late 1940s that is seldom used because it causes kidney and nerve damage. But the drug has resurfaced as a last-line treatment for multidrug-resistant organisms. On her second day on the antibiotic, Capone's lips swelled. Her tongue and face went numb. "I got to the point where I could barely talk," she said. She had to stop treatment. Now she has a hole in her stomach that requires daily cleaning. Capone wears gloves to clean her wound, then throws her used bandages in the trash outside. Her husband and teenage daughter are not at risk, nor is the general public; the bacteria does not spread in the air. She has incurred more than $30,000 in medical bills related to her infection. "The wound has not healed, and it hurts a lot," Capone said. "They told me they've done all they could do." She has tried to warn others about her experience on a Facebook page established for bariatric patients of Grand View, but she said her posts have been quickly taken down. A few days ago, she received even more worrisome news. Arkansas and other state health officials are contacting Capone and other infected patients to tell them they may be at risk for diseases that can be transmitted by blood or other bodily fluids, such as HIV, hepatitis B and hepatitis C, because equipment in Tijuana may not have been properly sterilized. Officials are urging patients to talk to their clinicians about additional screening or testing. "I'm at a breaking point," Capone said. "I'm so scared. I don't want to lose my life for this. I don't want to have my family suffer because I chose to go to Mexico." - - - The Washington Post's Alice Crites and Andrea Morales contributed to this report. EDWARDSVILLE The Southern Illinois University Edwardsville Interdisciplinary Research and Informatics Scholarship (IRIS) Center is advancing its work in a new location on the second floor of Peck Hall (room 2226). The Center specializes in helping students, faculty and community partners with digital humanities and social sciences projects and initiatives. Its new space is double the size of its former home, providing a better platform for collaboration and allowing more people to access its resources and equipment. The IRIS Center is now hosting more collaborative projects, and groups are working comfortably simultaneously, said IRIS Center Co-Director Jessica Despain, PhD, associate professor in the College of Arts and Sciences Department of English Language and Literature. Additionally, weve been able to spread out our equipment to create a layout in which each workstation is specialized to certain types of digital scholarship. According to Despain, the IRIS Center offers a variety of formal and informal learning and teaching opportunities, and creates an environment in which students are invited to tinker and try out new things without a fear of failing through activities or by providing research/project support outside of class. Software and equipment in the IRIS Center supports the digitization of books, photographs, documents, VHS tapes and audio cassette tapes. Documents can be made text searchable using OCR (Optical Character Recognition) software, and Adobe Creative Suite is available for photo and video editing. Select portable equipment is also available via iris.siue.edu/resources. IRIS Center Project Manager Katie Knowles and Technician Ben Ostermeier lead a variety of activities each semester, including workshops on various digital humanities tools and methods. The Center also hosts classes, and offers introductory sessions to the space and its mission. In terms of scholarly activity, added co-director Kristine Hildebrandt, PhD, associate professor in the Department of English Language and Literature, weve developed an intake process in which we help students, staff and faculty consider the elements it takes to create a digital project. Our team helps them determine platforms, budgets and staffing, as well as how to identify potential collaborators. Additionally, we offer assistance with grant writing, and if written into the grant, IRIS staff provide tech support throughout the course of the project. The IRIS Center not only collaborates with individuals and groups on campus, but also with community partners. Recent partnerships have included the Mannie Jackson Center for the Humanities, the Madison County Regional Office of Education, the Illinois Humanities Council, and a variety of local teachers and K-12 students. Other features of the IRIS Centers new location include a card reader that allows visitors to access the space after hours, as well as a digital monitor outside the Center that advertises the space, its offerings and associated projects. IRIS Center office hours are from 9-10 a.m. on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Campus and general community members are invited to schedule a time to visit the IRIS Centers new space and explore its resources. To learn more or schedule a tour, contact the IRIS Center at 618-650-2667 or visit iris.siue.edu. EDWARDSVILLE Each week on Segue, Southern Illinois University Edwardsvilles premier radio show discusses the issues and ideas on the SIUE campus and in its College of Arts and Sciences (CAS). On this weeks episode, co-host Greg Budzban, PhD, CAS dean, welcomes Jennifer Rehg, PhD, associate dean of instruction, faculty development and academic programs. This episode will air at 9 a.m. on Sunday, Jan. 27, on WSIE 88.7 The Sound and siue.edu/wsie. It is great to have you on the show, Budzban mentions. Youve been serving in your role for about six months now, but before we dive too deeply into that, I would like to hear about your background, what brought you to SIUE, and the work you have done in your particular discipline. I often joke that the Midwest is sort of like a black holeA good black hole! Rehg mentions. I was born in St. Louis and grew up in the south, but came back to pursue my undergraduate degree in anthropology at Washington University. I received both my masters and doctorate at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. When I was finishing my dissertation research, I had the opportunity to teach as a lecturer, as call-staff, in SIUEs anthropology department. I loved it. Serendipity benefited me and there was a tenure-track job that was coming available at the time. I applied for the job, began teaching full-time in 2004 and have been here ever since. Now a tenured faculty member, Rehg became chair of the Department of Anthropology in 2012 and was re-elected in 2015. In 2017, she was selected by Budzban for the position as associate dean for instruction, faculty development and academic programs. She assumed the position in 2018. Last year, you began your transition into the position working with Wendy Shaw, the previous associate dean, Budzban mentions. I asked you to begin thinking about how we could update the strategic plan for the College. It had been as far as 2010 when the old strategic plan had been written, and it needed updating. You took on that task, and I want to thank you for that! Pulling that together seemed like an interesting task that you embraced. Talk about how that happened. Strategic plans can be dynamic, useful products if they are fully developed and skillfully utilized, Rehg says. What I appreciated with this project was getting the opportunity to see where the College of Arts and Sciences is going, as well as what its opportunities and challenges are. It was a wonderful way for me to learn more about the College and interact with its different parts. I found it extremely beneficial in terms of preparing for this role. I was also privileged to work with the team of people we have on board. The committee included great representatives from groups who work within the College, including alumni, non-tenure and tenure-track faculty from the main discipline areas, junior-level faculty, senior faculty, and staff. You did an excellent job and congratulations on that again, Budzban says. I know how strategic planning can be, and I was pleased with the level of engagement you had in that committee. Under Rehgs guidance, the strategic planning committee began its task of drafting the Colleges new plan. The committee conducted a SWOT analysis, a planning technique that allowed the group to understand the Colleges strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats. Next, the group surveyed SIUE students, alumni, faculty and staff. We received over 250 responses simply from our alumni, some who graduated in the last five years, others who graduated in the last 20 to 30 years, Rehg mentioned. It was impressive! When the draft of the new strategic plan was completed and submitted to Budzban last fall, he began meeting with the various departments within the College to ask for input. This spring, Budzban and his team will be working on a revised draft based on that input. We hope to have the new strategic plan in place next year, because it represents the 25th anniversary of the College of Arts and Sciences, and to have a new plan in place for that 25th year would be a great milestone for us, Budzban says. We can look at the past, see where we came from, and also have a vision for the future. To hear Rehg and Budzbans entire conversation, tune in to Segue at 9 a.m. on Sunday, Jan. 27, on WSIE 88.7 FM The Sound or siue.edu/wsie. 14 July 2019 14 July 2019 When Elizabeth Hoff was appointed as WHO Representative in Syria in 2012, she didnt expect that she would spend the next several years leading the emergency health response in what has been described as the worlds largest and most complex humanitarian emergency. After seven years of working in the war-ravaged country, the next chapter of her career will take her to Libya, where she has been nominated WHO Representative. I leave Syria with a heavy heart, she says. This has been the richest and most rewarding position... EDWARDSVILLE A judge Wednesday lowered the bail of a murder defendant but not by enough to allow the prisoner to attend a funeral, as his attorney requested. Circuit Judge Richard Tognarelli lowered the bail of Jamal D. Scott, 32, of Cahokia, from $2.5 million to $2 million in the Aug. 16, 2018 shooting death of Damian Huber in Cottage Hills. The judge made the decision after Scotts attorney, Justin Kuehn, asked the bail to be lowered to $250,000. He argued that his client is a member of his community and has family in the area, and that Scott was not accused of being the suspect who actually fired the shots. Assistant States Attorney Kerri Davis argued that the minimum sentence for Scotts alleged crimes is 41 years in prison and that he has a serious criminal history, including a previous charge involving firearms. After Tognarelli made his decision, Kuehn asked for an order that would instruct the Madison County Sheriffs Office to take Scott to a funeral on Saturday. He said the family could not afford the $200,000 cash required for bond. To be released on bond, prisoners must post 10 percent of the bail in cash. Tognarelli denied Kuehns request. These are very serious charges, he said. He said any such decision would have to be made by the Madison County Sheriffs Office. Scott was charged Aug. 20, 2018 with three counts of first-degree murder, armed robbery, home invasion and unlawful possession of a weapon. The three murder charges are different legal theories of how the alleged crime took place. The robbery charge alleges Scott took cash, car keys and electronic devices from a victim other than the murder victim. He was also accused of entering a home in the 100 block of Oak Street while armed with a firearm and threatened to shoot the resident. He was accused of possessing the weapon after being convicted of unlawful possession of a controlled substance. Scott has a criminal record dating to 2005 when he was convicted of unlawful possession of a firearm, attempted obstruction of justice and possession of marijuana. He also has convictions for possession of marijuana, delivery of marijuana and possession of a controlled substance. Huber, 24, of Brighton, was shot and killed during a home invasion in Cottage Hills. Sheriffs deputies responded to a call of shots fired at 152 S. Oak St. in Cottage Hills and found Huber, who police said was visiting an occupant of the home at the time of the shooting. He was rushed to a St. Louis area hospital for emergency medical treatment, where he later died. Also charged are Bradley K. Payne, 29, of the 200 block of Kinder Street, and Kevin B. Payne Jr., 31, of the 2000 block of Maple Tree Drive, both of Cahokia; and Lorenzo Williams, 28, of East St. Louis. Reach reporter Sanford Schmidt at 618-208-6449. A quickly escalating measles outbreak around Portland, Oregon, has led health officials in nearby Clark County, Washington, to declare a public health emergency as they warn that people infected with the highly contagious virus since the beginning of the year have visited schools and churches, a dentist's office, an Amazon locker pickup station, a Costco, and an Ikea. Someone with measles was at Concourse D of the Portland International Airport on Jan. 7, the county's public health department advised. An infected person attended a Portland Trail Blazers home game on Jan. 11. At the beginning of last week, there were only a handful of confirmed cases. On Friday, the day the emergency was declared, there were 19. By Sunday, that number had grown to 21. The latest update came Tuesday, when county officials said they had confirmed 23 cases and were investigating two more suspected cases. The vast majority of those who have fallen ill had not been immunized. The outbreak makes concrete the fears of pediatric epidemiologists that a citadel of the movement against compulsory vaccination could be susceptible to the rapid spread of a potentially deadly disease. "It's alarming," Douglas J. Opel, a pediatrician at Seattle Children's Hospital, said in an interview with The Washington Post. "Any time we have an outbreak of a disease that we have a safe and effective vaccine against, it should raise a red flag." State data shows that 7.9 percent of children in Clark County were exempted in the 2017-18 school year from vaccines required for kindergarten entry, which includes the two-dose course for measles that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says is 97 percent effective. Only 1.2 percent of the children had a medical dispensation, meaning that nearly 7 percent were not immunized for personal or religious reasons. Nationally, about 2 percent of children went without required immunization for nonmedical reasons. The high rate of nonmedical exemption for vaccines is what makes the Portland area, which sits across the Columbia River from Clark County, a "hot spot" for outbreaks, according to Peter J. Hotez, a professor of pediatrics and dean of the National School of Tropical Medicine at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston. "This is something I've predicted for a while now," he said of the public health emergency in Clark County. "It's really awful and really tragic and totally preventable." Of the confirmed cases, 18 patients are between the ages of 1 to 10 years old. Twenty of the people who have fallen ill had not been immunized against measles, while the vaccination history of the other three remained unverified. One person has been hospitalized. Experts advised that the outbreak could still be in its infancy. The incubation period of the virus averages two weeks, and it can be spread four days before a rash makes its onset obvious. Because measles is among the most highly contagious of all infectious diseases, it is bound to spring up in areas with low vaccination rates, Hotez said. He tracked this effect in a paper last year in the Public Library of Science, linking the number of philosophical exemptions, which has grown since 2009 in 12 of the 18 states that allow them, to increasing outbreaks. The problem is especially pronounced, the paper found, in more than a dozen "hotspot metropolitan areas," including Portland and Seattle in the Northwest, Phoenix in the Southwest and Pittsburgh in the Northeast. Public health experts are sounding alarms about the geographical clustering of people who refuse to immunize themselves, which creates vulnerabilities despite the overall high rate of vaccination. Last November, Asheville, North Carolina, another stronghold of the anti-vaccination movement, succumbed to the state's worst chickenpox outbreak since a vaccine for the infection became available more than two decades ago. "Portland is a total train wreck when it comes to vaccine rates," Hotez said in an interview with The Post. Opposition to compulsory vaccination in the Pacific Northwest dates to the Progressive Era and continues despite major medical breakthroughs. The modern anti-vaccination movement - built on debunked research published in 1998 that linked the vaccine for measles mumps and rubella, known as the MMR vaccine, to autism - is not exclusive to one side of the political divide, survey data suggests; it tends to find its most fervent supporters at both extremes. Measles is a dire price to pray for leniency about vaccination, Hotez cautioned, calling the illness "one of the most serious infectious diseases known to humankind." After smallpox was eradicated in 1980, measles became the leading killer of children globally, he said. Public health officials declared measles eliminated in 2000 because more than a year had gone by without continuous transmission of the disease. But a series of outbreaks in recent years is evidence of dangerous backsliding in containment of the virus, Hotez said, blaming the anti-vaccination movement. "This is a self-inflicted wound," he said. In 2015, a woman in northwestern Washington died of pneumonia after contracting measles. It was the first U.S. death from the virus since 2003. Last year saw the second highest number of reported cases of measles since 2000, according to the CDC. A total of 349 cases were confirmed across 26 states and the District of Columbia, only surpassed by the 667 cases in 2014. Orthodox Jewish communities were at the center of a series of outbreaks last year in New York and New Jersey, after unvaccinated travelers brought the virus back from Israel, which was battling an outbreak. The year before, Minnesota reported 75 cases of measles, mostly in a Somali community where the discredited theory blaming autism on the MMR vaccine had taken hold. Because measles is still endemic in parts of the world, said Opel, "periodic introduction by people traveling is what's causing frequent outbreaks here." Because the virus is so contagious, he added, a high level of protection is required to prevent spread - somewhere between 92 and 94 percent of the population immunized. Clark County is already below that level, he observed, "before you factor in other things like people just missing their appointments." The county's health department emphasized how easily the virus can spread, remaining for as long as two hours in the air of a room where an infected person has been. "If other people breathe the contaminated air or touch a contaminated surface, then touch their eyes, noses or mouths, they can become infected," the county warned in a news release Tuesday. "Measles is so contagious that if one person has it, 90 percent of the people close to that person who are not immune will also become infected." While the illness often begins with cold-like symptoms and a rash, doctors emphasized that many infected people suffer from additional complications, including pneumonia and, in more serious cases, inflammation of the brain known as encephalitis and even seizures. "It's not a benign illness," Opel said. ALTON A charming and long-established childrens boutique welcomes a silhouette artist that the owner has waited to host for more than a year. Smithsonian-recognized silhouette artist Tim Arnold will be on hand at The Grapevine, in Alton, Illinois, for one day only Thursday, Jan. 31, during extended store hours from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. to make silhouettes on site. Appointments are a must but are scheduled five minutes apart, with limited times still available. The last appointment will be scheduled at 7 p.m. Arnold, known as The Silhouette Man, cuts silhouettes freehand. Call The Grapevine at 618-462-6502 to make an appointment. Ive been trying to book Tim for over a year, said The Grapevine owner Kelly Olmsted. I traveled to him to have my kiddos done. Were very excited to have such an artist here. These will be a really neat Valentines Day gift. The silhouettes of Olmsteds daughters, Emersyn, 8, Everly, 5, and Elowynn, who will be 2 on Valentines Day, Feb. 14, have a coveted spot on display at their moms retail store. This is no stress, too, it takes about five minutes, Olmsted said. With photographic portraits, you usually want your children perfectly dressed, no smudges on their faces, but with silhouettes, you dont have to worry about that. Arnold creates silhouettes of adults, as well, especially for generational series of families, such as a grandmother, mother and child or children. Hell even create silhouettes of the family pet. At The Grapevine event, all ages are welcome, pets, too, and kids dont have to sit still. These are heirlooms, Olmsted noted. More Information If you go: What: The Grapevine presents Tim "The Silhouette Man" Arnold When: 10 a.m. - 7 p.m., Thursday, Jan. 31 Where: The Grapevine children's retail boutique, 2 W. Broadway, Alton, Illinois Info: Appointments are a must but are scheduled five minutes apart, with limited times still available. The last appointment will be scheduled at 7 p.m. Call The Grapevine at 618-462-6502 to make an appointment. Visit silhouette-man.com for more information about artist Tim Arnold; visit thegrapevineinalton.com or follow on Facebook and Instagram for more information about The Grapevine. See More Collapse Cutting freehand with scissors, Arnold transforms black paper into timeless profile portraits. Two silhouettes (a facing pair) of the same person costs $40. Additional copies of the same person cost $10. Arnold, a silhouette artist for more than 30 years and famous for accuracy and exquisite interior detailing, creates priceless heirlooms, having done so for three of President George H.W. Bushs grandchildren. The silhouettes hung in the White House. Arnolds silhouettes contain delicate inside cuts, which are referred to as European embellished style. His work is prized by collectors. Arnold, of Nashville, Tennessee, currently tours 18 states, appearing in childrens specialty shops, such as The Grapevine, at 2 W. Broadway, in Alton, and leading department stores. Arnold learned the art of silhouette cutting from his mother, Garnett Arnold, of Hamilton, Ohio; Arnold considers his talent as a gift from God and is quick to give him all the glory. In 1990, Arnold was invited to the White House to collaborate on a childrens book with Sharon Bush, when Arnold had the honor of meeting the former President George H.W. Bush and cutting the silhouettes of his grandchildren, a birthday gift for his wife, Barbara. The art of silhouette making originated in Europe in the early 1700s. Prior to the French Revolution, silhouettists were hired by the royal class. The featured artist would attend the many extravagant balls and cut out the distinguished profiles of the lords and ladies, capturing the latest fashions and elaborate wigs. Back then the black profile cutouts, now known as silhouettes, held negative connotation because of where and from who the name came. In 1760s France, finance minister Etienne de Silhouette was despised by the French people due to his merciless tax policies. In protest, as Silhouette was known for his hobby of cutting out paper profiles, apparently the latest fad at the time, according to Arnold, the peasants wore only black, mimicking Silhouettes black paper cutouts. The saying went all over France, We are dressing a la Silhouette. We are Silhouettes! The art of silhouette cutting reached its heyday in the 1800s. Many European silhouettists immigrated and some became famous, catering to American politicians and influential, wealthy private citizens. Others traveled to county fairs and small towns, capturing the profiles and they hearts of ordinary folks. Silhouettes remain as popular today as ever, Arnold said. In fact, they have become one of the most collectible art forms. Unfortunately, there are only a handful of silhouette cutters left, perhaps as few as fifteen in the United States. We of the computer age may be seeing the last generation of silhouette artists. Arnold visited Alton once, more than 10 years ago, during former ownership of The Grapevine, by Roberta Monroe, for whom he created silhouettes at the store. The Grapevine is filled with fun-to-wear infant and school-age apparel in the latest fashions and colors, including pre-teen girls apparel. The childrens boutique not only features stylish classic boys and girls outfits and accessories, but also specialty toys and books. The Grapevine was first established by sisters Julie Warren and Jill King, nee Vineyard in approximately 2002. Olmsted, formerly a corporate human resources executive and inspired by The Grapevines immediate past owner to buy the retail business, carries the same great merchandise, but added new brands and items, expanding the stores inventory with still more irresistible finds. The Grapevine also carries up to size 16 for girls and up to size 7 for boys. The Grapevine also offers a wide selection of communion dresses and christening gowns. The Grapevine carries sought-after brands, such as Mud Pie, Pedi Ped, Isobella & Chloe, Wee Ones Bows, Petit lem, JoJo Maman Bebe, Havengirl, Hayden, Wyldson, Candy Pink, and many more. For the pre-teen set, Olmsted recently started carrying Lanoosh and Paper Flower. The store also carries specialty accessories, such as birthday cake knives, which are functional keepsakes, first used at a babys first birthday, engraved with their birth date, but the knife is meant to be saved for the childs wedding, as well, when in turn the opposite side of the silver implement would be engraved with the childs wedding date. Seemingly, the special cutlery could be similarly used for another fantastic occasion, such as a graduation, a big birthday later in life or a multitude of other occasions. Arnold and his wife, Tina, have three daughters, two sons and seven grandchildren. Silhouettes can also be done from profile photos sent to Arnold. The quality is the same. Visit silhouette-man.com for more information. Visit thegrapevineinalton.com or follow The Grapevine on Facebook and Instagram for more information. Reach Jill Moon at 618-208-6448 and Twitter @jill_moon. The grainy surveillance image was burned into Britain's collective memory: a tiny boy holding the hand of another, being led out the door of a shopping center near Liverpool. The seemingly innocuous footage, blasted all over the news in the days after 2-year-old James Bulger disappeared, belied the truth of what happened to him in the hours after the footage was captured. The boy had just gone to the store with his mother on Feb. 12, 1993, to buy pork chops for dinner. Paying at the counter, his mother, Denise Fergus, let go of her son's hand as she rifled through her purse for change, a split-second decision she would not soon forget. When she looked up again, James was gone. More for you News Killers of toddler to be freed / Furor in Britain 8 years... The search for him played out frantically all across Britain, evolving from the search for a missing boy in a shopping center to the search for an abducted boy in Liverpool and, finally, horrifically, the search for the two boys seen on the surveillance footage leading James away - who were soon suspected of torturing the toddler to death. They had taken him on a long walk once they left the shopping center, as The Washington Post reported from the London trial in 1993. They zigzagged through Liverpool for more than two miles, taking James down near the Leeds and Liverpool Canal, making up stories to several passers-by who questioned what the 10-year-olds were doing with a crying 2-year-old reeling from a fresh bump on his forehead. No one stopped them. They arrived at a railway embankment. There, out of view from the public, they threw paint in the boy's eyes, stoned him with bricks and beat him to death with an iron pipe. They left his body on the tracks. Fergus never wanted to know the details. She did not attend the three-week trial in London for the 10-year-olds, Jon Venables and Robert Thompson, who became the youngest convicted killers in Britain in nearly 250 years. She avoided news coverage, as the crime quickly ballooned into one of the most chilling in British history. But some things never went away. The grainy surveillance footage or dramatic depictions of it kept surfacing in places Fergus hated to find it: a crime video game, an Australian TV police drama and most recently, an Oscar-nominated short film, "Detainment." On Tuesday, following the announcement from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences that the film is a finalist for Best Live Action Short Film, Fergus made her anger internationally known. The 30-minute picture, produced and written by Ireland's Vincent Lambe, focuses on the police interrogations of Venables and Thompson and is based on the real transcripts and interview tapes. But to Fergus and to James' father, Ralph Bulger, the film is deeply upsetting - made worse by the fact that both of them say they were not consulted or made aware of the film prior to its release. In a widely shared statement Tuesday on Twitter, Fergus drew attention to a Change.org petition urging that the film be removed from consideration for winning an Oscar and that it not be shown in theaters. As of early Wednesday, more than 97,000 people have signed it. "I cannot express how disgusted and upset I am at this so-called film that has been made and now nominated for an Oscar," Fergus said on Twitter. "It's one thing making a film like this without contacting or getting permission from James' family but another to have a child re-enact the final hours of James' life before he was brutally murdered and making myself and my family have to relive this all over again!" In an interview with the Mirror, Ralph Bulger said he had accepted the fact that articles would always be written about his son's murder, "but to make a film so sympathetic to James' killers is devastating." Lambe apologized Jan. 6 for not consulting them after it was revealed that "Detainment" was on the Oscar shortlist, angering the Bulger family and their supporters. Lambe offered to donate any proceeds from screenings to the James Bulger Memorial Trust set up by Fergus, saying, "I have enormous sympathy for the Bulger family and I am extremely sorry for any upset the film may have caused them." But he also denied that sympathizing with the killers was ever his intent. He had previously told Awards Circuit in a December Q&A that "it's not meant to make excuses for them. But it does humanize them." He said he started getting interested in the case long after it happened after reading the records and digging into the killers' backgrounds. Lambe was 12 when Thompson and Venables were convicted, he said in the interview, and until he started doing research all he had ever heard was that the two boys did it because they were evil. The United Kingdom had struggled to ascribe any other motive to the heinous crime. In fact, no motive was ever revealed, fueling rampant fears among parents that their children, if left unattended for even a moment, could become victims of a senseless kidnapping and murder. The judge who presided over the case suggested at the end of the trial that "violent video films" could be part of the explanation, declining to "pass judgment on their upbringing," the Guardian reported then. That's what Lambe wanted to explore, he said in the December interview. He noted that Thompson, whose father left when he was young, was frequently beaten up by older siblings. The Post noted in 1993 that Venables' parents were divorced and that he was reportedly a "slow learner." "While it is a painfully difficult case to understand, I believe we have a responsibility to try and make sense of what happened," Lambe said. He added: "There has been criticism that the film 'humanises' the killers, but if we cannot accept that they are human beings, we will never begin to understand what could have driven them to commit such a horrific crime." Thompson and Venables were released from prison under various conditions in 2001 and given new identities. Venables was rearrested twice, in 2010 and 2017, for possession of child pornography, the Independent reported. Since her son's death, Fergus, who has said she could never forgive Thompson and Venables, has been protective of James's memory. In 2007, when she learned a computer game based on the TV series "Law & Order" had used the grainy surveillance footage of James's abduction as a visual clue, her outrage led to it being removed from the shelves in the U.K. In 2009, when Australia's Seven Network used a clip of the abduction to tease its crime drama "City Homicide" and an episode based on the case, Fergus's disapproval led the network to apologize. The petition she and supporters created to oppose the Oscar nomination of "Detainment," she said Tuesday, "has now been ignored" by the Academy, "just like my feelings." The Academy could not immediately be reached for comment. OTTAWANDP Leader Jagmeet Singh is questioning Canadas decision to recognize a Venezuelan opposition leader as the countrys interim president, after prominent members of his party lashed out at the Liberal governments foreign policy move Thursday. In a statement to the Star, Singh said it should be up to Venezuelans to decide who leads their country, which was roiled by deadly protests this week as the socialist regime led by Nicolas Maduro tries to cling to power amidst economic collapse and a mass exodus of migrants from the South American nation. Canadas foreign affairs minister, Chrystia Freeland, announced Wednesday that Ottawa will recognize Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido as interim president and support his commitment to lead Venezuela to free and fair presidential elections. Canada was among the Lima Group of countries that called on Maduro to step down earlier this month, declaring that he seized power through fraudulent and anti-democratic elections last year. Freelands decision came after U.S. President Donald Trump recognized Guaido as Venezuelan leader, prompting the Maduro regime to cut diplomatic ties with the United States. The NDP leader, however, is calling for a United Nations-led dialogue to avert a disaster in Venezuela, and said Thursday that all countries deserve to choose their leaders without authoritative pressure or foreign interference. He also condemned military action against protesters by the Maduro regime. Canada should not simply follow the U.S.s foreign policy, particularly given its history of self-interested interference in the region, Singh said. The question of who is to lead Venezuela should be in the hands of Venezuelans. Read more: Venezuelas Maduro faces off with U.S. over rivals power claim Canada plans to convene international meeting on Venezuelas future, sources say Opinion | Thomas Walkom: Canada an unlikely ally of U.S. in backing Venezuela coup Singhs statement came after Niki Ashton, an NDP MP from Manitoba who has run twice for party leader, condemned Canadas recognition of Guaido. Trudeau sides with Trumps regime-change agenda and Brazils fascist president in support of someone calling for a military coup in Venezuela, she wrote on Twitter, referring to Brazils right-wing leader, whose country joined Canada, the U.S., Colombia, Peru and others in recognizing Guaido Venezuelan president. We cannot support an agenda of economic or military coups, she wrote. #HandsOffVenezuela. Party veteran Svend Robinson, who has returned to politics and is running for a seat in British Columbia in this years election, echoed Ashtons statement on Thursday. Speaking on Parliament Hill, he said there are serious concerns about repression of dissent and free speech in Venezuela, but that it is shameful that Canadas government is recognizing an illegal coup in the country. Robinson also pointed to the history of U.S. interference in Central and South America, including the attempted invasion of Cuba at the Bay of Pigs in 1961 and support for the military dictatorship in Chile when it took power in the early 1970s. Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... We expect our government to stand with the people of Venezuela, not to be in lockstep with Trump and with (Brazilian President Jair) Bolsonaro, he said. Earlier Thursday, Liberal MP Michael Levitt called Ashtons comments on the situation troubling and urged Singh to join the government in its stance against Maduros illegitimate claim to power. Read more about: Canada is treading on dangerous ground by joining with the United States and some other countries in supporting a rival to Nicolas Maduro as president of Venezuela. Up to now, Canada has played a constructive role in trying to stop the countrys slide into dictatorship. As part of the Lima Group, an association of 12 countries that has been applying political and economic pressure on the Maduro regime, it has invoked sanctions and other measures to support democracy. That culminated this month when the group declared it did not recognize the legitimacy of Maduros new presidential term. They were right to do so. The election that brought him back to power was outrageously rigged. But recognizing the president of Venezuelas National Assembly, Juan Guaido, as the so-called interim president of Venezuela is a step too far. Its a risky move for several reasons. First, it opens the door to a parallel government and even more upheaval in the economically devastated country. The fact is, Maduro is showing no signs of stepping down despite violent protests across the country and an uprising by members of the national guard that was foiled earlier this week. Second, it gives cover for Maduro to convince Venezuelans that international support for Guaido is a step toward an outright invasion by the United States, which has a long history of interfering in the affairs of Central and South American countries. And on that front, President Donald Trump has not helped by saying the U.S. has a military option in Venezuela. Third, Maduro still has the support of military leaders. He may call for a bloody crackdown on legitimate protesters, claiming demonstrations against him are being orchestrated by outsiders. Finally, recognition of Guaido could set the scene for a proxy war that might draw other countries into the conflict. The U.S. and others, including Brazil, Colombia, Argentina, Britain and France, back Guaido, but Maduro has support from the likes of Russia, China, Bolivia and Turkey. Its true the situation in Venezuela is desperate. As many as four million people have fled the once-prosperous country as inflation has soared. Maduros policies have been disastrous. Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... But diplomatic sanctions and efforts were working. Right now, Venezuela is a powder keg. Canada should have no part in lighting a fuse that could make matters even worse. Read more about: The heart-wrenching debate over how to help homeless people that blew up this week as Toronto shivered through an extreme cold weather alert is, sadly, nothing new. Each and every winter, outrage builds among homeless advocates as the shelters and respite and warming centres are filled to overflowing. And rightly so. Thats when conditions deteriorate and people are sometimes turned away, as they were last year because of a baffling miscommunication between shelters. What the situation clearly calls for is a focus on long-term solutions by all levels of government that would have the goal of actually ending homelessness. But over and over again the city bungles the emergency response at hand, distracting elected leaders from addressing its root causes. Last winter the shelters were so crowded that the city had to open up federal armouries and commandeer arenas, community centres and college dormitories to handle the overflow. That was on top of the thousands of motel beds the city books for those in dire need of affordable housing. This year was supposed to be different. To its credit, the city actually planned ahead, announcing in June that it had bought four temporary structures with beds for about 100 people each. Two, it said then, would be up by August, long before the cold weather arrived. But, unbelievably, at this point only one of the four is actually up and running in Liberty Village. Another one was supposed to be located in Etobicoke. But after then-premier-designate Doug Ford expressed concerns to Mayor John Tory and the local city councillor, it was put on hold and never reappeared. And the remaining two now arent expected to open until March or even April long after the coldest weather has passed. Why? Fully seven months after the city purchased the structures for $2.5 million apiece, it still hasnt managed to hook them up to water and electricity. Whether its ineptitude or NIMBYism, its both incomprehensible and shameful. So what to do about it? Critics are calling on the mayor to declare an emergency. But Tory is right that a dramatic gesture like that wont in itself do anything to solve the problem. It wont free up any new funds or special services. In many ways it would just be a distraction from getting on with finding long-term solutions. And what might those be? A look at the citys 2018 street needs assessment provides clues, as the mayor points out. It found, for example, that 32 per cent of the homeless have a mental health issue and 27 per cent have problems with addiction. Declaring an emergency wont help those people, who need supportive housing and other supports as well. That would require a lot more funding from the province. Yet the Ford government is going in the opposite direction; it actually cut $335 million from planned spending on mental health services when it took office last summer. Nor will declaring an emergency provide shelter for those whose basic challenge is affording sky-high rents in Toronto. That requires all three levels of government to hammer out a housing strategy. That takes time and focus. So far, Ottawa is on the right path. It set aside $2.1 billion over the next decade for its homeless strategy, on top of a $40-billion national housing plan aimed at cutting chronic homelessness by 50 per cent. Still, the federal government isnt moving fast enough. It has promised a $4-billion Canada Housing Benefit, which would provide an average annual $2,500 rent subsidy for 300,000 households, for example, but that wont kick in until 2020. Thats too late for those struggling with the cost of housing now. Their situation has been exacerbated by the Ford governments cuts in planned hikes to social assistance rates and minimum wages, as well as its decision to remove rent control on new buildings. Nor would declaring an emergency free up funds to house the growing number of refugees and asylum claimants, who now account for 40 per cent of those staying at city-administered emergency shelters. On that front, Ottawa is falling short. It has provided Toronto with an extra $11 million, but the city spent $65 million on shelter for refugees and asylum claimants over the past two years. It should be getting more. Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... For its part, the city is doing more. Once the temporary shelters are erected, it will be able to accommodate 8,000 homeless people in beds and respite centres, 1,000 more than last year. And its spending a lot of money to deal with homelessness almost a quarter of a billion dollars this year alone. But all governments are just playing catch-up with a problem that continues to get worse for a host of complex reasons. That requires a long-term solution. In the meantime, though, the city must meet the immediate needs for this winter. And that means getting the temporary shelters it promised last year up and running now not in two to three months. Read more about: When my Syrian friend in the lobby asks me, with such sincerity, why this is happening, I find the hard, cynical part of my heart crack open a little to listen to what she means. Why has there been no running water for three days in our building? Why is the building next to ours without water and power? There are lots of answers to these questions, some could be simple: Its winter, there was a snowfall, these are old buildings, a pipe burst. Shes not asking for that answer. She lowers her hood and says, I was in a war for seven years in Syria but in between the times, people were always helping each other, bringing water and food. But here, its not like that. Its different in Canada than I thought. Hours later there are now fire trucks, police cars and a shelter open in the neighbourhood, so, perhaps thats the help she was meaning. But when I see seniors with walkers being ushered out of a 30-storey building without working elevators, I remember that this just happened months ago, to another building, which is still dark. Two tall towers owned by the same management, 650 Parliament and 260 Wellesley both stand completely dark as the rest of the city lights up, and I know friends in that building, apartments slowly becoming cold in the January weather. Other conversations come to my mind. I think of a mother from Nepal I met who had moved to Canada with her daughter three months before the fire in 650 Parliament, her apartment almost bare, her daughter excitedly showing us the books she got from the library that day. I think of a Filipino family I met in my building who were relocated out of 650 Parliament and have been living in a hotel for months on vouchers. They come to my building to visit her sister, who cooks home food for them but works night shifts an hour away by transit. Their son has large eyes that have seen too much. I find out later that his father was killed back home. And now he is here, moving from building to building. The media will move on from the story of 260 Wellesley in less than a week, of course, but these searching questions about what is happening here and these young eyes that have seen too much and these old hands piling suitcases into taxis are ripples that continue on and on. What is it to be transient? What is it to never be able to land? And as a neighbour tells me that those who own these buildings would be much happier to turn them into condos, than perhaps allowing the general disrepair to indefinitely displace people I think about the land itself. In this place, land is almost impossible to see, it looks mostly like concrete. We talk a lot about land in this country. We talk about land because we must. We acknowledge land, how it was stolen, how generations have been and continue to be affected, displaced, made transient. We look back when we think about land, but land also has futurity. It is very likely that soon, folks like myself and my neighbours will not be on this land, downtown Toronto, renting apartments. As I look at these empty towers, time opens up and I think of the Don Valley, of those who first inhabited this place, of trees and wildlife, I then think of little shops and the turn of the century, I think of waves of immigration, I think of myself and my neighbours at this moment in time. When I think forward, on this land, it becomes challenging to see beyond the fact that for most people, these towers are money, they are piles and piles of money. People of the future of this place, know that I walked here, in the slush, with my son in his stroller. Know that the air smelled of samosas and the elevators were often full of laughter. Know that we jumped on the couch and played music in these buildings. Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Know that even though each floor looked the same and each apartment was a mere copy of the one piled on top of the next one, within each of these were many, many lives, and songs and stories. People are wiped out of places. Places carry echoes, reverberations and perhaps, hope for a more just future. SEBRING, FLA. Investigators have found no obvious reason why a man accused of fatally shooting five women picked a small-town bank in Florida as the place to carry out his attack, authorities said Thursday. Zephen Xavers attack did not appear to be part of a robbery, and he had no apparent connection to the SunTrust branch or the four employees and one customer who were killed, police said. There was also no evidence that Wednesdays attack was planned, although a former girlfriend said Xaver often talked of killing people. We believe it was a random act, Sebring Police Chief Karl Hoglund said Thursday at a news conference. Aside from perhaps driving by and seeing it was a bank, we have no known evidence that he targeted this bank for any particular reason. That randomness hit Carol Davis, who manages the hair salon and spa next door, hard. If the gunman had driven 10 seconds farther, just one more driveway, the victims would have been her, her staff and her customers. He could have come here. He could have gone anywhere. It could happen anywhere, she said. Read more: Former prison guard kills five people during standoff at Florida bank Xaver, 21, was charged Thursday with five counts of premeditated murder. Just months ago, he moved from northern Indiana to Sebring, about 80 miles southeast of Tampa. He had recently quit his job as a prison guard trainee. From police and witness accounts, he entered the bank about 12:30 p.m. Wednesday when the five women were alone. The bank sits apart along U.S. 27, a busy four-lane highway that connects south and central Florida, passing mostly through farms and small towns like Sebring, a tourist and retirement city of 10,000 known internationally for an annual endurance auto race that draws some of the worlds top drivers. The victims were found lying face down, their bodies surrounded by shell casings, according to court documents. Six minutes after the attack began, Xaver called 911 and told dispatchers that he had killed everyone inside, Hoglund said. Victor Sparks told the Highlands News-Sun he walked up to the bank and found the door locked. He peered inside and saw people lying on the floor while someone walked around and between them. As he turned away, he heard gunfire and called 911. Davis said she looked out her window and saw police officers everywhere, many carrying rifles. I have never seen stuff like that except in the movies. Xaver refused to surrender and would not allow officers to reach the victims, Hoglund said. After more than an hour of negotiations, the chief ordered a SWAT team in. They used an armoured vehicle to break through the front doors. Xaver was found in a back office. By then, all the victims were dead, the chief said. Hoglund identified three victims: customer Cynthia Watson, 65, and two employees: 55-year-old Marisol Lopez and 38-year-old Ana Pinon Williams, a mother of seven. Tim Williams said his sister-in-law was a devout Christian and family to everyone she knew. She had recently started working at the bank, and she quickly came to love the job and her co-workers, he said. We do not know what was going on in the mind of the individual who committed this atrocious act, but we do know he was influenced by the darkness in this world, Williams said. We will not try to understand the darkness, but with Gods help we will overcome it. Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Lopezs family posted a note on their door asking not to be disturbed. The Associated Press could find no contact information for Watsons family. In compliance with a newly passed victims rights law in Florida, Hoglund withheld the names of the other two victims at their families request. The community is mourning the loss of our sisters, our mothers, our daughters and our co-workers, Hoglund said. Flags around Sebring were lowered to half-staff Thursday and some electronic signs outside business expressed sympathy for the victims and asked for prayers for the community. Xaver was arrested in a beige T-shirt depicting the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse. On Thursday, he wore a black-and-white striped prison uniform as he was appointed a public defender and ordered held without bond. His father said hes heartbroken for the victims and that his son wasnt raised to be like this. Hes always been a good kid. Hes had his troubles, but he has never hurt anyone ever before. This is a total shock, Josh Xaver told CNN. The AP sought interviews with both of Xavers parents but received no immediate response. The shootings were not a shock to Alex Gerlach, who identified herself as Xavers former girlfriend. She said hes long been fascinated with the idea of killing, but no one took her warnings about him seriously. For some reason, he always hated people and wanted everybody to die, Gerlach told WSBT-TV in South Bend, Indiana, near his former home in Plymouth, Indiana. He got kicked out of school for having a dream that he killed everybody in his class, and hes been threatening this for so long, and hes been having dreams about it and everything, she said. Every single person Ive told has not taken it seriously, and its very unfortunate that it had to come to this. Gerlach told the Washington Post that Xaver said he purchased a gun last week and no one thought anything of it because he had always liked guns. Xaver had no apparent criminal record in the areas where hes lived in Indiana and Florida. Florida Department of Corrections records show he was hired as a trainee at Avon Park Correctional Institution on Nov. 2 and resigned Jan. 9. No disciplinary issues were reported. The bank attack was at least the fourth mass shooting in Florida resulting in five or more dead in the past three years. A gunman killed 49 at an Orlando nightclub in 2016. Five died at the Fort Lauderdale airport in 2017, and 17 died in February at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in a Fort Lauderdale suburb. BARRON, WIS.Jennie-O says it will donate the $25,000 it had offered in reward money for information leading to Jayme Closs directly to the 13-year-old girl. Jayme was kidnapped from her home in Barron, Wisconsin, on Oct. 15 and both of her parents were killed. She escaped 88 days later . Twenty-one-year-old Jake Patterson is charged with kidnapping and homicide. Jaymes parents, James and Denise Closs, worked at Jennie-O. The FBI and Jennie-O contributed a total of $50,000 for information on Jaymes whereabouts. Jennie-O and its parent company, Hormel Foods, announced Thursday that theyre working with law enforcement to get Jennie-Os share of the reward to Jayme. Jennie-O President Steve Lykken says in a statement that he hopes a trust fund can be set up for Jaymes current and future needs. Its not clear what the FBI will do with the $25,000 it offered. Details on FBI rewards are generally not disclosed. Read more: Wisconsin kidnapping, killing suspect lived under the radar A timeline of events in the Jayme Closs disappearance case Wisconsin man arrested in teens abduction, parents deaths SEBRING, FLA.A former prison guard trainee who recently moved to Florida from Indiana killed five people during a standoff at a small town bank before surrendering to a SWAT team that stormed the building, police said. Investigators said Zephen Xaver, 21, called police from inside the SunTrust Bank branch Wednesday to report that he had opened fire. He barricaded himself inside and when negotiations failed, the SWAT team burst in, capturing Xaver and discovering the bodies, police said. Investigators did not offer a possible motive, and a police spokesman said he did not know if the attack began as a robbery. The victims were not immediately identified. Late Wednesday, police investigators still swarmed the bank, which sits between a hotel and a hair salon located in a business district of U.S. 27. The four-lane highway passes through farming communities and small towns as it connects South Florida and central Florida. Sebring, with 10,000 residents, is known internationally for its annual 12 Hours of Sebring endurance auto race that draws world-class drivers. Todays been a tragic day in our community, Sebring Police Chief Karl Hoglund said during a news conference. Weve suffered significant loss at the hands of a senseless criminal doing a senseless crime. He said more information would be released at a Thursday morning press conference. Florida Department of Corrections records show that Xaver was hired as a trainee prison guard at Avon Park Correctional Institution on Nov. 2 and resigned Jan. 9. No disciplinary issues were reported. Public records and neighbours said Xaver had arrived in Sebring last fall with his mother, living in a non-descript pre-fabricated home about 6.5 kilometres from the bank. No one answered the door Wednesday night after police finished searching the home. Public records and neighbours say he and his mother moved to Sebring in the fall from Plymouth, Indiana, a town south of Notre Dame University. John Larose, who lives next door, said Xaver kept to himself, but he could hear him playing and yelling at video games in the middle of the night. Xaver briefly was an online student of Salt Lake City-based Stevens-Henager College. A spokeswoman for the college, Sherrie Martin, confirmed that Xaver was enrolled from September 2018 until December, when he withdrew. Gov. Ron DeSantis was in the region for an infrastructure tour and travelled to Sebring after the shooting. He said the Florida Department of Law Enforcement would assist Sebring police and the Highlands County sheriffs office. Obviously, this is an individual who needs to face very swift and exacting justice, DeSantis said of the suspect. SunTrust Chairman and CEO Bill Rogers released a statement saying the bank was working with officials and dedicating ourselves to fully addressing the needs of all the individuals and families involved. The banks entire team mourns this terrible loss, he said. BEIRUTMembers of the Daesh group failed Thursday to break a siege imposed by U.S.-backed fighters in the last area they control in Syria, leading to fierce fighting that inflicted casualties on both sides, Syrian opposition activists said. The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights and the DeirEzzor 24, an activist collective, said the fighting concentrated west of the eastern village of Baghouz near the Iraqi border that the extremists lost earlier this week. U.S.-backed Kurdish-led fighters of the Syrian Democratic Forces have captured most of the area that was once controlled by Daesh on the east banks of the Euphrates River and the extremists now only control two villages. More than 20,000 civilians have fled the Daesh-held area and hundreds of militants surrendered since SDF began its offensive on Sept. 10. The extremists are likely to lose the areas they control in Deir el-Zour in the coming few weeks as SDF fighters press their offensive under the cover of airstrikes by the U.S.-led coalition. Rami Abdurrahman, the Observatorys chief, said Thursdays fighting left 34 militants and 16 SDF fighters dead. He added that 21 Daesh gunmen were taken prisoners. DeirEzzor 24 confirmed fighters from both sides were killed without giving a number. Earlier on Thursday, a bomb exploded in the capital Damascus causing property damage but no casualties, Syrian state media reported. Syrian TV said the explosive was placed inside a car in the Adawi neighbourhood. The Russian Embassy is located several hundred meters (yards) away. There was no immediate claim of responsibility. The bombing came two days after an explosion at a busy intersection in the coastal city of Latakia that killed a civilian and wounded 14 others. Last week, a bomb also exploded in Damascus without inflicting casualties. The Syrian capital has been relatively safe since government forces captured last year all rebel-held neighbourhoods and suburbs of Damascus. Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Also on Thursday, In the northern town of Al-Bab, which is controlled by Turkey-backed opposition fighters, a motorcycle rigged with explosives blew up in the towns centre. At least one person was killed and 11 wounded, according to the Observatory. The oppositions Syrian Civil Defence, also known as White Helmets, said the blast killed three and wounded 12. Read more about: Satellite images suggest that Saudi Arabia has constructed its first known ballistic missile factory, according to weapons experts and image analysts, a development that raises questions about the kingdoms increasing military and nuclear ambitions under its 33-year-old crown prince. If operational, the suspected factory near the missile base in al-Watah, southwest of Riyadh, would allow Saudi Arabia to manufacture its own ballistic missiles, fuelling fears of an arms race against its regional rival Iran. Saudi Arabia does not possess nuclear weapons, so any missiles produced at the apparent factory are likely to be conventionally armed. But a missile-making facility would be a critical component of any eventual Saudi nuclear weapons program, hypothetically giving the kingdom capability to produce the preferred delivery systems for nuclear warheads. The possibility that Saudi Arabia is going to build longer-range missiles and seek nuclear weapons we imagine that they cant. But we are maybe underestimating their desire and their capabilities, said Jeffrey Lewis, a nuclear weapons expert at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey, Calif., who discovered the factory with his team when analyzing satellite images from the region. Two additional missile experts who reviewed the satellite images for The Washington Post, Michael Elleman of the International Institute for Strategic Studies and Joseph Bermudez of the Center for Strategic and International Studies, agreed that the high-resolution photographs of the al-Watah site appear to depict a rocket-engine production and test facility, probably using solid fuel. Read more: Bomb-laden rebel drone kills six at Yemen military parade U.S. tells Saudis to hold accountable killers of journalist Trudeau faces questions about immigration, trade, Saudi arms deal It is unclear from the satellite images whether the facility has been completed or is functionally capable of manufacturing missiles. Regardless, the complex which satellite images suggest broke ground in 2013 when King Salman was defence minister highlights the nations intention to make its own advanced missiles after years of seeking to purchase them abroad, at times successfully. A spokesman for the Saudi Embassy in Washington declined to comment on the nature of the facility at the missile base. The Pentagon, State Department and CIA also declined to comment. News of the facilitys existence comes at an inflection point for Saudi Arabia in international affairs. The kingdom has taken a more aggressive approach to military power under its new crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman, who warned in an interview last year with 60 Minutes that Saudi Arabia would develop a nuclear bomb if Iran does. The crown prince has been defence minister since 2015. Saudi Arabia has been pursuing a nuclear power plant deal with the United States that would potentially include allowing it to produce nuclear fuel. The kingdoms insistence on domestic fuel production has raised worries among U.S. officials that the kingdom wants the atomic power project not only for civil use but also for covert weapon-making purposes. The killing last October of Saudi dissident and Washington Post contributing columnist Jamal Khashoggi at the hands of Saudi agents in Istanbul has hardened opposition to the power plant deal in Congress. A gambit by Saudi Arabia to build a ballistic-missile factory would make sense given the rivals in its neighbourhood. The kingdom faces an Israel armed with an advanced nuclear and missile program and an Iran that has continued to perfect its own abilities to make ballistic missiles. Should Iran stop abiding by the 2015 nuclear accords limitations, many analysts believe the country could attain nuclear warheads in as little as a year. The Trump administration pulled out of the Iran deal, in part citing missile threats from Tehran that were not covered by the pact. A functional ballistic-missile-production facility would allow Saudi Arabia to begin matching some of the domestic missile-making capabilities that Iran has developed over the years and has tapped to supply Houthi rebels fighting Saudi-backed forces in Yemen with weapons. The existence of a Saudi strategic rocket base at al-Watah first became public in mid-2013 after Janes Defense Weekly published satellite imagery of the military facility, which was suspected of housing ballistic missiles purchased from China. But when Lewis and his colleagues David Schmerler and Fabian Hinz looked at satellite images of al-Watah captured by Planet Labs more recently, they discovered, in Lewiss words: Woah, that is not just a missile base anymore. The base was still there with its launchpad, underground tunnels and administrative buildings but across the road an entirely new facility had emerged, and it looked a lot like a rocket-engine production factory designed to make ballistic missiles, they said. Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... The facility included high-bay buildings, which Lewis says appear to be tall enough for a missiles motor case to stand on its end and be filled with fuel. Another clue was a barrier around one of the structures for protection against explosions. The site was also dotted with lightning rods because the tall metal structures can attract lighting strikes that could ignite the propellant. That the facility is in the same location as an existing Saudi missile base bolstered the case. Above all, what appears to be a rocket engine test stand set off alarm bells. The horizontal setup, Lewis said, coupled with the lack of pipes or tanks in the images, suggests that the facility was probably designed to produce solid-fuel rockets rather than liquid-fuel ones. Solid-fuel missiles tend to be more sought after because they are easier to conceal, can be launched quicker and can be stored for a long time, making them more survivable in a conflict. How the Saudis obtained the technological expertise necessary to build the facility is unclear. One potential supplier: China. The Saudi engine test stand, according to Lewis, looks particularly Chinese. While most countries test rocket engines in the open, Lewis said, China partially covers the flame shooting out of the engine and cools the test building with water so it does not catch fire. The Saudi test complex appears to replicate that setup, he noted, with a trench for the water next to the stand and what appears to be water runoff. China has sold ballistic missiles to Saudi Arabia in the past and has helped supply ballistic missile production capabilities to other nations. In the 1990s, Pakistan secretly built a medium-range missile plant using blueprints and equipment supplied by China. The factory in Pakistan has long attracted the attention of top Saudi officials. What involvement, if any, China or Pakistan had in building the Saudi facility is unclear. Nor is it clear what kind of ballistic missiles Saudi Arabia is manufacturing or preparing to produce. The Chinese and Pakistani embassies in Washington did not respond to requests for comment. Traditionally, the United States formally has sought to prevent the proliferation of ballistic missile technology. Washington at one point sanctioned China, for example, for delivering missile launchers and components to Pakistan in the 1990s. Under normal circumstances, we would be doing everything we could possibly do to constrain and convince the Saudis not to do this, Elleman said. The U.S. has always been opposed to the transfer of missiles that are inherently capable of carrying nuclear weapons. The main way the United States seeks to prevent the spread of drone and missile technology is through the Missile Technology Control Regime, or the MTCR, an informal multicountry pact designed to prevent the transfer of certain missile technologies. China is not a member but has agreed to abide by some of its stipulations. While the United States sells an array of weaponry to Saudi Arabia, Washington has not sold ballistic missiles to Riyadh, in part because such missiles traditionally have been seen as destabilizing for the region. Saudi Arabia has turned to China in the past when met with refusals from the United States for certain weapons requests. For example, the United States declined repeated Saudi requests to purchase what are known as category-one American drones, including Predators and Reapers, partly because of MTCRs regulations. Instead, the kingdom turned to China, first purchasing drones and later striking a deal in which China will build a drone factory that will produce a Chinese copycat of the Predator in Saudi Arabia. Read more about: LONDONThe chief executive of Airbus warned Thursday that the aviation giant could move its U.K. operations out of Britain if the country leaves the European Union without a deal on trade relations, in one of the starkest assessments yet of the economic impact of a no-deal Brexit. CEO Tom Enders said Brexit threatened to destroy a century of development in the Britains world-leading aviation industry. Business leaders have expressed growing frustration at the lack of progress in securing a Brexit deal before Britains scheduled March 29 exit from the bloc. Last week British lawmakers threw out the divorce deal Prime Minister Theresa May had struck with the EU, and attempts to find a replacement are gridlocked. U.K. firms are bracing for disruption amid fears that a no-deal Brexit will cause economic chaos by eliminating trade agreements and imposing tariffs, customs checks and other barriers between the U.K. and the EU, its biggest trading partner. Aerospace is a long-term business and we could be forced to re-direct future investments in the event of a no-deal Brexit, Enders said. And make no mistake there are plenty of countries out there who would love to build the wings for Airbus aircraft. Airbus has more than 14,000 employees in Britain with 110,000 more working in jobs supported by Airbus programs as well as some 6 billion pounds ($7.83 billion U.S.) in annual turnover. Read more: Businesses sound alarm as U.K. says prepare for no-deal Brexit British Prime Minister Theresa May unveils her Brexit Plan B, which looks a lot like Plan A Opinion | Thomas Walkom: Brexit an experiment in reversing globalization Please dont listen to the Brexiteers madness which asserts that, because we have huge plants here, we will not move and we will always be here, Enders said in a statement released by Airbus. They are wrong. Warnings from businesses have grown louder in recent days, but the Airbus comments are notable because of the tone and the pointed reference about a willingness to pull up stakes and go. The Bank of England has said that in a worst-case scenario, a sudden Brexit with no deal on future relations could trigger a recession, with Britains economy shrinking 8 per cent within months as unemployment and inflation soar. The British government is split between ministers who think leaving without a deal would be manageable and those who believe it must be avoided at all costs. U.K. Treasury chief Philip Hammond who falls into the latter category said that during Britains 2016 EU membership referendum, voters had been promised that they were voting for a more prosperous future by choosing to leave the EU. Addressing a meeting at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, Hammond said that leaving without a deal would undermine our future prosperity, and would ... represent a betrayal of the promises that were made. Since her Brexit deal was rejected by Parliament last week, May has been holding talks with government and opposition politicians, business representatives and trade union leaders. But she has shown little appetite for radically altering her Brexit plan, or lifting her insistence that Brexit means leaving the EUs single market and customs union. Instead, she hopes to win lawmakers backing for her deal after securing changes from the EU to a contentious measure designed to ensure an open border between EU member Ireland and the U.K.s Northern Ireland. EU leaders insist they wont renegotiate the withdrawal agreement. A deal that doesnt give us a legally binding workable guarantee that there wont be a hard border between Northern Ireland and Ireland is a deal in name only, Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar said Thursday. And thats not something that we could accept. The truth is nobody can know for sure what will happen in a no-deal scenario, Varadkar said in Davos. Thats why weve worked so hard over the past two years to put together a withdrawal agreement, a withdrawal agreement that gives everyone a transition period to adjust to any permanent changes that may take place. Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Britains divided Parliament is set to vote Tuesday on Mays proposal and on rival plans, including attempts by groups of legislators to delay Britains exit and to rule out a no-deal Brexit. Mays government has rejected both ideas, but a growing number of lawmakers believe Britain will have to ask the EU to delay Brexit past March 29 to solve the Brexit impasse. It is a disgrace that more than two years after the result of the 2016 referendum, businesses are still unable to plan properly for the future, Enders said. And we, along with many of our peers, have repeatedly called for clarity. But we still have no idea what is really going on here. Read more about: BEIJINGChinese officials said Thursday that the Australian writer Yang Hengjun was being held on suspicion of endangering Chinese national security, a grave charge that echoed allegations China leveled against two Canadians it detained last month amid escalating tensions with U.S. allies. Chinas Foreign Ministry disclosed Yangs status after Australian diplomats met their Chinese counterparts on Thursday and called on China to treat Yang fairly and transparently. Yang, a visiting scholar at Columbia University in New York, is currently held under coercive measures in Beijing by the Ministry of State Security, ministry spokesman Hua Chunying said. Earlier Thursday, Australian Defense Minister Christopher Pyne told reporters during his visit to Beijing that Yang was being detained in residential surveillance at a designated location, a form of detention where Chinese authorities can interrogate suspects for up to six months at secret locations without access to lawyers or family. Two Canadians, Michael Spavor and Michael Kovrig, are currently being held under similar conditions and on similar national security grounds. Canada and the United States say those two cases are in fact political retribution for Canadas arrest of Huawei Technologies executive Meng Wanzhou, which infuriated China. Australia has publicly sided with Canada and the United States, which requested the arrest, and this month demanded answers from China about Spavor and Kovrig. Australian Foreign Minister Marisa Payne downplayed the possibility that an Australian citizen was the latest to become ensnared in the increasingly bitter row between Beijing and Western countries. At this stage there is no evidence of such a connection between Yangs detention and Australias criticism of Chinas detention of the Canadians, Payne told reporters Thursday. Id be concerned if there was an indication of that. Still, the case adds another irritant to Chinas relations with U.S. allies over a range of issues including Chinas alleged espionage, unfair trade practices, human rights violations and disregard for the rule of law. China has hit back in recent months, arguing that the gathering anti-Chinese sentiment in the West reflects an unfair, U.S.-led campaign to hobble its rise. Chinas disclosure of a national security investigation against Yang almost certainly heralds a protracted diplomatic tussle over his fate and possibly a lengthy punishment for the China-born writer in a judicial system where prosecutors almost always win if they bring formal charges. A former Chinese diplomat who immigrated to Australia in the 1990s, Yang was previously detained by state security agents in Guangzhou in 2011; he was released after two days. In the years since, he has been briefly interrogated during trips to China but never held for long, friends say. Feng Chongyi, a professor at University of Technology Sydney and an academic adviser to Yang, said friends grew worried after Yang went incommunicado for several days this week and decided to notify the Australian government. Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Read more about: ISLAMABAD, PAKISTANThe Pakistan Supreme Court on Wednesday overturned the acquittal of a man accused of stabbing a woman 23 times, nearly three years after the attack prompted a national debate on violence against women. Chief Justice Asif Saeed Khosa, leading a three-member panel, reinstated the conviction of Shah Hussain, accepting an appeal from Khadija Siddiqi, who survived the attack in Lahore in May 2016. Siddiqi said that Hussain, a former classmate, had attacked her after she rebuffed his romantic overtures. Hussain was rearrested in the courtroom Wednesday. Siddiqi, a 24-year-old law student, said Wednesday that she felt vindicated by the courts decision. Today is a victory for all women, she said. I think this case will serve a stepping stone for the future cases of women in Pakistan. Hussain was convicted of attempted murder in 2017 and sentenced to seven years in prison. But he appealed the decision, and in June another court acquitted him of all charges, citing a lack of evidence. The acquittal prompted an outcry in Pakistan. Siddiqis story was widely shared on social media. Images of her wounded neck circulated on Twitter and Facebook, eliciting shock and sympathy. Rights activists and celebrities expressed support for Siddiqi as a campaign gained steam with the hashtag #JusticeForKhadija, and the Supreme Court decided to review the case just days after the acquittal. Hussain belongs to a prominent family, and Siddiqi said he had used his connections to try to silence her. Siddiqis lawyer, Hassaan Niazi, said his team was heartened by Wednesdays verdict. The judicial system has given hope to thousands in the country today, he said. Other rights campaigners also greeted the news with jubilation. Congratulations, rights activist Jibran Nasir said in a Twitter post directed at Siddiqi. Your struggle & resilience is a source of inspiration for both women and men fighting against injustices in Pakistan. Activists and lawyers said the case was an example of the challenges that women faced while fighting for their rights in a conservative, patriarchic society. Hundreds of women are attacked or killed each year in Pakistan, and many cases of violence in rural areas are handled by village councils rather than the courts. Siddiqi, who is studying law in England but returned to Pakistan for the Supreme Court verdict, said she hoped other women would follow in her footsteps. The courts decision proves today that if you raise your voice then the truth would win, she said. If you misuse your authority and power, it will eventually come in front of you. Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Read more about: CAPE CANAVERAL, FLA.Jeff Bezos rocket company, Blue Origin, launched NASA experiments into space Wednesday on a brief test flight. The New Shepard rocket blasted off from West Texas, hoisting a capsule containing the experiments. The eight experiments were exposed to a few minutes of weightlessness, before the capsule parachuted down. The rocket also landed successfully, completing its fourth spaceflight. That, everybody, is a reusable rocket, said launch commentator Ariane Cornell, director of astronaut and orbital sales. Welcome home, New Shepard. This was Blue Origins 10th test flight, all precursors to launching passengers by years end. The capsules have six windows, one for each customer. Blue Origin isnt taking reservations just yet. Instead, the Kent, Washington, company is focusing on brief research flights. Wednesdays flight lasted just over 10 minutes, with the capsule reaching 66 miles high, or 107 kilometres, well within the accepted boundary of space. The experiments featured electronics, rocket fuel, dust particles and biological imaging equipment. New Shepard is named after the first American in space, Alan Shepard. The company is also developing an orbital-class rocket, New Glenn, which will soar from Cape Canaveral. Its named after the first American to orbit Earth, John Glenn. Bezos is the founder of Amazon. WASHINGTONJared Kushner spoke up at a recent Oval Office meeting about cutting a deal to end the government shutdown, which has been the latest project for U.S. President Donald Trumps son-in-law and senior adviser. After listening to Kushner expound on policy and possible areas of compromise with Democrats, Trump glanced at the others in the room. Apparently, Jared has become an expert on immigration in the last 48 hours, Trump said, according to three people familiar with the exchange who requested anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly. The remark, described by one White House official as playful, underscored the latest power shift inside the White House: Kushner has emerged as an omnipresent and assertive player in the now-34-day impasse, despite deep skepticism on Capitol Hill about his political abilities and influence, according to more than a dozen Trump associates, lawmakers and others involved in the discussions. Repeatedly assuring Trump that he can personally strike a deal with Democrats, Kushner has overshadowed other advisers in a largely empty West Wing this month. He usually huddles to discuss strategy each morning with the president, Vice President Mike Pence and a few others, White House aides said. Kushners role has been fuelled by a burst of self-confidence following his help in passing criminal-justice reform legislation, his assistance on trade negotiations and the departure of former chief of staff John Kelly, who curbed his role and accused Kushner of playing government. But the efforts carry significant risks for both him and the president, whose boasts of being a savvy dealmaker are at the heart of his political appeal. Read more: Shutdown drags Trump approval to yearlong low, poll shows Donald Trumps shutdown solution gains little traction Trump retreats as Pelosi delays State of Union Convinced that Senate Democrats will eventually crack and that there are votes for a bipartisan agreement, Kushner has urged the president to dig in while also adjusting his position as his popularity suffers in public polls, according to a person close to him and White House officials. Kushner, who referred a request for comment to the White House, has told Trump advisers that he has solid relationships with several Democrats, such as Senate Minority Whip Richard Durbin of Illinois, and that he can sell a compromise to moderate Democrats and Republicans with whom he built a rapport while working on the criminal-justice bill. But a number of key Senate Democrats, including Sen. Joe Manchin III of West Virginia, havent heard from Kushner in weeks, according to aides. And aides to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., and Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., say he has played no role in their discussions to reopen the government. He is totally a nonentity, one senior Democratic aide said. Trumps offer in a speech last weekend to trade temporary protections for young undocumented immigrants and others for $5.7 billion for border wall funding had Kushners imprint, White House officials said, reflecting his push for a big deal to end the shutdown. The proposal is expected to fail in a Senate vote Thursday. Lawmakers in both parties have been careful to avoid directly criticizing Kushner. But they have also been blunt about the real estate heirs limited sway in crafting an accord among seasoned lawmakers as hundreds of thousands of federal workers go without paychecks. Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, a key moderate who has called for the government to reopen, said Wednesday that Kushner doesnt have the experience of Pence, a former House member, and others involved in the discussions. That does doesnt mean hes not helpful or hes not effective, but there is a difference there, Murkowski said, adding, Its really hard to understand the dynamics unless youve really been immersed in this. Rep. Hakeem Jeffries of New York, the chairman of the House Democratic Caucus, said Kushners contributions to criminal-justice discussions were constructive but that the shutdown is a far more difficult situation for him. To the extent he can build upon that, perhaps he can be helpful, Jeffries said. But hes going to have to move off the notion that Democrats are going to pay a $5.7 billion ransom note. Yet Trump, who often tires of advisers, has continued to give a great deal of control to Kushner, according to a senior White House official. Kushner has been a constant at the Capitol, ducking into meetings with party leaders and attempting to shepherd talks. He has mostly avoided speaking publicly, instead working from his sparsely decorated West Wing office where Reeses candy is on the table, a Kanye West poster is above the door and photos of his wife, Ivanka Trump, are on his desk. Kushner speaks frequently with Republican leaders, such as Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky and House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy of California along with some rank-and-file lawmakers, officials said. Last week, Kushner told several moderates who were considering sending Trump a letter calling for the government to reopen that they should hold off on doing so because a bipartisan pact was still possible. Kushners message was to save the postage because Trump would not support a short-term plan, GOP and White House officials said and the letter went unsent. In meetings, Kushner has cast Washington as broken and cast himself as a businessman who can cut a deal that others cannot. But Kushners pitch has rattled some Republicans who have worked with him, calling it confusing and distracting, GOP and White House officials said. Kushner has also been willing to consider a number of suggestions from Democrats that others in the White House have blanched at considering, adding to conservative anxiety. Former House speaker Newt Gingrich, a Trump and Kushner ally who presided over an unpopular shutdown during the Clinton administration, said there is tension between what Jared is trying to accomplish and what some people in the White House are trying to block. For Jared to succeed, hes going to have to get control to make sure the legislative language of what comes out from the White House reflects the commitments that are being made, Gingrich said. Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... A person familiar with Kushners strategy said he has been focused on targeting Democrats who may want to break from leadership and has had positive conversations with many of them. The person declined to say who Kushner had spoken to, citing the sensitivity of the negotiations. Democrats have shown skepticism about Kushner in the past. When members of Congress visited Tel Aviv in April 2018, some chuckled aloud when the U.S. ambassador talked about Kushners extensive progress on Middle East peace, according to a person present for the meeting. Trump put Kushner in charge of drafting a peace proposal, yet to be proposed, for Israel and the Palestinians at the start of his presidency. Kushner, aware of the suspicions in some GOP quarters, has reached out to conservatives and assured them that his commitment to a border wall is as strong as Trumps and that he wants to make sure they support a bipartisan deal if one emerges. I love the Kush, Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., a conservative Trump ally, said. Ill tell you what, hes turned out to be a master negotiator and a competent force on the Hill. Jared has really deployed private-sector deal making to this process and brought that to Trump world. Ken Kurson, a longtime Kushner friend, said he could teach a master class in getting to yes. When he first began serving in the Trump administration, many Twitter tough guys took shots at his lack of experience, Kurson said. Now that hes helped the president put together a series of wins that many of those same pundits said were impossible . . . I think everyone in America, on all political sides, is glad Jared Kushner is in the room. Over the last year, Kushner has had a dramatic stretch of highs and lows, including scrutiny from the ongoing special counsels Russia probe and for his work to build a relationship with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who intelligence officials have connected to the gruesome murder of Jamal Khashoggi, a Saudi journalist who had been living in the U.S. and wrote columns for The Washington Post. The grumbles inside the White House have continued, with some aides and officials saying that he is attempting to act as an equal in negotiations to Pence and acting chief of staff Mick Mulvaney but that he fundamentally misunderstands the Democrats leverage and pressure points. They cant jam Pelosi. They never will. They think Nancy Pelosi will have to eat something. Shes not going to have to eat anything, said one senior administration official who requested anonymity because they are not authorized to speak publicly. Kushner has also kept others out of the deliberations, determined to avoid leaks to the news media, White House officials said. A person close to Kushner said he doesnt trust many of his colleagues in the White House. Shahira Knight, the legislative affairs director, has expressed unease with the White Houses operation during the shutdown. Another senior White House official called Kushners positioning delusional. At a meeting last Thursday, Kushner spoke at length about why his proposed compromise could work. McConnell offered his reservations but said he was willing to support it to jump-star negotiations, according to people familiar with the matter. Others present said Kushner was the main speaker from the White House, even though Pence and Mulvaney were present. After Trump spoke over the weekend, conservatives aligned with Trumps immigration stance, from Rep. Steve King, R-Iowa, to commentator Ann Coulter, denounced the new proposal as amnesty and a political mistake. Democrats, meanwhile, rejected the offer before it was announced. As the shutdown enters its second month, there is little confidence among White House aides that a deal is near. Morale has plummeted, according to five White House officials. Many desks in the building sit idle due to the shutdown. But Kushner has told others in the White House that Democrats are coming along and that a deal will be done. For his part, Trump has told advisers he could still declare a national emergency, a route Kushner has cautioned against. Trumps patience with Kushners involvement could become strained if Democrats continue to wave off Trumps offer and hold firm, officials said. Im glad hes involved, Rep. Tom Cole, R-Okla., said. Is it a tough issue? Yes. Is it different than criminal justice? Yes. But hes trying to get people together and for that, there is appreciation. spending-kushner Read more about: Canadas immigration authorities locked up nearly 1,500 nonviolent immigration detainees in maximum-security jails last year, the Star has found. These detainees have been incarcerated in the most restrictive conditions possible alongside sentenced criminals and those awaiting trial on serious charges. While they may have criminal records, the detainees were not considered dangerous by the Immigration and Refugee Board. Almost all were detained solely on the grounds that they were unlikely to appear for their immigration hearing. A Star analysis of government statistics from April 1, 2017 to March 31, 2018, found that 80 per cent of immigration detainees held in provincial jails rather than less restrictive immigration holding centres were not detained on the grounds that they were dangers to the public. Data from the months since then shows the rate is unchanged. All provincial jails are maximum security. Its abhorrent for the government to be placing people in maximum-security jails that it acknowledges are not a danger, said Subodh Bharati, an immigration lawyer at the Community and Legal Aid Services Program at Osgoode Hall Law School. Bharati said that by the governments own description, immigration detention is explicitly administrative and not punitive. But incarceration in a maximum-security jail is punitive by its very nature. Two Superior Court judges have also criticized the practice. Read More: Immigration detainee Ebrahim Toure finally free after more than five years Caged by Canada | 2017 Star Investigation Jail medical staff gave Teresa Gratton methadone doses way above guidelines, and this caused her death Public Safety Minister Ralph Goodale has for several years repeated his governments commitment to minimize the use of provincial jails for immigration detainees as part of an overall plan to create a better and fairer system for immigration detention in Canada. While the Liberals have reduced the use of jails roughly one-third of all immigration detainees were sent to provincial jails under Stephen Harpers Conservative government, compared to 20 per cent last year the latest statistics show that more than three years after Goodales Liberals took power, Canada continues to routinely use them for nonviolent detainees. Among that population is people who have been trafficked and asylum seekers who may be recovering from trauma of one kind or another, said Jared Will, an immigration lawyer who has long challenged Canadas immigration detention system. Youre putting them in a terrifying and sometimes objectively dangerous environment when theres no justification for doing it whatsoever. Goodale declined to be interviewed for this story, but a spokesman provided a written response to the Stars questions, saying the government has made a number of changes and continues to work to dramatically reduce the use of provincial jails for immigration detention. Scott Bardsley cited the expansion of alternatives to detention, revamped risk assessments of detainees and the ongoing upgrades to immigration holding centres as among the governments efforts. We are implementing reforms in an effective and orderly way that maintains public safety. The use of jails and the co-mingling of immigration detainees with criminal detainees has been repeatedly cited by human rights groups, detainee advocates and the United Nations as a major problem with Canadas immigration detention system. We would never take these sorts of measures against citizens, said Hanna Gros, a lawyer at the University of Torontos International Human Rights Program. But somehow its okay to take these measures against non-citizens, who are often not criminals and most certainly not serving time for any criminal behaviour. Ebrahim Toure, who had no history of violence and was not considered a danger to the public, spent the first four-and-a-half of his five-and-a-half years in immigration detention in a maximum-security jail. The Canada Border Services Agency said he was a higher risk detainee due to his criminality in the U.S., which consisted of a decade-old conviction for selling pirated CDs and DVDs, an offence for which he served no jail time. A year before he was eventually released from detention, Superior Court Justice Alfred OMarra ordered Toures immediate transfer to an immigration holding centre, saying that detaining him in such restrictive conditions was grossly disproportionate to the risk he posed and the reason he was being detained. OMarra noted that Toure had spent more time in maximum-security jail than someone convicted of a serious crime of violence. Immigration detention in Canada occurs in two types of facilities: federal immigration holding centres, of which there are three across the country, and provincial jails. Immigration detainees are not criminally charged, but when they are sent to a provincial jail they are treated the same as any other prisoner. They wear orange jumpsuits, are regularly strip searched and are subject to frequent lockdowns when they are confined to their cells without being able to shower, go outside or see visitors. Sometimes a lockdown lasts days or weeks. Immigration holding centres are medium-security facilities exclusively for immigration detainees. Detainees are not locked in their rooms, are able to move much more freely within the facility and have easier access to phones and visitors. There is one in Toronto, one outside Montreal in Laval, Que., and a short-term holding centre at the Vancouver airport that will soon be replaced by a new facility in Surrey, B.C. None of the immigration holding centres are at or near capacity. The Canada Border Services Agency has the power to indefinitely detain non-citizens on one, or a combination, of the following three grounds: They are a danger to the public; they are unlikely to appear for their deportation or other immigration matters (what officials call flight risk); or their identity is in doubt. Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... After a person is detained, they have a quasi-judicial hearing at the Immigration and Refugee Board, where the CBSA makes its arguments and a government-appointed adjudicator decides whether detention should continue. Some detainees have lawyers, but many represent themselves at the hearings, which occur after the first 48 hours, seven days and then every 30 days thereafter. What is not discussed at the hearing is in what kind of facility the detainee will be held. That decision is made solely by the CBSA and is not subject to any external oversight. This aspect of the system was criticized by Justice OMarra, who, when ordering Toures transfer to an immigration holding centre in 2017, said the current system contains no mechanism to ensure proportionality between the flight risk which he has been found to be and the actual conditions of his detention. To determine where a detainee will be placed, a CBSA officer fills out a form known as a National Risk Assessment for Detention, which was revised last year. The Star revealed problems with the risk assessment forms in 2017, including officers leaving key areas blank and, in one instance, an officer admitting on the form that they had not been trained to fill it out. The new form has been in place since last February. Detainees used to be classified as high, medium or low risk, but they are now graded on a point scale based on nine questions intended to assess their relative risk. A history of violent behaviour or associations with organized crime, for example, will lead to a higher risk score and a placement in a provincial jail. Detainees with no history or association with violence should score lower on the risk scale and be sent to an immigration holding centre. The new form still allows considerable discretion. If a detainee scores between five and nine points, its up to the officer filling it out whether they are sent to a provincial jail or immigration holding centre. If an immigration detainee is apprehended outside of the greater Toronto, Montreal or Vancouver areas, they are often automatically sent to a provincial jail, regardless of the risk they pose. The CBSA said it has observed a significant reduction in the use of jails since the revised NRAD form was implemented nearly a year ago. First-quarter statistics from the current fiscal year show the number of detainees sent to jails declined by two percentage points compared to the prior years rate. The CBSA said they have been reviewing cases on a regular basis to ensure that the placement of individuals is appropriate and in line with their determined level of risk. One of the most confusing explanations the government has given for why it has relied so heavily on provincial jails for immigration detention is that its own immigration holding centres were not equipped to handle the kinds of detainees its policies said they should. Detainees with nonviolent criminal records should be held in an immigration holding centre, not a provincial jail, according to CBSAs detention guidelines. But Torontos Immigration Holding Centre needed to be renovated so they could accommodate such detainees. Renovations were originally scheduled to be completed last July, but now the agency says it will be spring before they are finished. Meanwhile, new immigration holding centres in Surrey and Laval are expected to be complete by the end of this year and 2021, respectively. The new facilities, which will replace existing ones, will allow the CBSA to make them the default detention location for most detainees, Bardsley said. The government says provincial jails will still be used for the highest risk detainees and in parts of the country where there is no immigration holding centre. The Central East Correctional Centre, a maximum-security provincial jail in Lindsay, Ont., is home to hundreds of immigration detainees each year, including many who have been detained for months or years. The so-called superjail, which can hold up to 1,184 prisoners, is notorious for its high number of lockdowns and incidents of violence. Last February, correctional officers at the jail walked off the job citing unsafe work conditions. Its where Toure, who was released in September on a number of conditions, spent the bulk of his half-decade in detention before his court-ordered transfer to the Immigration Holding Centre. He told the Star in a recent interview that he was randomly attacked by other inmates on two occasions during his time at Central East. In one instance, he said he was hospitalized after being sucker-punched. When youre in jail you never feel safe, he said. Toure said that while he was inside the Immigration Holding Centre, his quality of life was much better than it was at Central East. When they put you in Lindsay, youre a criminal, he said. Those guards dont know who you are and they arent going to treat you any different. The harsh conditions of the jail included twice-a-week strip searches, when jail guards would order him to undress and then handcuff him before they searched his mouth and anus. Lockdowns were also frequent. Records entered as evidence in Toures court challenge showed that all of his lockdowns added up to nearly a year-and-a-half confined to a six-by-12-foot cell. Toure says he once endured a single lockdown of more than two weeks. Immigration detainees in provincial jails are also subject to solitary confinement, sometimes for several months at a time. Forty-five immigration detainees in Ontario jails spent time in solitary confinement between April 1 and May 31 of last year, according to a snapshot of government statistics released in November as part of a legal settlement. One-third of those detainees spent more than 15 consecutive days in segregation, including four who had been segregated for more than 130 consecutive days. United Nations guidelines recommend a 15-day limit on solitary confinement. All four of the detainees who spent more than 130 days in solitary were segregated for multiple reasons, according to the data. All four also had a mental health alert, signalling possible issues with their mental health. At Toures court challenge, a psychiatrist testified that Toure who was never put in segregation suffered from major problems with his mental health, including auditory and visual hallucinations. The psychiatrist could not say whether Toures mental health problems were caused by his indefinite incarceration in a maximum-security jail, but he said they were definitely exacerbated by it. Toure says he only started hearing voices during his time in jail. He said he still has nightmares and often wakes up screaming. Read more about: Between the oceans bright blue surface and its blackest depths 200 metres to 1,000 metres below is a mysterious, dark span of water. Welcome to the twilight zone. Recent evidence suggests there are more animals here by weight than in all of the worlds fisheries combined. But who lives here, and in what quantities? Since August, a group of scientists has been using new technology to better understand the twilight zones strange inhabitants. They hope their findings will lead to a more sustainable approach before the fishing industry tries to harvest some of its abundant life as fisheries closer to the surface are diminished. The time is right to get this knowledge before its too late, said Heidi Sosik, a biologist at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution who is leading the Ocean Twilight Zone project. This twilight zone region of the ocean is really, very barely explored, but the more we learn, the more interesting and more important it seems to be in playing a role in the whole ecosystem. Here are highlights of their first cruise: Tracking with sound Each animal in the ocean has its own auditory signature that ships usually detect by sending out sound waves that bounce or scatter off their bodies. Its how whale-watching cruises often find humpbacks for guests to view. But the acoustic fingerprints of twilight zone animals are still mysterious because shipboard sonar dont have the bandwidth to distinguish the many organisms living far below the surface in whats called the deep scattering layer. Its an area so dense with life that people once thought it was the sea floor. Around 250 different species of myctophids, or lantern fish, make up much of this dense layer. Though abundant enough to trick sonar, individually they are no bigger than an index finger. During a 10-day expedition in the Atlantic, the team towed an instrument called Deep-See from the Henry B. Bigelow, a ship from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Inside that deep layer, it detected a range of frequencies that the scientists hope to match with pictures and DNA to create an auditory dictionary of twilight zone inhabitants. Tiny bodies, small appetites The common bristlemouth is the most abundant vertebrate on the planet. Some of them look like crazy monsters, Sosik said. But, she pointed out, most of the animals that live in the twilight zone are really small. This size adaptation is vital where food is scarce, because small things dont need as much of it. Though small, theyre fierce One fang-toothed monster, the Sloanes viperfish (Chauliodus sloani), could fit inside your hand. This guy would be considered one of the big, bad predators down there, said Paul Caiger, a biologist at Woods Hole and the cruise photographer. It has one of the biggest teeth-to-body-size ratios in the animal kingdom. Its teeth are too large for its mouth to accommodate, so it closes them like a cage, imprisoning its prey before it eats. These fish might not see prey for a few days, and when they see something, they dont want to lose it, he said. Making light in the depths The belly of a hatchetfish contains light organs or photophores. Many animals down in the twilight zone make their own light through a chemical reaction inside photophores of various shapes, sizes and arrangements. Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... By turning on these lights and regulating their intensity, hatchetfish blend in with light flowing down from the surface, becoming invisible to predators looking up for silhouettes from below. This hiding technique, called counterillumination, is the most common use of bioluminescence in the twilight zone. Animals like the hatchetfish also use their bodies as mirrors to hide, or even make themselves transparent. Bumping in the dark For sensing a dimly lit environment, animals like the lantern fish may turn their eyes into giant lenses for low light. Or like the common fangtooth, they opt for other senses. It relies on kind of just bumping into things in the middle of the night, Caiger said. The ridge along its body has pressure sensors that can detect objects, current or animals moving in the water a few body lengths away. A mucus coating enhances the fishs ability to detect chemicals around it. The journey of a living wave When the navy started using active acoustics to monitor the sea in the 1930s, it noticed lots of sound bouncing off a layer they thought was the bottom. But its depth changed from night to day. This false bottom turns out to be a mass of animals that journey hundreds to thousands of feet from the depths to the surface nightly in a living wave that wraps around the planet. During the day, surface dwellers like sharks, tunas and swordfish dive down to the depths to eat, evidence shows. The layers are not distinct, Sosik said. The organisms that live in one layer are influenced by the organisms that live in another. Scientists working to untangle this multi-layered food chain think it may play a major role in regulating climate by keeping carbon in the ocean. And thats part of why its so important to study these watery depths that we ordinarily cannot see. If you imagined erasing the life in the twilight zone, it wouldnt affect just that layer, Sosik said. It would affect the ocean and the whole planet. Toronto Pride festivities will be scaled back due financial pressures, Prides executive director said Wednesday, a day after the organizations members narrowly voted against allowing uniformed police officers to march in this years parade. The festival this year is going to be very much slimmed down, Olivia Nuamah told the Star. The signature June parade will go on, as corporations pay to participate, but there will be significantly fewer stages during the weekend of events surrounding it, down to three from about 15, Nuamah said. There will also be fewer performances and artists, and only two parties instead of five over the course of Pride Month. Nuamah did not blame the financial constraints on Tuesdays vote, but a background document sent to membership ahead of the 163-to-161 decision suggested that banning police in uniform would have an impact. In 2018, the political climate changed, and Pride Torontos position on the participation of the Toronto Police had to come under reconsideration, the backgrounder read. It became clear that while our funding arrangements in the past could withstand our policy on police participation, our future funding could not. Read more: Pride Toronto members narrowly vote against police in parade Pride Toronto embarks on cross-country federally funded examination of policing problems We asked 10 people in the LGBTQ community to share their most cherished Toronto safe spaces An auditors report for Pride released last summer said the organization was nearly $700,000 in debt, and needed to maintain current levels of funding as well as find new sources. Nuamah blamed the debt on a restructuring, which resulted in hiring new staff, that happened after the 2016 parade was disrupted by Black Lives Matter. Nuamah said the memberships decision stands as a clear mandate on police, and theres no question for the foreseeable future, they will not be marching (in uniform) in Torontos Pride parade. In October, the board voted to allow police to submit an application to march in the parade. Uniformed officers been banned since 2016, when Black Lives Matter held up the parade to protest their presence, among other issues. Some Pride members dont believe the policy has put the event in jeopardy. The Pride Toronto crisis was in our view overblown to justify the need for the police to be let back in, said member Gary Kinsman in an email. Pride Toronto still has lots of funds and should be looking for a more streamlined program and less reliance on high-paying acts, as well as for funding with no strings attached. Long-standing tensions between Torontos LGBTQ community and police came to a head last spring with the arrest of Bruce McArthur on eight charges of first-degree murder in the deaths of men who had connections to the citys Church and Wellesley Gay Village. Police were also criticized for Project Marie, a 2016 raid of an Etobicoke park in which officers ticked 72 people, mostly men, for non-criminal offences including trespassing and public sexual activity. Charges against about a dozen men were later withdrawn. Pride member Christin Milloy voted no to police participation in this years parade, and is happy that officers wont be marching in uniform. Pride is not for police. Pride is for queer people, including Black Indigenous and people of colour queer people, Milloy said. Their inclusion and safety needs to be prioritized above police organizations. Toronto police spokesperson Kevin Masterman wrote in an email that the force is committed to maintaining a dialogue with the community and delivering inclusive and responsive services, regardless of the outcome of one particular vote or event. But Toronto Police Association president Mike McCormack said the unions members are disappointed that they will not be allowed to march. Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... This is about a parade thats supposed to be inclusive, about celebrating a community and allowing people to get out there, and breaking down stigma and stereotypes, McCormack said, noting the close decision was hardly an overwhelming or decisive vote. He said the relationship with the community has always been a work in progress and it will continue to be, but that banning officers in uniform is not the answer. The officers want to get out there and be proud, McCormack said. While Prides leadership said it accepts the decision, Mayor John Tory vowed to keep seeking a resolution. I find it deeply disappointing, Tory told reporters Wednesday. The inclusion of the police in Pride for 2019 would be a positive step for a positive, beloved event, and a sign of good faith, he said. While the mayor said he would continue to work on recognizing the legitimate issues between the community and the police, my job is to find a resolution, not to sort of concede. The online vote was held Tuesday during a meeting of more than two hours at Ryerson University. Milloy said she was concerned that almost 250 new members were registered in the days leading up to it. For them to suddenly, overnight, register 244 new members when the previous total was 265 and its right on the eve of this decision, its very suspicious, she said. Milloy believes its time for a new board at Pride Toronto and return to a grassroots organizing structure. Nuamah said members on both sides of the debate chose to register members who were already eligible so they could have a say in the vote, and that scrutineers were able to verify the online voting numbers. Nuamah said a $450,000 federal grant, announced last fall to improve the relationship between LGBTQ communities and the criminal justice system, has taken some of the pressure off Prides funding crunch. But she said its always a worry when you take any position that may be perceived as extreme, so I wouldnt say Im not worried about it for sure. Its just something were going to have to manage. Pride also receives grants from Department of Canadian Heritage, the city, the province and the Ontario Trillium Foundation, according to the auditors report. Dr. Harvey Hyson believed he was emailing a 16-year-old girl when he placed a request for just some oral and straight up sex. Nothing too exotic. But the girl was an undercover police officer, and the London neurologist and former medical school professor was arrested at their planned meeting spot in April 2012. Police seized $300 from his front pocket that was intended to pay for the anticipated sexual encounter, according to a statement of uncontested facts filed Wednesday at Hysons discipline hearing at the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario. Hyson was stripped of his licence after being found guilty of conduct unbecoming of a physician and guilty of an offence that is relevant to his suitability to practise. He had pleaded no contest to the charges, meaning he was not admitting guilt but also consenting to the panel accepting the allegations as fact for the purpose of the hearing. The statement of facts said Hyson met the girl on Craigslist, and the two communicated over several weeks by email, with the doctor using the name Rob and the email address london-dude@live.ca, which he accessed at work at Western University and the London Health Sciences Centre. The undercover officer used the name Janice and the email address londonontgrrrl@hotmail.com without the I, and three Rs, specified the college prosecution. The Craigslist ad that got Hysons attention read $weet and Petite girl for you. Hyson had already pleaded guilty in criminal court in 2016 to one count of attempting to stop a motor vehicle for the purposes of obtaining sexual services of a prostitute, which was against the law at the time of his arrest in 2012, according to the statement of uncontested facts. He was given a suspended sentence, meaning no jail time, and six months probation. Western University told the Star that Hyson was placed on academic suspension after his arrest in 2012, and resigned in 2014. A spokesperson for London Health Sciences Centre said Hyson was an ex-officio, non-voting member of the board of directors from summer 2010 until he surrendered his hospital privileges in 2012. His conduct erodes the publics confidence and trust in the medical profession, college prosecutor Simmy Dhamrait-Sohi told the panel Wednesday. At the same time, the college withdrew allegations that Hyson accessed and possessed child pornography. Aside from losing his licence, Hyson must also pay the college $6,000 for the costs of Wednesdays discipline hearing. Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Your conduct was predatory, reprehensible and inexcusable. You deliberately sought out a minor child for your own sexual gratification, discipline panel chair John Langs told Hyson in a reprimand. This was not a temporary lapse of judgment but a planned act involving correspondence over a period of time. All the time knowing that you thought you were in contact with a 16-year-old girl. Your persistence in pursuing your personal gratification was very troubling. You knew your actions were immoral and illegal but regardless you carried on. OTTAWA Canadas top sailor says he is currently comfortable with having only one temporary support ship in the water, as the Trudeau government faces pressure from Quebec and opposition parties to lease a second such vessel. The federal government awarded Quebec-based Davie Shipbuilding a $700-million contract to convert a civilian container ship into a temporary supply vessel and lease it to the navy for at least five years. The deal, negotiated by the Harper Conservatives and finalized by the Trudeau Liberals, was intended to address a serious gap in the navys ability to conduct overseas missions after retiring its previous two support ships in 2015. Davie delivered the MV Asterix to the navy last year; the vessel recently returned from a six-month deployment around Asia and the Pacific and is currently docked near Victoria in preparation for a second tour. The Quebec government, Davie and federal opposition parties have since stepped up pressure on Ottawa to move ahead on a contract for a second temporary ship to address the navys needs and support local workers. But in an interview, Royal Canadian Navy commander Vice-Admiral Ron Lloyd indicated that he did not currently believe the MV Obelix, which Davie is offering to convert and lease for $500 million, is needed. If youre asking me in terms of where we find ourselves as a navy, am I comfortable with one interim (support ship)? Lloyd said. Im comfortable. That comfort, he said, is based on when officials expect to receive two permanent support ships that are being built in Vancouver. The latest schedule calls for the first joint support ship, as the permanent vessels are known, to be delivered in 2022-23. Right now, the Asterix is delivering on our requirement predicated on the timelines for the joint support ship. The Trudeau government last year approved a plan to start cutting some steel on the joint support ships ahead of schedule as Seaspans Vancouver Shipyards waited for the Canadian Coast Guard to finish design work on a science vessel. The Defence Departments procurement chief, Patrick Finn, said in a separate interview that things have progressed further than anticipated as the front half of the first joint support ship is nearing completion. That, combined with many of the lessons learned over the past number of years, have led officials to have a high degree of confidence that the first vessel will be ready by early or summer 2023, Finn said. That confidence wasnt shared Thursday by Davie and the union representing its workers, however, both of which noted that the joint support ships have experienced numerous delays over the years. Construction on the first ship was supposed to start in 2016, with delivery this year, but that schedule has changed several times even as the cost for the project has grown to $3.4 billion from an initial budget of $2.3 billion. The track record of the (national shipbuilding) strategy is abysmal, said Davie spokesman Frederik Boisvert. Its failure after failure after failure. Nobody right now can guarantee the timeline. Boisvert went on to reference a Senate report released in 2017, in which members of the red chamber wrote that military commanders should not serve as cheerleaders for the government. The federal government agreed last year to purchase three second-hand icebreakers from Davie for the coast guard and has tapped it to do maintenance work on three of the navys frigates starting in 2021. But Boisvert said the shipyard is nonetheless down to roughly 200 workers from a high of more than 1,000 when Asterix was being converted, and that the Obelix contract would support hundreds more jobs. Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Davie isnt the only one to have raised the issue; one of the Quebec legislatures last acts before rising for Christmas was the unanimous adoption of a resolution asking Ottawa to award a contract for the Obelix. In the meantime, Ann Gingras, regional president for the union representing Davie workers, says while some of her members are being recruited by other shipyards, many are without work as they wait for Ottawa to act. Asked whether the federal Liberals could pay a price in Quebec if more work doesnt head Davies way, Gingras said: I have no idea. But I know that the people are greatly disappointed because they had high expectations of the Liberal government. Read more about: OTTAWACanada plans to soon host a meeting of countries from the Americas determined to steer troubled Venezuela back on a path to democracy. The gathering of the Lima Group of nations is likely to take place in Canada some time this winter, sources tell The Canadian Press. Word of the plan comes a day after the group expressed full support for Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido amid mounting political turmoil in the South American country. As large crowds filled the streets, Guaido declared himself interim president just two weeks after Nicolas Maduro was sworn in for a contested second term. Canada has accused Maduro of seizing power through fraudulent, anti-democratic elections in May of last year. More than three million Venezuelans have fled in the last few years in search of basics such as food and health care. Read more: Opinion | Recognizing a rival president in Venezuela is a dangerous move Jagmeet Singh questions Canadas recognition of Venezuelan opposition leader Opinion | Thomas Walkom: Canada an unlikely ally of U.S. in backing Venezuela coup Global Affairs Canada is advising people to avoid non-essential travel to Venezuela due to the high level of violent crime, the unstable political and economic situations, and shortages of medication, food and water. Canada closed its embassy in Caracas for the day Thursday and will assess whether to open it day-to-day based on the degree of upheaval. The Lima Group was established in August 2017, in Lima, Peru, to co-ordinate participating countries efforts and apply international pressure on Venezuela until democracy is restored. The groups meetings have included representatives from Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Guyana, Honduras, Jamaica, Mexico, Panama, Paraguay, Peru and Saint Lucia. Like Ottawa, Washington backs Guaido and is calling for Maduro to step aside. Canada, which has imposed three rounds of sanctions against Maduros government, emphasizes the value of playing a leading role in the Lima Group. Canada has perhaps less of the baggage than the U.S. brings to dealing with Latin American politics, said one senior official, who spoke on condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the situation in Venezuela. Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Its particularly important for this not to be seen as just a Venezuela-specific issue, said another source. This is a global issue in terms of democratic rights and freedoms. Its a humanitarian issue, a financial issue. Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland has been clear that Canada will stand up for human rights and democratic ideals, the source said. The Lima Group has proven to be a very strong force for that. Canada has worked on the ground in Venezuela with Chile, Peru, Colombia and Brazil. Ottawa anticipated Guaidos emergence through pretty close contact with him in recent months, said one official. It only made sense for us to recognize him once he declared himself interim president of the country. Thousands of people arrive in Colombia each day from Venezuela, many of them women and girls in particular need of protection from physical threats and assault, said a report released Thursday by the World Refugee Council, a global body composed of nearly two dozen political leaders, policy advisers and academic experts. Fen Osler Hampson, the councils executive director, said Canadas efforts on the political front in Venezuela are enormously important. But he urged Ottawa to push to have a portion of the frozen foreign assets of Maduro and his associates go toward helping the refugees. The Opposition Conservatives issued a statement this week condemning Maduros illegitimate rule over Venezuela. The New Democrats, however, were less definitive. NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh called the events in Venezuela a humanitarian crisis and condemned military action against protesters. But he added Thursday that Canada should not simply follow the U.S.s foreign policy, particularly given its history of self-interested interference in the region. The question of who leads Venezuela should be in the hands of the people, Singh said. All countries should be free to make their own democratic decisions through free and fair elections, independent of authoritative pressure or foreign interference. New Democrat MP Niki Ashton was more blunt, tweeting that Prime Minister Justin Trudeau had sided with U.S. President Donald Trumps regime change agenda and Brazils fascist president. Read more about: Quebecs long gun registry will come into force as scheduled next week, but the public security minister offered concessions Wednesday to gun owners who have been slow to sign up. Genevieve Guilbault told reporters the Coalition Avenir Quebec government will introduce a bill easing some of the rules in the legislation, which was adopted in 2016 under the previous Liberal government. Guilbault made clear the government remains committed to the registry, which some would like to see abolished. There is a law, and the law as well as the registry are here to stay, so people have to comply, Guilbault told reporters in Quebec City. They have a few days left to register their guns legally, because as of Jan. 30, fines could apply. With the Jan. 29 deadline for registering less than a week away, Guilbault said about 350,000 people have listed their weapons, with a notable uptick this month. The total is less than a quarter of the 1.6 million long guns mostly shotguns and rifles estimated to be owned by Quebecers. Guilbault said the proposed amendments were a response to gun owners concerns that were ignored by the previous government. Once the amendments are passed, gun owners will no longer have to notify the registry if they have their firearm away from its usual storage location for more than two weeks. That period considered too short by hunters who spend long periods in the bush will be extended, but Guilbault did not say for how long. Owners also wont have to provide their weapons registration number upon request by a peace officer or provide the barrel length when registering a weapon. The registration number requirement was seen as unnecessary bureaucracy, and directions to determine barrel length were unclear. Read more: Quebec Premier says no changes to provinces gun registry despite call for better screening Less than 20 per cent of long guns registered in Quebec ahead of Jan. 29 deadline Gun control activists impatient with process to pass governments firearms bill Guilbault said she hopes to increase participation and make the registry more efficient at the same time. She added the cost of the registry remains as forecast about $20 million to implement and $5 million annually to administer. Heidi Rathjen, a spokesperson for the gun-control group PolySeSouvient, took part in Guilbaults news conference. She said her group supports the governments proposed changes. The devil may be in the details, but in principle, as long as it doesnt compromise public safety, were completely in favour, Rathjen said. For us, the most important thing is the law will stay, it will come into effect, that if you get caught, you can get a fine. Opponents of the registry have been encouraging people to delay signing up in hopes the government would be forced to backtrack. Rathjen said the proper forum for that debate is the courts, where a Superior Court decision upholding the registry is currently being appealed. Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Alain Cossette of the Federation quebecoise des chasseurs et pecheurs, a lobby group representing hunters and anglers, said it remains opposed to the registry but hasnt encouraged civil disobedience of any sort. As soon as the law was there, we worked to have the changes that are announced today, Cossette said, adding that the ultimate goal is to see the registry abolished. There will not be a penalty for late registration, but people who are caught with unregistered weapons will face fines of between $500 and $5,000. MERRITT, B.C. A legal battle between a British Columbia fish and game club and one of the worlds largest cattle firms has taken another twist as the two sides fight over access to two public lakes. Nicola Valley Fish and Game Club director Rick McGowan says the Douglas Lake Cattle Company intends to appeal a B.C. Supreme Court ruling that found the company illegally blocked access to Stoney and Minnie lakes east of Merritt. McGowan says grounds of the appeal arent yet clear and he expects it could be a month or two before the club receives any paperwork. Fish and game club members are disappointed because McGowan says the club has already spent more than $270,000 fighting in court for access to the lakes. The dispute began nearly three decades ago when Douglas Lake Cattle locked out members of the club by decommissioning and gating a road over its land, even though that was the only route to the lakes. In a ruling issued in December, Justice Joel Groves found the provincial government retains rights to the lakes, that the fish are public property and public access is required. The judge chided the province in the decision for failing to protect the interests of British Columbians, writing it is most unfortunate that all governments holding the obligation of the public trust have failed to take any actions to prohibit what was an illegal obstruction of a public road by a corporate entity, for its own benefit. A spokesman for the Douglas Lake Cattle Company confirmed an appeal of the ruling had been filed, but said he could not comment further. (CHNL, The Canadian Press) Read more about: SINGAPORE, Jan. 23 (Xinhua) -- Participants from 41 Asia-Pacific members under the regional office of the United Nations Environmental Program (UNEP) took part in the third edition of the forum here on Wednesday. The forum was held under the auspices of the UNEP and hosted by the Ministry of the Environment and Water Resources of Singapore. The event saw governments, businesses, scientists, academia, non-governmental organizations and United Nations agencies coming together to address environmental issues in the world as well as identify key priorities and solutions. The event was opened by Singapore's Minister for the Environment and Water Resources Masagos Zulkifli, Minister of Environment of Estonia Siim Kiisler and Acting Executive Director of the UNEP Joyce Msuya. The theme of the forum is "Innovative solutions for environmental challenges and sustainable consumption and production." "The Forum will advance the global conversation on combating key environmental issues, including climate change and the sustainable use of resources," the Singaporean minister said. On the sidelines of the three-day forum there are exhibitions that showcase solutions and progress on environmental issues in the region, as well as dialogues on major challenges with the ministers and heads of delegations. The outcomes of the forum will be brought to the fourth session of the United Nations Environment Assembly that will be held in Nairobi, Kenya in March. "Home to four billion people, the Asia and the Pacific is highly vulnerable to climate change. Global warming, pollution and ecosystem degradation are putting lives and livelihoods at risk," Msuya said, adding that "The region is also the source of some of the most innovative approaches to addressing these challenges, particularly in changing the way we consume and produce." HALIFAXHeavy rain and strong winds were expected in much of Atlantic Canada Thursday, prompting school closures and snarling travel. Environment Canada was forecasting a messy grab bag of weather that included rain, freezing rain, snow and intense winds. It says a low pressure system over the Great Lakes will intensify as it passes over Nova Scotia, with winds gusting to 90 kilometres an hour and possibly damaging buildings and trees. Its expected to dump up to 40 millimetres of rain in Nova Scotia, while significant rain and strong winds were forecast for P.E.I. and Newfoundland, where up to 35 mm of rain was expected by Friday. Schools were closed throughout New Brunswick due to widespread concerns over prolonged periods of snow, freezing rain, rain and winds that could gust to 80 km/h. People are being cautioned about possible flooding and encouraged to postpone non-essential travel until conditions improve. Some scattered power outages were being reported in southern New Brunswick and Nova Scotia. Read more: Halifax in line for more significant rain as see-saw January weather continues Nova Scotia mom pulls her 4-year-old from submerged car Winter storm brings snow, rain, wind and cold to Eastern, Central Canada Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Read more about: A controversial Vaughan condo development application has hit a dramatic snag after the citys committee of adjustment deferred it for a second time this month. An 11th-hour application for a legal injunction against Gupta Group, the developer that cancelled the giant Icona condo project last year, prompted the committee to postpone indefinitely a decision on the companys variance application. The postponement came as temporary relief for about 100 condo buyers who attended the meeting Thursday in hopes of pressuring the city to dismiss Guptas application to sell condos on the same site they bought into. But it remains unclear whether the development will go ahead once a court rules on the injunction. Buyers say the developer never had and still doesnt have the right to sell homes there because of a restrictive covenant on the property. Although purchasers in the Icona towers were refunded their money more than a year after buying pre-construction condos, many say they have been left behind on the regions pricey property ladder. Read more: Angry condo buyers want Vaughan to reject developers second application Vaughan condo buyers take developer to court over cancelled project Environmentalists fear provincial changes mean Greenbelt is open for development It was the numbered company that sold the property to Gupta with the restrictive covenant that has applied for an injunction stopping the development application on the site near Vaughan Metropolitan Centre. Last year a court upheld the covenant. You know there is a covenant now so why is this application being considered, Mary Darmanin told the Vaughan committee. Her son was one of 1,600 buyers deceived by Gupta, she said. Let the courts decide... thats the only way its going to protect (from) this happening again, buyer Patricia DeBartolo told reporters following the committees decision. A lawyer for Gupta, Daniel Artenosi, told the committee that another deferral violates the planning act but would not speak to reporters. In a statement emailed shortly before Thursdays meeting, Gupta Group apologized to Vaughan and all stakeholders involved for the Icona cancellation because of market conditions. The site plan, zoning, height, density and official plan amendment for the site have all been approved, and the application for minor variances being considered at Thursdays meeting is to implement approvals from city council, which is also supported by city staff, the Gupta statement said. Even committee of adjustment chair Joseph Cesario said the restrictive covenant was insufficient cause to refuse Guptas application for minor variances. But, he said, the citys lawyer counselled postponement pending the injunction decision. The committee deferral came two days after Vaughan Mayor Maurizio Bevilacqua publicly scolded developers that cancel condo projects. If you advertise projects, I expect them to be completed and I dont expect anybody to be out in the cold, he said at a meeting of the Committee of the Whole Tuesday. Although he did not cite any particular developer, representatives for Gupta and Liberty Developments have applications before the committee. The mayor said he doesnt have any power to sanction developers. But I do have moral persuasion and morality certainly on my side, he said. Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Liberty Developments, which cancelled the Cosmos condos, is part of a group redeveloping Promenade Mall at Bathurst and Centre streets. The Gupta application discussed on Tuesday was for its 1,900-condo project at Yonge St. and Steeles Ave. W., not the site of its cancelled Icona project. Liberty and some numbered companies associated with the Cosmos project are the subject of legal action by a group of 451 buyers who purchased condos in 2016 only to receive cancellation letters and refunds last spring. Read more about: CHICAGOStarbucks Corp. released a review of its diversity and inclusion efforts, part of the coffee chains efforts to move past last years damaging Philadelphia incident in which employees called the police on black patrons. The report, which includes a message from former U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder, is part of the companys mission to restore trust with customers and improve training following the April incident, which sparked an apology from chief executive officer Kevin Johnson and special sessions for employees. Holder oversaw the review, which was conducted by Covington & Burling LLP. The arrests, and the backlash they caused, have the potential to damage Starbucks stated goal of creating a third place a public space for interaction and leisure away from home and work. The report recommends Starbucks provide anti-bias training to new workers, revise policy manuals and conduct spot audits to find problem locations, among other measures. Additionally, Starbucks should provide training that is tailored to low, medium and high-incident stores. These trainings should use real-world examples of the challenges faced by Starbucks partners and should reinforce the principles underlying Starbucks current approach to addressing disruptive behaviour, according to the report. Starbucks is currently conducting a pilot program regarding this recommendation. The Seattle-based company is also testing a new store-incident procedure that allows workers to report any incidents electronically, instead of by phone. The aim is to quicken response times from managers. Read more: Starbucks isnt as popular as it used to be. So its trying out delivery Starbucks CEO Kevin Johnson reins in predecessors ambitions: Im not Howard Why the coffee business will get cold The report shows that Starbucks has made progress in adding diversity to its upper management. As of Nov. 25, the companys percentage of women and minority executives was mostly higher than the average of U.S. companies, according to the report, which cited a McKinsey study. Nonetheless, there is room for Starbucks to improve the representation of women and people of colour among its leadership, a fact that the company acknowledges. Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Read more about: WASHINGTON - One of the hard-bargain drivers from the American side of the NAFTA negotiating table is bringing his powers of persuasion to bear on the next challenge facing the new North American trade pact: the U.S. Congress. Deputy U.S. Trade Representative C. J. Mahoney, a fixture of the 14-month negotiation process that culminated last October in the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement, urged a gathering of American mayors Wednesday to lobby Capitol Hill lawmakers to ratify the deal. All Congress has to do is pass it, and that is where I hope you all can help us, Mahoney told a panel discussion Wednesday during the winter meeting of the United States Conference of Mayors in Washington. You all have influence on your members of Congress. They listen to you, they understand your problems, they know that youre looking out for whats good for your communities and are concerned first and foremost with jobs and economic development. We need your help. Ratification in both Mexico and Canada has largely been seen as inevitable; Martha Barcena Coqui, Mexicos ambassador to the U.S., told the panel she expects the agreement to come to a vote in the next session of her countrys Congress, which gets underway next month and which doesnt require a separate implementation bill. In Canada, the majority Liberal government makes a Yes vote all but a foregone conclusion. But amid political turmoil in Washington where the White House is at war with Democrats over President Donald Trumps border wall plans and a partial government shutdown has entered its second month nothing these days is a given. A number of prominent Democrats notably House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, currently the most painful congressional thorn in Trumps side have complained that the deal lacks meaningful mechanisms to enforce new labour and environmental standards. And relations between Capitol Hill and the White House are at such a low ebb that some fear the presidents enemies are determined to deny him any political wins. Enter Mahoney, who is hard-selling the USMCA as a win for all three countries. If members of Congress can put politics aside and focus on the substance, I have no doubt that this will pass overwhelmingly in both houses, he said, describing the deal as the most bipartisan U.S. trade deal ever negotiated, thanks to the political foresight of his boss, U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer. Throughout the negotiations well before the results of the midterm elections were known we worked very closely with Democrats to ensure that the final agreement reflected their priorities, he said, citing the labour and environmental clauses in particular. To qualify for duty-free benefits, USMCA requires autos to contain 75 per cent North American content up from 62.5 per cent under NAFTA. By 2023, between 40 and 45 per cent of auto parts will also have to come from workers earning at least $16 an hour; in Mexico, auto assembly workers earn an average of just $7.34 an hour and parts workers $3.41 an hour. On the environmental side, the agreement includes a number of protections for marine species and habitats, new air-quality standards, environmental assessment rules and forest management practices. Im optimistic about our chances of success in this endeavour, but success is certainly not assured, Mahoney said. Given the importance of the agreement to our workers, farmers and ranchers, the stakes could not be higher. Paul Dyster, the mayor of Niagara Falls, N.Y., told Mahoney the often-acrimonious negotiating process has had a negative impact on his communitys economic prospects, given how closely integrated it is with Canadian interests. The rhetoric that was used in this negotiation was shocking, when you hear it used in reference to the leaders of countries that have been your strongest allies and trade partners for a long time, Dyster said. For those of us on the border, whose economies are very fully integrated with the Canadian economy, that use of old-fashioned protectionism to try to advance the interests of the United States to take a shot at Canada it kind of hit us in the foot. Mahoney, however, dismissed any suggestion of lingering bad blood. What really matters is not the given press headline at any point during the negotiations, but where we ended up and where we ended up was with a great agreement that I think will be the foundation for an even stronger relationship with Mexico and Canada going forward. Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Canadas ambassador to the U.S., David MacNaughton, who joined the panel after Mahoney had left, raised one particular sticking point: the fact that the Trump administration has not yet made good on its commitment to lift its punishing national-security tariffs on steel and aluminum exports. This is causing distortions in the marketplace, it is causing all three countries to lose opportunities, it is increasing costs for consumers, said MacNaughton, who closed by quoting the presidents own tweet from March 2018 committing to lifting the tariffs once a new trade agreement was in place. He has now said this is a fair deal, a good deal, the best deal thats ever been done, so I would simply say please, let us get on with building our three countries together. Let us get on with our defence and security agreements and the relationship that we have had for more than 150 years. Chinas spy agency has detained an Australian writer over alleged national security threats the third foreigner known to have been detained on similar grounds in the past two months. Yang Hengjun a Chinese native whos now an Australian citizen was being investigated for criminal activities endangering national security, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying said Thursday in Beijing. She said Yang was being held under compulsory measures by the Ministry of State Security, without elaborating on the nature of the allegations. Mo Shaoping, a China-based lawyer who said he has been asked by Yangs family to take the case, said the writer was suspected of espionage. We are ensuring his legitimate rights and interests, Hua told a regular news briefing. According to what I know, we notified the Australian embassy after taking these compulsory measures. Yangs detention follows the seizure of two Canadians by Chinas spy agency last month, although there was so far no indication the cases were related. Yang was detained Saturday after arriving to the southern city of Guangzhou on a flight from the U.S., a friend told Bloomberg on Wednesday. Yang previously was a Chinese foreign affairs official in Beijing, before becoming an Australian citizen and a novelist, the Australian newspaper said Wednesday. Read more: Global anxiety reflected in Australian outcry over Canadians detained in China 13 Canadians detained in China since arrest of Huawei executive in Vancouver, officials reveal U.S.-China trade tensions deepen with Meng extradition request Mo, who previously represented late Nobel Peace Prize winner Liu Xiaobo, said he hasnt had a chance to meet his client. Yangs being held under residential surveillance, he said. Earlier Thursday, senior Australian officials criticized China for taking too long to notify its government about the detention. Officials said they were informed of Yangs arrest four days later, rather the three days required by the countrys consular agreement. The notification has been delivered now as required under the consular agreement, but perhaps not in the most timely way, Foreign Minister Marise Payne told a news conference in Canberra. I dont suggest that the agreement has been ignored. The notification was delayed, but I will be seeking explanations of that process. Consular access Australian Defense Minister Christopher Pyne echoed her comments while on a visit to Beijing, calling the timing disappointing. Australias Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade said it was seeking immediate consular access to Yang and further clarification on why he had been detained. Hua, the Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson, said she didnt have enough information to respond to the criticism. We believe the Chinese side already carried out its duties in terms of consular affairs, she said. Payne said there was no evidence that Yangs case was connected to the Dec. 1 arrest in Vancouver of Huawei Technologies Co.s chief financial officer Meng Wanzhou, whos facing extradition to the U.S. China subsequently detained the two Canadians Michael Kovrig, an International Crisis Group analyst, and Michael Spavor, who ran tours into North Korea and sentenced a third to death on a drug charge, escalating a diplomatic feud between the two countries. Global spotlight The Ministry of State Security was also involved in the Canadians detentions, thrusting the agency into the global spotlight. In recent years its been involved in several high-profile detentions of foreigners and has put dissidents under house arrest without criminal charges. Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Yang was scheduled to arrive in Guangzhou from New York at 5 a.m. on Saturday, his friend Feng Chongyi, an associate professor in China studies at the University of Technology Sydney, told Bloomberg. Yang was then due to catch a connecting flight to Shanghai with his wife and daughter, but he never made it through security, Feng said. China issued a similar complaint to Australias following Mengs arrest, accusing Canada of violating its consular agreement by failing to speedily inform Beijing of her detention. Canada said it notified Chinese envoys on the day of the arrest. If a Chinese citizen is arrested by the Canadian government, the Canadian government should immediately notify the Chinese embassy, Lu Kang, a Foreign Ministry spokesperson, said in December. But the Canadian government didnt do that. Read more about: Derrick Houlihan, a former inmate at the Montgomery County Correctional Facility, testified group of correctional officers assaulted him at the Lower Providence facility. Five ex-correctional officers are on trial for the alleged assault. Update Required To play the media you will need to either update your browser to a recent version or update your Flash plugin. Anika Reed Watertown Public Opinion John Travolta is speaking candidly about the death of his teenage son, Jett, and how he coped with losing him after a seizure 10 years ago. "Its the worst thing thats ever happened in my life, the actor said in an interview with Us Weekly Thursday. The truth is, I didnt know if I was going to make it." Travolta's 16-year-old son died Jan. 2, 2009, after having a seizure while the family was on vacation in the Bahamas. Travolta previously revealed that Jett had autism and suffered from a history of seizures. Travolta, 64, said that the Church of Scientology supported him throughout the heartbreaking ordeal. "The church never left our sides for two years, said Travolta, who has been a member of the church for decades and has previously credited them with helping the family cope with their grief. He added, I dont know if I would have made it through without their support." Jett would have turned 27 in April . Travolta and Kelly Preston, his wife of for 27 years , also have an 18-year-old daughter, Ella, and an 8-year-old son, Benjamin. During a 2014 interview at London's Theatre Royal Drury Lane, the "Pulp Fiction" star discussed just how far he'd fallen into depression. "The truth is, I didn't know if I was going to make it," he said. "Life was no longer interesting to me, so it took a lot to get me better." The Church of Scientology remains a divisive topic in Hollywood. In November, ex-member Leah Remini alleged that the Scientology's most famous member, Tom Cruise, not only knew about abuse in the church but has personally administered punishment on a high-ranking member. Jada Pinkett Smith also addressed her past exploration of Scientology on an episode of "Red Table Talk," her Facebook Watch show, in November. "All religions have been my home, which is why I didn't have a problem going to the Church of Scientology and saying 'I'm not a Scientologist. I want to just be here and see what you have to offer,' because that was my life, that's what I'm used to," she explained. "Handmaid's Tale" star Elisabeth Moss defended the church in response a comment comparing her faith to the fundamentalist religious society from her dystopian Hulu drama. "Thats actually not true at all about Scientology," Moss said to a social media user who said both Scientology and Gilead believe "all outside sources (aka news) are wrong or evil." She responded, "Religious freedom and tolerance and understanding the truth and equal rights for every race, religion and creed are extremely important to me." More: John Travolta speaks out as the world loves his bold, bald new look Related: Church responds to claims from Leah Remini, 'Scientology and the Aftermath' This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: John Travolta said Scientology helped him cope with son's death: 'The church never left our sides' Katherine Grandstrand Dakota Media Group ABERDEEN Changes are coming to Presentation College. After a few years of declining enrollment and an evolving higher education landscape, the administration has decided now is the time to set the small Catholic college up for a successful future, the Dakota Media Group reported. Our enrollment is declining, and that decline made us take notice, said President Margaret Huber. Were trying to be proactive. So thats why we talked about pivoting, rather than enrollment, although enrollment is part of this story. Headcount enrollment which measures students whether they take one credit or a full load hit an all-time high in fall 2016 with 821, but then dropped by 60 students the following year. Enrollment for the fall 2018 semester was 700. What were trying to do is figure out why and to figure out what we can do to make the next several years either turn that around or augment our enrollment with new programing and new ideas, Huber said. The first big step is shoring up the budget for the current school year. Presentation has already cut the use of adjunct faculty, not filled positions when people have left, adjusted the faculty and staff health care plan, and trimmed work study hours and positions, she said. For next year we are developing a budget that is probably just as lean, Huber said. But its not just cuts, said Chris Stocklin, vice president for finance. Its also looking at ways the college could bring in more money. Being student-enrollment driven, being (thats) the vast majority of financial resources, and we have to broaden the base, he said. We cant be so dependent upon enrollment. That could mean fundraising or creating partnerships with other institutions and entities, Stocklin said. Even with all the changes at the administrative level, the hope is that students notice little to nothing, Huber said. As we work our way through the plan, the students, the only thing they might experience is our talking to them more, asking them their opinions about the future or how they experience the present on the campus, she said. The impact of everything were doing is to maintain a quality experience for the student throughout. Between now and the beginning of the next fiscal year which starts July 1 administration, faculty and staff are working to come up with changes, Huber said. When you pivot, when you reinvent, you have to decide what to keep, and you have to decide what to add, Huber said. Deciding what to keep I said that rather than deciding what to get rid of, because people dont like to do that. But we ought to decide what is the core of our business. Presentations struggles arent unique. Across the country the halls of higher learning are seeing a decline in traditional students those who go to college right after high school, live on campus and graduate in four years. The college is working with a consulting firm to develop its plan, Huber said. Sarah Mearhoff Forum News Service PIERRE The South Dakota Senate has passed a bill which would allow gun owners to carry concealed pistols without requiring a permit. State senators passed Senate Bill 47 by a 23-11 vote on Tuesday, Jan. 22. SB 47 would allow for what some call constitutional carry, or permitless concealed carry, in the state. Under current law, gun owners in the state are not required to hold a permit to open carry, but a permit is required in order to conceal carry. Carrying a concealed weapon without proper permitting is a misdemeanor offense. SB 47s prime sponsor Sen. Brock Greenfield, R-Clark, told senators Tuesday that gun owners who carry openly and do not hold concealed carry permits could violate the law by so much as putting a jacket on, covering their weapon. Senators questioned the necessity of the bill, saying that the permit process in place is not too cumbersome or expensive. Under current law, South Dakotans can obtain a concealed carry permit after passing a background check administered through their local sheriffs office and paying a $10 fee. Nobody is trying to deny access, Senate Minority Leader Troy Heinert, D-Mission, said during Tuesdays debate. Go through the process. Ten dollars. Ten minutes. Simple. Sen. Stace Nelson, R-Fulton, refuted that imposing a fee on conceal carry permits is a denial of Second Amendment rights. If a South Dakotan refuses to pay the $10 fee, Nelson said he or she is denied the right to bear arms. Sen. Lee Schoenbeck, R-Watertown, said those who would benefit from a permitless concealed carry law are those who would, under current law, be denied a permit for reasons such as a history of violence or a previous conviction. Im sticking with my sheriff on this one, Schoenbeck said, referring to the South Dakota Sheriffs Associations opposition to the bill. The States Attorneys Association also opposes SB 47. It is unknown how many concealed carry permit applicants are denied every year, but Schoenbeck questioned why the legislature should pass a bill that could make it easier for those who would typically be denied to carry concealed. According to the Secretary of States Office, as of Nov. 30, 2018, more than 107,000 South Dakotans hold active concealed carry permits. Senators, as well as the Sheriffs Association, also voiced concern that SB 47 would allow out-of-state residents to enter South Dakota and carry concealed pistols without vetting. Republican Gov. Kristi Noem at a news conference last week said she supports the idea of constitutional carry, but needs to review the legislation and consult with law enforcement before making a final decision. SB 47 now heads to the House for a vote before it can reach Noems desk. Staff reports Watertown Public Opinion SIOUX FALLS The South Dakota Pork Producers Council (SDPPC) honored Adam Krause of Clear Lake with the fifth annual Pork Promoter of the Year Award at the Master Pork Producers Banquet on Wednesday, January 9, 2019. This is the fifth year for this award that South Dakota Pork Producers Council is offering to recognize their peers. The award was designed to recognize an individual or family, organization, company or county group who has done an outstanding job promoting pork and/or the pork industry on a local, state or regional level. We are proud to honor him with this award, he is willing to go above and beyond to help promote pork!, commented SDPPC executive board member and association services and membership committee chairman, Bill Larsen of Wolsey. Adam and his wife Taylor are the fourth generation of Krauses to live on the farm near Clear Lake. Adam helps with the row crop operation while operating a 3,900-nursery barn. Adam returned to his family farm after graduation from SDSU in May of 2016 with a degree in Ag Business. Adam joined the South Dakota Pork Producers Council Executive board in 2017. He has assisted with the 4th Grade program and the Taste of Elegance in the past, along with serving on the Demand Enhancement and Annual Meeting and Trade Show Committees. Adam is now wrapping up his year serving as one of three Pig Farmers of Tomorrow. This award is given by the National Pork Board to recognize, inspire and connect the next generation of American pig farmers. While getting to travel and speak at a few events, the main focus for Pig Farmers of Tomorrow is to develop their social media messages on Real Pig Farming pages. Thailand marine industry unites around single show PHUKET: Having brought all the disparate previously competing parties together in a single Phuket boat show, the fourth Thailand Yacht Show & RendezVous (TYS) earlier this month offered an all-embracing event at the Royal Phuket Marina for yachting enthusiasts and wealthy lifestyle-seekers from around Asia. tourismmarineeconomics By Press Release Thursday 24 January 2019, 12:24PM The fourth Thailand Yacht Show & RendezVous (TYS) held earlier this month at the award-winning Royal Phuket Marina offered an all-embracing event for yachting enthusiasts and wealthy lifestyle-seekers from around Asia. The fourth Thailand Yacht Show & RendezVous (TYS) held earlier this month at the award-winning Royal Phuket Marina offered an all-embracing event for yachting enthusiasts and wealthy lifestyle-seekers from around Asia. The fourth Thailand Yacht Show & RendezVous (TYS) held earlier this month at the award-winning Royal Phuket Marina offered an all-embracing event for yachting enthusiasts and wealthy lifestyle-seekers from around Asia. The fourth Thailand Yacht Show & RendezVous (TYS) held earlier this month at the award-winning Royal Phuket Marina offered an all-embracing event for yachting enthusiasts and wealthy lifestyle-seekers from around Asia. The fourth Thailand Yacht Show & RendezVous (TYS) held earlier this month at the award-winning Royal Phuket Marina offered an all-embracing event for yachting enthusiasts and wealthy lifestyle-seekers from around Asia. The fourth Thailand Yacht Show & RendezVous (TYS) held earlier this month at the award-winning Royal Phuket Marina offered an all-embracing event for yachting enthusiasts and wealthy lifestyle-seekers from around Asia. The fourth Thailand Yacht Show & RendezVous (TYS) held earlier this month at the award-winning Royal Phuket Marina offered an all-embracing event for yachting enthusiasts and wealthy lifestyle-seekers from around Asia. The fourth Thailand Yacht Show & RendezVous (TYS) held earlier this month at the award-winning Royal Phuket Marina offered an all-embracing event for yachting enthusiasts and wealthy lifestyle-seekers from around Asia. The fourth Thailand Yacht Show & RendezVous (TYS) held earlier this month at the award-winning Royal Phuket Marina offered an all-embracing event for yachting enthusiasts and wealthy lifestyle-seekers from around Asia. The fourth Thailand Yacht Show & RendezVous (TYS) held earlier this month at the award-winning Royal Phuket Marina offered an all-embracing event for yachting enthusiasts and wealthy lifestyle-seekers from around Asia. The fourth Thailand Yacht Show & RendezVous (TYS) held earlier this month at the award-winning Royal Phuket Marina offered an all-embracing event for yachting enthusiasts and wealthy lifestyle-seekers from around Asia. The fourth Thailand Yacht Show & RendezVous (TYS) held earlier this month at the award-winning Royal Phuket Marina offered an all-embracing event for yachting enthusiasts and wealthy lifestyle-seekers from around Asia. The fourth Thailand Yacht Show & RendezVous (TYS) held earlier this month at the award-winning Royal Phuket Marina offered an all-embracing event for yachting enthusiasts and wealthy lifestyle-seekers from around Asia. The fourth Thailand Yacht Show & RendezVous (TYS) held earlier this month at the award-winning Royal Phuket Marina offered an all-embracing event for yachting enthusiasts and wealthy lifestyle-seekers from around Asia. The fourth Thailand Yacht Show & RendezVous (TYS) held earlier this month at the award-winning Royal Phuket Marina offered an all-embracing event for yachting enthusiasts and wealthy lifestyle-seekers from around Asia. The fourth Thailand Yacht Show & RendezVous (TYS) held earlier this month at the award-winning Royal Phuket Marina offered an all-embracing event for yachting enthusiasts and wealthy lifestyle-seekers from around Asia. The fourth Thailand Yacht Show & RendezVous (TYS) held earlier this month at the award-winning Royal Phuket Marina offered an all-embracing event for yachting enthusiasts and wealthy lifestyle-seekers from around Asia. The fourth Thailand Yacht Show & RendezVous (TYS) held earlier this month at the award-winning Royal Phuket Marina offered an all-embracing event for yachting enthusiasts and wealthy lifestyle-seekers from around Asia. The fourth Thailand Yacht Show & RendezVous (TYS) held earlier this month at the award-winning Royal Phuket Marina offered an all-embracing event for yachting enthusiasts and wealthy lifestyle-seekers from around Asia. The fourth Thailand Yacht Show & RendezVous (TYS) held earlier this month at the award-winning Royal Phuket Marina offered an all-embracing event for yachting enthusiasts and wealthy lifestyle-seekers from around Asia. The fourth Thailand Yacht Show & RendezVous (TYS) held earlier this month at the award-winning Royal Phuket Marina offered an all-embracing event for yachting enthusiasts and wealthy lifestyle-seekers from around Asia. Leading international yacht dealers, brokerage houses, charter agencies and marine suppliers were there to showcase their brands, complemented by luxury property developers and a collective mix of lavish lifestyle products. With a decisive show of unity, the industrys global players joined Thailand's key marine tourism stakeholders including a strong attendance of representatives from national and local government who have all thrown their support behind TYSs four-year mission to open up Thai waters to foreign yacht tourism and grow the industry. Despite having only three months to prepare, we have seen excellent support from both the public and private sector this year, said Andy Treadwell, CEO of show organisers Verventia. The Thai Government remain unswerving in their determination to support and grow the yachting industry, and bring much-needed cash into local businesses, by changing regulations where necessary to enable foreign superyacht charter tourism. "The private sector made it clear they wanted a single show in Phuket. The results speak for themselves, with confirmed yacht sales, lots of business transacted by exhibitors across all sectors, and good visitor numbers over the first three days." What will we be able to do with a whole year! Richard Allen, General Manager of Simpson Marine, said, As ever, Simpson Marine had the biggest display of new yachts at the show, representing our brands Monte Carlo Yachts, Beneteau, Lagoon, Aquilla and Sanlorenzo. I am pleased to say we made some sales during the show itself and have a number of other negotiations to conclude. Our charter team also saw a big increase in bookings during the show and Phuket still remains the premier charter destination in Asia. With just one show in Phuket, we hope the Thailand Yacht Show & RendezVous can grow into a bigger and better event each year in the future. Speaking about the quality of visitors this year, Andrew de Bruin, General Manager of Multihull Solutions said, Multihull Solutions were very pleased to again join the Thailand Yacht Show as an exhibitor with three yachts displayed in the marina. The quality of visitors was top rate and our vessels received great exposure. The joining together of all the shows is a definite winner for all involved and we look forward to booking space in next years event at the first opportunity. Phuket's position as Asia's yachting playground is clear, and as more people experience it, word is spreading globally of the world-class cruising grounds and the onshore support facilities to match. Moored off the stunning island of Koh Rang Noi at the TYS Superyacht Hub were a number of impressive visiting yachts, including the 54m M/Y Talisman Maiton and 73m M/Y Titania. The Thailand Yacht Show has been a key industry and government focus for changing local regulations to attract more international superyachts to the country, and results are beginning to show. Bloomberg's latest global superyacht tracker recorded movements of superyachts between November 2018 and January 2019, and Thailand placed fourth as a winter destination behind Sint Maarten, St Barts and Antigua, welcoming an influx of superyachts during the Christmas and New Year peak season. The single show concept has proved to be a huge success for the industry. We will continue to work closely with the Thai government and the private sector to hopefully get the changes to the tax regulations we need, and will build on this year's success to make 2020 even bigger and deliver a strong ROI for all parties, added Treadwell. The Thailand Yacht Show & RendezVous, organised in partnership with the Thai Government, is an international gathering of some of the biggest and best-known yachting and luxury lifestyle brands, in a highly social setting in one of the world's most beautiful yachting destinations. Dates for the 2020 show will be announced shortly. For more information visit www.thailandyachtshow.com and follow www.facebook.com/thaiyachtshow . Thai property lures Chinese THAILAND: Thailand is expected to remain the most popular country for Chinese property buyers in 2019, with growth of at least 10% from last year and Bangkok, Chiang Mai, Pattaya and Phuket as the top destinations. propertytourismeconomicsconstruction By Bangkok Post Thursday 24 January 2019, 11:10AM Carrie Law, CEO of Chinas popular property portal Juwai.com, says Thailand is currently Chinas No.1 destination for property buyers. Photo: Bangkok Post Carrie Law, chief executive and director of Juwai.com, the Chinese international property portal, said there have never been so many buying inquiries for Thai property. This reflects excellent offerings from developers combined with quality, lifestyle and investment prospects, she said. This is also the result of other factors driving Chinese consumers to seek appealing overseas property in the price ranges available in Thailand, particularly given Beijings regime of capital controls and a lack of alternative investment opportunities within China itself, she said. Ms Law said the ongoing infrastructure developments in Thailand provide Chinese buyers with confidence in Thailands long-term economic potential. US-China trade tension will be another key driver that will shift Chinese buyers interest from the US to Thailand, she said. Last year was the first time Thailand had the most inquiries for any country on Juwai.com, according to the website that reaches more than 3.1 million Chinese-speaking users monthly and showcases 2.8 million listings from 90 countries. From ranking as the sixth most popular destination in 2016, Thailand rose to third place in 2017 before hitting the top spot last year. Following Thailand in the latest rankings are Australia, the US, Canada and the UK. By total value invested, Thailand was ranked fourth with US$2.3 billion (B73.2 billion), following the US ($30.4 billion), Hong Kong ($16.2 billion) and Australia ($14.1 billion). Malaysia came in fifth with $2 billion. In terms of volume, Ms Law estimated some 15,000 new Bangkok apartments were sold to buyers from mainland China and Hong Kong during 2018. They accounted for about half of all foreign buyer purchases in Bangkok. This means if Chinese buyers purchased units at an average price of B5 million, the total investment during 2018 by mainland and Hong Kong Chinese buyers was B75 billion. The top six searched cities in Thailand were Bangkok, Pattaya, Chiang Mai, Phuket, Sattahip and Samui with a total enquiry value of $547.7 million. The median enquiry price was $122,000. Buying for investment was the top motivation among Chinese buyers, accounting for 72.4% of purchasers, followed by personal use, holiday, retirement, education and rental. Last years top three most enquired listings in Chiang Mai were led by a two-year-old single detached house with a usable area of 305 square metres priced B5.65 million. This was followed by a one-year-old single detached house priced B7.48 million with a usable area of 240 sq m and a two-year-old condo unit sized 30 sq m, priced B650,000. While Bangkok led all other global property investment destinations in terms of Chinese interest, there are long-term threats to Bangkoks appeal, especially the high levels of pollution seen recently. Chinese buyers dont want to go overseas just to encounter the same levels of air pollution they have to put up with at home, she said. As there will be a large number of condo projects being completed and transferred to Chinese buyers this year, Ms Law suggested Thai developers prepare a transfer process and after-sale services specifically for Chinese buyers. Thailand will have a general election in the next couple of months. Instead of waiting for things to settle down, developers should be making plans, she said. Last year we suggested Malaysian developers make plans as their country had approaching general elections. Those who were prepared had the advantage. Juwai.com on Tuesday (Jan 22) signed a memorandum of understanding with Prop2morrow.com, a Thai investment property website that will be a reseller for Juwai.com in Thailand. We will be a channel for overseas businesses that do not have servers in China, said Ms Law. As long as you dont have a server in China, you will be invisible to Chinese consumers. Read full story here. Phuket villagers fight forced evictions PHUKET: Residents from the Pracha Samakkee Community in Koh Kaew, north of Phuket Town, have petitioned the Department of Special Investigation (DSI) to help them win a bitter land dispute. landproperty By The Phuket News Thursday 24 January 2019, 11:51AM The Phuket villagers explained their plight of forced evictions to the DSI yesterday (Jan 23). Photo: DSI Pracha Samakkee Community in Koh Kaew representative Weerayut Jaesoh (right) hands the request for assistance to DSI specialist Pol Lt Col Woranan Srilam in Bangkok yesterday (Jan 23). Photo: DSI Pracha Samakkee Community in Koh Kaew representative Weerayut Jaesoh (right) explains the villagers plight of forced evictions to the DSI yesterday (Jan 23). Photo: DSI The residents filed their request in Bangkok yesterday (Jan 23) for the agency to produce maps of their community dating back to 1951 so the residents can to use them in a legal battle against a man who claims to already own more than 300 rai of land they live on, the Bangkok Post reports today. (See story here.) Three hundred and twenty-six residents of the Pracha Samakkee community are facing legal suits filed against them by the man 26 of them had never made use of the land before, said community representative Weerayut Jaesoh. The villagers formed the community about a decade ago, assuming the land was vacant after a tin mine concession expired, he said. Ever since, the land has been being used for farming and keeping livestock, he added. Each of the 326 villagers is now facing one or two lawsuits filed against them by a claimant to the land, Mr Weerayut said. The man who says he owns the land said he has been using about 297 rai of the plot as a coconut and nipa palm plantation since 1951, which was before the Land Code took effect, Mr Weerayut said. That was also before the tin mining concession was granted on the plot, he said. The claimant was previously embroiled in a dispute with the tin-mining concessionaire, which ended up in a court battle, he said. The claimant eventually won the case in a Supreme Court ruling, Mr Weerayut said. After the court victory, the claimant used the court ruling as evidence to support his fresh lawsuits, still being pursued, to evict the 326 people from the land, Mr Weerayut said. In 2005, the Muang District Office in Phuket declared the land to be vacant, he said. This prompted more people to move into the community, he added. Roads were constructed, a water supply system was installed and electricity was laid on for the Pracha Samakkee Community community, he said. Even a church and a mosque was built at the village. Pol Lt Col Woranan Srilam, a DSI specialist who received the petition from the residents n Bangkok yesterday, said the evidence that had been received so far was only a copy of the Supreme Court's ruling. The DSI will study the evidence before it decides what kind of help or advice it might provide to this group, Col Woranan said. Mr Wirayut also said that he and Pracha Samakkee Community village chief Surasak Tainapreaw were both facing up to four lawsuits one criminal and three civil actions. More than 100 local residents from the Pracha Samakkee Community massed at Phuket Provincial Hall in December 2017 to call for help with the forced evictions. At the gathering, a formal written request for assistance was handed Phuket Vice Governor Prakob Wongmaneerung. In November this year, we received information that a group of people claimed that the land was inherited. Some local residents were sued and expelled from the land. Notices were sent to us stating that a court order had been obtained by the Phuket Land Office and that they were to measure the land boundary together with the plaintiff and local residents who were being sued, Mr Surasak explained at the time. I am calling for help from government offices to help us as we are now in trouble. We lived here for a long time because we believed that the land belonged to the government, Mr Surasak noted. V/Gov Prakob said after receiving the letter, I will hand this complaint to relevant offices to check. However, the court order must be followed to measure the land boundary for the disputed land map. Relevant offices will give fairness for everyone involved in such land issues. (See story here.) Patong Hill carnage: 12 vehicles crashed, three people injured PHUKET: Police have confirmed that yesterday afternoons crash on Patong Hill involved 12 vehicles and left three people hospitalised, one with major injuries. accidentspatongtransport By Tanyaluk Sakoot Thursday 24 January 2019, 03:33PM Rescue services clear the road after a 12-vehicle crash that left three people hospitalised. Photo: Fire Department of Patong Municipality Capt Ekarat Chartpai of Patong Police told The Phuket News, The three people injured in yesterday's crash at 3:40pm (Jan 23) are Mr Eakkapop Pitukkarn, 26, Mr Vachira Rakdam, 33, and Mr Kittichai Saeree, 44. Mr Kittichai suffered major injuries and is still receiving care at Vachira Phuket Hospital, Phuket Town. Capt Ekarat declined to provide more details on the injuries at this stage. Patong Police Chief Col Anotai Jindamanee explained that Mr Puntharit Kaewprawat, 27, who was driving the tour bus that is thought to be responsible for the incident, said that as he was driving down Patong Hill, the car in front of him suddenly braked before the junction, which forced Mr Puntharit to brake and swerve to the right, causing his bus and 11 other vehicles to crash. We are creating an accident map which will show a timeline and details of the accident, Col Anotai added. Col Anotais updated police report outlines all drivers and vehicles involved in the accident: 1. Trang registered white van. Driver: Vachira Rakdam, 33, suffered minor injuries. 2. Phuket registered white Honda PCX motorbike. Driver: Mr Eakkapop Pitukkarn, 26, suffered injuries and was transferred to Patong hospital. 3. Phuket registered black Honda Wave motorbike. Driver: Mr Kittichai Saeree, 44, suffered serious injuries and transferred to Vachira Phuket Hospital, Phuket Town. 4. Bangkok registered Tour bus of MKR Transport. Driver: Mr Puntharit Kaewprawat, 27. 5. Phuket registered orange Isuzu D-MAX Driver: Mr Chalermsak Chertchai, 33. 6. Phuket registered white van. Driver: Jirasak Jaennai, 50. 7. Bangkok registered bronze Toyota Vios. Driver: Mr Antun Teemofeb, 30. 8. Phuket registered white van. Driver: Mr Pramote Charoen, 40. 9 Phuket registered white Volvo. Driver: Mr. Patee Jaisiri, 52. 10. Phuket registered grey Toyota Yaris. Driver: Ms. SaraSom Phendsuk, 55. 11. Chaiyaphum registered six-wheeled truck, parked on the side of the road. 12. Phuket registered green Honda MSX motorbike, parked on the side of the road. Capt Ekarat refused to disclose the charges that would be brought against the bus driver, Puntharit, at this stage. He explained that, The bus driver denied causing the accident. He said that the brakes did not fail, but he had to suddenly swerve away to avoid hitting the vehicle in front. We continue our investigations as we try to uncover the details of the accident, Capt Ekarat said. At present the tour bus is being inspected at the Phuket Provincial Land Transport Office (PLTO) to try to find information that could help our investigation, Capt Ekarat added. Sorry I could not provide any further information at this time. There is a lot of work to do on this case. The Phuket News contacted the PLTO to find out about the bus inspection but the information was not yet available. A Rochester Hills man and woman lured to Pontiac for what they thought was a used vehicle sale were robbed at gunpoint Wednesday afternoon at This subscription will allow curernt subscribers of The News Guard to access all of our online Subscriber-Only content, including the E Editions area. NOTE: To claim your access to the site, you will need to enter the Last Name and First Name that is tied to your subscription in this format: SMITH, JOHN If you need help with exactly how your specific name needs be entered, please call us at 1-541-994-2178 or email admin@countrymedia.net. During the Indigenous Peoples March on January 18 in Washington D.C., a Native American elder, Nate Phillips, a member of the Omaha Nation and a Vietnam Vet, was openly mocked by a group of teens from Covington Catholic High School., a private, all-male high school in Park Hills, Kentucky. This shot was taken on Feb. 22, 2017, the day of the eviction at Standing Rock. Ad Resource Stock Digest 1,763 Interested This Week Could This Be the Biggest US Gold Discovery in Years? See how this tiny, unknown gold company secured a prime land package right next door to the worlds two largest gold producers in Nevadas famed Carlin Trend where 84 Million gold ounces have already been extracted. Best of all, investors can still get in well below US$0.50 per share. 10 Million People Started Trading Last Year Heres What to Do Next (Ad) How do you make money trading? What are the secrets pros use to beat the market day after day? Former Chicago Board Options Exchange trader reveals all the insider tricks... Get the Full Report Now (No Credit Card Required... Limited Time Only) Dril-Quip, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, designs, manufactures, sells, and services engineered drilling and production equipment for use in deepwater, harsh environment, and severe service applications worldwide. The company's principal products include subsea and surface wellheads, subsea and surface production trees, mudline hanger systems, specialty connectors and associated pipes, drilling and production riser systems, liner hangers, wellhead connectors, diverters, and safety valves, as well as downhole tools. It also provides technical advisory services, and rework and reconditioning services, as well as rental and purchase of running tools for use in the installation and retrieval of its products; and downhole tools comprise of liner hangers, production packers, safety valves, and specialty downhole tools that are used to hang-off and seal casing into a previously installed casing string in the well bore. The company's products are used to explore for oil and gas from offshore drilling rigs, such as floating rigs and jack-up rigs; and for drilling and production of oil and gas wells on offshore platforms, tension leg platforms, and Spars, as well as moored vessels, such as floating production, storage, and offloading monohull moored vessels. It sells its products directly through its sales personnel, independent sales agents, and representatives to integrated, independent, and foreign national oil and gas companies, as well as drilling contractors, and engineering and construction companies. The company was founded in 1981 and is headquartered in Houston, Texas. Read More 23 hours ago | June 18th | 2021 5:00 AM Nio Stock is Revving Up, But Should You Jump on Board? Its been a wild ride for electric vehicle (EV) stocks, and Nio (NYSE:NIO) has been no exception. At a quick glance, the 13% drop in NIO stock for 2021 doesnt look too bad. However, the stock is down approximately double that since reaching a high of over $60 in February. And without a rally of over 30% over the Around 7 million Chinese tourists will travel abroad during the Chinese New Year holiday, according to a report from online travel agency Ctrip. The report revealed that people from 100 Chinese cities have booked trips to nearly 500 destinations in more than 90 countries and regions. As reported by Antara, among the most popular destinations such as Thailand and Mauritius, Indonesia was chosen by tourists wishing to escape the winter cold and enjoy tropical weather. Read also: Indonesia a favorite for Chinese year-end travelers Indonesia received 2.7 million Chinese tourists in 2018, while this year, the Tourism Ministry has set a target to attract 3.5 million. The country remains an attractive destination for Chinese tourists, who in 2017 made up the largest group of foreign tourists (1.97 million) to visit Indonesia. During their visit, most Chinese tourists enjoy going to beaches, visiting museums and seeing cultural events. (wng) Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Yulia Savitri (The Jakarta Post) Palembang Thu, January 24, 2019 20:54 876 75e76da2d15e495661b6357e2e882c86 1 National South-Sumatra,crime Free Police have arrested four men they allege were involved in the murder a 20-year-old woman from Pedataran subdistrict, Muaraenim, South Sumatra, whose corpse was then gang-raped and burned. Residents of South Sumatra were shocked when they discovered her burned body in a paddy field in Sungai Rambutan subdistrict, Ogan Ilir. The corpse was found on a burned mattress and an earring was also found at the site. According to the head of Ogan Ilir Polices crime investigation unit, Adj. Comr. Maliki Fahrin, the body was found by local farmer Tugino, 43, and his son Agus Rianto, 20. At first they thought it was an animal carcass. After taking a closer look, they realized it was a human body, so they took pictures and reported their finding to nearby subdistrict officials. Police say the circumstances that led to the womans death, whom they identify as IA, began when she arrived at the home of a man they refer to as AS on Saturday at 9 p.m. There, police say, she was also greeted by Tete, 22 Feri, 30, and two 16-year-old boys. Police claim they asked her to join a party taking place in the house and to consume crystal methamphetamine with them. In the middle of the party, AS allegedly asked IA for sex in lieu of Rp 1.5 million that she had previously borrowed from him. IA reportedly refused, but AS allegedly forced her into a bedroom where she continued struggling to escape, so police say AS asked others to hold her down. Since IA still kept fighting, police claim AS hit her head with a heavy wooden beam and strangled her with a wire until she was dead. Apparently unaware that the woman had been killed, AS and Tete allegedly raped her while the others watched. The victims body was then put into a sack and carried to a pickup truck. AS then allegedly asked one of the 16-year-old boys to buy gasoline. South Sumatra Police chief Insp. Gen. Zulkarnain Adinegara revealed on Wednesday that four of the suspects, Tete, Feri and the two 16-year-olds, had been arrested and the pickup allegedly used to carry the victims body had been seized. He said police were searching for AS. AS is still on the run, Zulkarnain said at the Bhayangkara Palembang Hospital on Wednesday. An uncle of IA named Burhan said he and his family went to Palembang to undergo DNA tests to make sure that the burned body actually belonged to IA. He said his niece had been missing since Saturday after she said she was going to AS place. "We heard nothing since she left. Then we saw in social media news of a body being burned so we came to Palembang to check, he said. Burhan said IA had a child. Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Thu, January 24, 2019 17:05 876 75e76da2d15e495661b6357e2e87d3fd 1 National #flooding,floods,South-Sulawesi,#SouthSulawesi,Gowa Free Residents of the Nusa Mapala housing complex in Gowa, South Sulawesi, joined hands to stop a house with a baby inside from being swept away by floodwaters on Tuesday after torrential rainfall hit the area. A video clip displaying their efforts, which were aimed at saving the baby inside the house, which was inundated by water that rose about chest high, was posted on Instagram by @makassar_iinfo, as reported by tribunnews.com. Some of the people used a rope to hold the house in place, while others tried to reach the baby. "Rainfall in several areas in South Sulawesi was extreme. Therefore, the land was unable to absorb the water and the rivers that were also unable to accommodate the excess rainwater overflowed," National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB) spokesman Sutopo Purwo Nugroho told The Jakarta Post on Wednesday. Torrential rains that have been hitting some parts of South Sulawesi since Monday caused floods in at least 53 subdistricts in eight regencies -- including Gowa -- and a city in the province, the BNPB recorded. In Gowa alone, more than 500 houses in seven subdistricts were inundated and at least two bridges in Manuju subdistrict were damaged. The flood killed at least three people, injured 45 and displaced 2,121 others, the BNPB said. Heavy rains also triggered landslides in several places and cut off road access. A humanitarian group, Aksi Cepat Tanggap (ACT), deployed volunteers to a hamlet in Pattalikang village, Manuju, where dozens of people were reportedly missing after a landslide struck their hamlet. Across South Sulawesi, the disaster had killed eight people, three in Gowa and five in Jeneponto, as of Wednesday, according to the BNPB. In Jeneponto, floodwaters inundated at least 10 subdistricts, severely damaged 51 houses and swept away five others. Heavy rains also caused rivers to overflow in 14 areas in the South Sulawesi capital of Makassar, displacing about 1,000 residents. Social Affairs Minister Agus Gumiwang Kartasasmita said his office has sent food, blankets, clothing and rubber boats to the affected areas across the province. About 450 members of the Tagana emergency response unit were deployed to help rescue victims," he said on Wednesday, as quoted by Antara. The Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) previously warned of heavy rains and strong winds this week in a number of regions, particularly in South Sulawesi and its Gowa regency. On Jan. 14, an instructor at the Armys officer school died and three others were injured when they were struck by lightning during heavy rain in the mountainous area of Bontomarannu district in Gowa. The incident occurred in a farmer's hut in which the four soldiers took shelter from the rain, which forced them to temporarily abandon a final check after a training session around the hills in Nirannuang village. The BMKG has also predicted that the rainy season would peak at the end of January or the beginning of February nationwide, with heavy rain falling in most parts of Indonesia between Jan. 23 and 30. "Statistically, January and February was the peak of hydrometeorological disasters, such as floods, landslides and tornadoes, in the past 20 years. The trend followed the rainfall patterns," Sutopo said, calling on people to exercise caution. (ggq/hol/ipa) Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Apriadi Gunawan (The Jakarta Post) Medan Thu, January 24, 2019 15:24 877 75e76da2d15e495661b6357e2e875f64 1 National Medan,environment,adipura,surabaya,waste,waste-management Free Congratulations to the Medan Mayor for receiving the Dirtiest City Award 2019. We wish you good health. Love Medan! reads the flower board at City Hall in the North Sumatra capital. The satirical congratulatory board was delivered to Medan City Hall on Wednesday by the Love Medan Alliance community group, after the Environment and Forestry Ministry named Medan as the dirtiest metropolis in the country. Manado in North Sulawesi and Bandar Lampung in Lampung also ranks among the country's dirtiest metropolises this year, alongside smaller cities like Sorong in Papua, Kupang in East Nusa Tenggara and Palu in Central Sulawesi. In an unexpected move, the ministry presented its list of dirtiest cities during the recent Adipura Kencana Award ceremony to recognize regional efforts to maintain clean and healthy cities. This years Adipura environmental award went to Surabaya in East Java, Balikpapan in East Kalimantan, and Kendari in Southeast Sulawesi. Love Medan Alliance member M. Yusuf Hanafi said that the group had sent the flower board to criticize Medan Mayor Dzulmi Eldin. We really 'appreciate' the title, although our appreciation is [actually] criticism of the mayor, Yusuf said on Wednesday, adding that the community group was very disappointed with the citys title. Its proof that the Medan administration has offered no solutions to deal with the waste problem. We want Medan to be a clean metropolitan city so many tourists will [come to] visit, he said. Medan spokesman Ridho Nasution said that the administration had tried to improve safety and convenience for its residents, as well as the citys sanitation. Ridho said that the city's residents needed to take an active role to maintain cleanliness in the provincial capital. It must start with the residents. We can start by not littering garbage [...] in rivers or gutters, he told The Jakarta Post on Thursday. Ridho also urged Medan residents to support and work together with the city administration to achieve their goal. Environment ministry spokesman Djati Witjaksono Hadi said Medan had scored the lowest in cleanliness under the metropolitan city category. It is not necessarily the dirtiest, but we basically measured the cities' waste management [programs] and its appearance, among other criteria, he said. The Adipura jury committee also looked at the end processing of waste and decided not to award any cities that still had an open dumping site. The environment ministrys waste management director general, Novrizal Tahar, said that the ministry also evaluated a citys progress in implementing the presidential regulation (Perpres) on waste management, which requires cities to draft a detailed strategy on managing household waste. Perpres No. 97/2017 mandated regional administrations to submit their strategies by October 2018. Novrizal said that only 300 out of 514 regencies and cities and 16 out of 34 provinces had met the deadline. He also noted that Medan had scored low the previous year. This year, the President wanted us to announce [the cities with lowest scores], he said. (swa/swd) Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Riza Roidila Mufti and Bambang Muryanto (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta and Yogyakarta Thu, January 24, 2019 16:02 876 75e76da2d15e495661b6357e2e878310 1 Business NYIA,Yogyakarta,New-Yogyakarta-International-Airport,Kulon-progo,tsunami,earthquake,disaster-mitigation,infrastructure-project Free The government claims it has ensured the under-construction New Yogyakarta International Airport (NYIA) would have a good system for mitigating natural disasters, shrugging off experts concerns that it would be prone to earthquakes and tsunami. The new airport in Kulon Progo regency is located approximately 400 meters from the Indian Ocean coastline. Transportation Minister Budi Karya Sumadi said in Yogyakarta recently that the government had involved experts from various institutions to develop a disaster mitigation system that can hold up against 8.8-magnitude earthquake and 12-meter tsunami. We have appointed experts from Japan, the Bandung Institute of Technology (ITB) and Gadjah Mada University (UGM) and we have measured that in an event of big tsunami, this airport would still exist. We have prepared the [disaster] mitigation, he said. He said the airport terminal buildings were designed to be tall enough to provide safe spaces for passengers during tsunami. Also, last December workers began installing five-meter artificial dunes and dense vegetation 300 meters from the coast between Glagah Beach and Congot Beach that are meant to reduce the impacts of waves. Kulon Progo Regent Hasto Wardoyo said the disaster mitigation measures would cost a total of Rp 100 billion (US$7.07 million). Previously, experts in a discussion in Yogyakarta questioned how prepared the new airport would be against disasters following recent devastation of Palu and cities in Central Sulawesi and Anyer in Banten caused by earthquakes and tsunami. The experts warned about the five megathrust zones under the Indian Ocean at Enggano, the Sunda Straits, central West Java, East Java and Sumba that could lead to magnitude-8 earthquakes or stronger and tsunami. In megathrust zones, edges of two tectonic plates converge, forcing one to slide underneath the other. Of the five [megathrusts], a central West Java and East Java megathrust earthquake may result in a 10- to 15-meter tsunami that could possibly affect the New Yogyakarta International Airport, said Widjo Kongko, a tsunami expert at the Assessment and Application of Technology Agency (BPPT). Widjo said tsunami experts and the public had not yet been clearly informed about the new airports disaster mitigation system. I am a tsunami expert and the public should have known about the study of the construction design, he insisted. Presidential Regulation No. 98/2017 on acceleration of the development of the New Yogyakarta International Airport required provincial and regional administrations to be responsible for constructing a tsunami defense system for the airport. Minister Budi said the airport was 30 percent complete, he said he expected it would be 60 percent complete by April. The airport, expected to be the main gateway for tourists to Central Java, is to initially have a 3,250-meter runway and almost 160,000 square meters for parking. The airport is to accommodate a wide range of aircraft, from Boeing B777s to Airbus A350s, which would fly directly to several international destinations in Japan, China and Australia, said Polana B. Pramesti, the Transportation Ministrys director general of air transportation. While land clearing for the airport had sparked protests by local residents, Polana insisted that it was still on track to begin operations at the end of 2019. Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Apriadi Gunawan (The Jakarta Post) Medan Thu, January 24, 2019 19:54 876 75e76da2d15e495661b6357e2e881007 1 National ITE-Law,North-Sumatra,Prophet-Muhammad Free A policeman assigned in Asahan, North Sumatra, has been sentenced to 30 months in prison and been ordered to pay a Rp 1 billion fine for inciting hate speech on Facebook. The Kisaran District Court on Wednesday found Adj. Second Insp. Saperio Sahputera Peranginangin Pinem guilty of spreading hate speech, a violation of Article 45A of the Electronic Information and Transactions (ITE) Law, after posting an insulting comment about Prophet Muhammad on social media. Presiding Judge Elfian said the defendant was found to have committed the crime on purpose to provoke hatred toward Muslims. The court sentences Saperio Sahputera Peranginangin Pinem to two years and six months in prison, Elfian said on Wednesday while delivering the verdict. Responding to the sentence both the prosecutors and the defendant said they had yet to decide whether to accept or appeal the ruling. Saperio posted a status on Facebook containing an insult against Prophet Muhammad on Aug. 21, 2018. He promptly deleted it and asked for an apology, but the post had already been captured by other internet users, sparking anger among Muslims. A number of Muslim organizations then reported Saperio to the Asahan police. The police arrested him on Aug. 23, two days after he posted the status. The Southeast Asia Freedom of Expression Network (SAFEnet) recorded that the ITE law had imprisoned at least 381 people since it was first deliberated in 2008, 90 percent of those imprisoned had been charged with defamation while the rest with hate speech. Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Thu, January 24, 2019 17:58 876 75e76da2d15e495661b6357e2e87e858 1 City Bekasi,toxic-soil,waste Free The landowner of a sand mound suspected of containing toxic and hazardous waste in Tarumajaya district, Bekasi regency, could face a criminal charge, say police. Bekasi Police criminal investigation unit chief Adj. Sr. Comr. Rizal Marito said the landowner could be charged if it was proven that he was negligent or intentionally used the land to store toxic and hazardous waste. [The landowner] could be [criminally charged] if, for instance, there is an intention [to dump hazardous waste] or if it was proven that he was negligent, Rizal said on Wednesday. The police are investigating the case after three children suffered severe burn wounds after playing on the sand mound on Jan. 10. We are waiting on the laboratory results of the soil sample taken from the mound, he said as quoted by kompas.com. The police have questioned 14 eyewitnesses, including the landowner. Rizal said as per the landowners testimony, he did not realize that the area was allegedly used to dump toxic and hazardous waste. Initial information indicates that the location was not purposely used to dump waste. But we are digging deeper into it, he added. Three children -- Muhamad Ramadan, 8, Denda, 9, and Raga, 8 -- suffered severe burns after playing on the sand mound. (sau) Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin (The Jakarta Post) Palu Thu, January 24 2019 The Anutapura General Hospital in Palu, Central Sulawesi, has dismissed 400 contract workers including nurses, midwives and housekeepers because of declining revenues following the deadly earthquake and tsunami that hit the region in September. We had 800 contract workers but because our revenues are declining, we have no option but to dismiss 400 of them, hospital director Ruslan Ramli told The Jakarta Post on Wednesday. The hospitals revenues dropped to Rp 1.1 billion (US$77,654) per month from Rp 10 billion after the twin disasters damaged 70 percent of the hospitals buildings. We cant possibly pay the salaries of contract workers we can barely cover operational costs. We didnt have a choice, Ruslan said. Before the disaster, the hospital had 553 beds. However, now the hospital can only run 200 beds while the ... Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Thu, January 24, 2019 13:06 877 75e76da2d15e495661b6357e2e866a8c 1 Business WEF,meeting,Davos,Indonesia,investment Free Indonesia has set 13 agendas to promote investment during the World Economic Forum (WEF) Annual Meeting in Davos, Switzerland, from Jan 22 to 25, including investment in the digital economy. We will convey the change in Indonesia, as currently the government uses regulations that no longer focus on its role as a regulator, but it acts more as facilitator and accelerator, said Communications and Information Minister Rudiantara in a press release issued on Thursday. Among members of the Indonesian delegation in the meeting include Coordinating Maritime Affairs Minister Luhut Pandjaitan, Industry Minister Airlangga Hartarto and Investment Coordinating Board (BKPM) head Thomas Lembong. Indonesia has set several priorities in the meeting, including concentrating on the development of digital technology and the impact of the environment and new technology on the global economy. During his five-day stay in Davos, Rudiantara is scheduled to attend 13 forums. The information ministry will organize an event called Next Indonesian Unicorn (NextIcorn) to boost the digital economys role in the countrys economic development. Rudiantara explained that Indonesia was preparing human resources to develop the digital economy in a collaboration between the government, a number of universities and business communities. Were offering scholarships for 20,000 digital talents to prepare human resources to develop information and computer technology, he said, adding that the beneficiaries of the program would acquire expertise on artificial intelligence, big data, cybersecurity, cloud computing and digital business. (bbn) Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Dian Septiari (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Thu, January 24, 2019 14:11 877 75e76da2d15e495661b6357e2e86b98d 1 World UNSecurityCouncil,UNSC,Foreign-Minister-Retno-Marsudi,Peacekeeping,Middle-East,women-empowerment Free Indonesia has committed to increasing the number of troops for United Nations peacekeeping missions overseas, Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi said in a recent meeting with Jean-Pierre Lacroix, UN undersecretary-general for peacekeeping operations (PKOs), on the sidelines of an UN Security Council open debate in New York. As a top-ten contributor to UN peacekeeping forces, Indonesia has pledged to field 4,000 peacekeepers by the end of 2019. Part of its strategy is to send more women out to UN PKOs and send more of its Blue Helmet troops to flashpoints in the Middle East. "Indonesia is ready to contribute in sending peacekeepers to Yemen. I also encouraged increasing the number of female peacekeepers for each mission," Retno said after Tuesday's meeting in a recorded statement received on Thursday. During the meeting, Lacroix expressed his appreciation for Indonesia's active role in PKOs, noting the recent deployment of an 850-strong battalion to the UN peacekeeping mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo (MONUSCO). The French diplomat has been actively campaigning for the greater involvement of women in peacekeeping. UN member states agreed in ministerial meetings in 2016 and 2017 to increase the number of women serving in the military, particularly in peacekeeping. Jakarta pledged to contribute more to the cause, with Minister Retno saying she would push for institutional change. "In the future, Indonesia hopes there will be adjustments to the policies and the UN procedures to encourage an increase in the role of women in peacekeeping operations," she said, while also indicating Indonesia was prepared to send more than 25 policewomen on various peacekeeping missions. Women's [share] in peacekeeping operations is still only a little more than 3 percent, and we want to increase that, so there is certainly some action that needs to be taken. For instance, policies could be [less gender-biased]. According to recent UN figures, women account for approximately 12.3 percent of all military observers and staff officers, up from just 7.8 percent last year. By November last year, Indonesia ranked seventh of 124 countries in terms of peacekeeping contributions, with 3,545 personnel assigned to 8 UN peacekeeping missions, of which only 94 are women. As part of Indonesia's pledge, the minister also announced on Tuesday that the government would send a 140-personnel police unit to the UN peacekeeping mission in Central African Republic (MINUSCA) later this year. She also urged the international cooperation body to consider codeployment with member states and the use of defense equipment from state contributors in PKOs. Peacekeeping is one of Indonesia's main priorities in serving on the UN Security Council over the next two years. Jakarta plans to raise the issue of improved training and skills-building for peacekeepers when Indonesia takes on the UNSC presidency in May 2019. The minister said these issues were seen as long-term investment into the professionalism of Indonesian troops. Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Thu, January 24 2019 Musician and producer Yovie Widianto says he will leave the band he founded, Yovie & Nuno, after their concert next month. The concert is part of the Love Festival Vol. 3 Love is Live event at the Jakarta Convention Center. Yovie & Nuno is one of nine bands, including GIGI and Nidji, that will perform during the event. The Love Festival event will be my last time sharing the stage with Yovie & Nuno, Yovie said as quoted by kapanlagi.com during a recent press conference at the CGV Blitz Grand Indonesia in central Jakarta. Yovie, born in Bandung, West Java, on Jan. 21, 1968, is one of Indonesias most prominent musicians, having been a member of the band Kahitna in the 1990s. In 2001, Yovie founded Yovie & Nuno as a side project to feature is own style of music. to Read Full Story SUBSCRIBE NOW Starting from IDR 55,000/month Unlimited access to our content on web and app No advertising, no interruption A bonus subscription to share Bookmark and night mode functions on app 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 Thu, January 24 2019 The police have arrested a third man, identified as AM, in connection with a clash between street vendors and Public Order Agency (Satpol PP) officers in Tanah Abang, Central Jakarta, last Thursday. We arrested an additional suspect on Sunday night. He works as a scavenger, said Tanah Abang Police chief Sr. Adj. Comr. Lukman Cahyono, as reported by kompas.com on Wednesday. Lukman said the police found out about the suspect by questioning eyewitnesses, who included Satpol PP officers and vendors on Jl. Jatibaru Raya, and by viewing video footage of the clash. According to our investigation, [AM] threw a paving block at a Satpol PP car, Lukman said. Lukman said police were still looking for three other people who may have helped provoke the clash in Tanah Abang. Three suspects are still on the run and we are looking for them, he sai... Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Norman Harsono (The Jakarta Post) News Desk Thu, January 24, 2019 13:38 877 75e76da2d15e495661b6357e2e86830b 1 Business subsidized-houses,one-million-housing-program,public-works,bappenas,SDGs Free Amid its claims of success for President Joko Jokowi Widodos One Million Houses program last year, the government is planning this year to build another 1.25 million new houses of better quality. The housing program that Jokowi launched in 2015 aims to reduce the countrys housing backlog from 7.6 million in 2015 to 5.4 million this year, especially for lower-income families. In the three years since its launch, the program has built 3.45 million housing units. The subsidized housing units are small, two-bedroom rectangular houses and apartments that start from Rp 130 million (US$9,196). People earning incomes of less than Rp 4 million may apply for houses, and those earning less than Rp 7 million may apply for apartments. The Public Works and Housing Ministry is managing the program this year with the National Development Planning Agency (Bappenas), which has been tasked with improving quality control for the subsidized housing units, including assessing the units' access to water and sanitation. Bappenas expert staff Oktorialdi Ilyas said that fulfilling the task was part of the agencys commitment to incorporating the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) into its medium- and long-term development plans from 2020 onwards. Goal 11 of the SDGs is Sustainable Cities and Communities, which urges governments worldwide to make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable. The measures to attain this includes ensuring people's access to safe and affordable housing. Oktorialdi said that only 60 percent of all households in the country had access to clean water, while only 73 percent had access to sanitation. Only 36.58 percent of all houses are inhabitable, said Oktorialdi, citing Bappenas data. However, the government-sponsored housing units were also hampered by quality control problems. Consumers and development experts have criticized the low quality of the subsidized units, and homebuyers have reportedly complained about finding out that their new homes were poorly constructed. The Public Housing Developers Association (Himperra) reported a 20 percent decrease in the construction of landed houses in February-April 2018, due to consumers demanding better quality housing following complaints over leaky ceilings and peeling walls. Social media allowed homeowners to reveal technical flaws in the [housing units] directly to the public works and housing minister, which prompted higher demand for [better quality housing], Himperra chairman Harry Endang Kawidjaja said at a recent event in Jakarta. Soelaeman Soemawinata, the Asia-Pacific regional president of the International Real Estate Federation, told The Jakarta Post that he supported tighter quality control because good accessibility should have been there when the units were built. Khalawi Abdul Hamid, the ministrys housing procurement director general, said he expected to be allocated Rp 17.6 trillion from the state budget to support the housing program this year. Forty-three percent of the fund would be used to finance the construction of 215,000 units, while the remaining 57 percent would go toward the housing loan subsidy. The government has invited more private investors to finance of the housing program to reduce the state budget burden, offering them incentives like eased construction licensing and private-public partnership schemes. Last year, the government built 1.13 million subsidized housing units, half of which was financed through a Rp 9.6 trillion fund from the state budget, while the private sector provided the remainder. Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Daniel Aronssohn and Corentin Dautreppe (Agence France-Presse) Paris, France Thu, January 24, 2019 21:49 876 75e76da2d15e495661b6357e2e8854b9 2 Business #France,#automotive,Renault,appointment,chief Free Carmaker Renault named two experienced French auto executives to replace arrested boss Carlos Ghosn on Thursday, signalling the start of a new era for the French manufacturer and its vital but strained alliance with Nissan and Mitsubishi. Thierry Bollore, who has been running Renault since Ghosn was arrested in Japan in November, will take over as chief executive, while Jean-Dominique Senard, CEO of tyre giant Michelin, has been named its new chairman. "The board expresses its confidence in the new leadership and wishes it every success in its mission," Renault said in a statement. In his first reaction to his appointment, Senard moved to reassure investors of his faith in the Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi alliance, calling it "absolutely essential". Ghosn, previously the most influential man in the global car industry, had resigned from both roles at Renault late Wednesday as he remains behind bars in Japan awaiting trial. The 64-year-old had already been sacked as chairman of Mitsubishi as well as Nissan, where Ghosn is suspected of under-reporting tens of millions of dollars in income over eight years. Nissan welcomed the Renault announcement, expressing hope for a "new chapter" in ties between the partners. "In the big picture, this is a big milestone that we are reaching," Nissan chief Hiroto Saikawa told reporters in Tokyo. As head of Renault since 2005, Ghosn was the keystone of its alliance with Nissan and Mitsubishi, forging an industry powerhouse which together sold more cars than any of its rivals last year. But his globe-trotting career came screeching to a halt when Tokyo police arrested him on suspicion of financial misconduct. Ghosn has denied the charges, but with his release from jail unlikely anytime soon, Renault's board had been gearing up to name new directors. It had been widely expected to name heir apparent Bollore, a 55-year-old at Renault since 2012, as permanent CEO and Senard as chairman. With years of experience in Asia, Bollore is seen at Renault as the right man to steer the French company forward in its Japanese alliance, which has been badly rattled by the Ghosn scandal. Senard, who will become Renault chairman while staying in his post in Michelin until May, is meanwhile well-liked by the French government, Renault's biggest shareholder with a stake of more than 15 percent. Uncertain future The future of the Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi alliance has been thrown into doubt with the arrest of Ghosn, who is widely credited with reviving Nissan and fusing together two vastly different corporate cultures. Although Renault posted record sales of nearly 3.9 million vehicles last year and is in rude financial health, it is grappling with the industry's shift to electric cars as governments worldwide impose stricter emission cuts. E-vehicles require far fewer workers to build, and Renault has targeted four billion euros ($4.5 billion) in cost cuts by 2022, even as it aims to lift revenue to 70 billion euros from 59 billion euros in 2017. Analysts say Bollore's various positions in the car industry in Asia, including Japan, give him valuable experience that will be helpful in soothing relations with his Japanese partners. Renault owns 43 percent of Nissan, which in turn has just a 15 percent stake in its French partner -- and no voting rights. But Nissan's market value is nearly double that of Renault's, prompting some to expect the Japanese side will seek to rebalance the terms of their relationship. It remains unclear who will replace Ghosn as head of the alliance, a role traditionally reserved for Renault's CEO, while Nissan chooses its vice president. Nissan said separately that it would hold an extraordinary shareholders' meeting by mid-April to remove Ghosn from its board, having already stripped the Franco-Lebanese-Brazilian executive of the chairmanship. French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire called Nissan's move a "positive signal" for the alliance. "The shareholder meeting on one hand, the Renault board meeting on the other: it's a new start for Renault and a new start for the alliance," he said at the World Economic Forum in Davos, where Ghosn was a fixture for years. Le Maire also said France would be "extremely vigilant" concerning Ghosn's exit payout. Alliance 'not in danger' Ghosn is expected to stay behind bars for several months after seeing a second bail request denied on Tuesday. He faces three separate charges: two of under-declaring his income and another of seeking to shift personal investment losses onto Nissan. He has been seen in public only once since his arrest on November 19 stunned the business world -- in a dramatic courtroom appearance where he passionately denied the charges and declared his "genuine love" for Nissan. Nissan CEO Saikawa, who oversaw his former mentor's downfall, has stressed that the alliance is "absolutely not in danger". Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Rachmadea Aisyah (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Thu, January 24, 2019 15:49 876 75e76da2d15e495661b6357e2e877337 1 Business Good-Design-Indonesia,G-Mark,exports,Japan Free The Trade Ministry is set to boost the export of value-added products through the third Good Design Indonesia (GDI) competition, which will facilitate top local creators to compete at the Good Design Awards (G-Mark) in Japan. Japan is Indonesias third-biggest export destination with a total of US$16.31 billion in 2018, according to Statistics Indonesia (BPS). The ministrys national export development director general, Arlinda, said this years GDI would have 16 categories, including household items, home appliances, furniture and mobility, expecting as many winners as possible to be facilitated to compete in G-Mark. Arlinda said products that secured a spot to compete at G-Mark would be guaranteed market access to Japan. Last year, seven Indonesian products were ranked among the 100 best entries out of 4,000, Arlinda told reporters at a press conference on Thursday. Two in fact won the big 20 category, which were a coffee maker and bamboo bicycle. In his latest campaign event with alumni of the University of Indonesia, incumbent President Joko Jokowi Widodo was seen riding the bamboo bicycle, which was designed by Bandung Institute of Technology (ITB) graduate Singgih Susilo Kartono. Applicants, said Arlinda, could register through the ministrys website between Jan. 24 and March 24. Keishi Suzuki, president director of the Jakarta office of the Japan External Trade Organization (JETRO), said the GDI was a great opportunity for small businesspeople as they would not have to mass produce their products before signing up to compete in the competition and subsequently G-Mark. [Winning in G-Mark] would earn these creators a prestigious name among Japanese manufacturers, Suzuki said on the same occasion. (bbn) Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Thu, January 24, 2019 13:27 877 75e76da2d15e495661b6357e2e867d4c 1 City flood,East-Jakarta,preparation,residents,officials Free With the rainy season in full swing in Jakarta, residents of flood-prone Kampung Pulo in Jatinegara, East Jakarta, have intensified flood mitigation efforts. Local resident Hasan, 41, moved his household appliances and technological devices including a rice cooker and a TV from the first floor of his house to the second floor on Wednesday as part of flood mitigation efforts, wartakota.tribunnews.com reported. He said he was "afraid that the heavy downpour that came almost everyday would cause water in the Ciliwung River to overflow along with flood water from Bogor [West Java], thus inundating the kampung." East Jakarta Mayor M. Anwar, however, said that floods would not strike the municipality anytime soon, noting that the water level in the Katulampa Dam was 30 to 40 centimeters high. "We should be concerned when it reaches 200 cm," Anwar said. Several steps have been taken to ensure that the village is prepared should a major flood hit. The water pump for the Ciliwung River, located alongside Jl. Inspeksi Kampung Pulo, was inspected and several buildings have been prepared as emergency shelters to accommodate potential victims. The shelters are Jatinegara Santa Maria Fatima school, the Kampung Melayu subdistrict headquarters and the East Jakarta Health Agency. (vla) Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Ruth Ninajanty (The Jakarta Post) Thu, January 24 2019 Red is for love: A family enjoys lunch during Chinese New Year. (JP/Seto Wardhana) Chinese New Year (Imlek) celebrations are all about family gatherings. However, festivities these days are also celebrated outside the home, with cultural performances at local shopping malls and the chance to plan a family vacation. Public Imlek celebrations were banned before then-president Abdurrahman Wahid overturned the prohibition in 2000. For the past decades, Indonesians have enjoyed the Imlek atmosphere everywhere. Chinese New Year celebrations often start with a family meal at home the night before, although its common for those living in big cities to host a family dinner at a restaurant or hotel with a Chinese New Year set menu. On the day itself, Chinese New Year is celebrated by visiting a temple and giving ang pao (red envelopes containing money) to unmarried famil... Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin A. Muh. Ibnu Aqil (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Thu, January 24, 2019 08:58 877 75e76da2d15e495661b6357e2e854d6e 1 City Chinese-descents,Chinese-Indonesians,house-of-representatives,DPR,Indonesian-politics,Politician,#2019GeneralElections,2019-legislative-election Free Politicians of Chinese descent are attempting to woo voters in Chinese enclaves, communities and the broader public in Jakarta to secure seats as legislators even as racist sentiments have recently been rising. Data from Statistics Indonesia recorded that in 2010 there were only 623,372 people of Chinese descent in Jakartas 9.6 million population. The small number makes them a minority in Jakartas politics and that is reflected in the low number of Chinese-Indonesians sitting on the City Council: Only four out of 106 councillors. At the House of Representatives, Chinese-Indonesians are represented by only nine lawmakers, six of whom are from Jakarta, out of the total of 560 members. Six Chinese-Indonesians are running for Jakarta City Council seats in the April 17 elections and 20 for the House 15 of whom are from Jakarta. Politicians of Chinese descent tend to run in Chinese enclaves in the city, such as in North and West Jakarta municipalities, where Chinese communities are more prominent than in other areas of the city. Councillor Gani Suwondo of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), who is seeking reelection, is one such candidate. He is running in the Jakarta III electoral district, which covers the areas of Penjaringan, Pademangan and Tanjung Priok in North Jakarta. Having settled in Teluk Gong in North Jakarta in 1985 where a sizable Chinese community exists Gani said his reason for running for office in that district was because the area was familiar to him. Im already close to my constituents in electoral district III. I cant possibly move because Ive won there previously, Gani told The Jakarta Post on Tuesday. He would not deny that fellow Chinese-Indonesians tend to vote for him, although he said he had always tried to appeal to other groups, despite ethnic and religious differences. In an interview with the Post last July, Gani said the racist sentiments expressed during the 2017 Jakarta gubernatorial election had worsened the situation and he expected to face similar issues this year. At that time, racist sentiments flourished as the divisive terms pribumi (indigenous) and non-pribumi were tossed about to discourage voters from supporting then-governor Basuki Ahok Tjahaja Purnama who is of Chinese ethnicity. Gani downplayed the effect, but he admitted that the negative campaign had been used to win the election. Karna Brata Lesmana who is running for a House seat in the Jakarta III electoral district covering the Thousand Islands regency, North Jakarta and West Jakarta also said he relied on Chinese-Indonesians voters, adding that Ahoks experience as a politician of Chinese descent had inspired him. Karna from the NasDem Party which supported Ahok during his final campaign also wants to woo voters from all groups of society. He had previously run for the Indonesian Justice and Unity Party in 2014, but lost. The Jakarta III electoral district already had pockets of significant voters, so it will be easier for me to run for this district again, he said. Karna is one of the few politicians of Chinese descent to run for a party other than the PDI-P, which has long been viewed as the stronghold of Chinese-Indonesian voters and politicians. Gani acknowledged that the reason behind his support for the PDI-P was that Chinese-Indonesians had felt the party welcomed them as equals. Karna added that the PDI-P was already a large, strong party, so he wanted to support the incumbent from another party, NasDem. PDI-P Jakarta chapter head Adi Wijaya said the party was open to all Indonesians running for office, despite a perception that people of Chinese descent would only vote for people of the same ethnicity and run for that party. He told the Post that the party welcomed all candidates who want to serve the citizens and not just their own social status and enrich themselves, be they of Chinese descent or not. All lawmakers must do so. Adi said he would welcome Chinese-Indonesian politicians who moved from one party to another, dismissing concerns that this would diminish the PDI-Ps share of Chinese-Indonesian votes. Meanwhile, many voters of Chinese descent still seemed to put ideology ahead of ethnicity when choosing lawmakers. Pluit resident Denny Howman said as long as a candidate was competent and had a good track record, ethnicity would not be the deciding factor. Even if I personally knew the candidates or if they were relatives, if they were not competent for the job I would reconsider before voting for them, the 30-year-old graphic designer said. Sawah Besar resident Louis Cythia Angels already had a plan to vote this year after checking on the candidates through social media and the news. I always try to vote and avoid golput (not voting), the 33-year-old Mandarin teacher said. This article was originally published in The Jakarta Post's print edition on Jan. 23, 2019, with the title "Minority politicians up against racism". Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin News Desk (Agence France-Presse) Sydney, Australia Thu, January 24, 2019 10:10 877 75e76da2d15e495661b6357e2e85c12b 2 World #China,#Australia,author,Yang-Hengjun,detained Free Australia on Thursday demanded China handle the case of detained author Yang Hengjun "transparently and fairly," while insisting on consular access to the Chinese-Australian. "Our Embassy in Beijing will meet with Chinese authorities this morning to seek further clarification of the nature of this detention," the Department of Foreign Affairs said in a statement. "We will continue to make representations to China to ensure that this matter is dealt with transparently and fairly," the department added. Yang -- a novelist, democracy advocate and former Chinese diplomat -- went missing shortly after he made a return visit to China from the United States last week. Once described as China's "most influential political blogger," Yang became an Australian citizen in 2000, but is currently based at New York's Columbia University. His criticism of the Chinese government and support for democracy frequently made him a target of Beijing's state security apparatus. He went missing once during a 2011 trip to China, but resurfaced days later, describing his disappearance as a "misunderstanding." But his current detention comes at a moment of high tension between Western countries and an increasingly muscular Beijing, prompting fears that he may be the victim of a dragnet by Chinese security services targeting foreigners. The arrest of a senior executive of Chinese telecom giant Huawei at Vancouver airport has prompted a spate of high profile arrests of foreign nationals, including two Canadians. Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Roland Jackson (Agence France-Presse) London, United Kingdom Thu, January 24, 2019 16:24 876 75e76da2d15e495661b6357e2e87aa6a 2 Business #Airbus,#Brexit,Airbus,warning,Brexit,no-deal,harmful Free Airbus chief Tom Enders warned Thursday that a no-deal Brexit could prompt the European aerospace giant to make "very harmful decisions" for Britain, and branded the government's handling a "disgrace". The aircraft manufacturer currently employs 14,000 people in Britain, including sites at Filton in southwest England and Broughton in north Wales, designing and manufacturing wings. Another 110,000 British jobs are linked with the group's supply chains. "If there is a no-deal Brexit, we at Airbus will have to make potentially very harmful decisions for the UK," Enders warned in a video published on the group's website. Airbus, which has repeatedly stated that Brexit could mean pulling investment out of Britain, also expressed deep frustration over Prime Minister Theresa May's faltering Brexit strategy. 'It is a disgrace' "It is a disgrace that more than two years after the result of the 2016 referendum, businesses are still unable to plan properly for the future," added Enders. "We, along with many of our peers, have repeatedly called for clarity. "But we still have no idea what is really going on here." British lawmakers last week roundly rejected the divorce terms May agreed with Brussels, raising fresh fears that Britain could crash out with no deal on March 29. The nation's powerful CBI business lobby group has also expressed dismay that May had not offered a clearer way forward. "The global market for aviation is growing at five percent each year. But we are not dependent on the UK for our future," added Enders on Thursday. "Airbus will survive and thrive whatever the outcome. "The question is: does the UK wish to be part of that future success? "If you are really sure that Brexit is the best for Britain, come together and deliver a pragmatic withdrawal agreement that allows for an orderly Brexit." May has promised a debate and votes on the way forward on January 29, with MPs mulling a long list of options including a second referendum or delaying the March 29 divorce date. Enders meanwhile urged Britons not to listen to "Brexiteers' madness" that Airbus would always be in Britain. 'Brexiteers' madness' "Please don't listen to the Brexiteers' madness which asserts that, because we have huge plants here, we will not move and we will always be here. "They are wrong. "Of course it is not possible to pick up and move our large UK factories to other parts of the world immediately. "However, aerospace is a long-term business and we could be forced to re-direct future investments in the event of a no-deal Brexit. "Make no mistake, there are plenty of countries out there who would love to build the wings for Airbus aircraft. The Airbus warning caps a torrid week for corporate Britain after Japanese electronics titan Sony decided to switch European headquarters to the Netherlands, while UK appliance maker Dyson revealed it would move its base to Singapore in 2019. The Dutch government revealed Wednesday that officials are in contact with more than 250 companies about a possible post-Brexit move. International Trade Secretary Liam Fox, speaking to AFP at Davos on Wednesday, nonetheless insisted that Britain remains "open for business" and is still an "attractive destination" for foreign direct investment. Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Thu, January 24, 2019 09:24 877 75e76da2d15e495661b6357e2e858de3 1 National basuki-tjahaja-purnama,ahok,Instagram,blasphemy,jakarta,anies-baswedan,Jakarta-governor,Maruf-Amin Free The official Instagram account of Basuki Tjahaja Purnama, previously known as Ahok, uploaded a picture late on Wednesday, announcing his release from prison. Tomorrow [Jan. 24] Tjahaja is coming home, read the post on Instagram account @basukibtp, showing a silhouette photo of the former Jakarta governor, who now wants to be called BTP, while walking through a dark alley. The account is managed by his media team. An Instagram post by @basukibtp, an official account handled by Basuki Tjahaja Purnama's team. (Instagram.com/basukibtp) The post immediately received a flood of warm wishes from his supporters on the platform. As of 9 a.m., more than 18,300 Instagram users had reacted to the post. Today, Jan. 24, BTP, welcome back. You have finished your duty, champion. We wait for your [next work]. We are sure you wont stay still. Your next job will even be greater than the Ahok era. Stay a true fighter to be an example for the young wherever and whenever you are, BTP. God will work through you even greater, @heppy_rgwrote. Welcome back Pak @BTP we really miss you and are happy to see you again, @lennytaagustinanapitupuluwrote. Read also: What's next for Ahok? His successor, Anies Baswedan, has also congratulated him, citing that his former rival in the 2017 gubernatorial election would be treated as any regular Jakarta resident. "We, at the city administration, are ready to dispense services for him just like for any other citizen. By the time he is active as a Jakarta citizen, arranging paperwork, we will give him the same treatment," Anies told reporters. Anies defeated Ahok in the runoff of the election after bagging 57.96 percent of the vote, leaving Ahok with only 42.04 percent. Analysts have attributed Aniess landslide win to a rise in conservative voters who were offended by a statement Ahok made involving a passage from the Quran, which the North Jakarta District Court found to be blasphemous. The court sentenced Ahok to two years in prison. Former Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI) chairman Ma'ruf Amin, now the running mate of incumbent President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo in the upcoming April presidential election, also gave a remark about Ahoks release, citing that Ahok deserved to have his freedom as he had fully served his prison term. "There's nothing special about it. He has served a prison term as ordered by the court and that is a good thing," Ma'ruf said in Tuban, East Java, on Wednesday as quoted by Antara. (dmr) Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Kharishar Kahfi (The Jakarta Post) Depok Thu, January 24, 2019 10:45 877 75e76da2d15e495661b6357e2e85e187 1 National basuki-tjahaja-purnama,ahok,mako-brimob,blasphemy,gubernatorial-elections,jakarta Free Basuki Ahok Tjahaja Purnama, who has asked to be referred to as BTP upon release, is a free man once again after serving nearly two years for blasphemy. Ahok, who was released from the National Polices Mobile Brigade (Mako Brimob) headquarters in Kelapa Dua, Depok, West Java, on Thursday, left the building in the morning and headed home, according to his team. Bapak BTP left Mako Brimob at around 7:30 a.m. He was picked up by his oldest son Nicholas Sean and members of the BTP team. He headed home immediately, a BTP team representative, Ima Mahdiah, said on Thursday. Basuki (Courtesy of BTP team/-) Ahok and his team are believed to have left the compound through the back. A crowd of supporters had gathered at the front gate in the morning to welcome the former Jakarta governor. Ahok was sentenced for blasphemy following a speech he made in the Thousand Islands regency in September 2016 that referred to Al-Maidah verse 51 in the Quran. Ahok said the verse -- believed to ban Muslims from choosing a non-muslim leader -- had been used by politicians to manipulate people into voting against him. The case played a major role in Ahok's defeat in the 2017 Jakarta gubernatorial election. (swd) Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Makiko Yanada and Mikoto Hata (The Japan News/Asia News Network) Tokyo, Japan Thu, January 24, 2019 09:09 877 75e76da2d15e495661b6357e2e858783 2 World #Japan,#Russia,Putin,Shinzo-Abe,boost,Trade,peace Free Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and Russian President Vladimir Putin agreed to ramp up negotiations over a peace treaty during a meeting Tuesday afternoon at the Kremlin. As part of strengthening the Japan-Russia relationship to facilitate the conclusion of a treaty, the leaders agreed to increase bilateral trade to about 1.5 times current levels over the next few years to at least $30 billion. The two leaders have met every month since November. The latest meeting was their 25th overall and lasted about three hours. Abe and Putin instructed their foreign ministers, who are in charge of the treaty negotiations, to move forward on the talks while at an international conference in Germany scheduled for February. Under the leadership of myself and Mr. Putin, we will make strong progress on our shared task of finding solutions that are mutually acceptable. We confirmed our resolve to achieve this, Abe said at a joint press conference after the meeting. Putin said they had confirmed both countries interest in signing a peace treaty. Neither provided any details about the negotiations. In addition to kick-starting the peace treaty talks, the leaders agreed at the meeting to accelerate the search for ways to quickly realize joint economic activities on four northern islands. They also agreed that flights to allow former residents of the northern territories to visit ancestral graves, which first occurred in autumn of 2017, would go ahead this summer. To deepen trust on security matters, they agreed to continue exchanges between defense and border security authorities, and to work together on issues involving North Korea. This was the first Japan-Russia summit since their respective foreign ministers started negotiations on the peace treaty on Jan. 14. Among the officials attending the meeting were Foreign Minister Taro Kono and Economy, Trade and Industry Minister Hiroshige Seko, as well as Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov. In their November summit meeting, Abe and Putin agreed that negotiations would proceed based on a 1956 Japan-Soviet Joint Declaration stating that two of the islands the Habomai island group and Shikotan would be handed over once a peace treaty is signed. Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Thu, January 24, 2019 08:02 877 75e76da2d15e495661b6357e2e853292 1 City brawl,West-Jakarta,teenagers,fatal-attack Free A brawl on Jl. Tanah Sereal Raya in Tambora, West Jakarta, over the weekend has claimed the life of 16-year-old Adam Ilham, police have said. The incident involved youths from Tanah Sereal and Krukut. The victim is a resident of Tanah Sereal. [He] died after being stabbed several times, Tambora Police chief Comr. Iver Son Manossoh said in a statement, according to tempo.co on Wednesday. Iver said the incident occurred when Adam, along with three friends, stopped at a gas station to fill up their two motorcycles on Sunday at 4 a.m. After that they passed through Thalib alley in Krukut, where a group of youths was hanging out. While passing through the area, Iver said, the victim and his friends reportedly taunted the group who then chased and threw rocks at them. While being chased, the victim fell off his motorbike, the perpetrators pounced on him and stabbed him to death, he added. Adam was rushed to a nearby health community center before being transferred to Tarakan General Hospital in Central Jakarta. He died at the hospital, Tambora Police criminal investigation chief Adj. Comr. Supriyatin said. The police have arrested 13 people allegedly involved in the case six of whom are accused of being the masterminds behind the murder. After conducting tests, three of them tested positive for drugs, Supriyatin said. (fac) Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Ganug Nugroho Adi (The Jakarta Post) Surakarta and Jakarta Thu, January 24, 2019 09:01 877 75e76da2d15e495661b6357e2e855d05 1 National Abu-Bakar-Baasyir,terrorism Free The sons of Abu Bakar Ba'asyir, the radical Muslim cleric who was convicted of masterminding the Bali bombings, said they were disappointed over the canceled release of their father and expressed hope that President Joko Jokowi Widodo had not changed his mind. Baasyir, who has been a notorious firebrand cleric since the Soeharto era, has been in prison since 2011 for funding a military camp to train terrorists in Jantho, Aceh. Jokowi, who is campaigning for reelection, made a controversial move on Friday by announcing the plan for the unconditional release of the 80-year-old cleric because of his ailing health and advanced age. The Presidents lawyer and campaign adviser, Yusril Ihza Mahendra, visited the cleric at Gunung Sindur prison in Bogor, West Java, and conveyed that the President had approved his freedom and exempted him from declaring his loyalty to the country and state ideology Pancasila. The plan was later canceled after protests from the victims and family of victims of the 2002 Bali bombings, as well as objections from Australia, which lost 88 citizens in the attack. Muhammad Rosyid, the first son of Baasyir, said he had forgiven the government that had complicated his fathers release, but expressed hope that government officials would change their minds. The family prayed that God could open the hearts of those who have complicated his release, said Rosyid on Wednesday. Baasyirs family, clerics and students of Al Mukmin pesantren (Islamic boarding school) in Ngruki, Central Java, had prepared a celebration to welcome Baasyir. A big tent had been set up on Tuesday as they were expecting Baasyir to arrive on Wednesday afternoon. They had sent out invitations. All of the santri [students] had been upbeat, but it was suddenly canceled. We are very, very disappointed. [The government] has given false hope, said pesantren director Ibnu Hanifah. Ba'asyir's youngest son, Abdul Rohim, who was waiting at Gunung Sindur, expressed hope that the President would speak about the cancelation. Rohim had been sent by the family ahead of the planned release. It was promised that the cleric would be released on Tuesday. "It's not the ministers or subordinates who are at fault because the first one to talk about the release was the President," he said as quoted by Antara. He added that what the family knew so far was that Baasyir would be released on Tuesday, but there had been no more information from Yusril that day. I am communicating with the prison officers, not him. But there has not been any information [from Yusril]," he said. Gunung Sindur prison warden Sopiana said he was waiting for the governments confirmation and therefore he was still unsure about the release. Im still waiting for it, Sopiana said on Wednesday. On Tuesday, the State Palace confirmed that the government had decided to call off the plan because of Baasyirs resistance to pledging loyalty to Pancasila and the Republic of Indonesia a special requirement for all terror convicts who seek parole as stipulated in Government Regulation No. 99/2012. "Yes [the plan has been canceled], because the requirements could not be fulfilled," Presidential Chief of Staff Moeldoko said. Baasyir was sentenced to 15 years in prison and has received treatment for chronic venous insufficiency, blood clots and varicose veins in his leg since 2017. Wahyudin, the head of the Al Mukmin Foundation that manages the pesantren, said Baasyirs family and followers had long tried to negotiate for his release. In February, he said Defense Minister Ryamizard Ryacudu had visited the school that the cleric cofounded. We put forward many reasons for his release. A good leader would forgive, he said. (ggq) A guide on the best bubble tea experience in Taiwans capital of Taipei. Sweet and refreshing with a whole lot of chewy goodness, since its creation in the 1980s in Taiwan bubble tea has gained global popularity with many bubble tea stores popping up in many countries, including in Indonesia. So when you have the chance to hit the streets of Taiwans capital of Taipei, make sure you slurp up the tasty combinations of tea and chewy tapioca pearls offered by these famed bubble tea stores. Chun Shui Tang Social tea house: Chun Shui Tang tea house at Shin Kong Mitsukoshi department store in Taipeis upscale Xinyi district. (-/Randy Mulyanto) Believed to be the birthplace of pearl milk tea, Chun Shui Tang started its journey as a small teahouse in Taichung, a city in central Taiwan, which was established by Liu Han-chieh in 1983. One day in 1987, Lin Hsiu-hui, the product manager at Chun Shui Tang, mixed her fen yuan (tapioca pearls) dessert into her iced tea drink during a meeting. Everyone in the meeting loved the beverage, and the rest is history. Chun Shui Tang now has more than 40 stores in Taiwan and has branched out to Japan. You can find one of the Chun Shui Tang stores at Shin Kong Mitsukoshi department store in Taipeis upscale Xinyi district. The store serves various pure and flavored tea drinks, aside from its specialty of pearl milk tea. A medium iced pearl milk tea of around 660 milliliters is priced at NT$160 (US$5), while a small cup costs NT$85. The pearl milk tea resembles a milkshake with a light texture and small black tapioca pearls at the bottom of the cup. The drink boasts strong tea and milk flavors. Chun Shui Tang allows customers to customize their sugar and ice level. Degugu Real fruit: A cup of Berries Black Tea with white tapioca pearls from Degugu bubble tea store. (-/Randy Mulyanto) If youre looking for a fresh, fruity drink, look no further than Degugu, located near Taipei Metros Zhongshan Junior High School station. Degugu is best known for blending fruit juice into its bubble tea drinks. Their popular beverages include Berries Black Tea (a 591 ml cup costs NT$85), Degu Fruit Tea and Grapefruit Black Tea with Honey. These drinks dont come with pearls, but you can add a white tapioca pearls topping for NT$10. Taiwanese people like tea added with fruits, its fresher and cooler, said Bread Liao, who founded Degugu with her husband Allen Wang. Our store uses Taiwans fresh fruits [and] Taiwans tea leaves, she added. Its green tea, red oolong tea and gaoshan (high-mountain) tea are all sourced from Taiwan. Its black tea comes from Taiwan and Sri Lanka, while its honey comes from Taiwans Yunlin county. Degugu offers a customized sugar level, yet it recommends a half serving of sugar for the best taste. Chen San Ding Worth the wait: Located in Taipeis Gongguan district, Chen San Ding attracts a large number of local and foreign customers who are looking to taste its signature fresh milk with tapioca pearls and brown sugar. (-/Randy Mulyanto) Located near the National Taiwan University, Chen San Ding prides itself on its distinct bubble drink creation qing wa zhuang nai, a cup of creamy milk with brown sugar and tapioca pearls that resembles frog eggs. Chen San Dings sole store is just a few hundred meters away from Taipei Metros Gongguan station. The lines there are unavoidable, but they move fast. The store works at high speed to prepare the drinks. With the price of NT$40 per cup, the drink consists of cold milk and warm pearls that boasts a soft and less starchy texture. It [bubble tea] is the sweetest one here [in Taipei], said Nataliia Sharypova, a Russian student who is pursuing a masters degree in Taipei. Unlike many bubble drink shops in the city, Chen San Ding doesnt have a customized sugar level chart for its drink, but it offers an option to make ones drink with less or no ice. Aside from its famed beverage, the shop also offers a wide array of drinks with toppings of grass jelly, mung beans and aiyu (jelly fig seed). Guan Di Bubble Tea Pure tea: At Guan Di Bubble Tea, a cup of Alpine Four Seasons Tea with pearls costs NT$35 (US$1.13) (-/Randy Mulyanto) Guan Di Bubble Teas oolong tea is so famous that customers from the northern part of Taiwan are willing to go all the way to its only store located near Taipei Metros Shilin station. A cup of its famed oolong tea drink gao shan si ji chun (Alpine four seasons tea) costs NT$30. You can have additional tapioca pearls topping for NT$5. As no milk is added to it, the bubble tea boasts a strong oolong aroma and taste. Customers also said our product is healthier, said shop attendant Gin Liu. It also doesnt have any bad aftertaste. Bruce Yen Tea Shop Sweet and creamy: Bruce Yen Tea Shop is famous for its creamy taro bubble tea drink. (-/Randy Mulyanto) You can find the creamy and sweet taste of taro in many Taiwanese desserts and also in bubble tea. Bruce Yen Tea Shop, a short walk from Taipei Metros Nanjing Fuxing station, offers a cup of black tea latte with taro smoothie and sweet golden tapioca pearls. It costs NT$95 for a large cup. When ordering, remember to ask for hong cha na tie (black tea latte) with extra yu tou (taro). Other recommendations Purwati, an Indonesian caretaker, says that Cocos zhen zhu nai cha (pearl milk tea) is her favorite. Coco opened its first store in 1997 and now operates numerous branches in Indonesia. The taste hits the spot. Delicious. The bubbles are chewy, Purwati said. Febroza Belda, an Indonesian student in Taipei, considers 50 Lans bubble milk tea to be her favorite. At [50 Lan], we can choose big or small bubbles, she said. 50 Lan stores can be easily found in many corners of Taipei. Former Jakarta governor Basuki Ahok Tjahaja Purnama, who has asked to be referred to as BTP from now on, was released from prison on Thursday morning after serving nearly two years. Flower boards expressing well wishes for the former governor began filling the front gate of the Mobile Brigade headquarters in Depok on Wednesday evening. Twitter is also abuzz with netizens welcoming back BTP, with the hashtag #WelcomeBackBTP listed among the top 10 social media worldwide trending topics on Thursday. Other hashtags related to BTP, #WelcomeBackAhok and #WelcomeBTP, have also been trending. User@yennikwoktweeted a picture from BTPs eldest son Nicholas Seans Instagram, with the caption, Hes back. My dads a free man! Thank you everyone for the support. User @Kayori_Hengkyposted three edited Timemagazine covers with President Joko Jokowi Widodo, presidential candidate Prabowo Subianto and BTP on the covers. Each bore captions referencing Star Wars, such as A New Hope for Jokowi, Empire Strikes Back for Prabowo and Return of the Jedi for BTP. The tweet reads, "The series is complete, fulfill your destiny." The series is complete and fullfill your destiny #WelcomeBackBTP pic.twitter.com/M34tXQfYyF Hengky Kayori (@Kayori_Hengky) January 24, 2019 Read also: Indonesian netizens love to talk about BTS, among other things Another Star Wars reference showed up in a tweet by @sejutatemanid. BTPs face could be seen in a brown cloak known to be worn by the Jedi, the main protagonists in the Star Wars universe. In a text stylized like those on a movie poster, the caption read, BTP. Return of the Jedi. January XXIV, while the tweet reads Hes coming home. User@haebaesposted an illustration of BTP with a caption that read, Wish you didnt go through all of that in the first place but now we need you to come back stronger. wish you didn't go through all of that in the first place but now we need you to comeback stronger #WelcomeBackBTP pic.twitter.com/SDc8BWVb1S (@haebaes) January 23, 2019 Some also utilized a part of BTPs name (Tjahaja means light), such as user @PartaiSocmedwho wrote, There are world figures who shine even more after theyre imprisoned. #BTPis one of those people with the ultimate light. Kutipan dari Gandhi ini tepat sekali menggambarkan sosok Ahok. #WelcomeBackBTP pic.twitter.com/3fUeKplEQO akhmad sahal (@sahaL_AS) January 24, 2019 User@sahaL_AS tweeted, "This quote from Gandhi paints Ahok precisely", along with a picture of BTP side-by-side with the quote. "Never apologize for being correct, or for being years ahead of your time. If you're right and you know it, speak your mind. Even if you are a minority, the truth is still the truth." (wng) E-commerce platform Shopee is continuing its collaboration with donation channel Rumah Zakat this year in an effort to help with the recovery from an earthquake and tsunami that devastated Palu and Donggala in Central Sulawesi in September through the construction of temporary shelters for victims of the disaster. According to tsunami and liquidation disaster data and information in Central Sulawesi, more than 50,000 families are waiting to be placed in temporary shelters prepared by the government and humanitarian agencies in districts or cities around Donggalam, according to a statement released by Shopee. The online platform and Rumah Zakat have worked together to build additional temporary shelters in subdistricts Talise Valangguni and Mantikulore in Palu. As of December last year, two temporary shelters and six emergency schools had been built. Read also: [UPDATED] How you can help Palu earthquake victims This year, Shopee and Rumah Zakat renewed their commitment to build four additional shelter for victims in the same areas, marked by the laying of the first stone for the construction of shelters by Rezki Yanuar, Shopee's country brand manager, and Nur Efendi as CEO of Rumah Zakat, on Jan. 22. "Making donations on our platform, visiting schools and providing resources to support the construction of emergency facilities is part of Shopee's continuous contributions to disaster victims," Rezki said in a statement. In October last year, Shopee partnered with Rumah Zakat and three other institutions, the National Alms Agency (Baznas), Aksi Cepat Tanggap (ACT Indonesia) and Dompet Dhuafa to raise funds and distribute various donation packages to victims in Donggala. Through the #ShopeeBersamaPaluDonggala campaign, users are invited to purchase donation packages at Shopee. Around 90,000 users throughout Indonesia participated in the donation raising. "We believe that this collaborative work can help Palu, Sigi and Donggala communities recover," Nur Efendi said. (liz/kes) It may soon be time to cue the wedding bells for the recently released Basuki Ahok Tjahaja Purnama, who has asked to be referred to as BTP, as reports are circulating that his marriage forms have been submitted. A rumored wedding between BTP and Second Brig. Puput Nastiti Devi has been a hot topic among netizens over the past week and now that the former governor has been released from prison, the rumors are only picking up steam. City Council speaker Prasetio Edi Marsudi, who is also a PDI-P politician, recently confirmed the news, according to tempo.co, which quoted him as saying: It is true, Ahok will get married on Feb. 15. I see that his condition is healthy and he has a lot of plans upon his release. Prasetio received the news when he visited BTP at the National Polices Mobile Brigade headquarters several weeks ago. I will be their witness, he added. However, Teguh Sriyono, Puputs father, said he had not heard of any such plans. We will know if there is going to be a wedding, but so far there is no info yet, he said on Monday. The former governor's sister addressed rumors of her brother's wedding on Instagram. (Instagram/File) BTPs sister, Fifi Letty Indra, posted a childhood photo of her and her siblings on her Instagram account five days ago, with a caption that said, Honestly, its strange that none of us [the family] know about the Feb. 15 wedding. As a family, we should know these things, shouldnt we? So please ask Pak Pras [Prasetio] why things are the way they are. Also about #Ahok converting to another religion, we must say firmly that there is no such thing. Whatever happens, [he] will not convert to another religion. [This] reminds me of the song #IHaveDecidedToFollowJesus. Pasir Gunung Selatan subdistrict head Aselih told The Jakarta Post on Jan. 24 that he had signed the marriage documents for BTP and Puput. It is all done, meaning I have signed [the documents], which means it is not a rumor anymore. The truth is, Puput will [be married], although I dont know exactly when. And that is true. I have written a letter of recommendation for the marriage. When the wedding is held is entirely up to her. It is not a rumor anymore, he said. Aselih noted that, after obtaining the signed documents from the subdistrict head, couples usually go to either the Religious Affairs Office (KUA) if they are Muslims or the Civil Registration Agency (Dukcapil) if they are Christians. There is no expiration date on the papers. However, if the wedding is not held for months after, the KUA or Dukcapil will usually ask for fresh ones, Aselih said, adding that the documents were signed on Jan. 17. Regarding Puputs alleged conversion to Christianity, Aselih said: I am stating the facts because, on her ID and family card, shes recorded as a Christian. I dont deviate from that. What [religion] she was prior to this, I dont know. I am only adhering to administrative facts. According to my records, there was no change in religion." BTP was previously married to Veronica Tan until their divorce in April 2018. Puput was Veronicas aide. (asw) Lithuanian-born American director Jonas Mekas, one of the leading figures of avant-garde cinema in the United States, died Wednesday. He was 96. "Jonas passed away quietly and peacefully early this morning," the New York-based Anthology Film Archives, which Mekas co-founded, posted on Instagram, saying he died at home with his family at his bedside. "He will be greatly missed but his light shines on." Born in 1922 in a northeastern Lithuanian village, Mekas was imprisoned in a labor camp in Germany during World War II. He settled in New York in 1949, where he went on to become a pillar of independent film. Mekas approached cinema from multiple angles -- as a filmmaker, but also as a journalist, curator, historian and spokesman for alternative and experimental movie-making. He directed more than 70 films, mainly documentaries, aiming to capture moments of life which he often filtered through jerky, radical montage. "I did not follow scripts," he said in a video shot by the Museum of Contemporary Art in Los Angeles and released in 2012. Read also: At 81, Philip Glass is eager to challenge himself "I was just filming," he said. "And the same, I'm doing now. I don't work with preconceived ideas. I film what happens and I never know what will happen." "I don't live according to plans." His 1964 film The Brig -- in which he films a play that takes place in a military prison -- remains his most famous. Highly active in the film community, he was a critic for The Village Voice, once a top cultural paper of reference. Mekas went on to co-found New York's Anthology Film Archives -- a renowned center dedicated to film and video with a focus on the avant garde. Located in Manhattan's East Village, the center houses thousands of films, videotapes and documents. At the time of his death Mekas remained the anthology's artistic director. The annual Indonesia Fashion Week (IFW) is to be held for the eighth time from March 27 to 31 at the Jakarta Convention Center (JCC) in South Jakarta. As reported by kompas.com on Wednesday, this year's IFW is to focus on the richness of Kalimantan's culture that, according to IFW president Poppy Dharsono, has not often been promoted, compared to cultures from other regions, such as Java. "Meanwhile, Kalimantan is actually home to several main ethnicities, such as Melayu, Dayak, Banjar, Kutai and Dayak Panser, who contribute to the uniqueness of the region's culture," Poppy said at a press conference in Jakarta on Wednesday. Read also: Indonesian label Moral featured at China's Harbin Fashion Week Regarding the theme, the design of the event's venue is said to be decorated in a Kalimantanian cultural vibe. "[Including] all the decorations. Upon entering the venue, visitors will immediately marvel at the symbols that will remind them of Kalimantan." Designers participating in the event are also to use Kalimantan's culture as inspiration for their collections, including the region's signature motifs and colors, jewelry and fabrics. "Hopefully these designers will collaborate with local artisans and purchase [their products]," added Poppy. IFW would reportedly hold more than 20 fashion shows presented by the country's prominent designers, as well as feature hundreds of local fashion brands. (kes) Britain's Prince William revealed on Wednesday that "not one celebrity" had originally wanted to join a mental health campaign he started in 2016 with his wife Kate and brother Harry. "We went out to a lot of people and nobody, before we started, was interested in being a part of 'Heads Together' because it was mental health," he said, speaking on a panel at the World Economic Forum in the Swiss resort of Davos. William, who is second in line to the British throne, also opened up about his experiences of dealing with trauma during his daily work in the air ambulance, which he retired from two years ago. Remembering a particularly affecting incident, he said: I know if I hadnt taken the action I did then, I would have definitely gone down a slippery slope and I would have been dealing with mental illness on a different level." His fellow panelist, New Zealand's Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern, praised the prince for speaking out about mental health issues. Read also: Prince William turns interviewer in Davos appearance with Attenborough Ardern, at 38 the worlds youngest female head of government, has said she will introduce New Zealand's first well-being budget to gauge how policy impacts the quality of peoples lives. "I think unfortunately one of the sad facts for New Zealand is that everyone knows someone who has taken their own life. We're a small country, less than 5 million people, but last year more than 600 people committed suicide," she said. "Ive lost friends and I wouldn't have to look far in my cabinet to find others who have as well," Ardern added. William, who has previously warned British men of the dangers of keeping a traditional "stiff upper lip" at times of stress, said he thought his countrys difficulties with expressing emotions came from a wartime generation who passed on a tendency not to talk about problems. Asked what he thought leaders should do to tackle mental health issues, William told the Davos crowd: "I think more leaders need to talk about it." The undead can be useful after all. Zombies are a good way to make a South Korean period drama such as Kingdom more accessible to international audiences, says lead actor Ju Ji-hoon. Speaking to The Straits Times and other regional media in Korean via an interpreter, the 36-year-old heart-throb says: "Korean audiences are very familiar with Korean period dramas, but this may not be so for other audiences. "As we know, zombie stories are very much loved across the world. Kingdom is a universal zombie story with Korean flavor." Kingdom, a six-episode series which premieres on Netflix on Friday, Jan. 25, is a zombie horror story set in Korea's Joseon Dynasty (1392-1897). Even before the show premieres, Netflix has renewed it for a second season. In it, Ju plays the crown prince, who is accused of betraying his king father. When a mysterious outbreak occurs in the kingdom, turning people into zombie-like creatures, he sets out to try to stop it. Ju was in Singapore last November to promote the show alongside his co-star Ryu Seung-ryong, who plays a corrupt politician. They were fielding interviews at Netflix's See What's Next: Asia event at Marina Bay Sands, where the American streaming service giant was promoting a slate of their upcoming titles to more than 300 journalists. Ju says: "I did not feel any pressure while shooting this series, but I'm starting to feel a bit of pressure now that I'm in Singapore and seeing how much interest there is. "Hopefully, the show, which showcases beautiful Korean costumes and traditional Korean culture, will push international audiences to watch more Korean shows." Read also: Netflix will have 15 new series from Asia in 2019 Ryu, 48, a veteran actor of hit films such as Miracle In Cell No. 7 (2013) and Masquerade (2012), adds: "We got to fly here on business class and we're staying in fancy suites here. I'm starting to feel like this show will be a big deal." As with most zombie films and television shows, Kingdom features quite a bit of gore and some scares - elements that neither actor is a fan of. Ju says: "I can't watch horror shows - I get scared and I can't sleep." But the scariest thing on set had nothing to do with the undead. He says: "It's the filming schedule." Ryu adds with a chuckle: "It's when we have finished filming an entire scene but the director wants a retake. I think that is the scariest moment." Kingdom premieres on Netflix on Friday, Jan. 25. Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Endy Bayuni (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Thu, January 24, 2019 09:08 877 75e76da2d15e495661b6357e2e8584bc 1 Opinion #commentary,#2019PresidentialElection,2019-presidential-debate,Jokowi-Maruf,Prabowo-Sandiaga,election,Indonesia,politics Free Supporters of both presidential candidates, incumbent Joko Jokowi Widodo and challenger Prabowo Subianto, have been at pains to claim they won the first round in a series of debates. There were really no outright winners in the debate on Jan. 17, but there was one clear loser: The voting public, those who had hoped that the encounter would help them make up their minds come voting day, April 17. The debate would have given them a chance to get a closer look at the candidates and their running mates, not just their vision and mission, but also their character and personality, their ability to articulate themselves and explain ideas, and their communication skills. Instead, we were served with candidates who appeared stiff, completely ill at ease, struggling to recite their campaign lines, which they had clearly failed to memorize. In the debate, which was televised live, all four candidates Jokowi and running mate Maruf Amin and Prabowo with Sandiaga Uno looked like robots, or at best, bad actors. The number of undecideds and dont knows ranging from 10 to 20 percent according to most surveys is too large for pundits to give the election to Jokowi, the clear leader in all opinion polls. With three months to go, things can still change, and the five presidential debates could well prove to be a game changer. If it turns out to be a close election, as in the 2014 race that pitted the same two candidates against one another, swing voters could well be the deciding factor. Five years ago, Jokowi saw his massive lead slashed, so that he eventually won by a mere 5 percentage points. It is unclear whether the debates had made the difference then, but they certainly offer an opportunity for both candidate pairs to reach out and persuade undecided voters. The public did not really need to hear the vision and mission of candidates, something they could easily get from published statements. For the public, the debate is more about style and form, and not so much about substance. They want to know more about leadership skills. Do the candidates have what it takes to lead this nation of 270 million people with all its complex problems? Which pair comes across more convincing as leaders and statesmen? Since we vote them in pairs, can we see the chemistry between the candidates and their respective running mates? The General Elections Commission (KPU) seems more concerned with substance, which appears to be why it imposed rigid rules, including limiting times: Three minutes for the presentation and one or two minutes for responses. This prevented candidates from articulating their thoughts; instead they used their time to recite campaign lines, as if they were appearing on cosmetic ads for television. Since the candidates had been given the list of questions in advance, rather than answering the questions, they were just reciting their campaign lines. They choreographed as much as they could their body language and their lines. If the idea of holding the debate was to show the perfection of our future leaders, they should have pre-recorded it, allowing for many retakes until they get their lines and acts right. Last weeks debate was devoid of human emotion, with the exception of when Prabowo danced as he waited for his turn to speak and Sandiaga massaged his shoulders to calm him down. Fortunately, the KPU, following criticism, has agreed to review the format of the debate for the remaining four rounds. For one, they have agreed not to submit the list of questions beforehand, hence subjecting candidates to possible surprises. The KPU needs to relax the rules and let candidates appear as they are, as real human beings with all their imperfections. While they are not expected to have all the answers to the nations problems, how they handle questions would shed far more light on their character and personality than a highly choreographed debate could. In 2014, Jokowi caught Prabowo unawares when he posed a question about a government agency with an acronym the challenger was not aware of. Prabowo fumbled as he tried to answer the question with no idea what it was all about. In another debate, Prabowos running mate at the time, Hatta Rajasa, confused a government award for environmental activists with that for best cities. Jokowis running mate Jusuf Kalla capitalized by pointing out the error, sparking laughter from the audience. No one is expected to know all the acronyms Indonesia has, and anyone could have confused the different awards. Prabowo and Hatta, however, made the mistake of trying to answer questions they did not understand to begin with. What they should have done was to ask for clarification before answering the questions. To err is human, and voters will accept that, but to pretend that you know everything is downright dishonest, and that is something voters will punish. Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Dio Herdiawan Tobing (The Jakarta Post) Yogyakarta Thu, January 24, 2019 09:54 877 75e76da2d15e495661b6357e2e85be32 3 Opinion refugee,refugee-detention,asylum-seekers,Australia,Jokowi-administration,foreign-policy,IOM,United-Nations Free January 2019 marks two years of President Joko Jokowi Widodos 2016 presidential decree on handling foreign refugees. The Presidential Decree no. 125/2016 on the Treatment of Refugees from Overseas, signed on Dec. 31, 2016, provides legal certainty and standard procedures on coordination and effective collaboration among the mandated government agencies. Before this decree, the Directorate General of Immigration under the Law and Human Rights Ministry was the highest authority to exercise policy response towards asylum-seekers and refugees in Indonesia mainly with security measures. Human rights of refugees were largely neglected, especially as they were considered largely illegal immigrants. The 2016 decree states special treatment is provided for refugees with special needs such as those who are ill, pregnant, disabled, children and the elderly. On the right to housing, article 26 of the decree instructs that facilitation of refugee shelters support can be sought from international organizations regarding basic necessities such as clean water, food, clothing, healthcare and hygiene, and religious facilities. The decree does not specify any international organization. Australias decision in March 2018 to cut off its funding, previously channeled through the International Organization for Migration (IOM) that provides incentives for refugees whilst waiting for their resettlement process, has also raised Indonesias refugee burden amid uncertain political commitment on refugee issues. The refugee issue was never a priority agenda in Indonesias domestic and foreign policies, with humanitarian emergency being the only exception. Nevertheless, since the 2016 decree the situation of refugees in Indonesia has improved gradually despite absence of explicit right-based provisions. On the fundamental right to freedom of movement, for example, Indonesia has been quietly progressing. As of December 2018, only 1 percent of the total refugees in transit in Indonesia remain living at the immigration detention centers, according to the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR). This only amounts to around 120 from the total of 14,016 refugee population registered with the UNHCR. Meanwhile before the decree, there were over 4,200 individuals, including women and children, who were detained at the Indonesian detention centers in 2016. It had given Indonesia a bad reputation on hosting refugees in overcrowded immigration lockups, such as the one at Kalideres, West Jakarta which may amount to torture under international law. The UN Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhumane or degrading treatment or punishment, Nils Melzer, stated in his report that, grossly inadequate detention conditions can even amount to torture if they are intentionally imposed, encouraged or tolerated by States for reasons based on discrimination of any kind, including based on immigration status, or for the purpose of deterring, intimidating, or punishing migrants or their families, coercing them into withdrawing their requests for asylum, subsidiary protection or other stay, agreeing to voluntary return, providing information or fingerprints, or with a view to extorting money or sexual acts from them. Another milestone achieved over the past two years is access to education for refugee children. While the right to education is not mentioned in Jokowis refugee decree, the IOM noted some Indonesian cities have admitted child refugees to public schools such as in Jakarta, Medan, and Makassar. Through a memorandum of understanding between the IOM and the Education Agency in Medan, North Sumatra, over 290 child refugees are integrated into the citys local public school system. Hasan Basri, the head of the agency expressed concern for the refugees as cited in a press release from IOM, especially for these school-aged children [] [therefore] my department will give its full support towards ensuring that they are able to pursue their education. The children cannot get certificates of graduation as they are not registered in residential family cards. However the UNHCR noted that around 320 child refugees are now enrolled in accredited national schools, from which 2,835 children are in school age. The remaining homework is making the right to employment available by integrating refugees to the local labor market in their transit period. It is still a long way to go, as authorities face concerns that refugees might steal local jobs. The government should progress to consider allowing ways for refugees to gain income, given stress levels of long-term refugees -- which have led to suicides among them. At least now the national and local governments are on the right track towards providing universal access to human rights for refugees. *** The writer is a Fellow at the ASEAN Studies Center, Gadjah Mada University (UGM), Yogyakarta. This piece is extended from his Masters thesis entitled Compliance without accession: Indonesias involvement in refugee protection under international law submitted to the Leiden University, the Netherlands. Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not reflect the official stance of The Jakarta Post. Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Hatanto Reksodipoetro (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Thu, January 24, 2019 The future of Batam, Riau Islands, was spelled out loud and clear when President Joko Jokowi Widodo gave his final say in a Cabinet meeting last December: The mayor of Batam will be the ex-officio head of the Batam Indonesia Free Trade Zone Authority (BP Batam). When asked by journalists if that the decision was intended to dissolve BP Batam, Coordinating Economic Minister Darmin Nasution replied, More or less. Developing Batam as an industrial enclave was the vision of then-president Soeharto in the 1970s. He wanted to build an exclusive home for world-class industries to support Indonesias oil refining business. With the development of infrastructure facilities in the 1980s and 1990s, Batam evolved into a major industrial site for Indonesia, as well as a centerpiece of the nations strategy t to Read Full Story SUBSCRIBE NOW Starting from IDR 55,000/month Unlimited access to our content on web and app No advertising, no interruption A bonus subscription to share Bookmark and night mode functions on app Subscription to our newsletters We accept Register to read 3 premium articles for free Already subscribed? login Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not reflect the official stance of The Jakarta Post. Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Editorial Board (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Thu, January 24, 2019 08:44 877 75e76da2d15e495661b6357e2e8543fc 1 Editorial #Editorial,Airlines,hotel-industry,tourism,international-flights,Indonesia,travel,economy Free Vietnams Vietjet Air is to open two direct flights from Ho Chi Minh City to Bali and Jakarta in May, while Vietnam Airlines is increasing its flights to Indonesia from Hanoi, Danang and Ho Chi Minh City. Direct flights connecting Cambodia and Indonesia are also being readied. Increasing direct international flights to major tourist destinations in Indonesia will go a long way toward boosting growth in foreign tourist arrivals, which totaled only 16 million last year. Although it was more than the 14.04 million foreign tourists that visited the country in 2017, it still fell short of the governments 2018 target of 17 million foreign tourist arrivals. This years target of 20 million foreign tourist arrivals will also be an uphill climb. In fact, according to the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO), Indonesias foreign tourist arrivals have always been miserably lower than its potential as the worlds largest archipelagic country, with its diverse cultures and its natural wealth of mountains and beaches, as well as its amazing man-made attractions. The UNWTO recorded that foreign tourist arrivals in Southeast Asia increased 7 percent to 128.4 million last year, with Thailand, Singapore and Malaysia being the most popular destinations. The lack of direct international flights to major destinations on Java, Sumatra, Sulawesi and the easternmost islands has been cited as a major cause of the slow growth in Indonesias tourism. Hence, allowing more point-to-point international air travel to Indonesia, primarily from our regional neighbors under the ASEAN Open Skies policies, will contribute significantly to wooing more foreign visitors. Aside from providing easier access to visitors, foreign airlines serving routes to Indonesia also help promote tourist destinations in the country through their marketing campaigns. Likewise, attracting more international hotel chains to operate in Indonesia would be an effective way of drawing in more foreign tourists. The tourism industry would benefit directly if more international hotel chains opened branches in major destinations on Java, Sumatra, Sulawesi and other major islands, as these companies promote their new hotels and by default, Indonesian destinations to their customers through their global marketing networks. We think that the government should step up its efforts to attract more international airlines and global hotel chains to operate in Indonesia while continuing with their direct promotions to source markets in China, Australia, Europe and the Americas, while expanding its cross-border regional tourism with Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand and other ASEAN countries. Travel and tourism are among the most promising industries for development, not only because Indonesia is blessed with a wealth of tourism resources. Tourism also helps grow local economies through its multiplier effect on local transportation, creative economies, hospitality sectors like food and beverage, and numerous related industries. Most importantly, tourism development does require much import, and the industry is labor intensive and drives exports, thereby contributing to alleviating the current account deficit. COLLINSVILLE Two men are charged, accused of peppering a vehicle with gunfire while chasing it onto Interstate 270 Monday. Tee incident occurred at approximately 11:26 a.m, according to a press release. Illinois State Police was dispatched to the reported shooting in the area of the Interstate 270 Old Alton Road ramp, near Pontoon Beach. The investigation revealed that Martin J. Novak, 27 and Jessie L. Bianco, 31, both of Decatur, were involved in an altercation with a known acquaintance, police say. Novak and Bianco then chased the victim in their dark colored Chevrolet Tahoe, according to police. As the victim entered Interstate 270, the suspects fired several shots at the victim. The victims vehicle was struck by the gunfire. No one was shot or injured during incident. The victim then drove directly to the Pontoon Beach Police Department and reported the incident. Due to the alert and swift actions of the Pontoon Beach Police Department the suspect vehicle was stopped. Novak and Bianco were taken into custody without incident, the ISP press release says. The investigation was turned over to the Illinois State Police Zone 6 Metropolitan Police Assistance Team. Novak was charged with four felony offenses: aggravated discharge of a firearm, armed habitual criminal action, felon in possession of a firearm and possession of a firearm with a defaced serial number. Novak remains in custody at the Madison County Jail and his bond was set at $200,000. Bianco was charged with three felony offenses: aggravated discharge of a firearm, felon in possession of a firearm and possession of a firearm with defaced serial number. Bianco remains in custody at the Madison County Jail and his bond was set at $100,000. EDWARDSVILLE U.S. News and World Report has ranked the Southern Illinois University Edwardsville School of Nursing (SIUE SON) among the top 60 in its 2019 Best Online Masters in Nursing Programs list released Jan. 14. The SIUE SON improved 31 spots from a year ago to 53rd among 179 schools nationwide and is the top-rated public institution in Illinois. Along with masters degrees in healthcare nursing administration (HCNA) and nurse educator (NE), the SONs online graduate degree programs also include a post-masters doctor of nursing practice (DNP). According to Laura Bernaix, PhD, RN dean of the School of Nursing, the U.S. News rankings reflect the Schools continued commitment to providing excellent academic experiences. The School of Nursings online learning opportunities provide students with a high-quality education through the use of small class sizes, strong faculty mentoring and support, and robust program content, Bernaix said. It is an honor to be nationally recognized. We expect the Schools online graduate programs to continue to excel in program delivery and student satisfaction, SON faculty and administrators work extremely hard to ensure our online programs continue to offer excellence in education, while maximizing student flexibility, said Andrew Griffin, PhD, CRNA, assistant dean of graduate programs. We are seeing positive results in student enrollment and outcomes. Its rewarding to see that others are noticing as well. U.S. News utilized five categories in the rankings: Student engagement (30 percent): In a quality program, aspiring advanced practice nurses can readily collaborate with fellow students in their classes and clinical settings. In turn, instructors are not only accessible and responsive, but they also are tasked with helping to create an experience rewarding enough for students to stay enrolled and complete their degrees in a reasonable amount of time. Faculty credentials and training (20 percent): Strong online nursing programs employ instructors with academic credentials that mirror those of instructors for campus-based programs, and they have the resources to train these instructors to teach distance learners. Expert Opinion (20 percent): A survey of high-ranking academic officials in nursing helps account for intangible factors affecting program quality that statistics do not capture. Also, employers may hold in high regard degrees from programs that academics respect. Student Excellence (15 percent): Student bodies entering with proven aptitudes, ambitions and accomplishments can handle the demands of rigorous coursework. Furthermore, online degrees that schools award judiciously will have greater legitimacy in the job market. Services and technologies (15 percent): Programs that incorporate diverse online learning technologies allow greater flexibility for students to take classes from a distance. Outside of classes, strong support structures provide learning assistance, career guidance and financial aid resources commensurate with quality campus-based programs. The full rankings are available at usnews.com. G. Christine Taylor, PhD, vice president and associate provost for diversity, equity and inclusion at the University of Alabama, witnessed a cross burning in her neighborhood; was among the first to integrate an all-white elementary school at the age of 5; and was welcomed and empowered by her white first-grade teacher to learn and succeed. These experiences and more fueled her in becoming a champion of diversity, equity and inclusion and positioned her to continue the work in todays troubling climate, Taylor told her audience Wednesday, Jan. 23 at Southern Illinois University Edwardsvilles Annual Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Week Luncheon Celebration. As I look around and see the bias incidents in our nation and on our campuses, such as African Americans being stopped for living while black, said Taylor, I have come to a better understanding of one of Dr. Kings sayings regarding justice and fairness. Taylor was the guest speaker at the 36th MLK Week Luncheon, presented by the Center for Student Diversity and Inclusion (CSDI), which drew approximately 265 people. Even though Kings speech was 50 years ago, please note the relevancy for 2019, said Taylor. We are now faced with the fact, my friends, that tomorrow is today. We are confronted with the fierce urgency of now. There is such a thing as being too late. Procrastination is the thief of time. Let us rededicate ourselves to the long, bitter but beautiful struggle for a new world. Im convinced, she added, that we are living in the words of Dr. King the Fierce Urgency of Now: the Sequel. SIUE Chancellor Randy Pembrook welcomed the audience and offered several of Kings quotes. One of my favorites is, Lifes most persistent and urgent question is what are you doing for others? SIUE has responded to that concept of doing for others, because we share Dr. Kings dream. Pembrook noted several ways the University has and is doing well in the area of diversity and inclusion: The expansion of the Dr. Martin Luther King Celebration Universitys new strategic goals and objectives The opening of the CSDI Regularly scheduled inclusive conversations opened to students, faculty and staff The SIUE Black Faculty and Staff Association being recognized as a constituency group The reinvigorated Diversity Leadership groups development of the 2019 Diversity and Inclusion Spring Summit SIUE receiving the Higher Education Excellence in Diversity Award for the fifth consecutive year Another highlight of the luncheon was the award presentations. The following were honored for their outstanding achievements and contributions: Faculty Humanitarian Myron W. Jones, PhD, assistant professor in the SIUE Department of Chemistry Scholarship Vernon Tremain Smith, Jr., SIUE mass communication major High School Essay Jacob Bradley Renfer, Notre Dame High School, St. Louis High School Poetry Andrew Normington, St. Louis University High School, St. Louis High School Visual Arts Samantha Ramay, Notre Dame High School, St. Louis MLK award winners reflected on their winnings and the legacy of the civil rights leader and giant. Dr. King once said that Everyone can be great, because everyone can serve, said Myron. I have tried to serve by helping others achieve their educational goals and by supporting diversity in STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) education. Upon Dr. Sadegh Khazaelis retirement, I assumed responsibility for maintaining the Louis Stokes Alliance for Minority Participation (LSAMP) at SIUE, continued Myron. This program supports and encourages underrepresented groups to pursue and complete undergraduate degrees in science and engineering. Smith says his MLK scholarship will help him continue his education, which in turn will assist him in furthering his leadership skills and community service. Dr. Martin Luther King embodies the kind of person I hope to become: a persuasive leader, a man of confidence, a devoted religious member and an excellent speaker of the truth, said Normington, who plans to major in English or business communications in college. I most admire Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.s ability to peacefully fight for his beliefs, even when faced with hatred, said Ramay, who aspires to major in biology or genetics in college. Kings vision of racial equality was not beyond the outer limits of human capability, said Renfer, who plans to major in computer science. Rather, it was a goal for people to achieve through honest discussion and listening. Jacksonville is one of the safest cities in Illinois, according to a home security retailers annual rankings. The designation is largely thanks to a downward trend in crime in the city. The National Council for Home Safety and Security, a national trade association for trade groups in the home security industry, named Jacksonville among the safest cities in the state based on rates of violent crime and property crime tabulated from the FBIs Uniform Crime Report Statistics. Although Jacksonville was toward the bottom of the 112-city final list in 104th place it was one of 7,639 cities with populations ranging from 7,639 to 4,007,147 that initially were factored into the ranking. In making the final list, cities with populations under 10,000 and those that failed to report their crime data were cut. Jacksonville Police Chief Adam Mefford said he was pleased to see the city on the list and noted this is probably a result of crime trending down. Its a testament to the men and women of the Jacksonville Police Department to be on that list, Mefford said. I think its important to note that here in our department we focus largely on training and education for our officers. I think thats showing in their quality of service and the way they conduct investigations. Violent crime, as defined by the FBI statistics, includes murder, non-negligent manslaughter, rape, robbery and aggravated assault. Property crime includes burglary, larceny-theft, motor vehicle theft and arson. Jacksonville was listed as having 73 violent crimes and 669 property crimes in the 2017 statistics, which were released in 2018, although Mefford said police data showed 614 property crimes reported. Mefford said this number is down 122 from 2016-17 report and crime in the city is down 21 percent overall for the year. Were hiring quality people and giving them quality training and were also putting a big emphasis on getting officers out into the community, Mefford said. Any time a police agency has established a line of trust with a community, youre going to see a decrease in crime. Topping the list was was Warrenville with eight violent crimes and 89 property crimes. At the bottom were Springfield and Danville, respectively. Nick Draper can be reached at 217-245-6121, ext. 1223, or on Twitter @nick_draper. PARIS, Jan. 23 (Xinhua) -- The French government intends to present, in early February, details of a package of emergency measures meant to protect the interests of citizens and companies in case of a hard Brexit, said European Affairs Minister Nathalie Loiseau on Wednesday. "Time is pressing. ... If we do not reach an accord, we would go ahead with a Brexit without agreement. This solution is not what we prefer, but we are preparing for it together with the European Commission," Loiseau said in a statement issued after a weekly cabinet meeting. The minster said that five orders aimed at preparing the country for an eventual failure to agree on negotiated divorce would be discussed by the French ministers until Feb. 6. Adopted by the government earlier on Wednesday, the first order "makes it possible to carry out urgently and by derogating from the common law procedures the temporary installations made necessary by the reestablishment of controls at the border with the United Kingdom." The ministers will also discuss four other orders in connection with the rights of British citizens in France, road transport operations, the continuity of certain financial activities and the transfer of defense materials between France and the United Kingdom, according to a press release issued by the Elysee Palace. Since a no-deal Brexit would have a severe impact on France's fisheries sector, Prime Minister Edouard Philippe will evaluate the impact of this scenario on local fishermen and discuss possible support measures with the ministers concerned. Last week, Philippe triggered a plan to mitigate the difficulties caused by a hard Brexit following the parliamentary defeat of British Prime Minister Theresa May's Brexit deal. It included a 50 million-euro (56.93 million-U.S. dollar) investment package in ports and airports, which according to Philippe were "the places most affected by the changes." The deadline for Britain to leave the EU is March 29. No worries. Trump supporters say his behavior shows he is no creature of the swamp. Only insiders care if the president is short-sheeting his own team. At least Trump is willing to stand by a campaign promise, the Trump voter argues. As the sage Henry Olsen of the Ethics and Public Policy Council put it, Trump is showing that he can resist political pressure. The shutdown has changed nothing. The people that are with him are with him, quoth Olsen. The people that are against him are against him. In a play to differentiate themselves, House Democrats engage in the charade of passing spending measures that have zero chance of being enacted to demonstrate that they at least are willing to do something. When they get tired of that ploy, they go to the Senate to demand McConnell put unpassable bills to a floor vote. So yes, they are willing to do something stunts. Another stunt: Speaker Nancy Pelosis letter effectively telling Trump not to bother delivering a State of the Union address in the Capitol on Jan. 29 because of security concerns for a national special security event during a government shutdown. It helps if you forget she invited Trump after the shutdown began. The website My FED Benefits has created an interactive assistance map to help workers in every state find programs to support them through the shutdown. On Jan. 13, a few Washingtonians teamed up to launch one of the more creative relief efforts: PayItFurloughed.com is a site that allows anyone to buy furloughed employees a beer at one of three District breweries. It was developed by Mess Hall food incubator founder Al Goldberg, food writer Nevin Martell, web and app developer 3Advance, and publicist Erick Sanchez. To date, more than 3,850 beers have been donated from people far and wide, including those living in Australia, Singapore, the Netherlands and elsewhere, Martell said. Just as important, more than 1,550 of those quaffs have already been enjoyed. PayItFurloughed is designed not only to express compassion to hard-pressed federal employees but also to help small craft breweries, which cant bottle or can new beers because the government doesnt have the resources to approve labels, Martell said. The Washington breweries currently involved with PayItFurloughed are 3 Stars, DC Brau and Atlas Brew Works. Buying someone a beer is such an American thing to do, Martell said. Youre having a bad day? Let me buy you a beer. STAMFORD Narcotics officers seized three loaded pistols during a harrowing bust in the Stamford Town Center mall parking garage, where they found a sleeping toddler in the back seat of a car occupied by four suspects Tuesday afternoon. Capt. Richard Conklin said officers in the Narcotics and Organized Crime squad heard on the street that four men were en route to the Stamford mall to sell some guns and perhaps some drugs, too. The officers set up surveillance in the malls parking garage and at about 5:10 p.m. spotted a two-door silver Acura that matched the provided description. Police watched the car pull in and observed the driver get out and open up his hood, pretending to be having some mechanical problems. The narcotics officers along with uniformed officers then moved in to make arrests. They quickly discovered the little boy asleep in the car. During their search, Conklin said they found that Victor Noel Berrios-Sanchez, 21, of New Haven, had two guns. A loaded .25-caliber semiautomatic pistol was found hidden in a sock and he also had a loaded .22-caliber revolver along with five bags of the powerful opioid fentanyl. Police also discovered Berrios-Sanchez had a past arrest that prohibited him from possessing either guns or ammunition. When they pulled Nyejire Redmond, 19, of East Haven, out of the car, he told officers he had a .45-caliber semiautomatic pistol in his waistband. Police looked at the serial number and determined the gun was stolen from someone in New Britain in December, Conklin said. The driver of the car, John Medina, 25, of New Haven, was charged with driving while under suspension and risk of injury to a child, because the boy was not in a car safety seat, but just sleeping on the back seat. Joel Cruz-Berrios, 21, of New Haven, was charged with risk of injury to a child and three conspiracy charges for weapons in a motor vehicle, possession of a firearm and possession of ammunition. Berrios-Sanchez was held in lieu of $150,000 bail and the other three each was held in lieu of $100,000 bail. This was a very troubling case. These guys have lengthy criminal records and are found with three guns, and one was very recently stolen, in the same car with an 18-month-old child. This was very troubling, said Conklin. Our (Narcotics and Organized Crime) officers did a thorough investigation and acted very quickly on this and took three more illegal firearms off the street and got an 18-month-old child in dire conditions back to his mother. Conklin said police contacted the state Department of Children and Families, who found the mother who lives in New Haven; she came to Stamford Hospital and retrieved the child . jnickerson@stamfordadvocate.com NORWALK Bert, a man of many trades, introduces an unhappy family a father named George, a mother named Winifred, and their children, Jane and Michael. The Banks family, upset about their nannys sudden resignation, find themselves in an unpleasant situation. George lays out his requirements for the new nanny while his children insist on totally different requirements of the new caregiver. Dressed in a red pea coat and tall tightly laced black boots with a bun atop her head, Mary Poppins arrives on stage, unannounced and with a bang. Good morning, she says, startling the Banks family. Stunned by her presence, George turns toward her and says, Yes? Ive come in to answer the advertisement about the job, Poppins says. The family asks her to provide references. With her mature and sassy disposition, Poppins says, I make it a rule to never give references. And thats that as far as that request goes. Poppins takes the children to a nearby park. At first, theyre not impressed. But after Poppins makes a statue come to life, the children are sold. West Rocks Middle School students will perform their own Mary Poppins Jr. play in the schools auditorium at 7 p.m. Thursday, 7 p.m. Friday and 2 p.m. Saturday. A $10 ticket gets each attendee a reserved seat and the opportunity to watch 60 middle school students in action. Middle school is really the place where you find what you love, and I think theater in itself is a great way for kids to express themselves, said Sara Golding, chorus and drama teacher. Acting builds confidence, Golding said, and she finds students excel in public speaking after spending so much time on stage. But thats not the only benefit. It helps them learn how to manage their time because they rehearse so much they dont have time to sit on Netflix or Snapchat, she said. They have limited time to get all their responsibilities done. Mallory Stiles, an eighth-grader playing Mary Poppins, agreed with Goldings statement. Students students tried out for a role in September and for the past few months, theyve been tasked with learning their lines perfectly. The group spent about six to eight hours a week rehearsing. And part of the job includes making it believable, Stiles said. Mary Poppins is a very proper woman and Im very much the opposite of her but in rehearsal I really try to bring out that character, so it seems more realistic, Mallory said. I watched the movie a million times. It was one of my favorite movies as a little kid so Ive kind of just mastered the way that she talks and the moves. Its the first time students will perform Mary Poppins Jr. at West Rocks, Golding said. In previous years, students performed as characters in Annie, Hairspray, The Little Mermaid and Beauty and the Beast. The students practice so much that they become somewhat of a family, and we consider it our drama club family, Golding said. The show kind of has a special meaning to us because it promotes the idea of family. Nervous but confident the week of the show, Mallory said all the practice was well worth it. Its not her first rodeo she started acting in plays at 6 years old. I know when I was a little girl I would come to these plays and look up to all these girls playing these lead roles, she said. I always wanted to take pictures with them and its really cool to do this. I hope to make somebodys day. The 90-minute show will break for a 15-minute intermission midway. Guests can expect a concession stand with homemade treats and merchandise. Tickets can be purchased at brownpapertickets.com. For any kids that are in any of the elementary school, I highly recommend doing this because it made my year so much happier and its a really great act to do, Mallory said. Its been the highlight of my year this last year. As for next years show, Golding hasnt announced it yet. But she said students will know whats coming next before the school year is over. tatiana.flowers@thehour.com NORWALK When Sandy Schmidt and her husband first moved to Norwalk from New York City, she was drawn by its small-town feel. Schmidt called the city, especially South Norwalk, beautiful and funky, but recently, shes perceived a change. Norwalk is becoming a little Manhattan, Schmidt said Tuesday night at the Planning Commissions second public hearing on the citys Plan of Conservation and Development. The Plan of Conservation and Development is a document, reviewed every 10 years, which is meant to guide a municipalitys growth and development and identify strategies to protect important resources and attributes of a community. Norwalks last plan was approved in 2008. An Oversight Committee comprised of city staff, elected officials, members of the Planning and Zoning commissions, the Norwalk Redevelopment Agency, the Greater Norwalk Chamber of Commerce and the Coalition of Norwalk Neighborhood Associations, first convened in 2016 with the Canada-based consultant Stantec. Public comment on the document is open until Jan. 31. Schmidt was not the only person who expressed concern over the rate at which Norwalk is growing. I dont agree with the theory that you have to continually add to the population in order to sustain your economy. Theres gotta be a tipping point someplace, said former Common Council member Richard Bonenfant. According to data from the U.S. Census Bureau, Norwalks population grew by roughly 4,000 people from 2010 to 2017. It is now at nearly 90,000, while the states population mostly stagnated. Bonenfant and others worried about the ability of the citys schools, roads, sewers and other infrastructure to sustain increasingly more people. Several speakers also commented on a perceived lack of emphasis on maintaining Long Island Sound and Norwalks natural resources. Theres no conservation in this document, said John Flynn, a former state representative candidate from South Norwalk. We continue to have some significant concerns with regarding the POCD consideration of the coastal management issue, said John Pinto, a member of Norwalks Harbor Management Commission, citing similar concerns shared by the Shellfish Commission and Connecticut Department of Energy & Environmental Protection. Pinto said he wanted to see the document amended to reflect more conservation goals as they relate to economic development, a better incorporation of the Norwalk River Watershed Plan, and more adherence to the DEEPs Connecticut Coastal Management Program. Board of Education Chairman Mike Barbis one of several city officials in the audience, including fellow Board of Education member Bryan Meeks and Common Council members Tom Livingston, Ernie Dumas and Darlene Young noted the important role Norwalk Public Schools Strategic Operating Plan has played in guiding the district. He suggested the city follow a similar model. The city does need a strategic plan, and I guess the POCD is now meant to fill that role. It never has before, in the past I think its ended up on a bookshelf, Barbis said. Please lets make this POCD fulfill that role for the city because the city, as far as Im concerned, as a private individual, as well as chairman of the Board of Ed, does not have a plan. The public has until Jan. 31 to add comments or concerns online at tomorrow.norwalkct.org. The Planning Commission will begin discussing the comments and reviewing the document at its Feb. 6 meeting. justin.papp@scni.com; @justinjpapp1; 203-842-2586 An earlier version of this article misstated that the Planning Commission would vote to approve the POCD on Feb. 6. They will begin a review of the document on Feb. 6 WESTPORT The owner of the 323 Main Street restaurant that closed suddenly last month for failing to pay rent is once again embroiled in legal trouble, this time for allegedly failing to pay an employee nearly $1,000 in wages. The bars owner, Weston resident Adam Faillace, was arrested on Jan. 19 in connection with a state Department of Labor investigation that began after a 323 employee contacted the state saying Faillace, 39, did not provide full payment for work done at the restaurant. The labor departments Wage and Workplace Standards Division looked into the complaint and discovered Faillace owed the employee $962.60 for work performed between September 2017 and November 2018. From May to June, the investigating agent set up four meetings with Faillace to review his payroll records and discuss the wage complaint, but Faillace did not show up for any of these meetings, the labor department wrote in a description of the case. The agent mailed Faillace a bill requesting payment for the employee, but as of July 2, Faillace had ignored the request. A second bill was sent on July 22, but again Faillace did not respond to the agents request. The agent sent Faillace three more letters and requested a meeting on August 17, but Faillace allegedly answered none of the departments attempts at contact. An arrest warrant for nonpayment of wages and failure to provide time and wage records was submitted by the agent in August. On Jan. 19, the Weston Police Department took Faillace into custody on the outstanding warrant. Faillace was transported to Westport police headquarters and charged with weekly payment of wages and failure to provide time and payroll records. He was released after posting a $2,500 bond for the charges and is scheduled to appear in state Superior Court in Norwalk on Jan. 29. A pattern of misdeeds The labor case and arrest is the latest in an ongoing series of legal and public perception battles Faillace faced as owner of 323, which he opened in 2013. The restaurant came under fire in August for listing a cocktail called The Tuskegee Experiment. The name Tuskegee Experiment refers to the U.S. governments 40-year medical experiment that left hundreds of African-American men with syphilis untreated, so scientists could study the progression of the disease. The study began in 1932 in collaboration with Tuskegee University, a historically black college in Alabama. Home to a bar, dining area and, on many nights, live music, 323 was previously a vibrant place on nights when popular performers played, such as Westporter Greg Wall, otherwise known as the Jazz Rabbi. But after Faillace refused to apologize for the Tuskegee incident and even denied the cocktails existence, Wall and his bandmates stopped playing their usual Thursday night gig and moved the event to Westports Pearl at Longshore. When it blew up, all they had to do was apologize. But they denied it and came up with lame excuses, and when it was clear they werent going to apologize we stopped playing, Wall said. Faillaces restaurant was dogged by mismanagement and nonpayment of rent, 323s landlord Dominic Santella said. Santella went through the court system to evict Faillace and on Dec. 4, a state marshal locked the doors of the establishment, Santella said. Santella, a Darien resident who grew up in Westport, also owns the shopping plaza next to 323. It was a matter of time. It wasnt run very well, which is too bad. Its a wonderful location and Im hoping someone will run a nice place there, Wall said in December. Santella said he is looking for a new tenant for the property and has a lot of interested people. It should not take long, Santella said, noting 323 will most likely again be a restaurant under new ownership. svaughan@hearstmediact.com; 203-842-2638; @SophieCVaughan1 In this series, Instagram Icon, Entrepreneur speaks with the individuals behind popular Instagram accounts to find out the secrets of their success. In 2010, Chriselle Lim was a wardrobe stylist, spending her days at editorial shoots for magazines. In the early days of YouTube, at the suggestion of her friend Michelle Phan, she started posting style tutorials on the site and began to grow a following. In 2011, she launched her blog, the Chriselle Factor, to share her thoughts about fashion and style and to inspire other women who shared her passions. Nine years later, Lim turned her love of fashion into a full-time career. She employs a staff of 13 people at her downtown L.A. office to create content for her blog and across YouTube, Instagram, Twitter, Pinterest and Facebook for her 3.2 million followers. The married mom of two has worked with some of the biggest names in fashion, including Dior, Gucci, Fendi, LV, Valentino, Cartier, Elie Saab, MiuMiu, Masion Margelia, Stella McCartney, SK-II, Armani, Chloe and Versace. Last year, she launched the Chriselle Lim Collection with Nordstrom. A second collection will arrive this March. She also started a branded content firm called Cinc Studios. Entrepreneur spoke with Lim to get her social media insights. How did you get your start with YouTube and Instagram? I started on YouTube in 2010. Soon enough I realized that I wasn't able to make as many videos as I wanted. So I decide to start the Chriselle Factor. Photos were so much easier to take and post. [I could share things] in between the video content. They both grew together simultaneously. A year and a half into it is when I started to realize that I could possibly make this into a business because of the amount of viewership I was getting. I came from the fashion editorial world where I understood the business of ads and how magazines were making money. So I just viewed it the same way. I was getting close to millions of views per video. [So I believed] there was a possibility that I could actually make it into a business and someone can pay me to create a video. It took about two years for me to finally make my first real paycheck. What's your content strategy? How do you decide what and when to post? We deliberately work on creating the best content for our followers on all platforms but especially with Instagram, because that is where a lot of the engagement and action happens. We have a strategy meeting every day just for Instagram. We're always testing out things to see if the followers respond to it. What do they like most? What is the most engaging? We're always trying to create content in the moment because they feel like they are there with you. But also we plan a lot of content as well, especially video content on Instagram. Those can take hours or days to create. Related: Food Network's Molly Yeh Shares How She Built Her Blog Into a Growing Farm-to-Table Empire How do you leverage your account, and to what extent do you monetize it? On Instagram we will see more and more brands that want to partner with influencers and celebrities on that platform because it's an engaging platform and it's immediate and you can interact and engage. Monetization on Instagram has just grown so much. I foresee it to continue to grow just because more brands are understanding the power of Instagram influencers. It's the same across the board with YouTube and the blog. We started off as more of a highly produced account. We shifted our branding on Instagram and that started after I became a mom. I have a 4-year-old and a 3-month-old. Because my followers been following me since I was in college, they've seen me get married and have kids and start this company and then have my second baby. They're growing with me and they're getting older with me so they're just really craving authenticity versus this perfect imagery. But we do balance the two out because I have a passion for creating elevated curated content because I come from that world of editorials and fashion. What advice do you have for other people who want to build brands on the platform? To find a strong, unique voice. It is a crowded space especially in beauty and fashion. There's a lot of content that feels very similar. I feel and I have noticed that once I became open about my life and who I am as a person being more raw and real and authentic to my followers, the voice became more obvious. That's when my followers became a lot more engaged with me and just feel connected with me and knowing that I was a real person. Second, hiring people that are better than you. I pride myself on being able to be creative but especially on YouTube with editing and the more technical elements, that was never my forte. I want to grow a brand, so whatever money I earn, I immediately invest it into hiring well-qualified people. That's how I've been able to not only grow my numbers and my following but my company as well. What's a misconception people have about Instagram? It's important that brands understand who they are first before they go on Instagram. If they're expecting to go on Instagram and get sales and more followers, then there is a misconception that Instagram is going to make them successful or wealthy or whatnot. It comes down to what the product is and what the brand stands for. That is most important. "My pregnancy announcement was one of my favorites as I was keeping this a secret for so long and I was in the dreamiest Valentino dress." Image credit: chrisellelim | Instagram "Our very first photo as a family of four." Image credit: chrisellelim | Instagram "A very real and raw moment captured by my husband." Image credit: chrisellelim | Instagram "A princess moment attending the Dior fashion Show in Paris." Image credit: chrisellelim | Instagram "Launching my very first collection at Nordstrom." Image credit: chrisellelim | Instagram Related: Chriselle Lim Started Out as a Wardrobe Stylist. Now She Has More Than 3 Million Social Media Followers. Style Influencer Brittany Xavier Built a Community of More than 1 Million Followers by Tapping Into Her Passion Instagram se sube al tren de las notas de voz Copyright 2019 Entrepreneur.com Inc., All rights reserved This January 2018, file photo provided by the Chicago Police Department shows Marilyn Hartman. (Chicago Police Department via AP, File) Woman Charged With Sneaking Onto Flight Doing Well A Chicago judge says shes happy to hear that a woman dubbed a serial stowaway for repeatedly sneaking onto commercial flights is doing so well at the facility where shes being housed while awaiting trial. The Chicago Sun-Times reports that Cook County Judge Peggy Chiampas made the comments during a status hearing Tuesday for Marilyn Hartman. While awaiting trial on felony trespass and burglary charges, Hartman must wear a GPS tracker and must stay away from airports, train stations and bus stations. Hartman has sneaked onto planes half-a-dozen times and has been caught inside and near airports dozens more. She was arrested last year after sneaking onto a flight from Chicago to London. How She Did It The 66-year-old 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 on board 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. Airports Make Her Feel Safe 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. From The Epoch Times Tom Ozimek contributed to this article Watch Next: The Dark Origins of Pedophile Rings in the US An alleged Soviet spy operation used children as honey pots in the west, to lure politicians and business leaders into committing crimes so they could be blackmailed Faith and GovernmentWill Graham Interview on American Thought Leaders Billy Graham is considered one of the most influential Christian leaders of the 20th Century. Today, we sit down with Will Graham, his grandson who has his own ministry. We discuss freedom, morality, and forgiveness as a central theme to his film Unbroken the path to redemption Jan Jekielek: You actually play Billy Graham in this recent film Unbroken the path to redemption. And I noticed that forgiveness is a major theme in this film. Im wondering if you could explain that a little. Will Graham: First and foremost it is a life story of Louis Zamperini, it is really the second half of his life. There was a movie that was made a couple of years ago by Angelina Jolie that kind of takes him from his young adolescent years all the way through his war years, his captivity by the Japanese and it ends with him coming home hugging his mom. This movie picks up right after he hugs his mom and picks it up from there. And most people think oh he made it home hes safe hes good hes back home everythings good. And it really wasnt. He was dealing with PTSD and he started to drink a lot and he was having nightmares for the first time and he couldnt quit. He would use drinking trying to pass out so he didnt have to dream. And cause all these nightmares and the people that tortured him while he was in prison during the war. So he hated the Japanese. He hated his captors because they tortured him all the time. Way beyond a human could really handle. They almost killed him but he made it through the war. But he hated his captors. And he would just have these nightmares and he would start to drink. His drinking would make him drunk and passed out not come home. It started to destroy his marriage. He tried getting married, thought that would make him feel better, find love and be better and [he] married a wonderful lady but yet that didnt satisfy him, he was still a drunk. He was still having nightmares. He wasnt satisfied in life. Well they decided to have a kid. A kid will bring happiness. And it brought great joy but didnt solve what he was looking for. And he was still a drunk. He was still having nightmares. And his whole life was falling apart. He was losing all the money that he had. He was losing his wife. She had filed for divorce. Gonna take the child and move away. And it was a bad situation. And then in 1949, all this was in 1949 in Los Angeles, and there was a revival going on in town and some friends of theirs invited them to go. He wouldnt go because he hated Christians. He hated God. He figured God had done everything wrong against him, had hurt him, made him miserable made him get captured, took away his running ability, made him an alcoholic you know if God really loved me then why do these bad things happen. And but he didnt want anything to do with God. So he didnt go but his wife Cynthia went. And she gave her life to Christ and God forgave her for sin. And she came back and she forgave Louie. Louie I forgive you. God loves you and I love you and Im not supposed to divorce I am gonna help you. I am gonna stick with you. And because she was willing to forgive Louie for being a bad husband, bad drunk that softened his heart just enough, for that when it came back next Sunday that he would go and he went and he hated everything that the preacher said; he hated the preacher. And didnt like anything that the preacher said. Well next week she kept begging him and begging him. And so he went back just because his wife was not going to divorce him. He said well I owe her something Ill go. But when the invitation starts Im leaving. And so when the invitation came he got up to leave but he couldnt leave. He found self walking to the front and gave his life to Christ and that preacher was Billy Graham my grandfather. And so this movie covers this transformation the conversion of Louise Zamperini and in that I play the role of my grandfather. And its a great story of forgiveness because Louis his wife Cynthia received forgiveness, she gave forgiveness to her husband for being a bad husband bad drunk. Louis found Gods forgiveness in return Louis was able to forgive his captors. All these people towards God. He had no longer hate for them but now he had love and concern for them. And he went back to tell them about Jesus how Jesus changed his life. And God can change their life. Jan Jekielek: Its incredible. So in this vein heres a statement, in American society as a whole, faith and tradition and maybe traditional morality are things that are on the decline. Is that something you would agree or disagree with? Will Graham: Well I definitely see it. I see the morality definitely declining. We see the churches. Here in the States at least people identifying with the churches declining. Thats not true of every church. There is a lot of churches that are growing; the church I go to is growing very well. But a lot churches are declining, morality is definitely declining. And I think weve taken the eye off the most important thing in life and thats the Lord Jesus Christ. And when we do that thats the result that we see when we we dont make God a priority in our life and we, left up to our own vices, our own way of thinking, our own way of life, we come up with our own morality. And because we have no standard to judge anything by and so well do anything that brings us pleasure is our morality. And we see that taking place in the United States and not just in the United States but all around the world right now. Jan Jekielek: When you look at how people treat lets say faith in religion today how would that compare to say faith and religion at the time America was founded a few hundred years back. Will Graham: Well if you look at the American from a historical standpoint look at our founding fathers what they wrote our documents like our Constitution, Declaration of Independence it all mentions God. And back then they werent talking about Muhammad as their God. It was a Christian God. And they were talking about Christ and God in general but they were open. A lot of people out of Europe came to this land to get away [from] religious persecution. And so they came out of religious persecution so ty wanted anyone to have the freedom of worship because they believe that God allowed us to worship. But that was based on Christian principles. And so the founding of this nation was definitely founded on Christian principles. Theres no hiding that you can read state constitutions to our national Constitution; it all mentions God and Im grateful for that. It has given us a lot of freedoms. I think its made us into a wonderful nation. Were not a perfect nation because you and I are here. Youre never gonna find a perfect place here on this earth. Not right now, not until Jesus comes back but I believe He is going to come back one day and establish His government and thats what the Bible talks about the second coming of Christ. The Bible teaches that. And I believe that He will come again and set up His kingdom here on Earth. Jan Jekielek: How do you see Faith and how that relates to having an open and free society. Will Graham: Well thats a good question. I believe with faith, when we trust in a higher Being, in this case I believe in God, I believe in Jesus Christ that God has given us when we follow Him we have a lot of freedom now. God has given us freedom period. But we can make the choice to live according to His purposes or we can live according to our own purposes. And I think when we live according to His purposes youll find out that there is a lot more harmonious action interaction with other human beings. Because were striving to please God which means we also have to strive to get along with each other. Thats what the Ten Commandments are about, the Ten Commandments deal with the vertical, vertical relationship with God but also our horizontal relationship with other men and women that is. And so when we strive for those purposes then we get along with God. And were also going along with our fellow man. Doesnt mean that were not going to have problems among each other. Were going to make mistakes were going to hurt each other. And thats why I believe that God put rulers in place, kings or presidents, governors wherever they might be in our place to help control that. I believe that the role of the government is to punish that which is evil and to yet promote that which is good. And for those good things that the government should be behind it for those things are bad and evil that bring dissension among people or hurt people you know murder, government should punish that. And so I believe that a free society can only exist in a Christian society. And because otherwise theres too many self rulers because any government that comes in or any ruler that comes in theyre going to impose their will what they believe because its their rules. And yet when you have a free society then you run by a constitution or things like that that dictate what the rules are. In this case here in the United States weve been blessed to have a wonderful Christian heritage in our founding of our country. And I believe thats laid down a wonderful basis of freedoms that we can enjoy today. And while those freedoms are starting to erode today because our morality has declined so much that the government has to intervene a lot more now. Jan Jekielek: So you just piqued my interest. Where do you see that erosion? Can you expand on that? Will Graham: The erosion is in mans heart and thats where its taking place; its in our society as a whole. The government is only a symptom of our society. So when we see government dysfunction like were seeing a lot of dysfunction in Washington as a whole I think most Americans would probably agree with that statement whether Republican or Democrat or Independent we see a lot of dysfunction in Washington. Thats just a symptom of society. The government is only a symptom of a greater problem and so the problem is our hearts. My heart your heart everybodys heart. And were not always chasing after the good things in life, were not chasing after God. Were not making Him the supreme leader in our life. Were not making Him the master of our life and weve made ourselves the master and when we do that we have bad problems and we see that erosion is starting to take place. Jan Jekielek: OK so where can we go today? We are where we are today. What would be your vision for a future where people can live truly better lives. Will Graham: Well theres not gonna be a perfect government. All right. And what I do see is that when we as individuals put our faith and trust in God, and theres a lot of people that dont put their faith in God, but I believe that when we do put our faith in God we want to first and foremost we put God first in our life. We want to serve God. The second thing God says to love the Lord with all your heart. The second is to love your fellow man. And so now we want to help people in need. We want to help those around us. We want to be good to our neighbors. We want to be good to our fellow man because God thats what God desires us to do. Well start to see a better society when that takes place. But when we take God out of it now we make ourselves king of our own life. The one thing we do is self-preservation. Were not worried about other people. We dont want to get along with other people. Its you better take or youre going to be taken advantage of. You better do it. And so thats where I see a lot of the erosion taking place and I believe thats when we give our life to Christ we can see that change and it can only be a spiritual change. Itll never be dictated by a lawmaker. Itll never be dictated by a politician or someone in the White House. It is going to be dictated because God changed someones heart and I believe thats the only hope for America or for anyone in this world. Views expressed in this article are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times. Wife of Nurse Who Allegedly Assaulted Incapacitated Woman Filed for Divorce Weeks Before Birth: Report The nurse who is accused of sexually assaulting an incapacitated woman at an Arizona health care facility may have had marriage troubles, according to a new report. Sutherland, 36, was arrested earlier this week after a DNA sample implicated him in the assault of the patient, which resulted in her giving birth last month, triggering a police investigation. He was charged with sexual assault and abuse of a vulnerable adult, and he is now being held on $500,000 cash bail. Sutherland was a licensed practical nurse at the facility. Police said he was the primary caregiver of the unnamed woman when she became pregnant, according to reports. AZCentral reported that Sutherland was married during the time of the assault. His wife filed for divorce on Dec. 5, 2018, which was weeks before the patient gave birth. The local news report does not indicate what prompted his wife to file for divorce. Sutherlands estranged wife asked her address not be included in the divorce petition due to harassment from Sutherlands ex-wife and mother. Immediately after he was arrested, Sutherland was fired from Hacienda HealthCare. More Details AZCenteral also offered more details about his personal life, saying he was born in Haiti. Both he and his sister were adopted and brought to the U.S. in 1989, said the report. His attorney, Dave Gregan, said he has lived in Arizona since 1993. Sutherland became a naturalized citizen in 2011. Court records show he was living in Gilbert prior to his arrest. Meanwhile, nursing records show that completed his certified nursing assistant training at the now closed Seven HealthCare Academy in Tempe in 2005. And he completed his licensed practical-nurse training in 2011, according to AZCentral. BREAKING: Nathan Sutherland, the nurse accused of raping a seriously intellectually disabled woman at Hacienda HealthCare, faces a judge for the first time. He was ordered held on a $500,000 cash only bond #12News pic.twitter.com/SGnM4gib8N Bianca Buono (@BiancaBuono) January 23, 2019 He began working at Hacienda in 2012. Officials with Hacienda said that he underwent an extensive background check when he was hired and was assigned to the Intermediate Care Facility-Intellectually Disabled since 2014. Every member of the Hacienda organization is troubled beyond words to think that a licensed practical nurse could be capable of seriously harming a patient, said a statement from Hacienda Healthcare, where the incident took place. Once again, we offer an apology and send our deepest sympathies to the client and her family, to the community and to our agency partners at every level, the Hacienda statement said. According to the Daily Mail, Sutherland is said to tour local churches and perform Christian rap songs in the group SLEEPLESSOULJAZ along with his sister. Earlier reports had described the patient as being comatose or in a vegetative state. But her parents released a statement on Tuesday disputing that characterization. They described her instead as intellectually disabled because of seizures in early childhood. While she doesnt speak, she has some mobility in her limbs, head, and neck. She also responds to sound and can make facial gestures, according to The Associated Press. Officials have said they think the baby has since been released from the hospital. The womans family has said they will care for him. The Associated Press contributed to this report. Components of SSC-8/9M729 cruise missile system are on display during a news briefing, organized by Russian defense and foreign ministries, at Patriot Expocenter near Moscow, Russia Jan. 23, 2019. (Maxim Shemetov/Reuters) US Rejects Russias Proof of Compliance With Arms Treaty The United States on Jan. 24 said Russias display of a secret missile didnt prove that the nuclear-capable weapon is compliant with a 1987 arms treaty between the two nations. Russian military officials unveiled the nuclear-capable Novator 9M729 missile to journalists and foreign military attaches on Jan. 23. Moscow used the display to assert that the missile falls six miles short of the 310-mile range prohibited by the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty. Under Secretary of State Andrea Thompson told reporters on Jan. 24 that the United States has presented Russia time after time after time with data showing that the missile flew more than 3,000 miles during one of the tests conducted between 2008 and 2013. A static display of a missile cannot tell you how far a missile flies, Thompson said. Washington has presented Moscow with a proposal for a verifiable test of the missiles range. Thompson didnt provide details of the test. Moscow countered the offer with its own unacceptable testing proposal, she added. They would have controlled the environment, she said about the Russian plan. When you go and select the missile, and you select the fuel, and you control all of those parameters, characteristics, you are controlling the outcome of the test. Washington has offered to hold arms-control talks with Moscow during a United Nations meeting in Beijing next week, Thompson said. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Dec. 4 gave Russia 60 days to return to compliance with the treaty. The 60 days will expire Feb. 2, paving way for the United States to serve an official withdrawal notice. The pullout would be effective 60 days after the notice is served. Thompson reiterated that the Trump administration will suspend our obligations under the disputed INF Treaty if Russia fails to return to compliance by Feb. 2. But the move is reversible and Washington has made no final decision on announcing a full U.S. withdrawal, she said. Im not particularly optimistic that Russia will return to compliance, she told reporters. The INF Treaty, signed in 1987, prohibits Russia and the United States from possessing or testing short- and mid-range ground-launched ballistic missiles. The two nations destroyed their respective arsenals of these weapons after signing the pact. According to Washington, Moscow has been in violation of the pact since the mid-2000s. Russia developed and deployed the missile systems covertly, according to Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats. In addition to claiming that their missile is compliant with the treaty, Russia asserts that the United States is using the allegations as a pretext to exit the treaty and develop new missiles. Both Washington and Moscow have concerns about Chinas burgeoning missile arsenal. Unbound by the treaty, Beijing has developed and deployed a vast array of missile systems that both the United States and Russia are prohibited from possessing. In announcing his intention to withdraw from the INF Treaty, President Donald Trump mentioned that he hopes to replace the treaty with a pact that includes China. While U.S. officials have tried to bring Beijing into the INF Treaty several times, each attempt has failed. Reuters contributed to this report. Watch Next: Communists Detail Plans to Subvert U.S. Democratic Party The Communist Party USA explained plans on May 23 to subvert the Democratic Party, alongside socialist and communist organizations. Felix Tshisekedi, leader of the Congolese main opposition party, the Union for Democracy and Social Progress, gestures to supporters at party headquarters in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo, Jan. 10, 2019. (Reuters/Olivia Acland/File Photo) US and Angola Endorse New Congo Presidents Election KINSHASA/WASHINGTONDemocratic Republic of Congos President Felix Tshisekedi won important endorsements from the United States and two African neighbors as international acceptance of his disputed election win grew on Jan. 23. Congos highest court certified opposition leader Tshisekedi on Jan. 20 as the winner of the Dec. 30 poll despite widespread doubts over the credibility of the result. Support of international and regional powers is vital to Tshisekedi, who is due to be sworn in on Jan. 24, as he tries to reduce poverty and stamp out militia violence in the vast central African country. The United States was among the countries most critical of the election, deploring a lack of transparency and threatening sanctions for interference in the process. But it changed its tune on Jan. 23, following the lead of other international powers who fear a protracted dispute could further destabilize Congo, where wars around the turn of the century sucked in regional armies and led to millions of deaths. The United States welcomes the Congolese Constitutional Courts certification of Felix Tshisekedi as the next President, State Department spokesman Robert Palladino said. We are committed to working with the new DRC government We encourage the government to include a broad representation of Congos political stakeholders and to address reports of electoral irregularities. Neighbors Angola and Congo Republic also congratulated him. Angolan President Joao Lourenco wished Tshisekedi success in carrying out the noble and difficult task entrusted to him by the Congolese people. Angola is a longtime Kinshasa ally but relations were strained during a two-year delay in the election. The vote was meant to mark the first democratic transfer of power in Congo, where conflicts have long destabilized the region. Monitors pointed to major flaws in the poll, including outright vote tampering. Congos Catholic Church, which deployed 40,000 election observers, found that runner-up Martin Fayulu actually won in a landslide. Congolese sources in contact with senior officials told Reuters that Fayulu, also an opposition leader, had won decisively, but top officials instructed the electoral commission to award the vote to Tshisekedi, seen as more open to compromise with former President Joseph Kabila and his allies. Tshisekedi and Kabilas camps deny there was a deal or that results were rigged. The African Union, which last week expressed serious doubts about the credibility of the results, said on Jan. 22 it would work with Tshisekedis government but declined to congratulate him, as did the European Union. Several other African governments have congratulated Tshisekedi, including South Africa, Kenya, Tanzania, Burundi, and Egypt. By Stanis Bujakera and Lesley Wroughton Unlicensed Daycare Operator Found Guilty of Abuse That Blinded Infant in Kansas A Kansas woman was convicted last week for abusing a 4-month-old boy at an unlicensed daycare, it was reported. Paige Hatfield, 27, was found guilty of aggravated battery after abusing infant Kingston Gilbert in 2017, WDAF-TV reported. Kingston had been in the care of Hatfield for about 11 days when the abuse took place, the report said. On Jan. 31, 2017, she called 911 and said the infant was vomiting, but doctors later determined the boys injuries were caused by violent non-accidental physical trauma, according to court documents. She attacked him in an act of extreme, deliberate violence Metro US 2019121 Ms. Hatfield repeatedly denied that (the baby) suffered a fall or was injured in any way in her care, a detective wrote in the court documents, reported the Kansas City Star. We spent 18 days in the intensive care unit just praying that he got through, the victims mother, Ashleigh Garcia, told the WDAF. The abuse left the boy blind and suffering from developmental issues, according to the Stars report a the time of her arrest. "We pretty much had to grieve the loss of our child and accept that the baby that we were bringing home was not the baby that I dropped off at daycare that day." I Love Being a Mom 2019122 James Anderst, division director of child abuse pediatrics at Childrens Mercy, said the baby had brain bleeding in three different locations. He also suffered eye damage, the Star reported. The immediate symptoms of those types of injuries include seizures, vomiting, and unconsciousness, Anderst said. We were told by doctors he is never going to be the same boy. I mean, we pretty much had to grieve the loss of our child and accept that the baby that we were bringing home was not the baby that I dropped off at daycare that day, Garcia told WDAF. "We pretty much had to grieve the loss of our child and accept that the baby that we were bringing home was not the baby that I dropped off at nursery that day" The Sun 2019121 Both parents testified during the trial that their son acted normally before he was dropped off at the daycare in Olathe, Kansas. Kingston had been in her care for about six hours before she got help, the Star reported. Prosecutors are now asking for an enhanced sentence because Hatfield worked as a child care provider. The sentencing phase of the trial is in March. In court, Hatfield had testified that she didnt hurt the child, KWCH reported. She was also found guilty of unlawfully running a daycare out of her home, KHSB reported. Eldonna Chesnut, a director of child care licensing for the Johnson County Department of Health and Environment in Kansas, told the Star that officials see more issues at unlicensed daycares. We see more problems with illegal daycares where nobody is checking, she said. Her attorneys information was not available as of Wednesday. Other details about the case are not clear. Olathe, which has a population of about 120,000, is located in the Kansas City metropolitan area. One of The Nations Most Serious Concerns According to a report published by the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services (pdf), around 3.5 million children in 2016 were the subjects of at least one maltreatment report to authorities. Child abuse is one of the nations most serious concerns, the authors of the report wrote. About 17 percent of those reports were substantiated, and the department said that there were an estimated 676,000 victims of child abuse and neglect. That amounts to 9.1 victims per 1,000 children. Children in their first year of life had the highest rate of victimization at 24.8 per 1,000 children, the report said. About three-fourths of the cases were neglect, and about 18 percent were physical abuse. Some children suffered from multiple forms of maltreatment, the HHS said. The Childhelp National Child Abuse Hotline is available at 1-800-422-4453 or at Childhelp.org. A passenger on a United flight last year is suing the airline claiming that they were covering up a "near death" incident where two layers of the cockpit window shattered. (Theodore Liaw) United Passenger Accuses Airline of Covering Up Incident Where Pilots Could Have Been Sucked Out of Plane An airline passenger from California is suing United for allegedly covering up an incident last year that could have resulted in the loss of all lives aboard one of their flights. According to a complaint (pdf), Flight 931 was traveling from Chicago to London when it made an emergency landing in Goose Bay, Canada, on Oct. 27 last year. The plane was traveling at an altitude of approximately 40,000 feet before it started a terrifyingly rapid descent ending at the remote airport. Utter silence filled the plane, as the various passengers gripped their arm-rests with white knuckles during this episode. Many aboard thought they were going to die, the complaint read. The passengers were left on board the plane for eights hours until a replacement airplane arrived to take them to their destination. The passenger who filed the lawsuit, Theodore Liaw, claimed the reason for the emergency landing was because the cockpit window had shattered about three hours into the flight. He said the first two layers of the window were compromised with numerous holes and was leaking air pressure, according to the court document. He claimed that by talking to the pilots during the eight hours wait, he discovered that one of the co-pilots had to push against the window to stop the third and last layer from breaking. Had that last layer disappeared, both pilots would have likely been sucked out of the plane and Flight 931s passengers would have been doomed, the complaint read. Liaw, who is a CEO and an experienced air traveler, said the pilots told him that the shattered cockpit window was the negligence of a United airplane mechanic who had over-torqued the bolts of the cockpit window while the plane was on the ground. This caused excessive stress on the cockpit window and eventually led to it shattering while at altitude. United apparently told passengers that a bird hit the windshield to explain the emergency landing. Liaw claimed that it was untrue as the pilots told him that no birds live or fly at that altitude. The lawsuit is asking United to provide fair compensation for the bodily injury and severe emotional distress as a result of Uniteds negligence. Liaw said he injured his back from the landing, which still required treatment two months after the incident. He also claimed that he has now developed a fear of flying. United reportedly already offered each passenger a $500 voucher as compensation for the incident. In a statement to Fox News, United said they were still investigating the matter. At United, safety is our top priority and we diverted the aircraft due to an issue with the cockpit window, the statement said, adding they were not able to comment further due to the pending litigation. Last year, a passenger died after being sucked out of a window on a Southwest flight. Jennifer Riordan was fatally injured in the first death on a U.S. airline flight since 2009 when a jet blew an engine at 32,000 feet. Shrapnel then smashed a plane window which set off a desperate scramble by passengers to save Riordan who was getting sucked out. In another incident in China last year, a co-pilot of a Sichuan Airlines flight was forced to make an emergency landing after being sucked halfway out of the plane due to a compromised cockpit windshield. Fortunately, none of the passengers were injured in that incident. Watch next: North Korean Defector Ji Seong-Ho: North Korea Was Bad, China Was Worse Jack Shepherd, who went on the run last year after killing a woman in a speedboat crash on the River Thames, is escorted by police officers in Tbilisi, Georgia, on Jan. 23, 2019. (Screenshot/IMEDI TV/Reuters) UK Man Who Fled After River Thames Speedboat Death Detained in Georgia LONDONA British man who went on the run last year after killing a woman in a speedboat crash on the River Thames has been detained in the former Soviet state of Georgia, London police said on Jan. 23. Jack Shepherd, 31, was convicted in his absence last July of the manslaughter by gross negligence of Charlotte Brown, 24, and sentenced to six years in jail. We have received information from the National Crime Agency that Jack Shepherd, who is wanted on an international arrest warrant, is in the custody of police in Georgia, Scotland Yard said in a statement. His identity has yet to be officially confirmed, it added. However, if the man is confirmed as Shepherd, extradition proceedings will begin immediately. Shepherd had taken Brown on a first date in December 2015 during which the couple dined at a restaurant in Londons tallest building, The Shard, before he took her for a ride in a speedboat he said he owned. He said they took his speedboat out on the Thames, along with a bottle of champagne, for a trip past the Houses of Parliament. Shepherd admitted to police that he did not tell Brown about the lifejackets he had on board, or ask whether she could swim. In a police interview, Shepherd described the events of the evening as being hazy because of the amount of alcohol the pair consumed. After returning from the Houses of Parliament, Shepherd handed the controls of the boat over to Brown, who went full throttle. Prosecutors said he was drunk and that neither he nor Brown was wearing a life-jacket. In cellphone footage released by the Met Police, Brown can be heard exclaiming that they were going so fast. It was later discovered that Shepherd had been going more than twice the 12-knot speed limit. At around 11:45 p.m., the boat hit a submerged log and capsized, tipping both Shepherd and Brown into the water. Neither was wearing a life jacketalthough there were two on board. While Shepherd managed to cling to the hull, Brown was pulled from the water unconscious and unresponsive. Paramedics were unable to revive her. Brought Devastation To Us During the trial, the court heard how Shepherd had used the small red boat to pull women and had let at least five of his previous dates take control of the boat. Following the trial, Browns mother told the BBC that it had been pretty devastating that Shepherd had skipped bail because hes brought devastation to us. Browns twin sister, Katie, said, I think hes done it for selfish reasons. I dont think hes felt remorse Browns father said in an interview that justice is coming for Shepherd. Graham Brown, 52, said, Those who know something need to examine their consciences. Im sure someone will make that call. Justice is coming, of that Im certain. Shepherd was convicted of manslaughter by gross negligence at the trial at Londons Old Bailey, but did not attend court. He was sentenced to six years in prison, of which he will have to serve at least three. Detective Sergeant Christopher Davis from the Met Police said in a statement at the time, A jury has decided that Charlottes life was lost due to Jack Shepherds reckless actions. To take his boat out at night, whilst drinking, in winter conditions and without offering Charlotte a life jacket or even asking if she could swim was a recipe for disaster. That night ended in a tragedy and the consequences will live with Charlottes family forever. Reuters contributed to this article. A pumpjack on the outskirts of town at dawn in the Permian Basin oil field on Jan. 21, 2016, in the oil town of Midland, Texas.(Spencer Platt/Getty Images) US Oil Production Will Eclipse Russia and Saudi Arabia Combined by 2025, Report Says The United States is on track to produce more crude oil and liquids than Russia and Saudi Arabia combined by 2025, according to a report from the independent energy research and consulting firm Rystad Energy. Liquids output is expected to rise above 24 million barrels per day over the next six years, assuming U.S. crude prices average $58 a barrel during the period, Rystad said in the Jan. 24 report. The growth in U.S. liquids production will be driven by major shale basins such as the Permian Basin in parts of Texas and New Mexico, according to the report. U.S. growth potential could be slowed if oil prices slide below our base case for extended periods but, as long as average prices stay above $50, positive U.S. production tendencies will persist, Rystad analyst Artem Abramov said in a statement. The United States edged out Russia and Saudi Arabia to become the largest crude oil producer last year, as growth was driven by a shale boom centered on parts of the Permian. Some market participants have voiced concerns about a possible depletion in resources from core parts of major liquids basins in the U.S. But there are no indications that such a development will occur any time soon, Abramov said. The countrys oil output is expected to rise to a new record of more than 12 million barrels per day in 2019, according to the Energy Information Administration. The United States, Russia, and Saudi Arabia have constantly shifted places atop the list of the worlds biggest oil producers. President Donald Trump has loosened regulation on the oil industry and pushed for drilling projects on federally owned lands in Arctic Alaska. After decades of prohibition, the Trump administration won approval to drill in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. The Bureau of Land Management isnt pushing to lease land in the area. Reuters contributed to this report. The Shareholder Puzzle Facing Airlines After Brexit LONDONAirlines that will no longer be majority owned by EU nationals once Britain leaves the European Union face the threat of losing their right to fly within the bloc after Brexit due to share ownership rules. While they will still be able to fly to and from the EU, operating licenses to fly between destinations within the bloc are reserved for airlines that are majority owned and effectively controlled by EU, EEA or Swiss nationals. EasyJet, Ryanair, and British Airways-owner IAG are among the airline groups likely to be most affected when British shareholders are no longer EU nationals. They are all trying to reach the 50 percent plus 1 threshold for non-UK EU ownership, or bidding to demonstrate how else they can comply by March 29 when Britain is due to leave the bloc. EasyJet said on Jan. 22 that it had increased its non-UK EEA ownership to 49 percent, one percentage point shy of meeting the threshold. We have the means and the tools to make sure that we will comply with all the rules and regulation, easyJet Chief Executive Johan Lundgren told reporters, adding that organic growth of EEA shareholders was the preferred route but disenfranchisement was also an option. Compared to other airlines, were in a good place on this. Many airlines have powers in their articles of association to suspend their voting rights and block share sales to non-EU nationals should they not achieve the threshold of EEA ownership after Brexit. They include Ryanair, which is Irish-based but has said up to 54 percent of its shareholders could be non-EU in a hard-Brexit scenario. Whats the Problem? In their political declaration on their future relationship, Britain and the EU said they would negotiate a Comprehensive Air Transport Agreement, and each side has said that even if Britain leaves without a deal, flights will continue. But a no-deal Brexit in March would mean Britain stands to leave the bloc without a transitional period in which airlines might be able to sort out their shareholdings. The EU has said that if an airline no longer fulfills its ownership conditions as a result of Brexit, the operating license will cease to be valid, subject to any transitional arrangement that may be contained in a possible withdrawal agreement. Hugh ODonovan, a barrister at Keystone Law, said that, while there could be a late, short-term fix to give airlines more time, it seemed unlikely that the EU would soften its stance on the issue. For its part, Britain has said that it would not impose nationality restrictions on the conditions for an operating license, leaving airlines focused on boosting their EEA shareholdings. IAG Relaxed Questions have been raised over whether IAG, which is over 20 percent owned by Qatar Airways, might fall foul of the rules. While famously the owner of British Airways, it is the intra-EU flights of its Spanish Iberia and Vueling brands and Irelands Aer Lingus that would be jeopardized. After British Airways and Iberia merged in 2011, IAGs governance structure ensured Britons held at least 50.1 percent of the voting shares in British Airways, with Spanish nationals holding a majority of voting shares in Iberia, even as the shareholdings carried minimal economic rights. That distinction between the economic and voting rights has been cited by CEO Willie Walsh as a reason to be more relaxed about the firms governance after Brexit. You could argue that weve already done our contingency work, Walsh said during IAGs 2017 Capital Markets Day. The Spanish government has said it is confident national flag carrier Iberia is a Spanish company and will be able to fly across Europe in the event of a disorderly Brexit, after the Financial Times reported that Brussels had doubts about IAGs arguments that its individual airlines are domestically owned. A spokeswoman for IAG said on Jan. 22 that the group was confident it would comply with the EUs ownership and control rules after Brexit. EASYJET ENGAGING INVESTORS easyJet Engaging Investors EasyJet said it was engaging investors across Europe to increase EEA ownership above 50 percent before Brexit. Founded by British-Cypriot founder Stelios Haji-Ioannou, he and his family retain a 33 percent stake in easyJet and count as EEA shareholders. Other European airlines do not have this benefit. Ryanair has said it plans to remove voting rights from all non-EU shareholders and block them from selling their shares to non-EU nationals for a period of time if there is no deal struck before exit day. Ryanair said it expected the restrictions would only be in place for a short period of months and that they would be eased or removed once 50.1 percent EU ownership had been restored. The Budapest-based but London-listed budget airline Wizz has clauses in its own articles of association which would allow it to take similar action. Travel group Thomas Cook said it was in close dialogue with regulatory bodies in Europe about its contingency plans, including any structural changes that may be required in the event of no-deal. Rival TUI said that it is our aim to continue our business as we do today and that it was preparing contingency measures where necessary for different scenarios, including a hard Brexit. Ken Quinn, Global Chair, Aviation at law firm Baker McKenzie, said the EU rules on airline ownership were archaic. If they cant reach a grand deal, then they need to reach a sectoral understanding with an eye on consumers, not on the flag on the tail of an aeroplane, he told Reuters. By Alistair Smout The Heart of the Matter: Families and Fatherhood In Back To Discipline: Disparate Impact Reflects Disparate Reality, Heather MacDonald applauds the Federal Commission on School Safetys repudiation of disparate-impact analysis. She writes: Disparate-impact analysis holds that if a facially-neutral policy negatively affects blacks and Hispanics at a higher rate than whites and Asians, it is discriminatory. Noticing the behavioral differences that lead to those disparate effects is forbidden. In the area of school discipline, disparate-impact analysis results in the conclusion that racially neutral rules must nevertheless contain bias, since black students nationally are suspended at nearly three times the rate of white students. In 2014, the Obama administration relied on this methodology to announce that schools that suspended or expelled black students at higher rates than white students were violating anti-discrimination laws. MacDonald gives evidence demonstrating why this policy increased violence and poor discipline in the classroom. Faced with possible charges of discrimination if they dismissed a disproportionate number of black students, regardless of their offenses, school administrators allowed troublemakers and gang members to remain in classrooms. Once they realized the school would not punish them for their misbehavior, these miscreants spread disorder, including physical attacks on teachers and fellow students. That such permissiveness would only encourage aberrant behavior may seem obvious to even casual observers, but apparently not to some school and government officials. They maintained the policy, classroom discipline in many schools took a dive, and the schools suffered accordingly. Embedded in MacDonalds article are the real reasons for juvenile crime and incivility, both in and out of school: the breakdown of families and absentee fathers. About 33 percent of American children live in single-parent households. Among African-Americans, approximately 72 percent of children live with a single parent, most often the mother. Family breakdown, MacDonald asserts, is the cause of urban crime and disorder. As is so often the case, however, we look to the government for Band-Aids rather than getting to the root of a problem. Many Americans, liberals and progressives, yes, but even a large number of conservatives, turn to the government for help when there are problems with our young people. Every time these people genuflect to the federal government, they not only allow that government to take the place of the traditional family, but they also hand over more power to an entity that is both inept and greedy for control. Many observers understand the devastation done to our culture and society by the implosion of the family. Which raises the question, as MacDonald does in the article: Why dont our politicians and others begin a campaign to revalorize fathers and men? Such a campaign would cost little money but might bring great gains in nearly all parts of our society. Think what might happen if local leaders, business executives, pastors, teachers, the media, Hollywood, members of the Congress, and the president himself made an effort, whenever the opportunity presented itself, to stress the importance of the intact family. Think what might happen if we began a serious national dialogue on the importance of fatherhood. Think what might happen if we put aside our current disparagement of men and manliness, our assaults through the law and culture on marriage, and the sneering attacks, mainly from radicals in so many of our universities, on the traditional family unit, and instead promoted the family: mothers, fathers, and children. Such a program might diminish the battalions of inmates in our prisons, decrease the discipline problems in our schools, increase the capabilities of our students, and reduce monies spent on federal welfare programs. Perhaps most importantly, by making the family once again the foundation stone of society and by stressing the importance of men and fathers to our culture, we might recover our diminishing freedoms, liberties lost to the government as the family has broken down, a crack-up predicted over 50 years ago by Daniel Patrick Moynihan. The family is the test of freedom, G.K. Chesterton wrote, because the family is the only thing the free man makes for himself and by himself. Revalorize fathers and men. Revalorize the idea of family. And maybe in the process, we will revalorize the United States of America. This post The Heart of the Matter: Families and Fatherhood, was originally published on Intellectual Takeout by Jeff Minick. He is a freelance writer and teacher living in Front Royal, Virginia. The Silversmith: An Endangered Traditional Craftsman The artistry of Argentiere Pagliai in Florence FLORENCE, ItalyIf your idea of silverware is mere platters and other flatware such as forks, knives, and spoons, you are in for a treat: Argentiere Pagliais collection showcases the pure artistry of a traditional silversmith. Since 1947, Argentiere Pagliai has made high-end precious metal pieces inspired by the traditional arts of painting, sculpture, and architecture. The company continues to create with incredible passion and to uphold the silversmith tradition that is endangered across Europe. Those who specialize in silver restoration, in particular, are only a handful. For the current owner, Paolo Pagliai, his passion for silver began when he was just 15, as he watched his father, Orlando, making silver pieces. Now, Pagliai, along with his wife Raffaella and daughter Stefani, upholds his fathers trade as a silversmith and continues the world-renowned family business of Argentiere Pagliai in Florence. Inside Argentiere Pagliai As I enter, I am warmly greeted by Raffaella and Stefani. The showroom we stand in is certainly sumptuous, yet we could almost be sitting around the kitchen table, as customers come and go with the familiar air of family members. As Raffaella busies herself with carefully packing a customers order, Stefani and longtime assistant Silvia Staderini tell me more about Argentiere Pagliai. The showroom cupboards are an archive full of historic pieces. For every order placed, a duplicate is made in case of any imperfections, so the shop has a copy of each item made. Our conversation is interrupted only when Stefani, or sometimes Silvia, dashes off to grab a sample to show me. Each piece is carefully kept wrapped in tissue to preserve the silver. Inspired by the Past I am shown an album of historic works and also some physical samples, most of which are inspired by, or replicated from, the great designs of the Renaissance and Neoclassical periods. Theres the classical dolphin that Orlando made, which was inspired by a rock crystal dolphin in the Silver Museum at the Pitti Palace in Florence. In the original, the dolphin holds a shell in the natural curve of its body. In Orlandos version, the whole piece is made of four parts in sterling silver and sits on an ornate pedestal with sculpted palmettes. The tail seems to steady the creation, which almost looks like it could topplea tension difficult to capture in three dimensions without extra structural support. Then, there are the Tiffany & Co. pieces that Orlando designed in the 1960s. Animals feature strongly here, such as for the decorative box shaped as a classical snail. One box is replicated from a Chinese Ming Dynasty toad. Paolo made the decision to stop the collaboration with Tiffany & Co. in 1970 in order to concentrate on Argentiere Pagliai. Now, Argentiere Pagliai makes their Tiffany & Co. designs on special request. There is the fantastical dolphin that Paolo translated into silver from a 17th-century German design found in the Silver Museum at the Pitti Palace in Florence. The curvature of the body gives the piece a dynamic edge; the movement of the creature can be felt in the round as the tail turns and its head seems to proudly emerge. The detail is amazing; each scale is meticulously chiseled and each tooth is finely defined. Paolos favorite piece is his reproduction of a 16th-century German goblet, a museum piece he copied as part of an exam. The original is in a museum in Nuremberg. The piece took many months to make, with the most challenging part being to cut the rock crystal into tiny pieces. One of the Tiffany salt and pepper sets is Stefanis favorite piece. I can see why: These small pieces each fit in the palm of my hand and are designed to look like fish. Each has a teeny spoon that looks like a shell. The spoons themselves are plated in gold, as are the insides of the fish, presumably so the salt doesnt tarnish the sterling silver. Theres a rather cleverly designed sterling silver cup that incorporates a wolf on the base. It was made for a Russian hunter to celebrate his kill. The wolf is upright when the cup is not in use, and upside down when used. Orlando himself was a keen hunter and was often invited to shoot on the land of his wealthy clients as reimbursement for work. When I ask Silvia who buys Argentiere Pagliai pieces, she simply says foreigners. The most popular ready-made purchases are cups, normally to commemorate an important event, personal or otherwise. Creative Commissions As I look around the showroom, the silverware on display is so diverse. It seems that anything can be made from silver in this workshop. The only limit is the imagination. A sterling silver panther can be seen on a sideboard. The piece was a commission made as a tabletop centerpiece. This animal is not to be admired from afar, for the beauty of this beast is close-upwhen you realize that the soft-fur effect on the hard silver is made by tiny chisel marks, which must have been carried out with painstaking patience. Even New Yorks Chrysler Building has been commissioned and reconstructed. It took 600 hours to make the 32 11/16 inches tall, solid sterling silver skyscraper, complete with all the architectural elements such as the gargoyles, windows, and of course that famous spire. And, a grandmother from a prominent Florentine family commissioned Pagliai to make 26 sterling silver Misirizzi dolls, a traditional Italian celluloid doll from the 1960s. She gifted these to her grandchildren and had this reminder engraved on them: Ritornate in asse e proseguite dritti sulla strada dei principi e della rettitudine indicativi which means: Come back to the path led by principles and righteousness and walk straight on. Silvia is quick to point out the difference between a machine-engraved object and a hand-engraved object. For hand engraving, the pressure is more precise and refined. No machine can replicate that. Here, everything is handmadeeven the engraving. The Workshop Silvia then takes me behind the scenes to the back of the building, where master silversmith Pagliai is immersed in his work. The air is filled with a different energy: a quiet, almost meditative atmosphere that fine craftsmanship demands. Hand tools hang at the workshops entrance, and precious metal objects are scattered across work surfaces in various stages of being made or restored. Up on shelves, there are antique objects dart such as a baby-pink-and-gold classical-style clock, waiting in line to be restored, and a large chandelier lies on its side, looking a little sad with its still beautiful yet tarnished delicate silver leaves. Pagliai happily tells me that he and his assistant are preparing an 18th-century picture frame from a church that needs to be restored. He holds a tiny brass head in his hand that needs to be cleaned. He then moves on to show me a silver candlestick hallmarked 1872 that an elderly Russian customer bought in. The Russian Orthodox candlestick needs his expert attention to be taken back to its former glory. Pagliai clearly enjoys his work. When I ask if I can photograph him at work, he pulls out two bronze cherubs and places them playfully on the workbench, as if they are in conversation. The forms have been made by pouring molten metal into a wax mold, and once the silver is set, the wax is melted and drained away. This is one part of the traditional and aptly named lost-wax process that Pagliai uses to make his precious creations. At this stage, the forms are imperfect and need to be refined by filing, which Pagliai sits down to demonstrate. Then, the finishing touches are made by hand chiseling and polishing. These refinements can take months, depending on the design requirements. For example, the Tiffany animals take three months to make: A U.S. order placed in July 2017 was delivered in December that year. The most technically challenging aspect of making the decorative boxes is ensuring that the lids fit perfectly, says Stefani. To uphold the silversmith tradition is an important role, Pagliai says, because silversmiths are disappearing across Europe, largely because the work is manual and not by machine. Pagliai believes that its very, very important to continue this traditional work with his family. The key for silversmiths to survive is to work through collaborations with tourist shops and specialist schools such as the Sacred Art SchoolFlorence, where students can learn restoration and graduates can apprentice at workshops like Argentiere Pagliai. What remains to be seen is whether the passion of the few remaining silversmiths like Argentiere Pagliai can save the tradition. To discover more about Argentiere Pagliai, visit ArgentierePagliai.it Ms. S. Staderini acted as translator from Italian to English. Supreme Court Green-lights NYC Gun Law Appeal The Supreme Court has decided to take up a gun rights case for the first time in nine years, this time a challenge to New York Citys law that prevents lawful gun permit holders from transporting their unloaded, locked up weapons outside the city limits. The city residents who launched the original lawsuit wanted to practice shooting at target ranges outside the city or transport their firearms to second homes elsewhere in the state, but the city wouldnt let them do what they wanted with their property. Members of the pro-Second Amendment majority on the Supreme Court may be looking to flex their muscles. The fact that the high court decided Jan. 22 to grant certiorari, or review, in the case obviously does not guarantee the court will overturn the New York City law, but it seems to suggest that the originalist, pro-gun rights justices who form a majority on the court are seriously considering reining in the law. There is also no indication from the Supreme Courts order list posted online that any of the courts nine justices dissented from the decision to hear the case known as New York State Rifle and Pistol Association v. City of New York, file number 18-280. Former U.S. Solicitor General Paul Clement, a veteran of Second Amendment battles, has urged the high court to expand on the constitutional gun rights it articulated in District of Columbia v. Heller (2010), which protects an individuals right to possess a firearm, and McDonald v. Chicago (2012) which holds the right of an individual to keep and bear arms is constitutionally incorporated, or made applicable, to the states. Clement said the Big Apple case is a perfect vehicle to reaffirm that those decisions and the constitutional text have consequences. Seventeen states back the case and have urged the Supreme Court to overturn the New York City law. The decision to hear the case comes after the court turned back various challenges to state gun laws in the last few years. In June 2016, the court refused to hear a challenge to the classification of various firearms as assault weapons by New York and Connecticut. In November 2017 the court declined to hear a challenge to Marylands assault weapons ban. In February 2018 the court refused to take up a challenge to Californias 10-day waiting period for gun purchases, prompting a stiff rebuke from Justice Clarence Thomas who voted to hear the case. Thomas noted that California had the second-longest waiting period in the nation and it privileged peace officers and special permit holders by exempting them from the wait. Quite apart from the New York City law, gun rights are under heavy assault in New York state, argued conservative journalist Charles C.W. Cooke. As part of a sweeping set of gun control proposals that are currently under consideration in New York State, Cooke said, a Brooklyn-based state representative named Kevin Parker has proposed a measure that, if enacted into law, would require anyone in New York applying for a handgun to hand over their social media username and password to the police. Americans need to pay attention to the proposal law because, If New York passes this measure, it will essentially have nullified the Second Amendment within its borders. New York City has some of the most draconian gun laws in the nation. As a summary in the court file notes, the city forbids residents from possessing a handgun without a license, and the only license the city makes available to most residents allows holders to possess a handgun only in their home or in transit to one of seven shooting ranges within the city. This means permit holders are not allowed to transport a handgun to any place outside the citys limitseven when the handgun is unloaded and locked in a container separate from its ammunition, and even when the owner seeks to transport it to a shooting range outside the city or to a second home in order to use it for self-defense. Although the city claims the oppressive transport ban promotes public safety by limiting handguns on city streets, it has provided no actual evidence the regulation contributes to public safety, according to the summary. Moreover, even if there were such a risk, the Citys restriction poses greater safety risks by encouraging residents who are leaving town to leave their handguns behind in vacant homes, and it serves only to increase the frequency of handgun transport within city limits by forcing many residents to use an in city range rather than more convenient ranges elsewhere, the summary stated. A date for oral arguments in the gun rights case has not yet been scheduled by the Supreme Court. Missing 13-Year-Old Girl Found, Reported Safe A 13-year-old girl who had gone missing in South Carolina has been found and was reunited safely with her parents on Jan. 24. Diana Clawson was reported missing on Jan. 23. Family members believe she did not run away. She was found hiding in her home on Jan. 24. Clawson was last seen at her bus stop in Rock Hill in the morning on Jan. 23. She never got on the bus or made it to her school, Saluda Trail Middle School. Dianas mother, Tonya Clawson, reported her daughter missing at 5:30 p.m., according to a Rock Hill Police Department report obtained by The Herald. Tonya Clawson said that she last saw her daughter at 5:30 a.m. that day. She called the police after arriving home after work and finding her son there but not her daughter. Clawsons son told her that Diana had been at the bus stop with him in the morning but said that she needed to grab something from their apartment. She didnt return and missed the bus. Tonya Clawson said the school apparently didnt notice the girl missing as she never received a phone call stating that she was not in class on Jan. 23. The mother said that she noticed that the key that her daughter uses to lock and unlock her bedroom was gone. She also noticed that her daughters room looked like it had been gone through. Dianas parents told WCNC that the girl didnt take anything with her before she went missing and that she had no extra clothes. She also didnt have her cellphone. **UPDATE 1:30 p.m., Jan. 24** Student has been found and reunited safely with her parents.HAVE YOU SEEN HER?Saluda Rock Hill Schools 2019124 Call 911, call anybody because we need her home, Tonya Clawson told WSOC. Were worried about her because thats not like Diana. Diana would never leave home. The Rock Hill Schools said in a statement early Jan. 24, Despite what some may be posting or sharing as official information, the student is still missing. The school district added, Detectives and School Resource Officers are assisting in locating her. Please be mindful that sharing inaccurate information can be very damaging in cases such as this when a child is missing. We have Detectives and SROs working with the Family and @RockHillSchools in attempting to locate Diana. Please call in if you have any information on her, added the Rock Hills Police Department. We have Detectives and SROs working with the Family and @RockHillSchools in attempting to locate Diana. Please call in if you have any information on her. https://t.co/iZulT2tIHb Rock Hill PD (@rockhillpd) January 24, 2019 At 1.30 p.m. on Jan. 24, the school district informed the public that Clawson has been found and reunited safely with her parents. **UPDATE 1:30 p.m., 1/24/19** Student has been found and reunited safely with her parents. Thank you @rockhillpd for your assistance today. Rock Hill Schools (@RockHillSchools) January 24, 2019 Missing Children There were 464,324 missing children reported in the FBIs National Crime Information Center in 2017, according to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. Under federal law, when a child is reported missing to law enforcement, they must be entered into the database. In 2016, there were 465,676 entries. This number represents reports of missing children. That means if a child runs away multiple times in a year, each instance would be entered into NCIC separately and counted in the yearly total. Likewise, if an entry is withdrawn and amended or updated, that would also be reflected in the total, the center noted. In 2017, the center said it assisted officers and families with the cases of more than 27,000 missing children. In those cases, 91 percent were endangered runaways, and 5 percent were family abductions. About one in seven children reported missing to the center in 2017 were likely victims of child sex trafficking. The number of reported missing children has significantly decreased in recent years, according to a 2017 report by the Department of Justice (pdf). The number of children reported missing dropped from 6.5 per 1,000 children in 1999 to 3.1 per 1,000 in 2013. Missing children typically fall into five categories: kidnapped by a family member, abducted by a nonfamily perpetrator, runaways, those who got lost, stranded, or injured, or those who went missing due to benign reasons, such as misunderstandings, according to the report researchers. From NTD News U.S. Marines shore up the old landing mat fence (left) next to a steel slat barrier on the U.S.Mexico border near the Andrade port of entry in Calif. on Nov. 29, 2018. (U.S. Army photo by Staff Sgt. Jesse Untalan) Smart Wall Is Backbone of Border Security System, CBP Official Says WASHINGTONA border fence with technology and access roads is the recipe for making an effective border wall system, Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officials say. Every situation will be different. No one area along the border is the same, so the system will look different in different locations, a CBP official said at a press briefing on Jan. 16. But it will, at a minimum, include sensor technologyso it will be a smart wallbarriers and roads, and infrastructure. If you think of it in terms of a system, the barrier itself is the backbone. The official intimated that a wall isnt a magic bullet to stop all illegal border crossingsbut the critical factor is that it slows illegal incursions and buys agents time to respond. We know that it can be cut, it can be breached, but we factor that inits a factor of time, the official said. In a lot of areas along the border, we have urban areas, we have seconds, literally 150, 200 yards before illegal crossers can actually make it into an industrial park or into a shopping mall or into a population center. The only thing that slows them down and puts agents in a position to stop and interdict, is to be able to slow them through impedance and denialthrough the construction of barriers. CBP and border agents arrested some 17,000 convicted criminals and Immigration and Customs Enforcement removed almost 6,000 known or suspected gang members in fiscal 2018. In total, almost 400,000 people were apprehended along the southwest border after crossing illegally during fiscal year 2018averaging almost 1,100 per day. President Donald Trump has stressed the need for a wall to help stop illegal entry, as well as cross-border crime. He wrote on Twitter, in all caps, on Jan. 23: Build a wall and crime will fall. In Yuma County, Arizona, Sheriff Leon Wilmot said the border fence has helped cut ancillary crime caused by illegal border-crossers by 91 percent. The deaths in the desert, the rapes, the robberies, the homicides, the burglaries, the thefts, Wilmot said. If the $5.7 billion in wall funding that Trump is asking for is appropriated, Yuma is slated to get 27 miles of new fencing to replace an older, less-effective barrier. Illegal crossings in Yuma County have spiked in the past couple of weeks, with huge groups of Central Americans breaching the fence and handing themselves over to Border Patrol. On Jan. 14, a group of 376 Central Americans crossed illegally and inundated agents, according to a tweet by CBP Arizona. Almost all were families or unaccompanied juveniles. Subsequent reports said the group had entered by digging under the fence. Group of 376 Central Americans illegally crossed from Mexico and inundated agents in #Yumasector on Monday morning. Almost all were families or unaccompanied juveniles. #NationalSecurity #SouthwestBorder pic.twitter.com/dWzS0LCgCV CBP Arizona (@CBPArizona) January 18, 2019 A week later, Border Patrol apprehended a group of more than 110 Central Americans, who scaled the wall with the assistance of a smuggler with a ladder, CBP Arizona wrote on Twitter. CBP in Arizona didnt respond to a request to clarify if the new 27 miles would cover the area where the latest incursions are occurring. Both the House and Senate will vote on various bills this week to reopen the government; although only the Senate will bring to the floor a measure that includes the $5.7 billion that Trump is requesting for an additional 234 miles of border wall. Trump has said he wont sign anything that doesnt include wall funding. We have to have a wall. We have to have a barricade of some kind, a steel barricade, its already designed, Trump said Jan. 23. Were building a lot of wall as we speak, a tremendous amount, and were renovating a lot of the other wall. Existing Wall, New Construction Along the almost 2,000-mile southwest border is 654 miles of existing barrier. The 654 miles is a mix of 374 miles of pedestrian fencing and 280 miles of vehicle barrier. Pedestrian barriers are intended to stop people from being able to walk through an area, but many miles were built years ago and consist of old landing mat that is now ineffectivetoo short (10 to 12 feet), not see-through, easily scalable, and gives the ability to sit on the top (and throw projectiles at Border Patrol). Today, were constructing 18- to 30-foot steel bollards. These are filled with a combination of slurry and rebar to make them difficult to breach, a CBP official said. The new bollard fencing is designed to stop pedestrians and vehicles. The vehicle barrier that covers 280 miles of the border is a combination of normandy barrier and post-on-rail. Most of the vehicle barrier was constructed years ago in rural areas where a lot of vehicle crossings were occurring. A lot of that has changed over the years and the need to upgrade that capability to provide Border Patrol with new capability to stop pedestrian incursions is where we are today, a CBP official said. Fiscal 2017 Funding $292 million for construction of 40 miles of pedestrian barrier. 20 miles to replace ineffective vehicle barrier in the Santa Teresa area, near El Paso, Texas. This project is complete. 14 miles of new primary fencing in San Diego. Anticipated completion is May 2019. 7.25 miles for new fencing in El Paso, of which 2.25 miles is complete. $49 million to fill gaps in the existing fencing system with gates in the Rio Grande Valley in Texas. Construction is underway. Fiscal 2018 Funding $1.375 billion for an expected 80 miles of barriers. Includes brand new barrier in the Rio Grande Valley. Will consist of some concrete levee wall with steel bollard topping (construction to start February 2019), as well as steel bollard fencing (construction to start late summer). Secondary fencing in San Diego. Construction to start February 2019. Secondary fencing is situated north of the primary border fence and allows Border Patrol to operate freely in between. 43 to 44 miles of steel bollard pedestrian barrier to replace ineffective fencing in the Yuma, El Centro, and San Diego sectors. Senate Rejects Trump-Backed Bill to Re-Open Government Two measures to end the partial government shutdown, one backed by Republicans and one by Democrats, fell short in the Senate on Thursday, Jan. 24, as lawmakers explored other potential compromises to end a monthlong impasse with the White House. A bill backed by President Trump to end the shutdown by funding the wall he wants to build on the U.S.-Mexico border and a separate bill supported by Democrats to re-open shuttered agencies without the wall funding did not get the votes required to advance in the 100-member chamber. Several Republican senators voted with Democrats on their measure. They included freshman Sen. Mitt Romney of Utah, his partys 2012 presidential nominee. Manchin Sides With Trump One of the most moderate Democrats in the U.S. Senate approved President Donald Trump-backed legislation that would end the partial government shutdown but was the only Democrat to do so. Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.V.) said on Jan. 24 that he would vote for the bill and did so later in the day, he did indeed support the legislation. Two Republicans, Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) and Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) voted against it. The bill featured $5.7 billion in border wall funding and some protections for illegal immigrants who were brought to the country as children. In addition, Manchin said, he would also vote for a bill put forth by Democrats that would re-open the government for two weeks but would not include any wall funding. That bill was viewed as a nonstarter because Trump would veto it if it somehow gained the support of some Republicans, who currently hold a 53-47 majority in the Senate. In the end, seven Republican Senators voted for the Democrat bill, including Sen. Cory Gardner (R-Colo.), Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), and Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah). Manchin admitted that both bills would likely fail to gain 60 votes. Today I will vote for both government funding bills because I believe we must end this harmful shutdown immediately and its our first opportunity in the Senate to do so. Even though they will probably fail, these votes are a start to finding a way to reopen the government and get West Virginians back to work, he said in a post on Twitter. Manchin, who touted his ability to work with Trump and Republicans during the midterm campaigns last year, also said that he would support Trump declaring a national emergency, which he has threatened to do, in order to obtain funding for the wall. Today I will vote for both gov funding bills b/c I believe we must end this harmful shutdown immediately & its our first opportunity in the Senate to do so. Even though they will probably fail, these votes are a start to finding a way to reopen the gov & get WVians back to work Senator Joe Manchin (@Sen_JoeManchin) January 24, 2019 Whatever it takes to open the government, he told reporters, reported The Hill. Manchin said that there might be additional Democrats that would vote for the White House-backed proposal crafted by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) but didnt name any names. Manchins comments came a day after he and Sen. Shelley Moore Capito (R-West Va.) told a council on Wednesday morning how theyd vote the next day. Manchin said that he would vote for both bills. Id recommend everybody to vote for both, Manchin told reporters. Do whatever it takes. Get us back to the table. Capito, meanwhile, said shed back the bill that included funding for the wall and not the other measure. We need to realize that we need to reopen the government but I do believe we need border security, she said. The best way to achieve both of those goals is to solve both of those problems in the same bill. I think that is what President Trumps bill does. I will vote for the Presidents bill, she added. While no other Democrats have announced support for the Trump-backed bill, some Republicans who sometimes go against the president said they would support him this time. Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) said that she would be among those voting for the bill, but also said shed vote for the other as well. Collins said that the Republican-crafted legislation represented a reasonable deal, adding that it was long overdue for all sides to come together, reported the Bangor Daily News. A Collins spokeswoman added later that the senator would also support the Democrat plan to end the partial shutdown. Voting started on the bills just before 3 p.m. EDT. From NTD News French carmaker Renault's newly appointed board chairman Jean-Dominique Senard (L) delivers a speech next to new chief executive Thierry Bollore during a press conference at the headquarters of the French car manufacturer Renault in Boulogne Billancourt, near Paris, on Jan. 24, 2019. (Eric Piermont/AFP/Getty Images) Renault to Name New Leaders as Scandal-Hit Ghosn Bows Out PARISRenaults board met on Jan. 24, to appoint new leadership, after Chairman and Chief Executive Carlos Ghosn resigned in the wake of a financial scandal that has rocked the French carmaker and its alliance with Japans Nissan. The French government, Renaults biggest shareholder, confirmed the board was being asked to name outgoing Michelin boss Jean-Dominique Senard as chairman and Ghosns deputy Thierry Bollore as chief executive. Senard and Bollore will be presented this morning to the board of directors, government spokesman Benjamin Griveaux said before the meeting began at 9:00 GMT. The widely expected appointments may begin to resolve a Renault-Nissan leadership crisis that erupted after Ghosns Nov. 19 arrest in Japan and swift dismissal as Nissan chairman. They also mark a clear end to one of the auto industrys most feted careers, two decades after Ghosn was despatched by former Renault CEO Louis Schweitzer to rescue newly acquired Nissan from near-bankruptcya feat he pulled off in two years. After 14 years as Renault CEO and a decade as chairman, Ghosn formally resigned from both roles on the eve of the board meeting, French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire said. Ghosns arrest and indictment for financial misconduct has strained the Renault-Nissan relationship, threatening the future of the industrial partnership he transformed into a global carmaking giant over two decades. For two months, the tensions deepened as Renault and the French government stuck by Ghosn despite the revelation he had arranged to be paid tens of millions of dollars in additional income, unbeknownst to shareholders. Ghosn has been charged with failing to disclose more than $80 million in additional compensation for 2010-18 that he had agreed to be paid later. Nissan director Greg Kelly and the Japanese company itself have also been indicted. Both men deny the deferred pay was illegal or required disclosure, while not contesting the agreements existence. Ghosn has denied a separate breach of trust charge over personal investment losses he temporarily transferred to Nissan in 2008. Ghosn finally agreed in recent days to step down from Renault, Reuters reported on Tuesdaybut only after the French government called for leadership change and his bail requests were rejected by the Japanese courts. Senard, 65, faces the immediate task of soothing relations with Nissan, which is 43.4 percent-owned by Renault but the larger partner by sales. Following Ghosns arrest, Nissan CEO Hiroto Saikawa had sought to weaken Renaults control and resisted its attempts to nominate new directors to the Japanese carmakers board. In a possible sign of detente on Thursday, Nissan called an April shareholder meeting to appoint a Renault-nominated board member and formally terminate Ghosn and Kellys directorships. It remains unclear whether Renault, as Nissans parent, will also name its next chairman. Nissan currently owns a 15 percent non-voting stake in its French parent and 34 percent in Mitsubishi Motors, a third major partner in their manufacturing alliance. Once its new management is settled, French officials want the alliance to resume work on a new ownership structure to cement the partnership which Ghosn had been mandated to explore when his Renault contract was renewed last year. Nissan is wary of any such move. In an interview last week, Saikawa acknowledged shareholders concerns that the current structure undervalues their investments, but added that altering it was really not the current priority. By Laurence Frost and Gilles Guillaume General Mills announced a recall of its 5-pound bags of Gold Medal unbleached all-purpose flour. (Food and Drug Administration) Possible Salmonella Contamination Triggers Recall of General Mills Flour The potential contamination of salmonella has triggered a nationwide recall of Gold Medal flour, produced by General Mills. The company said in a press release that the recall only affects one type of flour. This recall only affects this one date code of Gold Medal Unbleached Flour five-pound bags, the notice stated. All other types of Gold Medal Flour are not affected by this recall. The recall affects bags with a better-if-used by date of April 20, 2020. The recall was voluntary and came after the potential presence of salmonella was detected during sampling of the packaged product. The company said no direct consumer reports of confirmed illnesses have arisen as of yet. Food safety is our top priority, and though we have not had any confirmed illnesses, we are voluntarily recalling this specific lot of Gold Medal Unbleached Flour to prevent potential illnesses, Jim Murphy, president of General Mills Meals and Baking Division, said in a statement. This recall does not involve any other flour products, and we are continuing to educate consumers that flour is not a ready to eat ingredient. Anything you make with flour must be cooked or baked before eating. Anyone who has the five-pound bags of flour in question should throw out the product. People who have the product can call General Mills Consumer Relations at 1-800-230-8103 or visit GeneralMills.com/Flour for more information. The recall has not been circulated by the U.S. Department of Agricultures Food Safety and Inspection Service, which typically circulates information about recalls. The agency is affected by the partial government shutdown but has been keeping its recall portal updated. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) warns consumers against consuming raw products made with flour. According to the agency, consumers should refrain from consuming any raw products made with flour. Salmonella is killed by heat through baking, frying, sauteing or boiling products made with flour. All surfaces, hands, and utensils should be properly cleaned after contact with flour or dough. Salmonella Salmonella can cause salmonellosis, a common bacterial foodborne illness, noted the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). CDC estimates Salmonella causes about 1.2 million illnesses, 23,000 hospitalizations, and 450 deaths in the United States every year. Food is the source for about 1 million of these illnesses, the agency stated. Symptoms include diarrhea, abdominal cramps, and fever within 12 to 72 hours after consuming a contaminated product. Most people recover without treatment; most of those hospitalized suffer from severe diarrhea. The illness typically lasts four to seven days. Salmonella outbreaks regularly occur in the United States, leaving dozens sick across multiple states in some instances. In December 2018, for instance, millions of pounds of ground beef were recalled and some 250 people fell ill from the tainted meat. Other recent outbreaks have been linked to raw turkey products, raw chicken products, and tahini. The latter case was announced in November and stemmed from tahini products produced in Israel. Previous General Mills Flour Recall In 2016, 45 tons of flour was recalled by General Mills over the detection of E. coli. The FDA said results of a traceback investigation found that the flour was the source of a multistate outbreak of Shiga toxin-producing E. coli infections. The outbreak left 63 people infected across 24 states. The infections started on dates ranging from Dec. 21, 2015 to Sept. 5, 2016. Some of the people who got sick ate or handled raw dough. FDAs traceback investigation determined that the raw dough eaten or handled by ill people or used in restaurant locations were made using General Mills flour that was produced in November 2015 and select production dates through February 10, 2016 at the General Mills facility in Kansas City, Missouri, the FDA stated. Epidemiology, laboratory and traceback evidence available at that time indicated that General Mills flour manufactured at this facility is the likely source of the outbreak. From NTD News Police Officer Praised for Fixing American Flag He Found Hanging Upside Down A Missouri police officer is being praised for fixing an American flag he saw hanging upside down. Independence Police Officer David Wehlermann was responding to a call on Jan. 19 when he spotted the large flag that was upside down outside of a local business. He contacted the owners of the business but they said they couldnt get it fixed until Monday, prompting him to take action. They said they get a lot of angry calls from passersby about the flag upside down, so I called dispatch and requested that a ladder truck come out, and the great crew of Ladder 2 came out and fixed the flag, Wehlermann told Fox News. Photographs showed the fire crews using a hoist to reach the flag, which was well above the ground. Wehlermann, also an Air Force veteran, added about the flag: It means the world to me. I love this country, I fought for it. Its the greatest nation on Earth. Its a symbol of freedom for the world, and I want it to be rightly displayed. In a Facebook post, the Independence Police Department noted Wehlermanns actions. Thank you Officer Wehlermann and our partners at the Independence Fire Department, the department said. The photo has gone viral, with hundreds of shares and thousands of reactions along with a number of comments. So Officer Wehlermann was on patrol today and saw this flag hanging upside down at a local business on Noland Road. The Independence Police Department 2019119 As a veteran, he is already a hero in my book he just earned his Cape. Soar high Officer Soar high!!! said Michael Summers. Strong work. I always go out of my way to protect our Flag. USAF VET and my oath doesnt expire, added John Hillfirty Jr. Good job! That is what I call making America Great Again! said Tracy Jonas Walther. That is truly awesome! Thank you so much for sharing. So many people disrespect the flag this these days it is so good to see that there are still people that care and act with respect to the flag! said Jim Hartley. Not only thank you to the officer and the fire department for assisting but thank you to all the comments on here for people being proud of what hes done instead of the usual whininess we get on Facebook about wasting taxpayer money, added John Farris. American Flag Facts Many people enjoy flying the American flag or seeing it flown but some dont know some interesting facts about the flag. The flag started with 13 stars in 1777 and gradually expanded over the years before arriving at the current 50 stars on July 4, 1960, according to the Smithsonian Institution. Flags could look somewhat different for many years until an executive order in June 1912 mandated the order of the stars and proportions of the flag. Consequently, flags dating before this period sometimes show unusual arrangements of the stars and odd proportions, these features being left to the discretion of the flag maker. In general, however, straight rows of stars and proportions similar to those later adopted officially were used, the Smithsonian stated. A series of executive orders and resolutions, including that one, gradually shaped the flags design. The last two were from President Dwight Eisenhower in 1959. The final one provided for the arrangement of the stars in nine rows staggered horizontally and eleven rows of stars staggered vertically. From NTD News Police Describe Execution-Style Killings Inside Florida Bank SEBRING, Fla.A gunman who took over a SunTrust Bank branch in Florida apparently made the five women inside lie down on the lobby floor before shooting them in the backs of their heads, police said on Jan. 24. Sebring police Chief Karl Hoglund said theres no indication Zephen Xaver intended to rob the bank, and no apparent connection among him, the bank or the victims. Xaver, 21, has been charged with five counts of premeditated murder in the shooting deaths of the four bank employees and a customer. He overtook the bank by force. He then shot everyone in the bank, Hoglund said. After shooting them, he called 911 and told dispatchers that hed killed everyone in the bank. According to an affidavit, all the victims were found in the banks lobby, lying face down with gunshots to the backs of their heads. Shell casings from Xavers 9mm handgun were scattered on the floor. Another customer, Victor Sparks, was quoted by the Highlands News-Sun as saying that he found the door locked during the attack, peered inside, and saw people lying on the floor while someone walked around and between them. He then turned and stepped away, and heard gunfire. He said police arrived within two minutes after he and his wife called 911. Dispatchers also got a 911 call from Xaver himself, saying I have shot five people, police said. But Xaver refused to surrender, and would not allow officers to reach the victims, the chief said. After more than an hour of negotiations, the chief ordered a SWAT team in; they had to use an armored vehicle to break through the front doors. Xaver was found in an office in the rear. By then, all the victims were already dead, the chief said. Hoglund identified two of the victims: customer Cynthia Watson and bank employee Marisol Lopez. He said that in compliance with a newly passed victims rights law in Florida, the names of three victims would be withheld at their families request. The community is mourning the loss of our sisters, our mothers, our daughters, and our co-workers, Hoglund said. Authorities ended their news conference after only a few questions and didnt respond when asked how Xaver obtained the gun. Xaver was arrested in a beige T-shirt depicting the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse. Thursday morning, he wore a black-and-white striped prison uniform as he was appointed a public defender and ordered held without bond. His father said hes heartbroken for the victims and that his son wasnt raised to be like this. Hes always been a good kid. Hes had his troubles, but he has never hurt anyone ever before. This is a total shock, Josh Xaver told CNN. The Associated Press has reached out to both parents of Zephen Xaver requesting interviews, with no immediate response. The shootings were not a shock to Alex Gerlach, who identified herself as Xavers former girlfriend. She said hes long been fascinated with the idea of killing, but no one took her warnings about him seriously. For some reason, he always hated people and wanted everybody to die, Gerlach told WSBT-TV in South Bend, Indiana. He got kicked out of school for having a dream that he killed everybody in his class, and hes been threatening this for so long, and hes been having dreams about it and everything, she said. Every single person Ive told has not taken it seriously, and its very unfortunate that it had to come to this. Gerlach was quoted by The Washington Post as saying that Xaver said he purchased a gun last week and no one thought anything of it because he had always liked guns. Xaver has no apparent criminal record in the areas where hes lived in Indiana and Florida, and his school records are spotty: Two school districts in northern Indiana said he attended for several years but did not graduate. Xaver also briefly studied online. Sherrie Martin, a spokeswoman for Salt Lake City-based Stevens-Henager College, confirmed that Xaver was enrolled from September to December before withdrawing last year. In Florida, he tried to be a prison guard: Department of Corrections records show he was hired as a trainee at Avon Park Correctional Institution on Nov. 2 and resigned Jan. 9. No disciplinary issues were reported. Public records and neighbors say Xaver and his mother had moved to Sebring in the fall from Plymouth, Indiana, a small city south of South Bend. They lived in a nondescript pre-fabricated home about 4 miles from the bank. No one answered the door Wednesday night after police finished searching the home. John Larose, who lives next door, said Xaver kept to himself, but he could hear him playing and yelling at video games in the middle of the night. This was at least the fourth mass shooting in Florida with five or more dead in the past three years. A gunman killed 49 at an Orlando nightclub in 2016, five died at the Fort Lauderdale airport in 2017, and 17 died in February at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in a Fort Lauderdale suburb. By Terry Spencer A woman stands at the booth of Huawei featuring 5G technology at the PT Expo in Beijing, China on Sept. 28, 2018. (Reuters) Poland Set to Exclude Chinas Huawei from 5G Plans WARSAWPoland is set to exclude Huawei from its future 5G network in favor of European players following the arrest of an employee from the Chinese telecoms company on suspicion of spying, officials and industry sources say. Polish government officials are talking to European Union and North American allies on the next steps but havent determined which telecoms equipment maker might replace Huawei, the sources said. Arresting a spy means end of the discussion, said a government official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity. I think the Chinese will not be present in 5G in Poland. Finlands Nokia and Swedish telecoms company Ericsson are the leading two European competitors who could provide 5G telecoms equipment for Poland, the largest economy in eastern Europe. Polands President Andrzej Duda has also suggested that Huawei was likely to be shut out. Im definitely closer to cooperating with European firms or with those from the U.S. than with producers from Asia, Duda said in an interview with Polish website money.pl. Poland announced two weeks ago that it had arrested a Chinese Huawei executive and a former Polish security official on spying allegations. Huawei has fired the man, who has denied wrongdoing. The Polish nationals lawyer also told Reuters that his client is not guilty, nor is he a spy. Huawei officials met the Polish government this week to address security concerns. We are working with the government and partners in Poland to convince the authorities that far from posing a threat to networks in the country, our technology will help improve connectivity, Huawei said in a statement. Huawei is playing a leading role as the telecoms world gears up for 5G, the next generation wireless technology that promises to link up everything from vehicles to household devices at far greater speeds. But some Western countries have barred Huawei after U.S. officials briefed allies that Huawei is at the beck and call of the Chinese state, warning that its network equipment may contain back doors that could open them up to cyber espionage. Two of the largest ongoing 5G trials in Polandrun by Orange and T-Mobileare based on Huawei technology but that appears likely to change. T-Mobile, Orange, Nokia and Ericsson declined to comment. Last year, Polands state-run telecom operator Exatel suggested building a state consortium, saying it would be cheaper to put together and that the state would earn more from the network. Telecoms industry sources confirmed that such an option is now more seriously under consideration. The decision follows the arrest of Huawei financial chief Meng Wanzhou in Canada on Dec. 1 at the request of the United States over alleged violations of U.S. sanctions on Iran. Polands alternative (to Huawei) is to build a state-owned company (or consortium) that would maintain 5G connectivity and using some sort of consortium they will pick partners, said Tomasz Siemoniak, a former defense minister and current parliament member. By Joanna Plucinska & Anna Koper The logo of Brazil's state-run oil company Petrobras is pictured in the company headquarters in Sao Paulo, Brazil on Feb. 20, 2018. (Paulo Whitaker/File photo/Reuters) Petrobras Rejects Latest Eig-Backed Bid for Oilfields: Sources RIO DE JANEIROPetroleo Brasileiro SA has rejected the most recent bid by an EIG Global Energy Partners-backed firm to purchase a pair of shallow-water oil clusters, two sources with direct knowledge of the matter said, potentially derailing a major divestment late in the process. Ouro Preto Oleo e Gas, a Brazilian energy firm backed by sector-focused private equity firm EIG entered exclusive talks in July with Petrobras, as the state-run oil firm is known, to purchase its Pampo and Enchova clusters. At the time, the fields, located in the Campos Basin off the coast of Rio de Janeiro, were seen fetching around $1 billion. Petrobras is cutting stakes in shallow-water fields to focus on Brazils larger deepwater play. That is creating an opportunity for smaller oil companies and private equity firms eager to extract value from relatively mature assets. But the process has been rocky at times. For Petrobras, the collapse or delay of the Pampo and Enchova deal could hurt its bid to meet an ambitious divestment target of $26.9 billion over five years. With combined oil production of about 39,000 barrels per day, Pampo and Enchova is the largest mature production asset currently in Petrobras divestment portfolio. In December, Petrobras reopened bidding for the clusters, as Brazils federal audit court, known as the TCU, requires for most Petrobras divestitures. Under the final rebidding round, investors can submit bids of varying values, so long as they have the same contractual terms as the winning bid in the original round. Ouro Preto took advantage of the rebidding process to cut its offer, due in part to a drop in oil prices, Reuters reported in December. However, Petrobras, unhappy with Ouro Pretos price cut, has rejected the consortiums updated bid, according to the sources, who requested anonymity to discuss confidential matters. EIG and Ouro Preto declined to comment. Petrobras did not respond to a request for comment. The setback underlines the slow, at times convoluted process surrounding Petrobras divestments, which have often frustrated potential buyers. The next steps in the Pampo and Enchova divestiture are unclear. One of the sources said the Ouro Preto consortium may try to come back to the table to resume bilateral negotiations with Petrobras. Should Petrobras re-open the process to other potential buyers or open a fresh bidding round, it could create an opportunity for firms like Trident Energy, backed by private equity firm Warburg Pincus, which had submitted an offer for Pampo and Enchova during the original bidding round in mid-2018. Trident did not respond to a request for comment. By Gram Slattery BOSTONDozens of dancers of Shen Yun Performing Arts graced the stage at the Boch Center Wang Theatre on Jan. 23, their every expression and movement were carried out in unison as though each was connected by a common thread. Painter Dede Schuhmacher was impressed by the artistry exhibited by these classical Chinese dancers, in particular their synchronicity and graceful movements. I think the beauty is [that] they make it look so easy, Schuhmacher said. That shows me theyre very talented, very disciplined and they practice a lot, when you could make something like that look easy. Schuhmacher attended the performance with Douglas Diana, investor in startups, in Boston. The dance company is in the midst of travelling the United States as part of its 2019 touring season. Six-equally sized companies are set to visit over 130 cities across four continents to showcase the essence of traditional Chinese culture through music, storytelling, and dance. The painter particularly loved the synchronicity displayed by the dancers and their graceful movements. Deep Stories For Schuhmacher, the beauty of the performance was not limited to its physical manifestations. She was also captivated by the meaning behind the stories presented on stage. [There] were very deep stories with each performance, Schuhmacher said. I think it was very beautiful in that they would have very deep stories to go with everything about love, spirituality, heaven, the end of life. Watching those stories made Schuhmacher think about the meaning of life, the beauty of life, and the pain and joy inherent in living, she said. Shen Yun depicts stories from Chinas 5,000-year civilization through classical Chinese dance. These stories speak to the values and beliefs lying at the heart of traditional Chinese culture, including belief in the divine, good being rewarded and evil being punished, and living in harmony with Heaven and Earth. The artist added that the femininity and grace exuded by the female dancers, and the masculine beauty of the male performers were a source of inspiration for her future works as a painter. Extremely Beautiful Diana thought the spectacle of dance coupled with the music from the live orchestra was so stunning, he got goosebumps watching the performance. It just reminds me how beautiful we can be as humans, those are real humans up there those are very very beautiful, he said. The investor was almost lost for words in describing what made the show so beautiful. However, he noted that the combined effect of music, dance, and colors brought together was much more than the sum of its parts. The universal themes presented in the lyrics of the songs performed by the vocal soloists also resonated with Diana. A tenor and soprano performed songs in the bel canto style, an ancient singing method that was almost extinct prior to being revived by the performers of Shen Yun. The songs convey spiritual themes central to traditional Chinese culture, such as seeking truth and returning to ones true home. Its a very universal message and its worth everybody seeing, Diana said. With reporting by Sherry Dong and Cathy He. The Epoch Times considers Shen Yun Performing Arts the significant cultural event of our time and has covered audience reactions since the companys inception in 2006. Nurse Who Helped Nathan Sutherland Care for Woman He Allegedly Raped: Hes a Coward A nurse who for years worked closely with Nathan Sutherland, the male nurse accused of raping and impregnating an incapacitated woman he cared for, said that she was shocked after his arrest was made public. Eleanor Riggers, a licensed practical nurse worked as a respiratory therapist at Hacienda HealthCare for 11 years, worked closely with Sutherland to help care for the victim, who has been described as a 29-year-old woman who cant speak and can barely move. Riggers said that Sutherland was a friend, describing him as fun and outgoing. The news of his arrest shook her, she told ABC 15. I cried. I just cried and cried. I think he is a coward. I think he is the lowest scum imaginable because I considered him a friend, Riggers said. She said shes worried that Sutherland abused other patients he cared for, a possibility the Phoenix Police Department said its looking into as part of its investigation. Riggers said there were many other women who have similar conditions in the wing that Sutherland worked in, with some also not being able to communicate verbally. And she said that staff members didnt always follow a policy of checking in on patients every 15 minutes. In every facility, things are more lax at night. I can tell you that in every facility its lax at night, Riggers said. DNA Match Police officials said that Sutherland, 36, was a licensed nurse who had worked at the facility since 2011. He was identified through a DNA sample, which matched with samples taken from the woman and a baby she had in December 2018. Every male staff member was court ordered to take the DNA test administered by the police. He was set to be charged with one count of sexual assault and one count of vulnerable adult abuse, Phoenix Police Chief Jeri Williams said. The male nurse committed this unspeakable act when he assaulted one of the most vulnerable members of our community, Williams added. From the minute we first became aware of this crime we have worked virtually nonstop trying to solve and resolve this case. The investigation was and still is the highest priority of our department. Immigrant, Married Twice Sutherland was born in Haiti and he and his sister were adopted from an orphanage and brought to the United States in 1989, reported the Arizona Republic. Sutherland became a naturalized citizen in 2011 and has resided in Arizona since 1993. State nursing records show that Sutherland completed nursing-assistant training at Seven HealthCare Academy in Tempe in 2005. The academy is now closed. He passed an examination in October 2011 that enabled him to work in multiple states. Hacienda HealthCare officials said that Sutherland, who doesnt appear to have a criminal record, went through a thorough background check when he was hired. Sutherland had been assigned to the Intermediate Care Facility-Intellectually Disabled since 2014, the company stated. According to records obtained by the Republic, Sutherlands wife filed for divorce on Dec. 5, about three weeks before the incapacitated woman gave birth. The couple does not have any children; Sutherland has two children from his first marriage. Grew Up Poor In a biography for their Christian rap duo, Sleeplessouljaz, Sutherland and his sister described growing up in poverty and an abrupt transition to life in America after being adopted. Sutherland was 7 when he was adopted. And they indicated that their adoptive parents werent the most loving. Nate and T know, understand, and have experienced the less than poor side of life; where you either have a shirt or some used pants with holes in them to wear (no underwear or shoes) and if you got 1 meal a day, you were considered blessed. They have never from the birth canal to now have never had anything handed over to them on a silver platter. Their adoptive parents made sure of it, they wrote. Their adoptive parents did not let them listen to any loud or obnoxious music, especially rap, even if it was Christian, they added. Unlike most children, Nate and T (SLS/SLEEPLESSOULJAZ) spent their childhood learning the business side of society through their family business. Learning that nothing is free in life but with hard work, dedication, commitment, and consistency was no joke, the siblings said. Having only a couple hours a week (if that) of free time made it hard and difficult to establish what youth would now call a social life.' From NTD News A lone visitor takes a picture near the brink of the ice covered Horseshoe Falls in Niagara Falls, Canada. (REUTERS/Aaron Lynett) Niagara Falls Looks Even More Breathtaking When Icy Parts of Niagara Falls were frozen on Jan. 22 after a winter storm blanketed the Midwest in snow as it headed to the Northeast. The winter storm delivered frigid temperatures but also breathtaking views, enabling visitors to the waterfalls to capture beautiful photos of the partly frozen scenery. Photos from social media showed icicles hanging like stalactites from the rocks around the falls. The Weather Service has issued winter storm warnings and advisories for a large swath of the eastern United States that is home to 100 million people, according to the U.S. Weather Prediction Center. The storm system, which was moving from west to east, strengthened by cold Arctic air from Canada, hit many parts of the Midwest on Jan. 19, according to the National Weather Service. Niagara Falls is a collective name given to three waterfallsthe Horseshoe Falls, the American Falls, and the Bridal Veil Fallsthat straddle the Canadian-United States International Border between Ontario province and New York state. The falls attract an estimated 12 million tourists each year. It is extremely hard for Niagara Falls to actually freeze such that water flow would become inhibited due to the huge volume of water in the Niagara river. Something moving as fast as the falls is extremely difficult to freeze, Stuart M. Evans, assistant professor in the Department of Geography at the University at Buffalo, told Buffalo News. Evans calls the mist near the falls spray clouds that persist all year round. He says that when the temperatures are sub-zero for a long time, the spray cloud is essentially freezing rain. But, he reiterates, even if it stays cold for a very long time, the falls are going to be extremely difficult to freeze. According to the paper, authorities say that some 700,000 gallons of water flow over the falls every second. The surface water mist from the falls in the air is what actually freezes in prolonged frigid conditions but there is still plenty of water flowing, according to website Niagara Falls USA. Parts of the waterfall have experienced a deeper freeze in recent history. This picture from 2007 shows freezing in the top part of the falls. But the only time recorded in history where water flow had been inhibited at Niagara Falls was in March 1848 when an ice jam caused water to completely stop flowing. While the falls still did not completely freeze over at the time either, people were able to walk out from the riverbed where an ice bridge had formed. Reuters contributed to this report. From NTD.com Newcomer Rep. Ilhan Omar Deletes Tweet With Falsehoods About Covington Students First-term Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) apparently deleted a tweet in which she perpetuated several falsehoods about the students of the Covington Catholic High School and their encounter with a group of Black Hebrew Israelites (BHI) and several Native Americans after the Jan. 18 March for Life ended in Washington, D.C. Dozens of the students were waiting for their bus near the Lincoln Memorial when a small BHI group started to hurl insults at them. The students eventually attempted to drown out the BHI group by school chants and cheers when several Native American activists walked up and inserted themselves into the crowd, beating their drums and performing a Native American chant. The students, some wearing hats with President Donald Trumps campaign slogan, Make America Great Again, jumped and clapped to the drum beat and for a moment joined the chant. One of the Native Americans, Nathan Phillips, 64, approached one of the students and came so close as to beat the drum inches from the students face. The student, Nick Sandmann, responded by silently looking at the Native American man, mildly smiling. The incident lasted several minutes. Multiple media, acting on incomplete information, portrayed the students as mocking the Native Americans out of racial prejudice, which the students deny. The students have received a deluge of scorn and threats based on the skewed portrayal of the incident. A lawyer for the students families has threatened a libel suit on those who dont correct or retract false claims about the students. In a Jan. 22 tweet, Trump said the students have become symbols of Fake News and how evil it can be. In response, Omar wrote on Twitter: The boys were protesting a womans right to choose & yelled Its not rape if you enjoy it. They were taunting 5 Black men before they surrounded Phillips and led racist chants. Sandmanns family hired a right-wing PR firm to write his non-apology. The now unavailable tweet contained a number of false statements and inaccuracies. The students were the ones accosted by the BHI group and, based on multiple videos of the incident, they didnt seem to respond in kind. Also, they didnt surround Phillips, as claimed. It was Phillips who inserted himself into their midst after they had already started chanting. According to videos of the incident, the students appear to have joined the Native American chant for a while and didnt respond with a racist chant of their own. When the students engaged in a back-and-forth with the BHI group, there was indeed a teenager on site who said, Its not rape if you enjoy it. He, however, doesnt attend Covington, according to a witness who could be heard in a video of the incident. Twitter user @AG_Conservative, who specializes in media fact-checking, wrote in a Jan 22 tweet he has since been able to confirm that the student attends a different high school. Omar was correct that Sandmanns family hired a PR firm. Any sane kid would use PR help if he could to write the most important statement of his young life, David French, senior fellow at the conservative National Review Institute, responded in a Jan. 22 tweet. Omars office didnt respond to a request for comment. Watch next: The Spygate Scandal: What We Learned in 2018 2018 proved to be a year of numerous revelations that provided clarity regarding events leading up toand followingthe 2016 presidential election. New Ohio Governor Vows to Sign Heartbeat Abortion Bill, Says It Will Go to Supreme Court In the wake of an Iowa judge striking down a bill that would greatly restrict abortions if a fetal heartbeat was detected, new Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine pledged to sign a so-called heartbeat bill in his state, adding that it would ultimately be up to the Supreme Court to decide on the legislation. Known as one of the strictest laws passed in the nation regarding abortions, the Iowa law was deemed unconstitutional by Judge Michael Huppert on Jan. 22. In his decision the chief district judge in Polk County cited a previous Supreme Court ruling: A womans right to decide whether or not to terminate a pregnancy is a fundamental right under the Iowa Constitution, and that any governmental limits on that right are to be analyzed using strict scrutiny. But DeWine believes the Supreme Court will have to revisit the issue if the legislation lands on his desk. He also acknowledged that as soon as he signed such a bill, pro-abortion groups like Planned Parenthood would file a legal challenge. The law in Iowa was challenged by the group, leading to the judges decision this week. When asked by radio host Hugh Hewitt on Wednesday if he would sign the bill, DeWine responded, Yes, absolutely. We will do this. I just saw the headline, a court struck down another heartbeat bill for another state. But ultimately, Hugh, you and I both know that this thing once its passed in Ohio, once we sign it, once it becomes law, Planned Parenthood is going to be in the next day, or that day, filing a lawsuit, DeWine added. But ultimately, this will work its way up to the United States Supreme Court. And theyll make that decision. With a recently minted conservative majority, the Supreme Court could rule in favor of pro-life legislation. The costs of a legal challenge were cited as the reason that outgoing Ohio Gov. John Kasich vetoed a heartbeat bill in December. As governor, I have worked hard to strengthen Ohios protections for the sanctity of human life, and I have a deep respect for my fellow members of the pro-life community and their ongoing efforts in defense of unborn life, Kasich said in a statement on Dec. 21 following the veto. However, the central provision of Sub. H.B. 258, that an abortion cannot be performed if a heartbeat has been detected in the unborn child, is contrary to the Supreme Court of the United States current rulings on abortion. Because the lower federal courts are bound to follow the U.S. Supreme Courts precedents on abortion, [the law] will likely be struck down as unconstitutional. Republicans attempted to override Kasichs veto and succeeded in the Ohio House but fell one vote shy in the Ohio Senate. Republican state Rep. Candice Keller previously said that the bill would save 20,000 babies from being aborted every year in the state. Like the law in Iowa, it would have required physicians to test for a fetal heartbeat if a woman came to them seeking an abortion. The Ohio legislation also would have required a physician to meet with the pregnant woman seeking an abortion at least 24 hours before the procedure to give her an adequate opportunity to ask questions about the abortion. Related Updates While some states move toward restricting abortions, others are moving in the opposite direction. New York Governor Andrew Cuomo signed on Jan. 23 legislation that allows mothers to abort their unborn child up until birth if her life, or health, is at stake. Both President Donald Trump and Vice President Mike Pence have been public about their support for abortion restrictions and pro-life groups. On Jan. 18, Pence addressed the more than 100,000 Americans who attended the annual March for Life event: Know that you have an unwavering ally in this vice president, in our family, and you have a champion in the president of the United States of America. We gather here today because we know we still have much work to do, he added. We urge you to stand strong. Stand with that love and compassion as you stand for life, and know that we will stand with you until that great day comes where we restore the sanctity of life to the center of American law. From NTD News New Nevada State Claims Independence PAHRUMP, NevadaA group of Nevada activists announced on Jan. 21 their independence from the current state in an effort to break the rural counties away and form a new state called New Nevada. The activists in the New Nevada state movement hope to break all 15 rural counties away from Nevada. If the movement is successful, Clark County, which contains Las Vegas, will be the only county remaining in the current state. In 2017, Nevada had an estimated population of 3 million, while Clark County alone had 2.2 million people. Robert Thomas, the chairman of the New Nevada State movement, was joined by a crowd of supporters at the event in front of Nye Courthouse. Our action is based upon the God-given rights of every person, stated Thomas. In this declaration of independence from the state of Nevada we repeat what our founding fathers said in our nations Declaration of Independence, that we hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal and that they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights, among that those are life, liberty, possession of property, and the pursuit of happiness. However, when any government becomes destructive of these legitimate ends, it is the right and duty of the people to alter or abolish this destructive government and to institute a new government. Declaration of IndependenceNew Nevada Dwight Lilly 2019121 The Declaration of Independence made by the activists of the New Nevada state claimed three reasons for the movement: 1. The rural areas of Nevada have not been properly represented by the current state Legislature. The Nevada State government has enacted regulations, such as the infamous Commerce Tax, against the will of the residents living in the rural areas. 2. The states one-party-controlled state Legislature wants to enact sanctuary state policy, restrictions against the second amendment, and more and higher taxes. 3. The current state Legislature has failed to provide a republican form of government, as guaranteed by Article IV, Section 4, of the U.S. Constitution. Therefore, the New Nevada Declaration of Independence concluded that it is the Right of the People to seek a peaceful and Constitutional remedy to this abuse of powers. NEW NEVADA STATE MOVEMENT DECLARES INDEPENDENCE https://t.co/4q9geWXSQJ Dane Senser (@DaneSenser) January 19, 2019 The activists in the event wore yellow vests. Thomas explained that their actions were in solidarity of French citizens movement against socialism and globalism, and in solidarity of all people who love liberty. The activists in New California state movement have been wearing yellow vests since last December for the same reasons. Both movements attempt to follow the same Constitutional process in which West Virginia broke away from Virginia in 1861. This is a historical Constitutional movement across the nation, said Dane Senser, an activist who came to support the event from California. Senser is one of the leading figures in the New California state movement. Senser said there are now at least four other states in the United States with similar movements. On Jan. 22, he retweeted an Epoch Times article about murder charges for a suspected illegal alien in Nevada and wrote, This is why[,] New Nevada state[,] the declaration of independence from Nevada was read yesterday! THIS IS WHY NEW NEVADA STATE THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE FROM NEVADA WAS READ YESTERDAY ! newnevadastate@yahoo.com https://t.co/sQuc2udjUd Dane Senser (@DaneSenser) January 22, 2019 Ilene Eng contributed to this report The New California State movement protests against the sanctuary state policy in Newman City, Calif., on Jan. 1, 2019. Founder Paul Preston is seen center front. (Nathan Su/The Epoch Times) New California State Movement Challenges Supreme Court Decision on Reynold v. Sims More than a year after the New California state movement claimed its independence, its become clear that the movement may have a real chance in challenging the U.S. Supreme Court decision on Reynolds v. Sims. In the case, the Earl Warren-led Supreme Court in 1964 decided that each states legislature can be formed according to a model different than the federal legislature. The New California movement is a statewide grassroots effort to break most of Californias rural areas away from the current state and form a new state. So far, representatives of 47 of the 58 counties in California have joined this movement. The movement started by claiming its independence from the current state on Jan. 15, 2018, and has been following the same process that West Virginia used to separate from Virginia in 1861. In the federal model of the U.S. government, each state has two senators so each state is equally represented in the Senate. U.S. Senate districts were formed based on regions instead of populations. Prior to Reynolds v. Sims, Californias legislative districts were set up according to the Little Federal Model; each Assembly district was formed per equal amount of populations, and each state Senate district was formed by county lines. State Senate districts were so divided that until 1967, no Senate districts would include more than three counties, while none would include less than one complete county. The Senates of other U.S. states were set up in a way similar to California. The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Reynolds v. Sims that, unlike in the elections of the U.S. Senate, state electoral districts must be roughly equal in population. The ruling changed the forming of state Senate districts to the population-based model from the regional-based model. Although the Supreme Court decision made sense, based on the principle of one person, one vote, it undermined the representation of less-populated rural areas. In California, the state Senate currently has a total of 40 senators representing 58 counties. But Los Angeles County has 14 state senators because of its huge population, making it 35 percent of the state Senate. Meanwhile, there are a total of 24 senators who represent eight counties with high-density populations: Los Angeles, Orange County, San Francisco, Santa Clara, Alameda, Contra Costa, San Mateo, and Sacramento. Therefore, the voters from these eight counties are heavily represented, while voters in the other 50 counties appear less represented. The activists in the New California movement believe that Reynolds v. Sims has created a tyranny for the urban-area majority to take away the rights of the rural-area minority. This is one of the main reasons why the rural areas want to form a new state. We are in a unique situation to challenge the Reynolds v. Sims case, said Paul Preston, the founder of the New California movement. The New California state, at its forming, can challenge the Supreme Court decision by using the 10th amendment of the Constitution, which protects the rights of the states in the union. Preston said the Supreme Court decision came as a part of the progressive movement of the 1960s, and didnt follow the Constitution. Preston also stated that New Californias constitution will be made such that each county has one state senator regardless of its population. Preston pointed out that Article IV, Section 4 of the U.S. Constitution, requires that the state and federal governments must provide a republican form of government for citizens. Americas Founding Fathers started their independence movement with the slogan of no taxation without representation. Preston said that what the Founding Fathers faced is whats happening here under Reynolds v. Sims. The rural areas have been taxed but without representation. Currently, there are movements similar to the New California effort in at least five other states. In this Feb. 22, 2017, file photo, Nathan Phillips, center with glasses, and other Dakota Access Pipeline protesters march in North Dakota. (Mike McCleary/The Bismarck Tribune via AP, File) Native American Who Confronted High School Students Has Violent Criminal Record, Escaped From Jail The Native American activist who approached a group of teenagers in Washington on Jan. 18, with video of the incident going viral, has a violent criminal record that includes a prison escape. Nathan Phillips, whose given name is Nathaniel R. Stanard, was charged on May 8, 1974, with assault and escape from prison, according to the Lincoln Journal Star. An edition of The Lincoln Star the next day provided more details: Stanard, then 19, was charged with escaping from the Nebraska Penal Complex where he was confined May 3, it stated. Stanard initially pleaded innocent to assault but changed to a guilty plea on June 19 of that year and was fined $200, according to The Lincoln Star. A year earlier, Phillips had also gotten in trouble with the law. Then 18, he was charged with two counts, one for intoxication and one for the destruction of property. The latter was dismissed and he was sentenced to one year of probation for the former on Oct. 30, 1973, according to the Journal Star. On Nov. 22, 1975, he was sentenced to 12 days in jail for two counts, a minor possessing alcohol and intoxication, according to the Journal Star. Stanard was also charged multiple times for driving-related issues. On Aug. 28, 1973, for instance, he was fined $40 for driving in a negligent manner. Phillipss life has come under examination after he sparked the incident on Jan. 18, sparking a slew of news stories that relied heavily on an edited video clip that, devoid of context, appeared to show a group of high school students jeering him as banged a drum in the face of one. Phillips made several allegations that were later proven false, such as saying the students blocked his passage to the Lincoln Memorial when, in fact, there was ample space on either side of them to pass by. Full video footage showed that the students, facing obscenities hurled by the Black Hebrew Israelites, a fringe religious group that often accosts people in New York City and Washington, responded by launching a series of school spirit chants. Into the fray waded Phillips, beating his drum and invading the personal space of one of the students while another Native American activist shouted at the group to go back to Europe. Phillips, who also lied about being a Vietnam veteran, has suggested that the student he confronted, Nick Sandmann, be expelled for standing and smiling. At first I wanted the teachers and chaperones to be reprimanded, some fired, for letting this happen, Phillips told the Cincinnati Enquirer. For the students, I was against any expulsions, but now I have to revisit that. He also slammed Sandmann after the student said he believed he was being peaceful by standing still and not reacting to the activist drumming in his face. I believed that by remaining motionless and calm, I was helping to diffuse the situation, Sandmann said in a statement. I realized everyone had cameras and that perhaps a group of adults was trying to provoke a group of teenagers into a larger conflict. I said a silent prayer that the situation would not get out of hand, Sandmann continued. He stole my narrative, Phillips said. From the time I hit that first beat of the drum until I hit the last beat, I was in prayer. Now all of a sudden, hes the prayer guy and the passive one. In a speech in front of the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington the day after the incident, Phillips again berated the students and said that they should be punished by colleges that had accepted them, reported the Daily Caller. We demand that the students of Covington Catholic High School be reprimandednot just by the school officials as seniors, but by their upcoming universities, he said. From NTD News Nathan Phillips (C), with other protesters near the main opposition camp against the Dakota Access oil pipeline near Cannon Ball, N.D., on Feb. 22, 2017. (Teray Sylvester/Reuters) Native American Activist Nathan Phillips Lied About Being Vietnam Veteran The Native American activist who got in the face of a Kentucky high school student in Washington on Jan. 18 and lied about what happened during the incident also lied about serving in the Vietnam War. Im a Vietnam Vet, Nathan Phillips said in a video published on Jan. 8, 2018. I served in Marine Corps 72 to 76. I got discharged May 5, 1976. I got [an] honorable discharge and one of the boxes shows peacetime or, what my box says is that I was in theater. I dont talk much about my Vietnam times, he added. In another clip, he said that a family member gave him a Vietnam colors flag because She wanted me to carry it around because, you know, her dad, a Vietnam vet, too, like that. The clips were posted on the Facebook page of the Native Youth Alliance. ????Nathan Phillips, January 3, 2018???? Im a Vietnam Vet. I served in Marine Corps 72 to 76. I got discharged May 5, 1976. I got honorable discharge and one of the boxes shows peacetime or, what my box says is that I was **in theater**. I dont talk much about my Vietnam times. pic.twitter.com/nIoYxGoPqM Phil Kerpen (@kerpen) January 24, 2019 Its the first instance that Phillips is on the record describing his time in the Marines as serving in the Vietnam War. In a slew of other places, he refers to being a Vietnam times vet or a Vietnam era veteran. Not until this week did the numerous stories describing Phillips falsely as a Vietnam vet begin to be corrected, despite some being years old. Even on Jan. 23, the Washington Post published a new article alleging that Phillips had not personally said hed served in Vietnam. A Marine Corps Reserve spokeswoman confirmed to the outlet that Phillips served in the Marines from June 1972 to May 1976. He did not deploy and he left the service after disciplinary issues; he served for about six months as an antitank missileman before becoming a refrigerator technician for the rest of his service. News outlets have had to backtrack on a number of aspects of the story involving Phillips and a group of high schoolers in Washington and many have had to do with Phillips. Initially relying on his word for what happened at the scene alongside an edited video of the incident, corrections and apologies were issued en masse after full video footage of the scene was acknowledged. The full video exposed a number of lies that Phillips told, including that the teenagers had surrounded him and not let him leave when it was he who approached them despite ample room to reach his supposed destination, the Lincoln Memorial, and never being surrounded by them. The full video also did not include proof supporting his claim that the Covington Catholic High School students chanted, Build the wall. Instead, a member of Phillipss group can be heard shouting at the teens to go back to Europe and that they stole our lands. Daniel Paul Nelson, a leader in the Lakota Peoples Law Project, acknowledged that the group made an error by relying on fake news stories. The group trusted what we had seen in previous news stories, he told the Post. Donald Shipley, a Navy SEAL veteran who investigates people he believes are lying about their service, said in a video on Tuesday night that he had obtained Phillipss service record. This is all going into that Native American guy that everybody keeps labeling as a Vietnam vet, and he is not, Shipley said in the video. A lot of these news outlets are using that claim of Vietnam vet to kind of beef that story up and make it look even worse. The DD24, or military record, that Shipley showed described Phillips as being a refrigerator technician and going AWOL three times. Shipley noted that during an interview with Vogue in April 2018, Phillips told the outlet that he was a recon ranger. The position doesnt exist in the military, according to Shipley. While Phillips has often described his service in vague terms, he has been specific at other times. Phillips also described coming back to the U.S. as a veteran of the Vietnam era. People called me a baby killer and a hippie girl spit on me,' reported Indian Country Today in a 2008 article. At another point, a filmmaker raising money for a documentary about Phillips clearly said that he was a Marine in Vietnam. Over $6,000 was raised through the Kickstarter campaign. From NTD News This undated photo provided by the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office shows Samantha Vivier. (Maricopa County Sheriff's Office via AP) Mother of Baby in Amazon Trash Said Pregnancy Wasnt Known The mother of a newborn girl found dead in a bathroom trash can at an Amazon distribution center told investigators she didnt know she was pregnant, according to court documents released Jan. 23. Samantha Vivier of Tonopah, Arizona, was arrested on suspicion of unlawful disposal of human remains. Following her initial court appearance on the night of Jan. 22, Vivier was released without bail and ordered to appear at all court proceedings. She faces charges of abandonment and concealment of a dead body. Vivier, 27, told investigators she didnt see the child move or breathe and panicked after giving birth on Jan. 16, according to a court document. Phoenix police have said the baby appeared to be full term. No information has been released on how Vivier was identified, how the baby died or why the woman abandoned her. Phoenix police investigating a death of a new born infant baby that was found in the womens bathroom inside the Amazon fulfillment center. #Fox10phoenix @phoenixpolice @AmznFulfillment #Amazon #BREAKING pic.twitter.com/TerllN849E Mark Johnson (@MarkyJFox10) January 17, 2019 Under Arizona law, mothers can anonymously leave unharmed newborns at designated safe haven locations. They include hospitals, ambulances, churches, on-duty fire stations and adoption agencies. The baby must be under 72 hours old and given to a person. The law, which was passed in 2001, also states the mothers who follow those instructions will not face prosecution. Vivier is due back in court for a status conference on Feb. 5. It wasnt immediately known if she has an attorney to comment on her behalf. A medical examiner will determine the cause of death. UPDATE: #Phoenix PD says baby girl had been born same day she was found dead. Investigators speaking to mother, she is cooperating with police. PD would not confirm she is an #Amazon employee, but did say the restroom trashcan where the baby was found was in a secure area. pic.twitter.com/OlL8Ek25AT Angelica Carrillo (@acarrillonews) January 17, 2019 Amazon said in a statement last week that the company was working with police to support the investigation and called the incident terribly sad and tragic. The companys massive distribution center on the citys southwest side is one of several Amazon sites in metro Phoenix. Another Tragedy A woman in Corona, California, pleaded not guilty in December for the murder of a baby found abandoned near a highway. Shawna Joelle Andritch, 22, remains in police custody on $1 million bail, The Press-Enterprise reported. The baby was found in a cardboard box, wrapped in a stripped shirt, on July 26. Police have not yet determined the cause of death. They also arrested 17-year-old Joshua Tyler Benson. Police made the arrests after someone called police with a tip following media coverage of the tragedy. Amazon Warehouse Deaths The National Council for Occupational Safety and Health (NCOSH) said Amazon needs to address workplace safety. In a report last year the council said seven people died in or around Amazon warehouses since 2013. The council reported that three workers died within five weeks in September and October 2017. The deaths listed in the report occurred at Amazon warehouses in Nevada, Illinois, Indiana, Virginia, and New Jersey, along with two deaths at a Pennsylvania warehouse. In a later report, by The Baltimore Sun, two more people died when the warehouse building partially collapsed during a storm. Two men were found under debris after a 50-foot wall collapsed. The two werent direct employees of Amazon. One worked for a real estate firm and the other was a contractor for a local delivery company, Recode reported. Amazon can move products around the globe in a matter of hours, said Peter Dooley, safety and health project consultant at NCOSH, via the report. To be a true leader, Jeff Bezos must use the same focus and intensity to listen to workers and eliminate the hazards which can injure or kill people at Amazon facilities. Jeff Bezos Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos became the richest person in the world, according to the Forbes billionaires 2018 list, after he overtook Bill Gates with a jump of over $39 billion in net worth from 2017. Bezos also recently announced via a Twitter post on Jan. 9 he will be divorcing his wife. News reports since the announcement question whether he will still be the richest man in the world after divorce proceedings. Sean Mossman, director of sales and marketing for COOP Ale Works, poses for a photo in the COOP taproom in Oklahoma City, Friday, Jan. 18, 2019. (AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki) More Lenient State Laws Could Chill Low-Alcohol Beer Market OKLAHOMA CITYBeer snobs are raising their mugs to a stronger brew in three states that once forbade grocers from selling anything but low-alcohol brands, and the changes could indirectly chill the industry in two others where such regulations remain. Until October, Oklahoma grocery and convenience stores could stock beer with only up to 3.2 percent alcohol contentconsiderably lower than even leading light beer brands. Liquor stores were able to sell stronger 8.99 percent beer but were prohibited from selling cold beer of any strength. Voter-approved changes now allow stronger ales to be sold in Oklahoma grocery and convenience stores. And many of the changes are being adopted this year in the adjoining states of Colorado and Kansas. The beer revolution will leave just two statesUtah and Minnesotawhere only 3.2 percent beer may be sold in grocery and convenience stores. Beer industry observers say how lawmakers in those states react to the changes could determine whether the future of low-point beer in the U.S is as flat as a week-old lager. Half of the nations 3.2 beer market was in Oklahoma and an additional 20 percent was in Colorado. It is a dramatic drop, said Brett Robinson, president of Beer Distributors of Oklahoma, which represents some beer distributors in the state. In Oklahoma now, beer is just beer. There is no more definition or classification. Oklahoma was the first of the nations five 3.2-beer states to make the switch. Thats ironic considering alcohol was illegal until voters repealed statewide prohibition in 195926 years after Prohibition was repealed nationally. It was a long time coming, said Lisette Barnes, president of the Oklahoma Beer Alliance, a beer industry trade association. Its refreshing. I think overwhelmingly people are excited about it. Its been a good thing for both industry and consumers. As the market for baby beer continues to shrink, brewers must decide whether its profitable to continue to make ita decision that could cause low-point beer supplies to dry up in Utah and Minnesota. Anheuser-Busch, the worlds largest beer producer, said it will work to meet the needs of consumers in 3.2 percent beer states even amid declining demand. While we will continue to produce 3.2 percent beer, regulatory and legislative changes in Oklahoma, Colorado, and Kansas that affect demand for 3.2 percent beer will impact our national production, the company said in a statement in December. But some brewers are already cutting back on their 3.2 percent beer production. Oklahoma City-based craft brewer COOP Ale Works, which distributes in six states, including Oklahoma and Kansas, has discontinued two of its three 3.2 percent brews. The only reason we produced those other two beers was to have beer in grocery and convenience stores, said Sean Mossman, director of sales and marketing for COOP. Now that we can sell our more popular styles in the grocery stores, we just dont see any need to continue manufacturing those beers. And selling COOPs flagship beers in grocery stores has been a boon for us, Mossman said. He said the brewers business has increased 50 percent in the months since Oklahoma grocers began stocking its stronger beers. New regulations go into effect in Kansas in April, when grocery and convenience stores can start selling beer with an alcoholic content of 6 percent. Overall, were very happy about the death of 3.2 beer, he said. The death of 3.2 beer is good for us. Dwindling supplies of low-point brew is something state regulators have considered. Thats the question weve been facing for a couple of years. said Terry Wood, director of communications for Utahs Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control. Business decisions may be made that make it just a financial choice for the breweries to stop producing 3.2 beer. Former Minnesota state Rep. Jenifer Loon, who authored legislation that repealed a longstanding ban on Sunday liquor sales in 2017, said regulatory changes in other states will likely force Minnesota lawmakers to consider allowing full-strength beer in grocery and convenience stores. The markets probably going to control this. Within the foreseeable future, there probably will have to be a change, Loon said. Grocers have expressed support for selling strong beer in the past, but any effort to expand beer sales will probably be met with stiff opposition, she said. Its been very difficult to kind of drag our liquor laws into the 21st century, Loon said. For now, low-point beer will continue to be produced by the New Belgium Brewing Co., a craft brewery based in Fort Collins, Colorado, spokesman Bryan Simpson said. Production of 3.2 percent comprises just one-half of 1 percent of the brewerys overall production, and the company will shop it exclusively to Utah, Simpson said. It makes sense for us to do it because we want to have a presence there, Simpson said. He said the companys breweries are already set up to produce low-point beer and theres really no sense to hit the brakes. By Tim Talley Migrants arrive at a church facility after being released by Immigration and Customs Enforcement in El Paso, Texas, on Jan. 14, 2019. in El Paso, Texas. (Joe Raedle/Getty Images) More Illegal Border-Crossers Requiring Immediate Hospital Care WASHINGTONAs the number of illegal immigrants apprehended by Border Patrol increases, so, too, does the level of medical attention they require. Border Patrol has transported 2,224 individuals to local hospitals since Dec. 22, 2018, after they illegally entered the country. Proportionately, thats 5.3 percent of all illegal border crossers over the same time period, according to Customs and Border Protection (CBP). Border Patrol agents have spent a total of 19,299 hours in support of the hospital visits, according to CBP. This includes transportation to and from, and over watch for each person/family at the hospital, the agency said in a statement on Jan. 24. This means there are less agents performing border security duties. In one specific event on Jan. 15, Border Patrol had to transport 50 illegal aliens from a group of 247 that had just crossed the border. Transporting 50 individuals to the hospital utilized nearly all available agents, severely limiting their ability to process the large group or respond to other border security duties; thus resulting in increased time in custody, delaying custody transfer coordination, and inhibiting response to other illegal cross-border traffic, CBP said in a statement. Migrant caravan members in Tijuana have been treated for a multitude of health issues, including respiratory infections, tuberculosis, chicken pox, lice, hepatitis, and HIV. Border Patrol started conducting extra health checks on all illegal alien minors after two Guatemalan children died following their journeys from Central America with a parent. Jakelin Caal, 7, died after she crossed a remote area of the southwest border with her father and a large group of Central Americans near Lordsburg, New Mexico, on Dec. 6, 2018. Caal began having seizures while in Border Patrol custody and was airlifted to a hospital in El Paso where she died the following day. Felipe Gomez, 8, died Dec. 25 at a medical center in New Mexico after being released earlier from a hospital. Gomezs family members confirmed later that his father had taken him on the trek north because he heard that bringing a child makes it easier to gain entry into the United States. CBP said Border Patrol has experienced a surge in family units (at least one adult and one child) entering the country illegally so far this fiscal year280 percent more than the same time last fiscal year. Overall apprehensions between the ports of entry are up 81 percent. The number of large groups sent across the border has increased dramatically this fiscal year to date, said CBP. In the El Paso, Rio Grande Valley, Tucson, and Yuma sectors over the last four months, smugglers and traffickers have delivered 53 large groups (more than 100 aliens), totaling 8,797 illegal aliens, CBP said. Of those, 7,757 were from Guatemala, and most groups were family units, or included unaccompanied children. Smugglers and cartels send asylum-seekers across the border illegally to tie up Border Patrol agents, while illicit goods are trafficked in a nearby area, away from Border Patrol. Three recent cases include a group of 253 illegal aliens and a nearby seizure of 265 pounds of marijuana on Jan. 16; a group of 174 illegal aliens and a nearby seizure of 705 pounds of cocaine on Jan. 17; and a group of 116 illegal aliens and a nearby seizure of 1,087 pounds of marijuana on Jan. 18. A sign of Microsoft Corp's Bing search engine is seen at the World Artificial Intelligence Conference (WAIC) in Shanghai, China Sept. 21, 2018. (Reuters/Stringer) Microsoft Says Bing Search Engine Blocked in China Microsoft Corps Bing search engine has been blocked in China, the company said on Jan. 23, making it the latest foreign technology service to be shut down behind the countrys Great Firewall. Weve confirmed that Bing is currently inaccessible in China and are engaged to determine next steps, the company said in a statement. So as best I can tell, now that Bing appears to be blocked in China, the only English-language search engines still accessible to Chinese Internet users are Gibiru (which prides itself on indexing information on chemtrails and the like) and Yandex, the Russian search engine. Nathan VanderKlippe (@nvanderklippe) January 24, 2019 It is the U.S. technology giants second setback in China since November 2017 when its Skype internet phone call and messaging service was pulled from Apple and Android app stores. A search performed on Bings China websitecn.bing.comfrom within mainland China directs the user to a page that says the server cannot be reached. Has Bing been blocked in China?! A mediocre search engine yes, butFML pic.twitter.com/EH1vlgQLvd TJMa (@TJMa_beijing) January 23, 2019 Has Bing been blocked in China?! what happen? pic.twitter.com/yZgGwBXeZC leiothrix (@wh4am1) January 23, 2019 The Financial Times, citing a source, reported on Jan. 23 that China Unicom, a major state-owned telecommunication company, had confirmed the government order to block the search engine. Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC), a government watchdog, did not respond to faxed questions about Bings blocked website. Bing was the only major foreign search engine accessible from within Chinas so-called Great Firewall. Microsoft censored search results on sensitive topics, in accordance with government policy. Microsofts Bing search engine has been blocked in China following a government order, according to 2 sources familiar with the matter. The block removes the only well-known foreign search engine left in China, following the retreat of Google in 2010.https://t.co/OY4MYCkx2B William Nee (@williamnee) January 24, 2019 Microsoft also has a partnership with Chinese data center provider 21Vianet to offer its products Azure and Office 365 to clients in the country. Its R&D center trained a number of the countrys most important AI entrepreneurs. It formed jvs with local companies to sell its cloud. To allay security concerns it showed source code. It even hosted a Xi Jinping tech exec confab that sorta was set up to show up politicos in DC Paul Mozur (@paulmozur) January 24, 2019 Alphabets Google search platform has been blocked in China since 2010. Google CEO Sundar Pichai said in December it has no plans to relaunch a search engine in China though it is continuing to study the idea amid increased scrutiny of big tech firms. President Xi Jinping has accelerated control of the internet in China since 2016, as the ruling Communist Party seeks to crack down on dissent in the social media landscape. Blocked in China: Google Facebook YouTube Wikipedia (Chinese) Twitter Netflix Instagram Tumblr WhatsApp BBC New York Times Bloomberg Reuters WSJ TIME The Economist Bing (blocked today) The Spectator Index (@spectatorindex) January 24, 2019 In a statement on Jan. 23, CAC said it had deleted more than 7 million pieces of online information and 9,382 mobile apps. It also criticized technology company Tencents news app for spreading vulgar information. Watch Next: Chinese Subversion & Corruption of U.S.A is Deep and Far Reaching In China, the Communist Party is using subversion, espionage and corruption against the United States, and is actively infiltrating and undermining key institutions to damage the United States and advance the interests of the Chinese regime. Mexican police stand near a skull discovered in a large grave in the desert of victims of recent drug violence in the county of Juarez, Mexico on March 19, 2010. (Spencer Platt/Getty Images) Mexicos Murder Rate Jumps by a Third to Record-Breaking 33,341 in 2018 Mexicos homicide rate has jumped by a third in the last year, pushing it up into the top dozen most murderous countries in the world, with four people killed every hour. It is the second year in a row that the homicide rate has broken previous records. Information from the Interior Ministry listed 33,341 murder cases last year, compared to 25,036 in 2017. With Mexicos population pushing 130 million, that brings the annual murder rate to around 25 murders per 100,000 people, in comparison to around five murders per 100,000 people in the United States. The 33,341 cases do not include the category of culpable homicide which adds another 17,000 deaths. Mexicos rising death rate pushes it higher and for the first time this year it will be listed in the top 20 countries experiencing the highest homicide prevalence rates, according to the World Economic Forum. The rise in murders is linked to drug cartel violence that has continued to rise despite the militarized crackdown that started 12 years ago. The state of Guanajuato that lies at the center of the county, has been hardest hit with turf wars between gangs pushing up the murder rate from 1,084 to 3,290 in just one year. On the weekend, three gunmen shot to death seven people at a house in the Mexican resort of Cancun, a coastal city that has been hit by rising drug-related violence. The shooting was a dispute between street-level drug dealers, reported The Associated Press. A suspected gang leader who has been linked to the Jalisco cartel was behind the killings, according to police. The Jalisco cartel is from the Pacific Coast and has been trying to take over illegal activities on the other side of the country in Cancun and other resorts to the south. In a single day in August, eight bodies were found by Cancun police, strewn on the streets. 250 Human Skulls About 70 miles away, the town of Playa del Carmen, sitting on the cruise ship routes, has grown with the tourist trade in recent years. But that growth has brought the gangs and drugs. Earlier this month, seven people were killed in a bar shooting in the town. On the other side of the country, another once tranquil coastal community on the Pacific, Tecoman, has become the most dangerous place in Mexico with a murder rate of 172/100,000 last year. Last year, a mass grave was found in central Mexico, with over 250 human skulls. The remains were most likely of victims of drug cartels over the years, according to authorities. The grave, found in Veracruz State is thought to be the largest in Mexico. Mexicos murder rate of 25 per 100,000 is still low compared to many other central and South American nations, according to World Bank data. El Salvador had the highest murder rate in the world in 2016, at 84, with Honduras and Venezuela in second and third with 57 and 56 respectively. Brazil, Guatemala, and Belize also make the top 10, along with Jamaica and South Africa. Twelve journalists were killed in Mexico in 2018. The murder rate in the United States is expected to drop in 2018, according to The New York Times report, after rising by almost a quarter between 2014 and 2016 and leveling off in 2017. Mexicos recently sworn-in president, Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador has pledged to overhaul Mexicos approach to tackling drugs. Canadian Ambassador to China John McCallum listens to a question following participation in a federal cabinet meeting in Sherbrooke, Que., on Jan. 16. (The Canadian Press/Paul Chiasson) Canadas Ambassador to China Slammed for Offering Legal Arguments in Defence of Arrested Huawei Exec News conference excluded Canadian mainstream media and is prompting concerns over political interference TORONTORemarks by Canadas ambassador to China stating that the Huawei executive arrested in Vancouver has a strong case to fight extradition to the United States have left many flabbergasted and are raising concerns over political interference in the judicial process. In a room packed with Chinese-language media reporters in the Toronto area on Jan. 22, John McCallum outlined three arguments that Huawei CFO Meng Wanzhou has in her favour. One, political involvement by comments from Donald Trump in her case. Two, theres an extraterritorial aspect to her case. And three, theres the issue of Iran sanctions which are involved in her case, and Canada does not sign on to these Iran sanctions, McCallum said. He was speaking at a news conference that only included Chinese-language media, either based in Canada or state-owned by Beijing such as Xinhua and CCTV, held in his old riding of Markham from his time as a Liberal MP and cabinet minister. The ambassadors comments drew strong criticism for giving the appearance of a government representative interfering in a judicial procedure. In addition, the press conference excluded Western media as well as Chinese-language media that are independent of the Beijing regime. I was surprised that this news conference excluded Canadas mainstream media, but I was also disappointed that other Chinese news agencies like [the Chinese edition of] The Epoch Times or the New Tang Dynasty were not invited to participate, said Peter Kent, a Conservative MP and former cabinet minister. The Epoch Times and New Tang Dynasty Television are both media based outside mainland China and independent of the Chinese Communist Party. They are often targeted by Beijing for their coverage of Chinese current affairs and human rights abuses in China. What he said was wrong, and it does, unfortunately, appear to be a clear case of political interference in a court procedure, Kent said. Conservative Party Leader Andrew Scheer said if he were the prime minister he would, in fact, fire McCallum. On Jan. 23, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau sidestepped questions about the ambassadors comments, saying Canada is a country that adheres to the rule of law. Weak, Foolish, And Ill-Advised Clive Ansley, a Canadian lawyer who was among the first Westerners to set up a legal practice in China in the 1980s, said McCallums remarks can be interpreted by Beijing as Canada weakening its position on following the rule of law in the case of Meng, who was arrested on the request of the United States on Dec. 1. Mengs case is currently before the courts regarding whether she should be extradited to the United States on charges of misleading American banks in relation to Iran sanctions. The matter will be adjudicated by the federal court and that is the end of it. Telling China that Meng has a strong defence and why is weak, foolish, and ill-advised, Ansley said. Even more indefensible is the exclusion of Western media, especially Chinese-language Western media. Jonathan Fon, a Toronto-based political commentator and vice president of the Canadian Asian Community Think Tank, said McCallum took two different tones between his appearance before parliamentarians last week and his Jan. 22 press conference with the Chinese media. Last week, McCallum provided updates on the condition of Canadians Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor detained in China, saying they face up to four hours of interrogation per day. He also appeared before a House of Commons foreign affairs committee in a closed-door meeting. For the parliamentarians, he reported on the diplomatic affairs between China and Canada. That was the tone he had there. But he had another tone for the Chinese community in the news conference, because the news conference is only in front of the Chinese media, Fon said. I think that was really an improper arrangement. Since Mr. McCallum hosted the Chinese news media in the Chinese community, why did he not invite The Epoch Times? The Epoch Times is also a major news media in the Chinese community, Fon noted. And if youre looking at the list of some of the media that were invited, you may think many of them were purportedly sponsored by the Chinese regime. You may see a very pro-China propaganda program from these news media. This really drew my attention. Erin OToole, the Conservative shadow minister for foreign affairs, also asked in a tweet why Canadian media were excluded from the event. Did Trudeau instruct the ambassador to make these statements? Did the Liberals exclude Canadian media from the press conference to limit scrutiny? Why did the ambassador not raise these issues when he met with MPs? OToole tweeted. The Epoch Times contacted McCallums office and the Prime Ministers Office for more details, but no response was received by press time. Thomas Qu: So Many Friends Here In a video of the news conference, after walking into the room, McCallum can be seen saying hi and shaking hands with Thomas Qu, a member of Torontos Chinese community who appears to be an organizer of the event. Qu points to the room and says so many friends here. He then shows McCallum to his seat, takes his coat, and tells him that he can help McCallum by translating questions from Chinese to English. Qu has been on the forefront of a number of initiatives in the Chinese community that are closely linked to Beijing. Back in 2014, he was among the speakers at the Toronto District School Board who defended keeping the boards partnership with the Confucius Instituteeducational institutes used by Beijing to spread its soft power. He was also seen directing other speakers talking in support of the Confucius Institute, acting as an organizer. An article published in the Chinese state-owned media China Daily quotes Qu as saying if Meng is extradited, it will set back Canada-China relationship for decades. In 2005, Qu was one of only 28 overseas Chinese invited to the 10-day Chinese Peoples Political Consultative Conference in Beijing, a privilege afforded only to the most trusted supporters of the Chinese Communist Party. Qu was also a founding board member and past president of the pro-Beijing Chinese Professional Association of Canada (CPAC). During a presentation to the TDSB, Michel Juneau-Katsuya, former chief of Asia-Pacific for the Canadian Security Intelligence Service, presented pictures and online records of representatives of a number of organizations, including the CPAC, being received or praised by Chinese officials. What is very important [for China] is to have certain organizations that become agents of influence of their own within the community, to be capable to identify first the dissidents, and be capable after that to lobby very much the local government of any country, he said. Qu also worked on the election campaigns of McCallum and former Ontario Liberal MPP Michael Chan. The Epoch Times contacted Qu for comment but no response was received by press time. With reporting by Limin Zhou in Ottawa. With files from The Canadian Press Former Secretary of State Colin Powell speaks at the International Rescue Committee's Annual Freedom Award benefit at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel in New York City on Nov. 9, 2011. (Mike Coppola/Getty Images for IRC) Man Who Lost Leg in Afghanistan Helps Colin Powell Change Flat Tire A man who lost his leg during the war in Afghanistan helped former Secretary of State Colin Powell change his tire in Maryland, he wrote. Powell, a retired four-star Army general, got a flat tire near Washington as he was heading to Walter Reed Military Hospital for an exam when his left front tire blew out. Powell, 81, said he couldnt get the tire off because it was cold outside and the lug bolts were very tight, he wrote on Facebook. Yesterday was a reassuring day for me. I was on my way to Walter Reed Military Hospital for an exam. As I drove along General Colin L. Powell 2019124 I jacked the car up and got several of the bolts removed when a car suddenly pulled up in front of me. As the man got out of his car I could see that he had an artificial leg, Powell wrote. The man, he added, recognized him as the former Bush administration official. He said he recognized me and wanted to help me. We chatted and I learned that he lost his leg in Afghanistan when he worked over there as a civilian employee. He grabbed the lug wrench and finished the job as I put the tools away, Powell added. When General Colin Powell has a flat and he only has a one legged guy to help fix the flat on I-495 Anthony Maggert 2019123 The man was identified as Anthony Maggert, who got a selfie photo with Powell. There were reports that Maggert was a veteran, but Powell stated that he was a civilian employee who worked in Afghanistan. Powell said he got a text message from Maggert later in the day. Gen. Powell, I hope I never forget today because Ill never forget reading your books. You were always an inspiration, a leader and statesman. After 33 years in the military you were the giant whose shoulders we stood upon to carry the torch to light the way and now it is tomorrows generation that must do the same. Anthony Maggert. Powell said he was moved by the message, and he sent one back to him in response. Thanks, Anthony. You touched my soul and reminded me about what this country is all about and why it is so great. Lets stop screaming at each other. Lets just take care of each other. You made my day, the former general wrote. Viral Good Samaritan Photo It comes just days after a good Samaritan could be seen holding an umbrella for a deputy paying her respects to a slain officer in Alabama. She didn't even know he was there! Yahoo Lifestyle 2019124 Deputy Tiffany Dial told Birminghams NBC 15 that she had noticed people were taking photos of her. I didnt know he was there, she said. My peripheral vision was cut off with my hat, so I didnt know anything was there. I was in my moment. The good Samaritan was identified by Yahoo News as Jefferson County Deputy District Attorney Shawn Allen. I had an umbrella and she didnt, and Id like to think that had she been a deputy saluting, or had she been just a regular person that was standing there paying her respects like I was, that I would have shared the umbrella either way, he told the outlet. And I imagine that if I had not done it, that probably somebody else may have come up minutes after that and very well may have done the same thing. Missing $10,000 Returned Meanwhile, in New York, a woman said a good Samaritan returned $10,000 to her, according to WCBS. Good Samaritan returns missing $10,000 to woman who left purse on NYC subway https://t.co/ZWmdHjkM3U WFLA NEWS (@WFLA) January 12, 2019 Richard Taverna discovered Aiya Tulemaganbetovas purse at the 66th Street station back in December. There were 100 $100 bills inside the purse. Richard is an extremely honest person and what hes done changed her perception of how people live in the United States, her translator said. It pretty much wasnt mine and I knew somebody was in a pretty bad shape at that pointwas pretty upset so it was never any question about turning it in, Taverna said. Daniel Warn, 32, was arrested after stealing $1,000 from a donation box at a Buddhist temple in California. (GoogleMap/Screenshot, Costa Mesa Police Department) Man Arrested After Allegedly Stealing Money From Donation Box at Buddhist Temple A man linked to a theft at a Buddhist temple was taken into custody on Jan. 18, according to the Chino Hills Police Department. The suspect, 32-year-old Daniel Lee Warn of Bloomington, California, was captured on camera sneaking into a room and stealing about $1,000 cash from a donation box. The police said in a statement that the incident occurred in the 5600 block of Howard Street, an unincorporated area of Montclair. Warn found his way into the Buddist Temple of American through an unlocked door around 2:30 p.m. on Jan. 15. The 5-minute surveillance video shows Warn first searching for valuables in a container placed above a donation box. But soon he located the donation box below and attempted to open it. Video Shows Man Stealing $1K From Donation Box at Buddhist Temple Outside Ontario; Suspect Arrested https://t.co/Mt0bDVlEhL pic.twitter.com/IDTogVGueZ KTLA 5 Morning News (@KTLAMorningNews) January 22, 2019 When he realized there was no other way he could open the donation box, Warn starts to hit it with a decorative item he grabbed from a nearby table. However, this method soon also seems not practical and Warn apparently hurts himself at one point and stops his efforts for a while. In the meantime, he also tries to force the box open by kicking it and dropping it on the floor. That didnt work either. In his last attempt, Warn flipped the donation box over and jumped on it. After a 4-minute struggle, Warn finally broken the box to find about $1,000 inside. He then left the room after loading the money into his backpack. Three days later, after conducting a thorough investigation, deputies identified the theft suspect as Warn, who initially provided a false name. Warn was later charged with grand theft. He was booked at West Valley Detention Center and held on $50,000 bail. In fact, it turns out that Warn has been arrested multiple times for burglaries in the areas. In February 2017, Warn was taken into custody after being suspected of burglarizing four commercial businesses at San Bernardino County, according to a statement from the San Bernardino County Sheriffs Department. In July 2014, KTLA reported that Warn was busted in Costa Mesa, California, when he was waiting for his order at a restaurant that he had just broken into a few hours earlier. The restaurants surveillance video captured Warn wearing a very distinctive hat and bright green shirt, climbing through a drive-thru window and trying to find money in the cash register drawers. The restaurant called the police and reported the burglary. When Warn showed up at the same restaurant to order his food in the same hat and clothes, he was immediately recognized by the restaurants manager and was arrested while waiting for his food. At that time, police also believed he was the suspect in a string of burglaries that had occurred in the area. Warn was on post-release community supervision out of San Bernardino County under AB 109 Realignment, KTLA reported. As part of Californias Criminal Justice Reform, AB 109 was designed to address the overcrowding issue in state prisons by moving inmates to county jails. The law has since been criticized, together with Prop. 47 and 57, for contributing to the increasing crime in California. Watch next: North Korean Defector Ji Seong-Ho: North Korea Was Bad, China Was Worse File photo showing confiscated methamphetamine being displayed to journalists during a press conference at the German federal police headquarters in Wiesbaden, Germany, on Nov. 13, 2014. (Daniel Roland/AFP/Getty Images) Maine Mother Charged After Baby Ingested Meth From Breast Milk A Maine woman is facing drug and child endangerment charges after police say her 7-month-old baby was found with methamphetamine in its system. Authorities said 20-year-old Alyssa Murch, of Bangor, is facing charges of felony aggravated furnishing of a scheduled drug and endangering the welfare of a child, according to Sun Journal. Bangor Police Sgt. Wade Betters told Associated Press reporters that officers were called to a hospital on Dec. 16, 2018, in response to a report that Murchs 7-month-old child was unconscious and had ingested meth. The child had reportedly regained consciousness by the time officers arrived on the scene and was being treated. The 7-month-olds current condition has not been made public. Police said the methamphetamine entered the childs system through the mothers breast milk. Murch is set to appear in court in February. Deadly Consequences A study published by the National Center for Biotechnology Information, U.S. National Library of Medicine, warns nursing mothers to stay away from meth. Methamphetamine and its metabolite, amphetamine, are detectable in breastmilk and infants serum after abuse of methamphetamine by nursing mothers, the studys authors wrote, adding that methamphetamine should not be used as a recreational drug by nursing mothers because it may impair their judgment and child care abilities. The study also states that in some cases, meth use by nursing mothers has led to infant death. A 2-month-old infant whose mother used illicit street methamphetamine recreationally by nasal inhalation was found dead 8 hours after a small amount of breastfeeding and ingestion of 120 to 180 mL of formula, the authors wrote. The infants serum methamphetamine concentration on autopsy was 39 mcg/L. The infants mother was convicted of child endangerment for the use of methamphetamine during breastfeeding. Meth Use Widespread Methamphetamine abuse has continued to increase in the United States since the late 1980s. A study titled Methamphetamine Abuse in Women of Reproductive Age, published by the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG), warns that methamphetamine use in pregnancy endangers the health of the woman and increases the risk of low birth weight and small for gestational age babies and such use may increase the risk of neurodevelopmental problems in children. After alcohol and marijuana, methamphetamine is the drug most frequently abused in many western and midwestern states in the U.S., according to the ACOG. One of the reasons for the widespread abuse of methamphetamine is that it is the only illegal drug that can be easily made from legally obtained ingredients, the College reports, citing a paper titled Methamphetamine use during pregnancy: maternal and neonatal implications, published in a 2010 issue of Obstetrics & Gynecology. Another factor that contributes to the pervasiveness of methamphetamine as a drug of abuse is its low cost compared to other illicit drugs. The widespread availability of meth is also linked to its large-scale production in secret labs in the United States, compounded by its import from Mexico. President Donald Trump has on numerous occasions addressed Americas drug crisis. The scourge of drug addiction continues to take too many lives in the United States and around the world, Trump told the assembly at the United Nations headquarters on Sept. 24, 2018. Trump said the United States is taking aggressive action to address the drug crisis, and that the goals for global action are to reduce drug demand, increase treatment, and stop trafficking. If we take these steps together, we can save the lives of countless people in every corner of the world. And when I say countless, I mean millions and millions of people, he said. Roughly 450,000 people died as a result of drug use in 2015, according to WHO. In the United States, more than 71,500 Americans died of a drug overdose in 2017, with at least 68 percent of those deaths attributed to opioids. Treatment The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists urges pregnant women using methamphetamine to seek comprehensive prenatal care and accept help to stop the dangerous habit. All women reporting methamphetamine use should be counseled and offered help to discontinue use, the College writes, adding also that they should be tested for sexually transmitted infections and HIV. The College recommends also that given the increased rate of fetal growth restriction with methamphetamine use, baseline ultrasonography for clinical dating should be obtained early in pregnancy. Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, right, speaks with Constitutional Assembly President Diosdado Cabello at the Supreme Court during an annual ceremony that marks the start of the judicial year in Caracas, Venezuela, on Jan. 24, 2019. (Ariana Cubillos/AP Photo) Maduro Orders Venezuelan Diplomats Out of US President Nicolas Maduro has ordered all Venezuelan diplomats home from the United States and is closing its embassydespite the refusal by the United States to do the same in his country. Maduro said on Jan. 24, that if U.S. officials had any sense they would pull out their own diplomats from Caracas rather than defying his order to leave. The Trump administration says Maduro is not legally president of Venezuela because of a fraudulent election. It recognizes opposition leader Juan Guaido, who assumed presidential authority and vowed to remove Maduro. Today @POTUS announced the U.S. officially recognizes Juan Guaido as the Interim President of Venezuela. To @JGuaido & the people of Venezuela: America stands with you & we will continue to stand with you until #Libertad is restored! pic.twitter.com/4W3hlGplql Vice President Mike Pence (@VP) January 23, 2019 The United States also had snubbed Maduros decision to cut diplomatic ties with the United States, saying he doesnt have the authority to expel U.S. diplomats. In a Twitter message, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said the United States no longer recognizes the Maduro regime, and does not consider Maduro in having the legal authority to break diplomatic relations. U.S. will conduct diplomatic relations with #Venezuela through the government of interim President Guaido. U.S. does not recognize the #Maduro regime. U.S. does not consider former president Maduro to have the legal authority to break diplomatic relations. https://t.co/DBS4GiGEWI pic.twitter.com/gQZJuS1xfn Secretary Pompeo (@SecPompeo) January 24, 2019 Pompeo made the announcement Wednesday night, hours after the United States recognized Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido as interim president. That decision prompted Maduro to sever relations with the United States and order American diplomats to leave within 72 hours. But Pompeo said the United States would instead abide by Guaidos directive that countries retain their diplomatic missions in the South American country. The two countries havent exchanged ambassadors in nearly a decade, but they have maintained diplomatic staff. Other nations, including Canada, Brazil, and Argentina, also recognized Guaido as Venezuelas president. The United States has officially requested an open meeting of the U.N. Security Council on Saturday to discuss the ongoing crisis in Venezuela. South Africas U.N. Ambassador Jerry Matjila said earlier that Pompeo had asked to discuss the political situation with the U.N.s most powerful body. He said the consultations would be behind closed doorsnot open. The U.S. Mission to the United Nations tweeted Thursday that it requested a meeting Saturday morning. Venuezula is one of three socialist countries dubbed by the Trump administration as the Troika of Tyranny which includes Cuba and Nicaragua. In a November speech, national security adviser John Bolton described the countries as a triangle of terror and imposed sanctions on Venezuela and Cuba, while vowing to punish Nicaragua. Venezuelas opposition supporters held marches nationwide on Jan. 23, as part of an annual event that marks the fall of a military government in 1958. Government critics are increasingly comparing Maduro to dictator Marcos Perez, who was ousted from power that year. Trumps administration has imposed several rounds of sanctions aimed at pressuring the government of Venezuela. The Epoch Times Reporter Bowen Xiao contributed to this report. Lions as seen on a safari in Kenya's Tanzania's Serengeti region, on March 6, 2016. (Charmaine Noronha via AP) Lions Maul Man to Death After He Scales 25-foot Wall at Indian Zoo, Officials Say A man in India was mauled to death by two lions at a zoo in Zirakpur, according to reports. The unidentified man scaled a 25-foot wall at the Chhatbir Zoo on Jan. 20. Then, he was attacked by two Asiatic lions as soon as he crossed over, reported The Times of India. The injury on his neck was deep. He was taken to civil hospital in a critical condition, where he died, M. Sudhagarb, the zoos field director, told the Times of India. People could only watch in horror as he climbed over the fence. The Sun 2019121 Sudhagarb said a male lion and female lion were inside the enclosure, and the female attacked the man first. He said the man may have entered through a jungle area of the zoo. Describing the unidentified victim, Sudhagarb said he wasnt a visitor. We suspect that he was drunk as it is impossible for a normal person to scale the boundary wall, which is so high, he said. A response team removed the animals from the side and rescued the man. Before he jumped, according to Punjab Wildlife Chief Dr. Kuldeep Kumar: Our patrolling team saw him at the top. They tried to engage him in talk and make him to come down. However, he jumped inside, The Sun reported. Lioness Shilpa and lion Yuvraj were being kept out of their cages in the enclosure so that tourists could see them, he added. Lionesses have a very curious nature and Shilpa saw something falling from a great height inside their territory, Kumar said. She rushed to take look and found her prey. She instantly attacked the man, caught hold of his neck and then dragged him along, he told the publication. Officials said they havent been able to contact the mans family. The zoo said it has placed warnings around the zoos premises. Another Lion Attack It comes just weeks after a lion at a North Carolina animal shelter attacked an Indiana woman who had been working there for a few weeks. We have had a lion attack, an official at the Conservators Center in Caswell County begins in the call, which was obtained by The News & Observer. A lion attack? the dispatcher responds, to which the official replies: Yes, maam. The lion somehow left a locked space and entered the space the humans were in and quickly killed one person. It is unclear at this time how the lion left the locked enclosure, the center stated. Alexandra Black, 22, was identified as the victim in the North Carolina attack. Endangered Asiatic lions, which are smaller than the African lion, are an endangered species, according to The Zoological Society of London. The Asian lion population has recovered from the brink of extinction to several hundred individuals. They occupy remnant forest habitats in the two hill systems of Gir and Girnar that comprise Gujarats largest tracts of dry deciduous forest, thorny forest and savannah, the society says. It adds there are five protected areas currently exist to protect the Asian lion: Gir Sanctuary, Gir National Park and Pania Sanctuary to form the Gir Conservation Area. The other two wildlife sanctuaries, Mitiyala and Girnar, protect satellite areas within dispersal distance of the Gir Conservation Area. An additional sanctuary is being established in the nearby Barda forest to serve as an alternative home for Gir lions, according to the Zoological Society of London. Phoenix police say Nathan Sutherland, a licensed practical nurse, has been arrested on a charge of sexual assault of an incapacitated woman who gave birth last month at a long-term health care facility on Jan. 23, 2019. (Maricopa County Sheriffs Office/AP) Lawyer: No Proof Nurse Raped Arizona Patient Who Had Baby PHOENIXA nurse who was supposed to be looking after an incapacitated woman at a long-term health care facility was charged on Jan. 23, with raping her, weeks after she stunned her caregivers and family by giving birth to a baby boy. Nathan Sutherland, a licensed practical nurse, has been arrested and charged with one count of sexual assault and one count of vulnerable adult abuse, according to court records. We owed this arrest to the victim. We owed this arrest to the newest member of our communitythat innocent baby, Phoenix Police Chief Jeri Williams said. The surprise birth late last month triggered reviews by state agencies, highlighted safety concerns for patients who are severely disabled or incapacitated and led to disciplinary actions and resignations of staffers and managers. It also prompted authorities to test the DNA of all the men who worked at the Hacienda HealthCare facility. Sutherland, 36, submitted his DNA sample under court order Tuesday and the results came back a few hours later, showing he was a match to the baby. He declined to speak with police and invoked his Fifth Amendment rights, police spokesman Tommy Thompson said. Sutherland appeared in court Wednesday but did not enter a plea. A Maricopa County Superior Court commissioner set a $500,000 cash-only bond. If Sutherland posts bond, he would need to wear an electronic monitoring device. Defense attorney David Gregan had asked for a lower bond on the grounds that Sutherland didnt have a criminal record. He described his client as a family man with young children who has lived in Arizona since 1993. Theres no direct evidence that Mr. Sutherland has committed these acts, Gregan said. I know at this point theres DNA. But he will have a right to his own DNA expert. Gregan did not immediately return a message seeking comment. Investigators found that Sutherland had treated the victim and spent a lot of time with her, according to a probable cause statement. Investigators believe Sutherland raped the patient sometime between February and April. A former neighbor, Esella Burr, said she lived next to Sutherland, his wife, and four children for more than five years. She often saw the couple leave for church on Sundays and they would chat occasionally. I cant believe it, Burr said. He told me he was a nurse and he liked his job. Court records indicate his wife filed for divorce seven weeks ago. A message left at a number listed for her was not immediately returned. Wife of Hacienda HealthCare rape suspect filed for divorce before victim gave birthhttps://t.co/mQ4F4C1GmR pic.twitter.com/fU9smmbERs azfamily 3TV CBS 5 (@azfamily) January 24, 2019 Hacienda officials fired Sutherland after learning of his arrest. The company said it was troubled beyond words. Sutherland had passed an extensive background check. Once again, we offer an apology and send our deepest sympathies to the client and her family, to the community and to our agency partners at every level, Hacienda said in a statement. The 29-year-old victim has been in long-term care since age 3 and gave birth at the facility on Dec. 29. Employees said they had no idea she was pregnant. As her guardian, the womans mother was required to submit an annual report to the court that included results of a medical exam. The case has prompted the departure or discipline of key figures at Hacienda HealthCare, including the CEO. The provider says one doctor who had cared for the woman resigned and another had been suspended. Earlier stories had described the patient as being comatose or in a vegetative state. But her parents released a statement Tuesday disputing that characterization. They described her as intellectually disabled because of seizures in early childhood. While she doesnt speak, she has some mobility in her limbs, head, and neck. She also responds to sound and can make facial gestures. The familys attorney, John Micheaels, said in a statement that they knew about the arrest but did not want to comment. Thompson said he believes the baby has since been released from the hospital. The womans family has said they will care for him. By Terry Tang Kim Jong Un Optimistic on Denuclearization After Letter From Trump North Korean leader Kim Jong Un praised President Donald Trump and was upbeat about denuclearization Jan. 24 after receiving a letter from Trump via envoys who traveled to Washington days earlier. During meetings in Washington, U.S. officials and the North Korean envoys agreed to a second summit between Trump and Kim in late February. Kim expressed great satisfaction after receiving Trumps letter and said Pyongyang will believe in the positive way of thinking of President Trump, according to North Koreas state news agency, KCNA. Kim said he would trust Trumps approach and work toward denuclearizationa goal the two leaders agreed to in a signed statement at their first summit in Singapore last year. Kim Jong Un said that we will believe in President Trumps positive way of thinking, wait with patience and in good faith and, together with the United States, advance step by step toward the goal to be reached by the two countries, KCNA said. Kim said he was greatly satisfied with the briefing he received from the envoys and ordered preparations for the summit. The White House said the summit would be held in late February, but did not reveal the location. Vietnam, a nation rumored as the potential host for the summit, has not been informed about any time or venue for a possible second summit but is confident in its ability to host such a meeting, a spokesperson said Jan. 24. Hanoi is preparing to receive Kim for a state visit, two sources told Reuters on Jan. 17, while officials and diplomats said Vietnam was keen to host a second summit between Kim and Trump. It is up to the United States and North Korea to decide on the location and the timing of the summit, Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Le Thi Thu Hang told a regular news conference on Jan. 24. At the historic summit in June last year, Trump and Kim signed an agreement committing to work toward peace and complete denuclearization. Pyongyang has not tested any missiles or nuclear weapons since. Kim has indicated to South Korean President Moon Jae-in he would undertake a groundbreaking denuclearization measure, South Korean newspaper DongA Ilbo reported Jan. 24. The newspaper, citing an unidentified source with direct knowledge of the U.S.North Korea situation, said the same had been made clear to Trump during senior North Korean official Kim Yong Chols Washington visit last week. North Korea has hinted, for example, at the possibility of agreeing to the U.S. demand for verification of denuclearization efforts before it shuts down its Yongbyon nuclear facilities. In turn, the United States has mentioned potential measures such as easing limits on oil imports, a conditional restart of the Kaesong industrial zone in North Korea, and opening a liaison office in Pyongyang, DongA Ilbo reported. Reuters contributed to this report. An undated handout picture distributed by Norwegian police on Wednesday, Jan. 9, 2019 of Anne-Elisabeth Falkevik Hagen, the wife of the Norwegian multimillionaire Tom Hagen. (Norway Police via AP) Kidnappers of Multimillionaires Wife Contact Him but Offer No Proof Shes Alive The people who abducted the wife of a multimillionaire sent a message to him but the information didnt include a sign that she was alive. Anne-Elisabeth Falkevik Hagen, 68, disappeared from her home near Oslo, Norway, on Oct. 31, 2018. Investigators believe she was kidnapped. The kidnappers demanded $10 million in ransom in a letter left in the house but only revealed publicly in January. They demanded the money be paid in the cryptocurrency monero, which allows a high level of anonymity for users. The popularity of Monero is not growing just because of attention from [the] black market, but also because of the large amount [sic] of people not fond of being watched by governments, hackers, and corporations, according to Coin Telegraph. If the police were brought in to the mix, Hagen would be killed, the kidnappers warned. Officials held off publicizing the note but said they had to this month because they lack credible leads. The reason for us to go public with this case now is that despite a broad and extensive investigation, we need more information, chief police investigator Tommy Broeske told reporters at a news conference on Jan. 9. In an update on Jan. 24, Svein Holden, a lawyer for multimillionaire real estate tycoon Tom Hagen, said that the family had received a message from the kidnappers a week prior. He said that the message came through a platform but didnt specify which platform, reported VG. He also wouldnt disclose the contents of the message other than to say that it did not include any proof that Falkevik Hagen is alive or that the person or people who sent the message still have her. On behalf of the family I want to convey that we think it is positive that we have been contacted, Holden said. He said that the press conference on Thursday was meant to send a message. The digital platform on which the message arrived is not suited for it to be answered and that is the reason for me standing here today and me saying what I am saying, he added. The family is now strengthened in their hope that Anne-Elisabeth is alive and wants to do what we can to make her come home safely. We want to establish better contact with those who have Anne-Elisabeth. On the day of the abduction, witnesses saw men with cameras with long lenses on the edge of the lake adjacent to the Hagen house, and in recent days, divers have searched the waters for possible clues, police said recently. Tom Hagena real estate investor and owner of power facilitiesis number 172 on a list of Norways wealthiest people published by the financial magazine Kapital, with a fortune estimated to be nearly 1.7 billion kroner ($200 million) in 2018. Police Release Videos Earlier in January, Norwegian investigators released two surveillance videos taken outside the businessmans office on the day his wife vanished. Police called for the three people seen in the Oct. 31 video to get in touch. Broeske said one of the men was seen walking on a road before turning around and going back down the road immediately. Police wanted to speak to the man, as well as another person walking on the same road and a passing cyclist. In announcing the video release, investigators said theyd received more than 100 of tips, of which several seem[ed] to be interesting. We still have no suspects, Broeske added. The Associated Press contributed to this report. From NTD News Barron County Sheriff Chris Fitzgerald speaks during a news conference about 13-year-old Jayme Closs who has been missing since her parents were found dead in their home in Barron, Wis., on Oct. 15,2019. (Jerry Holt/Star Tribune via AP, File) Jennie-O to Donate $25,000 in Reward Money to Jayme Closs BARRON, Wis.Turkey products company Jennie-O says it will donate the $25,000 it had offered in reward money for information leading to Jayme Closs directly to the 13-year-old girl. Jayme, 13, approached a woman walking her dog and asked for help after managing to escape the remote cabin where she had been held captive for 88 days. Jeanne Nutter rushed Jaymewho had been walking in frigid weather with no coatto the home of Peter and Kristin Kasinskas, who called 911. When the issue of who should get the reward came up, the couple told The Associated Press that if anybody should get the money, its Jayme because she got herself out. Barron County Sheriff Chris Fitzgerald said at a press conference the day after Jaymes Jan. 10 escape that the teen had shown incredible initiative. Jayme was the hero in the case. Jayme was the champion that finally said enough is enough, he was cited by CNN as saying at the press conference. We cant be more proud of Jayme. We are overjoyed at the news of Jaymes safe return, said Jim Snee, the president and chief executive officer of Minnesota-based Hormel Foods, according to CNN. Her bravery and strength have truly inspired our team members around the world. Hormel Foods is the parent company of the Jennie-O Turkey Store, which employed Jaymes parents, James and Denise Closs, who were shot and killed during Jaymes violent abduction. Barron is an incredibly strong community and one that never lost hope, Snee said. We celebrated with the community, and the world, that Jayme is home. While we are still mourning the loss of longtime family members Jim and Denise, we are so thankful for Jaymes brave escape and that she is back in Barron, said Steve Lykken, the president of Jennie-O Turkey Store, according to CNN. Our hope is that a trust fund can be used for Jaymes needs today and in the future. Twenty-one-year-old Jake Patterson is charged with kidnapping and homicide. The man charged in the case, Jake Thomas Patterson, is accused of hiding her in a 2.5-foot space under his bed for hours at a time, warning her that if she tried to flee bad things would happen. The complaint says Patterson kept Jayme trapped in his remote cabin before she took advantage of an opportunity to fleeand ran. The accused did not know Jayme, the complaint states, but saw her get on a school bus one day and decided he would take her. His motivation remains unknown. Pattersons grandfather said the family had no idea that he had allegedly kidnapped a girl and had held her for months at the cabin. Nobody had any clues up until this thing happened, Jim Moyer told ABC following Jaymes escape from captivity on Jan. 10. Nobody will ever know what went on in his mind, said Moyer. I cant fathom anything in his life that could change him so drastically. It has to be some kind of a twist in the mindset. Patterson has been charged with two counts of intentional homicide and one count of kidnapping. We are absolutely heartbroken, Moyer said. Its wrenching to deal with. The FBI and Jennie-O contributed a total of $50,000 for information on Jaymes whereabouts. Jennie-O and its parent company, Hormel Foods, announced Thursday that theyre working with law enforcement to get Jennie-Os share of the reward to Jayme. Its not clear what the FBI will do with the $25,000 it offered. Details on FBI rewards are generally not disclosed. The Epoch Times reporter Tom Ozimek contributed to this report. Jayme Closs Will Get the $25,000 Reward for Rescuing Herself Hormel Foods and Jenny-O Turkey that donated $25,000 as a reward for the return of Wisconsin teen Jayme Closs said now that shes back safe and sound, it will give her the money. Jayme, 13, approached a woman walking her dog and asked for help after managing to escape the remote cabin where she had been held captive for 88 days. Jeanne Nutter rushed Jaymewho had been walking in frigid weather with no coatto the home of Peter and Kristin Kasinskas, who called 911. When the issue of who should get the reward came up, the couple told The Associated Press that if anybody should get the money, its Jayme because she got herself out. Barron County Sheriff Chris Fitzgerald said at a press conference the day after Jaymes Jan. 10 escape that the teen had shown incredible initiative. Jayme was the hero in the case. Jayme was the champion that finally said enough is enough, he was cited by CNN as saying at the press conference. We cant be more proud of Jayme. We are overjoyed at the news of Jaymes safe return, said Jim Snee, the president and chief executive officer of Minnesota-based Hormel Foods, according to CNN. Her bravery and strength have truly inspired our team members around the world. Hormel Foods is the parent company of the Jennie-O Turkey Store, which employed Jaymes parents, James and Denise Closs, who were shot and killed during Jaymes violent abduction. Barron is an incredibly strong community and one that never lost hope, Snee said. We celebrated with the community, and the world, that Jayme is home. While we are still mourning the loss of longtime family members Jim and Denise, we are so thankful for Jaymes brave escape and that she is back in Barron, said Steve Lykken, the president of Jennie-O Turkey Store, according to CNN. Our hope is that a trust fund can be used for Jaymes needs today and in the future. Missing Girl Found Safe Jayme stunned the community of Gordon, Wisconsin, by appearing near a wooded area about 70 miles north of where she was last seen, several months after her Oct. 15 abduction. The woman who encountered Jayme took the girl to the Kasinskas home because she feared her own home was too close to that of Jake Patterson, who authorities said has confessed to kidnapping Jayme after killing her parents at their Barron home. Hi, I have a young lady at my house right now and she says her name is Jayme Closs, Kristin Kasinskas told the dispatcher in the 911 call after Jayme was settled in her house. As Peter Kasinskas guarded the door with a gun, Kasinskas and Nutter spoke with the dispatcher for about 30 minutes until authorities arrived at the remote area. I was walking my dog and we were almost home and shes walking toward me crying saying, You gotta help me, you gotta help me, Nutter told the dispatcher. And I didnt want to go into my cabin because its too close to Pattersons house. She added, His name is Jake Thomas Patterson and apparently his house is two doors down from our cabin, so were kind of scared because he might come. A criminal complaint reported on by The Associated Press offers a detailed accounting of how Jayme was abducted from her Wisconsin home and held captive for three months after an intruder killed both of her parents. The man charged in the case, Jake Thomas Patterson, is accused of hiding her in a 2.5-foot space under his bed for hours at a time, warning her that if she tried to flee bad things would happen. The complaint says Patterson kept Jayme trapped in his remote cabin before she took advantage of an opportunity to fleeand ran. The accused did not know Jayme, the complaint states, but saw her get on a school bus one day and decided he would take her. His motivation remains unknown. Pattersons grandfather said the family had no idea that he had allegedly kidnapped a girl and had held her for months at the cabin. Nobody had any clues up until this thing happened, Jim Moyer told ABC following Jaymes escape from captivity on Jan. 10. Nobody will ever know what went on in his mind, said Moyer. I cant fathom anything in his life that could change him so drastically. It has to be some kind of a twist in the mindset. Patterson has been charged with two counts of intentional homicide and one count of kidnapping. We are absolutely heartbroken, Moyer said. Its wrenching to deal with. NTD reporter Zachary Stieber and The Associated Press contributed to this report. In this Jan. 15, 2019 file photo, the main entrance to Mount Carmel West Hospital is shown in Columbus, Ohio. The Columbus-area Mount Carmel Health System said a doctor's orders for potentially fatal doses of pain medicine given to over two dozen patients were carried out by what he calls "a small number of good people who made poor decisions." Mount Carmel Health System said it fired the intensive care doctor, put six pharmacists and 14 nurses on paid leave pending further review and reported its findings to authorities. (AP Photo/Andrew Welsh Huggins, File) Hospital: Poor Decisions by Staff Giving Outsize Pain Meds COLUMBUS, OhioAn Ohio doctors orders for potentially fatal doses of pain medicine given to at least 27 hospital patients were carried out by employees who made poor decisions and ignored existing safeguards, a top administrator told staff in an internal video. The Columbus-area Mount Carmel Health System said it fired the intensive care doctor, reported its findings to authorities and has put six pharmacists and 14 nurses on paid leave pending further review. Sadly, our investigation revealed some of our colleagues did not meet our standard of care, President and CEO Ed Lamb said in an internal video message last week to employees that was obtained by WBNS-TV . The actions that created this tragedy were instigated by this physician and carried out by a small number of good people who made poor decisions. They ignored the safeguards we have in place. Mount Carmel has notified affected families of the deceased patients . The announcement involving patients from the past few years raised questions about whether drugs were used to hasten deaths intentionally or possibly illegally. It also spurred at least four lawsuits alleging patients died because hospital employees either negligently or intentionally gave them inappropriately large doses of the powerful painkiller fentanyl, unbeknownst to the patients families. Mount Carmel said all the patients were near death but the dosages were significantly larger than necessary to provide comfort. However, some of the families suing the hospital, Dr. William Husel and other staff who approved or administered the drugs are questioning whether relatives were given accurate information about the graveness of their loved ones conditions. A wrongful death lawsuit filed Jan. 22 over the March 2015 death of 65-year-old Jan Thomas also accuses Husel of fraud, alleging he withheld information about Thomas prognosis, led her family to believe she would die naturally after being removed from life support, and didnt disclose that she would receive lethal fentanyl. Husel worked for Mount Carmel for five years. His lawyers arent commenting. Attorneys Gerry Leeseberg, left, and Craig Tuttle, right, listen to Christine Allison, of Columbus, discuss the death of her 44-year-old husband, Troy, and her resulting wrongful death lawsuit against Mount Carmel Health System at an office in Columbus, Ohio, Thursday, Jan. 17, 2019. Its one of several lawsuits filed after Mount Carmel announced that a doctor ordered pain medicine for at least 27 near-death patients in dosages significantly bigger than necessary to provide comfort. (AP Photo/Kantele Franko) The Ohio Department of Health is investigating on behalf of the U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, and the Franklin County prosecutor confirmed a local investigation. Husels work also is under internal review by the Cleveland Clinic, where he was a supervised resident from 2008 to 2013. The medical center said its preliminary review found his prescribing practices were consistent with appropriate care. Records show the State Medical Board in Ohio has never taken disciplinary action against Husel. The board doesnt disclose whether it has received complaints if no formal disciplinary action is taken. Twenty-six of the 27 patients were at Mount Carmel West, the systems flagship hospital just west of downtown in the lower-income Franklinton neighborhood. The site already was a source of community concern in recent years after Mount Carmel announced it would move inpatient services and hundreds of employees to a new hospital in suburban Grove City this year, leaving some residents near West concerned about the impact on businesses, development and access to medical care. By Kantele Franko Four Charged for Planning Attack on Muslim Hamlet in New York An investigation in Greece, New York, has led to the arrest of three males and one 16-year-old student on Jan. 19, for allegedly planning an attack on a Muslim community. A total of 23 firearms were found in various homes associated with members of the group. Three improvised explosives were also found in the students home. The investigation began when the student from Odyssey Academy showed a picture to a classmate, asking him, he looks like the next school shooter, doesnt he? Another student overheard the comment and did what we teach kids to doand told somebody, said Greece Police Chief Patrick Phelan, during a press conference recorded by 13 WHAM on Jan. 22. After the police interviewed two students, a third person was identified, who was older and who wasnt a student. The investigation also led to the arrest and charging of Brian Colaneri, 20; Andrew Crysel, 18; Vincent Vetromile, 19; and the student, who was charged as a juvenile, with weapons possession and conspiracy. All suspects are innocent until proven guilty in a court of law, The Felony Arrests in the weekly report are D Felony Greece Police Department, New York 2019123 Muslim Community in Delaware The group is suspected to have planned an attack on Islamberg, a hamlet in New York. A press conference was held in the town regarding the arrests, according to The Muslims of America. The motivation behind the suspected planned attack was not disclosed at the press conference. Several search warrants were executed, and once the explosives were found, they were sent to an FBI lab in Quantico, Virginia. From the available information, it is unknown if the explosives were capable of exploding. But it is clear that they were homemade, as they are made of black powder, BBs, [and] nails, said the police chief. Kathleen Graupman, the Greece Central School Superintendent, was there to commend the actions of the students who trusted their instincts and upheld the safety of the community. These students came forward with information supporting the idea that if you see something, you say something, she said. Their actions changed the narrative. Based on the police departments Facebook page, there was confusion about the incident when it first circulated on social media. Although the department ensured that the school was safe, and that no threat of a school shooting was made, officers were present at Greece Central on Jan. 22, to make parents and children feel safe. Officers will be in the high schools tomorrow to make you and your children feel safe. It is not an indication of a Greece Police Department, New York 2019121 Not the First Time In 2017, Robert Doggart, 65, was convicted for plotting an attack on Islamberg. Doggart was sentenced to almost 20 years in prison. The Tennessee resident was found to be recruiting people online to burn down a mosque in Islamberg, according to a report by the Department of Justice. Doggarts phone calls were recorded after a court order was issued, after which he was recorded talking about burning down the mosque or blowing it upas well as discussing murders. I dont want to have to kill children, but theres always collateral damage, he said in one recording. Doggart made an effort to harm a community, and destroy its religious place of worship, simply for its faith, said the former Attorney General Jeff Sessions. The administration did not tolerate Doggarts actions, as they were a threat to one of the nations fundamental rights: religious freedom. The Associated Press contributed to this article. Former Scottish First Minister Alex Salmond delivers a statement in Edinburgh on Jan. 8, 2019. (Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images) Former Scottish First Minister Alex Salmond Arrested EDINBURGHFormer Scottish First Minister Alex Salmond has been arrested, a source told Reuters on Jan. 24. We can confirm a 64-year-old man has been arrested and charged and a report has been sent to the procurator fiscal. Proceedings are now live under the contempt of court act, said Police Scotland when asked about the reports. A source confirmed to Reuters that the man was Alex Salmond, 64. The police did not name the man or detail what offenses he has been accused of committing. Scotlands Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Office also said it could not comment on the reports. Three calls to Salmonds spokesman yielded no response. Salmonds lawyer was not available by phone and an email sent to him got no immediate response. Sky News said Salmond was due to appear in court later on Thursday, Jan. 24. Police Scotland says former Scottish First Minister Alex Salmond has been arrested and charged and will appear in court later today Sky News Breaking (@SkyNewsBreak) January 24, 2019 Salmond led the devolved Scottish government for seven years until 2014, and is credited with helping to push support for Scottish independence from the United Kingdom to record levels during the 2014 referendum campaign. By Elisabeth OLeary Former Prison Guard Trainee Kills 5 In Florida Bank Shooting A former prison guard trainee killed five people during a standoff at a small town bank in Sebring, Florida, before surrendering to a SWAT team, police said. Investigators have identified the suspected gunman as 21-year-old Zephen Xaver, who allegedly called 911 to report that hed fired shots within the SunTrust Bank branch shortly after 12:30 p.m. on Jan. 23, killing everyone inside. Were sorry to learn that we have at least five victims, said Sebring police Chief Karl Hoglund, ClickOrlando reported. People that were senselessly murdered. Police said Xaver had barricaded himself inside and when negotiations failed, the SWAT team burst in and apprehended the gunman. When SWAT members stormed the bank, they discovered the bodies of the victims. Video later emerged showing Xaver being perp walked in handcuffs to a police vehicle in the parking lot. Suspect Wanted Everybody to Die While authorities have not released information regarding the shooters motive, a woman who identified herself as his former girlfriend told a television station that Xaver had long been fascinated with the idea of killing. She added, however, that no-one took her warnings seriously. Speaking shortly after Wednesdays massacre, Alex Gerlach told WSBT-TV in Indiana that Xaver for some reason always hated people and wanted everybody to die. Gerlach said that Xaver got kicked out of school for having a dream that he killed everybody in his class, and hes been threatening this for so long, and hes been having dreams about it. She added that every single person Ive told has not taken it seriously, and its very unfortunate that it had to come to this. The suspects former girlfriend told The Washington Post that Xaver had purchased a gun last week but that no one thought anything of it because he had always liked firearms. Xavers next-door neighbor John Larose said Xaver kept to himself, according to ABC6, but he could hear him playing video games in the middle of the night and yelling. A friend of Xavers family said nothing about the 21-year-old seemed out of the ordinary. I would have never in a million years thought anything like this would have ever happened, Sharon Spillane told WFLA. I am friends with his parents, Spillane said. Weve had barbeques together. My nine-year-old goes down with me. Weve cooked together. Weve watched movies. They are a very normal family. A police spokesman told the Associated Press he did not know if the attack began as a robbery. The victims were not immediately identified. Senseless Criminal Doing a Senseless Crime Todays been a tragic day in our community, Sebring Police Chief Karl Hoglund said during a news conference, the Associated Press reported. Weve suffered significant loss at the hands of a senseless criminal doing a senseless crime. Florida governor Ron DeSantis, who was in the region for an infrastructure tour and headed to Sebring after the shooting, called for the gunman to face justice. Obviously, this is an individual who needs to face very swift and exacting justice, DeSantis said of the suspect. SunTrust Chairman and CEO Bill Rogers released a statement saying the bank was extending support to the victims and families. We are deeply saddened by the tragic shooting at our Sebring, Florida branch this afternoon, Rogers said in the statement. We are working with officials and dedicating ourselves to fully addressing the needs of all the individuals and families involved. Our entire team mourns this terrible loss. Florida Department of Corrections records cited by ABC6 show that Xaver was hired as a trainee prison guard at Avon Park Correctional Institution on Nov. 2 and on Jan. 9 he quit. Public records and neighbors said Xaver and his mother moved to Sebring in the fall from Plymouth, Indiana. The Associated Press contributed to this report. A group of Chinese women workout at a yoga class in Beijing 02 March 2005. (STR/AFP/Getty Images) Chinese Woman Snaps Leg During Yoga Session, Wins Payout A 55-year-old Chinese woman has won a payout of US$28,700 from her gym after suffering a permanent injury from attending yoga session. The Shanghai Court ordered the gym which employed the womans yoga instructor to pay her the amount of 195,000 yuan (US$28,700) after her thigh bone snapped during its yoga class, resulting in a six-day stay in hospital, reported Chinese media outlet, The Paper. The woman, identified only as Hong, first sued the gym in February 2018, three months after the instructor corrected her on the baddha konasana pose which caused the injury. The gyms defence argued in the Shanghai Pudong New Area Peoples Court that Hong should have asked the instructor to stop when she felt pain, according to The Paper. The court initially ordered the gym to pay Hong 15,000 yuan (US$2,200) for her medical expenses and 10,000 yuan (US$1,500) in compensation. Hong sued for an additional 190,000 yuan (US$28,000) in September after finding out her leg was permanently damaged as a result of her instructors negligence. The court awarded her 170,000 yuan (US$25,000). According to The Paper, the court judgment said: The yoga instructor failed to provide proper training to factor in the plaintiffs age and health. Thus the gym should take full responsibility in this case. Online commenters weighed in on the issue. One netizen wrote, The gym instructor personally broke his clients leg, what good reason can there be for shirking responsibility? Another stated, You shouldnt go after them [the gym] endlessly China has seen a rise in yoga-related injuries and lawsuits as the meditative workout has surged in popularity in recent years. According to NetEase, in the first half of 2018, a court in Beijings Shunyi district heard more than 600 disputes involving fitness. Yang Hengjun, author and former Chinese diplomat, who is now an Australian citizen, is pictured in an unspecified location in Tibet, China on July, 2014 in this social media image obtained by Reuters. (Reuters) Chinese-Australian Writer Yang Hengjun Confirmed Detained in China The Australian government confirmed late Jan. 23 that Chinese-Australian writer Yang Hengjun has been detained in China, just as Australias Defence Minister Christopher Pyne embarks on an official visit to Beijing. The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade was alerted on Jan. 23 that Yang, a novelist and influential online commentator, had been detained. On 23 January the Chinese authorities informed the Australian Embassy in Beijing that they have detained Mr Yang Hengjun, a statement on DFATs website reads. The Department is seeking to clarify the nature of this detention and to obtain consular access to him, in accordance with the bilateral consular agreement, as a matter of priority. On the afternoon of Jan. 23, the Sydney Morning Herald (SMH) and The Age reported that Yang had been detained by 10 security agents after he touched down in Guangzhou, China, from New York. Dr. Feng Chongyi, an academic in Chinese studies at the University of Technology, Sydney, (UTS) told Australias Financial Review (AFR) that Yang had returned to China from New York with his wife, Yuan Rui Juan, and their daughter, while they waited for an Australian visa. According to SMH, it is understood that Yang was trying to bring his wife and young daughter to Australia under a family reunion visa. Feng told AFR via phone he was told by contacts in China that Yang is being held by Beijings Ministry of State Security (MSS). The charge is espionage, he said. Feng had himself been held without charge by the Chinese authorities in China during a visit in 2017 for national security reasons. The trio arrived in Guangzhou early on Jan. 20 and was scheduled to fly to Shanghai a few hours later. But Yang never boarded that flight. A close friend of Yangs has told reporters that Yang and his wife were interrogated by authorities for over 12 hours after arriving at the airport in the southern city of Guangzhou, NPRs Rob Schmitz reported from Shanghai. Yangs wife was allowed to leave for Shanghai, but authorities reportedly held on to him. Yang, an Australian citizen since 2002, immigrated to Australia from China. He had previously worked in different arms of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) including the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in the United States and Hong Kong. He later completed a Ph.D at UTS. Yang spent the last two years in New York City as a visiting scholar at Columbia University, according to PEN America. According to SMH, Yang had told Feng, who is a close friend, that he didnt think he would be a target for the MSS. Feng, who had supervised Yangs doctorate at UTS, told SMH that Yang believed he had done nothing to offend the authorities over the last two or three years. But Feng told Australias ABC radio, I advised him not to go there The risk is too high. CCP Behaving Like Terrorists On Jan. 24, Feng told the Guardian: [The Australian government] should be very, very firm on this because the Chinese government is behaving like terrorists. Yang is known for his spy thriller Fatal Weakness trilogy as well as his online writings on politics and society. Yang has previously criticized what he described as interference by the CCP in Australia, according to Reuters. According to SMH, he has been an advocate for democratization and reform in China. Its obvious that Yang would not have been seized if it werent for his previous critical writings, Summer Lopez, PEN America Senior Director of Free Expression Programs, said. Yangs seizure is yet another indicator that the Chinese governments repression of free expression extends not only to its own citizens but to citizens of other countries. Yang Hengjun, an Australian citizen and author, was reportedly seized on Saturday during a visit to China. Its obvious this would not have happened if it werent for his previous critical writings. https://t.co/U95PRBTRmA PEN America (@PENamerican) January 23, 2019 Chinese Foreign Ministrys spokesperson Hua Chunying said she had no knowledge of Yangs case when a reporter asked her on Jan. 22 about his situation. Australias Defence Minister Pyne is meeting his Chinese counterpart, the Minister of National Defence General Wei Fenghe, in Beijing on Jan. 24 to discuss regional security and bilateral issues. The government is committed to maintaining a long-term constructive relationship with China, founded on shared interests and mutual respectChina and Australias success will go hand-in-hand, he said earlier this week, according to AAP. Labor Leader Bill Shorten told the ABC that the situation could not be sugar-coated. This is an Australian citizen who has been detained in China, he said. Im very supportive of all efforts to reach out to him, to get to the bottom of what happened, what is happening. But it is very concerning. I cant pretend otherwise. We are very supportive of the departments [DFATs] efforts to reach out to get to the bottom of this This is not the way which relations between our two countries should be conducted at all. Links to Huaweis CFO Arrest? Yangs disappearance comes several weeks after two Canadians, former diplomat Michael Kovrig and businessman Michael Spavor, were detained in China. Chinese authorities claim the two men were detained for posing a risk to Chinas national security. Communist Chinas state media outlets reported that both men were detained on Dec. 10, 2018. On Dec. 1, 2018, Canadian authorities arrested Huawei Chief Financial Officer Meng Wanzhou at Vancouver International Airport at the request of the United States for her involvement in a scheme to use the global banking system to evade U.S. sanctions against Iran. The detention of Kovrig and Spavors was widely seen as retaliation by Beijing for Mengs arrest. Feng told The Washington Post, My judgment is this is linked directly to the Huawei case. He said he felt it was possible that the officials responsible were taking a harder line against citizens of countries aligned with the United States. Yang had also disappeared while in China in 2011 for several days, after he had called a friend from Guangzhou airport saying that he was being followed by three men. However, when he resurfaced, he said that he had been sick, nothing else, and my phone battery was dead for two days so I could not contact my family, according to SMH at the time. However, SMH also reported at the time that many of Yangs close friends had believed he had been detained by secret police as part of a political crackdown on dissidents. At the time in 2011, a ministry representative had also been asked about Yangs whereabouts, and the representative responded that they had never heard about his situation, according to NPR. AAP contributed to this report. From NTD.com Watch Next: Miss World Canada 2015 Says True Confucian Values Are What Defines China, Not Communism A young woman looks at her smartphone in Chongqing City on Aug. 24, 2016. (NICOLAS ASFOURI/AFP/Getty Images) Chinas Latest Restriction: Forbidding Youth From Adopting Buddha-Like Lifestyle A Buddha-like lifestyle, or fo xi in Mandarin Chinese, is a term coined around 2017 that describes a life philosophy that more and more Chinese youths are adopting: having no desires, being indifferent, not ambitious to achieve anything, nor caring to please others. Dong Zhenhua, a professor at the Chinese Communist Partys Central Party School, the leading institution for training cadres, wrote an article criticizing the fo xi lifestyle that was published Jan. 20 in Peoples Forum, a magazine printed by the Partys mouthpiece newspaper, Peoples Daily. Many other state-run media outlets re-published the article on their websites. Dong, who also is deputy director of the Party Schools philosophy education department, wrote that a fo xi lifestyle will lead people to give up their principles and follow others. Lacking in the desire to chase their dreams, these people will lose the motivation in life, and then care less about laws and regulations, Dong claimed. He advised youth not to take up that lifestyle. The adverse effects of the fo xi mentality cant be ignored, Dong wrote. The Chinese regime has recently stepped up attempts to moderate peoples lifestyle choices. A day before Dongs article was published, news emerged that iQiyi, a popular online video platform similar to Netflix, had begun censoring images of male celebrities who wore earrings while appearing on television or video programs. Their earrings were blurred out. Though officials denied that there was a ban, its unusual for media companies to engage in censorship without some form of instruction from Chinese authorities. In fact, state-run media Xinhua published a commentary in September 2018 that criticized the phenomenon of men choosing to look and act effeminate. From young to beautiful and, finally, effeminate is an abnormal progression of aesthetics. Prominent Beijing-based activist Hu Jia told Radio Free Asia why more youth are adopting the fo xi philosophy. In a society that stresses ones family background and social status, many youths believe that no matter how hard they try, they dont have the resources or clout of the descendants of princelings or wealthy elites. The family members of the powerful and wealthy lead politics and the economy, Hu said. Its not enough for one to be capable. For private companies, its impossible for them to maintain a fair, competitive environment. Hu added that the Chinese regime does not allow a carefree, fo xi life because it wants citizens to pretend to be very happy and very proud of the system. Tang Jingyuan, a U.S.-based commentator with the Chinese-language edition of The Epoch Times said that the fo xi philosophy also doesnt match with Communist ideology. In a disguised way, this kind of lifestyle is resisting the kind of restrictions the Chinese regime places on society, Tang said in an interview on Jan. 23. These people use a soft, passive way to express their dissatisfaction to the government. Yang Hengjun, author and former Chinese diplomat, who is now an Australian citizen, gestures in an unspecified location in Tibet, China, sometime in mid-July, 2014. (Reuters) China Says Australian Writer Detained for Endangering State Security BEIJING/SYDNEYChinese authorities are holding an Australian writer, who used to be a Chinese citizen, on suspicion of endangering state security, China said on Jan. 24, and his lawyer said he was suspected of espionage. Australian officials said Yang Hengjun was detained shortly after he flew in to the southern city of Guangzhou from New York last week, but it did not believe his detention was the result of rising tension between China and the West. Chinese foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said that Australia was officially notified after Yang was placed under coercive measuresa euphemism for detentionin Beijing. The Australian citizen Yang Jun, due to being suspected of engaging in criminal acts that endangered Chinas national security, was recently placed under coercive measures and is being investigated by the Beijing city State Security Bureau, Hua told reporters. Yangs rights and interests were being protected in accordance with the law, she told a regular news briefing in Beijing, using a slightly different name for him. Australian Defense Minister Christopher Pyne, who arrived in Beijing on Thursday for scheduled talks, said Australia would normally expect to be told of such a case within three days under existing diplomatic conventions. Yang went missing on Friday and Australia was not told until four days later. Pyne said the late notification was disappointing and he would be raising it in his talks with Chinese officials. Hes being held in residential surveillance, Pyne told reporters. The Australian government was first alerted that Yang had gone missing after friends said he had been out of contact for several days. Yangs lawyer, Mo Shaoping, told Reuters that his client was suspected of espionage, and was being held under residential surveillance at a designated location. The special detention measure allows authorities to interrogate suspects for six months without necessarily granting access to legal representation. Rights groups say that the lack of oversight raises concern about abuse by interrogators. Mo said he had been retained by Yangs wife but because the case involved state security, he would need approval from the authorities before he would be able to meet Yang. Warning Tensions have risen in recent weeks between China and some Western countries after two Canadians, a diplomat on unpaid leave and a consultant, were arrested in China on suspicion of endangering state security. Those arrests were widely seen in the West as retaliation by China for Canadas arrest of Meng Wanzhou, the financial chief of Huawei Technologies, on Dec. 1 at the request of the United States for allegedly violating U.S. sanctions on Iran. Australia joined international condemnation of the arrest of the two Canadians, but Yang has long been in the sights of Chinese authorities. He has criticized what he described as Chinese interference in Australia. Feng Chongyi, an academic at the University of Technology in Sydney, said he asked Yang not to go to China because of the tension. I didnt think it would be safe for him because of the situation with Huawei but he believed that he would be fine as he had been there so many times, Feng said. Australian Foreign Minister Marise Payne said staff from Australias embassy met Chinese officials on Thursday and, while details were limited, she said there was no evidence Yangs case was linked to Australias criticism of the detention of the Canadians. Id be concerned if there was an indication of that, Payne told reporters in Sydney. We are calling on the Chinese authorities to ensure this matter is dealt with transparently and fairly. Cant Hide Yang was also reported missing for several days while in China in 2011. Two sources familiar with the details said he had been detained but agreed to say he had been unwell. However, Yang is not seen as a radical dissident. He became famous in the 2000s for his political essays, which earned him the nickname democracy peddler. In recent years, he had published little commentary, instead writing more fiction, including a trilogy of spy novels. Deng Yuwen, a Beijing-based political analyst who knows Yang, told Reuters that he did not know the reason for Yangs detention but that his WeChat accounts had been deleted. He has basically not publicly released any political essays in recent years, Deng said. Chinese leader Xi Jinping has presided over a crackdown on dissent since coming to power in 2012, with hundreds of rights lawyers and activists detained. Dozens have been jailed. Relations between Australia and its largest trading partner have been strained in recent years and Pynes trip was arranged in a bid to repair ties damaged by Australian accusations in 2017 that China was meddling in its affairs. Analysts said Yangs arrest would add to pressure on Australia to take a stand, and it would prolong tension. Australia cant hide from this. It will need to respectfully protect its citizens, said Rory Medcalf, head of the National Security College at the Australian National University. This detention marks the new normal in the bilateral tension, which will be constant low-level tension. By Colin Packham & Philip Wen 20 January 2019 (ISRAEL21c) The worlds scientific community has known for a long time that global warming is caused by manmade emissions in the form of greenhouse gases, while global cooling is caused by air pollution in the form of aerosols. In a new study published in the journal Science, Hebrew University of Jerusalem Prof. Daniel Rosenfeld argues that the degree to which aerosol particles cool the earth has been grossly underestimated. Aerosols are tiny particles of many different materials that get into the air, like dust and vehicle exhaust. They cool our environment by enhancing the cloud cover that reflects the suns heat back to space. Aerosols are tiny particles of many different materials that get into the air, like dust and vehicle exhaust. They cool our environment by enhancing the cloud cover that reflects the suns heat back to space. Rosenfeld says his findings necessitate a recalculation of climate-change models to more accurately predict the pace of global warming. He and his colleague Yannian Zhu from the Meteorological Institute of Shaanxi Province in China developed a new method that uses satellite images to calculate the effect of vertical winds as well as aerosol cloud droplet numbers. Until now, it was impossible to separate the effects of rising winds, which create the clouds, from the effects of aerosols, which determine clouds composition. Using this new methodology, Rosenfeld and his colleagues were able to more accurately calculate aerosols cooling effects on the Earth. They discovered this effect is nearly two times higher than previously thought. But this finding does not necessarily mean we can stop worrying about global warming. Rosenfeld has several theories about why temperatures are rising despite the aerosol effect. If the aerosols indeed cause a greater cooling effect than previously estimated, then the warming effect of the greenhouse gases has also been larger than we thought, enabling greenhouse-gas emissions to overcome the cooling effect of aerosols, Rosenfeld said. Another hypothesis to explain why Earth is getting warmer even though aerosols have been cooling it down at an even a greater rate is a possible warming effect of aerosols when they lodge in deep clouds located 10 kilometers or more above the Earth. [more] We need to rethink everything we know about global warming ABSTRACT: Lack of reliable estimates of cloud condensation nuclei (CCN) aerosols over oceans has severely limited our ability to quantify their effects on cloud properties and extent of cooling by reflecting solar radiation a key uncertainty in anthropogenic climate forcing. Here we introduce a methodology for ascribing cloud properties to CCN and isolating the aerosol effects from meteorological effects. Its application showed that, for a given meteorology, CCN explains 3/4 of the variability in clouds radiative cooling effect, mainly through affecting shallow cloud cover and water path. This reveals a much greater sensitivity of cloud radiative forcing to CCN than previously reported, which means too much cooling if incorporated in present climate models. This hints to yet unknown compensating aerosol warming effects, possibly through deep clouds. Aerosol-driven droplet concentrations dominate coverage and water of oceanic low level clouds Men look at computers in an internet bar in Beijing on Dec. 16, 2015. (Greg Baker/AFP/Getty Images) China Purges 9,000 Mobile Apps, 700 Websites in Internet Crackdown The Chinese regime has continued to tighten its grip over the countrys internet by closing down hundreds of websites and thousands of apps, and singling out internet giant Tencent Holdingss news app for spreading vulgar content. In the first three weeks of this year, the Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC) expunged more than 7 million pieces of online information deemed as harmful, and shut down 9,382 mobile apps and 733 websites, the internet regulator said in a statement Jan. 23. The move formed part of the cyberspace polices six-month campaign launched in the new year to purge vulgar information from the internet. Tencents news app, Tiantian Kuaibao, which translates to quick daily news, was called out for spreading vulgar and low-brow information that was harmful and damaging to the internet ecosystem, and ordered to make changes. The agency did not provide specific examples of offensive content. Tiantian Kuaibao said it would operate in accordance with the law and fulfill all requirements, reported The Wall Street Journal. The agency also criticized Huaban, a photo-sharing social network, for having serious ecosystem problems. Huabans webpage currently displays a notice, saying its online service had been temporarily taken down for upgrades. The cyber watchdog periodically announces its actions to censor the web. In December 2018, the cyber watchdog wiped 110,000 social media accounts for spreading what it said was harmful information. Two months earlier, the CAC purged 9,800 social media accounts, including those belonging to famous influencers, for violations that included spreading politically harmful information and falsifying the history of the Chinese Communist Party. Internet Control The Chinese regime in recent years has ramped up its efforts to control the internet, as the communist regime seeks to clamp down on dissenting voices on the countrys bustling social media scene. Recently, censors took aim at short videos, a hugely popular social media format that boasts more than 100 million daily users in China. A government-backed internet association this month published a list of 100 types of banned content, from spoofs of communist party leaders to videos promoting money worship, that short video platforms, such as popular apps Bytedances Douyin and Kuaishou, are required to censor. Chinas internet search giants Baidu Inc. and Sohu.com were also ordered in early January to suspend a range of news services. But it is not only the countrys domestic internet that is heavily restricted; the regime also has been tightening its reins on social media activity outside of its Great Firewall. The Great Firewall refers to Chinas internet censorship apparatus that includes blockading foreign websites and censoring content deemed undesirable by the Chinese Communist Party. In past months, Chinese authorities have been targeting Chinese citizens on Twitter, which is only accessible by circumventing the Firewall. Some activists and Twitter influencers were arrested and interrogated by local police, while others have been forced to delete their tweets and close their accounts. In December, police fined two Chinese netizens who broke through the Great Firewall to access blockaded international websites. A woman uses her mobile phone at the entrance of an underpass in Beijing on Sept. 18, 2018. (Wang Zhao/AFP/Getty Images) China Launches App That Tells Users If They Are Within 500 Yards of Someone in Debt China has launched an app that notifies its users if there is someone in debt within 500 yards of their location. The app also encourages citizens to report the debtor if they look incapable of paying up. A court in Chinas Hebei province introduced the WeChat mini-program, literally named map of deadbeat debtors, according to state-run media China Daily. The court claims that the app provides an additional means to enforce our rulings and create a socially credible environment. WeChat is Chinas most popular instant-messaging platform. A higher court in #China releases an app (mini-program on WeChat) to expose people/legal body racking up debt. "The Deadbeat Debtors' Map" will identify any debtor w/in 500m of you, showing their name, location n debt information, to whistle-blow on those capable of paying debts. pic.twitter.com/gYnac8vSmB Eva Zheng (@evazhengll) January 23, 2019 The app provides users with a map and on-screen radar tracking of deadbeat debtors, whose exact locations are marked with pins. Tapping on each marker reveals the debtors personal information. It also alerts its user with a flash when a debtor is in their vicinity. It is unclear how much debt a person must be in to attract this invasion of privacy, what behavior is indicative of an inability to pay debts, or how the apps user can report a debtor they suspect to be financially wasteful. The apps operation is currently limited to the Hebei province. Chinas Social Credit System Reminiscent of dystopian fiction, the Chinese communist regime unveiled the app amid a nationwide crackdown on lending, as a new addition to its highly controversial social credit system. The social credit system is a vast ranking system that monitors the behavior of its population and assigns them abstract scores according to their social credit. The system will be made mandatory in 2020. It will measure a persons trustworthiness through an assessment of their behavior on public transport, purchases, social media posts, ability to pay off loans, etc. The exact methodology has not been disclosed. Presently, the system is fragmentedsome are run by private technology companies like Alibaba, while others are run by city councils. However, it has already penalized more than 6,000 people for failing to pay their taxes on time or misbehaving on public transport, barring them from traveling across the countrys borders by plane or train between June and January, the Business Insider reported. Other punishments include bans from certain jobs, slowed internet speeds, and confiscation of pets. Children of parents with bad credit scores can be denied admission to desired universities. Last October, a foreign journalist recorded an announcement made in English warning people not to misbehave on a bullet train from Beijing to Shanghai, raising the question of whether tourists and other visitors to the country will be subjected to this system in the future. China-Australia Free Trade Blamed for Two-Year Aquaculture Shutdown, Costing Industry Over $23 Million Australian prawn farmers, who lost entire crops to a white spot outbreak, are furious at the countrys federal government for continuing to allow infected product to be imported under the China-Australia Free Trade Agreement. The aquaculture industry is estimated to have suffered $23.5 million (US$16.35 million) in lost revenue since prawn farms shut down their operations after cases of white spot were discovered in 2016. White spot is not dangerous to humans but can be deadly for prawn farms, ruining entire crops. This @4corners story on ag biosecurity is giving me chills importers gaming the department Qld Prawn farmers paid a hideously financial and personal high price pip courtney (@pipcourtney) July 2, 2018 The disease has been traced back to supermarket shelves, where raw prawns imported from places like China carry white spot and enter the waterways as either fishing bait or discarded shells. Nearly three years on the Australian government is still doing an import risk assessment on foreign prawns. Farmers claim authorities could have prevented, or at least minimised damage, if industry warnings were acted on more promptly. There have been no prosecutions for the outbreak so far. Imagine if there was sausage meat sitting in Coles and Woolies [supermarkets] today, and it tested positive to foot and mouth disease, and the government said Thats ok dont worry about it, everyone will cook them, which will mitigate the riskthats a perfect analogy for whats happening, Gold Coast Tiger Prawns Claims General Manager Alistair Dick told News Limited. Despite losing their entire crop, some agribusinesses have invested as much as A$600,000 ($426,408) each in high-tech ozone filtration systems to remove the 100 organisms, which are known to carry the virus from dams and waterways like the Logan River in Queensland, between Brisbane and the Gold Coast. However, other prawn farmers dare not risk restarting production due to the risk of another outbreak. Paradise Prawn Farm believes white spot is already rampant in the environment, and even filtration is not a permanent solution. Its too big a gamble, were still unsure of it. The experts say you could get one year, two years or three years out of [filtration], Paradise Prawn Farm Director Ian Rossman told News Limited. The Australian Prawn Farmers Association (APFA) revealed the Biosecurity Australia arm of the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry knew back in 2006 that 87.5 percent of 16 batches of imported prawns had tested positive for white spot. Because of our ongoing concerns, in May 2018 APFA commissioned Dr. Matt Landos to undertake retail testing from supermarkets around the Gold Coast region, APFA Executive Officer Kim Hooper said in a public statement dated July 3, 2018. Out of 18 retail samples, one returned positive Dr. Landos provided this information to the Department of Agriculture and Water Resources in early June [2018]. Many prawn farmers have been forced to rely on income from their unaffected farms in North Queensland. The Inspector-General of Biosecurity released an independent report in December 2018, which agreed with the industry white spot poses a significant threat and recommended changes to importer behavior. However, the federal government still did not apply effective control measures like cooking imported prawns or an Acceptable Level of Protection to the prawn industry, similar to other industries like chicken and pork. We have constantly tried to effect positive change within government policy as no agricultural industry should be subjected to the poor oversight as we have seen applied to the importation of prawns, Hooper said. The biosecurity risk level is not low, and Australia should not be importing raw product from white spot infected countries until the Appropriate Level of Protection is achieved. APFA suggested a number of ways the general public can help reduce the impact of white spot. We urge the community to get behind the Australian prawn farming industry and the Australian seafood industry by asking where your seafood is from and buying local, Hooper said. Whether you are buying from the shops or sitting down to a meal, consumers and diners deserve to know the origin of their seafood choice, and know they are supporting Australian prawn farmers and the Australian seafood industry and their families. The Canada Revenue Agency headquarters in Ottawa. Tax experts reiterate that the tax code is too complex and needs to be reformed. (The Canadian Press/Sean Kilpatrick) Canadas Personal Income Tax System Doing More Harm Than Good Biting the bullet of tax reform badly needed to align incentives NEWS ANALYSIS Tax reform in Canada is badly needed and it cant keep getting put off. On the corporate side, Canadian businesses lack of competitiveness relative to the United States has been a thorn in the side of the economy. A closely entwined issue is the personal income side due to the highly progressive nature of the tax systemfive tax bracketswhich reaches a top rate of 53.5 percent. Thats seventh-highest among OECD countries. Worse still, it hits at a lower level of income relative to the average wage, according to Jack Mintz, presidents fellow at the University of Calgary School of Public Policy. With the various carve-outs and credits, this results in all kinds of inefficiencies given the massive redistribution of income. The wealthywho work hard, take risks, build businesses, and create jobscan mitigate high taxes, which results in economic capacity going unused. The poor arent helped either, as they are net recipients of money from the governmenttransfers received are more than taxes paidand thus arent incentivized to work. High taxation is the forcible nationalization of private assets for redistribution on a large scale. At the same, it is a hidden path to gradually phasing out the system of private ownership, according to How the Spectre of Communism Is Ruling Our World, a special series run by The Epoch Times. Canada is shooting itself in the foot with high taxation and excessive government spending. A study just released by the Fraser Institute, an independent public policy think tank, showed that the Liberal government has now recorded two years with the highest levels of per-person government spending outside of wars or recessions. In another recent study, the Fraser Institute identified Canadas tax structure as one that dampens innovation. Government subsidy and tax credit programsthe top-down approachare not as effective as lower income and capital gains taxes that increase incentives for innovators. Up to the Neck in Taxes Mintz, one of the countrys foremost tax policy experts, told The Epoch Times that theres an ethical question to be asked. Is it right to tax more than 50 percent of income? Its a question we havent really had much discussion about in Canada about the ethics, he said. In the United States, the socialist Democratic member of Congress Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, 29, said in an interview with 60 Minutes: Once you get to the tippy-tops, on your 10 millionth dollar, sometimes you see tax rates as high as 60 or 70 percent. As you climb up this ladder, you should be contributing more. Theres something egregious about it on an ethical basis, Mintz said. Part of it is just naive, said Aaron Wudrick, federal director of the Canadian Taxpayers Federation, in an interview. People are not going to simply carry on doing what they were doing before to simply pay more tax. Thats not whats going to happen. Theyre going to change their behaviour. Fifty percent is an important psychological level for people, says Wudrick. Something troubles them about the idea that more than half of what they earn gets taken away, he added. Reforming personal income tax is his top priority. I think it sends the right signal to people, he said, adding that the implications of it are that the government will do better with the money it collects and will incentivize the public to work harder, earn more money, and keep more of it. Wudrick says its about getting value for the tax paid. People wont want to pay higher taxes if they dont think their governments do a good job with the money taxpayers give them. Wars and recessions clearly affect government spending, but to see this high level of peacetime spending when the economy is also growing could spell trouble for Canadian taxpayers in the future, said Jason Clemens, executive vice-president of the Fraser Institute, in a statement. Before even thinking about raising taxes, politicians should examine whether the problem is not having enough revenue or if they are spending it in the best way possible, says Wudrick. Wudrick is among many who advocate for a flatter tax structure. Perhaps collapsing five tax brackets into three or two would be a good start, he said. And I think that would really incentivize a lot of wealth creation. The Fraser Institute has argued in the past that revenue lost from not having progressive marginal tax rates can be easily made up by eliminating tax exemptions and exceptions. In addition, many tax experts favour a tax on expendituresa consumption taxarguing that they bring gains in productivity and labour income over the long haul. People will choose things because they want them economically not because of tax reasons, Mintz said. Thats why its good to have a tax system that tries to minimize special exemptions. This would also help in simplifying the tax code and filing returns, and additionally, exemptions and special credits can be hard to remove once put into place. Fair Share What does it mean to pay a fair share of tax? If Mr. Smith earns 10 times more than Mr. Jones, should he pay 10 times more tax? Or should he pay 20 times or 50 times more tax? According to Statistics Canada and the Department of Finance, the top 1 percent of tax filers in Canadaearning $226K or morepaid 19.9 percent of total federal and provincial income tax collected in 2016. Wudrick is not a fan of the fair term in relation to taxation. People who use this fair tax are people who want higher tax, he said. Its not popular to use the word higher so they say fair. Were looking to generate more economic activity, not less, and higher tax rates are going to mean less economic activity, Wudrick said. Politically, its easy to tax the rich, which leads to the conundrum governments face between staying in power and helping the economy grow. The political will to embark on broad tax reform is low. Wudrick says the governments recent effort to reduce tax on small business was so politically painful that embarking on broad tax reform is off the table. With deficits as far as the eye can see, it is hard to envision tax cuts unless government spending is significantly curtailedbut Wudrick points out the Liberals havent shown any proclivity to do that. With the federal election coming this fall, not much can be expected on the tax reform front until its over. Its never an easy thing to talk about at election time, since there will be winners and losers, Mintz said. Follow Rahul on Twitter @RV_ETBiz Australias Department of Foreign Affairs Sees No Link Between Writers Detention and Canadian Arrests-Minister SYDNEYAustralian Foreign Minister Marise Payne said on Jan. 24 that there was no evidence to suggest that the detention of a dual-national writer in China was linked to the high-profile arrests of two Canadians but that Canberra was seeking urgent clarification. Officials in Canberra confirmed on Jan. 24 Chinese-Australian Yang Hengjun, an author and former Chinese diplomat who is now an Australian citizen, had been detained shortly after he flew in to the southern city of Guangzhou from New York last week. There has so far been no comment from China about Yang. Read More Chinese-Australian Writer Yang Hengjun Confirmed Detained in China Tensions between China and some parts of the West have been heightened since two Canadians, a diplomat on unpaid leave and a consultant, were arrested in China on suspicion of endangering state security. Those arrests were widely seen in the West as retaliation by Beijing for the arrest of Meng Wanzhou, a senior Huawei Technologies executive, in Canada on Dec. 1. She is accused of violating U.S. sanctions on Iran. Payne said staff from Australias embassy met Chinese officials on Jan. 24 to seek answers and, while details were limited, she said there was no evidence that it was linked to Australias criticism of Beijings detention of two Canadians. At this stage there is no evidence of such a connection but Id be concerned if there was an indication of that, Payne told reporters in Sydney. We are calling on the Chinese authorities to ensure this matter is dealt with transparently and fairly, she said. Statement from @MarisePayne on @yanghengjun. Diplomats meeting with Chinese officials today to seek further information and arrange access to Yang. We will continue to make representations to China to ensure that this matter is dealt with transparently and fairly, Payne says. pic.twitter.com/rQ8WoifCJO Fergus Hunter (@fergushunter) January 24, 2019 Feng Chongyi, an academic at the University of Technology in Sydney, said he asked Yang to avoid travelling to China because of the tensions. I tried to persuade him not to go. I didnt think it would be safe for him because of the situation with Huawei but he believed that he would fine as he had been there so many times, Feng said. The Chinese government is now behaving like terrorists, said Yang Hengjuns close friend Dr. Feng Chongyi. Feng had also been held in China in 2017 for national security reasons. Chinese-Australian Writer Yang Hengjun Confirmed Detained in China https://t.co/0AtBLJ47GM EpochTimesChina (@EpochTimesChina) January 24, 2019 The Australian government was first alerted that Yang had gone missing after friends said he had not been reachable for several days. Chinese Government Interference Australia joined international condemnation of the arrest of the two Canadians but Yang has long been in the sights of Chinese authorities. He has criticized what he described as Chinese interference in Australia. Yang was also reported missing while in China in 2011, emerging several days later. Two sources familiar with the details said he had been detained but agreed to say he was unwell. Since Chinese leader Xi Jinping took Chinas top job in 2012, the Chinese Communist Party started a sweeping crackdown on human rights lawyers and activist, with hundreds detained. Dozens have been jailed. Yangs case will likely also be pressed by Australian Defence Minister Christopher Pyne, who arrived in Beijing on Jan. 24 for previously scheduled talks with his Chinese counterpart, Wei Fenghe, and other senior officials. Read More Australias Defence Minister Christopher Pyne Announces Official Visit to China Pynes visit was arranged in a bid to repair damaged ties following Australian allegations in 2017 that China was meddling in its domestic affairs. Australias center-right government has sought to refrain from such public criticism in recent months, although analysts said Yangs arrest fuels pressure on Canberra to rebuke its largest trading partner. As I said on ABC Radios AM program this morning, I suspect it is only a matter of time before many democracies, including Australia, change their travel advice to warn of the risk of arbitrary detention in China. Canada has already done so. Rory Medcalf (@Rory_Medcalf) January 23, 2019 Australia cant hide from this, it will need to respectfully protect its citizens, said Rory Medcalf, head of the National Security College at the Australian National University. This detention marks the new normal in the bilateral tension, which will be constant low-level tension, he said. By Colin Packham Watch Next: Miss World Canada 2015China has become a Frankenstein Monster Australian PM Announces Funding for Captain Cook Voyage The content is not available due to expiration. BMW cars are parked for an emergency safety check at the playground of an elementary school near a BMW service center in Seoul, South Korea, on Dec. 24, 2018. (Ahn Young-Joon/AP) As Google Races Ahead, German Carmakers Look to Go Faster on Autonomous Driving FRANKFURTGermanys top carmakers including BMW and Volkswagen are looking at ways to speed up development of the next generation of self-driving cars, possibly by even working together, as tech giant Google forges ahead with plans to mass produce such vehicles. Carmakers and tech companies have been in a race to develop self-driving robotaxis since 2012 when Google unveiled a self-driving car. BMW announced a development pact with tech firm Mobileye in 2016 and Daimler struck an alliance with autos supplier Bosch in 2017. BMW and Daimlers first-generation autonomous cars will start to emerge after 2020/2021 using computers and high-definition maps to navigate within a pre-defined geographical zone like a motorway. But Googles Waymo unit this week announced plans to mass produce self-driving cars, adding urgency to German carmakers plans to review ways to accelerate the development of second-generation vehicles, a source at a German carmaker told Reuters. There are talks between various players about where the resources come from to develop the next generation self-driving vehicle, the source said on Jan. 23. The autonomous driving push wont be enough to get us to level 5, a second source said, referring to the highest level of vehicle automation. Volkswagens Chief Executive Herbert Diess last November said Waymo had a one- to two-year head start in developing self-driving technology, due to its decade of testing and millions of miles driven. Germanys manager magazin said on Jan. 23 BMW, Volkswagen, and Daimleras well as major German suppliers Continental, ZF and Boschwere in talks about developing a joint system for autonomous driving, citing company sources. If we combine our knowledge and technology, then we can even overtake Waymo, the magazine quoted one of the participants in the talks as saying. A third source at another German carmaker said it was unlikely a consortium would include all German manufacturers and major suppliers, but that an economic slowdown had led to a reassessment of spending requirements. The BMW-led consortium currently includes Intel, Mobileye, Magna, Fiat Chrysler, and auto suppliers Delphi Automotive and Continental AG. One member of the consortium, Magnas chief executive Don Walker, earlier this month urged the auto industry not to waste funds on developing self-driving cars and to forge broader alliances as a way to share development costs. BMW on Jan. 23 reiterated it was open to broadening its consortium. As we have emphasized in the past, there is interest from other companies in a cooperation. As usual, we do not comment on this in public and cannot comment on media or market speculation, a BMW spokesman said. In October, BMWs research and development chief Klaus Froehlich said rivals were interested in joining a BMW-led consortium to develop self-driving cars. German carmakers are in talks about developing a common standard for placing stereo, camera and lidar sensors on an autonomous vehicle, as a way to share the regulatory and liability burden faced by carmakers, BMWs Froehlich told Reuters last year. At the moment we have a lot of discussions, how can we join, how can we modify our sensor stack so they can team up, BMWs board member for research and development said. Volkswagen has said it is open to deeper alliances in autonomous cars, including with Ford and Waymo, and on Jan. 23 reiterated it was on the lookout for new partners. Daimler declined to comment on the manager magazin report. The Stuttgart-based carmaker unveiled a cooperation deal with Bosch in April 2017 to develop a system for self-driving vehicles which would be open for third party users. Bosch, Continental and ZF declined to comment. By Edward Taylor & Ilona Wissenbach Volunteers pass out Donald Trump T-shirts at a campaign event in Columbia, S.C., on Sept. 23, 2015. (Sean Rayford/Getty Images) Army Veteran Says He Was Asked Not to Wear Racist Trump Shirt, Video Goes Viral An Army veteran said he was asked not to wear a shirt that read 2016 Trump for President at a Missouri gym on the grounds that it would make others feel uncomfortable. Staff Sgt. Jake Talbot told St. Louis told KMOV that he wore the pro-Trump shirt at CDY Fitness in Troy before, but on Jan. 20, the gyms owner asked him not to wear it. I was just puzzled there for a second. She said that it was racist and represents racism and thats when I when I was like Oh, youre done, Talbot told the station. Jake Talbot said the gym owner told him other gym members had expressed that the shirt was racist and inappropriate. KSDK News 2019122 Adding that hes been a gym member there for eight years, Talbot went on Facebook to voice his displeasure. In the Facebook video, he said the word racism is thrown around too much nowadays. I hate the word, its used way too loosely. Its 2019, get the hell over it. Its not racism, he added. Its a free country. Its what I fight for. I love this country, and Im very patriotic, Talbot said in the video. Thats my commander in chief, he said. Hes doing a job and everyone needs to support him. I think hes doing a good job. Im tired of the split, divide of the whole country. The St. Louis Post-Dispatch identified the gym owner as Liz Drew, and she released a statement on Facebook, which was deleted. A man said the gym asked him to change his "2016 Trump for President" shirt while he was working out, and said he was St. Louis Post-Dispatch 2019122 According to KMOV, her message stated: I am deeply saddened by the amount of hate this event has garnered. I will personally and publicly continue to defend my stance for tolerance and against hate no matter the financial consequence. She added: Allow me to clarify. I dont believe our gym should be a political forum for anyone. I want everyone to feel safe and comfortable there. We are all trying to improve ourselves and work hard to change. A number of people have threatened to cancel their CDY Fitness memberships. Jake Talbot 2019120 Drew disputed claims that she told him to remove the shirt. I said, Jake, were friends and I love you, but Id appreciate it if you didnt wear that shirt in the future, Drew told the Post-Dispatch. She also issued a statement about supporting service members. I have much respect for all of our service members. I regret that some were offended by this misunderstanding. I was simply attempting to ensure that all of my members felt safe and unthreatened, she told KSDK via text message. KSDK reported that another gym in the area offered Talbot a free one-year membership after his video went viral. Attorney Lynette Petruska, meanwhile, told KMOV that Drew really didnt violate any First Amendment or anti-discrimination law. No Trump Supporters Meanwhile, the owner of a Chicagos Hyde bar drew ire for its No Trump supporters rule. The prohibition era-style bar said the no Trump supporters rule was intended as a joke. These are the rules of the house making their rounds. Theres no room for negative people in our house, the Hyde posted to Instagram Monday, Jan. 21, along with the list of 16 rules (listed at the end of the article) in the bar foyer. If you dont understand the industry and are ignorant to the humor in this then do us a favor and hit that unfollow button. Students arrive at Covington Catholic High School as classes resume following a closing due to security concerns the previous day in Park Hills, Ky., on Jan. 23, 2019. Local police authorities controlled access to the property at entrances and exits. (John Minchillo/AP Photo) Archdiocese Apologizes for Hasty Statement About Covington Students An archdiocese has apologized for reacting too quickly after an incident involving Kentucky Catholic high school students, blaming the reaction on incomplete reports. Following the Jan. 18 incident in Washington, numerous media outlets wrote stories that said students from Covington Catholic High School were mocking Native American activist Nathan Phillips. Phillips, who falsely claimed to be a Vietnam veteran, also told a number of outlets that the students surrounded him and that he felt threatened. He also said they wouldnt let him access the Lincoln Memorial. Once the full video of the encounter was acknowledged, a number of outlets backtracked as many of his claims turned out to be false. The Archdiocese of Baltimore issued an apology on Jan. 23, saying it had reacted too soon. The annual March for Life is a magnificent affirmation of the value and dignity of human life. It is especially wonderful that so many young people from all around the nation participate in this March and the Archdiocese of Baltimore applauds them for doing so, the archdiocese stated in a press release. How sad, then, that this life-affirming event was marred by the widely reported confrontation at the Lincoln Memorial. It has become apparent, however, that initial reports of that incident were at best incomplete. Those incomplete reports led many, including the Archdiocese of Baltimore, to speak out too hastily. We apologize for doing so. Its not clear which media outlets the archdiocese relied on specifically or why an apology wasnt forthcoming until Wednesday, days after the full video was acknowledged. The Archdiocese of Covington, where the high school is located, also reacted to the edited video that initially circulated. It condemned the students for allegedly making fun of Phillips and said some could be expelled. The archdiocese later took down its post and issued a fresh statement saying that an independent, third-party investigation is planned to begin this week. This is a very serious matter that has already permanently altered the lives of many people. It is important for us to gather the facts that will allow us to determine what corrective actions, if any, are appropriate, the archdiocese stated. We pray that we may come to the truth and that this unfortunate situation may be resolved peacefully and amicably and ask others to join us in this prayer. We will have no further statements until the investigation is complete. The Archdiocese of Covington has not apologized for basing its initial statement on slanted media reports. Diocese Evacuated Over Threat The Covington students have faced a number of death and other threats in the aftermath of the incident, including from Hollywood producers and journalists. I have received physical and death threats via social media, as well as hateful insults. One person threatened to harm me at school, and one person claims to live in my neighborhood. My parents are receiving death and professional threats because of the social media mob that has formed over this issue, Nick Sandmann, one student, said in a statement. Another student shared more details of the abuse with The Daily Wire, saying: Weve been getting school shooting threats, school bomb threats, vandalism of our buildings, people have gone out and said theyre going to slash our tires and break our school windows. Weve have threats saying that its best if the students at CovCat are locked in the school and set on fire. Weve had tweets saying that we should be raped by clergy members. Weve had every sort of threat that we should be thrown in woodchippers, the student added. Fresh threats came in at the diocese on Wednesday, along with multiple suspicious packages, triggering an evacuation and a response by authorities, reported WLWT. The intersections of 11th and 12th streets and Madison Avenue were closed near the diocese as authorities investigated the packages. The packages were not ultimately detonated and were taken away. This incident came as the Kenton County Commonwealths Attorney said he, alongside police, are tracking threats from emails and phone calls, the broadcaster reported. I suspect that a lot of these people are folks that do this on the Internet on a regular basis and theyve gone to great lengths to hide their identity. And that obviously makes it more difficult. There are some people that are using what I believe are their real names and their real locations, Commonwealths Attorney Rob Sanders said. From NTD News That seemed to leave the court with one option: building defensive barriers to keep the barbarians out. Unwilling to trade with the Mongols, and unable to defeat them militarily, by the middle of the sixteenth century the Ming had no policy choice left but to attempt to exclude the nomads by building walls, historian Arthur Waldron wrote in his exhaustive study The Great Wall of China: From History to Myth. The strategy proved effective in blunting Mongol raids where walls were built. The problem was that the mobile horsemen easily could shift their assaults to undefended areas of the border. Thats exactly what a large Mongol force did in 1550 when it penetrated to the Beijing suburbs. The response of the court was to build more walls. The Great Wall was the result of this haphazard defense policy. The tragedy is that the Mings big, beautiful wall failed to fulfill its sole mission: to protect China from invasion. The Ming still were tinkering with the massive structure when the dynasty collapsed in 1644. Amid the resulting chaos, a new steppe power, the Manchus, descended from the north, snatched Beijing and ruled as the Qing Dynasty. In the summer of 1994, I was working at my desk at the Department of Justice when my back started to burn. Moments later, my body seized up and I fell to the floor. Suddenly, at the age of 30, I was no longer able to sit or stand. I could barely walk short distances. These limitations, related to a surgical mishap, would continue for almost 20 years. After dozens of failed treatments, I reluctantly tried prescription opioids. The pain medication enabled me to work despite my condition. I argued cases in federal court from a foldable reclining chair, negotiated settlements by video teleconference and, working remotely, managed litigation in U.S. attorneys offices across the country. When medical advancements led to an improvement of my health, I went off opioids without incident. I was, as it turns out, incredibly lucky. A report released last month by Human Rights Watch paints a cautionary and at times harrowing picture of what pain patients are experiencing today. Because of well-intended efforts to address the overdose crisis, many doctors are limiting opioid prescriptions severely. Patients who rely on opioid analgesics are being weaned forcibly off the medication or seeing their prescriptions significantly reduced. Other patients are unable to find doctors willing to treat them at all. Jimmie Ree Nigliazzo left this world on January 16, 2019. She was born on June 20, 1924, in Bruce, Mississippi to James Lonnie Harville and Mary Francis Burgess Harville. Her French, Scottish, and Irish ancestry contributed to her sassy nature and distinctive zest for life. As a young adult, she moved to Duncan, Oklahoma, completed several college courses, and spent her professional years as a medical transcriptionist. She regularly attended USO dances in Lawton, Oklahoma where she met her future husband, the late Luke L. Nigliazzo, MD, with whom she had five children. She often said her happiest years were spent in Galveston, Texas, while her husband attended medical school at UTMB as she tended to their growing family. For the remainder of her life she would always find joy and comfort at the beach. She never knew a stranger and made lifelong friendships wherever she went. She will be affectionately remembered for her love of arts and crafts, especially crocheting and painting. Texas A&M University police are asking for the public's help in identifying a person believed to have pointed a gun at someone in a road rage incident. According to police, around 4:30 p.m. Wednesday, a person said he had been driving north on Harvey Mitchell Parkway, and as he approached the intersection of Raymond Stotzer Parkway/University Drive, a black four-door Chrysler in front of him braked. The victim changed lanes and attempted to pass the car, and as he did, the driver pointed a handgun at him. The victim sped away and found the A&M officer on Harvey Mitchell Parkway. Officers searched the area but could not locate the driver of the Chrysler, who was described as a white man in his mid-30s. The car is described as a newer model black four-door Chrysler 300. Anyone with information is asked to call Texas A&M police at 979-845-2345. Spring Creek Principal Stormy Hickman also said she hopes the project shows the students how simple it can be to make a difference in the world. "The other thing that I think is really important is the donations that they've collected are for students -- are for children -- who are like them but don't have many of the advantages that they have, and being able to recognize that as part of a global society as well is really important," Hickman said. After figuring out some logistics and details for the project, Hickman said, she turned the project over to Loke and her class, who pushed the donations. "I think there's such great value and ownership in kids finding a project that's meaningful to them and then investing their time and effort into that, which is what this class has done," Hickman said. "They also really get to see that global involvement. I think it's an important thing that we teach our kids that there is a world outside of our tiny little world. They got to be involved and participate with that greater, global community by this project." Much of the outlook for the College Station-Bryan metropolitan statistical area, which includes Brazos, Robertson and Burleson counties, focused on growth. The population is expected to reach about 264,000 by 2020. That number could climb to about 400,000 in 2050, according to data presented by Gaines. While the trend of growth at both the university and in non-A&M businesses is expected to continue into 2019, Gaines said to expect a slowdown in sales in the housing market and for prices to keep climbing. The MSA's median home price in 2018 was $223,500. That's projected to increase by about 2.5 percent to $229,000. New single-family home construction will probably remain flat, while multi-family housing development will see a major slowdown, Gaines said. The College Station-Bryan MSA has the lowest multi-family occupancy rate in the state at 85 percent, and is the only market that saw a rent decline in 2018. Gaines said apartment development had been strong in recent years to accommodate the growing number of Texas A&M students, but most of those projects are now finishing construction. A similar gap in supply and demand can be seen in the local tourism industry, Gaines said, where new hotels built in anticipation of more visitors and attracting conferences and other events aren't yet being filled. Other speakers at the conference included Chad Wootton, associate vice president of external affairs for the Texas A&M University provost's office; Matt Prochaska, CEO and president of the Brazos Valley Economic Development Corporation; Kindra Fry, president and CEO of Experience Bryan College Station; Dan Rudge, executive director of the Bryan/College Station Metropolitan Planning Organization; Natalie Ruiz, director of economic development for the city of College Station; Joey Dunn, deputy city manager for the city of Bryan; Clark Ealy, superintendent of the College Station school district; and Christie Whitbeck, superintendent of the Bryan school district. Two letters sent to Michael Vu, registrar for the San Diego County Registrar of Voters, from a number of individuals both locally and statewide claimed several county school districts violated election and education code laws in the Nov. 6, 2018 election. All parties agree that school districts are responsible for providing ballot statements that conform to the law. But opinions differ on what to do if the language submitted is non-conforming. The first letter, dated July 30, 2018, cited specific offenses and claimed that the registrar has an obligation to reject ballot statements that violate the law. Michael Vu disagreed, saying the role of his office is to act as facilitators contracted to conduct elections and is not responsible for reviewing ballot language submitted to them by other governing bodies. We administratively handle the elections for other political entities, he said. We facilitate that election for them. He said the complainants should work with school districts at their public meetings before ballot language is submitted. School district superintendents from Del Mar Union and Carlsbad Unified, two districts named as having non-conforming ballot statements, said their ballot language was reviewed and approved at public meetings. Del Mars Holly McClurg said the ballot language and resolution calling for an election were approved at a public school board meeting held Aug. 6, and bond counsel and financial advisors were consulted. Carlsbads Ben Churchill said his districts bond language was approved at a public school board meeting held July 18 and was written by the districts bond counsel. Both said their ballot statements were printed in the voter ballots exactly as submitted. Vu said another opportunity exists for the public to present a legal challenge by taking their objections to court. This is the 10-day review period that begins after the deadline for the registrar to receive all bond measure language from governing agencies. At that time, challenges can be made before sample ballots are printed, he said. Because the deadline for the past Nov. 6 election was Aug. 10 (88 days before the election), the 10-day review period began after the July 30 letter was sent. The second letter, dated Nov. 28, 2018, asked the registrar not to certify election results for bond measures that used non-conforming ballot statements, even though the letter was sent well after the 10-day review period and after the election. Vu, in an interview, said, There is a legal obligation to certify the election within 30 days of the election. So unless some lawsuit barred me from certifying the election, I need to follow the law. All election results were certified. A statement on the Registrar of Voters website reads, The San Diego County Registrar of Voters is NOT an enforcement agency and is therefore unable to investigate any violations. Referring to Elections Code 9190, Vu said the courts would decide if theres clear and convincing evidence of non-compliance with the law and would determine the legality of the matter. No complaint These people dont have a complaint, said San Diego attorney Robert Ottilie. Ottilie said its not the registrars job to ensure that governing bodies follow the law. That obligation, he said, falls to the governing bodies in this case, the school boards. Because school boards are public entities, ballot language must be approved at a public meeting, he said, at which time the public has an opportunity to weigh in and have an impact when the language is being proposed. Once ballot statements have been submitted, complainants have a second chance to object during the 10-day review period. Registrars have some discretion but they dont need to exercise it, Ottilie said, because the legislature has created the mechanism to address this and to address it prior to the election. If theres a legitimate complaint about ballot language, theres a process set up to correct the errors before the voting has happened, not after its all played out, he said. It sure is going to be a mess if we wait until after the fact, he said. The same principle applies to objections received before the 10-day period of time. The signers of the July 30 letter clearly believed that there were potential problems, Ottilie said, but then the statutory period comes along in a few weeks and they do nothing. Theyre the ones who didnt meet their obligation, he said. The supervisors cant do anything. Vus going to argue that he cant do anything. Laches defense If a lawsuit is filed any time outside the 10-day period, which would apply to both the July 30 and the Nov. 28 letters, Ottilie said it would be rejected on the laches defense. The formal definition of the laches defense is undue delay in asserting a legal right or privilege the theory being the law shouldnt aid those who sleep on their rights. Put another way, failure to assert ones rights in a timely manner can result in a claim being barred by laches. If you sit on your hands and you dont challenge during the statutory period thats been created just for your benefit by the state legislature its thrown out of court, Ottilie said. This is the purpose of laches, he said, and the legislature provided a remedy by setting aside 10 days when objections can be made in court. Even though we created a remedy just for [them] to fix things, the issue isnt whose job it is to fix it, Ottilie said. It was their job to fix it. If you want to do anything about it, heres when you do it. This system for redress was created for any registered voter to go into court on an expedited basis and have a determination made by a judge, said Ottilie, noting that the courts will accommodate those challenges because they prioritize election cases. An elected body is not going to include intentional falsehoods, he said. But once governing bodies decide to pursue a bond measure, they will try to write the language to increase support, he acknowledged. Some of these are difficult calls, Ottilie said. Hows Michael Vu supposed to resolve [these claims]? Theres a process in court for that. The responsibility for fixing disputed ballot language is with the offended voter, and its no ones obligation to correct mistakes except the publics, he said. Obvious error One objection that Ottilie said Vu could have fixed was the Measure YY ballot question submitted by San Diego Unified School District that exceeded the 75-word limit. Absolutely Ive seen the registrar cut words, Ottilie said. On the word count they should have done that. Either he just missed it or decided not to do what he should have done. When asked if the complainants could go back and claim the election shouldnt be certified because the district exceeded the word limit, Ottilie said, Its not gonna happen. Its quite likely that the letters lodged legitimate objections that a court may have found reasonable. One egregious example is the violation of the introductory statements made on ballot questions which are clearly not impartial. The worst offender is SD Unifieds introductory title to Measure YY: San Diego Neighborhood School Repair and Student Safety Measure to Improve Neighborhood and Charter Schools. Del Mar Unions introduction: To improve Del Mar neighborhood elementary schools, repair/upgrade/reconstruct deteriorated school facilities, plumbing, roofs, electrical systems, renovate classrooms supporting science, engineering, math Carlsbad Unifieds intro: To upgrade classrooms, science labs and technology that support student achievement, college preparation and career skills . And of course all reference the need to improve safety and security which can mean just about anything, when there are supposed to be specific project lists. Del Mar resident Michael Robertson, one of the signers of both letters, was silent on next steps but indicated there may be further action. But, said Ottilie, Youve got to go to court during the statutory period, not now. For Part One of this column that provides background, see bit.ly/2AYuDPM Opinion columnist and Sr. Education Writer Marsha Sutton can be reached at suttonmarsha@gmail.com SAN FRANCISCO, Jan. 23 -- San Francisco Mayor London Breed is making joint efforts with elected city officials and Chinatown business and community leaders to help bolster Chinatown business during Chinese Lunar New Year. With the presence of San Francisco Supervisor Aaron Peskin who represents Chinatown, Public Works Director Mohammed Nuru and other officials, Breed kicked off the Chinese New Year Fair, a popular program to improve the shopping experience leading up to the Chinese festival during the lunar New Year, which falls on Feb. 5 this year. Breed praised the efforts made by the Chinese Consolidated Benevolent Association to organize the street fair at the event's opening ceremony held in downtown city on Tuesday, saying that the city recognizes the importance of helping small businesses and providing a better environment for people to observe the Chinese New Year. The fair is part of the Stockton Street Pedestrian Enhancement Program, which allows merchants along Stockton Street, the main shopping and business area in Chinatown, to set up their merchandise displays in the curbside parking spaces in front of their businesses. Entering its eighth year, the program is designed to provide more space, safety and comfort for pedestrians as they shop for festive food and wares on the bustling commercial area in Chinatown. This temporary program will run from Wednesday through Feb. 4, the Chinese New Year's Eve. Nuru said the program is a "creative solution" to help small businesses thrive while making sure that the busy sidewalks remain safe during the holiday season. Pius Lee, president of the Chinese Consolidated Benevolent Association, said the Department of Public Works has pushed for the reparation of potholes in the street to ensure pedestrian safety during the fair. The city also helped clean the shop windows to improve the appearance. According to Lee, the daily revenues during the fair are 10 percent to 15 percent higher than usual. During the program period, many people, including tourists and people from other cultural backgrounds, are attracted to shop traditional Chinese candies, outfits and trinkets, he said. San Francisco's Chinatown, the oldest in the United States, has a history of more than 150 years. With a high density of small businesses, the area has long been a shopping and cultural hub and a tourist destination. It is one of the most compact and visited neighborhoods in the city. During the Chinese New Year, the streets and sidewalks along Stockton Street in the heart of the vibrant commercial corridor experience a high volume of pedestrian activity. The compact area of Chinatown's 27 blocks house a community of more than 14,000 residents and over 900 small businesses, according to a 2017 report by the Chinatown Community Development Center. South Africa: Learners challenged to become software developers Communications Deputy Minister Pinky Kekana has challenged learners to start thinking about developing software that could be used to help improve government services. Kekana on Thursday unveiled various digital services at Louis Trichardt Secondary School in Limpopo. We [have a shortage of] software developers, hence the developers must come from [your generation]. The apps, the coding and all other things that need to happen - you must be able to do that We have problems to solve Once we start to digitize some of the education programmes, it will become easier for you to learn and understand but most importantly, [you must use this] to improve your work at school, Kekana said. Louis Trichardt is among the first four public facilities in Vhembe District in Limpopo identified for the roll-out of broadband services. Vhembe is also one of the eight district municipalities and only municipality in Limpopo identified to host and pilot SAconnect. About 1 210 sites in the districts have been identified for the project. These include education and health facilities. The project is expected to run for the next three years. The Department of Communications, in partnership with Broadband Infraco (BBI) and State Information Technology Agency (SITA), which is part of the SAconnect programme, has embarked on rolling out infrastructure in the form of fibre or broadband so that schools and health institutions get connectivity. Kekana said through connectivity, government wants to improve school performance. The Deputy Minister said the programme aims to improve government services and also ensure that communities in rural areas are also not left behind in the world of technology. School principal Louis Cilliers said when talking about technology, its important to make sure that learners are not left behind. We want our learners to go to university and they must be able to use these technologies. We thank government that we are among the first to benefit from the programme and hopefully in the next few years the school will obtain a 100% pass rate. The services will also assist teachers to improve their work, Cilliers said. Grade 12 learner Zander Venter said learners will make use of the digital services to help them with their school work and to pass matric. We will ensure that we do our best and become the best, said Venter. SAnews.gov.za This story has been published on: 2019-01-24. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article. Oneonta, NY (13820) Today Cloudy early with peeks of sunshine expected late. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. High 82F. Winds W at 5 to 10 mph.. Tonight Isolated thunderstorms this evening. Skies will become partly cloudy after midnight. Low 58F. Winds SW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 30%. Towanda, PA (18848) Today Mixed clouds and sun this morning. Scattered thunderstorms developing this afternoon. A few storms may be severe. High 86F. Winds W at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 40%.. Tonight Showers early, then partly cloudy overnight. Low around 60F. Winds WSW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 50%. This subscription will allow current subscribers of The St. Helens Chronicle to access all of our online Subscriber-Only content, including the E Editions area. NOTE: To claim your access to the site, you will need to enter the Last Name and First Name that is tied to your subscription in this format: SMITH, JOHN If you need help with exactly how your specific name needs be entered, please call us at 1-503-397-0116. A former Superstore employee who pled guilty to stealing more than $12,000 worth of merchandise from the store where he worked will spend time behind bars for his crimes. Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 24/1/2019 (876 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. A former Superstore employee who pled guilty to stealing more than $12,000 worth of merchandise from the store where he worked will spend time behind bars for his crimes. At a sentencing hearing in a Winnipeg courtroom on Tuesday afternoon Judge Julie Frederickson sentenced 48-year-old Joseph Papai to 90 days in custody, but also granted him a sentence that will allow him to serve his time on weekends. Court heard Papai was part of the management team at the Superstore in Steinbach when he stole approximately $12,300 worth of merchandise from the store over 10 months. Between Aug. 26, 2016 and June 26, 2017, Papai stole $9,700 worth of high-priced electronics from the store, then returned the items and credited himself, while also stealing another $2,600 worth of smaller items. Crown attorney Kristee Logan argued Papai deserved time in custody because he broke the trust of his former employer, as she sought a six-month sentence. Defence lawyer Janel UnRuh had recommended a suspended sentence and no jail time, arguing there were exceptional circumstances that led Papai to commit theft from his employer including addictions issues and financial trouble that saw his credit card debt climb to more than $60,000. "I am an alcoholic and I have a problem with that unfortunately, and I am trying to better myself," Papai said while addressing the court on Tuesday. Papai added that he believed his reputation had been destroyed after details of his guilty plea were published in The Carillon. After being fired from Superstore, Papai said he took another job at Red River Co-op but was released after the articles publication. Frederickson told Papai she believed he lacked insight when it came to understanding why he lost his job and was dealt a blow to his professional reputation. "You talked about the newspaper article ruining your reputation but I dont think you quite understand that you ruined your reputation," Frederickson said. "It was your actions that ruined your reputation, not any article that was published and I think that lack of insight comes through." Frederickson added she saw no exceptional circumstances in the case that would justify Papai avoiding jail time. "You certainly have sympathetic circumstances but not exceptional ones. When you didnt satisfy your debt instead of taking additional law-abiding steps you stole from your employer, an employer you worked with for 26 years," Frederickson said. Papai was also handed one year of supervised probation that will go into effect after he serves the 90-day sentence and was ordered to work 40 hours of community service and pay $12,300 in restitution to his former employer. A Del Mar sculptor and filmmaker have joined together to bring some Humanity to an Encinitas park. Maidy Morhous cylindiner bronze sculpture, titled Humanity, was installed at J Street Park, overlooking the Pacific Ocean, late last year. She created the piece in 2013 after being commissioned by local filmmaker Sue Vicory of Heartland Films, Inc. Morhous first met Vicory after being interviewed for her Telly award-winning documentary film, One, which explores the human experience and how people can be connected. Morhous recently spoke about Humanity, which was inspired by the film. She expects the City of Encinitas to host a dedication for the piece in the coming months. This Q&A has been shortened for length. For more information, visit www.maidymorhous.com or www.suevicory.com. Q: What is the story behind this piece? A: I personally did not come up with it. Sue Vicory is the director of Heartland Films, and she did a film called One. She interviewed, probably, 50 people and asked them what their concept of one meant to them. It all came back to man striving for the same thing in life. She had this feeling [in 2012] that she had to have a sculpture that went with it. She contacted me and said she wanted to do a sculpture out of bronze that would culminate her ideas on what humanity is. When I was talking to her, I told her I thought it should be the circle of life, so it should be a cylinder. Certain things popped up, like the ideas of the tree of life, the pathway of life and, of course, the different figures of the mother, child, the young hand, the old hand and people reaching toward a heavenly-type deal. ... She originally was taking it back to Kansas, and it did go to Kansas to go in a park. It just never came together. She decided to bring it here because this is her other home. Q: Was this challenging? A: Sue had a very precise vision for this piece; most commissions do. They have a vision and they want you to relate to that vision, which is difficult as an artist. If you see my artwork on my website, Ive pretty much gotten into pop art. I dont really do human figures too much, but that was back in 2012. In about 2013, I went to Japan and ended up experiencing the tsunami and that great earthquake they had over there. I did three sculptures that were figurative for the Japanese people, and they were donated to the City of Sendai in 2015. So, I was doing figurative kind of off and on. If it applies to my art, if it makes a point or statement, Ill still use a hand or face but I just do not do the typical figure sitting. I feel that art should push it a little further than that. There has to be a statement, and I think you have to kind of tweak it a little. Q: What made Encinitas and J Street Park the perfect place for this sculpture? A: Youll laugh because [Sues] husbands name is Jay. She said it was just the cherry on top. Sue and her husband love Encinitas. They either rent here or just along the coast in North County. ... She went around and specifically chose this park, where she wanted it and how it was facing. Q: What was the process like making this piece and how long did it take? A: Whats funny about that is Sue always says it took us as long as it does to make a child. It took nine months. She had a budget that would allow a certain size. When we decided on the round shape, I went and got Styrofoam and had it cut down the center so I could lay it flat and work both sides then put it together to mesh the lines so you couldnt see where it transposed from one half to the other. They cast it hollow, but it still weighs a ton. Its about 100 pounds. It was about May of 2013 when it was done. Q: When people view Humanity, what kind of message are you hoping to convey? A: You hope it always conveys a message. I think a piece of art is a point of reflection, and I think this whole area is a very calming, tranquil place. Everybody pulls a different part of their life from art. A part of it will impress them with trigger points within their own experiences in life. Thats all you can hope for in art. I always have people asking what I was thinking or meaning when I was working on a piece. I say you shouldnt ask an artist that because I can tell you what Im aiming to express, but its really how it impacts you. If it doesnt impact you, then move on. Every artist hopes to impact the viewer in some way. Q: What is your history with art? A: I got my degree in the arts, and I thought I would teach. When I was a kid, you became a teacher. That was just the sort of standard thing. I had a mother that was a water-colorist and an oil painter. In college, I decided to get into the arts but I wanted to teach college level. I got my masters of fine arts in sculpture and printmaking at the same time. I have a show in Naples, Italy this year and a couple up in Los Angeles. I just had one at the Oceanside Museum of Art. I have a couple of galleries throughout the United States and have work in Sweden, Japan, Europe and Canada. Im in it 24/7 now, and Im loving it. Seattle: Boeing Co said on Wednesday its flying car prototype hovered briefly in the air during an inaugural test flight, a small but significant step as the world's largest planemaker bids to revolutionise urban transportation and parcel delivery services. Boeing is competing with arch-rival Airbus SE and numerous other firms to introduce small self-flying vehicles capable of vertical takeoff and landing. The investments, fueled by leaps in autonomous technology as much as frustration with road congestion, could change the face of the aerospace industry within the next decade. Boeing's autonomous passenger air vehicle prototype in Manassas, Virginia. Credit:Boeing Boeing's 9-metre aircraft part helicopter, part drone and part fixed-wing plane lifted a few feet off the ground and made a soft landing after less than a minute of being airborne on Tuesday at an airport in Manassas, Virginia, Boeing said. Seoul: A former chief justice of South Korea's Supreme Court was arrested early Thursday on charges of conspiring with the nation's disgraced former president to manipulate its ruling on a case that threatened to upset relations with Japan. The ex-justice, Yang Sung-tae, 71, is the first former or sitting chief justice to be arrested on criminal charges in South Korea. He was taken into custody shortly after a court in Seoul, the capital, issued an arrest warrant early Thursday. Yang's arrest is expected to be followed by a formal indictment. Although Yang has vehemently denied all charges against him, prosecutors in South Korea seldom fail to indict criminal suspects they have arrested. Former Supreme Court Chief Justice Yang Sung-tae, centre, arrives to attend a hearing for reviewing the prosecution's detention warrant at the Seoul Central District Court on Wednesday. Credit:AP Yang, who served as chief justice from 2011 until 2017, is also accused of discriminating against judges considered unfriendly to his leadership and to the former and impeached president, Park Geun-hye, by influencing job postings and promotions. Auditor General Caroline Spencer has scolded Regional Development Minister Alannah MacTiernan for unnecessarily redacting an entire section of an agreement between the state and embattled renewables company Carnegie Clean Energy. The agreement was tabled in parliament following a question from Nationals MLC Martin Aldridge about Labors election promise to build a wave farm off the Albany coast. Regional Development Minister Alannah MacTiernan has been scolded by the Auditor General. Credit:AAP Image/Tony McDonough Carnegie won the contract but its ability to build the wave farm has since come into question after it took huge financial hits from changes to the federal government's research and development tax incentives. Acting on advice from the Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development, Ms MacTiernan triggered section 82 of the Financial Management Act, allowing her to redact an entire section of the agreement on the basis it was commercially sensitive. Police will soon deploy Protective Services Officers on tram routes with higher incidences of crime as new figures show nearly a third of Victorians feel unsafe on public transport at night. But Police Minister Lisa Neville has stopped short of committing to PSO patrols across Melbourne's entire tram network, a week after international student Aiia Maasarwe was killed walking from a tram stop in the city's north. Ms Neville said an extra 100 PSOs -25 of whom are currently stationed on the train network - could be deployed on trams. "As more PSOs come out, Victorian Police are now in position to make decisions on when and how they deploy them onto trams," she said. Police have found the body of a father who went missing in bushland close to Rockingham. A WA Police spokeswoman said Sean Trainor's death was not being treated as suspicious and a report would be prepared for the coroner. Sean Trainor's car was found in a Rockingham park. Credit:WA Police Mr Trainor went missing overnight and his vehicle was found parked in the Rockingham Lakes National Park carpark in Karnup about 8pm. Police and SES teams searched the area using heat-sensing technology and an RAC helicopter, and backup search teams arrived at the site at 7am Thursday. Ever since the "scratch ticket" debacle in 1990 claimed then transport minister Jim Kennan, theres been a need to carefully define what an effective public transport ticketing system is, against the various tech-enthusiasms and agendas of political and bureaucratic insiders. Mike Smith was fined for using an expired myki card. Credit:Luis Enrique Ascui At a high level, the acid test of effective ticketing is simple, and twofold: it should make it easy for a passenger to pay the right fare, and difficult for them to avoid doing so. Its not just that the system should be designed to minimise deliberate fare evasion. As far as practicable no one, having put up their cash and tendered their fare as instructed, should be prevented from doing so purely by the machinery of the system. Even more, it would be a denial of natural justice for a passenger to cop a penalty simply because the machinery gets in the way of paying. A self-proclaimed spiritual healer told a woman with terminal cancer he could cure her using alternative remedies and encouraged her to stop medical treatment, health authorities have found. The woman in her 60s had been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, an aggressive disease with a low survival rate. The Health Complaints Commissioner found that healer Dennis Wayne Jensen supplied her with B17, a compound extracted from stone fruit which has been linked to cyanide poisoning, claiming it would cure her cancer. Self-proclaimed healer Dennis Wayne Jensen. Mr Jensen, who lives on a bushland property in North Warrandyte, had previously come to the attention of authorities over his treatment of nurse Helen Lawson, who he allegedly prescribed another controversial alternative treatment, a corrosive paste called black salve. Police will be out in force in Melbournes CBD on Australia Day over fears of violent scenes between pro-Indigenous activists and far-right groups. Saturday's Invasion Day rally, organised by Warriors of the Aboriginal Resistance, seeks to protest against January 26 remaining Australia's national day, a date supporters view as marking the beginning of Indigenous dispossession. Far-right groups are also set to converge on the CBD on Saturday, with an event promoted by convicted criminal Neil Erikson. Police gather in force. Credit:Darrian Traynor The state government and Victorian Police are preparing for clashes similar to those seen at St Kilda beach earlier this month, when 100 far-right activists, some doing Nazi salutes, clashed with 200 anti-racism protesters. A common IVF treatment marketed as a fertility booster and costing hundreds of dollars is useless, research shows. Endometrial scratching did not offer women a better chance of taking home a baby after IVF, found the largest and most comprehensive trial of the procedure. The popular IVF add-on did not increase the rate of live births, according to the results of the randomised controlled trial of 1364 women in five countries (Australia, New Zealand, UK, Sweden and Belgium) who were undergoing embryo transfers. On this basis of this study, which is the biggest and most robust to date, we would encourage IVF clinics to stop offering it, said senior study author Cindy Farquhar, Postgraduate Professor of Obstetrics and Gynaecology at the University of Auckland. Its hard to overstate how much is at stake in the Australian governments handling of the arrest of writer, commentator and Australian citizen Yang Hengjun in China. A limp response from the government risks not only Yangs safety, but could also jeopardise much broader goals. It would send a message to Beijing that our commitments to freedom of speech, to international agreements and to our ability to set domestic policy without foreign interference are negotiable. Captured Chinese-Australian writer Yang Hengjun. Credit:Tanya Lake Yangs arrest, under the charge endangering national security, fits a pattern of unacceptable and reckless international behaviour by Beijing over recent months. Following Canadas arrest of an executive at Chinese telecom giant Huawei, Beijing arrested two Canadians for harm to national security and re-tried another, upgrading his sentence for drug smuggling from 15 years to the death penalty. Chinas ambassador to Canada later admitted those arrests were an act of retaliation, and the timing of Yangs arrest can hardly be a coincidence. Beijing is trying to send a clear message: we are willing to break the rules to punish and coerce countries that get on our bad side. The road is so hot in a tiny north-western Queensland town that the council thinks you could cook your Australia Day barbecue on it. Boulia, about 300km south of Mount Isa, was sweltering in 45 degree heat on Thursday. Rob Carn and Cloncurry Shire Council show city slickers how to celebrate Australia Day in the outback. Credit:Cloncurry Shire Council Boulia Shire Council works director Harin Karra decided to measure the temperature of the road after he began to smell melting bitumen on Tuesday. I quickly checked the temperature on the road right in front of me. The temperature gauge registered 68 degrees," he said. South-east Queenslands mayors want to see 47 road and rail projects across the region completed to prevent total gridlock by 2041 at a total cost of $63 billion. The plan was announced on Thursday morning with the release of a SEQ People Mass Movement Study, investigating the impact population growth was likely to have on transport issues. A plan to push for federal and state commitment to major road and transport projects is under way in south-east Queensland. Credit:Michelle Smith The Council of Mayors (SEQ) commissioned the study as part of exploration into a potential Olympic Games bid, but emphasised the importance of the transport plan regardless of whether that bid was successful. The estimated cost to deliver all 47 projects from 2019 to 2041 is about $2.7 billion a year, which the Council of Mayors argued was feasible. Skin cancer experts want putting on sunscreen to become as much a part of our daily routine as brushing our teeth. The push comes following the latest scientific consensus that even minimal daily exposure to the harsh Australian sun can cause skin cancer. The cumulative effects of UV exposure are becoming clear. A report published on Friday in the Australian and New Zealand Journal of Public Health looked at all the current evidence and research about sun exposure and skin cancer. It concluded there was clear evidence of the benefits of daily use of sunscreen, as opposed to topical use when people knew they would be in the sun for a long time, such as at the beach or the park. Fred Sutherland, who has died aged 95, was one of the last two surviving airmen who took part in the Dambusters raid. Only Johnny Johnson is now left. Sutherland was the front gunner in Australian Pilot Officer Les Knights crew, which formed part of the main formation tasked to attack the Mohne dam on the night of May 16-17 1943. After flying at very low level over Holland and Germany they arrived at the dam as the leader, Wing Commander Guy Gibson, began his attack. After the fifth aircraft had breached the dam, the three aircraft that had not dropped their Upkeep bouncing bombs headed for the Eder Dam led by Gibson. A Lancaster bomber swoops over Eyebrook Reservoir in central England, May 17, 2003. to mark the 60th anniversary of the Dambuster raid. Credit:AP Surrounded by hills, the approach to the Eder was much more difficult and each aircraft had to make several dummy runs before achieving the critical height of 60 ft and the exact speed. The first two bombs failed to breach the dam, leaving Knight and his crew as the last chance for success. On his second attack, the bomb was dropped accurately and, as the water subsided, the dam wall began to crumble before collapsing. In the meantime, Knight was using all his strength to haul the Lancaster over the fast-approaching high ground of the Michelskopf. He was named Philip indirectly after Philip Neri, a figure of the Italian Renaissance. It has been said that Philip Neri possessed a playful sense of humour, combined with a shrewd wit, and the same might well be said about Philip Meehan. Once, at his cellar door, a visitor declared that he was "not drinking", to which Phil responded playfully, "Then get out of here!" They become friends. Jim Meehan was a member of the Australian Board of Control for International Cricket that famously withdrew an invitation to the all-white South African cricket team to tour Australia. The Board was photographed for the first time at that meeting on September 8, 1971, published in the Sydney Morning Herald. Jim was also the proprietor of The Record, the South Melbourne and district suburban newspaper founded in 1868, subsequently acquired by The Age. Phil went to school at Mandeville Hall, Burke Hall and Xavier College in Melbourne. Although not particularly scholarly, he had a flair for chemistry, and this was a harbinger. Friends and family are deeply saddened at his unexpected death, just as his talent as a grower and winemaker is coming to be recognised. Phil had long been interested in food and cooking. He made frequent use of the Women's Weekly cookbooks because of their concise and practical recipes, but his favourite was Larousse Gastronomique. Wife Judy reports that he would sometimes choose a cookbook for bedtime reading. Phil insisted that he made wines to be taken with food. Today there is a sign in his winery, the "cellar door" where visitors sample his wines, and it reads: "A meal without wine is called breakfast". Good advice, and witty, too. He mentioned recently that his interest in wine and winemaking was aroused a long time ago. He recalled a particular trip with friends in the 1960s to South Australia and having been impressed with the offerings of some of the makers there. The father of a school friend in the hospitality industry introduced Phil to fine wine, including Chateau d'Yquem and 40-year-old vintage ports. Following an experiment with pinot noir in a joint venture near Bannockburn, Phil and Judy acquired a modest property at the northwest end of Heathcote's main street on the hallowed pre-Cambrian soil, elevated, with a lovely view of Mt Ida. Of course, they planted shiraz, the variety that has made Heathcote a destination for lovers of rich, velvety reds. From the beginning, Phil's objective was to make a red wine with all the Heathcote character, but distinctive. Phil's benchmark was St Emilion, a wine appellation in the Bordeaux region of France, where red wine is made mainly from a blend of cabernet sauvignon, cabernet franc and merlot. He wanted to capture some of the je ne sais quoi of St Emilion, but with Heathcote shiraz. Phil's teacher was a winemaker from Burgundy who imparted a philosophy of making wine with an emphasis on pH, a measure of acidity, more than Baume, a measure of specific gravity, which indicates sugar content, in turn, an indicator of alcohol. So, Phil aspired to a Bordeaux style but also drawing from Burgundian practice. Phil was also interested in how in the Sauternes appellation from the Bordeaux region a (white) wine of such astonishing quality could be produced. With some research, he found that it was a result of careful attention to local tradition, flawless chemistry, and use of only the best oak barrels. This became Phil's mantra: he listened carefully to other Heathcote winemakers, he was already keen on chemistry, and he used premium oak barrels from the Loire region. The result has been velvety red wine a little lower in alcohol, but distinctive, just as he intended. Although the parallel is presumptuous, like the late Dr Max Lake, Phil came to winemaking late in life, and similarly, he has been able to produce an authentic regional wine that is stylistically slightly different. He regarded Lake's Folly cabernet sauvignon as a classic of the Hunter region. Ever of a generous mind, Phil attributed much of his emerging recognition to a handful of other Heathcote winemakers whom he respected, trusted, and counted amongst his circle of close friends. They know who they are. Phil always said he felt at home in Heathcote, and he was actively involved in the local community. Two of his paternal great-grandparents, Irish immigrants, lived, worked and died in the central goldfields, and are buried in the cemetery just out of Castlemaine. It was Phil who found where they had lived, their graves, and the inquest transcript of William Meehan's death in a mining accident, and so he named his premium shiraz "William". Phil's maternal great-grandparents all met, married and are buried in Bendigo. One of the men, a Scot who was a friend of Stuart, the explorer, was a surveyor; the other, American by birth, was a horseman with Cobb & Co. The slogans plastered along the main promenade at Davos don't help. Indonesia is apparently working hard on "unity in diversity 4.0". Infosys will help you to "navigate your next". And Salesforce channels a Japanese poet in declaring: "Individually we are one drop. Together we are the ocean." Lots of talk, but how much is achieved? Credit:AP I mean, what does "unity in diversity" actually mean? And have there really been three earlier iterations of this meaningless paradox? Sounds like gobbledegook 4.0 to me. Then there are some of the wackier panels taking place around the World Economic Forum. Today Anthony Scaramucci, Trump's spokesman for 11 days, will interview Ehud Barak, the former prime minister of Israel, on the subject of "exporting cannabis innovation". Davos is incredibly easy to lampoon and criticise, which is why so many people do. This year is no different - in fact, it may be even worse than usual. The chorus of voices bemoaning Davos as nothing more than a talking shop, where a lot of hot air is generated but not much is achieved, is building to a crescendo. Indeed, many point out that far from being the world's saviours, the global elite gathered in the Swiss mountain resort are a big part of the problem. Corey Miller, the rapper known as C-Murder, failed this week in a bid to have his conviction for a 2002 killing in Harvey thrown out or retried, after a judge ruled that the recantations of two witnesses in the case were not credible. Judge Steven Enright of 24th Judicial District Court ruled Wednesday that Miller, who was convicted in 2009 of fatally shooting Steven Thomas in a Harvey nightclub in 2002, did not meet the burden of proof for post-conviction relief. +16 C-Murder witness recants testimony that rapper fatally shot teen in Harvey nightclub A key witness against Corey "C-Murder" Miller changed his story Tuesday (June 26), swearing he lied when he testified that the rapper shot and Miller's attorney had argued that his conviction should be thrown out, or at least that he should be granted a hearing to argue the matter in court. Citing precedents, Enright wrote that recantations of previous testimony "are highly suspicious" and rarely rise to the level necessary to grant a new trial. Except in rare circumstances, he wrote, "a new trial should not be granted on the basis of a recantation because it is tantamount to perjury so as to discredit the witness at a later trial." Miller's attorney, Paul Barker, could not be reached for comment about whether he will appeal the ruling. Miller, 47, is the younger brother of Percy Miller, the rap mogul better known as Master P. His high-profile case was thrown back into the spotlight in June when the true-crime television series "Reasonable Doubt" focused on it, interviewing two witnesses who have now changed their stories. The two also filed sworn affidavits to that effect on behalf of Corey Miller, who is serving life in prison. Kenneth Jordan said he was lying when he told police he saw Miller stand over the 16-year-old Thomas during a brawl at the Platinum Club on Jan. 12, 2002, and fire a single shot into his chest. He said investigators had threatened to charge him with killing his infant son, whose death was under investigation at the time, if he didnt identify Miller as the shooter. The child's mother was later convicted of that murder. In his affidavit, Kenneth Jordan said he saw another man with a dark complexion in a hoodie shoot Thomas. 'I was distraught and scared': Eyewitness recants ID of rapper 'C-Murder' in nightclub murder One of two key witnesses who identified rapper Corey C-Murder Miller as the lone gunman in a 2002 nightclub killing in Harvey has recanted, Top stories in New Orleans in your inbox Twice daily we'll send you the day's biggest headlines. Sign up today. e-mail address * Sign Up The other witness, a security guard named Darnell Jordan, told the program that he saw no gun in Miller's waistband during the fight that preceded the shooting and that he had been tricked into testifying against Miller. On Wednesday, after months of legal filings from the defense and prosecutors with Jefferson Parish District Attorney Paul Connick's office, Enright ruled that Miller's defense hadn't made its case. Enright wrote that Kenneth Jordan's claim that he was offered leniency by investigators on unrelated charges was not credible because he provided no evidence other than his word and that it had been refuted by investigators. He also said there were inaccuracies in Jordan's affidavit, including the fact that he was never actually arrested in relation to the death of his daughter. Also, Enright wrote, Jordan's claim that he had told prosecutors in 2003 he had lied was vague and that had that happened, it would have been in the files from the first trial, which were disclosed after the verdict was overturned. As for Darnell Jordan, Enright wrote that he testified consistently before the grand jury, at Miller's first trial in 2003, which was later overturned, and at the 2009 trial in which he was convicted again. That conviction was upheld on direct appeal. He wrote that Darnell Jordan told a detective the night of the shooting that he saw Miller shoot Thomas before he began changing his story in subsequent interviews with investigators. Then when it came time to testify, Jordan returned to his initial account, explaining he had been afraid that one of Miller's friends could try to hurt him if he told the truth. Master P holds a rally for the release of his brother Corey 'C-Murder' Miller Rapper, music producer and businessman Percy "Master P" Miller held a brief rally on the Xavier University campus on Thursday (July 5), advoca "This testimony goes against petitioner's claim that Darnell Jordan was tricked into testifying as he did," Enright wrote. The two recantations were not the only points raised by Miller's defense in its petition, but they were the most recent claims to be added to it and garnered the most public attention. Enright had already ruled that most of the issues raised, including Miller's claim of innocence and claims about his right to a fair trial having been violated, were not subject to review in a petition for post-conviction relief. Two final claims of ineffective assistance of counsel at trial and on appeal were still open, and Enright denied those Wednesday as well. He wrote that none of the issues cited rose to the level of rendering Miller's representation deficient. Matters of which witnesses were and were not to called to testify, for example, were part of the defense's trial strategy and not grounds for relief, he wrote. Frederick Brown was already an experienced drug trafficker when he first got a phone call in 2013 from Chad Scott, known as "Big Dog" among those in the drug trade who feared him as an aggressive federal agent. "I hung up," Brown said. When Scott called right back, Brown made his wife answer. "I gave her the phone like it's a disease," he said Wednesday in federal court as one of the star witnesses in the corruption trial of Scott, who is accused of perjury, obstruction of justice and other crimes. Brown is currently in jail awaiting sentencing on a drug trafficking charge. He is hoping for a reduced sentence in exchange for his testimony against Scott. That phone call was the start of a relationship between the two men: one a major drug trafficker moving cocaine and heroin from Houston to Louisiana, the other a federal drug agent looking to make big cases in southeast Louisiana. Both men allegedly benefited from the association. Scott got information on shipments moving along the Interstate 12 corridor. In return, Scott offered some measure of possible protection for Brown, and the promise of eventual help if he was ever arrested. Brown's testimony about the drug trade and his interactions with federal agents came as Scott sat at the defendant's table in U.S. District Court in New Orleans, facing seven counts including perjury, obstruction and falsification of government records in the rare trial of a federal law enforcement officer. U.S. District Judge Jane Triche Milazzo is hearing the case. On Wednesday, Brown provided a window into the world of high-dollar drug trafficking, where hundreds of kilos of cocaine and heroin move from Houston to the east coast, and millions of dollars in cash flow back the other way. Brown testified that when he got out of jail in 2008 after a 13-year stint for dealing, he had very little money. He described how he persuaded drug suppliers, including one named Edwin Martinez, to "front" him drugs in Houston that he would transport to Hammond, Louisiana. Once there, Brown sold it on to two men, who put it out on the street. By cutting the kilos of cocaine with other substances, Brown testified, he could increase his profit. At one point, Brown was paying $27,000 per kilogram of cocaine in Houston, then reselling it for $36,000 in Hammond. Brown was good at it: Over a two-year period, he made about $400,000, he testified. But he kept moving more drugs. By selling in Atlanta and Baltimore, he could move a greater volume than if he was just going to Hammond, he said. He stopped using cars to transport the drugs, because "cops look for cars," he said. Instead, he started using 18-wheelers. "I would just give the driver a suitcase," he said. Truck drivers know their routes and they know where police are likely to be, he said. Brown was living the lavish lifestyle of a successful drug dealer, too. He bought Bentleys, a Rolls-Royce and a Mercedes for his wife. The pair built a fancy new house and wore hundreds of thousands of dollars in jewelry. Brown's favorite purchase was his white Ford Harley-Davidson Edition pickup. Scott also took a liking to the truck, Brown testified. In 2014, Scott told Brown that he needed to start turning over assets in order to show prosecutors that he was cooperating. One such asset was the truck, Brown said. But it had too many miles on it, so Brown instead bought a $43,000 white Ford F-150 pickup at an auction and turned that over to Scott along with a Rolex watch, according to Brown's testimony. Top stories in New Orleans in your inbox Twice daily we'll send you the day's biggest headlines. Sign up today. e-mail address * Sign Up That didn't end their relationship. In 2015, Brown was called to a meeting with Scott at a Houston-area hotel. At that meeting, Scott asked Brown if he knew Jorge Perralta, who was a drug supplier. Brown said he didn't, even though Perralta was the supplier for Edwin Martinez, from whom Brown often bought drugs. Scott showed him a picture of Perralta and asked if he was sure. Because Brown wanted to do whatever it took to help Scott in the hope of not being charged, he went along with saying he knew the man, he said. Nine months later, Scott came to see him again, asking about Perralta. He persuaded Brown to testify that Perralta had been at drug transactions with Edwin Martinez. Brown testified in Perralta's trial, and Perralta was convicted. But within weeks, he had been released and two members of Scott's task force had been arrested. Scott found himself at the center of a sprawling investigation that focused on his task force and dozens of cases going back more than a decade. The story laid out by Brown to federal prosecutors offered a relatively detailed description of the drug trade and his interactions with Scott. But a cross-examination by Stephen Garcia, one of Scott's attorneys, sought to highlight Brown's admitted crimes in order to raise questions about the truth of his testimony. Brown admitted to lying and drug trafficking but insisted he was telling the truth now. Garcia asked Brown if he was willing to say whatever it would take to get his sentence reduced. "You need a lifeline to get you out of jail quicker, don't you?" he asked. "You mean what do I need to do?" Brown replied. "As a snitch, you would be the lowest of the low," Garcia said. "But if you bring down Chad Scott, you would be a hero?" Brown agreed that a lot of people in jail would be happy if Scott were convicted. Garcia hammered Brown over the dates and details of previous statements, prompting multiple "I don't knows" from Brown and including several bench conferences as Judge Jane Triche Milazzo attempted to sort through the various objections raised by prosecutors during Garcia's questioning. During one testy exchange, Garcia questioned Brown about his testimony at Perralta's trial. "I perjured myself," Brown said. "No question about that sir," Garcia retorted, drawing an admonition from the judge. The trial will resume Thursday. Confirming months of speculation, Jefferson Parish Councilwoman Cynthia Lee-Sheng announced Wednesday that she will run for parish president in October, a decision that had immediate ripple effects throughout the pool of confirmed and potential candidates for Parish Council seats. Her decision did not come as a big surprise. The daughter of popular former Sheriff Harry Lee and a parish councilwoman since 2009, Lee-Sheng had long said she was strongly considering a run, and observers had pegged her as an instant front-runner were she to get into the race. Lee-Sheng said that after 10 years on the legislative side of parish government, she is ready to spend some time on the administrative side. Im probably more of an operational thinker and that side was always something that was interesting to me, she said. Ive been excited about it for a long time. But while the decision may not have been difficult to make professionally, it took longer to come to terms with the personal dimensions. Committing to the rigors of a campaign and, if she wins, assuming a responsibility Lee-Sheng characterized as more than just a job, are not things she took lightly, she said. Ive had some setbacks in life, she said, alluding to the loss of her husband, Stewart Sheng, who died suddenly of a heart attack in 2014. And I wanted to make sure my children were supportive of me because it is that big of a job. It is often noted that in Jefferson Parish government, the president lacks the executive power enjoyed by, say, the New Orleans mayor. And Lee-Sheng could easily have just run for another at-large term on the Parish Council. But she doesnt see it that way. She said she looks forward to the challenge of leading the parish administration and making sure it runs efficiently and meets the needs of residents. Operationally speaking, it takes a good manager to get the most out of people, she said. Lee-Sheng said she will wait until her official announcement, set for Feb. 12, to talk about her goals and platform. But she said the skills and relationships she has honed during a decade on the council will serve her well. I think (with) people, even if we have different points of view, I can have a conversation with them, she said. And I think that goes a long way in politics today. Lee-Sheng's only opponent at this point is former Parish President John Young, who has already announced his intention to seek the office again. He has batted aside speculation that he would switch to an at-large race if Lee-Sheng entered the race, and he did so again Wednesday. "I'm running for parish president," he told The Advocate. "That's what democracy's all about, letting voters have a choice." Top stories in New Orleans in your inbox Twice daily we'll send you the day's biggest headlines. Sign up today. e-mail address * Sign Up The biggest question remaining is whether incumbent Parish President Mike Yenni will seek re-election when his term ends this year. Yenni said Wednesday he has not made a decision about running. "No one is going to rush me into any decision," he said. "I don't have a timetable." Political observers have said his chances at a second term were dealt a fatal blow by his 2016 admission that he sent "inappropriate" texts to a 17-year-old boy during the campaign in 2015. Yenni survived a recall attempt, but other allegations vehemently denied by Yenni, who is married that he had given the teen underwear and kissed him in a mall bathroom were widely considered to have made another term highly unlikely. Yenni's fortunes were buoyed somewhat by a University of New Orleans poll released earlier this year that put his job approval rating at 60 percent. But the poll didn't ask how many would support Yenni in a future election. And the question came on the heels of a sheriff's race in which the early leader, former Col. John Fortunato, saw his standing plummet after telling an audience he would support Yenni for re-election. When Fortunato lost to current Sheriff Joe Lopinto, the lesson gleaned by Jefferson politicians was that most voters still find Yenni's name toxic. During her time on the council, Lee-Sheng has often focused on "smart growth" and quality-of-life issues, most recently spearheading an effort to cut down on excessive signs and other visual clutter. She also has taken the lead on making sure new developments and public spaces are constructed in a way that decreases the risk of flooding. Lee-Sheng's decision has already started shaping a handful of council races that will be up for election on Oct. 12. Until now, only one of the council's two at-large seats was guaranteed to be open the one held by Councilman Chris Roberts, who can't run parishwide again because of term limits. Paul Johnston, who has said he was going to run for one of the at-large seats, said Wednesday that he will run for Lee-Sheng's seat, which is Division B. District 1 Councilman Ricky Templet, who had been weighing a run, confirmed Wednesday afternoon that he will seek one of the at-large seats. He said he will not say which one until he announces his candidacy, which he said he will do "shortly." Similarly, Keith Conley, who stepped down as Yenni's chief operating officer at the end of December, confirmed Wednesday that he will run for an at-large seat, but like Templet, he declined to say which one. The election "is still a ways out," said Conley, a former Kenner city councilman. "I don't think today was a surprise. People had suspected that there would be two at-large races opening up." Templet's decision will open up the District 1 seat, which Roberts could decide to seek if he wants to remain on the council. Advocate staff writer Faimon A. Roberts III contributed to this report. The next installment of the Letters Read series from arts organization Antenna will explore the desegregation of New Orleans libraries Presented by Nancy Sharon Collins and Antenna, the series features local performers interpreting letters written by people throughout New Orleans history and communities. The library edition is 6 p.m.-7:30 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 13 at the Nora Navra branch (902 St. Bernard Ave.) in the 7th Ward. New Orleans' segregated library system operated two libraries for African-American residents a library on Dryades Street closed following Hurricane Betsy in 1965, and Branch Nine opened in 1946. That library first built in a Valena C. Jones Elementary School building before moving into two army surplus huts later was renamed after patron Nora Navra after the library moved into its permanent building in 1954. Nora Navra closed following Hurricane Katrina and the levee failures and reopened after new construction in 2017. Integration efforts were spearheaded by then-Dillard University President Abert C. Dent and civil rights activist Rosa Keller, who campaigned against the city's segregated library facilities as a member of the library board. On March 10, 1954 amid arguments leading up to that year's landmark U.S. Supreme Court decision in Brown v. Board that paved the way for integration efforts Keller remained the only member of the board to promote integration. The libraries were integrated months later. +12 Freedom Readers: Libraries were an early, strategic target in the battle for civil rights In the long struggle for civil rights, weve all heard of the bridge at Selma, the bus boycott in Montgomery but what about libraries? President Donald Trump says he'll sign legislation shortly to reopen shuttered government departments for three weeks until Feb. 15. Que Pasta, a new Cuban-themed food concept, has taken over the kitchen at Mid-City bar Twelve Mile Limit. When notoriously colorful Jefferson Parish Sheriff Harry Lee died in 2007, he was replaced by his handpicked top aide, Newell Normand, whom many viewed as like a son to the late sheriff. And Normand was an interesting transition figure from the world in which Lee reigned one where he declined to run for governor because he said he considered being sheriff the closest there is to being king in America to a more modern way of doing business. Like Lee, Normand could be blustery, and he liked to mix it up in other peoples politics and other types of parish business. But he also professionalized the offices practices, embraced technology, and ended Lees practice of expecting deputies to raise money for his political campaigns. Grace Notes: In backing Mike Yenni, John Fortunato makes wrong kind of headline in sheriff's race Who would have guessed that the most dramatic endorsement in the Jefferson Parish Sheriff's race wouldnt be of a candidate, but by a candidate? Lees only child, Cynthia Lee-Sheng, has a public profile that strays even further from her famous fathers. A parish council member and, as of Wednesday, candidate for parish president, Lee-Sheng is much less a table-pounder than a technocrat. Shes yet to outline her specific agenda, but in unveiling her candidacy, she stressed her taste for effective management. Im probably more of an operational thinker and that side was always something that was interesting to me, she said. Ive been excited about it for a long time. While there still could be some shifting around, as of now Lee-Sheng will face former Parish President John Young and possibly incumbent Mike Yenni, who has yet to declare his intentions. Yenni, of course, has brought more than enough drama to the parish presidents office in his one term in office, and theres a good chance that Jefferson voters have had enough of that. Regardless of what he does, Lee-Sheng, a CPA by trade, starts off with a lot going for her. That includes her family history. Probably even more, it includes her decidedly next-generation style. Purchases made via links on our site may earn us an affiliate commission A Livingston Parish man has been arrested in the death of a 37-year-old French Settlement man whose body was found Sunday on the side of a road, Sheriff Jason Ard said. Brandon Ainsworth, 28, and the victim, Jesse Hebert, are believed to have been acquaintances whom witnesses said had a "history of not getting along with one another," Ard said in a news release. The motive for the slaying is not yet known, the sheriff said Wednesday. Hebert's body was found on the side of Bull Run Road, south of Springfield. Evidence collected at the scene led detectives to Mitchell Road in French Settlement, where a truck had been set on fire. Ard said autopsy reports show Hebert died from a single gunshot wound. Top stories in Baton Rouge in your inbox Twice daily we'll send you the day's biggest headlines. Sign up today. e-mail address * Sign Up Ainsworth was booked Wednesday at the Livingston Parish jail on counts of second-degree murder, obstruction of justice and unlawful disposal of remains, Ard said Wednesday. No address was listed in the booking records. Ainsworth had already been in jail on unrelated drug charges, Sheriff's Office spokeswoman Lori Steele said. Officials have not yet indicated when the slaying took place. EDITOR'S NOTE: This story was modified on Thursday, Jan. 24, 2019, to correct the booking date on the counts related to the slaying. Ainsworth was booked on those counts on Wednesday, Jan. 23, not on Sunday, Jan. 20. The family of a 14-year-old Brusly Middle School student who was seen in surveillance footage being slammed to the ground by a Brusly Police Department officer has filed a lawsuit against the police and school district. The boy's grandmother, Doris Snearl, claims in the suit that Officer Anthony "Kip" Dupre had no reasonable grounds to physically restrain the boy nor to slam him to the floor in the principal's office during an encounter Oct. 5. She claims the child has special needs and that both police and the school failed their duty of care. Dupre and another officer, Dan Cipriano, both 46, were indicted by a West Baton Rouge Parish grand jury in December. Dupre was charged with one count of malfeasance in office and Cipriano one count of misdemeanor battery. Both men resigned in November before they were charged. +2 Leaked video: Brusly officer slams middle school student twice; police chief shocked Video footage of a police officer wrestling with a 14-year-old Brusly Middle School student last month has leaked in the midst of a Louisiana The suit, filed Friday in U.S. District Court in Baton Rouge, names school resource officers Cipriano and Dupre, as well as the town of Brusly and the West Baton Rouge Parish School District as defendants. The incident caused concern within the Brusly community, as residents marched to the town hall and demanded transparency in the investigation. The boys family claims they were misled about what happened in the office building that morning and found the extent of the encounter through leaked video footage shown in the media. Snearl claims her grandson was bloodied and bruised when she arrived at the police station afterward and said he has had nightmares and required counseling in the months that have followed. West Baton Rouge Parish schools Superintendent Wes Watts said he cannot comment on pending litigation, and Brusly Police Chief Jonathan Lefeaux did not respond to a request for comment. +4 After Brusly officer slammed boy, police finish investigation without arrest; case goes to grand jury State Police have completed their probe into the October scuffle involving two Brusly police officers and a middle school student a confront The student was diagnosed with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder during the 2018 school year, the lawsuit says, leading Snearl to seek additional services and a behavioral plan to help him in school. She claims the school district failed in its evaluations of the child and provided only additional time to complete work and testing instead of a full management plan. The boy was ordered to attend detention the morning of Oct. 5 and was told by the assistant principal that he would need to go straight to detention or risk having the police called, the suit states. The student refused and went to the office to call his grandmother to pick him up, so the assistant principal asked Dupre to come to the office. Dupre, standing at 6 feet 300 pounds according to the lawsuit, is accused of physically assaulting the boy, whose grandmother estimates he weighs about 145 pounds. Top stories in Baton Rouge in your inbox Twice daily we'll send you the day's biggest headlines. Sign up today. e-mail address * Sign Up Dupre claimed the teenager tried to grab his gun during the scuffle on the ground, which is largely out of the leaked surveillance cameras view, but the lawsuit claims the boy was trying to free his hand because he was in pain. The video footage appears to show Dupre handing his weapon to someone else during the incident. Can't see video below? Click here. Cipriano entered the office during the scuffle, where he is accused in the suit of slamming the boys head onto a desk, causing his chin to bleed. Snearl accuses multiple staff members, who can be seen standing by as the incident occurs, of being complicit. She also claims deficiencies and negligence in the school resource officer policies between Brusly police and the school system and failures in training school resource officers in de-escalation techniques or alternative restraint. The family's attorney, Kwame Asante, said Wednesday that the Police Department failed in its duty to train officers on interactions with special-needs students. He said the school also failed by turning an issue like discipline, which should be a school administration issue, over to officers. "The family feels that when you have police officers using pain compliant techniques designed for adults, on children, the school is also responsible," he said. Snearl is seeking damages on both her and her grandsons behalf, claiming they both endured pain and suffering, humiliation, inconvenience, mental anguish and loss of enjoyment of life. Both Cipriano and Dupre's criminal cases are ongoing. WASHINGTON (AP) A prominent American-born anchorwoman on Iranian state television who was held in the U.S. as a material witness was released from jail Wednesday evening. Marzieh Hashemi, 59, was released from jail in Washington after being detained for 10 days, according to Abed Ayoub, an attorney with the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee. Hashemi, who works for the Press TV network's English-language service, was detained by federal agents Jan. 13 in St. Louis, Missouri, where she had filmed a Black Lives Matter documentary after visiting relatives in the New Orleans area, her son said. She was then transported to Washington and had remained behind bars since then. Jailed Iranian TV anchor, originally from Louisiana, not charged with crime, feds confirm WASHINGTON (AP) Federal officials confirmed Friday that a prominent American-born anchorwoman on Iranian state television was jailed in the Hashemi appeared at least twice before a U.S. District judge in Washington, and court papers said she would be released immediately after her testimony before a grand jury. Court documents did not include details on the criminal case in which she was named a witness. Federal law allows judges to order witnesses to be detained if the government can prove that their testimony has extraordinary value for a criminal case and that they would be a flight risk and unlikely to respond to a subpoena. The statute generally requires those witnesses to be promptly released once they are deposed. Top stories in Baton Rouge in your inbox Twice daily we'll send you the day's biggest headlines. Sign up today. e-mail address * Sign Up A person familiar with the matter said Hashemi had fulfilled her obligation as a material witness and was released. The person was not authorized to discuss the matter publicly and spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity. Hashemi is a U.S. citizen and was born Melanie Franklin. She lives in Tehran and comes back to the United States about once a year to see her family, usually scheduling documentary work in the U.S., her son said. Asked whether his mother had been involved in any criminal activity or knew anyone who might be implicated in a crime, Hossein Hashemi said, "We don't have any information along those lines." He didn't immediately respond to a call seeking comment on Wednesday. Marzieh Hashemi's detention comes amid heightened tensions between Iran and the U.S. after President Donald Trump withdrew the United States from a nuclear deal. Iran also faces increasing criticism of its own arrests of dual citizens and other people with Western ties. Earlier Wednesday, dozens of activists protested outside the federal courthouse in Washington, where Hashemi was scheduled to appear before the grand jury. They held signs and chanted, "Free, free, Marzieh!" and "Shame, shame, USA!" ExxonMobil may have withdrawn its application for a local tax break, but advocates with Together Baton Rouge still took an opportunity to weigh in before Wednesday's Metro Council meeting to say that while the company does a lot of good for Baton Rouge, they're glad to see the proposal yanked. Exxon had requested a pair of exemptions under the state's Industrial Tax Exemption program. The two applications, worth a combined $9.2 million, were for work at the local polyolefins plant and refinery completed two years ago. The requests were for $64 million in spending at the Exxon refinery, which created direct 18 jobs, and $3 million in spending at the polyolefins plant, which created no new direct jobs. The state had long controlled the program's administration but recently allowed local taxing agencies to decide whether to award exemptions. The East Baton Rouge School Board narrowly rejected Exxon's application for a tax break on their taxes last week. The Metro Council was to consider the exemption for their own collections Wednesday, but the company withdrew the application the day before. Exxon drops tax break requests after being rejected by EBR school board ExxonMobil on Tuesday said it will drop its pending requests for property tax breaks in Baton Rouge and warned the uncertainty surrounding t Together Baton Rouge gathered on the steps of city hall to address reporters before the council meeting. Leaders of the faith-based nonprofit celebrated what they called a democratic new beginning to economic development, which they expect to push aside what they called "backroom deals" that long determined industrial tax exemptions. They disagreed with Exxon officials who have said the new system is unpredictable and unfriendly to business; Together Baton Rouge said the city-parish has laid out clear benchmarks for companies, and they support ITEP proposals that meet those standards, including one that passed last year for an expansion at Exxon's local polyolefins plant. Exxon and business advocacy groups have said that criticism of ITEP has created a toxic environment. The company has said that the new system has muddied the waters and may prompt the company to direct future investment elsewhere. When contacted Wednesday, an Exxon spokeswoman and Baton Rouge Area Chamber staff said they had nothing new to add. State Rep. Valarie Hodges, R-Denham Springs, also waded into the debate Wednesday. Her district includes portions of northwest East Baton Rouge and near Central. In a news release, she called the school board's decision "shortsighted" and wrote that their vote sets "an ominous tone about the future of the company." "The school board's action is sending a message to an American company that discourages growth in the capital region," she wrote. "We can't willy-nilly yank the rug out from under a major employer like this." Together Baton Rouge on Wednesday appeared to extend something of an olive branch. Leaders said they've worked with Exxon in the past and commended the company's philanthropy, such as supporting a North Baton Rouge food pantry. "Our difference is a policy difference," Lee Wesley said in an interview. He commended Exxon for pulling the proposal. Wesley said the application did not comport with the city-parish's standards, and he expected it would not pass the Metro Council, though he declined to discuss which members he expected to vote against it. The council discussed the matter only briefly. Council member Chauna Banks said Exxon officials feel they're being unfairly targeted. She asked city-parish staff how Exxon's applications compared to one recently prepared by paper company Georgia-Pacific. The Metro Council did not vote on the Georgia-Pacific item in December, allowing it to take effect automatically. The company dropped the matter earlier this month shortly after Georgia-Pacific announced hundreds of layoffs connected to the closure of its Port Hudson plant. Assistant Parish Attorney Tedrick Knightshead said staff had not expected or prepared to discuss the Georgia-Pacific deal, and he was not in a position to compare it to Exxon's proposal. The council deleted the ITEP proposal items on Wednesday's agenda without further discussion. Russia Rejects U.S. Demands on 9M729 Elimination (Source: Forecast International; issued Jan 23, 2019) Russia has rejected the U.S. demand for the elimination of the 9M729 cruise missile, as the two countries continue a spat over the INF Treaty. Speaking at a briefing on the 9M729 missile, Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said, The US delegation arrived in Geneva for inter-departmental consultations over the INF Treaty with the sole purpose to read out statements written in advance to the effect that Russia rejects the ultimatum demanding our unilateral concessions, implying verifiable elimination of all 9M729 missiles, their launchers and related equipment. He added, Naturally, this kind of approach by no means looks like a diligent attempt at achieving a solution that would suit both sides and is absolutely unacceptable for us in gist and content. The U.S. and the Soviet Union signed the INF Treaty in 1987 and have remained compliant with its terms thereafter. The treaty eliminated ground-based launchers and missiles with ranges from 500 kilometers to 5,500 kilometers. However, in recent years, the U.S. has claimed that a Russian missile under development is in violation of the treaty. According to the U.S., the Russian military flight-tested the 9M729 to a distance well over 500 kilometers from a fixed launcher which is permissible under the agreement provided that the intention is to deploy the weapon at sea and to distances under 500 kilometers from mobile launchers. Washington claims that, together, these two types of tests violate the INF Treatys provisions, as they indicate the system is for use on a ground-based launcher. The U.S. has threatened to withdraw from the treaty in response and currently plans to leave on February 2, 2019. On Wednesday, the Russian Defense and Foreign ministries jointly put on a briefing for foreign military attaches, displaying the 9M729 missile as well as its purported specifications. The missile was said to have a range of 480 kilometers, which is 10 kilometers less than the previous version, the 9M728. Earlier in the week, the U.S. called on Russia to destroy the 9M729, but Moscow has thus far rejected the demands. The Russian government denies violating the INF Treaty and has urged the U.S. to negotiate on the matter. Deputy Foreign Minister Ryabkov noted, The treaty needs to be preserved. It is up to the American side to make the choice. The negotiations should be done with the mandatory mutual consideration of both parties interests and concerns and without any counterproductive ultimatums, Ryabkov stressed. Last month, Russian President Vladimir Putin suggested that, if the U.S. leaves the INF Treaty, Russia could put a ground-based missile launcher into service. (EDITORS NOTE: Go to our Word for Word section for the Russian governments Jan. 23 briefing to media and foreign military attaches on the 9M729 missile.) (ends) Washingtons Demand for Eliminating 9M729 Missile Unacceptable for Russia, Says Moscow (Source: TASS; issued Jan 23, 2019) KUBINKA, Moscow Region --- The United States demand for Russias verifiable elimination of all cruise missiles 9M729 are absolutely unacceptable for Russia, Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov told a joint news briefing by the Foreign Ministry and Defense Ministry devoted to the 9M729 missile on Wednesday. "The US delegation arrived in Geneva for inter-departmental consultations over the INF Treaty with the sole purpose: to read out statements written in advance to the effect that Russia rejects the ultimatum demanding our unilateral concessions implying verifiable elimination of all 9M729 missiles, their launchers and related equipment," he said. "Naturally, this kind of approach by no means looks like a diligent attempt at achieving a solution that would suit both sides and is absolutely unacceptable for us in gist and content.". He stressed that Russia will demonstrate the 9M729 cruise missile to representatives of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO), BRICS, the European Union and NATO. "Representatives of CSTO states, BRICS, the European Union and NATO have been invited for the event today, along with representatives of certain other European and Asian countries," the diplomat said. "We set ourselves a task to provide foreign experts with an opportunity to make a true picture on their own," Ryabkov said. The diplomat also expressed hope that explanations concerning the 9M729 cruise missile will give another chance to dialogue with the US on preserving the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty. "We expect that the objective technical data provided by us and the arguments that have been cited will lead to the intensification of the thought process in the US, which will help give another chance to a dialogue aimed at preserving the INF Treaty. For our part, we continue to be ready for such work. It should be done with the mandatory mutual consideration of both parties interests and concerns and without any counterproductive ultimatums," he said. "The treaty needs to be preserved. It is up to the American side to make the choice," Ryabkov stressed. -ends- Foreign Military Attaches, Media Get a Look at 9M729 for Iskander-M Launchers (Source: TASS; issued Jan 23, 2019) KUBINKA, Moscow Region --- The Russian Defense Ministry has demonstrated to foreign military attaches and Russian and foreign media the Iskander-M system armed with four 9M729 missiles and the missiles transportation and launch container at a briefing held in the theme park Patriot. "A special configuration of the self-propelled launcher was developed for the 9M729 missile. It accommodates four 9M729 missiles, while the previous launcher carries two 9M728 missiles," the commander of Russias Missile and Artillery Force, Lieutenant-General Mikhail Matveyevsky told a news briefing earlier. He explained that the 9M729 missile was 530 mm longer than its predecessor, which required upgrading the Iskander-M launcher. A source close to the event told TASS that US representatives did not attend Wednesdays joint briefing of the Russian Foreign and Defense Ministries, which was dedicated to the 9M729 missile. "There were no Americans at the briefing," the source said in response to a question. The cruise missile 9M729 is a newer configuration of the cruise missile 9M728, which is part of the system Iskander-M. It was developed by the design bureau Novator in Yekaterinburg. The 9M729 missile has a higher yield warhead and a new control system for greater accuracy. Most parts and components of the 9M728 and 9M729 missiles are identical. The United States claims that the range of the 9M729 missile exceeds the 500-kilometer restriction established under the INF Treaty. It demands that Russia should eliminate these missiles. Washington warns that otherwise it will quit the treaty. -ends- Note: We've recently updated our online systems. If you can't login please try resetting your password. You must login with an email address. If you don't have an email associated with your account email please call (208) 542-6777 for help. Microsoft's Bing search engine is, at the time of writing, not working in China, several reports have confirmed. The news should perhaps come as little surprise it was only a matter of time before the Chinese government also banned Microsoft's service after having banned most, if not all, of Google's products there. Bing is now the latest American service to be banned in the country, according to a report by the Financial Times. Bing Banned In China Internet users in mainland China reported that the Chinese Bing website was no longer accessible from within the country. However, at the time of writing, the website remains available to people outside China. Government Order According to sources who spoke anonymously with Financial Times, the state-owned telecom China Unicom has confirmed the order came from the government. It's not yet clear what triggered the ban. Again, this isn't uncommon in China. Major services including Facebook, Instagram, and a host of other services based in the United States have all been banned in the country. Just last September, major video game livestreaming service Twitch was also banned. However, a search engine being banned is notable for a couple of reasons. For starters, Bing was one of very few American services to remain functional in the country, its existence likely because of Microsoft's consistent compliance with China's highly strict and heavily imposed internet policies. Now, it's clear Microsoft acting in good faith just isn't enough for the Chinese government anymore. With Google and Bing absent in the country, Baidu remains China's leading search engine provider, eating up over 70 percent of the entire market. Bing, by contrast, only has 2 percent of the market, and soon possibly none at all. Google Still Has Hope Google seems not to have given up on penetrating the Chinese market, however. Just last year it became the center of controversy when it was alleged that the company was planning to roll out a censored variant of Google Search in the country, much to the dismay and furor over many employees of proponents of free speech. Google had pulled out in 2010 in protest of the government's policies on free speech and access to information. It's not clear how this project, apparently codenamed "Dragonfly," is coming along at the moment, but in Congress last month, CEO Sundar Pichai said its plans for the country are in the exploratory stages. 2021 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. American companies are getting ready to make buck off of the great global warming tragedy. Apple, for instance, thinks the world will buy more iPhones as Earth inches closer to dystopia. That's the key prediction in Apple's environmental impact report, at least. The Cupertino brand filed the said report last year to the British nonprofit Carbon Disclosure Project, only recently uncovered by Bloomberg in a new report illustrating corporate America's far-reaching plans to make the ongoing global warming crisis profitable. The Carbon Disclosure Project The Carbon Disclosure Project, or CDP, has collected tons of these impact reports, which include "risks and opportunities" posed by climate change, from a whopping 7,000 companies, 1,800 of them in the United States alone. These reports paint a picture of how President Donald Trump's environmental policies could ripple into all corners of the economy. The key takeaway? The economy will be bad if climate change continues its pace or, which will most likely happen, gets even worse. Apple, however, saw the silver lining in all of this doom-talk. How Apple Sees Climate Change "As people begin to experience severe weather events with greater frequency, we expect an increasing need for confidence and preparedness in the arena of personal safety and the well-being of loved ones," the company stated in its report. iPhones, it said, will be useful because people will use it as a flashlight, siren, radio, or ask Siri for first-aid instructions. Apple also stated that iPhones can be charged for many days via car batteries or even hand cranks. To be fair to Apple, an iPhone is indeed one of the useful things a person can have in their possession, especially during emergencies. However, Apple isn't the only company that stands to benefit from looming climate change disasters. In its report, Home Depot predicts a rise in demand for air conditioners and ceiling fans. Google, too, stands to benefit from all this somehow thanks to Google Earth, its interactive mapping software. "If customers value Google Earth Engine as a tool to examine the physical changes to the Earth's natural resources and climate, this could result in increased customer loyalty or brand value," the search company said in its report. With everything above mentioned, one thing becomes very clear: no tragedy will stop companies from trying to make bank, not even climate change. Thoughts? Feel free to sound off in the comments section below! 2021 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. A new research finds that the No. 1 cause for a liver transplant in the United States is alcohol-related liver diseases, edging out Hepatitis C. A study, which was published on JAMA Internal Medicine, said that the change in the primary reason for a liver transplant is because Hepatitis C, which used to be at the top spot, is becoming easier to treat, thanks to the development of effective drugs. Another factor is the changing idea on the acceptance of candidates to undergo the surgery despite his/her drinking history. Increase In Patients With Alcohol-Related Liver Disease "Across the country, and we show in a prior study, people are changing their minds. More and more providers are willing to transplant patients with ALD," the study's lead author and Dr. Brian P. Lee said. The researchers looked at data gathered by the United Network for Organ Sharing from 2002 to 2016 and noticed that the cases that stem from alcohol-related diseases alarmingly increased. They analyzed 33,000 liver transplant patients and observed that from 24.2 percent of the patients that had ALD in 2002, the figure soared to 36.7 by 2016. 'Six-Month Rule' On Liver Transplant The long-standing debate on the "six-moth rule" peaked in 1997 when a study said that patients who will have a liver transplant operation should be at least six months sober before the operation. The notion behind this is that, those who can adhere to that period of sobriety have a lower chance that they'll return to their old habit. There was also a concern that donors would stop donating their organs if they would know that these will be given to people with alcohol problems. However, studies from France and the University of Pittsburgh found that there was no evidence that six months of sobriety prior the liver transplant could actually lessen the likelihood of a relapse. The recent study therefore sheds light on the evolution of the openness of the liver transplant community on patients with alcohol-related diseases like alcoholic cirrhosis. 2021 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. Months before launch, NASA has updated the crew that will go on board the Boeing CST-100 Starliner's manned flight test later this year. Astronaut E. Michael "Mike" Fincke will be replacing Eric Boe who, according to the U.S. space agency, is unable to fly due to medical reasons. Instead, Boe will replace Fincke as the assistant to the chief for the commercial crew at the Johnson Space Center in Houston. Updated Crew Assignment This will be Fincke's fourth trip to space. Prior to the assignment, the former Air Force colonel served as a flight engineer, a science officer, and a commander of the crew onboard the International Space Station. So far, he has spent a total of 382 days in space since joining the astronaut corps in 1996, with a record of nine spacewalks. NASA revealed that as assistant to the chief for commercial crew, Fincke has also worked closely with both Boeing and SpaceX the two private companies that have been developing the capsules that will ferry astronauts to and from the ISS as part of NASA's Commercial Crew Program. Fincke will be joining astronauts Nicole Aunapu Mann and Chris Ferguson, who were both assigned to the mission in 2018, onboard the Boeing CST-100 Starliner. He will immediately begin training for the flight scheduled later this year. The Boeing CST-100 Starliner's Crewed Test Flight The upcoming crewed test flight will be the first for Boeing CST-100 Starliner to be launched with humans onboard. However, before that happens, NASA will ensure that the new spacecraft is safe and ready for operational missions by first performing an unmanned orbital flight test in March. If everything goes according to plan, the new spacecraft will launch astronauts Fincke, Mann, and Ferguson to the ISS in August 2019. Meanwhile, SpaceX's Crew Dragon capsule, which was also developed as part of the Commercial Crew Program, will ferry NASA astronauts, namely Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley, also later this year. Since the Space Shuttle Program ended, the United States has been relying on Russia's Soyuz rockets to carry astronauts to the ISS. However, NASA's contract with Roscosmos is expected to expire in November 2019. NASA Johnson | Flickr 2021 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. Authorities warn that thousands of migrating birds have been found positive of avian cholera, an infectious viral disease, this month. Avian Cholera Outbreak On Tuesday, Jan. 22, the California Department of Fish and Wildlife reported that they have collected thousands of carcasses of dead birds from the south end of the Salton Sea. While the agency burned most of the carcasses, they shipped several samples to the CDFW Wildlife Investigations La in Rancho Cordova, which showed that the birds were infected with avian cholera. According to the agency, an avian cholera outbreak happens every year when birds fly closely together during migration. Waterfowls and coots are most commonly infected by the disease. It is caused by the bacterium Pasteurella multocida, which is transmitted via direct contact or through the consumption of contaminated food and water. Scavenging birds might also catch the disease by eating the carcass of infected birds. Every winter, avian cholera causes thousands of birds to die. Gibson County, Indiana is also positive of the disease. Since December, hundreds of birds have been found dead in the area. "The big concern in some of these disease investigations is to make sure it doesn't impact our ability to export commercial poultry," Denise Derrer, the spokesman for the state's Board of Animal Health, stated to Indy Star. "And it won't in this case." Threat From Avian Cholera Derrer clarified that avian cholera is different from avian flu, a disease that caused an outbreak that led to international export of poultry's temporary shutdown several years ago. However, she added that because the disease is carried by migrating birds, the outbreak of avian cholera is unpredictable. She advised local livestock and poultry owners to place measures to prevent any contact with the migrating birds. The Indiana Department of Natural Resources also discouraged hunters from hunting and taking birds that might be infected. Signs that the bird has avian cholera include lethargy, flying in circles or erratically, miscalculated landing attempts, and lesions on the heart, intestines, gizzard, and liver. Any carcass of birds that are suspected to be infected with the disease should be immediately discarded. 2021 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. In brief: A California man has been arrested after he used Instagram to harass the families and friends of students killed during the mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, last year. Brandon Fleury created Instagram accounts with usernames such as nikolas.killed.your.sister, nikolas.the.murderer, and the.douglas.shooterreferences to Nikolas Cruz, who confessed to killing 17 people on February 14 last year, making it the deadliest shooting at a high school in US history. The 20-year-old is awaiting trial and faces the death penalty if convicted. According to the criminal complaint, Fleury began his campaign of harassment on December 22. "One post threatened to kidnap the message recipients, while others sought to harass the recipients by repeatedly taunting the relatives and friends of the [high school] victims, cheering the deaths of their loved ones and, among other things, asking them to cry," the affidavit said. The Instagram messages included: "I killed your loved ones hahaha;" "With the power of my AR-15, I erased their existence;" "I gave them no mercy;" and "They had their whole lives ahead of them and I f**king stole it from them." Instagram handed over the IP address of the accounts after the company was subpoenaed by law enforcement officials. The Washington Post writes that agencies got involved as some of the messages were seen as threats to murder. On January 16, Fleury was arrested in the Santa Ana home he shares with his father and brother. According to Special Agent Cameron McDowell, Fleury showed no remorse when questioned. He said his actions were a way to gain popularity, and admitted to having a fascination with Cruz, mass shootings, and serial killers such as Ted Bundy. Fleury targeted the shooting victims families because they had allegedly become activists and had large social media followings. Fleury has been charged with online intimidation and harassment and using interstate commerce to threaten kidnapping online. What just happened? While China blocks a number of western websitesFacebook, Twitter, etc.Microsofts Bing was allowed through the Great Firewall thanks to its censored search results. But despite kowtowing to the government, the search engine has joined the list of inaccessible services. Weve confirmed that Bing is currently inaccessible in China and are engaged to determine next steps, said Microsoft. According to the Financial Times, state-owned telecoms company China Unicom confirmed the government ordered the block on Bing. When Google pulled out of China in 2010 over censorship and cyberattack concerns, Bing, which censors sensitive topics such as Tiananmen Square, was left as the only major foreign search engine that could be accessed in the country. It appears that Bing has been banned using a DNS corruptiona popular method of blocking websites in China. It means Chinese nameservers are unable to retrieve the IP address of a URL. TechCrunch notes that some people have been able to access Bing by typing in the IP address directly. UPDATE: it's confirmed to be DNS corruption, the common method of banning websites in China pic.twitter.com/GIlYsCVa1L Patrick Wu (@patrick330602) 23 January 2019 The reasons behind the ban are unclear. It follows increased tensions between the US and China, from the ongoing trade war to the battle with Huawei and the arrest of its CFO. Google had faced controversy over a possible return to China with a censored version of its search engine, known internally as Project Dragonfly. But objections from employees and US politicians led to its reported cancelation last month. Its said to be still studying the idea, though the Bing incident may influence Google's decision. Bing is reported to have accounted for just 2 percent of the Chinese market, way behind local search engines Baidu and Sogou, but thats not to say Microsoft wont feel aggrieved by the ban. WTF?! The Chinese Government has developed a mobile app that tells users if they are near someone who is in debt. The app, called a "map of deadbeat debtors," flashes when the user is within 500 meters of a debtor and displays that person's exact location. News of the app has caused quite a bit of controversy after it was originally reported by the state-run China Daily. It is an extension to China's existing "social credit" system which scores people based on how they act in public. It's no secret that China keeps a very close watch on its citizens, but this new public shaming approach takes it one step further. The app is available through the WeChat platform which has become immensely popular in China. The government stated that "Deadbeat debtors in North China's Hebei province will find it more difficult to abscond as the Higher People's Court of Hebei on Monday introduced" the app. Once a user is alerted that they are close to a debtor, the user can then view their personal information. This will reveal their name, national ID number, and why they were added to the debtor list. The debtor can then be publicly shamed or reported to the authorities if it is deemed that they are capable of repaying their debts. The full social credit system will be operational in 2020 and plans indicate it will be used to bar people with low scores from traveling, getting loans, and getting jobs. A person's score can be lowered if they do things like playing an excessive amount of video games or posting fake news. On the other hand, a social credit score can be raised by things like volunteering or donating blood. Lead photo credit : Verdict.co.uk Not long ago, I thought of smart TV softwareespecially from the likes of Samsung and LGas something to ignore. Dedicated streaming devices such as Rokus Streaming Stick and Amazons Fire TV Stick offered slicker interfaces and better app selections, which made me wonder why TV makers even bothered making subpar software. A funny things happened in recent years, though: Smart TV software from LG and Samsung has actually gotten pretty good. Now, Im wondering why those companies dont take a page from Roku and Amazon, and put their software on external streaming players. To be clear, I dont own any Samsung or LG TVs, so I havent lived with their software like I have with all the major streaming devices. I did, however, check out both companies smart TVs during CES earlier this month, and I came away impressed with what they offer. Jared Newman / TechHive Samsungs app list lets you quickly preview whats in each one. On Samsung TVs, scrolling through your app list shows a preview whats available in each app. You can see whats new in Netflix, for example, resume watching shows in Amazon Prime, or check out new releases in iTunes or Google Play Movies. It reminds me of the previews that appear in the top row of the Apple TV app launcher, but it works with any app instead of just your five favorites. Its also somewhat similar in spirit to the Channel Rows concept on Amazon Fire TV devices, but without the clutter of banner ads, Amazon video recommendations, and other unwanted content. Last year, Samsung also launched a new feature called Universal Guide, which recommends videos from across different apps and lets you quickly resume shows youve been watching. Again, the concept is similar to what Apples tried to accomplish through its TV app, but Samsung is now adding personalized recommendations based on the services youre already paying for. Apple TVs recommendations are more generic and will often send you crashing a paywall. Jared Newman / TechHive The Universal Guide on Samsung TVs offers personalized recommendations across different apps. Samsung is even including far-field microphones for voice control in its 2019 TVs. That means youll be able to control the volume or ask Samsungs Bixby assistant for recommendations when the remotes out of reach on the coffee table. The only standalone streaming devices that have far-field voice built into their hardware are Amazons Fire TV Cube and Nvidias Shield TV (through its optional game controller). Speaking of voice control, LGs latest TVs have a clever way of supporting multiple voice assistants: If you press the remotes microphone button and ask for movie or TV recommendations, LGs ThinQ AI will provide the answers, with icons showing where you can watch each result. For more general queries or smart home controls, Google Assistant will respond to your voice commands instead. LG TVs also support Alexa, which you can access by holding down the remotes Amazon Prime button. That could be useful for listening to Amazon Music or controlling Alexa-enabled smart home devices. By comparison, there isnt a single streaming player that supports multiple voice assistants through its remote control. Jared Newman / TechHive LGs universal search results are pretty slick. Unlike most streaming devices, LG and Samsung TVs will even support certain Apple services. Samsung TVs are getting a built-in iTunes app and AirPlay 2 support for launching media from iOS or Mac devices. LG TVs will support AirPlay 2 as well, and theyre getting HomeKit support for controlling basic TV functions with Siri voice commands. The only streaming player that supports these services is Apple TV. The case for streaming devices Unfortunately, Ive never seen an explanation for why Samsung and LG dont offer their own streaming boxes or sticks. My best guess is that both companies view smart TV software as a unique selling point for their hardware, and they dont want to give that up by separating the two sides. Still, I can think of several reasons why standalone streaming devices would make sense, both for TV makers and their users. For one thing, theyd give Samsung and LG a bigger user base, which in turn might improve the app support on their respective platforms. Newer streaming services like DirecTV Now and Hulu with Live TV have generally reached smart TVs only after theyve launched on Roku, Fire TV, Apple TV, and Chromecast, and some apps that are table-stakes on other platforms arent available at all. (Samsung and LG, for instance, both lack PlayStation Vue and CW, and LG doesnt support HBO Now.) More importantly, standalone streaming devices would provide an upgrade path for folks who want newer streaming hardware, but dont want to buy a whole new TV with it. On average, people only replace their TVs every seven years or so, yet TV makers have a terrible track record for providing long-term software support. Case in point: Samsungs iTunes and AirPlay 2 support will only extend back to 2018 TVs, and LG is limiting Apples features to its 2019 sets. (Vizio deserves credit for committing to add those features to its SmartCast TV line going back to its inception in 2016.) If Samsung or LG TV owners want to upgrade their streaming experience more frequently, the only option is to switch to a completely new platform with a different interface. Given that Roku and Amazon now build their streaming software directly into smart TVsand that Roku still updates all its TVs, from 2014 onwardthose customers might never come back to Samsung and LG when the time does come for a new television. (Several years ago, Samsung tried to solve this problem with hardware upgrade kits, but the program was an expensive disaster. Now, the company is peddling full-blown TV upgrade plans, which seem equally ridiculous.) Without a way to stick with Samsungs or LGs platforms that doesnt involve buying a new television, its hard to recommend their hardware solely on the strength of their software. In light of what both companies were showing off at CES, that seems like a shame. Sign up for Jareds Cord Cutter Weekly newsletter to get this column and other cord-cutting news, insights, and deals delivered to your inbox. Russian Defense Firm Developing New Air- and Sea-Launched Missiles (Source: TASS; published Jan 24, 2019) MOSCOW --- Russias Tactical Missiles Corporation is carrying out 14 R&D works on air-and sea-launched weapons that are expected to be completed in 2019, Corporation CEO Boris Obnosov said on Thursday. "This year, we have serious plans: we need to complete a total of 14 [R&D] works," the chief executive said. As a whole, these works are ongoing successfully, he noted. The work is underway on air-and sea-launched weapons, he specified. "Several works are linked with air-to-air, air-to-surface and air-to-ship weapons. And about a third of works are related to coastal missile systems and underwater naval weapons," Obnosov said. The Tactical Missiles Corporation is one of Russias largest defense holding companies. The Corporations 100% stock is held by Russias State Property Committee. The Corporation is headquartered in the town of Korolyov near Moscow. The Tactical Missiles Corporation focuses on developing and supplying weapons for air-, ship-borne and ground tactical systems and seaborne underwater armaments. (ends) Russian Air-Launched Weapons Proved Their Worth In Syria, Says Defense Contractor (Source: TASS; published Jan 24, 2019) MOSCOW --- Russias air-launched weapons produced by the Tactical Missiles Corporation have proven their worth and competitive edge compared to world analogues, Corporation CEO Boris Obnosov said on Thursday. "Smart air bombs have large export potential. These are the weapons that have proven their efficiency [in Syria], despite their cost. I believe we are on a parity basis with our rivals," the chief executive said. The weapons trials in a real combat environment are always useful for manufactures and developers, Obnosov said. "No mathematical or partial modeling and even trials at practice ranges can give a full idea of weapons capabilities. In real conditions, in the theater of operations, they [the trials] give new food for thought," the Corporations chief executive said. The Tactical Missiles Corporation is one of Russias largest defense holding companies. The Corporations 100% stock is held by Russias State Property Committee. The Corporation is headquartered in the town of Korolyov near Moscow. The Tactical Missiles Corporation focuses on developing and supplying weapons for air-, ship-borne and ground tactical systems and seaborne underwater armaments. -ends- A small but increasing number of Nest security camera owners across the country are reporting their cameras have been hacked, often to blast out audio messages. In one instance, a California family received a fake warning of a North Korean missile attack. The problem isnt with Nest. Google confirms that the service has not been breached. Whats happening is that some people are reusing passwords across multiple sites, so if one site is hacked, attackers take that email address and password and try it against other sites. But safeguarding your Nest account is easy with two-step authentication. This requires you to verify your identify using a trusted device, such as your smartphone. You provide your password in the first step, and Nest then sends a PIN to your trusted device. You must then provide both pieces of information to access your Nest account. It works because hackers cant get into your account with a password alone: They would need to steal your Nest password, your trusted device (your smartphone), and they would need to know the PIN needed to unlock that device. Heres how to set it up on your Nest account. Martyn Williams/IDG Two-step authentication on the Nest app Open the Nest app, click the gear icon in the top right corner. Next, click Account and then Manage Account. On the second line youll see the setting for Account Security. It will say Password Only, unless someone in your family group has already set up two-step authentication. If they have, youre good to go. If not, click on Account Security and youll land on a page where you can change your Nest password and switch on two-step authentication. If you havent changed your Nest password in a while, this is a good time to do it (you never want to use the same password for a long period of time, and you should never use the same password for multiple devices or services). Make your new password unique. For the best (and easiest) security, install a password manager and have it generate a random password. Finally, switch on two-step verification. Martyn Williams/IDG Two-step authentication on the Nest app. Many services use a PIN generated by an app in your phone, but Nest sends this via SMS text message. Thats not as secure as an app, but its still a whole lot more secure than a plain password. Nest will ask you for a phone number and it will then send a code to your phone. Type that code into the app to prove you received it and youre done. Your Nest account is now protected by two-step verification, making it much more difficult for anyone to hack into the account, access your cameras, or send creepy audio messages into your home. Remember, this is designed to be hack proof, so youll need your password and phone when logging into Nest from a new device. Its specifically designed so that its the only way to log in: Dont cancel your phone service without changing the linked number in the two-step settings. And never give out your two-step codes over the phone or by email to anyone asking for them, no matter how legitimate the request seems. Now that youre feeling good about protecting your Nest account, enable it for all your other important accounts. Many web services, banks, email providers and shopping sites support it these days. Youll be glad you did. Seminole, FL (33772) Today A mix of clouds and sun during the morning will give way to cloudy skies this afternoon. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. High 88F. Winds S at 10 to 20 mph.. Tonight Cloudy skies. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. Low 79F. Winds SSW at 10 to 15 mph. Stay up to date on COVID-19 Get Breaking News Sign up now to get our FREE breaking news coverage delivered right to your inbox. BARRON, Wis. Jennie-O Turkey Store and parent company Hormel Foods announced Wednesday that the $25,000 in reward money offered for information in the disappearance of 13-year-old Jayme Closs will be donated directly to her. Earlier this month, Closs escaped her alleged captor and was reunited with members of her extended family. She had been missing for nearly three months since the day her parents, James and Denise Closs, were found shot to death in their home. They had both worked for Jennie-O in Barron, Wisconsin, for 25 years. During a company event Wednesday, Hormel Foods announced that it is working with law enforcement officials to move forward with its plans to donate the $25,000 reward contribution directly to Jayme Closs. "On behalf of the entire Jennie-O and Hormel Foods family, we are overjoyed at the news of Jayme's safe return," said Jim Snee, chairman of the board, president and chief executive officer at Hormel Foods, in a news release. "Her bravery and strength have truly inspired our team members around the world. Barron is an incredibly strong community and one that never lost hope. We celebrated with the community, and the world, that Jayme is home." In Willmar, where Jennie-O Turkey Store's corporate headquarters are located, a "Tree of Hope" was lit in blue and green lights on the company campus. A lighting ceremony was held just weeks before her escape, an event "intended as a forum for employees and community members to send a unified message that no one would give up hope until Jayme was safely back home," the companies stated in the news release. "First and foremost, Jennie-O Turkey Store is a family," said Steve Lykken, Jennie-O Turkey Store president, in the release. "Here in Barron our Jennie-O family is dealing with a very tragic situation. While we are still mourning the loss of longtime family members Jim and Denise, we are so thankful for Jayme's brave escape and that she is back in Barron. The company has expressed its wishes to donate the $25,000 to Jayme. Our hope is that a trust fund can be used for Jayme's needs today and in the future." Chris Fitzgerald, Barron County Sheriff, thanked Jennie-O for its support. "We also agree that Jayme is the hero in this case and are happy they have chosen her to receive the company's reward contribution. The partnerships created during this case will not only help Jayme and her family in the future but will continue to make us all stronger, led by the idea that we will never give up hope!" A 21-year-old suspect has been charged with kidnapping and homicide. -- West Central Tribune, Willmar, Minnesota SEBRING, Fla. (AP) A former prison guard trainee who recently moved to Florida from Indiana killed five people during a standoff at a small town bank before surrendering to a SWAT team that stormed the building, police said. Investigators said Zephen Xaver, 21, called police from inside the SunTrust Bank branch Wednesday to report that he had opened fire. He barricaded himself inside and when negotiations failed, the SWAT team burst in, capturing Xaver and discovering the bodies, police said. Investigators did not offer a possible motive, and a police spokesman said he did not know if the attack began as a robbery. The victims were not immediately identified. Late Wednesday, police investigators still swarmed the bank, which sits between a hotel and a hair salon located in a business district of U.S. 27. The four-lane highway passes through farming communities and small towns as it connects South Florida and central Florida. Sebring, with 10,000 residents, is known internationally for its annual 12 Hours of Sebring endurance auto race that draws world-class drivers. "Today's been a tragic day in our community," Sebring Police Chief Karl Hoglund said during a news conference. "We've suffered significant loss at the hands of a senseless criminal doing a senseless crime." A Highlands County Sheriff's SWAT vehicle is stationed out in front of a SunTrust Bank branch, Wednesday, Jan. 23, 2019, in Sebring, Fla., where authorities say five people were shot and killed. (AP Photo/Chris O'Meara)AP He said more information would be released at a Thursday morning press conference. Florida Department of Corrections records show that Xaver was hired as a trainee prison guard at Avon Park Correctional Institution on Nov. 2 and resigned Jan. 9. No disciplinary issues were reported. Public records and neighbors said Xaver had arrived in Sebring last fall with his mother, living in a non-descript pre-fabricated home about 4 miles (6.5 kilometers) from the bank. No one answered the door Wednesday night after police finished searching the home. Public records and neighbors say he and his mother moved to Sebring in the fall from Plymouth, Indiana, a town south of Notre Dame University. John Larose, who lives next door, said Xaver kept to himself, but he could hear him playing and yelling at video games in the middle of the night. Xaver briefly was an online student of Salt Lake City-based Stevens-Henager College. A spokeswoman for the college, Sherrie Martin, confirmed that Xaver was enrolled from September 2018 until December, when he withdrew. Gov. Ron DeSantis was in the region for an infrastructure tour and traveled to Sebring after the shooting. He said the Florida Department of Law Enforcement would assist Sebring police and the Highlands County sheriff's office. "Obviously, this is an individual who needs to face very swift and exacting justice," DeSantis said of the suspect. SunTrust Chairman and CEO Bill Rogers released a statement saying the bank was "working with officials and dedicating ourselves to fully addressing the needs of all the individuals and families involved." The banks entire team mourns this terrible loss, he said. ORLANDO, Fla. At least five people are dead after an armed man opened fire inside a SunTrust bank in Sebring on Wednesday afternoon, prompting a standoff, authorities said. Sebring Police Chief Karl Hoglund said the victims were senselessly murdered by Zephen Xaver, 21, who surrendered after a Highlands County Sheriffs Office SWAT team entered the bank. Todays been a tragic day in our community, Hoglund said. Weve suffered a significant loss at the hands of a senseless criminal doing a senseless crime. Officials have not publicly identified the victims. Law enforcement officials said Highlands deputies and Sebring police responded to U.S. Highway 27 at about 12:30 p.m. after Xaver called and told a dispatcher he had fired shots inside the bank. Police and deputies established a perimeter but were unable to get the gunman to surrender by negotiating, authorities said. A sheriffs office SWAT team later entered the bank and Xaver eventually surrendered, the agency said. Investigators discovered the bodies of five victims after retaking the bank, officials said. The people of Florida stand with the community here in light of this tragic circumstance, said Gov. Ron DeSantis, who appeared alongside Hoglund and Highlands County Sheriff Paul Blackman at a press conference Wednesday afternoon. Ive asked FDLE to provide whatever resources we can at the state level to assist with the investigation and, obviously, this is an individual that needs to face very swift and exacting justice. Blackman said deputies were working alongside Sebring police to collect evidence and execute search warrants. He and Hoglund did not take questions from reporters but promised an update on the case Thursday morning. Hoglund asked the public to keep the victims in their prayers and thoughts. Sebring is a city east of Sarasota and south of Kissimmee. NEW YORK New York Attorney General Letitia James announced this week that the state has reached two settlement agreements with Walgreens relating to its insulin pen and prescription drug pricing practices. The settlements also included other states whose Medicaid programs were allegedly defrauded, and the federal government. In sum, New York will receive more than $14.5 million in settlement money. "Cheating our state's Medicaid program will never be tolerated by this office," James said. "We will continue to root out illegal practices that increase costs of health care and medication for all New York Medicaid recipients, and will hold accountable any provider that engages in these deceptive practices." The first agreement settles allegations that the Illinois-headquartered retail pharmacy chain violated the False Claims Act by billing Medicaid at higher-than-usual rates for certain prescription drugs. As a result, Walgreens will pay six states and the federal government $60 million, all of which is attributable to the states' Medicaid programs. An investigation revealed that Walgreens submitted claims to the states' Medicaid programs in which it identified prices for certain prescription drugs sold through its Prescription Savings Club that were higher than what the chain actually charged for those drugs. In doing so, Walgreens obtained more money in reimbursements from the states' Medicaid programs than it was entitled to receive, James said. As part of the settlement, New York Medicaid will receive more than $8 million in restitution and other recoveries. Other states receiving settlements include California, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan and Ohio. The second agreement resolves allegations that Walgreens knowingly engaged in fraudulent conduct when it dispensed insulin pens in boxes of five, regardless of the dosage requested by the patient's doctor and the patient's needs. This resulted in a pattern where Medicare and Medicaid beneficiaries routinely received more insulin than prescribed and Walgreens then billed Medicaid for the additional doses. Under the settlement, Walgreens will pay the U.S. and six states $209.2 million. New York will receive $6.5 million of this amount in restitution and other recovery. Other states receiving money include Indiana, Washington, Texas, Oklahoma and Massachusetts. An investigation was initiated after a whistleblower filed a lawsuit in 2015 in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York. -- Bethany Bump, Times Union, Albany, New York Angus Johnston is a historian of American student activism. He teaches history at the City University of New York. By Angus Johnston | The Washington Post In an extraordinary exchange of letters Wednesday, President Donald Trump and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi delivered mutually exclusive ultimatums, leaving next weeks planned State of the Union address in limbo. In the first letter, Trump declared flatly that despite Pelosis Jan. 16 postponement, he would be delivering his speech as originally scheduled: I will be honoring your invitation, and fulfilling my Constitutional duty, he wrote. I look forward to seeing you on the evening on January 29th in the Chamber of the House of Representatives. Hours later, though, Pelosi was just as emphatic: the House of Representatives will not consider a concurrent resolution authorizing the Presidents State of the Union address in the House Chamber until government has opened. No deal, no speech. Period. Faced with this irresistible-force-meets-immovable-object spectacle, D.C. observers for much of Wednesday immersed themselves in the minutiae of government protocol (Trump can go to the House chamber whenever he wants! But he cant turn on the lights without permission! And Pelosi controls the C-SPAN cameras!), with several suggesting that Trump might simply call Pelosis bluff and show up on Tuesday night, figuring that shed either give in and let him speak or lose the optics battle by refusing. But lets be real -- that was never going to happen. That kind of showdown isnt in Trumps nature. Heck, even traveling the two miles from the White House to the Capitol without a written invitation would be practically unprecedented. Trump hates leaving his home turf. Hates it. He emerges from his cocoon only when he's promised he'll be coddled and catered to, and frequently bails even then. He vacations almost exclusively at properties he owns. On the campaign trail he does rallies, not meet-and-greets. On his last trip to Europe he played hooky at an Armistice Day commemoration. It took him nearly two years to visit the troops in Iraq, and he still hasn't been to Afghanistan. And for all his bluster, Trump is almost comically conflict averse. He delivers insults via tweet or television camera, not face-to-face. He habitually ducks firing Cabinet members and senior staff, forcing underlings to lower the boom for him. Unscripted confrontation -- a real fight, for real stakes -- just isnt in him. So why has the myth of Trump as an eager street fighter persisted for so long? It's largely an artifact of his popularity with Republican Party voters. With the GOP holding the reins of power throughout the federal government in the first half of his term, and staying in his good graces essential to other Republicans' hopes of winning their home-state primaries, Trump has been free to provoke confrontations whenever and wherever he wanted without fear. He might be outplayed in these fights, and he might be manipulated, but he could not be humiliated, and he would not lose face. But that changed with the coming of the Democratic majority in the House of Representatives this month. Now, for the first time in his presidency, Trump has adversaries in Congress who will pay no price at the polls for crossing him, opponents he can't count on to take a dive before the final bell. Which brings us to Wednesday. At 12:21 p.m., White House press secretary Sarah Sanders tweeted the text of his letter to Nancy Pelosi in which he announced that he would be giving the State of the Union in the House chamber. At 3:17 p.m., Pelosi tweeted her response, saying that he would not be. And how did Trump respond? He caved immediately, announcing on camera less than an hour later that the State of the Union has been canceled by Nancy Pelosi. Late last night he went further, conceding that it was Pelosis prerogative to cancel the address, and announcing that he would work with her to reschedule it after the government shutdown ends. Trump, it turns out, is good at throwing his weight around only when nobody calls his bluff. His reputation for interpersonal aggressiveness is a mirage, an artifact of reality television and the internal dynamics of the Republican electorate. (There was that incident in Brussels when he shoved the prime minister of Montenegro out of his way, but even then he couldn't bring himself to make eye contact, and there was basically no chance he would be shoved back.) He still has plenty of power, of course, and he is likely to gain more political victories before leaving office -- hes the president of the United States, after all. But confronted with an actually immovable object, the supposedly irresistible force revealed itself as downright . . . resistible. Do you already have a paid subscription to any of the SWNewsMedia newspapers? If so, you can Activate your Premium online account by clicking here. Activation will allow you to view unlimited online articles each month. To activate your Premium online account, the email address and phone number provided with your paid newspaper subscription needs to match the information you use in setting up your online user account. If you are having trouble or want to confirm what email address and phone number is listed on your subscription account, please call 952-345-6682 or email circulation@swpub.com and we'll be happy to assist. Staff Reporter Alex Chhith is a staff reporter at the Chaska Herald. In her spare time, she enjoys walking her dogs (Cody and Sam), catching up on the Game of Thrones and finding new restaurants. Follow her on Twitter @AlexChhith. The Phuket-based show, which is the first Asian yacht exhibition of 2019, presented the perfect platform for Simpson Marines strong fleet of nine. The brokerage, which was founded in Hong Kong and has long headed the Asian market, emerged as a leading exhibitor, bringing a varied fleet including mono and multihulls ranging from 9-27m. These were displayed to a great reception and several sales, with more expected to follow. Most notably, the Simpson Marine collection entailed a Monte Carlo Yachts 86 as the fleet flagship and a Monte Carlo Yachts 70 available for immediate delivery. They also presented a Monte Carlo Yachts 65, Gran Turismo 50, Gran Turisom 46 and Oceansi 51.1 as Thailand Premieres, and a Lagoon 43, Aquila 44 and Flyer 8.8 also graced the ranks. The charter division for Simpson Marine also had a successful show, with high levels of interest expressed and numerous charters booked across the course of four days. Stars of the show included the new Flyer 8.8 and Lagoon 42, but the entire fleet of luxurious catamarans, motoryachts and superyachts available for charter with Simpson Marine attracted a great deal of enquiry. "As the biggest exhibitor at the Thailand Yacht Show, Simpson Marine once again displayed a wide scope of yachts suitable for various audiences and usage plans, from the world's most reputable brands," says Richard Allen, Group General Manager. "We were also pleased to present the Sanlorenzo superyacht lounge, with Nick Stratton from Sanlorenzo Asia at the show providing support. Our team also promoted the company's wide range of services, particularly the Yacht Charter and Yacht Care/Service divisions. Simpson Marine have expressed their encouragement at the growth of the Thai market. The show is firm proof that the country is a huge growth area, and that more and more Asia-based owners are buying into the yachting lifestyle. Having looked after several thousand boat owners over the past 35 years, there is no one better to look after Asia's owners and buyers than Simpson Marine, Mr Allen continued. Fresh from the shows success, we are expecting great things from Simpson Marine and from the Southeast Asian market! Not built on a budget, nor with a time schedule, Mr Robba had the patience to create an Indonesian phinisi masterpiece; built with the elegance and drama required to reflect her surroundings. Mark explains, Dunia Baru is a truly Indonesian yacht, down to her very soul. She was crafted by hand by the renowned Konjo Boat Builder, who have been building the finest phinisis for generations. Asmat wood carvers made incredible wall panels on board, while artisans from Bali did paintings and extraordinary artwork was collected for the yacht from across the archipelago. Now available for charter, Dunia Baru is a rare superyacht that has been purposely crafted to fit with one destination. South East Asia has so much to offer visiting superyachts, Mark shares, explaining the reasoning behind a destination-built vessel... We've explored the waters around Malaysia, Thailand, Palau and the Mergui Archipelago, but honestly, we could spend the next 20 years in Indonesia and still find new things. Whats slightly, less-rare, however, is the conversation on South East Asia as a growing yachting destination. Seeing the traffic first hand, Mark describes, It is a booming yachting destination as well and an increasing number of foreign flagged superyachts are coming here. There is so much to explore. But, as the experienced owner explains, only Indonesian flagged boats are allowed to charter in these remote waters. Dunia Baru of course, makes this list. So with a vessel more than fit for purpose we asked the question, why Indonesia? It is astonishingly beautiful here. And, unlike the beautiful places in the Med or Caribbean, it is still an untouched paradise. You can find yourself in remote bays or anchored off of deserted beaches without another vessel in sight. You could pass a whole charter without seeing another soul a part from the people on your yacht, surely what every superyacht owner or charterer wants? Aside from the off-radar ability of the countrys 1,700 islands and islets, Robba mentions a handful of other major draws which include the natural diversity of the renowned Coral Triangle, housing some of the best diving and snorkelling in the world, as well as birdwatching and animal-spotting not to forget the Balinese Beach Clubs. So with a one of a kind built vessel in an other-wordly location, Mark continues this conversation in Part 2, explaining the unusual charter experience on board Tasman Our client is looking for a labourer that is wanting to develop within a role. This is an opportunity for someone who is... View or Apply on GoodWork.co.nz Bright lights on cruise ships pose a risk to seabirds flying at night in the Hauraki Gulf, so the Department of Conservation is working with the international cruise industry to help keep the birds safe. DOC Principal Science Advisor Graeme Taylor says the bright lights attract the seabirds. They can be momentarily blinded causing them to fly into a cruise ship and end up lying stunned on the deck. DOC is working with the NZ Cruise Ship Association and Cruise Lines International Association to reduce the amount of light from cruise ships and advise crews on what to do when dazzled birds land on their ships. Bright lights on cruise ships is an issue in the Hauraki Gulf because we have a high number of seabird species that fly at night, says Graeme Taylor. This includes mature seabirds foraging for food and young birds departing from their breeding colonies on their first trip to sea. These seabirds have better night vision than humans. But this means theyre more likely to be dazzled by a cruise ships lights, especially on foggy overcast nights with no moonlight. Young seabirds are most at risk of crash landing on a ship at night. To keep the seabirds and passengers safe, DOC has developed an advice sheet for crews on cruise ships. Were providing practical advice on ways to reduce the amount of light shining out to sea from cruise ships and how to manage dazzled birds that land on the ships, says Graeme. NZ Cruise Association Chief Executive Kevin OSullivan says advice sheets have been distributed to cruise ships sailing into New Zealand ports. Were asking environmental officers on large cruise ships and senior officers on smaller ships to manage the issue of safeguarding the night flying seabirds. The feedback weve had has been very positive. Officers and crew on cruise ships share their workspace, the ocean, with seabirds and have a genuine commitment to keeping them safe. Preventing dazzled seabirds from crash landing on their decks also helps keep their passengers safe, says Kevin. Cruise Lines International Association Managing Director Australasia Joel Katz says the protection of seabirds and other wildlife was an important priority for cruise lines. "The cruise industry has a strong interest in safeguarding the oceans, wildlife and natural environment that our guests come to enjoy, and the advice of the DOC will be of great assistance to cruise lines as they work to minimise risks for New Zealands seabirds." A Tauranga man has been jailed after his two dogs lost over 40 per cent of their body weight and were found infected with intestinal worms and fleas. Louis Delves pleaded guilty to four charges under the Animal Welfare Act 1999 relating to failing to ensure the physical, health and behavioural needs of his two dogs Tank and Sass were met. In Tauranga District Court yesterday, Delves was sentenced to 4 months 2 weeks imprisonment, ordered to pay reparations of $455.78 and $250 contribution towards legal costs. He was also disqualified from owning or exercising authority of dogs for three years. The case began on June 13 2017, when an SPCA Inspector visited the defendant's property in Whanganui after receiving an animal welfare complaint. The SPCA Inspector found Tank and Sass, two Staffordshire bull terrier dogs in extremely thin body condition. Tank was chained to a carport post and was cowering, totally exposed to the torrential rain. Sass was curled up shivering inside a kennel and run. Both dogs were seized by the SPCA Inspector and taken for veterinary assessment. Tank and Sass were found to be emaciated and had lost over 40 per cent of their body weight. They had a body condition score of just 1 out of 9, and both dogs were infected with intestinal worms and fleas, says a statement released by the SPCA. Tank was anaemic, likely due to parasite-related blood loss and nutritional deficiencies causing impaired red blood cell regenerating capacity. Sasss blood tests revealed low creatinine, likely a result of malnutrition and low muscle mass, and she had dirty wounds on her ears. In SPCAs care, both dogs flourished. After just one month Tank gained 10.5kg and Sass gained 9.5kg. Both have been adopted to new loving families and are happy and healthy. Sadly, this situation of significant neglect is something we see far too often, says SPCA CEO Andrea Midgen. Tank and Sass were completely reliant on their owner for food and veterinary treatment. Not only did he fail to provide them the food they needed, but he left them chained and alone in the backyard, unable to move or attempt to find food themselves. These dogs were highly vulnerable. The serious neglect of Tank and Sass is completely unacceptable. Id like to remind all New Zealand animal owners it is your legal responsibility to ensure the physical, health and behaviour needs of your pet are being met. Bay of Plenty Do you want the opportunity to work on one of the busiest ports in New Zealand? Then read on! We have an exciting role for... View or Apply on GoodWork.co.nz Kristin Dunne Tourism Bay of Plenty Does the Bay of Plenty summer have you feeling inspired? With thousands enjoying sun-kissed days at the beach and world-class events and attractions, and a record number of cruise ships creating that feel-good Kiwi summer buzz, its hard not to. It certainly has us inspired to take tourism in the Bay to the next level. Here in the coastal Bay of Plenty, tourism is already worth more than $1 billion a year and were working to grow this to $1.45 billion and create a further 4000 new jobs within the next decade. As a Destination Management Organisation, we will be working hard to coordinate all the elements that make up the region, including attractions, amenities and access, while creating sustainable growth of the tourism sector for the benefit of our local community. This will ensure growth that is sustainable both financially and environmentally, so that everyone can enjoy the economic benefits that tourism brings, such as new jobs and a more even spread of visitors throughout the year. But as the saying goes, many hands make light work. So, whether youre an emerging or potential tourism operator, then we would love to hear from you. Call the Tourism Bay of Plenty office on 07 577 6234, email info@bayofplentynz.com, or pop by and visit us at 8 Wharf Street, Tauranga. Tell us about your passionate idea (big or small) and we can assist with some helpful tips and our Tourism Toolkit - a how-to guide on everything from mastering business plans, to the cruise sector, to travel trade marketing. We are here to guide you every step of the way to ensure your vision succeeds and thrives. Because together, we can showcase the personality of our community, what makes our region great, and the unique attributes that differentiate us from the rest of New Zealand. We apologize. A page no longer exists or an error has occured on our server. Return to Our Home Page by Austin Bay January 23, 2019 Since late fall 2018, nationwide opposition to Venezuelan dictator Nicolas Maduro has shown signs of increasing coordination -- emerging links connecting angry anti-Maduro street demonstrations, domestic political preparations by opposition leaders and anti-regime international diplomatic initiatives that portray Maduro as the vicious thug he is. Street demonstrations against the vicious socialist regime are not new. In the past, they have flared and then faded. The regime has isolated and silenced bothersome opposition leaders. However, Venezuelan opposition actions -- lines of operation, to use jargon -- have begun to work together. The opposition is successfully waging diplomatic, political and information warfare domestically and internationally. The opposition, however, is vulnerable to physical attack. Maduro, like his mentor, Hugo Chavez, is a heavily armed bully who uses starvation and violence to maintain control. There are rumors of internal Venezuelan military disenchantment. On Jan. 18, the Miami Herald published an article confirming disgust but added that no serving senior officer appeared to be "willing to lead an insurrection." As this column is written, public revolts by anti-regime military and police personnel, like the one that occurred in Caracas on Jan. 21, have been scattered, small-scale incidents marked by individual desperation and impulsiveness, not coordinated military planning. So far, Maduro's well-armed thugs have quickly suppressed these incidents. Still, as February approaches, these opposition lines of operation -- public anger, domestic politics, diplomacy, effective narrative warfare and nascent threats of armed action -- are coalescing into something more than random jabs at the regime. And this process is occurring In the midst of Venezuela's economic disaster and social chaos -- despite the regime's control of food, despite the regime's enormous advantage in weapons, despite its control of the country's 300 billion barrels of proven oil reserves. Venezuelan oil reserves are collateral that can buy powerful friends, like Cuban security personnel, or perhaps Russian and Chinese vetoes in the U.N. That's one reason many analysts have called a nationwide uprising to topple Maduro a long shot. However, the crude is in the ground. If Maduro falls, another government will control it. The opposition has demonstrated courage and is organizing. There is a growing possibility Maduro's dictatorship may soon face a serious, coordinated rebellion. Which leads to repeating the moment's critical word: coalescing. The organizing process is dynamic and could be disrupted or halted. For example, members of the National Assembly (Venezuela's legislature) have set conditions to peacefully remove Maduro from power. They declared Maduro's last election illegal and that therefore he has usurped power. Assembly president Juan Guaido is forming a "transitional government." This month, Guaido asked the Venezuelan military to help the legislature peacefully remove Maduro. Maduro could halt this political line of operation by assassinating Guaido and other legislators. Apparently, arrest doesn't deter Guaido. Maduro arrested him in 2018 and "briefly detained" him on Jan. 20 of this year. Another disruptive option: Maduro's secret police and security forces use violent, mass repression and massacre to stop street demonstrations. But what if massive bloodshed occurs? This hypothetical is not improbable and it raises other ugly "what ifs." How many Venezuelans must die before calls for outside intervention erupt? If violence and millions of refugees spill beyond Venezuelan borders, how do neighboring states like Colombia react? Who aids the refugees, with food, money, tents and cash? Armed intervention is the big question. Neighboring Colombia and Brazil have no desire to send soldiers. The Pentagon is adamant that it has no plans to deploy American troops in Venezuela. At the moment, the Trump administration is applying diplomatic muscle. On Jan. 22, Vice President Mike Pence called the National Assembly Venezuela's last vestige of democracy. He said that America "supports the courageous decision by Juan Guaido" to assert the legislature's constitutional powers and remove the "usurper" Maduro. Pence added that the U.S. "will stay with the people of Venezuela until democracy is restored." Pence's statement portrayed Guaido as a constitutionally legitimate leader. On Jan. 23, President Donald Trump confirmed it as Guaido declared himself head of state. However this question is begged: Is Washington willing to protect him? In December 2018 a Vietnamese fisherman operating about eight kilometers off the coast of central Vietnam, spotted a large circular object floating nearby and, curious about that it might be, attached a rope to it and brought it onto a local beach. Once on the beach, someone realized it appeared to be a torpedo (it was seven meters long, 533mm in diameter and had a propeller). Part of it was painted red and it had Chinese language writing on it. The police were called and they brought in a naval officer to confirm that it was a Chinese training torpedo that had not been retrieved after use. The torpedo was put under guard until it could be removed for further examination. Before removal, many cell phone photos were taken and found their way to the Internet. The torpedo looked like an American MK-48 meaning it was probably a training version of the Chinese Yu 6 torpedo. This weapon entered service in 2005 and was known to be based on an older Mk 48 Mod 3 that Chinese fishermen retrieved sometime around 1980. Chinese engineers spent over two decades reverse engineering key aspects of the Mk 48 while also retaining some characteristics of the older Russian torpedoes they were using. The Mk 48 Mod 4 entered service in 1982 and there was a remote chance the Chinese fishermen found one of these that had been lost. China is also known to have stolen a lot of data on U.S. weapons (mainly via Internet hacks) since 2005 but tech appears to have gone into the Yu 9 torpedo, which may still be in development and may supplement late model Yu 6s rather than replace them. Most modern torpedoes have training versions in which the warhead is replaced with an inert (non-explosive) payload that includes electronics to record the performance of the torpedo as well as an electronic beacon so that the torpedo (which is rigged to float after use) can easily be found. Sometimes the beacon fails and you have a lost torpedo. Since Vietnam and the U.S. are now on friendly terms American technicians will probably get a look at the torpedo the Vietnamese found, provide additional confirmation of what it is and collect data on how the Chinese adapted older Mk 48 tech to build their standard submarine torpedo. The MK-48 entered service in 1971 as the Mod 1 and has been continually upgraded since then. The MK-48 is a 533mm (21 inch), 1.7 ton weapon with a range of up to 74 kilometers (at 50 kilometers an hour) and a top speed of 102 kilometers an hour (at a range of 38 kilometers). The MK-48 can be controlled from the sub via wire guidance and has onboard sonar to assist in finding targets and avoiding underwater obstacles. There are numerous electronic devices on board to get around countermeasures. The MK-48 has a 295 kg (650 pound) warhead and uses a proximity fuze. Maximum depth is about 800 meters. The MK-48 is still used by the U.S. Navy as well as Brazil, Australia, Canada and the Netherlands. The Mod 4 was withdrawn in 2007 having been replaced by the Mod 5 starting in 1987. The Mod 5s were all withdrawn by 2011 as the Mod 6 entered use. The Mod 6 is still around but the Mod 7 entered service in 2016. Since World War II only three submarine-launched torpedoes have been used in combat to sink something. Only one was launched by a nuclear sub (a British boat). The other two were launched by Pakistani and North Korean diesel-electric subs. No MK-48 has ever been used in combat. Practice torpedoes are not the only military items showing up in fishing nets, washed up on beaches or spotted at sea and brought in. The waters of the western Pacific are increasingly populated by AUVs (Autonomous Undersea Vehicle) set loose to collect technical data on the water all the way from the surface to the sea bottom. Increasingly these AUVs are being caught by fishing nets by accident or seized by warships on purpose to make a political point or, eventually, interfere with legal data collection that is nevertheless very useful in submarine operations. Twice in 2016, Filipino fishermen in the South China Sea have caught American AUVs in their nets. These torpedo like devices are clearly marked as to what they are and the American embassy will send someone to pick them up if found. These AUVs are silent, very small, and able to operate on their own for up to a year. The first models were two meters (six feet) long and weighed 59 kg (130 pounds) and built to operate completely on its own collecting valuable information about underwater weather. What this AUV does is automatically move slowly (30-70 kilometers a day) underwater, collecting data on salinity and temperature and transmitting back via a satellite link every hour or so as the AUV briefly reaches the surface. This data improves the effectiveness of sonars used by friendly forces, making it easier to detect and track enemy submarines. Thats because the speed of sound traveling through water varies according to the temperature and salinity of the water. Having more precise data on salinity and temperature in a large body of water makes your underwater sensors (sonar, which detects sound to determine what is out there) more accurate. This data can also assist submarines in better avoiding detection. The first of these navy AUVs could dive as far down as 200 meters (620 feet) and later models were able to go down to 1,000 meters or more. These AUVs use a unique form of propulsion. They have wings and a small pump, that fills and empties a chamber. This changes its buoyancy, causing it to glide down, then back up. This maneuver moves the AUV forward. Equipped with GPS and a navigation and communications computer, the AUV is programmed (or instructed via the sat link) to monitor a particular area. The small pump uses less electricity than a propeller (to move it at the same speed). Thus these UAVs can remain at sea for up to a year on one battery charge. Before the battery runs out the owner has to direct the UAV and a ship to a rendezvous where the AUV will remain on the surface and the ship will haul it aboard, replace the battery and perform any other needed maintenance. The U.S. Navy currently has over 2,000 of these AUVs in service or on order and plans to keep increasing this robotic ASW fleet as long as they keep demonstrating they can do the job. The U.S. Navy apparently has a lot of these AUVs operating in the South China Sea. Its not just AUVs Filipino fishermen come across. In 2015 and 2013 fishermen found Chukar target drones. The first one had a curious history because it landed intact in late 2012 and then drifted over 2,000 kilometers from Guam until it reached the Philippines. The Chukar is designed to float so that it can be recovered and reused. Many American still long for the good old days when men were still manly and President George W. Bush was able to announce that there was a new sheriff in town pledged to wipe terrorism from the face of the earth. Youre either with us or against us, he growled and he backed up his warning of lethal retribution with an enemies list that he called the axis of evil. The axis of evil identified in those days in the 2002 State of the Union Address consisted of Iraq, Iran and North Korea. Iraq, which had not yet been invaded and conquered by the American war machine, was number one on the list, with Saddam allegedly brandishing weapons of mass destruction deliverable by the feared transatlantic gliders that could easily strike the United States. Bush explained that "Iraq continues to flaunt its hostility toward America and to support terror. The Iraqi regime has plotted to develop anthrax and nerve gas and nuclear weapons for over a decade. This is a regime that has already used poison gas to murder thousands of its own citizens, leaving the bodies of mothers huddled over their dead children. This is a regime that agreed to international inspections, then kicked out the inspectors. This is a regime that has something to hide from the civilized world." North Korea meanwhile was described as "A regime arming with missiles and weapons of mass destruction, while starving its citizens while Iran "aggressively pursues these weapons and exports terror, while an unelected few repress the Iranian people's hope for freedom." The phrase axis of evil proved so enticing that Undersecretary of State John Bolton used it two months later in a speech entitled "Beyond the Axis of Evil." He included three more countries Cuba, Libya and Syria because they were "state sponsors of terrorism that are pursuing or who have the potential to pursue weapons of mass destruction (WMD) or have the capability to do so in violation of their treaty obligations. The nice thing about an Axis of Evil List is that you can make up the criteria as you go along so you can always add more evildoers. Iraq was removed from the playing field in March 2003 while Libya had to wait for President Barack Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to be dealt with, but North Korea, Cuba, Syria and Iran are still around. Nevertheless, the idea of an enemies list continues to intrigue policy makers since it would be impossible to maintain the crippling burden of the military industrial complex without a simple expression that would convey to the public that there were bad actors out there waiting to pounce but for the magnificent efforts being made by Boeing, Lockheed, Northrop Grumman, General Dynamics and Raytheon to defend freedom. The Administration of President Donald Trump, not to be outdone by its predecessors, has recently come up with two enemies lists. The first one was coined by the irrepressible John Bolton, who is now National Security Adviser. He has come up with the troika of tyranny to describe Cuba, Venezuela and Nicaragua, where he sees the dangers of poisonous ideologies without control, and the dangers of domination and suppression I am here to convey a clear message from the President of the United States about our policy towards these three regimes. Under this administration, we will no longer appease the dictators and despots near our coasts in this hemisphere. The troika of tyranny in this hemisphere Cuba, Venezuela and Nicaragua has finally found its rival. Bolton also demonstrated that he has a light touch, adding These tyrants fancy themselves strongmen and revolutionaries, icons and luminaries. In reality, they are clownish, pitiful figures more akin to Larry, Curly, and Moe. The three stooges of socialism are true believers, but they worship a false God. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has apparently also been looking at Venezuela and not liking what he is seeing. On his recent road trip to the Middle East he told reporters that "It is time to begin the orderly transition to a new government [in Caracas]. He declared that The Maduro regime is illegitimate and the United States will work diligently to restore a real democracy to that country. We are very hopeful we can be a force for good to allow the region to come together to deliver that. Force for good is another key soundbite used by Pompeo. In his Cairo speech on January 10th, he described the United States as a force for good in the entire Middle East. Bolton might have thought troika of tyranny was a hands down winner, but he was actually upstaged by the dour Vice President Mike Pence who declared to a gathering of US Ambassadors that Beyond our global competitors, the United States faces a wolf pack of rogue states. No shared ideology or objective unites our competitors and adversaries except this one: They seek to overturn the international order that the United States has upheld for more than half a century. The states Pence identified were North Korea, Iran, Cuba, Venezuela and Nicaragua. Of the five, only North Korea can even plausibly be considered as a possible threat to the United States. As wolves are actually very social animals the metaphor provided by Pence does not hold together very well. But Pence, Bolton and Pompeo are all talking about the same thing, which is the continued existence of some governments that are reluctant to fall in line with Washingtons demands. They have to be banished from polite discourse by declaring them rogue or tyrannical or evil. Other nations with far worse human rights records to include Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, Israel and Egypt are given a pass as long as they stay aligned with the US on policy. So useful lists are all about what Washington wants the world to believe about itself and its adversaries. Put competitors on a list and condemn them to eternal denigration whenever their names come up. And, as Pence observes, it is all done to prevent the overturning of the international order. However, his is a curious conceit as it is the United States and some of its allies, through their repeated and illegal interventions in foreign countries, that have established something like international disorder. Who is really doing what to whom is pretty much dependent on which side of the fence one is standing on. The Trump administrations January 23 recognition of Venezuelas National Assembly leader, Juan Guaido, as the president of Venezuela, in opposition to the de facto and de jure president of Venezuela, Nicolas Maduro, threatens an avalanche of nations recognizing leaders of various political factions in countries around the world as legitimate governments. In reaction to Trumps move, Maduro severed diplomatic relations with Washington and ordered all US embassy personnel in Caracas to leave the country within 72-hours. Venezuelas opposition-controlled National Assembly declared a caretaker government as a rival to the Maduro government with Guaido as the interim president. Maduro was recently sworn in for a second term as Venezuelas president, an action that has been rejected by the US-financed Venezuelan right-wing opposition. US Vice President Mike Pence declared the United States resolute support for the National Assembly of Venezuela as the only legitimate democratic body in the country. Luis Almagro, the secretary general of the Washington-based Organization of American States (OAS), previously referred to Guaido as Venezuelas interim president. OAS members Canada, Colombia, Brazil, Peru, and Argentina stand ready to recognize Guaido as president of a rival Venezuelan government. Mexico has rejected the anti-Maduro stance of the Lima Group, a right-wing bloc of Latin American states demanding Maduros ouster. We may soon see a situation where the governments of the United States, Canada, Argentina, Brazil, and other countries declare Venezuelan diplomatic personnel accredited by the Maduro government expelled and their embassies turned over to loyalists of the Guaido government. With the severance of Venezuelan relations with the United States, the Trump administration may turn over the keys of the Venezuelan embassy in Washington to the Guaido-led opposition. A similar situation has already been experienced by Syria. In 2013, the Syrian opposition established a rival interim government based in Azaz, Syria, that was in opposition to the de facto and de jure government of President Bashar al-Assad in Damascus. The interim government was backed by Turkey, the United States, Saudi Arabia, and others, but it has all-but-dissolved following Assads overall victory in the Syrian civil war. Assads government retained the support of Russia, Iran, Iraq, China, North Korea, and Venezuela. What portends for Venezuela is a situation that will rapidly be copied by other countries that will rush to recognize rival presidents and governments, perhaps even extending support to the establishment of governments-in-exile. Such situations will only add to the destabilization of international relations that already permeates the globe. There are several diplomatic dominos that are following the example of Venezuela. The most pressing situation is in the Democratic Republic of Congo, where opposition leader Felix Tshisekedi was declared the winner of the nations contentious presidential election, receiving 38.57 percent of the vote. Tshisekedi is due to replace outgoing president Joseph Kabila. However, supporters of another presidential candidate, Martin Fayulu, have called the former ExxonMobil executive the actual winner of the DRC election. Fayulu won 34.8 percent of the vote. Emmanuel Ramazani Shadary, a third candidate, who was backed by Kabila, decisively lost, receiving 23.8 percent of the vote. Already, thanks to the American example being set in Venezuela, various countries are lining up to support either Tshisekedi or Fayulu as the leaders of rival DRC governments. The DRC has a tortured history of rival governments, starting from its independence in 1960. After Prime Minister Patrice Lumumba was deposed in a Central Intelligence Agency-led coup in 1960, leftist leader and Lumumba deputy prime minister Antoine Gizenga established the Free State of the Congo in Stanleyville (now Kisangani) as a rival to the Republic of the Congo in Leopoldville (now Kinshasa). Gizengas government was recognized by the Soviet Union, China, Mongolia, Poland, East Germany, Yugoslavia, Albania, Bulgaria, Hungary, Czechoslovakia, Cuba, Iraq, the United Arab Republic, Ghana, Guinea, the Algerian provisional government, and Morocco. The Leopoldville government continued to be recognized by the United States, United Kingdom, France, Belgium, and other Western countries. A secessionist State of Katanga, led by Moise Tshombe and supported by Belgian mercenaries, was established in Elisabethville (now Lubumbashi). At the same time as the Katangan secession, the State of South Kasai was proclaimed in Bakwanga, with Albert Kalonji as president. Although no nation extended diplomatic relations to either Katanga or South Kasai, they received military support from France, Belgium, South Africa, and the Central African Federation (also known as the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland). In a case of deja vu, the Tshisekedi presidency is supported by South Africa, Zimbabwe, Nigeria, Algeria, Russia, and China, while Fayulu has the backing of France, Belgium, United Kingdom, the United States, and the Vatican. Zambia, whose president originally backed Fayulu and called for a recount, changed its position to support Tshisekedi. The DRC seemed to have slipped into a time machine, ending up in 1960, with some of the same foreign actors lining up on the same sides in support of rival Congolese leaders. In Yemen, there are rival governments backed by rival countries. Two leaders claim to be the leaders of the Republic of Yemen. One is led by interim president Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi, who largely rules from exile in Saudi Arabia. The other, which has occupied the Yemeni capital of Sanaa, is led by Mohammed Ali al-Houthi, the President of the Revolutionary Committee of Yemen. Saudi Arabia and the Gulf Cooperation Council nations of Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, and Oman, as well as the United States, Egypt, and Pakistan, recognize Hadis government as the legitimate government of Yemen. Iran, Syria, and Lebanese Hezbollah recognize al-Houthi as the legitimate government of Yemen. Supporters of the former independent South Yemen took control of Aden in January 2018 and established the Southern Transitional Council, which, although not enjoying any diplomatic recognition, enjoys the support of the United Arab Emirates. The Trump administration, which appears to thrive on chaos and instability at home and abroad, has given a jump start to other rival governments. Washington is encouraging nationalist sentiments, both Chinese and Taiwanese, on Taiwan. The Republic of China on Taiwan claims to be the government of China. However, the Peoples Republic of China considers Taiwan to be a renegade province. China and Taiwan have vied for diplomatic advantage by engaging in checkbook diplomacy. China has been successful in weaning away nations recognizing Taiwan by offering them substantial aid packages in return for establishing relations with Beijing and severing them with Taiwan. With the Trump administration advancing the concept of extending diplomatic relations to rebellious political leaders, other effects of this dangerous policy will soon be felt in nations with rival political power centers or secessionist claims. These include Somalia, Libya, the Central African Republic, Afghanistan, Mali, Equatorial Guinea, Vietnam, Laos, Gabon, Nigeria, Niger, Kenya, Zimbabwe, Madagascar, Myanmar, Ethiopia, Turkey, Iran, Iraq, Sri Lanka, Egypt, Cameroon, Nigeria, and Comoros. Extending diplomatic relations to rival governments, including those in exile, rarely succeed. After the fall of the Spanish Republic in 1939 to the fascist forces of Generalissimo Francisco Franco, the Spanish Republic established a government-in-exile, first in France, and then in Mexico. During its exiled existence, the Spanish Republic was only recognized by Mexico, Panama, Guatemala, Venezuela, Poland, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Yugoslavia, Romania, and Albania. The plans by the Trump administration to recognize the right-wing opposition in Venezuela as the legitimate government of that nation is as doomed as the Spanish Republic in exile in Mexico and other failed exiled governments, including the East Turkestani government-in-exile in Washington, the Western Kurdistan government-in-exile in London, and the Free City of Danzig government-in-exile in Berlin. What Trump has unleashed with his actions directed toward Venezuela is a situation where competing governments will be fighting over seats in the United Nations, embassies and consulates abroad, and the right to speak on behalf of their countries in international forums. It is the sort of bedlam upon which Trump, a proud destroyer of institutions, thrives. It is increasingly being said that Trumps White House consists of a team of morons and idiots. When it comes to the White House recognizing Venezuelas right-wing opposition as the government of Venezuela, those appellations for Trump and his administration have definite merit. Early deadlines are in effect for advertising and editorial submissions; submit materials by Thursday, July 1 (for the July 8th issue). Please call for details. Our offices will be closed Friday, July 2, to observe the holiday. Regarding "Military restrictions can be implemented while lower courts consider challenges" (Jan. 23): Prejudice in any form is not what America is about. To not allow people to serve in our military because of their sexuality is wrong. If we have brave people wanting to protect us, they should be allowed to serve. This is unconstitutional. Just because our courts are stacked with extreme conservatives doesn't make discrimination right. I urge Sens. Josh Hawley and Roy Blunt to work harder to protect us from this hate. Transgender military personnel are not hurting anyone, but the government is hurting transgender people. Do Missouri's senators think that a person who is transgender chooses to be this way? Just wondering when they chose to be heterosexual? It's not a choice; you are born who you are, and we need to be tolerant of every one in the United States of America. We are a country for all. Catherine Stricker-Howell St. Peters It is incredible that the federal government shutdown shows no sign of resolution. Our government was created by our forefathers to include the three branches to support and enforce checks and balances. Our history indicates that this structure has brought compromise and legislation for the good of the whole nation. President John F. Kennedy said it best: Let us not seek the Republican answer or the Democratic answer but the right answer. Let us not seek to fix the blame for the past. Let us accept our own responsibility for the future." It is clear to me that our parties are digging in and not interested in compromise, creativity and debate to help them resolve issues for all people. Remember the warnings of George Washington in his farewell address that political parties would encourage corruption. Are we the victims of party corruption and becoming victims to partisanship? This has become a circus. Ronald French OFallon, Mo. Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro delivers a speech during the presidential inauguration ceremony in Caracas, Venezuela, on Jan. 10, 2019. Nicolas Maduro was sworn in before the Supreme Court of Justice to begin a new six-year term on Thursday. (Xinhua/Andrea Romero) Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro announced on Wednesday that the country has cut off diplomatic relations with the United States, giving American diplomats 72 hours to leave the country. Earlier that day, US President Donald Trump said that the United States had recognized Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido as the nation's "interim president," a move that came after Nicolas Maduro was inaugurated as president of the Latin American country earlier this month. "Today, I am officially recognizing the President of the Venezuelan National Assembly, Juan Guaido, as the Interim President of Venezuela," Trump said in a statement issued by the White House. Trump added that the United States would continue to use economic and diplomatic power to press for "the restoration of Venezuelan democracy." Guaido, head of the opposition-controlled National Assembly, declared himself "interim president" of Venezuela earlier Wednesday. Venezuela's incumbent President Maduro was elected last year with 67.84 percent of the votes, and he was sworn in as president on Jan 10 for another six-year term. Also on Wednesday, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo reiterated in a statement that the United States would cooperate with other members of the international community to deal with the situation in Venezuela. Last week, Venezuela's Foreign Minister Jorge Arreaza denounced that Pompeo led "a criminal economic blockade and an operation of international aggression against Venezuela." The article Marijuana legalization in Illinois debate shifts from when to how (Jan. 2) began by asserting the plethora of opportunities Illinois faces as the state joins the growing list of those who have opened dispensary doors. It then shifted focus to a rather important group of individuals who disapprove of this decision: law enforcement. Without support from public figures, such as police, the stigma surrounding the drug can never truly evolve alongside the multitude of ways the decriminalization of marijuana would benefit the entire community. In the past 40 years, marijuana has made major breakthroughs in the medical field: from providing relief to patients with terminal cancer, to aiding insomnia, to reducing seizures in epileptic patients. Extending the bill to include legal sale of recreational marijuana to adults, the entire community can reap the rewards. The state of Colorado exemplifies this, obtaining $118 million just from marijuana taxes. The state turned around and put that money toward the education system, as well as facilities directed to combat substance abuse in both minors and adults. The White House has tried unconvincingly to blame congressional Democrats for the shutdown, but Trump has already declared that this was his decision. He also must own the consequences. The illegal-immigration question that has long motivated Trumps thinking is yielding the exact reverse of his intentions. Undocumented immigrants awaiting deportation are getting a temporary reprieve because most of the nations immigration courts are closed. Legal immigrants cant process the paperwork they need to maintain their legal status. Chances are increasing that undocumented immigrants will be able to find work in places that otherwise would turn them away. The federal E-Verify program, required for certain employers to ensure they arent hiring undocumented immigrants, has been suspended for all but the past few days of the shutdown. Approximately 300 federal E-Verify workers were recalled for work this week, but a massive backlog awaits. Acouple of thousand times a year in Missouri, drivers who are splitting their attention between looking at the road and looking at a cellphone crash their vehicles. In some of those crashes, inevitably, the driver or someone else dies. Some Missouri legislators are trying again to outlaw cellphone use while driving. Its a commonsense idea that, based on national trends, seems certain to become state law sooner or later. The only question is how many more drivers will die before it does. So far, 16 states, including Illinois, have banned all handheld phone activity while driving. Texting while driving possibly the most pervasive and dangerous activity, because it takes the drivers eyes completely off the road has been banned in all but three states. But in Missouri, drivers 21 and older can do pretty much anything they want on their phones while guiding a two-ton machine down public roadways at high speeds. In 2017, there were almost 2,600 crashes in Missouri, both fatal and nonfatal, that police know involved cellphones. Officials say that number is almost certainly low because of people who either dont admit they were using a phone or who dont survive to explain what happened. Missouri state Treasurer Scott Fitzpatrick is considering help for some of the thousands of furloughed federal workers living in the state by offering zero-interest, state-backed loans to get them through the federal government shutdown. As of Friday, hundreds of thousands of federal workers will have missed two missed paychecks. With those employees guaranteed to eventually collect that back-pay, such a loan program would be about the safest imaginable bet for Missouri taxpayers, and a humane response to the situation. It would also stand as an example of how government can function for the good of the people an example Washington sorely needs to see right now. Since the government partially shut down Dec. 22 over President Donald Trumps demand for border-wall funding, some 800,000 federal workers have been either furloughed or, worse, forced to work without pay. It is now the longest shutdown in U.S. history. The debate isnt just about a wall, which even Republican House members who represent border regions say isnt the right approach to border security; its also about ending the practice of using government shutdowns as leverage to fulfill policy goals. Ensure benefits outweigh some of the salary differences. Some districts sometimes lose teachers to other districts with higher pay, but salary is not the only factor that teachers consider when deciding to teach in a district. A lower salary may be acceptable if the administration provides generous maternity/paternity leave, sick and personal days, options for earning extra pay through additional roles, tuition remission and lowered health insurance premiums and benefits. Policies that give teachers more flexibility to go to doctors appointments and other obligations can go a long way to boost morale. Provide solid mentoring for new teachers. The first few years are tough, and it is the time teachers are most likely to leave the classroom. Strong mentoring practices can help prevent burnout. Experienced teachers should meet at least once a week with new teachers and share materials whenever possible. Teacher mentors are oftentimes compensated, but not at a fair rate. Support the faculty at the administrative level. Talk to any teacher about what they want from their administration and the answer is usually the same: support, less paperwork, less micromanaging, more innovation and more independence. Let teachers be the professionals they are, and reward those who excel. CNN's Ben Wedeman visits a drug rehabilitation center in Syria's rebel-controlled Idlib Province where dozens of people have come to seek help. His lower arms scarred from where he repeatedly cut himself, 23-year old Mahmoud recalls his daily drug habit. "I'd take 30 pills first thing in the morning. Half an hour after breakfast I'd take another 20, then another 20 in the afternoon, and in the evening when I went out another 30 or 40. As many as 150 by the end of the day." Mahmoud is one of dozens of people who have come seeking help from the Save a Soul Hospital for Mental Illnesses, the only drug rehabilitation center in Syria's rebel-controlled Idlib Province. His drug of choice: Tramadol, a highly addictive opioid, cheap and freely available over the counter in Syria. When Mahmoud was high -- which was all the time -- he says he would cut his arms with a knife. "I couldn't feel a thing," he recalls. In the war-ravaged wasteland that is Syria, no one has gathered statistics on drug abuse. The doctor who runs the hospital, who requested that his name not be published for fear of reprisals, says substance abuse has skyrocketed since the start of the war. Step inside Sacred Heart Church of Jesus in Sandino, Cuba. It's the first Roman Catholic church built in Cuba since the revolution. Here's what else you need to know to Get Up to Speed and Out the Door . (You can also get "5 Things You Need to Know Today" delivered to your inbox daily. Sign up here .) 1. Government shutdown Those 800,000 federal workers impacted by the shutdown are back at work today. But the threat of another shutdown looms. Democrats and Republicans have three weeks to hammer out some kind of deal on border security before funding from the short-term spending legislation runs out. President Trump said if there's no money allocated for his border wall he's willing to endure another shutdown or declare a national emergency so that he could use Defense Department funds to build the wall. Neither option is particularly attractive for the President. After getting nothing in the record-breaking shutdown that just ended, Trump's GOP allies may be less likely to go down that path again. And declaring a national emergency would spark a constitutional battle that could be tied up in the courts for months. The US military has moved additional troops into Syria in recent days to help provide protection to other US service members as they withdraw under President Donald Trump's directive to pullout all US troops from the country, according to two US defense officials. The officials would not reveal where in the country the troops are or how many have been sent. Defense officials have acknowledged that a security force of armed troops -- possibly infantry -- would be needed to help carry out the withdrawal of US forces over time. The additional troops that have moved in are needed to provide security for troops and equipment as they are moved out by land and air as well a provide additional security on the ground as the number of US forces dwindles, officials said. The officials said the additional security forces may move around Syria to different locations as needed and may move in and out of the country at times. They would not indicate if any troop withdrawals have taken place or will happen in the immediate future, citing security concerns . "We call on all parties to refrain from measures that are inconsistent with the privileges and immunities enjoyed by members of the diplomatic community," the statement continued. "The United States will take appropriate actions to hold accountable anyone who endangers the safety and security of our mission and its personnel." The US Embassy in Caracas issued a security alert saying protests may continue through the week and announcing that US citizens needing emergency assistance would be helped on Thursday, though visa appointments would be canceled. It asked US government personnel to restrict their movements to certain areas and added that it was asking them to keep "their preschool and school aged children home from school on January 24." The White House said it was closely monitoring protests in Venezuela as well as the response from Maduro, who took to the balcony of the presidential palace Wednesday to assail "the gringo empire," accuse it of a coup attempt and charge that the US' only interest is Venezuela's oil, gas and gold. The next 48 hours could be key for both Venezuela and Trump, whose bravado stand may not yield any immediate change but will raise expectations for US action, analysts said, particularly if the standoff over US diplomats isn't quickly resolved. Florida politics Consistently, Kennedy said, the highest average readings of particulate matter (PM) concentration were found behind the smokestack at the back of the ship. The equipment he used measured particles with sizes between 0.02 and 1.0 micrometers, considered ultrafine and fine PM. "What Dr. Kennedy found on board was shocking," said Kendra Ulrich, senior shipping campaigner at Stand.earth, the international environmental organization that commissioned the report. She noted that the stern area -- the back of the ship -- may be where running tracks, swimming pools or lounge areas are located, so both passengers and cruise line employees may be spending considerable time in these areas. "Stand.earth is campaigning to get Carnival Corp. to stop using heavy fuel oil," Ulrich said. "What this industry giant does can have a huge effect in setting standards for the rest of the industry." Carnival said in a statement that it coordinates its cruises with "national and international regulatory bodies like the [US Environmental Protection Agency] to insure the utmost safety of our guests and crew" and that tests of the air quality on its ships "meet or exceed every requirement." The shelter's veterinarians examined Brownie and decided that they needed to save his leg. Brownie's leg was fractured and had a soft tissue injury and bone damage. After consulting with an orthopedic surgeon, it was determined that Brownie would need a $5,000 surgery called an arthrodesis which would ultimately stabilize the leg. The City of Independence After School Program decided to help Brownie by selling stuffed animals that were featured on the facility's Christmas tree around the holidays. Brownie met with mayor Anthony Togliatti and accepted a check for the surgery. The dog has his surgery on Jan. 10 at the Metropolitan Veterinary Hospital in Akron and is doing great. Brownie will be available for adoption next week. Please note: This content carries a strict local market embargo. If you share the same market as the contributor of this article, you may not use it on any platform. If Cohen doesn't want to testify, it's not clear what legal recourse he would have to avoid appearing after receiving a subpoena. Former federal prosecutors say Cohen would have to testify about the crimes he's pleaded guilty to, including lying to Congress and campaign finance violations, because he waived any right against self-incrimination as part of those plea agreements. But he may be able to argue that he can't answer questions about other topics "if he has a fear of (prosecution for) other things for which he has not been convicted," one former prosecutor said. CNN legal analyst Michael Zeldin explained: "As to matters relating to his plea agreements Cohen likely retains no Fifth Amendment right. With respect to collateral matters (for example: 'What do you know about this murder?') he arguably retains his Fifth Amendment rights, but it's hard to imagine how this would arise in connection with his congressional testimony." Zeldin said that means Cohen would likely have to answer questions about the Trump Tower Moscow deal, because that's what he pleaded guilty to lying to Congress about. "I would expect that he waived his rights with respect to this topic," he said. "But, if there are areas that go beyond his previous testimony and as to which he may still be under investigation by Mueller, he may have a colorable claim of privilege. It's complicated." Our Oma is all in though, and always has been. Just like Pelosi, who was born decades after Oma, she breaks the mold, proving that it's time to throw the negative framing of older women out the window. In fact, at 103, Oma is still smart as hell, gorgeous, witty, and has a youthful twinkle in her eyes. We have a lot to learn from the women who came before us about aging, power and thumbing our noses at our nation's shortsighted thinking about older women. At her party last week, Oma modeled some important clues. To start, it turns out that simply embracing the beauty of aging can be a big part of moving toward healthy longevity. Case in point: On the morning of her 103rd birthday when I asked our Oma how it felt, she said, "I see aging as being pretty and different. I never looked at aging as a sign of being 'old.' " As Oma talked, she reminded me about another of her secrets to a long life, which is a can-do attitude (which is something, I might add, I've witnessed Pelosi have even in the toughest of times). At the other end, solidly Democratic coastal states like New York and Maryland had only about a fifth of jobs in the high-risk category. The findings suggest the economic tensions that framed Trump's election may well persist, and may even be immune to his efforts to shift global trade policy in favor of U.S. manufacturers. "The first era of digital automation was one of traumatic change ... with employment and wage gains coming only at the high and low ends," authors including Brookings Metro Policy Program director Mark Muro wrote of the spread of computer technology and robotics that began in the 1980s. "That our forward-looking analysis projects more of the same ... will not, therefore, be comforting." The study used prior research from the McKinsey Global Institute that looked at tasks performed in 800 occupations, and the proportion that could be automated by 2030 using current technology. GRAPHIC: Occupations by automation potential West Virginia Democrat Ojeda lost his 2018 bid for a House seat, but moved on to being a 2020 candidate. Ojeda says his last name with a hard 'j" -- "oh-JED-ah" -- not to be confused with the "oh-HEED-ah" of New York Mets fame. In his concession speech, he took aim at President Donald Trump for mispronouncing his name and calling him "stone-cold crazy." "But make no mistake about it, you're going to know my name." he vowed. "I'm Richard Ojeda! I am Richard Ojeda! I am Richard Ojeda and I'm not done fighting!" Beto O'Rourke The former Texas congressman who lost his Senate race to Ted Cruz may have 2020 aspirations, but for now he's traveling the country trying to find himself, Jack Kerouac (Care-ooo-ack) style. Born Robert Francis O'Rourke in El Paso, he explained that Beto -- "BEH-toe" -- is a nickname that's he's gone by his entire life. The St. Louis County Council voted unanimously more than a year ago to oppose a statewide vote on such a proposal. Mayors across Missouri denounced what they saw as a run around local voters. And members of the state Legislature panned the idea this week, with two even filing legislation against it. Municipal League leaders said Wednesday that it was time for them to act. We felt it was important to have this discussion transparently, to have it locally, and for the St. Louis region to be in charge of its own destiny, said Ferguson Mayor and Municipal League board member James Knowles III. If the leagues proposal passes, leaders will work with others in the community to gather signatures to compel Krewson and Stenger to appoint 18 of the 19-member special board. Gov. Mike Parson would appoint the final member. The effort would need 3 percent of those who voted in each jurisdiction in the last gubernatorial election. The advocacy groups also are seeking public records related to the cities use and enforcement of these ordinances. They plan to review the data and then decide whether to proceed with lawsuits. Maplewood settled the lawsuit last year over its 2006 ordinance that allowed for the eviction of residents after three police calls for peace disturbance or domestic violence to a residence in under six months. Under the settlement agreement, the city no longer defines domestic violence reports as nuisance calls. Evicting domestic violence victims is out in Maplewood A revised ordinance advanced by the Maplewood City Council on Tuesday eliminates language that allowed for officials to fine or evict people who were victims of crimes and bars officials from counting domestic violence incidents as nuisances. The citys revised ordinance also eliminates language that allows officials to fine or evict victims of crimes. More than 20 percent of the evictions in Maplewood under the 2006 ordinance were against victims of domestic violence. Enforcement of the ordinance also disproportionately affected African-Americans and people with mental illness, attorneys said. The ACLU has been targeting nuisance ordinances nationwide for years, claiming they violate residents rights to police protection. Civic officials who have argued for the ordinances say they can help identify problem properties and, in turn, reduce crime. Illinois passed a law in 2015 barring cities from enforcing nuisance ordinances that penalize residents for making police calls for domestic violence, crimes or other emergencies. Daily updates on the latest news in the St. Louis business community. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy. ST. LOUIS As a French diplomat pinned his countrys most distinguished medal to Alfred C. Villagrans chest, the World War II veteran thought of the five men in his B-17 bomber crew who were killed in combat. I think they would be very proud of me, said Villagran, who was 19 when he served in the Army Air Forces as a B-17 radio operator and gunner. But I like to think that I accepted this not only for myself but for all the guys that fought for France and Western Europe. There are a lot of deserving guys who didnt make it back. At 95, Villagran, of Chesterfield, was the youngest of three men and World War II veterans France awarded the Legion of Honor on Wednesday at Soldiers Memorial. The French also gave Eugene J. Harmack, of Kirkwood, and Glenn A. Harrison, of OFallon, Mo., the honor, which was started in 1802 by Napoleon Bonaparte. Both men are 98. France has been giving the award to veterans in Americas Greatest Generation for their aid in liberating the country from Nazi occupation. Past recipients include President Dwight D. Eisenhower, Gen. Douglas MacArthur and hometown aviator Charles Lindbergh. CHESTERFIELD The City Council members on Wednesday night backed plans by the Municipal League of Metro St. Louis to counter a proposal for a statewide vote to merge St. Louis and the county. The council unanimously approved letting Mayor Bob Nation express the city's support of efforts by the Municipal League. Local people should be in charge of their own local government and what form that government takes, Councilman Ben Keathley said. The council's resolution called for giving residents of the city and county a voice in a transparent public process to determine if (governmental) changes are merited. The Municipal League's directors plan to ask its members on Thursday night at a meeting at Chesterfield City Hall to support the alternative proposal to the Better Together effort. JEFFERSON CITY St. Charles Countys two state senators want to see spending in their area before supporting Gov. Mike Parsons proposed $350 million bond to repair and replace hundreds of bridges in Missouri. In my own district, there are no projects whatsoever, Sen. Bob Onder, R-Lake Saint Louis, told reporters on Thursday. Sen. Bill Eigel, R-Weldon Spring, said he met with Parson, also a Republican, on Wednesday. Eigel said he didnt push for any specific projects in his district to be included in the list of more than 200 bridges to be repaired over a four-year span. I dont want to get too far in the weeds for a discussion that really has just gotten underway, Eigel said, but the governor has recognized the need for projects to be done around the state not just in urban areas, not just in rural areas but around the state. Identifying what that list is were just now getting on to that part of the discussion. When asked whether the list of projects was open for negotiation, Parsons spokesman, Steele Shippy, said in a statement: The Governor is working every day with members of the legislature to discuss his plan that clearly prioritizes the entire state of Missouri, not any one district or project. FERGUSON Lesley McSpadden is in a three-way April 2 election race for a seat on the City Council in Ferguson, the city in which her son, Michael Brown Jr., was fatally shot by a police officer in 2014. McSpadden is facing longtime incumbent Councilman Keith Kallstrom and a third candidate, Fran Griffin, who chairs the city's parks board. McSpadden had announced her candidacy last August and formally filed last month. Listings of candidates in Ferguson and other cities were released Wednesday by the St. Louis County Election Board. Brown's shooting set off months of unrest and international attention. McSpadden could not be reached for comment Wednesday. In recent years she has spelled her first name Lezley, including on the cover of her 2016 book, "Tell the Truth & Shame the Devil." However, she listed her name as Lesley when filing for the office, said City Clerk Octavia Pittman. The "Lesley" spelling also is included on the Missouri Ethics Commission website's listing for her campaign committee. Pelosis decision to not allow Trump to speak in the peoples House was widely cheered on her side, a welcomed example of hardball politics from a Democratic chorus that often says their side is not tough enough and capitulates too much to Republicans. We cannot have the president, every time he has an objection, to say, Ill shut down the government until you come to my way of thinking, Pelosi told reporters. If we hold the employees hostage now, theyre hostage forever. But we meaning Congress and Trump already are holding the employees hostage, and the hurt is real and growing. And thats something that Sen. Roy Blunt, R-Mo., confronted Wednesday on a usually friendly venue: Fox News. Host Dana Perino played a tape of FBI Agents Association President Tom OConnor saying that the shutdown is hurting recruitment, retention and operations across the board. Blunt, a stickler for process and a student of congressional history, argued that not allowing Trump to speak belied a tradition dating to Woodrow Wilson, one that had persevered through tense times in the past. Everything that FBI agent says is ... right, Blunt said. Of course they should be at work. Of course they should be paid. But U.S. District Judge Catherine Perry responded that, The evidence was extensive and horrendous. After sentencing Stewart, she said, I think this is an appropriate sentence for the lives you have taken. A federal jury convicted Stewart in May of two counts of possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime, with death resulting, and one count of conspiracy to distribute controlled substances. He was acquitted on one gun charge linked to the death of James. Stewarts co-defendant, Terrance Mutt Wilson, 30, was sentenced in November to 35 years in prison. He pleaded guilty in April to a charge of conspiracy and possession with intent to distribute cocaine, heroin and marijuana and a charge of possession of one or more firearms in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime, with death resulting. Wilson admitted having a role in the deaths of James, Walker, McGill and Darrion Williams Jr. in 2010. McGill, 26, was shot in a house in the 5100 block of Maffitt Avenue in the Kingsway West neighborhood on March 26, 2010. An off-duty St. Louis police officer was shot and killed early Thursday when another officer mishandled a gun at a home in the Carondelet neighborhood, police said. The officer, Katlyn Alix, 24, was in the living room of the home of another officer who was on duty but home just before 1 a.m. when he mishandled a firearm and shot (Alix) in the chest, police said in a written statement Thursday morning. Police Chief John Hayden said two male officers who were on duty went to one of their homes during their shift. Alix, who was off duty, stopped by and was shot in what Hayden called the accidental discharge of a weapon. The officers then rushed Alix to the hospital, calling police dispatch to report the shooting as they drove. Alix was pronounced dead at St. Louis University Hospital. She was killed with a revolver, not a department weapon, according to a police source. Alix and the two on-duty male officers were close and often worked together, the source said. A gun was recovered by investigators at the scene. There was no word on why the officers were all at an officers home while two of them were on duty, when policy requires them to be patrolling in their assigned district. Its not clear who owned the weapon. Hayden would not say how many shots had been fired, how many times Alix had been shot nor whether anyone was in custody. All that will be part of the investigation, he said in response to questions at an early morning press conference. The other officers were not injured in the shooting, but the officer who fired the gun at Alix was hospitalized Thursday morning after delivering Alix to the hospital, a source close to the investigation said. The department has not confirmed his status, and it wasnt clear why he was hospitalized. St. Louis Circuit Attorney Kim Gardners office tweeted that a prosecutor and two of her investigators had gone to the scene and had opened an investigation into the shooting. About 3:15 p.m., Gardner released a statement saying she had asked the Missouri Highway Patrol to assist with the investigation. This is a tragic situation, Gardner said. The family of Officer Alix deserves a complete, objective and thorough investigation of this incident. My office is approaching this criminal investigation with the highest level of seriousness and urgency. Hayden, meanwhile, praised Alix in a statement released to the media. Officer Alix was an enthusiastic and energetic young woman with a bright future ahead of her, Hayden said in an emailed statement released Thursday. On behalf of the Metropolitan Police Department, I extend my deepest sympathies to the Alix family during this extremely difficult time. I ask the St. Louis community to keep the Alix family and the entire Metropolitan Police Department in your thoughts and prayers as we mourn this tragic loss. Alix joined the St. Louis Police Academy in June 2016 and graduated in January 2017. She had served in the Sixth District, and at the time of her death she was assigned to the Second District as a patrol officer. She is survived by her husband, mother, father and sister, the department said. She married a fellow St. Louis police officer in October. He was not among those at the home when she was shot, according to multiple sources. Somebody help! The shooting happened inside a home in the 700 block of Dover Place, where blood still stained the steps on Thursday morning. A neighbor told the Post-Dispatch she heard a gunshot just before 1 a.m. and then someone yelling. Oh, my God! the voice said. Somebody help! The neighbor, who didnt want her name used, said she went to the window and saw a male officer in uniform. He was speaking to someone, perhaps by phone or police radio, she said. Were at Dover and Colorado, he said, describing the nearest intersection to the home. Then he drove away quickly in a police car, the neighbor said. A short time later, many other officers showed up on Dover, the neighbor said. Another neighbor said on Twitter that she heard loud yelling that got her out of bed during the night. She also heard a loud thump but nothing she recognized as a gunshot. Reached by the Post-Dispatch, she said she had spoken to investigators but said she didnt want to speak to a reporter beyond confirming her account on Twitter, for fear of jeopardizing the investigation. An officer in need of aid call went out at 12:56 a.m., according to logs of St. Louis police calls. Such a call over police radios brings assistance from any nearby officers. That call was followed by an entry about 10 minutes later reporting it as a shooting, then a request for an evidence unit. Alixs mother, Aimee Chadwick, said her daughter attended Holt High School in Wentzville and spent six years in the Army before joining the city police department. She declined to comment further. Alix was a force to be reckoned with, said Taylor Rumpsa, a police dispatcher who said she had been friends with Alix for several years. Rumpsa said the two liked to smoke cigars something their mothers chided them about for not being ladylike. Fitness was a big deal for her, Rumpsa said. She could lift ungodly amounts of weight. Despite her tough exterior, Alix also was the first officer to jump out of her patrol car if she saw a group of children playing games, Rumpsa said. She loved kids, and shed try to shoot hoops with them, but she wasnt very good at it. Rumpsa said she was in the same academy class with Alix for several months before realizing police work was not for her, so she returned to dispatching. She said Alix dominated almost every aspect of the police academy, earning a position as vice president of the class. The male officers involved in Thursdays shooting, both 29, have not been publicly identified. The officer who shot Alix has been on the force about a year. The other on-duty officer who was there has been with the department about two years. The St. Louis Police Officers Association said it, along with the public, wanted to know more about what happened. But for now, we wait; we wonder; and we weep, said Jeff Roorda, the unions business manager. Roorda said Alix served her community and her nation with dignity and courage, both as a police officer and as a member of the military. That is how she lived, as a hero. Mayor Lyda Krewson expressed her sympathy to the officers family and friends on Twitter, calling Alixs death terribly sad. St. Louis County police also tweeted condolences. We are sorry for your loss and here when you need us, the tweet said. Leah Thorsen of the Post-Dispatch contributed to this report. A message from David Nicklaus Want to stay smart about what's happening in St. Louis? Make a modest investment in a Post-Dispatch subscription and I'll tell you how developments around the world affect local businesses big and small. Intro subscription rate: Just $1 for 6 months Shake off your afternoon slump with the oft-shared and offbeat news of the day, hand-brewed by our online news editors. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy. Christine Byers Christine Byers is a reporter for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Follow Christine Byers 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 Now I understand just because you're the worst state doesnt make you unconstitutional. The lawyers also spent quite a bit of time on the minutiae of Rices failure to testify during the trial and whether or not the prosecuting attorneys comments about the defendant's silence violated his rights. Johnston outlined several instances where the attorney made a constant, concerted effort to focus the jurys attention on Rices silence. This included pointing out that Rice had never apologized on more than one occasion and speculating what would have happened if hed been allowed to examine Rice. This court has repeatedly held that where an objection is made and overruled as happened here, a direct reference to the defendants failure to testify will invariably result in a new trial, Johnston said. Here there was a direct reference. Aquino asserted that Johnston oversimplified the meaning of a direct comment, saying more context was needed. The state lawyer said mentions of Rices failure to testify were brief adding up to six errors throughout a 2000 page transcript. UPDATED at 6:18 p.m. with the identity of the victim. ST. LOUIS A 24-year-old man was found shot to death about 7:45 a.m. Wednesday at North Cardinal and Bell avenues, St. Louis police said. Police said Anthony Walker Jr. had suffered multiple gunshot wounds and was found laying in the street near the curb. He was pronounced dead at the scene by paramedics. The scene is near Chambers Park in the Jeff-Vander-Lou neighborhood. A gunman grabbed Ja'Zhon Scruggs, who yelled "Wait!" as a gunshot rang out on a Jennings street last month, according to charges filed Wednesday against the alleged killer. Dexter Jordan, 26, was charged with murder and armed criminal action in the death of Scruggs, fatally shot in the encounter Dec. 17. He was ordered held without bail. Scruggs was found dead about 3:25 p.m. after the shooting in the 8800 block of Clifton Avenue, police said. The residential street is near Jennings High School and about a half mile from Scruggs' home address in the 8800 block of St. Cyr Drive. Police have not revealed a motive, and court documents that say Jordan grabbed Scruggs, who yelled out, are first description of what happened that afternoon. Authorities have not released any further information. Jordan lives in the 11200 block of Birmingham Court in Spanish Lake. A message from David Nicklaus Want to stay smart about what's happening in St. Louis? Make a modest investment in a Post-Dispatch subscription and I'll tell you how developments around the world affect local businesses big and small. Intro subscription rate: Just $1 for 6 months Shake off your afternoon slump with the oft-shared and offbeat news of the day, hand-brewed by our online news editors. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy. JEFFERSON COUNTY A man was killed after he was side-swiped on U.S. 67 south of Meyer Road on Wednesday evening, sending his Hyundai Elantra spinning into oncoming traffic. The crash closed lanes of U.S. 67 for hours and led to a tractor-trailer overturning as it tried to avoid the accident and slid off the road, officials said. The crash was reported at about 7:23 p.m. according to the Missouri Highway Patrol. John J. Wedde, 57, of Festus, was northbound on U.S. 67 in the right lane when a Chevrolet Tahoe in the left lane began to merge to the right. The front side of the Tahoe struck the back side of the Elantra that Wedde was driving, causing the Elantra to spin across the median and into southbound traffic. The Elantra then struck a Chevrolet Silverado head on, and debris from the collision damaged another southbound car. Wedde's car went off the side of the road and overturned. Wedde was pronounced dead at the scene. The driver of the Chevrolet Silverado was transported to an area hospital with moderate injuries. The 56-year-old driver of the Chevrolet Tahoe that allegedly caused the crash left the scene, but police were able to be identify him based on witness reports, MHP officials said. After the first collision, a tractor-trailer was turning around to avoid the crash and slid off the road and down an embankment, overturning in the process. The driver of the semi was also taken to a hospital. A message from David Nicklaus Want to stay smart about what's happening in St. Louis? Make a modest investment in a Post-Dispatch subscription and I'll tell you how developments around the world affect local businesses big and small. Intro subscription rate: Just $1 for 6 months Shake off your afternoon slump with the oft-shared and offbeat news of the day, hand-brewed by our online news editors. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy. "We know of many families that rely on those during the school year to be able to provide nutritious, healthy meals because they really can't afford to send lunch for their kids or they can't afford to have breakfast," she said. "They're vital to children and to families." The federal government typically reimburses schools for providing such meals to families in need, but in case the shutdown continues beyond March, Brubeck plans to find ways to cut costs in her own budget so meals can still be provided. "I'll be looking at really watching my costs on our meals in the form of the more expensive items, like fresh produce," Brubeck said. "Some of our schools offer alternative meals, like a salad bar that kids can sign up for or grab-and-go meals if they don't want the regular meal that day," she said. "In order to cut costs, that would probably be something that I would think about doing away with." Overall, school meals and child nutrition programs can have a significant effect on a child's well-being. "We know from a vast body of research that school meals are hugely important, not just for making sure the kids aren't hungry during the day but for their learning and for their education," Weill said. "Schools that have school meal programs -- and strong school meal programs -- have kids with higher test scores and greater achievement results," he said. "One way to think of school meals is as a magical elixir for the well-being of students in schools across the board." Smith said that if a shutdown had to happen, winter is a better time than during active fire season. But if the prep work isn't done, fire season could be much worse. "There is considerable concern that the work on the federal land is not being done because of the shutdown," Smith said. In Arizona, wildfires have begun In Arizona, the state has already been battling wildfires this year. The Prescott Valley Fire was fully contained Wednesday, and the land is being monitored. "As far as the shutdown goes, it is not impacting fire suppression; that is business as usual, regardless of furlough or not. We didn't have to call out for federal assistance with that one, and if there is an emergency, we will work with the feds, and they will work with us," said Tiffany Davila, public affairs officer for Arizona's Department of Forestry and Fire Management. Davila said her department has seen federal trainings canceled, but she still thinks in-house training will get the department up to speed. What's missing is some of the specialty training. Microsoft's Bing search engine has hit a wall in China. "We've confirmed that Bing is currently inaccessible in China and are engaged to determine next steps," a Microsoft spokesman said Thursday. Bing was the last major foreign search engine operating in China after Google pulled out in 2010. Bing appears to have joined a growing list of global internet platforms that are shut out of China's huge market, demonstrating that even tech companies that submit to Beijing's strict internet censorship regime can still run into trouble in the country. Microsoft's setback comes as China and the United States are locked in a widening confrontation over technology and access to each other's markets that experts warn could be the start of an economic cold war. It wasn't immediately clear why Bing was being blocked. China's internet regulator didn't respond to a request for comment Thursday, and the Foreign Ministry declined to comment. Chinese users first noticed problems with the search engine late Wednesday, when the phrase "Can't access Bing" started popping up on social media. Everyone has to start somewhere, and air taxis are no exception. Boeing, the world's largest aerospace company, said it completed the first flight of its autonomous air taxi Tuesday at a small airport outside Washington, DC. No one was on board. The flight lasted less than a minute, according to Boeing, and it didn't actually go anywhere. Instead, it hovered above the runway. Boeing declined to share how high above the ground it flew. But Boeing is hailing the achievement as a milestone for its NeXt division, which develops autonomous airplanes. The flying car prototype is 30 feet long and 28 feet wide. It's designed to fly up to 50 miles at a time. Boeing and its competitors such as Airbus are betting that small, self-flying airplanes -- technically dubbed electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) -- will revolutionize transportation, especially in urban areas. Boeing believes the vehicles, more commonly referred to as air taxis or flying cars, will be a solution to traffic congestion. Friends, professors, musicians, grandchildren and a restaurateur all paid tribute. So many people wanted to speak or read poetry that the celebration was scheduled for four hours. As snow fell outside, some 350 attendees quietly came and went. So, whats the point? It was a memorial, so presumably people would behave. Even attendees, though, probably marveled at the incredible diversity of the crowd a proverbial rainbow both old and young. No one was there to protest anything, but Castro had considered himself an activist poet, and many of his friends write cultural commentary. A betting woman would assume the attendees have strong and varied opinions. When the videos of the Washington incident made news, commenters not only pointed fingers, they started the ceaseless handwringing about a divided, dysfunctional country. The Washington Post quoted a lawyer who said, It was really depressing to see we are even more divided than ever. Trump's economic adviser Kevin Hassett says that he and his staff are not getting paychecks during the shutdown. He says PBS "NewsHour" aired his comments comparing a shutdown to vacation out of context. A top economic adviser to President Donald Trump told CNN on Wednesday that the US economy may show no growth in the first quarter if the federal government shutdown lasts much longer. White House Council of Economic Advisers Chairman Kevin Hassett said in an interview with CNN's Poppy Harlow that he was not overly worried about the long-term effects of a government shutdown. But after Harlow asked him if the United States could wind up with zero GDP growth this quarter, he conceded that it was possible. "We could, yes," he said. But Hassett noted that the economy is typically weak in the first quarter because it follows a boom during the holidays. He argued that the economy would bounce back once the government reopens and any hit to GDP would eventually be recovered. The second quarter could be "humongous" if the government shutdown ends before then, Hassett said. Earlier this month, Hassett told PBS that furloughed government workers are "better off" because they didn't need to take vacation days. But he said those comments were taken out of context. Carlos Ghosn has been replaced as chairman and CEO of Renault, severing the final link between the jailed executive and the industry alliance he created. Ghosn resigned on Wednesday night, according to the French government, which owns 15% of Renault. He had been CEO of the French carmaker since 2005. The legendary auto executive has spent the last two months in jail since his arrest in Tokyo on November 19. He has been charged by Japanese prosecutors with financial misconduct while head of automaker Nissan. Ghosn, 64, denies the charges, but prosecutors have argued successfully that he should be kept in jail awaiting trial. His downfall has raised questions about the future of the unusual global alliance he built between Nissan, Renault and Mitsubishi Motors. The grouping employs about 450,000 people and produces one in every nine cars sold worldwide. A French citizen who was born in Brazil and raised in Lebanon, Ghosn rescued both Renault and Nissan before stitching them together via a series of equity stakes that later expanded to include Mitsubishi Motors. Things Remembered Inc., a U.S. retailer that sells engraved gifts and keepsakes, is preparing to file for bankruptcy protection in the coming days and shutter most of its roughly 400 stores, people familiar with the matter said on Wednesday. The retailer has five mall-based stores in the St. Louis area. The preparations show how a debt restructuring that Things Remembered underwent in 2016 was not enough to spare it from the wave of bankruptcies sweeping the brick-and-mortar retail sector amid the growing popularity of online shopping. The Highland Heights, Ohio-based company, which employs roughly 2,500 people in the United States and Canada, is hoping to sell its brand and online business during bankruptcy proceedings, an effort that would potentially preserve hundreds of jobs, one of the sources said. Things Remembered is also seeking buyers for some of its stores, according to the sources. The closely-held retailer, which has roughly $120 million of debt and faces a cash crunch, is owned by a consortium of investors including private-equity giant KKR & Co. Inc. KKR was a lender alongside other financial firms that forgave debt in exchange for ownership of the struggling chain in 2016. Researchers in those areas are developing business plans that will help guide funding and investment in those core departments, Olliff said. Some money will also be used to hire faculty for multi-year terms as SLU Research Institute fellows, Olliff said. The Sinquefields gift has stirred some controversy among SLU faculty concerned about the amount of influence the donors, known in Missouri and area politics for their support of libertarian-leaning causes, will have over the research projects selected. SLU officials sought to allay those concerns in the fall in meetings with faculty. University committees propose research projects which must receive final sign off from the nonprofit Sinquefield Center for Research Inc., which was established to disburse the $5 million annually. That nonprofit committee includes the Sinquefields, Olliff and Michael Podgursky, a professor of economics at the University of Missouri and a director of Rex Sinquefields Libertarian-leaning think tank, the Show-Me Institute. Olliff said Wednesday that the Sinquefield Center had approved all 15 of the final research proposals submitted to it by the university. A message from David Nicklaus Want to stay smart about what's happening in St. Louis? Make a modest investment in a Post-Dispatch subscription and I'll tell you how developments around the world affect local businesses big and small. Intro subscription rate: Just $1 for 6 months Daily updates on the latest news in the St. Louis business community. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy. If the Labor Board did what Google wanted, it would have a huge chilling effect, said Google employee activist Colin McMillen, one of tens of thousands around the world who participated in a November walkout after revelations about the companys handling of alleged sexual misconduct. Googles employee email system played a pivotal role in the organizing for that protest, he said, with more than a thousand workers joining an email list used to plan it. Given that employees are spread around the globe and dont have most co-workers personal emails, he said, company email is key to facilitating workers ability to mobilize. McMillen currently works at Googles office in Cambridge, Mass., but said he had quit his job and his last day is next month. It demonstrates that Google leadership is not operating in good faith, McMillen said. They can have a town hall and try to say soothing words and get people to not want to quit, but then if in the background theyre not just rejecting carrying out most of the demands of the walkout, but also trying to tamp down our ability to even coordinate and talk to each other about these issues, thats extremely concerning. Officials at Anheuser-Buschs St. Louis brewery are seeking to persuade the head office to invest $75 million in the Soulard brewery so it can make new products and retain jobs. The St. Louis Board of Aldermen is considering a bill to issue $75 million in bonds that would facilitate a personal property tax break on the new equipment, which brewery officials say will help it persuade corporate parent A-B InBev to put that new equipment in St. Louis. Our goal is to keep the St. Louis brewery competitive and also to retain the 700 manufacturing jobs, 600 of those are union jobs, Lance Warren, an Anheuser-Busch director of business tax and incentives told an aldermanic committee last week. Currently, were under pressure from other competitors: wine, spirits that type of thing, other products. What our response to that is, were coming out with new products, new packaging, new things to enter into the market to better compete. The bill, if approved, would grant five years of 75 percent personal property tax abatement on the new equipment. That represents a savings to the brewery of about $65,000, an amount that would be far outweighed by the continued payment of earnings taxes by brewery manufacturing employees, said Matt Bauer, a financial analyst with the citys economic development arm, the St. Louis Development Corp. A massive new report by non-profit CDP explores the risks and opportunities that the world's largest companies see in climate change. Apple is shaking up its team building autonomous vehicle technology. The company has reportedly laid off over 200 employees from Project Titan, the code name for its project focused on autonomous systems, according to CNBC. The news comes at a time when Apple's core iPhone business is expecting slower than expected sales growth. An Apple spokesman reached for comment did not confirm nor dispute the report but shared a statement describing a staff reshuffling. "As the team focuses their work on several key areas for 2019, some groups are being moved to projects in other parts of the company," the statement said. "We continue to believe there is a huge opportunity with autonomous systems, that Apple has unique capabilities to contribute, and that this is the most ambitious machine learning project ever." The high-profile auto executive, who has been in a Tokyo jail for more than two months, resigned as chairman and CEO of the French carmaker Wednesday night, a spokesperson for France's finance ministry said. The French government owns a 15% stake in Renault. Ghosn's arrest on November 19 and subsequent detention has strained the global alliance he built between Renault, Nissan and Mitsubishi Motors. Japanese prosecutors have accused him of financial misconduct during his time as head of Nissan, charges Ghosn denies. Nissan and Mitsubishi both fired him as chairman soon after his arrest. Renault is due to hold a board meeting on Thursday at which it is expected to name a new chairman and CEO to replace Ghosn. Among the likely candidates are Chief Operating Officer Thierry Bollore, who was appointed acting CEO after Ghosn's arrest. Jean-Dominique Senard, who is set to step down as CEO of tire manufacturer Michelin later this year, could be named Renault chairman. 3. Central bankers talk: The European Central Bank will host its first policy meeting of the year on Thursday, with investors watching for signs that the continuing global slowdown could dent the region's growth, and delay the first ECB rate hike since 2011 expected this year. President of the Senate Calin Popescu-Tariceanu stated on Thursday in Focsani that Romania has a historic duty toward the Republic of Moldova and our country, as a member of the European Union, will endorse Moldova on its pro-European path. Tariceanu attended on Thursday in Focsani a joint solemn meeting of the National Union of Romania's County Councils with the Union of Rayon Councils of the Republic of Moldova, organised on the occasion of celebrating 160 years since the Romanian Principalities Union. "We have an historic duty towards Moldova! Romania, as a member country of the European Union, will fulfill this duty. You know very well that we are the country that militates most strongly for allowing Moldova to continue its European journey. Even these days, the meetings that I carried out in Bucharest within the events dedicated to the rotating Presidency allowed me to talk about this topic, the development of Moldova and its path, its Western journey, with Western partners of France, the UK, showing that, without any doubt, Moldova needs to be supported and I am convinced that during our Presidency we will be able to take more useful, more fruitful steps and efforts to help Moldova to continue this road," Calin Popescu-Tariceanu said. The Senate President voiced his wish for a full union with the Republic of Moldova , "in the same historic borders in which the Romanian people developed and lived." "We are the same people, we have the same language, the same history, the same customs, traditions, we have extremely more in common. (...) I wished for us to have a union that is implicit (...), to have a full union, a political union, an administrative union, that would allow us to be, just like we were once, inside the same historic borders in which the Romanian people developed and lived. I believe that this desideratum is also shared by many of you, is also shared by an extremely large percentage of Romania's population and I suppose that of the Republic of Moldova, too. These solid sentiments, blood ties cannot be destroyed by anybody. Not even the adverse consequences of the Second World War were not able to destroy these ties, which are so solid and which we must continue working for, in order to maintain them," Tariceanu added. Calin Popescu-Tariceanu made a parallel between the politicians who accomplished the Romanian Principalities Union of 1859 and those of today, calling for a behavior by today's politicians to "attract the admiration of our European partners and not criticism." "160 years ago they had [politicians] the courage to take the destiny in their own hands, despite the immediate opposition, but this courage was welcomed and rewarded. This is how the basis of the modern Romanian state were laid. Perhaps for us, the presidents of the county councils, not all under the same political color, maybe, for us, too, it would be a moment of blissful inspiration to think about what our forefathers have done and try, today, in our time, [to have] the same behavior, maybe, especially because Romania is currently holding the Presidency at the EU Council and it would be better for Romania to present itself the best way possible, so that we attract the admiration of our European partners and not criticism," Tariceanu underscored. The Chairman of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats (ALDE) wished the Moldovans success in their next internal elections, expressing his hope that they will continue their journey toward West. "It's a moment, I would say, a crucial [moment], in which Moldova must unequivocally prove where it wants to go. I know that there are tendencies not always expressing a certain coherence in respect to the direction towards West. There are other trends in Moldova, but (...) we must try, you and us, to contribute with what we can in order to convince people that this is the best path for Moldova's future, the road toward Europe," Tariceanu stated. AGERPRES special correspondent Tudor Martalogu reports: Electronic evidence in the civil and commercial area, detectors of integrity and protection of the best interests of the child were among the topics tackled on Wednesday by Justice Minister Tudorel Toader and members of the European Parliament's Legal Affairs Committee (JURI), where the Romanian official presented the priorities of the Romanian Presidency at the Council of the European Union. ''I have presented all the legislative priorities in the synthesis, I have presented in more detail those priorities in which the JURI committee is involved. I'll give you an example: electronic evidence in civil and commercial matters. It is (a file) very important, because they can be transmitted from one country to another, they can be administered easier, faster, less expensive. It is a very, very current theme, and if I were to personalize, as the minister of justice, in Romania we are talking about the digital case. This means having a code, getting access (...) You saw that back home we started a tender, at the ministry, a procedure for a public tender, to buy nearly 7,000 top-of-the-line computers with the software, and nearly 3,000 ultra-high performance scanners. By the summer we hope to have them and, once the scanner has reached all the courts - the courthous, the law court, etc. - move to the electronic case," the Romanian official said. Other topics discussed included the protection of the best interests of the child and parental rights and migration.Toader said that the meeting with the JURI members as a very good one.On Wednesday morning, Justice Minister Tudor Toader presented the priorities of the Romanian Presidency at the Council of the European Union to the European Parliament's Legal Affairs Committee. President Klaus Iohannis stated on Thursday that the example of the elites and their action in 1859 show that "in tough times, the true statesmen should rise to the height of the great challenges and act to the citizens' benefit." "In 1859, the Romanian Principalities embraced European values and entered an ample process of state modernization and consolidation. In 2019, Romania's destiny can no longer be separated from the EU as a project of peace, prosperity, security, equity and cohesion for its citizens For 160 years, Romanians have come closer to the fundamental humanist values of Europe by building a state of law, of democracy and of human dignity, of freedom and equality. This journey has been marked by vision, sacrifice, commitment and oblation.The elites' example and the message of their actions from 160 years ago is still a guide and shows us that in tough times, the real statesmen must rise to the height of the great challenges and act for the benefit of the citizens," the head of state said at the scientific communication session called "The Romanian Principalities Union, the basis of the Romanian modern state," organized at the Patriarchal Palace. Earlier, President Klaus Iohannis attended the Te Deum religious service at the Patriarchal Cathedral and laid a wreath at the statue of ruler Alexandru Ioan Cuza. President Klaus Iohannis attended the Te Deum religious service at the Patriarchal Cathedral on Thursday, officiated by Patriarch Daniel of the Romanian Orthodox Church (BOR), occasioned by the celebration of the Romanian Principalities Union Day, according to Agerpres. The head of the state laid a wreath at the statue of Ruler Alexandru Ioan Cuza and, as of 11:00hrs, he is attending at the "Patriarch Teoctist" Hall of the Palace of the Patriarchate the scientific communications session called "The Romanian Principalities Union, the basis of the Romanian modern state," organized by the Romanian Academy in collaboration with the Romanian Patriarchate. Ruler Alexandru Ioan Cuza, metropolitans Nifon of Wallachia and Sofronie Miclescu of Moldavia, alongside the other founders of the Romanian Principalities Union were commemorated on Thursday, within the Holy Mass officiated at the Patriarchal Cathedral.After the Holy Mass, the Te Deum service was officiated "as a gratification brought to God for the accomplishment of this fundamental act in our national history, to which the Romanian Orthodox Church has contributed significantly." January 24th marks one of the most important accomplishments of modern Romania, which allowed an accelerated development of the country on the path of development and modernisation, a release of the Foreign Affairs Ministry (MAE) sent to AGERPRES on Thursday informs. "The Union of the Romanian Principalities, the first moment of Romanians' affirmation as a nation and its connection to 'the European spirit', as well as the first step for the achievement of the Romanian unitary national state was the result of the efforts and sacrifices of generations of politicians and scholars who included, ever since the programmes of the Forty-Eighters, the ideal of the Union of Moldavia and of Wallachia. The Union of 1859 signifies an act of high political will and national solidarity which represents an inducement to the present and future generations to preserve and cultivate a consciousness of national unity, and to develop a visionary action of the elites," the MAE release says. The Romanian diplomacy regards with respect and gratitude the makers of the Union of 1859, those who have acted for its international recognition, for the acquisition of state independence, as well as for the following processes of making the modern Romanian state. Thanks to them, the MAE release shows, today, Romania is recognised for its attachment to the principles of international law and for the promotion of mutual respect, good understanding, openness to dialogue, values of multiculturalism that underpin its international profile and its external action. "The sustained path of the Romanian nation towards achieving independence and accomplishing the modern Romanian unitary state has served as a model for the political action to this day, which allowed Romania to acquire its present, consistent and credible status within the European Union and NATO. Today, the message of the Romanian Principalities Union is found in the national wish to belong to the European community and North Atlantic space. On this day with great significance for all Romanians, let us celebrate together the Union of 1859 and reflect on the founding principles of modern Romania, unity, solidarity, dignity and social cohesion. 'Happy birthday, Romania! Many happy returns Romanians!,'" the MAE release informs. Read also: #Romania2019.eu/ JusMin Toader presents priorities in Justice area in EP's JURI January 24 was declared a national holiday through Law No. 171/2014. AGERPRES . 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Jones, 28, was sentenced to 3 days jail and fined $50 on a charge of second-degree trespassing. Dec. 28 Gregory P. Burkman, 55, was sentenced to 45 days jail, one year license revocation and fined $625 on a charge of driving under the influence (BAC over .15). Develyn L. Tasby, 26, was sentenced to six months probation and fined $180 on a charge of driving under the influence-drug and possession of marijuana. Timothy E. Trujillo, 18, was fined $349 on a charge of possession of marijuana. Juan Olvera, 38, was sentenced to 7 days jail and fined $102 on charges of disorderly conduct and possession of an open container. James A. Ramirez, 27, was fined $349 on a charge of possession of marijuana. Damend Romero, 27, was fined $200 on a charge of disturbing the peace. Allisha Coffman, 30, was fined $100 on a charge of licensing a vehicle without liability insurance. Julian Villarreal, 71, was sentenced to 2 days jail, 12 months probation and fined $700 on charges of driving under the influence (BAC over .15) and attempt to carry a concealed weapon. I had a wife and three children then, but the pastor gave me a nice compliment, he said. I didnt have a bachelors degree and we were living from paycheck to paycheck. I couldnt imagine paying for college, then seminary. A year later at Christmas time in 1999, after a visit from the churchs district superintendent, Collins learned how he could be serving in a church by the next July as he continued his education. I asked my wife and kids whether they could see me as a pastor and they said yes, Collins said. I woke up in the middle of the night and couldnt think of anything else. I was beginning to see myself as a pastor. The same thing happened again the next night. "Pastor Ralston had told me it was an angel of the Lord that called him into ministry, he said. After the second night of being awake, I remembered what he had told me all those years ago. So he asked God for direction. With some prompting, Collins remembered why he kept waking up in the middle of the night and why his pastor kept encouraging him to go into the ministry. He also asked about a dozen of his Christian acquaintances whether they could see him as a pastor and every one of them said yes. GERING Lincoln Elementary students launched their annual magazine fundraiser on Wednesday. The Great American Opportunity is a week-long fundraiser for the school that brings in $2,000 on average. Those funds go into the schools activities fund and has allowed the school to go 1-to-1 on Chromebooks and purchase Chromebook carts. Last year, some of the funds were used to buy cotton candy that resembled the trees in the book, The Lorax, used during Dr. Seuss day. All students are involved in the fundraiser. Sixth-grader Connor Cochran said, My role is giving the packet to mom or dad and have them fill out the little postcards. If they want to, they can buy a magazine subscription and send the money in the envelope back to the school. Aside from the magazine sales, the students also get prizes. Cochran said the office has a prize wheel box that dispenses pencils and based on the pencil, students choose a prize in the corresponding bin. Each pencil has an image of a $5 bill, $20 bill, $50 bill, emojis or a gold color. I hope they get prizes they want and the magazines they want to read, he said. The fundraising not only benefits the schools, but also encourages families to read. China on Wednesday said the U.S. plan to extradite Meng Wanzhou, Huawei chief financial officer, from Canada did not comply with international law or have legitimacy. The remarks came as Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying reiterated China's position on the Meng Wanzhou case at a press briefing. Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying [File Photo: fmprc.gov.cn] Hua said the U.S. request for Meng's extradition was essentially related to U.S. sanctions against Iran. "Huawei has stated for many times that it has complied with all laws and regulations of the country in which it operates," Hua said. She stressed that China had consistently opposed the U.S. unilateral sanctions against Iran and unilateral sanctions against Iran outside the framework of the UN Security Council, which are not in line with international law and are opposed by the world, including U.S. allies. "Canada is also opposed to this issue," Hua said. "The U.S. act is highly political which is essentially technology bullying, and its purpose is to do everything in its power to suppress Chinese high-tech enterprises and contain China's legitimate development rights." She said people of insight and a sense of justice in the international community should resolutely oppose it. Ogden jazz icon Joe McQueen may be gone, but his memory and legacy live on. One physical reminder of his life, McQueen's lifelong home at 3158 Grant Ave., has now become available for sale. The house received extensive remodeling, but as investor Richard Casperson has said, "Joe's energy is A new podcast is set to document the life and scandal of Elizabeth Holmes, a former tech billionaire who now faces criminal charges of fraud. Her business idea, which later manifested itself as the now-defunct biotech company Theranos, promised to run hundreds of tests from a single drop of blood, a concept which, if she was able to pull it off, would have revolutionised health care. Following heightened suspicions over blood test results, Theranos came under intense investigation from the media and the FBI. It soon became clear that Theranos was a company built on nothing but Holmes own delusions and what those close to her described as pathological lies. Her incredible, albeit fabricated story, has already been the subject of a book by John Carreyrou, Bad Blood: Secrets and Lies in a Silicon Valley Startup, released in May 2018. Now Holmes is the subject of two documentaries, new podcast The Dropout and even a movie adaption starring Jennifer Lawrence. Heres everything you need to know about how a woman who was once dubbed the next Steve Jobs fooled some of the worlds most powerful people: Who is Elizabeth Holmes? Elizabeth Holmes at the Vanity Fair New Establishment Summit at Yerba Buena Center for the Arts in 2015. / Getty On paper, Holmes life thus far markets itself as the perfect success story. Born in 1984, she grew up in Washington D.C., where both her parents were involved in government. Ambitious from an early age, she told her Dad that she wanted to discover something new, something that mankind didnt know was possible. Whilst a student at Stanford University in California, she told her professor that she wanted to develop a method by which one drop of blood would be able to deliver both samples and antibiotics, a utopian idea that her professor repeatedly told her would not work. Undeterred and under the guidance of a new mentor, Holmes progressed her business idea and eventually dropped out of university to found Theranos. What was Theranos? Former US President Bill Clinton speaks with Elizabeth Holmes during the closing session of the Clinton Global Initiative in 2015. / Getty In 2003, Holmes founded her biotech company Theranos, of which she was founder, CEO and chairwoman. It was devised as a ground-breaking biotech company which would become infamous for its claims it could devise blood tests that only needed very small amounts of blood. Despite concerns from experts who thought Holmes ideas dubious at best, by 2004 she had raised $6 million to fund Theranos, a figure which shot up to $92 million in 2010. Pulling in high profile investors like Rupert Murdoch, Betsy DeVos and Walgreens, Holmes quickly turned her college dream into an empire, making it onto TIME magazines 100 most influential people. At one point, Theranos had 40 blood centres in Walgreens stores across the US and also claimed to be used by the Department of Defense in Afghanistan and on medical evacuation helicopters. Wanting to turn Theranos into the next Apple, Holmes enlisted the skills of its former employees and was, as product designer Anna Areola would go on to say, obsessed with Steve Jobs. She even began wearing a signature black turtleneck like Jobs and reportedly lowered her voice several octaves. Cracks started to show when she was unable to explain how the technology worked. When a New York Times reporter asked her, she replied rather vaguely: a chemistry is performed so that a chemical reaction occurs and generates a signal from the chemical interaction with the sample, which is translated into a result, which is then reviewed by a certified laboratory personnel. Those who worked closely with her also began to doubt the validity of her claims. Avie Tevinan, a former Apple developer who joined Theranos board of directors, told Nightline: Shed prick her finger and then would put blood on something and then she put it in the machine and then sometimes she would saythis part doesnt work anymore, which I thought was a bit odd. But some of that you expect to get from a start-up that has a product thats not done, right? But the problem was, it never got any better. He added: I was done with Theranos. I had seen so many things that were bad, go on. I would never expect anyone to behave the way that she behaved as a CEO. And believe me, I worked for Steve Jobs. I saw some crazy things. But Elizabeth took it to a new level. In 2016, the FDA, FBI and CMS began investigating Theranos. Their findings were shocking: patients were allegedly left at risk of internal bleeding, strokes and blood clots and the accurate results that Theranos claimed to be able to deliver were erratic and in some cases, forged. Where is Elizabeth Holmes now? Elizabeth Holmes leaves the Robert F. Peckham U.S. Federal Court in January 2019. / Getty Theranos dissolved in April 2018 and Holmes is currently facing 20 years in prison for wire fraud charges. In 2016, Walgreens filed a $140 million lawsuit against Theranos, accusing them of a breach of a contract. In January 2019, footage emerged of Holmes deposition, during which she sits across from 12 attorneys and says I dont know more than 600 times in response to questions. Now back at home in California, Holmes is awaiting trial and faces criminal charges from the Department of Justice. She continues to profess her innocence. What is the podcast The Dropout about? On Wednesday 23 January, ABC Radio will launch a six-part podcast, called The Dropout, documenting the rise and fall of Elizabeth Holmes. The podcast features interviews with former Theranos employees, patients who used the companys products and attorneys. Rebecca Jarvis, ABCs Chief Business, Technology and Economics Correspondent who spent three years investigating the story and hosts the podcast, said: Ive been covering business for more than a decade, from the Housing Collapse to the fall of Bear Stearns, to the Bernie Madoff Scandal. But none of these comes even close to the mystery and intrigue of Elizabeth Holmes. How to stream: You can download and listen to The Dropout on the following channels: When will the Bad Blood film be released? Hollywood star Jennifer Lawrence was one of many to have intimate images and personal information disclosed online by a group of hackers. / Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP In May 2018, it was revealed that Carreyrous book would be turned into a film, starring Jennifer Lawrence as Elizabeth Holmes. The movie will be produced by Legendary, the studio behind films such as Interstellar, The Dark Knight Rises, 300 and The Hangover. T he running times for the six final episodes of Game of Thrones have reportedly been revealed at a meeting for a French TV network. French film magazine Premiere reported that the first two instalments of the shows forthcoming eighth season will be an hour in length, while the final four episodes will last 80 minutes each. The publication shared the news in a series of posts on their official Twitter account earlier this week, following a presentation hosted by French TV channel OCS. Premiere initially shared an image of the backdrop used for the presentation, which featured a handful of facts about the upcoming episodes, which appeared to suggest that the final season would be neatly divided into six 90 minute segments. Precision utile : @OCSTV a explique oralement que les deux premiers episodes de la saison finale de #GameOfThrones allaient durer 60 minutes, et les quatre suivants 80 mn d'apres les dernieres infos de HBO https://t.co/UIDwB7xtvU Premiere (@PremiereFR) January 22, 2019 However, the magazines second message contradicted this. The tweet, which was written in French, read: OCS TV verbally explained that the first two episodes of the final season [of] GameOfThrones were going to last 60 minutes, and the following four 80 minutes after the latest info from HBO. Finale: Emilia Clarke as Daenerys Targaryen in Game of Thrones (Home Box Office, Inc.) Another post from the magazine stipulated that the exact length of each episode has yet to be announced by HBO, adding: OCS just gave us a more precise idea. Standard Online has contacted HBO for confirmation. Two minutes with Kit Harington HBOs CEO Richard Plepler recently admitted that he was in awe while watching the shows magical conclusion. Its a spectacle. The guys have done six movies. The reaction I had while watching them was, Im watching a movie, he told Variety. They knew the bar was high. Theyve exceeded the bar. Ive watched them twice without any CGI and Im in awe. Everybodys in for an extraordinary treat of storytelling and of magical, magical production. Game of Thrones will return to HBO on April 14, and will be broadcast simultaneously in the UK on Sky Atlantic at 2am on April 15. It will then be repeated that evening. N etflix has released a chilling new series on the renowned serial killer, Ted Bundy. The series, called Conversations with a Killer: The Ted Bundy Tapes, features over 100 hours of never before heard audio from interviews with the charismatic killer. The series is based on a book of the same name, written by Stephen G. Michaud and Hugh Aynesworth, and delves into the twisted mind of Bundy, who targeted and killed dozens of innocent women. The exact number of his victims remains unknown. Heres what you need to know about Ted Bundy and how you can watch the new Netflix series: Who was Ted Bundy? Ted Bundy conferring with his defense attorneys / Getty Ted Bundy was a serial killer and rapist who kidnapped and murdered dozens of young women throughout the 1970s and 80s. A socially awkward child, Bundy was a loner and buried himself in his studies to distract from his lack of social skills. In 1974, he claimed the life of his first victim, Lynda Ann Healy, a 21-year-old student at The University of Washington. She was never found, although part of her skull was discovered years later. Bundy would go on to target more female students in the area. In some cases, he would decapitate his victims and keep their skulls in his apartment. Over the next five months, Bundy abducted and murdered five female college students in the Pacific Northwest. Shortly afterwards, he relocated to Utah, where he continued to rape and murder four teenage girls. Its thought that he killed at least 30 victims across at least seven states throughout the 1970s. When was Ted Bundy executed? After months of finding no leads, police finally labelled Bundy as a person of interest in the murders. In August 1975, Bundy was pulled over by police who discovered masks, handcuffs and blunt objects in his vehicle. After discovering hair matching three of his victims, he was convicted of kidnapping and assault and sent to prison while police attempted to build a case against him. After escaping from prison in 1978, he broke into a sorority house on the Florida State University campus and killed two young women. A little over a month later, whilst still on the run, Bundy abducted 12-year-old Kimberley Diane Leach and murdered her. Some theorise that this was a tactical act by Bundy in order to be in a position to be eligible for the death penalty. I wish you had killed me, he reportedly said when he was caught by police a week later. What is Conversations with a Killer: The Ted Bundy Tapes about? Ted Bundys own chilling voice takes centre stage in this Netflix documentary about his sadistic murders. Describing his insatiable need to kill, he says: Murder leaving a person of this type hungryunfulfilledwould also leave him with the obviously irrational belief that, the next time he did it, he would be fulfilled. And the next time he did it, he would be fulfilled. Or the next time he did it, he would be fulfilled. He goes on to brag about his murders, suggesting that his body count could be in the thousands. Who knows how many? he says, For every one thats publicized there could be one thats not thousands of people are reported missing and are never heard from again. In the trailer for the new show, Bundy can be heard saying: I mean, Im not an animal and Im not crazy and I dont have a split personality. Im just a normal individual. How to watch C hristian Bale has said Donald Trump is a "clown" who does not understand how government works. The actor described the president as bombastic and loud but less capable than Dick Cheney, who Bale stars as in Vice. Bale earned a best actor nomination for his portrayal of controversial former US vice president Cheney. Discussing the differences between Cheney and the US leader, the star said the latter is the less dangerous of the two. Great manipulator: Christian Bale as Dick Cheney in Vice / AP He said: "He's [Trump] bombastic, he's loud. Cheney was quiet and secretive and far more capable, far more brilliant. "In terms of their ability to understand government, there's no comparison. Trump doesn't understand it, Cheney did, that's what made him so powerful, these decades within the government. "Whereas Trump is sort of a clown by comparison. Clowns can do a lot of damage but fingers crossed in the next two years that doesn't happen. Donald Trump is a 'clown', Christian Bale said / REUTERS Cheney was an instrumental figure in the country's foreign policy decisions post-9/11. Continuing the Trump-Cheney comparison, Bale added: "But I would say because of his enormous ego, Trump is actually far less dangerous - providing he doesn't go bloody pushing the button - than Cheney." Bale, who under went a drastic transformation to play Cheney, said he and Vice director Adam McKay had no interest in painting the politician in a purely bad light, "because we're not children who think that monsters look like monsters. Monsters don't look like monsters" Cheney is portrayed in the film as the most powerful vice president in US history, whose influence in the War On Terror following the September 11 attacks in New York had dire consequences for American soldiers, Iraqi civilians and the world at large. Vice is nominated for best picture at the upcoming Academy Awards, one of eight nods including supporting actor and actress nominations for Bale's co-stars Amy Adams and Sam Rockwell. H ana Cross has received the ultimate seal of approval from her boyfriend Brooklyn Beckhams mother, Victoria. The 21-year-old model was a guest at the New York launch party for the designers new sportswear collaboration with Reebok earlier this week, and received a special shout out on the former Spice Girls Instagram account. The 44-year-old shared a photo of Cross wearing a double denim ensemble at the event, which was held at The Flower Shop in Manhattan, on her Instagram Stories and praised her sense of style, writing: @Hancross looking great in my VBPress19 collection xx VB. She also posted another image of the London-based model wearing a cosy monogrammed beanie and khaki bomber jacket from her new Reebok line. Approval: Victoria Beckham posted a picture of her son's new girlfriend / Instagram: Victoria Beckham Cross soon returned the favour, re-sharing the original shot and adding an effusive caption. Love love love my new beanie, hoodie and bomber from #reebokxvictoriabeckham, she wrote, adding three heart emojis. The launch event was also attended by 19-year-old Brooklyn and his father David. Brooklyn Beckham kisses Hana Cross The couple made their first joint public appearance in December at the British Fashion Awards in London, then confirmed their relationship on Instagram shortly after with a series of loved-up posts. Cross has already proved to be a hit with the Beckhams and has attended a handful of important family events, including their New Years Eve celebrations at their home in the Cotswolds and David Beckhams recent London Fashion Week Mens show for his label Kent & Curwen. The aspiring photographer previously dated actress Chloe Grace Moretz, but the pair ended their on-off romance at the beginning of 2018 after four years together. R apper Azealia Banks has branded Irish people inbred leprechauns in a social media rant after she walked off an Aer Lingus flight from Gatwick to Dublin following a disagreement with cabin crew earlier this week. In a series of comments posted on Instagram, the 27-year-old musician described the Irish as barbarians and mocked the potato famine, having previously dedicated her sold-out Dublin show to beautiful Irish women on Tuesday night. Responding to one Instagram user, she made reference to the famine, which lasted from 1845 to 1849 and is thought to have caused one million deaths from starvation, writing: Dont you have a famine to go and die in? In another comment, she described the Irish as a bunch of prideful inbred leprechauns who have ZERO global influence. Tearful: The rapper broke down in a furious rant earlier this week / Instagram / Azealia Banks Im happiest knowing the Irish are all quarantined on an isle so they can continue to inbreed and keep their defective genes away from the rest of humanity, she wrote in another inflammatory response. Banks chose to disembark from her flight on Tuesday after a verbal altercation took place between her and Aer Lingus crew. The rapper posted a series of Instagram stories in which she described the incident, claiming that one Aer Lingus employee had accused her of saying she would sort her out. Every time I come to the UK, they always make some s*** with these airline people, she said. They are always starting s*** with me. Incident: Banks walked off an Aer Lingus flight earlier this week / Brad Barket/Getty Images for SKYY Vodka She claimed to have been treated like a wild animal and denied using that kind of slang to speak to a stewardess. They tried their hardest to get me to do something or freak out, she continued. In a statement, Aer Lingus said: Aer Lingus can confirm that two guests scheduled to fly on 10:55am flight from London Gatwick to Dublin (EI233) this morning disembarked themselves prior to departure. The guests in question got off the plane safely of their own accord, while all other guests remained on board. As they had luggage in the hold, the flight was delayed while that luggage was sourced. The flight departed Gatwick at 12.07 and landed in Dublin at 13.22. Aer Lingus has a strict no-tolerance policy towards disruptive guest behaviour. The safety and security of our guests and crew remains our first priority. D onald Trump today agreed to postpone his State of the Union speech in a row with Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi over the partial US government shutdown. Following a high-stakes standoff with the top Democrat, the US president conceded he would delay the speech scheduled for next week until the crisis is resolved. He announced the postponement on Twitter after Mrs Pelosi cancelled the annual address to a joint session of Congress in the Capitol. Mrs Pelosis move sent the White House scrambling for an alternative venue, before the president finally admitted defeat. Nancy Pelosi speaks to reporters after officially postponing Mr Trump's State of the Union address / AP As the Shutdown was going on, Nancy Pelosi asked me to give the State of the Union Address. I agreed. She then changed her mind because of the Shutdown, suggesting a later date. This is her prerogative, Mr Trump wrote in a tweet. US president Donald Trump has agreed to postpone his State of the Union speech / AFP/Getty Images I will do the Address when the Shutdown is over. I am not looking for an alternative venue for the SOTU Address because there is no venue that can compete with the history, tradition and importance of the House Chamber, he added. According to reports, the White House initially considered a rally outside Washington or a speech from the Oval Office as alternatives. Mrs Pelosi raised the stakes in the row last Wednesday by writing to the White House to claim that security concerns triggered by the shutdown meant Mr Trump should consider calling off the address. The president called her bluff, insisting the speech would go ahead as planned. But Mrs Pelosi stuck to her position, last night formally cancelling next Tuesdays televised address. She responded to Mr Trumps concession today by asking the president to back a Democratic bill to put federal employees back to work. The Senate was due to vote today on two proposals to end the shutdown. S peedboat killer Jack Shepherd is set to remain in Georgia for months, his lawyer said today. He handed himself over to police in Georgia yesterday after spending several months on the run following his conviction in July for the manslaughter of Charlotte Brown, 24. Lawyer Tariel Kakabadze said the 31-year-old believes he is innocent and it was wrong to criticise someone for "trying to protect himself". "Extradition doesn't happen in one or two days," he said. "All the documents will need to be translated, many things will need to be made ready. Depending on what evidence they show us, it might be very soon or it might be several months." Mr Kakabadze said he had seen "a lot of negative comments" about Shepherd online and his client is "extremely sad" about Charlotte Brown's death. "Many people have opinions which are not based on facts. Every person who is blamed of a crime has the right to efficient and good legal help. Criticising somebody for protecting himself is not right. He believes that he is innocent." Tragic death: Charlotte Brown was killed in the crash / PA The lawyer said he had "huge respect for the United Kingdom, for the UK Government and the people," but added: "As a lawyer, I believe that evidence is what we should make the decisions on. "The judges should not be interrupted and they should not feel pressure from people, from politicians. Judges should be left to make objective decisions. Judges are the only people who should make the final decision about the case." Mr Kakabadze said his client is now "ready to participate in the court sessions to find out the truth" and first contacted him by phone on Wednesday. Jack Shepherd speaks to Rustavi 2 after handing himself into police in Georgia "I told him to go to the police and this would be easier for him to fight legally. But it was also his desire," he said. "I believe his evidence will be extremely important. But he needs to work legally and not just escape from the police, that's not going to help him out." Mr Shepherd blamed his decision to flee the country rather than participate in the trial on Ms Brown's father, saying the civil servant has "power within the prison system". Mr Kakabadze previously said it could be some time before Shepherd returns to the UK, but he may appear in court as early as Thursday or Friday. Ms Brown's family were "very shocked and relieved" that Mr Shepherd handed himself in / PA Appearing on BBC Breakfast, Charlotte Brown's sister Katie said when the family heard Shepherd had handed himself in they were all "very shocked and relieved". She said: "Last night as we saw his TV interview, increasing feelings of anger. "To see him just stroll into the police station smiling and waving it was unbelievable - his arrogance over everything." The victim's sister spoke of the killer's 'arrogance' / BBC She said she thinks Shepherd went to the police station for "purely selfish reasons" because he wants his appeal to be successful and that she believes he thinks he will not serve his sentence. Charlotte Browns best friend, Charlotte Hare, said she felt emotional after Mr Shepherd handed himself in. She told BBC Newsbeat: "I'm really pleased he's decided to make one right decision in handing himself in - given all the pressure from the media and police." P ope Francis has said that a fear of migration is making us crazy. The pontiff made the comments as he began a trip to Central America amid President Trumps standoff over a wall at the border with Mexico. Francis previously denounced anyone who wants to build a wall to keep out migrants as not Christian. As he made his way to Panama, the Pope was asked by reporters about the proposed border wall, responding: its the fear that makes us crazy. Francis, the Roman Catholic Church's first Latin American pope and the son of Italian immigrants to Argentina, has made the plight of migrants and refugees a cornerstone of his papacy. The first image to appear on the pope's Instagram account / @Franciscus He is also expected to offer words of encouragement to young people gathered in Panama for World Youth Day, the church's once-every-three-year rally that aims to invigorate the next generation of Catholics in their faith. Panama Archbishop Jose Domingo Ulloa said Francis's message is likely to resonate with young Central Americans who see their only future free of violence and poverty in migrating to the US - "young people who often fall into the hands of drug traffickers and so many other realities that our young people face". Francis's trip, the first in a year packed with foreign travel, comes at a critical moment in the papacy as the Catholic hierarchy globally is facing a crisis in credibility for covering up decades of cases of priests molesting young people. The pope is expected to soon rule on the fate of former cardinal Theodore McCarrick, the high-powered US archbishop accused of molesting minors and adults. His comments come amid a standoff over a border wall between the US and Mexico / Getty Images And he is hosting church leaders at the Vatican next month to try to chart a way forward for the global church. Vatican spokesman Alessandro Gisotti said there were no plans for Francis to meet with abuse survivors in Panama. Central America has not yet seen the explosion of sex abuse cases that have shattered trust in the Catholic hierarchy in Chile, the US and other parts of the world. It's the first visit to Panama by a Pope since 1983 / AFP/Getty Images This is the first papal visit to Panama since St John Paul II was there during a 1983 regional tour. Pope Francis confirmed to reporters aboard the papal plane that he plans to go to Japan in November. The pope also said he wants to visit Iraq, but that local church leaders have told him that the security situation is not yet right. This year, the pontiff has already scheduled trips to the United Arab Emirates, Morocco, Bulgaria and Macedonia, and a trip to Madagascar is rumoured. M ike Pompeo has said the US will not pull its diplomats from Venezuela after the South American countrys president ordered that they leave within three days. Nicolas Maduro broke diplomatic relations with the US after Donald Trump decided to recognise the Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido as interim president. But Secretary of State Mr Pompeo said the Mr Maduro does not have the legal authority to sever relations with the US, and that diplomats would not be removed. Mr Pompeo said the US would abide by Mr Guaido's directive, which is that countries retain their diplomatic missions in the South American country. Juan Guaido, President of the Venezuelan Parliament / EPA Other nations, including Canada, Brazil and Argentina, also have recognised Guaido as Venezuela's president. Announcing the break in relations, Mr Maduro told a crowd of supporters gathered at the presidential palace: "Before the people and nations of the world, and as constitutional president.....I've decided to break diplomatic and political relations with the imperialist US government. Mike Pompeo said the US will not remove its diplomats from the country / AFP/Getty Images He made the announcement after a day that saw Juan Guaido, the head of the opposition-controlled congress, declare himself interim president. The move was immediately backed by President Trump's administration. It said it was willing to use all its economic and diplomatic power to restore Venezuela's democracy. T he Senate intelligence committee has subpoenaed Donald Trump's former lawyer Michael Cohen to testify before the panel, after he said he planned to postpone an appearance next week before Congress. CNN said it was not clear how Mr Cohen will respond to the subpoena filing, but the panel expects him to appear in mid-February. Senate Intelligence traditionally does their interviews behind closed doors rather than publicly. Michael Cohen and Donald Trump / AFP/Getty Images Mr Cohen was due to appear voluntarily before the House Oversight and Reform Committee on February 7. The committee is investigating hush-money payments made during the 2016 presidential campaign to silence women who claimed to have had sex with Mr Trump. The President denies these allegations. Responding to Mr Cohen's claims of threats made against his family, Mr Trump said: "I would say he's been threatened by the truth. The congressional subonena is reportedly the first of potentially several that Mr Cohen could face before he reports to prison on March 6 for a three-year jail sentence on crimes including tax and campaign finance violations and Senate Intelligence Committee. In December, he pleaded guilty for lying to congress about how long the Trump Tower Moscow project discussions extended into the 2016 campaign. T he defence lawyers representing a nurse charged with raping a disabled woman at a care home in Arizona have demanded their own DNA expert. Nathan Sutherland, 36, was arrested after he was linked to the case by DNA. The severely disabled woman gave birth unexpectedly on December 29 at Hacienda Healthcare Skilled Nursing Facility in Phoenix. Mr Sutherlands lawyer said theres no direct evidence that Mr Sutherland has committed these acts. I know at this point theres DNA. But he will have a right to his own DNA expert. Police reveal a baby boy born to a woman who has been in a vegetative state Police matched Mr Sutherlands DNA to the baby on Tuesday however his defence said they would also be arranging their own DNA tests. He was charged with one count each of sexual assault and abuse of a vulnerable adult. He was held on $500,000 bail during a brief appearance in court. Police chief Jeri Williams said: From the minute we first became aware of this crime, a sexual assault, we have worked virtually non-stop every day, every night, seven days a week trying to solve and resolve this case," Mr Sutherland worked at Hacienda Healthcare / AP The woman, who has been disabled since very early childhood as a result of seizures, has spent most of her life in Phoenix's Hacienda Healthcare. Though she was initially described as comatose, her parents said in a written statement that although she was disabled she could respond to sound, make facial gestures and had some ability to move her limbs, head and neck. "The important thing is that she is a beloved daughter, albeit with significant intellectual disabilities," they said. The parents declined to comment on Sutherland's arrest in a separate statement issued through their attorney. Hacienda employees were not aware that woman was pregnant before she went into labor, police say, and were first alerted to the case when the baby was born. Police then sought DNA samples from all male employees. The facility said in a written statement that Sutherland was fired as soon as administrators learned of his arrest. "Before he started work with Hacienda, he underwent extensive background checks, including an extended criminal history search; a search of multiple government registries, including sex offender registries and Arizona Department of Economic Security and Child Protective Services registries; and checks of his personal references," it said. The baby, a boy who is being cared for by family members, is doing well, police said. A British man has lost his foot after falling asleep on a railway in France, according to reports. The man, from Jersey in the Channel Islands, had his foot painfully sliced off after being hit by a freight train at Rennes station on Wednesday. It is reported the driver attempted to stop to avoid hitting the man in his 50s, but they could not stop in time. As well as suffering an injury to his foot, the man also obtained serious abdomen and head injuries. According to French police, the man was visibly drunk. At this stage, it is unknown if the Briton had been visiting north west France or lived in Rennes. T he American former student Amanda Knox had her human rights breached by the Italian authorities during the investigation into the killing of Briton Meredith Kercher, European judges ruled today. The European Court of Human Rights said that Ms Knox, 31, had been denied her right to a proper investigation, legal assistance, and the help of an interpreter following her arrest in November 2007 over the death of Ms Kercher in Perugia earlier that month. They said the facts supported a claim by Ms Knox, who was initially convicted but later cleared of involvement in the murder, that she had sustained degrading treatment during her detention. They rules she had also been left particularly vulnerable after being deprived of a solicitor in an action which had irreparably undermined the fairness of her questioning. Ms Knox was arrested in November 2007 over the death of Brit Meredith Kercher, pictured, and was later cleared of any involvement / PA F ormer Scottish First Minister Alex Salmond has today been charged with attempted rape and sexual assault. The 64-year-old made no plea during a hearing at the Edinburgh Sheriff Court as he faced a total of 14 charges. Outside court, Mr Salmond said he was "innocent of any criminality" and added he would defend himself "to the utmost". Below, the Standard explains who Mr Salmond is and more regarding the charges against him. Former Scottish first minister Alex Salmond leaves Edinburgh Sheriff Court. / PA Who is Alex Salmond? Mr Salmond, from Linlithgow, West Lothian, is regarded as one of the most significant political figures of recent British history. He was twice the leader of the Scottish Nationalist Party, and led the party into a minority government at Holyrood in 2007 after winning the election by a single seat over Labour. The promises that carried him over the line included re-energising the Scottish government, abolishing student debt and cutting local taxes. In less than 10 years, he became the voice for normalising the question of Scottish independence and the force for rebuilding the SNP so that it could replace Labour as Scotlands dominant political force. In the 2011 election, Mr Salmond led the party to an unprecedented and seemingly impossible victory with a majority win, meaning the SNP could deliver its manifesto pledge to hold an independence referendum. But the result of the 2014 vote - a 55 percent to 45 percent to stay in the UK - led to him stepping down as first minister and SNP leader. Mr Salmond launched a fresh campaign via his former deputy and successor First Minister Nicola Sturgeon, for Scottish independence after the 2016 Brexit referendum where Scotland voted to remain within the EU and England voted leave. But, in a snap campaign called by Prime Minister Theresa May in 2017, the SNP lost 21 of its 56 Westminster seats, one of which was Mr Salmonds. Controversially, he next career move was to take up a position as a talk show host on Russian television station, RT, formerly known as Russia Today. Despite heavy criticism, his first show aired in November 2017. As allegations against him emerged years later, he resigned his membership of the party in August 2018. Former First Minister of Scotland Alex Salmond speaks to the media following his case at the Court of Session in Edinburgh, Scotland. / REUTERS What are the charges against him? On Thursday, a Police Scotland spokesman confirmed Mr Salmond had been arrested and charged with attempted rape and sexual assault. He faced court on 14 charges and entered no plea. They included two charges of attempted rape, nine of sexual assault, two of indecent assault and one of breach of the peace. After his appearance, Mr Salmond denied the allegations. "Yesterday, with my solicitor Callum Anderson, I attended a police station in central Scotland. I was released on condition that I came to the court today to face the charges against me. That I have now done. "So, let me say at the outset I am innocent of any criminality whatsoever. "Now that these proceedings, criminal proceedings, are live, it's even more important to respect the court, and, therefore, the only thing I can say is I refute absolutely the allegation of criminality and I will defend myself top the utmost in court. "I have got great faith in the court system of Scotland. I have got recent cause to have great faith in the court system of Scotland - that is where I will state my case. T he boss of Airbus today branded the Governments handling of Brexit a disgrace and issued a stark warning that the aerospace giant could quit Britain. Tom Enders also warned the public not to believe the madness of Brexiteers seeking to play down the threat to hundreds of thousands of jobs from the UK crashing out of the EU. In a clear sign that boardroom patience with Theresa Mays dithering is now snapping, Mr Enders said: It is a disgrace that, more than two years after the result of the 2016 referendum, businesses are still unable to plan properly for the future. We, along with many of our peers, have repeatedly called for clarity, but we still have no idea what is really going on here. The boss of Airbus has blasted the Government's handling of Brexit / Getty Images He unleashed his extraordinary attack as a growing number of MPs were swinging behind moves in Parliament to block a no deal and to delay Brexit happening on March 29. Brexit Secretary Stephen Barclay said he took the warning from the Airbus chief very seriously and stressed it highlighted the need for a deal. Aerospace giant Airbus employs more than 14,000 people in the UK with around 110,000 more jobs connected in supply chains. If theres a no-deal Brexit, we at Airbus will have to make potentially very harmful decisions for the UK, added chief executive Mr Enders. Please dont listen to the Brexiteers madness which asserts that because we have huge plants here we will not move and we will always be here. They are wrong. Brexit blast: Airbus boss Tom Enders While factories would not close overnight, Airbus could be forced to redirect future investment for its long-term strategy to other countries, he explained. Its UK operations, at 25 sites, generate around 6 billion of turnover annually, making it the countrys largest aerospace company, building components, including wings, for a broad spectrum of products from planes to helicopters and satellites. Mr Enders stressed that Britains multi billion-pound, world-leading aerospace sector is standing at a precipice with Brexit threatening to destroy a century of development based on education, research and human capital. Former Welsh Secretary and leading Brexiteer David Jones rebuffed the idea that the Broughton Airbus plant in north Wales could be scaled down or close. He said Mr Enders had made threats such as this for some time, stressing a large proportion of the factorys workers had voted to Leave. However, Steve Turner, assistant general secretary of the giant Unite union, said: No-deal Brexit fantasists should pay heed to this strongest warning yet from Airbus. A No10 source said: The PM is working hard to deliver the certainty that business needs. Thats why she is focused on getting the changes which are required to allow Parliament to support her deal. Whitehall insiders suggested Mr Enders comments were directed across the political spectrum, not just the Government. Advertising tycoon Sir Martin Sorrell also emphasised that business is in a state of total confusion about the UKs future. People who are running businesses are trying to plan on the basis of three or four possible scenarios, so it is an impossible situation, he told the Today programme. It is very messy because you dont know what is going to happen from March 29. The grim warnings from Mr Enders and Sir Martin threatened to overshadow attempts by Chancellor Philip Hammond to convince corporate bosses, gathered at the World Economic Forum in the Swiss alpine resort of Davos, that post-Brexit Britain will still be a great place to do business. He announced a 100 million fund to create 1,000 new PhD places across the UK to develop the next generation of artificial intelligence including for use in life-saving medical technology, improve voice-recognition software for business and consumers, and early warning systems for toxic air. We are leading the way in the tech revolution. The UK digital sector is now worth over 130 billion with jobs growing at twice the rate of those in the wider economy, he said. I want to ensure we remain the standard bearer, so we must invest in our new economy so that it can adapt and remain competitive. But other EU countries are targeting companies in the UK seeking to lure them across the Channel or to Dublin. French finance minister Bruno Le Maire said his Government is talking to many companies about relocating from Britain post-Brexit. The Dutch government is in talks with 250 firms to try to get them to move from the UK to the Netherlands. Sony is shifting its European headquarters from Britain to Amsterdam to avoid Brexit disruption. Ferry operator P&O is re-registering its UK fleet under the flag of Cyprus so it can continue to use EU tax arrangements. And appliance maker Dyson, whose boss Sir James Dyson championed Leave, is to move its HQ to Singapore, from Malmesbury in Wiltshire, although it said this had nothing to do with Brexit. With talks deadlocked in Parliament and Brussels over Brexit, Polands Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki called for creativity to resolve the crisis and said there was no going back at this stage on the Withdrawal Agreement. He also appealed to Poles to come back to Poland from the UK and join its thriving economy. Brussels chief Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier insisted the backstop for the Irish border would not be dumped, as demanded by Brexiteers, and warned that if there is not a breakthrough, the UK and EU were heading for a more or less bumpy or accidental no-deal on March 30. T heresa Mays chances of avoiding a fresh Brexit defeat diminished today as more MPs piled in behind rebel amendments for voting next week. Nearly 80 MPs, including 10 Tories, lined up behind an attempt to seize control of the Commons agenda in order to delay Brexit, and more than 120 MPs backed a separate plan to rule out a no-deal exit. With the Prime Minister desperate to make new alliances, trade union leaders were welcomed into 10 Downing Street for talks. TUC chief Frances OGrady was first to sit down in the PMs study for meetings lasting at least 30 minutes each, followed by Unison boss Dave Prentis, Jeremy Corbyns ally Len McCluskey of Unite, and GMB chief Tim Roache. Mrs May was expected to tell the four leaders whose unions represent 5.6 million workers that her deal would protect jobs. But they were calling for an extension of Article 50 to avoid a no-deal. A No 10 official denied the meetings represented a return to the days of beer and sandwiches with union leaders. Just tea and biscuits, he said. Speaking outside Downing Street after her meeting, Ms OGrady called for the Government to remove the risk of no-deal. The Prime Minister has suffered a historic defeat in the House of Commons. I think she needs to shift gear, stop talking to just the bad boys at the back of the class and listen to others for a change, she said. Take the threat of no-deal off the table. She said she hoped Mrs May would meet with unions more regularly and today would not be a one off. In a dramatic U-turn today, Tory MP Sarah Wollaston withdrew an amendment calling for a Peoples Vote, blaming Mr Corbyns lack of support. Until we have the leader of the oppositions backing, it will not pass, she said. Labour MP Luciana Berger, another backer of the campaign for a second referendum, said: At a time when Labour should be championing a peoples vote, the leadership avoids answering that call. Because the Labour leadership and front bench wont back a peoples vote, there will not be a vote on a cross-party peoples vote amendment next week. However, it was understood that the MPs had come under pressure from Peoples Vote leaders to delay any vote on a referendum until February, when strategists think their chances will be better. So far, 12 amendments including one from Labours Yvette Cooper, left have been put down for debate and voting on Tuesday next week. Richard Harrington has been the Conservative MP for Watford since 2010, and was appointed as a Minister for Industry and Energy in 2017. He has been active in the Tory Party since 1983, and was chairman of the Conservative Friends of Israel until 2010. Mr Harrington won his marginal constituency from Labour by 1,425 in 2010, and was re-elected in 2015 with an 8.5 per cent increase in his share of the vote. In 2017, he was re-elected with a majority of just 2,092. He previously worked in the Department for Work and Pensions and sat on the Indternational Development Select Committee between 2010 and 2912. Before entering Parliament, he worked in business, including as assistant to the managing director of Waitrose. He also founded Harvington Properties, a property development company, in 1983, with two university friends. From the bottom of our hearts, we want them to stay. Without your great nation, this Continent would not be what it is today: a community defined by freedom and prosperity. After the horrors of the Second World War, Britain did not give up on us. It has welcomed Germany back as a sovereign nation and a European power. This we, as Germans, have not forgotten and we are grateful. T heresa May is set to meet trade union chiefs in Westminster on Thursday as part of her latest desperate bid to woo them to support her Brexit plan. TUC general secretary Frances O'Grady, Len McCluskey of Unite, Dave Prentis of Unison and Tim Roache of the GMB will all hold separate meetings in Whitehall. The discussions are part of Mrs May's bid to get political backing for a Brexit agenda which would command a majority in the Commons after her plans were humiliatingly rejected by MPs last week. Downing Street said she will be discussing employment rights, environmental standards and those sorts of things. Theresa May is set to meet trade union chiefs on Thursday / EPA Despite Jeremy Corbyn branding the talks a "stunt", a senior spokesman said the Labour leader's request for the party's MPs to boycott discussions with Mrs May did not extend to union leaders. The spokesman said: "Of course it is absolutely right for union leaders to represent their members and to engage with the Government on issues that affect their members. TODO: define component type apester But he warned: There must be a majority in Parliament for any deal, including a mechanism to rule out no-deal. A Downing Street spokesman said: "The Prime Minister has said that this is a process of engagement across the House of Commons but also with other interested sectors. Len McCluskey is set to meet Theresa May for Brexit talks on Thursday / Danny Lawson/PA "She has spoken to business leaders and she will be talking with union leaders. Unions have been warning of the impact on jobs of a no-deal Brexit and have been pressing for assurances about employment rights after the UK leaves the EU. Some have also argued in favour of a second referendum. Thursdays meetings come as there appeared to be growing support in Labour ranks for a bid by backbencher Yvette Cooper to extend Article 50 which would keep the UK in the EU longer unless a deal is reached by the end of February. Yvette Cooper's Brexit amendment is growing in momentum among Labour MPs / House of Commons/PA Ms Cooper's bid, which has cross-party backing including from Conservative Nick Boles, is one of a number of amendments that could be voted on Tuesday if selected by Commons speaker John Bercow. Meanwhile, in another sign of opposition to the Prime Minister's stance, 19 ministers, including Cabinet members, have reportedly been meeting to discuss preventing a no-deal Brexit. One member of the ministerial group dubbed it the "hair-shirt club", the Daily Telegraph reported. G overnment ministers have been secretly meeting to discuss plans aimed at stopping a no-deal Brexit, according to reports. The group, which includes five Cabinet members, is said to have held talks on the best way to avoid economic damage caused by crashing out of the bloc. Discussions held last week centred on an amendment tabled by senior Labour MP Yvette Cooper to take the no-deal option off the table by extending Article 50, The Telegraph reported. It is understood that 18 ministers in total attended, including Work and Pensions Secretary Amber Rudd, Chancellor Philip Hammond and David Gauke, the Justice Secretary. Under pressure: Theresa May speaks in the House of Commons / AP The reports came as ministers were set to hold discussions with trade union leaders as Mrs May continues her battle to keep a grip on the EU withdrawal agenda. The union chiefs Whitehall discussions, which will be held at Whitehall, are expected to involve the Prime Minister and begin later on Thursday. TUC general secretary Frances O'Grady, Len McCluskey of Unite, Dave Prentis of Unison and Tim Roache of the GMB, will all hold separate meetings with ministers. Theresa May challenges Jeremy Corbyn over his pre-conditions for Brexit discussions The discussions are part of Mrs May's bid to gain political backing for a Brexit agenda that would command a majority in the Commons. It comes after her plans were heavily rejected by MPs. There appeared to be growing support in Labour ranks for a parliamentary bid by former minister Yvette Cooper to extend Article 50, which would keep the UK in the EU longer, unless a deal is reached by the end of February. Leading Brexiteers have attacked such initiatives, saying they would take control of events from the Government. Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn called for a vote in the Commons on holding a second public vote / AFP/Getty Images Despite Jeremy Corbyn branding the PM's talks initiative a "stunt", a senior spokesman said the Labour leader's request for the party's MPs to boycott discussions with Mrs May did not extend to union leaders. The Labour spokesman said: "As Jeremy set out last week, he is more than ready to engage in talks with the Prime Minister on the basis that no-deal is taken off the table. "I think that has been vindicated by subsequent events. TODO: define component type apester "Unless she makes clear that she is prepared to move and compromise and accept the reality of the position, then she is simply continuing to try to run down the clock and prevent any solution to this crisis. "Of course it is absolutely right for union leaders to represent their members and to engage with the Government on issues that affect their members. "There must be a majority in Parliament for any deal, including a mechanism to rule out no-deal. Where next for Brexit? Theresa May's speech to Parliament "That is going to take place among the political parties." A Downing Street spokesman said: "The Prime Minister has said that this is a process of engagement across the House of Commons but also with other interested sectors. "She has spoken to business leaders and she will be talking with union leaders. "Issues I expect to be discussed will be around employment rights, environmental standards and those sorts of things." Unions have been warning of the impact on jobs of a no-deal Brexit and have been pressing for assurances about employment rights after the UK leaves the EU. T he mother of a nine-year-old girl who died of an asthma attack today called for the Mayors forthcoming vehicle pollution levy to be extended across Greater London. Rosamund Adoo-Kissi-Debrah said stronger action was needed to tackle illegal levels of toxic air, which she blames for the death of her daughter Ella Kissi-Debrah in 2013. She has been selected as a Green Party candidate for next years London Assembly elections and says being elected would give her campaigning more clout. Ms Adoo-Kissi-Debrah told the Standard: I want to improve local knowledge of asthma and its effects. A seat on the assembly will give me more clout when it comes to cleaning up the air. If Ella hadnt died I would not have been in this situation, but its not just about her. Ten to 15 per cent of children have asthma. Sadiq Khan is introducing an ultra low emission zone (Ulez) in central London from April 8, expanding to the North and South Circular roads by October 2021. Vehicles breaching emission targets will have to pay 12.50 a day. Ella lived 80ft from the South Circular in Hither Green. She died after three years of seizures and 27 visits to hospital. An expert last year linked her death to spikes in nitrogen dioxide and PM10 particulates that breached legal limits. Ms Adoo-Kissi-Debrah said the Ulez should be London-wide and cover all 33 boroughs and added: I know people are going to complain, but there is no easy solution, diesel is damaging peoples health. Its irresponsible. If we do nothing, its not going to go away. We have over 205,000 children in London with an asthma diagnosis. As long as cars are cheaper to run than public transport, we are always going to have these problems. Diesel is going to have to go. A target of 2040 to ban petrol and diesel cars is not acceptable. Earlier this month her bid for a fresh inquest into Ellas death received a major boost when Attorney General Geoffrey Cox said the High Court should consider the application. She is being supported by London law firm Hodge Jones & Allen and aims to raise 25,000 via crowdfunding to bring the case. Previously sixth form head at Blackheath Bluecoat School, she is also the Greens provisional parliamentary candidate for Lewisham East. With the assembly she hopes to be on the Greens top-up list, giving her a better chance of being elected. The partys 8,000 London members will decide on February 14 whether to add her to it. A pedestrian has died after being struck by a car in north London. Police and paramedics rushed to the scene of the crash in Parkhurst Road, Holloway, on Wednesday night. The man, whose age was last night not known, was pronounced dead at the scene. The driver of the car involved in the collision stopped at the scene, at Parkhurst Roads junction with Holloway road. A police cordon was in place and a forensic tent was seen in the street / @999london/Twitter Road closures were in place following the crash, which took place shortly before 7.10pm. Pictures from the scene showed a forensic tent erected in the street and police officers standing guard. Reports of the collision came as a 19-year-old man was fighting for his life in hospital after a separate crash in Twickenham. Road closures were in place as police remained at the scene / @999london/Twitter The pedestrian was rushed to hospital where he remained overnight in a critical condition. Police were appealing for information after the hit-and-run, in St Margarets Road just after 1.30pm on Wednesday. Of the crash in Twickenham, a Scotland Yard spokesman said: Detectives are appealing for the driver of a silver VW car involved in a serious collision in Twickenham to come forward. They are also asking for assistance from members of the public, in particular drivers who may have dashcam footage. A couple who lost a son to a rare genetic disorder are pleading with the NHS to provide a wonder drug for their baby daughter, who also has the condition. Five-month-old Maryam Malji, from Newham, has type 1 spinal muscular atrophy (SMA), which affects walking, eating, drinking and breathing. Doctors have told her parents, Zainab and Shakil, she could have just months to live. Maryams brother Abdullah also had SMA1 and was one of the first children to receive the drug Spinraza when he was placed on a medical trial. He died aged one in December 2015, from an infection, but the trial was successful and led to Spinraza being government-funded in 24 European countries. An access programme mainly funded by US drug firm Biogen was rolled out at Great Ormond Street Hospital in 2016. It ended in October six weeks before Maryams diagnosis after NHS drug approval body NICE said it was not recommending Spinraza due to its extremely high cost. A petition set up by Mr Malji to get the drug funded for Maryam and two other children diagnosed since October has more than 130,000 signatures. He said: When Abdullah started on the trial we had no hope. But his improvement was incredible. He was very weak and it was an infection which killed him. Doctors told us he would have to spend the last weeks of his life on a ventilator, but because of the drug that never happened. When we were told it was too late for [Maryam] to get Spinraza we were heartbroken. Its so unfair. English children on Spinraza continue to receive it. SMA affects motor functions in the spinal cord and lower brain stem, resulting in severe and progressive muscle wastage. Spinraza, also known as Nusinersen, is the first approved treatment for the disease. It costs 75,000 per dose and is administered by four injections into the cerebral spinal fluid, followed by a top-up injection every four months. Mr Maljis campaign has been backed by charities and local Labour MP Lyn Brown. She said: I believe Biogen have a moral duty to find a way forward for Maryam. Abdullah was involved in the trials that proved Spinraza works. Mr Malji, who also has a four-year-old daughter who is healthy, is considering moving his family to Scotland, where the drug is available on the NHS. Meindert Boysen, director of the centre for health technology evaluation at NICE, said talks between NHS England and Biogen were ongoing. A spokesman for Biogen said it is working towards a positive outcome in negotiations. T he Queens 82-year-old bootmaker was dragged to the ground and throttled by a gang of Rolex watch thieves in an ambush outside his Mayfair shop. Rudolf Schnieder feared he would be left to die when he was attacked by four men as he unloaded bags from his car into his office. One robber grabbed Mr Schnieder around the neck while a second covered his mouth in an attempt to suffocate him, as the octogenarians 9,500 Rolex watch was ripped from his wrist. The robbery happened just before 8pm at the door of Mr Schnieders shop in Clifford Street, Mayfair, where he produces bespoke equestrian boots for the Royal Family. Mohammed Chaab, 20, Abdelhakim Naili, 19, Khalid Abdullah, 31, and Khaled Guehis, 25, were all convicted of the attack on Mr Schnieder, committed in the midst of a six-month robbery spree targeting luxury watch owners in the West End. Robber Mohammed Chaab, 20 (Metropolitan Police ) / Metropolitan Police Victims, including many from overseas, were punched, kicked in the face and threatened with knives by the gang, who also invaded a Knightsbridge home in a terrifying night-time raid. Benjamin Temple, prosecuting, told Kingston crown court that Mr Schnieder had been picked out as vulnerable by the robbers, who left him lying on the ground after snatching his Rolex. Khalid Abdullah, 31, denied aggravated burglary but was convicted (Metropolitan Police ) / Metropolitan Police The victim was subjected to a group attack in which one male tried to suffocate him, applying pressure around his neck, while another placed hands over his mouth, he said in a sentencing note to the court. The victim thought the men may be armed with a knife and was frightened of being left for dead. The court heard that several other victims had been robbed of their watches with violence in the street, including being dragged to the floor and kicked in the face. Eight members of the gang, including Chaab, Naili, Abdullah and Guehis, who admitted robbery, have been jailed for stealing valuables worth 280,000. Sentences ranged from four to 11-and-a-half years. Abdullah had denied aggravated burglary but was convicted. A pregnant woman was grabbed by the throat and beaten in a vicious attack in east London on Christmas Eve. The victim, who was seven months pregnant, was pulled to the ground by her hair before receiving blows to her abdomen and back, police said. Detectives are appealing for witnesses to the attack, which unfolded in Oriel Road, near Homerton train station, at about 5pm on December 24. The woman, aged in her 20s, was left with cuts and bruises following the shocking incident. Issuing a social media appeal for information on Wednesday, Hackney Police said: A seven month pregnant female was viciously attacked by an unknown person(S). She was grabbed from behind by her hair and pulled to the ground, where she received numerous blows to her back and abdomen and was grabbed by the throat. The victim was left with cuts and bruises from the attack. P olice have released shocking bodycam footage of the moment a thug attacked an officer and kung fu kicked her into the path of a bus in south-west London. The Met released the disturbing video, taken by Pc Lorraine McGinty, after 20-year-olds Kersan Euell and Martin Payne were jailed for their part in the attack. The thugs were stopped by Pc McGinty and Pc John Collins in Merton on November 17 last year after checks showed their car was not insured. After refusing to give his name to police, Payne attempted to flee and sparked the chaotic scenes. A bodycam still from Pc Lorraine McGinty after she was kicked into the path of the bus / Met Police The footage captured on Pc McGinty's body worn camera showed Euell, who initially started run away but was begged by Payne to help him, turn around and launch a flying kick at her head. She fell backwards and hit her head on the pavement, narrowly avoiding being run over by a passing double decker bus. She was left with a two inch gash on the back of her head. Members of the public, including a moped rider and a taxi driver, intervened to help Pc Collins detain Payne. Euell and a third man, who has never been identified, then fled the scene as Pc McGinty urgently called for assistance by other officers. Kersan Euell / Met Police Both officers received hospital treatment and have only just returned to work, Kingston Crown Court heard on Monday. Pc McGinty said she was now considering whether to take early retirement from the Met in the wake of the attack due to concerns about her safety from family and friends. Pc Collins, a triathlon runner, said he still suffered health problems including a recent chest infection linked to the broken rib he suffered. Euell was arrested three days later and was found hiding under his girlfriend's bed by police. He initially denied responsibility and claimed he was at his grandmother's birthday party with more than 30 witnesses. Martin Payne / Met Police Payne claimed he had been assaulted by the officers and was acting in self-defence. Both men went on to enter guilty pleas last month. Judge Sarah Plaschkes jailed Euell for three years and six months after he admitted two counts of actual bodily harm, including the assault of PC McGinty. Payne was jailed for two years and nine months after admitting one count of actual bodily harm and driving without insurance. Stills taken from appalling footage of attacks on police officers over the weekend. In a joint statement, Ch Supt Colin Wingrove and Ch Supt Sally Benatar, said of the footage and sentences: The impact of this despicable assault has been considerable, not only on the two officers involved but on their families, friends and colleagues. P olice are hunting a suspect after paint was callously thrown across five war memorials in central London. Scotland Yard has released images of a person they believe was responsible after seeing them on CCTV wearing a ski mask on the night the statues were defaced. The first site targeted was the Bomber Command memorial in Green Park, Piccadilly, last Sunday. Other war memorials were later targeted, while a tribute to murdered police officer Yvonne Fletchers was also senselessly damaged. The five memorials were all splattered with white paint and are thought to have been hit in a malicious rampage conducted over just a few hours. The damaged memorials The Bomber Command sculpture was unveiled by the Queen in June 2012 and commemorates the 55,573 airmen who were killed during the Second World War. The Allies Statue of Franklin D Roosevelt and Winston Churchill in New Bond Street was also damaged. The Canada memorial commemorates members of the Canadian forces who were killed during the First and Second World Wars. It was unveiled by the Queen in 1994 after being built two years earlier. The Royal Marines Memorial on the Mall was designed and unveiled in 1903. It remembers members of the Royal Marines who died in the Boxer Rebellion Campaign in China and the Boer War in southern Africa and features two bronze figures on a stone plinth. The memorial for Yvonne Fletcher was built to remember her after she was shot dead aged 25 while policing a protest outside the Libyan embassy in St Jamess Square in 1984. Detective inspector Dave Watkinson, said: "I am hopeful that due to this person's odd appearance, someone may remember seeing them making their way to or from the statues. "As a result of the damage caused, the suspect would have left the scenes covered in white paint. "This wanton vandalism continues to illicit a strong response from the community. We have carried out an extensive review of local CCTV and are now satisfied that the person in the images released today is responsible for the damage. The Yvonne Fletcher memorial statue / Met Police The suspect has been pictured wearing a hat, jeans, a dark-coloured jacket and was seen carrying an orange plastic bag. Police also believe they would have been splattered with paint themselves after the acts. It is thought the suspect commenced their acts of criminal damage at the Bomber Command memorial before heading along the Mall towards Trafalgar Square. The defaced Bomber Command memorial / Jeremy Selwyn After that, they would have passed Canada House in the direction of St James's Square, before ending on Jermyn Street. White paint was also found across a shop window on Old Bond Street and at this stage in the investigation all the incidents are being treated as linked. DI Watkinson added: While it is not possible to identify the person's face, someone may recognise their clothing. Anyone with any information is asked to contact the Mets incident room on 020 7321 8210 where they can speak to a detective from Central West CID. T he father of a young woman who died in a speedboat crash on the Thames today called for her fugitive killer to be brought back to the UK to face up to what hes done. Jack Shepherd went on the run before a trial in London last year in which he was convicted of the manslaughter of 24-year-old Charlotte Brown. He handed himself into police in the Georgian capital Tblisi yesterday after 10 months in hiding. But it later emerged he is likely to fight extradition from the former Soviet republic. Ms Browns father Graham Brown told BBCs Victoria Derbyshire Show he would attend Shepherds court hearings to make sure he faces justice. The family of Charlotte Brown, father Graham Brown (left) sister Katie (2nd left) and mother Roz Wickens (right) / PA "I think he's shown himself, from what I've seen of him, to be a very arrogant, immature man who needs to face up to what he's done, he said. "Let's not forget this is about our daughter, who can't be here, who's had her life robbed of her because of this man. She would still be alive if it wasn't for Jack Shepherd. "Everyone who knew Charlotte knew what a wonderful, caring, loving person she was, which is the polar opposite to what Shepherd has displayed." In an interview on local television, the 31-year-old web designer looked relaxed, smiling as he protested his innocence and describing the crash as a tragic accident. Ms Browns sister Katie today said the killer had shown unbelievable arrogance and had given himself up for purely selfish reasons. While the family were relieved to see Shepherd in custody, Ms Brown said they felt shocked to see him just stroll into the police station, smiling and waving. She told BBC Breakfast: Whilst hes been off in Georgia, he claims that he went to see friends and he has always wanted to see the scenery there - almost like he was claiming it was a holiday. He is not thinking about Charli, us, respect for the legal system, all he is thinking about is himself and his feelings. There has been no empathy, no remorse for his reckless actions that caused the loss of my sisters life. Jack Shepherd is led away in handcuffs by Georgian police / Daily Mail Ms Brown, of Clacton, Essex, died as the speedboat Shepherd bought to pull women flipped during their champagne-fuelled Tinder date in December 2015. He fled the UK last March, and four months later was convicted of manslaughter in his absence and sentenced to six years in jail. Web designer Shepherd, 31, told news channel Rustavi 2 he fled the UK as he felt at risk from Ms Browns father Graham, whom he claimed had undue leverage in getting him prosecuted. In his interview, Shepherd said the police had originally rightly treated the 2015 crash as an accident, but after significant pressure by her father, the police decided to prosecute me for manslaughter. The speedboat owned by Jack Shepherd who was found guilty of killing his date, Charlotte Brown / PA I feel at risk from him and his power and thats the reason I ran away, he claimed. I hope justice will prevail and my appeal will be successful so everyone can move forward with their lives. But Ms Brown poured scorn on the claims, saying: Someone whos run away from this doesnt scream an innocent mans actions to me. He father, Mr Brown, 55, told Good Morning Britain: He didnt attend his trial, which I find bizarre. He would have every opportunity to defend himself and speak. We were not given the opportunity to see him on his trial and hear his version of what happened. His version of what happened wasnt tested. Irrespective of that, the jury found him guilty and the judge gave him a six-year sentence. Im confused as to why he thinks hes not safe. He said his daughters death had had a profound impact on the family, adding: Its had such a life changing impact on everybody. Shepherds lawyer, Tariel Kakabadze, said his client was extremely sad about Ms Browns death but said the fugitive believed he was innocent. He said many peoples opinions about the case are not based on facts and it was wrong that he was being criticised for protecting himself. E fforts to "swiftly" extradite speedboat killer Jack Shepherd are under way after he handed himself in to police in Georgia. The Brit, 31, surrendered in the nations capital of Tbilisi, after months spend as a fugitive, on Wednesday. His arrest came six months after he was convicted of killing Charlotte Brown, 24, during a speedboat crash on the Thames in December 2015. The Crown Prosecution Service last night said it was preparing an extradition request to be lodged with Georgian legal authorities. Speedboat killer: Jack Shepherd / AP Ms Brown's family said they were overwhelmed with emotion after it emerged Shepherd had surrendered. Her father said it was time for him to "atone" for his actions. Home Secretary Sajid Javid said it is "vital Charlotte Brown's family see justice done" and UK law enforcement will "seek to swiftly extradite him to Britain". Scotland Yard, the force leading the investigation, said officers had been updated by the National Crime Agency on the development and were awaiting confirmation of Shepherd's identity. Charlotte Brown who was killed in a speedboat crash on the River Thames whilst on a date with Jack Shepherd. / Metropolitan Police/PA Wire The Metropolitan Police added that once identity was secured extradition proceedings "will begin immediately" against Shepherd, originally from Exeter, who was the subject of an international arrest warrant. Under Georgian law, prosecutors are required to apply for restriction measures for a person wanted in another country within 48 hours of them being arrested. Shepherd's lawyer, Tariel Kakabadze, said he may go before a court in Tbilisi on Thursday or Friday, but suggested it may be "some time" before he returns to the UK. "Extradition doesn't happen in one or two days. All the documents will need to be translated, many things will need to be made ready," he said. Jack Shepherd handing himself into the police in Georgia / Rustavi 2 "Depending on what evidence they show us... it might be very soon or it might be several months." Ms Brown's family had reiterated their calls for the 31-year-old to hand himself in after he fled justice ahead of his trial at the Old Bailey. On Wednesday Shepherd smiled as he walked into the station some 2,000 miles away while flanked by lawyers. He vowed to local reporters he would clear his name over the "tragic accident". Ms Brown's father, Graham Brown, celebrated the "overwhelming" development, writing on Facebook: "Justice for Charlotte is close! Father of Charlotte Brown, Graham / Getty Images "My opinions towards Jack Shepherd is that he's a very crass, reckless man, who managed to abscond and stick two fingers up at the judiciary," Mr Brown told BBC Radio 5 Live. "He's got to come back to atone for all that and I think that he's done the right thing and thank goodness he's realised that now and handed himself in." Ms Brown, from Clacton-on-Sea, Essex, died when Shepherd's boat flipped into the wintry waters of the Thames after they shared a Champagne-fuelled first date The family of Ms Brown, known as Charli, ramped up pressure in recent weeks and renewed their calls for Shepherd to surrender after they met with Home Secretary Sajid Javid on Tuesday. A day later Shepherd - wearing a long coat, jeans and a checked scarf - waved and smiled as he walked into the station from a black car, footage on Georgian television station Rustavi2 showed. Speaking to journalists, he said: "Yes, my name is Jack Shepherd. I was involved in a tragic accident... in which a lady called Charlotte Brown tragically died." K nife crime in London remains at near record levels with more than 40 blade offences committed every day, official figures revealed today. The Office for National Statistics said a total of 14,847 knife offences was recorded in the capital during the 12 months to the end of September last year. The tally - which included 83 knife killings and 161 rapes or sexual assaults carried out with a blade - is 140 fewer than the all-time high of 14,987 registered in the previous rolling annual statistics released three months ago. But it is still one of the largest 12 month totals ever in the capital. It also amounts to an increase of more than 50 per cent since 2015. Todays statistics highlight the challenge faced by the Met as it strives to reduce knife crime through a concerted campaign which has involved the increased use of stop and search, weapons sweeps and other tactics designed to deter and catch those carrying blades. There were 83 knife killings in London last year / PA They came as national figures painted a similarly bleak picture with knife offending across England and Wales rising to its highest total since 2011 with an 8 per cent increase in such crimes recorded during the year to the end of September. The nationwide statistics - which are significantly influenced by trends in London - also show a 15 per cent rise in admissions to hospital with knife injuries, a 14 per cent increase in homicides, and a 17 per cent leap in the number of robberies. The figures for the capital will, however, add to concerns about the extent of street violence, often fuelled by the drug trade and gang conflict, and the deaths and injuries that are occurring as a result. They show that on overall knife offending, todays 12 month total of 14,847 knife crimes is 8 per cent up on the equivalent total a year earlier and far higher than many of the annual total recorded by the Office for National Statistics over the past decade. Figure released by the statisticians show, for example, that in the year to the end of March 2015 a comparatively low total of 9,684 offences was recorded. The tally for the following 12 months was also below 10,000, while the only previous occasion before this year that the year total topped 14,000 was in 2012. Police at the scene where a boy of 14 was stabbed to death in Waltham Forest / Nigel Howard Meanwhile, on knife killings, todays figures show that the latest total of 83 is virtually identical to the 82 a year earlier, but significantly down on the 110 recorded in the year to the end of March 2018. It is, however, much higher than the knife homicide totals for much of the previous decade, with most years showing totals between 50 and 60 such killings. In response, Mayor Sadiq Khan said that the causes of violent crime were extremely complex and deep-seated and fuelled by problems such as poverty, inequality, social alienation and a lack of opportunities for young people which had been worsened by government funding cuts. F rom naff cards to ostentatious flower bouquets - Valentine's Day may be cheesy, but there's no doubting people love it. Valentine's Day may be something that Chaucer made up nearly 700 years ago, but even today it's still heralded as the most romantic day of the year. But what is Valentine's Day, and why do we celebrate it? Here's all you need to know. Everyone loves Valentine's Day / Shutterstock / Javier Brosch Where did Valentines Day come from and who was Saint Valentine? As with any long-standing tradition, the origin of Valentine's Day is particularly murky. But it is possible to trace the day's origins to the Roman festival of Lupercalia, a spring festival which fell on February 15. When Christianity was introduced, the Roman holiday moved to February 14 to coincide with a feast day in which Christians commemorated a number of early saints called Valentine. Popular belief has it that one of these martyrs, Saint Valentine of Rome, was priest who defied an order from emperor Claudius in the third century AD by arranging secret marriages for soldiers forbidden to marry. For that, Valentine was condemned to death and thrown in jail, but not before he performed a miracle by restoring sight to his jailor's blind daughter, to whom he later left a note signed "Your Valentine". But it wasn't until the 14th century that Valentine's Day came to be associated with romantic love, when Geoffrey Chaucer honoured the engagement of King Richard II to Anne of Bohemia with a poem which quickly caught the public's imagination. What are typical Valentines Day traditions in the UK? Roses are a traditional gift for Valentine's Day / PA Archive/PA Images Cards, flowers, chocolates, romantic mini-breaks, meals for two - you name it, anything even vaguely romantic will be looked upon fondly on February 14. In fact, any romantic stereotype you can think of is popular on Valentine's Day - think teddy bears with saccharine love messages or anything heart-shaped. The most romantic films of all time 1 /11 The most romantic films of all time When Harry Met Sally When Harry Met Sally has been winning over new generations of fans ever since being released back in 1989, and its appeal is still irresistible nearly thirty years on. Meg Ryan and Billy Crystal have unmistakable chemistry, and the film is rightly regarded as one of the greatest romcoms of all time. And whatever you do, have what she's having. Allstar/Cinetext/COLUMBIA Carol Critically-lauded romantic drama Carol stars Cate Blanchett and Rooney Mara as two women who conduct a forbidden love affair in 1950s New York. Beautifully and beguiling adapted from Patricia Highsmith romance novel, it was even once voted the best LGBTQ+ film of all time at the BFI Flare festival. Notting Hill 1999s Notting Hill is one of the classic British romcoms: Richard Curtiss screenplay is sparky and soppy in equal measure and Hugh Grant delivers one of his best performances. In it, he picks up where he left off in Four Weddings and a Funeral, all stutters and twiddling with his glasses. Julia Roberts is cast perfectly, while Emma Chambers charmed as Grant's giggling, manic sister. My Best Friend's Wedding Julia Roberts proved herself as queen of the 90s romcom with My Best Friends Wedding. The film, also starring Cameron Diazm and Michael ONeal, may have a questionable premise Roberts is trying to win over an old love, in front of his fiancee but it is a pleasingly unvarnished look at how complicated love can be. The real star, though, is Rupert Everett; his turn is worth a watch alone. Romeo & Juliet Leonardo DiCaprio and Claire Danes play the titular star-crossed lovers in Baz Luhrmanns stunning Shakespear adaptation. Its an unforgettable tale, and even if the ending isnt exactly cheery, its story of young love is as powerful and enduring as ever. 13 Going On 30 Jennifer Garner delivers a bright performance alongside a pre-Hulk Mark Ruffalo in this 2004 favourite. It's a classic body-swap comedy setup, with the pair playing childhood sweethearts who reconnect after Garners character is transported into the body of a 30-year-old woman. Its fun, sweet and a little silly just the thing if you're getting tipsy on the fizz. Titanic If in doubt, stick with DiCaprio. Even for those who've seen Titanic over and over, the touching romance between Kate Winslet's Rose and DiCaprio's Jack is always worth revisiting their scene together dancing to the Irish jigs fizzles as they dance grasping hands, eyes locked, lost in each other. The raft is a problem, though. Me Before You Emilia Clarke and Sam Claflin star together in this touching film, which explores the central relationship between a carer and a man left paralysed by a motorcycle accident. Its a moving watch, in which the pair learn to enjoy life and find love in difficult circumstances. Brooklyn Saoirse Ronan plays a young Irish woman who finds love after moving to New York in this romantic drama from 2015. After her strict mother puts pressure on her to return to Ireland and settle down, she must make a choice between what is expected of her and what her heart longs for. Dirty Dancing The late, great Patrick Swayze stars as charismatic dance instructor Johnny Castle in the unforgettable Dirty Dancing. Jennifer Grey also delivers a top performance as 17-year-old dancer Baby, who falls head over heels against all the odds in this 1987 classic. Tipsily trying the famous lift is probably best avoided. The Notebook Get the tissues out for this one. Ryan Gosling and Rachel McAdams The Notebook is a weepy but uplifting romcom, which has been one of the go-to romantic films for couples everywhere since its release in 2004. The film is hardly subtle when it tugs at viewers heartstrings, but it remains one of the most epic cinematic love stories of recent times. Valentine's Day cards have traditionally always been sent anonymously while trips to Paris to celebrate in the city of love are always popular. B urns night is held each year on January 25 to celebrate the life of poet Robert Burns and Haggis is traditionally served as the main meal. The national dish of Scotland is generally composed of the liver, heart and lungs of a sheep, minced with mutton or sheep suet and combined with onion, spices and oatmeal all encased and boiled in a sheeps stomach. Not exactly the most appetising meal but a Scottish delicacy nonetheless. Now, vegans can have the option to indulge in haggis too of the plant-based variety. Tesco have just launched a vegan haggis by Edinburgh-based company Macsween that replaces traditional haggis fillings with nuts, oats, beans and vegetables. According to Macsween, Tesco isnt the only supermarket where the vegan version is available, as it is also stocked in Waitrose, Sainsburys, Morrisons and Co-op. Food. Bars. Going out. Delivered weekly Email Sign up Sign up I would like to be emailed about offers, event and updates from Evening Standard. Read our privacy notice {{message}} {{permutiveUid}} {{message}} Of course, not everyone is happy about the meat-free edition. Douglas Scott, chief executive at the Scottish Federation of Meat Traders told the Telegraph that the vegan haggis would make Burns scoff. Scott continued: "Robert Burns enjoyed haggis so much that he stood up and competed an address to it. If you listen to this, he gives the impression that its going to give you power and strength. That is not the impression you get from the vegan haggis. Macsweenhaggis/Instagram However, Tesco Scottish food buyer told the publication that the demand for the vegan haggis was unprecedented and not just for Burns night but year-round. Where to visit: Teeny-tiny riverside capital Santo Antonio has a faded charm, with peely-paint mint and pink facades of colonial buildings and a busy church (about the only place youll see anything approaching a crowd). Combine a stroll at Praia Abade, a sleepy village where fishermen unload the days catch from wooden canoes, with a trip to Porto Real where eco-entrepreneur Bella Prina upcycles bottles into striking jewellery. For serious Indiana Jones vibes visit the overgrown ruins of abandoned church Ribeira Ize. If you can, time your visit in February to coincide with Carnival, when locals parade in the streets and a jubilant party vibe takes over. Pretty local houses What to see: The entire island is a Unesco reserve and scenery is land-that-time-forgot sensational. Think rainforest filled with African grey parrots, colossal, vine-draped trees and other-worldly rock towers. Trek through the wilderness (hotels can arrange guides, which you will need trails are deserted and you may not see another soul as only 6,000 people live here) to bask in the shadow of Pico do papagaio, a 700m peak. This parrot is known as the 'Papa Gaio do Principe'. It is an African Grey / Getty Images/AWL Images RM Where to stay: Millionaire techpreneur Mark Shuttleworth has pioneered sustainable tourism here, and his two latest openings are the places to seek out. Sundy Praia has 15 luxe tents (with African-inspired interiors, deep stone bathtubs and four-poster beds) sandwiched between honey-coloured sands and dense rainforest. Theres a dinky spa, a bar serving mean ylang ylang Martinis and ocean-to-table food at the restaurant. Nearby, Roca Sundy, a restored plantation house, is more low-key but just as stylish. Sundy Praria Hotel / Geraldine Bruneel Where to day trip: Principe is a turtle mecca; from November to March four species (ridley, leatherback, hawksbill and green) arrive on the sandy beaches to lay eggs. Join local conservationists on moonlit strolls on Praia Grande to spot turtles laying and hatchlings whooshing their way to shore. For sunbasking, pack a picnic and visit pretty Praia Boi, or for an adrenaline hit, scuba dive with schooling barracuda and, if youre lucky, nurse sharks. Shore dives from Praia da Banana are good for beginners. Getting there: I ts the debate dividing London no, not Brexit, but Tidying Up with Marie Kondo on Netflix. Half of us are instagramming pictures of neatly folded T-shirts and eulogising the Japanese decluttering guru for changing our lives. The rest are decrying her suggestion that we chuck out our books, with one tweeter imagining a future world in which Kondo condemns a man to death because he does not spark joy. Passions run high. Katherine Ormerod, founder of the Work Work Work platform, says that everything is calm and serene since she Kondo-ed her crowded flat. Im sure Kondos current popularity owes something to the time-honoured tradition of people tidying during a crisis, says FT fashion editor Jo Ellison. In a world of total political chaos the benign pleasure of tidying up ones sock drawer has a kind of therapeutic appeal. Kondo herself says: Its a great thing that theres a passionate debate between people who are for and against letting go of things because it allows us to learn more about ourselves. Below, a minimalist and a maximalist put their cases, pro- and con-Kondo. No Kondont! says self-confessed hoarder, Philippa Perry Philippa Perry Marie Kondo is a bundle of joy because she only has in her life things that bring her joy. Joy and gratitude. She likes to kneel in a house before a tidy-up and thank the house, or bless it (Im not sure which: I was watching her on Netflix and looked away for a second and missed the subtitle). There is only one way to fold a T-shirt, apparently, and thats in a little square so it looks like a book. Talking of books, she has written four. All about tidying up. Four books about tidying up, and shes about decluttering? Im being sarcastic, which is unforgiveable because I think Marie seems kind and I think if you were to declutter, store your T-shirts like books and only have things in your home that brought you joy, you certainly wouldnt feel any worse than you did when you started. I really think she is on to something with her philosophy dont look for things to throw out, look for things to keep. Things that bring you joy. The trouble is, when you are depressed, nothing much at all brings you joy, so you would throw out the sofa, the bed, the kitchen chairs, your partner, the children and have nowhere to sit and no one to blame. But why are we addicted to shopping and gathering stuff in the first place? Shouldnt we focus on why we have so many T-shirts? Why we find ourselves buying more and more stuff online in the middle of the night, rather than wondering which would give us joy if we were to fold them to look like books? If you never confront your mess, never tidy up, it could be a metaphor for avoiding more than the tidying. It might be indicative of you not facing up to your problems in general. But the same could be said for obsessive tidying. If you spend 45 minutes on achieving symmetry in your sock drawer, I might guess that tidying is also a way of avoiding your more painful issues. Rather than make your T-shirts look like books, which is a tad obsessive, or living in complete mess, there is a middle way. A way in which you are neither too rule-bound nor too chaotic and have an ordinary relationship with your environment. This is not unlike the relationships we have with food. If we eat too much or not enough it is usually indicative of a more buried problem and sorting out the food habit is much easier once youve addressed the main issue, whatever it may be. Hint: itll be something in your youth or childhood. Yes, that quote comes from The Sound of Music. And no, I am not throwing that video out because it brings me joy. And no, I do not have a video player that works any more. I have two that dont work. Maybe one day Ill amalgamate them into one video player that does work. In the meantime, they are bringing me joy. Useless stuff sometimes does cheer me up. Even too much stuff can sometimes do that. If I visit an ultra-minimalist flat it can feel too sterile for me. Someone will probably start a Joy of Stuff Craze. Oh, they already have. I think its called capitalism. Marie Kondo is on the side of good, I know she is, I just dont want to face up to whatever it is that two defunct video players are saving me from. Yes Kondo! says joyful minimalist, Pip McCormac Pip McCormac Recent history has proved the seductive power in the promise of taking back control. Which, despite the lukewarm reviews of her new Netflix show, Tidying Up with Marie Kondo, is just what the titular titan of tidying wants for us all. Kondo, the Japanese organising consultant, a harmless housekeeper who has sold six million books detailing how to fold your pants correctly, is here to help you take back control only but joyfully of your life. She is a modern-day Mary Poppins, appearing when we need her most, when our very beings are at capacity, overflowing with impulse Asos bumbags and unidentified equipage found in the under-2 bit of Ikea. She is here to instate order where there is none, to help us glide as gracefully as she always does into our futures, jumble-free. And yet she has attracted opprobrium. The criticisms are as varied as the singular socks that reside in a still un-Kondoed drawer. From how shes encouraging us to add to landfills (one couple on her show found 150 bin bags worth of crap in their cupboards that didnt spark enough joy to warrant keeping), to how she ought to tell people to buy less stuff to start with. And then dissenters took umbrage at her suggestion that books can be thrown away because, they argue, literature is sacred and should be treasured above all else, implying they still own and enjoy their GCSE geography textbooks and the half-read copy of Fifty Shades from 2012. I interviewed Kondo on stage, via an interpreter, in front of a packed auditorium in London three years ago. I heard 300 astonished gasps of delight when a T-shirt Kondo had folded was able to stand up by itself. Her message, of course, is almost embarrassingly simple: audit your stuff, keep only what you like and/or is genuinely useful, then be neater with the bits that remain. But her delivery, even in another language, is more inspiring than an instaquote written in Blingtastic Script. In person, she radiates an unquantifiable energy, a light you can feel rather than see, like she has a permanent cartoon bulb above her head emitting a megawatt beam and the promise of salvation from merely having a good sort-out. O f the 140,000 or so Jews living in the Netherlands at the beginning of 1940, some 104,000 would be killed by May 1945, most in the extermination camps of Auschwitz and Sobibor. Jews were registered in Nazi censuses by ethnicity and faith. The round-up was helped by the willing collaboration of much of the Dutch police force a bounty of seven-and-a-half guilders was paid for the identification of a Jew. Some 30,000, mostly children the numbers are tricky to verify were taken in by non-Jews, hidden, or declared to be members of their own family. In 1940 Hesseline Lien de Jong was sent by her Jewish parents from their home in The Hague to a family of radicals, the Van Eses. She never saw her parents again. Moving between several families, usually hiding in plain sight of the Nazis, she survived. Later she married, had three children of her own, separated, and now lives in Amsterdam. Four-and-a-half years ago Bart van Es, the grandson of the anti-fascist radicals who had first taken her in, got in touch with Lien, who had been estranged from the family. The result is this painstaking reconstruction of her life and experience, and a critical history of the society into which she was born. It is an astonishing co-production between subject and author, now professor of English at St Catherines College Oxford, and has been recognised with the award of the 2018 Costa Prize for Biography. It is a story of benevolence and betrayal and an extraordinary portrait of the refined hypocrisy that still informs so much Dutch politics. The churches and factions bicker, preach high morals and advanced standards. Many of the Jewish survivors of the war were held in camps alongside collaborators who had tormented them. Liens father Charles was murdered in Auschwitz on February 6, 1943, the same day that my wife Marianne Ockinga was born in occupied Baarn in the house of her grandmother, with whom she survived the hunger winter of 1944. Soon after, her father became a fugitive to avoid slave labour in Germany. J oanna Palani is a walking, talking, shooting, sniping, sabotaging contradiction. Shes a fervent revolutionary anti-capitalist socialist who gets a job in Burger King to make ends meet. Passionately dedicated to the Kurdish cause, she wafts in and out of the Middle Easts warzones at will, one minute showing her mettle as a sniper killing the bearded fanatics of Islamic State (here called Isis), the next hopping onto a flight back home to Copenhagen yet refusing to see herself, or be treated as, an international volunteer. A magnet for trouble whichever way she turns, she courts the media with a series of high-profile interviews then rails against all the negative publicity and social media trolling. In short, shes too Kurdish for the Danes, too Danish for the Kurds. And yet for all the contradictions, there is something rather magnificent about this 25-year-old, one-woman killing machine with a $1 million bounty on her head. First of all, ever since hightailing it to fight IS terrorists in Syria once the Arab Spring erupted in 2011, she has dedicated much of her youth to combating one of the most contemptible ideologies in the world and paid a high personal price. The other admirable thing about her is that she is a woman unafraid of doing what she wants when she wants and taking on anyone who gets in her way in what is a very male world. The worst place in the world to be a woman is the Middle East, she writes. Who would argue with that? Born to Iranian-Kurdish parents in Iraq, Palani moved to Denmark at the age of three and struggled to fit in from the start. She writes bitterly about the abuse suffered at the hands of her brothers and father, the kind of man who tells his daughters: All of you will have white sheets on your wedding night, do you hear me? Her father has fixed views on womens proper role in society stay at home and make yourself useful in the kitchen and bedroom while allowing himself to have sex on the side. Everyone in the family, including her mother, is obsessed about the shame the increasingly outspoken Palani may bring to the family but only the young woman is sufficiently clear-sighted to conclude that it is the bullying men in the family, not the women, whose behaviour is utterly shameful. To her credit, Palani is having none of all this. After being knocked about and abused at home she cuts short her education in Denmark, makes her way to the Kurdish mountains and embarks on military training before throwing herself wholeheartedly into the seige of Kobani in northern Syria with the all-female YPJ battalion in 2014. Later, after more scrapes, arguments and tantrums, she fights with the Iraqi Kurdish peshmerga, where she distinguishes herself as a sniper in front of a television documentary crew. In Kobani and later in nearby Manbij she experiences the intoxicating thrill of life on the front line. Food is so scarce she is reduced to eating insects. Friends and comrades have their faces shot off in front of her. Death and IS stalk her every move. Brave as you like, she joins the sabotage unit and defuses murderous IS explosives. Like every soldier since the birth of time, she finds camaraderie in battle and then misses it when its gone. Far from returning to Denmark a heroine in 2016, she is instead prosecuted by the Danish authorities under the same legislation intended to deal with returning jihadists. The irony is not lost on her. H enry is an actor, good-looking, successful and pretty famous, having just come to the end of playing a big role, Dr McAlister, in a six-year Sunday evening television series called The Grange (think Downton Abbey). Now hes hoping to land the lead in a new movie, The Beauty Part, directed by Miguel Garcia, one of the few film-makers out there everybody called a genius, a Werner Herzog, a Paul Thomas Anderson, a Scorsese. From there, hell move on to playing Hamlet at the Barbican and even perhaps be cast as a superhero, and so made for life. Henrys in the Tom Hiddleston, Michael Fassbender, Andrew Garfield zone, in this novel drawing closely on contemporary specifics. Henry is also a void: He had no steady estimation of himself. He is desperate for the continuous validation of celebrity, although he rejects the word. Thats why he wants to be translated into movie stardom, this undeniable, immortal thing, that radiance. On his own, he is nothing. He felt like a hallucination, a collective delusion... the dream of other people. Henry exists at one extreme of our current obsession with fame and looks, the power of the image, the craziness of believing we have some connection with celebrities. If fame had taught him anything it was that everybody was mad in that way, in the dark privacy of their thoughts. Fame pulled it out of them like magnets, the weird personal connections, the destinies... Kristin, a wealthy, lonely divorcee in Philadelphia, exists at the other. Having momentarily bumped into Henry at an airport, she believes they have a timeless connection and are fated to be together. A pure white circle of heat now sat in the centre of her heart and flowed out, containing everything. A total sympathy. An end to questions. She writes to him incessantly. Then she comes to London to make it happen. As Henrys on-off model girlfriend scoffs on seeing her, its a full-on stalker situation. Dream Sequence, incisively well-written and alluringly readable is, among other things, a really good London novel. Adam Foulds whose previous work includes The Quickening Maze, about the poet John Clares incarceration in an Epping Forest asylum in the 1840s, and In the Wolfs Mouth, set in North Africa and Sicily during the Second World War is acutely sensitive to shifting environments, conveying them brilliantly with few words. This prose is truly poetic, being concise, not impasto. Capturing London: Adam Foulds / Corbis via Getty Images Henry has bought himself a flat in Docklands, liking its sense of separation, the way it is anonymous, modular, global, financial, unlike the rest of London. The river calls to him. Standing on his balcony, he could relax into a primitive animal alertness... Kristins negotiations with London as first-time visitor are no less sensuously related as is Henrys trip to a film festival in Doha. Eastern Electrics (August 3-4) A stacked line-up of DJs, ranging from the selectors who have been doing this for decades to those who are on course to be the next big things. David Rodigan was among the star names in 2018. Getty Images for STUDIOCANAL J anuary may seem like a 31-day long stretch of misery, but for one day of the month, there's a reason to celebrate. This year, Burns Night falls on January 25, and for those of us who don't know (or don't know anyone who's Scottish), it's a night for eating, drinking and celebrating. And there is no shortage of activities you can participate in to mark the evening and commemorate Robert Burns with the citys restaurants and boozers offering a chance for everyone to soak up some Scottish culture. Who was Robert Burns? Burns was an 18th century Scottish poet and part of the Romantics literary movement. He is widely regarded as the countrys national poet. Burns works were written in both Scots and English, which meant more people could read and understand his writing. Perhaps Burns most well-known work is Auld Lang Syne which is now put to music and traditionally sung on New Years Eve. How do people celebrate Burns Night? Usually, people tend to sit down for a home-cooked haggis dinner washed down by a glass of whisky. Traditionally, guests will stand as the haggis is brought to the table before the Address to a Haggis is read out (a Robert Burns poem). The haggis dinner tends to be accompanied by tatties and neeps (potatoes and swede). The first ever Burns Night celebration was held on July 21, 1801, five years after Robert Burns death. Since then, the tradition has been upheld around the date of Burns birthday. Where can I eat haggis in London this Burns Night? To get your haggis fix this Burns Night or any other night, if the feeling takes you there are plenty of restaurants and bars in London you can visit. Weve even picked out a few of the best dishes for you: Mini roast Dumfriesshire Blackface Haggis at Boisdale Boisdale This traditional Burns Night dish, complete with neeps and tatties, comes with a 25ml noggin of Robert Burns Arran malt whisky. Order it at Boisdale (Canary Wharf, Belgravia, Bishopsgate, Mayfair) Macbeth haggis toasties, Deeneys Deeney's If the traditional haggis dinner is a bit much for you, the selection of toasties at Deeneys has plenty of choice. The standard Macbeth toasty combines a mouth-watering combination of hot haggis, oozing cheddar, caramelised onion, mustard and rocket into one sandwich, while the Lady Macbeth offers a vegetarian haggis option. The Hamish Macbeth adds a helping of smoked bacon to the mix. You can find Deeney's at 330 and 360 Leyton High Road, Crouch end, and Broadway Market on Saturdays Haggis arancini Irvin Bar Grill (Crouch End) Irvin Bar Grill Another twist on the traditional Scottish delicacies Irvin Bar Grill combines Italian influence to create its arancini balls stuffed with haggis and Arborio rice, which are oozing with mozzarella. I f you want to understand what really motivates the Labour Party on Brexit, the best place to start is in 1974. Jim Callaghan, the newly appointed Foreign Secretary, arrived at his department and was introduced to Michael Butler, who, as the Foreign Offices top Europe man, would have the difficult task of helping the Labour Government win a vote for Remain in its promised referendum on whether to stay in the European Economic Community. They tell me, Callaghan said, that you really care about Europe. Well, thats all right, as long as you remember that I really care about the Labour Party. And that, essentially, is still the story of Labour Party politics. Thats easy to forget because the Labour MPs who are the loudest and most assertive are, on the whole, MPs who do genuinely care about the European Union and the United Kingdoms place in it. There are the seven Labour MPs who publicly backed Brexit in 2016 and would do so again: three of them (Ronnie Campbell, Kelvin Hopkins and Dennis Skinner) are long-term allies of Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, and they suspect that, secretly, his devotion to old-school Euroscepticism has never wavered. Then there are the 80 Labour MPs who are willing to call publicly for a fresh referendum on the United Kingdoms membership of the European Union. Both groups are willing to risk their own political careers to advance their preferred outcome to the Brexit crisis. As a result, people often assume that the silent majority of the Parliamentary Labour Party is similarly split, but the reality is more complex. It is true that there are a large number of Labour MPs who have to keep their pro-European feelings under wraps to stay on the front bench including, ironically enough, many of the partys whips, who are tasked with keeping a divided parliamentary party in line. Stephen Bush is political editor of the New Statesman / Andrew Crowley But even if you add the silent supporters of a Peoples Vote to the ones who are out and proud, you will still struggle to win the support even of a majority of Labour MPs for a referendum rerun, let alone the near-unanimity that would be required actually to get Parliament to agree to another referendum. The problem is there are at least 100 Labour MPs who dont like Brexit but dont want to stop it, because they fear what will happen to them in their own, heavily pro-Leave seats if they do. This group isnt, on the whole, that keen on Jeremy Corbyn, but they like his Brexit policy and they like even more that his popularity among party members makes it easier for them to argue against a second referendum. One Labour MP recently grumbled to me that the only people in their constituency to have voted Remain were in the bloody Labour Party, but, thanks to those same members trust in Jeremy, their own unwillingness to back another referendum has a powerful ally. These Labour MPs have one source of angst above all: the free movement of people within the European Unions single market. Their anxiety about what will happen to them if they are seen to frustrate Brexit is such that the Labour leadership isnt even certain that it can deliver enough votes to facilitate the passage of Yvette Coopers Bill to take no deal off the table, which doesnt even stop Brexit but merely delays it for a few months to get the details right. All of which means that anyone calling on Jeremy Corbyn to stop Brexit is barking up the wrong tree: the Labour leader has scarcely any more power to stop the United Kingdom leaving the European Union than you or I. "Perhaps the only position Labour MPs can agree on is simply to say that Mays deal isnt good enough" Of course, from one perspective, that suits Corbyn down to the ground: he is a lifelong Eurosceptic who has opposed every European treaty to have come before the House during his time as an MP, and his preferred resolution to the Brexit crisis is that the United Kingdom leave the EU. But the trouble for the Labour leader is that his preferred destination after Brexit is Downing Street, and he cant get there if he has disappointed Remainers by facilitating Brexit, and he cant get there if he has irritated Leavers by trying to block it or by promising to reverse it after an election either. Team Corbyn has a preferred way to do this: for the United Kingdom to negotiate a relationship like that of Norway, with a customs union added on top. John McDonnell, the shadow chancellor, and the man whose most important role day to day is preparing the ground for his leader to negotiate tricky political spots, has been meeting Labour MPs who support this outcome as has Len McCluskey, the general secretary of the Unite union and a key power player in the party. The problem is that a Norway-type relationship would also involve the continuing free movement of people. Its proponents talk up the ability to limit immigration from the EU but the reality is that these powers themselves are limited their only value is in providing Labour MPs who want to be able to facilitate a close relationship with the EU after Brexit something to say to their constituents, rather than providing a meaningful policy lever. So while a Norway-type exit might have the votes in the House of Commons, it is not certain either. So whats left for Corbyn and for Labour? The bad news for anyone wanting to prevent no deal, let alone anyone who wants no Brexit at all, is that the safest position and perhaps the only one that Labour MPs can agree on is simply to say that Mays deal isnt good enough, but never actually to agree on something in its place, so that we all go over the cliff together. Please dont listen to the Brexiteers madness, he says, staring directly into the camera. Make no mistake, there are plenty of countries out there who would love to make the wings for Airbus aircraft. When the boss of a business that was founded partly in Britain almost 50 years ago and which now employs 14,000 people here directly, as well as spending more than 5 billion a year with UK suppliers speaks like this, of course we should listen. But the thing that matters most today is not, in fact, what he says. After all, we have known the truth of it for a long time. We knew it last year when Airbus warned it might have to withdraw from Britain if its supply lines were disrupted, and the Prime Minister rushed to the Farnborough Airshow to promise all would be fine. We knew it, too, in the 2016 referendum when the company wrote to its workers, arguing that remaining in the EU made good economic sense for the UK only for that wise advice to be mocked as another example of Project Fear by those who misled voters into thinking that Brexit would not have consequences. No what matters most today is not Airbuss reminder of these blunt truths. What matters most is how politicians react to them. There are three possible responses. We can dismiss the first, from the Brexit ultras. They will claim Mr Enders doesnt know his own industry, just as Boris Johnson suggested the other day that he knows car-making better than the boss of Jaguar Land Rover. They put dreams of sovereignty before well-paid, skilled jobs building high-value exports in a growing industry where the UK leads the world. This is economic lunacy. But the other two ways in which Westminster may respond to Airbuss warning are more interesting. In normal circumstances any Prime Minister would be shocked by the horror Mr Enders sets out. But this one has become so wedded to her inflexible pursuit of her unloved exit deal that she may, perversely, welcome it as a warning about the catastrophe she tries to claim is the only alternative. She wants MPs to give in to her, rather than see the economy wrecked. But of course, a hard Brexit isnt the only alternative to her deal. There are other, and better, routes forward. This makes the third way MPs respond to the Airbus warning the most important of all. They can vote next week to take control of the process, prevent a no-deal exit in March and, as looks increasingly essential, delay Brexit until there is clarity about what comes next. We still have no idea what is really going to happen, Mr Enders says today. Hes right, unfortunately. That is why Parliament must be allowed to find out the answer. Airbus boss Tom Enders brands handling of Brexit a 'disgrace' Knife crime in London Crime figures out this morning bring good and bad news for London. The good is that the annual total of knife offences in the capital has begun to drop. The Office for National Statistics said that 14,847 knife crimes were recorded in the capital during the 12 months to the end of September last year. Thats down from the all-time high of 14,987 offences reported in June. The bad news, of course, is that this figure remains startlingly high: more than 40 offences a day, including 83 knife killings and 161 rapes or sexual assaults carried out using a blade. The Met is making a difference. But the crisis isnt over. The end arrives at 101 Diana Athills memoir Somewhere Towards the End, published when she was 90, won her deserved fame for its honesty about old age and sex. Make of it what you will to be honest. Oil in Surrey would be fab, particularly given that Brexit is just around the corner. UKOG announced yesterday (at 11:01) that at the Horse Hill Oil field (46.735% UKOG; within PEDL137) it plans on starting the drilling of two new wells in spring 2019. The first, the HH-2 well, is planned to be a horizontal well targeting the Portland sandstone oil field. The second, HH-1z, is expected to be a horizontal sidetrack well drilled from the existing HH-1 well to target the Kimmeridge Limestone horizon. UKOG is funded and permitted to drill these two wells. Based on the analysis of the companys engineering advisor, Xodus, each of the wells is expected to deliver 720-1,080 b/d of initial production. Further horizontal production and water injection wells are planned for 2020, subject to the requisite permits and consents. J es Staley today warns credit markets will seize up again as they did in 2007, but it wont be the banks fault this time. Is he right? Probably yes, on both counts. Since the financial crisis, more than a trillion dollars has rushed into the leveraged loan market, providing floating-rate loans to companies with debts five times their profits or more. In Europe, lev loans make up 60% of all corporate lending. Most are offered with very little collateral or other covenants. So, if the borrower cant repay, the lender has no protection against losses. With global economies slowing, thats a problem waiting to happen. As if all this wasnt dangerous enough, many covenant lite lev loans are being bundled into packages, then bought and sold. Theyre called collateralised loan obligations. If youre getting a feeling of deja vu, thats because subprime mortgages were treated similarly before the financial crisis. Many say a reckoning is coming. But, as Staley states, it may not be the banks who cause it. Most CLOs are owned by mutual funds like Axa and Royal London. The good news is, such funds arent backed by the promise of taxpayer bail-outs like banks are. The bad news is, when investors lose confidence in the value of lev loans, theyll pull their money out of the funds, triggering firesales of CLOs and killing lending to indebted companies. A credit seizure will come. Beware highly leveraged companies. Fingers burnt again at Gama Aviation Its brace, brace, again at private jets group Gama Aviation. The company has disappointed investors repeatedly over the years. Today, its at it again with a crushing warning that a new finance team has discovered what look like pretty major accounting failures and a $3 million shortfall against forecast profits. Investors may wonder why the beancounters whove discovered this mess werent deployed a little earlier. Before the company persuaded them to pump in 48 million for a rights issue last year, perhaps? Backers paid 245p for shares today trading at 89p. Gama is a Bermuda triangle of value destruction. How long can chief executive Marwan Khalek remain at the controls? Flybes turbulence needs clarification FlyBe finally issued a statement to the Stock Exchange following its share price surge to five times the price of the rescue takeover from the Virgin Atlantic-led consortium. Yet, beyond more detail on the mechanics of that 1p-a-share bid, there was no attempt to deal with the fact that its share price chased up to 7p yesterday. Talk of rival offers seems to be the cause. Flybe has to comment on that, and tell investors what the chances are of it coming to fruition. U pmarket tonic-water maker Fever-Trees growth looked unstoppable on Thursday, as it posted yet another sales jump. The AIM-listed drinks firm, which also makes ginger beer and lemonade, said 2018 revenues will be around 236 million. That is up 39% from the prior year and ahead of expectations. Since co-founding Fever-Tree in 2004, boss Tim Warrillow has seen his products become regularly stocked everywhere, from pubs and supermarkets, to aeroplanes and Ascot racecourse. He said today: It has been another very encouraging year. Despite some concerns that the brand could be past its peak, and the threat of new competitors, it saw UK sales leap 52%. It also toasted growth in the US, where it expanded last year thanks to a new partnership with wines and spirits distributor Southern Glazers. Warrillow said consumers increasingly want premium mixers to go with gin, vodka and whisky. The shares rose 202p to 2800p. It floated at 134p a share in 2014. F ormer Barclays chief executive John Varley personally signed a letter accepting responsibility for misleading public statements over 4 billion of investment from Qatar, a court heard on Thursday. Top executives at the banking giant are accused of agreeing to pay secret fees to the Middle Eastern state in exchange for funds which would keep the business afloat. The alleged payments were made during the 2008 financial crisis, when Barclays was under extreme pressure to find investment to avoid a government bailout. Prosecutor Ed Brown QC told Southwark crown court Varley had signed a letter accepting responsibility for the banks public prospectuses, which he alleged failed to declare 322 million paid to the Qataris. There are no material facts or considerations omitted from the prospectus which to my knowledge would make any statement in the prospectus misleading, the letter said. I accept responsibility for the information contained in the prospectus and confirm that to the best of my knowledge, having taken all reasonable care to ensure that such is the case, the information contained in it is in accordance with the facts and does not omit anything likely to affect the import of such information. Brown told jurors the prospectus contained false representations, that is, untrue or misleading statements to conceal the amount of money paid to Qatar. Jurors have heard some of the money paid by Barclays went to a company controlled by Qatar prime minister Sheikh Hamed. Brown said Barclays claimed money to Sheikh Hamed was for advisory services, but he would and could not on any footing be providing advisory services, as the conspirators recognised at the time. It would be inappropriate for the prime minister of Qatar to be doing so. Varley and Barclays executives Roger Jenkins, Thomas Kalaris and Richard Boath are accused of fraud over the alleged secret payments. They all deny conspiracy to commit fraud by false representation. Varley and Jenkins deny a second charge of fraud. The proceedings came as Barclays current chief executive Jes Staley said the firm was putting past scandals behind it but added: Weve got to regain credibility, I have no doubt about that. Staley also warned of a new potential seize-up in credit markets, saying it was more than likely there will be another financial crisis due to the rise of high risk covenant-lite loans to business. You could bathe like a goddess at your own private villa in Cyprus by bidding in our final charity appeal auction. One of the lots up for grabs is a three-bedroom residence which sleeps up to six people, with a pool, at the Aphrodite Hills Resort. Other exclusive experiences are on offer among the 13 lots in the auction which ends at 10pm on Wednesday, January 30. All proceeds go to our AIDSfree appeal which, in conjunction with the Elton John AIDS Foundation, aims to get those with HIV on treatment, and eventually create an Aids-free future. The following are recent arrests released by the Stamford Police Department on Jan. 23, 2019. Jan. 22, 2019 A 19-year-old East Haven resident was charged with theft of a firearm, illegal possession of a weapon in a motor vehicle, illegal carrying of a pistol without a permit, risk of injury to a child, conspiracy at weapons in a motor vehicle and conspiracy at risk of injury. A 30-year-old Derby resident was charged with carrying and brandishing of facsimile firearms, possession of hallucinogens, sale of certain illegal drugs and illegal possession of a weapon in a motor vehicle. A 19-year-old Houston Terrace resident was charged with third-degree assault, second-degree breach of peace, and second-degree threatening. A 27-year-old Brooklyn, N.Y. resident was charged with second-degree forgery, two counts of third-degree identity theft, and two counts of attempt to commit a crime. A 21-year-old New Haven resident was charged with violation of probation, two count soft illegal possession of a weapon in a motor vehicle, criminal possession of a pistol or revolver, criminal possession of ammunition, risk of injury to a child, possession of narcotics, conspiracy at weapons in a motor vehicle, conspiracy at possession of a firearm, conspiracy at risk of injury, and conspiracy at possession of ammunition. A 49-year-old Bridgeport resident was charged with illegal operation of a motor vehicle under the influence of alcohol or drugs. A 22-year-old New Haven resident was charged with risk of injury to a child, conspiracy at risk of injury, conspiracy at weapons in a motor vehicle, conspiracy at possession of a firearm, and conspiracy at possession of ammunition. A 25-year-old Ursula Place resident was charged with violation of a protective order. A 25-year-old New Haven resident was charged with illegal operation of a motor vehicle under suspension and transporting a child without a restraint. A 29-year-old Greenwich resident was charged with sixth-degree larceny. As of January 2019, Hearst Connecticut Media does not include names in online police blotters. These days, women are as likely to vape marijuana as sip merlot. Depends on where you are, of course. But if its California, Colorado, Washington or any of the other states where marijuana is legal for adult use, its a thing. Rabobank, one of Europes biggest banks, released a study last year showing that the No. 1 reason legal marijuana could hurt wine sales is because women prefer cannabis to alcohol. About 34 percent said they expect to increase marijuana use under legalization. The Pew Research Center poll on opinions about marijuana found 56 percent of women support legalization. Thats less than men (68 percent), but women clearly make up a large segment of the pro-legalization wave sweeping the country. Its the same way in the marijuana industry itself. Women already have a bigger presence there than they do in many other industries. But they are vying for more. C.E. Hutton, a consulting firm that works with minority entrepreneurs in the cannabis industry, wrote that the cannabis industry is proving to be a welcoming environment for female entrepreneurs; at the very least, more so than many other industries. Related: CBS Won't Air What Would Have Been the First-Ever Super Bowl PSA for Cannabis Women in the cannabis industry. The number of female executives in cannabis stands at 27 percent, higher than the 23 percent average number of executive positions held by women across all industries nationwide, according to Marijuana Business Daily. Thats good, but the number of female marijuana executives made up 36 percent of the industry in 2015. Women seem galvanized. Celebrity women in cannabis are well known, such as Whoopi Goldberg and Melissa Etheridge. But below the cultural radar, more women are getting into the industry, especially on designing new products. Female stars in cannabis. According to the Robb Report, one of the biggest female names in cannabis is Patricia Rosi, CEO of Wellness Connection of Maine. The company runs four dispensaries. The site describes the four dispensaries as safe and inviting and say they combine the best features of a pharmacy, community center and wellness practice. Nancy Whiteman of Wana Brands is another big name among female cannabis entrepreneurs. Her Colorado-based company sells cannabis edibles, including a very popular line of gummy bears. The company has expanded into Oregon, Nevada and Arizona and plans to move into Florida, Illinois and Michigan this year. Many women are leading the way with specific wellness-focused products. For example, Kush Queen, run by Olivia Alexander, offers cannabis-infused bath bombs, tinctures and lotions. Alexander told the Robb Report that women moving into the cannabis industry fits into the current womens wave: running for office, running companies. Cannabis is a part of that new liberation. Related: 3 of the Biggest States Are Likely to Make Adult-Use Marijuana Legal This Year Miss Grass Popularity Women now even have their own marijuana magazine. Miss Grass is designed as an elevated lifestyle shop and publication for women, cannabis and good living. They describe the magazine as a benevolent guide for women interested in cannabis products and the cannabis lifestyle. They offer a high horoscope and information on reading cannabis labels like a pro. They also offer articles on women who use cannabis. For example: Weed Got Me Through Grad School is written by a fashion executive who faced crippling anxiety. Female entrepreneurs and consumers have become a large focus of the marijuana industry. How that plays out in 2019 and beyond is something worth watching. Follow dispensaries.com on Twitter to stay up to date on the latest cannabis news. Related: This Week in Weed: There's No Cannabis in Football! Who Will be the Winners and Losers When Federal Cannabis Prohibition Ends? Women Are Influencing the Cannabis Industry Both as Entrepreneurs and Consumers Copyright 2019 Entrepreneur.com Inc., All rights reserved Mike Peters will never forget the day his mother-in-law came to visit his family in Florida. She wanted to bathe his young daughter, but the water wouldnt turn on. Embarrassed, Peters pretended he didnt know why. The reality was he didnt have the money to pay the utility bill. How did I get here? the 30-year-old wondered. As a teenager, hed been a rising tech star. He developed and sold his first software at age 13. At 16, he turned down a job offer from Microsoft. By 23, hed saved $1 million. But his dot-com startup, a messaging platform, burned through that cash along with $6.5 million Peters had raised from investors. In three years, his company failed to make a single sale. Fast forward to today and Peters has bounced back and made enough money to last a lifetime. Hes the founder of the Yomali Group, an international e-commerce solutions conglomerate with over $1 billion in revenue. My body is covered with scar tissue from the mistakes Ive made along the way, says Peters as he reflects on the ups and downs. I made almost every mistake in the book. In high demand during the dot-com days. Peters grew up in a middle-class family in Hod HaSharon, a small city near Tel Aviv, Israel. His computer obsession started early, and at age 10 he got his first, an Atari 800XL. He taught himself to code and created an accounting spreadsheet tool before Excel existed. He sold it to a neighbor for $500 a lot of money to a 13-year-old. Image credit: Courtesy Mike Peters At 14, Peters enrolled in the computer science program at the Open University of Israel. He convinced his parents to let him drop out of high school to complete his studies and work in the field. In 1991, he hosted one of Israels first bulletin board systems (BBS), an early iteration of todays websites on which visitors played games and exchanged messages. A Microsoft recruiter discovered the talented teen and offered him a job. The company wanted him to permanently relocate to the United States, but Peters was only 16, and he turned down the offer. Instead, he accepted an Israeli-based gig developing software, which ironically brought him to the U.S. for six months. I was 17, making bank doing what I loved in Laguna Beach, California. It was everything Id dreamed of. Forced by the military to postpone his dream. A week before his 18th birthday, Peters flew home to fulfill his duty as an Israeli citizen and join the military. My friends didnt understand how I could leave my comfortable lifestyle to lie in ditches and fire guns, he says. I had no choice. It was the right thing to do. In the artillery forces, Peters wouldnt touch a computer for three years. I had to put my life on hold for my country, he says. Thats when I learned life doesnt always go your way. Image credit: Courtesy Mike Peters I hated almost every minute of the army, says Peters. But in retrospect, those three years made me who I am today. I developed perspective and perseverance, and learned the importance of having the right mindset. Every four months Peters rotated between the border surrounded by enemies, Gaza, where he had a few close calls, and training. The military teaches you to always be a student, says Peters. Most people think theyve learned everything after university. They end up working for those who never stop learning. Formal education eventually ends, but self-education never stops. The more you learn, the more you earn. Finding love and losing $6.5 million along the way. Peters fulfilled his commitment to the military at 21, then spent the next two years at a cybersecurity company while selling software on the side. Hed been saving since he started working at 16, and reached $1 million by age 23. Peters decided to launch his own startup, a customer messaging platform. Thats how he met his wife, Orit (pronounced Oh-reet) Tenenbaum. His companys recruiter recommended her as a quality assurance manager, even though she was a 21-year-old fresh out of training. Peters gave her a shot, and she excelled. When they started dating, they kept their relationship secret, which wasnt easy especially when Peters moved to Silicon Valley for the company. It was 1998, the peak of the dot-com era. Peters startup had raised $6.5 million from big-name investors. At the time, the tech industry was all about eyeballs and downloads and figuring out revenue later, says Peters. His company was no different. Three years later, the $6.5 million was gone. Theyd spent it all building the business without making a single sale. Peters had also spent most of the $1 million hed saved. Image credit: Courtesy Mike Peters After the startup shut down, Peters returned to Israel to marry Orit. The newlyweds decided to start over in the U.S. My father-in-law was concerned about what would happen if I failed again. I told him I would just keep trying, says Peters. I dont know a single entrepreneur who failed 10 times in a row. That rarely happens. The problem is that most people quit after the second or third failure. I knew if I kept trying, eventually Id succeed. From broke to really broke. At 27, Peters moved to New York City with his new wife and their remaining savings: $5,000. They rented a tiny studio in Times Square for $2,000 per month. That was a lot of our money, but I wanted to force myself to figure things out, says Peters. To be successful you have to burn your boats, leaving no option of going back. For the next few years Peters worked 15 hours a day, seven days a week. Despite his software development experience, he settled for website development projects because he didnt want to go back to investors. Image credit: Courtesy Mike Peters After their son was born in 2003, the couple moved to Florida, where they had their second child, a daughter. They had no family, friends, or support there. I couldve made more at McDonalds for the hours I was slaving away, says Peters. I had to look my wife in the eyes and tell her it was going to work out even though I didnt know how. Web development wasnt my passion, but it was a way to keep the lights on until I found my passion. Except he couldnt keep the lights on. Shortly after their water was cut off, their car was repossessed and their house foreclosed on. I couldnt support my family, and my marriage was on the brink of collapse. Orit took the kids back to Israel, while I stayed in Florida to figure things out. His wife and children wouldnt return for a year. I questioned myself so much during that time, he reflects. I experienced imposter complex, and started thinking it was just luck that made me successful when I was younger. I spent long nights feeling like a loser who couldnt support his family. Nobody talks about the hard times, says Peters. But every entrepreneur experiences them. Not just bad sales Im talking about broken marriages, losing everything. It takes the right mindset, perseverance, and passion to overcome the challenges. But with that, youll be unstoppable. I owe everything to my supportive parents and the army, which taught me to get back up every time I fell down. Scaling a business with clients money. When Peters began hiring freelancers to help with coding, things slowly started to improve. Four years later, hundreds worked for him. He began building different software, using clients money as financing to develop a new business model. His employees wrote all their code in a generic way so they could reuse it to create their own versions of the platforms they built for clients. Peters transitioned to selling that software as a service. Selling your time has a low ceiling. To double revenues, I had to double the workforce. So instead, we started selling subscriptions. The bottom line increased significantly. He later pivoted again, this time as an online retailer. Our clients sold products online, and many of them outsourced the majority of the work to us, says Peters. We were making five figures while they made six. The bottom line exploded again. At this point, Peters had many services under one business. Every business needs focus. You cant be everything to everyone. We hit a ceiling trying to do everything under one name. Peters spun out into eight stand-alone businesses under one umbrella, the Yomali Group. Today, his businesses include an affiliate network, CRM platform, payment processor, business process outsourcing and call center, physical fulfillment automation, big data analytics, software development, and shopping websites all helping businesses sell more online. The three steps to business success. Ive over-promised and failed to deliver, made bad hires, and failed to see the big picture, says Peters. A partner stole $1 million from me and an employee created a competing company using our code. Its my mission to share what I learned from those experiences so others dont have to learn the hard way. Peters says there are three levels to business success. The first is hard work and putting in the hours. You need to love what you do to sustain it. He says you can build a $1 million business if you pour 10,000 hours into it. If you spend seven hours a day mastering your craft, that will take you four years. But if you dedicate 14 hours a day, youll get there in half the time. Second, Peters says mindset differentiates a $1 million business from a $10 million one. You need grit, to believe that nothing is impossible. Do whatever it takes and dont take no for an answer. To exceed $100 million takes leverage, such as using distribution partners and affiliates, monopolizing a small niche, and using others time and money like Peters did. Image credit: Courtesy Mike Peters Legacy over currency. Their third child was born in 2011. Now that hes made all the money hell ever need, Peters divides his time between family, business, and helping others. No amount of money beats knowing you impacted others, he says. In January 2019, Peters was invited to join the board of the XPRIZE Foundation, which is dedicated to solving big world problems. The elite group includes filmmaking legend James Cameron, publishing icon Arianna Huffington, and Google co-founder Larry Page. Image credit: Courtesy Mike Peters Despite all of his successes, Peters has found the most happiness helping others. My legacy is my driving force. I want to leave this planet better than when I came into it, he says. Empowering entrepreneurs to do great things creates a chain reaction that benefits many. Thats why I devote my time to building tools and services for them it makes all the scar tissue worth it. Connect with Mike Peters on LinkedIn or learn more about his company here. Related: Mike Peters' Rollercoaster Journey from Young Millionaire to Flat Broke to Running a $1 Billion-Plus Business Believing in Your Mission During Hard Times Can Make or Break Your Company From Suicidal Thoughts to a Spiritual Awakening and Becoming a Millionaire Copyright 2019 Entrepreneur.com Inc., All rights reserved Captain Kirk himself has a mission for us: Develop new technologies and businesses in order to save the world from itself. Its not about closing down the government, he explains, but enhancing governmental research and development into new ideas. That's where all you young entrepreneurs should be at. Wed be wise to listen. After warping onto the scene in the original 1960s Star Trek TV series, William Shatner has proven himself a genius at staying relevant as an actor, author, musician and supporter of products ranging from travel websites to solar-panels to VR companies to electric bicycles. Related: From Rock God to Master Rose Winemaker: a Conversation With Jon Bon Jovi Shatner chatted with Entrepreneur via phone (communicators werent available) to discuss his recent partnership with Pedego Electric Bikes -- but the conversation soon reached the furthest reaches of the galaxy. What made you first hop on an electric bike? The whole idea that I didn't have to pedal home. It's true! I have an indelible picture in my mind: Years ago I was driving up a hilly coastal highway in Washington state in a convertible, and I passed by two bikers -- a man and a woman -- and the woman was crying. It just suggested to me that she couldn't go up another hill; she was fatigued and couldnt make it to the next town. Ive sort of carried that picture with me whenever I go biking, because how many times have you enthusiastically set off to pedal your bike, gone a certain distance, then turned around and thought, Oh my God, I'm really tired and getting back is hellish? It doesn't have to be that way with an electric bike, and that's incredible. Your Pedego commercials are hilarious. Was shooting them as fun as it looks? Absolutely. Everybody brought the right equipment, there was a terrific director, the material was good, and the bikes all worked. I particularly liked the one with the guy getting the rectal exam. I thought that was hysterically funny. It's obvious that you believe in the product you're endorsing. I really do. I wanted to become part of the company, because it's so good. Pedego is a company with a great product thats run beautifully, and I'm so glad to be associated with it. Related: 20 Business Ideas You Can Start With Less Than $10,000 Besides acting, you make music, write books, endorse products -- do you think of yourself as an entrepreneur? I don't think of myself as an entrepreneur, I like to think of myself as an artist. However, there is artistry in entrepreneurship. There is the joy of creativity, of making the business work, of being successful at whatever it is you're doing. There is artistry in that. And so you can be an artist and an entrepreneur, in fact you should be an artist and an entrepreneur at the same time. Knowing how to deal with failure is also important. Well, its a well-known fact among us entrepreneurs that you have to fail. You can't know what is successful until you find out what isn't successful. You'd be hard pressed to find anybody who says, Oh, I don't know failure, I only know success, because it's a path untrod. Youre going to trip, and you have to learn where to place your feet. What inspires you to keep trying new things? The basic philosophy -- if there is such a thing in my life -- is to say yes. The books that I have written, the last one in particular, are all about saying yes to life. It's very easy to say no and close the door and expire slowly. And it hurts to get out! The muscles are tight, the bones are grindingbut you gotta do it, otherwise you're essentially dead. Are you excited about the race to send regular citizens into space? Well, I don't want to go myself. There's an amusing story that I've told about Richard Branson. Richard Branson offered me a seat in the airplane that's going up into space, and he said it would cost me $250,000. I said, You got the wrong idea, it's going to cost you! I never heard from him again. Absolutely! That should be an honor for him to have you on that flight. That, I think, is the definition of entrepreneurship. Related: The Best Employees Have Side Hustles -- Here's Why So besides Richard Branson, Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos are also developing spacecraft. Who do you think has the best shot? Well, they all have their qualities, don't they? I mean Branson has been at it a long while, and he's got long wavy hair. It's almost Khan-like, isnt it? I suppose you could say that. But it's long and wavy and streaked, and he looks marvelously dramatic. The picture I have of Elon Musk is him being sleepless in his office as he tosses and turns over the success of his rockets. And as for Mr. Bezos, after his divorce I don't know that he can afford to go into space. Do have any advice for budding entrepreneurs? The future is rife with new technologies. But it's not just a matter of which technology will be the one to advance, but which company of that technology is the superior company. That superiority usually resides in the management. Its not the exterior -- whether the buildings are made of glass and titanium or not -- its what the management is doing. Thats where the entrepreneurship is. Related: Need a Business Idea? Here are 55 Absolutely. There's never been more need for new technology. The old technology has taken us to the brink of the extermination of human beings. And we may be over the brink! Hopefully not! Well, if we're not, it's up to technology to save us -- direct the carbon dioxide and the methane out of the air. I just keep thinking someone is going to say, Eureka! The world needs a technological revolution in order to save itself; thats where our energy should be. Related: From Starship Captain to Electric Bike Pitchman: a Conversation With William Shatner Boeing Successfully Tests 'Flying Car' Future and Growth of Transportation Market by 2020 Copyright 2019 Entrepreneur.com Inc., All rights reserved Will the last one out get the lights. Is Connecticut on the brink of one of those moments? If you commute on I-95, the answer is a resounding no. The speed limit remains bumper to bumper and the left lane is still the domain of the Mad Max crowd. If, however, you go by letters to the editor and/or apocalyptic data provided by companies in the relocation business, then you are left with the sense that everyone has either moved out or is accumulating cardboard boxes. Another thing fueling the impression that a mass exodus is underway is the anger. Many of the dearly departing seem unfamiliar with the maxim: Dont go away mad, just go away. In this regard they are incapable of exiting without first penning a letter to the local newspaper explaining their decision. Usually, these missives include an accounting of how expensive it is to live in Connecticut, and how much cheaper and better it will be to live in their new home state. Oh, and, so long suckers. Why those who are relocating feel it necessary to flyaway on the wings of a bitter parting shot is beyond me. Is it possible they think we care? I believe I can speak on behalf of all of the 3.5 million they are leaving in the rearview mirror when I say not a lick. You want to go, go. Good luck to you. And dont let the door hit you in the assets. While there is certainly no mass exodus from Connecticut, anecdotal evidence does indicate the state, and the Northeast overall, is losing some population. A recent report by United Van Lines ranks Connecticut as having the fourth highest percentage of residents pulling up stakes. According to their scorecard, four people move out of Connecticut for every three who move in. Only New York, New Jersey and Illinois had worse win-loss statistics, with Illinois claiming the No. 1 spot. And get this, United says Vermont led the country in percentage of inbounds as opposed to outbounds. Vermont, really? Obviously, Uniteds unscientific sampling needs to be treated with a grain of road salt. It makes you wonder if the incoming settlers have ever been to Vermont during December, or January, or February, or mud season? As noted earlier, the major reason cited for exiting Connecticut is the high cost of living. They are, of course, right on this score. It does cost a lot to live here. You can buy a home the size of a Newport mansion elsewhere in the country for what it costs to own a two-bedroom fixer-upper in some parts of Connecticut. Taxes, and lots of them, are another legitimate issue. That noted, this complaint tends to ring hollow when deployed by billionaires threatening to bolt. (See above: Dont let the door hit you in the assets.) How overtaxed are we in Connecticut? Lets pause for a musical interlude. Feel free to sing along: If you drive a car, I'll tax the street, If you try to sit, I'll tax your seat. If you get too cold, I'll tax the heat, If you take a walk, I'll tax your feet. Makes you wonder if the Beatles ever lived here. As for life imitating art, bringing back tolls is up for consideration in the state legislature this term. Granted, Im probably missing something here, but isnt that kind of like: If you drive a car The bottom line is there are certainly legitimate reasons for deciding to move out of Connecticut. I mean, the UConn women just lost a regular season game. But there are just as many valid reasons to stay, quality of life being foremost. And while I dislike being soaked as much as the next guy, to me its a small price to pay for not having to learn to spell Biloxi. Jim Shea is a lifelong Connecticut resident and journalist. jimboshea@gmail.com; Twitter: @jimboshea. NEW BRITAIN The federal government shutdown is impacting people besides federal workers going without paychecks. U.S. Senators Richard Blumenthal and Chris Murphy sought to draw attention Tuesday to struggling domestic violence shelters, like the Prudence Crandall Center in New Britain. The Prudence Crandall Center is one of Connecticuts domestic violence support organizations directly impacted by the ongoing shutdown. It receives approximately $45,000 monthly through U.S. Housing and Urban Development contracts to help cover essential costs for its supportive housing program. It is the only center of its kind in the state, according to executive director Barbara Damon, that receives the monthly HUD stipend from the federal government money it has not received since the start of the partial shutdown. The cost of providing 28 apartments and compassionate, specialized support services to these families, to keep them moving forward after a life of abuse, is significant, Damon said. The center does raise some of its funds from the community, but the amount of money that comes from the government is significant. We already raise 30 percent of our funding every year from our community to continue our work, Damon added. The loss of $45,000 monthly is not one we can sustain over an extended period of time. She said the impact will be felt beyond the housing program and could threaten our ability to provide all of our services. Damon said the center has had to lean on its donations harder during the shutdown and may have to soon tap into reserve funds. But she said even doing those two things wont be enough if the shutdown goes on for longer three months. Our largest cost is payroll, Damon said of the 40 staffers who work at the center. And we have rent, too. Karen Jarmoc, chief executive officer of the Connecticut Coalition Against Domestic Violence, said there are 40,000 domestic violence victims in the state of Connecticut. She said system already operates at 123 percent capacity all the time. Eighty of those domestic violence survivors live at the Prudence Crandall Center. The center provides families with a next step after a shelter stay a safe, affordable home from which they can work on their goals of self-sufficiency, independence, and a life free from abuse. Agency staff help survivors with issues such as finding work, educational goals, budgeting, and custody and child support issues. The U.S. Justice Department oversees a number of federal grants that support state and local domestic violence shelters. Two of those programs fall under laws known as the Violence Against Women Act, which administers federal grants to organizations that protect victims of domestic abuse and stalking, and the Victims of Crime Act, which provides federal support to state and local programs that house and assist victims of domestic violence. Now that the standoff over a current spending bill has cut off Justice Department funds too, organizations that rely on those monies are in flux. Jarmoc said they are doing their best, but its not easy when the reimbursements from the federal government are no longer guaranteed. Blumenthal and Murphy said that while they didnt want to sell short the financial pain that federal workers are experiencing, their visit to the center was important to widen the focus on the impact of the stalemate. This shutdown is a multi-pronged attack on families in Connecticut, Murphy said, adding that President Donald Trump is using people at bargaining chips. Murphy said he thought it was ridiculous that the shutdown has gone on over a month and we havent taken a single vote in the Senate to try and reopen the government. Its been 32 days since Trump and Congressional Democrats have been able to reach a deal over Trumps desire to spend $5.7 billion on a wall along the southern border. No president should be permitted to take Americans hostage over an applause line used in his campaign, Blumenthal said, referring to Trumps oft-repeated campaign promise that he would build a wall to keep out illegal immigrants. Blumenthal said he finds it especially appalling that domestic violence victims are in the middle of the political fight. Remember the kind of courage and strength it takes for a woman to leave an abusive spouse or partner, Blumenthal said. They need to know they have some place to go. The Senate is expected Thursday to take two votes on competing proposals aimed at ending the ongoing government shutdown one backed by Republicans and the other backed by Democrats. Both are likely to fail. Recent downsizing at the states two largest hedge funds would not immediately affect their tens of millions of dollars in taxpayer-funded subsidies. Bridgewater Associates and AQR Capital Management which together employ about 2,400 in the state have announced, respectively, the in-place transfer of about 200 Stamford-based jobs to professional-services firm Genpact and a number of layoffs. But state officials said they would need more time to assess the changes impact on the funds allotted to the firms through First Five Plus, the states flagship corporate-development program, whose incentives on based on job creation and retention. In the normal course of business, we expect some ups and downs in overall headcount, so until their next job audits are due, there will be no impact on the assistance provided, said Jim Watson, a spokesman for the state Department of Economic and Community Development. Of course, if they fall short of their goals, the financial incentives will be reduced, according to the contracts. Westport-based Bridgewater has qualified for up to $30 million in tax credits, $5 million in grants and a $17 million loan. Last year, it employed about 1,625 in the state, according to DECD. Bridgewaters approximately $163 billion in assets under management rank No. 1 among hedge funds worldwide, according to financial data-tracking firm Preqin. AQRs package from the state includes a $28 million loan and up to $7 million in grants. Headquartered at 2 Greenwich Plaza in downtown Greenwich, it employs about 770 statewide. Among Connecticut-based hedge funds, the firms approximately $114 billion in assets rank No. 2 after Bridgewater, according to Preqin. Growing scrutiny First Five Plus kicked off in 2011, in then-Gov. Dannel P. Malloys first year in office. The state has since allocated loans worth about $248 million, grants totaling $129 million and another $141 million in tax credits to the 19 companies participating in the program, according to DECD. At the same time, the companies have cumulatively committed to investing about $2.9 billion of their own money in Connecticut operations. First Five Plus firms have created about 4,900 jobs and retained about 30,000 positions, according to DECD. Between 2012 and 2021, those same businesses are expected to generate about $409 million in income tax and sales and use tax revenues, according to state projections. As the program has grown, state development officials have tightened their criteria for investments. In the first deal, Cigna secured terms that allowed the health-insurance giant to earn up to $71 million in state grants, tax credits and loans after relocating its corporate headquarters to Bloomfield from Philadelphia. But the company fell short of creating 600 jobs, so the state forgave only $10 million of the $15 million loan in its incentives package. Cigna subsequently repaid the state $5 million. The state has since offered less generous incentives to more recent additions. At the same time, lawmakers have sought more accountability. The Legislature passed legislation in 2017 that established annual reviews of First Five Plus performance by the Commerce, Finance and Appropriations committees. The state could add one more company to First Five Plus, with a June 30 deadline to fill the last slot. A new DECD commissioner, to be appointed by new Gov. Ned Lamont, would oversee subsequent changes. Commissioner Catherine Smith, who was appointed to the post in April 2011 by Malloy, plans to step down on Friday. As someone who comes from the business world, the governor is focused on job creation, rejuvenating Connecticuts economy and has established a business advisory council for additional policy guidance, said Maribel La Luz, a spokeswoman for Lamont. Its too early to comment specifically on the future of First Five, but he is looking forward to discussing the path forward with the agencys leadership soon. pschott@scni.com; 203-964-2236; Twitter: @paulschott Exos Aerospace said it's once again postponing its next suborbital sounding rocket launch from New Mexico, this time until March 2, because of ongoing effects of the government shutdown. WASHINGTON A partial government shutdown now nearly five weeks old is affecting a growing number of space companies and organizations as well as the agencies themselves shuttered by the lapse in funding. Much of the federal government has been shut down since a continuing resolution, or stopgap appropriations bill, funding them lapsed Dec. 22. The shutdown, now the longest on record, affects NASA, the Federal Aviation Administration, Federal Communications Commission and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, among other agencies, furloughing most of their workforce and limiting them to essential operations only. The shutdown is hindering activities of a number of companies and organizations that work with, need information or require approvals from affected agencies. In one case, Exos Aerospace, a Texas company that has already delayed a suborbital launch from New Mexico's Spaceport America once because of the shutdown, said it's pushing back that launch again because of effects of the shutdown. [In Photos: President Trump Aims for the Moon with Space Policy Directive 1] In a Jan. 22 email, John Quinn, chief operating officer of Exos, said they were delaying the launch of their SARGE reusable sounding rocket from Feb. 9 to March 2. Quinn said that, because of the shutdown, they no longer have access to NOAA wind data that's needed as part of safety analyses for their launches. The NOAA websites that have provided that data in the past now return an error message: "The website you are trying to access is not available at this time due to a lapse in appropriation." Quinn said the delay buys them time to await an end to the shutdown or "come up with a viable solution if the [government] shutdown has not been resolved by then." Exos had previously planned to carry out the launch Jan. 5, but postponed it because the FAA's Office of Commercial Space Transportation was not able to modify their license to change wind-related safety calculations in order to reduce the chance of a launch scrub. The office is not issuing new licenses or modifying existing ones, but is supporting commercial launches under existing licenses. Other companies are running into similar problems. Small launch vehicle Vector is preparing to ship a Vector-R rocket to Pacific Spaceport Complex-Alaska in February for stage testing ahead of a launch. However, that launch cannot go ahead until the shutdown ends and the FAA is able to finish processing the company's launch license application, Jim Cantrell, chief executive of Vector, tweeted Jan. 23. "Hoping DC gets its act together soon," he said, although it wasn't clear how close the company was to a launch attempt that required an FAA license. See more Rocket Lab also needs a new FAA license for its next Electron launch, scheduled for late February. While the company has an existing license used for its previous launches, the upcoming launch of a technology demonstration satellite for the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency requires a new license since the launch will take a different trajectory, requiring a new safety analysis, Rocket Lab Chief Executive Peter Beck said in an interview. "We're hoping that the government will open up again soon," he said. "We need a new license for this launch since we're going to an entirely new trajectory, and that always requires a new launch license." He added that DARPA was trying to assist in getting that license approved. The lack of launch licensing processing has hit another DARPA program, the DARPA Launch Challenge prize competition. Prospective teams have until Feb. 1 to have their launch license applications formally accepted by the FAA, but the agency is not currently processing applications. Todd Master, manager of the competition at DARPA, said after a panel session Jan. 16 at the annual meeting of the Transportation Research Board here that the deadline has been extended to Feb. 15 because of the shutdown. "We'll continue to assess it as the situation progresses," he said, adding that he didn't expect other deadlines, including plans to hold the first round of the competition late this year, to be delayed. Besides launch licenses, the shutdown has delayed operations of at least one recently launched small satellite. Orbital Reflector, a smallsat developed by Trevor Paglen and the Nevada Museum of Art, was among the 64 satellites placed into orbit last month on a SpaceX Falcon 9. Once in orbit, the satellite was to deploy a balloon made with reflective material that would allow it to be seen from the ground. That deployment, though, has been delayed because of the shutdown. "The FCC had asked us to wait for their go-ahead before we deploy the balloon," the museum said in a Jan. 18 statement, in order to ensure that the deployment did not pose a hazard to other satellites. "Since the government shutdown began, communication with the FCC has been suspended, as they are not operational at this time." Other communications with the satellite are continuing, the museum stated, confirming that the spacecraft is in good condition. "The team is hopeful that the satellite can withstand the wait during the unforeseen government shutdown. Time will tell." [In Photos: President Donald Trump and NASA] NASA effects grow At NASA, operations remain limited to those required for the protection of life and property, such as operations of the International Space Station and other orbiting spacecraft. About 95 percent of the agency's civil servant workforce has remained on furlough since the shutdown started. The extended shutdown is also affecting a growing number of contracted operations that continued after the shutdown started because they were funded in advance. That includes operations of the Chandra X-Ray Observatory spacecraft, which is handled by the Chandra X-Ray Center, run by the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory under contract with NASA. "Since NASA is unable to provide funding during the shutdown, the Smithsonian Institution has agreed to advance funding to continue science and mission operations through mid-March, as necessary," the center said in a Jan. 22 statement. That will allow regular operations of the space telescope to continue, although the center will not issue grants to support observations or fund "non-critical expenses" like travel to conferences. Scientists supported by NASA grants are also facing furloughs because of funding that is running out. That has included the NASA Postdoctoral Fellowships, which ran out of funding Jan. 18. The Universities Space Research Association, which administers the program, said it would loan fellows the value of their stipend through the end of the month. The NASA Solicitation and Proposal Integrated Review and Evaluation System, or NSPIRES, could also soon be a victim of the shutdown. NSPIRES, which hosts agency research opportunities, posted a notice that it will be "unavailable" if the shutdown extends beyond Jan. 31. In a Jan. 23 statement, NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine said that the agency's Day of Remembrance, an event that serves as a memorial for the Apollo 1, Challenger and Columbia accidents, would be postponed from its planned Jan. 31 date. See more "Unfortunately, most of our NASA family are on furlough and we recognize that participation in many of the Day of Remembrance activities would be a challenge," he said. A new date has not been set, but he said it would be a priority for the agency once the shutdown ends. Some people affiliated with NASA participated in a protest in the Hart Senate Office Building Jan. 23, calling on the Senate to pass appropriations bills that would end the shutdown at least temporarily. Several people in the crowd held up signs with the NASA logo and the words "Let NASA Work! End The Shutdown!" An opportunity to do so could come Jan. 24, when the Senate will vote on two spending bills, including one that previously passed the House that would fund agencies through Feb. 8. It's not clear that either bill can win the 60 votes needed for passage, however. The House, meanwhile, passed on a 234180 vote Jan. 23 an omnibus appropriations bill that would fund most agencies affected by the shutdown, other than the Department of Homeland Security, for the rest of the 2019 fiscal bill. That bill, introduced last week, would give $21.5 billion to NASA. The Senate has not announced plans to consider that legislation amid the ongoing dispute about border security funding that triggered the shutdown. This story was provided by SpaceNews, dedicated to covering all aspects of the space industry. An Apollo 11 lunar sample return bag, which was previously the focus of a legal dispute until it was auctioned in 2017 for close to $2 million, is again the focus of a lawsuit brought against NASA by the woman who sold it. An Illinois woman has filed a lawsuit against NASA, claiming the agency damaged and improperly retained lunar material from an Apollo 11 moon rock collection bag that she previously sued over, won title to and then sold at auction for nearly $2 million. Nancy Lee Carlson claims in her latest lawsuit that NASA and the actions of its lunar sample curator "diminished the fair market value" of her former property and caused her injury "humiliation, embarrassment, emotional stress and anxiety" in the process. She is seeking "an amount that is fair" to cover her emotional distress, the damage to the artifact and her legal expenses. Further, Carlson is suing for the return of the lunar material that she claims was "enmeshed in the bag fibers when the Apollo 11 mission returned to Earth," or, "alternatively, awarding Plaintiff the value of the removed samples," according to the documents she filed against the United States of America, NASA and "Apollo 11 curator" Ryan Ziegler on Friday (Jan. 18) in the U.S. District Court for Kansas. [Should We Open Some Sealed Apollo Moon Samples?] Carlson originally purchased the 11.5-inch-long (29 centimeters) "lunar sample return bag" for $995 in February 2015, at an auction held on behalf of the U.S. Marshals Service in Texas. Unaware of the bag's history other than that it had been forfeited by a museum curator indicted for the theft of other space artifacts and that it was described by the Marshals as having been flown on an Apollo mission, Carlson sought the help of Ziegler at the Johnson Space Center in Houston to further identify the bag's provenance. After testing the material stains inside the bag, a process that may have resulted in the bag's fabric being torn, Ziegler determined that the trace dust was from Tranquility Base, the landing site of the Apollo 11 first moon landing mission. The zippered pouch was subsequently identified as having been used to prevent contamination of an initial contingency lunar sample collected by Neil Armstrong during the early minutes of his 1969 moon walk. Detail shot of the Apollo 11 lunar sample return bag showing areas that have been darkened with traces of moon dust. (Image credit: Sotheby's) Without record of the artifact having been released from NASA property, Ziegler, representing the space agency, refused Carlson's repeated requests for the bag's return. In response, Carlson filed lawsuits against NASA in both Texas, where the bag was then located, and Kansas, where it had been forfeited. The cases revealed that the bag had been incorrectly cataloged by a Kansas museum where it had been on loan from NASA, resulting in its mistaken forfeiture as part of a restitution order against the convicted curator. Still, a U.S. district court judge found that, because the U.S. Marshals Service had proceeded with the sale and Carlson had made a good-faith purchase, the bag was no longer NASA's to claim. "NASA was a victim in this case, not a wrongdoer," Judge J. Thomas Marten of the U.S. District Court of Kansas stated in his ruling in December 2016. Subsequently, a judge in Texas ruled that NASA had to return the Apollo 11 bag to Carlson, which was carried out in February 2017. "NASA is obviously disappointed by the decision of the court," a NASA spokesman said at the time. "This artifact was never meant to be owned by an individual." Video still showing Nancy Lee Carlson receiving the bag back from NASA with what appears may be a tear or damage. (Image credit: Joseph Gutheinz via collectSPACE.com) On July 20, 2017, 48 years to the day after the bag was used on the lunar surface, Sotheby's auctioned the artifact for $1,812,500 million on Carlson's behalf. Prior to the auction, Sotheby's estimated the bag to sell for $2 million to $4 million. Carlson is now claiming the damage done to the bag during NASA's testing and its discouraging public statements deprived her of reaping the full value of the artifact, as well as caused her personal distress. Carlson's current lawsuit is now the second pending before a court in Kansas over alleged moon dust. In June 2018, one of Carlson's attorney's in the original lunar sample return bag case filed a separate lawsuit on behalf of Laura Murray Cicco of Tennessee, claiming a vial of "moon dust" in Cicco's possession was at jeopardy of being confiscated by NASA given the space agency's actions in the Carlson case. Cicco's case is now pending a ruling on the government's motion to dismiss. Follow collectSPACE.com on Facebook and on Twitter at @collectSPACE. Copyright 2019 collectSPACE.com. All rights reserved. A new theory holds that Earth might have received the elements it needed for life to form from a massive collision with a Mars-sized planet. The ancient collision that formed the moon may also have brought with it all the ingredients needed for life, a new study finds. Over 4.4 billion years ago, a Mars-size body smashed into a primitive Earth, launching our moon into permanent orbit around our planet. But a new study finds that this event could have had a much larger impact than previously thought. The collision could also have imbued our planet with the carbon, nitrogen and sulfur needed for life to form, scientists reported today (Jan. 23) in the journal Science Advances. Back then, Earth was a little like Mars is today. It had a core and it had a mantle, but its noncore portion was very poor in volatile elements such as nitrogen, carbon and sulfur. [Science Fact or Fantasy? 20 Imaginary Worlds] Elements in the noncore parts of our planet, called the "bulk silicate Earth," can intermingle with each other, but they never interact with the elements of the core. Though some volatiles existed in the core, they couldn't make their way to the planets outer layers. And then a collision happened. One theory holds that special kinds of meteorites, called carbonaceous chondrites, slammed into Earth and gave the bulk silicate Earth these volatile elements. This idea rests on the fact that the ratios of different versions or isotopes of nitrogen, carbon and hydrogen seem to match those found on these meteorites. So, proponents of the theory argue, the meteorites must be the source of these elements. But there's just one problem: the ratio of carbon to nitrogen is off. While the meteorites have about 20 parts carbon to one part nitrogen, Earth's noncore material has about 40 parts carbon to each part nitrogen, according to study author Damanveer Grewal, a fourth-year Ph.D. student in the Department of Earth, Environmental and Planetary Sciences at Rice University in Houston, Texas. An ancient collision So, the study authors' group decided to test another theory: What if another planet brought the goodies? "Earth could have collided with many different kinds of planets," Grewal told Live Science. Could one of those planets have given the bulk silicate Earth the correct proportion of elements? If this collision happened, the two planetary cores would have merged and the two mantles would have merged. So, they set out to create a possible planet that could have collided with our own. In the lab, in a special kind of furnace, Grewal and his team created the high-temperature, high-pressure conditions under which a planets core might form. In capsules of graphite (a form of carbon), they combined metallic powder (which represents the core and includes elements such as iron bound to nitrogen) with different proportions of silicate powder (a mixture of silicon and oxygen, meant to mimic the hypothetical planets mantle). By varying the temperature, the pressure and the proportions of sulfur in their experiments, the team created scenarios of how these elements could have divided between the core and the rest of the hypothetical planet. They found that carbon is much less willing to bond with iron in the presence of high concentrations of nitrogen and sulfur, while nitrogen bonds with iron even when a lot of sulfur is present. So for nitrogen to be excluded from the core, and be present in other parts of the planet, it should have contained very high concentrations of sulfur, Grewal said. They then fed these possibilities into a simulation, along with information about how different volatile elements behave, and the present-day amounts of carbon, nitrogen and sulfur in Earths outer layers. After running over 1 billion simulations, they found that the scenario that made the most sense the one that had the most probable timing and could lead to a correct ratio of carbon to nitrogen was one that posited a collision and merger of Earth with a Mars-size planet that contained about 25 to 30 percent sulfur in its core. This theory "is very probable," said Celia Dalou, an experimental petrologist at the Centre de Recherches Petrographiques et Geochimiques in France, who was not a part of the study. "This work is a very successful result of years of research of various different teams." Originally published on Live Science. Fifty years after NASA won the "space race" with the Apollo 11 moon landing, the agency hopes to revamp its lunar exploration program with the help of international partners. Now that China has landed the Chang'e 4 spacecraft on the far side of the moon and India is preparing to launch its Chandrayaan-2 mission to the lunar surface later this year, it may seem like the old "space race" is making a comeback. With other space agencies around the world making big plans for future lunar exploration, will NASA be left in the (moon) dust? "I think time will tell," former NASA astronaut and moonwalker Harrison Schmitt said during a town-hall meeting with members of the National Space Council on Jan. 9 at the 233rd meeting of the American Astronomical Society in Seattle. "We will see whether Congress or the administration will recognize that there is a competition out there" and start to invest more in the space program, he added. For now, rather than reigniting the decades-old space race to catch up with the newcomers, NASA is aiming to take a more collaborative approach by partnering up with countries like China and India, whose lunar adventures have only just begun. [NASA's Exploration Mission 1: A Step-by-Step Return to the Moon in Pictures] "Americans first walked on its surface almost 50 years ago, but the next wave of lunar exploration will be fundamentally different," NASA officials said in a statement. "As NASA works toward its plan to sustainably return to the moon, it will be critical to collaborate with both commercial and international partners along the way. This approach will enable human expansion across the solar system and bring back to Earth new knowledge and opportunities." As the first and only space agency ever to put humans on the moon, NASA technically won the "moon race" decades ago. But no astronauts have set foot on the moon since Schmitt and his Apollo 17 crewmate Eugene Cernan left more than 46 years ago. The last time NASA launched a mission to the moon was in 2013, when the agency sent the Lunar Atmosphere and Dust Environment Explorer (LADEE) spacecraft on an intentional collision course to the lunar surface. Other than the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO), which has been circling the moon since 2009, NASA currently doesn't have much of a presence on or around the moon. In 2017, President Donald J. Trump called for NASA to return humans to the moon with the signing of his Space Policy Directive 1 an official recommendation that was approved by the newly formed National Space Council. A cornerstone of this new objective will be NASA's Lunar Orbital Platform-Gateway, a proposed moon-orbiting space station that will enable human exploration of the moon as well as other deep-space destinations like Mars. "Through an innovative combination of missions involving commercial and international partners, NASA's robotic lunar surface missions will begin as early as 2020, focus on scientific understanding of lunar resources and prepare the lunar surface for a sustained human presence," NASA officials said. The agency projects that it will put humans on the moon again in the late 2020s. Schmitt said that a little competition between the new space superpowers of the world "can be very positive it's certainly positive for human spaceflight as well as for space science." For example, if it weren't for the political tension between the U.S. and the Soviet Union that followed the launch of Sputnik 1, NASA astronauts may not have made it to the moon when they did (if at all). With Congress feeling immense political pressure at the time, NASA's annual budget skyrocketed. But as the space race died down in the 1970s, so did the generous financial support. This graph shows NASA's annual budget as a percentage of the overall federal budget from 1958 to 2017. (Image credit: The Office of Management and Budget) Although sparking another heated competition could be an effective way to convince lawmakers to dramatically boost NASA's funding, the agency instead hopes to move forward with a more peaceful, team-building approach. "Things may evolve in ways we don't anticipate, but as of now, the Lunar Orbital Gateway is envisioned to be institutionally a bit like the International Space Station," meaning that international partners all work together in a shared space, said David Thompson, founder and former chief executive of Orbital ATK and a member of the National Space Council's Users' Advisory Group. Of course, humans are not yet living and working on or around the moon, but the international cooperation has already started with the latest robotic mission. When Chang'e 4 landed on the moon, the China National Space Administration (CNSA) shared data with NASA so that the LRO could monitor the landing from orbit. Unfortunately, NASA was unable to get LRO into the right place at the right time to watch the impact, but the satellite still managed to scope out the landing site afterward. "Science gathered about how lunar dust is ejected upwards during a spacecraft's landing could inform future missions and how they arrive on the lunar surface," NASA officials said. "NASA and CNSA have agreed that any significant findings resulting from this coordination activity will be shared with the global research community at the 56th session of the Scientific and Technology Subcommittee meeting of the U.N. Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space meeting" in Vienna on Feb. 11-22. Around that same time, Israel will launch its first moon mission thanks, in part, to a helping hand from the U.S. space agency. "NASA will not only help with observations from LRO and communications support during the mission, but has also developed a laser retroreflector that will fly onboard the Israeli lander," NASA officials said of the Israeli mission. The European Space Agency (ESA) is also playing a role in NASA's lunar exploration plans. ESA is providing components for NASA's Orion crew capsule, which will begin launching astronauts beyond low Earth orbit in the 2020s. The European Service Module, ESA's contribution to Orion, was transported from an Airbus factory in Germany to NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida last November. NASA hasn't been quite as involved with Chinese or Indian moon missions at least not directly with the construction and operation of the spacecraft. However, the agency still hopes to work together with those other spacefaring nations by sharing data that could be useful for future missions, NASA officials said. Meanwhile, NASA is working with nine private U.S. companies that will help the agency through its future lunar endeavors. "These companies will develop and build robotic landers that will carry NASA and other customers' payloads to the lunar surface," NASA officials said. "As NASA works toward its plan to sustainably return to the moon, it will be critical to collaborate with both commercial and international partners along the way. This approach will enable human expansion across the solar system and bring back to Earth new knowledge and opportunities." Email Hanneke Weitering at hweitering@space.com or follow her @hannekescience. Follow us on Twitter @Spacedotcom and on Facebook. Original article on Space.com. An artist's concept of the TRAPPIST-1 worlds, based on available data about the planets' characteristics. The largest of the worlds in the seven-planet TRAPPIST-1 system boasts an atmosphere that has evolved over time, rather than the one that formed with it. Observations made with NASA's Hubble Space Telescope reveal that the planet's atmosphere is different from its nascent environment, meaning it's most likely a rocky world similar to others in the system. "This atmosphere is not the one it was born with," Hannah Wakeford, a researcher at the Space Telescope Science Institute in Baltimore, Maryland, told Space.com. A natal atmosphere would be rich in hydrogen, which the researchers don't see. Instead, "it's been changed by different processes," Wakeford said. Atmospheric and geological activity could have played a significant role in the changes. [Exoplanet Tour: Meet the 7 Earth-Size Planets of TRAPPIST-1] Wakeford and her colleagues used Hubble to study TRAPPIST-1 g, the sixth planet from the star. They had previously probed the atmospheres of the first five planets, identified by the letters b through f, and found that all five planets lack the massive hydrogen atmospheres that indicate gas giants, making them more likely to be rocky. Their previous study had not been precise enough to determine whether or not TRAPPIST-1 g carried its original atmosphere. "G was the last question mark in that," Wakeford said. "Just like its brothers and sisters, it doesn't contain its primordial atmosphere. It's got an evolved atmosphere." She presented the results in January at the winter meeting of the American Astronomical Society in Seattle. "Salt and pepper" In 2016, astronomers at Chile's Transiting Planets and Planetesimals Small Telescope (TRAPPIST) announced their discovery of three planets around the dim star TRAPPIST-1. Four more worlds were discovered within a year, bringing the total to seven. All of the planets lie within the habitable zone of their star, the region where liquid water should be able to persist on a planet's surface. Only 40 light-years from Earth, TRAPPIST-1 contains the most planets known to lie within the habitable zone of a single star. TRAPPIST-1 g is the largest of the worlds, with estimates placing it at around 1.1 times the mass of Earth. If the planets are gas giants, they would retain their original, hydrogen-rich atmosphere. In contrast, rocky worlds have the power to change their atmosphere. The movement of carbon can play a key role in thee evolving atmosphere. Melting mantle magma traps carbon beneath the surface. As the magma moves toward the surface, the decreased pressure allows the carbon to escape in gas form. On Earth, trapped carbonate is released as carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas that allows our planet to grow warmer by trapping heat from the sun. Past research reveals that worlds like Mars and the moon can also trap carbon-rich material, as well as other elements, and release them into the atmosphere in gaseous form. Also known as red dwarfs, M dwarfs like TRAPPIST-1 make up the highest population of stars in the galaxy. Some studies suggest three out of every four stars may be an M dwarf. The long-lived stars are cooler and dimmer than sun-like stars, but they are also incredibly active, dousing their planets in radiation carried by powerful flares and eruptions. [How to Tell Star Types Apart (Infographic)] Their cool temperatures can also cause problems in the search for life. The low-mass M dwarfs can boast clouds and even water vapor in their atmospheres, much like the largest planets. These molecules can create false signals for astronomers trying to study the atmospheres of the worlds orbiting them. As a planet passes between its star and Earth, astronomers can study the light streaming through its skies to unlock some of the mysteries of the planetary atmosphere. Because they carry water molecules, M dwarfs can make the process more challenging; it can be difficult to determine whether signals suggesting the presence of water come from the planet or the star. "Because the star has these features in it, it means the measurements that you're making, you can't be 100 percent certain that it's not the star that you're measuring," Wakeford said. "You have to be able to rule out the presence and the effect the star is having on these planets." To help sort through the mess, Wakeford and her colleagues developed a method to remove the stellar contamination. First, they performed an in-depth study of TRAPPIST-1, examining how the star's temperature changed in different locations. "The star itself is a mixture of three different types of temperatures," Wakeford said. In general, the star is relatively cool, with a third of it covered in slightly warmer spots of 2,726 degrees Celsius (4,940 degrees Fahrenheit). Less than 3 percent of the star is covered with extremely hot spots at a temperature of 5,526 C (9,980 F). That's because TRAPPIST-1 is covered by star spots that Wakeford said are smaller and dimmer than those found on our sun. "The distribution of [the spots] is like salt and pepper it's just spotted all over the place and evenly distributed," Wakeford said. By studying the star as an individual planet in its system passed between it and Earth, the astronomers were able to examine how the temperature from the star changed. An artist's impression of the rocky worlds orbiting the red dwarf star TRAPPIST-1. (Image credit: M. Kornmesser/ESO) "We can actually use the planet as a probe of the star's temperature properties," Wakeford said. With that information in hand, the astronomers then examined the atmosphere of the planet itself, confident that they could account for molecular signals coming from the star. They were able to rule out the large, puffy hydrogen atmosphere around g that would have suggested that it was a gas giant rather than a rocky world whose air had been changed by geological and atmospheric processes. "That really leads to the true terrestrial nature of this planet," Wakeford said. The team also used their measurements to calculate the planet's radius at 1.124 times the radius of Earth, giving it a density just below our planet's. This fits TRAPPIST-1 g firmly: It's a rocky world. With six of the planets out of the way, the astronomers hope to turn their attention to the seventh and final object, TRAPPIST-1 h. They plan to study the planet during the summer of 2019. "It's going to be really exciting to apply this method again, not only to see what the planet's made of but to see how the star's changing and affecting this planet," Wakeford said. Furthermore, the process that they developed to separate out water-vapor contamination from TRAPPIST-1 could also be applied to observations of other M dwarfs. The research was published in late 2018 in the Astronomical Journal. Follow Nola Taylor Redd on Twitter @NolaTRedd. Follow us on Twitter @Spacedotcom and on Facebook. Original article on Space.com. Georgetown, SC (29440) Today Partly cloudy this morning, then becoming cloudy during the afternoon. Hot. High near 90F. Winds SW at 10 to 15 mph.. Tonight Cloudy this evening with showers after midnight. Low 72F. Winds WSW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 70%. Lincoln Wright South Bend Tribune SOUTH BEND Robin Vida knows firsthand how carrying the overdose-reversing drug naloxone can save someones life. Vida, director of health education for the St. Joseph County Health Department, has had to administer naloxone twice on people shes happened upon when leaving work. Now Vida, along with other community partners, are urging others to carry naloxone also known by the brand name Narcan and will be providing a one-time training to the community. The training is possible thanks to a state grant, but multiple organizations, including the YMCA of Michiana, Oaklawn and the St. Joseph County Library, are working to combat opioid overdoses. We felt that once we started talking with everyone theres an opportunity to come together, said Adam Miller, director of philanthropy for the YMCA. So through that, it kind of snowballed into community-wide training events. The training will be Feb. 11 from 10 a.m. to noon at the main branch of the county library at 304 S. Main St., South Bend. The training is free and open to the public. Reserving a spot is not required, but encouraged. Residents can RSVP at michianaymca.org/narcan. While it depends on how many people attend the training, Vida said, she hopes everyone can leave with a free dose of Narcan. The training will show people how to use the drug, which is administered as a nasal spray and is relatively easy to use, Vida said, and how to recognize signs of an overdose. The other aspect of the training is education on addiction and mental illness and the stigmas against naloxone, said John Horsley, director of addiction services for Oaklawn. Horsley hears often that people believe naloxone just encourages people to keep using opioids because theres less fear of overdoses. But thats just not true, he said, no one intentionally overdoses. He wants to educate people that recovery is possible because a person cant successfully be treated if they are dead. We want to enable recovery and keep someone alive at a critical time to make that decision, Horsley said. Still, despite many efforts, communities arent seeing significant decreases in fatal overdoses. Drug overdose deaths in Indiana in 2017 were not only the highest they have ever been, but the state also saw one of the biggest increases in the country from the previous year, according to data from the Center for Disease Control and Prevention. Roughly 1,840 people died of an overdose in the state in 2018, an 18 percent increase over 2016 and a 37 percent increase over 2014. In the United States, about 72,000 died of overdoses that year, a 10 percent increase from 2016. The 2017 totals include deaths from all types of drugs, but a vast majority were caused by opioids, including synthetic opioids that are becoming more common and more deadly. In St. Joseph County, overdose deaths did follow the state in 2017, but preliminary numbers for 2018 show a decrease. The county went from 60 to 69 from 2016 to 2017, but according to the coroners office, 2018 will total around 56. Indiana totals for 2018 are not currently available. The use of Narcan has been a game changer, said Tim Lancaster, support division chief for the South Bend Police Department. Police officers are typically the first to arrive to an overdose, he said, and before they carried Narcan all they could do was perform CPR and wait for an EMT. Officers are administering Narcan on a regular basis, Lancaster said, and he personally has seen several people survive a potentially fatal overdose. It saves lives for sure and this will only help our goal of saving more lives, he said of the community training. Anyone who has an interest in learning about Narcan and addiction is encouraged to come to the training, Horsley said, but they especially encourage friends and family of someone struggling with an opioid addiction. Those are the people who are going to find them in a medically frail situation, he said. The grant to provide the training isnt the only money local organizations have recently received for the drug crisis. Tuesday, the county announced a Drug-Free Communities Support Program grant that will support school programs aimed at preventing drugs and alcohol abuse in teens. Emergent BioSolutions, which provides specialty products for civilian and military populations that address intentional and naturally emerging public health threats, is also making Narcan available to YMCAs and libraries across the nation at no cost. Area YMCA locations dont currently carry Narcan, Miller said, but will as soon as the staff members are trained. He said the training will not only allow them to administer the drug, but be able to address any concerns from the public. While some may ask why the YMCA is getting involved in Narcan training, for the past 165 years the goal of the YMCA has been to serve their communities, said Denise Peters, COO of YMCA of Michiana. The YMCA can be a strong partner is combating the stigma of addiction and helping people to recovery, she said. The most important piece, Peters said, is that we as a community strive to work together to meet the needs. Tribune staff report South Bend Tribune South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg has officially launched his long-anticipated bid for the White House, acknowledging the long odds he faces but offering campaign themes that revolve around his youth and the idea he has revitalized a downtrodden Midwest city. "When it comes to experience, right now, nothing could be more relevant than leading one of America's turnaround cities," Buttigieg said at a news conference Wednesday morning in Washington, D.C., where he is attending a meeting of the U.S. Conference of Mayors. "I'm ready for a new way to lead America's people." Buttigieg first announced his run for the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination in a video released on social media early in the morning, featuring images of him in South Bend and with his husband, Chasten Glezman. The 37-year-old mayor talked about his generation's hopes and expectations. "I belong to a generation that is stepping forward right now," he says in the video. "We're the generation that lived through school shootings, that served in the wars after 9/11, and we're the generation that stands to be the first to make less than our parents unless we do something different. We can't just polish off a system so broken. It is a season for boldness and a focus on the future." (Watch the video here.) Buttigieg emphasized the theme again at his news conference, telling reporters, "We stand to be the first generation ever to be worse off economically than our parent unless we change something." Later, when asked how he will try to distinguish himself in a crowded field of Democrats, Buttigieg said, "I'm not like the others. ... I'm the only who's living a middle-class lifestyle in a middle-class neighborhood in middle America." He admitted he faces long odds and that other Democratic candidates come to the race with higher profiles, more name recognition and more money. But Buttigieg said digital and social media today allow candidates to reach large audiences and build a following in new ways. And a crowded, wide-open field, he said, creates the opportunity for "fresh faces" and new ideas to emerge. His ideas will revolve around three principles: freedom (freedom in health care choices, for example, or freedom to marry anyone you love); democracy (strengthening democracy through, for example, preserving voters' rights and standing against gerrymandering); and security (a focus not just on counter-terrorism and border security, but also cyber-security and climate change). Buttigieg, when prompted by questions for reporters, also offered two specific stances: he thinks the electoral college should be abolished, and he believes in a single-payer health care system. The mayor's bid for the White House has been anticipated for months as he has increasingly received attention from national media outlets and he openly courted the idea of seeking higher office. His run seemed like a certainty last month, when he announced he would not seek a third term as mayor of South Bend, a city he has led since 2012, and declaring that he was "ready to move on." He is also releasing a book next month, Shortest Way Home: One Mayors Challenge and a Model for Americas Future, in which he reinforces the theme of revitalizing a struggling South Bend the book's jacket reads, A mayors inspirational story of a Midwest city that has miraculously become a blueprint for the future of American renewal." In Indiana, a path to statewide office for Buttigieg became increasingly shaky as the state turned even more "red" in recent elections. But his national profile rose in 2015, when he came out as Indiana's first openly gay elected official in an essay in The Tribune titled "Why coming out matters." He kicked his national profile into a higher gear in 2017, when he made a long-shot bid to become chairman of the Democratic National Committee. For his newly minted presidential run, Buttigieg will travel to Iowa next week to meet with voters in the nation's first caucus state, followed by stops in New Hampshire. And he's ready with a quip for questions about his last name. When asked at his news conference Wednesday how he pronounced "Buttigieg," he offered the answer and then added: "But around South Bend, they just call me 'Mayor Pete,' and that's fine with me." Secure access control is helping to shape the post-pandemic world With the continued rolling back of COVID restrictions in the UK, there is a palpable sense of relief. A mixture of mass vaccinations, widespread testing, and track and tracing of the infection is helping to enable a healthy bounce back for businesses with secure access control taking an important role in facilitating this. However, rather than just being a reaction to the wake of the pandemic, there is every sign that the economy, and consequently the security sector as well, are both rebuilding and reshaping for the long-term new normal. Prioritising Safety Already deemed an essential service even during the first wave of the pandemic, the security industry has of course taken a vital role in protecting people and property throughout the crisis. Now that venues in the UK are starting to reopen again, our services are key to occupancy management and ensuring that disease transmission is limited as far as possible. Access control is also key in reassuring people that their safety is a priority. Making the upgrade Its all been about choosing the most suitable components and technology that already existed with a few tweaks Businesses and organisations have a duty of care to their employees and the safety of visitors so controlling access, employing lateral flow testing, and deploying suitable Track & Trace mechanisms are all key components. I think those outside our industry are surprised to learn that most of the technology being deployed and used hasnt just magically developed since COVID appeared its all been about choosing the most suitable components and technology that already existed albeit with a few development tweaks or adjustments for the situation at hand. This includes using or installing facial recognition readers rather than using fingerprint or contact tokens, it is swapping to automatic request to exit sensors instead of buttons; it is using powered secure doors rather than having people all grab the same handle. Using mobile credentials is also a key technology choice why not use the highly secure, easy to manage, cost-effective, and of course contact-free benefits of this approach? Touchless solutions We have seen a clear shift in organisations looking to protect their staff and visitors. For instance, we have a big utility customer in Southeast Asia that has just replaced close to 200 sites using fingerprint readers with an additional facial recognition capability. We have also seen a big rise in demand for touchless request to exit sensors and Bluetooth Low Energy Readers for use with smartphone authentication. Working together Integration of security systems is of course nothing new, but in the post-pandemic or endemic age, it has perhaps never been more important. Installations need to be simple, straightforward, and rapid to help maintain safe distancing but also to ensure systems can be deployed as soon as they are needed. The world is changing and developing rapidly and there is simply no place for systems that dont work with others or cause the end-user considerable cost and inconvenience to upgrade. This flexible delivery of security solutions perfectly matches the evolving and increasing demands of the market. Its clear that end-users want systems that work well and can easily integrate with their existing systems not only security but all the other business components which work in unison with each other over a shared network. Great opportunities ahead The recent work-from-home trend is also clearly changing the way organisations and businesses interact with the built environment. Lots of companies are downsizing, offices are being split up, there is lots of revitalisation and reuse of existing office space all of which creates considerable opportunities for security providers. UK inflation more than doubled in April 2021 with unemployment figures dropping and the Pound rising in value There are also, in the UK at least, clear signs that the construction industry is rapidly growing again -with a forecast of 8% rebound and growth this year. UK inflation more than doubled in April 2021 with unemployment figures dropping and the Pound rising in value all positive signs for UK-based security providers. Undoubtedly the highly successful UK vaccination rollout has helped considerably, but there are signs that the Eurozone looks set to improve considerably over the next few months as well. Using integrated access control Undoubtedly the pandemic has made security markets around the world more aware of the benefits of integrated access control in managing the needs of the new normal COVID endemic environment. For example, as a business, we have always had keen interest from the UK healthcare sector, but over the last 12 months, we have seen a big growth in previously modest international markets including Morocco, Kuwait, Bahrain, Thailand, Singapore, Hong Kong, and Thailand all of which are very keen to adopt improved access control solutions. Learning the lessons Nobody would deny the last year or so has been unprecedentedly tough on everyone, as a society we have had to make huge changes and sacrifices. Governments, organisations, and businesses all need to be better prepared in the future, to understand the things that went wrong and those that were successful. However, there is a world beyond the immediate pandemic and its effects. Flexible working practices and the changes these will have to the way we live and work will undoubtedly present great opportunities for the security sector in helping the world evolve. The pandemic has been a wake-up call for many organisations with regards to their duty of care to employees particularly when it comes to mental health and providing a sensible work/life balance. Where we work and the safety of these facilities has received far more scrutiny than before. Flexible security systems Integrated security solutions have a vital role to play in not only protecting the safety of people during the post-lockdown return to work but also in the evolution of the built environment and move towards smart cities - which inevitably will now need to consider greater flexibility in securing home working spaces rather than just traditional places of work. Importantly, powerful access control and integrated security systems need to be flexible to the uncertainties ahead. The COVID pandemic has shown that nothing can be considered certain, except the need for greater flexibility and resilience in the way we operate our professional and personal interactions. Somerset, KY (42501) Today A mix of clouds and sun during the morning will give way to cloudy skies this afternoon. Slight chance of a rain shower. High 87F. Winds SW at 10 to 15 mph.. Tonight Cloudy early with some clearing expected late. Low near 65F. Winds SSW at 5 to 10 mph. Please log in, or sign up for a new account and purchase a subscription, or activate your access, to continue reading. Cardinal Hits More High?Grade Shallow Gold at Ndongo East Posted by Publisher Internet ? Highlights????????????????????? Today?s high?grade gold intersection from Ndongo East includes: 14m @ 7.0 g/t Au from 69m in NDDD046 (including 2m @ 42.2g/t from 80m) Previous high?grade gold intersections from Ndongo East included: 9m @ 23.3 g/t Au from 60m in NDRC248* 7m @ 4.4 g/t Au from 14m in NDRC216* 6m @ 12.6 g/t Au from 2m in NDRC275* 3m @ 29.3 g/t Au from 45m in NDDD036* ????? *Refer to press releases dated 16 July 2018 and 29 August 2018 on Ndongo East Gold mineralisation demonstrated over a strike length of approximately 2km at Ndongo East; Drilling has encountered multiple intercepts of near?surface mineralisation; Drilling is ongoing and will continue to evaluate the strike and depth extension of the Ndongo East mineralised system; Additional parallel mineralised structures striking NE?SW remain to be evaluated by drilling and provide high priority drill targets; Cardinal Resources Limited (ASX/TSX: CDV) (?Cardinal? or ?the Company? http://www.commodity-tv.net/c/search_adv/?v=298369) is pleased to announce that first drilling results following the recent wet season have commenced, intersecting further high?grade and shallow gold mineralisation at the new Ndongo East discovery.? Importantly, the Ndongo Prospecting License is located only 24km north of the Company?s Namdini Gold Project for which Cardinal declared a Maiden Probable Ore Reserve of 4.76Moz on the 18 September 2018 (Figure 1). On 16 July and 29 August 2018, Cardinal reported several intersections of high?grade gold at its new Ndongo East discovery within the Ndongo Prospecting License and has now intersected further high?grade gold in recently completed diamond drilling which has recently re?commenced following the wet season. It is planned to steadily ramp up exploration as ground conditions improve and drilling results are interpreted. Cardinal?s Chief Executive Officer / Managing Director, Archie Koimtsidis commented: ?We are increasingly encouraged at how Ndongo East is evolving. This new discovery has the potential to add further high?grade gold ounces to our Maiden Probable Ore Reserve of 4.76Moz within the Namdini Gold Project located 24km to the south. ?The Ndongo East discovery is particularly encouraging with the initial 450m strike length of strong, shallow gold mineralisation still open along strike and at depth (Figures 2 and 3). ?Beyond this initial mineralised zone, a further 750m of gold mineralisation has been intersected along strike towards the south west, which appears to be extending the overall gold mineralisation of the Ndongo East discovery to approximately 1.2km (Figure 2). ?The Ndongo East prospect lies within a larger target area of approximately 7km in length that has yet to be drill tested. We have now recommenced drilling after the 2018 wet season with further results pending?. Ndongo Prospecting License The Ndongo Prospecting License covers an area of 295 km2 and is considered highly prospective for the discovery of economic gold mineralisation associated with the prolific Nangodi Shear Zone, a splay fault off the main regional?scale Bole?Bolgatanga Shear. Elsewhere, the Nangodi Shear Zone is spatially related to no fewer than four gold discoveries, including the Company?s Namdini Gold Project with a 4.76Moz Probable Reserve, the Shaanxi Gold Mine, the historic Nangodi Gold Mine and the 2.1 Moz Youga Gold Mine in Burkina Faso, adjacent to the Ghanaian border. In addition, there are numerous historic shallow artisanal workings along many parts of this shear zone ~15 to 25 km north of the Namdini Gold Project (Figure 1). Ndongo East Prospect The Ndongo East Prospect is located within NE?SW trending Birimian metavolcanics and metasediments. Gold mineralisation is developed mostly along diorite?granodiorite contact zones where competency contrasts create brittle fracturing allowing the ingress and precipitation of gold mineralising fluids (Figures 2 and 3). The mineralised horizons contain variable chlorite?silica?carbonate?sericite alteration with sulphides (mainly pyrite with very minor arsenopyrite). Previously announced drilling intersected higher?grade mineralised structures concentrated in the northern portion of the shear zone, over a 450m strike length with coincident gold?in?soil and geophysical targets. Subsequent RC drilling along fence lines further to the southwest along strike and at depth to test for mineralisation has proven encouraging with further high?grade intercepts within the mineralised structures. This indicates that the mineralised system is open along a NE?SW strike and at depth with multiple mineralised intersections. The furthest drill fence to the southwest intersected 2m at 27.0 g/t Au from 10m downhole in NDRC247 which suggests a strike potential up to 1.2km of mineralised structures. (refer to Cardinal?s ASX/TSX Press Release 29 August 2018 ?Cardinal Extends Ndongo East Discovery Strike Length?). Additional diamond drilling is continuing at Ndongo East to test the strike and depth extents of the mineralised system and to evaluate the structural components of the various lithological units. Drill holes for this release are detailed in Schedule 1, Tables 1 and 2 below. ABOUT CARDINAL Cardinal Resources Limited (ASX/TSX: CDV) is a West African gold?focused exploration and development Company that holds interests in tenements within Ghana, West Africa. The Company is focused on the development of the Namdini Project with a Maiden Ore Reserve of 4.76Moz and is now advancing the feasibility study. Exploration programmes are also underway at the Company?s Bolgatanga (Northern Ghana) and Subranum (Southern Ghana) Projects. Cardinal confirms that it is not aware of any new information or data that materially affects the information included in its announcement of the Maiden Ore Reserve of 18 September 2018. All material assumptions and technical parameters underpinning this estimate continue to apply and have not materially changed. Competent Person?s / Qualified Person?s Statement The information in this press release is based on information prepared by Mr. Paul Abbott, a full-time employee of Cardinal Resources, who is a member of the Geological Society of South Africa. Mr. Abbott has sufficient experience which is relevant to the style of mineralisation and type of deposit under consideration and the activity which he is undertaking to qualify as a Competent Person, as defined in the 2012 Edition of the ?Australasian Code for Reporting of Exploration Results, Mineral Resources and Ore Reserves?. The information in this press release has been compiled and reviewed by Mr. Richard Bray, a Registered Professional Geologist with the Australian Institute of Geoscientists and Mr. Ekow Taylor, a Chartered Professional Geologist with the Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy.? Mr. Bray and Mr. Taylor have more than five years? experience relevant to the styles of mineralisation and type of deposits under consideration and to the activity which is being undertaken to qualify as a Competent Person, as defined in the 2012 Edition of the ?Australasian Code for Reporting of Exploration Results, Mineral Resources and Ore Reserves? and as a Qualified Person as defined by the NI43-101 instrument.? Mr. Bray and Mr. Taylor are full-time employees of Cardinal and hold equity securities in the Company.? Mr. Bray and Mr. Taylor have consented to the inclusion of the matters in this report based on the information in the form and context in which it appears. Disclaimer This ASX / TSX press release has been prepared by Cardinal Resources Limited (ABN: 56 147 325 620) (?Cardinal? or ?the Company?).? Neither the ASX or the TSX, nor their regulation service providers accept responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this press release. This press release contains summary information about Cardinal, its subsidiaries and their activities, which is current as at the date of this press release.? The information in this press release is of a general nature and does not purport to be complete nor does it contain all the information, which a prospective investor may require in evaluating a possible investment in Cardinal. By its very nature exploration for minerals is a high?risk business and is not suitable for certain investors.? Cardinal?s securities are speculative.? Potential investors should consult their stockbroker or financial advisor.? There are a number of risks, both specific to Cardinal and of a general nature which may affect the future operating and financial performance of Cardinal and the value of an investment in Cardinal including but not limited to economic conditions, stock market fluctuations, gold price movements, regional infrastructure constraints, timing of approvals from relevant authorities, regulatory risks, operational risks and reliance on key personnel and foreign currency fluctuations. Except for statutory liability which cannot be excluded and subject to applicable law, each of Cardinal?s officers, employees and advisors expressly disclaim any responsibility for the accuracy or completeness of the material contained in this press release and excludes all liability whatsoever (including in negligence) for any loss or damage which may be suffered by any person as a consequence of any information in this Announcement or any error or omission here from. Except as required by applicable law, the Company is under no obligation to update any person regarding any inaccuracy, omission or change in information in this press release or any other information made available to a person nor any obligation to furnish the person with any further information.? Recipients of this press release should make their own independent assessment and determination as to the Company?s prospects, its business, assets and liabilities as well as the matters covered in this press release. Forward?looking statements Certain statements contained in this press release, including information as to the future financial or operating performance of Cardinal and its projects may also include statements which are ?forward?looking statements? that may include, amongst other things, statements regarding targets, anticipated timing of the feasibility study (FS) on the Namdini project, estimates and assumptions in respect of mineral resources and anticipated grades and recovery rates, production and prices, recovery costs and results, capital expenditures and are or may be based on assumptions and estimates related to future technical, economic, market, political, social and other conditions. These ?forward ? looking statements? are necessarily based upon a number of estimates and assumptions that, while considered reasonable by Cardinal, are inherently subject to significant technical, business, economic, competitive, political and social uncertainties and contingencies and involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties that could cause actual events or results to differ materially from estimated or anticipated events or results reflected in such forward?looking statements. Cardinal disclaims any intent or obligation to update publicly or release any revisions to any forward?looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events, circumstances or results or otherwise after today?s date or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events, other than required by the Corporations Act and ASX and TSX Listing Rules. The words ?believe?, ?expect?, ?anticipate?, ?indicate?, ?contemplate?, ?target?, ?plan?, ?intends?, ?continue?, ?budget?, ?estimate?, ?may?, ?will?, ?schedule? and similar expressions identify forward?looking statements. All forward?looking statements made in this press release are qualified by the foregoing cautionary statements. Investors are cautioned that forward?looking statements are not guarantees of future performance and accordingly investors are cautioned not to put undue reliance on forward?looking statements due to the inherent uncertainty therein. To view entire news release, please follow the link: https://www.asx.com.au/asxpdf/20190123/pdf/44211kgl1m7v4l.pdf GREAT BAY:--- The National Alliance (NA) faction in Parliament is gravely disappointed in the manner in which the continuation of Public Meeting #23 was postponed upon the request of Minister of Public Housing, Spatial Planning, Environment and Infrastructure (VROMI) Miklos Gitersons via email on January 21, the day before the scheduled meeting was to reconvene. Note also that this was done with without stating any reason whatsoever. Members of Parliament were in turn notified by Parliament also via email around 7:30pm on Monday evening of this postponement. This coming on the heels of the months long discussions, notifications, media reports and public discourses on the manner in which meetings are being called, and the backlog of pending meetings. This also amidst the discretion being exercised by the Chair in recent months not to honor the requests for Urgent meetings, specifically by the minority in Parliament, when we attempt to hold Government to account related to topics of interest to the well-being of the people of St. Maarten. The notification of postponement also was received late Monday evening after the adjournment of the urgently requested Airport loan/grant meeting during which members of Parliament expressed concern about the manner in which more and more conditions were being accepted in addition to the ones already agreed upon to receive the funds in the first place, and where MP Christophe Emmanuel (NA) entered a motion of no-confidence in Minister Stuart Johnson which was co-signed by all NA/USP members in the first round. Though this meeting had not been requested by the MPs in question but on behalf of government is a continuation of a meeting called by Government and regards legislation that is well needed and has been in process since 2015/2016. This lack of respect for the Members of Parliament in postponing meetings with no explanation whatsoever is unacceptable and an affront to Parliament and by extension the people we represent, the people of Sint Maarten. Noteworthy to mention is that the majority in Parliament did not have a majority at the time of the adjourned meeting and it is highly likely that a supportive majority would also not be in place for the continuation of OV 23 had it taken place on Tuesday, thereby leaving the members of the CoM/government open for even more motions of no-confidence which could then be voted on and passed. If this is indeed the reason for the postponement, then the people of St. Maarten should sit up and take notice of the obvious manipulations taking place at this time. PHILIPSBURG:--- The House of Parliament will sit in a Central Committee meeting on Thursday, January 24, 2019. The Central Committee meeting is scheduled for 11.00 hrs. in the General Assembly Chamber of the House at Wilhelminastraat #1 in Philipsburg. The Minister of Finance will be present. The agenda points are: 1. Presentation by the American University of the Caribbean School of Medicine (AUC) regarding the International Conference on Disaster Medicine and Hurricane Resilience (IS/500/2018/2019) 2. Discussion regarding the solution for the urgent liquidity problem at the PJIA (IS/506/2018-2019) Members of the public are invited to the House of Parliament to attend parliamentary deliberations. The House of Parliament is located across from the Court House in Philipsburg. The parliamentary session will be carried live on St. Maarten Cable TV Channel 115, via SXM GOV radio FM 107.9, via Pearl Radio FM 98.1, the audio via the Internet www.sxmparliament.org, www.pearlfmradio.sx and Parliaments Facebook page: Parliament of Sint Maarten. PHILIPSBURG:--- Minister of Education, Culture Youth and Sport, the Honourable Wycliffe Smith announced that January 24 is being celebrated as the International Day of Education. This is the first time that this observance is being made by the United Nations. As a part of the UN 2030 agenda, the day was established to promote Sustainable Development Goal #4 which is focused on ensuring that quality education is accessible for all. Regardless of gender, race, socio-economic status, age or any other factor, education is a universal right for all people. Here on Sint Maarten, I encourage each person to strive to continue your education. Once there is life, it is never too late to learn something new, said Minister Smith. Education is compulsory for children between the ages of 4 and 18 years old on Sint Maarten. Beyond ensuring that all children are in school, Country Sint Maarten has pledged to pursue sustainable development goals, including Goal 4: Quality education. According to the United Nations, Achieving inclusive and quality education for all reaffirms the belief that education is one of the most powerful and proven vehicles for sustainable development. This goal ensures that all girls and boys complete free primary and secondary schooling by 2030. It also aims to provide equal access to affordable vocational training, to eliminate gender and wealth disparities, and achieve universal access to a quality higher education. January 21, 2019 Recently, my Cabinet Chief of Staff, Peter J. Gittens, brought to my attention that there is an outpouring of reports of child abuse, molestation and paedophilia on social media from members of our community. These activities are reprehensible and must be taken seriously. Just two months ago, as the Minister of Education, Culture, Youth, and Sport, I signed the Memorandum of Understanding on behalf of Sint Maarten to declare our commitment as a country to promoting, protecting and defending the International Convention on the Rights of The Child. It is every childs right to be free and safe from harm of any form. No girl nor boy should have to endure the advances of sexual predators in the home, school or community. In my years of pastoral care and as an educator, I have heard too many cries of persons who suffered these atrocities at a young age and all too often, from the hand of a trusted adult. The damage is significant and can set in motion a very hurtful cycle where the victim becomes a perpetrator. You have heard me say before, it takes a village to raise a child, and I reiterate it now because as a community, we must DO something about this social cancer. There are some persons who question the childrens role in the abusive relationships, but there is only one way to answer that. It is the adults duty to protect the child from harm even from bringing harm to him or herself. Adults, let us DO THE RIGHT THING. As the Ministry with responsibility for Youth, we have been offering continuous support to hurting children and families through the Student Support Services Division (SSSD) and promoting the International Rights of the Child through the Department of Youth Affairs. Also, the Youth Desk was established a few years ago with the mission to facilitate our young people in handling matters and receiving information that pertain to them. These include laws and policies geared towards youth. The Youth Desk was closed with the passing of Hurricane Irma, pending re-location. In working with the Department of Youth Affairs, I will commit to the re-opening of this Youth Desk. This will be another avenue for young persons to reach out for assistance with abusive situations. I am calling on the House of Parliament to review the penal code concerning crimes committed against our children. The gravity of the damage these paedophiles inflict on their victims should be reflected in the consequences meted out in our judicial system. I will also be sitting with key persons in the ministry of Education to review and present policy from our end as well. I am appealing to my colleague, the Minister of Justice to provide the support needed in the Police Force, particularly the departments responsible for investigating crimes against juveniles and the Court of Guardianship, as they are critical to bringing social relief, care and justice to the abused children and their families. I am asking that all caring, well-meaning adults, parents, teachers, counsellors, social workers, and trustworthy neighbours, to listen to our children when they report that some wrong has befallen them. Pay attention to signs that the child does not feel safe around that person. You may be the one to rescue that child from a traumatic situation. Listen to their outcry and report it to the authorities. I am encouraging all children who have had the unfortunate experience of being touched in inappropriate ways, or told to keep secrets about what has been done or asked of them concerning their private body parts, to tell it to your parent or family member, a teacher or school counsellor, a trusted adult or the police. Whether it was done by an adult or another child, no one is allowed to hurt our boys and girls. It is time for us to take a stand. Soualuiga, we must protect our young ones. Allow righteous salt to clean this wound that has been festering for too long. Let us unite and focus on doing the right thing for our children and our future. Honourable Wycliffe Smith, MA, M.Ed. Minister of Education, Culture, Youth and Sport Dear Editor, I decided to write about my recent experience only because I read about someone else who had a similar experience. Recently I read about a woman who had difficulties with a female 911 operator. Im choosing to share my experience after reading that I might not be the only one who has been victimized by this female police officer answering emergency calls. I read the letter to the editor this past week about a 911 dispatcher & laughed. Keep in mind that I did not laugh as in haha that's funny, I laughed a sad laugh. A wow, Im not the only one to have been completely disrespected by a woman on the local police force on the Dutch side of the friendly island. I was & have been physically & mentally abused by a man over the years. I finally decided to report him. I regret that 911 call. The female police officer who took my call asked me what did you do to provoke him to beat on you. Yes, that's what she asked me. The conversations I believe are recorded so the proof is there should I ever want to take this further. I must come to the conclusion that this is a very bad apple in the bunch of police officers that are answering 911 calls. As the writer's situation sounded far too familiar with the terrible attitude I received making me feel as though I was at fault. In the end, the police force of St Maarten did not help me. I did, however, contact Safe Haven who was able to offer advice, talk calmly, relate to my situation. Women, if you are having a problem with a man I suggest you contact Safe Haven for help. The police force is obviously not trained to assist women with domestic abuse issues. Id like to throw this question out to the Chief of police & I look very forward to your response to the media & to the women on this island...is there a problem with the women on your force? Why is it that the women police officers speak so badly to other women? How dare they feel screaming & pointing their finger in a woman's face is acceptable to get their point across. I AM not an animal...Are they trying to fit in with the macho men? Do they resent other women may be of different nationalities? I have yet to meet a woman police officer, again, on the Dutch side of the Friendly Island who was in-fact an emotionally stable individual, able to keep her emotions out of the situation, deal with the situation she was called out to attend. Instead of straying off to, who is your neighbour, her friend is my neighbour, that officer is my friend, I dont like that you are more educated than me, I don't like your house is bigger than mine, & finally... I dont like anyone with lighter skin than me. Please keep in mind that this is not my opinion, This is a recent personal experience. Anyone out there who feels the local St Maarten policewomen are not biased, well, you are their friend, relative, neighbour etc & finally, I bet your vehicle has & black tinted windows & no officers peel it off...you are not 1 of us common folk. There are 2 types of people on this island. The ones connected to the local police force by blood or friendship..then there are us stupid folk who are forced to bow to them or we end up being yelled at by a female officer as she points her finger into your eye. To end this on a positive note as I believe there are many positives within this said friendly island police force. There is a senior male police officer who works as a 911 dispatcher. Words cannot explain the compassion this particular individual has shown. I do hope to cross paths with him 1 day as I will never forget the patience to listen to my story, the understanding & non-judgemental advice. In every fruit basket we find a rotten, however, I assure you the St Maarten police force has some seasoned gentlemen that are ready to help any woman, child or man in need of help. If you find yourself in a helpless situation, woman, call Safe haven before making any bad decision. I choose to withhold my name as unfortunately the women on the force are prone to targeting an individual for making a complaint & I can be sure they will target my family for writing this. It is a sad day when the police force cannot be trusted due to high strung emotions & mafia-like behaviour. Im hoping more women feel comfortable to share their experiences & eventually see a better-educated Police force. Again, I look forward to the Chief of Police addressing this obvious hidden issue. Authors name withheld upon request. Wellington: New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has pitched what she says will be the first-ever "wellbeing" budget by a government. Her administration this year has vowed to take a new approach to its finances, saying it will no longer just crunch numbers on economic data, but also a variety of social indicators in search of long-term solutions. "I don't think it's the end of GDP, I think it's the beginning of doing things differently," Ardern told a panel at the World Economic Forum in Davos. "It's about bringing kindness and empathy to governance ... Our people are telling us that politics are not delivering and meeting their expectations. This is not woolly, it's critical." Trump this week asked Giuliani to scale back his media appearances after the recent series of interviews, White House aides said, and complained that his lawyer did not know all the facts of the case. The President asked Giuliani to scale back his public appearances after a string of bizarre TV interviews. Credit:Youtube The President also asked Giuliani to clean up some of his misstatements publicly, complaining he created a weekend of news, including negative cable chyrons, at a time when Trump wanted public attention focused on special counsel Robert Mueller disputing a BuzzFeed story that Trump had asked Cohen to lie to Congress. The recent tensions between Trump and Giuliani highlight the unique role he plays for the President. Even though Trump has been frustrated with Giuliani's performance several times since he became his lawyer in April, he continues to get a longer leash than most of the President's aides and surrogates. That's because Giuliani, whom he considers a friend, is doing what Trump wants - serving chiefly as his public defender rather than his pragmatic legal counsel - and because the President would struggle to replace him after being turned down by several high profile attorneys reluctant to represent the mercurial Trump. Loading The first lawyer who represented Trump in the Russia probe, John Dowd, quit in March over a dispute on how to best handle responding to the investigation. For now the two septuagenarian New Yorkers appear stuck with each other - to the chagrin of some of the President's allies. The White House communications staff has grown frustrated with Giuliani and privately mock some of his interviews, saying they spend more time responding to Giuliani's answers than Giuliani does preparing to give them. A person close to the President's legal team said the comments were seen as "bizarre", even by those involved in the case. A second person said the President's other lawyers are also frustrated with Giuliani for his TV appearances and do not view him as helping the case. Both requested anonymity to discuss Giuliani's performance. "Most of what he says is not consistent with the actual facts," one of these people said. "Thinking there is a strategy would give Rudy too much credit. He doesn't know what he is talking about." People familiar with the legal team say Giuliani's public comments could hurt their standing with Mueller and prolong the probe - as the special counsel's office investigates his various statements and contradictions. Loading "From a legal standpoint and a public perception standpoint in terms of trying to help your client, nothing he is doing makes any sense whatsoever," said Ted Boutrous, a Gibson Dunn partner who regularly argues cases in front of the Supreme Court. Jay Sekulow, one of the President's lawyers, said Giuliani remains a "valuable member" of the legal team. The President does not plan to oust Giuliani and continues to consider him a friend, according to five current and former White House aides and outside advisers who requested anonymity to discuss the sensitive issue. Trump wants people out there "pushing back, pushing back on everything", said a senior administration official. The President sees much of the battle over Mueller's investigation as a public relations fight and is often unconcerned if Giuliani's answers are inaccurate - as long as they are delivered with confidence and don't sow confusion. "His role is largely in the court of public opinion. Giuliani's goal is to tell the American public that this is political, not legal. He's succeeded in doing that with some blips along the way," said Alan Dershowitz, a retired Harvard Law School professor and occasional Trump adviser. "His main task is to politicise legal issues. In the end, Rudy has been a major plus for Trump." Like many White House staff, press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders has avoided making public statements about the Russia probe. Credit:AP Trump has told advisers and other lawyers that Giuliani's combative posture toward Mueller's team and his refusal to answer questions from the special counsel's office was a welcome change from the early days of the investigation, when lawyers convinced the President to cooperate - and that the inquiry would be over soon if he did. Giuliani has finished a lengthy report that he has shown the President, questioning the integrity of the investigation, and Trump has been impressed at its length. The two men have complained about particular members of Mueller's team such as prosecutor Andrew Weissman, whom they view as overly aggressive. Many of the President's closest aides want nothing to do with the investigation, fearful of legal fees and subpoenas. For example, former White House chief of staff John Kelly would often walk out of the room when the President would begin talking about the probe - or had a meeting scheduled with his lawyers. White House press secretary Sarah Sanders has sought to avoid questions about the investigation and to have statements put in her name. Loading And the President's other lawyers - Jane Raskin and Jay Sekulow - are not regular TV personalities like Giuliani. Two people close to the President's legal team said Raskin and Sekulow handle much of the actual interactions with Mueller, and then brief Giuliani later. Trump frequently commiserates with Emmet Flood and Pat Cipollone, White House lawyers focused on the Mueller investigation who he has come to trust. "There is an outside, inside game happening," Dershowitz said. Trump has told advisers that people increasingly see the probe his way, partially because of Giuliani, even though the latest Politico/Morning Consult poll shows 57 per cent of Americans believe Russia has compromising information on Trump. Moscow: A meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan ended in Moscow on Wednesday without an announcement of a potential deal on a planned Turkish-controlled zone in northern Syria. Turkey has been pursuing the so-called "safe zone" along its border with northern Syria to provide security and stem the flow of migrants as the United States withdraws troops from the war-torn country. Talks will continue, Erdogan told reporters. Turkey is seeking a "safe zone cleansed of terror", he said, standing alongside Putin at a televised press conference. Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, left, gestures as Russian President Vladimir Putin listens to him during a joint news conference following their talks in Moscow on Wednesday. Credit:AP Turkey has received a positive response about the planned safe zone from the US and does not have a problem with Russia on the issue, Erdogan said. Russia has previously suggested transferring control of all Kurdish-held areas in northern Syria to the government of Syrian President Bashar Assad. Turkey opposes that government. Bremeverhaven: Scientists prepared Thursday to embark on an unprecedented, years-long mission to explore the Indian Ocean and document changes taking place beneath the waves that could affect billions of people in the surrounding region over the coming decades. The ambitious expedition will delve into one of the last major unexplored frontiers on the planet, a vast body of water that's already feeling the effects of global warming. Understanding the Indian Ocean's ecosystem is important not just for the species that live in it, but also for an estimated 2.5 billion people at home in the region from East Africa, the Arabian peninsula, South and South-east Asia. The Ocean Zephyr stands docked in Bremerhaven on Wednesday. Credit:AP The Nekton Mission, supported by over 40 organisations, will conduct further dives in other parts of the Indian Ocean over three years. The research will contribute to a summit on the state of the Indian Ocean planned for late 2021. The Ocean Zephyr is preparing to leave Bremerhaven, Germany, on the first leg of trip. Researchers will spend seven weeks surveying underwater life, map the sea floor and drop sensors to depths of up to 2000 metres in the seas around the Seychelles. Moscow: Senior Russian officials on Wednesday put their new cruise missile on display for a foreign audience for the first time, in an attempt to rebut American accusations that the weapon violates a key nuclear arms accord. Using the slightly odd backdrop of a military theme park outside Moscow, military officers and Russia's senior arms control diplomat insisted that the land-based cruise missile, the Novator 9M729, conforms to the limited range allowed under the 1987 Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty, or INF. The display for foreign military attaches and the press was meant to underscore Russia's "increased transparency and our adherence to the INF treaty," said Lieutenant General Mikhail Matveyevskiy, the chief of missiles and artillery for the Russian armed forces. The United States, under both President Barack Obama and President Donald Trump, has said that the Russian weapon violates the ban on producing, testing or deploying any land-based cruise or ballistic missile with a range of 500 to 5500 kilometres. Chinese Vice President Wang Qishan addresses the 2019 annual meeting of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, on Jan. 23, 2019. (Xinhua/Huang Jingwen) DAVOS, Switzerland, Jan. 23 (Xinhua) -- Chinese Vice President Wang Qishan here on Wednesday called on countries to work together to shape the global architecture in the age of the fourth industrial revolution with the vision to create a better future for all mankind. While addressing the 2019 annual meeting of the World Economic Forum, Wang said it is imperative to respect national sovereignty and refrain from seeking technological hegemony and interfering in other countries' domestic affairs. He called for efforts to uphold multilateralism and jointly build a system of rules for technology and new international cooperation framework featuring peace, security, democracy, transparency, inclusiveness and mutual benefit, so that all people can gain from technological innovation. Pointing out that new technologies bring opportunities and also create risks and challenges, Wang said that countries need to uphold the security of all mankind and need to improve policy environment and promote social prosperity and stability. "We need to explore the adoption of relevant rules and standards in a phased way, while leaving broad space for the dissemination and application of scientific discovery and technological innovation," he said. Wang also called for accommodating in a balanced manner the interests of all countries, especially those of emerging market and developing countries. "One should not ask the whole world to address only the security concern and comply only with the standards of developed countries or individual countries," he said. This year's Davos forum gathers global elites to discuss "Globalization 4.0," a buzzword that means a new wave of globalization in a digital world. More than 60 heads of state or government, 40 international organization heads and 1,700 business leaders attended the event. The arrest of Australian citizen Yang Hengjun by Chinese authorities provides grist for the mill of both sides of the debate over whether Australia should take a hard line in confronting China. Mr Yang, a former Chinese diplomat who has written spy novels and published a popular blog since coming to Australia, was detained more than five days ago in Guangzhou during a rare visit from the US where he lives and as of Thursday evening was being held in "home detention". The case may involve allegations of espionage. For diplomatic hawks the arrest is more evidence that China is a rogue regime. They will regard this persecution of a man who has spoken candidly about life in China as a legal fiction whose true purpose is to pressure Australia at a time of heightened tension. Australian blogger Yang Hengjun was detained by secret police as he arrived in China. Credit:Sanghee Liu The theory is that China is firing a shot across the bow warning Australia not to get involved in the global uproar around Canada's arrest of Meng Wanzhou, an executive for Chinese telecom equipment firm Huawei. Beijing: As blogger Yang Hengjun languishes in a secret location in Beijing accused of espionage, defence minister Christopher Pyne was told his Chinese counterpart General Wei Fenghe would seek more information on the Australian. Defence minister Christopher Pyne was told his Chinese counterpart General Wei Fenghe. Credit:Sanghee Liu The stakes are high if Australia's diplomatic push does not work: A lawyer acting for Mr Yang says there is no automatic right to a lawyer in Chinese national security cases, and detention with no family contact can last for six months. Any trial would also be held behind closed doors. But charges are yet to be laid against Mr Yang, an Australian citizen who has been held for questioning since arriving in China from New York on Saturday. Cape Canaveral, Florida: Astronomers have captured the moment of an impact during this week's lunar eclipse. Spanish astrophysicist Jose Maria Madiedo of the University of Huelva said on Wednesday it appears that a rock from a comet slammed into the moon during the total lunar eclipse late on Sunday and early on Monday. The strike was seen by telescopes in Spain and elsewhere as a bright flash. This image from video provided by Griffith Observatory in Los Angeles shows an impact flash on the moon, circled bottom left, during the lunar eclipse which started on Sunday evening. Scientists say it appears a rock from a comet slammed into the moon. Credit:Griffith Observatory via AP Madiedo said it was the first impact flash ever seen during a lunar eclipse, although such crater-forming impacts are common. The object hit at an estimated 17 kilometres a second, weighed 10 kilograms and was 30 centimetres across, he said. Loading Australian diplomats are urgently seeking to establish the reasons for Mr Yang's detention, which was confirmed by China late on Wednesday. The writer, democracy activist and former Chinese diplomat was taken by security agents soon after arriving in the country on Saturday. The Australia-China consular agreement, a formal treaty between the two countries, requires that either government be informed within three days if one of their citizens is detained. Consular officials are also entitled to visit the person. Chinese authorities formally informed the Australian embassy in Beijing on Wednesday night. "We will continue to make representations to China to ensure that this matter is dealt with transparently and fairly," said Senator Payne in a statement. "Our embassy in Beijing will meet with Chinese authorities this morning [Beijing time] to seek further clarification of the nature of this detention and to arrange consular access at the earliest possible opportunity, in accordance with the bilateral consular agreement." Opposition Leader Bill Shorten was critical of China's actions, saying it was "disappointing" that authorities had failed to uphold the requirements of the consular agreement. "You cant sugarcoat this. This is an Australian citizen who has been detained in China. The embassy has just been notified. Im very supportive of all efforts to reach out to him, to get to the bottom of what happened, what is happening. But it is very concerning I cant pretend otherwise," he told the ABC. "This is not the way which relations between our two countries should be conducted at all." Former prime minister Kevin Rudd, a high-profile commentator on Chinese politics, said Mr Yang enjoyed certain rights and protections as an Australian citizen under the consular agreement. "China has an international legal obligation under [article] 12 of our 1999 Treaty for full consular access & to advise what Chinese law he is alleged to have breached," Mr Rudd posted on Twitter. Loading The reasons for Mr Yang's arrest are the subject of urgent inquiries by officials and speculation by foreign policy experts. China under President Xi Jinping is increasingly intolerant of dissent and Mr Yang has been a public and popular advocate for political reform in the authoritarian state. He has been detained in China before. In 2011, he was unreachable for a number of days during a visit to the country and subsequently sought to downplay the episode as a "misunderstanding". This latest incident has come at a moment of heightened tensions between the Chinese government and various foreign powers, with civilians seemingly caught in the crossfire. Last month, China detained two Canadian men, Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor, apparently in retaliation for the Canadian arrest of Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou at the request of the United States, over allegations of fraud linked to business dealing with Iran in violation of US sanctions. Detained in China: Canadian nationals Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor. Credit:AP Australia has joined allies in expressing concern about China's actions. These have been rebuffed by Beijing, which was infuriated by the arrest of Ms Meng. The detention of Mr Yang may be unrelated to international tensions and primarily about him. He travelled to China despite warning from friends that it was too dangerous. He assured one, Dr Feng, that he would not be on the authorities' radar. Yang believed he had "done nothing to offend the authorities over the last two or three years," according to Dr Feng. Qantas' Perth to London direct flight has been grounded at the 11th hour for the second time this month, with passengers asked to disembark after sitting on the plane for two hours. The 17-hour flight, which departs Perth once a day, was scheduled to take off at 7.40pm on Wednesday evening. Qantas was forced to delay its direct Perth to London flight for the second time this month. Credit:Tim Stake WA member for Moore, Shane Love, who was booked on the flight, tweeted the journey was delayed because the crew was not provided with a flight plan. "The captain has said he will not be able to fly in the 20 hours allowed and cancelled the flight!" he said. A man who tried to kill a Perth policeman by slashing his head with a samurai sword has been sentenced to nine years in prison. Milos Radovic, 47, stood trial in the West Australian Supreme Court charged with attempting to murder Senior Constable Andrew Swift, who had been called to a domestic dispute in Rockingham in July 2017. Radovic, who had claimed he suffered a muscle spasm when he was tasered and never intended to kill the officer, must spend at least seven years behind bars before he can be eligible for parole. Police officer Andrew Swift lost a litre of blood and received 25 stitches to his head after being attacked with a samurai sword. The officer had been trying to arrest Radovic at the time. The passing of Vincent Joseph (Vince) Higgins, union and Catholic activist, sees the demise of an important link to the turbulent clashes in the labour movement of the 1950s. Last of seven children born to James and Mary Josephine Higgins, in the late 1920s and early 1930s reared in an inner-Sydney working class family, he had familiarity with tough times, uncertain employment, thrift and battles for social justice. Typical of similar children, he left school aged 14. Ray of hope: Vince Higgins, secretary of the Federated Clerks Union, in front of the old Trades Hall building in Haymarket, which has been reprieved from demolition, 1987. Credit:SMH One vivid memory was the commotion in school grounds on news that the Japanese had bombed Pearl Harbour. Vince could not wait to ask where Hawaii was. Work began as a telegram boy, then the NSW Department of Motor Transport and Tramways, with fire warden duties. Joining Air Cadets, his formal RAAF enlistment was prevented by the wars ending. Undeterred, he enlisted with the army and was sent in 1947 to Hiroshima prefecture, Japan, an area still devastated by the nuclear holocaust. A man has been left fighting for life after falling off a skateboard in Logan. Emergency services were called to Ronald Street in Shailer Park at 5.45pm on Thursday. The high acuity response unit and critical care paramedics were sent by the ambulance service. The man, believed to be in his 20s, was rushed to Princess Alexandra Hospital in a critical condition. An ambulance spokeswoman said the man had suffered head injuries. The death of 21-year-old Aiia Maasarwe throws up so many issues we need to confront. The security of young people travelling home after a night out, public lighting (which truly is dreadful in Melbourne) and whether gruesome details of murders should be made public all stand out. So will others as the court case unfolds. But the way Aiias heartbroken dad Saeed Maasarwe talked about Melbourne and Australia and its people raises an irony that hit me as much as any of those. And thats the massive disconnect between how we treat those from far-away places, and how they often treat us. Graphic images: Paramedics have praised the efforts of bystanders who tried to stop a dog attack in Sydney's west that left a man fighting for his life and a woman and child in hospital. Emergency services, including police, six ambulance crews and a CareFlight helicopter, were called to a home on Vincennes Avenue in Tregear about 1pm on Thursday following reports three people had been attacked by two dogs. The 40-year-old man went into cardiac arrest after he was bitten multiple times, NSW Ambulance Inspector Phil Templeman said. "He had injuries to his face, to his abdomen, to his chest; he sustained quite a significant number of bites," Inspector Templeman said. The body of a 15-year-old Brody Hurst has been found at Bilgola Beach on Sydney's northern beaches on Friday. Police are investigating his death, but it is not being treated as suspicious. Brody was reported missing on Thursday and was last seen at a shop on Barrenjoey Road in Newport about 5.30pm on Thursday. The body of Brody Hurst, 15, has been found on Bilgola Beach. Credit:NSW Police "Brody left his bright green pushbike at the northern end of the beach on the walking track near the sand yesterday early evening and hasn't come home," his mother posted on social media on Friday morning. The NSW Teachers Federation will campaign to remove scripture from NSW public schools after criticising "antiquated" policy that leaves thousands of students unable to do formal school activities if they opt out of scripture classes. Special religious education (SRE) is mandatory for 40 minutes per week, and students who opt out are not allowed to do any meaningful activity during that period. Ethics is not offered in high schools as an alternative, as it is in primary schools when trained volunteers are available. Under the current law, students who opt out of SRE can't participate in academic instruction. Credit:Michele Mossop In a statement issued on Wednesday, Jack Galvin-Waight, the Federation's SRE and special ethics education delegate, said they will "start a campaign to amend the 1990 Education Act in regards to the removal of mandatory SRE". The council decision was moved by the Newcastle Teachers Association and voted on by about 300 elected delegates representing about 70,000 NSW public school teachers. The eight state and territory capitals had versions of the same ethnic face as recently as 2001, the year Australia celebrated, without conviction, the centenary of federation. Nationally, the largest immigrant community was from mother England, and the second largest was from our little brother, New Zealand. Six of the eight capital cities lined up the same way. The exceptions were Melbourne and Adelaide, where the Italians were still number two. Twenty-first-century immigration has inverted the relationship between new arrival and host, as our ethnic face changes from Anglo-European to Eurasian. The new arrival is younger and better educated than the locally born, and typically lands somewhere between the middle and the very top of the income ladder. Two out of every three new arrivals since 2001 have been skilled immigrants. They come primarily from India, England, China, South Africa and the Philippines, to work as doctors and nurses, human-resources and marketing professionals, business managers, IT specialists, and engineers. Western Australia, for instance, is a global leader in recruiting doctors, with "the highest percentage of foreign-born medical practitioners at around 60 per cent", according to the World Bank. Nationally, the English are still our largest immigrant community, but their ranks are greying. More than half are aged over 55, reflecting their arrival before the turn of the 21st century. Chinese have replaced New Zealanders in second spot across the country. However, this new immigrant hierarchy may be short lived. On present trends, the Indians will jump from fourth to second place early next decade, pushing the Chinese back to third spot. Australian Indians dancing and drumming in Sydney Olympic Park before Indian PM Narendra Modi arrives at a 2014 event. Credit:Dominic Lorrimer The Chinese population in Australia has grown by almost 480,000 in two decades; the Indian by 450,000. To put those numbers into context, the next largest group is the Kiwis, who added 250,000 to their Australian diaspora between 1997 and 2017. The English grew by just 50,000, as new arrivals barely covered those who left or died. The Chinese and Indians land today with a different mindset to those who came here in the 20th century. They are not fleeing poverty or war. They are middle-class immigrants leaving their congested and polluted cities for the comfort and opportunity of Australia. The last time we had a middle-class wave on this scale was the gold rush immigrants from Britain, Ireland and Europe in the 19th century. Using past trends as a guide, we can paint a fascinating picture of the future. The great Australian mixed marriage of the 19th century was between English men and Irish women. The Indians in Australia are predominantly male, while the Chinese are majority female. They will marry within their own group, with each other, and with Australian and established migrant communities. Their locally born children will carry a cultural inheritance like no other, ensuring we remain one of the most vibrant nations on earth. Loading Today's national ethnic face, with the English first and the Chinese second, is replicated in just two capital cities: Canberra, our most middle-class city, and Hobart, our poorest. The English also remain the largest immigrant group in Perth and Adelaide. But that's where the similarities end. In Perth, a city of about two million people, the New Zealanders are still second, while the Chinese are not even in the top five. In Adelaide, a city of about 1.3 million, the Indians are second, while the New Zealanders are outside the top five. Perth is an Anglo outlier which continues to attract young migrants from England. On the other hand, Adelaide's English community has reached the tipping point of ageing, with deaths and departures exceeding new arrivals. But Perth, Adelaide, Canberra and Hobart are not where most people live. The majority reside in just three cities, Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane and these capitals look nothing like the national average. In Sydney, 5.2 million people and booming, the Chinese are now the largest immigrant community, and the Indians are poised to overtake the English in second place before the next census is held in 2021. In Melbourne, almost five million-strong, the Indians are already first and the Chinese second. Our two largest cities have crossed the threshold from Anglo-European to Eurasian. But to the north, the Pacific, not Asia, is the main engine of diversity for the time being. In Brisbane, a city half the size of Melbourne, the New Zealanders are first and the English second. But the Chinese and Indians, placed third and fourth respectively, are expected to close the gap over the coming decade. Darwin, our smallest capital, completes the mosaic, with yet another Eurasian identity. Here the largest immigrant community is from the Philippines, followed by England. Who we are today, is Australasian. Taking the train from Melbourne's Southern Cross station to Geelong reveals the city's new demographic make-up. Credit:Vince Caligiuri The best way to understand Australasia in all its glorious contradictions is on the train ride from Victoria's cosmopolitan capital of Melbourne to its second-largest city, Geelong. The one-hour journey from Southern Cross Station reveals the many faces of our people, as the carriages empty and fill with snapshots of who we are. Each platform shatters the 20th-century assumptions that Australia is either young or old, migrant or local-born, leafy or decaying, city or bush. We are much more interesting than that. The train line cuts through Melbourne's old industrial heartland, past Festival Hall, where the Beatles could barely hear themselves play over the squall of Australia's 1960s adolescents, to the working-class suburbs of Footscray and Sunshine, then on to the new satellite suburb of Tarneit. Behind you are the jigsaw of apartment towers around the Docklands precinct. The waterfront suburb has trebled in size since 2006, led by international students and young local professionals. A decade ago, Docklands residents were mostly Australian-born. Now, almost seven in 10 people in Docklands were born overseas, with the Chinese and Indians combining to outnumber those born here. The first stop, Footscray, is just seven minutes into our journey, but it already feels like another country. While it remains majority immigrant, this once-isolated suburb is gentrifying. The Australian-born population swelled by almost 60 per cent between 2006 and 2016, and the locals are likely to reclaim majority status before the next census is held in 2021. Five minutes further west, in Sunshine, the faces on the platform are suddenly much older. The Australian-born population is 3 per cent smaller now than it was a decade ago. Only a modest influx of immigrants from Vietnam and India spared the suburb from a decline in total population. Tarneit is two more stops and a further 13 minutes away. Here the population has increased almost five-fold in 10 years, from 7500 to almost 35,000, and the suburb now holds almost as many people as Docklands, Footscray and Sunshine combined. The platforms on both sides are boiling with commuters of all colours: backpack-wearing university students, men and women in suits, men and women with prams, teenagers in school uniforms. The wave of Indian students and young families reaches its peak here, combining to form 20 per cent of the suburb, while the Chinese-born are just 1 per cent. The Chinese student wave concentrates in the inner city, pushing its population skyward. In Docklands, the Chinese represent 19 per cent of the suburb. Meanwhile, Chinese families with locally born children have already followed the path of the Italians and Greeks before them and settled in the leafy suburbs in Melbourne's east. Density and sprawl. This pattern of urban growth, with vibrant inner and outer suburbs fuelled by skilled immigration, and a rust belt of middle-ring suburbs, has no precedent in Australian history. In the 20th century, the people moved in the one direction, from the inner city to the suburbs. The kaleidoscope of Melbourne's west vanishes at the small town of Little River, where you are more likely to see a wheelchair than a pram on the platform. We have travelled 45 minutes and Geelong is just four stops away. As the train snakes its way into the centre of the city, the faces are a mix of young and old. But they are not diverse. Eight in 10 residents of Geelong were born in Australia, reversing the ethnic face of Docklands, where we began our journey. In Geelong, immigrants from India and China account for just 1.5 per cent of the population between them, barely 4000 people in a city of 260,000. Geelong is the symbol for everywhere else. It's what Newcastle and Wollongong are to Sydney, the Sunshine Coast is to Brisbane and the Gold Coast, and Mandurah is to Perth; a white outpost on the doorstep of diversity. Capital cities' demographic mix is different from their states' town and regions - and from each other - more so than at any point in modern Australian history. Credit:Getty Images Capital cities have separated decisively from their states, maintaining their youth through skilled immigration, while the smaller cities, towns and regions around them age. Newcastle is almost twice as far from Sydney as Geelong is from Melbourne, but it is uncanny how their ethnic faces align. Almost nine in 10 Novocastrians were born in Australia, and the Chinese and Indians together form just 1.2 per cent of the population. Like Geelong, Newcastle is caught in a 20th-century time warp, with its top two immigrant communities coming from England and New Zealand. At the turn of the 21st century, the Newcastle and Lake Macquarie region was home to almost as many people as Parramatta, the geographical centre of Sydney. The region was a little older than the suburb, with a larger proportion of residents aged 65 and over, and fewer people of working age between 15 and 64. But both had the same proportion of children up to 14 years of age: 20 per cent. In 2001, every city, town and regional area in Australia was like Parramatta and Newcastle, with more children than people of retirement age. The population of Parramatta has grown by 2.4 per cent a year since 2001, three times faster than Newcastle's 0.8 per cent. Here's the twist. Although the population is ageing across the country, immigration is accelerating that process in the regions, and even in some suburbs, while reversing it in the cosmopolitan centres of our three largest cities. This isn't because the immigrants are having more babies the national birth rate has barely shifted. Immigration keeps a city young by adding to the working-age population. But the immigrants in the regions have been there for decades. They are ageing alongside the locals. In Newcastle, the retirees now outnumber the children. But in Parramatta, the share of the population aged 65 and over has fallen. This hasn't occurred because Parramatta is enjoying a baby boom the share of children aged up to 14 has also fallen slightly. It is the working-age population that has expanded because of two types of immigration: those coming in from overseas and those coming from other parts of Australia. This is the crux of the dilemma for places like Newcastle. As its children grow up, they leave to study and find work in the cities. But they are not being replaced by the international students and skilled immigrants of the 21st century, because they also prefer the cities. Australasia has many ethnic faces, but the real divide is not race, but age. Today, every state has at least two regions with more retirees than children. They include Queensland's Wide Bay district, north of Brisbane, where Pauline Hanson's vote has been strongest; the NSW Central Coast; Victoria's Warrnambool and south-west region; Tasmania's Launceston and north-east region; the Adelaide Hills; and Western Australia's Mandurah, south of Perth. There are 5.4 million people across the country living in this new grey zone. Loading But another three million are in the parts of the cities that have become younger because of immigration. They are exclusively on the eastern seaboard: in Sydney's city and inner south, the inner south-west and Parramatta; Melbourne's inner city and inner south; and Brisbane's inner city and north. This echoes the dynamic of the Victorian gold rushes of the 1850s, when Melbourne was the world's most visited port, receiving fortune-seeking immigrants from around the globe as well as young men from the other colonies. In 1852, for instance, the total male populations of South Australia and Van Diemen's Land actually fell. Australians have grown up with conflicting national stories, often imagining we were somewhere or someone else. Consider our unofficial anthem, Waltzing Matilda, which located Australia's beating heart in the bush when we were already one of the most urbanised settlements in the world. Banjo Paterson wrote the ballad while on holiday in central western Queensland in 1895, when tempers remained frayed by the great shearers' strike of 1891. While we can empathise with the plight of the jumbuck-poaching swagman during the depression of the 1890s, it would stretch our DNA to breaking point to consider him an average Queenslander. At the time, most people lived in houses of wood and iron in the colonial towns, and in the capital of Brisbane. The swagman's tent represented just 10 per cent of the dwellings in Queensland. The swagman was not even part of the majority population in northern Australia when Paterson travelled there in the final years of the 19th century. Indigenous people still outnumbered the white settlers in significant tracts of the bush. Across Queensland, they had been the majority as recently as the 1860s, and in Western Australia until the 1880s. The majority of the population of the Northern Territory remained Indigenous into the 20th century. Our national stories have always been conspicuous for who they leave out. The first major piece of legislation of the new federation in 1901 was the White Australia Policy, which banned non-European immigration. Our first great social reform as a nation, the vote for women in 1902, was spoiled by the declaration that the ballot would be denied to "any Aboriginal native of Australia, Asia, Africa or the Islands of the Pacific, except New Zealand" unless they were already on a state electoral roll at the time. The words Aborigine or Aboriginal were not uttered by a conservative leader during a campaign launch speech until 1958, when prime minister Robert Menzies declared that "good progress" was being made in the Northern Territory. "Already there has been a trebling of the value of production and a doubling of the non-Aboriginal population," he told voters. We spent the last half of the 20th century trying to heal the foundation scars of federation, by counting Aboriginal Australians in the census, giving back some of their stolen land, and moving to a colour-blind immigration program. The challenge of the 21st century is that the unfinished business of the past is colliding with divisions we have not known before, between a nation that draws its strength from the youth of its local and global neighbours, and a nation that is prematurely ageing. There is no comparable period in our settler history when our major population centres diverged in this way. Australasia is re-creating a form of the diversity that existed on January 25, 1788, the day before the captain of the First Fleet (and our first governor), Arthur Phillip, established an open-air prison at Sydney Cove with the detritus of "the Old Country". The convicts and their guards had no way of knowing this, but there were more than 500 Indigenous nations across the continent, many with unique languages, cultures and belief systems. To find a common voice which speaks to the Eurasian capitals of Sydney, Melbourne and Canberra, the Pacific capital of Brisbane, the Anglo capital of Perth and the cities, towns and regions of old Australia, we need to shift the conversation beyond who we were to who we've always been the most welcoming people on earth. Each new wave raises the fear in the local population that the country is being taken from them. That was certainly true in 1788, which is why January 26 will continue to divide us. The ACT government has begun work on three new wetlands in the Fyshwick catchment area with the aim to eventually see Canberrans return to regular swimming in Lake Burley Griffin. The three new sites, to be constructed alongside the Jerrabomberra Creek in Narrabundah, Fyshwick and Kingston, will cost $4.6 million, $1.5 million, and $2.5 million respectively. The new Narrabundah wetlands site. This represents a fraction of the total $93 million that has been designated for the ACT Healthy Waterways program - up to $85 million of which was invested by the federal government. "It's a great opportunity to look at a different way of treating our waterways to ensure we have the best outcomes for Canberrans," Minister for the Environment Mick Gentleman said. A novel's tone is the trickiest component to retain in a stage or screen adaptation and with Stefan Zweig's 1939 novel being a story within a story, its first-person perspective is crucial, because Hofmiller is as bad a judge of character as he is naive, so we, the audience, must have the means to see through elements of his telling of his own story. Of course the raw material for this co-production between Schaubuhne Berlin and McBurney's Complicite is also unsettling and strangely oneiric, about a young Austrian cavalry officer, Hofmiller, meeting Edith, a paraplegic girl who falls in love with him, while his own emotional involvement extends no further than pity. This was more like a dream than a play. But then director Simon McBurney has a way of doing that: of disorienting you in this case of reminding you what you are watching is not real and simultaneously making it so completely immersive as to keep the brain's imagination synapses firing. McBurney's ingenuity has seen off that obstacle. He has two eerily similar actors playing Hofmiller: Christoph Gawenda as the narrator version and Laurenz Laufenberg enacting events as they unfold. It is a brilliant solution, as is having the seven actors arrive on stage out of character and, as Hofmiller tells his story, they are gradually drawn into it; gradually assume roles and costumes; gradually bring the narrated tale to dream-life. Those familiar with Zweig's extraordinary book will be amazed at how McBurney and his ensemble who collaboratively devised the script have condensed 450 pages into two hours, yet preserved the characterisations, emotional impact, metaphorical implications and, above all, the relentless narrative drive. (And this despite the text being delivered in German with unduly small English surtitles.) The acting is thrilling in its intensity and truth and mesmerising in its realisation of McBurney's trademark visual story-telling, which incorporates mime and illusion, despite being such a heavily text-based piece. Just as the words are made to float on the physical acting, so the music and sound (Pete Malkin), video (Will Duke), set (Anna Fleischle) and costumes (Holly Waddington) all submerge themselves beneath the dream-play surface. Extraordinary coups still occur, but never merely to amaze us. Both Hofmillers excel and Marie Burchard is an explosively volatile Edith, an effect compounded by Eva Meckbach (who also plays Ilona) sometimes doubling Edith's lines, or delivering them through a microphone while Burchard mimes. Just as good are Johannes Flaschberger (as the deceptively noble Dr Condor), Robert Beyer (in catching Edith's father's piteous love) and Moritz Gottwald (who realises an impressive array of minor characters). The use of microphones is pivotal to the production's success, sometimes creating layers of voices like a musical score. Even more compelling are images that burn themselves into the brain: the pose Hofmiller sustains having asked Edith to dance (not knowing she cannot); the use of Edith's white dress as a heart-rending puppet; a glass box becoming a train; Beyer playing Condor's blind wife; the set's ceiling closing in as if to crush the militarism, classism and nationalism that sow the seeds of two world wars. CRIME FICTION Call Me Evie J.P. Pomare Hachette, $29.99 It begins with a troubling scene of domestic violence. A young woman is in a bathroom hacking at her long hair with a pair of tiny scissors. She is interrupted by an angry man who attempts to finish the job with a pair of hair clippers. She makes a run for the front door, but he stops her, dragging her back to the bathroom to finish the job. She screams. He hits her. He calls her Kate but also "darling"; their relationship is unclear. Exactly what this might be and why this couple are hiding in a remote house somewhere in New Zealand will gradually emerge, but not before the reader has been completely bamboozled by both. Author J.P. Pomare. Credit:James Howarth Touted as a "literary thriller", a genre classification often used to characterise a book written by an author who does not usually write crime fiction, Call Me Evie might best be described as a psychological thriller with shades of domestic noir. And it's an impressive debut for New Zealand-born, Melbourne-based author J.P. Pomare, who also hosts the podcast series On Writing. What's intriguing about the use of the term "literary" here (and much has been written on this topic) is what it implies about crime fiction more generally: that it is not literary. This may well be a hangover from an era when mass-produced fiction was perceived as "pulp" even though pulp writers such as Dashiell Hammett have since been redeemed for their literary qualities. More recently Australian crime writer Peter Temple's Miles Franklin win for Truth in 2010 (an award that really should have gone to the earlier The Broken Shore), and the inclusion of Robin Robertson's lyrical-poetic noir crime novel, The Long Take, in the shortlist for Man Booker last year would suggest that the perception that crime fiction is something other than literature would be on the wane. Call Me Evie by J.P. Pomare. But publishers are clearly attracted to the marketing possibilities of the aspirational sub-genre and the soubriquet "literary thriller" may well be a cunning ploy to attract those who would not be seen dead reading a crime novel or still regard it as a guilty pleasure (do they still exist?). In any case, Call Me Evie is clearly targeting all suburban book groups worldwide given the 16 discussion points at the end. Listed as Reading Notes, these are usefully accompanied by a spoiler alert. Do not read them first. Indeed, it's quite hard to talk about Call Me Evie without giving too much away, as it was with the volte face in Gillian Flynn's Gone Girl. This is an intricately structured book divided into five parts, further segmented into 47 chapters that are themselves designated as occurring either "before <" or "> after". While the "> after" deals with Evie/Kate's experience in New Zealand as she plots to escape the captor she calls Jim, the "before <" recalls Kate's teenage life in suburban Melbourne as she negotiates the rituals of friendship, first love and managing life in the intermittent care of her wealthy, former rugby star father. Her mother, it transpires, died when she was young. Told mainly from Kate's point of view, this is a story about adolescent rites of passage. Kate's revelations about the "before >" are both touching and unsettling as she falls for the handsome boy in the swim team, and discovers just how possessive her best friend Willow can be. The United States and China are "miles and miles" from resolving trade issues but there is a fair chance the two countries will get a deal, US Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross said on Thursday. US Commerce secretary Wilbur Ross. Credit:Bloomberg A 30-member Chinese delegation plans to come to Washington next week for talks, he said, as the world's two largest economies try to meet a March 1 deadline to resolve their trade disputes, but Ross tried to tamp down expectations for the high-level talks. "There is a very large group coming. There's been a lot of anticipatory work done but we're miles and miles from getting a resolution and frankly that shouldn't be too surprising," Ross said in an interview with CNBC. "Trade is very complicated, there's lots and lots of issues - not just how many soybeans and how much LNG." The energy market operator has warned the nation's coal fired power plants will break down more often after it had to ask businesses to shut down to keep the lights on during a scorching day in Victoria. As the temperature soared beyond 40 degrees in Melbourne on Thursday afternoon, the Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO) asked power-hungry businesses and some households to power down to free up 400 megawatts of reserve power and help Victoria and South Australia avoid potential blackouts. Australian Energy Market Operator chief executive Audrey Zibelman. Credit:David Porter The decision to draw on the business reserves was prompted by greater than expected demand as well as the partial shutdowns of two brown coal generators in the Latrobe Valley, which took about 1000MW of capacity out of the grid. EnergyAustralia's Yallourn coal-fired power station in the Latrobe Valley has taken one of its generators offline for maintenance while AGL has taken a 560 megawatt generator at its Latrobe Valley-based Loy Yang A offline due to a "tube leak". 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! STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. Back when the New York Wheel was still in play in St. George, Staten Islanders asked Mayor Bill de Blasio for some help in managing the traffic that we expected to flow into the North Shore. After all, it wasnt just the Wheel that was coming, but also the Empire Outlets mall and the Lighthouse Point project. Bay Street was already clogged with traffic. Solutions were needed. We didnt get much help from City Hall on that. The city Department of Transportation mucked around with the intersection of Bay and Victory Boulevard, but the changes did little to address the big-picture concerns. And when the Wheels death spiral commenced, Staten Islanders again reached out to de Blasio, hoping that the mayor could do something to keep the project on track. I wasnt surprised when de Blasio demurred. After all, it wasnt his project. Still, he could have helped push North Shore development forward and chose not to. Were waiting to see what the city will do with that Wheel property now that the Wheel has spun off into the sunset for good. We havent gotten a lot of answers on that one yet either. You might think that de Blasio doesnt have any interest in our North Shore. But youd be wrong. De Blasio wants to rezone huge chunks of Bay Street so that 6,000 new residents can move in. Weve yet to be told what infrastructure improvements will come along with all those folks, but were told not to worry. And now the icing on de Blasios North Shore cake has been revealed, with the news that the mayor intends to build a 200-family homeless shelter at 44 Victory Blvd., just up the block from the Bay Street intersection. So de Blasios homeless problem is now going to become Tompkinsvilles homeless problem. And it was all planned out without even consulting Staten Island elected officials. Great. More homeless will be housed at Mount Loretto on the South Shore. But its the Victory Boulevard site that has stirred the most outrage. That and the fact that the city continues to look for more homeless capacity across the Island. So were not done with this yet. Tompkinsville had long been a neighborhood in need of a lift. And a renaissance has been underway for the last couple of years. Theres a vibrant nightlife area on Minthorne Street that literally draws people from across the country and all over the world. Theres a residential high-rise on the water side of Bay Street. A new Key Food supermarket. The Craft House bar and eatery is a short walk down Van Duzer Street from the proposed shelter site. So are a lot of private homes. The nearby area of Victory Boulevard is dotted with a veritable United Nations of small businesses and yet more residences. A homeless shelter dropped right in the heart of Tompkinsville will kill that momentum and destroy the existing character of the neighborhood. It also seems ill-considered to say the least given the mayors own zoning plans for Bay Street. Does the right hand know what the left one is doing? Its going to do nothing to lift up Tompkinsville Park, which already struggles with drugs, crime and vagrants. The NYPD has pretty much taken up residence at the park, which has helped calm things down. But the city undermined itself even there by demolishing a long-closed, vintage comfort station that area residents wanted renovated for re-use. Again, the city could have helped, done something out of the box. The city could have worked with the community. The city declined to do so. And in a neighborhood full of ethnic enclaves, immigrants and old North Shore progressives. De Blasios people. If de Blasios not going to help North Shore development, he at least shouldnt drop a bomb on it. STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- A utility pole is cracked and hanging in a dangerous way over Richmond Terrace in West Brighton during the Thursday morning rush hour. The top half of the pole loaded with wires and cables has split in the vicinity of Van Street. Police caution tape has been put around the pole. FDNY secured the pole and notified Con Edison after receiving a call of wires down at that location around 7 a.m., according to a spokesman for the FDNY/EMS. CITY HALL -- After Island representatives slammed Mayor Bill de Blasio for leaving them in the dark about the new borough homeless shelters, the mayor admitted he does not know how his administration handled consulting with the local politicians, but said its inaccurate to say City Hall only tells communities about new shelters after a site is selected. On Wednesday, the Department of Homeless Services confirmed its plans for two shelters on the North and South shores. However, Island council members said the de Blasio administration never informed them about the sites beforehand. Im not familiar with the specifics of how consultation went, de Blasio said. "We made clear almost two years ago, if Im counting right, that we were changing our approach to shelter, that we wanted our shelter system to reflect the realities of the whole city. The city plans to build a 200-family homeless shelter at 44 Victory Blvd. on the North Shore by next winter, in addition to a 22-bed all-female shelter at Mount Loretto on a site owned by Catholic Charities. Additionally, in documents obtained by the Advance, the city also indicated it plans to look for additional sites for 300 more beds over the course of our plan, specifically in the Mid-Island and South Shore areas. However, DHS later told the Advance the agency would look for additional sites all around the Island and not just limit its search to the Mid-Island and South Shore areas. DHS said the goal of the program is to move the citys homeless to their home boroughs and that there are about 1,300 homeless New Yorkers from Staten Island in shelters citywide. When the city announced its plans to open 90 new homeless shelters across the five boroughs over the next five years, it said it would work with elected officials and community stakeholders before the sites opening. Yet, not just Staten Island reps, but elected officials representing the planned shelter on Manhattans Billionaires Row, have also said they learned about the plans not from City Hall, but from constituents in their district. DHS SAYS IT RECEIVED NO PROPOSALS FROM ISLAND REPS When asked why his administration appears to only tell the community and elected officials about plans for homeless shelters after it chooses a site, the mayor argued that was not an accurate characterization of the process. Ive been through a lot of these and thats just not accurate, each situation may be different, but I can only tell you my own experience where weve engaged a lot of elected officials, weve said we need more capacity in your area, weve welcomed nominations, some of those nominations have worked really well, other times they havent been workable, the mayor said. The honest truth is a lot of elected officials obviously would like the answer to be theres not going to be anything in my district, we look forward to the day when there wont be that need anymore. De Blasio said the need for homeless shelters across the city was still a concern and that the city would work with anyone who pitches a site idea for a new shelter. Last year, DHS sought input from elected officials and community leaders across the five boroughs to help them decide where the new shelters should go. However, DHS said it did not receive any proposals from Island representatives. The agency said Department of Social Services Commissioner Steven Banks had encouraged elected officials and community boards in the five boroughs to get involved in the input and site selection process and identify viable sites in their districts. Nobody wants to see families with children or single adults without a roof over their heads on the street, and every night we have a legal obligation to provide shelter, so we have to move forward as quickly as possible when not-for-profit partners identify sites to us, because the alternative is the streets or even more commercial hotels, Banks said. Before a shelter opens, the city gives communities a 30 days notice to voice any potential concerns about a site. However, before that notification, the public can't immediately see what the plans entail, because the city's procurement rules do not require contracts to be made available to the public until they are reviewed and finalized. ISLAND OPPOSITION The head of the North Shores Community Board 1 Nicholas Siclari said he plans to fight the city on the new shelters and slammed the city for putting the 200-family shelter in the heart of the Bay Street Corridor rezoning area. Councilwoman Debi Rose (D-Staten Island) also said she was disappointed that the de Blasio administration proceeded with the site in her district without addressing her concerns about a shelter on the North Shore. In conversations with city officials, I expressed the need for a broad based review of viable sites within the district, with community input, Rose said. I am disappointed that the administration chose to proceed without addressing my requests and concerns regarding the siting of a family shelter in my district, and I will be convening a meeting with the operator of the proposed shelter, WIN, and city officials. FOLLOW SYDNEY KASHIWAGI ON TWITTER. CITY HALL -- News of the new Island homeless shelters has stunned Island elected officials who say the administration of Mayor Bill de Blasio did not inform them about the sites beforehand. On Wednesday, the Department of Homeless Services (DHS) confirmed it plans to build a 200-family homeless shelter at 44 Victory Blvd. on the North Shore by next winter, in addition to a 22-bed all-female shelter at Mount Loretto on a site owned by Catholic Charities. Councilwoman Debi Rose (D-North Shore) said the city did not consult her about putting the shelter right off of Bay Street. In conversations with city officials, I expressed the need for a broad based review of viable sites within the district, with community input, Rose said. I am disappointed that the administration chose to proceed without addressing my requests and concerns regarding the siting of a family shelter in my district, and I will be convening a meeting with the operator of the proposed shelter, WIN, and city officials. On the heels of the controversial Bay Street Corridor rezoning plan, the head of the North Shores Community Board 1, Nicholas Siclari, said the board would fight the city on the new shelter. He also questioned why the city would build a new shelter in the heart of the Bay Street Corridor rezoning area. In plans obtained by the Advance, the city also indicated it plans to look for additional sites for 300 more beds over the course of our plan, specifically in the Mid-Island and South Shore areas. However, DHS later told the Advance the agency would look for additional sites all around the Island and not just limit its search to the Mid-Island and South Shore areas. OUT OF THE LOOP Minority Leader Steven Matteo (R-Mid Island) and Councilman Joe Borelli (R-South Shore) were also not part of discussions with the administration. Matteo said that when he spoke to DHS, they appeared to have walked back the specifics of its future plans for the 300 additional beds they outlined in the plan obtained by the Advance. Besides the plans for the new shelter on the North Shore and the additional beds on the campus of Mount Loretto, DHS informed my office today that they expect to seek more homeless shelter capacity on Staten Island in the future, Matteo said. They did not specify any site, number of beds or dates by which they would do so. I will have further discussions with the administration about this, but they are well aware of my opposition and serious concerns about such plans. The Islands new homeless shelters are part of the Mayor Bill de Blasios plan to build 90 homeless shelters across the five boroughs over the next five years. Before a shelter opens, the city gives communities a 30 days notice to voice any potential concerns about a site. However, before that notification, the public can't immediately see what the plans entail, because the city's procurement rules do not require contracts to be made available to the public until they are reviewed and finalized. In Manhattan's "Billionaire's Row" where the city is planning to open a 150 resident men's homeless shelter in the former Park Savoy Hotel, local elected officials said they learned of the shelter plans in their district from constituents and not from City Hall. REP. MAX ROSE IRATE Congressman Max Rose (D) slammed the administration for not involving community stakeholders in its decision, he also said he has seen zero effort from the de Blasio administration to put forth a successful plan for its homeless shelter program. From the moment I was informed of the citys plan, I was extraordinarily concerned over the process and lack of transparency. There have been far too many community stakeholders left out of the discussions to ensure our most vulnerable families are not on the streets," Rose said. The only reason for a process this secretive is because those in charge do not trust Staten Islanders to open our hearts and neighborhoods to those in need. Its insulting." THE CITYS PERSPECTIVE DHS said the goal of the program is to move the citys homeless to their home boroughs and that there are about 1,300 homeless New Yorkers from Staten Island in shelters citywide. The mayor is continuously tweeting about the humanitarian crisis at the border and yet hes not addressing the humanitarian crisis that we have in New York City where the homeless population continues to grow, Assemblywoman Nicole Malliotakis (R-Staten Island) said, adding that the administration has no plan to transition people from homeless shelters to future housing and work options. Assemblyman Michael Reilly (R-Staten Island) held back criticism of the plan. "It appears that, right now, there is a lot of misinformation about what exactly is being proposed," Reilly said. "I need time to evaluate this, but there certainly should be a community-wide discussion about it as well." Meanwhile, Assemblyman Charles Fall (D-Staten Island) said input from residents and community leaders would be key moving forward. I strongly feel that the input of residents, community advocates and leaders before any final decision is the responsible and transparent course of action to take on this issue, Fall said. It is clear that the needs of the homeless are not being met here on Staten Island and across the city. We must continue to work to lift up those who are struggling to find housing, however the disparity between a 22 bed shelter on the South Shore, and a 200 family shelter on the North Shore is troublesome," State Sen. Diane Savino (D-Staten Island) said. "The city continues to ignore the infrastructure needs of this community in choosing where to place this shelter. We must consider where families will shop, dine, attend school and how will our transportation system will accommodate the new population. Placing this facility in the middle of a massive rezoning process shows a lack of long term planning, vision, and desire to uplift the current or new population. FOLLOW SYDNEY KASHIWAGI ON TWITTER. As the Democratic field for president becomes more crowded every day, every life decision and each vote is coming under intense scrutiny. Most candidates have a long history in government and public service, which can sometimes be fraught with missteps and misjudgments. From Joe Biden's treatment of Anita Hill during the Clarence Thomas hearings to Kirsten Gillibrand's about-face on gun control, many worry the candidates will be tripped up by past actions. What do you think? PERSPECTIVES Joe Biden was the chairman of the Judiciary Committee during Clarence Thomas' infamous Supreme Court confirmation hearings and refused to allow for a delay in his confirmation vote. He failed to protect Anita Hill from vitriolic questioning and refused to give credence to FBI investigations into Thomas' behavior. Patti Solis Doyle, Biden's campaign chief of staff in 2008, told Politico in September 2018 that while she considers him one of the strongest contenders in the field, his conduct during the Anita Hill hearings could damage his chances. Biden has said he stands by the way he conducted the hearings, claiming there was no way he could have prevented members of the committee from asking inappropriate questions. However, he has expressed regret for the way Hill was treated. Per Vox: He still tops many lists for the most promising presidential candidate. New York Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand announced her intention to run for president on "The Late Show with Stephen Colbert." Gillibrand has branded herself a liberal crusader during her time in the Senate, taking on issues like sexual assault in the military and on college campuses. However, some have expressed concerns about Gillibrand's rapidly changing political views. Before inheriting Hillary Clinton's Senate seat, Gillibrand represented a rural district in upstate New York. While in this position, she was much more politically moderate, particularly on gun control. Per the Washington Post: Gillibrand has said her changing opinions were based not on political calculation but on exposure to new people and issues. Per Newsday: California Sen. Kamala Harris has also thrown her hat into the presidential ring, running as a progressive liberal candidate. But many are worried she is much more conservative than she has been portrayed. Before serving in the Senate, Harris was the attorney general for California, where she had a reputation for running a somewhat hardline law-and-order office. In an op-ed for the New York Times, Lara Bazelon, the former director of the Loyola Law School Project for the Innocent in Los Angeles, noted Harris had frequently fought to maintain conservative criminal justice policies and uphold potentially wrongful convictions. Harris' campaign disputes these claims, saying they are taken out of context and imply that Harris had control over the actions of every single prosecutor in the state's office. Lily Adams, Harris' spokesperson, told CNN: The Tylt is focused on debates and conversations around news, current events and pop culture. We provide our community with the opportunity to share their opinions and vote on topics that matter most to them. We actively engage the community and present meaningful data on the debates and conversations as they progress. The Tylt is a place where your opinion counts, literally. The Tylt is an Advance Local Media, LLC property. Join us on Twitter @TheTylt, on Instagram @TheTylt or on Facebook, we'd love to hear what you have to say. STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- Following an assessment from the State Education Department that identified three Staten Island schools as not being in good standing, the boroughs District 31 will now be required to develop a plan to increase equity in high-needs schools. District 31 was identified as a target district, requiring intervention from the state, as part of new district and school accountability determinations as required by the federal Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) and New Yorks ESSA plan -- a law that requires states to hold public schools accountable for how students achieve. Districts are identified as a target district depending on two criteria. The first criteria is if the district contains a school that isnt in good standing" -- identified as a targeted support and improvement (TSI) or comprehensive support and improvement (CSI) school. The second criteria is based on districts that were in focus status during the 2017-2018 school year and whose all students group met the criteria for CSI identification, or had a subgroup that met criteria for TSI identification. Staten Island was identified because it contains three schools that arent in good standing" -- PS 31, New Brighton, PS 44, Mariners Harbor, and Dreyfus Intermediate School (I.S. 49), Stapleton. The city Department of Education (DOE) said it consistently monitors and tracks school progress toward goals, including identifying schools that arent meeting targets, which helps the agency anticipate state-designated struggling schools. As a result, the DOE has been providing additional targeted support to these schools over the last year. As New York City schools post record-high graduation and college enrollment rates, our number of State-designated struggling schools has decreased significantly since 2016 and compared to the rest of the State," Danielle Filson, a spokeswoman for the DOE, told the Advance last week. DISTRICT IMPROVEMENT PLAN As a result of the recent state designation of the three schools on Staten Island, the borough must develop an annual District Comprehensive Improvement Plan (DCIP) to identify and implement initiatives to improve student learning and accountability measures. Im not happy that my child goes to this school but I have no choice because they gave me no option, said Dina Garcia, a parent of a kindergartner at PS44. I applied for different schools. This was my fifth option. However, parents said they hope intervention from the state and the development of school and district plans will help improve high-need schools. This DCIP will be based on a district-level needs assessment, school-level needs assessments and data collected and analyzed by the district. According to the State Education Department, the plan must: identify resource inequities; identify initiatives that will be implemented to positively affect student learning and to address the accountability measures for which the district has been identified; and explicitly delineate a plan to annually increase student performance with a focus on the accountability subgroup(s) and measures for which the district and its school have been identified. SCHOOL EDUCATION PLAN Schools not in good standing also have to develop their own School Comprehensive Education Plan. PS 31 was identified as a comprehensive support and improvement (CSI) school, because it performed at level 1 on a combination of accountability indicators. CSI schools must do the following for their development plan: participate in an on-site needs assessment; review data and documentation to identify needs to be addressed in the schools annual improvement plan; conduct annual surveys of parents, staff and students; develop an annual School Comprehensive Plan; identify a school-wide evidence-based intervention plan. PS 44 and Dreyfus Intermediate School were identified as targeted support and improvement (TSI) schools because one or more of their student subgroups performed at level 1 on a combination of accountability indicators. TSI schools are required to develop a School Comprehensive Education Plan based on the results of an on-site needs assessment and other data collected by the district. The annual improvement plan must include one evidence-based intervention. The schools will also be required to survey parents, staff and students annually. They need to do what they have to do to get these kids' grades up and make this a better school, said Nicole Fox, a parent of a fourth-grader at PS 44. Just because its a zoned school doesnt meant that is should be this way, or kids have to deal with this. ..." FOLLOW ANNALISE KNUDSON ON FACEBOOK AND TWITTER. STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- Walking through the halls of the new Sola Salon Studios is a beauty-lovers dream. Visitors get a glimpse inside 29 studios -- all distinct with individual designs and appealing decor -- spread over a 5,000-square-foot space in Port Richmonds Forest Avenue Shoppers Town. Services offered include: hair cuts and coloring; lash extensions; facials, and eyebrow-threading. In addition, customers can pick up the hottest new beauty products, and even get their teeth whitened and straightened -- all under one roof. Its like a mall for just beauty businesses. The Staten Island location of the franchise is headed up by Tina Marcopoulos, operations manager for D&M Salon Studios NY LLC, who said the concept is a great opportunity for people, especially women, to own their own business, without a lot of overhead costs. Sola gives entrepreneurs in the beauty industry the opportunity to realize their dreams and start their own business with very little startup cost and very little risk. Sola provides a new path for their career that wasnt available before, said Marcopoulos, noting Sola Salon Studios made its debut on Staten Island earlier this month. Everyone has designed their own space their own way. I really enjoyed watching everyone design their studio as a reflection of who they are, and the environment they want to create for their clients, she added. One of the main reasons for getting involved with the franchise was to help female entrepreneurs realize their dream. A huge percentage of the people in the beauty industry are women. Sola helps empower women to maximize their income and to create the life that they envision for themselves. With 24/7 access to their studio, each business owner can truly control their schedule. They can juggle their family life, and still run their business," she added. The wide range of beauty professionals housed at Sola Salons are all independent operators. The parent organization touts itself as providing move-in-ready studios that allow beauty professionals to launch their own business. We have some former salon owners who got tired of maintaining their location and dealing with employees. So its a much simpler life for them here, said Marcopoulos. We take care of everything. All they have to do is run their business. ABOUT THE LOCAL FRANCHISE Owned by the Doherty Family, D&M Salon Studios NY LLC is headed up by Edward Doherty, said Marcopoulos. Its the local franchisee that also owns and operates Panera Breads on Staten Island, said Marcopoulos. They have been in the restaurant business for over 30 years and own approximately 150 restaurants across four states. Five are franchise concepts and two are proprietary concepts that theyve developed, she noted. Having been a stay-at-home mother for many years, Marcopoulos said she signed on to help launch the concept when she was looking for a new challenge after raising her kids. When my kids all went off to college and became independent adults, they didnt need me anymore. So I looked around for something I could sink my teeth into, she said. Its really personally gratifying for me to help people, and give these professionals opportunities they wouldnt otherwise have, said Marcopoulos. BUSINESSES AT SOLA SALON STUDIOS Hair and Makeup: Waves by Mel Hasson, Melanie Hasson Shelly & Bees House of Beauty, Bianca Cusumano and Michelle Tosto Mixology Salon, Lene C Painter & Mane Hair Studio, Lisa Meshel Tangled At Six, Andrea DiFalco Jodi on Mane, Jodi Cali The Vanity by Angelina, Angelina Cutolo Sole Angels, Elaine Amanda Leigh Beauty, Amanda Rollo Salon K Hair Spa, Kimberly Smith Pretty and Painted, Jennifer Rocco Alzate and Dominique Scotto Toscanini Hair, Daniella Toscanini Wild Glam, Nia-Simone Wilds Lauren Cicero Hair Studio Nicole Cannilla Professional Hair, Nicole Cannilla Ortolano and Nevin Hanna Estheticians: Facials by Dominique, Dominique Malandro Clean Slate Beauty Bar, Jessica Rodriguez Keep It Current, Charlene Arroyo Microblading, Permanent Makeup, Threading, Eyelash Extensions: Studio 4, Annie Pena Aysha EyeBrow Studio, Aysha Malimage Texas Nail Jewelers, Alana Kemp Knot Just Hair, Rachel Scalici Brows & Beauty by Tara Leigh, Tara Bergen Flawless Micro NY, Mary Arenas Other Services: Want Hair Beauty Supply Distributor Smile Direct Club SOLA SALONS AT A GLANCE Address: 1553 Forest Ave., Port Richmond Website: https://www.solasalonstudios.com/ Social Media: Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SolaStatenIsland/ Instagram: https://www.mazingram.com/u/solastatenisland New Businesses in Focus is a weekly column that relates the stories of new Staten Island businesses owners. If you have a new business on Staten Island, e-mail porpora@siadvance.com. MORE NEW BUSINESSES IN FOCUS COLUMNS: FOLLOW TRACEY PORPORA ON FACEBOOK and TWITTER We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. This includes cookies from third party social media websites and ad networks. Such third party cookies may track your use on Sharedots sites for better rendering. Our partners use cookies to ensure we show you advertising that is relevant to you. If you continue without changing your settings, we'll assume that you are happy to receive all cookies on Sharedots website. However, you can change your cookie settings at any time. Learn more CARACAS, Venezuela President Nicolas Maduro cut diplomatic ties with the United States on Wednesday and gave American diplomats 72 hours to leave the country, saying the Trump administration had orchestrated a plot to overthrow him. Maduros actions came as he faced the most direct challenge yet to his hold on power. Hours before, a Venezuelan opposition leader declared himself the nations legitimate president, cheered on by thousands of supporters in the streets and a growing number of governments, including the United States. The fast-moving developments convulsing the impoverished country appeared to give momentum to the opposition leader, Juan Guaido, a 35-year-old politician who stepped onto the national stage just recently. But Maduro dismissed the move, derisively calling it part of a U.S.-led conspiracy to topple him. He said he was cutting all remaining diplomatic relations with the United States, signing an expulsion order on the balcony of the presidential palace. I am the only president of Venezuela, Maduro said, according to Venezuelan news outlet Diario La Verdad. We do not want to return to the 20th century of gringo interventions and coups detats. Maduros reaction came a few hours after Trump, in a White House statement, formally announced his recognition of Guaido as the interim leader of Venezuela. Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Paraguay, Peru and the Organization of American States have also recognized Guaido as the countrys leader. While Venezuela state media ignored Guaido and his supporters in the streets, there also was scant evidence of a large-scale repression of the opposition crowds by the police and armed forces, as has happened in the past. As people in a downtown Caracas square converged and sang the national anthem, Guaido declared before them: Today, January 23, 2019, I swear to formally assume the powers of the national executive as president in charge of Venezuela. He told Venezuelans to raise their right hands as he said: Lets swear as brothers that we wont rest until we gain freedom. Authorities said two protesters are dead and five others injured in antigovernment demonstrations in the city of San Cristobal, the Associated Press reported. Ana Vanessa Herrero is a New York Times writer. SEOUL North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has ordered preparations for a second summit with President Trump, saying hell wait with patience and in good faith to work toward a common goal, the Norths state media reported Thursday. Despite Kims determination for another meeting with Trump, the two remain at odds over fundamental issues. Experts say a major sticking point is what denuclearization steps Kim should take to move forward stalled nuclear negotiations and what rewards Trump should provide to push Kim to take those measures. The Korean Central News Agency said Kim received a letter from Trump from a North Korean envoy who met the U.S. president in Washington last week. After meeting Kim Yong Chol, Trump said he and Kim Jong Un will probably meet around the end of February but did not say exactly when and where. Trump tweeted Thursday that I expect another good meeting soon, much potential! Thursdays report said Kim expressed satisfaction with his envoys meeting with Trump and spoke highly of the U.S. president for expressing his unusual determination and will for the settlement of the issue with a great interest in the second summit. We will wait with patience and in good faith and, together with the U.S., advance step by step toward the goal to be reached by the two countries, Kim was quoted as saying. Nuclear negotiations have been stuck since Kim and Trump met in Singapore last June for their first summit, which ended with Kims vague denuclearization pledge that his government had previously used when it called for the withdrawal of the 28,500 U.S. troops in South Korea. A summit accord also stated that the U.S. and North Korea will commit to establishing new relations and building a lasting peace. The strongest step Kim could promise may be abandoning his long-range missile program targeting the U.S. mainland. That step, if realized, would trigger a strong backlash from many in South Korea and Japan, which are within the striking distance of North Koreas short- and medium-range missiles. In return, Kim is seeking to get U.N. sanctions lifted. He also wants better relations with the U.S. to revive his countrys moribund economy and pave the way for a prolonged rule by his family. Hyung Jin Kim is an Associated Press writer. KINSHASA, Congo Felix Tshisekedi was sworn in as Congos president on Thursday, marking the countrys first peaceful transfer of power since independence from Belgium nearly 60 years ago, and immediately pledged tolerance and announced the imminent release of all political prisoners. The 55-year-old takes over from Joseph Kabila, who led the vast central African country since 2001. Kabila quietly watched from behind mirrored sunglasses the extraordinary scene of an opposition leader becoming president. When Kabila left the dais, some in the crowd booed. Tshisekedi called national reconciliation one of our priorities as questions remained about the disputed Dec. 30 election. Congolese largely appeared relieved to witness a peaceful change of power in a country with a history of violent overthrows. Congos first leader, Patrice Lumumba, was removed in a military coup and assassinated in 1961. Mobutu Sese Seko ruled for more than three decades but was overthrown in 1997 by rebel leader Laurent Kabila, who was assassinated in 2001. Kabilas son, Joseph, took over at age 29. Tshisekedi has inherited much goodwill with the legacy of his own father, the late opposition icon Etienne, who pursued the presidency for decades. Tshisekedi in his speech called him president, to wild cheers, acknowledging his defiant declaration after losing the disputed 2011 election to Kabila. Tshisekedis father had posed such a charismatic challenge that after he died in Belgium in 2017, Congos government did not allow his body to be brought home. His sons spokesman has said that will be corrected soon. Supporters of the new president stormed the Peoples Palace, which houses the national legislature, for a glimpse of the inauguration. Just one African head of state, Kenyas President Uhuru Kenyatta, was seen at the ceremony after the African Union and others in the international community expressed reservations over alleged election fraud. Declared runner-up Martin Fayulu mounted a court challenge to Tshisekedis win, alleging massive rigging and demanding a recount. The Constitutional Court on Sunday rejected it. Outside court, Fayulu accused Kabila of making a backroom deal with Tshisekedi as it became clear the ruling partys candidate did poorly at the polls. Saleh Mwanamilongo and Cara Anna are Associated Press writers. CIUDAD HIDALGO, Mexico A decision by Mexicos new government to liberalize entry rules for foreigners seeking humanitarian visas has in recent days sparked a new exodus of Central Americans, many of them intent on making it to the United States. Most are not converging on Mexicos southern border here in organized caravans, but rather in groups drawn by news that Mexico was offering the one-year visas which include the right to work in Mexico, travel freely in the country, and leave Mexico and return. Although some applicants say they may consider remaining in Mexico, many acknowledge that their ultimate aim is to enter the United States and apply for political asylum. In the last week, Mexico has received more than 10,000 applications for the new humanitarian visas here at its southern border post with Guatemala. That number is growing each day. The bridge spanning the Suchiate River which forms the frontier between Mexico and Guatemala is currently packed with hundreds of visa applicants. Others wait on the Guatemalan side, and more are reportedly on the way north. Many sleep on the bridge to await their turns. The vast majority of applicants are Central Americans, mostly Hondurans, but there are also considerable numbers of Guatemalans, Salvadorans and Nicaraguans. The visas are a result of the liberalized entry policies of Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, a leftist populist who took office on Dec. 1 vowing to respect the human rights of Central American migrants seeking to enter Mexico. Previous Mexican administrations, under pressure from Washington, have set up strict border controls and deported tens of thousands of undocumented Central Americans in recent years. But Lopez Obrador has signaled that he is intent on a different approach one that could draw concerns in Washington, where the Trump administration has made reducing Central American migration a priority. We heard about the opportunity for visas and decided this was our chance, said Susy Polanco, who was among an extended family of eight Nicaraguans waiting Wednesday on the bridge connecting this southern Mexican town with the Guatemalan border community of Tecun Uman. Among her co-travelers were her 8-year-old daughter, Genesis, and an 18-month-old niece, Gimena. All eight plan to travel to the U.S.-Mexico border, present themselves to American authorities, and seek political asylum in the United States, Polanco said. Patrick J. McDonnell is a Los Angeles Times writer. VATICAN CITY Pope Francis said Wednesday that fear of migration is making us crazy as he began a trip to Central America amid a standoff over President Trumps promised wall at the U.S.-Mexico border and a new caravan of migrants heading north. Francis was asked by reporters about the proposed border wall Wednesday on the way to Panama, where he is looking to leave the sex abuse scandals buffeting his papacy behind. Francis responded: It is the fear that makes us crazy. The Roman Catholic Churchs first Latin American pope and the son of Italian immigrants to Argentina, Francis has made the plight of migrants and refugees a cornerstone of his papacy. He is also expected to offer words of encouragement to young people gathered in Panama for World Youth Day, the churchs once-every-three-year pep rally that aims to invigorate the next generation of Catholics in their faith. Panama Archbishop Jose Domingo Ulloa said Francis message is likely to resonate with young Central Americans who see their only future free of violence and poverty in migrating to the U.S. young people who often fall into the hands of drug traffickers and so many other realities that our young people face. The pope is expected to urge young people to create their own opportunities, while calling on governments do their share as well. The visit is taking place as the U.S. government remains partly shut down in a standoff between the Trump administration and Democrats over funding for Trumps promised border wall. Francis famously has called for bridges, not walls. After celebrating Mass in 2016 on the Mexican side of the U.S. border, he denounced anyone who wants to build a wall to keep out migrants as not Christian. Nicole Winfield is an Associated Press writer. Visitors to North Carolina's Ocean Isle Beach park and sanctuary were treated to a bizarre sight this week as temperatures dropped into the teens. Sticking out of the surface of the frozen swamp were the noses of 18 alligators, the Charlotte Observer reported. The reptiles allowed themselves to freeze in place. Myanmar? It's a country he cares deeply about. Nazis on Twitter? It's still something they're working out. Hackers? They are punk, according to Jack Dorsey. In a tour de force interview with Rolling Stone's Brian Hiatt, the Twitter CEO spoke candidly about everything from his dreams for Twitter to his insecurities as a child to his "heartbreaking" exchange with Seth Rogen. Dorsey's been the subject of several intimate interviews over the last couple months, in which he's been called on to explain Twitter's divisive and notably fuzzy policies on hate speech and harassment. That, and pretty much everything else he's said. In the interview, he outlined his concerns about Twitter being used in ways he's not proud of. "Like creating bubbles and echo chambers. I'm not proud of that," Dorsey said. "Like, we definitely help divide people. We definitely create isolation. We definitely make it easy for people to confirm their own bias." He compared Twitter to a public square, like North Beach's Washington Square Park, using its typical ecosystem of students, weed dealers, filmmakers, chess players and park police all interacting in a contained space as an analogy to Twitter as a platform. Perhaps Dorsey was referring to the city's police department, as the park has no police of its own. In response to Laura Loomer, the right-wing commentator who chained herself to the company's New York headquarters to protest her ban from Twitter for alleged hate speech Dorsey had kind words. "I respect that. I think it's brave," Dorsey said. "I love protests. I'm a punk. My music when I was growing up was punk. Hackers are punk." Dorsey revisited the subject of his punk upbringing later on in the interview, where he mentioned he worked as a bouncer for "Gilman" after moving to the Bay Area in 1999. (Confirmation from 924 Gilman, an all-ages punk venue in Berkeley, was not received.) There were softer moments in the interview too, like when Dorsey said that as a child he couldn't pronounce any of his words, an impediment that made him feel shy throughout junior high. He talked about his love for jeans, and how creativity and art are important spheres of his life. At one point, Dorsey had aspired to be a fashion designer, among other things; he also logged 1,000 hours of massage-therapy training. But the most troubling and perplexing moment of the interview was introduced near the end. Dorsey shared an experience he'd had at Mark Zuckerberg's house in Palo Alto. Zuckerberg was making him dinner from scratch. The cuisine of choice was a freshly butchered goat, which Dorsey says Zuckerberg had killed himself using a stun gun and a knife, and then sent to a butcher to finish off. "We're eating the goat you killed?" He said, "Yeah." I said, "Have you eaten goat before?" He's like, "Yeah, I love it." I'm like, "What else are we having?" "Salad." I said, "Where is the goat?" "It's in the oven." Then we waited for about 30 minutes. He's like, "I think it's done now." We go in the dining room. He puts the goat down. It was cold. That was memorable. I don't know if it went back in the oven. I just ate my salad." People on Twitter had a lot of questions. "Goat definitely takes longer than 30 min to cook in the oven, and why was it cold? Sheera Frenkel, a reporter for the New York Times wrote on Twitter. "How does Mark get the bleeding goat that he has stunned/knifed to this Palo Alto butcher? I must know more." "Jack Dorsey awkwardly not eating a cold goat Zuck killed with a stun gun should be the subject of a painting in The Louvre," another Twitter user wrote. Long live the public square. Read Annie Vainshtein's latest stories here. Email her at avainshtein@sfchronicle.com. Twitter:@annievain Go back to college for just one day, attending the greatest lectures from your favorite professors, on subjects that are the very touchstones of modern society. The Chronicle's next event is this February, in San Francisco from 9:30 am - 1:15 pm on February 17th, at The Herbst Theater with the following professors and classes: The Shifting Lens of History: How We Reimagine the Past Stephanie Yuhl / College of the Holy Cross Supreme Court 2019: What to Expect, and Why Alan Pomerantz / UC Berkeley School of Law Four Books that Changed the World Seth Lerer / University of California at San Diego TICKETS: Click here to register before February 17th Over 100,000 adults from around the country have registered to learn from top-tier professors and to experience college for the day, minus the final exams and homework. The company looks for professors whose lectures are standing-room-only and whose student ratings can be described as "through the roof" and then invites them to present One Day University, the New York-based adult learning company that brings "superstar" professors from the nations top college campuses to entertain and enlighten audiences in cities, has registered it's 100,000th "adult student" earlier this month. According to Directors Steven Schragis and Kevin Brennan, One Day U offers edu-tainment, inviting the nation's most popular professors from 75 different colleges and universities to unleash their ability to entertain and listeners to sit back, relax, and open their minds. The One Day U staff scours the countrys best schools to find presenters. The company looks for professors whose lectures are standing-room-only and whose student ratings can be described as "through the roof" and then invites them to present one-session, highlights-reel versions of their most oversubscribed courses to an educated, intellectually curious audience eager to enjoy the benefits of college without any of the burdens. Since its launch in 2007, One Day University has grown from a single half-day event in New York City to a series of 200 full- and half-day programs in 60 locations around the country, with new programs in Canada and Mexico, now scheduled. One Day University has partnerships with major newspaper organizations from around the country, including for its third year in the Bay Area with the San Francisco Chronicle*. The specially tailored presentations at One Day University events run the gamut from history, psychology, science, philosophy, foreign policy, music, law, film, art and much more. Learn more about the event *One Day University is an independent event sponsored by the San Francisco Chronicle When people see the empty storefronts that have multiplied in San Francisco the past few years, they often blame competition from online vendors for the death of small retailers. Supervisor Aaron Peskin sees another culprit: landlords who intentionally keep their properties vacant until they can extract higher rents from potential tenants. Now he wants to repopulate those storefronts by taxing property owners with consistently empty units. This is by no means meant to be a revenue generator, Peskin said Tuesday. Its meant to be a behavior changer. Under Peskins proposal, owners of commercial properties in Neighborhood Commercial Districts areas where stores and services are clustered that are vacant for more than six months would face a fine of at least $250 per day. And while storefronts are the visible face of the long-term vacancy problem, Peskin wants to target residential properties as well. Landlords with three or more units that are vacant for six months would also pay $250 per unit per day until the unit is leased. The Board of Supervisors would need to approve Peskins plan to place it on the November ballot, where it would need to pass by a two-thirds vote to become law. Peskins proposal has support from neighborhood groups that are tired of seeing once-vibrant streets deadened by empty storefronts, but others worry that it will punish property owners for market factors out of their control, such as soaring costs and competition from online shopping. If (the proposal) is attacking truly vacant units that otherwise should be leased, and are kept vacant on a whim and as a pure luxury, than its not a bad idea, said developer Eric Tao, managing executive principal of AGI Capital. But not all vacancies are the same, and trying to monolithically characterize vacancies as the same is a terrible thing to do and unfair. The tax would apply only to landlords who the Department of Building Inspection determines are keeping their units vacant intentionally, said Peskin, who is working with the department to come up with criteria for determining if an owner is acting in bad faith. But the city could look at whether the owner has pending construction permits and if the property is actively being shown to potential renters. Gabrielle Lurie / The Chronicle While the DBI requires landlords to register empty properties with the city, the database may not show the full picture, as the numbers are complaint-driven and self-reported. That makes is difficult for the city to track vacancies. A 2018 study by the North Beach Business Association, Telegraph Hill Dwellers and North Beach Neighbors concluded that the commercial property vacancy rate in North Beach is 10.25 percent, double the rate recorded by the same group in 2015. Peskin announced his plan Wednesday while standing in front of one of those empty storefronts, on the 500 block of Columbus Street. The property has been empty and boarded up for the past few years. Across the street, shuttered Caffe Roma, a neighborhood coffee shop, was dark and empty. We need to do something about the blight that has become part of North Beach, said Theresa Flandrich, a longtime neighborhood activist. We want our community back. According to the associations study, many factors contribute to the sharp increase in vacancies, including seismic retrofits and numerous construction projects that keep pedestrians away. The study also reports that only two property owners control 21 percent of the vacant properties in the neighborhood. San Franciscos cumbersome permitting processes and strict formula retail controls also make it difficult to find tenants, said David Blatteis, board chairman at Blatteis Realty, a brokerage firm that leases out spaces in the city including the 500 block of Columbus Street. He said there are a number of beautiful new shops and restaurants being developed on the block that should be available for lease in next few months. No landlord would purposely keep their store vacant. Whos going to throw away money? he said. The tax would be another horrible imposition on a landlord because the city is causing the problem in the first place. But Dan Macchiarini, board president of the North Beach Business Association, said he supports a vacancy tax because he sees how empty storefronts have decreased the foot traffic in North Beach. Lea Suzuki/The Chronicle Combine all the construction going on in the neighborhood with Amazon and you have significant detriment to a vital commercial district, he said. Across the city, Gail Baugh, president of the Hayes Valley Neighborhood Association, said a vacancy tax could prod property owners in areas like Haight Street to lease out their space more quickly. Im always concerned when adding taxes to people ... but there needs to be motivation for property owners to get their commercial spaces occupied, she said. The bottom line is that we have ... places of business that go unoccupied, and that is a detriment to the city in terms of revenue. Supervisor Rafael Mandelman, whose district includes the Castro an area with many empty storefronts said he would be interested in exploring a vacancy tax. A lot of people see longtime business owners and beloved businesses getting priced out, and see the spaces remain empty for months or years, he said. So there is some sense in which some landlords and property owners are maybe not recognizing what a negative impact the vacant storefronts are having on their neighborhoods. But others were less optimistic especially when it came to the part of Peskins proposal that would tax residential property owners. Noni Richen, president of the Small Property Owners of San Francisco, which represents residential property owners, said she worries that the proposal wont take into account reasons landlords might want to keep properties vacant, from bad experiences with tenants to saving the units for family members who may want to move in. Its not going to create any more rentals, she said. I dont think anyone who is a hard-core vacancy owner will be swayed by it. Still, the proposal joins a growing movement to tax vacant properties in the Bay Area. San Francisco Mayor London Breed announced plans late last year for legislation and permitting changes to make it faster and easier to open a retail business. Separately, Supervisor Sandra Lee Fewer introduced legislation that would force businesses to register vacant storefronts and pay a $711 annual registration fee. Those who do not comply would have to pay an annual penalty of $2,844. In November, Oakland voters approved a parcel tax of $6,000 per year on empty lots and empty commercial and residential buildings. Empty condominiums and ground-floor storefronts will be taxed at $3,000 per year. The tax is expected to raise $10 million annually for homeless services and cleaning up blight. A similar November ballot measure in Richmond fell short of the two-thirds majority needed for approval. In San Francisco, Peskin said doesnt think the tax would solve the citys retail woes. But its a step, he said. In the 20 years Ive been doing this, Ive rarely found a silver bullet for anything, he said. But I think it (the proposal) will go a long way to ameliorate the vacancy problem. Money generated from the tax would go to the Office of Economic and Workforce Development and Mayors Office of Housing and Community Development to provide relief for tenants and businesses displaced during seismic retrofit work. Chronicle staff writer Roland Li contributed to this report. Trisha Thadani is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: tthadani@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @TrishaThadani During an appearance on MSNBC's "The Rachel Maddow Show," 2020 presidential candidate Kamala Harris gave Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell a quick compliment before ripping into President Donald Trump's handling of the government shutdown. The California senator pointed out the Senate passed a bipartisan short-term spending deal prior to the shutdown in December, and gave McConnell credit for helping get that deal done. "People may say many things about Mitch McConnell," Harris said. "[But] when he takes the first step, it's because he knows the 10th step. So we have that vote on the floor I am sure with everyone believing that it was a deal that would be done and the government would keep running. And then what happened?" The senator then blasted Trump for "changing his mind" on the spending bill since it did not contain any new funding for a border wall. "Well there's been a lot of talk about the pressures that were placed on the president in terms of changing his mind, because I believe it's fair to believe he changed his mind," she said. "If you want to talk about this vanity project, this wall, being about national security, well there are FBI employees who have been furloughed, there are people who work for the Department of Homeland Security who are not being paid." Harris called it "hypocrisy" for Trump to shut down the federal government while claiming the wall is for national security purposes. "It's hypocrisy to say that this wall is about securing the American homeland and securing the nation," she said. "If you really want to secure the nation, pay those people to do the job they took an oath to do every day." Harris officially announced her 2020 candidacy on Monday, and answered questions ranging from her record as a prosecutor to how she would handle withdrawing troops from the Middle East. You can watch her full interview with Rachel Maddow here. Eric Ting is an SFGATE staff writer. Email him at eting@sfchronicle.com and follow him on Twitter Start receiving breaking news emails on wildfires, civil emergencies, riots, national breaking news, Amber Alerts, weather emergencies, and other critical events with the SFGATE breaking news email. Click here to make sure you get the news. Xi presides over 6th meeting of central committee for deepening overall reform BEIJING, Jan. 23 (Xinhua) -- Xi Jinping, general secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC), presided over the sixth meeting of the central committee for deepening overall reform Wednesday. Xi, also Chinese president, chairman of the Central Military Commission, and head of the central committee for deepening overall reform, called for "decisive results" in reforms in crucial areas and key links by 2020. The country should continue to fight the tough battles and "crack hard nuts," ensure each undertaking is successful and lay a decisive foundation for fulfilling the reform tasks mapped out by the third plenary session of the 18th CPC Central Committee, he said. Li Keqiang and Wang Huning, both members of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and deputy heads of the reform committee, also attended the meeting. The meeting reviewed and approved a series of official documents: -- a plan and a guideline both on launching a science and technology innovation board at the Shanghai Stock Exchange and experimenting with the registration-based IPO system; -- a guideline on establishing a system of protected natural areas with national parks as its mainstay; -- a guideline on deepening educational and teaching reform and comprehensively improving the quality of mandatory education; -- a guideline on encouraging and guiding the flow of personnel to remote areas with harsh conditions, local communities and the frontline; -- a guideline on deepening overall reform in the domains of politics and law; -- a guideline on advancing the reform of the property right system for natural resource assets; -- a guideline on building a national territorial space planning system and supervising the implementation; -- a guideline on setting up a market-oriented green technologies innovation mechanism; -- a plan on the protection and restoration of natural forests; -- a plan for building Hainan into a national ecological civilization pilot zone; -- a plan for experimenting with the national park mechanism in the tropical forests in Hainan; -- the key points of the reform committee's work in 2019; -- a report summarizing the reform committee's work in 2018; -- a report summarizing and assessing the implementation of deepening reform in all areas since the 18th CPC National Congress. The move to launch the science and technology innovation board and experiment with the registration-based IPO system is a significant measure to implement the innovation-driven development strategy and deepen the capital market reform, according to a statement released after the meeting. It urged for making the capital market more inclusive for science and technology innovation enterprises, with emphasis on support in key and core technology innovation and improving the capability of serving the real economy. Steady efforts should be made to experiment with the registration-based IPO system, coordinate the reforms of stock offering, listing, information disclosure, trading and delisting regulations, and establish and improve a stock offering and listing system centered on information disclosure, said the statement. The meeting stressed innovation in the management system for protected natural areas in accordance with the philosophy of taking mountains, rivers, forests, farmlands, lakes and grasslands as an ecosystem. The protected areas should be designed in a unified manner and administered at different levels and zones, while natural ecological systems of national significance should be included into the national park system for strict protection. A management system for protected natural areas should be formed with national parks as the mainstay, supported by nature reserves as the foundation and complemented with various natural parks. The country should foster virtue through education, observe the laws of education, reinforce the basic role of teachers and enhance well-rounded student development. Talent should be encouraged to work in remote areas with harsh conditions, in local communities and on the frontline, the meeting stressed, while noting it is imperative to follow the principle of the Party exercising leadership over talent administration. To push forward reform in political and legal fields, the country must uphold the absolute Party leadership, enhance coordination and planning, and step up the creation of political and legal institutions with optimized, coordinated and efficient features. While saying the property right system of natural resource assets played a fundamental role in strengthening ecological conservation and pushing forward ecological civilization, the meeting demanded efforts to clarify the ownership of related property rights and conduct uniform investigation and surveillance to promote intensive development of natural resources, ecological protection and restoration. It also called for a unified planning for national territorial space integrating the plans for main functional zones, land use, and urban and rural development. China should build a green technology innovation system in which enterprises are the main players and synergy is created through the joint efforts of enterprises, universities, and research institutes, and strive to advance integration of research and development, application and popularization, and industrial development of green technologies. The meeting pointed out that it was of great significance to put all natural forests under protection for building a "Beautiful China" and promoting sustainable development, demanding more efforts in this regard. It stressed that the CPC Central Committee's support for building Hainan into a national ecological civilization pilot zone and piloting the national park mechanism in the tropical forests in Hainan aimed to uphold and act on the philosophy that "lucid waters and lush mountains are invaluable assets." It urged Hainan Province to carefully organize efforts, pinpoint tasks and shoulder due responsibilities, and told central authorities to strengthen coordination, guidance and policy support. While noting China has generally established the main framework for reform in major fields and made breakthroughs in deepening reform in all areas since the 18th CPC National Congress, the meeting urged for greater efforts in carrying out major reform steps with fundamental, overall and institutional significance, and beneficial to keeping a healthy economic growth, social stability and people's livelihoods. The meeting also called for emphasis on solving concrete problems, targeted measures and flexible policy implementation while pushing ahead with reforms. SAN FRANCISCO (BCN) An 18-year-old accused of brutally beating an 88-year-old woman at a park in San Francisco's Visitacion Valley and then subsequently robbing her, allegedly committed a carjacking and two robberies in the days before his arrest, police said Wednesday. Officers arrested Keonte Gathron of San Francisco on Saturday in connection with the Jan. 8 assault and robbery in the 1000 block of Visitacion Avenue, which left the elderly victim with life-threatening injuries. The victim remains hospitalized, Cmdr. Greg McEachern said Wednesday. Speaking at the San Francisco Police Department headquarters, McEachern said investigators were able to collect DNA from the crime scene and on Jan. 18, the DNA was determined to be Gathron's. After identifying Gathron, officers learned that he'd been identified as the suspect in a carjacking just days earlier. The carjacking was reported on Jan. 16 in the 1500 block of Visitacion Avenue and evidence inside the stolen vehicle, which was found abandoned at a gas station, linked Gathron to the offense, McEachern said. Then on Jan. 19, officers learned about two separate robberies, both involving minors. The first occurred around 4:45 p.m. in the 1000 block of Woolsey Street, when a suspect on a red bicycle robbed a 14-year-old girl of her cellphone at gunpoint. More than an hour later, a suspect on a red bike approached a 17-year-old girl at St. Charles and Belle avenues, punched her in her face and stole her cellphone, McEachern said. Responding officers were able to track one of the stolen cellphones to the area of city's Sunnydale neighborhood. While searching for the suspect, officers found a man matching the suspect's description. After a brief foot pursuit, officers apprehend the man and identified him as Gathron. Officers arrested Gathron on suspicion of several crimes, including attempted murder, kidnapping, robbery, aggravated assault, elder abuse, burglary, possession of stolen property, attempting to destroy evidence, child endangerment and resisting arrest. The violent assault against the 88-year-old prompted newly-elected District 10 Supervisor Shamann Walton to call for a new police substation in the area. Speaking at the police headquarters Wednesday, Board of Supervisors President Norman Yee said, "I talked to Supervisor Walton today and we hope that as a community, they will be a little relieved that the person was caught. But they're still afraid that it might happen again. "We want to find more resources for the community. We want to make sure there are more officers that are visible along the San Bruno Avenue, Vis Valley area," he said. "We also want to make sure that there are cameras put up so that if there's anything that happens, we can spot that person right away." Rex Tabora, executive director of the Asian Pacific American Community Center said, "The community is somewhat relieved. Although this is one of the most heinous crimes to occur to a senior, we could use more police presence there. We also need bilingual officers there, because most of the victims there are monolingual Chinese." In the assault case, officers responded to a home in the 1000 block of Visitacion Avenue after a witness said they'd seen a person they didn't know exiting the home. Upon arrival, officers noticed that the front door was unlocked and open, and no one was inside. Shortly afterward, officers found the 88-year-old victim suffering from severe head injuries at a park at 325 Leland Ave. "Who does that? We have an 88-year-old grandmother who gets brutally beaten, a 14-year-old child robbed at gunpoint; very bad things," Police Chief William Scott said of the suspect. "His actions speak to someone who doesn't value human life very much and fortunately at this point, we've made the first step to let the criminal justice system do what it does." Gathron is expected to be arraigned at the San Francisco Hall of Justice on Thursday. Copyright 2019 by Bay City News, Inc. Republication, Rebroadcast or any other Reuse without the express written consent of Bay City News, Inc. is prohibited. FREMONT (BCN) The same DNA technology that helped with last year's arrest of the suspected Golden State Killer helped Fremont detectives track down a suspect in the brutal 1990 killing of a Fremont man, police said Thursday. Russell Anthony Guerrero, 52, was taken into custody Tuesday in Chandler, Arizona, in connection with the December 1990 death of Fremont resident Jack Upton, according to police. Upton, 30, was reported missing on Dec. 17, 1990, after he hadn't shown up for work at a local Safeway store for several days. When they went to his house at 38780 Tyson Lane, police found Upton had been brutally killed with stabbing injuries. His stolen car was later found a week later, 350 miles away in an abandoned parking lot in Thousand Oaks in Southern California. When detectives searched the car, they found blood samples that matched blood found inside Upton's home belonging to an unknown person believed to be a suspect, police said. Over the years, several leads were developed and investigated, and detectives worked continuously on the Upton case. When further DNA testing technology became available, the suspect's blood was tested. A full male DNA profile for the suspect was uploaded into the Combined DNA Index System, but no matches were found. Last year, however, when new DNA technology assisted with the high-profile arrest of the Golden State Killer suspect, Fremont detectives reached out to the lab that helped with that case, Parabon NanoLabs. The suspect's DNA from the Upton murder was processed and compared against existing genealogical DNA profiles accessed by Parabon NanoLabs. That search, coupled with a complete fresh look at the evidence in the case, produced Guerrero as a suspect. He would have been 25 years old at the time of the killing and had never been contacted or interviewed in connection with the case. In early October 2018, Fremont detectives were able to obtain a DNA sample from Guerrero, who was working as a machinist in Arizona. When his DNA was compared to the blood evidence located in Upton's apartment and vehicle, it was a match, according to police. The case was presented Jan. 17 to the Alameda County District Attorney's Office and Guerrero was charged with the murder of Upton and a warrant was issued for his arrest. Police didn't release a motive for Upton's killing. Tempe and Chandler police assisted in Guerrero's arrest on Tuesday and Fremont detectives are working with the Alameda County Sheriff's Office to extradite him back to California for prosecution. Anyone with information about the case is asked to call the Fremont Police Department's Investigative Unit at (510) 790-6900 or to send an anonymous tip by texting TIP FREMONTPD followed by your message to 888-777, or via https://local.nixle.com/tip/alert/6216337. Copyright 2019 by Bay City News, Inc. Republication, Rebroadcast or any other Reuse without the express written consent of Bay City News, Inc. is prohibited. SAN FRANCISCO (BCN) Police arrested a 26-year-old man earlier this month in connection with an assault nearly two months ago in San Francisco's Tenderloin neighborhood, which left a man with life-threatening injuries. The assault occurred on Nov. 26, 2018, in the 1000 block of Market Street, police said. There, patrol officers found a man lying unconscious in the intersection of Market and Jones streets. Medical personnel rushed the man to the hospital. Investigators determined that the victim, described as being in his 30s, was punched by an assailant before falling to the ground, according to police. Following an investigation, officers were able to identify a suspect, identified as Daly City resident Devonte Talley-McGee, police said. On Jan. 2, officers located Talley-McGee and arrested him on suspicion of assault with a deadly weapon, battery causing serious injury and an outstanding warrant. Copyright 2019 by Bay City News, Inc. Republication, Rebroadcast or any other Reuse without the express written consent of Bay City News, Inc. is prohibited. OAKLAND (BCN) A man pleaded no contest on Wednesday to two counts of attempted murder and one count of forcible rape for violently assaulting three prostitutes in Oakland three years ago. Alameda County prosecutors said on separate occasions Luis Enrique Garcia, now 25, picked up the women in his car, agreed to pay them for sex but after the sex acts began or during them he choked them until they passed out. They said he then dumped their half-naked bodies in the woods, or in the streets of Oakland in one case. All three women survived and testified against him at his preliminary hearing in January 2018. Garcia's plea agreement calls for him to receive a term of 25 years to life in state prison when Alameda County Superior Court Judge James Cramer sentences him on March 8. The attacks occurred on Oct. 11, Nov. 12 and Dec. 1, 2016. Oakland police said Garcia gave a full confession after he was arrested on Dec. 8, 2016. At Garcia's preliminary hearing in January 2018 a sex worker testified that she thought she would die when Garcia choked her and hit her with his car three times after they had sex near the Fruitvale BART station in Oakland in October 2016. The woman, whose name wasn't disclosed in court, said she had consensual sex with Garcia in the back seat of his red SUV after they met near the Fruitvale BART station in the early morning hours of Oct. 11, 2016. The woman, who's now 22, said she told Garcia that it was time to go after they had sex, for which he paid her $80, but then he "squeezed my neck for a few minutes." The woman said she passed out and when she woke up she realized that they were in his car in a remote location in the Oakland hills. The woman said she tried to get out of Garcia's car but she couldn't because the child safety lock had been activated. The sex worker said Garcia finally allowed her to get out of his SUV but then he hit her with it three times when she tried to run away. The woman, who broke down in tears at one point, said, "I felt worried and scared and thought I was going to die." She said when she finally was able to run out of the range of Garcia's car she hid in a canal in the hills for about half an hour because he was still looking for her and she could hear the sound of his engine. The woman, who said she was cut up and bleeding, said she ultimately banged on the door of a nearby house and the homeowner called police, who came to her aid. Garcia's attorney Stephen Avilla couldn't be reached for comment on the plea agreement. Copyright 2019 by Bay City News, Inc. Republication, Rebroadcast or any other Reuse without the express written consent of Bay City News, Inc. is prohibited. SAN FRANCISCO (BCN) One year after a three-alarm fire badly damaged multiple businesses in San Francisco's West Portal neighborhood, one of the stores, which has operated for more than 80 years, celebrated its reopening Wednesday at a temporary location. Papenhausen Hardware had been at its previous West Portal Avenue location for more than twenty years, but a fire on Jan. 24, 2018, forced the owners to close and look for a new space. Fortunately, their new location, located at 2 West Portal Avenue, is just doors away from the old one. According to the owners, Karl Aguilar and Matt Rogers, they were able to secure a short-term lease at the new space with help from Board of Supervisors President Norman Yee and the city's Office of Economic and Workforce Development. The lease will carry the business over until renovations at the former location are made. Renovations are expected to be finished in May. "So many people often complain about the slowness and difficultly of the city's processes, but in our experience, all of the city departments were incredibly clear, responsive and helpful. The night the fire happened, the first responders arrived immediately and stayed until the end to make sure everyone was safe," Aguilar said in a statement. "We are so grateful for all of our community members, loyal customers, the city departments and Supervisor Yee's office for their collective and persistent efforts to advocate to the property manager to reconsider leasing their space to us," he said. In a statement, Fire Chief Joanne Hayes-White said, "A year ago Matt and Karl experienced a tremendous loss, as did the entire West Portal neighborhood, when Papenhausen Hardware was destroyed by fire. "Today, the San Francisco Fire Department is delighted to celebrate the culmination of the hard work of everyone who has played a part in bringing one of West Portal's most iconic businesses back to life," she said. In a statement Yee said, "For me it was very important that the city did everything in our power to help Papenhausen recover from the devastating fire and quickly find a new location or move back into their original space. "After a fire disaster, small businesses need to continue operating, keep their staff on payroll and serve their customers in order to stay afloat," he said. According to Yee's office, Papenhausen's owners expect to move back to their original spot sometime this spring. West Portal Daily, a convenience store that was also damaged during the blaze, has since reopened and is currently expanding, Yee's office said. Copyright 2019 by Bay City News, Inc. Republication, Rebroadcast or any other Reuse without the express written consent of Bay City News, Inc. is prohibited. The mother of a young woman who was fatally shot in Richmond in 2017 has been organizing protests outside of Contra Costa County courthouses this week, calling on District Attorney Diana Becton to change her position on a new state law preventing some juvenile offenders from being tried as adults. Alexandrea "Allie" Sweitzer, 20, was killed on May 18, 2017, in Booker T. Anderson Jr. Park. Her alleged shooter, Vincent Lising-Campos, was 15 at the time. California's Senate Bill 1391, which went into effect Jan. 1, repeals the authority of a district attorney to make a motion to transfer a minor from juvenile to adult court if the alleged offense occurred when the minor was 14 or 15, as in Lising-Campos' case. Melanie Schwartz, Sweitzer's mother, wants to make sure that doesn't happen, and she's pressuring Becton to join her cause. On Tuesday, outside the A.F. Bray Courthouse in Martinez, and then again Thursday morning outside the Contra Costa County Superior Court in Walnut Creek, Schwartz has led a group of demonstrators armed with pictures of Sweitzer and picket signs calling out Becton for her position on SB 1391. Schwartz believes the law is unconstitutional. She wants the prosecutors assigned to her daughter's case to file an appeal, which might ultimately allow Lising-Campos to be tried as an adult and face a more significant sentence if convicted. But Becton issued a written statement Tuesday evening indicating that she's issued an office-wide policy directing her staff not to challenge the constitutionality of SB 1391. "As it stands, S.B. 1391 is the law of the land," Becton said. "The decision certainly does not excuse or condone the actions of those who find themselves charged with a crime," Becton said. "However, as we all work through the evolution of our criminal justice system we must collectively continue to ensure public safety while balancing accountability, fundamental fairness under the law, and the rights of victims." Schwartz, however, believes the prosecutors assigned to her daughter's case want to file an appeal. She wants Becton to let them. "If the court says no, we're OK with that," Schwartz said. "I don't think her office should be tying the hands of the attorney assigned to fight for us." A hearing on the case was scheduled in Walnut Creek on Thursday morning. An update on its status was not immediately available. Copyright 2019 by Bay City News, Inc. Republication, Rebroadcast or any other Reuse without the express written consent of Bay City News, Inc. is prohibited. Marin County public health officials are asking more pharmacies in the county to make available a drug that reverses the effects of fentanyl and other opioid overdoses. Marin County Public Health Officer Dr. Matt Willis said 20 of the 36 pharmacies in the county furnish the drug naloxone that is available in injectable and nasal spray forms. Willis said the widespread availability of naloxone, marketed under the brand name Narcan and Evzio, can reverse the rising trend of opioid overdose deaths. Willis said, "We've been fighting the opioid crisis for several years now, but the trend of fentanyl use among younger people is particularly alarming." Willis said the ambulances in Marin County respond to three to five opioid overdoses a week. "The hope always is that the ambulances will arrive in time to revive the person with naloxone. But we can do better. Getting it into the hands of friends and family who may be close by can save lives," Willis said. Opioid overdose is the leading cause of accidental death in Marin County, according to the Marin County Department of Health and Human Services. "If 100 percent of our pharmacies offered naloxone, it would be a big step," Dr. Jeff DeVido, chief of addiction services in the Marin County Department of Health and Human Services, said. "We're working hard to increase the availability of naloxone, and pharmacies have a vital role to play in getting this life-saving medication into the hands of anyone who might be near someone who is at risk for overdose," DeVido said. California law allows pharmacists to furnish naloxone without a doctor's prescription directly to customers who request it. Most insurance plans cover the cost, and one need not use opioids themselves to obtain the drug. The Walgreens and CVS pharmacies show naloxone prices on their web sites that vary between $20 and $40 per dose depending on the buyer's insurance plan, and a Narcan kit with one to two doses that cost $130-$140. Injectable Narcan is more expensive. A prescription and some training is required for injecting Narcan into muscle. An easier form that does not require a prescription or training is injected into the thigh. The nasal spray also does not require training or a prescription. The RxSafe Marin coalition founded in 2014 has worked with health care providers, mental health specialists, pharmacists, law enforcement, schools and families to reduce overdose risk by making naloxone more widely available. DeVido trained police officers in the county on the use of naloxone in 2017. Police officers and fire department paramedics carry the life-saving medication, and since 2017, Marin County officers in the field have saved at least nine people from opioid overdoses. Some Marin County schools and libraries also have naloxone available, and San Rafael's Marin Treatment Center and The Spahr Center in Corte Madera have furnished naloxone directly to interested individuals, the Department of Health and Human Services said. "Our ultimate goal is to prevent overdose in the first place by treating addiction. Naloxone can help make sure a temporary problem of drug use doesn't have fatal consequences," DeVido said. "We welcome the opportunity to work with the rest of our pharmacies to bring us to 100 percent participation," DeVido said. Copyright 2019 by Bay City News, Inc. Republication, Rebroadcast or any other Reuse without the express written consent of Bay City News, Inc. is prohibited. The body of a young man who was presumed dead after being swept in the ocean in Monterey County Jan. 12 was located on Monday, sheriff's deputies confirmed. Braxton Stuntz had gone hiking along the trails at Garrapata State Park when he slipped and fell through a blowhole near the ocean cliffs. He was a talented photographer and had been taking pictures at the beach when he fell, according to social media posts. The hole quickly filled up with 14-foot waves that came 9 seconds apart and he was swept out into the ocean. His friends sought help from multiple agencies that conducted searches throughout the night. Sheriff's deputies said last week that Stuntz was believed to be dead, and Cmdr. John Thornburg confirmed Stuntz's body was located in the water off the beach Monday and identified him Tuesday. Stuntz had recently earned his Eagle Scout award from the Boy Scouts and was a freshman at the University of San Diego. His family held a service at Stevenson School in Pebble Beach on Saturday. "I would like to thank all those who tried to save him on his last day," Braxton's father, surgeon Mike Stuntz said at the service, describing him as a gentle and kind soul. "He was a very special boy. Watching him grow up has been the greatest joy of my life." Family members also created an online donation page for a Braxton Stuntz Foundation. The money will be directed toward Children's Surgical Centre, a hospital in Cambodia where Stuntz visited with his father, and tutoring and educational scholarships in Monterey County. The page at https://www.gofundme.com/braxton-stuntz-foundation has raised over $75,000 of its $100,000 goal as of 5:55 p.m. Wednesday, and organizers said money will be directed toward infrastructure improvements at the coast and photography if funds allow. Copyright 2019 by Bay City News, Inc. Republication, Rebroadcast or any other Reuse without the express written consent of Bay City News, Inc. is prohibited. SAN FRANCISCO (BCN) A man accused of assaulting a security guard at the San Francisco apartment complex where he lived after the guard refused to let him in was acquitted of all charges by a jury, the public defender's office announced Wednesday. According to the man's attorney, Deputy Public Defender Brandon Banks, the incident started when the guard didn't believe the man lived at the complex. "As we see far too many times in this country, my client was a black man who just wanted to get home but was unfairly profiled by people who didn't think he looked like he belonged there," Banks said in a statement. The incident occurred on Nov. 24 when Shaun Huddleston, 52, was trying to enter the building where he lived, located in the 800 block of Brannan Street, without a key fob. Huddleston lives in a subsidized unit, acquired through a lottery, in a building where units go for about $5,000 month, according to the public defender's office. When he banged on the glass to get someone's attention, a female security guard arrived and refused to let Huddleston in. "She never asked him to identify himself nor checked to see if he was in fact a resident," Banks said. When Huddleston tried to pull the door open, the security guard slammed the door on his hand, causing Huddleston to push the door back, bumping the guard, Huddleston testified during the trial. Once inside his apartment, officers arrived and arrested him. "He was never even told he was being arrested," Banks said. "He opened the door, with no shirt on, and was immediately placed in handcuffs. They never gave him the opportunity to get dressed and they yanked him down the hallway, in front of all of his neighbors, further humiliating him." Huddleston was charged with battery, resisting arrest and three counts of making criminal threats. A judge dismissed the making criminal threats charges mid-trial, with the jury acquitting Huddleston of the other charges. In addition to the charges he faced, Banks said that because a judge issued a stay-away order from the building, Huddleston found himself homeless for a month. "The judge simply read the police report and took those statements as true," he said. "It took multiple motions being filed to get this stay-away order modified so that Mr. Huddleston could go home." Public Defender Jeff Adachi said in a statement, "Far too often people of color are wrongly accused of being somewhere they aren't supposed to be. In this case, it cost a man a roof over his head for four weeks and it could have cost him years in jail. Thankfully, the jury cut though the veil of prejudice and went straight for the facts." Copyright 2019 by Bay City News, Inc. Republication, Rebroadcast or any other Reuse without the express written consent of Bay City News, Inc. is prohibited. SAN JOSE (BCN) Mineta San Jose International Airport and Second Harvest Food Bank on Wednesday set up donations of food and supplies to support federal workers impacted by the government shutdown. The city estimates about 500 of its residents work at the airport with such agencies as the Transportation Security Administration and U.S. Customs and Border Protection, and have been furloughed during the one month-long shutdown. Assistant director of aviation for the airport, Judy Ross, said the federal workers have maintained the safe operation of the airport despite the shutdown that began Dec. 22 during peak travel season. "It's important that we collaborate with Second Harvest Food Bank and other community partners and demonstrate how much we care about our fellow employees, so they can feed their families during this difficult period," Ross said in a statement. At the airport Wednesday between noon and 3 p.m., about 150 staff members gathered items from boxes of produce, non-perishable foods and toiletries donated by airport staff. The San Jose City Council will hold a special meeting Thursday to vote on emergency interest-free loans for federal airport workers. San Jose Mayor Sam Liccardo has said the proposal is an effort to address workers' needs while keeping the airport in operation. Absences have jumped from 3 percent to 14 percent during the shutdown, and 48 percent of the airport's employees are San Jose residents. The meeting will begin at 2:30 p.m. Thursday at City Hall, and Councilmembers will also discuss a proposal for a 90-day moratorium on rent for residents impacted by a lack of federal funding and salaries. Copyright 2019 by Bay City News, Inc. Republication, Rebroadcast or any other Reuse without the express written consent of Bay City News, Inc. is prohibited. Most stories of frivolous lawsuits are clickbait bullshit, like the infamous lawsuit over coffee being hot . But some, motivated by either a desire for attention or sheer insanity, are real ... and even crazier than you could have imagined. 5 A Woman Alleged That Disney Stole Her Life Story For Frozen Frozen, if you can remember anything beyond that fucking song, was loosely based on a Hans Christian Andersen story from the 1800s. Or that's what Disney wants you to think. In reality, or at least in the reality that Isabella Tanikumi lives in, Frozen is a blatant ripoff of her 2010 autobiography, appropriately titled Living My Truth. Continue Reading Below Advertisement By now you're probably recalling how Frozen featured magic, a talking snowman, and several elaborate musical numbers. But any thieving hack can invent supplementary details like those. Only a true artist can invent the elements that Tanikumi claimed Disney stole, including the fact that both stories take place in a village at the base of a snow-covered mountain, feature loving sisters who are close in age, and use open gates as metaphors. Perhaps the biggest gotcha is that both stories contain a key scene set under the moon, because we all know that only the bravest artists use the moon in their work, while most fear and shun it. Continue Reading Below Advertisement Tanikumi sued for $250 million and the immediate cessation of sales of all Frozen merchandise, which at their peak represented 37 percent of America's GDP. Because honestly, what's more likely? That Disney injected some common tropes and their own trademark style into a fairy tale, or that a gigantic corporation capable of employing as many writers as its black heart desires stumbled across a book self-published in Peru and decided that they had to steal this groundbreaking idea about sisters who go on an adventure? "A set of discussions that took place in Sweden over the weekend have now wrapped up. Again, a little bit more progress," Pompeo said in an interview after delivering remarks to the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland through video. The US top diplomat said the discussions provided the opportunity for Stephen Biegun, the US special representative for the DPRK, and his DPRK counterpart to discuss some of the complicated issues towards achieving what US and DPRK leaders laid out during their first meeting last June in Singapore. "There remains an awful lot of work to do, but good things have happened already," Pompeo added. Biegun, DPRK Vice Foreign Minister Choe Son Hui, and the Republic of Korean negotiator Lee Do-hoon held talks near Stockholm, Sweden over the weekend. A spokesman of the Swedish Foreign Ministry said on January 21 that the constructive talks had covered issues concerning developments on the Korean Peninsula, including confidence building, economic development, and long-term engagement. The talks were believed to be a preparation for the upcoming summit between US President Donald Trump and top DPRK leader Kim Jong-un. Kim Yong Chol, vice chairman of the DPRK's ruling Korean Workers' Party Central Committee, met with Pompeo and Trump on January 18 in Washington. The White House announced on the same day that the second summit between Trump and Kim "will take place near the end of February." Erin Schaff / New York Times NEW YORK Rudy Giulianis latest media blitz, which was filled with a dizzying array of misstatements and hurried clarifications, agitated President Trump and some of his allies, who have raised the possibility that the outspoken presidential lawyer be at least temporarily sidelined from televised interviews. Trump was frustrated with Giuliani, according to three White House officials and Republicans close to the White House who were not authorized to speak publicly about private conversations. The president told advisers that he felt his lawyer had obscured what he believed was a public relations victory: the special counsels rare public statement disputing portions of a BuzzFeed News story that Trump instructed his former attorney, Michael Cohen, to lie before Congress. HONOLULU U.S. Rep. Tulsi Gabbard, a Hawaii Democrat known for bucking the party establishment and for criticizing U.S. foreign policy in the Middle East, formally launched her campaign for president with a video posted online Thursday. Gabbard joins a growing field of Democrats seeking their partys nomination. U.S. Housing Secretary Julian Castro recently announced a bid, and Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, Sen. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand of New York and Sen. Kamala Harris of California say they are running. We have people in positions of power who are not thinking about the well-being of the people and our planet, Gabbard said in the video . Where is that conversation about the needs of our people? Gabbard, 37, has represented Honolulus suburbs and rural Hawaii in the U.S. House since 2013. She is a combat veteran who served in Iraq and Kuwait with the Hawaii National Guard. She was an early, vocal supporter of Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders during the last presidential campaign, which has made her popular with progressive Democrats. Critics have focused on her past advocacy against same-sex marriage. In one example, she spoke at a news conference in 2004 when she was a state representative about federal judges tearing apart our U.S. Constitution in order to force same-sex marriage down the throats of the people of Hawaii and America. To address such criticisms, Gabbard released a nearly four-minute-long video statement on YouTube last week explaining how she grew up in a socially conservative household but has since formed her own opinions shaped by her life experiences. She apologized for her past statements and the harm they caused. I look forward to being able to share more of my story and experiences growing up not as an excuse, but in the hopes that it may inspire others to truly live aloha; to love and care for others, she said. Audrey McAvoy is an Associated Press writer. MIAMI Walking may be hazardous to your health. In Florida, the risk of fatality on foot is significantly higher than in any other state. Nine of the 20 deadliest U.S. cities for pedestrians are in Florida, with Orlando ranked as least safe and the Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach metropolis ranked No. 14 in the 2019 Dangerous by Design report from Smart Growth America and the National Complete Streets Coalition. WASHINGTON President Trumps former lawyer, Michael Cohen, postponed his scheduled appearance on Capitol Hill, citing ongoing threats from Trump and spurring Democrats to suggest they might issue a subpoena to force his hotly anticipated testimony. A subpoena would aggressively signal Democrats intention to investigate the president and his inner circle. It could also, however, put them at cross-purposes with federal prosecutors, who have relied on Cohen as a witness and may want to restrict his public testimony. Cohens announcement Wednesday came in a statement by his spokesman, Lanny Davis. It said Cohen, who has been at the center of criminal investigations involving the president, was withdrawing from a Feb. 7 hearing of the House Oversight Committee over threats from Trump and the presidents lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, the former New York mayor. This is a time where Mr. Cohen had to put his family and their safety first, Davis said. Davis also said Cohens lawyers urged a delay because of his continued cooperation with ongoing investigations. Cohen looks forward to testifying at the appropriate time, Davis added. Trump brushed off the suggestion that he had threatened Cohen. Hes only been threatened by the truth, he told reporters at the White House. Since Cohens congressional appearance was announced this month, Trump and his allies have repeatedly insulted him as a liar and claimed he was covering up criminal activity by his father-in-law, Fima Shusterman, who immigrated to the U.S. from Ukraine. Giuliani said in a recent CNN appearance that Shusterman may have ties to organized crime and Cohen was afraid to testify against him. He did not offer evidence to back that accusation, and Shusterman has not been charged with any crime. Democrats accused the president of interfering with a congressional investigation. Any kind of intimidation is unacceptable, Rep. Elijah Cummings, D-Md., chairman of the House Oversight Committee, told reporters on Capitol Hill. Any kind of threats are unacceptable. Chris Megerian is a Los Angeles Times writer. Jose Luis Magana / Associated Press Joe Biden defended his decision to praise an embattled Republican lawmaker during a paid speech in Michigan last fall, telling a group of mayors Thursday that it reflected his philosophy of how to get things done. The New York Times reported Wednesday that Biden had earned $200,000 for an October speaking engagement in Benton Harbor, Mich., three weeks before the midterm elections. During that speech, Biden gave a glowing commendation to Rep. Fred Upton, a powerful Republican who joined with Biden to increase funding for cancer research and, separately, helped forge legislation to gut the Affordable Care Act. Another exhibit based all around the art of the selfie is opening up, this time in Monterey. At least Selfieville is straightforward with its name. It's in the same vein as photogenic exhibits like the Museum of Ice Cream and Candytopia, both in San Francisco, except it's not even trying to bait you in with the promise of dessert. Selfieville gets straight to the point: You're here to take pictures. A bizarre and very involved scam has reportedly been swindling Northern California drivers over the last few months, say CHP officers. It goes something like this: A driver with a seemingly broken-down vehicle, usually an SUV, flags down other motorists on freeways or more deserted roads, and then asks them to buy gold jewelry rings, necklaces, or even counterfeit Rolexes in exchange for a bit of gas money. Some scammers have claimed they've lost their wallet; others say they need to get to the hospital to help a family member. At times, as some reports stated, they'll even jump in front of an unsuspecting car to get the driver to stop or approach someone at a gas station. RELATED: California 'hacktivist' outsmarts scammer, reveals his X-rated search history It's a weird but apparently convincing scheme. The jewelry has reportedly been stamped with "18k," but when the buyer gets the pieces examined or takes them to a pawn shop, they inevitably find out the "18k gold" is actually cheap brass. RELATED: There's a new texting scam going around, and it starts with a picture of breasts According to the Modesto Bee, numerous people have reported the scam in action, and it's now believed to be a statewide issue. Officers don't know how many people are involved in the scam. A spokesperson for the Sacramento CHP tells SFGATE they believe those involved may be taking their efforts further north. On Wednesday, the Central Division of the CHP tweeted that the issue is ongoing, and that they are searching for others who may have fallen victim to similar crimes. Those who may have been affected should contact the CHP Central Division at (559) 277-7250. Alyssa Pereira is an SFGATE staff writer. Email her at apereira@sfchronicle.com or find her on Twitter at @alyspereira. Who knew? There's a restaurant in San Francisco's Japantown serving 23 different types of spaghetti including one topped with pink cod roe dressing, squid and seaweed amid anime decor. On the Bridge, aptly named because of its location on the bridge at the Japantown mall, is a favorite spot of 1970s punk rock icon Patti Smith. Smith, whose most widely known song is "Because the Night," recently ate at the eatery with Lenny Kaye and shared a message and photo on Instagram. "I like the flying fish roe spaghetti and watching continuous videos of old episodes of Dragon Ball Z and taking sips of Lenny's wasabi beer," she wrote. ALSO: Kim Kardashian spotted in San Francisco wearing sheer lace catsuit with Kanye West The author, poet and musician was in town for two special performances at the San Francisco Art Institute in front of the Diego Rivera mural, Smith noted on Instagram. She also showed an exhibition of her photographs featuring her connection with the artist community on her travels to Mexico. "Goodnight Diego, goodnight Japantown, goodnight everybody! Life is good..," she ended her message. Click through the gallery above to read about more celebrity visits and sightings around San Francisco. RIO DEL MAR, Calif. A San Jose man was convicted for shooting and killing a great white shark last year in Santa Cruz County. The shark washed up on Beer Can Beach in Rio Del Mar on June 17, 2018 with multiple gunshot wounds from a .22 caliber firearm. The California Department of Fish and Wildlife began an investigation immediately. During the investigation, the CDFW received a phone tip that a member of a commercial fishing boat crew may have been responsible for the shark's death. CDFW officers investigated the tip and identified the suspected commercial fishing boat that night in the area where the shark had been found. Officers contacted the crew as the boat returned to the Santa Cruz Harbor. CDFW conducted a fishing inspection and found multiple violations involving the suspected boat's commercial catch. Officers say they also found a fully loaded .22 caliber rifle was also discovered hidden behind the seat of the truck of the suspect, 41-year-old Vinh Pham of San Jose. During the investigation, Pham reportedly confessed, claiming he shot the shark after seeing it swimming near his fishing net. On Jan. 14, 2019, Pham pleaded guilty in Santa Cruz Superior Court to multiple charges including allowing the White Shark to rot, possessing a loaded rifle in his vehicle, possessing undersized halibut, failing to accurately weigh his catch, failing to complete landing receipts and failing to submit landing receipts. Pham was fined $5000.00 and put on probation for two years. The court also ordered his firearm to be destroyed. DNA testing led police to an Arizona man suspected of killing a Fremont resident in 1990, authorities said Thursday. Law enforcement took 52-year-old Russell Anthony Guerrero of Tempe, Ariz., into custody Tuesday after he was linked to the 1990 killing of 30-year-old Jack Upton, according to the Fremont Police Department. Authorities discovered Upton dead on Dec. 17, 1990, in his apartment at 38780 Tyson Lane. His car had been stolen from the complexs parking lot and was discovered a week later, on Christmas Eve, 350 miles away in Thousand Oaks (Ventura County), police said. A DNA test of blood collected from the scene and Uptons car did not produce any suspects at the time, but last year Fremont detectives gave the evidence to Parabon NanoLabs, the agency involved in cracking a 1973 cold case in Palo Alto. Other notable California cold cases solved using DNA technology in the past year include the Golden State Killer and NorCal Rapist cases. Fremont police regularly review unsolved cases and had received several tips about Uptons death in the past few years, said Jacob Blass, a cold case homicide detective with the department. We actually designate somebody to go back and re-evaluate cases, he said. Parabon NanoLabs matched the blood samples from Fremont police with Guerrero, who was not part of the initial investigation into Uptons death, authorities said. Detectives traveled to Guerreros home in Arizona in early October to set up surveillance and obtain a physical DNA sample to match evidence found at the crime scene, police said. The Alameda County district attorneys office issued a warrant for Guerreros arrest on Jan. 17 and charged him with one count of murder. Police dont have a motive for why Upton was killed. Guerrero is awaiting extradition to California. Gwendolyn Wu is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: gwendolyn.wu@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @gwendolynawu This article, Jeff Bezos' $150 billion divorce: What you need to know, originally appeared on CNET.com. Jeff Bezos' divorce announcement in January started with a seemingly heartfelt and straightforward tweet from the couple and soon after spiraled into allegations of blackmail over nude photos and a private investigation into leaked texts. Apparently this is what it looks like when the world's richest person gets divorced. The split, which was finalized in early April, has transformed Bezos' public persona from a privacy-seeking tech geek to a supermarket tabloid regular, with gossip pages dishing on the couple's massive fortune of roughly $150 billion and on Bezos' steamy texts to his new girlfriend. Beyond the world of TMZ and Page Six, Jeff and MacKenzie Bezos' divorce will have a big impact on Amazon's ownership and create new challenges for the company. And though it's unlikely, that turbulence could even harm consumers by slowing Amazon's rapid pace of growth and innovation. The divorce had been expected to result in one of the biggest and most notable settlements in history. It ultimately lived up to that hype. "Jeff remains very much focused on and engaged in Amazon," company spokesman Drew Herdener said in January. Here's what you need to know about the divorce and what effects it may have. The split Jeff and MacKenzie Bezos jointly announced their divorce via Twitter on Jan. 9, saying they decided to split "after a long period of loving exploration and trial separation." The message said they plan to remain friends. The couple married 25 years ago, the year before Bezos founded Amazon. What wasn't mentioned in that tweet was that the National Enquirer tabloid had reached out to Bezos two days earlier to ask him for comment on a story it planned to run about Bezos and his girlfriend, Lauren Sanchez, The Wall Street Journal reported this week. Hours after the divorce announcement, the Enquirer reported that Bezos has been dating Sanchez, the wife of WME talent agent Patrick Whitesell. It also published a series of texts Bezos sent Sanchez, including: "I love you, alive girl. I will show you with my body, and my lips and my eyes, very soon." Sanchez and Whitesell are separated, according to several news reports. Michael Sanchez, Lauren's brother and a longtime source for the Enquirer, leaked those texts to the publication, according to reports by both the Journal and the Daily Beast. He hasn't admitted that he was the Enquirer's source. Jeff Bezos is Amazon's founder, CEO, chairman and top shareholder. MacKenzie Bezos is a novelist who helped Amazon grow during its early years but hasn't been significantly involved in the company since and has a much lower profile than her husband. The couple has four children. Lauren Sanchez is a former TV reporter who founded an aerial film production company called Black Ops Aviation. She didn't respond to a request for comment. The settlement In early April, Jeff and MacKenzie Bezos announced, via Twitter, a divorce settlement in which MacKenzie will receive 25% of Jeff Bezos' stake in Amazon. She's expected to be worth about $35 billion and will become one of Amazon's four biggest shareholders. MacKenzie Bezos agreed to hand over voting control of her shares to Jeff Bezos and gave up her stakes in the Blue Origin rocket company and in The Washington Post. The Medium post Things got strange a month after the divorce announcement when Bezos published a lengthy Medium post alleging an apparent blackmail plot by the Enquirer. He said the publication was threatening to release nude photos of him unless he ended a private investigation into how the tabloid got a hold of his text messages to Sanchez. He said the publication also called for him to say publicly he found no proof that the Enquirer's reporting was politically motivated; President Donald Trump has had an ongoing feud with Bezos and has close connections to the Enquirer. "Rather than capitulate to extortion and blackmail, I've decided to publish exactly what they sent me, despite the personal cost and embarrassment they threaten," Bezos said in the post. Bezos was still going through an increasingly messy and public divorce, but his revelation of the Enquirer's apparent extortion won the billionaire a wave of positive coverage. American Media Inc., the Enquirer's publisher, said it would investigate Bezos' claims. On March 30, the plot thickened when Gavin de Becker, a private investigator hired by Bezos, alleged in a post on The Daily Beast that Saudi Arabia had hacked the Amazon CEO's phone and accessed private information. The alleged hack was linked to coverage in The Washington Post, of the murder of Jamal Khashoggi, a Saudi reporter who wrote for paper. Bezos owns The Post. The Saudi embassy didn't respond to a request for comment. De Becker said it wasn't clear how much, if anything, AMI knew about the alleged Saudi hack. In a statement, an American Media spokesperson called de Becker's claims "false and unsubstantiated," adding that Michael Sanchez was the company's "single source" of information on the relationship. "There was no involvement by any other third party whatsoever." CNET couldn't reach Michael Sanchez for comment. What's the president's take? Yes, even Trump has a take on this divorce. Trump has often showed his disdain for Jeff Bezos, mostly because Bezos' Washington Post has reported many unflattering things about the commander-in-chief. So sorry to hear the news about Jeff Bozo being taken down by a competitor whose reporting, I understand, is far more accurate than the reporting in his lobbyist newspaper, the Amazon Washington Post. Hopefully the paper will soon be placed in better & more responsible hands! Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 14, 2019 The president is known for taking digs at his enemies, so it should come as no surprise that he's mocked Bezos amid the divorce. In one tweet in January, Trump called him "Jeff Bozo." When asked about the Bezos divorce, Trump, who's been divorced twice, said: "I wish him luck. It's going to be a beauty." Trump also enjoyed a victory lap after the Enquirer broke news of Bezos' extramarital relationship. The president is close to the tabloid's publisher and has reportedly used the tabloid to suppress allegations of his own affair. Michael Sanchez, a Hollywood talent manager, is also connected to both the Enquirer and conservative activists. These relationships and Trump's comments on the divorce have made plenty of people wonder whether the Enquirer reporting was an effort to go after Bezos to benefit Trump. Bezos and Amazon routinely avoid responding to Trump's taunts. Onlookers should expect that posture to continue. The fortune Nearly all of Bezos' wealth comes from his 16% ownership in Amazon, one of the world's most valuable publicly traded companies, valued at about $890 billion. Bezos personally owns The Washington Post, which he purchased for $250 million in 2013. The couple's properties include two homes in Beverly Hills; two homes in Medina, Washington; the largest home in Washington, DC; and a Texas ranch, according to the Journal. Bezos also owns Blue Origin, a rocket and space travel company he founded in 2000. He invests about $1 billion of his Amazon stock every year in developing the startup. Through Bezos Expeditions, he owns stakes in companies including Airbnb, Uber, Nextdoor and Twitter. After being a minor player in the charity world for most of his career, Bezos in September unveiled the Day One charitable fund, with an initial investment of $2 billion to aid nonprofits focused on homelessness and to create a new network of preschools in low-income communities. What could happen next for Amazon? TMZ had reported that the couple has no prenuptial agreement, which meant the world's biggest individual fortune could have been split, with Jeff Bezos losing direct control of half his Amazon stake. That didn't happen. He will retain 75% of his original stake and maintain voting control of MacKenzie Bezos' shares. She has not requested a seat on Amazon's board or pushed for any changes at the company -- two scenarios considered possible early in the divorce process. Corporate governance experts have said the divorce is sure to add uncertainty for Amazon. It appears to have already created a distraction for Bezos. "These are hard jobs even in the best of circumstances, then you add other things in there," David Larcker, director of the Corporate Governance Research Initiative at Stanford's business school, said in January. "Do you have the bandwidth to deal with it? Do you have your eye on the ball?" Jason Redmond/Getty Images Jill Fisch, a professor of business law at the University of Pennsylvania, said: "How strong Amazon is as a company will determine how big an impact this has." Larcker and Fisch likened the Bezos divorce to Tesla CEO Elon Musk's emotional issues last year and Apple co-founder Steve Jobs' illness and death in 2011. In both cases, the impact on consumers and the products they bought from Tesla and Apple was muted. Larcker said he expects the same outcome in Amazon's case, too, though he cautioned that a more distracted Jeff Bezos could harm long-term decisions and cause Amazon to miss out on potential acquisitions. To avoid those kinds of issues, Larcker said, Amazon will have to rely on its bench strength of longtime Amazon executives, who include worldwide consumer business CEO Jeff Wilke, Amazon Web Services CEO Andy Jassy and senior vice president Jeffrey Blackburn. Amazon now employs about 600,000 people worldwide, meaning it isn't run by any one person, no matter how important, and can continue to move on it own momentum at least for the short term, he added. Has there been any impact on Amazon so far? There have been scores of tabloid headlines, and the publishing of embarrassing texts from Jeff Bezos punctures Amazon's typical air of secrecy. The blackmail allegations, too, likely distracted the company from its usual messaging about new products and services. Beyond that, there's been no clear dustup related to Amazon as a company, with its stock remaining stable since the divorce announcement. On Feb. 15, a week after Bezos' Medium post hit, Amazon said it scraped its plans to build a major, 25,000-employee campus in New York City. However, that decision has been widely attributed to pushback from local politicians and activists, not the divorce drama. Even $35 billion poorer, Bezos is likely to remain just as engaged in and motivated about Amazon's growth, Larcker had said, since his identity is so closely intertwined with the company, and he'll still be worth a staggering $115 billion. There's no lack of challenges for Bezos. He's just starting the development of another major 25,000-employee office in Arlington, Virginia (yes, there were going to be two). His company is stretching itself into smart-home gadgets like the popular Alexa-powered Echo speakers, as well as Hollywood, health care, groceries, robotics and new international markets. Plus, competition in Amazon's main business, online retail, continues to simmer as Walmart, Target and other traditional retailers fight to catch up. There isn't a lot of room for error for Bezos and Amazon. If this team stops executing as well as it has for the past few years, lots of competitors could jump ahead. Has a similar CEO divorce happened before? Yes, though the numbers don't get any bigger. Wynn Resorts founders Steve and Elaine Wynn divorced in 2010 and split their 18% stake in the casino company, which was then valued at about $1.5 billion. The breakup was amicable, but things fell apart soon after, with Elaine Wynn suing to regain voting control of her shares and eventually becoming the largest shareholder when Steve Wynn resigned amid sexual misconduct allegations. Rupert and Anna Murdoch's marriage of 32 years ended in 1999, resulting in Anna reportedly receiving $1.7 billion in the settlement. There are plenty of other instances of super rich divorce settlements, but the Bezos split is likely the biggest settlement in history, with MacKenzie Bezos becoming one of the wealthiest women in the world. First published on Jan. 24. Update March 20: Adds information on Bezos' Medium post, Michael Sanchez and Amazon's pull out of New York. Update March 31: Adds details of Gavin de Becker post at The Daily Beast. Update April 4: Notes that the divorce settlement has been finalized. BuzzFeed, often hailed as the future of publishing and a leading producer of digital content, plans to lay off 15 percent of its workforce, or about 200 employees, according to a memo sent to the staff Wednesday night. The companys management team, led by the chief executive Jonah Peretti, has been working on the staff cuts over the past few months, two people with knowledge of the plans said. They asked not to be named because they were not authorized to speak on the matter. The cuts will affect the international and web content departments, including the news division, led by Ben Smith. Peretti sent a note to employees at 6:30 p.m. Eastern time with the subject line Difficult Changes. Hello BuzzFeeders, he wrote. Im writing with sad news: we are doing layoffs at BuzzFeed next week. We will be making a 15% overall reduction in headcount across the company. Im sending this tonight because I wanted you to hear it from me directly instead of from the press. The move is meant to trim costs and maintain growth as the company aims to hit profitability this year. BuzzFeed, which employs over 1,300 people, generated more than $300 million in revenue in 2018. That was a jump of better than 15 percent from the previous year, but the company still loses money. BuzzFeed declined to comment. Known for its mastery of the viral arts, the site relies on an army of editors, producers and journalists to produce thousands of pieces of content each week, as varied as cooking videos and breaking news reports. BuzzFeed News came under scrutiny in recent days after publishing an article reporting that President Donald Trump had instructed his former lawyer, Michael Cohen, to lie in his testimony to Congress. In a rare public statement, the special counsels office denied the report. Smith has said he stands by the article. Publishers across the web have suffered as shifting reader habits and whimsical-seeming algorithm adjustments at Facebook have cut into revenue. Vice Media reduced staff last year in a bid to reach profits, and Mic, a site aimed at younger readers, cut the majority of its staff before being sold off in a fire sale to a competitor. Advertisers generally pay less to reach online readers than print devotees, but investors were banking on the idea that online ad rates would significantly rise and digital publishers would dominate. That hasnt happened as Facebook and Google continue to siphon the majority of ad dollars. BuzzFeeds board recently agreed that the company needs to start turning profits, the people said. The site has lost money for most of the years it has been in operation, not unusual for a startup. Venture-backed companies like BuzzFeed often spend big at first in a bid to expand. But as the company closes in on a decade in business, investors want to start seeing profits. In his note, Peretti said The restructuring we are undertaking will reduce our costs and improve our operating model so we can thrive and control our own destiny, without ever needing to raise funding again. These changes will allow us to be the clear winner in the market as the economics of digital media continue to improve. BuzzFeed has raised nearly $500 million in venture funding, with $400 million coming from NBCUniversal. Peretti, a graduate of the MIT Media Lab and a founder of HuffPost, began BuzzFeed in 2006 as an experiment and turned it into a genuine business by 2011. He amassed a large following by hitting on a formula that took advantage of the new publishing platforms on Facebook, YouTube and Twitter. BuzzFeeds monthly readership is nothing to LOL at: 690 million, a figure that has made it the envy among digital publishers. That still may not be enough. BuzzFeed took a hit when Facebook introduced a sweeping change in 2016 that significantly reduced the visibility of articles and videos from professional publishers in its News Feed, its main artery of content. The change hurt all content companies including Vox Media, Refinery29 and Group Nine, the publisher of popular sites like The Dodo and forced them to adjust their strategies to rely less on platforms like Facebook. In a November interview with The New York Times, Peretti proffered an audacious solution: a series of mergers with five or six top internet publishers, including Vice, Vox Media, Group Nine and Refinery. The industrial logic was evident, he said. A larger entity could lobby for a higher percentage of the ad dollars that Facebook and Google share with publishers when their content, videos in particular, run on the platforms. In turn, publishers would be able to supply them with content that is safe for general users and friendlier for advertisers. Having some bigger companies that actually care about the quality of the content feels like something thats very valuable, he said at the time. Meanwhile, BuzzFeed has been adding new business lines, offering a cookware line at Walmart and, crucially, placing banner ads across its website. At the outset, Peretti said he didnt want banner ads, because they significantly slowed down the site. In their place he pushed for native ads posts that look like editorial content but are created in cooperation with marketers. Native advertising slowed considerably in 2017, however. Coupled with changes at Facebook, the rate of revenue growth declined. The addition of banner ads significantly added to BuzzFeeds coffers last year, the people said. In his note to the staff, Peretti said he took the layoffs to heart. On a personal note, he wrote, Ive never thought about my job as just business. I care about the people at BuzzFeed more than anything other than my family. This will be a tough week for all of us and I realize it will be much worse for the people losing their jobs. To them, I want to say thank you, Im sorry our work together is ending this way, and I hope we get to work together again in the future. Our loss will be to the benefit of other organizations where I know you will go on to make formidable contributions. BuzzFeed has had staff reductions in the past. In 2017, it cut 100 of its 1,600-employee workforce after it failed to meet revenue targets that year. As BuzzFeed looks to cut down its staff once again, print publishers have also struggled. Gannett, the owner of USA Today and The Detroit Free Press, has cut its workforce sharply over the past few years. A company overview from the end of 2015 showed 19,600 employees. By the end of 2017, the figure was down to 15,300. On Wednesday, there were more cuts at Gannett newspapers across the country, including The Indianapolis Star and The Record in New Jersey. The company is slimming down in an effort to attract a buyer, and a company controlled by the New York hedge fund Alden Global Capital which itself has made drastic cuts at newspapers in its stable, including The Denver Post has expressed interest. This article originally appeared in The New York Times. The pictures tell a different story than savage killer: Cary Stayner when he was just 8 months old, wearing a baby bonnet. Cary at 6, watching television from the couch. Cary with his little brother, Steven. His mother, Kay, flipped through the photographs Thursday from a witness stand in Santa Clara County Superior Court. And for a brief moment, a wave of good memories appeared to wash over her face. On trial for his life, Stayner sat just a few feet away. "Cary was the ideal son," Kay Stayner told the jury. "Very seldom did he get into trouble. He was a good student, a good artist, and he was very loving. " And then Kay Stayner, who was raised to keep her emotions to herself, cried. With the palm of his hands, Cary Stayner wiped away his own tears. The jury in Stayner's triple murder trial is expected to soon decide whether Stayner should live out his life in prison or die for the murders of three Yosemite tourists. The panel has rejected his insanity defense and found him guilty of killing Carole Sund, 42, her daughter, Juli, 15, and their 16- year-old Argentine friend, Silvina Pelosso. Five months after killing the trio, he decapitated Joie Armstrong, a 26- year-old Yosemite naturalist. Prosecutors say he is among the worst criminals in California and should be put to death. But Kay Stayner wants her son to live. "If his dying would bring these people back, I'd say do it," she said. "But executing him is not going to bring them back." If being the mother of one of California's most notorious killers isn't tragic enough, Kay Stayner is also the mother of one of its most high-profile victims. She and her family have been the subject of more news stories and profiled in more books than some politicians and celebrities. When Cary Stayner was just 11, his younger brother, Steven, 7, was snatched from a Merced street on his way home from school. His abductor kept and sexually abused Steven for seven years. He finally ran away and turned himself over to a nearby police department. When he returned home, he was a promiscuous teenager with an alcohol problem and later died in a motorcycle crash. His story was turned into a television miniseries. "We got Steve back, not Stevie," said Kay Stayner, who spent a lot of time telling the jury about the toll her youngest son's disappearance took on the family and how it affected Cary. The defendant's father, Delbert Stayner, testified that after Steven went missing, he became obsessed with finding his boy and neglected his other four children -- especially Cary. "I didn't socialize with him," he said. "I yelled at him a lot." It was common for the couple to load the kids in the car and take off in search of a new tip that could lead them to Steven. The trips always ended in a wild goose chase, according to testimony. What was worse, Kay Stayner said, was that family members never talked about their feelings -- because in the Stayner home emotions were taboo. Only Kay Stayner's father voiced his opinion, she said. "He said we should be glad that Steven was gone. Now we only had four children to clothe," she told the court. Kay Stayner said that although her father molested her as a child, she allowed him to live in the Stayner home but kept him away from her daughters. But according to court testimony, the girls weren't safe. State authorities said Delbert Stayner molested them. The Stayners admit they weren't always the best parents. But they said they can't imagine losing another son. "My son is very sick right now," Delbert Stayner told the court while sobbing. "I don't think he should be executed because he's sick." The penalty phase is scheduled to resume today, and closing arguments are planned for Monday. A rideshare driver charged with raping an unconscious woman in San Francisco could soon be extradited from Canada after a Board of Supervisors committee begrudgingly agreed Wednesday to relax the citys sanctuary law for this one case. The move, which is pending approval of the full Board of Supervisors, would allow the San Francisco district attorneys office to notify the U.S. Department of Homeland Security in the event that the suspect, Ben Azaza, posts bail, gets acquitted or is let go if no probable cause is found to continue his prosecution. Federal officials refused to allow the extradition unless San Francisco agreed to relax its sanctuary policy for this case if those circumstances are met. Azaza, a foreign national from Tunisia, is accused of raping an unconscious, intoxicated woman he picked up while working as a rideshare driver. A no-bail warrant for his arrest was issued in June 2018, which led him to flee to Canada, where he was later arrested, officials said. Ordinarily, San Franciscos sanctuary law would sharply limit the DAs ability to interact with federal immigration officials. But in order to prosecute Azaza, both the DAs office and Sheriff Vicki Hennessy requested the boards permission to accede to the federal governments demands. As the supervisors on the boards Rules Committee emphasized, the legislation would apply only to Azazas extradition and, they said, would not weaken the citys sanctuary laws. They noted that the proposed legislation was a concession necessary in the pursuit of justice. We are not in any way, shape or form amending our sanctuary law, said Supervisor Hillary Ronen, who has been a vocal advocate for the sanctuary policy. We stand by our sanctuary law. It works. We know that it has kept our community safe. Ronen added that she believed Homeland Securitys conditions for Azazas extradition were being imposed deliberately and arbitrarily by the Trump Administration in an effort to erode protections for immigrants, a sentiment that her colleagues on the Rules Committee agreed with. Homeland Security officials did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Cristine Soto DeBerry from the DAs office told the committee that her office had exhausted other potential options for prosecuting Azaza that wouldnt involve giving in to DHS demands. If hes not allowed entry back into the country, the DAs office could not proceed with the prosecution, she said. We do have a victim that would like her case pursued ... but we cannot do that without him being physically present, DeBerry said. Supervisor Catherine Stefani, a former Contra Costa County prosecutor, said she was very comfortable bringing this person back to face justice, adding that she agreed with Ronen that the ordinance represented a narrow agreement with federal officials, not an exception to the Sanctuary City law. Dominic Fracassa is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: dfracassa@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @dominicfracassa The Fremont Police Department recently put two new F-150s into its rotation as patrol vehicles, but that won't be the car that turns heads. Leave that to the station's new Tesla Model S 85. Fremont police picked up the used 2014 Tesla last year, and is now outfitting the vehicle to meet officer requirements. Among the items being added to the new car are the very-necessary partition cage, sirens and lights, push bumper, ballistic barriers, equipment console and more, the department said in a press release. The purchase of the electric vehicle is just one part of Fremont's clean technology and smart city initiatives, said Fremont Police Capt. Sean Washington in a statement. "Given that Fremont Police vehicle fleet is responsible for a total of 980 metric tons of carbon dioxide emissions annually, this program has the potential to eliminate 10 percent of all municipal greenhouse gas emissions," Washington said. Fremont is looking to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions by 25 percent by 2020, with its goals set via a 2005 baseline. The car will set Fremont PD back just over $65,000, once the modifications are complete, but the department is hoping it will make up for the cost in other ways. Comparatively, the department said that its Ford Explorers cost about $40,000 to modify. Gas, for instance, can cost about $32,000 during the lifespan of a police vehicle which is approximately five years not to mention maintenance, which can cost about $15,000. The department is hoping that the Tesla will outlive that traditional police car lifespan, while delivering in both a sustainable and overall cost-effective way in the long run. Fremont PD will be soliciting feedback on the car from officers who drive vehicle, looking at the car's performance, costs, range and use while out in the field. The department told SFGATE that the vehicle won't be in their possession "for a few weeks," but is planning to let the community get a look at the new vehicle once it's deployed. Other police departments in the United States have purchased Teslas, as the San Jose Mercury reported, but it seems that those vehicles have never made it into patrol. The Los Angeles Police Department purchased a Model S in 2016, which never made it into its rotation of patrol cars; the Denver Police also purchased a Model S, but have relegated it to use for community outreach events. Read Dianne de Guzman's latest stories and send her news tips at ddeguzman@sfchronicle.com. Start receiving breaking news emails on wildfires, civil emergencies, riots, national breaking news, Amber Alerts, weather emergencies, and other critical events with the SFGATE breaking news email. Click here to make sure you get the news. Another week, another vineyard acquisition. This morning Rombauer Vineyards is announcing its purchase of Renwood Winery in Amador County, a move that will allow the Napa Valley-based winery to double down on its Zinfandel program. Rombauer, whose founder Koerner Rombauer died last year, is known for Chardonnay in fact, its name is is nearly synonymous with California Chardonnay in a rich, buttery style. But Zinfandel is our fastest growing varietal in terms of consumer demand at this point, Rombauer president Bob Knebel tells me. The winery, which produces a total of about 300,000 cases a year, makes five different Zins, the majority of which come from Sierra foothills fruit. The Zins range from $35 to $65 a bottle. Renwood has changed hands before. After filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2009, Renwood was purchased by an Argentine investment group which also owns a Napa Valley winery, Alejandro Bulgheroni Estate for a reported $6.95 million. Rombauer first attempted to buy Renwood from Bulgheroni in 2011, Knebel said. They werent successful, but that same year they did purchase a 148-acre Zinfandel vineyard nearby in El Dorado County. Are the foothills becoming a refuge for Napa vintners looking for less expensive land? Winemaking consultant Philippe Melka works for Andis Wines, and Andy Erickson for Casino Mine Ranch, both in Amador County. Thats not to mention Amadors Shake Ridge Ranch, whose winery client roster is packed with Napa residents including Erickson and wife Annie Favia, Helen Keplinger, Hardy Wallace and John Lockwood. But few Napa companies have invested in foothills land as extensively as Rombauer now has. Renwood comes with a 20-acre vineyard, plus a large winery facility so that Rombauer can make most if not all of its Zinfandel closer to the Sierra foothills vineyards, Knebel says, rather than hauling it back to Napa. After closing the Renwood tasting room for a few weeks, to make sure we get all our own branding within the facility, Knebel says it will reopen as Rombauers Sierra foothills hospitality center. He would not disclose a purchase price. As for the Renwood brand? The future is unclear, but Knebel believes it will live on, albeit elsewhere. Its similarly unclear whether Renwood winemaker Joe Shebl will stay on after a transition period. Shebl is a talented winemaker, with a knack for bringing some restraint to a bold, spicy profile. Ive especially enjoyed his Jack Rabbit Flat Vineyard Zin. I hope this wont be the end of it. What Im drinking Esther Mobley / The Chronicle Normally I wouldnt look twice at a bottle of Colombard. If youve heard of the grape variety, it may have been in the context of Cognac and Armagnac, where its distilled into brandy. Colombard was once the most widely planted white grape in California, its high productivity leveraged for generic table wines, lacking character and finesse. Which is why I was so pleasantly surprised by the Y. Rousseau French Colombard Russian River Valley 2013 (12.5%) a bottle that tasted honeyed, lush and complex, a far cry from the blandness I was expecting. Being from Gascony, France, which has a long tradition with Colombard, winemaker Yannick Rousseau knows a thing or two about the grape. Im guessing he would advise popping the bottle open a little earlier (the current vintage, 2017, costs $22), but I was glad I held off on the 2013 as long as I did. The wine showed its age there was a slight musk if you sniffed long enough but I loved it for its rich texture, stone fruit flavors, piercing line of acidity and juicy, citrus-tinged finish. What Im reading Could agave plants be the salvation of Californias parched landscape? Matt Kettmann has a great longread about climate change, agriculture and booze in the Santa Barbara Independent. Speaking of climate change, it seems to be having some eerily positive effects on German wine, according to the New York Times. Elsewhere in the Times, Eric Asimov finds an improved wave of retsina, the Greek wine style thats infused with pine resin. (I confess I still find retsina hard to love, but Im keeping an open mind.) From my colleagues in The Chronicle Food department: Santa Rosas midcentury-chic Flamingo Hotel is getting a restaurant and bar makeover, and SFOs International Terminal just got a major culinary upgrade with stalls from the folks behind Tartine Manufactory, Cala and Kin Khao. Plus, Cowgirl Creamery has released its first new cheese in eight years! (I tasted it. It was good.) Food Guide Top 25 Restaurants Where to eat in the Bay Area. Find spots near you, create a dining wishlist, and more. Meanwhile, Chronicle Bar Star Jennifer Colliau has left the Interval one of my absolute favorite S.F. bars to focus on her forthcoming Oakland project, Heres How. Lots of interesting analyses have come out following the release of Silicon Valley Banks annual State of the Wine Industry Report. In the Napa Valley Register, Henry Lutz looks at the disconnect between Napa wineries and millennial drinkers. And finally: On March 1 Ill be leading a very exciting seminar at World of Pinot Noir, a festival in Santa Barbara, exploring the wines of one of my favorite spots in Anderson Valley, the Savoy Vineyard. Id love to see you there! Drinking with Esther is a weekly newsletter from The Chronicles wine critic. Follow along on Twitter: @Esther_Mobley and Instagram: @esthermob Sen. Kamala Harris is pinning her presidential hopes in part on her career experience as a prosecutor. But while Kamala Harris: For the people is a catchy slogan, it could cause problems in that nuance-free whirlpool known as a presidential campaign. Start with the controversy around Harris first major decision as San Franciscos district attorney: deciding not to seek the death penalty for a gang member who fatally shot police Officer Isaac Espinoza in 2004. Harris Democratic primary opponents probably wont bring it up, as they all oppose the death penalty, just as Harris does. But should the California Democrat survive the primary battle, you can bet President Trumps first TV attack ad will include some version of this riff: As San Franciscos district attorney, Kamala Harris refused to seek the death penalty for a gang member who killed a police officer. At some point, Harris will have to respond to that, said Markos Moulitsas, founder of the influential DailyKos progressive blog. How she handles that will go a long way to determining how far she goes in the campaign. On MSNBCs The Rachel Maddow Show Wednesday, Harris said she absolutely would welcome a national debate on the death penalty with Trump. We are talking about a system that creates a final punishment without any requirement that there be DNA to prove it, Harris said. It is a system where it has been fundamentally proven to be applied to African American and Latino men and poor men disproportionately for the same kind of crime. Harris said that in her experience as a prosecutor, it was not a deterrent to crime. Nobody ever stood there and was about to pull the trigger and then decided, Hmm. Is this going to be life without the possibility of parole or the death penalty? Harris said. She didnt mention the Espinoza case in her new memoir, The Truths We Hold a forum that would have allowed her to explain her reasoning on her terms. Now, Harris will have to spend time on the campaign trail explaining the nuances in some of her stances as a prosecutor starting with what happened on the night before Easter Sunday in April 2004. Espinoza was on patrol in San Franciscos Bayview neighborhood when David Hill, a gang member, shot him to death with an assault rifle. Espinoza, 29, was a popular and charismatic officer who had turned down chances to transfer to a safer part of town. He told family members it was because he wanted to serve the good people who live there. Three days after Espinoza was slain, Harris said she would not seek the death penalty. Harris decision was both surprising and not. She had campaigned as a death penalty opponent and said she would not seek capital punishment in any trial if she won. The stance wasnt controversial in San Francisco, where 70 percent of voters typically oppose capital punishment on state ballot measures and juries almost never send convicts to Death Row. Her opponent, then-District Attorney Terence Hallinan, opposed it, too. The surprise was that the rookie district attorney made her announcement so soon after Espinoza was gunned down. Typically, prosecutors wait weeks after an arrest to make such decisions. I want to be very clear, Harris told reporters when she said she would seek life without parole for Hill. In the city and county of San Francisco, anyone who murders a police officer engaged in his or her duties will be met with the most severe consequences. The most severe consequence would have been death. At the time, prosecutors in California had sought the death penalty in nearly every one of the 90 cases since 1987 in which a police officer had been killed, according to a Chronicle investigation at the time. Law enforcement officials were outraged by Harris call. Im sorry, I just think (this crime is) as bad as it gets and deserves the punishment as bad as it gets, and thats the death penalty, California Highway Patrol Commissioner Dwight Spike Helmick, current president of the California Peace Officers Association, said at the time. Gary Delagnes, then the head of the San Francisco Police Officers Association, said that in most cities in America, this would be a death penalty case. But he added that life without parole is as much as we can expect in this town. The toughest political blow for Harris happened at Espinozas funeral. She was sitting in the front of St. Marys Cathedral when Sen. Dianne Feinstein, the citys former mayor, rose to address the congregation. Indirectly, she called out Harris. This is not only the definition of tragedy, its the special circumstance called for by the death penalty law, Feinstein said. The congregation, filled with uniformed law enforcement officers, stood and roared approval. Afterward, Feinstein said that if she had known Harris opposed the death penalty, she wouldnt have endorsed her for district attorney. At the time, Feinsteins statement rocked the political establishment. She was the states most powerful politician, the rare pro-death penalty Democrat, and Harris was three months into her political career. But Feinsteins scolding was also odd, since Harris never hid her opposition to the death penalty during the campaign. And Feinstein told the Los Angeles Times last year that she herself now opposes the death penalty. Hill eventually was convicted and sentenced to life in prison. For Harris, the political damage from the case was swift and lasted years. No police unions endorsed her 2010 campaign for state attorney general, in which she barely defeated Los Angeles County District Attorney Steve Cooley. Soon after taking statewide office, however, she sought to repair the relationship. She traveled the state to try to reach out to law enforcement groups. Her outreach got results: Several rank-and-file unions endorsed her 2014 re-election, including the Peace Officers Research Association of California, which advocates and provides training for 64,000 public safety officers. But Harris death penalty stance remained complex. She promised voters that she would uphold state law as attorney general, and she successfully appealed a federal judges 2014 ruling that the death penalty was unconstitutional because of its lengthy appeals process. Harris argued that the judges ruling undermines important protections for defendants. A progressive critic of Harris, University of San Francisco law Professor Lara Bazelon, called her reasoning unfathomable. Its like she was trying to provide a legal argument to the liberal anti-death-penalty crowd, Bazelon said. Harris still smarts about the initial political blowback to her decision in the Espinoza case. As she told Maddow on Wednesday, there were high-level elected Democrats who said the case should be taken away from me because I would not seek the death penalty. Among those Democrats: then- Sen. Barbara Boxer. I did what I believed was the right thing to do, Harris said. And the killer of that officer will be in prison for the rest of his life. But that is unlikely to be the end of the story. Joe Garofoli is The San Francisco Chronicles senior political writer. Email: jgarofoli@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @joegarofoli WASHINGTON Reps. Nancy Pelosi and Kevin McCarthy are the leaders of their parties in the House and are both from California. Thats about all they have in common. With Pelosi reclaiming the speakership in the new House Democratic majority and McCarthy taking over as minority leader, this Congress is the first in history in which representatives from the same state have held their respective parties top posts. But that state connection has meant virtually nothing thus far in the new Congress, as Washington remains paralyzed by a record-breaking government shutdown with no signs of a thaw between President Trump-led Republicans and Pelosi-led Democrats. In fact, the San Francisco Democrat and Bakersfield Republican have had little direct interaction until this year, and are forging their dynamic as any fresh speaker-and-minority-leader combination would, conversations with lawmakers and aides close to both Californians reveal. I think the relationship is embryonic, said Rep. Jackie Speier, D-San Mateo. It hasnt really evolved. Pelosi and McCarthy have met twice since the new House was sworn in, ostensibly to negotiate procedural matters. According to their aides, the relationship is cordial and respectful, and the meetings went smoothly. They have also been in larger meetings with Trump at the White House as the shutdown has dragged on, the two party leaders falling on starkly opposite sides of the border wall fight. Their lack of a substantial connection is a product both of their career paths and the nature of the California delegation itself, the largest in the House. Pelosi has been in her partys top spot for 16 years and was able to build relationships with McCarthys predecessors atop the GOP House leadership. During that time, McCarthy worked his way up from a rank-and-file Republican to his partys No. 2 post a job in which he developed ties to Pelosis second-in-command, Maryland Rep. Steny Hoyer, but not Pelosi herself. Hoyer said he and McCarthy have tried to work together in a positive way and that Pelosi and her new counterpart eventually will as well. I think both of them are professionals. I think both of them want the institution to succeed, Hoyer said. Pelosi and McCarthy arrived in Congress 20 years apart. Pelosi, 78, was first elected in 1987, and worked her way up through the ranks before becoming the Democratic leader in 2003. McCarthy, 53, was a congressional staffer when Pelosi came to Washington, and started his time in elective office in the California Assembly in 2002. He was Republican leader in his first term, then won election to the House in 2006. During Pelosis tenure atop her caucus, Californias 53-member House delegation has skewed more and more Democratic. With Democrats having flipped seven GOP-held seats in November, only seven California Republicans remain in the chamber. The full group does not hold regular bipartisan meetings or mixers, as some states delegations do. Rep. Zoe Lofgren, D-San Jose, who chairs the states Democratic delegation, sends a letter inviting Republicans to join their weekly meetings each year, but she says she rarely receives even a response and has never gotten an acceptance. One Republican, Rep. Doug LaMalfa of Richvale (Butte County), came to a meeting this month about a threat from Trump to cut off or divert disaster funding for California. The Democrats said they appreciated his attendance. There are individually forged ties across the aisle. In fact, McCarthy is friends with Rep. Karen Bass, D-Los Angeles, who was in the state Legislature when he was. They and Speier organized a few bipartisan social events in past years, but those werent repeated in the last Congress. Truthfully, after Trump came in, it was kind of tough, Bass said. Its two things: I think its the state, because were so darn big, but I also think its this particular moment in history. Massachusetts Rep. Joe Kennedy III has connections to both Pelosi and McCarthy. The Kennedy scion is a rising star among Democrats and was one of the handful of lawmakers Pelosi picked to nominate her for speaker among Democrats in November. He and McCarthy are part of a small group of Republican and Democratic lawmakers who work out together daily. Kennedy described the leaders relationship as one of mutual respect, but one that hasnt had time to grow. Your time in the minority as a minority leader, that time is much more focused on trying to unify your caucus and bring back the majority, Kennedy said. Thats probably where, over the course of the past several years, the leader (Pelosi) has put her focus. Kennedy added, This job, particularly in the legislative branch, its still an awful lot about relationships, and I think Mr. McCarthy has pretty strong ones, obviously in the Republican caucus. But hes a friendly guy and hes one that has a number of good relationships with Democratic members, Democratic staff, too. Its unclear how much having a prior connection would matter in the jobs the two hold. Pelosi is the highest-ranking Democrat in government and is navigating her party through its resistance to the Trump presidency. Retaking the House has given Democrats their first foothold in Washington since Trump took office, and Pelosi has taken the lead in the prolonged standoff over Trumps demand for funding for his border wall. McCarthy, meanwhile, has become a close ally of the presidents, a relationship he cultivated shortly after Trump was elected. He has worked hard to minimize daylight between himself and Trump, even responding tepidly when the president threatened to cut off disaster aid to Californias wildfire relief efforts. Speier described Pelosis relationship with former House Speaker Paul Ryan as straight up and honest, with the Wisconsin Republican accommodating the Democratic minority on occasional noncontroversial issues. She worked with the two of them on congressional sexual harassment reform efforts, which sailed through Congress after negotiations that found Pelosi and Ryan on the same side. The California delegation agrees on little across party lines. Asked where McCarthy and Pelosi could potentially work together, most lawmakers suggested disaster relief and possibly transportation funding. Bass said the communication at the member level is helpful, even if it doesnt result in some grand policy effort. Maybe theres not a whole lot of fruit hanging that low, said LaMalfa. LaMalfa works across the aisle on water issues in particular. During a Capitol hallway interview, Rep. Grace Napolitano, D-Norwalk (Los Angeles County), stopped to join in the conversation, and the pair agreed that state-level connections are more useful among rank-and-file members than at the top. That doesnt mean they dont talk, LaMalfa said of McCarthy and Pelosi. Its just hard at their level. Theyre both spearheading the Democrat-Republican national campaigns. LaMalfa said there is a potential for a little more than what the Ryan-Pelosi (relationship was). Theyll find some way to stand kind of united on not having money taken away from disasters. Theyre going to word it different, theyre going to act different on it, but I think theres going to be common ground. Tal Kopan is The San Francisco Chronicles Washington correspondent. Email: tal.kopan@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @talkopan Gov. Gavin Newsoms threat to deny transportation funds to cities that dont produce sufficient housing has upset local officials from Lafayette to Los Angeles. Its as sure a sign as any that the new governor is onto something. The governor said during his inaugural address that revenue from the states recent gas tax increase should be withheld from cities that arent doing their part to address Californias ruinous housing shortage. As The Chronicle reported, that has raised familiar objections from local officials determined to maintain the semirural character of suburbs in the heart of the booming Bay Area metropolis. Its the sort of outcry that meets every meaningful challenge to the supposedly sacrosanct local control that is chiefly responsible for the crisis. Newsom was addressing the age-old problem of the Regional Housing Needs Assessment, an elaborate state effort to impose precise housing production goals and plans for every city in the state only to have them roundly ignored due to the absence of incentives or consequences. Tethering the goals to state funding, such as the mountain of money for road repairs and improvements coming from the first gas tax hike in nearly a quarter-century, would begin to make the housing assessment more than a theoretical exercise. The governor isnt just proposing to crack down on the likes of Marin County, which fell short of a fifth of needed housing production in the first three years of the current eight-year cycle, and Millbrae, which permitted not a single housing unit during that period. He is also floating new incentives for cities that meet short-term housing goals, billions of dollars in added funding for affordable housing and homelessness services, and a restoration of the local redevelopment funding eliminated by Gov. Jerry Brown, a priority for many municipal officials. All of that would make it difficult to portray him as an ogre who wants to starve cities of needed income. While some critics have asserted that housing production and transportation funding are separate issues, regarding them as unrelated is part of the problem. As Newsom put it, Housing is transportation, and vice versa, in many respects: The lack of affordable housing close to job centers, particularly in the Bay Area, has forced more Californians to live farther from their workplaces. The resulting commutes have done much to overwhelm the regions roads and freeways: One recent study found that the number of super-commuters in the Bay Area, those whose daily journey to work takes at least an hour and a half, has more than doubled over the past decade. There is, of course, a long road ahead for Newsoms proposals, which have yet to undergo legislative review and remain little more than talk for the time being. And any penalties for poor housing production would have to be carefully tailored so as not to punish cities that lack opportunities to welcome housing development, while the housing goals themselves must be reasonable and equitable if they are to be enforced. That said, the governor has at least gestured toward a bold proposal to at long last hold local officials accountable for the crisis. 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. Fifty years after a California oil spill launched the modern environmental movement, we may finally be moving beyond the age of oil, and none too soon. In October, the U.N. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, made up of the worlds leading climate scientists, warned that global carbon emissions would have to be cut by 45 percent by 2030 if theres any hope of keeping planetary warming at a dangerous but less than catastrophic level. Luckily, job-generating renewable energy now has become competitive with or cheaper than most forms of fossil fuel. Progressive Democrats are also calling for a Green New Deal that aims to transition the U.S. to a clean-energy economy, addressing both climate change and inequality. This idea is not that different from what candidate Barack Obama proposed but failed to follow through on to get us out of the 2008 recession. For those who think a rapid energy conversion is not feasible, consider how in 1850 whale oil was the lubricant of the machine age and the light source for many of Americas finest homes, public buildings and streetlights. Thirty years later, rock oil (petroleum) had completely displaced it as a source of both energy and economic expansion. Soon the demand for petroleum had taken to sea, with the worlds first offshore oil-drilling piers built in Summerland (Santa Barbara County) in 1896. It would take more than half a century to persuade Californians living just north of Summerland in the city of Santa Barbara that offshore drilling had become a safe technology. It hadnt. On Jan. 28, 1969, just a year after the federal government leased offshore drilling tracts in the Santa Barbara Channel, and after it issued waivers allowing Union Oil (now part of Chevron) to reduce the length of its standard pipe casing from 500 to 15 feet, a crew drilling their fourth well hit a snag. Oil and gas exploded up the pipe string. When the blowout was capped, the oil began leaking below the shortened casing. Within days some 3 million gallons came ashore, covering 35 miles of sandy beaches with a viscous black coating of crude 6 inches thick. The oil slick gave the ocean waves a sludgy pulse and filled the air with an odor akin to gasoline. When President Richard Nixon made an appearance after the spill in March, he was met by thousands of silent, angry residents, some carrying signs reading Get oil out! The sight of Santa Barbaras dying, oil-covered seabirds was followed five months later by TV images of the polluted Cuyahoga River in Cleveland catching fire. These events horrified Americans: The modern environmental movement was born. After bipartisan actions in the 1970s to clean our air, water and protect wildlife and human health, environmental stewardship evolved from a social movement to a societal ethic, although one that, like love thy neighbor, was often ignored in practice. Still, as recently as the 1990s, calls for environmental rollbacks, science denial, vandalism and violence against green activists (predominantly outspoken rural women) were largely limited to Western states. This is where the cattle, timber and mining industries were fighting to maintain cheap federal subsidies for their operations on public lands. At the national level, environmental protection remained popular with voters of all parties. In fact, it was Republican presidential candidate George H.W. Bushs pledge to be the environmental president that spurred the founding of the anti-environmental-law movement referred to as Wise Use in 1988. It was only during the presidential administration of Bushs son, George W. Bush, in the early 2000s, along with the Supreme Courts Citizens United ruling that gave the oil-rich Koch brothers and the oil-and-gas industry itself huge influence on the Republican Party, that the virulent anti-environmental rhetoric of the Wise Use movement was adopted by the GOP. This included crude climate science denial. When President Trump calls it a Chinese hoax or claims that, People like myself we have very high levels of intelligence dont believe in climate change, hes speaking for the Republican Party. But being pro-oil and anti-environment is not necessarily good electoral politics, even in red states such as South Carolina. After Rep. Mark Sanford, a conservative Republican who opposed drilling off his coastal district, was defeated by a Trump supporter in his primary election, five Republican mayors endorsed the Democrat in the race. Joe Cunningham, an ocean engineer and outspoken opponent of offshore drilling, went on to win in the November 2018 midterms. The Trump administrations ongoing push to open up more U.S. waters to drilling and acoustic oil surveys that can kill fish and whales has sparked opposition all along the eastern seaboard as well as in California, Oregon and Washington. Of course, in the wake of the Santa Barbara spill of 1969 and subsequent major spills, including Ixtoc in the Gulf of Mexico in 1979, Exxon Valdez in Alaska in 1989, Deepwater Horizon in the Gulf of Mexico in 2010 and another Santa Barbara spill in 2015, the focus remained on energy versus pollution. Only now we know drilling for hydrocarbons is also a product-liability issue. Used as directed, fossil fuels spill carbon dioxide into our atmosphere, heat our air, alter our weather, dry our forests and soils and acidify our seas. The first steps in transitioning to more abundant renewable energy should include the early elimination of the dirtiest and most dangerous forms of fossil fuel in terms of worker safety, pollution and carbon emissions. That would be coal, tar sands and offshore oil. In terms of protecting jobs for those energy workers, the easiest part for the Green New Deal would be to retrain roughnecks and roustabouts from offshore rigs for similar jobs such as offshore wind turbine technicians and line handlers. Growing numbers of citizens are mobilizing around these creatively disruptive ideas, updating the Santa Barbara spirit of 50 years ago with demands that our elected officials get in line with market trends and entrepreneurial opportunities to Get Oil Out! David Helvarg is an author and executive director of Blue Frontier, an ocean conservation group. His books include The War Against the Greens and The Golden Shore Californias Love Affair with the Sea. To comment, submit your letter to the editor at SFChronicle.com/letters. Six hours before Firefly Restaurant in Noe Valley opens for dinner, the house is already bustling: Two cooks prep dinner in a galley kitchen that barely fits three. Chef Haley Sausner sits at a dining room table, flattening roasted sweet potatoes with the back of a spatula and talking to owner Brad Levy at the bar. Levys younger daughter, still on winter break, reads in the dining room while, in the opposite corner, the elder studies for her bat mitzvah. In between errands, Jennifer Tuerk, Brads wife, wanders in, pulled by two small dogs, which Brad warns deliverymen to not look in the eye. This is what a neighborhood bistro looks like in the months after its 25th anniversary: not an end point, by any means, but a destination nonetheless. Even 10 years ago, personal, outwardly modest restaurants like Firefly, which deliver stellar meals at an affordable price point, formed the Bay Areas culinary sweet spot. Now the business model doesnt make sense given the high cost of labor and rent. New restaurants make the zeitgeist. Classic restaurants like Sams Grill or Chez Panisse are beloved because they never change. Middle-aged bistros like Firefly, Rivoli, Towns End, Blue Plate, the House, or Insalatas skirt between those two poles. They are doing everything right. And success has made them outliers. Scott Strazzante / The Chronicle Back when he was a 34-year-old chef de cuisine at a downtown restaurant named Embarko, Levy and one of his fellow cooks, Veva Edelson, would mull over what theyd do if they had their own place. It would be tiny, and they would cook what they wanted, of course they came up with the slogan homestyle with global influences. The menu would change every day. The flagging Spanish restaurant they found on 24th Street wasnt minuscule enough for them, but they could buy the business for $27,000, borrowing from family and filling up their credit cards. We really knew nothing. So stupid, Levy says now. But it was a time when you could be stupid and get into the restaurant business. Despite the location, several blocks above Noe Valleys family-oriented commercial strip, Firefly became one of the citys capital-H hot restaurants when it opened in November 1993. Within a few months, The Chronicle named Brad Levy one of its Rising Star Chefs. His class included Wendy Brucker (Rivoli), Traci Des Jardins (Jardiniere), Michael Mina (Aqua) and Loretta Keller (Bizou), all of whom were forced to pose on ladders holding oversized kitchen tools. And then, hey, well, a quarter-century! The earnest, underachieving San Francisco of the 1990s became a city with more Michelin three-starred restaurants than New York, where journalists stalk young chefs before their places open and then forget them until their restaurants close, and where every meal might earn a cook Yelp stars or sniping over some tangential flub. Levys fellow Rising Star, Traci Des Jardins, opened side projects around the city; Michael Mina opened even more around the country. Firefly stayed the course. How do you write about a neighborhood restaurant that has been open for 25 years, and still serves an enviable 70 to 90 diners on weekdays and well over 100 on weekends? Or an owner who hasnt flared out in cocaine-addled breakdowns, though he did pull back from the kitchen a decade ago to raise his kids, which is not as titillating? Stability defies the rules of storytelling. Restaurant workers surf drama every night a thousand disasters, swerved around or blearily survived and yet there is no narrative arc to be found in the color of Fireflys walls, which used to be yellow and are now a deep Kermit the Frog green. Or the dining room, which was carpeted and now is not. At the same time, how is it not a story that a restaurant can make it to the age of 25? Jessica Christian / The Chronicle Levys generation of chefs sees their success with a mix of pride, isolation, doggedness and gratitude. Longevity is not a big part of this restaurant scene, says Levys Rising Star classmate Wendy Brucker, chef-owner of Rivoli in Berkeley, which turns 25 on Feb. 1. Two remodels, an amicable divorce and 796 Yelp reviews after Brucker and partner Roscoe Skipper occupied a ground-floor space on Solano Avenue, the two still spend almost every day at the restaurant, though at 60, Brucker only cooks two shifts a week. Rivoli is still profitable, still busy. Yet its hard to know whether the 30-year-olds who constantly refresh their browsers, hoping for a reservation at Als Place, have ever been there. Youre not the new kid on the block, and so you dont over time get new reviews, dont get mentioned, she says. At the same time, Brucker has realized she has no desire to spy on Als Place, calculating out what the kids might want. She doesnt need to. The thing that has changed most is confidence that the customers who come here want to eat my food, she says. When I was younger, I worried a lot about being hip, whats everybody else doing, what are the trends. I totally let that one go. Heidi Krahling, owner of the 23-year-old Insalatas, attributes her restaurants longevity to its embeddedness in San Anselmo. I really cared about my sense of community and making the restaurant an integral part of the community. I cant say that lightly. That is what we do, she said. We give and give and give, and they have responded genuinely. Rivolis, Fireflys, and Insalatas dining rooms are still filled, and filled with regulars, who may have different expectations of what a restaurant should be than 25-year-old influencers expecting a scene. That familiarity doesnt just link chef and customer, but all the staff as well. Cory Obenour, of the almost 20-year-old Blue Plate in Bernal Heights, rattles off a few stats hes proud of: His prep cook has been there 17 years; the saute cook, 18; the busboy, 15. Every time I walk in this door I think, Im glad I created this workplace and this job, Obenour says. And Im glad its here. More Information Bistros in their Twenties "Where are the other restaurants like mine?" Firefly's Brad Levy asked. "Because I would patronize them." Here are a few neighborhood bistros that opened in the 1990s and have retained their original owners. Let us know of others you love! Email food@sfchronicle.com. Bistro Aix, 3340 Steiner St., San Francisco; 415-202-0100, www.bistroaix.com Blue Plate, 3218 Mission St., San Francisco; 415-282-6777; www.blueplatesf.com Delfina, 3621 18th St., San Francisco; 415-552-4055, www.delfinasf.com Firefly, 4288 24th St., San Francisco; 415-821-7652, www.fireflysf.com The House, 1230 Grant Ave., San Francisco; 415-986-8612, www.thehse.com Insalata's, 120 Sir Francis Drake Blvd., San Anselmo; 415-457-7700, www.insalatas.com Rivoli, 1539 Solano Ave., Berkeley; 510-526-2542, www.rivolirestaurant.com Town's End, 2 Townsend St., San Francisco; 415-512-0749, www.townsendrb.com Walzwerk, 381 S. Van Ness Ave., San Francisco; 415-551-7181, www.walzwerk.com See More Collapse The 1990s may have been a great time to open a small restaurant on idealism and credit cards. In the 2010s, its impossible to keep one open without constant oversight. Wages and other labor costs have raced far ahead of diners willingness to pay more. Margins are tight, Krahling explains. I just watch everything. Every day. All the time. This is not a business for the weak. The unsexy details tweaking the bread and linen orders, trimming waiters shifts on slow nights are the undertow of the restaurants income, one that will drown an unwary business before its owner sees the depths of the debts. Food Guide Top 25 Restaurants Where to eat in the Bay Area. Find spots near you, create a dining wishlist, and more. Sometimes a questionable early decision has proved fortuitous. Opening Insalatas after 8 years away from the restaurant business, Krahling wasnt sure she could draw a big crowd, so she installed a takeout counter. The restaurant took off, but she never let the counter go; as the Age of Postmates has dawned, she has put renewed energy into the takeout cases, and now theyre a major income stream. At the 28-year-old Towns End in San Francisco, David and Mary Sperber shed their dinner hours at the beginning of the decade and have seen their 300-person Sunday brunch crowds shrink. David, who at 75 still cooks on the line two days a week, attributes it to the fascination with the new and to a city that has pushed out so many of the families who made it. But he signed Towns End up with Caviar when it was still testing out its delivery software, and corporate catering and delivery have made up for those losses. It balances out, but its really hard to make progress when youre just balancing out, he says. Brucker echoes Sperbers concerns. We honestly are making a lot less money than we used to, because we have to give our workers a living wage and are trying to run a very tight machine, paying attention to every penny, she says. Rivoli has survived two recessions so far. Brucker worries a third might be the Big One. At the same time, she says, new full-service restaurants may be impossible to open, but a lot of diners still want to go to place where waiters take care of them, where they sit at tablecloth-covered tables and eat a meal that makes them feel as if theyve escaped the present for a couple of hours. Maybe, when the rest are extinct, Brucker thinks, Rivoli will still be there for them. Scott Strazzante/The Chronicle Since 2000, Firefly has always struggled to make money, despite the constancy of its clientele. A good month would give us a little cushion, and a bad month would make us wonder if we were even going to be open, Levy says. Something shifted at the end of 2017, though. It was probably due to Haley Sausner, a Johnson & Wales culinary school grad who came to the restaurant as a 22-year-old line cook and, five years later, runs the kitchen. Their take on food is sympatico, Levy says. He trusts her. She finally convinced Levy to raise the prices enough to make the restaurant profitable. He was too tied to memories of $4.50 bowls of soup and $11 filets of fish. Young people keep me understanding that its OK to charge $13 for a bowl of soup, Levy says. Its not OK, Sausner counters. But its necessary. The two have stopped in at vacant restaurant spaces on 24th Street, considering whether theyd want to do something fast-casual. Everyones doing fast-casual. They can never muster the enthusiasm, though. And so the chef who assumed, 25 years ago, that he would be running the hot line until he retired wakes up and practices piano, then wanders into the restaurant in the late morning to do the scheduling, shop at the markets, tinker with faulty switches and hope to be home by the time the customers come in. Were not in this to make as much money as we can, Levy says. Its not a business. Its a place where we can live together and do work together and feed people together. Burma Superstar. Burma Love. B Star. And now, Burma Club. Five months after reporting on Burma Superstars Mint Plaza project, some new details have emerged about the companys forthcoming venture. First, theres the name. Burma Club is a reference to social clubs, co-owner Desmond Tan said. If all goes as planned, the restaurant could be open by the end of February. The idea just comes from those old days when people would just go to these clubs to socialize and eat and drink, Tan said. Its a different thing for us because the other (Burma Superstar) space isnt really conducive to large parties. For years, the Burma Superstar brand has been synonymous with lengthy lines stretching down the block at its Clement Street restaurant, and wildly popular tea leaf salad. As such, Tan said the menu at Burma Club will be somewhat familiar, albeit with a few new additions. The large-group service model is also hoped to be a practical approach to navigating a tough location. Burma Club sprawls across three levels, including a main floor, a mezzanine and a downstairs area. Oro, for its own reasons, only lasted nine months in the same space before closing in 2016. Before Oro, the space was home to the short-lived restaurant Thermidor. Justin Phillips Food Guide Top 25 Restaurants Where to eat in the Bay Area. Find spots near you, create a dining wishlist, and more. The three levels arent ideal in regards to operations, but well figure it out, Tan said. Im just hoping we arent the next victim of the space. Were going to see how it goes. Justin Phillips is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: jphillips@sfchronicle.com An 18-year-old man accused of brutally beating an 88-year-old woman this month in San Franciscos Visitacion Valley neighborhood went on a crime spree in the weeks following the attack, police said Wednesday. Keonte Gathron, a San Francisco resident, was arrested Saturday after he committed a carjacking at gunpoint and robbed two teens of their phones, police said at a news conference attended by Board of Supervisors President Norman Yee and Police Chief Bill Scott. His actions speak to somebody that doesnt value human life very much, Scott said. Gathron allegedly beat 88-year-old Yik Oi Huang on Jan. 8 at a Visitacion Valley playground she regularly visited in the morning to exercise. Police said he went on to burglarize her home across the street until a witness came upon the scene, prompting him to flee. As of Wednesday, Huang remained in critical condition at San Francisco General Hospital. A GoFundMe page for her medical care has raised more than $14,000. Eight days after the vicious attack, police received a report of a man robbed of his car at gunpoint on Jan. 16 on the 1600 block of Visitacion Avenue, just six blocks from Huangs residence. A San Francisco sheriffs deputy found the abandoned car nine hours later at a gas station on San Bruno Avenue, said Cmdr. Greg McEachern, of the San Francisco Police Department. Crime lab detectives used DNA evidence to link Gathron to the carjacking and subsequent crimes, Scott said. Police on Wednesday declined to offer additional information about his criminal record beyond noting he had been arrested as a juvenile. He has had prior contact with law enforcement, Scott said. Three days after the carjacking, Gathron allegedly robbed two teenagers of their phones in San Francisco. He biked up to a 14-year-old girl around 4:45 p.m. Saturday as she walked down the 100 block of Woolsey Street and robbed her of her cell phone at gunpoint, police said. An hour later, Gathron allegedly rode up to a 17-year-old girl near Belle and St. Charles avenues and punched her in the face before fleeing with her iPhone. Investigators traced one of the phones back to a residence in San Franciscos Sunnydale neighborhood, where they found Gathron. He fled on foot but shortly thereafter was taken into custody by police, McEachern said. Yee said Visitacion Valley residents are relieved the suspect in Huangs attack was arrested, but theres still apprehension that violent crimes will continue in the neighborhood. Theyre still afraid it might happen again, he said. The supervisor called on police to allocate more officers to the southeast quadrant of San Francisco and install more surveillance cameras for the area. Rex Tabora, executive director of the Asian Pacific American Community Center, echoed Yees request for a greater police presence. The center is located three blocks from Huangs home and the playground. Some crimes like this go unsolved, Tabora said. Gathron was booked into San Francisco County Jail on 12 counts, including attempted murder, elder abuse and robbery. He is expected to be arraigned Thursday at the Hall of Justice. Gwendolyn Wu is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: gwendolyn.wu@ sfchronicle.com Twitter: @gwendolynawu Gabrielle Lurie / The Chronicle State fire officials on Thursday announced that the catastrophic Tubbs Fire that ravaged neighborhoods in and around Santa Rosa in the fall of 2017 was caused by a private electrical system, but investigators have not yet determined the cause of the blaze that displaced the Tubbs as the most destructive in state history: last years Camp Fire. That massive wildfire destroyed most of the town of Paradise when it raced into the Sierra foothills community on the morning of Nov. 8, killing 86 people and destroying nearly 14,000 homes in Butte County. Many of the towns residents were seniors or people with disabilities who had no chance to escape. Keene, NH (03431) Today Sun and clouds mixed. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. High 86F. Winds WSW at 10 to 15 mph.. Tonight Mostly cloudy skies early, then partly cloudy after midnight. Low 59F. Winds SW at 5 to 10 mph. Thank you for reading! You have reached your 30-day limit of free access to SentinelSource.com, The Keene Sentinels website. If you would like to read two more articles for free at this time, please register for an account by clicking the sign up button below. We hope you find The Sentinels coverage of the Monadnock Region valuable. We rely on our subscribers to bring you strong local journalism and hope you will consider supporting our work by taking advantage of this special subscription offer here. If you're experiencing flu-like symptoms, researchers want to swab your nose. The Seattle Flu Study is recruiting 10,000 Seattle residents experiencing flu-like symptoms so researchers can track progression of the disease throughout the city -- a first-of-its-kind citywide network for infectious disease tracking. "A century after the great flu pandemic that sickened one-third of the world's population, influenza remains a potent threat to global health," Trevor Bedford, Fred Hutch's research and lead data scientist for the study, said in a news release. "The Seattle Flu Study will provide a more detailed understanding than we have today of how the flu virus spreads, allowing us to develop guidance and tools to curb or even prevent transmission." Up to 80,000 people die from the flu each year in the United States, and an estimated 30 million people are sickened by the virus each year. RELATED: Where there are people, there are germs. The airport is no exception "We know that the flu is spread from person to person, and we know that it causes outbreaks every year," the study's website states. "What we don't know is exactly how it spreads, and why certain flu strains are stronger and more dangerous than others." So, if you are experiencing two or more flu symptoms, including a fever (or feverish chills), a cough, sore throat, runny nose, body aches and fatigue, you should march up to a Seattle Flu Study kiosk and let them stick a Q-tip up your nose. Participants will get a $10 gift card after participating. People of all ages, from infant to elderly, are eligible to participate -- again, if they are experiencing at least two symptoms. Participants will also be asked to provide basic personal and health information, including your name and address. Identifiable data will not be made public, and all links between a participant's data and swab results will be destroyed after the study is complete, according to the study's website. RELATED: First cases of flu this season reported in Washington state Then, researchers will examine the swab to determine which germs are making participants sick. Pathogens will undergo genetic sequencing so they can be compared to other samples, both genetically and geographically. "Our hope is the study will also help inform efforts by public health officials to prepare for potential pandemic threats," Helen Chu, the study's lead clinician and a UW assistant professor of medicine, said in the release. The study is being run by the Brotman Baty Institute for Precision Medicine, which was co-founded by UW Medicine, The Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center and Seattle Children's. Kiosks are available at the following locations through the end of April: University of Washington Hall Health Center, 4060 East Stevens Way University of Washington Magnuson Health Sciences Center, 1959 NE Pacific St. University of Washington Husky Union Building, 4001 East Stevens Way NE UW Medicine Pioneer Square Clinic, 206 Third Ave. S St. Martin's De Porres Shelter, 1561 Alaskan Way S Hutch Kids Child Care Center, 1210 Valley St. Producer Natalie Guevara can be contacted at natalie.guevara@seattlepi.com. An Amazon analyst caught passing insider information to his University of Washington fraternity brother has been sentenced to six months in custody. Brett Kennedy was on his way up the ladder at Amazon in April 2015 when he passed a note to Maziar Rezakhani, a millionaire fraud then just months away from an FBI raid on Rezakhani's Bellevue penthouse. The note carried Amazons earnings numbers, which Kennedy sold to his Sigma Alpha Epsilon brother for $10,000 in cash. That illegal disclosure came to light earlier this year as Rezakhani admitted to a host of other crimes. It cost Kennedy, 27, his future at Amazon and will likely take his career in the financial services industry. Kennedy pleaded guilty in September to criminal charges related to insider trading while also settling civil claims brought by the Securities and Exchange Commission. On Friday, U.S. District Chief Judge Ricardo Martinez.sentenced him to six months in federal detention. Following the hearing, U.S. Attorney Annette Hayes praised the FBI and the Securities and Exchange Commission investigation into Kennedy and Rezakhani. Those who trade on inside information fundamentally undermine the trust that is necessary for our financial markets to operate, Hayes said in a statement. Those responsible like the defendant in this case will be held accountable. VIDEO: Amazon's Jeff Bezos is the world's richest man -- again Kennedy admitted to passing non-public quarterly financial results to Rezakhani, who made millions illegally shipping Apple products to the Middle East and defrauded a Seattle-area bank. Rezakhani, now 28, was sentenced in March to five years in prison following a prosecution that saw the government seize his Ferrari collection and bank accounts. Prior to Kennedy's sentencing hearing, Assistant U.S. Attorney Brian Werner said incarceration is necessary in part to deter other workers who would game the markets by selling insider information. In Seattle and across this judicial district, there are thousands of employees with access to the confidential information of public companies, Werner said in court papers. There are employees with not only access to financial information, but also access to the next technological advance, the next corporate acquisition. PREVIOUSLY ON KENNEDY'S FRAUD: Amazon analyst fed insider info to millionaire frat brother Werner asked Martinez to sentence Kennedy to one year in prison. Kennedys defense attorney, Christopher Black, contended probation and community service were enough punishment for a young man with an otherwise clear criminal record. For his part, Kennedy, a Canadian raised in northwest Washington, apologized to his employer and its customers for the harm to Amazons reputation as a steward of private financial information. He said he regretted undermining the publics trust in the markets and embarrassing his family. My parents did a great job of raising me to be a good person and to always do the right thing, Kennedy said in his letter to Martinez. They have been very supportive of me since I told them about what happened. I know in my heart that I let them down. SEC investigators said a third man, Sam Sadeghi, was also involved in the insider trading. According to a civil complaint that lists Kennedy, Rezakhani and Sadeghi as defendants, 28-year-old Sadeghi was Rezakhanis trading partner and investment adviser. According to the SECs attorneys, Sadeghi received a 10 percent cut of Rezakhanis profits. MORE ON MAZIAR REZAKHANIS MILLION-DOLLAR FRAUD: This young millionaires iPhone fraud broke a Seattle bank Rezakhani, a longtime Western Washington resident, began reselling Apple products at the age of 18 while studying at UW. From 2009 until his arrest in October 2015, he moved millions of dollars in Apple products. The operation was lucrative he leased luxury apartments, drove expensive cars and claimed to have a seven-figure annual income. U.S. Department of Justice Rezakhani wasnt paying taxes, however, and he wasnt truthful about what he was exporting. He falsely claimed shipments had been lost in transit in attempts to bilk resellers and shippers, and lied to a Seattle-area bank to obtain a $4 million loan. As it turned out, he was also trading on stolen Amazon information provided by Kennedy, who he met in 2009 at UW. Raised in Lynden, Kennedy enrolled in UW after high school aiming to make a career in finance. Kennedy interned at Amazon while still studying at UW, then went to work there as a financial analyst upon graduation in 2013. Confronted by the FBI in March, Kennedy lied and claimed he had not passed insider information to Rezakhani. He lied again when questioned by Amazon investigators but ultimately admitted his misconduct as part of a plea agreement. He had numerous chances to back out of the scheme but instead made choice after choice to proceed with the crime writing down the information, meeting with Rezakhani twice, and accepting the cash payment, Werner said in court papers. He chose to lie to the FBI and to Amazon when he was first confronted and denied passing along inside information. In early 2015, Rezakhani began trading aggressively on a brokerage account, SEC attorney Sallie Kim said in court papers. Rezakhani met nearly daily with Sadeghi, Kim said, to discuss the trades. MORE ON MAZIAR REZAKHANI: UW grad lied to Apple, IRS while making millions quietly shipping iPhones to Middle East The men hoped to open a hedge fund, the attorney continued, but needed to be able to show a record of successful trading. Kennedy, then two years into a position at Amazon, provided insider information they needed to establish themselves. During his employment as a financial analyst at Amazon, Kennedy had access to Amazons database of internal financial information, Kim said. Although Kennedy was only authorized to review data that related to his own division, he also could access financial information through the database relating to other Amazon divisions and the company as a whole. Rezakhani recruited Kennedy in April 2015, and Kennedy agreed to provide him with financial results three days ahead of their public release in exchange for payment. On the evening of April 20, Rezakhani drove to Kennedys Seattle home and picked up a slip of paper on which Kennedy had jotted down Amazons revenue and earnings for the quarter. The company had outperformed Wall Streets expectations. Rezakhani posted his predictions online, Kim said in court papers, while directing Sadeghi to buy Amazon stock. According to court filings, Rezakhani and Sadeghi met at Kennedys home two days later to get more information and deliver a $10,000 payment to Kennedy. Rezakhani then bought $1.7 million in Amazon shares. He bragged online that the Amazon earnings numbers are so obvious that a 5-year-old can guess what they will do. Amazon shares jumped that afternoon, climbing 14 percent on news that the company was healthier than expected. Rezakhani sold his shares that day, making $116,000. Kennedy was promoted shortly thereafter and transferred to London. By the time he left Amazon earlier this year, he was earning $110,000 a year. Black, the defense attorney, described Kennedys crime as a one-time error during a law-abiding life. Going forward, Kennedy will be a convicted felon. Black argued that, along with a hefty civil penalty, 100 hours of community service and probation is enough punishment. He has a federal securities fraud conviction that will follow him forever and will bar him from the type of work that he trained his whole life for, Black said in court papers. He has been brought low before his friends, family, colleagues and in fact anyone with access to the internet. Black disputed the contention that greed motivated Kennedy. At the time of his crime, Kennedy was not hard up. He had no debt other than some college loans; his Amazon salary and stock options wouldve soon erased that. He was on track to begin building wealth. While the $10,000 he received for his participation is certainly not nothing, it is not enough to significantly change Mr. Kennedys financial outlook, Black said. Kennedy, Black said, was pushed into the scheme by Rezakhani, a frat brother a few years his senior. Kennedy did not place blame on Rezakhani for the scheme. Amazon entrusted me with access to highly sensitive financial information, and I violated that trust and have no excuses for my actions, Kennedy said in a letter to the court. I committed this offense out of selfishness, taking for granted what I had already worked hard to achieve. Having pleaded guilty to securities fraud, he was sentenced Friday morning in U.S. District Court at Seattle. Sadeghi has agreed to pay $24,200 to settle the allegations, according to an SEC statement. He has not admitted wrongdoing. Kennedy agreed to pay a $10,900 penalty. Seattlepi.com reporter Levi Pulkkinen can be reached at 206-448-8348 or levipulkkinen@seattlepi.com. Follow Levi on Twitter at twitter.com/levipulk. Washington will expand unemployment benefits to such federal workers as FBI agents, Transportation Security Administration personnel and members of the Coast Guard who must remain on the job without pay during the partial government shutdown. "Washington state will not stand by while our public servants work day after day while struggling to make ends meet: It is unconscionable that the President is turning public servants into political pawns," Gov. Jay Inslee said in a Tweet. The announcement will impact approximately 8,000 people in the Evergreen State who have been deemed essential federal workers, Inslee said in a posting. Since the shutdown began in December, the roughly 8,000 workers furloughed but not at work were eligible to receive state unemployment benefits. RELATED: Alaska Airlines delays start of Paine Field flights due to government shutdown Inslee has missed no opportunity to slam Trump, since in 2016 he jokingly proposed building a wall to keep Trump out of the state. He is now contemplating a run for President in 2020, and missing not a chance to pick a fight with the 45th President. In this fight, Washington is not alone. California has guaranteed unemployment to furloughed workers, including those deemed essential. Gov. Gavin Newsom has defied what he described as a "jawdropping" letter from the U.S. Labor Department barring benefits to essential employees. Colorado Gov. Jared Polis has enacted an emergency rule permitting essential workers to make claims. Vermont Gov. Phil Scott, a Republican, has said essential workers will be treated "the same as other federal employees." RELATED: Wash. Gov. Jay Inslee is running for President on climate: Climate hasn't caught on Washington, D.C., Mayor Muriel Bowser is sending legislation to the City Council that would extend benefits to essential workers in the nation's capital. Federal workers in Washington can contact the Employment Security Department website for details on applying for benefits. Absent any movement in Washington, D.C., on a settlement, "We're taking action to protect those workers who are forced to work without paychecks, no safety net and no alternative work during this time," ESD Commissioner Suzi LeVine said. "It's the compassionate thing to do." Washington and the contiguous United States have lost their last woodland caribou, as British Columbia officials have captured and shipped the one surviving animal to a breeding facility in Revelstoke, B.C. The capture follows a precipitous decline of the South Selkirk Mountains caribou herd, which has traditionally inhabited the northeast corner of Washington, far-north Idaho and southern British Columbia. Bart George, a wildlife biologist with the Kalispel Tribe, has likened losing the caribou to losing a piece of the tribe. "For the rest of us, it represents an important loss of diversity," said David Moskowitz, author of the acclaimed book "Caribou Rainforest." RELATED: 'Caribou Rainforest': Our magnificent interior mountain valleys The small, quiet, reclusive woodland caribou have received far less local and global attention than Washington's photogenic orca whales. They are a separate species from the vast caribou herds of Alaska, and inhabit remote interior rain forest valleys such as the 43,348-acre Salmo-Priest Wilderness Area in Pend Oreille County. The herd declined 45 percent between 1958 and 1988, ranged in size from 33 to 51 animals in the period between 1991 and 2009, and then plummeted again from 46 animals to 12 between 2009 and 2016. "As far as everyone knows, they have removed the last of the trans-border caribou," Moskowitz said. The female caribou was captured on January 14. She will later be released, with two other animals from imperiled herds, into a more stable population in Canada. The reasons for disappearance of woodland caribou are multifold. Despite posted warning signs, animals have been killed on British Columbia's Salmo-Creston highway. Logging roads, clearcuts and power line corridors cross the caribou habitat. Growing deer populations have drawn predators. The Salmo-Priest is home to wolves and a handful of grizzly bears. RELATED: Plan for Olympic Park mountain goats: Move 'em and shoot 'em The caribou are used to a cold, wet environment. The interior rain forest, with high peaks in the Selkirks and Purcell Mountains, often replicates ancient forests of the coast. But, notes Moskowitz, global warming is producing a drier, warmer climate. British Columbia has tried predator control. It has also set aside land for the mountain caribou, "most of it very high elevation habitat with very little habitat at low elevation," in Moskowitz's words. It is unclear at this point whether woodland caribou will ever be reintroduced to their transboundary habitat. Moskowitz will lecture on the woodland caribou, on Feb. 12 at The Mountaineers off Sand Point Way, and a day later to Eastside Audubon. Socialist Seattle City Councilmember Kshama Sawant, pride and instrument of her Socialist Alternative movement, has scheduled a reelection announcement Thursday morning, with a supporting cast. The announcement comes with a spirited challenger, Beto Yarce, already in the field, and amidst controversy over a recent story that Sawant takes staffing and voting orders instructions on the City Council from Socialist Alternative. Contenders for the Seattle City Council are announcing at a pace faster than Democratic presidential hopefuls. Already, there have been big happenings in one race. Incumbent Council member Bruce Harrell announced he is not running, a day after 2015 challenger Tammy Morales announced she is running again. She delivered big name endorsements from U.S. Rep. Pramila Jayapal and State Sen. Patty Kuderer. RELATED: Harrell is third City Council incumbent to not seek reelection Much speculation has centered on the likely candidacy of former acting Seattle Police Chief Jim Pugel, a 35-year SPD veteran highly regarded as a manager and voice for reform on the force. He would join the race to succeed retiring Councilmember Sally Bagshaw. And there is action in District 3, represented by Sawant. Yarce is an immigrant from Guadalajara who spent 13 years selling jewelry at the Pike Place Market, before becoming executive director at Ventures Nonprofit. He is already close to qualifying for support under Seattle's Democracy Vouchers program. Sawant is touching on familiar themes, according to her campaign website. "An out-of-touch political establishment spends billions on business-approved projects like the Bertha (tunnel) boondoggle, while rejecting rent control and taxes on corporations and the super-rich." But there are signs the nimbus of Seattle's megaphone-bearing, globe traveling councilmember is wearing thin. Sawant was drowned out by union iron workers chanting "No head tax" when she tried to speak outside the Amazon spheres last May. Union support was a key to Sawant's victory in 2015. She angered some in labor by touting a Seattle Council resolution opposing Puget Sound Energy plans for a liquid natural gas facility on the Tacoma waterfront. Just in from London, Sawant cast the lone "No" vote against the City's new union contract with the Seattle Police Officers Guild. A recent SCC Insight article, based on internal documents from Socialist Alternative, talked about how Sawant has "handed over her Council responsibility to Socialist Alternative, including deciding how to vote on items before the Council, and even the hiring and firing of employees working in her office at City Hall." Sawant has not really denied the article, and wrote in response: "These articles (sic) insinuate that my votes reflect some sort of puppetry. In fact, I am an elected leader of Socialist Alternative who agrees with, and has argued for within our democratic structures, the political decisions and votes I have taken while in office." She is, added Sawant, accountable "to working people and social movements" and said attacks are "good old-fashioned red-baiting." RELATED: Sally Bagshaw will mark second Seattle council seat with no incumbent in 2019 The rhetoric cannot disguise one fact: Sawant is not a frequent presence in District 3 (Capitol Hill-Central Area). She is a loud voice, not a listener. At City Hall, Socialist Alternative staffers operate behind closed doors. Yarce has been making megaphone-free rounds in District 3. He is holding "Spill the Beans" biweekly coffee chats. He held meetups before the Women's March on Saturday, and the Martin Luther King Day on Monday. Typically, in 2015, Sawant spurned an offer from the St. Cloud restaurant in Madrona to host Q-and-A sessions with neighbors. Two weeks ago, Yarce took questions for more than an hour with a neighborhood breakfast group that meets weekly. If, as she says, Sawant is winning "victory after victory" for the "working people" of District 3, she ought to get out more. A onetime Amazon financial analyst has admitted to securities frauds stemming from a long friendship with an iPhone-exporting fraudster already serving a federal prison sentence. Brett Kennedy pleaded guilty Thursday morning to criminal charges related to insider trading. He also settled civil claims brought by the Securities and Exchange Commission, which, like the criminal case, were first made public Thursday. In doing so, Kennedy admitted to passing non-public quarterly financial results to Maziar Rezakhani, a Bellevue fraudster who made millions illegally shipping Apple products to the Middle East. Rezakhani, now 28, was sentenced in March to five years in prison following a prosecution that saw the government seize his Ferrari collection and bank accounts. FOR MORE ON MAZIAR REZAKHANIS MILLION-DOLLAR FRAUD: This young millionaires iPhone fraud broke a Seattle bank SEC investigators claim a third man, Sam Sadeghi, was also involved in the insider trading. According to a civil complaint that lists Kennedy, Rezakhani and Sadeghi as defendants, 28-year-old Sadeghi was Rezakhanis trading partner and investment adviser. According to the SECs attorneys, Sadeghi received a 10 percent cut of Rezakhanis profits. Rezakhani and Kennedy became acquainted in 2009, when both attended the same fraternity at the University of Washington. Rezakhani, a longtime Western Washington resident, began reselling Apple products at the age of 18 while studying at UW. He was a middleman, reselling iPhones to distributors in the United States and Middle East. From 2009 until his arrest in October 2015, he moved millions of dollars in Apple products. The operation was lucrative he leased luxury apartments, drove expensive cars and claimed to have a seven-figure annual income. Rezakhani wasnt paying taxes, however, and he wasnt exactly truthful about what he was exporting. Not only was Rezakhani failing to pay the IRS, he was dodging Washington state sales taxes by buying iPhones in Portland. MORE ON MAZIAR REZAKHANI: UW grad lied to Apple, IRS while making millions quietly shipping iPhones to Middle East Now it seems that he was also trading stock on stolen information provided by his frat brother. In early 2015, Rezakhani began trading aggressively on a brokerage account, SEC attorney Sallie Kim said in court papers. Rezakhani met nearly daily with Sadeghi, Kim said, to discuss the trades. The men hoped to open a hedge fund, the attorney continued, but needed to be able to show a record of successful trading. Kennedy, then two years into a position at Amazon, could provide them with insider information they needed to establish themselves. During his employment as a financial analyst at Amazon, Kennedy had access to Amazons database of internal financial information, Kim said. Although Kennedy was only authorized to review data that related to his own division, he also could access financial information through the database relating to other Amazon divisions and the company as a whole. Rezakhani recruited Kennedy in April 2015, and Kennedy agreed to provide him with financial results three days ahead of their public release in exchange for payment. On the evening of April 20, Rezakhani drove to Kennedys Seattle home and picked up a slip of paper on which Kennedy had jotted down Amazons revenue and earnings for the quarter. The company had outperformed Wall Streets expectations. Rezakhani posted his predictions online, Kim said in court papers, while directing Sadeghi to buy Amazon stock. Rezakhani boasted on social media that he could accurately predict Amazons financial performance," said Jina L. Choi, director of the SECs San Francisco office. "But he failed to predict that we would catch him and his accomplices in their illegal scheme. According to court filings, Rezakhani and Sadeghi met at Kennedys home on April 22 to get more information and deliver a $10,000 payment to Kennedy. The following morning, Rezakhani bought $1.7 million in Amazon shares. He also bragged online that the Amazon earnings numbers are so obvious that a 5-year-old can guess what they will do. Amazon shares jumped that afternoon, climbing 14 percent on news that the company was healthier than expected. Rezakhani sold his shares that day, making $116,000. Kennedy left Amazon in June 2015, shortly after the incident. He pleaded guilty to securities fraud and is scheduled to be sentenced Dec. 8 in U.S. District Court at Seattle. Insider trading of any kind corrodes trust in one of the crown jewels of our country -- our financial markets, U. S. Attorney Annette L. Hayes said in a statement. As this case demonstrates, we work closely with our law enforcement partners including the FBI and the SEC to investigate and hold accountable those involved in this serious crime. Prosecutors have agreed to request no more than a one-year prison term for Kennedy. Sadeghi has agreed to pay $24,200 to settle the allegations, according to an SEC statement. He has not admitted wrongdoing. Kennedy agreed to pay a $10,900 penalty. Rezakhani does not appear to have responded to the SEC action. The insider trading investigation grew out of the investigation into Rezakhanis other frauds. The SEC is seeking to seize the profits from Rezakhanis trading. Seattlepi.com reporter Levi Pulkkinen can be reached at 206-448-8348 or levipulkkinen@seattlepi.com. Follow Levi on Twitter at twitter.com/levipulk. Reed said the bus was at a complete stop when the car hit. She said a little girl who was seated in the back of the bus told her something was smoking immediately after the crash. Reed said she knew at that point she had to act quickly. My only thought was to get the kids off of that bus, she said. All of them were scared, nervous and screaming and crying. School bus evacuations are practiced in the district, Reed said. And the children, she said, did exactly as they were supposed to. I tell them to keep their eyes open, she said. But Reed said she does not see herself as a hero. I dont see it that way, she said. I was just a mother who had to get those 40 kids off of that bus to safety. Reed, who lives in Darlington, said she previously worked with special needs children in Maryland. She said her 45 days as a bus driver in Darlington represents her total time as a school bus driver. Reed said her actions were just part of doing her job. This is what I do. This is what I love, she said. Having an adult who knows how to react in a time of crisis is critical, Newman said. FLORENCE, S.C. Scattered across the arena floor in the Florence Center were farming solutions from days gone by. Across the aisle from today's John Deere tractors were Deeres from the 1930s and '40s. A Massey-Harris (now Massey Ferguson) and an Allis Chalmers B. Also two hit-and-miss one-cylinder engines. There were also International Harvesters from days gone by, including one that Russ Barnes with the Waccamaw Tractor and Engine Club brought to display. His 1956 Farmall International Harvester 100 is a family heirloom. His grandfather bought it in 1956. "I was in kindergarten when he got it," Barnes said. Barnes inherited it from his father and had it restored. "Going to keep it in the family," he said. "My son wants it already. It's 62 years old and we just do shows with it. T he shiny red, 18-horsepower, four-cylinder, water-cooled marvel of agriculture engineering "was sort of THE tractor to have in the Pee Dee," Barnes said at least for 1956. The driver's seat is set off to the right side of the tractor. Black holes are known for their voracious appetites, binging on matter with such ferocity that not even light can escape once it's swallowed up. Less understood, though, is how black holes purge energy locked up in their rotation, jetting near-light-speed plasmas into space to opposite sides in one of the most powerful displays in the universe. These jets can extend outward for millions of light years. New simulations led by researchers working at the Department of Energy's Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) and UC Berkeley have combined decades-old theories to provide new insight about the driving mechanisms in the plasma jets that allows them to steal energy from black holes' powerful gravitational fields and propel it far from their gaping mouths. The simulations could provide a useful comparison for high-resolution observations from the Event Horizon Telescope, an array that is designed to provide the first direct images of the regions where the plasma jets form. The telescope will enable new views of the black hole at the center of our own Milky Way galaxy, as well as detailed views of other supermassive black holes. "How can the energy in a black hole's rotation be extracted to make jets?" said Kyle Parfrey, who led the work on the simulations while he was an Einstein Postdoctoral Fellow affiliated with the Nuclear Science Division at Berkeley Lab. "This has been a question for a long time." Now a senior fellow at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center in Maryland, Parfrey is the lead author of a study, published Jan. 23 in Physical Review Letters, that details the simulations research. advertisement The simulations, for the first time, unite a theory that explains how electric currents around a black hole twist magnetic fields into forming jets, with a separate theory explaining how particles crossing through a black hole's point of no return -- the event horizon -- can appear to a distant observer to carry in negative energy and lower the black hole's overall rotational energy. It's like eating a snack that causes you to lose calories rather than gaining them. The black hole actually loses mass as a result of slurping in these "negative-energy" particles. Computer simulations have difficulty in modeling all of the complex physics involved in plasma-jet launching, which must account for the creation of pairs of electrons and positrons, the acceleration mechanism for particles, and the emission of light in the jets. Berkeley Lab has contributed extensively to plasma simulations over its long history. Plasma is a gas-like mixture of charged particles that is the universe's most common state of matter. Parfrey said he realized that more complex simulations to better describe the jets would require a combination of expertise in plasma physics and the general theory of relativity. advertisement "I thought it would be a good time to try to bring these two things together," he said. Performed at a supercomputing center at NASA Ames Research Center in Mountain View, California, the simulations incorporate new numerical techniques that provide the first model of a collisionless plasma -- in which collisions between charged particles do not play a major role -- in the presence of a strong gravitational field associated with a black hole. The simulations naturally produce effects known as the Blandford-Znajek mechanism, which describes the twisting magnetic fields that form jets, and a separate Penrose process that describes what happens when negative-energy particles are gulped down by the black hole. The Penrose process, "even though it doesn't necessarily contribute that much to extracting the black hole's rotation energy," Parfrey said, "is possibly directly linked to the electric currents that twist the jets' magnetic fields." While more detailed than some earlier models, Parfrey noted that his team's simulations are still playing catch-up with observations, and are idealized in some ways to simplify the calculations needed to perform the simulations. The team intends to better model the process by which electron-positron pairs are created in the jets in order to study the jets' plasma distribution and their emission of radiation more realistically for comparison to observations. They also plan to broaden the scope of the simulations to include the flow of infalling matter around the black hole's event horizon, known as its accretion flow. "We hope to provide a more consistent picture of the whole problem," he said. In an interview with a Vietnam News Agencys correspondent in Brussels, Belgium, Groning said Vietnam was demonstrating itself as a country that protects and promotes multilateral order. Vietnam relies much on external trade and the countrys trade as the percentage of gross domestic product (GDP) exceeds 200 percent, he said, adding Vietnam should maintain cooperation with foreign partners to show local businesses are operating in the best conditions. Meanwhile, Pascal Kerneis, Managing Director of the European Services Forum (ESF), highlighted Vietnams achievements in the fourth Industrial Revolution over recent years. Vietnam joining the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreements for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) and the EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA) signaled it wants to participate in the globalisation process and the fourth Industrial Revolution, he said. Kerneis voiced his support for Vietnams efforts to engage in global supply chains. Vietnam forms part of the production network that churns out products for the world and this is one of the reasons why the country has become an attractive destination for investors, he said. However, the country should work to maintain investors confidence as they may turn to other destinations like Bhutan, Nepal and African countries when labour costs increase in the Southeast Asian nation. According to Kerneis, Vietnams target of a digital economy would be realised thanks to its contingent of creative youths. Children tend to prefer to be friends with other children who speak with the same local accent as they have, even if they grow up in a diverse community and are regularly exposed to a variety of accents, according to research published by the American Psychological Association. "It's common knowledge that adults unconsciously discriminate against others based on the way they speak, but we wanted to understand when, how and why these biases develop," said lead author Melissa Paquette-Smith, PhD, of the University of California, Los Angeles. The findings were published in the journal Developmental Psychology. Previous research has shown that children as young as 5 years old prefer to be friends with peers who speak like them and that these preferences are so strong that they can override preferences for friends of the same race, according to Paquette-Smith. She and her co-authors wanted to extend the existing research and explore whether regular exposure to a wide variety of accents might change these preferences. The researchers conducted three experiments with nearly 150 5- and 6-year-old English-speaking children living in the Greater Toronto Area, one of the most culturally and linguistically diverse metropolitan areas in the world. More than half of the residents there were born outside of Canada and close to 50 percent learned a language other than English from birth, the study noted. In experiment one, 5- and 6-year-olds were shown pairs of children on a computer screen. One child in each pair spoke English with the local Canadian accent and the other spoke English with a British accent. After listening to both speakers, children were asked to pick which child they wanted as their friend. The researches also examined whether the amount of exposure children had to different accents in everyday life influenced these preferences. Given the diversity in the community, most of the children reported moderate to very frequent contact with non-local accents, whether it was because they lived with someone in their home or had a daycare provider or teacher with a different accent. advertisement "Even though they were regularly exposed to a variety of accents, Canadian children still preferred to be friends with peers who spoke with a Canadian accent over peers who spoke with a British accent. The amount of exposure children had to other accents in everyday life did not seem to dampen these preferences," said Paquette-Smith. Paquette-Smith and her colleagues then wanted to see how children's friend preferences would be affected if they did the same task with children who were not native English speakers. The second experiment used the same number of English-only speaking children and again, most reported having medium or high exposure to non-local accents. The set-up was the same, except that instead of British children, the participants listened to voices of children who were born and raised in Korea and who had learned English as a second language. As in the first experiment, the children showed a preference for their Canadian-accented peers, but the effect was even greater in the second experiment, according to Paquette-Smith. "There are a number of reasons why this may have been the case," said Paquette-Smith. "It could be that the Korean kids were less fluent in English or that the Canadian participants had a harder time understanding them, or that the British accents were simply harder to distinguish from the Canadian accents." For the final experiment, the researchers investigated the possibility that children's ability to tell apart the two accents could have played a role in these preferences. The team predicted that the children would be better at identifying their Canadian variety of English when it was compared with a Korean accent and that they would have more difficulty distinguishing between the Canadian and British varieties of English. advertisement The children listened to the voices of the Canadian, British and Korean speakers used in experiments one and two. After the voices were played, the experimenter asked the child, "Who talks like you? Like they grew up here?" and then the children made their selections. "Our predictions were right, children had an easier time differentiating between the Canadian and Korean and British and Korean speakers," said Paquette-Smith. "The most difficult comparison for the children to make was between the Canadian and British speakers. We believe this is because children are better at distinguishing their local accent from a non-native accent compared with a regional accent." Paquette-Smith cautioned that a preference for friends with similar accents does not necessarily mean that the children were biased against those with non-native accents. "It is possible that preferences seen in early childhood may be driven more by familiarity than a dislike for people who speak differently," she said. "This work is an important step towards understanding the complex relationships that exist between exposure and preference in early childhood and how these preferences might translate into biases in adulthood." According to the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, over one-third of U.S. adults are obese. At the same time, obesity is the second leading cause of premature death in the North America and Europe. A recent study by public policy professors Alexander Testa and Dylan Jackson at The University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA) assesses the link between food-related hardships and obesity. Using the data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health (Add Health) and Center for Disease Control's (CDC) Modified Retail Food Environment Index (mRFEI) -- a national sample that measures food deserts, their study is the first of its kind to assess the relationship between experiencing food insecurity and living in a food desert on obesity. Food insecurity, by definition, is the inability to acquire adequate food due to a lack of resources. In 2016, an estimated 15.6 million households (12.3 percent) were food insecure. Food deserts are geographic areas where residents do not have access to supermarkets or grocery stores. Using a national sample of adults across the United States, the UTSA researchers learned that individuals who are food insecure are at an increased risk of obesity. Study results also showed that the individuals who live in food desert are at an elevated risk for obesity. Together, these findings suggest that Americans who either do not have enough to eat or live in areas without access to stores that sell affordable nutritious foods are at greater risk for obesity. Regarding the study results, Professor Testa stated, "Our study highlights the importance of adequate nutrition for health. Millions of Americans do not have enough food to eat and live in communities where affordable healthy food options are not available. To combat obesity, it is important to ensure that people have consistent access to nutritious food." When taking gender and race into account, the researchers observed that women are more likely to exhibit obesity as a result of food insecurity, compared to men. This may be because women are more likely to shield their children from food insecurity by reducing their own nutritional intake. Overall, Black and Hispanic households are at a higher risk for food insecurity in the United States. "The lack of access to food can be a major stressor on individuals, and our study finds that experiencing food hardships is particularly consequential for the health of women" said Professor Jackson. In the future, the authors plan to continue to research how difficulties obtaining nutritious food are related to health problems and explore which types of programs may be effective in improving nutrition and health in the United States. Land conservation programs that have converted tens of thousands of acres of agricultural land in Illinois back to a more natural state appear to have helped some rare birds increase their populations to historic levels, a new study finds. Other bird species with wider geographic ranges have not fared as well, however. The research, reported in the journal Ecosphere, finds that one of the four species studied, the Bell's vireo (Vireo bellii bellii), has bounced back from historic declines to more than double its last estimated abundance in Illinois. "This increase surpasses state goals set for the bird in 2004, and speaks to some of the successes of the Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program, a national effort begun in 1996 to improve water quality, reduce erosion and restore lands and wildlife once lost to agricultural expansion," said Illinois Natural History Survey avian ecologist Bryan Reiley, who led the study. "Other rare birds -- particularly those most reliant on early succession grasslands -- are still struggling, however." The growth of agriculture "has negatively affected biodiversity throughout the world," the study authors wrote. Grassland species have experienced some of the sharpest declines. Conservation programs like CREP use monetary incentives to entice private landowners to voluntarily convert some of their land back to grasslands, wetlands or forest. More than 140,000 acres have been restored so far in Illinois through CREP. To determine how this conservation effort affects populations of specific rare birds, Reiley and his colleagues surveyed 172 randomly selected restored fields in 10 counties in central and west-central Illinois during the 2012-15 breeding seasons. They focused on the Bell's vireo and three other species in decline: the field sparrow (Spizella pusilla), northern bobwhite (Colinus virginianus) and willow flycatcher (Empidonax trailli trailli). "We found that private land conservation efforts in Illinois are probably effective in achieving state population goals for some rare species, such as the Bell's vireo, which prefers shrubby areas near grasslands," Reiley said. "They also may help other species with similar habitat needs, like the willow flycatcher, which we estimate to be at 92 percent of the goal." The field sparrow and northern bobwhite still appear to be in trouble, however. Based on the researchers' estimates, CREP has increased northern bobwhite populations by only 6 percent of the goal. Field sparrow abundance is better, but the conservation program has achieved only 33 percent of the goal for this species. Reiley and his colleagues estimated that the amount of restored land would need to increase by 5 percent to rebuild populations of willow flycatchers to historic levels. Substantially more habitat would be required to support historic populations of field sparrows and northern bobwhites, however. To achieve state goals, those species would need habitat increases of 118 percent and 598 percent, respectively, the researchers found. "Interestingly, all the species we studied, and probably many others not studied, would likely rebound to historic levels if 1 percent of the agricultural land in Illinois was restored through CREP," Reiley said. "This program is clearly important to populations of declining wildlife -- not only in Illinois, but also in the other 26 states where it operates." The Illinois Natural History Survey is a division of the Prairie Research Institute at the University of Illinois. The Illinois Department of Natural Resources supported this work. Accepting applications for director of USC Connect The University of South Carolina invites applications and nominations for the position of director of USC Connect. Time commitment/effort is up to 12 months / 100% and is negotiable. The director reports to the vice provost and dean of undergraduate studies and will work closely with the vice president for student affairs. The USC Connect Director will play a key role in envisioning and developing the next steps for Experiential Learning and the Quality Enhancement Plan (QEP) due in 2020 to Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges (SACSCOC). The individual will lead efforts to facilitate and grow Graduation with Leadership Distinction and integrative learning at the UofSC and is expected to participate in national meetings related to quality enhancement plans, experiential and integrative learning in higher education, and related issues. Learn the essential skills and requirements to hold this prominent position. Review the timeline and required elements of a successful application. All applications should be submitted electronically to adamslj4@mailbox.sc.edu Questions All inquiries and questions regarding the position should be directed to: Dr. Sandra Kelly, vice provost and dean of undergraduate studies Office of the Provost Osborne Admin. Building Suite 102 Phone: 803-777-2808 Email: sandra-kelly@sc.edu Share this Story! Let friends in your social network know what you are reading about Richard Cohen: Why does the left still associate with Louis Farrakhan? George Will: The shabbiest U.S. president ever is an inexpressibly sad specimen Danvers, MA (01923) Today Cloudy early with peeks of sunshine expected late. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. High 88F. Winds WSW at 10 to 15 mph.. Tonight Cloudy early with some clearing expected late. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. Low 66F. Winds WSW at 5 to 10 mph. Chandigarh, Jan 24: Eighteen years after the 'honour killing' of Canada-born Jaswinder Kaur Sidhu, her mother and uncle, accused of the murder, have been extradited to India by Canadian authorities, police said Thursday. A team of Punjab Police has been dispatched to Delhi to bring the duo to the state for presenting them in a court in Sangrur, they said. Jaswinder's mother Malkit Sidhu and uncle Surjit Badesha had been charged with the murder. A case in this regard had been registered at Amargarh police station in Sangrur. "They will be handed over to our team (Punjab Police) at the Delhi airport today," Sangrur Senior Superintendent of Police Sandeep Garg told PTI over phone. "They will be brought to Sangrur and then presented in a court," he said. A Canadian court had in 2016 stopped the extradition of Malkit and Surjit to India to face trial for the honour killing of Malkit's daughter over concerns that they may not get justice in the country. Supreme Court of Canada However, the Supreme Court of Canada ordered the extradition of the duo in 2017, but the decision was later stayed after the accused sought judicial review of the decision. Their plea for staying the extradition proceedings was rejected by a court in Canada in December 2018, finally paving the way for their extradition to India. Jaswinder, better known as Jassi, had fallen in love with Sukhwinder Singh Mithu, an autorickshaw driver, after she visited Punjab. She was the resident of Maple Ridge, British Columbia. Both got married against the wishes of Jassi's affluent family in 1999. Jassi, 25 at that time, and Mithu were reportedly attacked by contract killers on June 8, 2000 at village Narike of Malerkotla in Sangrur. The police had said that the contract killers were hired by Jassi's mother and uncle. Jassi's body was dumped in a drain with her throat slit, while Mithu was severely attacked and left to die. He, however, survived. Mother, uncle extradited to India The Punjab Police registered a case in this connection in July 2000 and named Malkit and Surjit in the FIR for allegedly conspiring to kill Jassi. In May 2002, the police contacted Canadian authorities for the extradition of Malkit and Badesha. On the extradition of his wife's alleged killers, Mithu said he was very happy and demanded strict punishment for them. SRI ANANDPUR SAHIB, JANUARY 24: Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh on Thursday lashed out at the BJP-led central government for failing to come to the rescue of the beleaguered farmers and said that farmer suicides will continue in Punjab and other states if Centre does not give up its apathy to the farming community. Launching the third phase of his governments farm debt waiver scheme, the Chief Minister lambasted the Centre over its continued indifference to the woes of the farmers. The states cannot do everything on their own, without the central governments help, he said, acknowledging that the loan waiver scheme announced by his government was not enough to alleviate all the sufferings of the farmers in the state. With loan amounts of many farmers more than what his government was currently waiving off, their plight continued to be acute, said Captain Amarinder. Pointing out that his government had inherited a huge Rs. 2.08 lakh crore debt, the Chief Minister said the loan waiver scheme was the best he could have done in the circumstances especially considering the lack of support from the Centre and non-implementation of the Swaminathan report. Even the prime minister and the finance minister, whom he had personally met to seek help for the farmers several times, had failed to realise the criticality of the situation and had implemented only a small part of the Swaminathan report, he said, demanding in toto implementation of the recommendations of the committee. His governments loan waiver scheme was only a temporary solution to the problems of the distressed farmers and the Centre had to step in if a permanent solution had to be found, Captain Amarinder Singh asserted. Meanwhile, however, he said the state government would continue to find ways of helping the farmers, including diversification initiatives. His government would also soon come out with a loan waiver scheme for the landless labourers, who were also reeling under huge debt burdens, the Chief Minister announced. Captain Amarinder Singh also hit out at the Centre for failing to provide compensation to farmers against stubble burning, which was one of the causes for air pollution in the state. He, however, categorically denied Punjabs responsibility for pollution in Delhi, which he attributed to local reasons in the national capital. Earlier, the Chief Minister handed over debt relief certificates to some of the beneficiaries to mark the launch of the third phase of the debt waiver scheme, in which Rs. 1009 crore is being waived off for the benefit of 1.42 lakh small farmers of Cooperative Banks. As many as 2413 farmers of Ropar District got debt waiver certificates to the tune of Rs. 17.74 Crore. The fourth phase of the scheme would also be launched soon to benefit 18000 small farmers of Commercial Banks, the Chief Minister announced. Captain Amarinder Singh pointed out that his government had already provided debt relief of Rs 1815 crore to 3.18 lakh marginal farmers of Cooperative Banks, besides benefitting 1.04 lakh marginal farmers of Commercial Banks with a debt relief of Rs 1689 crore. Talking about the initiatives being taken by his government to check the menace of stubble burning in the state, the Chief Minister said under mission Tandarust Punjab, the State, in collaboration with PAU Ludhiana, had launched a massive awareness drive to sensitise farmers about the ill effects of residue burning. He said that Rs. 250 crore had been spent for subsidizing 27500 Crop Residue Management Machines at a subsidy of 50% in case of individual farmers and 80% in case of farmers groups and Cooperative Societies. He also announced that Rs. 400 crore would be spent to provide 40000 more crop residue management machines to the farmers next year. The Chief Minister said a special campaign had also been initiated to ensure balanced use of fertilizers, which has led to reduction in Urea and DAP consumption by 1 lac MT and 46,000 tons respectively during Kharif-2018, thereby resulting in net savings of about Rs. 200 crores. The state is fully vigilant by maintaining 24X7 strict surveillance to check sale of spurious seeds, agro-chemicals and other agricultural inputs, he added. With the concerted efforts of the State Government to educate farmers about judicious use of agro-chemicals on Basmati for improving the standard of Basmati crop, the Chief Minister said that the Basmati produced in the state had started meeting international standards and farmers were getting better prices. He said that this year farmers were getting Rs. 3600-4000 per quintal as against Rs. 2600-3000 last year. Lauding the Mandi Board for launching E-Nam project, the Chief Minister said that E-Nam was launched in 19 Mandis with an objective of providing competitive and remunerative prices to farmers for their produce through online competitive bidding process and 16 more markets would be upgraded in the near future. Assuring the farmers of seamless wheat procurement in the ensuing season too, the Chief Minister said that food grains in the last four crops had been procured without any hassle to the farmers. Referring to the development programmes of his government, the Chief Minister said Rural Road Infrastructure was being strengthened, as part of which repair of 16000 km out of a total of 61,000 km Rural Link Roads would be completed by June 30 this year at a cost of Rs 2000 crore, besides repair and upgradation of bridges on Rural Link roads at a cost of Rs. 200 crore. He said that a sum of Rs. 700 crore was being spent by Punjab Mandi Board for upgradation of infrastructure of all grain and vegetable markets in Punjab to provide better marketing facilities to farmers. The Chief Minister also announced that in the second phase, 14000 km rural link roads would be repaired at a cost of Rs. 1400 crore, which would be completed by June 2020. The additional roads requiring repair would be repaired at a cost of Rs. 750 crores by December 2020, with another Rs. 200 crore to be spent on repair and upgradation of rural link road bridges, on which work had already started and would be completed by December 2020. Prominent amongst those present on the occasion included Speaker Punjab Vidhan Sabha Rana K.P. Singh, Technical Education Minister Charanjit Singh Channi, Media Advisor to CM Raveen Thukral, District Congress Unit President Barinder Singh Dhillon, former MLA Lov Kumar Goldy, Principal Secretary Irrigation Sarvjit Singh, Secretary Cooperation Vikas Garg, Secretary Agriculture Kahan Singh Pannu and Commissioner Rupnagar Division R.K. Kaushik. Kolkata, Jan 24: A rally of Prime Minister Narendra Modi which was proposed to be held on January 28 in North 24 Parganas district's Thakurnagar area is likely to be rescheduled to February 2, a senior party leader said Wednesday. "As of now, Prime Minister Narendra Modiji's January 28 rally at Bongoan' Thakurnagar area has been rescheduled to February 2. On February 2 he will address another rally at Durgapur and on February 8 he will address a rally at Siliguri. BJP national secretary Rahul Sinha However, nothing is final as of now," BJP national secretary Rahul Sinha said. This is the second time in one month that the West Bengal BJP has rescheduled Modi's rallies. Earlier it was decided that the prime minister will address a rally at Brigade Parade Ground on February 8. It was recently cancelled and the party said he would attend three rallies in the state starting next week. It was then decided that Modi would address a rally at Thakurnagar on January 28, another at Siliguri in north Bengal on February 2 and the third one at Asansol -- represented by Union Minister Babul Supriyo -- on February 8. Amit Shah However, on Wednesday evening the state BJP announced that the dates are likely to be altered. The BJP kick-started its Lok Sabha poll campaign in the state from Tuesday, with party president Amit Shah addressing a rally in Malda district. Shah has set a target to win more than 23 out of the total 42 Lok Sabha seats in the state. Weather Alert ...FLASH FLOOD WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT FROM SATURDAY AFTERNOON THROUGH SUNDAY EVENING... The Flash Flood Watch continues for * Portions of central Georgia, east central Georgia, north central Georgia, northeast Georgia, northwest Georgia and west central Georgia, including the following areas, in central Georgia, Baldwin, Bibb, Butts, Crawford, Jasper, Jones, Monroe, Peach and Putnam. In east central Georgia, Greene, Hancock, Taliaferro and Warren. In north central Georgia, Barrow, Clayton, Cobb, DeKalb, Douglas, Fayette, Gwinnett, Henry, Morgan, Newton, North Fulton, Rockdale, South Fulton and Walton. In northeast Georgia, Clarke, Jackson, Madison, Oconee and Oglethorpe. In northwest Georgia, Carroll, Haralson, Paulding and Polk. In west central Georgia, Chattahoochee, Coweta, Harris, Heard, Lamar, Macon, Marion, Meriwether, Muscogee, Pike, Schley, Spalding, Stewart, Talbot, Taylor, Troup, Upson and Webster. * From Saturday afternoon through Sunday evening. * A tropical low pressure system will bring heavy rainfall to portions of Georgia Saturday and Sunday. Rainfall totals of 3 to 5 inches are expected over the watch area, with higher amounts to 6 inches possible over portions of western and north Georgia. Quickly accumulating rainfall will easily allow for efficient runoff and increase flash flooding potential. * Creeks and streams may rise out of their banks and inundate fields, roads, businesses and other property. Street flooding could also lead to road closures. PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS... You should monitor later forecasts and be prepared to take action should Flash Flood Warnings be issued. && This was a concept that Ferris had been pushing for several years. Most construction projects focus on the up-front costs. Ferris, though, was more focused on the longer-range costs of actually running the building. One of the big costs there is energy. His company had built several solar-powered buildings over the years, but we didnt own em and we didnt manage em and what we found was the clients werent equipped to manage an energy-positive building. Its one thing to put up some solar panels and reduce the power bills. But to put up so many that the building is actually energy positive, well, thats akin to running a small power plant because youre selling power into the power grid. That requires a very different skill set for building managers previously accustomed to just making sure the heat was on in winter and the air conditioning was running in the summer. Ferris conclusion: To really make energy-positive buildings work, his company would need to own them long enough to optimize the systems and show the school maintenance crews how to actually make them work. We tried to get our clients to do it for several years, but couldnt get anyone to do it innovation is tough, he says. Then came Hoke County, a poor, conservative rural county without much money to spend. It decided to take the chance. Sandy Grove Middle School opened in 2012 with 2,300 solar panels. The first year, Ferris says the company struggled to produce the power it expected to. He says there was constant tweaking. Before long, it was producing 30 percent more power than it consumed. Now its up to 50 to 60 percent most of the time. In the summer, when the sun is shining, and school is out, the building produces 300 percent more power than it consumes. Its a crazy amount of power, Ferris says. That doesnt necessarily mean the school building is actually making money. There are still cloudy days in winter when the school system has to use conventional power and utilities charge far more to sell power than they do to buy it. Energy positive doesnt automatically translate into cash positive, but it does mean the utility bill is a whole lot lower. A few times a year I have to venture to Richmond for some meeting or errand. Typically I drive one of two ways: I take Interstates 81 and 64 to whatever convenient downtown exit, or I follow U.S. 460 to 360 and take Hull Street all the way across the bridge. I usually avoid the various parkways and expressways that my GPS will suggest. Why? The General Assembly is currently considering various proposals for how to fix Interstate 81 and how to pay for such improvements. One of the most likely remedies under consideration is to begin collecting tolls from travelers on I-81. In theory these will be collected electronically, not by traditional toll booths. Cars and trucks would pass under scanners every 50 miles or so, and be assessed the appropriate amount. I use I-81 most days in commuting. As I understand it, my short jaunt of a dozen miles or so would not trigger the toll collection system, but even so I have my concerns about the proposal. I dont deny that I-81 needs some improvements. There are often traffic slow-downs, especially if theres an accident. The road is crowded at certain times of the day. This is becauseprepare for an astute observation! a lot of people use it. And a lot of people use it because the interstate system is AWESOME. Fast, convenient, no traffic lights. I know people who wont go near an interstate, usually because theyre nervous about tractor-trailers. I am always quick to point out (to the dismay of many) that truckers are also awesome. They know what theyre doing. I worry more about people in little cars driving like maniacs. My wife would interject here that Im one of them. Nabeel Raza spoke about the Equal Rights Amendment as a human rights issue. He reported the ERA was a footnote in his history book, and never formally learned its significance. He recently discovered people are still actively working on the ratification of the ERA and is encouraged about the growing movement. Tallulah Costa is excited about Virginia ratifying the ERA. After speaking with her classmates about the ERA, she realized how many of them were unaware that there is not currently a constitutional amendment of its kind. She is picking up the torch and sharing the importance of the ERA, and its role in tackling discrimination. She strongly believes it is her right to have the same protection under the law as her male classmates. Brenda Hale stressed the importance of an all-inclusive movement and ensuring African-American women be included in the conversation and efforts. She talked about how the ERA is an economic issue for women, their families and communities. She experienced discrimination when she was in the military and wants future generations to be treated better. The audience was then given the opportunity to ask questions to the panel to learn more about the ERA, the controversy surrounding it, and how they can help the bills pass in this General Assembly: Still, she said they kept in touch every few months. She said last week he told her he had purchased a gun - a handgun, from what she remembers - but that "no one thought anything of it" because he had always liked guns, she said. A friend of Gerlach's who also knew Xaver, and who spoke to The Post on the condition of anonymity, said Xaver had once told her he wanted to join the military "because he wanted to kill people." On Tuesday at 11 p.m., the night before the shooting, the friend said Xaver sent her a Facebook message, which was provided to The Post. All the message said was "Hey.." Now, she said, she fears he was reaching out for help. Both friends say they had been encouraging him to seek help for years. "I'm just sad that he didn't get the help he needed because this could have been prevented," the friend said. "I'm even more upset that he messaged me and I didn't say anything, because I didn't want to speak to him out of respect for my best friend. Now I wish I would have. I feel like I could have said something if I would have known. But I know you never truly know what someone really has planned. I hope those poor people get the justice that he deserves." Josh Xaver, who identified himself as the suspect's father, told CNN late Wednesday that his son moved to Florida about a year ago. He said he is "heartbroken for the victims." This is a new day, we have new obligations, said Marsden, who spent his career working in juvenile justice. Ive been involved with children and their futures all my life, and Im not about to sit there and watch our kids have the debilitating experience of walking into a hellhole school building every day and wondering if anybody cares about their future and their education, because the building sure doesnt say that. Carol Cash, an education professor at Virginia Tech, said at a news conference Stanley hosted Tuesday that attitudes affect performance. Lighting, temperature, air quality and space in classrooms are just some factors that can make a difference, research indicates. She said research shows that better conditions lead to improved test scores. The building either supports the education of the student or it hinders it, its never neutral, she said. I think its most important when you think about equal opportunity for our students and giving hope to those who have the least hope. If they can walk into a school that says, we care about you, this is the future for you and we can show you a way to a better life, then were sending the right message of hope to those students who have the least opportunity as well as those with more opportunity. Recent scientific studies and DNA exonerations have not only faulted key assumptions underlying bite-mark analyses. They also discredited the frequent overstated testimony of hair examiners and raised questions about forensic disciplines such as bloodstain-pattern analysis. If the court agrees the petitioner has proved the case by clear and convincing evidence, prosecutors would have the option of retrying the case. A similar bill passed the Senate last year but was tabled in the House. Harward urged the Senate Court of Justice Committee Wednesday to advance the bill. If it werent for DNA, I would still be (an) inmate, he said. Many other innocent people have been convicted on what is now known to be bad science but who do not have DNA to prove it, Harward said. I think the people of Virginia deserve it. I deserve it. And those people that are sitting here in prisons right now ... that were convicted behind bogus, made up, fabricated science (used) as evidence, its just not right. Its not right, he said. Harward said, I have no hatred for anyone. I believe in my heart of hearts that theres a reason for everything and that reason is why Im here today. The committee voted 11-4 to not require full attendance for the public comment meeting. Sen. Steve Newman, R-Lynchburg, indicated a need to fight for the bill when it comes up in Senate Finance. The bill has passed with support through an education subcommittee and Thursdays full committee. Im not sure why we have to fight for it because I dont know who the opposition is, Petersen said. I think you may know, Newman said. If you are an opponent, have the guts to come see me, said Petersen, who said he has been working on this issue for a few years. Sen. Richard Stuart, R-Stafford, wants to place the decision to increase tuition more directly into the hands of students. SB 1204 says if a governing body wants to increase tuition, at least two-thirds of the student body enrolled at the school must support paying more before the board approves it. Most of the tree-sitters in Giles, Montgomery, Roanoke and Franklin counties have either come down voluntarily or been removed by police. The only current tree-sit is in the Elliston area, where two protesters have held their positions since Sept. 5. Mountain Valley is seeking a preliminary injunction to force them out. Last March, when tree-cutting was getting underway for the 303-mile pipeline through West Virginia and Southwest Virginia, opponents erected a pole in the middle of Pocahontas Road, which Mountain Valley was using to reach construction sites in the national forest. Padilla then climbed up to a small platform and cot suspended from the pole, about 50 feet off the ground, and refused to come down. Supported by ropes tied to trees and a nearby gate, the structure was designed to be rickety and prevented law enforcement officers from attempting to remove its occupant, Pfleger said. The issue Joel Eig had with a Roanoke-area contractor was not big, honking or in any way life-or-death. It seemed nettlesome, though. Last year, the retired retail manager hired a paving company to widen and repave the driveway outside his Daleville home. From several bids, Eig chose Quality Paving and Maintenance/Whittakers Driveways. They did the job in early May. It came with a one-year guarantee. Eig paid $3,690, and he was satisfied until October. Thats when rough patches developed in three or four places on the relatively new driveway. They look like spots that could easily break up after a few freeze-and-thaw cycles during an icy winter. So he emailed Brent Whittaker, the paving company rep hed dealt with in May. Their email exchange lasted from mid-October to mid-November. A few times, Whittaker promised to inspect Eigs driveway. Yes, I will come out and take a look at it, Whittaker wrote Oct. 24. And Im going to try and make it by in the next few days, he wrote Oct. 31. On Nov. 16, Whittaker apologized and wrote, I will look at it after paving season slows down. Whittaker also assured Eig he had nothing to worry about because of that one-year guarantee. A Radford University student was charged Thursday with killing a classmate Radfords first murder charge in eight years, the city prosecutor said. Luisa Ines Tudela Harris Cutting, 21, of Jeffersonton, in Culpeper County, was charged with second-degree murder. Cutting is scheduled to be arraigned Friday in Radford General District Court. The victim was identified Friday morning by Radford police as Alexa Cannon, 20, the daughter of a Roanoke family, and like Cutting, a student at Radford University. Radford University President Brian Hemphill sent a campus-wide email Thursday saying, Without question, this is a difficult day for our campus and our community. The days and months to come will also be difficult as we extend our deepest sympathies, as well as our thoughts and prayers, to the family and loved ones of our student, Hemphill continued. On Friday, Hemphill sent out another email, writing: The engineering, architecture and construction management company Burns & McDonnell has moved its Roanoke office to 110 Franklin Road, formerly Norfolk Southerns office tower. The company expects to expand in its new location from a staff of 35 to 100 by the end of 2021, said Jeffrey Ganthner, vice president and general manager of the firms Mid-Atlantic region. Burns & McDonnells Roanoke operations were previously located in the Warehouse Row Business Center on Norfolk Avenue. Ganthner, a graduate of Virginia Tech, described the Roanoke office as a busy design and production center for clients both local such as Virginia Tech and Carilion Clinic and outside the United States. The firm worked on a school, a solar farm and facilities for the U.S. Navy in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, he said. Burns & McDonnell became interested in the former railroad office tower while designing an office for PowerSchool, the towers first tenant since the building was bought from the railroad by local investors in 2016. The business news you need With a weekly newsletter looking back at local history. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy. Richmond, KY (40475) Today Showers and a possible thunderstorm during the morning will give way to mostly cloudy skies this afternoon. High 89F. Winds SW at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 90%.. Tonight Mostly cloudy skies this evening will become partly cloudy after midnight. Low 67F. Winds SW at 5 to 10 mph. Non-compete agreements were originally intended for high-skill employees privy to a companys exclusive internal information. Today, they have changed into something dangerous for workers and the marketplace. Expanding non-competes to everyone else has negative outcomes; states that allow unlimited use of non-competes have 10 percent lower average wages than states that enforce limitations. With unlimited non-competes in place, employers have no incentive to engage employees in wage negotiations because they know there is less industry competition for their labor. Low-wage workers are frequently unaware they are tied to a non-compete until its too late. Non-compete language is often buried in a contract and easy to overlook. Additionally, low-wage employees are less likely to have the necessary legal resources to challenge their employer. Even if the employees can catch the language in their contract, they still face the same issue of too few legal resources to renegotiate, while also facing the implicit coercion to sign because of their need for a job. Trump is being the adult in the room. He has stopped talking about invoking a national emergency. Hes showing flexibility on the definition of a wall, the number of miles, the amount of money and adding immigration sweeteners. To demonstrate his support for immigration, he even held a naturalization ceremony in the Oval Office to personally swear in new citizens from Iraq, Bolivia, Jamaica, the United Kingdom, and South Korea, telling them our whole nation embraces you with open arms and joyful hearts. But it seems Democrats objective is not to find a way out of the stalemate; it is to humiliate the president. Since Trump heeded Warners advice, maybe the senator should go to his own leadership and tell them the same thing: The only way this standoff ends is with a win-win solution. Trump is willing to let Democrats claim victory, as long as he can, too. Indeed, he is offering Democrats what should be a tantalizing possibility that a small deal on the wall now could pave the way to a big deal on immigration. As Trump said in his speech Saturday, If we are successful in this effort, we will then have the best chance in a very long time at real, bipartisan immigration reform. And it wont stop here. It will keep going until we do it all. The Virginia House of Delegates voted Tuesday to require public schools to make Election Day a school holiday. The bill is a safety measure aimed at keeping unknown people out of school buildings while children are present. Its impossible for the schools to properly screen each individual entering the building without slowing down the voting lines, Del. Paul Krizek, D-Fairfax, the bills patron, told RTD reporter Graham Moomaw. This creates a security concern because it potentially allows strangers unwarranted access to the school building. The widely supported bill stems from recommendations made by the school safety committee House Speaker Kirk Cox, R-Colonial Heights, convened after last years school shooting in Parkland, Florida. It was approved on a 97-1 vote. Local election officials have voiced approval for the bill so has the Virginia Education Association, which notes that it would also protect teachers. Del. Steve Landes, R-Augusta, chairman of the House Education Committee, says it will provide more opportunities for different spaces within the schools and less problems with traffic and parking and all that stuff. ROANOKE A 22-year-old woman, widely known as Nutty during the 57 days she spent blocking work on a natural gas pipeline from atop a pole, must spend the next 14 days as inmate Danika R. Padilla. After pleading guilty to blocking a U.S. Forest Service road, Padilla received a jail sentence Wednesday from U.S. Magistrate Judge Robert Ballou. Padilla is one of about a dozen protesters who have impeded construction of the Mountain Valley Pipeline from a variety of posts tree stands, poles, platforms suspended from ropes and the booms of excavating equipment in the projects path. The aerial blockades have served as megaphones for the message that the pipeline is causing widespread environmental damage, defense attorney William DePaulo said in arguing that Padilla should not be punished harshly for taking a principled stand. Shortly before her sentence was pronounced, Padilla said she had no regrets for her role in trying to stop a massive buried pipeline from plowing through the Jefferson National Forest and under the Appalachian Trail. We dont need pipelines, she said. We need breathable air and drinkable water and wild places. Recent scientific studies and DNA exonerations have not only faulted key assumptions underlying bite-mark analyses. They also discredited the frequent overstated testimony of hair examiners and raised questions about forensic disciplines such as bloodstain-pattern analysis. If the court agrees the petitioner has proved the case by clear and convincing evidence, prosecutors would have the option of retrying the case. A similar bill passed the Senate last year but was tabled, or defeated, in the House. On Wednesday, Harward urged the Senate Court of Justice Committee to advance the bill. If it werent for DNA, I would still be [an] inmate, he said. There are other innocent people convicted on what is now known to be bad science but who do not have DNA to prove it, Harward said. I think the people of Virginia deserve it. I deserve it. And those people that are sitting here in prisons right now ... that were convicted behind bogus, made up, fabricated science [used] as evidence, its just not right. Its not right, he said. Harward said, I have no hatred for anyone. I believe in my heart of hearts that theres a reason for everything and that reason is why Im here today. High-stakes decision The decision on income tax policy will determine not only how much of the federal tax windfall to return to taxpayers in some form, but also how much revenue the General Assembly will have to spend in the two-year budget that Gov. Ralph Northam introduced last month. Northam would give about $216 million back to Virginia working families through a refund of the unused Earned Income Tax Credit. The governor, a Democrat, would use the rest of the windfall for limited time spending initiatives because most of the windfall money would come from provisions of the Trump tax law that will expire after 2025. Republicans, who narrowly control both chambers, oppose Northams plan, which they say would come at the expense of Virginians who pay most of the taxes to run state government. The Trump tax bill doubled the standard deduction at the federal level, but Virginia law does not allow taxpayers to itemize on their state returns if they dont do the same thing to determine taxable income on their federal returns. As a result, an estimated 600,000 Virginians could lose the benefits of federal tax cuts by paying higher state taxes because they couldnt itemize all of their deductions. Eight community leaders in a variety of fields were announced Wednesday as recipients of the YWCA Richmonds 2019 Outstanding Women Awards. YWCA Richmond has annually celebrated local women with the awards since 1980. The Outstanding Women Awards embodies YWCAs commitment to engage, develop and honor women leaders whose work helps make our community stronger, Linda S. Tissiere, YWCA Richmonds chief executive officer, said in a statement. Each of these women are being recognized for their significant achievement in leadership and their important impact on our regions health and vitality. The recipients will be formally recognized at the Outstanding Women Awards luncheon on Friday, April 26, at the Richmond Marriott. For details, visit www.ywcarichmond.org. The 2019 class of honorees features: A boy has died two days after a man entered a King William County home and opened fire, according to Virginia State Police. VCU Medical Center, where the boy was being treated, notified police that the boy died shortly after 3 p.m. Wednesday; he had been shot late Monday, just before midnight. His name and age have not been released. Police said a man entered the home and began shooting, striking the boy, and then fled the scene. Two adults who were inside the residence at the time were not injured, police said. The search continues for the shooter. State police said Wednesday that they have received several tips and are pursuing several leads. Anyone with information is urged call state police at (804) 553-3445, or #77 on a cellphone. You can also send email to questions@vsp.virginia.gov. From staff reports California-based Stone Brewing Co. is planning to invest $1 million into an expansion of its Fulton facility. The Richmond Economic Development Authority, which leases the property to Stone, gave conditional approval to the project at its Wednesday meeting, pending a review of the plans. The brewery hopes to break ground on the project in late summer. It is an additional investment made by Stone into the production facility, so I view that as a positive, said Jane Ferrara, of the citys Department of Economic Development. The approximately 900-square-foot addition would house decanting equipment to increase the yield from the large batches of beer the company brews. The current facility encompasses about 200,000 square feet. Itll add capacity, said Juliellen Sarver, a community relations manager for Stone. Stone is paying for the addition and the new equipment. The added square footage and new machinery will increase the taxes the brewery pays the city, said John Molster, chairman of the EDAs board of directors. Tsui is still confident in the potential of Shockoe Bottom - especially because of city's investment. "There are a couple of bad actors [in Shockoe Bottom]," he said. "I think that the citys got too much money down there already not to squeeze the area." At least nine people were shot in Shockoe Bottom in a three week period in late August through the first weeks of September. Two of the incidents occurred near restaurants; in one case, Virginia Alcoholic Beverage Control Authority revoked the restaurant's liquor license; in another, the agency declined to take action, just days after the mayor promised a stronger police presence in the Bottom and a new strategy in partnership with state agencies, including ABC. "The daytime population is there: youve got a lot of companies moving in," Tsui said. "Creative companies: advertising, tech, apps, the start up companies the young generation companies. And the nighttime population is all there [in growing apartment buildings]. Theyre scared of a couple of places. Once [those restaurants] are gone, you'll have dozens of restaurants moving in." Johnson said his business also wanted to start brewing beer that will be sold at the winery but cannot get a brewing permit because of the government shutdown. We have everything set up for a brewery but we cant do anything until this issue is settled in Congress, Johnson said. Doug John, who owns and operates Apocalypse Ale Works in Forest, said he has several new beers his business cant release until the shutdown is resolved. In the craft beer industry you have to watch for trends, John said. IPAs are big right now and small breweries like ours release new beers to follow those trends. If we cant make new beers, it will really start to hurt our business. John said the shutdown is also delaying his license to start making cider. The state has approved us to make cider and so has Bedford County, John said. Those entities have done their part, but until the TTB signs off on it we cant do anything. The only good thing about this is that we have more time to perfect our recipe. Austin John, Doug Johns son, said independent breweries that ship their product across state lines including Devils Backbone in Nelson County cannot distribute new products until the shutdown ends. With a casual symphony concert at Hardywood, a new childrens musical at Willow Lawn, a night for poetry at Dover Hall and more, there are lots of ways to have fun this weekend. Rush Hour at Hardywood Thursday Swing by Hardywood for a laid-back concert from the Richmond Symphony, food trucks and the latest craft brew release. The symphony will perform selections from Mendelssohn-Hensel, Mozart and others. 6:30 p.m. at Hardywood Park Craft Brewery, 2408 Ownby Lane. $20. www.richmondsymphony.com. Huck & Tom and the Mighty Mississippi Opens Friday Huckleberry Finn and Tom Sawyer head down the Mississippi River in this musical adventure for kids inspired by the famous Mark Twain stories. Virginia Rep recently made upgrades to the Willow Lawn space, including new bathrooms, more lights and fresh paint. Times vary at Childrens Theatre at Willow Lawn, 1601 Willow Lawn Drive. $21. (804) 282-2620 or va-rep.org. Through March 3. Burns Night at Dover Hall Saturday A Richmond-based startup company that offers online insurance quotes has raised $663,000 in financing. Merlinio Technologies LLC raised the debt and options financing from nine investors, according to a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. The company, founded in 2016, designed a mobile app to help people more quickly and easily get automobile insurance quotes. The app, named MagicQuote, enables a customer to scan his or her drivers license, which gives the company data to automatically complete insurance applications and generate price quotes from various insurers. The company is seeking another $87,000 for a total capital raise of $750,000, according to an SEC filing. The funding round opened in late 2017, and the company previously reported raising $325,000 in January 2018. The company declined to comment because the funding round is still open. Merlinio was founded by Jonathan M. Ansell, the former president and CEO of World Access, a travel insurance company that is now Allianz Worldwide Partners. Ansell is Merlinios chief executive officer. School Name Status Buckeye Central Schools 2 HOUR DELAY Bucyrus City Schools CLOSED Clear Fork Christian Preschool 2 HOUR DELAY Clear Fork Valley Local Schools 2 HOUR DELAY Colonel Crawford Schools CLOSED Crestline Village Schools CLOSED Crestview School District CLOSED Discovery School 2 HOUR DELAY Fairway School 1 HOUR DELAY Foundation Academy of Mansfield CLOSED Galion City Schools 2 HOUR DELAY Heartland Academy 2 HOUR DELAY IMAC CLOSED Lexington Child Development Center NO PRESCHOOL Lexington Local Schools 2 HOUR DELAY Lucas Local Schools CLOSED Madison Adult Education 2 HOUR DELAY Madison Local Schools CLOSED Mansfield 1st EPC Preschool Open Mansfield Christian School CLOSED Mansfield City Schools CLOSED Mansfield Seventh-Day Adventist School CLOSED Northmor Local Schools 2 HOUR DELAY Ohio Heartland Headstart Open OSU-Mansfield/NCSC campus Open Ontario Local Schools CLOSED Pioneer Career & Technology Center CLOSED Plymouth-Shiloh Local Schools CLOSED Richland School of Academic Arts CLOSED Richland Newhope Open Sacred Heart School - Shelby CLOSED Shelby City Schools CLOSED St. Joseph's School - Crestline CLOSED St. Joseph's School - Galion CLOSED St. Marys School - Mansfield CLOSED St. Marys School - Shelby CLOSED St. Peter's School - Mansfield CLOSED Sullivan Head Start 2 HOUR DELAY Temple Christian School CLOSED Trinity Shining Lights Preschool - Shelby CLOSED Valley View Christian Preschool Open School closings in and around Richland and Crawford Counties can be seen here. To view closings and delays in Ashland, visit ashlandsource.com, and if interested in closings and delays in Knox County, visit knoxpages.com. MANSFIELD Richland Public Health officials have noticed an increase in reported cases of whooping cough (pertussis) in the county. The Health Departments Communicable Disease Unit is investigating the reports and collaborating with school officials and other health facilities to assure the health and safety of all potential exposures. Pertussis is a bacterial respiratory disease that spreads easily and often begins with cold-like symptoms. The disease often proceeds to a severe, constant cough that ends with a whoop, primarily in younger children. Teens and adults may not have the whoop. The cough is sometimes followed by vomiting. Usually there is little or no fever. The disease is spread by close contact with respiratory secretions. Young school children are protected against pertussis if they have been immunized with the complete Diphtheria, Tetanus and Pertussis (DTaP) vaccine series, said Martin Tremmel, Health Commissioner at Richland Public Health. Parents should check with their medical provider to be sure that their children are up-to-date for their age on their vaccinations. However, Tremmel added. the immunity may wane after the required kindergarten dose of DTaP and boosters shots are encouraged for older students, ideally between the ages of eleven and twelve." These vaccines are available at the Health Department Clinic and area medical providers. Patients who are diagnosed with pertussis and those persons who are identified as close contacts of cases should be given an antibiotic to decrease the spread of the disease. The antibiotic may not affect the symptoms and the cough of pertussis could continue for weeks. Individuals who are having symptoms, or parents who have children with symptoms, should contact their medical provider. MANSFIELD -- When it comes to the future of the former Swan Cleaners property, the Richland County Land Reutilization Corporation (Land Bank) board has three options. The land bank can demolish the building at 165 Park Ave. West and remove thousands of tons of soil from behind and below the building for just under $700,000; remove only an estimated 1,900 tons of soil from behind the property and clear the building of any asbestos for $460,000 to $470,000; or do nothing. Land bank manager Amy Hamrick explained the options to the board Wednesday, following a phone call with the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The agency gave the land bank permission to acquire the former dry cleaners. The land bank is expected to take ownership of the property by the end of the month. It must own the property before Jan. 31 to qualify for the U.S. EPA Brownfields Clean Up Grant, which could award up to $500,000 for the remediation of environmental issues at the property. In the grant, the land bank will pitch the $460,000 to $470,000 option, which land bank Director Bart Hamilton called the "best option," assuming the grant is received. Further, he believes, there's a better chance at earning the grant, if the proposal emphasizes redevelopment. The land bank board has motioned for the property to be transferred to the Little Buckeye Children's Museum after the potential cleanup. The Little Buckeye Children's Museum has anticipated a $75,000 to $100,000 investment to begin its own cleanup and basic renovations to the building, once it takes ownership, according to a letter from Executive Director Fred Boll. The building has been called key in the growth of the museum and development of the Imagination District. The museum proposed creating a multi-use facility in the space that would potentially include two retail spaces in the front of the building, and storage space and a dance studio on the second floor. That space would be used by the Renaissance Theatre, the museum's partner in creating the Imagination District. If the land bank does not receive the U.S. EPA Brownfields Clean Up Grant, it may need to consider the option to do nothing, at least temporarily, board member Tony Vero said. The grant application process is competitive, Hamrick said. She estimated only 40 of 800 applicants would receive the grant, but she believes it's worthwhile. "That is the great thing about the U.S. EPA grant. They'll sit down and do a phone conference with us letting us know what they did not like about this year's grant, letting us know what we need to improve to reapply next year," she said. However, if the grant is received, the land bank will need to address some additional issues at its own expense. This includes cleaning out the building and removing and possibly replacing some of the windows, which have asbestos. Further, the land bank will need to maintain ownership for at least one year. "They want the indoor air to be monitored four times a year. They want four clean samples before they'll give us a letter of no further action. So we'll have to retain ownership of it in that year period of sampling," Hamrick said. The board pondered possible funding options for the window replacements, such as a grant from the Richland County Foundation or an agreement with Little Buckeye for reimbursement. The only suggested alternative is to board up the windows. The Swan Cleaners building operated as a dry cleaners from 1946 through 2014. The Richland County Treasurer's Office foreclosed on the property for unpaid taxes, and the property was offered for sale by Richland County Sheriffs department on Oct. 13, 2017 and again on Oct. 27, 2017, but did not sell. Therefore, it was forfeited to the State of Ohio on Nov. 20, 2017. The land bank has since kept tabs on the property and often visits the property. Once taking ownership, Hamrick hopes to put out a notice for people to pick up any clothing that's been left at Swan Cleaners, as many of the remaining clothes have tags on them, marking their owners. Clothing without owners might be donated. Besides that, the papers and some office furniture will need to be removed from the building. BUCYRUS The Crawford Partnership for Education and Economic Development will host its annual State of the Vision dinner and awards on March 14 at the Pickwick Place. During the State of the Vision, the Partnerships Board of Directors and staff members share key highlights from the prior year, announce vision and plans for upcoming initiatives, and recognize local leaders and organizations with awards in the following categories: Innovation, Collaboration, Economic Development, Community Development, and CU Lead Alumni Impact. This years keynote will be delivered by Melody Warnick, author of 'This is Where You Belong: Finding Home Wherever You Are', published in 2016 by Viking/Penguin and recently released in paperback. Described by Richard Florida as an important book for so many people who are choosing their place to live, 'This Is Where You Belong' explores the science behind the groundbreaking concept of place attachment and leads longtime residents and newcomers alike to commit to a more passionate relationship with their community. The book has been featured in the New York Times, Time Magazine, Fast Company, Psychology Today, Realtor.com, Forbes.com, and Inc. magazine. This is Where You Belong is a practical guide to improving, investing in, and coming to love the place where you live. A freelance journalist for 15 years, Melody lives with her family in Blacksburg, Virginia. You can find her online at melodywarnick.com. Registration for the State of the Vision will open on February 1. Follow the Crawford Partnership on Facebook or visit the event page for more information as the event nears. You can also email partnership@crawfordpartnership.org or call 419-569-1809 to learn more. ABOUT THE CRAWFORD PARTNERSHIP The Crawford Partnership is leading the charge to make Crawford County a place where people seek to live and work. A catalyst for change in Crawford County, the Partnership is committed to enhancing the livelihood of families and businesses in Crawford County through strategic community development and economic development. Learn more at crawfordpartnership.org. Editor's Note: This is an ongoing series which runs each Thursday morning titled the Richland Chronicles, by author Paul Lintern. It is set in the 1800s and tells the story of Richland County through the eyes of young people. The books are available from Lintern for $25 a set, tax and shipping included. Each book is about 120 pages written for intermediate readers (4th grade) with local illustrations. Volume I is Amelia Changes Her Tune. Volume II is Isaac and Wolf Paw Find Their Home. Volume III is Autumn Keeps Her Secret. Volume IV is Mr. Gamble Starts a School. Volume V is Jacob Blows his Horn. Volume VI is Cassie Fights the War. Volume VII is Emilene Adopts Her Family. Volume VIII is David Dances the Bases. Dear Winny, you silly ninny! I cant believe she wrote a letter to her goat, Grace said. Cassie laughed. Yes, you can. That old goat is her best friend. Aunt Emmy wrote a letter from Germany! Natalie thought as she walked into the kitchen one sunny May morning after finishing her chores in the barn, including feeding and cleaning up after that old goat. I hope this finds you well fed and well-behaved with your Aunt Cassie and Uncle Marty. I trust your accommodations are satisfactory, as the family has a long history of hospitality at your location. The Inn has been gone for a dozen years, and was out of commission for a dozen before that, but this place is still known at the Oakland Inn, Cassie said. I wasnt here but a couple of times before the fire, Grace said, but I remember it like it was yesterday, and I remember feeling so sad for you and Marty. It was a horrible day. All our family and friends had just helped us remodel the Inn and to move in. We each blamed ourselves for building a fire in the fireplace without thinking to check the flue. The moment I woke up and smelled the smoke, I was sick; I knew, Marty knew, and there was nothing we could do but grab what we could and run out. Was that a better house than this, Mother? Natalie had been listening in. Oh, hello, Natty. I didnt see you there. No, that is the amazing thing. Your father was sad and upset for a few days, then his face became firm and he put his shoulders back and built this home, on the opposite side of the barn from where the Inn had been. This is much, much nicer than that moldy old log inn was, she smiled. We moved forward, because that is the only way we can go. And moving forward included your arrival two years later. You are even better than a house! But shouldnt there be a couple of kid goats with you? The boys! Natalie looked around, her brother John and little cousin Isaac were nowhere to be found. They were right behind me, Natalie said, and she turned to step out the door. She saw two little bodies throwing sticks at the old oak tree nearby. She smiled. Squirrels, John said. Were getting squirrels. Its always squirrels. Is that the only things boys do? Dont go any further than the tree, she said, and turned to stand in the doorway, where she could watch the boys and listen to Mother. My trip to Germany has been a wonderful adventure so far. I had never been on a ship before, and being in the middle of the ocean for so many days has been as strange as anything I can imagine, but how nice it was to land in Belgium as we did and to take a train through the countryside to Cologne, and then on to Wuppertal (remember to pronounce the W like a V.), where I met my fathers brothers, Gerhard and Wilhelm Meyer! It was a tearful meeting, made difficult by my inability to understand much of what they were saying, even though I have been practicing a long time, as you know. I know I wasnt any help in her learning German, Cassie said. Me, neither, Grace laughed. Glad she had Mr. Heineman to help her. Doesnt anyone know English there? Natalie asked. Some, but not everyone, and definitely not her German uncles, Cassie said. Emilene was Cassie and Graces sister, adopted by Cassies parents during the War between the States, as a 10-year-old, because Emilenes father had died as a Union soldier, and then her mother died of illness a year later, leaving her orphaned. Several years ago, Emilene became aware of her fathers brothers and had been preparing for this trip ever since. How long will she be gone? Natalie asked. She thinks a couple of months, Cassie said. Longer, if her German improves, Grace smiled. Must be odd to go looking for your ancestral roots like that, Cassie said. Tell me about it, Grace said. I wouldnt know where to look. Grace had been born into slavery, and was rescued from a farm in Mississippi along with her brother, David, and parents, in 1863. Her parents died before they could make it to Ohio, and after being passed around to several families, they found themselves on the Zimmerman doorsteps, adopted by Autumn and Levi Zimmerman, Cassies parents. I would like to know who my family is, but I dont know when it would be safe to go back and look for them, or even to know who I am looking for. And then, where am I going to go, to Africa? Thats a big place. Does that mean you arent really my aunt? Natalie asked. No sweetie, youre stuck with me, Grace smiled. Uncle David, too. You have a big collection of relatives to look after you. And no doubt a big collection of relatives you will look after, including two little boys that have drifted back toward the woods, Mother said. Ugh, I need to tie them to the hitching post, Natalie thought. Come back here, you two, before I let the bears take you to live with them. This part of Germany is not much different than Ohio, except for the language. People are eager to meet me, and they ask all sorts of questions, they are interested in everything about Mansfield. (Did you know there is a Mansfeld in Germany?) I do the best I can in answering, and it certainly helps when someone can interpret for me. I miss you all, and hope this finds you enjoying a nice meal under the old oak tree at the Inn. (I wrote that for Mamas sake.) I mean, at your home! With love to my family. Emilene. 9 Demonstrators take to the streets of Caracas after members of the opposition called for people to ignore the legitimacy of Maduro's second term. Along with charges of election fraud, Maduro has been criticized for his handling of Venezuela's collapsing economy and for alleged human rights abuses. The United States has targeted with sanctions two Iran-backed foreign militias fighting in Syria, an Iranian airline, and an Armenian general sales agent providing services to an already sanctioned Iranian carrier. The Treasury Department said on January 24 that all four targeted entities are tied to Irans Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) elite Quds Force and Mahan Air, both of which are already blacklisted. The Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control announced that it was taking action against the Fatemiyoun Division and the Zaynabiyoun Brigade, saying their fighters were recruited by the IRGC mostly from Afghan and Pakistani refugees as well as migrants residing in Iran. "The brutal Iranian regime exploits refugee communities in Iran, deprives them of access to basic services such as education, and uses them as human shields for the Syrian conflict," Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said in a statement. The Treasury also designated for sanctions Iran-based Qeshm Fars Air, saying it is owned or controlled by Mahan Air and provides material support to the Quds Force. The company has operated regular flights to Damascus, delivering cargo, including weapons shipments, the statement said. The United States imposed sanctions on Mahan Air in 2011, saying it provided financial and other support to the IRCG. The Treasury said on January 24 that Flight Travel LLC, based in Yerevan, was also being targeted for acting for or on behalf of Mahan Air in Armenia. The company is being staffed by Mahan Air employees and receives Mahan technical support, according to the Treasury. Sigal Mandelker, undersecretary for terrorism and financial intelligence, said the Treasury Department is aggressively targeting groups that support Mahan Air. Iran continues to leverage Mahan Air and its commercial aviation sector to transport individuals and weapons needed to carry out this tragic campaign and to fuel sectarian conflict throughout the region," she said in the statement. With reporting by Reuters U.S. President Donald Trump has said he recognizes Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido as interim president, leading the South American country to break off diplomatic relations with bitter rival Washington. Guaido, the president of the opposition-led National Assembly, earlier on January 23 declared himself acting president in Caracas, as tens of thousands of people marched across the country against socialist President Nicolas Maduro. Canada, Brazil, Argentina, and Colombia were among regional countries offering support for Guaido, while European Union Council President Donald Tusk tweeted that "I hope all of Europe will united in support of democratic forces in Venezuela." "Unlike Maduro, the parliamentary assembly, including Juan Guaido have a democratic mandate from Venezuelan citizens," Tusk wrote. French President Emmanuel Macron also voiced support for the anti-Maduro protesters. "Following the illegitimate election of Nicolas Maduro in May 2018, Europe supports the restoration of democracy," Macron wrote on Twitter in both French and Spanish. Meanwhile, Russia has dismissed Gaiudo's announcement and criticized the U.S. position on the crisis. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Gauido's announcement was an "attempt to usurp power" that violated international law. He also said the Kremlin was concerned about statements "from foreign nations," ''which do not rule out foreign intervention." Vyacheslav Volodin, the speaker of Russia's lower house of parliament was quoted by Interfax news agency as saying that the move was "illegal," while the Foreign Ministry in Moscow said U.S. actions in Venezuela reveal the West's true attitude toward international law. "The developments in Venezuela show very well how progressive Western society really treats international law, sovereignty, and noninterference into internal affairs of other states," spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said. Russia has had close relations with Venezuela under Maduro and recently sent two nuclear-capable strategic bombers to the country to participate in military maneuvers in an unusual display of Russian military force in South America. Venezuela has also purchased millions of dollars in military equipment from Russia in recent years. WATCH: Opposition supporters clashed with the police in Venezuela's capital, Caracas, after parliament speaker Juan Guaido declared himself acting president in a January 23 rally. Venezuela's defense minister, Vladimir Padrino Lopez, in a Twitter statement indicated that the country's armed forces would not recognize Guaido, or any other "self-proclaimed" person, as president. "Soldiers of the Motherland do not recognize the president imposed on us under the influence of foreign interests and self-proclaimed unlawfully. The Armed Forces are defending the Constitution and are guarantors of national sovereignty," he wrote, raising fears of further violence. Images from the protests in the capital showed some demonstrators facing off against National Guard security forces, tear gas being dispersed, and vehicles on fire. A rally the night before reportedly left four people dead. Some counterdemonstrations were also being held in support of Maduro, who was reelected last year in a vote labeled as illegitimate at home and abroad. He was sworn in for a second term two weeks ago but has been met by international condemnation. In response to Trump's recognition of the opposition leader, Maduro gave all U.S. diplomatic staff in the country 72 hours to leave and said he was breaking diplomatic ties with Washington. However, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Maduro no longer had the authority to break diplomatic relations and that Washington would continue to conduct business with Guaido's interim government. Maduro, who took office in 2013 after the death of Hugo Chavez, has been criticized for alleged human rights abuses and for his handling of Venezuela's economy. An estimated 3 million people have fled the country amid shortages of items like medicine and food. With reporting by the BBC, AP, Reuters, Interfax, and AFP Pakistan's Supreme Court will decide on January 29 whether to allow an appeal against its acquittal of a Christian woman at the center of a blasphemy row, a lawyer for the woman has said. If the court refuses to allow the appeal, it will remove the last legal hurdle facing Asia Bibi, who remains in protective custody at a secret location. Bibi was on death row for eight years for blasphemy, a hugely sensitive charge in Muslim-majority Pakistan. The Supreme Court's decision in October to overturn her conviction ignited days of violent demonstrations, with Islamists calling for her killing, mutiny within the powerful military, and the assassination of the country's top judges. The government has since launched a crackdown on the Tehrik-e Labaik Pakistan party -- the Islamist group driving the violent protests -- charging its leaders with sedition and terrorism. But the authorities also agreed to allow a final review of the Supreme Court's judgement. On January 29, "the court will determine if our appeal against her acquittal is admitted", Ghulam Mustafa Chaudhry, the lawyer who filed the petition seeking an appeal, said on January 24. Approximately 40 people are believed to be on death row or serving a life sentence for blasphemy, according to a 2018 report by the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom. With reporting by AP and AFP A co-founder of the Afghan Taliban who was released from detention by Pakistan last year has been appointed as the leader of the militant groups political office in Qatar. The move comes as the talks with the United States on a potential deal to bring an end to Afghanistan's 17-year conflict gain momentum. The Taliban announced Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar's appointment in a statement on January 24, saying the move was made to "strengthen and properly handle the ongoing negotiations process with the United States." Baradar, who was released from a Pakistani prison in October last year, has been authorized to lead the political team and make decisions, the Reuters news agency quoted two Taliban sources in Afghanistan as saying. He will also hold the post of third deputy to Taliban leader Mullah Haibatullah Akhundzada. The United States said on January 22 that it had resumed talks with the militants in Qatar, where special envoy Zalmay Khalilzad was meeting Taliban representatives. The discussions entered their fourth day on January 24 and it was not clear whether they were to continue on January 25, or how soon Baradar could join the talks. A senior Taliban official told Reuters that Baradar "will soon fly to Qatar." "He has been given the new position because the U.S. wanted senior Taliban leadership to participate in peace talks," the official added. Khalilzad spent the weekend in Pakistan where he held talks with Prime Minister Imran Khan as part of a regional tour that saw the envoy shuttling between India, China, and Afghanistan. The U.S. envoy has held at least four meetings with the Taliban representatives, but there has been no letup in the violence so far. Baradar served as the Taliban's second-in-command under Mullah Omar and coordinated the group's military operations in southern Afghanistan before his arrest in the Pakistani city of Karachi in 2010. His release was part of high-level negotiations, led by Khalilzad, with the Taliban, according to reports. With reporting by Reuters and AIP The URL has been copied to your clipboard The code has been copied to your clipboard. A Russian prosecutor has asked a court to sentence a Danish man to 6 1/2 years in prison for being a member of the Jehovahs Witnesses, the U.S.-based Christian denomination. Forty-six-year-old Dennis Christensen was detained in May 2017. The Russian Foreign Ministry says private Russian companies are training the army in Sudan, confirming their presence in the African country being shaken by mass street demonstrations by opposition forces. Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova on January 23 said that "according to our information, representatives of Russian private security companies, who have nothing to do with Russian state bodies, are operating in Sudan." Zakharova's comments followed a story in the British press alleged that Russian mercenaries were helping Sudanese authorities crack down on the protests. Zakharova denied the press reports and said the "task" of the private security firms "is limited to training staff for the military and law enforcement agencies of the Republic of Sudan," which is a close ally of Moscow. Street protests have been carried out daily since December 19. The rallies were initially in protest against shortages of fuel and commodities, but they have turned into a call for an end to the 30-year rule of President Omar al-Bashir. Britain's The Guardian newspaper on January 23 reported that Bashir's government was conducting an "alarming" crackdown on journalists covering the protests, with five reporters being held and dozens of others being detained before being released. The unrest is one of the biggest challenges to Bashir's rule since he took power in a coup in 1989. Reuters news agency reported that official statistics from the Russian Federal Security Service show a substantial increase in the number of the Russian citizens who left for Sudan in late 2017. According to the data, some 200 Russians traveled to Sudan in the final three months of last year, far surpassing the previous peak of 76 in any three-month period. Sudan's oil minister, Azhari Abdel Qader, said on January 23 that the country had received economic assistance from the United Arab Emirates and offers of support from Russia and Turkey during its economic crisis. "We accepted it as a normal matter between friendly countries in light of the current circumstances that Sudan is going through," he said of the aid, adding that there were offers of "fuel, wheat, and other items" from Turkey and Russia. He did not confirm whether Sudan, a country of 41 million people, would accept the offers from Russia and Turkey. Private Russian military contractors have been reported in other countries, including Syria in support of President Bashar al-Assad's forces. Rights monitors said that dozens of them were killed in clashes with U.S.-led forces, although details remain scarce. With reporting by Reuters, Tass, The Times, The Guardian, and Bloomberg A school in the Russian Far East is being investigated after parents alleged that local thugs were invited to lecture on the dangers of homosexuality to a hall full of teenage boys. The lecture, which reportedly took place on January 22 in the village of Pervomayskoye, became public after one parent anonymously posted a lengthy account of it to the Russian online forum Pikabu. According to the post, the school's former director, and now the village head, invited a group of men known in the area for engaging in criminal activity to speak at the school, and instructed teachers to assemble boys from grades five to seven in its main hall. The men allegedly explained the codes of the criminal underworld and warned the kids what fate awaits those in jail who engage in sexual relations with other men. The boys were told to share nothing of the lecture with their parents. "Why do they give bandits the right to corrupt our kids and raise for themselves a new generation of bandits?" read the hysterical post, which was shared thousands of times. "PLEASE HELP!!!!!!!" In a follow-up post, the parent writes that village head Aleksandr Ukhabotin called a meeting at the school the following day with the director, a local police officer, and a number of parents and children. He explained that the men whod been invited to speak had no ties to the criminal world, the post says, and asked parents not to "air the village's dirty laundry." That same evening, the regional prosecutors office launched an investigation into the incident, publishing a statement describing a lecture delivered "in vulgar terms." Ukhabotin, who served for 10 years as the schools director and whose son is a pupil there, told the local news site Primamedia on January 23 that he organized the lecture in response to several incidents of sexual harassment among boys at the school, in a bid to educate them about the dangers of same-sex relations. The men he invited were asked to have a "manly chat" with the kids after a conflict in which a group of schoolkids tried to harass a male fifth-grader and capture the scene on video. "We began from the fact that God created a man and a woman," Ukhabotin said of the lecture. "Many countries advocate gay parades and nontraditional relations, but this is Russia, with its own traditions. Kids get away with a lot these days, and theyre influenced by the Internet, where theyre shown a lot of bad things." Lectures of the kind delivered in Pervomayskoye have become a regular feature in Russia, where kids are routinely given talkings-to about the dangers of Western culture and the impermissibility of attending opposition protests. Far from refraining to air dirty laundry, the kids often broadcast live-streams of the lectures for the whole world to see. But thugs, it seems, are rarely roped into this preemptive education campaign. And neither is the criminal underworld a regular feature -- unless, that is, role-playing is involved. In November, prosecutors in Murmansk began looking into whether the regional Interior Ministry violated the law, after photos from a career fair of sorts organized by the ministry showed kids dressed up in prison jumpsuits. A post about the event on the Interior Ministrys website was subsequently edited and the offending photos removed. SOVEREIGN DEBT In November 2017, Russia agreed to restructure Venezuelan sovereign debt of $3.15 billion, with repayments lasting 10 years. ROSNEFT-PDVSA TIES Rosneft, Russia's biggest oil producer and one of the largest globally, operates in Venezuela and has also issued loans to state oil and gas company PDVSA, backed by oil supplies. According to Rosneft, PDVSA paid $500 million debt during the third quarter of last year, with the outstanding obligations standing at $3.1 billion then. RUSSIAN OIL COMPANIES Rosneft, whose chief executive Igor Sechin is a frequent visitor to Venezuela, has stakes in a number of oil projects in the country. Total oil production from those projects was 8 million tons in 2017, or 161,000 barrels per day. Rosneft's share in that oil production was 3 million tons, according to the last publicly available Rosneft documents. MILITARY The first credit line for gun purchases was signed in Moscow in 2006 by former President Hugo Chavez and Russian leader Vladimir Putin. Since then, similar agreements have allowed Venezuela to buy Kalashnikov rifles, Sukhoi planes, tanks, and other military equipment. -- Reuters Iranian television anchorwoman Marzieh Hashemi has been released from U.S. detention after being held as a material witness in an unidentified case, officials concerned with her case say. Abed Ayoub of the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee said Hashemi was released on January 23 after being detained for more than a week in Washington. Mehdi Atefat, head of the Iranian interests section housed in the Pakistani Embassy in Washington, also said Hashemi had been released. U.S. officials have not yet commented. Her detention, which began on January 13, had concerned international journalist watchdogs and angered Tehran, which said she was being illegally held and called for her immediate release. Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif tweeted on January 21 that the U.S. government "needs to explain how Marzieh Hasehmi -- a journalist and grandmother -- is such a flight risk that she must be incarcerated until she finished her testimony to a grand jury." Iran on January 22 summoned the Swiss ambassador to Tehran over the detention of the 59-year-old U.S.-born Iranian TV anchor. The Swiss Embassy represents U.S. interests in Tehran. Foreign Ministry spokesman Bahram Qasemi said Iran asked the envoy for the immediate release of Hashemi, who works for Iran's state-run English-language Press TV news channel. Hashemi's son has said she was detained by federal agents on January 13 in St. Louis, Missouri, where she had filmed a Black Lives Matter documentary. Black Lives Matter is a movement demanding equal rights for black Americans. The 59-year-old TV anchorwoman was transported to Washington and has been in custody since then. According to federal court documents made public on January 18, Hashemi was detained as a material witness and not being charged with a crime, though it was unclear for which case. Officials said she was expected to be released immediately after her testimony was completed, but it was not clear when that would be. In a January 21 statement, Reporters Without Borders condemned the "opaqueness" surrounding Hashemi's detention. Hashemi was born as Melanie Franklin in New Orleans and became an Iranian citizen through marriage. Her son said she lives in Tehran and travels to the United States about once a year. With reporting by AP, RFE/RL's Radio Farda, IRNA, Fars, and Reuters As the political standoff in Venezuela escalates, Moscow has become increasingly ardent in its support for embattled socialist President Nicolas Maduro since Washington and other capitals recognized opposition leader Juan Guaido's claim to being Venezuela's interim leader. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov -- whose country considers Caracas a "strategic partner" and which has some $20 billion in loans and investments in the country -- said on January 24 that the United States was "trying to act as the ruler of other people's destinies" by "meddling in their domestic affairs," while other Russian officials cautioned Washington not to intervene militarily. RFE/RL senior correspondent Robert Coalson asked Mikael Wigell, a senior research fellow specializing in Latin America at the Finnish Institute of International Affairs, to outline what is at stake for Moscow in the unfolding crisis in Venezuela. RFE/RL: Could you give us an idea of the main elements of the "strategic partnership" between Russia and Venezuela? Mikael Wigell: Historically, they don't have a very close relationship. It is really only in the last 15 years or so that they have started to develop this relationship. From Venezuela's side, it has to do with its leaders' anti-Americanism and accelerating authoritarianism, for which it sought support. [The late] Presidents Hugo Chavez and Maduro have generally been quite keen to ally themselves with authoritarian regimes that don't demand adherence to human rights and democracy -- and that oppose the United States. For Russia's part, it has to do with balancing against the United States and also with certain economic interests. In practice, the relationship has revolved around Russia supplying Venezuela with arms and loans in exchange for assets, especially in Venezuela's oil and gas sectors. RFE/RL: It sounds as if the relationship is really mostly an aspect of each country's relationship with the United States. Or are there direct mutual bilateral interests? Wigell: It is a bit of both. Certainly, Moscow's interest in Venezuela is driven by its quite tense relations with the United States and it wants to [provide a counterbalance to] the United States. Establishing close relations with Venezuela gives Moscow a certain nuisance power in relation to the United States, and that can be used as a bargaining chip in future dealings with the United States. It also can be kind of a showcase for Russia's aspirations to be considered a global power. Oil, Loans, Military: Russia's Exposure to Venezuela SOVEREIGN DEBT In November 2017, Russia agreed to restructure Venezuelan sovereign debt of $3.15 billion, with repayments lasting 10 years. ROSNEFT-PDVSA TIES Rosneft, Russia's biggest oil producer and one of the largest globally, operates in Venezuela and has also issued loans to state oil and gas company PDVSA, backed by oil supplies. According to Rosneft, PDVSA paid $500 million debt during the third quarter of last year, with the outstanding obligations standing at $3.1 billion then. RUSSIAN OIL COMPANIES Rosneft, whose chief executive Igor Sechin is a frequent visitor to Venezuela, has stakes in a number of oil projects in the country. Total oil production from those projects was 8 million tons in 2017, or 161,000 barrels per day. Rosneft's share in that oil production was 3 million tons, according to the last publicly available Rosneft documents. MILITARY The first credit line for gun purchases was signed in Moscow in 2006 by former President Hugo Chavez and Russian leader Vladimir Putin. Since then, similar agreements have allowed Venezuela to buy Kalashnikov rifles, Sukhoi planes, tanks, and other military equipment. -- Reuters But Russia also has certain economic interests in Venezuela which have to do with its arms sales. Venezuela is a big purchaser of Russian arms, and Russia has also gained very favorable assets and contracts in Venezuela's oil-and-gas sector. RFE/RL: Analysts have described the governments of both Maduro and Putin as "mafia states." Is this a useful prism for comparing the two countries and understanding their relationship and interaction? Wigell: Maduro's government is certainly kleptocratic. It is deeply implicated in the drug trade. It is deeply corrupted. In fact, its whole political-survival strategy is one of trying to tie criminal elements to itself, even giving key ministerial positions to criminals so that they would have an incentive to uphold the regime under any circumstances. These criminals know that if there is a democracy, they might end up in court, so they will do anything to prop up Maduro's strategy. So it is kind of a mafia strategy of deliberately corrupting everyone in order to unite them against any regime change. Now, there are some similarities to the regime in Russia regarding this sort of strategy. Certainly Russian criminal elements and criminal organizations are very much present on the ground in Venezuela. And they have ties to the Venezuelan regime, and they also have certain ties to Moscow. There are these ties that go via these criminal elements, forming a certain element in the Venezuela-Russia relationship. RFE/RL: There have been many reports of Russia providing other forms of assistance for various friendly leaders around the world, in Syria and in Africa, for instance. I'm talking about reports of mercenaries, of Russian security firms serving as presidential bodyguards or coping with demonstrators. I'm talking about reports of the hacking of political enemies or the use of computer data and political consulting to help Moscow's friends, etc. Is there evidence that this sort of thing is happening in Venezuela? Wigell: That sort of technical support for the Maduro regime in Venezuela, so far, has mostly been provided by the Cubans. There are thousands of Cuban intelligence operatives in Venezuela helping with spying on opposition elements and internal policing. Russians are not that prominent in that sector in Venezuela, as far as I know. There are Russian elements in Venezuela that are implicated in illicit trade and corruption networks and the drugs trade. We know that Russian organized criminals are on the ground in Venezuela in those trades. But not so much on the security side with propping up the regime. The Cubans really account for that. RFE/RL: And where does China fit in in all of this? China has much more financial investment in Venezuela and buys much more Venezuelan oil than Russia. Is China playing a shadow role in the current crisis? Wigell: In many respects, the Maduro regime's survival depends very much on China. Venezuela is currently economically extremely dependent on China. And China is currently sitting on the fence a bit. It is deeply worried about the future of Maduro's regime because it has so much at stake. It is specifically worried that if the opposition comes to power, will it honor the contracts and loan agreements and oil contracts that Venezuela has with China? So far, the opposition has not been willing to give any guarantees of honoring those contracts, and that is why China is not willing to withdraw its support from the Maduro regime. But should the opposition give some guarantees to China that it will honor those contracts, then Maduro's position would be really precarious and China might actually switch sides. PHOTO GALLERY: Venezuela In Crisis As Opposition Leader Declares Himself Acting President (CLICK TO VIEW) RFE/RL: And finally, is there anything else that you think it is important for people to understand about the Russian interest in the Venezuela crisis? Wigell: What is happening in Venezuela is quite illustrative of what is going on in many parts of the world, with Russia actively trying to prop up autocrats and using them to disrupt the liberal, rules-based world order by all sorts of means -- from the economic to the corrupt to the clandestine. It is also important not to exaggerate Russia's power in this. It is largely a nuisance. With an economy smaller than Italy's, Russia is not really that well-equipped to play the long game. China is by far the more relevant player, whether in Venezuela or in the region or in many other regions. Russia does not have the economic means to take on responsibility for the Venezuelan economy, that is clear. Venezuela is still quite a big country and it is really in very bad shape for the time being. But Moscow is worried about its current contracts and current investments in Venezuela and what will happen with them should the regime fall. Human Rights Watch (HRW) has called the criminal prosecution of a Russian activist affiliated with the Open Russia civic movement as a blatant attack on freedom of association in Russia. The case against Anastasia Shevchenko is the first time that Russian authorities have criminally prosecuted an activist for alleged involvement with a so-called undesirable foreign organization, the New York-based human rights watchdog said in a statement on January 24. Both the draconian law and this prosecution are being used solely to intimidate activists trying to counter corruption, election fraud, and human rights violations in Russia, Rachel Denber, deputy Europe and Central Asia director at HRW, said in a statement. On January 21, law enforcement agents in Rostov-on-Don, Kazan, and Ulyanovsk raided the homes of nine activists affiliated with Open Russia and then interrogated them, according to HRW. Shevchenko was charged with violating the undesirable organization law, and two days later a court in Rostov-on-Don transferred her to house arrest until March 20. If found guilty, she could face up to six years in prison. The undesirable organization law, adopted in May 2015, was part of a series of regulations pushed by the Kremlin that squeezed many nonprofit and nongovernmental organizations who received funding from foreign sources. Last year, Russian authorities formally listed Open Russia under the law. The group was founded by former Russian oil tycoon Mikhail Khodorkovsky after he was released from prison and fled Russia. Once Russias wealthiest man, Khodorkovsky was prosecuted in the early 2000s on financial fraud charges, and his company, Yukos, was dismantled and sold off in suspect bankruptcy auctions. With Shevchenkos prosecution, the authorities are emphasizing their message of intimidation that peaceful criticism of the government can land you in prison for years, said Denber. In a statement on January 21, Amnesty International said that the Russian authorities have "progressively suffocated and criminalized dissent," adding that Open Russia had become the latest victim of this crackdown. Greek police have fired tear gas and stun grenades to disperse demonstrators gathered outside parliament to protest against a historic agreement to change the name of neighboring Macedonia. Hundreds of people massed outside the legislature in Athens on January 24 for a mostly peacefully protest, as lawmakers debated ratification of the deal to end a decades-old diplomatic dispute with Skopje. The police took action after officers were pelted with rocks and other objects. No injuries or arrests were reported. A four-day parliamentary debate on the name deal was due to end late on January 24, but the vote on the agreement was delayed to the next day in order to accommodate the large number of speakers. The speakers office said there would not have been enough time to allow everyone registered to speak during the debate to have a turn at the podium. The governments of Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras and his Macedonian counterpart, Zoran Zaev, struck the deal in June to change the former Yugoslav republic's name to the Republic of North Macedonia. Under the agreement, Greece will renounce its objections to Macedonia joining NATO in return for the country renaming itself -- a long-standing demand of Greece, which argues use of the current name implies territorial ambitions on its own northern province of the same name. The delay of the vote was announcement as protesters began to gather outside parliament in Athens. Earlier in the day, Greek Communist Party activists draped giant banners over the walls of the Acropolis, reading: "No to the Tsipras-Zaev agreement." Rallies were also held in the northern Greek city of Thessaloniki. A protest by tens of thousands of people in Athens on January 20 turned violent. The deal reached the Greek parliament after Macedonia's parliament backed a constitutional amendment to change the country's name 10 days ago. Those who oppose the deal in Macedonia have called the deal "the greatest national treachery." Opponents in Greece argue that the agreement does not end a potential territorial threat to Greece's Macedonia region. With reporting by AP, Reuters, and AFP KYIV -- A Ukrainian court has found former President Viktor Yanukovych guilty of high treason and sentenced him in absentia to 13 years in prison over attempts to quash a 2014 pro-Western uprising. "Yanukovych committed a crime against the foundation of Ukraine's national security," Judge Vladyslav Devyatko said in Kyiv's Obolon district court on January 24. Yanukovych, 68, was also found guilty of "complicity in waging an aggressive war against Ukraine," Devyatko said, adding his prison term would begin "the moment he is detained." However, he was acquitted of a third charge: taking deliberate actions that violated Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity. Yanukovych was pushed from power in February 2014 by a protest movement known as the Maidan, which erupted after he scrapped plans for a landmark agreement with the European Union and said he would pursue closer ties with Moscow. More than 100 people were killed and 2,500 injured in clashes with security forces, some of them shot dead by snipers. The former president fled to Russia shortly after his ouster and has not returned. He has denied all three charges against him, contending that the case is politically motivated, and in November refused to give testimony by video, citing recent surgery. Yanukovych's lawyer, Oleksandr Horoshinskyy, announced that the defense would appeal the verdict, saying the trial "has been conducted under pressure from the state from the start." The prosecution had asked the court to sentence Yanukovych to 15 years in prison. After Yanukovych abandoned his office and fled to Russia, Moscow moved swiftly to seize control over Ukraine's Crimea region. Russian President Vladimir Putin's government sent troops without insignia to the peninsula, seized key buildings, took control of the regional legislature, and staged a referendum denounced as illegitimate by at least 100 countries at the UN. Russia also fomented unrest and backed opponents of Kyiv in eastern Ukraine, where more than 10,300 people have been killed in the ensuing conflict since April 2014. The International Criminal Court (ICC) ruled in November 2016 that the fighting in eastern Ukraine is "an international armed conflict between Ukraine and the Russian Federation." With reporting by AFP, Reuters, Current Time, Unian, Meduza, AP, Kyiv Post, and TASS The chief executive of Afghanistans government, Abdullah Abdullah, is at one of the worlds leading economic forums in Davos, Switzerland, attempting to persuade foreign investors to pour money into his war-torn country. Abdullah, the de facto prime minister of Afghanistan, said in separate interviews on January 23 with Reuters and AFP that potential investors should look past the current unstable security situation and focus on Afghanistan's rich supply of natural resources. "For the business community...of course security is an impediment," he said on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum. "But you cannot wait until security is perfect and then come in and invest," he said. "Afghanistan's riches, natural resources, commodities which are today more precious than gold, these are all opportunities," he said. "I don't think there is any other get-together more powerful than Davos, and more inclusive than Davos," he said. "This one is a mix of everything, and I try to push our case, the case of our country." Abdullah said reports in December that U.S. President Donald Trump was considering a plan to withdraw some 5,000 of the 14,000 U.S. troops in Afghanistan had caused concern within the government in Kabul. U.S.-led NATO and coalition forces have been aiding the government in its fight against resurgent Taliban militants, who control much of the Afghan countryside outside the major cities. He said, though, that U.S. officials had told Kabul that no final decision has been made and that Washington is committed to supporting Afghan security and development. "Of course, initially it came with some concerns for all of us," Abdullah said. "Later on, through engagement with their envoys and representatives we learned that even if the [United States] withdraws, it would be partial, it would not have an impact on the combat abilities," he added. Trump has expressed impatience over lagging progress in the 17-year war in Afghanistan, where more than 2,400 U.S. troops have died. He has already said U.S. forces would pull out of the conflict in Syria. Abdullah is considered a leading challenger to President Ashraf Ghani for the upcoming presidential election, set for July 20. Ghani defeated Abdullah in the 2014 vote that Abdullah claimed was marred by fraud. The two later agreed to form a national-unity government, with Ghani as president and Abdullah in the position labeled "chief executive officer." Abdullah told Reuters in the interview that this year's vote "has to be clean." "The flaws of the previous election have to be corrected. Am I absolutely confident that this will be transparent as we would expect? Thats difficult to judge at this stage." With reporting by AFP and Reuters An armed assault on a Myanmar border guard station leaves a gaping hole in the wall of one building and a blown-out door on another structure in Maungdaw township, western Myanmar's Rakhine state, near the border with Bangladesh, Jan. 24, 2019. UPDATED at 10:48 A.M. EST on 2019-01-25 Members of an unidentified armed group on the Bangladesh side of the border separating the country from Myanmar injured three people in a shooting on Thursday at a border guard outpost in conflict-ridden Rakhine state, a spokesman for the militarys Western Command and a township official said. The unidentified armed group inside Bangladeshi territory targeted the outpost near demarcation marker No. 41 in Maungdaw township, said Colonel Win Zaw Oo of the Western Command, which oversees operations in Rakhine state. We have small outposts near the border, he told RFAs Myanmar Service. They fired shots at one of them. It was near demarcation marker No. 41 along the Myanmar-Bangladesh border. They shot from Bangladesh with small firearms. The Myanmar Army regards the shooters as a terrorist group, but cannot track them down since they are on the other side of the border, he said. The enemy fired about 20 shots, and some blasts from heavy weapons hit two of our service members and a member of the Military Engineer Corps, causing minor injuries, Maungdaw township administrator Myint Khine said. The gunmen attacked the Myanmar border guard outpost from three areas in Bangladesh, he said. We learned that our outpost was under attack from three different positions two from the border fence and one from a hill, Myint Khine said. We learned this morning that an investigation of the incident is being carried out, but we dont know anything yet, he said, adding that the shooters reportedly fired heavy weapons from across the border. Myanmar state media and the Ministry of Information reported that the outpost was hit by four artillery shells from grenade launchers and about 200 rounds of small-arms fire at 7:44 a.m. local time, injuring the two policemen and a worker repairing a fence. Myanmars Ministry of Foreign Affairs said it summoned Manjurul Karim Khan Chowdhury, Bangladeshs ambassador to the country, and informed him about the incident. Myanmar officials gave him a diplomatic note asking for measures to stop such attacks so that they would not affect relations between the two nations, the ministry said. Living in fear Residents of Wai Lar Taung village, the community nearest to the area where the attack occurred, reported hearing gunfire. It has become a routine, and people are living in fear whenever such incidents occur, feeling nervous because they have to depend on others for security, said village administrator Kan Hla Maung. Some have gone into hiding, and some have fled from their homes. I told them not to be afraid because we have the Tatmadaw [Myanmar military] in the area, he added. Kan Hla Maung said similar shootings had occurred in the past, and that Myanmar border officials had complained to Bangladeshi officials and discussed the incidents with them during bilateral meetings. We havent done anything about the latest incident, said Win Zaw Oo of the Western Command. In the past, we sent complaint letters through the Border Guard Force to Bangladesh, so [this time], well do the same. Northern Rakhine has been rocked by an increase in hostilities between Myanmar forces and the Arakan Army (AA), an ethnic insurgent group fighting for greater autonomy in Rakhine state, since late November 2018. The government instructed the military to crush the AA after ethnic fighters carried out deadly coordinated attacks on four police outposts in Buthidaung township in early January. The government has also accused the AA of having links to the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA), a Rohingya Muslim militant group whose lethal attacks on police outposts in northern Rakhine in 2017 triggered a brutal crackdown that left thousands dead and forced more than 725,000 mostly Rohingya to flee to safety to Bangladesh. The AA has denied having any ties to ARSA. However, Myanmars General Administration Department (GAD), the civil service body that staffs regional and state-level governments in the country, said ARSA was responsible for the shooting attack near border demarcation marker No. 41, the online journal The Irrawaddy reported. Hla Tun Tin, an official with the GADs Kyein Chaung office in northern Maungdaw township, told the publication that about 40 ARSA fighters crossed into Myanmar from Bangladesh and tried to seize the border guard outpost. Other recent assaults targeting border guards in northern Rakhine have involved both the AA and ARSA. Myanmar border guard forces clashed with the AA on Jan. 15 near demarcation marker No. 56, and a landmine explosion injured two guards, according to a statement issued by military chief Senior General Min Aung Hlaings office. His office also said that ARSA members attacked a vehicle transporting border guards in northern Maungdaw township a day later, injuring six policemen. ARSA has not issued any statements about attacks it has been accused of carrying out in January, and the AA has not claimed responsibility for Thursdays armed assault on the border guard outpost. The roof of a Myanmar border guard station is damaged following an armed assault in Maungdaw township, western Myanmar's Rakhine state, near the border with Bangladesh, Jan. 24, 2019. Credit: Photo courtesy of Myanmar's Ministry of Information Chinese envoy denounces AA Sun Guoxiang, the Chinese Foreign Ministrys special envoy for Asian affairs, denounced the AAs early January attack on border guard posts in Rakhine as an unacceptable, irresponsible act, during a meeting with Min Aung Hlaing on Tuesday in the capital Naypyidaw, according to a statement issued by the military chiefs office. The two also discussed measures taken by the government and Myanmar military and Chinas assistance to achieve permanent peace in Myanmar and Chinas support for a unilateral four-month cease-fire that the military declared in several states except for Rakhine state in December, the statement said. We have nothing to comment on Chinas denunciation of the AAs attacks, and there's been no pressure on us, said AA spokesman Khine Thukha. Sun Guoxiang also met with Tin Myo Win, chairman of Myanmar's Union Peace Commission on Wednesday at the National Reconciliation and Peace Center (NRPC) to discuss Myanmar peace process, regional stability, and development. In general, there have been some improvements in the peace process, such as a trip by the commission to Chiang Mai [Thailand] and China, and yesterdays meeting with the Chinese representative and the commission chairman, said commission member Aung Soe. We have some progress, and I am pleased with it. In September 2018, Sun Guoxiang arranged and mediated the first-ever meeting between the Union Peace Commission with representatives from three ethnic armies, including the AA, to try to reach a point where they can hold political talks to settle ethnic conflict and war. China has said that it firmly opposes any attempt to undermine peace and stability in areas along its border with Myanmar and any act deliberately obstructing Myanmars peace process, though the country is believed by security experts to be the direct or indirect source of weapons for many of the ethnic armies fighting the Myanmar government. The AA, whose headquarters are in the town of Laiza in northern Myanmar's Kachin state, is part of a coalition of four ethnic armies known as the Northern Alliance that have engaged in battles with government forces near the Myanmar-China border in recent years. China also has a greater incentive in helping to bring about peace in Myanmar. Myanmars peace process is important for China to achieve its One Belt, One Road projects, said political analyst and writer Than Soe Naing, referring to the Chinese governments massive undertaking to build roads, railway lines, and ports, and oil and gas pipelines across the Asian continent, including Myanmar. It seems that China is very disappointed about the AAs attacks on police outposts, he said, adding that Sun Guoxiang met with AA leaders a few weeks ago, though what they discussed wasnt publicly reported. I think he would have asked AA not to carry out this kind of attack again, Than Soe Naing said. The AA seems to be at a crossroads and must decide which path to choose. Neither the Northern Alliance groups nor the Myanmar military can ignore Chinas opinions, he added. A key priority Ending decades-long wars between the national military and ethnic armed organizations is a key priority of State Counselor Aung San Suu Kyi, whose government has been holding periodic negotiations with army officials and rebel leaders since it came to power in 2016. Ten ethnic armies have signed the governments nationwide cease-fire agreement (NCA), but 11 others, including the AA, have not. The AA is one of seven ethnic armed groups belonging to the Federal Political Negotiation and Consultative Committee (FPNCC) which has proposed a confederate system in Myanmar that allows ethnic organizations to maintain their own armed forces a move that the Myanmar military strongly opposes. If the AA decides to create an independent Republic of Rakhine [confederation], not only the AA, but also the Rakhine people will face negative repercussions, Than Soe Naing said without elaborating. Reported by Min Thein Aung and Kyaw Thu for RFAs Myanmar Service. Translated by Nandar Chann and Khet Mar. Written in English by Roseanne Gerin. Authorities in Taiwan are drafting a list of Chinese technology companies that could present security concerns for the government, in the wake of a series of measures excluding Huawei from bidding on the next generation of 5G mobile network infrastructure. The list will seek to limit the use of Chinese-manufactured telecoms equipment by government departments and institutions that could post a security threat, the Nikkei Asian Review cited Taiwan's cybersecurity chief Jyan Hong-wei as saying. "We will likely complete and publish a list of Chinese companies that could pose security threats by the end of March, and update the list from time to time," Jyan said. "In that case, all government departments, organizations and government-controlled enterprises could have a clear idea when they are buying new tools." Top candidates for the democratic island's government blacklist are Huawei, ZTE, as well as Dahua Technology and Hangzhou Hikvision Digital Technology, both of which make surveillance cameras and equipment, the report said. Computer-maker Lenovo may also appear on the list of companies that government agencies and state-controlled companies will have to avoid, it said. The move comes after U.S. cybersecurity company FireEye said Beijing likely targeted the democratic island to influence last November's elections in favor of its preferred candidates. However, the list will be made available to the private sector for advisory purposes, to help them make procurement decisions, Jyan said. Taiwan's cabinet, the Executive Yuan, will also release guidelines on the use of electronic devices by government personnel, the report said. Any bans could take in a large proportion of Taiwan's economy via state-owned utilities and telecoms giants, government-funded medical facilities and research institutions. The island's flag-carrier China Airlines will also be on the distribution list, Nikkei Asian Review reported. 'Taiwan should be no exception' Taiwan premier Su Tseng-chang told reporters on that the island needs to focus on national security. "Every country in the world is fighting for its national security, and Taiwan should be no exception," Su said. "We also know that that we can mitigate threats to national security that come from the ... use of telecommunications systems." "That's why the government is doing everything it should be doing to ensure that there are no leaks ... and we call on all Taiwanese to be on a state of alert: security should be everything," he said. "Without national security, we have nothing." Kolas Yotaka, spokeswoman for the Executive Yuan, said the move wasn't simply about a ban on Chinese companies, or about targeting Huawei, however. "Actually we don't want to ban Chinese companies from Taiwan, but I have to emphasize one more time that there can be no grey areas when it comes to national security," Yotaka said. "We also want to remind all departments and agencies under this government that they must take national security considerations into account when procuring hardware or software," she said. Taipei mayor Ko Wen-je said the move could be linked to the current Sino-U.S. trade war. "This is a tough one," Ko said. "But all we have to do is go along with the policy, once the government has made up its mind what it should be." Computer networks expert of Ying-Dar Lin, of Taiwan's state-run Chiao-Tung University, said the island's 23 million residents aren't worried enough about using Huawei equipment, and that key institutions on the island are under constant cyber attack from inside China. "China's cyber army is desperate to hack certain figures in government and in high-technology," Lin told RFA. "One group holds political secrets, and the other group holds industrial secrets." "Both groups are under fierce attack on a daily basis, in a silent war in which no bullets fly," he said. Huawei government links clear Lin said there is no question that Huawei is closely linked to the Chinese Communist Party regime, despite its protestations that it is a private enterprise. "There is no way that Huawei doesn't do what the Chinese government tells it to do," he said. "Ever since the passage of the National Security Law ... they could even be criminally prosecuted if they don't do as they're told." Last week, Taiwan held live-fire military exercises off its coast amid concerns -- fueled by the publication of a Pentagon military analysis in the U.S. --that Beijing could move to annex the island, which has never been ruled by the Chinese Communist Party. The drills after Taiwan president Tsai Ing-wen rejected calls from President Xi for the democratic island to move towards "unification" with the People's Republic, saying its people have no wish to give up their sovereignty. In a Jan. 2 "Letter to our Taiwan compatriots," Xi was insistent that China must be "unified." Xi made scant reference to public opinion among the 23 million inhabitants of Taiwan, and said that China would make no promises not to use military force to take the island. But a recent opinion poll found that more than 80 percent of Taiwanese would reject Xi's offer to rule the island via the "one country, two systems" model used for the former colonies of Hong Kong and Macau. Taiwan was ruled as a Japanese colony in the 50 years prior to the end of World War II, but was handed back to the 1911 Republic of China under the Kuomintang (KMT) government as part of Tokyo's post-war reparation deal. The island began a transition to democracy following the death of Chiang Kai-shek's son, President Chiang Ching-kuo, in , starting with direct elections to the legislature in the early 1990s and culminating in the first direct election of a president, Lee Teng-hui, in 1996. Reported by Hwang Chun-mei for RFA's Mandarin Service, and by Chung Kuang-cheng for the Cantonese Service. Translated and edited by Luisetta Mudie. An outspoken Australian writer and political commentator who formerly held Chinese nationality is under "coercive measures" in Beijing on suspicion of "endangering national security," China's foreign ministry confirmed on . Yang Hengjun, whose name at birth was Yang Jun, was detained on arrival at Guangzhou Airport on Jan. 19, then taken to Beijing by officers of the state security police, according to friends and eyewitnesses. "According to our understanding, the Australian national Yang Jun is suspected of engaging in criminal activities endangering China's national security, was recently placed under coercive measures and is being investigated by the Beijing municipal state security bureau," foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying told a regular news briefing in Beijing. "Coercive measures" generally refers to detention in a location other than a police-run detention center, possibly a guesthouse or other property where the detainee is held incommunicado. "At present, the case is being handled according to law, and Yang Hengjun's legitimate rights and interests have been fully guaranteed," she said. Chinese law allows police to detain those suspected of vaguely worded "national security" crimes and hold them under residential surveillance at a secret location for up to six months, with no access to lawyers or family visits. Yang's lawyer Mo Shaoping confirmed that his client is being held under "residential surveillance at a designated location." "We don't know the exact charges yet, but Yang Hengjun is suspected of espionage," Mo said. "But even we, his lawyers, don't have the details." "We haven't seen any of the evidence in the state security bureau's case files," he said. "Our next step will be to get in contact with the Beijing municipal state security bureau and go through the necessary procedures as his lawyers, and to request a meeting with him." Yang's detention comes amid growing international tension over the detention in Canada of Meng Wanzhou, chief financial officer of China's flagship telecommunications firm Huawei. Thirteen Canadians were detained in China after the ruling Chinese Communist Party vowed to retaliate for the arrest of Meng, who is wanted for questioning by investigators in the U.S. over alleged bank fraud linked to the breach of sanctions against Iran. 'The actions of terrorists and bandits' While at least eight have since been released, a court in the northeastern Chinese province of Liaoning handed down the death penalty to Canadian Robert Schellenberg after a review of his 15-year drug-smuggling sentence in the wake of Meng's arrest. Both the U.S. and Canada have now upgraded cautionary advice to any of their citizens traveling to China, amid growing calls for the release of former Canadian diplomat Michael Kovrig and consultant Michael Spavor, who are also being detained on suspicion of "endangering state security." Australian Defence Minister Christopher Pyne, who arrived in Beijing on a long-planned trip on , said Australia wasn't notified of Yang's detention until four days later, past the three-day legal requirement for such notifications. "He's being held in residential surveillance," Pyne told reporters, adding that he would bring up the issue in talks with Chinese officials. Yang's friend and Sydney-based university lecturer Feng Chongyi said Yang's wife and stepdaughter are still with relatives in Shanghai, where they have been warned not to speak to the press about the situation. Feng said he doesn't believe the police have any real evidence to substantiate the charges of endangering state security, and that his detention is likely the result of Australia's recent expression of "concern" for Kovrig and Spavor. Feng said it was important not to waver when confronting Beijing with the recent string of detentions, which he linked to Meng's arrest. "You can't show any weakness, nor can you make any concessions or back down," Feng said. "All democratic countries should join hands and protect their red lines [and let China know that] they can't ignore international law and the most basic humanitarian requirements and just go around randomly detaining people." "These are the actions of terrorists and bandits," he said. Reported by Wong Lok-to for RFA's Cantonese Service, and by Qiao Long for the Mandarin Service. Translated and edited by Luisetta Mudie. Six villagers were arrested and one was left critically injured Thursday after authorities fired on a protest against the forcible eviction of residents from land in southwest Cambodias Sihanoukville province, in the countrys first violent police crackdown since a July election widely seen as unfree and unfair. Villagers clashed with police armed with assault rifles and shields who tried to evict them using tactics they described as brutal and unacceptable, following a Supreme Court decision to grant their land in Sihanoukvilles Prey Nob district as a concession to a wealthy businessman. One villager, who spoke with RFAs Khmer Service on condition of anonymity, said police beat residents who gathered early on Thursday morning and erected barricades of burning tires to ward off any attempt to remove them from the land, in protest of the court decision. She said that after police advanced, they began firing their weapons, and while some villagers tried to fight them off, most eventually fled in fear. At the end of the clash, six people had been arrested and at least one person was critically injured from a bullet wound to the chest. I was at the scene and the shooting was very vicious, she added. Another villager named Lim Sareth told RFA she had lived on the land for many years, and that villagers clashed with police because they were terrified of losing their property and being left with nowhere to go. After the crackdown, the police destroyed our houses and plantations, she said. Cheap Sotheary, the Sihanoukville provincial coordinator for local rights group Adhoc, told RFA that she was also present during the crackdown, and said villagers responded to police force with rocks, Molotov cocktails, and burning car tires. After police unsuccessfully attempted to evict the villagers twice, they began to open fire around 10:00 a.m. and arrested the six people, she said, adding that at least two villagers were injured during the clashone seriously. It was like a war zone, she said. The police fired many bullets. Cheap Sotheary said that villagers were left with bruises all over their bodies after being beaten by authorities. Residents of the site said they had occupied the site since 2002, with several having bought land from other villagers, and were surprised to suddenly learn that it belonged to the businessman. Attempts by RFA to reach Sihanoukville provincial spokesman Ou Saroeun for comment went unanswered Thursday. Disputes on the rise The police crackdown came a day after a court in the seat of Sihanoukville province charged Chhay Roth, an official from the now-dissolved opposition Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP), and Tep Sopha, a Coalition of Cambodian Apparel Workers Democratic Union volunteer, with incitement and assault of an officer for their part in a protest over a separate land dispute in Prey Nob district on Jan. 22. Adhoc spokesman Soeng San Karuna told RFA Thursday that police should reinvestigate their case. We dont want to see police implement the law based on political affiliation, he said, suggesting authorities are biased against the CNRP, which was banned by the Supreme Court in November 2017 over an alleged plot to topple the government, paving the way for Prime Minister Hun Sens ruling Cambodian Peoples Party (CPP) to win all 125 seats on offer in parliamentary elections in July 2018. Am Sam Ath, the senior investigator for local rights group Licadho, told RFA that land disputes are on the rise in Sihanoukville and across the country, as the price of property has increased since last years ballot. He said Hun Sens government has failed to provide enough social land concessions to villagers who are in need of it. Land disputes are a bitter problem for Cambodia, where rural villagers and urban dwellers alike have been mired in conflicts that the U.N.s special rapporteur for human rights in Cambodia has warned could threaten the countrys stability. The countrys land issues date from the 1975-79 Khmer Rouge regime, which forced large-scale evacuations and relocations, followed by a period of mass confusion over land rights and the formation of squatter communities when the refugees returned in the 1990s after a decade of civil war. In September, more than 400 villagers from 13 communities in Sihanoukville province staged a protest demanding that a local court drop charges against four locals detained by authorities for violently occupying disputed property. The four had tried to reclaim land seized by several wealthy individuals more than a decade earlier because property prices are increasing in and around the resort city of Sihanoukville, where Chinese investors are buying up plots to build casinos. Reported by RFAs Khmer Service. Translated by Samean Yun. Written in English by Joshua Lipes. Art works of the pig, the 12th in the 12-year cycle of Chinese zodiac sign, are displayed during a pig-themed exhibition to greet the Spring Festival in Hong Kong, south China, Jan. 23, 2019. The Spring Festival, or the Year of the Pig in the Chinese lunar calendar, will begin on Feb. 5 this year. (Xinhua/Wu Xiaochu) 2 1 [ Editor: WPY ] Lebanon, IN (46052) Today Thunderstorms - some may contain locally heavy rain, especially during the morning hours. Gusty winds and small hail are possible. High 83F. Winds SW at 10 to 20 mph. Chance of rain 80%.. Tonight Variably cloudy with scattered thunderstorms. Low 69F. Winds SW at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 60%. TORRINGTON American Family Care, a franchise company of urgent care centers based in Alabama, is building a center at 1171 East Main St. On Thursday, a few cars and trucks were parked in the rear parking lot of the building on the corner of Tucker Drive, which is also the entrance to Michael Koury Terrace, an apartment complex. The new building is wrapped in plastic tarps, with scaffolding and pieces of plywood facing East Main Street. In the back, windows and doors have already been installed. According to Torrington City Planner Martin Connor, American Family Care applied to build the center in June 2018 and received approval to its application in July. Its under construction now, Connor said Thursday. Kaushik Makati, the companys director of marketing and business development, said the East Main Street location is expected to open in early March, and will employ 15 to 20 local people. Aside from Torrington, American Family Care has 12 centers in the state, in Bridgeport, Danbury, Fairfield, New Britain, Norwalk, Shelton, Stamford, Vernon and West Hartford, Makati said. According to the companys website, Dr. Bruce Irwin opened the first American Family Care in 1982 in Alabama. As a child, Dr. Irwin frequently watched doctors attend to his fathers medical needs. During frequent trips to the emergency room, Dr. Irwin noticed that many non-emergency patients were taking up time and resources from the ER, making the experience more difficult for themselves and those in need of true life-saving care, the website states. It was during this time he came up with his idea for an urgent care network that could attend to the needs of non-emergency patients who were in need of immediate attention ... More than 35 years later, the AFC brand and philosophy has spread to more than 200 facilities across 26 states, treating nearly three million patients a year. At American Family Care, patients can get a flu shot, X-rays, bloodwork, a physical and vaccines, and receive treatment, for example, to a sprained ankle or a bad cold, a workplace injury or other non-life-threatening medical issues. These services are also provided by Hartford HealthCare GoHealth Urgent Care, which opened Jan. 14 at the Shops at Sky Top at 996 East Main St. just down the street. When asked whether AFC had chosen its location to be near GoHealth, Makati said no. Our location has been in the works for over a year, while (Hartford HealthCares) choice of location came after ours, Makati said. AFC is an independent operator with no affiliation with hospital groups in the immediate area ... we choose the best specialists available for our patients, (and it) is locally owned by a Connecticut native who operates several others in the state. Our Torrington location will be a state-of-the-art center providing a patient centric approach, putting the patient first by providing high level customer service with high level care, a rare hospitality mindset in a medical facility, Makati said. We will be open seven days a week, providing care for non-life-threatening injuries and illnesses, as well as a robust occupational health and workers compensation program to employers in the region. We look forward to serving and being a part of Torrington and the Northwest community. GoHealth replaced Charlotte Hungerford Hospitals walk-in medical clinic at 1598 East Main St., which closed permanently on Jan. 13. BRIDGEPORT An assistant professor of business at Housatonic Community College who shouted sieg heil and used a Nazi salute at a university meeting has been fired. Charles Meyricks outburst came at a meeting of faculty and administrators from the Connecticut State Colleges and Universities at Manchester Community College on Nov. 2 last year. He has been on leave since then, and was not scheduled to teach classes for the spring semester that began on Thursday. Mr. Meyricks actions took place just days after the mass shooting at the Tree of Life Synagogue in Pittsburgh, and triggered several participants to exit the facility out of fear for their safety, CSCU President Mark Ojakian said. Our state colleges and universities aim to foster a welcoming learning environment, and these threatening actions go far beyond acceptable discourse. A man who answered at a phone number believed to be Meyricks declined to comment Thursday. Like Ojakian, HCC President Paul Broadie II also said the disturbance, which included Meyrick shouting sieg heil and using a Nazi salute for over 10 minutes, scared colleagues at the meeting, which was held to discuss aligning curriculum across the 12 community college campuses. Some began looking for exits and many left the room because they felt threatened and unsafe, Broadie said in a statement. Based on the findings of an administrative investigation, Broadie said, Meyrick engaged in serious misconduct, providing a just-cause basis for termination within the systems collective bargaining agreement. Ellen Benson, a spokeswoman for the Congress of Connecticut Community Colleges, the union that represents college professors in the state, had no comment on the action. Martin Margulies, a professor emeritus at the Quinnipiac University School of Law, said if the colleges press release is accurate, Meyricks is not a case he would not want to take on. Public employees are free to speak out on matters of public concern as long as their speech does not interfere with the operations of the agency where they are employed, Margulies said. The right is not absolute, he said what matters is not only what Meyrick said, but its manner of delivery. If the university press release is accurate, sounds to me what happened was pretty disruptive, Margulies said. Some federal courts have left open the possibility that a professors academic freedom may extend beyond that of the ordinary public employees, but that has not been definitely established. The Connecticut State Colleges and Universities aspire to the highest standards of ethical and professional integrity, Broadie said. Open and free expression is encouraged, but this behavior is not in keeping with our standard for personal and professional conduct. Broadie said the investigation also revealed a history of increasingly alarming behavior from Meyrick over several months. Numerous witnesses reported fear of attending meetings with Meyrick in the future, Broadie said. Others expressed reluctance to speak with investigators for fear of retaliation. On the Housatonic website, Meyrick, 67, lists his focus as economic and finance, and says he began teaching in 2009, after spending 34 years at IBM. His bio says his work at IBM took him to Europe, Asia and Mexico, including overseas assignments in Paris and Tokyo. In his spare time, it says he likes to read and play video games. His current favorite economist is Frederic Bastiat. Questo comunicato e stato pubblicato piu di 1 anno fa. Le informazioni su questa pagina potrebbero non essere attendibili. She is fond of Manolos and Louboutins. But it's not the brand or the https://www.goldengoose-ggdb.com/ cost: It's the heels. The Management Team: The final element of the executive summary of a strategic plan should be the list of core team members who will be associated with the implementation of the strategic plan. And your stuff isn't going into a bin in some intern's office. If it's good, it goes on the site, hundreds of thousands of people will read it, you will get money. In the modern culture of mainstream America, most people live in nuclear families: Mom and Dad and 2.5 kids. I also recommend maximum prison for gangsters, solitary Golden Goose Sale confinement for one year. All they do iis more drug deals in jail. Appearance is even more relevant with this first lady. He's account putted into a woman of sexual violence. He doesn't have a reservoir of his own experience of sexuality with other people. This rough upbringing, combined with a modern education, laid the foundation for Ruan future acting career. A handful of lucky pedestrians stumbled onto this. First he had to shed the role of mere observer. "Like a naturalist, I used to travel around the world looking at wildlife," he says. Thursday's speech was hosted by the Upstate Chamber Coalition, and campaign officials said that tickets sold out five days after the event was announced. The event featured classic Trump call and response. Tapley emphasized that women in immigrant population fare much better than immigrants in most of the advanced countries that belong to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. if you do want to move strictly to junk, i would wait for the price of junk to come down more. As for gold, if you have any, now is the time to move it to silver. Paranoia, agitation, fear, anxiety and panic may occur. I take incredible care of my hair. In my salon, I have a reputation for having some of the healthiest hair there. 7. The Daily Mail says campaigners now want Mr Randell's appointment blocked. One small business group tells the paper: "If you or I were to try to dodge our taxes for thousands of pounds, sorry wouldn't be good enough. Gifts Philippines is a branch of Flowers Express that sells different kinds of gifts. Beckley, WV (25801) Today Cloudy with occasional rain...mainly in the morning. High 81F. Winds WSW at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 70%.. Tonight Scattered thunderstorms early, then cloudy skies after midnight. Low 63F. Winds SW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 40%. Source: Last updated on: January 24, 2019 21:30 IST The Indian Navy and the National Disaster Response Force on Thursday retrieved the body of one of the 15 miners trapped since December 13 inside a 370-foot deep coal mine in Meghalaya's East Jaintia Hills district, officials said. They said that a search operation for the other missing miners continued using an underwater robotic vehicle. 15 diggers had got trapped inside the flooded mine on December 13. The incident had caught the nation's attention to illegal coal mining in the northeastern state of Meghalaya at the cost of human lives despite a ban imposed by the National Green Tribunal. The body of the miner was detected by an unmanned remotely controlled vehicle (ROV) on January 16 during a routine search mission inside the 370-foot deep shaft of the mine. "The Indian Navy jointly in collaboration with the NDRF today retrieved the body of the dead miner from the main shaft in an operation between 9 am and 3 pm," operations spokesperson R Susngi said. According to the district officials, an inquiry was conducted by a magistrate in the presence of Deputy Commissioner F M Dopth. The district medical head Dr Mitul Sangma conducted a post-mortem and the body will be taken to the Khliehriat Community Health Centre, 36 km from the mine at Khlooryngksan, officials said. The body will be kept in cold storage to allow the relatives to come and identify, Susngi said. According to a statement issued by the NDRF, "After all the hardship and our dedicated efforts, a body was recovered from the main shaft." NDRF personnel from Guwahati led by its Assistant Commandant Santosh Kumar Singh has been involved in the search and rescue operation in the coal mine since the day of tragedy. Meanwhile, the Indian Navy continued with their search operation using the unmanned ROV for the 14 other miners who are still trapped inside, Susngi said. The other agencies involved in dewatering the nearby abandoned mines on Thursday pumped out over 64.74 lakh litres of water in the past 24 hours, according to the spokesperson. Pumps from Coal India Ltd, KSB and Odhisa Fire Service have been put into service, he said. Source: January 24, 2019 18:11 IST IMAGE: Congress president Rahul Gandhi holds an interactive session with the people of Amethi on Thursday. Photograph: Courtesy @INCIndia/Twitter Congress president Rahul Gandhi on Thursday said he has given his sister Priyanka Gandhi, newly entrusted with eastern Uttar Pradesh, the target of ensuring that the party forms the next government in the state. The Congress will also fight the coming Lok Sabha polls with 'full strength', he said at a public meeting in his constituency. His two-day visit to Amethi had coincided on Wednesday with the formal entry of Priyanka Gandhi in politics, after years of speculation on whether she would take the plunge. She has been appointed general secretary for Uttar Pradesh (East), while Jyotiraditya Scindia holds charge of UP West. "Priyanka and Scindia have been given a target. That is to form a Congress government in Uttar Pradesh in the next election by defeating and wiping out the Bharatiya Janata Party," the Congress president said. "Unlike PM Modi, I do not talk of a 'BJP-mukt Bharat' but speak with respect," Gandhi said, referring to Narendra Modi's call to 'free' India of the Congress. "Whether it is Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh or Tamil Nadu, everywhere the Congress will fight with full might on the front foot, and you will see that after the Vidhan Sabha elections there will be a Congress government in the state," he said. "In the Lok Sabha polls, we will contest with full strength, without taking a backward step," he said, referring to the election just months away. He criticised the Centre government over the Rafale aircraft deal and accused the prime minister of 'waiving' industrialists' loans, charges countered earlier by the government. "The watchman proved to be a thief," he said, and repeated the slogan, "Gali gali mein shor hai, chowkidar chor hai." Earlier in the morning, Gandhi visited a local Shiva temple after meeting party workers at a guesthouse. Addressing a public meeting in Salon area, he termed himself, his sister and mother Sonia Gandhi as 'soldiers' for the people of the constituency. While Rahul Gandhi won the 2014 parliamentary elections from Amethi, Sonia Gandhi is an MP from adjacent Rae Bareli. Both fall under the turf carved out for Priyanka Gandhi. Narendra Modi's Varanasi constituency and Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath's bastion Gorakhpur are also in eastern UP. Rahul reiterated he has full respect for leaders like Bahujan Samaj Party president Mayawati and Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav and his father Mulayam Singh Yadav. The SP and the BSP recently forged an alliance for UP in the coming Lok Sabha polls, keeping the Congress out of the pact. The Congress president said the prime minister had not kept his poll promise on creating jobs, and suggested that the BJP government had slowed development in his constituency. "You will get your food park back, not 99 per cent but 101 per cent. All development projects that have been stalled by Narendra Modi and Yogiji to hurt you will be back," he said. "The BJP people are spreading hatred in the name of religion, caste and region. They get people of UP and Bihar thrown out of Gujarat, get Hindus and Muslims fight each other," he charged. "Narendra Modi means hatred, he is the symbol of hatred," he said. "We will remove Modi in 2019 and no one can stop this." Cong workers want Priyanka to take on Modi in Varanasi Posters urging Priyanka Gandhi to contest the coming general elections from Varanasi -- Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Lok Sabha constituency -- came up in the holy city on Thursday. The local unit of the Congress too demanded that Priyanka be pitted directly against Modi to galvanise voters of Uttar Pradesh and neighbouring states. The posters featuring Priyanka Gandhi in the middle, Rahul on the top and local Congress leader Ajay Rai, who had contested against Modi in 2014, at the bottom, have come up across Varanasi. The lines, 'Kashi Ki Janta Kare Pukar, Priyanka Gandhi Ho Sansad Hamar. We want Priyanka," were printed in bold letters in the centre of the posters. Holding the posters and shouting slogans, some youth Congress workers also took out a march in the Lahurbir locality demanding that Priyanka be declared the party's candidate from Varanasi. "The Congress party soldiers (workers) are ready to make her (Priyanka) win the elections from the temple town constituency... If she contests from here, the impact would be felt in the neighbouring states as well," Rai said. "The wave of PM Modi has now faded as people want to get rid of the Modi-Shah misrule who have ruined the lives of scorers of small businessmen and rendered thousands of people jobless due to their faulty policies and chest thumping," he added. Rai expressed confidence that the Congress would win the 2019 Lok Sabha elections as well as the 2022 assembly polls in Uttar Pradesh. The country witnessed a negative economic growth during the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance rule, Rai said. Criticising the the Union government's Pravasi Bharatiya Diwas event being held in Varanasi from January 21 to 23, the Congress leader questioned why the dates of the event were changed. The event is held to pay respects to father of the nation Mahatma Gandhi, who returned to India from South Africa on January 9. The BJP changed the dates to gain political mileage, he said. Last updated on: January 24, 2019 13:04 IST United States President Donald Trump on Thursday announced that he would delay his State of the Union address until a crippling government shutdown ends, backing down in a major spat with the Democrats over his plan to build a controversial border wall along the US-Mexico border. His announcement came after House Speaker Nancy Pelosi rescinded an invitation for him to deliver the speech in the House Chamber. A row between Trump and the Democrats over border security has led to the longest government shutdown in US history. Trump is demanding USD 5.7 billion of congressional funding to build a wall on the US-Mexico border, but newly empowered Democrats have refused. Some 800,000 federal employees have been going unpaid since December 22 due to the shutdown. Trump announcing his decision said it was Pelosi's "prerogative" to suggest a later date. "As the Shutdown was going on, Nancy Pelosi asked me to give the State of the Union Address. I agreed. She then changed her mind because of the shutdown, suggesting a later date. This is her prerogative - I will do the Address when the Shutdown is over," Trump said. "I am not looking for an ... alternative venue for the SOTU Address because there is no venue that can compete with the history, tradition and importance of the House Chamber. I look forward to giving a 'great' State of the Union Address in the near future," he added. On Wednesday House Speaker Nancy Pelosi withdrew an invitation for him to address Congress, saying government services should fully reopen first. Trump initially said the speech should be "on time, on schedule, and very importantly, on location." Trump in a letter to Pelosi on Wednesday had asserted that there are no security concerns as claimed by her in a January 3 letter, and as such he looks forward to seeing her at the Congress on January 29 to deliver his annual State of the Union Address. On Thursday, Pelosi fired back, telling Trump that "the House of Representatives will not consider a concurrent resolution authorising the President's State of the Union Address in the House Chamber until government has opened". "Again, I look forward to welcoming you to the House on a mutually agreeable date for this address when government has been opened," she wrote. Trump and Pelosi have been at loggerheads for more than 33 days as the speaker and the President both refuse to budge on shutdown negotiations. Pelosi reacted to Trump's decision by hoping he would back a House-passed bill to reopen the parts of the government shuttered for more than a month. "Mr President, I hope by saying 'near future' you mean you will support the House-passed package to #EndTheShutdown that the Senate will vote on tomorrow," Pelosi said on Twitter. "Please accept this proposal so we can re-open government, repay our federal workers and then negotiate our differences." Pelosi had first asked for the State of the Union, a keynote agenda-setting speech by the president, to be delayed on January 16, citing an unfunded Secret Service and Department of Homeland Security. In retaliation, Trump last week denied Pelosi use of military planes on a trip to Brussels and Afghanistan - less than an hour before her flight was due to depart. He asked her to stay to negotiate an end to the partial US government shutdown. The Senate is set to vote on Thursday on two different proposals to end the shutdown, one that was passed by the Democratic-controlled House and one built off Trump's own proposal presented in a speech on Saturday. White House officials expect both bills will fail. But their hope is that once they do, Democrats will be more amenable to negotiations. Source: January 24, 2019 21:05 IST IMAGE: Congress MLAs at Eagleton resort in Bengaluru a day after the CLP meet. Photograph: ANI Amid reports that he was being wooed by the Bharatiya Janata Party, Congress MLA Umesh Jadhav who skipped the recent Congress Legislature Party meeting and remained incommunicado surfaced in his native Kalburgi on Thursday and said he was still with the party, but dropped hints he was keeping his options open. "I haven't even thought about it. I'm in Congress...,"he told reporters when asked whether he would remain in Congress in view of the reported offer by BJP to give him ticket for the coming Lok Sabha elections. However, the MLA, who was upset at not being made a minister, said he will go by the instructions of his voters and supporters on accepting the saffron party's offer. "I cannot decide it; I will have to discuss with my voters, people and supporters about it... will take decision in the interest of people," he added. Jadhav along with Ramesh Jarkiholi, B Nagendra and Mahesh Kumatahalli had skipped the January 18 Congress Legislature Party meeting, following which notice were issued to them asking why action should not be taken against them under the anti-defection law. Jadhav, however, had written to CLP leader Siddaramaiah stating that since he was 'unwell and not able to travel' he would not attend the meet. He had also requested that his absence may be 'excused'. Asked as to why he was not reachable by the Congress leadership all these days, the MLA said he was bit upset for some reasons and had given his phone to his brother and gone outside the state. Denying reports that he was staying in a resort or hotel, he said, he was on a personal visit out side the state. On a photograph showing him with BJP MLA Ashwathnarayan, Jadhav said it was not taken in Mumbai recently. It must have been taken some other time, he said adding the BJP MLA was his 'close friend' and they knew each other for 15 years. He claimed work in his constituency was happening at a slow phase under the coalition government. "I don't know why work is getting delayed. Those in positions have to answer," he said. Stating that he had expected Minister post 'for the sake of development work', Jadhav said he would not take it even if offered now. Asked about reported comments by Kaburgi district in-charge minister Priyank Kharge that he can leave the party if he wanted, Jadhav said such attitude was the reason for Congress' present state. In the Lok Sabha, Congress used to have 300-400 seats. "... by making such statements we now have around 45-50 you understand," he said adding it damaged the party. Jadhava took exception to a protest against him in front of his house a few days ago that he had sold himself. They should be ashamed, let them show the proof, I will work at their house, he added. According to reports, there is rift between Jadhav and Priyank Kharge and former union minister Mallikarjuna Kharge in Kalburgi and BJP was trying to take advantage of it by wooing him with the Kalaburgi Lok Sabha seat offer. ***** MLA facing attempt to murder case over brawl blames colleague Congress MLA J N Ganesh, facing an attempt to murder case after allegedly assaulting his lawmaker colleague Anand Singh, on Thursday purportedly came out with his account, blaming the latter for the turn of events. Ganesh, in a post in the Facebook page titled 'Kampli Congress' addressed to the people of his Kampli constituency, accused Singh of trying to finish him off politically besides threatening his family. The absconding MLA claimed it was Singh who first attacked him and also passed derogatory remarks against his family members and also his caste. Ganesh said he later retaliated and that three other party MLAs were witness to the incidents. I had no intention to hit Anand Singh who spoke ill about my cast. If I had to do that I could have done it when I was with him in the room for two to three hours. There was no such intention, Ganesh said in the post that bares his photo in the profile of the page. All these are known to all party leaders. The leaders said there was mistake on both our part and both of us have embarrassed the party and called doctors for give me first aid, he added. Singh and Ganesh, both from Ballari district, had a heated argument and came to blows at the resort where the Congress MLAs were herded together amid alleged poaching attempt by the BJP. Police have registered an FIR charging Ganesh with attempt to murder on a complaint by Singh, who is convalescing in a hospital in Bengaluru. A red-faced Congress on Monday suspended Ganesh, who claimed he was also injured in the incident. Karnataka Congress President Dinesh Gundu Rao on Thursday asked Ganesh to surrender and face the law. One has to surrender and face law, nothing should be done illegally, and there is no question of Congress interfering. No one is above law; every one should function under law, he told reporters. Meanwhile, a group of supporters of Kampli MLA met Roa and requested him to revoke Ganesh's suspension from party. Last updated on: January 25, 2019 18:05 IST Microsat-R, an imaging satellite, is meant for military purposes, but the ISRO did not give any details about it. India successfully launched Microsat-R, a military satellite on board its Polar rocket PSLV C44, from the spaceport in Sriharikota on Thursday, in the first mission for the Indian Space Research Organisation in 2019. The ISRO's workhorse Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle blasted off from the first launchpad of the Satish Dhawan Space Centre at 11.37 pm at the end of a 28-hour countdown. In a textbook launch, the 44-metre tall, four-stage PSLV-C44 soared into the clear and starry night sky majestically and injected the 740-kg Microsat-R into orbit precisely 13 minutes and 30 seconds later. ISRO scientists broke into celebration at the mission control centre in Sriharikota, about 130 km from Chennai, as the Microsat-R was released in a 274-km polar sun synchronous orbit, marking another success story for the space agency. Former ISRO chairmen Krishnaswamy Kasturirangan and AS Kiran Kumar were among those who witnessed the launch. The fourth stage of the rocket with co-passenger Kalamsat, a students' payload, would now be moved to a higher circular orbit, around 450 km from Earth, so as to establish an orbital platform for carrying out experiments. The ISRO said it would take about 90 minutes for the fourth stage to reach the desired orbit. Microsat-R, an imaging satellite, is meant for military purposes, but the ISRO did not give any details about it. Built at a cost of around Rs 12 lakh, the Kalamsat is an experimental satellite for studying the communication system of nano satellites, which can be useful in many fields, predominantly disaster management. The PSLV C44 is the first launch for the country's space agency in 2019. The PSLV-C44, assembled in 30 days, was the first mission of a new variant of the PSLV, called the PSLV-DL, as it was equipped with two strap-on configurations, the ISRO said. Usually, PSLVs were launched without any strap-ons (boosters) or were equipped with six strap-ons fixed around the rocket, but the ISRO, for the first time, used only two boosters for the mission, an official of the space agency said. He added that for the first time, the ISRO placed a satellite -- Microsat-R -- in a lower orbit, at around 274 km from Earth. Contributed by college students and the members of a Chennai-based organisation -- Space Kidz India -- Kalamsat is the first to use PS4 (the fourth stage of the vehicle) as a platform to orbit around the earth. "We have been working on the project for over six years now. These students are from various backgrounds and the youngest one is studying BSc Physics," Space Kidz India CEO Srimathy Kesan told PTI. Kesan said Kalamsat was the lightest ever satellite to be launched by India. Space Kidz India aims to nurture young scientists. With this, the PSLV, basically a four-stage vehicle with alternating solid and liquid stages, has launched 54 Indian and 269 satellites of international customers. Speaking after the launch, ISRO Chairman K Sivan said PSLV C44 was not just another PSLV. "There are many firsts and innovations in this mission. First of all, a new variant of PSLV with two strap on is introduced in this mission to enhance payload capability of PSLV beyond core alone configuration. "Second, the PS4 is made out of aluminium tanks in order to reduce cost of (the) PSLV. Another major change, this is the mission having orbit in the lowest altitude where (the) PSLV has flown so far. Yet another innovation, is making PS4 working after it does its function," Sivan said. Saying that ISRO's highest priority at present is Gaganyaan, Sivan said the human space mission would be done by December 2021. "ISRO has taken a major responsibility for placing a man in space by an Indian vehicle launched from Indian soil. It will happen by December 2021." Announcing that the ISRO is working on a new launch vehicle meant for smaller satellites -- SSLV (small satellite launch vehicle) -- Sivan said first launch of the vehicle would happen this year. Congratulating students for working on Kalamsat, Sivan urged students to bring science experiments to the space agency. "ISRO is an Indian property and open to all students of the country. I request you bring your science experiments, and plug in to PS4. We will launch and you don't worry. You do science research and make science oriented," he added. Photographs: R Senthil Kumar/PTI Photo; ISRO. Last updated on: January 24, 2019 10:15 IST 'What matters is that India's perspective on global issues -- climate change, intellectual property, free trade, trade routes being kept free, digital technology -- are listened to with respect,' says Ambassador B S Prakash. IMAGE: US President Donald J Trump and China's President Xi Jinping at a State dinner at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, November 9, 2017. Photograph: Thomas Peter/Reuters 'The fog of war' is a well-known expression, especially among those interested in history or in issues of war and peace. Used famously by then United States defence secretary Robert B McNamara during the Vietnam years, it connotes that whatever be your objectives or strategies, once a war starts, clarity disappears: There are unfathomable happenings, unpredictable turn of events, unintended consequences. It will not be a world of reason or coherence, however orderly and methodical the generals who run the war are. But the 'fog of strategy'? Absence of coherence, clarity, method and purpose in big thinking about the 'world order'? This thought struck me, appropriately enough, in the real fog of Delhi in January, as I recently sat through and listened to world's punditry hold forth on the great issues of the day. Delhi in winter is a seminarwallah's delight. Despite the disaster in recent years of its smog and gas-chamber reputation, hundreds of self-proclaimed thought leaders descend on the capital during the winter break. The auditoriums and atriums of half a dozen intellectual hubs -- the India International Centre, the India Habitat Centre, other acronyms IDSA, CPR, ORF etc -- reverberate with heavy-weight discussion of ideas and ideals. Researchers from MIT rub shoulders with IITians, NYUans are challenged by JNUites and so on. To add to this heavy mix, we have the 'Raisina Dialogue', a high-prestige, high-octane and high-glamour discussion on mega geo-political and geo-strategic issues. Organised by the ministry of external affairs and ORF (the Observer Research Foundation), India's most ambitious think-tank, it has catapulted Delhi into being a part of the big league international seminar circuit. It is being included as a 'must attend' event in the calendar for the Conference-elite, in the list of the Davos symposia, the Shangri-La dialogue, the Munich security conference, and such like. A life time in diplomacy and a continued addiction to discussing subjects like 'the world in transition' has made me attend half a dozen discussions already this winter, including the Raisina Dialogue. Every season, the buzz word and priority themes change in such events. It used to be the 'end of the cold war' in 1990; turned to the 'end of history' thereafter, thanks to a false prophet, no longer fashionable; 'globalisation and its benefits' reigned for some years to turn to globalisation and its malcontents, more recently; 'Arab spring' made its appearance briefly to be followed by 'Regime change' soon thereafter. What are the current favorite themes and what are the convergences, if any, among the contending views? Let me attempt a five-point summary. I have learnt from such seminars that it is fashionable to condense your thinking into a three to five point summary, however abstruse or wooly your thinking. Otherwise in an era of twitter and WhatsApp, your audience evaporates, before you even introduce your subject. In that spirit, here is a short guide to what the 'strategic community' will be discussing in 2019. IMAGE: The body language says it all! Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi, right, with United States Secretary of State Mike Pompeo at the Diaoyutai state guesthouse in Beijing, October 8, 2018. Photograph: Andy Wong/Pool/Reuters The most important point on which there is agreement among scholars of all stripes is that US-China confrontation will be the number one theme this year and possibly till 2022. America has implicitly declared war on China and this is not just Trump or his VP Pence, who has given voice to it most explicitly. Experts have reached the conclusion that all segments of the American establishment -- the White House, the Republicans and Democrats, the Pentagon, and the CIA, the military-industrial complex, the Ivy League universities and labs, the Wall Street and even Silicon Valley, by and large -- now subscribe to the idea of a rising China as a threat to American interests. They, however, admit that America and China are too closely entangled in many dimensions, for the confrontation to become an actual war. The idea that the two will work together under what was termed as Group-2 to dominate the rest of the world has disappeared. The 'confrontation' will be on multiple fronts: Trade, as we have already seen; larger economic issues; technology theft and transfers; control of the maritime routes, to name a few. Contention and conflict, among these giants is thus the over-riding theme for the strategists. Within that framework, there are relative optimists who believe that compromises will be made with face-saving for both Xi Jinping and Trump, and others who see structural reasons for a scenario of long-term hostility. The resurgence of Russia, under Putin's dynamic leadership is also identified as a new factor to be kept in mind in 2019. What Russia has accomplished in Syria (and sustained in Ukraine, Crimea) demonstrates its ambition and capability. One of the mysteries in the current climate is why the American Deep State (a mysterious term in itself) is so hostile to Russia, even as Trump is itching to normalise relations with Putin. In contrast to Russia's rise, there is sorrowful acceptance about the decline and disorder in Europe. Even European leaders at these meetings lament about its disunity, disenchantment with the norms and values approach that they advocated, and the gradual dismantling of their bonds with the US. Unless you are a Brit, there is a suppressed glee about the miseries of Brexit, whichever way it may turn out! The third point is about the transformations that new technologies will bring. There is much buzz about Artificial intelligence, Big Data, Robotics, Predictive Analytics, Autonomous Weapon Systems etc, most of which sound so futuristic and esoteric that only the younger sections in the attendees of conferences seem to recognise even the concepts! But I can tell you, after attending many such talks, that these will impact on our world -- and on our wars -- the way Google or Amazon hit us, a decade ago. The Man-Machine interface is what we will be worrying about in 2025, I learnt from authoritative speakers. What about India? Most accept -- and not only Indians -- that the sheer size of India, its location, and capabilities makes it a 'power', say among the first six, though there may be a quibble about the ranking. 'Great Power', 'Leading Power', 'Asian Power' -- these are the words bandied around, but what matters is that India's perspective on global issues -- climate change, intellectual property, free trade, trade routes being kept free, digital technology -- are listened to with respect. On strategic or security related issues, 'Balancing', 'Hedging', 'Strategic autonomy', are the kinds of concepts advocated as India's policy options implying overall that when the US and China are in fighting mode, India should maneuver its positions cleverly and see how to safeguard its interests. Our neighbourhood headaches - Pakistan, Nepal, Sri Lanka -- does not figure in the big picture. Only Afghanistan does, with a great deal of uncertainty about its future. An intelligent Indian participant in a global forum can talk meaningfully to all -- American, Russian, Chinese, Arab, Iranian, European, African and other -- interlocutors and this is a tribute to our approach and style. Final point. There is fog ahead in the future and the so-called thought leaders are groping forward, uncertain of where the world is headed. B S Prakash is a former Ambassador and a long-standing Rediff.com columnist whose earlier columns can be accessed here. Questo comunicato e stato pubblicato piu di 1 anno fa. Le informazioni su questa pagina potrebbero non essere attendibili. In this latest report on Dielectric Etchers Market the market size is expected to scale up to USD BN by the end of financial year 2025. This report valued the market at USD BN in 2018. After evaluating the various market drivers and market restraints the report expects a % of CAGR across the study period. The report takes a deep dig in the market with detailed analysis on the Revenue, Production, and Capacity from 2013 to 2025. The report also studies the marketing pricing, trends and extrapolates the growth rate for the next six years. 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DecisionDatabases.com is proficient in providing syndicated research Report, customized research reports, company profiles and industry databases across multiple domains. Our expert research analysts have been trained to map clients research requirements to the correct research resource leading to a distinctive edge over its competitors. We provide intellectual, precise and meaningful data at a lightning speed. For More Details: DecisionDatabases.com E-Mail: sales@decisiondatabases.com Phone: +91-90-28-057900 Web: https://www.decisiondatabases.com/ January 24, 2019 23:53 IST Sebis main contention against brokers is that the NSEL was offering paired contracts and they were forward contracts, which were illegal. The Economic Offences Wing (EOW) of the Mumbai police has issued fresh notices to 300 NSEL (National Spot Exchange) brokers, asking them to produce the details pertaining to their transactions on the exchange, the volumes, and even the brokerage earned. The police have done a forensic audit as well as a digital forensic audit of the brokers who defaulted in August 2013. The Serious Fraud Investigation Office (SFIO) recently furnished its findings on all entities including brokers, promoter firms and their officials, and defaulters. The SFIO had submitted the findings related to 140 brokers to the police and also asked the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) to look into its findings. The police have started a fresh round of arrests based on forensic audits and nabbed a former chief financial officer of the NSEL. It has also resumed interrogating other officials and directors of the defunct exchange. Sebi issues supplementary notices Sebi has issued show cause notices to 300 NSEL member brokers and filed FIRs against them with the EOW, Mumbai. After receiving the SFIO findings, Sebi issued supplementary notices to these brokers. In the case of top five brokers, it has completed a fresh hearing also and now decision is pending. Sebis main contention against brokers is that the NSEL was offering paired contracts and they were forward contracts, which were illegal. Brokers traded in those contracts on behalf of their clients and hence, they endorsed illegal contracts. Sebi has also alleged brokers indulged in frequent changes in client code, misselling and assured fixed returns. On the issue of the legality of their contracts, the NSEL spokesperson said the contracts on the NSEL were traded in accordance with the government Gazette issued in 2007. "There has been no adjudication about their illegality. However, if the authorities take a contrary view then the then regulator, the Forward Markets Commission, the exchange, brokers, traders, etc are in the same boat and should be treated equally in the eyes of the law . However, the regulator seems to be in a dilemma before taking penal action. Sebi can declare intermediaries not fit and proper if it is convinced about that or court declare adjudicate them guilty. The NSEL spokesperson said, It is the brokers who actually have mis-sold the derivative contracts to clients in addition to doing huge money laundering. Brokers are together moving the high court to defend their side saying they have not received proceeds of crime nor colluded with anyone and all attempts to malign the non-defaulting brokers is merely an attempt to shift the focus from the main issue, according to brokers forum official.\ Regulators dilemma Sebi has considered market implication if fit and proper action. But the issue is there are 300 brokers who have traded in illegal forward contracts on NSEL, and if it is criminal as the regulator and police are alleging, then the difference is only in magnitude of crime. And the punishment has to be same for similar crime, irrespective of the size of the crime. So, can the Sebi penalise 300 brokers, many of whom are dealing in several other regulated products and regulated by more than one regulators? The fear among brokers is that such an action will result in panic in market across segments as these brokers deal in various segments. In 2010, several banks sold currency swaps, which are also similar to forward contracts to several businesses and units, and when the Reserve Bank of India ruled that they violated Foreign Exchange Management Act, it preferred to impose financial penalty on 19 banks. Sebi, on its part, has to decide whether it wishes to impose a financial penalty or use the fit and proper criteria against these errant brokers, as this is a violation of its regulations for intermediaries and Forward Contract Regulation Act, 1952. Image used for representation purpose only Photograph: Punit Paranjpe/Reuters January 24, 2019 15:52 IST Government is framing a rule that will make it compulsory for regulators like Sebi, Irdai and PFRDA to deposit a significant portion of their reserves into the Consolidated Fund of India. Illustration: Dominic Xavier/Rediff.com The central government has decided to frame a rule that would mandate regulators and other autonomous bodies to transfer surplus funds to the exchequer, said two government sources privy to the development. The new guideline is expected to come in a month. The move would make the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) and a dozen other regulators, such as the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (Irdai) and the Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA), to shell out a significant portion of their reserves into the Consolidated Fund of India. The Centre has been eyeing these resources that would help it reduce fiscal deficit. Experts, however, said this could infringe on the independence of the regulatory bodies. We have asked Sebi to provide details of expenses they require for their internal operations. "The rest of it would go to a public account and the government can allocate funds as and when required, said a source cited above. According to him, a final consensus is required on the operational aspect of the surplus fund. This needs more deliberation. Sebi holds the highest surplus reserves, followed by Irdai, among autonomous bodies. So, the government is planning to first amend the Sebi Act; later, changes would be made to other Acts of the governing bodies. Sources said the Sebi board meeting on February 9 was likely to take up the matter. The finance ministry will decide the course of action. According to Sebis latest annual account, it has total surplus reserves of Rs 3,170 crore as of March 2017. However, this does not include the IDBI Bank's building purchase, for which the regulator shelled out nearly Rs 1,000 crore. An email sent to Sebi remained unanswered. Access to capital reserves from Sebi and others has been a long-pending demand of the government, which gained momentum when the Comptroller and Auditor General of India recommended the Centre to do so in its 2017 report. According to the CAG report, 14 regulators and autonomous bodies together hold surplus cash of Rs 6,064 crore as of March 2017. These funds are generated through fees charged by these bodies, unspent grants received from the government, or Budget surpluses. Surplus funds, which get accumulated over a period of time, provide financial flexibility to these autonomous organisations. Typically, these funds are used for capacity building, developing infrastructure, and expansion of the organisation. On many occasions in the past, the Centre has eyed these funds to shore up its resources, only to face resistance from them. "In the past, regulatory bodies, including Sebi, have been reluctant to share their surplus revenue with the government. "As the legal provisions around such transfers are not clear, the government requests have got lost in consultations. "Recently, after extensive discussion with the regulators, ministries and other parties involved, the issue is set to see closure," said the source. The matter has come at a time when the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) is contesting the government demand of giving away the capital reserve of Rs 3.6 trillion. The government has even appointed an expert committee to decide the central bank's capital requirement, which would give clarity on dividend flows to the government. At present, the RBI is the only regulator that transfers its surplus to the Centre at the end of its financial year, but the government is now demanding more. The Centre has been facing constraints on the fiscal front on account of dwindling collections from both direct and indirect taxes. The issue of retention of surplus funds was first highlighted in 2008 by the CAG. In 2009, the finance ministry proposed to open accounts in the non-interest bearing sections of the public account of India to move these funds. These accounts were finally opened in 2013-14. However, no funds have been deposited in it so far. Source: Last updated on: January 24, 2019 22:10 IST Gill, who studied at Modern School and Hindu College in Delhi, joined Deutsche Bank in 1991 and became its India CEO in 2012. Ending months of speculation over who will succeed Rana Kapoor, Yes Bank on Thursday named German lender Deutsche Bank's India head Ravneet Singh Gill as the next managing director and chief executive. Incumbent Kapoor, who is also a co-promoter of the fifth largest private sector lender, was asked to step down by the Reserve Bank by January 31 for yet unspecified reasons. The announcement sent Yes Bank stocks rallying by around 15 per cent intra-day and closed the day at Rs 213.85, up 8.4 per cent on the BSE where the benchmark gained 0.24 per cent in choppy trade. After the RBI move, the bank shares had lost more than two-thirds of its value. Even after today's rally, the stock is almost 40 per cent below its 52-week high. The bank, which has a loan book of over Rs 2.40 trillion, said it has received the RBI nod for Gill's appointment, effective on or before March 1. However, there is still suspense over who will head the bank during the interregnum. The bank board is scheduled to meet on January 29 to decide on the "interim transition", its senior group president Rajat Monga told reporters. He parried a question about a possible extension for Kapoor, saying the board will take a call on all matters. Monga, who has been associated with the bank for the longest time, was reportedly the other candidate shortlisted by the selection panel and forwarded to the RBI. Gill has had a long career with Deutsche Bank since 1991 and was the country chief executive from 2012. While the largest German bank has 16 branches in the country, Yes Bank has 1,115. A senior banker pointed out that while heading the local operations of a very large global bank one only implements broader policies, but as the head of a domestic lender, the "buck will stop with Gill" as he will have to take all the major decisions. The second difference will be in the business outlook, as foreign lenders focus more on transactions which accrue fees, while the local ones focus on loan-book. Kapoor, along with Axis Bank's Shikha Sharma, had their terms curtailed after the RBI had found that both the lenders under-reported NPAs by a cumulative Rs 10,000 crore each for two consecutive years. Its a different matter that the regulator did not officially impute any reasons for its decision on these bankers. While the exit of Sharma was a smooth affair with her bank getting a new head, the same was not the case with Yes Bank, which faced several setbacks. The bank board unsuccessfully appealed to RBI for an extension to Kapoor beyond January. The rejection saw investors hammering the stock to multi-year lows and multiple directors, starting with chairman Ashok Chawla, resigning from the bank board. The lender formed a search panel headed by former Irdai chairman TS Vijayan to look for Kapoor's successor, and the committee also received a set back with former SBI chairman OP Bhat, one of the members, resigning. The board can also suggest changes to the management structure, including formation of new posts like that of a deputy managing director. Meanwhile, the bank on Thursday also announced appointments of Maheswar Sahu and Anil Jaggia as additional independent directors. It also appointed its chief risk officer Ashish Agarwal as an executive director, pending RBI approval. Multiple names were doing the rounds of speculation as the possible successors to Kapoor. The search panel gave a list of names with the help of an executive search firm to the board, which forwarded the same to the RBI. In between, there were attempts by Kapoor to make truce with his co-promoter, the late Ashok Kapur's heirs, so that the promoter grouping can be in sync while deciding on the future at the bank. Between them, the promoters own nearly 20 per cent of the bank, while the rest is well diversified. Kapoor cannot come in as a non-executive chairman of the bank either, something he tried to push through the board. January 24, 2019 16:22 IST Governments objective is to bring down the cost of cultivation through efficient use of fertilisers and agro chemicals, and increase in realisation. It is, thus, planning to connect 200 agricultural mandis with electronic National Agricultural Mandis this year and 225 next year, to enable farmers to sell their produce hassle-free online. Illustration: Uttam Ghosh/Rediff.com The interim Union Budget scheduled for presentation in the Parliament on February 1 will be dedicated to farmers as a governments commitment to double farmers income by 2022, Union Agricultural Minister Radha Mohan Singh said on the sidelines of a conference in Mumbai on Wednesday. In Budget 2018, the Union Cabinet had approved a new umbrella scheme, the Pradhan Mantri Annadata Aay SanraksHan Abhiyan (PM-AASHA), to ensure remunerative prices for farm produce. In this process, the government increased the minimum support price to 1.5 times the production cost. The government has introduced several farmer-friendly schemes the past four years, which in some cases, have yielded desired results, the minister said. Of them, the most effective and immediate was the 10 per cent cut in seed prices, which brought great relief to farmers across the country in terms of a proportionate decline in the cost of cultivation. Impressive growth has been recorded in production of food grains, pulses, milk and also in horticulture and fisheries, with the value of horticulture produce surpassing that of agriculture in 2018, for the first ever in the history of agriculture in India. "To strengthen farmers, therefore, the budgetary outlay of the Ministry of Agriculture has been increased to Rs 211,694 crore (Rs 2.12 trillion) during 2014-19. "Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana, a landmark scheme to reduce the risks associated with agriculture, is being implemented across the country, the minister said. The oneday seminar was organised by the Crop Care Federation of India (CCFI) on the theme: Government, Industry and Farmer can work together to make farming more profitable. Rajju Shroff, chairman, UPL Ltd, one of Indias largest agro chemical companies, emphasised the need for all stakeholders to work in the agricultural value chain together, with favourable government policies to make farming profitable. Today, farmers are not willing to pass on their inherited cultivating activity to their kids due to distress. "We need to think how to make farming profitable, given that agriculture is the backbone of the countrys economy, said Sudhir Mungantiwar, Minister of Finance, Planning and Forest, Government of Maharashtra. Meanwhile, the governments objective is to bring down the cost of cultivation through efficient use of fertilisers and agro chemicals, and increase in realisation. To be successful in this attempt, the government is planning to connect 200 agricultural mandis with electronic National Agricultural Mandis (eNAM) this year and 225 next year, to enable farmers to sell their produce hassle-free online. With 585 mandis already being connected with eNAM, an overall 1,000 mandis would be linked to this nationwide farm portal, which will enable farmers to sell their produce in deficit regions at reasonable prices. The government aims to garner all 22,000 mandis and small weekly or semi-weekly bazaars by 2022. The government aims to bring down the role of the middlemen (arhatiyas) so that farmers get the full price paid by consumers. "The government has also introduced the soil health card and built many new centres to check soil health. "It is now looking to introduce a potable soil health check machine, said Singh. The government is implementing several programmes to develop the agricultural sector and improve the economic condition of farmers, the minister added. Issues such as reduction in post-harvest crop losses and alternative sources of income are also being worked out to improve farmers income, he said. January 24, 2019 08:29 IST Swiggy is following a path that seems similar to what Meituan, one of China's largest O2O (online-to-offline) platforms that delivers food, sells movie tickets and offers hotel reservation, has done so far, reports Patanjali Pahwa. Photograph: Courtesy, Swiggy It required nerve. In July 2018, Swiggy knocked back Google's term sheet, which offered the food tech company almost $250 million in exchange for equity and some data. Just a month before the offer was refused, Swiggy had turned unicorn. It had incoming interest from Tencent and aimed to close a round of $750 million to $1 billion soon. If it had accepted Google's offer, the Bengaluru-based food tech company would have had its moment in the sun sooner. But it said no. Four months later, Swiggy announced that it had raised $1 billion. Now, reports of Zomato raising $800 million have surfaced. The arms race between these two food tech companies will soon reach the crest of the wave. But the question is: What will Swiggy do with $1 billion? One billion dollars is a lot of cash. There is only so much food that can be delivered that can utilise and justify that amount of capital raised. To understand what Swiggy is trying to do, it is important to take cues from one of its investors from China, Meituan Dianping. Swiggy is following a path that seems similar to what Meituan has done so far. Meituan is one of China's largest O2O (online-to-offline) platforms offering a range of services. It delivers food, sells movie tickets and offers hotel reservation. In an Indian context, Meituan is a combination of Swiggy, Dunzo, BookMyShow and Oyo. But it is not just that. It also has a strong e-commerce arm as well as being a provider of mobility solutions. Meituan raised $4 billion in IPO, which valued the company at $60 billion. Swiggy, on the other hand, is valued at $3.3 billion. There are parallels to be drawn. Swiggy has already laid the groundwork for a lot of what Meituan has been doing for a while. How it executes these different products will define how closely it can follow Meituan's path and success. The first thing that Swiggy will do with the cash is scale. At present, the company has operations in 60 cities, according to media reports. There are plans to go deeper within Tier-I and Tier-II cities and add another 40 cities within the next six months. However, according to sources, even now, almost 70 per cent of Swiggy's total revenue comes from the top six cities. In December, the company drew in 28 million orders but then that month is an anomaly. With New Year's Eve and Christmas, both heavy ordering days, the numbers usually swell. Swiggy expects this number to go up and for that, it needs to put more delivery personnel on bikes and cycles. The biggest challenge Swiggy will have is scale. As one goes deeper into the country, it gets tricky to generate demand. In small-town India, going out for a meal is considered an event, ordering in is passe. But, Swiggy believes this is changing. Vivek Sunder, Chief Operating Officer Swiggy Photograph: Courtesy, Swiggy "There are friction points when it comes to eating out in smaller cities as well," says Vivek Sunder, COO, Swiggy. Traffic jams, he explains, may not be as severe as in Bengaluru or Delhi, but they serve as a deterrent to those wanting to go out. But, will these places generate demand when the discounts fade? Sunder thinks so. "We don't need to target the entire city, just a few zones are enough," he says. "If these two zones can generate demand equal to the worst zones of Bengaluru, our job is done." However, it is not just food on Swiggy's mind. The second phase of Swiggy's plan is already in motion. By the end of the month, Swiggy will launch its local commerce service in Gurugram. The way it will work is very similar to what Meituan does in China or Dunzo in India. The company has already tied up with supermarket chains, pharmacies, meat shops, pet stores and flower vendors. Swiggy will demand a commission of two-three per cent and charge a delivery fee on every order from the customer. This gives Swiggy the opportunity to utilise its fleet. At present, the company has close to 150,000 people delivering food across the country. This opens a new way of generating revenue and also adds a new dimension to how far Swiggy can take this concept. "Ultimately, you will see Swiggy buy and deliver phones and laptops," says a Mumbai-based investor who asked not to be named. "The ticket size is larger and even at two-three per cent commission, it will be able to make significant money to generate a profit on the sale," he adds. Over the next few months, Swiggy will also unveil its own restaurants called dark stores or dark pods like they're called in China. They serve a simple purpose: create supply. One of the biggest challenges that Swiggy has is that it needs a consistent, ever-increasing supply of restaurants so that it can keep plugging in the needs of customers. These restaurants need to be of good quality and have a short turnaround time. Swiggy has tried to build out that supply much to the chagrin of the restaurants association of India. Swiggy argues that there is nothing wrong here. All it is doing is filling a gap in the market. "What India needs is global quality food supply, which India is lacking," says Vishal Bhatia, CEO, Swiggy Supply. "This helps Swiggy increase access to single serve, hygienic, economic food," adds Bhatia. And that's where Swiggy's private brands and its cloud kitchens come in. "This was always going to happen," says a Swiggy employee. He asked not to be identified as he is not allowed to talk to the press. "There is enough space for everyone to exist and make money," he adds. He argues that not only is Swiggy opening its own dark restaurants (without a storefront and with just a delivery kitchen), it is also building out Swiggy Access -- a concept that Zomato has tried out, too. Zomato calls it Zomato Infrastructure. Here, the food tech companies offer kitchen space on lease to restaurants, help direct their stocking and menu via data collected from years of recording food ordering patterns and generate more orders. Swiggy, in turn, takes a bigger commission. So far, Swiggy has been running its pods only in Bengaluru and Hyderabad, but it will expand to Gurugram and Mumbai in the next few months. A significant portion of Swiggy's $1 billion will be invested in this part of the business. All of these initiatives are straight out of the Meituan playbook. And Swiggy has been trying to implement as much as it can in India despite the marked difference in the customer behaviour of the two countries. There are a few parts of Meituan's business that it can still replicate: hotel bookings, flight bookings and ride-sharing. Meituan has suffered greatly when it comes to ride-sharing in China. In India, there are policy hoops that Swiggy will have to jump through to get close to anything where it can transport people from one city to another. That may not happen just yet. But then that's 2019. Maybe in 2020. Questo comunicato e stato pubblicato piu di 1 anno fa. Le informazioni su questa pagina potrebbero non essere attendibili. January 24, 2019: This report focuses on the global Professional Services Automation Software status, future forecast, growth opportunity, key market and key players. The study objectives are to present the Professional Services Automation Software development in United States, Europe and China. In 2017, the global Professional Services Automation Software market size was million US$ and it is expected to reach million US$ by the end of 2025, with a CAGR of during 2018-2025. The key players covered in this study SolarWinds MSP Replicon dapulse Wrike Softomotive Download sample Copy of This Report at: https://www.radiantinsights.com/research/global-professional-services-automation-software-market-size-status-and-forecast-2018-2025/request-sample SherpaDesk Intellect Dataforma Clearview Software Base Builders MindSalt Conrep Market segment by Type, the product can be split into Type I Type II Click Here For Complete Report @ https://www.radiantinsights.com/research/global-professional-services-automation-software-market-size-status-and-forecast-2018-2025 Market segment by Application, split into PC Terminal Mobile Terminal Market segment by Regions/Countries, this report covers United States Europe China Japan Southeast Asia India Central & South America The study objectives of this report are: To analyze global Professional Services Automation Software status, future forecast, growth opportunity, key market and key players. To present the Professional Services Automation Software development in United States, Europe and China. To strategically profile the key players and comprehensively analyze their development plan and strategies. To define, describe and forecast the market by product type, market and key regions. In this study, the years considered to estimate the market size of Professional Services Automation Software are as follows: History Year: 2013-2017 Base Year: 2017 Estimated Year: 2018 Forecast Year 2018 to 2025 About Radiant Insights Radiant Insights is a platform for companies looking to meet their market research and business intelligence requirements. We assist and facilitate organizations and individuals procure market research reports, helping them in the decision making process. We have a comprehensive collection of reports, covering over 40 key industries and a host of micro markets. In addition to over extensive database of reports, our experienced research coordinators also offer a host of ancillary services such as, research partnerships/ tie-ups and customized research solutions. For More Information, Visit Radiant Insights Contact: Michelle Thoras Corporate Sales Specialist, USA Radiant Insights, Inc Phone: 1-415-349-0054 Toll Free: 1-888-202-9519 Email: sales@radiantinsights.com Blog URL: http://ictmarketforecasts.wordpress.com Amid the longest government shutdown in U.S. history, the two sides battling over border security and nearly everything else would seem to have solidified their reputation for intransigence. This is especially true of the president who precipitated this showdown. On the other hand, todays date reminds us that political reputations once thought to be lost can be salvaged, even redeemed, sometimes in the most spectacular way. Im thinking of Winston Churchill, who left this earth on this day in 1965 at the age of 90. His father, Lord Randolph Churchill, died on this date, too, in 1895. Shortly thereafter, his son joined the British Fourth Hussars, and served with distinction during combat tours in India and South Africa. In 1900, Winston went into politics, a vocation marred by World War I when his costly mistakes, most notably involving Gallipoli, forced his resignation from the Cabinet as first lord of the admiralty. He returned to elective politics in 1917, became a Conservative, and was out of office by 1929. Winston Churchill was 55 years old. Hed already outlived his father by 10 years, compiling a career of action and fame. His glory days were behind him, or so it seemed, and he spent the 1930s as a kind of Anglo-Saxon scold, warning his countrymen about the gathering storm on the European continent. But his finest hours were ahead of him. * * * I realize that I write about Winston Churchill -- and his ally Franklin D. Roosevelt -- every year, usually more than once. In an era of worldwide political midgets, it can be comforting to recall giants, and to think such leaders will, inevitably, appear among us again. By the time the British public embraced Winston Churchill in 1940, it was nearly too late. The same might be said of the United States of America, the land where Churchills mother was born. That years U.S. presidential election pitted two internationalists, Republican challenger Wendell Willkie and incumbent Democrat FDR, running for an unprecedented third term. Roosevelts rationale for ignoring the two-term example set by George Washington was the gravely deteriorating situation in Europe. Yet, as late as the last week of the campaign, FDR felt it politically expedient to promise that no American soldiers would be fighting in Europe. It was a vow the president knew he couldnt keep. Great Britain was barely hanging on. That spring, as the 1940 U.S. presidential campaign got underway, the news from Europe was all about Frances surrender, Germanys invasion of the Low Countries, and the fall of Norway. The English had turned in desperation to Churchill. In his first days in office, the new prime minister had acted decisively to evacuate some 340,000 British and French troops trapped at Dunkirk. Then he turned for help to his mothers country. If we go down, Churchill said in a message to Roosevelt, Hitler has a very good chance of conquering the world. FDR was fearful of that very specter, and had been waiting for a sign that Britain wouldnt capitulate the way France had. As historian David M. Kennedy has written, Winston Churchill was that sign. On May 15, 1940 -- the night French Prime Minister Paul Reynaud screamed over the phone to Churchill, We are beaten! -- Britains prime minister composed a cable to Roosevelt. As you are no doubt aware, the scene has darkened swiftly, Churchill said. The small countries are simply smashed up, one-by-one, like matchwood. We expect to be attacked here ourselves. To combat the expected German invasion, Churchill asked Roosevelt to loan Britain some 50 mothballed U.S. Navy destroyers, hundreds of fighter planes and bombers, anti-aircraft guns and ammo and allow it to purchase steel from U.S. factories. This fateful cable contained the seeds of Lend-Lease. The presidents response signaled the end of American neutrality. Although the destroyers were not his to give without an act of Congress, FDR told Churchill hed do what he could. Two weeks later, Roosevelt also signed the military draft law hed shepherded through Congress. An article of faith in modern presidential scholarship is that its exceedingly difficult for democratically elected leaders -- even popular wartime presidents -- to move the needle of public opinion with rhetoric alone. This case is most persuasively made by presidential scholar George C. Edwards III of Texas A&M. Roosevelt and Churchill may be the most notable exceptions to the rule. These two leaders were eloquent in private as well as public. In January 1941, Wendell Willkie, the man Roosevelt had defeated two months before, prepared to visit England. Invited to the White House before he departed, Willkie was given a note for Churchill by FDR. Wendell Willkie will give you this -- He is truly helping to keep politics out over here, Roosevelt wrote. I think this verse applies to your people as it does to us: Sail on, O Ship of State! Sail on, O Union strong and great. Humanity with all its fears With all the hope of future years Is hanging breathless on thy fate. As ever yours, Franklin D. Roosevelt Churchills reply to the Longfellow verse sent to him by his American counterpart has echoed through the decades. Put your confidence in us. Give us your faith and your blessing, and under Providence, all will be well, Churchill responded. We shall not fail or falter. We shall not weaken or tire. Neither the sudden shock of battle, nor the long-drawn trials of vigilance and exertion will wear us down. Give us the tools, and we will finish the job. One of those tools didnt need to be borrowed from any other nation: It was the prime ministers own voice, one harnessed to reflect the determination of free people in the British Isles and everywhere else in the world. In 1963, President Kennedy, borrowing phrasing from famed American war correspondent Edward R. Murrow while conferring honorary U.S. citizenship on Sir Winston, put it this way: In the dark days and darker nights when England stood alone -- and most men, save Englishmen, despaired of England's life -- he mobilized the English language and sent it into battle. Were less than a month into the New Year, and four Democratic women have stepped into the 2020 presidential election Sens. Elizabeth Warren, Kirsten Gillibrand and Kamala Harris and Rep. Tulsi Gabbard. President Trump, the defeat of Hillary Clinton, and the identity politics of progressives all act as a magnet, pulling women candidates into Democratic primaries. Being female is an asset in Democratic Party circles. Among Republicans, however, gender isnt viewed as an obvious benefit. Its certainly not a recruitment draw for candidates. But ignoring gender and failing to invest in more female lawmakers has set Republicans way back politically and limited important policy debates. If theyre willing to do the work, Republicans could benefit from changing this dynamic. Democrats increasingly view their partys future as the intersectionality of race, ethnicity, gender, and sexual orientation. Boston Globe columnist Renee Graham described the 2018 midterms as a defiant mandate that Democrats want diverse and progressive representation, not just the same revolving door of old white guys. Some Democrats might be more circumspect in their descriptions, but the sentiment is widespread. The Pew Research Center found that among Democrats strong majorities 75 percent of men and 83 percent of women viewed the recent surge of women candidates as a good thing. The same cannot be said for Republicans. In response to identity politics, they often dig in their heels, rejecting any suggestion that they need to increase the diversity of their ranks. When Rep. Elise Stefanik head of recruitment for the National Republican Congressional Committee last year complained that the 100 female candidates she helped recruit needed more institutional support, she received scorn from NRCC Chairman Tom Emmer, who publicly called her strategy a mistake. As Perry Bacon wrote over at FiveThirtyEight last summer, Republicans simply dont think electing more women to office should be a goal. Two professors from Harvard University and the University of Houston found equally concerning results from a randomized controlled trial in which they exposed respondents to a female Republican or a male Republican candidate. While Democrats and independents were more likely to trust, think qualified, view as a leader, and vote for the female Republican, the opposite was the case among Republicans. GOP women candidates suffered within their own party. And so, despite the efforts of many outside groups like Winning for Women, RightNow Women, View PAC and now E-PAC, there is still a dearth of strong female Republican candidates in the pipeline, and those who emerge experience difficulty raising money, and ultimately problems with retention. This indifference on the right toward gender isnt just affecting the party at the national level. As Bacon points out, Republican women are getting elected at lower numbers than Democratic women to state legislatures, a key stepping stone for people who eventually get to Capitol Hill. In some respects the problem is confusing. Conservatives believe in biological gender differences. Many female conservatives like myself point to natural sex differences to explain varying outcomes in life: women generally prefer the humanities, while men favor hard sciences; female doctors tend to be pediatricians, while male doctors more often become surgeons; women prefer veterinary school, while men prefer business school. When it comes to politics, however, conservatives brush gender differences aside. In the political sphere, gender disappears and its just the policies that matter. Certainly, women should not be defined solely by their gender but it is part of our identity. And our shared experiences as women as wives, mothers, caretakers give us unique perspective about our families, communities, and the nation. And, just as important, voters perceive female candidates differently. Consider if Republicans had more women to talk about educational freedom and competition. Or more female candidates who could empathize with working moms, but also caution against a paid leave entitlement program that could jeopardize womens progress. What if there were more women lawmakers who could speak about women as health care consumers and introduce market-based reforms such as giving individuals who purchase insurance the same tax benefits as businesses? Whats more, because voters perceive female candidates as less conservative, all else being equal, conservative women are more likely to win in swing districts than conservative men. Without more women, Republicans are going to continue to lose elections they could otherwise win. In the 2018 midterms, Democrats gained 41 seats in Congress; 13 female Democrats unseated male Republicans. That is a third of the seats Democrats won. Nearly one-fourth of the new Congress is female. Out of 127 female members, 106 are Democrats. In the age of Donald Trumps populism, Republicans already have a big barrier to overcome with many women. (At an event I spoke at recently, nearly every right-of-center participant worked to distance herself from the current administration.) But these women and many more are still committed to sensible, limited-government policies in which Americans of all races and creeds will have more freedom and opportunity. Making women candidates a priority doesnt mean that we have to embrace identity politics or ignore important principles that guide our policy perspectives. Rather, taking gender seriously aligns with the conservative viewpoint that gender differences matter. Effective politics and ultimately policymaking requires diversity, so that its clear we stand for universal principles and policies that are good for all Americans. The Roman satirist Juvenal, in a famous passage, asked, "Who will watch the watchmen?" That problem of policing the police has troubled Western thinkers from Plato to the American founders. The framers of the Constitution set in place a brilliant series of legislative, executive and judicial checks and balances to thwart the abuse of power by the powerful. Their pessimistic take on human nature was that all power corrupts. Inevitably, elites will insist that they should not be subject to the very rules they enforce on others. The sexual-abuse crises within the contemporary Catholic Church arose from the de facto exemptions from the law given to priests. Too many assumed that men of faith were exempt from prosecution because as holy men they would be the last to violate the trust of minors. One of the ironic things about the Me Too movement was that some of the worst offenders were powerful progressive men such as Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein, NBC host Matt Lauer and PBS interviewer Charlie Rose. They all apparently believed that their loud liberal credentials gave them immunity from being held accountable for their harassment. Some of the feminist organizers of the recent Women's March, such as Tamika Mallory and Linda Sarsour, have been linked to racist and anti-Semitic Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan. They apparently assumed that as supposed victims, they could not be viewed as being sympathetic to victimizers. Given President Trump's unconventional background, his wheeler-dealer past and the hatred he incurs from the left, few ever give him the benefit of the doubt. The paradoxical result is that his tenure in just two years has become the most investigated, the most audited and the most closely examined presidency in history. Half the country apparently believes Trump cannot be trusted. The result is that everything he says and does is the object of pushback, opposition and audit. In contrast, his most frequent accusers -- the media -- have set themselves up as the country's moral paragon. Journalists now see themselves as social justice warriors who are immune from the scrutiny to which they subject others. The result of such self-righteous moral exemption has led to journalism's nadir, with an unprecedented lack of public confidence in the media. "Fake news" now abounds, from CNN to BuzzFeed. Recently, BuzzFeed (which first published the unsubstantiated Steele dossier) alleged that there was proof Trump had ordered his erstwhile lawyer, convicted felon Michael Cohen, to lie. One of the co-authors of the hit piece, Anthony Cormier, admits that he has not seen the evidence his sources cited. The other co-author, Jason Leopold, was once convicted of grand larceny and has admitted to substance abuse and lying. Leopold has been cited for past unethical journalistic practices and been disavowed by a number of his past employers. BuzzFeed has stood by the story. No matter. Cormier and Leopold's reporting was published as an ethical takedown of the president of the United States based on supposed sources inside the special counsel's investigation. After a few hours, the BuzzFeed yarn drew a rare rebuke from special counsel Robert Mueller's team, which disputed the veracity of the story. The Department of Justice and the FBI are supposed to be our preeminent guardians of justice. But former director James Comey, former deputy director Andrew McCabe, former general counsel James Baker and several other top FBI officials have either resigned, retired or been fired -- and some may soon be facing indictments themselves. On 245 occasions in sworn testimony before Congress, Comey answered that he either did not know the answers to questions or could not remember the details of events. Had any private citizen tried such stonewalling in an investigation, he or she would likely end up in jail. But Comey apparently surmised that even fired FBI directors are somehow still exempt from the sort of demands the agency makes of others. With Mueller, the question is not whether he should investigate possible Russian collusion in the 2016 election, but whether we need a special, special counsel to oversee the conduct of Mueller's team itself. Peter Strzok, a former member of Mueller's team, violated a number of ethical protocols. He was romantically involved with another FBI official, Lisa Page, and the two exchanged a number of text messages critical of Trump. One of Mueller's top prosecutors, Andrew Weissmann, was warned in August 2016 by Bruce Ohr, a former associate deputy attorney general, about the suspect, biased and unverified nature of the Steele dossier. But Weissmann apparently didn't mind that the dossier was used by his colleagues to deceive the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court into a granting a warrant to spy on an American citizen. Call it karma or attribute it to Nemesis, the Greek goddess of retribution, but when anyone assumes that they should be uniquely above all suspicion, they will eventually earn suspicion. (C) 2019 TRIBUNE CONTENT AGENCY, LLC. The first duty of the university is to teach wisdom, not a trade; character, not technicalities. We want a lot of engineers in the modern world, but we do not want a world of engineers. That quote was uttered by Winston Churchill. But it could have been said just as easily by Larry Arnn. Arnn is the president of Hillsdale College, a small college focused on the classical liberal arts and western literary canon, located in rural Michigan. For a small school located in the nearest thing to the middle of nowhere, Hillsdale has an outsized impact. Its graduates can be found working all over Capitol Hill and in the White House. Its monthly newsletter, Imprimis, has a circulation of 3.7 million, and its free online courses in history, politics, and philosophy have been viewed millions of times. It could reasonably be said that, under Arnns leadership, Hillsdale has become a full-blown multimedia company, which just happens to include a college among its many endeavors. Click here to watch the full interview with Hillsdale College presdident, Larry Arnn. I sat down with Arnn on a recent afternoon at The Kirby CenterHillsdales headquarters in the nations capitalwhere many of its students come to spend a semester taking classes and interning on the hill. D.C. is an ironic location for our interview, since Hillsdale is one of only a few colleges that does not accept federal funds. Why did Hillsdale plant its flag in D.C.? The answer, in a word, is influence. As Arnn put it, We didnt come here to listen; we came to talk. Arnns ambition is to translate the educational mission of Hillsdale into political action. I would like to be governed by people who are deeply knowledgeable about the principles and institutions of our country. I questioned Arnn about the value of a liberal arts education in an era in which college costs are rising, along with student debt. Are liberal arts truly important when what many students (and parents) really want out of college is simply a high-paying job? Arnn believes that the purpose of education cannot be reduced to the salary a graduate earns. Instead, he argues, education must equip a student to thoughtfully answer the question, Why are we here? Learning how to write computer code, he points out, does not teach a student what sorts of computer codes ought to be written. For that you need the aid of philosophy or, perhaps even more so, history. Invoking the 19th century philosopher George Santayana, Arnn says it is because those who do not know history are doomed to repeat it. Hitler, Stalin, and Churchill ruled at the same time, Arnn says, and used a lot of the same means. The question is, which one of them was better? And how do you find that out? Do you find that out by learning to code? Nevertheless, Hillsdales focus on the western literary canon opens it up to criticism from those who argue that the cultural assumptions contained in that canon are too narrow. Why, after all, should Arnn be the one to decide what ideas are worth studying? His answer to that question sums up the maverick attitude that has propelled this small Michigan college to a level of influence so great in proportion to its size. Its a free country, Arnn says. We can argue; or we can leave each other alone. If you come to Hillsdale, you are going to spend half of your time on the core curriculum. If you dont want that, dont come here. If you're interested in submitting a Letter to the Editor, click here. Submit A presentation slide from Purdue's Capital Report shows where the proposed engineering and polytechnic gateway would be located. The proposed addition would include space for students, faculty and staff. As the Spirit led, I told [then-Governor Mike Pences] intern about the Jerusalem vision I had in August 1988: Dan Quayle will be Bushs Vice President Within the pages of Bob Colvers new book, 70th Pentecost Holy Fire, ($11.49, paperback, 9781545600948) Colvers multiple prophecies come to life. Centering around meetings with Mike Pences intern in 2015 and Pence himself in 2016, Colver discusses how he relayed his vision for 2017 to a man who would shortly become part of the most powerful administrations in the world. As the Spirit led, I told [then-Governor Mike Pences] intern about the Jerusalem vision I had in August 1988: Dan Quayle will be Bushs Vice President, states the author. Then I prophesied to him [that] Pence will be Trumps Vice President . . . [In 2016] I met the governor for several minutes, prophesying a vision for 2017. Pence trip to Jerusalem to speak to Knesset during Hanukkah, his life's desire. Bob Colver is a World War II veteran at age 90 with four children, eleven grandchildren, and fourteen great-grandchildren. His late wife Patia has Jewish heritage from 1492, and Bob has Puritan heritage to America from 1635. Bob spent twenty-two years as Associate Pastor with his son Pastor Max. Xulon Press, a division of Salem Media Group, is the worlds largest Christian self-publisher, with more than 12,000 titles published to date. Retailers may order 70th Pentecost Holy Fire through Ingram Book Company and/or Spring Arbor Book Distributors. The book is available online through xulonpress.com/bookstore, amazon.com, and barnesandnoble.com. Churches are typically impacted first and worst by government shutdowns. Grace Church is offering emergency loans and food to its members that are impacted by the current federal government shutdown. Last Sunday, Bishop Derek Grier asked the families in his congregation that have been negatively impacted by the government shutdown to stand for a moment of prayer. As he looked out over his congregation, he was surprised to see that at least one out of every three people were standing. Grier said, I lost sleep that night thinking about what could be done to help the many families in need. Grace is more than a church, it is a family, and family must take care of family. Grier says, Churches are typically impacted first and worst by government shutdowns. After calling an emergency meeting of the church Board of Trustees, it was decided that the church would find a way to offer emergency loans and food to its members. This past weekend Grace Church announced that it would offer emergency loans, up to $500 dollars with no interest, as a bridge for struggling members. Loan applications will be accepted at the church office on January 24 and 31., between 9:30 am and 5:30 pm. Applicants will be asked to complete the emergency loan form and provide a government ID and/or a paystub. The emergency application can be downloaded at http://www.gracechurchva.org/furlough In addition, Grace Church is now providing special food services to its membership. This will be done in conjunction with its long-standing Bag of Hope food pantry, on Thursday January 24 and January 31, from 9:30 am to 5:30 pm. This special effort, called Grace Grocery, is designed to help members reluctant to ask for help, maintain their privacy and select the food items needed for them and their families. Grace Church is a thriving non-denominational church, located in Dumfries Virginia, with over 5000 members. Dr. Derek Grier is the founding pastor. The Meeting of the Minds provides people with a great opportunity to spend time learning about the latest technologies being offered by the companies we partner with, like Summit Hosting. Summit Hosting announced today that they will be a sponsor of the annual 90 Minds: Meeting of the Minds conference again in 2019. The event, which will take place from February 28 March 2 in San Diego, is attended by ERP software consultants, resellers, and software publishers, primarily from the Sage 100 community. After first joining 90 Minds in 2017, Summit Hosting has seen a large increase in referrals from the groups members, many of whom were not familiar with Summit Hosting prior to last years conference. 90 Minds members are selective about which vendors theyre willing to recommend to their customers. They need to know and trust you before theyll do business with you. Attending the Meeting of the Minds last year allowed us to get to know the members better and share our story of 10+ years of providing dedicated private cloud hosting to Sage users," said Alan Segars, Hosting Consultant at Summit Hosting. Summit Hostings membership in the group gives them not only the option to sponsor the annual conference, but theyre also invited to collaborate throughout the year with the members in the online community. 90 Minds member Rhonda MacNamara of Stewart Technologies said, Cloud hosting will continue to be a hot topic throughout 2019. Clients ask me all the time how they can get their key system in the cloud without having to research, procure, deploy and maintain a cloud server to house Sage 100 along with any enhancements and add-ons. The Meeting of the Minds provides people with a great opportunity to spend time learning about the latest technologies being offered by the companies we partner with, like Summit Hosting. Like at the 2018 conference, when they announced that they were the first Sage-focused hosting provider to offer Two Factor Authentication, Summit Hosting has some big news to share with the members again for 2019, including the introduction of single sign-on and enhanced backup flexibility for their 20,000+ hosting users in North America. Summit Hosting, founded in 2016, specializes in cloud hosting for U.S.-based and international businesses. They offer dedicated servers in addition to hosting Sage, QuickBooks and most 3rd party applications. Summit Hostings team works with clients to understand their business, goals and hosting needs so they can develop the right solution to meet each clients unique objectives. Summit Hosting is also a Sage Certified Partner and Intuit Authorized Commercial Host. For more information about Summit Hosting and their services, visit http://www.summithosting.com or give them a call: 888-244-6559. Dr. Laura Bernaix, dean of the SIUE School of Nursing. We expect the Schools online graduate programs to continue to excel in program delivery and student satisfaction. U.S. News and World Report has ranked the Southern Illinois University Edwardsville School of Nursing (SIUE SON) among the top 60 in its 2019 Best Online Masters in Nursing Programs list released January 14. The SIUE SON improved 31 spots from a year ago to 53rd among 179 schools nationwide and is the top rated public institution in Illinois. Along with masters degrees in healthcare nursing administration (HCNA) and nurse educator (NE), the SONs online graduate degree programs also include a post-masters doctor of nursing practice (DNP). According to Laura Bernaix, PhD, RN dean of the School of Nursing, the U.S. News rankings reflect the Schools continued commitment to providing excellent academic experiences. The School of Nursings online learning opportunities provide students with a high quality education through the use of small class sizes, strong faculty mentoring and support, and robust program content, Bernaix said. It is an honor to be nationally recognized. We expect the Schools online graduate programs to continue to excel in program delivery and student satisfaction. SON faculty and administrators work extremely hard to ensure our online programs continue to offer excellence in education, while maximizing student flexibility, said Andrew Griffin, PhD, CRNA, assistant dean of graduate programs. We are seeing positive results in student enrollment and outcomes. Its rewarding to see that others are noticing as well. U.S. News utilized five categories in the rankings: Student engagement (30 percent): In a quality program, aspiring advanced practice nurses can readily collaborate with fellow students in their classes and clinical settings. In turn, instructors are not only accessible and responsive, but they also are tasked with helping to create an experience rewarding enough for students to stay enrolled and complete their degrees in a reasonable amount of time. Faculty credentials and training (20 percent): Strong online nursing programs employ instructors with academic credentials that mirror those of instructors for campus-based programs, and they have the resources to train these instructors to teach distance learners. Expert Opinion (20 percent): A survey of high-ranking academic officials in nursing helps account for intangible factors affecting program quality that statistics do not capture. Also, employers may hold in high regard degrees from programs that academics respect. Student Excellence (15 percent): Student bodies entering with proven aptitudes, ambitions and accomplishments can handle the demands of rigorous coursework. Furthermore, online degrees that schools award judiciously will have greater legitimacy in the job market. Services and technologies (15 percent): Programs that incorporate diverse online learning technologies allow greater flexibility for students to take classes from a distance. Outside of classes, strong support structures provide learning assistance, career guidance and financial aid resources commensurate with quality campus-based programs. The full rankings are available at usnews.com. The SIUE School of Nursings fully accredited programs are committed to creating excellence in nursing leadership through innovative teaching, evidence-based practice, quality research, patient advocacy and community service. Enrolling nearly 1,400 students in its baccalaureate, masters and doctoral programs, the School develops leaders in pursuit of shaping the nursing profession and impacting the health care environment. SIUEs undergraduate nursing programs on the Edwardsville campus and the regional campus in Carbondale help to solve the regions shortage of baccalaureate-prepared nurses and enhance the quality of nursing practice within all patient service venues. The Schools graduate programs prepare nurses for advanced roles in clinical practice, administration and education. Photo: Dr. Laura Bernaix, dean of the SIUE School of Nursing. With no hidden fees and no surprises, as well as great prices due to our negotiations with manufacturers, the entire process is quick, easy, and painless. Not to mention, we deliver the car right to your doorstep. Signature Auto Group, New York City based online auto broker, offering a variety of makes and models, is working hard to modernize the automobile leasing/sales industry, now offering direct car drop-off to all customers in New York, New Jersey, Connecticut and Pennsylvania region. Interested buyers simply visit the Signature Auto Group website, sifting through dozens of makes and models until one seems desirable. After either starting the process online or calling a representative, a quick quote is provided, followed by a plan for financing, and even insurance details thanks to their new partnership with Allstate. After that, the vehicle is delivered directly to the buyers home, office, or any other convenient location. Not only do we work to make the process quick and hassle-free, we also provide the best possible price in the greater region, said Vladimir Shpigelman, Founder and CEO of Signature Auto Group. With no hidden fees and no surprises, as well as great prices due to our negotiations with manufacturers, the entire process is quick, easy, and painless. Not to mention, we deliver the car right to your doorstep. Signature Auto Group works with each individual client to customize packages, rates, and quotes based on individual needs. They work hard to locate the best lease options available based on monthly deals and promotions, securing quotes that are not available anywhere else. We know how busy people are today especially New Yorkers, said Allen Khaselev Partner at Signature Auto Group. Our goal is to make it easier and faster for everyone, starting with online tools and seamless selection options with our experienced and passionate team. Signature Auto Group is a New York-based company with NATIONWIDE lease deals, offering insurance solutions to the greater New York State region. For more information, visit: https://signatureautoworld.com/. Dean Stambules has been promoted to Vice President of Acquisitions at Sage Hospitality. In his new role, Stambules will assume significant responsibility for identifying value enhancement opportunities, optimizing capital structures and execution of the business plan through disposition. Sage Hospitality, one of the nations leading hotel investment and management companies, has announced the promotion of Dean Stambules to Vice President of Acquisitions. In this new role, Stambules will lead Sages acquisition efforts, with a focus on ensuring the success of those investments throughout their life cycle. In his time with Sage, Dean has shown strong business acumen and the drive to take Sages acquisition efforts to the next level, said Jason Altberger, Chief Investment Officer of Sage Hospitality. His knowledge and dedication will allow us to continue to strategically grow our portfolio. Since joining Sage in 2014, Stambules has been an integral part of the companys acquisition team as the Director of Feasibility, during which time he played a key role in nearly all of Sages new business-related acquisitions, developments, and third-party management contracts. Sage Hospitality is truly a market leader within the hospitality industry, and I am excited to continue to grow my career here, said Stambules. I look forward to the continued success of our efforts on the investments team. In his new role, Stambules will assume significant responsibility for identifying value enhancement opportunities, optimizing capital structures and execution of the business plan through disposition. Prior to joining Sage, Dean was an Analyst at Hunter Hotel Advisors where he worked in the Capital Markets division and focused on the underwriting and placement of hotel real estate debt and equity. Prior to that, he served as an Associate at Welsh Chester Galiney Matone, a consulting firm in Northern New Jersey, where he developed a strong foundation in real estate valuation for all commercial property types. To learn more about Sage Hospitality and the companys continuously growing portfolio of hotels, visit http://www.sagehospitality.com. ### About Sage Hospitality Denver-based Sage Hospitality was founded in 1984 and since continues to lead the hospitality industry in hotel and restaurant management as well as real estate investment. Sage is known for outstanding relationships with hotel brands and creating places that people want to go to, not through, including 10 unique restaurant concepts by Sage Restaurant Group and independent luxury properties by Sage Hotels. To learn more about Sage, visit http://www.sagehospitality.com. Rossi Honda TrueCar Cash Offer Drivers often trade-in their old vehicles while purchasing or leasing a new model. The old vehicle is assessed for value, taken by the dealership and then its value is deducted from the new vehicles bill. However, some drivers may have the need to trade-in the vehicle without obtaining a new one from the same dealership. In this event, a driver will instead want a cash or check payment. However, to incentivize profit, some dealerships offer more money through bill deduction over a driver taking the money and ending the transaction at that point. For drivers who like to keep their options open, the Rossi Honda dealership of Vineland, New Jersey is a TrueCar affiliated dealership. This means that Rossi Honda makes it easy to assess the value of a trade-in vehicle and then turn that into cash within minutes. The TrueCar cash offer assessment can be completed online by plugging in the vehicle information. The transaction can be completed by delivering this assessment to Rossi Honda or another TrueCar affiliated dealership. Drivers in the area of Cumberland County looking to make quick money off of their old vehicles should consider the TrueCar cash offer opportunity available at the Rossi Honda dealership. Further information on the process or details relating to the transaction of a TrueCar cash offer deal can be found online or by contacting the staff of Rossi Honda. Interested customers can reach out by phone at the number of 856-692-1700. Additional means of communication can be found through online messaging or email at the Rossi Honda website or by visiting the dealership location. The Rossi Honda dealership is located at 1517 South Delsea Dr. in Vineland, New Jersey 08360. Rio SEO Logo WHAT: Rio SEO, the leader in automated local and mobile search software, will co-host a webinar with Wiideman Consulting Group entitled Guiding Your Local Search Strategy to Drive Customers In 2019. The webinar will discuss the most impactful local search tactics and strategies for enterprise brands. With the search engine evolution, new technologies and rapidly changing consumer behavior are driving massive changes across the local search landscape. The free webinar will examine the local search updates that drove the greatest business results in 2018 and will discuss what these changes mean for enterprise brands and its consumers in 2019. The 45-minute webinar will help enterprise brands better understand: How the biggest changes in consumer intent, search signals, knowledge panel and more impacted enterprises in 2018 How voice search, the mobile consumers journey and conversational elements are shaping the way users interact with brands How to optimize content to showcase that your solution is the best answer for specific consumer needs and problems Key areas of focus in 2019 and planning for 2020 and beyond WHEN & WHERE: Webinar: Guiding Your Local Search Strategy to Drive Customers In 2019 Wednesday, January 30, 2019; 2:00 2:45 p.m. EST (11:00 11:45 a.m. PST) More information and to register: http://marketing.rioseo.com/guiding-your-local-search-strategy-to-drive-customers-in-2019?utm_source=gmg&utm_content=pr WHO: Brian Smith, director of local strategy & data partnerships at Rio SEO Smith is a digital thought leader with more than 14 years of experience in digital strategies helping clients identify and solve their most vexing local visibility challenges. Smiths expertise lies in paid and natural (organic & local) search optimization, conversion and attribution modeling, web design and development as well as research design and implementation for measuring ROI, to name a few. Steve Wiideman, president at Wiideman Consulting Group Wiideman has been a senior search strategist for a handful of notable, multi-location and e-commerce brands for more than 13 years. Wiidemans portfolio includes local search engine optimization studying, experimenting and measuring results in Google Maps, organic, 3-pack listings and voice search engine results. He was the 2018 industry MVP in search at the Searchie Awards, and has helped his clients earn recognition in absorbing keyword market share through innovation, strategy and project leadership. About Rio SEO Rio SEO is the leader in connecting consumers looking to buy products and services to local retailers and brands. Since 2006, when the reporting platform launched, Rio's OpenLocal search technology has helped over 100 leading brands and retailers drive online, mobile and foot traffic to their websites and physical stores by deploying accurate, relevant content at scale. Rio SEO's cloud-based Store Finder, Listing Management and enterprise reporting software powers over 150,000 locations while maintaining corporate control over data. Located in San Diego, Calif., Rio SEO ranks among the largest global providers of local search automation solutions and patented SEO reporting tools. To learn how Rio SEO can help your business of 50+ locations, visit: http://www.rioseo.com. The Quad Innovation Partnership(QIP), the only higher education partnership of its kind in the United States, is pleased to announce its latest client agreement with El Paso County Public Health in addition to work the Quad completed for El Paso County last year. Beginning in February 2019 QIP will be extending work which began as a county-wide food system assessment in 2017. Now QIP will leverage data collected through the assessment to develop and test viable programs to increase access to healthy food at the neighborhood level and empower further understanding of needs within food access. QIP is comprised of students, staff and faculty from Colorado College, Pikes Peak Community College, University of Colorado Colorado Springs and the US Air Force Academy. This diverse group delivers professional-grade recommendations, tactics and solutions for its clients covering a wide range of initiatives that impact the lives of people in southern Colorado and the nation, including: Research and recommendations to streamline future activities within Colorado Springs Utilities Creation of new social enterprise for Silver Key to increase funding for services impacting lives of the regional senior population Longevity research and recommendations for Venetucci Farm the oldest urban farm in Colorado Strategic research for the city of Colorado Springs and El Paso County for improving access to social services among high-need populations Our student-led teams tackle hard initiatives that directly impact the lives of people living in our region. We are very excited to hit the ground running with El Paso County Public Health, our second project with an El Paso County organization said Jake Eichengreen, Executive Director. Over a short period of time, we have built a strong track record developing, delivering and sustaining transformational learning opportunities for students that result in valuable, actionable solutions for our partners. We are now a go-to resource to meet the communitys workforce, research and innovation needs. We are closing important gaps between campus and community and between student preparedness and professional expectations. The proof of our impact is visible. Almost 60 percent of our clients are engaged in their second or third projects with us, and we now have a long list of student-alumni who are using what they learned at the Quad in their careers. This success is mirrored by our trajectory to realize complete financial sustainability by 2020, well ahead of our original business plan. Aubrey Day, Healthy Environment Planner for EPCPH, says, Were thrilled to be able to tap into local talent working alongside neighborhoods to generate ideas that have the potential to significantly improve access to nutritious, affordable food and community well-being. About the Quad Innovation Partnership: In 2014 Colorado College, Pikes Peak Community College, University of Colorado at Colorado Springs and the United States Air Force Academy announced a joint initiative to deepen the ability of graduates to innovate within professional settings in the Pikes Peak Region. As the only partnership combining the capacities, students and faculty of a private liberal arts college, a regional community college, a state research university and a US service academy in the United States, the Quads value is built on the diversity of institutions it represents. All projects the Quad facilitates leverage the combined capacities of these four institutions in order to work together to discover, validate and initiate solutions to their diverse pool of individual client needs. MY FATHER TAUGHT ME ABOUT RUNNING A BUSINESS. A FEW OF THESE THINGS HAVE STUCK TO THIS DAY, FOREMOST OF WHICH WAS, YOU MUST EMBRACE AND GET INVOLVED WITH THE COMMUNITY AROUND YOU. - MIKE HIERL Hierl Insurance Inc., a third-generation insurance agency, is celebrating their 100th anniversary serving the Fond du Lac and Fox Valley communities. Started in 1919 by Harry T. Hierl, the Hierl agency has been and continues to be family owned and operated. Harry T. Hierl was succeeded by his son, Tom Hierl and grandson, Mike Hierl, who is the current President of the company. My father started [Hierl] when he was 22 years old in 1919, with the original sign stating that Hierl served the community with Insurance, Real Estate and Loans. said Tom Hierl. Since its start, Hierl has narrowed their scope of service and now engages their expertise strictly in the Employee Benefits and Property and Casualty lines of business. Beginning 100 years ago with Harry T. Hierl, the underpinnings of the legacy within Hierl Insurance has been community involvement. From father to son to grandson, it was never enough to just write a check but more important to give of your time and your knowledge. This principle - rooted in kindness, selflessness and integrity - was not only preached but practiced by every generation of Hierls. From charitable causes to organizational leadership, Harry, Tom and Mike Hierl always embraced an opportunity to do good, give back and encourage others around them to do the same. Over the course of 2019, Hierl will share a heartwarming look inside how the agency got its start 100 years ago. Some of these include sharing valuable lessons learned along the way, and endearing memories from the Hierl family, the employees and the community over the years. We invite our community into our story to see the moments and people that have made this such an incredible journey. Throughout the year, we will be conducting monthly trivia contests with fun historical facts about our agency and local community on social media, as well as sharing a monthly newsletter that is sure to make you proud to be a part of the community that has helped Hierl grow to who they are today. Hierl invites friends throughout the community to share in their celebration using #hierl100 throughout the year. A lot of the reward of working at Hierl comes from helping each employee reach his or her goals and be connected to their family, explained Mike. The Hierl100 celebration will culminate in an event in August. More details to follow on this event in the future. For more information on Hierl Insurance, please contact Mike Hierl at (920) 921-5921. About Hierl Insurance Inc. A third-generation family owned business, Hierls goal is for you to Expect More and Demand Better. Since 1919, Hierl has earned the trust of Wisconsin employers by using insight and innovative technology to create unique strategies that protect business owners, their employees and their budgets. Hierls mission is to provide clients with the wisdom and tools necessary to build a more engaged, productive and loyal workforce. With locations in Fond du Lac and Appleton, Hierls expertise in employee benefits, commercial insurance, human resources and wellness creates a great business team. Learn more at hierl.com. Tipton Health is pleased to congratulate Premier Health System on earning Magnet Recognition designation from the American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC). Awarded to only 20 health systems in the country, this recognition distinguishes exceptional medical centers and hospitals that meet rigorous standards for nursing excellence. We were honored to support Premier Health in achieving the highest honor for professional nursing practice, said Dan Tipton, president and CEO of Tipton Health. This is a well-deserved recognition that demonstrates Premier Healths tireless dedication to providing superior patient care and advancing the practice of nursing. Magnet recognition is the gold standard for nursing excellence and the highest international recognition for quality patient care. To earn Magnet recognition, organizations must provide the ANCC with both qualitative and quantitative evidence of patient care strategies and outcomes. It is a lengthy process that requires a concerted team effort. To help complete this journey and attain similar certifications, more than 150 hospitals and health systems nationwide have partnered with Tipton Health. Included in Tiptons array of Magnet consulting services are readiness assessments (Gap Analysis), nursing excellence consulting (closing the gaps and nurse leader mentoring), workshops, Magnet document review, mock site visits and communications and marketing support. To find out how Tipton can help your hospital get the recognition it deserves, visit tiptonhealth.com. About Tipton Health Tipton Health supports clients nationwide with award-winning marketing communications services, including employee communications, human resources communications, public relations, marketing communications, intranet and Internet design, graphic design and strategic communications. Tipton is one of the fastest-growing providers of Magnet, Pathway to Excellence and Practice Transition Accreditation Program consulting support to the nations hospital and healthcare systems. For more information, please visit http://www.tiptonhealth.com. Tipton Communications products and services are neither sponsored nor endorsed by the ANCC. ANCC Magnet Recognition, ANCC National Magnet Conference, Institute for Credentialing Innovation, Magnet, Magnet Recognition Program, The Magnet Prize and Pathway to Excellence Program are registered trademarks of the American Nurses Credentialing Center. Journey to Magnet Excellence and Pathway to Excellence in Long Term Care are trademarks of the American Nurses Credentialing Center. One of Atlassian's top Platinum Solution Partner recently made a big move to New York City! Being headquartered in Princeton, NJ for over 10 years, Addteq has been known as the New Jersey Atlassian partner. However, there was a need to expand their territory to one of the largest cities in the world. "Since the inception of Addteq, 57% of our local business comes from NYC. It made sense to open an office near our customers and provide them a better Addteq experience," says Sukhbir Dhillon, Addteq's Founder & CEO. With that, Addteq decided it was time to finally set up their presence in New York and opened an office right before the close of 2018. Now, Addteq employees are able to connect to their clients on a more direct level. Before, Addteq would travel to our New York client sites just for meetings, now they will be able to increase the client experience by sharing coffee or even lunch! Addteq's dedicated IT team will be able to make personal visits to our clients instead of needing to set up specific meetings. "We are looking forward to Addteq's growth and I am excited to see where this new chapter takes us. There will be many big updates and exciting moves coming over the next 2 years." About Addteq Addteq is a leader in providing business solutions to Enterprise clients. Addteq has been in the business for more than 10 years. Through the use of DevOps automation, Addteq strives on creating innovative solutions to solve business processes. Clients depend on Addteq to modernize the software delivery process by providing Atlassian solutions, create custom add-ons, conduct training, offer hosting, perform DevOps services, and provide overall support services. More information about ADDTEQ's involvement with Atlassian and the extensive list of our custom products please visit http://www.addteq.com. Visit us on the Atlassian Partner Portal: https://partnerdirectory.atlassian.com/ Contact: Amanda Deol sales@addteq.com One Liberty Plaza 165 Broadway, Suite 2301 New York, 10006 BASIC: A U.S. Marines Unique Perspective on Spiritual Warfare: a manual for battle-ready Christians. BASIC: A U.S. Marines Unique Perspective on Spiritual Warfare is the creation of published author Pete Merwick, a former US Marine and US Coast Guard, founder of Acts Life Ministries, youth and prison minister, and married father from Tulsa, Oklahoma. Merwick writes, General Washingtons ambush of German mercenaries at Trenton General Eisenhowers creation and utilization of the Ghost Army The Pearl Harbor invasion The First Marine Expeditionary Forces use of white phosphorus artillery rounds in Fallujah What do all these military engagements have in common? How do they parallel the epic spiritual battle which rages in the unseen realm? Does a spiritual battle against good and evil actually exist? BASIC demystifies the reality of spiritual warfare by breaking down each arena of conflict into three distinct phasestimes of peace, times of war, and post-battle debrief. Phase I: Peace Time Youll find out how to extend the peace times through active vigilance and circumnavigating a crisis entirely by walking in the wisdom of God. Phase II: Times of War Seeing through Satanic smoke screens to recognize the true culprit of the attack. How to successfully wade through the fog of war and how to activate Gods full arsenal of offensive and defensive weapons against the unseen spirits of darkness. Phase III: Post-Battle Debrief Avoiding the pitfall of making spiritual warfare an obsession and your identity. Maintaining the watchful eye on Satan, the Ultimate Opportunist, and how his military tactics parallels that of a combat sniper. Published by Christian Faith Publishing, Pete Merwicks new book is a concise, common-sense breakdown of biblical spiritual warfare without the hype. With precision and insight, Merwick illustrates intangible and sometimes ambiguous spiritual principles in an exciting, easy-to-read format. View a synopsis of BASIC: A U.S. Marines Unique Perspective on Spiritual Warfare on YouTube. Consumers can purchase BASIC: A U.S. Marines Unique Perspective on Spiritual Warfare at traditional brick & mortar bookstores, or online at Amazon.com, Apple iTunes store, or Barnes and Noble. For additional information or inquiries about BASIC: A U.S. Marines Unique Perspective on Spiritual Warfare, contact the Christian Faith Publishing media department at 866-554-0919. Manchester Middle School Project Rendering. Photo Credit: RRMM Architects These precast wall panels offer innovative and economical solutions at rapid speed and low cost, and our team always enjoys having the opportunity to demonstrate these skills in projects for our customers, said Kevin Pratt, Project Manager at Tindall. The Virginia Division of Tindall Corporation, a PCI Mid-Atlantic Producer Member, has announced they will assist in the expansion of Matoaca and Manchester Middle Schools in Chesterfield County, Virginia. Tindall will provide a series of precast, prestressed concrete wall panels. These precast wall panels offer innovative and economical solutions at rapid speed and low cost, and our team always enjoys having the opportunity to demonstrate these skills in projects for our customers, said Kevin Pratt, Project Manager at Tindall. We are excited to see the final products for these Chesterfield County Schools. PROJECT OVERVIEW The Matoaca Middle School project will consist of a 38,000-square-foot free-standing addition to the east side of campus to better accommodate students located in the west section. The expansion includes 22 general classrooms, six science labs, and resource/storage rooms. Manchester Middle School is demolishing its previous building and replacing it with a 139,000-square-foot structure. It will include over 40 general classrooms, science and tech labs, and flex spaces along with a full-size competition gymnasium, 600-seat auditorium, and 400-student capacity cafeteria. The architectural wall panels will be manufactured with thin-set brick, pigmented concrete with sandblasted or acid-washed finish for a modern aesthetic. Matoaca has 45 panels with approximately 14,700-square-footage of precast panels, while Manchester has 264 panels with approximately 59,700-square-footage of panels. Tindall, one of the largest precast concrete manufacturers in North America, is partnering with RRMM Architects for both projects, along with general contractor, Southwood Builder Systems, on Matoaca Middle School. Matoaca is scheduled for completion by mid-October 2019. The Tindall team will work with Kenbridge Construction as a general contractor on Manchester Middle School, which has an estimated completion date of July 2020. To learn more about Tindall Corporation, visit https://tindallcorp.com/. PROJECT AT-A-GLANCE Owner: Chesterfield County Public Schools Location: Chesterfield County, VA Precast Concrete Producer: Tindall Corporation, Virginia Division Architect: RRMM Architects General Contractors: Southwood Builder Systems, Kenbridge Construction Matoaca Middle School: 38,000 sq. ft. expansion with 14,700 sq. ft. of precast concrete panels Manchester Middle School: new 139,000 sq. ft. building with 59,700 sq. ft. of precast concrete panels ABOUT PCI MID-ATLANTIC PCI Mid-Atlantic, a chapter of the Precast/Prestressed Concrete Institute (PCI), is a professional marketing organization committed to the growth and greater profitability of the Precast Industry in the Mid-Atlantic region. It is comprised of prestressed/precast producer member firms located throughout the Mid-Atlantic States, including New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland and Virginia. PCI Mid-Atlantic also has over 50 associate member companies that produce a variety of concrete industry related products. For more information, visit http://www.pci-ma.org. Because of their convenience, portability and ruggedness, traditional print catalogs continue to be a favorite among dealers, distributors and many fleets. Our new website provides users with a powerful new tool that will allow them to locate exactly the product they are looking for. Brett Johnson Optronics International, a leading manufacturer and supplier of heavy-duty LED vehicle lighting, today went live with the companys new website featuring its newly-released 2019 Vehicle Lighting Catalog. Both the website and catalog will make it easier for users to select and obtain information on over 3,000 of the industrys most advanced LED and traditional lighting products offered by Optronics. The user interface developed for the new website is designed to maximize product search and drilldown capabilities, while minimizing the number of clicks needed. Advanced search tools enable users to quickly access item level product listings, and to quickly sort and filter by product features and brands. Once products are located, users can use the print- and download-friendly content format to gather product-listing information. Product images can also be viewed, examined and rotated in high-resolution, three-dimensional detail. Our new website provides users with a powerful new tool that will allow them to locate exactly the product they are looking for, Brett Johnson, president and CEO of Optronics International, said. And thats no small feat, when you consider that with more than 3,000 SKUs, Optronics has one of the largest inventories of vehicle lighting in the industry. Product listings on the website are updated in real time, providing the most timely and accurate information available. The website complements Optronics traditional 2019 Vehicle Lighting Catalog, which is also available on the website, in the form of a downloadable, searchable PDF. Optronics catalog has been expanded from 308 pages to 388 pages in the new edition, and includes more than 500 new items. The new catalog will be shown for the first time at Heavy Duty Aftermarket Week (HDAW) 2019 in Las Vegas. Because of their convenience, portability and ruggedness, traditional print catalogs continue to be a favorite among dealers, distributors and many fleets, Johnson said. And even in technology-driven aftermarket business, the catalog rack remains an industry fixture. Among the new offerings featured on the website and in the catalog are a variety of innovative LED products. Optronics continues to be among the most prolific suppliers of new lighting technology to the commercial vehicle marketplace. Recently introduced products include eight new LightGuide SKUs. Optronics patented Light Guide technology transmits LED light from one location in the lamp to another using optical principles similar to those used in fiber-optic technology. Optronics Fusion LED combination lamp line was also expanded to eight standard items, with numerous lens and connector options. The patented Fusion LED combination stop, tail, turn and backup lamps use an optical bridge that helps project LED light from one area of the lens to others during certain functions. The catalog and website also feature 11 new LED warning lights that are being introduced at HDAW 2019. Optronics new warning lights feature multiple flash patterns and meet applicable SAE J595 and J845 Class 1 standards. All the lamps incorporate SMD technology and continue to set new industry standards for durability. In addition, more than 20 unique new white LED lighting products are presented, including innovative entries in the LED headlight, light bar, off-road light and utility light categories. The website and catalog also feature many new interior vehicle lighting options. All LED products from Optronics come with no-hassle, one-diode lifetime warranty protection that will replace the lamp if even one diode fails. The new website is live now and the catalog is available there now, and is scheduled to begin shipping in mid-February 2019. Optronics products are available in the U.S. and Canada through the companys extensive distribution network of more than 15,000 convenient distribution locations. Users can access individual Optronics distributor websites by simply clicking on their logo icons. For information on international sales and distribution of Optronics products, please contact Dorian Drake at +1 (914) 697-9800, or visit http://doriandrake.com. To visit the website and explore the new online catalog, please visit: http://www.optronicsinc.com END - About Optronics As the fastest-growing vehicle lighting manufacturer in the U.S., Optronics International attributes its success to delivering better value, better options and better lighting to its customers. Founded in 1972, Optronics International is a premier worldwide manufacturer and supplier of branded industrial and commercial vehicular safety lighting products. The company specializes in interior and exterior LED and incandescent lighting for the HD, trailer, transit vehicle, RV and marine markets. The Optronics product catalog is among the most extensive in the industry. Optronics is headquartered in Tulsa, Oklahoma and has an IATF 16949 certified manufacturing facility in Annan District, Tainan, Taiwan. The company also has ISO 9001:2015 certified manufacturing and distribution facilities in Muskogee, Oklahoma and Goshen, Indiana. Learn more at http://www.optronicsinc.com. LightGuide, Fusion are trademarks of Optronics International, LLC. Opti-Brite is a registered trademarks of Optronics International, LLC. Niliana Nassar-Garcia, Engel & Volkers Fort Lauderdale In such an international market like Fort Lauderdale, its crucial to be with a true global brand like Engel & Volkers. The value they offer in terms of network, branding, support, technology and media relations is unparalleled. Engel & Volkers today announced that top producer Niliana Nassar-Garcia has joined its Fort Lauderdale real estate brokerage. With over 14 years of industry experience, Nassar-Garcia will now oversee the New Luxury Construction division for Engel & Volkers Fort Lauderdale. Prior to joining Engel & Volkers Fort Lauderdale, Nassar-Garcia was with Ocean Land Investments handling new condominium sales for waterfront developments such as AquaVita Las Olas, AquaLuna Las Olas, AquaMar Las Olas, AquaVue Las Olas and AquaBlu Fort Lauderdale. She was also part of the Barkin-Gilman & Associates team at Coldwell Banker, now Barkin-Gilman Group at Compass. Nassar-Garcia plans to continue her own projects, while simultaneously building a diverse team of new construction sales specialists from the tri-county area at Engel & Volkers Fort Lauderdale. In such an international market like Fort Lauderdale, its crucial to be with a true global brand like Engel & Volkers, said Nassar-Garcia. The value they offer in terms of network, branding, support, technology and media relations is unparalleled. I look forward to building an unstoppable team here. Although once known as a mecca for spring break and location for movie and television filming, Fort Lauderdale has evolved into a hotspot for savvy investors, both commercial and residential. New construction currently accounts for almost 10-percent of residential listings in Fort Lauderdale. The meaning of luxury is quite personal, said Nassar-Garcia. When it comes to the discerning buyers of today and tomorrow, most will agree that quality, beauty, location, security and convenience of automation is what's expected. Aesthetically pleasing condominiums, town homes and single-family home communities with attention to detail, superior quality, additional buyer options and amenities is where I see the future of new construction. Specializing in new luxury construction sales, she has transacted over $120 M during the last 4 years and nearly $60 M in 2018 alone. During this time, she broke the record for the highest price-per-square-foot sale in new construction development at AquaBlu Fort Lauderdale. I consider Niliana to be one of the most dedicated, enthusiastic and successful developer sales managers in this industry, said Francisco Garcia, License Partner of Engel & Volkers Fort Lauderdale. Bringing her on board gives the brokerage the competitive edge, knowledge and expertise needed in todays market to become an industry leader in new construction developer sales. Press contact: Linzee Werkmeister, Director, Public Relations & Franchise Support Email: Linzee.Werkmeister(at)evusa(dot)com Tel: (239) 348-9000 About Engel & Volkers: Engel & Volkers is a global luxury real estate brand. Founded in Hamburg, Germany in 1977, Engel & Volkers draws on its rich European history to deliver a fresh approach to luxury real estate in the Americas with a focus on creating a bespoke, white-glove concierge client experience at every stage of the home buying or selling process for todays savvy homeowner. Engel & Volkers currently operates approximately 150 shop locations with over 3,000 real estate advisors in the Americas, contributing to the brands global network of over 11,000 real estate professionals in more than 30 countries, offering both private and institutional clients a professionally tailored range of luxury services, including real estate, yachting and aviation. Committed to exceptional service, Engel & Volkers supports its advisors with an array of premium quality business services; marketing programs and platforms; as well as access to its global network of real estate professionals, property listings and market data. Each brokerage is independently owned and operated. For more information, visit http://www.evusa.com. About Engel & Volkers Florida: Engel & Volkers Florida is the Master License Partner of the global luxury real estate brand Engel & Volkers in the state of Florida. Recognized for uniquely recruiting, training and equipping some of the top professionals in the real estate industry, Engel & Volkers Floridas exclusive franchise model positions its license partners at the top of the premium market to gain market share and support their bottom line. The company represents franchise locations in: 30A Beaches, Belleair, Boca Raton, Bonita Springs-Estero, Cape Coral, Clermont, Delray Beach, Destin, Fort Lauderdale, Jacksonville Beach, Jupiter, Madeira Beach, Marco Island, Melbourne, Melbourne Central, Miami-Coral Gables, Olde Naples, Orlando-Winter Park, Palm Beach, South Tampa, St. Pete, Stuart, Wellington, and Windermere. Engel & Volkers Florida is continuing to strategically strengthen and expand its presence in premium real estate markets across the state of Florida. If you would like to know more about the Engel & Volkers brand or how to join its global network, which is known for demonstrating competence, exclusivity and passion, feel free to call our corporate office, located at 633 Tamiami Trl N, Suite 201, Naples, FL 34102 USA. Tel: +1 239-348-9000. For more information about Engel & Volkers Florida, please visit florida.evusa.com The Tiny Disciples 2: Age of the Holy Spirit: a beautifully illustrated book that contains eleven short stories that instill significant life lessons from the Bible. The Tiny Disciples 2: Age of the Holy Spirit is the creation of published author, Nicketa Nevils, a devoted wife and mother, and a minister of the Gospel of Jesus Christ for twenty years. Nevils shares, The Tiny Disciples: Age of the Holy Spirit is a book that introduces children to the third person of the Trinity, the Holy Spirit. Nicketa Nevils wants our children to believe in Him, call on Him, and expect Him to move in their everyday lives. In book #2 of The Tiny Disciples: Age of the Holy Spirit, Christian topics are discussed and explained for our childrens Christian enrichment. Published by Christian Faith Publishing, Nicketa Nevilss new book will surely enlighten the children with resounding virtues taken from the scriptures, which they can ponder upon as they tread through the early day of their lives. This book also contains questions that challenge every childs basic knowledge of the biblical passages and its ingrained meanings and wisdom. View a synopsis of The Tiny Disciples 2: Age of the Holy Spirit on YouTube. Consumers can purchase The Tiny Disciples 2: Age of the Holy Spirit at traditional brick & mortar bookstores, or online at Amazon.com, Apple iTunes store, or Barnes and Noble. For additional information or inquiries about The Tiny Disciples 2: Age of the Holy Spirit, contact the Christian Faith Publishing media department at 866-554-0919. As a leader in cloud communications and an industry expert in both SIP Trunking and Hosted Voice Service, nexVortex announced they are expanding their networks points of presence (POPs) into multiple new data centers across the US. This investment brings access to nexVortex cloud communication services closer to customers in a number of key areas including the West Coast and Southeast. The investment includes putting nexVortex network nodes into strategic data centers in Seattle and Atlanta as well as expanding capacity and connectivity in their existing Chicago location. The company also plans to make a similar investment in Los Angeles later this year. nexVortexs current POPs have provided geo-redundancy for nexVortex Hosted Voice, Managed Hosted Voice, SIP Trunking, and Managed SIP Trunking services for a number of years. This recent expansion targets a move into new cities that align geographically and strategically with the data centers of other cloud services nexVortex customers use. nexVortex is dedicated to delivering quality, availability, and visibility (QAV) for our cloud communication services, said Wes Rogers, founder and chief operating officer at nexVortex. Fulfilling the promise of QAV requires heavy investment in network infrastructure, software, and tools. This most recent investment is just one more step in our ongoing commitment to delivering on that promise. It is an important one, because our customers (who use other services hosted in those data centers) now have a very short hop onto our network and it expands our reach into major metro areas of the US from coast to coast. As companies move to the cloud for communication services, solutions like those provided by nexVortex will continue to grow. About nexVortex nexVortex is a leader in cloud communications for business, specializing in SIP Trunking, multisite voice applications, hosted voice, hosted contact centers, and customized solutions. nexVortex has established itself in the marketplace based on four overarching tenets: Uncommon Service, Uncommon Know-How, Uncommon Commitment, and Uncommon Innovation. These principles drive nexVortexs mission to provide its customers with the IP knowledge, services, and capabilities they need to improve their business communications. Visit http://www.nexVortex.com, follow us on social media, and learn how we can help you meet your business needs. Media Contact: Chuck Harris (571) 267-5774 charris(at)nexVortex.com Exceptional songwriting craftsmanship (Billboard)... this is one not to miss Hush is the devastating lament written for the funeral of Louises father, James Lethen Young Fraser, attended by hundreds spilling onto the streets of Brora, a tiny fishing village at the northern tip of the Scottish Highlands. Frasers lyrics are a deeply poetic eulogy. Her yearning vocals glide over collaborator Martin Tichys ghost filled landscape of live strings. The overall effect is awash with darkness, infused with pain, and sure to leave anyone with (or without) a pulse in glorious ruin. Those ready to commune with their own ghosts can check out Hush on YouTube, CDBaby, iTunes, Spotify, and all the usual sites. The full collection, Glory, will feature songs in English and Gaelic, ranging from stripped down with single string accompaniments and splashes of dark electronica, to fully orchestrated battle cries. Collaborators include film composer Jeff Rona (Traffic, Black Hawk Down, Phantom) and Martin Tichy (The Three Musketeers, Vienna Symphonic). If you have not already heard Louises work on the CW, Lifetime, NBC, MTV, or in various movies such as Jack Blacks Goosebumps (Sony Pictures) or Revolution, its time to catch up. Described in the press as an exceptional vocal enchantress (Chain D.L.K) with rich vocals (Sideline) and exceptional songwriting craftsmanship (Billboard Magazine), this project is one not to miss. For more information, head to http://www.louisefraser.com. CONTACT Contact artist directly by email louise (at) louisefraser (dot) com Or call (+1) 310 452 3248 http://www.louisefraser.com At Cellular Sales, our customer service is first-class and we look forward to sharing it with our Centerton customers. Cellular Sales, the largest independent Verizon Wireless retailer by volume, announces their expansion in Arkansas with a new store in Centerton. Over the next year, the store is expected to add new jobs within the local community. On December 21, the store located at 298 East Centerton Boulevard welcomed its first customers. This is Cellular Sales eighth store in Arkansas but their first store in Centerton. We are excited for the opportunity to join the Centerton community, said Cellular Sales Regional Director Angel Gorrin. In opening a Centerton store we hope to invest in the local community and better serve our wonderful customers. The store currently employs ten team members with plans to add at least six new team members as the store continues to grow over the next year. Cellular Sales has a unique and innovative approach to customer service, which has enabled them to grow significantly over the past 25 years. It has been named to Inc. Magazines 5000 list of the fastest growing companies nine times, achieving Hall of Fame status. At Cellular Sales senior sales reps train recruits for four to six weeks, before recruits sell on their own, to ensure that new team members can become an integral part of the team and are equipped with the best possible tools for success. Team members are encouraged to view themselves as entrepreneurs with the support of an established, successful company backing them up. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics expects demand for retail sales jobs to grow over the next decade and sales experience will be valuable. Cellular Sales understands the value of great training and support from a personal and professional development point of view. We take pride in our teams and are ready to build up and great team of hard workers at our new store, said Cellular Sales Regional Director Neil Enguerra. At Cellular Sales, our customer service is first-class and we look forward to sharing it with our Centerton customers. Cellular Sales seeks to hire individuals with a passion for customer service to work at its East Centerton Boulevard store store in Centerton. Those interested in applying for jobs at this Cellular Sales location may contact Cellular Sales Recruiter Ryan Smith at (614) 580-3516 or ryan.smith1@cellularsales.com. About Cellular Sales Headquartered in Knoxville, Tenn., Cellular Sales was founded in 1993 and has been named to Inc. Magazines 5000 as one of the nations fastest-growing privately owned retailers for nine of the past 10 years, something only 0.5 percent of companies on that list achieve. The company currently employs 7,200 people and operates over 700 stores nationwide across 41 states. Job seekers may visit https://jobs.cellularsales.com/. For more information on the company, visit cellularsales.com. ### Incoming NEW board members Nicole Carroll of Visa Inc., Marla Daudelin of Frito-Lay, Alicia Howell of 7-Eleven, Michelle Larson of Albertsons Companies and Chris Skyers of Wakefern Food Corporation. "Its our good fortune to welcome Nicole, Marla, Alicia, Michelle and Chris to the NEW board of directors and to have their perspectives and their passion directed at our mission of advancing all women, growing business and transforming our workplaces, said NEW President and CEO Sarah Alter. The Network of Executive Women has named five new members to its board of directors effective January 1, 2019. Joining the NEW board of directors are Nicole Carroll, senior vice president of global payment experience and solutions for Visa Inc.; Marla Daudelin, senior vice president, sales for Frito-Lay North America; Alicia Howell, senior vice president, chief accounting officer and controller for 7-Eleven Inc.; Michelle Larson, president of Shaws and Star Markets at Albertsons Companies; and Chris Skyers, vice president of private label and own brands for Wakefern Food Corporation. "Its our good fortune to welcome Nicole, Marla, Alicia, Michelle and Chris to the NEW board of directors and to have their perspectives and their passion directed at our mission of advancing all women, growing business and transforming our workplaces, said NEW President and CEO Sarah Alter. Theyll help shape our leadership development programs, our research and insights and our advocacy and create sustainable change in retail, consumer goods, financial services and technology. Assuming NEW board roles are: Secretary Abbe Luersman, chief human resource officer at Ahold Delhaize; Treasurer Dagmar Boggs, chief retail sales and bottler operations officer, Coca-Cola North America at The Coca-Cola Company; Audit Chair Valerie Oswalt, CEO of Century Snacks; and Compensation Chair Kendra Doyel, senior director, human relations at Ralphs Grocery Company and Food 4 Less/Foods Co. The Kroger Co. Continuing to serve on the NEW board executive committee are Board Chair Lisa Walsh, chief executive officer of Truco Enterprises; Vice Chair Monica Turner, vice president, customer business development of Procter & Gamble; and Immediate Past Chair Karen Stuckey, senior vice president, private brands general merchandise of Walmart U.S. NEW board committee chairs continuing to serve are Regional Advisory Chair Beth Marrion, managing director, retail at Accenture, and Strategic Value Chair Vicki Felker, vice president and general manager, Golden Products Division at Nestle Purina PetCare. Returning to the NEW board as directors at-large are Kelly Caruso, senior vice president merchandising, hardlines at Target Corporation; Andy Dunn, senior vice president, digital consumer brands at Walmart Inc.; Michelle Freyre, president, U.S. beauty for Johnson & Johnson Consumer Inc.; Nicola Johnson, principal, consumer & industrial products practice at Deloitte Consulting; and Kim Underhill, global president at Kimberly-Clark Professional. NEW board members completing their terms are Dorria Ball, president and founder of Global Ballance Group; Erby Foster, CEO of Foster Inclusion; Karen Mooney, chief human resources officer for Keystone Foods; and Regenia Stein, principal at Ingenuity Consulting. Our members and corporate partners have all benefited from our outgoing board members tremendous talent and unflagging commitment to gender equality, Alter said. Dorria, Erby, Karen and Regenia are strong leaders who havent just championed womens leadership, theyve walked the talk and NEW has been very fortunate to be part of that journey. We cant thank them enough for their valuable contributions and greatly appreciate their continued involvement and support in their ongoing roles as friends of NEW. ABOUT NEW Founded in 2001, the Network of Executive Women represents more than 12,000 members, 900 companies, 115 corporate partners and 22 regions in the U.S. and Canada advancing all women and building business. For more information about NEW and its learning programs, events, content and insights, visit newonline.org. Connect with us on social media @newnational. NAPCO, Ltd. (North American Polymer Company), a national coating manufacturer and leading refinishing training company, is proud to announce that 2018 marked a record-setting year for the companys highly-regarded refinishing training program. The expansion of NAPCOs refinisher training course led to an increase in annual enrollment from 80 to 170 refinishers, more than double the number of successfully trained, certified refinishing professionals from the previous year. The course was expanded to a three-day program, with one full-day dedicated to kitchen cabinet and countertop refinishing. Educating refinishers with the proper techniques and safety protocols by providing intense, hands-on training, is a critical service that we provide to the growing refinishing market, said Dani Nichols, President of NAPCO. We are constantly looking for ways to help our refinishers increase their earning capacity. Adding kitchen refinishing to our training program not only increases refinishers skill sets, but it also increases their ability to land more jobs, she added. NAPCO creates high-quality refinishing products for the bathroom and kitchen. The three-day refinishing course instructs attendees on all aspects of the industry, including practical application of the refinishing products, how to handle issues that may arise on the job, and best practices for running a small refinishing business. Providing refinishers with professional training is an important step in ensuring that products are applied with expert precision. The 2019 training program will be held monthly at NAPCOs headquarters at 7315 Hamlin Avenue in Skokie, Illinois, which is just a few miles north of Chicago. Class size is limited to ensure personal attention for each participant. Discounts are available for companies bringing more than one trainee. Classes are expected to sell out. Register in advance by visiting napcoltd.com or call for reservations 800-888-1081. About NAPCO Since 1979, NAPCO, Ltd. (North American Polymer Company) has provided products, supplies, and training to professional bathroom and kitchen refinishers. NAPCO is headquartered just outside of Chicago, in Skokie, IL and services all 50 states and 5 foreign countries. If you are interested in refinishing your tub, tile, or counter top instead of replacing, call 1-800-888-1081 or visit http://www.napcoltd.com today. Apruve Logo Apruve, a B2B credit automation platform, today announced that it closed on $6 million in its Series A financing led by Cloud Apps Capital Partners with participation from TTV Capital and Allegis Capital. Minneapolis-based Apruve focuses on eliminating accounts receivable from the balance sheet of B2B companies. Its credit automation platform helps organizations to effortlessly extend payment terms to their customers without added back office costs, cash flow concerns, or financial risk. "In today's business market, it's become a competitive advantage to extend terms, but it compromises a businesss capital and creates added overhead," said Michael Noble, CEO and founder, Apruve. "Our goal is to help companies realize the sales advantage of giving their customers an account to purchase against without putting their own cash flow at risk." Through its credit network, Apruve offers customers like Texas Instrument and Boxed a solution that: Extend net terms without the need for collections. Apruve pays suppliers within 24 hours of invoicing and takes on the financial risk and collections. Gain a distinct competitive advantage. Due to the influx of working capital from getting paid immediately businesses can immediately reinvest sales revenue into their business -- no matter the economic conditions. Focus on what is important. Companies can stop worrying and investing in overhead associated with collections, and focus more on their product offering and customer satisfaction. Apruve has single handedly changed the course of VARASPEC and our cash flow in ways I never thought possible, said Mike Duesing, principal, VARASPEC. With this investment, Apruve will continue to grow its Minneapolis-based team to serve its current customers and grow its portfolio. The funding will also support the startup as it continues to drive research and development forward with its innovative platform. For more information about Apruve, please visit http://www.apruve.com. ### About Apruve Apruve is a B2B credit automation platform that manages and finances credit programs for suppliers and their business customers. Allowing merchants to sell on net terms and be paid immediately without financial risk, overhead, or collections. To learn more about how Apruve can grow your business, visit http://www.apruve.com. About Cloud Apps Cloud Apps Capital Partners is a market-focused venture capital firm helping early-stage companies in cloud business application markets to build the next generation of global, category-leading businesses. Trinsic Series contemporary vinyl window We developed Trinsic Series to satisfy modern design trends, said Jeremiah Noneman, Director of Marketing at Milgard. Its sleek and contemporary style meets homeowner demands weve been seeing in the marketplace." Milgard Windows & Doors launched a new, contemporary vinyl window and patio door product, TrinsicTM Series, which is now available in Arizona, Alaska, Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho, Kansas, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Oregon, Texas, Utah, Washington, British Columbia and select cities in California. Addressing consumer desire for a contemporary style vinyl window, the new Trinsic Series fits perfectly into the existing Milgard vinyl line that also includes Tuscany Series and Style Line Series. With a full line of windows and a sliding patio door, Trinsic Series embraces a contemporary look. It features more glass than any other Milgard vinyl product, a narrow frame for maximum views and even sightlines for pleasing aesthetics. Trinsic Series is available for both replacement windows and patio doors as well as new construction applications. We developed Trinsic Series to satisfy modern design trends, said Jeremiah Noneman, Director of Marketing at Milgard. Its sleek and contemporary style meets homeowner demands weve been seeing in the marketplace. Plus, Trinsic Series is backed by the Milgard Full Lifetime Warranty for added peace of mind. Trinsic Series horizontal sliding and single hung window operating styles come with a redesigned, Milgard SmartTouch lock. SmartTouch allows homeowners to open or close the window in one single motion. The new look is a squared off design that is flush with the frame. We did extensive market research before designing Trinsic Series, said Kevin Anez, Director of Product Management at Milgard. Were very pleased at the positive feedback weve received from our Certified Dealers who work directly with homeowners on their window purchases. Milgard produces their own vinyl formula with high quality titanium dioxide and stabilizers to ensure a high quality product that is heat stable and performs well over time. They extrude their own components and assemble their vinyl windows and patio doors in seven manufacturing facilities across the Western United States. For more information on the Milgard difference, and to learn more about the new Trinsic Series, please visit https://www.milgard.com/Trinsic. About Milgard Windows & Doors Milgard Windows & Doors, a Masco company based in Tacoma, Washington, offers a full line of vinyl, wood, fiberglass and aluminum windows and patio doors for builders, dealers and homeowners, backed by a Full Lifetime Warranty, including parts and labor. The company has been recognized as Builders Choice for vinyl and fiberglass windows in the Western United States, in a yearly survey sponsored by Hanley-Wood Inc., publishers of BUILDER Magazine. Milgard is the highest online rated window and patio door brand, as measured by the 2017 NRS consumer sentiment study conducted by MetrixLab and commissioned by Masco. Milgard has approximately 3,800 dealer locations nationwide. For more information, visit milgard.com or call 1.800.MILGARD. About Masco Corporation Masco Corporation (NYSE: MAS), parent company of Milgard Windows & Doors, is a global leader in the design, manufacture and distribution of branded home improvement and building products. Our portfolio of industry-leading brands includes Behr paint; Delta and Hansgrohe faucets, bath and shower fixtures; KraftMaid and Merillat cabinets; Milgard windows and doors; and Hot Spring spas. We leverage our powerful brands across product categories, sales channels and geographies to create value for our customers and shareholders. For more information about Masco Corporation, visit Masco.com. # # # I can understand the frustration people have when they step on a treadmill only to find that the dashboard is faded or the belt is loose. I'd like to help solve these issues to improve overall customer happiness and the service that gyms, universities, and corporate centers provide their clientele. Fitness Machine Technicians, specialists in the maintenance and repair of exercise equipment for corporate gyms, universities, hotels, and private residences, announced today it is expanding into North New Jersey, including Hudson, Essex, Union, Morris, Sussex and Passaic counties. The local owner is Stephen Kudriavetz of Randolph, NJ. After receiving his degree from Syracuse University, Stephen worked for 20 years in IT consulting and project management with Accenture and TD Bank. His long-time passion for fitness and his interest in customer service drew him to opening Fitness Machine Technicians. I can understand the frustration people have when they step on a treadmill only to find that the dashboard is faded or the belt is loose. It detracts from the experience and waiting in lines for a different piece of equipment is the opposite of working out! Id like to help solve these issues to improve overall customer happiness and the service that gyms, universities, and corporate centers provide their clientele, says Stephen. Fitness Machine Technicians offers service/repair and maintenance services on a variety of exercise equipment on a contract and non-contract basis. The company is headquartered outside of Philadelphia and currently services Pennsylvania, Delaware, New Jersey, Maryland, New York, North Carolina, Georgia, Ohio Utah, Texas, Michigan and Nebraska. The company has access to a wealth of knowledge in the industry and invaluable relationships with most fitness equipment brands to bring the best service possible. CEO & Founder Don Powers notes, Stephen is an exceptional business person and his understanding that were just as much about repairing equipment as we are about providing customers with a great experience is refreshing. Were excited hes joining the team. Fitness Machine Technicians is now open and serves North New Jersey, including Hudson, Essex, Union, Morris, Sussex and Passaic counties. For more information about having a fitness machine or exercise facility serviced, please contact Stephen Kudriavetz at 201.874.2288 or visit http://www.FitnessMachineTechnicians.com/NorthJersey Mexicos luxury hospitality group El Cid Vacations Club and its three award-winning properties in Mazatlan are excited to welcome guests who want to experience one of Mexicos most cherished traditions; Carnival, which runs from February 28 to March 5th. As the largest Carnival event in Mexico and the third largest in the world after Rio De Janeiro and New Orleans, Mazatlans Carnival week is a spectacular celebration and a cultural phenomenon. Now in its 121st year, Carnival in Mazatlan unites tourists and locals alike in numerous festivities to mark the week before Lent. This multiple day, continuous party features parades, fireworks, live music, and the Coronations of the Floral Games Queen, the Carnival Queen, the Childrens Queen, and the King of Joy. Carnival activities take place in Mazatlans famous Golden Zone, Malecon Oceanfront, the Centro Historico, and other locations throughout the city. Tickets for all 2019 Carnival events can be purchased at the Angela Peralta ticket office located in the Centro Historico, a dedicated kiosk outside of the Angela Peralta theatre, and at a kiosk located within the Gran Plaza Mall. Leading up to Carnival, there will be several events including Velada de las Artes (The Evening of the Arts) which will take place on February 22, the Muestra Gastronomica food festival at the Plaza Machado on February 28, and the annual Carnival masquerade ball that celebrates the start of nightlife during Carnival week. El Cid Vacations Club has been welcoming Carnival-goers and ECVC members for close to five decades at all three of its properties. El Cid El Moro, El Cid Granada Hotel, and El Cid Marina Beach are all superior options when wanting to be close to the excitement of Carnival. No matter which ECVC resort a member stays at during Carnival season, they will experience first-hand the award-winning hospitality, superb accommodations, and staff who are dedicated to providing the best experiences possible for every guest. For generations, El Cid Resorts and El Cid Vacations Club have welcomed travelers from all over the world to truly experience the rich culture and heritage of Mexico, not only in Mazatlan, but in Riviera Maya Puerto-Morelos and Cozumel as well. For more information about El Cid Vacations Club in Mazatlan please visit: https://www.elcidvacationsclub.com/mazatlan About El Cid Vacations Club El Cid Vacations Club is a global leader in the vacation ownership and resort industry, delivering a wide variety of memorable vacation experiences for members. El Cid Vacations Club continually strives to enhance its member services and guest experiences. Members are invited to take advantage of downloading the complimentary El Cid Vacations Club Member mobile app available on both the App Store and Google Play (keyword ecvc). This application allows members to stay up to date on the most recent news, make reservations, and always stay in contact with El Cid Vacations Club. This is the perfect opportunity for El Cid Vacations Club members to plan their next dream vacation at one of the many stunning El Cid properties. For more information, visit http://www.elcidvacationsclub.com. The upcoming new feature releases in our IncomeGenius income calculation software simplifies calculations for originators and processors and provide support surrounding IRS changes. Highlights: New features further simplify mortgage income calculations for Loan Officers and Processors Accurate income calculations obtained prior to underwriting Users are able to easily identify additional income Support for 2018 Tax Reform, including new tax forms and calculation adjustments New features will be released in Q1 2019, with first release scheduled for 1/28/2019 Registration is open for free Ask Me Anything webinar on 2018 Tax Forms to help educate industry on the IRS changes to mortgage income calculations Indecomm Global Services, a leading provider of business process as a service (BPaaS), software as a service (SaaS) technology, and learning solutions for the mortgage industry, announced today new features scheduled for release in its IncomeGenius income calculation automation software. The new features, scheduled for release in Q1 of 2019, aim to demystify the income calculation process for loan originators, loan processors, and underwriters, addressing changes to 2018 tax forms due to 2018 Tax Reform, and expanding software functionality for even easier ease of use prior to underwriting with additional support for wage earners. This quarters first release of IncomeGenius will be available on January 28, 2019 and includes features aimed to make calculations easier for loan originators and loan processors. IncomeGenius now gives originators and processors the ability to add potential additional income with the click of a button. IncomeGenius provides full transparency to the users into all aspects of the income calculation. This clarity improves confidence in the accuracy of the calculations for mortgage underwriters and visibly demonstrates the time savings provided by IncomeGenius. Additionally, this release includes additional support for the changes in tax forms as part of the 2018 Tax Reform. The new release makes it easier for IncomeGenius users to transition over to the most significant changes to the tax forms in many years. To further support the industrys questions around 2018 tax reform and its impact on income calculations, Indecomm is hosting two free webinars addressing the 2018 Tax Form changes with multiple interactive Ask Me Anything question and answer sessions. The webinar is titled 2018 Tax Forms and Income Calculations with open, free registration for the next available session: Friday, January 25, 2019 | 12:30 pm to 1:15 pm ET Register Now - https://indecomm.webex.com/indecomm/k2/j.php?MTID=t45aa0a856185746f1836b432d876b3ed Indecomm is expanding the income calculation capability of IncomeGenius by adding functionality to automate calculations for wage earners with paystubs and W2 Forms. This new functionality will be availability in an upcoming Q1 2019 release and will allow for an option of a third year of calculation from tax returns, as well as income analysis for wage earners. When changes in the industry occur that impact our clients business, we diligently work to improve and innovate our products and services to address those concerns and ease the burden the changes may cause, said Rajan Nair, CEO, Financial Services, Indecomm Global Services. The upcoming new feature releases in our IncomeGenius income calculation software simplifies calculations for originators and processors and provide support surrounding IRS changes. To learn more about IncomeGenius, visit mortgage.indecomm.com or email marketing@indecomm.net to schedule a demo. To register for the next upcoming free webinar, click on the registration link below: 2018 Tax Forms and Income Calculations Friday, January 25, 2019 | 12:30 pm to 1:15 pm ET Register Now - https://indecomm.webex.com/indecomm/k2/j.php?MTID=t45aa0a856185746f1836b432d876b3ed ### About Indecomm Global Services Indecomm was founded in 2003 as a technology-enabled services company focused on high-speed document imaging technologies and automated data capture from structured and unstructured forms, with an innate ability to apply these technologies meaningfully to improve operational efficiency and client experience. We have been consistently ranked among the Global Top 100 IT and ITeS providers. With over 3,800 associates in 21 locations, Indecomm services its clients from global delivery centers and offices in the United States, Mexico, Costa Rica, the United Kingdom, India, Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, the Philippines, Mauritius, and the Cayman Islands. We have active business engagements with over 300 global clients, including 20+ Fortune 500 companies. Visit http://www.indecomm.net or call (732) 404-0081 to learn more. About Indecomm Mortgage Services Indecomm Mortgage Services is a leading provider of business services and technology for the US mortgage industry. With solutions for every stage of the mortgage lifecycle, Indecomm Mortgage Services provides outsourcing services, software as a service (SaaS) technology, and learning solutions to support the various needs of mortgage industry clients. With a proven track record of over 25 years in the mortgage industry, Indecomm partners with large and mid-sized lenders, servicers, and title companies as a trusted partner with a singular focus - helping them grow. Visit Financial Services at http://www.indecomm.net or call (732) 404-0081 to learn more. We have more information, but we arguably understand less. Thats the puzzle." With the rise of digital and social media, information has become more accessible to more of us than ever before. The consequence: we are also more susceptible to deceit and manipulation via these sources of information. But is this a new phenomenon, or are we just now noticing its pervasiveness? The Scripps College Humanities Institute will attempt to address this question and more as it continues its series based on the theme, Ignorance in the Age of Information, organized by Scripps College Professor of Philosophy and Director of the Humanities Institute Yuval Avnur. Im excited about this program because it is both timely and intellectually very challenging, particularly because this phenomenon lies at the intersection of several different disciplines, including philosophy, psychology, computer/data science, sociology, politics, and media studies. Its a genuinely interdisciplinary topic, and one that is of clear and direct interest to us all. A handful of media and academic luminaries will visit Scripps to discuss some of the complex topics surrounding the content of misinformationlike fake newsand the forms it takeslike the echo chambers or filter bubbles of social media news feeds. The New Yorkers Andrew Marantz investigates social media trolls on college campuses, interrogates the delicate negotiations between free speech and contemporary online life, and explores the mainstreaming of fringe politics and social media; Karen Douglas explores the nuances of conspiracy theories; Harvards Rebecca Lemov discusses brainwashing, technologies of mind control, and the cataloguing of dreams; and many more. Misinformation is a problem for democracy because youre supposed to vote societys, or at least your own, interest, but to figure that out you need proper information, says Avnur. When its so easy to be misinformed, people cant properly function as citizens. We have more information, but we arguably understand less. Thats the puzzle, he says. Founded in 1986, the Humanities Institute at Scripps College presents a thematic program each semester on a topic related to the humanities. As part of Scripps tradition of interdisciplinary education, this program includes lectures, conferences, exhibitions, performances, and film series bringing prominent and younger cutting-edge scholars to campus. For more information about the Humanities Institute, visit scrippscollege.edu/hi/. Full Lineup February 6 Karen Douglas University of Kent Professor of Social Psychology Karen Douglas explores the nuances of conspiracies: Why are conspiracy theories so popular? Who believes them, and why? And what are their consequences? Tuesday, February 12, 12:15pm Hampton Room Sally Wen Mao, the 2017 Pushcart Prize winner, confronts the spectacle of the internet, artificial intelligence, the past and the future, and the roles and representations that women of color endure in order to survive a culture that seeks to consume them in her poetry collection, Oculus. Tuesday, February 19, 6pm, Balch Auditorium The New Yorkers Andrew Marantz. Andrew Marantz is an expert when it comes to the rapidly changing online media landscape. The New Yorker writer investigates social media trolls on college campuses, interrogates the delicate negotiations between free speech and contemporary online life, and explores the mainstreaming of fringe politics and social media in his new book. March 27 Cal Biruk Oberlin anthropologist Cal Biruk comes to Scripps to explore the social worlds, transactions, and politics that emerge in and around research projects collecting health data in Malawi, and their implications for how we understand numbers and enumeration in global health and beyond. April 3 Holly Lawford-Smith Political philosopher Dr. Holly Lawford-Smith examines the role of the individual within the collective. She works on collective action, collective agency, collective responsibility, and collective punishment. April 25 Rebecca Lemov Rebecca Lemov, professor of the history of science at Harvard, studies key moments from the history of experiments in human and behavioral sciences. Her topics of interest include brainwashing, technologies of mind control, and the cataloguing of dreams. Conference: Ignorance in the Age of Information Saturday, March 30 9 a.m.-6 p.m. Five major scholars of social epistemology present and discuss work on the perils of the age of information, the nature of ignorance in a social context, and other problems with our contemporary epistemic environment. Jason Stanley (Yale), Quassim Cassam (Warwick), Jennifer Lackey (Northwestern), Sven Bernecker (UC Irvine), Regina Rini (York) AWS Standard Consulting Partner "Leveraging our expertise and experience with mission-critical Oracle applications, Highstreet is keenly positioned to support our customers digital transformation while meeting their changing business needs, states Kerby Lyons, Vice President, Managed Services at Highstreet. Highstreet IT Solutions, LLC., a leading Oracle ERP consulting and managed services firm, is pleased to announce that it has achieved Standard Consulting Partner status in the Amazon Web Services (AWS) Partner Network (APN). AWS Consulting PartnerAPN Consulting Partners are professional services firms that help customers design, build, migrate and manage cloud solutions built on AWS. To qualify for the APN Standard Consulting Partner tier, partners must meet thorough requirements that demonstrate their AWS expertise, capabilities, and engagement in the AWS environment. We are excited to continue the expansion of our relationship with AWS and share these benefits with our clients, states Kerby Lyons, Vice President, Managed Services at Highstreet. Leveraging our expertise and experience with mission-critical Oracle applications, Highstreet is keenly positioned to support our customers digital transformation while meeting their changing business needs. Earning the APN Standard Consulting Partner designation affirms Highstreets commitment to AWS, our knowledge of all AWS has to offer, and that we have the experience to recommend and build solutions that best meet our clients business needs. Greg Furst CEO of Highstreet adds We are dedicated to pursuing additional AWS competencies to provide further expertise and value to our clients. ### About Highstreet Highstreet provides modernization and managed services for enterprise applications and IT infrastructure on premises, in the cloud, or hybrid. Our unmatched application expertise, technical know-how, and results-driven approach have enabled more than 800 organizations to drive business value from their technology investments. A recognized Oracle Platinum Partner and Oracle Standard Cloud Partner, Highstreet has been delivering solutions since 1997 with a sole focus on PeopleSoft and Oracle applications. Our managed application services are a complete business-driven application management solution that allows our customers to achieve high levels of performance, availability, agility, and control while reducing the costs of managing their applications. This move marks a significant milestone for Haivision, as we continue to expand our presence globally. Haivision, a market leader in video streaming technologies, today announced that the company has moved its Montreal headquarters to its new corporate offices at the Technoparc in Saint-Laurent, QC, expanding to more than 30,000 sq. ft. at their new location. Across the globe, Haivision video solutions power a wide range of video applications for enterprise, broadcast, house of worship, and defense organizations, including ESPN, LinkedIn, Microsoft, NASA, SAP, Tencent and the United States Department of Defense. The relocation and expansion of the Montreal headquarters will reinforce Haivisions mission to deliver the industrys best video streaming solutions to its customers. To maintain such high standards of quality, Haivisions new headquarters features expanded space for research and development, customer support, production and an advanced quality assurance lab. Serving the global market, the company has recently expanded its headquarters in Chicago and offices in Hamburg, Germany, and also has regional offices in Portland, Austin, Washington D.C., and Atlanta. Haivision is a leader in the video streaming industry and pioneered the development of the SRT (Secure Reliable Transport) open source protocol to solve a fundamental challenge making the public internet a reliable transmission method for high quality, low latency video streams. Haivision has, for nearly 15 years, worked to develop leading-edge video solutions for the most demanding applications, said Mirko Wicha, President and CEO of Haivision. This move marks a significant milestone for Haivision, as we continue to expand our presence globally. Haivision is always looking for great people to join the company. Find out more about working at Haivision here. About Haivision Haivision is the leader in live video streaming technologies, providing more than 25,000 organizations globally with video solutions that help them stream broadcast-quality, low-latency video from anywhere. Founded in 2004, Haivision is a profitable, privately held company with headquarters in Montreal and Chicago, and regional offices located throughout North America, Europe and Asia. To help solve the worlds most difficult video streaming challenges, Haivision open sourced its award winning SRT low latency video streaming protocol in 2017 and founded the SRT Alliance, which now has more than 170 industry leading companies supporting this new standard. Awarded the Emmy for Technology and Engineering from the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences, Haivision is also recognized as one of the most influential companies in video by Streaming Media and one of the fastest growing companies by Deloittes Technology Fast 500. Learn more at haivision.com. GOWIN Semiconductor BroadKey allows our customers to protect their assets from being stolen or cloned during manufacturing, and provide authentication and encryption functions for edge-to-cloud applications. - Jason Zhu, CEO, GOWIN Semiconductor GOWIN Semiconductor Corp., the worlds leading innovator of programmable logic devices, and Intrinsic ID, the worlds leading provider of digital authentication technology for Internet of Things security, today announced GOWIN has licensed Intrinsic IDs BroadKey, an SRAM PUF-based key management system with integrated crypto libraries. GOWIN will utilize BroadKey to implement a secure element function in its FPGA products, including in Arm and RISC-V-based solutions. By enabling these features, GOWIN becomes the first low to mid-density FPGA company with the ability to provide system security from root of trust applications all the way to cloud channel applications. BroadKey allows our customers to protect their assets from being stolen or cloned during manufacturing, and provide authentication and encryption functions for edge-to-cloud applications, said Jason Zhu, chief executive officer of GOWIN. It was the best choice for us to establish a root of trust to protect our customers systems, while meeting our and our customers time-to-market needs. BroadKeys more robust, foundational security can be done at a notably lower TCO, without our customers needing to integrate an additional secure element chip, or requiring special key injection on our FPGAs. BroadKey is a software-based approach to Intrinsic IDs SRAM Physical Unclonable Function (PUF) hardware root-of-trust technology, and allows semiconductor and OEM manufacturers to deliver IoT security via a unique, intrinsic fingerprint identity without the need for separate security-dedicated silicon. A root key generated by BroadKey delivers a high bar of security since it is never stored and anchors to the device all other keys and security operations. GOWIN delivers a range of FPGA solutions targeting segments including communication, industrial, automotive, medical, cloud computing and data center applications. Product families in which GOWIN will include BroadKey-based security initially are its Arora and LittleBee families. Arora products offer best-in-class performance-to-cost ratio FPGAs, optimized for co-processing to offload the Arm or RISC-V application processor on intensive computation tasks. The LittleBee products with embedded Arm processors are instant-on, non-volatile, low-power, intensive I/O and small footprint FPGAs, ideal for high-performance bridging applications. It is the first FPGA to support the MIPI I3C and MIPI D-PHY standards. BroadKey has been recognized with two awards in recent months. It was named IoT Security Product of the Year in the IoT Breakthrough Awards earlier this month, and in October BroadKey received the 2018 IoT Evolution Security Excellence Award. GOWINs solutions are used for applications with challenging security needs, including smart industrial appliances, industrial controls and consumer, said Pim Tuyls, Intrinsic IDs chief executive officer. BroadKeys flexibility in creating unclonable identities for these and other IoT-connected products, without the need for additional hardware, is a great advantage for chip makers serving these markets. About GOWIN Semiconductor Corp. Founded in 2014, GOWIN Semiconductor Corp., headquartered with major R&D in China, has the vision to accelerate customer innovation worldwide with our programmable solutions. We focus on optimizing our products and removing barriers for customers using programmable logic devices. Our commitment to technology and quality enables customers to reduce the total cost of ownership from using FPGA on their production boards. Our offerings include a broad portfolio of programmable logic devices, design software, intellectual property (IP) cores, reference designs, and development kits. We strive to serve customers in the consumer, industrial, communication, medical, and automotive markets worldwide. For more information about GOWIN, please visit http://www.gowinsemi.com. About Intrinsic ID Intrinsic ID is the worlds leading digital authentication company, providing the Internet of Things with hardware-based root-of-trust security via unclonable identities for any IoT-connected device. Based on Intrinsic IDs patented SRAM PUF technology, the companys security solutions can be implemented in hardware or software. Intrinsic ID security, which can be deployed at any stage of a products lifecycle, is used to validate payment systems, secure connectivity, authenticate sensors, and protect sensitive government and military systems. Intrinsic ID technology has been deployed in more than 125 million devices. Award recognition includes the IoT Breakthrough Award, the IoT Security Excellence Award, the Frost & Sullivan Technology Leadership Award and the EU Innovation Radar Prize. Intrinsic ID security has been proven in millions of devices certified by Common Criteria, EMVCo, Visa and multiple governments. Intrinsic IDs mission: Authenticate Everything. Visit Intrinsic ID online at http://www.Intrinsic-ID.com. GOWIN Semiconductor Corp. GOWIN, LittleBee and Arora are trademarks or registered trademarks of GOWIN Semiconductor Corp. All other product and company names are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective companies. Intrinsic ID, the Intrinsic ID logo, BroadKey and Authenticate Everything are trademarks or registered trademarks of Intrinsic ID, Inc., and are protected by trademark laws of the United States and other jurisdictions. Media Contact for GOWIN Semiconductor Corp. Scott Casper +1 408 646 2118 scott(at)gowinsemi(dot)com Media Contact for Intrinsic ID Milan G. Lazich +[1] (408) 933-9980 press(at)intrinsic-id(dot)com Treatments are becoming less invasive with shorter recovery periods," says Dr. Stites. "Its a win-win, because were able to do our job more efficiently with a lower complication rate, and patients reap the benefits. Georgia Urology, the largest urology practice in Atlanta and throughout the Southeast, welcomes Dr. John Stites to its Lawrenceville and Snellville locations in Gwinnett County. Georgia Urology is a fantastic place to practice our craft, says Dr. Stites. Its well established, theres structure and support, and theres a vested interest on the part of the partners that you dont have with other practices. It allows autonomy, but also provides amazing guidance when you need it. Dr. Stites, a fellowship-trained physician who received his Doctor of Medicine at University of Tennessee Health Sciences Center, specializes in prostate cancer, kidney stones, and robotic surgery of the kidney and prostate. I have the privilege of working in one of the most technologically advancing fields in our specialty, Dr. Stites says. Treatments are becoming less invasive with shorter recovery periods. Its a win-win, because were able to do our job more efficiently with a lower complication rate, and patients reap the benefits. With the addition of Dr. Stites, current and future Georgia Urology patients are gaining greater access to a growing team of dedicated experts. Dr. Stites offers patients in Gwinnett County more convenient and accessible care, as well as a diverse clinical and technical experience. Dr. Stites is actively involved in several professional organizations including the American Urological Association, the American Medical Association, and the Endourological Society. An author of numerous urological papers, Dr. Stites recently co-authored a chapter in Campbell-Walsh Urology, the fields definitive textbook. Georgia Urology is a busy practice so it requires a mutual effort, work ethic, and a sense of team membership among the staff, Dr. Stites says. And Im grateful to be a part of such an amazing team. Appointments can be made by calling 678-284-4053 or visiting http://www.gaurology.com/contact-us. Interviews available upon request. Georgia Urology is the largest urology practice in Atlanta and throughout the Southeast. Georgia Urology has more than 30 locations and six ambulatory surgery centers. The practice is comprised of more than 40 physicians, many of whom are fellowship-trained and hold advanced specialty training in oncology, robotic surgery, laparoscopy, infertility, incontinence, and pediatrics. Georgia Urology physicians use state-of-the-art diagnostic equipment and advanced treatment techniques, including robot-assisted technology and minimally-invasive procedures, in order to manage all urological problems in men, women, and children. It is the practices mission to inform and partner with patients to develop a personalized, compassionate, and comprehensive treatment plan for all of their urological conditions. Our team at ESM has worked hard to deliver a product that is transforming the way organizations manage their spend. There is much more to come in 2019 as we continue to grow the organization. ESM CEO Anthony Rotoli ESM, a leading global provider of spend management solutions, achieved another year of corporate milestones and growth in 2018, collaborating with industry leaders, increasing its investment in research and development and celebrating big customer wins. Here are some of the 2018 successes ESM is celebrating: Ellucian Ethos Integration ESM was the first eProcurement provider and among the very first tech companies worldwide to connect its own solutions with Ellucian Ethos, a new technology platform that offers a single, open and extensible architecture to support modernization and innovation on college campuses. Created by Ellucian, a leading maker of higher education software, Ethos uses real-time APIs to provide seamless and constant visibility, control and management of electronic transactions. Now, with Ellucian Ethos integration, users can fully integrate their Ellucian ERPs with ESMs procurement solutions and enjoy a streamlined approach that ensures data flows seamlessly between systems and applications. For its work, ESM won Ellucians 2018 Engagement Award. Technology Upgrades In 2018, ESM continued to invest heavily in research and development, doubling its development resources as it did in 2017. The additional headcount allowed the company to add new capabilities including: An integration with CardConnect, a leading provider of payment processing and technology solutions that helps more than 150,000 organizations accept billions of dollars in credit card transactions each year. The partnership boosts ESM customers protection against fraud and cyber-attacks and provides robust transaction management tools. Seamless connectivity to PowerSchool, a leading K-12 technology platform that includes cloud-based finance, HR and payroll applications and its popular student information system. An ESM Storeroom module that unifies physical stores directly into the spend management platform increasing visibility and operational efficiencies while eliminating redundant spending. A supplier management platform where users can centralize data, automate workflows and eliminate fraud. Major Wins In 2018, many new customers signed on with ESM to take advantage of ESMs full suite of spend management solutions. Some new customers include The University System of Alabama, NC State University, University of New Haven and the School District of Lancaster. Concurrently, ESMs global expansion gathered pace, particularly with organizations in the United Arab Emirates such as the University of Sharjah. Transformative Solution ESM continues to help organizations revolutionize their spend management practices as they move from paper processes or other providers. Our solutions allow users to fully automate the entire procure-to-pay process. Our team at ESM has worked hard to deliver a product that is transforming the way organizations manage their spend, ESM CEO Anthony Rotoli said. There is much more to come in 2019 as we continue to grow the organization. About ESM ESM is a leading provider of cloud-based spend management and P2P solutions, giving customers complete control of their spend through a comprehensive suite of integrated, yet modular solutions. The companys flexible sourcing, purchasing, contract, and supplier management applications help organizations save time and money. As a SaaS-based solution, ESM makes financial system integration, data visibility and streamlining of the entire procure-to-pay process fast and easy. On the web: http://www.esmsolutions.com. Nobody understands the cybersecurity battle better than the cybersecurity professionals...Endace is one of a select few to receive this tremendous recognition of a Trust Award finalist, and they should be proud of the work this represents. - Illena Armstrong, VP editorial, SC Media Endace, a specialist in high-speed network recording, traffic playback and analytics hosting, today announced that its new, ultra-high-capacity, 9200 Series EndaceProbe Analytics Platform has been recognized as a Trust Award finalist in the Best Computer Forensic Solutions category for the 2019 SC Awards. The finalists and winners for the Trust Awards are chosen by an expert panel of judges with extensive knowledge and experience in the cybersecurity industry. Winners will be announced at the SC Awards ceremony on March 5, 2019 in San Francisco. Every new year brings with it an unpredictable mix of adversity and opportunity for information security professionals, said Illena Armstrong, VP, editorial, SC Media. In 2018, we watched as ransomware took down entire city governments, popular online platforms were accused of mishandling user data, and technology giants announced an unprecedented industry-wide effort to solve the Spectre and Meltdown CPU vulnerabilities. Through it all, this years SC Awards finalists found ways to break boundaries, overcome challenges and contribute fresh new ideas to the world of cybersecurity. Now in its 22nd year, SC Awards is recognized as the industry gold standard of accomplishment for cybersecurity professionals, products and services. With the awards, SC Media recognizes the achievements of cybersecurity professionals in the field, the innovations happening in the vendor and service provider communities, and the vigilant work of government, commercial and nonprofit entities. Vendors and service providers who offer a product and/or service for the commercial, government, educational, nonprofit or other industries are eligible for the SC Awards Trust Award category. We are honored that SC Media has recognized the breakthrough accomplishments of our new 9200 Series EndaceProbe Analytics Platform, said Stuart Wilson, Endace CEO. With 100% accurate packet capture and up to a petabyte of packet storage capacity on each appliance, the new 9200s rapid search capability lets security analysts quickly find and analyze specific traffic of interest from within weeks or months of network history recorded by the EndaceProbes on their network. The platforms ability to simultaneously host third-party and open-source security solutions means customers can deploy their chosen security tools where and when they need to, giving them the agility to keep up with todays constantly evolving threat landscape without having to change hardware to deploy new security functions, Wilson said. Nobody understands the cybersecurity battle better than the cybersecurity professionals who work day in and day out to clean up and protect businesses from malicious attacks, added Armstrong of SC Media. Endace is one of a select few to receive this tremendous recognition of a Trust Award finalist, and they should be proud of the work this represents. The SC Awards gala honoring the winners attracts top professionals in the cybersecurity community and provides an invaluable opportunity for networking. To register for the 2019 SC Awards gala, please visit https://scawards2019.splashthat.com/. About SC Media SC Media is cybersecurity. For 30 years, they have armed information security professionals with in-depth and unbiased information through timely news, comprehensive analysis, cutting-edge features, contributions from thought leaders, and independent product reviews in partnership with and for top-level information security executives and their technical teams. In addition to their comprehensive website, SC Media offers magazines, eBooks, and newsletters. They also host digital and live events such as SC Awards and RiskSec NY to provide cybersecurity professionals all the information needed to safeguard their organizations and contribute to their longevity and success. Event Information: Anna Naumoski, Events Manager anna.naumoski(at)haymarketmedia.com 646.638.6015 About Endace Endaces multifunctional Analytics Platform can host 3rd-party network analytics applications while simultaneously recording a 100% accurate Network History, enabling fast, accurate detection, investigation and analysis of network security and performance issues. The platform enables agile deployment of analytics functions and dramatically reduces OPEX and CAPEX costs by consolidating datacenter hardware. Hosted applications can analyze live or historical traffic. Global customers include banks, healthcare, telcos, broadcasters, retailers, web giants, governments and military. For more information see http://www.endace.com or follow Endace on Twitter and LinkedIn. Contacts: USA: Kelly Dorsey mobile +1-818-436 9646 kelly.dorsey(at)endace.com EMEA: Leah Jones (The CommsCo) +44 203 697 6680 Australasia: Mark Evans mobile +64-21-494 850 mark.evans(at)endace.com --end-- EBSCO Health, the leading provider of evidence-based clinical information tools including DynaMed Plus, Dynamic Health and Option Grid, has expanded with the acquisition of HealthDecision. HealthDecision is a clinical decision support and shared decision making tool for clinicians and patients at the point of care. The software platform provides decision support tools enabling clinicians and patients to explore their medical options. The resource combines the patients healthcare preferences with the clinicians expertise and syndicates patient-specific medical data with the latest medical guidelines to personalize a patients risk analyses. HealthDecisions visual representation of medical outcomes is educational, easy-to-use and facilitates discussion between the clinician and patient to mutually agree on a personalized treatment plan. HealthDecision tools are developed by clinicians with subject matter expertise, and the medical literature integration incorporates the latest guidelines, risk scores and analyses. These tools have been integrated into the clinician workflow in a variety of Electronic Health Records (EHRs), and have been in use for nine years, reaching more than 26,000 patients a year. EBSCO Health Senior Vice President of Product Management Betsy Jones welcomes HealthDecision and its staff to the EBSCO Health team. This relationship takes us one step further in our journey to offering a breadth of content with an evidence-based foundation, combined with user experience, EHR interoperability and a tailored, personalized solution for providers and their patients. HealthDecision is an important decision support tool that will integrate well into our suite of clinical offerings. HealthDecision CEO and Founder Jon Keevil, MD, is looking forward to further building out the clinical decision support tools with EBSCO Health. HealthDecision was born out of a mission to create tools that transform complex medical information into more actionable and patient-specific formats. I am thrilled that EBSCO Healths resources and deep expertise in the field of clinical support and evidence-based medicine will greatly enhance our ability to assist patients and clinicians at the point of care. To learn more about HealthDecision, visit: https://www.healthdecision.com/. About EBSCO Health EBSCO Health, part of EBSCO Information Services, is a leading provider of clinical decision support solutions, healthcare business intelligence, and medical research information for the healthcare industry. EBSCO Health users include professionals in medicine, nursing, and allied health. Flagship products include DynaMed Plus, Dynamic Health, clinical e-books and e-journals, EBSCO Discovery Service, licensed databases (such as CINAHL Complete, MEDLINE Complete) plus EBSCONET. EBSCO Health databases are powered by EBSCOhost, the electronic resource favored by libraries around the world. ### For more information, please contact: Jessica Holmes Communications Director (978) 356-6500 ext. 3485 jmholmes(at)ebsco.com The ConTechCrew addresses a packed room at a ConTech Roadshow last year. "Of all the technology shows we have attended over the past decade, ConTech is most current and credible by far. They filter through all the clutter and determine what is Hollywood tech vs. true constructible tech. " The ConTech Roadshow is ready to hit the road again in 2019 pressing onward toward the goal of a more tech-savvy construction industry! The ConTech Roadshow brings each city its signature brand of energetic presentations, leading-edge product demonstrations, and local-networking opportunities. It is open to the public, all contractors, subcontractors, construction technologists and other industry professionals are invited to register for the one-day event. The circuit kicks off in February in Seattle then makes a spring time stop in the south in Atlanta; moves up the Midwest with Chicago in June and Kansas City in August; Dallas in October, then finally Denver in December. The ConTech Roadshows presenters are The ConTechCrew and a revolving cast of industry experts on the topics of BIM, software and apps, and R&D. The ConTechCrew, hosted by James Benham, CEO of JBKnowledge, and Jeff Sample, The IronMan of IT, is a weekly construction technology podcast featuring the top innovations and game-changers in the world of AEC. "2018 was a year of acquisitions, the industry is rapidly changing, Sample shared. Your registration fee to attend the ConTech Roadshow gives you the same tools as the tens-of-thousands of dollars you would spend on a consulting firm to help your company stay on top of the changing technology. If youve attended a Roadshow in the past, we have brand new tools for you to revolutionize your technology approach. Aside from completely fresh presentation content, the ConTech Roadshows will also feature 20-25 technology vendors providing demonstrations and showcasing their latest wares. Past vendors have included DroneDeploy, Autodesk, DEWALT, PlanGrid, and more. Attendees are also treated to refreshments, happy hour, and giveaways with big-ticket items like deluxe products from Yeti to WiFi enabled tools! For those on the fence about the value of attending, a 2018 ConTech Roadshow attendee sums up his experience with: Of all the technology shows we have attended over the past decade, ConTech is most current and credible by far. They filter through all the clutter and determine what is Hollywood tech vs. true constructible tech. Registration for the Seattle ConTech Roadshow, February 19, is now open. Register or subscribe for updates about ConTech Roadshows near you at: jbknowledge.com/roadshow! About JBKnowledge JBKnowledge offers technology solutions for the construction and insurance industries in addition to The ConTechCrew weekly podcast, professional speakers, and The ConTech Roadshow traveling construction technology education events. Follow JBKnowledge on social media or learn more at jbknowledge.com! Community Health Charities proudly welcomes new Board Member Alex Cunningham, Senior Advisor, Global Social Investment at Chevron. He joins an impressive national Board of business leaders and nonprofit executives working together to build stronger, healthier communities. Alex complements our Board of Directors skills and experiences, said Thomas G. Bognanno, Community Health Charities president and CEO. His diverse background spans technology, nonprofit, employee engagement, and corporate impact investment and will provide valuable perspective as we continue to improve employee and community health. Cunningham spent the first 16 years of his career in Silicon Valley working in various roles in internet technology before moving to Chevron in 2006 to lead their web team, where he went on to manage employee community engagement and volunteerism, including the advancement and global scalability of the Chevron Humankind matching grants program. Under his leadership this programs combined annual charitable contributions grew to a record $41 million in 2015. In 2016, he began managing Chevrons global health social investment portfolio and is helping lead a strategic shift to the companys approach to health corporate responsibility around the world. I am deeply passionate about making a positive impact and improving health and wellness in communities around the world, said Cunningham. Im honored to join the Board of Directors at Community Health Charities and look forward to working with their diverse and dynamic team of health leaders. Alexs official term on the Community Health Charities National Board of Directors will begin at the February board meeting, hosted by The Coca-Cola Company in Atlanta. About Community Health Charities Community Health Charities has been empowering people to improve health and wellbeing for over 60 years, by raising awareness and financial resources. We support education, treatment, and prevention for those with health challenges; bring organizations together to improve community health; provide individuals with opportunities to get involved; and increase the capacity of nonprofit organizations. Visit https://healthcharities.org/ or @healthcharities. A musician performs during a performance hosted by the Chinese Embassy in Lebanon, in Beirut, Lebanon, Jan. 23, 2019. The Chinese Embassy in Lebanon celebrated Wednesday its Lunar New Year and the beginning of spring season with performance by China's Chongqing Symphony Orchestra. (Xinhua/Bilal Jawich) BEIRUT, Jan. 23 (Xinhua) -- The Chinese Embassy in Lebanon celebrated Wednesday its Lunar New Year and the beginning of its spring season with performance by China's Chongqing Symphony Orchestra. The event saw the participation of Lebanese officials, and ambassadors representing different countries. The Chinese Ambassador to Lebanon Wang Kejian expressed his happiness to celebrate the special occasion in the presence of Chinese expatriates in Lebanon and Lebanese friends. Wang highlighted that ties between China and Lebanon have strengthened remarkably in recent years. "The number of Lebanese friends who are learning the Chinese language have increased as well," he said. The ambassador added that China is looking forward to more cultural exchange with Lebanon in 2019. Meanwhile, Ali Samad, director-general of Lebanon's Culture Ministry, told Xinhua that Lebanon and China enjoy strong cultural and diplomatic ties. He said that one of the most important contribution from China to Lebanon on the cultural level is the donation for building a new conservatory. The conservatory, funded by China, will be worth of 31.9 million U.S. dollars. It will cover 25,000 square meters in the northern Beirut suburb of Dbayeh. "We are keen on building the strongest relations with China in the coming years," Samad said. 9 1 [ Editor: zyq ] Our IoT Service Hub is a key component of the winning solution and provides a turnkey platform that leverages predictive analytics, AI, and machine learning to analyze IoT data and turn it into actionable insights that provide safer work environments and help protect workers health and well-being. Hitachi Solutions America, a leading provider of global industry solutions powered by the Microsoft Cloud, is proud to be part of the IoT worker safety solution selected as the winner of the Industrial IoT Solution of the Year award by IoT Breakthrough, an independent organization that recognizes the top companies, technologies, and products in the global Internet of Things (IoT) market today. Development partner Advantech accepted the award for the winning solution, which is a collaboration between Hitachi Solutions, Advantech, Behr Technologies (BTI), and Microsoft to deliver a reliable and secure wireless communications solution for private industrial IoT networks. We congratulate Advantech for the award and are very pleased to be part of the revolutionary worker safety solution that IoT Breakthrough selected as its Industrial IoT Solution of the Year, said David Bishop, Senior Vice President of R&D at Hitachi Solutions America. Our IoT Service Hub is a key component of the winning solution and provides a turnkey platform that leverages predictive analytics, AI, and machine learning to analyze IoT data and turn it into actionable insights that provide safer work environments and help protect workers health and well-being. While much of the development around IoT solutions focuses on single solutions and innovation, the reality is that the true power of IoT will only be achieved through collaboration and interoperability from innovative solutions working together, said James Johnson, managing director at IoT Breakthrough. We are pleased to recognize Advantech and this collaborative effort with BTI, Hitachi Solutions America and Microsoft in progressing the secure wireless connectivity that sits at the core of the Internet-of-Things and Industry 4.0 revolution. The collaborative worker safety solutio n aims to meet the growing demand in the marketplace for robust and comprehensive out-of-the-box wireless industrial IoT communications solutions to connect the various sensors used by industrial and commercial customers in their business intelligence efforts. It combines innovative IoT and robust wireless connectivity to provide industries with unprecedented level of visibility into workers health and their environments. Sensors installed onsite and in wearables capture environmental data such as temperature, humidity and air quality as well as health data like heart rate and outdoor location. Leveraging Hitachi Solutions Americas advanced analytics platform, situational data can then be distilled into actionable insights on a remote management console; empowering data-driven decision-making and improving the safety and productivity of the cross-industry field workforce. --- About Hitachi Solutions America, Ltd. Hitachi Solutions America, Ltd. helps its customers successfully compete with the largest global enterprises using powerful, easy-to-use, and affordable industry solutions built on the Microsoft Cloud and enhanced with world class Business Analytics, Portals, and Collaboration. Hitachi Solutions America provides global capabilities with regional offices in the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, India, Japan, China, and Asia Pacific. For more information, call 888-618-1521 or visit: http://us.hitachi-solutions.com. About Hitachi Solutions, Ltd. Hitachi Solutions, Ltd., headquartered in Tokyo, Japan, is one of the core IT companies of Hitachi Group and a recognized leader in delivering proven business and IT strategies and solutions to companies across many industries. The company provides value-driven services throughout the IT life cycle from systems planning to systems integration, operation and maintenance. Hitachi Solutions delivers products and services of superior value to customers worldwide through key subsidiaries in the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, India, China, and Asia Pacific. For more information on Hitachi Solutions, please visit: http://www.hitachi-solutions.com. About Hitachi, Ltd. Hitachi, Ltd., headquartered in Tokyo, Japan, delivers innovations that answer societys challenges with our talented team and proven experience in global markets. The companys consolidated revenues for fiscal 2017 (ended March 31, 2018) totaled 9,368.6 billion yen ($88.3 billion). Hitachi is focusing more than ever on the Social Innovation Business, which includes power & infrastructure systems, information & telecommunication systems, construction machinery, high functional materials & components, automotive systems, healthcare and others. For more information on Hitachi, please visit the companys website at http://www.hitachi.com. Churchill Stateside Group Closes $36.4 Million in USDA 538 Guaranteed Loans These transactions are highly complicated with many pieces of the puzzle that must be put together in a timely and coordinated manner. We greatly appreciate the effort of the RD staff to assist in this goal of preserving critical rural affordable housing. Churchill Stateside Group, LLC (CSG), a real estate and renewable energy financial services company, announced the closing of $36.4 million in long-term, fixed-rate financing and $33.4 million in Federal and State LIHTC for Rural Multifamily Properties located in central PA, GA and WA. CSG, through its subsidiary Churchill Mortgage Investment LLC (CMI), provided $36.4 million in guaranteed loans pursuant to the U.S. Department of Agriculture Rural Development (USDA) Section 538 Program. Proceeds from the construction advance loans, along with LIHTC equity and other sources, are being used to acquire and rehabilitate 38 existing rural apartment properties containing 1,477 affordable housing units. As part of this financing arrangement, USDA agreed to defer payment on their existing subordinated 515 loans for a period of 20 years and provided new 515 financing on one of the portfolios. The amount of coordination and detail required to close RD portfolio transactions is substantial and requires a veteran staff with the appropriate experience which is what CSG provides. Jerome Sullivan, Chief Financial Officer of CSG, said, weve all worked hard to establish the relationships with the various RD offices, numerous third party service providers and other professionals necessary to successfully close these transactions. In Pennsylvania, CMI closed $6.19 million in new USDA 538 debt. Its affiliate, Churchill Stateside Securities, LLC (CSS), syndicated $11.95 million in Federal LIHTC equity and also assisted in the underwriting of $23.42 million in Short Term Tax Exempt Bonds to secure the 4% tax credits. The new owner assumed $18.1 million in existing restructured USDA 515 debt and secured $11.2 million in new USDA 515 debt. This portfolio consists of 15 apartment communities with 485 units for both family and elderly tenancy. In Georgia, CMI closed $10.58 million in new USDA 538 debt and CSS brokered $21.18 million in Federal and State LIHTC equity for 16 existing apartment communities. The new owners assumed $13.46 million in existing restructured 515 debt. This portfolio consists of 16 apartment communities with 537 units for both family and elderly tenancy. In Washington, CMI closed $19.6 million in new USDA 538 debt. CSS assisted with underwriting of $22.1 million in Short Term Tax Exempt Bonds to secure the 4% tax credits. The new owner assumed $7.85 million in existing restructured USDA 515 debt. This portfolio consists of 7 apartment communities with 455 units for both family and elderly tenancy. Rex Tilley, CSGs Chief Credit Officer, expressed the companys gratitude to USDAs state, regional and national multifamily staff. These transactions are highly complicated with many pieces of the puzzle that must be put together in a timely and coordinated manner. We greatly appreciate the effort of the RD staff to assist in this goal of preserving critical rural affordable housing. Anna Parks, CSGs Deputy Chief Underwriter, noted, Our experienced underwriting and loan servicing teams ensure compliance with all aspects of USDAs lending programs and LIHTC equity investments to meet the unique needs of our customers, agencies and investors. Our business has always been about creating lasting partnerships. We forge partnerships with thought leaders and visionary organizationsgroundbreakers who take affordable housing a step further, adds Keith Gloeckl, Chief Executive Officer, what this means for the developer is a partner that opens the lines of communication, thinks creatively, and approaches your financing needs in a flexible yet straightforward way. Expect direct communication and innovative solutions from CSGs professional team. With these recent transactions, we are most pleased to be a part of ensuring that older affordable properties receive the rehabilitation funding they need in order to continue providing safe, affordable housing for another generation. About Churchill Stateside Group Churchill Stateside Group and its wholly owned affiliates (CSG) serve the affordable housing and renewable energy industries. CSG sponsors tax credit equity investment funds for institutional investors and provides a variety of construction and permanent financing solutions. With over $1 Billion under asset management, CSG has long-standing and successful investment relationships with numerous corporate investors and pension funds. The company's investor and developer clients benefit from our experienced staff, prominent and proactive senior leadership, and attractive debt and equity platforms. The company, through its subsidiary Churchill Mortgage Investment LLC, is an approved USDA Rural Development and HUD/FHA MAP and LEAN lender and Ginnie Mae Issuer. For more information, please visit http://www.CSGfirst.com. Over the past year we have seen a significant increase of 289% in bookings to Egypt. In response, we are thrilled to be introducing new experiential travel programs created by our highly knowledgeable Egypt destination specialists and delivered by our very own destination management teams in Egypt. Backed by Egypt-headquartered parent company Sakkara Group International (SGI), Central Holidays today announced exciting Egypt-focused initiatives to meet the booming demand for travel to this fascinating country. The award-winning travel brand is unveiling new experiential travel programs in its just-released 52-page Egypt travel brochure, increasing agent commissions on Egypt Bookings to 15 percent, and introducing a team of Egypt Specialists highly experienced in the destination. Over the past year we have seen a significant increase of 289% in bookings to Egypt, and we expect that trend to keep going strong in the coming years, said Tewfik Ghattas, SGI Board Member. "Egypt continues topping charts in acclaimed consumer research findings that reveal outlook for travel in 2019. In fact, CNN Travel just named Egypt number 2 among the top 19 places to visit in 2019 in part for new excavations that have been unearthed over the past year. This phenomenal growth is not only wonderful for the tourism industry of Egypt, but also for travelers, as we are thrilled to be introducing splendid new experiential travel programs created by our highly knowledgeable Egypt destination specialists and delivered by our very own destination management teams in Egypt. We invite agents and their clients to enjoy the vast benefits of discovering the magic of Egypt with the true destination experts of Central Holidays and our parent company SGI, continued Ghattas. Here are some of the new Egypt initiatives that Central Holidays is launching: New Programs Unveiled in 2019 Egypt Brochure In 2019, Central Holidays is further expanding travel experiences throughout Egypt with newly hand-crafted additions to its robust range of offerings; featuring six new Land & Cruise escorted programs, including three multi-country experiences that most travelers include on their Life List of places to discover. Among them are a Nubian Treasures program that takes travelers from the pyramids of Cairo, to Luxors Valley of the Kings, with a 4-night Nile River Cruise and a 3-night Lake Nasser Cruise visiting the Valley of the Lions; and a program called Egypts Spectacular Journey that takes travelers to embark on an in-depth exploration of Cairo, Luxor, Abu Simbel, and Alexandria including a 4-night Nile River Cruise. Increased Commissions to Celebrate Egypt Growth As part of Central Holidays' efforts to continually support the travel agent community, the company is announcing an increase in commission for Egypt bookings to 15 percent, one of the highest commission levels in the industry. Introducing Egypt Destination-Specialist Team To meet the boost in demand and create the most authentically rich Egypt programs available, Central Holidays is introducing an Egypt Destination Specialist Team led by: Christine (Eulo) Henriquez, Egypt Product Development Manager for FITs, and Adam Greis, Manager of Central Holidays Group Travel Experiences, and including other highly knowledgeable call center team members and operations staff. Christine (Eulo) Henriquez started with STI Travel in Hackensack, NJ in 2006, an SGI travel brand that became part of Central Holidays Travel Group in 2012. Adam Greis, an American born to Egyptian parents, joined Central Holidays in 2014 and is deeply passionate about his heritage and the group travel business in general. Backed by Egypt Based Sakkara Group International Central Holidays is proud to be backed by the strong, global buying power of Sakkara Group International (SGI), owners and operators of an award-winning worldwide portfolio of successful hotels, cruise providers, and international tour companies established for more than 45 years. In Egypt, beyond other providers, SGI owns and operates an expansive fleet of Nile River cruise vessels, hotels and resorts, as well as a fleet of buses and limousines and SGI maintains offices and comprehensive destination management services throughout Egypt to deliver the very best in travel. To view, download or order the new Egypt brochure, visit http://www.centralholidays.com/BROCHURE. For Central Holidays FITs, call 800-935-5000 or visit centralholidays.com. For Central Holidays Group Travel Experiences, call 866-613-5599 or visit grouptravelexperiences.com. About Central Holidays: Founded in 1972, Central Holidays is an award-winning travel brand that offers superior travel programs, value, and service to enchanting destinations across Italy, the Mediterranean, Africa, West Asia, Cuba, and Latin America. As true destination specialists, this leader in travel offers an expansive range of Independent, Escorted, Hosted, and Land/Cruise itineraries. Central Holidays presents a wide array of diverse travel opportunities including people-to-people experiences, educational and cultural programs, culinary travel adventures, and active vacations. Group Travel Experiences are a hallmark of the company, offering special interest travel, religious pilgrimages, and fully-customized programs. Their newest brand, Journeys by Central Holidays, was created to orchestrate tailor-made travel experiences that redefine luxury. Central Holidays remains at the forefront of the tourism and travel industry, offering distinctive travel programs that support brand promises of reliability, expertise, and flexibility. For more information, contact Central Holidays at 1-800-935-5000 or visit http://www.centralholidays.com. Calvary Hospitals 26th Annual Bereavement Course will begin on March 4 (at the Bronx campus, on Monday nights from 6-8:30 p.m.) and on March 6 (in Brooklyn at St. Joseph High School on Wednesday nights from 6-8:30 p.m.). The course is designed for those in the helping professions, and not for bereaved family members. This eleven-week course on bereavement and grief-related issues will be taught by various specialists from Calvary Hospital/Hospice. Upon successful completion, each participant will receive a Certificate of Attendance. Successful completion requires that participants (1) register for the course and (2) complete course evaluations for each attended lecture. Contact hours will only be awarded for completed programs. Partial credit for Certificates of Attendance is available for those who attend 80 percent of the lectures. See attached syllabus for Bronx and Brooklyn. Upon completion, each participant will receive a Certificate of Attendance. This continuing nursing education activity has been approved by (1) the Pennsylvania State Nurses Association Approver Unit, an accredited approver by the American Nurses Credentialing Centers Commission on Accreditation, and (2) NYS Office of Alcoholism and Substance Abuse Services (OASAS) for CASAC (Credentialed Alcoholism and Substance Abuse Counselor), CPP (Credentialed Prevention Professional) and CPS (Credential Prevention Specialist). Pending approval for Mental Health Counselors and the NYS Department of Health, Bureau of Funeral Directors, and ADEC (Association for Death Education and Counseling) are in process. The course fees are as follows: $225.00 for the full eleven weeks (discounted rate) $200.00 each (2-4 people in same institution) $175.00 each (5 or more people in same institution) $50.00 for the entire course (graduate students) $50 for individual sessions Checks should be made payable to Calvary Hospital. For further information, contact Dr Sherry R. Schachter at Sschachter@calvaryhospital.org. Please send all registrations and payment to: Dr Sherry R. Schachter, Calvary Hospital Bereavement Services, 1740 Eastchester Road, Bronx, New York 10461. CALVARY ANNUAL BEREAVEMENT COURSE BRONX SCHEDULE (MARCH-MAY 2019) March 4 An Overview of Normal Grief; Disenfranchised Grief Maria Georgopoulos, LMHC, FT Foundations of Grief Counseling Maria Georgopoulos, LMHC, FT March 11 Death of a Child Sherry R. Schachter, PhD, FT March 18 The Hospice Perspective Amy Glasgow MA, LMHC, GC-C Compassion Fatigue Joanne Castellanos MHC-LP March 25 Making Decisions at the End of Life Christopher Comfort, MD Delirium and Depression in the Dying Patient Robert Brescia, MD April 1 Bereavement of Young Adults, Siblings, and Adult Children Joanne Castellanos MHC-LP April 8 Multi Cultural Aspects of Grief Chaplains, Pastoral Care Department April 15 Children and Death Abby Spilka, MA, CT, MHC-LP April 22 Death of a Spouse Joanne Castellanos MHC-LP Death in the Digital Age Joanne Castellanos MHC-LP April 29 Trauma: When Grief is Complicated Abby Spilka, MA, CT, MHC-LP May 6 Meaning Making: Communities and Grief Abby Spilka, MA, CT, MHC-LP Grief Through the Lens of Social Justice Rashida Sanchez, MA, FT May 13 Initiating Bereavement Support Groups and Interventions Sherry R. Schachter, PhD, FT Self-care Closing Ritual Abby Spilka, MA, CT, MHC-LP CALVARY ANNUAL BEREAVEMENT COURSE BROOKLYN SCHEDULE (MARCH-MAY 2019) March 6 An Overview of Normal Grief; Disenfranchised Grief Rashida Sanchez, MA, FT Foundations of Grief Counseling Rashida Sanchez, MA, FT March 13 Death of a Child Sherry R. Schachter, PhD, FT March 20 The Hospice Perspective Amy Glasgow MA, LMHC, GC-C Compassion Fatigue Maria Georgopoulos, LMHC, FT March 27 Making Decisions at the End of Life Christopher Comfort, MD Delirium and Depression in the Dying Patient Robert Brescia, MD April 3 Bereavement of Young Adults, Siblings, and Adult Children Abby Spilka, MA, CT, MHC-LP April 10 Multi Cultural Aspects of Grief Chaplains, Pastoral Care Department April 17 Children and Death Rashida Sanchez, MA, FT April 24 Death of a Spouse Rashida Sanchez, MA, FT Death in the Digital Age Rashida Sanchez, MA, FT May 1 Trauma: When Grief is Complicated Maria Georgopoulos, LMHC, FT May 8 Meaning Making: Communities and Grief Abby Spilka, MA, CT, MHC-LP Grief Through the Lens of Social Justice Rashida Sanchez, MA, FT May 15 Initiating Bereavement Support Groups and Interventions Sherry R. Schachter, PhD, FT Self-care Closing Ritual Abby Spilka, MA, CT, MHC-LP Note: No commercial support was received for this educational activity. PRINT Name:_________________________________________________________ Address: _____________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________ Affiliation: _______________________________________________________________ Title/Department: _________________________________________________________ Address: _________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________ Work phone: __________________________ Cell phone: ______________________ Home phone: ________________ E-mail address: _______________________________ Please check one: I will attend the course in the Bronx location ___ 1740 Eastchester Road, Bronx, NY I will attend the course in the Brooklyn location ___ St. Joseph High School, 80 Willoughby St., Brooklyn, NY 11201 Since 1899, Calvary has been the nations only fully accredited acute care specialty hospital devoted exclusively to providing palliative care to adult patients with advanced cancer and other life-limiting illnesses. Each year, thousands of patients receive CalvaryCareSM throughout the Greater New York Area. To learn how Calvary can help you and your family, please visit http://www.calvaryhospital.org. Follow us on Facebook, LinkedIn or Instagram. Rapid Insight User Conference The User Conference is an opportunity for us to spend time with our customers, build relationships, and receive direct feedback on our current products and company vision. Rapid Insight, an analytics software solutions company, today announced an open call for presenters for the companys annual Rapid Insight User Conference. The conference will feature ten customer presentations focused on innovative, real-world predictive modeling and data reporting experiences using the Veera analytics platform. Submissions must be received by March 15, 2019. The Rapid Insight User Conference brings together analysts, citizen data scientists, and IT professionals from a variety of industries, including higher education and healthcare, who are using the Veera platform to transform data into actionable information for their organizations. The three-day conference will commence with a full day of Rapid Insight University courses held by the companys expert analysts. The following two days will offer attendees engaging keynotes, customer-led presentations, one-on-one open labs, panel discussions, and ample networking opportunities. The User Conference is an opportunity for us to spend time with our customers, build relationships, and receive, direct feedback on our current products and company vision, said Brett Austin, Rapid Insight CEO. Moreover, the User Conference provides our customers with a venue to learn from and inspire one another. Rapid Insight users are invited to submit proposals for full-length forty-minute sessions, panel discussions, or a fifteen-minute Use Case Blitz. Speakers accepted for full-length forty-minute sessions will receive complimentary access to all conference events. Discounts are also available for panelists and use case blitzers. The conference will be held June 23-25, 2019 in North Conway, New Hampshire at the North Conway Grand Hotel in the heart of New Hampshires Mount Washington Valley. Early bird registration is available until April 1, 2019. Additional Resources About Rapid Insight Rapid Insight is an analytics software solutions company founded in 2002 with a mission of empowering professionals of all skill levels with the simple, intuitive tools they need to turn raw data into actionable information. Today, the company offers a growing portfolio of solutions within the Veera analytics platform that enables thousands of users worldwide to easily build predictive models and perform advanced data analysis. Headquartered in Conway, New Hampshire in the foothills of the White Mountains, Rapid Insight embodies the adventurous and resourceful spirit of the region through its commitment to delivering innovative technology backed by best-in-class customer service. To learn more or download a free trial of the award-winning Veera platform, visit http://www.rapidinsightinc.com. ALM Intelligence, a division of ALM Media LLC, supports legal, consulting, and benefits decision-makers seeking guidance on critical business challenges. Pricing continues to attract strong and increasingly senior level client attention, said Nathan Simon, Senior Research Director at ALM Intelligence. But clients ambitions for pricing are broadening to take in their full commercial systems." ALM Intelligence Consulting division, previously known as Kennedy Consulting, has released its 2018 ratings of pricing consulting providers. Seven firms were identified as leaders in the consulting industry: A.T. Kearney, Bain & Company, BCG, Deloitte, McKinsey & Company, Revenue Analytics, and Simon-Kucher. Pricing continues to attract strong and increasingly senior level client attention, said Nathan Simon, Senior Research Director at ALM Intelligence. But clients ambitions for pricing are broadening to take in their full commercial systems. This requires correspondingly broader consulting capabilities and a service delivery model and toolset tuned for executing changes that deliver in the short-term while building lasting capabilities. Providers that attained challenger status include: Blue Ridge Partners, EY, Hinterhuber & Partners, Pricing Solutions, and PwC. Other firms that were rated include: Accenture, AlixPartners, Capgemini, dunnhumby, IBM, IRI, Kantar Consulting, KPMG, L.E.K. Consulting, Marakon, Oliver Wyman, Open Options, PA Consulting, and Roland Berger. ALMs Vanguard research series assesses firms in terms of their relative ability to create impact for their clients. In addition to its overall rating assessments of consulting providers depth and breadth of capabilities and best-in-class provider designations, this series includes detailed capability evaluations for each covered provider as well as a qualitative analysis of their consulting organization, approach, and service delivery model. For more information or to obtain the full version of The ALM Vanguard: Pricing Consulting, visit the ALM Intelligence website: http://www.alm.com/intelligence/consulting-industry About ALM Intelligence ALM Intelligence, a division of ALM Media LLC, supports legal, consulting, and benefits decision-makers seeking guidance on critical business challenges. Our proprietary market reports and analysis, rating guides, prospecting tools, surveys, and rankings, inform and empower business leaders to meet business challenges with confidence. Please visit http://www.alm.com/intelligence for more information. The six associations noted below share Senator Warner's concerns that this partial federal shutdown is counterproductive and harmful to the essential functioning of our government. We join Senator Warner in urging the Administration to issue guidelines ensuring that agencies do not penalize employees if their finances are negatively impacted by the loss of paychecks during this government shutdown. We further urge the administration to specifically include federal contractor employees in any guidance issued. Senator Warners statement: https://www.warner.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/pressreleases?ID=4555C005-8895-42D2-A94A-1842F4E88CBB Aerospace Industries Association (AIA) Intelligence and National Security Alliance (INSA) Industrial Security Working Group (ISWG) National Defense Industrial Association (NDIA) Northern Virginia Technology Council (NVTC) Professional Services Council (PSC) Our technology has a profound impact across the rig where Corva is saving customers millions and cutting drilling projects by as many as 3 days. Past News Releases RSS Corva, the emerging leader in real-time oil & gas data analytics, announces that it will add as many as 100 staff to its Houston headquarters in 2019 to keep pace with record-breaking demand for the companys drilling optimization platform, now deployed with 15 customers and 110 rigs across the United States and Canada. Oil & gas producers have rapidly adopted the software startups innovative technology which combines big data, rich visualization, and monitoring by exception to dramatically improve drilling performance and cost-efficiency. The announcement comes amidst oil price uncertainty, which the company anticipates will drive demand for its products even higher as producers turn to advanced technology to cut capital costs and sustain drilling programs. Corva launched a first-of-its-kind drilling optimization platform in 2017 that now offers drilling engineers and rig crews nearly 50 software apps. Corvas platform harnesses real-time rig data and historical well information to drive a wide variety of data analytics that give drillers instant insight into rig conditions, increase rate of penetration, and anticipate hazards. The software startup experienced rapid adoption of its products in 2018. Corvas growth metrics for the last 12 months include: 14 new customers 110 rigs using Corva 1,100 new users 35 new employees 15 new drilling apps 17M feet have been drilled using Corvas real-time drilling platform. In addition to supporting real-time operations centers (RTO) - back office facilities that monitor multiple rig operations Corvas technology has been especially well embraced by rig crews. Onsite personnel, which includes company men and directional drilling contractors, leverage Corvas suite of apps to make minute-to-minute decisions on the rig and improve operational efficiency. Customer results have been significant, including cutting directional drilling time, or sliding, by 1.08 days for a single well, reducing pipe connection time by 2 minutes, and preventing 9 washouts over a 2-month period. At Corva, we define success by the number of days we save on rigs, the costs we can quantifiably cut, and the number of catastrophic events we prevent, said Ryan Dawson, founder and CEO of Corva. Our technology has a profound impact across the rig where Corva is saving customers millions and cutting drilling projects by as many as 3 days, Dawson said. He continued, Corva has filled a void that has existed in drilling operations for years to bring big data and real-time analysis together to drill faster, lower-cost, and safer wells. Our current growth is just the beginning as the industry truly enters into the era of factory drilling, Dawson concluded. Corva began 2018 with its first client, one of the largest producers in the Permian Basin, who was instrumental in field testing the companys real-time analytics platform. The Houston-based software startup experienced rapid adoption across the industry, winning contracts with 14 publicly traded oil & gas producers. In December, the number of onshore drilling rigs where Corvas technology is deployed exceeded 100 rigs, a record-breaking milestone for the company. Corva expects to triple its rig count in 2019. To support its customer and product line expansion, Corva is hiring additional staff for R&D, engineering, and software development. The company operates a 24/7 operations center for its customers where a significant increase in staff is planned. Corva expects to reach 150 employees in 2019, most of whom will work out of Corvas Houston-based headquarters. About Corva Corva is a Houston-based software startup focused on helping oil & gas companies to optimize drilling programs through real-time data insights and analytics. The company built a first-of-its-kind technology platform for delivering a suite of nearly 50 mobile and web apps to monitor drilling and completions, identify hazardous conditions, and give users recommendations based on current and historical subsurface data. As a result, Corva increases drilling performance and speed while reducing costly rig downtime. Corvas software products support oil & gas drilling operations across North America with hundreds of users, including drilling engineers, superintendents, rig crews, and management. For more information, please visit http://www.corva.ai A NAB survey has forecast Melbourne house prices to fall 7 per cent in 2019, more than the drop expected in Sydney house prices. Sydney house prices are forecast fall 5.4 per cent in 2019. The only capital cities forecast to grow in 2019 or 2020 are Adelaide and Hobart. The NAB survey suggests Adelaide house prices will grow 1.7 per cent in 2019 and 2020 while Hobart house prices grow 1.8 per cent in 2019 and 2020. In the uncertain market Australians plan to sit tight and do nothing in the 2019 property market, according to the NAB survey. On average, consumers expect price falls of 2.1% over the next 12 months, according to property professional forecasts in NABs latest Residential Property Survey. NAB's survey found that New South Wales (3.1%) and Victoria (2.9%) are expected to lead the way down, with consumers a little less pessimistic than property professionals. Numerous consumers in VIC (39%) and NSW (37%) anticipate price drops of 5% or more with 16% and 17% respectively also predicting falls of more than 10%. Click here to enlarge. Tasmania is the only state with positive expectations (2.2%). Tasmanians are by far the most positive across states, with almost 1 in 2 people there still expecting a positive price outcome, followed by Queensland at around 1 in 3, said Mr. Oster. Interestingly 1 in 5 consumers in New South Wales and Victoria still expect house prices to grow next year. Click here to enlarge. By region the downturn is being driven by expectations for larger falls in capital city house prices (2.8%), with smaller falls in rural towns (1.0%) and major regional cities (0.9%). Consumers living more than 5km from the nearest town (or the bush) are on average predicting modest growth of 0.6%. Fiona Taylor, who was portrayed as a House Rules villain, has secured the sale of her Lake Fyans property. The near lakeside rural retreat took two months to sell after being passed in. The striking Lake Fyans home built for Fiona Taylor on the hit Channel 7 reno series sold for $470,000 to a Melbourne family relocating to the Grampians region. Ray White, Ballarat, agent Phillip Lee told The Herald Sun the buyer had inspected it prior to auction but were unable to make the November date. The three-bedroom house on 8.3ha at 273 Kelleys Beach Rd had a $525,000-$575,000 price guide when initially listed. ASIC has banned Hobart financial planner Matthew Geappen from providing financial services for a period of five years. ASICs concerns related to Mr Geappens practice of advising his clients to switch from one insurance product to another which allowed him to generate commissions from insurance providers. ASIC also had reason to believe Mr Geappen was not adequately trained or competent to provide financial services and was not of good fame or character. ASIC found that Mr Geappen failed to: act in the best interests of his clients; give advice that was appropriate; and give priority to the interests of his clients over his own interests. Mr Geappen was an authorised representative of Financial Wisdom Limited (FWL) from 18 December 2006 to 8 December 2016. He provided financial product advice in respect of superannuation, insurance and income protection products. FWL is a subsidiary of the Commonwealth Bank of Australia. Mr Geappen has exercised his right to appeal to the Administrative Appeals Tribunal for a review of ASICs decision. ASICs action was in response to information it received from the licensee, FWL, regarding concerns relating to Mr Geappens advice and advice processes. The banning of Mr Geappen is part of ASICs Wealth Management Project. Javascript Error Javascript is deactivated in your browser. To use all functions on this portal, for example the login, Javascript must be activated. Please activate Javascript in your browser settings. New Delhi, Jan 24 : Prime Minister Narendra Modi welcomed tableaux artists, tribal guests, NCC cadets and NSS volunteers to his residence at Lok Kalyan Marg on Thursday. Congratulating the artists and participants for their participation in the Republic Day parade and related events, the Prime Minister said that this is a great opportunity of their lives. "The Prime Minister spoke of the importance of discipline in daily life, and added that discipline is an integral part of NCC. The citizens should remain aware of their civic duties at all times," it said in an official statement. He also added that the whole country takes inspiration from them and will take India to great heights. The PM also witnessed colourful cultural performances by some of the invitees. New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi with the recipients of Pradhan Mantri Rashtriya Bal Puraskar 2019 in New Delhi, on Jan 24, 2019. Also seen Union Women and Child Development Minister Maneka Gandhi. (Photo: IANS/PIB) Image Source: IANS News New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi interacts with the recipients of Pradhan Mantri Rashtriya Bal Puraskar 2019 in New Delhi, on Jan 24, 2019. (Photo: IANS/PIB) Image Source: IANS News New Delhi, Jan 24 : Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday met and interacted with the winners of the "Pradhan Mantri Rashtriya Bal Puraskar 2019" and said that the children are an inspiration for others. "The Prime Minister appreciated and congratulated the award winners for their achievements. He said that these awards offer an opportunity for recognition of talented children, and serve as inspiration for others like them," it said in a statement. Women and Child Development Minister Maneka Gandhi, along with the Minister of State Virendra Singh, were also present with the Prime Minister, who urged the extra-ordinarily gifted children to stay connected with the nature. "The children explained in detail their special achievements and shared their inspirational stories. Modi also shared some light and informal moments with the children who also requested him for autographs," it added. The Rashtriya Bal Puraskar awards were given away on Tuesday by President Ram Nath Kovind at Rashtrapati Bhawan. Organised by the WCD Ministry, the awards were given in two categories: Bal Shakti Puraskar to individuals, which also included Bravery awards, and Bal Kalyan Puraskar to institutions/ individuals working for children. Patna, Jan 24 : Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and opposition leader Tejashwi Yadav on Thursday raised the reservation issue in a different way to mark the birth anniversary of veteran socialist leader and former chief minister Karpoori Thakur. Nitish Kumar reiterated his demand for a caste-based census in 2021 and supported reservation in government jobs and educational institutions according to caste population. "Caste-based census is necessary to know the real population of various castes, particularly OBCs and Dalits. Such a census would also help in providing proportionate reservation in government jobs and educational institutions," said Nitish Kumar at a function of his party JD-U in the presence of senior BJP leader and Deputy Chief Minister Sushil Kumar Modi. Nitish Kumar said last such census was conducted in 1931. On the other hand, RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav warned that reservation for Dalits and OBCs was in danger of being eliminated. He said the RSS-controlled BJP-led Central government is hellbent on diluting and, even ending, the quota system. "RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat had during 2015 Bihar assembly polls suggested a review of reservation provisions on economic criteria. After that RJD chief Lalu Prasad had challenged him to keep his hands off reservation. Now RSS and BJP are busy with their own agenda," said Tejashwi in his address at an RJD function in the state capital. Some leaders from JD-U and RJD repeated their demand for Bharat Ratna, the country's highest civilian award, for Karpoori Thakur. Popularly known as 'Jan Nayak' (people's leader), Thakur was one of the socialist leaders close to Jayaprakash Narayan who spearheaded the movement for 'total revolution' as well as protests against the Emergency (1975-77). Belonging to the extremely backward castes (EBC), he emerged as an important icon for consolidating EBC votes in caste-ridden Bihar. The EBCs are a cluster of over 100 castes accounting for around 32 per cent of the electorate. Regarded as an honest and hard working leader, Karpoori Thakur was Bihar's chief minister from December 1970 to June 1971 and from December 1977 to April 1979. Thakur passed away in 1988. New Delhi, Jan 24 : A nine-day agitation will be held in the national capital from January 30 by several social and political outfits that are fighting for the cause of farmers, women, youth, servicemen, people from Dalit and Adivasi communities, among others, the organisers said on Thursday. Some 40 organisations will hold a 'dharna' at Jantar Mantar under the banner of 'India Unites' from January 30 to February 7. They will highlight issues like rural distress, rise in hate crimes, environmental degradation, ethics in journalism, atrocities against women and unemployment. Addressing a press conference here, Hannan Mollah, General Secretary of the All India Kisan Sabha (AIKS) said the socio-economic condition of Indians has worsened in the past four years due to a "destructive" mix of poor economic policies and implementation by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government. "We will invite all political parties on the last day of the dharna and set a 15-point programme on which they will be asked to fight the upcoming Lok Sabha elections," Mollah said. "The agitation is organised by concerned citizens who are alarmed at the direction the country is taking. We find trivialisation and subversion of our Constitution through underhanded tactics unacceptable." Satbir Singh, Chairman of the Indian Ex-Servicemen Movement and Dalit leader and Gujarat lawmaker Jignesh Mevani were among those present at the conference. "The campaign is against non-deliverance. It will set an agenda for the new government, whichever party forms it," said Singh, who was at the forefront of the One Rank One Pension (OROP) agitation. Mevani said the BJP government had come up with the 'Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas' slogan but the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) was working to divide the society on the lines of caste and religion. "This campaign is to come up with a positive agenda. What people want will prevail not what the BJP and the RSS want," he said. Protesters, from a wide section of society, will take up different issues every day and on the ninth day all political parties except the saffron outfits are expected to join them, Mollah said. Panaji, Jan 24 : There will be no mid-term polls in Goa, state BJP General Secretary Narendra Sawaikar said on Thursday. He said the Congress was trying to create confusion by raising the bogey of mid-term elections in the coastal state, which is witnessing a political owing to the prolonged illness of Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar. "The BJP-led coalition government will not only complete its five-year term but also give a smooth, development-centric governance to the state," Sawaikar told reporters in Panaji. "The statement by some of the Congress leaders that Goa is heading for mid-term polls is nothing but a futile attempt to create confusion among the people. The clueless Goa Congress is baffled by the development agenda and its effective implementation by the Manohar Parrikar-led government," the South Goa MP said. The statement comes two days after state Congress President Girish Chodankar and Leader of Opposition Chandrakant Kavlekar said the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) was trying to engineer mid-term polls in Goa along with the 2019 general elections. Kolkata, Jan 24 : Bengal film producer Shrikant Mohta was on Thursday arrested by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in connection with the multi-crore rupee Rose Valley Chit Fund scam, an official said. "Mohta has been arrested following interrogation in connection with the Rose Valley Chit fund scam as the officials concerned found many of his statements unsatisfactory," a senior CBI official told IANS. Mohta is the co-founder of Shree Venkatesh Films (SVF), which has produced over 120 films, including 'Chokher Bali' and 'Memories in March'. The officials first interrogated Mohta at his office at a lavish south Kolkata complex and later took him to the agency's office in Salt Lake for further interrogation where he was arrested. He is likely to be taken to Bhubaneswar and produced before a court on Friday. The CBI had attached assets including resorts, hotels, land parcels worth Rs 2,300 crore across districts of West Bengal. The agency has been probing the diversion of funds from the Rose Valley Group's deposit-taking companies. Under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), the agency had registered an FIR against the company and Chairman Gautam Kundu in 2014, who was arrested the next year. The CBI had recovered incriminating documents, gold ornaments and precious stones worth Rs 40 crore during searches at showrooms at a jewellery house in the ponzi scheme. Nairobi, Jan 24 : Environmental threats like climate change and pollution are linked to lethargic enforcement of laws governing management of vital ecosystems, says a report released on Thursday by UN Environment. According to the first ever global assessment of environmental rule of law, the quest to maintain a healthy and clean planet was being undermined by weak enforcement of legislation to protect it from natural and human-induced threats. "This report solves the mystery of why problems such as pollution, declining biodiversity and climate change persist despite the proliferation of environmental laws in recent decades," said David Boyd, UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights and the Environment. "Unless the environmental rule of law is strengthened, even seemingly rigorous rules are destined to fail and the fundamental human right to a healthy environment will go unfulfilled," he was cited as saying by Xinhua news agency. The UN Environment report said that rapid development of environmental laws and treaties since 1972 had not translated into their enactment thus escalating threats to ecosystems that sustain livelihoods. It said more than 1,100 environmental treaties and legal frameworks had been developed by national governments since 1972 when the UN environment agency was formed. At the same time, donor support and robust domestic funding to facilitate development of new environmental laws had been consistent in the last four decades, but it had not been matched with their enforcement, said the report. It noted that poor coordination among government agencies, weak institutional capacity, lack of access to information, corruption and limited civic engagement contributed to weak enforcement of environmental rule of laws. "We have the machinery in the form of laws, regulations and agencies to govern our environment sustainably," said Joyce Msuya, UN Environment Acting Executive Director. "Political will is now critical to making sure our laws work for the planet. This first global assessment on environmental rule of law highlights the work those standing on the right side of history-and how many nations are stronger and safer as a result," she added. The report revealed that 88 countries had adopted the constitutional right to a healthy environment while an additional 65 had enshrined environmental protection in their constitutions. Likewise, over 350 environmental courts and tribunals had been established in more than 50 countries while over 60 countries had some legal provisions for citizen's right to environmental information. Experts urged governments to address hiccups that had undermined enforcement of legislation that promote environmental governance. New Delhi, Jan 24 : There is trouble in paradise. The government's drastic intervention in e-commerce at the behest of vested domestic interests and the powerful traders lobby has created consternation in the bulge bracket world of e-commerce in India. With the big players having reached out to the Government to give them breathing space on the new compliance measures beyond the January 31 deadline, the Industry ministry has not responded, leading to panic attacks across the board. Powerful stakeholders led by Walmart and Amazon from the e-commerce eco system have sought a six-month extension since lakhs of sellers - small and medium-sized - in the market place need to be educated, IT-enabled and connected to meet the statutory audit requirements. Moreover, contracts have to be re-negotiated so that the compliance measures remain ongoing with time being of the essence. It is believed that the DIPP or Industry Secretary Ramesh Abhishek, who was earlier encouraging the major players to ramp up their investments in India, has not responded to their pleas and petitions. The situation has become precarious primarily because the clarification to press note 2 was even more confusing. On a granular level, the market place cannot have any equity in the seller. Hence, Amazon which has five percent equity in Shoppers Stop has to comply with the new standards. The new government directive does not allow private labels, nor does it allow big brands to have commercial tie-ups with the market place. Basically, the rules of engagement have been turned on their head. Bain Capital reckons that the heavy lifting e-com players have generated three lakh jobs in India. Over and above this, there are lakhs of vendors. Further, the eco system has multiple spin-offs like advertisements, courier companies, logistics companies, supports innumerable manufacturing operations and caters to large scale supply chains. Flipkart has 80,000 employees, 80 fulfilment centres (warehouses), nearly one lakh plus sellers and artisans of all hues across the land. Ditto for Amazon, which has similar numbers across its business spectrum. Walmart paid $14 billion for Flipkart stock with a promise of an additional $2 billion in physical structure investment. So, there is a lot riding on these heavy lifters for both know that this is the last frontier in terms of a consumption market, since India consumes 67 per cent of its own $2.6 trillion GDP. Interestingly, Walmart runs Flipkart as a stand-alone entity. For Walmart this is a priority market and it is keen that the January 31 compliance window deadline is extended. Its commitment to the Indian market can be gauged from the fact that it recently got 100 acres in Bengal for warehousing as a pivot to the northeast market. Hence the size of the commitment is seeing enlargement almost daily. It is on the verge of closing another 100 acre fulfilment centre in Telengana to service the southern market. Remarkably, the Indian retail market is estimated to be $650 billion, of which 90 percent is the kirana stores while nearly eight per cent is made up of Indian retail players and only two percent is e-commerce. However, since the biggies in e-com are global behemoths, impediments are being placed in their path. At the kernel of the government notification and clarificatory statement is the targeting of e-commerce giants who are quick to retort that they helping small sellers with a channel that is tech-enabled to put their products on the marketplace. At the time same time, even as they try and get the government to listen to their litany of woes on immediate compliance, the process of evaluation of sellers will continue and remain ongoing so that they are effectively compliant every single day. The government's intervention is perceived to be through a non-consultative process and the global giants want more time for compliance and enhanced level of dialogue. The audit requirement on the sellers by opening their books to the marketplace in such a short time is reminiscent of the haste in the launch of GST, which threw small businesses out of gear. Many of the sellers will now have design IT systems and the marketplace cannot be liable for this. In parallel, there is no clarification on how to conduct the private label business. New Delhi, Jan 24 : Further strengthening the strategic partnership India and South Africa share will be the focus of South African President Cyril Ramaphosa's visit to India on January 25-26 during which he will be the chief guest at the Republic Day parade, a senior official said on Thursday. Briefing the media here, T.S. Tirumurti, Secretary (Economic Relations) in the Ministry of External Affairs, said an agreement will be signed to take forward the strategic partnership signed between then Prime Minister H.D. Deva Gowda and then South African President Nelson Mandela during the latter's visit to India in 1997. "It will be a programme of action over three years for our strategic partnership," Tirumurti said. "This will be significant in the sense that it will capture all the areas where we feel we should take it forward in a time-bound manner." Tirumurti said that with India and South Africa having signed agreements on practically all areas, what both sides really needed was a road map "because in some areas we felt that we can definitely move faster. "It is going to be three-year type of programme and in each of these aspects, we are going to have specific action plans. "That is why it is going to be one agreement where we have tried to put all these thoughts together and have a comprehensive one. "I think this will be an important document that will be a catch-all document." Tirumurti said that ties in defence and security, trade and investment, development aid and capacity building were among a number of areas that were at an all time high. India and South Africa cooperate closely on maritime security in the Indian Ocean region. "South Africa is keen to attract investments and has set a target of $100 billion in the next three years," the official said. Around 150 Indian companies now operate in South Africa. Bilateral trade between India and South Africa stood at $10.7 billion in 2017-18. Ramaphosa will be accompanied by a high-level delegation during his visit, including a 50-member business team. This is the first visit to India by Ramaphosa as head of state. He is the second President of South Africa after Mandela to be the chief guest at the Republic Day celebrations. Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Ramaphosa will have a bilateral meeting and hold delegation-level talks on bilateral, regional and global issues of mutual interest on January 25. They will also address the India-South Africa Business Forum on January 25 with the objective to grow business ties between the two countries. Ramaphosa will deliver the Gandhi-Mandela Freedom Lecture organised by the Indian Council of World Affairs the same day under the IBSA (India, Brazil, South Africa) framework as part of the 15th anniversary celebrations of IBSA. Moscow, Jan 24 : Key allies of Venezuelan President NicolAs Maduro led by Russia and China, on Thursday warned Washington not to stage an "external intervention" in support of opposition leader Juan Guaido's attempt to lead the country, a day after US President Donald Trump recognized him as the South American nation's legitimate President. Trump's Wednesday move recognizing Guaido as the new head of state forced Venezuela's incumbent leader Maduro to cut "remaining" political and diplomatic ties with Washington. Maduro also asked American diplomats in Venezuela to leave within 72 hours. "The imperial government of the US is leading a coup attempt against us in order to install a puppet presidency that they can control in Venezuela," he added. The US and other regional countries including Argentina, Canada, Brazil, Colombia, Panama, Peru, Ecuador, Costa Rica, Guatemala and Paraguay expressed support for Guaido, while Russia, China, Mexico, Bolivia, Cuba, Nicaragua, Turkey, support Maduro, the BBC reported. French President Emmanuel Macron stopped short of recognition, calling for democratic elections. Russia, an important provider of financial aid to the Venezuelan government, issued a strong declaration of support for Maduro's government on Thursday, saying that the US military intervention in Venezuela would be "catastrophic". It said that the recognition of Guaido by Washington and some regional countries was aimed at aggravating the split in the Venezuelan society and escalating the conflict. "We warn against that," said Russia's Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov in remarks published by a ministry publication. "We believe it would be a catastrophic scenario to shake the foundation of the development model we have been observing in the region of Latin America." China also expressed its support for the Venezuelan government and criticized "the US interference in its domestic affairs", Xinhua news agency reported. "China supports the Venezuelan government's efforts to uphold its sovereignty, independence and stability," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying said. Venezuela has been one of Beijing's closest allies in Latin America and the largest recipient of Chinese financing, taking as much as 38 billion pounds in loans by 2017. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan phoned Maduro and offered his support, his spokesman said. Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu issued a warning about Guaido's declaration. UN Secretary General AntAnio Guterres said talks in Venezuela were needed to avoid the political crisis spiralling out of control. European Council President Donald Tusk expressed support and called on other European countries to join him. Trump had on Wednesday said that the US would continue to use economic and diplomatic power to press for "the restoration of Venezuelan democracy". In a statement, the US President described Maduro's leadership as "illegitimate", adding: "The people of Venezuela have courageously spoken out against Maduro and his regime and demanded freedom and the rule of law." It warned Maduro tougher sanctions could be imposed. London, Jan 24 : The High Court, England, on Thursday dismissed a $45 million fraud claim by the UK subsidiary of Punjab National Bank (PNB) against seven individuals and two companies based in India and the US. Zaiwalla & Co, the London-based international law firm representing eight of the defendants, argued that the bank had not made out an arguable case in deceit, that England was not the appropriate forum for the claim, that the Bank misled the court on a number of key issues, and that the Bank failed to properly effect service of the claim which was agreed to by the court. The claim made by PNB against the nine defendants concerned loans made by the bank totalling $45 million for oil re-refining and wind energy generating projects in the US. The Bank had claimed that it had been misled and defrauded by the actions of the defendants following the grant of loans amounting to $45 million to companies in the US and India controlled by the individual defendants. It also alleged that money had been siphoned off and payments due had not been made under the loan facilities and guarantees. The eight defendants were Ravi Srinivasan, Trishe Resources INC (USA), Vathsala Ranganathan, Pesco Beam Environmental Solutions INC (USA), Pesco Beam Environmental Solutions Pvt Ltd, Anantharaman Shankar, Luke Staengl and Anantharam Subramamium. All the individual defendants (some of whom have guaranteed loans) are resident in India with the exception of the 8th defendant who is resident in the US. The bank had lent the money from England and operated the loan accounts from London. The bank, at an ex-parte hearing, obtained permission to serve the proceedings commenced before the English Court and served the proceedings by email on various defendants in India and the US. In his judgment, Chief Master Marsh commented that "the core components of a claim in deceit are absent" and that "the claims in deceit and misrepresentation do not demonstrate a serious issue to be tried". "The failure to draw to the attention of the court the existence of the foreign claims was a serious breach of the claimant's duty to the court. The proceedings were highly material to the exercise of the court's jurisdiction to give permission to serve out of the jurisdiction" and that "the failures are such that the court should set those orders aside. I do not consider they are failure which can be overlooked," Chief Master Marsh observed. The court criticized the bank's lawyers for serving substantial amended proceedings which were not approved by the court. The court decided that the bank has not been able to demonstrate that the English Court is the most appropriate forum for the claims by stating that that there was no good reason why these defendants should be sued in England as well as the US and India. Reacting to the judgment, Zaiwalla & Co, which represented eight of the nine defendants, commented "The matter raises serious questions about the way bank's claim has been put before the court and served. English Civil Procedure Rules are very strict in practice. "It is very important that attention is paid and care is taken when claims are prepared to ensure that the rules are fully complied with. The decision serves as a reminder that serious allegations of fraud have to be supported by cogent facts and evidence: speculative claims will not be permitted to proceed to trial. the decision of the court has saved everyone concerned a great deal of time and money by being dismissed at an early stage, although the bank will still face claims for substantial costs as well as having to pay its own costs." New York, Jan. Jan 24 (IANS) After Speaker Nancy Pelosi firmly slammed the door on Trump delivering his State of the Union address in the House chamber of Congress, President Donald Trump blinked and agreed to postpone the annual agenda-setting speech, a delay he had defiantly opposed. His late night tweet on Wednesday acceding to her marked a turning point in the government shutdown that entered its 34th day on Thursday and offered a glimmer of hope that a deal on the budget could be worked out as the weight of the stress was beginning to show on federal operations, including law enforcement. Trump's back-down came amid reports that Democrats were working on a compromise that would increase the budget allocation for border control up to almost $5.7 billion, with the condition that it could not be spent on a wall or barrier along the Mexican border. Trump had demanded that the budget include $5.7 billion for building the barrier to deter smuggling and illegal immigration, but the Democrats who control the House and crucial votes in the Republican-majority Senate refused to vote for it. Without a budget as both sides hold firm, there is no money to run all but the most essential government services or pay the workers, both those still working and those temporarily laid off. The border wall was Trump's election promise and he has held fast to the demand for financing it, while the Democrats have opposed it for the same reason -- to hurt his standing with his base. Under their proposal, the increased border security allocation would be used to bring in new technologies and add personnel, while depriving him of the symbolism of the wall but meeting a big portion - if not all - of his budget demand. Trump himself had offered some concessions - instead of a concrete wall, it will be a metal fence, he said. Several news outlets reported that a new concessions that he may now offer was giving permanent residency to those who came in illegally as children to the US and were referred to as Dreamers, instead of a three-year reprieve he had offered on Saturday. Estimates of Indians covered by Trump's offer vary between 5,000 and 7,500. As their feud heightened, Trump wrote to Pelosi on Wednesday to demand to speak from the House chamber to a joint session of Congress next Tuesday, but she replied that the House will not consider a resolution to invite him unless he ended the government shutdown. Trump cannot deliver his annual address from the House chamber without an invitation or he would be sparking a constitutional crisis. A petulant Trump told reporters: "The State of the Union speech has been cancelled by Nancy Pelosi because she doesn't want to hear the truth." He could have spoken from another place in the Congress building as it was reported he was considering, but it would have lacked the pomp and show that Trump is fond of. After hours of defiance, Trump finally said that Pelosi had invited him on January 3, but "she then changed her mind because of the shutdown, suggesting a later date. This is her prerogative - I will do the address when the shutdown is over." He added that he looked forward to it "in the near future!" Pelosi tweetd back: "Mr. President, I hope by saying 'near future', you mean you will support the House-passed package to #EndTheShutdown that the Senate will vote on tomorrow." The Senate was expected to vote on two competing resolutions on Thursday. One was a the Democratic resolution that Pelosi referred to, demanding a temporary reopening of the government till February 8 so they can negotiate a more permanent solution and the other was a competing Republican resolution approving the border wall funding and the competing Neither resolution was likely to have enough votes to pass. The State of the Union address is the equivalent of the Indian President's address to the joint session of Parliament at the start of the session and has a ceremonial air that Trump is fond of. Earlier in retaliation, Trump had banned Pelosi from using military planes to visit US troops in Afghanistan. The effects of the shutdown were beginning to show. About 800,000 employees will be missing their second fortnightly paycheck on Friday and were facing financial hardships. Thousands of government employees held a protest outside the Senate offices by holding up empty paper plates, signifying that they were unable to feed their families. Admiral Karl Schultz, the commandant of the Coast Guard, took the bold step of tweeting a video message that it was "unacceptable for his personnel to rely on charity without their paychecks". The Federal Bureau of Investigation Agents Association issued a report detailing how the shutdown was undermining the nation's security as the agency was running out of funds for its operations. "The fear is our enemies know they can run freely," an officer was quoted in the report. Trump has been portraying Pelosi as a hostage of the radical left in the party, some of whom like Indian-American Representative Pramila Jayapal want to abolish the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency that acts against smugglers and illegal immigrants within the US. "They've become radicalized," he said on Wednesday. But Trump has his own set of extremists in his base that he has to contend with and they have already voiced opposition to his offers on extending temporary legal status to the two categories of illegal immigrants. They will oppose any compromise without the wall. They will oppose any compromise without the wall, just as the Democrats will oppose increased border security funding. Meanwhile, he moderates on both sides are becoming uneasy with the prolonged shutdown. Some Democrats who won the November elections from traditionally Republican constituencies that backed Trump fear being cast as radicals, while Republican moderates were worried about the rising public disapproval rate for Trump's handling of the crisis in many opinion polls. ( can be reached at arul.l@ians.in and followed on Twitter @arulouis) Mumbai, Jan 24 : In a significant development, the CBI on Thursday lodged an FIR against ex-ICICI Bank chief Chanda Kochhar and her husband Deepak Kochhar and industrialist V.N. Dhoot besides four companies, and raided four locations in Maharashtra in connection with a Rs 3,250 crore loan involving the Videocon Group and ICICI Bank, informed sources said here. The raids were conducted shortly after the Central Bureau of Investigation registered an FIR naming former ICICI Bank Managing Director-cum-CEO Chanda Kochhar, her husband and NuPower Renewables Pvt Ltd Managing Director Deepak Kochhar and Videocon Group Managing director Dhoot in the case dating back to 2012. Besides, four companies have been named in the CBI FIR: NuPower Renewables Pvt Ltd, Supreme Energy Pvt Ltd, Videocon International Electronics Ltd and Videocon Industries Ltd. The FIR has booked them under various sections of the Indian Penal Code and Prevention of Corruption Act as the accused allegedly "sanctioned loans to private companies in a criminal conspiracy with other accused to cheat ICICI Bank". The FIR comes in the wake of a preliminary enquiry (PE) lodged on March 31, 2018, against Deepak Kochhar, Videocon group officials and others to determine whether any wrongdoing was involved in the sanctioning of the loan by the ICICI Bank as part of a consortium, a senior CBI official said. The raids were carried out simultaneously at the offices of the four (aforementioned) companies in south Mumbai and one location belonging to Videocon in Aurangabad. The CBI official said that a PE is conducted to ascertain if there is sufficient evidence of wrongdoing for a case to be taken up for detailed investigation. If the evidence suggests that a cognizable offence has been committed, then this is converted into a regular full-fledged FIR. The Bureau initiated the PE after news reports raised questions about Videocon's Dhoot allegedly providing crores to a firm promoted by Deepak Kochhar and a few relatives six months after the former's group received the Rs 3,250 crore loan. The said amount was part of a Rs 40,000 crore loan which Videocon got from a consortium of 20 banks led by the State Bank of India. Following the controversy over the alleged "conflict of interests" and "non-disclosure" in the loans sanctioned by ICICI, Chanda Kochhar, 56, quit her post seeking premature retirement on October 4, 2018. New Delhi, Jan 24 (IANS) A multi-layer high-security grid has been activated around Rajpath for the Republic Day celebrations in line with threat perception assessment made by security agencies to safeguard the high-profile event from a possible terror attack. The security for the grand Republic Day parade is an elaborate affair as the nation's pride is at display at the mega event showcasing the country's military might and cultural diversity. More than 5,000 personnel will be on guard on ground zero and around apart from surveillance through electronic devices, hundreds of high-resolution face-reading cameras and communication jammers. The security forces are geared up to deal with aerial threats as well with drones keeping a hawk-eye on activities on the ground during the duration of parade. Anti-aircraft guns, snipers and crack teams are ready to meet any eventuality. A breakdown of the security structure shows the following grid in place: Delhi Police As usual, the boots on the ground will be the vast entourage of the Delhi police personnel. They are the visible faces of the otherwise discreet network. Apart from crowd management and general area sanitization, the Delhi Police has made fully deployment of its newly raised Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) anti-terror squads. Each of the SWAT unit is armed with MPS submachine guns and Glock 21 pistols and has been trained in Israeli Krav Maga unarmed combat. The Delhi police also has NSG-trained Parakram teams specially formed to deal with terror attacks as first points of contact. National Security Guard The elite "black cat" commandos of National Security Guard (NSG), India's specialised anti-urban terror outfit, will be out in full force to deal with any eventuality. The operational capabilities of the NSG units have been enhanced substantially over the years to deal with all kinds of threat perceptions. The units will be out around the parade venue with armoured personnel carriers, spy cam drones, bullet resistant sheets and automatic submachine guns and pistols. Special Protection Group The full component of Prime Minister's security apparatus is deployed at the Republic Day. The Prime minister will receive President Ram Nath Kovind and the visiting South African president Cyril Ramaphosa who is the guest of honour at the parade. The SPG PM's convoy has ballistic shield and advanced communication system and jammers. The Indian Air Force the IAF radars will keep a strict watch on the aerial activities in and around Delhi. The airspace over Delhi will be restricted as the IAF fighter jets will carry out a fly past over Rajpath. Special surveillance is on low-flying objects which go undetected by radars. Counter measures to deal with all forms of aerial threats are in place. Central Industrial Security Force The CISF personnel will sanitize all the buildings along Rajpath to ensure they are locked and out of bound a day before the parade. The compounds are combed and sealed after securing the roof-tops where sharp shooters are deployed. The intelligence agencies The information from intelligence agencies flows constantly for action as there have been inputs about heightened activities in Jammu and Kashmir and threats from ISIS modules in India are looming large. Special emphasis is on keeping track on these activities. ( can be contacted at datt.gautam@gmail.com) Ranchi, Jan 24 : Opposition parties have agreed to form a 'grand alliance' against the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party in Jharkhand, but seat-sharing seems to be a tricky task given the backdrop of talks among anti-BJP parties in recent days, political observers said. Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) Executive President and former Chief Minister Hemant Soren had called a meeting of opposition parties on January 17 which was attended by the Congress, Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), Left parties, Jharkhand Vikas Morcha-Prajatantrik (JVM-P) and others. The meeting decided that each party would consult its leaders about the choice of seats for the upcoming Lok Sabha polls and that the list will be finalised by January 30. On Thursday, a senior Congress leader told IANS on condition of anonymity that three of the demands of the JMM are not easy to accept. "The demands include declaring Hemant Soren as the leader of opposition parties for the Assembly polls. Second, JMM wants to fight on 40 of the 81 Assembly seats and third, finalise the Lok Sabha and Assembly seats simultaneously. For any political party these demands are not easy to accept." The Congress wants Assembly seats to be decided after the Lok Sabha polls in May, considering the performance of the parties in the state Assembly polls slated for November. The Congress leader revealed that the party is in favour of cementing alliance with a BJP partner, All Jharkhand Students Union (AJSU). Central and state Congress leaders are in touch over the alliance issue. The party is mulling forming an alliance with JVM-P, AJSU and RJD, but the AJSU has said it will fight the Assembly polls alone. The state Congress is enthused by the Kolibera Assembly bypoll outcome in which the party won despite JMM supporting another candidate. "The AJSU will be comfortable with Congress and minus JMM opposition alliance," said the Congress leader. On some Assembly seats, JMM and AJSU are in direct confrontation. Congress sources said the party wants to fight on eight of the 14 Lok Sabha seats. The JMM wants to fight on at least six Lok Sabha seats, RJD on two, JVM-P on two and left parties on two. There are some seats where there is contention between parties, like, both the JMM and the Congress have claimed Chaibasa seat and JVM-P and Congress have claimed the Godda Lok Sabha seat. "The alliance talks are in progress. The seat-sharing issue will be finalised by central Congress leaders in Delhi. The party's agenda is the people's welfare and it wants the BJP government to go," Kishore Sahdeo, Jharkhand Congress General Secretary, told IANS. The JMM leaders have said that seat sharing will not come in the way of the alliance. Bengaluru, Jan 24 : To be a premier investment destination, the Karnataka government began identifying farmlands in rural areas to set up industrial units, Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy said on Thursday. "To make Karnataka a premier investment destination, our government has begun the process of identifying large acres of farmlands in rural areas to set up industrial units," Kumaraswamy said at a trade event here. Unveiling the Indian machine tool manufacturers expo (Imtex) at the Bengaluru International Exhibition Centre, the Chief Minister said his government would soon set up an integrated facility for machine tool industry to create an ecosystem and make it competitive. "As a joint initiative of the state and central governments, the Tumakuru Machine Tool Park will be set up in about 500 acres of land at Vasantha Narasapura industrial area in the district," Kumaraswamy told the gathering. Tumakuru is about 70 km northwest of Bengaluru. For ease of doing business, the government has initiated a host of new programmes and events like Imtex and Tooltex to hasten industry-led growth. "Our state's technology engagement has attracted investments from the across the country and abroad, making Karnataka a favourite for investing in disruptive technologies like Artificial Intelligence, Automation, Data Analytics, Machine Learning, 3D Printing and Robatics," said Kumaraswamy. As a pioneer in industrial development, Karnataka has been following a new industrial policy since 2014 for enabling the manufacturing sector grow at 12 per cent and attract Rs 5 lakh crore investments and create 15-lakh jobs. "Karnataka has recently been ranked by the central government as one among the country's top three states for highest employment generation," said Kumaraswamy. The eight-month-old Janata Dal-Secular-Congress coalition government has also identified nine districts across the state to set up industrial clusters for fostering innovation and product diversification. "We have identified Ballari, Bidar, Chikkaballapura, Chitradurga, Hassan, Kalaburgi, Kolar, Koppal and Mysuru for the clusters. We intend to expand our state network to tap the huge talent available in tier-2 and tier-3 cities," said Kumaraswamy. Industries Minister K.J. George, Revenue Minister R.V. Despande, Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) Vice President Vikram Kirloskar and leading industrialist Jamshyd N. Goderej were present on the occasion. Leading Indian and overseas machine tool makers are showcasing their technologies and products at the 5-day expo-cum-summit. New Delhi, Jan 24 (IANS) Indo-Russia joint projects in the field of artificial intelligence (AI) and the Internet of Things (IoT) are expected to take-off this year according to the Finnish-Russian digital solutions provider Zyfra which has joined hands with Indian companies to provide IoT and AI-based solutions for the industrial sector. In an e-mail interview with IANS, Igor Bogachev, the Chief Executive of Zyfra, which has supplied Indian manufacturers with AI and IoT-based solutions, as well as autonomous vehicles, said the Indian sectors with most potential to adopt such solutions are metallurgy, transportation, aerospace and petrochemicals. "India is of great interest to companies in the field of the industrial Internet of Things and this year we hope to see first projects in this area being implemented jointly with Russia," Bogachev said. "Innovations should become a point of growth of Russian-Indian relations. We see significant potential for introduction in such industries as construction of machine tools, mechanical engineering, metallurgy, the chemical industry and the oil and gas sector," he said. Last month, Zyfra announced it has managed to reach $3 million in contracts with its Indian counterparts in 2018., and the company plans to reach the target of $50 million in India-related deals by 2021. The company has already signed agreements with various Indian companies, including Spudweb, Abcon Group, Parivartan Automation, Agaram Infotech, Wimerasys, Nortech Trinity and Mascot Tools. Zyfra is implementing 7 pilot projects in collaboration with its Indian partners and plans to launch five more joint projects including for production of farm machinery, as well as for manufacturing components for aerospace divisions of both Boeing and Rolls-Royce. According to Bogachev, cooperation between Russia and India in AI and IOT will be much more than a buyer-seller relationship and will involve sharing best practices, knowledge and innovating jointly. "We truly believe, that we will be able develop products with our Indian partners, probably with joint ventures, to export to third countries," he said. The company has already signed agreement with various Indian firms accounting for around $2.5 million in contracts, the Zyfra CEO said. Last year, Zyfra unveiled its manufacturing data collection (MDC) plus system in India which performs real-time machine monitoring with customizable reports and charts that can be used to track jobs, parts, operations, work centres, scrap costs, downtime and people, he said. Zyfra recently also released a report which ranks India among the most advanced countries in terms of development of AI technologies and IoT. The survey ranks the US first, followed by China, while India ranks 13th, after Canada. The company has started the acquisition of the VIST Group, one of the industrial leaders in development and implementation of information technologies for digital mining. "Through the acquisition of these assets, which will be finished by 2020, the company is planning to occupy a significant share of the global market and to compete with Catarpillar, Komatsu and other majors," the CEO said. According to Bogachev, who also chairs the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs Subcommittee on the Digital Economy and Innovations, "there is tremendous opportunity for disruption in the industrial IoT and applied AI space, although it is still a nascent market to a larger extent." Founded in 2017, the private sector Zifra's clients in Russia include giants like Gazprom, Chelpipe, NLMK Group and United Engine Corporation. ( can be reached at biswajit.c@ians.in) New Delhi, Jan 24 : Ace designer Anita Dongre, who was a part of the World Economic Forum in Davos, says as part of the next step towards the women empowerment initiative under her Foundation, she will inaugurate Phase II of the Community Tailoring (Training and Production) Centre at Dhanevari village in Palghar district of Maharashtra on Republic Day. "Being at the Davos summit gave me an opportunity to engage with like-minded leaders and share our concerns and solutions towards sustainability and women empowerment," Dongre told IANS. "The Anita Dongre Foundation will continue to work towards its goal and as our next step under the women empowerment initiative, on the 70th Republic Day of the country, we will be inaugurating Phase II of Community Tailoring (Training and Production) Centre at Village Dhanevari in Palghar District of Maharashtra," she added. According to the designer, the centre will enable more than 50 local tribal women to be professionally trained in garment stitching and provide them with gainful, sustained livelihood opportunities in their own village. One of the most prestigious forums held annually in the Swiss Alps, the World Economic Forum saw notable individuals from around the world discussing matters developing in the current political, economic and environmental scenario. In recognition of her initiatives towards sustainability, Dongre was invited to be a part of '3 Trillion Reasons to Help the World Spend Better agenda' panel discussion on January 22 and 'The Fashion CEO agenda Roundtable' that was held under the patronage of the Crown Princess of Denmark on January 23. Tokyo, Jan 24 : Carlos Ghosn, the ousted Nissan Motor chairman who is currently in a Tokyo jail for alleged financial misconduct, on Thursday resigned as President and CEO of Renault, hours before the company was slated to dismiss him. Ghosn's resignation announcement was made by the French Minister of Economy and Finance Bruno Le Maire, who is currently at the World Economic Forum in Davos, cabinet sources told Efe news. Le Maire confirmed the resignation - which was expected since early this week - shortly before the Renault Board of Directors held a meeting at its headquarters on the outskirts of Paris to decide on the new team. The first challenge of the new Renault team will be to restore confidence with Nissan owing to the crisis generated by Ghosn's arrest in Tokyo on November 19 which has highlighted the friction in the alliance that also includes Mitsubishi. Nissan is in a difficult situation because Renault holds a 43 per cent stake in it but the Japanese company only owns 15 per cent of the French company's stock with no voting rights. Discontent in the alliance was further exacerbated by the fact that the main shareholder of Renault is the French government which has 15.01 per cent of the shares and 22 per cent of the voting rights. Beijing, Jan 24 (IANS) China on Thursday was non-committal on the news reports about President Xi Jinping travelling to India in the next two months. "It's quite interesting. I am not aware of that, but China and India are friendly neighbours and we attach importance to maintaining high-level exchanges," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying said when asked at the regular briefing about the reports. "The leaders of the two countries also maintain friendly communications and exchanges," Hua added. A Japanese news outlet had reported that Xi might travel to India as early as February or after the Chinese Parliament session in March. "Xi intends to visit India as early as February in a move seen at countering Washington's increasingly antagonistic trade policy and aggressive Indo-Pacific diplomacy," a report in the Nikkei Asian Review said. "Xi hopes to visit ahead of India's general elections due by May. An Indian source said the visit would be in February at the earliest, but a Chinese source said it will be after China's National People's Congress in March," said the report. Talking to IANS in Beijing, a diplomatic source denied that such meeting would happen before India's general elections. Another source pleaded ignorance about the matter. During the ice-breaking one-on-one summit at Wuhan in April last year, Modi had proposed to Xi a similar meet in India in 2019. The proposal was accepted by the Chinese side. In Wuhan, Modi and Xi came to agree on a lot of issues and pledged to keep their disputed border quiet and let not the issues affect other aspects of the bilateral ties. Since the summit, the ties between India and China have been on the upswing with a slew of high-level visits by both sides. In fact, the Chinese envoy Luo Zhaohui last year said that New Delhi and Beijing were in the best phase of their relationship. ( can be contacted at sharmagaurav71@gmail.com) Agartala, Jan 24 : Tripura Chief Minister Biplab Kumar Deb said on Thursday that Indian and Bangladesh officials will finalise various aspects of a proposed waterway between the two countries. "Union Shipping Ministry officials have informed that senior authorities from both the countries, including from the Inland Waterways Authority of India (IWAI), will visit Tripura on January 28-29. The officials would finalise different issues of the proposed waterway between the two countries involving Tripura," Deb told IANS. He said that construction works to develop the 35 km waterway between Tripura's Gomati river and Meghna river in Bangladesh is slated to begin next month. "The project works were delayed due to the parliamentary elections in Bangladesh," said Deb. "After the development of the new waterway, movement of vessels and cruises would be possible to ferry people and goods. It would promote trade, tourism and people to people contact." A four-member IWAI team visited Tripura's Sonamura last month to select the site for a terminal building (jetty). The famous Akhaura canal, built by the erstwhile kings of the princely Tripura, was earlier used to ferry goods to-and-from Bangladesh by boats and small vessels. "After the partition of India, the transportation through the Akhaura canal was stopped," Salil Debbarma, a veteran writer, told IANS. The Indian Oil Corporation in 2016 had ferried diesel and cooking gas to Tripura from Assam via Bangladesh. The Food Corporation of India (FCI) had transported 23,000 tonnes of rice in three phases since 2014 from Kolkata to Tripura via Bangladesh using Dhaka's Ashuganj River Port, which is about 50 km from Tripura. In 2012, Bangladesh had allowed state-owned Oil and Natural Gas Corporation to ferry heavy machinery, turbines and over-dimensional cargoes through Ashuganj port for the 726 MW Palatana Mega Power Project in southern Tripura. According to the Union Shipping Ministry, out of the 111 National Waterways, 20 are in land-locked northeastern region, mostly in Assam. There are 54 rivers flowing between India and Bangladesh. Jaipur, Jan 24 : The Jaipur Literature Festival entered its 12th edition with its characteristic fervour, with the loud beating of drums and rhythms of traditional Rajasthani musical instruments reverberating in the premises of Diggi Palace here on Thursday while the Rajasthan Police beefed up security to avoid any untoward incident. Personnel have been deployed both inside and outside the festival venue and all visitors are required to pass through metal detectors, followed by physical frisking. Over 40 CCTV cameras have also been put in place to keep a close vigil on the premises. Early risers flocked to grab seats at the Front Lawn and catch their favourite speakers and musicians who have gathered here from all quarters of the world. Having braved the chilly Jaipur morning, they were welcomed by the melodious voice of Shruthi Vishwanath. The Pune-based musician and composer, who has a background in the Carnatic and Hindustani traditions of music, was accompanied by musicians Yuji Nakagawa on the sarangi and Shruteendra Katagadeon the tabla. Vishwanath had the attention of the audience with her very first note. She opened with a musical rendition of the verses of 17th century spiritual poet Tukaram. Vishwanath continued to sing songs and devotional poetry in four languages, ranging from Brajbhasha to Tamil and Marathi to Bengali. Exploring the intersection of folk and classical, she mesmerised the listeners with recitals of the works of Kabir and other mystic poets. To mark the end of a stellar performance, she sang "Vaishnava Jana To". Several thousand book lovers descended on the venue for the inauguration function in which festival producer Sanjoy Roy, co-director Namita Gokhale and with Rajasthan Minister for Art and Culture B.D. Kalla, shared their thoughts. "Each year, we gather here to celebrate, talk, debate, discus, and most importantly create a space for dissent. There is very little space for those who have a dissenting point of view in today's world," Roy said, before highlighting the role writers have played over centuries in guiding mankind. He also recalled that the festival began on a humble note with just about 170 visitors in the first edition and has now grown immensely, welcoming over 500,000 book lovers every year. "In the hurly burly of our everyday life, we forget what the arts represent. There is a world beyond the usual canvas and it is through arts and literature that we are able to understand 'the other'", he said. Noted Indian writer Gokhale, who is largely responsible for the representation of writers from the Indian languages, began her speech in Hindi and invoked Hindu god Shiva. "Satyam Shivam Sundaram," Gokhale said, represents the true essence of this festival, describing the annual gathering as the Maha Kumbh of literature that brings together a diverse, multilingual and inclusive community of writers every year to the Pink City. "We are each other's stories. The human race has progressed through our shared knowledge," she noted. Gokhale also read out a message from her counterpart and noted writer-historian William Dalrymple, who is not attending the 2019 edition of the festival following the death of his father, in which she highlighted that writers from Egypt to Mexico and from New Zealand to Zimbabwe have gathered here. Kalla said that the festival has transformed the cultural landscape of the state, and highlighted that more and more writers, many of them very young, have been inspired by the festival. The five-day annual event is often described as "the greatest literary show on earth". The festival officially kicked-off with an inaugural address by Nobel Prize winner Venki Ramakrishnan, in which he talked about the role of science in the contemporary world. Science and mathematics are as much a triumph of human achievement and part of our culture as history, literature, art and music, and therefore all of us should enjoy them, he said. The inauguration is followed by over 350 sessions over the next five days, on themes ranging from current socio-political scenario to history, mythology and science. The Jaipur Literature Festival is produced by Teamwork Arts, with Roy as the producer and writers Gokhale and Dalrymple as its co-directors. New Delhi, Jan 24 (IANS) The databases that Amazon Web Services (AWS), retail giant Amazon's Cloud arm, is currently offering are "horrible" and a "complete disaster" when compared with Oracle's "self-driving" Autonomous Database, the Redwood Shores (California)-based company's top global executive has claimed. According to Andrew Mendelsohn, Executive Vice President, Oracle Database, who reports directly to company's Co-Founder and Chairman Larry Ellison, all AWS data warehouse offerings like Aurora or Amazon Redshift and others are at least 10-15 years behind the database technology that Oracle has. "We are an undisputed leader when it comes to database products. AWS cannot match our expertise, R&D and talent that we have behind making Oracle databases a top choice across industries. All AWS database offerings are presently horrible, a complete disaster," Mendelsohn told IANS in an interview here. Top Oracle and AWS executives have been sparring over Amazon's abandonment of Oracle databases in its internal operations for some time. AWS CEO Andy Jassy said in November that Amazon will take off all its workloads from Oracle databases by the end of this year and put those on its own database offerings. At the recently concluded AWS "Reinvent 2018" conference in Las Vegas, Jassy showcased one presentation slide on Cloud growth that had a "peeping" Ellison. "Oracle and SQL databases are expensive and not customer-friendly. These are old guard databases. Our Aurora database has unmatched pace of innovation. This is the moment for database freedom," said Jassy, taking a dig at Oracle. Mendelsohn, however, feels that that is not the case. "Together I think AWS has nine database offerings but when it comes to Oracle, unprecedented availability, high performance, scalability and security at a much lower cost in one single platform gives us a clear advantage," Mendelsohn told IANS. The Oracle Autonomous Database, according to Ellison, now has the capability to automatically scan for security threats and apply security updates while running to help prevent cyberattacks and data theft. "We don't charge you a lot of money for moving data back and forth, in and out of our Cloud. Amazon charges you a fortune for moving data out of your Cloud. It's almost free to move it into your Cloud. They charge you 100 times more to move it out of your Cloud," Ellison had said during his keynote address at Oracle OpenWorld in October last year. Cloud major Oracle is all set to launch its first-ever data centre in Mumbai later this year. The data centre will help Oracle take on major Cloud players like Amazon Web Services (AWS), Google Cloud Platform (GCP) and Microsoft Azure who already have significant presence in the country. ( can be contacted at nishant.a@ians.in) Patna, Jan 24 : Rashtriya Janata Dal leader Raghuvar Rai was shot dead on Thursday by unidentified assailants in Bihar's Samastipur district, police said. He was killed by two motorcycle borne assailant when he was out on morning walk near his home in Kalyanpur, District Superintendent of police Harpareet Kaur said. Rai was a former Zila Parishad member. Angry over the killing hundreds of his supporters blocked Samastipur-Darbganga road, burned tyres demanding arrest of the assailants. New Delhi, Jan 24 : Accusing Prime Minister Narendra Modi of restricting the works done by the Delhi government for the city, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Thursday questioned if the act of paralysing the national capital was not "treason". "Don't know if Kanhaiya (Kumar) is guilty of treason, the law is investigating his case. On the other hand, Modiji restricted schools for Delhi children, hospitals, Mohalla Clinics, and CCTV cameras and tried to paralysed Delhi - Is this not treason," he tweeted in Hindi. The Delhi government has been attacking the Centre for restricting its various plans and projects through different Central agencies. Caracas/Washington, Jan 24 : US President Donald Trump has officially recognised Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido as the country's legitimate President, a move that forced the South American nation's incumbent leader Nicolas Maduro to cut "remaining" political and diplomatic ties with Washington Hours after Trump'a announcement on Wednesday, a defiant Maduro appeared before supporters and accused the US of backing an attempted coup, reports CNN. "We cannot accept the invasive policies of the empire, the US, the policies of Donald Trump," he said to cheers from the crowd. "Venezuela is a land of liberators... We will not surrender." Maduro also asked American diplomats in Venezuela to leave within 72 hours. "The imperial government of the US is leading a coup attempt against us in order to install a puppet presidency that they can control in Venezuela," he added. Maduro and Trump's announcements came after Guaido on Wednesday told a large crowd of supporters in Caracas that he was assuming the powers of Venezuela's executive branch and would fight against Maduro's "usurpation" of the presidency. The governments of Argentina, Canada, Brazil, Colombia, Peru, Ecuador, Chile, Paraguay and Costa Rica have announced that they recognize Guaido as Venezuela's interim president. European Council President Donald Tusk expressed support and called on other European countries to join him. But Mexico said that it continues to recognise Maduro as President. US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo also reiterated the US' support to Guaido, saying that Maduro does not have "the legal authority to break diplomatic relations with the US or to declare our diplomats persona non grata". The US Embassy in Caracas issued a security alert indicating that diplomats and their families will be restricted to travel only within a few neighbourhoods in Caracas and school children will be staying at home. The embassy will remain open during regular business hours but all visa appointments for Thursday have been cancelled, the alert said. Guaido responded to Maduro's speech via Twitter, telling all diplomatic missions and accredited staff that Venezuela "wants you to maintain your diplomatic presence in our country". "Any messages to the contrary lack any validity, since they come from people or entities that have been characterised as usurpers," he said in the statement. "They have no legitimate authority to make any statements on this." Sporadic clashes erupted after Guaido's announcement, with news footage showing National Guard members launching tear gas canisters at anti-government demonstrators near one of the main highways in the capital. Beijing, Jan 24 : The Chinese government has reportedly blocked Microsoft's search engine Bing - the only global search platform that was open for use in the country, the company announced on Thursday. According to a report in Financial Times, mainland Chinese users wrote on social media that attempts to access Bing's China site, cn.bing.com, failed. "Two sources familiar with the government order confirmed that Bing had been blocked. One of the sources explained that China Unicom, one of China's major state-owned telecoms companies, had confirmed the government had ordered a block on Bing," said the report. In a statement given to The New York Times, Microsoft said: "We've confirmed that Bing is currently inaccessible in China and are engaged to determine next steps". According to Greatfire.org, a group that tracks what sites are blocked in China, said the site appeared to be inaccessible in parts of the country but reachable in others, reports The New York Times. China's blockages often take time to spread nationwide, though in the past some services have been blocked in some places only to be restored later. It was not immediately clear why Bing has been being blocked. China's internet regulator is yet to comment on the development. Microsoft, which recently overtook Apple as the world's most valuable company, is the latest US tech giant to face difficulties in China. Google Search is already inaccessible in China while Facebook-owned WhatsApp was blocked in 2017. Google had earlier launched a search engine in China in 2006 but pulled the plug in 2010, citing Chinese government efforts to limit free speech and block websites. Google has also shelved its plan to re-enter China through a censored search application code-named "Project Dragonfly" after massive protests. Davos, Jan 24 : Italy and Brazil share "many convergences", populist premier Giuseppe Conte said on Wednesday after meeting Brazil's new far-right president Jair Bolsonaro at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. "It was a pleasure to meet Jair Bolsonaro here in Davos. I thanked him again for the help in the Battisti case," Conte tweeted. Former far-left militant and convicted murderer Cesare Battisti was extradited to Italy last week and taken to jail. He went to live in Brazil over a decade ago after he escaped from prison in Italy and fled to France in 1981. "We discussed various topics and there were many convergences between our two countries, especially in the economic and judicial areas," Conte's tweet went on. "See you again soon president," added the tweet which included a photo of Conte and Bolsanaro's meeting. Mumbai, Jan 24 : Filmmaker Rohit Shetty has showered praises on actor Nawazuddin Siddiqui after watching his portrayal of late Shiv Sena patriarch Bal Thackeray in the forthcoming release "Thackeray", saying he is an outstanding actor. Rohit was interacting with the media at the special screening of the film on Wednesday here, when he said: "Nawaz is an outstanding actor and I think everyone says the same thing about him after the release of each of his films. "There were a few scenes where the makers have shown young Balasaheb's life and in those scenes, he was looking exactly like the late Shiv Sena supremo. "It's a job full of responsibility for an actor to pull off a character of a public figure. But Nawaz has portrayed Balasaheb fabulously." Talking about the film, the filmmaker said: "Obviously being born and brought up in Mumbai, we know about Balasaheb Thackeray and I know the family personally. "People know about his work but there are many people who don't know how he started and formed his political party so, makers of the film have done a really good job capturing his entire journey in a two and half hour film." "It's a film to be seen for leadership because I consider him as a leader. He created a place for his party in Maharashtra through his vision and confidence. "He worked for the betterment of people. I think his entire journey is very long so, at the end of the film, there is a sign of to be continued. I think the makers will come up with more parts and I wish them all the luck," Rohit added. "Thackeray", a biopic on the late Marathi leader has been written by journalist and MP Sanjay Raut and directed by Abhijt Panse. It stars Nawazuddin Siddiqui and Amruta Rao in lead roles. It will be released in Hindi, Marathi, and English languages. The film is slated to release on January 25. New York, Jan 24 : US President Donald Trump's former lawyer Michael Cohen said that he was postponing his public congressional testimony scheduled for next month, citing "ongoing threats against his family" from the President and his attorney Rudy Giuliani. "Due to ongoing threats against his family from President Trump and Giuliani, as recently as this weekend, as well as Cohen's continued cooperation with ongoing investigations, by advice of counsel, Cohen's appearance will be postponed to a later date," CNN quoted Cohen's attorney Lanny Davis as saying on Wednesday. "Cohen wishes to thank Chairman Cummings for allowing him to appear before the House Oversight Committee and looks forward to testifying at the appropriate time. "This is a time where Cohen had to put his family and their safety first," Davis added. Earlier this month, Cohen had agreed to testify before the House Oversight Committee as a "commitment to cooperate and provide the American people with answers". A source told CNN on Wednesday that Cohen's wife and father-in-law feel threatened by comments by the President and Giuliani. It has been Cohen's intention to testify, but he has had reservations - and vacillated - because of concerns for his family given the Trump and Giuliani statements, the source said. Cohen's decision raises questions about whether he will ultimately testify publicly. He reports to prison for a three-year sentence on March 6. Asked on Wednesday about Cohen citing the threats, Trump said: "Well I would say he's been threatened by the truth. He's only been threatened by the truth." After Cohen's public testimony was announced on January 10, the President attacked him in a Fox News interview, suggesting without evidence that he was aware of damaging information about Cohen's family. Then on Twitter, the President added: "Lying to reduce his jail time! Watch father-in-law!" G iuliani appeared on news shows over the weekend where he called Cohen "a serial liar". Dehradun, Jan 24 : Omung Kumar B met Uttarakhand Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat during his visit to Uttarkashi for his upcoming biopic on Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Omung is busy scouting locations for the film titled "PM Narendra Modi". It was one of his location hunting sprees in the town of Uttarkashi that Omung met Rawat, said a source. The filmmaker, who has been working on the project for the past two years, visited the locales of Harsil village. He also travelled to Nelang Valley. He has been traveling in and around the country to finalise the film's locations. It is expected to go on the floors during the Republic Day week. "PM Narendra Modi" is a biopic that will present the journey of Modi from his humble beginnings to his years as Chief Minister of Gujarat and finally his landmark election as the Prime Minister of India. Produced by Sandip Ssingh and directed by Omung, "PM Narendra Modi" has Vivekanand Oberoi playing Modi. ZAOZHUANG, China, Jan. 23, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- On December 11, 2018, the Publicity Department of the CPC Zaozhuang Municipal Committee hosted its Zaozhuang publicity campaign through central media so as to "implement the decisions of the 19th CPC National Congress, promoting the rural revitalization strategy". Journalists from more than 10 central media outlets, including People's Daily, Xinhua News Agency, China News Service, and Guangming Daily traveled to Tengzhou City, and Shanting, Yicheng, and Taierzhuang districts to conduct interviews and to publicize the work of people whose work on the rural revitalization strategy has excelled. These people have achieved great results in the areas of organizations, industries, talents, ecology and culture. This campaign aims to widely publicize new achievements and highlights in Zaozhuang during the process of reform and opening up. Chinese New Year is a major festival celebrated worldwide, with traditions dating back over 3,000 years ago. Passing down from one generation to the next, these traditions have evolved over time. In a lively dialogue between celebrity influencer Richard Juan and Feng Shui Master Kelvin Poon, who studied after the famous Master Peter So Man-fung, Harbour City shines a new light on this festival with eight lucky things to do: Have a Lucky Meal: "Lo Hei" is made of ingredients like salmon and abalone which in Cantonese sound like prosperity , and everyone sticks their chopsticks in to toss everything up. Wear a Dash of Red: From red outfits to red lipsticks, adding a dash of red is a must for CNY. Wear Red Inside Too: Wearing red underneath, from socks to underwear, is one of CNY's best-kept lucky secrets! Put Fresh Fruits at Home: Fresh fruits boost liveliness for the home and the body, even better if they are red. Eat Sweet Things: Sweeten and brighten up your life with colourful candies they make great gifts too. Give Out Lai-see: Lucky money in a red packet everyone's favourite CNY tradition explained. Beautify Your Space: Clearing up spaces at work and at home increases the flow of energy, and decorating them with fresh flowers and Fai Chun can elevate that further. Share a Bowl of Tong Yuan: "Tong Yuan" is a signature dessert to enjoy with family and loved ones during CNY, a time of sharing joy and reunion. Richard Juan (@richardjuan) Having grown up in Hong Kong and the Philippines, Richard Juan is part of a new generation of international Asians with a multi-cultural upbringing, network and aspirations. As an actor, host and model, Juan has built a substantial fan base predominately in Southeast Asia after graduating cum laude at the Philippines' top university. Kelvin Poon Professional Feng Shui master Kelvin Poon has worked with private and corporate clients from Hong Kong and around the world for over 10 years. His work has been featured in CNN Money and The Economic Times. Customer Enquiry Hotline: (852) 2118 8666 Website: www.harbourcity.com.hk Logo - https://photos.prnasia.com/prnh/20140721/8521404095LOGO SOURCE Harbour City Related Links http://www.harbourcity.com.hk LOS ALTOS, Calif., Jan. 24, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Bioz Inc., a company that has developed the world's first and most comprehensive A.I. search engine for scientific experimentation, today announced an expansion of its advisory board with the addition of Professor Alon Halevy, a world-leading expert in A.I., Machine Learning (ML) and Natural Language Processing (NLP). Professor Halevy, recipient of the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers, is one of the most highly recognized experts in the field of Data Management Systems, with deep expertise in Machine Learning, Named-Entity Recognition (NER), Entity Matching (EM) and Entity Linking (EL). Member of the Bioz Board of Advisors Professor Halevy spent 10 years at Google, leading Google Research's Structured Data Group. Before joining Google, he was a professor of computer science at the University of Washington in Seattle. Alon founded and sold two startup companies: Nimble Technology, a leader in enterprise IT, which was acquired by Actuate/Open Text Corp, and Transformic, a leader in deep web technology, acquired by Google. Alon holds a Ph.D. in computer science from Stanford University. "We are very proud to have Professor Alon Halevy as a distinguished member of the Bioz Advisory Board. Alon couples his top-tier A.I. expertise with his hands-on entrepreneurial experience. He is a strong supporter of the Bioz mission of uncovering and structuring objective life science experimentation data, from within tens of millions of published scientific research articles, to empower researchers to make well-informed objective decisions when performing scientific discovery," said Dr. Karin Lachmi, co-founder and chief scientific officer of Bioz. "It is of tremendous value to have Professor Halevy's many years of startup, academic and enterprise experience on our side. With Professor Halevy, Bioz will further accelerate the development of its evidence-based software and revolutionary deep A.I. technology," said Daniel Levitt, Bioz co-founder and CEO. "Alon's expertise in Machine Learning places Bioz in the enviable position of being the leader in the use of A.I. technology to advance the life science research industry." "I'm proud to be a member of the prestigious Bioz Advisory Board. Bioz uses the power of A.I. to solve a real problem that ultimately affects every human on Earth," said Professor Alon Halevy. "I have been working in the technology space for over 30 years and find Bioz to be a unique opportunity where I can apply my knowledge to a revolutionary evidence-based decision-making platform that, as we speak, is improving life science research in academia and biopharma." Helpful Links Suggested Tweet: @bioz_inc announces the addition of A.I. expert, Prof. Alon Halevy, to its Advisory Board https://bit.ly/2DvFXVm About Bioz Inc. Bioz is the world's most advanced A.I. search engine for life science experimentation, empowering scientists in biopharma and academia to accelerate their research towards new discoveries. Bioz guides scientists to the most-validated and cost-effective products to use in their experiments by providing them with evidence-based product recommendations. These recommendations have been reverse-engineered from real-world experiments, as described in over 500 million pages of scientific text from peer-reviewed articles. The result: Bioz.com, the world's most comprehensive source of life science product recommendations and experimentation guidance, covering over 300 million products, 50,000 suppliers, 16 million images and over seven billion protocol conditions and associated techniques, enabling researchers to work faster and more cost-effectively, generating more successful and impactful outcomes. Bioz A.I. was developed by an experienced team of software engineers led by A.I. experts from Microsoft and Google and Nobel Prize winners in chemistry. The technology incorporates proprietary cutting-edge NLP, ML, neural networks, deep learning and domain-specific named-entity recognition, entity matching and entity linking algorithms. What used to take scientists months, now takes them mere minutes with Bioz, 84x times faster than before. By accelerating the pace of experiments, Bioz increases the speed of drug discovery by as much as 56 percent, which translates into billions of research dollars saved. With objectivity, transparency and trustworthiness, Bioz empowers researchers in the top 25 biopharma companies and in more than 12,400 academic institutions in 196 countries. Media Contact Daniel Levitt Bioz Inc. [email protected] Related Links LinkedIn Twitter SOURCE Bioz Inc. Related Links https://www.bioz.com (Photo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/812504/FlowForma_Keith_Lally_CSO.jpg ) (Logo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/715823/FlowForma_Logo.jpg ) Nipro Europe, headquartered in Belgium, is a subsidiary of Nipro Corporation Japan. As a leading global healthcare company, Nipro is a total solution provider of medical devices, pharmaceutical drugs, and pharma packaging. For over 60 years, Nipro continues to build long-term meaningful partnerships with healthcare professionals to ensure the highest degree of patient safety and quality of life. Advancing its already large portfolio, Nipro Europe spans the markets of renal, hospital products, diabetes, enzymes IVD, and pharma packaging. In addition to Nipro-branded products, Nipro Europe also provides OEM (original equipment manufacturer) solutions to some of the biggest names in the medical field. In order to enhance the overall experience of its customers, Nipro Europe will move their business processes online. By digitizing their Field Sales Process, employees can capture information with immediacy, thanks to forms available via SharePoint desktop, mobile, and offline. With workflows in place, actions will become automated and greater visibility achieved. Nipro Europe also plan to digitize their Customer Visit Reporting Process, wherein each customer visit will be logged, and underlying action programs will be automated, thereby enhancing transparency to the entire organization and contributing to an even greater customer experience. Nipro Europe's Global Procurement Director, Geert Heyrman, has described selecting FlowForma as a "once in a lifetime technology decision we will make as a company." "As Nipro Europe continue to influence and impact the lives of its customers though its cutting-edge medical devices, it's important that their workforce spend their time liaising with healthcare staff. With FlowForma Process Automation, Nipro employees will have transparency around customer engagements and increased productivity across their site," commented Keith Lally, Chief Sales Officer, FlowForma. Supporting Resources: To find out how the FlowForma Cloud Process Automation tool works visit: www.flowforma.com/how-it-works T o download a free trial of FlowForma Process Automation visit : www.flowforma.com/start-your-flowforma-trial To learn more about FlowForma Process Automation, book a demo with one of our experts: www.flowforma.com/book-a-demo To find out how FlowForma Process Automation compares against its peers visit: www.g2crowd.com/products/flowforma-process-automation/reviews About FlowForma FlowForma, the leading provider of Process Automation tools for Microsoft Office 365 has been revolutionizing the traditional BPM space with an innovative approach to developing award winning products that empower users to create and streamline processes smarter and faster, utilizing the familiar SharePoint platform, without any coding. FlowForma is a Gold Microsoft Partner, with over 150,000 users across Europe, America and Asia. The company is headquartered in Dublin with offices in London and Boston and is motivated by its values to innovate, evolve and achieve with employees, customers and partners. For further information or a 30-day free trial, visit www.flowforma.com About Nipro Europe Nipro Europe Group Companies is part of Nipro Corporation Japan, a leading global healthcare company established in 1954. With over 28,000 employees worldwide, Nipro serves the Medical Device, Pharmaceutical, and Pharma Packaging industries. Nipro Europe Group Companies is headquartered in Mechelen, Belgium and home to Nipro Medical Europe, Nipro PharmaPackaging International, and the Institute for Medical Practice (iMEP) Belgium - a fully equipped research and training facility for medical professionals and Nipro employees alike. As a total solution provider of medical devices and pharma packaging, Nipro continues to build long-term, meaningful partnerships. Together with its people, products, and processes, Nipro shows continuous commitment to improving patient outcomes and quality of life, offering safe and superior quality products that optimize time, effort, and costs. SOURCE FlowForma SALEM, Ore., Jan. 24, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- The Oregon Health Authority (OHA) is currently going through a process to select the coordinated care organizations (CCOs) that will serve the Oregon Health Plan's one million members from 2020-2024. Letters of intent to apply to serve Oregon Health Plan members for the next five years of coordinated care contracts, also known as "CCO 2.0," are due to OHA on February 1. On January 23, 2019, the Board of Directors of Willamette Valley Community Health (WVCH), a CCO dedicated to serving Marion and Polk county residents covered by the Oregon Health Plan since 2012, voted with three abstentions, not to submit a letter of intent to apply for CCO 2.0. In a statement, WVCH Board Chair Maggie Hudson, Chief Operating Officer and Chief Financial Officer of Santiam Hospital, assured members and residents of Marion and Polk counties: "Willamette Valley Community Health, which is dedicated to serving Marion and Polk county residents covered by the Oregon Health Plan/Medicaid with integrated, patient-centered, cost-efficient and equitable care, will continue to be the CCO for Marion and Polk counties through 2019. There will be no changes in coverage or service for our members for the remainder of this year. "Willamette Valley Community Health will work with the Oregon Health Authority to assure a smooth transition for members starting on January 1, 2020." For more information about this transition, please contact the OHA External Relations Division at 503-945-6691. About Willamette Valley Community Health Willamette Valley Community Health (WVCH) is a coordinated care organization (CCO) dedicated to serving Marion and Polk county residents covered by the Oregon Health Plan. We strive to provide a system that focuses on prevention and wellness that is integrated, patient-centered, cost-efficient and equitable. We coordinate a network of over 600 healthcare providers, including physical, dental, and mental illness health and addiction specialists, to improve quality and access to care for our more than 100,000 members. More information at wvchealth.org. About Coordinated Care Organizations A Coordinated Care Organization is a network of all types of healthcare providers (physical health care, addictions and mental health care and dental care providers) who work together in their local communities to serve people who receive health care coverage under the Oregon Health Plan (Medicaid). CCOs focus on prevention and helping people manage chronic conditions, like diabetes. This helps reduce unnecessary emergency room visits and gives people support to be healthy. SOURCE Willamette Valley Community Health Related Links https://wvchealth.org COLUMBUS, Ohio, Jan. 24, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Since 1921, White Castle and its iconic 2-by-2 inch sliders have brought together Cravers from all walks of life. Today, White Castle is amplifying its role as a connector by proposing the first-ever Slider Summit (#SliderSummit), a gathering of leaders in Washington D.C. with the aim to continue important conversations, all while empowered by White Castle cuisine. And on Tuesday, Jan. 29, 2019, Federal employees are invited to visit their local White Castle restaurant for a free Combo Meal (#1 6) or any Breakfast Combo Meal. White Castle's legendary food truck, the Crave Mobile, is being offered to make the journey to the nation's capital, bringing flavorful nourishment to convening minds. White Castle leadership is standing by for a bipartisan invitation. "At White Castle, we've been connecting food lovers since we served the first slider in 1921, so we know a thing or two about bringing people together around a common table," said Jamie Richardson, vice president at White Castle. "That's why we're willing to drive the Crave Mobile more than 300 miles to Washington D.C. for the first-ever Slider Summit to assist with finding a solution that works for all Americans." To help federal employees affected during the government shutdown, White Castle is also inviting them to enjoy a free Combo Meal (#1 6) or any Breakfast Combo Meal at one of its nearly 400 Castles across the country on Tuesday, Jan. 29, 2019, by showing a federal identification card. "As a family-owned business for 98 years, we are dedicated members of the communities we serve," said Richardson. "And we are proud to share a meal with federal employees in our neighborhoods." Cravers around the country can show their support for the first-ever Slider Summit by using the hashtag #SliderSummit on social media. About White Castle White Castle, America's first fast-food hamburger chain based in Columbus, Ohio, has been making Bold Moves as a family-owned business for more than 98 years. Cravers on-the-go can access sweet deals and place a pick-up order any time in the official White Castle app (iTunes App Store or Google Play) or in the frozen aisle at a grocery store near you. www.whitecastle.com Download the app today from the iTunes App Store or Google Play. For more information on White Castle visit whitecastle.com. SOURCE White Castle Related Links http://www.whitecastle.com CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va., Jan. 24, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Today Virginia's 2019 Commemoration, American Evolution announced the February 22, 2019, application deadline for the American Evolution Innovators Cup, which will be held at the Tom Tom Summit & Festival on April 11 and 12. The annual competition challenges undergraduate teams of Virginia students to develop innovative solutions that address issues facing both the Commonwealth and the nation. Virginia student teams are encouraged to apply here for their chance to win cash prizes totaling $60,000, as well as access to mentorship opportunities and investor meetings. The 2019 competition features two challenges: The Social Impact Challenge and The Commonwealth Challenge. The Social Impact Challenge encourages participants to reimagine the high school of the future and design a concept addressing a need or gap that exists given today's high school model. Teams will identify specific or broad problems that can be addressed with innovative approaches to education in order to prepare students with the skills they will need to succeed in the workplace of the future. In The Commonwealth Challenge student teams will submit an entry based on their existing startup or identify and commercialize intellectual property where a Virginia higher education researcher is a "principal investigator." Colleges and universities in Virginia spend over $1.5 billion on research and development. Invention and research of all types abound in the Commonwealth, yet each year many of these discoveries go overlooked for their potential commercial applications. Student teams will create commercial concepts around Virginia's intellectual property assets, research potential markets and develop go-to market strategies. The 2019 Commemoration has partnered with notable Virginia institutions and national partners like the Tom Tom to inspire local, national and international engagement in the themes of democracy, diversity and opportunity. American Evolution is commemorating formative events that occurred in 1619 Virginia, including the first representative legislative assembly in the New World, the arrival of the first recorded African in English North America, the recruitment of English women in significant numbers to the Virginia colony, the first official English Thanksgiving in North America and the entrepreneurial and innovative spirit of the Virginia colony. A full schedule of American Evolution programming, upcoming events, and educational initiatives can be found at: https://www.americanevolution2019.com/events/ About the 2019 Commemoration The 2019 Commemoration, American Evolution, highlights events that occurred in Virginia in 1619 that continue to influence America today. Featured programs, events and legacy projects position Virginia as a leader in education, tourism and economic development. American Evolution commemorates the ongoing journey toward the key ideals of democracy, diversity and opportunity. Dominion Resources is an American Evolution Founding Partner and Altria Group and TowneBank are Virginia Colony Partners. ABOUT THE TOM TOM FOUNDATION AND THE FESTIVAL The Tom Tom Foundation is a nonprofit organization that champions entrepreneurship, creativity, and innovation in America's small cities. Tom Tom's flagship event is a weeklong Summit & Festival that takes place in conjunction with Thomas Jefferson's birthday each April. Tom Tom welcomed over 20,000 attendees to Charlottesville, VA in 2018 and has channeled nearly $3.1 million to new ventures since its inception in 2012. Learn more at www.tomtomfest.com. SOURCE American Evolution Related Links http://www.americanevolution2019.com The private equity and foreign direct investment deals involving Total Eren, the French energy giant; NBT, a Norwegian energy company; European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD); and Horizon Capital, an investment fund, follow a landmark agreement signed with the IMF in October. "This shows that Ukraine is opening for business because it is reforming, because it has been reforming the energy sector for several years now and moving towards EU standards," said Sir Suma Chakrabarti, President of the EBRD. The EBRD arranged a syndicated loan of 150 million loan for the construction of a 250 MW windfarm in the Kherson region of southern Ukraine. The loan will be extended to the local developer SyvashEnergoProm LLC, co-owned by Total Eren and NBT for the construction of the initial 133 MW phase. The farm is expected to begin power generation by the end of 2019. At the same signing ceremony at Ukraine House Davos, Lenna Koszarny, Founding Partner and CEO Horizon Capital, announced a $200 million private equity fund for Ukraine. "When we first started raising this fund people told us this could not be done. We set a target of $150 million and we exceeded it. Then we reached the maximum of $200 million and we were turning away investors," she told a packed audience, including co-investors the International Finance Corporation and Western NIS Enterprise Fund. "Our success is Ukraine's success. This sends a strong signal to the market that Ukraine is an attractive investment destination. Certainly our investors believe so: and our investors include investors with over $350 billion in capital, putting money to work in a long term fund that is over a decade for Ukraine," she added. President Poroshenko said he was pleased that the reform efforts of the Government, and Prime Minister Volodymyr Groysman, over the past two years had created a business environment that was highly attractive to investors. "This shows that foreign investors are returning to Ukraine on the back of reform," said Sir Chakrabarti of the EBRD. "Renewable energy an area where I think Ukraine is going to be a world leader, if not a regional leader, and this is the largest wind farm in Ukraine." The loan package will consist of a 75 million EBRD A-loan and a B-Loan of up to 75 million from the Green for Growth Fund (GGF) and the Netherlands Development Finance Company (FMO). A parallel loan of 5 million will be provided by the Nordic Environment Finance Corporation (NEFCO). Ms Koszarny said Horizon's $200 million Emerging Europe Growth Fund III, L.P. would be invested in Ukraine's manufacturing, agribusiness and services sectors. "This financing will also help create new jobs in Ukraine. This is very important because the $650 million that we have already put to work has already created 46,000 jobs over the years," she said. Horizon Capital is the leading private equity firm in Ukraine, and a co-organizer of Ukraine House Davos, with over $850 million under management and investing more than $650 million to date in Ukraine and the near region. EEGF III's investment strategy is focused on fast-growing, export-oriented companies that leverage Ukraine's cost competitive platform to generate global revenues primarily in IT, light manufacturing, food and agriculture. The Fund will also pursue investments in select, high-growth domestic market segments, including e-commerce, healthcare and pharma, consumer goods and financial services. Since holding its first close last year, EEGF III has concluded six investments and plans to invest the new fund in compelling, fast-growing companies over the coming years. Once the wind farm project is fully commissioned, it is expected to reduce CO2 emissions by 470,000 tonnes annually, and to produce over 850,000 MWh of renewable energy each year enough to provide power to the Ukrainian municipality of Rivne, which has approximately 100,000 households. The EBRD is the largest international financial investor in Ukraine. Since the start of its operations in the country in 1993, the Bank has made a cumulative commitment of almost 13.1 billion across some 418 projects in Ukraine. About Ukraine House Davos Ukraine House Davos is powered by co-organizers Ukrainian Venture Capital and Private Equity Association (UVCA), Western NIS Enterprise Fund (WNISEF), Victor Pinchuk Foundation and Horizon Capital. Ukraine House Davos is proud of its all-female, five-member Organizing Committee of volunteers Svitlana Grytsenko (Victor Pinchuk Foundation), Jaroslawa Johnson (WNISEF), Lenna Koszarny (Horizon Capital), Olga Afanasyeva (UVCA) and Alexa Chopivsky (Ukraine House Davos). In addition to the generous support of its Co-Organizers and Gold Sponsor Temerty Foundation, Panel Sponsors of Ukraine House Davos include BHFF, Business 100, EBS, Effective Investments LLC, First Generation Capital, Hillmont Partners, ICU, IT Ukraine Association, TA Ventures, TIU Canada and UFUTURE Investment Group. Ukraine House Davos is supported by UkraineInvest, National Investment Council, Ukrainian World Congress, Aspen Institute, Aspen Institute Kyiv and the Atlantic Council. Social media: Twitter: @UAHouseDavos Facebook: www.facebook.com/ukrainehousedavos Instagram: #ukrainehousedavos YouTube: ukrainehousedavos SOURCE Ukraine House Davos Manning previously served as Chief Actuary and Retirement Leader for Buck's US Wealth practice. Prior to joining Buck, Manning worked as a policy actuary at the U.S. Department of Treasury, where she was involved in employee plans, including participating in regulation projects and reviewing ruling requests. "I am extremely excited to be leading Buck's Wealth practice as we enter a new chapter of an organization that has a long history and roots in the actuarial support of retirement plans," said Manning. "I have been in key leadership roles many times as organizations enter new phases of their business, and I am ready to bring my history of success to the new Buck." "With a deep knowledge of the technical aspects and keen insight into client needs, Tonya understands the Wealth business from its core through to its delivery," said Dean Aloise, Managing Director US, Buck. "She is an expert in what's happening in the market and what services we need to provide clients in order to best serve them, and I'm thrilled she has stepped into this new role." Manning also serves a lecturer at Columbia University's Master's Program in Actuarial Science, where she developed and continues to teach their Pension course. Additionally, she is an active volunteer in the actuarial profession, a member of The Actuarial Foundation's Board of Trustees, and previously served as president of the Society of Actuaries. About Buck Buck is an integrated HR and benefits consulting, administration, and technology services provider. Headquartered in New York City, with global operations, Buck is focused on helping its clients realize the best organizational performance for their business while driving positive health, wealth, and career outcomes for their people. For additional information, visit www.buck.com. Media contact: Lumina Communications for Buck Hollie Smith / Michael Gallo 646-741-8359 / 212-239-8594 [email protected] SOURCE Buck Related Links http://www.buck.com PRINCETON JUNCTION, N.J., Jan. 24, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- The TMA Board of Directors is pleased to announce the recently completed acquisition of the assets of Raleigh, North Carolina-based SpecComm International, Inc., including the GTNF Conference, TabExpo, Tobacco Reporter, Vapor Voice, Tobacco Farm Quarterly, Tobacconist, Pipes & Tobacco, and Cigars & Leisure Magazines. The purchase brings together the very best of TMA's leading member service and information platforms with world-class trade journalism, the global platform of the GTNF, and TabExpo's internationally renowned Exhibition and Congress. TMA, a non-profit, member-driven organization, is dedicated to providing all stakeholders with open and engaging forums and unbiased information on all tobacco and nicotine issues. All the purchased assets will be operated with this guiding principal in mind. TMA is creating a new division, The GTNF Trust, to operate the GTNF Conference, Tobacco Reporter Magazine and Vapor Voice Magazine. "All of us on the TMA Board are very excited about the future for TMA with the inclusion of these new assets," said Mike Ligon, TMA Board Chairman. "TMA will create a tobacco and nicotine content experience for industry and all stakeholders that has more depth and coverage than anywhere else. And watch for new topical content coming soon," added Ligon. As a member organization, TMA will continue to focus on informative content for tma.org, its 26 publications that provide the information and analysis that TMA members and subscribers depend on to widen their understanding of tobacco and nicotine issues globally, along with its highly regarded Annual Meeting and Conference. TMA will also incorporate Tobacco Farm Quarterly into its publications to better serve the agricultural sector of the tobacco and nicotine industries. Once operational, The GTNF Trust will be the home of Tobacco Reporter, the oldest tobacco industry trade publication in the United States; Vapor Voice, the stalwart reporter that has stood with the vapor industry since the early days; and the GTNF Conference, the premier forum for international nicotine stakeholders. Building on their separate legacies of success, TMA and The GTNF Trust will strive to enhance the content and conference offerings that brings valuable new information, insights and understanding to TMA members, GTNF Conference supporters, and the wider community of nicotine stakeholders. For TabExpo, TMA will work with current licensee TEM Events, lead by Steve Fowler and Barbara Hicks, to continue the success of past expositions and congresses. TEM and TabExpo will leverage the best of TMA and its new assets to deliver an exceptional TabExpo starting with Amsterdam 2019 and continuing on to future expositions and congresses. TMA President and CEO Chris Greer will oversee TMA and The GTNF Trust. Roberta Crosby, TMA's Vice President and Chief Financial Officer, will oversee finances and administration for TMA and The GTNF Trust. Elise Rasmussen will join TMA as The GTNF Trust Executive Director and TMA Vice President of Sales and Marketing. Taco Tuinstra, Tobacco Reporter's Editor in Chief, will join TMA as Vice President and Chief Content Officer with responsibilities for all magazine content. Darryl Jayson, TMA's Vice President and Chief Operating Officer, will be responsible for TMA content and legacy TMA operations. Mike MacDonald will join TMA as Director of Product and Circulation. Joining the management team is TMA's Chris Moll, who will become Director of Information Services and will oversee IT infrastructure, further development of tma.org, the online magazines, TabExpo and GTNF websites. All appointments are effective immediately. "All of us at TMA are eager to combine TMA's platform with the tremendous content of the magazines and successes of the GTNF and TabExpo," said TMA President & CEO Chris Greer. "TMA has been working on this purchase for some time and the Board and staff believe that the acquisition brings more value to membership, provides enhanced content for our subscribers, and enables TMA, GTNF, and TabExpo to deliver world class forums, conferences and expositions that bring people and ideas together." To experience all that TMA offers, visit us at tma.org and join us for the TMA Annual Meeting & Conference on April 8-10, 2019 at the Marriott Fairview Park in Falls Church, Virginia. You can also join the debate at the GTNF Conference on September 24-26, 2019 at the Georgetown Four Seasons, Washington, DC. For further details, contact [email protected]. SOURCE TMA Related Links https://www.tma.org KYIV, Ukraine, Jan. 24, 2019 /PRNewswire/ - Today, TIU Canada has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire two additional greenfield solar projects in the Odesa region of Ukraine with the combined capacity of 32.4 MW (DC). This is the third acquisition in Ukraine made by TIU Canada since they began operations in 2017. The local EPC contractor Rodina EG, has been selected to provide the services for the project, and has already started engineering and design works for both projects. "This acquisition marks an important milestone in the development of TIU Canada's renewable energy business and confirms our commitment to investment in Ukraine," said Valentyna Beliakova, TIU Canada Country director. To date, TIU Canada has four projects in Ukraine: the Nikopol solar station, which has been in operation since February 2018; the Kalynivka solar station near Mykolaiv, which is currently under construction; and these two new projects in Odesa region. TIU Canada Ltd. is proud to be a part of the Nikopol Business Community. We encourage a collaborative approach to the responsible development of natural resources. We love helping promote education, community living and social responsibility in our communities. We are happy to host school groups, education tours and encourage learning about solar power in the Oblast. Solar Power does not make chemicals, pollution or noise. Our panels collect solar energy, just like crops in the field and we create electricity to heat homes, make light for your business and power your electronic devices. SOURCE TIU Canada MONTVALE, N.J., Jan. 24, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- The Money Services Business Association, Inc. (MSBA), a US-based trade association for the non-bank money services industry, has elected four new Board Members for the 2019 2021 term. Kathy Tomasofsky, Executive Director of the MSBA, said: "We are very excited to continue to broaden the Board with business leaders who represent different business models, offer a variety of products and operate across multiple corridors." "We are grateful to the existing Board Members, who founded the Association and continue to make a huge contribution. The new Board members will join them to support the Association's work with members, regulatory agencies that supervise our businesses in the United States and abroad, member and non-member banks, and legislative authorities." The MSBA is currently comprised of 75-member companies specializing in a wide range of non-bank money solutions, from payment card issuers and distributors to digital international remittance services. Last year, the Association integrated the National Money Transmitters Association (NMTA) into its operations and welcomed the Regional Money Services Business Association members. The Board and MSBA members will continue to increase awareness of the critical services provided by the non-bank money services industry, with the aim of encouraging continuous, safe innovation and improving the environment for the provision of banking services to the money services business industry. The money services business industry handled $1.24 trillion in 2017, according to the MSB Call Report data released by CSBS. The World Bank reported that the annual volume of remittances (international money transfers) grew to almost $689 billion in 2018, with $68 billion outflowing from the United States. New Board Members: Jani Gode, CAMS, CFCS, Chief Compliance Officer of Payoneer Laybaa Hernandez, CAMS, CFE, Chief Operating Officer of DolEx Dollar Express, Inc. Ajit Paul, Director of Moneydart Global Services, Inc. DBA Xpress Money Erick Schneider, Commercial Vice President at WorldRemit Current Board Members : Paul S. Dwyer, Jr. , CEO Viamericas Corporation. MSBA Chairman Fernando Fayzano, CEO Pontual Money Transfer Aurora Garza-Hagan , CEO, BBVA Transfer Services, Inc. Ran Grushkowsky, President and Co-Founder, WireCash Nicole Ibbotson , SVP and General Counsel, InComm Financial Services, Inc Suresh Ramamurthi, CEO, Yantra Services Jorge Raull, CEO, Transnetwork Corp. For additional information on the Association and to become a member, please visit: www.msbassociation.org About the MSBA The Money Services Business Association, Inc. or MSBA is a national trade association focused on the non-bank money services industry, including licensed money transmitters their agents/authorized delegates, payment card issuers and distributors, payment processors, international remittance companies, bill payment companies, mobile payment application providers, money orders, payment aggregators, virtual currency exchanges and administrators, eWallet providers and other similar money services providers that are engaged in payments. SOURCE Money Services Business Association, Inc. Related Links https://www.msbassociation.org/ GRAND CAYMAN, Cayman Islands, Jan. 24, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- The International Scuba Diving Hall of Fame (ISDHF) today announced four new members that will join the prestigious ranks of the 2019 Hall of Fame. As selected by the board of directors, the latest inductees include Johnathan Bird, Lee Selisky, Dr. Adel Mohamed Taher and Hussain 'Sendi' Rasheed, joining fellow esteemed dive industry pioneers who are taking the plunge to help cultivate and revolutionize the sport of scuba diving. On October 4, 2019, the new ISDHF members will be officially inducted into the 2019 Hall of Fame during an awards ceremony and dinner held in Grand Cayman, Cayman Islands. 2019 International Scuba Diving Hall of Fame Inductees Each year, the Cayman Islands welcomes new inductees as part of its ongoing support of the ISDHF. Established by the Cayman Islands Ministry of Tourism in 2000, the ISDHF celebrates those who have contributed positively to the success of recreational scuba diving worldwide through innovation and advancements made in the areas of dive tourism, equipment design, dive safety, education, exploration, adventure, innovation and more. "After another record breaking 2018 for Cayman Islands tourism overall, our dive operators and partners project 2019 to be another exceptional year for the industry, which can be credited, in part, to the scuba diving pioneers and their historic legacies that have helped maintain our destination's reputation as the leading spot to practice the sport of recreational diving," said Hon. Minister of Tourism, Mr. Moses Kirkconnell. "For nearly twenty years, the Cayman Islands continues to showcase some of the world's greatest dive leaders through the International Scuba Diving Hall of Fame, highlighting their achievements and innovation for the industry, while allowing visitors to create long-lasting diving memories." The complete list of 2019 Inductees, along with a description of their unique contributions earning them the prestigious ISDHF accolade, is included below: Jonathan Bird (United States of America) An Emmy Award-winning underwater cinematographer and producer, Johnathan Bird is best known as the founder of Oceanic Research Group, a non-profit environmental organization focused on educating people on the conservation of the world's oceans. Working from this non-profit, he created "Jonathan Bird's Blue World," an educational family-friendly underwater science/adventure series that first aired on PBS in 2008. Now transitioned to YouTube, the series has become the most widely-watched scuba-themed program in the world with more than 109 million views, and 320,000 subscribers. Along with his digital series, Bird has created and produced over 30 films for broadcast and education, which appeared on networks across the world including National Geographic Channel, PBS, ABC, USA Network, Discovery and the SciFi Channel. His productions, along with numerous books, have promoted ocean conservation efforts and made ocean research accessible and interesting to people across the world. Lee Selisky (United States of America) As a pioneer in manufacturing dive retail products, Selisky started his career in his garage building six-pound lead weight molds, which successfully evolved into Sea Pearls, the first company to introduce die-cast and vinyl coated weights into the industry. As a result of his successful business, Selisky gave back to the diving community by serving on many nonprofit boards, including being President of Diving Equipment and Marketing Association (DEMA), Founding Director of the ISDHF, multi-term Chairman of the Historical Diving Society (HDS), Director of the Original Ocean Futures Society, Director of the Hans Hass Award and Chairman of Divers Alert Network (DAN). Using his personal philanthropy to "lead by example," Selisky donated considerable amounts of money to these organizations as well as regional dive show fundraisers, marine environmental programs, and marine medical programs. In 2017, he also established the Lee Selisky Future Leaders in the Diving Industry Mentorship Program, for which Selisky legacy of service continues to inspire and support the recreational diving industry around the world. Dr. Adel Mohamed Taher (Egypt) Considered to be one of the top world experts in hyperbaric medicine, Dr. Adel Mohamed Taher is best known for establishing the most sophisticated diving medical facility in the Red Sea, which continues to provide a foundation of safety for the expanding dive tourism industry in the region and beyond. As a PADI Open Water Scuba Instructor since 1982, Dr. Taher has played a vital role in promoting diver safety in the Red Sea region by managing diving emergencies, participating in medical research projects and conferences, and acting as an advisor for governmental and non-governmental agencies. Helping to catapult dive tourism in Egypt, Dr. Taher and his team worked with fellow dive professionals and local authorities to set and enforce diving safety regulations such as having oxygen onboard diving boats and worked closely with Divers Alert Network (DAN) to unify systems and protocols and establish the organization's Egypt branch. In addition to Dr. Taher opening the first recompression chamber at the Hyperbaric Medical Center in Sharm el-Sheikh, which to this day has never refused a patient, he also served as the chief executive officer of Sharm Medical Group at Sinai Clinic Hospital. Hussain 'Sendi' Rasheed (Republic of Maldives) Known as "the Godfather of the Maldivian diving industry," Hussain "Sendi" Rasheed was the first PADI Instructor Trainer in the Republic of Maldives and has since become a key figure in the region's developing regulations surrounding marine health and diving tourism. Along with his extensive lobbying of all marine protected species and dive sites in the Maldives, Sendi received international media attention for organizing an underwater Cabinet Meeting, chaired by the President of the Republic of Maldives, to bring attention to the threat of global warming. Sendi's 37-year career shows his deep love of the ocean that he actively works to protect, as well as the impact of his educational efforts that has produced a continuing stream of savvy Maldivian Ocean Ambassadors. In recognition of his ongoing dedication and many efforts on behalf of diving and the marine environment, Sendi has also received both the Maldive Tourism Award and the Presidential Award. To learn more about the 2019 ISDHF inductees, please visit the following link: http://inductees.isdhf.com. For high-res headshots of the inductees, please see here. About the International Scuba Diving Hall of Fame The International Scuba Diving Hall of Fame was founded in 2000 by the Ministry of Tourism of the Cayman Islands. Since the Cayman Islands is a leading pioneer in dive travel and is a premiere world destination for divers, it seemed only natural that the Cayman Islands should be home to a hall of fame honouring those people who have contributed the most to the sport of Scuba diving. The mission of the International Scuba Diving Hall of Fame is to honour those people who have helped to make the sport of Scuba diving possible, safer, more popular and more enjoyable. The annual induction ceremony takes place in the Cayman Islands every year during the annual induction ceremony. About the Cayman Islands The Cayman Islands features some of the world's best diving excursions, with each of the three islands offering different diving adventures for all skill levels. Having received countless awards for Best Overall Dive Destination in the Caribbean and Atlantic, the Cayman Islands is also home to the International Scuba Diving Hall of Fame, recognising dive industry pioneers since its inception in 2000. The destination is also renowned for its calm clear waters, which offer superb visibility for snorkelling and other underwater experiences. Located 480 miles south of Miami in the vibrant tranquillity of western Caribbean, this trio of tiny islands is a premier destination for discriminating travellers, divers, honeymooners and families. World renowned for its idyllic beaches and recognised as a sophisticated, diverse and memorable tourist destination, the Cayman Islands offers spectacular recreational opportunities along with warm, impeccable service. To learn more about the Cayman Islands, please go to visitcaymanIslands.com or www.divecayman.ky or call your local travel agent. This material is distributed by Coyne PR on behalf of the Cayman Islands Department of Tourism. Additional information is available at the Department of Justice, Washington, DC. SOURCE Cayman Islands Department of Tourism This comes as part of a new survey by Swagbucks, a rewards- and loyalty-program company operated by Prodege, LLC, that examined the top gifts people want to give and receive for Valentine's Day this year. The national survey of 2,000 U.S. adults was conducted online by Prodege in January 2019. Baby, Turn the Lights Down Low The No. 1 gift people are planning to give? A romantic dinner, with both men (92 percent) and women (90 percent) selecting this as their top choice. Sex is a close second: 81 percent of men and 79 percent of women plan to "share the love" this Valentine's Day. What else is on the gift list? Men will be giving: Flowers 81% Chocolate 76% Jewelry 61% Women will be giving: Chocolate 61% Weekend Getaway 55% Clothes 55% The survey also found that three-quarters of Americans hope to receive something in return for their gift. Almost half (46 percent) are looking forward to sex, followed by a gift or dinner. Just a Small Token of My Love The vast majority of Americans (87 percent) agree that Valentine's Day is not when they spend the most money on their significant other, and few will be breaking the bank: $50 to $99 25% to 25% $25 to $49 22% to 22% $100 to $149 20% They're also not expecting to receive elaborate gifts: 26 percent expect a gift costing $50 to $99 and 25 percent expect a gift in the $25 to $49 range. Almost half (49 percent) don't care if they receive a gift that cost less than the one they purchased. "It's interesting to see how Americans choose to celebrate this romantic holiday," said Chuck Davis, CEO and chairman of Prodege, LLC. "Swagbucks recognizes the importance of rewarding moments, and we're happy to help our members earn a little extra to help celebrate in whatever way will be most meaningful to them." Valentine's Day celebrators can use Swagbucks Local to find deals and cash back on local restaurant outings across the US. Shoppers can also earn Swagbucks on all their purchases from a wide selection of popular retailers through the Swagbucks site or by downloading the SwagButton . About Swagbucks Swagbucks.com is the web's most popular rewards program that gives you free gift cards and cash for the everyday things you already do online. Earn points when you shop at your favorite retailers, watch entertaining videos, search the web, answer surveys and find great deals. Redeem points for gift cards to your favorite retailers like Amazon and Walmart, or get cash back from PayPal. Swagbucks has already paid out more than $300 million in cash and free gift cards. Headquartered in El Segundo, California, Swagbucks is owned by Prodege, LLC, a leading internet and media company that operates multiple customer engagement brands. About Prodege, LLC Prodege is an internet and media company that is dedicated to creating rewarding moments for its members. Prodege is comprised of three consumer brands Swagbucks, MyPoints and ShopAtHome which deliver engaging content and valuable rewards to more than 60 million members. Our family of consumer loyalty websites and mobile apps rewards members with free gift cards or cash for the everyday things they are already doing online like shopping, searching the web, watching videos and sharing opinions. Prodege's complementary suite of business solutions helps brands boost engagement with consumers by making it easy to gather insights, listen to their audience and gain further exposure to drive brand loyalty. Visit www.prodege.com for more information. Media Contact: Hannah Ruark [email protected] 540-599-7887 SOURCE Swagbucks Related Links http://Swagbucks.com SAN DIEGO, Jan. 24, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- The founders of SoKO have found a way to bring a luxury feel to the CBD industry AND BEYOND. Along with their high-quality products and fashion line of hemp clothing, they've shown they can stand above the rest. SoKO's founder's vision is to stand out among their competition by providing the consumer with quality upscale products and events. SoKO CBD infused Culinary cooking oils. Go to www.sokocanna.com SoKO is proud to announce that in the spring of 2019, SoKO products will be distributed and sold in Ireland, Scotland and the U.K. This is just a launching platform soon to expand into the other parts of the European market. SoKO is the first CBD Company from California to hit this audience. SoKO offers a wide spectrum of CBD culinary, health and wellness and recreational products that are non-GMO, 100% organic and CO2 extracted. Always locally sourced in California, all ingredients are superior quality for unmatched flavor and purity. Artificial additives are never added to maintain high-quality standards. The CBD chocolate bonbons are a fan favorite among customers. The chocolate is imported from France by a famous French chocolatier and is rich in CBD and free of THC. This is a dream come true for people who enjoy the relaxation that CBD gives without the psychoactive side effects of THC. Customers everywhere can get their hands on these delectable treats in the U.S. and now the U.K. as it's derived from hemp and 100 percent legal since the passing of the Farm Bill. Everything from the packaging to the wonderful aroma makes it obvious that SoKO has invested a lot of time and money into providing an excellent product to their customers. CBD-infused cooking oils, like avocado oil, balsamic vinaigrette, honey and coconut oil, and flavored CBD gumdrops give the consumer an aroma and aftertaste that mimics the feeling of drinking a mojito or a tropical drink. "Social responsibility is one of SoKO's core values and is the base of the brand's identity. We recognize that the philosophy of 'sustainable value' is at the heart of our management policies and our corporate conduct, which means that we have implemented a process to integrate social, environmental, ethical, human rights and consumer concerns into our business operations," said Dave Soko, CEO and founder. "Our business model is designed to provide our customers with the highest-quality products, which are made entirely in California in a responsible manner." SoKO goes even further than most cannabis companies by being heavily involved in fashion and the arts. The SoKO Cannabis Ball showcases new designers and artists while featuring some of the best cannabis companies in Southern California. High-end cocktails and entertaining live music are provided to guests for an amazing experience. Influential, innovative and progressive, SoKO is reinventing a wholly modern approach to the cannabis industry. Born out of a unique collaboration between artists, fashion and cannabis experts comes SoKO Cannabis Creations, representing the pinnacle of craftsmanship and unsurpassed for quality and attention to detail, further reinforcing SoKO's position as one of the world's most desirable cannabis brands. Redefined Luxury Products Unique, stylish and sure to please even the most discerning cannabis connoisseurs, SoKO is the new premium cannabis brand on the market. SoKO organic cannabis oils and topicals are made from certified organic flower grown locally in California. OUR PROMISE 100% Organic Pesticide-free Solvent-free C02 Extracted California Grown Always made in the USA Lab Tested For more information on their full product line and events, visit www.sokocanna.com. Related Files 49153985_10217071719321827_3190670847022989312_n.jpg Soko-Brochure-201-update11.jpg Related Video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gZ4jcKNR6EE SOURCE SoKO Cannabis Creations Related Links http://www.sokocanna.com "It's a new year and travelers will be looking to expand their experiential menu in every way," says Steve Adkins, Chair, the Miami Beach Visitor and Convention Authority (MBVCA). "In Miami Beach, we want visitors to know there is still so much untapped and undiscovered pleasures in paradise, unexpected delights around every corner. There's a reason Miami Beach is like no other place in the world. it's still a city full of surprises and wonder everywhere." Traveling to Miami Beach for a holiday or special occasion? This curated list of sample experiences gives travelers a taste of the secret life of Miami Beach. Real time recommendations and a local's look at Miami Beach is also available through Instagram, Facebook and Twitter @experiencemiamibeach VIP Experiences At the Faena Hotel, Faena Rose is a private arts and culture members-only club where adherents can have up-close and personal readings from award-winning novelists, all-access to the luxurious Tierra Santa Healing House, and specialized beach excursions. is a private arts and culture members-only club where adherents can have up-close and personal readings from award-winning novelists, all-access to the luxurious Tierra Santa Healing House, and specialized beach excursions. Dine privately at critically acclaimed restaurant, Byblos and they'll transform your dining room into a boutique nightlife experience after a delightful Mediterranean dinner. Hidden Gems for the Adventurous Foodie It's off-menu and delicious! At the Mondrian South Beach, the Pineapple Poke Bowls are not on the menu and not for everyone. If you know to specifically ask for this dish, you'll enjoy fresh salmon and avocado served in a decadent hollowed pineapple. Locals know that inside the hip hostel, Generator, Jim and Neesie's is an intimate bar where where they'll prepare your libations tableside or serve cocktails in unique decanters. Yummy cocktails and a feel-right-at-home ambiance make this one of the coolest insider spots on the beach. Blink and you might miss Via Emilia, a quaint Italian restaurant and market with handmade pasta and made to order personalized stuffed ravioli. For Music Mavens and Nightlife Lovers Pssst. Rouge, the French Moroccan restaurant, also doubles as a musician's playground with a slate of artists showcasing their talents. Call for the schedule of performances. Thrill seekers can venture to the Edition's Basement or Do Not Sit On The Furniture for a taste of local nightlife. For more information on the best ways to experience Miami Beach in 2019, download the Miami Beach app at http://www.miamibeachapi.com/. ABOUT MIAMI BEACH Awarded first place in the 2018, 2017 and 2016 edition of the Travvy Awards, presented by travAlliancemedia in the categories of "Best LGBTQ Destination" and "Best Wedding Destination, U.S. & Canada," recently named 2017 and 2016 World's Leading City Tourist Board in and North America's Leading Tourist Board by the World Travel Awards, and a winner in the 2014, 2015 and 2016 Magellan Awards by Travel Weekly in the categories of "Destinations | Mobile App", "Overall Spa Destinations| U.S and Canada" and "Overall Beaches Destinations| U.S and Canada" respectively, Miami Beach is a favorite destination among travelers worldwide. Renowned for its unparalleled culinary offerings, extravagant nightlife, rich culture, luxe shopping and plush hotels, Miami Beach is home to unique museums, the New World Symphony, Miami City Ballet, Miami Beach Convention Center, international festivals and art exhibitions, boat and auto shows, over 187 boutique and resort hotels and 12 public parks; it is no wonder the beautifully diverse city is one of the world's most popular vacation destinations. Boasting seven miles of breathtaking beaches, Miami Beach is easily accessible from the Port of Miami and Miami International Airport. The City of Miami Beach has been named one of the top cities worldwide for 'walkability' and is equally easy to navigate by bike or boat. Known for its year-round sunny skies, the vibrant destination has been ranked by TripAdvisor as a Top Winter Sun Vacation Rental Getaway Destinations, Top Romantic Destinations, Top 25 Beaches in the World and Top 25 Destinations in the U.S. Miami Beach is like no other place in the world! Experience Miami Beach on Twitter @experiencemiamibeach and Instagram @experiencemiamibeach. SOURCE Miami Beach Visitor and Convention Authority WHITTIER, Calif., Jan. 23, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, the Sanitation Districts of Los Angeles County (Sanitation Districts) awarded a $630 million construction contract for the Clearwater Project to Dragados USA, Inc. The project will protect local waterways by addressing aging infrastructure and involves building a new 7mile long, 18foot diameter tunnel to convey treated water from the Joint Water Pollution Control Plant in Carson to existing ocean outfalls at Royal Palms Beach in San Pedro. Construction will begin this year and is scheduled to end in 2026. The Clearwater Project was approved in 2012 after a multiyear evaluation of the Sanitation Districts' main sewer system, which serves more than 5 million people in Los Angeles County. This planning and environmental review effort included more than 500 public meetings to solicit input and identified the need for a new tunnel to ensure the reliability of the Sanitation Districts' system. The new tunnel will be constructed with a modern tunnel boring machine. This technology has been used throughout the world and extensively for Los Angeles' Metro system. "As part of a thorough review of our system, we determined that the existing 60 and 80year old tunnels are insufficient for our future needs," said Grace Robinson Hyde, the Chief Engineer and General Manager of the Sanitation Districts. "These tunnels are critical because the majority of our treated water flow must pass through these tunnels. A new tunnel designed to current earthquake standards and sized to handle future peak storm flows will make our system more reliable." Dragados brings extensive tunneling expertise to the Clearwater Project. The firm has completed more than 530 underground projects in 20 countries, totaling over 800 miles of tunnel. For a recent project in Seattle, Washington, Dragados utilized a 57foot diameter tunnel boring machine, which was the largest tunneling machine in the world at that time. "We look forward to working on this important infrastructure project," said Tom Robertson, Vice President of Dragados. "Our vast experience in tunneling through a wide range of geological conditions will be an asset for the Clearwater Project." The Sanitation Districts are a regional agency that manages the wastewater (sewage) needs of over 5.6 million people in 78 cities and unincorporated county areas. The agency protects public health and the environment by constructing, operating and maintaining a regional system that collects, treats and recycles wastewater from homes and businesses. Districts Contact: Bryan Langpap, (562) 9084288, ext. 2302 or [email protected] Anthony Howard, (562) 9084288, ext. 1602 or [email protected] SOURCE Sanitation Districts of Los Angeles County Related Links http://www.lacsd.org ATLANTA and LONDON, Jan. 24, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- New research launched today by Blancco Technology Group (LON: BLTG), the industry standard in data erasure and mobile device diagnostics, outlines the staggering cost to global organizations of old, outdated IT equipment cluttering up data centers. A survey of 600 data center experts from APAC, Europe and North America reveals that two in five organizations that store their data in-house spend more than $100,000 storing useless IT hardware that could pose a security or compliance risk. Astonishingly, more than half of these companies (54 percent) have been cited at least once or twice by regulators or governing bodies for noncompliance with international data protection laws. Fines of up to $1.5 million could be issued for HIPAA violations due to storing data past its retention date, with that number multiplied by the number of years each violation has been allowed to persist. Blancco's exclusive study, The High Cost of Cluttered Data Centers, produced in partnership with Coleman Parks, reflects the extent in which global organizations are paralyzed by fear of reputational damage. This is primarily the risk of sensitive data that is stored on old IT hardware of being breached or misused. Put simply, organizations are opting to spend vast sums of money storing these devices, contrary in many cases, to data protection laws and regulations, rather than entrusting them to data erasure experts for wiping before reuse. "Global organizations are unnecessarily wasting vast sums of money from noncompliance and onsite storage fees charges that could be easily mitigated," said Fredrik Forslund, Vice President, Enterprise and Cloud Erasure Solutions at Blancco. "This points to a huge lack of education within the sector about what to do with hardware that is faulty or has reached end-of-life. Organizations are letting this hardware pile up in fear of data leakage, resulting in loss of efficiency, increasing capital costs, possible noncompliance and potential security risks." The global data center industry remains gripped by a lack of time and resources to complete comprehensive data privacy processes. This remains one of the key reasons why organizations, particularly those that own their own data centers and store all data onsite, are keeping IT assets past their useful lives. Other key global findings include: All organizations surveyed stored a large portion of their data onsite, with 48 percent storing 31 to 60 percent of their data onsite, 42 percent storing 10 to 30 percent of their data onsite and 10 percent of organizations storing over 60 percent of their data onsite. Many individuals failed a simple data sanitization test, despite their job titles suggesting that they should know more. Over half of the respondents, 57 percent, agreed that a quick or full reformat of a drive would permanently erase all data. Many organizations also stated they are using multiple methods to sanitize their data. What's worrying is that 62 percent of organizations surveyed are using free online tools with no verification or certification to erase data securely. Amazingly, most of organizations surveyed (80 percent) admitted that at least a quarter of end-of-life drives sit uselessly idle in their data centers. Three quarters of organizations (75 percent) confessed that 25 percent of all RMA drives stored onsite were only there because they aren't willing to follow required processes to return them to the manufacturer. Key North America findings include: In the United States , 41 percent of respondents shared that more than half of their organizations drives stored onsite are "past-due" because they are unable or unwilling to return them to the manufacturer. This figure jumps to 79 percent in United States and 76 percent in Canada , with respondents reporting at least a quarter of old drives are still onsite. , 41 percent of respondents shared that more than half of their organizations drives stored onsite are "past-due" because they are unable or unwilling to return them to the manufacturer. This figure jumps to 79 percent in and 76 percent in , with respondents reporting at least a quarter of old drives are still onsite. 52 percent of U.S. respondents, and slightly more in Canada at 57 percent, reported that their organizations have been cited one or more times by a regulatory/governing body for failure to comply with state, federal or international data protection laws such as GDPR in the last 24 months. at 57 percent, reported that their organizations have been cited one or more times by a regulatory/governing body for failure to comply with state, federal or international data protection laws such as GDPR in the last 24 months. 75 percent of U.S. respondents and 70 percent of Canadians surveyed said that ineffective methods were their main concern when it comes to dealing with "manual/time consuming processes." 71 percent of U.S. respondents 65 percent in Canada said that the most effective way for them to improve their current RMA return process would be to add the ability to erase full racks of servers or multiple drives simultaneously. Key UK findings include: 74 percent of U.K. organizations admitted that at least 26 percent of all RMA drives stored onsite were only there because they aren't willing to return them to the manufacturer. A quarter also confessed more than half (51 percent) of their RMA drives sit uselessly idle in their data centers for the same reason. When asked about their major pain points in not returning RMA drives or servers to the manufacturer when their lease is up, 73 percent of U.K. respondents stated manual/time-consuming processes and 49 percent noted external security/privacy concerns, the highest percentage points from all the countries surveyed. While some countries had their own priorities, the U.K. was most worried about GDPR (43 percent), followed closely by increasing automation across the data center (41 percent). "It's not surprising that more than half of all respondents rated the RMA return process as 'quite' or 'extremely' difficult. Current processes being followed are archaic, inefficient and desperately in need of automation. In some cases, organizations feel compelled to waste more resource wiping each drive individually," Forslund said. "Organizations are sitting on IT assets that are having an extremely damaging impact on their business even if most organizations consider themselves to be mitigating risk by holding on to them." For full analysis, you can read the full The High Cost of Cluttered Data Centers report here. ENDS Methodology: The primary research was commissioned by Blancco Technology Group and conducted by Coleman Parkes in December 2018. The sample comprised 600 data center experts from 600 organizations divided equally between the UK, the United States, Germany, Canada, Japan and China and covering six vertical markets: healthcare, public sector, pharmaceutical, financial services, retail and telecommunications. About Blancco Technology Group Blancco is the industry standard in data erasure and mobile device diagnostics. Blancco data erasure solutions provide thousands of organizations with the tools they need to add an additional layer of security to their endpoint security policies through secure erasure of IT assets. All erasures are verified and certified through a tamper-proof audit trail. Blancco data erasure solutions have been tested, certified, approved and recommended by 18 governing bodies and leading organizations around the world. No other data erasure software can boast this level of compliance with the rigorous requirements set by government agencies, legal authorities and independent testing laboratories. Blancco Mobile Diagnostics solutions enable mobile network operators, retailers and call centers to easily, quickly and accurately identify and resolve performance issues on their customers' mobile devices. As a result, mobile retailers can spend less time dealing with technical issues and, in turn, reduce the quantity of NTF returns, save on operational costs and increase customer satisfaction. Additionally, Blancco Mobile Diagnostics solutions empower mobile processors, 3PLs, Recyclers and Repair & Refurbishment Operations to easily, quickly and accurately process used mobile devices to identify any issues and determine overall value. By incorporating Blancco Mobile Diagnostics, mobile processors automate processes, deliver intelligent routing based on device attributes and increase overall efficiency, while driving incremental revenue and profitability. For more information, please contact: CCgroup for Blancco Technology Group (UK) Abbie Godward / Adam Millar T: +44 (0) 20 3824 9214 E: [email protected] CCgroup for Blancco Technology Group (US) Lori Scribner T: +1 619 798 0043 E: [email protected] Blancco Technology Group Liz Adams, Global Marketing Director T: +44 (0) 7725 010 412 E: [email protected] SOURCE Blancco Technology Group Related Links http://www.blanccotechnologygroup.com "In her capacity as President, Zhou will take responsibility for overseeing implementation of the Company's strategy to further expand the international business and seek opportunities outside of China," said Chief Executive Officer William Wei. "This strategy aims to diversify PINTEC's revenue sources and sustain the company's profitable growth in the long run." "With her 20 years' risk management experience in multinational banking and fintech, Zhou Jing is ideally suited to guide the development of our business overseas," Wei said. Ms. Zhou has served as the president of the Company since January 2018. From May 2016 to January 2018, she served as the chief executive officer of the Dumiao business first under a predecessor prior to reorganization and continued with the position since PINTEC's inception. From January 2015 to May 2016, Ms. Zhou served as the vice president of retail at the predecessor of PINTEC. Before joining PINTEC, she worked at Standard Chartered Bank and served as the China country credit head from 2013 to 2015 and as the head of credit for retail bank from 2006 to 2013. She served as a business manager at Capital One from January 1999 to 2006 in McLean, Virginia. Ms. Zhou received her bachelor's degree in chemical engineering from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University in 1998. "PINTEC's international strategy is to actively explore opportunities to replicate the Company's success in China to overseas markets both in other parts of the Asia Pacific region, as well as by entering new markets including Europe and North Africa," Zhou said. "The company is evaluating both developed and emerging markets, with the belief that the experience and expertise accumulated in the China market is readily transferable to overseas markets." "The demand for convenient, responsive, smart and inclusive financing solutions has created many opportunities for PINTEC, and these are not constrained by geographic region," Zhou said. "Our SaaS model is scalable, and applicable to areas beyond China." "PINTEC brings digital lending and wealth management solutions that have been proven to work on a large scale in China," Zhou said. "PINTEC's technology can help partners in new markets to digitalize their business to reach new customers, and increase operating efficiency." "The expansion of PINTEC's international business will be conducted in a prudent and a calculated manner," she said. "As we enter new markets, we will find partners who understand the local market better than us, who know how to communicate with the local regulators, while we can bring the technology and knowhow to enable them to improve these products locally," Zhou said. "It's win-win, not competition." The international expansion effort will build on a foundation laid over the past two years, in which PINTEC has already established a pair of Singapore-based joint ventures to serve the Southeast Asian market. PIVOT Fintech Pte. Ltd. was formed with FWD Group in October 2017 to provide robo-advisory services. In April 2018, PINTEC joined with United Overseas Bank Ltd. to launch Avatec.ai (S) Pte Ltd., to provide smart risk management solutions and data products to banks, tech companies and fintech companies in the region. Both of the ventures have made progress since establishment. Avatec has begun to provide smart risk management solutions and data products to banks, tech companies and fintech companies in Indonesia and Vietnam. PIVOT is in communication for robo-advisory solutions with clients in Singapore, Malaysia and Hong Kong. "Further expanding the international business will be a key business focus for PINTEC in 2019," Zhou said. "Our home market in China is still growing very strong, but it has always been a part of our strategy to seek international opportunities," Zhou said. "Many members of our management team have a background in markets outside of China. They understand other markets, and how our products are applicable there." Safe Harbor Statement This press release contains forward-looking statements. These statements constitute "forward-looking" statements within the meaning of Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, and as defined in the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements can be identified by terminology such as "will," "expects," "anticipates," "future," "intends," "plans," "believes," "estimates," "target," "confident" and similar statements. Such statements are based upon management's current expectations and current market and operating conditions, and relate to events that involve known or unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors, all of which are difficult to predict and many of which are beyond the Company's control. Forward-looking statements involve inherent risks, uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in any such statements. Information regarding these and other risks, uncertainties or factors is included in the Company's filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. All information provided in this press release is as of the date of this press release, and PINTEC does not undertake any obligation to update any forward-looking statement as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required under applicable law. About PINTEC PINTEC is a leading independent technology platform enabling financial services in China. By connecting business and financial partners on its open platform, PINTEC enables them to provide financial services to end users efficiently and effectively. The Company offers its partners a full suite of customized solutions, ranging from point-of-sale financing, personal installment loans, business installment loans, to wealth management and insurance products. Leveraging its scalable and reliable technology infrastructure, PINTEC serves a wide range of industry verticals covering online travel, e-commerce, telecommunications, online education, SaaS platforms, financial technology, internet search, and online classifieds and listings; as well as various types of financial partners including banks, brokers, insurance companies, investment funds and trusts, consumer finance companies, peer-to-peer platforms and other similar institutions. For more information, please visit www.pintec.com. SOURCE PINTEC Related Links http://www.pintec.com SEATTLE, Jan. 24, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Parametric Portfolio Associates LLC (Parametric), an affiliate of Eaton Vance Corp. (NYSE: EV), today announced that Timothy W. Atwill, CFA, Head of Investment Strategy within Parametric's Seattle investment office, will be leaving Parametric and the investment management industry for personal reasons, effective June 30, 2019. As reported in November 2018, Mr. Atwill was to assume the role of co-Chief Investment Officer of Parametric, along with Thomas B. Lee, CFA, Managing Director for Investment Strategy and Research in Parametric's Minneapolis Investment Center, on November 1, 2019. These changes were prompted by the integration of Parametric's investment and research teams following the November 2019 retirement of Jack Hansen, Chief Investment Officer of Parametric's Minneapolis Investment Center, as previously announced. With Mr. Atwill's departure, Tom Lee will become Chief Investment Officer of Parametric in November. According to Brian Langstraat, Chief Executive Officer, Parametric, "Tim is a great professional and human being, and it has been a pleasure to work with him. His leadership was integral to the development and implementation of our collaborative approach to systematic investment management focused on delivering high-quality, consistent performance." Mr. Langstraat continued, "We will continue to expand our investment and research teams and resources, which are a critical part of this organizational transition. In his role as Chief Investment Officer, Tom Lee will have the support of a deep team of established investment leaders. In addition, we are actively recruiting for key roles as we position ourselves to continue to serve our clients and innovate as the market and the industry evolve. Over the coming months, we expect to hire for positions in responsible investing, quantitative equity research and portfolio construction, and liquid alternatives research and portfolio construction." With Mr. Atwill's upcoming departure, Parametric is today announcing several promotions on the investment and research team, effective June 30, 2019: Jennifer Sireklove, currently Head of Responsible Investing, will become Managing Director, Investment Strategy. In this role, she will be responsible for all equity (domestic, international and emerging markets) and commodity strategies previously overseen by Mr. Atwill. Ms. Sireklove will continue to oversee the firm's responsible investing team until a new leader is hired. currently Head of Responsible Investing, will become Managing Director, Investment Strategy. In this role, she will be responsible for all equity (domestic, international and emerging markets) and commodity strategies previously overseen by Mr. Atwill. Ms. Sireklove will continue to oversee the firm's responsible investing team until a new leader is hired. Greg Liebl , currently co-portfolio manager of the Parametric Commodity Strategy Fund, will become Senior Investment Strategist supporting Parametric's systematic alpha strategies. Mr. Liebl will continue as a manager of the Commodity Strategy Fund. , currently co-portfolio manager of the Parametric Commodity Strategy Fund, will become Senior Investment Strategist supporting Parametric's systematic alpha strategies. Mr. Liebl will continue as a manager of the Commodity Strategy Fund. Paul Bouchey , currently CIO leading Parametric's investment, research and strategy activities for Seattle -based strategies, will become co-strategist for the firm's systematic alpha strategies, along with Ms. Sireklove. As previously reported in November 2018 , Mr. Bouchey will also become Global Head of Research & Development effective November 1, 2019 . Effective May 1, 2019, Mr. Atwill's portfolio management responsibilities will transition to other Parametric portfolio managers as follows: Parametric Fund Portfolio Managers effective May 1,2019* Parametric Emerging Markets Fund Thomas Seto Paul Bouchey-NEW Jennifer Sireklove-NEW Parametric Tax-Managed Emerging Markets Fund Thomas Seto Paul Bouchey-NEW Jennifer Sireklove-NEW Parametric International Equity Fund Thomas Seto Paul Bouchey Jennifer Sireklove-NEW Parametric Tax-Managed International Equity Fund Thomas Seto Paul Bouchey Jennifer Sireklove-NEW Parametric Dividend Income Fund Thomas Seto Alexander. Paulsen Parametric Commodity Strategy Fund Thomas Seto Greg Liebl Parametric Fund Portfolio Managers effective May 1,2019* Eaton Vance International (Ireland) Parametric Emerging Markets Fund Thomas Seto Paul Bouchey NEW Jennifer Sireklove NEW About Parametric Portfolio Associates Parametric Portfolio Associates LLC (Parametric) uses investment science to build and manage systematic investment strategies and to implement custom portfolio solutions providing clients with targeted investment exposures with control of costs and taxes. Based on principles of intellectual rigor, ingenuity and transparency, Parametric seeks to deliver repeatable client outcomes with consistently high levels of service and maximum efficiency. As of December 31, 2018, Parametric managed $216.6 billion in assets on behalf of institutions, high-net-worth individuals and fund investors. Headquartered in Seattle, Parametric also has offices in Minneapolis, Westport, Connecticut, Boston, and Sydney, Australia. For more information, visit parametricportfolio.com. This Document does not constitute an offer or solicitation to invest in the Eaton Vance International (Ireland) Parametric Emerging Markets Fund. The Fund is a sub-fund of Eaton Vance International (Ireland) Funds plc (the "Company"), a public limited company with variable capital incorporated in Ireland and authorized and regulated by the Central Bank of Ireland as an Undertaking for Collective Investment in Transferable Securities ("UCITS"). The offering of the shares of Eaton Vance International (Ireland) Funds is restricted in many jurisdictions and investors must inform themselves of and observe applicable restrictions in their jurisdiction. The Fund is distributed by Eaton Vance Management (International) Ltd. and may employ Eaton Vance Distributors, Inc., Two International Place, Boston, MA 02110, as a sub-distributor. The Funds' current prospectus and key investor information document ("KIID") contain more information as well as the risks of investing and may be obtained free of charge from Citi Fund Services (Ireland) Limited, 1 North Wall Quay, Dublin 1, Ireland, or by calling +353 1 637 6372. None of the Funds have been or will be registered under the U.S. Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the "Securities Act"), and none of such shares may be offered, sold, transferred or delivered, directly or indirectly, in the United States or to U.S. residents or citizens. None of the Funds have been or will be registered as an investment company under the U.S. Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended (the "1940 Act"). Eaton Vance International (Ireland) Funds may not be offered or sold to U.S. residents or citizens. The Fund is not offered for sale or sold in the United States, its territories or possessions. The information contained herein is provided for informational purposes only and does not constitute a solicitation of an offer to buy or sell Fund shares. Each Fund is subject to numerous risks, including investment risks. No Fund is a complete investment program and an investor may lose money investing in the Fund. Before investing in a Fund, investors should consider carefully its investment objectives, risks, charges and expenses. This and other important information is contained in the Fund's prospectus and summary prospectus, which can be obtained from a financial advisor. Prospective investors should read the prospectus carefully before investing. Parametric Funds are distributed by Eaton Vance Distributors, Inc. Member FINRA/SIPC SOURCE Parametric Portfolio Associates LLC Boodalyerrie multiple km of high grade vein and stockwork systems. Egina high grade bedrock gold + sampling extensive overlying alluvial gravels. Nullagine (Beaton's Creek) area Hardey formation conglomerate and fracture sampling. Geological data and target inventories are being compiled for Pacton's projects in Western Australia's Pilbara craton. (Figure 1). Numerous targets types have been identified, most with surface gold occurrences, including Paleoarchean and Mesoarchean orogenic shear hosted occurrences and intrusion related environments. Most of tenements also contain the unconformably overlying, horizontal Fortescue Group gold-bearing Mount Roe and Hardey conglomerates. Pacton is currently planning the remainder of its 2019 exploration program, which shall include field work on all of its Pilbara tenements. Boodalyerrie Project Boodalyerrie, Pacton's most easterly Pilbara tenement, (Figure 1), hosts a prominent swarm of up to 10 m thick gold-bearing veins and stockworks hosted in a granitic tonalite host rock. Superficial reconnaissance prospecting and surface sampling conducted in 2013 returned encouraging grades. Pacton has prioritized exploration of the Boodalyerrie based on image analysis, including satellite hyperspectral data, which indicates large areas of alteration between the most massive quartz veins. This is interpreted as representing a stockwork of smaller, nested vein systems that present excellent, large, pervasive gold-bearing targets. The Boodalyerrie tenement also contains over 20 km of strike length along the contact of Fortescue Group rocks that unconformably overlie the tonalite pluton. The Fortescue Group Mount Roe formation and the directly overlying Kylena basalt are present. Geological relationships indicate that the emplacement of the quartz veins precedes the deposition of the Mount Roe formation. Consequently, the vein system is interpreted to extend under the Mount Roe formation. The initial 2019 Boodalyerrie exploration program will include detailed sampling over the entire tonalite pluton, with emphasis on the large alteration patches. Preliminary planning for a targeted drill program is underway for currently identified targets and will include expansion for additional targets identified by the sampling program. Egina Projects (Friendly Creek, Golden Palms, Hong Kong and Arrow South tenements) Pacton's Egina properties, (Figure 3), are contiguous with Novo Resources Corp.'s extensive Egina tenements which contain gold-bearing lag gravels that overlie Mesoarchean age orogenic gold occurrences, and locally, formations of the basal Fortescue Group. To the southeast of the Novo tenements, Pacton's Friendly Creek, Hong Kong and Golden Palms tenements contain gold showings, including gold nuggets, in areas of Mesoarchean basalts, and in lag gravels mapped as alluvial deposits. To the west and northwest of the Novo project, Pacton's Arrow South and Arrow North projects contain Archean orogenic gold prospects that are partially covered with extensive layers of alluvial gravels and conglomerates. Pacton's initial 2019 Egina exploration will consist of spot sampling of gravels with subsequent follow-up samples based on initial results. Pacton is able to undertake bulk sampling operations as a result of its 2018 strategic alliance with Artemis Resources, which includes access to the Artemis Radio Hill processing plant, now nearing completion. The initial 2019 Egina exploration program will also include more detailed mapping and sampling of the gold-bearing Mesoarchean basaltic rocks, and their associated erosional gravels. Nullagine -Beatons Creek (Impact 5 tenement) The Beatons Creek gold project, (Figure 4), consists of extensive gold-bearing Hardey formation conglomerates that outcrop on the eastern edge of a Fortescue Group plateau that accumulated in the Nullagine sub-basin. Novo Resources Corp's gold project is located immediately west of the town of Nullagine. Immediately east of Nullagine lies the historic Mosquito Creek gold district represented by orogenic gold deposits in older Archean rocks. Novo has been prospecting, sampling and drilling its Beaton's Creek project for several years, including a 1,000 m deep reconnaissance hole collared in the Kylena basalt which overlies the Hardey formation and the basal Fortescue Mount Roe basalt. Novo's sampling and drilling programs have established that gold-bearing units show a substantial increase in gold grade in proximity to faults that cut the Hardey formation. Pacton's Impact 5 tenement is located approximately 17 km northwest of Novo's Beatons Creek project and lies on the western edge of the Hardey formation plateau. Pacton has established a stratigraphic equivalency between the exposed Impact 5 western plateau edge and the productive stratigraphy at Beatons Creek. (Figure 5). Moreover, the Hardey formation within the Impact 5 tenement is intensely fractured with steep dipping faults and multiple networks of low displacement shears that collectively form a pervasive fracture network. The initial 2019 Impact 5 exploration program will consist of surface prospecting along the Hardey plateau's western edge and along dissected drainages. A specific 70 m thick stratigraphic interval will be investigated on the basis that it is interpreted to correlate with the Beatons Creek gold-bearing stratigraphy. Additionally, the intense fracture network will be sampled on surface, in drainages and along the western Hardey plateau edge. About Pacton Gold Pacton Gold (PAC: TSXV; PACXF: US) is a well-financed Canadian junior with key strategic partners focused on the exploration and development of conglomerate-hosted gold properties located in the district-scale Pilbara gold rush in Western Australia. The Company currently controls the third largest conglomerate-hosted gold property portfolio totaling in excess of 2,500 km2 and continues to aggressively review additional accretive acquisitions. The technical content of this news release has been reviewed and approved by Peter Caldbick, P.Geo., a director of the Company and a Qualified Person pursuant to National Instrument 43-101. The qualified person has not yet verified the data disclosed, including sampling, analytical, and test data underlying the information or opinions contained in the written disclosure. On Behalf of the Board of Pacton Gold Inc. Alec Pismiris Interim President and CEO This news release may contain or refer to forward-looking information based on current expectations, including, but not limited to the Company achieving success in exploring its properties and the impact on the Company of these events, including the effect on its share price. Forward-looking information is subject to significant risks and uncertainties, as actual results may differ materially from forecasted results. Forward-looking information is provided as of the date hereof and we assume no responsibility to update or revise such information to reflect new events or circumstances. References to other issuers with nearby projects is for information purposes only and there are no assurances the Company will achieve similar results. Neither TSX Venture Exchange, the Toronto Stock Exchange nor their Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. SOURCE Pacton Gold Inc. NEW YORK, Jan. 24, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, Ole & Steen opens its first U.S. location in the heart of New York City's vibrant Union Square. The opening marks the 100th store for the beloved Danish bakery and their first expansion outside of Europe, with over 90 locations in Denmark and the UK. Founded in 1991 by bakers Ole Kristoffersen and Steen Skallebaek and originally called Lagkagehuset or "layer cake house," Ole & Steen is a pioneer in the resurgence of artisanal and handcrafted baking practices in Denmark. In New York, Ole & Steen looks forward to introducing New Yorkers to their modern takes on traditional Danish pastries, while welcoming guests with a sense of Danish hygge and hospitality. Ole & Steen will be open throughout the day, offering coffee, salads, soups and open-faced sandwiches, in addition to its signature breads, pastries and cakes. Guests can start the day with savory or sweet porridges, bircher pots with seasonal fruits or a traditional Danish breakfast roll with soft cheese. For lunch or dinner, open-faced sandwiches are served on carrot rye bread and topped with smoked salmon, roasted chicken or herring, and salads are composed of seared Yellowfin tuna, heirloom carrots or roasted turkey. To round out the savory options, guests can opt for warm soups and hearty entrees such as slow-roasted tomato soup or herb-roasted salmon. In addition to coffee, hot chocolate and tea, Ole & Steen will also offer wine and beer from Mikkeller, another Danish import in New York City. The bread and pastry menu includes variations of traditional Danish rye, Olander and Skagen loafs, a Danish puff pastry called the Copenhagener and Christanshavner tarts, made with strawberry mousse and fresh berries. Located at 873 Broadway in a landmarked building originally constructed in 1900, Ole & Steen's flagship NYC location is outfitted in sleek Danish style, with Jura grey stone countertops, blackened brass accents, modern light fixtures and seating for up to 80 guests. Ole & Steen is open Monday through Friday from 6:30am-10pm and weekends from 7:30am-10pm. ABOUT OLE & STEEN Ole & Steen is a leading Danish bakery with 100 stores in Denmark, the United Kingdom and the United States. Founded in 1991 by bakers Ole Kristoffersen and Steen Skallebaek and originally called Lagkagehuset in Denmark or "layer cake house," Ole & Steen is a pioneer in the resurgence of artisanal and handcrafted baking practices in Denmark. The bakery offers modern takes on traditional Danish sweets, cakes, pastries and savory dishes in friendly environments with a sense of hygge and hospitality. For more information, visit oleandsteen.com. SOURCE Ole & Steen NEW YORK, Jan. 24, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Julius Berman, President of the Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany (Claims Conference), and Naomi Azrieli, CEO and Chair of the Azrieli Foundation, jointly announced the release of a comprehensive Holocaust Knowledge and Awareness Survey of adults in Canada done in partnership with the Azrieli Foundation. Similar to the April 2018 survey in the United States, the Canadian study found critical gaps both regarding awareness of historical basic facts and detailed knowledge of the Holocaust. For example, 54 percent of those surveyed did not know that six million Jews were killed during the Holocaust. And, while a significant majority of Canadian adults believe that fewer people care about the Holocaust today than they used to, there was a broad-based consensus for providing comprehensive Holocaust education in schools across the country. Canadian perceptions of the neo-Nazi movement in the United States are quite disturbing. 47 percent of the Canadian respondents say there are a "great deal" or "many" neo-Nazis in the U.S. compared to only 17 percent who say there are a "great deal" or "many" neo-Nazis in Canada. Major findings from the survey include: Nearly half (48 percent) say something like the Holocaust could happen in other Western democracies today. in other Western democracies today. An alarming 52% of millennials cannot name even one concentration camp or ghetto and 62% of millennials did not know that six million Jews were killed in the Holocaust. 22% of millennials haven't heard or are not sure if they have heard of the Holocaust Nearly one quarter of all Canadians (23 percent) believe that substantially less than six million Jews were killed (two million or fewer) during the Holocaust, while another near-quarter (24 percent) were unsure of how many were killed. believe that during the Holocaust, while another near-quarter Nearly six out of ten Canadians (57 percent) say fewer people seem to care about the Holocaust than they used to. A task force, which was comprised of Holocaust survivors, as well as representatives from Holocaust museums, educational institutions, and leading nonprofits in the field of Holocaust education helped develop the survey questions. Participants in the task force included: the Azrieli Foundation, Yad Vashem, the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, and the Claims Conference. Naomi Azrieli says, "When we heard about the first Claims Conference study by Schoen in the U.S., we were keen to know how we were doing in Canada. I was shocked and disappointed to see the Canadian results. Clearly there are holes in our education system that must be filled, because as it stands now, we are not preparing the next generation to learn from the past." Additional significant gaps in knowledge about the Holocaust that are revealed by the survey include: While there were over 40,000 concentration camps and ghettos in Europe during the Holocaust, 49 percent of Canadian respondents couldn't name a single camp or ghetto, similar to the U.S. study, where 45 percent could not name one such place. in during the Holocaust, 49 percent of Canadian respondents couldn't name a camp or ghetto, similar to the U.S. study, where 45 percent could not name one such place. 32 percent of respondents believed that Canada had an open immigration policy for any Jewish refugees fleeing Europe . In reality, Canada had one of the worst records of any democracy, allowing only 5,000 Jewish refugees into the country while allowing nearly 2,000 Nazi war criminals to immigrate to Canada after World War II. for any Jewish refugees fleeing . In reality, had one of the worst records of any democracy, allowing only 5,000 Jewish refugees into the country while allowing nearly 2,000 Nazi war criminals to immigrate to after World War II. A surprising 71 percent were not familiar with Holocaust s urvivor icon , Elie Wiesel , and only 55 percent were familiar with Oskar Schindler , a German businessman who saved the lives of a number of Jews during the Holocaust, underscoring the need for continued education about the Holocaust. , and only 55 percent were familiar with , a German businessman who saved the lives of a number of Jews during the Holocaust, underscoring the need for continued education about the Holocaust. 82 percent of respondents believe all students should learn about the Holocaust in school, while 85 percent said it is important to keep teaching about the Holocaust so that it does not happen again. Julius Berman, Claims Conference President, noted, "Here we have yet another study showing that Holocaust education falls woefully short, and we must work together to correct this global issue. As International Holocaust Remembrance Day approaches, we are reminded of how important education is if we are to ensure that the atrocities of the Holocaust will never happen again." "The results of this study should cause great concern about Holocaust education and the gaps we have again uncovered," commented Greg Schneider, Executive Vice President of the Claims Conference. "We must do all we can to educate about the horrors of the Holocaust; it is incumbent on us to ensure that those who suffered so greatly are remembered, while their stories are told and taught by future generations." Survey Methodology and Sample The Holocaust Knowledge and Awareness Study was commissioned by the Azrieli Foundation in partnership with the Claims Conference. Data was collected in French and English and analyzed by Schoen Consulting with a representative sample of 1100 Canadian adults via landline, cell phone, and online interviews. Respondents were selected at random and constituted a demographically representative sample of the adult population in Canada. For more information, please visit: www.claimscon.org About the Azrieli Foundation For 30 years, the Azrieli Foundation has funded institutions as well as operated programs in Canada and in Israel. It supports eight priority areas, with the common thread of education running throughout its funding. Having published the stories of nearly ninety Canadian Holocaust survivors, the Azrieli Foundation has become a world leader in the publication and distribution of Holocaust memoirs in English and in French. The Azrieli Holocaust Survivor Memoirs Program connects educators and students across Canada to these first-hand accounts. The program is guided by the certainty that these stories cultivate empathy and compassion and inspire action against hatred. In addition to providing Holocaust education, the Azrieli Foundation generously supports scientific and medical research, higher education, youth empowerment and school perseverance, music and the arts, architecture and quality of life initiatives for people with developmental disabilities. About the Claims Conference: The Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany (Claims Conference) a nonprofit organization with offices in New York, Tel Aviv and Frankfurt, secures material compensation for Holocaust survivors around the world. Founded in 1951 by representatives of 23 major international Jewish organizations, the Claims Conference negotiates for and disburses funds to individuals and organizations, and seeks the return of Jewish property stolen during the Holocaust. As a result of negotiations with the Claims Conference since 1952, the German government has paid more than $80 billion in indemnification to individuals for suffering and losses resulting from persecution by the Nazis. In 2019, the Claims Conference will distribute approximately $350 million in direct compensation to over 60,000 survivors in 83 countries and will allocate approximately $550 million in grants to over 200 social service agencies worldwide that provide vital services for Holocaust survivors such as homecare, food and medicine. SOURCE Claims Conference Related Links http://www.claimscon.org "These men are filled with optimism, hope, powerful insight, and soaring spirits," said Paul McKellips, Chief Communications Officer and trainer of the Tiger Team 7. "The empowering impact on every audience will not only be inspirational, but highly motivational. If these guys can overcome their obstacles, there's nothing the rest of us can't achieve either." The team consists of 11 combat wounded Veterans. Mike Verardo (34); Army infantryman with the 82nd Airborne; combat wounded April 2010 in Afghanistan; left leg above-the-knee amputation; left arm reattached; TBI. Alex Jauregui (32); Army infantryman with the 82nd Airborne; combat wounded April 2012 in Afghanistan; right leg above-the-knee amputation; left leg below-the-knee amputation. Jack Zimmerman (28); Army Specialist with the 101st Airborne; wounded March 2011 in Afghanistan; double amputee, both legs above-the-knee. John Masson (47); Army Master Sergeant; combat wounded October 2010 in Afghanistan; triple amputee, both legs and left arm. Dillon Cannon (32); Army military police; combat wounded December 2006 in Iraq; hit by sniper in neck; limited use of hands, paralyzed chest down. Michael Boucher (29); Marine Corporal combat engineer; combat wounded June 2011 in Afghanistan; double amputee, both legs above-the-knee; severe injuries to left hand. Danny O'Neel (37); Army Sergeant squad leader with the "Hounds of Hell"; combat wounded during two tours in Iraq (2005 was second); post-traumatic stress; TBI. Justin Anderson (35); Army weapons specialist with 75th Rangers; combat wounded in 2003 in Iraq; left leg above-the-knee amputation in 2014 as result of injuries. Todd Reed (57); Army Special Forces Senior Weapons Sergeant; combat wounded April 1991 in Iraq; right leg below-the-knee amputation. J.D. Williams (30); Army Sergeant infantryman; combat wounded October 2010 in Afghanistan; triple amputee, both legs above the knee and right arm. Geoffrey Quevedo (33); Army Delta Scout; combat wounded November 30, 2011 in Afghanistan; left leg and left arm amputated. If your group would like to book a Tiger Team 7 speaking event or for more information, please visit http://www.independencefund.org/tiger-team-7/. You can also find the Tiger Team 7 on Facebook at https://www.Facebook.com/TigerTeam7/. The Independence Fund is a 501c3, national, Veterans Service Organization serving the unmet needs of catastrophically wounded Veterans, Caregivers, and their families. Since 2007, we have delivered the impact of all-terrain track chairs, adaptive sports, Caregiver retreats, art therapy and family retreats for youngsters, VA advocacy, policy reform, and Veteran suicide prevention. Learn more at www.IndependenceFund.org. SOURCE The Independence Fund Related Links http://www.independencefund.org Kneen previously lent his design vision to two leading iconic brands in the United States. First, he served as creative design director for the Retail Brand Alliance setting the direction for Brooks Brothers and Adrienne Vittadini. Then he was recruited as executive vice president of design and creative director for Banana Republic, the GAP owned brand where he remained for six years leaving in 2013 marking an era of successful designer collaborations with brands such as MadMen, L'Wren Scott and Narciso Rodriguez, to name a few. Kneen's early work in Europe included luxury designer brands, and he was head designer for the French pret-a-porter house, Balmain in the late 1990s. "Simon is an innovative and experienced leader of men's design and is a perfect fit for our disruptive brand," said J.Hilburn Chief Executive Officer Andy Janowski. "I am excited to have his creative vision and leadership as we build the future of custom-made total lifestyle fashion." Kneen joins the already heavy-hitting leadership team consisting of chief executive officer Andy Janowski (former COO of Burberry and CEO of Smythson), chief operating officer Joe Dixon (former CEO of Size Stream and SVP of Brooks Brothers), and newly promoted James Burgess as vice president of Stylist development. "I'm thrilled to be joining the leadership at J.Hilburn with their modern approach to servicing the customer through one-on-one tailoring experts," explained Kneen. "I look forward to building a strong collection point-of-view across the various price points, using my extensive knowledge of Italian fabrics and tailoring." J.Hilburn started with one mission: to guarantee fit and eliminate unnecessary markups in menswear. Led by an expansive network of nearly 2,000 expert Stylists across all 50 states and a mix of online and retail sales, these leadership changes continue to position the brand for strong future growth. "I was attracted to J.Hilburn's unique direct-to-consumer business model that provides a very high-quality and customized product at a much more accessible price point," continued Kneen. "This marries to one of my own philosophies around design that everyone should be able to wear beautiful pieces without breaking the bank and that can be worn well beyond one season." Kneen also will continue in his role as creative director of his own brand Grey New York Grey New England, a luxury accessories collection exclusively made in Italy. For more information on J.Hilburn visit: https://www.jhilburn.com. About J.Hilburn J.Hilburn is the leading custom-made menswear brand with luxury fabrics sourced directly from the most storied Italian mills. These exceptional fabrics are crafted into individual, custom-made garments for each client's fit and styling specifications. J.Hilburn's custom-made garments are offered through a trusted network of personal Stylists who offer personal fittings and styling sessions at a client's convenience. J.Hilburn proudly delivers an unmatched apparel experience for men rooted in the core belief that every man deserves access to quality, service and value in his expression of personal style. SOURCE J.Hilburn Related Links https://www.jhilburn.com CORALVILLE, Iowa, Jan. 24, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- In an effort to assist scientists globally, McCord Research has continued to expand the OliveNet Library's data related to the molecular structure of compounds found in olives. "Institutions rarely share the wealth of their primary scientific data with other researchers. Our goal is to help accelerate research that can potentially improve the quality of life for patients due to important scientific discoveries," stated Darlene McCord PhD, Chief Science Officer of McCord Research. The library, which now features nearly 800 olive compounds allows scientists to understand the chemical properties of olive compounds in a way that they may not have known or realized previously. "Various olive compounds are of critical importance because they are potent antioxidants that are scientifically and clinically proven to prevent and treat major diseases like cancer and diabetes," continued McCord. Dimitrios Boskou PhD, an Emeritus Professor at Aristotle University of Thessaloniki in Greece is the Senior Advisor for the OliveNet Library website. His independent analyses have improved the quality and content of the library. Other website contributing scientists are providing ongoing input to the library which helps make the site so useful to other scientists. The library was developed by a team of researchers at the McCord Research Center located within the Epigenomic Medicine Laboratory at Monash University and RMIT University in Melbourne, Australia. Contributing scientists include Dr. Tom Karagiannis, Dr. Andrew Hung, Natalie Bonvino, Julia Liang, Elena Zafiris and Natalia Benetti. Other contributors include Dr. Nancy Ray and Angela Zhang from McCord Research located in Coralville Iowa. Increasing evidence supports the idea that olive polyphenols are effective against several aging-associated or inflammatory diseases, including type 2 diabetes, atherosclerosis, stroke, cancer, Alzheimer's, Parkinson's and other neurodegenerative diseases. "The importance of including scientifically proven natural olive polyphenols, as part of a patient's care plan, cannot be over estimated," stated McCord. McCord Research is located at 2769 Heartland Dr., Suite 303, Coralville, IA. For further information, call 319-351-3201 or go to: www.mccordresearch.com SOURCE McCord Research Related Links http://www.mccordresearch.com.au DRAPER, Utah, Jan. 24, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- As a leader in performance-based marketing solutions, LinkTrust has expanded its services to include AutoPay with Reward Link. The affiliate marketing and affiliate tracking company launched the feature at Affiliate Summit West. LinkTrust, an innovator in affiliate tracking and performance-based marketing solutions, has added to its robust offerings for customers with AutoPay with Reward Link. The latest feature makes it possible for marketers to pay all affiliates automatically in a single click via a unique Reward Link. The Reward Link is redeemable across dozens of high-profile retailers such as Amazon, Best Buy and Starbucks as well as cash cards with Visa, MasterCard and PayPal. For the feature's official launch, LinkTrust showcased AutoPay with Reward Link to thousands of attendees at Affiliate Summit West in the industry's flagship conference for affiliate marketing. "AutoPay with Reward Link is something that adds clear, quantifiable value for our customers," stated Grant Hanson, LinkTrust's Vice President of Sales and Marketing. "Whether needing to pay out thousands of affiliates at once, or just looking for a unique competitive advantage to entice referrals, AutoPay with Reward Link will save time and add value to affiliate or referral programs and provide a genuine competitive advantage." The latest feature, which is exclusive to LinkTrust, provides yet another option for marketers to motivate and reward affiliates. LinkTrust customers are able to add AutoPay with Reward Link to their accounts by contacting their account manager or support representative. To learn more, visit: www.linktrust.com. About LinkTrust Recognized as an industry leader with outstanding customer support and platform reliability, LinkTrust empowers ad networks, digital agencies, retailers, advertisers and lead-generation marketers to accurately and easily create, manage, report and pay on affiliate marketing and lead distribution campaigns for hundreds of customers across the world. For more information visit: www.linktrust.com. SOURCE LinkTrust Related Links http://www.linktrust.com CHICAGO, Jan. 24, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Lincoln International, a global investment banking advisory firm, is pleased to announce its 2018 promotions to the Managing Director level. The promotions of Aude Doyen (London), Rommel Franco (Madrid), Roger Knight (New York) and Gaurang Shastri (Chicago) to Managing Director are indicative of both the global growth of the firm as well as the increasing depth of Lincoln's sector and product and expertise and strength. "The promotions of our esteemed colleagues to the role of Lincoln International Managing Director is a celebratory point to conclude another successful year at Lincoln," said Jim Lawson, Chairman and Global Co-CEO of Lincoln International. "Each individual brings significant value to their clients and the firm lending their unique perspective to engagements that result in meaningful outcomes and importantly, demonstrating leadership that bolsters our greatest asset our culture." The promoted individuals, in alphabetical order, are: Aude Doyen | London, UK Aude advises UK and international financial sponsors and their portfolio companies on acquisition and growth financings, refinancings, and covenant amendments. Prior to joining Lincoln as an Associate in 2011, Aude worked at DC Advisory Partners (formerly Close Brothers Corporate Finance), assisting clients with debt advisory and mergers and acquisitions transactions. Rommel Franco | Madrid, Spain Rommel works closely with private companies, multinationals and private equity firms to achieve optimal outcomes related to debt funding or mergers and acquisitions (M&A) and has significant energy and clean tech sector expertise. Prior to joining Lincoln as Vice President in 2011, Rommel was a corporate finance manager at KPMG. Roger Knight | New York, New York Roger delivers deep domain expertise on enterprise software and technology infrastructure transactions that provide his clients with growth capital, liquidity and strategic partners to further enhance their business, products and market opportunity. Prior to joining Lincoln as a Director in 2018, Roger was a Director with KBCM Technology Group (formerly Pacific Crest Securities). Gaurang Shastri | Chicago, Illinois Since joining Lincoln in 2004, Gaurang has gained significant M&A advisory expertise, executing sell-side and buy-side transactions for leading private equity groups, privately held businesses and publicly traded companies. Gaurang leads Lincoln International's North American Logistics & Transportation Group. Previously, Gaurang worked at Citigroup and as Head of Corporate Development for Clover Technologies Group. About Lincoln International We are trusted investment banking advisors to business owners and senior executives of leading private equity firms and public and privately held companies around the world. Our advisory services include mergers and acquisitions, debt advisory, growth equity and restructuring for the mid-market. We also provide valuations and fairness opinions and joint ventures advisory services. As one tightly integrated team of more than 500 professionals across 15 countries, we offer an unobstructed perspective, backed by superb execution and a deep commitment to client success. With extensive industry knowledge and relationships, timely market intelligence and strategic insights, we forge deep, productive client relationships that endure for decades. Connect with us to learn more at www.lincolninternational.com. Media Contact Heidi Becker Marketing Manager +1 (312) 506-2739 [email protected] SOURCE Lincoln International LLC Related Links https://www.lincolninternational.com NEW YORK, Jan. 24, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- INTRODUCTION Chronic clinical conditions, such as diabetes, cardiovascular disorders, neurological disorders, autoimmune disorders and various types of cancer, are considered to be among the leading causes of death and disability across the world. Recently, the Center for Managing Chronic Disease at the University of Michigan reported that over 50% of the global population is currently suffering from some form of chronic disease. The past few years have witnessed ground breaking advances in the process of drug development and introduction of several innovative pharmaceutical interventions for the treatment of a number of chronic diseases. However, majority of the available treatment options require parenteral administration, frequent dosing, involve repeated hospital visits and are associated with multiple other concerns, such as dosing and medication errors, risk of microbial contamination and needlestick injuries. These challenges represent a substantial threat to medication adherence and, thereby, are likely to significantly impact therapeutic outcomes. Over the past few years, a number of companies have developed advanced therapeutic delivery solutions to alleviate the pressing concerns associated with the administration of both conventional and novel drug / therapy molecules. Amongst modern drug delivery practices, the concept of self-injection has facilitated advanced medications to be administered beyond the clinical setting. This has also served to reduce healthcare costs, improve therapy adherence and optimize the utilization of healthcare resources per treatment. Read the full report: https://www.reportlinker.com/p04719478 The self-injection devices market is currently characterized by the presence of a myriad of advanced and innovative drug delivery solutions, equipped with a variety of user-friendly features. Notable examples of such products include prefilled syringes, reusable and disposable pen injectors, autoinjectors and large volume wearable injectors. Large volume wearable injectors are capable of drug delivery primarily via the subcutaneous route and have become a preferred choice for administration of drugs in the home-care setting. Variants of these wearable devices have been designed to administer highly viscous drugs (such as most biologics) in large volumes (more than 1 ml), offering numerous benefits, such as ease-of-use, reduced chances of dosing-related errors, integrated safety mechanisms, and an almost negligible risk of needlestick injuries. It is worth highlighting that such devices have captured the interest of several stakeholders in this industry to deliver various insulin and non-insulin drugs. Moreover, the field is witnessing emergence of other technological advancements, such as integrated mobile applications with smart health monitoring and other interesting features (such as provisions for reminders, and the ability to connect to web-based portals for sharing medical data with the concerned healthcare providers), visual / audible drug delivery confirmation notifications, automatic drug reconstitution, and error alerts. SCOPE OF THE REPORT The "Large Volume Wearable Injectors Market (4th Edition), 2018-2030" report features an extensive study of the current market landscape and the likely future evolution of self-injection devices, over the next twelve years. It specifically lays emphasis on the emergence of patient-centric, convenient, cost-effective and user-friendly wearable drug delivery solutions that are capable of administering large volumes of a drug subcutaneously, in the home-care setting. Amongst other elements, the report includes: A detailed review of the overall landscape of the large volume wearable injectors market, highlighting the contributions of industry players related to the delivery of both insulin and non-insulin drugs, along with key device specifications. It features information on current development status of various products (under development and commercialized), type of device (patch pump / injector and infusion pump / injector), type of dose administered (continuous and bolus), route of administration (subcutaneous and others), usability (disposable and reusable), mechanism of action (driving force), mode of injection (needle, needle / cannula and needle / catheter), maximum volume of the device and availability of connected mobile application. A comprehensive product competitiveness analysis of all large volume wearable injectors that we came across, taking into consideration the supplier power (based on the year of establishment) and product specifications, such as type of device, type of dose, maximum volume of the device, usability, allowed route of administration, connectivity with the mobile application and availability of an integrated continuous glucose monitoring / blood glucose monitoring (CGM / BGM) system in case of insulin devices. Elaborate profiles of prominent product developers engaged in this domain, featuring a brief overview of the company, its financial information (if available), information on its product portfolio, recent developments and a comprehensive future outlook. Additionally, the report includes tabulated profiles of wearable drug device combination products. An in-depth analysis of the various patents that have been submitted / filed related to large volume wearable injectors, since 1984. It also highlights the key parameters associated with the patents, including information on patent type, patent offices, CPC classification, emerging areas (in terms of number of patents filed / granted) and leading industry players (in terms of size of intellectual property portfolio). A social media analysis depicting prevalent and emerging trends, and the popularity of large volume wearable injectors, as observed on the social media platform, Twitter. The analysis was based on tweets posted on the platform from 2013 to 2018 (till September). A comprehensive clinical trial analysis of completed, ongoing and planned studies of various large volume wearable injector products. For the purpose of this analysis, we considered the clinical studies that started in 2010, and analyzed them on the basis of various parameters, such as trial start year, current trail status, current trial phase, study design, targeted therapeutic area, study focus and clinical outcomes. A case study on the role of contract manufacturing organizations in the overall manufacturing process / supply chain of wearable injectors. It includes short descriptions of the manufacturing services provided by contract service providers in the making of various device components (primary containers), infusion sets, adhesives, closures and injection moldings. A list of marketed drugs / therapies and pipeline candidates that are likely to be developed in combination with large volume wearable injectors in the near future, based on an in-depth analysis of potential candidates, taking into consideration multiple parameters, such as stage of development, dosage, dose concentration, route of administration, type of dose and drug sales (in case of marketed drugs). One of the key objectives of the report was to estimate the existing market size and potential future growth opportunities for large volume wearable injectors. Based on parameters, such as the number of commercialized devices, number of devices under development, price of the device and the annual adoption rate, we have provided an informed estimate on the likely evolution of the market over the period 2018-2030. The report also features sales forecasts for the overall large volume wearable injectors market with a detailed market segmentation on the therapeutic area, geographical distribution of the market (North America / Europe / Asia Pacific / RoW), type of device (patch pump / injector and infusion pump / injector) and usability (reusable / disposable). In order to account for future uncertainties and to add robustness to our model, we have provided three market forecast scenarios namely the conservative, base and optimistic scenarios, which represent different tracks of the industry's evolution. The opinions and insights presented in this study were influenced by discussions conducted with several stakeholders in this domain. The report features detailed transcripts of interviews held with the following individuals (alphabetical order of companies): Menachem Zucker (VP and Chief Scientist, Elcam Medical) Michael Hooven (CEO, Enable Injections) Mark Banister (CEO, Medipacs) Pieter Muntendam (President and CEO, scPharmaceuticals) Mindy Katz (Director of Product, Sorrel Medical) Jesper Roested (CEO, Subcuject) Graham Reynolds (VP and GM, Biologics, West Pharmaceutical Services) Tiffany H. Burke (Director, Global Communications, West Pharmaceutical Services) All actual figures have been sourced and analyzed from publicly available information forums and primary research discussions. Financial figures mentioned in this report are in USD, unless otherwise specified. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY The data presented in this report has been gathered via secondary and primary research. For all our projects, we conduct interviews with experts in the area (academia, industry, medical practice and other associations) to solicit their opinions on emerging trends in the market. This is primarily useful for us to draw out our own opinion on how the market will evolve across different regions and technology segments. Where possible, the available data has been checked for accuracy from multiple sources of information. The secondary sources of information include Annual reports Investor presentations SEC filings Industry databases News releases from company websites Government policy documents Industry analysts' views While the focus has been on forecasting the market till 2030, the report also provides our independent view on various non-commercial trends emerging in the industry. This opinion is solely based on our knowledge, research and understanding of the relevant market gathered from various secondary and primary sources of information. CHAPTER OUTLINES Chapter 2 provides an executive summary of the insights captured in our research. It offers a high-level view on the current state of the large volume wearable injectors market in the short-mid term and long term. Chapter 3 provides a general introduction to large volume wearable injectors, highlighting the growing demand for medical devices that enable self-administration. The chapter lays emphasis on the need for such devices, in terms of the rising incidence and prevalence of chronic diseases. Subsequently, it provides an overview of the different types of self-injection devices available in the market, listing their various advantages. It also features a brief discussion on the concerns related to the use of such devices. Chapter 4 presents separate lists, highlighting large volume wearable injectors capable of delivering any suitable drug and drug device combinations designed for delivery of specific drugs, respectively. In addition, the chapter includes a detailed analysis of these lists based on the products' status of development, type of device, type of dose, route of administration, usability, mechanism of action, mode of injection, maximum volume of the device and availability of connected mobile application. In addition, the chapter lists the large volume wearable injectors for delivery of insulin, highlighting the aforementioned parameters for each of them and information on provision of CGM \ BGM systems. Chapter 5 presents a product competitiveness analysis of all large volume wearable injectors based on the supplier power and key product specifications. The analysis was designed to enable stakeholder companies to compare their existing capabilities within and beyond their respective peer groups and identify opportunities to achieve a competitive edge in the industry. Chapter 6 provides detailed profiles of key large volume wearable injectors manufacturers. Each profile presents a brief overview of the company, financial information (if available), product portfolio, recent developments and a comprehensive future outlook. Chapter 7 provides tabulated profiles of drug device combination products and each profile include drug specifications, mechanism of action, development history, current status of development, and dosage and sales information. Chapter 8 provides an in-depth patent analysis, presenting an overview on the filed / granted patents related to wearable injectors for the delivery of drugs in large volumes. For this analysis, we looked at the patents that have been published by various players since 1984. The analysis highlights the key information and trends associated with these patents, including patent type (granted patents, patent applications and others), patent publication year, patent offices (USPTO, WIPO, APO, EPO and others), CPC classification, emerging areas and the leading industry players. The chapter also includes a patent benchmarking analysis and patent valuation analysis. Chapter 9 provides insights on the popularity of large volume wearable injectors on the social media platform, Twitter. The chapter highlights the yearly distribution of tweets posted on the platform in the period between January 2013 and September 2018, and the most significant events responsible for increase in the volume of tweets each year. Additionally, the chapter showcases the most frequently mentioned keywords / phrases and social media activity of the most popular players with the comparison of the tweets associated with their product. It also presents a bubble analysis of the most influential authors related to large volume wearable injectors on Twitter. Chapter 10 presents a comprehensive clinical trial analysis of the complete and active studies being conducted to evaluate the combinations of drugs and large volume wearable injectors. For the purpose of this analysis, we looked at the clinical studies for these devices which started in 2010, and analyzed them on the basis of various parameters, such as trial start year, current trail status, current trial phase, study design, targeted therapeutic area, study focus and clinical outcomes. Chapter 11 includes a brief case study on the role of contract manufacturing organizations in the overall manufacturing process / supply chain of a wearable injector. It includes a short description of the manufacturing services provided by these organizations in the making of device components (primary containers), infusion sets, adhesives, closures and injection moldings. In addition, it presents a world map highlighting the location of the CMOs and their device manufacturing service portfolio. Chapter 12 presents a list of marketed and pipeline molecules that are likely to be considered for delivery via large volume wearable injectors in the future. It is worth highlighting that this list was compiled based on various parameters, such as route of administration, target therapeutic indication and the current dosage regimen of the aforementioned product candidates. For the purpose of this analysis, we collated a list of over 100 top-selling marketed drugs, which were initially screened on the basis of route of administration (subcutaneous / intramuscular / intravenous). Additionally, we reviewed over 1,400 clinical trials and compiled a list of pipeline molecules that are being investigated for delivery via the aforementioned routes. The likelihood of delivery via a large volume wearable injector in the future was estimated using the weighted average method. Chapter 13 presents a comprehensive market forecast analysis, highlighting the future potential of large volume wearable injectors, till the year 2030. We have segregated the opportunity on the basis of the therapeutic area, geographical distribution of the market (North America / Europe / Asia Pacific / RoW), type of device (patch pump / injector and infusion pump / injector) and usability (reusable / disposable). In addition, the chapter features an opportunity analysis of the of the large volume wearable injectors for delivery of insulin. Chapter 14 presents a detailed discussion on the future opportunities of wearable injectors for large volume drug delivery. It also highlights the key parameters and trends that are likely to influence the future of this market, under a comprehensive SWOT framework. Chapter 15 is a collection of interview transcripts of the discussions held with key stakeholders in this market. In this chapter, we have presented the details of interviews held with (in alphabetical order of company name) Menachem Zucker (VP and Chief Scientist, Elcam Medical), Michael Hooven (CEO, Enable Injections), Mark Banister (CEO, Medipacs), Pieter Muntendam (President and CEO, scPharmaceuticals), Mindy Katz (Director of Product, Sorrel Medical), Jesper Roested (CEO, Subcuject), Graham Reynolds (VP and GM, Biologics, West Pharmaceutical Services) and Tiffany H. Burke (Director, Global Communications, West Pharmaceutical Services). Chapter 16 is an appendix, which provides tabulated data and numbers for all the figures included in the report. Chapter 17 is an appendix, which contains a list of companies and organizations mentioned in this report. EXAMPLE HIGHLIGHTS 1. Over 50 large volume wearable injectors are either commercialized and / or are under development for delivery of a variety of drugs. Devices designed for administration of non-insulin drugs have a high storage capacity and are being developed for delivery of high viscosity formulations. In fact, around 17% of such devices have the capability to hold 10-15ml of drug while 23% of the devices have a maximum storage capacity of more than 15 ml. Such devices are designed either for bolus dosing (40%), or continuous dosing (40%); there are certain products that have been designed to administer both continuous and bolus doses of drugs (20%). 2. More than 10 drug device combinations are currently developed / being evaluated for delivery of non-insulin drugs; of these, two drug device combinations are already approved by the USFDA; these are Neulasta (pegfilgrastim) OnPro Kit (Amgen / Insulet) and Pushtronex System (Amgen / West Pharmaceuticals). In addition, there are several other drug-device combinations that are being evaluated in clinical studies; examples include (in alphabetical order, no selection criteria) ND0701 (Neuroderm), scWear Infusor (SteadyMed Therapeutics) and Herceptin SC Injector (Roche). 3. Specifically for insulin delivery, close to 30 devices are being developed / approved. Of these, over 60% of the devices are already marketed. Examples include (in alphabetical order, no selection criteria) ACCU-CHEK Combo System (Roche), MiniMed 630G Insulin Pump System (Medtronic), PAQ, 3-Day Basal and Bolus Delivery (CeQur)and t:slim X2 Insulin Pump (Tandem Diabetes Care). It is worth noting that specifically for the delivery of insulin, the market for large volume wearable injectors is anticipated to reach over USD 1.5 billion by 2030, representing a CAGR of close to 5%. 4. The innovation in the field is primarily being driven by start-ups / small companies. Of all the companies developing large volume wearable injectors for non-insulin drugs, 50% are based in North America, primarily in the US. Examples of firms based in this region include (in alphabetical order, no selection criteria) Enable Injections, Medipacs, SteadyMed Therapeutics, scPharmaceuticals and West Pharmaceutical Services. Examples of start-ups based in different geographical regions that have undertaken initiatives in this domain include (in alphabetical order, no selection criteria) Debiotech, Subcuject, ViCentra, Weibel CDS and Eoflow. In addition, a number of established companies are also making substantial contributions in this field; prominent players include (in alphabetical order, no selection criteria) 3M, Becton Dickinson, Insulet, West Pharmaceutical Services and Ypsomed. 5. The development process of high-volume drug injector devices is complex due to the involvement of multiple components, which include both electrical and mechanical modules. Therefore, several device developers have opted to recruit the services of CMOs for manufacturing their proprietary drug delivery devices. Examples of companies that claim to provide manufacturing services to large volume drug delivery device developers include (in alphabetical order, no selection criteria) Baril Corporation, Daikyo Seiko, Flex International, Haselmeier, Phillips-Medisize, Vetter Pharma and Zollner. 6. Close to 2,000 patents pertaining to the abovementioned devices have been filed till 2018. An analysis of these patents revealed that automated self-injection devices, with advanced features, are gradually gaining traction amongst patients with chronic disorders. Some of the advanced features integrated with the delivery devices include automatic reconstitution / priming mechanisms, provisions for audio and visual indications, error alerts and remote monitoring capability through connected devices. Examples of large volume wearable injectors that have been designed to be connected to smart devices include (in alphabetical order, no selection criteria) BD Libertas Wearable Injector (Becton Dickinson), Omnipod (Insulet), SmartDose Generation I (West Pharmaceutical Services) and Subcuject Wearable Bolus Injection (Subcuject). 7. An analysis of clinical studies that are being / have been conducted to evaluate the combinations of drugs and large volume wearable injectors reveal that close to 50% trials assessed the potential of using large volume wearable injectors for delivery of drugs intended for the treatment of neurological disorders. This is followed by the trials conducted to evaluate the effect of large volume wearable injectors in patients suffering from cardiovascular disorders (23%) and cancer (13%). 8. Out of various marketed / under development drug molecules, close to 80 drugs demonstrated a relatively higher potential to be delivered via large volume wearable injectors and are most likely to be evaluated in different drug-device combinations in the near future. Of these, 90% are biologics and 10% are small molecules. These drugs (full list available in the main report) are designed for treatment of chronic conditions, which require frequent dosing, and are not currently available in suitable self-administration systems. 9. The market for large volume wearable devices for delivery of non-insulin drugs is expected to grow at an annualized rate of close to 40% between 2018 and 2030. It is worth noting that disposable injectors are anticipated to capture over 50% of the market share due to the safety concerns reported by the use of reusable injectors. Further, over 60% share of revenues is anticipated to be distributed between North America and Europe. However, we believe that certain counties in Asia Pacific are likely to grow at a faster rate as compared to other regions over the coming decade; this can be attributed to the increasing incidence of chronic disorders in these regions and a relatively less stringent regulatory environment. Specifically, neurological and oncological disorders are anticipated to capture a significantly higher market share in the future. Read the full report: https://www.reportlinker.com/p04719478 About Reportlinker ReportLinker is an award-winning market research solution. Reportlinker finds and organizes the latest industry data so you get all the market research you need - instantly, in one place. __________________________ Contact Clare: [email protected] US: (339)-368-6001 Intl: +1 339-368-6001 SOURCE Reportlinker Related Links http://www.reportlinker.com NEW YORK, Jan. 24, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Kustomer, the next-generation customer management platform for the people-first enterprise, announced today a $35 million Series C round led by Battery Ventures , bringing Kustomer's total funding to $73.5 million. The investment comes just 6 months after its Series B round in June of 2018. Kustomer plans to use the capital to accelerate its go-to-market strategy, expand internationally, and invest in its platform, launching new products while cementing its position as the next-generation alternative to legacy solutions like Salesforce, Oracle and Zendesk. Neeraj Agrawal , a general partner at Battery Ventures and a seasoned B2B software investor, joins Kustomer's Board of Directors. Battery Ventures joins current investors Redpoint Ventures, Canaan Partners, Boldstart Ventures, Social Leverage and Cisco Investments who also participated in the round. "From early on, leading brands in the B2C and DTC segments were attracted to Kustomer because we provide a next-generation alternative to outdated technologies and a solution to an endless queue of tickets that's weighing companies down and frustrating their agents and customers," said Brad Birnbaum, CEO of Kustomer. "Kustomer's first-of-its-kind data model and one, single timeline view of customer interactions and events have differentiated us from legacy solutions and are the basis for our 500% year-over-year growth." Kustomer's explosive growth has been driven by its ability to attract large companies with thousands of service agents, rising frustration from existing outdated solutions that fail to deliver on their customer experience promise, the need for business process automation to drive efficiencies, and an overall shift in approach to customer management. "We've been closely following Kustomer's impressive growth and see a large opportunity for the company to become one of the top players in this marketowing mainly to its powerful platform, experienced team and ability to execute on its vision," said Battery's Agrawal. "We're excited to leverage Battery's global network and company-scaling expertise to partner with Brad and the rest of the Kustomer team to help the company expand further into the enterprise market." NYC-based Kustomer is one of the fastest-growing startups in its space. The company's growth momentum is demonstrated by the expanding list of disruptive and innovative brands - like Ring, Rent the Runway, Glovo, Glossier, Away, Slice, Sweetgreen and UNTUCKit - using Kustomer to deliver on their people-first promise everyday. "Since switching to Kustomer from Desk.com, we've seen a 30-second decrease in handle time for voice interactions, a 25% overall improvement in efficiency and productivity from our team members, and a significant improvement in our FCR rate," commented Mike Vroom, Customer Service Director at the click and brick retailer UNTUCKit . "I knew we were going to be more efficient with Kustomer, but I didn't know HOW much more efficient. The ease of use has been really flawless, and everything our team members need is finally all in one place." "Kustomer has completely transformed our customer support operation here at Glovo." Remarks Sergi Mendez, Global Head of Live Operations Support. "We are a three-sided marketplace, meaning our 2,000 agents provide support for our Glovers, merchants, and consumers. Through powerful workflows and simple integrations, our agents are able to handle over 1.8 million conversations per month across multiple channels without switching interfaces/platforms. Since switching to Kustomer, we have increased efficiency and are constantly improving live support to our users in over 20 countries across the globe." To keep up with growing demand, Kustomer has doubled the size of it's workforce in 2018 and is planning on more than doubling it again in 2019. Today it is also announcing key senior leadership appointments, bolstering its leadership team capabilities as it takes on giant industry leaders and continues its growth momentum: Amir Oren as VP of Finance (Formerly of Talkdesk, Zendesk and Dropbox), Nelly Rinot as VP of Marketing (Formerly of NICE, RRD and Radware), Alex Gadd as VP of Customer Experience (Formerly of SugarCRM and Oracle), and the promotion of Vikas Bhambri to SVP, Global Sales and Customer Experience (Formerly of Oracle, LivePerson and 8x8). "We are fortunate to have incredible depth and breadth of talent across Kustomer's executive team," said Birnbaum. "As we start executing on our strategy, I strongly believe the new appointments will help us tightly integrate all functions of the company and will help pave the way to our continued success in revolutionizing the customer management, service and support space in 2019 and beyond." Media Contact: Stacey Dolchin, (212) 497-1188, [email protected] About Kustomer: Customer Friendships are created with Kustomer. Our customer management platform for the people-first enterprise is intelligent, powerful and flexible, and scales to meet the needs of any contact center and business. Agent-friendly as well as customer-friendly Kustomer unifies data from multiple sources, enabling companies to deliver effortless, consistent and personalized service and support through a single timeline view. Today, Kustomer is the core platform of some of the leading People-first brands like Ring, Rent the Runway, Glossier, Away, Glovo, Slice, Sweetgreen, Stella & Dot, and UNTUCKit. Headquartered in NYC, Kustomer was founded in 2015 by serial entrepreneurs Brad Birnbaum and Jeremy Suriel, raised over $70M in venture funding, and is backed by leading VCs including: Battery Ventures, Redpoint Ventures, Canaan Partners, Boldstart Ventures, Social Leverage and Cisco Investments. To learn more about Kustomer visit www.kustomer.com or reach out by email to [email protected] . About Battery Ventures: Battery strives to invest in cutting-edge, category-defining businesses in markets including software and services, Web infrastructure, consumer Internet, mobile and industrial technologies. Founded in 1983, the firm backs companies at stages ranging from seed to private equity and invests globally from offices in Boston, the San Francisco Bay Area, London, Israel and New York. Follow the firm on Twitter @BatteryVentures, visit our website at www.battery.com and find a full list of Battery's portfolio companies here . SOURCE Kustomer Related Links https://www.kustomer.com HERENTALS, Belgium, Jan. 24, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Kemin Industries, a leading provider of shelf-life extension and food safety solutions for the global food industry, recently launched NaturCEASE Dry, a new food safety solution. NaturCEASE Dry is a clean-label combination of buffered vinegar and natural plant extracts developed to keep processed meat products safe and fresh. "Meat spoilage can be divided into two criteria: oxidative rancidity and microbial spoilage. Both have a sensory impact and an impact on colour, but, more importantly, microbial contamination affects meat safety," said Anja Verbiest, Customer Laboratory Services and Quality Assurance Manager, Kemin Food Technologies EMEA. NaturCEASE Dry combines multiple benefits into one blend. The one-stop solution controls spoilage bacteria while maintaining the bright red colour and fresh flavour of processed meat products. "Our NaturCEASE Dry solution offers a total freshness package. It's user-friendly for customers and provides the needed convenience they seek," said Kelly De Vadder, Marketing Manager, Kemin Food Technologies EMEA. Consumers today are demanding natural food products without artificial ingredients. The meat industry is facing this trend as retailers push for cleaner, clearer and simpler labels. With NaturCEASE Dry, meat manufacturers can better meet this growing demand for clean-label ingredients and transparency. Please visit the NaturCEASE product page for more information. About Kemin Industries Kemin Industries (www.kemin.com) is a global ingredient manufacturer with a focus on improving the quality of life for over 3.8 billion people each day with more than 500 specialty ingredients made for the human and animal health, pet food, nutraceutical, food technology, crop technologies and textile industries. For over half a century, Kemin has been dedicated to using applied science to address industry challenges and offers product solutions to customers in more than 120 countries. Kemin provides ingredients to feed a growing population with its commitment to the quality, safety and efficacy of food, feed and health-related products. Established in 1961, Kemin is a privately-held, family-owned and operated company with more than 2,800 employees globally and operations in 90 countries, including manufacturing facilities in Belgium, Brazil, China, India, Italy, Russia, Singapore, South Africa and the United States. Media Contact: Kelly De Vadder, Marketing Manager, [email protected], +32 14283664 SOURCE Kemin Industries Related Links http://www.kemin.com DAHLONEGA, Ga., Jan. 24, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Jeep owners, Jeep lovers, families, and dogs are welcome to enjoy live music, great food, and unique Jeeps at Kaya's third annual jeep show. Guests are welcome to shop from specialty vendors, participate in contests and raffles, and explore Kaya's vineyard through our Jeep vineyard trail ride! For just $25, register your Jeep in the Jeep show and receive a swag bag with a free T-shirt, koozie, stemless wine glass, trail ride token, and complimentary parking! Registered Jeeps are asked to arrive at 10:00am. Don't drive a Jeep? Join us as a guest with $5 parking and enjoy in house BBQ, wine, and beer available to purchase during the show! And Kaya wants YOUR art to make the event shine! Artists and graphic designers of all ages are encouraged to participate in our Jeep Show Logo Contest. The winning design will be showcased on all event T-shirts! Plus, the contest winner and their three chosen guests will receive a free night's stay in a newly renovated cabin at Dahlonega Resort and Vineyard as well as four food tickets for the day of the event. Please submit contest entries to [email protected]. Kaya has also partnered with TLC Humane Society to sponsor dog and cat adoptions throughout the event and accept donations. Cash and check donations are welcome, as well as treats, toys, towels, and laundry soap. Last year, over $1,500 was raised to help our furry friends and multiple loads of goods were driven back to the shelter! Event will be held rain or shine! Vineyard trail may be canceled if inclement weather occurs. No refunds will be given. "Founded in 1977, TLC Humane Society is the only no-kill, non-profit shelter in Dahlonega, GA. We are a licensed non-profit 501(c)(3) rescue organization and have both dogs and cats and, often times, puppies and kittens available for adoption, and all of them need to find a good home. Our mission is to provide compassionate care for dogs and cats by facilitating adoption and promoting responsible pet ownership in our community." For more information on the event please go to http://www.kayavineyards.com/events.html Contact: Kaya Vineyard and Winery [email protected] 5400 Town Creek Road Dahlonega, Georgia Ph: 706-219-3514 SOURCE Kaya Vineyard and Winery GURUGRAM, India, January 24, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- It is expected that the demand of compatibilizers & coupling agents from the energy sector would trace one of the highest CAGR of close to 10% over the period 2018-2023. Similarly, with the advent of higher use of green tires, revenue from rubber industry would be seen tracing similar growth figures. Major growth clusters would be located in western, southern and central India . . Automotive industry on the other hand would maintain its position as the second highest contributor of revenue generated in 2023. The 5-year CAGR traced by this segment would be more than 10%. Use of titanate coupling agent is expected to increase in this sector. Northern India would constitute to be one of the biggest regional hubs for this space. would constitute to be one of the biggest regional hubs for this space. With emerging government constraints over the use of recyclable plastics, the demand of coupling agent would undeniably be pulled-up from the packaging industry in India . Indian Coupling agents and compatibilizers market is expected to grow in the coming future. The product finds major use in automotive industry. The use is expected to increase in future with more utilization of biodegradable nylon blends in the production process. These blends are generally immiscible in nature and compatibilizers are used to increase the interfacial adhesion between them. Apart from this, they are used wherever polymers are used which includes Bumpers, Dash Board, Door Trims, Grill, Front End Module Carries, Battery Containers, Engine Covers, Manifolds, Ducts, Seats, Interior parts, fuel tanks and multi layer tubing. The plastics industry is continuously looking for substitutes in form of polymer blends. However the only problem is that these polymers are immiscible in nature therefore in order to mix them various compatibilizers and coupling agents are used. These processes are termed as nano-particle compatibilization mechanism. In future, coupling agents are expected to find uses in natural rubber blending. Various tire manufacturing companies are indulging in manufacturing of green tires which helps in fuel efficiency and overall safety. This is mainly because of the chemical properties provided by various coupling agents. Other uses of coupling agents in rubber industry include manufacturing of flexible shoe laces. In paints and other coatings compatibilizers and coupling agents play the role of fillers. These agents help in increasing strength, structure and hardness which helps in increasing the service life of the product and provide resistance to higher temperatures as well. In case of industrial goods, coupling agents and compatibilizers are used as primer before coatings as these help in improving corrosion resistance and prevent corrosion spreading from the crackline. By acting as dispersing agents they help in providing better links between resins and fillers, add higher filler in loading and improving filler's dispersion in resins. (Logo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/661352/Ken_Research_Logo.jpg ) The government has proposed initiatives such as National Wind and Solar Energy Hybrid Policy, Strategic Plan for New and Renewable Energy Sector in the field of Solar and Wind Energy Generation in India. Silane Coupling agents are used as adhesions in Photovoltaic (PV) solar panels and wind turbine wings. Manufacturers of solar panels have proposed to improve the properties of Self Cleaning and Anti dust in PV Panels. Studies are being done to improve these properties and super-hydrophilic coating with high stability and corrosion resistance in PV panels and wind turbine wings. It is expected that with government initiatives on renewable energy generation and increasing awareness among people, the demand for coupling agents will increase. Ken Research in its latest study, "India Coupling Agents & Compatibilizers Market Outlook to 2023 - By Application (Packaging & Plastics Industry, Automotives Industry, Adhesives & Sealants and Paints & Coatings, Rubber Industry, Energy Sector and Others) and by Coupling Agents (Maleic Anhydride Grafted Polymers, Silane Coupling Agents and Others)", suggests that the demand for coupling agents & compatibilizers would continue to grow registering a CAGR of close to 13% during 2018-2023. For more information on the research report, refer to below link: https://www.kenresearch.com/metal-mining-and-chemicals/chemicals/india-coupling-agents-compatibilizers-market/175027-101.html Key Segments Covered - Market Segmentation by End User Industries Packaging & Plastics Industry Automotives Industry Adhesives & Sealants and Paints & Coatings Rubber Industry Energy Sector Others (Fiber Treatment, Dental, Construction, Textile & Others) - Market Segmentation By Type Maleic Anhydride Grafted Polymers Silane Coupling Agent Others (Titanates, Zirconate, Aluminate & Others) Key Target Audience Global coupling agents manufacturing companies Indian coupling agents manufacturing companies Coupling agent and compatibilizers trading companies Major distributers of Coupling agent and compatibilizers Governmental and research organizations Time Period Captured in the Report: 2013-2018 - Historical Period 2019-2023 - Future Forecast Companies Covered: Indian Players: KPL International Limited (KPL) K. K. Chempro India Private Limited Plus advanced technology Pvt LTD Peekay Dealer Pvt. Ltd. Supreme Silicons SR Marketing LLP AKD Polymers Pvt ltd PVC Compatibilizer Vincoplas Pvt ltd (Inventive Polymers) Ultrananotech Pvt LTD Supple Rubber Chemicals Pvt Ltd Lab Line Enterprises Krishna Enterprises Rotoman Engineers India Pvt LTD PK Enterprise Aquent Impex India Pvt LTD Sarvan Carbochem LLP 4P Global Pvt LTD Rishiroop Polymers Pvt LTD. KCC Corporation Monachem Additives Pvt LTD TriStar Global Pvt ltd Super Urecoat Industries Newgen Speciality Plastics Limited International Players: Arkema Polyram DowDuPont Power Chemical Corporation (PCC) Hexpol Compounding Evonik Shin-Etsu Silicones Struktol 3M Rayton Chemicals Gelest Evonik GBXF Gaizhou Hengda Chemicals Co., Ltd Guotai-Huarong HERRMAN HUBEI Blueshy New Hangzhou Dadi Chemical Co., Ltd. Huachangchem Hungpai Chemistry Co., Ltd JNC (Chisso) Importers Of Coupling Agents: Henkel Teroson India Ltd Crescent Polymers Pvt Ltd Aj Enterprises Empire Industries Ltd Delta Enterprises Exporters Of Coupling Agents: Kamlesh Enterprises AB Enterprises Organo Chem Newgen Specialty Plastics Ltd. Jeevilka Sparck Chem Pvt Ltd Shree Mahalaxmi Chemicals Allen Petro Chemicals Pvt Ltd Supreme Silicones Vinay Trading Company KCC Corporation Synergy Poly Additives Wang Chemical Pvt Ltd Aquent Impex India Pvt Ltd Silink Chemicals Pvt Ltd Labdhi Chemicals Indian Toners Developers Ltd Importers Of Compatibilizers: Mukul Co Johnson Johnson Limited Master Auto Spares Dalmia polymers LLP Raw Material Suppliers: Meru Chempro Pvt Ltd Machino polymers Pvt ltd Abrelin Polymers Shri Shakti Enterprises Kanoria Chembond Pvt Ltd Maitreya Chemicals Swagath Urethane Pvt Ltd Arkema Anatres Chem Pvt Ltd Riveni Chemicals Key Topics Covered in the Report India Coupling Agents and Compatibilizers Market Introduction and Evolution Value Chain Analysis India Coupling Agents and Compatibilizers Market Size And Segmentation Comparison with Global Coupling Agents Market Emerging Trends and Growth Drivers in India Coupling Agents and Compatibilizers Market Coupling Agents and Compatibilizers Market Issues and Challenges in India Coupling Agents and Compatibilizers Coupling Agents and Compatibilizers Government Regulations and Certifications Required Customer Pain Points and Decision Making Parameters Snapshot On Tie Layer Market in India SWOT Analysis of India Coupling Agents and Compatibilizers Competitive Landscape of major Players in India Coupling Agents and Compatibilizers Coupling Agents and Compatibilizers Company Profiling of top 10 Players Strength & Weaknesses of Major Players Market Share Analysis India Coupling Agents and Compatibilizers Market Future Outlook and Projections, 2018E-2022E Analyst Recommendations Contact Us: Ken Research Ankur Gupta, Head Marketing & Communications [email protected] +91-9015378249 SOURCE Ken Research ATLANTA, Jan. 24, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Atlanta based Medicus IT and Phoenix based Information Strategy Design (ISD) joined forces January 17th, 2019. By uniting these two healthcare-focused Managed Service Providers (MSPs), the combined Medicus IT (MIT) organization is now one of the largest healthcare focused MSPs in the nation. "We will now have access to increased technical, sales, marketing and financial resources; improved purchasing power with vendors and suppliers; and provide a national footprint, all ultimately providing more value to our clients," said Chris Jann, CEO of Medicus IT. Medicus IT has always focused on forming relationships built on transparency and will continue to develop expert teams that are dedicated to giving healthcare practices the best IT services possible. The Medicus IT and ISD teams will remain the same to ensure continued outstanding IT support for all clients. Steve Losefsky, founder and CEO of ISD, will take on the role of President of ISD and CTO for the combined Medicus IT entity to continue to drive the client experience out of both the Arizona and Georgia offices. Additionally, they plan to bring more talent into the team to continue to drive technical innovation, project management, and continual improvement to the overall client experience. When asked about the long-term goals of the merger, Chris stated, "We are confident that our new affiliation will better equip us to serve all our clients today and for many years to come. In the upcoming months, we will take the best ideas from both companies and begin to merge them into the new Medicus IT. Two immediate focuses include improved automation and an increased focus on security all to provide an improved and more protected experience to our clients. We want to offer our clients a feeling of confidence when it comes to their compliance." About Medicus IT, LLC Medicus IT is one of the largest outsourced IT support companies, originally located in the southeast. With primary vertical focus in healthcare informatics, Medicus IT sets itself apart from other providers. Medicus IT is an award-winning company with total commitment to doing the right thing at every step by developing a team of expert technicians dedicated to making IT support simple, ultimately giving practices confidence in their compliance. Medicus IT is privately held and based out of Alpharetta, GA and can be reached at 678-495-5900 or on the web at www.MedicusIT.com. About Information Strategy Design Information Strategy Design (ISD) has been providing computer network design, implementation and ongoing managed support services to small and mid-sized businesses since 1996. Their wide range of experience in implementing innovative technology solutions has helped them build expertise in numerous aspects of computer networking, including wide area networks, wireless networks, disaster recovery and security. Their in-house resources allow them to provide professional, friendly and reliable service to clients. MEDIA CONTACT: Greg Toler Marketing Manager Medicus IT [email protected] 470-235-3732 SOURCE Medicus IT Related Links http://www.MedicusIT.com DUBLIN, Jan. 24, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- The "Feed Acidifiers - Global Market Outlook (2017-2026)" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering. Global Feed Acidifiers market accounted for $2.89 billion in 2017 and is expected to reach $5.35 billion by 2026 growing at a CAGR of 7.1% during the forecast period. Some of the key factors propelling the market growth are growing consumption of meat and dairy products and rising government aids. The increasing use of feed acidifiers to treat animal diseases creates opportunities for the market. However, increasing cost of feed acidifiers is restraining the market growth. Acidifiers are known to sustain small portion of pH in the livestock reducing diseases and improving homogenous combination of the feed. They are also known to substitute the effects of few medications. Acidifiers are also originate to intensify congestion and microbiological balance in the nutrient and digestive tracts of livestock. By Livestock, the poultry segment has estimated the considerable growth during the forecast period. The production of poultry is becoming more rigorous and vertically incorporated due to uninterrupted technological advancement. Demand for poultry is likely to rise in the future, particularly in developing regions. By Geography, Asia-Pacific is projected the highest growth during the forecast period due to better consciousness among consumers about meat quality with respective to more meat consumption in the region. Rising necessitate for nutritional feed and ecological animal nutrition products, and management of feed operating price tag are also fuelling the market in this region. What our report offers: Market share assessments for the regional and country level segments Market share analysis of the top industry players Strategic recommendations for the new entrants Market forecasts for a minimum of 9 years of all the mentioned segments, sub segments and the regional markets Market Trends (Drivers, Constraints, Opportunities, Threats, Challenges, Investment Opportunities, and recommendations) Strategic recommendations in key business segments based on the market estimations Competitive landscaping mapping the key common trends Company profiling with detailed strategies, financials, and recent developments Supply chain trends mapping the latest technological advancements Key Topics Covered: 1 Executive Summary 2 Preface 2.1 Abstract 2.2 Stake Holders 2.3 Research Scope 2.4 Research Methodology 2.5 Research Sources 3 Market Trend Analysis 3.1 Introduction 3.2 Drivers 3.3 Restraints 3.4 Opportunities 3.5 Threats 3.6 Product Analysis 3.7 Application Analysis 3.8 Emerging Markets 3.9 Futuristic Market Scenario 4 Porters Five Force Analysis 4.1 Bargaining power of suppliers 4.2 Bargaining power of buyers 4.3 Threat of substitutes 4.4 Threat of new entrants 4.5 Competitive rivalry 5 Global Feed Acidifiers Market, By Product 5.1 Introduction 5.2 Amino Acids 5.3 Antibiotics 5.4 Antioxidants 5.5 Carotenoids 5.6 Enzymes 5.7 Feed Enzymes 5.8 Herbal Products 5.9 Microflora Enhancers 5.10 Probiotics 5.11 Vitamins 6 Global Feed Acidifiers Market, By Type 6.1 Introduction 6.2 Sorbic acid 6.3 Propionic acid 6.4 Malic acid 6.5 Lactic acid 6.6 Formic acid 6.7 Citric acid 6.8 Other Types 6.8.1 Acetic Acid 6.8.2 Benzoic Acid 6.8.3 Fumaric Acid 6.8.4 Tartaric Acid 6.8.5 Butyric Acid 7 Global Feed Acidifiers Market, By Livestock 7.1 Introduction 7.2 Ruminants 7.2.1 Dairy Cattle 7.2.2 Beef Cattle 7.2.3 Other Ruminantss 7.3 Poultry 7.3.1 Breeders 7.3.2 Broilers 7.3.3 Layers 7.4 Aquaculture 7.5 Swine 7.5.1 Starter 7.5.2 Sow 7.5.3 Grower 7.6 Other Livestocks 7.6.1 Pets 7.6.2 Equine 8 Global Feed Acidifiers Market, By Form 8.1 Introduction 8.2 Dry 8.3 Liquid 9 Global Feed Acidifiers Market, By Compound 9.1 Introduction 9.2 Single Compound 9.3 Blended Compound 10 Global Feed Acidifiers Market, By Application 10.1 Introduction 10.2 Industrial 10.3 Agricultural 11 Global Feed Acidifiers Market, By Geography 11.1 Introduction 11.2 North America 11.2.1 US 11.2.2 Canada 11.2.3 Mexico 11.3 Europe 11.3.1 Germany 11.3.2 UK 11.3.3 Italy 11.3.4 France 11.3.5 Spain 11.3.6 Rest of Europe 11.4 Asia Pacific 11.4.1 Japan 11.4.2 China 11.4.3 India 11.4.4 Australia 11.4.5 New Zealand 11.4.6 South Korea 11.4.7 Rest of Asia Pacific 11.5 South America 11.5.1 Argentina 11.5.2 Brazil 11.5.3 Chile 11.5.4 Rest of South America 11.6 Middle East & Africa 11.6.1 Saudi Arabia 11.6.2 UAE 11.6.3 Qatar 11.6.4 South Africa 11.6.5 Rest of Middle East & Africa 12 Key Developments 12.1 Agreements, Partnerships, Collaborations and Joint Ventures 12.2 Acquisitions & Mergers 12.3 New Product Launch 12.4 Expansions 12.5 Other Key Strategies 13 Company Profiling 13.1 Yara International Asa 13.2 Basf Se 13.3 Archer Daniels Midland Company (ADM) 13.4 Kemira Oyj 13.5 Charoen Pokphand Foods Public Company Limited 13.6 Novus International, Inc. 13.7 Kemin Industries, Inc. 13.8 Corbion Purac 13.9 Peterlabs Holding 13.10 Anpario plc 13.11 Elanco Animal Health, Inc. 13.12 Perstorp Holding Ab 13.13 Biomin Holding Gmbh 13.14 Impextraco Nv 13.15 Nutrex Nv 13.16 Jefo Nutrition Inc 13.17 Trouw Nutrition International B.V 13.18 Novozymes Adisseo France S.A.S 13.19 Addcon Gmbh 13.20 Evialis 13.21 Pancosma Sa 13.22 ADM Alliance Nutrition, Inc. For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/b6d62p/global_feed?w=5 Research and Markets also offers Custom Research services providing focused, comprehensive and tailored research. Media Contact: Laura Wood, Senior Manager [email protected] For E.S.T Office Hours Call +1-917-300-0470 For U.S./CAN Toll Free Call +1-800-526-8630 For GMT Office Hours Call +353-1-416-8900 U.S. Fax: 646-607-1907 Fax (outside U.S.): +353-1-481-1716 SOURCE Research and Markets Related Links http://www.researchandmarkets.com RICHMOND, Va., Jan. 24, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Genworth announced today that it is providing certain accommodations to its life and long term care insurance policyholders who are federal employees affected by the partial federal government shutdown. "We are committed to helping ease the financial stress for policyholders who are furloughed federal government employees and not receiving paychecks as a result of the shutdown," said David O'Leary, president and CEO of Genworth's U.S. Life Insurance division. "We're here to help and give them peace of mind that Genworth will work with them to keep their coverage." Life insurance policyholders should call 888.325.5433; long term care policyholders should call 800.456.7766. Hours are 8:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. ET Monday through Friday. Policyholders should be prepared to provide proof of federal employment affected by the federal government shutdown. In addition to the relief provided by Genworth's U.S. Life Insurance division, Genworth Mortgage Insurance supports the temporary measures that government-sponsored entities' (Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac) have announced for furloughed federal government employees or other individuals whose employment is directly impacted by the shutdown. About Genworth Financial Genworth Financial, Inc. (NYSE: GNW) is a Fortune 500 insurance holding company committed to helping families achieve the dream of homeownership and address the financial challenges of aging through its leadership positions in mortgage insurance and long term care insurance. Headquartered in Richmond, Virginia, Genworth traces its roots back to 1871 and became a public company in 2004. For more information, visit genworth.com. From time to time, Genworth releases important information via postings on its corporate website. Accordingly, investors and other interested parties are encouraged to enroll to receive automatic email alerts and Really Simple Syndication (RSS) feeds regarding new postings. Enrollment information is found under the "Investors" section of genworth.com. From time to time, Genworth's publicly traded subsidiaries, Genworth MI Canada Inc. and Genworth Mortgage Insurance Australia Limited, separately release financial and other information about their operations. This information can be found at http://genworth.ca and http://www.genworth.com.au. SOURCE Genworth Financial, Inc. Related Links http://www.genworth.com UE // Concurs de propuneri de proiecte in cadrul Programului de granturi locale al Uniunii Europene (EU) Fii schimbarea: Cetateni implicati - comunitati durabile in regiunea de dezvoltare Centru WASHINGTON, Jan. 24, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Fannie Mae (OTCQB: FNMA) provided more than $65 billion in financing to support the multifamily market in 2018 with its Delegated Underwriting and Servicing (DUS) program. Fannie Mae continued to serve as a key source of liquidity by attracting a diverse investor base to purchase our DUS Mortgage-Backed Securities (MBS), while building a profitable and sustainable book of business. "For more than 30 years, the DUS platform has brought stability to the multifamily market. Our innovative thinking is driving the industry forward and our commitment to serving our customers remains our top priority," said Jeffery Hayward, Executive Vice President of Multifamily, Fannie Mae. "Our lender partnerships are also propelling Fannie Mae to be part of a global movement to transform rental housing to be healthier for residents and to help reduce energy and water consumption at the properties we finance." Fannie Mae was recognized in 2018 as the largest issuer of Green Bonds in the world, with more than $20 billion in Green MBS backed by either green certified properties or properties targeting a reduction in energy or water consumption. Fannie Mae increased its Green Financing portfolio to over $50 billion in 2018, driven by $20 billion in Green Financing. In 2018, Fannie Mae made LIHTC equity investment commitments towards meeting FHFA's $500 million volume cap by deploying equity to rural and other underserved housing markets throughout the United States. Additionally, Fannie Mae led the affordable market with overall production of $7.4 billion, an increase of 9% from 2017. "Multifamily had another outstanding year in 2018, thanks to our lenders," said Rob Levin, Senior Vice President for Multifamily Customer Engagement, Fannie Mae. "Together, we supported all market segments, bringing liquidity to the market, while building a balanced portfolio that reflects our strategy with strong credit quality and mission-rich business." The following top 10 DUS Lenders produced the highest business volumes in 2018. Also listed below are the Top 5 Lender rankings for highest volumes in 2018 for Multifamily Affordable Housing, Small Loans, Green Financing, Seniors Housing, Structured Transactions, Manufactured Housing Communities, and Student Housing: Top 10 DUS Producers in 2018 Volume ($Billion) Wells Fargo Multifamily Capital $8.1 Walker & Dunlop, LLC $6.9 Berkadia Commercial Mortgage, LLC $6.6 CBRE Multifamily Capital, Inc. $6.1 Newmark Knight Frank $4.3 Greystone Servicing Corporation, Inc. $3.9 Capital One, National Association $3.8 KeyBank National Association $3.4 PGIM Real Estate Finance $3.3 Arbor Commercial Funding I, LLC $3.2 Top 5 DUS Producers for Multifamily Affordable Housing in 2018 Wells Fargo Multifamily Capital CBRE Multifamily Capital, Inc. Greystone Servicing Corporation, Inc. PGIM Real Estate Finance Jones Lang LaSalle Multifamily, LLC Top 5 DUS Producers for Small Loans in 2018* Greystone Servicing Corporation, Inc. Arbor Commercial Funding I, LLC Hunt Mortgage Group Walker & Dunlop, LLC Bellwether Enterprise Real Estate Capital, LLC Top 5 DUS Producers for Green Financing in 2018 Berkadia Commercial Mortgage, LLC Greystone Servicing Corporation, Inc. Arbor Commercial Funding I, LLC CBRE Multifamily Capital, Inc. Capital One, National Association Top 5 DUS Producers for Seniors Housing in 2018 Berkadia Commercial Mortgage, LLC Grandbridge Real Estate Capital, LLC Capital One, National Association CBRE Multifamily Capital, Inc. M&T Realty Capital Corporation Top 5 DUS Producers for Structured Transactions in 2018 Wells Fargo Multifamily Capital Newmark Knight Frank Walker & Dunlop, LLC PNC Real Estate Berkadia Commercial Mortgage, LLC Top 5 DUS Producers for Manufactured Housing Communities in 2018 Walker & Dunlop, LLC Wells Fargo Multifamily Capital KeyBank National Association Berkadia Commercial Mortgage, LLC Capital One, National Association Top 5 DUS Producers for Student Housing in 2018 Wells Fargo Multifamily Capital Walker & Dunlop, LLC CBRE Multifamily Capital, Inc. PGIM Real Estate Finance KeyBank National Association Listed below are 2018 production highlights for individual business categories, which are included in the total multifamily production number. Affordable Housing $7.4 billion comprised of $6.0 billion in Multifamily Affordable Housing (for rent-restricted properties and properties receiving other federal and state subsidies), an increase of 10 percent from $5.4 billion in 2017; and $1.4 billion for properties with rent restrictions between 60 percent and 80 percent AMI, in line with $1.4 billion in 2017 comprised of in Multifamily Affordable Housing (for rent-restricted properties and properties receiving other federal and state subsidies), an increase of 10 percent from in 2017; and for properties with rent restrictions between 60 percent and 80 percent AMI, in line with in 2017 Small Loans* $2.2 billion Green Financing $20.1 billion (properties with Green Building Certifications or loans targeting a 25 percent reduction or more in energy or water consumption) (properties with Green Building Certifications or loans targeting a 25 percent reduction or more in energy or water consumption) Student Housing $2.7 billion Structured Transactions $9.5 billion Seniors Housing $2.3 billion Manufactured Housing Communities $2.9 billion , an increase of 56 percent from $1.9 billion in 2017 As the most reliable source of financing in the multifamily sector, Fannie Mae remains committed to serving the spectrum of the nation's rental housing needs. To learn more about Fannie Mae's Multifamily business, visit https://www.fanniemae.com/multifamily. *Small Loans are defined as loans of $3 million or less nationwide and $5 million or less in high-cost markets, and typically finance multifamily properties with five to 50 units. **Due to rounding, amounts reported may not add up to overall totals. Fannie Mae helps make the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage and affordable rental housing possible for millions of Americans. We partner with lenders to create housing opportunities for families across the country. We are driving positive changes in housing finance to make the home buying process easier, while reducing costs and risk. To learn more, visit fanniemae.com and follow us on twitter.com/fanniemae. SOURCE Fannie Mae Related Links http://www.fanniemae.com SAO JOSE DOS CAMPOS, Brazil, Jan. 24, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- We invite the shareholders of Embraer SA (" Company " or " Embraer ") to attend an Extraordinary General Shareholders' Meeting (" Meeting "), to be held on February 26, 2019, at 10:00 a.m. local time, at the Company's headquarters, in the city of Sao Jose dos Campos, State of Sao Paulo, at Avenida Brigadeiro Faria Lima, 2170, to resolve on the approval of the strategic partnership between Embraer and The Boeing Company (" Boeing "), in accordance with Management's Proposal (" Transaction "). The Transaction comprises: (i) the separation and transfer, by Embraer, of assets, liabilities, properties, rights and obligations related to the commercial aviation business unit to a Brazilian closely-held corporation, which corporation will conduct the commercial aviation business and perform services that are currently performed by Embraer (the " Commercial Aviation NewCo "); (ii) the acquisition and subscription by a subsidiary of Boeing in Brazil (" Boeing Brazil ") of shares representing 80% of the Commercial Aviation NewCo's share capital, so that Embraer and Boeing Brazil will hold, respectively, 20% and 80% of the total and voting share capital of the Commercial Aviation NewCo and execute a shareholders' agreement; (iii) the execution by Embraer, Boeing and/or the Commercial Aviation NewCo, as applicable, of operational agreements that will govern, among other aspects, the provision of general and engineering services, intellectual property licensing, research and development, use and access of certain facilities, supply of certain products and components, and an agreement to maximize potential cost reduction opportunities in Embraer's supply chain; (iv) the formation, as part of the Transaction, in addition to the Commercial Aviation NewCo, of another joint venture between Embraer or a subsidiary of Embraer and Boeing or a subsidiary of Boeing for the promotion and development of new markets and applications for the multi-mission airplane KC-390, based on opportunities to be identified together, and development, manufacture and sales of the KC-390, in which joint venture Embraer or its subsidiary will hold 51% and Boeing or its subsidiary will hold 49% of the share capital (the " KC-390 NewCo "); and (v) the execution, by Embraer, Boeing and/or the KC-390 NewCo, as the case may be, of certain operational agreements for the KC-390 NewCo, including supply, intellectual property licensing, engineering services and other services and support agreements. In accordance with paragraph 6 of article 124 and paragraph 3 of article 135 of Law No. 6,404/76, the documents that are the object of the resolutions of the Shareholders' Meeting are available to shareholders at the Company's headquarters and on the Internet at the websites of the Company (ri.embraer.com.br), Brazilian Securities and Exchange Commission (CVM) (www.cvm.gov.br) and B3 S.A. - Brasil, Bolsa, Balcao (www.b3.com.br). General Instructions: a) To participate in the Meeting in person or by proxy, we request that you present to the Company, at least 48 hours prior to the date of the Meeting, the following documents: (i) power of attorney with special powers for representation at the Meeting, in the case of proxy; (ii) for shareholders who have their shares deposited in the fungible custody of shares, an extract provided by the custodian institution confirming their respective shareholdings; and (iii) evidence that such shareholder qualifies as a Brazilian Shareholder or a Foreign Shareholder, as provided for in Article 20 of the Company's Bylaws. For purposes of verifying the limit of votes that may be cast at the Meeting, you shall also inform the Company, at least 48 hours before the Meeting, whether you belong to a Shareholders Group (as such term is defined in the Company's bylaws). b) The documents mentioned in item "a" above shall be delivered to the Company's headquarters, to the attention of the Investor Relations Department, at Avenida Brigadeiro Faria Lima, 2170, portaria F46 (extension 3953) - Sao Jose dos Campos, State of Sao Paulo. c) In order to participate in the Meeting through distance voting ballot (boletim de voto a distancia), shareholders must send a distance voting ballot (boletim de voto a distancia) directly to the Company or through third parties, according to the guidelines contained in the Manual for the Meeting published on this same date and available on the websites above. Alexandre Goncalves Silva Chairman of the Board of Directors SOURCE Embraer S.A. TORONTO, Jan. 24, 2019 /PRNewswire/ - Drone Delivery Canada 'DDC or the Company' (TSX.V:FLT, OTC:TAKOF), is pleased to announce the management appointment of Mr. Michael Zahra as Senior Vice President of Operations and Strategy as the Company moves to commercial operations in 2019. "We have known Mr. Zahra professionally for over two years in his former capacity as President of Staples Business Advantage Canada. At Staples, Mr. Zahra hired and developed key leaders in his high-performance team of over 1200 people. He was also responsible for oversight of the shipment of millions of products annually, from 10 distribution centres and a fleet of over 170 trucks nationally, with full profitability responsibility and revenues over $500 Million," commented Tony Di Benedetto, CEO of Drone Delivery Canada. "Mr. Zahra's logistics, engineering, sales and cross-functional business acumen will make him an instrumental member of our team. As we begin the New Year, DDC not only looks to provide a cost effective and highly efficient logistics solution to remote communities in Canada, but also to Canadian rural communities in the form of 'milk runs', as well as entering into licensing opportunities internationally. On behalf of DDC, I welcome Mr. Zahra to the DDC team." In 2019, the Company will continue to strengthen its management amongst all levels with a focus on enlisting the smartest minds to assist in driving commercial operations. "Through my prior mandate at Staples Business Advantage, I had the opportunity to work along side Drone Delivery Canada and I immediately appreciated the technical innovation and commercial viability of what they were doing. I'm excited to work with the DDC team as we continue down the path of commercialization," said Michael Zahra. Bio of Mr. Michael Zahra: Michael Zahra is a seasoned executive with over 30 years experience as a senior level executive. He brings in-depth experience in engineering, logistics, P&L management, customer & vendor relationship management, strategic planning & execution, change management, innovation, business reinvention, project management, continuous improvement, industrial marketing, corporate social responsibility and employee engagement. Prior to Drone Delivery Canada, he was the President of Staples Business Advantage and was previously President of Yahoo and President of Schlumberger RMS with prior positions at Alcatel and Motorola. He also brings close to 20 years experience in various Board positions. Under his leadership, companies have won numerous awards in sustainability, quality, marketing and culture. Michael has a B.A.Sc. in Electrical Engineering from the University of Toronto, an M.B.A. from City University, Seattle and a P.Log from the Logistics Institute. Additionally, he has taken numerous advanced programs at world-class institutions such as Harvard, MIT, Carnegie Melon, Queen's University, University of Toronto and the University of Virginia in Cybersecurity & Cryptography, Artificial Intelligence, Innovation, Lean Six Sigma, Leadership & Execution. Michael was born in Toronto and has travelled on business and pleasure to 54 countries. He is actively involved in charitable work in the areas of engineering education, healthcare and the environment. He is a member of the Institute of Corporate Directors (Canada) and the National Association of Corporate Directors (USA). For more information, please visit www.dronedeliverycanada.com About Drone Delivery Canada Drone Delivery Canada is a drone technology company focused on the design, development and implementation of its proprietary logistics software platform, using drones. The Company's platform will be used as Software as a Service (SaaS) for government and corporate organizations. Drone Delivery Canada Corp. is a publicly listed company trading on the TSX.V Exchange under the symbol FLT, on the U.S. OTC Q B market under the symbol TAKOF and on the Frankfurt exchange in Germany under the symbol A2AMGZ. SOURCE Drone Delivery Canada Related Links http://www.dronedeliverycanada.com GROTON, Conn., Jan. 23, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- With margin compression and customer expectations high, dealers continue to seek ways to maximize profit. However, the extensive title work needed both for vehicles dealers take in on trade, and those they sell out, has jeopardized back-office efficiency. To address this complex and time-consuming challenge, Dealertrack has expanded its suite of titling solutions to significantly streamline all aspects of the registration and titling process giving dealers confidence by delivering a swift and accurate transaction for each and every vehicle on their lot. Dealertrack's suite of titling solutions will be showcased together at the National Automobile Dealers Association (NADA) convention in San Francisco, January 25-27, 2019. The expo will highlight the power of Dealertrack's industry-exclusive registration and titling solutions, which help dealers expedite and simplify the back-end process to increase turn and optimize cash flow. Dealertrack's titling solutions also smoothly connect with the dealership's DMS, lender network and state-run motor vehicle platforms. These efficiencies pioneered by Dealertrack are sorely needed, as dealers must serve a variety of customers both in and out of state, and the speed of execution for each transaction can impact their Customer Satisfaction Index (CSI), and their overall profitability. As each state has their own regulations, taxes, fees, paperwork and process, the out-of-state registration and title process can quickly become complicated and difficult to navigate. Furthermore, in today's compressed market, there is increasing pressure to turn inventory around more quickly, as research shows that dealers pay an average holding cost of $32 for each day a vehicle sits waiting on their lot.1 Dealertrack's suite of three titling solutions helps dealers by offering compounded efficiency gains and a range of user experience improvements: Accelerated Title: For each vehicle taken on trade, Accelerated Title delivers breakthrough efficiency, accuracy and simplicity to the vehicle payoff and title release process. Accelerated Title is the first-of-its-kind technology that can cut costly wait times for title release by as much as 70 percent, reducing the time taken to manually process payoff and title release from 12 to 18+ days, and replacing it with a digital process swiftly completed within four to six days.2 Accelerated Title has transformed the way the vehicle payoff and title release processing is executed, by returning titles an average of eight days quicker, helping dealers turn their inventory faster and significantly reducing the impact of holding costs. This is hugely valuable to dealers as research shows that vehicles with title in hand are nearly two times more likely to sell at the first pass through an auction lane.3 Having the title in-hand can be even more crucial for trade-in vehicles being re-sold by the dealer. Even when it is not a state requirement, having the title in-hand makes the vehicle more sellable and helps the dealer maximize the customer experience by enabling them to promptly title and register the car. In addition, Accelerated Title is directly connected to Dealertrack's growing network of key lenders and is also available through both the Dealertrack F&I and DMS platforms, streamlining the trade-in process and providing 24/7 tracking and reporting. In-State Registration and Title: For each vehicle sold off the lot to a customer that resides in-state, Dealertrack's Registration and Title solution minimizes paperwork and maximizes results through complete, fast and easy-to-use processing, and delivers speed for significant productivity gains. The user-friendly, intuitive application integrates seamlessly to streamline the workflow to process transactions faster, easier and more efficiently. Dealertrack offers best-in-class service and state-specific support, user-inspired technology, and decades of local motor vehicle expertise to drive processing times down and CSI scores up. Currently, in-state processing is available in the following locations: CA, CT, GA, IL, IN, LA, MA, MD, NC, NJ, NY, OH, PA, VA, WI. Dealertrack also has preferred partnerships with 13 state automotive dealer associations across the country that support the use of electronic registration and title. Accelerated Title is continuously adding new functionalities - such as an intuitive deal dashboard with a single page transactor, DMS integration and General Ledger Write-Back, a new feature that is being rolled out state-by-state - all which provide time savings and consistency of deal data while also ensuring accuracy and full legal compliance. RegUSA: Dealertrack's RegUSA solution expedites transactions for vehicles sold to out-of-state customers, by streamlining any unfamiliar regulations and requirements, and enabling dealers to turn around sales fast. With online transactions growing and more customers traveling to purchase vehicles across state lines, in 2017, there was a 28 percent increase in out-of-state deals4, RegUSA provides an easy-to-use interface allowing dealers to conduct online processing. The system intuitively knows what details are required for each state and tailors the application process for each customer. RegUSA delivers professional deal audit services, award-winning service support and unmatched local motor vehicle expertise in all 50 states backed by decades of experience and the power of Cox Automotive. RegUSA is available nationwide and helps simplify a dealer's out of-state workflow for maximum productivity, accuracy and customer satisfaction. "At Dealertrack, we are constantly innovating to streamline the registration and titling process for dealers," said Kaitlin Gavin, vice president and general manager, Dealertrack Registration and Titling Solutions. "Our suite of three titling solutions provides a comprehensive offering enabling dealers to increase productivity and profitability by turning their inventory quickly." Dealertrack is the only provider that delivers a comprehensive registration and title suite to support in-state and out-of-state registration and titling solutions, along with acceleration of title release for trade-in vehicles with Accelerated Title. Dealertrack holds more than 53 million titles and processes more than 28,000 transactions per day to help lenders originate loans and dealers process their inventory. Overall, dealers will benefit from Dealertrack's simplified registration and title process, as rapid deal completion can lead to higher CSI scores and increased revenue opportunities from long-term customer relationships. For more information about Dealertrack and to schedule a demo at NADA 2019, visit https://us.dealertrack.com/, or visit us at the conference at Booth #1921S. 1 Manheim Online Dealer Community survey 2016. 2 Based on average industry timeframe for vehicle title release and vehicle payoff process of 18+ days, as determined by Dealertrack data. 3 Source: 2014 (2X) & 2018 (1.6X) Manheim Auction "Impact of Delayed Titles at Auction". 4 Source: 2017 Cox Automotive Research: Out of State Vehicle Registration and Titling Transactions. About Dealertrack Dealertrack provides industry-leading software solutions that give dealerships and lenders the confidence to thrive in an ever-changing automotive market. The company's integrated suite of powerful but easy-to-use products helps dealerships and their lending partners grow by increasing efficiency and improving decision-making. Dealertrack is part of the Cox Automotive family, a company that is transforming the way the world buys, sells, owns and uses cars. Dealertrackalong with its unmatched network of dealership and lending partnersis improving the car buying experience by embracing the technologies that will shape the future of automotive retail. For more information about Dealertrack, visit www.dealertrack.com. About Cox Automotive Cox Automotive Inc. makes buying, selling, owning and using cars easier for everyone. The global company's 34,000-plus team members and family of brands, including Autotrader, Clutch Technologies, Dealer.com, Dealertrack, Kelley Blue Book, Manheim, NextGear Capital, VinSolutions, vAuto and Xtime, are passionate about helping millions of car shoppers, 40,000 auto dealer clients across five continents and many others throughout the automotive industry thrive for generations to come. Cox Automotive is a subsidiary of Cox Enterprises Inc., a privately-owned, Atlanta-based company with revenues exceeding $20 billion. www.coxautoinc.com SOURCE Dealertrack Related Links https://us.dealertrack.com SAN DIEGO, Jan. 24, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Chalice Financial Network ("Chalice," "CFN" or "the firm"), a first of its kind Software-as-a-Service (SaaS)-based member benefit organization for independent financial advisors, announced its launch today. The organization is delivering to its members a digital marketplace and shared services via the Chalice Advisor Exchange (CAEx), starting with a guaranteed issue group health insurance that saves advisors on average 25% to 30% on premium costs, in addition to multiple other top third-party services and solutions. In a related move, Chalice also announced the formation of the Chalice Advisory Board, comprised of nine retail wealth management industry leaders who have played crucial roles in building and leading top firms. Keith Gregg, Chairman and CEO of Chalice, said, "We're thrilled to launch Chalice Financial Network, with its Chalice Advisor Exchange platform, as the culmination of the intensive planning and implementation we have engaged in over the past year, with the aim of creating the 'Amazon Prime for independent financial advisors.' We are combining three key things to support independent business owners in the wealth management industry: community with a common purpose of peer-to-peer support and economies of scale; single point access to a digital marketplace with everything independent advisors need to run a business; and access to capital the fuel all advisors need to grow their business." CFN provides third-party wealth management and FinTech solutions for independent financial advisors on a flat monthly or annual subscription fee basis, and on a fully "unbundled" basis, with no RIA or broker-dealer affiliation requirements. Its CAEx digital marketplace is a single sign-on shared services technology platform based on the Amazon Prime model. Independent financial advisors who are CFN members can sign onto Chalice Advisor Exchange to access a comprehensive spectrum of wealth management, technology and business enterprise solutions, at a deeply discounted cost. Chalice Advisor Exchange The Chalice Advisor Exchange platform gives advisors easy-to-navigate and unbundled access to the following outsourced solutions of their choice for a flat monthly fee of $250: Guaranteed issuance group health insurance Complimentary, bespoke website built specifically for marketing and lead generation An enhanced technology stack and FinTech platform comprised of industry leading providers Important corporate business services such as HR, compliance, IT, payroll, finance, accounting, and marketing Peer-to-peer networking community Investment and merchant banking for small and midsized companies Succession planning assistance for advisors looking to buy and sell businesses Access to capital and advisor loans Robust offering of institutional quality alternative investments such as private equity, venture capital and hedge funds Qualified retirement plans with strategies suitable for small, midsize or large businesses Opportunities for member equity participation Mr. Gregg continued, "CFN directly address three major industry shortcomings: First, the enormous current void in adequately meeting the needs of independent financial advisors in the $50 million to $250 million AUM range. Second, the inability for independent advisors to access a comprehensive suite of services and solutions from top-tier providers on a discounted basis absent an 'all or nothing' IBD or RIA aggregator affiliation relationship. Third, the lack of a balanced offering that encompasses what independent financial advisors need both as professionals, and as business owners. We're not only directly solving these industry issues, we're doing so in a way that leverages best practices from top global technology companies and emphasizes digital community-building among our members." Guaranteed Issue Group Health Insurance Chalice is the first independent member benefit organization to offer independent financial advisors access to guaranteed issue group health insurance. By partnering with the professional employer organization Oasis Outsourcing, Chalice is saving participating advisors and their staff on average between 25% to 30% on their health care premium costs. These best-in-class medical benefits are offered through well-known and widely trusted national carriers. Members access these health insurance benefits under Chalice Enterprise Solutions, which facilitates other shared corporate services such as HR, payroll, 401(k) plans and liability protection; CFO and internal accounting; marketing solutions for online and printed materials; office space, equipment and supplies; as well as CCO and legal support all available at greatly discounted rates. Chalice Advisory Board Chalice also announced the formation of the Chalice Advisory Board (CAB), whose first meeting will be held in March at Chalice headquarters in San Diego. The Board has been established to help ensure that independent financial advisors who become members in CFN receive the best solutions and services available in the industry, and to help guide the delivery of thought leadership through Chalice's member events and conferences, publications and social media efforts. The CAB consists of industry luminaries, including Eric Clarke, CEO of Orion Advisor Services; Aaron Klein, founder and CEO of Riskalyze; Rich Cancro, founder and CEO of AdvisorEngine; Spenser Segal, CEO of ActiFi; Stephanie Brown, former General Counsel at LPL and now Of Counsel at Markun, Zusman, Freniere and Compton; Don Plotsky, Managing Partner of Uinta Investment Partners; Steve Dunlap, Founder of Stratym Consulting and former President of FolioDynamix; and Morris Nutt, CEO, Trinity Capital Management and a Chalice Member. Dan Kreuter, Founder and CEO of Gladstone Group, will serve as non-executive Chairman of the CAB, which will be led on a day-to-day basis by Chalice's Chief Operating Officer, Derek Bruton, who will serve as the CAB's Executive Leader. Five-City Roadshow The launch of CFN and the Chalice Advisor Exchange is happening in tandem with a five-city roadshow that Chalice is hosting February 21 in Los Angeles, February 28 in Phoenix, March 14 in Dallas, March 21 in Atlanta and March 28 in New York. The roadshow will introduce advisors to a new industry model for developing community, services and support, and leveraging technology for scale, operational efficiency and enhanced enterprise value. These events are scheduled to draw hundreds of attendees including independent financial advisors of all business models and affiliation structures, drawn from dozens of independent broker-dealers, RIA firms, Super-OSJ groups and RIA aggregators throughout the country. Mr. Gregg concluded, "Our vision has been to solve for the pain points of independent advisors and provide them with a path to prosperity. Independence is wonderful, however most advisors suffer from independent isolation and what we call 'intellectual loneliness.' Many advisors are terrific wealth managers, but struggle with the day to day management of a business and navigating several disparate systems to do so. We can help amplify and simplify their business. We have not only aggregated and integrated all things a business owner in wealth management needs, but we deliver among all the other things a rich pool of intellectual, human, and financial capital rarely accessible to small and midsize wealth advisors." About Chalice Financial Network Chalice Financial Network ("Chalice") is a San Diego-based, leading provider of third-party technology, asset management, wealth management and business enterprise solutions for independent financial advisors across the country, delivered through an exclusive membership structure. Chalice is the Holy Grail for Wealth Advisors due to its ability to aggregate and integrate all the tools and technology, products and services a wealth advisor needs to run a successful independent business, by accessing the single sign-on shared services digital marketplace and FinTech platform. For more information, please visit http://www.chalicefn.com. MEDIA CONTACTS Chris Latham / Joseph Kuo Haven Tower Group 424 652 6520 ext 105 or ext 101 [email protected] or [email protected] SOURCE Chalice Financial Network Related Links https://www.chalicefn.com ST. PETERSBURG, Fla., Jan. 24, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Catalina, the market leader in shopper intelligence and personalized digital media that converts shoppers into buyers, today announced that it has expanded its global retail network through new long-term partnerships with major retailers in Germany and Japan. In Germany, Catalina will be working with the Edeka Minden, famila and Combi banners over the next four years to deliver personalized media and millions of dollars in value - to their shoppers. In Japan, Catalina has entered a new multiple-year partnership to help Inageya drive loyalty with its shoppers. Together, these new partnerships add 200 stores in Germany and nearly 140 stores in Japan to Catalina's global retail network, contributing more than 100 million annual transactions to Catalina's shopper intelligence database, which is already the most extensive in the world. Tom Corley, Catalina's Global Chief Revenue Officer, said, "We are thrilled to be partnering with these leading retailers in Germany and Japan to help them provide meaningful value to their shoppers. These partnerships, which enhance Catalina's global retail network, are acknowledgment of strategic investments we are making in a powerful suite of retail capabilities that deliver unique digital promotions and media solutions to shoppers wherever they are on the path to purchase." Catalina's partnerships with retailers encompass more than 44,000 stores globally, reaching 650 million shoppers with personalized digital and in-store marketing solutions that drive trial, loyalty and sales volume for retailers and CPG brands. Catalina's advanced shopper analytics supported by a team of data scientists deliver powerful, actionable insights that improve marketing performance and efficiency. About Catalina Catalina is a recognized leader in highly targeted, personalized digital media that drives, tracks and measures sales lift for leading CPG retailers and brands. Powered by the richest shopper database in the world, Catalina's mobile, online and in-store networks personalize the consumer's path to purchase, delivering $7.9 billion in relevant consumer value each year. Catalina has no higher priority than ensuring the privacy and security of the data entrusted to us and maintaining the consumer trust paramount to the continued success of our business partners and Catalina. Based in St. Petersburg, FL, Catalina has operations in the United States, Europe and Japan. To learn more, please visit www.catalina.com or follow us on Twitter @Catalina. Media Contact: Andrew Squire Joele Frank, Wilkinson Brimmer Katcher 212.355.4449 SOURCE Catalina Related Links http://www.catalina.com COLLEGE PARK, Md., Jan. 24, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Business leader and philanthropist Carly Fiorina, a 1980 MBA graduate of the University of Maryland's Robert H. Smith School of Business, will be the honored guest at the eighth annual Women Leading Women forum on March 5, 2019, in College Park, Md. "We are thrilled to honor Carly Fiorina," Maryland Smith dean Alex Triantis said. "She is a fearless leader who keeps growing, keeps learning. And she inspires others to follow." The former HP chief executive leads Carly Fiorina Enterprises and the Unlocking Potential Foundation. During her conversation with students and members of the Maryland community, Fiorina will draw upon lessons learned during her journey from business school to the C-suite. Topics for discussion will come from her third book, "Find Your Way: Unleash Your Power and Highest Potential," scheduled for release by publisher Tyndale House on April 9, 2019. The book delivers the same message for young college students and experienced business leaders: "No matter where you are in life right now, and no matter where you've been, you are not yet all you can be." After graduating from the Smith MBA program, Fiorina landed a position as a management trainee at AT&T. Within 20 years she became the first woman to lead a Fortune 100 company. She says people often rise to the occasion when given the chance, but they need to stay flexible. "Life can shift," Fiorina writes. "Circumstances shift. You can glean fresh understanding. You can change. You can grow. And as you seize the opportunities that are within you and right in front of you, you'll find a certain steadiness in your life that perhaps you've never known before." Smith professor Nicole Coomber will moderate the discussion in Van Munching Hall on Maryland's College Park campus. Seating is limited and preference will be given to members of the Smith community. To learn more and for media inquiries, visit rhsmith.umd.edu/womenleaders. About the University of Maryland's Robert H. Smith School of Business The Robert H. Smith School of Business is an internationally recognized leader in management education and research. One of 12 colleges and schools at the University of Maryland, College Park, the Smith School offers undergraduate, full-time and part-time MBA, executive MBA, online MBA, specialty master's, PhD and executive education programs, as well as outreach services to the corporate community. The school offers its degree, custom and certification programs in learning locations in North America and Asia. SOURCE University of Maryland's Robert H. Smith School of Business CHICAGO, Jan. 24, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- C.A. Fortune, a consumer products sales and marketing agency headquartered in Chicago, announces a strategic partnership with Survey.com, an in-store, retail intelligence, selling, and merchandising service firm. Always striving to provide its clients with more robust capabilities, C.A. Fortune continues to surge ahead with its 2019 growth plans. "We're excited to announce the formal partnership with Survey.com, further deepening our overall retail service capabilities. Over the past couple of years we've done extensive work with their organization and as a result, experienced not only tremendous growth for our brands, but the same type of client service we strive for here at C.A. Fortune," said Tyler Lowell, managing partner of C.A. Fortune. "This partnership will undoubtedly propel C.A. Fortune's vision of being the nation's leading consumer products sales & marketing agency forward and open up a whole new level of service to our clients." Survey.com is a national organization that ensures merchandising and retail strategies are executed properly across all trade channels: grocery (conventional & natural), mass, drug, convenience, alternative, and beyond. The firm has strategic coverage in all 50 states, partnering with consumer product brands across both food & non-food categories. "This partnership allows Survey.com to open up its in-store services to C.A. Fortune's leading CPG client base," said Jason Baldachino, chief financial officer of Survey.com. "A big factor that cemented this partnership is C.A. Fortune's privately held culture and unmatched level of client service, which fits very well with our own corporate values." C.A. Fortune's strategic partnership with Survey.com enforces its commitment to provide full-service coverage to clients across all trade channels and product categories. With offices across the U.S., the company offers its clients a holistic solution from brand incubation and sales management to marketing and branding, retail services and beyond. About C.A. Fortune Founded in 1983, C.A. Fortune is a leading full-service national consumer products sales and marketing agency, specializing in the lifestyle-brand sector. With more than 325 employees nationwide, the company offers clients a turn-key solution from brand incubation, client development, sales management, marketing and branding, retail services and more. The company, headquartered in Chicago, has regional offices in Bentonville, Cincinnati, Dallas, Denver, New York City metro and San Francisco. Visit www.CAFortune.com. About Survey.com Survey.com is a full-service retail services firm providing in-store retail intelligence, merchandising support and brand representation services across all channels. Campaigns are supported from design through field training and near real-time reporting and analytics is available through our proprietary software. Survey.com offers full U.S. and Canada coverage, industry leading turnaround times and scheduling flexibility. Visit www.Survey.com. Media Contact: Lindsey Lullo [email protected] 312.442.7223 SOURCE C.A. Fortune Related Links http://www.CAFortune.com TEL AVIV, Israel, January 24, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Alvit LCS Pharma, a medical cannabis company specializing in pharma grade products and drug delivery technologies, is a dedicated sponsor of Cannatech's exclusive Canada Cannabis House in Davos, Switzerland. Alvit's CEO Yona Levy presented during the January 24th "Cannabis Innovation" pogram and is participating in various VIP events at the gathering. CEO Levy released the following statement: "Alvit is honored to participate and present at this event with such international prestige. We expect to both nurture and cultivate a number of key relationships with industry leaders, while displaying our various products and technologies, thus bolstering Alvit internationally." Saul Kaye, CEO of iCAN and a co-sponsor of the Canada Cannabis House, added: "A serious discussion in Davos with the global cannabis leadership is an important next step in pushing medicalization forward. We are thrilled to have Alvit as sponsors and to benefit from Yona Levy's expertise and insights. Specialist pharma grade cannabis companies like Alvit will lead the way to better patient access and medical care for all." The Canada Cannabis House pavilion has a renowned group of presenters and attendees, including Ehud Barak, Former Israeli Prime Minister and Chairman of InterCure; Eyal Barrad, CEO of Cannabics; Lorne Gertner, Chairman of Hiku Brands; Bruce Linton, CEO of Canopy Growth Corp; Jason Warnock, CEO of TheraCann; and Saul Kaye, CEO of iCAN, Israel Cannabis. About Alvit LCS Pharma Alvit LCS Pharma is an international leader in the development of products based on standardized cannabis extracts. Alvit's products are differentiated by the fact that they have undergone clinical trials to prove their efficacy and bioavailability. These pharma grade, clinically tested products speak the language of doctors, allowing them to know how much cannabis is being delivered to the body, how much is being absorbed into the body, and for what duration it is effective in the body, providing them the knowledge they need to more effectively prescribe cannabis to patients. In Israel, Alvit directly controls a cannabis research license, and through its Israeli subsidiary Tefen (TLV:TEFN) controls cannabis licenses for propagation and cultivation. Contact: Laura Lam, [email protected], +972-54-806-8613 SOURCE Alvit LCS Pharma MONTREAL, Jan. 24, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Alpha CCO, a company dedicated to supporting compliance activities, is happy to announce the nomination of Francis Dion as its new CEO. Francis Dion names CEO for Alpha CCO Mr. Dion (https://linkedin.com/in/francisdion) is a seasoned entrepreneur with 30 years of experience leading and managing software development teams. With a bachelor's degree from Quebec University and a diploma from the MIT's Entrepreneurship Development Program, he was previously CEO of Xpertdoc, an award-winning company which under his leadership enjoyed 40% year-over-year growth, serving 800 customers worldwide with 60 employees across four countries. Author of a patent for the automated production of documents, he is especially interested in the impacts of technology and the role of entrepreneurs in society. "It is with great pride that we are announcing the nomination of Francis Dion as CEO of Alpha CCO. Francis is a growth-focused and seasoned entrepreneur. His past accomplishments are a testament to his ability to lead teams creating innovative and quality products, serving customers and successfully competing on local as well as international markets," said Philippe Couture, co-founder of Alpha CCO. "Since we started developing our software in December of 2015, our existing clients and new prospects have confirmed the need for our product. Francis, with his vast experience in the technology and client service area, is without a doubt the leader we needed to bring the company to the next level and make our software available across various markets worldwide," mentioned Sam Reda, co-founder and chair of the board at Alpha CCO. Mr. Dion declared: "Alpha CCO fills a gaping need in organizations of any size, faced with ever-increasing regulatory and internal compliance requirements. I am very proud to join a team who successfully established their product's market fit and its ability to serve and satisfy customers. The company is ready for its next phase of growth, a task we now enthusiastically take on." About Alpha CCO Founded in 2015, Alpha CCO (https://alphacco.com/en) offers a flexible and easy to use platform to automate internal and external compliance activities. Its benefits include greater transparency in the application of internal controls, faster response to regulatory changes, seamless gathering of evidence for audit purposes and more generally reducing the costs associated with compliance. For more information: [email protected] 1.866.583.9633 / 1.514.298.1127 Related Links Web Site SOURCE Alpha CCO Related Links https://alphacco.com/en Posted Thursday, January 24, 2019 9:53 am Necessity, as they say, is the mother of invention. Thats particularly true in difficult times when business as usual no longer works. As our national deficit approaches $22 trillion ($180,000 per taxpayer) and state and local governments deal with skyrocketing costs for health care, pensions, education and public safety, we will have to do things differently, or, in some instances, not at all. One way is to develop private-public partnerships to share costs and coordinate programs. Take tourism for example. Over the years, our funding of state tourism promotion has been token at best, but mostly non-existent. Historically, other priorities gobbled up state revenues and when it came time to balance the budget, travel promotion got axed. Lawmakers had no choice because unlike Congress, revenues must cover expenses. While Washington was noticeably missing in television markets, California, Oregon, Montana and British Columbia have peppered the airwaves with enticing commercials. Our neighboring states invest heavily to attract travelers and their investments are paying off. For example, the Montana Legislature appropriated $19 million for travel promotion in 2017. Subsequently, the University of Montanas Institute for Tourism and Recreation found that state received $3.5 billion in return. In 2016 and 2017, while Washingtons legislature appropriated no money, neighboring states invested from Californias $117 million to Idahos $5 million. Oregon spent $32 million. Nationally, Hawaii and Florida budgeted $87 million each. Texas spent $46 million. Realizing the fight for appropriations was a losing battle, the state tourism office closed in 2011. It became clear that a new approach involving the private sector was necessary. The Washington Tourism Alliance (WTA) was formed as a public-private partnership and two years ago, Gov. Jay Inslee signed legislation creating a Tourism Marketing Authority. The Authority is now eligible for up to $4.5 million a year in state funds as long as the private sector matches $2 for every $1 of tax money. That fund allows the WTA to develop a comprehensive strategy and market events and attractions domestically and internationally. Travel and tourism are among the largest industries in the United States. According to the Statistics Portal website they contributed $1.5 trillion to our GDP in 2015 and provided 5.5 million jobs. The industry is projected to grow and generate $2.6 trillion by 2027. Tourism is Washingtons fourth largest industry generating $21.4 billion in annual spending and contributing $1.8 billion in state and local taxes, according to WTA. For every $1 spent of tourism marketing, between $2.50 and $20 in tax revenue is collected. Every county in our state benefits from leisure travel and statewide 182,700 workers are employed in tourism-related pursuits. The new travel alliance needs to have flexibility to target promotional spending. Some sectors are doing fine on their own. One is vacationing onboard cruise ships. Since 2000, Seattle has grown to become the top West Coast cruise port with 216 vessels and 1.1 million passengers last year. The Port of Seattle estimated cruise ships generate over $500 million a year and employ 4,000 workers. According to Statistics Portal, more than 30 percent of travelers worldwide go on cruises. There are parts of rural Washington which can benefit from statewide tourism promotion especially places with fresh and saltwater beaches. Statistics Portal found that more than half of vacationers head to the waters edge. As more people have money and time to travel, Washington must invest to tell potential visitors what makes our diverse state unique and beautiful. The bottom line is our opportunities to capture a much bigger share of travel dollars are much better if we pony up now to promote our state as the place to visit. Don C. Brunell is a business analyst, writer and columnist. He recently retired as president of the Association of Washington Business, the states oldest and largest business organization, and now lives in Vancouver. He can be contacted at theBrunells@msn.com. Based out of Alliance's San Diego office with a percentage of time spent each month at its Phoenix headquarters, Murphy will handle sourcing and underwriting, as well as conduct financial, operational and market due diligence, and ensure business plan execution on acquired properties. Murphy brings five years of experience in the multifamily industry. Prior to joining Alliance, he held various roles with JPI Companies, including asset management and land acquisition. As a Vice President and Regional Asset Manager, Murphy was responsible for overseeing start-up marketing, lease-up and stabilization efforts for 2,000 units in the Western United States. Prior to JPI, Murphy was an Acquisitions Officer with ConAm Management, a role where he was involved in acquiring 3,200 units representing $450 million in multifamily assets. He was also directly responsible in securing the purchase of $60 million in off-market assets during his ConAm tenure. Before his multifamily career, Mr. Murphy was previously recognized as a top-performing and decorated police officer in the City of Phoenix. He wore many hats as a patrol officer, plainclothes Neighborhood Enforcement Team Officer and Gang Enforcement Unit Reserve Officer/Detective. Murphy graduated from Rutgers University in New Brunswick, earned his MBA from the Thunderbird School of Global Management in Phoenix and obtained a Master's of Science in Real Estate from the University of San Diego. Murphy was previously a Board of Trustee Member for the Rutgers University Alumni Association, currently serves on the Building Industry Association (BIA) of San Diego's Urban Council and is a recognized member of the NMHC Emerging Leaders Group. MEDIA CONTACT: Danielle Clark Director of Public Relations & Communications Alliance Residential Company 602.522.5760 [email protected] SOURCE Alliance Residential Company In his new position, Johnson will develop ALC's comprehensive data strategy to build on its first-party data expertise and add new data and processes to allow seamless expansion into digital media and grow existing markets. His role also includes overall management of data operations and delivery. Before joining ALC, Johnson was most recently SVP of data and audience solutions for Acxiom/LiveRamp. Prior to Acxiom, he spent 16 years at Experian Marketing services in data solutions, acquisition and management roles. He started his data career developing strategic online alliances at Infogroup. "Andy is a unique talent in our industry," said CEO Rick Erwin. "In addition to being among the most knowledgeable experts in the collection and use of person-level data, he is also an exceptional leader who exemplifies the trustworthiness and data stewardship that is so critical in the new data economy." Johnson received his B.S. in business administration/finance from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. For ten years, he served in the Nebraska National Guard, receiving the Air Force Achievement Medal for distinguished service (three times). He serves on the board for IAB's Data Center of Excellence and the Board of Advisors for Kammok. He is a frequently requested speaker on a broad range of topics at industry roundtables, events and universities. About ALC Founded in 1978, ALC has grown to become one of the industry's leading privately-held providers of first-party data solutions. Headquartered in Princeton, New Jerseyand with offices across the United States the company enables its roster of clients including the leaders in virtually every business sector to grow and improve bottom-line profitability through the innovative use of marketing information. SOURCE ALC Related Links www.alc.com Technology is both a blessing and a curse. Forty-five percent of industry professionals feel advances in technology will create greater employment opportunities for them. However, a majority (88 percent) said that keeping their skills up to date will be difficult. Digital improvements are needed. Forty-five percent of respondents said their company is slow to adopt new technology, and 70 percent rated their employer's efforts to prepare them for such adoption as fair or poor. When asked what technical skill they'd most like to develop, the top response among creatives was web and user experience design. Workers crave more flexibility. Nearly seven out of 10 professionals (69 percent) wish they could work remotely more frequently than they currently do. Respondents also ranked in-person meetings as the most effective communication method. Creatives are eager to make a career move. Sixty-one percent of industry practitioners said they are more confident in their professional prospects compared to one year ago. In addition, 60 percent said it's likely they'll look for a new job in the next 12 months. The top reason creatives are considering leaving their current company is limited career growth opportunities. Freelance hiring is heating up. Thirty-seven percent of creative teams expect to rely more heavily on project professionals in the next three years, mainly to help with heavy workloads. Graphic design, web design, video production and photography are the top areas of freelance hiring. What the research means for employers "Creative teams are under increasing pressure to innovate and use new technology to solve business problems and deliver improved customer experiences," said Diane Domeyer, executive director of The Creative Group. "To meet growing demands, companies are relying on a mix of talent, from full-time employees to project professionals. This flexible staffing approach offers many benefits, including cost savings and access to a broader talent pool." Domeyer added, "To recruit and retain top creative talent in today's competitive environment, it's no longer enough to offer attractive pay. Companies must also foster a positive workplace culture where employees have access to the latest tools to do their best work and opportunities to grow their careers without leaving the firm." What the research means for professionals "The change in the nature of design work calls for skills and perspectives beyond traditional college-level design education," said Dana Arnett, AIGA national board president. "It is critical that the industry expands its knowledge and expertise to remain economically viable and professionally relevant as it prepares for changing client demands and new opportunities." "Learning new technology can be daunting, but it will open doors to many professional opportunities and it's critical for success," Domeyer added. "Agencies and in-house departments alike seek candidates with digital proficiency. Skills development should be an ongoing priority for workers who want to reach their full potential." Visit The Creative Group blog for the full survey results, additional creative workplace trends and insights from industry leaders on navigating change. About The Creative Group The Creative Group (TCG) specializes in connecting creative, digital, marketing, advertising and public relations talent with the best companies on a project, contract-to-hire and full-time basis. For more information, including job-hunting services and candidate portfolios, visit roberthalf.com/creativegroup. About AIGA AIGA, the professional association for design, advances design as a professional craft, strategic advantage and vital cultural force. As the largest community of design advocates, AIGA brings together practitioners, enthusiasts and patrons to amplify the voice of design and create the vision for a collective future. AIGA defines global standards and ethical practices, guides design education, inspires designers and the public, enhances professional development, and makes powerful tools and resources accessible to all. Learn more at aiga.org. SOURCE The Creative Group Groups of 6 or more attending ISLE can enjoy substantial benefits, including: 6 or more: Complimentary hotel accommodation 8 or more: An additional special gift 12 or more: Complimentary interpreter service during the event ISLE offers special benefits for visitors so that they can work with their current and potential business partners to stay on top of the latest industry trends. In addition to exhibitions, ISLE will also host more than 20 conferences for upstream and downstream professionals, which will help inspire the discovery of new insights and allow visitors to share their visions for the industry. Highlights of the events Event Time Industrial brand conference, featuring participants from associations from Asia, the Middle East, North America and Europe March 3-4 New products launch (LED and Advertising equipment) March 3-6 China Sign Industry Seminar March 3 or March 5 The application of LED and digital signs in Japan's public transport system March 3 China LED Industry (New Technology) Forum March 4 Introduction to the Russian market March 4 China Sign Industry Seminar, facilitated by international designers March 4 LED applications in smart cities, smart buildings, 5G and IoT March 5 Sustainable development in the LED industry, updates on the latest green materials and certifications March 3 LDC promotion meeting held by Commercial LCD Industry Association March 4-5 Props promotion meeting held by Display Props Industry Association About ISLE The 2019 International Signs and LED Exhibition (ISLE), organized by Canton Fair Advertising Co., Ltd and the Chia Foreign Trade Guangzhou Exhibition General Corp (CFTE), is a fully integrated LED industry chain solution platform for professional, charismatic and intelligent advertising signs. SOURCE International Signs and LED Exhibition SAN FRANCISCO, Jan. 24, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- In celebration of the 11th year of the Innovations in Alzheimer's Caregiving Award, The Rosalinde and Arthur Gilbert Foundation, the Helen Daniels Bader Fund, A Bader Philanthropy, and Family Caregiver Alliance are pleased to announce three winning organizationseach with outstanding programs that address the needs of caregivers and those they care for, with Alzheimer's disease or a related condition. Previously known as The Rosalinde Gilbert Innovations in Alzheimer's Disease Caregiving Legacy Awards, the award has been renamed with the Helen Daniels Bader Fund, A Bader Philanthropy joining as a funding partner in 2018. Three wonderful programs have been selected this year to receive the Innovations in Alzheimer's Caregiving Award. The nationally-selected programs will each receive $20,000 in the following three categories: Creativity Healing Hands is the only program in North Carolina to bring the level of full string orchestra performances to seniors living with dementia, and particularly to those with lifelong limited access to main stage performances due to economic, ethnic or cultural barriers. Diversity Down Syndrome Network of Arizona's Aging Matters: Growing Older with Down Syndrome program is leading the provision of person-centered, dementia capable care for adults with Down syndrome and their families. It is estimated that 56% of those living with Down Syndrome who reach 60 years of age develop Alzheimer's, and 80% will experience some type of dementia. Public Policy Eighteen (18) independent not-for-profit organizations agreed to work together, unifying their voice and sharing common language to promote public policy that benefits older adults, family caregivers, and those for whom they care for, in Tennessee. View detailed information on the winning programs. Representatives of the winning organizations will receive their awards at a reception held during the Aging in American Conference in New Orleans, Louisiana, April 15 18. The reception will take place on Tuesday, April 16, 6 p.m. to 8 p.m., at the Hyatt Regency New Orleans. The reception is open to the public. The mission of The Rosalinde and Arthur Gilbert Foundation is to invest in programs that promote education, tolerance, social services, healthcare, and the arts. The Foundation builds on the ideals and pursuits of its founders, Rosalinde and Arthur Gilbert. In addition, the foundation funds Arts Education and Culture in Los Angeles, Jewish programs in Los Angeles, and universities in California. In the area of Alzheimer's disease, The Rosalinde and Arthur Gilbert Foundation focuses its grant-making on the advancement of research by junior investigators in the United States and Israel and investments in Alzheimer's disease caregiving. Milwaukee-based Bader Philanthropies, Inc. is a philanthropic leader in improving the quality of life of the diverse communities in which it works. Through the Helen Daniels Bader Fund and the Isabel and Alfred Bader Fund, the organization funds innovative projects and programs, convenes partners, and shares knowledge to affect emerging issues in key areas. Since its founding in 1992 as the Helen Bader Foundation, the organization has committed more than $275 million in grants and program-related investments, such as loans and equity investments that advance its charitable mission. Today, the Helen Daniels Bader Fund (HDBF) honors her interest in healthier older adults, as well as her passion for the arts and creativity. The HDBF works to further healthy aging in Wisconsin, particularly with respect to the impact of Alzheimer's disease, as well as efforts to address Alzheimer's in Israel. In Milwaukee, HDBF brings community arts to underserved audiences, while the Helen Bader Scholarship Fund helps keep Jewish day school education in reach for local families. Established in 1977, the Family Caregiver Alliance (FCA) supports and assists caregivers through education, services, research, and advocacy. FCA programs support and sustain the important work of families and friends caring for loved ones with chronic, disabling health conditions. In 2017, FCA launched CareJourney, a scalable online service able to deliver quality information, education, and services to a growing family caregiver population. The National Center on Caregiving, established at FCA in 2001, works to advance the development of high quality cost-effective policies and programs for caregivers in every state of the country. SOURCE Family Caregiver Alliance Related Links http://www.caregiver.org NEW YORK, Jan. 24, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Wines of Argentina (WofA), the organization responsible for the promotion of the brand Vino Argentino in the world, has just launched a specific campaign for the US market. "Vino Argentino: A Blind Tasting Story", is the title of the institution's new bet to continue and deepen the perception of Argentina as a modern country in viticulture in its main export market. WofA aims to continue its robust positioning and contribution to the current market to achieve an increase in distribution and sales of our flagship product, whose exports to the US in 2018 reached 50,732,700 liters, equivalent to USD $244,866,000. Stay tuned for new episodes every Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday of "Vino Argentino: A Blind Tasting Story". WofA is now promoting the teaser of a 10-part fiction miniseries aimed mainly at female consumers to communicate the evolution and differential attributes of Vino Argentino, seeking also to attract the attention of the press and key influencers on the market. The miniseries will premiere on YouTube and WofA's social media channels, and the series will conclude on Valentine's Day, coinciding with the playful theme of the campaign. "Vino Argentino: A Blind Tasting Story", addresses the love story between two people from completely opposite worlds. Justin, a successful young craft brewer from California: a man with a unique style, very disciplined in his own mess. Restless, impetuous, impulsive and self-confident. On the other hand, there is Pilar: a prominent Argentine sommelier, she is very organized and precise. A misunderstanding, followed by a white lie, will kick things off so that together they begin a journey through the various wine-growing regions of Argentina, until they realize that, despite their differences, they have much more in common than they could have imagined. Argentine Wine will be the guiding thread of the story, reflecting the great diversity of terroirs, varieties and styles that our country has to offer, highlighting the contrast and the natural and cultural richness of Argentina. "Our intention is to focus on and talk to young women who represent a growing segment among wine consumers in the United States. It is a story that aims to break down certain prejudices, without losing sight of the ultimate goal of the campaign, which is to make Argentina and our wines attractive to US consumers," said Magdalena Pesce, Marketing & Communications Manager of Wines of Argentina. The teaser of the miniseries is now available in the following link. Find out what happens in "Vino Argentino: A Blind Tasting Story" by following the hashtags #VinoArgentino #ABlindTastingStory in addition, through WofA's official channels: TWITTER, FACEBOOK, INSTAGRAM & YOUTUBE. ABOUT WINES OF ARGENTINA Wines of Argentina is responsible for the brand Vino Argentino in the world. Since 1993, the organization has been promoting the image of regional wines abroad, in addition to helping guide the export strategy of Argentina, studying and analyzing the changes that occur in consumer markets. Its objective is to collaborate in the consolidation of Argentina among the main wine exporting countries in the world and contribute to the global success of the wine industry, by raising the positive perception in the trade of opinion leaders and consumers. It currently has more than 260,000 followers on Facebook. FOLLOW US ON TWITTER, FACEBOOK & INSTAGRAM For more information about Wines of Argentina, go to http://www.winesofargentina.org/ SOURCE Wines of Argentina Related Links http://www.winesofargentina.org MALVERN, Pa., Jan. 24, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- TELA Bio, Inc., a surgical reconstruction company leading the development and commercialization of OviTex Reinforced BioScaffolds (RBSs) for soft tissue repair, today announced the first patient has been treated with OviTex RBSs in Europe. The complex abdominal wall repair was performed by Alastair Windsor, M.D., FRCS, at University College London Hospital in London, England. "Bringing the OviTex portfolio to Europe further demonstrates our commitment to providing high-tech, cost-effective solutions that can adapt to the ever-changing soft tissue repair marketplace on a global scale," said William Allan, vice president of European operations for TELA Bio. "We want to thank Dr. Windsor and University College London Hospital for their willingness to partner with us. We are encouraged by their initial success and look forward to seeing more European cases completed in the coming months." TELA Bio's partner Aroa Biosurgery, a soft-tissue repair company based in New Zealand that develops and manufactures medical products to improve healing, was granted EC Certification (CE Mark) for OviTex RBSs in the European Union (EU). The distinct class of surgical mesh integrates both biologic and synthetic materials to maintain flexibility without compromising on strength. "This was a complex abdominal wall repair with a patient who was at risk for several complications," said Dr. Windsor. "As soon as I picked up OviTex, I knew this surgical mesh was different from any other I had used. The superior handling characteristics of the mesh allowed me to easily conform it to the wound bed and suture it into place, leaving the patient with a seamless repair. I look forward to sharing my experience with my colleagues and continuing to provide patients with options that have the potential to improve their surgical outcomes." More than 3,500 implantations with OviTex RBSs have been completed to date in a wide range of hernia procedures using a variety of surgical techniques. Previously published clinical data shows the use of OviTex RBSs in abdominal wall reconstruction procedures led to low recurrence and complication rates. TELA Bio will be exhibiting at the Abdominal Wall Reconstruction Europe conference in London from January 31 to February 2 to provide European surgeons with additional information about OviTex. About TELA Bio, Inc. TELA Bio, Inc. is a privately-owned company focused on bringing innovative, cost-effective, surgical reconstruction solutions to surgeons, hospitals and patients. The company's OviTex Reinforced BioScaffolds (RBSs) products, designed for hernia repair and abdominal wall reconstruction procedures, integrate polymer and biologic materials in a uniquely embroidered construction using novel engineering design principles. The OviTex portfolio is supported by high-quality, data-driven science and extensive pre-clinical research that has consistently demonstrated the advantages of RBSs over commercially available products. OviTex RBSs are commercially available in the U.S. and in Europe. The company is collaborating with leading surgeons to drive rapid product development and establish TELA Bio as a leader in surgical reconstruction. To learn more about TELA Bio visit http://www.telabio.com. About OviTex Reinforced BioScaffolds OviTex Reinforced BioScaffolds (RBSs) are intended for use as a surgical mesh to reinforce and/or repair soft tissue where weakness exists. Indications for use include the repair of hernias and/or abdominal wall defects that require the use of reinforcing or bridging material to obtain the desired surgical outcome. Do not use OviTex RBSs in patients known to be sensitive to materials of ovine (sheep) origin. For additional important safety information, please see the OviTex RBSs Instructions for Use. The statements made or results achieved by TELA Bio customers described herein were achieved in their specific setting. Due to variations in clinical experience and technique, there is no guarantee that these results are typical. Bench testing may not be indicative of clinical performance. Caution: Federal (US) law restricts this device to sale by or on order of a physician. TELA Bio, Inc. owns or has applied for the following trademarks or service marks: OviTex, TELA Bio. Media contact Adam Daley Berry & Company Public Relations 212-253-8881 [email protected] SOURCE TELA Bio, Inc. Related Links http://www.telabio.com CHICAGO, Jan. 24, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- SMASH, the signature STEM education program of the Kapor Center, announces SMASH Illinois, its first statewide initiative program partnership with Illinois Institute of Technology (Illinois Tech), Southern Illinois University Carbondale, and the Creating Pathways and Access for Student Success (CPASS) Foundation. Lieutenant Governor of Illinois Juliana Stratton will be present and provide remarks on this partnership during a press conference being held on January 24 at 11am, Venue Six10, Landmark Room 610 S Michigan Ave, Chicago. The inaugural group of students accepted into SMASH Illinois will live for five weeks during the summer of 2019 on the Illinois Tech and SIU Carbondale campuses and will all initially come from the Southside of Chicago, Carbondale, IL, and the greater East St. Louis, IL area. The SMASH Illinois program will focus on training scholars with core STEM skills at the intersection of technology, innovation and equity in health to empower students from underrepresented communities to pursue and persist in the STEM fields and excel in the rising "HealthTech" industry. SMASH's flagship program, SMASH Academy, is a three-year, free-of-cost, residential college preparatory program targeting high school students from traditionally underrepresented communities interested in pursuing science, technology, engineering and mathematic (STEM) careers. Beginning the summer after 9th grade, SMASH scholars take rigorous science, tech and math classes that will supplement their learning during the academic year. SMASH's comprehensive and research-driven approach boasts significant results. A longitudinal analysis of SMASH alumni data reveal the following: 100% of SMASH Academy alumni graduate from high school of SMASH Academy alumni graduate from high school 91% of SMASH Academy Alumni graduate college within 5 years of SMASH Academy Alumni graduate college within 5 years SMASH Academy Alumni graduate with a STEM degree 2x higher than the national average. than the national average. The return on initial investment in lifetime earnings is 96x for each SMASH alumni who earns a STEM degree, with each student projected to earn $3.6M in their lifetime For more information, visit www.smash.org Media Contact: Kim Bardakian Director of Media Relations Kapor Center [email protected] 510-499-5723 SOURCE SMASH Illinois Related Links http://www.smash.org REDWOOD SHORES, Calif., Jan. 24, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Oracle releases the following statement on Google's Petition for Review by the Supreme Court: "Google's petition for certiorari presents a rehash of arguments that have already been thoughtfully and thoroughly discredited. The fabricated concern about innovation hides Google's true concern: that it be allowed the unfettered ability to copy the original and valuable work of others as a matter of its own convenience and for substantial financial gain. This is not, and has never been, a valid justification for copying. Further, the purported 'chill on innovation' is a well known myth. Since the initial decision of the Federal Circuit (and agreement of the Solicitor General's Office) that the Oracle Java code copied by Google was copyright protected, the pace of innovation has only accelerated, spurring job creation and opportunity. Indeed, the sky is not falling on the software industry or technology industry in general. Oracle will continue its efforts to protect and grow its own innovations, as well as those of other innovators, by ensuring that the well established principles of copyright law are not subverted by anyone trying to cut corners. In major victories for software innovation, the Court of Appeals has twice sided with Oracle against Google. The Court of Appeals was correct each time. The Supreme Court should once again deny Google's request to take the case." -- Oracle Executive Vice President and General Counsel Dorian Daley About Oracle The Oracle Cloud offers complete SaaS application suites for ERP, HCM and CX, plus best-in-class database Platform as a Service (PaaS) and Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) from data centers throughout the Americas, Europe and Asia. For more information about Oracle (NYSE:ORCL), please visit us at www.oracle.com. Trademarks Oracle and Java are registered trademarks of Oracle and/or its affiliates. Other names may be trademarks of their respective owners. SOURCE Oracle Related Links http://www.oracle.com NewYork-Presbyterian is one of the nation's most comprehensive, integrated academic health care delivery systems, dedicated to providing the highest quality, most compassionate care to patients. As a consistently recognized leader in patient-centered clinical care, medical education and research, NewYork-Presbyterian is committed to using technology to advance care. "NewYork-Presbyterian is pleased to collaborate with Philips to empower patients, who don't need to be in the hospital, to actively monitor their health from the comfort of their home," said Dr. Peter Fleischut, Senior Vice President and Chief Transformation Officer at NewYork-Presbyterian. "As a national leader in telemedicine, we are committed to adopting innovative technologies that make it easier for patients to access our high-quality, compassionate care." "As the number of individuals living with chronic conditions continues to rise, hospitals and health systems need to innovate to best manage the growing demands on their resources," said Derek Ross, Business Leader, Population Health Management at Philips. "Transformational leaders like NewYork-Presbyterian see the value of how virtual care and advanced telehealth solutions can empower both clinicians and patients with the resources needed to deliver quality care in the home to help achieve improved outcomes and reduce costs." Seamless telehealth to improve care for patients with chronic conditions Philips eCareCoordinator telehealth software platform allows clinicians to remotely monitor patients' vital signs and send patients short surveys about their health status, while eCareCompanion allows patients to share health information such as blood pressure, weight, blood oxygen levels, and glucose levels with their care team via a tablet and connected medical devices on a daily basis. This data enables clinicians to make informed, proactive, and timely care decisions, particularly if they notice something in the patient's daily health information that needs attention. NewYork-Presbyterian patients with hyperglycemia who were part of the first remote patient monitoring clinical pilot reported an 89 percent satisfaction score. NewYork-Presbyterian recently began programs to remotely monitor patients with congestive heart failure and new mothers with high blood pressure, and will be launching programs to monitor several other clinical conditions, including those related to maternal health and diabetes. Philips' telehealth offering is part of its broader suite of Population Health Management solutions, which provide a comprehensive and proactive healthcare delivery strategy. By offering data-driven business insights, Philips' solutions enable clinicians to better understand, activate, and navigate their patient populations. Philips at HIMSS On Wednesday, February 13 at 10:30 a.m. EST, Niki Buchanan, Venture Leader of Population Health Management at Philips and Shauna Coyne, Director of Innovations at NewYork-Presbyterian, will present in the Philips Booth (#2101) on the topic of "Evolving care outside the hospital to meet consumers where they are." For more information on Philips' portfolio of integrated smart systems, software and services, including the full suite of Population Health solutions that will be spotlighted at the upcoming HIMSS Global Conference & Exhibition in Orlando, FL, Feb. 11-15, 2019, visit www.philips.com/himss and follow @PhilipsLiveFrom for #HIMSS19 updates throughout the event. For further information, please contact: Kathy O'Reilly Philips Group Press Office Tel: +1 978-221-8919 E-mail: [email protected] Twitter: @kathyoreilly Silvie Casanova Philips North America Tel: +1 781-879-0692 E-mail: [email protected] Mahlori Isaacs NewYork-Presbyterian Tel: +1 347-802-5492 Email: [email protected] About Royal Philips Royal Philips (NYSE: PHG, AEX: PHIA) is a leading health technology company focused on improving people's health and enabling better outcomes across the health continuum from healthy living and prevention, to diagnosis, treatment and home care. Philips leverages advanced technology and deep clinical and consumer insights to deliver integrated solutions. Headquartered in the Netherlands, the company is a leader in diagnostic imaging, image-guided therapy, patient monitoring and health informatics, as well as in consumer health and home care. Philips generated 2017 sales of EUR 17.8 billion and employs approximately 77,000 employees with sales and services in more than 100 countries. News about Philips can be found at http://www.philips.com/newscenter. NewYork-Presbyterian NewYork-Presbyterian is one of the nation's most comprehensive, integrated academic healthcare delivery systems, whose organizations are dedicated to providing the highest quality, most compassionate care and service to patients in the New York metropolitan area, nationally, and throughout the globe. In collaboration with two renowned medical schools, Weill Cornell Medicine and Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons, NewYork-Presbyterian is consistently recognized as a leader in medical education, groundbreaking research and innovative, patient-centered clinical care. NewYork-Presbyterian has four major divisions: NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital is ranked #1 in the New York metropolitan area by U.S. News and World Report and repeatedly named to the Honor Roll of "America's Best Hospitals." is ranked #1 in the metropolitan area by U.S. News and World Report and repeatedly named to the Honor Roll of "America's Best Hospitals." NewYork-Presbyterian Regional Hospital Network comprises hospitals and other facilities in the New York metropolitan region. comprises hospitals and other facilities in the metropolitan region. NewYork-Presbyterian Physician Services, which connects medical experts with patients in their communities. which connects medical experts with patients in their communities. NewYork-Presbyterian Community and Population Health, encompassing ambulatory care network sites and community healthcare initiatives, including NewYork Quality Care, the Accountable Care Organization jointly established by NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital, Weill Cornell Medicine and Columbia. SOURCE Royal Philips Related Links http://www.philips.com Posted Thursday, January 24, 2019 9:54 am There are some occasions that mark the passing of time more than others. Having said that, I realize what a banal statement it is, but what brought it to mind was the recent passing of Pete Corwin. Pete and I were more acquaintances than close friends. By that, I mean we never invited each other over for dinner and/or a game of cards. But we always had a smile for each other whenever we met. Pete and I shared one distinction we were the last two living members of Centralias commission form of city government. In fact, his passing now leaves yours truly as the only living, directly-elected mayor of Centralia (or Chehalis, too, for that matter). All current mayors in those two cities are appointed by their city councils and selected only from members of those particular councils. As the last survivor, I will be gracious and forgiving, meaning I will not require you to genuflect as I pass by. A mere tipping of the hat or curtsy will suffice. The demise of the commission form of city government had its beginning with the passage of a Washington state law that also made it, essentially, impossible to not act illegally. This difficulty with the law was it stated, in essence, that if 50 percent of a citys governing body was assembled together in any one place, other than a scheduled meeting, no city business could be discussed. That made it pretty difficult, with a three-commissioner form of government, for one commissioner to meet one of the other two in a hallway and say nothing more meaningful than, Its a nice day outside, dont you think? Our three-member county commission has gotten around this obstacle, or thinks it has, by staying in session 24 hours a day! There are those of us who still question the legality of that solution. For no other reason than giving a short lecture in civics, the former division of labor in Centralias commission went this way: the mayor got to cut a lot of ribbons and plant a few trees, but was also the police commissioner and fire commissioner. Another member was the finance commissioner, and also was in charge of managing City Hall. The third commissioner was in charge of everything else: water department, sewer department, light department, garbage department and street department! And that last position was Petes job when he was first elected to the old commission. To complete this bit of history, there was only one other person who served on both the commission and the council: Bill Rickard. He served eight years as commissioner of public works, producing more positive outcomes than anyone else I can name. Well, except for maybe the one who headed up the construction of the Centralia Power Plant on the Nisqually River or the one who laid the 40-mile pipeline from the North Fork of the Newaukum River to Seminary Hill, using nothing but shovels and horses! I would think they would also rank at the top of that list. And, now, for a change of subject. Do we learn from our mistakes? I sure did. When I wrote, some time ago, about Timberland Librarys east county facilities, I called them demonstration libraries, not realizing that they, or at least most of them, were already using property taxes from their immediate areas. The mistake I made was due to the fact that I was following a map that had never been updated on Timberlands own homepage. Had I gone through a course in journalism, I would have known that its an unwritten law or maybe its written (who knows?) that you need to have at least two sources for every fact quoted. I used only one and have paid the price. Bill Moeller is a former entertainer, mayor, bookstore owner, city council member, paratrooper and pilot living in Centralia. He can be reached at bookmaven321@comcast.net. Xinxin gestures as volunteer Gu Shengyuan (L) cheers during a rope skipping game in Wucun Village of Linyi City, east China's Shandong Province, Jan. 16, 2019. Twin sisters Gu Shengyuan and Gu Shengyan are members of a voluntary service group helping orphaned and impoverished children living in mountainous areas in Linyi. Established on April 19, 2018, the group with over 6,000 volunteers provides support for more than 3,500 orphaned and impoverished children. (Xinhua/Guo Xulei) 8 1 [ Editor: zyq ] DUBLIN, Jan. 24, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Investis Digital (https://www.investisdigital.com), a leading digital communications company, today announced its expansion into Ireland with the official launch of a Dublin office. This new office, which expands the company's footprint across EMEA, will be led by Sales Director Niamh Tallon, who recently relocated back to Dublin after working with the company in London for the last four years. This expansion reflects the company's commitment to provide integrated, end-to-end communication solutions for its rapidly growing roster of clients in Ireland. "Investis Digital already has a strong foothold in Ireland, helping a number of key clients in the country innovate and evolve their digital capabilities," said Tallon. "The opening of a Dublin office now cements our presence here in Ireland. We are excited to further develop existing relationships as well as build out new relationships with companies who are increasingly becoming acutely aware of the importance of their digital estate." With its new office, Investis Digital will build on a strong foundation of client work in the fast-growing Irish market with more than 40 clients in the region already, including Glanbia, DCC, Grafton Group, Hibernia REIT, Hostelworld, Permanent TSB and Ryanair, amongst others. Investis Digital has provided these businesses with comprehensive services to power their digital brands and hopes to strengthen these relationships while also developing new ones. One of its existing and longstanding clients, Glanbia, added: "Glanbia has worked with Investis Digital since 2011 and the team has provided a very good service during this time." Adrian Goodliffe, Chief Commercial Officer of Investis Digital, said, "Dublin has become a hotbed for innovation, and we're seeing a strong demand from companies looking to redefine how they communicate online. A Dublin office gives us a base to expand our operations and provide clients a dedicated local team of proven digital communications experts who know how to deliver results." The opening of the Dublin office builds on the company's global network, which includes offices in the United Kingdom, United States, Germany, the Nordics and India. About Investis Digital Investis Digital is an award-winning digital communications company. Founded in 2000, the company combines effective storytelling and engaging digital experiences with world-class performance marketing and cutting-edge technology to help businesses communicate clearly and authentically with any audience. Investis Digital's 2,000 global clients, including Ascential, ASOS, Rolls-Royce, Whitbread, Paddy Power Betfair and Dixons Carphone, trust the Investis Digital team of more than 500 employees to deliver stronger relationships with audiences and improved ROI through its Connected Content approach. For more information, please visit https://www.investisdigital.com. SOURCE Investis Digital Related Links https://www.investisdigital.com "On behalf of the entire Jennie-O and Hormel Foods family, we are overjoyed at the news of Jayme's safe return," said Jim Snee, chairman of the board, president and chief executive officer at Hormel Foods. "Her bravery and strength have truly inspired our team members around the world. Barron is an incredibly strong community and one that never lost hope. We celebrated with the community, and the world, that Jayme is home." "First and foremost, Jennie-O Turkey Store is a family," said Steve Lykken, Jennie-O Turkey Store president. "Here in Barron our Jennie-O family is dealing with a very tragic situation. While we are still mourning the loss of longtime family members Jim and Denise, we are so thankful for Jayme's brave escape and that she is back in Barron. The company has expressed its wishes to donate the $25,000 to Jayme. Our hope is that a trust fund can be used for Jayme's needs today and in the future." The company has been an active supporter in the community throughout the search for Jayme, including supporting the family and law enforcement officials and organizing a Tree of Hope lighting ceremony as well. That event, which was held just weeks before her escape, was intended as a forum for employees and community members to send a unified message that no one would give up hope until Jayme was safely back home. "On behalf of the Barron County Sheriff's Department and all the law enforcement agencies that assisted in this case, we would like to thank Jennie-O for their support and assistance during this case," said Chris Fitzgerald, Barron County Sheriff. "We also agree that Jayme is the hero in this case and happy they have chosen her to receive the company's reward contribution. The partnerships created during this case will not only help Jayme and her family in the future but will continue to make us all stronger, led by the idea that we will never give up hope!" ABOUT JENNIE-O TURKEY STORE Jennie-O Turkey Store, Inc., based in Willmar, Minn., is a wholly owned subsidiary of Hormel Foods Corporation (NYSE: HRL) and one of the largest turkey processors and marketers in the world. It offers an array of more than 1,500 high quality fresh, frozen, refrigerated and deli turkey products that are distributed throughout the United States and 27 countries worldwide. Visit www.jennieo.com for more information. ABOUT HORMEL FOODS Inspired People. Inspired Food. Hormel Foods Corporation, based in Austin, Minn., is a global branded food company with over $9 billion in annual revenues across more than 80 countries worldwide. Its brands include SKIPPY, SPAM, Hormel Natural Choice, Jennie-O, Applegate, Justin's, Wholly Guacamole, Hormel Black Label, Columbus and more than 30 other beloved brands. The company is a member of the S&P 500 Index and the S&P 500 Dividend Aristocrats, was named one of "The 100 Best Corporate Citizens" by Corporate Responsibility Magazine for the 10th year in a row and has received numerous other awards and accolades for its corporate responsibility and community service efforts. In 2016, the company celebrated its 125th anniversary and announced its new vision for the future Inspired People. Inspired Food. focusing on its legacy of innovation. For more information, visit www.hormelfoods.com and http://csr.hormelfoods.com/. Contact: 507-434-6352 [email protected] SOURCE Hormel Foods; Jennie-O Turkey Store Related Links http://www.jennieo.com LINDON, Utah, January 24, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- ForeverGreen Worldwide Corporation (OTCQB: FVRG), a global direct marketing company and provider of health and wellness products, announces the Company will continue its focus onto the CBD industry as well as ketogenic products. ForeverGreen has decided to take the opportunity of targeting two of the hottest trends in the industry and building their sales strategy around these top sellers. Beginning late Q1, five new products featuring CBD oil are to be phased in and completed over the course of 2019. Implementing this new trendy vision to an already successful line of products creates opportunities for the Company to expand and develop into new territory. "By taking advantage of this opportunity and moving into these segments, we anticipate sales to accelerate revenue growth. We expect these new products featuring CBD oil will be just what we need to put us over the top and become profitable," stated Joe Jensen, ForeverGreen's Executive Officer. About ForeverGreen Worldwide Corporation Empowering a health-conscious community to focus on mindful self-care, ForeverGreen's products, opportunities and ideals reach around the globe to thousands of individuals in over 100 countries. ForeverGreen combines technology, science and ancient resources into products that can be shipped anywhere using a revolutionary envelope model. Despite this successful development, our most important product will always be people; community involvement and good character are the seeds of complete health. ForeverGreen is a publicly traded company based in Lindon, Utah. For more information, visit forevergreen.org. Welcome Home! Forward-Looking Statement This press release contains certain forward-looking statements. Investors are cautioned that certain statements in this release are "forward-looking statements" and involve both known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors. Such uncertainties include, among others, certain risks associated with the operation of the company described above. The company's actual results could differ materially from expected results. Contact: Joe Jensen +1(801)655-5500 [email protected] Brokers and Analysts: Chesapeake Group +1-410-825-3930 [email protected] SOURCE ForeverGreen Worldwide Corporation DALLAS, Jan. 24, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Alerian announced today that Dominion Energy Midstream Partners (NYSE: DM) will be removed from the Alerian Midstream Energy Index (AMNA), Alerian US Midstream Energy Index (AMUS), Alerian Midstream Energy Select Index (AMEI), Alerian MLP Index (AMZ), and Alerian MLP Equal Weight Index (AMZE) in a special rebalancing. Special rebalancings are triggered by corporate actions such as mergers, bankruptcies, and liquidations. DM will cease to trade due to its merger with Dominion Energy Inc (NYSE: D). The rebalancing will take place after market close on Monday, January 28. Each index will be rebalanced in accordance with its existing methodology. Constituent additions to and deletions from an index do not reflect an opinion by Alerian on the investment merits of the respective securities. About Alerian Alerian equips investors to make informed decisions about energy infrastructure and Master Limited Partnerships (MLPs). Its benchmarks are widely used by industry executives, investment professionals, research analysts, and national media to analyze relative performance. As of December 31, 2018, over $12 billion is directly tied to the Alerian Index Series through exchange traded funds and notes, separately managed accounts, and structured products. Visit alerian.com to learn more. SOURCE Alerian Related Links http://www.alerian.com Dionisio Gutierrez began the conversation assuring that Liberalism is a system of ideas that has promoted the development and welfare of the Western Countries: "It is a political program that blends with democracy and rule of law. It defines social order and encourages economic growth." However, he explained: "Politics are no longer a space for ideas, reflections and proposals; it became a vain activity." Mario Vargas Llosa, stated that "in order to reach development, is important to overcome the sense of inferiority regarding liberalism. We must insist that, thanks to liberalism, democracy has become modern and has been strengthened. We must break away from the stigma that the left wing created around liberalism, as if it was part of the status quo and a stumbling block for progressive reforms." Regarding the decrease of the political class in Latin America, Gutierrez pointed that "the discredit of politics in our days, is a phenomenon that does not respect frontiers. Almost all over the world, the intellectual level, the professional career, and moral quality of politicians has decayed. This has provoked a generalized lack of interest and absence of new leaderships in election processes." Additionally, Vargas Llosa indicated, that corruption is responsible for pushing youth away from politics and that "when the best people don't participate in politics, the worse are those who fill in the public roles. It is necessary to convince young people that great things can be achieved through politics." He argued that "the existence of a good moral within a society is absolutely indispensable because it is one of the great shields against corruption." Moreover, they concluded that the massive use of Internet has brought consequences for politics due to the spreading of fake news and defamation. Gutierrez explained that "the problem in this post-truth era, is that a 67% of internet users does not distinguish fake from true information. To be strong and effective, a democracy needs citizens with critical thinking." Dionisio Gutierrez made the most out of the meeting to interview Mario Vargas Llosa for his Razon de Estado TV show. SOURCE Fundacion Libertad y Desarrollo WASHINGTON, Jan. 24, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- FiscalNote, a technology and media company providing information services and software that connect the world to their governments, today announced that its CQ and Roll Call publications will expand their policy analysis into China in partnership with GRisk, an innovative information platform for financial and business professionals in China. Through this pivotal international partnership, CQ and Roll Call will provide select policy-based analyses to GRisk for distribution through WeChat and other online platforms, bringing in-depth analysis of U.S. federal legislation and regulation to GRisk users in China. "This partnership brings CQ and Roll Call's valued reporting on U.S. federal legislation and regulation to a China-based audience that is craving this insight," said Josh Resnik, FiscalNote's Chief Content Officer and SVP/Publisher. "People around the world are more interdependent than ever, and CQ and Roll Call's unbiased, in-depth analysis of U.S. developments is increasingly valuable to audiences outside the United States." Prior to the launch of this partnership, Roll Call and GRisk successfully tested publication of Roll Call's U.S. midterm election guide, generating strong interest from the Chinese market. "GRisk is thrilled to partner with CQ and Roll Call to provide non-partisan news and analysis to China's business and financial professionals," said Sean Ding, CEO, GRisk. "A growing segment of the Chinese population is deeply impacted by U.S. policies, and so a greater understanding of the actions and processes driving these developments is of great significance to this market." CQ and Roll Call will begin publication of policy-based analysis to GRisk on January 24. For more information on FiscalNote, you can visit the website here. About FiscalNote FiscalNote is a technology and media company that provides information services and software that connect the world to their governments. As the premier hub of domestic and global government information, FiscalNote's comprehensive suite of software solutions offers customers and readers policy data, news, analysis and award-winning journalism. To learn more about FiscalNote and its family of brands, including CQ, Roll Call and VoterVoice, visit www.fiscalnote.com. About GRisk GRisk is a macro risk analytics and early warning platform for financial and business professionals. Based on big data analysis and real-time event monitoring, GRisk helps users discover and anticipate the risk of political and policy events around the globe. To learn more about GRisk, visit www.grisk.net. Media Contact | Lindsay Hand | (516) 725-9686 | [email protected] SOURCE FiscalNote Related Links http://www.fiscalnote.com FLOWER MOUND, Texas, Jan. 24, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- CBDOilUsers.com, a leading CBD oil education website for consumers, has released its list of the "Best CBD Oil Without THC" available at https://www.cbdoilusers.com/best-cbd-oil-without-thc/ . CBD oil products are all the rage and their popularity is expected to increase dramatically now that they are federally legal. Hemp-derived CBD was officially removed from the federal list of controlled substances in December when the 2018 Farm Bill was signed into law. Legalization was a huge win for CBD oil users. But those who are subject to drug testing by employers and other entities should still exercise caution when using CBD products. This is because many hemp-derived CBD oil products still have trace amounts of THC that can trigger a positive drug test. "Full spectrum" or "whole plant" CBD products carry the highest risk of a positive drug test. The risks are significantly less with "broad spectrum" and "isolate" products. So it's important for those with drug testing concerns to understand the differences when making a buying decision. "Thousands of companies are now selling CBD oil products both online and in local stores," Brian Peterson, the managing editor of CBDOilUsers.com, said. "The choices can be overwhelming for new users. And some companies aren't completely transparent with consumers in their marketing and product labelling. Our mission is to educate consumers about the use of CBD oil and recommend safe and reputable brands that best meet their needs." The brands with products on our "Best CBD Oil Without THC" list are shown below. All CBD products on our list are either broad spectrum or isolates. So they have 0% THC based on the company's third party lab testing. CBDistillery (Denver, CO) cbdMD (Charlotte, NC) Charlotte's Web (Boulder, CO) Hemp Bombs (Tampa, FL) Joy Organics (Fort Collins, CO) Lazarus Naturals (Portland, OR) Medterra (Laguna Hills, CA) Myaderm (Denver, CO) The CBDOilUsers.com website and its companion CBD Oil Users Group on Facebook is dedicated to providing education, reviews, recommendations and the sharing of experiences among users of CBD products. Questions? Contact: Brian Peterson, Managing Editor, CBDOilUsers.com Web: https://www.cbdoilusers.com Email: [email protected] Phone: (817) 567-1331 SOURCE CBDOilUsers.com Related Links https://www.cbdoilusers.com TORONTO, Jan. 23, 2019 /PRNewswire/ - Adventus Zinc Corporation (TSXV: ADZNOTCQX: ADVZF) ("Adventus") and its board of directors are pleased to announce the appointment of Barry Murphy as independent director and Gunther Sotomayor as Vice President, Projects. Mr. Murphy is a mining professional with over 30 years of experience on copper, gold, and platinum projects on three continents. He has held senior executive positions with Anglo American and Yamana Gold where he led both technical and project development teams. His most recent experience includes the development of open-pit and underground mines in Chile, Peru, Argentina, and Brazil. Prior to these projects, Mr. Murphy held management positions at engineering and construction services firms Hatch and Murray & Roberts Cementation Limited. He holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Witwatersrand, Johannesburg and a Bachelor of Commerce degree from the University of South Africa. Mr. Murphy is a registered Professional Engineer with the Engineering Council of South Africa and a Project Management Professional with the Project Management Institute. Mr. Sotomayor is a project management professional with over 20 years of international experience in project development for mining and petroleum industries. As a member of owner's teams and as a consultant, he has held leadership roles in project management and construction on various mining projects in Latin America, including Freeport McMoRan Inc.'s expansion of Cerro Verde in Peru, and most recently Lundin Gold Inc.'s Fruta del Norte project in Ecuador. Over his extensive project career, Mr. Sotomayor has worked on all stages of engineering study and construction, from NI 43-101 standard preliminary economic assessments, pre-feasibility and feasibility studies to construction of process plants and support infrastructure on both green and brownfield developments. Mr. Sotomayor is a native of Guayaquil, Ecuador and hold a Bachelor of Science degree in Mechanical Engineering from Escuela Superior Politecnica del Litoral (ESPOL). Mr. Sotomayor will be based in Ecuador. As Adventus embarks on significant exploration and engineering work in advancing the Curipamba, Pijili and Santiago projects in Ecuador, it continues to build its core management team. On behalf of the board of directors, Christian Kargl-Simard, President and Chief Executive Officer of Adventus, commented: "We are pleased and excited to welcome both Barry Murphy and Gunther Sotomayor to our growing company. Both individuals bring extensive engineering, design and construction experience from successful mining projects in Latin America, which will provide valuable oversight and hands-on contributions to our team as we advance Curipamba and our other Ecuadorian copper-gold projects." Adventus has today granted 100,000 stock options to Mr. Murphy and 400,000 stock options to Mr. Sotomayor. These options are exercisable at C$0.78 per share expiring in five years and vesting over a 3-year period in accordance with the terms of Adventus' Stock Option Plan and subject to regulatory approval. Name Change With the focus now on copper in Ecuador, Adventus will be asking its shareholders to consider and approve a name change to "Adventus Mining Corporation" at the next annual meeting in June 2019. Mr. Kargl-Simard commented: "Adventus spent close to two years evaluating over 240 zinc-related assets around the globe. While we were unable to acquire a zinc-dominant opportunity that met our stringent investment criteria, we were able to identify and form a partnership for the Curipamba copper-gold project in Ecuador. With our focus in Ecuador and increasing knowledge of the country's mineral prospectivity, Adventus secured two additional exploration projects in 2018 as we seek to build a portfolio of attractive projects in-country. With respect to zinc, we will continue to monitor and update the intellectual property that we have developed, but as such, we believe the name change to be appropriate at this time. Adventus will continue to have zinc exposure through our equity shareholding in Canstar Resources Inc., future transactions and programs involving our non-core portfolio of projects in Ireland, and as part of our flagship Curipamba project." About Adventus Adventus is a well-financed company focused on base metals exploration and project development globally. Its strategic shareholders include Altius Minerals Corporation, Greenstone Resources LP, Resource Capital Funds, and Wheaton Precious Metals Corp.; as well as other highly respected investors in the mining business. The focus of Adventus is the advancement of the Curipamba copper-gold-zinc project in Ecuador as part of an earn-in agreement to obtain a 75% ownership interest. In addition, Adventus is engaged in a country-wide exploration alliance with its partners in Ecuador, incorporating two projects to date. Elsewhere globally, Adventus owns a large prospective mineral land package in Ireland totalling 1,950 km2 and, through its ownership interest in Canstar Resources Inc., is actively participating in the exploration upside of a prospective mineral land package in Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada totalling 550 km2. Adventus is based in Toronto, Canada, and is listed on the TSX-V under the symbol ADZN and on the OTCQX under the symbol ADVZF. Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this news release. SOURCE Adventus Zinc Corporation Related Links adventuszinc.com V24 Media, the publisher of Vogue CS, announced today its strategic initiatives for 2019 following a successful first year of operations in the Czech Republic and Slovak Republic. The company plans increased investment in 2019 to further accelerate the development of its core activities including: Vogue CS print and digital platforms Curated events Exclusive brand partnerships with global leaders in fashion, lifestyle and the arts Proprietary technology development Dedicated platform for local designers and artists (Logo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/812942/Vogue_Logo.jpg ) (Photo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/812943/Vogue_CS__Czech_Republic.jpg ) (Photo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/812944/V24_Czech_Republic.jpg ) In 2018, Vogue CS rapidly filled a gap in the Czech and Slovak market as the voice of authority on luxury fashion while delivering a highly acclaimed and distinctive product to its readers. The overarching concepts of fashion, beauty, jewelry craftsmanship, design and a world-class editorial team delivering stunning content and visuals in print and online provides readers fresh inspiration to look forward to each month. Monthly subscriber and social media follower growth steadily increased month over month as well as the roster of luxury fashion brands that now partner with Vogue CS. In a short period of time, the title has worked with an unprecedented lineup of international top models and leading fashion photographers setting the standard as the fashion bible in the Czech Republic and Slovakia and gaining recognition internationally. The following is a timeline of key highlights: March 2018: V24 Media and Conde Nast International announce their partnership and the launch of Vogue CS. April 2018: Vogue CS announces its Editor and Chief, Andrea Behounkova and Creative Director, Jan Kralicek. August 2018: Vogue CS announces Czech-born international fashion models Eva Herzigova as editor at large and Karolina Kurkova, Tereza Maxova and Daniela Pestova as contributing editors, covering fashion and beauty trends globally. August 17th 2018: V24 Media launches Vogue CS, its debut issue featuring international fashion model Karolina Kurkova as Olga Havel on the cover. The September issue celebrates the anniversary of the Velvet Revolution in Czechoslovakia and the first lady's role in the momentous events of 1989. The cover was shot by Branislav Simovcik . September 2018: The inaugural issue is featured at the Museum of Art and Design in Prague, Czech Republic drawing over nine thousand visitors to its interactive exhibition, bringing life to Vogue CS. October 2018 Issue: Vogue CS features top fashion model Lara Stone on its cover shot by famed British photographer Rankin. The issue connects international fashion icons with Czech and Slovak heritage themes. November 2018 Issue Shot in Paris, Vogue CS features renowned red head and top model, Anna Cleveland, on its cover. The "Red Issue" celebrates the passion and courage Vogue evokes. December 2018 Issue features Andy Warhol and Kirsten Owen on its cover. The cover was shot in Medzilaborce, Slovakia the birthplace of Andy Warhol by famed fashion photographer Michal Pudelka . Slovak-born Pudelka shoots Kirsten Owen, the international top model and muse to Helmut Lang in a tribute to Warhol. At the same time, the largest retrospective exhibition dedicated to the pop art icon opens at the Whitney Museum in New York City . January/February 2019 Double Issue features Eva Herzigova on its cover photographed by the famous Pamela Hanson in Ibiza, Spain. After appearing on numerous Vogue covers for over three decades, Czech-born Eva Herzigova comes home to Vogue CS in a beautifully photographed and highly acclaimed pictorial. Top models, Maryna Linchuk and Eniko Mihalik appear with Eva in the double issue aptly titled "Out of Office". In 2019, V24 Media will continue to add top talent and resources to support the expansion of its next generation publishing platform and the Vogue CS brand. Michaela Seewald, V24 Media Owner and Director, commented: "I am pleased with the results of our first year, the influence that Vogue CS has quickly garnered both in our home markets and internationally and am excited about 2019. We will continue to build our strong brand, our talented team and bring innovative ideas to the market to meet pent up demand in the Czech Republic and Slovakia for an incredible fashion publication." Andrea Bechounkova, Editor in Chief at Vogue CS, added: "Our Vogue is uniquely Czechoslovak, fashionably beautiful, forward thinking, artistically oriented and full of surprises. Our passion, dedication and investment into the Vogue CS product will continue to unfold before your eyes in 2019 and you can be sure there will be some fantastic surprises. Stay tuned for more detail in the coming weeks." V24 Media would like to thank its clients, partners, readers, followers, contributors, the leading fashion brands in the world, the talented models that grace our pages, the terrific photographers and our world-class staff for helping build a truly unique product in Vogue CS. Our promise is that the best is yet to come. About Vogue CS Vogue CS is published by Prague-based V24 Media, a next generation publishing platform in partnership with Conde Nast International, focusing on delivering inspirational content and visuals in print and online. The company is founded by Michaela Seewald with the founding team including Vogue CS Editor-in-Chief Andrea Behounkova and Vogue CS Creative director Jan Kralicek. The Czech/Slovak edition of Vogue is the 24th edition in the world. Vogue is published in the United States, Great Britain, France, Italy, Germany, Spain, Russia, Japan, China, Taiwan, Mexico and Latin America, in the Middle East, Korea, Brazil, Australia, Portugal, India, Turkey, Thailand, Poland, and Ukraine. Please visit us at vogue.cz and follow us @vogueczechoslovakia on Instagram. Media Contact: Bara Bergova +420-604-247-450 barbora.bergova@bb-media.cz SOURCE V24 Media Posted Wednesday, January 23, 2019 1:17 pm OLYMPIA Although more than a dozen Democrats may be running for president in 2020 including its governor Washington still has some unfinished legal business from the 2016 election, which the state Supreme Court tackled Tuesday. Three members of the Washington Electoral College in that last election asked the court to void the $1,000 fine the state charged them for breaking their pledge and voting for someone other than Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton, who won the most votes in the state. Peter Chiafalo, Levi Guerra and Esther John signed those pledges when they became electors but after Clinton won the state, cast electoral votes for Colin Powell. They now argue the state can't fine them for changing their minds any more than it could fine a voter for changing his or her mind at the ballot box. "The question was not whether they were right (to switch). The question is whether they had the right," attorney Lawrence Lessig argued in the hearing. "An elector is a chooser," he said, not a mere robot or clerk. But Deputy State Attorney General Callie Castillo said presidential electors aren't like regular voters. Electors act on behalf of the state, representing the will of the state's voters. "There is no First Amendment right to cast a ballot any way they see fit," Castillo said. After Clinton won Washington state and the popular vote nationwide in November 2016, but Donald Trump was in line to receive the most Electoral College votes and become president, some electors around the country began talking about ways to affect the results. Chiafalo, who supported Democrat Bernie Sanders during the primary process but signed the pledge to vote for Clinton after he was named an elector during the state Democratic convention, became part of a group calling itself the Hamilton Electors. They said they were willing to vote for someone other than Clinton if enough Republican electors in other states would vote for someone other than Trump. Without a majority for either candidate in the Electoral College, the election would have been sent to the U.S. House of Representatives. The Hamilton Electors never rounded up Republican support to keep Trump from becoming president. When the Washington Electoral College met in December, Chiafalo, Guerra and John voted for Powell. A fourth elector voted for Faith Spotted Eagle to draw attention to the dispute over the Dakota Access Pipeline. All four were fined $1,000, the maximum under state law, by the secretary of state for breaking their pledge. The three Powell voters appealed, losing at both an administrative law procedure and in Thurston County Superior Court. On Monday, the justices wrestled with both sides of the issue. Chief Justice Mary Fairhurst told Lessig she believes state law doesn't stop electors from changing their vote. It just says there's a consequence if they do. But it's a consequence for exercising their choice, he replied, and an elector should be free to choose. A president doesn't have the power to regulate what judges do after he appoints them, Lessig added. But unlike electors, judges aren't pledging to go with the will of the people, Justice Sheryl McCloud countered. They pledge to be fair, she said. Isn't what the three electors did a bit like jury nullification, where a juror decides to ignore the judge's instructions about the laws, Justice Steven Gonzalez asked. It's precisely like that, Lessig replied. But there are penalties for jurors who say they'll follow the law during jury selection process and then don't, Gonzalez said. Only if there's evidence they were lying during jury selection, Lessig countered; the electors intended to vote for the nominee when they signed their pledge and only changed their minds later. Overturning the fines would be like saying the state has no right to put conditions on electors, Castillo said. But what if the nominee died between the election and the Electoral College meeting, Gonzalez asked. Would the state still fine an elector $1,000 for casting a ballot for another candidate? It would be for the elector to decide what to do and the secretary of state could issue a fine, but wouldn't have to, Castillo said. The statute says the fine can be "up to $1,000," so it could be as low as nothing. "I would hope our government would exercise discretion and not fine them," Castillo said. The court is expected to rule on the case in the coming months. RANCHO SANTA MARGARITA, California, Jan. 24, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Sweegen, Inc., a provider of non-GMO, nature-based stevia sweeteners, announced Food Standards Australia New Zealand (FSANZ) has assessed and approved BESTEVIA Reb M Stevia Leaf Sweetener for use as a food additive in Amendment No. 183 issued on January 23, 2019. After performing a detailed safety evaluation, FSANZ amended the current specification for Rebaudioside M under the Australia and New Zealand food standard code to include Sweegen's BESTEVIA Reb M, produced through a unique, stevia leaf - based bioconversion process. BESTEVIA Reb M is a non-caloric, high-purity stevia sweetener with a clean, sugar-like taste that can replace up to 100% of sugar or artificial sweeteners in beverages, dairy products, bakeries and nutritional foods, amongst many other applications. Sweegen also offers stevia-leaf Reb D and its newest stevia sweetener, BESTEVIA e+ in other countries, which are all great choices for sugar reduction, with a clean sweet taste, closest to sugar. Sweegen is looking forward to working with local flavor houses to support sugar reduction projects locally. The world-wide trend towards clean labels supports the use of nature-based, non-GMO, sustainable ingredients, like Sweegen's BESTEVIA Reb M. "We are excited to now offer our non-GMO Project Verified, great-tasting stevia sweetener in Australia and New Zealand. Reb M is the first of our stevia sweeteners to be approved, with further approvals in the pipeline. Our in-house applications team can also help food and beverage companies find the perfect sweetener solution to make their consumer products more competitive while meeting consumer taste preference," said Katharina Pueller, director, natural sweetener business of Sweegen. About SweeGen SweeGen, Inc. is dedicated to the development, production and distribution of non-caloric sweeteners for the food, flavor and beverage industries. SweeGen's robust product pipeline, intellectual property portfolio, and dedicated manufacturing capacity and R&D provide the foundation for innovation and delivery of high-quality sweeteners. For more information please contact info@sweegen.com and visit SweeGen's website, www.sweegen.com. Cautionary Statement Concerning Forward-Looking Statements This press release contains forward-looking statements, including, among other statements, statements regarding the future prospects for Sweegen. 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Chris Menahan Information Liberation January 24, 2019 On his radio show Wednesday, Rush Limbaugh said leftists in the media and on Twitter rushed to judge the students of Covington Catholic High School because theyre filled with hatred for white people and traditional America. Transcript via RushLimbaugh.com: And who are these people on Twitter? Theyre anonymous. Nobody knows who they are. They have names, usernames. You cant tell who they are, and yet they are given weight that is the equivalent to a credible, provable, documented, expert sourcing. And theyre nothing but a bunch of ragtag, unhappy, militant, invisible and anonymous kids in their pajamas and whoever knows retired professors and so forth and theyre simply out there. Theyre affecting the Academy Award nominations. When I say they, we dont know who they are. And they would be anonymous. They would not be relevant to anything if the media hadnt decided to hype Twitter and to use Twitter as credible source substitution, and the reason is simple: The media has become a left-wing mob on its own. Twitter is a left-wing mob. Its not hard to find similar left-wing mob opinion and psychology on Twitter. So if you go into a story like the Covington kids story and you see this kid smirking (in your mind) and smiling and wearing a MAGA hat, it triggers everything that you hate. You hate the nuclear family. You hate Christianitys role and the founding of and the definition of its culture and society. You hate white people. You hate what you think is white privilege. You hate everything that has, for decades, defined normal in America. You hate it. Youre a left-wing journalist, youre a left-wing activist, youre a minority, youre a feminazi. You hate everything that used to be defined as normal in America. Mom and dad, 2.8 kids, picket fence, little dog in the backyard, two cars in the garage, barbecues on Friday and Saturday. You hate that. You hate church on Sunday. You hate Bible study Sunday night. You hate Sunday school on Sunday morning. You hate the Boy Scouts. You hate Little League. You hate anything involving heterosexuality. You hate anything that used to be the definition of normal and well-adjusted and happy and content. You resent all of that because that normalcy is what led to people improving their lives. Those were the people that got hired those were the people that got promoted because they were reliable. They were trustworthy. You knew their value base, you trusted it, you wanted it in your organization. So all of that has been under assault in our culture war for over 40 years. And if you want to go back even further, you can say that the civil rights movement was related to it in a way. But it has totally become the objective of the left to overthrow everything that used to be considered normal in America. These kids are the epitome! The Covington kids are the epitome of what used to be normal. Theyre smiling. Theyre happy. Theyre in Washington celebrating life, not abortion. They are Catholics. (Thats not good.) Theyre wearing Trump hats. (Thats the big trigger.) And then, of course, theyre confronted by two groups who have never been considered normal: The Native American radicals and the Black Israelite radicals. Who does the media side with instinctively? The Native American, lying Indian chief and over here the Black Israelites. Why? (sniveling) Because theyre not normal! Americas never allowed them to be normal. Theyve always been minorities. Theyve always been radical. Well, theyre not normal, as it used to be defined in America. So they naturally become the objects of sympathy and support for the media, and the kids become the diabolical enemy because they represent the normal that these other people dont think they can ever achieve. Really, I dont think any of this is any more complicated than trying to redefine what normal is in America because of the deep resentment for what was normal. So we now have the media championing a bunch of ragtag Black Israelite, profane protesters doing whatever the hell that isnt any good for anybody. And then, by the same token, its natural that they would side with the minority, the Native Americans, cause, after all, before any of what you used to call normal in America could happen, we had to kick the Indians out of their tepees and put em on reservations! So we were evil, SOB Europeans, and these kids are the focal point of all this rage and hatred. The objective of the culture war is to render them and their families and their stupid school and their Catholic Church as the racist bigots that we know they are because we resent the hell out of the fact that thats what used to be normal in America and its never gonna be. Were gonna redefine, were gonna reshape, were gonna reorient America so that those people never, ever get to run this place again. Theyre gonna learn to find out what its like to be a minority, to be pursued, to be this and that. (This is the nature of the culture war that we face.) So in the midst of this, here comes Twitter! A bunch of anonymous, untraceable We cant possibly know who these people are. We dont know what they do. All we do is if were journalists we come up with a story. We see the kids from the high school, and we immediately hate them. We hate the MAGA hat, we hate everything they stand for and all we gotta do is go to Twitter and find like-minded hate for a bunch of anonymous dingbats that we dont even know, and we elevate them to essentially the referees in American society. We elevate them to the people making the value judgment. We dont even know who they are! Twitter needs to be forgotten or shut down or ignored, because if it isnt, were gonna continue to get in terms of mainstream media an entirely bastardized view of what America is and who Americans are. Because I maintain to you that the people on Twitter anonymous usernames we dont know, being promoted and cited as source authorities by the Drive-By Media are not happy, theyre not content, and theyre not focused on doing whats right or whats good. They have a political agenda. Theyre part of the lefts army, and thats why theyre used. But its a problem because all the kids want to be on Twitter. Its how you get famous. Its how you get likes. Its how you get follows. Its how you become a star. Its how you get audience. Its how you (sigh) act like somebody big and important when youre sitting there in three-day-old underwear cause the washing machines broken down on the back porch. Rush Limbaugh went on a similar rant on Monday slamming the National Review for rushing to condemn the students and running a piece titled, The Covington Students Might as Well Have Just Spit on the Cross. This article was posted: Thursday, January 24, 2019 at 7:04 am Print this page. Infowars.com Videos: Michael Snyder End Of The American Dream January 24, 2019 We always knew that this was coming. We always knew that there would eventually be a war between Israel and Iran, but we had hoped that it could be put off for as long as possible. Well, now it appears that time may have run out. The exchange of missiles between the IDF and Iranian forces based in Syria on Sunday represented a major escalation of a conflict that has been simmering at a low level for months. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is pledging to continue to strike at the Iranian entrenchment in Syria, and on the other side the Iranians and the Syrians have changed the rules of the engagement to allow for a military response against Israel every time Israel strikes targets inside Syria. What this means is that there are going to be more missiles going back and forth, and it seems inevitable that both sides will eventually cross the point of no return. And even now, we may be dangerously close to that line. In the aftermath of the missile exchange on Sunday, the Israeli Minister of Intelligence declared that Israel is now in an open confrontation with Iran Yisrael Katz, Israels Minister of Intelligence, later told Galatz that the policy for taking on Iran in Syria had changed and that the Jewish state was now in open confrontation with Iran. This is an open confrontation with Iran. When we need to step it up, well step it up, Katz said while again adding that Israel would not allow the continuing Iranian entrenchment in Syria. But the Iranians are not going anywhere, and they do not intend to back down at all. So Israel will continue to strike the area in and around the airport in Damascus, and the Syrians are threatening to hit Ben Gurion Airport in return Syrias United Nations envoy called on the world bodys Security Council to take measures against Israels continued assault on Syrian territories, as reported by the Syrian news agency Sana, wondering whether it would take a Syrian attack on Tel Aviv Airport to draw the councils attention. Does drawing the attention of the war-makers in this Council require us to exercise our legitimate right to self-defense and respond to Israeli aggression on Damascus International Airport by responding in the same way on Tel Aviv Airport? the Syrian envoy, Dr. Bashar Al-Jaafari, asked. If Ben Gurion gets hit, we will immediately see fireworks in the Middle East like we havent seen in decades. And the Iranians fully expect such a conflict to break out. In fact, earlier this week the commander of Irans air force boldly declared that his forces are fully ready and impatient to confront the Zionist regime and eliminate it from the Earth The head of Irans air force said on Monday the country was ready to fight Israel and destroy it. Speaking to the Young Journalist Club, a website supervised by state television, Brigadier General Aziz Nasirzadeh said: The young people in the air force are fully ready and impatient to confront the Zionist regime and eliminate it from the Earth. The Iranians fully mean what they are saying. They absolutely hate Israel with a passion and they will not stop until it no longer exists. Last month, another top Iranian official made it exceedingly clear what Iran intends to do Brig. Gen. Mohammad Reza Naqdi, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Deputy Commander for Cultural and Social Affairs, said in a December 28 interview with the Iraqi television network Al-Nujaba that the Islamic revolution in Iran will not back down from the goal of wiping out the Jewish state. And he went on to add that he plans to personally raise a flag over the city of Jerusalem once they conquer it He vowed to take part in that effort. We were, we are, and we will continue to be the soldiers of Imam Khamenei, he said, until our last breath and until the last drop of our blood. I myself will hoist the flag of the Islamic Revolution in Jerusalem, Allah willing. Are you starting to understand why war between Israel and Iran is inevitable? Iran is run by a bunch of nutjobs that all believe that they have a religious duty to wipe Israel off the face of the planet. They think about this every day when they wake up, and they are still thinking about it every day when they go to sleep. And if Israel and Iran go to war, guess who else will almost certainly enter the conflict? President Trump has pledged to do whatever it takes to defend the nation of Israel, and it was recently revealed that at one point the White House actually asked the Pentagon to draw up a plan for bombing Iran. Of course the Russians are already allied with Iran and their forces are already in Syria, and so they could easily be dragged into the conflict on the other side. What we are talking about is an apocalyptic scenario which could easily lead to the outbreak of World War 3. But we have gotten this far without a major regional war erupting in the Middle East, and hopefully cooler heads will prevail and things will calm down in the days ahead. Because war is truly a horrible thing, and nobody should want to see a conflict erupt in which millions of people could potentially die. This article was posted: Thursday, January 24, 2019 at 6:45 am Print this page. Infowars.com Videos: Comment on this article RT January 24, 2019 US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has refused to pull diplomats from Caracas, arguing the government that severed diplomatic ties with the US is not legitimate and threatening appropriate actions if anyone is endangered. We call on the Venezuelan military and security forces to continue protecting the welfare and well-being of all Venezuelan citizens, as well as US and other foreign citizens in Venezuela, Pompeo said in a statement on Wednesday evening, adding the US will take appropriate action to hold accountable anyone who endangers the safety and security of our mission and its personnel. U.S. will conduct diplomatic relations with #Venezuela through the government of interim President Guaido. U.S. does not recognize the #Maduro regime. U.S. does not consider former president Maduro to have the legal authority to break diplomatic relations. https://t.co/DBS4GiGEWI pic.twitter.com/gQZJuS1xfn Secretary Pompeo (@SecPompeo) January 24, 2019 Venezuelas President Nicolas Maduro declared all US diplomats persona non grata on Wednesday, after Washington recognized opposition leader Juan Guaido as the countrys president. Guaido, however, said he wanted the US diplomats to stay, setting the stage for a potential diplomatic incident. As the US does not recognize Maduros regime, his order for US diplomats to leave is not legitimate, Pompeo argued, adding that Washington will conduct diplomatic relations with Caracas solely through Guaidos government. After the Trump administration recognized Guaidos government, a number of US allies followed suit, including most of the OAS countries and Canada. EU leaders also endorsed the rebel government. Cuba and Bolivia have expressed support for Maduro, while Mexico has said it would continue to recognize Maduros legitimacy for now. Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said the US handpicking of a government in Caracas perfectly illustrates the true Western sentiments toward international law, sovereignty and non-interference in internal affairs of states. This article was posted: Thursday, January 24, 2019 at 7:16 am Print this page. Infowars.com Videos: Comment on this article This is more than has ever been accomplished with North Korea, and the Fake News knows it Steve Watson Prison Planet.com January 24, 2019 President Trump has vowed that another meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un is imminent, and said that the fake news media has deliberately attempted to play down the success of diplomatic improvements between the two leaders. In tweets fired off this morning, Trump attacked the media for not acknowledging progress made in talks with North Korea. The Fake News Media loves saying so little happened at my first summit with Kim Jong Un. Wrong!Trump wrote, adding that the first summit between Trump and Kim staved off a major war: The Fake News Media loves saying so little happened at my first summit with Kim Jong Un. Wrong! After 40 years of doing nothing with North Korea but being taken to the cleaners, & with a major war ready to start, in a short 15 months, relationships built, hostages & remains. Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 24, 2019 back home where they belong, no more Rockets or Ms being fired over Japan or anywhere else and, most importantly, no Nuclear Testing. This is more than has ever been accomplished with North Korea, and the Fake News knows it. I expect another good meeting soon, much potential! Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 24, 2019 I expect another good meeting soon, much potential! The President signed off. A d v e r t i s e m e n t It was announced last week by the White House that Trump would hold a second summit with Kim sometime towards the end of February, with the location not yet being confirmed. The media has accused Trump of being soft on North Korea after a report claimed Monday that the state still has dozens of undeclared missile launch sites, and that the meeting between Trump and Kim did nothing to put a de-nuclearization plan into motion. Speaking to Fox News on Wednesday, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo appeared to dismiss the report. Let me start by saying the American people should rest assured that that the United States understands deeply whats taking place in North Korea. Sometimes things pop in press reports and folks act like its news, Pompeo said. The American people should understand that the United States intelligence community and our security apparatus knows full well what activities are taking place and frankly which ones arent.he added. Meanwhile, Reuters reports that Kim Jong Un released a statement Thursday saying he believes in President Trump. Kim Jong Un said that we will believe in President Trumps positive way of thinking, wait with patience and in good faith and, together with the U.S., advance step by step toward the goal to be reached by the two countries, North Korean state media quotes the leader as saying. The statement added that Kim was hugely satisfied after receiving a positive letter from Trump with a briefing regarding negotiations with a North Korean delegation that visited Washington last week. This article was posted: Thursday, January 24, 2019 at 10:10 am Print this page. Infowars.com Videos: Comment on this article Swedish video gamers news show is more popular than anything mainstream has to offer Paul Joseph Watson PrisonPlanet.com January 24, 2019 YouTuber PewDiePie chided the mainstream media by pointing out that his own news show PewNews completely crushes the competition, commenting, This is why theyre so God damn salty. PewDiePie, real name Felix Kjellberg, responded to a meme which read, When Felix realize that PewNews has more viewers than Vox which makes PewNews a mainstream media. I mean I already knew this, this is why theyre so God damn salty, said Kjellberg, before joking, PewNews is the most respected news source out there and I can actually say that. A Swedish video gamer's news show is more popular than Vox, VICE or any other similar mainstream media outlet. "This is why they're so God damn salty." pic.twitter.com/8JtIaSGC42 Paul Joseph Watson (@PrisonPlanet) January 24, 2019 PewDiePies videos routinely receive in the region of 5 to 8 million views, with some being seen by tens of millions. While the audience is obviously very different (the average CNN viewer is aged around 60), PewNews obliterates the competition. Compare his average views to those received by TVs top rated news shows in Q3 2018. PewNews: 5-8,000,000+ Hannity: 3,340,000. The Rachel Maddow Show: 2,947,000. Tucker Carlson Tonight: 2,775,000. The Ingraham Angle: 2,672,000. The Last Word with Lawrence ODonnell: 2,307,000. The Five: 2,304,000. Special Report with Bret Baier: 2,172,000. The Story with Martha MacCallum: 2,019,000. All In with Chris Hayes: 1,864,000. 11th Hour with Brian Williams: 1,700,000. This is why the mainstream media is so threatened by PewDiePie when he does cover serious issues, such as the recent controversy over the EUs Article 13 copyright directive. PewDiePie has been relentlessly demonized and smeared by the mainstream media because the mere threat of his broadcast power alone completely terrifies the establishment, which only highlights the fragility of their own security. As we highlighted last month, a middle school in Seattle called the police after posters were found encouraging students to subscribe to PewDiePie, prompting a history teacher to go on an unhinged rant in which he claimed that PewDiePie was promoting ignorance, racism, genocide, anti-Semitism. SUBSCRIBE on YouTube: Follow on Twitter: Follow @PrisonPlanet Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/paul.j.watson.71 ********************* Paul Joseph Watson is the editor at large of Infowars.com and Prison Planet.com. This article was posted: Thursday, January 24, 2019 at 10:13 am Print this page. Infowars.com Videos: Comment on this article Newsbusters January 24, 2019 During Mondays edition of Anderson Cooper 360, the eponymous host and his panel engaged in a lengthy discussion about whether or not President Trump was a racist. One of the panelists, Charles Blow of The New York Times, used his platform to compare President Trump to white supremacist David Duke, arguing that his unsuccessful bid to become Governor of Louisiana in 1991 served as a blue print for how the present GOP is running on a policy level. The segment began with Cooper playing a clip of Rep. Hakeem Jeffries, one of several politicians using Martin Luther King Day as an excuse to smear President Trump as a racist. Jeffries called the President a hater, the birther-in-chief, and the grand wizard of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. Cooper asked Blow if he thought it was appropriate for a sitting member of Congress to refer to the President as the grand wizard of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. Blow responded, I cant object to that because Ive referred to him as the grand wizard of birtherism myself. The debate got quite contentious, with Blow accusing his sparring partner Steve Cortes of lying and essentially calling him a racist for supporting President Trump. According to Blow, I believe that people who pretend not to see racism or defend racism, as Steve just did, are part of that racism, which I believe Steve is a part of that racism. Read more This article was posted: Thursday, January 24, 2019 at 8:09 am Print this page. Infowars.com Videos: Breitbart January 24, 2019 The Italian secret service has warned that people-smugglers in the Mediterranean may seek to engineer a mass drowning in order to garner Western sympathy and resume the flow of migration. According to Italian newspaper Il Giornale, the Italian secret services, referred to by the publication as our 007, are warning of the possibility of people-smugglers purposely causing a disaster at sea in order to garner sympathy from the West and resume their illegal trade, which has been declining over the last year. Such a move could be a repeat of other major humanitarian disasters such as a shipwreck which killed around 700 migrants on April 18th, 2015, and led to the commencement of Operation Sophia and an outpouring of support for migrant ferry NGOs operating in the Mediterranean Sea. According to some of the few migrants who survived the incident, people-smugglers had forced the migrants to set sail knowing full well that the weather had been gale force winds, leading some to speculate the disaster was sought or even caused on purpose by the smugglers. The ship eventually sank, killing most of the migrants on board after colliding with the Portuguese container ship, King Jacob. Read more This article was posted: Thursday, January 24, 2019 at 7:26 am Print this page. Infowars.com Videos: Comment on this article CBNBC January 24, 2019 German Chancellor Angela Merkel has grave doubts about a changing approach to global affairs in which compromise and multilateralism seem to be lacking. There is a new approach that we see in the world today, an approach that harbors doubts as to the validity of the international system, they say shouldnt we look after our own interests first and then out of that develop an order that is good for all, she told an audience at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland on Wednesday. I have my grave doubts that this is the right way to go about it, she said via a translation. I think (that when it comes to) our national interests I think we should always understand them in such a way that we always remember that others also have their own vested interests, factor them in, and then shape a win-win situation that will guide us in international politics. Read more This article was posted: Thursday, January 24, 2019 at 7:13 am Print this page. Infowars.com Videos: Free Beacon January 24, 2019 Several nations, including China and Russia, are building powerful nuclear bombs designed to produce super-electromagnetic pulse (EMP) waves capable of devastating all electronicsfrom computers to electric gridsfor hundreds of miles, according to a newly-released congressional study. A report by the now-defunct Commission to Assess the Threat to the United States from EMP Attack, for the first time reveals details on how nuclear EMP weapons are integrated into the military doctrines of China, Russia, North Korea, and Iran. The report discloses how those states could use EMP attacks in theaters of battle in the Middle East, Far East, Europe, and North America. Nuclear EMP attack is part of the military doctrines, plans, and exercises of Russia, China, North Korea, and Iran for a revolutionary new way of warfare against military forces and civilian critical infrastructures by cyber, sabotage, and EMP, the report states. This new way of warfare is called many things by many nations: In Russia, China, and Iran it is called Sixth Generation Warfare, Non-Contact Warfare, Electronic Warfare, Total Information Warfare, and Cyber Warfare. Nuclear-electronic warfare also is called Blackout War because of its effects on all electronic devices. Read more This article was posted: Thursday, January 24, 2019 at 8:10 am Print this page. Infowars.com Videos: Posted Wednesday, January 23, 2019 1:30 pm Shifting the clock back and forth twice a year is bad for people, says Washington state Sen. Jim Honeyford. It has negative effects on public health, traffic, schoolwork and crime, he says. Even the cows dont like it, he said in a recent telephone interview. The Republican from Sunnyside has introduced bills to exempt Washington state from the twice-yearly shift between standard and daylight time twice before, but he thinks the third time could be the charm. This year, he said, the bills he introduced with two Democratic senators, Senate Bill 5139 and Senate Bill 5140, enjoy wide bipartisan support. Theyre also being watched by counterparts in Oregon, California and some counties in Idaho. All of that makes for better odds, Honeyford said. The proposed change would need approval at the federal level, he said. The U.S. Department of Transportation would examine potential effects on commerce, and Congress would have to amend the Uniform Time Act to allow states to choose whether they want to observe Daylight Saving Time. If the West Coast doesnt have a unified front, we have no chance, Honeyford said. If these bills pass, Washington state would join a few others trying to get off the semiannual see-saw. Florida passed the Sunshine Protection Act last year. California voters approved an initiative on the matter in November that now awaits approval from state lawmakers and Congress. A similar bill will be before the Tennessee Legislature this session, and Honeyford said he expects Oregon state Sen. Kim Thatcher, R-Keizer, to introduce a bill similar to one she proposed in 2015. Bills to do away with Daylight Saving Time have previously been considered by Idaho, Montana, Nevada, Wyoming, Colorado, New Mexico and Utah. As it stands, Arizona and Hawaii are the only two states that dont observe Daylight Saving Time. The territories of American Samoa, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands dont, either. Honeyford said the issue is a perennial one with him because his constituents want it. Ive only had two or three emails from people who are opposed to it, he said, adding that their most compelling argument is that without daylight savings, construction workers would have to use lights in the morning. Residents of Canadas Port Arthur, Ontario, now known as Thunder Bay, first implemented Daylight Saving Time in 1908, according to Time and Date AS. The first entire nation to do so was Germany in 1916; it was an attempt to save energy during World War I, according to The Peninsula Daily News. The U.S. briefly adopted Daylight Saving Time from 1918 to 1919, then reinstated it for good during World War II. However, from 1945 to 1966, individual localities could choose whether to make the switch, creating a muddle for railroads, airlines, bus companies and others. The Uniform Time Act of 1966 established a system of uniform daylight saving time within time zones throughout the U.S. It exempted states that opted to remain fully on standard time, the Daily News reported. Honeyford said the switch was advertised in the 1940s and 50s as being good for farmers, but he said he represents farmers and has been a farmer himself. The truth is farmers get up at light to work and go to bed when its dark, and what Ive heard is that the cows dont like it either, he said. Honeyford said he doesnt much care whether Washington state observes Pacific Standard Time which is what were in now or Pacific Daylight Time, as long as we pick one and stick to it. I dont care which one it is as long as were not switching back and forth, he said. Zero Hedge January 24, 2019 As Google backs away from plans to introduce a re-engineered search engine to the Chinese market after provoking a chorus of scrutiny from lawmakers and its own employees, the Chinese government has abruptly blocked Microsofts Bing from the Chinese Internet. The decision removes the only major foreign search engine left in China, according to the Financial Times. It makes Microsoft the latest US tech firm to be ousted from China since the Whatsapp messaging app was blocked in 2017. While the website cn.bing.com couldnt be accessed from the mainland, the state remained accessible outside China. The FT noted that the ban comes amid rumors that trade talks between the US and China are deteriorating (though China on Thursday backed up Larry Kudlows claims that the talks were progressing as expected). State-owned telecom China Unicom has confirmed the order came from within the government, which said it had spotted illegal content on the search engine, though its still unclear what triggered the ban because Chinas Cyberspace Administration has refused to comment. However, the New York Times pointed out that the ban followed a viral social media post by former journalist Fang Kecheng, who accused dominant Chinese search engine Baidu which sops up 70% of Chinas search traffic of favoring its own products in its search results. The viral post is believed to have driven more traffic to Bing. Microsoft confirmed that Bing is currently inaccessible in China but didnt say whether this is a temporary or permanent ban. Weve confirmed that Bing is currently inaccessible in China and are engaged to determine next steps, Microsoft said in a statement. The Communist Partys seemingly arbitrary decision to bar Bing comes after Microsofts yearslong efforts to ingratiate itself with the Chinese leadership. As NYT reporter Paul Mozur explained in a twitter thread, Microsoft has repeatedly bent over backwards to accommodate China, including tolerating the widespread piracy of its products, only for its search engine to be abruptly blocked from the countrys Internet. Its worth a moment to mull the long suffering of Microsoft and the mixed results of its long term engagement of Chinas government. Paul Mozur (@paulmozur) January 24, 2019 Its R&D center trained a number of the countrys most important AI entrepreneurs. It formed jvs with local companies to sell its cloud. To allay security concerns it showed source code. It even hosted a Xi Jinping tech exec confab that sorta was set up to show up politicos in DC Paul Mozur (@paulmozur) January 24, 2019 The companys software is massively pirated in China, by companies+government ministries+universities. While China is one of its largest markets by users, revenue has lagged. Ballmer once noted China earned about 5% the revenue of the US even tho PC usage was about the same. Paul Mozur (@paulmozur) January 24, 2019 When Microsoft pulled support for an old version of Windows to encourage a switch to newer versions (which were harder to pirate), Chinese authorities raided their offices and hit them with an anti-trust inquiry. Beijing was worried about its over reliance on a foreign product. Paul Mozur (@paulmozur) January 24, 2019 To bullet proof Windows 10 against China government concerns, Microsoft partnered with CETC, a state-run firm that sells electronics to Chinas military and is a huge supplier of equipment for the Xinjiang surveillance apparatus. It got approval, yet now Bing is down. Paul Mozur (@paulmozur) January 24, 2019 Fang Kecheng, the former journalist had this to say: Bing compromised in order to have a Chinese version to get into the country. It would be pathetic if even this cant exit. We have one less alternative. Paul Mozur (@paulmozur) January 24, 2019 Interestingly Fang was conflicted about a Google censored search: I feel people in the West saythey are against Google coming back, as they have nothing to do with China. But as someone who wishes Chinese can get better-quality information, I cant 100% stand against it. Paul Mozur (@paulmozur) January 24, 2019 As Fang told the NYT, Bing compromised and decided to acquiesce to Chinas censorship needs to avoid a fate similar to Googles (which pulled out of China in 2010) . Bing compromised in order to have a Chinese version to get into the country, said Mr. Fang, a doctoral candidate at the Annenberg School for Communication at University of Pennsylvania. It would be pathetic if even this cant exist. We have one less alternative. But given the homogeneity of the Chinese Internet ecosystem, Bings presence even if it self-censored search results was still a net benefit for Chinas consumers, Fang said. I feel people in the West can say from their point of view that they are totally against Google coming back, as they have nothing to do with China, he said. But as someone who truly wishes that Chinese are able to get better-quality information, I cant 100 percent stand against it. This article was posted: Thursday, January 24, 2019 at 7:11 am Print this page. Infowars.com Videos: Southbury, CT (06488) Today Cloudy early with peeks of sunshine expected late. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. High 88F. Winds WSW at 5 to 10 mph.. Tonight Scattered thunderstorms early, then partly cloudy after midnight. Low 64F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 40%. Iranians vote in presidential election marred by disqualification row Iranians are voting to elect a new president, with all but one of the four Italy becomes first team to reach Euro 2020 knockout stage Manuel Locatelli had never scored twice in a match during his professional Black Meteors arrive home after 15-2 defeat in Asian tour The Black Meteors have touched down in the country after ending their Asian British Airways plane collapses at Heathrow Airport A British Airways plane has been damaged at Heathrow Airport after collapsing Euro 2020: Scotland frustrate England in Wembley draw England will have to wait to secure a place in the last 16 of Euro 2020 Chloe Kahn and Jodie Marsh rapped by watchdog The Advertising Standards Authority has named and shamed four influencers it Italy becomes first team to reach Euro 2020 knockout stage Manuel Locatelli had never scored twice in a match during his professional Belgium reach last 16 of Euro 2020 after Denmark win Kevin de Bruyne inspired Belgium to a comeback win against Denmark that secured Chloe Kahn and Jodie Marsh rapped by watchdog The Advertising Standards Authority has named and shamed four influencers it Update: Vanished penis at Oti Region returns to the owner The penis of a 52-year-old farmer in the Krachi East Municipality of the Oti Rafael Nadal pulls out of Wimbledon and Tokyo Olympic Games Rafael Nadal has announced he will not be playing at Wimbledon or the Olympic Economy expands by 3.1% in quarter one 2021 The Ghanaian economy expanded by 3.1% in the first quarter of this year, the Rafael Nadal pulls out of Wimbledon and Tokyo Olympic Games Rafael Nadal has announced he will not be playing at Wimbledon or the Olympic Euro 2020: Croatia hold Czech Republic to draw The Czech Republic took a huge step towards qualifying for the last 16 at Euro Rafael Nadal pulls out of Wimbledon and Tokyo Olympic Games Rafael Nadal has announced he will not be playing at Wimbledon or the Olympic Police arrest two Dansoman robbery suspects Police have arrested two persons who attacked and snatched the motorbike with A/R: Police arrest three persons with human parts The police in Ashanti Region have arrested three suspects for unlawful Euro 2020: Scotland frustrate England in Wembley draw England will have to wait to secure a place in the last 16 of Euro 2020 Sergio Ramos set to leave Real Madrid after 16 years Sergio Ramos is set to leave Real Madrid after the club announced a "farewell" Police escape latest bullion van attack on Kasoa-Winneba road A police officer on escort duties in a bullion van has escaped an attack by Financial remittances to be linked to Ghana Card All financial remittances will be linked to the biometric information on ECG issues mobile money scam alert The Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) has issued a scam alert on the Economy expands by 3.1% in quarter one 2021 The Ghanaian economy expanded by 3.1% in the first quarter of this year, the Abolish unfair fees, charges - BoG directs banks The Bank of Ghana, BoG has in a notice directed all Banks and Specialised British Airways plane collapses at Heathrow Airport A British Airways plane has been damaged at Heathrow Airport after collapsing Posted Wednesday, January 23, 2019 5:16 pm Major state political parties, like Republicans and Democrats, are required to elect one Committeeman and one Committeewoman from each county. A House Bill proposes to eliminate gender designations from these partisan elections. HB 1190 sponsored by Rep. Skyler Rude, R-Walla Walla, would eliminate gender- requirements in three areas. The bill was heard by the House State Government and Tribal Relations Committee on Wednesday. The chair and vice chair of each County Central Committee, the Precinct Committee Officers elected to serve on the State Committee, and the chair and vice chair of the State Committee would all be changed to have non-gendered requirements. Previously, in all three of these areas it was required that a man and a woman be selected or elected. This is the first bill Rude has put forward as a freshman Legislator. He noted during his testimony that if local political parties would like to keep the gender-based policy they can, but this legislation would alleviate the legal requirement. Rude also mentioned that using binary gender requirements causes issues for those who identify as other than male or female. My intention is to maximize accessibility for interested individuals, said Rude. According to Rep. Jim Walsh, R-Aberdeen, a similar bill was brought forward last year by Rep. Kristine Reeves, D-Federal Way. In Walshs understanding, this bill would increase the quality and enthusiasm of candidates. Rude discussed the issues that when chairs are elected those running for vice chair do not know if they are eligible for the positions until minutes before their selection because they do not know the gender of the chair, commonly selected just prior to the vice chair. Under the current requirement the chair and vice chair must be of different genders. In my opinion, these positions should be filled by merit not by sex, said Rude. One individual signed in in opposition of the bill and two in favor but no one other than Rude testified. Economy expands by 3.1% in quarter one 2021 The Ghanaian economy expanded by 3.1% in the first quarter of this year, the A/R: Police arrest three persons with human parts The police in Ashanti Region have arrested three suspects for unlawful Botswana diamond could be world's third largest A diamond believed to be the third largest ever found has been put on display Young men in viral video clocking guns picked up by police The Ashanti Regional Police Command has picked up three young men who were seen FRANCONIA [mdash] Donald "Don" Swift was born in Montreal, Quebec, on March 3, 1954, and passed peacefully from his battle with cancer on June 13, 2021, with some family by his side. He is formerly of Scarborough, Ontario, and Beaconsfield, Quebec. He is survived by his two daughters: Katie N.J. libraries need help. LibraryLinkNJ coordinates cooperative purchasing of library services for all types of libraries (academic, public, school and special). It has done this for more than 35 years. Libraries are the original pioneers of shared services in the state. Local libraries and the taxpayers who support them, especially in South Jersey, benefit tremendously from the savings on delivery of books, DVDs and other items loaned between libraries; on continuing education to keep librarians up-to-date; and because of volume discounts on electronic resources. Our family budget is enhanced considerably by borrowing print, e-books, audiobooks, DVDs, downloadable movies and music, attending free programs and using museum passes, and through use of databases and computer services at the Pennsauken Free Public Library, the Haddonfield Public Library, the Avalon Public Library and the Cape May County Library system. Assemblymen Bob Andrzejczak and Bruce Land have introduced A4815 to provide $750,000 to carry LibraryLinkNJ through 2019. This is a very worthy investment of state tax dollars. The state has cut millions of dollars in library support since 2009. The use of state tax dollars to support vital library services establishes a common threshold of superior services in N.J. libraries. The alternative is to shift the cost to local municipalities. Then Murphy said he wanted to hand out at least several hundred millions worth of new and better tax credits, under revisions he wants to make to the programs when they expire this summer. Just like his predecessors. Murphy does have some new ideas about waiving taxes to try to get businesses to ignore the states repulsive tax climate and invest in it anyway. But even these were largely announced back in October, such as a scheme to raise money by auctioning off tax credits and partnering with venture capitalists to invest in startup companies. Political leaders may behave as if tax incentives will magically cure the economic sickness caused by their excessive spending and regulation. But its only the usual sleight of hand taking future business tax revenue and spending it today, leaving the state, its residents and subsequent leaders ever more indebted. Meanwhile, any meaningful step in the direction of spending reform and greater government efficiency such as recommended by Senate President Stephen Sweeneys economic task force would yield an increase in business confidence and investment that would dwarf the economic benefits of state business subsidies. Making tax incentives for business the centerpiece of his State of the State address guaranteed it would be a bit of a yawn. The offshore side of the sea breeze cell crosses Atlantic City in the mid-to-late afternoon, regardless of conditions. The data can be used by offshore wind developers to forecast when energy will be more available to harness and take guesswork out of their planning. Two companies are looking to build wind farms off Atlantic City. Danish company rsted and a joint venture between EDF Renewables and Shell Energies have submitted bids to the Board of Public Utilities proposing to build in federal waters with ratepayer subsidies. EDF Renewables and Shell Energies want to build turbines eight miles off the coast in a 180,000-acre lease area that could generate 2,500 megawatts of wind energy. rsteds Ocean Wind project would be about 15 miles off the coast. The Rutgers study has good news for them. Sea breezes often occur during hot afternoons, when people are turning on their air conditioners and demanding peak energy, Seroka said. It also found that the breezes are stronger during upwelling conditions, when wind is blowing along the coastline and water in deeper levels of the ocean rises to the surface. Posted Thursday, January 24, 2019 10:08 am The Pumice Plain on Mount St. Helens is one of the most unique places on Earth, a 6 square mile landscape that was buried in ash during the mountains 1980 eruption, where almost no trace of human influence remains. For that reason, its proved fertile ground for scientists, where researchers of many disciplines have spent the nearly four decades since the eruption literally watching nature run its course. The formation of streams, the return of plants and animals all are the subject of ongoing studies in this singular environment. Currently, 33 active research studies are taking place on the Pumice Plain. It cant be overstated just how useful having something like this is, said Dr. Jim Gawel, associate professor at the University of Washington, Tacoma. Gawel has been conducting research at the Mount St. Helens National Volcanic Monument since 2008, studying how changes in the surrounding landscape affect productivity at Spirit Lake, looking at things like nitrogen and phosphorus cycles. Those changes and their subsequent effects have all been wholly natural but maybe not for long. The U.S. Forest Service has proposed building a road through the Pumice Plain, an area where even hikers are directed not to step off the trail. Late last year, the agency released a Finding of No Significant Impact, clearing the project for the next phase of the environmental review process. The road which is slated to run just less than three miles would serve a serious purpose. Its designed to allow access to the Spirit Lake Tunnel, which was built to help drain the lake after its natural outflow was blocked by debris from the eruption. If the tunnel were to fail, lake levels could rise and breach the debris barrier, causing catastrophic flooding all the way to Interstate 5. For decades, transportation to the tunnel has generally been conducted with helicopters, flying in workers to do inspection and maintenance. The proposed road would allow off-road utility vehicles to get to the lake, making access much easier. The project also includes the drilling of core samples to study the composition and stability of the debris blockage. The decision notice issued by Monument Ranger Rebecca Hoffman noted that 50,000 people live in the projected inundation area of a Spirit Lake flood, and overdue maintenance on the tunnel is already on the order of tens of millions of dollars. Though the document acknowledges the road could affect some of the science taking place on the Pumice Plain, it says that public safety takes precedent. Though scientists and conservationists acknowledge public safety is important, theyre skeptical that building a road is the urgent matter the Forest Service is making it out to be. Theyre triggering this emergency clause that allows them to fast-track things, said Matt Little, executive director of the Cascade Forest Conservancy. We also want to address the safety concerns, but we also dont think the solution should be literally bulldozed through the Pumice Plain in the most sensitive research area of Mount St. Helens with incomplete review. They havent shown us that theres any emergency at this point. The road was actually first proposed back in 2017. At the time, the Conservancy and scientists raised concerns, and the Forest Service agreed to a compromise plan to build a shorter road to the southeast end of Spirit Lake, which would allow workers to transport equipment from there to the tunnel site via barge. Though it wasnt a perfect solution, it at least stayed off the most delicate, most sensitive research areas, Little said. That alternate route was built last year. We felt like we went a long way to let that move forward, Little said. So advocates were surprised when the road that the Forest Service had agreed not to build resurfaced a year later. Little said he at first thought the proposal was a joke, or that the agency had forgotten its agreement. Researchers say they were not contacted about the plan. The current proposal added in the drilling component, using that to justify the road plan that had been abandoned a year before. Its the same road, but a different purpose, said Nicole Budine, the Conservancys policy and campaign manager. We were surprised to see the same route proposed so quickly after they constructed the (alternate) route. ... None of the previous objectors were alerted ahead of time. Why is the road such a big deal? Scientists say the work they do on the Pumice Plain is predicated on the notion that its a totally natural environment and one of the few places in the world to study what happens when a barren landscape is allowed to return untouched. The proposed road would eliminate some vegetation, causing erosion, and would deposit sediment in the streams that lead to Spirit Lake. Seeds of foreign plants could get tracked in in vehicle tires. Even seemingly minimal construction could irreparably compromise the natural processes scientists are studying. Dr. Carri LeRoy, an associate professor at The Evergreen State College, has been studying the development of four streams in the Pumice Plain since 2015. Those waterways were created right after the eruption, and Mount St. Helens is one of the few places on earth where such formations can be seen. We dont get the chance to study brand-new streams really ever, because they carve through their canyons for millions of years, she said. The proposed road would cut across all four of the streams LeRoy is studying, with vehicles driving right through the water. Theres been years and years of research on the impact of roads on streams. Its very clear what kind of damage will be caused, she said. Every time theres a road cut across a stream, theres a lot more sediment mobilized into the system. ... This is a very unique opportunity to study how streams evolve from Day 1. If you blast a road across them, its no longer an opportunity to study natural processes. Gawel also said his work would be compromised by the road. The changes in vegetation and erosion in the streams above Spirit Lake would affect what goes on in the lake, fundamentally changing his study. You can still do research there, but the question changes, he said. It tends to take away the reason that youre doing the research in the first place, and it tends to take away the public interest. The effects of highway erosion on water bodies is something thats been studied quite a bit. It takes away the reason that people are interested in the park, which is a natural science based park. Susan Saul, who was one of the early advocates for the creation of the St. Helens monument and has been a lifelong leader in its conservation, noted that the toll on the ecosystem will be accompanied by human heartache as well. The Forest Service wants to put a road right through the middle of their laboratory, she said. Its going to upend people who have been doing their lifetimes worth of work out there. Theres no recognition of how this impacts the science and the scientists themselves, and the investments theyve made throughout their careers. According to Gawel, more than 100 students have done work on his study over the years, and the work is expected to continue for many years more. That work, and potential funding proposals to expand the research, could be in jeopardy if the road is built. LeRoy faces an even more immediate crisis. Her work is funded by a two-year grant from the National Science Foundation, but shes worried that money could be in jeopardy if the road changes the landscape on which the grant was premised. Once its constructed, I honestly dont know that I can continue with my NSF-funded project, she said. I dont know that it will have the same value. My research is uniquely disturbed by this. The objection period following the decision notice has since passed, putting the Forest Service into a 45-day review period before starting construction. However, that review and future action are currently on hold due to the federal government shutdown. Hoffman and Erin Black, the agencys South Zone Planning Team Leader, did not respond to requests for comment likely also due to the shutdown. Detractors of the road project want the Forest Service to consider the use of helicopters for both tunnel access and drilling, an alternative that was determined not feasible in the agencys document of finding. Conservationists argue that document deliberately overstated how much the choppers would need to be used, painting an extreme picture to make that option seem too costly. Saul noted that equipment could be airlifted in, but the ferrying of personnel outlined by USFS is overkill. The scientists have been walking in for 35-plus years, often carrying heavy loads on their backs, Saul said. There is a reasonable alternative that does not affect all of the long-term research thats been going on there. While its unclear how responsive the Forest Service will be when the government reopens, Little cautioned that any attempts to rush the roads construction without further analysis and input would result in legal action. If they dont slow down and do the complete analysis this requires, they will end up in the courts, he said. The Conservancy isnt the only group warning about the effects of the road. The Washington Native Plant Society submitted a letter to the Forest Service urging it to reconsider, saying that the dangers of erosion, invasive species and disturbances could harm a truly unique research area. Former Rep. Don Bonker, the areas legislator at the time of the eruption and a lead backer of efforts in Congress to create the monument, also registered his disapproval. The preferred alternative is the use of heavy-lift helicopters, if we are to lessen the impact on research, water quality and erosion, he wrote. (The monument) provides assurances in the Comprehensive Management Plan that these research sites would not be disturbed by future management actions. I urge the U.S. Forest Service to make it a priority to find funding for a helicopter contract rather than resorting to a road. TRENTON A New Jersey prosecutors office said Wednesday it wont charge a former state official accused of sexual assault by another employee in Gov. Phil Murphys administration, citing a lack of credible evidence. Katie Brennan, who is chief of staff of the states housing finance agency, accused Albert Alvarez of sexually assaulting her in 2017 when they were both working to get Murphy elected. Alvarez, who left as the chief of staff of the Schools Development Authority in October when a news account of the accusation was about to come out, has denied the allegation through his attorney. Due to a lack of credible evidence and corroboration that a crime was committed, the Middlesex County Prosecutors Office will not be filing any criminal charges in this matter, the office said in a statement. Brennans attorney said she was disappointed with the decision. Messages seeking comment were left with Alvarezs attorney. Brennan is suing the state over its handling of her allegation, which she reported to law enforcement after the alleged April 2017 assault as well as to officials in the governors transition and administration. She has said the administration botched its response to her claims, which officials have testified that they found to be credible. We have learned that this action did not go far enough, Webb-McRae said. Its just not that acts of use of force must be monitored we must dig deeper. She spoke about using modern tools, such as body cameras, recordings and early warning systems to determine whether force was used appropriately. The county has had several high-profile use-of-force incidents over the past year. In July, Rashaun Washington, 37, of Camden, was fatally shot by Vineland police after he threatened to trigger an explosive device that would kill himself and several officers. In November, Jacob Servais, 19, of Millville, was fatally shot by a Cape May County Prosecutors detective in Vineland during an investigation into a violent crime. The Attorney Generals Office is investigating. Earlier this month, Webb-McRae announced an investigation into an officer from the Vineland Police Department after a call to a local hospital left a Millville man in critical condition. Officer Anthony Capelli, one of the officers involved in the incident, is still active while the investigation into the arrest is ongoing. Questions and comments regarding active cases were off limits during the session. Last year, Oliver and Gilliam delivered the official address together at a Greater Atlantic City Chamber event in May. Oliver also serves as commissioner of the state Department of Community Affairs, which has direct oversight of the citys finances until 2021. She told the several hundred guests the DCA has the full support of every other agency in Trenton following an executive order signed by Murphy in 2018 to reconfigure Atlantic City. Atlantic City has a great future, she said. Atlantic City is going to move forward aggressively, assertively and we are going to regain our position as one of the top tourist destinations in this country. We are going to do that. Following the lieutenant governors optimistic vision for the city, four speakers each with a different area of expertise delivered brief presentations about strengthening the regional economy. Evan Sanchez, co-owner of Hayday Coffee in Atlantic City and partner of the Orange Loop development, gave an impassioned speech about how transforming one of the citys most unwelcoming neighborhoods could serve as a blueprint for the entire resort. EGG HARBOR TOWNSHIP Four unions, federal workers and contractors will rally to end the U.S. governments partial shutdown at 11:30 a.m. Friday at the airport circle. The rally will happen at two businesses on the circle Wawa and Christis Bar and Grill that have seen a dramatic drop-off in business since the shutdown, said Bob Challender, president of Local 200 of the American Federation of Government Employees, which represents technology workers at the William J. Hughes FAA Technical Center. Discounts for federal workers affected by government shutdown Restaurants and other businesses are advertising discounts and free offers for federal worke We expect many furloughed employees feds and contractors, Challender said. We are asking workers at the FAA Technical Center to join us. We understand they can only take 30 minutes for lunch and it is dependent on their work obligations. The groups are also soliciting food and donations such as gift cards to food stores for two local food pantries. Donations will be delivered to the two pantries after the rally, Challender said, including $500 each from Local 200. For more information, call Challender at 856-981-1004 or email the_chief@hotmail.com. Be the first to know Get local news delivered to your inbox! Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy. Schoelkopf said they will most likely be able to release the seals back into the wild in another month. "If the animal is ready and our veterinarian feels that the animal's health is sufficient to be released, then we will release them, he said. Schoelkopf said the Coast Guard, which has been affected by the shutdown, gives tracking information to the center because the organization has technology that can tell which direction larger marine animals such as whales may travel depending on wind and currents. "That helps out so we can prepare by letting our volunteers in that predicted area (know) to be on the outlook for that animal coming ashore and set up a volunteer response when it does come up, Schoelkopf said. Although Coast Guard officers have not received money in their last two paychecks, Schoelkopf said they are still helping the center with this service. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, which was shuttered during the shutdown, offered services to some rescue agencies such as animal tracking, a hotline for mariners who find distressed whales and permits that allow the rescue groups to respond to emergencies. In Cape May, that means the roughly 1,000 enlistees, civilian employees and contractors who work at Training Center Cape May have missed one paycheck and are set to miss another. They make up about a third of the citys population of about 3,480 residents, and some businesses say theyve felt the effect of their going without pay. A food pantry on base, organized by the Spouses Association and the Chief Petty Officers Association, and stocked by concerned residents across South Jersey, has functioned as a stopgap measure since shortly after the shutdown, allowing personnel and their families to forget one of their pressing expenses. Their struggle is not going unnoticed. Gov. Phil Murphy paid a visit to the base Thursday morning, meeting with commanding officers and dropping a donation at the food pantry with his wife. Murphy said hes considering all options he may have to get funds to Coast Guard personnel, he said in a media briefing outside the bases gates. But his options may be limited to simply urging President Donald Trump to end the shutdown immediately or requesting he extend emergency funds to the Coast Guard and other federal employees, something he has joined with North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper to do. MAYS LANDING The attorney for the Pleasantville High School principal charged with possessing child pornography on his work laptop will have a chance to review the computer data he believes will exonerate his client. We believe that the analysis will show that this child pornography, which was the source of the charges against my client, was not viewed by my client, said John Zarych, defense attorney for Edward James Bonek, reached by phone Wednesday. Our hope at that point is that the case will be dismissed. The Atlantic County Prosecutors Office, which brought the charges in the case, did not respond to requests for comment. Bonek, 49, of Absecon, was arrested and charged in August with possession of child pornography authorities say he downloaded and shared online. Bonek was indicted in October and has since pleaded not guilty to the charges, which include possession of more than 1,000 images of child pornography, official misconduct and weapons offenses. Zarych filed a motion with Atlantic County Superior Court Judge Benjamin Podolnick to receive the computer data to have his investigators analyze. On Jan. 14, Podolnick granted that motion with conditions to ensure the materials are not shared elsewhere. Posted Thursday, January 24, 2019 9:48 am Differences in water usage best practices during a drought and homeowners association landscaping requirements are the target of new legislation. The goal of House Bill 1165, introduced by District 34 Rep. Tina Orwall, D-Des Moines, is to require HOAs landscaping guidelines to align with water conservation guidelines during a drought. Many HOAs or condominium associations have requirements on the type of landscaping allowed which often excludes fire resistant or low-water plants. The bill would prohibit HOAs from fining residents for employing low-water landscaping, but does not require them to meet conservation standards. Section 4 of the bill addresses the public sector by encouraging state-funded large building projects to use drought-resistant landscaping and wildfire-ignition-resistant landscaping. Carrie Sessions from the Department of Ecology mentioned that her department received complaints during Washingtons last drought emergency in 2015 from individuals who were still required to water their lawns to avoid HOA fines. Kristen Bryant spoke in support of the bill on behalf of the Sierra Club. Bryant noted that often in new developments that have HOAs the landscaping requirements are based on the grass that was planted to sell the house. Yet, over time keeping that grass green takes a lot of water. The four people who spoke at Tuesdays Committee on Rural Development, Agriculture & Natural Resources hearing supported the bill. Orwall voiced her hopes that this year the bill would pass, as it is something she has been working on for three years. PLEASE BE ADVISED: Soon we will no longer integrate with Facebook for story comments. The commenting option is not going away, however, readers will need to register for a FREE site account to continue sharing their thoughts and feedback on stories. If you already have an account (i.e. current subscribers, posting in obituary guestbooks, for submitting community events), you may use that login, otherwise, you will be prompted to create a new account. I expected there to be a level of excitement, of celebration, but we were flat, Nadine said of the dismissal. To this day, we are still processing. Were happy, but the justice system failed us. She added that their children, a daughter and a son, who were 12 and 10 at the time of the incident, have learned from the experience. They now learned to question, she said. What Im thankful for is that they still trust our law enforcement but they dont take anything for granted. Ryan, who was suspended from his position at the Hammonton school district when he was charged and terminated after being convicted, said its been difficult dealing with the loss of income after building a 29-year career in the district. As part of moving forward, the couple wants to spread their story so others who are going through a similar situation can have hope. What were saying is, what happens to people that dont have resources or a means to get a good attorney? Nadine asked. The damages that we incurred are irreparable. How can we sit by and let this (justice) system continue? It turns out, there are answers to these peculiarities and others. A big reveal eventually washes ashore that both explains the films clumsy pseudo-reality and makes it only more absurd. You cant say Knight, the talented screenwriter of Eastern Promises and Dirty Pretty Things and the writer-director of Locke, isnt going for something audacious and grandiose here. Serenity isnt the sort of misfire you are likely to quickly forget; its aim is too high and the results are too off balance. One tends to remember fish named Justice. Whether a tamer film would have been better or worse is hard to say. On the plus side, theres a blonde Anne Hathaway in full femme fatale mode, an occasion Knight celebrates with some of the most excitable camera moves youve ever seen. She plays Dills ex-wife who has tracked Dill, via Facebook, to Plymouth with the proposal that Dill take her abusive and alcoholic husband (Jason Clarke, a caricature of vileness) on a fishing trip and leave him at the bottom of the ocean in exchange for $10 million. Students from several Cape May County schools and one from Vineland were selected to have their artwork appear on a 75th anniversary Smokey Bear calendar. The free 2019 calendars were created to celebrate Smokey and highlight the importance of wildfire prevention, according to the state Department of Environmental Protection. The 2019 calendar is a great way to remind everyone that awareness and prevention are critical to the safety and protection of life and property, said Gregory S. McLaughlin, state fire warden. People start most wildfires, either accidentally or intentionally. We encourage the public to pick up a calendar and see the great job that New Jerseys schoolchildren did in capturing the important message of how to prevent wildfires. Local students whose artwork was selected include Roxanne Campbell of Middle Township Elementary School #2 (February); Kiera Collins of Middle Township Elementary School #2 (May); Camila Lopez of Crest Memorial School (June); Graham Curley of West Cape May Elementary School (July); Fiona Hardin of Middle Township Elementary School #1 (September); and Alice Pagan of Dr. William Mennies Elementary School in Vineland (December). SOMERS POINT The Arts Commission of Somers Point is looking for a qualified poet to fill the position of poet laureate in the city. The position of poet laureate was created by City Council in 2015. Maria Provenzano has held the position for two terms ending in 2018. The mission of the Arts Commission is to provide, promote and cultivate the arts in Somers Point. Establishing a poet laureate is part of this mission and demonstrates that Somers Point supports art and culture and serves as an advocate for the appreciation of literary arts through poetry. This is a unique program, especially for a small city like Somers Point; however, it offers great possibilities to bring attention to our city by promoting literary arts through public events and through partnership with our rich community resources. The arts commission and the city look forward to naming a new poet laureate and to continue to provide another opportunity to bring public art to Somers Point residents and visitors, said Kathleen Arleth, chair of the Somers Point Arts Commission. The Cape Atlantic Marine Corps League Detachment 194 collected 52,000 toys and helped 3,500 kids in Atlantic and southern Ocean counties have a better Christmas in 2018 with it's participation in Toys 4 Tots. "We couldn't due this with out the help of our supporters," said league member Tom Walsh. Bally's Atlantic City and Resorts Casino Hotel are two of the program's most generous sponsors, he said. "We also get great support from the 177th" Fighter Wing of the New Jersey Air National Guard. Toys 4 Tots was started in 1947 as a way for Marine Corps Reserve Units to help children have a great Christmas. Due to deployments and reduction of forces, many reserve units asked the Marine Corps League to help out. Detachment 194 has been spearheading the drive in Atlantic County for 10 years. In 2018, it gave out 52,371 toys to 3,579 children plus various charities that distribute them as they see fit. Detachment 194 also gave out 92 bikes in a special raffle to insure fairness. ADVERTISEMENT The Vice President, Yemi Osinbajo, on Thursday paid a courtesy visit to the first Executive Governor of Lagos State, Lateef Jakande. Mr Osinbajo, who is the vice presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), was in Lagos in continuation of the partys door-to-door campaign. Mr Osinbajo visited Mr Jakande, a former Minister of Works and Housing, in his Ilupeju residence, Mushin Local Government Area of Lagos State. The vice president was accompanied during the visit by APC chieftains, including Majority Leader of House Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila, a former senator, Ganiyu Solomon, Lagos APC Governorship Candidate, Babajide Sanwo-Olu and Presidential aide on Political Matters, Babafemi Ojudu, among others. The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Mr Osinbajo held closed-door meeting with the immediate family of the elder statesman. NAN reports that despite heavy presence of security operatives, party faithful and supporters defied the rains and besieged the area in their thousands to welcome the vice president. The vice president later visited some houses and markets in Mushin and Surulere Local Government Areas amidst cheers and fun-fare from admirers and party members. Addressing a huge crowd at the Shitta Roundabout in Surulere, Mr Osinbajo said APC would take Nigeria higher. He urged Nigerians to cue into the plans and programmes of the present administration by voting for APC in the February 16 and March 2 elections. APC is taking Nigeria higher and higher. We are not stopping. Our country is going higher. Come February 16, vote for APC, he said. Also speaking, Mr Gbajabiamila urged all the party members to unite and work for the partys success in the forthcoming elections. Mr Sanwo-Olu urged the crowd to vote for him, President Muhammadu Buhari, Messrs Gbajabiamila and Desmond Elliot, a House of Assembly candidate in the constituency. (NAN) ADVERTISEMENT The Ekiti State House of Assembly has unanimously passed a vote of confidence on Governor Kayode Fayemi, for his laudable achievements as he marks his first 100 days in office. The vote of confidence followed a motion by the Majority Leader, Gboyega Aribisogan which was seconded by Ojo-Ade Fajana, representing Ekiti East Constituency 1. Mr Fayemi, had earlier presented the State-of-the State address to the assembly as one of the activities marking his 100 days in office, highlighting the achievements of his administration He said his administration had recorded a remarkable level of development through the people-oriented policies and programmes. I watched how the people of Erijiyan-Ekiti and its environs danced for joy when electricity was restored to the community for the first time in four years. I also saw how civil servants and pensioners were in jubilation for receiving their salaries and allowances as and when due, including arrears. The influx of prayers over the reintroduction of free and compulsory education in Ekiti and the payment of WAEC fees for our students has been overwhelming. This is just to mention a few of how we have touched the lives of our people within the past 100 days, Mr Fayemi said. The governor however said the debt profile of Ekiti stood at N156 billion while the capital inflow to the state between October 2014 and October 2018 was N185 billion. He promised to always pursue the policies and programmes of his administration in order to bring about the desired development in the state and thanked the people for their support. In his address, the Speaker of the House, Adebiran Alagbada, described Mr Fayemis 100 days in office as better than the four years of the immediate past administration in the state. He said, Pursuant to Section 108 sub-section 1 of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria as amended, you have presented the state-of-the-state address to the assembly today. The house is very proud of your numerous achievements within 100. Morning shows the days, the speaker said. Mr Alagbada called on the people to cooperate with the present administration, vote for President Muhammadu Buhari and other All Progressives Congress (APC) candidates in the forthcoming general elections. (NAN) ADVERTISEMENT The wife of the presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, Titi Abubakar, has called on women in Ondo State to vote for her husband, Atiku Abubakar, in the forthcoming February election. She said the incumbent president, Muhammadu Buhari, has failed to deliver on his promises to Nigerians. Mrs Abubakar who addressed the women in Akure at the secretariat of the PDP on Wednesday, said the Nigerian people should reject the All Progressives Congress through the ballot on February 16. Mrs Abubakar, who also used the occasion to visit the leader of Afenifere, Reuben Fasoranti, in his home in Akure, urged market women and youthin the state not to sell their Permanent Voter Cards, warning there were reports of buying of PVCs by a political party. She noted that her husband had a good plan for the country, especially for women and youth. I want to appeal to our women and youths to vote for Atiku, he has plans for you in his cabinet if he is elected as the President of this country. Our youths have turned to beggars and miscreants on the streets as a result of joblessness, Mrs Abubakar said. All the things they (APC) promised are not fulfilled, there is serious hunger in the land, and they have no solution to it, their government has failed. Anybody that performed well in the office will be returned, but in their (APC) own case, they have performed woefully, they cannot return. Despite their failure, they are still desperate to return, we should reject them with our votes and I know God will not allow them to return. Atiku will provide jobs, he has promised youth and women 40 per cent representation in his cabinet and I know he will do it if he is elected, she noted. Mrs Abubakar assured that she would use her influence as first lady to fight child trafficking and child labour which she described as a menace. In his remarks, the National Vice Chairman of the party in the South-west, Eddy Olafeso, assured the wife of the PDP presidential candidate that Ondo State would be delivered. He urged party members not to relent in their effort to ensure the emergence of Mr Abubakar as Nigerias next president. ADVERTISEMENT Ahead of the arrival of the governor of Jigawa State, Mohammad Badaru, in Kazaure for a rally on Thursday, one of his aides has been accused of leading other persons in destroying campaign posters of opposition candidates in the town. The governorship candidate of the Social Democratic Party (SDP), Bashir Adamu, told journalists the special assistant to the governor on Inter-party Affairs, Bala Idi, led a gang to destroy opposition billboards and posters in Kazaure. He also provided a photo showing Mr Idi destroying an opposition poster. Governor Badaru of the All Progressives Congress (APC) held rallies in Kazaure and Yankwashi local government areas to solicit support for his reelection. Mr Adamu said he had reported the issues to the security agencies and presented photographs as evidence, some of which he has posted on the internet. He alleged that members of the opposition parties were being attacked by thugs he believed were being sponsored by the ruling APC in the state. Mr Adamu, a former member of the House of Representatives for Kazaure, Yankwashi, Roni and Gwiwa, commended the police commissioner for being neutral in attending to complaints brought before him. The police spokesperson in the state, Audu Jinjiri, confirmed that the command received the complaints of the opposition politician. We assured them that the police will not relent in its duty to protect all Nigerians, he said. Mr Jinjiri said the police was investigating the complaint and called on politicians to report any wrongdoing to the security agencies and not to resort to violence. Posted Thursday, January 24, 2019 10:09 am Despite pushback from the Centralia teachers union, the Centralia School Board adopted a new boundary map for the K-6 elementary school configuration the district plans to implement this fall. During the Centralia School Boards regular meeting on Wednesday evening, 11 people spoke during the public comment section. People spoke both for and against the boundary changes, and the comments were split almost evenly between support for the Centralia School Board and requests to postpone the transition. The Centralia teachers union, Centralia Education Association, voted no confidence in Centralia School District Superintendent Mark Davalos last week, stating that it opposes the new K-6 configuration. Centralia School Board member Amy Buzzard, who was board president at the time, sent a press release to The Chronicle that said the CEA unfairly placed the weight of the decisions consequences on Mr. Davalos. The Centralia School Board voted to adopt Map B for the new configuration. The most significant difference between the boundary maps was the Edison Elementary School boundary. I think if you go back and forth between the maps, you will see the small changes that this makes, said Davalos of Map B at a Centralia School Board study session on Jan. 9. The results of Map B, Edison is a little larger, as you will see later in that calculation, but they (students) will fit. Davalos said that people in the Centralia School District will be able to search which boundary they fall in in about a month. As soon as we work on the refinements of the design with our software company, we will be able to create an opportunity for families to go (online) and type in addresses, Davalos said. These boundary lines will shift as the result of a $74 million bond voters approved in February 2017 for capital improvements. The bond was to Undertake renovation and modernization of Centralia High School and Make needed expansions, safety and security improvements, modernizations, and/or replacements to Jefferson Lincoln and Fords Prairie Elementary Schools, according to the bond resolution. The bond resolution, however, does not mention all elementary schools in the district transitioning to the K-6 model. The Chronicle submitted a public records request to the district for Minutes from the public hearing the Centralia School Board held to change all elementary schools in the Centralia School District to the K-6 configuration and The resolution the Centralia School Board adopted to change all elementary schools in the Centralia School District to the K-6 configuration on Tuesday. The district has five days to respond to the records request. When asked Wednesday if the Centralia School Board passed a resolution to change all five elementary schools to the K-6 configuration, Davalos said he was not sure. I know that we, in talking about the new schools, we said K-6, Davalos said. That resolution was inclusive of all five. There is language somewhere we are doing all five. The bond is specific to what you are going to build. Board member Bob Fuller became the Centralia School Board president Wednesday, after the school board reorganized. He did not respond to the same question via text message Wednesday evening. The bond resolution also explicitly states the improvements for the elementary schools are meant to remove portable classrooms, create two new K-6 elementary schools each with a gym and separate cafeteria/multipurpose rooms and that the schools will house approximately 525 students. According to the bond language, If the Board shall determine that it has become impractical to accomplish any of such Improvements or portions thereof by reason of state or local circumstances, including changed conditions, incompatible development or costs substantially in excess of those estimated, the District shall not be required to accomplish such Improvements and may apply the Bond proceeds or any portion thereof to other portions of the Improvements, to other capital improvements, or to payment of principal of or interest on the Bonds, as the Board may determine after holding a public hearing theron pursuant to RCW 28A.530.020. That statute states the school board must first hear public testimony before adopting a new resolution to amend the original resolution that voters approved. According to RCW 28A.530.020, If the school board subsequently determines that state or local circumstances should cause any alteration to the specific expenditures from the debt financing or of the state assistance, the board shall first conduct a public hearing to consider those circumstances and to receive public testimony. If the board then determines that any such alterations are in the best interests of the district, it may adopt a new resolution or amend the original resolution at a public meeting held subsequent to the meeting at which public testimony was received. Davalos estimated Wednesday that each new school will house approximately 450 students. We could fill all classrooms and get closer to 500 or over, but we keep smaller class sizes and, because of that, the numbers will be smaller any time you do that, Davalos said. We could be flexible. A school could hold 550, but we dont try to have class sizes that big, so theyll be less. Fuller said Wednesday the Centralia School Board did not hold a public hearing or adopt a resolution for Jefferson Lincoln and Fords Prairie Elementary Schools to house fewer than 525 students. When asked if he considered a school that would house 450 students approximately the size of one that would house 525 students, he said, I guess I would. ADVERTISEMENT Nigerian soldiers operating in Zamfara State have succeeded in killing 58 armed bandits at Dumburum and Gando forests in the state. The troops also rescued 75 kidnapped victims abducted by the bandits after a fierce gun battle that lasted hours, according to the army. Two soldiers and two vigilantes were also killed during the gun battle. According to a statement by Clement Abiade, the operations spokesperson, the incident occurred on January 20, during an operation at the forest. He explained that 18 camps of the bandits were destroyed and those injured have been evacuated to the hospital for treatment while the rescued victims have since reunited with their family members. The bandits He explained in details how the solders came across the bandits, who, he said, were carrying sophisticated weapons. On 20 January 2019, troops came into contact with a large gang of bandits, armed with sophisticated firearms and Rocket Propelled grenades, leading to (a) fierce gun battle, which lasted several hours. The bandits were forced to abandon their camps due to superior firepower, during these encounters. The casualty figures on the bandits side were 58, while one was captured alive. Troops also destroyed 18 camps and rescued 75 kidnapped victims held in some of these camps. The freed captives who were mostly from local communities in Zamfara State were debriefed and reunited with their families. Affected soldiers On the casualty figures on the side of the troops the Acting Force Information Officer, a major, said, Unfortunately, Operation SHARAN DAJI also suffered some casualties because, so far, two gallant soldiers and two members of the vigilante paid the supreme prize. A total of eight soldiers and six vigilantes also sustained various degrees of gunshot injuries. Those who sustained injuries were evacuated to Federal Medical Centre, Gusau for medical treatment, while those with life threatening conditions were evacuated by air for specialist attention outside the theatre of operation, he said. He also said that the families of the fallen heroes have been contacted accordingly, while the deceased members of the vigilante were laid to rest in Anka Cemetery according to Islamic rites. The statement added that the Force Commander of the Operation, S O Olabanji, a major general, commiserates with families of the fallen heroes and assures them that their sacrifices will not be in vain. He reaffirmed the commitment of operation to rid Zamfara State of all forms of banditry and criminality, in line with its mandate. He added that the items recovered from the bandits include, five fabrique national rifles, four AK rifles, 10 locally made rifles, one locally fabricated pistol and 40 motor cycles. ADVERTISEMENT Nigerian soldiers have killed 58 armed bandits and captured one at Dumburum and Gando forests in Zamfara State. The troops also rescued 75 victims abducted by the bandits after a gun battle that lasted hours, according to army authorities. Two soldiers, and two members of the local vigilante group lost their lives during the confrontation. According to a statement by Clement Abiade, Acting Force Information Officer Operation SHARAN DAJI, the army said the incident occurred on January 20 during an operation in the forest. He said 18 camps operated by the bandits were destroyed. He also added that those injured among the soldiers have been evacuated to the hospital for treatment while the rescued victims have reunited with their families. He also listed the weapons recovered from the suspects. The statement reads in part: On 20 January 2019, troops came into contact with a large gang of bandits armed with sophisticated firearms and rocket propelled grenades, leading to fierce gun battles which lasted several hours. The bandits were forced to abandon their camps due to superior firepower during these encounters. The casualty figures on the bandits side were 58 bandits neutralised, while one was captured alive. Troops also destroyed 18 camps and rescued 75 kidnapped victims held in some of these camps. The freed captives who were mostly from local communities in Zamfara State were debriefed and reunited with their families. Unfortunately, Operation SHARAN DAJI also suffered some casualties because so far, two gallant soldiers and two members of the vigilante paid the supreme prize (price). A total of eight soldiers and six vigilantes also sustained various degrees of gunshot injuries. Those who sustained injuries were evacuated to Federal Medical Centre, Gusau for medical treatment, while those with life threatening conditions were evacuated by air for specialist attention outside the theatre of operation. He added that items recovered from the bandits include: five Fabrique rifles, four AK 47 rifles,10 locally made rifles, one locally fabricated pistol and 40 motorcycles. ADVERTISEMENT The presidential candidate of the African Action Congress, Omoyele Sowore, on Thursday pledged commitment to coalition talks for next months presidential election. Mr Sowore was reacting to the withdrawal of Oby Ezekwesili from the presidential race. PREMIUM TIMES reported Mrs Ezekwesilis withdrawal from the race on Thursday morning. The former minister also pledged to to work towards a coalition candidate to defeat Nigerias ruling party, APC, and the main opposition party, PDP. In his statement late on Thursday, Mr Sowore commended the decision of Mrs Ezekwesili. Dr Ezekwesilis departure from the presidential race and her renewal of her commitment to a progressive platform that will reclaim Nigeria from 20 years of corruption and inept leadership under the APC and PDP, has renewed calls from a broad section of Nigerians for coalition talks, Mr Sowore said. Read Mr Sowores full statement below. Earlier today, Dr Oby Ezekwesili stepped down from the presidential race. I want to thank Dr Ezekwesili for her service to the Nigerian nation. Her participation in the presidential race enriched the level of discourse and demonstrated that a new breed of committed and patriotic individuals, who are not part of the establishment parties, have emerged to offer Nigeria a new direction. Dr Ezekwesilis departure from the presidential race and her renewal of her commitment to a progressive platform that will reclaim Nigeria from 20 years of corruption and inept leadership under the APC and PDP, has renewed calls from a broad section of Nigerians for coalition talks. I have always believed that it will take a true partnership of progressives and committed patriots to move this nation forward. It is not just politically pragmatic to do so, it is the way that I have always worked. Every political battle that I have waged on the behalf of the Nigerian people has been done through coalitions and partnerships. For instance, it took a coalition that involved the students movement, pro democracy organizations, progressive politicians, human rights groups and labour unions to fight against the annulment of the June 12, 1993 elections. A similar coalition was necessary to force the military of our power and restore democracy in 1999. That is why the TakeItBack Movement and the African Action Congress have remained supportive of various efforts towards building a unified platform. We have never ceased talking, engaging and working with other organizations, parties and individuals, towards building a unifying platform. I also want to thank my brother Fela Durotoye for his public reaffirmation of his commitment to that process. It is important that Nigerians know that for the last 4 months my team and I have been in discussions at various times, under various auspices, with the Durotoye, Moghalu, Ezekwesili and Duke teams. I reaffirm my commitment to that effort. We will continue to push forward with our goal of reclaiming Nigeria, conscious of the fact that this is a vision that is shared by tens of millions of our fellow country men and women. The acting Inspector-General of Police, Mohammed Adamu, has assured the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) of adequate security arrangements for the 2019 general elections. According to a statement by the spokesperson of the INEC chairman, Rotimi Oyekanmi, Mr Adamu gave the assurance while briefing the commissions members at the Inter-Agency Consultative Committee on Election Security (ICCES) meeting on Thursday. The meeting held at the commissions headquarters in Abuja. The police chief said each polling unit and voting point will be manned by at least three security personnel with the police taking the lead. He said units of mobile police officers will be deployed to patrol all the countrys senatorial districts, to check unauthorised movements and potential troublemakers. He also assured that collation centres across the country, from the ward to state levels, will be adequately protected. The location of the RACs (Registration Area Centres), polling units, voting points and collation centres will be adequately manned, Mr Adamu said. There will be at least three security personnel at each polling unit. Units of mobile policemen will be deployed to every senatorial district, where there will be constant patrols to check unauthorized movements and those who might want to cause trouble. Security has been a concern as the general election draws near. The U.S. embassy and European Union delegates who visited the commission a week ago expressed concern on the neutrality of the security services. The Police IG said deployment of security personnel will be three days before the election and they will remain two days after the election. He said all security personnel will remain behind after voting has taken place to ensure election officials and materials are safely moved from one collation centre to another. According to Mr. Adamu, the Federal Government has provided the police with the required resources to carry out its duties during the elections. The (federal) government has already paid the allowances of the personnel and every policeman will get his allowance before he moves to the field. The government has also provided us with the means of getting transportation, he said. Giving an insight into how the police designed the security strategy for the election, he said they carried out threat assessment and the pattern of deployment will be informed by the result of the threat assessments. He also told the INEC chairman that the police already carried out a series of in-house training, based on the Rules of Engagement designed by INEC amongst other training. The INEC Chairman, Mahmood Yakubu, welcomed the Police Chiefs willingness to partner with the commission for the successful conduct of the polls. Participants at the meeting include National Commissioners, the National Security Adviser, Babagana Monguno, Comptroller-General of the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS), Muhammed Babandede, and Corps Marshal of the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC), Boboye Oyeyemi. ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT The Budget Office of the Federation on Thursday said it was not true that the 2019 Federal Appropriation Bill is fraught with irreconcilable errors and mistakes. President Muhammadu Buhari presented the bill to the National Assembly for consideration and approval November last year. The Director-General of the Budget Office, Ben Akabueze, said in a statement sent to PREMIUM TIMES in Abuja that no discrepancies or errors were found in the document after meeting with the Secretariat of the House Appropriations Committee on the issue. Two members of the House of Representatives, Adamu Chika (Shiroro/Rafi/Munya in Niger State) and Ahman-Pategi (Edu/Moro/Pategi Federal Constituency of Kwara State), picked holes in the document at the commencement of discussions on the appropriation bill in the lower chamber. Messrs Chika and Ahman-Pategi said there were errors in the figures presented for the Ministries of Education, Finance, Budget and National Planning and the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF). In his contribution to the budget debate, Mr Chika drew members attention to the discrepancies in the figures presented in the main Budget under sub-heads the summary of the total estimates. Mr Ahman-Pategi who corroborated his colleagues observations urged the executive to urgently reconcile the figures to allow the lawmakers continue work on the budget. Consequently, the Speaker, Yakubu Dogara, directed the relevant committees of the House to liaise with their counterparts in the Ministries of Budget and National Planning, and the Ministry of Finance to urgently correct the discrepancies and re-present an error-free document for consideration. But, in its reaction, the Budget Office said there was no error in the document as claimed. Our attention has been drawn to the allegation by a member of the House of Representatives during its debate on the 2019 Budget Proposals yesterday concerning errors and/or discrepancies in the 2019 Appropriations Bill Earlier today, officials of the Budget Office of the Federation met with the Secretariat of the House Appropriations Committee to review the honourable members observations. The outcome of the review is that there are no errors/discrepancies as alleged by the honourable member. It is instructive to note that the presentation format of both the Appropriations Bill and Budget Details for 2019 are consistent with prior years Although we are yet to receive any formal communication from the National Assembly on these observations, we have written a letter to the House Appropriations Committee Chairman, and are issuing this statement in view of the wide coverage the observations have received in the media, the ministry said in a statement signed by its DG. The Senate on Thursday passed for second reading a bill to protect persons with mental health and substance abuse problems. The bill is titled A Bill for an Act to Protect Persons with Mental Health Needs and Establishment of National Commission for Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services for Effective Management of Mental Health in Nigeria and for other Related Matters, 2019. The passage was sequel to a presentation of the bill by the sponsor, Ahmadu Abubakar (APC, Adamawa State), at plenary. The bill which was first presented on the floor of the Senate on January 23, seeks to provide direction for a coherent response to mental health and substance abuse victims. Presenting the report, Mr Abubakar said it would protect the rights and freedom of persons with mental health and substance abuse problems as well as ensure a better quality of life and better service delivery. It also seeks to provide a framework for legalisation to take care of issues around mental health. He said the records show mental health problems account for a sixth of health burden worldwide. Many of those diagnosed do not get treatment. They are often shackled and beaten. 2006 World Health Organisation assessment for Nigeria shows that there is considerable neglect of mental health issues in the country. The existing mental health policy document was promulgated in 1991. Since its formulation, no implementation has taken place, no formal assessment on the spread, no test in the ministries for mental health issues. Psychiatric hospitals and community health centers based on mental health have no extant laws backing them. Several countries in Africa are better resourced in regards to mental health. Countries such as South Africa, Egypt, and Kenya have more Psychiatrists of about 100,000 persons. They have better attention for mental health issues, he said. The lawmaker said the bill will promote collaboration among agencies for the implementation of policies for mental health and substance abuse as well as provide technical supervision and ensure general compliance. He also said the bill seeks to review policies and guidelines on mental health and substance issues with consultations with relevant stakeholders as there is no modern legislation backing this cause except the obsolete law. In his remark, Shehu Sani described the bill as an intervention on the state of mental health in Nigeria today. He said the bill and its message is about setting up a commission that will regulate the activities of mental services and institutions. Many of our cities today, we see young and old men running around the street constituting a public nuisance because the government has not come out with a policy to stop such kinds of persons and reintegrate them in the society. I happened to be, in the years of my struggle in the prison, where people with mental health care are being categorised as criminals. They have been discriminated by their families and placed on life imprisonment. This bill will give them some hope and a second chance in life, he said. The Deputy Senate President, Ike Ekweremadu, said every person living in Nigeria whether mentally ill or otherwise must be the responsibility of government. I think that this will make the government to be caring of those unfortunate enough to have mental issues. The bill was thereafter, passed for second reading and referred to the Senate Committee on Health for further legislative work, to report back in two weeks. ADVERTISEMENT Some lawmakers have opposed the N27,000 new National Minimum Wage adopted by the National Council of States on Tuesday. During plenary on Thursday, senators read and passed the minimum wage bill for first and second reading. The passage was done hours after the bill was transmitted by President Muhammadu Buhari to the National Assembly for consideration and passage. The Deputy Senate President, Ike Ekweremadu, had read out the letter of transmission at the start of plenary. In the letter, the president said the purpose of the letter is to forward to the lawmakers, for legislative action, a new minimum wage bill to further amend the National Minimum Wage Amendment Act 2011 in order to give a new national minimum wage of N27,000 per month to the lowest paid Nigerian worker from the current N18,000 per month. After acknowledging the presidents letter, the lawmakers agreed to suspend their Order 79 and deliberate on the bill. Debate Most of the lawmakers who made contributions during the deliberation and passage of the bill, opposed the proposed N27,000 and called on the executive to make it N30,000. Shehu Sani who commended the organised labour for the struggle said the national minimum wage is not just about Nigerian workers but a social, political and economic issue. Describing the bill as important, he said the proposed N27,000 is not enough. It is clear today that our country, we rank as one of the most impoverished nations on earth. It has to do with the logistics on poverty. The alarming level of suffering, hardship that our people have faced over the years. When a minimum wage is increased, the standard of living of the citizens also improves. To us, N30,000, if we are going to be realistic, is even not enough. If we will be able to pay our workers this money, I believe that productivity will increase and also there will be reassurance of services on the side of the workers. The struggle of Nigerian workers has been realised but N27,000 is not goo enough. It should be N30,000, he said. The Minority Leader, Biodun Olujimi also frowned at the proposed wage and called for a constant review. Nigerians workers are suffering. I asked myself a question, what could N18,000 do to feed a family of two not to talk of a family of four. I also have asked myself a second question; what can N27,000 do in the life of a family and I say not much, it is just that half bread is better than chin-chin. There is a need to keep reviewing the scheme. There are issues, it is an election year and we should not allow this go down as one of those gimmicks for election. Most of the states are not capable of paying this N27,000. Government must sit down and wear their thinking caps and meet such (state) governments halfway so that it does not become a gimmick again and then at the end of it all, the people who are supposed to benefit dont get anything out of it and the agitations continue. The Federal Government must sit with the Governors to ensure that this N27,000, which is just palliative is paid and ensure it is not our usual election gimmick, she said. Sam Anyawu said the governments decision on the issue is nothing to smile home about. When the leader said this is the good thing the APC has brought, APC has brought nothing. This is not what people expected from them. This is a decision of all the state governments and it is nothing to smile about. ADVERTISEMENT This people demanded for N30,000 and we are giving them N27,000. In America, the conversion of $100 a day is N36,000 and that is not even enough to take care of civil servants. I have tried to calculate the N27,000 per month and it is about $78 for a whole month, so what makes them happy? A nanny from Imo to America is being paid $5 per hour and she will work for an average of eight hours per day, which is $40. If you calculate it, it is about N14,400 within eight hours for a nanny that did not go to school not to talk of a civil servant that has put in years, went to school and you want them to clap hand, I dont think this is manna from heaven. If we can meet up with that N30,000 there is nothing wrong with it because we are rich whether we like it or not. We cannot be rich and eat like beggars, he said. Suleiman Adokwe called on the government to increase the minimum wage to N30,000. Why our people have been debating on what should be paid as minimum wage especially in the state, it has always been an issue because we look at the percentage in the increase of the minimum wage. What we are concerned about now is that anybody earning 18,000 now should be paid 30,000 first before we start looking at the percentage, he said. Barnabas Gemade described the controversy between the state and federal government as unnecessary. He also described the N27,000 minimum wage as a scratch as he said the federal government can do better. This bill is long overdue. And the controversy between state and federal government was totally unnecessary. N27,000 is just a little scratch. This government can do better for the lowest paid worker. Judging from the number of past governors that have been arraigned for misappropriation of funds, it is clear that state governments are lamenting because they dont know how to manage the resources of the nation, they are so greedy in accumulating this wealth rather than looking at the needs of the people. If not the fact that we have had too many bills coming back from the president, I would have suggested that we take the third reading. The federal government should be able to pay 30,000 instead of 27,000 and force states to pay 27,000, he said. On his part, Emmanuel Paulker simply said pensioners should be carried along in the implementation of the bill. Differing Views Of all the lawmakers who contributed to the debate of the bill, only the Senate Leader, Ahmad Lawan and Barau Jibrin described the new N27,000 minimum wage as a major increase Mr Lawan who led the debate, commended everyone who worked on the realisation of the bill irrespective of political parties. This bill was worked on by this administration and all the state governments irrespective of their political parties. This bill is so critical because government at all levels require the civil service for the implementation of its policies. Therefore, such people and their family require motivation, need incentives and need to be cared for. To whom much is given, much is expected. From 18 to 27 (thousand naira) is definitely a major increase. It may not be what our civil servants hoped for but it is still an improved situation, he said. Barau Jibrin was full of praises for the president and did not oppose the proposed amount. He congratulated Mr Buhari for leading the effort that culminated in setting N27,000 which he said, is in line with his (Mr Buharis) promises in 2015. He promised to better the lives of Nigerians. He began by transforming the agricultural sector. Introducing the SIP programmes and trader moni and the likes. I think it should be commended. After the bill was passed, it was referred to an eight-member committee for consideration to report back in two weeks. ADVERTISEMENT Ahead of Nigerias 2019 general elections, both the United States of America and the United Kingdom have threatened to punish anyone found guilty of either instigating violence or plotting to rig the elections. In separate statements issued on Thursday by the Embassy of the United States and the British High Commission in Abuja, the two countries pledged their commitment to ensuring free and fair elections in the country, saying the 2019 elections is important not only for Nigeria, but for the African continent. These statements are coming on the heels of agitation among politicians and particularly former President Olusegun Obasanjo, who in his latest 16-page letter, had expressed doubt on the readiness and capability to conduct free and fair election. According to the statements, which were made available to PREMIUM TIMES through the communications unit of the U.S. embassy, the two countries commended the political parties for signing the peace accord and urged the candidates to conduct themselves within the laws governing the elections. The U.S. statement reads in part; The United States government does not support any specific candidate or party in Nigerias upcoming elections. The United States supports the Nigerian democratic process itself. We support a genuinely free, fair, transparent, and peaceful electoral process. We, and other democratic nations, will be paying close attention to actions of individuals who interfere in the democratic process or instigate violence against the civilian population before, during, or after the elections. We will not hesitate to consider consequences including visa restrictions for those found to be responsible for election-related violence or undermining the democratic process. Under U.S. immigration law, certain violations may also lead to restrictions on family members. On her part, the United Kingdom promised continued support for Nigerias Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) towards making the electoral process credible and peaceful. The statement reads in part; We continue to provide significant support to Nigerias Independent National Electoral Commission and to Nigerian civil society to help them deliver credible elections. We also regularly engage with actors across the political spectrum to encourage them to respect electoral rules and maintain an atmosphere of peace and calm. We will be deploying an extensive observation mission for the forthcoming elections, including coordinating with the EUs Election Observation Mission. Our monitors will in particular be looking out for any attempts to encourage or use violence to influence the elections, including on social media. We would like to remind all Nigerians that where the UK is aware of such attempts, this may have consequences for individuals. These could include their eligibility to travel to the UK, their ability to access UK based funds or lead to prosecution under international law. The candidates of political parties outside the two main ones the ruling All Progressive Congress (APC) and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) have said they are ready to engage in discussions that may result in the emergence of a consensus candidate, but such arrangement must be based on merit and transparent. The talk of forming a coalition candidate bubbled to the top of political discussion on Thursday following the withdrawal of the presidential candidate of the Allied Congress Party of Nigeria (ACPN), Oby Ezekwesili. Mrs Ezekwesili, a former World Bank vice president, in a statement announcing her withdrawal from the race said she was stepping down to help build a coalition to defeat the APC and the PDP in the election. My commitment to this promising political recalibration has been consistent and in consonance with my agreement, at the request of candidates under the Presidential Aspirants Coming Together (PACT) arrangement in 2018, when I consented to supervise the internal selection process as an outside observer passionate about building an alternative force, she said. However, despite resistance from the Allied Congress Party of Nigeria on these and other issues, I have decided that it is now necessary to show by action and example my determination on this issue by stepping down my candidacy so as to focus squarely on building the coalition to a logical conclusion. A transparent process Reacting to the announcement of her withdrawal and call for the formation of a coalition, Fela Durotoye, the presidential candidate of the Alliance for New Nigeria (ANN) said he was open to talks on the formation of a coalition as long as the process was transparent. I have always believed that leadership is about service and sacrifice and today, I would like to commend Dr. (Mrs) Oby Ezekwesili @obyezeks for leading the charge to form a viable coalition to presenting a Consensus Candidate for the 2019 Presidential elections, Mr Durotoye wrote on his Instagram page. To ensure that an alliance is formed and we present a united front, I AM READY to come into any coalition talks with my brothers, Omoyele Sowore @yelesho and Prof. Kingsley Moghalu @moghalukingsley and to submit myself to any transparent process that will help us arrive at a selection of a Consensus Candidate from amongst us. To be clear, if the process produces any other candidate apart from myself, I AM READY to support whoever the Consensus Candidate is and to do all I can to support the coalition to win the 2019 Presidential elections for our generation. Once again, I implore the frontline candidates in our generation. Let us come together and seize this historic window of opportunity for our generation to select one of us to go ahead of us so that ALL OF US can come together and speak with one voice at the 2019 General Elections. Together, we can do the perceived impossible. Our generation is depending on us. We must not let them down, he said. Fela Durotoye Mr Durotoye, a leadership trainer, was the preferred candidate of PACT before other members of the arrangement pulled out after complaining that the process was not transparent. Though Kingsley Moghalu, the presidential candidate of the Young Progressives Party (YPP), said he had not been contacted by anyone wanting to discuss the possibility of forming a coalition, he said was ready for such a discussion if he was contacted. I became aware this morning of Mrs Ezekwesilis decision from newspaper reports, he told PREMIUM TIMES during a telephone interview. I commend her for her statesmanship and her leadership in taking this decision. I am of the view that it would be ideal for the alternatives to present one candidate for the presidential elections should that be possible, and I am prepared to play my own part in arriving at such outcome. In fact, I am already doing that. Merit-based discussions When asked if the party was open to talks of form a coalition, Peju Onamusi, the campaign spokesperson of the presidential candidate of the African Action Congress, Omoyele Sowore, told PREMIUM TIMES, that Mr Sowore was not averse to talks of a coalition. She, however, added that the party would only participate if such discussions were merit-based stating that they will not take part in a process that involves picking a name from a hat. The Publisher of popular news website, Sahara Reporters, Omoyele Sowore The AAC presidential candidate has always made it clear that he is open for other candidates and parties to join us in talks for coalitions and doing whatever we can. We have always been open to conversations to form a coalition of sorts, she said. We are open to a coalition but we are open to coalition based on hard merit and hard work. We dont think Nigeria should be ruled by picking a name out of the hat. That is certainly not how we carried out our campaign and that is not how we would do this going forward. ADVERTISEMENT She explained that Mr Sowore dropped out of PACT because he felt the arrangement was prematurely conceived. All we have said when we opted out of PACT the first time, was that we thought the time was somewhat premature. There had not been primaries, many of the people who were at that table either were not the candidates for their parties or indeed did not have parties at the time. We also felt that it made sense for candidates to work. To put their feet on the ground to do whatever they could. It is all very well shouting PACT but you also have to hit the grassroots, you also have to make sure that the people you are talking to actually know your name so that when you sit around the table you will be able to make informed decisions to who will make a more credible leader to emerge for PACT basically, she explained Problem with PACT Meanwhile, Tope Fasua, the presidential candidate of the Abundant Nigeria Renewal Party (ANRP) and a participant of PACT before the arrangement crumbled, said he was going ahead with his campaign despite the call by Mrs Ezekwesili to form a coalition. Mr Fasua, who was still clearly annoyed by the manner the PACT election was conducted, suggested that Mrs Ezekwesilis call may be an attempt to achieve a certain predetermined goal. I think that there is a lot of chicanery going on and one has to be extremely careful and we have to keep our eyes open, he told PREMIUM TIMES on Thursday. Tope Fasua writes on digital tyranny involving people like Twitter founder, Jack Dorsey. He accused Mrs Ezekwesili of not being a fair umpire during the PACT election she moderated and wondered why she decided to run for president after supervising a vexed arrangement to form a coalition. She has not contacted me and as far I am concerned, there is no PACT anymore. The people who stayed in PACT till the end, they can as well be discussing with her. But I know the way PACT ended. I left PACT two weeks before they took their decision because they decided not to be transparent about it. I was surprised to read on Instagram that Fela was talking about transparency. I hope he admits that PACT was not transparent. Basically, there is no contact, there is no PACT and my issue with her is that I wonder why she is running because, as an umpire in PACT, she was brought into that PACT by Fela himself and they tried to use (her) that to knock off Kingsley who for some reasons stood with that thing till the end when it was obvious it was not transparent. They did not want it open to the public. I said we should have a public debate and even at the end, the public should be the one voting for who they wanted out of the lot. They said no and I left, Mr Fasua, an economist, said. He added that Mrs Ezekwesili campaign team contacted him just before the deadline for submission of presidential candidate names and tried to get him to relinquish his ambition in a derogatory manner. He added that alternative candidates should hit the streets and campaign like he is doing and stop feeling like superstars while doing nothing to elected. She (Mrs.Ezekwesili) got her people to call me, Aisha and Florence and put me under pressure that I should set down for her and in fact, they went about it in a very derogatory manner telling me they have seen my declaration on Twitter and that only five people liked the thing. I said I am not particularly a Twitter person, Im more on Facebook. It was a kind of a Buccaneer way of doing things. Two days before the deadline and you want people to step down for you. And only for you to now say you are not going to run again. If she wants a coalition, why not stay and be building up the Fela that she offered a coalition for? Why was she going around knocking people off and even in some of the open events that we had, she was trying to run me down as well. I have no respect for her at this moment. I think that there is a lot of chicanery going on and one has to be extremely careful and we have to keep our eyes open. If they dont contact me, no problem. Im in the race and I am in touch with the Nigerian people. I think that is what matters most. These guys are feeling like superstars worshipping themselves. But they, none of them, are in touch with the Nigerian people. They are not even bothering to travel around the country, he said. ADVERTISEMENT The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) says it is impossible for any candidate at this stage to withdraw from the presidential election. The election is coming up on February 16. The spokesperson of INEC chairman, Rotimi Oyekanmi, stated this in reaction to the statement earlier on Thursday by the candidate of the Allied Congress Party of Nigeria (ACPN), Oby Ezekwesili, that she was withdrawing from the poll. Mrs Ezekwesili said she was withdrawing so as to help form a coalition against the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) and the major opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) at the general elections. The ACPN leadership, including Mrs Ezekwesilis running mate, Gani Galadima, shortly after at a press conference disowned her and announced they would be joining the campaign for the reelection of President Muhammadu Buhari of the APC. In line with the commissions timetable for the election, the last day for withdrawal by candidates or replacement of withdrawn candidates by political parties for the presidential and National Assembly elections was November 17, 2018. It is impossible for any presidential candidate to withdraw from the race now, Mr Oyekanmi said. Therefore, the deadline for Ezekwesili or any candidate in that category to withdraw or be replaced has passed, he said. The Bring Back Our Girls #BBOG) convener had said she withdrew from the February 16 presidential election to help build a coalition to defeat the APC and the PDP in the election. She said her decision was taken despite resistance from her party, which has now declared support for Mr Buharis reelection bid. But INEC said Mrs Ezekwesilis withdrawal changes nothing as her party and name will still appear on the ballot. Her party will appear, her passport will appear and her name will appear. So it doesnt change anything as as far as we are concerned, Mr Oyekanmi Posted Thursday, January 24, 2019 10:07 am Three years ago, the land where Jones Creek Brewing sits was an empty field. Now, it holds Tim and Mirinda Moriartys brewery and taphouse, where they serve eight of their own brews at a time, as well as a guest cider. Although Jones Creek Brewing hasnt celebrated its grand opening yet, it technically opened up shop in November 2017. Since then, the Moriartys have produced 60 different beers and now distribute to other local bars namely, Flood Valley Brewing and Mackinaws Restaurant in Chehalis, Tiki Tap House in Centralia and the Pe Ell Pub. Its kind of like a chefs take on food, you know, said Tim Moriarty of the beers he brews. We have such a small system that we can get away with trying out and experimenting with different things. If we are brewing on a system that is 20 times this size, thats literally thousands of dollars worth of ingredients. For our system, it is maybe $100 worth of ingredients on average. So its not that big of a deal to have a beer that sits around for a little bit longer than the rest. It kind of gives us time to fill up our taps, too. Tim Moriarty began brewing in 2011, after his parents bought him a home brewing kit. That same year, his parents bought property, just East of Pe Ell. Tim Moriarty explained they were searching for a hobby farm somewhere in either Washington or Oregon. A few years later, in 2014, his parents invited him and his wife, Mirinda Moriarty, to come build their own brewery and taphouse on the property. In addition to brewing their own beers, the Moriartys have a practice plot where they experiment with growing various types of hops to use in future brews. (We are) just kind of playing it by ear and trying different things out to see what will grow well around here, Tim Moriarty said. They (the hops) can be very finicky. Some varieties do better than others in this climate. Nearly all hops produced in the U.S. are grown in Washington, Oregon and Idaho. According to the Washington Beer Commission, Yakima Valley accounts for more than 77 percent of U.S. hop production and is the ideal environment for growing hops. Tim Moriarty said he has found the old-world varieties grow better in Western Washington, such as Cascade, Centennial and Hallertauer. Those hops tend to be a little more well-acclimated, Tim Moriarty said. A lot of the newer varieties for the IPAs like the really fancy hops that everybody wants they have been crossbred, and basically they have been crossbred in Eastern Washington. So they have only been grown in that climate which is a pretty ideal climate for growing them and they havent really gotten a lot of testing outside of that area. Tim Moriarty said he also has plans to experiment with growing Klaber hops. Herman Klaber was the King of hops in the early 20th century. According to previous Chronicle reporting, Lewis County was at that time the Hops Capital of the World. Klaber died when he returned to the U.S. on the Titanic, but wild hops can still be found growing in Lewis County. There are lots of wild hops that still grow right by 76 down there, next to Rails-to-Trails, Tim Moriarty said. There is a big anchor cable that goes up that hops grow up, and right next to the Boistfort school there is another one. Its pretty close to the plaque that talks about Herman Klaber. For now, however, Tim Moriarty buys his hops from Yakima and experiments with recipes. This week, Jones Creek Brewing will add a Mexican Hot Chocolate Porter. Tim Moriarty said it is a porter base, chocolatey on its own, then he added cinnamon, vanilla beans and chilis. Its delicious, Mirinda Moriarty added. Tim and Mirinda Moriarty said anything IPA has sold well at Jones Creek Brewing. You brew an IPA and thats going to sell very, very fast, Tim Moriarty said. That is kind of one of the core staples of craft brewing, is that style of beer. People just like the bold hoppiness of it and its a fun style of beer, because you can come up with so many different varieties with the hops. Tim Moriarty said he has only brewed a couple IPAs with the same recipe since Jones Creek Brewing had its soft opening. People arent like stuck on just that one style, Tim Moriarty said. As long as its an IPA, theyre happy. Ill try a different hop variety, or Ill do a beer where its just a single hop variety. So I only use one hop throughout the entire process and thats kind of fun to let the customers experience what us as brewers kind of get to experience where we get to experience the individual varieties and their characteristics. A lot of breweries, Tim Moriarty explained, use multiple varieties of hops in a single IPA. (That) is fun because you get a lot of layering of flavor and stuff, but when you have the one hop, you really let it shine and do its thing and let the customers kind of experience and understand what that one hop does for flavor and aroma, Tim Moriarty said. Tim and Mirinda Moriarty plan to host a grand opening for Jones Creek Brewing this summer. ADVERTISEMENT A federal court in Lagos has convicted a former Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) administrative secretary in Kwara State, Christian Nwosu. Mohammed Idris, the judge, found Mr Nwosu guilty of laundering N264million. I find that the prosecution has proved the case beyond reasonable doubt in the manner required by law, the judge said. The judge adjourned sentencing till Friday and ordered the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) ensure his present Nwosu in court tomorrow. The EFCC re-arraigned Mr Nwosu for allegedly accepting gratification from former Minister of Petroleum Resources, Diezani Alison-Madueke. Mrs Alison-Madueke is still at large. Mr Nwosu was re-arraigned alongside Tijani Bashir before Mr Idris. They were charged with another INEC official Yisa Adedoyin, who had pleaded guilty to the offence and was convicted following a plea bargain. Mr Nwosu initially pleaded guilty to receiving N30million gratification from Mrs Alison-Madueke ahead of the 2015 general elections, but later changed his plea to not guilty. The Supreme Court on Wednesday refused to hear about 14 pre-election appeals on the grounds that they were caught by the amendment to Section 285 of the constitution, which took effect from June 7 last year. The amendment to Section 285 of the constitution requires the trial court to determine pre-election cases within 180 days and gives the Court of Appeal and Supreme Court 60 days each to determine such cases. The section of the constitution also provides that such appeals are filed within 14 days of the delivery of the judgment to be appealed. On Wednesday, in about 14 different rulings, two panels of the Supreme Court, headed by Ibrahim Mohammed and Olabode Rhodes-Vivour, asked the appellant lawyers, including a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Alex Iziyon, to withdraw their appeals. The court proceeded to strike out each of the appeals and refrained from making any consequential order. It said since the appeals were caught by the alteration, the court no longer has jurisdiction to act on them or look into them, except striking them out of its list of cases. According to the court, the effect of the 4th Alteration Act Number 21 was that all pre-election appeals that were not determined within the stipulated 60 days are no longer valid. The two panels were assigned to conduct special court sitting to clear the courts list of all pending pre-election appeals relating to the 2015 elections that were still pending before the court. Mr Mohammed, who headed the first panel, explained that the Supreme Court had in two pre-election appeals judgments on January 18, dealt with all issues and questions relating to the 4th Alteration Act and when it became effective. Mr Muhammed said the judgments, which were in two appeals, SC/307/2018 and SC/308/2018, formed the position of the court in all pre-election appeals and the question as regard when the amendment took effect. According to Mr Mohammed, the Supreme Court lacked the jurisdiction to hear any pre-election appeal that has stayed unheard at the expiration of the constitutional stipulated 60 days. Mr Mohammed added that the new law, being a procedural law, assumes immediate effect. On his own position as the head of the second panel, Mr Rhodes-Vivour also reiterated that the court lacked the jurisdiction to hear the appeals. He added that We do not have the power to pronounce on what happens at the lower courts since we lacked the jurisdiction to hear your appeal. According to a report by THE NATION newspaper, almost all lawyers to the appellants in the appeals expressed discomfort about the courts position. The report also stated that they all also said they have not read the courts judgments in SC/307/2018 and SC/308/2028, which the Supreme Court said contains its position and the current position of the law on the issue. The legal counsel, Lazarus Undi, who appeared for an appellant, Benjamin Nungwa, in the appeal marked: SC/112/2018, was particularly unhappy about the courts position. Mr Undi said his case was different because his client had anticipated the effect of the new amendment, filed the appeal with 14 days and wrote to the courts registrar that the appeals fall among cases that must be decided within 60 days. ADVERTISEMENT According to Mr Undi, the delay in determining the appeal with the 60 days was on the part of the court and not the appellant. Also speaking was Mr Izinyon, who represented the appellant in one of the appeals struck out. He hailed the court for taking the bull by the horn in dealing with that issue (as it relates to the effect of the 4th Alteration Act on pre-election cases filed before it was assented to) at once. Mr Izinyon noted that the courts position may affect some litigants and lawyers negatively, but expressed optimism that it would benefit all in the long run. Some of the affected appeals included the one by Atai Aidoko against Isaac Alfa in relation to the dispute over who was the actual candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the 2015 election in Kogi East. The court also struck out a similar appeal filed in the name of the PDP against the Court of Appeal judgment, which upheld the judgment of the Federal High Court, upholding Mr Alfa as the actual candidate of the party. Also affected was the appeal by Umaru Dahiru and another against All Progressives Congress (APC) and others, in which the appellant is challenging the candidacy of Sokoto State Governor, Aminu Tambuwal, in the 2015 election. The court also struck out the appeal filed by Wahab Abiodun and four others against a senator, Monsurat Sunmonu and another. Other appeals struck out are a suit filed by Friday Nwosu against PDP and three others; Rivers State Independent Electoral Commission and another against Augustine N. Ngo and others and Benjamine Nungwa and APC against Joseph Boko and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC). Also struck out are suits by Ikenna Cyprian Uzokwelu against PDP and suit by Anthony Itayi and another against Abubakar Bagudu and two others. ADVERTISEMENT Abdullahi Baffa was on Monday sacked as the Executive Secretary of the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TeTFund). He was promptly replaced by Sulaiman Bogoro who had earlier been sacked from the same position in 2016. Although no official reason was given for Mr Baffas sack, the ex-official has now blamed his exit on the education minister, Adamu Adamu. In an interview with BBC Hausa Service, Mr Baffa explains how Mr Adamu allegedly engineered his sack. The interview has been translated to English by Mohammed Lere and Ahmadu Maishanu. Excerpts: Q: How did you receive the news of your removal from office? Baffa: On Friday night, I received a phone call that the Minister of Education, Mallam Adamu Adamu, went to see the president clutching a file to report me, demanding my ouster. This is not the first time. For months he has been reporting me to the president falsely accusing me but the president resisted. Q: Who told you that or you are just talking on speculations? Baffa: Its not speculations, its something that has happened. Q: Do you have any evidence that he reported you to the president? Baffa : Yes I do have evidence. On Saturday night, I received a call that the president has given a directive for my removal from office. I asked the person what was my crime that was reported to the president that warrant my removal, he said the minister reported to the president that I was inaccessible, insubordination and Im granting press conferences without the ministers consent. The issue that I am inaccessible, he the minister was the one that knows better that Im the easiest person for him to see because even my colleagues at the Tetfund accused me that I spend more time in the ministry with the minister than in my office. All the time I have been with him in the ministry, Im doing my work at the Tetfund and doing his work at the ministry. Q: All the allegations leveled against you, have you ever contacted the minister one on one to sort out things? Baffa: We have talked on issues several times, because the accusations are many. But Im more specific on the three issues he reported to the president. If you receive a directive from your superior, you must do. But if your superior asks you to do something that is not within the premise of the law and or is breaking the law, I will not do it because that will amount to subversion and I have no regret for refusing that order because I will not betray the trust bestowed on me by Nigerians and the president. PT: You are making a serious accusation that the minister gave you order but you refused because it amounts to treason. Are you are just making the accusations because the minister is not here to defend himself. Baffa: You Can go and ask him. Eight months ago, Mr Adamu Adamu sent his biggest contractor to me and the contractor told me that the minister is angry with me on three things. He mentioned one and two issues and the third issue, he said that I shared over N200 billion to tertiary institutions in Nigeria. Even if I am collecting 10 per cent from the institutions I could have collected over N20 billion, where is the money? Let me tell you since I began this job I did not collect not even 10 per cent, 1 per cent or even one naira from any institution. If theres any school that I requested a percentage of the money I disbursed to them, I will be willing to accept a death penalty. ADVERTISEMENT A group of youth on Wednesday gathered at the Unity Fountain to demand the release of the detained activist, Deji Adeyanju. The protest was organised by the Free Nigeria Movement. The co-convener of the group, Adebayo Rafael, led the protesters on a march to the Three Arms Junction near the federal secretariat. The police arrested Mr Adeyanju on November 28, 2018 at a protest that urged security agencies, especially the police, to be nonpartisan during the upcoming elections. The protest took place at the police headquarters in Abuja. A court granted him bail on December 6 but he was rearrested on December 13 and charged with murder, an allegation dug up from his student days at the Bayero University, Kano. At the protest, Mr Rafeal called on President Muhammadu Buhari to release Mr Adeyanju, saying the activist did nothing wrong, We are here to say our democracy is in danger, we are here to say that it is time for us to rescue our country, we are here to say we can no longer allow the abuse of the right and the human right violations of the Nigerian people, he said. We are not going to allow the attack on the freedom of the press and the freedom of speech, we are here to say the Nigerian people and the youth would not tolerate the tyranny of Buhari Osibanjo. We are also here to inform Mr President to free Deji Adeyanju who has been in detention for more than 40 days. We are also saying Deji has committed no offence for him to be remanded in jail. He is not a thief, the real thief of our commonwealth in this country are roaming around with nobody hindering their movement. Ariyo Dare, a member of the Coalition for Defence of Nigerian Democracy, told PREMIUM TIMES tranny has no place in Nigeria. This protest is about the threat to our democracy. There is an assault on the judiciary and the press, activists, and Nigerians. It is a sin for us to remain silent while others suffer the brutality and dictatorship. We are here to speak on behalf of our brothers and sisters held by the government. I mean people fought for this democracy; we are here to tell them that the people own Nigeria, not the government, he said. Stakeholders have called for improvement in the governance processes in Nigeria as the National Assembly begins deliberation on a bill for a new national minimum wage. This was part of the discussion at a capacity building workshop organised by the Labour Correspondents Association of Nigeria (LACAN) in Abuja on Wednesday under the theme: The Minimum Wage Question in an Election Year. According to Jaiye Gaskia, a co-convener of the Say No campaign and a resource person at the workshop, the series of negotiation and threats of strike by the organised labour could have been averted if Nigeria has functioning institutions and governance processes. He said the President Muhammadu Buhari administration should have planned for a new minimum wage while drawing up its Economic Recovery and Growth Plan, given that the national minimum wage should be reviewed every five years according to the Nigerian laws. Mr Gaskia accused state governors of ignorance saying they have other priorities than paying civil servants. According to the activist, such statements show some governors understand nothing about governance. He said the civil service is the engine of governance and the service delivery arm of governance. Mr. Gaskia said a government should be judged by its antecedents. In the case of this present government, looking at the agreement with ASUU, ASUP and also with COASU last year, which is due for implementation, it is difficult to have confidence that this government will be able to keep to any promise, he said. He said the promise of a new national minimum wage was just being made because elections are around the corner, and the government wanted to get the minimum wage issue out of the way. He advised labour to stand firm on the agreement reached and to reach out to the Nigerian Employers Consultative Association (NECA) so that employers could get the government to honour the agreement. He urged the government to clean up the processes of governance so that it can meet its responsibilities. The Minister of Labour and Employment, Chris Ngige, who was represented by Godson Ogbuji, the deputy director, Trade Union Services and Industrial Relations, commended labour correspondents for organising the workshop. He said the theme of the workshop was a demonstration of their commitment towards a seamless process in wage negotiation based on robust discourse that takes into consideration all shades of opinions and socio-economic determinants within the national economy. Wage negotiations the world over are no doubt contentious and in most case controversial, he said. The process requires rigorous intellectual discourse that will enable a rational decision to be reached in order to have a National Minimum Wage that enjoys general acceptability. He said labour administration has become dynamic, especially wage administration, and, therefore, requires special skills and capacities to grasp its trending dimensions and complexities. He acknowledged the understanding of the organised labour in spite of the initial misunderstanding on the best way to adopt in arriving at a mutually beneficial outcome. The chairman of LACAN, Micheal Oche, said they decided to organise the training because it is important for labour reporters to understand some of the intricacies that led to the series of negotiations and agreements on the minimum wage. You need to be informed in order to pass the information out there, so reporters just dont report the stories without the insight of the issue. He said the matter could have been better and promptly handled. ADVERTISEMENT Just as labour has tried to argue, the Council of State should ordinarily be an advisory body. By ILO standard, the tripartite committee is what is empowered to decide on the issues of negotiation between government and labour like minimum wage. The running mate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the February presidential election, Peter Obi, has said that their government, if voted into power, would tackle the Apapa gridlock by completing the Apapa-Oshodi expressway in less than one year. Mr Obi, a former governor of Anambra State, spoke during a town hall meeting with maritime stakeholders on Wednesday in Lagos. The Apapa -Oshodi expressway is not more than 10 kilometres and it wont take any serious government more than a year to fixed it, its not rocket science, but matter of incompetence and ineffective leadership, he said. Mr Obi, who represented the partys presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, said Nigeria loses billions of dollars annually due to ports inefficiency and decayed infrastructure. He said the Nigerian ports system is not working, adding that importers were subjected to pay extra $1,000 per container if their consignments were to pass through the ports. According to him, to make the eastern ports busy and viable, there is need to make it cheaper for cargoes clearance compared to Lagos. He said his government would grant incentives to those using the eastern ports to attract patronage. How can you say Nigeria is working and you have an ease of doing business if the roads leading to your ports are in bad shape? It simply shows a government that is not working. For every goods you ship from anywhere in the world into Nigeria you pay additional $1,000, the reason why you are paying that is because of the inefficiency of Nigerian Ports. The ports today have not been expanded from what it was from when they were built, nobody has given them any attention and we are not even building new ones. Singapore was the busiest port in the world, and as it is, they are building the busiest and biggest port under the sea, this would start in 2050, but here we are not doing anything, we are busy making sure that the ones built is not working. According to Mr Obi, running a business and running the country is the same thing. He vowed to deploy his business acumen in the development of the ports and challenged the Buhari administration to show Nigerians their achievements before asking them for another term. Give us the account of your first tenure before telling us to give you another term, he said. If I give you money to trade you will have to give me the account of the first money before you ask for another one, that is what we are asking the APC government. He said his party would make Nigeria work again if voted into power. Atiku has experience in governance and in business he has built schools so he knows what education is, people cannot offer what they dont have, imagine Atiku as an ex-Customs officer and myself being a trader, the port will turn around. Meanwhile, the gathered stakeholders presented various position papers on the various challenges confronting the sector. The Association of Nigeria Licensed Customs Agents (ANLCA) in a document presented by its Vice President, Kayode Farinto, who said even though the port as a critical sector generates N5 billion daily into federal governments coffers, the government has abandoned it. ADVERTISEMENT He said that maritime operators regretted galvanising over 30,000 votes for President Muhammadu Buhari in 2015, saying that most of the promises made were never fulfilled. Mr Farinto recalled that then running mate and current vice president, Yemi Osinbajo, had promised to reverse the governments auto policy which, he said, had sent many clearing agents out of jobs. The ANLCA vice president also stressed the need to review the Customs and Excise Management Act and a creation of a Ministry of Maritime. He called for the development of a port development plan, saying that all the ports in Nigeria currently have been overstretched. ADVERTISEMENT The Social Democratic Party (SDP) says it is yet to take a decision on the Court of Appeal judgment on Thursday which reinstated former Cross River State governor, Donald Duke, as the partys presidential candidate. The court reversed the judgment of a federal high court which removed Mr Duke and declared Jerry Gana as the candidate of the party. The appellate court ordered Mr Gana to stop parading himself as the candidate and to pay Mr Duke N500,000 as cost. Asked of the partys reaction to the judgment, its spokesperson, Alfa Mohammed, said the partys leadership will meet within 24 hours o decide on the next step. The Court of Appeal has just declared that Duke is the presidential candidate of the SDP. The National Chairman is expected to summon a National Working Committee meeting within the next 24 hours to review the situation, Mr Mohammed said. The decision of the appellate court was taken in a unanimous decision by a three-man panel led by Justice Abdul Aboki. The federal high court had ruled in favour of Mr Gana on the basis of the zoning arrangement of the party. Mr Mohammed said the party recognised the right of the two claimants of its ticket to appeal a court judgment. However, he said the SDP made an attempt to commit them to an agreement against appealing the outcome of the judgment of the Court of Appeal. He said Mr Gana did not sign the said agreement because he found it suspicious. Thursdays court ruling set aside the December 14, 2018 judgment of the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) which declared Mr Gana the candidate of the party. Mr Duke had won the partys primary with Mr Gana returning as runner up. ADVERTISEMENT President Muhammadu Buhari on Thursday said he is deeply pained by the death of his supporters in Jigawa State in an auto accident. They were on their way to attend campaign events when the crash occurred. Four persons reportedly died and six others were injured in an accident involving party supporters who were going to attend All Progressives Congress, campaign in Jigawa on Monday The president also expressed his condolences to the families of two other victims who died in a stampede in Sokoto State on Wednesday. He assured that the sacrifices of the deceased would not be in vain. According to Mr Buhari in a statement by his spokesperson, Garba Shehu, on Thursday, the death of any party supporter touches me because these were poor Nigerians who made sacrifices to make Nigeria a better country by identifying with my change agenda. He also said, I would never forget the sacrifices of these ordinary Nigerians who travelled long distances to attend my presidential campaign rallies. Mr Buhari noted that, these ordinary Nigerians were the pillars of our democracy because without them, we, the politicians, become irrelevant. Meanwhile, Mr Shehu said following the unprecedented wave of popularity of the presidents outdoor events, the Presidency has ordered for increased structural integrity testing of all erections and fabrications such as dais, tents, stages, including electrical and other equipment. ADVERTISEMENT A man, Abdullahi Yadau, has divorced his wife after failing to convince her not to vote for President Muhammadu Buhari in next months presidential election. Mr Yadau, a resident of Kanam Local Government Area of Plateau State, told BBC Hausa Service on Thursday that he divorced his wife, Hafsat Suleiman, because she insisted on voting for Mr Buhari. The president is seeking re-election on the platform of his party, APC. Mr Yadau stated that previously, both of them supported Mr Buhari in the 2015 elections. But this time, he felt disappointed with the administration and decided not to vote for him again, he said. I told her that she must not vote for him but she insisted which led to a quarrel which attracted the attention of our neighbours, I slapped her and told her to choose between voting for Buhari and staying with me. She ran away. Later her parents called me and I narrated to them what transpired between us. But still my wife insisted on voting for Mr Buhari, thats how I divorced her in the presence of her parents. Ibrahim Suleiman, the wifes elder brother, said they felt very sad over what transpired between the couple. We decided to deal with him but our father stopped us from joining issues with him, he told the BBC. He really disgraced us. They have been having issues even in the previous election. She is the one that convinced him to vote for Buhari, now he insisted on voting for Mr Atiku Abubakar. We decided that we will not allow her to go back to him again, he said. Mr Abubakar, the candidate of the opposition Peoples Democratic Party, is the main challenger to Mr Buhari of the ruling All Progressives Party in next months election. The presidential election is scheduled for February 16. ADVERTISEMENT The Igbo socio-political group, Ohaneze Ndigbo, on Thursday endorsed the presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party PDP, Atiku Abubakar. Mr Abubakar, a former vice president, has as his running mate, Peter Obi, a former governor of Anambra State. The President General of Ohaneze, John Nwodo, announced the endorsement in a statement. He said the Ime Obi which is the highest decision making council of the group took the decision in Enugu after its meeting. In its collective search for a polity that is just, egalitarian and inclusive, the Ime Obi Ohaneze Ndi Igbo met today Thursday 24 January, 2019 at the Nike Lake Hotel, Enugu, to further deliberate on the future of Ndigbo in the chequred history of a beleaguered country. He said the Ime Obi took the decision after a critical and dispassionate appraisal of the issues and the visible fault lines in the polity, including the analysis of the election manifestos of the various contesting parties, especially with regards to the restructuring of the federation and continued relevance of the people of the Southeast in the Nigerian geopolitical space. According to him, the meeting resolved as follows: That Ohaneze remains the apex socio-cultural organisation that works for the interest of the Igbo in and outside Nigeria. It attempts to aggregate the views of all other Igbo platforms Ohaneze notes particularly that a major political party (PDP) by the nomination of our son Peter Obi as the vice presidential candidate has given Ndigbo an opportunity for inclusivity. Ndigbo must seize the moment That the presidential candidate of PDP, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar has made an avowed commitment to restructuring of the federation and reconfirmed same during his recent visit to the United States in his meetings high-level US officials In consideration of the above and other relevant existential factors pertaining to the treatment of the Igbo in our polity, the Ime Obi Ohaneze, therefore, hereby ratify the decision reached at the Ohaneze National Executive Committee (NEC) meeting held in Enugu on Tuesday 22 January, 2019, to adopt the Atiku Abubakar/ Peter Obi ticket in the 2019 presidential election. Ime Obi therefore endorses and embraces fully, this ticket without equivocation, especially with regards to the position of Ndigbo at the AWKA Declaration which insisted on a complete restructuring of the Nigerian polity, Mr Nwodo said The group urged Igbos to see their PVCs as their most potent tool to ensure a restructured polity and for a better society. The meeting further called on the international community to help to ensure a free and credible 2019 electioneering in Nigeria Ohaneze also urged all Igbos to vote and to protect their votes. Mr Abubakar is the major challenger to President Muhammadu Buhari in next months presidential election. Posted Wednesday, January 23, 2019 5:06 pm An Onalaska man told deputies he shot his wife multiple times with a semiautomatic pistol, killing her, after they got into an argument about finances and home remodeling. Bruce E. Reed, 67, was charged with first-degree murder domestic violence. Hes being held in the Lewis County Jail on $2 million bail. The victim, who is noted to be Reeds wife in court documents, has remained unnamed subject to confirmation from the Lewis County Coroners Office. Shes been described as a 67-year-old Onalaska woman. Court documents indicate Reed and his wife had been married for 15 years. According to the Lewis County Sheriffs Office, at 9:20 p.m. deputies went to the 200 block of Burchett Road in Onalaska after Reed allegedly called 911, reporting that he shot his wife. Authorities found Reed standing in the houses driveway, and the victim unresponsive on the ground near the house. He told deputies she had pushed him too far according to an LCSO press release. They had engaged in an argument while remodeling their home, he said. The argument was allegedly not a physical one. He allegedly loaded a magazine into a .32 semiautomatic handgun, made a few statements to his wife and then shot her multiple times until the magazine was empty. Chief Bruce Kimsey with the sheriffs office said deputies recovered the gun. Documents indicate the victim began to stumble outside when the shooting started, before falling down in the spot deputies eventually found her. He was booked into the jail at 1:09 a.m. Wednesday, initially on suspicion of second-degree murder. Prosecutors filed a more serious first-degree murder charge Wednesday. During a preliminary hearing in Lewis County Superior Court Wednesday afternoon, Judge James Lawler placed Reed on $2 million bail an amount suggested by Deputy Prosecutor Paul Masiello. Masiello said Reed doesnt have a criminal history, a point repeated by Reeds legal counsel Kevin Nelson, who said the event seemed like an isolated incident. Nelson asked that Reed instead be given a $1 million bond. Reed has an arraignment hearing at 2:30 p.m. Jan. 31. ADVERTISEMENT A policeman was shot dead during the kidnap of an aspiring lawmaker. A candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Ohio Ezomon, was abducted by the gunmen. Mr Ezomon seeks to represent Owan West Constituency of Edo State. The police spokesperson in the state, Chidi Nwabuzor, who confirmed the incident to PREMIUM TIMES, said a police officer attached to Mr Ezomon was shot dead by the gunmen who stormed the politicians house at Sabongida Ora on Thursday. Mr Nwabuzor said the gunmen besieged the politicians home and went to the boys quarters where the police officer, a driver, and a civilian security guard were staying. They shot and killed the officer on the spot and took the other two to the main building, where they broke a window to gain access before abducting the politician. The police spokesperson said the commissioner of police in the state, Hakeem Odumosun, visited the crime scene on Friday and has directed that security should be increased around Sabongida Ora to secure lives and properties. No arrest has been made yet, he said. Meanwhile, the state governor, Godwin Obaseki, has urged people in the state to remain calm while the police investigate the incident. Governor Godwin Obaseki is on top of the incident and calls on the people to remain calm. He has ordered the Police Command to ensure that the kidnap victim is rescued, the governors spokesperson, Crusoe Osagie, said in a statement on Friday. Modibbo Tukur, the man cleared to head Nigerias financial intelligence agency, is a mix of a bureaucrat and a shrewd financial intelligence expert. Colleagues said the new man on the bloc is well connected in the financial intelligence network, having risen through the ranks on the job. He was, for many years, behind international linkages that helped tackle important issues in Nigerias fight against financial crimes. Nigerias Senate on Wednesday confirmed the appointment of Mr Tukur to head the newly created Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU). The NFIU was created as a stand-alone agency, away from the control of its mother-agency, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) by the National Assembly, last year. The bill was passed after a long period of high-level horse-trading. Mr Tukurs nomination was announced on January 7 and subjected to the Senates clearance. On Wednesday, the upper legislative chamber adopted a report of its committee on anti-corruption headed by Chukwuka Utazi, which recommended Mr Tukurs clearance. Mr Utazi said the nominee had put up an impressive performance when he appeared before the committee for screening. The lawmakers then confirmed the appointment through a voice vote. Experienced Pioneer Mr Tukur came into the job with a wealth of experience, according to a copy of his CV submitted to the Senate and obtained by PREMIUM TIMES. He is among the first set of staff for the NFIU, under the EFCC. He joined the intelligence organisation in March 2005 as a Financial Intelligence/Transaction Analyst and Bank Compliance Examiner. In this post, his responsibilities include receiving, analysing and disseminating all financial and other intelligence information from banks, financial institutions and Designated Non-Financial Institutions in the country. The information was for use by law enforcement agencies and regulatory authorities both within and outside Nigeria By January 2006, Mr Tukur was elevated to oversee Strategic Partnership and International Affairs at the NFIU. In this role, Mr Tukur coordinated lifting of the blacklist and all sanctions against Nigeria by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) of the G7 countries, which tremendously eased processes of international debts settlements for the federal government. These included the paperwork and scheduling of international meetings between 2005 and 2007. As part of Nigerias delegation to Egmont Group meeting in June 2006, Mr Tukur had the historical record of personally making the application for Nigeria to join the Egmont Group, a move that was backed by sister organisations from the U.S, Mauritius and Bahamas. This paved the way for Nigerias admission to the peer group at the next meeting of the Egmont Group in Bermuda Island in June 2007. From his position, Mr Tukur initiated and established the intelligence sharing relationship between the NFIU and 24 countries, including the U.S, Japan, India, South Africa, the United Arab Emirates etc. In November 2011, Mr Tukur was redeployed to the EFCC headquarters to head similar unit of external relations. He would spend over six years in this position. As head of external affairs unit of the EFCC, he facilitated all international cases in areas of exchange of intelligence, information, investigation, prosecution and assets recovery for the EFCC. Mr Tukur also oversaw support to EFCC by development partners including from the World Bank, UNODC, DFID, U.S State Department, ECOWAS/GIABA, the German Government, and other bilateral and multilateral support. It was Mr Tukur also who coordinated the asset recovery efforts of the present government with the Swiss government, United Kingdom, United States, United Arab Emirates, Spain, Panama, among others. For his vast experience, the Nigerian government appointed him to chair a committee on United Nations assessment of Nigerias anti-corruption programmes. ADVERTISEMENT The assessment was done in May 2017 and the UN assessment team rated Nigeria as flag bearer on Assets Recovery. The United Nations later assigned the committee to review Mauritanias anticorruption programmes. In June 2017, Mr Tukur was posted back to the NFIU as assistant director of the intelligence unit, at the heat of the crisis over autonomy for the unit and suspension of Nigeria by the Egmont Group. Prior to working at the EFCC/NFIU, Mr Tukur worked for six years at a textile company, Fintex Limited, before he resigned and took up a government job in his native Adamawa State in 1999. Education And Training The new NFIU boss has a Master of Science degree in International Business from the University of Salford, Manchester, and a Bachelor of Arts Degree, (B.A Hons), History, University of Maiduguri. He received a number of specialised training on money laundering and financial intelligence, Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN), U.S Treasury Department, in 2005. The following year he returned to the US for another training on Securities Market Development by the United States Securities and Capital Market Development Institute. Mr Tukur was also a trainee of the World Bank on Anti Money Laundering and Combating the Financing of Terrorism in 2006. In 2007, he was trained by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) as the first standard financial systems assessor for mutual evaluation for West Africa at the Financial Services Authority of Germany. He was later appointed to evaluate law enforcement institutions of the Republic of the Gambia, alongside World Bank and IMF Officials in May/June 2007. Mr Tukur participated in the PLSC Course 14 of the National Institute of Policy and Strategic Studies, Kuru, in 2014. As the first head of the NFIU as an independent body, Mr Tukur will spearhead a transition that would transform the small unit into an agency with the important responsibility of receiving, analysing and sharing financial intelligence with relevant agencies within and outside the country. His coordination role and leadership would be at the heart of success or otherwise of Nigerias fight against corruption, terrorist financing and organised crimes. The Court of Appeal has ordered the Code of Conduct Tribunal to suspend the trial of Nigerias Chief Justice, Walter Onnoghen, till the determination of appeals at the appellate court. A three-member panel of the court led by Abdul Aboki gave the order on Thursday after hearing from parties in a current appeal pending before the court. The court also adjourned its main ruling on the said appeals till January 30. Following his planned arraignment at the Code of Conduct Tribunal (CCT) on alleged false asset declaration on January 14, the CJN had asked the appeal court to stop the trial. Mr Onnoghen described the case instituted by the Code of Conduct Bureau as unconstitutional and lacking merit. But the appeal court declined the initial request, saying it would decide on the application after hearing from parties regarding the matter. The trial at the tribunal has since started and Mr Onnoghen was absent on both occasions that the case has come up. Mr Onnoghens lawyers, Wole Olanikpekun and Kanu Agabi, were among the group of senior lawyers present at the appeal court on Thursday to further their arguments on the matter. Mr Olanipekun argued that the CCT had said it would not honour high court rulings but would have to obey any by the appeal court. He said granting the interim order was crucial to protect the integrity of the judiciary. A lawyer, Oyin Kole-Oso, represented the federal government at the hearing. After entertaining the arguments of parties, the court said it would decide on the matter on January 30. It ordered the tribunal to tarry till its decision is reached. THE TRIBUNAL The CCT, led by Danladi Umar, on Tuesday slated January 28 for further hearing on the trial. The tribunal on Tuesday also refused a request to suspend the trial based on similar orders asking it to do so by high courts and the industrial court. In the tribunals ruling, the three-member panel gave dissenting judgements. Two of the panelists decided against the request for adjournment, while a third member, Williams Atedze, said the high court rulings were viable enough to warrant an adjournment. In his lead judgement, Mr Umar said the tribunal was not inferior to high courts and the industrial court and so cannot be ordered by them. With the current decision by the appelate court, which is a higher court, the CCT may have to postpone its hearing scheduled for January 28. THE CHARGES Mr Onnoghen is facing trial on six counts of alleged false asset declaration. The CCB accused him, among other allegations, of failing to declare domiciliary accounts used for transfer of foreign currencies which had existed since 2011. The bureau said the failure of the CJN to declare the accounts in one of two forms, filled in 2016, meant that he was liable of false aset charges. The charges were brought pursuant to a petition written by a member of the ruling All Progressives Congress, Denis Aghanya. ADVERTISEMENT The federal government also asked the tribubal to order Mr Onnoghen to step aside as CJN during the trial. The Attorney General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami, in a request brought before the tribunal said its application is informed by the need to ensure that Mr Onnoghen does not become the judge in his own case. Many lawyers and other critics of the trial have argued that the CJN ought to have first been reported to the National Judicial Cuncil, before any attempt at his trial. Mr Onnoghen is constitutionally the head of the NJC. Read our earlier story below - The Court of Appeal on Thursday ordered the Code of Conduct Tribunal to halt the trial of the Chief Justice of Nigeria, Walter Onnoghen. The appeal court granted an order for stay of proceedings of the trial at the tribunal. A three-member panel of the appeal court granted the interim order pending the ruling on a suit filed by Mr Onnoghen, Channels Television reports. The CCT had adjourned Mr Onnoghens trial to Monday. Mr Onnoghen is being tried by the Nigerian government for alleged false asset declaration. He has denied any wrongdoing. Details later ADVERTISEMENT The Court of Appeal in Abuja on Thursday affirmed a former governor of Cross River State, Donald Duke, as the presidential candidate of the Social Democratic Party (SDP). Mr Duke had emerged winner of the partys primaries conducted in October, after he polled 812 votes to defeat a former minister, Jerry Ghana, who closely followed with 611 votes. But a judge of the Federal Capital Territory High Court in Abuja, Hussein Baba-Yusuf, on December 14 sacked Mr Duke as the SDP flag bearer and declared Mr Gana as the rightful candidate of the party in the forthcoming election. Mr Baba-Yusuf said the partys zoning formula does not allow a presidential candidate to emerge from the same zone, as the chairman of the party. The court ordered Mr Gana to be recognised as the authentic flag bearer of the SDP presidential ticket in the 2019 election. PREMIUM TIMES had reported how the applicants Mr Duke, SDPs national chairman, Olu Falae; the National Secretary, Shehu Gabam; the Chairman of the partys Presidential Screening Panel/Deputy National Chairman South of the party, Tunde Adeniran, had approached the appeal court seeking an order to vacate the judgment of the lower court. They had approached the court based on the grounds that Mr Duke secured a higher number of votes than Mr Gana at the primaries. The new minimum wage bill passed the first and second readings at the Senate on Thursday just hours after President Muhammadu Buhari transmitted the draft legislation to the lawmakers. The presidents letter, read to the lawmakers by the deputy Senate president, Ike Ekweremadu, urged the amendment of the National Minimum Wage Amendment Act 2011 to raise minimum wage from N18,000 to N27,000. A tripartite committee set up by the government recommeneded N30,000, but the council of state on Tuesday accepted that figure for federal staff and recommended N27,000 for state and private sector workers. The Nigeria Labour Congress has rejected the N27,000. It insists on N30,000 for all workers. Meanwhile, the Senate said the bill sent to it made N27,000 minimum to all workers, with no variation between federal and state workers. The tripartite committee comprise representatives of the federal government, governors forum, organised private sector and organised federations of trade unions in Nigeria. The Federal Executive Council, National Executive Council, National Council of States have all noted and approved this recommended amendment, the president explained in the letter. Other highlights of the amendment include: exemptions for establishments employing less than 25 persons, five years review period of the Act in consonance with the constitutional review period for pensions, and alterations in the amount of fines payable by defaulters on persecution. Shortly after Mr Ekweremadu read out the letter, the Senate Leader, Ahmed Lawan, raised a point of order asking the lawmakers to suspend Order 79 (1) of the Senate Standing Order and take the first and second reading of the bill. Order 79 of the Senate Standing Order stipulates that all bills should go through first, second and third readings before passage. Mr Lawans point of order was adopted and the lawmakers deliberated on the bill. While some lawmakers commended the National Council of States for the amendments, majority of the lawmakers who contributed to the debate expressed disappointment at the federal government as they urged the executive to increase the minimum wage to N30,000. In his remark, Mr Ekweremadu congratulated the Nigerian Labour Congress and all those that struggled for the success of the bill. He also thanked his colleagues for the speedy consideration. This is possibly the first time in the 8th Senate that we have had cause to read executive communication, suspend our rules to take the first and second reading and be referring a bill to committee all in one day. It shows how committed we are to a course of Nigerian workers. We are ever prepared to do more, he said. Just for emphasis, the minimum wage proposed by the government for us is 27,000. There was news report of N27,000 for the states and N30,000 for the federal government. But what we have before us is a single National Minimum Wage of N27,000, no discrimination between the federal workers and the state workers, that point must be made clear, he said. The other issue of concern to me is the exemption of organisations employing less than 25 people. So, if that scales through, and I hope it does not, then it means that many of our workers will be outside the minimum wage bracket, that includes domestic servants. In many other countries, minimum wage applies across board whether you are employing one person or one million people. Another issue is the ability of states to pay. That means that they may have to make sacrifices in some areas including cutting the overheads and once you have to step up the internally generated revenues and also make more efforts in collecting collectable taxes, not imposing more taxes. There must be a conscious effort to bridge the gap between the rich and the poor, he added. The bill was read for the second time and referred to an ad hoc committee for further legislative action. The committee comprises of Olusola Adeyeye as chairman, Abu Ibrahim (to represent the committee on labour), Shehu Sani (to represent the North West), Sam Egwu (South East), Suleiman Adokwe (North Central), Francis Alimekhena (South South), Solomon Adeola (South West) and Binta Masi Garba (North East). ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT The Allied Congress Party of Nigeria (ACPN) has withdrawn its support for its presidential candidate, Oby Ezekwesili. The party declared its support for President Muhammadu Buhari of the All Progressives Congress (APC). The Allied Congress Party of Nigeria (ACPN) is withdrawing support for her presidentia| aspiration and endorsing the second term bid of President Muhammadu Buhari to take Nigeria to the next level, the party said in a statement on Thursday. The ACPN was reacting to a decision Thursday morning by Mrs Ezekwesili to withdraw from the presidential election. Mrs Ezekwesili announced her decision in a statement released by her campaign organisation. She said her decision is to help build a coalition to defeat the APC and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). This decision, she said, was taken despite resistance from her party. However, the ACPN in a press statement made available to journalists during a press briefing in Abuja on Thursday said her action was taken without consulting the party. This she does not seeing fit to inform the party whose mandate she is holding, the party stated. Negotiating ploy? In addition, the party accused Mrs Ezekwesili of using it as a platform to negotiate to be Nigerias finance minister. I have been put into confidence by one of her aide named lyinoluwa Aboyeji that she only wanted to use the platform of the Allied Congress Party of Nigeria (ACPN) to negotiate to be Nigerias finance minister. Gani Galadima, its national chairman and running mate of Mrs Ezekwesili; Paul Isamade; National Secretary; and other officials signed the partys statement. The party also accused Mrs Ezekwesili of opening several accounts in the name of the party and her campaign without the knowledge of the party. It urged her to return all properties and donation received. When asked if the party had an idea how much she got, the secretary of the party, Paul Isamade, revealed she admitted to the party about a month ago that she got $5000 and N35 million from local donations. He also said she opened up to have spent N29 million so far. Mrs Ezekwesili had said in her Thursday morning statement that she would provide details of her campaign expenses. President Muhammadu Buhari on Wednesday signed into law, the Discrimination against Persons with Disabilities (Prohibition) Act. The bill which has lingered in the National Assembly for 18 years, seeks to criminalise discrimination against persons with disabilities. This bill was passed by the 8th Senate on March 28, 2018. In December, it was transmitted to the president for assent for the 4th time since 1999. According to Ita Enang, the presidents National Assembly liaison officer, who announced the assent on Wednesday night, the new bill would see corporate entities and individuals face sanctions if found guilty of discriminating against persons with impairments. The signing of the bill however, comes days after the president and his deputy claimed the executive is yet to receive the bill. It also comes days after Mr Buhari accused lawmakers of not passing the bill during a town hall appearance with Vice President Yemi Osinbajo. But lawmakers rejected the claim, saying they passed the law since 2018 and submitted it to the president for assent. A document later circulated on social media showing that the State House acknowledged receipt of the bill. The law brought a major relief to anti-defamation campaigners, who accused the Nigerian government of not doing enough to protect citizens with disabilities. Ten things to know about bill 1. The Act prohibits all forms of discrimination against persons with disability. If an individual is found violating this law, he/she will pay a fine of N100,000 or a term of six months imprisonment. The law imposes a fine of one million naira on corporate bodies. 2. Discrimination against such persons is prohibited in public transportation facilities and service providers are to make provision for the physically, visually and hearing impaired and all persons howsoever challenged. This applies to seaports, railways and airport facilities. 3. The rights and privileges of persons with disability include education, health care, priority in accommodation and emergencies. 4. All public organisations are to reserve at least five per cent of employment opportunities for these persons. 5. The Act gives citizens with disabilities the right to file a lawsuit for damage against any defaulter. 6. It provides for a five-year transitional period within which public buildings, structures or automobile are to be modified to be accessible to and usable by persons with disabilities, including those on wheelchairs. 7. Before a public structure is constructed, its plans shall be inspected by relevant authorities to ensure that the plan conforms with the building code. 8. A government or government agency, body or individual responsible for the approval of building plans shall not approve the plan of a public building if the plan does not make provision for accessibility facilities in line with the building code. ADVERTISEMENT 9. An officer who approves or directs the approval of a building plan that contravenes the building code, commits an offence and is liable on conviction to a fine of at least N1,000,000 or a term of imprisonment of two years or both. 10. In Section 31 of the Act, the National Commission for Persons with Disabilities will be established and an Executive Secretary will be appointed as the head of the commission. Yes, no matter what Yes, but it depends on variety No, for medical reasons, uncertainty No, principle Vote View Results Window Packaging Market Window Packaging Market PR-Inside.com: 2019-01-24 12:59:21 Press Information Future Market Insights Contact Us 616 Corporate Way, Suite 2-9018, Valley Cottage, NY 10989, United States T: +1-347-918-3531 F: +1-845-579-5705 Email: sales@futuremarketinsights.com Web: https://www.futuremarketinsights.com/ Abhishek Budholiya Manager 9898989898 email https://www.futuremarketinsights.com/ # 785 Words Contact Us616 Corporate Way, Suite 2-9018,Valley Cottage, NY 10989,United StatesT: +1-347-918-3531F: +1-845-579-5705Email: sales@futuremarketinsights.comWeb: https://www.futuremarketinsights.com/Manager9898989898 Packaging has become a tool for marketers to attract customers and it plays an important role in helping customer make their purchase decision. Window packaging is basically designed to give outstanding visibility to the packaged product and to attract consumers. Window packs provides the stability and strength of solid board, corrugated box, or folding carton boxes and at same time provides visibility section that permits the consumer to see what they are buying. Customization of window packaging in terms of space, capacity can improve the market globally in the forecast period.Window Packaging Market- Market Segmentation:The global window packaging market can be segmented on the basis of material type, product type, end use and by region. On the basis of material type window packaging market can be segmented into paper & paperboard, plastic, glass, and others. Further paper & paperboard can be categorized into corrugated paper, Kraft paper, poly coated paper, folding box board and others. On the basis of product type window packaging market can be segmented into boxes, pouches, bottles & jars, containers, and others. On the basis of end use window packaging market can be segmented into food, beverages, pharmaceuticals & healthcare, personal care and cosmetics industry, industrial goods and others. On the basis of region, window packaging market can be segmented into North America, Latin America, Europe, Asia-Pacific and the Middle East & Africa.Window Packaging Market- Market Dynamics:The growth in the window packaging market is primarily driven by the growth in the food and beverage and consumer goods industry. In addition, there are several advantages associated with window packaging that further fuels this growth. The advantages of window packaging are that it maintains product integrity by eliminating the need for packs to be opened in-store as the contents are visible in this type of packaging, it provides ease of replenishment, reduces transit damage, are also made from ecofriendly products. Further, most of the major packaging companies are now shifting their attention towards eco-friendly flexible packaging with window display packaging in order to achieve greater consumer satisfaction. On the other hand, restraining factors such as higher initial cost of raw materials, environmental concerns and stringent government regulations are hampering the growth in the window packaging market.Request to Sample of Report @ https://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/sample/rep-gb-2725 Window Packaging Market- Regional Outlook:Geographically, the window packaging market can be segmented into North America, Latin America, Europe, Asia-Pacific (APAC) and the Middle East & Africa (MEA). The growth of global window packaging market is expected to witness a healthy CAGR over the forecast period of 2016-2024. Moreover, Asia-Pacific is expected to experience the maximum growth in the window packaging market due to the rising consumption of food and beverage products and increasing retail industry in the developing economies of Asia Pacific. North America and Europe are expected to witness an above average growth in the window packaging market primarily due to the higher adoption of window packaging in ready to eat food in these regions. MEA and Latin America are expected to experience a stagnant growth in the window packaging market.Window Packaging Market- Major Players:Some of the key players in the global window packaging market are Amcor Ltd., Bemis Company, Inc., Westrock, Wipak, Mondi Group, Smurfit Kappa Group PLC, Klockner Pentaplast GmbH & Co. KG., Graham Packaging, Berry Plastic Group Inc., Alpha Packaging, Constar International, Dunmore, Shenzhen Tianya Paper Products Co., Ltd., Guangzhou Best Printing Trade Co., Ltd., Liaoning Hengyue Printing And Packaging Co., Shenzhen Xing Jun Hui Yinshuapin Limited, Guangzhou Xilong Plastic & Hardware Co., Ltd.The research report presents a comprehensive assessment of the market and contains thoughtful insights, facts, historical data, and statistically supported and industry-validated market data. It also contains projections using a suitable set of assumptions and methodologies. The research report provides analysis and information according to market segments such as geography, material type, product type, end use.The report is a compilation of first-hand information, qualitative and quantitative assessment by industry analysts, inputs from industry experts and industry participants across the value chain. The report provides in-depth analysis of parent market trends, macro-economic indicators and governing factors along with market attractiveness as per segments. The report also maps the qualitative impact of various market factors on market segments and geographies. Report Highlights : Detailed overview of parent market,Changing market dynamics in the industry,In-depth market segmentation,Historical, current and projected market size in terms of volume and value,Recent industry trends and developments,Competitive landscape,Strategies of key players and products offered,Potential and niche segments, geographical regions exhibiting promising growth,A neutral perspective on market performance,Must-have information for market players to sustain and enhance their market footprintBuy this report now @ https://www.futuremarketinsights.com/checkout/2725 PR-Inside.com: 2019-01-24 12:06:00 Press Information Future Market Insights U.S. Office 616 Corporate Way, Suite 2-9018, Valley Cottage, NY 10989, United States T: +1-347-918-3531 F: +1-845-579-5705 Email: sales@futuremarketinsights.com Web: https://www.futuremarketinsights.com Abhishek Bhudholiya Manager +1-347-918-3531 email https://www.futuremarketinsights.com # 678 Words U.S. Office616 Corporate Way, Suite 2-9018,Valley Cottage, NY 10989,United StatesT: +1-347-918-3531F: +1-845-579-5705Email: sales@futuremarketinsights.comWeb: https://www.futuremarketinsights.comManager+1-347-918-3531 In the age of digitization, relationship between patients and care-givers or health maintenance organizations is changing rapidly as various technologies are being employed by primary and secondary users of health care services across the globe. The popularity of virtual worlds is increasing over the time and healthcare systems are thus using it for promoting healthy behavior. Virtual companion care represents an example of virtual reality that represents a virtual agent which is incorporated with an artificial conversational entity like cathbot, and can display appropriate non-verbal behavior after communicating with existing healthcare databases. Elder population can talk to them in a normal conversational tone and the virtual agent can speak back, answer questions, read news for them, etc. Many elderly people living alone at home require companionship. There are different technologies such as mobile phones and computers that can connect these elderly patients to their families however these technologies can provide only companionship as much as busy family members can do. Virtual companion care provides alternative that can be a substitute for in-person human contact and alleviate loneliness. The concept of virtual caregiving however cannot replace the human companionship although it can be viewed as a way to decrease the time for companion sessions and thus is cost saving. The cost of virtual companion care services in the U.S. is approximately US$ 200 per month. Virtual companion care services have made caring for seniors very easy and feasible.Virtual Companion Care Market: Drivers and RestraintsPrimary factors driving growth of virtual companion care market are rapidly growing geriatric population, technological advancements, penetration of technology among general population and elderly population and need for companion care services due to elder population living alone at the home. According to U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the National Ambulatory Medical Care survey, population aged over 65 in the U.S. will be doubled by 2030. Majority of elderly people may not need assistance but require companionship and thus virtual companion care is adopted by them. Even though information society is gaining importance over time elderly people are major challenge in this respect as they lack interest and knowledge of technological progress. This is expected to limit the growth of virtual companion care market.Request Sample Report @ https://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/sample/rep-gb-5526 Virtual Companion Care Market: SegmentationTentatively, global virtual companion care market has been segmented on the basis of end user, and geographyBased on end user, global virtual companion care market is segmented as below:Long-term Care CentersHome Care SettingsRehabilitation CentersOld Age HomesVirtual Companion Care Market: OverviewMarket for virtual companion care is in early stage of development and majority of population in developing countries is yet to know about it. Majority of the platforms are being developed by the universities and are expected to be completed and launched over the forecast period of 20172027. Even in developed countries such as the U.S. and European countries the concept of virtual companionship is not readily adopted by the general population. Under its Eurostatrs Program, European Union is developing Naviga platform which allows elder people and persons with disability to access the internet and the information society. The platform also provides home rehabilitation physiotherapy through virtual reality applications.Virtual Companion Care Market: Regional OutlookGeographically, global virtual companion care market is classified into regions viz. North America, Latin America, Western Europe, Eastern Europe, Asia-Pacific, Japan, Middle East and Africa. North America clearly dominates the global virtual companion care market due to high penetration of technology and internet among elderly population. Europe is expected to be the second largest market due to government initiatives for providing companion care to elderly. Japan virtual companion care market is expected to witness robust growth due to number of companies working to develop virtual platforms for elderly care.Request to View TOC @ https://www.futuremarketinsights.com/toc/rep-gb-5526 Virtual Companion Care Market: Key PlayersSome of the players identified in global virtual companion care market include Claris Healthcare Inc., General Electric Company, AIST Japan, GeriJoy Limited, Living Assistance Services Inc. etc. Posted Thursday, January 24, 2019 9:52 am Eight sex offenders recently registered as transient in Thurston County, according to news releases from the Thurston County Sheriffs Office. Sex offenders in Washington are classified as levels 1 through 3, with level 3 offenders being those considered most at risk to reoffend. Level 1 sex offender Terry L. Myers, 43, is required to register as a sex offender due to a 2008 conviction in Thurston County Superior Court of two counts of communication of a minor for immoral purposes. Myers was convicted of, between the ages of 21 and 33, sexually assaulting a girl between the ages of 3 and 15 and a boy between the ages of 9 and 11. Myers is described as a white male standing 5 feet, 7 inches tall and weighing 280 pounds. He has brown hair and brown eyes. Level 1 sex offender Ronnie L. Lawrence, 51, is required to register as a sex offender due to a 2005 conviction in Lewis county Superior Court on three counts of third-degree rape of a child. Lawrence was convicted of, at 37 years old, sexually assaulting a 14-year-old girl. Lawrence is described as a black male standing 5 feet, 7 inches and weighing 190 pounds. He has black hair and brown eyes. Level 1 sex offender Elton Hoard, 41, is required to register as a sex offender due to a 1995 conviction in Thurston County Juvenile Court to one count of second-degree rape of a child. At 19 years old, Hoard was accused of sexually assaulting a 12-year-old girl. Hoard is described as a black male standing 5 feet, 10 inches tall and weighing 220 pounds. He has black hair and brown eyes. Level 1 sex offender Christopher M. Rainey, 32, is required to register as a sex offender due to a 2004 conviction in Lewis County Juvenile Court of one count of indecent liberties. At 17 years old, Rainey was accused of sexually assaulting a 16-year-old girl. Rainey is described as a white male standing 6 feet, 1 inch tall and weighing 175 pounds. He has brown hair and brown eyes. Level 2 sex offender Tabitha A. Miller, 37, is required to register as a sex offender due to a 2002 conviction of second-degree assault with sexual motivation. At 19 years old, Miller was accused of sexually assaulting a 9-year-old girl. Miller is described as a white female standing 5 feet, 3 inches tall and weighing 135 pounds. She has blonde hair and green eyes. Level 2 sex offender Daalon L. Bryant, 43, is required to register as a sex offender due to a 2000 conviction in Thurston County Superior Court of one count of second-degree rape of a child. He was convicted of, at 25 years old, having sexual contact with a 13-year-old girl. He was also convicted in 1998 in Kitsap County Superior Court of third-degree rape of a child. In that case, Bryant was accused, at 23 years old, of having sexual contact with a 15-year-old girl. Bryant is described as a black male standing 5 feet, 8 inches tall and weighing 165 pounds. He has black hair and brown eyes. Level 1 sex offender Robert W. Dormady, 54, is required to register as a sex offender due to a 1991 conviction in Orange County, Florida, of two counts of attempted sexual battery. Dormady was sentenced to 15 years in prison. He was convicted of, at 28 years old, sexually assaulting a 5-year-old boy. Dormady is described as a white male standing 6 feet tall and weighing 185 pounds. He has brown hair and blue eyes. Level 1 sex offender Geoffrey A. Bartlett, 33, is required to register as a sex offender due to a 1999 conviction in Pierce County Juvenile Court to one count of first-degree rape of a child. At 12 years old, Bartlett was convicted of sexually assaulting a 7-year-old boy. Bartlett is described as a white male standing 6 feet, 1 inch tall and weighing 210 pounds. He has brown hair and blue eyes. For more information about sex offenders registered in Thurston County, go to www.co.thurston.wa.us/sheriff/ or call 360-754-2894. PR-Inside.com: 2019-01-24 09:37:19 Press Information Persistence Market Research 305 Broadway 7th Floor, New York City, NY 10007, United States, Telephone - +1-646-568-7751 USA Canada Toll Free: 800-961-0353 Email: sales@persistencemarketresearch.com Web: http://www.persistencemarketresearch.com Yogesh Senger Manager 6465687751 email https://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/ # 750 Words 305 Broadway7th Floor, New York City,NY 10007, United States,Telephone - +1-646-568-7751USA Canada Toll Free: 800-961-0353Email: sales@persistencemarketresearch.comWeb: http://www.persistencemarketresearch.comManager6465687751 The vended laundry equipment are the laundry equipment used at commercial places, for washing, drying, and bleaching of clothes. The vended laundry equipment are part of the commercial laundry systems and are also sometimes called as coin-operated laundry systems and are self-service equipment. The vended laundry equipment are available at privately owned laundry business.The growth of the vended laundry equipment is fuelled by the changing lifestyle of the developing countries, as the technology has made life speedier and customers find it easier to depend on automated and paid services rather than the domestic equipment. In already developed countries, where a market is in the growth phase, new features of the vended laundry equipment, that is, more efficient technology is expected to retain the stability of the vended laundry equipment market here.Vended Laundry Equipment Market: Segmentation:The vended laundry equipment market can be segmented on the basis of technology and equipment.On the basis of technology, the vended laundry equipment market can be segmented as coin-operated laundry, coinless payment laundry, and remote controlled laundry. The coinless payment laundry includes have amenities such as high-speed Wi-Fi, lighting systems, and other facilities make these devices very user-friendly. Remote management is a new automation feature which has made business easier for laundromat owners.On the basis of type, the vended laundry equipment market can be segmented as washers, washer-extractors, and dryers. The washers segment can be further sub-segmented as stack-washer dryers, front-load washers, and top-load washers. The dryers segment can be further sub-segmented as single dryers and tumble dryers.Vended Laundry Equipment Market: Drivers, Restraints, and Trends:The vended laundry equipment market has seen a stable growth in the recent period due to technological advancement. The new automation features are speedier and are enabling the laundromat owners to spend less time on-site. Also, remote management of vended laundry equipment does not require the presence of an attendant, saving owners funds spent on employee wages. The new laundry features and the changing lifestyle of the consumers together have significantly fuelled the growth of vended laundry equipment market.The consumers opting for a more sustainable practice of washing is a recent trend in the vended laundry equipment market. New innovations such as replacing the use of water by polymer beads, and also replacing detergents with electrolyzed water and ultrasonic waves are likely to attract consumer attention and boost the growth of the vended laundry equipment market. However, laundromat owner may have to invest huge amount of money in the servicing of the laundry equipment, and constant management and time is required to check in the issues such as broken equipment, replacement of old devices with new ones, possible leakages in the drain system of the devices and conditions of the coin-slot mechanism of the equipment.To view TOC of this report is available upon request @Vended Laundry Equipment Market: Regional Outlook:The vended laundry equipment market sees stable growth in the North America market, as the usage of vended laundry equipment here is old and the market is highly saturated. In Latin America, owners are coming up with innovative strategies in the vended laundry equipment market, by making the launderettes a social center. The investment in services such as television and beverage is a new trend in these markets. Many owners are focusing on making launderettes a community hub and creating a friendly and enjoyable cleaning experience for customers.In Europe, people are opting for a more sustainable practice of cleaning, and going more low-temperature washing, reported by Europes International Association of Soaps, Detergents and Maintenance Products (AISE) in 2013. Asia-Pacific is likely to show a significant rise in the vended laundry equipment market. The saturation in other markets creates a good opportunity for investors in Asia and Pacific. The growing disposable income of the customers in this region will also fuel the growth of the vended laundry equipment market in this region.In Middle-East, the growth of the vended laundry equipment market is triggered by heavy tourism, which makes vended laundry equipment a necessity in this region. The African region is likely to exhibit a comparatively slow growth in the vended laundry equipment market, due to less disposable income of the customers here.Vended Laundry Equipment Market: Key Players:The key players in Vended Laundry Equipment are Girbau S.A., Alliance Laundry Systems LLC, Dexter Laundry Inc, Whirlpool Corp, Maxi Companies, Yamamoto Manufacturing Co., Ltd, and Pellerin Milnor Corporation.Request to Sample Report @ https://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/samples/20416 PR-Inside.com: 2019-01-24 10:50:47 Global energy demand had seen an exponential growth over the decade due to changing lifestyle. At the time when natural gas prices witnessing fluctuation and coal resources are depleting, the world is witnessing a significant gap between demand and supply of energy. Though as per World Coal Association, global coal reserves are estimated to be 861 tonne and accounts to 42% of total world electricity production; the year on year growth for coal consumption was highest in FY 2013, making it the highest since 1970. The demand for coal consumption is increasing every year thereby leading to depletion of coal reserves at an alarming rate. Moreover, most regions are economically unviable to extract coal from its bed. It is due to this reason that companies are looking for alternative solution that can lead to harnessing the total potential of coal, without disturbing the ecological balance.Underground coal gasification (UCG) is an industrial process by which coal is gasified under intense heat and atmospheric pressure. This enables the production of synthetic gas, constituents of carbon monoxide and hydrogen, which are extracted through a well and utilized in various sectors, ranging from power generation to biodiesel and fertilizer production. Though this concept is not new to the market, little progress has been achieved in this sector, primarily due to low R&D. However, with growing energy consumption and fluctuating oil prices, industries are focusing on UCG to offer clean, efficient and cost-effective energy to various industries.Asia-Pacific is projected as the largest market for underground coal gasification over the next 5 years due to impressive growth in end-use industries ranging from power to chemicals. China along with India, and Australia are key markets for underground coal gasification projects. China is the largest producer as well as the largest consumer of coal based energy. It consumes almost half of the total coal production to meet its energy demand. China has conducted 17 UCG trials since 1991 to check the economic viability of UCG. Major power generating enterprise SinoCoking Coal is planning to harness coal reserves in Henan Province which was abruptly shut down because of strict environmental compliance set up by Chinese government. UCG is an environmental friendly approach that empowers companies to scale high power generation. With worlds most populated country, China offers a vibrant platform for energy sector companies to set up their base in China and thereby meet the growing demand of energy in China. Recently, China signed a whooping US $ 1.5 billion major pact with UK for commercial development of UCG in interiors of Mongolia.Next prominent market is India. In India, mining contributes 10% of Indias GDP. With vast coal reserves, India is looking towards harnessing coal without disturbing ecological balance. There are also some sites which are economically nonviable to mine. Though Indias untapped 88.6 billion tonnes of non-metallurgical coal is found at a depth of 300 to 1200 metre is economically nonviable; UCG makes it economically sound option. Coal India Limited is trying to push the UCG technology to harness the coal in Kaitha (Jharkhand) and Thesgora (Madhya Pradesh) area. These two promising region is expected to generate high return on investment (ROI) by FY 2025.Request For Report Sample @ https://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/sample/rep-ap-173 Next prominent destination is Australia. In Australia, most companies are undertaking R&D to fully harness the concept of UCG. At present, three major UCG trials is being conducted by Linc Energy, Cougar Energy, and Carbon Energy at Queensland. Australian government is paying a vigil eye on these projects until the technology is commercially proven.SinoCoking Coal, Cougar Energy, Carbon Energy, Linc Energy, and ONGC are key market players that have conducted pilot projects on UCG technology.Future is optimistic for underground coal gasification. With major innovations going around globally, it is expected to meet the needs of people in oil shortage region. Regions including APAC, and Africa will be a future market for underground coal gasification segments.Request For Report Table of Content (TOC): https://www.futuremarketinsights.com/toc/rep-ap-173 XploreMR is one of the worlds leading resellers of high-quality market research reports. We feature in-depth reports from some of the worlds most reputed market research companies and international organizations. We serve across a broad spectrum from Fortune 500 to small and medium businesses. Our clients trust us for our unwavering focus onquality and affordability. We believe high price should not be a bottleneck for organizations looking to gain access to quality information. XploreMR PR-Inside.com: 2019-01-24 13:58:20 Press Information XploreMR 111 North Market Street, Suite 300, San Jose, CA 95113, United States Website: https://www.xploremr.com Email : sales@xploremr.com sales@xploremr.com Research Analyst 6692840108 email http://www.xploremr.com # 599 Words 111 North Market Street, Suite 300,San Jose, CA 95113, United StatesWebsite: https://www.xploremr.comEmail : sales@xploremr.comResearch Analyst6692840108 In robust of the market included Theodolite market report. Which helps to heighten the industry growth along with assorted market subjects such as growth path, predictions, revenue, trends, and market size analysis which are directly impacted on market dynamics. XploreMR provides the data on the bases of the past and current years for forecast the market covering in the next upcoming years as well as covering the latest trends of the market. The report will provide a detailed study of the market which will aid the reader for judgment and better comprehension.Global Theodolite Market: OverviewThe global theodolite market is expected to register a healthy growth attributed to the growing need for making accurate measurements during the construction process. Apart from making accurate measurements in the construction industry, application of the theodolite also contributes during the study of orology. Growing need to re-measure the mountain ranges by the survey department of countries such as China and India continues to fuel growth of the global theodolite market. Integration of advanced technological features that enable laser tracking and GPS monitoring for high precision measurement has further contribute towards growth of the global theodolite market.View Full Report @ https://www.xploremr.com/report/1966/theodolite-market The report provides an in-depth insight on the crucial aspects of the global theodolite market while offering related information on the important segments, factor fuelling growth of the global market, competitive landscape and growth patterns.Global Theodolite Market: DynamicsGrowth of the global theodolite market is mainly bound to various macro-economic and micro-economic factors. The report reveals that the increasing demand for making precise measurements in various industries such as construction and transportation industry has led to an upsurge in demand for theodolite market. Emerging technology will continue to transform and redefine the application of theodolite globally. With the emerging technology, manufacturers are focusing on integrating the advanced technological features in theodolite devices in order to equip them with enhanced GPS and laser tracking attributes. Bound to these factors, adoption of the theodolite devices will continue to increase in the global market.Theodolite devices will further continue to witness significant demand during the survey procedures. Increasing demand to re-measure the mountain ranges in various countries such as China and India is likely to rev up adoption of the global theodolite market.Download Sample Report @ https://www.xploremr.com/connectus/sample/1966 On the other hand, various factors are expected to inhibit growth of the global theodolite market. Bound to lack of raw materials due to imposition of restrictions on use of the arsenic oxide by the European Union is likely to inhibit growth of the global market positively. As arsenic oxide is increasingly used to manufacture telescope, microscope and optical lens. With increasing impositions by the government on the use of arsenic oxide, the global theodolite market is expected to witness an inhibiting growth.Global Theodolite Market: SegmentationIn the next section, the report reveals that the global theodolite market is segmented on the basis of product type, application and region. On the basis of product type, the global market is segmented as optical, electronic and vernier product. Based on application, the global market is segmented in terms of industrial, construction and other applications. By region, the global theodolite market is segmented as North America, Latin America, Europe and Japan.Global Theodolite Market: CompetitionKey market players operating in the global theodolite market include EIE Instruments, South Surveying & Mapping Instrument Co Ltd, Survey Instruments Services Pte Ltd., Hexagon AB, Trimble, Suzhou FOIF Co., Hilti Group and Topcon Corporation.Buy Full Report @ https://www.xploremr.com/cart/reports/buynow/1966 Future Market Insights has announced the addition of the The demand for good quality cosmetic products is fuelling the cosmetic ingredient market report to their offering Upcoming Future Market Insights PR-Inside.com: 2019-01-24 15:32:20 Press Information Future Market Insights U.S. Office 616 Corporate Way, Suite 2-9018, Valley Cottage, NY 10989, United States Abhishek Budholiya Manager +1 03479183531 email http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/ # 626 Words U.S. Office616 Corporate Way, Suite 2-9018,Valley Cottage, NY 10989,United StatesManager+1 03479183531 Cosmetic ingredient market has changed a lot over the course of time. Since time immemorial, human beings are using different types of cosmetics to enhance their physical appearance, which in turn makes people feel more confident and pleasing in nature. It is due to growing demand for beauty products that market is flooded with various cosmetic products. The multibillion dollar industry is growing at a lightning speed to meet the consumer demand. Cosmetic ingredients are the specific sets of substance that are used in the formulation and composition of cosmetics. Any kind of impurities in raw materials and subsidiary technical materials are not considered as ingredients, hence water is also considered as separate ingredient. At present, various cosmetic business entrepreneurs use more than 5000 available cosmetic ingredients to offer selected cosmetics products.Cosmetic Industry: Drivers & RestraintsThe demand for good quality cosmetic products is fuelling the cosmetic ingredient market. Changing lifestyle specially in developing regions of Asia Pacific and Latin America brings a sea of opportunities to cosmetic ingredients manufacturers and suppliers. Increase in per capita income, rising awareness about beautification and increasingly urbanized population is offering momentum to the growth of overall cosmetic industry which in turn is escalating the cosmetic ingredients market to its zenith. Though cosmetic industry market size is growing at an impressive rate, various regulations prohibiting the use of certain chemicals as ingredients is a major challenge to the cosmetic ingredients manufacturers. In APAC, China and ASEAN regions are some of the most lucrative regions for increase in consumer spending and rise in GDP.Request Sample Report @ https://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/sample/rep-gb-519 Cosmetic Ingredients Market: SegmentationOn the basis of product type, the global cosmetic ingredients market is segmented into,SurfactantsEmulsifiersAntimicrobialsUV absorbersEmollientsConditioning PolymersOthersAlpha hydroxy acids, beta hydroxyl acids and talc are some of the examples of commonly used cosmetics ingredients. Among all these product type, surfactants are expected to hold the market dominance throughout the forecast period, however, conditioning polymers is projected to grow at the highest CAGR between 2015 and 2025.On the basis of end-use applications, cosmetic ingredients market is segmented intoSkin CareNail CareMake upOthersSkin care and make up are the two most lucrative markets for chemical ingredients manufacturers. Together, they account more than onefourth of total cosmetic ingredients market. Changing lifestyle and increasing awareness about skin care is boosting the demand for skin care applications.Get More Information @ https://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/cosmetic-ingredients-market Cosmetic Ingredients Market: Region-wise OutlookOn the basis of region, cosmetic ingredients finds its market scope in North America, Latin America, Middle East & Africa, Europe and Asia-Pacific. North America and Europe dominates the cosmetic ingredients, however, Asia Pacific and Latin America are expected to be the most promising region in terms of incremental opportunities lying ahead for generating high revenue. Cosmetic ingredient market is highly regulated in Europe and North America. China, India and ASEAN are the key promising countries driving the cosmetic ingredients market in Asia-Pacific. Rapid growth of urbanization coupled with growing desire for skin care is expected to offer above average growth to cosmetic ingredients market in Asia-Pacific. Brazil leads the cosmetic market followed by Mexico in Latin America. As per the CANIPEC, the Mexican personal care industrys national chamber and association, there are more than 64 business enterprises operating in personal care market that are worth approximately US$ 14 billion in Mexico.Cosmetic Ingredients Market: Key PlayersCompany needs to meet the stringent quality norms before marketing their key ingredients. It is due to these factors that the market in North America and Europe is consolidated and is dominated by list of key cosmetic ingredient manufacturers and suppliers.Request to View TOC @ https://www.futuremarketinsights.com/toc/rep-gb-519 PR-Inside.com: 2019-01-24 15:29:14 Press Information Fact.MR Office: Dublin 2 Suite 9884 27 Upper Pembroke Street, Dublin 2, Ireland Sudip Saha Head of Marketing +353-1-4434-232 email https://www.factmr.com/ # 718 Words Office: Dublin 2Suite 988427 Upper Pembroke Street,Dublin 2, IrelandHead of Marketing+353-1-4434-232 Switch Disconnectors Market: OverviewSwitch disconnectors are used for distribution of electricity, connecting and disconnecting flow of currents and protection of electrical equipment against short circuits and overloads. The switch disconnectors market is increasing as industrial, commercial, as well as the residential sector, are more inclined towards non-fused disconnectors due to cost-efficient & easy installations features. There is an increase in installation of switch disconnectors by manufacturing and commercial industry due to the increasing usage of a broad range of switch disconnectors, such as fused and non-fused switch disconnectors, for overcurrent protection based on application areas and voltage levels required by industrial sector. Fused switch disconnectors are low-voltage switching devices, which allow manual connecting and disconnecting of electrical circuits by cutting off power supply depending on the voltage levels and utilization, while non-fused switch disconnectors are used to isolate the circuit by rotary switches or knife-blade switches when it is in service or maintenance. Non-fused switch disconnectors are used to detach circuit breakers, transmission lines and transformers as part of their maintenance process. Therefore, due to the rise in electricity consumption across various industrial application, there is an increase in the installation of switch disconnectors. The key vendors in the switch disconnectors market are focused on innovative product offering and are focusing on safety regulations to enhance their presence in the market. The switch disconnectors manufacturers are also focusing on differentiated offerings that will help them gain a competitive advantage in the switch disconnectors market. Therefore, the introduction of various switches with different mounting options and poles and rise in the application of switch disconnectors in photovoltaic systems and renewable market are the key factors that are expected to boost the growth of the switch disconnectors across the globe.Get Free Exclusive Sample Copy of This Report @ https://www.factmr.com/connectus/sample?flag=S&rep_id=2763 Global Switch Disconnectors Market: DynamicsEfficient switching and longer life are the key benefits of switch disconnectors that is boosting the growth of the switch disconnectors market. Also, the increase in usage of DIN-rail mounting in industrial applications and usage of switch disconnectors in solar photovoltaic systems is driving the growth of the switch disconnectors market.However, the changing price of raw materials and low-quality switch products by local brands can be a restraining factor that can hamper the growth of the switch disconnectors market.The growing trend towards the high voltage power transmission is creating growth opportunities for key vendors in the switch disconnectors market.Global Switch Disconnectors Market: Competition LandscapeExamples of some of the key players in the global switch disconnectors market include Eaton Corporation, Schneider Electric, ABB Ltd, Mersen S.A., RS Components Ltd, WEG SA, C&S Electric Limited, Siemens AG, ETI, Apator SA, Hager Group, OEZ s.r.o., Larsen & Toubro Limited, etc.Global Switch Disconnectors Market: Regional OutlookThe Europe region is expected to dominate the switch disconnectors market followed by North America and Asia Pacific region. The market in Europe is expected to witness higher growth due to the vast presence of switch disconnector manufacturers in this region. The introduction of a variety of switch disconnectors with different mounting options and voltage levels plays a vital role in driving the growth of the market in the North America region. The rise in usage of DIN-rail mounting switch disconnectors in industrial applications in the U.S. is creating growth opportunities in the North America region. Moreover, the Asia Pacific, Latin America and MEA regions are projected to grow at a significant rate over the forecast period.Ask For Customized Report @ https://www.factmr.com/connectus/sample?flag=RC&rep_id=2763 In May 2017, ABB Ltd, which is one of the leading providers of electrification products, robotics and industrial automation solutions, etc. has upgraded its OT series of low voltage switch disconnector. This disconnector range offers space utilization and reliability in on-load switching in extreme conditions.The research report presents a comprehensive assessment of the Switch Disconnectors market and contains thoughtful insights, facts, historical data and statistically supported and industry-validated market data. It also includes projections using a suitable set of assumptions and methodologies. The research report provides analysis and information according to market segments such as geographies, type, mounting type and application.For more information on this report, please visit: https://www.factmr.com/report/2763/switch-disconnectors-market PR-Inside.com: 2019-01-24 10:51:08 Surface mining refers to the mining technique where the overlying layer of soil and rock is removed, followed by the recovery or excavation of the underlying minerals. This method of mining provides considerably better recovery, safety, flexibility, environmental conditions and grade control as compared to other mining methods such as underground mining. The technique of surface mining gained momentum in the 16th century and has been widely prevalent at a global level, especially in North America.Factors such as lower injury rates, better recovery, flexibility and grade control serve as drivers for the global surface mining industry. However, from an environmental perspective, surface mining tends to have an extensive and more prominent impact on the surrounding environment as compared to underground mining. This is a disadvantage for the global surface mining industry. Hence, to counter this environmental impact associated with the surface mining operations, a safety zone needs to be placed around the mining area. Another disadvantage associated with the global surface mining industry is the relatively higher transport cost involved during the mining operation. For instance, the transportation cost of rock in open pit mining method accounts for about 50% of the total operating cost. Supporting regulations for surface mining such as the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act, 1977 in the US, and proper economic planning alongwith the establishment of safety zone near the mine surface have been introduced in recent times. These developments, the vast horizontal and low lying reserves and the surging demand of iron-ore, diamond, chromium and coal, will act as opportunistic factors for the global surface mining market.Market segmentation of surface mining can be done on the basis of mining methods, the type of mineral deposits and regions. On the basis of mining methods, the global surface mining can be categorised into 3 groups: strip mining, terrace mining and open-pit mining. Among these, strip mining is applied where both the surface of the ground and the ore body are relatively horizontal with a minimal depth under the surface. An example of strip mining is the coal mining operation at Mpumalanga. Terrace mining is opted for where the overlying layer is relatively thicker or the ore incline is too steep. Terrace mining is a multi-step method in which the entire mine moves over the ore reserve from one end to another. This type of mining is prevalent in Germany-based lignite mines, and in some of the coal mines in the UK and South Africa. Open-pit mining refers to the traditional cone-shaped excavation with a typical vein structure, and steeply dipping and stratified ores. This mining method is primarily used for the excavation of metals such as Sishen iron-ore and Palabora copper ore. However, at some places open-pit mining can also be used for the excavation of other types of deposits such as diamond ore at Finsch.Request For Report Sample @ https://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/sample/rep-gb-61 On the basis of the type of mineral deposits, surface mining can be categorised as stratified and non-stratified. Stratified surface mining can be further sub-divided into horizontal and inclined. Non-stratified is divided into vertical vein, and massive stockwork or pipe.On the basis of region, the global surface mining market includes North America, Latin America, Asia Pacific, Japan, Western Europe, Eastern Europe, and Middle East & Africa. Among these, surface mining is mostly prevalent in North America, followed by Latin America, Asia Pacific, and Middle East & Africa. Surface mining accounts for about 85% of the overall mineral exploitation in the US. The major countries using surface mining include the US, Canada, Mexico, Peru, India, China, Chile, Brazil, Indonesia, Ukraine, Angola and Australia.Request For Report Table of Content (TOC): https://www.futuremarketinsights.com/toc/rep-gb-61 Some of the prominent players of the global surface mining market include: Goldcorp, Teck, Rio Tinto, BHP Billiton, Vale S A, Freeport-McMoran, Barrick Gold and others. With the adoption of safety measures, economical techniques and support from governmental legislations, the mining companies are expected to witness further positive growth, thereby contributing to a sustainable positive future for the global surface mining market. PR-Inside.com: 2019-01-24 11:09:27 Press Information Persistence Market Research 305 Broadway 7th Floor, New York City, NY 10007, United States, Telephone - +1-646-568-7751 USA Canada Toll Free: 800-961-0353 Email: sales@persistencemarketresearch.com Web: http://www.persistencemarketresearch.com Yogesh Senger Manager 6465687751 email https://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/ # 577 Words 305 Broadway7th Floor, New York City,NY 10007, United States,Telephone - +1-646-568-7751USA Canada Toll Free: 800-961-0353Email: sales@persistencemarketresearch.comWeb: http://www.persistencemarketresearch.comManager6465687751 The traditional and Italian food pasta has extensively become popular in the world and newer varieties and flavors of this product like spinach pasta is slowly making its way in the snack market. Spinach pasta is available in two forms in the market- with finely chopped spinach leaves or powdered spinach included in the dough of the pasta; or with chopped spinach stuffed inside the pasta. Due to their affordable, convenient and nutritious nature, spinach pasta market is likely to grow considerably in the forecast period.On the basis of form, the spinach pasta market is segmented as dough infused and stuffed/filled. The stuffed/filled spinach pasta will often include frozen spinach.On the basis of nature, the spinach pasta market is segmented as organic and conventionalOn the basis of distribution channel, the spinach pasta market is segmented as store-based retailing and online retail. The store based retailing is further segmented as modern grocery retail and traditional grocery retail. The modern grocery retail is segmented as hypermarkets/supermarkets, convenience stores, mom & pop stores and discount stores. The traditional grocery retailing is further segmented as food & drink specialty, independent small groceries and others.To view TOC of this report is available upon request @ https://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/toc/20518 In recent times, flavor has become an important factor which affects the sale of pasta and consequently, becomes a strong driver in boosting the sales of the spinach pasta market. Many pasta have vegetable content, like tomato and spinach, which adds color and flavor to the pasta giving it a visually appealing appearance. The appearance of the food product is a highly influencing factor for the kids population, and is a strong driver for the spinach pasta market. The parent population also view spinach pasta as a good source of green vegetable, which otherwise, kids are reluctant to consume. The spinach pasta market is controlled by the demand side factor in many countries, depending on the popularity and consumption of either pasta or spinach. Moreover, with changing consumer trends, the demand for niche pasta products, like spinach pasta and other types of pasta is increasing and may fuel the growth of spinach pasta market. On the other hand, the dislike for spinach and green vegetables amongst many consumer hinders the growth of the spinach pasta market.The spinach pasta market is likely to affect the share of the unflavored/ plain pasta market due to the increase in health awareness amongst consumers in Europe. Comparatively, Europe is expected to show less growth due to market saturation. In Latin America, marketing and promotion of products amongst the middle-class consumers is likely to boost to the growth of the spinach pasta. In Asia, the spinach pasta is similar to many traditional cuisines and may gain a wide acceptability amongst consumers. As spinach is a part of the staple food in many Asian countries, the spinach pasta market sees a considerable growth in this region. Moreover, many regions in Asia are embracing continental cuisines and product diversification in the food market, which is also likely to fuel the growth of the spinach pasta market here. In North America, the spinach pasta market is especially driven by the demand for food offering tasty as well as nutritional benefits. Owing to less consumer awareness of spinach pasta products, the Middle East and Africa is expected to have a slow growth in the spinach pasta market.Request for Report Sample : https://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/samples/20518 Persistence Market Research PR-Inside.com: 2019-01-24 10:20:58 Press Information Persistence Market Research Persistence Market Research 305 Broadway 7th Floor, New York City, NY 10007, United States, USA Canada Toll Free: 800-961-0353 Yogesh Team Lead 800-961-0353 email http://www.persistencemarketresearch.com # 604 Words Persistence Market Research305 Broadway7th Floor, New York City,NY 10007, United States,USA Canada Toll Free: 800-961-0353Team Lead800-961-0353 Persistence Market Research (PMR) delivers key insights on the global sodium propionate market in its upcoming outlook, titled, Sodium Propionate Market: Global Industry Analysis 2013-2017 and Forecast 2018-2026. In terms of value, the global sodium propionate market is projected to register a healthy CAGR of 3.9% during the forecast period, due to various factors, regarding which, PMR offers vital insights in detail.On the basis of application type, the food and beverages segment is expected to maintain its dominance in the sodium propionate market, with a significant CAGR of 3.9% during the forecast period. The increasing tendency for developing countries to adapt to food trends has resulted in a worldwide growth of the fast food culture. In North America alone, 34% of children consume fast food. Sodium propionate is an integral artificial preservative for processed foods and breads, which are major parts of the fast food culture. This is fueling the increasing demand for sodium propionate in the market.Request For Report Sample@ https://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/samples/4605 The global pharmaceutical industry has grown from US$ 390.2 Bn to over a trillion dollars in value, as of 2018. Sodium propionate, as an excipient, is an integral part of pharmaceutical formulations. Sodium propionate, because of its relatively inert nature in medicinal preparations, and efficient mold and bacteria inhibiting properties, is used in pharmaceuticals, extensively. The steady growth of the pharmaceutical industry accounts for a steady growth in the demand for sodium propionate over the forecast period.Global meat production in 2017 stood at 322.36 Mn metric tons. With an increase in GDP, the consumption of meat and meat products is on the rise in developing countries. Sodium propionate is extensively used in the meat and meat products industry for its anti-bacterial and anti-mold properties. As the demand for processed meat products increases, globally, it aids the growth of the sodium propionate market.In 2016, the U.S. government set revised guidelines for sodium content in food products. This can make certain manufacturers refrain from using sodium propionate as a preservative, and choose an alternate preservative. A negative mindset of the general public towards artificial preservatives such as sodium propionate can also be a hurdle for the sodium propionate market.The raw material prices for manufacturing sodium propionate are volatile, and this has led key players to face increased product costs, in certain instances. The volatile raw material prices for the production of sodium propionate affects the sodium propionate market, since sodium propionate is bought primarily in bulk, and small fluctuations in prices affect the end consumer on a larger scale.This report covers the trends driving each segment, and offers analysis and insights of the potential of the sodium propionate market in specific regions. North America is expected to register high growth rates between 2018 and 2026, and is also expected to remain the largest market for sodium propionate through 2026. According to market attractiveness, North America and Europe are relatively more attractive markets in the sodium propionate market. Based on application, the sodium propionate market is segmented as bakery products, meat and meat products, cheese & cheese products, pharmaceuticals, personal care, agrochemicals, and others.Request For Report Table of Content (TOC)@ https://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/methodology/12652 Detailed profiles of the providers are also included in the scope of the report, to evaluate their long-term and short-term strategies, key offerings, and recent developments in the sodium propionate space. Key players in the sodium propionate market include Niacet Corporation, Macco Organiques Inc., Fine organic industries, Ltd, Foodchem International, Prathista Industries Ltd, DR. Paul Lohmann GmbH KG, Sigma-Aldrich, Inc., Rishi chemical works Pvt. Ltd., Titan biotech Limited, Toronto Research Chemicals Inc., Krishna chemicals, and Jainex Specialty Chemicals, amongst others. Sleep Aid Devices Market PR-Inside.com: 2019-01-24 10:43:06 Press Information Persistence Market Research Contact Us Persistence Market Research 305 Broadway 7th Floor, New York City, NY 10007, United States, USA Canada Toll Free: 800-961-0353 Email: sales@persistencemarketresearch.com Web: http://www.persistencemarketresearch.com Yogesh Senger Associate Consultant 800-961-0353 email http://www.persistencemarketresearch.com # 698 Words Contact UsPersistence Market Research305 Broadway7th Floor, New York City,NY 10007, United States,USA Canada Toll Free: 800-961-0353Email: sales@persistencemarketresearch.comWeb: http://www.persistencemarketresearch.comAssociate Consultant800-961-0353 According to the American Sleep Association, around 50-70 million adults in the U.S. are suffering from sleep disorders, 48.0% of the U.S. adults report snoring, and approximately 5.9 million U.S. adults were diagnosed with obstructive sleep apnea (OSA). In Latin America, the prevalence of OSA was 23.5% in 2013. Sleep aid devices are considered as useful tools for the treatment of sleep disorders. According to the latest research by Persistence Market Research (PMR), the global sleep aid devices market is anticipated to account for over US$ 29,200 Mn, in terms of value, by 2026 end. The report on the sleep aid devices market further projects significant growth potential with CAGR at 4.9% through 2026.Rising stress levels and the rapid increase in sleep disorders such as, insomnia, sleep apnea, restless legs syndrome, narcolepsy, and sleep deprivation have created a need for more advanced sleep aid devices. Various government and non-government organizations such as Circadian Sleep Disorders Network and American Sleep Apnea Association (ASAA) are conducting various awareness programs to increase awareness regarding the importance of ample sleep and usage of sleep aid devices. The initiatives taken by sleep associations and government authorities are promoting the demand for sleep disorder treatment. This would result in an increasing wave of demand for sleep aid devices.Request for Report Methodology @: https://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/methodology/25411 The rise in geriatric population is expected to contribute to the growth of sleep aid devices market. As per the NIH-funded Census Bureau report in 2016, around 8.5% of the world population was aged 65 or above and by 2050 this percentage is expected to grow to around 17%. The prevalence of several lifestyle diseases such as atherosclerosis, heart disease, stroke, obesity, type 2 diabetes, and diseases associated with smoking, alcohol and drug abuse is rising globally. The rise in geriatric population and other lifestyle-related diseases is consequently expected to impact the growth of the sleep aid devices market in a positive way.Disposable income in developing economies is increasing, as a result, people are opting for safe and advanced sleep aid devices. Moreover, due to the rise in disposable income, people now can afford the high-cost devices. Such favorable conditions have provided an excellent growth opportunity for the manufacturers of sleep aid devices to connect with potential customers.Persistence Market Research (PMR) has segmented the sleep aid devices market based on product type, indication, end user, and region.The product type segment of the sleep aid devices market is segmented into Positive Air Pressure Devices, Adaptive Servo-Ventilation (ASV) Devices, Mattresses and Pillows, Smart Sleeping Equipment, and Other Sleep Solutions. Smart sleeping equipment are technologically-advanced sleep aid devices, which track sleep and give information about the quality of sleep a person had with the help of a mobile application. Along with sleep data, they also have some additional features such as onboard temperature control, smart home integration, and can analyze heart and breathing rate to help a person sleep properly. The smart sleeping equipment segment in the sleep aid devices market is expected to witness noteworthy growth in terms of revenue owing to the rapid increase in demand for safe sleep aid devices.By indication, sleep aid devices can be segmented as sleep aid devices for insomnia, sleep aid devices for sleep apnea, sleep aid devices for restless leg syndrome, sleep aid devices for narcolepsy, and sleep aid devices for sleep deprivation. Insomnia is the most common sleep disorder among these, with short-term issues reported by about 30% of adults and chronic insomnia by 10% in the U.S.Request to Sample Report @ https://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/samples/25411 North America and Europe sleep aid devices markets will continue to dominate owing to favorable reimbursement coverage and increasing per capita healthcare expenditure. The Asia Pacific and Latin America sleep aid devices market is expected to grow at a high growth rate due to active healthcare landscape and favorable government policies for startup companies.PMRs report tracks some of the key companies operating in the sleep aid devices market, such as ResMed Inc., Fisher & Paykel Healthcare Limited, Drive DeVilbiss Healthcare LLC, Koninklijke Philips N.V., Sleep Number Corporation, Responsive Surface Technology LLC, Eight Sleep Inc., Simmons Bedding Company LLC, Electromedical Products International, Inc., Kingsdown, Inc., and Ebb Therapeutics, Sleepace Inc. PR-Inside.com: 2019-01-24 05:56:15 Competitive advantage of adopting power tools has lowered the adoption of hand tools. Multiple industrial operations are being equipped with power tools to benefit from their cost-effectiveness, lesser labour-induced work and higher efficiency. Furthermore, advancements in existing power tools are swiftly outpacing the upgrades done on conventional hand tools. In the long run, there is a possibility that hand tools might lose their applicability to power tools. Future Market Insights projects that during the forecast period 2017-2027, the global market for hand tools will showcase a moderate growth, registering a CAGR of 3.9%.Request For Report Sample @ https://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/sample/rep-gb-1114 Future Market Insights recently published report, titled Hand Tools Market: Global Industry Analysis and Opportunity Assessment, 2017-2027, estimates the global hand tools market to reach US$ 15.6 Bn value by end of 2017. In the ten-year forecast period, the global demand for hand tools is likely to witness a downtrend, bringing in just over US$ 22.3 Bn in revenues towards the end of 2027. Factors impacting the growth of global hand tools market are compiled in the report, which include:There has been a rise in the number of major manufacturing plants and industries in the world, wherein hand tools are widely used for maintenance purposesAutomotive repair & maintenance sector is presently a lucrative industrial vertical for application of hand toolsAlthough, the global demand for hand tools is predicted to decline due to rising prices of raw materials such as iron ore and aluminiumIncreasing prevalence of DIY activities and rising employment opportunities for technical jobs are observed as key trends of the global hand tools market. The report further reveals that a majority of hand tools sold in the world will be used for industrial purposes. In 2017, industrial application of hand tools is expected to net global revenues worth over US$ 9.3 Bn. Key findings in the report also indicate that metal cutting tools will be observed as top-selling products, registering a steady revenue growth at 4.9% CAGR. Also, throughout the forecast period, over 40% of global hand tool sales will be accounted by retail distribution channels. Online distribution of hand tools is also expected to gain traction towards the latter half of forecast period.Request For Report Table of Content (TOC): https://www.futuremarketinsights.com/askus/rep-gb-1114 North America is estimated to remain as the most-lucrative region for growth of hand tools market. Consistently procuring one-third share on global revenues, North America will remain the dominant region in the global hand tools market through 2027. On the other hand, the hand tools market in Asia-Pacific excluding Japan (APEJ) region will register fastest revenue growth, exhibiting 6% CAGR over the forecast period. Companies such as Channellock, Inc., Akar Tools, Ltd., Apex Tools Group, Wera Tools, Snap-On, Stanley Back Decker, Kennametal Inc., Klein Tools, and JK Files (India) Limited are profiled in the report as key manufacturers of hand tools in the world. Posted Thursday, January 24, 2019 10:05 am A Cleveland, Ohio man while working as a door-to-door salesman in Lewis County forced his way into a Centralia residence to demonstrate a cleaning product then attempted to kiss and touch a teenager, authorities say. Frederick D. Howard, 50, was charged Dec. 31, 2018, with indecent liberties forcible compulsion for the alleged 2015 incident. He failed to appear to a preliminary hearing in Lewis County Superior Court Tuesday afternoon, and a no-bail bench warrant was issued for his arrest. According to a probable cause affidavit, on Nov. 13, 2015, police went to a Centralia house for an alleged incident that occurred the day before. They learned Howard allegedly went to the house trying to sell cleaning products when a female teenager was the only one home. The teen tried to close the door after declining to buy anything, and Howard then pushed his way into the house and began demonstrating his cleaning products. He then allegedly touched the teens face and tried to kiss her and unbutton her pants, documents say. She shoved him out the door. Howard who court documents indicates lives in Cleveland, Ohio was issued a summons on Jan. 7, and failed to appear to a preliminary hearing Tuesday afternoon. Vietnam will serve as Chair of the Council in 2026, while Australia will serve as the Vice Chair. The Ministers of 11 CPTPP parties joined the first session of the Commission in Tokyo (Japan) on November 19th. The Vietnamese delegation included representatives of Ministry of Industry and Trade, Ministry of Finance, Minister of Foreign Affairs, and Ministry of Justice. At the session, the Minister approved the Joint Statement affirming their determination in fully implementing CPTPP. They also adopted four significant decisions, such as operating mechanism of the Council; processes, procedures and conditions to admit new parties; processes and procedures of the arbitrators related to solving disputes between States; and the code of conduct of arbitrators related to the mechanism of resolving disputes between investors and States. The operating mechanism decided the Chair, assisted by the immediate past and immediate future Chairs, who will serve as ViceChairs, will chair the Commission meetings. For the year 2019, considered as a transitional period for securing the smooth implementation for the CPTPP, the following special arrangements will be taken. In this transitional period, Japan will assume the role of Chair in close coordination with New Zealand (the Depositary) and Mexico (immediate future Chair), as well as with all other CPTPP members. To advance the implementation in the first year after entry into force, New Zealand will host a meeting of the Commission in the second half of 2019, together with meetings of key Committees. Vietnam will take the role of Vice Chair in 2025 and 2027./. South Africa: Mineral Resources dismisses Xolobeni claims The Department of Mineral Resources on Thursday rejected claims that it is distributing food parcels to appease the community in the Xolobeni matter. The department has noted with concern false claims from the Amadiba Crisis Committee that the department is involved in a campaign in Xolobeni through distribution of food parcels ahead of the independent survey announced by the Minister of Mineral Resources, it said in a statement. It further added that it has no knowledge of the claims and appealed to the Amadiba Crisis Committee to desist from spreading false information and misleading the public. All affected parties will be duly notified when the survey commences, it said. Last week, Minister Gwede Mantashe announced the imminent commencement of an independent survey to be undertaken in Xolobeni. The survey, which is intended to establish if mining will proceed in that area, will commence in the next few weeks. The announcement of the survey followed the Ministers second meeting with the broader community. The survey is in line with one of the outcomes of the court judgment of the High Court in North Gauteng last year, which called for thorough consultation of the Xolobeni community prior to any granting of a mining right. Announcing the survey, Mantashe said based on the outcomes of the survey, we will then take a firm decision on the way forward. If the community says no, there will be no mining. If the community says yes, mining will proceed. If mining goes ahead in Xolobeni, it must be sustainable and coexist with tourism, agriculture and other economic development initiatives, he said at the time. The debate on Xolobeni was sparked when an Australian mining company was granted a licence to mine in the area. The matter has been hanging from 2002. SAnews.gov.za This story has been published on: 2019-01-24. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article. XploreMR is one of the worlds leading resellers of high-quality market research reports. We feature in-depth reports from some of the worlds most reputed market research companies and international organizations. We serve across a broad spectrum from Fortune 500 to small and medium businesses. Our clients trust us for our unwavering focus onquality and affordability. We believe high price should not be a bottleneck for organizations looking to gain access to quality information. XploreMR PR-Inside.com: 2019-01-24 15:07:59 Press Information XploreMR 111 North Market Street, Suite 300, San Jose, CA 95113, United States Website: https://www.xploremr.com Email : sales@xploremr.com sales@xploremr.com Research Analyst 6692840108 email http://www.xploremr.com # 608 Words 111 North Market Street, Suite 300,San Jose, CA 95113, United StatesWebsite: https://www.xploremr.comEmail : sales@xploremr.comResearch Analyst6692840108 In robust of the market included Raw Milk Vending Machine market report. Which helps to heighten the industry growth along with assorted market subjects such as growth path, predictions, revenue, trends, and market size analysis which are directly impacted on market dynamics. XploreMR provides the data on the bases of the past and current years for forecast the market covering in the next upcoming years as well as covering the latest trends of the market. The report will provide a detailed study of the market which will aid the reader for judgment and better comprehension.Raw milk vending machine consists of an automatic dispenser which dispenses raw milk to a container/bottle after successful payment from the end-user. Some vending machines also provide container/bottle with the milk. Raw milk vending machine dispenses milk collected from cows, buffaloes, goats and sheep.The report provides both revenue and volume for each sub-geographic region. In terms of geographical regions, the report segments the Europe raw milk vending machine market into EU7, Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) and Rest of Europe. EU7 is further segmented into the U.K., Italy, Spain, France, Germany, Belgium, and the Netherlands, while CIS is divided into Russia and Rest of CIS. Majority of Western European countries follow strict regulations regarding the consumption and sale of raw milk whereas Eastern European countries primarily do not comply with any regulation. Considering this variation in regulations across countries, the report also includes analysis of regulatory environment in the Europe market.View Full Report @ https://www.xploremr.com/report/1920/europe-raw-milk-vending-machine-market The raw milk is directly sold to customers at farm in countries such as France, Germany, Denmark, Italy, the Netherlands, Czech Republic, Austria, Slovakia, Lithuania, Ireland and the U.K. Many dairy farmers produce traditional cheese, buttermilk, yogurt and chocolate from raw milk in their farms. The major countries that have adopted raw milk vending machine include Italy, France, Romania, Germany, the U.K., Slovakia, Slovenia and Czech Republic. The key reason for adoption of raw milk vending machine was due to the revisions in regulations of respective countries regarding raw milk sale.Furthermore, majority of end-users in these countries prefer drinking raw milk and consuming raw milk related products due to their nutritional benefits. Spain, Poland and Norway restrict the sale of raw milk due to reported cases of food poisoning. During the coming years, in order to help small farmers, these countries are anticipated to ease the regulations pertaining to the sale of raw milk through vending machines.Furthermore, the report analyzes the factors that drive and restrain the growth of the raw milk vending machine market for each sub-region. The report also discusses the prevailing market trends, prospective growth opportunities, and major strategies increasing the popularity of raw milk vending machines. Also provided is the market share analysis and competitive strategies adopted by key players in the Europe raw milk vending machine market. Furthermore, the report also provide market share analysis of key players for each sub-geographic region.Major business strategies adopted by key players, their market positioning, and product offerings have also been identified in the research report. The prominent manufacturers who offer raw milk vending machine in Europe include DF Italia S.R.L., Brunimat GmbH, Letina Inox D.O.O., Milk Automation S.R.O. and Risto Gbr.Download Sample Report @ https://www.xploremr.com/connectus/sample/1920 The raw milk vending machine market is segmented as below:Raw Milk Vending Machine MarketBy GeographyEU7 (The UK, Italy, Spain, France, Germany, Belgium, and The Netherlands)CIS (Commonwealth of Independent States)Rest of EuropeBuy Full Report @ https://www.xploremr.com/cart/reports/buynow/1920 PR-Inside.com: 2019-01-24 07:43:31 Press Information Research Report Insights 42 Joseph Street Research Report Insights (RRI Port carling P0B 1J0 Muskoka, Ontario1 Phone - +1-631-721-4201 Website: https://www.researchreportinsights.com/ Email: sales@researchreportinsights.com BISHU 6317214201 6317214201 email http://www.. # 618 Words 42 Joseph StreetResearch Report Insights (RRIPort carling P0B 1J0Muskoka, Ontario1Phone - +1-631-721-4201Website: https://www.researchreportinsights.com/Email: sales@researchreportinsights.com63172142016317214201http://www.. researchreportinsights.com The commodity chemicals are foreseeing a rise in the market growth because of the economic expansion and rising gross domestic product (GDP) of developing and developed countries worldwide. The worldwide market for commodity chemicals is segmented into organics, petrochemicals, plastics, explosives, resins, synthetic rubbers, films, fibers and inorganics. These segments comprise several types of chemicals, for instance, acetic acid, methanol, propylene, polyvinyl chloride, hexane, benzene, melamine, methyl, acetone, glycol, esters, glycerines, adipic acid, butyl acetate, bisphenol, butanediol in addition to butadiene.There are high expansion prospects in the Asia Pacific market as a result of developing economies like India, Indonesia and China. These nations have flourishing manufacturing sectors that get ample back up from the respective governments. The Asia Pacific commodity chemicals market also gets huge support from gulf nations such as Iran, Syria, Saudi Arabia and Iraq in the structure of a bulk supply of crude oil and natural gas. The main economical aspect which influences the buying decisions of the end customers is the price. Price is the foremost determining aspect since the product distinction in the instance of these commodity chemicals is extremely low. Though, the rigid governments regulation all over the world in relation to the environment and health side effect of chemicals as well as fluctuating prices of natural gas as well as crude oil are laying noteworthy challenge for the industry.Request For Report Sample: https://www.researchreportinsights.com/report/upsample/120124689/Commodity-Chemicals-Market Countries Tariffs on Chemicals to Impact the Worldwide MarketsRecently, China's tariffs on chemicals, polymers are considered to alter the regional trade. Among which the US commodity chemical products market is indicated to be most impacted on the basis of exports to China since a percentage of overall production during the year 2017 are styrene, monoethylene glycol (MEG), linear low density polyethylene (LLDPE), EVA copolymers, ethylene dichloride (EDC) and high density PE (HDPE) , on the basis of an study of select chemicals trade flows. Nevertheless, China is still considered to have a dominant part as the worlds largest importer.Manufacturers Merge to Produce the Various Types of Commodity Chemicals to Meet the Exact Customer RequirementsLyondellBasell has recently finished the $2.25bn acquisition of A Schulman high-performance composites, plastic compounds as well as powders supplier. The acquisition, as indicated by LyondellBasell, doubles more than the companys present compounding business as well as broadens its extend to the high-margin end, growing markets such as construction materials, automotive, packaging and electronic goods. The joint business is likely to function as a separate advanced polymer solutions reporting sector. Also the A Schulman assets and the companys present propylene compounding assets, the segment would include polybutene-1 resins and catalloy thermoplastic resins. Likewise incorporated in the advanced polymers solutions sector would be engineered masterbatches, powders, and composites that are all novel to the product portfolio of LyondellBasells.Request For Report TOC: https://www.researchreportinsights.com/report/TOC/120124689/Commodity-Chemicals-Market Likewise, The Dow Chemical company ended its force majeure on VAM (vinyl acetate monomer) recently, elevating the proclamation for Europe, Latin America, Asia Pacific and India, the Middle East, Africa, in addition to the sales dominance on VAM in North America.LyondellBasell Industries and the Dow Chemical Company are the leading makers in the commodity chemicals market and apart from them, a few of the major market players operating in the worldwide market for commodity chemicals are BASF SE, Chem China, Bayer AG, INEOS Group Holding, Evonik Industries, Sumitomo Chemicals, Asahi Kasei, Mitsubishi Chemical Holdings Corporation, PPG Industries, Linde Group along with Akzo Nobel. Thus, market players are gaining a competitive edge and taking efforts to enhance their product portfolio in the commodity chemicals market.Report Analysis: https://www.researchreportinsights.com/report/upcomming/120124689/Commodity-Chemicals-Market PR-Inside.com: 2019-01-24 11:25:08 Press Information Persistence Market Research 305 Broadway 7th Floor, New York City, NY 10007, United States, USA Canada Toll Free: 800-961-0353 Email: sales@persistencemarketresearch.com Web: http://www.persistencemarketresearch.com Yogesh Sengar Team Lead 800-961-0353 email https://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/ # 563 Words 305 Broadway7th Floor, New York City,NY 10007, United States,USA Canada Toll Free: 800-961-0353Email: sales@persistencemarketresearch.comWeb: http://www.persistencemarketresearch.comTeam Lead800-961-0353 A plasticiser is a chemical substance which is added to another material, usually a plastic, to make it flexible, resilient and easier to handle. There are more than 300 different types of plasticisers out of which around 50-100 are currently used commercially. The most common plasticisers are phthalates and adipates. Plasticisers are added to a polymer matrix to increase its flexibility and enhance its chemical properties in the final plastic product. Addition of a plasticizer can lower the glass transition temperature, melt viscosity and elastic modulus of the polymer. Plasticisers are additives which increase the plasticity or fluidity of a material. Plasticisers also enhance the properties of materials such as concrete, clays, and other related products.Plasticisers Market: Drivers & RestraintsBio-based plasticisers are produced from vegetable raw materials and are used as an alternative of petroleum based plasticisers. In order to assure sustainability, end users are looking for safe, bio-degradable and non-phthalate-based plasticisers. Decreasing supply of harmful phthalate and increasing consumer awareness are factors limiting growth of the global market. At the same time, ban on phthalate-based plasticizers in consumer goods, food packaging material and medical products have led to the development of eco-friendly bio-based plasticizers. Higher cost of bio-plasticizers as compared to phthalate-based plasticizers is a key challenge faced by the bio-plasticizers market players.Plasticisers Market: SegmentationThe global plasticisers market is classified on the basis of end use, product type and region.Based on application, the global plasticisers market is segmented into the following:Automotive,Cables & Wires,Flooring, Roofing & Cladding,Coated Fabrics,Film & Sheet,Packaging,Healthcare & Personal Care,Others (Toys, Tubes & Hoses and Inks & Waxes) ,Based on product type, the global plasticisers market is segmented into the following:Dicarboxylic/tricarboxylic Ester-based Plasticizers,Trimellitates,Adipates, Sebacates & Maleates,Bio-based Plasticizers,Plasticizers for Energetic Materials,Other Plasticizers.Plasticisers Market: OverviewPlasticisers are the most commonly used additives in the global plastic market. The global plasticiser market exceeded 8 Mn metric tons by 2014 end. The most dominant application areas of plasticisers are plastics and polyvinyl chloride (PVC). Efforts are in progress by different regulatory authorities to promote environmental friendly products which have led to an increase in the demand for bio-plasticizers in developed regions. Phthalate-based plasticizer was prominent and represented more than 75% share in the global plasticisers market. However, stringent government regulations and increasing health concerns of the consumers, stimulated the demand for bio-plasticisers which is currently a significant trend in the market.Plasticisers Market: Region wise OverviewGeographically, global plasticisers market is classified into regions viz. North America, Latin America, Western Europe, Eastern Europe, Asia Pacific Excluding Japan (APEJ), Japan, Middle East and Africa (MEA). By 2015 end, North America held the largest share in the global market due expanding application in flourishing industries of healthcare, chemicals and packaging. Europe all together is an established market due to stable growth in manufacturing and healthcare industry. In Western Europe countries, around 1 Mn tons of phthalates are produced annually, out of which approximately 0.9 Mn tons of phthalates are used to plasticize PVC. Overall, Western Europe, APEJ and North America are projected to hold more than 75% share in the global plasticiser market.Request For Report Sample@ https://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/samples/11710 Plasticisers Market: Key PlayersThe key research institutes in global plasticisers market are Eastman Chemical Company, BASF SE, Sigma-Aldrich Co. LLC, Perstorp Holding AB, Exxon Mobil Corporation, PolyOne, Supreme Plasticizers, Vertellus Specialties Inc., KLJ Group to name a few. Perfume Packaging Market Perfume Packaging Market PR-Inside.com: 2019-01-24 12:21:36 Press Information Future Market Insights Contact Us 616 Corporate Way, Suite 2-9018, Valley Cottage, NY 10989, United States T: +1-347-918-3531 F: +1-845-579-5705 Email: sales@futuremarketinsights.com Web: https://www.futuremarketinsights.com/ Abhishek Budholiya Manager 9898989898 email https://www.futuremarketinsights.com/ # 776 Words Contact Us616 Corporate Way, Suite 2-9018,Valley Cottage, NY 10989,United StatesT: +1-347-918-3531F: +1-845-579-5705Email: sales@futuremarketinsights.comWeb: https://www.futuremarketinsights.com/Manager9898989898 Attractive packaging acts as a stimulating attribute for perfume industry. Perfumes are now available with low concentration of fragrance oils such as eau de cologne and eau fraiche, aiming to increase the number of consumers who use perfumes on a daily basis. Thus, there is an increase in frequency of perfume use, which in turn is expected to create huge demand for perfume packaging in the coming years. Nowadays, younger generation is more aware of personal grooming and are ready to experiment with new brands and products, which in turn makes them feel more confident. Additionally, there is a growing demand for beauty products that the market is flooded with different types of perfumes. Hence, this billion dollar industry is growing at an impressive speed in order to meet the consumer demand.Perfume Packaging Market: Drivers & RestraintsOne of the major factor which is fueling the growth of perfume packaging market is e-retailing. E-retailing facilitates the availability of local and foreign brands through online portals. The key players of perfumes packaging are collaborating with leading e-commerce players or have their own e-commerce sites to seize maximum advantage of e-commerce potential. Changing lifestyle in developing countries brings tremendous opportunities for manufacturers of perfume packaging.Increase in per capita income coupled with consumer spending on luxury grooming products offers a momentum to the growth of overall cosmetics industry, which is further driving the perfume packaging market. Meanwhile, there are a few factors that can act as restraints in the perfume packaging market, like the increasing commercialization of perfume imitations is anticipated to hamper the growth of global perfumes packaging market during the forecast period. In addition, the counterfeit products are available in similar packaging as the original product making it difficult for the consumers to differentiate them from original products. These products are sold at a very low cost compared to the original products.Request to Report Methodology @ https://www.futuremarketinsights.com/askus/rep-gb-2638 Perfume Packaging Market: Region Wise-OutlookOn the basis of region, perfume packaging finds its market scope in North America, Latin America, Middle East & Africa, Europe and Asia-Pacific. Europe and North America dominates perfume packaging market, however, Latin America and Asia Pacific regions are expected to be the most promising regions for generating high revenue. Perfume Packaging market is highly controlled in Europe and North America. India and China are the key promising countries driving the perfume packaging market in Asia-Pacific region. Globally, Chinese consumers have maximum share in the growth of luxury goods markets.Chinese consumer spending in foreign regions is more as compared to local spending on luxury products. China is just behind North America in consumer spending, due to strong currency rates as well as rising disposable income. The spending by Japan has also increased due to local consumers as well as the increasing number of Chinese tourists. The currency fluctuations in Europe has led to rise in tourist consumers in the region which further drives the growth for luxury products including perfume industry.Perfume Packaging Market: Key PlayersSome of the major players of perfume packaging market are SGB Packaging, B.I. Packaging, Cosmetics & Perfume Filling & Packaging, Inc., HH Deluxe Packaging, Collcap Packaging Limited, DuPont, Vetroplas and may more.Some of the Chinese manufacturers who are producers of perfume packaging are Guangzhou Jiaming Perfume Packaging Co. ltd., Hangzhou Tianhao Plastic Industry Co., Ltd, Olila Enterprise company limited, Mei Yu Packaging (HK) Industrial Co., Ltd.The report is a compilation of first-hand information, qualitative and quantitative assessment by industry analysts, inputs from industry experts and industry participants across the value chain. The report provides in-depth analysis of parent market trends, macro-economic indicators and governing factors along with market attractiveness as per segments. The report also maps the qualitative impact of various market factors on market segments and geographies.The report is a compilation of first-hand information, qualitative and quantitative assessment by industry analysts, inputs from industry experts and industry participants across the value chain. The report provides in-depth analysis of parent market trends, macro-economic indicators and governing factors along with market attractiveness as per segments. The report also maps the qualitative impact of various market factors on market segments and geographies. Report Highlights : Detailed overview of parent market,Changing market dynamics in the industry,In-depth market segmentation,Historical, current and projected market size in terms of volume and value,Recent industry trends and developments,Competitive landscape,Strategies of key players and products offered,Potential and niche segments, geographical regions exhibiting promising growth,A neutral perspective on market performance,Must-have information for market players to sustain and enhance their market footprint.Request to Sample of Report @ https://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/sample/rep-gb-2638 FMI PR-Inside.com: 2019-01-24 12:05:48 Press Information Future Market Insights U.S. Office 616 Corporate Way, Suite 2-9018, Valley Cottage, NY 10989, United States T: +1-347-918-3531 F: +1-845-579-5705 Email: sales@futuremarketinsights.com Web: https://www.futuremarketinsights.com Abhishek Bhudholiya Manager +1-347-918-3531 email https://www.futuremarketinsights.com # 694 Words U.S. Office616 Corporate Way, Suite 2-9018,Valley Cottage, NY 10989,United StatesT: +1-347-918-3531F: +1-845-579-5705Email: sales@futuremarketinsights.comWeb: https://www.futuremarketinsights.comManager+1-347-918-3531 Patient recliner is the important furniture staple of the patient rooms and becoming common in hospitals, patient examination areas, physicians office and therapy centers. These patient recliners or recliner chairs provide many benefits for short-term as well as long-term patients. Patient recliners maximize patient comfort. Patient recliners come in variety of sizes and functions including deep recline, adjustable suspension, Patients now a days seek for comfort and patient recliners fulfill all these needs along with saving space. These patient recliners also provide stress reduction and improvement of blood circulation.in the legs and feet. Variety of patient recliners available today in market place provide different features such as posture-correct lumbar and lateral cushioning, wire-spring construction for easy suspension, anti-bacterial easy cleaning polyvinyl cushioning, etc. The design of patient recliner used today was first developed and used by La-Z-Boy, but, the design was bulky and somewhat complicated. Despite of this, the design became dominant and is being used in majority of patient or medical recliners available today and has shown a little evolution. Functional challenges were due to bulky arms and footprint which was solved after the introduction of Nemschoffs award winning patient recliner AVA, which has significantly smaller footprint and less bulky arms. Moreover, recent advances in the patient recliner design has made the side transfer from recliner to wheelchair, bed or other patient transfer devices.Patient Recliners Market: Drivers and RestraintsExpanding aging population and demand from demographics are the major factors driving the growth of patient recliners market over the forecast period. Technological advancements and enhanced functionality of modern patient recliners would significantly drive the demand for patient recliners over the forecast period. For instance ergonomically mapped patient recliners designed to relieve pressure are widely getting adopted in the U.S. However, most of the patient recliners sold today have a very large footprint and thus are hard to move despite they are equipped with casters. Moreover, aesthetic and functional issues are limiting the widespread adoption of patient recliners. These are the major factors expected to limit the growth of global patient recliners market over the forecast period of 20172027.Request Sample Report @ https://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/sample/rep-gb-5523 Patient Recliners Market: SegmentationTentatively, global patient recliners market has been segmented on the basis of indication/application, end user, and geographyBased on indication/application, global patient recliners market is segmented as below:Cardiac Care ReclinersBariatric ReclinersPatient Room/Lounge ReclinersOthersBased on end user, global patient recliners market is segmented as below:HospitalsClinicsDialysis CentersNursing HomesHome Care SettingsOther Healthcare FacilitiesPatient Recliners Market: OverviewIncreased safety for both patients as well as caregivers is the prime advantage of patient recliners. The global market for patient recliners is expected to witness steady and continuous growth over the forecast period of 20172027 due to growing number of private as well as public healthcare facilities across the globe. Adoption of patient recliners in home care settings is expected to increase with increasing disposable income and improving standard of living in both matured as well as emerging markets. Some of the popular brands of patient recliners are Jordan Active Patient Recliner (Krug Inc.), Ava, Serenity (Nemschoff), Accord Wieland, versant (Sauder MFG Co.), Affina, Perth, Soltice (KI), Symmetry Plus (Stryker) etc. among others.Patient Recliners Market: Regional OutlookGeographically, global patient recliners market is classified into regions viz. North America, Latin America, Western Europe, Eastern Europe, Asia-Pacific, Japan, Middle East and Africa. North America clearly dominates the global patient recliners market due to highest standard of healthcare. Europe is expected to be the second largest market for patient recliners due to more number of key players operating in the region. Asia Pacific patient recliners market is expected witness considerable growth rate due to rapid acceptance of these products by growing aging population.Request to View TOC @ https://www.futuremarketinsights.com/toc/rep-gb-5523 Endoscopic Closure Systems Market: Key PlayersSome of the players identified in global patient recliners market include Stryker Corporation, Medline Industries Inc., Regency Healthcare, Steelcase Inc., Krueger International (KI), Sauder MFG Co., Nemschoff, Inc., HERDEGEN, J.D. Honigberg International, Inc., DeVilbiss Healthcare, Krug Inc. etc. among others. Palletizers Market Palletizers Market PR-Inside.com: 2019-01-24 13:20:53 Press Information Future Market Insights Contact Us 616 Corporate Way, Suite 2-9018, Valley Cottage, NY 10989, United States T: +1-347-918-3531 F: +1-845-579-5705 Email: sales@futuremarketinsights.com Web: https://www.futuremarketinsights.com/ Abhishek Budholiya Manager 9898989898 email https://www.futuremarketinsights.com/ # 666 Words Contact Us616 Corporate Way, Suite 2-9018,Valley Cottage, NY 10989,United StatesT: +1-347-918-3531F: +1-845-579-5705Email: sales@futuremarketinsights.comWeb: https://www.futuremarketinsights.com/Manager9898989898 According to the latest market report published by Future Market Insights titled Palletizers Market: Global Industry Analysis, Size, Share, Growth, Trends and Forecast, 2018-2028, Palletizers being a highly productive material handling solution is expected to be the prime driver of the global palletizers market during the forecast period, 2018-2028. Globally, the revenue generated from sales of palletizers has been estimated to be around US$ 2,084.4 Mn in 2018, and is projected to increase at a CAGR of 4.9%, during the forecast period 2018-2028.The palletizers market in the developed region of North America and Western Europe together estimated to account for around 40% of the global palletizers market and are projected to witness low growth during the forecast period. The developed countries of North America and Western Europe region has high adoption rate for recently developed technology. This has resulted into high demand of advanced technology for robotic palletizers as compared to other regions. Large number of palletizers manufacturers are based in these regions only. Although, the manufacturing output growth in these regions have matured, the continuous developments introduced in the robotic palletizers and the end-user industries aiming highest automation possible has propelled the palletizers market in North America and Western Europe.China, India and South Korea are some of the rapidly developing manufacturing industries in the world and large market for robotics in the world. These countries are estimated to account for more than 85% of the APEJ palletizers market. Although, China is the largest palletizers market and the largest robotics market in the world, the industrial robot density of China is below global average. Millions of manufacturing and warehousing facilities, and huge domestic production of economical palletizers has created large opportunity for the palletizers market in the country.Request to Sample of Report @ https://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/sample/rep-gb-7084 Japan is exhibited to possess similar characteristics as that of North America and Western Europe, which are maturing the demand of palletizers, large palletizers market share and rapid adoption of technology. Fanuc, Kuka and other globally leading companies in robotics industry and providing palletizers are based in Japan.Central Europe & Baltics region includes countries such as Czech Republic, Poland, Hungary, Croatia and others. The total labour force in the region has remained almost constant since 2002 while the manufacturing output in the region has expanded by around 2.7 times. This has created immense opportunity in the region for palletizers market and other industrial automation solutions. Availability of economical and skilled labour in Poland has attracted manufacturing industries in the Western Europe region to shift their production facility to Poland and other countries in the Central Europe and Baltics region.In the MEA region, Turkey and GCC region are estimated to account for around 60% of the MEA palletizers market in 2018 and are further expected to expand palletizers market at a significantly high pace as compared to African countries. MEA region has considerably higher demand share of conventional palletizers as compared to other regions. The rapidly developing pharmaceutical industry in the North Africa and GCC region has propelled the demand of palletizers in the region. Due to lack of manufacturing capability, the majority of the demand of palletizers is served by imports from Asia Pacific and Western European countries.The market volume for global palletizers is expected to expand at 1.6X over the forecast period 2018-2028Detailed profiles of palletizers companies are also included in the report to evaluate their strategies, key product offerings and recent developments. The key players of the global palletizers market are Premier Tech Chronos Ltd., ABB Ltd., FANUC Corp., Kion Group, Kuka Group, Honeywell International Inc., Okura Yusoki Co., Ltd., Columbia Machine, Inc., Fuji Yusoki Kogyo Co., Ltd. and Concetti S.P.A.In global palletizers market report, we have discussed individual strategies followed by these companies in terms of enhancing their product portfolio, creating new marketing techniques, mergers and acquisitions. The Competitive Landscape section is included to provide report audiences with a dashboard view and company share collectively.Get full report now @ https://www.futuremarketinsights.com/checkout/7084 PR-Inside.com: 2019-01-24 11:14:42 Press Information Persistence Market Research 305 Broadway 7th Floor, New York City, NY 10007, United States, Telephone - +1-646-568-7751 USA Canada Toll Free: 800-961-0353 Email: sales@persistencemarketresearch.com Web: http://www.persistencemarketresearch.com Yogesh Senger Manager 6465687751 email https://www.persistencemarketresearch.com # 585 Words 305 Broadway7th Floor, New York City,NY 10007, United States,Telephone - +1-646-568-7751USA Canada Toll Free: 800-961-0353Email: sales@persistencemarketresearch.comWeb: http://www.persistencemarketresearch.comManager6465687751 Organic spices, as the name suggests are the spices which are totally natural, that is, it does not contain the type of additives or artificial chemical. Organic spices should ideally be grown in fully natural or wild environment, without the use of artificial pesticides. Organic spices add adequate texture, taste and elevate the nutrient content of the meal for whose preparation it is utilized. The functionalities of organic spices and regular spices may be same but organic spices provide more health benefits as they consist their natural nutrient contents.Earlier there was only demand for normal spices but now due to consumers health awareness, the demand for organic spices have increased and which is giving a great rise to global organic spices market. The key manufacturers of the organic spices tend to achieve different certifications in order to prove their optimum qualified organic spices to their consumers. The various boards and organizations encourage the farmers and NGOs for the adoption of organic farming which in-turn increases the growth of organic spices in the market. There is a significant rise in exotic cuisines, which promotes the usage of organic spices due to increased consumers preference towards the quality of the product which they consume.To view TOC of this report is available upon request @ https://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/toc/20551 Organic Spices market can be segmented on the basis of sources of spices, distribution channel, and application. On the basis of source, the organic spices market can be segmented into fruits, seeds, barks, flower buds, stigmas, arils, roots, and resins. All these different sources of organic spices provide various types of spices such as black pepper, mustard, nutmeg, cloves, saffron and much more, which are used for various purposes. On the basis of the distribution channel, the organic spices market is segmented into direct and indirect. The indirect segment can be further segmented into modern trade, retail stores, specialty stores, and online stores. On the basis of applications, the organic spices market can be segmented into food and beverage industry, the pharmaceutical industry, and others. The food and beverage industry segment can be sub-segmented into dairy, snacks, bakery, baby foods, confectionary, soups and noodles, gravy, meat, fish and poultry, and others.The regional segment for the market of organic spices is divided into seven different regions: Western Europe, North America, Eastern Europe, Latin America, APEJ, Middle East & Africa and Japan. The demand for organic spices has increased in developed regions such as Japan, Australia, USA, and Europe. Europe turns out to be the leading market in the global organic spices market, due to enhancement in the usage of organic products in the region, as the conventional spices which are sterilized with harmful chemicals are banned in Europe. Regions such as India, one of the leading producer of spices which produces more than 60 different types of spices and exports them to more than 150 countries, has also promoted the adoption of organic spices which turns out to be more healthy than conventional spices and thus aims to lead in the production of organic spices. Developing regions such as APEJ can turn out to be an emerging market for global organic spices market due to increased organic farming.Variety of Organic Spices formulations have been introduced by the manufacturers and some of the global market players manufacturing organic spices include McCormick & Company, Inc., Organic Spices Inc., Monterey Bay Spice Co., Unilever, S&B Foods Inc., DS Group, and others.Request for Report Sample : https://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/samples/20551 PR-Inside.com: 2019-01-24 13:39:28 Press Information Future Market Insights Future Market Insights 616 Corporate Way, Suite 2-9018, Valley Cottage, NY 10989, United States T: +1-347-918-3531 F: +1-845-579-5705 Email: sales@futuremarketinsights.com Website: www.futuremarketinsights.com abhishek manager +1 03479183531 email https://www.futuremarketinsights.com # 561 Words Future Market Insights 616 Corporate Way, Suite 2-9018, Valley Cottage, NY 10989, United States T: +1-347-918-3531 F: +1-845-579-5705 Email: sales@futuremarketinsights.com Website: www.futuremarketinsights.commanager+1 03479183531 The certified organic cocoa market represents a very small share of the total cocoa market, estimated around 0.5% of total production. However, the demand for organic cocoa products are growing at a very strong pace, the supply side faces a strong challenge to meet the demand of organic cocoa. Since, farmers are paying ample amount for producing organic cocoa, production of organic cocoa is more in least developed countries. Organic cocoa has many nutritional benefits such as more fiber, iron, magnesium, copper, manganese and many other minerals. Moreover it also contains antioxidants, which helps to protect skin. Organic cocoa also helps to improve blood flow and lower blood pressure. Demand for organic cocoa products are very high in U.S, U.K and Germany, hence organic cocoa are supplied to developed economies of North America and Western Europe to manufacture organic cocoa products. Currently, Dominican Republic is dominating the organic cocoa market in terms of production that holds around 70 percent of the total market share; Peru, Ecuador and Mexico together hold around 20 percent of the market share in terms of production; rest around 10 percent is held by Bolivia, Ghana, Brazil and others.Request Report Sample @ https://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/sample/rep-gb-1058 Organic Cocoa Market Segmentation:On the basis of product type the organic cocoa market is segmented into cocoa powder, cocoa paste, cocoa butter, cocoa beans and others (products containing cocoa). Products containing cocoa holds the highest market share in terms of value followed by cocoa beans and cocoa butter.On the basis of application organic cocoa market is segmented into confectionaries, bakery, functional food, health drinks, home cooking use and others (pharmaceuticals, ointments, and toiletries). Organic cocoa is majorly used in food industry as a main ingredient of chocolate.Geographically, Organic cocoa market is segmented into North America, Latin America, Western Europe, Eastern Europe, and Asia Pacific excluding Japan, Japan and Middle East & Africa (MEA). Latin America is dominating worldwide followed by Middle East and Africa (MEA) in terms of organic cocoa production. Majority of organic cocoa is exported to Western Europe followed by North America. U.K and U.S are the largest manufacturing countries of organic cocoa products in the world, since organic chocolate is more popular in U.K, U.S and Germany and consumers from those countries owe a significant inclination towards organic chocolates irrespective of high pricing of organic products.Request For TOC@ https://www.futuremarketinsights.com/toc/rep-gb-1058 Organic Cocoa Market Dynamics:Chocolate is the main application of organic cocoa which is the main growth driver of organic cocoa market. Also, the organic cocoa market is expected to be largely driven by the health consciousness among consumers. However, lack of proper supply of organic cocoa restrains the global organic cocoa market which also leads to increase in price of organic cocoa. There is a huge opportunity in the North America and Western Europe and Japan. Asia Pacific excluding Japan is an untapped market which is also a potential market for organic cocoa. This is attributed to increasing inclination of consumers towards organic products, rapid urbanisation, strengthening supply chain for organic cocoa and rising health consciousness among consumers.Organic Cocoa Market Key Player:Some of the leading players are Kraft Foods Inc., Cargill Incorporated, Tradin Organic Agriculture B.V., Ciranda, Blommer Chocolate Company, Artisan Confections Company, PASCHA Company, InterNatural Foods LLC and Wilmor Publishing Corp. XploreMR is one of the worlds leading resellers of high-quality market research reports. We feature in-depth reports from some of the worlds most reputed market research companies and international organizations. We serve across a broad spectrum from Fortune 500 to small and medium businesses. Our clients trust us for our unwavering focus onquality and affordability. We believe high price should not be a bottleneck for organizations looking to gain access to quality information. XploreMR PR-Inside.com: 2019-01-24 12:32:58 Press Information XploreMR 111 North Market Street, Suite 300, San Jose, CA 95113, United States Website: https://www.xploremr.com Email : sales@xploremr.com sales@xploremr.com Research Analyst 6692840108 email http://www.xploremr.com # 996 Words 111 North Market Street, Suite 300,San Jose, CA 95113, United StatesWebsite: https://www.xploremr.comEmail : sales@xploremr.comResearch Analyst6692840108 In robust of the market included Office Chair market report. Which helps to heighten the industry growth along with assorted market subjects such as growth path, predictions, revenue, trends, and market size analysis which are directly impacted on market dynamics. XploreMR provides the data on the bases of the past and current years for forecast the market covering in the next upcoming years as well as covering the latest trends of the market. The report will provide a detailed study of the market which will aid the reader for judgment and better comprehension.A new report published by XploreMR exerts an exhaustive study on the office chair market, which can be leveraged by the readers to sustain their competitiveness in the office chair market. Clients can benefit from the information provided in the report for enhancing their profit margins by attracting potential customer, on whom intelligence has been offered in detail.The office chair market is foreseen by the report to record a steady 5.2% volume CAGR during the period of forecast (2018-2028). By delivering estimations on the competition intensity attractiveness related to office chair market, the report further enables the clients to better understand the competition and devise their business direction accordingly.View Full Report @ https://www.xploremr.com/report/1470/office-chair-market An office chair is a type of seating used in workplaces or office settings. It usually features a padded back, a padded seat, armrest, and casters, which enable the chair to roll and swivel. Apart from features such as height adjustment, an office chair can have additional features such as footrest, neck rest, adjustable arms, and back with a lumbar support. According to the intended purpose, office chair can be of multiple types such as conference chairs, ergonomic chairs, executive chairs, guest chairs and many more.Office Chair Market: Intricate Assessment on Imperative DynamicsThe report on the office chair market propounds intricate assessment, along with accurate forecast, on the office chair market for the period between 2018 and 2028. An exhaustive coverage on lucrative regions for the office chair market has been engulfed by the report. This report is an authentic intelligence source regarding data on recent dynamics, ongoing industry trends, technological developments & advancements, and product innovations observed in the office chair market.Growth of the office chair market is directly proportional to expansion of the office furniture industry. As private sectors are developing, the number of micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) has increased dramatically. Support from the national governments as well as private investments is adding fuel to the growth of private sector.Office chair is highly sought after in commercial infrastructures. Although the office furniture industry remains fragmented, its efforts towards organizing the industry have strengthened the global supply chain. With this, consumers are exposed to a wide range of office furniture to choose either from a retail store or through an online platform.Download Sample Report @ https://www.xploremr.com/connectus/sample/1470 As manufacturers adopt technological developments to introduce innovative and affordable furniture in the market, the office chair market will continue to grow steadily in foreseeable future. However, transportation and shipping costs add complexities for manufacturers. In addition, as fragmentation prevails and domestic manufacturers dominate, low import opportunities hamper the growth of the office chair marketOffice Chair Market: In-Depth Study on Market SegmentsWeighted chapters on the segmentation analysis in the report offer in-depth study and insights on all the market segments incorporated. The office chair market has been categorized into 5 segments, namely, price range, feature type, product type, distribution channel, and region. Geographically, the office chair market has been branched into Latin America, Japan, Middle East & Africa (MEA), Europe, Asia-Pacific excluding Japan (APEJ), and North America.Precise market forecasts and estimations have been offered on all the aforementioned segments, along with a detailed assessment on key dynamics affecting their momentum during the period of forecast. These chapters are imperative for the report readers as they can better understand latent opportunities and key remunerative regions for growth of their business in the office chair market. Key market segments elucidated in the report are systematically illustrated with the help of a taxonomy table.Office Chair Market: Competitor Landscape StudyThe report incorporates a weighted chapter on competition landscape of the office chair market, which quantifies revenue share of prominent stakeholders in the office chair market. This concluding chapter of the report provides assessment on the key companies underpinning growth of the office chair market, along with insights on these market players in detail. The report further offers an elaborated analysis on the market players elucidated in the report, which includes intelligence with regard to their company overview, recent & impending developments, key financials, and product overview.A SWOT analysis is delivered on the market participants profiled, which illuminates the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats to these players in the office chair market over the upcoming years. Additionally, the report renders intelligence on the expansion strategies employed by the office chair market participants, such as new product developments, mergers & acquisitions, collaborations, and partnerships between them. The scope of the report is to deliver its readers with authentic knowledge as well as accurate insights on the office chair market. This will further enable the report readers to make better impactful plans and fact-based decisions for the businesses.Research MethodologyA robust research approach has been adhered by the analysts at XploreMR for contemplating key industry dynamics, which in turn has enabled offering a precise and an authentic market intelligence. Intrinsic amalgamation of primary as well as secondary research has been used by the analysts for reaching at the estimates and forecast on the office chair market.All the market estimations and forecast delivered have been verified via an exhaustive primary research, which involves comprehensive interviews with prominent market participants and leading industry experts. These brief primary interviews aid validation of the information procured, which in turn facilitates evaluation of the industry estimations, and insights.Buy Full Report @ https://www.xploremr.com/cart/reports/buynow/1470 PR-Inside.com: 2019-01-24 11:25:00 Press Information Persistence Market Research 305 Broadway 7th Floor, New York City, NY 10007, United States, USA Canada Toll Free: 800-961-0353 Email: sales@persistencemarketresearch.com Web: http://www.persistencemarketresearch.com Yogesh Sengar Team Lead 800-961-0353 email https://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/ # 753 Words 305 Broadway7th Floor, New York City,NY 10007, United States,USA Canada Toll Free: 800-961-0353Email: sales@persistencemarketresearch.comWeb: http://www.persistencemarketresearch.comTeam Lead800-961-0353 Introduction: The Non-Magnetic Metals & Alloys are those metals and alloys that are generally non-ferrous type or have only insignificant amount of metal used as an alloy. Major non-magnetic metals include aluminum, copper, lead, and zinc. Other non-ferrous metals include brass, titanium, beryllium and nickel. They are generally more expensive than ferrous metals in terms of mining and extraction. These non-magnetic metals & alloys are generally light in weight, have higher conductivity, has non-magnetic property and is resistance to corrosion and rust. The global non-magnetic metals & alloys market are 1,500 kilo tons in 2015 approximately in volume. Overall, the market is expanding at a decent CAGR of during the forecast period from 2016 to 2026.Global Non-Magnetic Metals & Alloys Market Dynamics: The market of global non-magnetic metals & alloys is anticipated to be driven by the use of non-magnetic metals in different industries and their respective purposes. Due to growth of aviation industry and other transportation and structural materials, the global market of non-magnetic metals & alloys are growing in demand. In addition, the favorable Government initiatives such as The National Space policy of United States on June, 2010 and many others programmes help in the consumption of more non-magnetic metals & alloys over the years due to increased number to aircrafts and spaceships. Some of the non-magnetic metals & alloys are also used in building materials and also as a component of various metal alloys. Due to growth of the construction equipment, lead acid batteries, bullets and radiation protectors, the non-magnetic metals & alloys such as lead is highly used in demand of late. The demand for corrosion chemically inert and corrosion resistant products in chemical processing industry is expected to drive the market growth over the predictable period. Also the non-magnetic metals & alloys are highly recyclable in nature which further encourages the growth of non-magnetic metals and alloys. The global non-magnetic metals & alloys market is characterized by continuous mergers, acquisitions and product innovations to gain market share and competitive edge which drives the demand for the product worldwide. The jewelry industry involving precious metals other than gold, is expected to drive the Non-Magnetic Metals market to some extent. The industry is expected to get advantage from the rising magnesium mining and growing extraction of other metals such as titanium, which are used as raw materials for the production of alloys.However, the global non-magnetic metals & alloys being costly as compared to magnetic metals and alloys does have a hindering effect on its market growth as well. On the mining operations front, the non-magnetic metals and alloys mining are currently experiencing a sluggish production rate. Global Non-Magnetic Metals & Alloys Market Segmentation: The global non-magnetic metals & alloys market is segmented on the basis of product types such as non-ferrous metals, precious metals and exotic or rare metals. Ferrous metals further includes aluminum, lead, tin, zinc, copper, nickel, titanium and others. Precious metals constitutes gold, silver and platinum. Exotic or rare metals are cobalt, mercury, tungsten, beryllium, bismuth and cerium. On the basis of application, the global non-magnetic metals & alloys are divided into aerospace industry, industrial gas & turbine, industrial automotive, electrical &electronics, chemical industry, kitchen appliances, food & beverages industry and others.Global Non-Magnetic Metals & Alloys Market: Regional Outlook: Geographically, the Global non-magnetic metals & alloys industry can be divided by major regions which include North America, Latin America, Western and Eastern Europe, Asia-Pacific region, Japan, Middle East and Africa. North America holds the largest share in the global non-magnetic metals & alloys market. It is expected to witness a substantial growth at a CAGR of over 3.5% in the forecasted period of 2016-2026. Europe holds the second largest market in terms of global non-magnetic metals & alloys, followed by Japan, Asia-pacific, Middle-East Africa and then rest of the world. Asia Pacific is expected to witness above average growth rates over the next six to eight years owing to the growing aviation industry combined with increasing demand for high durability metals in gas turbines and electrical & electronics.Request For Report Sample@ https://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/samples/11578 Global Non-Magnetic Metals & Alloys Market Players: The major players identified across the value chain of global non-magnetic metals & alloys market includes Saru Smelting Pvt Ltd., Lee Kee Group, James Coppell Lee, North Ferrous Cast Alloys Inc., Gravita India Ltd.,Australian Metals Pty Ltd., Nimax, Arcotech Ltd., AMPCO Metal Sa, Plansee Group and others. The companies are investing in their research & development sector to use more and more non-magnetic metals & alloys in aerospace industry. The companies are also focusing on different strategies in order to maintain the market share in the global non-magnetic metals & alloys market. Posted Wednesday, January 23, 2019 2:16 pm The last fire truck has left the fire station in downtown Chehalis, bringing a close to more than nine decades of public safety operations at 455 NW Park St. Negotiations are ongoing between the city and Lewis County Fire District 6 for an update to the arrangement that has allowed Chehalis fire department staff and equipment to use Fire District 6 headquarters at 2123 Jackson Hwy. since August. Asbestos abatement work at the Chehalis station wrapped up in September, but the fire department never moved back into the building. All of the departments vehicles, equipment, and staff are now housed at the District 6. A formal lease agreement between the two agencies is expected to take shape in the coming months. Fire District 6 officials are able to perform cost-analysis studies to evaluate the expense of housing Chehalis firefighters until the city can construct a permanent solution. The first phase of it was just an emergency sort of thing, Chehalis Fire Chief Ken Cardinale said. Right now, were planning to be there until the new (fire) station is built, which could take a few years, or a bit longer. Theyve been awesome neighbors to us, but wanted the chance to look at costs and come up with a more accurate figure for a longer-term agreement. Cardinale referred questions regarding the decision to vacate the downtown station to City Manager Jill Anderson. She did not return calls seeking comment prior to press time. Fire District 6 commissioners were expected to vote Tuesday on an action item related to a lease with Chehalis, but chose to table it until next month. Officials from both entities are scheduled to meet next in March. The agencies often rely on each other via mutual aid agreements and other cooperative incident responses in and around Chehalis. Long-running exploration of a potential merger of the two bodies, similar to when Riverside Fire Authority and Fire District 12 joined forces a decade ago, also remains an option. District 6 Chief Tim Kinder said Wednesday that a positive aspect of the situation has been increased cohesion and chemistry between the two fire departments. One of the big pluses weve seen so far in working this closely and coming from the same house is that the teams are starting to work more fruitfully and efficiently, Kinder said. Theyre doing a great job of bouncing back and forth, covering each other and taking care of citizens to the best of their ability. Cardinale cautioned that, while working in close proximity has been useful, the only way a merger could happen is if the finances support it. County fire districts and city fire departments are funded by two different tax structures. He and Chehalis Mayor Dennis Dawes believe a merger would better serve the public both in service and cost. Though a joining of forces would have an impact on the scope and use of a new fire station in Chehalis, one that will almost certainly not be downtown, the city expects to move the project forward before knowing the outcome of merger talks. Were still looking at a 3-5 year process to get the station built, Cardinale said. We cant continue to kick the can down the road and we have to build a new fire station whether or not a merger occurs, but we also need to be looking at where we put it in case a merger does happen. Downtown Chehalis is not an advantageous location for growth, nor can it support a new, modern fire station. If they took a bulldozer to Station 48 (on Park Street), the lot isnt big enough. It was there for nearly 100 years, and the next one might be used for nearly another 100 years. Cardinale explained that new fire stations in Washington are considered essential facilities, meaning they have to meet more stringent building codes. A new station would also need a tarmac to allow for apparatus checks of fire vehicles, equipment and training, which Station 48 does not have. How long it takes to build a new station will depend largely on what the city determines to be the most agreeable source of funding and how long it takes for it to acquire the needed land. We need to look at what we need to do and what its going to cost, Dawes said. That would give us an idea of what the timeframe will be on the lease (with Fire District 6). If it looks like its not the time to do it right now, then well need a period of time. But were looking at all options to cover every contingency out there. What it ultimately ends up to, I dont know right now. Persistence Market Research PR-Inside.com: 2019-01-24 09:48:59 Press Information Persistence Market Research Persistence Market Research 305 Broadway 7th Floor, New York City, NY 10007, United States, USA Canada Toll Free: 800-961-0353 Yogesh Team Lead 800-961-0353 email http://www.persistencemarketresearch.com # 596 Words Persistence Market Research305 Broadway7th Floor, New York City,NY 10007, United States,USA Canada Toll Free: 800-961-0353Team Lead800-961-0353 According to a new market report published by Persistence Market Research Global Market Study on Nano-Enabled Packaging For Food and Beverages: Intelligent Packaging to Witness Highest Growth by 2020, the global nano enabled packaging market for food and beverages industry was worth USD 6.5 billion in 2013 and is expected to grow at a CAGR of 12.7% during 2014 to 2020, to reach an estimated value of USD 15.0 billion in 2020.A sample of this report is available upon request @ https://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/samples/2809 The global progress in technologies is making lives simpler and safer. Nanotechnology is one such field which is dynamically progressing and is contributing to the development of several industries, including food and beverages packaging. Nano-enabled packaging gives longer shelf life to food and beverages as compared to traditional plastic packaging. Food and beverages packaging is done through two different technologies under nano-enabled packaging-active and intelligent packaging. Active packaging has a comparativelylarger market than intelligent packaging.Intelligent packaging is growing at a faster rate as compared to the active packaging. Customers prefer traceable food and beverages packaging, since it offers information such as expiry date and best use period, present state of the consumables. The radio frequency identification (RFID) tags keep customers informed about the state of the food within the packaging. Intelligent packaging is mostly used for fruits and vegetables, meat products, and beverages. Stricter regulations associated with active packaging have been stimulating the use of intelligent packaging in Europe and North America.Intelligent packaging in the U.S. is growing mainly due to the increasing demand for fresh fruits and vegetables. Americans are shifting their breakfast preference from junk foods to fresh alternatives. The U.S. is one of the largest producers and exporters of cherries globally. With the ease in trade regulations, fruit exports of the U.S. have increased. In September 2011, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced that after ten years of negotiations, U.S. cherries can be exported to Western Australia, one of the most important markets for cherries. The increasing demand for intelligent packaging in international trade (especially in fruits) is laying out opportunities for this technology in food packaging.The Food Safety and Modernization Act (FSMA) proposed by FDA in 2011 is another growth indicator for intelligent packaging wherein the fresh produce, including fruits and vegetables, are required to be scientifically grown, harvested, packaged, and stored. The farm products that come in the acts domain are lettuce, spinach, cantaloupe, tomatoes, sprouts, mushrooms, onions, peppers, cabbage, citrus produce, strawberries, and walnuts.Nano-enabled packaging finds its application in several industries, including bakery, meat, beverages, fruit and vegetables, prepared foods, and others. The increasing demand for meat products, beverages, vegetables, and prepared foods is expected to drive their respective nano-enabled packaging markets, while the market share of bakery products is expected to decline on account of the rapid growth of other application segments.To view TOC of this report is available upon request @ https://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/methodology/2809 Nanotechnology is at a nascent stage and, therefore, usage of nano-enabled packaging is low in the food and beverages industry. Limited numbers of buyers have more leverage to negotiate with nanotechnology companies. On the other hand, there is a plethora of companies providing nano-enabled packaging solutions to the food and beverages industry.Nano-enabled packaging market for food and beverage is very competitive with a large number of players offering an array of patented products. The major players in this industry include Amcor Limited, Bemis Company, Inc., Chevron Phillips Chemical Company, L.L.C., Klockner Pentaplast, Sealed Air, and Tetra Pak International S.A. Nano Calcium Carbonate Market PR-Inside.com: 2019-01-24 11:11:41 Press Information Persistence Market Research (PMR) 305 Broadway 7th Floor, New York City, NY 10007, United States, yogesh sengar Team Lead +1-646-568-7751 email http://www.persistencemarketresearch.com # 732 Words 305 Broadway7th Floor, New York City,NY 10007, United States,Team Lead+1-646-568-7751 Nano Calcium Carbonate Market: Overview: The nano calcium carbonate refers to an ultra-fine precipitated calcium carbonate with an average particle diameter less than 100 nanometers which can be sued as additives in various products. The nano calcium carbonate is widely applied in plastic, paints and rubber industries because of its unique properties. This nano calcium carbonates act as a partial replacement of titanium dioxide in coatings, and it does not affect the whiteness of finished product. The use of nano calcium carbonate particles in chemical, biological, and industrial areas are constantly increasing, and researchers across the globe are working in discovering more of their properties which are expected to drive the global Nano calcium carbonate market over the forecast period. The nano calcium carbonate is used in a wide number of applications such as in coatings, plastics, alloys, nanowires, and catalyst uses.Nano Calcium Carbonate Market: Drivers and Restraints: The growth in the demand for nano calcium carbonate from various end-use applications such as paints, sealant, and adhesives is expected to drive the global nano calcium carbonate market over the forecast period. The nano calcium carbonate is used to improve the properties of materials including plastics, adhesives, rubber, and sealants. The addition of nano calcium carbonate improves the weather resistance, heat resistance, impact resistance, and also the toughness and performance of the material under extreme temperature conditions. The use of nano-calcium carbonate in paints helps to control the rheological and the necessary mechanical properties of the cured material. The use of nano-calcium carbonate as additives in polymers and adhesives contributes in reducing the volume formulation cost and improving the final product quality, thereby fuelling the growth of global nano calcium carbonate market over the forecast period. In addition to this, the increase in labeling and packaging market, automotive, industrial, glass and ceramics industry is creating a high demand for printing inks. The nano calcium carbonate is used in printing ink to improve its quality. This calcium carbonate treated ink can replace the use of varnishes and oils. The growth in the demand for solvent ink, offset ink or lithographic ink is expected to drive the nano calcium carbonate market over the forecast period. The nano calcium carbonate is used in the inner tube of radial tire and butyl tube to improve the air tightness, stiffness, and reduce the cost of a rubber compound. The increasing demand for industrial rubber for tire industry as a cheap and efficient substitute of carbon black because of its superior chemical properties is expected to drive the global nano calcium carbonate market over the forecast period.Request Report Sample@ https://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/samples/16837 Nano Calcium Carbonate Market: Segmentation: On the Basis of Application, Nano Calcium Carbonate market is segmented into: Plastic,Paper,Adhesives and Sealants,Paints and Coatings,Other. Nano Calcium Carbonate Market: Region Wise Outlook: The global Nano Calcium Carbonate market is segmented into the seven key regions: North America, Latin America, Western Europe, and Eastern Europe, Asia Pacific Excluding Japan (APEJ), Japan and the Middle East and Africa (MEA). The APEJ region is expected to dominate the global nano calcium carbonate market over the forecast period. Rapid growth in industries including automotive, rubber, construction, paper, and manufacturing is expected to drive the nano calcium carbonate market in APEJ region over the forecast period. China is estimated to dominate the APEJ nano calcium carbonate market due to the increase in tire and rubber industry in this area. The growth in automotive production on account of rising demand for light and heavy commercial vehicles is expected to drive the North America nano calcium carbonate market over the forecast period. The growth in investment by the major manufacturing firms to set up new production sites in Eastern European countries including Romania, Poland, and the Czech Republic are expected to drive the nano calcium carbonate market in this area. The stringent regulations about pollution control and reduction are expected to fuel the growth of Western Europe nano calcium carbonate market over the forecast period.Nano Calcium Carbonate Market: Key Players: Nano calcium carbonate market has several global operators, some of the major stakeholders among them include: Specialty Minerals Inc.,Imerys Performance Minerals,Omya AG,Enping Yueyi Chemistry Industry Co. Ltd.,Fujian Sanmu Nano Calcium Carbonate Co.,Ltd,Jia Dah Chemical Industrial Co., Ltd.,Yuncheng Chemical Industrial Co., Ltd.,Solvay S.A.Visit For TOC@ https://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/toc/16837 PR-Inside.com: 2019-01-24 10:51:28 The mining industry is expected to witness growth with a single digit CAGR over the next six years on account of the further expanding demand for metal and mineral commodities. Latin America accounted for about 8% of the global mining equipment demand in 2013 and its contribution towards global mining equipment sales was registered at 15% for the same year. The region serves as the prime destination for mining exploration and investment at a global level.The key reason which has accelerated the growth of the Latin American mining equipment market is the enhanced demand for the consumption of natural resources. Presently, the region produces about 45% of the global copper, 21% of the global zinc, 50% of the global silver and 26% of the global molybdenumproduction. In addition, foreign investment, especially from China, US, Canada and Australia, plays a significant role in the growth of the Latin American mining equipment market. Further, other operations such as the Panama Stock Operation (PSO), CSR activities, and introduction of next generation mining equipment such as Autonomous Haulage System (AHS) also serve as driving factors for the growth of the mining equipment market in Latin America. Among these, CSR activities primarily focus on rehabilitation and support programmes, promotion of healthy lifestyle and awareness programmes for the adoption of green technology. However, in the past few years, the mining industry and hence the mining equipment industry has been facing an economic crisis on account of the requirement for budget allocation in the maintenance of the mining industry and equipment, etc. Illegal mining operations at some locations and the risk associated with the mining industry serve as further constraints for the Latin American mining equipment industry.Surging demand and abundant availability of natural resources(including the worlds top three metal and mineral reserves of copper, zinc and silver rapid technological advancement, modernization of mining plants, stable legislations with a motivating legal environment, and the efficient budget allocation with aftermarket revenue generation will serve as opportunities for the development of the Latin America mining equipment market.Request For Report Sample @ https://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/sample/rep-la-68 Market segmentation of Latin American mining equipment can be done on the basis of equipment, application and countries. On the basis of equipment, the Latin American mining equipment market includes mineral processing equipment, surface mining equipment, underground mining equipment, mining drills and breakers, crushing and screening equipment, etc. On the basis of applications, the Latin American mining equipment market segmentation includes metal ore mining, coal mining and mineral mining. Chile, being the largest producer of copper, serves as a lucrative market for copper-based mining equipment. Colombia is an active exporter,and is the first Latin American coal-producing country alongwith the production of metals such as gold, silver and platinum and hence is the opportunistic market for the associated mining equipment market. On the basis of countries, the Latin American mining equipment market includes Argentina, Brazil, Mexico, Chile, Panama, Peru, Ecuador, Colombia, Paraguay, Uruguay, Bolivia and Venezuela. Chile is known for the adoption and introduction of advanced technologies such as autonomous haulage system. Peru is the reserve of key minerals and has been witnessing a surging demand for copper and hence the expansion of the associated mining equipment market. Brazil has an integrated approach for the production and sale of mining equipment. Panama has an active stock operation (PSO) for the support of the mining industry. In line with the positive future of the Latin American mining equipment industry, Peru and Chile are expected to receive double digit foreign investment in $ Bn in the next six years.Request For Report Table of Content (TOC): https://www.futuremarketinsights.com/toc/rep-la-68 Some of the prominent players of the global mining equipment market include Sandvik AB, Hitachi Construction Machinery, Komatsu Limited, Atlas Copco Ab Joy Global Inc. Breaker Technology, Astec Industries, Bucyrus International, Caterpillar Incorporated, China Coal Energy Company Limited, Tecpalsa, Tecmap, Tiesa and Igaretta. Among these, Komatsu Limited in the whole of Latin America, Tecpalsa in Colombia, Tecmap and Tiesa in Panama and Igaretta in Argentina are active players in the Latin American mining equipment market. Persistence Market Research PR-Inside.com: 2019-01-24 09:51:00 Press Information Persistence Market Research Persistence Market Research 305 Broadway 7th Floor, New York City, NY 10007, United States, USA Canada Toll Free: 800-961-0353 Yogesh Team Lead 800-961-0353 email http://www.persistencemarketresearch.com # 469 Words Persistence Market Research305 Broadway7th Floor, New York City,NY 10007, United States,USA Canada Toll Free: 800-961-0353Team Lead800-961-0353 Persistence Market Research Released New Market Report on Global Market Study on Membrane Separation: Water & Waste Water Segment to Witness Highest Growth by 2019, the global membrane separation market was valued at USD 19.0 billion in 2012 and is expected to grow at a CAGR of 10.8% from 2013 to 2019, to reach an estimated value of USD 39.2 billion in 2019.Mandatory government regulation and increasing demand for clean processed drinking water is propelling the water processing industry to provide the public with clean processed drinking water free of impurity. Providing growth opportunity for water treatment industry among which, Membrane separation technology is one of the most popular methods used for cleaning water. Mandatory adherence of certain environmental standards by the national government such as the Clean Water Act especially in areas with water scarcity have influenced the demand for better water treatment technology, including membrane separation technology. Shifting from chemical to physical treatments of water is also a major driver as chemical treatments are perceived as an environmentally unclean technology with associated disposal costs. Additional awareness of water scarcity has influenced the demand for water reuse in water stressed areas.Request for Report Sample@ https://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/samples/2888 Governments and municipal authorities are increasingly waking up to the effects of environmental degradation on the economy. Worldwide industrial expansion and growing population are propelling the demand for better water treatment technology, providing growth opportunity for the global market of membrane separation technology. Additionally, the oil and petroleum industry is well established in the gulf and European countries such as Italy and Germany which involve membrane separation technology for liquid separation. Expansion of such industry is expected to increase the overall demand for membrane separation technology.Membrane separation technology is bifurcated into four major processes, microfiltration, ultrafiltration, nanofiltration and reverse osmosis. Microfiltration dominates the market with more than 35% global market share in 2012. Whereas water & wastewater dominates the end-user market with 36% global market shares in 2012. The global membrane separation market grew from USD 19.0 billion in 2010 to USD 21.2 billion in 2013.European membrane market (largest in 2013) is expected to reach USD 13.8 billion in 2019, growing at a CAGR of 9.6%. In 2012 water & wastewater sector was the major end-user of membrane separation technology and is expected to increase at a CAGR of 11.1% during 2013-19. The membrane separation market is fragmented with several players in the market supplying membrane separation products to the end-users (water and wastewater, industrial and healthcare) in the market. Most of the companies produce different types of membrane products such as microfiltration, nanofiltration, ultrafiltration and reverse osmosis and sell them globally. Major companies operating globally and manufacturing all four products are Evoqua Water Technologies, Pall Corporation, Koch Membrane Systems Inc., Merck Millipore, Degremont SA, Dow Chemical Company, GEA Filtration, 3M Company, Nitto Denko Corporation and Veolia Environnement.Request for Report Table of Content (TOC) @ https://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/methodology/2888 PR-Inside.com: 2019-01-24 21:11:55 Press Information QYReports Pune, India Jones John Sales Manager +91-9764607607 email https://www.qyreports.com # 565 Words Pune, IndiaSales Manager+91-9764607607 Artificial Intelligence is a branch of computer science that strongly helps in the development of information systems that work and think like humans. For example, speech recognition, problem solving, learning and planning. Today, Artificial Intelligence is a very common topic widely discussed in technology and business. Many experts and industry analysts insist that artificial intelligence or machine learning is the future.Top Key Players Included in This Report: Google Inc., IBM Corporation, Microsoft Corporation, Nvidia Corporation, Intel Corporation, General Vision, Inc., Numenta, Inc., Sentient Technologies Holdings Ltd., Fingenius Limited, Inbenta Technologies, Inc.Ask for Sample copy: https://www.qyreports.com/request-sample?report-id=97889 The report also offers extensive research on the key players in this market and detailed insights on the competitiveness of key players of Artificial Intelligence Software market. The key business strategies such as mergers & acquisitions, partnerships, collaborations, and contracts adopted by the major players are also identifies and analyzed in the report. For each company, the report recognizes their manufacturing base, competitors, product type, application and specification, pricing, and gross margin. Business overview, financial standing, product portfolio and specification, and SWOTs are the parameters based on which these companies are profiled in this report.The report begins with an outline of terms and terminologies, conventions, and notations that are relevant in the context of Artificial Intelligence Software and applications in the information and communication technology domain. Following this is the market overview section that discusses key market segments and an analysis of their growth behavior over the forecast period. The section also covers cost structure and demand-supply logistics that are important to ascertain the growth curve of Artificial Intelligence Software market over the forecast period. Included in the report is an entire section that discusses regulatory frameworks that govern requisites for Artificial Intelligence Software capabilities.The report is presented after an extensive research phases that involved tapping into industry-centric databases for data collection followed by data scrutiny. Extensive interviews were carried out with industry opinion leaders to obtain their viewpoint about the growth behavior of the Artificial Intelligence Software market. An array of tables and graphical representations included in the report is visually appealing to learn the growth trends in the past.Get Discount on this Report: https://www.qyreports.com/ask-for-discount?report-id=97889 In this report, the global Artificial Intelligence Software market is studied on the basis of type and application. Each of these segments is examined and projections provided until the end of the forecast period in 2025. This allows the users to gauge the standing of each segment over the forecast period.A notable feature of the report is an analysis of key end users of Artificial Intelligence Software over the forecast period. Technical capabilities and distribution of data centers that are important to gauge Artificial Intelligence Software requirements of these end users have also been covered in this report.Get more information: http://qyreports.com/enquiry-before-buying?report-id=97889 Table of ContentsGlobal Artificial Intelligence Software Market Research ReportChapter 1 Global Artificial Intelligence Software Market OverviewChapter 2 Economic Impact on IndustryChapter 3 Market Competition by ManufacturersChapter 4 Production, Revenue (Value) by RegionChapter 5 Supply (Production), Consumption, Export, Import by RegionsChapter 6 Production, Revenue (Value), Price Trend by TypeChapter 7 Market Analysis by ApplicationChapter 8 Manufacturing Cost AnalysisChapter 9 Industrial Chain, Sourcing Strategy and Downstream BuyersChapter 10 Marketing Strategy Analysis, Distributors/TradersChapter 11 Market Effect Factors AnalysisChapter 12 Global Artificial Intelligence Software Market Forecast Future Market Insights has announced the addition of the Marine Winch Motors Market: Global Industry Analysis 2013 - 2017 and Opportunity Assessment; 2018 - 2028 " report to their offering. Marine Winch Motors Market PR-Inside.com: 2019-01-24 09:22:05 The evolution in the marine industry has led to higher acceptance of equipment such as marine winch motors, which are used for handling wire and ropes and works by spooling the wire. Marine winch motors are generally installed on marine deck and are available in various types including AC motors and DC Motors. Steam winches were common but are now obsolete.Marine winch motors are expected to emerge as an important equipment in the near future and will be used in various applications including anchor winches, cranes, capstans, mooring winches, etc. The marine winch motors market is currently in between the growth and mature stages, and the production of marine winch motors are directly related to the demand marine industry and their aftermarket.Request to Sample of Report @ https://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/sample/rep-gb-7679 Marine Winch Motors Market: Market DynamicsDrivers:Sea transport is cheap and more energy efficient than other modes of transport. Currently, seaborne trade accounts for over 90% of global overseas trade. Hence, growth in sea borne trade will drive the demand of shipping containers, and consequently will drive the global marine winch motors market. Moreover, continuous fleet addition by shipping companies is also anticipated to give traction to the growth of marine winch motors market in the coming decade. That apart, increase in maritime tourism, upsurge the demand of new ships which ultimately will boost the demand marine winch motors market over the forecast period.Restraints:Slow growth in developed economies is expected to act as a restraining factor to the growth of marine winch motors market over the forecast period. Moreover, the global marine winch motors market is characterized by the presence of both giant as well as regional players. This factor is expected to create price competitiveness, which will hamper the growth of the marine winch motors market over the forecast period.Trends:A major trend predicted five years down the line includes market leaders of marine winch motors are continuously focusing on R&D to develop new and effective product to meet consumer demand. Increasing concerns such as environmental pollution and regulations focused the marine winch motors manufacturer to develop products that reduce vibration and increase efficiencyMarine Winch Motors Market: SegmentationThe global marine winch motors market can be segmented on the basis of type, sales channel and applications.On the basis of type, the global marine winch motors market can be segmented as:AC MotorsInduction MotorsSynchronous MotorsDC MotorsBrush DCBrushless DCOn the basis of sales channel, the global marine winch motors market can be segmented as:OEM (Original Equipment Manufacturer)AftermarketOn the basis of application, the global marine winch motors market can be segmented as:Anchor WinchesCranesMooring WinchesCapstansLARSMarine Winch Motors Market: Regional OutlookThe regional demand dynamics can be directly correlated with the demand from marine industry. Over the forecast period, Asia Pacific region is estimated to witness enormous growth in the marine winch motors market as marine Industry is one the matured industries in the region. China, South Korea and ASEAN are expected to remain as major growth contributors. Moreover, developed countries in Western Europe, such as Germany and U.K. are estimated to grow at a significant CAGR over the forecast period in global marine winch motors market owing to increase in sea borne trade. Developing economies such as Latin America is probably to witness the growth of marine winch motors market over the forecast period owing to increase in demand. Middle East & Africa is anticipated to grow at a considerable CAGR during the forecast period in global marine winch motors market owing to increase in maritime tourism in the region.Request Report for TOC @ https://www.futuremarketinsights.com/toc/rep-gb-7679 Marine Winch Motors Market: Market ParticipantsExample of some of the key participants identified across the value chain of global marine winch motors market include:ABB GroupSiemens AGHaacon Hebetechnik GmbHJohnson ElectricGeneral ElectricNidec CorporationAllied Motion Technologies Inc.Emerson Electric CompanySchneider Electric SEBosch Rexroth AGHoyer Motors Future Market Insights has announced the addition of the Machine Tool Oils Market: Global Industry Analysis 2013 - 2017 and Opportunity Assessment; 2018 - 2028 " report to their offering. Machine Tool Oils Market PR-Inside.com: 2019-01-24 09:23:20 Every year, millions of dollars are spent on the replacement of machine tools due to the low performance of lubricants. Machine tool oils are the ideal solution for increasing the lubrication of equipment. Proper synchronisation is required during the operation of equipment for the efficient working of the procedure. In case of improper synchronisation, the engine is likely to malfunction, which is likely to result in the emission of harmful gases. This can be avoided with the usage of machine tool oils. Thus, machine tool oils play a vital role in the working of machine tools.Generally, machine tool oils have been divided into three types: hydraulic oil, mineral oil and slideway oils. The usage of machine tool oils varies on the basis of condition or operations. In terms of notable properties, machine tool oils have tackiness and act as anti-rust and anti-foam additives for enabling the higher loading of machine tools. Moreover, machine tool oils significantly reduce the odours, provide significant corrosion protection for all ferrous & non-ferrous materials and are resistant to bacteria, which helps maintain cleanliness. The primary application of machine tool oils is to avoid corrosion, provide ease of cleanliness and to increase the lubrication of machine tools. Moreover, machine tool oils handle the mechanism of operation and the rate of operation. Furthermore, machine tool oils provide improved surface finish to the job.Request to Sample of Report @ https://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/sample/rep-gb-8077 Global Machine Tool Oils Market: DynamicsSome of the most important factors driving the demand for machine tool oils include the growth of the global automotive industry and oil & gas industry. Moreover, rising concerns about the safety of operations and workers is also expected to significantly boost the global machine tool oils market towards the end of the forecast period. In addition, strict regulations and rules enforced by government authorities regarding the safety of the environment are encouraging manufacturers to improve the efficiency of their operations, which results in an increase in the demand for machine tool oils in the global market. However, high dependence on petroleum-based products and fluctuating prices are some of the factors restraining the growth of the global machine tool oils market in the next few years.Rising industrialisation and globalisation has enhanced the quality and efficiency of manufacturing processes. Hence, large-scale industrialisation across the world will act as a key trend for the global machine tool oils market.Global Machine Tool Oils Market: SegmentationThe machine tool oils market is segmented on the basis of product type, applications and regions.The global machine tool oils market can be segmented on the basis of product type as follows:Hydraulic oilMineral oilSideway oilThe global machine tool oils market can be segmented on the basis of applications as follows:BearingsRust & oil degradationRubber & resinsSteel & non-ferrous metalElectric motorsGeneratorsPumps & fansGearsHydraulicsSidewaysGlobal Machine Tool Oils Market: Regional outlookOn the basis of geography, the global machine tool oils market can be segmented into nine key regions: China, North America, Japan, Latin America, India, Western Europe, Middle East & Africa, South East & Asia and Eastern Europe. Among these, Europe and North America are continuously witnessing industrialisation and growth in infrastructure, which is creating the demand for customised products, and this is expected to boost the machine tool oils market in these regions. Moreover, the expansion plans of the major vendors of machine toll oils in emerging economies, such as China and India, is expected to have a moderate to high impact on the machine tool oils market during the forecast period.Request Report for TOC @ https://www.futuremarketinsights.com/toc/rep-gb-8077 Global Machine Tool Oils Market: Key PlayersThe global machine tool oils market expected to be fragmented throughout the forecast period. Examples of some of the market participants identified across the value chain of the global machine tool oils market are listed below:Lubriplate Lubricants CompanyIndian Oil Corporation Ltd.Eastern Petroleum Private LimitedAshburn Chemical TechnologiesPetro?Canada Lubricants Inc.Exxon Mobil CorporationRBM Oil CorporationSARLBORO Petrochemical GroupXinxiang Tianrui Hydraulic Equipment Co., Ltd. PR-Inside.com: 2019-01-24 12:08:07 Press Information Future Market Insights U.S. Office 616 Corporate Way, Suite 2-9018, Valley Cottage, NY 10989, United States T: +1-347-918-3531 F: +1-845-579-5705 Email: sales@futuremarketinsights.com Web: https://www.futuremarketinsights.com Abhishek Bhudholiya Manager +1-347-918-3531 email https://www.futuremarketinsights.com # 596 Words U.S. Office616 Corporate Way, Suite 2-9018,Valley Cottage, NY 10989,United StatesT: +1-347-918-3531F: +1-845-579-5705Email: sales@futuremarketinsights.comWeb: https://www.futuremarketinsights.comManager+1-347-918-3531 A bioluminescence experiment requires a paired set of biochemical: an enzyme named luciferase and a substrate, which is a molecule that emits light upon interacting with the enzyme or photoprotein. For each of the bioluminescent system required there is a unique co- factors and buffers that are required. Around us there are a lot of biological, natural and light producing systems which produces the enzyme named luciferases. The substrate of luciferases is coin as luciferins. Emil Heinrich DuBois-Reymond, a German physiologist coined both these terms. Luciferases and luciferins are both involved in totally different reactions. For instance, the most commonly used luciferase detects the biological energy molecule adenosine triphosphate.Luciferase Assays Market: Drivers and RestraintsThe market for luciferase assay is expected to upsurge owing to its penetrating usage in research to study the gene expression. Moreover, these luciferases has become powerful tool in molecular biology and genetic engineering where they have replaced chloramphenicol acetyltrans-ferase gene as a reporter. Bioluminescence is now filling its own niches as well as competing with chemiluminescence. ATP detection via firefly luciferase, for example, has no chemiluminescent counterpart. There is tremendous technological development in the luciferase assay market where the current luciferase technologies permit the quantitative visualization of gene expression at single-cell resolution by imaging its luminescence in real-time using a highly sensitive charged-coupled device (CCD) camera.Request Sample Report @ https://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/sample/rep-gb-5565 Luciferase Assays Market: SegmentationOn the basis of assay type the luciferase assays market can be segment as:Beta-galactosidase (LacZ) assaysLuciferase assaysFluorescent protein related assaysChloramphenicol acetyltransferase (CAT) assaysOthersOn the basis of application the luciferase assays market can be segment as:Gene expressionPost-translational modificationProtein-protein interactionMetabolic activityOthersLuciferase Assays Market: OverviewThese luciferases are used in bioluminescence assays as researchers believe that where there is light there would be ATP and measuring the light emitted while carrying out the bioluminescence assay is the measure of the metabolic activity. Today luciferases is used in all forms of testing to check the ATP. It is used to check the microbial contamination in many of the beverages company. There are a number of studies going on where the researchers link the interest gene with the luciferases to study the metabolic activity. The investigator through this linkage is able to follow gene expression at different stages of development in a transgenic organism.Luciferase Assays Market: Region-wise OutlookIn terms of geography, luciferase assays market has been divided into seven regions including North- America, Eastern Europe, Western Europe, Asia- Pacific excluding Japan, Japan Middle-East & Africa and Latin America. North America is expected to remain the dominating region while Asia Pacific is expected to emerge as a fastest growing region. Strong research funding and government to study newer assay methods makes North America the dominating region. Economically developing regions such as Asia Pacific has many companies focusing their resources in this region and trying to explore the luciferase assay market potential.Request to View TOC @ https://www.futuremarketinsights.com/toc/rep-gb-5565 Luciferase Assays Market: Key Market ParticipantsSome of the luciferase assays market participants are Life Technologies, Sigma Aldrich, Thermo Fisher, Promega, Clontech, Invivogen, Roche Applied Sciences, Switchgear Genomics, Origene, Perkin Elmer, EMD Millipore, Clontech, Gold Biotechnology, Lonza and GE Healthcare Life Sciences. New product launch, collaborations and acquisitions are few of the strategies the luciferase assays market players undertake. For instance, Promega Corporation introduced a new product named Nano-Glo Dual-Luciferase Reporter (NanoDLR) Assay, a two-reporter system that incorporates NanoLuc luciferase technology, providing increased data quality and greater sensitivity for biologically complex applications XploreMR is one of the worlds leading resellers of high-quality market research reports. We feature in-depth reports from some of the worlds most reputed market research companies and international organizations. We serve across a broad spectrum from Fortune 500 to small and medium businesses. Our clients trust us for our unwavering focus onquality and affordability. We believe high price should not be a bottleneck for organizations looking to gain access to quality information. XploreMR PR-Inside.com: 2019-01-24 14:30:10 Press Information XploreMR 111 North Market Street, Suite 300, San Jose, CA 95113, United States Website: https://www.xploremr.com Email : sales@xploremr.com sales@xploremr.com Research Analyst 6692840108 email http://www.xploremr.com # 1035 Words 111 North Market Street, Suite 300,San Jose, CA 95113, United StatesWebsite: https://www.xploremr.comEmail : sales@xploremr.comResearch Analyst6692840108 In robust of the market included Lingerie market report. Which helps to heighten the industry growth along with assorted market subjects such as growth path, predictions, revenue, trends, and market size analysis which are directly impacted on market dynamics. XploreMR provides the data on the bases of the past and current years for forecast the market covering in the next upcoming years as well as covering the latest trends of the market. The report will provide a detailed study of the market which will aid the reader for judgment and better comprehension.Global Lingerie Market: OverviewLingerie market has occupied a significant position in the apparel industry in recent years as it not only serves its functional benefits but also is considered as an basic necessity to every woman. The global lingerie market has been bifurcated on the basis of product types into bras, knickers and panties, lounge wear, shape wear and others which includes baby doll, corsets, chemises and chemisoles among others. Bra as an essential necessity and also a fashion accessory to every women and it has captured the largest market share in 2015.Knickers and panties also occupied a significant position in the same year, thus contributing significantly to the overall market size of the lingerie industry. The market is further segmented on the basis of distribution channel into online stores and storefront. Online stores captured the largest market in 2015 due to high penetration of internet services and rapid advancements in the field of technology, thus creating a strong platform for the manufacturers of lingerie.View Full Report @ https://www.xploremr.com/report/1897/lingerie-market Further, the e-commerce giants are engaged in strong promotional activities due to which they provide with continuous discount options and various other offers which attract both consumers and manufacturers to avail this platform.Global Lingerie Market: Drivers and TrendsFemales in the developing countries are experiencing latest trends towards carrying themselves in public. They are changing their outlook towards accepting innerwear as a casual affair and take time to choose and make a purchase. The outerwear of women has undergone a dramatic change and due to this women prefer selecting inner wear, especially bras that can match with their attire.They try to purchase lingerie depending on the occasion or event, such as there are special sport wear bras for gymnasium purpose. It can be demonstrated from the product differentiation brought by the lingerie manufacturers over online and retail stores. Thus this is a key factor complementing the growth of the global lingerie market. Lingerie has witnessed a rapid acceptance in the fashion industry.Women from all backgrounds want to try out the latest trends in the inner wear segment. Most of the large brands have exclusive stores in shopping malls or independent stores. In developing countries like India and China, brands like Jockey try to reach out to customers through small roadside innerwear shops. Additionally, lingerie is available at stores as well as online. Brands like Victoria Secret have country specific websites for easier transactions and shipment.Download Sample Report @ https://www.xploremr.com/connectus/sample/1897 Global Lingerie Market: RestraintsHowever, the lingerie wear maintains high cost for advertisement and other marketing promotions. This is due to the cost of celebrities or models that are hired for being featured in the photo shoots. Moreover, the destination or location cost of the photo shoot depends and therefore larger brands do not compromise in keeping high cost for their lingerie wear. Therefore, this factor is majorly hindering the growth of the market and the impact of the same is likely to reduce by the end of the forecast period.Global Lingerie Market: OpportunitiesMoreover, the global lingerie market is experiencing moderate growth in the apparel segment as nowadays individuals are more inclined towards branded items, most of which are usually priced on the higher end. People from all backgrounds and income group want to avail a comfortable and lasting inner wear that can be fashionable as well as skin-friendly. There are many local brands or companies that manufacture cheap quality products to cater to the wide population in the under developed or developing countries.Mergers and acquisitions are a strategic way of entering the market and understanding the current needs and preferences of the population. Through this, the large companies will benefit in capturing the market and at the same time, will enable the small companies to fight for a better position in the market.Global Lingerie Market: Regional OutlookMoreover, in this report the study provides different countries included in different regions such as North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Latin America and Middle East and Africa. North America includes U.S. and Rest of North America. Europe includes U.K., Germany, France, Russia, Italy and Rest of Europe. Asia Pacific includes countries such as India, China, Japan and Rest of Asia Pacific. In addition, Middle East and Africa includes country such as UAE, South Africa and Rest of Middle East and Africa. Latin America comprise of countries such as Brazil and Rest of Latin AmericaAsia Pacific is anticipated to witness the fastest growth during the forecast period. Transition in the lifestyle of the consumers which is backed by rapid urbanization and increasing purchasing power is a major factor behind the high growth of this market in Asia Pacific. Further, consumer exposure to the same by way of advertisements through televisions, and print media among others is another key factor responsible for the growth of the Lingerie Market in this region.Key Players Mentioned in this Report:Some of the major key players operating in the global lingerie market are, Jockey International Inc. (Kenosha, Wisconsin, U.S.), Hanes (North Carolina U.S.), Groupe Chantelle (Cachan, France), LVMH (Boise U.S.), L Brands Inc. (Columbus, Ohio), MAS Holdings Limited (Colombo, Sri Lanka), Ann Summers (London, U.K.), Marks and Spencer (London U.K.), PV H Corporation (New York, U.S.) among others.The report analyzes the factors that are driving and restraining the growth of the lingerie market. This report will help manufacturers, distributors and suppliers to understand the present and future trends in this market and formulate strategies accordingly.Buy Full Report @ https://www.xploremr.com/cart/reports/buynow/1897 Life support systems is very painful, expensive and emotionally disturbing experience with no guarantee of body restoration. However, it exposes patients to risk of further medical complications. Intensive monitoring is usually done for the patients associated with life support systems. Life Support Systems PR-Inside.com: 2019-01-24 13:04:04 Press Information Future Market Insights Future Market Insights U.S. Office 616 Corporate Way, Suite 2-9018, Valley Cottage, NY 10989, United States T: +1-347-918-3531 F: +1-845-579-5705 Email: sales@futuremarketinsights.com Web: https://www.futuremarketinsights.com Umesh SEO Manager 3479183531 email https://www.futuremarketinsights.com/ # 680 Words Future Market InsightsU.S. Office616 Corporate Way, Suite 2-9018,Valley Cottage, NY 10989,United StatesT: +1-347-918-3531F: +1-845-579-5705Email: sales@futuremarketinsights.comWeb: https://www.futuremarketinsights.comSEO Manager3479183531 Life supports system in healthcare is the complex machine used for supporting the functioning of various body organs and systems. These systems are mostly required mostly in cases of major organs failure such as brain, heart or lungs. These systems include invasive as well as non-invasive systems being used in various applications such as surgery support or trauma incidences. Life support systems help in restoring airway, breathing, circulation and thus maintaining patient's homeostasis. It also helps the patients from complications of the underlying disease and its treatment. These devices play an immensely important role in urgent patient management in emergency departments, intensive care units and neonatal intensive care units. Life support systems consists of basic life support which is provided in situation requiring immediate attention followed by advance life support provided by a trained healthcare professional. Equipments used in the life support systems may be installed one or portable. These systems are used in hospitals, trauma centers, ambulatory surgical centers or by emergency medical support services.Life support systems is very painful, expensive and emotionally disturbing experience with no guarantee of body restoration. However, it exposes patients to risk of further medical complications. Intensive monitoring is usually done for the patients associated with life support systems.Life Support Systems Market: Drivers & RestraintsRising prevalence of critical disorders, advancement in medical technology, improving patient accessibility and increasing number of trauma cases are some of the factors supporting the market growth of these life support systems. New developments for affordable and user-friendly devices are also pushing the market growth for these systems. However, high risk, complexities related to their operations, stern regulatory norms in context of high risk, physical as well as emotional pain are the factors that may limit the growth of the market. Along with this, inappropriate practices associated used by doctors such as to maintain patients beyond the point with the use of ventilators also restricts its use and affects the market growth.Request Sample Report @ https://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/sample/rep-gb-5925 Life Support Systems Market: SegmentationSegmentation by Product Type:InstalledPortableSegmentation by Device Type:Automated External DefibrillatorExtracorporeal OxygenatorVentilatorSegmentation by End UserHospitalsClinicsTrauma CentersAmbulatory Surgical CentersEmergency Medical ServicesLife Support Systems Market: OverviewThe market for life support systems consists of various players. Life support systems market is dependent on the improvisations in healthcare infrastructure, healthcare spending, prevalence of life threatening diseases etc. across the globe. According to the Society of Critical Care Medicine, over 5.7 million patients are admitted to intensive care units (ICUs) in the U.S. every year mostly with cardiac, respiratory and neurologic conditions, thus representing the market need for these instruments. The expense for the life support systems is given by individual payers, insurance companies, health plans and government support.Life Support Systems Market: Region-wise OutlookGeographically, North America is the leading region with the number of end users for life support systems owing to the accessibility for technologically advanced systems usage in healthcare facilities as well as most of the population is covered with health insurance plans. Moreover, presence of most of the market players in the region and their strong sales growth support the market share of the region. This is followed by the Western Europe market owing to the presence of established medical infrastructure and skilled medical professionals as well as growing number of research and developments for novel and innovative medical solutions. Asia Pacific region represents the significant growth rate with the continuous improvement in healthcare facilities and rising number of hospital admissions. Latin America followed by Middle East & Africa represents the lowest market share as well as growth rate over the forecast period owing to the less developed healthcare infrastructure and lack of medical facilities.Request to View TOC @ https://www.futuremarketinsights.com/toc/rep-gb-5925 Life Support Systems Market Treatment Market: Key PlayersSome of the players in the Life Support Systems market includes Stryker Corporation, Heyer medical AG, Koninklijke Philips N.V., Hamilton Medical, ZOLL Medical Corporation, Livanova plc, Smith medical, Promed Group Co., Ltd., Braile biomedical and others. PR-Inside.com: 2019-01-24 11:12:17 Press Information Persistence Market Research 305 Broadway 7th Floor, New York City, NY 10007, United States, Telephone - +1-646-568-7751 USA Canada Toll Free: 800-961-0353 Email: sales@persistencemarketresearch.com Web: http://www.persistencemarketresearch.com Yogesh Senger Manager 6465687751 email https://www.persistencemarketresearch.com # 685 Words 305 Broadway7th Floor, New York City,NY 10007, United States,Telephone - +1-646-568-7751USA Canada Toll Free: 800-961-0353Email: sales@persistencemarketresearch.comWeb: http://www.persistencemarketresearch.comManager6465687751 Infant cereals, as the name suggests, are the cereals which are being served to small babies or infants as their first food product. Generally, it includes wheat, rice cereal, oatmeal, barley cereal or cereals prepared in the household sector, and others, in its catalog. Few of the brands provides different types of infant cereals for infants belonging to different age groups. The manufacturers produce new variations of the products such as partially hydrolyzed infant cereals which are sweet in taste. The manufacturers of infant cereals aim to produce each and every variant or the type, of the infant cereal to possess any of the nutrients required to enable the adequate growth of the infant who consumes it. In order to provide the taste of the product, there are different flavors for different products being available such as oatmeal with bananas and peaches, mixed grains are available with blueberries, and others.Market Drivers and Trends:There are studies being conducted in order to innovate new varieties of infant cereals and to expand the product portfolio of the infant cereal market. In the current era, maximum parents move towards choosing infant cereals as the first food for their infants, due to the nutrients, and vitamins being offered by the cereals. The infant cereals are relatively cheap and are gradually gaining popularity in the society. For maximum infants, the infant cereals are totally non-allergic and if, in case the infants are having allergy with any of the cereals then parents are given different options to choose as there is availability of products based on single cereals which are rich in a particular type of nutrient and also multi-grain cereals based products which are rich in numerous types of nutrients. All the mentioned factors are increasing the growth of the global infant cereals market.Market Segmentation:The infant cereals market is segmented on the basis of product type, packaging, distribution channel, and nature. On the basis of product type, the infant cereals market is segmented into rice-based infant cereals, wheat-based infant cereals, oatmeal, barley-based infant cereals, and others. Each of these segments is offered with a combination of different elements giving rise to the new product for the consumers. On the basis of packaging, the infant cereals market is segmented into cans, jars, carton packages, pouches, and others.There are various modes of packaging being chosen depending on the product which is to be packed. On the basis of the distribution channel, the infant cereals market is segmented into store-based retailing and online retailing. Store-based retailing can be further classified into modern grocery retailers and traditional grocery retailers. Modern grocery retailers can be further sub-segmented into a convenience store, mom and pop stores, discount stores, and hypermarkets or supermarkets. The traditional grocery retailers can be further sub-segmented into food & drink specialty stores, independent small groceries, and others. On the basis of nature, the infant cereals market can be segmented as organic infant cereals and conventional infant cereals. The organic infant cereals are being adopted by consumers who aim to provide purely natural cereals to their infants.To view TOC of this report is available upon request @ https://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/toc/20548 Market Regional Outlook:The regional segment for the market of infant cereals is divided into seven different regions: Western Europe, North America, Eastern Europe, Latin America, APEJ, Middle East & Africa and Japan. Being a highly populated region with a high infant density, APAC is the region with a high consumption of infant cereals. North America is the region having a high consumption of organic infant cereals as its the region with worlds highest economy and the consumers of the North America are highly concerned about the health due to rise in health consciousness.Market Key Players:The key player in the infant cereals market only includes Earths Best, Inc., Wockhardt Ltd., Nestle, Nutidar, Kendal Nutricare Limited, DANA Dairy, H. J. Heinz Company. Among these manufacturers, Nestle is the leading producer which produces its infant cereals with its well-known brands including Ceralac, Nestum, Lactogen, and Nan Pro.Request to Sample Report @ https://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/samples/20548 Hydrophobic Coating Market PR-Inside.com: 2019-01-24 11:12:10 Press Information Persistence Market Research (PMR) 305 Broadway 7th Floor, New York City, NY 10007, United States, yogesh sengar Team Lead +1-646-568-7751 email http://www.persistencemarketresearch.com # 664 Words 305 Broadway7th Floor, New York City,NY 10007, United States,Team Lead+1-646-568-7751 Hydrophobic Coating Market: Overview: The hydrophobic coating are used to provide durable protection from liquids and abrasion, and it can be applied to a variety of substrates including metal, plastics, glass, fabrics, painted surfaces, and 3D printed parts. The surface contact angle in the hyperbolic coatings is the major factors which determine the hydrophobicity of any surface. Variation of the chemical composition of the material or use of various hydrophobic agents on smooth surfaces can change the surface contact angle greater than 90 degrees.Request Report Sample@ https://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/samples/16927 Hydrophobic Coating Market: Drivers and Restraints: The global hydrophobic coating market is expected to experience significant growth due to the increasing scope of application in aerospace, automotive, and construction industry. Technological advancements to implement nanoparticles in hydrophobic coatings, which offers improved performance characteristics and high surface area is expected to create new opportunities for the growth of hydrophobic coating market over the forecast period. The use of hydrophobic coatings for glass components used in an automobile offers high resistance from dust and rains. This application is likely to increase demand for hydrophobic coatings for the manufacturing of automotive windows and displays over the forecast period. Thus, the increase in demand for hydrophobic coatings for a broad range of applications in the automobile industry is expected to drive the global hydrophobic market over the forecast period. The changing consumer demand, innovations in automotive industry, and increasing disposable income is projected to drive the global auto industry. The increasing use of hydrophobic coatings for metal and plastic components used in the automobile industry is projected to drive the global hydrophobic coating market over the forecast period. Top industry players in global hydrophobic coatings market are focusing on product innovation to serve the increasing demand of the customers. However, the global key players in hydrophobic coating market are expected to face intense competition from the local and regional players over the forecast period. The easy availability of raw materials, increasing end-use industries, immense scope of new product development is likely to open new opportunities for the industry players over the forecast period.The anti-microbial coatings segment in the global hydrophobic coating market is expected to dominate over the forecast period owing to its increasing application in the medical industry. The high demand from medical and optical applications is supposed to drive the growth of this segment. The aerospace industry sector is expected to gain market share during the forecast period due to the increasing use of anti-corrosive and anti-wetting coatings. Hydrophobic Coating Market: Segmentation: On the Basis of Properties, Hydrophobic Coating market is segmented into: Anti-Microbial,Anti-Icing/Wetting,Anti-Fouling,Anti-Corrosion,Self-Cleaning,On the Basis of Application, Hydrophobic Coating market is segmented into: ,,Aerospace,Automotive,Construction,Medical,OpticalHydrophobic Coating Market: Region Wise Outlook: The global hydrophobic coating market is segmented into the seven key regions: North America, Latin America, Western Europe, and Eastern Europe, Asia Pacific Excluding Japan (APEJ), Japan and the Middle East and Africa (MEA). The APEJ region is expected to dominate the global hydrophobic coating market over the forecast period. Rapid growth in industries including automotive, construction, medical, and optical is supposed to drive the hydrophobic coating market in APEJ region over the forecast period. China is estimated to dominate the APEJ hydrophobic coating market due to the increase in automotive industry in this area. The growth in automotive production on account of rising demand for passenger cars is expected to drive the North America hydrophobic coating market over the forecast period. The increase in investment by the major players to set up new production sites in Western European countries is expected to drive the hydrophobic coating market in this area.Hydrophobic Coating Market: Key Players: Hydrophobic Coating market has several global operators, some of the major stakeholders among them include: BASF SE, Aculon Inc., 3M Company, AkzoNobel N.V., Accucoat Inc, NEI Corporation, NTT Advanced Technology Corporation, NANOKOTE, Precision Coating, Lotus Leaf Coatings, Inc..Visit For TOC@ https://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/toc/16927 Research Solution Insights presents professional and in-depth study of "Home Infusion Therapy Devices Market registering a 6.8% CAGR forecasted period by 2025". PR-Inside.com: 2019-01-24 19:14:42 Press Information RESEARCH SOLUTION INSIGHTS Research Solution Insights (RSI) 42 Joseph Street Port carling P0B 1J0 Muskoka, Ontario1 Phone - +44-1618508625 Website: https://www.researchsolutioninsights.com/ Email: sales@researchsolutioninsights.com Sagar Analyst 1618508625 email https://www.researchsolutioninsights.com/ # 556 Words Research Solution Insights (RSI)42 Joseph StreetPort carling P0B 1J0Muskoka, Ontario1Phone - +44-1618508625Website: https://www.researchsolutioninsights.com/Email: sales@researchsolutioninsights.comAnalyst1618508625 Infusion therapy entails management of medicine through a catheter or needle. Home infusion therapy is utilized for the handling of these diseases for example diabetes, gastrointestinal diseases, cancer, acute infections cystic fibrosis and dehydration. It is permitted by physicians as well as managed by nurses and trained professionals. This therapy is utilized when the oral medication is not functional for curing of diseases.Request For Report Sample: https://www.researchsolutioninsights.com/report/sample/230115-Home-Infusion-Therapy-Devices-Market The worldwide home infusion therapy devices market is projected to reach a market value of about US$ 1.51 Billion by the end of the year 2017 and registering a 6.8% CAGR forecasted period by 2025. The growth of the overall market is mainly fuelled by rising diabetes and cancer, rising occurrences of pain, surging geriatric population, encouraging settlements for home infusion therapy in addition to increasing awareness towards the use of these devices.However, reported errors and immeasurable product recalls, lack of trained professionals and standard usage guidelines and lack of appropriate diagnosis/treatment alternatives for the ailments are some aspects that are likely to impede the overall growth of the home infusion therapy devices market in the coming years.Market SegmentationOn the basis of product type, the market is segmented into infusion system pumps accessories, insulin pumps, disposable elastomeric pumps and electronic ambulatory pumps and PCA pumps. Disposable elastomeric pumps will be accounting for the biggest market share by dominating the overall market and exhibiting a robust CAGR during the eight-year forecast period.On the basis of application, the market is categorized into chemotherapy, parenteral nutrition, antibiotic administration enteral nutrition, chemotherapy, parenteral nutrition, antibiotic administration, enteral nutrition and others. The parenteral nutrition is considered to be dominating over the anticipated period along with recording a robust CAGR among other segments.The end user market has been segmented into two broad categories long-term care centers and home care setting. The home care setting will be the most lucrative during the forecasted period, in addition, will be recording the highest CAGR in comparison to long-term care centers.Request Report Discount: https://www.researchsolutioninsights.com/report/discount/230115-Home-Infusion-Therapy-Devices-Market The regions are segmented on the basis of Latin America, North America, Europe, APAC and MEA. North America is likely to lead the overall market in addition to expanding at a 7.1% CAGR through the assessment period. However, APAC will be the fastest growing region among others in terms of revenue in the overall market by exhibiting a CAGR of 7.4% during the assessment period.Key Market PlayersThe prominent players operating in the overall market includes Baxter International Inc. Johnson & Johnson Private Limited (Animas Corporation) Becton, Dickinson and Company B. Braun Melsungen AG. Pfizer Inc. Terumo Corporation Fresenius Kabi AG Smith & Nephew F. Hoffmann-La Roche AG Micrel Medical Devices S.A.About Us :Research Solution Insights is a U.S. based market research and consulting company. We are the best destination for your research and analytical solutions; simply because our primary and secondary sources of information are adroit to give one stop solutions.Company provides syndicated research reports, customized research reports, and consulting services. We offer the comprehensive market research solution for all the industries by performing the in-depth study of industry trends, verticals globally. We believe in building an eternal bond with our customers through providing them inclusive research study both customized and syndicated based on their specific requirements. XploreMR is one of the worlds leading resellers of high-quality market research reports. We feature in-depth reports from some of the worlds most reputed market research companies and international organizations. We serve across a broad spectrum from Fortune 500 to small and medium businesses. Our clients trust us for our unwavering focus onquality and affordability. We believe high price should not be a bottleneck for organizations looking to gain access to quality information. XploreMR PR-Inside.com: 2019-01-24 14:28:39 Press Information XploreMR 111 North Market Street, Suite 300, San Jose, CA 95113, United States Website: https://www.xploremr.com Email : sales@xploremr.com sales@xploremr.com Research Analyst 6692840108 email http://www.xploremr.com # 680 Words 111 North Market Street, Suite 300,San Jose, CA 95113, United StatesWebsite: https://www.xploremr.comEmail : sales@xploremr.comResearch Analyst6692840108 In robust of the market included Hair Removal market report. Which helps to heighten the industry growth along with assorted market subjects such as growth path, predictions, revenue, trends, and market size analysis which are directly impacted on market dynamics. XploreMR provides the data on the bases of the past and current years for forecast the market covering in the next upcoming years as well as covering the latest trends of the market. The report will provide a detailed study of the market which will aid the reader for judgment and better comprehension.Global Hair Removal Market: OverviewThe hair removal market is gaining significant momentum across the world, thanks to the increasing interest of people across the world into personal grooming. The rising beauty consciousness among consumers, globally, has fueled the demand for a number of hair removal products, such as hair removal creams, shaving razors, epilators, and wax and wax strips, reflecting positively on this market. In addition to this, the increasing popularity of the at-home hair removal techniques is projected to boost the market for hair removal solutions across the world, remarkably, in the near future.View Full Report @ https://www.xploremr.com/report/1868/hair-removal-market This research study offers a decisive overview of the worldwide market for hair removal by analyzing this market thoroughly on the basis of its past performance and current status. The future market potential has also been evaluated in details to provide the readers with future projections and forecasts. The overview section also includes a qualitative assessment of the overall market, emphasizing the influencing factors and various market dynamics, such as the driving forces, challenges, market trends, opportunities, and limitations, coupled with the assessment of potential customers.In addition to this, an analysis of the markets attractiveness, coupled with the key strategies adopted by the leading players, have been examined thoroughly in this report to explain the intensity of the competition within the market.Global Hair Removal Market: SegmentationThis research report consists of an exhaustive executive summary and a market snapshot that provide all the important information about various segments and sub-segments studied within the scope of this research. This section also offers significant information and data regarding the global hair removal market with respect to the leading segments based on the key products available in this market, their end users, and the markets geographical distribution.The performance of these market segments has been assessed at length on the basis of their utility, efficiency, and sales. Based on the product, the market has been bifurcated into laser based devices, energy based devices, and intense pulse light (IPL) devices. Based on the end user, the market has been classified into beauty clinics and dermatology clinics.Download Sample Report @ https://www.xploremr.com/connectus/sample/1868 In terms of the region, the market has been segmented into six regions: North America (Canada and the U.S.), Latin America (Argentina, Mexico, and Brazil), the Middle East and Africa (Israel, South Africa, Turkey, and GCC countries), Asia Pacific excluding Japan (India, South Korea, China, Australia, Indonesia, and Singapore), Europe (the U.K., Germany, Italy, Spain, France, and Nordic countries), and Japan. The market revenue for all the segments have been provided here in terms of US$ Mn for the period from 2017 to 2022, together with the cumulative average growth rate (CAGR %) between 2017 and 2022.Global Hair Removal Market: Competitive AnalysisIn conclusion, the market study offers a thorough review of the key players in the global hair removal market on the basis of a number of attributes, such as the overview of the enterprise, with respect to an assessment of its financial status, brand recognition, and the business. The product portfolio, recent developments, and business strategies have also been discussed in this research report. The leading players profiled in this research study are Solta Medical Inc., Cynosure Inc., Lynton Lasers Ltd., Fotona d.d., Strata Skin Sciences Inc., Syneron Medical Ltd., Alma Lasers Ltd., Venus Concept Canada Corp., Lumenis Ltd., Lutronic Corp., Sciton Inc., and Cutera Inc.Buy Full Report @ https://www.xploremr.com/cart/reports/buynow/1868 Alnico PR-Inside.com: 2019-01-24 10:34:26 Press Information Persistence Market Research 305 Broadway 7th Floor, New York City, NY 10007, United States, USA Canada Toll Free: 800-961-0353 Email: sales@persistencemarketresearch.com Web: http://www.persistencemarketresearch.com Yogesh Sengar Team Lead 800-961-0353 email https://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/ # 562 Words 305 Broadway7th Floor, New York City,NY 10007, United States,USA Canada Toll Free: 800-961-0353Email: sales@persistencemarketresearch.comWeb: http://www.persistencemarketresearch.comTeam Lead800-961-0353 Alnico belongs to the group of permanent (hard) magnets primarily composed of aluminum, nickel and cobalt. They are hard ferromagnetic substances which are widely used in temperature sensitive applications such as hall-effect and MR-based electronic and automotive sensors.They are also known as composite magnets which are usually manufactured from sintering or casting offering superior mechanical characteristics. Alnico magnets are made from the combination of aluminum, nickel and cobalt with small amounts of iron and other small elements that improve the property of the magnet. After rare earth magnets, Alnico is considered as the strongest permanent magnet. It is also used in various household appliances as well as for the production of horse shoe magnets.Request Sample Report@ https://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/samples/4261 The global market for alnico has been witnessing significant growth owing to rapid expansion of the automotive industry. Alnico magnets are majorly used in several components of an automobile including exhaust systems and sensors among others. Asia Pacific accounted as the largest market for alnico magnets, which was majorly supported by China, followed by several regions in Rest of the World (RoW) such as Latin America and Middle East. After the global economic slowdown in 2008-09, the manufacturing industry in North America has been slowly gaining pace. Alnico magnets are being increasingly implemented in electric motors and various sound reproductive systems such as microphones and loudspeakers. However, over the years, the industry for alnico magnets in this region has been noticeably saturated due to increasing consumption of NdFeB magnets. These magnets have been increasingly superseded by rare earth magnets such as NdFeB as well as ferrite in different automotive and electronic equipments, resulting in low demand from retail and manufacturing companies. However, alnico magnets cannot be replaced completely by rare earth elements due to their wide temperature range and stability. Thus, besides the automotive industry, growing demand for electric motors and sound systemshas been strongly contributing towards the growth of the alnico market.Moreover , rapid growth of industrial activities in emerging regions such as Asia Pacific has resulted in growth of various application sectors such as healthcare, electronics and power generation among others, which in turn is expected to contribute towards the demand for alnico magnets in Asia Pacific over the forecast period.Request TOC@ https://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/toc/4261 Increasing demand for alnico magnets on account of growth of the automotive industry is expected to be one of the vital factors driving the demand for alnico magnets over the forecast period. Rise in disposable income, improved infrastructure and increasing population are some of the factors driving the demand for automobiles.Moreover , increasing use of alnico magnets in temperature sensitive applications owing to growing industrialization and electronics industry is also expected to contribute towards the growth of the market. However, increasing substitution of alnico magnets by rare earth magnets such as NdFeB on account of larger energy products and stronger magnetic fields, allowing smaller size magnets to be used for a given application is expected to hamper the growth of the market. Increasing application scope of alnico magnets in HEVs coupled with growing demand for these vehicles is expected to open opportunities for the growth of the market over the next few years.Adams Magnetic Products Co., Arnold Magnetic Technologies, Dexter Magnetic Technologies Inc., and Tengam Engineering Inc. are some of the leading manufacturers of alnico dominating the industry. 3D Printing Consumables Market PR-Inside.com: 2019-01-24 10:56:13 Press Information Persistence Market Research 305 Broadway 7th Floor, New York City, NY 10007, United States, USA Canada Toll Free: 800-961-0353 Email: sales@persistencemarketresearch.com Web: http://www.persistencemarketresearch.com Yogesh Sengar Team Lead 800-961-0353 email https://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/ # 1148 Words 305 Broadway7th Floor, New York City,NY 10007, United States,USA Canada Toll Free: 800-961-0353Email: sales@persistencemarketresearch.comWeb: http://www.persistencemarketresearch.comTeam Lead800-961-0353 Market Overview: 3D printing technology, also referred to as additive manufacturing, is a manufacturing technology used for the production of complex structures and smaller designs. The introduction of 3D printing has helped manufacturers design and develop complex structures with ease, which would not have been possible without the use of conventional manufacturing techniques. 3D printing is a manufacturing technology in which manufacturing is done layer by layer and hence, the accuracy of the production has also increased to a high level. This technique, most commonly, requires materials, such as thermoplastic powders, photosensitive resins, thermoplastic filaments, metal wire, ceramic powders and metal powders, which can be used to manufacture various parts and components as per the requirements of producers. There are special machines capable of manufacturing such complex structures; however, they must be operated under human supervision. The use of powder, filament and wired materials for the manufacturing of products has enabled manufacturers to use several types of metals, alloys and various polymers as per requirement and design. Thus, the permutation and combination of several 3D printing consumables has enabled industries to produce products that are more durable, economical and suitable for use in various industrial and commercial applications. Post processing consumables, such as surface finish sandpapers, cold welding consumables, solvents, resins and binders (for dipping, coating process, etc.), polishing paper & compounds, primers and paints, are also gaining traction as consumers today are more attracted towards the aesthetics and appeal of products in the global market.This additive manufacturing process collects powder, which is typically the most consumed material in the manufacturing process, in the reservoir and then, according to the need, deposits the powder on the manufacturing bed to form layers of the product. These layers usually have a thickness ranging from 20 m to 100 m. Once the layers are properly placed and distributed, they are also bound or melted using a high energy beam. In the second case, the beam source is ideally one high energy laser, but many systems use two or more lasers with varying power standards under the inert gas environment. The most commonly used processes are Selective laser melting (SLM), Digital Light Processing (DLP), Stereolithography (SLA), Fused deposition modelling (FDM), Electronic Beam Melting (EBM), Selective Laser Sintering (SLS) and Laminated object manufacturing (LOM). The lone exemption to this process is the Electron Beam melting (EBM) process, which operates in full vacuum condition with an electron beam for metals. The melting process is repeated layer by layer, slice by slice, until the last layer is melted and the full product is complete. Then it is removed from the powder bed and post processing is done according to the product requirements.When combined with powerful and modern tools that optimize analysis and simulation process to generate an optimal design solution, such technologized tools and manufacturing processes are able to design products that are perfect, lightweight and long lasting. The resulting parts not only take a reduced amount of time to design, but are also lighter and significantly stronger than part designs that are manufactured using conventional manufacturing methods.Request TOC@ https://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/toc/4653 Attributing to these enhanced properties, 3D printing consumables find abundant applications in the automotive, aerospace, construction, defense and medical industries. The 3D printing consumables market is anticipated to grow in all industrial and manufacturing sectors owing to growing applications in lightweight engineering products. Moreover, the 3D printing consumables market is estimated to show positive growth since, regulatory authorities are pressing manufacturers to use products that are more ecofriendly with a minimum amount of natural resources during the production process. The 3D printing consumables market has a lot of scope in the research and development division since researchers and scientists are coming up with new consumables and software, which are more efficient and economical. Space constraint is an important factor for manufacturers and hence, they are opting for light and compact products, which in turn is expected to fuel the growth of the 3D printing consumables market in the consumer goods sector. The market for 3D printing consumables is anticipated to grow at a healthy CAGR in the coming future. Furthermore, the growing applications of products manufactured by 3D printing in commercial and industrial sectors is expected to propel the growth of the overall 3D printing consumables market in the near future. By region, North America, followed by Europe and APAC, is projected to dominate the global 3D printing consumables market by 2018 end. Additionally, North America and Europe region strong a footprint of global players with substantial market shares; however, for the rest of regions, the market is fragmented with few international suppliers and many mid-sized to small sized competitors.Global 3D Printing Consumables: Market Segmentation: The global 3D printing consumables market can be segmented on the basis of technology as: Stereolithography (SLA),Digital Light Processing (DLP),Fused deposition modelling (FDM),Selective Laser Sintering (SLS),Selective laser melting (SLM),Electronic Beam Melting (EBM),Laminated object manufacturing (LOM),The global 3D printing consumables market can be segmented on the basis of consumable type as: ,,Printing Materials,Ceramics,Plastics,Metals,Others,Post Processing,Surface finish Sandpapers,Cold Welding Consumables,Solvents, Resins and Binders (For Dipping, Coating Process, etc.),Polishing Paper & Compounds,Primers and Paints,Others (Mineral Oil, Adhesives, etc.),The global 3D printing consumables market can be segmented on the basis of sales channel as: ,,Offline Sales,Online Sales,The global 3D printing consumables market can be segmented on the basis of end use as: ,,Industrial,Aerospace and Defense,Medical & Healthcare,Electronics & Consumer Products,Education,Automotive,Others (Food & Beverage, construction, etc.)Key Developments and Revenue Growth across the Industry: On 2th April, 2018, 3D Systems, Inc. announced that the company and its customers participated in the 30th annual Additive Manufacturing Users Group (AMUG) Conference held during 8Th April 12th April, 2018, in St. Louis, U.S. The participation led to the sharing of strategies and workflows for 3D printing solutions to make manufacturing more efficient, responsive, and cost effective. Manufacturers can begin with 3D systems affordable, industrial 3D printing solutions and grow into the companys full production factory solutions for plastics and metals. On 20th December, 2017, Arcam AB, a supplier of Additive Manufacturing (AM) solutions and part of GE Additive, has signed a lease agreement with Castellum for its EBM (Electron Beam Melting) business to move into a refurbished 11,800 sqm. facility in Harryda, outside GoteborgRequest Report Sample@ https://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/samples/23467 Global 3D Printing Consumables Market: Key Players: The key participants in the global 3D printing consumables market are 3D Systems, Inc., Arcam AB, Concept Laser GmbH, EOS GmbH ExOne GmbH, Solidscape Inc., Optomec, SLM Solutions GmbH, Stratasys Ltd and Voxeljet AG, Stratasys Ltd., PostProcess Technologies, ExOne, GoPrint3D, 3M, MiiCraft, 3idea Technology, BnK Co,LTD., Taulman3D, LLC, Novabeans, Dimension Inx, Henkel-Adhesives, Magigoo, BASF SE, Croda International Plc, Chengdu Huarui Industrial Materials Co., Ltd., and Altem 3D Printing, among others. Future Market Insights has announced the addition of the Glass Fibre Yarn Market: Global Industry Analysis 2013 - 2017 and Opportunity Assessment; 2018 - 2028 " report to their offering. Glass Fibre Yarn Market PR-Inside.com: 2019-01-24 09:30:07 Glass fibre yarn is produced by the twisting of the basic strands formed from several hundred filaments of glass fibres of the same diameter. The yarn can be twisted in two directions: either a Z-twist or an S-twist. Glass fibre yarn has various advantages over other yarns, which include low thermal conductivity, fire resistance, better electrical & thermal insulation properties and higher specific resistance as compared to steel. In addition, glass fibre yarn can also provide good dimensional stability, electrical resistance and heat resistance.Glass fibre yarn is made of different types of glass fibre, and every type has its own special properties. For instance, S-glass fibre has good mechanical properties. C-glass fibre is also known as chemical glass because of its good resistance to chemical impact. E-glass fibre is mostly used because it is a good insulator of electricity, owing to which it is also known as electrical glass.Furthermore, glass fibre is an inorganic fibre, because of which it is completely incombustible, corrosion resistant and heat resistant. Glass fibre yarn has several advantages over PVC yarn, aluminium yarn, etc., because of which it is used in several industries such as aerospace, electrical, automotive, construction, etc.Request to Sample of Report @ https://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/sample/rep-gb-8011 Glass Fibre Yarn Market: Dynamics:Glass fibre is a good reinforcement material that is not only cost-effective, but also has a high strength-to-weight ratio, which increases its overall strength and reduces its weight at the same time. Glass fibre yarn is globally used and adopted by every industry because of its material properties. In the electrical industry, it is used to make printed circuit boards because of its electrical properties. In the aerospace, automotive and construction industries, it is used for thermal insulation. In addition, growth in the production & demand for electrical products as well as growth in the automotive & construction industries are expected to drive the glass fibre yarn market over the forecast period.However, the process of making glass fibre yarn is very difficult as it requires the usage of specialised equipment and skilled workers. Furthermore, certain types of glass fibre are harmful for the environment as well as for humans. Government regulations pertaining to the protection of the environment and the safety of workers are expected to hinder the growth of the glass fiber yarn market.Glass Fibre Yarn Market: Segmentation:The glass fibre yarn market can be segmented into product type, application, end-use industries and region.On the basis of product type, the global glass fibre yarn market is segmented into:Single YarnsMulti-end YarnCoated Glass YarnTextile Glass YarnOn the basis of application, the global glass fibre yarn market is segmented into:Printed Circuit BoardGlass Fibre Wall CoveringsElectrical and Thermal InsulationGrinding Wheel ReinforcementsOn the basis of end-use industries, the global glass fibre yarn market is segmented into:Aerospace IndustryAutomotive IndustryConstruction IndustryElectrical IndustryGlass Fibre Yarn Market: Regional Outlook:The aerospace and automotive industries in the North America region are growing. Thus, the increasing requirement of cost-effective and high-strength material by these industries is expected to drive the glass fibre yarn market in this region over the forecast period. The Europe market is expected to grow at a lucrative rate because of stringent government regulations by the European Commission pertaining to the protection of the environment as well as the safety of workers.The manufacturing industries of fiberglass products in China, India, Japan and in other countries in the Asia Pacific region have witnessed growth in the past few years. Moreover, growth in the automotive and construction industries is boosting the demand for better insulation materials in this region, which is estimated to significantly boost the glass fibre yarn market over the forecast period. In addition, growth in the construction industry of the Middle East & Africa region is expected to boost the demand for glass fibre yarn in the region.Request Report for TOC @ https://www.futuremarketinsights.com/toc/rep-gb-8011 Glass Fibre Yarn Market: Market Participants:Examples of some of the market participants identified across the value chain in the global glass fibre yarn market are:Saint-Gobain VetrotexFulltech Industries Corp.Kripa International (INDIA)BTTO s.r.o.Nitto Boseki Co., Ltd.F.I.T Industrial Co., Ltd.Nippon Electric Glass Co., Ltd.Chongqing Polycomp Int. Corp.MULTIPLE WINDINGFibtex ProductsShandong Yuxin Fibreglass Co. Ltd.Wuqiang County Huili Fiberglass Co. Ltd. Gift Packaging market Gift Packaging market PR-Inside.com: 2019-01-24 12:14:50 Press Information Future Market Insights Contact Us 616 Corporate Way, Suite 2-9018, Valley Cottage, NY 10989, United States T: +1-347-918-3531 F: +1-845-579-5705 Email: sales@futuremarketinsights.com Web: https://www.futuremarketinsights.com/ Abhishek Budholiya Manager 9898989898 email https://www.futuremarketinsights.com/ # 727 Words Contact Us616 Corporate Way, Suite 2-9018,Valley Cottage, NY 10989,United StatesT: +1-347-918-3531F: +1-845-579-5705Email: sales@futuremarketinsights.comWeb: https://www.futuremarketinsights.com/Manager9898989898 Over the past decades, the global gift industry witnessed an impressive growth, owing to the expanded customer base along with increasing applications of innovative products at attractive prices. The gift market comprises of corporate gifting as well as personal gifting. Moreover, the gift packaging market experienced a revolution with new product innovations in the food as well as in the non-food segment accompanied by eye-catching packaging. Nowadays non-food gifting are not only restricted to small electronic items, bed sheets but also include gift vouchers, soft toys, artworks, artificial jewelries and many more.At the same time, various product types like cookies, fruit baskets, wine hampers, different types of cheese which comes under the categorization of food gifting for occasions like festivals, birthdays, etc. are also in the trend. The changing lifestyle together with customers ability and willingness to pay for innovative products drove this change in the gift packaging market.Nowadays, wrapping paper are in demand for gifts packaging. Some of the conventional examples of wrapping paper are recycled newspaper, reusable gift wrap, decorative lunch bags, gift box, decorative shopping bags and many more. The new alternatives for gift wrapping are also being introduced, for example, using a decorative handkerchief which also has other application can further fuel the growth in demand for gift packaging market. The gift market is expected to expand with a healthy growth rate of over 10% which in turns growth of the gift packaging market in the near future.Gift Packaging Market: DynamicsThe growing e-commerce in the gifting space is one of the major factor which is expected to drive the demand for the gift packaging market. Big e-commerce companies such as Snapdeal and Amazon play a vital role in fuelling the demand for gift packaging market. Further, increase in per capita income, increasing exposure to global trends is offering impetus to the growth of overall gift industry which in turn is escalating the gift packaging market across the globe. Personal gifting in number of occasions like birthdays, anniversaries, fathers day, and Mothers day is on the rise as the consumers, want uniqueness, different styles and personalization in their gift items, to match their status.In past years, food gifting was limited to the conventional sweets only, but nowadays customers are moving towards consistent quality products with a good taste in attractive packaging, which is a result of growing incidence of adulteration in conventional sweets.Request Report for Table of Contents @ https://www.futuremarketinsights.com/toc/rep-gb-2636 Gift Packaging Market: Region Wise OutlookIn terms of geography, the global gift packaging market divided into five regions which includes North America, Latin America, Europe, Asia Pacific and Middle East & Africa. Out of the five regions, Asia pacific represents the largest global gift packaging market, owing to the growth of rising disposable incomes coupled with the widened customer base. In Asia Pacific, developing countries like China and India, are the most lucrative countries for increase in consumer spending and rise in GDP.Gift Packaging Market: Key PlayersSome of the key players of the global gift packaging market are Smurfit kappa Group, Packlyn Ltd, Shenzhen Fuxiang Gifts & Packaging Co. Ltd., Interpak, Ebro Color GmbH, and many more.The research report presents a comprehensive assessment of the market and contains thoughtful insights, facts, historical data, and statistically supported and industry-validated market data. It also contains projections using a suitable set of assumptions and methodologies. The research report provides analysis and information according to market segments such as geography, technology and applications.The report is a compilation of first-hand information, qualitative and quantitative assessment by industry analysts, inputs from industry experts and industry participants across the value chain. The report provides in-depth analysis of parent market trends, macro-economic indicators and governing factors along with market attractiveness as per segments. The report also maps the qualitative impact of various market factors on market segments and geographies. Report Highlights : Detailed overview of parent market,Changing market dynamics in the industry,In-depth market segmentation,Historical, current and projected market size in terms of volume and value,Recent industry trends and developments,Competitive landscape,Strategies of key players and products offered,Potential and niche segments, geographical regions exhibiting promising growth,A neutral perspective on market performance,Must-have information for market players to sustain and enhance their market footprint.Buy this report now @ https://www.futuremarketinsights.com/checkout/2636 PR-Inside.com: 2019-01-24 08:31:08 Press Information Future Market Insights Contact Us Future Market Insights 616 Corporate Way, Suite 2-9018, Valley Cottage, NY 10989, United States T: +1-347-918-3531 F: +1-845-579-5705 Email: sales@futuremarketinsights.com Website: www.futuremarketinsights.com sales@futuremarketinsights.com Sales 3479183531 email https://www.futuremarketinsights.com/ # 651 Words Contact UsFuture Market Insights616 Corporate Way, Suite 2-9018,Valley Cottage, NY 10989,United StatesT: +1-347-918-3531F: +1-845-579-5705Email: sales@futuremarketinsights.comWebsite: www.futuremarketinsights.comSales3479183531 Filtration Paper Market: OverviewFiltration paper acts as a barrier that is placed perpendicular to the flow of air or liquid. Filtration paper is used to separate undesired particles from air or liquid. Filtration paper comes in various grades depending on the type of application and use. Filtration paper is available in different colors depending on the type of procedure involved. The filtration paper possesses properties including porosity, volumetric flow rate, wet strength, particle retention, efficiency, capability, and capacity. Filtration paper is made of various paper pulps including hardwood, softwood, mineral fibers or fiber crops. Filtration paper is available in two basic grades, namely qualitative and quantitative. Owing to the growing application of filtration paper in various end-use sectors, the outlook for the growth of the global filtration paper market is projected to be positive during the forecast period.A sample of this report is available upon request @ https://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/sample/rep-gb-7762 Filtration Paper Market: DynamicsFiltration paper is gaining ground with rising applications in industries including healthcare, food & beverages, biotechnology, academics, and automobiles, among others. Filtration paper is used as a purifier in research applications in industries. Also, filtration papers are used in breweries for the filtration of malts. In the healthcare industry, filtration paper is used to deal with blood-borne pathogens and bacteria during research. These factors are supposed to fuel the growth of the global filtration paper market during the forecast period. The rising number of testing and research activities in the field of biotechnology, pharmaceuticals and oil refineries is expected to propel the demand for filtration paper during the next decade. The decline in the cost of raw material used for the manufacturing of filtration paper is expected to fuel the growth of the global filtration paper market. Among different types of filtration papers, ashless filtration paper is useful in carrying out critical analytical applications. The increase in the food service outlets is expected to fuel the growth of the filtration paper market during the forecast period.Filtration Paper Market: SegmentationGlobally, the filtration paper market has been segmented on the basis of pulp used, grade, pore size, end use and region.On the basis of pulp used, the global filtration paper market has been segmented as:HardwoodSoftwoodMineral fibersFiber cropsOn the basis of grade, the global filtration paper market has been segmented as:QuantitativeAsh less gradesLow ash gradesQualitativeOn the basis of pore size, the global filtration paper market has been segmented as:Less than 1.5 (microns)1.5 to 10 10 to 20 20 & aboveOn the basis of end use, the global filtration paper market has been segmented as:Food & beveragesHealthcareLaboratoriesAutomotiveOthersOn the basis of region, the global filtration paper market is segmented as North AmericaLatin AmericaWestern EuropeEastern EuropeAsia Pacific excluding JapanMiddle East & AfricaJapanAPEJ is expected to dominate the global filtration paper market during the forecast period. The growth in the APEJ market is owing to the rising healthcare activities coupled with an increase in research laboratories in countries such as China, South Korea, and India. North America is expected to witness average growth in the filtration paper market, especially the U.S., which is considered home to some of the most excellent research laboratories in the world. Western Europe follows a similar trend with countries such as Germany, Italy, and France where some of the global automobile manufacturers are operating. In the automobile industry, filtration paper is used to test oils. Japan is expected to witness steady growth during the next decade.To view TOC of this report is available upon request @ https://www.futuremarketinsights.com/toc/rep-gb-7762 Filtration Paper Market: Key PlayersExamples of some of the leading players operating in the global filtration paper market are Thermo Fisher ScientificGE HealthcareSartoriusEisco LabsMicroclarGeneral FiltrationPapcel, a.s.Twin Rivers PaperAhlstrom-MunksjoGreat Lakes Filters LLC XploreMR is one of the worlds leading resellers of high-quality market research reports. We feature in-depth reports from some of the worlds most reputed market research companies and international organizations. We serve across a broad spectrum from Fortune 500 to small and medium businesses. Our clients trust us for our unwavering focus onquality and affordability. We believe high price should not be a bottleneck for organizations looking to gain access to quality information. XploreMR PR-Inside.com: 2019-01-24 15:07:06 Press Information XploreMR 111 North Market Street, Suite 300, San Jose, CA 95113, United States Website: https://www.xploremr.com Email : sales@xploremr.com sales@xploremr.com Research Analyst 6692840108 email http://www.xploremr.com # 761 Words 111 North Market Street, Suite 300,San Jose, CA 95113, United StatesWebsite: https://www.xploremr.comEmail : sales@xploremr.comResearch Analyst6692840108 In robust of the market included Eyewear market report. Which helps to heighten the industry growth along with assorted market subjects such as growth path, predictions, revenue, trends, and market size analysis which are directly impacted on market dynamics. XploreMR provides the data on the bases of the past and current years for forecast the market covering in the next upcoming years as well as covering the latest trends of the market. The report will provide a detailed study of the market which will aid the reader for judgment and better comprehension.Eyewear consists of products used to aid in vision correction, cosmetic enhancement and protection of the eyes.Corrective eyewear can be used to correct and alleviate refractive errors. Spectacles and contact lenses are the most common form of corrective eyewear, and are usually prescribed by an optometrist, ophthalmologist, or optician. They aim to improve the quality of life of patients, and can also be used for eye protection.Factors such as rapid modernization in urban areas and rising consciousness about eye health conditions are responsible for driving the growth of the eyewear market in the Middle East.Consumers , especially the younger generation, are likely to try out newproducts as long as they provide real added value and contribute to their quality of life. Moreover, with a higher percentage of population being able to afford luxury goods, increasing disposable income is a major driving force for the expansion of the eyewear market.View Full Report @ https://www.xploremr.com/report/1913/middle-east-eyewear-market Colored contact lenses, high index eyeglasses, and high-end spectacle frames are now within the reach of a large section of the population. Customers frequently replace spectacle lenses by getting customized lenses to fit the same frame. Since lenses have a higher retail margin than frames, there is high renewal rate of lenses among consumers. Considering all these factors, the eyewear market in the Middle East is likely to grow at a significant rate during the forecast period.However, increasing acceptance rate towards refractive surgeries and treatments are expected to inhibit market growth, as these methodologies provide a complete alternative to the usage of corrective eyewear products. These procedures require a one-time investment, and omit periodicexpenses of eyewear and eye care products.Eyewear productsare marketed through different distribution channels including optical shops, hypermarkets, department shops and online stores. Increasing availability of these products in stores and supermarkets are also promoting the growth of the eyewear market in the Middle East.Optical shops are having a substantial advantage over other channels.Leading chains such as YateemOpticals, Al Jaber, and MagrabiOpticals are increasing their number of outlets in the Middle East.Strong marketing efforts, social media advertising, special offers and the promotion of new designs and concentration on recent trends are some of the major strategies implemented by these optical shops. However, affordable eye check-ups and increased awareness amongst the public are necessaryfor the widespread use of eyeglasses and contact lenses.Download Sample Report @ https://www.xploremr.com/connectus/sample/1913 This market research study analyzes the eyewear market in the Middle Eastand provides estimates in terms of revenue (USD Million) from 2014 to 2023. It emphasizeson the drivers and restraints responsible for the growth of the industry and examines their impact during the forecast period from 2015 to 2023. Moreover, it recognizes the important opportunities for the market expansion in the upcoming years.The report segments the eyewear market based on product type which includes spectacles, contact lenses and plano sunglasses. The spectacles segment is segmented into spectacle lenses and spectacle frames. The contact lenses segment is subdivided into rigid contact lenses and soft contact lenses. The plano sunglasses segment is further bifurcated into polarized and non-polarized plano sunglasses.By countries, the eyewear market in the Middle East is classified into Saudi Arabia, Egypt, UAE, Qatar, Oman, Kuwait, Bahrain, Jordan, Lebanon, Turkey and rest of the Middle East.The report offers company market share analysis of key industry participants. Major players have been profiled on the basis of company overview, financial overview, business strategies and key developments.Leading market players profiled in this report areLuxottica S.p.A. (Italy), Safilo Group (Italy), Essilor International (France), Johnson and Johnson Vision Care (U.S.) and Carl Zeiss A.G. (Germany).The Middle EastEyewear Market: by Product TypeSpectaclesSpectacle LensesSpectacle FramesContact lensesSoft Contact LensesRigid Contact LensesPlano SunglassesPolarized SunglassesNon-Polarized SunglassesThe Middle EastEyewear Market: by CountrySaudi ArabiaEgyptUAEQatarOmanKuwaitBahrainJordanLebanonTurkeyRest of the Middle EastBuy Full Report @ https://www.xploremr.com/cart/reports/buynow/1913 Energy harvesting market anticipated to witness strong growth by 2020 end. Europe to emerge the largest energy harvesting market. Energy Harvesting Market PR-Inside.com: 2019-01-24 05:58:34 Energy harvesting, one of the most promising technologies to address the energy crises without altering the existing energy sources, is foreseen to witness staggering demand and innovation in the near future. The process of energy harvesting harnesses the power of ambient energy to use later in varied applications. With growing use of ambient energy and advent of the energy harvesting technology, the energy harvesting market is currently heading at a considerable pace globally.FMI extensive research indicates that the global energy harvesting market is anticipated to gain momentum and grow at a double-digit CAGR by 2020 end. A number of newly innovated efficient energy applications and widespread acceptance of renewable energy sources are expected to play a vital role in the growth of the global energy harvesting market during the forecast period 2014-2020.Key Drivers: Energy Harvesting MarketDuring the past decade, there has been growing demand for safe, power efficient, and enduring systems, which require minimum or no maintenance. This is a major driver of market growth, expected to continue pushing the demand for devices based on the energy harvesting technology. Growing applications of the energy harvesting technology in building and home automation is another key driver to the market growth.Request to Sample of Report @ https://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/sample/rep-gb-58 Moreover, industrial WSN demand energy harvesting on a large scale, which is expected to continue during the forecast period as well. The green energy trend is effectively governing the market, while favourable initiatives by various governments are also boosting the market on a global level.Abundance of renewable energy sources, including tidal, wind, and ocean energy provide a dependable platform for the innovation of energy harvesting applications. This is also an influential factor contributing to the growth of market.Key Restraints to Market GrowthThe technology based on energy harvesting is typically used off-grid or on-demand. However, both of these usage patterns possess some technological complexities, which may restrict the widespread demand for energy harvesting devices in the market. Another deterring factor includes inadequate awareness among consumers about the availability and usage of the devices based on harvested energy.Moreover, relatively higher initial costs associated with these devices are expected to curtail the growth of the market globally. The energy harvesting technology generates lower current, which makes it incompatible for the application in all types of energy domains.Global Energy Harvesting Market: SegmentationFMIs research on the global energy harvesting market provides a six-year forecast, segmenting the market on the basis of different energy sources/fields, applications, and geography.On the basis of different energy sources/fields, the energy harvesting market is segmented into radiation (solar, electromagnetic, and light), mechanical (fluid, elastic, kinetic, and potential), chemical (battery, fuel cells, and phase change), nuclear, magnetic, electric, thermal, and gravitational. Among these, electric and magnetic fields form the most common source for harvesting energy.Based on the application, the energy harvesting market is segmented as wireless sensor network (WSN), consumer electronics, industrial, building, bicycle dynamo, military and aerospace, automotive, healthcare, and others (research, animals, and farming). Among these, consumer electronics, including mobile phones, wrist watches, calculators, and piezoelectric gas lighters cover the maximum share of the global energy harvesting market, followed by military and aerospace-based applications. However, building and home automation is the fastest growing application segment in the energy harvesting sector. Energy harvesting is also an integral part in a wireless sensor network (WSN) these days.According to the geography, the energy harvesting market is segmented into North America, Latin America, Asia Pacific, Japan, Western Europe, Eastern Europe, and the Middle East and Africa. Among these, Americas are projected to remain the dominating markets in 2016, with a significant market share. However, Europe will be the fastest growing market, owing to burgeoning promotion and investments by The European Commission in R&D of energy harvesting and storage devices. North America and Asia Pacific will also account for remarkable market shares by 2020 end. In North America, the U.S. will dominate, whereas in APAC, Japan will reportedly contribute the largest share to the total energy harvesting market revenues.Notable Market TrendsBuilding and infrastructure, automation of lighting, security, and electronics at homes, and WSNs for bridges include some of the most sought after applications of energy harvesting since the past few years.The use of mmWave (millimetre wave) for 5G cellular networks has been a popular trend of wireless energy harvesting.The market is expected to gain traction from growing application of energy harvesting in wearable devices and mobile phones.Energy harvesting is estimated to find increasing applications in automobile industry in the near future.The advent of nanotechnology has offered ample of growth opportunities to the energy harvesting market. Since nanotechnology helps manufacturing of compact-sized devices, the emergence of portable devices based on energy harvesting technology is the most likely occurrence in the market.Request Report for TOC @ https://www.futuremarketinsights.com/toc/rep-gb-58 Key Players: Global Energy Harvesting MarketSome of the prominent players competing in the industry include ABB Limited, Arveni, Enocean, Fujitsu, Cypress Semiconductor Corp., Green Peak Technologies, Honeywell International, Inc., Levant Power Corporation, Marlow Industries, Inc., Microchip Technology, Inc., MicroGen Systems, Maxim Integrated, G24 Innovations Limited, Texas Instruments Inc., and STMicroelectronics.Other notable players include Silicon Laboratories, Inc., Siemens AG, Murata Manufacturing Co., Ltd., Mide Technology Corporation, Laird Plc., Lord Microstrain, EnOcean GmbH, Cymbet Corporation, POWERleap, Inc., Schneider Electric, Linear Technology, Microstrain, and Micropelt. Endoscopic Mucosal Resection Market PR-Inside.com: 2019-01-24 09:29:41 Press Information Persistence Market Research Contact Us Persistence Market Research 305 Broadway 7th Floor, New York City, NY 10007, United States, USA Canada Toll Free: 800-961-0353 Email: sales@persistencemarketresearch.com Web: http://www.persistencemarketresearch.com Yogesh Senger Associate Consultant 800-961-0353 email http://www.persistencemarketresearch.com # 565 Words Contact UsPersistence Market Research305 Broadway7th Floor, New York City,NY 10007, United States,USA Canada Toll Free: 800-961-0353Email: sales@persistencemarketresearch.comWeb: http://www.persistencemarketresearch.comAssociate Consultant800-961-0353 An endoscopic technique called Endoscopic Mucosal Resection (EMR) is used for the resection of large distal colorectal poylps. EMR was developed for minimally invasive, organ sparing endoscopic removal of benign and early malignant lesions in the GI tract. EMR is used to treat superficial neoplasms of the gastrointestinal tract. A new research report by Persistence Market Research is based on the analysis of the global endoscopic mucosal resection market and its overview. The report titled Endoscopic Mucosal Resection Market: Global Industry Analysis 20122016 and Forecast 2017 2025 includes the major aspects of the market such as the market size, growth rate, pricing analysis and much more.According to the report forecast, the global endoscopic mucosal resection market reached a value of over US$ 1,400 Mn in 2017 and this is expected to increase to over US$ 2,500 Mn by the end of 2025. Revenue growth is anticipated to expand at a robust CAGR of 7.3% during the forecast period 2017-2025. The growth is a result of new technological advancements in the global endoscopic mucosal resection market and companies are ready to make full use of this by launching new products in the market.Global Endoscopic Mucosal Resection Market: DynamicsThe global endoscopic mucosal resection market has a major support of the macro factors like increase in the spending on healthcare sector in various regions by the local governments. This has led to an overall improvement in the technology used by the healthcare industry. It has helped in increasing the number of endoscopic mucosal resection procedures worldwide. The market has also observed collaborations between the manufacturers. Original equipment manufacturers and third party service vendors focus on the collaboration and partnership activities in some regions to provide sales and after sales services effectively. This boosts the brand image of endoscope devices and ultimately helps the growth of the global endoscopic mucosal resection market.Request to Sample Report @ https://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/samples/13693 However, the global endoscopic mucosal resection market may face challenges in its growth due to stringent rules and regulations pertaining to the launch of new products in the market. Also, inadequate reimbursements of claims limits the willingness of people to spend on costly medical procedures like endoscopic mucosal resection.Segmental Highlights from the Research ReportOn the basis of region, Asia Pacific is expected to dominate the global market with the fastest growth rate of 7.9% during the forecast period. Another attractive region in the global endoscopic mucosal resection market is North America that is anticipated to hold the maximum market size by the end of 2025.On the basis of technology, suck-and-cut technique is the most lucrative segment with a high CAGR, whereas the lift-and-cut technique leads with a higher market size during the forecast period.On the basis of indication duodenal cancer and esophageal cancer are both attractive segments according to the analysis.On the basis of end user, hospitals hold the maximum market size with an expected value of over US$ 1,400 Mn by the end of 2025.Request Report TOC @ https://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/methodology/13693 Tier 1 Players to Lead with Maximum Revenue Contribution in the Global Endoscopic Mucosal Resection MarketAccording to the research report, Tier 1 players have contributed the most revenue currently with a combined valuation of US$ 725 Mn in the global market. This includes key players such as Boston Scientific Corporation, Cook Medical, Olympus and FUJIFILM Medical Systems. Tier 2 players include the likes of Conmed Corporation, STERIS plc., and STERIS plc. Future Market Insights has announced the addition of the Dimer Acid-Based (DAB) Polyamide Resins Market " report to their offering Future Market insights PR-Inside.com: 2019-01-24 12:15:25 Press Information Future Market Insight Future Market Insights U.S. Office 616 Corporate Way, Suite 2-9018, Valley Cottage, NY 10989, United States T: +1-347-918-3531 F: +1-845-579-5705 Email: sales@futuremarketinsights.com Web: https://www.futuremarketinsights.com Abhishek Bhudholia MANAGER 3479183531 email https://www.futuremarketinsights.com/ # 545 Words Future Market InsightsU.S. Office616 Corporate Way, Suite 2-9018,Valley Cottage, NY 10989,United StatesT: +1-347-918-3531F: +1-845-579-5705Email: sales@futuremarketinsights.comWeb: https://www.futuremarketinsights.comMANAGER3479183531 Dimer acids which are also known as dimerized fatty acids belong to the group of dicarboxylic acids. Dimer acids are viscous fluids that are transparent and non-toxic in nature. Dimer acids are manufactured by dimerizing unsaturated fatty acids that are obtained from oleic acid, canola oil, tallow, cottonseed, tall oil and rapeseed among others. Dimer acids are widely used to synthesize polyamide resins and hot melt adhesives. Dimer acid-based polyamide resins have varied properties which makes them either reactive or non-reactive in nature. Reactive polyamides are primarily used as curing agents for epoxy resins that are generally used in the manufacturing of adhesives and surface coatings. On the other hand, the non reactive polyamides are predominantly used in the manufacturing of printing inks and hot-melt adhesives. Dimer acid-based polyamide resins exhibit physical properties such as heat resistance, cold resistance, film flexibility, fast curing, oil resistance, excellent adhesion and good compatibility among others. Dimer acid-based polyamide resins are widely used as decorative coatings, fabrics, interlining, shoe stretch, fold plastic and Baotou glue.Get More Information @ https://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/Dimer-acid-based-polyamide-resins-market Growing economies of developing countries coupled with rising disposable income has boosted the overall demand for residential properties which in turn is expected to augment the overall growth of construction industry. Construction industry is the major application of adhesives and surface coatings. Thus, the growing demand for adhesives and surface coatings from various end-use industries such as construction is expected to drive the overall dimer acid-based polyamide resins market. Dimer acid-based polyamide resins are also mainly consumed in the manufacturing of printing inks. Dimer acid-based polyamide resins exhibit improved freeze thaw characteristics to the printing ink compositions. Thus, the use of dimer acid-based polyamide resins plays a crucial role in improving the overall quality of the printing inks. Thus, growing demand for printing ink is expected to augment the overall growth of dimer acid-based polyamide resins market.China is the major consumer of dimer acid-based polyamide resins owing to the presence of huge demand for adhesives and surface coatings from construction and automobile applications. North America is expected to be the next largest consumer of dimer acid-based polyamide resins owing to the presence of huge demand for printing inks in the region. The demand for DAB polyamide resins is expected to grow rapidly in Europe owing to the huge demand for surface coatings from the automobile industry present in the region. Rest of Asia Pacific is anticipated to experience huge demand for dimer acid-based polyamide resins owing to the growing construction industry in countries such as India, Japan and Korea present in the region. Rest of the World is expected to exhibit sluggish growth in the demand for dimer acid-based polyamide resins market in the near future.Arizona Chemical, Anqing Hongyu Chemical Co., Ltd., The Dow Chemical Company, Jinan Tongfa Resin Co., Ltd. and RITEKS are some of the major participants of the dimer acid-based polyamide resins market. The companies are mainly focused towards achieving economies of scale. Hence, most of the leading players are striving towards increasing their production capacities for manufacturing dimer acid-based polyamide resins market. The companies are also hugely investing in research in order to develop innovative products having superior qualities.Request Sample Report @ https://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/sample/rep-gb-337 Future Market Insights has announced the addition of the Digital Instrument Clusters Market Segmentation and Segmentation report to their offering Upcoming Digital Instrument Clusters Market Segmentation and Segmentation PR-Inside.com: 2019-01-24 15:36:51 Press Information Future Market Insights U.S. Office 616 Corporate Way, Suite 2-9018, Valley Cottage, NY 10989, United States Abhishek Budholiya Manager +1 03479183531 email http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/ # 628 Words U.S. Office616 Corporate Way, Suite 2-9018,Valley Cottage, NY 10989,United StatesManager+1 03479183531 Instrument clusters with digital displays are increasingly replacing electromechanical pointer instruments. Moreover, digital instrument clusters are poised to supersede the analog instrument clusters in the next generation vehicles. The global instrument clusters is basically categorized into three groups: digital, analog and hybrid. Analog cluster is a classic instrument panel that contains a physical dial and a needle for the speedometer. A digital instrument cluster displays all these classical instruments on the LCD, VFD or TFT-LCD screen. Such digital instrument clusters can be programmed to display the appropriate selection of virtual instruments according to the drivers preferences. A hybrid cluster is the combination of the analog and digital cluster. Furthermore, they can enhance the appeal of a vehicle with eye-catching graphics. Therefore, most of the luxury brands are seeking to differentiate their vehicles through the inclusion of digital instrument clusters. It is expected that over seven million cars will have fully digital instrument clusters by the 2018. Digital instrument clusters that offers personalization are a key selling point.Request Sample Report @ https://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/sample/rep-gb-524 Digital Instrument Clusters: Drivers & RestraintsThe key factor driving the digital instrument clusters market is substantial rise in the automobile output and its personalization. A digital instrument cluster that is reconfigurable is very appealing. Features such as distance until next charge, information on battery charge, and other driver information, can easily be displayed using a digital instrument clusters. These features are driving the market for global digital instrument clusters. Another factor driving the market for global digital instrument is consumer trend. The tablet, PC and smartphone ownership is increasing and there are opportunities to integrate these devices to drive global digital configurable instrument clusters. Furthermore, the economical and the environmental constraints upon the engine designs are driving the introduction of digital instrument clusters since the interior gains more attention from OEMs as a way to differentiate. Another features that are driving the global digital instrument clusters market includes advanced technological features such as reusability, dynamic, scalable, simple and attractiveness. Digital instrument clusters needs a larger LCD display- often 1280 x 480 pixels, thus leading to higher cost. Also, an 8 or 16-bit CPU cannot transfer that many pixels, hence the digital cluster needs a 32-bit CPU. In addition, the level of software capability needed extends beyond the traditional entrenched skill set. These factors act as restraints for the digital instrument clusters up to a certain extent.Digital Instrument Clusters: SegmentationOn the basis of application, the global digital instrument clusters market is segmented into:SmartphoneTablet PC/Desktop/NotebooksAutomobilesOthers (Digital cameras, inverters, power suppliers, painters, car radio, LED lighting, payment terminals)The demand for digital instrument clusters in automobiles is anticipated to grow at an accelerated pace mainly due to significant growth in the automobile industry globally. Furthermore, the smartphone segment is also expected to grow at a high CAGR during the forecast period.Digital Instrument Clusters: Region-wise OutlookOn the basis of region North America, Asia Pacific and Japan are expected to be the dominant players as a result of growing economy in these regions. The Indian electronics system design and manufacturing (ESDM) industry is one of the fastest growing industry in the country, which is further boosting the demand for digital instrument clusters in the region. The global digital instrument cluster market is anticipated to grow at a steady rate in other regions of the world as a result of a slowing global economy in these regions.Request to View TOC @ https://www.futuremarketinsights.com/toc/rep-gb-524 Digital Instrument Clusters: Key PlayersSome of the market participants in the global digital instrument clusters market are Nippon Seiki Co., Ltd., Ford Motor Company, Audi AG, Renault, Volkswagen, Kia Motors Corp., BMW AG, Jaguar Land Rover Limited, NVIDIA Corporation and Tesla Motors. PR-Inside.com: 2019-01-24 12:08:00 Press Information Future Market Insights U.S. Office 616 Corporate Way, Suite 2-9018, Valley Cottage, NY 10989, United States T: +1-347-918-3531 F: +1-845-579-5705 Email: sales@futuremarketinsights.com Web: https://www.futuremarketinsights.com Abhishek Bhudholiya Manager +1-347-918-3531 email https://www.futuremarketinsights.com # 542 Words U.S. Office616 Corporate Way, Suite 2-9018,Valley Cottage, NY 10989,United StatesT: +1-347-918-3531F: +1-845-579-5705Email: sales@futuremarketinsights.comWeb: https://www.futuremarketinsights.comManager+1-347-918-3531 The fusion of plasma membrane with the internal vesicle fusion leads to the secretion of nanovescicles called exosomes into the extracellular environment. The exosomes are released in easily accessible body fluids such as urine and blood and hence acts as a precious source of biomedical tool. As cancer is a booming research area, exosomes may act as a very useful biomarkers for the diagnosis and prognosis of malignant tumor. The application of exosome as a potential biomarker for the various neurodegenerative disorders is also under investigation. All this is expected to create a new market where the industry payers can focus on new product developments.Diagnostic Exosome Biomarkers Market: Drivers and RestraintsExosomes are the biomimetic nanovectors for a variety of nucleic acid, chemicals and proteins. Exosome-encapsulated curcumin, delivered by the intranasal route is efficient in preventing brain inflammation, and specific gene silencing miRNAs enclosed in targeted exosomes and delivered systemically have shown promising therapeutic effects. Exosomes biomarkers fix in the ideal theranostic approach as they can act as biomarkers or vectors of therapeutic molecules. The theranostic approach is very prominent in personalized medicine where the individual is monitored and diagnosed for a particular mode of treatment. The exosome biomarkers also help in providing targeted drug delivery system thereby providing a very potential market.Request Sample Report @ https://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/sample/rep-gb-5564 Diagnostic Exosome Biomarkers Market: SegmentationOn the basis of product type the diagnostic exosome biomarkers market can be segment as:ReagentsKitsSerum/Plasma KitsUrine KitsSoftwareOn the basis of application the diagnostic exosome biomarkers market can be segment as:Neurodegenerative disordersOncologyMetabolic disordersOthersOn the basis of end user the diagnostic exosome biomarkers market can be segment as:Cancer InstituteHospitalDiagnostic CenterOthersDiagnostic Exosome Biomarkers Market: OverviewThe extracellular vesicles called exosomes are sized around 100 nm in diameter, which are released from many different cell types. Exosomes are produced by different mechanism and hence differ from other class of extracellular vesicles and microvesicles that are different in size too. Exosomes contains a range of biomolecules including membrane-bound and soluble proteins, microRNA, lipids and noncoding RNA. Therefore exosomes are a good source of disease biomarkers for early diagnosis and/or prediction of disease progression.Diagnostic Exosome Biomarkers Market: Region-wise OutlookIn terms of geography, diagnostic exosome biomarkers market has been divided into seven regions including North- America, Eastern Europe, Western Europe, Asia- Pacific excluding Japan, Japan Middle-East & Africa and Latin America. North America is expected to remain the dominating region while Asia Pacific is expected to emerge as a fastest growing region. In 2016, the National Institutes of Health is seeking grant applications for projects investigating the potential of exosomes and extracellular vesicles (EVs), as well as their cargo, as biomarkers for cancer risk assessment, detection, diagnosis, and prognosis. Such research funding and government support is expected to accelerate the growth of the diagnostic exosome biomarkers market.Request to View TOC @ https://www.futuremarketinsights.com/toc/rep-gb-5564 Diagnostic Exosome Biomarkers Market: Key Market ParticipantsThe diagnostic exosome biomarker market players are expanding their laboratory capacities to fit in to the increasing demand. Exosome Diagnostics moved into its new ISO 13485certified facility, built for the companys patented liquid-biopsy sample processing and analysis technologies. PR-Inside.com: 2019-01-24 11:15:37 Press Information Persistence Market Research 305 Broadway 7th Floor, New York City, NY 10007, United States, USA Canada Toll Free: 800-961-0353 Email: sales@persistencemarketresearch.com Web: http://www.persistencemarketresearch.com Yogesh Sengar Team Lead 800-961-0353 email https://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/ # 578 Words 305 Broadway7th Floor, New York City,NY 10007, United States,USA Canada Toll Free: 800-961-0353Email: sales@persistencemarketresearch.comWeb: http://www.persistencemarketresearch.comTeam Lead800-961-0353 Hydrogen Bromide (HBr), is a water soluble gas also available in the form of aqueous solution, which can be produced by the chemical reaction between bromine and hydrogen. It is used as a catalyst in reactions and as a reducing agent. Hydrogen Bromide when mixed with water forms hydrobromic acid, it is a strong acid which is mainly used for industrial uses. Hydrobromic acid is used to add desirable properties in any chemical compound, it is also used in the production of terephthalic acid, inorganic bromides, organobromines and bromides of Zinc, Sodium and Calcium. Global hydrogen bromide market is anticipated to witness a single digit CAGR growth rate in the forecast period because of its applications in the industries like automotive, construction, Electronics Etc. . . .The Global hydrogen Bromide market is expected to boost in near future owing to the favourable regulations on the use of bromine, due to its harmless nature in the atmosphere. Hydrogen bromide finds its application in the activities of oil and gas drilling, so the growing oil and gas industry is expected to increase the global hydrogen bromide market. The major application of hydrogen bromide is in flame retardant segment and in biocide, both of these segments are anticipated to have a modest growth in the forecasted period leading to significant growth in global hydrogen bromide market.Request Sample Report@ https://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/samples/10157 Hydrobromic acid is a strong acid and needs to be handled carefully, also there are chances of occupational hazards which can hamper the global hydrogen bromide market. The transportation of hydrobromic acid is expensive owing to its strong acidic nature and caution needed to handle the acid, which hinders the global hydrogen bromide market. Heating of hydrogen bromide increases the pressure and leads to bursting, also on contact with metal there is a risk of explosion and fire due to the formation of hydrogen, all these factors can affect the global hydrogen bromide market.On the basis of available form, the global hydrogen bromide market is segmented as:GasVaporLiquidOn the basis of applications, the global hydrogen bromide market is segmented as:BiocidesFlame retardantsCatalystOil and gas drillingPolysilicon EtchingOthersOn the basis of end use industries, the global hydrogen bromide market is segmented as:AutomotiveWater treatmentElectronicsConstructionAgricultureOthers (Textile, Ship building).The global hydrogen bromide market can be divided into seven regions, namely North America, Latin America, Western Europe, Eastern Europe, Asia Pacific, Japan and Middle East and Africa. Asia pacific is having a maximum share in the global hydrogen bromide market and is growing at a significant rate. India and China are the countries in Asia Pacific region witnessing booming market of flame retardant, which leads to the increase of market share in global hydrogen bromide market of Asia Pacific region. North America is anticipated to be the next big player in global hydrogen bromide market owing to its recovering construction segment due to the turnaround in its economy. Europe is an emerging region in global hydrogen bromide market because of the established automotive sector in this region. Middle East and Africa, Latin America are at a nascent stage and are expected to have a good market size in near future.Request Report TOC@ https://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/toc/10157 Some of the key players in global hydrogen bromide market are Albermarle Corporation, Tosoh Corporation, Gulf Resources, Inc., Tata Chemicals Ltd., Triveni Interchem Pvt. Ltd, SONTARA ORGANO INDUSTRIES, Bhavika Chemicals Corporation. PR-Inside.com: 2019-01-24 07:45:14 Press Information Research Report Insights 42 Joseph Street Research Report Insights (RRI Port carling P0B 1J0 Muskoka, Ontario1 Phone - +1-631-721-4201 Website: https://www.researchreportinsights.com/ Email: sales@researchreportinsights.com BISHU 6317214201 6317214201 email http://www.. # 655 Words 42 Joseph StreetResearch Report Insights (RRIPort carling P0B 1J0Muskoka, Ontario1Phone - +1-631-721-4201Website: https://www.researchreportinsights.com/Email: sales@researchreportinsights.com63172142016317214201http://www.. researchreportinsights.com The worldwide costume jewelry market is reflecting a positive trend of expansion all over the world. There are several aspects that are indicating a positive position of the market for a long and medium term. For example, rising need of costume matching jewelry for fashion, increasing fashion consciousness of consumer, internationalization of brands, rising costs of diamond, silver, gold and different valuable gems jewelry, low-maintenance cost, affordability of costume jewelries, increasing requirement for men costume jewelry, accessibility of wide assortment of designs in costume jewelry as well as safest to carry anywhere, in contrast to real jewelry or ornaments owing to fear of burglary, loss etc. The costume jewelry market has remarkably profited by the economic development in the LAMEA and Asia-Pacific regions. Increases in the standard of living along with rising fashion consciousness are considered to support the market expansion. At present, ensemble gems are highly sought after among corporate individuals, teenagers, working women, and the working populace because of the rising need for men costume jewelry and affordability.Progressions in online advertising trends and increment in the usage of digital media for product promoting are the prominent factors adding to the expansion of the worldwide costume jewelry industry. An increment in acceptance of technologically propelled techniques as well as colorful stones for artificial jewelry is considered to add to the expansion for imitation jewelry of e-commerce websites. Nevertheless, rising and variable raw material costs, stern trade laws, fashion and fad sensitive market of costume jewelry as well as unorganized raw materials supply chain in the costume jewelry industry are likely to impede the market expansion.Request For Report Sample: https://www.researchreportinsights.com/report/upsample/120124691/Costume-Jewelry-Market Urbanization is one of the imperative factors which is likely to impact the requirement for costume jewelry. As per the Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Population Division (in the year 2014) of the United Nations, approximately 54% of the globes populace dwelled in urban regions during 2014, as well as towards the end of the year 2050, 66% of the globes populace is considered to move to urban regions.The U.S regional market is popularly considered as a trend-setting nation in terms of costume jewelry as well as one which can influence the whole world to follow afterward. The emerging economies, for example, Brazil, Russia, India and China (BRIC) are the fasted developing business sector with twofold digit expansion rates in the costume jewelry market. Also, the Asia Pacific regional market is believed to be the biggest maker of costume jewelry and is anticipated that would assume control over North America as far as utilization in the approaching years. High development pace in Asia Pacific region is credited to the increasing income of the buyers in these nations. Further, with the huge westernization and urbanization occurring, the buyers are presently ending up more trendy and fashionable products. In addition, a large populace of young buyers (average age is 29 to 37 years respectively for India as well as China) is likewise a major contributor in the overall development of costume jewelry in these nations.Request For Report TOC: https://www.researchreportinsights.com/report/TOC/120124691/Costume-Jewelry-Market A few of the prominent market players functioning in the industry are, The Colibri Group, Buckley Jewellery Limited, Avon Products Inc, H. Stern Com. & Ind. S.A., Swank Inc, Cartier SA, Louis Vuitton North America, Inc., Channel S.A., Stuller, Inc., Billig Jewelers, Inc. Yurman Design, Inc., Gianni Versace S.p.A and others. The leading retailers and makers are expected to put forward better value but more usual price promotions, particularly as limitations on approach to credit possible to hold back sales.The competitive backdrop in costume jewelry remains fairly segmented and the class contains very few of foremost retailers and several smaller, family-owned businesses. These smaller companies provide primarily to lower-income customers and engage from locations outside of shopping centers, with lower commercial rents.Report Analysis: https://www.researchreportinsights.com/report/upcomming/120124691/Costume-Jewelry-Market Future Market Insights has announced the addition of the Cosmetic Chemicals Market " report to their offering Future Market insights PR-Inside.com: 2019-01-24 12:12:48 Press Information Future Market Insight Future Market Insights U.S. Office 616 Corporate Way, Suite 2-9018, Valley Cottage, NY 10989, United States T: +1-347-918-3531 F: +1-845-579-5705 Email: sales@futuremarketinsights.com Web: https://www.futuremarketinsights.com Abhishek Bhudholia MANAGER 3479183531 email https://www.futuremarketinsights.com/ # 572 Words Future Market InsightsU.S. Office616 Corporate Way, Suite 2-9018,Valley Cottage, NY 10989,United StatesT: +1-347-918-3531F: +1-845-579-5705Email: sales@futuremarketinsights.comWeb: https://www.futuremarketinsights.comMANAGER3479183531 Cosmetic chemicals are the primary ingredients that are used for formulation of personal care products. Cosmetics have come from late civilizations due to need for improving looks and appearance. Since then, ingredients in cosmetics have changed drastically and new techniques and formulas were introduced to manufacture own cosmetics and scents. Different minerals were used to produce colors by the ancient Egyptian aristocracy to give description to their facial features. During the Greek era it was very universal to make use of face paints, while the Romans favored baths that contained oil based perfumes.Almost 1500 chemical entities have been recognized to be cosmetic chemicals globally. The common chemicals that are found in the cosmetics include thickening agents, carrier powders, colorants, pigments, surfactants, preservatives, emollients, film formers and moisturizers among others. The cosmetics chemicals which are consumed on a large scale include emollients, film formers and moisturizers followed by surfactants globally. The cosmetic industry is fragmented as large number of suppliers provides a very wide range of inorganic and organic chemicals that are the necessary ingredients in the cosmetic industry. Nevertheless, twenty or more major international companies have a considerable share of cosmetic chemicals trade in the market.Get More Information @ https://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/cosmetic-chemicals-market The cosmetic market is generally segmented based on products into surfactants, oleochemicals, aroma chemicals and blends, botanical extracts, fats, oils and waxes and polymers among others.The major applications of these chemicals include the skin care products, hair care products, color cosmetics, makeup, toiletries and oral care among others.The major diving factors of the cosmetic industry include growing demand from the ethnic groups for beauty products that are tailored according to their needs. In addition, the increasing purchasing power coupled with growing awareness and demand for personal care products among the aging baby boomers is also expected to fuel demand for cosmetic chemicals market. However, increasing demand of natural ingredients may hamper the growth graph of the global cosmetic chemicals market. In addition, major companies have comply with standards and regulations in the industry.The key segments for cosmetic chemicals market include North America, Asia Pacific, Europe and Rest of the World (RoW). North America is expected to be the largest consumer of cosmetic chemical owing to the high demand for hair care products and growing demand for multifunctional products. In addition, growing male grooming segment is also expected to boost demand for cosmetic chemicals in the market. Asia Pacific is expected to be the largest consumer of cosmetic chemicals in the near future. Southeast Asia including Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, Vietnam and Singapore is expected to show substantial growth in the coming years.The trends that the cosmetic industry follow globally include Globalization of cosmetic products as major international companies such as LOreal, Unilever and Procter & Gamble continue to invest in the growing markets. Other trends include consolidation, increased use of nontraditional distribution channels and growing interest in cosmeceuticals among others.The cosmetic chemicals companies use innovative bio based high performance products and advanced technologies to manufacture a wide variety of products. The key companies profiled include: Akzo Nobel NV, Ashland Incorporated, Active Organics, BASF SE, Berkshire Hathaway Incorporated, Bayer AG, Clariant International Limited, Dow Chemical Company, Eastman Chemical Company, Evonik Industries AG, Emery Oleochemicals Group, FMC Corporation, Novecare, Integrated Botanical Technologies, Pilot Chemical Company, Procter & Gamble Company, Solvay SA and United-Guardian Incorporated among others.Request Sample Report @ https://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/sample/rep-gb-322 XploreMR is one of the worlds leading resellers of high-quality market research reports. We feature in-depth reports from some of the worlds most reputed market research companies and international organizations. We serve across a broad spectrum from Fortune 500 to small and medium businesses. Our clients trust us for our unwavering focus onquality and affordability. We believe high price should not be a bottleneck for organizations looking to gain access to quality information. XploreMR PR-Inside.com: 2019-01-24 15:06:29 Press Information XploreMR 111 North Market Street, Suite 300, San Jose, CA 95113, United States Website: https://www.xploremr.com Email : sales@xploremr.com sales@xploremr.com Research Analyst 6692840108 email http://www.xploremr.com # 790 Words 111 North Market Street, Suite 300,San Jose, CA 95113, United StatesWebsite: https://www.xploremr.comEmail : sales@xploremr.comResearch Analyst6692840108 In robust of the market included Condom market report. Which helps to heighten the industry growth along with assorted market subjects such as growth path, predictions, revenue, trends, and market size analysis which are directly impacted on market dynamics. XploreMR provides the data on the bases of the past and current years for forecast the market covering in the next upcoming years as well as covering the latest trends of the market. The report will provide a detailed study of the market which will aid the reader for judgment and better comprehension.The condom industry in China is expected to witness significant growth owing to the rising average income of consumers and the demand for a better quality of life. China is a huge market for international condom manufacturers and brand enterprises. In addition, emphasis on public education about the use of condoms in preventing HIV and other known sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) is an imperative part of government supported efforts to stop AIDS in China.The countrys plan to control, treat, and prevent HIV/AIDS for the period 2011 to 2015 estimates that approximate 90% of the key population is at higher risk, and 85% of urban residents aged between 15 to 60, and 80% of rural residents of the same group should be made aware about sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) and HIV by 2015.View Full Report @ https://www.xploremr.com/report/1911/china-condom-market In order to implement this plan, the government has planned on providing condoms or condom vending machines in 90% of hotels and other unspecified public areas by 2015. Endorsement by popular celebrities about prevention of AIDS by using condoms is another effective method to educate the masses about safe sex.Moreover, female condoms are used as a contraceptive and as a preventive measure against sexually transmitted diseases. According to the Centre for Young Womens Health (CYWH) which is a partnership between the Division of Adolescent/Young Adult Medicine and the Division of Gynaecology at Boston Childrens Hospital, the accuracy of a female condom is almost 95% if used properly. These products are also effective in preventing Sexually Transmitted Infections (STIs). Their effectiveness as contraception and as a barrier for the entry of STI causing pathogens, coupled with female and active responsibility linked with female condoms for preventing pregnancy are some of the factors encouraging women to use female condoms.Download Sample Report @ https://www.xploremr.com/connectus/sample/1911 Further, a Chinese company Dahua Medical Apparatus Companyproducing female condoms has been approved by the World Health Organization (WHO) and the United Nations Population Fund for global distribution as another effective and safe form of contraception. Female condoms in China are on the governments purchase list and they are usually distributed by local family planning groups. Although market for female condoms is on the lower side, the demand is rising at a steady pace. Consumer preference for female condoms has shown a positive impact on the condoms market in China.In addition, strengthening economic conditions in China has led to an increase in the average income of consumers and that in turn has resulted in aspiration for a better quality of lifestyle among the residents of China. This factor has in turn fuelled the demand for condoms among the Chinese population, and the demand is only expected to go up in terms of quality and quantity. Therefore, China is considerable an attractive market for brand enterprises and international condom manufacturers.Polyurethane, polyisoprene, lamb skin and pu leather are some of the materials that are majorly used to manufacture condoms. PU leather accounted for the lowest market share among the material types of condoms accounting for less than 5% of the total condom market in China. Condoms are very sensitive to high temperature and can melt if exposed to direct sunlight or a direct heat source and they should not be carried around in a wallet which is placed next to the body. They should be stored at a room temperature, usually between 55 degrees and 80 degrees Fahrenheit.The key players operating in the China condom market are, Reckitt Benckiser Group Plc England, U.K.), Ansell Ltd (Richmond, Australia), Karex Industries Sdn. Bhd (Johor, Malaysia), The Female Health Company Ltd. (Illinois, The U.S.), Church & Dwight Co. Inc. (Erwing, The U.S.), HLL Life Care Ltd. (Thiruvananthapuram, India.), Thai Nippon rubber Industru Co. Ltd (Sathon, Bangkok), Fuji Latex Co. Ltd (Tokyo, Japan), Geaphic Armor LLC (Florida, U.S.) and Sagami Rubber Industries. (Atsugi, Japan) among others.The Asia Pacific and Latin America sugar confectionery market can be segmented as follows;-China Condom Market, by MaterialLatexPolyurethanePolyisoprenePU LeatherLamb IntestineOthersChina Condom Market, by End UseMale CondomsFemale CondomsBuy Full Report @ https://www.xploremr.com/cart/reports/buynow/1911 Compostable & Biodegradable Refuse Bags Market Compostable & Biodegradable Refuse Bags Market PR-Inside.com: 2019-01-24 13:19:31 Press Information Future Market Insights Contact Us 616 Corporate Way, Suite 2-9018, Valley Cottage, NY 10989, United States T: +1-347-918-3531 F: +1-845-579-5705 Email: sales@futuremarketinsights.com Web: https://www.futuremarketinsights.com/ Abhishek Budholiya Manager 9898989898 email https://www.futuremarketinsights.com/ # 745 Words Contact Us616 Corporate Way, Suite 2-9018,Valley Cottage, NY 10989,United StatesT: +1-347-918-3531F: +1-845-579-5705Email: sales@futuremarketinsights.comWeb: https://www.futuremarketinsights.com/Manager9898989898 Future Market Insights (FMI) delivers key insights on the global compostable & biodegradable refuse bags market in its published report, titled Global Compostable & Biodegradable Refuse Bags Market: Industry Analysis and Opportunity Assessment 20182028. In terms of revenue, the global compostable & biodegradable refuse bags market is estimated to expand at a CAGR of 8.0% over the forecast period, owing to numerous factors, about which FMI offers thorough insights and forecasts in this report.Compostable & biodegradable are terms used to designate organic materials breaking down in specific environment condition. Refuse bags are disposable bags used to contain waste and rubbish. Compostable & biodegradable refuse bags are made up of organic material, which are obtained from plants. Such plant based materials which are used to make compostable & biodegradable refuse bags are starch blends (corn, potato and others), Polylactic acid (PLA), PHA, PBAT and other such materials. These refuse bags can undergo decomposition readily and have minimum negative impact on the environment.The global market for compostable and refuse bags market is further segmented as per capacity, product type, speed, material type, thickness and end use.On the basis of capacity type, global market for compostable & biodegradable refuse bags is segmented into 7-20 gallons, 20-30 gallons, 30-40 gallons, 40-55 gallons and above 55 gallons. On the basis of product type, global market for compostable & biodegradable refuse bags is segmented into biodegradable and compostable. On the basis of material type, global market for compostable & biodegradable refuse bags is segmented into PLA, PBS, PBAT, PHA, starch blends, cellophane and paper. On the basis of thickness, the global market for compostable & biodegradable refuse bags is segmented into 0-0.7 mil, 0.7-0.9 mil, 0.9-1.5 mil, above 1.5 mil. On the basis of end use, the global market for compostable & biodegradable refuse bags is segmented into retail and consumer, industrial and institutional.Request to Sample of Report @ https://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/sample/rep-gb-7082 This report assesses trends driving the growth of each market segment on the global level and offers potential takeaways that prove substantially useful for other potential market entrants in the compostable & biodegradable refuse bags market.The North America compostable & biodegradable refuse bags market Include country level analysis for the U.S. and Canada. The U.S compostable & biodegradable refuse bags market is expected to grow at a CAGR of 7.7% over the forecast period wherein compostable segment enjoy dominant share, by product type. The Latin America compostable & biodegradable refuse bags market include country level analysis for Brazil, Mexico, Argentina and Rest of Latin America. The Brazil compostable & biodegradable refuse bags market is expected to expand at a CAGR of 7.5% during the forecast period. The Western Europe compostable & biodegradable refuse bags market include country level analysis for Germany, Italy, U.K., France, Spain, Benelux, Nordic and Rest of Europe. Germany and Italy account for a significant market share in the Western Europe compostable & biodegradable refuse bags market. The Eastern Europe compostable & biodegradable refuse bags market include country level analysis for Russia, Poland and Rest of Eastern Europe. The Russia compostable & biodegradable refuse bags market is expected to expand at a CAGR of 7.6% during the next decade.The Asia Pacific excluding Japan compostable & biodegradable refuse bags market includes country level analysis for China, India, ASEAN, Australia & New Zealand and Rest of APEJ. The APEJ compostable & biodegradable refuse bags market represent most lucrative geographic region wherein India and China represent substantial incremental opportunity over the forecast period. The Middle East and Africa (MEA) compostable & biodegradable refuse bags market include country level analysis for GCC, South Africa, North Africa and Rest of MEA. Compostable & biodegradable refuse bags market in the GCC region is particularly driven by high growth in the industrial segment. The Japan compostable & biodegradable refuse bags market is expected to expand at a CAGR of 5.3% over the forecast period.In this report, we have discussed individual strategies followed by these companies in terms of enhancing their product portfolio, creating new marketing techniques, mergers and acquisitions. The Competitive Landscape is included to provide report audiences with a dashboard view and company share collectively.Key players operating in the global market for compostable & biodegradable refuse bags include Mondi Group, Sphere Group, Vegware Global, VICTOR Guthoff & Partner GmbH, Cedo Ltd., BioBag International AS, PLAST-UP, Polybags Ltd, Clondalkin Group Holdings B.V., Plastiroll Oy Ltd, The Biodegradable Bag Company Ltd, QUICKPACK Haushalt + Hygiene GmbH, MIRPACK, TM, The Compost Bag Company, SIMPAC, TERDEX GmbH, Pack-It BV, Cromwell Polythene Ltd, Flexopack SRL, Virosac SRL among others.Get full report now @ https://www.futuremarketinsights.com/checkout/7082 Join PJI at the State Capitol to Protest California's Health Education Framework for Public Schools Contact: Brad Dacus, 916-616-4126 (Spanish: 206-257-3239) SACRAMENTO, Calif., Jan. 24, 2019 /Christian Newswire/ -- Pacific Justice Institute (PJI) will attend a public rally at the State Capitol on Friday, January 25, to protest the Health Education Framework for California Public Schools. PJI Chief Counsel, Kevin Snider, will address the Framework's concerning aspects that deprive parents of their rights to protect their children. WHAT: Informed Parents of California Public Rally WHERE: State Capitol Building, 1315 10th Street, Sacramento, CA 95814 (South Side on N Street) WHEN: Friday, January 25 at 1:30 p.m. 2:30 p.m. The California Department of Education and the California State Board of Education (SBE) are in the process of revising the 2019 Health Education Curriculum Framework for California Public Schools. This Health Education Framework serves as a guideline for implementing the content standards adopted by the SBE for health education curriculum. The final draft of the Framework will be adopted in May 2019. "I am excited that our attorney, Kevin Snider, will be there to speak on behalf of PJI," commented Brad Dacus, President of PJI. "This affront on parental rights will not go unchecked." Click here to read PJI's recent letter to SBE discussing why this proposed curriculum is being opposed. Cluster Packaging Market Cluster Packaging Market PR-Inside.com: 2019-01-24 12:54:33 Press Information Future Market Insights Contact Us 616 Corporate Way, Suite 2-9018, Valley Cottage, NY 10989, United States T: +1-347-918-3531 F: +1-845-579-5705 Email: sales@futuremarketinsights.com Web: https://www.futuremarketinsights.com/ Abhishek Budholiya Manager 9898989898 email https://www.futuremarketinsights.com/ # 841 Words Contact Us616 Corporate Way, Suite 2-9018,Valley Cottage, NY 10989,United StatesT: +1-347-918-3531F: +1-845-579-5705Email: sales@futuremarketinsights.comWeb: https://www.futuremarketinsights.com/Manager9898989898 Packaging industry has significantly grown in the past few years primarily driven by growth in the FMCG sector. Moreover, food products, health supplements, and electronic components are some of the industries that have seen improvements regarding demand over the last few years and are more easily available due to an efficient packaging solution. Cluster packaging is suitable to carry products in bulk at a time and is also very handy for consumers. Demand for cluster packs is expected to be driven by increasing adoption of packaging technology across developing geographies across the globe.Cluster Packaging Market- Market Segmentation:The global cluster packaging market can be segmented on the basis of material type, product type, packaging style, number of tier type, end-use and by region. On the basis of material type cluster packaging market can be segmented into paper & paperboard, plastic, and others. Further paper & paperboard can be categorized into corrugated paper, Kraft paper, poly coated paper, folding box board and others. On the basis of product type cluster packaging market can be segmented into bottles & jars, cans, containers, boxes, cups, and others.On the basis of packaging style cluster packaging market can be segmented into neck-through style, over the top style, handle based style, cluster sleeve style, cluster side style and others. On the basis of number of tiers, cluster packaging market can be segmented into single tier cluster packaging and multiple tier cluster packaging. On the basis of end use cluster packaging market can be segmented into food, beverages, pharmaceuticals & healthcare, personal care and cosmetics industry, industrial goods and others. On the basis of region, cluster packaging market can be segmented into North America, Latin America, Europe, Asia-Pacific and the Middle East & Africa.Cluster Packaging Market - Market Dynamics:Growth in demand for cluster packaging is expected to grow steadily for several reasons. One of them is increasing demand for flexible packaging which is driving the growth of the cluster packaging market. Another important factor contributing towards the growth of cluster packaging market are, expanded use of bulk products, higher value packaging that offer better performance and are more cost effective than smaller packaging with shorter term service capability. In addition the reusability feature of the pack is also contributing to the growth of cluster packaging market. Growing awareness of environmental issues is also a growth strategy that key players of cluster packaging market are adopting. Many regulatory bodies such as the European Food Safety Authority and U.S. FDA have implemented various regulations for the use of safe and eco-friendly products, mostly in the food industry. Also, the high initial cost of cluster packaging material is considered as another restraining factor towards the growth of cluster packaging market.Request Report for Table of Contents @ https://www.futuremarketinsights.com/toc/rep-gb-2699 Cluster Packaging Market- Regional Outlook:Geographically, the cluster packaging market can be segmented into North America, Latin America, Europe, Asia-Pacific (APAC) and the Middle East & Africa (MEA). The growth of global Cluster packaging market is expected to witness a healthy CAGR over the forecast period of 2016-2024. Moreover, Asia-Pacific is expected to witness a high growth in the cluster packaging market due to the rising consumption of food and beverage products. Further North America is expected to witness an above average growth due to the higher adoption of cluster packaging in beer and wine industries.Cluster Packaging Market- Major Players:Some of the key players of the global cluster packaging market are Westrock, Wipak, Mondi Group, PET Power, Smurfit Kappa Group PLC, Gerresheimer AG, and Klockner Pentaplast GmbH & Co. KG., Graham Packaging, Berry Plastic Group Inc., Alpha Packaging, Constar International, Dunmore, Yantai City Fushan District Long Tai Plastic Co., Linyi City Qingwen Plastic Products Factory, Laizhou Meiao Industry And Trade Co., Ltd., Yixing City Xingfei Bulk Bag Co., Ltd., Shanghai Wellzone Packaging Co., Limited.The research report presents a comprehensive assessment of the market and contains thoughtful insights, facts, historical data, and statistically supported and industry-validated market data. It also contains projections using a suitable set of assumptions and methodologies. The research report provides analysis and information according to market segments such as geography, material type, product type, packaging style, number of tier type and end use.The report is a compilation of first-hand information, qualitative and quantitative assessment by industry analysts, inputs from industry experts and industry participants across the value chain. The report provides in-depth analysis of parent market trends, macro-economic indicators and governing factors along with market attractiveness as per segments. The report also maps the qualitative impact of various market factors on market segments and geographies. Report Highlights : Detailed overview of parent market,Changing market dynamics in the industry,In-depth market segmentation,Historical, current and projected market size in terms of volume and value,Recent industry trends and developments,Competitive landscape,Strategies of key players and products offered,Potential and niche segments, geographical regions exhibiting promising growth,A neutral perspective on market performance,Must-have information for market players to sustain and enhance their market footprint.Buy this report now @ https://www.futuremarketinsights.com/checkout/2699 Persistence Market Research PR-Inside.com: 2019-01-24 09:53:22 Press Information Persistence Market Research Persistence Market Research 305 Broadway 7th Floor, New York City, NY 10007, United States, USA Canada Toll Free: 800-961-0353 Yogesh Team Lead 800-961-0353 email http://www.persistencemarketresearch.com # 422 Words Persistence Market Research305 Broadway7th Floor, New York City,NY 10007, United States,USA Canada Toll Free: 800-961-0353Team Lead800-961-0353 According to a new market report published by Persistence Market Research Global Market Study on Breakfast Cereals: Hot Cereals to Witness Highest Growth by 2019, the global breakfast cereals market was valued at USD 32.5 billion in 2012 and is expected to grow at a CAGR of 4.1% from 2013 to 2019, to reach an estimated value of USD 43.2 billion in 2019.The need for convenience and busy schedules of people has been propelling the processed food industry, which includes breakfast cereals. Developed nations already have breakfast cereals as part of their regular course of meals. Increasing per capita income in developing countries is further giving the breakfast cereal industry a new dimension to look for.Request For Report Sample@ https://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/samples/3030 The market in the US is declining which is compelling the companies in this industry to increase their markets in the emerging economies. These companies have been increasing their advertising spends in the emerging markets in Asia Pacific region to make consumers aware about the breakfast cereals and the health benefits associated with them. Companies have also developed some brands according to the regional preferences, such as inclusion of saffron and raisin flavored cereals in India.Special emphasis on healthy living has prompted market players to introduce new products, which suit all age groups and lifestyles. International players are also focusing on reformulating their products by replacing harmful hydrogenated fat and oils with healthier ingredients such as fiber and fruits. Demand for gluten-free cereals has increased in the market, especially in North America and Europe. There also has been an increase in demand for whole-grain cereals worldwide.Breakfast cereals are broadly marketed under two segments: RTE cereals and Hot cereals. The market for RTE cereals is much bigger as compared to that of Hot breakfast cereals. The Ready-to-eat (RTE) cereal had the larger share in the breakfast cereal market and was valued at USD 27.8 billion in 2012. However, the Hot cereals is growing at more than double the CAGR of RTE cereals due to its increasing consumption in the Asian markets.Geographically, North America, led by sales from the US, accounted for the largest share in the breakfast cereals market and was valued at USD 13.9 billion in 2012. Though China does not have a large market, but the market in the country is growing at a brisk pace, therefore showing opportunities for the companies to increase investments in this region. Major companies operating in the market are Kelloggs, Cereal Partners Worldwide and PepsiCo.Request For Report Table of Content (TOC)@ https://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/methodology/3030 Bio Based Polypropylene PR-Inside.com: 2019-01-24 10:38:10 Press Information Persistence Market Research 305 Broadway 7th Floor, New York City, NY 10007, United States, USA Canada Toll Free: 800-961-0353 Email: sales@persistencemarketresearch.com Web: http://www.persistencemarketresearch.com Yogesh Sengar Team Lead 800-961-0353 email https://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/ # 482 Words 305 Broadway7th Floor, New York City,NY 10007, United States,USA Canada Toll Free: 800-961-0353Email: sales@persistencemarketresearch.comWeb: http://www.persistencemarketresearch.comTeam Lead800-961-0353 Polypropylene (PP) is a thermoplastic polymer with a melting point of approximately 165C. The higher melting point of polypropylene makes it eligible for use in certain plastic items such as medical products and dishwasher safe containers. Bio based polypropylene have similar characteristics to synthetic polypropylene, but is manufactured from bio-based raw materials such as corn, sugarcane, and beet. Bio based propylene are used across several industries such as automobiles, textiles, packaging, medical devices, and pipe systems. Due to good fatigue properties, polypropylene are also used in plastic living hinges, such as those on flip-top bottles.Request sample Report@ https://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/samples/4366 Increasing demand for lightweight materials in several industry sectors and supportive regulatory and political environment are the key drivers for bio based polypropylene market. Based on application, bio based polypropylene market can be classified into four major categories: injection, textile, films, and others. Injection application segment accounted for more than 50% share of the bio based polypropylene market in 2013. Injection molding is use in several industries such as automotive, medical, aerospace, consumer products, toys, construction, packaging, and plumbing. The textile industry in developing countries has been growing at over 6% annually; thereby laying the foundation of growth opportunities for bio based polypropylene market. Bio based polypropylene can be stretched and extruded to form biaxially oriented polypropylene films which are used as a sustainable packaging material for industries such as snack foods, confectionaries, and fresh vegetables.Bio based polypropylene has emerged as a substitute to synthetic polypropylene due to increasing environmental concerns regarding the use of latter. The health hazards associated with the production and use of polypropylene derived from fossil fuels have led to boost in the demand for bio based polypropylene. However, the bio based polypropylene market is currently in the nascent stage and is growing at a significant pace.The rising prices of petroleum-based chemicals due to a volatile crude oil market have been further encouraging the polypropylene end-users to switch to bio based propylene. The depleting crude oil levels are also opening up opportunities for bio-based chemicals market. The governments across the globe have been encouraging the bio based chemical manufacturers by providing them subsidies. The cost effectiveness of bio propylene is another important driver for its growth.Request TOC@ https://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/toc/4366 Bio based polypropylene are obtained from bio based propylene, which is manufactured from several bio sources such as corn, biomass, and vegetable oil. The two key methods of propylene production include fermentation and gasification. Bio based polypropylene manufactured from the ethanol derived from sugarcane is expected to witness strong growth in the market due to its high acceptability. Europe dominated the global bio based polypropylene market in 2013, followed by North America and Asia Pacific. The demand for polypropylene has been growing at a considerable pace in the packaging industry in China. Trellis Earth Products, Inc. is the largest bio based polypropylene company globally. PR-Inside.com: 2019-01-24 13:57:13 Press Information Future Market Insights Future Market Insights 616 Corporate Way, Suite 2-9018, Valley Cottage, NY 10989, United States T: +1-347-918-3531 F: +1-845-579-5705 Email: sales@futuremarketinsights.com Website: www.futuremarketinsights.com abhishek manager +1 03479183531 email https://www.futuremarketinsights.com # 697 Words Future Market Insights 616 Corporate Way, Suite 2-9018, Valley Cottage, NY 10989, United States T: +1-347-918-3531 F: +1-845-579-5705 Email: sales@futuremarketinsights.com Website: www.futuremarketinsights.commanager+1 03479183531 Carotene is a pigment found primarily in plants, algae and photosynthetic bacteria. It may also be found in non-photosynthetic bacteria and molds. There are different types of carotenes which includes lutein, beta-carotene, lycopene, zeaxanthin, canthaxanthin, astaxanthin and others. Beta carotene is a fat-soluble pigment found in various plants, grains, fruits and vegetables. It is present in the form of red, orange and yellow pigment. After consumption, the human body converts beta carotene into vitamin A which enables various immune functions to work properly and also helps to maintain healthy skin, thus driving the demand of betas carotenes in food and beverages products across the globe.Beta Carotene Market SegmentationOn the basis of type beta carotene is segmented as water soluble and oil soluble beta carotenes. Among both the segment water soluble beta carotene is expected to account for the major share due to its high implication. Moreover, water soluble beta carotene are further sub segmented as powder beta carotene and liquid beta carotene. Also, oil soluble beta carotene is sub segmented as powder beta carotene and liquid beta carotenes. Among thesub segments of oil soluble beta carotenes, powder beta carotene is expected to account for the major market share during the forecast period.Request Report Sample @ https://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/sample/rep-gb-905 On the basis of application beta carotene is segmented as food and beverages, supplements, cosmetics, and feed. Among all these segments food and beverages is expected to account for the major market share as compared to others in the near future. Beta carotene are majorly used in providing color in the food and beverages which is expected to drive the demand for beta carotene in these products. Moreover, cosmetics segment in beta carotene market is expected show a substantial growth during the forecast period. The food and beverages segment is further sub segmented as bakery and confectionery, dairy products, soft drinks/juices, processed food and others (infant food). Among all these sub segments bakery and confectionery is expected to contribute major share in beta carotene market in terms of revenue followed by processed food. Moreover, cosmetics segmented is further sub segmented as hair cosmetics, skin cosmetics, nail cosmetics, eye cosmetics and toiletries.On the basis of source beta carotene market is segmented as carrots, sweet potato, pumpkin and others (spinach and plums). Among all these sources carrots is expected to account for major share of beta carotene market. However sweet potato is expected to show a healthy growth during the forecast period..Globally, North America is expected to contribute the major share of beta carotene market followed by Europe. In North America, the United States is expected to occupy the major share on the pie in beta carotene market followed by Canada. Increasing health consciousness among the consumers is expected to drive the growth of beta carotene across the region. In Europe, Germany and France is expected to account for the major share in beta carotene market during the forecast period. Whereas, Asia pacific is concerned it is expected to register a healthy growth by 2020. In Asia pacific region China and Japan is expected to be the major contributor in beta carotene market. Increased use of cosmetics products in these region is predicted to support the growth of beta carotene market in the region.Request For TOC@ https://www.futuremarketinsights.com/toc/rep-gb-905 Beta Carotene Market DriversBeta carotene possess many features such as it lowers the risk of lung cancer, heart diseases, and skin problems. Moreover it also helps in controlling age related eye disorders and enables proper functioning of immune system. Thus, awareness among the consumers for the benefits of beta carotene is fueling its growth across the globe. Moreover increased usage of beta carotene in food and beverages industry to provide color to their final product is also fueling its growth during the forecast period.Beta Carotene Market Key PlayersSome of the major players operating in beta carotene market include BASF SE, Kemin Industries Inc., Algatechnologies Ltd., Chr. Hansen A/S, Phytone Limited, Cyanotech Corporation, Royal DSM N.V., LycoRed Ltd., Overseal Natural Ingredients Ltd., Pharmline Inc., Sensient Technologies Corporation, Mera Pharmaceuticals Inc. and Valensa International LLC among others. PR-Inside.com: 2019-01-24 07:41:47 Press Information Research Report Insights 42 Joseph Street Research Report Insights (RRI Port carling P0B 1J0 Muskoka, Ontario1 Phone - +1-631-721-4201 Website: https://www.researchreportinsights.com/ Email: sales@researchreportinsights.com BISHU 6317214201 6317214201 email http://www.. # 634 Words 42 Joseph StreetResearch Report Insights (RRIPort carling P0B 1J0Muskoka, Ontario1Phone - +1-631-721-4201Website: https://www.researchreportinsights.com/Email: sales@researchreportinsights.com63172142016317214201http://www.. researchreportinsights.com Since aluminum progressively turns into the preferred metal for OEMs all over industries bauxite mining endures expanding at a noteworthy per annum rate. Approximately 85% of bauxite mined worldwide is changed over to alumina that is additionally utilized for the generation of aluminum metal. Another significant use of bauxite mining is for commercial reason, for example, refractories and abrasives. The automobile sector is the significant end-user of aluminum metal attributable to related advantages of aluminum metals, for example, lightweight, high-density and corrosion-free features.According to the U.S. Geological Survey information, in 2015, the world's aggregate bauxite production was 15% higher than that in 2014. Overall mine generation stated from 30 nations remained at XX. The main bauxite makers were China, Australia, Malaysia, Brazil, Guinea, India, and Jamaica. In which Australia and China together represented 49% of the world's manufacturing.The bauxite mine production is foreseen to rise manifold throughout the world. New ventures are expected to come online in Australia, India's production increase, Indonesia extends exports and existing activities in Guinea are likely to drive expansion. North America regional market has been one of the biggest market shares and is most likely to remain dominant for bauxite mining on account of a raised requirement for aluminum in the region, trailed by Europe and the Asia Pacific over the years to come. Europe is considered to foresee marginal expansion. On the other hand, Asia Pacific regional market is anticipated to experience the highest expansion in the approaching years on account of the rising domestic requirement from the automobile sector in the developing markets of Japan, China and India.Request For Report Sample: https://www.researchreportinsights.com/report/upsample/120124687/Bauxite-Mining-Market Owing to lightweight, high-density and corrosion-free features, aluminum metal is gaining popularity in the automotive sector to produce lightweight vehicle components. This is fuelling the worldwide requirement for bauxite mining. Moreover, expansion in the transportation sector, for example, planes, trucks, marine, and railcars is additionally anticipated that would expand the worldwide bauxite mining demand. Strict government rules on carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions have constrained automobile makers to deliver eco-friendly lightweight vehicles. Unrivaled properties of aluminum, for example, high density, corrosion resistance, high strength, high ductility, and lightweight have prompted its boosted implementation in the automotive sector to produce lightweight vehicle components. In this way, an increment in the utilization of aluminum drives the expansion of the bauxite mining market. Moreover, an increase in usage of bauxite for manufacturing concrete fuels the market expansion.This has influenced and led the aluminum manufacturing companies in the direction of investing additionally in bauxite extraction industry. Recently, Metro Mining Ltd. an Australian mining and exploration company established in Brisbane, Queensland is foreseeing a cycle of successes to come as a result of its Bauxite Hills mine in Queensland. The novel agreements add up to 780,000t bauxite, 74% of that is scheduled for shipments at present, whereas 50% of Bauxite Hills contrived manufacture of 2 Mt this year gives out to Xinfa a foremost Chinese aluminum company. Metro Minings track record was coagulated by its gain as Australias prominent emerging mining company at the 2018 Dealers and Diggers Mining Forum in Kalgoorlie-Boulder at the beginning of August. The company reported an approximated reserve of 92.2Mt as well as total resources of 144.8Mt at the mines of Bauxite Hills. The company also indicated that it will transport bauxite into China all around a mine life of 17 years.Request For Report TOC: https://www.researchreportinsights.com/report/TOC/120124687/Bauxite-Mining-Market A few of the prominent market players active in the worldwide bauxite mining market are Access Industries, Aluminum Corporation of China Limited, Tata Steel Europe Ltd., Tajik Aluminium Company, Halco Mining, Mitsubishi Aluminum Co., Ltd., Nippon Light Metal Company, Ltd., Queensland Alumina Limited, Australian Bauxite Limited, Alumina Limited and Iranian Aluminium Company.Report Analysis: https://www.researchreportinsights.com/report/upcomming/120124687/Bauxite-Mining-Market XploreMR is one of the worlds leading resellers of high-quality market research reports. We feature in-depth reports from some of the worlds most reputed market research companies and international organizations. We serve across a broad spectrum from Fortune 500 to small and medium businesses. Our clients trust us for our unwavering focus onquality and affordability. We believe high price should not be a bottleneck for organizations looking to gain access to quality information. XploreMR PR-Inside.com: 2019-01-24 15:06:07 Press Information XploreMR 111 North Market Street, Suite 300, San Jose, CA 95113, United States Website: https://www.xploremr.com Email : sales@xploremr.com sales@xploremr.com Research Analyst 6692840108 email http://www.xploremr.com # 776 Words 111 North Market Street, Suite 300,San Jose, CA 95113, United StatesWebsite: https://www.xploremr.comEmail : sales@xploremr.comResearch Analyst6692840108 In robust of the market included Baby Diapers market report. Which helps to heighten the industry growth along with assorted market subjects such as growth path, predictions, revenue, trends, and market size analysis which are directly impacted on market dynamics. XploreMR provides the data on the bases of the past and current years for forecast the market covering in the next upcoming years as well as covering the latest trends of the market. The report will provide a detailed study of the market which will aid the reader for judgment and better comprehension.East Africa Baby Diapers Market: OverviewIn recent years, the demand for baby diapers has grown steadily in various nations of East Africa.Baby diaper forms a key hygiene product required to be worn by infants for the purpose of incontinence. The increasing awareness of urban as well as rural population toward maintaining hygiene of infants to ensure their proper growth have led parents to use diapers for their babies. With constant advances in manufacturing technology, the market has witnessed the launch of super-absorbent diapers containing natural odor-blockers that are gentle and soft on the infants skin. Recent product innovations have stimulated the use of plant-based and sustainable materials in manufacturing baby diapers, which has boosted their use.The report provides an in-depth insight into the key market dynamics, emerging trends, recent design innovations, and competitive landscape. The study offers a thorough statistical analysis related to the market share and size of segments and analyzes the key factors shaping the competitive dynamics.Recent efforts by governments of various countries and private players in East Africa are highlighted and their impact on the pricing strategies of vendors are evaluated. The study takes a closer look at the development of distribution channels in various developing and developed nations which help investors identify lucrative avenues.View Full Report @ https://www.xploremr.com/report/1909/east-africa-baby-diapers-market East Africa Baby Diapers Market: Trends and OpportunitiesThe East Africa baby diapers market is primarily driven by a continuous decline in the infant mortality rate in developing nations, an upsurge in urban population with significant disposable incomes, and increasing awareness related to the hygiene of infants. Coupled with this, intensive and consistent efforts made by several governmental and non-governmental organizations to create awareness among rural population have led to an increasing use of baby diapers to promote the healthy growth of infants.Growing shift toward the use of eco-friendly and sustainable materials in manufacturing baby diapers has resulted in various product innovations. The growing popularity of diapers made with naturally derived and plant-based materials has opened exciting opportunities for manufacturers. Furthermore, the advent of ultra-soft and hypoallergenic diapers made without the use of any additives is expected to propel the market over the forecast period.However, the growing trend of parents preferring longer in-between changing times of diapers has resulted in skin rashes and infections among babies. Various studies reiterating the role of disposable diapers in causing testicular cancer among males are likely to hinder the growth of the market to an extent. On the other hand, the increasing awareness toward proper practices of changing baby diapers among parents is expected to boost the market in the coming years.Download Sample Report @ https://www.xploremr.com/connectus/sample/1909 East Africa Baby Diapers Market: Regional OutlookThe major countries analyzed in the research report are Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Rwanda, and Burundi. Kenya is the most lucrative market for baby diapers in East Africa. The impressive demand for baby diapers in Kenya is propelled by the significant rise in birth rate combined with a substantial decline in the infant mortality rate compared to other developing nations of East Africa. Tanzania is the second largest revenue contributing country in the East Africa diapers market. The Tanzania market is poised to expand at an impressive rate along the forecast period.East Africa Baby Diapers Market:Leading players are also developing sustainable products made with biodegradable materials to attract parents who are conscious of the environmental impact of disposing diapers. Major manufacturers are making product innovations and actively boosting their distribution channels to consolidate their presence across major countries. Key players operating in this market include Procter and Gamble, Unicharm Corporation, Johnson and Johnson, INDEVCO Group, SCA Hygiene Products GmbH, Mega Soft (Fujian) Hygiene Products Co. Ltd., and Interconsumer Products Ltd.Major countries analyzed under this research report are:KenyaUgandaTanzaniaRwandaBurundiRest of East AfricaThis report gives you access to decisive data such as:Market growth driversFactors limiting market growthCurrent market trendsMarket structureMarket projections for the coming yearsBuy Full Report @ https://www.xploremr.com/cart/reports/buynow/1909 Future Market Insights has announced the addition of the Automotive Natural Gas Vehicle Market: Drivers and Challenges "report to their offering Upcoming Future Market Insights PR-Inside.com: 2019-01-24 15:38:04 Press Information Future Market Insights U.S. Office 616 Corporate Way, Suite 2-9018, Valley Cottage, NY 10989, United States Abhishek Budholiya Manager +1 03479183531 email http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/ # 643 Words U.S. Office616 Corporate Way, Suite 2-9018,Valley Cottage, NY 10989,United StatesManager+1 03479183531 An automotive natural gas vehicle uses compressed natural gas (CNG) or liquefied natural gas (LNG) as an alternative to the diesel or petrol. A natural gas is widely used in lift trucks, buses, light and heavy duty trucks, motorcycles, cars, vans and locomotives.A natural gas provides an economical and environmental friendly option over diesel or petrol. Currently, the penetration of automotive natural gas vehicle is less globally, but due to its operational advantages, in future the penetration is expected to increase globally.Automotive Natural Gas Vehicle Market: Drivers and ChallengesAround the world, the governments have issued stringent regulations regarding the emissions and fuel efficiency. The global fossil fuel price has seen an increasing trend over the past 5-10 years. Due to these reasons, there is a growing demand for cheap and environmental friendly fuel alternative. Original equipment manufacturers of vehicles are promoting their products by showcasing the fuel efficiency and emission free features. This factor is fueling the demand for automotive natural gas vehicle market.Request Sample Report @ https://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/sample/rep-gb-530 High upfront purchase cost, low awareness in many countries are some of the factors which are inhibiting the growth of automotive natural gas vehicle market.Automotive Natural Gas Vehicle Market: OverviewCurrently, the automotive natural gas vehicle market is still in the nascent state, thought the market experienced growth in sales in last 3-4 years.The global automotive natural gas vehicle market by volume is expected to expand at a CAGR of around 5-7% during the forecast period (2015-2025), due to stringent government emission regulations and growing demand for fuel efficient vehicles.Get More Information @ https://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/automotive-natural-gas-vehicle-market Automotive Natural Gas Vehicle Market: SegmentationThe global automotive natural gas vehicle market can be segmented by fuel type, by vehicle type and by regionsBased on Fuel Type, the global automotive natural gas vehicle market is segmented as:Compressed Natural GasLiquefied Natural GasBased on Vehicle Type, the global automotive natural gas vehicle market is segmented as:PassengerCommercialAutomotive Natural Gas Vehicle Market: Region-wise OutlookThe global automotive natural gas vehicle market is expected to register a single-digit CAGR for the forecast period. Depending on geographic regions, global automotive energy recovery market is segmented into seven key regions: North America, South America, Eastern Europe, Western Europe, Asia Pacific, Japan, and Middle East & Africa.In terms of market revenue, Asia Pacific automotive energy recovery market is projected to register a significant CAGR during the forecast period. Stable economic growth, growing automotive production, stringent government emission norms, changing consumer preferences, are some of the factors which are fueling the growth of automotive natural gas vehicle market in Asia Pacific. The significant demand for natural gas is from commercial vehicle segment in Asia Pacific. India, China and Iran are forecast to register a significant growth in the Asia Pacific automotive natural gas vehicle market, as these countries have significant network of gas infrastructure and CNG fueling network.In Europe, countries like Russia and Ukraine have a high demand for natural gas in trucks and buses. The Europe automotive natural gas vehicle market revenue is currently dominated by commercial vehicles. The government policies, subsidies, increasing fossil fuel prices, stringent environmental regulations are fueling the demand for automotive natural gas vehicle in Western and Eastern Europe.In North America and Latin America, compressed natural gas is seeing the high demand. Currently, U.S.A. is dominating the North America automotive natural gas market by value, on the other hand, Columbia is dominating the Latin America automotive natural gas market by value.Automotive Natural Gas Vehicle Market: Key PlayersSome of the key market participants in global natural gas vehicle market are Ford Motor Company, Fiat Chrysler Automobiles, General Motors, Honda Motor Company, Volkswagen, Hyundai Motor Group, etc.Request to View TOC @ https://www.futuremarketinsights.com/toc/rep-gb-530 Persistence Market Research has announced the addition of the Automotive Cyber Security Market to Register High Revenue Growth at 12.1% CAGR During 2018-2026" report to their offering. Automotive Cyber Security Market PR-Inside.com: 2019-01-24 15:50:13 Press Information Persistence Market Research CONTACT: Persistence Market Research 305 Broadway 7th Floor, New York City, NY 10007, United States, USA Canada Toll Free: 800-961-0353 Email: sales@persistencemarketresearch.com Web: http://www.persistencemarketresearch.com yogesh sengar team lead 800-961-0353 email http://www.persistencemarketresearch.com # 491 Words CONTACT:Persistence Market Research305 Broadway7th Floor, New York City,NY 10007, United States,USA Canada Toll Free: 800-961-0353Email: sales@persistencemarketresearch.comWeb: http://www.persistencemarketresearch.comteam lead800-961-0353 Rapidly increasing adoption of connected car technology by automakers across the world is recognized to be a key factor driving the US$ 460 Mn automotive cyber security market over the next few years. Persistence Market Research examines the global market for automotive cyber security in detail and estimates robust growth prospects for the market over the next eight years. As per the research findings published in a recent report, titled Automotive Cyber Security Market: Global Industry Analysis (20132017) and Forecast (20182026), the global automotive cyber security market will exhibit a healthy CAGR of 12.1% during the forecast period, reaching a value worth US$ 1,150.6 Mn by the end of 2026.A sample of this report is available upon request @ https://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/samples/22591 Regulatory Standards to Accelerate Market Expansion in the Near FutureSeveral countries across the world have set legal regulatory norms that penalize any act that results in partial or complete loss of data or harms data security to any extent, which is foreseen to be an important factor empowering the market for automotive cyber security on a global level. The Government of Australia mandates organizations to report data breaches, while Singapore recently updated its computer misuse and cyber security act. Japans cyber security basic act encourages infrastructure providers, and educational and research institutions to implement appropriate data security measures. Similarly, cyber security laws set by UAE keep a close check on all such activities that tend to hamper information or networks in any way.Emerging Economies Poised to Develop Attractive Markets for Automotive Cyber Security ProvidersIncreasing popularity of autonomous and connected cars will in turn result in an amplified base of endpoint devices. According to Persistence Market Research, automotive computing makes endpoint security a moving target and eventually uplift the automotive cyber security market. Expanding connected car ecosystems and augmenting use of IoT technology will continue to create critical need for cyber security of automobiles. Developing Asian and Middle Eastern countries have been facing tremendously growing cyber threats and thus leading automakers in these regions are expected to generate strong demand for cyber security services. Leading automotive OEMs are already into manufacturing automobiles with telematics technology. In addition, technological advances adopted by these regional markets are presumed to bring in various lucrative opportunities in near future.To view TOC of this report is available upon request @ https://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/methodology/22591 IBM Remains the Global Leader in Automotive Cyber SecuritySecureWorks Corp., IBM Corporation, Intel Corporation, Verizon Communications, Inc., Symantec Corporation, Check Point Software Technologies Ltd., Microsoft Corporation, Sophos Ltd., Trend Micro Incorporated, and Lockheed Martin Corp. are some of the key companies leading the global marketplace for automotive cyber security. A majority of the companies have business expansion and collaborations on their agenda, whereas many of them are considering launching of innovative security solutions as a key to gain edge over competitors. IBM is currently the global leader in terms of value share, followed by Intel Corporation and Symantec Corporation. Future Market Insights has announced the addition of the Automotive Brake System Market Segmentation and Region-wise Outlook report to their offering Upcoming Future Market Insights PR-Inside.com: 2019-01-24 15:09:48 Press Information Future Market Insights U.S. Office 616 Corporate Way, Suite 2-9018, Valley Cottage, NY 10989, United States Abhishek Budholiya Manager +1 03479183531 email http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/ # 719 Words U.S. Office616 Corporate Way, Suite 2-9018,Valley Cottage, NY 10989,United StatesManager+1 03479183531 Development of the smart braking systems in automotive brake system market resulted in decreasing number of accidents. Advancement of automotive brake system includes safety systems, which enables speed control as well as prevents vehicle from skidding. This in turn minimizes the risk of potential accidents, thereby driving the growth of automotive brake system market. Rapid increase in the production and sales of vehicles coupled with stringent regulations regarding stopping distances is anticipated to magnanimously contribute further towards growth of automotive brake system market. Growing demand for installation of passive and active safety in vehicles is expected to trend in automotive brake system market.Growing concern over road traffic crashes and increasing number of deaths have influenced the key players in automotive brake system market to integrate robust safety features in developing vehicles. Stringent safety regulations by regulatory bodies and governments will continue to drive the growth of automotive brake system market. NHTSA (National Highway Traffic Safety Administration), agency of U.S. DOT (Department of Transportation) has planned to mandate adoption of AEB (Automatic Emergency Braking), nearly from 2022.Request Sample Report @ https://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/sample/rep-gb-503 Latest technologies in automotive brake system market are creating challenges for automakers owing to their inability to incorporate the high-cost technologies in low-priced vehicles. This in turn is expected to adversely affect the revenue growth of automotive brake system market in the forthcoming years.The developing industry of automotive has largely emphasised on the development of the vehicles that are fast and safe. Brakes have become an important and crucial part of any vehicle so as to ensure the safety which becomes very essential when the demand of speed is increasing steadily. Being commonly used in different automobiles an automotive brake system comprises a brake device having different components (such as brake pads, brake shoes, brake drum, rotor, piston, calliper, master cylinder, and brake booster) which are used for decelerating a vehicle.The growth in automotiveindustry is anticipated to fuel the growth of global automotive brake system market along with the increasing concerns over safety and resulting government pressures that have upturned the OEMs towards the launching of higher technology content, thereby driving the demand for global automotive brake systems across the globe.Automotive Brake System Market: Drivers & RestraintsEver-increasing demand and succeeding vehicle production is considered as one of the biggest driver for the increasing demand of the automotive brakes and global automotive brake system market penetration. Also the increasing governmental mandates for improving the vehicle safety has strongly contributed to the demand of the global automotive brake system market. The major restraint in the global automotive brake system market implies to be the higher cost of the newer technology of Electronic Brake Systems (EBS) when compared to the commonly used Hydraulic Brakes.Automotive Brake System Market: SegmentationOn the basis of product type, the global automotive brake system market is segmented as Disc Brakes and Drum Brakes.On the basis of applications the global automotive brake system market is segmented as Two Wheeler Motor Vehicles, Passenger Car Vehicles, and Light Commercial Vehicles (LCV).On the basis of technology the global automotive brake system market is segmented as Anti-lock Braking System (ABS), Traction Control System (TCS), and Electronic Stability Control (ESC) that comes under the electronic braking systems (EBS).Get More Information @ https://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/automotive-brake-system-market Automotive Brake System Market: Region-wise OutlookThe global automotive brake system market is expected to register a favourable growth for the forecast period, 2015?2025. Asia-Pacific is projected to endure its control on the global automotive brake system market. The key countries in the mentioned region are projected to be India, South Korea, and China as an outcome of the increasing demand for commercial vehicles and passenger cars. Japan also contributes to the global automotive brake system market remarkably. China is expected to be the largest opportunity in terms of revenue of the industry. Europe is expected to be the second largest market in global automotive brake system market followed by North America.Automotive Brake System: Key PlayersSome of the key market participants in global automotive brake system market are TRW Automotive Holdings Corp., Aisin-Seiki Co. Ltd., Continental AG, Akebono Brake Industry Co. Ltd., Brembo S.P.A., Halla Mando Corp., and others.Request to View TOC @ https://www.futuremarketinsights.com/toc/rep-gb-503 XploreMR is one of the worlds leading resellers of high-quality market research reports. We feature in-depth reports from some of the worlds most reputed market research companies and international organizations. We serve across a broad spectrum from Fortune 500 to small and medium businesses. Our clients trust us for our unwavering focus onquality and affordability. We believe high price should not be a bottleneck for organizations looking to gain access to quality information. XploreMR PR-Inside.com: 2019-01-24 16:07:52 Press Information XploreMR 111 North Market Street, Suite 300, San Jose, CA 95113, United States Website: https://www.xploremr.com Email : sales@xploremr.com sales@xploremr.com Research Analyst 6692840108 email http://www.xploremr.com # 811 Words 111 North Market Street, Suite 300,San Jose, CA 95113, United StatesWebsite: https://www.xploremr.comEmail : sales@xploremr.comResearch Analyst6692840108 In robust of the market included Automotive Adaptive Front Lighting market report. Which helps to heighten the industry growth along with assorted market subjects such as growth path, predictions, revenue, trends, and market size analysis which are directly impacted on market dynamics. XploreMR provides the data on the bases of the past and current years for forecast the market covering in the next upcoming years as well as covering the latest trends of the market. The report will provide a detailed study of the market which will aid the reader for judgment and better comprehension.Global Automotive Adaptive Front Lighting Market: OverviewAdaptive Front Lightings have become an essential part of automotive in the current situation. Efficiency and effectiveness of the system during night is the main reason for installation of this system. Adaptive front lighting system (AFS) enhances distribution of light from the headlights according to driving circumstances. Depending on vehicle speed and steering input, the system points the low-beam headlights toward the direction the driver intends to travel. Automotive Adaptive Front Lightings helps in maintaining a safety of the passenger. The regulations pertaining to passenger safety and set by the regulatory bodies are likely to become tougher during the forecast period. This in turn will mandate the automobile manufacturers to use Automotive Adaptive Front Lightings in the cars produced, thereby encouraging the growth of the market during the forecast period.View Full Report @ https://www.xploremr.com/report/638/automotive-adaptive-front-lighting-market Global Automotive Adaptive Front Lighting Market: SegmentationTypes of light system used in adaptive front lighting as Technology are xenon headlight, LED headlight, laser headlight, and OLED headlight. By vehicle type the global automotive adaptive front lightings market can be segmented into passenger vehicles and commercial vehicles. The rising demand for passenger cars across the world has mandated car manufacturers to use various types of advanced driving assistance system in their cars in order to adhere to various vehicular safety norms, which subsequently led to the increase in demand for adaptive front lightings in this segment.Sterner regulations are likely to shape the automobile market, companies operating in the global automotive adaptive front lightings market are anticipated to invest heavily on their research and development to come up with advanced driver assistance system (ADAS). This in turn will propel the overall market for automotive adaptive front lightings. Moreover, adherence to these norms is compulsory for the automobile manufacturers. Therefore, the use of adaptive front lightings in automobiles is likely to increase during the forecast period in order to meet these regulatory norms.Global Automotive Adaptive Front Lighting Market: Scope of the ReportThis report on the global automotive adaptive front lightings market highlights the current scenario of the market along with stating the expected growth of the global market during the forecast period. Various political, social, economic and technological factors which are likely to impact the demand of automotive adaptive front lightings have been analyzed to include an exhaustive study of the global market drivers, restraints and opportunities, i.e. the market dynamics under the purview of the report. Further, the key players operating the automotive adaptive front lightings market have been profile thoroughly and competitively across the five geographic regions and their competitive landscape is inclusive of their recent developments related to automated guided vehicles and the distinguishable business strategies adopted by them.Download Sample Report @ https://www.xploremr.com/connectus/sample/638 To further analyze their market positioning, SWOT analysis has been provided for each of the players. In addition, the report includes the market attractiveness analysis of the segmentation, by adaptive front lighting type for offering a deep insight into the major adaptive front lighting usage area in the vehicles. Thus, the global automotive adaptive front lightings market report provides an extensive study of the market along with offering the forecast of the market in terms of revenue (US$ Million) and volume (million units) from the period of 2017 2025.Some of the major players in the Automotive Adaptive Front Lightings market are: HELLA GmbH & Co. KGaA., Magneti Marelli S.p.A, KOITO MANUFACTURING CO., LTD., Valeo, STANLEY ELECTRIC CO., LTD., Neolite ZKW, Continental AG, De Amertek Corp, Denso Corporation, Johnson Electric, Hyundai Mobis, Robert Bosch GmbH, Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft, and Texas Instruments Incorporated.The global Automotive Adaptive Front Lightings market has been segmented into:Automotive Adaptive Front Lightings Market, by TechnologyXenonLEDLaserOLEDAutomotive Adaptive Front Lightings Market, by Vehicle TypePassenger VehiclesCommercial VehiclesAutomotive Adaptive Front Lightings Market, by Geography: The market is broadly segmented on the basis of geography into:North AmericaU.S.CanadaLatin AmericaBrazilMexicoRest of Latin AmericaEuropeGermanyU.K.FranceItalySpainRest of EuropeAsia PacificChinaIndiaJapanASEANRest of Asia PacificMiddle East and AfricaGCCSouth AfricaRest of Middle East and AfricaBuy Full Report @ https://www.xploremr.com/cart/reports/buynow/629 Meet the Indian and Black Thugs Contact: Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights, 212-371-3191, pr@catholicleague.org NEW YORK, Jan. 24, 2019 / Christian Newswire / -- Catholic League president Bill Donohue comments on who the guilty parties are in the Covington Catholic controversy: The Catholic white boys from Covington Catholic High Schoolhated because they are Catholic, white, male, and Trump supporters (some of them)have been indicted by lots of pundits, politicians, reporters, and celebrities, both liberal and conservative. Yet the record shows that the students were the only innocent party to this fracas. None of them said or did anything bigoted, but this is not true of the Indians and the black Israelites. A group of about 20 Indians, led by activist Nathan Phillips, tried to storm a Mass on January 19 at the Basilica of the National Shrine of Immaculate Conception in Washington D.C. They were stopped by security who had to lock the doors. This is what the Nazis did to the Jews in Hitler's Germanythey crashed the synagogues during services. It is against the law in D.C. to disturb a religious service. Had Phillips succeeded, it would have been a hate crime. If the Catholic students had barged into a crowd of Indians while they were praying, they would be on the front page of every newspaper in the country and it would be the lead story on the broadcast and cable news outlets. However, this unprovoked attack by Phillips and companyon innocent persons exercising their First Amendment right to religious libertywas ignored by most of the mainstream media. The New York Times, Los Angeles Times, Washington Post, Associated Press, ABC News. CBS News, NBC News, CNN and MSNBC never said a word about it. Only Fox News did. Phillips also made disparaging remarks about Catholicism, saying the students are not being told the truth about their religion. Yet not one student made a disparaging remark about Indians. But the black thugs didthey called the Indians "savages." That being the case, why didn't Phillips and his merry band of church busters confront them? Why did they seek to crash a Mass instead? They are the bigots, not the kids. The black Israelites bashed white people, black people, Christians (especially Catholics), Puerto Ricans, and homosexuals. Where were the gay rights groups? If the kids called gays "faggots"which is what these thugs didthe media would have been up in arms. So it is not the content of an insult that matters, it is the identity of who says it. The mainstream media picked up a few of the anti-Catholic statements by the black activists, but overall they did a lousy job. We watched the video and here are some of the most anti-Catholic statements that were made. [Black Israelite responding to a question] "You want to see hate in the Bible? Let's see hate in the Bible. Let's see what the Christians and the Catholics don't go into." [He then reads a verse from Ecclesiastes] [Black Israelite pointing out a Catholic priest standing nearby] "And like this, child molesting faggot priest right there... the Catholics are a bunch of child molesters." [Black Israelite speaking to crowd] "You want to talk about R. Kelly. Why we don't talk about the Catholic Church? Why we don't talk about the Roman Catholic Church, and especially you so-called Hispanics and Negroes, you got no business calling yourself a Roman Catholic. When's the last time you've been a Roman?" [Black Israelite speaking to Covington students] "And Jesus Christ is not a white man. This ain't Jesus Christ...the truth matters. This is a faggot child molester. This is not Jesus Christ. If you look in the Bible, you will see he is a man of color" [man referring to a Catholic/Christian depiction of Jesus] [Black Israelite speaking to a Catholic prayer circle nearby] "The child molesting Catholic Church here. This is what we've come to. How long are we going stay in the Catholic Church? How long are we going to continue worshipping idols in the Catholic Church? Where is Hail Mary in the Bible? There's no Hail Mary in the Bible. You can't worship Mary. You're supposed to worship the Lord." [Black Israelite speaking to prayer group] "You have your reward. Your reward is your Catholic Church being tax exempt, being child molesters and getting away with it. You've been raping children since 1492 in the Catholic Church. You've been raping children in Rome before you got here. " [Black Israelite speaking to separate group of students] "When you walk in a Catholic Church, it is filled with idols. When you worship and kiss and bow down to a statue, you're breaking the commandments of God. So the Catholic Church is totally against God, not even speaking about the child molestation. We'll leave that one alone. But against God's laws and commandments, yes. You say 'Hail Mary, full of grace'. You say that prayer. Where is that prayer in the psalms? Where is that prayer in the Bible?" No white student responded in kind to either the Indian or black activists. They, and they alone, were innocent. What happened on January 18 has been nicely captured by my good friend, Rabbi Aryeh Spero. Here is what he told me. "This is a contrived and false episode pounced on by people who hate religious white Catholics and are always on the look-out to demonize Catholics. These people are bigots. It is all part of the anti-Christianism by many segments in today's leftist America and media collaborators. If they could, they would physically beat up Catholics and take away their jobs and livelihood simply because they are white, conservative, and people of biblical faith. They are consumed by hate. Who taught these people to SO hate white, religious Americans?" Share Tweet Future Market Insights has announced the addition of the Aircraft Glareshield Lighting Market: Global Industry Analysis 2013 - 2017 and Opportunity Assessment; 2018 - 2028 " report to their offering. Aircraft Glareshield Lighting Market PR-Inside.com: 2019-01-24 09:20:46 Today, owing to strong outlook of aerospace industry, the aircraft glareshield lighting market is expected to take traction over the forecast period. The goal of aircraft glareshield lighting in an aircraft is to make the instruments and controls easy to read, while preserving the pilots night vision. Aircraft glareshield lighting are available in different types including incandescent lights, halogens and light-emitting diodes. Among these, light-emitting diodes is estimated to hold significant share in aircraft glareshield lighting market.Accumulative count of commercial aircraft, defense/military aircraft, etc. is predicted to upsurge the demand of aircraft glareshield lighting in the near future.Request to Sample of Report @ https://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/sample/rep-gb-7678 Aircraft Glareshield Lighting Market: Market DynamicsDrivers:Substantial number of aircraft deliveries is anticipated to be a prime factor driving the growth of aircraft glareshield lighting market over the forecast period. Moreover, the replacement of aging aircraft in North America is expected to boost the demand of aircraft glareshield lighting market in the coming decade. That apart, every growing aerospace industry both in developed and developing economies is anticipated to provide traction to the growth of the aircraft glareshield lighting market over the forecast period. Furthermore, there has been a substantial progress in air traffic in last few years at global level and there is a sign that the traffic will continue to expand in the forecast years, which will ultimately fuel the growth of aircraft glareshield lighting market.Restraints:New generation of more reliable aircrafts with low maintenance may affect aircraft refurbishment. This is predicted to be a major factor restraining the growth of the aircraft glareshield lighting aftermarket over the forecast period.Trends:A major trend anticipated five years down the line includes strategic collaboration of aircraft glareshield lighting manufacturers with component suppliers based in Asia Pacific to enhance production capacity to meet rapidly increasing demand. Moreover, aircraft glareshield lighting manufacturer are investing in research and development activities to develop new technologies compliant with latest safety and performance guidelines.Aircraft Glareshield Lighting Market: SegmentationThe global aircraft glareshield lighting market can be segmented on the basis of type, sales channel and aircraft typeOn the basis of type, the global aircraft glareshield lighting market can be segmented as:Incandescent LightsHalogenLight-Emitting Diodes (LED)On the basis of sales channel, the global aircraft glareshield lighting market can be segmented as:OEM (Original Equipment Manufacturer)AftermarketOn the basis of aircraft type, the global aircraft glareshield lighting market can be segmented as:Narrow Body AircraftWide Body AircraftVery Large AircraftRegional AircraftAircraft Glareshield Lighting Market: Regional OutlookThe regional demand dynamics can be directly correlated with the demand from aerospace industry. Over the forecast period, North America is anticipated to be closely followed by Europe. Both of these markets are predicted to witness massive growth in the aircraft glareshield lighting market as aerospace industry is one the most matured industries in developed countries, such as Germany, United States etc. Moreover, emerging economies in Asia Pacific, such as India and China are expected to grow at a considerable CAGR during the forecast period in global aircraft glareshield lighting market owing to rise in investment in aerospace sector. Latin America is projected to grow at a substantial CAGR during the forecast period owing to growing air passenger traffic in the region. MEA and Japan are expected to support the growth of the aircraft glareshield lighting market over the forecast period.Request Report for TOC @ https://www.futuremarketinsights.com/toc/rep-gb-7678 Aircraft Glareshield Lighting Market: Market ParticipantsExample of some of the key participants identified across the value chain of global aircraft glareshield lighting market include:Honeywell International Inc.Aircraft Spruce and Specialty Co.BAE SystemsSpectralux AvionicsStaco SystemsApplied Avionics, Inc.Astronics CorporationRockwell Collins, Inc.SELKIRK AVIATIONStay Level Avionix, LLC Agriculture Packaging Market Agriculture Packaging Market PR-Inside.com: 2019-01-24 13:18:01 Press Information Future Market Insights Contact Us 616 Corporate Way, Suite 2-9018, Valley Cottage, NY 10989, United States T: +1-347-918-3531 F: +1-845-579-5705 Email: sales@futuremarketinsights.com Web: https://www.futuremarketinsights.com/ Abhishek Budholiya Manager 9898989898 email https://www.futuremarketinsights.com/ # 620 Words Contact Us616 Corporate Way, Suite 2-9018,Valley Cottage, NY 10989,United StatesT: +1-347-918-3531F: +1-845-579-5705Email: sales@futuremarketinsights.comWeb: https://www.futuremarketinsights.com/Manager9898989898 Future Market Insights (FMI) delivers key insights on the global agriculture packaging market in its published report, titled Global Agriculture Packaging Market: Industry Analysis 2013 2017 and Opportunity Assessment 20182028. In terms of revenue, the global agriculture packaging market is estimated to expand at a CAGR of 5.3% during the forecast period, owing to numerous factors, about which FMI offers thorough insights and forecasts in this report.Agriculture packaging is used for the storage of agricultural products such as pesticides, seeds, food grains, silage, fruits & vegetables, etc. by using pouches, bags/bins, silo bags, clamshells, bottle, trays, and bulk containers.Agriculture Packaging Market: Segmental InsightsThe global market for agriculture packaging is further segmented as per product type, material type, barrier type, application and region. On the basis of product type, global market for agriculture packaging is segmented into pouches, bags/bins, silo bags, clamshells, bottle, trays, bulk containers, and others. On the basis of material type, the global agriculture packaging market is segmented into plastic, paper board, glass, jute, and others. In addition, based on the barrier type, the global agriculture packaging market is segmented into low barrier, medium barrier and high barrier. Furthermore, based on the application, the global agriculture packaging market is segmented into seeds & pesticides, silage, food grains and vegetables & fruits. This report assesses trends driving growth of each market segment on the global level and offers potential takeaways that prove substantially useful for other potential market entrants in the agriculture packaging market.Request to Sample of Report @ https://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/sample/rep-gb-7076 Agriculture Packaging Market: Regional ForecastThe North America agriculture packaging market Include country level analysis for the U.S. and Canada. The U.S. agriculture packaging market is expected to grow at a CAGR of 4.3% over the forecast period. The Latin America agriculture packaging market include country level analysis for Brazil, Mexico, and Rest of Latin America. The Brazil agriculture packaging market is expected to expand at a CAGR of 5.2% over the forecast period. The Western Europe agriculture packaging market includes country level analysis for Germany, Italy, U.K., France, Spain, Benelux, and Rest of Europe. Germany accounts for a significant market share in the Western Europe agriculture packaging market.The Eastern Europe agriculture packaging market includes country level analysis for Russia, Poland, Ukraine and Rest of Eastern Europe. The Russia agriculture packaging market is expected to expand at a CAGR of 4.9% over the forecast period. The Asia Pacific excluding Japan agriculture packaging market includes country level analysis for China, India, ASEAN, Australia and New Zealand and Rest of APEJ. The APEJ agriculture packaging market represents most lucrative geographic region wherein China represents substantial incremental opportunity over the forecast period. The Middle East and Africa (MEA) agriculture packaging market includes country level analysis for GCC, South Africa, Turkey, Northern Africa and Rest of MEA. The Japan agriculture packaging market is expected to grow at a CAGR of 5.5% over the forecast period.Agriculture Packaging Market: Competitive AnalysisIn this report, we have discussed individual strategies followed by top companies in terms of enhancing their product portfolio, creating new marketing techniques, mergers and acquisitions. The Competitive Landscape is included to provide report audiences with a dashboard view and company share collectively. Key players operating in the global market for agriculture packaging include Bemis Company, Inc., Sonoco Products Company, Mondi Group, LC Packaging International BV, Packaging Corporation of America, H.B. Fuller Company, Atlantic Packaging, NNZ Group, Parakh Agro Industries Ltd., International Paper Company, DS Smith Plc, Smurfit Kappa Group Plc, KapStone Paper and Packaging Corp, Silgan Holdings, Inc., Tetra Pak International S.A., Greif, Inc., Time Technoplast Ltd., Berry Global, Inc., Proampac LLC, and Klockner Pentaplast Group.Get full report now @ https://www.futuremarketinsights.com/checkout/7076 Persistence Market Research PR-Inside.com: 2019-01-24 10:21:24 Press Information Persistence Market Research Persistence Market Research 305 Broadway 7th Floor, New York City, NY 10007, United States, USA Canada Toll Free: 800-961-0353 Yogesh Team Lead 800-961-0353 email http://www.persistencemarketresearch.com # 571 Words Persistence Market Research305 Broadway7th Floor, New York City,NY 10007, United States,USA Canada Toll Free: 800-961-0353Team Lead800-961-0353 The global casein and caseinate market is teeming with companies both large and small that predominantly operate in global and local markets respectively. Of them, few large companies hold prominence in the market due to high revenue generation from sales of dairy products for their nutritional value.Top players in this market such as Fonterra are focused on developing new products to serve niche growth areas. These players are also vying to expand into emerging markets by means of selling new nutrition products. Some other key names in the global casein and caseinate market are Arla, Danone, Friesland Campina, Nestle, Lactalis, Westland Milk Products, and Saputo. The global casein and caseinate market was valued at US$ 2,459.2 Mn in 2017. The market is anticipated to be worth US$ 3,564.4 Mn by the end of 2025 expanding at a CAGR of 4.8% therein.Request For Report Sample@ https://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/samples/5873 The global casein and caseinate market is segmented depending upon type, application, and geography. In terms of type, the casein market is classified into edible and industrial casein. Of the two, industrial casein enjoys a higher market share due to numerous industrial applications of caseins. The caseinate market based on type has been classified into sodium caseinate, calcium caseinate, and potassium caseinate. Of them, sodium caseinate is likely to represent the leading market share over the 2017-2025 forecast timeframe.Favorable Physical Properties of Casein to Make Industrial Segment AttractiveDepending upon application, the casein and caseinate market is segregated into food and beverages, industrial, pharmaceuticals, cosmetics, and others. Food and beverages, among them, currently holds the leading share in the overall market. Going ahead, the segment is anticipated to hold supremacy over other application segments in the casein and caseinate market. On the other hand, industrial application segment is anticipated to emerge attractive in several parts of the world over the forecast period. The physical properties of caseinate such as ability to bind with pigments account for its wide application in water-based paints. Also, the emulsifying properties of caseinates make them suitable to be used as stabilizers and emulsifiers in oil and latex paints.Growth of Indian Dairy Industry to Boost Growth of Asia Pacific except Japan Regional MarketGeography-wise, the global casein and caseinate market is classified into North America, Latin America, Western Europe, Eastern Europe, Rest of Europe, Japan, and Asia Pacific except Japan. Of them, North America is currently the leading regional market for casein and caseinate mainly because of rising demand for nutritional food composed of vital nutrients such as protein. The growth of the industrial sector in the U.S. is also contributing to the growth of this regional market. In absolute value, North America casein and caseinate market is predicted to contribute a revenue of US$ 1,231.6 Mn by the end of 2025.Asia Pacific except Japan is predicted to display significant growth in the casein and caseinate market in the upcoming years. The growth of the Indian dairy industry in terms of both production and consumption is contributing to the Asia Pacific except Japan casein and caseinate market.In a nutshell, growing demand for protein rich foods and easy availability of dairy products globally is propelling the casein and caseinate market. Adoption of advanced technologies in the dairy industry that is aiding efficient and economical extraction of milk components is also driving the uptake of casein and caseinates.Request For Report Table of Content (TOC)@ https://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/methodology/12652 PR-Inside.com: 2019-01-24 05:52:49 Press Information RESEARCH REPORT INSIGHTS Research Report Insights (RRI) 42 Joseph Street Port carling P0B 1J0 Muskoka, Ontario1 Phone - +1-631-721-4201 Website: https://www.researchreportinsights.com Email: sales@researchreportinsights.com BISHU +1-631-721-4201 6317214201 email https://www.researchreportinsights.com # 618 Words Research Report Insights (RRI)42 Joseph StreetPort carling P0B 1J0Muskoka, Ontario1Phone - +1-631-721-4201Website: https://www.researchreportinsights.comEmail: sales@researchreportinsights.com+1-631-721-42016317214201 The market for acetic anhydride is expanding on account of the increased requirement for cigarette filter drag in rising economies, predominantly in the BRIC nations. The growing smokers in these nations as a result of the expansion of the market since cellulose acetate flake come about as the foremost raw material for manufacturing cigarette filter drag is prepared by utilizing acetic anhydride. In addition, acetate cellulose is utilized in making acetate textile fibers that fuel the requirement for acetic anhydride.As cellulose acetate is chiefly utilized in the cigarette, acetic anhydride is in addition utilized in flavor as well as fragrances in addition to dyes market. Moreover, acetic anhydride could be utilized in resins & polymers, artificial sweeteners, explosives, agrochemicals, textiles, pharmaceuticals, pesticides along with coating materials market. Acetic anhydride is in addition utilized to produce TAED (tetraacetylethylenediamine) that could be utilized in the form of a bleach activator in the market for laundry detergents and cleaning industry. On the other hand, going down consumption of acetic anhydride in cellulose acetate for household consumption could have the foremost effect on the overall market.Request For Report Sample: https://www.researchreportinsights.com/report/upsample/120124793/Acetic-Anhydride-Market On the basis of demand, North America regional market has gained market attractiveness in the worldwide market for acidic anhydride. Among which, the U.S. had the biggest requirement for acidic anhydride on account of vast need from the market for cellulose acetate. On the other hand, the market for acidic anhydride is going down in the North America market over the years to come. The acidic anhydride market was fundamentally expansive in Europe and the trend is likely to proceed because of the developing requirement for cellulose acetate and TAED in the area.The Asia Pacific is foreseen to be the quickest developing business sector for acidic anhydride throughout the following couple of years. There is a vast requirement for acetic anhydride from nations, for instance, Japan, India in addition to China. China and Japan are widely held acetic anhydride users in the Asia Pacific region. Expansion of industries such as pharmaceuticals, polymer, and textile in India is believed to offer better prospects for the India market for acetic anhydride. The Europe market for acetic anhydride is determined by expanding demand for the laundry market of TAED in addition to cellulose acetate for cigarette market. France, the U.K, Germany and Italy are the main customer of acetic anhydride in the European market. The requirement is constant in Rest of the World for the worldwide market for acidic anhydride over the years to come.Request Report For Toc: https://www.researchreportinsights.com/report/TOC/120124793/Acetic-Anhydride-Market The decrease in the use of acidic anhydride in domestic utilization of stringent environmental regulations and cellulose acetate have appeared to limit the worldwide acidic anhydride market. In addition, the costs of acidic anhydride have demonstrated a remarkable development as a result of instability in the cost of methanol, which is a noteworthy crude material for the manufacturing of acidic acid. This has made it troublesome for makers to keep up profit margins.The foremost market players foraying in the worldwide market for acidic anhydride, have taken the form of an entry barrier for new market players, as a result of technical proficiency as well as feasibility concerns. The looking for novel applications in addition to the growth of manufacturing facilities is considered to be the foremost strategy for the market players for the growth of the market. A few of the topmost makers in the worldwide market for acidic anhydride include BP Chemicals, Celanese Corporation, BASF SE, Eastman Chemical Company, DuPont, Sasol Limited, SABIC, and PetroChina Ltd. amid others.Report Analysis: https://www.researchreportinsights.com/report/upcomming/120124793/Acetic-Anhydride-Market The Star Tribune is the hometown newspaper of international superstar and Minnesota Fifth District Rep. Ilhan Omar. As a state legislator she was the subject of the documentary Time For Ilhan. Hey, does anybody really know what time it is? The Star Tribune has given Omar celebrity treatment at every step of her career since the moment in 2016 when she won the primary to represent a heavily Somali district in the Minnesota legislature. By contrast, the Star Tribune has prominently displayed on its home page every national story coming over the wires with an anti-Trump twist. The APs mostly false report on the boys of Covington Catholic in Students in MAGA hats mock Native American rally is a recent example. As of this morning, the Star Tribune has made no mention of Omars libelous tweet falsely defaming the boys of Covington Catholic. It hasnt reported Omars defense of the so-called Black Hebrew Israelites hate group. It hasnt bothered to let readers know that Omar published the Covington Catholic libel to some 450,000 followers who shed their brain cells to keep up with her. It hasnt noted Omars deletion of her libelous tweet yesterday without retraction, explanation or apology. The Star Tribune has also failed to report on Omars continued self-embarrassment. For this news we must turn to the Washington Free Beacons David Rutz. Doing the job that the Star Tribune refuses to do, Rutz brings us up to date in Ilhan Omar Continues Showing World Who She Is With Bizarre Twitter Display. Rutzs account features yet another deleted tweet by Omar, this one responding to a critic who preserved her libelous tweet for the record (screenshot below). Rutz comments: Wait. What? Linking to a conservative account that archived her earlier gobbledygook for posterity, she called the person a hypocrite for sharing the tweet full of misinformation. Again, a tweet she had written and did not apologize for sending, but nevertheless acknowledged was false. As for the own the libs comment, I have no idea. As for the sentence, If the issue was misinformation, then dont separate that same misinformation, I also have no idea. Turns out she was whipping votes and the situation was handled, whatever that means. Rutzs comment draws on Omars explanation below. Analyze this: Yesterday, John noted that the escalating Democratic attacks on Catholicism are, in part, an attempt to prepare the battlefield for the day when Justice Ginsburg dies or is unable to continue on the Supreme Court. In that event, said John, President Trump will likely nominate Judge Amy Coney Barrett to replace Ginsburg, and Democrats will make Barretts religious faith the basis for attacking her nomination. To which I say, bring it on. Judge Barrett is the mother of seven children. Two of them were adopted from Haiti. Her youngest biological child has special needs. She is a remarkable and very sympathetic women. In addition, she is a first rate legal mind. Barrett graduated summa cum laude from the Notre Dame Law School, where she was executive editor of the Notre Dame Law Review. She then clerked for our friend Judge Laurence Silberman on the D.C. Circuit and for Justice Scalia on the Supreme Court. As a law professor at Notre Dame, Barrett was twice named distinguished professor of the year. She continues to teach law as a sitting judge. Do the Democrats really want to got after someone this sympathetic and this distinguished because she believes in the tenets of the Catholic faith? The answer seems to be yes. After all, they did it when Barretts nomination to the court of appeals was before the Senate. But the Supreme Court is different. The public pays virtually no attention to battles over appeals court nominees. By contrast, as we saw with Brett Kavanaugh, fights over Supreme Court nominees rivet the nation. Lets say, hypothetically, that Judge Barrett is nominated to the Supreme Court in mid 2020, as the presidential race is heating up. Lets hypothesize further that Senate Democrats try once again to savage Barrett because, as Sen. Feinstein once put it, Catholic dogma lives loudly within her. How would serious, believing Catholic voters take this? Probably not well. For this reason and because of her stellar qualifications, Id be delighted to see President Trump nominate Judge Barrett for the Supreme Court if the opportunity arises. Im a little less confident than John that Trump would nominate her. She interviewed with Trump for the last vacancy. According to the rumor mill, for whatever that might be worth, the interview didnt go that well. But if the Democrats are prepping the battlefield for a fight over Judge Barretts religious beliefs, its because (as John suggested) they cant help themselves, not because they are thinking clearly about strategy. You are the owner of this article. Note: We've recently updated our online systems. If you can't login please try resetting your password. You must login with an email address. If you don't have an email associated with your account email circulation@postregister.com for help creating one. AUSTIN, Minn. Farmers in the Cedar River watershed in Minnesota learned last week how a partnership can help them achieve long-term economic goals and improve the environmental health of their farms. Launched last year, the Cedar River Watershed Partnership is Minnesotas first public-private-nonprofit partnership that provides farmers with tools and resources to help them adopt new farm management strategies to improve their farms soil, water and economic health and address water quality challenges in the Cedar River Watershed. The Cedar River watershed encompasses 454,029 acres in Mower, Freeborn, Dodge and Steele counties. The Cedar River runs about 300 miles, from its headwaters in Dodge County to Louisa County in southeast Iowa, where it joins the Iowa River and makes its way to the Mississippi River. Communities in the watershed face water resource issues like flooding and sedimentation, leading to property damage and unsafe drinking and recreational water. Changed farming strategies within the watershed can help address these issues. The program on Jan. 16 walked farmers through practical strategies, reported the farm and community impacts of the partnerships first year and demonstrated what sustainability means to Minnesotas farm community. "Were thrilled to be involved in the Cedar River Watershed Partnership and appreciate the time and dedication shown by the project partners to make this effort a success," said Matt Carstens, senior vice president of Land O Lakes Sustain. "This collaboration continues to achieve impressive results, positioning Minnesota agriculture for enhanced sustainability and helping to maintain a resilient agricultural system in the Cedar River watershed." Partners work with farmers to identify the most impactful and practical strategies they can use and provide them with the tools and resources to help implement them. Some of the on-farm changes may include grid sampling, soil sampling, no-till or strip-till methods, cover crops or variable rate technology. "We talk with farmers every day about their operation and business," said said Mower County Soil and Water Conservation District manager Justin Hanson. Demand for the program is growing and the Mower County Soil and Water Conservation District is adding another staff person to work with farmers. The Cedar River Watershed Partnership is a collaboration of Central Farm Service, Hormel Foods, Land OLakes Sustain, the Minnesota Department of Agriculture and the Mower County Soil and Water Conservation District. RED WING, Minn. A prototype of a robotic assistant for poultry barns locked down funding on Jan. 15 by winning Red Wing Ignites Ag Tech Challenge. Jack Kilian, an electrical engineering major and research assistant at the University of Minnesota, gave the winning pitch for the semi-autonomous robot that would help monitor poultry barns. The "Poultry Patrol" will be a robot that performs tasks like detecting dead poultry, training birds to lay eggs in specific locations, disinfecting spots of excrement, turning soil and retrieving eggs. "We hope that you take this win and its proceeds ($12,500) to actually put one of these in a barn," said Brett Brohl, managing director of Techstars Farm to Fork, and one of the judges for the challenge. What led Kilian to pursue Poultry Patrol was a combination of things, and the time he said he spent laboring over the startups blueprint was surprisingly not long. "What I saw in this project was a great coalescence of everything that Ive been working on," said Kilian, who has no farmers in his immediate family, but delved into ag tech shortly after graduating high school. "Its a job that makes the world go-round," Kilian said of farming. While earning his undergraduate degree, Kilian worked to create a solar robot, which at the time he thought would be a good contribution to precision ag. Hes now finishing work on his masters degree at the U of M, where hes spent most of his time on robotics research. This past summer Kilian took a position with a product incubator in Wayzata, Minn., called Digi Labs, which works on projects ranging from reality and sonar to terrestrial and underwater robotics. The incubator is perhaps best known for developing the software tools that built The Wild Goose Chaser, devised to do exactly as its name says. A number of cameras and sensors on The Wild Goose Chaser allow the robot to perform image recognition, and then respond with autonomous navigation. Kilian credits his time working at the incubator for prompting him to launch Poultry Patrol, because it had him working on the applied side of robotics and made him realize that characteristics of The Wild Goose Chaser would be useful in a robot that monitored poultry warehouses. He also realized opportunity existsin Minnesotas massive poultry business, especially the turkey industry. According to the Minnesota Turkey Growers Association, Minnesota ranks first in the country in both turkey production and processing, and the state has approximately 450 turkey farmers who operate 600 turkey farms. It helped his cause that almost all of the poultry robotics in development now are geared towards chickens. "Its just a geographical advantage that we have so many turkey warehouses in the state," said Kilian. "So I thought if all these guys are focused on chickens, Im OK with zoning in on turkeys especially because a lot of the (turkey) farms are family-owned." Kilian said he will use his winnings to "buy a robot and hardware, so we can run the first test of having one in a warehouse." Once a prototype is ready, Kilian said a turkey farmer will be asked to use it and report back on its performance. In his pitch, Kilian pointed to data that supports that an effective robotic poultry assistant could result in the average turkey weight increasing by up to 5 percent. If that turns out to be true, he said it would be a huge breakthrough for the prototype. "If not, then we can see what sort of value it does bring," said Kilian. "Maybe it just means that a grower would have to walk through their warehouse once a day, instead of three or four times." Red Wing Ignite is a non-profit founded by local foundations and the city of Red Wing in 2013. It was created to help fuel economic development and spur innovation by working with key sectors in the community and by supporting entrepreneurs. Besides the cash award there are other in-kind donations for Kilian, like a mentorship with a Syngenta Ventures official, and a marketing firm to help launch the product. Kilian said its difficult to say when the Poultry Patrol will be ready to roll, but he is certain stick to the industry. "I really like ag tech, and I want to stay in it for a long time," said Kilian. The poultry robot may be the first of many future robotic applications in ag. "Next, who knows?," he said. "A robotic weeder, or automatic wheel-barrow theres a lot more to come." NEW ORLEANS Katie and Ted Brenny from Goodhue County finished in the top 10 in the Excellence in Agriculture contest at the American Farm Bureau Federations annual meeting last week in New Orleans. The Brennys said they were grateful and humbled to finish in the top 10, and that they appreciated the efforts of farm bureaus to provide a voice for American agriculture. Katie and Ted advanced as a team to the Young Farmers & Ranchers competition after capturing top honors in the Minnesota Farm Bureau contest in November. The contest is for young farmers and ranchers who dont earn the majority of their income through farming, but who actively contribute to agriculture and building leadership skills through their farm bureau and community involvement. The Brennys are fifth-generation farmers who raise beef cattle at their farm near Mazeppa. They both also work full-time jobs in the ag industry. More than 70 Farm Bureau members from Minnesota were at the annual meeting. Columbia/Myrtle Beach Managing Editor Andy Shain runs The Post and Courier's newsrooms based in Columbia and Myrtle Beach. He was editor of Free Times and has been a reporter and editor for newspapers in Charlotte, Columbia and Myrtle Beach. Gov. Henry McMaster pledged in his State of the State address to "change everything" to fix South Carolina ailing schools, promising to back administrative changes proposed by the General Assembly this year meant to jump start improving a system long ranked among the country's worst. Just The Facts House Speaker Jay Lucas' proposal for transforming public education includes: _Ending the social promotion of third-graders who can't read by revising the definitions and exemptions in the 2014 Read to Succeed law and strengthening help for struggling readers before they get to third grade. In schools where lots of kids can't read on grade level, reading coaches must be approved by the state. _Requiring school districts of fewer than 1,000 students to merge with a neighbor by spring 2022. Seven districts in counties with multiple districts have as few as 600 students. _Dissolving districts that post failing scores for four consecutive years. The state school board would decide whether to merge the district with a neighbor, move the students or transfer management to a Transformation District. _Increasing the salaries of first-year teachers by $3,000 to $35,000 next school year. Lucas hopes to phase in a 10 percent raise for all other teachers over a couple of years. The salary step schedule, which pays teachers by degree and years of experience, would then be replaced with career bands, in which teachers would get promotions for their duties and/or performance. _Incentivizing effective teachers to work in schools with unsatisfactory ratings. Qualifying teachers' children could go to college tuition-free. _Awarding businesses that hire teachers as interns a $2,000 tax credit _Creating a Zero to 20 Committee tasked with coordinating improvement efforts from preschool through college, working with First Steps, the Department of Education, the Technical College System and the Commission on Higher Education. The director would be part of the governor's Cabinet. _Publishing teacher satisfaction surveys on their schools in an effort to weed out bad principals. _Publishing a report card on universities' teacher-training programs, to include certification success rates and how long their graduates stay in the profession. _Eliminating three end-of-year state-standardized tests in elementary schools _Awarding lottery scholarships to students getting an industry certificate. _Requiring students to pass an admission test for technical colleges. Currently, a third of their students are so unprepared they must take remedial math and English classes before qualifying for college-level coursework. That would end. Remediation must be offered in the 12th grade, restoring technical colleges' original job-training role. _Regionalizing career centers for high school students, to include making technical colleges the career center. _Updating the 2005 Education and Economic Development Act, which was supposed to align students' interests with available careers. Career pathways offered in high schools must include at least one aligned with jobs in high demand locally. _Requiring school boards to adopt ethics policies and its members to undergo training. Gov. Henry McMaster visited Miracle Hill Ministries in Greenville on Monday, Aug. 27, 2048, to award CEO Reid Lehman with the Order of the Palmetto. McMaster has worked in recent months to ensure Miracle Hill can continue denying foster care services to same-sex couples and non-Christian families. File/Jamie Lovegrove/Staff Jamie Lovegrove is a political reporter covering the South Carolina Statehouse, congressional delegation and campaigns. He previously covered Texas politics in Washington for The Dallas Morning News and in Austin for the Texas Tribune. The Post and Courier provides a forum for our readers to share their opinions, and to hold up a mirror to our community. Publication does not imply endorsement by the newspaper; the editorial staff attempts to select a representative sample of letters because we believe its important to let our readers see the range of opinions their neighbors submit for publication. Editorials represent the institutional view of the newspaper. They are written and edited by the editorial staff, which operates separately from the news department. Editorial writers are not involved in newsroom operations. Syndicated and guest columns represent the personal views of the writers, not necessarily those of the editorial staff. The editorial department operates entirely independently of the news department and is not involved in newsroom operations. Paul Bowers is an education reporter and father of three living in North Charleston. He previously worked at the Charleston City Paper, where he was twice named South Carolina Journalist of the Year in the weekly category. Get the SC business stories that matter. Our newsletter catches you up with all the business stories that are shaping Charleston and South Carolina every Monday and Thursday at noon. Get ahead with us - it's free. (Update: On January 23, the Washington Post reported that Marzieh Hashemi was released from custody after completing her grand jury testimony. This fact check was updated with this information. On January 20, Dmitry Kiselyov, one of Russias most popular TV news presenters and head of the Rossiya Segodnya state information agency, wrote a column in which he alleged that the U.S. government takes foreign citizens as hostages as a method of foreign policy. One hostage he referred to by name was Konstantin Yaroshenko, a Russian pilot who was sentenced to prison for conspiracy to commit drug trafficking in 2011. Yaroshenko was arrested in Liberia in 2010 as part of a sting operation organized by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA). In response, the Russian government accused the U.S. of kidnapping Yaroshenko, and since then Russias Foreign Ministry and state media have repeatedly referred to his case as an example of the U.S. allegedly persecuting and kidnapping Russian citizens abroad. There are many reasons to consider Yaroshenkos prosecution and conviction controversial, though they are beyond the scope of this fact check. However, it is clear that Yaroshenko was not taken hostage. No public demands were made on Russia in exchange for his release. On the contrary, it was Russian government officials who proposed, three years ago, a prisoner swap that would send Yaroshenko back to Russia. The suggestion was renewed in August 2018. U.S. authorities have not responded publicly to Russias offers to exchange U.S. citizens held in Russian prisons for Yaroshenko. The next hostage is Russian lawyer Natalia Veselnitskaya, whose involvement in a June 2016 meeting with Donald Trump Jr., Jared Kushner and Paul Manafort at Trump Tower in New York City has figured in the controversy surrounding the investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 U.S. presidential election. In an unrelated case, Veselnitskaya was recently charged by federal prosecutors with attempting to interfere in a money laundering investigation. However, Veselnitskaya is not in the U.S. Rather, she remains in Russia, and therefore can hardly be called a hostage. In addition, the U.S. has not publicly made any kind of demands in exchange for dropping the charges against Veselnitskaya, circumstances that refute Kiselyovs allegation of hostage taking. Kiselyov also cites the case of Maria Butina, the Russian gun rights advocate who recently pleaded guilty to the charge of conspiracy to act as a foreign agent of the Russian Federation. Butina agreed to cooperate with prosecutors and pleaded guilty, and the U.S. has not made demands of the Russian government in exchange for her freedom, again dispelling the idea that she is a hostage. Finally, Kiselyov refers to Marzieh Hashemi, an anchorwoman for the U.S. bureau of the Iranian state TV network Press TV. The FBI arrested Hashemi on January 13 while she was visiting the U.S., where her son lives. Marzieh normally resides in Tehran and is a dual U.S./Iranian citizen. As of this writing, she is being held in the Washington D.C. area as a material witness. She has not been charged with any crime. Both the FBI and Justice Department have repeatedly refused media requests to comment on the case. Hashemis arrest has drawn protest from Iran and condemnation from Reporters Without Borders (RSF), an advocacy group for journalists. RSF said the FBI refused to answer its questions about the reason for her arrests. The U.S. judicial authorities must announce the charges they plan to bring against this journalist, said Reza Moini, the head of RSFs Iran desk in a statement by the organization. The opaqueness surrounding her detention is unacceptable. Despite the criticism, the circumstances of Hashemis case do not support Kiselyovs claims that the U.S. has a practice of taking hostages to exact demands from foreign governments. Under U .S. law, people taken into custody as material witnesses are usually released following their testimony or legal deposition. The day this story was published, Hashemi was released from custody after providing testimony to a grand jury. Little information has been made publicly available. Her attorney told the Washington Post the matter is under seal. National Public Radio quotes the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee in reporting Hashemi is now with her family which is "relieved...but pretty angry" about her detention. Hashemi's release further supported the Polygraph.info verdict of "false." 1.9k SHARES Facebook Twitter Whatsapp Pinterest Reddit Print Mail Flipboard Advertising The vast majority of Americans including 42% of Donald Trumps conservative base of voters want the president to end the shutdown without a border wall according to a new INSIDERs poll. These voters say that they want Trump to sign a bill passed by Congress that would reopen the parts of the U.S. government which he closed. They also said they do not want the bill he signs to include money he has demanded to start building a border wall with Mexico. The new survey also shows that 52% of Americans blame Trump for the partial federal government shutdown. This is over three times the number (17%) who blame congressional Democrats for Trumps shutdown. At the same time, several polls taken this week have made very clear that the presidents disapproval ratings have skyrocketed to record high levels. Trumps weakening poll numbers over time will significantly decrease the amount of leverage he brings to negotiations with Nancy Pelosi and other Democrats who want to end the shutdown as soon as possible. The INSIDERs poll told participants about two bills being considered by the U.S. Senate which will be voted on today. Advertising The first bill is backed by President Trump and includes $5.7 billion for a border wall. The second bill would simply extend funding for shuttered agencies through February 8 with no funding for a wall. Participants were then asked this question: Analysts say the wall bill will most likely fail. In the event the second passes, would you approve of the president signing it to reopen the government? Nearly 42% of voters who identify as conservative said they would approve of Trump signing the bill with no wall funding, and reopening the government. Nearly 70% of those who identify as liberal said they also would want Trump to sign the bill. In the poll, 25% of all respondents identified themselves as being very or somewhat conservative, 27% identified themselves as being very or somewhat liberal, and 47% as either slightly conservative or liberal, or neither. Neither bill being voted on today in the Senate is likely to gain the number of votes necessary to pass both chambers and make it to the president for signature. Although Republicans control the Senate, Democrats control the House, and the two sides have not reached agreement on anything. So far Trump has said that he will refuse to sign any bill that comes to his desk without the $5.7 billion he has demanded to start construction of a border wall. Recent polls have found that most Americans are tired of the presidents hardline tactics on the border wall issue and want him to re-open the government. A new CBS poll found that 70% of Americans said they didnt think the fight over the wall is worth a government shutdown. That poll also found that 43% of Republican voters said they oppose keeping the government closed over the wall. And a new Politico/Morning Consult poll found that 54% of Americans blame Trump and the GOP for the shutdown while just 32% blame Democrats. The big news in this poll is that conservative and Republican voters are abandoning Trump and his GOP enablers in Congress. Every day that the shutdown continues more of these voters will agree that Trump should reopen the government without his border wall funding. Trump is hurting America, and the American economy, and everybody knows it. The time has come for him to do the right thing and re-open the U.S. government. 2k SHARES Facebook Twitter Whatsapp Pinterest Reddit Print Mail Flipboard Advertising Trump tweeted a tantrum in real time after Speaker Pelosi said that Trumps attitude is that workers should build character and ask their dads for more money during the shutdown. Video of Pelosi: As the #TrumpShutdown hits Day 34, the consequences of this senseless shutdown continue to build. President Trump & Senate Republicans must allow us to do the responsible thing and re-open government. https://t.co/sy2wYGtkVf Nancy Pelosi (@SpeakerPelosi) January 24, 2019 The Speaker said, They have Wilbur Ross saying he doesnt understand why when he was asked about people going to food lines and pantries and the rest. He says he doesnt understand why they have to do that. This is the let them cake kind of attitude, or call your father for money, or this is character building for you. This is all going to end up very well as long as you dont get your paychecks. I dont quite understand why as hundreds of thousands of men and women are about to miss a second paycheck. Advertising This set Trump off: Nancy just said she just doesnt understand why? Very simply, without a Wall it all doesnt work. Our Country has a chance to greatly reduce Crime, Human Trafficking, Gangs and Drugs. Should have been done for decades. We will not Cave! Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 24, 2019 Trump expressed zero concern for workers who arent getting paid Pelosi was talking about why the administration is causing suffering for millions of Americans. Trump didnt acknowledge the suffering but went off on a racist tantrum about the wall and crime. Tone deaf isnt an adequate description of Trumps attitude. He doesnt see the human beings who are struggling right in front of him. Instead of doing his job as president, Trump was watching Pelosis press conference and tweet tantruming. Donald Trump has been shoved to the sidelines. The real power and leadership in this country now belong to Pelosi and the House Democrats. For more discussion about this story join our Rachel Maddow and MSNBC group. Follow Jason Easley on Facebook. Advertising Trumps bill that contained harsh immigration measures and money for his wall flopped in the Senate and finished short of the 60 votes needed for passage. Trump didnt come close to the 60 votes that he needed to move the legislation forward. Senator Joe Manchin of West Virginia voting yes with the Republicans. Republican Ses. Tom Cotton and Mike Lee joined with Democrats in voting no. Before the vote Senate Democratic Leader Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) said: The presidents plan demands 100% of what the president wants 5.7 billion for a border wall plus radical new changes to our asylum laws before reopening the government. For the Republican Leader to call this a compromise is laughable. No Democratic sign-off. Not from me, not from Senator Durbin, not from any other Democrat. Its a harshly partisan proposal that essentially codifies the presidents position that government funding is a bargaining chip. A vote for the presidents plan is an endorsement of government by extortion. If we let him do it today, hell do it tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow. The whole structure of our government will change and the chaos we now see will be magnified. Advertising Even some of my Republican friends have admitted the presidents plan is not a serious offer. A few days ago, my friend from Oklahoma called it a straw man proposal. I think that says it all. The Presidents plan is a straw man not a serious offer, merely a way to save face. Trumps bill was never a serious offer Trumps proposal contained a radical crackdown on asylum and his wall money. The Trump bill had no chance of passing the Senate or passing the House. Trumps bill was a joke. His offer wasnt serious. It was a PR stunt that was designed to stop his sliding poll numbers. McConnell gave Trump his vote, and his measure crashed and burned in the US Senate. For more discussion about this story join our Rachel Maddow and MSNBC group. Follow Jason Easley on Facebook. 1.5k SHARES Facebook Twitter Whatsapp Pinterest Reddit Print Mail Flipboard Advertising As Republicans are caving and trying to flee the government shutdown, Trump is demanding a large downpayment on his wall. Senate Majority Leader McConnell is meeting with Democratic Leader Schumer after Republicans didnt just lose, but were humiliated in a pair of shutdown-related votes on the Senate floor. Sen. Lindsey Graham took to the Senate floor to talk about what Trump wanted in exchange for a 3 week CR: Sen. @LindseyGrahamSC: "I just got off the phone with the president. I told him we're talking about a 3-week CRhe gave me some indications of things he would want for a 3-week CRthat I thought were imminently reasonable." #GovernmentShutdown pic.twitter.com/hHsvzNoN8u CSPAN (@cspan) January 24, 2019 Trump then sent out Press Secretary Sarah Sanders with a ransom demand, as provided to PoliticusUSA, Leader Mitch McConnell and Senator Chuck Schumer are meeting now to see whether or not they can work out of the deadlock. As was made clear to Senator Lindsay Graham, the 3 week CR would only work if there is a large down payment on the wall. Advertising Trump makes it clear that he is holding government workers hostage The statement from Sanders made it clear. Trump is not going to release his government worker hostages without wall money. Since House and Senate Democrats are refusing to pay Trumps ransom, they are going to have to find a compromise that will get 67 votes in the Senate and survive a Trump veto. The Congress is going to have to work around Trump because he is not going to accept anything less than US taxpayers paying for the wall that he said Mexico would fund. Republicans are trying to cave. They are trying to cut and run, but Donald Trump is threatening to turn Republicans in Congress into his new hostages if they try to free the government workers. As the Republican Party is being destroyed, Trump thinks that he is winning the shutdown. For more discussion about this story join our Rachel Maddow and MSNBC group. Follow Jason Easley on Facebook. 425 SHARES Facebook Twitter Whatsapp Pinterest Reddit Print Mail Flipboard Advertising Senator Joni Ernst (R, Iowa) has disclosed that she was raped in college by someone she knew and that her ex-husband physically abused her. These revelations by the first-term senator make her the highest ranking woman in her party to allege sexual assault in the years since the #MeToo movement began. Ernst publicly disclosed her college sexual assault during an interview with Bloomberg News. She said that she made the decision to do the difficult interview after many details of her divorce from husband Gail Ernst were recently made public. In her interview, the senator said: I didnt want to share it with anybody, and in the era of hashtag-MeToo survivors, I always believed that every person is different and they will confront their demons when theyre ready. And I was not ready. Advertising Ernst was recently elected to a GOP Senate leadership position and now is the fourth-highest ranking Republican in the Senate, making her one of the most powerful women in the country. She has become an ally of serial sex abuser Donald Trump, but Ernst made a clear distinction between her personal experiences as a sexual assault victim and her political decisions to support Trump, saying: Its outrageous to suggest that anyone who has been the victim of sexual assault should therefore be a Hillary Clinton supporter. Ernst has faced criticism for her vote to confirm another accused sex abuser, Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh. During his Senate confirmation hearings Christine Blasey Ford and others gave testimony alleging that the justice had sexually assaulted them. Ernst publicly defended Kavanaugh after Fords testimony. I do believe she experienced trauma, but the evidence and witnesses presented by her contradicted her story, Ernst told Bloomberg. I dont believe Justice Kavanaugh was the source of her trauma. The senators allegation that her husband abused her became public after details from affidavits filed in their divorce were published Monday. The affidavits were intended to be sealed but were accidentally made public in a court filing after the divorce was finalized earlier this month. The senator publicly addressed her accusations against her husband at a town hall meeting in Cedar Falls, Iowa on Wednesday, saying: I am a survivor. What I want people to understand is that I am the same person as I was last week. You just know more about whats inside of me now. Ernst is considered one of the most vulnerable Republican senators in 2020, since she represents a swing state where Trumps popularity has sunk to record lows. Also, in last Novembers midterms, two Democrats won Iowa congressional seats previously held by Republicans. Three out of four House seats in Iowa are now held by Democrats, which indicates that Ernst may face a difficult reelection next year. 440 SHARES Facebook Twitter Whatsapp Pinterest Reddit Print Mail Flipboard Advertising By Stephanie Nebehay GENEVA (Reuters) The United Nations special rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions told Reuters on Thursday she will travel to Turkey next week to head an independent international inquiry into the murder of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi. Khashoggi, a columnist for the Washington Post and a critic of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, was killed and dismembered by Saudi agents at its consulate in Istanbul on Oct 2, provoking an international outcry. Earlier on Thursday, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu President Tayyip Erdogan said it was time for an international investigation and that President Tayyip Erdogan had ordered preparations to be made. Advertising I will be heading an independent international inquiry into the killing of Saudi journalist Mr. Jamal Khashoggi, commencing with a visit to Turkey from 28 January to 3 February 2019, independent U.N. investigator Agnes Callamard said in an email reply to Reuters in Geneva. Callamard said that she would evaluate the circumstances of the crime, and the nature and the extent of states and individuals responsibilities for the killing. My findings and recommendations will be reported to the U.N. Human Rights Council at the June 2019 session, she said. There was no immediate word on what other experts would take part in the investigation or whether they had sought access to Saudi Arabia. A Saudi public prosecutors spokesman said last year that 21 Saudis were taken into custody in relation to the case, 11 of whom have been indicted and referred to trial. Earlier this month the prosecutor said it was seeking the death penalty for five of the 11 detained suspects. Callamard, a French academic who is director of the Columbia Global Freedom of Expression Department at Columbia University in New York, reports to the U.N. Human Rights Council in Geneva and has a global mandate to investigate executions. (Editing by Janet Lawrence, William Maclean) 2.3k SHARES Facebook Twitter Whatsapp Pinterest Reddit Print Mail Flipboard Advertising As Nancy Pelosi continues to school Donald Trump over the ongoing government shutdown, her popularity among the American people is rising. According to a CBS News poll released on Wednesday, Americans believe Pelosi by double digits is handling shutdown negotiations better than Trump. The survey finds that 47 percent back Pelosis efforts to re-open the government, compared to 35 percent who say Trump is coming off as the better deal-maker. Right now, who do you think is doing a better job handling the negotiations over the partial government shutdown: Donald Trump or Nancy Pelosi? Pelosi 47% Trump 35% (CBS News Poll, 1/18-21/19) more: https://t.co/y7sFCxMUS3 PollingReport.com (@pollreport) January 23, 2019 Advertising Another survey from AP-NORC shows the presidents support tanking among women, college graduates and independent voters. According to the AP-NORC poll: * 71% of independents disapprove of Trump * 71% of women disapprove of Trump * 76% of college grads disapprove of Trump https://t.co/AFKDlsmlar Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1) January 23, 2019 All of this polling data comes as Pelosi humiliated Trump on Wednesday by blocking his latest attempt to deliver the State of the Union. As Jason Easley pointed out earlier, Nancy Pelosi has simply been owning the president since she took control of the gavel earlier this month. Trump and Republicans have created a disaster By following Donald Trump off a political cliff, Republicans have created a disaster for themselves. At this point, there is no good way for them to back out of Trumps government shutdown. If they accept a deal to reopen the government without any wall funding, they look weak and will anger the small but loud Trump base even if the majority of the American people oppose a shutdown over the presidents pet project. But if the GOP continues to hold the government hostage simply so Trump can get money to build an unpopular vanity wall on the southern border, the American people will know who to blame. After all, Democrats in the House continue to pass GOP-supported legislation that would reopen the government, but Senate Republicans refuse to take it up, even though they approved similar measures last month. As hundreds of thousands of workers suffer through this Trump-GOP shutdown, there are no winners. But Democrats in Congress, led by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, have shrewdly made the president own the pain he is causing all across the country. Follow Sean Colarossi on Facebook and Twitter 1.4k SHARES Facebook Twitter Whatsapp Pinterest Reddit Print Mail Flipboard Advertising In her first live interview since announcing she was running for president, California Sen. Kamala Harris showed why she could be Donald Trumps worst nightmare in 2020. Harris, considered one of the top contenders to win the Democratic nomination, immediately tore into the president for keeping the government shut down while hundreds of thousands of Americans suffer without a paycheck. This Friday will be the second time that these federal workers are not receiving a paycheck, she said. I think it is absolutely the height of irresponsibility that this administration is holding them and the American public hostage over the presidents vanity project. Video: Advertising Kamala Harris sounds like a president, while Trump whines about the State of the Union. #ctl #p2 #maddow pic.twitter.com/39heEVnQ05 PoliticusUSA (@politicususa) January 24, 2019 Sen. Harris said: This Friday will be the second time that these federal workers are not receiving a paycheck, and I have personally heard the stories, we all have, of folks who are standing in food lines, people who are being threatened with eviction, people who are working around the clock without being paid, and those folks, they dont want a wall. They want a paycheck. And I think it is absolutely the height of irresponsibility that this administration is holding them and the American public hostage over the presidents vanity project. We have to keep the government running, and we have to open the government back up. And there should not be any conditions on that. Harris is standing up for the workers Trump has ignored In 40 seconds, Sen. Harris showed more concern for struggling American workers than Donald Trump has throughout this entire government shutdown. While Trump has repeatedly whined about his wall, the loneliness he feels at the White House during the shutdown, or how sad he is about the canceled State of the Union, hundreds of thousands of federal employees are struggling to stay above water. He has barely uttered a syllable about them. On Wednesday, the California Democrat delivered the message that these workers need to hear a message that a responsible president would be delivering at a time like this. In the process, Sen. Kamala Harris showed that, while there is a wide slate of promising Democratic candidates on the horizon, she should be considered a top-tier candidate to take on Donald Trump. Follow Sean Colarossi on Facebook and Twitter Max Sparber and Thomas Bubendorfer after the first ascent of No Country for Old Men at Rein in Taufers, Italy Photo by archive Thomas Bubendorfer Thomas Bubendorfer discovers No Country for Old Men in South Tyrol, Italy 24.01.2019 by by Planetmountain Austrian alpinists Thomas Bubendorfer and Max Sparber have made the first ascent of No Country for Old Men, a challenging mixed climb close to Sand in Taufers in the South Tyrol, Italy. "I saw the line while we were repeating Rauber Hotzenplotz and said to myself I simply had to return to climb it." At the start of January expert Austrian alpinist Thomas Bubendorfer teamed up with young Max Sparber to make the first repeat of Rauber Hotzenplotz, mixed outing close to Sand in Taufers in the South Tyrol, and it was from one of the belays that Bubendorfer noticed an enticing line immediately to the left. After a short break the two returned to Italy and established the line ground-up over three days. "Conditions were very good, not too cold for new routing, only about -2C, but we were in no rush and started late on the first day, and were then slowed down on the next two days by the difficulties and by poor weather" Bubendorfer told planetmountain.com. All pegs used were left in-situ, and bolts were placed on some pitches where the protection was otherwise simply too poor. "There are some sections where the ice was really thin, where it went from 6 cm down to 2 cm, past some hard moves where the rock didnt accept any pegs. Continuing on, taking on a huge risk of getting hurt, would have made no sense at all so we placed some bolts." planetmountain.com asked Bubendorfer whether his approach to ice climbing and new routing has changed since his dramatic accident in the Dolomites in March 2017, and the 55-year-old replied "No, Ive always erred on the safe side and placed bolts if Ive felt the risk is unacceptable. Theres just no point." The new route has been called No Country for Old Men after one of Bubendorfers favourite novelists Cormac McCarthy. But also because when dealing with the tricky dry tooling sections, he told his climbing partner that it was "no place for old men." To which Sparber replied that, conversely, the ice was "no place for young men." The new route checks in at WI6, M8(+?) and since the first ascent the cold snap has helped the sliver of ice on pitch 4 to grow considerably, meaning that the crux may now be slightly easier. TOPO: No Country for Old Men, Rein in Taufers Links: www.bubendorfer.com, Grivel, SCARPA Share Tweet Party General Secretary and President Nguyen Phu Trong welcomes President of the Senate of Australia Scott Ryan (Photo: VNA) During the trip, which began on January 20th at the invitation of National Assembly Chairwoman Nguyen Thi Kim Ngan, the Senate President held talks with the Vietnamese top legislator, paid a courtesy visit to Party General Secretary and President Nguyen Phu Trong, and met with Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc. At the meetings, the two sides agreed that the bilateral political ties have become closer since the establishment of diplomatic relations 46 years ago. Particularly, the elevation of the bilateral relations to a strategic partnership in March 2018 created a new important framework to deepen their cooperation across the fields. The relations between Vietnamese and Australian parliaments have thrived based on the signed collaboration agreements, as seen in the exchange of all-level delegations and sharing of experience in parliamentary activities to increase mutual understanding and cooperation. The two sides also actively supported and coordinated with each other at multilateral parliamentary forums. The Australian parliament has coordinated with the Vietnamese NA to share experience and provide skill training for legislators, especially female ones. Vietnam always welcomes investment from Australian businesses, particularly in the fields of energy, infrastructure, telecommunication, finance-banking, mining, manufacturing, high-tech agriculture, education and tourism, while encouraging domestic businesses to explore investment opportunities in Australia. The country hopes from more assistance from Australia in infrastructure improvement, agriculture and rural development, poverty reduction, climate change adaptation, and high-quality human resources development. Vietnam will actively work to promote Australias relations with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and other countries in the region. The two sides agreed to step up the effective implementation of the Memorandum of Understanding on cooperation between the two parliaments and the action programme in 2016-2019 as well as agreements reached during the recent high-level visits between the two countries. They will also enhance people-to-people exchanges and promote the role of friendship associations and friendship parliamentarian groups in the respective countries to reinforce their mutual understanding and cooperation in both bilateral and multilateral aspects./. HB51 passes committee 5-4, heads to House CHEYENNE A ban on so-called sanctuary cities in Wyoming moved a step closer to becoming law Tuesday afternoon after a committee vote. If House Bill 151 is enacted, local governments would be barred from refusing to comply with federal officials or law enforcement officers regarding the immigration status of residents or face losing their state funding. According to the Center for Immigration Studies, a sanctuary jurisdiction is one that has laws in place preventing local law enforcement or officials from complying with Immigration and Custom Enforcement officials. Essentially, if someone in the country illegally were arrested by local officials in a sanctuary jurisdiction, local jailers would be barred from handing the inmate over to ICE. Currently, seven states have sanctuary jurisdictions within their borders, including Colorado. HB151s primary sponsor, Rep. Chuck Gray, R-Casper, told the House Corporations and Political Subdivisions Committee that illegal immigration in the United States is an enormous problem. Gray added that the proposed legislation would preempt Wyomings counties and municipalities from becoming a sanctuary jurisdiction. Currently there are none in Wyoming, though Jackson has looked at it. ACLU of Wyoming Policy Director Sabrina King told legislators Tuesday that the law is unnecessary. Currently, every law enforcement agency is in compliance with ICE. What that law would do, King said, is burden local governments and increase racial profiling. Officials representing Wyomings 23 counties and 99 municipalities agreed that HB151 would add an additional burden for local governments. Wyoming Municipalities Association Executive Director Rick Kaysen told the committee that the bill would prohibit local entities from having the immigration debate at the community level. Preemption is a concern, Kaysen said, adding that withholding funding for non-compliance would be a sledgehammer to local entities. Opponents of the proposed law also said HB151 is more anti-immigrant rhetoric than it is meaningful public policy. ACLU organizer and Juntos Chairman Antonio Serrano recalled growing up as the son of an immigrant Tuesday. He said the bill will only fuel racial tensions. Through his work with Juntos, an immigration advocacy organization, Serrano has helped incarcerated inmates facing deportation. He said many were picked up for very minor crimes and more than likely would have never been stopped if not for being Hispanic. Serrano added that his father, an immigrant, always worked hard but that didnt stop him from being bullied and mistreated. I didnt feel welcome as a brown man, Serrano said. I was told to go back to my own country even though I was born in Cheyenne. All this is going to do is tell immigrants that they arent welcome here. Rep. Scott Clem, R-Gillette, a secondary sponsor of the bill and Corporations Committee member, said HB151 is not anti-immigration. Its simply anti-illegal immigration. Im not heartless, Clem said. We just need to enforce federal law. The bill passed the House Corporations and Political Subdivisions Committee on a 5-4 vote. It will now head to the Wyoming House of Representatives to be debated and discussed. CHEYENNE - The State Board of Education (SBE) requests public input on the Proposed 2019 Wyoming Computer Science Content and Performance Standards. The Wyoming Department of Education (WDE) will collect public input through an online survey until 11:59 p.m. on March 5, 2019 and also at regional meetings. Public input meetings will be held from 6-7:30 p.m. at the following locations: February 25, Green River - SCSD #2 Central Admin. Office, 351 Monroe Avenue. February 25, Buffalo - JCSD #1 Buffalo High School, 29891 Old Hwy 87. February 26, Meeteetse - PCSD #16 School Building, 2107 Idaho Street. February 26, Douglas - CCSD #1, Admin. Building, 615 Hamilton Street. February 28, Cheyenne - LCSD #1, Storey Gym, 2811 House Avenue. A summary of the public input gathered during these meetings will be presented to the SBE at its March meeting. If the SBE moves to adopt the draft standards, an additional public comment period will follow before the new standards are adopted. Once adopted, school districts will have until the 2022-23 school year to implement the new standards into their curriculum, instruction and assessment system. We rely on Wyoming citizens to make the most important policy decisions - computer science is no exception. The standards committee was comprised of 40 members including 16 teachers. I have full faith and confidence in their work, said Superintendent of Public Instruction Jillian Balow. We value additional input from the public to ensure we do our very best to prepare kids for tomorrows world. CHEYENNE - Pine Bluffs Post Publisher Penny Merryfield and Reporter Zach Spadt were honored with Pacemaker awards at the Wyoming Press Association Annual Convention held in Cheyenne over the weekend. Merryfield's ongoing weekly series, "A Veteran's Story" took first place in Miscellaneous Speciality Reporting. It was her first award at the Pine Bluffs Post and her first Wyoming Press Association Pacemaker. "A Veteran's Story" appears weekly in the Post and features a profile on a local veteran. Spadt's photo story on Project Appleseed received first-place honors in the photo story category in the small weekly division. Project Appleseed is a group of firearms instructors who travel the area teaching students basic firearms skills while also including history lessons about the American Revolutionary War - particularly the battles of Lexington and Concord. Spadt's photo story featured a series of photos from the event. It was his first award with the Pine Bluffs Post and second Pacemaker Award in Wyoming. The Wyoming Press Association Annual Convention is an event held each year in different cities in Wyoming where journalists and newspaper professionals gather to discuss ideas, socialize and celebrate each other's accomplishments. This year marked the 120th celebration of the event. Representative Charles Pelkey, D-Laramie, listens during a Wyoming House Judiciary Committee hearing Thursday, January 14. Pelkey is the primary sponsor of legislation that would ban child marriages in Wyoming. CHEYENNE - Under Wyoming law, a minor can get married with certain approvals. However, if someone in that marriage were to become a domestic violence victim, before turning 18, he or she would be unable to visit a safe house. A bill in the Wyoming Legislature, sponsored by a group of bipartisan legislators, seeks to end that by outlawing child marriage outright. House Bill 60 passed the House Judiciary Committee on a vote of 8-1 Thursday, January 14. Sponsored by Rep. Charles Pelkey, D-Laramie, the bill would remove exceptions that, under current Wyoming law, allow children under the age of 18 to wed with the approval of their parents or a judge. Currently parents of minors 16 and older can legally allow their children to wed. If their children are under 16, they can petition a judge to allow the marriage to proceed. A minor, Pelkey said, can only enter into one contract: marriage. And it's one of the most life-altering, he added. "You can't buy a car. You can't hire an attorney," Pelkey said, adding that if a married minor chose to file for divorce, it would be very difficult as that typically requires hiring an attorney. Denise Parrish represents the Wyoming chapter of Zonta International, a women's rights organization that opposes underage marriage. Parrish told legislators during the committee meeting that the outcomes of child marriage often include domestic violence, underage pregnancies and a fast track to living in poverty. Even worse, most safe houses will turn away unwed minors facing domestic violence. "Children are incapable of making these decisions," Parrish said. "They may start having children young. It affects the babies they have. It's a terrible situation." Added Pelkey: "The youngest married person in Wyoming is 14. She can't buy dry ice, but she can get married." Parrish said that the child marriage rate in Wyoming is 33 per 10, and while that number has steadily declined over the past decade, one is still too many. "The poor life they have and must endure and go through is too much whether its 10 kids or 100 kids." HB60 was placed on the Wyoming House of Representatives' General File last week. As of Monday, the bill has not been placed on a calendar for debate. Along with Pelkey, Representatives Eric Barlow, R-Gillette; Jim Blackburn, R-Cheyenne; Cathy Connolly, D-Laramie; John Freeman, D-Rock Springs; and Dan Zwonitzer, R-Cheyenne are listed as sponsors. Senators Cale Case, R-Lander and Chris Rothfuss, D-Laramie, are sponsors in the Senate. If it passes the House, HB60 will head to the Senate for further debate. Now you meet your Veteran Service Officer. This is handled through the Wyoming Veterans Commission. Wyoming Veterans Commission The Wyoming Veterans Commission's mission is to develop, enhance and promote programs, services and benefits for Wyoming veterans and their families, through outreach, education, communication and legislation. Working in partnership with the Wyoming state government, the Wyoming Military Department, the U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs, and Veterans Service Organizations, the commission strives to improve the quality of life of every Wyoming veteran. The Commission was founded in 1981 for the purpose of receiving federal funding to establish the Oregon Trail State Veterans Cemetery, in Evansville. The Wyoming Veterans Commission has 12 Governor-appointed commissioners who serve for staggered terms from the various Wyoming Judicial Districts. The Commission is managed by a full-time Executive Director. The executive director serves at the pleasure of the Governor, Adjutant General and Chairman of the Commission. It's headquarters are located at the Wyoming Military Department's Joint Forces Readiness Center at 5800 Central Avenue, in Cheyenne. The Veterans Services Program Manager supervises seven State Veterans Service Officers with their outreach offices in Casper, Cheyenne, Cody, Gillette, and Lander, which covers seventeen counties. Veterans should file after separation from the military. A service officer informs the Veteran and their families about their state and federal benefits. Their service is free of charge and does not require a membership in any Veterans service organizations. The Wyoming Veterans Commission recommends every Veteran obtain assistance from a service officers in filing their claims. They assist with the filing and technical issues that sometimes arise. There are many programs available for Veterans leaving the military. Programs such as: Boots to Business is an entrepreneurial education and training program offered by the U.S. Small Business Administration; Employment Services offered by the Wyoming Department of Workforce Services;State and Federal Job Protection for Military and Veterans; National Guard Transition Assistance Advisor; Hero2Hired Employment Services; Wyoming National Guard Employment Opportunites; Veterans Preference; and Wyoming Vocational Rehabilitation. The mission of the Wyoming Veterans Commission is to develop, enhance and promote programs, services and benefits to Wyoming Veterans and their families, through outreach, education, communication and legislation. The Commission works in harmony with Wyoming state government, the Wyoming Military Department, the U.S. Department of Veteran affairs, Veterans Service Organization and stockholders.1 Questions for the Wyoming Veterans Commission can be addressed by calling 1-800-833-5987 or at http://wvc.wyo.gov. There are three organizations that assist the Veteran: The American Legion, Veterans of Foreign War, and the Disabled American Veterans. Any and all of these service organization are present at the Veterans Medical Center in Cheyenne. They are there to assist and represent the Veteran with their enrollment, disability claim with the VA and submitting the proper paperwork. Once the paperwork is in, the Veteran will be scheduled for a physical exam, and the total process for all the steps is about 120 days. Processing the enrollment is aprroximately 3 days. This is where it is important that the Veteran obtained copies of his/her medical records during military time and post-military time. There are many programs available for Veterans and their familes. It is important to file within a year of separation from the military. One can apply at any given time regardless of how long they have been separated from their military service. Current Initiatives The Wyoming Veterans Commission along with the Department of Health are holding public meetings to discuss veterans skilled nursing and accept public comment regarding establishing a veterans skilled nursing facility in Wyoming, the availability of nursing home beds in the state and the demand by veterans for a skilled nursing facility in Wyoming. The Commission is also working on a memorial to all Wyoming veterans who have died in service to our state and nation and their families. The commission has oversight of the Veterans Service Officers, Oregon Trail State Veterans Cemetery, Wyoming Veterans Memorial Museum, and Wyoming National Guard Museum.We thank you for your service.2 1. Wyoming Veterans Benefits Booklet 2. Wyoming Veterans Commission Logansport, IN (46947) Today Thunderstorms this morning, then partly cloudy during the afternoon hours. Gusty winds and small hail are possible. High near 85F. Winds WSW at 10 to 20 mph. Chance of rain 70%.. Tonight Partly to mostly cloudy skies with scattered thunderstorms during the evening. Low 67F. Winds SW at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 40%. Did you know you can save your preferences across all your digital devices and platforms simply by creating a profile? Would you like to get started? Yes, I'd like to register/log in Not right now No, never ask again 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 Staff reports The Petoskey News-Review BOYNE CITY TVs Biggest Loser interviewed BOYNE CITY Tips and strategies for losing weight and becoming healthy will be shared on potluck Sunday, Jan. 27, at Lifetree Cafe. Bring a dish to share at 5:30 p.m. The program begins at 6:30. The program, Hard to Be Healthy: TVs Biggest Loser Weighs In, includes a filmed interview with Jaron Tate, a contestant on NBCs The Biggest Loser. Tate shares his secrets for losing more than 150 pounds and keeping the weight off. Admission to the 60-minute event is free. Lifetree Cafe is in the First Presbyterian Church, 401 S. Park St. Use the Pine Street entrance. For more information, call (231) 582-7983 or email Lifetree@fpboyne.org Youth take part in Souper Bowl of Caring BOYNE CITY The weekend of Feb. 2-3, the Boyne Valley Catholic Community youth ministry program will be participating in the annual Souper Bowl of Caring. The Souper Bowl of Caring is about transforming the time around the Super Bowl into the nations largest celebration of giving and serving. This grassroots movement believes that young people have the ability to serve and should be given opportunities to lead their communities in helping others. Every dollar collected through this years Souper Bowl will be donated back to local food pantries serving in the Boyne Valley Catholic Community. For more information, visit souperbowl.org or call (231) 582-7718. CHARLEVOIX Sunday message: Built by faith CHARLEVOIX On Sunday, Jan. 27, Community Reformed Church of Charlevoix continues the series Ancestry.God. The message is titled Built by Faith and will be based on Genesis 5:28-29 and Hebrews 11:7. Sunday morning services are at 8:30 and 10:15 with nursery available at each service. Kids worship activities for preschool through fourth grade are offered during the 10:15 service. The church is located at 100 Oak St. For more information, call (231) 547-9482 or visit www.communityreformed.net. Greater gifts series continues CHARLEVOIX At the 10 a.m. service on Sunday, Jan. 27, the Rev. Jonathan Mays will offer a message, entitled Greater Gifts: Being Needy, from 1 Corinthians 12:12-31a. Luanne Reed is preaching at 5 p.m. Sunday worship services at Greensky Hill Indian United Methodist Church are now at 10 a.m. and 5 p.m. Also, every Sunday, the church serves a free full breakfast at 9 a.m. and a potluck dinner at 6 p.m. While Greensky Hill preserves a unique Native American heritage, all are welcome. The 180-year-old hewn-log church and Susan Hall Reception Center are located at 08484 Green Sky Hill Road. For more information, contact Mays at (231) 459-8067. Steve Zucker (231) 439-9346 PETOSKEY Michigan Department of Transportation officials expect the first phase of a major U.S. 31 reconstruction and realignment project in the heart of Petoskey one which has been many years in the making to begin early next month. Speaking with the News-Review Wednesday, three department officials laid out the plans for the project, which is expected to begin on Monday, Feb. 4, with retaining wall work in Bayfront Park. The project will involve U.S. 31 from (but not including) the Mitchell Street bridge over the Bear River to roughly the eastern Petoskey city limit at the intersection with Fairview Avenue in Bay View. The work will involve complete reconstruction of the roadway and realigning much of the segment about 20 feet farther away from Little Traverse Bay (roughly to the southeast). The project will also include reconfiguring the highways intersection with Lewis Street to a right angle. Jay Gaillitis, an engineer and manager of the departments Gaylord Transportation Service Center, said the project will address many issues plaguing this stretch of roadway. He said the roads condition is such that a complete reconstruction is in order, which makes it an ideal time to address two other concerns associated with the road. The first of these is erosion that has taken place through the years on the bluff overlooking Bayfront Park on which the road is built. He said a combination of moving the roadway on average about 20 feet back from the bluff and significant efforts to stabilize the bluff will put the road on solid ground for many years to come. Department officials will take advantage of the reconstruction project to address a long-standing issue with the way in which Lewis Street meets up with the highway. Currently the intersection does not permit left turns onto the highway from Lewis Street because the intersections angle is much like an expressway on-ramp. Southbound drivers on U.S. 31 wishing to turn left onto Lewis Street must do so at a roughly 45-degree angle to oncoming traffic. The reconfigured intersection will not only offer better vision lines and more typical turning movements, but will also allow a movement not previously allowed turning right off U.S. 31 onto Lewis Street. Gaillitis explained that plans call for the road to be widened from its current width starting at Lake Street up to an area near Sunset Park. He said the wider road with will allow for northbound traffic to have more distance beyond Lake Street to merge into one lane of through traffic. The right lane will then transition to a right turn lane for traffic turning onto Lewis Street. For southbound traffic, Gaillitis said, the wider roadway will allow traffic to spread out into two lanes farther east of Lake Street than possible now. Starting around Sunset Park, Gaillitis said the roadway will begin its slight shift to the southeast as part of the new alignment. The shifted path of the road will continue up to the Fairview Avenue intersection, roughly at the city/Bay View boundary. He said the shift not only moves the roadbed away from the edge of the bluff, but it also has several other benefits, including re-establishing a sidewalk on the lake side of the highway from Beaubien Avenue to Winter Park Lane. Erosion issues prompted state officials to close the section of sidewalk currently in that location many years ago. When completed, the realigned section of road will be similar in width to the current roadway along that stretch, with one lane of traffic in each direction and a center lane for left turns. However, the plan calls for a pedestrian crosswalk across U.S. 31 to be created at the intersection with Winter Park Lane. The crosswalk will include a mid-roadway traffic island which will prevent left turns from U.S. 31 to Winter Park Lane. Left turns will continue to be available at MacDonald Drive, Beaubien Avenue and Lewis Street. Ben Gowell, another MDOT engineer working on the project noted that the combination of the traffic island and eliminating the left turn at the Winter Park Lane intersection will help improve the safety of the pedestrian crossing at that location. Gaillitis said the shifted roadway will also create a better buffer between traffic and users of the Little Traverse Wheelway section from the city limits to the former railroad grade and will allow that section of the trail to be widened to the typical 10-foot width. Another significant portion of the project is the work to shore up the bluff against future erosion. Gowell said a new retaining wall will be built, to re-enforce an existing steel wall roughly in the area that parallels Ed White Field in Bayfront Park. (The existing wall) still had a little bit of life left, but ... we are already in there doing things, we are building a better retaining wall that will extend the life of that and will improve its service, Gowell said. He said the type of wall is called a drilled shaft or soldier pile retaining wall which will involve crews drilling down to the bedrock, and installing steel pilings and caissons as needed. Construction impacts Michigan Department of Transportation spokesman James Lake said exact scheduling of some facets of the project will be determined by the contractor handling the project and Mother Nature. However, Lake highlighted a handful of known elements of the projects schedule. He noted that when work begins on Feb. 4 on the retaining wall, Bayfront Drive, including the Little Traverse Wheelway, will be closed from Ed White Field to the restrooms at the end of Bayfront Drive. Because of the extensive steel work involved, its not safe for the public to be in this area while this portion of the project is taking place. Lake noted that the contract calls for the Bayfront Drive to be reopened to traffic no later than May 1. During this time, Wheelway users will be detoured through the tunnel under U.S. 31 to Bay Street, then directed to the Petoskey Greenway that runs from the downtown, essentially parallel to U.S. 31, to MacDonald Drive. He further noted that the section of the Wheelway between U.S. 31 near the east city limit and the restrooms at the north end of Bayfront Drive in the park will be open, but as a dead-end route during this time Lake said once winter weather has moved on, contractors will begin work on the actual roadway. This will require a detour to be put in place for northbound traffic. Southbound traffic will be maintained on the current route during the project. The detour for northbound traffic will take motorists up Mitchell Street through downtown Petoskey. Northbound traffic will then turn left onto Division Street (which curves to become Arlington Avenue) and then return to U.S. 31 at MacDonald Drive. The only planned detour of southbound traffic will happen when concrete roadway is installed between the Mitchell Street bridge and Lake Street. During this time, southbound U.S. 31 traffic will be diverted onto Lake Street and then return back to U.S. 31 via Ingalls Avenue. Lake said MDOT officials will communicate with area media outlets in advance of the detours being established and any other traffic-pattern modifications which the project will require. He also noted that provisions have been included in the plan to make sure that Petoskey Department of Public Safety police and fire vehicles are able to cross U.S. 31 on Lake Street at all times. Lake noted that the $11.2 million contract with D.J. McQuestion and Sons includes substantial financial incentives for the project to be completed at or before deadlines. He said the contract calls for the work to be completed to a point where the detour can be lifted no later than June 28. Petoskey Department of Public Works Director Mike Robbins said the city has been working with MDOT for many years in anticipation of this project. He said all city water and sanitary sewer utilities in the project area will be replaced in connection with the project. New, more efficient streetlights will also be installed, Robbins said. He also noted that in connection with the project the city will be reconstructing a portion of the Little Traverse Wheelway in Bayfront Park, making it wider and using concrete instead of asphalt. The city will also be replacing the stair tower that connects Bayfront Park to Sunset Park this summer as well. He noted that the citys portion of the work wont be wrapped up by the May 1 deadline, but access will be restored to the Wheelway and the north end of the park to the greatest extent possible. The final portion of the project isnt schedule to happen until after Labor Day. At that time Mitchell Street from U.S. 31 to Division Street and Division Street to Arlington Avenue will be repaved. The later work will also include improvements in downtown crosswalks and sidewalk headers, officials said. One of the hallmarks of the operational analysis for this project is trying to improve the operations of the whole corridor. Its busy through here. Its one of our bigger congestion choke points in all of Northern Michigan, Gaillitis said. Anyone with questions about the project, may contact the Michigan Department of Transportations Gaylord Transportation Service Center at (989) 731-5090. Steve Zucker (231) 439-9346 PETOSKEY Fire officials believe that a heat lamp was the likely cause of a Tuesday fire that destroyed a Springvale Township garage and claimed the lives of several chickens. Springvale Township Fire Department Fire Chief Bob Stark said firefighters were called to the home of Tony and Brenda Slawinski at 895 Banwell Road shortly after 8 p.m. Tuesday to a report of a fire in the garage. Stark said snowy road conditions at the time slowed firefighters somewhat in responding to the call and when fire crews arrived on the scene the two-and-a-half car garage was already extensively damaged. Stark said the homeowners, who were in the house at the time of the fire, reported they heard a small explosion come from the detached garage and looked outside to see a fire in area of the garage. Stark said Tony Slawinski reported that he went out to the garage with a fire extinguisher, but when he got out there the flames were already too intense for him to attempt putting the fire out. The fire destroyed the garage and its contents, which included numerous pieces of equipment, however, Stark said the owners were able to move their vehicles away from the building, thus sparing the them from damage. He said the home did not sustain any damage as a result of the fire. Stark said the fire is believed to have started in a chicken coop that was attached to the garage and the likely cause of the fire was a heat lamp that was being used in the chicken coop. He said about six chickens died in the fire and two survived. Firefighters, who shuttled water from a creek about a half mile away, were on the scene for about two and a half hours. Firefighters were assisted at the scene by the Emmet County Sheriffs Office, the Michigan State Police, Emmet County EMS and the Emmet County Road Commission. Arielle S. Hines (231) 439-9358 ashines@petoskeynews.com The Petoskey News-Review LANSING Michigan House Speaker Lee Chatfield paid a $1,960 fine to the Transportation Security Administration last week in connection with an incident at the Pellston Regional Airport last summer. Initially, he was fined $4,000, but Chatfield, R-Levering, said he got a 50 percent discount under a TSA policy that gives a break to people if they pay within 30 days after theyre notified of the fine. In addition, Chatfield paid a $250 fine in August to Emmet Countys 90th District Court for failing to register the gun associated with the incident, which is a civil infraction. The incident took place on July 15 when Chatfield was detained at the Pellston Regional Airport by TSA security personnel when they found a loaded .380 caliber pistol in his carry-on bag as he attempted to board a commercial flight heading to Detroit. Chatfield was then detained, questioned by an Emmet Countys sheriffs deputy, had his gun confiscated and was released that day. On July 31, Chatfield made a statement via social media admitting to the incident, in which he apologized for his actions and indicated he took the gun into the airport by accident. Emmet County prosecutor James Linderman later decided not to criminally charge Chatfield with the incident, citing a defect in the state law that makes it a crime to bring a firearm into an airports security area. Chatfield has previously indicated to the News-Review he was in favor of closing the legal loophole in the state law. A person who brings a loaded handgun into a security checkpoint is subject to a civil infraction fine ranging from $3,920-$9,800, according to TSA documents. The News-Review sent a Freedom of Information Act request about the incident, though officials hadnt responded to it as of Thursday. The Detroit News first reported Chatfield paid the TSA fine after he told journalists after a taping of Off The Record, a public television show on East Lansing-based WKAR-TV. In an email to the News-Review, Chatfields spokesperson Gideon DAssandro confirmed the lawmaker had paid the fine. During World War II there were four governments in China, namely, Republic of China, Manchuria, the Nationalist government and Chinese Soviet Republic. Republic of China declared war against the U.S. and U.K. The Nationalist government declared war against Japan, Germany and Italy. After WWII, the Nationalist government was defeated by the Communists in Chinas civil war. For humanitarian reasons, President Truman allowed refugees of China (ROC) to flee to Taiwan and to establish a Republic of China (ROC) government in exile led by the dictator Chiang Kai-shek, a puppet of the U.S.A., for the purpose of containment of expansion of Communism. [Eventually], Chinese Soviet Republic became the Peoples Republic of China. Taiwan was ceded by treaty to Japan in 1895. During the Pacific War, U.S. dropped bombs on Taiwan. After the war, U.S. separated Taiwan from Japan. The Senate-ratified San Francisco Peace Treaty did not award the territorial sovereignty of Taiwan to China or to any other country. However, the United States Military Government (USMG) jurisdiction over Taiwan and the Ryukyu island group was confirmed. Tibetan refugees fled to India, but that does not make India a part of China. Similarly, ROC fled to Taiwan, but that does not make Taiwan a part of China. When dealing with China, an evil empire, U.S. should remind the Chinese leader of the fact that Taiwan is a territory occupied by the USMG, to discourage Chinese intentions to annex Taiwan by force. China has no legal right to claim that Taiwan is a part of China. GEORGE ONG, South Middleton Township A county official in western Pennsylvania has launched a petition drive demanding that state officials intervene in the divorce between UPMC and Highmark. Both UPMC and Highmark sell health insurance while also operating large health care systems serving the Pittsburgh region. Because of a dispute between the two, most UPMC hospitals and doctors will stop accepting Highmark health insurance as of June 30. Similarly, UPMC health insurance wont grant access to the Allegheny Health Network, the system of hospitals and doctors owned by Highmark. In an editorial on Wednesday, The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette wrote: What irony: Pittsburgh is home to two of the nations best health care systems, yet residents potentially cant use the pioneering doctor or the award-winning hospital down the street without paying exorbitant out-of-network rates. Some simply wont be able to afford it, and they may delay or forgo care. In the Post-Gazetts view, Pittsburghers by and large will be the collateral damage in the health care behemoths competition for market share. The petition was unveiled by Allegheny County Controller Chelsa Wagner last week, according to the Post-Gazette. It asks Gov. Tom Wolf, Attorney General Josh Shapiro and state lawmakers to do something to ensure that people have in-network access to both health care systems. The UPMC-Highmark conflict dates back to the early part of the decade. With Highmark being a major insurer in the Harrisburg region, and UPMC recently establishing a major foothold in the region, it created the possibility a similar split could someday divide the Harrisburg region market. However, officials of the two entities have said they have a long-term contact covering Harrisburg region health care facilities. WILLIAMSPORT - The Williamsport Regional Medical Center has stopped trying to recover $5 million it says it should have received in Medicare reimbursement for fiscal year 2017. UPMC Susquehanna, of which the medical center is a part, will not ask the U.S. Supreme Court to accept an appeal, spokesman Tyler Wager said Wednesday. That decision was made after a three-judge panel of the U.S. 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals Friday ruled it did not have jurisdiction to review a decision by the Medicare Geographic Classification Review Board. The panel cited the statute that states the Health and Human Services secretary's decision on appeals of board rulings is final and not subject to judicial review. It found "untenable" the medical center's claim in a suit filed last year in U.S. Middle District court it was not challenging a board decision but the policies that resulted in it. Judge Matthew W. Brann last February dismissed the suit finding the medical center failed to identify any required actions not taken by the board. The circuit court appeal followed. Legal action was instituted after the board denied the medical center's request to be reclassified from the statewide rural to the Bloomsburg-Berwick wage index. That index is used to determine the amount of Medicare reimbursement from the federal government. The classification denial resulted in the medical center receiving approximately $5 million less for the fiscal year ending Sept. 30, 2017, Wagner said. It had a significant financial impact and it meant less was available for investing in health care in the communities UPMC Susquehanna serves, he said. The impact lasted only a year because the medical center subsequently was reclassified back into the State College urban index where it had been for three years up to Sept. 30, 2016, he said. It sought to move to the Bloomsburg-Berwick index because it was in closer proximity, court documents state. The medical center had sued the Department of Health and Human Services, its secretary, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, its acting administrator at the time and the chair of review board. With a Dauphin County judge poised to grant a preliminary injunction that would have forced the immediate removal of tons of debris from a wall collapse site in Harrisburg, the wall owners on Wednesday agreed to submit a plan within five days for how they could get their insurance companies involved. The owners of the McFarland apartments, through their attorney Adam Klein, stipulated to the evidence presented at Wednesdays hearing and conceded that they were responsible for the purposes of Wednesdays hearing for cleaning up the debris that has remained on Howard Henrys tire shop since May 5, 2016. But if McFarland were immediately forced to start cleanup without insurance coverage, Klein said, the company wouldnt have the $3 million to $8 million that it would cost. So the company would have to declare bankruptcy. In order to avoid bankruptcy and additional delays in the case, a deal was struck midday Wednesday that would allow attorneys to submit a proposed schedule within five days of how to move forward and get the insurance companies involved. After that, Judge Lawrence F. Clark would issue his order on the request by Henry for a preliminary injunction. Clark also granted McFarland a 60-day continuance to work with their insurance carriers, while demanding status reports every 20 days. The property has more than enough insurance coverage, Klein noted, but the claim from 2016 was initially denied. That denial resulted in McFarland filing a federal lawsuit against the insurance companies, Firstline National Insurance Company and Harford Mutual Insurance. Wednesdays agreement could potentially mean that cleanup could begin on the long-exposed debris field this year, after nearly three years of inaction. While the agreement appears to solve the lingering problem of who will begin cleaning up Henrys property and stabilizing the dangerous debris field, it does not address whos responsible for the wall collapsing in the first place. That is something that will be hashed out during an ongoing civil lawsuit filed by Henry against about a dozen defendants, including PennDOT, Pennrose Properties (the original owner of the wall and apartments,) and Nesheminy, a contractor who worked on the wall shortly before the collapse. McFarlands insurance companies also could take legal action against various entities to try to get recouped for any money spent on the cleanup. Instead, the agreement Wednesday concerned only the legal issue of trespassing. Henry and his attorney Mark Wendaur spent the morning Wednesday presenting their case for trespassing against the owners of the McFarland apartments. They argued debris owned by McFarland has been intruding into Henrys tire warehouse for nearly three years, depriving him of use of his property. They also argued the exposed debris field and unstabilized McFarland garage building could cause additional collapses. Clark noted during morning discussions that: The law creates an absolute duty to remove that which is yours from the land of someone else and failure to do it can be construed to be intent. After a break for lunch, the defendants did not put on a case other than to note that the current owners of the McFarland apartments were never told about any problems with the wall or parking lot prior to their purchase of the property in 2012. The previous owners, Pennrose Properties, however, had an engineering study conducted in 2007 after the parking lot started sagging that pointed out previous damage and flaws with how the parking lot was built. The parking lot was constructed on top of the 100-year-old retaining wall as part of the renovation of the old McFarland House into apartments. The engineers in 2007 discovered that after a building was torn down on the property in 1996, most of the material used to fill the former basement was loosely packed instead of compacted, as it should have been, resulting in unstable conditions beneath the pavement. But that information was never mentioned nor turned over to Isaac Dohany and Jacob Friedman, who bought the property for $1.8 million after Pennrose invested $4 million in the renovations. Friedman attended Wednesdays hearing but he did not testify. Instead, some of his comments were read into the record by Klein. After Clark announced the agreement Wednesday afternoon, he repeated his sentiments about the situation. This is a public danger, he said. It needs to be remediatedMr. Henry and his wife need to put their heads on a pillow with some level of confidence that their lifetime of work wont be wiped out again. All those things are possible. The question is: Do the people involved have the will to make it so. Officials continue to work to determine whether or not charges will be filed in connection with the crash that killed a Central Dauphin High School senior about four months ago. Harrison Fenstemaker, 17, was killed in the crash on Sept. 15 when police say Richard Lee Via, 63, of Jonestown was driving along Mountain Road in East Hanover Township. Police said Via crossed over the double-yellow line and hit Fenstemaker, who was riding a motorcycle. Fenstemaker was wearing a helmet, but he was thrown from his motorcycle and suffered fatal injuries, according to the county coroner. Via was detained at the scene on suspicion of driving under the influence, police said. Lebanon County District Attorney David Arnold said in an email Wednesday that his office will have a meeting in the coming weeks about the matter. Decisions will be made at that time, Arnold wrote. Arnold could not provide a definitive date for that meeting. Arnold told PennLive in November his office was waiting the crash reconstruction report from state police before making a decision about whether to file charges. Trooper David Beohm explained in an email Tuesday that fatal crash investigations are extremely thorough due to the complexity of each case. Those investigations involve the initial response to the scene, creating forensic mappings, vehicle inspections, downloading event data recorders and analyzing the data, and applying for court orders for cell phone records. Investigators then take all of that information and put it into a general investigative report. Once that is completed, there is a two stage review - once reviewed by another CARS (Collision Analysis and Reconstruction Specialist) member who has been fully accredited as a Traffic Accident Reconstructionist by ACTAR (Accreditation Commission for Traffic Accident Reconstruction), then the Lieutenant of the patrol section reviews the report, Beohm wrote in an email Tuesday. Though it has been a little over four months since the crash happened, Beohm said fatal crash investigations can take just as long, if not longer, to complete. That is if there are no other cases brought into the equation, Beohm said. A Camp Hill man already in state prison on an unrelated case is now facing charges in connection with a fatal crash that killed a 19-year-old Harrisburg woman in May 2017. Police also say the vehicle involved in the crash was involved in a robbery the day before the crash. Shaqwan Damane Miles, 21, faces charges of accidents involving death or personal injury, homicide by vehicle, DUI, and traffic violations. Nadia Rodriquez was pronounced dead at the scene of the crash. According to the criminal complaint: State police were dispatched to the crash just before midnight May 31 near mile marker 46.2 on I-83 south, and received a report that a man in his 20s seen fleeing the scene on foot. A trooper arrived and found the vehicle on its roof in the center median, with Rodriguez lying outside the passenger side of the vehicle after being extricated by emergency responders. The trooper also saw a pair of sneakers underneath the pedals of the vehicle, as well as a blue delivery pizza case and pizza boxes scattered throughout the vehicle. Dispatch informed the trooper the vehicle had been reported stolen and associated with a robbery that happened in Harrisburg earlier in the day. Dispatch also reported at the time a Susquehanna Township police officer may have encountered the vehicle just before the crash, and had attempted to stop it for traveling 67 mph in a 35 mph zone, according to the complaint. The vehicle then traveled onto the I-83 southbound ramp from Union Deposit road, and the Susquehanna Township officer stopped following. One witness told police the man at the scene was trying to wake up Rodriguez, saying lets go, we gotta go" as she was still seatbelted in the upside down vehicle. Another witness reported the same account, and that the man, identified as Miles, was not wearing any shoes. Witnesses last saw Miles fleeing the scene on I-83 southbound and was last seen jumping over a guide rail. Witnesses also said Miles told them he had a gun before fleeing, according to the complaint. Rodriguez was pronounced dead at the scene. An autopsy determined her cause of death was complications of mechanical asphyxia from the seatbelt, the complaint indicates. Officers in Swatara Township found Miles in the area of Advanced Auto Store on Paxton Street at 4:02 a.m. on June 1. Officers noted that Miles had injuries to the left side of his head and neck area, had airbag residue all over his face, and he wasnt wearing shoes. Miles told police he was in the rear driver seat of the vehicle at the time of the crash, but didnt know the name of the man who had been driving the vehicle, according to the complaint. Miles also reported seeing the speedometer at 110 mph just before the crash. Further investigation revealed Miles was, in fact, the driver, according to the complaint. Miles was taken to Hershey Medical Center for evaluation - blood-urine samples, according to the criminal complaint, showed levels of THC, the active component in marijuana. Other incident In August 2017, Miles was arrested after he crashed a stolen vehicle while being pursued by police in Steelton. Steelton police said they received a report at about 3 p.m. on Aug. 13 of a robbery with a gun at the Panda Chinese Restaurant, 51 N Front St. A victim there told police what had occurred and that his cell phone was taken during the incident. Police were able to track that cell phone to an area in Chambers Hill, Swatara Township. Swatara Township police were contacted, responded to the area and were able to identify Miles driving in that area, police said. When police tried to stop the vehicle, Miles refused to stop and fled, eventually crashing into a pole, disabling the vehicle. Court dockets indicate Miles pleaded guilty in Dauphin County Court to charges of robbery, receiving stolen property, and fleeing or attempting to elude an officer He was sentenced to 2 to 4 years in prison for the robbery charge, and probation for his other charges. Miles is still listed as an inmate at SCI Camp Hill. He is scheduled for a preliminary hearing on his most recent charges on Feb. 20. By zh, Xinhua | Jan. 23, 2019 A direct flight between the southern Chinese city of Guangzhou and the Philippine city of Cebu was launched on Tuesday afternoon, with the landing of its first aircraft here at the Philippine MactanCebu International Airport, China's Southern Airlines said a statement on Wednesday. As more and more tourists from China and the Philippines are visiting each others countries, the market demand for this new route is growing. We believe that the prospect of the route is bright, China Southern Airlines said in the statement. The new route is also expected to boost economic and cultural exchanges between the cities of Guangzhou and Cebu, the airline added. Guangzhou, the headquarter of China Southern Airlines, is one of the largest cities in southern China. While Cebu, the second largest city in the Philippines, is one of the shipping and air transportation centers of the Southeast Asian country. The airline operates the Boeing airplane on the new route, with three round-trip flights per week. According to the airline, the non-stop flight departs from Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport at 12:25 p.m. every Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday, arriving in Cebu at 4:05 p.m. local time. The return flight leaves MactanCebu International Airport at 5:15 p.m., landing in Guangzhou at 8:25 p.m. local time. Aside from Guangzhou-Cebu air route, China Southern Airlines also operates a route from Guangzhou to Manila, the capital of the Philippines. With the continuous development of bilateral relations between China and the Philippines, more airlines are adding direct flights between two countries' cities. WILLIAMSPORT - A judge has vacated the conviction of a Williamsport man he had found guilty of third-degree murder and other charges in a 2015 non-jury trial. Lycoming County Judge Marc F. Lovecchio found the ineffectiveness of First Assistant Public Defender Nicole Spring attributed to the prosecution charging Da'ran M. Sears, 24, with murder. He initially was charged with involuntary manslaughter, reckless endangering another person, simple assault and receiving stolen property in the July 13, 2013, shooting death of his friend Donte Marks. The murder charge was filed seven months later after Sears had advised Spring he wanted to plead guilty to the original charges. Lovecchio found him guilty of all the charges and sentenced him to 21 to 50 years in state prison, of which 20 to 40 years was on the murder count. Sears remains in prison because District Attorney Kenneth Osokow has 30 days in which to file an appeal with the state Superior Court. He said Wednesday he plans to do so. Lovecchio scheduled a March 1 hearing to give Sears the opportunity to plead guilty to the original charges. He ruled he cannot be retried on the murder charge. Sears was handling a .22-calber Ruger in a West Fourth Street apartment in Williamsport when it discharged, with the bullet hitting Marks in the chest. Sears claimed he was unaware the gun was loaded. The murder count was filed Feb. 7, 2014, after a county prison inmate provided investigators information that led them to allege the shooting had a malicious aspect. Sears, through Spring, appealed his conviction but it was affirmed by Lovecchio and the state Superior Court. Sears on his own in November 2017 filed a Post-Conviction Relief Act petition and a new attorney was appointed for him. The petition accused Spring of failing to discuss the possibility of a third-degree murder charge and the potential sentence. A 2015 plea deal that carried a sentence of 6 to 12 years fell through because she did not promptly schedule a court hearing, he charged. Lovecchio said the facts show Sears wanted to plead guilty from the outset but acquiesced on Spring's advice while she sought to have the receiving stolen property charge dismissed. She never challenged that count in court nor did she discuss the possibility he could be charged with murder and face a longer prison sentence, the judge said. The theoretical worst case scenario if Sears had pleaded to the original charges would have been an aggregate sentence of 91/2 to 19 years, Lovecchio said. He rejected the prosecution's argument that Spring did not have a duty to speculate on whether the charges might be updated. An attorney is ineffective if a client is not so advised, he said. Lovecchio made note in his opinion that Spring conceded she did not have a "hint or inkling" the prosecution was considering the murder charge. She described that as one of her "worst failures" and claimed it would never happen again, he wrote. She agreed there was no reasonable strategic reason not to talk with Sears about the potential for the greater charge, he said. Rowland Academy had its second Code Red evacuation in as many days, due to a small trashcan fire in a second floor bathroom, Harrisburg School District officials announced Wednesday. Students and staff were evacuated outside while the building principal extinguished the fire with a nearby extinguisher, officials said in a press release. The Harrisburg Bureau of Fire assessed the situation and students and staff were allowed back into the building for the rest of the school day. These latest incidents are very serious and will not be tolerated, HSD Superintendent Dr. Sybil Knight-Burney said. Because of the building principals quick response, the sprinkler system was not triggered, officials said. School administration worked with fire and police officials to identify the student responsible, according to the release. "The safety and well-being of our students, faculty and staff are paramount. Anyone who participates in the reckless behavior of starting fires, thereby jeopardizing that safety will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law, said Knight-Burney. We will continue to make every effort to partner with parents, guardians, students, staff and the Harrisburg Bureau of Fire to promote the critical importance of fire safety, awareness and prevention. The states Right to Know Law doesnt require the Governors Office to reveal which counties individual state employees live in, Commonwealth Court ruled Thursday. The decision by a seven-member panel of the court overturns an Office of Open Records order that required the release of that information via a right to know request filed by activist Simon Campbell of Yardley, Bucks County. We perceive no public benefit or interest in disclosing the requested counties of residence of commonwealth employees, Judge Michael H. Wojcik wrote in the state courts opinion. The Governors Office of Administration appealed to Wojciks court after the open records office found the information Campbell sought was public record. Campbell, president of Pennsylvanians for Union Reform, stated in his RTKL request for the county data that it will be helpful to me in terms of obtaining their home addresses. The stated aim of Yardleys group is to eliminate compulsory unionism in Pennsylvania while promoting transparency and efficiency in government for taxpayers. Wojcik found the open records offices order to release the county of residence information to Campbell was faulty because that office did not perform a required balancing test before reaching its decision. Based on prior state Supreme Court rulings, such tests are required to weigh the privacy interests and the extent to which they may be invaded against the public benefit which would result from disclosure, Wojcik noted. He cited arguments by the Governors Office that state human resource directors consider such demographic information to be confidential and that state workers have a reasonable expectation that their counties of residence will be kept private. Campbell provided no countervailing public interests in support of disclosure, Wojcik wrote. In fact, he noted, Campbell replied to the Governors Offices privacy contentions by stating, There is a public interest in the records, but I refuse to argue it. Ultimately, Wojcik found the information Campbell sought is not closely related to the official duties of the commonwealth employees and does not provide insight into their official actions. The Commonwealth Court ruling could be appealed to the state Supreme Court. Thursdays decision marks the latest in a series of legal scuffles over whether the state must release information relating to employees home addresses under the RTKL. The convicted killer of a Pennsylvania man who sought sex via a Craigslist ad has failed to convince a state appeals court panel to overturn his 40- to 80-year prison sentence. Instead, President Judge Susan Peikes Gantman agreed in the Superior Courts opinion that the evidence Chad Wilcox committed the slaying is overwhelming. Wilcox, 33, of Williamsport, received his punishment from a Montgomery County judge as part of a deal where he pleaded guilty to charges of third-degree murder, burglary and robbery. On appeal to the state court, Wilcox claimed, among other things, that his lawyer lied to him to get him to accept that agreement. Court filings state that in September 2014 Wilcox responded to a Craigslist ad the other man placed seeking a homosexual encounter. The two met at a Philadelphia hotel, then drove to the other mans home in Norristown. Wilcox tied the other man to a bed using a clothes line, then cut that mans throat, investigators said. They said Wilcox stole the mans computer and cell phones and his car, traded the electronics for heroin, and headed south. He evaded officers after a car chase in Kentucky, but later surrendered to U.S. marshals in North Carolina. The marshals were seeking Wilcox because he failed to appear for a trial in Lycoming County Court on child-sex charges. He also was convicted and jailed in that case. Wilcox insisted in his appeal in the murder case that his lawyer coerced him into taking the plea deal by lying and saying DNA evidence linked him to the murder. Gantman countered that argument by citing a county judges statement that such evidence did link (Wilcox) to the crimes to which he pleaded guilty. Also, Gantman noted that Wilcox told the county judge when he accepted the plea deal that he was satisfied with his attorneys representation. Wilcox is bound by the affirmative statements he made during the plea hearing, Gantman wrote. Moreover, the evidence of record strongly implicated (Wilcox) in the murdersuch that (Wilcoxs) guilty plea was no aberration or naive undertaking. The Central Pennsylvania Food Bank has assisted about 60 federal employees since opening its doors last week to those affected by the government shutdown, the non-profits executive director said. The Harrisburg hub is open for Federal Shutdown Services from 4 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays at 3908 Corey Road. Recent shipments of highly-nutritious United States Department of Agriculture commodities make it possible to serve an unpaid workforce, Executive Director Joe Arthur said. We really want people to take what they need, Arthur said Wednesday afternoon. There is a hesitancy to come in here. We know youre not getting your paychecks, so this is for you. We just want the workers to take us up on it. The food bank patterned its response after 2009 when state workers were furloughed, Arthur said. Payless paydays was the tagline then, he continued. That hit all at once. We served thousands of employees through this one hub in the summer of 2009. We learned from that experience to get out there earlier offering food. If the shutdown continues for a couple more weeks, the picture could turn bleak, Arthur said. At that point, he added, he would appeal to the public and partnering companies. Its getting busier as the days go on, Arthur said. The people who are visiting us are prison employees, corrections officers, airport employees, military park employees, and USDA employees. Weve had inspectors at local meat plants come in here, which is pretty ironic. They are coming here for food and inspecting our food every day. Thats doubly troubling for us. These folks are not used to coming here for help, and our team is very sensitive to that. But, as our team points out, it could be anybody. Qualified applicants, with proof of workplace identification, will either receive USDA items or donated items of dried goods, frozen meats, eggs, milk and other optional food, Arthur said. We are trying to put folks at ease for the food part of it; they have other worries as well, he said. A 10-year employee of the federal Environmental Protection Agency said employees and volunteers at the Central Pennsylvania Food Bank have been extremely helpful. She admitted to feeling insecure that shes not contributing to her familys household. Her familys choice was receive help from the food bank in order will help them pay for her sons day care. I had to have an honest conversation with my mother and my husband about what we need and to swallow a little pride personally, the Steelton resident said. Theres one in Scranton. Theres one in Philly. Down along the West Virginia border, and in Chambersburg and Gettysburg too. Dont forget Williamsport. Like some geo-political case of measles, Pennsylvania is pockmarked this year with special elections, all caused by mid-term departures of sitting elected officials. Between Congress and the state legislature, there are now five special elections in our immediate future: two in the state Senate, two in the state House, and one for Congress. Just last week, U.S. Rep. Tom Marino and state Sen. Rich Alloway announced they were resigning, with Marino less than a month into his new term. If it feels like this is happening with more regularity, it is. A quick check of state elections records going back to 2000 shows the high-water mark for special elections for U.S. House, state Senate or state House seats in any five-year period was 18. But since the beginning of 2015 (counting the vacancies set to be filled this year) were at 27. This recent wave feels frustrating to some, and its easy to hear concerns that it shortchanges the voters. When people put themselves up for election, voters are under the expectation the people they vote for, when elected, will serve, said Christopher Borick, a political science professor at Muhlenberg College in Allentown. You want to see them carry out what you sent them to do, and if theyre leaving early... thats a bit of a disappointment. There are real reasons for consternation, too. First of all, theres a lack of direct representation for the time a seat is vacant. But secondly and perhaps more importantly, there is a muting of voters' voices. When members leave in mid-term, there are no primaries for special election hopefuls. The replacement candidates are selected by local party organizations. In a one-party town like Philadelphia, that means you get who the ward leaders give you, because the Republicans arent a viable threat. In other areas, party leaders have used resignations of long-term incumbents to annoint preferred successors, giving them the gift of incumbency as they seek to win their first term in their own right. There are exceptions to every rule, of course. In 2014, York County businessman Scott Wagner upset the political order in York County by mounting a special election write-in campaign, defeating the Republican Partys hand-picked candidate. But more often, a little of the democratic process is taken out of the equation, said Patrick Christmas, director of policy for the Philadelphia-based good government group The Committee of Seventy. Third, there is a financial cost. Its not a budget-breaker, by any means, but its not peanuts either. The state reimburses counties for the costs of administering the elections to the state legislature. In cases where specials have been scheduled as stand-alone elections, costs can frequently run into the six-figures. According to a Department of State summary prepared for PennLive, the state has shelled out $1,490,000 in total reimbursements since 2014. The high-water mark was $534,613 paid to run elections for three vacant state House seats in Philadelphia in 2016. Thats an average of $178,204 per contest. Costs are far less when special elections can be paired with a regular primary or general election day, according to Wanda Murren, a state department spokeswoman. Sometimes, this just cant be avoided. State Rep. Sid Michaels Kavulich of Lackawanna County - the only candidate on the ballot for his 114th District House seat last year - died in October, long after the deadline for Democrats to name a replacement candidate. So a special election will be held on March 12. Others are forced from office because of their own misdeeds. Thats the case in Philadelphias 190th District, where city ward leaders have just selected a replacement candidate for former Rep. Vanessa Lowery Brown, the West Philadelphia Democrat convicted last fall of bribery. Policy makers have decided, over time, that a bribery conviction disqualifies you from holding office. Personal scandals knocked two Pennsylvania Congressmen out of office in the 2017-18 session. More perplexing are the cases where office-holders simply make the choice to leave because of burnout or other opportunities. Sometimes the act of resignation is controversial in itself, leading to accusations that an office-holder is putting self-interest above public good, or igniting rumors about some scandal-to-come. One such case was last years resignation of U.S. Rep. Charlie Dent, a Republican from Allentown. Dent had announced in September 2017 that he wouldnt be seeking re-election, but he was widely expected to finish his current term. Then he resigned in May, with seven months left. It caused criticism at the time because Dents early retirement forced a special election for just the last two months of his term, according to district lines that were also due to expire at years end because of a court-imposed redistricting in 2018. Dent told PennLive Wednesday that as he started to ponder his post-Congressional life, opportunities started to present themselves that could not be ignored. He decided to resign, he said, so he could make conflict-free decisions about his future. Dent quickly wound up on retainer with CNN as a high-profile commentator on national politics and the federal government. Sometimes situations present themselves and they can be fleeting, and you reach a point where you have to make decisions," Dent said. "I felt its better to make those decisions as a former member of Congress than as a current member. One former office-holder reached for this story was reluctant to issue any blanket condemnation of those who decide to leave office early. Former Pennsylvania Speaker of the House Sam Smith noted that in the real world people leave jobs for all kinds of reasons - many intensely personal. So, he wonders, who gets to make the call as to whether each of those decisions is justified? Theres no good answer for me, said Smith, who announced his own resignation from the House after two terms as Speaker in 2014, but did finish his term. Personally, I think when you hold yourself out as a candidate, I think youre making some kind of personal commitment to do everything in your power to fulfill that term of office. But, Smith added, "Ive seen situations where people have resigned for legitimate personal reasons. And in other cases... if their hearts not in it, I always felt its time to get the heck out of the way and let somebody whos eager take the job. Alloway, a Franklin County Republican, tendered his resignation from the state Senate Friday, effective Feb. 28. He will have served two years and two months of a four-year term. His case, he has said, goes to what Smith is talking about. Asked if he felt he is breaking a promise to his constituents, Alloway said he sees quite the opposite. I feel I am leaving for the right reason... I know in my heart Im not giving 110 percent, and I promised myself that when I felt that way I would get out. Because its not fair to the voters. What has hurt him since is the torrent of gossip that his announcement has kicked up. Theres been lots of things said about me that are simply not true, Alloway said. Marino, who officially stepped down Wednesday, said he is pursuing other opportunities in the private sector. Borick calls him the new poster child for this issue, as he was just re-elected in November and just sworn into a new two-year term this month. A special election will take place May 21 to coincide with the Pennsylvania primary election. Others arent as sanguine as Smith about the mid-term departures. In the last four years, the departures have included: six jumps to different elected offices; five new jobs; five criminal convictions; two cases of personal scandal and two deaths. State Rep. Chris Rabb, D-Philadelphia, has proposed two possible fixes. First, recognizing that voters do get locked out of candidate selection in special elections, Rabb has proposed a bill that requires a public filing process for a hopefuls with the counties within the district. The parties, then, would be required to hold a public meeting to interview each of those candidates publicly. Secondly, Rabb would impose a $100,000 fine on any lawmaker who is convicted of a felony and forced from office. All fines collected under this law would be placed in a restricted account to cover the cost of future special elections. Both of Rabbs proposals would apply only to state lawmakers. Micah Sims, executive director of Common Cause PA, has another possible approach. He says that maybe its time for voters or good government groups to ask candidates up front - just like they used to be asked to pledge not to raise taxes - for a pledge to serve out their full term. I think it is something that we are going to have to take a serious look at as we move forward, Sims said. When you are asking for peoples votes, you are asking for their trust. Michael Cohen, President Donald Trump's former personal lawyer, will not testify before Congress next month, one of his attorneys said Wednesday - which could quash, at least temporarily, liberals' hopes for a public hearing in which Trump's ex-fixer airs the president's dirty laundry. Lanny Davis, an attorney for Cohen, said in a statement, "Due to ongoing threats against his family from President Trump and Mr. [Rudy] Giuliani, as recently as this weekend, as well as Mr. Cohen's continued cooperation with ongoing investigations, by advice of counsel, Mr. Cohen's appearance will be postponed to a later date." Cohen was to appear before the House Oversight Committee on Feb. 7. "This is a time where Mr. Cohen had to put his family and their safety first," Davis said. It is not clear to which "threats" Davis was referring, and Davis declined to provide more detail. A person familiar with Cohen's account said the alleged threats have not been reported to law enforcement. Trump said of the claim that he had threatened Cohen: "I would say he's been threatened by the truth. He's only been threatened by the truth. And he doesn't want to do that, probably for me or other of his clients." The president has been publicly critical of Cohen for his cooperation with special counsel Robert Mueller and has suggested that Cohen's father-in-law ought to be investigated. Giuliani, the president's current lawyer, has highlighted problems with Cohen's credibility. Giuliani was particularly skeptical of Cohen after BuzzFeed News reported last week that Cohen had told Mueller's office that Trump directed him to lie to Congress - an account the special counsel disputed in an unprecedented public statement. "If you believe Cohen, I can get you a great deal on the Brooklyn Bridge," Giuliani said. It was not immediately clear that lawmakers would easily allow Cohen to back out of his commitment to appear before them. House Oversight Committee Chairman Elijah Cummings, D-Md., and House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff, D-Calif., said in a joint statement that they "certainly understand the completely legitimate concerns for the safety and security of Mr. Cohen and his family members in light of the attacks last week by President Trump and again this past weekend by his attorney, Rudy Giuliani." But the lawmakers added that they had "repeatedly offered our assistance to work with law enforcement to enhance security measures for Mr. Cohen and his family," and in their discussions with Cohen's attorney, "not appearing before Congress was never an option." "We will not let the President's tactics prevent Congress from fulfilling our constitutionally mandated oversight responsibilities," Cummings and Schiff said. "This will not stop us from getting to the truth. We expect Mr. Cohen to appear before both Committees, and we remain engaged with his counsel about his upcoming appearances." Rep. Stephen Lynch, D-Mass., who sits on the Oversight Committee, said several members of the panel "would be in favor of subpoenaing him sooner rather than later to try to get him prior to his incarceration." Cohen had announced to some fanfare earlier this month that he had accepted an invitation to testify from Cummings "in furtherance of my commitment to cooperate and provide the American people with answers." The hearing seemed as if it could be eventful. Cohen pleaded guilty last year to multiple crimes, including lying to Congress about a possible Trump Tower project in Moscow and arranging hush-money payments to women who had alleged having had affairs with Trump. He was sentenced to three years in prison and is expected to report to prison on March 6, about a month after the date of his scheduled testimony. Cummings said, though, that Cohen could testify even after that. "We can always bring him in. Even if he's in prison," he said. "We can bring him in. The marshals can - you know, they can make arrangements." Trump's critics had hoped Cohen might, at the very least, offer unflattering revelations about the president. Cohen had claimed in court to have helped cover up Trump's "dirty deeds." Almost immediately, though, lawmakers raised questions about how much Cohen could say about the topic of greatest interest to the public - the information Cohen was said to provide to Mueller - because Mueller's investigation is ongoing, and Cohen would probably be restricted in what he could say. When Cohen announced he was testifying, Cummings said, "I want to make clear that we have no interest in inappropriately interfering with any ongoing criminal investigations, and to that end, we are in the process of consulting with special counsel Mueller's office." Schiff said at the time that he hoped to schedule a closed hearing so Cohen could talk with lawmakers about Russia-related topics. SEBRING, Fla. (AP) A former prison guard trainee accused of fatally shooting five people inside a Florida bank branch has long been fascinated with the idea of killing, but people who could have done something about it didnt take his threats seriously, a woman who identified herself as his former girlfriend told a television station. Zephen Xaver, 21, for some reason always hated people and wanted everybody to die, Alex Gerlach told WSBT-TV in Indiana, shortly after Wednesdays massacre in Sebring. "He got kicked out of school for having a dream that he killed everybody in his class, and hes been threatening this for so long, and hes been having dreams about it and everything. "Every single person I've told has not taken it seriously, and it's very unfortunate that it had to come to this," Gerlach said. Gerlach told The Washington Post that Xaver said he purchased a gun last week and "no one thought anything of it" because he had always liked guns. Public records and neighbors say Xaver and his mother moved to Sebring in the fall from Plymouth, Indiana, a small city south of South Bend, home of the University of Notre Dame. Zephen Xaver opened fire inside a Florida bank Wednesday, Jan. 23, 2019, killing several people before surrendering to a SWAT team, police said. Investigators said Xaver called police from inside the SunTrust Bank branch Wednesday, saying "I have shot five people." Then he barricaded himself inside and when negotiations failed, the SWAT team burst in, capturing Xaver and discovering the bodies, police said. Investigators did not offer a possible motive, and a police spokesman said he did not know if the attack began as a robbery. The victims were not immediately identified. No one else was inside the bank. The bank sits between a hotel and a hair salon located in a business district of U.S. 27. The four-lane highway passes through farming communities and small towns as it connects South Florida and central Florida. Sebring, with 10,000 residents, is known internationally for its annual 12 Hours of Sebring endurance auto race that draws world-class drivers. "Today's been a tragic day in our community," Sebring Police Chief Karl Hoglund said during a Wednesday news conference. "We've suffered significant loss at the hands of a senseless criminal doing a senseless crime." He said more information would be released at a Thursday morning press conference. Witness Stefan Roehrig told WFLA in St. Petersburg that the SWAT team attached cables to the door handles but ended up pulling the handles off, so they drove the armored vehicle into the bank. They then led Xaver out in handcuffs. "The suspect, they slammed him pretty good I think and brought him out here," he told the TV station. Florida Department of Corrections records show that Xaver was hired as a trainee prison guard at Avon Park Correctional Institution on Nov. 2 and resigned Jan. 9. No disciplinary issues were reported. Xaver lived in a non-descript pre-fabricated home about 4 miles from the bank. No one answered the door Wednesday night after police finished searching the home John Larose, who lives next door, said Xaver kept to himself, but he could hear him playing and yelling at video games in the middle of the night. Xaver briefly was an online student of Salt Lake City-based Stevens-Henager College. A spokeswoman for the college, Sherrie Martin, confirmed that Xaver was enrolled from September 2018 until December, when he withdrew. Gov. Ron DeSantis was in the region for an infrastructure tour and traveled to Sebring after the shooting. He said the Florida Department of Law Enforcement would assist Sebring police and the Highlands County sheriff's office. "Obviously, this is an individual who needs to face very swift and exacting justice," DeSantis said of the suspect. This was at least the fourth mass shooting in Florida with five or more dead in the last three years. A gunman killed 49 at an Orlando nightclub in 2016, five died at the Fort Lauderdale airport in 2017 and 17 died in February at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in a Fort Lauderdale suburb. By TERRY SPENCER, Associated Press A cafe in Camp Hill known for its breakfasts, lunches and coffee is expected to resurface following a fire. Cafe Uovo co-owner John Bisel confirmed the restaurant at 2163 Market St. will reopen as early as April. A fire broke out at the restaurant in July 2018, forcing the owners to indefinitely close. Since then, Bisel said they have received an outpouring of support from the community who have said they want to see the restaurant return. Its based off of that. If I didnt get any of that I wouldnt do it. It has been a hard six or seven months, Bisel said. John and his wife, Cheryl, opened the restaurant in 2016 and it blossomed into a neighborhood spot for breakfast fare, crepes, salads, sandwiches and signature brustini, a cross between bruschetta and crostini with toppings. The couple, who met in Arizona, moved to central Pennsylvania a few years ago to be close to the Mechanicsburg area where Cheryl grew up. Following the fire, which was believed to have started in the kitchen, the Bisels said they were unsure about reopening. A GoFundMe page was established to help the family, who lives in the building, with expenses. The fire gutted the kitchen and a portion of the first floor of the two-story building, which also houses an upstairs apartment and a rear residence. Weve had such a positive feedback from everybody, he said. Once reopen, Bisel said the couple will likely step back from the day-to-day operations, although they will remain on as owners of the building and restaurant. The cafe will serve a similar menu favorites with a few tweaks and additions, he added. Americas oldest brewery is marking 190 years of operation. D.G. Yuengling and Son of Pottsville began in 1829 as Eagle Brewery, and has been in operation ever since -- barring dramatic obstacles such as a brewery fire in its early years. Even during Prohibition, the company continued producing near beers and even had a truckload of beer delivered to the White House on the day Prohibition was repealed. Yuengling is celebrating its colorful history with several events planned in 2019. In December, Yuengling began the release of five limited-edition commemorative cans for its Traditional Lager. New cans will be released each month of 2019 through April. Earlier this month, the brewery also held a limited released of their Yuengling Bourbon Barrel Reserve: the companys Oktoberfest beer, aged four months in bourbon barrels, and released to a sold-out event as part of its Small Batch Series. A publicity photo for Yuengling's Borubon Barrel Reserve For upcoming events, the brewery is planning to celebrate their inaugural Americas Oldest Brewery Day on April 18, as well as a concert planned for downtown Pottsville on July 13 with Yuengling vendors and another release from the Small Batch Series. For more information about upcoming events, visit the official Yuengling website. Another year, another report on how too many elder-care facilities and oversight agencies in Pennsylvania are failing in their legal and moral duty to care for the states most vulnerable residents. This month the failing grade comes from the state Inspector Generals office, which, according to the Associated Press, found that county-level agencies are doing a poor job of investigating elder-abuse complaints. This follows a 2018 investigative report by PennLive, following up on a 2016 PennLive report and an Attorney Generals lawsuit, finding that, again, some problem nursing homes havent improved their care. So now we have yet another report -- the Inspector Generals -- followed by more assurances of improvement, including from the Wolf administration (which hasnt released the Inspector Generals full report). Who believes that sustained improvement will happen? Likely not a person whos had a family member in a nursing home and struggled with the maddeningly frustrating process of addressing even simple issues of comfort and dignity. Something more concrete has been proposed, however. Admittedly it would be a baby step, and one that will meet self-interested opposition. But its valuable nonetheless. Scott Grim, Lehigh County coroner and past president of the International Association of Coroners and Medical Examiners, proposes changing state law to require that nursing homes and assisted living facilities report all deaths to local coroners for potential investigation. It seems only logical that they would, but currently nursing homes and assisted living facilities contact coroners only for deaths from suspected homicide, suicide or accidents, not those deemed to be the result of natural disease processes. The nursing home industry points out that the state already requires licensed medical personnel to conduct an examination when a resident dies. Deferring to such internal judgment, however, provides a lot of gray area for a negligent nursing home to protect itself from the bother of independent review or the consequences of errors. Under Grims proposal, nursing homes and assisted living facilities would be required to call their local coroner regardless of the cause of death. The coroner would ask a series of questions, such as how the patient died, their medical history and whether they experienced any trauma. Further, the coroner could choose to examine the body, review medical records and conduct a full investigation. As part of the Q&A, a coroner should talk independently with family members also. This still would leave too much control in the hands of not-disinterested facility managers but as we said its a baby step. Grims proposal needs both the strong endorsement of the Pennsylvania Coroners Association and tireless legislative champions. This should not be a political risky proposal to get behind. Coroners may be overloaded, especially with the opioid epidemic raging on, so the proposal must ensure they have the resources to provide this oversight. This function will only become more crucial in the future as the number of people in full-time nursing care continues to grow. Many nursing home residents, unless they have extremely knowledgeable, persistent and available families, tend to be voiceless, with little capacity or opportunity (and sometimes little perceived credibility) to advocate for themselves. Coroners, though, work for the public, and reviewing and investigating nursing home deaths is another important way for them to represent the publics interests. Who could object? While not specifically opposing Grims proposal, Adam Marles, president and CEO of Leading Age PA, which represents non-profit nursing homes, told PennLive, We focus on supporting that family [whose loved one has died] and meeting their needs. Adding another layer of review could increase trauma for families. But what families of nursing home residents want most is to know that their loved ones are getting appropriate care and are treated with respect and compassion. And we suspect most would gladly trade a final layer of red tape for the indisputable assurance that their loved one didnt die from lack of attention or in needless pain. Image Search is the ability to search on a term and find images related to what you typed. Most search engines offer it, and it's great. But what if you have an image and want to know its origin? Or find similar photos? That's a reverse image search. Google's reverse image search is a breeze on a desktop computer. Go to images.google.com, click the camera icon, and either paste in the URL for an image you've seen online, upload an image from your hard drive, or drag an image from another window. But what about when you're on a mobile device and want to do a reverse image lookup? There are options. Google Reverse Image Search on Mobile Google built a reverse image search function into phones and tablets, albeit on a limited basis. When you fire up images.google.com on mobile, the camera icon won't show up in the search bar. To get it, you'll need to load the desktop version on your mobile device. It works in Safari, but performs best in the Chrome browser app (iOS or Android). In Safari, tap the aA icon on the top left and select Request Desktop Website. In Chrome, scroll to the bottom, tap the three-dot menu, and select Request Desktop Site. On both mobile browsers, that will load the desktop version of Google Images, and the camera icon will appear. Then you can upload photos from your camera roll. Google Image Search on Chrome for iOS Depending on your phone, Chrome also supports a reverse image search workaround. When you see the image in your browser that you want to search, hold your finger on it until a pop-up menu appears; pick Search Google for This Image at the bottom. Note: This will NOT work in the Google app or other browsers (not even in Safari). It only works in Chrome. If for some reason this doesn't work, you can also select Open Image in New Tab. Then copy the URL, go back to images.google.com, and paste in the URL. With either method, reverse image search results then appear; you may have to click a More sizes option up top to see only the images. You'll get options to narrow your query, such as finding animated GIFs, clip-art equivalents, or looking by the color scheme used in the original image. Google Lens also offers a reverse image search option. Lens has its own app, but is also part of the Google app, Google Photos, and Google Assistant, on iOS and Android. However, Lens is really more about helping you perform tasks, like instant translation, identify things, or find a product to buy, than it is for finding a source image. Bing Visual Search on Mobile That other big search engine, Bing from Microsoft, also does reverse image searches, but calls it "visual search." Click Bing's camera icon on any mobile browser or in the Bing app. A pop-up says that in order to search with an image, you'll need to give Bing access to your camera; accept or decline with a tap. On the next screen, tap the Browse button on the bottom left. A pop-up menu will let you take a photo, browse your photo library, or browse third-party services. Tap browse to find photos stored in third-party services like iCloud Drive, Google Drive, and Dropbox. The latest versions of the Bing app (iOS and Android) let you snap a photo and image search it immediately. You can upload a photo from your camera roll, scan a QR code, or point your camera at text or math problems (cheaters!). Third-Party Image Search Engines There are a few search engines out there dedicated to looking up just pictures, but not all of them work directly with your smartphone or the default browsers. It's crawled over 46 billion images to date. TinEye allows search by URL, upload, or drag and drop on the desktop. On mobile, just click that upload (up arrow) icon to get options to take a photo, use one from the library, or upload from third-party services. Russia's Yandex search engine looks a bit like Bing-goes-Cyrillic. It has a unique image search that works on mobile devices right from the browser. Click Images, tap the camera icon in the search bar, and you get the usual options: take a photo, upload a photo, or find a photo in a third-party service. There are also search engines geared specifically toward helping creatives find out if their creative work has been stolen. Check out Berify and Pixsy for options. Be warned, using them might cost you. However, they'll also track stolen images for you automatically and offline, alerting you if an image of yours is used without permission. Then you can go collect on the theft, and that makes them worth using. Apps for Reverse Image Search If you prefer apps over the browser, go directly to a reverse image search tool you keep on your smartphone at all times. CamFind Free for Android and iOS This is a basic tool for taking shots with your smartphone and searching for similar items, as well as getting price comparisons if it's a product shot. Search By Image Free for Android You can manipulate an image all you want before uploading via this app to get results from Google, Bing, TinEye, and Yandex. Reversee Free for iOS This app sends your pics directly into the Google Images database to search for similar images, but upgrade to the pro version for $3.99 and get results from Bing and Yandex as well. Reverse Image Search Extension $0.99 for iOS This one isn't an app you go into, but rather an app that adds an extension to other apps. It will put one of those extension buttons inside Photos and Facebook and other apps, so along with Copy or Send, you'll have an option to Search Image. Results appear in your mobile browser, and come from Google, TinEye, and Yandex. In the Fall of 1869, in the Bronxs then-rural Fordham section, a girls academy opened under the tutelage of one Madame Victorine Boucher (1812-1883). The short-lived schools proceeds were used to form a school for the deaf, which has lasted quite a bit longer. According to one historian, the first student was a little fair-haired German girl. A few months later, St. Josephs Institute for the Improved Instruction of Deaf Mutes moved to a small frame house at 772 East 188th Street. A reporter observed: The undertaking had to struggle in the beginning with great difficulties, and, but for the loans advanced by friends from time to time, would probably have sunk under the weight of its pecuniary difficulties. Victorine Boucher was born in France. In 1837, she joined the Daughters of the Heart of Mary, and taught in their schools before coming to the United States in 1851. The Daughters were a unique community, founded during the French Revolution when religious garb was outlawed. They wore secular clothing and were addressed as Madame rather than Sister, a practice they continue to this day. Their charism is to provide for the continuance of religious life under all circumstances and in any milieu. In 1874, the school opened up a branch in Brooklyns Bedford-Stuyvesant section on Buffalo Avenue, which merged with the Bronx campus in 1936. During the 1870s, the school bought A magnificent property at Throggs [sic] Neck, then in the possession of Chas. Lochran, Esq. The house was of brick and very large; appearing from its arrangements well adapted to the needs of an institution. Numerous out-buildings and spacious grounds combined to render it desirable and, though its distance from the railway station was felt to be a serious inconvenience, the purchase was effected, and the boys were soon comfortably settled in Oakland Cottage. The Throgs Neck campus opened in 1876. Seven years later, the American Annals of the Deaf carried the following notice: St. Josephs (Fordham, N.Y.) Institute. Madame Victorine Boucher, the earnest and devoted president of the Institute since its organization, died of pneumonia in April last. In accordance with her dying wishes, no biographical sketch is published. A friend of Madame Boucher, Jesuit Father Thomas A.J. Freeman, taught science at St. Johns College (now Fordham University). Father Freeman was fluent in American Sign Language, and served as chaplain to the school during the 1880s. Freeman Hall on the Fordham campus is named in his honor. In 1913, the present building was opened at Throgs Neck. The school website notes: Since then, the handsome red brick building has been an impressive landmark in the Bronx. The school currently serves students from infancy through eighth grade. In 2011, the New York Daily News wrote: The Yankees, of course, are big on their tradition and their history, but they are a startup compared with the St. Josephs School for the Deaf, which has been educating deaf children in the Bronx since 1869, and has been in its current location, a stately brick building hard by the Hutchinson Parkway and Cross Bronx Expressway, for almost a century. This year, St. Josephs School for the Deaf is celebrating the sesquicentennial of its founding this year. And its mission is more vital than ever. Karen Kennedy, who has been at St. Josephs for 32 years, considers it a very nurturing place. To work there, she stresses, is a calling. She feels its the strong sense of community that keeps people working there. A recent addition to the faculty is Tiarra Lopez, who says the school feels like a family. I love the small setting. This year, Virginia ODonnell McNamara celebrates thirty years at St. Josephs. From the moment she arrived for her job interview, she says, It felt like home. It still feels that way, she adds. (*The drawing of Madame Victorine Boucher is by Pat McNamara.) AMD's surprise shift and launch of 7nm processors for desktop and laptop CPUs in late H1 2019 took Intel by surprise even though they were aware of it earlier. In Q4 Intel will be finally releasing their 10nm processors out after many years of frustrating delays that angered PC enthusiasts. Now there's news out of Oregon that claims that Intel is going all out with plans for a new plant to manufacture 7nm EUV processors. Apple's next generation premium priced iPhones and iPads will launch with 7nm with EUV is due in Q4 2019. Intel's new plant for 7nm with EUV processors has no time line established. Meaning that by the time Intel has their new plant up and running in full production mode, Apple and AMD will already be using TSMC's 5 or even 3nm processors. AMD's new alliance with TSMC was a stroke of genius in order to get the leap on their long standing rival. The Oregonian reports that Intel is preparing to spend billions on a new Oregon Fab for "7nm chips due in the next few years," if the economy is strong. Intel being late to market is sadly an ongoing story. You could learn more of the details about the news on the Oregon plant in the Oregonlive.com site here. The thing is that it's hard to trust anything Intel says on this front. Back in February 2017, Intel's "CEO Brian Krzanich announced a new 7nm plant for Arizona in the oval office for maximum PR value. So which story is the real Intel story, a 7nm plant in Arizona or Oregon? With Intel dropping the ball over the last few years, Bloomberg reported last year that Apple would be replacing Intel processors with their own designed processors for 2020. Whether that actually pans out is a little too early to get excited about but it does go to show that there's a high level of frustration with Intel's recent progress on the PC front as they've prioritized their efforts in new markets not tied to the PC like autonomous vehicles. Egypt would like to see a more direct physical presence from tech giant Apple. Egypt's Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouli said today at Davos: "I think Egypt is a big market and attractive for Apple to exist in directly. Apple has been in Egypt but through indirect agents, suppliers ... But really, we discussed yesterday (with Apple), the idea really (is) to have Apple be in Egypt to be one of its industrial hubs and a destination to serve the whole region," the prime minister told CNBC's Hadley Gamble at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. The Prime Minister also thinks that Apple could help Egypt's education programs by stating that "Apple can play a substantial role in that respect." For more, read the full CNBC report here. This is an interesting proposal for Apple though a risky one to be sure. Apple is a shiny U.S. target in the Middle East. In November 8 Coptic Christians were gunned down by crazy Islamists. On the flipside, Egypt wants to bring massive reforms to their country and Apple assisting Egypt during this time could be a positive move for change and to support the people of Egypt. Apple should put their corporate values where it counts, to make a positive change in the world. Do you ever wake up having to remind yourself that we live in a country where the president openly lies, has paid off a porn star and enabled the separation of families at the Mexican border, and that its not just some awful episode of Black Mirror? On Late Night with Seth Meyers Wednesday night, the comedian took yet another chance to remind us that nothing this president does is normal. This time, we were reminded of the complete through-the-looking-glass quality of the administration by Trumps Moscow tower deal, the postponement of his former lawyer Michael Cohens testimony before Congress and his current attorney Rudy Giulianis continued falsehoods. Cohen put off his testimony due to alleged threats he received from the president and Giuliani. No, I would say hes been threatened by the truth, retorted Trump, a man who wouldnt recognize the truth if it was hiding under his outlandish comb-over. Despite what we already know about Trump and his cronies actions, stuff that would end any other presidency, hes still sitting in the Oval Office. Meyers compared Americans reactions to Trump and co.s Russia lies to a drug bust where the deals already gone down. The reason why it feels like were not getting traction on the stuff we already know is that our political system is incapable of processing it in the way a healthy political system should, the SNL vet observed. Of course, thats not to mention the tapes Giuliani mentioned in passing when refuting BuzzFeeds Moscow deal story during a New Yorker interview. When asked more about these mystery tapes, the former New York mayor flatly denied their existence because, well, words dont matter to these people. Watch Meyers tear apart the latest Trump administration snafus in the video below. NORMAL Few things darken a parents reputation more than an allegation of child abuse. When the allegation is without merit, the uphill climb to restore family finances, relationships and reputations can seem like an unreachable goal. A recent decision by the state Department of Children and Family Services to remove Tricia Danyus and her husband, Justin, from the list of known child abusers has allowed the couple to begin restoring their reputation as good parents to their two adopted sons and foster daughter. Were pulling it all together, slowly but surely, said Justin Danyus. The Dec. 31 removal of the couple from the list came as the parents and the state were preparing for a Jan. 4 hearing on the parents appeal of the abuse designation. The state dropped the underlying abuse case against them in November 2018, but they remained on a list of indicated abusers who are linked to a credible allegation of harm to a child. The Danyus familys involvement in the legal system began on Aug. 27, 2017, with Tricia Danyus posting of three photos on Facebook showing bruises on the arm of Isaac, 2, and a hand print on the bottom of 1-year-old Justice. She cautioned friends and family members against taking their children to A Shining Star Learning Center in Normal where the boys had spent two days before they were removed by their parents over concerns about the marks. Criminal charges for obstruction of justice and domestic battery were filed against the mother and both parents faced charges in abuse and neglect court that led to placement of the children with relatives. The criminal case against Tricia Danyus began to unravel after a judge barred the state from using a large portion of her statement at the Normal Police Department. Promises of leniency made to Danyus by DCFS investigator Teresa Ciardini who was allowed into the police interview room were improper, the judge ruled. I never thought Id admit to doing something I didnt do. But Detective (Kendra) DeRosa assured me it didnt happen at the day care and they were acting like they were going to accuse this poor girl (her foster daughter) of doing it. Im going to protect her til my death, Tricia told The Pantagraph. In July, the criminal charges against her were dismissed after she pleaded guilty to disorderly conduct, a misdemeanor, that states she posted a Facebook message linking injuries to her sons' arm and bottom to the day care. Danyus said she agreed to the plea deal because it allowed her foster daughter, who is the sister of her two adopted sons, to return home. The rural Bloomington couple is in the process of adopting the teenage girl. Please log in to keep reading. {{featured_button_text}} Enjoy unlimited articles at one of our lowest prices ever. Support Local Journalism Your membership makes our reporting possible. {{featured_button_text}} A Shining Star Learning Center has denied harming the child. The state filed several violations against the day care in January 2018, alleging staff lacked adequate skills to understand, listen and care for children. A spokesman for DCFS confirmed the findings against the parents and the determination during the appeal process that the accusation was unfounded. The Danyus' requested DCFS investigate the agency's handling of their case. Under DCFS rules, the results of that probe will remain confidential. For the couple, a surveillance video turned over by the day care during the criminal case holds the most plausible explanation for the marks the parents found on their children after the boys were dropped off at the business. After watching five hours of video, we figured it out. We know what happened, said Justin Danyus. Video showing a worker grabbing Isaac by the arm an act that caused the boy to rub his arm as he walked away and what's seen during Justice's diaper change, provide insight into the marks, he said. Justice Danyus was the sixth diaper change by the worker who did not appear to change disposable gloves or wash her hands between the changes, according to the video. Among the rule violations filed by DCFS against Shining Star was a hand-washing violation. The parents contend the likely source of the mark on the childs bottom was the workers gloved hand left on his bottom during her two-minute conversation with another worker. The video depicting day care workers forcefully handling toddlers, including one incident where a child appears to be held by his hair, was never viewed by the DCFS investigator who lodged the complaints, according to the couple. DCFS reviewed the video and opened an investigation into its contents at the urging of Danyus lawyer, Steve Skelton. Jyl Waller, executive director of the day care, maintains the facility was cleared of any wrongdoing. "During the course of the Danyus investigation, ASSLC (A Shining Star Learning Center) fully cooperated with Normal Police and DCFS. Normal Police detectives and DCFS investigators viewed the security video and both agencies stated that ASSLC was totally exonerated," said Waller. When she tallies the losses from the ordeal, Tricia Danyus looks beyond the loss of her job with a local school district and the expense of more than $15,000 in legal fees. The family lost the chance to adopt a fourth sibling to the three children already living in their home. I cant begin to describe the trauma I experienced. We lost their baby brother. We had the nursery finished and his name picked out. The case just went on too long and someone else adopted him, she said. Contact Edith Brady-Lunny at (309) 820-3276. Follow her on Twitter: @pg_blunny Be the first to know Get local news delivered to your inbox! Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy. A new food service inspection system should help consumers eat more safely, but it may take a little more investigation to understand how closely their favorite restaurant meets state rules. Consumers will be able to get a lot more detail from the inspection if they are into the nitty-gritty of it, Linda Foutch, the food program supervisor at the McLean County Health Department, told reporter Kevin Barlow for a recent story. The department publishes the finalized reports online, and The Pantagraph publishes edited versions. In 2015, Thrillist (one of those online ranking sites) said that according to Nielsen data, Bloomington-Normal is home to the most restaurants per capita in the country and has the the third highest restaurant growth index in Illinois, only behind Chicago and Springfield. There are roughly 850 sites in McLean County that are inspected by the health department, including cafeterias, grocery and convenience stores. With that number, it's probably safe to assume our interest in eating out includes how that food is processed which means this inspection system should draw a lot of attention from near-professional eater-outers in the Twin Cities as well as those who peruse a menu just once or twice a year. Please log in to keep reading. {{featured_button_text}} Enjoy unlimited articles at one of our lowest prices ever. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration's 2013 Food Code was adopted by the state of Illinois, which then said all local health departments were required to implement the requirements by July 1, 2018, the Chicago Tribune said. The date eventually was extended to January. The changes put more emphasis on violations that can cause food-borne illnesses and identifying control measures to eliminate risk factors. Those can include whether the person in charge demonstrates knowledge of proper food handling procedures and performs duties satisfactorily, to ensuring that food additives are properly identified, stored and used. As reported, inspections are done one to four times per year to rate how successfully a restaurant meets food handling, storage, processing and service standards on a given day. Those factors still are being considered, but inspectors are placing more emphasis on identifying reasons behind a noted risk. And no longer will there be a numerical score of somewhere between 0 (ick) and 100 (excellent). Instead, the violation code numbers will be listed, so restaurant-goers have to dig a bit further to find out the problem. The health department is reportedly asking the state whether it can use a color-grading system already in use in Champaign-Urbana. Even in the most pristine establishments, regular inspections are a good way to maintain adherence to property food safety and hygiene rules. The new format takes longer for inspectors to complete, but hopefully will provide customers the information they need to continue one of their favorite pastimes. Love 0 Funny 2 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 CHICAGO A federal judge on Wednesday approved a settlement between the Chicago Housing Authority and a public interest law group that will lead to the end of more than 50 years of federal oversight of public housing in the city. The settlement concedes the housing authority has implemented programs to remedy past discrimination and has plans to build or acquire housing in mixed-income neighborhoods to assure access, diversity and opportunity. However, the agreement provides a detailed timeline for the CHA to complete all planned mixed-income units and strengthen its housing voucher program to better enable families to move to more affluent areas, if they so choose. Dorothy Gautreaux filed a federal lawsuit in 1966 accusing the CHA of violating the civil rights of tenants through a policy of segregation and racial discrimination. The court agreed and prohibited the CHA from doing further building in poorer, minority neighborhoods and ordered it to create housing in mixed-income and mixed-race areas. The settlement allows the case to end by July 2024. Please log in to keep reading. {{featured_button_text}} Enjoy unlimited articles at one of our lowest prices ever. "The journey toward progress has been long, and it is one Chicago could only make by working together with strong partners like BPI," Mayor Rahm Emanuel said in a statement. "This decision marks a seminal moment in Chicago's history." At the time the case went to court, the city of Chicago was committed to building large public housing complexes in an effort to remove substandard housing. However, the complexes were confined to largely black and poor neighborhoods on the South and West sides. The issue came to a head in 1966, when the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. rented a West Side apartment and led a series of fair housing marches. Gautreaux and other CHA residents alleged in their lawsuit that the housing authority deliberately chose public housing sites in ghettos to keep black families out of white neighborhoods. In 1969, U.S. District Judge Richard Austin ordered the CHA to provide low-density, low-rise public housing on scattered sites in both white and black city neighborhoods. "All of Chicago should be proud of the progress made, as all have been willing partners in ending decades of segregation," said Authority CEO Eugene E. Jones. According to Jones, the CHA owns and provides affordable housing in 76 of the city's 77 communities, while more than 48,000 voucher holders are now renting in all 77. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 SPRINGFIELD State Sen. Andy Manar will host a town hall meeting on Monday to discuss the proposal in the state legislature to legalize marijuana use in Illinois. Please log in to keep reading. {{featured_button_text}} Enjoy unlimited articles at one of our lowest prices ever. The event is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. Monday in the Carnegie Room of Lincoln Library, Springfield's public library at 326 S. Seventh St. State Sen. Heather Steans and state Rep. Kelly Cassidy, both Chicago Democrats seeking to legalize recreational marijuana in Illinois, will speak about the proposal and answer questions from the audience. "I still have a lot of questions about legalization myself, as do many of my constituents," said Manar, D-Bunker Hill. "This meeting offers us all a chance to learn more about the idea and get informed answers to help people form their opinions on the matter." Love 1 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) Two Illinois militia members pleaded guilty Thursday in the 2017 bombing of a Minnesota mosque, admitting that they hoped the attack would scare Muslims into leaving the country. Michael McWhorter, 29, and Joe Morris, 23, of Clarence, Illinois, pleaded guilty in federal court to five counts that also included an attempted bombing of an Illinois abortion clinic. Each faces at least 35 years in prison. A third defendant, 47-year-old Michael Hari, whom prosecutors said directed the bombing, remains in federal custody in Illinois. Hari is portrayed as the ringleader of the White Rabbits militia group that included McWhorter and Morris. Morris' attorney, Robert Richman, said Morris merely followed the lead of a man he had known as a father figure since he was 9. "Hari essentially weaponized Joe Morris," Richman said. The August 2017 attack on the Dar Al-Farooq Islamic Center in suburban Bloomington shook the community. Jaylani Hussein, executive director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations in Minnesota, called for life sentences for McWhorter and Morris, saying that would send the message that such acts won't be tolerated. He noted the men's admission that they wanted to inspire fear in Muslims. He added: "We're not going anywhere." Please log in to keep reading. {{featured_button_text}} Enjoy unlimited articles at one of our lowest prices ever. Prosecutors said the men threw a pipe bomb into the mosque that caused an explosion and fire that damaged the imam's office just as morning prayers were about to begin. No one was hurt. The indictment alleged they conspired to bomb the mosque to make Muslims feel "frightened and intimidated," thus interfering with their free expression of religious liberty. The counts against all three include damaging property because of its religious character, forcibly obstructing the free exercise of religious beliefs, conspiracy to commit felonies with fire and explosives, and using a destructive device in a crime of violence. Hari was also charged with possessing an unregistered destructive device. They allegedly intended for the attack to scare Muslims into leaving the U.S. In the Illinois attack, a pipe bomb they allegedly threw into the clinic did not explode. McWhorter said little in court Thursday, speaking only to answer questions from U.S. District Judge Donovan Frank and to say "guilty" on each count. Prosecutors allege that Hari built the pipe bomb and rented a pickup truck that the men drove to Minnesota. It says they stopped along the way to buy diesel fuel and gasoline that was mixed in a plastic container. Morris allegedly broke a window with a hammer when they got to the mosque and tossed the container inside, while McWhorter allegedly lit the fuse on the bomb and threw it through the broken window as Hari allegedly waited back at the truck. The indictment says they then drove home. According to weapons and other charges in Illinois, the three were part of a militia group that called itself the "White Rabbits." Prosecutors allege they conspired to rob or attempt to rob Walmart stores and attempted to extort Canadian National Railway by threatening to damage tracks if the railroad didn't pay ransom. A fourth man who was accused in the Illinois case, Ellis Mack of Clarence, has already pleaded guilty to charges of conspiracy to interfere with commerce by threats and violence and unlawful possession of a machine gun. He's scheduled to be sentenced in April. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 1 BLOOMINGTON McLean County Unit 5, Bloomington District 87 and the majority of area school districts will be closed Friday because of the extremely cold weather that has arrived in Central Illinois. "Its supposed to be bitterly cold temperatures (Friday), well below the minus 20 wind chill. Having kids outside for any amount of time with those kinds of temperatures isnt a good idea," said Dayna Brown, spokeswoman for Normal-based Unit 5. District 87's announcement said the district offices will remain open, and athletic events scheduled for the afternoon and evening, including the boys basketball game with Normal Community High School at Bloomington High School, will go on. Unit 5 offices will be closed, however, and activities are decided on a building-by-building basis, Brown said. A wind chill advisory is expected to expire at noon Friday, but forecasters said the worst should be over by 9 a.m. Wind chill factors as low as 25 degrees below zero are expected. They also warned everyone to keep the heavy winter clothing close because there is no indication the thermometer will rise above the freezing level for at least a week. A snow shovel also may come in handy because there is a 90 percent chance of snow Friday. James Auten, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Lincoln, thinks 1 to 2 inches may accumulate during the day or evening hours. But the concern for Friday is the temperatures, as the high will only reach 12 degrees, he said. With winds around 10 mph, the air will feel much colder, he said. In such conditions, frostbite and hypothermia can occur with skin exposed for as little as 30 minutes. Counties under the advisory include McLean, Logan, DeWitt, Champaign, Tazewell, Woodford, Macon and Peoria. Most area school districts opted to close (See accompanying list of cancellations). Some did not but decided to take extra precautions. "Many of the schools around us are likely canceling class for tomorrow, but each of them are dealing with a different set of variables," said LeRoy school Superintendent Gary Tipsord in a Facebook post. "Some have buses that are not able to start, and sidewalks and roads that remain ice covered. Our district is unique in that nearly 95 percent of our students live within a few miles of our buildings." He said LeRoy's buildings will open early, an extra bus will be on standby if needed to fill in on routes, and buses will run in town to provide an option for students who would otherwise walk to school. "Remember, as a parent, if you do not think it appropriate for your child to attend school given the conditions, we are supportive of your decision and will excuse the absence," Tipsord said. Several warming centers throughout the area are expected to open. Connect Transit has partnered with the McLean County Health Department and has set up a warming station using a public transit system bus at the department parking lot off Front Street. Please log in to keep reading. {{featured_button_text}} Enjoy unlimited articles at one of our lowest prices ever. Support Local Journalism Your membership makes our reporting possible. {{featured_button_text}} The warming station will be open from 5 to 10 p.m. Friday to allow passengers waiting for buses to stay out of the elements, said Jeff Holtke, community relations manager for Connect Transit. It may be set up again on Saturday, depending on the severity of the weather, Holtke said. Another chance of snow is in Saturdays forecast, which also calls for a high near 18 degrees and winds out of the north, gusting to around 15 mph. Wind chill values will be once again near zero, said forecasters. On Sunday, there is another chance of snow, with a high near 19 degrees, but again Auten doesnt expect much accumulation. So far this year, 14.9 inches of snow have fallen at one NWS reporting station based about 4 miles northeast of Normal. With a few inches here or there, it would only take one good storm to rival January 1979, regarded as one of the snowiest months on record in Bloomington-Normal. During that month, 24.6 inches of snow fell, thanks to a couple of blizzards that wreaked havoc throughout the area that people still talk about today. With less than a week before the end of the month, McLean County may not get the blizzards, but the mark of 24.6 inches certainly could be surpassed. We look at several different models, Auten said. We evaluate them all of the time and compare them to each other. We even compare the models and what they indicate from their previous readings constantly. "It is just still too early to predict what kind of storm we have coming in. There is a small agreement among most of the models that McLean County will get some snowfall on Monday, but we wont know more until Friday. What is more certain, though, Auten said, is that bitterly cold temperatures will return. Mondays high may reach 30 degrees, but Tuesday, the high will be about 10 degrees. It will be only 5 degrees on Wednesday. The wind chill values will be near 30 degrees below zero, he said. The cold snap will be felt across most of the Midwest as temperatures will be "20 to 40 degrees below normal around the middle of next week, said AccuWeather Senior Meteorologist Brett Anderson. The latest indications are that Chicago could set a record on Wednesday for the days lowest high temperature, added AccuWeather Senior Meteorologist Tom Kines. Temperatures have not been held below zero for an entire day in Chicago since Jan. 6, 2014. 17 reasons we're excited for spring and summer in Bloomington-Normal Photos: Snow returns for a second round in Bloomington-Normal Contact Kevin Barlow at (309) 820-3238. Follow him on Twitter: @pg_barlow Love 0 Funny 1 Wow 1 Sad 0 Angry 1 Get local news delivered to your inbox! Subscribe to our Daily Headlines newsletter. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy. BLOOMINGTON About 1,000 more people in McLean and Livingston counties know that it's possible to afford and prepare a healthy meal at home. That's thanks to an innovative program marking its first anniversary at OSF HealthCare St. Joseph Medical Center in Bloomington. SmartMeals: Sharing Christ's Love through Food provides a bag of healthy ingredients for a four-serving meal, the recipe, nutritional information and a grocery shopping list for that meal once a month to anyone who comes to the SmartMeals Room. The room is open 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Thursday in the Center for Healthy Lifestyles (CHL) of the medical center, 2200 E. Washington St., Bloomington. About 1,000 meals have been given away since the program began in January 2018, said CHL Manager Erin Kennedy. "One thousand meals is a great number to start out with for the first year," said Kris Burke of Bloomington, whose $10,000 gift in her parents' memory started the program. "We'd like to see it grow." Burke donated the money in memory of her parents (the late Catherine Albert Fleming and Richard Albert of Normal), to honor her mother, who loved to cook, including for people who otherwise would have been alone. Each month, anyone may pick up ingredients for an easy, healthy, shelf-stable, four-serving meal as well as a recipe card, an explanation of nutritional benefits, healthy eating tips and a shopping list for that meal so they can buy it later on their own, Kennedy explained. Please log in to keep reading. {{featured_button_text}} Enjoy unlimited articles at one of our lowest prices ever. Ingredients for each meal costs $7 or less. Individuals aren't charged but are asked to fill out a brief survey. For example, the meal for January is chunky chicken corn chowder and the ingredients are cans of low-sodium cream of mushroom soup, no-salt-added sliced carrots, corn and chicken breast. Kennedy's goal a year ago was for the program to serve 2,400 people during the first year but she said the program rolled out slowly. In September, the program began giving away SmartMeals to St. Joseph heart failure patients when discharged and, late in the year, Kennedy began taking the program from time to time to locations in McLean and Livingston counties that serve people in need. While the program is geared to people in need, it's for anyone who needs a healthy, affordable meal that can be prepared at home quickly, Kennedy said. Single mothers and people who recently lost their jobs or whose spouses had just died are among those who have used the program. Ninety-eight percent of the participants have made the meals, 93 percent liked them and 54 percent made the meals again by buying the ingredients themselves, Kennedy said. Kennedy has shared the recipes with some food pantries and churches in the area. "So we have no idea how many lives we've touched," she said. "SmartMeals is teaching people that they can eat inexpensively at home in a healthy manner," Kennedy said. "We're super-excited about what 2019 will bring." Contact Paul Swiech at (309) 820-3275. Follow him on Twitter: @pg_swiech Love 1 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 1 Get local news delivered to your inbox! Subscribe to our Daily Headlines newsletter. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy. BLOOMINGTON A public relations and project management veteran has been named vice president of development, focusing on McLean County, for Easterseals Central Illinois. Cathy Oloffson of Normal will begin her new role on Feb. 4, Easterseals announced Wednesday. "It is my honor to work for Easterseals, an organization contributing so positively to our communities," Oloffson said in a prepared statement. "I look forward to representing the organization in McLean County and sharing their meaningful mission and impact with others." Oloffson will serve as an Easterseals' leader and ambassador in McLean County, working with staff and volunteers to develop support for Easterseals' programs and services. Please log in to keep reading. {{featured_button_text}} Enjoy unlimited articles at one of our lowest prices ever. Easterseals Central Illinois CEO Steve Thompson said, "We're excited to add Cathy's depth of experience in strategic communications and her passion for the community to our leadership team as we continue to advance our mission in Bloomington-Normal." Oloffson's role will be similar to that of Gina Mandros, who had been Easterseals' community president for McLean County until she left in 2017 for a position at Illinois Wesleyan University, said Easterseals Director of Marketing Megan Pedigo. Easterseals did not release Oloffson's salary. Oloffson comes to Easterseals from Country Financial in Bloomington, where she worked in a variety of communications, public relations, media relations and project management roles. Most recently, she was manager of corporate and executive communications. She has a bachelor's degree in mass communication/journalism and a master's degree in organizational communication, both from Illinois State University. She is a graduate of Leadership McLean County and has been involved as a volunteer in many community organizations over the years. Easterseals in McLean County serves 1,200 children and teens with autism, cerebral palsy, Down syndrome, visual impairments and other disabilities. Easterseals has been providing services to children with developmental delays and disabilities in Central Illinois for 100 years. Locations include service centers at 2404 E. Empire St., Bloomington, and in Peoria; Timber Pointe Outdoor Center on Lake Bloomington; and Easterseals Learning Academy in Germantown Hills. Contact Paul Swiech at (309) 820-3275. Follow him on Twitter: @pg_swiech Love 0 Funny 1 Wow 0 Sad 2 Angry 0 Get local news delivered to your inbox! Subscribe to our Daily Headlines newsletter. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy. BLOOMINGTON A Decatur man killed in a Jan. 4 shooting may have played a role in the December slaying of a man on Bloomington's west side. Bloomington police detectives considered 18-year-old Curtis Hairston a potential suspect in the Dec. 5 shooting of Egerton Dover, BPD Sgt. Clayton Arnold told The Pantagraph on Thursday. "We believe he had a role in the Dover case. The extent of his role has not been fully determined yet," said Arnold. Hairston was found inside the Long John Silver's restaurant in Decatur with multiple gunshot wounds. Two men, including one who also was shot during the incident and a juvenile, have been charged with murder in Hairston's death in Macon County. Decatur police Sgt. Chris Copeland said Thursday that "it's my understanding that Mr. Hairston may have had some involvement" in the Bloomington murder case, adding police don't believe a link exists between Dover's death and Hairston's murder. Two suspects with ties to Bloomington were arrested Jan. 7 in Decatur on murder charges related to Dover's death. Anthony Grampsas, 18, and Tyjuan Bruce, 20, were arrested at the home of Grampsas' grandmother, Jane Irvin, on North Constant View Drive in Decatur. Arnold confirmed that Bloomington police have seized Irvin's car, but declined to provide details as to what potential evidence police may have been sought in the car that remains in police custody. Grampsas and Bruce are both charged with murder under legal accountability laws that allow a person to be held legally accountable if a person dies during the commission of a forcible felony. In their case, the felony is the home invasion that allegedly occurred while the suspects "or one for whose conduct he was legally responsible, was armed with a firearm," according to charges. The theory that Hairston may have been the armed suspect during the Bloomington break-in and murder has not been confirmed by police. Please log in to keep reading. {{featured_button_text}} Enjoy unlimited articles at one of our lowest prices ever. Support Local Journalism Your membership makes our reporting possible. {{featured_button_text}} The role each suspect may have played "will become more clear as our interviews continue," said Arnold. Arnold would not discuss what may have been taken from Dover's home, or whether the homicide involved drugs both Grampsas and Bruce also are charged with robbery and residential burglary. The robbery "is a critical part of the case," said Arnold. Police have been able to substantiate "a very good sequence of events" that led to the criminal charges against Grampsas and Bruce, added Arnold. He said details of what happened before police were called to Dover's home in the 800 block of West Jefferson have the makings of "a compelling story and a compelling case." Although Grampsas and Bruce have listed Decatur addresses, both men have roots in Bloomington. Grampsas' attorney in the McLean County drug case, Hal Jennings, withdrew a request Wednesday to allow the defendant to move out of state. Grampsas' mother resides in Colorado. Bruce pleaded guilty in 2017 to unlawful use of a weapon. Police arrested him after he fired a gun toward a car in north Normal. Both men remain in McLean County jail in lieu of $500,035 bond. They are scheduled for arraignment Friday in McLean County Circuit Court. Photos: 2018-19 McLean County jail mugshots Contact Edith Brady-Lunny at (309) 820-3276. Follow her on Twitter: @pg_blunny Sign up for our Crime & Courts newsletter Get the latest in local public safety news with this weekly email. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy. BLOOMINGTON Illinois is known as the home to the largest number of wintering bald eagles in the continental United States, thanks in large part to the miles of shoreline along the Mississippi, Illinois and Rock rivers. That's a big reason for a variety of winter eagle festivals, such as the annual Eagle Watch Weekend this Saturday and Sunday at Starved Rock State Park near Utica. But the state also is home to an increasing number of nesting eagles, including six nests in McLean County, with the most recently confirmed nest being found within the city limits of Bloomington. Steve Bailey, an ornithologist with the Prairie Research Institute at the University of Illinois, said, The eagles are one of the greatest success stories of an endangered species in Illinois. Eagle facts Wingspan: 6 to 7 feet. Weight: 6 to 18 pounds (northern birds are larger than southern birds). Maturity: Takes 4 to 5 years to get white head and tail. Nest: Averages 4 to 5 feet across and 2 to 4 feet deep; generally found in tall trees along rivers, streams and reservoirs. Diet: Preys on fish, particularly gizzard shad, but also on wounded waterfowl, small mammals and carrion. Lifespan: 20-25 years in the wild. Status: Formerly a threatened species in Illinois, it was delisted in 2009. SOURCES: Illinois Natural History Survey; National Eagle Center, Wabasha, Minn. Each year, one or two dozen new nests are found in Illinois, he said, estimating there are easily now a minimum of 300-350 active bald eagle nests throughout Illinois. A record number of 13 bald eagles were sighted during this year's McLean County Christmas Bird Count by the John Wesley Powell Audubon Society, said Angelo Capparella, the society's conservation chair and a zoology professor at Illinois State University. Since 2005, Capparella and Given Harper, an Illinois Wesleyan University biology professor, have been conducting a winter survey of raptors that includes hawks, falcons and owls. In the early years, they didn't see any eagles, but now we get them regularly, said Capparella. It's a rare person that gets jaded seeing bald eagles, he said. The white head and tail in contrast to the black body is striking. They're our national symbol. And, Harper noted, They are our national symbol that almost went extinct. In 1980, there was only one nesting pair of eagles in Illinois. A big reason for their comeback was the banning of DDT in 1972. The pesticide caused eagle eggs to have thin shells that cracked before the eaglets could hatch. Habitat protection and pollution control laws also helped, said Harper. I do expect we will get more nests in the cities of Bloomington and Normal, said Harper. There are quite a few more sightings of eagles in town. They are adapting to people. Although fish are a primary food of eagles, they are opportunistic and will eat a variety of available food, even roadkill. Harper said, One of the big things that attract them to town is the abundance of rabbits and squirrels. Please log in to keep reading. {{featured_button_text}} Enjoy unlimited articles at one of our lowest prices ever. Even though eagles are getting used to the urban environment, it's still important for people to keep their distance from eagles, especially during the egg laying and incubation period that will be starting soon in Central Illinois, Capparella and Harper said. That's why they declined to reveal specific locations for nests in the area. Eagle weekend at Starved Rock includes live birds of prey UTICA Activities during Bald Eagle Watch weekend Saturday and Sunday at Starved Rock State If the eagles are disturbed during the critical nesting period, they may abandon the nest, as happened a few years ago with a nest near Lake Bloomington, said Capparella. Eagles can be seen fairly regularly at Lake Bloomington and Evergreen Lake when the water isn't frozen. This time of year, the best place to observe them is near one of the dams along the Illinois River. The colder the weather and the more ice there is along the river, the higher the concentration of eagles will be around the dams that keep the water open. During Eagle Watch Weekend at Starved Rock State Park, there will be high-powered spotting scopes set up at the Illinois Waterway Visitors Center and atop Starved Rock to give visitors an eagle-eye view of the majestic birds. The weekend also features presentations with live birds of prey at the Waterway Visitors Center, located on the lock side of the dam and at the Starved Rock Lodge and Starved Rock Visitors Center. Free tickets are available on a first-come, first-served basis. Joanne Fessett of the Illinois Audubon Society advises, Get there early. Be a little flexible. Everybody wants to see the first show. She also suggests that people park and ride the trolley rather than trying to drive between the three program locations. Visitors can buy an all-day $2 pass on the trolley. The Great Hall at the lodge will have a number of exhibitors. They introduce people to areas where they can go out and enjoy Illinois. You don't have to travel three states over to see wonderful things, said Fessett. Among areas in Central Illinois with several nests are Lake Chautauqua National Wildlife Refuge and Emiquon National Wildlife Refuge, both near Havana. Fulton-Mason Eagle Day is Feb. 2 and includes events and tours at Lake Chautauqua, Emiquon, Dickson Mounds Museum in Lewiston and Havana City Center, 326 Market St., Havana. Capparella said such events are beneficial because it's a good way to get kids fired up and maybe have a career in conservation and it's good to celebrate success stories. Although DDT has been banned, eagles face other threats such as poisoning from lead ammunition, electrocution from power lines and injuries from collision with wind turbines. Capparella encourages people to notify him at apcappar@ilstu.edu if they think they have found an eagle nest. There are steps that utilities and wind farms can take to protect the birds, he said, but the key is knowing where the nests are. Contact Lenore Sobota at (309) 820-3240. Follow her on Twitter: @Pg_Sobota Love 2 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 1 Stay up-to-date on what's happening Receive the latest in local entertainment news in your inbox weekly! Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy. BLOOMINGTON A three-day startup program for aspiring entrepreneurs at Illinois Wesleyan University this weekend will provide hands-on experience and connections along with competitions for a $3,000 prize. The event is open to college and high school students along with community members. There is a $50 registration except for IWU students, who may sign up for free. Lunch, dinner and snacks will be provided. To register, go to www.iwu.edu/entrepreneurship/startup. The deadline to register is 10 p.m. Thursday. The event will be from 4 to 8:30 p.m. Friday, 9:30 a.m. to 9 p.m. Saturday and 9:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Sunday in Room 102 of State Farm Hall on the IWU campus. Please log in to keep reading. {{featured_button_text}} Enjoy unlimited articles at one of our lowest prices ever. Participants will work together in small groups to develop a small business from the idea stage to prototype to pitch. The group with the most compelling pitch will receive $3,000 to help finance their startup. IWU's Design, Technology and Entrepreneurship Program will host the event. Lauren Hicks, the program's coordinator of entrepreneurial activities, said, As the Design, Technology and Entrepreneurship Program at Illinois Wesleyan continues to grow, we hope to strengthen our roots in the greater Bloomington-Normal startup ecosystem, while also creating more resources and points of connection for our students and community members. The seminar is designed to provide hands-on experience in starting a business while connecting participants with local entrepreneurs, experts and potential investors. This is a great opportunity for participants to innovate, network and gain business acumen, said Hicks. Questions can be directed to Hicks at lhicks1@iwu.edu. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 The business news you need With a weekly newsletter looking back at local history. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy. Gary Wayne Starr age 42, passed away Tuesday June 15, 2021 at Baylor Medical Center in Dallas. He is survived by his wife Wilma Starr, his mother Paula Fountain of Tennessee Colony, his brother Andy Starr of Tennessee Colony, plus numerous aunts, uncles and cousins. He was proceeded in death To the editor: Any of you want to live in Saudi Arabia? On Jan. 7, a young Saudi girl in Thailand requested political asylum. She feared for her life. Why? There is a book by a woman who married into the bin Laden family. She met her husband while living there for several years before returning to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Absolute monarchy, powered by life and death, it's called "Inside the Kingdom: My Life in Saudi Arabia" by Carmen bin Laden and it's in our library. At that time the bin Ladens were a respected and prosperous family. She met Osama bin Laden not a nice person, a religious fanatic. Two stories from the book stood out. A Saudi wife took the trash to the street and was arrested for being out without a male relative. Not treated nicely by the political correctness police. Second, and worse, a young woman was told to marry someone she detested. She showed up at the airport with intended. So did her uncle. Shot her dead for defaming the family. He was a hero. A horrible book, but informative, and well worth reading. The Saudis, our friends at arm's length. KEITH A. HUMBERT Midland To the editor: In the 1980s, I was on the DMZ which is perhaps the most dangerous stretch of land in the world. There is no wall. Just before I was there, the North Koreans had dug a tunnel that they could send a division of troops through within an hour, and enter South Korea. The following list includes recent reports from the Midland County Sheriff's Office and the Midland Police Department. Compiled by reporter Mitchell Kukulka. Tuesday, Jan. 22 10:28 p.m. -- A deputy was dispatched to a Lee Township residence at the request of a 33-year-old man who wanted the deputy to speak to his 11-year-old son, who had gotten in trouble at school. The 33-year-old said he felt that if the deputy talked to his son, he would realize that acting up in school is a serious matter. The deputy spoke to the boy bout being on his best behavior and thinking about his decisions before he acts. 9:46 p.m. -- Deputies responded to a car-deer crash in Larkin Township. 9:21 p.m. -- Deputies were dispatched to an Ingersoll Township location for a single-vehicle crash. The driver, a 59-year-old Mount Haley Township man, was later arrested for operating while intoxicated. He was transported to the Midland County Jail and lodged. A report has been forwarded to the Prosecuting Attorney's Office for review. 8:47 p.m. -- A deputy was dispatched to the area of East Saginaw Road near North Stark Road in reference to a car-deer crash. 8:16 p.m. -- A deputy was dispatched to a Lee Township roadway area for a report of a wounded deer near the roadway. The deputy humanely dispatched the deer to prevent a traffic hazard. 3:52 p.m. -- A deputy presented the Drug Abuse Resistance Education (D.A.R.E.) program to about 30 fifth-grade students at a Homer Township school. 1:20 p.m. -- A 69-year-old Edenville Township man reported he was concerned because he entered his Social Security number on an email from eBay that he received and thought was legitimate. The man had already taken precautions by hiring a company to monitor his credit/Social Security usage. 11:15 a.m. -- A deputy was dispatched to a Jerome Township residence to speak with an 18-year-old woman regarding a suspicious noise she had heard coming from her garage. The deputy checked the residence and found nothing suspicious. There were several dogs in the home, so it is unsure if one of them made the noise. 9:53 a.m. -- A deputy was dispatched to a City of Midland business to complete a traffic crash report for a car-deer incident occurring on North Jefferson Road near East Baker Road. Community leaders braved the winter weather Wednesday morning to discuss the latest update of the Midland County Community Health Improvement Plan (CHIP). Led by the Midland Community Health and Human Services Council, the CHIP program was originally unveiled in February 2016, bringing together more than 30 organizations and entities from across the community. "When we think about what's important to have the thriving community we all desire to have, it's the health and wellbeing of neighbors, friends, coworkers and fellow citizens," said Sharon Mortensen, Midland Area Community Foundation president and CEO, and chair of the committee overseeing the CHIP program. According to a health survey administered by the Health and Human Services Council, Midland is aging, with the projection being that individuals over the age of 60 will comprise nearly 30 percent of the population of Midland County by 2025. The demographic made up only 22 percent of the population in 2015. The survey also found that more than 20 percent of the adult population of Midland performs little to no regular physical activity, with 33 percent registering as overweight and 36 percent as obese. The presentation on Wednesday highlighted four priority areas of communal wellness that have seen focused improvement over the past year: later life quality, substance abuse, healthy weight and mental health. Director of Senior Services of Midland County Charlie Schwedler presented the accomplishments made in 2018 regarding later life quality, which included improvements to the "Remembering When" program and "fall prevention" workshops. According to the Senior Services website, "Remembering When" is a fire and fall prevention program for older adults, developed by the National Fire Protection Association and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to help seniors live safely at home for as long as possible. Goals for 2019 include the implementation of programs intending to reduce the feeling of isolation in senior citizens, ensure smooth transitions from health care facilities to home or assisted living, and the education and protection of older adults from abuse. Ten16 Recovery Network president and CEO Sam Price and Legacy Center president and CEO Jennifer Heronema presented updates on local efforts to stem substance abuse and drug overdoses. "The three questions we've been addressing over the last several years have been how do we stop people from overdosing fatally from their opioid dependency, how do we get more of those individuals engaged in the treatment and recovery process and how do help our young people and the people that care for them understand the risks and dangers that come with e-cigarettes and vaping," Price said. The past year has also seen the successful training of more than 120 Midland residents in the administration of Narcan -- a drug that negates the effects of opioids and can be used treat narcotic overdoses in emergency situations. The past year also saw the launch of the "Hope Not Handcuffs" program and the record collection of 4,906 pounds of prescription medication during the annual "Dump Your Drugs" program. In 2019, health agencies in Midland will focus on continuing work on opiate crisis initiatives, educating Midlanders about the effects of recreational marijuana use and reducing usage rates of e-cigarettes. Stephanie Leibfritz, MidMichigan Health community health manager, celebrated the introduction of before-and-after school exercise programs and a Diabetes Prevention Program that was provided to more than 140 local adults. The final portion of the meeting was led by Deana Mason, Community Mental Health For Central Michigan program director. Mason celebrated the successful launch of MyHopePortal.com through 211 services, which provides an online directory and referral resource for professionals that can meet a variety of mental health needs for people of all ages. Going forward, Mason hopes to focus on increasing public awareness of mental health, including more mental health services in schools and encouraging treatment instead of discipline for those suffering from a mental illness. Licensed, experienced ham radio operators from the Midland Amateur Radio Club are organizing an Amateur Radio Technician License class starting Feb. 11 and meeting on Mondays and Thursdays for the next six weeks at Midland High School. Each class will start at 7 p.m. in Room 321 and last about two hours, covering everything you need to know to obtain your first amateur radio license. Students can sit for a license exam at the completion of the class. Once licensed, amateur radio -- also known as ham radio -- will not only allow you to talk to other amateur radio operators in the area and around the world, but to explore digital communications, amateur television and possibly talk with the astronauts aboard the International Space Station. The technician class license allows you full access to all of the VHF/UHF amateur bands and limited access to the amateur "shortwave" bands. There are more than 22,000 hams in Michigan, some 230 in Midland County, many of whom stand ready to assist state and local authorities in the event of emergency or natural disaster. With the motto "When All Else Fails, Amateur Radio Works," hams throughout the nation serve as a vital part of disaster response efforts, providing emergency communications during events ranging from hurricane Katrina through this year's floods and wildfires. Local amateurs also volunteer to provide behind-the-scenes communications for public service events. These events range from local events such as the Dow Run and MS Walk in Midland, to the Volkslavfe (The People's Race) in Frankenmuth and to the Crim Festival of Races in Flint. Hams also provide communications support to organizations and service agencies, such as the Red Cross, Salvation Army, CERT and many others. There is no charge for the classes, though each student will need a study guide, The Ham Radio License Manual, published by the ARRL. The list price is $29.95, but MARC will have them available at the first class session at a discounted price of $25. This is the only expense for the student during the class. We do ask that you contact us so we might make provisions for the class size. For more information on class schedules and availability, contact Lee Hodges, KC8ITI, lead instructor at 989-486-3771, or at kc8iti@arrl.net. Beaverton Police and Department of Public Works employees started trapping cats Tuesday and taking them to animal control. For years, Beaverton residents used an area behind the Fruchey Plaza to rid themselves of cats. That has led through reproduction to at least 50 plus cats living there -- in city without a cat ordinance. The cats are cared for by residents and business owners who feed and house the growing clan. But now police want to end the cycle. "The residents are feeding the cats, there is blocks and totes for them, there is excrement all over," said Beaverton Police Chief Brad Davis. "We have to do something about these cats." "The woods move," Davis said of the cats running through. Fruchey Family Market co-owner Kelly Fruchey declined to comment. Police put a trap out earlier and let the cats get used to it before they put it into operation. Davis said they plan to euthanize the sick animals and have the others treated and turned into barn animals. They would also like to find homes for some of the cats, if they can. DPW plans to check the traps Monday through Friday and they will be taken to the animal shelter. Davis said he has reached out to some Amish farms in the area to send available cats after they are spayed/neutered. Davis asked plaza employees to stop feeding the cats. However, there is no law saying someone can't put cat food out. "I guess it is an OK idea," said resident Amanda Lang. "It is just a sad situation." Davis said the cats reproduce quickly, thus having them fixed will help control the situation. For nearly 30 years former Midlanders Greg Lewis and James Sheeran have celebrated their love of music. In November the two friends released the third album from their band, Mr. Lewis & the Funeral 5. Lewis and Sheeran began a rock band, Blind Addiction in 1990. Although Lewis attended Midland High School and Sheeran was a Bullock Creek student, the two made a point to pursue their music. "All the musicians find each other naturally. It's a small town," Lewis commented in a recent phone interview. Sheeran moved to Austin, Texas in 1994 while Lewis followed six years later. In 2004 they formed Mr. Lewis & the Funeral 5, borrowing a phrase coined by an old base player. While Blind Addiction's music was in the metal rock genre, Lewis wanted to widen his musical tastes; Lewis describes Mr. Lewis & the Funeral Five's music as "garage lounge, post-apocalyptic stripper jazz." "It kind of came naturally. James likes to say it's because we grew up in a cold climate," Lewis said. The band has turned out to be a comfort. In March 2017 Lewis' longtime girlfriend, Lindsey Voss died, followed by Sheeran's wife, Kerri Luker that August. With some encouragement from band members and local colleagues, the two friends channeled their emotions through their music and released their third album last fall, titled Before the World Beat You Down. Today, Mr. Lewis & the Funeral 5 continue to perform at different venues in Austin, San Antonio and Houston. The band is currently working on its fourth album. "I hope listeners just enjoy the music," Lewis said. Mr. Lewis & the Funeral 5's music is available on the band's website, www.mrlewisandthefuneral5.com and iTunes. Goose Creek, SC (29445) Today Cloudy skies this morning followed by scattered showers and thunderstorms during the afternoon. High around 90F. Winds WSW at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 40%.. Tonight Cloudy skies this evening followed by scattered showers and thunderstorms overnight. Low 73F. Winds SW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 60%. Ottumwa, IA (52501) Today Some clouds in the morning will give way to mainly sunny skies for the afternoon. Hot. High 89F. Winds NW at 5 to 10 mph.. Tonight Partly cloudy skies early. Thunderstorms likely late. Gusty winds and small hail are possible. Low 68F. Winds E at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 70%. Oskaloosa, IA (52577) Today Generally sunny. Hot. High around 90F. Winds NNW at 5 to 10 mph.. Tonight Partly cloudy during the evening with thunderstorms becoming likely overnight. Gusty winds and small hail are possible. Low 68F. Winds E at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 90%. A Hillsboro man found guilty last month of repeatedly sexually assaulting two women between 2010 and 2014 in Washington County was sentenced Wednesday to 50 years in prison. Tyrone N. Murphy, 29, was convicted of first-degree rape, first-degree sodomy and second-degree sexual abuse for assaulting two women he knew. A jury acquitted Murphy of sexually abusing a third woman. He was found guilty of abusing one woman in 2010 and 2011 and the second in 2014, Oregon court records show. A police investigation began after one of the women contacted authorities in 2017. In 2010, Murphy was sentenced to five years of probation in Washington County after he was convicted of third-degree sexual abuse, according to court records. Prosecutors in that case said that when Murphy was between the ages of 12 and 17, he regularly put blankets on two younger boys and thrust his body against them until he ejaculated. In addition to probation, a judge ordered Murphy to avoid children and complete sex offender treatment. Murphy was 22 when he pleaded guilty in that case. -- Everton Bailey Jr. ebailey@oregonian.com | 503-221-8343 |@EvertonBailey Visit subscription.oregonlive.com/newsletters to get Oregonian/OregonLive journalism delivered to your email inbox. Updated 2:22 p.m. A Portland-based attorney was sentenced Wednesday to 18 months in prison for firing several bullets into the Beaverton office of another lawyer. Erik Graeff, 43, pleaded guilty in October to unlawful use of a weapon and recklessly endangering another person, according to court records. He was convicted of both charges Wednesday, while another unlawful use of a weapon charge was dismissed. Hes now in Oregon Department of Corrections custody, according to the Washington County District Attorneys Office. Graeff also faces charges in Washington after police found evidence he was creating methamphetamine in his Vancouver home. That case remains open. Prosecutors in the Oregon case said Graeff fired six rounds from a handgun into the offices of a Beaverton law firm in December 2017. No one was hurt, but a bullet nearly hit an employee inside, court records show. The shooting came after an argument between Graeff and an attorney at the law office, according to the records. The attorney was upset about Graeff's work on a case they had teamed up on. Graeff disagreed he was at fault. Graeff was also sentenced Wednesday to two years of post-prison supervision, records show. He will have to participate in mental health and alcohol treatment programs and pay the victims $5,000, prosecutors said. An Oregon State Bar spokeswoman Thursday afternoon said the bar suspended his license to practice in the state Jan. 15 pending the outcome of a disciplinary hearing. -- Jim Ryan; jryan@oregonian.com; 503-221-8005; @Jimryan015 Visit subscription.oregonlive.com/newsletters to get Oregonian/OregonLive journalism delivered to your email inbox. Intel shares fell sharply Thursday afternoon after the chipmaker warned that slower growth toward the end of 2018 will carry over well into the new year. The company again postponed the selection of a new chief executive. While 2018 was a record year we expected a stronger finish, said Chief Financial Officer Bob Swan, who has been running Intel for seven months during its protracted CEO search. Trade and macro(economic) concerns, especially in China, have intensified, he told Wall Street analysts after Intel announced fourth-quarter results Thursday afternoon. Shares fell 6.7 percent, to $46.42, as investors recalibrated their expectations. The stock has traded from $42.04 to $57.60 in the past year. Intel forecast that sales will rise less than 1 percent in 2019, which would be the weakest growth in four years. Swan acknowledged the uncertainty accompanying Intels seven-month CEO search but insisted the leadership vacuum isnt undermining performance. I am convinced the board will close on a new CEO in the near future, Swan said. In the meantime, we will not be distracted by the void. Intel has been without a leader since former CEO Brian Krzanich quit abruptly last June. He was forced out when the company uncovered what it called a a past consensual relationship with an Intel employee" in violation of corporate policy. Reports this month suggested Intel hoped to name Krzanichs successor Thursday. Swan gave no indication why it has taken so long but insisted the board is evaluating candidates with a sense of urgency. Intel is among the worlds biggest tech companies. But it lacks the sex appeal of consumer-focused businesses like Apple, Amazon and Facebook. And while the companys chips underpin the technology behind each of those companies, Intel has stumbled repeatedly in delivering the next generation of its microprocessor technology. Its 10-nanometer chips are years behind schedule and wont be on shelves before the end of the year. The next CEO will be charged with getting the companys development timetable back on track. And that person Swan indicated Friday it could be a man or a woman will have to live with some of the big decisions Intel made during its search. Intel dissolved its flagship manufacturing group last fall and in December committed to making unspecified upgrades to its factories in Oregon, Israel and Ireland. The company hasnt announced details of its plans, but contractors and tradespeople say Intel has told them it plans a new Hillsboro factory. Dan Hutcheson, CEO of VLSI Research, said last week that Intel is better positioned than most to operate without a chief. It runs on autopilot because the different groups know what their jobs are, Hutcheson said. They have such a deep bench of senior management, they can make decisions on the committee level. Intel's financial results Sales of $70.8 billion in 2018, up 13 percent from 2017. Fourth-quarter sales totaled $18.7 billion, up 9 percent from a year earlier but slightly below Intels $19 billion forecast. Annual profits of $21.1 billion, or $4.48 cents a share. That compared with $9.6 billion, or $1.99 a share, in 2017. For 2019, Intel forecast sales of $71.5 billion and earnings per share of $4.35. Though Intels headquarters are in California, its largest and most advanced operations are in Oregon. It employs 20,000 at its campuses in Washington County. Intels fourth-quarter results were slightly below its forecast, which the company attributed to Chinas cooling economy, the ongoing trade war, slower data center sales, falling prices for memory chips, and dramatically weakening modem demand. Intel supplies modems for Apples iPhone, and Apple warned this month that its sales of its latest models are well below expectations. -- Mike Rogoway | twitter: @rogoway | 503-294-7699 WASHINGTON Michael Cohen will not testify before Congress next month, one of his attorneys said Wednesday which could quash, at least temporarily, liberals' hopes for a public hearing in which Donald Trumps former personal lawyer and fixer aired the presidents dirty laundry. Lanny Davis, an attorney for Cohen said in a statement, "Due to ongoing threats against his family from President Trump and Mr. [Rudolph] Giuliani, as recently as this weekend, as well as Mr. Cohen's continued cooperation with ongoing investigations, by advice of counsel, Mr. Cohen's appearance will be postponed to a later date." Cohen had been scheduled to appear before the House Oversight Committee on Feb. 7. "This is a time where Mr. Cohen had to put his family and their safety first," Davis said. It is not clear to which "threats" Davis was referring, and Davis declined to provide more detail. A person familiar with Cohen's account said the threats have not been reported to law enforcement. Trump said of the claim he had threatened Cohen: "I would say he's been threatened by the truth. He's only been threatened by the truth. And he doesn't want to do that, probably for me or other of his clients." The president has been publicly critical of Cohen for his cooperation with Special Counsel Robert Mueller, and has suggested Cohen's father-in-law ought to be investigated. Giuliani, the presidents current lawyer, has highlighted problems with Cohens credibility. Giuliani was particularly skeptical of Cohen after BuzzFeed News reported last week that Cohen told Muellers office Trump had directed him to lie to Congress an account the special counsel disputed in an unprecedented public statement. "If you believe Cohen, I can get you a great deal on the Brooklyn Bridge," Giuliani said. It was not immediately clear that lawmakers would easily allow Cohen back out of his commitment to appear before them. House Oversight Committee Chairman Elijah Cummings, D-Md., and House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff, D-Calif., said in a joint statement that they "certainly understand the completely legitimate concerns for the safety and security of Mr. Cohen and his family members in light of the attacks last week by President Trump and again this past weekend by his attorney, Rudy Giuliani." But the lawmakers added that they had "repeatedly offered our assistance to work with law enforcement to enhance security measures for Mr. Cohen and his family," and in their discussions with Cohen's attorney, "not appearing before Congress was never an option." "We will not let the President's tactics prevent Congress from fulfilling our constitutionally mandated oversight responsibilities," Cummings and Schiff said. "This will not stop us from getting to the truth. We expect Mr. Cohen to appear before both Committees, and we remain engaged with his counsel about his upcoming appearances." Cohen had announced to some fanfare earlier this month he had accepted an invitation to testify from Cummings "in furtherance of my commitment to cooperate and provide the American people with answers." The hearing seemed as if it could be eventful. Cohen pleaded guilty last year to multiple crimes, including lying to Congress about a possible Trump Tower project in Moscow and arranging hush money payments to women who had alleged having had affairs with Trump. He was sentenced to three years in prison and is expected to report to prison on March 6, about a month after the scheduled testimony date. Trump's critics had hoped Cohen might, at the very least, offer unflattering revelations about the president. He had claimed in court to have helped cover up Trump's "dirty deeds." Almost immediately, though, lawmakers raised questions about how much Cohen could say about the topic of most interest to the public the information Cohen was said to provide to Mueller - because Muellers investigation is ongoing, and Cohen would probably be restricted in what he could say. When Cohen announced he was testifying, Cummings said, "I want to make clear that we have no interest in inappropriately interfering with any ongoing criminal investigations, and to that end, we are in the process of consulting with special counsel Mueller's office." Schiff said at the time that he hoped to schedule a private hearing so Cohen could talk with lawmakers about Russia-related topics. It was not clear if Cohen would still be able to testify before he reports to prison, or whether he could in some way offer testimony after that. The Washington Post Mike Surprenant pulled his Line 12 bus into the Parkrose Transit Center on an otherwise quiet Sunday in December. He turned on the intercom. Surprenant had a few passengers left as he came to the end of his route just after 10 a.m., but one rider presented a problem. Several times the driver told the now sleeping man who had boarded the bus without paying to get off while Surprenant took a scheduled break at the Northeast Portland station. Instead, surveillance video shows, the man marched toward the front of the empty bus then swung his right arm in a punching motion toward Surprenant. But instead of striking the 63-year-old bus driver in the face, the mans arm and hand were deflected by a thick plastic panel. Surprenant counts his blessings he had one of six vehicles in the transit agencys 670-bus fleet equipped with the see-through protective barrier. I probably wouldve got punched in the face, Surprenant said in a recent interview about the Dec. 2 encounter. But that protection is about to be extended. TriMets board approved a plan last month that will ensure hundreds of drivers have the same option and protection sooner rather than later. TriMet plans to install safety panels on its entire fleet by 2024, according to spokeswoman Roberta Altstadt. In December, it approved a $2.5 million plan to retrofit 478 of its existing buses during the next five years. The transit agency will also order the panels, which extend a thick plastic panel to shield drivers from passengers, on all new buses. By the end of 2019, about 42 percent of the fleet will have the barriers. Whether the barriers will reduce assaults is unknown, but TriMet isnt alone in trying to find a solution to assaults on public transit employees. Some cities are increasing police patrols on buses or trains. Others are installing barriers, sirens or increased security cameras. Some states, like Oregon, have laws making it a felony to assault a bus or rail operator. The Metro service in Washington, D.C., installed barriers there, but its union representatives told The Washington Post this month that assaults are still rising despite two-thirds of buses now having barriers. Mike Surprenant, a TriMet bus driver, believes the protective barrier prevented him from being punched in the face by a passenger in December 2018. But the barriers are one of the rare issues where the union and TriMet, which are often at odds publicly over issues big and small, are essentially in agreement. Surprenant said he was indifferent about the barriers before the December confrontation, but he stressed that while the vast majority of passengers are not aggressive, its nice having the option of protection. We talk about the bad behavior of passengers, Surprenant said, but there are plenty of people who are hard-working folks that just want to go to work, want to go to school, want to go shopping, want to go wherever. Those people are respectful. The rest of them? he said. They are who they are. Andrew Riley, spokesman for the Amalgamated Transit Union Local 757, which represents the hundreds of operators like Surprenant, said the barriers can be an important tool to keep drivers safe, especially as our members face attacks, assaults and harassment on the job every day. We also know that barriers are unpopular with some of our members, who feel that they detract from their ability to provide customer service to our riders, Riley said in an email. But he said the barriers TriMet is using seem to strike the right balance because they have different locking settings, allowing operators who wish to use them to deploy them, and they also allow operators who would rather not to make that choice for themselves. Surprenant said hes not too social when hes behind the wheel, so he doesnt mind the barrier. Its easier for me to not talk. I can concentrate on my job then, he said. TriMet and its union workforce have said in recent years bus drivers and ticket supervisors are increasingly subjected to unruly, rude and downright aggressive passengers during their workdays. Surprenant and his colleagues bear the brunt of the assaults, according to transit police records. Over the past three years, 101 of 162 cases of assault, intimidation or robbery of bus operators, rail operators or security personnel involved bus drivers. Most incidents are downtown and occur when a driver is talking to a problem rider or informing them they havent paid a fare and are riding at their own risk. In the past three years, bus drivers have experienced 13 aggravated assaults by passengers. During that timespan, Altstadt said, the agency recorded approximately 173 million bus trips. Altstadt said bus drivers are informers, not enforcers when it comes to fare evaders. They are instructed to press a button on the bus documenting the evasion, but their duties stop there. Records show Dyvee Waters, 36, faces multiple charges from the December incident involving Surprenant, who says the glass prevented him from being punched. Waters was charged with two counts of interfering with public transportation. He is scheduled to appear in court next week. Surprenant said in the future hes probably going to avoid repeated calls for passengers to get off the bus or challenging intransigent passengers, barrier or not. I can call for assistance, he said, and thats all Im going to do. -- Andrew Theen atheen@oregonian.com 503-294-4026 @andrewtheen Visit subscription.oregonlive.com/newsletters to get Oregonian/OregonLive journalism delivered to your email inbox. A 19-year-old man was arrested Wednesday on suspicion of killing a Kelso convenience store employee during a robbery, police say. D'Anthony Leslie Williams was found in Camas and arrested without incident about 5:30 p.m., according to Kelso police. Hes accused of fatally shooting 30-year-old Kayla Chapman, a Kelso resident, during a robbery at Holts Quik Chek Market early Tuesday. No customers were in the store, and Chapman was the only employee working. Chapman called 911 and told dispatchers she had been shot, according to Kelso Police Capt. Darr Kirk, but she died after officers arrived. Police said Williams left the scene in a car he previously stole. At least two other people were in the car, according to police. Police encouraged those people to contact them. The vehicle was eventually found in Vancouver. Williams is being held without bail in the Cowlitz County Jail. Hes accused of first-degree murder and first-degree robbery, among other charges. Kelso is a small city in Cowlitz County, Washington. The convenience store where the shooting occurred is located at a Texaco gas station. Chapman was a 2007 graduate of Kalama High School and longtime resident of the Kelso and Longview area, police said. Police encouraged anyone who has information about the other people who were in the stolen car to call 360-423-1270. -- Jim Ryan; jryan@oregonian.com; 503-221-8005; @Jimryan015 Elliot Njus of The Oregonian/OregonLive staff contributed to this report Visit subscription.oregonlive.com/newsletters to get Oregonian/OregonLive journalism delivered to your email inbox. I was gobsmacked at the introduction of Senate Bill 501 (Oregon proposal would require gun owners to obtain permits, Jan. 12). I wish to express my disgust at the audacity of the sponsors to smother the rights of honest citizens. I carried a firearm for nearly 30 years in defense of the innocent, the victim, the lawful -- and now? Will I become a criminal for keeping the very weapon -- magazines of which can hold more than 10 rounds -- because some people from Lake Oswego think they can stop gun violence? Are these representatives really so ignorant of the types, limits and capacities of the weapons already out there? The very wording of this bill inflames the most moderate of people, myself included. They have drawn the proverbial line in the sand and literally stepped over it after doing so. Dave Howard, Sherwood By Jennifer Rubin Opinion writer Even this White House, infamous for self-delusion, must realize its in deep trouble. Two more polls released Wednesday show the depth of President Trumps problem. The Morning Consult-Politico poll finds that 57 percent of registered voters disapprove of Trumps job performance -- more than any other survey in Trumps two years in office -- while 40 percent approve. The 17-percentage-point deficit matches two previous lows of the Trump presidency. Sixty percent of independents now disapprove of his performance. As time goes on, more Americans blame Trump for the shutdown (49 percent of voters [say] he is responsible in the latest survey -- up 6 points since the shutdown began). The CBS News poll has even worse numbers for Trump. In that survey, Seven in 10 Americans dont think the issue of a border wall is worth a government shutdown, which they say is now having a negative impact on the country. ... Mr. Trumps overall approval rating has dipped three points from November to 36 percent today. Fifty-nine percent of Americans now disapprove of the job he is doing a high for his presidency, although just one point above his previous high. To add insult to injury, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) gets higher marks (47 percent) than Trump (35 percent) in handling the shutdown. Only 39 percent think Trump cares a lot or some about people like them; 53 percent say the same of Democrats. On the wall, 61 percent think the border can be secured without it, while 71 percent say it is not worth a shutdown. The irony here -- or is it karma? -- is that Trumps biggest cheerleaders in the right-wing media (e.g. Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity) and his hardcore anti-immigrant adviser Stephen Miller who egged him on are now responsible for the worst political debacle of his presidency, one that has erased any residue of presidential power. Hes now trapped, waiting for a permission slip from the right-wing media chorus to capitulate -- or watch his support and any hope for legislative accomplishments evaporate. As to the remainder of his term, Trump was never going to advance any proposal on a wide range of issues without Democratic-buy in. Now, having empowered them and weakened his own hand, hell either have to give more ground in future negotiations or meekly accept two years without a significant accomplishment. For now, his agenda is on hold. (The standoff has already forced Mr. Trump to cancel a trip to Europe to meet with global business leaders in Davos, Switzerland, at a time when the world economy faces a possible slowdown, the New York Times reports. The president has made no evident progress in filling a series of senior vacancies nor has he produced the tax-cutting plan he promised last year. He has done nothing in weeks to publicly promote priorities like fighting opioid abuse or bolstering the economy.) Trump cannot bear to face the possibility of defeat on the issue that was most central to his campaign and most closely tied to his theme of white grievance. As with trade, however, his fixation with avoiding defeat leads to further erosion of his power. He faces a lose-lose choice: Give in now, as humiliating as that might be, or alternatively, continue a fruitless fight that will sap his chances of political survival and still not avoid eventual defeat. Jennifer Rubin writes reported opinion for The Washington Post. Follow A Hood River woman has been sentenced to 90 days in jail after admitting to causing the death of a 5-month-old boy at her unlicensed day care last year. Rochelle Jones pleaded guilty earlier this month to the criminally negligent homicide of Cyrus Macioroski, as well as to one count of operating a child care facility without state certification, according to court documents. Her conviction appears to be the first in Oregon in more than 20 years to involve the death of a child at day care. Jones came to the attention of regulators multiple times in the years leading up to Cyrus death in May. The state revoked the license of her day care in April 2017 after a Department of Human Services investigation. Case workers concluded Jones gave children doses of the sleep hormone melatonin without parental consent. Despite losing her license, she continued to watch children at the daycare she operated in her home. A criminal indictment alleges that at least one state regulator, Julie Smith, knew Jones remained in business. Regulators cited Jones wife, Debra Jones, for running an unlicensed day care in January 2018. Cyrus died five months later. His exact cause of death has not been disclosed. A police affidavit said Cyrus was found unresponsive after Debra Jones sister, Donna Pilcher, put him down for a nap on a bed surrounded by pillows. He was one of 10 children in the womens care the day he died. The Joneses and Pilcher were indicted in September on charges of second-degree manslaughter, criminally negligent homicide, first-degree criminal mistreatment and five counts of operating a child care facility without state certification. Smith is charged with official misconduct and one count of operating a child care facility without state certification. The district attorneys office offered to drop the manslaughter and mistreatment charges against Rochelle Jones in exchange for her guilty plea, court documents show. She signed the paperwork Dec. 26. A judge signed off Jan. 7, four days after what would have been Cyrus first birthday. Rochelle Jones agreed to testify during the trials of her wife and sister-in-law, according to the her terms of her sentence. She is barred from having any contact with them. Neither her attorney nor the prosecutor trying the case responded to messages regarding the deal. The Oregonian/OregonLive learned about Jones pleading and 90-day jail sentence Wednesday. The court filings say she received credit for the time she had already served in jail. Its unclear how many days, if any, remained on her sentence. She was not in the regional jail as of Wednesday. She must serve five years of probation and never seek work in the child care industry. She must also complete 80 hours of community service, pay a $1,000 fine and avoid contact with Cyrus family. Court documents show Jones now lives in Gresham. She agreed to remain in the state as the cases against her relatives work their way through Hood River County Circuit Court. After that, prosecutors wont oppose her moving to Chicago, where she was living before her arrest. Court records show Debra Jones and Pilcher are due back in court for hearings next month. Smiths trial is set for April. -- Molly Young myoung@oregonian.com Visit subscription.oregonlive.com/newsletters to get Oregonian/OregonLive journalism delivered to your email inbox. The family of a 14-year-old Canby boy has filed a $250,000 lawsuit against a 21-year-old neighbor for allegedly sneaking into its apartment without permission and masturbating on the teenagers clothes. The lawsuit says a family member noticed items moved around the home she shared with the boy and that some of her pain medications were missing. The family set up home surveillance cameras and three times saw the 21-year-old neighbor inside in recent months, the suit states. In December, the family caught the neighbor in the apartment and called police, the suit says. The 21-year-old ultimately admitted to police that he masturbated in the teenagers room and on his clothes, the suit says. The 21-year-old lives with his mother, who is the landlord of the apartment complex and has keys to all of the units, the suit states. He is fascinated with the 14-year-old and has been spotted following the teen and hiding behind trees and watching the teen, the suit claims. The teen isnt allowed to leave home alone, the suit says. The family hired Canby attorney Ryan Adams to file the lawsuit and seek a temporary restraining order against the 21-year-old. Adams said a judge granted the order Tuesday, and the neighbor has been told he must move out. Hell have a chance to contest the order later this month if he chooses, Adams said. The Oregonian/OregonLive isnt naming the 21-year-old because he hasnt been charged with any crimes. The lawsuit says police in the 17,800-population city have investigated the allegations. Canby Police Chief Bret Smith declined comment Wednesday, saying his office has sent the case to the Clackamas County District Attorneys Office for review. Chief Deputy District Attorney Chris Owen said his office expects to review the case in the near future. The lawsuit seeks $250,000 from the 21-year-old for the emotional distress of the family. The suit also seeks another $10,800 from the apartments landlord and owners for alleged uninhabitable living conditions, including a leaking sink and bad bathroom fan that has resulted in mold growth. For those claims, the suit faults landlord Michelle Arakawa and James and Karen Rinella, co-trustees of the Rinella Family Trust, which owns the apartments. Arakawa declined comment. The Rinellas couldnt be reached for comment. -- Aimee Green agreen@oregonian.com o_aimee Visit subscription.oregonlive.com/newsletters to get Oregonian/OregonLive journalism delivered to your email inbox. A Lowe's customer who says his hand was badly cut by a careless employee has filed a $10,000 lawsuit against the national home improvement chain. Sergio Sanchezs lawsuit says he went to the McMinnville Lowes to buy some plywood on May 18 when an employee began to slice through a band wrapped around a load of plywood. The knifes blade broke and flew through the air, piercing Sanchezs hand, according to the lawsuit filed Monday in Multnomah County Circuit Court. Sanchezs wound needed stitches and left him with excruciating nerve pain, loss of range of motion and numbness which still exists to the present, the suit states. Lowes spokeswoman Sarah Lively declined comment. Sanchezs lawsuit says hes a building contractor. Mr. Sanchez ... could not work for three weeks, get any sleep or touch anything without shocking pain, reads a December demand letter to Lowes, as a precursor to the lawsuit. He still experiences numbness in the dorsal side of the hand near the wound, which is slowly getting better. Sanchezs suit faults the Lowes employee for allegedly failing to replace a knife that was susceptible to breaking because of metal fatigue and failure and for allegedly failing to tell Sanchez to stay back at a safe distance. Sanchez seeks $2,714 in medical expenses and $7,286 for his pain and suffering. The suit was filed by McMinnville attorney Gary Norris. Read the lawsuit here. -- Aimee Green agreen@oregonian.com o_aimee Visit subscription.oregonlive.com/newsletters to get Oregonian/OregonLive journalism delivered to your email inbox. Federal prosecutors said they plan to appeal the dismissal of charges in the standoff case against Nevada rancher Cliven Bundy, two of his sons and a fourth man but have asked for another delay to file their opening brief with the appellate court. Undersigned counsel advises the court and the defendants that the review process is complete and the solicitor general has authorized the governments appeal, Assistant U.S. Attorney Elizabeth O. White wrote to the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in a filing Wednesday, about a year after the case was thrown out. White was granted two earlier extensions to file the governments brief. She now has requested a third, asking for 14 more days. She wrote that the government had a draft of a brief that was nearly complete and could be filed by Feb. 6. Cliven Bundys lawyer, Larry Klayman, had urged the court not to allow any further delay, calling the governments appeal a Hail Mary hope that the court will exonerate the governments gross prosecutorial and criminal misconduct to save their careers. On Jan. 8, 2018, U.S. District Judge Gloria M. Navarro threw out criminal charges against Cliven Bundy, his two sons and Ryan Payne in their 2014 standoff with federal agents, citing flagrant misconduct by prosecutors and the FBI in not disclosing evidence before and during trial. In July, Navarro rejected prosecutors' request to reconsider her dismissal with prejudice. Navarro dismissed prosecutors contention that the dismissal was "unjust'' or that she should have ordered a less severe sanction for their failure to share evidence that could assist the defense as required by the 1963 landmark U.S. Supreme Court ruling in Brady v. Maryland. Navarro had found prosecutors engaged in a "deliberate attempt to mislead'' and made several misrepresentations to both the defense and the court about evidence related to a surveillance camera and snipers outside the Bundy ranch in early April 2014, as well as threat assessments made in the case. The senior Bundy, sons Ammon Bundy and Ryan Bundy and Payne, a militia leader from Montana, had been indicted on federal conspiracy and other allegations, accused of rallying militia members and armed supporters to stop federal officers from impounding Bundy cattle near Bunkerville. Government authorities were acting on a court order filed after Cliven Bundy failed to pay grazing fees and fines for two decades. The outnumbered federal contingent retreated and halted the cattle roundup on April 12, 2014. Its outrageous that the Bundys havent been brought to justice, said Kieran Suckling, executive director of the Center for Biological Diversity. They organized an armed mob to seize public lands and threaten federal officers who were just doing their jobs. Cliven Bundy and his sons need to be punished for what theyve done and were hoping an appeals court sees it that way. In October, Ryan Bundy, one of the leaders of the armed takeover of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge in Oregon, filed a federal civil rights lawsuit against current and former heads of the U.S. Department of Justice and the FBI over his prosecution in the Nevada standoff. Ryan Bundy argued that he was subjected to "malicious prosecution'' as retaliation for protecting the Bundy ranch. In a separate but related case, the Center for Biological Diversity is asking a judge in Nevada to dismiss a civil lawsuit brought by Cliven Bundy in county court in Las Vegas seeking state control of federal land, arguing his claims lack merit and have been rejected numerous times already. Bundy "seeks to re-litigate settled law because he wishes to continue illegal livestock grazing on federal public lands. Bundys wrongful effort was rejected in 1998, and many times since then, and should be rejected once more by this Court,'' attorneys for the Center for Biological Diversity wrote. "In 1998, 2013, and 2017, the United States District Court for the District of Nevada rejected Bundys legal theories, time and again explaining that the federal public lands in Nevada are indeed the property of the United States,'' Attorney Justin Augustine wrote. -- Maxine Bernstein Email at mbernstein@oregonian.com Follow on Twitter @maxoregonian Would Sex Education be the buzzy show that it is if it premiered on a premium cable channel, instead of Netflix? Or would the U.K. production slip into the content clutter gap, where Sally4Ever, another provocative British import, landed during its little-noted run on HBO? Theres no doubt that, even in this multichannel media universe, shows on the streaming platform can benefit from the Netflix effect. Consider the stats. As Variety reported in 2018, a survey of 2,500 U.S. adults conducted by the Wall Street firm Cowen & Co. found that Netflix was the platform respondents used most often to watch video content on TV. The lead was especially pronounced among adults aged 18 to 34, with almost 40 percent of respondents in that group saying Netflix was their top choice for watching video content on TV. Bringing up the rear were YouTube (17 percent); basic cable (12.6 percent); Hulu (7.6 percent); and broadcast TV (7.5 percent). Sex Education and other shows that make a fast jump out of the gate are examples of how the Netflix effect can make a show seem like an event. Even though the streaming platform may be pointing you toward them with its suggestions of what else to watch, or lists of shows that are trending, Netflix viewers feel the thrill of discovery. And when you discover something, you want to share it, and talk about it with others, right? Thats why Netflix also pays sharp attention to social media feedback. As Cindy Holland, Netflix vice president of original series, told reporters at the 2018 summer Television Critics Association press tour, executives look at how social a title is, when weighing whether to renew a series. Which is why Twitter, Facebook and Instagram can suddenly be full of posts about a show you might not have seen, but that everybody else is apparently obsessing over. Here are some recent examples of the Netflix effect in action: Sandra Bullock stars in the hit Netflix movie, "Bird Box." (Photo: Merrick Morton/Netflix)Merrick Morton/Netflix Bird Box: After conquering the world of TV series, Netflix is moving aggressively into movies. The company is ordinarily secretive about viewership, but felt compelled to publicly brag that the Sandra Bullock-starring movie has been 80 million households. Roma: Another Netflix movie original, Alfonso Cuarons Mexican-set film is the streaming platforms big swing for Oscar glory. Tidying Up With Marie Kondo: The tidying-up expert stars in a show in which she shares her tips on clearing clutter, keeping objects that spark joy, the magic of proper folding and more. Since its debut on Jan. 1, the show has become an Internet phenom, with fans singing her praises, think pieces pondering the meaning of it all and earnest bibliophiles up in arms over Kondos suggestion that 30 books is plenty. Black Mirror: Bandersnatch: Already a Twilight Zone for the modern age, the digital dystopian series Black Mirror got even more into techs dark side with this movie-length interactive drama about a video game designer, which let viewers use their remotes to choose how the storyline would progress. -- Kristi Turnquist kturnquist@oregonian.com 503-221-8227 @Kristiturnquist Visit subscription.oregonlive.com/newsletters to get Oregonian/OregonLive journalism delivered to your email inbox. A Medford man who came to the United States as a teen more than 20 years ago from Mexico has petitioned the nations high court to halt his deportation as he seeks asylum, fearing hell be harmed by drug cartels in his native country, including those run by accused drug lord Joaquin El Chapo Guzman. Joaquin Ledesma-Conchas, 43, said one of his older brothers disappeared in Mexico in 2014 after being threatened by cartels and is believed to have been killed. Ledesma-Conchas came to the United States at age 18 or 19, is married and has four children who are U.S. citizens, including one son who has enlisted in the U.S. Army after being in the Marine Reserves. He runs his own landscaping business in Medford, his lawyers said. Ledesma-Conchas was detained by federal immigration officials in the 1990s after a traffic stop and then placed in removal proceedings. He failed to appear at a removal hearing in 1999 because he couldnt find the location in Portland after driving about five hours from Medford, according to court papers. His attorney at the time erroneously told him there was nothing he needed to do after missing that hearing, and he was deported about six months later, according to Siovhan Ayala, one of his current lawyers. Ledesma-Conchas returned to the United States about three months later to reunite with his family, she said. His lawyers have asked the U.S. Supreme Court to put a hold on their clients removal, appealing a 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruling that denied review of a 2016 decision by the Board of Immigration Appeals. The fact that Ledesma-Conchas son is enlisted in the U.S. Army normally would halt the fathers removal, Ayala said. However, because of the old removal order, the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement has refused to allow Ledesma-Conchas to remain in the country. Its also rare for an immigrant to continue to fight such a case to the U.S. Supreme Court, his lawyer said. The appellate court in May 2018 found the immigration board acted within its discretion because Ledesma-Concha filed a request to review his removal too late -- 12 years after the order was issued at the hearing he missed. The court also said it lacked authority to review the boards decision. Federal appeals courts have been reluctant to reverse administrative immigration actions, noting that agencies such as the board usually are better equipped to determine enforcement actions. Ledesma-Conchas lawyers cite a dissenting opinion by 9th Circuit Judge Myron H. Bright , who noted there should be a judicial standard to review the immigration boards denials, particularly when theres exceptional circumstances. Ledesma-Conchas family members in Mexico are ranchers who have been targeted by drug trafficking organizations, according to his lawyers. His father had to abandon his livelihood as the cartels threatened him for his animals, they said. More recently, another of Ledesma-Conchas brothers also has disappeared, they said. He faces death if removed, attorney Richard Wintory wrote in the petition to the U.S. Supreme Court. The familys persecution has included death threats, kidnapping, extortion, and disappearances, he wrote. The Board of Immigration Appeals, though, said in 2016 that Ledesma-Conchas didnt know who was responsible for the 2014 disappearance of one brother and that alleged cartel threats to his family appear to be motivated by the desire to steal livestock, which would constitute criminal activity but no persecution. The harm he fears doesnt provide a grounds for asylum, the board found. Ledesma-Conchas lawyers argue that the immigration board denied his motion to reopen his case without a clear standard. Ledesma-Conchas was granted a stay of removal under the Obama administration, but the current administration has chosen to lift that hold, Ayala said. Separately, Ledesma-Conchas has a motion pending before the Board of Immigration Appeals to cancel his removal order, arguing that hes been in the United States more than 10 years, is of good moral character and his deportation would harm his family. He had one driving under the influence of intoxicants conviction in the early 90s, his lawyer said. -- Maxine Bernstein Email at mbernstein@oregonian.com Follow on Twitter @maxoregonian Chicago engineers principal Jennifer Kuther featured on NCTV17 business connections show to discuss the growth of Chicago engineers, completed projects and future plans. She also briefed the services Chicago engineers cater which has benefited many customers in the state of Illinois. Chicago engineers strive to incorporate energy efficient and cost-effective design measures from the start to end of a project and maintain an open, responsive channel of communication with clients. View A professional writing service to help apps rank better and engage more customers. January 2019 - Varna, Bulgaria - Available today, 411Writers App Description Writing services aim to help app developers (Android, iOS) engage more downloaders and rank better in the app stores. 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In this study, 2017 has been considered as the base year and 2018 to 2025 as the forecast period to estimate the Digital Logistics Market 2019 By Size, Revenue, Key Players Advantech Corportion, Digilogistics, Hexaware Technologies, IBM Corporation, JDA Software, Oracle, Samsung Electronics Co, SAP AG, Tech Mahindra, UTI Worldwide Inc Digital Logistics Market https://www.reporthive.com/enquiry.php?id=1635902&req_type=smpl&utm_source=SP https://www.reporthive.com/enquiry.php?id=1635902&req_type=purch https://www.reporthive.com/details/global-digital-logistics-market-2018-2023-5bd180ab8acd8#reportdesc www.reporthive.com The global Digital Logistics market is valued at xx million USD in 2017 and is expected to reach xx million USD by the end of 2023, growing at a CAGR of 9.4% between 2017 and 2023.Logistics is the most important activity among the components of the business and Supply Chain Management (SCM) system. The dynamic logistics environment and significant need of digital technologies is defining new era for managing logistics. Developments in the communication technologies have made the world a closer space where the speed and accuracy of the operations are the key factors for sustainability. Speedy transactions, flexibility of operations, scalability of resources and business transparency are the need of current logistics environment. Digital logistics market has provided various opportunities to solution providers in transforming traditional logistics strategies to well synchronized, efficient and effective model for managing the movement of goods.Get Sample Report@The Major players reported in the market include:Advantech CorportionDigilogisticsHexaware TechnologiesIBM CorporationJDA SoftwareOracleSamsung Electronics CoSAP AGTech MahindraUTI Worldwide IncScope of the Report:This report studies the Digital Logistics market status and outlook of Global and major regions, from angles of players, countries, product types and end industries; this report analyzes the top players in global market, and splits the Digital Logistics market by product type and applications/end industries.Digital systems offer a life time management of assets (materials, vehicles, labor etc.) and also enable users to find out the real-time location, availability and movement of assets. Users and suppliers are able to share information about products and prices through web portals and thus able to manage the resources optimally. Transportation management is the one of the major functions of these logistics which minimizes transit cost and maximizes service delivery to the customers. The other important function constitutes of warehouse management that holds the key for every supply chain wherein the entire focus is towards movement and storage of materials within the warehouse. Digital logistics market systems are being used to create visibility within warehouse and associated processes such as order processing, financial transactions, shipping, dispatch and picking. Logistics information helps in identifying the crucial bottlenecks and hence facilitates in critical decision making.Technological advancements in the past few decades have inevitably led to the potential growth of the industry across the globe. The increasing customer expectation, along with measures to control the logistics cost is playing a vital role in shaping the future of the digital logistics market. The digital logistics market is growing at a constant pace. Since various organizations are gradually adopting these solutions, while innovation and availability of new technologies are generating strong traction across all the emerging venues, owing to the growing need of connectivity on a real-time basis. Furthermore, the technology is expected to bring in integration capabilities of analytical software tools with the existing systems; and such applications will further enhance the growth of revenues, while ensuring customer privacy and assets security.Enquire Before Purchasing@Market Segment by Type, coversConsulting servicesSystem integration servicesOther servicesMarket Segment by Applications, can be divided intoWarehouse managementLabor managementTransportation managementTable of Content1 Digital Logistics Market Overview2 Manufacturers Profiles2.1 Advantech Corportion2.1.1 Business Overview2.1.2 Digital Logistics Type and Applications2.1.2.1 Product A2.1.2.2 Product B2.1.3 Advantech Corportion Digital Logistics Revenue, Gross Margin and Market Share (2016-2017)2.2 Digilogistics2.2.1 Business Overview2.2.2 Digital Logistics Type and Applications2.2.2.1 Product A2.2.2.2 Product B2.2.3 Digilogistics Digital Logistics Revenue, Gross Margin and Market Share (2016-2017)2.3 Hexaware Technologies2.3.1 Business Overview2.3.2 Digital Logistics Type and Applications2.3.2.1 Product A2.3.2.2 Product B2.3.3 Hexaware Technologies Digital Logistics Revenue, Gross Margin and Market Share (2016-2017)2.4 IBM Corporation2.4.1 Business Overview2.4.2 Digital Logistics Type and Applications2.4.2.1 Product A2.4.2.2 Product B2.4.3 IBM Corporation Digital Logistics Revenue, Gross Margin and Market Share (2016-2017)2.5 JDA Software2.5.1 Business Overview2.5.2 Digital Logistics Type and Applications2.5.2.1 Product A2.5.2.2 Product B2.5.3 JDA Software Digital Logistics Revenue, Gross Margin and Market Share (2016-2017)3 Global Digital Logistics Market Competition, by Players4 Global Digital Logistics Market Size by Regions5 North America Digital Logistics Revenue by Countries...ContinuedBrowse Complete Report@About Us:We are a leading repository of market research reports and solutions from the top publishers and market research companies across globe, catering to various industries. This large collection of reports assists organizations in decision-making on aspects such as market entry strategies, market sizing, market share analysis, competitive analysis, product portfolio analysis and opportunity analysis among others. We also assist in determining the best suited and targeted report from our large repository of global reports, company-specific reports and country-level reports.Report Hive500, North Michigan Avenue,Suite 6014Chicago, IL - 60611United StatesWebsite:Email: sales@reporthive.comPhone: +1 312-604-7084 2025 Analysis on Process Pumps Market Report Forecast: By key players KSB, General Electric, Ingersoll-Rand, ITT, Flowserve, Metso, Ebara, Saudi Pump, Grundfos, Danaher, SPX, Pentair, Danaher, Etc. Process Pumps Market https://www.upmarketresearch.com/home/requested_sample/26108 https://www.upmarketresearch.com/home/enquiry_before_buying/26108 https://www.upmarketresearch.com/home/request_for_discount/26108 www.upmarketresearch.com Process Pumps Market research report delivers a close watch on leading competitors with strategic analysis, micro and macro market trend and scenarios, pricing analysis and a holistic overview of the market situations in the forecast period.Get Exclusive FREE Sample Copy Of this Report @UpMarketResearch offers a latest published report on Global Process Pumps Market Analysis and Forecast 2018- 2025 delivering key insights and providing a competitive advantage to clients through a detailed report. The report contains pages which highly exhibit on current market analysis scenario, upcoming as well as future opportunities, revenue growth, pricing and profitability.It is a professional and a detailed report focusing on primary and secondary drivers, market share, leading segments and geographical analysis. Further, key players, major collaborations, merger & acquisitions along with trending innovation and business policies are reviewed in the report. The report contains basic, secondary and advanced information pertaining to the Process Pumps Market global status and trend, market size, share, growth, trends analysis, segment and forecasts from 2018 2025.The scope of the report extends from market scenarios to comparative pricing between major players, cost and profit of the specified market regions. The numerical data is backed up by statistical tools such as SWOT analysis, BCG matrix, SCOT analysis, PESTLE analysis and so on. The statistics are represented in graphical format for a clear understanding on facts and figures.For More Information On This Report, Please VisitThe generated report is firmly based on primary research, interviews with top executives, news sources and information insiders. Secondary research techniques are implemented for better understanding and clarity for data analysis.The report for Process Pumps market analysis & forecast 2018- 2025 is segmented into Product Segment, Application Segment & Major players.Region- wise Analysis Global Process Pumps Market covers: North America Europe China Japan India Southeast Asia Other regions (Central & South America, Middle East & Africa)The Major players reported in the market include: KSB General Electric Ingersoll-Rand ITT Flowserve Metso Ebara Saudi Pump Grundfos Danaher SPX Pentair Danaher Weir GroupGlobal Process Pumps Market: Product Segment Analysis: Axial Flow Pumps Centrifugal Pumps Multistage Pumps OtherGlobal Process Pumps Market: Application Segment Analysis: Construction Chemical Industry Water Treatment Food and Beverage Industry Marine Applications Oil and Gas Pulp and Paper OtherMajor Topics Covered in this Report: Chapter 1 Study Coverage Chapter 2 Executive Summary Chapter 3 Market Size by Manufacturers Chapter 4 Process Pumps Production by Regions Chapter 5 Process Pumps Consumption by Regions Chapter 6 Market Size by Type Chapter 7 Market Size by Application Chapter 8 Manufacturers Profiles Chapter 9 Production Forecasts Chapter 10 Consumption Forecast Chapter 11 Upstream, Industry Chain and Downstream Customers Analysis Chapter 12 Opportunities & Challenges, Threat and Affecting Factors Chapter 13 Key Findings Chapter 14 AppendixProcess Pumps Market Analysis and Forecast 2018- 2025 report helps the clients to take business decisions and to understand strategies of major players in the industry. The report also calls for market- driven results deriving feasibility studies for client needs. UpMarketResearch ensures qualified and verifiable aspects of market data operating in the real- time scenario. The analytical studies are conducted ensuring client needs with a thorough understanding of market capacities in the real- time scenario.Global Process Pumps Market: Key Stakeholders: Process Pumps Manufacturers Process Pumps Distributors/Traders/Wholesalers Process Pumps Subcomponent Manufacturers Industry Association Downstream VendorsIn this study, the years considered to estimate the market size of Process Pumps are as follows: History Year: 2013-2017 Base Year: 2017 Estimated Year: 2018 Forecast Year 2018 to 2025Key Reasons to Purchase: To gain insightful analyses of the market and have a comprehensive understanding of the Global Process Pumps Market Analysis and Forecast 2018- 2025 and its commercial landscape. Learn about the market strategies that are being adopted by your competitors and leading organizations. To understand the future outlook and prospects for Process Pumps market analysis and forecast 2018- 2025.Avail Discount On this Report @Customization of the Report:UpMarketResearch provides free customization of reports as per your need. This report can be personalized to meet your requirements. Get in touch with our sales team, who will guarantee you to get a report that suits your necessities.You can also ask for region wise market research report, as below: Process Pumps - Global Market Status & Trend Report 2018-2025 Top 20 Countries Data Process Pumps - North America Market Status and Trend Report 2018-2025 Process Pumps - South America Market Status and Trend Report 2018-2025 Process Pumps - Europe Market Status and Trend Report 2018-2025 Process Pumps - EMEA Market Status and Trend Report 2018-2025 Process Pumps - Asia Pacific Market Status and Trend Report 2018-2025 Process Pumps - China Market Status and Trend Report 2018-2025 Process Pumps - India Market Status and Trend Report 2018-2025 Process Pumps - United States Market Status and Trend Report 2018-2025About UpMarketResearch:The UpMarketResearch () is a leading distributor of market research report with more than 800+ global clients. As a market research company, we take pride in equipping our clients with insights and data that holds the power to truly make a difference to their business. Our mission is singular and well- defined we want to help our clients envisage their business environment so that they are able to make informed, strategic and therefore successful decisions for themselves.Contact Info:Name: Alex MathewsEmail: Alex@upmarketresearch.comOrganization: UpMarketResearchAddress: 500 East E Street, Ontario, CA 91764, United States. SunPower Corporation, Sunedison profiled in Solar Cells Market to reach $100bn by 2024| By Key players SolarWorld, Jinko Solar, Trina Solar, Canadian Solar, First Solar, Yingli Solar, Tata Power Solar Systems https://www.gminsights.com/request-sample/detail/304 https://www.gminsights.com/inquiry-before-buying/304 https://www.gminsights.com/industry-analysis/solar-cells-market https://www.openpr.com/news/1349245/Offshore-Wind-Energy-Market-to-hit-US-60bn-by-2024-By-Key-Vendors-ENERCON-Nordex-Group-Vestas-GE-Siemens-Gamesa-Senvion-MHI-Vestas-Offshore-Wind-Goldwind-Prysmian-Group-General-Cable-Furukawa-Electric-LatAm-Southwire.html https://www.gminsights.com http://solutionrocket.com The U.S. in 2015 was valued over USD 4 billion and is anticipated to expand over 14% owing to increasing utility scale installation. Government measures towards energy efficiency and carbon emission reduction will further complement the U.S. solar cells market growth. As per the Solar Energy Association, the solar industry in the U.S. installed 7,286 MW of solar photovoltaics in 2015 where the utility-scale sector represented more than 50% of the total solar PV installation.Request for a sample of this research report @China accounted for over 45% of the global solar cells market share in 2015. Rising investment in the photovoltaic industry along with tax credits, soft loans, and other special grants by the government will stimulate the business outlook. According to the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, photovoltaic industry has witnessed record investment of USD 12.3 billion in 2015.Global Solar Cells Market is expected to grow at over 12% to surpass USD 100 billion by 2024. Increasing inclination towards sustainable energy adoption will stimulate the global solar cells market share over the forecast timeframe. Rising demand for off grid electricity along with reducing photovoltaic component cost will propel the industry landscape. As per the World Energy Outlook 2016, around 1.2 billion people in the world have no access to electricity.Company profiled in this report based on Business overview, Financial data, Product landscape, Strategic outlook & SWOT analysis: Mitsubishi Electric Corporation Jinko Solar Trina Solar Canadian Solar First Solar Moser Baer India Ltd Yingli Solar SunPower Corporation Sunedison, Inc. Indosolar Tata Power Solar Systems Ltd. GreenBrilliance. SolarWorldRising demand for the decentralized generation systems in developing nations will enhance the penetration of the sustainable energy during the forecast period. Increasing investment towards rural electrification in off-grid locations in various countries including India, China, and Africa will fuel the solar cells market growth. In September 2015, African Development Bank (AfDB) approved USD 121 million loan and grant for the electricity expansion of rural households in Uganda.Make an inquiry for purchasing this report @Government initiatives towards conservation of energy coupled with ambitious targets to reduce carbon emission will further propel the solar cells market. In June 2015, Government of India has set revised solar mission target at 100 GW by 2022. As per the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE), an estimated total investment of USD 94 billion is expected for upgradation to 100 GW solar power capacity. International Finance Corporation and World bank have also introduced programs including Lighting Africa with an aim to encourage the adoption of photovoltaic over conventional product source among off grid population.Ultra-thin film cells technology was valued over USD 3 million in 2015 and is anticipated to expand over 30% by 2024 in terms of volume. Higher efficiency and light weight compared to other alternate technology will positively encourage the industry landscape.Browse Full Report:Key participants in the solar cells market include Jinko, Sunedison, Canadian, Trina, Yingli, First Solar, Moser Baer, SunPower Corporation, GreenBrilliance, Indosolar, Tata Power, Solar World, and Mitsubishi Electric Corporation.Browse Related Report:Offshore Wind Energy Market Size By Component (Turbine {Rating (< 100 kW, 100 kW to 250 kW, > 250 kW to 500 kW, > 500 kW to 1 MW, 1 MW to 2 MW, > 2 MW), Installation (Floating {Axis {Horizontal (HAWTs) [Up-wind, Down-wind], Vertical (VAWTs)}, Structure {Rotor Module, Nacelle Module, Tower Module}}, Fixed {Axis {Horizontal (HAWTs) [Up-wind, Down-wind], Vertical (VAWTs)}, Structure {Rotor Module, Nacelle Module, Tower Module}}}), Support Structure (Substructure (Steel), Foundation {Monopile, Jacket}), Electrical Infrastructure (Wires & Cables, Substation)), By Depth (0 30 m, 30 50 m, > 50 m), Industry Analysis Report, Regional Outlook (U.S., Canada, Mexico, Germany, Spain, UK, France, Italy, Sweden, Poland, Denmark, Portugal, Netherlands, Ireland, Romania, Belgium, Austria, China, India, Australia, Japan, South Korea, Vietnam, Thailand, Philippines, Taiwan, South Africa, Egypt, Morocco, Ethiopia, Tunisia, Jordan, Brazil, Chile, Argentina, Uruguay), Competitive Market Share & Forecast, 2018 2024About Global Market Insights:Global Market Insights, Inc., headquartered in Delaware, U.S., is a global market research and consulting service provider; offering syndicated and custom research reports along with growth consulting services. Our business intelligence and industry research reports offer clients with penetrative insights and actionable market data specially designed and presented to aid strategic decision making. These exhaustive reports are designed via a proprietary research methodology and are available for key industries such as chemicals, advanced materials, technology, renewable energy and biotechnology.Contact Us:Arun HegdeCorporate Sales, USAGlobal Market Insights, Inc.Phone: 1-302-846-7766Toll Free: 1-888-689-0688Email: sales@gminsights.comWeb:Blog: Data Center Rack Server Market by Top Players Quanta Computer, Inc., HPE, Cisco Systems, Inc., Huawei Technologies Co., Fujitsu Ltd., NEC Corporation, Oracle Corporation, Lenovo Group Ltd. Data Center Rack Server https://www.bigmarketresearch.com/request-sample/2862488?utm_source=Anil&utm_medium=OPR https://www.bigmarketresearch.com/request-for-discount/2862488?utm_source=Anil&utm_medium=OPR https://www.bigmarketresearch.com/purchase-enquiry/2862488?utm_source=Anil&utm_medium=OPR The Data Center Rack Server market revenue was xx.xx Million USD in 2013, grew to xx.xx Million USD in 2017, and will reach xx.xx Million USD in 2023, with a CAGR of x.x% during 2018-2023. Based on the Data Center Rack Server industrial chain, this report mainly elaborate the definition, types, applications and major players of Data Center Rack Server market in details. Deep analysis about market status (2013-2018), enterprise competition pattern, advantages and disadvantages of enterprise Products, industry development trends (2018-2023), regional industrial layout characteristics and macroeconomic policies, industrial policy has also be included. From raw materials to downstream buyers of this industry will be analyzed scientifically, the feature of product circulation and sales channel will be presented as well. In a word, this report will help you to establish a panorama of industrial development and characteristics of the Data Center Rack Server market.Get Sample Copy of this Report @Major Players in Data Center Rack Server market are: Quanta Computer, Inc., HPE, Cisco Systems, Inc., Huawei Technologies Co., Fujitsu Ltd., NEC Corporation, Oracle Corporation, Lenovo Group Ltd., Dell, Inc., Iron Systems, Inc.There are 13 Chapters to thoroughly display the Data Center Rack Server market. This report included the analysis of market overview, market characteristics, industry chain, competition landscape, historical and future data by types, applications and regions.Chapter 1: Data Center Rack Server Market Overview, Product Overview, Market Segmentation, Market Overview of Regions, Market Dynamics, Limitations, Opportunities and Industry News and Policies.Chapter 2: Data Center Rack Server Industry Chain Analysis, Upstream Raw Material Suppliers, Major Players, Production Process Analysis, Cost Analysis, Market Channels and Major Downstream Buyers.Chapter 3: Value Analysis, Production, Growth Rate and Price Analysis by Type of Data Center Rack Server.Chapter 4: Downstream Characteristics, Consumption and Market Share by Application of Data Center Rack Server.Chapter 5: Production Volume, Price, Gross Margin, and Revenue ($) of Data Center Rack Server by Regions (2013-2018).Chapter 6: Data Center Rack Server Production, Consumption, Export and Import by Regions (2013-2018).Chapter 7: Data Center Rack Server Market Status and SWOT Analysis by Regions.Chapter 8: Competitive Landscape, Product Introduction, Company Profiles, Market Distribution Status by Players of Data Center Rack Server.Chapter 9: Data Center Rack Server Market Analysis and Forecast by Type and Application (2018-2023).Chapter 10: Market Analysis and Forecast by Regions (2018-2023).Chapter 11: Industry Characteristics, Key Factors, New Entrants SWOT Analysis, Investment Feasibility Analysis.Chapter 12: Market Conclusion of the Whole Report.Chapter 13: Appendix Such as Methodology and Data Resources of This Research.Get a discount on this research report @Table of Content:Global Data Center Rack Server Industry Market Research Report1 Data Center Rack Server Introduction and Market Overview1.1 Objectives of the Study1.2 Definition of Data Center Rack Server1.3 Data Center Rack Server Market Scope and Market Size Estimation1.3.1 Market Concentration Ratio and Market Maturity Analysis1.3.2 Global Data Center Rack Server Value ($) and Growth Rate from 2013-20231.4 Market Segmentation1.4.1 Types of Data Center Rack Server1.4.2 Applications of Data Center Rack Server1.4.3 Research Regions1.4.3.1 North America Data Center Rack Server Production Value ($) and Growth Rate (2013-2018)1.4.3.2 Europe Data Center Rack Server Production Value ($) and Growth Rate (2013-2018)1.4.3.3 China Data Center Rack Server Production Value ($) and Growth Rate (2013-2018)1.4.3.4 Japan Data Center Rack Server Production Value ($) and Growth Rate (2013-2018)1.4.3.5 Middle East & Africa Data Center Rack Server Production Value ($) and Growth Rate (2013-2018)1.4.3.6 India Data Center Rack Server Production Value ($) and Growth Rate (2013-2018)1.4.3.7 South America Data Center Rack Server Production Value ($) and Growth Rate (2013-2018)1.5 Market Dynamics1.5.1 Drivers1.5.1.1 Emerging Countries of Data Center Rack Server1.5.1.2 Growing Market of Data Center Rack Server1.5.2 Limitations1.5.3 Opportunities1.6 Industry News and Policies by Regions1.6.1 Industry News1.6.2 Industry Policies2 Industry Chain Analysis2.1 Upstream Raw Material Suppliers of Data Center Rack Server Analysis2.2 Major Players of Data Center Rack Server2.2.1 Major Players Manufacturing Base and Market Share of Data Center Rack Server in 20172.2.2 Major Players Product Types in 20172.3 Data Center Rack Server Manufacturing Cost Structure Analysis2.3.1 Production Process Analysis2.3.2 Manufacturing Cost Structure of Data Center Rack Server2.3.3 Raw Material Cost of Data Center Rack Server2.3.4 Labor Cost of Data Center Rack Server2.4 Market Channel Analysis of Data Center Rack Server2.5 Major Downstream Buyers of Data Center Rack Server Analysis3 Global Data Center Rack Server Market, by Type3.1 Global Data Center Rack Server Value ($) and Market Share by Type (2013-2018)3.2 Global Data Center Rack Server Production and Market Share by Type (2013-2018)3.3 Global Data Center Rack Server Value ($) and Growth Rate by Type (2013-2018)3.4 Global Data Center Rack Server Price Analysis by Type (2013-2018)4 Data Center Rack Server Market, by Application4.1 Global Data Center Rack Server Consumption and Market Share by Application (2013-2018)4.2 Downstream Buyers by Application4.3 Global Data Center Rack Server Consumption and Growth Rate by Application (2013-2018)5 Global Data Center Rack Server Production, Value ($) by Region (2013-2018)5.1 Global Data Center Rack Server Value ($) and Market Share by Region (2013-2018)5.2 Global Data Center Rack Server Production and Market Share by Region (2013-2018)5.3 Global Data Center Rack Server Production, Value ($), Price and Gross Margin (2013-2018)5.4 North America Data Center Rack Server Production, Value ($), Price and Gross Margin (2013-2018)Inquiry before Buy @About Us:Big Market Research has a range of research reports from various publishers across the world. Our database of reports of various market categories and sub-categories would help to find the exact report you may be looking for.We are instrumental in providing quantitative and qualitative insights on your area of interest by bringing reports from various publishers at one place to save your time and money. A lot of organizations across the world are gaining profits and great benefits from information gained through reports sourced by us.5933 NE Win Sivers Drive, #205, Portland,OR 97220 United StatesCall answer Direct: +1-971-202-1575Call answer Toll Free: +1-800-910-6452Email help@bigmarketresearch.com Automotive Brake System Market 2022 | Continental AG, Robert Bosch GmbH, Wabco Holdings, Inc., ZF Friedrichshafen AG, Aisin Seiki Co, Ltd., Knorr-Bremse AG, Akebono Brake Industry Co. Ltd., https://www.researchreportinsights.com/report/sample/110115031/Automotive-Brake-System-Market https://www.researchreportinsights.com/report/discount/110115031/Automotive-Brake-System-Market https://www.researchreportinsights.com/report/rd/110115031/Automotive-Brake-System-Market https://www.researchreportinsights.com/ The global automotive brake system market is anticipated to witnessing a substantial growth due to fresh prospects of the automotive industry in emerging along with developing economies and increased safety concerns by the government. It was stated in the report that the overall growth of the market is expected to reach a market value of above US$ 25 Billion through 2022, exhibiting a strong 5.7% of CAGR throughout 2017-2022.In modern cars mostly two kinds of brakes are used which are drum brakes and disc brakes. Every new car has disc brakes on the front wheels, whereas the rear wheels may possibly use whichever drum or disc brakes. Of these, the disc brakes category has a comparatively bigger share in the overall market during 2017 and will account for a market evaluation of US$14 Billion for the duration of the forecast 2017 to 2022. On the other hand, the expansion rate for the drum brakes segment will be on the climb in the approaching years.Request For Report Sample:In terms of the sales channel, the worldwide market is categorized into aftermarket and OEM. The OEM category reflects a revenue share of about fourth-fifth and will foresee a remarkable 5.5% CAGR for the duration of the assessment, 2017-2022. The aftermarket category is relatively a lot smaller and consists the share of residual revenue in the worldwide market for the duration of the assessment. By, vehicle type, the worldwide market is categorized into premium passenger cars, heavy commercial vehicles, light commercial vehicles, luxury passenger cars, compact passenger cars, and mid-sized passenger cars. Of these, the compact cars will have the benefit of being trouble-free to maneuver together with being undemanding on the wallet at the fuel pump. Therefore, it isnt astounding to acknowledge that compact cars will expand market share for the duration of the assessment. The mid-size car category abides by compact cars on the basis of popularity, however, are yet probable to lose market share. The advanced technologies used in the modern cars are electronic stability control (ESC), anti-lock braking system (ABS), electronic brake-force distribution (EBD) and traction control system (TCS).Request Report Discount:Europe to foresee a lucrative market with the highest contribution and the companies in the market are proposed to centralize their efforts on this region with lucrative prospects for a good ROI. With the market in Europe, the companies are trying to center on APEJ or North America, since both the regions will have worldwide market evaluations valuing billions of dollars for the duration of the assessment.The foremost market players active in the worldwide market are Continental AG, Robert Bosch GmbH, Wabco Holdings, Inc., ZF Friedrichshafen AG, Aisin Seiki Co, Ltd., Knorr-Bremse AG, Akebono Brake Industry Co. Ltd., TRW Automotive Holdings Corp., Halla Mando Corp., Brembo S.P.A. and others.Report Analysis:About Us:Research Report Insights (RRI) is a leading market intelligence and consulting firm. We deliver a host of services including custom research reports, syndicated research reports, and consulting services which are personalised in nature. RRI delivers a complete packaged solution to clients; this combines current market intelligence, technology inputs, statistical anecdotes, valuable growth insights, 360-degree view of the competitive framework, and anticipated market trends.Contact Us:Research Report Insights (RRI)42 Joseph StreetPort carling P0B 1J0Muskoka, Ontario1Phone - +1-631-721-4201Website:Email: sales@researchreportinsights.com New Statistical report on Global Telecom Analytics market Competitive Analysis with Growth Forecast 2025 - Hewlett-Packard, IBM, Oracle, Teradata, Amazon Web Services, Cloudera. Telecom Analytics market https://www.qyreports.com/request-sample?report-id=79791 https://www.qyreports.com/ask-for-discount?report-id=79791 http://qyreports.com/enquiry-before-buying?report-id=79791 www.qyreports.com Overview: Telecom analytics is an area of sophisticated business intelligence (BI) technology developed to meet the complex needs of telecommunications companies. Complex business requirements include improving sales numbers, reducing cyber threats such as out-of-home and fraud, enhancing risk management, and lowering operational costs.The Telecom Analytics Market Report provides forecasts of current market value as well as projected growth of Telecom Analytics 2025. The entire supply chain of Telecom Analytics has been described with statistical details that focus on a variety of upstream and downstream components. Recent trends in the demand, supply and sale of Telecom Analytics have been presented along with recent developments to provide a comprehensive picture of recent market conditions.Request Sample Copy of this Report@:Key Vendors in Market includes: Hewlett-Packard, IBM, Oracle, Teradata, Amazon Web Services, Cloudera, Couchbase, EMC, Google, and Microsoft.This report will endow both settled firms and new entrants/smaller firms to determine the pulse of the market, which consecutively helps firms to collect a greater market share. Companies purchasing this report could use any or all of the below mentioned five strategies to strengthen their market share:a) Market penetration-In depth data on the products and services offered by top players in the Telecom Analytics market. The report analyzes the Telecom Analytics market by products, application, end user and region.b) Product development/innovation- Intricate insights on upcoming technologies, research and development activities, and new product launches in the Telecom Analytics market.c) Market development-Comprehensive information about lucrative emerging markets. The report analyzes the markets for Telecom Analytics across various regions.d) Market diversification-Exhaustive information about new products, untapped regions, recent developments, and investments in the Telecom Analytics market.e) Competitive assessment- In depth evaluation of market shares, strategies, products and distribution networks of the leading players in the Telecom Analytics market.Get Reasonable Discount on this Premium Report @:The major strategies adopted by the established players for a better penetration in the global Telecom Analytics market also form a key section of this study. These strategies can be employed by the upcoming vendors for a better penetration in the market. The global market on Incinerator has also been analyzed in terms of revenue. The market dynamics such as market drivers, challenges, opportunities, and trends have been presented coupled with their respective impact analysis. The impact analysis helps in gathering information on the future development of the market.Market segment by Type, Telecom Analytics can be split intoPredictive AnalyticsData MiningText AnalyticsStatistical AnalysisMarket segment by Application, Telecom Analytics can be split intoTelecomOtherFor More Enquiry @:Highlighted key points of this market research report:-This report provides pin-point analysis for changing competitive dynamics-It provides a forward-looking perspective on different factors driving or restraining market growth-It provides seven-years forecast assessed on the basis of how the market is predicted to grow-It helps in understanding the key product segments and their future-It provides pin point analysis of changing competition dynamics and keeps you ahead of competitors-It helps in making informed business decisions by having complete insights of market and by making in-depth analysis of market segmentsIf you have any special requirements, please let us know and we will offer you the report as you want.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 Airway Clearance Systems Market 2025 | Vortran Medical Technology, General Physiotherapy, Inc., Electromed Inc., Thayer Medical, Aptalis Pharma US, Inc., https://www.researchreportinsights.com/report/sample/110115030/Airway-Clearance-Systems-Market https://www.researchreportinsights.com/report/discount/110115030/Airway-Clearance-Systems-Market https://www.researchreportinsights.com/report/rd/110115030/Global-Market https://www.researchreportinsights.com/ The requirement for airway cleaners is rising with the betterment in the reimbursement structure as well as the rising worries on a sound living. So as to conform to the developing necessity, the companies functioning in the market have made an effort to improve work. The airway clearances are hence arising to be the vital choice since they change liquid medication into mist or aerosol. In addition, the increase in per capita earnings in determining individuals to expend more on health care therefore worries about healthcare is growing with rising standards of living. The other aspects which are profiting the North America market for airway clearance systems are the enlargement of third-party payer reporting by producers, expansion of institutional and home care market, a higher occurrence rate of chronic ailments, usage of the Affordable Care Act as well as the bringing down price of the therapy settings. On the other hand, it is nevertheless to be determined that whether the rigid regulation scenario acts the same as a difficulty or not.Request For Report Sample:Market players in the overall market are majorly centering on increasing in other regions, establishing advanced airway clearance technology fitting into the consumers requirement with the purpose of gaining a comparatively bigger market share. The global market for airway cleaner systems is likely to record a 7.6% CAGR for the duration of 2017 to 2025. Increasing from an evaluation of US$ 434.0 Million during 2016, the market is projected to account for an evaluation of US$ 838.7 Million before the finish of 2025.Region-wise, North America market is likely to take over the worldwide market because of growing disposable income together with expanding elderly populace all through the years to come. On the contrary, Europe market is likely to anticipate an upright expansion over the years to come. The price structure of institutional services or hospitals and home care in Europe alters substantially because of the value of services extended by respiratory care service manufacturers or providers that constitute another type of hospitality and monitoring services.Request Report Discount:Based on the device type, the global market includes mechanical cough assist, intrapulmonary percussive ventilation, high-frequency chest wall compression, OPEP (oscillatory positive expiratory pressure) and PEP (positive expiratory pressure). Based on the application type, the overall market includes immotile cilia syndrome, bronchiectasis, chronic bronchitis, cystic fibrosis, and others. Based on the end user, the overall market includes home care settings, ambulatory surgical centers, hospitals and clinics, and others.Conventional participants have determined a value and brand image throughout the years that have made market infiltration very composite for novel players. The foremost companies operating in the global market are Monaghan Medical Corporation, Vortran Medical Technology, General Physiotherapy, Inc., Electromed Inc., Thayer Medical, Aptalis Pharma US, Inc., Philips Respironics (Koninklijke Philips N.V.,), Hill-Rom Holdings, Inc. and others.Report Analysis:About Us:Research Report Insights (RRI) is a leading market intelligence and consulting firm. We deliver a host of services including custom research reports, syndicated research reports, and consulting services which are personalised in nature. RRI delivers a complete packaged solution to clients; this combines current market intelligence, technology inputs, statistical anecdotes, valuable growth insights, 360-degree view of the competitive framework, and anticipated market trends.Contact Us:Research Report Insights (RRI)42 Joseph StreetPort carling P0B 1J0Muskoka, Ontario1Phone - +1-631-721-4201Website:Email: sales@researchreportinsights.com Biodefense Market 2019 Business Growth by Prominent Market Players: ALNYLAM PHARMACEUTICALS, BAVARIAN NORDIC, CLEVELAND BIOLABS, DYNPORT VACCINE COMPANY, ELUSYS THERAPEUTICS, EMERGENT BIOSOLUTIONS https://marketprognosis.com/sample-request/17127 https://marketprognosis.com/discount-request/17127 https://marketprognosis.com/enquiry/17127 The global biodefense market is expected to register a CAGR of 6.5% during the forecast period, 2018 to 2023. Bioterrorism is the use of biological agents that are harmful for mankind. Biodefense includes medical measures to protect from biological agents. Key factors driving the market growth are rise in technological advancement, such as nanotechnology, database management systems, advanced detector hardware, and gene chips for pathogen detection in the forensic department. Also, the rise in the production of vaccines, enhanced forensics, and quick diagnostic procedures and detection techniques are the factors expected to drive the market growth. Additionally, due to the recent outbreak of Nipah, Ebola, and Zika viruses governments are increasing R&D funding. Increasing investments by regional governments of developed countries for biodefense are also expected to enhance the market growth over the forecast period.Get Sample Copy of this report @Favorable Government InitiativesGovernments spend huge sums of money every year for the R&D of vaccines in order stay prepared for any bioterrorism attacks. Pharmaceutical companies operating in the biodefense sector have huge opportunities to expand due to governments drive to be prepare for any kind of bioterrorism. For instance, in 2004, the US congress passed the Project Bioshield act, calling for USD 5 billion investment for purchasing vaccines which can be used in the event of a bioterrorist attack. This act was designed to acquire medical countermeasures to biological, chemical, radiological, and nuclear agents for civilian use. Such government initiatives are expected to propel the growth of the biodefense market.Other factors driving this market are rapid technological advancements and increasing investments by regional governments in developed countries.Key Developments in the Market February 2018 - Bavarian Nordic A/S announced positive results from a Phase 3 pivotal study of its investigational and non-replicating smallpox vaccine, IMVAMUNE March 2017 - PharmAthene Inc. a biodefense company developing medical countermeasures against anthrax, announced that it has established a record date and meeting date for a special meeting of stockholders to vote upon, among other things, the proposal to adopt the agreement and plan of merger and reorganization involving PharmAthene and Altimmune Inc.Major Players:ALNYLAM PHARMACEUTICALS INC., BAVARIAN NORDIC, CLEVELAND BIOLABS, DYNPORT VACCINE COMPANY LLC, ELUSYS THERAPEUTICS INC., EMERGENT BIOSOLUTIONS INC., ICHOR MEDICAL SYSTEMS, OLOGY BIOSCIENCE, PHARMATHENE INC., AND SIGA TECHNOLOGIES INDUSTRIES LTD, amongst others.Request Discount on this report @Low Market Penetration in Developing and Underdeveloped CountriesThe growth of biodefense market may be hampered by the low market penetration in the developing and underdeveloped countries. Limited government interventions and funding for biodefense materials are some of the major reasons restraining the growth of the market. Developed countries have more resources to be prepared for a bio war when compared to developing countries.North America to Dominate the MarketNorth America dominated the global biodefense market in 2017, which can be attributed to the increase in government funding to generate and stockpile sufficient vaccines to be used against anthrax through various initiative, such as BioShield act, Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA), and Joint Program Executive Office for Chemical & Biological Defense. For instance, the US Department of Health and Human Services announced it plans to spend more than USD 25 million on an anthrax antitoxin, as a part of an emergency preparedness plan in 2018. In May 2018, the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI) announced that USD 25 million was granted to advance the development and manufacture of a vaccine against the Nipah virus (NiV) to major market players, like Profectus BioSciences Inc. and Emergent BioSolutions Inc. The above mentioned initiatives by government are expected to boost the growth of the market in the region.Enquiry Before Buying @About Market PrognosisWe at Market Prognosis believe in giving a crystal clear view of market dynamics for achieving success in todays complex and competitive marketplace through our quantitative & qualitative research methods.We help our clients identify the best market insights and analysis required for their business thus enabling them to take strategic and intelligent decision.We believe in delivering actionable insights for your business growth and success.Contact us:ProgMark Pvt Ltd,Thane - 421501India.Contact No: +1 973 241 5193Email: sales@marketprognosis.com Revenue Cycle Management Market Encountered Significant Development by 2024: key Industries are Allscripts Healthcare, GE Healthcare, Mckesson, Eclinicalworks, Gebbs Healthcare, Conifer Health Revenue Cycle Management Market https://www.businessindustryreports.com/sample-request/126529 https://www.businessindustryreports.com/buy-now/126529/single https://www.businessindustryreports.com/check-discount/126529 The Global Revenue Cycle Management Market 2019 report provides the newest industry data and industry future trends, allowing you to identify the products and end users driving Revenue growth and profitability. The industry report lists the leading competitors and provides the insights strategic industry Analysis of the key factors influencing the market.Global Revenue Cycle Management Market Overview:The Revenue Cycle Management Market 2019 report begins from overview of Industry Chain structure, and describes industry environment, then analyses market size and forecast of Revenue Cycle Management by product, region and application, in addition, this report introduces market competition situation among the vendors and company profile, besides, market price analysis and value chain features are covered in this report.Accessible Exclusive Sample Copy of this Report @The Major Factor of Revenue Cycle Management Market, such as growth of the global market include the decreasing reimbursements in the healthcare industry, regulatory mandates for the adoption of EHR/EMR, government initiatives to boost the adoption of RCM solutions, loss of revenue due to billing errors, and process improvements in healthcare organizations.The report also covers segment data: Product Type, Deployment, Applications and Regions. Based on type, the market has been segmented into Integrated RCM and Standalone RCM.On the basis of Product Type, the integrated solutions segment is expected to account for the largest share of the global Revenue Cycle Management market and is projected to register the highest CAGR during the forecast period. Largest share and growth in this segment can be attributed to the rising adoption of value-based payment systems and the growing demand for cost-saving data management solutions.Based on regions, the North America is expected to account for the largest share of the global market. Asia is expected to register the highest growth rate from 2019 to 2024. This can be attributed to increasing patient population rising demand for centralized and cost-effective financial management solutions and growing use of electronic insurance medical claims in countries such as Japan, China, India, and Singapore.Purchase this report online with 105 pages list of tables and figures and all around table of contents on @Significant key players:1 Allscripts Healthcare2 GE Healthcare3 Mckesson4 Eclinicalworks5 Gebbs Healthcare6 Conifer HealthRevenue Cycle Management market, by region:1 North America2 Europe3 Middle East & Africa4 South America5 OthersGlobal Revenue Cycle Management market 2019-2024: From crude materials to downstream purchasers of this industry will be examined deductively, the element of item flow and deals channel will be exhibited too. In a word, this report will assist you with establishing a scene of mechanical advancement and attributes of the Access Control advertise.Snatch your report @This investigation answers to the underneath key inquiries:1 A detailed analysis of regulatory trends, drivers, industry pitfalls, challenges and growth opportunities for participants2 Which are the leading market products, applications & regions and how will they perform by 2024?3 What are the technologies & innovation trends, how will they evolve by 2024?4 Which companies lead the industry, how are they positioned in the market in terms of sustainability, competency, production capacity and strategic outlook?In the end this report covers information and information on limit and generation outline creation piece of the pie investigation deals review supply deals and lack import fare and utilization and additionally cost value income and gross margin of Revenue Cycle Management.Significant points in table of contents:1 Revenue Cycle Management introduction and market overview2 Industry chain analysis3 Global Revenue Cycle Management market, by type4 Revenue Cycle Management market, by application5 Global Revenue Cycle Management production, value ($) by region (2014-2019)6 Global Revenue Cycle Management production, consumption, export, import by regions (2014-2019)7 Global Revenue Cycle Management market status and swot analysis by regions8 Competitive landscape9 Global Revenue Cycle Management market analysis and forecast by type and application10 Revenue Cycle Management market analysis and forecast by region11 New project feasibility analysis12 Research finding and conclusion13 AppendixAbout usBusinessindustryreports.com is digital database of comprehensive market reports for global industries. As a market research company we take pride in equipping our clients with insights and data that holds the power to truly make a difference to their business. Our mission is singular and well-defined we want to help our clients envisage their business environment so that they are able to make informed strategic and therefore successful decisions for themselves.Media contactBusiness industry reportspune indiasales@businessindustryreports.com+19376349940 Fine Pharmaceutical Chemicals 2019 Global Market Key Players Abbott, Akzo Nobel, Albemarle Corporation, AstraZeneca, BASF.... Fine Pharmaceutical Chemicals Market 2019 https://www.wiseguyreports.com/sample-request/3120144-global-fine-pharmaceutical-chemicals-market-research-report-2018 https://www.wiseguyreports.com/enquiry/3120144-global-fine-pharmaceutical-chemicals-market-research-report-2018 Fine Pharmaceutical Chemicals Market 2019Wiseguyreports.Com Adds Fine Pharmaceutical Chemicals Global Market Growth, Opportunities, Analysis Of Top Key Players And Forecast To 2025 To Its Research Database.Description:This report studies the global Fine Pharmaceutical Chemicals market status and forecast, categorizes the global Fine Pharmaceutical Chemicals market size (value & volume) by manufacturers, type, application, and region. This report focuses on the top manufacturers in North America, Europe, Japan, China, and other regions (India, Southeast Asia).The major manufacturers covered in this reportAbbottAkzo NobelAlbemarle CorporationAstraZenecaBASFBoehringer IngelheimClariantEastman ChemicalEvonik IndustriesGlaxoSmithKleinLonza GroupMerck and co.RocheRoyal DSMThe Dow Chemical CompanyRequest for Sample Report @Geographically, this report studies the top producers and consumers, focuses on product capacity, production, value, consumption, market share and growth opportunity in these key regions, coveringNorth AmericaEuropeChinaJapanSoutheast AsiaIndiaWe can also provide the customized separate regional or country-level reports, for the following regions:North AmericaUnited StatesCanadaMexicoAsia-PacificChinaIndiaJapanSouth KoreaAustraliaIndonesiaSingaporeRest of Asia-PacificEuropeGermanyFranceUKItalySpainRussiaRest of EuropeCentral & South AmericaBrazilArgentinaRest of South AmericaMiddle East & AfricaSaudi ArabiaTurkeyRest of Middle East & AfricaOn the basis of product, this report displays the production, revenue, price, market share and growth rate of each type, primarily split intoBig MoleculesSmall MoleculesOn the basis of the end users/applications, this report focuses on the status and outlook for major applications/end users, consumption (sales), market share and growth rate for each application, includingNon Proprietary DrugsPoprietary DrugsEnquiry before Buying @If you have any special requirements, please let us know and we will offer you the report as you want.Table of Content:Global Fine Pharmaceutical Chemicals Market Research Report 20181 Fine Pharmaceutical Chemicals Market Overview1.1 Product Overview and Scope of Fine Pharmaceutical Chemicals1.2 Fine Pharmaceutical Chemicals Segment by Type (Product Category)1.2.1 Global Fine Pharmaceutical Chemicals Production and CAGR (%) Comparison by Type (Product Category)(2013-2025)1.2.2 Global Fine Pharmaceutical Chemicals Production Market Share by Type (Product Category) in 20171.2.3 Big Molecules1.2.3 Small Molecules1.3 Global Fine Pharmaceutical Chemicals Segment by Application1.3.1 Fine Pharmaceutical Chemicals Consumption (Sales) Comparison by Application (2013-2025)1.3.2 Non Proprietary Drugs1.3.3 Poprietary Drugs1.4 Global Fine Pharmaceutical Chemicals Market by Region (2013-2025)1.4.1 Global Fine Pharmaceutical Chemicals Market Size (Value) and CAGR (%) Comparison by Region (2013-2025)1.4.2 North America Status and Prospect (2013-2025)1.4.3 Europe Status and Prospect (2013-2025)1.4.4 China Status and Prospect (2013-2025)1.4.5 Japan Status and Prospect (2013-2025)1.4.6 Southeast Asia Status and Prospect (2013-2025)1.4.7 India Status and Prospect (2013-2025)1.5 Global Market Size (Value) of Fine Pharmaceutical Chemicals (2013-2025)1.5.1 Global Fine Pharmaceutical Chemicals Revenue Status and Outlook (2013-2025)1.5.2 Global Fine Pharmaceutical Chemicals Capacity, Production Status and Outlook (2013-2025)..7 Global Fine Pharmaceutical Chemicals Manufacturers Profiles/Analysis7.1 Abbott7.1.1 Company Basic Information, Manufacturing Base, Sales Area and Its Competitors7.1.2 Fine Pharmaceutical Chemicals Product Category, Application and Specification7.1.2.1 Product A7.1.2.2 Product B7.1.3 Abbott Fine Pharmaceutical Chemicals Capacity, Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2013-2018)7.1.4 Main Business/Business Overview7.2 Akzo Nobel7.2.1 Company Basic Information, Manufacturing Base, Sales Area and Its Competitors7.2.2 Fine Pharmaceutical Chemicals Product Category, Application and Specification7.2.2.1 Product A7.2.2.2 Product B7.2.3 Akzo Nobel Fine Pharmaceutical Chemicals Capacity, Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2013-2018)7.2.4 Main Business/Business Overview7.3 Albemarle Corporation7.3.1 Company Basic Information, Manufacturing Base, Sales Area and Its Competitors7.3.2 Fine Pharmaceutical Chemicals Product Category, Application and Specification7.3.2.1 Product A7.3.2.2 Product B7.3.3 Albemarle Corporation Fine Pharmaceutical Chemicals Capacity, Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2013-2018)7.3.4 Main Business/Business Overview7.4 AstraZeneca7.4.1 Company Basic Information, Manufacturing Base, Sales Area and Its Competitors7.4.2 Fine Pharmaceutical Chemicals Product Category, Application and Specification7.4.2.1 Product A7.4.2.2 Product B7.4.3 AstraZeneca Fine Pharmaceutical Chemicals Capacity, Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2013-2018)7.4.4 Main Business/Business Overview7.5 BASF7.5.1 Company Basic Information, Manufacturing Base, Sales Area and Its Competitors7.5.2 Fine Pharmaceutical Chemicals Product Category, Application and Specification7.5.2.1 Product A7.5.2.2 Product B7.5.3 BASF Fine Pharmaceutical Chemicals Capacity, Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2015-2018)7.5.4 Main Business/Business Overview7.6 Boehringer Ingelheim7.6.1 Company Basic Information, Manufacturing Base, Sales Area and Its Competitors7.6.2 Fine Pharmaceutical Chemicals Product Category, Application and Specification7.6.2.1 Product A7.6.2.2 Product B7.6.3 Boehringer Ingelheim Fine Pharmaceutical Chemicals Capacity, Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2013-2018)7.6.4 Main Business/Business Overview7.7 Clariant7.7.1 Company Basic Information, Manufacturing Base, Sales Area and Its Competitors7.7.2 Fine Pharmaceutical Chemicals Product Category, Application and Specification7.7.2.1 Product A7.7.2.2 Product B7.7.3 Clariant Fine Pharmaceutical Chemicals Capacity, Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2013-2018)7.7.4 Main Business/Business Overview7.8 Eastman Chemical7.8.1 Company Basic Information, Manufacturing Base, Sales Area and Its Competitors7.8.2 Fine Pharmaceutical Chemicals Product Category, Application and Specification7.8.2.1 Product A7.8.2.2 Product B7.8.3 Eastman Chemical Fine Pharmaceutical Chemicals Capacity, Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2013-2018)7.8.4 Main Business/Business Overview7.9 Evonik Industries7.9.1 Company Basic Information, Manufacturing Base, Sales Area and Its Competitors7.9.2 Fine Pharmaceutical Chemicals Product Category, Application and Specification7.9.2.1 Product A7.9.2.2 Product B7.9.3 Evonik Industries Fine Pharmaceutical Chemicals Capacity, Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2013-2018)7.9.4 Main Business/Business Overview7.8 GlaxoSmithKlein7.10.1 Company Basic Information, Manufacturing Base, Sales Area and Its Competitors7.10.2 Fine Pharmaceutical Chemicals Product Category, Application and Specification7.10.2.1 Product A7.10.2.2 Product B7.10.3 GlaxoSmithKlein Fine Pharmaceutical Chemicals Capacity, Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2013-2018)7.10.4 Main Business/Business Overview7.11 Lonza Group7.12 Merck and co.7.13 Roche7.14 Royal DSM7.15 The Dow Chemical CompanyContinued..Contact US:NORAH TRENTPartner Relations & Marketing Managersales@wiseguyreports.comPh: +1-646-845-9349 (US)Ph: +44 208 133 9349 (UK)About Us:Wise Guy Reports Is Part Of The Wise Guy Consultants Pvt. Ltd. And Offers Premium Progressive Statistical Surveying, Market Research Reports, Analysis & Forecast Data For Industries And Governments Around The Globe. Wise Guy Reports Features An Exhaustive List Of Market Research Reports From Hundreds Of Publishers Worldwide. We Boast A Database Virtualization Softwarenning Virtually Every Market Category And An Even More Comprehensive Collection Of Market Research Reports Under These Categories And Sub-Categories.Addres:: Wise Guy Research Consultants Pvt Ltd: Pune 411028: Maharashtra,: Ph: +91 841 198 5042 Green Petroleum Coke 2019 Global Market Key Players Saudi Arabian Oil Company, Reliance Industries Limited, Indian Oil Corporation Limited..... Green Petroleum Coke Market 2019 https://www.wiseguyreports.com/sample-request/3588885-global-green-petroleum-coke-industry-market-research-report https://www.wiseguyreports.com/enquiry/3588885-global-green-petroleum-coke-industry-market-research-report Green Petroleum Coke Market 2019Wiseguyreports.Com Adds Green Petroleum Coke Global Market Growth, Opportunities, Analysis Of Top Key Players And Forecast To 2023 To Its Research Database.Description:The Green Petroleum Coke market revenue was xx.xx Million USD in 2013, grew to xx.xx Million USD in 2017, and will reach xx.xx Million USD in 2023, with a CAGR of x.x% during 2018-2023. Based on the Green Petroleum Coke industrial chain, this report mainly elaborate the definition, types, applications and major players of Green Petroleum Coke market in details. Deep analysis about market status (2013-2018), enterprise competition pattern, advantages and disadvantages of enterprise Products, industry development trends (2018-2023), regional industrial layout characteristics and macroeconomic policies, industrial policy has also be included. From raw materials to downstream buyers of this industry will be analyzed scientifically, the feature of product circulation and sales channel will be presented as well. In a word, this report will help you to establish a panorama of industrial development and characteristics of the Green Petroleum Coke market.The Green Petroleum Coke market can be split based on product types, major applications, and important regions.Major Players in Green Petroleum Coke market are:Saudi Arabian Oil CompanyReliance Industries LimitedIndian Oil Corporation LimitedChevron CorporationBP PlcValero Energy CorporationExxonMobil CorporationEssar Oil LtdRequest for Sample Report @Major Regions play vital role in Green Petroleum Coke market are:North AmericaEuropeChinaJapanMiddle East & AfricaIndiaSouth AmericaOthersMost important types of Green Petroleum Coke products covered in this report are:Anode grade cokeSteel grade cokeMost widely used downstream fields of Green Petroleum Coke market covered in this report are:Application 1Application 2Application 3Application 4Application 5Enquiry before Buying @If you have any special requirements, please let us know and we will offer you the report as you want.Table of Content:Global Green Petroleum Coke Industry Market Research Report1 Green Petroleum Coke Introduction and Market Overview1.1 Objectives of the Study1.2 Definition of Green Petroleum Coke1.3 Green Petroleum Coke Market Scope and Market Size Estimation1.3.1 Market Concentration Ratio and Market Maturity Analysis1.3.2 Global Green Petroleum Coke Value ($) and Growth Rate from 2013-20231.4 Market Segmentation1.4.1 Types of Green Petroleum Coke1.4.2 Applications of Green Petroleum Coke1.4.3 Research Regions1.4.3.1 North America Green Petroleum Coke Production Value ($) and Growth Rate (2013-2018)1.4.3.2 Europe Green Petroleum Coke Production Value ($) and Growth Rate (2013-2018)1.4.3.3 China Green Petroleum Coke Production Value ($) and Growth Rate (2013-2018)1.4.3.4 Japan Green Petroleum Coke Production Value ($) and Growth Rate (2013-2018)1.4.3.5 Middle East & Africa Green Petroleum Coke Production Value ($) and Growth Rate (2013-2018)1.4.3.6 India Green Petroleum Coke Production Value ($) and Growth Rate (2013-2018)1.4.3.7 South America Green Petroleum Coke Production Value ($) and Growth Rate (2013-2018)1.5 Market Dynamics1.5.1 Drivers1.5.1.1 Emerging Countries of Green Petroleum Coke1.5.1.2 Growing Market of Green Petroleum Coke1.5.2 Limitations1.5.3 Opportunities1.6 Industry News and Policies by Regions1.6.1 Industry News1.6.2 Industry Policies..8 Competitive Landscape8.1 Competitive Profile8.2 Saudi Arabian Oil Company8.2.1 Company Profiles8.2.2 Green Petroleum Coke Product Introduction8.2.3 Saudi Arabian Oil Company Production, Value ($), Price, Gross Margin 2013-2018E8.2.4 Saudi Arabian Oil Company Market Share of Green Petroleum Coke Segmented by Region in 20178.3 Reliance Industries Limited8.3.1 Company Profiles8.3.2 Green Petroleum Coke Product Introduction8.3.3 Reliance Industries Limited Production, Value ($), Price, Gross Margin 2013-2018E8.3.4 Reliance Industries Limited Market Share of Green Petroleum Coke Segmented by Region in 20178.4 Indian Oil Corporation Limited8.4.1 Company Profiles8.4.2 Green Petroleum Coke Product Introduction8.4.3 Indian Oil Corporation Limited Production, Value ($), Price, Gross Margin 2013-2018E8.4.4 Indian Oil Corporation Limited Market Share of Green Petroleum Coke Segmented by Region in 20178.5 Chevron Corporation8.5.1 Company Profiles8.5.2 Green Petroleum Coke Product Introduction8.5.3 Chevron Corporation Production, Value ($), Price, Gross Margin 2013-2018E8.5.4 Chevron Corporation Market Share of Green Petroleum Coke Segmented by Region in 20178.6 BP Plc8.6.1 Company Profiles8.6.2 Green Petroleum Coke Product Introduction8.6.3 BP Plc Production, Value ($), Price, Gross Margin 2013-2018E8.6.4 BP Plc Market Share of Green Petroleum Coke Segmented by Region in 20178.7 Valero Energy Corporation8.7.1 Company Profiles8.7.2 Green Petroleum Coke Product Introduction8.7.3 Valero Energy Corporation Production, Value ($), Price, Gross Margin 2013-2018E8.7.4 Valero Energy Corporation Market Share of Green Petroleum Coke Segmented by Region in 20178.8 ExxonMobil Corporation8.8.1 Company Profiles8.8.2 Green Petroleum Coke Product Introduction8.8.3 ExxonMobil Corporation Production, Value ($), Price, Gross Margin 2013-2018E8.8.4 ExxonMobil Corporation Market Share of Green Petroleum Coke Segmented by Region in 20178.9 Essar Oil Ltd8.9.1 Company Profiles8.9.2 Green Petroleum Coke Product Introduction8.9.3 Essar Oil Ltd Production, Value ($), Price, Gross Margin 2013-2018E8.9.4 Essar Oil Ltd Market Share of Green Petroleum Coke Segmented by Region in 2017Continued..Contact US:NORAH TRENTPartner Relations & Marketing Managersales@wiseguyreports.comPh: +1-646-845-9349 (US)Ph: +44 208 133 9349 (UK)About Us:Wise Guy Reports Is Part Of The Wise Guy Consultants Pvt. Ltd. And Offers Premium Progressive Statistical Surveying, Market Research Reports, Analysis & Forecast Data For Industries And Governments Around The Globe. Wise Guy Reports Features An Exhaustive List Of Market Research Reports From Hundreds Of Publishers Worldwide. We Boast A Database Virtualization Softwarenning Virtually Every Market Category And An Even More Comprehensive Collection Of Market Research Reports Under These Categories And Sub-Categories.Addres:: Wise Guy Research Consultants Pvt Ltd: Pune 411028: Maharashtra,: Ph: +91 841 198 5042 Tetanus Market 2016-2026 | BB-NCIPD, PT Bio Farma, Biological E, Sanofi, GlaxoSmithKline, Serum Institute of India Pvt. Ltd., Accord Healthcare Inc. https://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/sample/rep-gb-1376 https://www.futuremarketinsights.com/toc/rep-gb-1376 Tetanus also known as lockjaw, is an acute disease caused by the bacterium clostridium tetani which are present in the environment and particularly found in the soil of moist and warm areas. It is characterized by convulsive spasms and generalized rigidity of the skeletal muscles. The muscles stiffness is found to be occurred in the jaw and neck first and then become generalized. During the early 1920s a method for inactivating tetanus by the use of formaldehyde was introduced by Ramon, which led to the development of tetanus toxoid in 1924. Tetanus following injuries in children and adult may constitute a considerable public health problem. The mortality of tetanus can be 100% if it is not treated. The infection can be treated through vaccination and other medication treatment.Tetanus Market: Drivers & RestraintsThe Tetanus market is expected to grow exponentially during the forecast period, primarily due to the rise in research and development practices, increased awareness about the disease prevention and treatment, and increased healthcare expenditure. The high expenditure in R&D is the key factor contributing in the growth of global tetanus market. The large number of products such as GSK-217744, LVBF-0101, TAK-361S and others are undergoing the clinical trials currently. Though the market seems optimistic in coming years, side effects associated with the treatment, high costs of R&D, along with stringent regulatory procedures in some of the key nations can led to some negative impact on this industry. The procurement of tetanus vaccination by the UNICEF, WHO and other government initiatives for the prevention and treatment of tetanus are expected to create the growth opportunities for the global tetanus market.Request Sample Report @Tetanus Market: SegmentationThe Tetanus market is classified on the basis of product type, end user, and geography.Based on product type, the tetanus market is segmented into the following:Tetanus immune globulin (TIG)Intravenous immune globulin (IVIG) containing tetanus antitoxinTetanus toxoid (TT)Tetanus-diphtheria (Td)Diphtheria toxoid and acellular pertussis vaccine (DTaP)Based on end user, the Tetanus market is segmented into the following:HospitalsClinicsAmbulatory Surgical CentersTetanus Market: OverviewIt is mandatory that the children younger than 7 years of age should get either DTaP or pediatric DT. The Persons of age 7 or older should get the adult formulation known as adult Td, even if the series of DTaP or pediatric DT is not completed. Usually, Tetanus toxoid is administered in combination with diphtheria toxoid, as the boosting is required for both antigens periodically. Thus, the market for tetanus toxoid and diphtheria toxoid are expected to enhance the overall growth of tetanus market. The FDA has approved two brands of Tdap: Boostrix which is approved for persons of 10 years of age and older and Adacel which is approved for persons of 10 through 64 years of age. DTaP and Tdap vaccines do not contain thimerosal as a preservative.Tetanus Market: Region-wise OutlookDemand for tetanus market is expected to generate from developing economies including MEA and Asia Pacific. The government focus towards providing reliable healthcare solution, increasing healthcare expenditure and key innovations driven by some of the key industry leaders are expected to contribute in the overall growth of tetanus market in North America and Europe. The demand of Td vaccine is found to be limited as compared to that of TT vaccines. The stringent vaccine regulatory environments and licensing in some countries are expected limit access to vaccines, as not all the manufacturers would have licensed Td vaccines in all countries procuring through UNICEF.Request to View TOC @Tetanus Market: Key PlayersSome of the key market players of global tetanus are BB-NCIPD, PT Bio Farma, Biological E, Sanofi, GlaxoSmithKline, Serum Institute of India Pvt. Ltd., Accord Healthcare Inc., Shanha Biotechniques Pvt Ltd,Future Market Insights is the premier provider of market intelligence and consulting services, serving clients in over 150 countries. FMI is headquartered in London, the global financial capital, and has delivery centers in the U.S. and India.FMIs research and consulting services help businesses around the globe navigate the challenges in a rapidly evolving marketplace with confidence and clarity. Our customized and syndicated market research reports deliver actionable insights that drive sustainable growth. We continuously track emerging trends and events in a broad range of end industries to ensure our clients prepare for the evolving needs of their consumers.U.S. Office, 616 Corporate Way, Suite 2-9018,, Valley Cottage, NY 10989,, United States, T: +1-347-9616 Corporate Way, Suite 2-9018, Recent Development in Oral Care Products Industry Market | Growth Analysis by Top Manufacturers and Regions to 2024 - 3M-ESPE, Colgate-Palmolive, Dentsply, Danaher, Ivoclar Vivadent, GC Oral Care Products Industry Market https://www.businessindustryreports.com/sample-request/129039 https://www.businessindustryreports.com/buy-now/129039/single https://www.businessindustryreports.com/check-discount/129039 A fresh report has been added to the wide database of Business Industry Reports. The research study is titled Oral Care Products Market by Manufacturers, Countries, Type and Application, Forecast to 2024 which provides important data about the production, consumption, revenue and company profiles for key industry participants.Global Oral Care Products Market Synopsis:According to Market Analyst, Global Oral Care Products Market is projected to grow at a healthy growth rate from 2019 to 2024.Get Exclusive Sample Study Papers of Oral Care Products Market @The rising awareness regarding oral hygiene is causing a shift from traditional products to innovative appliances, formulations, and implements. The increasing consumer spending power is translating into the greater uptake of advanced oral care products. The rapidly growing geriatric population is also leading to the higher demand for oral care products as aged people are more susceptible to dental problems. Moreover, the rising prevalence of caries and periodontal diseases is fuelling the market.Global Oral Care Products Market has been segmented on the Basis of product type and Region. On the Basis of product type, Market can be sub segmented into Toothbrush, Toothpaste, Mouthwash, Denture Products, Dental accessories, Other. toothpaste held the largest share in the oral care market in 2017. High product usage across all income and age groups is the primary factor driving this segment. Availability of different forms of toothpastes, such as, gels, pastes, and powder, provides more options to consumers, thus propelling demand.Regionally, North America and Europe, collectively, account for a large share in the market. The growth of these regions is fuelled by the growing geriatric population and increasing demand for advanced dental procedures. Asia Pacific is expected to register a noteworthy CAGR during the forecast period. The rising prevalence of dental diseases, continuous technological advancements, and growing medical tourism in countries such as China, India, and South Korea are contributing to the growth of the region.Complete report on Oral Care Products Market spread across 134 Pages and No. of Table of contents. Buy Research @The Market is segmented and projected on the basis of major key players:1 3M-ESPE2 Colgate-Palmolive Company3 Dentsply International4 Danaher Corporation5 Ivoclar Vivadent6 GC CorporationMarket segment by Regions/Countries, this report covers:1 North America2 Europe3 China4 Japan5 Middle East & Africa6 India7 South America8 OthersRequest a Discount on standard prices of this premium report @The prime objective of this report is to help the user understand the market in terms of its definition, segmentation, market potential, influential trends, and the challenges that the market is facing. Deep researches and analysis were done during the preparation of the report. The readers will find this report very helpful in understanding the market in depth. The facts and data are represented in the report using diagrams, graphs, pie charts, and other pictorial representations. This enhances the visual representation and also helps in understanding the facts much better.Key Questions Answered in this Report:1 What are the major market drivers, challenges, and opportunities in the Global Oral Care Products market?2 What was the market value of the leading segments and sub-segments of the Global Oral Care Products market in 2017?3 What are the influencing factors that may affect the market share of the key players?4 Who are the key players in Oral Care Products Market?5 How will the industry evolve during the forecast period 2019-2024?TABLE OF CONTENTS1 Oral Care Products Introduction and Market Overview2 Industry Chain Analysis3 Global Oral Care Products Market, by Type4 Oral Care Products Market, by Application5 Global Oral Care Products Production, Value ($) by Region (2014-2019)6 Global Oral Care Products Production, Consumption, Export, Import by Regions (2014-2019)7 Global Oral Care Products Market Status and SWOT Analysis by Regions8 Competitive Landscape9 Global Oral Care Products Market Analysis and Forecast by Type and Application10 Oral Care Products Market Analysis and Forecast by Region11 New Project Feasibility Analysis12 Research Finding and Conclusion13 AppendixAbout usBusinessindustryReports.com is digital database of comprehensive market reports for global industries. As a market research company, we take pride in equipping our clients with insights and data that holds the power to truly make a difference to their business. Our mission is singular and well-defined we want to help our clients envisage their business environment so that they are able to make informed, strategic and therefore successful decisions for themselves.Media ContactBusiness Industry ReportsPune Indiasales@businessindustryreports.com+19376349940 Colonoscopy Industry Market - Precise Outlook, Status & Forecast Till 2024 | Global Key Players EndoChoice, Shanghai AOHUA, Olympus, Pentax Medical, Shanghai OJH, Conmed Colonoscopy Industry Market https://www.businessindustryreports.com/sample-request/127711 https://www.businessindustryreports.com/buy-now/127711/single https://www.businessindustryreports.com/check-discount/127711 A fresh report has been added to the wide database of Business Industry Reports. The research study is titled Colonoscopy Market by Manufacturers, Countries, Type and Application, Forecast to 2024 which provides important data about the production, consumption, revenue and company profiles for key industry participants.Global Colonoscopy Market Synopsis:According to Market Analyst, Global Colonoscopy Market is projected to grow at a healthy growth rate from 2019 to 2024.Get Exclusive Sample Study Papers of Colonoscopy Market @A colonoscopy is an exam your doctor uses to look inside your large intestine for possible causes of things like abdominal pain, rectal bleeding, or changes in bowel habits. During the colonoscopy, if the doctor sees something that may be abnormal, small amounts of tissue can be removed for analysis (called a biopsy), and abnormal growths, or polyps, can be identified and removed. In many cases, colonoscopy allows accurate diagnosis and treatment without the need for a major operation.Rise in disease and death from chronic diseases such as rectal cancer, colon cancer, and GI bleeding-related disorders has increased frequency of diagnostic screening procedures of intestinal diseases. Thus increasing incidences of intestinal disorders such as colon cancer, GI hemorrhage, ulceration, and polyps worldwide is likely to boost the growth of the market.Global Colonoscopy Market has been segmented on the Basis of product types, Application and Region. On the Basis of product types, Market can be sub segmented into Electro-medical equipment, Irradiation apparatuses, Surgical and medical instruments. Based on Application, Market further sub segmented into hospital, Clinic, other.Regionally, North America is expected to be the largest market for colonoscopy. Rising incidences of colorectal cancer and other colon related diseases is the major factor for the growth of this market in the North America. Furthermore, growing adoption of colposcopies in emerging countries such as China and India is likely to fuel the growth in Asia-Pacific region.Complete report on Colonoscopy Market spread across 111 Pages and No. of Table of contents. Buy Research @The Market is segmented and projected on the basis of major key players:1 EndoChoice2 Shanghai AOHUA3 Olympus4 Pentax Medical5 Shanghai OJH6 Conmed7 FujifilmMarket segment by Regions/Countries, this report covers:1 North America2 Europe3 China4 Japan5 Middle East & Africa6 India7 South America8 OthersRequest a Discount on standard prices of this premium report @The prime objective of this report is to help the user understand the market in terms of its definition, segmentation, market potential, influential trends, and the challenges that the market is facing. Deep researches and analysis were done during the preparation of the report. The readers will find this report very helpful in understanding the market in depth. The facts and data are represented in the report using diagrams, graphs, pie charts, and other pictorial representations. This enhances the visual representation and also helps in understanding the facts much better.Key Questions Answered in this Report:1 What are the major market drivers, challenges, and opportunities in the Global Colonoscopy market?2 What was the market value of the leading segments and sub-segments of the Global Colonoscopy market in 2017?3 What are the influencing factors that may affect the market share of the key players?4 Who are the key players in Colonoscopy Market?5 How will the industry evolve during the forecast period 2019-2024?TABLE OF CONTENTS1 Colonoscopy Introduction and Market Overview2 Industry Chain Analysis3 Global Colonoscopy Market, by Type4 Colonoscopy Market, by Application5 Global Colonoscopy Production, Value ($) by Region (2014-2019)6 Global Colonoscopy Production, Consumption, Export, Import by Regions (2014-2019)7 Global Colonoscopy Market Status and SWOT Analysis by Regions8 Competitive Landscape9 Global Colonoscopy Market Analysis and Forecast by Type and Application10 Colonoscopy Market Analysis and Forecast by Region11 New Project Feasibility Analysis12 Research Finding and Conclusion13 AppendixAbout usBusinessindustryReports.com is digital database of comprehensive market reports for global industries. As a market research company, we take pride in equipping our clients with insights and data that holds the power to truly make a difference to their business. Our mission is singular and well-defined we want to help our clients envisage their business environment so that they are able to make informed, strategic and therefore successful decisions for themselves.Media ContactBusiness Industry ReportsPune Indiasales@businessindustryreports.com+19376349940 New study report on Enterprise Search Software Market 2019 by major players Swif type, Algolia, Elastic search, Apache Solr, Search Spring, Amazon Cloud Search, Coveo, Fish Eye, Inbenta. https://www.researchnreports.com/request_sample.php?id=228342 https://www.researchnreports.com/ask_for_discount.php?id=228342 https://www.researchnreports.com/enquiry_before_buying.php?id=228342 www.researchnreports.com Global Enterprise Search Software Market is expected to grow at a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of +12%. The base year considered for the study is 2018 and the forecast period considered is 2019 To 2025.Enterprise search technology is used to retrieve the information that is needed. This information can be accessed from anywhere in the enterprise. This technology allows users to access information in an efficient manner. This technology is becoming increasingly popular in the BFSI industry. Helps efficiently optimize time costs through information access, compliance with security policies, overcoming human constraints, and saving on HR efforts. This research highlights key benefits of giving companies value and creating an effective business plan. The market is dominated by factors such as the sophistication of AI software and the convergence of robotics technology with mobile technology. The market is limited by time-consuming activities such as R & D, manufacturing and marketing. Better growth opportunities are attributed to relatively untapped markets in African countries and increased defense spending worldwide.For Sample Copy of this report:Top Leading Companies are: Swiftype, Algolia, Elastic search, Apache Solr, SearchSpring, Add Search, SLI Systems, Amazon Cloud Search, Coveo, FishEye, Inbenta.a) Market development-Comprehensive information about lucrative emerging markets. The report analyzes the markets for Enterprise Search Software across various regions.b) Market diversification-Exhaustive information about new products, untapped regions, recent developments, and investments in the Enterprise Search Software market.c) Competitive assessment- In depth evaluation of market shares, strategies, products and distribution networks of the leading players in the Enterprise Search Software market.Avail discount on this report:Market segment by Type, the product can be split intoCloud BasedWeb BasedMarket segment by Application, split intoLarge EnterprisesSMEsFor more enquiry:According to the research report, the global market for Enterprise Search Software is witnessing a continual rise in its valuation with the advancement in technologies, which is impacting the consumer behavior and, accordingly, their purchasing patterns to a great extent. In addition to this, the rising penetration of internet and the surge in mobile surfing are anticipated to boost the demand for network management software across the world, states the research report.Key market segments and sub-segmentsEvolving market trends and dynamicsChanging supply and demand scenariosQuantifying market opportunities through market sizing and market forecastingTracking current trends/opportunities/challengesCompetitive insightsOpportunity mapping in terms of technological breakthroughsTable of Contents:Global Enterprise Search Software Market Research Report 2019-2025Chapter 1 Global Enterprise Search Software Market OverviewChapter 2 Global Economic Impact on IndustryChapter 3 Global Market Competition by ManufacturersChapter 4 Global Production, Revenue (Value) by RegionChapter 5 Global Supply (Production), Consumption, Export, Import by RegionsChapter 6 Global Production, Revenue (Value), Price Trend by TypeChapter 7 Global Enterprise Search Software Market Analysis by ApplicationChapter 8 Manufacturing Cost AnalysisChapter 9 Industrial Chain, Sourcing Strategy and Downstream BuyersChapter 10 Marketing Strategy Analysis, Distributors/TradersChapter 11 Market Effect Factors AnalysisChapter 12 Global Enterprise Search Software Market ForecastAbout Research N ReportResearch N Reports is a new age market research firm where we focus on providing information that can be effectively applied. Today being a consumer driven market, companies require information to deal with the complex and dynamic world of choices. Where relying on a sound board firm for your decisions becomes crucial. Research N Reports specializes in industry analysis, market forecasts and as a result getting quality reports covering all verticals, whether be it gaining perspective on current market conditions or being ahead in the cut throat Global competition. Since we excel at business research to help businesses grow, we also offer consulting as an extended arm to our services which only helps us gain more insight into current trends and problems. Consequently we keep evolving as an all-rounder provider of viable information under one roof.Sunny Denis(Sales Manager),(Research N Reports)10916, Gold Point Dr,Houston, TX, Pin 77064,+1-8886316977,sales@researchnreports.com Butylene Glycol Market major players Korea Engineering Plastics, Asahi Kasei Chemicals Corp. Polyoxymethylene Market https://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/samples/8989 https://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/toc/8989 https://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/market-research/polyoxymethylene-market.asp http://www.persistencemarketresearch.com Polyoxymethylene (also known as POM) is a high performance engineering plastic that is derived from formaldehyde. It finds its applications in various end user industries such as electrical and electronics, automotive industry, consumer goods and electronics, and others. Polyoxymethylene is a preferred material in the category of high performance engineering plastics due to its various desirable properties such as excellent dimensional stability, impact resistance, fatigue resistance, and high strength. Polyoxymethylene is majorly used in electrical & electronics industry to make insulators, capacitors and various other electronic components. The use of this material makes the product more efficient and effective to deliver better performance.Polymers are considered as an important material in the food industry due to factors such as mechanical strength, low cost and ease in manufacturing and processing. As a result, the demand for plastic from the food industry is expected to strengthen the market for Polyoxymethylene, thereby creating new opportunities in the coming years. Polyoxymethylene is also used as a replacement for metal as it weighs lighter than metal and also possesses high impact strength.Request For Report Sample@Global Polyoxymethylene market is segmented by process as well as by end userPolyoxymethylene By Process:Injection MoldingExtrusion MoldingOthers (Rotational Molding, Blow molding, physical foaming)Polyoxymethylene By End user:Electrical and ElectronicsAutomotiveConsumer Goods and AppliancesOthers (Packaging, Medical, Food, Construction)Polyoxymethylene is an engineering thermoplastic that is used because of its excellent physical properties which make it a metal replacing light weight material. The drivers for this market include superior properties, increasing demand in end use industries, and replacement for plastics among others. New applications in the food packaging industry along with non-crude oil derivate based raw materials would act as opportunities for Polyoxymethylene. Use of Polyoxymethylene in various industries such as automotive, electrical and electronics, others in the form of metal replacement plastic due to its light weight and high strength is expected to drive growth of the Polyoxymethylene market.Polyoxymethylene manufacturers are investing heavily in plant capacity expansion or regional expansion by creating new subsidiaries to penetrate into new markets and to improve the reach of their products in various regions. Major players in this market are engaged in R&D efforts to develop newer applications and new products to fulfill the demand from various end use industries. Also, the companies are engaged in new product launch, and mergers & acquisitions. The companies are expanding their geographical footprints by setting up plants at new locations. These strategies are helping the companies to increase their market share and expand their reach.Request For Report Table of Content (TOC):The global Polyoxymethylene market is estimated to witness significant growth for the forecast period (2015 to 2025). Asia-Pacific is the leading market in terms of consumption and it accounts for nearly half of the total market for Polyoxymethylene. Western European market for polyoxymethylene is also expected to grow at moderate rate in the coming years. According to FMIs forecasts, this market in Asia-Pacific is expected to show the fastest CAGR over the forecasted period as huge amount of investment are made in this region.Some of the major players of the global Polyoxymethylene market are: E. I. Du Pont De Nemours and Company, BASF SE, A. Schulman, Korea Engineering Plastics, Asahi Kasei Chemicals Corp., Celanese Corporation, Mitsubishi Engineering-Plastics Corporation, and others.Know More About Report@About UsPersistence Market Research (PMR) is a third-platform research firm. Our research model is a unique collaboration of data analytics and market research methodology to help businesses achieve optimal performance.To support companies in overcoming complex business challenges, we follow a multi-disciplinary approach. At PMR, we unite various data streams from multi-dimensional sources. By deploying real-time data collection, big data, and customer experience analytics, we deliver business intelligence for organizations of all sizes.Contact UsPersistence Market Research305 Broadway7th Floor, New York City,NY 10007, United States,Telephone - +1-646-568-7751USA Canada Toll Free: 800-961-0353Email: sales@persistencemarketresearch.comWeb: Global Big Data as a Service Market 2019 Key Players: IBM Corporations, Microsoft Corporations, Oracle Corporations, SAP SE, Hewlett-Packard Company, Big Data as a Service Market https://www.wiseguyreports.com/sample-request/3483240-big-data-as-a-service-market-size-study https://www.wiseguyreports.com/enquiry/3483240-big-data-as-a-service-market-size-study Big Data as a Service Market:WiseGuyReports.com adds Big Data as a Service Market 2019 Global Analysis, Growth, Trends and Opportunities Research Report Forecasting 2025 reports tits database.Executive SummaryBig Data as a Service Market to reach USD 27.93 billion by 2025.Global Big Data as a Service Market valued approximately USD 3.13 billion in 2017 is anticipated to grow with a healthy growth rate of more than 31.52% over the forecast period 2018-2025. The extensive growth of data and growing demand of real time data analytics are the major drivers prevailing in the big data as a service market. Global big data as a service market is primarily driven by the increasing requirement of structured data for analysis which helps the organizations to achieve their goals or targets and grow at a faster pace with then changing environment. The major restraining factor in big data as a service market are lack of skilled professionals and complexity associated with the projects. Increasing demand for the advanced analytics and data warehousing solutions is the opportunity for the big data as a service market. Big data as a service is a term typically used to refer to services that offer analysis of large or complex data sets, usually over the Internet, as cloud hosted services. Similar types of services include software as a service or infrastructure as a service, where specific big data as a service options are used to help businesses critical situations. Big data helps the organizations to create new growth opportunities and entirely new categories of companies that can combine and analyze industry data. Big data also understands and optimizes business processes. Retailers can easily optimize their stock based on predictive models generated from the social media data.The regional analysis of Big Data as a Service Market is considered for the key regions such as Asia Pacific, North America, Europe, Latin America and Rest of the World. North America is the leading/significant region across the world in terms of market share. Whereas, owing to the countries such as China, Japan, and India, Asia Pacific region is anticipated to exhibit higher growth rate / CAGR over the forecast period 2018-2025.The objective of the study is to define market sizes of different segments & countries in recent years and to forecast the values to the coming eight years. The report is designed to incorporate both qualitative and quantitative aspects of the industry within each of the regions and countries involved in the study. Furthermore, the report also caters the detailed information about the crucial aspects such as driving factors & challenges which will define the future growth of the market. Additionally, the report shall also incorporate available opportunities in micro markets for stakeholders to invest along with the detailed analysis of competitive landscape and product offerings of key players. The detailed segments and sub-segment of the market are explained below:Request Sample Report @By Solution Type:Hadoop as a serviceData as a ServiceData Analytics as a ServiceBy Deployment Model:Public CloudPrivate CloudHybrid CloudBy End User:Telecom and ITEnergy and PowerBFSIHealthcareRetailManufacturingOthersFurthermore, years considered for the study are as follows:Historical year 2015, 2016Base year 2017Forecast period 2018 to 2025The industry is seeming to be fairly competitive. Some of the leading market players include IBM Corporations, Microsoft Corporations, Oracle Corporations, SAP SE, Hewlett-Packard Company, Cisco System Inc., SAS Institute, Information Builders Inc., Accenture PLC, Thoughtspot Inc., Datastax Inc., Alteryx Ltd., Atscale Inc., Opera Solutions LLC, Guavus Inc.and so on. Acquisitions and effective mergers are some of the strategies adopted by the key manufacturers. New product launches and continuous technological innovations are the key strategies adopted by the major players.Target Audience of the Big Data as a Service Market in Market Study:Key Consulting Companies & AdvisorsLarge, medium-sized, and small enterprisesVenture capitalistsValue-Added Resellers (VARs)Third-party knowledge providersInvestment bankersInvestorsTable of ContentsChapter 1. Executive Summary1.1. Market Snapshot1.2. Key Trends1.3. Global & Segmental Market Estimates & Forecasts, 2015-2025 (USD Billion)1.3.1. Big Data as a Service, by Solution Type, 2015-2025 (USD Billion)1.3.2. Big Data as a Service, by Deployment Model, 2015-2025 (USD Billion)1.3.3. Big Data as a Service, by End User,2015-2025 (USD Billion)1.3.4. Big Data as a Service, by Regional Analysis,2015-2025 (USD Billion)1.4. Estimation Methodology1.5. Research AssumptionChapter 2. Big Data as a Service Definition and Scope2.1. Objective of the Study2.2. Market Definition & Scope2.2.1. Industry Evolution2.2.2. Scope of the Study2.3. Years Considered for the Study2.4. Currency Conversion RatesChapter 3. Big Data as a Service Dynamics3.1. See Saw Analysis3.1.1. Market Drivers3.1.2. Market Challenges3.1.3. Market OpportunitiesChapter 4. Big Data as a Service Industry Analysis4.1. Porters 5 Force Model4.1.1. Bargaining Power of Buyers4.1.2. Bargaining Power of Suppliers4.1.3. Threat of New Entrants4.1.4. Threat of Substitutes4.1.5. Competitive Rivalry4.1.6. Futuristic Approach to Porters 5 Force Model4.2. PEST Analysis4.2.1. Political Scenario4.2.2. Economic Scenario4.2.3. Social Scenario4.2.4. Technological Scenario4.3. Value Chain Analysis4.3.1. Supplier4.3.2. Manufacturers/Service Provider4.3.3. Distributors4.3.4. End-Users4.4. Key Buying Criteria4.5. Regulatory Framework4.6. Cost Structure Analysis4.6.1. Raw Material Cost Analysis4.6.2. Manufacturing Cost Analysis4.6.3. Labour Cost Analysis4.7. Investment Vs Adoption Scenario4.8. Analyst Recommendation & ConclusionChapter 5. Big Data as a Service, by Solution Type5.1. Market Snapshot5.2. Market Performance - Potential Model5.3. Key Market Players5.4. Big Data as a Service, Sub Segment Analysis5.4.1. Hadoop as a service5.4.1.1. Market estimates & forecasts, 2015-2025 (USD Billion)5.4.1.2. Regional breakdown estimates & forecasts, 2015-2025 (USD Billion)5.4.2. Data as a service5.4.2.1. Market estimates & forecasts, 2015-2025 (USD Billion)5.4.2.2. Regional breakdown estimates & forecasts, 2015-2025 (USD Billion)5.4.3. Data Analytics as a service5.4.3.1. Market estimates & forecasts, 2015-2025 (USD Billion)5.4.3.2. Regional breakdown estimates & forecasts, 2015-2025 (USD Billion)ContinuousFor further information on this report, visit Wise Guy Reports Is Part Of The Wise Guy Consultants Pvt. Ltd. And Offers Premium Progressive Statistical Surveying, Market Research Reports, Analysis & Forecast Data For Industries And Governments Around The Globe. 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We Boast A Database Spanning Virtually Every Market Category And An Even More Comprehensive Collection Of Market Research Reports Under These Categories And Sub-Categories.WISEGUY RESEARCH CONSULTANTS PVT LTDOffice No. 528/524, Amanora Chambers, Magarpatta Road, Hadapsar Pune, Maharashtra 411028+91 841 198 5042 Organic Almonds Market 2019-2025 | Analysis By Top Key Players Wonderful Pistachios & Almonds, Aryan International, Big Tree Organic Farms, Hilltop Ranch, Harris Woolf California Almonds Organic Almonds Market 2019-2025 https://www.upmarketresearch.com/home/requested_sample/48752 https://www.upmarketresearch.com/home/enquiry_before_buying/48752 https://www.upmarketresearch.com/home/request_for_discount/48752 https://www.upmarketresearch.com/home/requested_sample/48752 www.upmarketresearch.com UpMarketResearch offers a latest published report on Global Organic Almonds Market Analysis and Forecast delivering key insights and providing a competitive advantage to clients through a detailed report. 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Get in touch with our sales team, who will guarantee you to get a report that suits your necessities.You can also ask for region wise market research report, as below: Organic Almonds - Global Market Status & Trend Report 2013- 2025 Top 20 Countries Data Organic Almonds - North America Market Status and Trend Report 2013- 2025 Organic Almonds - South America Market Status and Trend Report 2013- 2025 Organic Almonds - Europe Market Status and Trend Report 2013- 2025 Organic Almonds - EMEA Market Status and Trend Report 2013- 2025 Organic Almonds - Asia Pacific Market Status and Trend Report 2013- 2025 Organic Almonds - China Market Status and Trend Report 2013- 2025 Organic Almonds - India Market Status and Trend Report 2013- 2025 Organic Almonds - United States Market Status and Trend Report 2013- 2025About UpMarketResearch:The UpMarketResearch () is a leading distributor of market research report with more than 800+ global clients. As a market research company, we take pride in equipping our clients with insights and data that holds the power to truly make a difference to their business. Our mission is singular and well- defined we want to help our clients envisage their business environment so that they are able to make informed, strategic and therefore successful decisions for themselves.Contact Info:Name: Alex MathewsEmail: Alex@upmarketresearch.comOrganization: UpMarketResearchAddress: 500 East E Street, Ontario, CA 91764, United States. Hookah (Shisha) Tobacco Market | Global Research Insight 2018-2025 (Nakhla, Starbuzz, Eastern Tobacco, AL-WAHA, Mazaya) And More Global Hookah (Shisha) Tobacco Market 2019 https://bit.ly/2CFZbpn https://bit.ly/2T9hnyQ http://marketinsights.biz/ Hookah (Shisha) Tobacco Market 2019 Research report contains a qualified and in-depth examination of Hookah (Shisha) Tobacco Market. At first, the report provides an overview of Product Specification, technology, product type and production analysis considering major factors such as Revenue, Cost, Gross and Gross Margin. It also covers detailed competitive outlook including the Hookah (Shisha) Tobacco market share and company profiles of the key participants operating in the global market.Short Description about Hookah (Shisha) Tobacco : This Market report classifies the market into different segments based on product & geographical location. These segments are studied in detail for the market estimates and forecasts at regional and country level. This analysis is useful in understanding the growth areas and probable opportunities of the market.Top key players of the industry are covered in Hookah (Shisha) Tobacco Market Research Report: Nakhla, Godfrey Phillips India, Starbuzz, Eastern Tobacco, AL-WAHA, Mazaya, AlFakherdr, Al-Tawareg Tobacco, Shiazo, MujeebSons, Fantasia, Social Smoke, AL RAYAN Hookah, Cloud Tobacco, Haze Tobacco, Fumari, Dekang...CAGR Status of Hookah (Shisha) Tobacco : The worldwide market is expected to grow at a CAGR of roughly xx% over the next five years, will reach xx million US$ in 2023, from xx million US$ in 2019.Get PDF Sample and Full TOC of the Report@Split by product type, with production, price, revenue, market share and growth rate of each type, can be divided into: Single Flavor Mixed Flavor.Split by application, this report focuses on consumption, market share and growth rate of Hookah (Shisha) Tobacco market in each application and can be divided into: Group Use Personal Use.Global Hookah (Shisha) Tobacco Market: Regional Segment Analysis (Regional Production Volume, Consumption Volume, Revenue and Growth Rate 2013-2023): North America (United States, Canada and Mexico) Europe (Germany, France, UK, Russia and Italy) Asia-Pacific (China, Japan, Korea, India and South-east Asia) South America (Brazil, Argentina, Colombia) Middle East and Africa (Saudi Arabia, UAE, Egypt, Nigeria and South Africa)Target Audience of Hookah (Shisha) Tobacco Market: Manufacturer / Potential Investors Traders, Distributors, Wholesalers, Retailers, Importers and Exporters. Association and government bodies.Have any special requirement on above Hookah (Shisha) Tobacco market report? Ask our Industry Expert @Hookah (Shisha) Tobacco Market Influencing Factors: Market Environment: Government Policies, Technological Changes, Market Risks. Market Drivers: Growing Demand, Reduction in Cost, Market Opportunities and Challenges.Core Areas of Focus in Hookah (Shisha) Tobacco Market : Many important factors make the market that drives the growth of an industry or a company. Market Intelligence Data has pointed out the five significant driving factors, and they have provided in-depth information on them with analytical data.What to Expect from This Report On Hookah (Shisha) Tobacco Market? A detailed overview of regional distributions and the overview types of popular products in the Hookah (Shisha) Tobacco Market. How do the major companies and mid-level manufacturers make a profit within the Hookah (Shisha) Tobacco Industry? 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Our services cover a broad spectrum of industries including Energy, Chemicals and Materials, Automotive, Software and Aerospace.Contact Us:Sales, Business Worldwide. Frozen Bakery Additives Market Competitive Analysis 2018 to 2023: Archer Daniels Midland Company, Cargill, DuPont, Kerry, Novozymes, DSM, Puratos, Chr. Hansen Holding A/S and Givaudan Frozen Bakery Additives Market https://www.researchformarkets.com/sample/global-frozen-bakery-additives-market-198974 https://www.researchformarkets.com/reports/global-frozen-bakery-additives-market-198974 https://www.researchformarkets.com/inquiry/global-frozen-bakery-additives-market-198974 The Frozen Bakery Additives Market is increasing the forecast years of 2018-2024 and pulling the Food and Beverages industry with it. Various definitions and classification of the industry, applications of the industry and chain structure are given. It also presents the company profile, product specifications, production value, Contact Information of manufacturer and market shares for company. The report also identifies and analyses the emerging trends along with major drivers, challenges and opportunities in the Frozen Bakery Additives Market.Frozen food additives are the additional substances that are included in food products to enhance the taste, flavor, color, texture, and preserving properties.The emulsifiers segment accounted for the major share of the frozen bakery additives market. Emulsifiers are used in bakery products to enhance the texture of the bread and prevent stickiness. With the increasing health-consciousness of people, the demand for emulsifiers will increase in the coming years, which in turn will offer significant opportunities for players in the frozen bakery additives industry.Some Of The Key Players In Frozen Bakery Additives Market Include: Archer Daniels Midland Company Cargill DuPont Kerry Novozymes DSM Puratos Chr. Hansen Holding A/S Givaudan, Ingredion Incorporated Roquette, Sensient Technologies Corporation Tate & Lyle Shenzhen Leveking Bio-Engineering Co., Ltd. JungbunzlauerRequest Sample Copy of the Report @This report focuses on the Frozen Bakery Additives in global market, especially in North America, Europe and Asia-Pacific, South America, Middle East and Africa. This report categorizes the market based on manufacturers, regions, type and application.This market study estimates that in terms of geographic regions, EMEA will be the major revenue contributor to the frozen bakery additives market throughout the forecast period. The presence of large food-manufacturing companies is one of the major factors propelling the growth of this bakery additives market in this region.Market Segment by Type, covers Emulsifiers Colorants and Flavors Preservatives Reducing Agents Enzymes Oxidizing Agents OtherMarket Segment by Applications, can be divided into Breads Pizza Crusts Pastries Cakes OtherRequest for Report Brochure for Latest Industry Insights @Major Table of Contents:1 Executive Summary2 Preface3 Market Trend Analysis4 Porters Five Force Analysis5 Global Frozen Bakery Additives Market, By Axis6 Global Frozen Bakery Additives Market, By Installation7 Global Frozen Bakery Additives Market, By Connectivity8 Global Frozen Bakery Additives Market, By Capacity9 Global Frozen Bakery Additives Market, By Application10 Global Frozen Bakery Additives Market, By Geography11 Key Developments12 Company ProfilingList of TablesMake an Inquiry Before Buying@Insights of the report1. CAGR values in the market for the forecast period2. Key trends in the market place3. Major players and brands4. Drivers and restrains of the market5. Historical and current market size and projection up to 2023.Note: Any special requirements about this report, please let us know and we can provide custom report.About Research for Markets:Research for Markets indulges in detailed and diligent research on different markets, trends and emerging opportunities in the successive direction to cater to your business needs. We have established the pillars of our flourishing institute on the grounds of Credibility and Reliability. RFM delve into the markets across Asia Pacific, North America, South America, Europe, Middle East and Africa.Contact:Mr. A NaiduResearch for MarketsTel: +44 8000-4182-37 (UK)Email: alan.naidu@researchformarkets.com New Interior Design Studio for 2019 Eyecandy Interior Design Studio Award-winning interior design company Eyecandy Interior Design has relocated to Halifax, West Yorkshire for a more bespoke customer service experience.Eyecandy Interior Design Managing Director, Emma Gordon says; We have been situated in Lindley near Huddersfield for the previous 6 years, and with the ever evolving landscape of interior design it became apparent that our customers wanted a more hands-on personalised service that they didnt receive from the high street anymore. So, we took the decision to move the business from the high street to a more personal one-on-one location, in a new purpose built design studio in Halifax.This decision has been taken as the business grows from strength to strength. The Eyecandy Interior Design team knew that the time was right to relocate and move with the fast paced industry of interiors. With the majority of the team out on business calls, meeting with potential customers, or out designing interiors for clients, it made perfect sense to run an appointment-only service, so that customers were never left at the high street shop without access. This new system means every customer will receive an appointment, giving them the opportunity to spend one-on-one time and experience the exceptional customer service that Eyecandy Interior Design are known for.More and more businesses are using their online presence to attract new business from outside their usual target area, and Eyecandy Interior Design are thriving from online interest, so it was a natural progression to grow the online platform and build the brand. The New Year has taken Eyecandy Interior Design to a new level by collaborating and working with new suppliers that will attract quirky, unusual, one-off pieces of furniture and bespoke fresh ideas for lighting, giving the customer something different to their usual high street experience.Emma Gordon went on to say; We are passionate that our customers receive the interior design experience that they are seeing across social media platforms such as Instagram, Pinterest, and Facebook. Therefore, our new one-on-one service means that each customer is treated to personal time, off the high street, with one of our designers. Initial meetings will take place with myself and then, depending on the size of the project will determine whether the full team are used or whether it stays solely with me. This gives each existing customer or potential future customer the knowledge that they are dealing with one contact and arent being passed along to someone else. This is just another element of Eyecandy Interior Design that helps us stand out from the crowd, plus with our sales increasing online it was a perfect time to focus on our online clientele, and with each individual client at our new appointment-only purpose built studio.Halifax is an excellent gateway to reach anywhere in the UK that an interior design customer should need. With the M62 and M1 on the doorstep, Emma and her team at Eyecandy can be with new clients at the drop of a hat.For more information and all new contact details regarding Eyecandy Interior Design visit the websiteEyecandy Interior Design is a bespoke interiors business making ideas become reality through design.Eyecandy Interior DesignUpper Woodhouse Farm, 148 Scar Bottom Road, Halifax, HX2 7DZ01422 618735Press contact: Rachel McAlley, 07963 577034 Linear Slides Market to Witness Significant Rise in Revenue During the Forecast Period (20182028) || Top Key Players- Parker Hannifin Corp., Ball Slides Inc., THK Co. Ltd., PHD Inc., THK America Inc. Linear Slides Market http://bit.ly/2UfCeAI http://bit.ly/2UhlVn1 http://bit.ly/2UbDIMb Global Linear Slides Market: OverviewLinear slides are designed to provide motion that is free in a single direction and is also known as linear motion bearings. The linear motion is dependent on the bearings such as linear roller bearing, ball bearing, dovetail bearing or fluid, or magnetic bearing. They are rigid and highly accurate, provide high load capacity, and operate on very low sliding resistance. Linear slides have very low inertia which helps in obtaining high-speed responsive performance. The use of stainless steel balls prevents corrosion and provides low friction coefficient. All these features make linear slide a desirable product in the industrial sector all over the world.Download Free PDF Research Report Brochure @Global Linear Slides Market: SegmentationThe global linear slides market is segmented into its range type, rolling elements, usage, end-users, application, and geography. Depending on the range type, the market is divided into turkey linear, multi-axis, un-driven, and simple range. Based on rolling elements, the market is segregated into roller slides and ball bearing slides. On the basis of usage, the market is classified into commercial and industrial uses. Based on end-users, the market is categorized into electrical and electronics industry, the pharmaceutical industry, packaging industry, automotive industry, and food and beverage industry. On the basis of application, the market is divided into food processing, aerospace processing, automotive assembly, printing, machine tools, packaging tools, medical tools, and factory automation. Based on geography, the market is diversified into North America, Latin America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, and the Middle East and Africa.Global Linear Slides Market: Growth FactorsLinear slides have various industrial applications thus increasing the demand for them in the industrial sectors especially in the automotive, electronics, and the electrical industry. Availability of two kinds of rolling elements on linear slides namely the roller slides and the ball bearing slides widens the buying options for the end users. Features of linear slides such as better movement control and heavier load capabilities positively influence the market demand. However, the substitutes available in the market may hamper the linear slides market growth across the globe.Get Free Sample Report of Linear Slides Market @Global Linear Slides Market: Regional AnalysisThe largest share of the linear slides market is held by Asia Pacific region. Growth can be specifically targeted to countries such as China, India, Japan, New Zealand, and Australia. Following the growth in Asia Pacific is North America and Europe. The countries such as the U.S. and Canada from the North America and Italy Germany, the U.K, France, Russia, Poland, and Spain from Europe are some regions that are contributing towards the market growth. There has been a considerable growth in the automotive and industrial sector in regions such as Latin America and the Middle East and Africa. These regions too, are providing their fair share to the overall market growth.Global Linear Slides Market: Competitive PlayersSome of the major market players in the global linear slides include Bishop-Wisecarver Corporation, Del-Tron Precision Inc., SKF, Parker Hannifin Corp., Ball Slides Inc., THK Co. Ltd., PHD Inc., THK America Inc., Reliance Precision Ltd., and Holmarc Opto-Mechatronics Ltd.For more information Visit@Global Linear Slides Market: Regional Segment AnalysisNorth AmericaU.S.EuropeUKFranceGermanyAsia PacificChinaJapanAbout UsZion Market Research is an obligated company. We create futuristic, cutting edge, informative reports ranging from industry reports, company reports to country reports. We provide our clients not only with market statistics unveiled by avowed private publishers and public organizations but also with vogue and newest industry reports along with pre-eminent and niche company profiles. Our database of market research reports comprises a wide variety of reports from cardinal industries. Our database is been updated constantly in order to fulfill our clients with prompt and direct online access to our database. Keeping in mind the clients needs, we have included expert insights on global industries, products, and market trends in this database. Last but not the least, we make it our duty to ensure the success of clients connected to usafter allif you do well, a little of the light shines on us.Contact Us:Zion Market Research244 Fifth Avenue, Suite N202New York, 10001, United StatesTel: +49-322 210 92714USA/Canada Toll Free No.1-855-465-4651 Global Stationery Market Projections & Future Scenario Analyzed until 2026| Market Players are KOKUYO Co Ltd, Shachihata Inc., Pentel, PILOT CORPORATION, Mitsubishi Corporation, Zebra Co.Ltd., M&G Holding Group Co.Ltd https://www.factmr.com/connectus/sample?flag=S&rep_id=339 https://www.factmr.com/report/339/stationery-market https://www.factmr.com/connectus/sample?flag=AE&rep_id=339 https://www.factmr.com/ https://factmrblog.com/ https://www.industrynewsanalysis.com/ Global demand for stationery products has remained subdued as laptops, desktops, and smartphones have replaced traditional stationery items, such as pens, pencils, and notebooks in various settings. The global stationery industry has felt the impact of digitalization, and many leading brands have turned to repurposing their offerings as gift and collectors items. The silver lining for manufacturers remains the pervasiveness of stationery products in educational institutions and workplaces. On account of steady demand from educational institutes and workplaces, the global stationery market is likely to witness a moderate growth during the period 2017-2026. According to FactMR, the global stationery market is expected to represent a value of nearly US$ 24,000 Mn by the end of 2026.Request for a Sample of this research report:Continuous Stationary to Increase OutputWith the growing need to simplify assigned tasks, demand for business stationery in various companies will continue to increase globally. Sales of continuous stationery products such as typing sheets, carbon papers, rough-work pads, pencils, letter-heads, folders and files is expected to increase attributed to increasing demand in various companies. Companies are focusing on investing in other continuous stationaries such as special accounting forms and invoices in order to improve productivity. In order to increase the output, companies are further investing in customizing their stationery to convey business professionalism to their clients.On the other hand, growing advancements in technology has led to increasing preference for storing information on the smartphones. As the information stored on the smart devices can conveniently retrieved when required. Moreover, storing information on the smart devices has reduced the need to manage stack of papers, which in turn has led to less spending on the stationery products. The industry professionals prefer developing documentations and storing the business related information on the databases. These factors are expected to dip the sales of the traditional stationery products in the global market during the forecast period.Get Access To TOC Covering 200+ Topics:Wholesalers to Represent a Leading SegmentGrowing need for neatly filling the official documents and invoices with premium ink quality has led to surge in demand for pens globally. On the basis of product type, the pens segment is expected to generate significant revenues, accounting for a value of nearly US$ 24,000 Mn by the end of 2026. On the other hand, the coloring product type segment and the art goods product type segment is expected to register the highest CAGR during the forecast period.Based on sales channel, the wholesalers segment is expected to witness a robust revenue growth, recording a value of over US$ 3,000 Mn by the end of 2017. In contrary, the exporters sales channel segment is expected to register a healthy CAGR through 2026.By pricing range, the mid-range segment is expected to witness a significant revenue growth, accounting for a value of over US$ 4,000 Mn by the end of 2026. Moreover, the mid-range pricing range segment is expected to register a healthy CAGR throughout the forecast period.Competition TrackingLeading market players operating in the global stationery market include KOKUYO Co,Ltd, Shachihata Inc., Pentel, PILOT CORPORATION, Mitsubishi Corporation, Zebra Co., Ltd., M&G Holding Group Co., Ltd, Jasons Deli Inc., Shenzhen Comix Group Co., Ltd., Beifa Group Co., Ltd., Wenzhou Aihao Pen Trade Co. Ltd., Guangbo Group Stock Co., Ltd., Qingdao Changlong Stationery Co., Ltd., ITC Limited, Navneet Education Limited, GM Pens International Pvt Ltd, BIC Cello and Lion Pencil Co., Ltd.For any query get easily connect with an Analyst:About FactMRFactMR is a fast-growing market research firm that offers the most comprehensive suite of syndicated and customized market insights reports. We believe transformative intelligence can educate and inspire businesses to make smarter decisions. We know the limitations of the one-size-fits-all approach; that's why we publish multi-industry global, regional, and country-specific research reports.Contact UsFact.MR11140 Rockville PikeSuite 400Rockville, MD 20852United StatesEmail: sales@factmr.comWeb:Blog:Read Industry News at - Medical Foods Market Size By 2026 | Top Key Players are Nestle S.A., Abbott Laboratories, Alfasigma spA, Cerecin Inc., Danone S.A., Targeted Medical Pharma Inc., Primus Pharmaceuticals, Inc., Fresenius Kabi AG https://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/samples/26854 https://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/methodology/26854 https://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/checkout/26854 http://www.persistencemarketresearch.com A new study by the company, titled 'Medical Foods Market: Global Industry Analysis 2013-2017 and Forecast 2018-2026', has listed out the key points being considered by companies and governing bodies involved in the medical foods market to stay sustainably profitable in the long run. The North America medical foods market is a prominent market on a global level, with the adoption of medical foods comparatively high in the. Health practitioners present here prescribe medical foods over other routine foods to overcome diseases at a much faster pace.To know key findings Request Sample Report @:The market in Asia Pacific, which includes China, is expected to grow over the forecast period for medical foods, as most of the suited healthcare facilities for medical foods are operating in this region by setting up manufacturing units. This step provides quality products with affordable working labor that cuts operating expenses. With a rise in the population in Asia Pacific, it becomes a sure-shot opportunity space. However, increasing price and other therapeutic alternatives present in such developing regions are countering the growth of the medical foods market in this region.This report finds that, the medical foods market is not just for global manufacturers. There are minor companies present who focus on the improvement of medical foods, such as Targeted Medical Pharma. Companies like them show clear light for other interested players to get involved in the medical foods market, though it is a highly consolidated market with bigger companies occupying a majority of the share. A diverse product range and a progressive marketing technique can help in establishing a mark in the medical foods industry. The U.S. is a frontrunner in the medical foods industry, since people in this region understand the entirety of medical foods. In most developing countries, the main barrier for medical foods is the lack of understanding such a concept, which leads to less adoption of medical foods.The growing medical foods industry is most certainly taken as an 'emerging' market, where growth is because of new medical food manufacturers getting involved in the market. In most parts of the world, it is still a concept everyone is just trailing around. This industrys aspects are not well positioned in most parts of the world, due to socio-economic differences. For example - ORS is available in most parts of the world with provided schemes from world health bodies such as WHO. But this is not the case with other medical food categories due to many reasons that are better classified by manufacturers and government officials. The medical foods industry comprises de?ned food products that are manufactured to act for a particular disease indication. They meet the nutritional de?ciencies observed after a speci?c disease. This report helps in studying the market requirements designed for medical foods, and other dynamics going forward in the industry.Request for Report Methodology @:For medical foods, nutritionally complete products are stated as complete formulation products, which consist of sufficient amounts of protein, fat, carbohydrates, vitamins, and minerals in their composition with suitable pharmaceutical compounds. This segment is more dominant than nutritionally incomplete formula and oral rehydration products. The adoption rate for complete formulation products as medical foods is more evident than other options. A number of medical foods present are also more nutritionally complete products, and this count will only grow.Metabolic disorder was the prime application of medical foods, which has changed over a period, with recent products also suitable for different health indications such as cancer, depression, and Alzheimer's disease. Though the number of medical foods available for metabolic disorder is still high in number. This is more because patients with such disorders only depend on medical foods for complete nutritional benefits.Get full Report Now:The medical foods market is moving ahead with emerging market players and geographical changes. Some of the prominent companies analyzed in the medical foods market report include Nestle S.A., Abbott Laboratories, Alfasigma spA, Cerecin Inc., Danone S.A., Targeted Medical Pharma Inc., Primus Pharmaceuticals, Inc., Fresenius Kabi AG, Metagenetics, Inc., and Reckitt Benckiser Group plc.About UsPersistence Market Research (PMR) is a third-platform research firm. Our research model is a unique collaboration of data analytics and market research methodology to help businesses achieve optimal performance.To support companies in overcoming complex business challenges, we follow a multi-disciplinary approach. At PMR, we unite various data streams from multi-dimensional sources. By deploying real-time data collection, big data, and customer experience analytics, we deliver business intelligence for organizations of all sizes.Contact UsPersistence Market Research305 Broadway7th Floor, New York City,NY 10007, United States,USA Canada Toll Free: 800-961-0353Email: sales@persistencemarketresearch.comWeb: Global Electronic Equipment Repair Service Market 2019 Key Players: B2X, Encompass Supply Chain Solutions, Global Electronic Service, ICracked, Mendtronix, MicroFirst,. Electronic Equipment Repair Service Market https://www.wiseguyreports.com/sample-request/3606244-global-electronic-equipment-repair-service-market-size-study https://www.wiseguyreports.com/enquiry/3606244-global-electronic-equipment-repair-service-market-size-study Electronic Equipment Repair Service Market:WiseGuyReports.com adds Electronic Equipment Repair Service Market 2019 Global Analysis, Growth, Trends and Opportunities Research Report Forecasting 2025 reports tits database.Executive SummaryGlobal Electronic Equipment Repair Service Market valued approximately USD XX billion in 2017 is anticipated to grow with a healthy growth rate of more than XX% over the forecast period 2018-2025. The major driving factor of global Electronic Equipment Repair Service market are rise in demand for renovated electronic equipment and rise in demand for smartphones & tablets. The major restraining factor of Electronic Equipment Repair Service market is poor quality or duplicate spare parts of electronic equipment. Moreover, the shift in consumer behavior towards buying new equipment is anticipated to hinder the Electronic Equipment Repair Service market. Electronic equipment repair service involves repairing various types of electronic devices, namely computers, communication equipment, and other electronics. Radar and sonar equipment, stereos, microscopes, video recorders, photocopy machines, computers, and precision equipment, namely medical equipment and scientific instruments, are also part of the electronic equipment repair services. The major benefits of electronic equipment repair service market are benefitting from weak financial condition of costumers as instead of buying new items, many owners of electronic equipment prefer getting it repaired. the cost advantage of regularly maintaining and fixing broken and idle equipment, rather than replacing it.The regional analysis of Global Electronic Equipment Repair Service Market is considered for the key regions such as Asia Pacific, North America, Europe, Latin America and Rest of the World. Europe has dominated the market of total generating revenue across the globe. North America is also contributing major share in the global market of Electronic Equipment Repair Service. Asia-Pacific region is also anticipated to exhibit higher growth rate / CAGR over the over the coming years due to China and India are also witnessing significant growth.The major market player included in this report are:B2XEncompass Supply Chain SolutionsGlobal Electronic ServiceICrackedMendtronixMicroFirstModuslinkQuest InternationalRedingtonRepair World DirectUBreakFixThe objective of the study is to define market sizes of different segments & countries in recent years and to forecast the values to the coming eight years. The report is designed to incorporate both qualitative and quantitative aspects of the industry within each of the regions and countries involved in the study. Furthermore, the report also caters the detailed information about the crucial aspects such as driving factors & challenges which will define the future growth of the market. Additionally, the report shall also incorporate available opportunities in micro markets for stakeholders to invest along with the detailed analysis of competitive landscape and product offerings of key players. The detailed segments and sub-segment of the market are explained below:Request Sample Report @By Type:Consumer ElectronicsHome AppliancesMedical EquipmentIndustrial EquipmentBy Application:CommercialIndustrialResidentialFurthermore, years considered for the study are as follows:Historical year 2015, 2016Base year 2017Forecast period 2018 to 2025Target Audience of the Global Electronic Equipment Repair Service Market in Market Study:Key Consulting Companies & AdvisorsLarge, medium-sized, and small enterprisesVenture capitalistsValue-Added Resellers (VARs)Third-party knowledge providersInvestment bankersInvestorsTable of ContentsChapter 1. Executive Summary1.1. Market Snapshot1.2. Key Trends1.3. Global & Segmental Market Estimates & Forecasts, 2015-2025 (USD Billion)1.3.1. Electronic Equipment Repair Service Market, by Type, 2015-2025 (USD Billion)1.3.2. Electronic Equipment Repair Service Market, by Application, 2015-2025 (USD Billion)1.3.3. Electronic Equipment Repair Service Market, by Region, 2015-2025 (USD Billion)1.4. Estimation Methodology1.5. Research AssumptionChapter 2. Electronic Equipment Repair Service Market Definition and Scope2.1. Objective of the Study2.2. Market Definition & Scope2.2.1. Industry Evolution2.2.2. Scope of the Study2.3. Years Considered for the Study2.4. Currency Conversion RatesChapter 3. Electronic Equipment Repair Service Market Dynamics3.1. See Saw Analysis3.1.1. Market Drivers3.1.2. Market Challenges3.1.3. Market OpportunitiesChapter 4. Electronic Equipment Repair Service Market Industry Analysis4.1. Porters 5 Force Model4.1.1. Bargaining Power of Buyers4.1.2. Bargaining Power of Suppliers4.1.3. Threat of New Entrants4.1.4. Threat of Substitutes4.1.5. Competitive Rivalry4.1.6. Futuristic Approach to Porters 5 Force Model4.2. PEST Analysis4.2.1. Political Scenario4.2.2. Economic Scenario4.2.3. Social Scenario4.2.4. Technological Scenario4.3. Value Chain Analysis4.3.1. Supplier4.3.2. Manufacturers/Service Provider4.3.3. Distributors4.3.4. End-Users4.4. Key Buying Criteria4.5. Regulatory Framework4.6. Cost Structure Analysis4.6.1. Raw Material Cost Analysis4.6.2. Manufacturing Cost Analysis4.6.3. Labour Cost Analysis4.7. Investment Vs Adoption Scenario4.8. Analyst Recommendation & ConclusionChapter 5. Electronic Equipment Repair Service Market, by Type5.1. Market Snapshot5.2. Market Performance - Potential Model5.3. Key Market Players5.4. Electronic Equipment Repair Service Market, Sub Segment Analysis5.4.1. Consumer Electronics5.4.1.1. Market estimates & forecasts, 2015-2025 (USD Billion)5.4.1.2. Regional breakdown estimates & forecasts, 2015-2025 (USD Billion)5.4.2. Home Appliances5.4.2.1. Market estimates & forecasts, 2015-2025 (USD Billion)5.4.2.2. Regional breakdown estimates & forecasts, 2015-2025 (USD Billion)5.4.3. Medical Equipment5.4.3.1. Market estimates & forecasts, 2015-2025 (USD Billion)5.4.3.2. Regional breakdown estimates & forecasts, 2015-2025 (USD Billion)5.4.4. Industrial Equipment5.4.4.1. Market estimates & forecasts, 2015-2025 (USD Billion)5.4.4.2. Regional breakdown estimates & forecasts, 2015-2025 (USD Billion)ContinuousFor further information on this report, visit Wise Guy Reports Is Part Of The Wise Guy Consultants Pvt. Ltd. And Offers Premium Progressive Statistical Surveying, Market Research Reports, Analysis & Forecast Data For Industries And Governments Around The Globe. Wise Guy Reports Features An Exhaustive List Of Market Research Reports From Hundreds Of Publishers Worldwide. We Boast A Database Spanning Virtually Every Market Category And An Even More Comprehensive Collection Of Market Research Reports Under These Categories And Sub-Categories.WISEGUY RESEARCH CONSULTANTS PVT LTDOffice No. 528/524, Amanora Chambers, Magarpatta Road, Hadapsar Pune, Maharashtra 411028+91 841 198 5042 Real Time Health Monitoring Devices Market Reached at New Level of Growth with Top Market Players like GE Healthcare, Qualcomm, Jawbone Inc, Withings SA, Fitbit Inc, and Garmin Ltd Real Time Health Monitoring Devices Market www.reportconsultant.com/request_sample.php?id=17 www.reportconsultant.com/ask_for_discount.php?id=17 www.reportconsultant.com "Global real time health monitoring devices market is expected to grow at a thriving CAGR of +14.29% during the forecast period of 2019 to 2025."Real time health monitoring devices give real time status of the patient's health parameters. Patients are sharing their health data continuously with their guardians through these gadgets for adaptable health checking and management. Web of therapeutic things is boundlessly enhancing the medicinal services states of patients. It is expected that factors such as the easy availability of wireless monitoring devices and the increasing incidence of lifestyle and chronic diseases will drive market growth during the forecast period.Download Sample Copy of Report @Top Key Players: GE Healthcare (U.K.), Qualcomm (U.S.), Jawbone Inc (U.S.), Withings SA (France), Fitbit Inc (U.S.), Garmin Ltd (Switzerland)Real-Time Health Monitoring Devices Market SegmentsMarket Segmentation by Types: Comprises Wearable Devices & Home Health Medical Devices among others.Market Segmentation by End Users: Hospitals & Clinics, Specialty Centers, & Ambulatory Centers and Homecare Settings among others.Market Segmentation by Regions: Europe, North America, APAC and Rest of the World.Global Real Time Health Monitoring Devices Market Intended Audience Health Monitoring Devices Manufacturer Real Time Health Monitoring Devices Vendors Government Research Laboratories Private Research Laboratories Pharmaceutical & Biotechnology Companies Market Research and Consulting Service Providers Medical Research LaboratoriesAsk for Discount / Customization on Report @It is also expected that the growing demand for patient monitoring devices in non-hospital settings will provide a range of growth opportunities for players in the market. On the other hand, it is expected that the risks associated with invasive monitoring devices will defy market growth to some extent in the coming years. The report provides a brief timeline for each segment of the global real time health monitoring devices market. Key drivers and restraints impacting the market segments are also demonstrated precisely. It also helps in determining reasons for the progress of certain segments over others in the looming years.In this study, the years considered to estimate the size of real time health monitoring devices market are as follows:History Year: 2013-2018Base Year: 2017Estimated Year: 2018Forecast Year 2018 to 2025About Us:Report Consultant A global leader in analytics, research and advisory that can assist you to renovate your business and modify your approach. With us, you will learn to take decisions intrepidly. We make sense of drawbacks, opportunities, circumstances, estimations and information using our experienced skills and verified methodologies.Our research reports will give you an exceptional experience of innovative solutions and outcomes. We have effectively steered businesses all over the world with our market research reports and are outstandingly positioned to lead digital transformations. Thus, we craft greater value for clients by presenting advanced opportunities in the global market.Contact Us:Rebecca Parker(Report Consultant)Akasaka Biz Tower,5-3-1 Akasaka Minato-Ku,Tokyo, JapanContact No: +81-368444299sales@reportconsultant.com Global Project Portfolio Management Systems Market 2019: Top Global Players Competition with Production, Consumption, Revenue and Gross Margin by 2025 https://www.marketreportsworld.com/enquiry/request-sample/12951917 https://www.marketreportsworld.com/enquiry/pre-order-enquiry/12951917 https://www.marketreportsworld.com/purchase/12951917 Global Project Portfolio Management Systems Market Size, Status and Forecast 2019-2025Project portfolio management (PPM) Systems empowers managers to execute even advanced projects without complications and complete them on time. The Project Portfolio Management Systems Market report has been prepared based on an in-depth market analysis with inputs from industry experts. The report covers the market landscape and its growth prospects over the coming years. The report also includes a discussion of the key vendors operating in this market.Top merchant analysis is one of the key component and is exceptionally helpful for each player to comprehend focused scene in the market.Major companies present in Project Portfolio Management Systems market report are:Wrike, CA Technologies, HPE, Changepoint Corporation, Clarizen Inc., SAP SE, Upland Software, Workfront, Inc., Microsoft Corporation, Mavenlink, Oracle Corporation, Lanisware, ServiceNow, Inc., Monday.com, Zoho Projects, Asana, Jira, Projectplace, AtTaskRequest a Sample of Project Portfolio Management Systems Market research report fromProject Portfolio Management Systems market report provides the comprehensive company profiles of a number of the significant market players, that will stay active in predestined decades, combined with product launches. Along with, Project Portfolio Management Systems key developments, budgetary details, sale, and gross margin, company short-term and long-term approaches and SWOT analysis of those businessesMarket segment by Type, the product can be split intoSoftwareServicesMarket segment by Application, split intoBFSIGovernmentEngineering & ConstructionHealthcareIT & TelecomOthersProject Portfolio Management Systems Market Report provides the Vendors data, including: shipment, price, revenue, gross profit, interview record, business distribution CAGR etc. Some other factors such price, cost, as import, export, gross margin and consumption are also analysed. This enables the buyer of the report to gain a telescopic view of the competitive landscape and plan the strategies accordingly.The report provides actionable insights to improve source-to-contract cycle performance in the Global Project Portfolio Management Systems Market. It helps sourcing professionals formulate better category strategies, enhance savings, understand supplier and market challenges, and implement sourcing best practices.Further in the Project Portfolio Management Systems Market research reports, following points are included along with in-depth study of each point:Production Analysis Production of the Project Portfolio Management Systems is analysed with respect to different regions, types and applications. Here, price analysis of various Project Portfolio Management Systems Market key players is also covered.Sales and Revenue Analysis Both, sales and revenue are studied for the different regions of the Project Portfolio Management Systems Market. Another major aspect, price, which plays important part in the revenue generation, is also assessed in this section for the various regions.Supply and Consumption In continuation with sales, this section studies supply and consumption for the Project Portfolio Management Systems Market. This part also sheds light on the gap between supple and consumption. Import and export figures are also given in this part.Competitors In this section, various Project Portfolio Management Systems industry leading players are studied with respect to their company profile, product portfolio, capacity, price, cost and revenue.Other analyses Apart from the aforementioned information, trade and distribution analysis for the Project Portfolio Management Systems Market, contact information of major manufacturers, suppliers and key consumers is also given. Also, SWOT analysis for new projects and feasibility analysis for new investment are included.Have any query? Ask our Expert@:Market Effect Factors AnalysisMarket driver Increasing market penetration of digital technologies. For a full, detailed list, view our reportMarket challenge Stringent regulatory challenges in Project Portfolio Management Systems applications. For a full, detailed list, view our reportMarket trend Rising demand for Project Portfolio Management Systems in market. For a full, detailed list, view our reportPlace a Purchase Order for Single User License ($3900) at:Key questions answered in this reportWhat will the market size be in 2025 and what will the growth rate be?What are the key market trends?What is driving this market?What are the challenges to market growth?Who are the key vendors in this market space?What are the market opportunities and threats faced by the key vendors?Key Table Points Covered in Project Portfolio Management Systems Market Report:Global Project Portfolio Management Systems Market Research Report 2019Global Project Portfolio Management Systems Market Competition by ManufacturersGlobal Project Portfolio Management Systems Capacity, Production, Revenue (Value) by Region (2019-2025)Global Project Portfolio Management Systems Supply (Production), Consumption, Export, Import by Region (2019-2025)Global Project Portfolio Management Systems Production, Revenue (Value), Price Trend by TypeGlobal Project Portfolio Management Systems Market Analysis by ApplicationGlobal Project Portfolio Management Systems Manufacturers Profiles/AnalysisProject Portfolio Management Systems Manufacturing Cost AnalysisIndustrial Chain, Sourcing Strategy and Downstream BuyersMarketing Strategy Analysis, Distributors/TradersMarket Effect Factors AnalysisFor more information about CustomizationMarket is changing rapidly with the ongoing expansion of the industry. Advancement in the technology has provided todays businesses with multifaceted advantages resulting in daily economic shifts. Thus, it is very important for a company to comprehend the patterns of the market movements in order to strategize better. An efficient strategy offers the companies with a head start in planning and an edge over the competitors. Market Reports World is the credible source for gaining the market reports that will provide you with the lead your business needs.CONTACT USMr. Ajay MorePhone: US +1 424 253 0807Email: sales@marketreportsworld.comMarket is changing rapidly with the ongoing expansion of the industry. Advancement in the technology has provided todays businesses with multifaceted advantages resulting in daily economic shifts. Thus, it is very important for a company to comprehend the patterns of the market movements in order to strategize better. An efficient strategy offers the companies with a head start in planning and an edge over the competitors. Market Reports World is the credible source for gaining the market reports that will provide you with the lead your business needs.Market Reports World3rd Floor, Silver Spring, Sahyadri farms,Opp Prabhavee Tech Park,Baner - Mhalunge Road, Baner, Pune 411045. Direct Carrier Billing Market Technological Innovation by Leading Industry Players- Bango, Boku, Centili (Infobip), Digital Turbine, DIMOCO, DOCOMO Digital ReportsWeb https://www.reportsweb.com/inquiry&RW00012249071/sample https://www.reportsweb.com/inquiry&RW00012249071/discount https://www.reportsweb.com/buy&RW00012249071/buy/4660 2018-2023 Global Direct Carrier Billing Market Report Status and OutlookDirect carrier billing ("DCB") is an online payment method. It allows users to make purchases by charging payments to their mobile phone bill. This payment method is available to all smartphone and feature phone owners. The only thing needed to confirm payments is a device with a SIM card.Direct carrier billing provides a bigger payment coverage than traditional payment methods like credit cards. In countries like India, only 2% of all people have a credit card. Globally, there is only 1 credit card owner per 5 mobile phone owners. Even in mature markets with high ownership of bank cards, consumers prefer to pay with direct carrier billing due to its simplicity and security.This report presents a comprehensive overview, market shares and growth opportunities of Direct Carrier Billing market by product type, application, key companies and key regions.Get Sample Copy Of this report:Companies Profiled in this report includes: Bango, Boku, Centili (Infobip), Digital Turbine, DIMOCO, DOCOMO Digital, Fortumo, Infomedia, Netsize (Gemalto), NTH Mobile, txtNationTo calculate the market size, Publisher considers value generated from the sales of the following segments:Segmentation by product type:GamesVideo ContentePublishingLifestyle ContentSegmentation by application:TicketingGamblingPhysical Goods PurchasesGet Discount of this report:Research objectivesTo study and analyze the global Direct Carrier Billing market size by key regions/countries, product type and application, history data from 2013 to 2017, and forecast to 2023.To understand the structure of Direct Carrier Billing market by identifying its various subsegments.Focuses on the key global Direct Carrier Billing players, to define, describe and analyze the value, market share, market competition landscape, SWOT analysis and development plans in next few years.To analyze the Direct Carrier Billing with respect to individual growth trends, future prospects, and their contribution to the total market.To share detailed information about the key factors influencing the growth of the market (growth potential, opportunities, drivers, industry-specific challenges and risks).To project the size of Direct Carrier Billing submarkets, with respect to key regions (along with their respective key countries).To analyze competitive developments such as expansions, agreements, new product launches and acquisitions in the market.To strategically profile the key players and comprehensively analyze their growth strategies.Table of Content:2018-2023 Global Direct Carrier Billing Market Report (Status and Outlook)1 Scope of the Report2 Executive Summary3 Global Direct Carrier Billing by Players4 Direct Carrier Billing by Regions5 Americas6 APAC7 Europe8 Middle East & Africa9 Market Drivers, Challenges and Trends10 Global Direct Carrier Billing Market Forecast11 Key Players Analysis11.1 Bango11.1.1 Company Details11.1.2 Direct Carrier Billing Product Offered11.1.3 Bango Direct Carrier Billing Revenue, Gross Margin and Market Share (2016-2018)11.1.4 Main Business Overview11.1.5 Bango News11.2 Boku11.2.1 Company Details11.2.2 Direct Carrier Billing Product Offered11.2.3 Boku Direct Carrier Billing Revenue, Gross Margin and Market Share (2016-2018)11.2.4 Main Business Overview11.2.5 Boku News11.3 Centili (Infobip)11.3.1 Company Details11.3.2 Direct Carrier Billing Product Offered11.3.3 Centili (Infobip) Direct Carrier Billing Revenue, Gross Margin and Market Share (2016-2018)11.3.4 Main Business Overview11.3.5 Centili (Infobip) News11.4 Digital TurbineComplete Report:Contact Info:Name: Sameer JoshiEmail: sales@reportsweb.comCompany Name: ReportsWebWebsite: Reportsweb.comPhone: +1-646-491-9876Request for Customization:Any special requirements about this report, please let us know and we can provide custom report.About ReportsWeb:ReportsWeb.com is a one stop shop of Market research reports and solutions to various companies across the globe. We help our clients in their decision support system by helping them choose most relevant and cost effective research reports and solutions from various publishers. We provide best in class customer service and our customer support team is always available to help you on your research queries.533, 5th floor, Amanora Township,Amanora Chambers, East Block,Kharadi Road, Hadapsar, Pune-411028 Automotive Aftermarket Industry Size 2019 2024 Report By Top Regional Manufacturers Bridgestone, DENSO, HELLA, Faurecia, Magneti Marelli, Magna International, Lear Corporation, 3M, Cooper Tire & Rubber Company Automotive Aftermarket https://www.gminsights.com/request-sample/detail/1166 https://www.gminsights.com/inquiry-before-buying/1166 https://www.gminsights.com/industry-analysis/automotive-aftermarket https://www.gminsights.com/request-sample/detail/3076 Automotive Aftermarket Industry size is estimated to surpass USD 1,420 billion by 2024; according to a new research report by Global Market Insights, Inc. Increasing necessity for maintenance and scheduled servicing requirements for enhancing aging vehicles life will drive the automotive aftermarket industry. Growing customer expectations, ongoing technological innovation, and rising competition across automotive industry are the major factors fueling industry expansion. Increasing penetration of OEMs into aftermarket activities along with the consolidation of parts distributors will also provide a positive outlook for business development.Get Sample Copy of This Report @Professionals are estimated to hold a major share of automotive aftermarket industry; representing over 65% of the total demand. The rest of the demand is generated from OEMs and DIY. Professional includes quick lubes, garages & services, dealers, government services, commercial fleets, and other professional outlets. Consumer preference for economical services, closer to home advantage and personalized services likely to augment garages, service stations and automobile dealerships growth rate. Service quality, high quality parts and technical skills are the major factors propelling professional segment market size.Replacement parts was valued at around USD 844 billion in 2017. Increasing maintenance requirements owing to excessive strain with vehicles aging and poor road conditions provides a positive outlook for aftermarket parts. Factors such as low production cost, rising number of manufacturers and increase in number of accidents will drive the segment growth.Automotive Aftermarket Industry by Product Replacement partso Belto Brakeso Clutcho Electrical partso Lightingo Engine & AC partso Exhausto Filterso Suspensionso Transmissiono Wiper partso Others Accessorieso Car exteriorso Car interiorsAutomotive Aftermarket Industry by Sales Outlet Professionalo Quick lubeso Garages & service stationso Automobile dealershipso Governmento Commercial fleets & other professional outlets DIYo Discount department storeso Auto part stores OEM factory fillMake an Inquiry for purchasing this Report @Strong demand for automobiles from emerging economies is likely to favor automotive aftermarket industry growth. According to OICA, global LCVs and passenger cars registered sale over 86 million units in 2017, an increase by 2.4% than in 2016. The increase in demand was supported by the rapid expansion of global players in Asian countries majorly in China, India, Australia, and Indonesia. Moreover, rising eco-friendly techniques in automotive manufacturing owing to stringent environmental regulations resulting in a surge in alternative automotive parts demand.North America automotive aftermarket industry accounted for over 30% revenue share in 2017. This can be credited to the increasing new vehicles production coupled with enhanced performance of old vehicles. Ongoing technological innovation in the automotive sector will create new opportunities for aftermarket companies to grow globally. Increasing customization of vehicles, digitization, demand for Bluetooth devices, and other accessories driving automotive aftermarket industry in the U.S. and Canada. Improved fuel economy likely to increase the average miles driven by a customer. This has led to more wear and tear in vehicle parts, thus augmenting the demand for automotive aftermarket industry products.Browse Report Summery @The major automotive aftermarket industry players include Yazaki, Lear Corp., ALCO Filters, Magna International, 3M Company, Continental AG, and Denso Corporation. Other notable players include Copper Tire and Rubber Company, Akebone Brake Corporation, and Magneti Marelli. Industry participants are undergoing strategic collaborations to expand their regional presence. For instance, In December 2016, Faurecia announced its third joint-venture with its Iranian partners to strengthen its presence across the country.Related Report APAC Automotive Aftermarket Industry Size to exceed $165bn by 2024APAC Automotive Aftermarket size is estimated to surpass USD 165 billion by 2024; according to a new research report by Global Market Insights, Inc. Increasing demand for modifications in cars with respect to technologically and mechanically advanced components will fuel the APAC automotive aftermarket industry growth.Get Sample Copy Of This Research Report @About Global Market Insights:Global Market Insights, Inc., headquartered in Delaware, U.S., is a global market research and consulting service provider; offering syndicated and custom research reports along with growth consulting services. Our business intelligence and industry research reports offer clients with penetrative insights and actionable market data specially designed and presented to aid strategic decision making. These exhaustive reports are designed via a proprietary research methodology and are available for key industries such as chemicals, advanced materials, technology, renewable energy and biotechnology.Contact Us:Arun HegdeCorporate Sales, USAGlobal Market Insights, Inc.Phone:1-302-846-7766Toll Free: 1-888-689-0688Email: sales@gminsights.com Fabric Softeners and Conditioners Market by Product Type, Application & Forecast to 2025 Fabric Softeners and Conditioners Market https://www.alliedmarketresearch.com/request-sample/5061?utm_source=open-nee https://www.alliedmarketresearch.com/request-for-customization/5061?utm_source=open-nee https://www.alliedmarketresearch.com/purchase-enquiry/5061?utm_source=open-nee https://www.alliedmarketresearch.com The fabric softeners & conditioners market has witnessed robust growth in the emerging economies of the Asia-Pacific and LAMEA regions. Innovations in technology and products foster the launch of easy-to-use and effective fabric cleaning & care products. Market players have launched new formulations of fabric care products to cater to the growth in demand for newer fabric care products among consumers. In addition, rise in awareness among customers about environment degradation due to the use of conventional fabric care products leads to the increased demand for eco-friendly fabric care products. Market players have also started to launch eco-friendly products to address the issue of environmental degradation. For instance, TLC Green Concentrated Fabric Conditioner, an eco-friendly fabric care product, was launched by the Truly Loving Company. However, companies need to focus on developing affordable eco-friendly fabric care products. The adoption of liquid detergent has increased in the emerging markets, owing to its ease-of-use and fabric care properties.Get Sample Report:The global fabric wash and care market has witnessed tremendous growth in the emerging markets, such as India and China. Water scarcity is one of the major issues in most of the countries in the world. Therefore, market players such as Procter & Gamble and Unilever, intend to launch water-efficient fabric care and cleaning products, especially for emerging economies, such as India and China. In addition, these prominent players have adopted innovative marketing and promotion strategies to increase their customer base. Furthermore, other global major market players plan to expand their presence in emerging regions such as LAMEA, owing to minimal scope in the matured markets. Rapid urbanization has led to changes in the demand and distribution of fabric cleaning products in this region; thus, creating lucrative opportunities for the market players.The global fabric softener and conditioners market was valued at $17,545 million in 2018 and is projected to reach $23,529 million by 2025, registering a CAGR of 4.3% from 2018 to 2025. Fabric softeners and conditioners are dispersants or emulsifiers equipped with fragrance along with preservatives such as bronopol, formaldehyde, and chloride to soften clothes and facilitate them with long-lasting fragrance. Fabric conditioners are used to maintain the natural elasticity and smoothness of the cloth. The fabric softener industry is projected to constantly evolve owing to the increase in the demand for clothing coupled with changes in demands of consumers regarding fabric care products.Request for Customization:Key Benefits for Fabric Softeners and Conditioners Market :This report provides a quantitative analysis of the current trends, estimations, and dynamics of the global fabric softeners and conditioners market from 2018 to 2025 to identify the prevailing market opportunities.The key countries in all the major regions are mapped based on their global fabric softeners and conditioners market share.Porters Five Forces analysis highlights the potency of the buyers and the suppliers to enable stakeholders to make profit-oriented business decisions and strengthen their supplierbuyer network.In-depth analysis of the global fabric softeners and conditioners market segmentation assists in determining the prevailing market opportunities.Major countries in each region are mapped according to their revenue contribution to the global fabric softeners and conditioners industry. Market player positioning segment facilitates benchmarking and provides a clear understanding of the present position of the market players.The report includes the analysis of the regional as well as the global fabric softeners and conditioners market, key players, market segments, application areas, and growth strategies.Request Purchase Enquiry:Some of the key players analyzed in this market are Reckitt Benckiser Group PLC., Dropps, Unilever PLC., Henkel AG & Co. KGaA, Colgate Palmolive Company, Procter & Gamble Co., Lion Corporation, Kao Corporation, LG Household and Healthcare, and The Sun Products Corporation.Allied Market Research (AMR) is a full-service market research and business-consulting wing of Allied Analytics LLP based in Portland, Oregon. Allied Market Research provides global enterprises as well as medium and small businesses with unmatched quality of "Market Research Reports" and "Business Intelligence Solutions. AMR has a targeted view to provide business insights and consulting to assist its clients to make strategic business decisions and achieve sustainable growth in their respective market domain.We are in professional corporate relations with various companies and this helps us in digging out market data that helps us generate accurate research data tables and confirms utmost accuracy in our market forecasting. Each and every data presented in the reports published by us is extracted through primary interviews with top officials from leading companies of domain concerned. Our secondary data procurement methodology includes deep online and offline research and discussion with knowledgeable professionals and analysts in the industry.David Correa5933 NE Win Sivers Drive#205, Portland, OR 97220United StatesToll Free (USA/Canada):+1-800-792-5285, +1-503-894-6022, +1-503-446-1141UK: +44-845-528-1300Hong Kong: +852-301-84916India (Pune): +91-20-66346060Fax: +1-855-550-5975help@alliedmarketresearch.comWeb: Optical Communication and Networking Global Market SWOT Analysis and Opportunities To 2025 | Key Players : Huawei, Cisco, Ciena, Nokia, Finisar, Adtran, Infinera Optical Communication and Networking Market https://www.wiseguyreports.com/sample-request/3696312-global-optical-communication-and-networking-market-size-status https://www.wiseguyreports.com/enquiry/3696312-global-optical-communication-and-networking-market-size-status https://www.wiseguyreports.com/checkout?currency=one_user-USD&report_id=3696312 WiseGuyReports.Com Publish a New Market Research Report On Optical Communication and Networking Global Market SWOT Analysis and Opportunities To 2025 | Key Players : Huawei, Cisco, Ciena, Nokia, Finisar, Adtran, Infinera.Description:-Optical communication is communication at a distance using light to carry information. It can be performed visually or by using electronic devices.An optical communication system uses a transmitter, which encodes a message into an optical signal, a channel, which carries the signal to its destination, and a receiver, which reproduces the message from the received optical signal.In 2018, the global Optical Communication and Networking market size was xx million US$ and it is expected to reach xx million US$ by the end of 2025, with a CAGR of xx% during 2019-2025.This report focuses on the global Optical Communication and Networking status, future forecast, growth opportunity, key market and key players. The study objectives are to present the Optical Communication and Networking development in United States, Europe and China.Get a Sample Report @For more information or any query mail at sales@wiseguyreports.comThe key players covered in this studyHuaweiCiscoCienaNokiaFinisarZTEAdtranInfineraADVA Optical NetworkingFujitsu Optical ComponentsMarket segment by Type, the product can be split intoOptical FibersOptical TransceiversOptical AmplifiersOptical SwitchesOptical SplittersOptical CirculatorsMarket segment by Application, split intoTelecomData CenterEnterpriseMarket segment by Regions/Countries, this report coversUnited StatesEuropeChinaJapanSoutheast AsiaIndiaCentral & South AmericaEnquiry About Report @Table Of Contents Major Key Points1 Report Overview1.1 Study Scope1.2 Key Market Segments1.3 Players Covered1.4 Market Analysis by Type1.4.1 Global Optical Communication and Networking Market Size Growth Rate by Type (2014-2025)1.4.2 Optical Fibers1.4.3 Optical Transceivers1.4.4 Optical Amplifiers1.4.5 Optical Switches1.4.6 Optical Splitters1.4.7 Optical Circulators1.5 Market by Application1.5.1 Global Optical Communication and Networking Market Share by Application (2014-2025)1.5.2 Telecom1.5.3 Data Center1.5.4 Enterprise1.6 Study Objectives1.7 Years Considered2 Global Growth Trends2.1 Optical Communication and Networking Market Size2.2 Optical Communication and Networking Growth Trends by Regions2.2.1 Optical Communication and Networking Market Size by Regions (2014-2025)2.2.2 Optical Communication and Networking Market Share by Regions (2014-2019)2.3 Industry Trends2.3.1 Market Top Trends2.3.2 Market Drivers2.3.3 Market Opportunities3 Market Share by Key Players3.1 Optical Communication and Networking Market Size by Manufacturers3.1.1 Global Optical Communication and Networking Revenue by Manufacturers (2014-2018)3.1.2 Global Optical Communication and Networking Revenue Market Share by Manufacturers (2014-2018)3.1.3 Global Optical Communication and Networking Market Concentration Ratio (CR5 and HHI)3.2 Optical Communication and Networking Key Players Head office and Area Served3.3 Key Players Optical Communication and Networking Product/Solution/Service3.4 Date of Enter into Optical Communication and Networking Market3.5 Mergers & Acquisitions, Expansion Plans4 Breakdown Data by Type and Application4.1 Global Optical Communication and Networking Market Size by Type (2014-2019)4.2 Global Optical Communication and Networking Market Size by Application (2014-2019)5 United States5.1 United States Optical Communication and Networking Market Size (2014-2019)5.2 Optical Communication and Networking Key Players in United States5.3 United States Optical Communication and Networking Market Size by Type5.4 United States Optical Communication and Networking Market Size by ApplicationContinuedBuy 1-user PDF @ABOUT US:Wise Guy Reports is part of the Wise Guy Consultants Pvt. Ltd. and offers premium progressive statistical surveying, market research reports, analysis & forecast data for industries and governments around the globe. Wise Guy Reports features an exhaustive list of market research reports from hundreds of publishers worldwide. We boast a database spanning virtually every market category and an even more comprehensive collection of market research reports under these categories and sub-categories.Office No.528,Amanora Chambers,Magarpatta Road,Hadapsar,Pune-411028. 411Writers releases a new service - App Description Writing, suitable for Google Play and Apple App Stores. https://twitter.com/411Writers https://www.facebook.com/411writers/ https://www.linkedin.com/company/411writers/ A professional writing service to help apps rank better and engage more customers.January 2019 - Varna, Bulgaria - Available today, 411Writers App Description Writing services aim to help app developers (Android, iOS) engage more downloaders and rank better in the app stores. 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"Tsar Ivan Stratsimir" 2, 9000 Hristo Botev, Varna, Bulgaria411 MarketingPhone: +359899372912Email: info@411writers.comTwitter:Facebook:LinkedIn: Logistics Services Market Outlook to 2025 - CEVA Logistics, United Parcel Service, Robinson Worldwide, MAERSK, Nippon Express, FedEx, DB Schenker, DHL International, Logistics Services Market http://bit.ly/2TbFSLE http://bit.ly/2T9qsrh An off-the-shelf report on Logistics Services Market which has been compiled after an in-depth analysis of the market trends prevailing across five geographies (North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, Middle-East and Africa, and South America). Various segments of the market such as type/components/ application/industry verticals/ end-users are analyzed with robust research methodology which includes three step process starting with extensive secondary research to gather data from company profiles, global/regional associations, trade journals, technical white papers, paid databases etc. followed by primary research (interviews) with industry experts/KOLs to gain their insights and views on current scenarios and future scope of the market as well as validating the secondary information, further internal statistical model is used to estimate the market size and forecasts till 2025.Growing trade due to economic development and introduction IoT are major driving factor the logistics services market. Another major factor driving the market for logistics services in the current scenario is the free trade agreement among various countries in North America and Europe. However, lack of infrastructures and skilled labor in developing countries possesses a significant barrier to the growth of the market. Expanding e-commerce industry across the globe is anticipated to create substantial opportunities to the market in the forecast period.Get sample PDF copy at:The key players influencing the market are1. CEVA Logistics2. PANALPINA WORLD TRANSPORT (HOLDING) LTD.3. United Parcel Service (UPS)4. C.H. Robinson Worldwide, Inc.5. A.P. MOLLER - MAERSK6. Nippon Express7. FedEx8. DB Schenker9. DHL International GmbH10. KUEHNE + NAGELGenerally, logistics refers to the management service of flow of resources from one point to another point according to customer's requirements. These resources includes physical as well as intangible items. The logistics of physical items involves integration of information flow, materials handling, production, packaging, inventory, transportation, warehousing and often security.Logistics Services Market aims to provide a 360-degree view of the market in terms of cutting-edge technology, key developments, drivers, restraints and future trends with impact analysis of these trends on the market for short-term, mid-term and long-term during the forecast period. Further, the report also covers key players profiling with detailed SWOT analysis, financial facts and key developments of products/service from the past three years.Logistics Services Market - Global Analysis to 2025 is an expert compiled study which provides a holistic view of the market covering current trends and future scope with respect to product/service, the report also covers competitive analysis to understand the presence of key vendors in the companies by analyzing their product/services, key financial facts, details SWOT analysis and key development in last three years. Further chapter such as industry landscape and competitive landscape provides the reader with recent company level insights covering mergers and acquisitions, joint ventures, collaborations, new product developments/strategies taking place across the ecosystem. The chapters also evaluate the key vendors by mapping all the relevant products and services to exhibit the ranking/ position of top 5 key vendors.Logistics Services Market is a combination of qualitative as well as quantitative analysis which can be broken down into 40% and 60% respectively. Market estimation and forecasts are presented in the report for the overall global market from 2018 2025, considering 2018 as the base year and 2018 2025 forecast period. Global estimation is further broken down by segments and geographies such as North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, Middle East & Africa and South America covering major 16 countries across the mentioned regions. The qualitative contents for geographical analysis will cover market trends in each region and country which includes highlights of the key players operating in the respective region/country, PEST analysis of each region which includes political, economic, social and technological factors influencing the growth of the market.Buy Now This Report at:Reason To BuyHighlights key business priorities in order to assist companies to realign their business strategies- Highlights Logistics Services Market hereby allowing organizations to gain revenues by focusing majorly on select products- The key findings and recommendations highlight crucial progressive industry trends in the Logistics Services Market, thereby allowing players across the value chain to develop effective long term strategies- Develop/modify business expansion plans by using substantial growth offering developed and emerging markets- Scrutinize in-depth global market trends and outlook coupled with the factors driving the market, as well as those hindering it- Enhance the decision-making process by understanding the strategies that underpin commercial interest with respect to client products, segmentation, pricing and distribution- Examine the current and future impact of the market and PEST analysis for regions such as North America, Europe, APAC, Middle-East & Africa and South AmericaAbout Us:The Insight Partners is a one stop industry research provider of actionable intelligence. We help our clients in getting solutions to their research requirements through our syndicated and consulting research services. We are a specialist in Technology, Healthcare, Manufacturing, Automotive and Defense.Contact Us:Call: +1-646-491-9876Email: sales@theinsightpartners.com Europe Machine Learning Market Emerging Trends and Prospects by leading Players, are Microsoft, Google Inc., IBM Watson, Amazon, Intel, Facebook and Apple. https://www.researchreporthub.com/report/europe-machine-learning-market/11411/#requestforsample https://www.researchreporthub.com/report/europe-machine-learning-market/11411/ https://www.researchreporthub.com/report/europe-machine-learning-market/11411/#toc www.researchreporthub.com https://www.facebook.com/reasearchreporthub/ https://twitter.com/hub_report https://www.linkedin.com/company/research-report-hub/ Europe Machine Learning marketThe value of the machine learning market in Europe is expected to reach USD 3.96 Bn by 2023, expanding at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 33.5% during 2018-2023.Machine learning the ability of computers to learn through experiences to improve their performance. Separate algorithms and human intervention are not required to train the computer. It merely learns from its past experiences and examples. In recent times, this market has gained utmost importance due to the increased availability of data and the need to process the data to obtain meaningful insights.Download Free Report Sample (PDF) Here:Europe stands in the second position after North America in the machine learning market.The market can be classified into four primary segments based on components, service, organization size and application.Based on region, the market is segmented into the European Union five (EU5), rest of Europe.Based on components the market can be segmented into software tools, cloud and web-based application programming interfaces (APIs) and others.Based on service, the sub-segments are composed of professional services and managed services.Based on organization size, the sub-segments include small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and large enterprises.Based on application, the market is divided into the sub-segments, banking, financial services and insurance (BFSI), automotive, healthcare, government and others.The trend of supporting, educating, enforcing and steering the economy towards a machine learning-friendly environment is seen to be followed throughout Europe.European countries are successfully bridging the gap between additional renewable energy and excess power into the grid by making ultra-accurate forecasts of the demand and supply in real time by making use of the machine learning technologies, thereby saving energy and cost.Key growth factorsThe world-class research facilities, the emerging start-up culture, the innovation and commercialisation of machine intelligence technologies is giving thrust to the machine intelligence market in Europe.Amongst all regions, Europe has the largest share of intraregional data flow. This, together with the machine learning technologies, is boosting the market in Europe.The excessive usage of the machine learning technology across economy in all facets of businesses is proving to be a big thrust to the machine learning market. Profound usage has been found in sectors such as agriculture, healthcare and media for optimisation of prices and carrying out predictive maintenance in manufacturing.Threats and key playersInvestors in Europe are more concerned about the ROI from investing in the machine learning market. The adoption of machine learning by the start-ups is a farce in Europe since research suggests that only 5% of the start-ups investing in machine learning end up with a revenue of more than $50 Mn in revenue. Also, opportunities for external investments are bleak.The machine learning market is in a stage of infancy; there is a lacuna between the skills required and that which is inherent in the workers. It requires a considerable amount of time to pick up the skills. Also, the Europeans are concerned about the penetration of machine learning into their lives, and how it is going to impact employment in the country. Concerns environing these factors are hindering the further developments in the machine learning market.Given that machine intelligence depends on the easy availability of data, the practice of data minimisation and data privacy standards act as a barrier to the further development of the machine learning market in Europe.The key players are Microsoft, Google Inc., IBM Watson, Amazon, Intel, Facebook and Apple.Get Discount & Customization of this Report Here:Chapter 1: Executive summary1.1. Market scope and segmentation1.2. Key questions answered in this study1.3. Executive summaryChapter 2: Europe machine learning market - market overview2.1. Europe market overview- market trends, market attractiveness analysis, geography-wise market revenue (USD)2.2. Europe - market drivers and challenges2.3. Value chain analysis machine learning market2.4. Porters five forces analysis2.5. Market size- by components (software tools, cloud and web-based APIs and others)2.5. a. Revenue from software tools- Historical (2015-2017) and forecasted (2018-2023) market size (USD Bn), key observations2.5. b. Revenue from cloud and web-based APIs- Historical (2015-2017) and forecasted (2018-2023) market size (USD Bn), key observations2.5. c. Revenue from others- Historical (2015-2017) and forecasted (2018-2023) market size (USD Bn), key observations2.6. Market size- by service (professional services and managed services)2.6. a. Revenue from professional services- Historical (2015-2017) and forecasted (2018-2023) market size (USD Bn), key observations2.6. b. Revenue from managed services- Historical (2015-2017) and forecasted (2018-2023) market size (USD Bn), key observations2.7. Market size- by organization size (SMEs and large enterprises)2.7. a. Revenue from SMEs- Historical (2015-2017) and forecasted (2018-2023) market size (USD Bn), key observations2.7. b. Revenue from large enterprises- Historical (2015-2017) and forecasted (2018-2023) market size (USD Bn), key observations2.8. Market size- by application (BFSI, automotive, healthcare, government and others)2.8. a. Revenue from BFSI- Historical (2015-2017) and forecasted (2018-2023) market size (USD Bn), key observations2.8. b. Revenue from automotive- Historical (2015-2017) and forecasted (2018-2023) market size (USD Bn), key observations2.8. c. Revenue from healthcare- Historical (2015-2017) and forecasted (2018-2023) market size (USD Bn), key observations2.8. d. Revenue from government- Historical (2015-2017) and forecasted (2018-2023) market size (USD Bn), key observations2.8. e. Revenue from others- Historical (2015-2017) and forecasted (2018-2023) market size (USD Bn), key observationsChapter 3: EU5 machine learning market- market overview3.1. Market overview- market trends, market attractiveness analysis, geography-wise market revenue (USD)3.2. EU5 - market drivers and challenges3.3. 3.3. Market size- by components (software tools, cloud and web-based APIs and others)3.3. a. Revenue from software tools- Historical (2015-2017) and forecasted (2018-2023) market size (USD Bn), key observations3.3. b. Revenue from cloud and web-based APIs- Historical (2015-2017) and forecasted (2018-2023) market size (USD Bn), key observations3.3. c. Revenue from others- Historical (2015-2017) and forecasted (2018-2023) market size (USD Bn), key observations3.4. Market size- by service (professional services and managed services)3.4. a. Revenue from professional services- Historical (2015-2017) and forecasted (2018-2023) market size (USD Bn), key observations3.4. b. Revenue from managed services- Historical (2015-2017) and forecasted (2018-2023) market size (USD Bn), key observations3.5. Market size- by organization size (SMEs and large enterprises)3.5. a. Revenue from SMEs- Historical (2015-2017) and forecasted (2018-2023) market size (USD Bn), key observations3.5. b. Revenue from large enterprises- Historical (2015-2017) and forecasted (2018-2023) market size (USD Bn), key observations3.6. Market size- by application (BFSI, automotive, healthcare, government and others)3.6. a. Revenue from BFSI- Historical (2015-2017) and forecasted (2018-2023) market size (USD Bn), key observations3.6. b. Revenue from automotive- Historical (2015-2017) and forecasted (2018-2023) market size (USD Bn), key observations3.6. c. Revenue from healthcare- Historical (2015-2017) and forecasted (2018-2023) market size (USD Bn), key observations3.6. d. Revenue from government- Historical (2015-2017) and forecasted (2018-2023) market size (USD Bn), key observations3.6. e. Revenue from others- Historical (2015-2017) and forecasted (2018-2023) market size (USD Bn), key observationsChapter 4: Rest of Europe machine learning market - market overview4.1. Market overview- market trends, market attractiveness analysis, geography-wise market revenue (USD)4.2. Rest of Europe - market drivers and challenges4.3. Market size- By components (software tools, cloud and web-based APIs and others)4.3. a. Revenue from software tools- Historical (2015-2017) and forecasted (2018-2023) market size (USD Bn), key observations4.3. b. Revenue from cloud and web-based APIs- Historical (2015-2017) and forecasted (2018-2023) market size (USD Bn), key observations4.3. c. Revenue from others- Historical (2015-2017) and forecasted (2018-2023) market size (USD Bn), key observations4.4. Market size- by service (professional services and managed services)4.4. a. Revenue from professional services- Historical (2015-2017) and forecasted (2018-2023) market size (USD Bn), key observations4.4. b. Revenue from managed services- Historical (2015-2017) and forecasted (2018-2023) market size (USD Bn), key observations4.5. Market size- by organization size (SMEs and large enterprises)4.5. a. Revenue from SMEs- Historical (2015-2017) and forecasted (2018-2023) market size (USD Bn), key observations4.5. b. Revenue from large enterprises- Historical (2015-2017) and forecasted (2018-2023) market size (USD Bn), key observations4.6. Market size- By application (BFSI, automotive, healthcare, government and others)4.6. a. Revenue from BFSI- Historical (2015-2017) and forecasted (2018-2023) market size (USD Bn), key observations4.6. b. Revenue from automotive- Historical (2015-2017) and forecasted (2018-2023) market size (USD Bn), key observations4.6. c. Revenue from healthcare- Historical (2015-2017) and forecasted (2018-2023) market size (USD Bn), key observations4.6. d. Revenue from government- Historical (2015-2017) and forecasted (2018-2023) market size (USD Bn), key observations4.6. e. Revenue from others- Historical (2015-2017) and forecasted (2018-2023) market size (USD Bn), key observations.Get Complete TOC with Figures and Tables Here:Research Report HubResearch Report Hub offers wide-ranging collection of market research reports under virtually every market verticals and sub-categories from different publishers across the globe. We offer reliable market intelligence reports and report customization services to better understand current and projected market scenarios. It also gives a clearer depiction of industries and facilitates to simply perceive competitor activity in the respective industry. Our services are also geared towards helping organizations procure market reports at the finest price.Research Report Hub20 Hanover SquareMayfair, London W1S 1JY, UKsales@researchreporthub.comWeb:Find us on:sales@researchreporthub.comUK: +44 7441 906751(US/CAN TOLL FREE):1 888-247-2308Asia: +91 84484 44687 Automotive Aftermarket Telematics Market Estimated to Expand at CAGR 29.1% with the Key Players like Delphi, Geotab, Intel Corporation, TomTom International and Verizon Telematics during the Forecast Period 2019-2023 Automotive Aftermarket Telematics Market https://www.orianresearch.com/request-sample/664243 https://www.orianresearch.com/enquiry-before-buying/664243 https://www.orianresearch.com/checkout/664243 www.orianresearch.com/ https://www.linkedin.com/company-beta/13281002/ The automotive telematics system is a device that deals with sending, receiving, and storing information regarding the vehicle and other parameters. The telematics system collects information from different on-board sensors, such as speed sensors, braking system, ADAS, airbags, transmission control system, and many other systems.For Sample Copy of this Report atScope of the Report:This report focuses on the Automotive Aftermarket Telematics in global market, especially in North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, South America, Middle East and Africa. This report categorizes the market based on manufacturers, regions, types and applications.The worldwide market for Automotive Aftermarket Telematics is expected to grow at a CAGR of roughly 29.1% over the next five years, will reach xx million US$ in 2023, from xx million US$ in 2017, according to a new research study.Automotive Aftermarket Telematics Industry 2019 Market Research Report is spread across 135 pages and provides exclusive vital statistics, data, information, trends and competitive landscape details in this niche sector.Inquire more or share questions if any before the purchase on reportReport Covers Market Segment by Manufacturers: Delphi Geotab Intel Corporation TomTom International Verizon TelematicsMarket Segment by Type, covers: Plug and Play Telematics Hardwired Install TelematicsMarket Segment by Applications, can be divided into: Passenger vehicles Commercial vehiclesOrder Copy of this Report @There are 15 Chapters to deeply display the global Automotive Aftermarket Telematics market.Chapter 1: Describe Automotive Aftermarket Telematics Introduction, product scope, market overview, market opportunities, market risk, and market driving force.Chapter 2: Analyze the top manufacturers of Automotive Aftermarket Telematics, with sales, revenue, and price of Automotive Aftermarket Telematics, in 2015 and 2017.Chapter 3: Display the competitive situation among the top manufacturers, with sales, revenue and market share in 2015 and 2017.Chapter 4: Show the global market by regions, with sales, revenue and market share of Automotive Aftermarket Telematics, for each region, from 2011 to 2017.Chapter 5, 6, 7, 8 and 9: Analyze and talked about the key regions, with sales, revenue and market share by key countries in these regions.Chapter 10 and 11: Show the market by type and application, with sales market share and growth rate by type, application, from 2011 to 2017.Chapter 12: In Chapter Eleven Automotive Aftermarket Telematics market forecast, by regions, type and application, with sales and revenue, from 2017 to 2022.Chapter 13, 14 and 15: Describe Automotive Aftermarket Telematics sales channel, distributors, traders, dealers, appendix and data source.About UsOrian Research is one of the most comprehensive collections of market intelligence reports on the World Wide Web. Our reports repository boasts of over 500000+ industry and country research reports from over 100 top publishers. We continuously update our repository so as to provide our clients easy access to the world's most complete and current database of expert insights on global industries, companies, and products. We also specialize in custom research in situations where our syndicate research offerings do not meet the specific requirements of our esteemed clients.Contact Us:Ruwin MendezVice President Global Sales & Partner RelationsOrian Research ConsultantsUS: +1 (415) 830-3727 | UK: +44 020 8144-71-27Email: info@orianresearch.comWebsite:Follow Us on LinkedIn: Global Radiopharmaceuticals Market 2019:(Expected to Register an Attractive Growth Rate Throughout) Beat Current Market Leader North America - Analysis and Opportunity Assessment, 2016-2026 Radiopharmaceuticals https://www.researchmoz.us/enquiry.php?type=S&repid=1287878 https://www.researchmoz.us/enquiry.php?type=E&repid=1287878 https://www.researchmoz.us/radiopharmaceuticals-market.html/toc www.researchmoz.us Press Release 24 Jan 2019Research and Development News --. .Latest Update "Radiopharmaceuticals Market: Will Japan (Expected to Register an Attractive Growth Rate Throughout the Forecast Period) Beat Current Market Leader North America? - Global Industry Analysis and Opportunity Assessment, 2016-2026" with Industries Survey | Global Current Growth and Future.' 'North America is anticipated to be the most attractive regional market in the global radiopharmaceuticals marketNorth America accounted for more than 40% market share in the global radiopharmaceuticals market in 2016 and is expected to witness an increase of more than 100 BPS in its market share over the forecast period. In terms of Y-o-Y growth, North America dominated the global radiopharmaceuticals market and was valued at more than US$ 2,000 Mn in 2015. The market is expected to expand at 6.2% CAGR over the projected period to reach more than US$ 4,000 Mn by the end of 2026. The North America radiopharmaceuticals market is estimated to represent absolute $ opportunity of more than US$ 100 Mn in 2017 over 2016. The growth is stagnant and slow due to major reactors having been shut down in Canada and new reactors installed in place of old ones for better production of radioisotope. North America is expected to be the most lucrative market in the global radiopharmaceuticals market, recording an attractiveness index of 3.6.. . Get Sample Report_' 'Significant growth in the number of cancer and cardiovascular diseases patients in North America is expected to boost the global radiopharmaceuticals marketWidespread availability of SPECT and PET scanning machines will result in a growing number of radio diagnostic and radio therapeutics events in North America. For instance, the number of PET scanning machines installed per head of population in North America are more compared to that installed in Europe, thus leading to increased usage of radiotracers in the region. This growth in North America is expected to continue along with continuous technological improvements in PET scanning devices. The high level of awareness and accessibility to these machines is expected to account for high revenue generation in North America. This factor is boosting the overall growth of the global radiopharmaceuticals market.The other factor impacting the global radiopharmaceuticals market is the rising prevalence of cancer in North America. This has significantly increased the number of nuclear medicine procedures performed in the region and this is the precise reason that the market for radiopharmaceuticals is steadily growing in North America. There has been a rising number of cardiovascular diseases among the people in North America due to aging population, unhealthy food habits and rising obesity. The increasing number of cardiovascular patients is expected to boost the sales of radiopharmaceuticals, which would eventually create growth in the global radiopharmaceuticals market.. . For Other Requirement and Enquiry_' 'Gallium-68 and Lutetium 177 sub-segments of the radioisotope segment are likely to dominate the North America radiopharmaceuticals marketGallium-68 and Lutetium 177 are dominant sub-segments of the radioisotope segment in North America. Gallium-68 has gained immense popularity since the last one year in the field of nuclear medicine, especially in the diagnosis and evaluation of prostate cancer. This is in heavy reliance with incorporation of several technological leaps and entry of new radiotracer- 68Ga-PSMA-11, developed by the University of Heidelberg. Additionally, marketing authorisation of the first 68Ge/68Ga generator, manufactured by the German company Eckert & Ziegler, has also positively impacted the penetration of 68Ga-PSMA-11 tracer in the treatment of prostate cancer in North America.Despite a shorter half-life, Gallium-68 has an ideal profile as a PET imaging agent. Several manufacturers in North America are focussing on introducing cold kits for the 68Ga-labeling of tracers (ANMI, Belgium), thus opening the gateways for 68Ga in PET scanning. Iodine-131, a therapeutic radiotracer continues to be the ideal tracer for the treatment of not only thyroid cancer but also other therapeutic indications. However it is being slowly replaced by Lutetium-177 (Lu-177) in North America. Lu-177, low-energy -particle emitter is identified to be one of the emerging radiotracers for the treatment of metastatic castrate-resistant prostate cancer (mCRPC) and neuroendocrine tumors.Market share of companies operating in the global radiopharmaceuticals marketThe global radiopharmaceuticals market is highly consolidated with a few companies that offer advanced technology systems and nuclear medicines for treating diseases. However, the global market is dominated by top five players accounting for over 89% share. Siemens Healthineers accounted for the largest share of around 41.2% of the global market in 2015. The company dominated the market owing to its diversified product portfolio, extensive geographical presence, and acquisition strategies. GE Healthcare accounted for the second largest share of around 30.1% and Mallinckrodt plc. accounted for the third largest share of around 9% in the global radiopharmaceuticals market.Continue..... More Clear Details get Full Table of Contents_About Researchmoz,ResearchMoz is the worlds fastest growing collection of market research reports worldwide. Our database is composed of current market studies from over 100 featured publishers worldwide. Our market research databases integrate statistics with analysis from global, regional, country and company perspectives. ResearchMozs service portfolio also includes value-added services such as market research customization, competitive landscaping, and in-depth surveys, delivered by a team of experienced Research Coordinators.Researchmoz Global Pvt. Ltd.90 State Street,Albany, NY 12207,United States,Tel: 866-997-4948 (Us-Canada Toll Free),Tel: +1-518-621-2074 Linear Actuators Market to Hold a High Potential for Growth by 2027 https://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/sample/rep-gb-3778 https://www.futuremarketinsights.com/toc/rep-gb-3778 https://www.futuremarketinsights.com/ Linear actuators assist in converting energy into straight line motions, generally for positioning applications. Most of the linear actuators are either mechanical or electro-mechanical devices that provide controlled movement and positioning. These actuators are primarily used in industrial machinery, computer peripherals, valves, and many other places where linear motion is required. A typical linear actuator generally produces push and pull action. As most processes across a variegated range of industries gets automated, the global linear actuators market is expected to expand with an impressive CAGR throughout the forecast period.Linear ActuatorsMarket: Drivers & RestraintsThe major factors boosting the growth of linear actuators market is rising automation across manufacturing industry. Industrial objectives such as achieving complete factory automation, and integrating Industrial Internet of Things are some of the prime reasons that will drive more demand for linear actuators. While, rising industrialization particularly in the third world countries is another factor that will drive the demand in the global linear actuators market, on the backdrop of increasing number of factories. As the number of research studies conducted increases, demand for telescopic actuators is expected to increase significantly. Also as companies overcome their legacy systems to achieve higher efficiency, and replace existing actuators with new ones, demand for linear actuators is expected to rise. Furthermore, as an increasing number of industrial process adopt self-control and positioning demand in the linear actuators market is expected to continuously rise.Request For Report Sample @However, as concerns regarding employment rises among most countries on the backdrop of increasing automation in factories, demand for linear actuators might get sluggish over the end years of the forecast period. Adoption of 3D printing in many industries is another factor that will restrain the demand for linear actuators, as usage of machines will decrease.Linear ActuatorsMarket: Market SegmentationThe Linear Actuators Market is segmented into two parts based on operation type and end use industry:Based on operation mechanism, the linear actuator market is segmented into:MechanicalHydraulicPneumaticPiezoelectricElectro-mechanical actuatorsBased on End Use Industry, the linear actuator market is segmented into:AutomotiveMedical/HealthcareEnergy and Mining,SteelConstructionMilitaryChemicalOthersLinear Actuators Market: Regional OutlookGeographically, linear actuators market has been categorized into seven key regions including North America, Western Europe, Eastern Europe, APEJ, Japan, Latin America, and the Middle East & Africa.A prominent share of the demand for linear actuators comes from North America, and the region is expected to maintain its dominance throughout the forecast period. Furthermore, with more inclination towards shifting manufacturing in US from China and other ASEAN countries, demand for linear actuators will further rise in the region. Asia Pacific Exc. Japan is another prominent shareholder in terms of demand for linear actuators, amid, large manufacturing sector of China. Moreover, with India and Indonesia picking up at a fast pace, demand for linear actuators is expected to expand with a bullish growth rate over the forecast period. Being home to large automotive and research base companies, Western Europe is another prominent region generating huge demand for linear actuators. Eastern Europe is also expected to generate descent demand for linear actuators, particularly from energy and defense sector. Rising industrialization and the already dominant oil and gas industry of Middle East and Africa is the prime reason driving automation in the Middle Eastern region. Thus driving more demand for linear actuators. Japan is another prominent industrial nation, which drives demand for linear actuators, due to high automation penetration in their industries coupled with growing semiconductor industry of the region.Request For Report Table of Content (TOC):Linear Actuators Market: Key PlayersSome of the players identified in Global Linear Actuators market are:-Duff-NortonHelix Linear Technologies, Inc.Altra Industrial MotionTolomatic, Inc.Fabco-Air, Inc.Actuonix Motion DevicesTusk Direct, Inc.Bishop-Wisecarver CorporationBEI Kimco MagneticsBurr Engineering & Development CompanyAbout UsFuture Market Insights is the premier provider of market intelligence and consulting services, serving clients in over 150 countries. FMI is headquartered in London, the global financial capital, and has delivery centres in the U.S. and India.FMIs research and consulting services help businesses around the globe navigate the challenges in a rapidly evolving marketplace with confidence and clarity. Our customised and syndicated market research reports deliver actionable insights that drive sustainable growth. We continuously track emerging trends and events in a broad range of end industries to ensure our clients prepare for the evolving needs of their consumers.Contact UsU.S. Office616 Corporate Way, Suite 2-9018,Valley Cottage, NY 10989,United StatesT: +1-347-918-3531F: +1-845-579-5705Email: sales@futuremarketinsights.comWeb: Head and Neck Cancer Therapeutics Global Market Research Report 2019 https://www.research2reports.com/report-medical-devices/head-and-neck-cancer-therapeutics-market/80855 https://www.research2reports.com/sample-report-medical-devices/head-and-neck-cancer-therapeutics-market/80855 https://www.research2reports.com/enquiry-before-buy-medical-devices/head-and-neck-cancer-therapeutics-market/80855 Head and Neck Cancer Therapeutics Report by Material, Application, and Geography Global Forecast to 2022 is a professional and in-depth research report on the world's major regional market conditions, focusing on the main regions (North America, Europe and Asia-Pacific) and the main countries (United States, Germany, united Kingdom, Japan, South Korea and China).Access more details about this report at:The report firstly introduced the Head and Neck Cancer Therapeutics basics: definitions, classifications, applications and market overview; product specifications; manufacturing processes; cost structures, raw materials and so on. Then it analyzed the world's main region market conditions, including the product price, profit, capacity, production, supply, demand and market growth rate and forecast etc. In the end, the report introduced new project SWOT analysis, investment feasibility analysis, and investment return analysis.Purchase a copy of this premium research report at:The report includes six parts, dealing with:1.) basic information;2.) the Asia Head and Neck Cancer Therapeutics Market;3.) the North American Head and Neck Cancer Therapeutics Market;4.) the European Head and Neck Cancer Therapeutics Market;5.) market entry and investment feasibility;6.) the report conclusion.. CONTINUEDInquire further details about this report at:About Research 2 Reports:Research2Reports Market Research Company offers custom syndicated market research reports with market analysis, consulting services Market research reports by Research2Reports depends on survey analysis covers a magnitude of factors, industry research, market size, forecasts, financial growth, pricing trends, competitive insights of market segmentsContact Us:Office No. 212/213, B Block 2nd Floor,Parmar Chambers,Sadhu Vaswani Road, Pune 411001Phone Number: 020 - 2612 6969Email: info@research2reports.comResearch 2 Reports offers premium progressive statistical surveying, market research reports, analysis & forecast data for industries and governments around the globe.Office No. 212/213, B Block 2nd Floor,Parmar Chambers,Sadhu Vaswani Road, Pune 411001 Air Freight Forwarding 2019 Global Market Key Players Kuehne + Nagel, DHL Group, DB Schenker Logistics, GEODIS, Panalpina, DSV, Bollore Logistics, Expeditors, Nippon Express, CEVA Logistics Analysis and Forecast to 2025 Air Freight Forwarding Market https://www.wiseguyreports.com/sample-request/3372574-global-air-freight-forwarding-market-size-status-and-forecast-2018-2025 https://www.wiseguyreports.com/reports/3372574-global-air-freight-forwarding-market-size-status-and-forecast-2018-2025 www.wiseguyreports.com WiseGuyRerports.com Presents Global Air Freight Forwarding Market Size, Status and Forecast 2018-2025 New Document to its Studies DatabaseThis report focuses on the global Air Freight Forwarding status, future forecast, growth opportunity, key market and key players. The study objectives are to present the Air Freight Forwarding development in United States, Europe and China.In 2017, the global Air Freight Forwarding market size was million US$ and it is expected to reach million US$ by the end of 2025, with a CAGR of during 2018-2025.The key players covered in this studyKuehne + NagelDHL GroupDB Schenker LogisticsGEODISPanalpinaDSVBollore LogisticsExpeditorsNippon ExpressCEVA LogisticsPantos LogisticsAgility LogisticsHellmannDamcoKWEHitachi TransportSankyuKerry LogisticsLogwinC.H.RobinsonYusen LogisticsRequest For Sample Report @Market segment by Type, the product can be split intoFull CharterSplit CharterMarket segment by Application, split intoMedcineBeverageElectronicOtherMarket segment by Regions/Countries, this report coversUnited StatesEuropeChinaJapanSoutheast AsiaIndiaCentral & South AmericaComplete Report Details @Table Of Contents:1 Report Overview1.1 Study Scope1.2 Key Market Segments1.3 Players Covered1.4 Market Analysis by Type1.4.1 Global Air Freight Forwarding Market Size Growth Rate by Type (2013-2025)1.4.2 Full Charter1.4.3 Split Charter1.5 Market by Application1.5.1 Global Air Freight Forwarding Market Share by Application (2013-2025)1.5.2 Medcine1.5.3 Beverage1.5.4 Electronic1.5.5 Other1.6 Study Objectives1.7 Years Considered2 Global Growth Trends2.1 Air Freight Forwarding Market Size2.2 Air Freight Forwarding Growth Trends by Regions2.2.1 Air Freight Forwarding Market Size by Regions (2013-2025)2.2.2 Air Freight Forwarding Market Share by Regions (2013-2018)2.3 Industry Trends2.3.1 Market Top Trends2.3.2 Market Drivers2.3.3 Market Opportunities..12 International Players Profiles12.1 Kuehne + Nagel12.1.1 Kuehne + Nagel Company Details12.1.2 Company Description and Business Overview12.1.3 Air Freight Forwarding Introduction12.1.4 Kuehne + Nagel Revenue in Air Freight Forwarding Business (2013-2018)12.1.5 Kuehne + Nagel Recent Development12.2 DHL Group12.2.1 DHL Group Company Details12.2.2 Company Description and Business Overview12.2.3 Air Freight Forwarding Introduction12.2.4 DHL Group Revenue in Air Freight Forwarding Business (2013-2018)12.2.5 DHL Group Recent Development12.3 DB Schenker Logistics12.3.1 DB Schenker Logistics Company Details12.3.2 Company Description and Business Overview12.3.3 Air Freight Forwarding Introduction12.3.4 DB Schenker Logistics Revenue in Air Freight Forwarding Business (2013-2018)12.3.5 DB Schenker Logistics Recent Development12.4 GEODIS12.4.1 GEODIS Company Details12.4.2 Company Description and Business Overview12.4.3 Air Freight Forwarding Introduction12.4.4 GEODIS Revenue in Air Freight Forwarding Business (2013-2018)12.4.5 GEODIS Recent Development12.5 Panalpina12.5.1 Panalpina Company Details12.5.2 Company Description and Business Overview12.5.3 Air Freight Forwarding Introduction12.5.4 Panalpina Revenue in Air Freight Forwarding Business (2013-2018)12.5.5 Panalpina Recent DevelopmentContinued.CONTACT US:NORAH TRENTPartner Relations & Marketing Managersales@wiseguyreports.comPh: +1-646-845-9349 (US)Ph: +44 208 133 9349 (UK)ABOUT US:Wise Guy Reports is part of the Wise Guy Consultants Pvt. Ltd. and offers premium progressive statistical surveying, market research reports, analysis & forecast data for industries and governments around the globe. Wise Guy Reports features an exhaustive list of market research reports from hundreds of publishers worldwide. We boast a database spanning virtually every market category and an even more comprehensive collection of market research reports under these categories and sub-categories.Address:WISE GUY RESEARCH CONSULTANTS PVT LTDOffice No. 528, Amanora ChambersMagarpatta Road, HadapsarPune - 411028Maharashtra, India Visualization and 3D Rendering Software Market : Global Industry Top Leaders- Autodesk Inc., Dassault Systems, NVIDIA Corporation, Chaos Group, Abvent Group, Cebas Visual Technology Inc., Next Limit S.L, Luxion Inc. MRRSE https://www.mrrse.com/sample/3108 https://www.mrrse.com/visualization-3d-rendering-software-market https://www.mrrse.com/enquiry/3108 This report on the Global Visualization and 3D Rendering Software provides analysis for the period from 2015 to 2025, wherein 2016 is the base year and the years from 2017 to 2025 are the forecast period. Data for 2015 has been included as historical information. The report covers all the prevalent trends and technologies playing a major role in the growth of the visualization and 3D rendering software market over the forecast period from 2017 to 2025. It also highlights the various drivers, restraints, and opportunities expected to influence the markets growth during the said period. The study provides a holistic perspective on market growth throughout the forecast period in terms of revenue estimates (in US$ Mn) across different geographies, which include North America, Europe, Asia Pacific (APAC), Middle East & Africa (MEA), and South America (SA).Request for Sample Report for In-depth Study @3D rendering is the 3D computer graphics process of automatically converting 3D wire frame models into 2D images with 3D photorealistic effects or non-photorealistic rendering on a computer. Visualization and 3D rendering software are used for creating graphical interfaces and displays for software solutions and converting 3D models into 2D images or videos. Visualization software includes graphical objects and components which are used for applications and displays with the help of software editors. Visualization software are used for graphical user interfaces in industries to display the required information in an effective manner. North America dominates the overall market for visualization and 3D rendering software globally, this dominance can be mainly due to the established key players and more demand for Media & Entertainment industry.This research report provides in-depth analysis of the global visualization and 3D rendering software market on the basis of deployment type, and end-use industry vertical. The visualization and 3D rendering software market based on deployment type includes on-premise and Cloud based. The visualization and 3D rendering software end-use industry vertical comprises manufacturing, construction, media & entertainment, healthcare, and others.In terms of geographical regions, the report segments the visualization and 3D rendering software market into North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Middle East & Africa (MEA), and South America; the regions are analyzed in terms of revenue generation. The report provides cross-sectional analysis of the global visualization and 3D rendering software market in terms of market estimates and forecasts for all segments across different geographic regions.This report shows market attractiveness analysis for all the segments and for all the geographies in the scope of study which identifies and compares segments market attractiveness on the basis of CAGR and market share index.The report also includes key industry developments that have taken place in the global Visualization and 3D Rendering Software market over the past years. Porter Five Force analysis is also included in the report.Browse Complete Research Report with TOC @The report also includes competitive profiling of major players engaged in the development of visualization and 3D rendering software. The major business strategies adopted by these players, their market positioning, and their recent developments have also been identified in the research report. This report also provides competition landscape which include competition matrix, market share analysis of major players in the visualization and 3D rendering software based on their 2016 revenues. Competition matrix benchmarks leading players on the basis of their capabilities and potential to grow. Factors including market position, offerings 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.Some of the major players profiled in the report include Autodesk Inc., Dassault Systems, NVIDIA Corporation, Chaos Group, Abvent Group, Cebas Visual Technology Inc., Next Limit S.L, Luxion Inc., OTOY Inc., Act-3D B.V., etc.The global market for Visualization & 3D Rendering Software has been segmented as follows:Visualization & 3D Rendering Software market: By Deployment TypeOn-premiseCloud BasedVisualization & 3D Rendering Software market: By End-use Industry VerticalManufacturingConstructionMedia & EntertainmentHealthcareOthersVisualization & 3D Rendering Software market: By RegionNorth AmericaThe U.S.CanadaRest of North AmericaEuropeUKFranceGermanyRest of EuropeAsia PacificIndiaJapanChinaRest of APACMiddle East & AfricaGCCSouth AfricaRest of Middle East & AfricaSouth AmericaBrazilRest of South AmericaSend an Enquiry to Our Researcher @About Market Research Reports Search Engine (MRRSE)Market Research Reports Search Engine (MRRSE) is an industry-leading database of IT 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 12207(United State)United States Telephone: +1-518-730-0559(Toll-Free)Email: sales@mrrse.com On-site Preventive Care Market: Rise in Chronic Ailments and Decreasing Productivity to Trigger Adoption Across Companies https://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/sample/rep-gb-5518 https://www.futuremarketinsights.com/customization-available/rep-gb-5518 https://www.futuremarketinsights.com/ Future Market Insights has published a new report titled On-site Preventive Care Market: Global Industry Analysis (2012-2016) and Opportunity Assessment (2017-2027). The report states that the standards set in the workplace for the safety of workers and the need to adhere to workplace norms have triggered the demand for on-site preventive care. Moreover, the increasing incidences of workplace illness has also made it an obligation for employers to follow employee safety codes and adopt on-site preventive care. As a result, the global on-site preventive care market is expected to witness a CAGR of 7.1% from 2017 to 2027. The market was worth around US$ 16,135 Mn in 2017 and is likely to touch a valuation of US$ 32,063 Mn approximately by the end of 2027.Get Sample Copy of this Report @On-site clinics enable employees to receive the required essential care at the time of emergency without having to leave the workplace. The clinicians in these clinics also aid employees in searching for a primary care physician who they can consult with on a regular basis. As a Future Market Insights analyst quotes, Changes in lifestyle among the working class have incessantly impelled employers to establish certain behavioural standards within the workplace. This is one of the core factors responsible for the growing adoption of on-site preventive care in several organisations across the globe.Burgeoning Penetration of Workplace Wellness Programmes to Bode Well for the MarketIn the recent past, workplace wellness programmes have earned the merit of being one of the most adopted healthcare services in the world. It has been further expected that its adoption will increase in the coming years owing to the implementation of the Affordable Care Act. This act is expected to promote an increase in the employee-based coverage of workplace wellness and also promote these programmes through several provisions. Moreover, the growing incidences of chronic diseases among the working population have also become a matter of concern and this has compelled employers across the globe to adopt as well as promote workplace wellness programmes.Request Customized Copy of Report @Furthermore, employers who have adopted on-site preventive care services have reported enhanced performance ranging from heightened morale and cost savings to productivity. The death of time, access, and cost along with misunderstanding of the benefits of prescribed wellness programmes result in the underutilisation of primary care services. As a result, employees flood emergency rooms, missing out on critical preventive care measures and also leave chronic conditions go unmanaged. In this regard, on-site clinics provide employees with the necessary support without having to leave their work and plus the clinicians also work together with the patients in a cohesive environment to address their various health related issues.North America and Western Europe to Compete Neck and NeckIn 2017, North America held a share of 37.0% in the global on-site preventive care market closely trailed by Western Europe. The dominance of North America can be attributed to the several policies implemented by the U.S. government pertaining to employee safety and the adoption of certain employee codes of safety. The U.S. is also an extremely mature market owing to the high adoption of workplace wellness programmes.Companies to Innovate Services in the Global MarketIn order to stay ahead of the competition, several companies operating in the global market are focussing on innovating their existing services and integrating new services. Some of the leading companies in the market are Premise Health, OnSite Care, Inc., PrevMED, RepuCare, Healthcare Solutions Centers, LLC, McCormack & Kale Motiva Health & Chiropractic, Inc., Marino Wellness, Kinema Fitness, and TotalWellness.About UsFuture Market Insights is the premier provider of market intelligence and consulting services, serving clients in over 150 countries. FMI is headquartered in London, the global financial capital, and has delivery centers in the U.S. and India.FMIs research and consulting services help businesses around the globe navigate the challenges in a rapidly evolving marketplace with confidence and clarity. Our customized and syndicated market research reports deliver actionable insights that drive sustainable growth. We continuously track emerging trends and events in a broad range of end industries to ensure our clients prepare for the evolving needs of their consumers.Contact UsU.S. Office616 Corporate Way, Suite 2-9018,Valley Cottage, NY 10989,United StatesT: +1-347-918-3531F: +1-845-579-5705Email: sales@futuremarketinsights.comWeb: Personalized Packaging Market to 2017 - 2025: Huhtamaki Oyj, The Mondi Group plc. , Smurfit Kappa Group, Glenroy Inc., ProAmpac LLC., Owens-Illinois, Inc., Salazar Packaging, Inc https://www.researchmoz.us/enquiry.php?type=S&repid=1359924 https://www.researchmoz.us/personalized-packaging-market-global-industry-analysis-size-share-growth-trends-and-forecast-2016-2024-report.html/toc https://www.researchmoz.us/enquiry.php?type=E&repid=1359924 http://bit.ly/1TBmnVG https://marketsizeinfo.blogspot.in/ Researchmoz added Most up-to-date research on "Personalized Packaging Market - Global Industry Analysis, Size, Share, Growth, Trends, and Forecast 2017 - 2025" to its huge collection of research reports.Transparency Market Research examines the global personalized packaging market during the forecast period 2017-2025. The primary objective of the report is to identify opportunities in the market and present updates as well as insights about various segments of the global personalized packaging market. The report begins with an overview of the global personalized packaging market, evaluating market performance regarding revenue, followed by Transparency Market Researchs analysis of key trends, drivers, and restraints witnessed in the global retail as well as personalized packaging market. Weighted average pricing analysis of personalized packaging based on material type is also included in the report.To Get Sample Copy of Report visit @In-depth secondary research has been performed in order to compute the market size. Data points such as regional splits and market split by material type, packaging type, and end-user have been assimilated to arrive at the market estimates. The report comprises the forecast of the global revenue generated by sales of personalized packaging across the retail industry. The report triangulates the data via a different analysis based on the supply side, demand side, as well as dynamics of personalized packaging market. Transparency Market Research has not only conducted forecasts in terms of value but also evaluated the market on the basis of essential parameters, such as Year-on-Year (Y-o-Y) growth, which helps providers to recognize the future opportunities and predictability of the market.In order to understand and assess opportunities in this market, the report is categorically divided into four key sections on the basis of material type, packaging type, end use, and region. The report analyzes the global personalized packaging market in terms of value (US$ Mn) and volume (thousand tonnes).Vital feature of this report is the analysis of the global personalized packaging market by region, material type, packaging type, and end use; and the corresponding revenue forecast in terms of absolute dollar opportunity. This is traditionally overlooked while forecasting the market. However, absolute dollar opportunity is critical in assessing the level of opportunity that a provider can look to achieve as well as to provide potential resources from sales perspective of the global personalized packaging market.Get Complete TOC With Tables and Figures @To understand key segments in terms of their growth and performance in the personalized packaging market, Transparency Market Research has developed a market attractiveness index. The resulting index should help providers identify existing market opportunities in the global personalized packaging market.In the final section of the report, personalized packaging market competitive landscape has been included to provide a dashboard view of companies that manufacture and provide personalized packaging. The report contains company profiles of some of the players in the personalized packaging market.Few of the key players in the global personalized packaging market include Huhtamaki Oyj, The Mondi Group plc. , Smurfit Kappa Group, Glenroy Inc., ProAmpac LLC., Owens-Illinois, Inc., Salazar Packaging, Inc., Design Packaging, Inc., PrimeLine Packaging, International Packaging Inc., Elegant Packaging, Pak Factory Inc., ABOX Packaging Co., ACG Ecopak ., Cal Box Group. and SoOPAK Company.Make An Enquiry @About ResearchMozResearchMoz is the one stop online destination to find and buy market research reports & Industry Analysis. We fulfill all your research needs spanning across industry verticals with our huge collection of market research reports. We provide our services to all sizes of organizations and across all industry verticals and markets. Our Research Coordinators have in-depth knowledge of reports as well as publishers and will assist you in making an informed decision by giving you unbiased and deep insights on which reports will satisfy your needs at the best price.For More Information Kindly Contact:ResearchMozMr. Nachiket Ghumare,Tel: +1-518-621-2074USA-Canada Toll Free: 866-997-4948Email: sales@researchmoz.usFollow us on LinkedIn @Follow me on @ Artificial Pancreas Device System Market Outlook to 2025 : Admetsys, Beta Bionics, Cellnovo,Tandem Diabetes Care, Inc., Defymed, TypeZero Technologies, Inc., Insulet Corporation, Bigfoot Biomedical, Inc., Medtronic, Dexcom, Inc Artificial Pancreas Device System Market to 2025 http://bit.ly/2TaiMoS http://bit.ly/2ThIjw8 The threshold suspended device systems segment held the major market share among the type segment in the artificial pancreas device systems market.In 2017, the threshold suspended device systems segment held a largest market share of 71.5% of the artificial pancreas device systems market, by type. The threshold suspended device systems is the largest segment among the type segment in the artificial pancreas devices system market in 2017 and is also anticipated to hold the largest market in the year 2025. However, the control to target segment is the fastest growing segment and is accounted to grow at the CAGR of 21.4% over the forecast years.For sample copy of the report, please click:Artificial Pancreas Device Systems Market to 2025 - Global Analysis and Forecasts by Type and Geography. The global artificial pancreas device systems market is expected to reach US$ 2,168.1 Mn in 2025 from US$ 481.8 Mn in 2017. The market is estimated to grow with a CAGR of 20.9% from 2018- 2025. The report highlights the trends prevalent in the global artificial pancreas device systems market and the factors driving the market along with those that act as deterrents to its growth.Artificial pancreas device system are the devices that closely copy the glucose regulating function of fit pancreas. The device not only monitors the glucose levels in the body, it also automatically adjusts the distribution of insulin to reduce high blood glucose levels and lowers the incidence of low blood glucose with less or no input from the patient. According to the Food and Drug Administration, the use of an artificial pancreas is associated with better control of blood sugar levels for people with type 1 diabetes compared with standard treatment.The market is likely to witness a rapid growth owing to factors such as growing prevalence of diabetes, developments by major players, and rise in demand for computerized systems for glycemic control. Additionally, the market is also likely to be accelerated by new product launches by market players that are presently in the pipeline. However, availability of alternatives for artificial pancreas device systems and high cost associated with these systems are expected to hinder the market growth in the coming years.Key market players of Artificial pancreas device systems market are Defymed, TypeZero Technologies, Inc., Insulet Corporation, Bigfoot Biomedical, Inc., Medtronic, Dexcom, Inc., Admetsys, Beta Bionics, Cellnovo, and Tandem Diabetes Care, Inc. among others. The market players are indulged into bringing new products to the market to keep to the pace of the competitive market nature.Key Developments in the Market: In February, 2018, Medtronic received the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval for new arm indication for the Guardian Sensor 3. The latest indication enables patients to wear the sensor on the upper arm, which delivers more flexible and enhanced performance for users, and improved accuracy to be used with the MiniMed 670G system. Additionally, in July, 2016, Tandem Diabetes Care and TypeZero Technologies entered into an agreement for the launch of TypeZeros artificial pancreas (AP) tech and Tandems t:slim Insulin Pump. This agreement is an important step for bringing closed- loop artificial pancreas system to the diabetes community.If You want to Purchase the Report Directly:The report segments the global artificial pancreas device systems market as follows:Global Artificial Pancreas Device Systems Market - By Type Control to Range Control to Target Threshold- Suspended Device SystemsGlobal Artificial Pancreas Device Systems Market - By GeographyNorth America U.S. Canada MexicoEurope U.K. Germany FranceAsia Pacific (APAC) Japan China IndiaMiddle East & Africa (MEA) South Africa UAE Saudi ArabiaSouth & Central America (SCAM) BrazilAbout Us:The Insight Partners is a one stop industry research provider of actionable intelligence. We help our clients in getting solutions to their research requirements through our syndicated and consulting research services. We are a specialist in Technology, Healthcare, Manufacturing, Automotive and Defense.Contact Us:Call: +1-646-491-9876Email: sales@theinsightpartners.com Laser Display Technology Market is expected to Reach USD 9320 million at a CAGR of 16.8% by Top Companies with Applications and Types are Sony, Panasonic, Epson, Barco, LG |Forecast 2019-2024 Laser Display Technology Market, Laser Display Technology Market Size, Laser Display Technology Market Share https://www.orianresearch.com/request-sample/747669 https://www.orianresearch.com/enquiry-before-buying/747669 https://www.orianresearch.com/checkout/747669 www.orianresearch.com/ https://www.linkedin.com/company-beta/13281002/ Global Laser Display Technology market is valued at 4290 million USD in 2018 and is expected to reach 9320 million USD by the end of 2024, growing at a CAGR of 16.8% between 2019 and 2024. North America has the largest global sales in Laser Display Technology market, while the Europe is the second sales market for Laser Display Technology in 2017.Get Sample Copy of this Report at @Laser display technology is the fourth generation display technology after black and white display, color display and digital display. Among the many evolving display technologies, laser display technology represents the future development trend and mainstream direction of display technology, and is the focus of competition in the future display field.The Asia-Pacific will occupy for more market share in following years, especially in China, also fast growing India and Southeast Asia regions. North America, especially The United States, will still play an important role which cannot be ignored. Any changes from United States might affect the development trend of Laser Display Technology.Top Key Players analyzed in Global Laser Display Technology Market are Sony, Panasonic, Epson, Barco, LG, Mitsubishi Electric, Ushio Inc, Hisense, ChangHong, Optoma, Delta Displays, Konka, BenQ, Xiaomi, SeemileInquire more or share questions if any before the purchase on this report@Development policies and plans are discussed as well as manufacturing processes and cost structures are also analyzed. This report also states import/export consumption, supply and demand Figures, cost, price, revenue and gross margins.Market Segment By Type - Type I Type IIMarket Segment By Application Micro Projector Interactive Table HUD AR/VR Products TV Mobile Phone OthersGet Direct Copy of this Report @There are 15 Chapters to deeply display the Laser Display Technology MarketChapter 1, to describe Laser Display Technology Introduction, product scope, market overview, market opportunities, market risk, market driving force;Chapter 2, to analyze the top manufacturers of Laser Display Technology, with sales, revenue, and price of Laser Display Technology, in 2016 and 2017;Chapter 3, to display the competitive situation among the top manufacturers, with sales, revenue and market share in 2016 and 2017;Chapter 4, to show the global market by regions, with sales, revenue and market share of Laser Display Technology, for each region, from 2013 to 2018;Chapter 5, 6, 7, 8 and 9, to analyze the market by countries, by type, by application and by manufacturers, with sales, revenue and market share by key countries in these regions;Chapter 10 and 11, to show the market by type and application, with sales market share and growth rate by type, application, from 2013 to 2018;Chapter 12, Laser Display Technology Market forecast, by regions, type and application, with sales and revenue, from 2018 to 2023;Chapter 13, 14 and 15, to describe Laser Display Technology Market sales channel, distributors, traders, dealers, Research Findings and Conclusion, appendix and data sourceAbout UsOrian Research is one of the most comprehensive collections of market intelligence reports on the World Wide Web. Our reports repository boasts of over 500000+ industry and country research reports from over 100 top publishers. We continuously update our repository so as to provide our clients easy access to the world's most complete and current database of expert insights on global industries, companies, and products. We also specialize in custom research in situations where our syndicate research offerings do not meet the specific requirements of our esteemed clients.Contact Us:Ruwin MendezVice President Global Sales & Partner RelationsOrian Research ConsultantsUS: +1 (415) 830-3727 | UK: +44 020 8144-71-27Email: info@orianresearch.comWebsite:Follow Us on LinkedIn: Liquid Applied Membranes Market 2025 | https://www.researchreportinsights.com/report/upsample/120124823/Liquid-Applied-Membranes-Market https://www.researchreportinsights.com/report/TOC/120124823/Liquid-Applied-Membranes-Market https://www.researchreportinsights.com/report/upcomming/120124823/Liquid-Applied-Membranes-Market https://www.researchreportinsights.com Liquid Applied Membrane (LAM) is a lowly thickness waterproofing film that is employed in the form of a liquid covering to vertical along with horizontal surfaces. The LAM is, in addition, believed as a cutting-edge waterproofing chemical as well as its solid, consistent property, in addition to the ability to comply with each setup is making its need increase in the worldwide construction industry. Utilization of terrible value construction material before, trailed by poor support of the building construction is making a solid market for restoration as well as the repair that may possibly be settled by liquid applied membranes. Around 40-45% of the requirement for LAM originates from restoration and repair ventures. LAMs are additionally effective in lessening splits in the concrete, as a result driving its requirement all over the world.Governments of several emerging and emerged nations have covered the dual requirement for infrastructure evolution together with sustainability and durability. This is boosting the need for green buildings, subsequently bringing forth a strong market prospect for liquid applied membranes. The requirement for enlargement of the infrastructure industry in the emerging economies together with the high center on investment is likely to enhance the expansion of the market all through the years to come. The government is likely to take various activities relating to the sector that is likely to emphatically influence the market. All-inclusive research is being led by the makers with the end goal to create innovative products. The market players have been concentrating on item separation that is probably going to fuel the development over the approaching years. Expanding usage of bio-based and eco-friendly products is considered to boost the demand all over the years to come.Request For Report Sample:Its properties, for example, environment-friendly nature, low viscosity, as well as low odor are probably going to encourage an expansion in the use of the product in the infrastructure industry. In addition, these have simple application over complex surfaces and are financially savvy when contrasted with waterproofing sheets. The product has a long time span of usability and is anything but difficult to re-apply which is foreseen to fuel the development throughout the following years. Also, LAMs are being favored for enhancing the general structure of industrial, residential as well as commercial buildings. They could be utilized related to high-performance polymers and materials with the end goal to improve their waterproofing properties.In terms of region, Europe and North America were the foremost markets for the product during 2016 on account of encouraging government policies in addition to recovery of the construction sector. Enhancing infrastructure in addition to expanding infrastructural expending combined with increasing disposable income of normal buyers is likely to fuel the market for the liquid applied membrane in North America. The Asia Pacific regional market is considered to be a standalone of the most attractive markets for liquid applied membrane because of higher economic expansion in China & India. Because of developing urbanization as well as industrialization in emerging nations, for example, China and India, development in the Asia Pacific are likely to be the most noteworthy in the following couple of years.Request For Report TOC:The foremost worldwide market players active in this market comprise Pidilite Industries, Sika AG, BASF SE, Chembond Chemicals, The Dow Chemical Company and Fosroc International. During February 2013, Paul Bauder brought in BauderTEC SPRINT DUO, a novel bitumen waterproofing product with a self-adhesive coating. Likewise, several market players are incorporated all over the value chain that alleviates uninterrupted raw material supply in addition to less production expenditure.Report Analysis:Research Report Insights (RRI) is a leading market intelligence and consulting firm. We deliver a host of services including custom research reports, syndicated research reports, and consulting services which are personalized in nature. RRI delivers a complete packaged solution to clients; this combines current market intelligence, technology inputs, statistical anecdotes, valuable growth insights, 360-degree view of the competitive framework, and anticipated market trendsContact Us:Research Report Insights (RRI42 Joseph StreetPort carling P0B 1J0Muskoka, Ontario1Phone - +1-631-721-4201Website:Email: sales@researchreportinsights.com Global Small Scale LNG SSLNG Market 2019 Huge Market Growth Till 2024: Guanghui Energy, Gasnor, Kunlun Energy, etc. Small Scale LNG SSLNG Market https://www.reportsmonitor.com/request_sample/304481 https://www.reportsmonitor.com/check_discount/304481 https://www.reportsmonitor.com/report/304481/Small-Scale-LNG-SSLNG-Market Small Scale LNG SSLNG MarketSmall-scale liquefied natural gas (SSLNG), a niche but nascent industry that is already profitable and scalable, boasts significant potential. It is well placed to meet the growing demand from the shipping and trucking industries for fuels that are more environmentally friendly than oil and diesel. SSLNG also enjoys advantages in addressing off-grid power generation for industrial and residential needs in remote locations.More Insightful Information | Request a Sample Copy @Market Segment by Manufacturers, this report coversGuanghui EnergyGasnorKunlun EnergyXilan Natural GasOthersMarket Segment by Regions, regional analysis coversNorth America (United States, Canada and Mexico)Europe (Germany, France, UK, Russia and Italy)Asia-Pacific (China, Japan, Korea, India and Southeast Asia)South America (Brazil, Argentina, Colombia etc.)Middle East and Africa (Saudi Arabia, UAE, Egypt, Nigeria and South Africa)Market Segment by Type, coversProductionStorage and Boil Off GasLNG TransferSSLNG Shipping CharacteristicsSmall Regasification and Import TerminalLogisticsMarket Segment by Applications, can be divided intoIndustryFuelGrab Your Report at an Impressive Discount ! Please click Here @Manufacturing cost structure:The Small Scale LNG SSLNG Market report also studies the manufacturing cost structure and presents the various details such as raw material, overall production process, and the industry chain structure. Every region key factors are provided which is attracting this market towards growth. The report also elaborates on the opportunities the emerging markets of Asia Pacific and Latin America offer and Globally.Important Facts About Small Scale LNG SSLNG Market Report:-This research report reveals Small Scale LNG SSLNG business overview, product overview, market share, supply chain analysis, demand and supply ratio and import/export details.-The Industry report features different approaches and procedures endorsed by the Small Scale LNG SSLNG market key players to make vital business decisions.-Small Scale LNG SSLNG market depicts some parameters such as production value, Small Scale LNG SSLNG marketing strategy analysis, Distributors/Traders and effect factors is also mentioned in this Small Scale LNG SSLNG research report.Key questions answered in this report:What will the Small Scale LNG SSLNG Market size be by the end of the forecast period and what will the growth rate be?What are the key industry trends?What are the driving factors of this market?What are the challenges to market growth?Who are the key players in this market?What are the market opportunities and threats faced by the leading players?What are the strengths and weaknesses of the key players?Access Complete Report with TOC, Tables and Figures and Major Companies Profile:Reasons for Buying this Report:1.To gain insightful analyses of the Small Scale LNG SSLNG Industry and have comprehensive understanding of the global market and its commercial landscape2.Assess the production processes, major issues, and solutions.3.Market strategies that are being adopted by leading respective organizations4.The report gives specific analysis for rapidly changing dynamics of this Industry.5.To understand the future outlook and prospects for the this market with Marketing & Price (Price and Margin, Factors of Price Change, Manufacturers Gross Margin Analysis)About Us:Reports Monitor is a market research and consulting company that provides syndicated research reports, customized research reports, and consulting services. To help clients make informed business decisions, we offer market intelligence studies ensuring relevant and fact-based research across a range of industries including Healthcare, Technology, Chemicals, Materials, and Energy. With an intrinsic understanding of many business environments, Reports Monitor provides strategic objective insights.Contact UsJay MatthewsDirect: +1 513 549-591481 (U.S.)+44 203 318 2861 (U.K.)Email: sales@reportsmonitor.com Security Labels Market 2025 | Honeywell International Inc., UPM Raflatac Ltd, Avery Dennison Corporation, CCL Industries Inc., Tesa SE, Security Labels International, Group DC, Colour Data UK Ltd https://www.researchreportinsights.com/report/upsample/120124810/Security-Labels-Market https://www.researchreportinsights.com/report/TOC/120124810/Security-Labels-Market https://www.researchreportinsights.com/report/upcomming/120124810/Security-Labels-Market https://www.researchreportinsights.com Security labels are used to protect product or item from getting altered, unpacked, theft, and malicious modification. These security labels prevent confidential information from getting leaked. Security labels are witnessing high demand in manufacturing and beverage industry.The global security labels market is driven by factors such as strong growth in the food & beverage industry and rising demand in consumer durables, retail, and pharmaceutical supply industries. Security labels are used to provide authentic protection to merchandise. At the time of receipt when boxes are unpacked, merchandise contain appropriate accession security labels.The global security labels market is consists of North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, and Rest of the World (RoW). The Asia Pacific region dominates the global security labels market on account of rapid growth in the retail industry. As the retail industry increases, the demand for the security labels increases mainly due to the rising the incidence of theft in the retail industry.Request For Report Sample:Growing manufacturing activities such as consumer good, also have the positive influence on ther growth of the market. As disposable income increases, the purchase power of the consumer increases which creating a huge opportunity to the global security labels market. China, Indonesia, India, and Japan are the crucial contributor to Asia Pacific market. China accounts for the largest share of the regional market due to the largest demand from the food & beverage, and good consumer industry.Security labels market, by identification method, is classified into three segments, namely bar codes, radio-frequency identification, and holographic. Bar codes present a cost-effective and reliable method for collecting any kind of necessary data. Bar codes are widely used by industries such as consumer durables, retail, and transportation & logistics for keeping a track of their products, as well as for tracing outgoing shipments and equipment.Request For Report TOC:In case of pharmaceuticals, safe labeling is of highest importance. As conventional labeling is less durable, it can mislead the patient and might be dangerous. In 2016, the North America pharmaceutical industry generated around US$ 450 billion. This exhibits that the demand for pharmaceutical drugs is expected to increase during the forecast period. Pharmaceutical industry being one of the major end use industry, the value for global security labels market is also expected to increase during the forecast period.Some of the top market players are 3M Company, Honeywell International Inc., UPM Raflatac Ltd, Avery Dennison Corporation, CCL Industries Inc., Tesa SE, Security Labels International, Group DC, Colour Data UK LtdReport Analysis:Research Report Insights (RRI) is a leading market intelligence and consulting firm. We deliver a host of services including custom research reports, syndicated research reports, and consulting services which are personalized in nature. RRI delivers a complete packaged solution to clients; this combines current market intelligence, technology inputs, statistical anecdotes, valuable growth insights, 360-degree view of the competitive framework, and anticipated market trendsContact Us:Research Report Insights (RRI42 Joseph StreetPort carling P0B 1J0Muskoka, Ontario1Phone - +1-631-721-4201Website:Email: sales@researchreportinsights.com Business Accounting Software Market Competitive Landscape with Market Share and Overall Market Size, Industry Drives, Outlook and Forecast 2017 - 2025 https://www.marketresearchreports.biz/sample/sample/7774 https://www.marketresearchreports.biz/sample/toc/7774 https://www.marketresearchreports.biz/checkout?rep_id=7774&licType=S Latest Research Study and Overview on "Business Accounting Software Market - Global Industry Analysis, Size, Share, Growth, Trends and Forecast 2017 - 2025"Business accounting software is application software that processes and records the enterprise accounting transactions in functional modules such as payroll, accounts receivable, accounts payable, trial balance, and general ledger. These software can either be developed in-house by the organizations who want to use it, or can be purchased from third party software providers. The software may be cloud based that can be accessed anywhere on any device connected to internet, at any time, or it may be deployed on desktop. It varies greatly in terms of its cost and complexity.Growing demand for advanced automated finance processes is one of the major reasons propelling the growth of the business accounting software market. Enormous amount of data from sources such as online bank transactions, loan applications, social media, in-stores, and online sales need to be collected and analyzed to gain meaningful operational insights.The trend of adoption of big data analytic solutions by financial organizations is also seen in the market. Big data solutions such as Amazon Kinesis and Amazon Redshift when integrated with business accounting software help organizations to improve the data management processes. It also helps companies to analyze the data more efficiently. The advancements in big data and analytics technologies has made it easy for organizations to transform unstructured data into meaningful and structured data.Get the Sample Copy of This Report @Another major trend that has gained traction recently in the business accounting software market is the increasing demand for business accounting mobile applications. These applications can handle day-to-day accounting processes, such as accepting payments, sending invoices, tracking receipts, planning budgets, and logging expense.The business accounting software market has been segmented based on component, end users, and region. Based on component, the market is segmented into software and services. Software segment is further bifurcated on the basis of on-premise and cloud. Currently, on-premise software accounts for the larger share of the market, but significant growth is expected in cloud based software during the forecast period. Services segment is segmented further into operation and maintenance services, consulting services, and training services. The end-user segment in the business accounting software market includes large, small and medium enterprises. Large enterprises are estimated to have major share in the global business accounting software market, as they have to deal with large amount of accounting data, whereas rising awareness of accounting software among mid and small sized enterprises are further supporting the growth of SMEs in the market.Request to Get Complete Report TOC and List of Figures @In terms of region, the global advanced process control software market is segmented into North America, South America, Europe, Asia Pacific (APAC), and Middle East & Africa (MEA). Presently, North America is estimated to dominate the market in terms of its revenue contribution share followed by Europe. Moreover, North America also has a well-established infrastructure that enables higher penetration of business accounting software and ultimately provides enhanced operational processes. This is anticipated to be a major factor propelling the business accounting software market in the region. However, among all the regions, APAC is expected to create significant market opportunity for key players operating in the market due to growth in industrialization in this region during the forecast period.The global business accounting software vendors in the market are increasingly focusing on the development and introduction of software that enables the optimization of accounting processes and require minimum labor attention. To achieve this aim, companies are increasing their R&D expenditure. Microsoft Corporation, Oracle Corporation, SAP SE, Sage Group, Zoho Corporation, etc. are some of the major players in the global business accounting software market. Business accounting software enterprises are also focusing on modifying their pricing models to strengthen their position in the global business accounting software market.MRR.BIZ has been compiled in-depth market research data in the report after exhaustive primary and secondary research. Our team of able, experienced in-house analysts has collated the information through personal interviews and study of industry databases, journals, and reputable paid sources.The report provides the following information:Tailwinds and headwinds molding the markets trajectoryMarket segments based on products, technology, and applicationsProspects of each segmentOverall current and possible future size of the marketGrowth pace of the marketCompetitive landscape and key players strategiesRequest to Buy This Premium Report From Here @The main aim of the report is to:Enable key stakeholders in the market bet right on itUnderstand the opportunities and pitfalls awaiting themAssess the overall growth scope in the near termStrategize effectively with respect to production and distributionMRR.BIZ is a leading provider of strategic market research. Our vast repository consists research reports, data books, company profiles, and regional market data sheets. We regularly update the data and analysis of a wide-ranging products and services around the world. As readers, you will have access to the latest information on almost 300 industries and their sub-segments. Both large Fortune 500 companies and SMEs have found those useful. This is because we customize our offerings keeping in mind the specific requirements of our clients.MarketResearchReports.biz is a seller of syndicated market studies, featuring an exhaustive collection of research reports from leading international publishers. Our repositoryis diverse, spanningvirtually every industrial sector and even more every category and sub-category within the industry. We also provide consulting services to enable our clients have adynamicbusiness perspective.State Tower90 State Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207United StatesToll Free: 866-997-4948(USA-Canada)Tel: +1-518-621-2074E: sales@marketresearchreports.biz Top Scenario: Managed Communication Services Market By Key Vendors: Fujitsu, Cisco, EMC Corp, IBM, Alcatel-Lucent 2017-2025 https://www.marketresearchreports.biz/sample/sample/7761 https://www.marketresearchreports.biz/sample/toc/7761 In the IT era, the more common managed services have evolved around network monitoring, security, disaster recovery, virtualization, connectivity, and bandwidth. Beyond infrastructure management and traditional application, managed services may also include communication services. Organizations approach to collaboration and communication is rapidly evolving. Innovation in collaboration and communication environment is crucial. Managed communication services offer benefits beyond what pure maintenance contracts offer. These services are also one of the more challenging services which providers can deliver. Managed communication which includes VoIP, email, and unified communications is a challenging service. Very few providers offer managed communication services than various other types of managed services such as managed network, managed security, managed data center and managed infrastructure.Managed communication service providers are planning to move their services to cloud-based offerings. This will enable customers to benefit from the choice of having a mobile access for unified communication platforms hosted by third party or managed communication service providers. Moving to a cloud based delivery results in considerable saving associated with the cloud. Managed communication service such as a voice of IP also yields savings in terms of increased capabilities along with savings in terms of international roaming. Managed communication services streamlines core processes which helps in enhancing customer satisfaction.Get Sample Report of the Research Study at:Managed communication services are challenging as ensuring quality of service is complicated. Also, service providers in the market do not seem to be as responsive and mature as others. Moreover, communication systems are mission critical and hence require specialists to actively manage them. Suppliers and vendors are not adequately staffed and prepared to meet these requirements.Some of the factors driving the growth of the managed communication services market are improved business process efficiency, need for providing enhanced customer satisfaction, and growing focus on core businesses. The increasing availability of bandwidth and network connectivity is facilitating new types of managed services. However, privacy and security concerns and lack of specialized skilled personnel may restrain the growth of the managed communication services market. On the other hand, growth of managed voice over IP system is providing tremendous growth opportunities to the managed communication services market as these systems are cost effective. In addition to saving cost, managed communication services also manage the environment with a detailed and clear view of people, technologies, and processes that underpin its value and function. Moreover, these systems are flexible i.e. one can assign extensions which are located at other locations.Industry participants leading the managed communication services market with the most significant developments are Fujitsu Ltd., Cisco Systems, Inc., EMC Corporation, IBM Corporation, Alcatel-Lucent, AT&T Inc., Microsoft Corporation, Verizon Communications, Inc., Dell Inc., and TCS Limited among others.Request for TOC of the report here:MRR.BIZ has been compiled in-depth market research data in the report after exhaustive primary and secondary research. Our team of able, experienced in-house analysts has collated the information through personal interviews and study of industry databases, journals, and reputable paid sources.The report provides the following information: Tailwinds and headwinds molding the markets trajectory Market segments based on products, technology, and applications Prospects of each segment Overall current and possible future size of the market Growth pace of the market Competitive landscape and key players strategiesThe main aim of the report is to: Enable key stakeholders in the market bet right on it Understand the opportunities and pitfalls awaiting them Assess the overall growth scope in the near term Strategize effectively with respect to production and distributionAbout Us: MarketResearchReports.biz is a seller of syndicated market studies, featuring an exhaustive collection of research reports from leading international publishers. Our repository is diverse, spanning virtually every industrial sector and even more every category and sub-category within the industry. We also provide consulting services to enable our clients have a dynamic business perspective.Contact Us:State Tower90 State Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207United StatesToll Free: 866-997-4948 (USA-Canada)Tel: +1-518-621-2074Email: sales@marketresearchreports.biz Water Softener Market 2018-2024 | Global Key Player; EcoWater Systems LLC, Culligan International, Kinetico Incorporated, Pentair, Morton Salt, Whirlpool Corporation, 3M Water Softener Market https://www.gminsights.com/request-sample/detail/2887 https://www.gminsights.com/inquiry-before-buying/2887 https://www.gminsights.com/industry-analysis/water-softener-market www.gminsights.com According to a new research report by Global Market Insights, Inc. Water Softener Market is set to surpass USD 10 billion by 2024. Global water softener market share is competitive and moderately consolidated with key industry precipitants includes, Culligan International Company, General Electric Company, Pentair, Whirlpool, Honeywell International and 3M.Increasing consumption of soft water has encouraged sellers to invest intensely in R&D for the product. Companies are spending more on product design, increasing efficiency and reducing environmental impacts.Request for a Sample copy of this Report @UK salt-based water softener market size in 900,000 grain from hotel/restaurants is likely to surpass USD 3 million due to its usage in removing lime scale on toilets, tile and faucets. It eliminates scale causing minerals in water, subsequently resulting in cleaner fittings and tiles, which may propel product demand.- Water Softener Market, By Product Salt Based Salt Free- Water Softener Industry, By Application Residentialo Single Familyo Multi Family Commercialo Office Buildingso Hotel/Restaurantso Laundrieso Hospital & Healthcareo Others Industrialo Food Processing unito Textileo Chemicalo Oil & Gaso Refinerieso OthersMake an inquiry for purchasing this report @Intensifying demand for soft water owing to growing industrialization and urbanization may expand water softener market growth by 2024. Growing penetration of multinational brands along with its features including high effectiveness in decreasing formation of scale in boilers, pipes and tanks are likely to further propel product demand. This equipment improves product lifespan of water using appliances by removing salts and minerals, which can damage product quality. Growing customer spending on water treatment equipment supported by increasing contamination issues will propel product demand.Supporting government regulation in Europe and Asia pacific reinforced by R&D activities on water softener manufacturing will promote product demand. Additionally, rising industrial sector and manufacturing industries may fuel water softener demand owing to application of soft water in steam generation, product manufacturing and cleaning.Global salt free water softener market is anticipated to exceed USD 2 billion in projected timeline owing to its extensive consumption in the U.S. There is no electrical valve required in salt-free softener as system operates as a conditioner and do not captures anything, thus eliminating need to purge minerals. Soft water from this system results in less soap consumption and brighter laundry, which is anticipated to stimulate product demand.Browse Complete Report Summary @China water softener demand in 1200,000 grain from laundries units is projected to witness gains of up to 7%. Fabric quality is adversely affected along with high amount of detergent is required when hard water is used thus, softener is needed for both cleaning and washing applications. Softening equipment is used in this industry to maintain quality, easy cleaning of fabrics and also reduces the amount of detergent required, which may boost market growth.About Global Market Insights:Global Market Insights, Inc., headquartered in Delaware, U.S., is a global market research and consulting service provider; offering syndicated and custom research reports along with growth consulting services. Our business intelligence and industry research reports offer clients with penetrative insights and actionable market data specially designed and presented to aid strategic decision making. These exhaustive reports are designed via a proprietary research methodology and are available for key industries such as chemicals, advanced materials, technology, renewable energy and biotechnology.Contact Us:Contact Person: Arun HegdeCorporate Sales, USAGlobal Market Insights, Inc.Phone:1-302-846-7766Toll Free: 1-888-689-0688Email: sales@gminsights.comWeb: Global LCD Digital Microscope Market 2018-2023 : Celestron LLC, Hirox Europe Ltd Global LCD Digital Microscope Market 2018, LCD Digital Microscope Market, LCD Digital Microscope, LCD Digital Microscope Top Manuf https://www.marketdeeper.com/request-for-sample-report-35237.html https://www.marketdeeper.com/global-lcd-digital-microscope-market-2018-2024-opportunities-35237-35237.html https://www.openpr.com/news/1495704/Chocolate-Inclusions-and-Decorations-Market-Analysis-2018-Production-Techniques-Business-Strategies-Trending-Opportunities-Forecast-to-2025.html https://www.marketdeeper.com/ This report focuses on the global LCD Digital Microscope market status, future forecast, growth opportunity, shares and key players. The study objectives are to present the LCD Digital Microscope Industry development in United States, Europe and China, Rest of world. Taking into consideration the present situation of competitive and promptly developing market conditions, up-to-date marketing data is vital to scrutinize performance and make necessary resolutions for growth and profitability. Whats more, the LCD Digital Microscope industry development trends and marketing channels are analyzed. The industry analysis have also been done to examine the impact of various factors and understand the overall attractiveness of the industry.Download Sample Copy Of Report @This report provides in depth study of "LCD Digital Microscope" using SWOT analysis i.e. Strength, Weakness, Opportunities and Threat to the organization. The LCD Digital Microscope report also provides an in-depth survey of key players in the market which is based on the various objectives of an organization such as profiling, the product outline, the quantity of production, required raw material, and the financial health of the organization.Global LCD Digital Microscope Industry: Segmentation OutlookThe report include global LCD Digital Microscope market segmentation based on the product type, end-users, and region. The LCD Digital Microscope market shares of each segment are calculated in the form of revenue likely to be generated (USD million) and year to year growth rate (CAGR). In the additional section, LCD Digital Microscope report includes market division study over the significant geographies of the world such as North America, Asia-Pacific, Europe, South America, The Middle East & Africa and rest of the world.Top Leading Manufactures in LCD Digital Microscope Market: Celestron LLC, Hirox Europe Ltd, The Western Electric and Scientific Works, Leica Microsystems, Harzion Electronics, Catchbest Vision Technology (Beijing)Market Segmentation by product types: Stationary, PortableMarket segment by applications: Biopharmaceutical Companies, Food and Beverage Companies, Academic Research Institute, Forensic and Pathology LaboratoryIn this study, the years considered to estimate the market size of Instant LCD Digital Microscope Market are as follows: History Year: 2012-2018 Base Year: 2017 Estimated Year: 2018 Forecast Year 2018 to 2025Complete Report With TOC @LCD Digital Microscope Factors :1. Key Strategic Developments: The study also includes the key strategic developments of the LCD Digital Microscope market, comprising R&D, new product launch, M&A, agreements, collaborations, partnerships, joint ventures, and regional growth of the leading competitors operating in the market on a global and regional scale.2. Key Market Features: The LCD Digital Microscope report evaluated key market features, including revenue, price, capacity, capacity utilization rate, gross, production, production rate, consumption, import/export, supply/demand, cost, market share, CAGR, and gross margin. In addition, the study offers a comprehensive study of the key market dynamics and their latest trends, along with pertinent LCD Digital Microscope market segments and sub-segments.3. Analytical Tools: The Global LCD Digital Microscope Market report includes the accurately studied and assessed data of the key industry players and their scope in the LCD Digital Microscope market by means of a number of analytically tools. The analytically tools such as Porters five forces analysis, SWOT analysis, feasibility study, and investment return analysis have been used to analyze the growth of the key players operating in the LCD Digital Microscope market.Annual estimates and forecasts are provided for the period 2018 through 2024. Also, a six-year historic analysis is provided for LCD Digital Microscope markets. Market data and analytics are derived from primary and secondary research. Company profiles are primarily based on public domain information.Read More Reports:The Market Deeper is known as one of its kind source for in-detailed researched reports covering a wide range of domains from technology, chemical, automation to healthcare, FMCG, and so on. Market Deeper is dedicated to fulfill the customers demands with the comprehensive researched data reports and our main aim is Client satisfaction.If you have any special requirements, please let us know and we will offer you the report as you want. Feel free to contact us for any querry!Email ID: sales@marketdeeper.comWebsite:Market Deeper is a well-versed platform that offers precisely crafted market reports.With the integration of expert teams efficiency and reliable data sources,we produce some finest reports of infinite industries and companies.We make reports that cover critical business parameters such as production rate, manufacturing trends, supply chain management, and expansion of distribution network.3422 SW 15 Street, Suit #8138, Deerfield Beach, Florida 33442,Tel: +1-386-310-3803GMT Tel: +49-322 210 92714USA/Canada Toll Free No. 1-855-465-4651 Protective Clothing Market Size, Key Players, Demand, Revenue: E. I. du Pont de Nemours and Company, Lakeland Industries, 3M Company, Workrite Uniform Company and More Protective Clothing Market https://www.alliedmarketresearch.com/request-sample/371 https://www.alliedmarketresearch.com/purchase-enquiry/371 https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/protective-clothing-market-is-expected-to-reach-10211-million-by-2022-globally---allied-market-research-601297505.html https://www.alliedmarketresearch.com Global protective clothing market was valued at $8,003 million in 2015, and is expected to reach $10,211 million by 2022, supported by a CAGR of 3.6% during the forecast period 2016 to 2022.The protective clothing manufacturers either use in-house materials or buy from raw material suppliers to process them. Major companies that manufacture protective clothing are E. I. du Pont de Nemours and Company, Lakeland Industries, Inc., 3M Company, Workrite Uniform Company, Inc., W. L. Gore & Associates, Glen Raven, Ballyclare Limited, Koninklijke Ten Cate NV, Cetriko and Teijin Limited.Other players in the value chain include Fibertex A/S, Kermel, Rongxin Industry Manufacture Limited, Ebruzen Textile Industry Trade Co Ltd., Wuhan Kinglong Protective Products Co., Ltd., Veridian Fire Protective Gear and Ohnaka Industry Co., Ltd., etc.Get Sample PDF Brochure of Protective Clothing Market at :All fabrics are protective to some extent but protective clothing are not only concerned to protect just from daily needs but also from situations where hazards or risks are present and that have the potential to be life threatening or pose considerable potential for injury or damage to the person working in and around the hazard.Protective clothes are designed to prevent the person and/or product from coming in contact with adverse elements of the environment, thus providing protection, and/or reducing the risk of exposure. Based on the industry, protective clothing can be of fire & heat resistant, chemical resistant, cold resistant, ballistic & mechanical resistant, and UV resistant.The report exclusively focuses on current market trends and future growth opportunities in the industrial protective clothing market. The report also focuses on various material, application and various end-user industries of protective clothing, which includes oil & gas, construction & manufacturing, pharmaceuticals, law enforcement & military, firefighting and others. Moreover, the report analyzes the current market trends of protective clothing in different geographies and suggests the future growth opportunities by analyzing government regulations & policies, thereby further increasing the consumer acceptance of protective clothing.Do Purchase Enquiry at :Factors such as growing concern towards safety of workers coupled with stringent governmental regulations, continuous growth in demand for protective clothing from various end-user industries and extensive investments in research & development-which leads to development of new products and makes way for new applications are expected to boost market growth are expected to drive market growth over the forecast period.However, factors such as high price of protective clothing and a constant threat of substitution is expected to hamper the market growth during the forecast period. A growth in the penetration of protective clothing in industries such as oil & gas and pharmaceuticals will provide significant opportunities to the industry players across the value chain. Furthermore, an increase in demand from emerging economies such as India, China, South Korea, and Brazil are expected to drive future growth.The key players in the global industrial protective clothing market adopt different key strategies, such as product launch, expansion, collaboration, agreement, and acquisition to withstand in the global competitive market. The market players profiled in this report are protective fabric manufacturers, who serve the product globally to several end-user industries. The data pertaining to market players and their strategic moves are gathered through annual reports and press releases of respective companies, various blogs available on the website, and primary calls made to the experts in the industry.Key Market Benefits The study provides quantitative analysis of the global protective clothing industry with current trends and future estimations through 2014-2022 to identify the prevailing market opportunities to capitalize on. Extensive analysis by end-user industry, application and material type predicts the various types of protective clothing used in different end-user applications. Competitive intelligence highlights the business practices followed by leading players across various regions. An in-depth analysis of current research and clinical developments within global protective clothing industry is provided with key dynamic factors that affect the market behavior. Comprehensive analysis of all geographic regions are provided to determine the prevailing opportunities in these geographies. Key market players and their strategies are analyzed to identify the competitive outlook.Learn More:About usAllied Market Research (AMR) is a full-service market research and business-consulting wing of Allied Analytics LLP based in Portland, Oregon. Allied Market Research provides global enterprises as well as medium and small businesses with unmatched quality of "Market Research Reports" and "Business Intelligence Solutions. AMR has a targeted view to provide business insights and consulting to assist its clients to make strategic business decisions and achieve sustainable growth in their respective market domain.We are in professional corporate relations with various companies and this helps us in digging out market data that helps us generate accurate research data tables and confirms utmost accuracy in our market forecasting. Each and every data presented in the reports published by us is extracted through primary interviews with top officials from leading companies of domain concerned. Our secondary data procurement methodology includes deep online and offline research and discussion with knowledgeable professionals and analysts in the industry.Contact:David C5933 NE Win Sivers Drive#205, Portland, OR 97220United StatesToll Free: +1-800-792-5285UK: +44-845-528-1300Hong Kong: +852-301-84916India (Pune): +91-20-66346060Fax: +1855550-5975help@alliedmarketresearch.comWeb: Amazon, Inc, Apple, Inc Profiled in Smart Speaker Market 2024 Report - Alibaba, Altec Lansing, Baidu, Fabriq, Google, Inc, Harman International, Invoxia, Lenovo, LG Electronics, Libratone, Mobvoi & More https://www.marketstudyreport.com/request-a-sample/512064/?utm_source=openpr.com-AN https://www.marketstudyreport.com/check-for-discount/512064/ https://www.marketstudyreport.com/reports/smart-speaker-market https://www.marketstudyreport.com/reports/united-states-smart-speaker-market-report-2018?utm_source=RR-AN https://www.marketstudyreport.com https://www.marketstudyreport.com/blog The newly released research at Market Study Report titled 2018-2024 Global Smart Speaker Market Report provides data, information, brief analysis, company profiles, statistics for past years and forecasts for next few years.The Smart Speaker Market report 2018-2024 provides a comprehensive landscape of the industry, accurate market estimates and forecast split By Solution, By Application, and regions. All quantitative information is covered on a regional as well as country basis. The report provides valuable strategic insights on the Smart Speaker, analyzing in detail industry impact forces including growth drivers, pitfalls and regulation evolution. The report also includes a detailed outlook on the Smart Speaker segment competitive environment, diving in to the industry position of each major company along with the strategic landscape.Request a sample of this premium report at:Smart Speaker Market is set to exceed USD 30 billion by 2024; according to a new research report. Notable Smart Speaker market players comprise Alibaba, Altec Lansing, Amazon, Inc, Apple, Inc, Baidu, Fabriq, Google, Inc, Harman International, Invoxia, Lenovo, LG Electronics, Libratone, Mobvoi, Mojo, Onkyo, Pioneer, SK Telecom, Sonos, Sony, Ultimate Ears, Xiaomi.The smart speaker market in commercial applications will grow rapidly due to the increasing adoption of these devices in businesses. These devices enable conference calls, allow the performance of hands-free tasks while receiving the industry information, and generate ambient sounds. These devices will also find applications in the healthcare sector by integrating them with the building management systems and gathering patient information.The Siri-enabled smart speaker market is anticipated to grow rapidly due to the large popularity of Apple devices among the consumers. Superior sound quality as compared to the other speakers is adding to the increased shipments of these devices. Furthermore, the compatibility of these devices with the iOS is expected to propel the industry growth due to the large-scale adoption of iOS-enabled smartphones.The Asia Pacific smart speaker market is expected to gain momentum over the forecast time span owing to the increasing penetration of IoT and connected technology. The region has witnessed an upsurge in the wireless infrastructure developments. By the end of 2016, there were 2.7 billion unique mobile subscribers in the region, accounting for more than half of mobile subscribers, particularly in India and China. With the penetration of 5G networks in the region, the penetration of intelligent devices is expected to increase, thus propelling the smart speaker market growth.Request a discount on standard prices of this premium report at:Increasing security threats related to these devices are expected to threaten the smart speaker market growth as these devices are equipped with intelligent virtual assistants, who listen to the users when activated using certain commands. These continuously-activated devices listen to the personal and confidential data of the users. Several security threats and incidents have occurred that have encouraged the players to improve the security of these systems.Smart Speaker Market is set to exceed USD 30 billion by 2024 owing to the several benefits of these devices such as the ability to communicate with other devices and keeping users connected to the internet. For instance, these devices can perform a range of tasks such as giving information, sharing audio files, and provide on-command to other connected devices. The increasing penetration of IoT technology and the adoption of connected devices will boost the smart speaker market growth in the next six years. The increasing popularity of connected devices to perform domestic tasks, such as controlling lights and security doors, through single devices is fueling the industry demand. The integration of these devices with connected households will propel the industry growth.Table of Content:Chapter 1. Methodology and ScopeChapter 2. Executive SummaryChapter 3. Smart Speaker Industry InsightsChapter 4. Smart Speaker Market, By IVA (Revenue, Shipments)Chapter 5. Smart Speaker Market, By Application (Revenue, Shipments)Chapter 6. Smart Speaker Market, By Region (Revenue, Shipments)Chapter 7 Company ProfilesMore Details on this Report At:Related Reports: -United States Smart Speaker Market Report 2018United States Smart Speaker market competition by top manufacturers/players, with Smart Speaker sales volume, price, revenue (Million USD) and market share for each manufacturer/player; the top players including Apple (U.S.), Google (U.S.), Bose Corporation (U.S.), Harman (U.S.), LG Electronics (South Korea), Altec Lansing (U.S.)About Us:Marketstudyreport.com allows you to manage and control all corporate research purchases to consolidate billing and vendor management. You can eliminate duplicate purchases and customize your content and license management.Contact Us:Market Study Report LLC4 North Main Street,Selbyville, Delaware 19975USAPhone: 1-302-273-0910US Toll Free: 1-866-764-2150Email: sales@marketstudyreport.comWebsite:Blog: Nurse Call Systems Market Emerging Technology and Innovations by Top Key Leaders Ascom, Honeywell International Inc., Siemens AG, Azure Healthcare, Intercall Systems Inc., SCHRACK SECONET AG, Nurse Call Systems Market to 2027 http://bit.ly/2HscBer http://bit.ly/2FKBpwq http://bit.ly/2DtBS3F The report provides a detailed overview on the Global Nurse Call Systems Market with overview and forecast of the global Nurse Call Systems Market based on equipment, technology, application, end-users, and geography.. It also provides market size and forecast till 2027 for overall Nurse Call Systems Market with respect to five major regions, namely; North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific (APAC), Middle East and Africa (MEA) and South & Central America.Nurse call systems are designed to alert the nurses in case of medical emergency or need for care. These systems are designed for a single method of patient-to-nurse communication. Where the patient pushes a button that triggers a call light and generates a tone at the nurse's desk. These systems are even used to track a patient especially in assisted living or old age centers or are used to give an indication of an event probable in case of ambulatory services. These systems reduce the response time by nurse and doctors leading to effective workflow. In the current market wireless technologies is rapidly growing trend in the healthcare market.Request Sample Copy is Available at:Nurse Call Systems Market report aims to provide a 360-degree view of the market in terms of cutting-edge technology, key developments, drivers, restraints and future trends with impact analysis of these trends on the market for short-term, mid-term and long-term during the forecast period. Further, the report also covers key players profiling with detailed SWOT analysis, financial facts and key developments of products/service from the past three years.Key Benefits- To provide detailed information regarding the major factors (drivers, restraints, opportunities, challenges, and trends) influencing the growth of the global Nurse Call Systems Market To forecast the size of the market segments with respect to four major regional segments, namely, North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, and the Rest of the World (Latin America and the Middle East & Africa)Some of the Major Players In Nurse Call Systems Market:1. Ascom2. Honeywell International Inc.3. Siemens AG4. Azure Healthcare5. Intercall Systems Inc.6. SCHRACK SECONET AG7. STANLEY Healthcare8. Critical Alert Systems.9. Hill-Rom Services Inc.10. TEKTONEThe "Global Nurse Call Systems Market Analysis to 2027" is a specialized and in-depth study of the medical device industry with a focus on the global market trend. The report aims to provide an overview of global nurse call systems market with detailed market segmentation by equipment, technology, application, end-users, and geography. The global nurse call systems market is expected to witness high growth during the forecast period. The report provides key statistics on the market status of the leading market players and offers key trends and opportunities in the market.Ask For Discount at:The market of nurse call systems is anticipated to grow with a significant rate in the coming years, owing to factors such effective communication with the patients during emergencies and take informed decisions as well as reduction in the time required to give emergency help. Rapidly rising digitalization in healthcare organization is the primary factor which is driving the growth of nurse call systems market. On other hand, upcoming technologies such as, integration of nurse call systems with smartphones and in-hospital wireless phones expected to offer growth opportunities for the players operating in the market.Nurse Call Systems Market Global Analysis to 2025 is an expert compiled study which provides a holistic view of the market covering current trends and future scope with respect to product/service, the report also covers competitive analysis to understand the presence of key vendors in the companies by analyzing their product/services, key financial facts, details SWOT analysis and key development in last three years. Further chapter such as industry landscape and competitive landscape provides the reader with recent company level insights covering mergers and acquisitions, joint ventures, collaborations, new product developments/strategies taking place across the ecosystem. The chapters also evaluate the key vendors by mapping all the relevant products and services to exhibit the ranking/position of top 5 key vendors.What our report offers:- Save and reduce time carrying out entry-level research by identifying the growth, size, leading players and segments in the global Nurse Call Systems Market- Highlights key business priorities in order to assist companies to realign their business strategies.- The key findings and recommendations highlight crucial progressive industry trends in the Nurse Call Systems Market, thereby allowing players to develop effective long term strategies.- Develop/modify business expansion plans by using substantial growth offering developed and emerging markets.- Scrutinize in-depth global market trends and outlook coupled with the factors driving the market, as well as those hindering it.- Enhance the decision-making process by understanding the strategies that underpin commercial interest with respect to products, segmentation and industry verticals.Place Direct Purchase order For Complete report -:About UsThe Insight Partners is a one stop industry research provider of actionable intelligence. We help our clients in getting solutions to their research requirements through our syndicated and consulting research services.We are committed to providing highest quality research and consulting services to our customers. We help our clients understand key market trends, identify opportunities, and make informed decisions by providing market research solutions at an affordable cost.Contact usThe Insight partners,Phone: +1-646-491-9876Email: sales@theinsightpartners.com North America Microgrid Market Detail Analysis focusing on Key Players GE, ABB, Schneider Electric, Alstom, Siemens, Honeywell, Caterpillar Inc, Tesla, Toshiba, Hitachi, Lockheed Martin https://www.marketstudyreport.com/request-a-sample/1230587/?utm_source=openpr.com-AN https://www.marketstudyreport.com/check-for-discount/1230587/ https://www.marketstudyreport.com/reports/north-america-microgrid-market https://www.marketwatch.com/press-release/district-heating-and-cooling-market-sales-price-revenue-gross-margin-and-share-2023-2018-11-29 https://www.marketstudyreport.com https://www.marketstudyreport.com/blog Canada microgrid market is predicted to reach deployment of over 400 MW capacity by 2024. Growing electricity demand across remote and off grid areas along with upsurge in investments toward the adoption of clean energy technology will complement the business growth. Furthermore, ongoing development of distributed energy sources to minimize the dependency on conventional grid will enhance the industry outlook. In 2016 Canada government made an investment of USD 2.4 billion for developing wind and solar energy sources.Request a sample of this premium report at:Flow batteries accounted for over 5% of North America microgrid market in 2017. Ongoing investment pertaining to the integration of sustainable grid coupled with innovations toward the development of cost-effective and efficient storage technologies will propel the industry growth. key features including long life cycle and higher efficiency will further encourage the product adoption over available substitutes.Eminent participants in the North America microgrid market include GE, ABB, Schneider Electric, Alstom, Siemens, Honeywell, Caterpillar Inc, Tesla, Virdity Energy Solutions, EnSync Inc, Toshiba, Hitachi, Advanced Microgrid Solutions, Lockheed Martin, Exelon and Power Analytics Corporation.North America Microgrid Market is predicted to reach over USD 7 billion by 2024. Aging grid infrastructure coupled with stringent government policies toward adoption of sustainable power technologies will stimulate North America microgrid market. Economic competitiveness, low power cost & transmission losses and reliability are key the parameters that will encourage the product penetration. In addition, ongoing funding toward the development of distributed generation technology will enhance the industry landscape.Ongoing adoption of captive power plants across the manufacturing and industrial sector for ensuring regulated power production will foster North America microgrid market. Increasing investment toward the expansion of decentralized grid coupled with rising investments for the expansion of infrastructure and power sector will accelerate the business growth. For instance, in 2016, the government of Canada, announced an investment of about USD 900 million were financed toward installation of numerous energy sources and R & D across the country.Request a discount on standard prices of this premium report at:Natural gas microgrid market will grow on account of stringent government measures pertaining to the adoption of lower emission fuel as a replacement for conventional fuel sources. Ongoing investment toward exploration of unconventional fuel reserves owing to escalating gas demand will enhance the industry outlook. Amren Corporation in 2017, developed an advanced microgrid which utilizes, solar, natural gas and wind energy as a source along with an integrated battery storage and automation system.Increasing high-end power consumption across the industries on account of development of new HVAC systems and heavy load machineries will foster the microgrid market. Growing electricity demands across hospitals, retail outlets, automotive, manufacturing operations, offices and industries will encourage product penetration across commercial and industrial application. For instance, as per EIA, the commercial and industrial sector in 2017 accounted about 4.5% and 22.4 % of the primary energy consumption respectively.Table of Content:Chapter 1. Methodology and Scope1.1. Methodology1.2. Market definitions1.3. Market estimates & forecast parameters1.4. Data Sources1.4.1. Primary1.4.2. Secondary1.4.2.1. Paid sources1.4.2.2. Public sourcesChapter 2. Executive Summary2.1. North America microgrid industry 360 degree synopsis, 2013 - 20242.1.1. Business trends2.1.2. Connectivity trends2.1.3. Grid type trends2.1.4. Power Source trends2.1.5. Storage trends2.1.6. Application trend2.1.7. Country trendsChapter 3. North America microgrid market Industry Insights3.1. Industry segmentation3.2. Industry landscape, 2013 - 20243.3. Industry ecosystem analysis3.3.1. Vendor matrix3.4. Innovation & sustainability3.5. Regulatory landscape3.5.1. U.S.3.5.1.1. Energy Policy Act, 20053.5.1.2. California Public Utility Commission3.5.1.3. Electronic Code of Federal Regulation3.5.1.4. Safety & Health Regulations for Construction3.5.1.5. DOE VTO Advanced Batter R&D Program3.5.1.5.1. Mercury-Containing and Rechargeable Battery Management Act of 1996Chapter 4. North America Microgrid Market, By Connectivity4.1. North America microgrid market share by connectivity, 2017 & 20244.2. Grid connecte4.2.1. Market estimates and forecast, 2013-2024.2.2. Market estimates and forecast, by country, 2013-2024Chapter 5. North America Microgrid Market, By Grid Type5.1. North America microgrid market share by grid type, 2017 & 20245.2. AC Microgrid5.2.1. Market estimates and forecast, 2013-20245.2.2 Market estimates and forecast, by country, 2013-20245.3. DC Microgrid5.3.1. Market estimates and forecast, 2013-20245.3.2. Market estimates and forecast, by country, 2013-20245.4. Hybrid5.4.1. Market estimates and forecast, 2013-20245.4.2. Market estimates and forecast, by country, 2013-2024Chapter 6. North America Microgrid Market, By Power Source6.1. North America microgrid market share by power source, 2017 & 20246.2. Diesel generators6.2.1. Market estimates and forecast, 2013-20246.2.2. Market estimates and forecast, by country, 2013-20246.3. Natural GasFor More Details about this report:Read More:About Us:Marketstudyreport.com allows you to manage and control all corporate research purchases to consolidate billing and vendor management. You can eliminate duplicate purchases and customize your content and license management.Contact Us:Market Study Report LLC4 North Main Street,Selbyville, Delaware 19975USAPhone: 1-302-273-0910US Toll Free: 1-866-764-2150Email: sales@marketstudyreport.comWebsite:Blog: Two killed several injured in oxygen cylinder blast in Lucknow Dowry harassment pushes woman to suicide, husband sentenced to 7 years jail Lucknow oi-Vikas SV Muzaffarnagar (UP), Jan 24: A from Uttar Pradesh's Tissa village harassed his wife so much over dowry that she committed suicide. Nagma, Kamil Hasan's wife, committed suicide by hanging herself from the ceiling of their house at Tissa village on July 24, 2013. On Wednesday, a fast track court in Muzaffarnagar sentenced Hasan to seven years imprisonment for forcing his wife to commit suicide. Judge Balraj Singh convicted Hasan on Wednesday and also imposed a fine of Rs 5,000 on him. Delhi: Domestic help commits suicide in Safdarjung Enclave Hasan was held guilty under IPC section 306 (abetment of suicide), government lawyer Sitaram Arya said. The lawyer said Nagma, Hasan's wife, committed suicide by hanging herself from the ceiling of their house at Tissa village on July 24, 2013. According to a complaint filed by the victim's father, Hasan used to harass Nagma for dowry. OneIndia New with PTI inputs For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Thursday, January 24, 2019, 14:48 [IST] Microsoft to expand its work from home policy, make it permanent for some staff Internet Explorer to retire on June 15, 2022 after serving netizens for over 25 years: Microsoft Student, who has interview with Microsoft on Feb 18, turned up a month ago International oi-Shubham Ghosh London, Jan 24: Sometimes, over enthusiasm could land us in sheer embarrassment even though it might not be too bad an outcome eventually. Laura MacLean, a 21-year-old student of management and marketing in the UK, was so eagerly looking forward to her interview with tech giant Microsoft that she ended up pinging the recruiter a full one month ahead of the schedule of the interview. According to a report in BuzzFeed, MacLean was all prepared for the job interview, had her outfit ready and mock interviews completed with family and friends. The interview is scheduled for February 18 but an over-enthusiastic MacLean turned up on January 18 and what happened then left her deeply embarrassed. My name is Khan and I am a Good Samaritan: Indian techie gives unpaid US workers food "I didn't want to mess up my one chance. And these types of chances don't come around often with big tech companies like Microsoft," MacLean told BuzzFeed. She waited for the interview on January 18 and on not receiving a call from the recruiter, she reached out to the latter asking if everything was fine. It was then when Microsoft reminded her that she was a month too early for the interview. "It is the 18th of February and it was scheduled for 11am," the recruiter said. When MacLean said she was "just slightly confused". The recruiter told her that it was still January and "February is next month". For the student, the embarrassment seemed to have no end. "When the team emailed back reminding me it was in fact January and February was the next month, I quite frankly wanted to disappear into thin air," she told BuzzFeed. Nine-year-old boy with cancer lived on to meet his newborn sister before dying After MacLean's tweet about the embarrassing experience went viral, Microsoft recruiters assured her saying: "Don't worry some mistakes just happen" and even added a cheery smiley. all dressed up ready n freaking out for my big skype interview with Microsoft and this happens. possibly the biggest noob on this planet hahahahaha if you dont laugh youll cry pic.twitter.com/OKn2n8i39z laura maclean (@lauramacleann) January 18, 2019 Also, the company's Head of Global Talent Acquisition, Chuck Edward, wished MacLean "the best of luck" on the February interview. He even told BuzzFeed that Microsoft is "always looking for candidates who have a growth mindset" which means "taking initiative, leaning into uncertainty, looking for solutions, and recognizing our own mistakes". The Twitterati came up with reactions on the unique conversation online and some were impressed with the young MacLean's eagerness: Yeah, she showed some intense dedication to punctuality Harkamal Saran (@hark_87) January 19, 2019 sadly you are not the only person to notice this, my family wont let me live this down. pic.twitter.com/zsh0Ixl7Hz laura maclean (@lauramacleann) January 19, 2019 For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Thursday, January 24, 2019, 8:48 [IST] Colombian bloggers world tour on classis Mercedes Benz ends with accident in West Bank International oi-Shubham Ghosh Tel Aviv, Jan 24: Ana Lucia Perez, a 59-year-old photographer and blogger from Colombia was on a world tour by road. She just arrived in the West Bank in her vintage Mercedes Benz but her trip was abruptly cut short as her car got into a crash, leaving Perez seriously injured and her car mangled. She was admitted in a hospital in Jerusalem after the accident that took place outside Kfar Adumim settlement last week, Times of Israel said citing a report in Tel Aviv-based Yedioth Ahronoth, a Hebrew daily. Two other persons were also hurt in the accident, although not as seriously. The Yedioth Ahronoth report said Perez was in the middle of a journey which saw her driving across South America and Asia and Russia and several other countries in Europe and Middle East. She uploaded photographs of her travel on pages on Instagram and Facebook named 'Lucane and Merce' - the latter being a nickname for her 1960 car. Why Chinese tourists prefer India less? Too many cows, too less public toilets, not safe... Last Christmas, Perez shipped her vehicle to Israel's Haifa port to continue with her global travelling but she met with the horrendous accident on this leg. "At the Kfar Adumim junction, I remember that I turned left toward Jerusalem, when suddenly a car came toward me. I didn't see lights or anything signalling its arrival," she told Yedioth. "I was hit hard and from then on I don't remember anything." West Bank traffic is known for its notoriety and high number of fatalities in road accidents, thanks to poor enforcement of traffic rules and reckless driving. There was no immediate information about the car that hit the veteran globe trotter. Tourist clings on to for life on hang-glider in the air; says later 'I will go again' Perez regretted that her much loved car was destroyed but she also thanked that it was her vintage vehicle that saved her from death. She said even her doctor was surprised to see her being able to walk after such an accident. Perez had bought her Mercedes three decades ago for $1,500 and the occasion coincided with the birth of her oldest son. For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Thursday, January 24, 2019, 9:51 [IST] First body pulled out of Meghalaya mine, six weeks after 15 workers got stuck Hunt for Covid-19 origin: Why a copper mineshaft in Mojiang, Yunnan in China is back in focus Inside Indias mines: How miners dug their own graves between 2013-2018 Infographics oi-Madhuri Adnal A mining accident is an accident that occurs during the process of mining minerals. Thousands of miners die due to mining accidents each year. Coal mining is considered much more hazardous than hard rock mining due to flat-lying rock strata, generally incompetent rock, the presence of methane gas, and coal dust. In 2018, at least 15 miners were trapped inside the 370 feet flooded coal mine for 42 days now since December 13 at Ksan village in Meghalaya's East Jaintia Hills district, which has led to a multi-agency operation involving the Navy, the NDRF and leading firms in the country to join the efforts to rescue them in the longest such mission in the country. Going by the official statistics, the trend of average fatality rate and the number of serious accidents seem to have been coming down over the years. Why Jayalalithaa cannot be termed as a convict in the disproportionate assets case India oi-Oneindia Staff By Anuj Cariappa Chennai, Jan 24: The Madras High Court has held that former Tamil Nadu chief minister J Jayalalithaa cannot be termed a convict in a disproportionate assets case and dismissed a petition challenging the construction of a memorial to her on the ground that she was one. A division bench of justices M Sathyanarayanan and P Rajamanickam made the observation and dismissed the petition by M L Ravi, president of Desiya Makkal Sakthi Katchi, seeking a direction to restrain the Tamil Nadu government from spending money from the public exchequer for construction of the memorial.The petitioner also said that steps should be taken to recover money if it was spent by the government from her property citing that she was convicted in the disproportionate wealth case. Counsel for panel probing Jayalalithaa's death flags 'serious issues' in her treatment The bench observed that before the orders could be passed by the Supreme Court on the appeals filed against the Karnataka High Court order, Jayalalithaa breathed her last and therefore, the appeal against her acquittal came to be dismissed as abated."It is to be remembered at this juncture that the said person had already had the benefit of acquittal operating in her favour and in the light of the judgement of HC the stigma of conviction against her got erased, which has not been set aside by the SC on merits for the reason that before the orders could be pronounced, she died. "Therefore, it cannot be said that Jayalalithaa was a convicted person and as such, there is stigma of conviction attached to her," the judges said.Suggesting that the money could be spent on construction of hospitals, educational institutions, for developmental projects and provision of basic facilities to citizens, the court said it was for the state government to take a call and it cannot issue any positive direction to do so. It declined to accept the main contention of the petitioner that the order of acquittal passed by the Karnataka High Court had been reversed by the Supreme Court in criminal appeals, and Jayalalithaa who was the first respondent in the said appeals became a convict and as such, a memorial in honour of a convicted person cannot be built. Jayalalithaa's hospital bill: Rs 6.85 crore spent on treatment, Rs 1.17 crore on food Referring to the money spent from public exchequer for construction of the memorial, the bench said, "The petitioner did not make a challenge to the sanction of funds and the clearances accorded for construction of the said memorial and even otherwise; this Court is of the considered view that the grounds urged by the petitioner lack merit for the above cited reasons." The SC had in 2017 abated the charges against Jayalalithaa in the disproportionate wealth case while sentencing her close aide V K Sasikala and two others to imprisonment. For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Thursday, January 24, 2019, 9:51 [IST] Very disappointed with CJI Gogoi says Justice Madan Lokur India oi-Vicky Nanjappa New Delhi, Jan 24: Former Supreme Court judge, Justice Madan Lokur openly admitted that he was disappointed with the Chief Justice of India, Ranjan Gogoi for withholding from public domain the resolution of the Collegium that met on December 12. The practise of the Collegium is to put up the decisions on the website for the public to see. Justice Lokur, while speaking at an event said that there was a meeting that took place on December 12 2018. This is reflected in the decision of the next Collegium that met on January 10. Once the resolution is passed by the Collegium, I would expect it to be put on the website. It does disappoint me when the same was not put up on the website, Justice Lokur also said. He however said that the Collegium in the existing form is the best system, but at times there are problems and hence the system needs to be tweaked. While speaking on the Memorandum of Procedure that came into force after the National Judicial Appointments Commission (NJAC) was struck down, Justice Lokur said that the MoP lays down the age, income of persons to be recommended as judges, but not the mechanism as to who should be consulted on complaints against a judge who is being considered. Juvenile convicts cannot be handed death penalty for every rape, murder case says Justice Lokur "For instance, if a High Court Collegium makes a recommendation and the state government does not respond for six weeks, in such a scenario, the Union Law Ministry can proceed on the assumption that the state has no objection. However if the Law Ministry does not make that assumption, will files remain pending forever. We have seen how the government sat on the appointment of Justice K M Joseph for months together. There is a need to bring about change, but the amended MoP is silent on many things," he also said. Justice Lokur, who was part of the press conference addressed by the senior most judges of the Supreme Court last year said that there was a need to go to the media. They achieved a certain degree of openness in the allotment of matters. Judges should remain as hermits sitting in ivory towers as they need to interact with people around them. However judges must stay out of the political thicket, he said. For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Thursday, January 24, 2019, 9:45 [IST] Terrorist to decorated soldier: Lance Naik Wani to be conferred Ashoka Chakra posthumously India oi-Vicky Nanjappa New Delhi, Jan 24: The Ashoka Chakra, India's highest peacetime gallantry medal will be awarded posthumously to Lance Naik Ahmad Wani, who laid down his life during an anti-terror operation at Shopian in Jammu and Kashmir last year. "Lance Naik Nazir Ahmad Wani exhibited the most conspicuous gallantry in personality eliminating two terrorists and assisting in the evacuation of his wounded colleagues and made supreme sacrifice in the highest traditions of the Indian Army," a press release from the President's Secretariat said. From terrorist to highly decorated soldier: A big salute to Lance Naik Wani He was a terrorist initially. However, he realised that this entire exercise was a futile one. He went on to become a highly decorated Armyman and last year, he laid down his life battling terrorists. Lance Naik Nazir Ahmed Wani was martyred while battling terrorists at Shopian in Jammu and Kashmir. Six terrorists were killed in the operation. Sadly, Wani, once an ikhwan was martyred in the operation. An ikhwan is one who has been a terrorist, but has surrendered to become involved in counter insurgency operations. Lance Naik Wani, began his career with the 162 Battalion of the Territorial Army in 2004. J&K: Jaish-e Mohammed terrorist gunned down by security forces in Pulwama A highly decorated soldier, he had received the Sena Medal for gallantry in 2007. He had also received a bar to the Sena Medal in August this year. A resident of Cheki Ashmuji village in Kulgam, he is survived by his wife and two children. For this brave soldier, life came a full cycle. He was initially a terrorist, but over the years realised that violence was a futile exercise. He then surrendered and later became involved in counter-insurgency operations. On Monday, Lance Naik Wani's body was taken to his village. Draped in the Tricolur, he was given a 21 gun salute. The 38 year old soldier had been shot and injured during an operation at the Batagund village in Shopian on Sunday. He was evacuated to a hospital immediately, but succumbed to his injuries later. Stray dog saves life of doctor who had given her a new life 2 years ago India oi-Shubham Ghosh Pune, Jan 24: Animals have a celebratory sense of gratitude. Recently, the same was confirmed when a stray dog came to the rescue of a doctor after the latter suffered a paralytic attack at his home in Pune. The 16-year-old brown dog called 'Brownie' raised an alarm to attract the attention of the doctor's neighbour with its whines and knocks on windows to reach timely help to him, Pune Mirror reported. What is even more striking in this story is that the same dog was saved by the same doctor after it was seriously affected by a kidney ailment. Amit Shah, a neighbour of Dr Sancheti, an elderly man, came out hearing the dog's howling and first thought that it was hungry. He tried to feed it but Brownie refused to take food and indicated at Sancheti's window. Sensing trouble, Shah then peeked into the doctor's room to find him lying on the floor unconscious. Dogs eagerly wait at hospital entrance for homeless man who undergoes treatment inside "She kept rearing up with difficulty and placing her front legs on the window, looking inside. Initially, I was quite confused, but when I went nearer, a gap in the window revealed to me that the doctor had collapsed on the floor..." Shah was quoted as saying by Pune Mirror. Shah did not waste any time and rushed to the doctor's aid and took him for medical assistance and a timely intervention saw the veteran coming out of danger. Dr Sancheti's son, also named Amit, later said that he came to learn about his father's medical condition through friends and thanked Brownie for saving his life. Two years ago, Brownie was down with a serious kidney condition and the Sanchetis took care of her to save her life. Shah, who is associated with the Maharashtra government's animal welfare platform - Maharashtra State Animal Welfare Committee - said Brownie had flung into action to save the doctor's life from her sense of gratitude. For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Thursday, January 24, 2019, 18:03 [IST] South African Prez Ramphosa arrives today, to be chief guest at 70th Republic Day parade India oi-Madhuri Adnal New Delhi, Jan 25: The national capital is all set to host the 70th Republic Day parade where the country will showcase its military might as well as its cultural heritage. South African President Cyril Ramaphosa will begin a two-day India visit from Friday primarily to grace the Republic Day celebrations as the guest of honour. Ramaphosa will be accompanied by First Lady Dr Tshepo Motsepe, and a high-level delegation including nine ministers, senior officials and a 50-member business contingent, the ministry of external affairs said. He will be the second President of South Africa after Nelson Mandela to be the Chief Guest at the Republic Day. It will be Ramaphosa's first visit to India as head of state. "President Ramaphosa accompanied by the First Lady, Dr Tshepo Motsepe will witness the Republic Day parade as guest of honour on January 26," the MEA said. During the visit, the South African President and Prime Minister Narendra Modi will hold extensive talks on bilateral, regional and global issues of mutual interest. Modi will also host a lunch for the visiting dignitary on January 25. "The visit is expected to further strengthen and enhance the close relationship between India and South Africa," the MEA said. Ramaphosa and Modi will also address the India-South Africa Business Forum on January 25. The South African President will also deliver the Gandhi-Mandela Freedom Lecture being organized by Indian Council of World Affairs. President Ram Nath Kovind will host a state banquet in honour of his South African counterpart on Friday evening. "India and South Africa enjoy a close and multi-faceted strategic partnership since 1997, which is underpinned by historic, cultural and economic linkages," the MEA said in a statement. About 1.5 million Indian origin people live in South Africa while over 150 Indian companies have invested in South Africa. India is among the top five trading partners of South Africa. The bilateral trade has increased to USD 10.65 billion in 2018-19 from USD 9.38 billion in 2017-18. Meanwhile, on the eve of Republic Day, President Ram Nath Kovind will address the nation on Friday. The address will be broadcast from 7 PM on the national network of All India Radio (AIR) and telecast over all channels of Doordarshan in Hindi followed by the English version. Broadcast of the address in Hindi and English will be followed by broadcast in regional languages by regional channels of Doordarshan. Elaborate traffic arrangements and restrictions have been put in place in Delhi for the parade between Vijay Chowk and Red Fort grounds, police said. According to an advisory by the Delhi Police, the parade will start at 9.50 AM from Vijay Chowk and proceed towards the Red Fort grounds through the Rajpath, India Gate, Tilak Marg, Bahadur Shah Zafar Marg and Netaji Subhash Marg. For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Friday, January 25, 2019, 1:39 [IST] Snatch voting rights of people with more than 2 kids: Baba Ramdev India oi-Deepika S Aligarh, Jan 24: Yoga guru Baba Ramdev on Wednesday advised that the voting rights of couples who have more than two children should be taken away. "Those who have more than 2 children, their voting rights should be taken away & they shouldn't be allowed to contest elections. Don't let them use govt schools, hospitals, & don't give them govt jobs. The population will be controlled automatically," ANI quoted Ramdev as saying. Ramdev, the founder of Patanjali, added that such people should not be allowed to contest elections, denied admissions in government schools and not allowed to take government jobs. 'Political situation difficult, can't say who will be next PM': Baba Ramdev This was not the first time when the yoga guru has made such a statement. In November last year, he said that people like him, who do not get married, should be accorded special honours. "In this country, people like me, who never get married, should receive a special honour. Those who get married and produce more than two children should be denied voting rights," Ramdev said at an event. Baba Ramdev, who never shies away from voicing his opinion on issues of social and political importance, advocated that those who do not follow the two child policy should not be allowed to use government schools and hospitals. The Yoga guru has also been a staunch advocate of Swadeshi and has been lending support to the idea of local going global- Glocal, through his business venture Patanjali enterprises. For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Thursday, January 24, 2019, 10:28 [IST] SC to take plea seeking making transparent process of appointing CBI chief India oi-Vicky Nanjappa New Delhi, Jan 24: Even as the High Powered Committee is set to meet today to finalise the name of the next Central Bureau of Investigation chief, the Supreme Court will hear a matter to make the process more transparent. A Bench headed by Justice A K Sikri is scheduled to hear a petition to make the entire appointment process accessible under the RTI Act. The petition filed by NGO Common Cause demands the public disclosure and procedure and rational criteria for shortlisting candidates for CBI Director. The petition also goes on to highlight how the government can stifle the independence of the CBI even at the stage of short-listing candidates for appointment to the office of CBI Director. PM Modi-led selection committee to meet today for appointment of new CBI Director The petition also urged the court to reiterate its stand of the past that appointments to high-integrity institutions such as the CBI, CVC and CIC should not be made behind a cloak of secrecy. It may be recalled that on December 13, a Bench led by Justice Sikri had pulled up the government for keeping the public in the dark about the appointment process of the Central Information Commissioner and Information Commissioners. The Bench had also ordered the government to upload online each and every step taken to fill the vacancies, including the names of those in the search committee, shortlisted candidates and selection criteria. For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Thursday, January 24, 2019, 8:55 [IST] PM-led panel's meet to select CBI chief remains 'inconclusive' as Kharge seeks more time India oi-Madhuri Adnal New Delhi, Jan 24: A high-powered selection committee will meet any time next week to appoint the new CBI director after Alok Verma was removed from the post on January 10, this year. The selection committee led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and members Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi and leader of the largest opposition party in the Lok Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge met late in the evening to finalise the name of the next CBI chief. Both the CJI and Kharge said they needed more time about who served in what position and the officers' respective competencies. They also requested that next meeting be called at the earliest. The meeting comes nearly two weeks after Alok Verma was removed as the CBI boss by the high-powered panel in a 2:1 majority verdict. PM Modi heads the three-panel member; the other two members are Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi and the leader of the largest opposition party in Lok Sabha, Mallikarjun Kharge of the Congress. The government has shortlisted as many as 12 candidates based on their seniority, integrity, experience in probing anti-corruption cases and most importantly, their experience of working in the CBI or handling vigilance matters. Kharge had written on January 15 a strong letter to Modi attacking the appointment of M. Nageshwara Rao as interim Chief as illegal and sought an immediate meeting of the Selection Committee. While ousting Verma from the post on January 10, the government shifted him as as Director General Fire Service, Homeguard and Civil Services but he refused to take up the new post and quit. There has been a controversy ever since with Justice A.K.Sikri, the representative of CJI, who had sided with the government in the Jan 10 meeting, refusing to accept his nomination for a London-based Commonwealth Secretariat Arbitral Tribunal (CSAT) after it triggered a row. Pakistan sanctioned Rs 2 crore to kill two RSS leaders, probe reveals India oi-Vicky Nanjappa New Delhi, Jan 24: Investigations that are being conducted following the busting of a module of the D-Gang have revealed that Pakistan had invested over Rs 2 crore on its sharpshooters to eliminate Hindu leaders in South India. During the questioning of one of the accused, Tasleem, it came to light that the gang had been paid Rs 2 crore to eliminate two Hindu leaders in South India. It may be recalled that a module comprising sharpshooters of the D-Gang had been busted, following it was revealed that two key RSS leaders were on their radar. Senior RSS leader Prabhakar Bhat was primary target of D-Gang When the sharpshooters were arrested, the Delhi Police learnt that two high-profile personalities were on their hit-list. One of them was Prabhakar Bhat Kalladka, RSS leader from Karnataka, an official told OneIndia. The police have learnt that this was an operation that focused on leaders in South India. Another VHP leader was the on the hit-list investigations have also found. The intention was to kill these leaders in a bid to create communal tension, the police said. The entire operation was plotted by Rasool Party, a close aide of Dawood Ibrahim.The Intelligence Bureau had been tracking the calls between Party and the sharpshooters since December 2018. One of them was an Afghan national, while another is from Kasargod in Kerala. Riyazzudin, Mohammad Saifi and Muthasim were handpicked by Party to undertake this operation. Muthasim, a resident of Kerala had shared the targets with Saifi. Riyazuddin was later roped in and was told to procure the arms for the operation. At the time of their arrest, the police recovered a pistol and six live cartridges from them. The police say that Muthasim was providing the logistics for the operation. They had Prabhakar Bhat, who is from Dakshin Kannada on their radar. While Riyazzudin had brought in the weapons, the killing was to be carried out by Saifi, the Afghan national. Intelligence Bureau officials tell OneIndia that they have been on the trail of this module since December. In that month, an intercept was picked up, which led to the trailing of this module. Rasool Party is heard speaking to the Kerala resident about two-high profile targets. During the conversation, it was also found that the duo were planning on procuring weapons for the operation. When the four members were arrested from Nizamuddin, the police found on them weapons. Among the four arrested, Raja was highly trained. He is ace sharpshooter and hence was picked up for this very important task. Party has been under the radar of the agencies for long. He is one of the key-conspirators in the murder of former Gujarat home minister, Haren Pandya. Party is a key player and was instrumental in transporting several youth from Gujarat and Hyderabad to a terror module in Bangladesh. For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Thursday, January 24, 2019, 17:40 [IST] Modi ji spreading hatred, country will oust him: Rahul Gandhi India oi-Vikas SV Rae Bareli, Jan 24: Reiterating "Chowkidar chor hai" (Watchman is thief) jibe, Congress president Rahul Gandhi on Thursday continued his bitter attack against Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the BJP-led government at the Centre. Rahul is on a two-day visit to Amethi and Rae Bareilly, the Lok Sabha constituencies that he and his mother Sonia Gandhi represent, respectively. Prime Minister keeps refering to himself as a 'Chowkidaar' (Watchman) in his speeches, and Rahul Gandhi, eversince the Rafale deal began making headlines, has been chiding PM Modi by saying "Chowkidar chor hai" in many of his public addresses. 'Beti bachao' scheme is 'Modi bachao, ad chalao': Rahul Gandhi "Jahan bhi jaate hain Modi ji nafrat failate hai. Hindu-Musalman ko ladaenge, Punjab mein Hindu-Sikh ki ladai kara denge. Gujarat mein kahenge UP-Bihar ke logon ko bhagao. Ye desh nafrat se nahi chal sakta hai. Yeh desh jod ke hi aage badh sakta hai. (Whereever Modi ji goes, he spreads hatred. (He) will pit Hindus against Muslims, in Punjab between Hindus and Sikhs. In Gujarat he will say chase away people from UP and Bihar. This country cannot move forward with hatred, This country can move forward only with unity," the Congress president said in Rae Bareilly. He said the nation will oust Modi as Prime Minister in the upcoming general elections. "People now know that chawkidaar chor hai," he added. Earlier today in Amethi, Rahul Gandhi questioned the Prime Minister over the removal of Alok Verma as the CBI chief and linked it with probe into the Rafale deal matter. "When CBI wanted to investigate Rafale deal, the Director was removed at 1:30 am. When the Supreme Court said no, it's wrong, and he be reinstated, the person is reinstated, but within 2 hours they get a note that there will be a meeting, that the CBI Director needs to be removed," news agency quoted Rahul as saying. Rahul Gandhi may contest Lok Sabha polls from 3 seats The Congress and other opposition parties allege that the government went for a less-than-lucrative deal for 36 Rafale jets with France's Dassault so that Anil Ambani's inexperienced defence company could snag an offset contract with Dassault. The offset clause means that in exchange for the contract, Dassault has to invest half the value of the deal -- about Rs. 30,000 crore -- in Indian firms. Reliance Defence was chosen as one of those "offset" partners and is to manufacture plane parts - though not for the 36 jets ordered by India. For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Thursday, January 24, 2019, 17:08 [IST] Why IAF still heavily relies on MiG-29 despite it being an old fighter? MiG-21 and MiG-27 may have become obsolete, but MiG-29 is still a formidable fighter India oi-Vikas SV New Delhi, Jan 23: The Russian fighters MiG-27 and the MiG-21 are one of the the oldest in the IAF inventory and many of these aircrafts are likely to be phased out in the next 5 years. At a time when the Indian Air Force (IAF) is battling a shortage of warplanes, this phasing out of older MiG planes may actually pave way for better fighters to be inducted. Some 120-odd MiG-21s continue to be in service. These will be retired in phases till 2021-2022. The IAF will phase out nine squadrons of the MiG-21 and 2 MiG-27 over the next 5 years. Two squadrons of Rafale fighters, two of the LCA Tejas and two more Sukhoi-30MKI are to be added by then, making the number of 28 squadrons by 2022, a report published in The Tribune said. India is the third largest operator of MiG-21s, behind Russia and China. In 1961, the Indian Air Force (IAF) opted to purchase the MiG-21 over several other Western competitors. As part of the deal, the Soviet Union offered India full transfer of technology and rights for local assembly. So, it has been in service for over 50 years now which is indeed a long time for a fughter plane to operate, as the technology keeps evolving. MiG 21 and 27 are in a way reminiscents of the Soviet era and some aptly call them as 'flying relics'. Howeer, another MiG that IAF operates is MiG-29, and that is still considered a formidable fighter. MiG-29 has gained in strength and ferocity after the latest upgrade, giving the Air Force that has been battling a shortage of warplanes a much-needed boost, a PTI report said. [Indian Air Force's MiG-21 woes: What are the possible replacement options?] In 2018, the upgraded MiG-29 showcased its combat capabilities at Admapur Air Force Station. The strategically important Adampur Air Force Station, 100 km from Pakistan and 250 km from the border with China, is now home to the upgraded MiG-29s. The Air Force has three squadrons of MiG-29s, two of them at Adampur Air Force Station. One squadron comprises 16-18 aircraft. [Why Malaysia may prefer LCA Tejas over China-Pak's J-17 fighter?] The MiG-29's good operational record prompted India to sign a deal with Russia between 2005-2006 to upgrade all 62 jets for over $900 million. The aircraft is effectively 33 years old and still remain an effective weapons platform to this day. Indian review of the MIG-29 does show that the jet structures is still sound and worthwhile the upgrades it needs to performance for another 10-15 years, said a report published in defenceupdates.in. The fighter aircraft, which played a crucial role in India's victory in the 1999 Kargil war, now is capable of refueling mid-air, lauch multi-dimensional attacks and is now compatible with the latest missile, said Flight Lieutenant Karan Kohli told PTI. [Is J-20 fighter really better than US' F-35? At least Chinese media claims so] Flight Lieutenant Kohli said the upgraded MiG-29 also has multi-functional display or MFD, which shows critical flight details on a glass screen in front of the pilot. MiG-29 may continue to remain good for another 10-15 years, but the bigger problem at hand for India is depleting squadron strength in the IAF. With barely 32 squadrons of fighter aircraft currently in inventory, the Indian Air Force (IAF) is staring at a massive problem. The IAF should ideally have a strength of 42 combat squadrons to be fully prepared for a two-front war. For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Thursday, January 24, 2019, 5:00 [IST] We will soon take decision on conducting Amarnath Yatra: Jammu and Kashmir LG Manoj Sinha Kudos: The last standing terrorist is dead in Baramulla, J&K India oi-Vicky Nanjappa New Delhi, Jan 24: The killing of the three terrorists on Wednesday ensured that Baramulla in Jammu and Kashmir became the first district in the state to become terrorist free. Three terrorists were killed in the Binner village on Wednesday. The police spokesperson, while thanking the people for their support said that Baramulla has become the first district of Kashmir with no surviving terrorist. Director General of Police, Dilbag Singh while complimenting the police said that he expected further consolidation of peace building efforts together by the police and public. J&K: Brother of IPS officer among 4 terrorists killed in Shopian On Wednesday three terrorists identified as Suhaib Farooq, Mohsin Mushtaq and Nasir Amhad Darzi of the Lashkar-e-Tayiba were killed in an encounter with security forces. All of them were dreaded terrorists, who had a long history of terror and crime. There were several terror cases registered against them. "They were involved in the gruesome killing of three young boys in Baramulla in April 2018. One terrorist Ajaz Ahmad Gojri, who was part of the group involved in the killing of three youth, has been arrested earlier", the police said. For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Thursday, January 24, 2019, 9:00 [IST] Kerala Cong leader apologises after worse than woman remark for CM India oi-PTI Thiruvananthapuram, Jan 24: Senior Congress leader K Sudhakaran has courted controversy over his anti-women remarks while targeting Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan. Attacking Vijayan while addressing party workers at Kasaragod Wednesday, Sudhakaran had said the Chief Minister had failed to act as a man when it came to running his office and his tenure was worse than that of women. "When Vijayan assumed office, I thought he will do much like a man, but it turns out that he is worse than women," Sudhakaran, a former MP and from the politically volatile northern district of Kannur, from where Vijayan also hails, had said. As a row broke out, Sudhakaran on Thursday apologised for his remarks, saying he had been "misquoted". Pointing out that he respects women, Sudhakaran said his speech should have been heard in total, rather than using some words here and there. In November this year, his comments that women of menstrual age would be blocked if they attempted to enter the Sabarimala shrine during the mandala puja had also sparked a row. In 2011, the KPCC Working President had levelled charges of bribery and corruption against a sitting Supreme Court judge in a bar license case. A group of apex court lawyers had petitioned the chief justice to initiate contempt against him for the remarks. However, under pressure from his party, he later retracted his statement that he had witnessed the judge being bribed. PTI For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Thursday, January 24, 2019, 17:15 [IST] Shivakumara Swamiji always showered love and blessings on me like son: Modi In his first Mann Ki Baat 2019, PM pays homage to Shivakumara Swami, urges people to vote in LS poll PM Modi pays tributes to Shivakumara Swamiji of Siddaganga Math on his birth anniversary Karnataka: JDS minister's 'Bloody Lady' remark stirs row India oi-Deepika S Bengaluru, Jan 24: Karnataka Tourism Minister Sa Ra Mahesh waded into a major controversy after he allegedly verbally abused a woman IPS officer during the funeral of Siddaganga mutt seer Shivakumara Swami. Video footage aired by TV channels showed Gopinath preventing the minister from entering the mutt, where the 111-year-old seer was interred in Tumakuru on Tuesday, as there was restriction on the number of people allowed inside. When Mahesh insisted to go inside the mutt, the police official told him that the building could not accommodate more people. The minister, however, refuted the allegations and said he never uttered any foul word. "I only said do not create any nuisance there. I did not abuse anybody. My only objection was that how could a minister be denied entry into the hall when all the other MLAs and ministers were allowed," Mahesh said. However, the police officer has stated that it was a cooked-up story and nothing much had happened. The opposition BJP, however, took to social media demanding Mahesh's resignation for insulting the modesty of a woman officer. The party's Twitter handle wrote, "JDS MLA and Minister Sa. Ra. Mahesh abuses Tumakuru SP Divya. Calls the women police officer "Bloody Rascal". Women officer was spotted crying. Officer had left her unwell kid and reported to work. This is what happens when a party of 38 MLA runs the state". Dr Divya, who was previously the superintendent of police, Tumakuru, was transferred only a few days ago and she had gone on leave. Following the request by the department, Divya returned from the leave to assist the local administration with security arrangements. Chief minister H D Kumaraswamy was apprised of the incident and he reportedly told Sa Ra Mahesh to apologise to the officer and advised him not to conduct himself like that. Shivakumara Swami, known for his contributions in the field of education and philanthropy, passed away on Monday. For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Thursday, January 24, 2019, 10:09 [IST] JNU to re-open from Monday; students have to undergo 7-day self-quarantine JNU sedition case: Why was I bypassed asks Delhi law minister India oi-Oneindia Staff By Anuj Cariappa New Delhi, Jan 23: The law minister of Delhi has sent a showcase notice to the law secretary in connection with the JNU sedition case. The minister has sought an explanation for sending a file relating to the case directly to the Secretary Home. The notice said, ' it appears to have been done intentionally so that the views of the minister are not recorded.' This comes in the backdrop of the Delhi government is seeking legal advice with regard to granting sanction for prosecution in the JNU sedition case, government sources said on Tuesday. On Saturday, the Aam Aadmi Party government and the Delhi Police traded allegations after a court questioned the department for filing a charge sheet in the sedition case against former Jawaharlal Nehru University Students' Union (JNUSU) president Kanhaiya Kumar and nine others without procuring the required sanction from authorities. JNU sedition case: To prosecute or not, Delhi govt seeks legal advise Delhi government sources said there are rules laid down by the court for sanction of prosecution and they will be followed. "The rules allow three months time to the government for granting sanction. Delhi Police took three years to file the charge sheet. The government must be allowed due diligence and legal advice at its disposal before taking a decision," a source said. However, if the government consumes the three-month period without taking any decision, the sanction is deemed granted, he said. The Delhi Police had filed the charge sheet in the court on January 14, saying sanction for prosecution was pending before the government. "Why did you file (the charge sheet) without approval? You don't have a legal department," the court asked police on Saturday. According to the charge sheet, Kumar was leading a procession and supported seditious slogans raised on the JNU campus during an event on February 9, 2016. Police also charged former JNU students Umar Khalid and Anirban Bhattacharya for allegedly shouting anti-India slogans during the event to mark the hanging of Parliament attack mastermind Afzal Guru. The event had taken place despite the university administration cancelling the permission following a complaint from Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad, which had termed it "anti-national". For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Thursday, January 24, 2019, 10:15 [IST] Pakistan train accident: Death toll rises to 65 as two passenger trains collide in Sindh's Ghotki district Pakistan passes Bill to give right of appeal to Kulbhushan Jadhav Desire 'normal' neighbourly ties, onus on Pakistan to create conducive atmosphere: India at UN Can men get arrested for sporting long hair: Apparently in Pakistan YES! J&K: Pakistan violates ceasefire at four locations in Poonch, Rajouri India oi-Deepika S Srinagar, Jan 24: Pakistan on Thursday violated ceasefire at four locations along the Line of Control (LoC) in Poonch and Rajouri sectors of Jammu and Kashmir. The Indian Army is strongly retaliating to the intermittent cross-border firing. No causalities have been reported so far. This comes a day after Pakistan violated the ceasefire by targeting Indian Army posts and civilian areas along the Line of Control in the Mendhar sector of Rajouri district. Kudos: The last standing terrorist is dead in Baramulla, J&K The Pakistan army used small arms and mortars to target the Indian Army posts. Ahead of Republic Day, security has beefed up along the Line of Control, International Border and in the hinterland. There have been regular intelligence inputs about attempts by the Pakistan army to push in terrorists to create trouble ahead of Republic Day. For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Thursday, January 24, 2019, 12:38 [IST] FIR against former UP CM Akhilesh Yadav, 20 SP workers for 'assaulting' journalists in Moradabad Uttar Pradesh government lying about number of teachers who died during poll duty: Akhilesh Yadav Fresh trouble for Akhilesh as ED conducts raids in 4 states over Gomti Riverfront project India oi-Deepika S Lucknow, Jan 24: The Enforcement Directorate on Thursday conducted multiple searches across various states in connection with alleged discrepancies in connection with former Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav's pet Gomti riverfront project in Lucknow. Raids were being carried out in various premises of the accused and their associates in Uttar Pradesh (Lucknow and Noida), Delhi, Haryana and Rajasthan, by a team of the Enforcement Directorate (ED) officials assisted by local police. The Rs 1,500 crore revamp of the riverfront was was sanctioned by Yadav as chief minister of Uttar Pradesh just before the 2017 assembly elections. BJP frustrated, restless after SP-BSP alliance in UP: Akhilesh Yadav tweets after tie-up The central probe agency had filed a criminal case under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) in this instance in March last year. The ED case was filed after taking cognisance of a CBI FIR. After BJP stormed to power in 2017, Chief Minister Yogi Aditayanath ordered a probe into the project. The state government had allotted Rs 1,513 crore for the project but even after the release of Rs 1,437 crore, only 65% of the work was completed. The state government had in May 2017 ordered a judicial probe headed by retired judge Alok Kumar Singh into the project. The central probe agency had filed a criminal case under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) in this instance in March last year. The ED case was filed after taking cognisance of a CBI FIR. Akhilesh has accused the BJP of having aligned with central agencies like the CBI and the ED . The SP chief said, unlike the BJP, the opposition has allied with the people of the country. "You are making alliances with the CBI (Central Bureau of Investigation) and ED (Enforcement Directorate). But we have alliances with the people. And in democracy, whatever people decide, that happens," he said. Yadav appealed to the leaders opposed to the BJP to remain vigilant about conspiracies that would be hatched to wean away their alliance partners. For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Thursday, January 24, 2019, 15:11 [IST] Hunt for Covid-19 origin: Why a copper mineshaft in Mojiang, Yunnan in China is back in focus First body pulled out of Meghalaya mine, six weeks after 15 workers got stuck India oi-Deepika S Shillong, Jan 24: One body has been recovered on Thursday from the mine at Ksan near Lytein River in East Jaintia Hills. The body, which was disintegrating, had been spotted last week, but on Wednesday disintegrated and slipped to the bottom of the main shaft while the Navy was trying to bring it out. The body was recovered from over 183-feet air column and about 170-feet water column (total of about 355 feet vertically depth) in the main shaft and about 210-feet horizontal distance in the rat-hole tunnel. Officials say the Navy personnel are trying their best to locate the remains with their unmanned Remotely Operated Vehicles (ROV) in the flooded mine in East Jaintia Hills. The Meghalaya government informed the Supreme Court on Monday that the operations at the rat-hole coal mine to look for survivors will continue. It also indicated that the workers trapped in the mine for more than a month may have died. At least 15 miners were trapped in the illegal rat-hole mine in Khloo Ryngksan of East Jaintia Hills district, when it was flooded on December 13. The Navy had also spotted several skeletons in the flooded mines. According to five miners who had a narrow escape, one of the workers could have accidentally punctured the walls of possibly another nearby abandoned and flooded mine. DRDO successfully test fires Barak 8 LRSAM missile India oi-Madhuri Adnal Bhubaneswar, Jan 24: Defence Research & Development Organization (DRDO), on Thursday successfully test fired Long Range Surface to Air Missile (LR-SAM) from naval warship INS Chennai off the coast of Odisha. LR-SAM also is known as Barak 8 is an Indian-Israeli surface-to-air missile. The missile is designed to defend against any airborne threat including aircraft, helicopters, anti-ship missiles, Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs), ballistic missiles, cruise missiles and combat jets. [Barak 8 LRSAM missile: All you need to know] The Barak 8 LRSAM missile defense system has been jointly developed by IAI and India's state-owned Defense Research and Development Organization (DRDO) in collaboration with defense contractors in India and Israel, including Rafael Advanced Defense Systems. The two countries began join work on the LRSAM in 2006 with a first successful test firing of the missile system taking place in May 2010. The missile was last test fired by the Indian Navy from the 7,500-ton Kolkata-class (Project 15A) guided-missile destroyer INS Kochi in November 2017. The vertically-launched two-stage Barak 8, fitted with advanced radio frequency/infrared homing seekers, is designed to deal with a wide range of incoming airborne threats and can intercept targets as close as 500 meters away from a ship. The missile has a maximum speed of Mach 2 and its maximum range is estimated at around 70 kilometers (an extended range version of the Barak 8 can reportedly intercept targets at a distance of up to 150 kilometers.) LRSAM also features a multifunction active electronically scanned array naval radar system providing 360 degree coverage. The Indian military is also slated to receive the land-based version of the LRSAM, dubbed medium-range surface-to-air missile (MRSAM). The Indian Army is expected to stand up five MRSAM regiments by 2023 which, next to missile launch platforms, will also come with command and control systems, and tracking radar systems. Citizenship bill: Manipur CM calls meeting of all political parties on Jan 29 India pti-PTI Imphal, Jan 24: Manipur Chief Minister N Biren Singh has called a meeting of all political parties in the state on January 29 to discuss the Citizenship Amendment Bill even as protests against the Bill continue in the state. The chief minister's media advisor, Irengbam Arun on Thursday said the CM has called the meeting at his official residence here on January 29 morning to discuss the Bill. The BJP is heading a coalition government in the state with the National People's Party, Naga People's Front and the Lok Janshakti Party. Meanwhile, protests against the Citizenship Amendment Bill (CAB) are continuing in the state with people taking out processions and holding sit-ins in various districts demanding that the Bill be withdrawn. Manipur People's Party (MPP), many students' organisations and civil society players in the state are against the CAB. MPP president O Jugindro had earlier said his party would oppose the Bill tooth and nail. He said the Bill, if passed in the Rajya Sabha, would reduce the population of indigenous people of the northeastern states, including Manipur, to "microscopic minority". Six students' organisation of the state along with the women organisation 'Meira Paibi' have also announced that they would launch agitation against CAB at New Delhi when the Bill would be introduced in the Rajya Sabha. The chief minister has earlier said the Bill will have no effect on the state. The Manipur Cabinet in its January 10 meeting chaired by the chief minister had urged the Centre to exempt the state from the jurisdiction of the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill. The state cabinet in the same meeting also decided to urge the Centre and authorities concerned to give assent to the Manipur Peoples' (Protection) Bill, 2018 passed by the state assembly. [For Indian citizenship, State approval mandatory: MHA] The Manipur Peoples' (Protection) Bill, 2018 defines Manipuris and non-Manipuris and seeks to protect the interests and identity of the indigenous people. The Citizenship Amendment Bill was passed by the Lok Sabha on January 8. The Bill seeks to grant Indian citizenship to non-Muslims who fled religious persecution from Bangladesh, Pakistan and Afghanistan, and entered India before December 31, 2014. PTI Calicut twin blasts: NIA arrests accused on arrival from Saudi Arabia India oi-Vicky Nanjappa New Delhi, Jan 24: The National Investigation Agency has arrested one person in connection with the Calicut (Kozhikode) twin blasts. The arrested person has been identified as Mohammad Ashar. He was arrested at the New Delhi airport upon his arrival from Saudi Arabia. The case pertains to the twin IED blasts that had taken place at the KSRTC and Mofussin Bus Stand in Calicut on March 3, 2006. The NIA took over the investigation from the Kerala police in 2009. The trial against four accused was completed in 2011 and the court had sentenced the accused persons to life imprisonment. The conspiracy was hatched by T Nasir to protests against the denial of bail to the Muslim accused persons involved in the Marad communal riots of 2003. Ashar will be produced before the court and his transit remand from Delhi to Kochi would be sought. For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Thursday, January 24, 2019, 14:17 [IST] MP: BJP Yuva Morcha leader fined Rs 10,000 for flouting COVID-19 norms but no case as he expresses 'remorse' Ayodhya land deal: Rahul Gandhi slams BJP, says betrayal in name of Lord Ram is unrighteous BJP censures Rahul for abusing PM Modi India oi-Hardeep Singh Bedi New Delhi, Jan 24: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Thursday censured Congress President Rahul Gandhi for using unparliamentary language for Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Addressing media persons here, Union Minister Manoj Sinha said that we strongly condemn Rahul Gandhi for abusing Prime Minister Modi. "Even a District Panchayat level leader would not use the language to attack opponents that Rahul has used for criticising Prime Minister Modi," said Sinha, adding that it was basically the real character of Rahul. Rahul Gandhi has been attacking Prime Minister Narendra over the Rafale aircraft deal, Punjab National Bank scam accused Nirav Modi and Mehul Choksi. Addressing a rally in Amethi on Wednesday, Rahul accused the "watchman" (Prime Minister Modi) of "giving" Rs 30,000 crore to industrialist Anil Ambani. The charge has been repeatedly denied by the Modi government and the Reliance group. The Congress chief also said while farmers were in distress with ever-mounting debts, Modi was busy helping his industrialist friends by waiving off their loans. While answering a question about Priyanka's entry into politics and its impact on the BJP, Sinha said, "Enthusiasm about Priyanka is in Delhi and media. She is not even being noticed in East UP. On Wednesday, Rahul had made Priyanka Gandhi Vadra Congress General Secretary in-charge of East UP and senior Congress leader Jyotiraditya Scindia of West UP. Sinha also alleged that the Congress was befooling farmers on the poll promise of farmer loan waiver in its ruled states. "The Congress returned to power in Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, and Rajasthan by promising to waive off the loan of farmers. But instead of waiving off the loan of farmers, the loan of Congress leaders and workers is being waived off," Sinha alleged. For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Thursday, January 24, 2019, 19:03 [IST] Bihar: RJD leader Raghuvar Rai shot dead by unknown assailants India oi-Vikas SV Patna, Jan 24: Some unknown criminals shot dead Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leader Raghuvar Rai in Bihar's Samastipur district on Thursday morning. Reports say that unidentified assailants fired at Rai outside his residence in Kalyanpur. He was admitted to a private hospital in Dargbhanga for medical treatment. But, succumbed to his injuries. His condition is said to be critical. Madhya Pradesh: BJP leader shot dead in Mandsaur Reports quoted SP Harpreet Kaur as saying that Rai came out of his residence for a morning walk which was his daily routine. When he was in a lonely place, the unknown assailants, who were waiting for him, fired at Rai. The attackers fled the spot on a motocycle. The police have started raids to nab the criminals, said a Jagran report. Assam NRC: No extension beyond July 31 says SC India oi-Vicky Nanjappa New Delhi, Jan 24: The Supreme Court has said that it would not extend the July 31 deadline for the publication of the final Assam NRC under any circumstance. The court was informed that out of the 40 lakh persons left out of the draft NRC, as many as 32.2 lakh have filed claims for inclusion of their names in the final NRC. At the same time around 2 lakh objections have been registered against names included in the draft NRC, the court also told. It was also informed that notices to claimants had been issued. NRC: 30 lakh people left out of final draft re-apply in Assam The hearing would begin from February 15 onwards, the court was also told. The SC then requested the NRC state coordinator, Election Commission of India and Assam Chief Secretary to ensure that the NRC finalisation process and parliamentary elections go on simultaneously. In Assam, around the people who were left out of the final draft of the updated National Register of Citizens (NRC) have applied again for the inclusion during the claims and objections that ended in December. The window for 40.07 lakh out of the 3.29 crore applicants excluded from the complete draft was opened on September 25. The Supreme Court, which is monitoring the entire exercise extended the last date from December 15 to December 31. The extension was granted after the Assam government said that the panchayat elections had robbed people and the officials of their time. 2019 Lok Sabha elections: Digvijaya offered me Bhopal LS seat, claims Babulal Gaur India oi-Deepika S Bhopal, Jan 24: Ahead of the Lok Sabha Polls, BJP veteran Babulal Gaur on Thursday created a flutter with the claim that he was offered to contest the Lok Sabha polls from Bhopal seat on Congress's ticket. Gaur announced that the Congress leader Digvijay Singh has offered him a ticket from Bhopal Lok Sabha constituencies and that he was ready to "consider the proposal". "He (Singh) visited me and offered me to contest polls from Bhopal Lok Sabha seat on Congress ticket. I told him I will think about it,"ANI quoted Gaur as saying. Is ex-MP CM Babulal Gaur planning to dissent in BJP if denied ticket? The development follows reports that the BJP would field senior party leaders from Madhya Pradesh in the Lok Sabha elections, likely to be held in April-May this year, on the "winnability" factor signalling that many veterans may be ignored in ticket allocations by the central leadership of the party. "There will be major political changes in the coming days, watch out," Gaur said when asked about BJP's plan to give tickets on winnability criteria. The development also holds significance as the BJP party is often accused of side-lining its veterans. In 2014, LK Advani, the man who played the key role in the BJP's growth from 2 Lok Sabha seats to the first government headed by Atal Bihari Vajpayee, was not given any ministry. Babulal Gaur is a former chief minister of Madhya Pradesh and a veteran in the state politics. The 2018 assembly election results in Hindi heartland state of Madhya Pradesh (MP) came as a major shock for the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). The Congress won 114 seats, two short of the majority mark in the 230-member Madhya Pradesh assembly, while the BJP could win only 109 seats in the elections. Parents waited for their 6-year-old to return, in vain, she was raped and murdered Ghaziabad oi-Vikas SV Ghaziabad, Jan 24: Rape of minor girls, some as young as 5-6 years old is not just a crime, it, in fact, reflects a serious problem in the society which is not visible to the plain eyes. These perverts who commit such heinous offences are one among us and that ought to be enough to make everyone hang their head shame. In Ghaziabad, parents of a six-year-old kindergarten girl who had gone out in the evening on Tuesday kept waiting for her return, but she never did. Now, we know that she never will, as she was raped, strangulated with a scarf and her body was discarded at a deserted plot. And who did it? It was allegedly the man who was her tutor. He has now been arrested. UP: Man arrested for raping 15-year-old girl at gunpoint "The girl had gone for tuition along with her brother on Monday evening. After returning, she again went outside and didn't return thereafter. Her parents and neighbours searched for her till late night but in vain," the police said, as per a PTI report. The incident is said to have taken place in the Loni area of Ghaziabad, Uttar Pradesh. On Tuesday morning, when the girl's father was going to offer prayers he discovered his child's body lying in a deserted plot near a mosque, said DIG Upendra Agarwal. The girl was a kindergarten student, and she also would take tuition, the father told the police. Woman forced to consume 'spiked' juice, gangraped near mall The minor was raped strangulated with a scarf by her tutor, officials said. On Wednesday, the tutor Faizul Islam from Alvi Nagar was arrested. He confessed to the crime. The autopsy report confirmed the girl was raped. Islam has been booked under sections 302, 376 and 5/6 of POCSO Act. OneIndia News with PTI inputs For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Thursday, January 24, 2019, 9:40 [IST] Doug George-Kanentiio shares Iroquois prophecies and culture with a room full of people at the Oneida Public Library. Pets lost to mountain lion Responding to Lynn Scotts Jan. 4 Pulse letter Open season on mountain lions: We lost our two rescue dogs, and our neighbors lost three to the mountain lion that comes to our creek for water. That is based on pictures on a camera we set. All the dogs would play and flush out the ducks. If Lynn Scott had lost loved pets, the Pulse writer might think with common sense. We no longer jog on the county road in the area. If you want these lions so bad, take them to your backyard. We dont need them around our farm or home where they kill inappropriate prey. Beverly Wagoner, Broadwater, Neb. Higher pay for low-paying jobs While Nebraskans would certainly benefit from additional higher-paying jobs (Job growth in rural areas is key to success, World-Herald, Jan. 18), we would benefit even more from higher pay for low-paying jobs. As noted, 70 percent of the jobs in our state require a high school education or less. Thats a lot of jobs and a lot of employees who, as economist Hank Robinson points out, often struggle from paycheck to paycheck. The writer is chairman, CEO and co-founder of Blackstone, an investment firm. This first appeared in the Washington Post. I am not an engineer. Or a coder. Or a scientist. But I am someone who has spent years looking at companies and industries to see which are poised for growth and which are on the decline. And one thing I see every day is that most companies and industries are about to be transformed, if they havent been already, by artificial intelligence. AI will reshape the world in ways we cant imagine, much as the printing press and the Internet did at their inceptions. That means the United States must remain the lead player in AI if we are to guarantee our future in a competitive global economy. Already, many countries are investing heavily in artificial intelligence, and the United States, too, has made great progress. But this is a moment that calls for Americas unique capacity for leadership, not just in advancing the technology, but also in preparing for the ethical questions and disruptions AI will create. Year after year, Childrens Scholarship Fund of Omaha distributes about 1,500 scholarships but still must turn away hundreds of students due to lack of funds. We continue to pray for our lawmakers as they consider ways to further support and incentivize the types of donations that allow families in our poorest neighborhoods to enjoy the same educational options as everyone else. Since 1990, 37 states have found ways to do this, and broad and comprehensive research points to the benefits to all schools and families when parents have a choice for their children. ExcelinEd analyzed 33 studies examining the impact of school choice on public schools. Nearly all of these studies found that private school choice improves the educational outcomes of students who remain in public schools as well as the students who found their best educational fit. The purported reasons range from increased innovation to smaller classrooms, an enhanced competitive environment and a higher amount of tax dollars available per child due to lower public school enrollment. When we invest in kids through expanding school choice, all kids win. All Nebraskans, especially those of us who were fortunate enough to have enjoyed or are currently enjoying educational choice, have the responsibility to help ensure that other families share the same opportunities. As we celebrate National School Choice Week, may all educators, lawmakers and other Nebraskans notice those students who have been forgotten or left behind. And may we take the opportunity this legislative session to adopt school choice policy and to invest decisively and strategically in the future of our state. They wanted less volatility, so they go to 50 percent alternatives? said Gary Anderson, the retired former director of one of the largest public pension funds in Texas. Thats the craziest thing I ever heard. In the wake of this mismanagement, the OPS pension funds unfunded liabilities have worsened year after year. From a manageable liability of $138 million in 2008, the funds shortfall has ballooned to a staggering $771 million. The OPS pension funds current 10-year returns rank ninth worst among more than 170 funds nationally, Cordes reported. Its five-year return is the worst in the nation. The state in 2016 rightly transferred investment authority to the Nebraska Investment Council, which invests assets for statewide pension systems. The council is slowly untangling the alternative investments, but in many cases OPS remains on the hook for long-term contracts and high fees. LINCOLN Increasing income taxes on millionaires may be popular in polls, but the idea got only a lukewarm reception Wednesday with the committee that determines tax priorities in the Nebraska Legislature. When told that 78 percent of Nebraskans, in a recent opinion poll, favored raising taxes on millionaires to help stabilize funding for schools and other priorities, one senator on the Revenue Committee remarked that probably 99.9 percent of all people favor raising taxes on someone else. Another lawmaker quoted the oft-repeated line about taxation: Dont tax you, dont tax me, tax the fellow behind the tree. But Id rather pay a high income tax than a high property tax, said State Sen. Curt Friesen of Henderson, a farmer who, like many others, is pushing for property tax relief in the 2019 session. The comments came as Omaha Sen. Tony Vargas presented his proposal, Legislative Bill 50, to increase state income taxes on the wealthy. The marginal tax rate for single taxpayers who earn more than $100,000 a year, and married couples earning $200,000-plus, would rise by 1 percentage point, to 7.84 percent. An additional 1 percent tax would be applied to income in excess of $1 million. And an extra 2 percent tax would be paid on income over $2 million. One key state senator, Steve Lathrop of Omaha, agreed. If corrections wants to resolve their staffing issues, they have to pay more, he said. They dont have a pay scale (now) to attract and keep the people they need. One big issue in the bargaining impasse was who Nebraska corrections officers should be compared with. The state says state law calls for using nearby states with comparable facilities and budgets as a comparison. One comparable state, Kansas, starts its corrections officers at $15.75 an hour, lower than Nebraskas $16.99, while another state, Iowa, starts its officers at $19.15. But Nebraska now starts new employees at the higher rank of corporal, which pays $18.43 an hour, at all but one prison in the state (the Omaha Correctional Center). That puts Nebraskas corporal starting wage 9.5 percent higher than the eight comparable states used in the negotiations, corrections spokeswoman Laura Strimple said. But Fraternal Order of Police officials say it makes more sense to compare wages paid at Nebraska prisons with those paid by the Douglas, Lancaster and Sarpy County Jails, the facilities they say are stealing away experienced state corrections workers. LB 631, introduced by Sen. Adam Morfeld of Lincoln, would create a special task force to oversee the states implementation of Medicaid expansion. Morfeld led the petition drive to get the expansion question on the ballot. Medicaid expansion will provide health coverage for an estimated 90,000 more low-income Nebraskans. Hemp farming. The new federal farm bill opened the way for farmers to grow hemp legally, and LB 657, from Omaha Sen. Justin Wayne, would allow it in Nebraska. Some farmers say Nebraska is an ideal state to grow hemp, a cannabis plant variety that is low in tetrahydrocannabinol, the chemical that produces the marijuana high. Hemp can be used in production of fabric, food and medicines. Growers would have to register yearly. A second Wayne bill, LB 659, would legalize cannabidiol, or CBD, one product of hemp. T-shirts for everyone. Folks across the country might soon be able to buy coffee mugs or T-shirts emblazoned with Nebraskas new tourism slogan Honestly, its not for everyone. LB 637, introduced by Sen. John Stinner of Gering, would allow that. Right now, the Nebraska Tourism Commission is barred from selling such items. Money raised from the sales would go toward promoting tourism in the state. This bill is an effort to create additional transparency and accountability in the expenditure of property tax dollars, he said. From my standpoint, the problem lies with what I would see as a loophole in the law, allowing tens of millions of dollars to be spent without voter approval. But Douglas County Board member Clare Duda said the Legislature gave public building commissions that authority specifically so they could build projects such as the countys proposed courthouse annex and juvenile detention center. He said the main reason for the proposed project is that the Douglas County Juvenile Court, a state function that the county provides space for, has outgrown its space in the Douglas County Courthouse, exacerbated by the Legislatures assigning additional judges to the court. The Lincoln/Lancaster Public Building Commission has used (the bond issue law) umpteen times, Duda said. The first time we try to use it, they say, what are you doing? Be the first to know Get local news delivered to your inbox! Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy. Residents of the Omaha metro area are offering a helping hand as federal employees continue to work without paychecks more than a month into the government shutdown. Members of Omahas Jewish community are collecting cash, checks and gift cards this week to give to Transportation Security Administration agents. Donations can be dropped off at Beth El Synagogue, 14506 California St., by 3:30 p.m. Friday, said Rabbi Steven Abraham. The effort is being coordinated by congregant Linda Saltzman. The synagogue will convert the cash and checks to gift cards, Abraham said. Any gift cards that are dropped off should be limited to amounts of $10 to $20 for ease of distribution to TSA workers. And last Friday, the Islamic Center of Omaha ordered 30 Dominos pizzas for the TSA crew at Omahas Eppley Airfield. One of the centers members works at the airport and asked them to help out. A University of Nebraska at Omaha fraternity is cooperating with local authorities, the Tennessee-based national office of the fraternity said Wednesday. UNO has placed the Delta Chi chapter of the Pi Kappa Alpha fraternity on interim suspension, but little else has been disclosed about what allegedly happened. Pi Kappa Alphas Memphis office said the international fraternity had been informed of an alleged incident involving a member of Delta Chi Chapter. The local chapter placed the member on administrative suspension pending the outcome of the investigation and is fully cooperating, the Pi Kappa Alpha International Fraternity said Wednesday in a written statement. Cathy Pettid, UNOs dean of students, said in a statement this week that there is an internal investigation into reports of possible violations of our student code of conduct. UNO has taken the interim action of suspending the Delta Chi chapter while investigating, Pettid said. An 18-year-old man has been arrested on suspicion of first-degree murder in connection with the shooting death of Brian Faeller in Bellevue. Dakota Pirruccello was found Wednesday night in Omaha and taken into custody without incident, said Lt. Andy Jashinske of the Bellevue Police Department. He also was booked into the Sarpy County Jail on suspicion of robbery and use of a weapon to commit a felony. Faeller, 23, was fatally wounded in a shooting about 10 p.m. Jan. 15 at the Pheasant Ridge Apartments, near 36th Street about a mile south of Nebraska Highway 370. He was taken to the Nebraska Medical Center in extremely critical condition and pronounced dead there. Faellers mother, Michelle Faeller Bridger, said her son lived at the apartment complex. He had just been hired at an Omaha hair and beauty products manufacturer, she said. In 2014, Pirruccello was charged with third-degree assault, a misdemeanor, in Douglas County Juvenile Court. He was ordered to begin indefinite probation and complete 20 hours of community service. The weather improves Friday through the weekend, though Friday will still be a bit windy and cold, just not as bad as Thursday. A strong arctic front sweeping through southeast Nebraska and southwest Iowa brought brutal winds that reduced visibility, and froze cheeks and noses with below-zero wind chills. The wind blew snow back onto some roadways, and plows from the Nebraska Department of Transportation were needed to clear Highway 36 near Bennington early Thursday. Other trouble spots included West Maple Road between 215th and 232nd Streets and U.S. Highway 75 north of Fort Calhoun . Highs on Friday are expected to be in the mid- to upper 20s. With winds gusting to about 20 mph, wind chills are forecast to be in the midteens, according to the National Weather Service. Brett Edwards, a meteorologist with AccuWeather Inc., The World-Heralds weather consultant, said the weekend should bring a respite from the bitter arctic weather. The temperature Saturday will be trending in the right direction, and we will get above freezing with a high of 34 expected, he said. Childrens Hospital & Medical Center denied in an official court filing Wednesday the accusations made against it in a lawsuit by two Omaha surgeons. The document says the surgeons have callously and intentionally used the tragic death of a child to help make their case. The hospital says in the document that the surgeons who have filed the suit, Drs. Jason Miller and Mark Puccioni, are trying to protect their business interests by making false accusations against Childrens; Dr. Richard Azizkhan, Childrens CEO; and Dr. Adam Conley. Conley, a pediatric neurosurgeon, has been accused by the two surgeons of incompetence leading to the death of a 7-month-old child. Miller and Puccioni filed their suit early this month. Miller, a plastic surgeon, and Puccioni, a pediatric neurosurgeon, contend in their lawsuit that Childrens intentionally drove them away from practicing at the hospital. They charge that Azizkhan and Conley tried to destroy the practices and reputations of the surgeons. To stage its new play, the world-premiere Return to Niobrara, the Rose Theater engaged Native American artists and worked with Ponca Nation consultants to ensure authenticity. Mary Kathryn Nagles play makes the story of Ponca Chief Standing Bear accessible and relatable for children. After the Ponca tribe was removed from its land in 1875, bayonet-carrying soldiers marched Standing Bear and members to Indian Territory in Oklahoma, an event now known as the Trail of Tears. Many people died en route, including Standing Bears son, whose last request was to be buried in Nebraska. Because of that, Standing Bear and 29 others walked the sons remains back to their previous home, enduring a two-month trip through ice and snow with bare feet. Gen. George Crook detained them when they got here, saying they hadnt gotten permission to leave Oklahoma. Standing Bear then sued Crook. The governments case was based on the notion that Indians were not people under the law. Standing Bear passionately argued that Indians were indeed persons, and won. Nagle framed Standing Bears story through the eyes of his great-great-grandson, Steven, who is fighting his own identity battle because school officials want to force him to cut his hair. Lawyers for a driver found guilty of manslaughter, after doctors agreed that he met the criteria to be found legally insane, have told the Court of Appeal that the jury verdict was perverse. Polish national Dariusz Alchimionek (44), with an address at Barrow Way, Spa Street, Portarlington, Co Laois, had denied the manslaughter of Offaly man John Gorman (19) and assault causing harm to his brother, Adam, on December 29, 2015. The brothers had been returning home from Tullamore when a vehicle driven by Alchimionek suddenly crossed the road into the path of their oncoming car at Ballycrystal, Geashill, Co Offaly. Tullamore Circuit Criminal Court heard how Alchimionek had become convinced the Islamic State group, or Isis, were about to invade Europe and a third World War was about to begin. Consultant psychiatrists for both the prosecution and the defence agreed that Alchimionek met the criteria to be found not guilty by reason of insanity. The jury had the option of returning of three verdicts: guilty, not guilty or not guilty by reason of insanity. After two hours and 50 minutes of deliberations, the jury returned majority guilty verdicts of 11-1 on both counts, which were met with applause in the courtroom. Alchimionek was then sentenced to nine years imprisonment with the final three suspended by Judge Keenan Johnson in October 2017. Opening an appeal against conviction on Thursday, January 24, Alchimioneks barrister, Kenneth Fogarty SC, submitted the sole ground that the jurys verdict was perverse and against the evidence. Mr Fogarty, who appeared with Niall Flynn BL, said the atmosphere in the Circuit Court was "highly charged." There was an "outpouring of emotion" that was "humanly understandable" but not desirable in terms of how the law was to be applied. He said it was explained to Alchimionek that the foregone conclusion of a not guilty verdict by reason of insanity, was a referral to the Central Mental Hospital (CMH). He is currently in prison. Counsel for the Director of Public Prosecutions, Michael Delaney SC, said it was a jurys right to reject expert evidence, even if it was unchallenged, if they werent sufficiently convinced by it. He said questions asked by the jury suggested they were somewhat sceptical of Alchimionek's medical history. They asked whether there were any medical records relating to Alchimionek's time in Poland. There had been an attempted suicide when he was in his late 20s but that information had not been obtained for the trial and was not in evidence before the jury. Mr Delaney said the jury had evidence that when Alchimionek first spoke about the incident, he said he was trying to kill himself. But when he was interviewed by gardai he "gave this account that he was being followed by terrorists" who were trying to kill him. Those "contradictory accounts" were "unfortunately" not explored by the experts, Mr Delaney said, which might go some way to explain why the jury was not convinced. If Alchimioneks conviction was set aside, Mr Delaney said juries would be bound by the precedent to "rubber stamp" verdicts in every trial where insanity is raised and unchallenged. Mr Justice John Edwards commented that juries take an oath to give a true verdict in accordance with the evidence. There was no evidence, other than the unanimous expert opinion, on Alchimioneks state of mind at the time. Mr Delaney said the jury had asked pertinent questions about Alchimioneks previous medical history. None of that indicated the jury was ignoring it's oath. President of the Court of Appeal Mr Justice George Birmingham, who sat with Mr Justice John Edwards and Mr Justice Brian McGovern, said the court would reserve its judgment. The power of social media to build alliances with like-minded people and organize protests is unquestioned. But as the book, Twitter and Tear Gas: The Power and Fragility of Networked Protest, written by Turkish techno-sociologist Zeynep Tufekci points out, the initial moment of a movement bursting onto the scene should be viewed as only the first step. She wrote that the failure to generate reforms in the Middle East following the Arab Spring protests may have been due to how easy it was to get people out into the streets. Organizers were gobsmacked by the number of protestors but lacked the follow-through and hard work required in the aftermath of the demonstrations to achieve political change. They fell into the trap of believing the Arab Spring was the culmination of an organizing campaign, rather than just the beginning. In contrast to the Arab Spring, Tufekci wrote that civil rights activists in the US spent years planning the Montgomery bus boycott in 1955 and March on Washington in 1963. David Cole, ACLU legal director, wrote in his review of "Twitter and Tear Gas" that civil rights activists had to work for years to develop the networks, relationships, organizations and leaders necessary to sustain the boycott and carry out the march. Major demonstrations of today can be launched in a matter of weeks, thanks to social media. It took less than six weeks after the Parkland shootings in February 2018 to mobilize more than one million people nationwide for the March for Our Lives, wrote Cole. The Womens March, the most impressive anti-inaugural protest in history, was put together in a little more than two months. A mass protest is now a less meaningful indicator of a movements influence, noted Cole. He believes the jury remains out on whether the March for Our Lives and Womens March will achieve lasting reform. It will depend on those movements working collectively in multiple forums, including courtrooms, state legislatures, corporate boardrooms, union halls and most importantly at the ballot box, wrote Cole in the Feb. 7 New York Review of Books. His recommendation: We all need to turn away from our smartphones and screens and engage, together, in the work of democracy. Mower has been named the agency of record for Westchester County Tourism & Film, the official destination marketing organization for Westchester County. Mower will conduct travel and tourism integrated marketing and public relations for Westchester County. Mary Gendron, senior vice president, managing director and head of Mowers Travel and Tourism specialty, will lead the work. The countys tourism has an economic impact of $1.9 billion, provides more than 24,500 jobs and ranks third in visitor spending in the state, behind New York City and Long Island. Prior to Mower being named AOR, much of the work was divided up between Thompson & Bender and Fifteen Degrees. Other agencies who participated in the competitive RFP process for the account included Co-Communications, Fifteen Degrees/Nicholas Lence and Harrison Edwards. Westchester County executive George Latimer says that he expects Mower to further enhance our reputation as a premier, easily accessible business and leisure destination in the Hudson Valley. Two teenage sisters in India were recently honored for their grit and determination after it was discovered that they disguised themselves as boys for four years in order to keep their fathers barbershop open after he became ill. Jyoti Kumari, 18, and her 16-year-old sister, Neha, from Banwari Tola, in Indias Uttar Pradesh state, took over their fathers barbershop in 2014 after he suffered a severe paralytic attack that left him bedridden. The girls were only 13 and 11-years-old at the time, but the barbershop was the familys only source of income, so they had to do something to put food on the table. At first, the barbershop was closed, but as the family savings evaporated, Jyoti and Neha reopened it and started running it themselves. But things didnt go well at first, as some men were skeptical about having girls shave their beards and trim their mustaches, while others treated them badly. So they started disguising themselves as men. Photo source: Gulfnews This was indeed a tough job but we had no option as well. So we transformed ourselves [to look] like boys. We changed our names like males, dressed ourselves like boys, sported boys hairstyle[s] and also behaved like boys, Jyoti recalled. But for our efforts, my family would have died of starvation and our study would have been affected. The teenage girls cut their hair short, started wearing stainless steel bracelets normally worn by men, and changed their names to Deepak and Raju. Most of the people in their village knew their real identities, but men from surrounding communities had no idea they were really girls. The disguises allowed the girls to keep the barbershop running and earn about 400 rupees per day, enough to provide for their family, pay for their fathers treatment and continue their studies. Some of the people in the village kept mocking them for posing as men, but the two sisters ignored them and focused on their work, as they had no other choice. They managed to conceal their gender and real identities for four years, but as time went by, they became more confident and recently started revealing their secret to more people. Now we have gained enough confidence and dont fear anyone, Jyoti Kumari said. The majority of people have come to know that we are girls. Photo source: alArabiya After a journalist from the nearby city of Gorakhpur published their incredible story in a Hindi newspaper last week, Jyoti and Neha earned the praise of an entire nation and were even honored by local authorities for their grit and determination in the face of adversity. Unfazed by taunts coming from society, they carried the familys responsibility on their shoulders and arranged livelihood for their parents, braving all odds. This is a wonderful story which the society must be told [about] and they indeed deserve honors, local official Abhishek Pandey told reporters. They are [a] brilliant example of women empowerment and we have recommended to the state government [that they get] suitable rewards. The girls father, who only recently started walking again, also declared himself incredibly proud of them: They have run the family showing highest level of grit and I am proud of them. Scamp, an English springer spaniel sniffer dog, is so good at his job that criminal organizations have put a sizable reward on his head. During his five-year career as a sniffer dog for BWY Canine, in Pembrokeshire, UK, Scamp managed to detect around 6m ($7.8 million) worth of illegal tobacco, causing significant headaches for criminal organizations specialized in tobacco smuggling. But while Scamps powerful sense of smell has earned him praises from both his handler and police, it also made him a target for the nasty people whose plans he keeps foiling. According to Stuart Philips, who runs the BWY specialist detection dog service, Scamp has a bounty on his head. Photo: BWY Canine/Instagram We had to stop working in one part of the country last year, because there was a 25,000 bounty put on [Scamps] head, Philips recently told British reporters. It was believed to be linked to an organised crime group and the relevant authorities were informed. Philips added that he too incurred criminals wrath due to Scamps impressive results. Ive also had death threats, my windscreen has been smashed and my tyres slashed, the dog handler added. Its understandable really, when youre upsetting some really nasty people. As if causing criminals to lose millions of pounds wasnt bad enough, Scamp also likes to rub it in by posing for Instagram pictures with his huge hauls. Interestingly, Scamp isnt the first sniffer dog to have a bounty put on his head. Last year we wrote about Sombra, a drug-detection dog with the Colombian National Police, who was also incredibly good at detecting illegal substances and had a $70,000 bounty put on his head by a drug cartel. However, items such as clothes, socks, shoes, toiletries and personal hygiene items are being collected at the Adullam House Thrift Store. The thrift store is located at 26 Firetower Road, Wetumpka, AL, 36092. Those wanting more information about donating items can call 334-478-3881. The commission adds that there are several items that will not be accepted. These items include printers, old televisions, mattresses older than 2011, medical equipment or supplies, used breast pumps, food or drinks (including water) and wet items. Faith Baptist Church is also accepting donations in Wetumpka, the commission states. The church is located at 64 Chapel Road, Wetumpka, AL, 36092. However, you must arrange a drop-off time between 8 a.m. and 4 p.m. with Terri Wood. Wood can be reached at 334-315-1880. Those wanting to donate non-perishable food items to help in the relief effort may take them to the Elmore County Food Pantry located at 515 West Boundary Street, Wetumpka, AL, 26092. For more information about food donations, call 334-567-3232. UPDATED, 9 a.m. Tuesday: Opelika police statement: Aniyah A. Caffie has been located and has been returned to her family. She is safe and unharmed. The Opelika Police Department would like to thank our media partners who helped with this case. Due to the pending investigation, no further details are available for release at this time. ***** The Opelika Police Department is attempting to locate a missing teen girl. Aniyah A. Caffie was last seen Saturday evening at Sing Sing Karaoke in Opelika, according to police. Caffie is described as approximately 5-feet tall and weighs around 110 pounds. She has a medium complexion and shoulder-length black hair. She was last seen wearing a black jacket, black tank top, ripped blue jeans and white Vans sneakers, police said. Police request that anyone who may know Caffies current whereabouts or who may have had recent contact with her, or have any other information on this case to call the Opelika Police Departments Investigative Services Division at 334-705-5220 or the Secret Witness Hotline at 334-745-8665. Callers may remain anonymous. Be the first to know Get local news delivered to your inbox! Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy. First, I would like to thank ALDOTs willingness to support and fund this intersection, which we know is quite an awkward and dangerous intersection, Witten said. I do want to point out, as we have looked to endorse this, weve also added additional language in hopes that ALDOT will reduce the speed limit moving all the way from Highway 280 to the East University-Shug Jordan Parkway intersection. ALDOTs current constructional arrangement will entail a speed reduction from 55 mph to 45 mph as drivers enter the roundabout, but Witten has requested ALDOT alter the speed limit for the entire road. They will reduce the speed limits going into the roundabout, but I feel its important we encourage them to have it all the way through because of the safety moving from that stretch, Witten said. We added that as an additional consideration for this endorsement. 'Our best interest' Ward 4 Councilman Brett Smith asked City Manager Jim Buston to explain Auburns limited capacity to change a thoroughfare owned by the state. where they would join more than 800,000 other cases waiting to be resolved. Each dot on this page represents one case in the immigration court system. More than any border wall, the wait to have their cases heard is the largest barrier many migrants will face to settling in the United States. Lawyers, advocates and even some judges say that the immigration courts are in crisis. A growing backlog The backlog in the immigration courts has been growing for the past decade, and pending cases have increased by nearly 50 percent since Mr. Trump took office in 2017. Pending cases in immigration court 809,041 800,000 cases 400,000 2008 2019 809,041 800,000 cases 400,000 2008 2019 809,041 800,000 cases 400,000 2008 2019 Note: Fiscal year 2019 data is through November 2018. The backlog is made up of all kinds of immigration cases. Most involve people waiting for a judge to determine whether they should be allowed to stay in the United States or should be deported. About one in every 40 cases is criminal or related to national security or terrorism. The rest are civil immigration cases. They can include migrants arrested for crossing the border illegally, people who overstayed their visas and many asylum seekers. Three in four of the pending cases involve Mexicans or Central Americans. Nationalities of immigrants in pending cases Mexico 161,614 pending cases Guatemala 158,935 El Salvador 153,689 Honduras 121,874 India 26,511 China 26,090 Others 160,328 Mexico 161,614 pending cases Guatemala 158,935 El Salvador 153,689 Honduras 121,874 India 26,511 China 26,090 Others 160,328 Mexico 161,614 Guatemala 158,935 Honduras 121,874 Others El Salvador 153,689 India China Note: Nationality data was not available for 227 cases, counted here as others. Asylum seekers tend to come from the Central American countries known as the Northern Triangle El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras and they make up a growing share of the backlog. All together, asylum seekers accounted for about half of new immigration cases last year, at a record 159,590 cases. Immigration cases and asylum applications 400,000 cases 305,899 total new cases 200,000 159,590 asylum cases 2008 2018 400,000 cases 305,899 total new cases 200,000 159,590 asylum cases 2008 2018 300,000 cases 305,899 total new cases 159,590 asylum cases 2008 2018 The Trump administration has viewed this increase with alarm, and has said that migrants are abusing the system. As part of broader efforts to tighten immigration policy, officials have sought to narrow the path to asylum and limited processing of these cases at the border. The White Houses most recent proposal to end the standoff over border security and to reopen the government included several provisions aimed at restricting asylum claims. But current United States law says that those who can demonstrate a fear of persecution have the right to petition for asylum if they can stand the wait. A lengthy process As the backlog has grown, so has the wait time for hearings and decisions. The average case now takes 578 days to complete. Average length of immigration cases 578 days 400 days 200 2008 2018 578 days 400 days 200 2008 2018 578 days 400 days 200 2008 2018 Note: Data shows the average number of days between the recorded filing date and the closure date for cases completed in a given year. Cases that result in relief, like a grant of asylum, last on average nearly three years or nearly twice as long. Thats partly because these cases are more complicated. While asylum seekers wait, they can remain in the country but are in legal limbo. No one benefits from this current system, said Aaron Reichlin-Melnick of the American Immigration Council, a nonprofit in Washington. A long wait can hurt asylum seekers in particular, he said. Cases may be harder to prove years down the line if conditions change at home or if witnesses become unavailable. And where people are forced to wait makes a difference. The White House has sought to detain immigrants whose cases are pending rather than follow a policy Mr. Trump derides as catch and release. Under Mr. Trump, parole rates for asylum seekers fell to less than 4 percent from 92 percent, according to a complaint filed last year by the American Civil Liberties Union. (A federal judge in July blocked the administrations blanket detention of asylum seekers.) Mr. Reichlin-Melnick said detention can be physically and mentally harmful and impede migrants from accessing legal representation, lowering their chances of winning a case. Lengthy stays in detention can drive asylum seekers to abandon their claims and choose deportation instead. Citing the low grant rate in asylum cases, the Trump administration says that many claims are meritless and that migrants are abusing the asylum process to gain entry into the United States. Under Mr. Trump, a greater proportion of grants have been denied, but many cases are closed for other reasons, including when an applicant gets relief in some other way. Asylum grant and denial rates 100% 21% granted 38% closed for other reasons 50% 41% denied 2009 2018 100% 21% granted 38% closed for other reasons 50% 41% denied 2009 2018 100% 21% granted 38% closed for other reasons 50% 41% denied 2009 2018 About one in five asylum cases completed last year ended in a grant, a rate that has mostly held steady over time. Complicating factors The surge in asylum seekers has added more cases to the overall backlog. But two policies stemming from Mr. Trumps hard-line stance on immigration are significant contributors as well. A month into his presidency, Mr. Trump rescinded an Obama-era policy that relaxed prosecution for some immigrants who were in the country illegally. At the same time, Immigration and Customs Enforcement ramped up arrests, adding new cases to the docket. Immigration and Customs Enforcement arrests Trump ends prosecutorial discretion 14,068 arrests 10,000 arrests 5,000 Feb. 2017 May 2018 Oct. 2014 Trump ends prosecutorial discretion 14,068 arrests 10,000 arrests 5,000 Oct. 2014 Feb. 2017 May 2018 15,000 arrests Trump ends prosecutorial discretion 14,068 5,000 Oct. 2014 Feb. 2017 May 2018 Previously, ICE prioritized arresting immigrants with a criminal record, who are often ineligible for relief. Now, anyone who is caught in the country illegally gets a court date. Since the end of 2016, the backlog has grown by more than 293,000 cases. The other major move from the Trump administration had to do with how the courts manage their caseloads. Unlike in other courts that act as independent judiciaries, immigration judges are appointed by the United States attorney general and are part of the Justice Department. Different administrations often shuffle judges dockets based on certain priorities. The Obama administration moved unaccompanied children seeking asylum to the front of the line, and the current administration instructed judges to prioritize cases involving families. Although such moves are meant to speed up the most urgent cases, they can add to overall processing times because judges need to reschedule court dates and familiarize themselves with the facts, said Ashley Tabaddor, an immigration judge and the president of the National Association of Immigration Judges. In May, Jeff Sessions, then the attorney general, eliminated an option for judges to temporarily suspend immigration proceedings in certain cases through a process known as administrative closure. At the same time, he moved to reopen more than 300,000 cases that had previously been closed. All together, those would stretch the court docket to more than one million pending cases. No end in sight Immigration courts have been hiring more judges to handle the caseload, bringing the current number of judges to 395. And last year, the Justice Department set a new quota for judges: They each must complete 700 cases per year. Average number of cases completed per immigration judge Current quota of 700 cases per judge 800 cases per judge 495 400 2010 2018 800 cases per judge Current quota of 700 cases per judge 495 400 2010 2018 800 cases per judge Current quota of 700 cases per judge 495 400 2010 2018 Since 2016, however, judges have completed 495 cases per year, on average. At that rate, it would take about four years to get through the current backlog. The judges union opposed the new quota, arguing that the practice would lead to more appeals and ultimately longer wait times. In addition to the pressure that the quota imposes on judges, Judge Tabaddor explained that some cases simply take more time to process. Along with other directives from Mr. Sessions, judges say they feel pressured to align themselves with the administrations policy goals of aggressive prosecution. Since Mr. Trump took office, more cases have resulted in deportation. Outcomes of deportation proceedings 100% 33% allowed to remain in the U.S. 50% 67% ordered deported 2008 2018 100% 33% allowed to remain in U.S. 50% 67% ordered deported 2008 2018 100% 33% allowed to remain in U.S. 50% 67% ordered deported 2008 2018 Note: Cases in which the immigrant is allowed to remain in the country include those where relief is granted and cases that are closed or terminated. The factors that drove the backlogs growth during the first two years of the Trump administration show no signs of abating. Aggravating the situation, at least for now, is the partial government shutdown that began in December and halted most immigration court proceedings. BAGHDAD Along two sharp curves of the Euphrates River in northeastern Syria, the Islamic State is fighting to hold on to the last speck of the vast territory it once controlled. At its height, the group enforced its brutal version of Islamic rule over more than 60,000 square miles in Syria and Iraq. It is now squeezed into two villages occupying six square miles. There, its foot soldiers have been engaged in heavy clashes with the American-backed and Kurdish-led militia Syrian Democratic Forces who are battling to take back the turf, according to a spokesman for the militia and observers in the area. While some of the extremists are fighting to the end, local officials say the militants have been surrendering by the dozens, repeating a pattern observed in other cities shortly before the group was overrun. Even with the end of the groups self-proclaimed caliphate in Syria and Iraq within view, Western officials caution that this is not the end of the violent threat posed by the group. It has continued carrying out devastating attacks as it reverts to its insurgent roots, including a suicide bombing that killed four Americans in Manbij last week. LONDON Alex Salmond, the former first minister of Scotland who for years led a campaign for Scottish independence, has been arrested and charged with two counts of attempted rape and several counts of sexual assault, a public prosecutor said on Thursday. He was released on bail after a brief initial court appearance Thursday afternoon. The hearing was held in private. Outside the court in Edinburgh on Thursday, Mr. Salmond said to reporters: I refute absolutely these allegations of criminality, and Ill defend myself to the utmost in court. Police Scotland began investigating Mr. Salmond, 64, after the Scottish government looked into complaints by two women who said he had sexually harassed them several years ago, an accusation he denies. The outcome of the governments inquiry was not made public. LONDON Prince William, who has long spoken publicly about his emotional struggles, has taken his campaign for mental health awareness to Davos, Switzerland, urging global leaders to help break the stigma. Prince William, the Duke of Cambridge, who is second in line to the British throne, spoke candidly on Wednesday about the difficulty he faced in trying to get celebrities to sign on to his cause, revealing without naming names that not one had initially offered to join the mental health campaign that he has run since 2016 with his wife and his brother. It was only once they went public with their Heads Together campaign and people realized that Catherine, Harry and I put our necks on the line here, he said, that well-known names began supporting the effort. Its advocates now include the actress Judi Dench. At the World Economic Forums annual meeting in the Swiss mountain resort of Davos, Prince William interviewed David Attenborough, the film producer of nature programs and a respected voice on climate change, on Monday. But he also spoke of the silence about mental health that was common in his parents and grandparents generations, and he called for people to be more open about their emotions. The court noted that at the time she was accused of killing Ms. Kercher, a Briton, Ms. Knox had been particularly vulnerable, being a foreign young woman, 20 at the time, not having been in Italy for very long and not being fluent in Italian. Her statements during the interrogation had been taken in an atmosphere of intense psychological pressure, the court said. The case made headlines for years in Italy, the United States and Britain. During her interrogation in 2007, Ms. Knox accused her boss, a pub manager, of killing Ms. Kercher, but he was subsequently exonerated. A court later found that she had committed slander, and the European court decision concerned the process leading to that conviction. On Thursday Ms. Knox, who is 31 now and lives in Seattle, wrote on her blog that she had spent years wracked with guilt over those statements I signed in the interrogation room. Ms. Knox, her boyfriend at the time of the killing, Raffaele Sollecito, and a third man, Rudy Guede, were found guilty of Ms. Kerchers murder in 2009. But in 2015, Italys highest court not only overturned the conviction of Mr. Sollecito and Ms. Knox, who had served four years in prison, it took the rare step of fully exonerating them. Mr. Guede is still serving a 16-year sentence. In lodging her complaint with the European court, in 2013, Ms. Knox said she had not been assisted by a lawyer during the all-night interrogation, and had not been provided with a professional interpreter. She also claimed to have been subjected to extreme psychological pressure, an allegation the court would determine was unfounded. In the beginning, MPs were targeted with threatening messages. Then with posters. Then came the assault squads at Parliament. And now we have arson attacks on MPs homes, Mr. Tsipras wrote on Twitter. Politicians who do not condemn violence, he added, bear a huge responsibility. Despite the upheaval, Mr. Tsipras is all but certain to gain approval for the Macedonia pact with the support of a few opposition and independent legislators. Some of his support is expected to come from lawmakers who have broken ranks with Panos Kammenos, the leader of a junior coalition partner, the Independent Greeks, who quit as defense minister this month in protest of the Macedonia deal. Mr. Kammenoss withdrawal prompted Mr. Tsipras to call a confidence vote, which he won. Mr. Tsipras has insisted that his government would remain in power until October, when its four-year term is set to end. Analysts believe, however, that he is likely to call elections earlier, possibly in May. So many lawmakers asked to speak on the deal that Parliament postponed the vote, which had been expected to take place after midnight on Friday, to midafternoon. One of the lawmakers main contentions is that debate on the deal is inconceivable without a revised version of Macedonias Constitution, reflecting the changes agreed to by the two sides. The version of the Constitution presented to the Greek Parliament has those changes listed at the end, but Deputy Foreign Minister George Katrougalos insisted on Wednesday that they would be enshrined in the body of the Constitution after the deals ratification by Greece. Macedonian lawmakers approved the name change this month, contingent on Greek approval. A conservative former prime minister, Kostas Karamanlis, who was in power when Greece blocked Macedonias NATO bid in 2008, said in a written statement that the deal was sealed in undue haste, adding that the government should have respected the sensitivities and listened to the legitimate concerns of the large majority of citizens. Many respondents could not seem to recall crucial details. For example, 76 percent said they were familiar with Anne Frank, but only 23 percent of Canadians said the Holocaust took place in the Netherlands, where she lived. (Less than 25 percent of Dutch Jews survived the Holocaust, according to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum.) And just 23 percent of Canadians said they were familiar with Elie Wiesel, who described Auschwitz in his memoir Night and won the Nobel Peace Prize. The study did include some heartening points: 85 percent of respondents said it was important to keep teaching about the Holocaust so that it does not happen again. Ms. Azrieli said that focusing on older high school students, who have more maturity and knowledge to understand the Holocaust in historical context, was most effective. Her foundation will focus on providing educational resources and teacher support. Education about the Holocaust involves crucial lessons about civic responsibility and action in the face of atrocities, but it can be challenging for even the most experienced educators because it raises difficult questions, Ms. Azrieli said. And it is all the more urgent as the number of Holocaust survivors dwindles, because they are the most powerful narrators of their experiences, she added. Most people who directly survived concentration camps or ghettos are now in their 80s or 90s, Mr. Schneider said. His organization uses a broader definition of survivor, including anyone who fled, or was hidden or rescued as a child, which includes more people in their 70s. Using that broader definition, the number of Holocaust survivors has fallen to about 400,000, Mr. Schneider said. About 80,000 of those survivors live in the United States, and about 10,000 in Canada. Canada inaugurated its first national Holocaust monument in Ottawa in 2017, though its opening was marred by the realization that a plaque placed outside failed to mention Jews or anti-Semitism. The plaque was replaced. KABUL, Afghanistan American and Taliban negotiators are making headway on a deal in which the United States would withdraw troops from Afghanistan in return for a pledge by the Taliban not to allow the country to host terrorist groups like Al Qaeda, senior Taliban officials and Western diplomats said Thursday. The possibility of an agreement came after a fourth day of face-to-face talks between a delegation led by the American peace envoy, Zalmay Khalilzad, and Taliban officials in Doha, Qatar, where the insurgents have long maintained an office. But many of the details remained to be ironed out, including how many American troops would be pulled out and over what period of time. Though Afghan officials did not publicly criticize the emerging outlines of the agreement, they said any end game to the war would have to be finalized in direct negotiations between the government and the Taliban, which the insurgents have so far spurned. ISLAMABAD, Pakistan A Pakistani judge on Thursday formally dismissed terrorism charges against a man whose killing in a police encounter last year threw a spotlight on extrajudicial killings and police brutality in the country. A judge of the antiterrorism court in Karachi dropped five cases against Naqeebullah Mehsud, an aspiring model with a large social media presence whose death prompted widespread protests. The judge also posthumously cleared three other men who were killed with Mr. Mehsud. The court acted in the wake of a police inquiry that found that the supposed shootout in which the four men died in Karachi last January had been staged, and that their killings were extrajudicial. The operation was led by a prominent police commander named Rao Anwar, who was known for his harsh tactics. Mr. Anwar initially claimed that the four men were part of a militant group that had been involved in attacks on security forces in Karachi, considered the countrys financial and commercial hub. BEIJING An Australian writer who was detained in China last week is suspected of endangering national security, the Chinese Foreign Ministry said on Thursday, confirming that he is the third foreigner to have been detained on that ominous charge since last month. The writer, Yang Hengjun, arrived in the southern city of Guangzhou on Friday on a flight from New York, despite warnings from friends about the risks of returning to China, where he was born, at a tense time. Officers took him away before he and his wife and child could catch a connecting flight to Shanghai, according to friends of Mr. Yang who spoke to his family. The Australian government confirmed on Wednesday that Mr. Yang, 53, had been detained. But the severity of the charges against him was unclear until Thursday, when Hua Chunying, a spokeswoman for the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, told reporters in Beijing that Mr. Yang was suspected of crimes related to state security. She referred to Mr. Yang as Yang Jun, and later said that was his officially registered name. Beijings state security bureau detained Mr. Yang on suspicion of criminal activities endangering national security, Ms. Hua said at a regularly scheduled news briefing. Currently, the case is still under investigation under the law. CARACAS, Venezuela The embattled government of Venezuela struck back against its opponents on Thursday, winning strong support from the countrys armed forces and the solid backing of Russia, which warned the United States not to intervene. The events put Venezuelas president, Nicolas Maduro, at the center of a Cold War-style showdown between Russia, an ally that has shored up his government with billions of dollars, and the United States, which has denounced him as a corrupt autocrat with no legitimacy. The Trump administration pressed its case on Thursday, with Secretary of State Mike Pompeo calling on all countries in the hemisphere to reject Mr. Maduro and align themselves with democracy, setting up a test of wills with the Kremlin. Only a day before, Mr. Maduros political nemesis, the opposition leader Juan Guaido, seemed to have the momentum. During nationwide protests against the government, he proclaimed himself the countrys rightful president, earning endorsements from President Trump and several governments in the region. Mr. Pompeo played an important role during a trip early this month to Brazil and Colombia, said a person with connections to opposition leaders in Venezuela. Mr. Pompeo signaled to leaders in both countries that if Latin American nations came up with a reasonable plan on Venezuela, the United States would stand with them, this person said. That was one factor that contributed to Canada and 12 Latin American nations issuing a statement on Jan. 4 that said they would not recognize Mr. Maduros presidency. The statement was stronger than even American officials had expected, the person said. Mr. Pompeo has also been in close contact with Chrystia Freeland, the Canadian foreign minister, who has played a leading role in rallying global criticism of Mr. Maduro. On Jan. 16, the two spoke by phone about Venezuela, among other issues. Mr. Trumps tough stand this week drew some bipartisan support. Representative Adam B. Schiff, Democrat of California and one of the presidents strongest critics, called the recognition of Mr. Guaido an appropriate step to support the democratic aspirations of the Venezuelan people. But like others, Mr. Schiff noted the disparity between Mr. Trumps approach to Mr. Maduro and other autocrats. We must also remember that Americas support for democracy and human rights must apply universally if it is to be credible, he said. That was not Mr. Trumps view when he came to office. In his first foreign trip as president, Mr. Trump told an audience in Saudi Arabia that he would not dictate how other countries treat their own citizens. We are not here to lecture, he said. We are not here to tell other people how to live, what to do, who to be or how to worship. Just last month, Mr. Trump abruptly ordered the withdrawal of troops from Syria, arguing that the United States only interest there was fighting the Islamic State. He offered no criticism of President Bashar al-Assad of Syria, who has waged war against his own citizens, resulting in hundreds of thousands of casualties and millions of displaced people. Does the USA want to be the Policeman of the Middle East, Mr. Trump asked then on Twitter, denouncing the notion that the United States had a role to play protecting others in the region. CAIRO As chaotic antigovernment demonstrations engulfed Sudans capital, Khartoum, a young doctor emerged from his hiding place and strode down a deserted street, his hand held high. An eyewitness said the doctor, Babiker Salama, approached a group of security officials gathered around a truck last week and issued a plea. A protester had been injured and was badly bleeding, he said. Would the officers permit his evacuation? Exactly what happened next is hotly disputed by Sudans president and the protesters seeking his ouster, but the result is not. A gunshot rang out. Dr. Babiker, 27, fell to the ground, grievously injured. An hour, later he was dead. The death of Dr. Babiker, an idealistic young man from an affluent family, has emerged as a signal moment in a powerful tide of protest that has roiled Sudan over the past five weeks, posing the greatest threat yet to the countrys ruler of 30 years, President Omar Hassan al-Bashir. As evidence of vote rigging, Mr. Fayulus supporters pointed to two cities in the east, considered to be his stronghold, that were excluded from voting because of what the government said was instability and an Ebola crisis. Officials deny the vote was rigged, and insist that it was the countrys best ever. The Catholic Church, an influential and widely respected body that sent 40,000 election observers across the country, backed Mr. Fayulus claims to victory. Credible opinion polls before the vote had also shown him to be the winner. Suspicions over the results were reinforced after the Southern African Development Community, an intergovernmental regional bloc, called for a recount. So, too, did the African Union, which last week expressed serious doubts about the vote count. But after a flurry of behind-the-scenes negotiations this week, most of the governments critics backed down, and by Thursday were prepared to accept the outcome. The African Union members are undoubtedly all aligned on avoiding any potential flare-ups in violence in the D.R.C. to spread across their own borders, said Adeline Van Houtte, an analyst at the Economist Intelligence Unit, using the initials for the Democratic Republic of Congo. So the question that remains is, What caused the internal divisions that forced them to back down on the D.R.C. post-electoral crisis? A possible answer, she said, is that a lot of elections are planned in Africa in the coming year, including in South Africa. With that in mind, she said, some African leaders are probably wary of opening the door to every opposition leader to contest elections results that could lead to a recount. The gunman who burst into a SunTrust Bank in Florida on Wednesday made the five women he found inside lie facedown on the floor before he shot them each in the back of the head, killing them, according to an affidavit released on Thursday. And when he was done, he called the police to tell them what he had done. On Thursday, the police released the identities of three of the five victims four female bank employees and one female customer and said for the first time that a sixth person inside the bank in Sebring, Fla., escaped when he heard the shooting begin around 12:30 p.m. The suspect, Zephen A. Xaver, 21, was arrested on Wednesday and charged with five counts of first-degree premeditated murder. Nathaniel Heitkamp, a friend who said in an interview that he met Mr. Xaver five years ago at a mental health facility in Indiana, said, He had an obsession with violence. Chief Karl Hoglund of the Sebring Police Department identified the customer who was killed as Cynthia Lee Watson, 65, and one of the employees as Marisol Lopez, 55. Good Thursday morning. Here are some of the stories making news in Washington and politics today. _____________________ President Trump said he would deliver his State of the Union address after the federal government reopens, capping a day of brinkmanship with Speaker Nancy Pelosi. His apparent capitulation came even as House Democrats said they were prepared to give him a substantial sum of money for border security but not for a wall, and not until he agreed to reopen the government. Michael Cohen, Mr. Trumps former lawyer, indefinitely postponed his congressional testimony. His lawyer cited the presidents attacks on Mr. Cohens family. Lawyers representing Paul Manafort strongly denied claims by the special counsels prosecutors that Mr. Manafort repeatedly lied to them, stating that the prosecutors had wrongly interpreted honest memory lapses and innocent misstatements. WASHINGTON The Senate Intelligence Committee has issued a subpoena to compel Michael D. Cohen, President Trumps former lawyer, to appear before the panel next month to formally correct false testimony that he delivered last year about a proposed Trump Organization project in Moscow, one of his lawyers confirmed on Thursday. The subpoena was disclosed a day after Mr. Cohen pulled out of a public hearing scheduled for Feb. 7 before the House Oversight and Reform Committee, citing in a letter from his lawyer, Lanny J. Davis, verbal attacks by Mr. Trump. Mr. Cohens initial agreement to appear before the Oversight Committee had been voluntary, but he will have little choice in complying with the Senate request. Democrats in charge of the House Oversight and Intelligence committees have signaled in recent days that they may follow suit and issue subpoenas of their own, despite acknowledging Mr. Cohens safety concerns. Unlike the Oversight session, Mr. Cohens return to the Senate Intelligence Committee will almost certainly be behind closed doors. The panel has conducted a wide-ranging investigation of Russias election interference campaign, and possible ties to the Trump campaign, for roughly two years now largely out of the public eye. Mr. Trumps proposal paired $5.7 billion in wall funding with temporary legal protections for some immigrants and measures to make it more difficult to claim asylum in the United States. Only one Democrat, Senator Joe Manchin III of West Virginia, crossed party lines to vote for the measure. Two Republican senators, Mike Lee of Utah and Tom Cotton of Arkansas, voted against it, considering it too lenient to immigrants. Mr. Trumps plan was loosely modeled after an idea that was the centerpiece of quiet bipartisan talks to strike a compromise over the past several weeks to end the shutdown. Among the ideas discussed was legislation that would pair money for border security with permanent legal status for Dreamers, the immigrants brought to the United States illegally as children who stand to lose their deportation protections and work permits after Mr. Trump rescinded the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, or DACA, created by President Barack Obama in 2012. While it included some of those components, the measure that failed on Thursday was dismissed as a nonstarter by Democratic leaders because it substantially narrowed DACA eligibility, and extended it for only three years, while making major changes to asylum law that would make it harder for migrants fleeing violence and persecution, including children from Central America, to find refuge in the United States. It would also extend three-year reprieves for those living in the United States under Temporary Protected Status granted in times of conflict or natural disaster who stand to be removed after Mr. Trump ended their protections. Senator Doug Jones, Democrat of Alabama, said he had considered supporting the presidents proposal after he described it in a televised address from the White House, but found the asylum provisions unacceptable. When I saw what the president had added to the plan he announced just five days ago, particularly as it pertains to the limitations and additional hardships placed on families and children who are legitimately seeking refuge in this country from violence in their own countries, and doing so through the legal asylum process, I could not vote for it despite my consistent support for stronger border security, Mr. Jones said in a statement. House leaders had kept their chamber in session through the afternoon to leave room for the possibility that the Democratic measure would prevail in the Senate, and they could call a vote on it later Thursday and send it to the White House. But that never happened, and rank-and-file Democrats, many of whom had marched across the Capitol to the Senate chamber to witness the votes for themselves, spent the afternoon instead highlighting the stories of people devastated by the shutdown. The House took separate action earlier Thursday to pass legislation to fund the Department of Homeland Security through Feb. 28, with all but five Republicans voting no. One freshman Democrat, Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York, also voted against it because it would reopen Immigration and Customs Enforcement, which she wants closed. Joseph R. Biden Jr. defended his decision to praise an embattled Republican lawmaker during a paid speech in Michigan last fall, telling a group of mayors on Thursday morning that it reflected his philosophy of how to get things done. The New York Times reported on Wednesday that Mr. Biden had earned $200,000 for an October speaking engagement in Benton Harbor, Mich., three weeks before the midterm elections. During that speech, Mr. Biden gave a glowing commendation to Representative Fred Upton, a powerful Republican who joined with Mr. Biden to increase funding for cancer research and, separately, helped forge legislation to gut the Affordable Care Act. In Washington Thursday, Mr. Biden offered a forceful defense of his supportive remarks about Mr. Upton, signaling that he has no intention of blunting his instinct toward bipartisanship and compromise in the event that he runs for president. The former vice president has told allies in recent weeks that he is leaning toward running against President Trump in 2020. I read in The New York Times today that I that one of my problems is if I ever run for president, I like Republicans, Mr. Biden said, according to a video posted by the public-affairs network C-Span. And at the University of Oklahoma, students involved in filming and posting a video showing a woman applying blackface were expelled this week. Mr. Ertel, 49, had been the supervisor of elections for Seminole County since February 2005 when Mr. DeSantis, a Republican, appointed him secretary of state in December. Before resigning, he had testified before a state legislative committee on Thursday about election lawsuits. A few days after President Trump was inaugurated, Mr. Ertel publicly disputed Mr. Trumps claims of rampant voter fraud. To be clear: voter fraud is likely one of the least-committed felonies in America, he wrote on Twitter, using an account that has since been deactivated. Barring system-wide collusion, it is simply not the case that millions voted illegally. But Mr. Ertel also acknowledged that there were flaws in the system that could be manipulated, and that he was committed to non-arduous provisions that would allow the most citizens to cast their vote. As part of his duties as secretary of state, Mr. Ertel was in charge of the states effort to restore voting rights to 1.4 million ex-felons, which Florida voters approved in November. He had received many awards for his work on increasing voter registration, including the Martin Luther King Jr. Good Citizenship Award given by the city of Longwood in Seminole County. Soon after Jayme Closs, 13, disappeared in Wisconsin in October, officials offered a $50,000 reward for information that would lead to her safe return. Now Jayme, who escaped from a kidnapper after she was abducted and her parents were killed, will receive at least half of it. That $25,000 was donated by Hormel Foods, the Minnesota-based company that owns Jennie-O Turkey Store, where Jaymes parents had worked in Barron, Wis., for 27 years. First and foremost, Jennie-O Turkey Store is a family, Steve Lykken, a senior vice president of Hormel and the president of Jennie-O, said on Wednesday. Here in Barron, our Jennie-O family is dealing with a very tragic situation. The goal, he added, is to set up a trust fund for Jayme. The girls parents, James Closs, 56, and Denise Closs, 46, were killed on Oct. 15 when an intruder entered their home, shot them and kidnapped their daughter. Jayme was held for 88 days in a cabin 70 miles from her home by a man, identified as Jake T. Patterson, who forced her to hide under a bed whenever he left, trapping her in with heavy items, the authorities said. Its very hard. Its hard to go in there and do my job 100 percent like Im supposed to, knowing that Im not going to get paid. Having to go back to work is going to be an expense that I simply cant afford. Its going to require, you know, getting gas for my car to go to work. I cant afford that right now. Ive got to try to keep the lights on or keep the water on and I got to keep my phone on and I dont know how Im going to be able to do all of that. Like, Its not our fault. Weve done our job up to this point. You know, we were working overtime before all this, to be able to meet the taxpayers needs. Im under the impression that we are not eligible for unemployment because we are still working. And my employees, many of them are struggling to have money for fuel to come to work. You know, I just bought a house. Nov. 13, 2018, and five weeks later, we have a shutdown. So, you know, I was able to make my first payment. We didnt ask for any of this. We didnt want to be we just wanted to go to work and do our job. Period. Well, theres all of this coverage about people in the D.C. area who are getting free lunches and going to food banks and that there is some level of community support there. But out here in, you know, sort of Middle America, out here in Mississippi, we dont have that network. I think to secure the border is important. I guess I can understand where the presidents coming from. But at the expense of 800,000 peoples livelihood? I dont. I think a lot of people just dont realize that the food thats on their table, you know, for the most part is inspected by one or another governmental regulatory agency. And so this really is having an impact on everyones life, just not on these 800,000 federal employees. Get us back to work. Get us our paycheck, and you guys continue your issues. You know, it shouldnt affect the smaller people in this. Still, analysts predict there will be plenty of money to be made. A report from Arcview Market Research and BDS Analytics recently estimated that spending growth on legal cannabis will speed up this year, hitting almost $17 billion worldwide, and ballooning to $31.3 billion in 2022. In its annual State of Cannabis report, the cannabis delivery platform Eaze highlighted that the market is rapidly expanding beyond young men even if, as Peter Gigante, the companys head of policy research, noted, one in five people surveyed admitted to buying from an unlicensed source in the last three months. I think theres a lot of focus on getting consumers into the legal market, he said. Part of that will certainly involve tailoring products especially to new consumers, who may not have been willing to try out cannabis when it wasnt legal. So who are those new customers? Here are some of the stats from Eazes report, which was based on data from 450,000 buyers and about 4,000 survey respondents. 25 percent Thats how much the number of baby boomer or age 50 or older consumers grew last year, making them one of the fastest growing demographics for cannabis use. $95.04 Thats how much baby boomers spent each month, on average the most of any age demographic. (By comparison: Generation X-ers spent $89.24, millennials spent $72.94 and members of Generation Z spent $62.35.) Millennials are still the biggest group of Eaze customers, though. 38 percent Thats the percentage of cannabis consumers who are women. Mr. Gigante predicted that by 2022 itd be 50-50. Female and baby boomer cannabis consumers, the report found, are driving a surge in CBD oils and more wellness-oriented products. In fact, the report found, heres the share of consumers who primarily use CBD products who are baby boomer women: 21 percent. 6) 2 p.m. Author! Author! Jorge Amado is Salvadors favorite literary son, his novels often doubling as portraits of 20th-century Salvador and the state of Bahia. The house he shared with his second wife, Zelia Gattai also a writer of renown until he died in 2001 is now a museum. A Casa do Rio Vermelho (20 reais), named after its seaside neighborhood, houses their quirky art collection, heavy on the frogs, as well as his library, letters to other famous authors and a multimedia display of famous Brazilians reading passages of his work. (Dona Flor and Her Two Husbands would be a good pick to prepare for your trip, either in print or Golden Globe-nominated film form.) 7) 7 p.m. Family dinner The Guerra familys restaurant and nearby bar have turned a homey little plaza in the Garcia neighborhood into an eating and drinking destination. First came Larriquerri, serving what his son Gabriel calls affective memory cuisine: family recipes he and his brother, Guilherme, grew up eating from their moms (Rosa) kitchen. Trouxinhas de carpaccio, bundles of thin-sliced beef stuffed with ricotta cream and topped with pesto and Parmesan, explode in your mouth with modest decadence. The apricot-and-Brazilian-cheese-filled mezzaluna pasta in Gorgonzola sauce is gloriously unsubtle. So is the atmosphere, a bit chaotic as Romildo, the father, races around, attempting to charm every guest (and succeeding). Dinner for two with wine is about 250 reais. Nearby Larribar is one of the few spots in town that takes cocktails seriously. Watch as your bartender traps smoke from a burning cinnamon stick in the glass that will soon be filled with your Ventura (25 reais), essentially a smoked cachaca sour. 8) 10 p.m. Red River soiree Walkable Rio Vermelho, on the ocean side of the city, is one of Salvadors night life hubs. You might start at Chupito, or Shot, where the specialty is, predictably, shots. Not tequila shooters; theyre more like mini-cocktails, with seemingly infinite choices posted on the wall, and a D.J. commanding a tiny dance floor. A short waterfront stroll away, Teatro Sesi has live Brazilian music on the veranda (cover 20 to 30 reais). Or sit outside with a beer at the festive Praca da Dinha, or Dinhas Square, named for the former owner of a stand selling acarajes, black-eyed pea fritters with or without shrimp (another Salvador classic). You dont need satellite photos to know that Sears is failing. Companies like Orbital Insight are typically tight-lipped when it comes to more important data as are their customers mainly because they see this information as a competitive advantage. But the line graph showed how Mr. Crawford and his start-up can target the performance of individual businesses. Orbital Insight tracks activity in more than 260,000 retail parking lots across the country, and it monitors the levels of more than 25,000 oil tanks around the world. Not surprisingly, Orbital Insight and SpaceKnow said, some of their customers use this satellite data to track the progress of their direct competitors, though those customers and their competitors are very reluctant to talk about it. Mr. Crawford believes the satellite analysis will ultimately lead to more efficient markets and a better understanding of the global economy. Fred Abrahams, a researcher with the advocacy group Human Rights Watch, sees it as a check on the worlds companies and governments. Mr. Abrahams and his team use satellite imagery to track everything from illegal mining and logging operations to large-scale home demolitions. This is why we are so committed to these technologies, he said. They make it that much harder to hide large-scale abuses. All of this is being driven by a drop in the cost of building, launching and operating satellites. Today, a $3 million satellite that weighs less than 10 pounds can capture significantly sharper images than a $300 million, 900-pound satellite built in the late 1990s. That allows companies to put up dozens of devices, each of which can focus on a particular area of the globe or on a particular kind of data collection. As a result, more companies are sending more satellites into orbit, and these satellites are generating more data. SEATTLE Microsoft said its Bing search page was back online in China after being inaccessible for part of this week. It appeared to have been blocked by government censors. Users in parts of China were unable to access Bing on Wednesday and Thursday, and it remained unclear what led to the shutdown. While Bing is not widely used in China, it has been one of the few remaining portals to the broader internet as the government isolates Chinas internet from the rest of the world. Bing has survived in part because Microsoft has worked to follow the governments censorship practices around political topics. It has also cooperated with the government in developing other parts of its business, such as working with a state-run firm that supplies the military to produce a government-approved version of its Windows 10 software. There are times when there are disagreements, there are times when there are difficult negotiations with the Chinese government, and were still waiting to find out what this situation is about, Brad Smith, Microsofts president, said in an interview with Fox Business Network at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. As a result of such changes, students on some campuses said they felt shut out of computer science while others said they faced overcrowded classes with overworked professors. Aafia Ahmad, a sophomore computer science major at U.T. Austin, had hoped to take an elective course in computer security this semester. But when she tried to sign up during early registration in November, the course was already full. She said that was the case for nearly every computer science elective she wanted. She is now 79th on a waiting list for the security course. Its a cutthroat race to register for classes, she said. Some university leaders said they were concerned that certain measures taken to address surging student demand may disadvantage people who are already unrepresented in computer science including women, African-Americans, Latinos and low-income, first-generation college students. Some universities now require incoming students to get accepted into computer science majors before they arrive on campus and make it nearly impossible for other undergraduates to transfer into the major. That approach can favor incoming students from schools with resources like advanced programming courses. It can also favor male students because women on average are less likely to have taken a computer science course in high school. When you put any kind of barrier in place in terms of access to computer science majors, it tends to reduce the number of women and students of color in the program, said Maria Klawe, president of Harvey Mudd College, a private college in Claremont, Calif., that has become a national model for diversity in computer science. In One Good Meal, we ask cooking-inclined creative people to share the story behind a favorite dish they actually make and eat at home on a regular basis and not just when theyre trying to impress. The guitarist and mens wear designer Freddie Cowan wasnt exactly expelled at age 15 from his prep school in the English Midlands, but he wasnt exactly welcome to stay either. I was obsessed with playing music and drinking and just doing everything but studying, says Cowan, guitarist for rock quintet the Vaccines and founder of minimalist mens wear brand Basic Rights. So they kind of asked me to leave. Which I was very happy about, because I wanted to leave anyway. Before he left, he befriended a classmate whose family lived in Bangkok. We went to Thailand and it was wild, Cowan says. The first thing we did, we got there and I had a haircut and got a pedicure, which was really weird, and then got a fake driving license. Along the way, Cowan ate a very, very common, very, very simple Thai street food and I just fell in love with it. At the time, he simply called this dish the chicken, but he eventually came to know it by its Thai name, pad kra pao, a sweet-and-spicy mix of minced poultry and chopped chiles that hed devour twice a day with teenage gusto. While walking the picket line of the Los Angeles teachers strike last Wednesday, Linda Bieber and her friend Jessica Rhee carried signs that outlined a primary grievance of their labor union, United Teachers Los Angeles: overcrowded classrooms. I can TEACH 43, but I cant REACH 43, said the sign that Mrs. Rhee held. Ms. Bieber and Mrs. Rhee, along with more than 30,000 other Los Angeles Unified School District teachers, went on strike last week, demanding, among other things, decreased class sizes. The strike ended Tuesday with the district agreeing to cap class sizes, as well as to other resolutions. Middle and high school math and English classes will be capped at 39 students as elementary school classes already are effective immediately. By 2022, academic classes at all grade levels will be reduced by four students. When we asked teachers to tell us what its like to teach their largest classes, we heard from a wide range of them, some of whom teach classes of 60 or more students. Just weeks ago, there was virtually no hope that Venezuelas economic and humanitarian crisis would soon be eased. President Nicolas Maduro seemed to face no serious challenge to his increasingly repressive and corrupt rule. Despite some discontent in the armed forces, high-level officers appeared to stand with him. Today, with the appearance of a credible rival to Mr. Maduro, Venezuelas future hinges on those very same officers. Until now, Mr. Maduro has been particularly lucky that his political foes have been unable to cohere into an effective resistance with a clear strategy and forceful leadership. His opponents weakness was in part the result of repeated government crackdowns that instilled widespread fear. But on Wednesday it was evident that Mr. Maduros luck had run out and that void was being filled in dramatic fashion by a relatively unknown leader who declared himself the countrys legitimate president before thousands of supporters in Caracas. His name is Juan Guaido, and he is the 35-year-old president of the National Assembly who led the broad-based nationwide protests that demonstrated ordinary Venezuelans anger over Mr. Maduros rule. Mr. Guaido, who was elected the assemblys president only a few weeks ago, has been largely untainted by Venezuelas tired political squabbles. His messaging stands in sharp contrast to that of previous opposition figures, who castigated Mr. Maduro and, before him, President Hugo Chavez, and were unable to connect with Venezuelans who approved of Mr. Chavezs left-leaning policies. Strikingly, the rally on Wednesday featured protesters from across the socioeconomic spectrum, including some from areas that had once been Chavista strongholds. They seemed to be drawn to Mr. Guaidos refreshing style and vision of taking the country forward and not returning to the pre-Chavez era, an elite-dominated period of social inequality and economic collapse. This is Jamelle Bouies debut column. The wall of Donald Trumps campaign and presidency has always operated both as a discrete proposal an actual structure to be built under his leadership and as a symbol with a clear meaning. Whether praised by its supporters or condemned by its opponents, the wall is a stand-in for the larger promise of broad racial (and religious) exclusion and domination. Its no surprise, then, that some Americans use Build the wall as a racist chant, much like the way they invoke the presidents name. And its also why, despite the pain and distress of the extended government shutdown, Democrats are right to resist any deal with the White House that includes funding for its construction. Thats not to say there arent practical reasons for Democrats to resist the proposals on hand. The president calls his most recent bid a major compromise, but its headline provision protections for immigrants covered by either Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals or Temporary Protected Status are short-term and limited. It also puts a cap on the number of Central American migrant children and teenagers who can receive asylum, requiring them to apply in their home countries, while also eliminating automatic court hearings for minors who arrive at the border in order to streamline the deportation process. Together with its $5.7 billion for the wall, its less a compromise than a near capitulation to the presidents vision for immigration policy a vision he could not get through Congress when he had Republican majorities in both chambers. A border wall also just wont work erecting a barrier does nothing to solve the political conflicts and economic pressures that drive migration to the United States. Agreeing to this deal or any deal beyond a straightforward bill to end the shutdown would only validate the presidents extortion tactics, adopted after conservatives pressured him at the end of last year to reject a so-called clean bipartisan bill to fund the government. To agree to wall funding in these circumstances would guarantee a repeat performance the next time President Trump wants to secure a legislative win without the difficult work of negotiating with Congress, much less his opposition. This article is part of David Leonhardts newsletter. You can sign up here to receive it each weekday. I think a lot about intergenerational justice, Pete Buttigieg, the latest Democrat to enter the presidential race, said recently. Buttigieg is 37 years old. His generation, as he points out, has endured school shootings, post-9/11 wars, climate change, rising debts and the prospect that it will fail to earn more than its parents. Buttigieg pronounced BOOT-edge-edge doesnt have the typical resume of a presidential candidate. He is a successful two-term mayor of South Bend, Ind., who has never held higher office. He will need to persuade voters that he has the experience and judgment to clean up Donald Trumps mess. But I find his candidacy intriguing. He has fully embraced the idea that the United States needs to focus on its future. As Ben White of Politico tweeted, Buttigieg running an explicitly generational campaign as a millennial screwed by boomers who wrecked the earth and destroyed the nations finances is super interesting. An Atlantic piece yesterday by Edward-Isaac Dovere ran under the headline: Pete Buttigieg Thinks All the 2020 Democrats Are Too Old. Buttigieg himself says in an announcement video: We cant look for greatness in the past. Right now, our country needs a fresh start. In the particular case of Afghanistan, and South Asia more generally, the newest concern is ISIS-Khorasan, or ISIS-K. In recent years, it has probably become the strongest and largest ISIS affiliate outside Syria and Iraq, and has set up shop in the mountain ranges of Afghanistan. Its stated ambitions, however unrealistic, are to establish a broader caliphate stretching from Iran to the former Soviet republics of Central Asia to India and Pakistan. These ambitions give rise to the worry that ISIS-K could someday collaborate with Lashkar-e-Taiba, the Pakistani group that carried out the Mumbai attacks of 2008, or another apocalyptic anti-India group. Given the foreboding geography and weak Afghan government, squelching ISIS-K might be less realistic than defeating ISIS in eastern Syria or Iraq. But with the bases we have now, we can watch and listen to this group and strike when we get a good lead on the movement of a key leader or when it gets too comfortable in any one location. As many as three of its top leaders have already been removed from the battlefield by coalition forces in the last couple of years. This platform in South Asia complements other United States counterterrorism capabilities in the broader Middle East, especially in places where local governments are weakest and threats are greatest. American military facilities in Qatar and Kuwait and Bahrain, as well as ships in or near the Persian Gulf, support operations in Iraq and Syria. United States bases in Djibouti help us maintain vigilance over Yemen, Somalia and other parts of the Horn of Africa and Gulf of Aden region. The Sixth Fleet, and American assets in Italy, provide a watchful eye over Libya and the rest of northern Africa. A presence in Afghanistan in effect completes the web. Few major areas of likely terrorist concentration or activity are more than a few hundred miles away from Americas eyes and ears and, if necessary, its commandos, drones and other tactical assets. All of this is expensive, but not inordinately so perhaps costing roughly 30 billion to $70 billion a year, based on an analysis of estimates from the Congressional Budget Office. Thats still less than 10 percent of the Pentagons budget for 2019. Today the Afghan government controls only some of its own country about 55 percent of all administrative districts, where about 65 percent of all Afghans live, according to C.I.A. estimates. Yet it does hold all the major cities and most major roads. For narrow American counterterrorism purposes, that is probably adequate, assuming it can be sustained. To the Editor: Re Venezuela Cuts Ties With the U.S. After a Challenge to Maduro (front page, Jan. 24): Nicolas Maduro must be scared. He is facing the biggest challenge in six years, and still his ways are not changing. By blaming the American government and ignoring what happened this week, he is only accelerating his destiny. But this is just the beginning. The Venezuelan people are feeling hopeful, but a lot of work still needs to be done internally by us and internationally. A young charismatic leader like Juan Guaido , head of the National Assembly, is what we need to leave our differences behind. He is assuming a historic position and a big responsibility. Our duty as citizens is to accompany him and model the love he is showing for Venezuela. I cant wait until the day we can call our country free again. Today, we are closer. Isabella Dao Boschetti Boston To the Editor: Re A Gamble Fails, Overcrowding Migrant Shelters (front page, Jan. 5): The Trump administration is committing flagrant human rights violations by deliberately making the legal process of obtaining asylum unnecessarily unbearable and drawn out. There is no doubt that there is a human rights crisis at the border, but it is largely a crisis of the administrations own making. Our own research shows that in some instances, American officials have gone so far as to falsely tell people that they couldnt seek asylum even at designated ports of entry, in violation of both United States and international law. By slowing the processing of applications to a crawl and imposing overly burdensome administrative measures, the situation has become untenable both for families waiting to apply for asylum, and for unaccompanied children trapped in limbo even when they are allowed entry . Last autumn I saw for myself the warehousing of thousands of children in a tent city in Texas, essentially jailed for months under the supervision of staff members who had not been thoroughly vetted rather than being reunited with waiting family members and sponsors. The five-domains approach can reveal the logic behind behaviors that may look like nothing more than teenage recklessness or delinquency. All behavior meets a need, Linda Snyder, a deputy juvenile officer in the family services unit of the St. Louis County Family Court, said. So whether that behavior is adaptive or maladaptive, you have to understand the need it is filling. A juvenile, she said, may persist with behaviors that keep her in detention because it meets her need for safety better than being at home. Or a student may continue cursing out a teacher because getting kicked out of class serves to avoid the embarrassment of having to read in front of his peers. Or a youth who uses drugs may do so mainly to satisfy the need for social connectedness. At the end of the day, negative consequences dont change behavior, Ms. Snyder said. Change comes through teaching competencies, and incentivizing and celebrating accomplishments. What the Full Frame does is teaches a process for developing interventions that are going to create competencies that will decrease the likelihood that kids will continue to be system involved. The officers in the family court can act with confidence on their insights because they are working in a system where everyone shares a common language, Mr. Burkemper said. In Massachusetts, the Full Frame Initiative has been working for eight years with five state agencies, with the goal of preventing survivors of domestic and sexual violence from becoming, or remaining, homeless. Often for victims of domestic violence, theres a forced trade-off, said Tammy Mello, the former executive director of the Governors Council to Address Sexual and Domestic Violence in Massachusetts. Several years ago, Ms. Mello and other department heads who focused on children and families, transitional assistance, housing and homelessness, public health and victims assistance began meeting periodically to figure out how their systems could become better aligned. In particular, they wanted to stop making things harder for people who were trying to stabilize their lives. For example, if a mother experiencing domestic violence lost temporary custody of her children because the child welfare department determined that they had to be removed for safety, it would automatically trigger her loss of housing benefits. It was crazy, Ms. Mello said. Then you couldnt return the kids to the mom because shed lost her housing. And the mother would say, I cant get housing assistance unless I have my kids back. Sixty years later, it is melancholy to recall all that optimism gone awry. The love fest faded quickly; within a year, the United States and Fidel Castro had become mortal enemies, and would remain so for decades. But Cuban history goes in 60-year cycles, it seems, creating symmetries that a novelist could not invent. An even more symbolic anniversary to recall now is the New Years Day exactly six decades before: It was on Jan. 1, 1899, that the Stars and Strips were raised over Havana after the Spanish-American War. Almost forgotten today, it was the formal beginning of the military occupation of Cuba that would shape its fate, and complicate the two countries relations, to this day. Six months earlier, the United States had intervened in the bitter Cuban war of independence that had been dragging on since 1895, plucking its hard-won victory (in Cubans eyes) at the last moment. Cubans soon found that they had traded one colonial master for another. During the campaign, American officers had treated the ragtag, mixed-race local forces with contempt, despite their long resistance. A huge amount of resentment was created when the Americans refused to let Cuban soldiers attend the Spanish Armys surrender ceremony in Santiago. Even their commanding general was turned away at the gates. By the time Cuba gained official independence from the United States, on May 20, 1902 , Cuba had been transformed into a vassal state, which many Americans hoped would one day be annexed into the Union. The occupiers had built some fine public works, fixing sewerage systems and paving roads the Spanish had left the island a ruin but they also gave American carpetbaggers free rein. Much of the best farmland in Cuba was soon owned by companies based in the United States, as were many of the railways, and nearly all the electrical and telephone systems . The Platt Amendment, added to a United States Army appropriation bill and incorporated in the Cuban Constitution in 1901, even gave Washington the right to intervene militarily in the islands politics, which it did twice in following years, and gave the United States its permanent lease on the Guantanamo Bay Naval Base. Those early years also saw the rise of an army of gover nment trolls who flooded the comments sections of homegrown sites that were critical of the Communist Party with revolutionary slogans. Under pseudonyms they attacked dissenters with epithets and rumors and questioned the moral standing of those who disagreed with them. They no longer needed the courts or bullets to assassinate reputations; a simple tweet punch would do the trick. The revolutionary commander Ramiro Valdes stood out during this time for launching brutal ideological battles to fight new technology. As minister of information and communication, Mr. Valdes defined in harsh words the relationship between Cubas historic generation of older revolutionaries and the new era brought about by mobile phones, USB memory sticks and computers built by Cubans using parts bought on the black market. The internet is a wild colt that can and must be controlled, Mr. Valdes once said. Digital spaces were simply strongholds that needed to be overrun, and this would remain the governments attitude for over a decade. Independent blog pioneers were accused of being cyber-mercenaries who were trained by the Central Intelligence Agency, and a project called Operation Truth began at Cubas University of Information Sciences to back the official position. The first Cuban Twitter users were portrayed on national television as pawns in the new offensive by the United States against the revolution. From that fierce battle for digital expression I came away with some social scars. Though I no longer need to fake an accent to get internet access, the governments intolerance of free expression has barely eased, and independent journalists are still targets for the police. The digital plaza a virtual space made up of social networks where Cubans who cannot physically meet can express their political views offers a more holistic view of Cuba, one from a pluralistic perspective. Access to 3G mobile technology has allowed activists to call for a no vote in the referendum on the new Constitution, to strongly condemn Decree 349, which limits artistic freedom, and to protest how Miguel Diaz-Canel was elevated to the presidency without the peoples consent. But in Parliament, in public places and at the centers of power, only one side of the argument can still be heard. Who is on the board? Who picks the members? Most board members are not household names. But each one has at least a few friends in politics. In addition to the members nominated by the governor and the mayor, there are three delegates from Westchester, Nassau and Suffolk Counties. There are four suburban members from Orange, Dutchess, Rockland and Putnam Counties a group known condescendingly as quarter-pounders because they share one vote. There are also several nonvoting members who represent workers and riders. Here are a few of the boards notable members: Acting chairman: Fernando Ferrer Image Mr. Ferrer Credit... Metropolitan Transportation Authority Mr. Ferrer, a former Bronx borough president, is a co-chairman at Mercury, a public strategy firm. (He has taken an unpaid leave of absence while he is chairman.) He rose to the top job in November when the previous chairman, Joseph J. Lhota, resigned. Mr. Ferrer, a friendly Cuomo loyalist, acts as a pinch-hitter of sorts: He has served as acting chairman twice before. Mr. Cuomos office said it would appoint a new chairman, which requires confirmation by the State Senate, in the coming weeks. David R. Jones Mr. Jones, who was recommended by Mayor Bill de Blasio, is president of the Community Service Society of New York, an antipoverty nonprofit. He has been a fierce champion for the Fair Fares program to offer discount MetroCards to poor New Yorkers. Charles G. Moerdler Mr. Moerdler, a Cuomo appointee, is a partner at the law firm Stroock & Stroock & Lavan. Perhaps the most quotable board member, Mr. Moerdler has spawned the moniker First Degree Moerdler on Twitter for his fiery screeds. He has decried fake news. He recently declared, We are not empty suits. Mr. Lhota once challenged him to be a man during a tense exchange, and Mr. Moerdler responded by saying, Bring it on. Lawrence Schwartz Mr. Schwartz, a former top aide to Mr. Cuomo, is an executive at OTG, an airport concessions company. He is known as being Mr. Cuomos enforcer on the board and wants to present his own fare proposals aiming to tie higher fares to service improvements. [What you need to know to start the day: Get New York Today in your inbox.] By the standards of ultraluxury Manhattan real estate, the building proposed for West 66th Street was relatively modest. At 1,800 to 3,000 square feet, the apartments in it would approximate the size of dressing rooms or wine cellars in an oligarchs Midtown crash pad. This would not be a tower for foreign billionaires who spend three and a half days a year in New York as a stopover between trips to Davos and Bill Gatess house and polo matches in Argentina though they wouldnt be turned away. It would, instead, be marketed to regular families, which is to say families with two or three privately schooled children, $7 million or $8 million to spend on an apartment and the inclination to shop at Citarella without the help of staff. Though you could imagine a scenario in which this might have generated a modicum of local good will or at least shrugging acceptance, a neighborhood preservation group known as Landmark West in September formally opposed the building. Set to stand at 775 feet, its footprint had grown over the years with the developers acquisition of properties adjacent to the original site. The results of the challenge to keep the building from going up have revealed absurd gaps in the citys zoning regulations, showing us how residential towers like this one manage to grow so tall that they command obscene prices and cast shadows that are both literal and figurative. [What you need to know to start the day: Get New York Today in your inbox.] New York City has agreed to pay $3.3 million to settle a lawsuit on behalf of the estate of Kalief Browder, the young Bronx man whose detention on Rikers Island became a symbol of the breakdown in criminal justice in New York and fueled the drive to ban solitary confinement for youths in the citys jails. Mr. Browder, who was 16 years old when he was arrested in 2010 and accused of stealing a backpack, was detained on Rikers Island for three years about two of which were spent in solitary confinement without being tried or convicted of a crime. In 2015, at age 22, he hanged himself at his parents home in the Bronx. The settlement, which is cited in a court document, was confirmed by the city and the familys lawyer. In a statement, the citys Law Department said, Kalief Browders story helped inspire numerous reforms to the justice system to prevent this tragedy from ever happening again, including an end to punitive segregation for young people on Rikers Island. In 2011, the British writer-comedian Joe Cornish delivered a promising feature directing debut with Attack the Block, a wild, irreverent science-fiction action-comedy about an alien invasion thwarted by a gang of tough teenagers. That film, which also gave us the screen acting debut of the future Star Wars favorite John Boyega, was not a huge hit, but gained cult status over the years, prompting speculation about what its talented writer-director might do next. Its taken eight years for Cornish to release another feature, and it may feel strange at first to see him at the helm of a modest childrens adventure about a modern-day King Arthur. But The Kid Who Would be King still has some of the wit and sweep that distinguished Cornishs earlier work. The films setup is simple. The meek 12-year-old Alex (Louis Ashbourne Serkis), chased into an abandoned construction site by the school bullies, comes upon a sword stuck in a hunk of stone and pulls it out. A Latin inscription on the weapon suggests that it may well be Excalibur, the legendary sword of King Arthur, although Jack and his best pal, Bedders (Dean Chaumoo), initially decide thats a ridiculous notion. Its almost an idea, one of Kurt Barnerts fellow students at the Kunstakademie in Dusseldorf says of Kurts latest effort. Its meant as both criticism and encouragement, and a reminder of the aesthetic rules at this WestGerman outpost of the early 60s avant-garde. Artistic practice among the young Dusseldorfers is not about form, tradition or technique. Its about the invention and execution of concepts that shed light on the arbitrary nature of art itself, and on the absurdities of the society that produces it. Kurt the fictional protagonist of Never Look Away, who bears a close biographical resemblance to the actual German painter Gerhard Richter is a recent arrival from the East German city of Dresden, where they do things differently. (The complicated relationships between Kurt and Richter, and between Richter and the films director, Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck, are explored by Dana Goodyear in a fascinating recent New Yorker article.) Back home, thanks to his skill as a draftsman and his compulsive productivity, Kurt found success as a socialist realist, producing large-scale murals of heroic workers and peasants and portraits of bureaucrats. Like their Nazi precursors, the Communist rulers of East Germany scorn the subjectivism and decadence of modernist art. According to Kurts mentor in Dresden, in the west its all about ich, ich, ich rather than about the collective struggles and triumphs of the people. In following Kurt (played as an adult by Tom Schilling) from his boyhood in the 1930s to his career breakthrough 30 years later a journey that occupies more than three hours of the viewers time von Donnersmarck comes tantalizingly close to having an idea. Never Look Away bristles with half-formed thoughts and almost-heady insights, and hums with an ambition that is exasperating and exhilarating in equal measure. Mitch McConnell, the Republican senator from Kentucky and current Senate majority leader, has had a complex relationship with President Trump. McConnell has been the principal enabler of the Trump agenda, as McConnells longtime adviser J. Scott Jennings describes him, and much of his enduring legacy has been established during Trumps presidency. But McConnell, a man of institutions and establishments, has also found himself in the position of supporting a president who seems hellbent on burning both to the ground, and is now trying to navigate a prolonged shutdown of Trumps making. Im perplexed, he said earlier this month, as to how this ends. For the profile of McConnell in this weeks Times Magazine, Charles Homans interviewed McConnell for several hours over the course of two months, and also spoke to several dozen of his past and present staff members, Republican and Democratic senators, and Trump and Obama White House officials and cabinet members. Here are some key takeaways: McConnell takes credit for the Trump win in the 2016 election. When the Supreme Court justice Antonin Scalia died in February 2016, McConnell blocked President Obama from filling his seat a decision that McConnell describes as the most consequential thing Ive ever done. He takes credit for Trumps election on the grounds that some exit polling shows that voters were heavily motivated by the Supreme Court vacancy that McConnell kept open. McConnells other decisions during the campaign, intentionally or otherwise, may have helped Trump. After the C.I.A. alerted congressional leaders of both parties McConnell, the Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer, the House speaker Paul Ryan and the House minority leader Nancy Pelosi to evidence of Russian meddling in the election in August 2016, several weeks passed before the leaders issued a statement. Denis McDonough, President Obamas chief of staff at the time, blames the delay on McConnell, who he says had concerns with the wording of the statement. McDonough says that even Ryan, who broadly agreed with McConnell, nevertheless complained to him about the holdup. At the time, McDonough said, the speaker evinced to me considerable frustration. McConnell also chose not to distance Republican Senate candidates from Trump after the Access Hollywood video, in which Trump bragged about sexually assaulting women, was published by the Washington Post. He said, Do you see any evidence that it would make any difference for candidates to distance themselves? Josh Holmes, a campaign strategist close to McConnell who spoke to him at the time, recalled. After speaking with Republican candidates, McConnell decided that a broader denouncement of Trump was likely to hurt them, and instead made a statement speaking only for himself. Ms. Liminowicz has documented Honorata and Agnieszkas lives ever since, as they have blended families, moved apartments and changed countries. The women, together since 2011, share similar Roman Catholic backgrounds in a conservative country where right-wing nationalism has been on the rise while the government has denied them the right to marry. Still, Ms. Liminowicz is amazed by the familys openness and directness. They are without masks, without pretense, she said. Their intimacy is as verbal as it is physical: I love you is not reserved for special occasions. Beyond labels or voyeuristic images she was determined to show them as neither aberrant nor abhorrent, but sharing an admirable, enviable love. I want to show them as ordinary people living ordinary lives with extraordinary love. Honorata had once planned to become a nun. She knew she was attracted to women, but was advised to sacrifice that part of herself. She began seeing a Catholic psychologist who was to cure her homosexuality. In her second session, she was given homework: to go and do something good for herself. So I went and I did, she said. Never going back to that office was the best thing I could do for myself. Scientists warned osteoporosis patients on Thursday to avoid two common procedures used to shore up painful fractures in crumbling spines. The treatments, which involve injecting bone cement into broken vertebrae, relieve pain no better than a placebo does, according to an expert task force convened by the American Society for Bone and Mineral Research. The task force noted that the pain goes away or diminishes within six weeks without the procedure. Patients should take painkillers instead, the experts said, and maybe try back braces and physical therapy. Patients also should take osteoporosis drugs to slow bone loss, said Dr. Peter Ebeling, head of the department of medicine at Monash University in Australia and lead author of the new report, which was published in the Journal of Bone and Mineral Research. Avoiding caves is clear-cut advice, but other routes of infection may be harder to block: People in many parts of the world eat bats, and may be infected while catching or preparing them for cooking. Hunters and cooks may not be able to tell one bat species from another. The researchers said the findings did not mean that bats should be exterminated. They protect humans and crops by eating insects and pollinating fruit trees. Disrupting complex ecosystems by slaughtering bats could even make disease outbreaks worse. Zaire ebolavirus is the cause of the current epidemic in the Democratic Republic of Congo, with more than 700 cases and more than 400 deaths. The outbreak, which has spun out of control in a war-torn region, is the second largest ever. The largest, caused by the same Ebola species, occurred in West Africa from 2013 to 2016, infecting nearly 30,000 people and killing 11,000. The West African epidemic, in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone, is thought to have begun with a small boy in Guinea handling an infected bat, but the origin is not known for sure. [Like the Science Times page on Facebook. | Sign up for the Science Times newsletter.] A Liberian team in full protective gear Tyvek suits, gloves, masks, goggles, hoods, boots trapped and released 5,000 bats from about 10 species. They took samples of blood, urine and feces, and oral swabs. Dr. Anthonys lab at Columbia found genetic material from the virus in a mouth swab taken from just one bat, captured in Liberias northeastern Nimba District. That animal was a greater long-fingered bat, from the species Miniopterus inflatus, a furry beast the size of a small mouse, weighing half an ounce, with a 12-inch wingspan. It eats insects. Want climate news in your inbox? Sign up here for Climate Fwd:, our email newsletter. As the fight continues over President Trumps demand to extend the border wall between the United States and Mexico, one thing is clear: Whatever the walls effect on immigration might be, it would have an impact on the environment of the borderlands. About 650 miles of border wall already exist along the 2,000-mile boundary between the two countries. Most of it has been built on federal land where the terrain provides no natural barrier. Mr. Trump has called for a 1,000-mile wall, which would extend farther across land that includes important habitats for wildlife. A Customs and Border Protection policy says the agency will integrate environmental stewardship and sustainability practices into operations and activities. But Congress has given the agency the power to waive environmental protections like the Endangered Species Act. Such laws could require the government to produce an in-depth environmental impact analysis of a new project, develop less-damaging alternatives and perform environmental monitoring after construction. A spokesman for Customs and Border Protection was unavailable because of the partial government shutdown, a result of the political standoff over funding for the wall. Kenneth Griffin, the billionaire founder of the hedge fund Citadel, broke a real estate record on Wednesday when he closed on his purchase of a penthouse at 220 Central Park South for $238 million. Its the highest price anyone has paid for a home in the United States, and $100 million above the previous record. Mr. Griffin went to contract on the apartment, in a building that was still being developed, in 2015 amid a real estate buying spree that includes a London mansion he bought this week for 95 million pounds, or about $122 million. Noon Walk across campus to attend a talk by the universitys current Hodder fellow, the artist Mario Moore. His project while at Princeton is to paint portraits of African-American blue-collar employees in facilities, dining services, etc. 2 p.m. Meet with thesis student to discuss new poems and a lyric essay. 4:30 p.m. Meet with Helena, a thesis student in literary translation. Because I dont speak the languages shes translating from (German, French and Flemish), what we mostly discuss are the choices shes made in English areas where the language feels stiff, overly taxed or unclear. Im urging her to bring her literal translations into a more vivid and robust English. Its a process that requires listening to the work out loud, and deciding on subtle shifts in tone and emphasis. Im currently co-translating a Chinese poets work into English, and so I have a lot of investment in how this process is going for Helena. 9 p.m. Bedtime with boys. No school tomorrow, so everyone stayed up a little later than usual. 12:15 a.m. I need to pack for a trip to Yale tomorrow Ive been invited to the Yale Divinity School to read. Thursday 5:50 a.m. Up early to catch a train to New Haven. 7:20 a.m. I find a seat on the train and send a few delinquent emails. I spend most of the ride revisiting parts of My Bright Abyss, by Christian Wiman, wholl be my host at Yale. I mark a passage in which Wiman quotes the last words of Gerard Manley Hopkins: I am so happy. I am so happy. I loved my life. 11:30 a.m. We attend chapel services at the Divinity School. It is mostly exquisite and moving song, but Chris speaks briefly about my visit. After a tear-inducingly powerful version of the gospel song Wade in the Water, it is my turn to read a poem. I was planning to read something else, but I decide to read my own poem of the same title. 1:30 p.m. We head to campus for Chriss undergraduate English class on poetry and faith. The students have a great many questions about my poem and collection Wade in the Water. They want to talk about the sense of the holy that the book seeks to conjure, and how Im consciously drawing upon the traditional spiritual of the same title. Im thoroughly moved and impressed by the thought theyve brought to the reading of my poems. 5 p.m. We head to the English department building for my reading. Ive read in this room before, several years ago. This time it is too small. Students line the aisles, and a group is clustered in the hall. Because of the shooting in California, I open with an excerpt from They May Love All That He Has Chosen and Hate All That He Has Rejected, a poem written in response to a series of hate crimes from the spring of 2009. The poem helped me to recognize that this is an American problem, something we must view as an extension of something alive at the center of our culture rather than something at its fringes. PARIS Renault announced new leadership on Thursday after Carlos Ghosn resigned as chairman and chief executive from his jail cell, ending his reign as one of the worlds most powerful industrialists and opening a crucial new chapter for the worlds biggest auto alliance. The quick transition within hours of Mr. Ghosns departure is aimed at rebuilding ties between Renault and Nissan. Their relationship has festered since Mr. Ghosn was arrested in Tokyo in November, after an internal investigation at Nissan, on charges that he vastly understated his earnings to financial authorities. Company officials said Renault would accelerate efforts to smooth tensions over the future governance of the global car alliance, which also includes Mitsubishi Motors of Japan and which Mr. Ghosn oversaw for more than a decade. Renault and Nissan have each viewed the other as trying to capitalize on the leadership vacuum since Mr. Ghosns arrest to tip the balance of power in its favor. How easily they can turn a page remains to be seen. Renault, which holds a 43 percent stake in Nissan, has been the dominant partner even though Nissan sells more cars, a state of affairs that has rankled executives in Japan. Renault, Nissan and Mitsubishi, on their own, arent among the top handful of the worlds auto manufacturers. Together, in a unique alliance, however, they outmatch the sales of giant automakers like Volkswagen. But the happy confederation has been threatened since its leader, Carlos Ghosn, was arrested on suspicion of financial wrongdoing. Hes no longer in power, and sits in a Tokyo jail cell. Mr. Ghosn personified the alliance, drawing together disparate auto cultures by the force of his personality. Can it survive without him? What has happened since Mr. Ghosn was arrested? A leadership vacuum has opened since Mr. Ghosns arrest. Without their longtime leader, Renault and Nissan have blamed each other for trying to tip the balance of power. The devastating and unprecedented wildfires of 2017 and 2018 have had a profound impact on our customers, employees and communities, the utility said. Regardless of todays announcement, PG&E still faces extensive litigation, significant potential liabilities and a deteriorating financial situation, which was further impaired by the recent credit agency downgrades to below investment grade. At least one of the companys investors, the New York-based hedge fund BlueMountain Capital, said PG&E ought to reconsider a bankruptcy filing in light of the states conclusions about the Tubbs Fire. The hedge fund said earlier on Thursday that it would seek to replace PG&Es board, which it accused of failing the companys shareholders, customers and employees. The news from CalFire that PG&E did not cause the devastating 2017 Tubbs Fire is yet another example of why the company shouldnt be rushing to file for bankruptcy, which would be totally unnecessary and bad for all stakeholders, Omar Vaishnavi, head of fundamental credit at BlueMountain Capital, said in a statement. Investors and analysts who are skeptical that the company needs bankruptcy argue that PG&E has access to plenty of assets it could borrow against or sell to meet its wildfire liabilities, including its headquarters building in San Francisco and its gas business. Selling such assets would still leave the company as the primary electricity utility to much of Northern and Central California. Stocks of companies that are on the verge of filing for bankruptcy often trade for pennies because investors believe that shareholders will get wiped out in a court-ordered reorganization. The Thursday rally in PG&Es stock could further undermine the case for a bankruptcy. The companys stock outstanding was worth more than $7 billion at Thursdays closing price. But PG&Es board might still decide to seek bankruptcy because it could conclude that is the most expedient way to resolve the thousands of wildfire claims against the utility. A filing could also protect the company in case its liabilities turn out to be much higher than current estimates. California officials have not yet determined the cause of the November 2018 Camp Fire, the states most devastating. That wildfire killed at least 86 people and destroyed the town of Paradise. It could be months more before investigators reach a conclusion about its cause. Mr. Newsom said the state expected to determine the cause of the Camp Fire within the first half of the year. Good Thursday morning. Want this by email? Sign up here. Shutdown Day 34: Dueling votes and a presidential capitulation The matter of where and when President Trump will deliver his State of the Union address appears to be settled for now, after an extended face-off with Speaker Nancy Pelosi. Ms. Pelosi disinvited Mr. Trump from speaking in the House chamber while the shutdown continued. Late yesterday, after talking of making his speech somewhere else, he tweeted a decision to delay: This is her prerogative - I will do the Address when the Shutdown is over. Other shutdown developments: The Republican-controlled Senate votes today on two partisan proposals to end the shutdown. Neither is expected to advance. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin has declined to testify to a House committee about how the shutdown will affect tax refund processing. Senate Democrats also raised concerns about federal employees losing some health benefits and about the Trump administrations continued work on offshore drilling. Most of the 800,000 federal workers going unpaid are unionized, but theyre not speaking with a unified voice. Some labor groups have supported the shutdown, but aviation unions called it an unconscionable safety threat and said they could not predict the point at which the entire system will break. This feature is meant to send you into the weekend with a smile, or at least a lighter heart. Want to get The Week in Good News by email? Sign up here. Here are seven great things we wrote about this week: They are unlocked and free to use, offering little more than a roof, four walls and perhaps a wood-burning stove. The shelters, called bothies, allow for prolonged access to Britains rugged corners, which might otherwise prove unforgiving as destinations for the casual hiker. Many of the structures have been salvaged by the Mountain Bothies Association, a charitable organization whose aim is to maintain simple shelters in remote country for the use and benefit of all who love wild and lonely places. 1. The Senate failed to pass two competing proposals to reopen the government, sending lawmakers back to the drawing board for a bipartisan solution to end the impasse. The Republican proposal included $5.7 billion in funding for President Trumps border wall, paired with legal protections for some immigrants. The Democratic proposal would have temporarily reopened the government until Feb. 8, but it omitted wall funding. A half dozen Republicans voted for it, but the tally still fell short of the 60 votes it needed to advance. Lawmakers and aides in both parties expressed hope that the double-barreled losses would break the logjam that has gripped Washington since the partial shutdown began. House Democrats said they were considering giving Mr. Trump as much as $5.2 billion for border security but not for a wall. Until he recounts writing his coming-out essay for The South Bend Tribune, I had begun to wonder if Buttigieg had decided to airbrush his life story, with an eye to some future opposition researcher combing through these pages. This lends a cautious, sanitized feeling to some episodes. When he writes about dealing with Mike Pence (who was then the governor) as Pence championed a religious freedom bill that critics argued would let organizations discriminate against gays and lesbians, Buttigieg comes across as just another player at the table. I would have liked to learn, for example, if he ever wondered whether Pence was aware that this unmarried eligible bachelor was actually gay. But the book lifts off as he returns from Afghanistan and decides it was time to get serious about sorting out my personal life. He recounts in satisfying detail the complexities of coming out when you are the mayor of South Bend. The scenario of a 30-something mayor, single, gay, interested in a long-term relationship and looking for a date in Indiana must have been a first, he writes. The story of his meeting a man (you guessed it: online) is all the more moving for its understatement and delayed delivery. Buttigieg represents a new generation of gay Americans, one whose sexuality is not intrinsic to their identity. No one would ever accuse Buttigieg of being an evocative writer, but the story is told with brisk engagement it is difficult not to like him without sinking into the kind of prose one might fear from someone trained in writing reports for McKinsey. He writes with particular clarity when it comes to the subject of romance: I was in my 30s, but my training age, so to speak, was practically 0. On my 33rd birthday, I was starting my fourth year as the mayor of a sizable city. I had served in a foreign war and dined with senators and governors. I had seen the Red Square and the Great Pyramids of Giza, knew how to order a sandwich in seven languages, and was the owner of a large historic home on the St. Joseph River. But I had absolutely no idea what it was like to be in love. When Obama wrote his memoir, the idea that the nation would soon put an African-American in the White House seemed beyond the realm of the possible. After reading this memoir written 25 years later, the notion that Buttigieg might be the nations first openly gay president doesnt feel quite as far-fetched. IN MY MINDS EYE A Thought Diary By Jan Morris 320 pp. Liveright Publishing. $24.95. Jan Morris had a ringside seat at many of the most significant world events of the second half of the 20th century. She is the same age as Queen Elizabeth II and like that remarkable monarch she still seems, in her early 90s, to be completely engaged with the world, understanding of its foibles and appreciative of what life has to offer. She has witnessed extraordinary changes that it has been her job to report: She went to Nepal with Edmund Hillary to cover the first successful ascent of Mount Everest in 1953, then a feat of immense difficulty and now a climb that can be done by any amateurs who can afford the fee, following permanently fixed ropes as one might use a banister to climb the stairs. Morris has seen empires fade. She has witnessed the advances and retreats of armies. She covered the trial of Adolf Eichmann. She courageously carried through her own change of gender from James to Jan in 1972, when such things were very much more of a challenge. So its not surprising that In My Minds Eye, her highly engaging collection of daily diary entries, should have change as the leitmotif that runs throughout. Image It would be surprising if there werent a tinge of regret in such an enterprise from the pen of a nonagenarian. No matter how willing you may be to adjust to new conditions, when youre looking back from that end of life you must have a fair amount to feel nostalgic about. In this collection, then, among the 188 entries, theres considerable reflection on things that have gone from our world and gone, the author rightly observes, rather quickly and dramatically. Reading these beautifully written pages, one is struck by the gentle note of lament they host for two countries or civilizations, perhaps whose fate Morris has observed at close quarters. These are the United States, the colossus of the 20th century, and the United Kingdom, which still had, within living memory just the greatest empire the world had ever seen. It wasnt so long ago that people talked about the digital divide as the omen of a careening and permanent inequality. In this corner, all of us walking around with more computing power in our pockets than the entire federal government had at its disposal just a generation ago; in that corner, those rural or impoverished or underdeveloped communities doomed forever to live off the grid without Twitter. That was before we learned that our technology is spying on us, manipulating us and eating us alive. These days, the off-the-gridders seem like the lucky ones. Book publishers have taken note, and our recommended titles this week include a substantial new argument against the intrusions of Big Tech (The Age of Surveillance Capitalism) as well as the fascinating account of a tribe of hunter-gatherers living on a remote Indonesian island (The Last Whalers). Our fiction selections also consider the romance and the dangers of old-fashioned privacy, with a feminist dystopia about three sisters raised off the grid (The Water Cure) and two novels about tumultuous emotions beneath placid surfaces (Unquiet and Late in the Day). We round things out with a memoir by a journalist who was imprisoned in Iran, the true story of a civil rights photographer who was also an F.B.I. informant, a history of the electric guitar, and a political study tracing the roots of right-wing populism. One sentence from that book brings things full circle: Researchers have shown that lies travel faster on Twitter than established facts. Gregory Cowles Senior Editor, Books THE LAST WHALERS: Three Years in the Far Pacific With a Courageous Tribe and a Vanishing Way of Life, by Doug Bock Clark. (Little, Brown. $30.) The journalist Doug Bock Clark, in order to write his first book, spent years with the Lamalerans, a tribe of 1,500 hunter-gatherers who live on a remote volcanic Indonesian island in the Savu Sea. The story Clark returned with is made up of births and deaths, terrible injuries and old rituals, furtive love affairs and intertribal rivalries. The Last Whalers is an immersive, densely reported and altogether remarkable book, our critic Dwight Garner writes. It has the texture and coloring of a first-rate novel. When Collins, who is based in Cambridge, England, began translating The End of Loneliness she said she assumed Wells had been through some kind of experience with someone close to him dying. I have; and I recognized the emotions and the responses to it, which I felt he portrayed absolutely beautifully, said Collins, whose translation of Robert Seethalers A Whole Life was shortlisted for the Man Booker International Prize in 2016. It turned out that he hadnt had that experience and it was him empathizing with the situation and trying to imagine what it would be like. At boarding school, Wells was keen on the storytelling of the Swedish writer Astrid Lindgren, best-known for her saga about a headstrong young girl, Pippi Longstocking. Recently Wells enjoyed seeing Becoming Astrid, the director Pernille Fischer Christensens movie biopic about the writer. Later I talked to old school friends who also liked the movie, he said. But while all of them talked about the lighter novels that Lindgren wrote, I only remembered the dark ones where she wrote about heroes who didnt have any parents. After leaving school at the age of 19, Wells went to the registry office and had his surname officially changed from von Schirach to Wells. He chose his new name on account of Homer Wells, the orphan hero of The Cider House Rules, whose author, John Irving, remains one of his favorites. Of course boarding school is something very different from an orphanage because I always had loving parents in the background, Wells said. But nevertheless I always felt connected to stories about orphans. Originally Wells managed to keep his private life out of the public eye but that changed in 2011 with the success of his third novel Fast Genial, which led to a German newspaper uncovering the story of his familys Nazi past. At least I had the chance to be an independent writer for three books, Wells said. My fear now that I have my first book published in America is that everything will arrive at the same time: Me, my book, my family and my familys past. LOS ANGELES Do you know what today is? asked Patty Jenkins on a rainy Tuesday in January. Chris Pine shook his head. It was a morbid anniversary: Seventy-two years before, Elizabeth Short, an aspiring actress known later as the Black Dahlia, was brutally murdered and dismembered, possibly in the bowels of the mansion where they sat the Sowden House, built by Lloyd Wright (a son of Franks). It was home briefly to George Hodel, a prominent gynecologist who was widely suspected of the murder. Mr. Pine was familiar with the story. Fresh off their success with Wonder Woman, in which Mr. Pine starred under Ms. Jenkinss direction, the two of them had filmed a TV project here in 2017 tied to the Black Dahlia murder of 1947. I got a little nauseous, she said about visiting the houses basement. And dizzy. A dizzying setting, perhaps, but appropriate for the project she was filming, which debuts Monday: I Am the Night, a six-episode limited series on TNT starring Mr. Pine that is loosely based on the 2008 memoir One Day Shell Darken by Mr. Hodels granddaughter, Fauna Hodel. A noir-soaked mystery set in 1965, the series is a return to TV for Ms. Jenkins and the realization of a passion project over a decade in the making. BRAXTON COOK at Babys All Right (Jan. 25, 8 p.m.). A gifted young alto saxophonist and vocalist, Cook is both a graduate of Juilliards notoriously traditionalist jazz program and a veteran of Christian Scott aTunde Adjuahs genre-bending ensembles. In his increasingly acclaimed solo projects, Cook builds a contemporary, jazz-pop identity that draws from 1970s fusion, 80s R&B and contemporary Los Angeles hip-hop. Through it all, he finds a way to let his bebop-rooted saxophone improvisations shine. At this concert, featuring a guest appearance from the trumpeter Theo Croker, he will draw material from No Doubt, an album he released late last year. babysallright.com ANTONIO HART QUINTET at Smoke (Jan. 25-26, 7, 9 and 10:30 p.m.). Hart, a stellar alto saxophonist who burst onto the New York scene alongside Roy Hargrove in the early 1990s as part of the Young Lions generation, has always worn his debt to Cannonball Adderley on his cuffs. Here he presents a tribute to Adderley, an iconic hard-bop saxophonist, in a quintet that features Freddie Hendrix on trumpet, Caili ODoherty on piano, Alex Ayala on bass and Cory Cox on drums. 212-864-6662, smokejazz.com VIJAY IYER at Jazz Standard (through Jan. 27, 7:30 and 9:30 p.m.). Iyers sextet has been one of the hottest commodities in jazz since the release of its debut, Far From Over, in 2017. A version of that band will play on Friday and Saturday, presenting Iyers beaming, rhythmically interleaved original music. Then on Sunday, Iyer will perform with a newer group that features some of his colleagues and students at Harvard University, where he teaches. (Hes also a MacArthur fellow.) That band is called the Ritual Ensemble, and it features Ganavya Doraiswamy on vocals, Yosvany Terry on saxophones and Rajna Swaminathan on mridangam, an Indian percussion instrument. 212-576-2232, jazzstandard.com AVA MENDOZA ET AL. at H0L0 (Jan. 31, 7 p.m.). A conclave of young avant-garde improvisers will descend on this darkened basement in Ridgewood, Queens, for a night of free playing. Its hard to know where things will go; if you go, steel yourself for a wide variety of musical textures and temperaments, most of them liberated from standard time and harmony. The performers include the thrashing, post-metal guitarist Ava Mendoza; the pensive tenor saxophonist Ingrid Laubrock; and the bassist Brandon Lopez, who uses his instrument in a variety of nontraditional ways. h0l0.nyc THE MUSIC OF ANTHONY BRAXTON at Roulette (Jan. 25, 8 p.m.). One of the premier and most prolific living American composers, Braxton continues to release reams of new music, typically drawing on improvisation and built around his own complex musical systems. On Friday his 12-disc collection titled GTM (Syntax) 2017, featuring his Tri-Centric Vocal Ensemble, comes out. Here an 11-person version of that group performs in celebration of the records release. Afterward, the electronic musician Carl Testa and the pianist Cory Smythe will play music from a different part of Braxtons repertoire, using a compositional system of his called Echo Echo Mirror House Music. 917-267-0368, roulette.org WADADA LEO SMITH at the Appel Room (Jan. 26, 7 and 9:30 p.m.). Every recording Smith releases feels apt to be called a landmark. Its the awe-inspiring, wide-screen breadth of his trumpet sound, the slowly accruing power of his compositions, and his way of making even small ensembles sound spacious and ancient. Americas National Parks, his widely acclaimed 2016 release celebrating the natural wonders of North America, stands out in particular for its tumultuous melodic beauty and the bristling, mutating forms of its compositions. At Jazz at Lincoln Center, Smith presents the New York City debut of this work, joined by the personnel from the album: the pianist Anthony Davis, the cellist Ashley Walters, the bassist John Lindberg and the drummer Pheeroan akLaff. 212-721-6500, jazz.org GIOVANNI RUSSONELLO The art of the Argentine-Italian modernist Lucio Fontana looks like it comes from another planet, and it might as well, given how seldom we see it in New York. The exhibition Lucio Fontana: On the Threshold, at the Met Breuer, with spillovers at the Met Fifth Avenue and El Museo del Barrio, is the artists first museum survey here in more than 40 years. This wouldnt be especially notable plenty of his Latin American peers never get seen at all were Fontana, who died in 1968, not so influential a figure. The threshold of the title refers not only to the early phase of his career, which the show highlights, but also to his position as a forebear of contemporary art as we know it. Things we take for granted installation, new media and the poly-disciplinary impulse that defines so many 21st-century careers Fontana pioneered in the 1950s. Part of the reception problem lies precisely in his breadth. When an artist toggles between figurative sculpture and television art, where do you land? Then theres the pretty-ugly look of the work. Some of it is just weird as hell. Painting surfaces are punched or slashed through, or ooze as if with eruptive disease. Some of his ceramic sculptures suggest fecal deposits; others, pods swollen with alien life. His colors can be crazy: screaming pink, bruisy blue. Pictures in one series are all starchy white; those in another glint with chunks of colored glass, embedded like jewels on reliquaries. Yet staged in the Royal Academys dimmed and vaulted galleries, the show is something like a religious experience. Michelangelo is obviously working within and from the dominant tradition of his era: a very strong official tradition of Christianity, said Ronald Bernier, chairman of the humanities and social sciences department at Wentworth Institute of Technology in Boston. Mr. Viola, he said, was working from a tradition of technology and lack of belief. Yet theyre getting viewers to ask some of the same questions. Mr. Bernier, whose 2014 book describes Mr. Violas oeuvre as a theological enterprise, said he wouldnt call Mr. Viola a religious artist, because he had an openness to interpretation that doesnt tie him to a religious tradition. That ambiguity makes it possible for Mr. Viola to address the issue of faith at a particularly secular moment in the West, when religion is shunned as a subject in art. Its almost as if hes sneaking it in through the back door, Mr. Bernier said. Our guide to new art shows and some that will be closing soon. HILMA AF KLINT: PAINTINGS FOR THE FUTURE at Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum (through April 23). This rapturous exhibition upends Modernisms holiest genesis tale that the male trinity of Kandinsky, Malevich and Mondrian invented abstract painting starting in 1913. It demonstrates that a female Swedish artist got there first (1906-7), in great style and a radically bold scale with paintings that feel startlingly contemporary. The mother of all revisionist shows regarding Modernism. (Roberta Smith) 212-423-3500, guggenheim.org BLUE PRINTS: THE PIONEERING WORK OF ANNA ATKINS at New York Public Library, Stephen A. Schwarzman Building (through Feb. 17). An intimate, exquisite show of a pioneer of photography and natural science. In the early 1840s, Atkins, a seaweed-loving Englishwoman, began documenting aquatic plants through the new technique of cyanotype (or blueprint, as architects would later call it), and sewed her spectral images into the very first books of photographical impressions albeit ones made without a camera. Atkins, perhaps assisted by servants, placed hundreds of specimens of seaweed or algae on coated paper, left them in the sun, and then washed the exposed sheet to produce white shadows of the plants against rich Prussian blue backgrounds. Each one is a little miracle, with neuronlike roots winding across the page, the leaves revealing every branching vein. (Jason Farago) 917-275-6975, nypl.org CONSTANTIN BRANCUSI SCULPTURE: THE FILMS at the Museum of Modern Art (through Feb. 18). This show is built around works by the Romanian modernist (1876-1957) that have been longtime highlights of the museums own collection. But these days, can Brancusi still release our inner poet? The answer may lie in paying less attention to the sculptures themselves and more to Brancusis little-known and quite amazing films, projected at the entrance to the gallery throughout the duration of the exhibition. MoMA borrowed the series of video clips from the Pompidou Center in Paris. They give the feeling that Brancusi was less interested in making fancy museum objects than in putting new kinds of almost-living things into the world, and they convey the vital energy his sculptures were meant to capture. (Blake Gopnik) 212-708-9400, moma.org EMPRESSES OF CHINAS FORBIDDEN CITY at the Peabody Essex Museum, Salem, Mass. (through Feb. 10). Every emperor of the Qing dynasty had dozens of wives, concubines and serving girls, but only one of them could hold the title of empress. The lives of women at the late imperial court is the subject of this lavish and learned exhibition, which plots the fortunes of these consorts through their bogglingly intricate silk gowns, hairpins detailed with peacock feathers, and killer platform boots. (The Qing elite were Manchus; women did not bind their feet.) Many empresses lives are lost to history; some, like the Dowager Empress Cixi, became icons in their own right. Most of the 200-odd dresses, jewels, religious artifacts and scroll paintings here are on rare loan from the Palace Museum in Beijing you will not have a chance to see these again without a trip to the Peoples Republic. (Farago) 978-745-9500, pem.org MONTREAL Canadas ambassador to China came under sharp criticism on Wednesday for appearing to politicize a high-profile legal case by saying publicly that the Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou had a good chance of avoiding extradition to the United States. Speaking at a news conference for Chinese-language news media on Tuesday in Markham, Ontario, the ambassador, John McCallum, surprised seasoned observers of diplomatic protocol by offering an assessment of the case against Ms. Meng, who was arrested in December by Canadian authorities in Vancouver at the request of the United States. Referring to comments that President Trump made this year that he was willing to intercede in the case if it would help secure a trade deal with China, Mr. McCallum said that Mr. Trumps intervention, among other factors, had buttressed Ms. Mengs case to avoid extradition. I think she has quite good arguments on her side, Mr. McCallum said in remarks broadcast in the Canadian news media. He also cited the issue of Iran sanctions which are involved in her case, and Canada does not sign on to these Iran sanctions. SEOUL, South Korea North Koreas leader, Kim Jong-un, praised President Trumps unusual determination and will to settle their nuclear arms dispute through a second summit meeting, saying that he would move step by step to achieve his goals in negotiations with the Americans, the Norths official news media reported on Thursday. Mr. Kim made the remarks during a briefing with North Koreas senior envoy and nuclear negotiator, Kim Yong-chol, who visited Mr. Trump at the White House last week. At that 90-minute meeting in the Oval Office, the envoy delivered a personal letter from Mr. Kim to Mr. Trump, and afterward the White House announced that the two leaders planned to hold their second summit meeting, in late February. The envoy returned home with a letter from the American leader, and on Thursday the Norths official Korean Central News Agency reported that, after receiving the good personal letter sent by President Trump, Mr. Kim expressed great satisfaction. He spoke highly of President Trump for expressing his unusual determination and will for the settlement of the issue, it added. BANGKOK It began with a political jest and culminated in a shocking prison sentence. On Thursday, Basuki Tjahaja Purnama, a former governor of the Indonesian capital, Jakarta, was released from prison after serving nearly two years for blasphemy against Islam. An ethnic Chinese Christian in a country with the worlds largest Muslim population, Mr. Basuki, 52, ran afoul of Indonesias blasphemy law when he tried to counter suggestions that faithful Muslims should not support non-Muslim politicians. As Muslim supporters cheered him on during a public event in 2016, Mr. Basuki said in a joking manner that a particular verse in the Quran was being misused to dissuade Muslims from voting for him. The off-the-cuff comment, which was later edited online to sound dismissive of the Muslim holy book, incensed hard-line Muslim groups, some of which have called for an Islamic caliphate to replace Indonesias secular democracy. Nicolas Maduro has overseen Venezuelas worst economic disaster in recent times. Nine out of 10 people here cant afford enough food to eat. And yet he was re-elected by a landslide. Few signs point to anything getting better here, so how will he be able to run this country? To answer this, lets look back and see how he was elected. Its the day before the presidential election, and Im here in a leaky basketball court in a neighborhood that voted heavily for Maduro in the last election. Theres no stump speeches, no candidates, no flags for any party. But there are eggs and frozen chickens subsidized by the government. Maduros campaign has been widely criticized for dangling food in front of the poor in exchange for votes. Brigid is a Maduro party supporter, a community leader in charge of food distribution for 100 or so families in the barrio. This isnt new. Handing out food and promising benefits have been popular get out the vote tactics here since Hugo Chavezs time. What is new is the level of desperation. Maduro has turned this need into a not-so-subtle pitch: I give and you give. Now its the morning of the election and Maduro supporters are out in force. This neighborhood has been hit hard by the economic crisis and you still have die-hard supporters of the president turning out the vote. For years now, theyve benefited from this partys welfare system. Yasmin is a community leader. Shes going around the barrio knocking on doors, making sure people vote for Maduro. Some here dont blame the president for their hunger. They blame the U.S. Others dont buy that line. But Maduros critics dont have many other choices. Hes already banned or jailed his most popular rivals. If anything, this election seemed to be about perfecting a system in which his party always wins. Not 50 yards away from the voting station is a punto rojo, or a red station, the color of Maduros party. Theyre writing down the number of your benefit card, whats called the Fatherland Card, to make sure that you voted, and promising a special bonus if Maduro is re-elected. A hungry country should be a weakness. But in this election, it was Maduros strength because his government owns the food. Is this how its going to be from now on? Walking around the streets of Caracas it feels like weve passed a crossroads, one where the president had everything going against him, and yet he still wins. When Mr. Trump fires off a tweet, the president gets visibly excited when he comes up with a message he believes will go over well with his base he peers over his phone with a watch this expression, according to two people who have observed such a process. The wall rhyme appears to fit into that same bulls-eye category. The White House press office did not respond to a request for comment about the origin of Mr. Trumps latest catch phrase on Wednesday. But a senior aide to the president said that Mr. Trump came up with it himself, and credited the new slogan to his marketing genius. There are a few hitches: Mr. Trumps rhyming sales pitch that a border wall will reduce crime is not credible, and the facts he uses to bolster his claims are often correctable. First, despite the presidents repeated claims, construction has not yet started on the border wall: The under construction now in his morning tweet needs more context. Customs and Border Protection has begun or completed several projects to replace old fencing with new barriers, but no additional miles of wall have been added yet. Construction to build a new levee wall system in Texas is scheduled to begin in February, the first extension of existing barriers. Second, Mr. Trumps rhyme that a wall will lead to falling crime rates may be catchy, but its at odds with what data shows about the influence immigration has on crime. The State of the Union is, well, unclear. Adding to the unprecedented nature of the longest government shutdown on record, Speaker Nancy Pelosi again revoked her invitation for President Trump to deliver his annual address in the House chamber. In a tit-for-tat exchange, Ms. Pelosi said Wednesday that she would not grant Mr. Trump access to address a joint session of Congress until the government had reopened. After suggesting that he would look for an alternative venue, the president said late Wednesday that he would delay his speech until after the federal government reopened. Heres what we know about the precedent for the State of the Union and what could happen next. Does there have to be a State of the Union? Yes, according to the Constitution. In outlining the framework for the executive branch, the founding fathers determined that the president shall from time to time give to the Congress information of the State of the Union. Paul Manaforts lawyers on Wednesday strongly disputed claims by prosecutors working for the special counsel that Mr. Manafort repeatedly lied to them, including about the transfer of campaign polling data to a Russian citizen with ties to Kremlin-run intelligence services in spring 2016. The lawyers argued in a new court filing that the prosecutors had wrongly interpreted honest memory lapses and innocent misstatements by Mr. Manafort as deliberate attempts to deceive them about his interactions with the Russian citizen, Konstantin Kilimnik, who received the polling data in 2016 as Donald J. Trump was closing in on the Republican presidential nomination. Failure of memory is not akin to a false statement, Mr. Manaforts lawyers said. If the federal judge in Washington who is overseeing the case, Amy Berman Jackson, decides that Mr. Manafort intentionally misled the prosecutors working for the special counsel, Robert S. Mueller III, after agreeing to cooperate with them, she would presumably be less likely to show leniency on March 5, when she is to sentence him on two conspiracy charges. But as a practical matter, Mr. Manafort, 69, stood little chance of receiving less than 10 years for those crimes even before prosecutors accused him of breaching his plea agreement by lying to them about his dealings with Mr. Kilimnik and other matters. He is also awaiting sentencing for eight other felonies. Read Thursdays story on the shooting at a bank in Florida that police say left five dead. The call came in at 12:37 p.m. Wednesday. A 21-year old gunman, clad in a T-shirt that bore the image of four scythe-wielding grim reapers on horseback, wanted the police to know that he had just opened fire in a bank in the small city of Sebring, Fla., the police said. I have shot five people, he told a dispatcher, according to a police statement. There were only five people in the bank at the time, the police said, and they all died. When the Sebring Police Department and the Highlands County Sheriffs Office responded to the SunTrust Bank branch on U.S. Route 27, they said, they found the shooter barricaded inside. What followed was a tense standoff with police negotiators that ended when an armored police vehicle rammed into the bank doors, shattering their glass, video footage shows. The police said in a statement that negotiators and members of the SWAT team persuaded the suspect to surrender. Video from the scene shows officers inching toward the broken glass with their firearms drawn. They soon emerged with the suspect in handcuffs. It is beyond time for this pernicious shutdown to end. With each passing day, more Americans are feeling the pinch of having the federal government thrown into chaos by a political standoff over President Trumps demand for a wall on the southern border. The continuing battle increasingly resembles an episode of Real Housewives, with the attendant name-calling and hair-pulling. On Jan. 16, the House speaker, Nancy Pelosi, sent Mr. Trump a letter suggesting that he postpone his State of the Union address until the government reopened. The following day, Mr. Trump hit back, withdrawing military support for a congressional delegation that Ms. Pelosi was preparing to lead to Afghanistan. Come Saturday, Mr. Trump introduced a new immigration plan that he touted as a grand compromise but that, in reality, included enough poison pills to gag all but fervent hard-liners. On Wednesday, he followed up with a letter to Ms. Pelosi, declaring his intention to deliver his big speech as planned in the House chamber, shutdown or no. The speaker promptly announced that she would not allow the president to speak on the House floor for the duration of the shutdown. The State of the Union speech has been canceled by Nancy Pelosi because she doesnt want to hear the truth, Mr. Trump told reporters. [What you need to know to start the day: Get New York Today in your inbox.] On paper, a 31-year-old man found to have serious mental illnesses was released from a New York state prison in September 2017 after serving 10 years behind bars for two robberies. But in reality, the man, who asked to be identified by his initials C.J., still wakes up each day inside a maximum-security prison in Stormville. Though he is technically free, he is still confined to a cell because of a Kafkaesque bureaucratic dilemma: The state requires people like him to be released to a supportive housing facility, but there is not one available. Lawyers for C.J. and five other mentally ill men filed a federal lawsuit in Manhattan on Wednesday seeking to force Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo to address a shortage of housing for people with serious mental illnesses who need help adjusting to life outside prison walls. The men are no longer being held in prison because they committed offenses, their lawyers argue, but because the state has determined they are likely to become homeless once released a practice they contend amounts to discrimination under federal civil rights laws. More than a year before the Mexican drug lord Joaquin Guzman Loera pulled off one of the most notorious prison breaks in history, he got word to his associates of how he planned to escape through an unlikely source: his wife, Emma Coronel Aispuro. The strategy that Mr. Guzman crafted and Ms. Coronel passed on was as daring as it was ingenious: Laborers staged near the prison would dig a mile-long tunnel into his cell. To pinpoint his exact location, someone would sneak a watch with a GPS transmitter past the guards and into the crime lords hands. Like Mr. Guzmans flight from the authorities in 2014 through a secret tunnel hidden under his bathtub, the audacious escape from the Altiplano prison in Almoloya, Mexico, one year later is one of those almost unbelievable tales that have helped transform him into the criminal figure known as El Chapo. And as with other legends surrounding him, this was one was told again on Wednesday with astonishing new details at his trial in Federal District Court in Brooklyn. BuzzFeed, often hailed as the future of publishing and a leading producer of digital content, plans to lay off 15 percent of its work force, or around 200 employees, according to a memo sent to the staff on Wednesday night. The companys management team, led by the chief executive, Jonah Peretti, has been working on the staff cuts over the past few months, two people with knowledge of the plans said. They asked not to be named because they were not authorized to speak on the matter. The cuts will affect the international and web content departments, including the news division. Mr. Peretti sent a note to employees at 6:30 p.m. Eastern time with the subject line Difficult Changes. Hello BuzzFeeders, he wrote. Im writing with sad news: we are doing layoffs at BuzzFeed next week. We will be making a 15% overall reduction in headcount across the company. Im sending this tonight because I wanted you to hear it from me directly instead of from the press. The museums director, Lisa Phillips, declined a request to be interviewed. In a statement on Wednesday the museum said, We fully respect our employees right to self-organize, and we will respect whatever decision they make. We dont believe unionization is the best way to preserve what is special about our culture or advance change, the statement said, describing the New Museum as a relatively small institution where staff members are used to working closely and collaboratively. The statement said the museum had hired Adams Nash for an initial consult to provide information on the unionization process, adding that some employees had expressed interest in joining a bargaining unit, while others were not interested or unsure. The statement said that now that the information has been provided, the museum no longer employs the firm. The United Auto Workers already represents employees at the Museum of Modern Art, the Bronx Museum of the Arts and the New-York Historical Society. Employees who support a union at the New Museum said it is needed to ensure that they receive competitive salaries and have clear roles going forward as the institution carries out a planned $85-million expansion. Organizers said they have identified 74 museum employees who will form a bargaining unit. The museum has contested some of those selections. Ms. Kopel said some museum employees earn as little as $35,000 a year to start. She said the museum told employees that the median income for the staff members contemplating joining a union was $52,000, and that $51,000 is considered a living wage. The New Museum spokesman confirmed in an email that $52,000 is the median income for the workers the museum says are eligible to be in a union. The Democrats are now on their high horse attacking President Donald Trump for holding government workers hostage to get $5.7 billion for border security, including a wall where needed. I wish they would be half as concerned about drugs, crime including human trafficking and chaos due to our porous southern border. Eighty percent of children taken by our Border Patrol are not with parents but adults using them for a free admission ticket. And what could even be worse, human trafficking. The $5.7 billion for real border security, out of a $4 trillion federal budget, is less than 0.2 percent. Over 300 people a week die in our country from opioid drugs, much of which comes by way of Mexico. Thirty years of this, and Democrats could care less. To Democrats, politics trumps the safety of citizens. Leon Gamino, Hammond Love 6 Funny 9 Wow 0 Sad 1 Angry 4 Catch the latest in Opinion Get opinion pieces, letters and editorials sent directly to your inbox weekly! Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy. Marc Chase Editor Marc Chase is a veteran investigative reporter, columnist and editor of more than two decades. He currently leads The Times news staff as local news editor. He can be reached at 219-933-3327. Follow Marc Chase 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 American health care has plenty of problems, and we can learn by observing other countries achievements. But unfortunately, one of the more popular modes of research is also one of the most uninformative (counter-informative, really). That mode is asking people in various countries, How satisfied are you with your countrys health care system? and pretending the responses are meaningful and comparable. With some regularity, my friends and colleagues return from overseas to tell me, as one doctor did: People I talked to over there seemed very happy with their system. I asked whom he talked to and, unsurprisingly, they were well-to-do urbanites vacationing at the same pricey inns where he stayed. People in slums or on remote farms, I responded, might have been less enthusiastic. But even with demographically representative samples, cross-country comparisons of subjective responses are hopelessly entwined with cultural idiosyncrasies. America was founded by discontented, cranky people who never accepted limits on their aspirations. Our tendency to whinge and smash ceilings is what made America the worlds engine of creativity. Quiescent folk who are content with their countries health care systems arent the likeliest candidates to redesign care or find the cure for cancer. Sheriff's deputies responded to a call to assist a suicidal person at 5:36 p.m. Wednesday, according to state police. Two county officers got to the home and attempted to get the person inside to open the door, police said. A third officer then arrived on scene and saw a bloody man through the home's window. After police forced their way into the residence, Vawter went after one of the officers after the officer used a Taser on him, the news release states. Another officer tried to handcuff Vawter; however, he lunged at the officer with a knife. Another officer then shot at Vawter, fatally striking him. Officers immediately performed lifesaving measures, and EMS transported him to Porter Regional Hospital where he died. Neighbor Chris Allton said her 18-year-old son thought he heard the nearby commotion. "He said he thought he heard pop, pop, pop," she said. An investigation into the incident revealed the initial call was made by a family member who had allegedly been attacked by Vawter just before the 911 call. Allton said Thursday morning she was surprised to learn about the shooting. SEBRING, Fla. An Indiana man accused of fatally shooting five people inside a Florida bank branch has long been fascinated with the idea of killing, but people who could have done something about it didn't take his threats seriously, a woman who identified herself as his former girlfriend told a television station. Zephen Xaver, 21, "for some reason always hated people and wanted everybody to die," Alex Gerlach told WSBT-TV in South Bend, Indiana, shortly after Wednesday's massacre in Sebring. "He got kicked out of school for having a dream that he killed everybody in his class, and he's been threatening this for so long, and he's been having dreams about it and everything." "Every single person I've told has not taken it seriously, and it's very unfortunate that it had to come to this," Gerlach said. Gerlach told The Washington Post that Xaver said he purchased a gun last week and "no one thought anything of it" because he had always liked guns. Public records and neighbors say Xaver and his mother moved to Sebring in the fall from Plymouth, Indiana, a small city south of South Bend, home of the University of Notre Dame. Investigators said Xaver called police from inside the SunTrust Bank branch Wednesday, saying "I have shot five people." VALPARAISO Valparaiso University will host the 66th annual Northwestern Indiana Science and Engineering Fair on Feb. 23 in the Harre Union Ballroom. Students in grades 612 from schools in Porter, Lake, LaPorte, Starke, Jasper, Pulaski and Newton counties will participate and compete for many prestigious awards and more than $5,000 in cash prizes, including scholarships to the University. The top winners from both the senior and junior divisions will go on to compete at the Hoosier Science and Engineering Fair on March 30 at The Center in Indianapolis. The top senior division winners will also have a chance to compete at the International Science and Engineering Fair in Phoenix, Arizona, in May. The science fair begins with judging from 10 a.m. to noon in the Harre Union Ballroom. Volunteers are needed to serve as judges from 8 a.m. to noon, and interested parties only need experience or interest in any STEM field to participate. Those interested in volunteering should complete the online registration form for judges at valpo.edu/nwisef. Deadline for registration is Feb. 2. INDIANAPOLIS When the health of Linda Ramos' significantly premature baby "crashed" in the neonatal intensive care unit and Sara had to be put on artificial respiration to stay alive, Ramos was able to get from her Schererville home to her daughter within minutes, instead of hours. That's because Sara Ramos was being cared for at the University of Chicago's Comer Children's Hospital rather than Riley Hospital for Children, nearly three hours away in Indianapolis, where most Indiana babies and children facing life-threatening conditions are treated. "I was able to get in my car and drive to the University of Chicago in 45 minutes and be at my child's bedside. That is so important to a mom," Linda Ramos said. "Things change very quickly in the neonatal intensive care unit and your child is hanging by a thread. Being able to get there at the drop of a dime is critical." Sara Ramos today is a 19-year-old sophomore at the University of Indianapolis studying to become a physician assistant, in part to give to others the quality care she depended on from the moment she entered the world weighing just 1 pound, 11 ounces. VALPARAISO Valparaiso Police are asking the public's assistance in locating a missing female. They said Monica Scott, 45, who recently moved to Valparaiso, was reported missing Jan. 14 by family. Scott is described as white, 5 feet 4 inches tall, 100 pounds, with brown hair and blue eyes. Police said Scott was believed to be en route to Hammond and was last seen on video footage on Jan. 13 at the South Shore Train station in East Chicago. She is believed to be wearing a gray coat with two blue stripes on one sleeve, carrying a purple duffel bag and green back pack. Police said Scott has not been in contact with anyone nor did she arrive to her destination as scheduled. She currently has no cellphone with her and may be disoriented or lost. She is known to frequent the East Chicago and Hammond areas. Police said Scott needs her medication and concern is growing regarding her overall safety. Police ask anyone with information regarding her location or welfare to contact Detective Cassidy Schafer at 219-462-2135. Information also can also be texted to TIP411 (847-411) and enter Valpo in the message field prior to sending the message. Love 2 Funny 3 Wow 8 Sad 18 Angry 0 Sign up for our Crime & Courts newsletter Get the latest in local public safety news with this weekly email. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy. HIGHLAND Three women were charged with prostitution after an undercover Homeland Security agent reportedly paid for sex acts before two Highland massage parlors were raided in the fall. The Lake County prosecutor's office is accusing Bond "Cindy" Li, 54, of Highland; Hailin "Tina" He, 36, and Xiao Jiao "Lucy" Zhou, 31, both of Chicago, with promoting prostitution at the Relax Spa, which operated in the 8500 block of Kennedy Avenue and the Happy Feet and Spa, in the 3900 block of 45th Street. Highland police allege in court papers that all three women are listed on town business records as the owner-operators of the two businesses. Police said Li also is known by the names Zong Qui Li and Li Bond. Police, who raided both locations Oct. 25, allege their investigation began in July after receiving complaints of possible prostitution. Police put Happy Feet and Spa under surveillance and found most of the clientele were men. Police stopped one male customer who admitted one of the women performed a sex act on him. Police allege an undercover Homeland Security agent entered the Happy Feet and Spa Aug. 8, where he met one Asian female in her 30s and another Asian female in her 40s who identified herself as Liza. The undercover agent paid $60 for a massage and undressed. ORLAND PARK A 20-year-old man suspected in the fatal shooting Monday night at Orland Square Mall has been taken into custody. Jakharr Williams, 20, of University Park, was taken into custody without incident in Matteson at 6:15 p.m. Wednesday, according to NBC Chicago's report. Police said Williams is suspected of fatally shooting Javon Britten, 18, of Richton Park, at the mall near the food court. Britten ran down an escalator and collapsed outside the H&M clothing store, authorities said. Britten was taken to Advocate Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn, where he was pronounced dead, according to the Cook County medical examiner's office. A bystander suffered a graze wound to the leg and was taken to another hospital, police said. Police received numerous 911 calls around 6:45 p.m. about a shooting on the mall's lower level, near the food court. Britten and the man knew each other, according to a news release from Orland Park police. Police temporarily closed the mall to process the crime scene and search the property. HAMMOND Bishop Noll Institute officials received information about a threat a juvenile made at the high school via social media. The threat was made Tuesday night on Snapchat, a social media platform, a news release from Bishop Noll's Principal Lorenza Pastrick said. Police have identified a juvenile suspect, and officials said the juvenile is someone not permitted anywhere on school grounds. School officials immediately contacted the Hammond Police Department, and an investigation into the threat was launched, the news release said. Hammond police are providing extra security on school grounds, and Pastrick said the school is safe for operations. Police and school officials will remain in close communication during the investigation, the announcement stated. We want you to rest assured that the safety of our students is the utmost priority, Pastrick said. Threats in any context are taken very seriously and will never be ignored. We will communicate additional information as we receive it. Love 1 Funny 6 Wow 4 Sad 1 Angry 6 Sign up for our Crime & Courts newsletter Get the latest in local public safety news with this weekly email. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy. And it worked. That first summer the cafe opened, Zolfo said the business took off like crazy. The cafe has a rotating seasonal menu and has experimented with a slew of different food options, ranging from frozen yogurt in the summer to locally sourced bakery items. From lattes to bubble tea, each barista has a selected special. Zolfos favorite, the aptly named Cafe Breanne, is a soy-based espresso drink with cinnamon and honey. Zolfo decided early on to handpick her staff. She doesnt advertise openings or post job listings online. Most of her employees, like Augsburger, Zolfo said she met in her shop or out in the community each with their own story and reason for what brought them into the cafe. When Kim Govert lost her husband unexpectedly, a friend was there to pick her up and take her out for coffee. That coffee turned into a casual conversation with Zolfo, a complete stranger, who offered Govert a position on the spot. Govert, who hadnt worked for years, said joining Cafe Fresco has brought new meaning to her life. Breanne has been the light in my life when it was the darkest, Govert said. Now I feel like I matter. "They were on their way to have their 13th number one when along came 'Release Me' which kept the Beatles out of the top spot," recalled Humperdink during a past interview. "For me to have a hit like that was just a dream. I recorded the song and it didn't do anything for a couple of months. Then I played at the London Palladium and the very next day it started selling like 80,000 copies a day, eventually reaching a peak of selling 127,000 copies a day at one point. That kind of thing didn't happen to anybody but the Beatles back then, so it really took my breath away when it happened to me. The numbers we were doing at the time were just unbelievable." The USW represents more than 30,000 oil workers at more than 220 refineries, oil terminals, pipelines and petrochemical facilities across the United States, including most of the more than 1,800 full-time workers at the sprawling former Standard Oil refinery along the lakeshore in Whiting. Union-represented workers produce approximately 64 percent of the gasoline and other oil products consumed in the United States. "The USW is looking to achieve an agreement that is beneficial to our members and is cognizant to the needs of our employers," National Oil Bargaining Program Chairman Kim Nibarger said in a letter to USW members. "Our members want to be engaged with managing the risks we face at work, and no one is better equipped to do that than the people who are in the units every day and night. Our members objective is to make sure that our employers facilities are operated in a manner that makes them as profitable as possible and ensures we have a place to continue working." John Massoud is a member of the Strasburg Town Council, and is the vice chair of both the Shenandoah County Republican Party and the 6th Congressional District Republican Party. The Berryville Baptist Rascals perform during their Christmas program at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Bethesda, Maryland, last year. The anger was palpable when more than 50 teachers gathered for their monthly union meeting on the northeast side of Indianapolis last Spring. The crowd was about twice as large as usual, with many newcomers packed into the conference room. Frustrated teachers raised a litany of issues, including potential layoffs, hundreds of high school teachers displaced, and a recent Indianapolis Education Association election in which just 3.9 percent of members voted. Then, veteran educator Lora Elliott stood clutching a statement that stretched more than four single-spaced pages. Among her complaints: that the union was failing to follow its own financial rules. I am asking for the immediate removal of the president, the first vice president, the second vice president, the secretary/treasurer, and all regional directors for dereliction of duty and failure to maintain fiscal responsibility, Elliotts statement read. The allegations made that May afternoon would eventually trigger an investigation from the state union and the resignation of Rhondalyn Cornett, who had led the teachers union in Indianapolis Public Schools for five years, amid accusations that she mishandled $100,000 in union funds. Detectives assigned to the Marion County Grand Jury Division are investigating the matter, according to a spokeswoman for the prosecutors office. But in fact even before the resignation, the 900-member Indianapolis Education Associations position was precarious. The unions financial problems appear to have begun well before Cornett took over IRS records show the union lost its federal tax-exempt status several years ago, and, according to the state teachers union, it has not filed returns in recent years. State laws and district policies, meanwhile, have for years chipped away at the organizations power and influence. The bargaining unit shrunk by 14 percent over three years as the district turned a growing share of schools over to outside operators whose teachers arent represented by the union a sea change in Indianapolis education that some say the union could have fought more vigorously. As a result, fewer than half of district teachers are members, and some teachers wonder if there is any point in paying dues to join a weakened union that seems to offer them very little. The turmoil leaves teachers in a district that is a hotbed of change vulnerable at a time when they perhaps need representation the most. Cornett didnt respond to multiple requests for comment, and current union president Ronald Swann declined an interview for this story and did not respond to emailed questions. Supporters of the unions current administration, though, believe it can be rebuilt and point to a recent victory: Indianapolis Public Schools granted teachers pay raises last month. In another sign of strength, two union-backed candidates defeated incumbents to win seats on the school board. Still, other members argue that its problems run too deep for the union to be repaired and teachers must start anew. Now, Elliott and LaMeca Perkins-Knight, another frustrated union loyalist, are looking for other teachers to join them in a bid to replace the Indianapolis Education Association with a new organization. They began holding meetings this week to lay out their agenda. The crowds were small, and one on Tuesday attended by a current union leader grew contentious. Still, the pair plan to continue campaigning. Members have been disenfranchised, Perkins-Knight said. We plan to grassroot it, go out and talk to some teachers and see what they want to do. LOSING POWER FOR YEARS Cornett taught for about two decades before leaving the classroom to run the union. The daughter of a union worker at Chrysler, she asked about joining the teachers union the day she started work in Indianapolis Public Schools, Cornett said in an August 2018 interview before she resigned. When Cornett took over the Indianapolis Education Association in 2013, it was already contending with a barrage of state policies that constrained its power. Two years before, Democratic lawmakers fled the state in a showdown over restrictions on labor but despite the protest, a host of controversial education bills prevailed. In the end, the Republican-controlled legislature stripped teachers of the power to negotiate most work conditions, largely confining bargaining to wages and wage-related benefits. At the same time, lawmakers expanded non-union charter schools, created a new private school voucher program, and overhauled teacher evaluations. The changes were just the latest blow to Indiana teachers unions. Twenty-three years before the recent Janus ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court took away the right of public sector unions to collect fees from non members, an Indiana law had already eliminated those fees for teachers. The law here has in some ways undermined union power, said Kenneth Dau-Schmidt, a professor of labor and employment law at Indiana University Maurer School of Law. If membership shrinks, he said, the union will have less resources, it will be less of a voice for teachers, and as a result, you worry that the state legislature and the school boards wont pay enough attention to teachers needs. On top of the state restrictions, the teachers union is facing an entirely different threat in Indianapolis Public Schools. Two years after Cornett took over as president, the school district began a radical experiment where schools are handed over to outside managers who employ teachers not represented by the district union. So-called innovation schools proliferated under the leadership of former Superintendent Lewis Ferebee, who left Indianapolis this month after he was tapped to lead the Washington, D.C., school system. Over the past four years, a dozen schools have been removed from the teachers bargaining unit. And between 2014-15 and 2017-18, the number of teachers covered by the Indianapolis Education Association contract fell by 14 percent, or 330 fewer teachers, to about 2,000 teachers. Cornett was well aware that the deck was stacked against the union. In August, Cornett said lawmakers had taken so much of our power away. But, she added, teachers were not weak: they could still influence policy if they spoke up by writing letters, going to meetings, and making calls. Still, despite her rhetoric, the unions losses were swift and met with relative quiet. In 2017, for example, district leaders used a little-known provision of state law to expel the union from a troubled middle school. Cornett didnt know until the summer when she learned from a teacher who applied for a job at the school. Many observers agree that the unions position was weak because of state laws. But some argue that it could have done more to resist the rapid expansion of innovation schools. The former leader of the IPS Community Coalition, a grassroots group thats skeptical of innovation schools, Dountonia Batts said that in other places around the country, teachers have gotten together to push back against charter schools in a way that didnt happen in Indianapolis. I dont think people really understood the impact that innovation schools were going to have on public education, Batts said. Its heartbreaking because the power that the union traditionally stood for has for all intents and purposes been deflated. Perkins-Knight argues that the union should have anticipated the campuses that might become innovation schools and done more to resist. At schools with chronically low test scores, they could have trained teachers to try and improve results. At higher performing schools where principals were considering voluntarily converting to innovation status, the union could have done more to organize teachers who were opposed, she said. At a time when the union was under siege, poor management made it even less effective, said longtime union member and social studies teacher Mark Thomas. We need to step our game up, he added. To do that, youve got to have a tightly run organization, and we didnt. A REASON TO BE INVESTED When Perkins-Knight got a job in Indianapolis Public Schools more than a decade ago, one of the first things she did was join the teachers union. She grew up in East Chicago, an industrial community just across the border from Illinois. And her father was a union leader for United Steelworkers. Im union bred, she said. Perkins-Knight is not alone. Many members of the Indianapolis Education Association share a personal connection to unions. They have fathers, mothers, and husbands who were in unions, and they see joining the association as a way they can support other teachers. But union membership in other industries is shrinking, too. In 1964, more than 40 percent of workers in Indiana were in unions the third highest rate in the country. Fifty years later, that number fell to about 10 percent. Most teachers in traditional public school districts in Indiana are union members. But teachers must affirmatively choose to join the union. As union membership declines around the state, teachers unions can no longer rely on ingrained loyalty to recruit new educators, who often start careers with student debt and may be reluctant to pay dues that exceed $800 per year. Besides, non-union teachers working at district schools continue to get many of the advantages a union membership brings with it. The organization negotiates their salary and benefits, and they have the same contract as teachers in the union. In Indianapolis Public Schools, membership has swung up and down recently, but this year there are about 900 teachers in the local union, down about 80 teachers from four years ago, according to self-reported state data. Because only 49.7 percent of the districts teachers are dues-paying members, the state sent letters to teachers in November notifying them of their right to challenge the union a new requirement championed by Republican lawmakers two years ago. Plus, many Indianapolis teachers now work in independently managed charter schools without teachers unions. Teacher Shivani Goyal worked in Indianapolis Public Schools for three years without joining the teachers union. She didnt have strong feelings about unions, and as a new teacher, she didnt want to pay the dues, she said. Ive never been given a reason to be invested in it, said Goyal, who took a job teaching first grade at an innovation school without a union this year. For Perkins-Knight, in contrast, the union was a way for her to have a voice in the future of the district. She catapulted into union leadership after she helped launch a campaign to end a pay freeze for teachers. She was vice president and second in command for three years. But as she moved up in the union, Perkins-Knight became more and more concerned about its management. LOW TURNOUT ELECTION On a Thursday in April, Elliott dashed off a quick email. Question needed answer she wrote to a staffer with the state teachers association. Had they emailed members the ballot for the local chapter election in March? A 25-year educator who would later confront union leadership at the May meeting, Elliott had become increasingly suspicious of Indianapolis Public Schools teachers union. She wanted more updates on what the union was doing, she wanted to know how leaders were spending her dues, and she wanted to vote in the election. She received a reply later that day saying the state union had sent the ballot to her work email. Elliott replied politely I did not want to place blame if there was no blame to place, she wrote but she was frustrated. She had not received the email and hadnt voted, and she feared many other teachers hadnt, either. In Cornetts email announcing the election results, she acknowledged that she was contacted by two teachers who did not initially receive a ballot. Ultimately, just 3.9 percent of the union members voted, according to Cornetts email, which Elliott shared with Chalkbeat. Since there was no competition for some of the offices, including the presidency held by Cornett, not many races were on the ballot. But whatever the reason, the low participation hinted at a problem, said Thomas, the union member who was frustrated by the associations management. This just tells you that nobody is really invested in even their organization. For Elliott, the election results added to her growing sense that union leaders were operating without much scrutiny. So she showed up at the May meeting determined to make sure everyone heard her concerns. She rallied other union members, urging them to join. And in a room full of people, she recited a litany of concerns. It was Elliotts report, which she said she later emailed to the Indiana State Teachers Association, that led the group to investigate the local unions finances. We have ourselves to blame because we became complacent, Elliott said. I had my head in the sand. Pull Quote In 1964, more than 40 percent of workers in Indiana were in unions the third highest rate in the country. Fifty years later, that number fell to about 10 percent. FINANCIAL QUESTIONS EMERGE Perkins-Knight had been worried about the unions finances for months. As far back as September 2017, she raised concerns that she had not been given a budget or financial reporting for the Indianapolis Education Association. Because of those problems, she said she would not sign checks for the union and asked for her name to be removed from the bank account, according to an email to Cornett and other leaders that Perkins-Knight shared with Chalkbeat. Two months after the tumultuous May meeting, Perkins-Knight posted on Facebook that she had decided to quit the union and called on others to join her. In a long list of complaints, she wrote, IEA has not been financially accountable to their members for almost a decade. In fact, the financial problems went much further than even Perkins-Knight imagined. In a stunning email days after the November general election, the ISTA revealed the results of its months-long investigation into the Indianapolis unions finances. The investigation concluded that Cornett had used her Indianapolis Education Association debit card to withdraw about $100,000 in cash for personal use, and the state union reported the allegations to the police, according to Kim Clements-Johnson, ISTAs communications director. The matter involving Indianapolis Education Association funds is being investigated by detectives assigned to the Marion County Grand Jury Division, according to Peg McLeish, the communications director for the Marion County Prosecutors Office. Cornett did not respond to multiple requests for comment from Chalkbeat for this story. It is unclear if she has retained an attorney. In addition to Cornetts alleged misuse of funds, the union failed to file financial paperwork for years, records show. In 2008, the organization was administratively dissolved by the state of Indiana because of failure to file regular paperwork or pay fees, according to a spokeswoman for the Indiana Secretary of State. Four years later the year before Cornett took office the IRS automatically revoked its tax-exempt status because it had been years since the union filed a return, according to the IRS website. Clements-Johnson confirmed that its tax-exempt status was revoked. The state union is playing a role in righting the locals finances. The local president egregiously mismanaged the locals finances and it will take some time to get the house in order, wrote Clements-Johnson in an email. The dissolution of the nonprofit could open union officers up to personal liability if the organization is sued, said Zachary Kester, executive director of the nonprofit law firm Charitable Allies. The tax problems could lead to penalties from the IRS, but the larger cost for nonprofits in similar situations is often the administrative and legal work it takes to reinstate the organization and regain tax-exempt status, he said. The process includes filing past due tax returns, and the cost of getting into good standing is sometimes high enough that his clients choose to abandon their old nonprofits and form new ones, Kester said. Diane Swanson, a professor of management and ethics at Kansas State University, said the problem goes beyond the allegations against Cornett. It shows that the organization did not have good financial oversight practices. There have been enough warnings here, she said. This has been going on for a while, as indicated by the losing of the tax-exempt status. That doesnt happen overnight. AN UNCERTAIN FUTURE The Indianapolis Education Association is trying to move on and rebuild. When the state union confronted Cornett with the allegations of financial mismanagement, she resigned, and the vice president took over. In recent months, the union has had some victories. In November, days before Cornett resigned, two candidates supported by the union who were critical of the current administration and the fast spread of innovation schools won seats on the school board, a rare show of strength for the local union. Then in December, teachers in the district won substantial raises. But the raise was championed by district leaders, who spent a year campaigning for a tax increase to fund the pay bump. When it came time to negotiate, it took the district and the union less than two days to reach a deal. In a statement in response to written questions from Chalkbeat, Clements-Johnson wrote that the ISTA has taken control of the locals finances for the next two years, and it is working with local leadership to put controls in place to prevent future issues. IEA has bargained a strong contract reflecting higher teacher compensation achieved through advocacy on the passage of two referenda, Clements-Johnson wrote. IEA remains a strong, valuable partner in serving educators and students in Indianapolis. Nathan Blevins, a middle school teacher who co-chairs the local unions membership committee, said leaders are taking steps to ensure that its finances are transparent, and he has faith in the organization. This is really an opportunity for us to reinvent ourselves, he said. We are just really looking at moving forward. We had a great win with the contract this year. Some members of the union still have concerns. Kevin Sandorf, a high school English teacher, said he thinks that it will be harder to recruit new members because it casts a bad light on the organization that Cornett was able to allegedly misuse money without someone else in the union noticing. How was this allowed to go on so long? At first, the stunning news of Cornetts alleged mismanagement and resignation seemed like an opportunity to Perkins-Knight and Elliott, who both rejoined the union. But that optimism was fleeting. Although Cornett is gone, other union leaders have remained, they said, and they do not have confidence in the union. Now, Perkins-Knight and Elliott are poised to take a more drastic step: campaigning to replace the Indianapolis Education Association with a new union, a process that would begin with convincing 20 percent of teachers to support a petition. If they trigger a district-wide election, teachers could also vote not to have a union at all. Thats a risk the two lifelong union supporters are willing to take. I would prefer for us to have that collective teacher voice, because teacher voice is important for us, Perkins-Knight said. But the union is so powerless now, she said, losing a union altogether is not so scary. Even without a union, I dont think much is going to change for us. This story was originally published by Chalkbeat, a nonprofit news organization covering public education. Sign up for their newsletters here: chalkbeat.org/newsletter The Indianapolis Museum of Contemporary Art (iMOCA) is announcing its new consulting directorMichael Kaufmann, currently vice president of civic investment at Health & Hospital Corporation. And while the organization revealed a number of different programs, the museum also revealed that it has cancelled plans for relocating to the old Ford Assembly Plant at 1301 E. Washington St., a move announced in April, 2018. While iMOCA is no longer moving forward with plans for a permanent location, the organization is excited about several new multi-year exhibition sites... as well as ongoing temporary sites, Kaufmann said in a statement to NUVO. Through iMOCA's yearlong 2018 re-organization process, it became clear that moving forward with a permanent location for iMOCA wasnt necessary to continue showing and partnering with artists and arts organizations, he continued. We realized we can have a greater direct impact on the artists we support and reach new audiences by taking a more agile approach." In addition, Benjamin Blevins and his wife Janneane, proprietors of PRINTtEXTan Indy-based collaborative publisherwere named directors of communications a press release this week. "Janneane and Benjamin bring a unique blend of design sensibility, project management, and non-traditional problem solving skills that will allow iMOCA to reach not only a local but international audience as well," Kaufmann says. In the same announcement, iMOCA touted its three-year partnership with the John Boner neighborhood centers. The organization received a grant recently from Lilly Endowments Strengthening Indianapolis Through Arts and Cultural Innovation Initiative. The grant will help John Boner Neighborhood Centers establish the 10 East Art + Design District. The 10th Street arts initiative will be led by the John Boner Neighborhood Centers in collaboration with six local arts organizations, NEAR, Englewood CDC, and Indianapolis Neighborhood Housing Partnership. Beginning in 2019, iMOCA, in partnership with Hoy Polloy, a 10th Street artist collective, will implement joint arts programming and exhibitions in a building located at 10th Street and Beville Avenue. iMOCA was founded in 2001. It was originally a museum without walls, mounting exhibits at Herron School of Art & Design, the Stutz, and Key Cinemas. In 2004, the museum moved into the Emelie Building on Senate Ave. In 2009, iMOCA moved into the Murphy Art Center in Fountain Square, and in 2014 it opened the CityWay Gallery at The Alexander Hotel. (iMOCA is currently exhibiting On Soft Ground through June 23 in this space, it is an exhibit that highlights the printwork of a number of artists who work primarily in other mediums.) In 2016, iMOCA left the Murphy, again becomingwith the exception of its space at The Alexander, a museum without walls, forging partnerships with the Hoosier Salon, Axis Architects and Interiors, Indiana Landmarks, Cat Head Press, Goodwill Industries of Central Indiana, and other partners to put up pop-up exhibitions and installations that often challenge traditional notions of artmaking and art viewing. As iMOCA enters into 2019, Kaufmann, as consulting director, will also continue at Health & Hospital Corporation even as he pursues his Ph.D in cultural theory at Indiana University, according to Blevins. iMOCA is so incredibly fortunate to have Michael Kaufmann take on the mantle of consulting director, said Paula Katz, former executive director, in the press release. Michael is one of the most exceptional and talented individuals working in the creative industry. As iMOCA moves into this next phase as an organization, I cannot think of another who could meet this challenge with more assiduousness and natural aptitude. An Ogallala business failed an alcohol inspection last week by the Nebraska State Patrol. On Friday evening, patrol investigators conducted inspections in Keith County, according to a press release from the patrol. In all, 15 businesses were checked. Only one Fat Dogs in Ogallala sold alcohol to a minor. All of the businesses checked the minors ID, according to the patrol. The businesses include liquor stores, convenience stores, restaurants and bars. Businesses that fail the inspections are referred to the Nebraska Liquor Control Commission. Clerks who sell alcohol to a minor are cited for procuring alcohol for a minor. This project was supported in whole or part by a grant under the SAMHSA Center for Substance Abuse Prevention, Region II Human Services and the Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services Division of Behavioral Health. Napoleon, OH (43545) Today Variable clouds with scattered thunderstorms. Gusty winds and small hail are possible. High 83F. Winds WSW at 10 to 20 mph. Chance of rain 50%.. Tonight Scattered thunderstorms during the evening. Partly cloudy skies after midnight. Low near 65F. Winds SW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 40%. Caleb Slinkard was hired as the editor of the Norman Transcript in August of 2015. He is a graduate of Texas A&M University-Commerce and previously was in charge of several newspapers in northeast Texas. Follow Caleb Slinkard 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 Districting election a bad idea I see Glenn Hurst is being a sore loser and wants to spend $100,000 to gerrymander the next election to try and win. And what if he loses again? Spend $500,000 of our money to try and win the next time? This isnt about We The People. Its about a narcissistic person who is trying to get into power and squander our money on what he wants. And if he gets into office, how much more of our money will he squander and how much will he try to tax us on? I am a disabled veteran, living off Social Security and disability, so I cant afford tax increases. I dont want a sore loser making laws. Lenny Scaletta Council Bluffs Support for Beto ORourke As a transplanted Iowan now living in Texas I am always proud of the important role Iowans play in presidential elections due to our early caucuses and significant participation. The couple said they had no interest in the reward money, raising the question: Who would reap the financial benefit from Jayme's discovery? Barron County Sheriff Chris Fitzgerald, who was at the center of the investigation, called Jayme the "hero in the case," suggesting that if the money were to be distributed, the victim herself was owed a share. That was the conclusion reached by Jim Snee, Hormel's CEO. The FBI has not said what the agency plans to do with the $25,000 it pledged in the case. "On behalf of the entire Jennie-O and Hormel Foods family, we are overjoyed at the news of Jayme's safe return," Snee said in a statement on Wednesday. "Her bravery and strength have truly inspired our team members around the world. Barron is an incredibly strong community and one that never lost hope. We celebrated with the community, and the world, that Jayme is home." Steve Lykken, the president of Jennie-O Turkey Store, said he hoped that the money would go into a trust fund supporting "Jayme's needs today and in the future." "While we are still mourning the loss of longtime family members Jim and Denise, we are so thankful for Jayme's brave escape and that she is back in Barron," Lykken said. Jayme's aunts and other family members celebrated her safe return this month. "It's such an overwhelming, amazing happy ending to such a horrible beginning," Lynn Closs, an aunt, told "CBS This Morning" in the family's first television interview after welcoming the 13-year-old home. The soon-to-be-overcrowded field of candidates running for the 2020 Democratic Party presidential nomination now has two current or former mayors in contention and neither of them is erstwhile New Orleans burgomaster Mitch Landrieu. The latest is Pete Buttigieg, the 37-year-old mayor of South Bend, Ind., who also checks off the boxes of being the first openly gay presidential candidate and the second millennial (those born between 1981 and 1996, now ages 22-37) to announce. Buttigieg also is a veteran, having done a tour in Afghanistan as a Navy lieutenant. In a throng that could easily reach two-dozen hopefuls before Easter, having more than one constituency to hang your hat on could be an advantage. And if youre wondering how to pronounce Buttigieg, the mayors husband, Chasten, tweeted a list of possible pronunciations last year: boot-edge-edge, buddha-judge, boot-a-judge and boo-tuh-judge. Waiting for Roger Goodell to do the right thing Buttigieg is already the ninth Democratic contestant in the race that is still 649 days away. The others, so far, are: former housing secretary Julian Castro, who also served as mayor of San Antonio; former Maryland Congressman John Delaney; Hawaii Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard, the other millennial at age 37 and an Army National Guard veteran; New York Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand; California Sen. Kamala Harris; former West Virginia state senator and military veteran Richard Ojeda; Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren; and former tech executive Andrew Yang. A New York Times infographic lists two more Democrats as all but certain to run: New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker and former Colorado Gov. and Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper. It puts four more in the likely to run category: former Vice President Joe Biden; former Montana Gov. Steve Bullock; current Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti; and Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, who launched a strong challenge to eventual Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton in 2016. The newspaper puts Landrieu, who is out of public office for the first time in three decades after serving two terms as New Orleans mayor, in a fourth category of might run. That list includes billionaire media executive and former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg and former Texas Congressman Beto ORourke, the current darling and fund-raising star of the party after his narrow 51 percent to 48 percent loss to Republican Texas Sen. Ted Cruz last year. Thats a total of 23 possibles for an election that wont be decided until Nov. 3, 2020. And one big question is exactly where Landrieu, whose national political profile rose sharply in 2017 when he led the way in removing four Confederate and white supremacist monuments from the citys public spaces and wrote a book about it, fits in. The winds of the party seem to be blowing in the direction of the young progressives and democratic socialists while Landrieu is a centrist, pragmatic baby boomer who will be 60 when the next president is elected. Landrieu has tried to put an updated spin on his political outlook by redefining his centrism as radical. Centrism has come to be known as a lukewarm version of not standing for anything so youll stand for everything, he told New York Times columnist Charles Blow in November. I call myself, like, a radical centrist. Every organization Ive taken over has been in, like, meltdown, and I had to build it back up. So, it requires really hard, tough decisions. But, those things always require some level of compromise. Landrieus worldview might appeal to independents and disgruntled Republicans in the general election. But is there any way he can win a Democratic primary that could turn into a combination of The Hunger Games, Survivor and Lord of the Flies? Why Republicans have to keep disavowing racists This is a Democratic Party looking for someone to take down President Donald Trump with the same finality that Landrieu hoisted, boxed and warehoused the statues of Gens. Robert E. Lee and P.G.T. Beauregard. Knocking Trump off his pedestal wont be as easy. Tim Morris is a columnist on the Latitude team at NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune. Latitude is a place to share opinions about the challenges facing Louisiana. Follow @LatitudeNOLA on Facebook and Twitter. Write to Tim at tmorris@nola.com. At least 115 Slidell Memorial Hospital employees will get raises Sunday (Jan. 27) when the hospital raises its entry-level wage to $12 per hour. In announcing the wage increase, Slidell Memorial joins St. Tammany Parish Hospital in Covington and Ochsner Health Systems in bumping their lowest hourly wages to $12. Eligible employees will see the pay increase in their Feb. 15 paychecks, the Slidell hospital said. Like St. Tammany Parish Hospital, which announced its wage increase Monday, and Ochsner, boosted its lowest pay rate in December, Slidell Memorial said better pay will help it recruit and retain quality workers. We are committed to recruiting and retaining a competent, compassionate and professional workforce thats dedicated to our mission to improve the quality of life in our community, hospital CEO Kerry Tirman said. St. Tammany top stories in your inbox A weekly guide to the biggest news in St. Tammany. Sign up today. e-mail address * Sign Up Hospital wages increasing Slidell Memorial, a public 229-bed hospital, has nearly 1,500 employees. Like St. Tammany Parish Hospital, Slidell Memorial has a partnership with Ochsner. The increase in starting wages comes against the backdrop of a national and regional push to raise the minimum wage workers can earn. Louisianas minimum wage is $7.25 per hour. A proposal to increase it, to $8 per hour this year and $8.50 in 2020, stalled in the Legislature last year. Administrators at the hospitals have said the wage increase will help keep them competitive not only with other health care providers but also employers in other industries. We are taking this step as an investment in our team, Tirman said. Future leaders are found in every level of our workforce and we believe investing in them ensures they are more likely to stay with SMH rather than leaving for other industries. A $100,000 grant from Northwestern Mutual will pay for a state-of-the-art training room for Southeastern Louisiana Universitys professional sales program, the university said. The Hammond university said it created the professional sales program to prepare students for careers in sales. The program was developed for marketing majors but could be expanded to non-business majors in the future, the university said. We know that professional sales is not only a starting point for careers, but is becoming more and more important across all sectors of the economy, said Toni Phillips, dean of SLUs College of Business. The sales program curriculum includes courses in sales, marketing strategy, consumer behavior and business management. A goal of the program is to connect students with sales professionals and organizations through competitions, internships and inviting speakers to campus, Phillips said. The Northwestern Mutual Sales Training Room will be in Garrett Hall on the universitys campus. Renovations will begin soon, the university said. SLU said Steven Dugal, managing partner of Northwestern Mutuals Louisiana and Mississippi offices, and Paul Hodge, managing director of the Mandeville and Gulfport offices, were involved in the initiative. Hours after his father was sworn in as the new chief of New Orleans Police Department, 21-year-old Shane Ferguson punched a woman in her chin and spit in her face at a home in Algiers Friday night (Jan. 18), according to a police report. Shane Ferguson, son of new Superintendent Shaun Ferguson, was booked with domestic abuse battery Tuesday (Jan. 22), according to jail records. According to the police report, Shane Ferguson and the woman were in an argument in the 2500 block of Hudson Place around 11:45 p.m. when he spit in her face. After the woman spit back, he struck her in the left side of her chin with a closed fist. Shane Ferguson tried to punch her again, but she fell to the ground, police said. The womans friend then sprayed Shane Ferguson with mace and he fled south on Hudson Place and then in an unknown direction, according to the report. The woman was described in the police report as Shane Fergusons ex-girlfriend, and the report said they had been dating for two years before their relationship ended in December 2018. She told police that the Jan. 18 incident was the latest instance of the non-stop threats that Shane Ferguson has made toward her, adding that he makes threats every day and that they were getting worse, the report said. Top stories in New Orleans in your inbox Twice daily we'll send you the day's biggest headlines. Sign up today. e-mail address * Sign Up Shane Ferguson turned himself in to the police Tuesday (Jan. 22) and pleaded not guilty in connection to the domestic battery charge in municipal court Wednesday (Jan. 23). While this is a family matter, Chief Ferguson wants to be clear that the NOPD will conduct a proper and complete investigation just like we do in every case, NOPD spokesman Andy Cunningham said in a statement Tuesday. Shaun Ferguson, who previously served as an NOPD commander, was sworn in Friday as NOPDs new superintendent. New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell on Jan. 14 announced the 46-year-old Ferguson as her choice to replace former chief Michael Harrison, who has taken a job as police commissioner in Baltimore. Son of new NOPD chief pleads not guilty to domestic abuse charge The Jefferson Parish Sheriffs Office arrested a suspect accused of shooting a vehicle on a Metairie street with a stolen gun. Dornell Ball, 24, of the 4800 block of York Street in Metairie, was booked with two counts of attempted second-degree murder and illegal possession of a stolen firearm, said Capt. Jason Rivarde, spokesman for the department. Ball is accused of firing on a Toyota Camry in the 8300 block of Bern Street in Metairie on the morning of Dec. 20. The driver, a 20-year-old man, told investigator he was driving down the street about 7:40 a.m. when he heard the sound of bullets hitting his car, authorities said. The man saw one, possibly two people shooting at his vehicle. He turned into a side lot and ran for cover until the shooting stopped, according to authorities. The sheriffs office received a 911 call from a woman who reported gunfire and bullet holes in her home. Deputies dispatched to the scene found the male victims vehicle with several bullet holes, as well. No one was injured. Top stories in New Orleans in your inbox Twice daily we'll send you the day's biggest headlines. Sign up today. e-mail address * Sign Up Investigators identified Ball as a suspect in the shooting. They served a warrant at his Metairie home on Jan. 11 and seized a 9mm pistol, authorities said. Ball admitted using the gun in the shooting, a fact confirmed by ballistics testing, the sheriffs office said. Investigators also determined the gun had been reported stolen in New Orleans. Ball was rebooked at the Jefferson Parish Correctional Center on Thursday (Jan. 17) on the gun charge. He was still being held there Wednesday in lieu of a $510,000 bond. Body found in Slidell believed to be Pearl River man missing since Dec. 2017: police The long and winding road traveled by Sonny Gray and the New York Yankees ended Monday, when he was traded to the Cincinnati Reds. The deal finally went down after Gray agreed to a three-year, $30.5 million contract extension with the Reds. Gray talked with MLB Network about his trade, and had nothing but nice things to say about general manager Brian Cashman. Cash, he was very transparent with me throughout the whole process. It was long and kind of drawn out a bit but he was very transparent with me, which was nice on his part. Really all I could ask for. "It was nuts. I'm not going to lie, it was crazy." Sonny Gray discusses his trade to the Reds and decision to ink an extension in Cincinnati on #MLBNHotStove. pic.twitter.com/08lIAttRUx MLB Network (@MLBNetwork) January 24, 2019 Cashman had been trying to trade Gray, who failed to live up to his potential following the 2017 non-waiver trade deadline with the As, since the start of the offseason. Gray went 15-16 with a 4.51 ERA after coming over from Oakland. By the end of the 2018 season, Gray had been banished to the bullpen and finished with a 11-9 record and 4.90 ERA. The Cincinnati Enquirer asked Gray why he struggled with the Yankees, but the 29-year-old didnt have a good answer. Thats the question, isnt it? I honestly think you can go through some hardships at times and come out the other end better than you ever were, Gray said. Thats honestly how I feel. I learned a lot (last) year. Unfortunately, I got to sit and watch a little bit more than I would have liked. I got to learn a lot, not only about baseball but about myself and about what makes me tick and what makes me go. Cashman tipped his hand about wanting to move Gray back in October, per NJ Advance Medias Brendan Kuty: I think its probably best to try this somewhere else, Cashman said of Gray, who has gone 15-16 with a 4.51 ERA in 41 games (34 starts) since the Yankees acquired him from the As before the 2017 trade deadline. ... This environment can bring out the best in certain individuals," the GM said. It can bring out, obviously, the worst in certain individuals. This is a unique environment. ... "Someone, if they trade for him, is going to get the player that we wanted," Cashman said. He added, It hasnt worked out this far. I think hes extremely talented. I think that well enter the winter unfortunately open minded to a relocation. Probably to maximize his abilities would be more likely best somewhere else." In exchange for Gray, the Yankees received a 2019 Competitive Balance Round A draft pick and Double-A second baseman Shed Long, who promptly was flipped to the Seattle Mariners for outfielder prospect Josh Stowers. (NJ Advance Medias Randy Miller contributed to this report.) A Sussex County school bus driver who viewed child pornography in between driving students has been sentenced to five years in prison for sharing the images online, New Jerseys top prosecutor announced Thursday. Eugene Triston, 58, of Stanhope, pleaded guilty last year to a second-degree charge of distributing child pornography, according to the office of state Attorney General Gurbir Grewal. In addition to the prison term imposed Thursday by Superior Court Judge William McGovern, authorities said, Triston will have to register as a sex offender under Megans Law and will spend the rest of his life on parole supervision. Triston, who was represented by the state public defenders office, was one of 16 people charged in Operation Safeguard, a statewide investigation in 2016 that involved the attorney generals Division of Criminal Justice, New Jersey State Police and Immigration and Customs Enforcements Homeland Security Investigations. The attorney generals office said investigators who connected to a shared folder on Tristons computer were able to download 27 sexually explicit images of children including videos depicting the sexual assault of very young children and learned he had been viewing the images between bus runs in the Sparta Township Public School District. Thomas Moriarty may be reached at tmoriarty@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @ThomasDMoriarty. Find NJ.com on Facebook. Have a tip? Tell us. nj.com/tips Get the latest updates right in your inbox. Subscribe to NJ.coms newsletters. A top aide to Gov. Phil Murphy, in a conference call with liberal activists, suggested ways to push back against state Senate President Stephen Sweeneys big plan to fix New Jerseys long-term fiscal problems, NJ Advance Media has learned. The aide Deborah Cornavaca, Murphys deputy chief of staff for outreach said during the call Wednesday that Sweeney, a fellow Democrat but frequent Murphy rival, is pushing a false narrative against public-worker unions. Sweeney, D-Gloucester, told NJ Advance Media hes bothered by Cornavacas appearance on the call. You can imagine how disappointed I am that a deputy chief of staff is calling groups to basically attack, Sweeney said Thursday. The situation could threaten to further erode the often-tense relationship between Murphy and Sweeney, New Jerseys top two elected state officials. One legislative source said this appears to be a declaration of war as Murphy heads into negotiations with Sweeney and other fellow Democrats who lead the state Legislature on what the next state budget will look like. That includes whether there will be new tax hikes. The conference call, organized by advocacy group Action Together NJ, came 24 hours before Sweeney is scheduled to host a town hall in Sewell on Thursday night to discuss his Path to Progress report, which he commissioned to find ways to save the state government money. Among the reports biggest recommendation is to make more cuts to pension and health benefits for the states public workers to curb their ever-ballooning costs. Though both Murphy and Sweeney are Democrats, the governor is more progressive, while Sweeney, like many top state lawmakers, is more moderate. The conference call was advertised as a way for liberal grassroots groups many of whom support Murphy to discuss Sweeneys report in advance of the town hall. NJ Advance Media obtained an audio copy of the call, which you can listen to here: Cornavaca, who was identified as a longtime member of Action Together NJ, made it clear on the call she wass speaking to fellow activists and organizers. While my day job is a deputy chief to the governor, I am not wearing my official hat when I have the privilege of talking to you here tonight, she added. Cornavaca argued that "the focus of Sweeneys report "was to force a false narrative, in my opinion." Im not going to hide that Im biased about this, she said. Cornavaca also said she shouldnt hide that Im a unionist through and through and that I do agree with Governor Murphy that the commitments we made to public-sector workers are ones we have to figure out how to honor. Cornavaca is a former official with the New Jersey Education Association, the states largest teachers union, which is one of Sweeneys chief enemies. The NJEA spent millions in 2017 in an unsuccessful bid to unseat Sweeney. To say theres any magic bullet and that the magic bullet that rests on the back on public-sector workers is a narrative that I personally reject, and I think its based far more on a personal agenda than one that looks at public-sector workers as taxpayers, as homeowners, as hard-working New Jerseys who contribute to the economy, Cornavaca said on the call. Instead, she said, activists could counter Sweeney by bringing up a recent audit that Murphys administration released on billions in tax breaks that former Republican Gov. Chris Christie gave out to corporations, with the approval of the Democrat-controlled state Legislature. The report said the breaks were given out without proper oversight. Murphy has been critical of them and called on the Legislature to rework the program. These tax incentives, Cornavaca said, are one of the places we can look to say, Senate President Sweeney, this is a false narrative youre taking. Sweeney said his report is not picking on anybody," but something needs to be done to improve the state governments finances. We have a crisis that we cant ignore," he said. Sweeney said hes especially angry the conference call came days after he, Murphy, and state Assembly Speaker Craig Coughlin, D-Middlesex, reached a deal on legislation to gradually raise the states minimum wage to $15 an hour by 2024. We just came to an agreement on minimum wage, and now this? Sweeney said. Lets air it out publicly. Lets air out the plans. Lets have a real discussion on this stuff." Dan Bryan, a Murphy spokesman, said: In her role as Deputy Chief of Staff for Outreach, Deb regularly engages with advocacy groups and residents. She remains a valued member of the governors team. Action Together NJ did not immediately return a message seeking comment. Murphy has not publicly said what he thinks of Sweeneys recommendations to cut pensions and health benefits. But the governor is an open supporter of public-worker unions. And his administration released its own report last month that called for changes to health benefits but suggested no cuts. This situation could also muddy the waters as Murphy prepares to unveil his second state budget proposal in March. He has not ruled out raising more state taxes to help pay for increases to public-worker pensions which Sweeney and Coughlin say theyre against. The Legislature must pass a budget before Murphy can sign it. Last year, disagreements between Murphy and Sweeney over taxes nearly led to another state government shutdown. But a last-minute deal avoided that. Asked if the conference call will hurt his relationship with Murphy, Sweeney said: Ive got to work and I will work with the governor." We have issues we have to get done, he added. "But doing this kind of stuff is really disappointing. Trying to blow up a town hall meeting is not going to dissuade me, Sweeney said. Im not walking away. I really want to have a civil conversation with people. Brent Johnson may be reached at bjohnson@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @johnsb01. Find NJ.com Politics on Facebook. Have a tip? Tell us. nj.com/tips Get the latest updates right in your inbox. Subscribe to NJ.coms newsletters. One day after the Middlesex County Prosecutors Office declined to press sexual assault charges against a former top official in Gov. Phil Murphys administration, the governor spoke about the latest developments. I have got no visibility, and thats the way it should be to any of the processes that played out in Middlesex or Hudson County, Murphy said while standing outside the Coast Guard Training Facility in Cape May after a visit there. I will continue to be guided by three prongs," the Democratic governor added. "To have faith in survivors of sexual assault, second, to respect law enforcement which we have to do. And third, to make it better, to make New Jersey better, to make employers, including the state government better. We are still committed to all three. Albert J. Alvarez was accused of rape by former campaign worker Katie Brennan during Murphys run for office. Alvarez denied the claims, saying the encounter was consensual. On Wednesday, the Middlesex County Prosecutors Office decided not to press charges against Alvarez because of a lack of credible evidence and corroboration that a crime was committed. Murphy says he is taking the situation seriously. The Hudson County Prosecutors Office also declined to press charges against Alvarez. My wife went through this personally, Murphy said. This is not abstract for us. Those precepts will continue to guide us. Murphys wife, First Lady Tammy Murphy, revealed in January she was sexually assaulted while in college. Chris Franklin can be reached at cfranklin@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @cfranklinnews or on Facebook. Have a tip? Tell us. nj.com/tips. Gov. Phil Murphy has decided who will be his next chief of staff. George Helmy, U.S. Sen. Cory Bookers state director, will join the administration and serve as Murphys right-hand man, according to two people with knowledge of the hire who are not authorized to talk publicly about the governors decision. The chief of staff is one of the two most senior jobs in any administration. Helmy accepted the job offer earlier this week, one of the sources said. Murphys first chief of staff, Pete Cammarano, left the administration last week. Since then, Kathleen Frangione, a senior policy advisor for the governor, served as his acting chief of staff. On Wednesday, Murphy punted on a question on whether Helmy would be his next top official. If we have news to report on the new chief of staff, youll be the first to know, he told reporters at an event in Camden. Helmy worked for the late U.S. Sen. Frank Lautenberg prior to joining Bookers team. Hes worked as Bookers state director for about three years. Murphy, Booker, and Lautenberg are all Democrats. Politico New Jersey reported Tuesday Helmy was offered the job. New Jersey news sites Insider NJ and New Jersey Globe both reported within the past 24 hours that Helmy had accepted the job. Matt Arco may be reached at marco@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @MatthewArco or Facebook. Have a tip? Tell us. nj.com/tips Get the latest updates right in your inbox. Subscribe to NJ.coms newsletters. A 41-year-old New Jersey man was killed on the job last week after falling into a mixing machine at a cheese company in Rockland County, New York, authorities said Edwin Nunez, of Paterson, was pronounced dead after being found inside the machine at his work station at the Icco Cheese Company on Jan. 15, Orangetown police said in a statement Wednesday. Though Nunezs death is considered accidental, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration is investigating. Nunez was working on a platform when he fell, News 12 Westchester reported. Icco manufactures a variety of grated cheese and bread crumb products at its facility in the Orangeburg section Orangetown, according to its website. Orangetown straddles the New Jersey-New York border, just north of Old Tappan. ON 12: Man dies in cheese mixer machine in Rockland Countyhttps://t.co/Rj8eXNS0Vf Tara Rosenblum (@tararosenblum) January 23, 2019 Jeff Goldman may be reached at jeff_goldman@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @JeffSGoldman. Find NJ.com on Facebook. By Intashan Chowdhury Even in a time of government shutdown and gridlock in our nations capital, local government is responsible for responding to the needs of the public at-large and the communities that benefit from steady services and sustained quality-of-life initiatives. The buck stops at the municipal building, where the implementation of sound policy goals and management practices directly impacts the lives of those we serve. With many longtime, Baby-Boomer employees retiring at increased rates across all sectors, municipal government has also had to fill those vacant seats. A new generation of adaptive and innovative talent has been steadily stepping into government at all levels and across the country. With this change in perspective comes a shift in the municipal narrative and management of changes in federal and state regulations, technology, cultural demographics, value trends and the needs of citizens. These changes call for young, energetic and pragmatic professionals ready and willing to get involved and take their seat at the table. Im 22-years-old and Ive been afforded a seat at the table after Mayor Mohamed T. Khairullah gave me the opportunity to lead Prospect Parks municipal operations as borough administrator, becoming the youngest person in New Jersey to ever hold such a seat. Under Khairullahs mentorship, I became involved with municipal government in Prospect Park, a small town niched in the heart of Passaic County. I first met Khairullah as a student in his financial literacy class at Passaic County Technical Institute. Little did I know, seven years later, I would be serving the borough under his leadership. For three years prior to my appointment, he and I worked closely to meet the needs of the borough community, during which time I often filled multiple roles in multiple departments to achieve that end. My history with Prospect Park and background in government as a policy fellow and legislative intern has given me a unique perspective with which I serve the dynamic needs of the borough. I oversee a staff of 26 dedicated men and women, as well as the boroughs $6.5 million budget, as borough administrator. The employees I oversee appointed by the mayor are representative of the various ethnic communities in and around Passaic County, and alongside them, I am proud to represent my Bengali community. As a first-generation American of Bangladeshi descent, my worldview is largely informed by my upbringing in a modest working-class home in Paterson. My parents instilled in me a trait that is invaluable, especially today: self-determination and pride in ones cultural heritage. I am thankful to have contributed to the culture of diversity and inclusion at Rutgers University in Newark, the most diverse college campus in the U.S. There, I was able achieve a holistic education in public and non-profit administration, which I leverage every day in service to Prospect Park. My vision for Prospect Park is to provide a supportive and robust foundation for municipal departments as well as the community at-large through professional administration and efficient operations handling. Efficacy is often measured by execution, which is why Im prepared to implement sound policy objectives and continue my service to the public despite stalemate elsewhere. Im proud to share a passion not only for public service but also for effecting progressive change in my community alongside other millennial leaders who have risen to the occasion and taken their seat at the table at all levels of government across the nation. I hope the borough, with my help, becomes a model that fosters excellence and social responsibility in public service not only here but throughout the state and the country. Intashan Chowdhury is borough administrator for Prospect Park. A 2019 candidate for a masters degree in public administration at Rutgers University, he previously interned for U.S. Sen. Cory Booker, State Assemblyman Raj Mukherji, and served as a public policy fellow for Montgomery County, MD Department of Technology Services. Bookmark NJ.com/Opinion. Follow on Twitter @NJ_Opinion and find NJ.com Opinion on Facebook. Get the latest updates right in your inbox. Subscribe to NJ.coms newsletters. Can Americans still have a sensible and friendly political discussion across the partisan divide? The answer is yes, and we intend to prove it. Julie Roginsky, a Democrat, and Mike DuHaime, a Republican, are consultants who have worked on opposite teams for their entire careers yet have remained friends throughout. Here, they discuss the weeks events, with prompts from Tom Moran, editorial page editor of The Star-Ledger. Q. Finally, some movement on the shutdown. Will Democrats agree to fund the wall in return for concessions on the Dreamers and other immigration reforms? DuHaime: Democrats wont move on this shutdown for two reasons. First, they feel they are winning the politics because the president has painted himself into a corner where there is no winning short of a wall. Second, they dont agree on a policy front. They will not trade a temporary DACA fix for a permanent wall. Roginsky: Let's be clear on this: First, Trump made no concessions, unless you think that a terrorist who offers to release a plane full of hostages in exchange for a villa in the South of France has offered "concessions." Second, its a bad deal. The president gets funding for a wall in exchange for a very temporary reprieve for DACA recipients. The poison pill provisions are also racist and untenable: gutting existing asylum laws for children and trafficking victims from Central America, banning asylum for children who legally present themselves at ports of entry, and expanded detention for migrants. Q. Republican hard-liners on immigration scorched President Trumps offer to protect Dreamers for three years, calling it an amnesty. He pushed back, saying this wasnt amnesty, but that amnesty might be part of a larger deal. How unusual was it to see him defy the hard-liners, and what do you make of it? DuHaime: I am not surprised that the President would move to the center. He is a New York real estate guy at heart who donated money to Chuck Schumer and Hillary Clinton. Roginsky: I disagree. There will never be a grand bargain on immigration, because the president will never risk alienating his base. Remember, he caved on a grand bargain twice already because people like Stephen Miller and Ann Coulter pushed him. DuHaime: He already went against Coulter with this proposal, and that's a good thing. Roginsky: This proposal has so many poison pills to make Coulter happy that even she knows that it was never a serious offer that Democrats would accept. Q. In Trenton, Democrats finally agreed on a plan to raise the minimum wage to $15 an hour by 2024, in stages. Id call that Gov. Phil Murphys biggest accomplishment yet. Whats the political fallout? DuHaime: The political fallout will occur when the economy gets worse for low-wage workers. I love this state and people who live here, so I hope it doesnt. But my fear is that we will see what has happened in places like Seattle where lower-wage workers went from not making enough to making nothing at all because their jobs went away. Cashiers at fast food restaurants, grocery stores and retail outlets are being replaced by iPads because they are cheaper. Roginsky: Republicans love to talk about trickle-down economics, so heres my version of trickle-down: One million New Jerseyans will have more income in their pockets, which will be spent patronizing New Jersey businesses. And if businesses are moving to replace people with computers, it is because it is more cost effective, regardless of the wage being $8 or $15. Q. Middlesex County prosecutors announced Wednesday they will not press charges against Al Alvarez, the former Murphy Administration official accused of rape by Katie Brennan. Will that defuse this crisis for Murphy? Roginsky: The issue Middlesex County Prosecutor Andrew Carey was charged with investigating is whether Al Alvarez committed a crime. That has nothing to do with Governor Murphy, so I dont know that this affects the political impact of how his office handled the allegation. But lets take a look at Mr. Careys actions in this case and contrast it with another high profile case he successfully prosecuted several years ago, where he got a grand jury to indict Michelle Lodzinski, a woman who was ultimately convicted of killing her five-year-old son. In that case, there were no eyewitnesses or fresh complaint witnesses. There was no forensic evidence of any kind and two medical examiners could not establish a cause of death. The victim, for obvious reasons, could not testify. The murder had happened literally a quarter-century earlier and no new forensic evidence had come to light in the twenty-five years since to tie Lodzinski to the murder. And despite that, Andrew Carey thought there was enough evidence to bring the case to trial. In the Katie Brennan matter, Andrew Careys office allegedly failed to interview fresh complaint witnesses who heard from the survivor right after the alleged assault. His office failed to bring the survivor before the grand jury -- a survivor who, I think we can all agree, sounded immensely credible when she testified about her ordeal in Trenton last month. His office apparently failed to even follow the Attorney Generals guidelines about notifying the victim of their reasons for declining to prosecute. Why? No wonder sexual assault victims are hesitant to come forward. Women still dont get a fair shake in the system. DuHaime: It is so hard to speculate what a prosecutor knows. I dont know why he made this decision, and we would all like to hear more about his rationale. Julie rightly points out that some of the information about the investigation thats been reported in the press makes it feel less than adequate. I am certain the prosecutor disagrees. I agree that it doesnt impact Gov. Murphy, except that it prompts another round of questions about how this entire incident and its aftermath were handled. No matter what his next press conference is about, the first questions will all be about this, meaning he will not be making any news on policy, just his reaction to this ongoing slow-motion story. Q. Legislators have spent weeks investigating Brennans charge, and they still they cant find out who hired Alvarez to a plum job in the administration. Murphy wont speak about it when asked. I find all that bizarre. Is it me? DuHaime: Yes, you are bizarre, Tom, but you may also be right. Perhaps it will be answered by the internal investigation his office is conducting. Roginsky: I love when you ask us to psychoanalyze you, Tom. I actually don't really care who hired Alvarez. I care about why he remained in his job long after Brennan was assured he would go. DuHaime: Not only did he keep his job, he got a 21% raise a few months into it. How is that even possible? Q. How badly is Murphy being hurt by the investigation? DuHaime: There does not seem to be any evidence that points to a failure directly of. Murphy personally, but it looks like mismanagement, which leads to the guy in charge. To this point, it does not seem that he has taken any hit with female voters. Roginsky: Mike is largely right, although I haven't seen any polling after Pete Cammarano's and Matt Platkin's testimony on his standing with female voters. I believe the governor when he says that he did not know about this until he was told last fall. The question is what hell do about the people who did know and failed to protect him by refusing to resolve this issue immediately and appropriately. DuHaime: You had me at "Mike is largely right." Q. Rudy Giuliani said last weekend that negotiations to build a Trump Tower in Moscow continued through the entire election campaign, and then later said he was only speaking hypothetically. Politico reports that Trump is exasperated with him, over this and similar gaffes. Mike, you know Giuliani well and ran his presidential campaign in 2008. Is he losing a step? DuHaime: Nope, there were similar questions when Rudy made revelations about campaign finance issues and Michael Cohen, which people thought were unforced errors at the time. It turns out that he knew more than others about what was coming next, so he was getting in front of the story. Remember, Rudy doesnt care what the press or even most people think of him. He does what he thinks is right. His client used to be New York City when he fought to clean it up even when people questioned his tactics. His client now is Donald Trump. Rudy will not care if people criticize him if it helps the president in the long term. Roginsky: It sounds like Rudy has been thinking more about his eternal soul than about whether we all think he is losing a step. As he told the New Yorker, I am afraid it will be on my gravestone: Rudy Giuliani: He lied for Trump.' Somehow, I dont think that will be it. But, if it is, so what do I care? Ill be dead. I figure I can explain it to St. Peter. He will be on my side. Maybe St. Peter can absolve him from lying on behalf of Trump but as a mere mortal, I would suggest that he resist the earthly temptation of needing to see his own face on TV and quit saying things that only make his client look guilty as sin. DuHaime: Rudy will go down in history as the most consequential American elected official, excluding presidents, in the second half of the 20th century. His work transformed Americas greatest city and changed how cities across America are governed, for the better, by Democrats or Republicans. I will be content with that. Roginsky: Lets hope St. Peter is as understanding as you are. But I seem to recall that Fraud was Dantes Eighth Circle of Hell. And theres no question that he is helping Donald Trump perpetuate a fraud of the American people day in and day out. A New Jersey native accused of kidnapping a 23-year-old woman and keeping her in his apartment for three days appeared Wednesday in a Massachusetts court, according to MassLive. Pena, who was arrested Tuesday and lives in a housing development in Boston, was held without bail and ordered to undergo a 20-day mental health evaluation at a Massachusetts psychiatric hospital until his next court date on Feb. 11, the report stated. Officials did not say which New Jersey town Pena formerly called home. Pena was accused of guiding Olivia Ambrose, of Wenham, Massachusetts, toward his Charlestown apartment on Saturday night where he kept her against her will, the report said. Ambrose was found alive on Tuesday in Penas apartment and taken to a local hospital for evaluation, according to another MassLive report. Police told MassLive that Ambroses phone was originally taken from her, but that she was able to retrieve it and text her mother while authorities tracked it to help lead them to the apartment. In Charlestown District Court on Wednesday, a clinician said that Pena sucked his thumbs, prayed for forgiveness, and admitted to hearing voices and having paranoid thoughts. A judge ordered that Pena should be committed to Bridgewater Hospital until his arraignment, the article stated. Chris Sheldon may be reached at csheldon@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @chrisrsheldon Find NJ.com on Facebook. Have a tip? Tell us. nj.com/tips Get the latest updates right in your inbox. Subscribe to NJ.coms newsletters. JERSEY CITY Amy DeGise, the school teacher elected last year to chair the Hudson County Democratic Organization, is resigning from Jersey Citys school board. DeGise, 33, said in a statement she is stepping down effective Feb. 1 to focus on her HCDO role. DeGise was elected Democratic chair in June after a fierce battle with Union City Mayor and state Sen. Brian Stack over control of the county party. Ill never stop being an advocate for Jersey City schools and students, but at this point I believe the district would be better served by a new trustee while I work to build on the success our Hudson County Democratic Organization had last year, said DeGise. DeGise submitted her letter of resignation on Wednesday night. A social studies teacher at Hudson County Prep and a daughter of Hudson County Executive Tom DeGise, Amy DeGise was first appointed to the nine-member school board in 2017 to fill a vacancy. She won a three-year term later that year that expires in December 2020. The board has about two months to appoint DeGises replacement or it remains vacant until January. In November voters will decide who fills out the final year of her term. DeGises resignation will not do much to change the political makeup of the school board, which is dominated by allies of the local teachers union. While DeGise has occasionally sided with members of the board who are allies of Schools Superintendent Marcia V. Lyles, she also voted earlier this month in favor of a resolution that effectively sacks Lyles at the end of her current contract. This will be the third resignation from the board in just over two years. Angel Valentin stepped down in July and John Reichart resigned in August 2016. DeGise said her focus will be on developing new ways for residents to get involved in the Democratic Party and bring about meaningful progressive change. Terrence T. McDonald may be reached at tmcdonald@jjournal.com. Follow him on Twitter @terrencemcd. Find The Jersey Journal on Facebook. Q. My parents have been married for 50 years, unhappily for the past 20 years. Back then, my mother started having an affair that continues today. My father knows, neither wants to divorce and they keep their finances separate. They used the same attorney for their estate plans, but the attorney doesn't know about their "arrangement." My mother has moderate dementia, and now her "friend" manages her online portfolio. Although my father has power of attorney for my mother and knows my mother's declining mental status, he will not declare my mother legally incompetent. Should I tell the attorney? -- Concerned A. This is certainly a sticky situation. You said your father has a power of attorney for your mother. A power of attorney is a written document by which an individual (the principal) grants the authority to one or more other individuals (the agent or attorney-in-fact) to perform specified acts on behalf of the principal, generally dealing with the principal's property or finances, whether or not the principal is under a disability, said Catherine Romania, an estate planning attorney with Witman Stadtmauer in Florham Park. She said a properly prepared power of attorney will generally avoid the necessity of a guardianship proceeding should the principal become disabled, including as a result of dementia. "In order to utilize a power of attorney to access online accounts, the document must specifically refer to the authority over digital assets and/or online financial accounts," Romania said. "Financial institutions with online access to accounts may also have Terms of Service Agreements or online tools which allow account holders to designate third-party users or authorized representatives to act in the event of his or her disability or death." It's not clear whether your mom has given her "friend" the actual authority to manage her online investments through Terms of Service Agreements, or merely tacit approval, Romania said. If you plan to get more involved without your mother's or father's knowledge, this whole thing may not go the way you hope. And if your father doesn't want to use the power of attorney to step in, you don't have many options. You also didn't indicate if this arrangement concerns your father like it concerns you. It's possible they have discussed the arrangement in greater detail than you know. You might feel better after talking to your father some more - if he's willing to share. Also consider sitting down with your mother when she's able to have the conversation and take it from there. Email your questions to Ask@NJMoneyHelp.com. Karin Price Mueller writes the Bamboozled column for NJ Advance Media and is the founder of NJMoneyHelp.com. Follow NJMoneyHelp on Twitter @NJMoneyHelp. Find NJMoneyHelp on Facebook. Sign up for NJMoneyHelp.com's weekly e-newsletter. Niagara Falls, NY (14301) Today Partly cloudy with afternoon showers or thunderstorms. A few storms may be severe. High 82F. Winds SW at 10 to 20 mph. Chance of rain 40%.. Tonight Partly cloudy skies. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. Low 61F. Winds SSW at 5 to 10 mph. Owners of multi-family houses would get tax breaks and there would be a single statewide property-tax rate for motor vehicles under a wide-ranging finance proposal submitted to the General Assembly by Senate President Pro Tempore Martin M. Looney. Republicans warned that the price tag could be hundreds of millions of dollars in a shift of the statewide burden to more-affluent towns. For up-to-date information on public policy issues, sign up for the CT Politics newsletter. But Looney, D-New Haven, said that the legislation is a move to finally revamp the states property-tax system. People believe its the single-most problematic tax, Looney said Thursday. Its one of the things that Gov. Lamont talked about in his campaign, and I expect hell address some of the same issues in his budget next month. The legislation has several major parts, including: * A $50,000 tax exemption for one- to four-family owner-occupied residences. * A one-mill statewide tax $1 on each $1,000 of value on real estate. * Repeal of the local property tax on vehicles, with a new statewide vehicular tax of between 15 and 19 mills, and revenue going into a fund for reimbursing towns and cities that host tax-free institutions such as colleges, state buildings and hospitals. * An increase in special education and public school grants. * A $25,000 personal property tax exemption for businesses. Looney said that in the case of an urban house worth $200,000 and currently assessed at $140,000, under this legislation its assessment would drop by $50,000 to a total of $90,000. In a more affluent town, the assessment on a million-dollar house, currently about $700,000, would drop to $650,000. Its the same homestead exemption of $50,000, which seemed to make sense, said Looney, who in recent years supported a law capping car taxes at 37 mills. I think we need to go further with car-tax reform, he said, noting that the proposed statewide 1 mill tax on real property would generate enough revenue to return to the towns and cities enhanced education funding as well as reimbursement for the loss of local revenue for hosting the tax-exempt properties. This is a comprehensive way to address what we all know is the fundamental problem in the state: the property tax, Looney said. For years weve talked around this problem and we havent faced it. Senate Minority Leader Len Fasano, R-North Haven, recalled Thursday that a similar break for homeowners in Hartford, back a dozen years or more exempting a percentage of property taxes was stopped after associated higher taxes on businesses forced jobs to leave the city. Fasano said he was concerned that Looneys proposal might discourage business again. The budgets for municipalities is mill rate times assessed value equals how much they can spend, Fasano said. If your assessed property goes down, the mill rate must go up in the town to make up for the money theyre losing. The car-tax portion of Looneys proposal is the same, he said. I appreciate what Sen. Looneys trying to do for the folks in his district, but it would have a long-term negative effect on the state and will be exacerbated in our cities, Fasano said. State Rep. Chris Davis, R-Ellington, ranking member of the tax-writing Finance, Revenue and Bonding Commission, said Thursday that while Looneys bill starts the legislative conversation, theres little he could support and little that would help his constituents. Davis said that there seems to be no mechanism to keep towns and cities whole on the proposed $50,000 exemption, other than a general goal to provide funding for education and the payment in lieu of taxes for tax-exempt properties. The idea of having a statewide mill rate higher that the local mill rate in certain towns, on top of local property taxes, will be hard on many of my constituents, especially those on fixed incomes, he said. I dont see that we need to do something to reduce property taxes on the local level when we could provide them relief from unfunded (state) mandates. I dont see this accomplishing what Sen. Looney says. Indeed it may lead to more taxes. Joe DeLong, executive director of the Connecticut Conference of Municipalities, took a wait-and-see approach to the bill, praising Looney for starting a new statewide discussion on the issues of taxation, which are often the focus of many public-policy discussions. The more that we can get discussions with different parties at the table, its a good thing, DeLong said in a phone interview Thursday morning. We need to bring the people impacted together, but also the General Assembly. DeLong, whose group represents the states towns and cities in the Capitol, said Thursday that the many parts of Looneys proposal indicates that the bill is likely a way to get all the issues into play for the long, 23-week budget-setting session that ends June 5. First off, Im not going to be critical out of the gates, DeLong said. This is an avenue for conversation about things that need to be talked about. If they want to make the car tax fairer, wed love to have that conversation. He said he is concerned that in recent years, while lawmakers initially expressed interest in thorny issues and held initial meetings to gather opinions, elected officials often dropped the ball and gradually stopped meeting. The more that we can get discussions with different parties at the table, its a good thing, DeLong said. Proposals to eliminate local car taxes date back at least 10 years, to the administration of Republican Gov. M. Jodi Rell. State Rep. Jason Rojas, D-East Hartford, co-chairman of the tax-writing Finance, Revenue and Bonding Committee, said Looneys proposal is an attempt to accomplish what generations of state lawmakers and governors have tried to do and failed: Reform the states local property-tax system. Weve never really been able to do it, Rojas said. The overall spirit of it is to try to find equity in how property taxes are levied. There are huge differences in mill rates. Searching for an overall attempt to create equity is a good way to look at it, he said. The current local taxes on personal vehicles represents as much as $900 million a year in revenue for towns and cities. Mill rates vary throughout the state, with cities such as Bridgeport and Hartford among the highest, while Greenwich is among the lowest. A mill rate of 1 would have a $1 tax per $1,000 in property value, or $20 on a car valued at $20,000. Greenwichs mill rate was 11.2 in 2018, while Bridgeports was 54.37 for real estate and 37 for vehicles. Fairfields mill rate was 25.45. HARTFORD On Election Day, only one voter spoke up about the Stratford ballot error that has sparked a court case, the formation of a little-used legislative committee, and will possibly lead to a new election in the 120th House District. At 2:35 p.m., the man waved over election officials to his voting booth in the gymnasium at Bunnell High School, wondering why the 120th District candidate he wanted to vote for was not on his ballot. For up-to-date information on public policy issues, sign up for the CT Politics newsletter. Moderator Mal Starratt looked at the ballot, intended for voters in the 122nd District, whose voters were casting ballots elsewhere in the Bunnell gym. Starratt, 80, testified to these events Thursday before the General Assemblys Committee on Contested Elections. The four-member panel heard nearly five hours of testimony from five key witnesses with firsthand knowledge of Election Day events in Stratford, including the towns Democratic and Republican registrars of voters. It was the panels first day hearing from witnesses, none of whom disputed a pivotal fact: 76 voters who cast ballots at Bunnell High School in the 120th District were wrongly given ballots for the 122nd District. The committee is charged with deciding whether a new election should be held in the 120th District. State Rep. Phil Young, D-Stratford, who was sworn in two weeks ago, won the election by 13 votes over Republican Jim Feehan. We know those ballots went in incorrectly, said Rick Marcone, Stratfords Democratic registrar. The clerk who gave the man who raised the red flag the incorrect ballot and likely handed out the others too was a 16-year-old high school student, too young to vote herself. State law sets 16 as the minimum age to serve as an election official. Starratt, the moderator at Bunnell on Election Day, said the teen handed out the wrong ballots. The girl was not subpoenaed to testify. Ballot clerk Peter Rusatsky, 61, testified Friday he saw the girl on the verge of tears that afternoon. Starratt testified that only he and Democratic Assistant Registrar Joseph Collier had access to the blue cabinets in which the ballots for the 120th and 122nd Districts were stored. The ballots for each district were in packets in side-by-side boxes. Therefore, it seems only Starratt or Collier who will testify Friday could have handed the girl the incorrect packet of ballots, which she then distributed. Starratt speculated that a printing error could have also caused the problem. Regardless of who is at fault, Starratt told Hearst Connecticut Media he took responsibility. I feel bad about it. Its on my watch, he said. However, there are some things that you cant control. In their testimonies, Starratt and Rusatsky disagreed over whether the clerks were given any instructions to check the district number located at the top of each ballot. Starratt, who has been a moderator since 2000, said he gave specific directions to all the clerks in a group meeting before polls opened on the morning of Election Day. I emphasized that we had ballots that were not different colored (for each district) and they might get mixed up, said Starratt. We emphasized look at the top of the ballot, look which district it is: 120 or 122. Rusatsky testified that he was the first to arrive at the polling place that morning and he received no training of any kind on Election Day or before. I didnt even understand there were two separate districts, he said. I was just told what my job was. Thats what I did. There was zero no instruction to the ballot clerks to check any numbers in the corner of that ballot. This election marked the first time in many years that ballots were not color coded by district, said Lou Decilio, Stratfords Republican registrar of voters. He said thats because ballots had to be reprinted after a minor party gubernatorial candidate withdrew his running mate days before the state had to start printing ballots. The committee has until Feb. 4 to issue their recommendation on whether a new election should be held. emunson@hearstmediact.com; Twitter: @emiliemunson As a graduate of Amistad High School and a student at Achievement First for eight years, Ive been a witness to a lot of strengths and also the necessity for change. My high school like all schools has its challenges, but as someone who has seen truth to Amistads promises, I feel compelled to speak out against those who have sought the degradation of a place that I and so many others call home. This is my Amistad. I am one of many people who have seen firsthand what this institution means for my community. My time at Achievement First not only shaped me as a student, it helped me find what it means to be educated, black and a woman, and what it means to occupy space in a meaningful way. Amistad taught me what it means to work hard not only how to annotate complex texts and go to office hours, but also how to motivate myself and work until Ive satisfied my own goals, and not the ones that people have set out for me. I learned that there are no barriers to what you can achieve as long as youre driven. I was taught to think for myself, and to think critically. Amistad is a place that made me want to create change in ways that matter. It set me up with incredible summer programs while still in high school, I studied creative writing at Bryn Mawr College, did nanotechnology research at Pennsylvania State University and developed a keen interest in ethnographic research at Skidmore College. Without these experiences, I would not have been prepared to study at Haverford College, where I am now a junior and political science major. It is because of the foundation that Amistad has given me that I am able to be the best version of myself. I chose political science because of my passion for change around the world, and my commitment to creating change for students like me. I believe in supporting institutions like Achievement First because they help us. This is the real narrative: Amistad changed my life for the better. Amistad is where I learned drive, compassion and ambition. Amistad was the fuel I needed to climb the ladder to college, and will always be the origin of who I am today. This isnt a tokenizing story, or one that was forced upon me this is my truth. Challenges are a part of growth, and AF is no less of an institution because of that. Issues dont exist so that people who want to see us fail can degrade us. Challenges are for the students, the leaders, and the community to engage in and fix. My favorite quote comes from Muhammad Ali, who states, Its lack of faith that makes people afraid of meeting challenges, and I believed in myself. I encourage you to continue to believe I know I will. Jami LaRue is an Achievement First Amistad High graduate from New Haven. NEW HAVEN Quantum Circuits, a company that came out of research at Yale University, is expected to boost New Havens profile as the site of cutting-edge research on quantum computing that seeks practical applications for this nascent technology. The 3-year-old company, co-founded by Robert Schoelkopf, held a ribbon-cutting ceremony Thursday to celebrate the opening of its state-of-the-art labs and in-house manufacturing facility at 25 Science Park. From one employee in 2015 to 20 scientists and engineers today, more than half of whom have doctorates, it expects to grow significantly in the next several years. Quantum computing potentially will be able to produce calculations orders of magnitudes faster and more powerful than todays supercomputers, according to the company. One observer at the celebration compared the difference between current computers and quantum computers to the huge industrial advance from the horse and buggy to the combustion engine. Schoelkopf, who is the Sterling professor of applied physics at Yale, and chief scientist at Quantum Circuits, explained that the applications include drug designs for biotech, logistics, energy, cryptography and machine learning. Other practical applications include weather prediction, driverless car navigation and economic market analysis. He also gave an example of a problem in which quantum computing could help. Lets say you are a biologist or a doctor and you think a molecule could be a new drug. You want to know if it could ... be created. If you want to do that, you basically have to do trial and error in the laboratory. But with a quantum computer, we could potentially design it or explore a whole host of possibilities beforehand and sort of cut the corner on all of the actual chemistry, Schoelkopf said. He said it cuts down on the needle in a haystack approach to scientific discovery. He said researchers now are at a tipping point in the technology and know how to build machines that will take on problems previously not computable. The co-founder said currently at its labs they are making silicone chips and testing them there. Schoelkopf said, if you look at the life of conventional computing, no one predicted what is possible today from streaming music to communicating over a smartphone. Similarly, in quantum computing, once we get them into peoples hands multiple new uses will present themselves, he said. Schoelkopf said eventually they will have their own machines hosted from the lab that can be accessed over the Internet. Schoelkopf and the companys other co-founders, Michel Devoret and Luigi Frunzio, all are members of Yales applied physics department and pioneers in the field of computing with superconducting circuits. Quantum Circuits said it has raised some $18 million in investments. Peter Schiffer, vice provost for research and a professor in applied physics at Yale, said they are grateful for federal investments as well as the support of Connecticut Innovations in funding startups coming out of university research. Canaan, which has offices in Westport, and Sequoia are among the private investors putting money into quantum computing companies. Dan Ciporin, general partner at Canaan, said his company has put more than $100 million into early-stage venture capital investment in Connecticut. Gov. Ned Lamont came to Thursdays ceremony to underscore the states interest in seeing companies such as Quantum Circuits advance. He said as a sociology major in the 1970s at Yale College, he was skating on thin ice in grasping quantum computing principles, but he supports the Yale model in which research is turned into companies that create jobs. Lamont said Connecticut several generations ago was known as the most entrepreneurial in the country . He said that spirit is back in the form of such companies as Quantum Circuits. He expected that it will turbo charge the path to commercialization in the relatively near future. He assured the company that he would make sure it gets the right introductions. We will do everything we can to get the talent they need, the governor said. mary.oleary@hearstmediact.com; 203-641-2577 The following are recent arrests released by the New Haven Police Department on Jan. 24, 2019. Jan. 21 A 30-year-old Terrace Street man risk of injury to a child, assault and threatening. Jan. 22 A 31-year-old Ferry Street man was charged with stalking, breach of peace, reckless endangerment, threatening, criminal mischief, reckless driving. A 38-year-old Hamden man was charged with illegal possession of a weapon in a motor vehicle, possession of less than half an ounce of marijuana, carrying a pistol without a permit, criminal possession of a firearm and failure to keep plates readable. A 24-year-old Hazel St. man was charged with possession of less half an ounce of marijuana, possession with intent, carrying a pistol without a permit and illegal possession of a weapon in a motor vehicle. A 24-year-old Meriden woman was charged with assault, breach of peace and criminal mischief. A 39-year-old Whalley Avenue man with illegal possession of a weapon in a motor vehicle and criminal possession of a firearm. A 21-year-old Hamden woman was charged with assault and breach of peace. A 24-year-old Clay St. man was charged burglary and violation of probation. As of January 2019, Hearst Connecticut Media does not include names in online police blotters. NEW HAVEN After years of scientific study, a New Haven company is on the verge of going to clinical trials to prove it has a drug that will reverse paralysis. But that breakthrough is being stymied by a different type of paralysis at the White House and in the Congress during the struggle to find a way to reopen the government and allow this study and others to advance. Erika R. Smith, CEO of ReNetX Bio, Inc., Wednesday made her case to the states two U.S. Sen., Chris Murphy and Richard Blumenthal, who came to her office on Church Street. Smith said the groundbreaking work of Dr. Stephen Strittmatter at the Yale School of Medicine has evolved to a new drug, Axer 204, that has shown it is possible to regrow the neural connection between the brain and the spinal cord. She said the company needs the approval of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to advance to clinical trials for humans after successfully showing nerve regrowth in animals in work that started in the early 2000s. Smith said 41 percent of the FDA is shut down, including those offices that would rule on a new investigational drug. She said it was her understanding that projects in the pipeline would continue. The normal turnaround to get approval to proceed is 30 days. Smith expected to submit their application in April and start the trials in May, but it was uncertain how the backlog due to the shutdown will push that forward. She predicted that once they start, in two years they should be able to prove the safety and efficacy of Axer 204. Smith told the senators that all these considerations are internal, but serving the patients suffering from paralysis, is the broad piece we are concerned about. She said the company hears from hundreds of patients asking for progress on the drug. Smith said, if needed, the company would move the trials outside the country, although they havent starting planning for such a scenario. I am not going to let this technology not be successful. We have to figure out a way to make that happen, and if we cant do it in the path we have set forward, then we are going to have to make other plans, she told the senators. Neither senator had high hopes that budget votes in the Senate Wednesday to reopen the government would be successful. Murphy said his worry is that if they give in to President Donald Trump in this hostage taking, the president will just shut down the government over and over again just to get what he wants. More News News DC Buzz: DeLauro joins ranks of lawmakers donating pay The government shutdown, which has been going on for more than a month, started after Trump declined to sign a budget until he gets $5.7 billion toward a wall along the southern border with Mexico. Murphy said he is concerned about the effect of an extended shutdown on the over-all economy. If investors are all of a sudden faced with regular FDA shutdowns, I imagine they will look for other places to put their money. It is risky enough, for investors to underwrite pharmaceutical advances, Murphy said. Blumenthal said the shutdown is not just hurting the 800,000 federal workers furloughed or working without pay. Like Murphy he feared the ripple effect. In Connecticut, biotech is part of our DNA. We dont have gold or diamond mines. We have smart people who are inventing things, Blumenthal said. When life-saving drugs cant come to patients, its unconscionable. An animated Murphy remarked, What does this company have to do with building a wall? He said it makes no sense to stop funding the FDA that approves drugs and inspects food safety. Smith said the company, as of now, is facing practical issues. She said the material to be used in the trials has a shelf life; there are contracts with the clinic sites in place and as a small firm, they have to make sure they have the funds to continue to pay staff. Every day that this goes on, puts uncertainty in our minds, she said. There are around 300,000 people in the United States with chronic spinal cord injuries, Smith said, with about 17,000 new injuries occurring every year. She said they tend to be very young men who are injured in accidents or playing sports. Smith said beyond the obvious personal cost to individuals, there is a broader cost of millions per patient in medical care and loss of jobs. Smith said her company has the utmost confidence they will be successful if they can keep moving ahead. She said, depending on the extent of the spinal injury, using the new drug could mean an individual will be able to use a muscle that was impossible before. That could be as fundamental as being able to dress or feed oneself. This is something that truly, on all levels, could be incredibly valuable, Smith said. Now, only physical therapy is available to those who are injured, and that is not a cure. mary.oleary@hearstmediact.com; 203-741-2577. BRANFORD The attorney for former Branford police officer Luigi Amasino said Wednesday that Amasino has no intention to appeal a judges decision dismissing his wrongful termination lawsuit. Superior Court Judge Sheila Ozalis, who heard the case in New Haven, granted the towns motion for summary judgment, opting to dismiss the case without a full trial. We lost, said Amasinos lawyer, John R. Williams. Needless to say, were disappointed. But Mr. Amasino and I both know that its the nature of litigation sometimes you win and sometimes you lose. Chief of Police Kevin Halloran declined to comment. The decision, dated Dec. 7, was first reported by the Branford Seven online news site. Amasino spent 10 years as a Branford police officer, serving for part of that time as a canine officer. He resigned on Jan. 6, 2017, after Halloran ordered him to serve a two-day suspension on Dec. 6, 2016, for alleged violations of department rules. The unpaid suspension, which Amasino served on Dec. 14 and 15, 2016, stemmed from Amasinos response to a Nov. 21, 2016, complaint regarding the violation of a protective order, according to the judges decision. The Dec. 6, 2016, hearing resulted in conclusions that Amasino violated department rules concerning response to crimes of family violence, wearable video recorders, insubordination and being late for roll call. Amasino alleged in his lawsuit that on Dec. 9, 2016, Halloran threatened to destroy the plaintiffs career as a police officer if the plaintiff did not withdraw a grievance related to the suspension. He also alleged Halloran undertook a series of vindictive and discriminatory disciplinary actions against Amasino, threatening to fire him and have his Police Officer Standards and Training certification revoked if he didnt resign. The judges decision says that in a separate incident on Dec. 10, 2016 after Amasino was suspended but before he filed the grievance he fell asleep in his police cruiser while on duty in the early morning. That triggered a sensor in the cruiser, activated the vehicles overhead lights and prompting a civilian to call 911. Amasino later told another police officer that he was outside the car walking his police dog when the alarm went off, but he later admitted that he had fallen asleep on duty something confirmed on video and initially was embarrassed to admit it. An internal affairs investigation later found on Jan. 11, 2017, that Amasino engaged in conduct unbecoming of an officer. He alleged in his lawsuit that his resignation was coerced. The judge found that while Amasino said he felt threatened by Halloran to either resign or be fired, the parties agreed that Halloran never delivered such an ultimatum. In addition, this court finds that there are no genuine issues of material fact that support the plaintiffs claim that the defendant intentionally created such an intolerable work environment that a reasonable person would feel forced to resign, Ozalis wrote. Ozalis dismissed the case after finding an insufficient evidentiary basis to raise a genuine issue of material fact, she wrote. mark.zaretsky@hearstmediact.com HAMDEN The Legislative Council ratified the appointment of Gary Merwede as the towns Fire Chief Tuesday, offering praise and thanks to the new department leader. Merwede, who has been a Hamden firefighter for nearly 25 years and most recently served as deputy chief, succeeds David Berardesca, who retired Oct. 12. Council members made a point of applauding Merwede Tuesday, as each, in turn, offered praise and plaudits. Reading the five or six pages of Chief Merwedes resume just proves that he is exceptionally prepared, exceptionally qualified for this position, said Minority Leader Marjorie Bonadies. Councilor Michael Colaiacovo said he met Merwede in 2005, when his neighbor smelled gas in her home on Thanksgiving Day. Merwede made sure the womans concerns were assuaged, he said. Ive watched Gary throughout these 14 years or so move up in rank. I was, like everybody else, totally impressed when he would come to a council meeting or a budget meeting, how prepared he is, said Colaiacovo. I just want to congratulate him. I know that everyone in this room wishes him the best. I want to thank Chief Merwede for being exemplary of what a public servant is, said Councilor Justin Farmer. I really appreciate your leadership and your ability to lead in a way that builds community. In a time of so much uncertainty on every level, its nice that Hamden can be so proud of our public servants. And I think that you stand at the top of that list, among a few others, who have such leadership and have provided just the top-notch quality of public service to our town for so many years, said Councilor Brad Macdowall. Im so happy that well have you as chief. Im really impressed with your qualifications the work that youve done coming up through the ranks in Hamden but even more impressed with your dedication to Hamden, the love that you have for the entire community, the entire town, said Councilor Lauren Garrett. Im just really thrilled for you. Councilors Benita Rowe-Lewis and President Michael McGarry praised Merwedes ability to communicate and share knowledge. Councilor John DeRosa summed it up in offering his commendation. Were all impressed with you you know that, said DeRosa. Merwedes appointment was approved unanimously. Councilor Elizabeth Wetmore, who has family ties to the department, abstained reluctantly. Merwede thanked the council members for their approval and, in his moment of adulation, praised his fellow firefighters. He said the mentoring he received during his tenure with the department had been instrumental. The Hamden Fire Department is rich in history. It has earned the respect of our colleagues in neighboring communities, in the state of Connecticut and beyond. The skill level of our firefighters, our paramedics, our fire officers are second to none, and their dedication in providing the best possible service to our community with professionalism, strength, empathy and ethics is evident at every call that we respond to, said Merwede. I am truly humbled by what has been accomplished by the members that have come before me. And it is my commitment to the mayor, to this legislative body, to our entire workforce, to the community that we serve that I will earn the confidence that you have placed in me this evening. Merwede will take the oath of his new office in the Memorial Town Hall rotunda at 2 p.m. Friday, according to a release from the town. Mayor Curt B. Leng first appointed him to the position of fire chief Dec. 20. william.lambert@hearstmediact.com HAMDEN Casual chicken restaurant Roost opened on Whitney Avenue in August 2018, so when a grand opening and ribbon-cutting was held recently in January, we pointed out the five-month gap to Roost co-founder Ellis Reilly and joked that he might have set some kind of record. Were actually part of Elis Restaurant group, so this is part of a different foray for us, said Reilly, who hosted with other Elis officials and friends, including his father Shawn Reilly (director of Elis operations) and Pete and Steve Ciardiello well known to Hamdenites. This is the first time weve tried this service style, so we kind of went easy going into it. Chicken filet sandwiches, salad bowls, street fries and Two Roads beer were sampled by some visitors, and Mayor Curt Balzano Leng cut a ribbon outside in a brief photo op. Service is like Shake Shack, said Ellis Reilly, where you order at the front counter, get your food and choose a place to sit. Theres also a ping pong table in a front corner section. Cooks at Roost prepare chicken with a mix of sous vide techniques (heating wrapped chicken in water) and frying, creating a juicy filet with a crispy crust. A tasting was very good, thanks also to the potato roll, bacon, American cheese and chipotle aioli on it. There are $5 and $5.50 shakes on the menu, too, but with the salads and grain bowls as options, Reilly said, We try to be a little healthier. The Super Chicken sandwich ($6.50) features fried filet, pickles and tangy sauce on a potato bun. Another choice is the K-Pop Chicken topped with cabbage slaw and Korean ketchup. Not into chicken? Theres a banh mi sandwich with pulled pork, slaw and Kewpie mayo and a Cowboy Club with BBQ pork rib, not to mention a veggie burger all in the $8-$8.50 range. Reilly, with a Fairfield design firm, planned the look of Roost and came up with the menu. He said hes looking to open a second Roost, potentially in New Haven or Fairfield County (The Roost in Darien is unrelated to Elis). He said the craft beer addition is in line with recent trends and fits in with the food revolution to be a little quieter, a little more relaxed but youre trying to get a quality meal at a little lower price so youre not killing yourself trying to (dine out). Roost may have taken its time to formally mark its opening, but there is another news item; it is starting catering. And another busy area for Roost has been Quinnipiac University a mile or so up Whitney Avenue. They were definitely in mind when we put this together, Reilly said. Elis Restaurant Group was founded in 1994 with the opening of flagship Elis on Whitney in Hamden, then Elis Brick Oven Pizza and Market across School Street. Since then, Elis has opened versions of the original concept in Branford, downtown Milford and in Orange. jamarante@nhregister.com; @Joeammo on Twitter A problem with a natural gas transmission line that has left thousands of Rhode Island residents without access to the fuel is being attributed, in part, to a high demand for natural gas. Marylee Hanley, a spokeswoman with the Canadian company that owns the Algonquin Pipeline, said the pressure problem in the transmission line that forced suspension of natural gas service to National Grid customers in Newport and Middletown, R.I., Monday likely was caused by a variety of factors. Hanley works for Enbridge, the Canadian company that operates the Algonquin transmission line. Our initial analysis indicates that the primary causes of the loss of natural gas service ... were an unusually high demand for natural gas on the Algonquin pipeline due to cold temperatures that exceeded the systems supply capability, coupled with an equipment malfunction, which temporarily restricted available natural gas supplies, Hanley said. There appears to be a number of other contributing factors that may have exacerbated the conditions leading to the loss of service. We continue to collaborate with the local gas company and assist in any way we can with gas service restoration efforts. Rhode Island Gov. Gina Raimondo declared a state of emergency in the Newport area Monday after the problem occurred. The Associated Press reported Wednesday that National Grid repair crews were going door to door in the area restoring customers natural gas service. The 1,130-mile natural gas transmission pipeline runs through Connecticut, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, New York and New Jersey. A trade group representing Connecticuts home heating oil dealers is calling on Gov. Ned Lamont to shut down an ongoing expansion of the natural gas distribution network in the state. Chris Herb, president of the Connecticut Energy Marketers Association, sent a letter to Lamont Tuesday urging Lamont to issue an Executive Order that would halt all efforts to expand the natural gas distribution network and connecting of new residential and industrial customers. David Bednarz, a spokesman for Lamont, said the governor is reviewing Herbs request. A disaster in Massachussets last year killed an 18-year-old and injured about two-dozen other people. It also left thousands without heat and hot water, in some cases for months. A pressure buildup in the natural gas distribution of Columbia Gas caused explosions and fire that impacted 8,600 customers across three eastern Massachusetts communities. Connecticuts Public Utilities Regulatory Authority in late 2013 gave the go-ahead for the states three natural gas utilities to expand 900 miles of mains to 280,000 customers over a 10-year period. luther.turmelle@hearstmediact.com Canada, Brazil, Peru and Colombia have joined the USA in recognizing Juan Guaido in Venezuela. This is reported by the Global News in Canada. The Miami Herald reported crowds amassed in Sucre, in eastern Caracas one of the eight opposition rallying points. City council member Juan Carlos Vidal said violent clashes overnight with police had some protesters wary of taking the street, yet they still seemed to be showing up in force. The pictures of the crowd at one of the eight locations looks like over 500,000 people. If there are eight such locations then over a million possible a couple of million took to the streets. France24 has footage of the anti-Maduro protests. Warnings and Threats From All Sides The Associated Press reported: US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo warned Venezuelas Nicolas Maduro not to use force against mass demonstrations and urged further international support for the self-declared acting president. Pompeo demands that the military, whose leadership has confirmed its loyalty to Maduro, protect Guaido, a day after deadly street clashes. I reiterate our warning about any decision by remnant elements of the Maduro regime to use violence to repress the peaceful democratic transition, Pompeo says. Russia and China are voicing support for Maduro and warning the US not to intervene. There are articles in the Chinese press that express some concern over the $50 billion in debt owed to China by Venezuela. The articles indicate that China would still expect to be paid back even if there is a change in regime. Maduro gave a 72-hour deadline for US diplomats to leave Venezuela. The US has said it would not comply and is leaving people at the US Embassy. Any attack on the US Embassy would be justification for US intervention. BBC News has reports on Venezuela. BBC News diplomatic correspondent Jonathan Marcus said the US could put the government and its military commanders on notice that any attacks on civilians or stepped-up repression will be closely monitored and documented, with the possibility of some form of international judicial involvement in the future. This action is the subtext of the US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo warning to Maduro. Juan Guaido was briefly detained and then released several days ago. If there was not the clear international attention then Guaido could have just been eliminated. The key is whether Venezuelas military sticks with Maduro. SARATOGA SPRINGS, NY -- Chris Kay, who led the recent reorganization of the New York Racing Association from public to private control after years of turmoil, has been forced to resign. Kays departure comes amid allegations that he used NYRA employees to do maintenance and yard work at his Saratoga Springs home, according to reports in the Daily Racing Form and other sources. That would violate association policy. NYRA, now run as a private nonprofit agency reporting to state regulators, operates the three major thoroughbred tracks in New York: Saratoga Race Course in Saratoga Springs; Belmont Park on Long Island and Aqueduct Racetrack in New York City. Kay came to NYRA in 2013, one year after financial and legal concerns led Gov. Andrew Cuomo to have the state take direct control of the association. In 2012, NYRA was facing bankruptcy and a scandal over the payouts of bets. Kay led the transition back to private control, which was finalized in April 2017. He is credited with several improvements, including restoring financial stability. Under Kay, in 2014 NYRA recorded its first operating surplus in 13 years and then had its first surpluses in back to back years since the mid-1990s, according to its web site. NYRA is one of the largest thoroughbred horse racing organizations in the United States and claims it creates $3 billion in annual economic impact for the state and 19,000 jobs. NYRA announced Wednesday that its board of directors had accepted Kays resignation effective immediately. Senior Vice President David ORourke will be the interim director. Although its is governed by a board of directors, NYRA is regulated by both the New York Gaming Commission and the state Franchise Oversight Board. Don Cazentre writes about Upstate NY gaming and casinos for NYup.com, syracuse.com and The Post-Standard. Reach him at dcazentre@nyup.com, or follow him at NYup.com, on Twitter or Facebook. Jeff Glor is showing his Western New York hometown some Buffalove on national television. The CBS Evening News anchor was spotted wearing a Buffalo tie on Wednesday nights broadcast. A little Buffalove tonight, he tweeted. The tie appeared to be similar to a Buffalo Pattern Neck Tie from Zazzle.com, a design featuring a pattern of buffaloes on a gray background. Buffalo Mayor Byron W. Brown noticed the fashion statement and applauded one of the citys most famous representatives. Thanks for representing your roots, @jeffglor! Lets go, #Buffalo! Brown wrote on Twitter. Glor, 43, grew up in Tonawanda, N.Y., where his first job was delivering newspapers for The Buffalo News. The diehard Buffalo Bills fan graduated from Syracuse University in 1997 with degrees in journalism and economics, going on to work as a reporter for WSTM-3 (CNY Central) in Syracuse. I take pride in Buffalo and I take pride in Syracuse, Glor told syracuse.com in 2017. I take pride in everything that helped make me who I am today. Glor joined CBS in 2007 and took over as anchor of CBS Evening News" in December 2017. Yes sir Jeff Glor (@jeffglor) January 24, 2019 A little Buffalove tonight pic.twitter.com/LM6SJLUjiZ Jeff Glor (@jeffglor) January 24, 2019 See a video clip from the broadcast: Project will expand green energy infrastructure in the Northwest Territories and provide clean power to Yellowknife YELLOWKNIFE, Jan. 23, 2019 /CNW/ - The Government of Canada is committed to working together with provinces, territories and Indigenous communities to promote a cleaner, more reliable energy supply in rural and remote communities, reduce pollution in Canada's North and create new opportunities for social and economic development. Today, the Honourable Dominic LeBlanc, Minister of Intergovernmental and Northern Affairs and Internal Trade, joined Northwest Territories Premier Bob McLeod and Wally Schumann, Minister of Infrastructure and Industry, Tourism and Investment to announce over $1.2 million in federal and territorial investments in the Taltson Hydroelectricity Expansion project. These investments will support Indigenous engagement and fund initial engineering work. The proposed initial expansion of the Taltson project will deliver 60 megawatts of clean energy to the North Slave hydroelectric system, more than doubling current hydroelectricity capacity in the territory. This project will contribute to a cleaner environment and stronger economy: it will remove up to 240,000 tonnes of polluting emissions from the air each year, equivalent to about 48,000 cars, stimulate local economies, and provide employment opportunities for Indigenous people and all Northerners. Later phases of the expansion will connect the Taltson hydroelectric system with provincial electricity networks, creating a more integrated energy system that will allow for increased north-south energy trade. Quotes "Our government is committed to collaborating with our territorial and Indigenous partners to sustainably develop the clean power potential of Canada's North. Canada's investments in the initial stage of this major project will help to complete project studies and ensure that Indigenous peoples are engaged from the outset." The Honourable Dominic LeBlanc, P.C., Q.C., M.P. Minister of Intergovernmental and Northern Affairs and Internal Trade "The Taltson Hydroelectricity Expansion Project is more than a transmission project. It represents a key element in the Government of the Northwest Territories vision for a lower carbon economy that will increase the availability of clean, renewable energy to help the NWT reduce its reliance on diesel, help lower the cost of living for NWT residents and allow the territory to meet its commitments to address climate change." The Honourable Bob McLeod Premier of the Northwest Territories "The Taltson Hydroelectricity Expansion Project is part of a full service infrastructure corridor that will provide clean energy to mineral-rich regions of the NWT and help our government achieve the goals of its Energy Strategy, including lowering the cost of living and promoting renewable and alternative energy solutions. The Government of Canada's support will advance technical aspects of the project, and help establish a business framework for our Indigenous partners." The Honourable Wally Schumann Minister of Infrastructure and Industry, Tourism and Investment "The Taltson Hydroelectricity Expansion project will provide access to affordable energy sources, increase energy security and lower the impact of energy consumption on the environment. Today's investment reflects the important role clean energy infrastructure plays in growing the economy and creating good quality jobs for Northerners." The Honourable Navdeep Bains, P.C., M.P. Minister of Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada and the Minister responsible for CanNor "The expansion of the Taltson Hydroelectric Project is an important component of our government's efforts to transition to a clean future. Not only will this project help provide a clean source of energy in Yellowknife, it will create good jobs for Northerners and Indigenous peoples living in the area." The Honourable Amarjeet Sohi, P.C., M.P. Minister of Natural Resources Quick Facts The Canadian Northern Economic Development Agency (CanNor) is contributing $480,000 to the project to support feasibility and engineering study work and the Government of the Northwest Territories (GNWT) is also investing $120,000 for this work. to the project to support feasibility and engineering study work and the Government of the (GNWT) is also investing for this work. Natural Resources Canada and Crown Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Canada are providing $619,950 to support Indigenous engagement. to support Indigenous engagement. The Taltson hydroelectric system is located approximately 64 kilometres north of Fort Smith on the Taltson River. It currently provides power to Fort Smith , Hay River , Hay River Reserve, Fort Resolution and Enterprise. on the Taltson River. It currently provides power to , , Hay River Reserve, and Enterprise. The Taltson River system has a 200 megawatt generation potential. The initial expansion will increase capacity from 18 to 60 megawatts and link it to the Snare hydroelectric system near Yellowknife through a High Voltage Direct Current submarine cable across Great Slave Lake. Associated Links Taltson Hydroelectricity Expansion Project (GNWT) 2030 Energy Strategy (GNWT) Stay connected Join the conversation about the North: Twitter: GovCan_North Facebook: GovCan North You can subscribe to receive our news releases and speeches via RSS feeds. For more information or to subscribe, visit www.cirnac.gc.ca/RSS. SOURCE Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Canada (CIRNAC) For further information: Laura Gareau, Director of Communications, Office of the Honourable Dominic LeBlanc, Minister of Intergovernmental and Northern Affairs and Internal Trade, [email protected], 613-947-7031; Media Relations, Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Canada, 819-934-2302, [email protected]; Charlotte Digness, Media and Communications Coordinator, Government of the Northwest Territories, [email protected], 867-767-9140 ext. 11092; Traolach O Murchu, Communications Advisor, Canadian Northern Economic Development Agency, 867-667-3202, [email protected] Related Links http://www.ainc-inac.gc.ca/ Look back on 2018 shows facilities based competition delivering positive results for Canadians Prices decline even as mobile data usage surges $50 billion in capital investments sets stage for 5G leadership OTTAWA, Dec. 27, 2018 /CNW/ - Canadian consumers and businesses alike continued to benefit from world-class wireless services in 2018, amid ever-increasing demand for high-speed mobile connectivity. Industry reports published during the year, including recent analysis by the CRTC and ISED, show that Canadians' consumption of mobile wireless data services is continuing to grow, that these services are being delivered across networks that are among the most advanced in the world, and prices for wireless services are declining. This demonstrates once again the value of government policies encouraging facilities-based competition, according to the Canadian Wireless Telecommunications Association (CWTA), the authority on wireless issues and trends in Canada. "In 2018 our facilities-based carriers continued to move forward on a path of innovation and investment that has delivered the fastest wireless networks in the G7 almost twice as fast as the U.S. and is paving the way for the arrival 5G," said Robert Ghiz, President & CEO of CWTA. "The recent Wall Communications report commissioned for ISED reveals that prices for wireless services in Canada are also declining. And even with the limitations in the report's methodology such as not accounting for the differences in network quality between countries and the many different promotions offered by Canada's service providers the benefits of long-standing policies encouraging facilities-based competition are clear." Mr. Ghiz noted that the Wall Report is just one of a number of significant findings published in 2018. In November, the Ookla Speedtest Global Index showed Canadian wireless networks have download speeds that are 144.3% faster than the global average, making Canada's networks the fastest in the G7 and 4th in the world. The recently released CRTC 2018 Communications Monitoring Report showed that by the end of 2017, advanced LTE networks were available to 99% of Canadians. The report also found that Canadians' consumption of mobile data continues to grow, with the average Canadian with a data plan consuming over 30% more data in 2017 than the previous year, and the average subscriber using 163% more data in 2017 than they did in 2014. "These results are only possible because of capital investments of approximately $50 billion by Canada's facilities-based operators," said Mr. Ghiz. "It takes that level of investment to build the world-class networks Canada enjoys today, creating what OpenSignal has referred to as a 'global 4G superpower.' And as we approach the 5G wireless revolution, that means Canada is in a strong position to further its global lead in innovation and wireless technology." Wireless services and capabilities also continue to grow in significance and importance to the Canadian economy as virtually every business sector depends on Canada's wireless industry for their success and continued growth. The industry generates over 138,000 full-time jobs and contributes in excess of $25 billion in GDP to the Canadian economy. About CWTA The Canadian Wireless Telecommunications Association (CWTA) is the authority on wireless issues, developments and trends in Canada. It represents companies that provide services and products across the wireless sector. Representing the industry before all levels of government and various regulatory agencies, CWTA actively promotes the industry with the goal of ensuring continued growth of the wireless sector in Canada. CWTA administers a number of initiatives on behalf of its members, including corporate social responsibility programs and the national common short codes program. SOURCE Canadian Wireless Telecommunications Association For further information: Media Contact: Greg Burch, 204-250-9244, [email protected] Related Links http://www.cwta.ca/ Support local journalism Now, more than ever, the world needs trustworthy reportingbut good journalism isnt free. Please support us by making a contribution. There are a few things common to all presidents, whichever party they come from. They all think they get unfair media coverage. They all feel like prisoners of the White House and wish they could just go for a walk by themselves or head down to the corner bar. And they all chafe at the constraints on their power, the fact that despite occupying what appears to be the most powerful office in the world, there are all kinds of forces, institutions and people they can't control and that limit their ability to do what they want. Few presidents have felt those constraints more acutely than Donald Trump, who spent his professional life leading a private company (with no board of directors watching over him), who plainly views rules and laws as something only little people have to worry about, and who knew almost nothing about how government actually works before taking the job. The idea that some lowly member of Congress can tell him what he can or can't do is positively infuriating to him. Knowing this, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., recently asked him to provide the State of the Union address in writing or delay it until the government shutdown has been resolved; as we all learned, without Congress's permission, the president can't give the speech in its chambers. And of all the things to keep him from doing, this is among the most painful. At no other moment will Trump have the entire country's eyes trained on him, with an hour or more to say what he likes and bask in the pomp of the ceremony and the adulation of his servile party. But, according to reporting by The Washington Post's Felicia Sonmez and Seung Min Kim: "President Trump said Wednesday that he is pressing ahead with plans to deliver his State of the Union address at the Capitol next week, despite House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's request that he postpone the speech amid the partial government shutdown. "In a letter to Pelosi, Trump dismissed the California Democrat's concerns about security due to the shutdown. " 'It would be so very sad for our country if the State of the Union were not delivered on time, on schedule, and very importantly, on location!' he said. "It was unclear how Trump would address lawmakers Jan. 29 as the House and Senate must pass a concurrent resolution for a joint session of Congress to hear the president." Pelosi just responded with a terse letter of her own, telling him in no uncertain terms that the speech will not go forward until he agrees to end the government shutdown: "I am writing to inform you that the House of Representatives will not consider a concurrent resolution authorizing the President's State of the Union address in the House Chamber until government has opened," Pelosi wrote to Trump. "Again, I look forward to welcoming you to the House on a mutually agreeable date for this address when government has been opened." One imagines a dramatic scene as Trump arrives at the House and is told that the speaker is not granting him permission to deliver his address. What happens then? Will he push past everyone (though presumably only Republicans will have shown up), climb up on the dais and start talking? Among other things, Pelosi controls the microphones and the TV cameras, so there wouldn't be much point. So what is he actually up to? I'd refer you to this excellent article from The Post's Damian Paletta and Josh Dawsey, which describes how throughout his career Trump has employed a particular mode of negotiation: "He creates - or threatens to create - a calamity, and then insists he will address the problem only if his adversary capitulates to a separate demand." That is precisely what is happening with the shutdown right now. Trump created the calamity, then demanded his wall to bring it to an end. In return, he offered a temporary reprieve for "Dreamers" - the very ones whose future he put in jeopardy when he tried to cancel the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program. It's like me stealing your car, then saying if you give me a bunch of money, I'll give it back to you, but only temporarily. It's much like how Trump used to deal with vendors and contractors as a builder: Order the work, then, when it's done, refuse to pay for it and eventually offer them some fraction of what he had agreed to pay in the first place. They often gave in because they were small-business owners who couldn't match his legal resources and needed the money they were owed. The State of the Union address is of far less practical consequence than the shutdown, but Trump is being driven by the same impulses. Except Pelosi turned things around on him, exercising her own power to deprive him of something he wanted. You can argue that Pelosi was being petty, though we contend that, given the magnitude of the shutdown crisis, it was perfectly appropriate for the speech to be delayed until the government reopens. But either way, it was utterly intolerable for him. Trump has an evident need to dominate everyone around him, not just to get what he wants but to show that he's the big man, the one who deserves everyone's attention and regard. The flip side is that those in his favor must be almost comically obsequious (as his staff and Cabinet have learned), and those he opposes must be not just beaten but humiliated. ("Who's going to pay for the wall? Mexico!") Becoming president has not dimmed that need at all; if anything, he feels it more urgently than ever. When Pelosi poked him in the way she did, he had to reassert his dominance, to make sure everyone knows that he's the one who decides if the State of the Union happens, not her. The trouble is that in this case, she does get to decide. Given what we know about her, it's unlikely that the threat to just show up is going to make her back down. I've argued that for all his self-regard Trump is actually a dreadful negotiator, but this episode shows that it goes further than just being bad at getting what he wants. A negotiation with Trump might not just fail, it can turn into a catastrophe. We've already suffered through a few of them, and in the next two years, with Democrats running the House and the special counsel breathing down his neck, Trump will feel more and more constrained. In response, he's likely to create more crises and more chaos, in the hope that he can emerge from it all on top. --- Video Embed Code Video: President Donald Trump and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., exchanged letters Jan. 16 and 17 that symbolize more political jabs in the long shutdown fight.(Monica Akhtar/The Washington Post) Embed code: Only one can be the next Obama. Maybe not even one. The coalition that Barack Obama built in 2008 was so powerful, and so successful in Democratic primaries, that 2020 contenders are treating it as a blueprint. But in a field with a dozen or more presidential candidates, no one is a perfect match to win over all of the key constituencies that drove Obama to electoral success. While it's still early in the race, what appears to be happening is candidates are trying to peel away different parts of Obama's coalition. The dynamics are similar to the philosophy that in commerce a marketplace is always in the process of either creating or undoing bundles. What's unclear right now is who will splinter off which groups, and what the Democratic marketplace will look like as the 2020 primaries approach. The world of commerce can be instructive. The most well-known recent example of unbundling a popular bundle might be Craigslist. In the early 2000s, Craigslist was a one-stop shop for local commerce, where users could find anything from an apartment to a job to a place to sell their wares. It had classic network effects: Its high user base attracted people and businesses interested in using the platform, which made it difficult for competing platforms to attract users. At its peak, Craigslist was a powerful bundle of online services. Competitors focused on offering specific services instead of trying to be the next Craigslist. That led to sites focused on job listings, on real estate, on dating, on e-commerce, and so on. While Craigslist is still around, it's largely been unbundled, and is no longer the dominant force in local commerce it once was. Similar dynamics appear to be emerging in the Democratic presidential primary. Immediately following Donald Trump's election, there was a lot of discussion of who would be best suited to win back the working-class whites who voted for Obama twice and then voted for Trump. The list of possible names has only grown. One key factor might be popularity among black voters, particularly given the compressed primary schedule in 2020 and how many delegates will be allocated by the middle of March in Southern states where black voters make up a majority of the primary. "South Carolina is the new Iowa/New Hampshire," as the thinking goes. That theory appears to be at the heart of the approaches used by Sen. Kamala Harris; Sen. Cory Booker and former vice president Joe Biden might follow the same plan if they enter the race. But the unbundling doesn't stop there. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand will seek to win over suburban and educated women. Former HUD Secretary Julian Castro, former representative Beto O'Rourke, and Booker may seek to appeal to younger voters and those attracted to candidates with energy and optimism. What's notable is that it may be too "expensive" - either in terms of financial resources, policy commitments or style/identity realities - for candidates to appeal to more than two or three parts of the Obama coalition. In commerce, this sort of fracturing is all well and good; the end result may be a more fragmented marketplace with higher total revenue and profits, but life goes on. But a presidential primary doesn't work that way. Ultimately, a party can select only one nominee. While early polling may suggest little difference in electability in a head-to-head matchup with President Trump, these unbundling dynamics won't stay suppressed forever. The groups that get left out of the Democratic nominee's coalition may end up estranged from the party. It's easy to imagine the future of the Republican Party being shaped by the losers of the 2020 Democratic primary. - - - Sen is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist. He is a portfolio manager for New River Investments in Atlanta and has been a contributor to the Atlantic and Business Insider. This must be the year that Connecticut takes the next logical steps in protecting children and each other. We are talking about gun safety and gun violence prevention. Although Connecticut became a leader in gun regulation in 2013, more needs to be done. Numerous related bills have been proposed in the General Assembly in recent weeks to further gun safety and gun violence protection. It is not too early to become informed, track the bills, and testify when committees have hearings. Bills related to ghost guns and printable 3-D guns, in particular, ought to get passed this session. They were raised last year, but were not approved by both chambers. Ghost guns are untraceable. They have no serial numbers because they are assembled without much effort at home from parts ordered over the internet. Anyone even teenagers can get one. In testimony before the Judiciary Committee last year, Westport First Selectman James Marpe called the possibility of unregulated ghost guns a very real threat to public safety. People at Staples High School faced hours of emotional turmoil while police responded to a tip in February that a student talked of carrying out a mass shooting. The tense situation was prolonged because police did not know whether the student had a ghost gun. How large of a problem ghost guns are in the state, and how many end up in criminal hands, is unknown because they are unregulated. But the sense is that they have been growing as a way to get around stricter gun legislation adopted after the Sandy Hook Elementary School tragedy in 2012. Two freshmen state senators, Alexandra Bergstein of Greenwich and Will Haskell of Westport, both Democrats, introduced legislation to ban ghost guns. Bergstein submitted Senate Bill 89, An Act Concerning Ghost Guns, and Haskell submitted Senate Bill 158 to ban guns without serial numbers and regulate those which are sold in a form requiring the purchaser to finish assembly or that are homemade. Both were referred to the Judiciary Committee. In the House, 10 Republicans, mostly representing Fairfield County towns, proposed House Bill 5725 to prohibit the sale or manufacture of any firearm that does not have a serial number or is homemade by any means, including 3D printing. The bipartisan support against ghost guns is encouraging. Gov. Ned Lamont, while a candidate, pledged support to ban ghost and 3D-printed guns, which are made of plastic, have no serial numbers, and therefore are untraceable. Do-it-yourself firearms, such as the 3D-printed guns and home-assembled ghost guns, should not be allowed to continue operating outside of lawful regulation. Other proposals to watch for this session include Senate Bill 60, submitted by Senate President Pro Tempore Martin Looney of New Haven, to require anyone openly carrying a gun to show a permit if requested by police. Several were introduced regarding safe storage of firearms (SB 91 and HB 5345) and parental responsibility (HB 5431). This is the time to take the next steps to make Connecticut safer. WASHINGTON Victims of the partial government shutdown, members of the Coast Guard in Connecticut are about to miss their second paycheck, but few have yet to take advantage of a state grant program that could provide them with thousands of dollars of relief. Funded by state taxpayers who choose to contribute when filing their state income tax returns, the Connecticut Military Relief Fund was set up in 2005 to help active duty National Guard and reserve members and their families weather financial hardships. Hundreds of Connecticut Coast Guard members who are working without pay because of the shutdown are eligible for the help, too. The fund provides grants in the amount of up to $5,000 and are renewable that means Coast Guard employees and their immediate family members can reapply for new grants when the money from previous grants runs out. The money is not a loan and does not have to be paid back. Major Mike Petersen, spokesman for the Connecticut Military Department, which oversees the grant program, says 11 grants have been distributed to Coast Guard members, for a total amount of $35,000 or an average of a little more than $3,300 per grant. Petersen said another 49 applications are in the pipeline. Decisions on those applications will be rendered very soon, he said. Petersen said he did not know why more Coast Guard employees are applying for the grants, but expects the pace of applications to pick up. We encourage every eligible member of the Coast Guard to apply, he said. To apply for a grant, an applicant must be a resident of Connecticut, be on active duty and suffer hardship because of his or her deployment. Applicants must fill out an application and attach copies of certain documents, including pay stubs, bank records, bills and rent and mortgage statements. Connecticut Coast Guard spokeswoman Lt. Alina Fagan said the Coast Guard is helping its members collect the documents needed to apply for the Military Relief Fund and with applications to other sources of help, including the Coast Guard Mutual Assistance Fund, which provides interest-free loans up to $1,000. Fagan said she couldnt speculate as to why more Coast Guard employees havent applied for the military assistance grants. Connecticut has also joined other states in approving an interest-free loan program for federal workers affected by the shutdown. The result of a fierce political battle between President Donald Trump and congressional Democrats over funds to build the presidents border wall, the shutdown began on Dec., 22 because there was no agreement on how to fund nine large federal agencies and several smaller, independent agencies, including NASA. Without appropriations, the Department of Homeland Security, which has authority over the Coast Guard and other affected agencies, was forced to shut down, sending workers who were deemed non-essential home without pay. Most, if not all, Coast Guard employees are considered essential and required to remain on the job, without pay. Many have made use of pop up food pantries and other help, including free meals at certain restaurants. On Thursday, Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross, a billionaire, caused a stir by telling CNBC I dont understand why federal workers are needing to go to food banks. Rep. Joe Courtney, whose Second Congressional District is home to the Coast Guard Academy, said food banks for military families is just an embarrassment. Courtney is a co-sponsor of the Pay Our Coast Guard Parity Act, introduced in the House on Jan. 8. The legislation would guarantee pay for Coast Guard members during government shutdowns. A similar bill was introduced in the Senate on Jan. 3. But neither bill has advanced to a vote. Connecticut has more than 1,000 federal workers besides the 400 or so Coast Guard members who are affected by the partial shutdown. On Friday, dozens of federal court employees will be added to that list of affected federal workers in Connecticut as the courts run out of the money from fees, fines and other unappropriated money they have been using to pay personnel. Meanwhile, the Coast Guard reservists are unable to drill and 50,000 retirees may not get their Feb. 1 pension checks unless the shutdown ends soon, which does not seem likely. Acting White House chief of staff Mick Mulvaney has asked federal agencies to provide lists of key programs that could be endangered if the partial government shutdown drags on until March or April, an indication the Trump administration is bracing for a long shutdown. New Delhi: In what can be called as an open hint, US President Donald Trump on Thursday tweeted that he would go ahead with the scheduled State of the Union address next week when the shutdown is over. A day after BUILD A WALL & CRIME WILL FALL! tweet, Trump took to the social micro-blogging site and said that he is looking forward to the great State of the Union Address in the near future! As the Shutdown was going on, Nancy Pelosi asked me to give the State of the Union Address. I agreed. She then changed her mind because of the Shutdown, suggesting a later date. This is her prerogative - I will do the Address when the Shutdown is over. I am not looking for an alternative venue for the SOTU Address because there is no venue that can compete with the history, tradition and importance of the House Chamber. I look forward to giving a great State of the Union Address in the near future! (sic), Trump said on Twitter. Before this, Trump had tweeted no cave and vowed not to surrender in the fight against the Democrats. Today i.e January 24 marks the 33rd day of the US shutdown. This is the longest federal shutdown in the history of America. The State of the Union Address, which is scheduled for January 29 will see lots of fireworks. With House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi not relenting, the Democrats and the republicans are appeared to be headed for a collision on SOTU. Throughout the shutdown, the Democrats have repeatedly voted to reopen government so that federal workers can pay their bills. Functioning of several key wings of the US government, including Security and State departments, has been paralysed for nearly four weeks now because of the ongoing partial government shutdown. President Trump insists that building a wall is the only solution to protect the nation from a large flow of illegal immigrants and drug smuggling. The Democrats are opposed to any such funding. After Trump walked out of a meeting at the White House last week, Democrats have refused to come to the negotiation table. Pelosi and the Democratic party argue that such a funding is a wastage of tax payers payer and does not reflect the ethos of American culture. The divide between the parties has led to some 800,000 federal government employees being rendered without work. The ongoing shutdown on January 12 broke the previous record of 21 days of US government shutdown under the Bill Clinton administration in December 16, 1995 to January 5, 1996. Besides the border issue, the divide between Trump and Pelosi deepened after he denied her a military plane for an "excursion" to Brussels and war-torn Afghanistan, a tit-for-tat retaliation after the House Speaker asked the president to reschedule his annual State of the Union address slated for January 29. Pelosi, who is third in line to the presidency, had made the suggestion citing security reasons triggered by the shutdown that has entered its 28th day. (With agency inputs) For all the Latest World News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. New Delhi: On Monday morning, when people were witnessing the spectacular super wolf moon eclipse, a brilliant coincidence led to something even more stunning celestial event. Videos of the lunar eclipse revealed that a meteor collided with the moon just when totality began, marking the end of a meteorite's journey. The combination of supermoon and lunar eclipse is a rare event, but what most viewers didnt know was the fact that a third astronomical event was also taking place that morning. A video taken by the Griffith Observatory showed a small white flash as the meteor hits the lunar surface. The meteor strike takes place in the region darkened by Earth's shadow, as seen in the video. The video was taken by the Griffith Observatory, and shows a small white flash as the meteor hits the lunar surface. Speaking to IFLScience, Dr Jose Maria Madiedo, from the Moon Impacts Detection and Analysis System (MIDAS), said: I can confirm that the flash was produced by a meteoroid that hit the lunar ground. The event was recorded by several of our telescopes in the framework of MIDAS. Meteor striking a moons surface is nothing new, however, scientists are sometimes lucky enough to have instruments in the right place at the right time to catch the flash of light accompanying the high-speed impact. Meteorite impacts aren't just flashy, there's also real scientific knowledge to be learned from them. NASA has a team dedicated to monitoring these flashes because they can teach us about the debris cluttering our solar system, as reported by Space.com. To everyone who watched the blood moon the other night: We all witnessed a meteor hitting the moon & didnt even realize it. pic.twitter.com/1gcMTqdMGv Michelle (@bbyhoneyhaz) January 23, 2019 It's a rare alignment of infrequent events, says Justin Cowart, a PhD candidate at Stony Brook University in New York. A [meteoroid] about this size hits the moon about once a week or so, he says as quoted by the National Geographic. But if this event is confirmed, it may be the first time such an impact has been recorded during a lunar eclipse. A Reddit viewer spotted the potential impact during the eclipse and reached out to the r/space community to see if others could weigh in. The news spread quickly on social media, as people from across the path of totality posted their images and video of this tiny flicker of light. For all the Latest Science News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. New Delhi: Kashmiri terrorist-turned-soldier Lance Naik Nazir Ahmad Wani will be posthumously awarded the Ashok Chakra, the highest peacetime gallantry award, at this years Republic Day function. The terrorist, who gave up arms and joined the Territorial Army, was martyred while killing six terrorists in the Valley on November 23. Wani was operating with the 34 Rashtriya Rifles when intelligence was received regarding the presence of six heavily armed Hizbul and Lashkar terrorists at Batagund village in Jammu and Kashmirs Shopian. He was also a two-time Sena Medal winner. Lance Naik Nazir Ahmad Wani exhibited the most conspicuous gallantry in personality eliminating two terrorists and assisting in the evacuation of his wounded colleagues and made supreme sacrifice in the highest traditions of the Indian Army, a press release from the Presidents Secretariat said. A serving #IndianArmy officer consoling father of Lance Naik Nazir Ahmad of 34 Rashtriya Rifles, who lost his life fighting terrorists in #Shopian in Kulgam district of J&K. #IndianArmy #SalutingtheBraveheart #Braveheart @PIB_India @SpokespersonMoD pic.twitter.com/k2Yklmf1Ev ADG PI - INDIAN ARMY (@adgpi) November 28, 2018 Wani was a resident of Kulgam and he, along with his team, was tasked to block the likely escape route of the terrorists. Sensing danger, the terrorists attempted breaching the inner cordon, firing indiscriminately and lobbing grenades. Undeterred by the situation, Wani held ground and eliminated one terrorist in a fierce exchange at close range, the statement said. Wani was given a 21-gun salute and hundreds of villagers were present as the body was taken for burial. For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. New Delhi: The Supreme Court refused to stay the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Amendment Act, 2018 on Thursday. The Act passed by Parliament ruled out any provision for anticipatory bail for a person accused of atrocities against SC/STs. The Supreme Court said that the petitions against the amendment and review pleas against the March 20 judgment should be heard together. "No interim order can be passed in these matters," the top court said. Earlier in August last year, fresh plea was moved in the Supreme Court challenging the amendment to the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989, claiming it to be a violation of Article 14 and 21 of the Constitution. Advocate Varinder Sharma, appearing for petitioners advocates Suman Rani and Hira Lal Trivedi, said that the amendments made to 1989, are violative of fundamental rights given under the Constitution. The petition sought setting aside of the addition of Section 18A to the Act, which supersedes the apex court judgment delivered on March 20 by the apex court, which virtually diluted provisions of arrest under SC/ST Act. The March 20 verdict had led to a nationwide protest by the various rights organisations. The apex court in its March 20 verdict had found that Section 18 of the old Act (denying anticipatory bail to person accused of offence under SC/ST ACt) was violative of the Article 14 and 21 of the Constitution. Section 18A of the amendment Act provides, "The investigating officer shall not require approval for the arrest if necessary of any person against whom an accusation of having committed an offence under this Act has been made and no procedure other than that provided under this Act or the code. Last year also witness widespread protests against the Supreme Court verdict. At that time, Union Minister Ram Vilas Paswan had accused the Opposition of fuelling misconception about the SC/ST Act that triggered Bharat Bandh. The Bharat Bandh was called by some upper caste-OBC groups to protest against the recent amendments to the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe (Prevention of Atrocities) Act by Parliament to overturn a Supreme Court judgment. The Lok Janshakti Party chief questioned opposition leaders' "silence" on the shutdown. Paswan, an ally of the BJP, stressed on the need for removing misgivings about the Act which was diluted by a recent Supreme Court judgment, but restored in its original form by a bill passed later on in Parliament. (With inputs from PTI) For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. highlights JDS support is crucial for Rahul Gandhi to become Opposition's PM face. Earlier, DMK president MK Stalin proposed Gandhi's name for the post. Opposition parties are not so united when it comes to their PM candidate. New Delhi: Congress president Rahul Gandhi has found more support as Oppositions prime minister candidate, even as some of the parties remained reluctant. Despite fissures in their alliance with the Congress, Karnataka Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy has said that his party, the Janata Dal-Secular (JD-S), is committed to supporting Rahul Gandhi as the prime ministerial candidate. "My part's decision is we want to support Rahul Gandhi as prime ministerial candidate. This is our commitment and it remains so," NDTV quoted Kumaraswamy, who heads a coalition government with the Congress in Karnataka, as saying. The JD-S leader said that his father and former prime minister HD Deve Gowda was also of the same views. He also clarified his earlier statement that West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee was an able candidate for the top post, saying his comments were taken out of the context. I said among regional parties, there are several able leaders there, other than the BJP. Why not Mayawati, Mamata Banerjee... But our party is committed to installing Rahul Gandhi as prime minister," he said. Kumaraswamy said that the Congress president had matured as a politician and expressed confidence that he is able to take on Prime Minister Narendra Modi. I have confidence he can take on PM Modi. Modi-ji speaks well, his presentation is good, he uses social media but what is his achievement in the last four years, the Karnataka CM told NDTV while terming the prime minister only a paper tiger. Earlier, DMK president MK Stalin had proposed Rahul Gandhi as PM candidate for the coming Lok Sabha elections. However, after Stalins remarks, Opposition parties ducked the question and said that this issue should be decided only after the election results. Kumaraswamys backing for the Congress is chief is crucial and comes at a time when their alliance in Karnataka is facing troubles. Congress, which is the bigger ally, had given the chief ministers post to JD-S leader Kumaraswamy. However, there have been allegations against the Congress that it was pressurising the JD-S on various occasions to make their case. For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led panel to meet at 7, Lok Kalyan Marg --- the PM residence --- for the appointment of a new Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) director today. The Supreme Court is likely to hear a plea against M Nageswara Raos appointment as the interim CBI director. The plea also sought transparency in the process of appointment. The top court will also hear a batch of petitions filed by homebuyers who are seeking possession of around 42,000 flats booked by them in projects of the Amrapali Group. After Amit Shah, now BJP leader Smriti Irani to address a rally in West Bengal's Nadia district. Isro will launch India's first student-made satellite today in its first space programme for 2019. Some good news for the intellectual minds, the Jaipur Literature Festival begins today. 21:26 (IST) Facebook Twitter Whats app Linked In Haryana Chief Minister ML Khattar announces financial aid of Rs 3 lakh each for the kin of those who died in a building collapse in Ullawas, Gurugram. 6 bodies have been recovered till now from the site of the collapse. Operations are still underway. Haryana Chief Minister ML Khattar announces financial aid of Rs 3 lakh each for the kin of those who died in a building collapse in Ullawas, Gurugram. 6 bodies have been recovered till now from the site of the collapse. Operations are still underway. (File pic) pic.twitter.com/C8QfMaEDiQ ANI (@ANI) January 24, 2019 19:29 (IST) Facebook Twitter Whats app Linked In Swine flu death count in Rajasthan rises to 59, two more deaths reported in Bikaner. 18:35 (IST) Facebook Twitter Whats app Linked In DRDO successfully test fires long range surface to air missile from naval warship INS Chennai off the coast of Odisha. 18:21 (IST) Facebook Twitter Whats app Linked In Rahul Gandhi has accepted he cant do politics all alone and for that he is taking Priyankas help, says Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan. Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan: She (Priyanka Gandhi Vadra) is a good woman, & Rahul Ji has accepted he cant do politics all alone, and for that he is taking Priyankas help. It is a good thing. pic.twitter.com/0ztrXx2OjL ANI (@ANI) January 24, 2019 16:20 (IST) Facebook Twitter Whats app Linked In Body of one miner recovered from Meghalaya mine, search operations underway Meghalaya: One body recovered from the mine at Ksan near Lytein River in East Jaintia Hills where 13 miners were trapped since December 13. Body sent for postmortem pic.twitter.com/mVncA2lZUi ANI (@ANI) January 24, 2019 14:25 (IST) Facebook Twitter Whats app Linked In Breaking: At least six people were injured after a big tree fell on the visitors at Jaipur Literature Festival that kick-started in the capital city of Rajasthan. 10:49 (IST) Facebook Twitter Whats app Linked In Himachal Pradesh: Visuals from snow-clad Manali as different parts of the state record sub-zero temperature. Himachal Pradesh: Visuals from snow-clad Manali as different parts of the state record sub-zero temperature. pic.twitter.com/FexsktxZqk ANI (@ANI) January 24, 2019 10:48 (IST) Facebook Twitter Whats app Linked In Chief Election Commissioner of India Sunil Arora says," I would like to make it very clear that we are not going back to the era of ballot papers". 09:47 (IST) Facebook Twitter Whats app Linked In Sensex falls over 100 points, Nifty struggles above 10,800 09:39 (IST) Facebook Twitter Whats app Linked In Delhi: 2018 Bawana fire victim's brother Harcharan Singh says, "it has been a year since I lost my sister Reema. We haven't yet received compensation of Rs 5 lakh promised by the govt. We went to many in the govt but no one heard us. We are very poor, we demand justice." #Delhi: 2018 Bawana fire victim's brother Harcharan Singh says, "it has been a year since I lost my sister Reema (pic 2). We haven't yet received compensation of Rs 5 lakh promised by the govt. We went to many in the govt but no one heard us. We are very poor, we demand justice." pic.twitter.com/WsaSxVtYVe ANI (@ANI) January 24, 2019 09:39 (IST) Facebook Twitter Whats app Linked In Sources: Lance Naik Nazir Wani, who was a terrorist once, to get Ashok Chakra posthumously. He lost his life during operations in Shopian, J&K last year. He had joined 162 Territorial Army battalion in Kashmir & had received Sena Medal twice. 09:05 (IST) Facebook Twitter Whats app Linked In IAS officer B Chandrakala has been summoned by Enforcement Directorate to their Lucknow office today at 11 am in connection with the illegal sand mining case of Uttar Pradesh. 08:14 (IST) Facebook Twitter Whats app Linked In 11 trains to Delhi running late due to fog and low visibility 07:36 (IST) Facebook Twitter Whats app Linked In Delhi: Major pollutants PM 2.5 at 127 and PM 10 at 112, both in 'Moderate' category in Lodhi Road area, according to the Air Quality Index (AQI) data. Delhi: Major pollutants PM 2.5 at 127 and PM 10 at 112, both in 'Moderate' category in Lodhi Road area, according to the Air Quality Index (AQI) data. pic.twitter.com/u4nHMu1fEN ANI (@ANI) January 24, 2019 07:33 (IST) Facebook Twitter Whats app Linked In US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo: The United States doesn't recognize Maduro regime as the govt of Venezuela. US does not consider former president Nicolas Maduro to have the legal authority to break diplomatic relations with the US or to declare our diplomats persona non grata. US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo: The United States doesn't recognize Maduro regime as the govt of Venezuela. US does not consider former president Nicolas Maduro to have the legal authority to break diplomatic relations with the US or to declare our diplomats persona non grata. pic.twitter.com/2Lisdz2lLC ANI (@ANI) January 24, 2019 07:33 (IST) Facebook Twitter Whats app Linked In AFP: Thirteen dead in two days of Venezuela unrest, says rights group. For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. New Delhi: Days after Chief Justice of India (CJI) Ranjan Gogoi recused himself from hearing a plea challenging the appointment of M Nageswara Rao as the interim Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) chief, Justice AK Sikri on Thursday also withdrew from hearing it. A bench headed by Justice Sikri listed the matter for Friday for hearing before a different bench. As soon as the matter came up for hearing, Justice Sikri told senior advocate Dushyant Dave, appearing for petitioner NGO Common Cause, that he would not like to hear the matter and was recusing himself. Since Im rescuing, I can't hearplease understand my position Justice Sikri told senior advocate Dushyant Dave. Justice Sikri was present in the January 10 meeting of the high-powered committee which removed CBI chief Alok Verma and appointed Nageswar Rao as the interim director. A high-powered selection committee will meet at Prime Minister Narendra Modi's resident, 7, Lok Kalyan Marg on Thursday evening to select the new CBI chief. On January 10, the Selection Committee comprising the prime minister, Justice AK Sikri and Congress leader Malikarjun Kharge, decided on Vermas removal with a 2:1 majority. The Selection Committee generally PM, Chief Justice of India (or his nominee) and the Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha (or leader of the single largest party). In this case, Justice Sikri was the nominee of Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi. On October 23 last year, Verma and Special Director of the CBI, Rakesh Asthana were divested of all powers by the Centre amid a public feud between the two over alleged corruption. CBI additional director M Nageshwar Rao was made the interim chief. However, on January 8 this year, the Supreme Court had reinstated Verma to the top post of the CBI and removed Rao from the post. However, the Centre brought back Rao as interim chief following the decision was taken by the Selection Panel to remove Verma as CBI chief. For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. New Delhi: ISRO successfully launches PSLVC 44 mission carrying Kalamsat and India's military satellite MicrosatR from Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Sriharikota. The Kalamsat is a payload developed by students and Chennai-based Space Kidz India. It is the first to use the rocket's fourth stage as an orbital platform. Space Kidz India is working towards promoting art, science and culture for students of India, and to create an international platform for them. The Indian Space Research Organisation's (ISRO) workhorse Polar rocket blasted off from the first launchpad at 11.37 pm at the end of a 28-hour countdown and soared into the clear and starry night sky, in the first mission for ISRO in 2019. #ISRO launches student satellite #Kalamsat and imaging satellite #MicrosatR onboard #PSLVC44 from Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Sriharikota; launch marks first mission for ISRO in 2019 pic.twitter.com/5W6i864yx0 Doordarshan News (@DDNewsLive) January 24, 2019 "ISRO is open to all students of India. Bring to us your satellites and we will launch it for you. Let's make India into a science-fairing nation, ISRO Chief K Sivan said on successful launch of PSLVC 44 mission. #ISROMissions ISRO is open to all students of India. Bring to us your satellites and we will launch it for you. Let's make India into a science-fairing nation. Dr K Sivan #PSLVC44#MicrosatR#Kalamsat#SamwadwithStudents #SwS pic.twitter.com/plfKbNE7U0 ISRO (@isro) January 24, 2019 In a textbook launch, the 44-metre tall, four-stage PSLV-C44 soared into the clear and starry night sky majestically and injected the 740-kg Microsat-R into orbit precisely 13 minutes and 30 seconds later. Former ISRO chairmen Krishnaswamy Kasturirangan and AS Kiran Kumar were among those who witnessed the launch. The fourth stage of the rocket with co-passenger Kalamsat, a students' payload, would now be moved to a higher circular orbit, around 450 kms from earth, so as to establish an orbital platform for carrying out experiments. The ISRO said it would take about 90 minutes for the fourth stage to reach the desired orbit. The PSLV-C44, assembled in 30 days, was the first mission of a new variant of the PSLV, called the PSLV-DL, as it was equipped with two strap-on configurations, the ISRO said. Usually, PSLVs were launched without any strap-ons (boosters) or were equipped with six strap-ons fixed around the rocket, but the ISRO, for the first time, used only two boosters for the mission, an official of the space agency said. He added that for the first time, the ISRO placed a satellite -- Microsat-R -- in a lower orbit, at around 274 kms from earth. Contributed by college students and the members of a Chennai-based organisation -- Space Kidz India -- Kalamsat is the first to use PS4 (the fourth stage of the vehicle) as a platform to orbit around the earth. "We have been working on the project for over six years now. These students are from various backgrounds and the youngest one is studying B.Sc Physics," Space Kidz India CEO Srimathy Kesan told PTI. With PTI Inputs For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. New Delhi: Congress chief Rahul Gandhi on Thursday launched a scathing attack against Prime Minister Narendra Modi and asks, Where are the acche din promised by the PM? Addressing a rally in Uttar Pradeshs Raebareli, the Congress chief said that the November 8 note ban was the biggest scam of the Modi government. He also attacked the Prime Minister for the reshuffle carried out at the CBI headquarters. Talking about the state governments in Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan, Gandhi said that his party fulfilled the loan waiver promise. We had promised loan waivers and we implemented that, I don't lie, unlike Narendra Modi. He also promised six National Highways, railway line for Raebareli. I want to promise you that food park which was halted by Modi ji, will be built in Amethi, 101%, Gandhi said amid applauding audience. However, there were reports about protests against Gandhi by some farmers in Amethi earlier today. Video clips showing farmers shouting Rahul Gandhi go back were doing the rounds. On a day when the Prime Minister-led selection committee is meeting today to finalize on the name of the next CBI chief, Gandhi attacked Narendra Modi and talked about the mess at the top probe agency. When the CBI wanted to investigate Rafale deal, the Director was removed at 1:30 am. When the Supreme Court said no, it's wrong, and he be reinstated, the person (Alok Verma) is reinstated, but within 2 hours they get a note that there will be a meeting, that the CBI Director needs to be removed, Gandhi said. The rally comes a day after the Congress chief made major changes in the party's ranks on Wednesday. The reshuffle was done keeping in mind the upcoming Lok Sabha elections. The highlight of the appointments was the formal entry of Priyanka Gandhi Vadra in the active politics. Mrs Vadra has been appointed as the General Secretary of UP East. Apart from her, Jyotiraditya Scindia was appointed as general secretary for UP West. Gandhi expressed his happiness over his sister Priyanka Gandhi Vadras formal entry into politics. Talking to media in Amethi, Gandhi said that he was very happy with the news. I am personally very happy that she will work with me now. She is extremely capable person, a visibly happy Congress president said. On the impact of Mrs Vadras entry into politics, Gandhi said that we can totally trust her. The Congress wont work on backfoot now in Uttar Pradesh. Priyanka has mission UP with her. On his political opponents, Gandhi said that BJP wale ghabraaye hue hain (BJP is very scared). For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. New Delhi: Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) successfully test fired Long Range Surface to Air Missile (LR-SAM) from naval warship INS Chennai off the coast of Odisha on Thursday. LR-SAM is an Indian-Israeli surface-to-air missile. The missile, also is known as Barak -8, is designed to defend against any airborne threat including aircraft, helicopters, anti-ship missiles, Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs), ballistic missiles, cruise missiles and combat jets. DRDO successfully test fires Long Range Surface to Air Missile (LR-SAM) from naval warship INS Chennai off the coast of Odisha pic.twitter.com/UYP04ojDyi ANI (@ANI) January 24, 2019 Earlier, India successfully test fired the BrahMos supersonic cruise missile with an indigenous 'seeker' at Rajasthan's Pokhran test range, enhancing the country's capability to hit enemy targets at a range of up to 400 km. It was for the first time that the missile, capable of travelling at speeds of up to Mach 3.0, or three times the speed of sound, was tested with indigenously developed 'seeker' technology. The seeker - developed by the DRDO - determines the accuracy of a missile by guiding it to the target. The range of the missile, an Indo-Russia joint venture, can be extended to up to 400 km as certain technical restrictions were lifted after India became a full member of the Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR) last year. BrahMos is a joint venture between the Defence Research and Development Organisation of India and the NPO Mashinostroyenia of Russia. The name BrahMos is formed from the names of two rivers: the Brahmaputra of India and the Moskva of Russia. For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. New Delhi: In this election year when all political parties are busy in strategising their agendas, Baba Ramdev has come up with a new mantra, which if implemented can change the demographics of the voters across India. Addressing an event in Aligarh, the Patanjali co-founder said that those with three children shouldnt be allowed to vote. Not stopping at that, Baba Ramdev said that such people shouldnt be allowed in government jobs. Those who have more than 2 children, their voting rights should be taken away & they shouldn't be allowed to contest elections. Don't let them use govt schools, hospitals, & don't give them govt jobs. Population will be controlled automatically, the yoga guru was quoted as saying by news agency ANI. Well this is not the first time that Baba Ramdev has come up with such a unique proposition. Last year in November, the yoga guru said that special rewards must be given to single/unmarried people. He had also suggested penalties for those who have more children. "Special honours should be reserved for those who, like me, do not marry. And those who marry and give birth to more than two children, should have their voting rights taken Ramdev said at a function. On several occasions, the 53-year-old has attributed his success in life to bachelorhood. "I don't go around with the baggage (of having a family). I have created brands. I want to make 1,000 such brands which will make India the world's biggest economy by 2050," news agency Press Trust of India quoted him as saying at a function last year. On work front, in a first-of-its-kind order, the Uttarakhand High Court had directed a company run by Yoga guru Ramdev to share a percentage of its profits with local farmers and communities. The high court gave the order while rejecting a petition of Divya Pharmacy against the Uttarakhand Biodiversity Board (UBB) and upholding the provisions of fair and equitable benefit-sharing as provided under the Biological Diversity Act, 2002. The bench of Justice Sudhanshu Dhulia held that it was a fact that biological resources constitute the main ingredient and raw materials in the manufacture of ayurvedic and nutraceutical products. It ordered the pharmacy to share Rs 2 crore out of its Rs 421-crore profit with the farmers of the raw product. For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. Srinagar: The Delhi Police has arrested two members of Pakistan-backed banned terror outfit, Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM), on charges of planning to carry out a terror attack in the national capital during Republic Day celebrations. According to the Delhi Police officials, they had received a tip-off from a very reliable source that a Jaish terrorist, the mastermind behind a series of grenade attacks in Srinagar recently, was planning similar terror strikes in heavy footfall areas in Delhi during Republic Day Celebrations. The input was further developed and acting on it, the police arrested mastermind terrorist Abdul Latif Ganai with incriminating materials during the night of January 20 and January 21. Special cell team rushed to Jammu and Kashmir and recovered two IED/ grenades at his instance. The police also arrested another terrorist, Hilal, from Bandipora who had carried out a recce of target areas in Delhi. Special Cell: Input was further developed & acting on it, during night of 20 & 21st Jan, mastermind terrorist Abdul Latif Ganai was arrested with incriminating materials. Special cell team rushed to J&K and recovered two IED/ grenades at his instance & arrested another terrorist ANI (@ANI) January 24, 2019 Information about the module was shared with Jammu and Kashmir Police who have also thereafter arrested terrorists of this module involved in grenade attacks in the state. Earlier in December last year, four terrorists reportedly belonging to Jaish-e-Muhammad (JeM) outfit, were gunned down in an encounter in Hajin Payeen village. Special Cell: The other terrorist Hilal from Bandipora had carried out the recee of target areas in Delhi. Information about the module was shared with Srinagar Police who have also thereafter arrested terrorists of this module involved in grenade attacks in J&K ANI (@ANI) January 24, 2019 Meanwhile, the NIA arrested 12 men, including a 'mufti' from Amroha, also in western Uttar Pradesh, who it said were planning suicide attacks and serial blasts targeting politicians and government installations in Delhi and other parts of north India. The NIA had seized a locally made rocket launcher, material for suicide vests and 112 alarm clocks to be used as timers during its searches in Delhi and Uttar Pradesh. For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. highlights Former CBI chief Alok Verma was removed on charges of corruption. Verma was engaged in a bitter fight with IPS officer Rakesh Asthana. Centre has appointed Nageswara Rao as the interim CBI chief. New Delhi: A three-member committee led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday met in New Delhi to decide the name of the next CBI director. The high-profile post at India's premier investigation agency has been lying vacant ever since Alok Verma, a 1979-batch AGMUT-cadre IPS officer was shunted out on the charges of corruption and dereliction of duty. The meeting took place at PM Modi's official residence at 7 Lok Kalyan Marg and marked attendance of Chief Justice of India (CJI) Ranjan Gogoi and leader of the Congress in Lok Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge. However, there was no immediate word on the outcome of the meeting. Sources said the panel is likely to reconvene later in the month and will take a final call on the appointment of the new CBI chief. During Thursday's meeting, the panel has sought a detail list of appointment and retirement dates of all the existing officers and is likely to name the next CBI chief on the basis of seniority. Delhi: Select Committee's meeting at 7 Lok Kalyan Marg for the appointment of new CBI Director concludes pic.twitter.com/hntnfEhTLJ ANI (@ANI) January 24, 2019 The high-profile committee had on January 10 removed Verma, who was engaged in a bitter fight with Gujarat-cadre IPS officer Rakesh Asthana over corruption charges. Both Verma and Asthana have accused each other of impropriety. Post that, Verma was named as the Director General of Fire Services, Civil Defence and Home Guards, which he refused to take charge of and quit his service. His two-year-long tenure was scheduled to end on January 31. As of now, the Centre has appointed M Nageswara Rao as the interim CBI chief. Verma's resignation letter led to a political slugfest with the opposition parties, mainly the Congress, accusing the central government of alleged interference in public institutions. Kharge had also dashed a letter to the prime minister terming Rao's appointment as CBI's interim chief "illegal". He had asked the government to immediately convene the meeting of the panel to decide on the new CBI chief. Meanwhile, in a dramatic turn of event, Justice AK Sikri, the second senior-most judge in the Supreme Court has recused himself from hearing the plea challenging the Centre's decision to appoint M Nageswara Rao as interim CBI director. Justice Sikri, who had represented CJI Gogoi on the high-powered committee on January 10, did not give any specific reason for withdrawing from hearing the case. "You understand my position. I can't hear this matter," Justice Sikri said. Earlier, CJI Gogoi also withdrew himself from hearing the plea, saying he would be a part of the selection committee to choose the probe agency's new chief. For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Thursday refused to extend the July 31 deadline for the exercise of making the final report of the National Register of Citizens (NRC) in Assam. The top court has also made it clear that the exercise to publish the final citizens' list should not affect the upcoming Lok Sabha Elections due by May, adding that the competent authorities should sit together to plan the process in an organised manner. "Supreme Court says it will not extend July 31 deadline for publication of final Assam National Register of Citizens (NRC)," the news agency ANI reported. Supreme Court says it will not extend July 31 deadline for publication of final Assam National Register of Citizens (NRC) pic.twitter.com/6jyRBqGhYH ANI (@ANI) January 24, 2019 The chief secretary of Assam government, secretary of Election Commission and the NRC coordinator Prateek Hajela have been asked to hold a meeting within seven days to decide how the officials will be accommodated for the scheduled exercises of the Assam NRC and General Elections 2019. However, the Supreme Court bench comprising Chief Justice of India (CJI) Ranjan Gogoi and Justice RF Nariman directed Solicitor General Tushar Mehta to ensure smooth conduction of the meeting. Mehta was appearing in the Supreme Court on behalf of the Assam government. Meanwhile, Hajela informed the court that there are 36.2 lakh claims for inclusion of their names in final NRC, over 2 lakh objections against names included in draft till Dec 31. Notices to be issued to claimants 15 days before hearing of claims, that will start on Feb 15, Hajela added. The matter is listed for further hearing on February 5 when the top court will be informed about the outcome of the meeting between the Assam government, the Election Commission and NRC coordinator Hajela. Earlier in December, the Supreme Court extended the last date to file the claims and objections on the inclusion of names in NRC from December 15 to December 31, 2018. The National Register of Citizens (NRC) is being updated under the direct monitoring of the Supreme Court. The second and complete draft of NRC was released on July 30, 2018, that included the names of 2.9 crore people out of the total applications of 3.29 crore. The first draft was published during the intervening nights of December 31, 2017, and January 1, 2018, containing 1.9 crore names. (With inputs from agencies) For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. Moscow/New Delhi : At least six Indian sailors were killed and an equal number of them went missing after two fuel ships carrying Indian and Turkish crew members caught fire in the Kerch Strait, where the blaze was still raging following the accident on Monday, officials said on Wednesday. Russian authorities on Wednesday resumed search operation for 10 missing sailors, including four Indians, in the Kerch Strait which separates Russia from Crimea. One of the ships, the Candy, had a 17-member crew, including nine Turkish citizens and eight Indian nationals. The other one, the Maestro, had 15-member crew, including seven Turkish nationals, seven Indians and an intern from Libya. "We regret to inform that there have been causalities among Indian seamen working on these ships," the Ministry of External Affairs said in a statement in New Delhi. The deceased were identified as - Pinal Kumar Bharatbhai Tandel, Vikram Singh, Sarvanan Nagarajan, Vishal Dod, Raja Debnarayan Panigrahi and Karankumar Haribhai Tandel. Six missing Indian sailors include Siddharth Meher, Neeraj Singh, Sebastian Britto Breezlin Sahayaraj, Rushikesh Raju Sakpal, Akshay Baban Jadhav and Anandasekar Avinash. "Russian Maritime Agency and Maritime Rescue and Coordination Centre Novorossiysk are continuing efforts to locate those listed as missing," the MEA said. It said that arrangements are being made after completion of necessary formalities to bring back the bodies of the deceased to India. The repatriation of the other sailors is also being facilitated through Director General Communication Center, Indian Registry of Shipping, Mumbai. Four Indian sailors - Harish Jogi, Sachin Singh, Ashish Ashok Nair and Kamleshbhai Gopalbhai Tandel - were rescued by the authorities. "The two ships are still burning, the Spasatel Demidov vessel approaches them from time to time in order to throw water on them, but it cannot stay close to the fire all the time," a Russian Federal Agency of Maritime and River Transportation official was quoted as saying by the TASS news agency. Turkey has said four of its nationals were killed, eight were rescued and four went missing after the fire. Indian authorities said the Indian embassy in Moscow was in constant touch with the concerned Russian agencies to get more information on Indian nationals. Both vessels were flying Tanzanian flags. One of them was a liquefied natural gas carrier and another one was a tanker. The fire broke out as the two ships were transferring fuel from one to the other. Turkey's Milenyum Denizcilik Gemi company is believed to own both ships. A local official of the maritime rescue service said that the Merkury tow boat, which brought the sailors to Crimea's Kerch on Tuesday, was also returning to the accident scene. "Merkury is heading to the fire scene, it will be involved in searching [for the sailors] and extinguishing the fire," a spokesperson said. A special vessel, Spasatel Demidov, is continuing the effort to put out the fire, which is still underway. The ships have not sunk because their important parts remain intact. Citing a source in the Azov-Black Sea branch of the Maritime Rescue Service, the TASS said that attempts to extinguish the fire were failing because of burning LNG. "Only LNG is burning at the moment. The fire engulfing parts of the ships has been extinguished but gas is coming out and burning, it is like a gas burner," the source said, adding that according to recent information, the Candy was carrying about 2,500 tonnes of LNG. There is no information about the amount of gas carried by the Maestro but the two ships are similar in size, so it might be the same. The condition of sailors who were rescued during the ship fire incident in the Kerch Strait causes no concern, head of Crimea's Disaster Medicine and Ambulance Center Sergei Olefirenko was quoted as saying by the TASS. "The rescued sailors? are being treated at Kerch City Hospital. Their condition is fair, there are no signs of deterioration. There is no danger to their lives," he said. Meanwhile, Crimean Human Rights Ombudsperson Lyudmila Lubina said that border guards and consular workers were preparing documents for the rescued sailors. "They are Turkish and Indian nationals. Border guards and consular services are working on documents so that they can return to their home countries," the ombudsperson added. For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. New Delhi: This week, two Bollywood movies will hit the theatres, one is Kangana Ranauts Manikarnika: The Queen Of Jhansi and other one is Nawazuddin Siddiquis Thackeray. Its a wonderful week for all the movie bugs out there as they have an option of watching movies which are based on powerful and popular personalities including Rani Laxmibai and Balasaheb Thackeray. So, here we bring to you a short preview of what should we expect from these two flicks and which movie should be picked for watching. Manikarnika: The Queen of Jhansi - One of the most controversial films of the year, Manikarnika, a period drama is based on the life and struggles of Rani Laxmibai of Jhansi and her war against the British East India Company, during the Indian Rebellion of 1857. The film will release in over 50 countries in Hindi, Tamil and Telugu. With only a few days to go before the film release, the makers are putting in every effort to bring the best while maintaining the hype steady going. As the movie is helmed by a popular Telugu filmmaker Krish, it is expected that movie will also churn out big in the Southern part of the country. Also Read | Kangana Ranaut on Manikarnika row: Rani Laxmibai is not my relative, I will not apologise to Karni Sena Another major fact about the film which may prove to be major factor for its success is that it is written by Vijayendra Prasad, who has scripted films including Baahubali and Bhaag Milkha Bhaag and is also father of S S Rajamouli. Thackeray - While the trailer of Thackeray saw the multi-farious Nawazuddin Siddiqui in his powerful portrayal as the political leader and Shiv Sena founder Balasaheb Thackeray, the much-awaited biopic is all set to hit the theatres this week. The film will also star Vivah fame actress Amrita Rao who will portray the role of Meenatai Thackeray (wife of Balasaheb Thackeray). Thackeray is slated for a worldwide release on January 25, 2019. As the movie is based on the life of one of the most influential political leaders of Maharashtra, it is expected that movie will churn out big in Maharashtra state For all the Latest Entertainment News, Bollywood News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. New Delhi: After wreaking havoc in its protest against the release of the Sanjay Leela Bhansalis Padmaavat, exactly around the same time last year, Karni Sena is at it again. The Maharashtra Karni Sena has written a letter to the director, producers and the writers of Manikarnika: The Queen Of Jhansi threatening them that if the image of Rani Laxmi Bai is maligned in the movie or if she is shown to be the lover of some Britisher, the makers will have to bear the repercussions. Now, the fringe group demanded an apology from Kangana Ranaut for making the derogatory statement against their organization. This came after Kangana issued a statement saying that she will destroy the Karni Sena if they continue to harass her over the release of Manikarnika: The Queen of Jhansi. Four historians have certified Manikarnika, we have got censor certificate as well, Karni Sena has been conveyed this but they are continuing to harass me. If they dont stop then they should know I am also a Rajput and I will destroy each one of them, Actress Kangana Ranaut said on Friday. The actor, however, is not going down lightly to the alleged, harassment much like the queen she is playing. While conversing with reporters in Mumbai on Wednesday, Kangana refused to lay low and said, "I will not apologize to anybody. I have never apologized whenever I haven't made a mistake.'' ''We have promised that we haven't shown anything wrong about Rani Laxmibai in the film so, they should support us,'' the actress added. The three-time National Award winner went on to say, ''Rani Laxmibai is not my relative and I feel she is the daughter of the entire country so, we all should support the film. Shri Rajput Karni Sena should not play their ego card with me because I am not here to say sorry to anyone." Previously, Karni Sena president issued a warning to the actress to not to speak anything against it or else they would ruin her career prospects and burn her film sets. If she continues to threaten the members of our outfit, we will not let her walk freely in Maharashtra and will burn her film sets, Ajay Singh Sengar, president, Maharashtra Karni Sena, was quoted as saying by the news agency, ANI. Sengar also said that the Hindu society will not be very forgiving if Kanganas film insults the Queen of Jhansi, who was one of the key leaders in the Indian Rebellion of 1857. Ever since the film went on floors, Manikarnika has been in the news for no good reasons. One of the most controversial films of the year, Manikarnika had to face a lot of backlash from its cast and crew. Manikarnika tells the story of Jhansi's Rani Laxmi Bai in the 1857 Mutiny against the East India Company and will also see Ankita Lokhande, Atul Kulkarni, Suresh Oberoi, Danny Denzongpa and Jisshu Sengupta among others. The film is set to hit the theatres on 25 January 2019. For all the Latest Entertainment News, Bollywood News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. New Delhi: After days of anticipation, the Centralised Admission Cell (CAC) on Thursday released the admit cards for Karnataka Teacher Eligibility Test (TET) 2019. The authority has made the Karnataka TET hall ticket available at its official website that is schooleducation.kar.nic.in. Candidates who have successfully completed their application process and paid the requisite fee on time will be allowed to download KARTET 2019 Admit Card online till February 3, 2019. KARTET 2019 Admit Card features all the important details such as candidate's name, date of birth, father's name, category (General/SC/ST/OBC), date, time and the examination centre. In case, candidates find any error in their KARTET 2019 admit card they are advised to approach the CAC for necessary correction. The helpline numbers for Karnataka TET Admit Card correction are - 080-22483145/080-22228805/080-22483140. Meanwhile, candidates, who are yet to download their Karnataka TET 2019 admit card, may go through the following steps. Check out the steps: Step 1: Go to the official website, schooleducation.kar.nic.in Step 2: Click on the link download admission ticket KARTET Step 3: You will be redirected to a new page Step 4: Provide important details such as registration number Step 5: Click on Submit button Step 6: Admit card will appear on the screen Step 7: Download and take a print out of the same for future convenience In order to be allowed inside the examination centre, candidates must carry their Karnataka TET admit card 2019. Besides, candidates should also bring a valid photo identity proof on the day of Karnataka TET Examination 2019. Valid photo identity proof includes a Voter ID card, Aadhaar card, PAN card, Passport, Driving license, Employee ID card and College/University ID proof. Karnataka TET Examination 2019 will be conducted on February 3 in two different shifts - morning and afternoon. While the morning shift will begin from 9:30 am, the afternoon shift will be kick-started at 2 pm. For Class 1 to 5 candidates have to appear in Paper-I while for class 6 to 8 class, the candidates have to appear in Paper- II. Both Paper I and Paper II will be consisting of 150 Multiple Choice Questions (MCQs), each carrying one mark. Much to the students' relief, there will be no negative marking for incorrect responses. About Teacher Eligibility Test (TET): Teacher Eligibility Test known as TET is an Indian entrance examination for teachers. The test is mandatory for getting teaching jobs in government schools from Class 1 to Class 8. It is conducted by both Central government and state governments in India. For all the Latest Education News, Jobs News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. New Delhi : A team of Delhi Polices special cell on Wednesday busted an international drugs syndicate and recovered party drugs worth over Rs 90 crore. The Police have arrested five members of the syndicate, including an NRI, on charges of alleged drug smuggling. The police said that they all were involved in smuggling of contraband drugs Alprazolam, Tramadol tablets, Tramadol powder, Ketamine etc, which are known as Party Drugs and Meow Meow. Those arrested have been identified as 33-year-old Sunil Kumar, 25-year-old Lokesh Mehta, 45-year-old Satish Sahu, 43-year-old Neeraj Arora and 45-year-old Rajesh Dutta, a British citizen (45), the police added. Drug tablets and contraband drugs were collected from Mumbai and Delhi by the members of this syndicate and exported to London, UK, Nepal and Malaysia, the police said in a press release. Kingpins of the syndicate have been identified as Mazhar, a Pak national and Amarjeet Bains both based in London and Jaspreet Singh Dhillon, based in Nepal. The police have received a tip-off that the international gang was active in the national capital Delhi, Mumbai and other parts of the country. Following the tip-off, the police had put the gang on surveillance and found out that a large consignment would be exported, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Special Cell) Sanjeev Kumar Yadav said. "After we received input that a drug consignment would be handed over to one of the gang members on the intervening night of January 15 and 16 near Bharati College in Janakpuri, a trap was laid at the spot," he said. He further said that the recovered consignment was supposed to be smuggled to Europe via Sri Lanka and other routes. During the interrogation, the police said, the accused revealed that Kumar and Mehta used to supply narcotics and psychotropic tablets and powder to one Mazhar, a Pakistan national based in UK, through cargo and courier, as per demand. For all the Latest Crime News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. New Delhi: Incidents of rape of minor girls continue unabated across India with yet another case being reported from Maharashtra on Tuesday. According to reports, a seven-year-old girl was allegedly raped and murdered at Pimpri-Chinchwad's Dapodi in Maharashtra. The accused, however, has committed suicide hanging himself from a tree when police tried to track him in connection with the incident. Speaking to news agency ANI, senior police officer, Smartana Patil said, "We received a call that a body has been brought to the hospital on Tuesday. The girl was declared dead and rape was suspected". The rape and murder of the minor seem to be the result of a clash between her mother and the accused. The accused, identified as Vijay Yadav (25), reportedly proposed the victim's mother to marry and was refused, according to the police. Post that, Yadav, on Tuesday committed the crime when the girl was alone in the house. While the victim's mother had gone to work, her sister was in school. At night the girl was found unconscious after her mother returned from work. Though the minor was immediately rushed to the hospital, doctors declared her dead. As per the preliminary investigation, the victim's mother used to work at the same place with the accused and was threatened on Monday, a day before the incident. "During the investigation, it was found that a man had threatened the mother of the victim a day before the incident. When we tried to track the accused, we found him hanging in a forest, he allegedly committed suicide," Patil was quoted as saying. The police have registered a case and an investigation is still underway in the matter. The ranges of crimes, including sexual harassment cases, against women and children have seen an unusual rise in the last few years. Perhaps something has really changed since December 2012, when shock and terror engulfed the national capital region following the brutal assault of a young woman in New Delhi. While abductions and kidnappings have increased the most since 2006, the number of rapes has witnessed a sudden jump since 2012. However, reports suggest that only one out of 10 rapes is actually reported in India. For all the Latest Crime News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. New Delhi: At least seven persons were dead and several others feared trapped after a four-storey building on Thursday collapsed at Ullawas in Haryana's Gurugram, adjoining national capital Delhi. The incident occurred around 5 am this morning. According to sources, eight persons were residing in the building when the mishap occurred. "One more body recovered from the site of the building collapse in Ullawas, Gurugram. Death toll rises to 7," the news agency ANI reported. One more body recovered from the site of the building collapse in Ullawas, Gurugram. Death toll rises to 7. #Haryana https://t.co/ZrQB568E96 ANI (@ANI) January 24, 2019 Three teams of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) were rushed to spot even as the people remain trapped. #Haryana: Three NDRF teams rushed to the site of building collapse in Ullawas, Gurugram. More than five people are trapped after a four-storey building collapsed early morning today pic.twitter.com/42P4vlEL7i ANI (@ANI) January 24, 2019 #Haryana: NDRF teams arrive at the site of building collapse in Ullawas, Gurugram. More than five people are trapped after a four-storey building collapsed early morning today. pic.twitter.com/xzmyFKD4vT ANI (@ANI) January 24, 2019 Rescue teams are still searching for trapped labourers by removing heavy concrete material and iron grills. Efforts are on to save them, Gurugram Police PRO Subhash Bokan told PTI. Rescue teams are facing difficulty as they are removing concrete, iron grills, debris. There could be seven people, all labourers, feared trapped, Isham Singh, a fire officer, told PTI. The incident happened when work was underway to lay the lantern for the fourth floor of the building, he said. Police are on the lookout for the owner of the building, a resident of Ullawas village. New Delhi: Private sector lender Yes Bank has on Thursday named Ravneet Singh Gill as the next managing director and chief executive of the bank. He will succeed Rana Kapoor, whose term ends on January 31. "The bank has received Reserve Bank approval for new managing director and chief executive Ravneet Gill. He can join on or before March 1, 2019," the bank said in a statement. The Reserve Bank had last September asked Kapoor, who is one of the promoters of the city-based lender along with his sister-in-law Bindu Kapur, to leave the office by the end of this month. Earlier in September 2018, the RBI had rejected the bank's request to extend Rana Kapoor's tenure for another three years, saying he could continue until January 31, 2019. Though the RBI had not cited any specific reasons while not accepting a new three-year term for Kapoor and asked him to leave latest by January 31, it is attributed to under-reporting of bad loans for two years by the bank under Kapoor's watch. The announcement regarding the appointment of Ravneet Singh Gill sent the Yes Bank counter rallying by over 14.5 percent to close at Rs 225.95 on the BSE whose benchmark closed the day with around 0.24 percent gains in a choppy trade. Here are some facts you need to know about Ravneet Gill Gill holds a masters degree from Hindu College, University of Delhi. According to reports, he wanted to get into civil services but changed his mind in the mid-80s to get into the banking industry. Gill is currently CEO of Deutsche Bank (India). He has been on this post since August, 2012. He first joined Deutsche Bank's Private Wealth Management division in 1991. Gill was appointed as the Head of Capital Markets and Treasury Solutions, India in 2011. For all the Latest Business News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. Davos: An average of 20 per cent young people in emerging markets neither have access to education, nor a job or training, IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde said Wednesday. Speaking at a session on 'Finding future jobs' at the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting in Davos, she also cited the example of India to drive home a point that a huge rush for job openings at railways showed that a big pool of talent is available at some places. "In emerging countries we find 20 per cent of young people neither have access to education nor employment nor training. Besides, 18 per cent are unemployed," she said citing data. "Indian Railways announced 60,000 jobs and 20 million applied. That gives an idea of the magnitude of the pool of talent that is available. "It doesn't mean all of them would have been unemployed as there might be people looking for a change or better job opportunities. And we are not talking about a country that is growing very slow, as India is a country that is expected to grow at 7.5 per cent, so we are talking about a champion in the developing world," Lagarde said. Also, she said the whole issue of finding future jobs affects women more than men. At the same session, International Labour Organisation Director General Guy Ryder said human beings need to be put back at the centre of policymaking. Besides, there is a need to invest in institutions and it needs to be ensured that nobody is at a disadvantage, he said. We also need to invest in areas that have strong job creation potential for future, including in green economy, Ryder added. For all the Latest Business News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. New Delhi: Carlos Ghosn, the troubled CEO of French auto giant Renault, has resigned from his post. The news was confirmed by French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire. "Carlos Ghosn just resigned last night," Le Maire was quoted as saying by Bloomberg TV. He made the announcement during an interview at the ongoing World Economic Forum at Davos on Thursday. The news comes ahead of the key Renault board meet, which was scheduled to remove the CEO. Ghosn remains in custody in Japan over alleged financial misconduct. There were reports that Thierry Bollore is likely to replace Ghosn as chief executive and Michelin chief Jean-Dominique Senard as board chairman. At present, Ghosn holds both roles. Renault, part of a powerful alliance with Japanese carmakers Nissan and Mitsubishi, officially declined to comment on Ghosn's replacement, beyond confirming Thursday's board meeting, an AFP report said on Wednesday. Ghosn has already been stripped of his positions as chairman of Nissan and Mitsubishi in the wake of the allegations. The French government, Renault's biggest shareholder with a stake of more than 15 percent, is particularly keen to see the company appoint a new leader. Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire had last week demanded a board meeting "in the coming days" to name Ghosn's successor. The Franco-Lebanese-Brazilian businessman, who was arrested on November 19, is set to remain behind bars for the forseeable future after a Tokyo court again denied him bail on Tuesday. Prosecutors suspect he under-declared his income in official statements to Nissan shareholders between 2010 and 2015 to the tune of some five billion yen ($46 million), apparently in an attempt to avoid accusations that he was overpaid. A separate but similar charge is that he continued to do this between 2015 and 2018, under-reporting his income by a further four billion yen. He also faces a complex charge of seeking to shift personal investment losses onto Nissan's books and transferring company funds to a Saudi contact who allegedly stumped up collateral for him. Bollore, who has been running Renault in the wake of Ghosn's stunning arrest, was named deputy CEO a day after he was taken into custody. The 55-year-old has spent his entire career in the car industry, much of it in Asia. (With agency inputs) Shamokin, PA (17872) Today Mostly cloudy early. Isolated thunderstorms may develop this afternoon. Gusty winds and small hail are possible. High near 85F. Winds W at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 30%.. Tonight Scattered thunderstorms early, then partly cloudy after midnight. Low 61F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 60%. A mother in the US has lashed out at her son's school after he endured relentless bullying and died in a suspected suicide over the weekend. Seven Bridges, 10, was found dead in his Kentucky home on Saturday morning by his mum Tami Charles. The young boy died from a suspected suicide. His mum told Kentucky television station WDRB that her son had been persistently bullied at school because he carried a colostomy bag with him. "You failed my baby," Ms Charles said during an interview with WDRB on Monday (local time), taking aim at her son's school. The 10-year-old was diagnosed with a bowel condition at birth that required him to undergo 26 different surgeries as doctors unsuccessfully tried to fix the issue. He underwent a colostomy, a surgical procedure where doctors create an opening in the large intestine and connect it to the abdominal wall. Ms Charles said her son was often mocked at his school, Kerrick Elementary, because his condition at times caused an unpleasant odour. An animal rights activist group plans to 'barbeque' a dog in the Sydney CBD in an attempt to show people dogs are no different to lamb, cows or chicken. People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) activists plan to make the demonstration at Sydney's Pitt St Mall on Friday. "We have a barbecue chef there running through the motions of barbecueing a dog," PETA spokesperson Emily Rice told news.com.au. The confronting stunt no doubt will draw some attention. The group won't really be barbequeing a dog but will have a designed prop instead. The group hopes the stunt will make people think about eating meat. A banner reading "if you wouldn't eat a dog, why eat a lamb? Go vegan!" will accompany the 'barbeque'. "We want people to think about why they're happy to love one animal but eat another," Ms Rice says. PETA is known for its confronting demonstrations and campaigns, with the plan to make people think about the choices they make when eating meat. Newshub. Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has admitted she has experienced sexual harassment in multiple workplaces, an experience she believes she shares with all women. Speaking to BBC journalist Victoria Derbyshire on Tuesday (NZ Time), Ms Ardern discussed the verbal abuse she had experienced as a politician, such as being called "lipstick on a pig" by The Opportunities Party leader Gareth Morgan. While Ms Ardern said those kinds of insults reflect "old politics as usual", "in terms of the gendered nature, New Zealand relative to others, we do fairly well". "I am the third female Prime Minister. Those previous Prime Ministers have carved a path for me that I am incredibly grateful for." But she did note there were still elements of sexism in the New Zealand political sphere as well as in other workplaces, and admitted she had been sexually harassed on multiple occasions as an employee. "For me it's more about the status as an employee in the past, yeah I have experienced it, but actually in multiple workplaces." Not wanting to delve into the details of her experiences, Ms Ardern said it wasn't about her as individual, but about the "movement", believing many other women from different industries and workplaces would have also been sexually harassed. "Show me a woman it hasn't happened to and then let's start a conversation about how that has been possible for them, because we need to create an environment where all women are free from those experiences," she told the BBC. "This is not about one place of work, it's not about Hollywood, it's not about just politics." Ms Ardern also spoke on the difficulties of balancing her work with being a mother. She explained that she is "a mother, not a superwoman" and that the perception that the latter is true "does a disservice to all women, it raises expectations that no one can meet". Newshub. Jacinda Ardern insists New Zealand isn't discriminating against Huawei, despite the GCSB blocking Spark from using its equipment last year. The Government Communications Security Bureau (GCSB) blocked Spark's plans to use cell tower equipment from Huawei in November, citing significant risks to national security. Spark had wanted to use the Huawei equipment to develop its 5G network, but the GCSB shut down those plans, notifying Spark it had identified major network security risks if the technology was implemented. Speaking to media in Davos at the World Economic Forum, the Prime Minister said the Government ban was "not about a particular vendor", seeming to deflect international reports that New Zealand was pandering to its Western allies. "This is about a framework in New Zealand that I think serves us well," Ms Ardern said, adding that Spark and Huawei would have an opportunity to address the security concerns. Huawei said in a statement after the ban that it would "actively address any concerns and work together to find a way forward", adding it had signed more than 20 5G contracts with carriers worldwide. Political commentator Richard Harman raised concerns at the time that New Zealand's relationship with China could be damaged as a result of the decision. He warned of the potential of major consequences for Aotearoa's tourism and education sectors. But he admitted using the technology could mean getting offside with the Australia and the United States, which have also banned Huawei from their 5G networks. In early 2018, Australia banned Huawei from supplying 5G equipment, also citing security risks. And it was reported by the Wall Street Journal that the United States was trying to persuade companies in allied countries to avoid the Chinese telecom giant. "It does appear to be that New Zealand was faced with a very difficult choice. Either you said no to China, or you said no to Australia, Britain, the United States and Canada," Mr Harman said. New Zealand is a member of the Five Eyes intelligence group, which also includes the US, UK, Australia and Canada. The US is currently proceeding with the formal extradition from Canada of Huawei executive, Meng Wanzhou, Canada's ambassador to the United States, over allegedly violating US sanctions against Iran. Newshub. Members of the notorious group of rowdy tourists crashed their car in Mangere after allegedly being threatened by the public. The family was driving a grey Honda Odyssey driving down Thomas Rd at about midday on Thursday when it hit a curb at the intersection of Massey Rd. A member of the family, who said his name was James, told Newshub they crashed after a member of the public yelled and made threats towards the group. He said the driver was "scared and distracted" by the insults. James said he was shaken and that his family was being treated like animals. He claimed he had hurt his arm during the crash, and that there were children in the vehicle, although none were hurt. A Tauranga man has been sent to prison after he subjected his two dogs to horrific neglect. Louis Delves pleaded guilty to four charges under the Animal Welfare Act 1999 relating to failing to ensure the physical, health and behavioural needs of his two dogs. He was sentenced to four months two weeks' imprisonment and ordered to pay reparations of $455.78 and $250 contribution towards legal costs. An SPCA inspector discovered the Staffordshire bull terriers Tank and Sass in a dreadful condition when visiting Delves' property in June 2017, after receiving a complaint from a neighbour. Both dogs were trapped without access to food, Tank vulnerable to the elements while chained to a carport post and Sass curled up and shivering in a kennel. The inspector seized both dogs and they were taken for veterinary assessment. They were found to have a body condition of one out of nine and to be infected with worms and fleas. Tank was anaemic, most likely due to the parasite-related blood loss and a lack of nutrition-impairing red blood cell regeneration. Sass had low creatinine, likely due to malnutrition and low muscle mass. She also had dirty wounds on her ears. Both dogs were found to have lost over 40 percent of their body weight. Foveaux Strait, the body of water between Bluff and Stewart Island, is one of the most dangerous stretches of water in the country To date, only nine people have managed to swim across it, a journey that can take anywhere between eight-and-a-half and 14 hours. Next month, Hannah Morgan is hoping to become the tenth to swim Foveaux Strait as part of her drive to improve mental health awareness across New Zealand, and raise some much needed funds for charity. Morgan spoke to Duncan Garner. Watch the video. A Wellington woman riding a scooter wearing high heels has sparked a debate over whether her attire was appropriate. The image, posted to the Vic Deals Facebook group, shows a woman perched on a white electric scooter in heels as she waits in traffic behind a truck. "Snakeskin print heels are a bold fashion choice," said Emma Bell, who posted the image. "Combining the two is a great way to win an ACC holiday." Some Facebook users came to the scooter driver's defence, with one saying: "What's wrong with that? People wear heels while driving!" Others weren't so optimistic, with one Facebook users insisting people are more vulnerable while driving a scooter. "Not much between you and the driver that's not paying attention." Another said: "Dumb people like this are the reason I have to pay $550 a year to keep my motorcycle registered." New Zealand will be at greater risk of having bush fires when Australia's hot weather makes its way over the ditch next week. NIWA forecaster Chris Brandolino told The AM Show temperatures won't reach Australia's record breaking heat, but the hot weather is coming. "We've talked about Adelaide, 46.6degC... Some of that is going to make its way over as early as Sunday this weekend." Auckland won't be affected too much, but the interior of the North and South Island will be scorching hot, Mr Brandolino said. "The fire danger is going to go up. It's going to be difficult sleeping if you don't have the fan or AC. "This is going to be a prolonged, kind of accumulative event where maximum temperatures in the warmest locations either approach or exceed 35degC." Firefighters in Canterbury are already preparing themselves for a busy fire season in light of the hot, dry forecast. Strong vegetation growth has led to plenty of tinder-dry long grass across the South Island. "It's very hot and dry now things are drying out," Station Officer Owen Patterson, who works in Lumsden, Southland, told Newshub at the start of January. "We've had a lot of high winds here now [and we've] got to be very careful [as] things are getting very dry." Newshub. The Auckland City Mission says New Zealand has a hunger crisis as it releases astounding figures from last year where they had their greatest ever demand for food parcels. And the emergency doesn't end there. With the school year looming, there is even greater need for help. Auckland City Mission Social Services General Manager Helen Robinson spoke to Duncan Garner. Watch the video. Several of the stars from season five of Married At First Sight Australia have publicly slammed the show, making claims of screaming producers, scripted drama and deliberate mismatching. Earlier this month, all of the 2018 cast were blocked from the show's official Instagram account, prompting many of them to threaten to "expose" the reality TV hit ahead of its 2019 season - which will screen in New Zealand on Three. Nasser Sultan told OK! Magazine that many of the contentious moments that aired on television were "totally created by the producers". During an infamous boy's night where contestant Dean Wells suggested the men "swap partners", Sultan said the producers "came in and screamed at us that we were all being 'too boring'". "We barely spent any time with the experts anyway, but I think couples are deliberately mismatched for the drama," he added. Tracey Jewel, who struggled publicly with her mental health as a result of online bullying, also called out the show for being "100 percent manipulated". According to the Daily Mail, she alleged that contestants had been made to sit in a "tent" before each explosive dinner party for hours on end with "emotions bubbling". Channel Nine, the network behind Married At First Sight Australia, has not yet publicly addressed the claims. The new season premieres on Three on Sunday, February 3. Newshub. Technology has definitely transformed what it means to be literate in the 21st century - modern software does almost for its users for a minute. The internet and social media have certainly affected how we read, write, and speak. Educators are seeing the great impacts of technology on student writing firsthand, in the classroom. This is the goal of this article - to investigate some changes noticed in students' writing because of technology's increasing pressure in their lives today. Pew Research Center surveyed 2462 Advanced Placement and National Writing Project teachers from around the USA and their goal was to gain perspective on how digital technologies are helping to shape student's writing. What they found was that 96% agreed the digital technologies allowed students to share their work with a wider and more varied audience, 79% agreed that these tools encouraged greater collaboration among students, 78% agreed the digital technologies encouraged student creativity and personal expression. This is quantitative proof that educators agree there are some really great things that have come about student writing because of technology in the classroom. 3 Benefits of Using Technology for Writing 1. Collaboration One of the main benefits we are seeing amongst students when it comes to writing and technology is collaboration. There are applications like Google Drive in which students can actually create a document and when they use the share option they can immediately work on and type in a document at the same time. Teachers can actually also comment in the document in real time as well if it's shared with them. 2. Self Expression Creating a blog is an avenue for students to express themselves. Students can use this like an online journal or an online diary and it's just another quick way for them to get their thoughts off their chests. Students can have up to 2 or 3 blogs on different topics where they share their ideas and opinions. In relation to a blog, students can easily comment on another student's work. Maybe, somebody from across the country can comment on that students work if it's posted publicly. 3. More Ownership The last benefit is that there is the increasing ownership among students when it comes to their online writing in particular. Students are creating their own things from scratch online; they know these things can be seen in the public. Because of this, some teachers are finding students putting more efforts into their work and they have more pride in their work, knowing there can be a lot of eyes looking at what they have created. 3 Drawbacks of Using Technology for Writing 1. Sloppiness Some of the things that educators are seeing is increasing sloppiness when it comes to student writing. It means they are seeing more and more issues with spelling, grammar and a lack of editing. So although we have spelling and grammar checkers, students are not always utilizing them and we see that there is not as much editing going on. According to a survey, 40% of teachers percent found that today's digital technologies make students more likely to use poor spelling and grammar. 2. Impatience With the speed of technology nowadays students don't want to sit and write for hours and they don't want to edit for long periods of time either. Composing longer essays is more of a challenge to students more than ever before just because they are so used to having things coming quickly. In a survey, 46% of teachers mentioned that these tools make students more likely to write too fast - for less an hour. As a result, they all are careless in writing their papers. This survey found that digital tools make students more likely to take shortcuts and not put effort into their writing. 3. Plagiarism Now, there's just so much information floating around on the internet that students can get their hands on very easily. Teachers can encourage at least some of the student's assignments to be handwritten. 94% of teachers surveyed by Pew Research Center said they feel students do more synthesizing, active thinking, and editing when they write by hand and it also discourages them from the temptation of copying other people's work. This goes to show that there are also some drawbacks and issues educators are having when it comes to using technology and student writing. When employers are looking for candidates to hire, the most important skill they want an applicant to have is critical thinking and problem-solving but the second most important skill is information technology application followed by teamwork, collaboration, creativity, innovation, and diversity. This goes to show that knowing how to use technology is really important, so it is not something that can just be ignored it is something that needs to be taught and effectively integrated into the education system. Literacy is something that continues to change and evolve, there is value though in the more traditional forms of literacy but understanding and being able to apply new literacies into our lives are extremely important especially for students today. Students can take advantage of a FastEssay writing service to write essays for them. When you have an urgent need to write essays with any page count, the writer from a fast essay writing company will deliver an instant paper even if you want it within 24 hours or the same day. GamesRadar+ is supported by its audience. When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Learn more Jeffersonville, IN (47130) Today Thunderstorms during the morning will give way to mostly cloudy skies this afternoon. A few storms may be severe. High 91F. Winds SSW at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 80%.. Tonight Partly cloudy. Low 71F. Winds SW at 10 to 15 mph. Pell City, AL (35125) Today Rain. Potential for heavy rainfall. High 76F. Winds SE at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 100%. 1 to 2 inches of rain expected.. Tonight Periods of rain. Potential for heavy rainfall. Low 67F. Winds SE at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 90%. Rainfall may reach one inch. How do you negotiate with someone who sends mixed messages so when you think you have a deal, they simply walk away and then ask, for more so they can win? President Trump had a deal to move forward giving him a compromise to build on, which is how democracies work, but fear of and from his base caused him to walk away and not for the first time. Trump cannot be trusted to do anything in good faith or put aside his personal ego. Having a temper tantrum at the expense of the economy and ordinary peoples lives as this crisis ripples beyond just federal workers illustrates how out of touch he really is. Those out of work will simply adjust? This from a man who has never done without. Luria, D-Va., who represents a military heavy district including Virginia Beach, said she would be open to a menu of border security options, including a "physical barrier" of some type. "He's not talking about a wall from sea to shining sea," she said of the president. "That is not what we are talking about. We are talking about physical barriers as recommended by experts." Her office collected signatures from lawmakers throughout the day Wednesday, even as Pelosi, D-Calif., and Democratic leaders were drafting a proposal to support increased spending on border security, without a wall, if the White House opens the government. Luria's letter asks Pelosi to offer Trump and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell a deal guaranteeing that the administration's spending proposal would go through what she called normal order and procedures in the Democratic-majority House of Representatives. The letter marks the first time Luria has publicly engaged the leadership of her own party since winning her first bid for public office late last year. A variety of lawmakers signed it, including two of Luria's Virginia colleagues, centrist Rep. Abigail Spanberger and the more progressive Rep. Jennifer Wexton. All three freshmen flipped red districts blue in November by appealing to independent and Republican-leaning voters and promising to seek bipartisan solutions once they made it to Congress - helping Democrats recapture control of the House. Luria defeated freshman Rep. Scott Taylor in a district that voted for Trump by four points in 2016. She won Democratic-leaning voters opposed to the president without turning off conservatives. Asked if she worried the letter to Pelosi would alienate Democrats who support her, Luria said voters across the political spectrum want lawmakers to compromise. "No, I've had positive feedback from the district," she said. "People want to see the government open. They understand the hardship this is causing people. I really have not had any negative feedback." Last week, she came out strongly against Trump after he canceled military transport for Pelosi and lawmakers - including Luria - to travel to Afghanistan and Belgium. Luria called the president's decision "inappropriate" and said his dismissal of the trip as a "public relations event" insulted American troops. During the campaign, Luria said she has always considered herself a Democrat, but she voted for Taylor in the 2016 Republican primary and the general election because she thought he would govern as a moderate. Virginia has open primaries and does not register voters by party. A Green Beret from Virginia was killed Tuesday in Afghanistan, the Department of Defense announced Wednesday. U.S. Army Special Forces Sgt. 1st Class Joshua Zach Beale, 32, died of wounds from small arms fire during combat in Uruzgan Province, which is north of Kandahar. Beale was a native of Carrollton in Isle of Wight County in the Hampton Roads area. He is survived by his wife and two children. Beale is the second U.S. service member to die this year in Afghanistan, where more than 2,400 Americans have died in a war that began more than 17 years ago. Late last year, a Virginia soldier assigned to the 3rd Special Forces Group, Capt. Andrew Ross, 29, was among three servicemen killed on Nov. 27 in Afghanistan when their vehicle was hit with an improvised explosive device. The Taliban claimed responsibility, The Associated Press reported. Ross was a Lexington native. Beale was on his fourth overseas tour and third tour in Afghanistan, according to the U.S. Army Special Operations Command. Beale was posthumously awarded the Bronze Star Medal his third as well as a Purple Heart and the Meritorious Service Medal, and promoted to the rank of sergeant first class from staff sergeant. Referencing a pre-sentence report, Bennett acknowledged Jeremy Whorley has little risk of recidivism but said hes reported a compulsive, overwhelming urge to view child porn. She asked for a five-year sentence and defense attorney Gary Straw asked for a shorter sentence. Straw pointed out his client had no criminal history, never touched a child and was gainfully employed when he was arrested. Straw said Whorley ceased to be employed by LU months before he entered a plea in October. He also said close to a dozen loved ones who came to Lynchburg Circuit Court were there to show support for his client. While "we criminalize [child porn] for obvious reasons and it should be criminalized," Straw added it's a psychological abnormality. When given the chance to speak at Wednesdays hearing, Whorley said he accepts responsibility for his actions and knows viewing child porn isnt a victimless crime. He said hed continue to seek help and has plenty of support from his family. It might soon be legal for Virginia restaurants to advertise their happy hour specials. The Virginia Senate and the House of Delegates passed bills on Wednesday that would expand restaurants ability to advertise happy hours and the price of featured alcoholic beverages. Senate Bill 1726 proposed by Sen. Ryan McDougle, R-Hanover, passed on a 40-0 vote and House Bill 2073, sponsored by Del. John Bell, D-Loudoun, passed 90-4 Wednesday. The legislation could soon be heading to the governors desk. This is all positive progress, said Travis Hill, chief executive officer of the Virginia Alcoholic Beverage Control Authority. As it stands now, under Virginia law, retail on-premises licensees (restaurants) cant share specifics of their happy hour specials ($2 beers, $3 glasses of wine) outside of their restaurants, including on their websites, on social media and in any advertisements. Two world-class scientific leaders have been appointed to help govern the Cricks institutional and scientific strategy, with neuroscientist Mene Pangalos joining the Board of Trustees and biochemist Elena Conti joining the Scientific Advisory Board. Mene Pangalos Mene Pangalos is Executive Vice-President of AstraZeneca Research and Development BioPharmaceuticals, responsible for R&D across Respiratory, Cardiovascular, Renal and Metabolic, and Infection, Neuroscience and Autoimmune disease areas. He has over 150 peer-reviewed articles, sits on the Medical Research Council and is a fellow of the Academy of Medical Sciences. Mene joins the Cricks Board of Trustees, working to ensure the long-term success of the Crick. The Board oversees the Cricks management to make sure that we have the right strategy, resources and governance to deliver our vision. I am excited to be joining the Board of Trustees and realizing the potential of the Francis Crick Institute to advance UK and global biomedical science. I share its vision of discovery without boundaries to better understand human biology for the benefit of patients. Open collaboration and scientific exchange with industry will be a key enabler of the Institutes success and I look forward to contributing to this. Mene Pangalos, Executive Vice-President of AstraZeneca Research and Development BioPharmaceuticals Lord Browne of Madingley, Chair of the Board of Trustees, said: Mene Pangalos brings with him a vital combination of commercial experience underpinned by scientific excellence, a perspective that will be crucial to ensure the Institutes continued success. On behalf of the Board of Trustees, I am delighted to welcome him to the Francis Crick Institute. Elena Conti Elena Conti is Director at the Max Planck Institute of Biochemistry in Munich and her world-class research has received many awards. In 2014 she was awarded the Louis-Jeantet Prize for Medicine for her work understanding how faulty RNAs are recognized and eliminated at the atomic level. Elena joins the Cricks Scientific Advisory Board which advises our Director, Paul Nurse, on the development and implementation of our scientific strategy. Elena said: Early research on a new approach to protecting against malaria is offering promising, potentially long-lasting results against the persistent parasite that sickens hundreds of millions people each year. The approach uses a cytomegalovirus-based platform that's already being used in vaccines being developed to battle HIV and tuberculosis. This new vaccine reduced the malaria-causing parasite's release from the liver and into the blood of infected rhesus macaques by 75 to 80 percent, reports a paper published in the journal PLOS ONE. "The problem with most vaccines is that their effectiveness is often short-lived," said the study's lead author, Klaus Fruh, Ph.D., of OHSU's Vaccine & Gene Therapy Institute and a professor of molecular and cellular biosciences at the OHSU School of Medicine. "Our cytomegalovirus-based vaccine platform can create and keep immunity for life. With further research and development, it could offer a lifetime of protection against malaria." Malaria is a serious and sometimes fatal disease caused by Plasmodium parasites, which are spread to humans through mosquito bites. It can cause high fevers, shaking chills, flu-like illness and, in the worst cases, death. Worldwide, 216 million people were infected with malaria in 2016, leading to 445,000 deaths. The vast majority of infections occur in Africa. The decades-long search for an effective malaria vaccine has been challenging. The World Health Organization is using one vaccine - known as RTS,S/AS01 or by its brand name, Mosquirix - as part of new, routine vaccination programs in three African countries. But RTS,S has been shown to only reduce malaria transmission in kids - in whom malaria is most often fatal - by 39 percent four years after it was administered. Its efficacy was further reduced to 4.4 percent seven years afterward. Vaccines against viruses and bacteria typically have protection rates of more than 90 percent. Vaccine makeover Most vaccines are designed to encourage the human body to respond to invading, disease-causing pathogens by creating antibodies that disable those pathogens. OHSU's new vaccine takes a different approach by using a weakened form of a common herpes virus - cytomegalovirus, or CMV - that infects most people without causing disease. Fruh and his colleagues weave tiny bits of their target pathogen into CMV. Those who receive the resulting, re-engineered CMV vaccine produce memory T-cells that can search for and destroy pathogen-infected cells. Studies have shown this approach enables vaccinated nonhuman primates to develop and maintain a high state of immunity years later. The CMV vaccine platform has been licensed by Vir Biotechnology, Inc., of San Francisco, which plans to lead a human clinical trial for a CMV-based HIV vaccine in 2019. The same basic platform is also being used in a new TB vaccine, and is now the basis for this malaria vaccine. Nuts & bolts Fruh and his colleagues pursued a malaria vaccine because they noticed the memory T-cells their CMV-based vaccine produce exist in high concentrations in the liver, where the malaria parasite hides out shortly after infecting a human. They developed two different versions of their CMV-based malaria vaccine while using four different proteins made by the Plasmodium parasite. The resulting vaccines delayed the parasite's appearance in the blood of 16 infected and vaccinated rhesus macaques by eliminating between 75 and 80 percent of parasites from the liver. A year later, the vaccinated nonhuman primates still had immunity against malaria, while eight control animals that weren't vaccinated did not. In an effort to make their vaccine 100 percent protective against malaria, the research team will evaluate 15 different Plasmodium-made proteins for the vaccine. They will also examine combining their CMV-based vaccine with other experimental vaccines or the existing RTS,S vaccine. Ten African scientists have been selected for training at the National Institutes of Health as part of a new fellowship program to build research capacity in African countries and develop ongoing scientific partnerships. NIH, the African Academy of Sciences, and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation are collaborating to establish the African Postdoctoral Training Initiative. The inaugural cohort will assume their positions in NIH host labs in early 2019. NIH will provide two years of training under principal investigators who share the fellows' research interests. The African scientists will then return to their home institutions and receive two years of support to continue the research and establish themselves as independent investigators. NIH and the Gates Foundation are together providing about $4 million for the program. "Our goal is to equip these talented African fellows with the skills to become scientific leaders, prepared to help solve their country's health challenges and train future generations of researchers," said NIH Director Francis S. Collins, M.D., Ph.D., whose intramural research lab will host one of the fellows. "By designing the African Postdoctoral Training Initiative to begin at NIH and then continue at their home institution, we aim to prevent 'brain drain,' build sustainable research capacity, and establish long-term collaborations between U.S. scientists and African investigators and research institutions." "It is imperative to strengthen African scientific leadership to advance health and development goals on the continent. We are thrilled to partner with NIH and the African Academy of Sciences to support these 10 outstanding researchers working to solve the world's greatest health challenges," said Trevor Mundel, president of the Global Health Division at the Gates Foundation. "To achieve the Sustainable Development Goals by 2030, the world needs to accelerate innovation and global scientific collaboration. Training from NIH, one of the world's foremost biomedical research institutions, will help these scientists develop the transformational solutions the world and their communities urgently need." The fellows come from six African countries: Ghana, Mali, Nigeria, Ethiopia, Kenya and Egypt. They've been matched with labs from seven institutes at NIH and will study diseases and conditions that are research priorities in their respective countries, including infectious diseases, maternal and child health, and diabetes. The fellowship program targets early career scientists who have doctoral degrees and less than five years of research experience. Candidates must also be citizens of an African country and employed at one of the continent's academic, research or government institutions. NIH's Fogarty International Center is coordinating the fellowship program. The African Academy of Sciences managed the recruitment and selection process, and plans to recruit another cohort in 2020. 2019 African Postdoctoral Training Initiative Fellows and NIH Hosts Fellow: Dr. Idowu Aimola Home institution: Ahmadu Bello University, Nigeria Host institution: National Human Genome Research Institute Research area: diabetes, maternal and child health Fellow: Dr. Nana Ama Amissah Home institution: Noguchi Memorial Institute for Medical Research, Ghana Host institution: National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Research area: infectious diseases Fellow: Dr. Thomas Hormenu Home institution: University of Cape Coast, Ghana Host institution: National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases Research area: diabetes Fellow: Dr. Musa Kana Home institution: Federal University Lafia, Nigeria Host institution: National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences Research area: tuberculosis, respiratory diseases, child health Fellow: Dr. Rania Labib Home institution: Children's Cancer Hospital, Egypt Host institution: National Cancer Institute Research area: child health Fellow: Dr. Hamma Maiga Home institution : Institut National de Recherche en Sante Publique, Mali Host institution: National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Research area: malaria, maternal and child health Fellow: Dr. Bartholomew Ondigo Home institution: Egerton University, Kenya Host institution: National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Research area: malaria Fellow: Dr. Kolapo Oyebola Home institution: University of Lagos, Nigeria Host institution: National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute Research area: sickle cell disease Fellow: Dr. Irene Offei Owusu Home institution: Noguchi Memorial Institute for Medical Research, Ghana Host institution: National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Research area: infectious diseases, viruses Fellow: Dr. Markos Tesfaye Woldeyohannes Home institution: St. Paul's Hospital Millennium Medical College, Ethiopia Host institution: National Institute of Nursing Research Research area: child health Source: https://www.nih.gov/news-events/news-releases/new-fellowship-program-will-support-next-generation-african-scientific-leaders Cannabis is one of the most widely used recreational drugs worldwide. It comes in many variations that have been used both for medicinal purposes e.g. in the treatment or management of various diseases, as well for recreational purposes to achieve a high. Recently, Canada became the first major western country to legalise marijuana/cannabis for recreational and medicinal usage and cultivation. The United Kingdom has now made exceptions for the use of medicinal cannabis in the treatment of severe epilepsy, chemotherapy-related illness and multiple sclerosis (MS), while still retaining Class B illegal status for its recreational usage (possession and distribution). Cannabis CBD oil - Image Credit: ElRoi / Shutterstock What is CBD oil? Medical cannabis is often sold as cannabidiol (CBD) oil. It is a major cannabinoid derived from marijuana plants. However, CBD oil does not usually contain any tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) which is the main psychoactive substance of cannabis. Can CBD oil treat epilepsy? CBD oil reportedly has many health benefits; however, the strongest evidence thus far is for the treatment of epilepsy. The earliest evidence that compounds within cannabis could be used as anticonvulsants (seizure-treating drugs) came from animal studies in the 1970s. Both THC and CBD oils were tested, with both shown to possess strong anticonvulsant properties in mice. Early experiments showed that the seizure activity threshold may in part be mediated by the endocannabinoid system (receptors for cannabinoids), with THC apparently reducing seizure threshold by almost 100%. Cannabis Derivative Cannabidiol Reduces Epilepsy Seizures Play Furthermore, animal studies show that endocannabinoid production increases in addition to the overexpression of cannabinoid receptors (CB1) to compensate for the excitotoxic effects of enhanced glutamate activity. It was not until the late 1990s and the early-2000s that specific case studies looking at the effect of THC/CBD on epilepsy were carried out. Due to the psychoactive nature of THC, the focus shifted to CBD. For example, Project CBD gained much public and media attention with many positive stories of individual cases of epilepsy treatment being treated with CBD oil, as well as its use in managing Dravet syndrome. More recently, standardized control studies using CBD in the treatment of epilepsy were initiated. For instance, one preparation of CBD oil, currently in phase III clinical trials has proven effective in the treatment of epilepsy (with up to 55% reduction in seizures), and has received FDA regulatory approval in the US on June 2018. Some evidence also suggests that the dosage of CBD oil can be lowered if it is used in combination with THC oil. Cannabidiolic acid (CBDA) also has anti-seizure activity through a different mechanism, as it binds to serotonin receptors (5-HT1A) 100-fold compared to CBD oil alone. The surprising story of medical marijuana and pediatric epilepsy | Josh Stanley | TEDxBoulder Play Summary It is now plain that cannabis has many proven beneficial effects on health, in particular in the treatment and management of epilepsy and seizure-like activity. This is reflected in the UK governments decision to allow the usage of CBD oil for such purposes, despite its recreational use retaining Class B status. While CBD oil alone does not produce the psychoactive results of cannabis, THC does, and needs to be administered carefully and in a controlled way for effective use. Unfortunately, as long as cannabis remains a controlled drug under most international laws, research is hampered and the stigma associated with it remains. It is an encouraging sign in the UK that the usage of medicinal CBD oil has now been allowed for the most severe cases of epilepsy. The law needs to move to full decriminalization (to allow the usage of THC and CBDA oils) and encourage investment in medical research of cannabis in neurological conditions. Sources Russo EB, 2018. Frontiers in Integrative Neuroscience 12:51 https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fnint.2018.00051/full http://www.tmc.edu/news/2018/06/treating-epilepsy-with-cbd-oil/ Devinksy et al, 2016. The Lancet Neurology. 15(3):270-78 www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1474442215003798?via%3Dihub Further Reading The winter reading program will run through Feb. 23 at 5 p.m. at New Milford Public Library. The programs theme is Exercise Your Mind. Participants must be 16 or older. Proactive planning is an integral part of aging. But it can be challenging to navigate the health care system, plan for a financial future, and ensure a safe and healthy living environment is at ones fingertips. The Senior Care Resources of Western Connecticut group in New Milford is an educational resource ready to help seniors and their families in the New Milford community navigate the aging process. Wherever a person is on the continuum of aging, we can help you, Michael Gold, Senior Care Resources chairman and owner and president of GeronNursing & Respite Care, said of the groups purpose. We are here to educate decision makers albeit a well spouse, an adult child or a senior on the best direction forward, Gold said. The group aims to guide seniors and their families as they plan for and manage life events before a crisis arises. About a dozen of SCRs members made up of business and health care professionals recently met for the groups quarterly meeting, the first of its kind with several new members who each shared a brief summary of the latest happenings in their industry. Gold said the group is starting off the new year with a revitalized energy and a sharper focus on education. Members are also available for speaking engagements. Were a resource in our community and can refer (families) with confidence, he said, describing how members direct individuals to other members who can help with issues that arise. Members represent numerous industries, including health care agencies, advance care facilities, senior housing, financial service providers, elder law attorneys, funeral homes, physicians, senior centers, advocacy groups and more. Unfortunately, many individuals wait too long to plan for their future and wind up in a crisis, leaving loved ones to step up to make decisions at a stressful time, several members said during the meeting. Deirdre Dolan Nesline, a declutter expert, move and age-in-place manager, said she all too frequently sees the pressure of trying to, for example, clean out a loved ones home. I see adult kids taking care of aging parents and I see the stress on their face, Nesline said. I think Save yourself and get help. Many caregivers fall into superhero mode and think they have to do everything themselves, she said. Deborah Bain, BSN and managing director of Prism Health Advocates in Kent, said family members need to understand that its OK to get to the point they can say, I can no longer handle it. Thats where the members of Senior Care Resources step in. Theyre there to successfully manage health care and retirements issues by connecting the pieces, according to the groups brochure. Linda Arnold, an elder law attorney with Czepiga Daly Pope & Perri in New Milford, stressed the importance of comprehensive planning with an attorney and other qualified professionals to ensure an individual receives sound, legal and quality information while planning for their future. Members also spoke of the latest happenings in their field, including the Jan. 25 Alzheimers community forum at the senior center; the Feb. 22 Drug Take Back Day at the senior center; the Feb. 24 Cold Homes, Warm Hearts walk to benefit the Community Fuel Bank of New Milford; the memory care unit soon to roll out at Village Crest Center for Health & Rehabilitation; the recent flu and vaccination clinics sponsored by the New Milford Visiting Nurse Association at Loaves & Fishes; the new contract with the VA at Candlewood Valley Health & Rehabilitation; and the revitalized childrens bereavement camp, Camp Stepping Stones, with the NMVNA. The group was founded about six years ago as a community service with no cost to individuals seeking resources and information. For more information, email scrwesternconnecticut@gmail .com or look for Senior Care Resources of Western Connecticut on Facebook. Minor Memorial Library has announced it has received a grant from Connecticut Humanities for its spring lecture series, Land and Culture: A Deep Look at the History of Land Use. A collaborative program with the Roxbury Conservation Commission and the Roxbury Land Trust, the series of four lectures and a site visit will explore different aspects of our local geology, geography and the different ways people have used the land for food, shelter, and in the pursuit of wealth. The first program will be held Feb. 7 at 7 p.m. with Professor Robert Thorson of UConn, who will describe the geological history of Roxbury and northwest Connecticut, and how landforms have influenced human activities throughout history. A snow date of Feb. 14 is planned. Future programs will be held Feb. 21, March 7, March 21 and April 6. From an exploration of the geology that sets the stage for the kinds of activities that are possible in our area, through Native American land practices and cultural values, to the rise and fall of water powered industry in the Litchfield Hills, the programs will help attendees understand the intersection of culture and land. In addition, the grant will provide for the purchase of books that further address these issues. Professor Thorson, professor of geology at UConns Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology and the Department of Anthropology and faculty affiliate in the American Studies Program, has written Stone by Stone, a history of the stone walls that snake through the woods throughout New England and that unites the histories of New Englands geology, environment, culture and economy with science and passion. More recent work includes a look at the writings of Henry David Thoreau as a keen scientific observer and writer as well as the Transcendentalist and early father of the Environmental Movement. The series will continue Feb. 21 at 7 p.m. with a presentation by Lucianne Lavin, of the Institute for American Indian Studies, on the ways in which Native Americans interacted with the local landscape; March 7 with a discussion of the rise and fall of water-powered industry in Litchfield County presented by Peter Vermilyea; March 21 with Kyle Turoczi, who will talk about how to read the landscape; and April 6 with a field walk on Roxbury Land Trust property with Turoczi. For information, call 860-350-2181. County chaplain marks Holocaust Memorial Day County chaplain marks Holocaust Memorial Day The Chaplain to Norfolk County Council, Rev Dr Liviu Barbu, was asked to mark Holocaust Memorial Day on January 27 with a message to Senior County Hall staff and a seminar on this year's theme, 'Torn from Home'. To help Norfolk County Council mark Holocaust Memorial Day on Sunday, January 27, their Chaplain, Rev Dr Liviu Barbu, who is also Rector of the Romanian Orthodox Church in Norwich, was asked to share his reflections about the significance of the day in a message on the weekly blog for Norfolk County Council's Senior Officers. Rev Dr Liviu Barbu will also be hosting a lunchtime reflection seminar around the Holocaust Memorial Days theme for this year, 'Torn from home', on Monday, January 28 from 12.30-1pm, in the Quiet Room of the Ground floor in the South Wing of County Hall (by the interview rooms). Rev Dr Liviu Barbu writes: Ahead of Holocaust Memorial Day on 27 January, I would like to share with you a few thoughts on the significance of this commemoration. It is a day for everyone to remember the millions of people murdered in the Holocaust, under Nazi persecution, and in the genocides which followed in Cambodia, Rwanda, Bosnia and Darfur. I grew up in quite a homogeneous society in Romania, where, at the time, as a child, seeing a person of a different colour was a rare occurrence and met with acute interest and even wonder. Years later, I found myself in London, amid a most diverse society. Having learnt about the historic struggles of different groups of people, for freedom and basic human rights, I was puzzled, and still am to this day, by the ills of racism and its many disguised ideologies and practices. I keep asking myself: how could ones skin colour, race, religion or any other personal trait be used by some as an excuse for humiliation, mutilation or killing? What could make ones views, attitudes, decisions or actions so extreme and inhuman? What could possibly qualify a person - who looks very much and is in every way as human as everyone else, in his or her basic existence, needs and aspirations - as less human? If were to go back to our common roots, we find that we all share the very fundamentals of humanity, which today are recognised as our inalienable human rights: the right to life and free determination and enjoyment of it. We are all brothers and sisters, descending, according to the Judeo-Christian tradition, from the same parents. The Book of Genesis also informs us that each and every person is born with a divine seal in them (Genesis 1:27: God created man and woman in his own image), which is uniquely tailored to each person. That means that in God's sight every person is unique, irreplaceable and eternal, enduring even beyond death. As we commemorate the sacrifice of so many lives of people, who were denied their divine and human right to live out and fulfil their own lives on earth, we pray that their memory may live on for ever with us as it does with God! Whatever our background, race, religion, belief, or no belief, Holocaust Memorial Day is a day for us to reflect on how far we have come as individuals, as a county, as a country, as a world and how far we still have to go, to achieve understanding, peace and compassion. The chaplaincy of Rev Dr Liviu Barbu to Norfolk County Council is funded by Good Work. Officials in Wareham, Massachusetts are asking residents to stop feeding peanut butter and jelly sandwiches to seals. The request was made after the Wareham Department of Natural Resources found sandwiches near a harp seal when they responded to a call of a possibly sick or injured animal. At the scene, authorities evaluated the seal, which appeared to be hydrated and alert. WDNR said in a Facebook post that "Sammy" the seal was vocal because of nearby onlookers. Authorities say that when stressed, harp seals tend to eat sand and sand consumption is not good for them. In addition to the peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, WDNR is warning residents not to wrap blankets around seals and to refrain from helping them back in the water. A 23-year-old woman who was reported missing over the weekend has been found alive, Boston police confirmed Tuesday afternoon. Olivia Ambrose was found alive at a housing project in the city's Charlestown neighborhood and was taken to a local hospital to be evaluated. Authorities did not provide information on her condition. A suspect, 38-year-old Victor Pena of Charlestown, has been arrested and charged with kidnapping, according to Boston Police Commissioner William Gross. He said Ambrose was found in Pena's apartment. "She's very strong," Heather Ambrose, Olivia's mother, told NBC10 Boston after returning with her daughter to the family home in Wenham, Massachusetts. "It's going to be a process, but she's OK." A suspect has been charged with kidnapping after Olivia Ambrose, who had been missing since Saturday, was found alive in Bostons Charlestown neighborhood. An Ambrose family spokesperson issued a statement expressing their gratitude toward police and others who aided in the search. "The Ambrose family is so grateful for the monumental efforts of the Boston Police Department and the MBTA and Transit police who have worked tirelessly over the last three days to bring Olivia home," the statement read. The family also thanked "all of the staff at Hennessey's Bar who have been so helpful since Olivia went missing" and said they were "also so appreciative of all the efforts, prayers and good wishes of ... friends, family and complete strangers." Police also thanked the community for its efforts in helping find Ambrose. "Thank you to everybody who aided, helped and assisted in the investigation and search," Boston police tweeted. Hours before she was found alive Tuesday, investigators released two surveillance images of a person of interest along with a timeline of Ambrose's last known whereabouts. when she had been last seen in a bar on Union Street and when she was last caught on surveillance video in Charlestown. Police and her family said Ambrose was last seen leaving Hennessy's bar near Faneuil Hall on Union Street Saturday night, where she had been hanging out with her twin sister and her friends. Police said Ambrose was later seen on surveillance video in Charlestown, where she was eventually found. It was not immediately clear if he had an attorney. A Northern Virginia teen with autism who has a serious love for peanut butter handed out jars of his favorite food to people affected by the government shutdown. Eric McKay, known as "Bean," eats peanut butter sandwiches on toasted English muffins three times a day. "Its just good. Its good," he said. But Bean doesn't like just any peanut butter. He prefers one particular type: Lidl's store-brand creamy peanut butter. "Its good and not chunky," he explained. After finishing a whopping 72 Lidl peanut butter jars his mom had bought on sale, Bean took to Twitter last October to display the empty jars. Dear @LidlUS My name is Bean. I eat peanut butter and jelly English muffins for three meals a day. Back in February, my mom bought 72 jars of your peanut butter when it was on sale for 78 cents a jar. I numbered each jar. pic.twitter.com/u4wBgH8rzm Philosopher Bean (@BeanPhilosopher) October 16, 2018 Lidl responded by giving him another 72 jars and challenged him to get 72,000 retweets for a lifetime supply. Bean won the challenge and recently decided to donate a portion of his winnings to people affected by the federal government shutdown. "Hes an awesome kid. Hes always been an awesome kid, but now, you know, he's old enough that he's reaching out in the world and he's affecting more than just our family," his mother Tracy McKay told News4. His father, Jonathan Lamb, is one of hundreds of thousands of people without a paycheck during the shutdown. "Its sad that it's come to this," Lamb said. "Im very proud of how my son has handled it." On Wednesday, Bean and his family handed out free jars of Lidl peanut butter to furloughed workers at the Lidl store in Dumfries. "It's easy and it makes people happy," he said while doing a dance. "I'm dancing. I'm just happy right now. That's the emotion we're going to go with." Two Virginia men accused of setting up an alleged prostitution ring in which women were driven to clients doors and replaced with new women weekly pleaded guilty in federal court. Luis Bonilla-Hernandez and Eliazar Mota face up to five years in prison when they are sentenced in April. Bonilla-Hernandez ran the operation out of his Sterling home, the Loudoun County Sheriffs Office said. He and Mota would bring in women from New York and Pennsylvania each week, then take them to homes for dozens of transactions each day. At the end of the week, the women would get a cut of the money, and new women would be brought in to replace them. The prostitutes were advertised on a card for automotive services that included the word "treinteras," promising a sex act for $30. Court documents detailed an afternoon when the FBI watched Bonilla-Hernandez drive a woman to a neighborhood and drop her off at four homes. The average visit lasted about 10 minutes. The sheriffs office said it identified multiple women used in the operation and has video surveillance, phone records and GPS tracking data from one of the vehicles. A grand jury indicted an alleged drunken driver in a crash that killed three young siblings and injured their parents, the Prince George's County state's attorney said. Thomas Hawks faces several charges, including three counts of vehicular manslaughter as a result of gross negligence and two counts of causing life-threatening injuries by motor vehicle while under the influence of alcohol. A warrant for Hawks was issued. Hawks was driving at a high rate of speed on Indian Head Highway in Oxon Hill about 9:40 p.m. Dec. 30 when he struck a Honda Accord stopped at a traffic light on Indian Head Highway in Oxon Hill, the state's attorney said. Mr. Hawks was driving southbound on Route 210 in a Chevy Silverado while heavily intoxicated and impaired, States Attorney Aisha Braveboy said. The impact from the Silverado caused the Accord to strike the car in front of it, which then hit another vehicle, police said. The Silverado came to rest on top of the rear-passenger compartment of the Accord. Five-year-old twins Alexander and Rosalie Mejia and their 1-year-old brother, Isaac, died on impact. The family had just gone to church, then to a buffet at Rosalie's request. Their lives are cut short, but for the time that they were here, they knew nothing but love and joy, said their father, Alexis Mejia. He and his wife, Juanita, are still recovering from the injuries they suffered. She said her injuries make it physically painful to mourn her children. I have five broken ribs that dont allow me to even cry, Juanita Mejia said. When I cry, I cry with pain not only from my heart. Not only my heart hurts when I cry, but also my body physically. She will be in a neck and back brace for at least another six months. Alexis Mejia suffered a concussion. Hawks had a blood alcohol content of 0.17, more than two times the Maryland legal limit, Braveboy said. He was on his way home from a Washington Redskins game. What this person has done to us is something that in hundreds of ways could have been avoided, Alexis Mejia said. Hawks faces a maximum penalty of 36 years. The Mejias said they trust in God there will be justice. Even if its not time in jail, just his lifetime here on Earth, God will give him what he deserves, Juanita Mejia said. They said support of friends and family has helped them. Me and my husband and my whole family are overwhelmed with the amount of love and support from everyone around the world, Juanita Mejia said. A fundraiser for the Mejia family had raised more than $110,000 by Thursday. More than 60 people have died in crashes on Indian Head Highway in the past 11 years, according to the Maryland State Highway Administration. AAA calls the road one of the most dangerous in the D.C. area. In October, crews installed a new speed camera on the highway following the death of 24-year-old Samira Jenkins in March. A car struck Jenkins near the intersection of Indian Head Highway and Kerby Hill Road. She was on her way to a job interview. Washington, D.C., is now offering no-interest loans to some furloughed federal workers. Mayor Muriel Bowser and the D.C. Housing Finance Agency on Wednesday announced the D.C. Mortgage Assistance Program and its zero-interest recourse loans of up to $5,000 a month. Furloughed workers must have a primary residence in the District to be eligible and meet several other requirements. Bowser says 70,000 federal workers have a primary residence in the District. A total of $9 million is available for the loans, which will be required to be repaid within 60 days of the shutdown ending or when back pay is made available. Eligible workers can call 833-429-0537 starting Friday to apply. A splintered Senate swatted down competing Democratic and Republican plans for ending the 34-day partial government shutdown on Thursday, but the twin setbacks prompted a burst of bipartisan talks aimed at temporarily halting the longest-ever closure of federal agencies and the damage it's inflicting around the country. In the first serious exchange in weeks, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., quickly called Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., to his office to explore potential next steps for solving the vitriolic stalemate. Senators from both sides floated a plan to reopen agencies for three weeks and pay hundreds of thousands of beleaguered federal workers while bargainers hunt for a deal. At the White House, President Donald Trump told reporters he'd support "a reasonable agreement." He suggested he'd also want a "prorated down payment" for his long-sought border wall with Mexico but didn't describe the term. He said he has "other alternatives" for getting wall funding, an apparent reference to his disputed claim that he could declare a national emergency and fund the wall's construction using other programs in the federal budget. "At least we're talking about it. That's better than it was before," McConnell told reporters in one of the most encouraging statements heard since the shutdown began Dec. 22. Even so, it was unclear whether the flurry would produce results. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., whose relationship with Trump seems to sour daily, told reporters a "big" down payment would not be "a reasonable agreement." Asked if she knew how much money Trump meant, Pelosi said, "I don't know if he knows what he's talking about." Schumer spokesman Justin Goodman said Democrats have made clear "that they will not support funding for the wall, prorated or otherwise." Contributing to the pressure on lawmakers to find a solution was the harsh reality confronting 800,000 federal workers, who on Friday face a second two-week payday with no paychecks. Underscoring the strains, Sen. Michael Bennet, D-Colo., angrily said on the Senate floor that Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, had forced a 2013 shutdown during which "people were killed" in Colorado from flooding and shuttered federal agencies couldn't help local emergency workers. Moments earlier, Cruz accused Democrats of blocking a separate, doomed bill to pay Coast Guard personnel during this shutdown to score political points, adding later, "Just because you hate somebody doesn't mean you should shut the government down." Thursday's votes came after Vice President Mike Pence lunched privately with GOP senators, who told him they were itching for the standoff to end, participants said. Sen. Roy Blunt, R-Mo., said their message to Pence was, "Find a way forward." In an embarrassment to Trump, the Democratic proposal got two more votes Thursday than the GOP plan, even though Republicans control the chamber 53-47. Six Republicans backed the Democratic plan, including freshman Sen. Mitt Romney, R-Utah, who's clashed periodically with the president. The Senate first rejected a Republican plan reopening the government through September and giving Trump the $5.7 billion he's demanded for building segments of that wall, a project that he'd long promised Mexico would finance. The 50-47 vote for the measure fell 10 shy of the 60 votes needed to succeed. Minutes later, senators voted 52-44 for a Democratic alternative that sought to open padlocked agencies through Feb. 8 with no wall money. That was eight votes short. It was aimed at giving bargainers time to seek an accord while getting paychecks to government workers who are either working wihout pay or being forced to stay home. Flustered lawmakers said Thursday's roll calls could be a reality check that would prod the start of talks. Throughout, the two sides have issued mutually exclusive demands that have blocked negotiations from even starting: Trump has refused to reopen government until Congress gives him the wall money, and congressional Democrats have rejected bargaining until he reopens government. Thursday's votes could "teach us that the leaders are going to have to get together and figure out how to resolve this," said Sen. John Thune of South Dakota, the No. 2 Senate GOP leader. He added, "One way or another we've got to get out of this. This is no win for anybody." Initially, partisan potshots flowed freely. Pelosi accused Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross of a "'Let them eat cake' kind of attitude" after he said on television that he didn't understand why unpaid civil servants were resorting to homeless shelters for food. Even as Pelosi offered to meet the president "anytime," Trump stood firm, tweeting, "Without a Wall it all doesn't work.... We will not Cave!" As the Senate debated the two dueling proposals, McConnell said the Democratic plan would let that party's lawmakers "make political points and nothing else" because Trump wouldn't sign it. He called Pelosi's opposition "unreasonable" and said, "Senate Democrats are not obligated to go down with her ship." Schumer criticized the GOP plan for endorsing Trump's proposal to keep the government closed until he gets what he wants. "A vote for the president's plan is an endorsement of government by extortion," Schumer said. "If we let him do it today, he'll do it tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow." McConnell's engagement was viewed as a constructive sign because he has a history of helping resolve partisan standoffs. For weeks, he'd let Trump and Democrats try reaching an accord and, until Thursday, had barred any votes on legislation Trump would not sign. In consultation with their Senate counterparts, House Democrats were preparing a new border security package that might be rolled out Friday. Despite their pledge to not negotiate until agencies reopened, their forthcoming proposal was essentially a counteroffer to Trump. Pelosi expressed "some optimism that things could break loose pretty soon" in a closed-door meeting with other Democrats on Wednesday evening, said Rep. John Yarmuth, D-Ky. The Democratic package was expected to include $5.7 billion, the same amount Trump wants for his wall, but it would be used instead for fencing, technology, personnel and other measures. In a plan the rejected Senate GOP plan mirrored, Trump on Saturday proposed to reopen government if he got his wall money. He also proposed to revamp immigration laws, including new restrictions on Central American minors seeking asylum in the U.S. and temporary protections for immigrants who entered the country illegally as children. At a panel discussion held by House Democrats on the effects of the shutdown, union leaders and former Homeland Security officials said they worried about the long-term effects. "We will be lucky to get everybody back on the job without a crisis to respond to," said Tim Manning, a former Federal Emergency Management Agency official. What to Know Councilman Derek Green wants to let Philadelphians decide whether to amend the Home Rule Charter to allow for legalized pot. Currently, small amounts of marijuana are decriminalized throughout the city. On the same day as Green's proposal, the city's first medical marijuana dispensary opened in Center City. A Philadelphia city councilman is proposing putting the question of legalizing recreational pot to voters on the same day as the first medical marijuana dispensary opened in Center City. Councilman Derek S. Green introduced a bill Thursday that leaves it up to voters to decide whether to change the city's Home Rule Charter to legalize recreational pot. Meanwhile, Beyond/Hello opened the city's first Pennsylvania Department of Health-approved medical marijuana dispensary. In a statement Green said that, due to Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf recently suggesting the state should consider whether to legalize recreational weed, it is an "appropriate time" for Philadelphians to consider whether they themselves want to see such legalization happen. "Although we can't force a decision being made at the state level, we can get the input of citizens in the city of Philadelphia to get their thoughts on whether this is a good or bad idea," Green told NBC10. The City Council's Committee on Law and Government will consider the legislation at a hearing scheduled for Feb. 5. Green hopes to have the measure put to voters by May. Philadelphia first voted to decriminalize small amounts of marijuana in 2014, but the city has not yet legalized the drug. Green has been a vocal proponent of marijuana in the past. In 2017, after Pennsylvania had OK'd medical marijuana, he led the charge to change a state law that prevented dispensaries from setting up within 1,000 feet of schools or daycare centers. "The goal is to say to the state, 'Allow us to use the regulatory zoning framework ... to have an industry flourish in Philadelphia and provide constituents with access to dispensaries within their communities," he said at the time. Beyond/Hello, meanwhile, is one of the beneficiaries of the state's medical marijuana program, which began being rolled out last year. The shop is located on the 1200 block of Sansom Street. "We've created a welcoming, comfortable and professional space for patients and caregivers to talk with our staff, ask questions and learn about medical marijuana products that may help manage their conditions," said the company's president, Blythe Huestis, in a news release. What to Know A 5-year-old Delaware boy was left behind on a school bus for hours during dangerously cold temperatures. The boy fell asleep on the bus and the driver didn't do a sweep when she dropped the other students off at school, officials said. The boy was found on the bus about 7 hours later. The driver was fired, according to a spokesperson. A 5-year-old Delaware boy was left behind on a school bus for hours during dangerously cold temperatures. I was very scared, Ibn Polk told NBC10. The kindergartner was on a school bus headed to Linden Hill Elementary School in Wilmington Tuesday morning. Ibn fell asleep on the bus however and never got off. Officials said the bus driver never did her usual sweep after the other children were dropped off at school. She also allegedly ignored the other students when they told her a boy was still on the bus. A spokeswoman for the Red Clay School District told NBC10 the school made a mistake by not calling his parents when he was marked absent Tuesday morning. Clearly that was a fail on our part, Pati Nash of the Red Clay School District said. The mom and the dad should have been notified. It wasnt until about seven hours later when the driver was making her afternoon rounds to get students that she heard Ibn cough. She then realized he had been on the bus the entire time. His parents were then notified. She could have came back to the bus, the boys father, Abdul Polk, told NBC10. What you want a dead child now? It was cold. It was freezing. The boys parents said he was soaking wet and had urinated on himself by the time he was found. A spokesperson for the Sutton Bus Company said that the driver was fired. The boys parents will attend a meeting Friday to watch surveillance video of the incident. Ibn, meanwhile, is doing well after the incident. What to Know Court documents are shedding light on how investigators found 23-year-old Olivia Ambrose, who vanished after leaving a Boston bar. The suspect, 38-year-old Victor Pena, has been ordered to undergo a full mental health evaluation for 20 days ahead of his next court date. Detectives used her iPhone's location, in addition to surveillance images, to find Ambrose in a Charlestown Housing Project apartment. Investigators used cell phone location data and surveillance footage from various locations to track down a Boston woman who disappeared from a bar Saturday night and the man suspected of kidnapping her, according to court documents. Authorities found Olivia Ambrose alive Tuesday in the apartment of Victor Pena, where she allegedly was being held against her will. Pena, 38, was arrested and charged with kidnapping. At a Wednesday hearing in Charlestown District Court a judge ordered Pena to undergo a full 20-day mental health evaluation at Bridgewater State Hospital. He is being held without bail. Joseph Perullo, an attorney for Pena, said after Wednesday's hearing that it's too early to comment on the specifics of the case, but Perullo said he's happy that Ambrose is back home with her family, the Associated Press reported. Court documents released Wednesday shed light on how investigators traced Ambrose's steps after she vanished, using a digital trail left by her iPhone along with surveillance images to make their way to Pena's Walford Way apartment in the Charlestown Housing Project. That's where police found Ambrose, standing next to her alleged kidnapper and "crying with a horrified look on her face," court documents said. According to notes included in the document release, police obtained various surveillance videos from Saturday night, including footage that appeared to show Pena and another man, who was not named and has since been cleared by police, approach an apparently inebriated Ambrose on the street. Notes describe video that showed Ambrose leaving Hennessy's bar on Union Street near Fanueil Hall at 11:08 p.m. on Saturday. She was caught on camera again at 11:37 p.m. on Union and North streets near White Bull Tavern, according to documents. Notes said she appeared intoxicated in the video and had trouble walking. A minute later, documents said, another surveillance camera caught Ambrose near North and Congress streets, where she apparently encountered Pena. The footage allegedly showed Pena and the other man watch Ambrose as she walked unsteadily across the street and then follow her on Congress toward State Street. Footage also allegedly showed the men approach Ambrose as she crossed the street. Then, just after midnight, MBTA surveillance cameras caught Pena "with his arm wrapped around" Ambrose, "guiding her as she walked" with him, according to documents. Minutes later, her phone pinged her location on Main Street in Charlestown. Around 12:06 a.m., the pair was seen on camera and by an eyewitness walking by the Whole Foods on Austin Street, with Pena seen "holding onto" Ambrose, "guiding her as she is having difficulty walking," documents said. The final surveillance footage that caught Pena and Ambrose on camera came from a home security system on Green Street and showed them walking toward Bunker Hill Street. Pena was still holding onto Ambrose, court documents said. The next day Ambrose's sister used the Find My iPhone app to approximate her location, which placed her at Walford Way and Corey Street, the police report said. On Tuesday, a task force was convened and worked on canvassing the housing project where her iPhone sent its last ping. Detectives on the ground spoke with residents and showed them surveillance photos of the suspect. The residents said the person in the photo looked like the person who lived in Apt. 625 Pena's apartment and a detective then went to Boston Housing Authority management to get information about the apartment's tenant. Meanwhile, other detectives got a booking photo for a previous charge against Pena and ran CharlieCard the payment method used for public transit in Massachusetts information for Walford Way, eventually finding a person who looked similar to the suspect in the surveillance photos. As they were ascertaining that Pena was the suspect in the surveillance photos, detectives learned that Ambrose's phone had been turned on and "she was sending messages to her mother," according to documents, and that the phone's location pinpointed it to the apartment building at Walford Way and Corey Street. When detectives arrived at Pena's door, they found that it had been outfitted with a private lock, despite housing authority's rules against doing so, court documents said. Police requested a Boston Housing Authority maintenance worker to come to the apartment to remove the lock. Detectives knocked on Pena's door "numerous times" for about 20 minutes as they waited for the maintenance worker, who arrived with keys and a drill to remove the lock. "Once the top lock was dismantled ... detectives heard the [lower] locks opening from inside," the police report read. The detectives immediately saw Ambrose in the apartment, and as they tried to handcuff Pena, the suspect allegedly started to resist arrest. After she was evaluated at Massachusetts General Hospital, Ambrose told investigators that Pena had taken her phone and "refused to let her leave the apartment for the entire time she was held there." Hours before they found Ambrose, Boston police had released a timeline and a photo of a person of interest, whom investigators say is Pena. Pena's next court date is Feb. 11. What to Know New York man who spent 19 years in prison after being accused as a teenager of stabbing his mother to death has been cleared of the charges Burton was convicted in 1991 of second-degree intentional murder and fourth-degree weapon possession for stabbing his mother, Keziah Burton Questioned at 16, Burton gave a confession he immediately recanted; Bronx DA Darcel Clark says isn't confident Burton's confession was true A New York man who spent 19 years in prison after being accused as a teenager of stabbing his mother to death has been cleared of the charges. Huwe Burton says he feels like a weight has been lifted off him after a Bronx judge threw out his conviction on Thursday. Burton was released on parole in 2009. While he had his freedom, he says living with a wrongful conviction in the 1989 killing of his mother was "a lot to bear." Questioned at 16, Burton gave a confession he immediately recanted. After a trial in Bronx Supreme Court, Burton was convicted on Sept. 25, 1991 of second-degree intentional murder and fourth-degree weapon possession for stabbing his mother, Keziah Burton, 59, in her bed in their apartment on Eastchester Road on January 3, 1989. On February 13, 1992, he was sentenced to 15 years to life in prison. His Innocence Project lawyers and Bronx prosecutors say a reinvestigation found detectives used problematic interview techniques now understood to generate false confessions. "The injustice he endured is unimaginable to be wrongly convicted of murdering his mother, whom he adored," Susan Friedman, attorney for the Innocence Project, said. Bronx District Attorney Darcel Clark says she doesn't have confidence that Burton's confession was true. Mr. Burton served 19 years in prison and since his release in 2009 has led a law-abiding life. He has maintained his innocence for almost 30 years and now we will clear his name of this brutal killing," Clark said. "The interests of the community are best served by dismissing this indictment so he can move on with the rest of his life. The Conviction Integrity Unit scoured transcripts and case files, interviewed witnesses and scrutinized the quality of evidence used to convict Burton, the district attorney's office said, adding that scientific evidence not available until recently "identified flawed interview techniques as well as other factors, such as youth, that increase the likelihood that a confession is untrue." What to Know A lack of mental health housing facilities have left mentally ill inmates incarcerated months past their release dates, a new lawsuit claims Legal Aid Society and Disability Rights New York filed a lawsuit Thursday in federal court in Manhattan against numerous state departments The lawsuit seeks an injunction requiring New York to create an effective plan for community integration A lack of community-based mental health housing facilities have left mentally ill inmates incarcerated months past their release dates including some in solitary confinement, a new lawsuit alleges. The Legal Aid Society and Disability Rights New York filed a lawsuit Thursday in federal court in Manhattan against Gov. Andrew Cuomo, the New York State Office of Mental Health, New York State Department of Corrections and Community Supervision on behalf of a group New Yorkers with mental illness who allegedly have been held in prison because of a shortage of mental health facilities. The group filing the lawsuit has either fully completed their sentences or reached their approved parole dates, but remain incarcerated, some for as long as 16 months past their release dates, because the State has failed to ensure the necessary capacity in community-based mental health housing, legal aid lawyers and mental health advocates say, adding the inmates then have to languish in prison, awaiting a placement. Its shameful that New York State keeps them in prison simply because they have mental illnesses and need supportive housing, Stefen Short, Staff Attorney with the Prisoners Rights Project at The Legal Aid Society, said in a statement. This is an abhorrent practice, and New York must end it immediately, and provide our clients with the resources to facilitate their release. The Legal Aid Society and Disability Rights New York bring this lawsuit under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, and the Eighth and Fourteenth Amendments to the U.S. Constitution. Our clients are told, often on the day they expect to be released from prison, that they will not be leaving and must stay until community housing is located, Timothy Clune, Executive Director of Disability Rights New York, said. The lawsuit seeks an injunction requiring New York to create an effective plan for community integration, which includes developing a sufficient array of community-based mental health housing for these individuals who have been approved for parole or completed their criminal sentences. In a statement, the Office of Mental Health spokesperson said: "This lawsuit was served to the media before it was served to us, so we cant comment on its details, however New York funds one of the most robust supportive housing networks in the nation for individuals with mental illness. The State invests close to $500 million annually for community-based housing for adults with serious mental illness including more than 44,000 units of housing statewide. We are currently issuing new requests for proposals to provide up to $12.5 million in annual funding for the operation of 500 additional units of supportive housing for homeless individuals statewide as part of the states commitment to develop at least 6,000 units by 2021, with 120 of these new units targeted to individuals being release from incarceration." On Thursday, the Office of Mental Health plans to issue two new Requests for Proposals that will provide up to $12.5 million in annual funding for the operation of 500 units of supportive housing for homeless individuals and families statewide. These 500 scattered-site supportive housing units will be targeted to homeless individuals who are living with mental illness, with over 20 percent of the units dedicated to individuals leaving the prison system, according to the Office of Mental Health. The governor's office did not immediately respond to NBC 4's request for comment. The DOCCS referred request for comment to the state's Office of Mental Health. EDITORS NOTE: A previous version of this story inadvertently made reference to the New York City Department of Correction, which was not a party to the lawsuit. The city department, however, declined comment when contacted Jan. 24 in reference to the suit. Navy divers have recovered the cockpit voice recorder of a Lion Air jet that crashed into the Java Sea in October, Indonesian officials said Monday, in a possible boost to the accident investigation. Ridwan Djamaluddin, a deputy maritime minister, told reporters that remains of some of the 189 people who died in the crash were also discovered at the seabed location. "We got confirmation this morning from the National Transportation Safety Committee's chairman," he said. A spokesman for the Indonesian navy's western fleet, Lt. Col. Agung Nugroho, said divers using high-tech "ping locator" equipment had started a new search effort on Friday and found the voice recorder beneath 8 meters (26 feet) of seabed mud. The plane crashed in waters 30 meters (98 feet) deep. The device is being transported to a navy port in Jakarta, Nugroho said, and will be handed over to the transportation safety committee, which is overseeing the accident investigation. "This is good news, especially for us who lost our loved ones," said Irianto, the father of Rio Nanda Pratama, a doctor who died in the crash. "Even though we don't yet know the contents of the CVR, this is some relief from our despair," he said. The 2-month-old Boeing 737 MAX 8 jet plunged into the Java Sea just minutes after taking off from Jakarta on Oct. 29, killing everyone on board. The cockpit data recorder was recovered within days of the crash and showed that the jet's airspeed indicator had malfunctioned on its last four flights. If the voice recorder is undamaged, it could provide valuable additional information to investigators. The Lion Air crash was the worst airline disaster in Indonesia since 1997, when 234 people died on a Garuda flight near Medan. In December 2014, an AirAsia flight from Surabaya to Singapore plunged into the sea, killing all 162 people on board. Lion Air is one of Indonesia's youngest airlines but has grown rapidly, flying to dozens of domestic and international destinations. It has been expanding aggressively in Southeast Asia, a fast-growing region of more than 600 million people. A gunman who took over a SunTrust Bank branch in Florida apparently made the five women inside lie down on the lobby floor before shooting them in the backs of their heads, police said Thursday. Authorities found no indication Zephen Xaver intended to rob the bank during Wednesday's attack and no apparent connections between him and the bank or the victims, Sebring Police Chief Karl Hoglund said. Xaver, 21, was charged with five counts of premeditated murder in the shooting deaths of the four bank employees and a customer. After shooting the women, he called 911 and "told dispatchers that he'd killed everyone in the bank," Hoglund said. All the victims were found in the bank's lobby, lying face down with gunshots to the backs of their heads. Shell casings from Xaver's 9mm handgun were scattered on the floor, according to an affidavit. Another customer, Victor Sparks, was quoted by the Highlands News-Sun as saying that he found the door locked during the attack, peered inside and saw people lying on the floor while someone walked around and between them. He turned and stepped away and heard gunfire. He said police arrived within two minutes after he and his wife called 911. Authorities later learned that another bank employee was in the building at the time the incident began. The employee was in a back break room and heard the shots and ran out a back door and contacted law enforcement. In his call to 911 dispatchers, Xaver said, "I have shot five people," according to police. But he refused to surrender and would not allow officers to reach the victims, the chief said. After more than an hour of negotiations, the chief ordered a SWAT team in. They used an armored vehicle to break through the front doors. Xaver was found in an office in the rear. By then, all the victims were already dead, the chief said. Hoglund identified two of the victims: customer Cynthia Watson 65, and bank employee Marisol Lopez, 55. In compliance with a newly passed victims' rights law in Florida, the names of the other three victims were withheld at their families' request. The other victims' ages were 37, 31 and 54. The family of one of the unnamed victims will be speaking to the media at 4 p.m. ET. The victim's name will be released at that time. The community is mourning the loss of "our sisters, our mothers, our daughters and our co-workers," Hoglund said. Authorities ended their news conference after only a few questions and did not respond when asked how Xaver obtained the gun. Xaver was arrested in a beige T-shirt depicting the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse. On Thursday, he wore a black-and-white striped prison uniform as he was appointed a public defender and ordered held without bond. His father said he's "heartbroken for the victims" and that his son "wasn't raised to be like this." "He's always been a good kid. He's had his troubles, but he has never hurt anyone ever before. This is a total shock," Josh Xaver told CNN. The Associated Press sought interviews with both of Xaver's parents but received no immediate response. The shootings were not a shock to Alex Gerlach, who identified herself as Xaver's former girlfriend. She said he's long been fascinated with the idea of killing, but no one took her warnings about him seriously. For some reason, he "always hated people and wanted everybody to die," Gerlach told WSBT-TV in South Bend, Indiana, near his former home in Plymouth, Indiana. "He got kicked out of school for having a dream that he killed everybody in his class, and he's been threatening this for so long, and he's been having dreams about it and everything," she said. "Every single person I've told has not taken it seriously, and it's very unfortunate that it had to come to this." Gerlach was quoted by The Washington Post as saying that Xaver said he purchased a gun last week and "no one thought anything of it" because he had always liked guns. Xaver had no apparent criminal record in the areas where he's lived in Indiana and Florida, and his school records are spotty. Two school districts in northern Indiana said he attended for several years but did not graduate. Xaver also briefly studied online. A spokeswoman for Salt Lake City-based Stevens-Henager College confirmed that he was enrolled from September to December before withdrawing last year. In Florida, he tried to be a prison guard. Department of Corrections records show he was hired as a trainee at Avon Park Correctional Institution on Nov. 2 and resigned Jan. 9. No disciplinary issues were reported. Public records and neighbors say Xaver and his mother had moved to Sebring in the fall from Plymouth, Indiana. They lived in a pre-fabricated home about 4 miles (6.5 kilometers) from the bank. No one answered the door Wednesday night after police searched the home. John Larose, who lives next door, said Xaver kept to himself, but he could hear him playing and yelling at video games in the middle of the night. The bank attack was at least the fourth mass shooting in Florida resulting in five or more dead in the past three years. A gunman killed 49 at an Orlando nightclub in 2016. Five died at the Fort Lauderdale airport in 2017, and 17 died in February at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in a Fort Lauderdale suburb. Associated Press Writer David Fischer contributed to this report. A former employee with the Miramar Police Department has been accused of fraud for allegedly buying cellphones through the department at a discounted rate and reselling them for profit. Brian M. Chen, 39, of Weston, has been charged with three counts of mail fraud and surrendered to the FBI Thursday morning in Miramar, according to a news release. State and local agencies in Florida can get iPhone and Android phones through Verizon for free or at a discount rate, provided they would be obtained for official use. Charging documents alleged that as an information technology analyst with the police department, Chen ordered the cellphones with the intent to resell them. Officials allege that Chen received approximately $800,000 from the cellphone scheme from 2013 until late November of 2018. The Miramar Police Department incurred a loss of approximately $350,000 due to the scheme. Earlier this year the Miramar Police Department discovered an anomaly with fluctuation in billing for equipment and services. We immediately conducted an audit and initiated an investigation. Its findings resulted in the department reaching out to the FBI, to independently investigate alleged misconduct," a statement from Miramar police chief Dexter Williams said in part. "Brians actions certainly do not reflect the integrity and dedication of the hard-working employees who serve the Miramar Police Department. The department said Chen has been with the department since April 2007 and was placed on administrative leave without pay. It's unclear if Chen has an attorney. His next court appearance is scheduled for February. Illinois is offering $100 million in state funds to finance low-interest or interest-free loans to federal workers going without pay during the record government shutdown, officials said Wednesday. Democratic Gov. J.B. Pritzker and Treasurer Michael Frerichs announced that eligible federal employees will be able to visit participating banks for the loans. Pritzker also said he's exploring some of the more aggressive approaches that his counterparts across the nation are taking to help the affected households. Government employees, including approximately 8,000 in Illinois, are not getting paid because of the partial shutdown brought about by Republican President Donald Trump's battle with Congressional Democrats over his request for $5.7 billion for a U.S.-Mexico border wall. Many employees such as Transportation Security Administration workers are expected to be on the job despite not getting paid. "Missing a paycheck or two, or maybe more, with no end in sight has real consequences," Frerichs said. "Rents are at risk, mortgages, tuition." The money is coming from liquid portions of the state's $12 billion investment portfolio, Frerichs said, so there's no impact on Illinois' day-to-day finances. Two dozen financial institutions have agreed to take part so far. They'll take the state deposits to dole out loans. The governors in Michigan, New York and Washington last week asked the Trump administration for permission to pay unemployment benefits to all those affected , including those who are still working. They said if that request is rejected, the Labor Department should work with Congress to change the law. Democratic California Gov. Gavin Newsom said last week he would provide benefits to those reporting to work regardless of Washington's objection. Asked about following suit, Pritzker said, "We're looking at all the possibilities." The governor favors border security, calling for "comprehensive" immigration reform. But he derided Trump's stubbornness over what he termed an "unnecessary wall." "It's not just Democrats affected by this shutdown. Republicans are being affected all across the nation, all across the state of Illinois," Pritzker said. "It doesn't matter what political party you belong to, people are being hurt, and it shouldn't be that in order to get some political end, we're hurting everybody in the nation." Pritzker noted that he instructed his administration to offer winter heating-bill aid to the furloughed workers and has been in contact with Illinois banks and credit unions to urge them to offer deferred payments or no interest on existing loans the workers already have. He said his staff has also been consulting with public safety and human services agencies, as well as critical operations such as airports, to develop plans for handling problems that arise from a prolonged shutdown. North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has ordered preparations for a second summit with President Donald Trump, saying he'll "wait with patience and in good faith" to work toward a common goal, the North's state media reported Thursday. Despite Kim's determination for another meeting with Trump, the two remain at odds over fundamental issues. Experts say a major sticking point is what denuclearization steps Kim should take to move forward stalled nuclear negotiations and what rewards Trump should provide to push Kim to take those measures. The Korean Central News Agency said Kim received a letter from Trump from a North Korean envoy who met the U.S. president in Washington last week. The White House confirmed that Trump responded to a letter Kim had sent him. After meeting Kim Yong Chol, Trump said that he and Kim Jong Un will probably meet around the end of February but did not say exactly when and where the summit would take place. Thursday's report said Kim expressed satisfaction with his envoy's meeting with Trump and spoke highly of the U.S. president for "expressing his unusual determination and will for the settlement of the issue with a great interest in the second summit." "We will wait with patience and in good faith and, together with the U.S., advance step by step toward the goal to be reached by the two countries," Kim was quoted as saying. Kim also "set forth tasks and orientation for making good technical preparations" for the second summit high on the agenda, according to KCNA. Nuclear negotiations have been stuck since Kim and Trump met in Singapore last June for their first summit, which ended with Kim's vague denuclearization pledge that his government had previously used when it called for the withdrawal of the 28,500 U.S. troops in South Korea. A summit accord also stated that the United States and North Korea will commit to establishing new relations and join efforts to build a lasting and stable peace on the Korean Peninsula. The strongest step Kim could promise during a second summit may be abandoning his long-range missile program targeting the U.S. mainland. That step, if realized, would trigger a strong backlash from many in South Korea and Japan, which are within the striking distance of North Korea's short- and medium-range missiles. In return, Kim is seeking to get U.N. sanctions lifted. He also wants better relations with the United States to try to revive his country's moribund economy to pave the way for a prolonged rule by his family, experts say. North Korea observers say Vietnam is likely to be chosen as a venue for a second summit but there has been no official confirmation. The negotiations have replaced fears of war following a series of North Korean high-profile nuclear and missile tests in 2017 that were followed by exchanges of crude insults and threats of total destruction between Kim and Trump. Kim has so far suspended nuclear and missile tests, dismantled North Korea's nuclear testing site and parts of its rocket engine test facility and taken conciliatory measures, like releasing American detainees. The North now says it's time for the U.S. to come up with reciprocal measures. But satellite footage indicates North Korea is still running its main nuclear complex, raising questions why it's producing nuclear material if it is truly committed to denuclearization. U.S. officials want North Korea to take more significant steps such as a declared accounting of its nuclear weapons program for future inspections. The North has rejected that, saying such a declaration would be like providing coordinates for U.S. military strikes on its nuclear facilities. The rainwater collection system is broken at the environmental research station on a remote, rocky Pacific island off the California coast. So is a crane used to hoist small boats in and out of the water. A two-year supply of diesel fuel for the power generators is almost gone. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service personnel ordinarily would help with such problems. But they haven't been around since the partial federal government shutdown began a month ago, forcing researchers with the nonprofit Point Blue Conservation Science to rely on volunteers to haul bottled water and 5-gallon (18-liter) jugs of diesel to the Farallon Islands National Refuge, about 30 miles (48 kilometers) from San Francisco. Still, the scientists are pressing on with their long-running study of elephant seals during the crucial winter breeding season. They tag and monitor the lumbering creatures, whose numbers are recovering after being hunted to near-extinction, and study how warming oceans could affect them. "We've found some creative solutions, but things will get more strained the longer the shutdown is continued," said Pete Warzybok, a marine ecologist with Point Blue. The impasse has delayed, disrupted and now threatens to derail environmental research projects across the nation and not just those conducted by government agencies. Scientists with universities, nonprofit organizations and private companies say their inability to collaborate with federal partners, gain access to federal lands and laboratories, and secure federal funding is jeopardizing their work on a vast array of subjects, including invasive and endangered species and air and water quality. Researchers might miss court-ordered deadlines for reports involving endangered plants or animals. Warm-weather field studies that must be planned months in advance could be delayed or canceled. And studies that rely on strict monitoring or testing schedules could be compromised. Depending on how long the shutdown lasts, the damage could range from inconvenient to irreparable. Scientists with a constant presence on the Farallones since 1968 might have to leave if their agreement with the government isn't renewed by the end of March. Besides opening a gap in decades of data collection, their absence would leave the islands and their wildlife vulnerable to trespassers. Nobody from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service was available to respond because employees are not allowed to work during the shutdown, according to voicemail messages. Scientist Harvey Bootsma needs to book a National Park Service boat for summer experiments involving quagga mussels in Lake Michigan, where the invasive pests are suspected of causing a decline in perch, whitefish and other prized species. If the government doesn't reopen soon, "it could really mess us up," said Bootsma, of the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. One increasingly likely casualty is the world's longest continuous study of a predator-prey relationship in one location. For 60 years, biologists have documented population shifts and interactions between gray wolves and moose at Isle Royale National Park in Lake Superior. Much of the data is collected during winter, when scientists use planes to observe the wolves forming packs, battling over territory and killing moose, but the team is shut out of the park. The seven-week mission isn't dead yet, but prospects fade daily. The loss of a season's worth of data would be "devastating," said Rolf Peterson of Michigan Technological University, the co-leader. "Continuity is what's at the core of a lot of observational science, especially long-term projects. At some point, the loss of continuity degrades the integrity and value of the work itself. And there are things that don't come around a second time." The timing is particularly bad because the park recently began a multiyear effort to replenish its wolf population, which had fallen to two. Four were flown to Isle Royale from the mainland last fall one later died and researchers planned to relocate several others this winter. Peterson's group also wants to dart 20 moose and fit them with radio collars to gauge their reaction to the arriving wolves. "Both of these projects, while partially supported by other funds, require National Park Service personnel and facilities to operate," agency spokeswoman Alexandra Picavet said. "Until there is an approved funding source to support those functions, both operations are suspended." Also at risk are the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's aerial surveys of endangered Mexican gray wolves in Arizona and New Mexico, which usually happen in late January and early February. A California mission to gather data on fish and study how climate change is affecting oceans, which began 70 years ago, also is in limbo. A research ship was reserved for this winter's operation, carried out by a federal, state and university partnership. But because it's owned by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the San Diego-based vessel is off-limits until the shutdown ends. No suitable replacement is available, said program director Brice Semmens. Data gaps from a lost mission would be harmful because "the ocean is changing so rapidly now," he said. "We need to understand how these changes are going to affect populations we care about, like shellfish or Dungeness crab." The shutdown also is taking a toll on the next generation of environmental researchers. Federal scientists teach and monitor graduate students' projects at universities nationwide. Now, the schools may cancel some courses and students are worrying about graduating on time. Three experts with the U.S. Geological Survey teach in the wildlife and fisheries program at the University of Georgia, where a statistical modeling class was scratched because the government instructor isn't allowed to work, biology professor John Maerz said. "We depend on them being there; we build our curriculum and projects around them," Maerz said. "You can't replace that expertise." Many students are struggling to do research with federal laboratories and other facilities shuttered. Professors are hesitating to accept another class of graduate students because they don't know whether they'll get federal grants to pay the newcomers and fund their work. "I applied for a bunch of grants last year and am waiting to see if I'll get funding so I can determine whether to admit a grad student and if so, how many," said Andrew Dessler, an atmospheric scientist at Texas A&M. "The way things are going, I may not take any." ___ Flesher reported from Traverse City, Michigan, and Webber from Chicago. AP reporter Susan Montoya Bryan contributed from Albuquerque, New Mexico. Human remains found in Tennessee belong to a missing city of Los Angeles equipment operator and police are investigating the death as a homicide. Police said Tuesday that the remains found in south Memphis have been identified as Sean Turner. Police said the cause of death has not been determined, but investigators suspect foul play. The 48-year-old Turner had been reported missing in November 2017. Turner had taken a rental car from the St. Louis airport and was last seen in Memphis. His burned rental car was found not far from where his remains were later discovered. UNLIKELY THINGS HAPPEN ALL THE TIME, and they often surprise and charm us, but let's be real about the topic of county fairs. If you're perusing a county fair's schedule, all to decide if you'll be able to attend, you're going to see particular months crop up, again and again. June, July, August? Oh yeah, those are the county fair classics, as far as the California calendar goes. May? Maybe. September and October? Sometimes, which is nice, as the county fair takes on a fall feel. But finding "February" on the list is exceedingly rare, in the world of county-fair-dom, because that's a month, at least 'round this continent, that tends to see more flakes than frosties (as in the type of refreshing drink you slurp while strolling a midway). But... BEAUTIFUL INDIO... is snowflake-free come the second month of the year, and it usually boasts plentiful sunbeams, making it an ideal spot for a wintertime county fair. And that super-big party, the Riverside County Fair and Date Festival, is ready to set up the toss-a-ring games and snack shacks and concert stages for another winning run, one that will include pomp-filled moments like the Arabian Nights Musical Pageant. The fair's 2019 run opens on Friday, Feb. 15, and says farewell on Sunday, Feb. 24, giving attendees ample time to fill their days with delights, of the date assortment and otherwise, aplenty. Oh, and will there be concerts at the 73rd annual Riverside County Fair? COUNT ON IT, with Randy Houser, Ramon Ayala, Salt-n-Pepa, Kool & the Gang, and Mariachi Sol de Mexico de Jose Hernandez all starring on the starry schedule. Shall there be carnival rides, recipe contests, monster trucks, and the annual Presidents Day parade? It wouldn't seem like this popular fair without those much-anticipated sights, sounds, and staples. And as for the adorable animal contingent? Count on swooning over swine, goats, rabbits, chickies, cows, and more. Plus? There are animal adoptions, too, so come prepare to fall in love with something furry and sweet. IT'S NOT SUMMER, nope, but it is almost February, which has meant, for decades now, that a rare and winsome wintertime county fair is nearly here. Find your details now, and all of your date-shake'd dreams, too. After helping broker an end to a teachers strike that marooned more than half a million students, Mayor Eric Garcetti said Wednesday the deal shows that government is solving problems in Los Angeles while Washington remains hobbled by a lengthy shutdown. The Democratic mayor, who is considering a 2020 White House run, called the pact a national model that shows how deeply divided factions can find common ground. The teachers union in the nation's second-largest school district ended a walkout Tuesday after winning higher wages and cuts in class sizes. "All politics in this country seem to be about pulling each other apart. This is what we can get when we pull together," the mayor said in an interview. "I believe Americans do want great schools wherever they are, in the same way that Americans want a Washington that functions and isn't in the longest shutdown in our history." The strike that began Jan. 14 threatened the mayor's argument that local government is where progress is made in America, while highlighting the risks of launching a presidential campaign from City Hall. No sitting mayor has ever been elected to the White House. Garcetti suspended consideration of a 2020 candidacy with teachers on the picket lines, but indicated Wednesday a decision was not far off. "Stay tuned," he said. Garcetti said the resolution of a strike that once seemed insoluble along with improvements for teachers and students "shows what kind of leadership we have here. ... Accomplishing things is always better than dividing one another." Political scientist Jack Pitney said the end of the walkout will free up time Garcetti needs to make a 2020 decision, though it's unlikely to add much luster to his resume. Outside of Southern California "not many people are paying attention," said Pitney, who teaches at Claremont McKenna College. With the Democratic field growing larger each day, the mayor faces increasing pressure to make a decision because he could fall behind in crucial fundraising. Even on his home turf he would be competing for those dollars with another Californian, Democratic Sen. Kamala Harris, who entered the race on Monday. If he gets into the race "he needs to establish his unique selling proposition, what sets him apart from the other candidates," Pitney said. The mayor has no direct authority in the Los Angeles Unified School District, but Garcetti said he was compelled to get involved because success of the schools is directly linked to the success of the city. His role that began quietly months ago evolved into mediator, note-taker, shuttle diplomat, arm-twister even therapist, he quipped between the union and the school administration. He described a bargaining environment that for months was devoid of trust, with each side unwilling to listen to the other. Even when a deal was close early Tuesday morning, both sides nearly walked out over a long-running dispute over a provision that allows the district to unilaterally increase class size during times of financial strain. The talks "actually went off the cliff," Garcetti recalled. "The union said 'We're done.'" With negotiators from both sides packing up at City Hall, Garcetti said he began urging district Superintendent Austin Beutner and union President Alex Caputo-Pearl to give it another chance. The three talked and the disputed language was eventually withdrawn. "We had a deal," the mayor said. You are here: World Flash At least 10 people were killed and 10 others wounded on Thursday when their bus collided with a car in Egypt's northern province of Beheira, official news agency MENA reported. The police said the accident at a high road was caused by poor visibility in heavy fog. Egypt suffers a high rate of traffic accidents that kill thousands of people every year over lack of highway monitoring systems, inadequate road maintenance and negligence of traffic rules. According to official statistics authority, the number of traffic accidents in Egypt reached 11,100 in 2017, leaving about 3,700 dead and 14,000 others injured. Human errors are responsible for about 80 percent of road accidents in the most populous Arab country. The California Highway Patrol is issuing a warning to the public to be aware of scammers who are pulling off on the sides of roads in supposed distress and targeting unsuspecting good Samaritans. In a Facebook post Wednesday, the CHP Central Division stated that the law enforcement agency has received a number of calls over the last few months regarding people who are flagging down motorists and asking for gas money in exchange for jewelry that is labeled as 18-karat and shown off as being worth more than the amount of money desired but is actually fake. The people behind the scam are also sharing "elaborate" stories, such as having their wallet stolen or having a loved one in the hospital in need of surgery, when they tell people why they need the money, according to the CHP. The suspects have been reported to be working as a group or family, and they typically have young children with them, according to the CHP. They reportedly dress in professional attire, speak with a thick accent, may be from Romania and use SUV-type vehicles most of the time. In the comments section of the CHP's Facebook post, people reported encountering the scamming issue in various cities across California. Governor Gavin Newsom on Wednesday reversed an August decision by the California Parole Board to grant parole to Jesus Cecena, the man convicted of shooting and killing an SDPD officer in 1978. Cecena, 57, was a 17-year-old gang member when he shot and killed Officer Archie Buggs. Cecena shot Buggs four times during a traffic stop. Cecena was found guilty of first-degree murder and sentenced to life with no parole, but his term was later modified, giving him a chance at parole under a state law that allows youth offenders serving life sentences to petition for release once they have served at least 15 years. California Gov. Jerry Brown has rejected parole for Cecena in 2014, 2016 and 2017. Cecena's next parole hearing is scheduled for 2020. The governor cited Cecena's "resistance to explore the motivations behind the killing." Cecena has said in the past that he shot the officer because he feared abandonment by his father if he were to receive a traffic ticket and caught with alcohol. Lawyers for Paul Manafort said Wednesday that Robert Mueller's prosecutors have unfairly accused him of lying in his sessions with them after he pleaded guilty. The Mueller team has accused him of failing to abide by his agreement to cooperate with investigators during 12 debriefings and two appearances before a grand jury, NBC News reported. They have said he lied about a $125,000 payment he received in 2017, his conversations with a former associate who's been accused of being a Russian intelligence operative, contacts with administration officials, and an unspecified ongoing investigation. Officers at one North Texas police department are starting to sport a new look. Its not for style, but for longevity. Some Lake Dallas police officers are now wearing load-bearing bulletproof vests as part of their uniform. They replace traditional duty belts, which officers wear around the waist. Officers say carrying up to thirty pounds of gear on those belts takes a toll, especially on the back. Its totally wrecked, said Lake Dallas police chief Daniel Corolla, who previously spent 18 years in the Dallas Police Department. I have the same issues my officers have." Those issues include disc and muscle problems, which can result in missed work time for treatment, disability and even early retirement. It's just years and years of repetitive wear, said Corolla. Having weight in places that our body isn't designed to have weight." Lake Dallas police began testing the load-bearing vests in November of 2017. Several officers now wear them. They feature compartments which store gear which used to go on those duty belts. The weight of that gear is better distributed, said Corolla, lessening the strain on the back. I think in the next few years you'll see every department going to this, said Lt. Syd Grant, who likens the vests to wearing a backpack. Officer Connor Farrell said the vests have made a difference. While working for another police department, he suffered arm, back and neck injuries in an on-the-job car wreck. The feeling was instantaneous, said Farrell. The relief on my hips and back, it was night and day. It's amazing." Officers said the new vests improve mobility and safety. Corolla said several departments have reached out to him to ask how effective the vests are. Austin Police recently announced they will begin testing them. If it extends the career of your officers, he said. There's absolutely no downside to it." Authorities say five police officers were placed on paid administrative leave following the death of a man they were trying to arrest in southeast Washington state. The Tri-City Herald reported 48-year-old Jose Mercado was fighting with family members and had a knife when someone called the police. Police said officers responded to a domestic violence call and were confronted in the street by Mercado. Police said an officer used a stun gun on him after he refused to listen to commands and approached with closed fists. Police said the stun gun was "ineffective" and Mercado attacked as additional officers arrived. The officers were able to place Mercado under arrest, at which point he became unresponsive. Mercado, of Arlington, was given first aid and taken to a nearby hospital where he was pronounced dead. The Washington paper reported an autopsy into Mercado's cause of death was inconclusive and that toxicology results will be received in a few weeks. Sandra Zamora, identified by The Fort Worth Star-Telegram as Mercado's wife, told the paper in a telephone interview that her husband did not have a heart problem and that "the police did this to him." The administrative leave is standard policy for police as a multi-agency unit investigates the death. The Star-Telegram identified a GoFundMe page raising money for Mercado's funeral expenses. An oil and gas company operating in West Texas has donated $1 million to reach the fundraising goal for repairs to what's touted as the world's largest spring-fed swimming pool. About $2 million in repairs continue at Balmorhea State Park pool. Executives with Apache Corporation on Thursday presented a check to the Texas Parks & Wildlife Foundation in Austin. The historic pool, located 120 miles (193 kilometers) southwest of Midland, has been closed since last May after a partial collapse during cleaning. Experts blamed erosion linked to flow from San Solomon Springs. Officials in August announced a fundraising effort for repairs to the pool built by the federal Civilian Conservation Corps in the 1930s. Apache on Thursday pledged an additional $1 million for an endowment for Balmorhea State Park. Almost a dozen Senate Republicans broke with the White House Tuesday on Russia, voting to move forward on a resolution that would maintain sanctions on companies linked to oligarch Oleg Deripaska. The Democratic resolution would stop the Treasury Department from lifting penalties against the Russian aluminum manufacturing giant Rusal and two other companies connected to Deripaska. Senators took two procedural votes to proceed to the resolution, with 11 Republicans voting with Democrats. While Democrats are unlikely to get the 60 votes they will eventually need to pass the resolution, the strong GOP showing which came hours after Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin came to Capitol Hill and urged Republicans to vote against the resolution is yet another signal that Senate Republicans are willing to oppose the White House and President Donald Trump on national security matters. "I'll vote to disapprove Treasury's easing of sanctions on Russian businesses involving oligarch & Putin ally Oleg Deripaska," Republican Sen. Susan Collins tweeted after the vote. "He still would maintain significant control given his ties to (Russian President Vladimir) Putin. Easing the sanctions sends the wrong message to Russia & to Deripaska." At issue is a December announcement from the Treasury Department that the U.S. would lift sanctions on the three companies Rusal, EN+ Group and the Russian power company JSC EuroSibEnergo. EN+ Group is a holding company that owns nearly 50 percent of Rusal. The Treasury Department says the Russian companies have committed to separating from Deripaska, who will remain blacklisted as part of an array of measures announced in early April that targeted tycoons close to the Kremlin. Treasury maintains that the companies have committed to diminish Deripaska's ownership and sever his control. In a statement last week, Mnuchin said Deripaska remains under sanctions, "his property and interests remain blocked, and any companies he controls are also sanctioned." Treasury has warned that the sanctions could upset global aluminum markets or even prompt the Russian government to nationalize the company, thus shutting it out from any outside control. Mnuchin said after his closed-door meeting with Republican senators that the sanctions "shouldn't be a political issue." Echoing Trump, Mnuchin said, "we have been tougher on Russia with more sanctions than any other administration." But 11 Republicans still voted to move forward on the resolution, which was sponsored by Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer. The vote came less than a month after a similar scenario played out in votes to end U.S. assistance to Saudi Arabia for the war in Yemen and blame Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman for the death of journalist Jamal Khashoggi. While the Trump administration sent Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Defense Secretary James Mattis to Capitol Hill to encourage Republicans to continue the U.S. assistance, several Republicans defected, angered by what they said was Trump's lackluster response to Khashoggi's killing. The two measures were never considered by the House and expired at the end of the congressional session. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell encouraged Republicans on Tuesday to vote against the sanctions resolution, noting that Deripaska's influence over the companies would be limited and calling the vote a "Democratic stunt." McConnell said Republicans are "hardly strangers" to the need for strong policies on Russia. He added that they have "long seen Vladimir Putin for the KGB thug that he is," referencing the former Russian secret police and intelligence agency. Schumer said that if senators agree with McConnell that Putin is a thug, "they'll vote yes" on the resolution. "We're only a few Republican votes short of the U.S. Senate telling Putin he can't run the show no matter what President Trump and his administration try to do," he said. The Senate is expected to hold another procedural vote to move forward on the resolution Wednesday, and this time supporters will need 60 votes. If Tuesday's tallies are any indication, they will be just short 57 senators voted in support of proceeding to the resolution. The House could also hold a vote soon, as Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, D-Md., has introduced a similar resolution to Schumer's. Congress has 30 days from the Dec. 19 announcement to block the sanctions decision. Last week, House Democratic chairmen from seven committees called Mnuchin in for a classified briefing on the easing of the sanctions. But many Democrats left frustrated, with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi saying she was "unimpressed." In a letter asking Mnuchin for a briefing, the committee chairmen said the sanctions deal appears to allow Deripaska to keep "significant ownership" of one of the companies. They did not elaborate. Democrats have asked for an extension of the 30-day timeline because the sanctions announcement came just before a holiday recess and the start of the government shutdown. Mnuchin said after his Senate meeting that Treasury will see how the Senate vote goes. "Our view is that we have great responsibility in managing the sanctions programs all over the world, and we take those responsibilities very seriously at Treasury," Mnuchin said. In addition to Collins, of Maine, the Republican senators voting with Democrats were John Boozman of Arkansas, Tom Cotton of Arkansas, Steve Daines of Montana, Cory Gardner of Colorado, John Kennedy of Louisiana, Martha McSally of Arizona, Josh Hawley of Missouri, Marco Rubio of Florida, Ben Sasse of Nebraska and Jerry Moran of Kansas. Naugatuck police are investigating allegations of inappropriate contact between a teacher and students at Naugatuck High School. Superintendent Sharon Locke confirmed the teacher was placed on leave after school officials received a report alleging inappropriate relationships with students. School administrators notified the Department of Children and Families and police, Locke said. "The safety of our students is our highest priority. We take these matters seriously and will take appropriate action as the investigation unfolds," Locke wrote in a statement to NBC Connecticut. Police confirmed a criminal investigation is underway but did not provide additional details. A Connecticut college has fired a business professor who is accused of comparing education officials to Nazis by shouting in German and giving a Nazi salute for more than 10 minutes at a faculty and administrators' meeting. Housatonic Community College in Bridgeport on Thursday announced the firing of Charles Meyrick. School President Paul Broadie II said the Nov. 2 incident at Manchester Community College happened just days after the Pittsburgh synagogue massacre and "unnerved" many people who left the room fearing for their safety. A school investigation report said Meyrick acknowledged that he shouted "sieg heil," German for "hail victory," and gave a Nazi salute as a way to show the meeting's leaders that their effort to silence him was tyrannical and wrong. The investigation report is posted online. The Associated Press left messages seeking comment for Meyrick on Thursday. It took years, but last month Connecticut State Police released more than a thousand pages of documents looking into the childhood years of Sandy Hook shooter Adam Lanza. There are drawings, writings, and report cards from Lanza's youth, from before he killed 20 children, six educators, his mother and then himself in Newtown in 2012. NBC Connecticut was able to obtain the records only after the Hartford Courant sued for the release. Experts in child development and mental health are now weighing in about what they see in the documents. To be clear, neither of the doctors quoted in this story saw Adam Lanza as a patient. "A very complex neuro-psychiatric profile," said Frank Bartolomeo, a family psychotherapist who is based in Wilton, works with families of developmentally-challenged children. Lanza had substantial language delays yet he still earned good grades, and Bartolomeo says something changed as Lanza grew older, pointing to Lanza's writings and drawings that appear to get darker. "Then something begins to shift," said Bartolomeo. "I think what you see with Adam Lanza is the intensity of those kinds of drawings and thoughts," he said. "It's almost complete with stories of aggression, of people being hurt by adults, of children hurting adults." "The big things you can point to are isolation and distortion," said Dr. Jeremy Veenstra-Vanderweele, who is the director of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry at Columbia University. Lanza's self-isolation and his access to guns were the biggest risk factors for his violence, Veenstra-VanderWeele said. He said there is s a lesson here for all parents: do not allow your children to isolate themselves. "You want your child's life to include as many people as possible and you want their world to grow instead of shrink," said Dr. Veenstra-VanderWeele. Documents also show it was in this dark space that Lanza began to author many of the writings that have recently been released, including a spreadsheet listing a history of mass murderers. "At a certain point, it feels like something opened a door and evil walked in. These are evil acts. They're not things we can understand from the perspective of mental illness," said Veenstra-VanderWeele. NBC Connecticut Investigates reached out to parents of children who were killed in the Newtown shooting, as well to Sandy Hook Promise, the organization formed in the years after the tragedy to train students and adults to know the signs that could lead to gun violence. None wished to comment. NBC New York also made several unsuccessful attempts to contact Lanza's father. To see more of the documents and to see the I-Team's in-depth report, click here. Flash The number of people killed in a fuel pipeline explosion on Jan. 18 in the central state of Hidalgo increased to 95, the Mexican government said Wednesday. It was announced by Minister of Health Jorge Alcocer at the morning press conference accompanied by Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador. "44 patients remain under care. Six of them are being treated in hospitals in Hidalgo, seven in the state of Mexico and 31 in Mexico City," added Jorge Alcocer. The explosion and an ensuing blaze occurred at a pipeline spot in the community of San Primitivo in the municipality of Tlahuelilpan at around 7:00 p.m. local time (0100 GMT) on Friday. According to the local government, between 600 and 800 people gathered at the site to collect leaked fuel with containers when the explosion took place. Authorities said that the pipeline leakage was illegally tapped by fuel thieves, a problem that cost the country some 3 billion U.S. dollars last year. Right now there are hundreds of people missing in Illinois--but a new support group is looking to help their families. For Susan Olsen, whose son has been missing for 12 years, there will never be any closure. On Jan. 20, 2007, her son Bradley--then 26--went to a DeKalb bar and never returned home. "It does not get any easier," she said. Days, weeks, months and years have gone by--but Olsen refuses to give up searching for Bradley. "His case is still very active," she said. "(We) continue to search for him on a regular basis." "We will be searching until we find something," she said. "And be able to give him a proper place." This weekend, in Bolingbrook, Olsen will share her story and expertise with other families of missing persons at a forum put on by the Community Cold Case Squad. "Although social media makes it easier for people to connect online, it just isn't the same as getting together in person," a poster for the upcoming even reads. "We hope you find comfort here and help with any obstacle you are facing in your loved one's case." Ann Bielby is the coordinator. Bielby says the gathering is for families to gain information and also learn from others. "Theyll go away with renewed senses of purpose of finding their loved one and knowing that they are not alone," she said. Olsen says echoed that sentiment. "Get out there and try to attend every search, talk to people who have been there, work with your police department best you can," she said. There group says there are no dues, fundraising or product service endorsements involved. The meeting will be held Sunday at the Bolingbrook Community Center. The group can be contacted by email at ccscommunitycoldcasesquadcomcast.net. Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul is looking into the legality of the sentence for Jason Van Dyke, less than one week after the former Chicago Police Officer was given 81 months in prison for the fatal shooting of Laquan McDonald. In a statement, a spokesperson for Raouls office said we are reviewing this matter. We are going to do a careful review of the record and the law and make a determination based on our review, the statement read. Judge Vincent Gaughan sentenced Van Dyke to nearly seven years in prison last week. Before deciding on a sentence, Gaughan first had to determine if the case fell under the one act, one crime doctrine, allowing Van Dyke to be sentenced on only the more serious of the two crimes he was charged with. Van Dyke was convicted of second-degree murder and aggravated battery in a trial last year. Prosecutors, citing precedent, argued if Van Dyke was sentenced for only one of the two charges, it should be for the aggravated battery charge, which carried a higher sentence. Defense attorneys countered that second-degree murder was the appropriate charge, despite the possibility of probation. Ultimately, Gaughan chose to sentence Van Dyke for second-degree murder, giving him the 81-month sentence. Is it more serious for Laquan McDonald to be shot by a firearm or is it more serious for Laquan McDonald to be murdered by a firearm? Gaughan said while making his ruling. As the hearing came to an end, special prosecutor Joseph McMahon said the case "from the beginning has been a tragedy." "We know that no sentence will bring back Laquan McDonald or undo the hurt to his family and friends, just like no sentence will fix the concerns of the African-American community in this city, cities like Aurora, cities like Elgin and Rockford and across this country," he said. Despite being disappointed he didnt get probation, Van Dykes defense said they truly felt great. Defense attorney Dan Herbert called Raoul's admission that his office is reviewing the sentence "disappointing." The defense filed publicly Jason Van Dyke's sentencing memorandum which set forth all the legal reasons why the sentence had to be on second degree murder and not aggravated battery, Herbert said in a statement. The Illinois Attorney General could have filed an amicus brief in response to our arguments. He did not. Now he suddenly has concerns after the sentencing in the wake of some public outcry. This is about politics not the law. Raouls office did not state if they agreed or disagreed with the sentencing. Police in Braintree, Massachusetts, say their investigators found four homes believed to be used for an illegal marijuana production operation, officials said. An investigation into a marijuana grow house in Braintree led the discovery and the arrest of three people. One of the homes allegedly involved in the operation was in Braintree, another in Westford and the last two in Quincy, according to the Braintree Police Department. Officials executed search warrants on the four homes on Wednesday and seized enough pot to meet the trafficking weight element of Massachusetts drug laws. Several marijuana plants, packaged marijuana and tools used to help plants grow were found on the sites, according to police. Xu Feng Wang, 30, of Boston was arrested at the Braintree home and charged with trafficking a class D substance and conspiracy to violate drug laws. He is expected to be arraigned on Thursday. It is unclear if Wang has an attorney. A 48-year-old Quincy man and 23-year-old Quincy woman were also charged with trafficking a class D substance; however, their names were not immediately released. It is unclear if either has an attorney. Authorities warn these types of marijuana grow operations could cause public safety hazards since dangerous chemicals and faulty wiring are commonly found in these sites. These conditions can create an environment for black mold to flourish, Braintree police said, and that often, homes used for such an operation are not lived in. Braintree police added that board of health officials have since condemned the home in Braintree due to "uninhabitable conditions." A former prison guard trainee who recently moved to Florida from Indiana will remain behind bars after police say killed five people during a standoff at a small town bank before surrendering to a SWAT team that stormed the building. Investigators said Zephen Xaver, 21, called police from inside the SunTrust Bank branch in Sebring on Wednesday to report that he had opened fire. He barricaded himself inside and when negotiations failed, the SWAT team burst in, capturing Xaver and discovering the bodies, police said. During his first hearing in Highlands County court on Thursday, a judge announced the five charges of first degree murder and awarded no bond for Xaver. Investigators did not offer a possible motive, and a police spokesman said he did not know if the attack began as a robbery. The victims were not immediately identified. "Today's been a tragic day in our community," Sebring Police Chief Karl Hoglund said during a news conference. "We've suffered significant loss at the hands of a senseless criminal doing a senseless crime." The victims were not immediately identified. Hoglund said a man contacted police to say he had fired shots inside the bank around 12:30 p.m. Officers responded and after negotiations to get the suspect out of the bank were unsuccessful, a SWAT team entered the bank. The suspect eventually surrendered to the SWAT team. Police didn't say what charges Xaver faces or give a possible motive for the shooting. Florida Department of Corrections records show that Xaver was hired as a trainee prison guard at Avon Park Correctional Institution on Nov. 2 and resigned Jan. 9. No disciplinary issues were reported. Public records and neighbors said Xaver had arrived in Sebring last fall with his mother, living in a non-descript pre-fabricated home about 4 miles from the bank. No one answered the door Wednesday night after police finished searching the home. Public records and neighbors say he and his mother moved to Sebring in the fall from Plymouth, Indiana, a town south of Notre Dame University. Xaver "for some reason always hated people and wanted everybody to die," Alex Gerlach, his former girlfriend, told WSBT-TV in Indiana shortly after Wednesday's massacre in Sebring. "He got kicked out of school for having a dream that he killed everybody in his class, and he's been threatening this for so long, and he's been having dreams about it and everything." "Every single person I've told has not taken it seriously, and it's very unfortunate that it had to come to this," Gerlach said. Gerlach told The Washington Post that Xaver said he purchased a gun last week and "no one thought anything of it" because he had always liked guns. John Larose, who lives next door, said Xaver kept to himself, but he could hear him playing and yelling at video games in the middle of the night. Sebring Mayor John Shoop called the shooting "a very senseless act with no reasoning." Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis was in the region for an infrastructure tour and traveled to Sebring after news of the shooting broke, the Associated Press reported. The governor said the Florida Department of Law Enforcement would assist Sebring police and the Highlands sheriff in any way possible. "Obviously this is an individual that needs to face very swift and exacting justice," DeSantis said. SunTrust CEO Bill Rogers issued a statement saying he was "deeply saddened" by the shooting. "We are working with officials and dedicating ourselves to fully addressing the needs of all the individuals and families involved. Our entire team mourns this terrible loss," Rogers' statement read. Late Wednesday, police investigators still swarmed the bank, which sits between a hotel and a hair salon located in a business district of U.S. 27, a four-lane highway that connects South Florida and Central Florida. Sebring, with 10,000 residents, is known internationally for its annual 12 Hours of Sebring endurance auto race that draws world-class drivers. An FBI mobile command unit arrived at the bank Wednesday evening to join the investigation. Terry Spencer and Davis Fischer of the Associated Press contributed. San Jose Mayor Sam Liccardo introduced another proposal Wednesday to support federal employees furloughed during a month-long government shutdown by offering them 90-day eviction protection. The "urgency ordinance" will be voted on Thursday along with a short-term loan program Liccardo proposed last week for workers at the Mineta San Jose International Airport. If passed, the moratorium will apply to residents who receive federal housing vouchers that may not be operating, such as Section 8, or those who have not been paid in a federal job or contract. "Every tenant deserves some reasonable level of assurance that the dysfunction of Washington, D.C., will not leave their families sleeping on the street," Liccardo's proposal says. Landlords will also relieve temporary relief for fees and taxes they may need to pay on their properties. The moratorium will either last a full 90 days, or 30 days after the end of the shutdown. There are about 500 Transportation Security Administration workers in San Jose, but mayoral spokeswoman Chloe Meyere said the office has not been able to determine how many total federal workers reside in the city. This is partly due to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development having 95 percent of its employees furloughed, and being unable to provide data to both cities and residents. The federal government shutdown surpassed one month this week and is the longest in history. It was brought about by President Donald Trump's demands to fund a wall on the country's southern border costing more than $5 billion. A special meeting to vote on both proposals will begin at 3 p.m. Thursday at City Hall, 200 E. Santa Clara St. Meal delivery company Munchery abruptly closed its doors this week, sparking concerns from businesses who sold their goods to the San Francisco startup. Some businesses are owed tens of thousands of dollars and said they received no warnings about the closure from Munchery. Dandelion Chocolates is one of about a half-dozen businesses NBC Bay Area knows of -- with smaller vendors -- just hoping that they get paid. Lenore Estrada, who co-founded Three Babes Bakeshop, said Munchery owes her business over $20,000. Three Babes Bakeshop is a 19-person business specializing in pies and baked goods. "Twenty thousand dollars is a full payroll for us," Estrada said. "It's half of my annual salary. It's the money that we had been saving to make improvements and buy new equipment. So it is pretty devastating." The only reason Estrada learned about the closing at all was an e-mail blasted to the customer list on Monday night, expressing "heavy hearts." The vendor shock was not exclusive to the Bayview baker. "I'm at a loss for words, I don't know," said Victor Gonzales with Rochester Midland Corporation. "The first thing in my mind is to call my company and tell them, 'what are you guys going to do about it?' Because it's going to be a problem." Gonzales, a chemical service technician, found out on Wednesday when he arrived to an empty lot that Munchery would not be using his company's sanitation services anymore. NBC Bay Area visited Munchery's South San Francisco warehouse and sent e-mails, but did not receive a response. U.S. government regulators are accusing software maker Oracle of engaging in discriminatory practices that resulted in thousands of its women, black and Asian employees being underpaid by more than $400 million. The allegations emerged Tuesday in a filing made in a two-year-old case that is being pursued by a part of the U.S. Labor Department that examines the pay practices of government contractors. The agency estimates Oracle has government contracts worth about $100 million annually. The filing cites evidence that Oracle underpaid women and ethnic minorities for similar work done by white men by as much 25 percent. The alleged practices affected more than 5,000 women, more than 11,000 Asians and fewer than 30 blacks from 2013 through 2016. Oracle declined to comment. Following a 15-month investigation, Cal Fire investigators said Thursday the deadly October 2017 Tubbs Fire was caused by a private electrical system next to a residential structure. The findings clear California's Pacific Gas and Electric utility of any blame for the fire. In a recent court filing, PG&E blamed unpermitted work by a caretaker on privately owned electrical equipment at a property outside Calistoga for sparking the Tubbs Fire. "The evidence supports the conclusion that this equipment, located beyond PG&Es service delivery point, was planned, designed, installed, maintained and operated by third parties, not PG&E, the company said in the filing. The caretaker lacked electrical training and said he did not obtain permits when he replaced a pole on the property that helped to provide power to a well and other structures in 2017, the company claimed in a filing before federal judge William Alsup. While the company does not say exactly what went wrong or if the replaced pole was specifically to blame, it did say "when PG&E examined evidence at the incident location following the Tubbs Fire, PG&E observed that one of the customer-owned poles was severely burned at the top." PG&E says the property on Bennett Lane in Calistoga was owned by Ann Zink. The caretaker, Michael Andrews, said he was driving up the driveway of the property in early 2017 when he noticed that one of the poles had broken and the line was dangling three and a half feet above the driveway. He says he used a rope to snag the lines and pull them away and then kept them up by a stake. He later enlisted a third party to help him put in a replacement pole, but did not get permits. The company did admit that due to a mapping error, vegetation around one of its nearby poles was not properly cleared, but said the problem was south of the Zink home and the damaged equipment at her home. In the Cal Fire report, investigators were not able to pinpoint what triggered the fire on the Bennett Lane property, however, saying that the fire itself inflicted severe damage to critical potential evidence. But they were able to rule out PG&Es equipment as responsible. PG&E released the following statement Thursday afternoon following Cal Fire's announcement: "Without question, the loss of life, homes and businesses during these devastating wildfires is heartbreaking, and we remain focused on helping affected communities recover and rebuild. The safety of our customers and the communities we serve is our most important responsibility, and we are committed to assessing our infrastructure to further enhance safety and help protect all of the customers we serve from the ever-increasing threat of wildfires." PG&E announced earlier this month to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection because of its liabilities from devastating wildfires in Northern California. Investigators did not identify any violations of state law or Public Resources Code related to the cause of this fire, according to a statement sent out by Cal Fire. The Tubbs Fire in Sonoma County started on the evening of Oct. 8, 2017, and burned a total of 36,807 acres, destroying 5,636 structures and resulting in 22 deaths. One firefighter was injured in the fire. In total, the Tubbs Fire involved more than 170 fires and burned at least 245,000 acres in Northern California. Approximately 11,000 firefighters from 17 states as well as Australia helped to get the fire under control. According to CNBC, PG&E shares resumed, and sharply spiked 77 percent after California investigators cleared the utility of blame for the 2017 fire. In a statement, the City of Santa Rosa said they will be reviewing Cal Fire's findings with their legal team. In their statement, Cal Fire added that "Californians must remain vigilant and take on the responsibility to be prepared for wildfire at any time throughout the year. For more information on how to be prepared, visit www.readyforwildfire.org or www.fire.ca.gov. PG&E's full statement on Cal Fire's investigation: "Without question, the loss of life, homes and businesses during these devastating wildfires is heartbreaking, and we remain focused on helping affected communities recover and rebuild. The safety of our customers and the communities we serve is our most important responsibility, and we are committed to assessing our infrastructure to further enhance safety and help protect all of the customers we serve from the ever-increasing threat of wildfires." Cal Fire has completed its investigation of the 2017 Tubbs Fire and concluded that PG&E facilities did not cause the fire. The devastating and unprecedented wildfires of 2017 and 2018 have had a profound impact on our customers, employees and communities. Regardless of todays announcement, PG&E still faces extensive litigation, significant potential liabilities and a deteriorating financial situation, which was further impaired by the recent credit agency downgrades to below investment grade. Resolving the legal liabilities and financial challenges stemming from the 2017 and 2018 wildfires will be enormously complex and will require us to address multiple stakeholder interests, including thousands of wildfire victims and others who have already made claims and likely thousands of others we expect to make claims." Pacific Gas and Electric Company's latest woe came in the form of a fake website and a false news release that claimed its former CEO was donating $2.5 million to aid in recovery of the state's deadliest and most destructive wildfire on record. Aside from facing backruptcy and questions from state and federal regulators, PG&E confirmed Wednesday that someone re-created the San Francisco-based utilities company's homepage and made up a press release with the headline "Former President and Chief Operating Officer Geisha Williams donates $2.5 million to wildfire response." A spokesperson for PG&E told NBC Bay Area that whoever created the website has also reached out to reporters to make sure the fake news release was seen. The fake page appears exactly the same as the official PG&E website and all the links function and will lead you to the real web page, with the exception of the news release. The news release made up a fake Williams quote that said "It's my responsibility to be accountable in aftermath of this major fire and I will do everything in my power to take that responsibility." Williams resigned just last week. The URL pgecalifornia.com was first registered on Jan. 20, according to domain lookup website whois.net. It wasn't immediately clear who was behind the hoax. Cal Fire inspectors have blamed PG&E equipment for sparking a dozen fires across Northern California in 2017. Investigators are still looking into whether the utility's equipment sparked the Camp Fire that killed at least 86 people. PG&E announced last week it plans to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy because it can't afford to pay at least $30 billion in expected damages due to deadly wildfires. Under a PG&E bankruptcy, wildfire victims likely won't get all of the money they have sued for, experts have said. The Associated Press contributed to this report. A new state bill introduced by Sen. Scott Wiener, D-San Francisco, could possibly change the way young offenders, specifically those who identify as LGBT, are put on the state's sex offender registry list, Wiener's office announced Tuesday. Currently, while consensual sex between 15- to 17-year-olds and a partner within 10 years of age is illegal, vaginal intercourse between the two does not require an offender to register as a sex offender. Other forms of intercourse such as oral and anal intercourse require sex offender registration. That practice, according to Wiener, disproportionately targets young LGBT people, who usually cannot engage in vaginal intercourse. Senate Bill 145 would put an end to "blatant discrimination against young LGBT people engaged in consensual activity," Wiener said in a statement. "This bill is about treating everyone equally under the law. Discrimination against LGBT people is simply not the California way. These laws were put in place during a more conservative and anti-LGBT time in California's history. They have ruined people's lives and made it harder for them to get jobs, secure housing, and live productive lives. It is time we update these laws and treat everyone equally," he said. In cases involving vaginal intercourse, a judge will typically decide based on the facts of the case whether registration is warranted, whereas in the other cases, sex offender registration is mandatory. According to Wiener, SB 145 would not change the legality of the forms of intercourse and would not change the potential sentence for having sex with an underage person. Instead, the bill would give judges the ability to evaluate whether the accused be required to register as a sex offender. The change, Wiener's office contends, would result in the equal treatment of straight and LGBT young people and end the stigmatization of LGBT sexual relationships. SB 145 is being sponsored by the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office and Los Angeles-based LGBT civil rights organization Equality California. The bill was co-authored by Assemblymember Susan Talamantes Eggman, D-Stockton. "There's no reason for the law to treat a high school senior dating a high school junior differently because of their sexual orientation or gender identity," Equality California Executive Director Rick Zbur said in a statement. "For years, we've been working to make this common-sense fix and ensure LGBTQ young people are treated the same as their peers." Wiener's office also noted that up until recently sex offender registration was for life. However, in 2017, legislation authored by Wiener, created a tiered registry system, placing high-risk offenders on the list for life, while others can petition to be removed after 10 or 20 years, depending on the offense. Additionally, Wiener's office added that if passed, SB 145 would overturn a 2015 California Supreme Court ruling which decided that since vaginal sexual intercourse can result in pregnancy while non-vaginal sex cannot, it is not discriminatory to treat those offenses differently and with harsher penalties. SB 145 will be set for a hearing in Sacramento in the coming months, according to Wiener's office. You are here: World Flash Five people were killed Wednesday after a shooter opened fire in a bank in the U.S. state of Florida, according to local police. "After an assessment of the scene we were sorry to learn that we have at least five victims, people who were senselessly murdered as a result of his act in this bank," Sebring Police Chief Karl Hoglund told reporters at a press conference. Previous reports indicated that multiple people were shot as the result of the attack and that the suspect surrendered after law enforcement officials surrounded the bank. It is unclear how many people were wounded. The suspect was identified as a 21-year-old Zephen Xaver, according to local media. Ron DeSantis, Florida governor who also attended the press conference, vowed that the suspect would face "swift, exacting justice." Sebring is in central Florida, about 140 kilometers south of Orlando. Florida has been marred by mass shootings in recent years. In February 2018, a teenager killed 17 people at a high school in Parkland, and in June 2016, a gunman killed 49 people at a nightclub in Orlando. Plaintiffs in a $27 billion class action lawsuit against Tetra Tech, the firm accused of falsifying soil samples at San Francisco's former Hunters Point Naval Shipyard, are demanding that Gov. Gavin Newsom rescind a contract with the firm to clean up fire damage in Butte County. On Martin Luther King Jr. Day 2019, attorney Charles Bonner, who's representing the lawsuit's 3,000 plaintiffs, said at a rally in San Francisco on Monday that Newsom is rewarding Tetra Tech with the latest contract, when instead he should be punishing them for the alleged falsified samples. "These workers weren't leaving the radiation in the ground for their own enrichment, they were leaving the radiation in the ground from orders from the president to the CFO to the CEO on down," he alleged. Tetra Tech disputed the allegation that management was involved in the malfeasance, saying Mr. Bonner is a disgraced attorney who has been disciplined by the State Bar for his past actions, and nothing he says is true or correct. Bonner continued at Monday's rally, "These people (the residents) who are dying, they have cancer and have to worry about their unborn child; they've got generational harm for the next four or five generations. They have legitimate fear." "Gavin Newsom must now resurrect himself from this abyss of disgrace and show the people that he cares about them and that he loves them and that he is not going to reward a convicted criminal enterprise like Tetra Tech," he said. "This contract must be withdrawn, rescinded immediately." Tetra Tech was paid $280 million by the U.S. Navy to clean up radiation at the former Hunters Point Naval Shipyard in 2002 as the area was slated for redevelopment. Claims that soil samples from the site had been falsified and manipulated in order to minimize evidence of soil contamination gained traction in September 2017 when the Navy released a preliminary analysis of the cleanup specifically at two of the site's numerous parcels. According to the findings, nearly half of the samples taken from the sites had been falsified or manipulated. In a statement, Tetra Tech called Monday's rally a "publicity stunt" and said it would "prevail following an impartial and transparent legal and scientific review of the facts." Tetra Tech also clarified that while parent company Tetra Tech, Inc. is the owner of a separate legal entity Tetra Tech, EC, Inc., it was Tetra Tech, Inc. that was awarded the contract to clean up the Camp Fire debris, not Tetra Tech, EC, Inc. that cleaned up the shipyard sites. Last week, the U.S. Justice Department sued Tetra Tech EC Inc., accusing the engineering company of submitting false billing claims to the U.S. Navy, based on falsified soil and building test data. The suit by the Justice Department replaces three so-called "whistleblower" lawsuits filed under seal in 2013 and 2016 by several former radiation technicians hired by Tetra Tech subcontractors. Those lawsuits allege that those responsible for the fraud are not only two field supervisors, Stephen Rolfe and Justin Hubbard, who were criminally convicted in 2017, but also other higher-level managers, including Tetra Tech President Andrew Bolt. Rolfe and Hubbard pleaded guilty under seal in federal court in San Francisco in 2017 to falsifying records by exchanging, or directing subordinates to exchange, soil samples from potentially contaminated areas for samples from clean areas to submit for laboratory testing and each was sentenced last year to eight months in prison. Tetra Tech has stood by its work, saying on Monday "misleading claims alleged at Hunters Point against Tetra Tech EC stem from isolated acts by two rogue employees during the 2011-2012 timeframe" caused the company to conduct an investigation and correct a number of actions. (Natural News) Back when Bill Clinton was president in the 1990s, legislation was passed to allow for human sewage to be converted into fertilizer, which is now spread all over American food crops as biosludge. But as revealed in the new documentary film Biosludged you can watch the trailer at Brighteon.com biosludge isnt safe, and could be contributing to increased rates of cancer. In the film, which was just released at BrighteonFilms.com, there are many little-known dangers associated with biosludge, including the fact that it contains all sorts of toxins known to cause cancer. These include things like pharmaceuticals and pesticides, neither of which are effectively filtered out of biosludge at wastewater treatment plants. Biosludge is the greatest cover-up, stated Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, during a recent interview with independent journalist Alex Jones. Its the mass poisoning of our country. Of great concern to Adams are the many consequences of this toxic stew being strewn all over Americas heartland. Its this festering stew of poison and pathogens thats creating increasingly more chronic disease throughout modern society, including ever-rising rates of cancer. You combine all of the feces, and all of the viral strains, and all of the bacteria of an entire city, you put it into a pile, and you dump it out in the countryside, the birds get into it and they spread the viruses, Adams says. You know why were having so many weird diseases? Its because there is this mass poisoning, and it was approved by the Clinton administration EPA back in the 1990s. Biosludge is full of gender-bending chemical atrazine, as well as cancer-causing SV-40 If environmentalists were really concerned about actually protecting the environment, theyd be speaking out about biosludge, which Adams says is the biggest public health scandal of our day. But theyd apparently rather focus on fairy tale political agendas that accomplish nothing. The environmental movement is a political joke because they talk about global warming and climate change things that are a scientific hoax, says Adams. They wont talk about the actual environmental crime, the greatest environmental crime of our time, which is biosludge being spread on our countryside, on our farms. What many people fail to recognize about biosludge is that it actually creates higher concentrations of toxins in our soils. And this bioaccumulation, as its called, is contaminating our food supply with noxious chemicals like the gender-bender atrazine, and the cancer-causing agent SV-40. Atrazine and these other chemicals, they go back into the food supply, back into the water supply, and they feminize men across America, warns Adams. The food is a vector, a weapon, thats being used against masculinity, against fertility. As far as SV-40 is concerned, this known cancer-causing agent is everywhere these days. According to Jones, SV-40 can be found in every major sewage system in the world, which means that biosludge is teeming with it as well. Its one virus guaranteed thats killed hundreds of millions of people globally, says Jones about the constant threat of encountering SV-40 in the modern world. And then no one even knows that most cancer is viral. No matter how you look at it, biosludge is a modern-day scourge the black plague of the conventional food supply, so to speak. And the only chance we have of putting an end to its use is to sound the alarm about the fact that its happening, which is why were encouraging everyone to watch Biosludged and share the film with others. Be sure to check out the film at BrighteonFilms.com. You can also learn more about biosludge at Biosludge.news. Sources for this article include: Brighteon.com BrighteonFilms.com YouTu.be NaturalNews.com (Natural News) According to Congressional testimony, representatives for Purdue Pharmaceutical lobbied the Bush Administrations Department of Justice (DOJ) to avoid prosecution. On more than one occasion, top level Purdue executives met with the head of the DOJs criminal division (Alice Fisher) to skirt felony charges. For years, the companys top executives downplayed the risks of its popular opioid prescription, OxyContin. Internal emails from Purdue Pharmaceutical reveal that the owners of the company, the Sackler family, intentionally tried to mislead the public about the abuse surrounding OxyContin. The Sackler family instructed doctors to prescribe higher doses of OxyContin and for longer duration than what their research found to be safe. A drug cartel worth billions of dollars has the U.S. Department of Justice under its thumb. Purdue Pharmaceutical convinces top level DOJ officials to drop all felony charges In 2006, former U.S. Attorney John Brownlee conducted a four year investigation and concluded that three Purdue executives conspired to defraud the government. But as the charges came forth, Purdue executives got their way. According to a New York Times report, top DOJ officials catered to the Sackler family, first opposing felony charges against Purdue executives, and then rejecting a federal prosecutors recommendation to file felony charges after they met with Purdue Pharmas legal defense team. Not only were the charges dropped, but the prosecutor who recommended the felony indictments was recommended for termination just hours after Purdue Pharmaceutical took a plea deal that freed them from all liability. Instead of facing prison time, three Purdue executives got away by paying $635 million in fines, which, to them, is just the cost of doing business. In the plea deal, Purdue executives confessed that they downplayed OxyContins addiction potential. The Sacklers also knew that their blockbuster drug was being illegally dealt and abused. Former Deputy Attorney General James Comey and former New York Mayor Rudy Guiliani were both named as top officials who met with and advised Purdue representatives. During the investigation, James Comey asked Brownlee why he was still pursuing Purdue, and soon thereafter Brownlee was slated for termination because he ignored the DOJs request to delay the case. Alice Fisher, the former head DOJ official who helped the Sackler family, now works at a private law firm that defends pharmaceutical companies from government investigations. Sackler family getting away with deception, fraud, and mass murder Now, more than twelve years later, as the U.S. healthcare system faces a serious opioid epidemic, Purdue faces hundreds of lawsuits from local and state governments across the country. Big Pharma executives have repeatedly lied about the dangers of OxyContin, causing overdoses, addiction, and needless prescriptions that lead to medical error. According to the CDC, since 1996, prescription opioids have taken the lives of over 200,000 people, and have been senselessly prescribed in situations where addictive drugs are not needed. During this 20 year period, the Sackler family enjoyed $35 billion in sales and saw their net worth skyrocket to $13 billion. Countless doctors have been deceived by the Sackler family, causing great suffering across the country. A Massachusetts lawsuit alleges that the Sackler family not only deceived doctors but also blamed addicts for OxyContins negative press. In 2001, a federal prosecutor reported that there were 59 deaths caused by OxyContin in just one state. While serving as Purdues president, Richard Sackler said, This is not too bad. It could have been far worse. Because Purdue Pharmaceutical continues to get away with mass murder, the problem has become a crisis. For more on pharmaceutical abuse, check out Opioids.News. Sources include: DailyCaller.com NYTimes.com NaturalNews.com (Natural News) Were not even through the month of January, and the mainstream media has already been caught in at least four fake news reporting scandals thus far this year most recently and notably the Covington High School fiasco at the Lincoln Memorial. Even as they whine and moan about being called fake news, fake news outlets like CNN, The Washington Post, BuzzFeed News, NBC News, and The New York Times have all been repeatedly caught completely making up stories that never actually happened, and peddling them to readers and viewers as fact. The following are the four most notable fake news stories to hit the airwaves and print over the past several weeks: Not a single conservative was outraged over some stupid video of Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez dancing At the start of 2019, a wave of fake news outlets suddenly began reporting that conservatives were outraged over a video clip that nobody actually watched of Alexandria Occasional-Cortex (ACO) dancing in high school. The premise of this fake news was that conservatives were trying to embarrass the socialist by sharing the video, and that it backfired, to quote Reuters, CNN and others. But theres just one problem: No conservatives even watched the video, let alone tried to share it in an attempt to embarrass the New York representative. In other words, it was a completely made-up attempt by fake news to claim some kind of lame, gotcha! moment against conservatives. Theres no evidence that Lindsey Graham only supports President Trump because of secret proof hes a closet homosexual Roughly nine days after spreading the ACO hoax, the lamestream media decided to manufacture another fake news headline, this time taking aim at Senator Lindsey Graham. The premise of this fake news hoax is that Graham only supports President Trump because the Commander-in-Chief has secret evidence that Graham is a closet homosexual. Not surprisingly, theres no proof of this whatsoever, but neither CNN nor MSNBC the two fake news outlets that led the pack in spreading this fake news have ever corrected, retracted, or apologized for this hoax. President Trump didnt suborn perjury by instruction his then-personal attorney to lie to Congress about a real estate deal Just prior to the Covington hoax, Buzzfeed News published a ridiculous hit piece about President Trump that claimed he instructed former personal attorney Michael Cohen to lie to Congress about a real estate deal. This fake news was so blatantly fake that none other than Special Counsel Robert Mueller came out to declare it as such, completely embarrassing Buzzfeed and exposing it, once again, as a purveyor of fake news lies. The Covington boys were VICTIMS of racist hate speech by black supremacists and lying Indian elder Rather than retract the ridiculous fake news story, Buzzfeed simply rode the mainstream media train into the station of its next fake news lie about the Covington Catholic High School boys, who nearly every fake news outlet on the planet falsely accused of harassing and taunting and Indian elder on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial. Even after it was proven that the boys were innocent, and were actually victims of what they were being accused of doing themselves, most fake news outlets have continued to double-down on the lie with some even falsely accusing the boys of using the N-word, which is simply more fake news on top of the earlier fake news. These innocent kids, their families, and their school are facing death threats, while Maggie Haberman of the New York Times and the Washington Posts Karen Tumulty refuse to retract their proven lies and CNNs Kirsten Powers is STILL falsely accusing them of using the N-word, writes John Nolte for Breitbart News. For more stories about the mainstream medias addiction to spreading fake news, be sure to check out Faked.news. Sources for this article include: Breitbart.com NaturalNews.com (Natural News) Disney producer Jack Morrissey joins the long list of celebrities who weighed in on the Covington Catholic controversy before learning all of the facts. In a now-deleted tweet, Morrissey called for the high school-aged teens to be shoved head-first into a woodchipper. The famed film producer says that the post he shared was meant to be satirical, but that doesnt change the fact that these kids are innocent, and were accused of a social crime they didnt even actually commit. The fact that so many grown adults have called for these students to be expelled, doxxed and otherwise victimized over an image that was shared on the internet is truly disturbing and it just goes to show how much control over the general public the mainstream media really has managed to accrue. Things are so bad, Covington Catholic High School had to remain closed on Jan. 22, due to concerns for the students safety. Even though the school has reopened, security concerns remain high. To think that celebrities are contributing to this madness by unleashing calls for violence even jokingly is insane. But this is reality, sad as it may be. Disney producer tweets about putting kids in a woodchipper Multiple mainstream media outlets began reporting and sharing the entirely false story of Covington Catholic students harassing Native American demonstrators, and a wave of outrage erupted across social media. Celebrities from every industry were quick to weigh in on the matter, and make sure everyone whos anyone knows that they took a stand. Disney producer Jack Morrissey was one such celebrity, sharing the following tweet: Dont tell me this is THEE Jack Morrissey. Famed Disney producer Morrissey? Dear Lord Sarah Palin pic.twitter.com/XxX28AxBpQ Sarah Palin (@SarahPalinUSA) January 21, 2019 While Morrisseys original tweet has been removed, as they say, The internet never forgets. Our culture of crucify first and ask questions later came to a head, after it was revealed that the Covington Catholic students were the real victims, who were both harassed at the March for Life event and later, used as pawns to push the corrupt, anti-American left-wing agenda. Morrissey has apologized for his unintendedcall to violence but has not apologized for wrongly identifying the children as perpetrators of hate, nor for spreading the mainstream medias lies. As Morrissey reportedly told TheWrap: Yesterday I tweeted an image based on FARGO that was meant to be satirical as always but I see now that it was in bad taste I offended many people My sincerest apologies. I would never sincerely suggest violence against others, especially kids. Lesson learned. I have no issue whatsoever with taking responsibility, but also completely apologizing that I clearly intended it to be seen as satire. That was clearly not recorded that way by many who saw it. Note how Morrissey is blaming other social media users for taking his post too seriously. It was meant to be satirical, he says. Whether or not joking about putting kids in MAGA hats in a woodchipper qualifies as satire is questionable, but his response signifies a greater problem. Conservative values are not a crime Morrissey, like many of the mainstream media outlets now facing scrutiny, has chosen to refuse to admit what is actually wrong with his actions. The media, by and large, has failed to produce an actual retraction that would defeat the purpose of pushing propaganda. Instead, all they are willing to admit is that there was more to the story than was initially reported. Many members of the Left seem to feel that what has happened here is justified because the Covington Catholic students are white, Christian, and supporters of President Trump. To them, wearing a MAGA hat is crime enough even existing as a conservative is criminal to these people. The fact that the Disney corporation has yet to try and distance themselves from Morrisseys radical views is equally alarming. In the past, Disney has taken action when its known associates have made highly controversial and alarming statements such as Morrisseys. Will anything be done this time around? See more stories debunking the left-wing medias latest fallacies at Faked.news. Sources for this article include: DailyWire.com Fox19.com (Natural News) Now that the latest media stunt against Catholic schoolboys who support President Trump has been exposed as more pathetic fake news, millions more Americans have been red-pilled with the ugly truth about the maniacal rage and hatred that Leftists have for white people in this case, white children who align themselves with our Commander-in-Chief. In case you missed it, a group of high school students from Covington Catholic High School in Kentucky was recently targeted during the March for Life in Washington, D.C., by a Native American named Nathan Phillips, who approached them and tried to intimidate them by beating some sort of Indian drum in their faces. One of the boys responded to this noise assault by simply staring at Phillips, with obvious fear and confusion in his eyes and for doing this, the lying mainstream media falsely accused the boy of being a racist. This fake news prompted a barrage of ignorant celebrities, media pundits, and other far-left lunatics to call for violence against the boy and his classmates, which in turn resulted in Covington having to close its doors for the day in order to protect these students and their parents against being harmed or even murdered by the hate-filled Leftist mobs hellbent on destruction an ironic twist, considering this same Left Cult is constantly whining about student safety as they push for more gun control. Not only is this fake news narrative being driven by the anti-white racism of todays Leftists, but it also stems from the fake news myth that the Catholic schoolboys harassed Phillips when it was actually the other way around. Not only that, but claims that Phillips is just some innocent war veteran are also fake news, as its now been revealed that hes actually a known Leftist agitator whos directly connected to far-left groups with some very deep pockets. Phillips is not simply a random Native man who was accosted by racist MAGA-hat wearing teens, as the mainstream press has reported, reveals BigLeaguePolitics. He is connected to leftist activists who donate large sums to leftist causes. For more related news, be sure to check out LeftistMob.com and Libtards.news. Leftist liar: Nathan Phillips NEVER served in Vietnam Another fake news lie being spread by the mainstream media is that Phillips served in Vietnam, which is also a lie. The Washington Post, one of the fake news outlets that reported this lie, has since issued a retraction among many others in recent days explaining that the dinosaur paper utterly failed to properly fact check amid its fervor to fuel anti-white racism among its readers. Correction: Earlier versions of this story incorrectly said that Native American activist Nathan Phillips fought in the Vietnam War. Phillips served in the U.S. Marines from 1972 to 1976 but was never deployed to Vietnam, the Post published quietly, exposing Phillips as a non-hero. As it turns out, Phillips is a known liar who, on several previous occasions, falsely claimed to be a Vietnam veteran. He actually raised some $6,000 in funding back in 2012 for a documentary about his life that made this false claim and presumably many others as well. The actual video footage from this most recent incident involving Phillips speaks for itself, showing that he was the aggressor against the Covington students as were the rabid black Hebrews who were caught flinging anti-white racial slurs at the boys, another fact that the fake news media is ignoring. The whole thing is just another lame attempt by the fake news brigade to brainwash the dumbest Americans into believing that Trump supporters are racist against Natives, blacks, and other groups a divide-and-conquer strategy thats long been used by Marxists to overthrow a nation and genocide an entire people group, in this case whites. Dont fall for it. Sources for this article include: ZeroHedge.com TheGatewayPundit.com NaturalNews.com (Natural News) A massive tragedy, like genocide, is much easier to recognize and catalog into history books when it happens over a short period of time, say a few years, but when one is stretched out over decades, people are less apt to realize the extent of the atrocity, and less likely to sum up all the damage and see the forest for the trees. This is the case with Planned Parenthood an organization founded by a racist named Margaret Sanger on the premise of preventing as many blacks as possible from having babies by sterilizing the women, or if they get pregnant, killing the infants before they ever exit the womb. The scariest aspect of the latest planned genocide is that its ongoing, and rarely a soul recognizes that its a silent World War III, with leaders that are just as sick and twisted as the infamous Adolf Hitler, who also terminated millions of lives of humans he scapegoated, claiming they were worthless and a burden on society. Planned Parenthood has already accomplished its initial goal of exterminating millions of black babies, and now theyve surpassed Adolf Hitler, exterminating eight million humans, while the baby murdering keeps hitting the chopping block at 57,000 U.S. babies every year. Wake up everybody. Planned Parenthood is PLANNED GENOCIDE and has nothing at all to do with giving poor folks advice on being good parents Yes, Planned Parenthood (PP) began as the American Birth Control League (ABCL) in 1921 in New York with the mission of getting rid of black babies. Margaret Sanger, PPs founder, literally argued first for mandatory sterilization and segregation for people with mental and/or physical disabilities. It was called debaptism (a French term). Sanger said it was the best way to purify our national memory. But the psychopathic eugenicist wasnt stopping there, as she said, The first step would be to control the intake and output on morons, mental defectives, epileptics. Then, she targeted blacks, saying that a much larger class of undesirables would be forced to choose either sterilization or placement in concentration camps she called state work camps. She declared Planned Parenthood (ABCL) would take inventory of the second group, such as illiterates, paupers, unemployables, criminals, prostitutes, dope-fiends and classify them into special departments under government control and segregation. The only way these folks could ever return to civilization, according to her, would be after they underwent sterilization and demonstrated acceptable behavior. Margaret Sanger approximated that up to 20 million Americans fit the bill for these concentration camps at the time. You see, Hitler wasnt the first to murder millions of innocents, and he surely isnt the last. Planned Parenthood is a public and legal method for exterminating the poor so they cant multiply. Its as simple and sick as that. Thats why nearly every PP center is located in highly populated inner-cities. It should be called Planned Abortion-hood because it really has nothing to do with helping families grow and be healthy; in fact, its just the opposite. Hitler had the same twisted psychopathic eugenics theories as Margaret Sanger he too wanted to execute all the undesirables and that included the Jews, blacks, elderly, handicapped, mentally challenged, autistic, and all non-whites. Planned Parenthood founder said she didnt want the word to get out that we want to exterminate the Negro population Margaret Sanger penned a letter in 1939 where she literally explained the true nature of her outreach to the African-American community. She aimed to insidiously appeal to them through religion, because she didnt want the word to get out that the real goal was to sterilize all black women and exterminate any of their babies in the womb. Heres an excerpt from what she wrote in the letter: The most successful educational approach to the Negro is through a religious appeal. We dont want the word to get out that we want to exterminate the Negro population, and the minister is the man who can straighten out that idea if it ever occurs to any of their more rebellious members. Today, nary a black person knows that Planned Parenthood is STILL trying to erase their race. If youre looking to plan a family and be a responsible, caring parent, then just do it, and dont look to racist, genocidal freaks for advice, because the only advice youll get from PP is to abort, so they can sell the babys organs on the black market for cold crisp cash, like theyve already been busted on video doing. Tune into Abortions.news for more coverage of how the new Democratic-Socialist-Communist party plans to continue with the extermination of minority babies at record speed, as part of their genocidal plan, led by Nancy Pelosi and Planned Parenthood (a.k.a. Planned Abortion-hood) to improve society and lessen the burden of over-population. Sources for this article include: NumberOfAbortions.com NaturalNews.com TruthWiki.org Abortions.news NYU.EDU/projects/sanger AmericanMagazine.org Flash China on Wednesday said the U.S. plan to extradite Meng Wanzhou, Huawei chief financial officer, from Canada did not comply with international law or have legitimacy. The remarks came as Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying reiterated China's position on the Meng Wanzhou case at a press briefing. Hua said the U.S. request for Meng's extradition was essentially related to U.S. sanctions against Iran. "Huawei has stated for many times that it has complied with all laws and regulations of the country in which it operates," Hua said. She stressed that China had consistently opposed the U.S. unilateral sanctions against Iran and unilateral sanctions against Iran outside the framework of the UN Security Council, which are not in line with international law and are opposed by the world, including U.S. allies. "Canada is also opposed to this issue," Hua said. "The U.S. act is highly political which is essentially technology bullying, and its purpose is to do everything in its power to suppress Chinese high-tech enterprises and contain China's legitimate development rights." She said people of insight and a sense of justice in the international community should resolutely oppose it. (Natural News) HaiDiLao International Holding Ltd, listed as one of Asias biggest restaurant chains, recently partnered with Japans Panasonic Corporation to open a fully automated kitchen in Beijing last October 28, 2018. The food giant, which operates a chain of hotpot restaurants in the Sichuan province of China, declared this milestone as the next stepping stone towards a fully automated food industry. At this restaurant, robots will take orders, prepare the food, and deliver meals to customers. Official spokespeople of both companies say that this fully automated kitchen will lower labor costs while improving efficiency. Current plans are for HaiDiLao to expand this system to as many as 5,000 restaurants worldwide. Jun Yamashita, managing director of Ying Hai Holding Pte., the Singapore-based joint venture of HaiDiLao and Panasonic has said that is it is difficult to expand to expand to [a large] size in terms of personnel, so HaiDiLao is shifting earlier to an operation that doesnt rely so much on manual labor. Thats where Panasonics technology comes in. In an article posted on Peoples Daily Online, customers have mixed feelings about dining in a restaurant where there are absolutely no human workers. Customers who enter the restaurant are greeted by an automated reservation checker who then determines if there are seats available. If there are, diners are led to their table where they place their orders on an iPad. Orders are then given to a master machine that orders various kitchen staff (all robots) to begin preparing the meals. Robots on wheels then whiz around the restaurant to deliver orders. The new technology is not so somber either. These robot waiters and waitresses have been pre-programmed with such phrases as Dear, would you mind moving aside, please? We can take selfies after work! and Would you mind moving aside, please? Or Ill get angry! Many Chinese restaurants seem to be jumping on the bandwagon. During the recent China International Import Expo (CIIE) in Shanghai, a fair number of restaurants announced their plans to introduce automated guided vehicle (AGV) robots to serve food to customers in their own smart restaurant. I want an order of Terminator, with a side order of bolts, please Technology experts say that robotics will eventually take over the food industry. A recent Technavio report predicts that the food and beverage industry will experience a 29 percent annual growth rate from 2015 through 2019. The reason for this growth is said to be more companies wanting to lower labor costs while increasing efficiency. This move towards full automation is moving at such a pace that another report by MarketsandMarkets estimates that the food robotics market will be worth $2.5 billion by 2022. Suppliers are noting that countries such as Japan, South Korea, and Australia, are requesting for more industrial robots to augment their own food industries. These robots, it is presumed, would be used to used in food handling, where companies can be assured of contamination-free production areas. Robots are slowly being moved into primary food production such as meat, dairy, and cereal processing as well. Technology has improved to such a degree that machines can work in harsh environments, and do their work reliably a feat that cannot be said for human workers. (Related: No more human fast-food workers by mid-2020s? Burger-flipping robot replace employees.) That said, there is concern that this robot takeover will displace millions of workers currently working in the food industry. As explained in an article on Eater by Spyce COO Kale Rogers, at the end of the day, a restaurant is all about hospitalitya necessary component is the human touch the presentation, the personalization, the handing it to you with a smile. Sources include: Bloomberg.com En.People.cn RoboticsBusinessReview.com Eater.com NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg stressed the importance of strong transatlantic cooperation and institutions at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland on Thursday (24 January 2019). The Secretary General took part in a panel session on the Future of the Transatlantic Alliance, together with German Defence Minister Ursula von der Leyen, Polish Foreign Minister Jacek Czaputowicz, former US Secretary of State John Kerry and Professor Kishore Mahbubani of the National University of Singapore. Mr. Stoltenberg stressed that Europe and North America have stood shoulder-to-shoulder in NATO for over 70 years, protecting common interests and values. The Secretary General noted that Europe and North America are doing more together modernising the NATO Command Structure, strengthening NATOs cyber defences and investing more in collective defence. Since 2016, the Secretary General said, European Allies and Canada have spent an extra 41 billion dollars in real terms. Mr. Stoltenberg announced that by 2020, this figure is expected to increase to 100 billion dollars. Based on the national plans coming in from all the Allies, they will add $100 billion by the end of next year, he said. The Secretary General added that NATO Allies have also demonstrated unity on arms control, speaking with one voice on Russias violation of the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty. Allies have called on Russia to return urgently to full and verifiable compliance with the Treaty. During his visit to Davos, the Secretary General also held bilateral talks with NATO Allies and partners, including Polish President Andrzej Duda, Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte, German Defence Minister Ursula von der Leyen, and the Chairwoman of the CDU Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer. On Friday 25 January 2019, the NATO Secretary General, Mr. Jens Stoltenberg, will meet the Prime Minister of New Zealand, Ms. Jacinda Ardern at NATO Headquarters. Media Advisory 15:45 Secretary General joint press point with the Prime Minister Podium in the Agora Media will be escorted to the location of the press point from the Public Square, ground floor (next to the press shop). Access to the location of the press point will be open as of 15:15, last departure at 15:40. The press point will be streamed live on the NATO website. Still and video images will be available on the website after the event. Professional-quality videos and b-roll will be available for download from www.natomultimedia.tv. Please register for access. Contact: content@natomultimedia.tv Accreditation Media permanently accredited at NATO Media representatives in possession of permanent NATO media pass can access to the NATO HQ directly by tapping their badge at the turnstiles (NATO HQ Guard House South - GHS, media entrance, NATO Headquarters, Boulevard Leopold III 1110). Ad-hoc accreditation (day-pass) Media representatives not permanently accredited and wishing to attend the event are invited to request ad-hoc accreditation directly at the NATO HQ Guard House South, media entrance, on Friday 25 January. They will have to present an ID and a valid press card (provided by a recognised national professional body of a NATO country i.e. Government, Professional association, Union of journalists). Media representatives not in possession of a valid press card are invited to send a signed letter from their editor to the NATO Accreditation Office to NATOaccreditations@hq.nato.int no later than 10:00 on 25 January (Brussels time). Security Procedures A security check will take place and all equipment and personal effects carried onto the site will be examined by security personnel. Media representative are therefore encouraged to arrive with sufficient lead time to allow for security proceedings. Points of Contact General queries: Front Office +32.2.707.5041 Press arrangements: Alina Coca +32.2.707.1465 Accreditation: Angelo Pacifico +32.2.707.8346 TV/Radio issues: Henk Dekens +32.2.707.5051 Follow us on Twitter (@NATOPress and @jensstoltenberg) Watch the trailer for a new film by Story in Progress following a team of scientists, explorers and conservationists surveying the effects of climate change on a remote region of the Great Barrier Reef. The full film is available to watch now. From Politicos morning European newsletter: BARNIER ON BREXIT: So heres the EUs Brexit negotiator on the record on the EUs state of readiness and conditions for when Prime Minister Theresa May returns to Brussels: I have the impression that the backstop is not the central issue. Ultimately, the debate in Britain is about what the future of the U.K. will look like. I believe that we can overcome the current difficulties when we discuss that issue together. The comments were made in an interview with a number of papers. Pick your favourite language: German: Luxembourger Wort; French: Le Monde; Polish: Rzeczpospolita. Let me translate Barnier for you: The higher the U.K. climbs back up the Barnier stairway to no-deal hell, the less important the backstop. Hammering that message home, Barnier said: We cannot tie the backstop to a time limit. Extension? If Britain asks for an extension, EU leaders will only agree if three questions are answered, Barnier said. First and second, why and how long? And third, will not that be a problem for holding the EU election in May? I have no clear legal answer to the third question yet. It is important the EUs democratic processes are not disturbed by this, however. He continued, The first two questions are complex and interconnected: [There needs to be] a stable majority in London for all laws related to Brexit that need to be adopted. This will need time, he said. Zimbabweans have expressed anger at South African president Cyril Ramaphosas claims that the country was on the path to democracy, at a time when at least 12 people were shot dead for exercising their constitutional right to demonstrate. Speaking at the International Labour Organisation (ILO) in Geneva, Switzerland, Ramaphosa painted a glowing picture about Zimbabwe, further demanding the removal of an economic embargo imposed on the country in the early 2000s. It is no longer necessary to have sanctions against Zimbabwe right now, because they have embarked on democracy and a path of real recovery and we will help them best by lifting those sanctions, Ramaphosa said. However, Zimbabweans and analysts have expressed anger at Ramaphosas claims, following protests sparked by the governments 150 percent fuel price increase. The army and police ruthlessly suppressed the protests, leading to the death and injury of dozens others, who were later treated for gunshot wounds. Acts of human rights violations were among the reasons why western countries imposed sanctions on Zimbabwe. While Ramaphosa claimed Zimbabwe was recovering, citizens argued to the contrary, stating the country is in fact in a deep political quagmire. Ramaphosa says Zimbabwe has emerged from a difficult situation when the reality is that the country is actually in a deep political crisis, UK-based Kent University law lecturer Alex Magaisa wrote on Twitter. Sentiments by Ramaphosa come at a time when an opposition political party in his country, the Democratic Alliance, has threatened to take Zimbabwean President Emmerson Mnangagwa to the International Criminal Court, if the South African leader fails to act on the crisis. Politician and Harare lawyer Fadzayi Mahere said Ramaphosa was supposed to keep quiet instead of insulting the people of Zimbabwe. It is insulting to the Zimbabwean people for African presidents to claim Zimbabwe is on the path to democracy, this within days of army killings of unarmed civilians. If you wont stand with the people, why not keep quiet? Is this the African way? What a shame. #ubuntu, Mahere wrote on her Twitter page. The world had expected Zimbabwe to turn over a new leaf following former president Robert Mugabes removal from power in November 2017. Mnangagwa had promised to bring a new Zimbabwe, but events of the past week, coupled with the post-election violence that took place on August 1, 2018, leading to the death of at least six people, has left many doubting his sincerity. These events are what resulted in many people finding Ramaphosas views on Zimbabwe worrying. MDC Midlands senator Lilian Timveos expressed shock at Ramaphosas claims. Ramaphosa has just shocked me. Oh my God and he wants to be president again in SA (South Africa). Remove sanctions. Zimbabwe on path to recovery, is this path to recovery? Africa. My heart bleeds, Timveos wrote on Twitter, accompanying the post with pictures of battered people. Piers Pigou, a political analyst also questioned Ramaphosas claims. Pres (president) Ramaphosa needs to be given the correct information about current sanctions/restrictions on Zimbabwe, their import on the current crisis, & prospects for economic recovery. Even Mnangagwa and Fin min Ncube have acknowledged the sanctions excuse is no longer relevant, he wrote on Twitter. DailyNews Breaking News via Email Loading... Related Zimbabwe Latest News The Zimbabwe National Army has condemned the acts of violence perpetrated by alleged members of the military to unsuspecting citizens. This was said in a letter signed by the Army Public Relations Director Alphios Mokotore. The Zimbabwe National Army has noted with concern allegations of violence by people purporting to be members of the organization. These actions by these bogus elements have subsequently put the image of the organization into disrepute. https://twitter.com/harumutasa/status/1088423159970308096 The army also urged members of the public to report to the military police if they are abused. In view of the foregoing, ZNA would like to urge members of the public to report any acts of misconduct by anyone purporting to be a member of the organization. President Emmerson Mnangagwa, who first swept to power through a popular military coup in November 2017 also vowed to bring to book rogue members of Zimbabwes gung-ho military who left a trail of blood around the country during last weeks fuel protests. The under-pressure 76-year-old Zanu PF leader announced these bold moves soon after he returned to the country late on Monday evening, after he cancelled his scheduled trip to Switzerland where he was due to attend this years meeting of the World Economic Forum (Wef) which kicked-off yesterday. Byo24 Breaking News via Email Loading... Related Zimbabwe Latest News South African President Cyril Ramaphosa and his predecessor Jacob Mhlanganyelwa Zuma have issued their messages of condolence to the passing away of music legend Oliver Mtukudzi. I am deeply saddened to learn of the passing of music legend and human rights activist Oliver Mtukudzi. President Ramaphosa said. He is immortalized through the contribution he made to the arts, with talent that fired up all of Africa. Deepest condolences to his loved ones. From his No. 1 fan in the whole world. https://twitter.com/CyrilRamaphosa/status/1088383194850832384 Zuma said the message contained in the songs of Oliver Mtukudzi carried the world during the dark and brighter times. I am deeply saddened by the passing of the legend, Oliver Mtukudzi. His music has carried us through some of our darkest and happiest times, it has also united us across borders. I would like to extend my sincere condolences to his family and friends. Zorora murugare, dear Tuku. Said Zuma. https://twitter.com/PresJGZuma/status/1088297204845027328 Musician, businessman and UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador for Southern Africa Region Oliver Mtukudzi passed away on Wednesday afternoon at Avenues clinic in Harare after a long illness. Meanwhile the National Arts Council of Zimbabwe and some ZANU PF provinces and Notorn member of parliament Temba Mliswa have written to the President Emmerson Mnangagwa requesting that a national hero status be bestowed upon Tuku. Byo24 Breaking News via Email Loading... Related Zimbabwe Latest News Vice President Retired General Dr Constantino Chiwenga has left for the Democratic Republic of Congo to attend the inauguration of President-elect of the DRC Felix Antoine Tshisekedi Tshilombo. Tshisekedi is expected to be sworn in as the President of the DRC, following the December 30 harmonised elections. The President-elect surprised many when the over 60 million Congolese put their trust in him, winning over 38 percent of the vote, beating two other fierce contenders, Mr Martin Fayulu and Emmanuel Ramazani Shadary from Kabilas party. The Vice President was seen off by Vice President Kembo Mohadi, several cabinet ministers, service chiefs and senior government officials. Dr Chiwenga is accompanied by Acting Foreign Affairs and International Trade Minister Ambassador Cain Mathema and senior government officials. DRC ambassador to Zimbabwe Mr Mwanananga Mwawampanga is also in the VPs delegation. This is the first peaceful transfer of power in the DRC in 50 years. ZBC Breaking News via Email Loading... Related Zimbabwe Latest News Flash Premier Li Keqiang on Tuesday held talks with visiting Cambodian Prime Minister Samdech Techo Hun Sen, pledging to forge ahead the friendship and cooperation with Cambodia to a higher level. "China and Cambodia share profound traditional friendship, and bilateral relations and cooperation have made great progress. The seeds of friendship have been deeply rooted in the hearts of the two peoples," Li said. "China is willing to work with the Cambodian side to continue to inject new impetus into bilateral ties in the spirit of mutual respect, equality, mutual benefit and win-win results." Li said China would as always firmly support Cambodia following a development path in line with its national conditions, and seek better synergy between the Belt and Road Initiative and Cambodia's development strategy. "We support Chinese companies to participate in Cambodia's infrastructure construction and operation in such areas as production capacity, transportation and electricity," Li said. The two sides should make joint efforts to contribute to the construction of key cooperation projects, including the Sihanoukville Special Economic Zone, smoothly run the "China-Cambodia culture and tourism year" in 2019, and strengthen communication and coordination under the framework of China-ASEAN cooperation and the Lancang-Mekong cooperation. Li said China was willing to continue providing assistance to Cambodia in accelerating its development and improving people's livelihoods. Hun Sen said China was a close cooperation partner of Cambodia. "Cambodia is proud of the great achievements China has made in its 40 years of reform and opening up. The Cambodian side is grateful to China for its long-standing support and great help." "Cambodia will work with China to consolidate traditional friendship, further deepen cooperation in infrastructure, production capacity, economy and trade, agriculture, and improving people's livelihoods, expand people-to-people exchanges, and strengthen cooperation in international and regional affairs, so as to advance great development of Cambodia-China comprehensive strategic cooperation partnership." After the talks, the two leaders watched the signing of a series of cooperative documents. The two sides will also issue a joint press communique Wednesday. Top legislator Li Zhanshu met with Hun Sen earlier Tuesday. Li, chairman of China's National People's Congress (NPC) Standing Committee, said China was ready to work with Cambodia to expand pragmatic cooperation, deepen construction related to the Belt and Road Initiative, promote common development and push forward the bilateral relations to a new level. He called on legislative departments of the two countries to improve communication and cooperation, provide legal protection for implementing consensus reached by leaders of the two countries, and consolidate the foundation of public opinion so that the two sides could carry on the friendship for generations. Hun Sen said Cambodia cherished traditional friendship with China and showed gratitude for China's long-term support and help. He said Cambodia stood ready to work with China to deepen pragmatic cooperation in all fields. Also on Tuesday, China's top political advisor Wang Yang met with Hun Sen. Wang, chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), said the CPPCC stood ready to enhance cooperation with relevant parties in Cambodia, as well as mobilize sub-sectors of the CPPCC to promote jointly building of the Belt and Road and exchanges in various fields. Hun Sen said China's development had brought great opportunities to regional and developing countries. He said Cambodia attached great importance to participating in the Belt and Road Initiative and was willing to accelerate the synergy of development strategies of the two countries, expand bilateral cooperation, to benefit the two countries as well as the two peoples. President Emmerson Mnangagwa is distancing himself from a call made on his Twitter account that there should be a national dialogue to deal with the developing economic and political crisis in Zimbabwe, his spokesman says. George Charamba said there had been an attempt to put words into his mouth via the Twitter account, believed to be run by one of his children. Just when we were in there, the President was drawing my attention to an attempt to as it were, to put words into his mouth using his Twitter account. So, dont always believe that which is coming through, Charamba told reporters on Wednesday after witnessing the swearing-in of the new Prosecutor General Kumbirai Hodzi. The tweets went out following Mnangagwas return to Zimbabwe on Monday night. In one, he is purported to have said: I invite leaders of all political parties as well as religious and civil leaders to set aside our differences and come together. What unites us is stronger than what could ever divide us. Lets begin a national dialogue. Lets put the economy first. Lets put the people first. Charamba, blaming the opposition MDC for violent fuel protests on January 14, said dialogue was already happening in Parliament and other platforms provided for under the constitution. When it comes to national dialogue, thats a necessary accompaniment of any democratic system. But if its dialogue that is predicated on violence, on coercion, that will not fly, Charamba said. The key thing for all parties including those in opposition to know is that theres a way of engaging government without necessarily having to bring in people to do lawlessness and destroy property and cause loss of life in the country. After all, we have a Parliament, there is interaction going on. We have many other avenues, where interaction is going on. He maintained that Mnangagwa called for dialogue soon after his disputed election win in August last year, claiming this offer had been spurned because the opposition were still pursuing other avenues. When those avenues came unstuck, thats when we saw them do a U-turn to say you give us dialogue, if you dont well have rolling demonstrations. Thats not how you engage a political system, Charamba said. MDC leader Nelson Chamisa, meanwhile, had already responded to the purported Mnangagwa tweets, saying they would not enter any dialogue when the army was still brutalising Zimbabweans and prisoners of conscience still facing sham trials over the January 14 protests. Going forward, we must correct wrongs now. We call for an immediate end to the crackdown and terror that has induced insecurity across the country. We call for the unconditional release of all prisoners of conscience and political detainees whose rights continue to be violated, Chamisa said. Noting what he said were lofty words that often come from Mnangagwas Twitter account, but are not matched by actions, Chamisa went on: Our solution to the crisis requires sincerity, honesty and compassion for those we lead. Its not about lofty words or wordplay unsupported by conduct on the ground. Mnangagwa, like Charamba, is known to be averse to technology. He admitted that he did not have an e-mail account until after he came to power in November 2017, and needed one in order to open the Twitter account which sources say is run by Emmerson Junior, his son. ZimLive Breaking News via Email Loading... Related Zimbabwe Latest News HARRIETT Baldwin, the UKs Foreign Office deputy minister, held a meeting on Tuesday with a top African Union diplomat on Zimbabwes socio-political situation as tensions in the country came under the spotlight. This comes as the EU and the USA also raised concerns over the Zimbabwean situation after soldiers were roped in to quell riots that destroyed state and personal property, and led to loss of lives, during a three-day stayaway called by the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions last week. According to the Zimbabwe Human Rights Commission, eight people died during the protests mainly due to police brutality. Diplomatic sources said Baldwin, who became one of the top UK officials to visit Zimbabwe after the resignation of President Robert Mugabe in November 2017, had a meeting with the AU Commissioner for Peace and Security, Smail Chergui, where security issues in Zimbabwe, DR Congo, and Somalia were on the top of the agenda. The UK is concerned over the situation in Zimbabwe, the diplomat said. Minister Baldwin had a meeting with the top AU official on the sidelines of the AU/EU ministerial meeting and it agreed that SADC and AU should play a role in ensuring stability, the source added. Relations between Harare and London, which reached rock bottom at the turn of the millennium, thawed after Mugabe departure. The new British ambassador to Zimbabwe, Melanie Robinson, has also expressed concern over the use of excessive force by security forces against protesters. [It is] vital for the UK to get first-hand understanding of the humanitarian need in areas of Bulawayo affected by violence, Robinson tweeted. UK is deeply concerned by all violence, particularly [the] use of disproportionate force, as Foreign Secretary @jeremyhunt said last night. Ive sent two @UKinZimbabwe teams to Bulawayo this week to talk to authorities, @zhrc365 and civil society about the tragic events of the last nine days. Our rights partners are doing a difficult job amid great need: the UK continues to help them wherever it can. Earlier on, Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt had tweeted himself, saying: Please dont turn back the clock @edmnangagwa. People should have the right to peaceful protest without fear of violence. Full access to internet must be restored, security forces must stop [the] use of disproportionate force, and all cases of alleged human rights abuses investigated. Upon returning from a 4-nation Eastern European trip, President Emmerson Mnangagwa said his government was open to dialogue following the protests. I invite leaders of all political parties as well as religious and civil leaders to set aside our differences and come together, the President said. What unites us is stronger than what could divide us. Lets begin a national dialogue. Lets put the economy first, lets put the people first. Likewise, violence or misconduct by our security forces is unacceptable and a betrayal of the new Zimbabwe. Chaos and insubordination will not be tolerated. Misconduct will be investigated. If required, heads will roll, Mnangagwa promised. Zimbabwes ambassador to the UK, Christian Katsande, was last week summoned by British Foreign Office officials over the situation back home. Last week, Zimbabwe plunged into chaos when the countrys largest labour union organised protests over a 150% increase in fuel prices and the rising cost of living generally. The protests became violent resulting in deaths, injuries, and a shutdown of Internet services. Several shops were looted in Harare and Bulawayo. BusinessTimes Breaking News via Email Loading... Related Zimbabwe Latest News Government has described as regrettable and unfortunate remarks by United Kingdom lawmaker Lord Adrian Palmer calling for Britains recolonisation of Zimbabwe on the pretext of safeguarding the lives of its citizens following last weeks violent demonstrations orchestrated by ZCTU and its affiliates. The demonstrations, which left twelve people dead and property worth millions of dollars destroyed, have seen more than 1 000 people being arrested. Speaking in the British House of Lords, on Tuesday, independent cross-bench peer Lord Palmer asked, Has the minister even considered the idea of recolonising Zimbabwe? It is tragic to see what is going on. Responding to the suggestion, British Foreign Office Minister Lord Ahmad said he had not considered that option. Another British lawmaker Lord Hayward added that Zimbabwe should not be readmitted into the Commonwealth because of last weeks disturbances, drawing a reminder from Harare that the rekindled relations were not one way as Britain also stood to benefit from re-engagement. The remarks torched a storm and the Government of Zimbabwe was clearly unhappy. Yesterday, Government spokesperson, Mr Nick Mangwana who is also the Secretary for Information, Publicity and Broadcasting Services decried the hankering after colonialism, a practice that, along with slavery has been outlawed in modern convention. The suggestion by Lord Adrian Palmer in the House of Lords in Britain for the British Government to consider the idea of recolonising Zimbabwe in order to deal with the violent disturbances wrought by the position is both regrettable and quite unfortunate in the 21st century, said Mr Mangwana. He said colonisation was equal to slavery. Colonisation, like its cousin, slavery were a blot on humanity and epitomise all that is wrong about humanity. Zimbabwe fought a protracted war of liberation to free itself from the albatross of colonialism. Life and limb was lost, said Mr Mangwana. He said it was sad that an esteemed member of the House of Lords can make such a bigoted and out of touch suggestion, especially at a time when Zimbabwe was doing its best in efforts to be a fully-fledged member of the Community of Nations after a protracted bilateral tiff between Britain and Zimbabwe, which was franchised internationally. Mr Mangwana said the violent nature of colonisation, and its attendant discriminatory vices, has no place in a modern, globalised world where Zimbabwe enjoys cordial, respectful relations with its erstwhile coloniser, Britain a relationship that is based on mutual respect. He said the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR) both affirm the right to self-determination. Colonialism was formally delegitimised as an acceptable international practice, as per the Declaration on the Granting of Independence to Colonial Countries and peoples (General Assembly Resolution 1514) in 1960. In October 1970, the UN General Assembly Resolution 2621 (XXV) declared that the further continuation of colonialism in all its forms and manifestations is a crime. So, for anyone to insult the victims of that barbaric inhumanity by suggesting that it is what Zimbabwe needs in the 21st Century, is not only dinosaurian, but ignorant and patronising, he said. The utterances unnecessarily re-open wounds that are always difficult to heal. Supremacist politics has no place in modern day international relations. All countries relate on an equal footing in their national interest. Any interaction thereof is premised on mutual respect for each others sovereign right. Harare and London are enjoying a new lease of life under the New Dispensation, following the frosty relations that characterised the relationship between the two countries between 2001 and 2017. Mr Mangwana said Britain and Zimbabwe enjoy a relationship based on both mutual respect and mutual interests and if there were any issues of concern between the two countries, respectful communication was preferred not the patronising headmaster child megaphone conversation of old. Deputy Chief Secretary to the President and Cabinet Mr George Charamba poured scorn on the nostalgia about the defunct British Empire. They know that it is not possible, they know we will not accept that therefore, they know they are saying something that is not practical, he said. Fortunately it remains a thought and a nostalgia which doesnt hurt anybody. Thank God the British Government discounted it off hand so it really doesnt matter. In any case we dont look to a Lord for the British policy we look to pronouncements from the British Government. On the prospects of Zimbabwe rejoining the Commonwealth, Mr Charamba said Zimbabwe was not dying to join the bloc but was doing it as part of is re-engagement drive. The sentiments on prospects of Zimbabwe rejoining the Commonwealth overlook a very basic fact namely that it is the British Government which wanted Zimbabwe back into the Commonwealth. We related positively to that indication because it coincided with our policy of re-engagement. If there is a second thought on the matter so be it. He said Britain would also benefit if Zimbabwe was to rejoin the Commonwealth. It takes two to tango. There is much to be got from the British Government by a Zimbabwe that rejoins the Commonwealth as there is from Zimbabwe which rejoins the Commonwealth. Its a two way process and no one should ever labour under the illusion that Zimbabwe is dying to rejoin the Commonwealth. We are doing so as part of our reengagement with the world for mutual gain not for one sided gain, Mr Charamba said. Herald Breaking News via Email Loading... Related Zimbabwe Latest News Farewell Samanyanga: Tribute from Thomas Mukanya Mapfumo IN Zimbabwe we say Wafa Wanaka. But this is a generic phrase normally used for one whose good works are hard to put together after he has gone. With Tuku, we say matipa matitorera. We were given and were later robbed. This was a man of many talents. Music that lasts is not easy to compose. Fellow Zimbabweans, please join us in mourning the departure of one of the best musicians we ever had in Zimbabwe. Oliver Mtukudzi was one of us. We started way back in the sixties in Harare and charted the same path for the same cause as we sang, entertained and educated from different platforms and at times from same platforms. I will say that last year in 2018 when we joined hands on the stage at the Glamis Arena, little did we realise that we were doing our parting shots. Kwaive kuonekana. It was a night well spent with our fans as we sang and danced to celebrate a surprise twist of events in Zimbabwe. The rest of the history would unfold as we kept in touch and made efforts to strengthen our music and give hope to the people of Zimbabwe. Today is a sad day. Tuku was a wonderful, kind hearted, selfless man who had the mind to care for others. I cry for a brother, friend, uncle, grandpa and sahwira. Oliver was a man of the people. He sang from the heart and he was candid as he expressed himself clearly. His fame rested on solid pride in his culture, his Ubuntu and his focus on what mattered most to his life; people. He found so much value in the people and spent so much time investing in various projects to make people stay focused and be together. At times he added his dance styles and sharp sense of humour to spice up his music. Many enjoyed his music which could be deemed classy and timeless. He sang for all times, generations and occasions and everyone was left with something to chew upon. That was Oliver for you. Even as the son of the soil toiled by taking his music across the world from South Africa with Steve Dyer and many other musicians he collaborated with, to America and Europe, he never got too busy for his cultural values or his people. He had a big heart for his country. He sang well and stood for what he believed in. With lots of controversy surrounding some of his lyrics, he let people get the benefit of the doubt as he kept trudging on. Today Samanyanga joins Sam Mtukudzi his dear son who left a few years ago. Mukorekore left a great katekwe foot print and big shoes that many budding musicians will find tough to fill. Not so many of our budding musicians will be able to cope with cultural balances and dynamics faced today. He just did that. He sang not to chase money but to create value in his convictions. Of course money followed his values and he created a steady life that many looked up to. With his Pakare Paye Arts Center, he built himself that legacy and sign post of Tuku music that will forever make his name memorable before many artists and fans. Zororai murugare Nzou. Sarawega you sang. Tasara toga. Thomas Mukanya Mapfumo Chimurenga Music Company Breaking News via Email Loading... Related Zimbabwe Latest News THE government will consider a special honour for global music superstar and Zimbabwean cultural icon Oliver Mtukudzi, Arts and Recreation Minister Kirsty Coventry has said. Tuku, as he was known by fans across the world, passed on Wednesday afternoon at the Avenues Clinic where he had been admitted in the intensive care unit. Aged 66 at the time of his death, Tuku was not just a music superstar; he was also businessman, philanthropist, human rights activist and UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador for Southern Africa Region. Zimbabweans across the world immediately called on the government to declare him a national hero. Minister Coventry, who was among the mourners to visit Tukus Norton home, agreed that he deserved a special honour. He was a legend. He is not only a music hero for the country, she told The Herald newspaper. He is a hero of Africa. He deserves a special honour, but things will become clear in the next days. We had mutual respect for each other. Last year we sat on the same panel when we were talking about philanthropy work. She added; I last spoke to him towards the end of last year when we met at the airport. He was coming from a tour and I was travelling to South Africa. We talked about the future of the arts industry and he was telling me about young people he was working with. He was indeed a legend. As Government, we are prepared to honour our legends in various sectors. The national arts council of Zimbabwe (NACZ) said it had already approached government over Tukus honour. We have approached the Government with our request for Tuku to be considered for national hero status, said NACZ director director Nicholas Moyo who was also at the legends home. The formal procedures have started and we are here to talk to the family so that we get the ball rolling. It would be great to have him as the first artiste to get such honour. He deserves the status because of his hard work and leadership in the sector. He was a hero on his own and a hero of the people. I had the privilege to work with him personally and I am satisfied that his works deserve great honour. However, what matters to us most is not the status. What matters most is the heritage that he has left to the arts industry at large. His works will live forever. With his distinctive husky voice, Tuku had a career that stretched from white minority-ruled Rhodesia to majority-ruled Zimbabwe, producing a string of hits that spread his fame across Africa and eventually to an international audience. He tended to avoided political controversy. The closest he came was with his 2001 song Bvuma, which in the Shona language means accept that you are old and was taken as a message to longtime leader Robert Mugabe to retire. In a country where political tensions are high and party loyalties matter, Mtukudzi cut across the divide, singing at ruling party events but also performing at late opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirais wedding and funeral. One of his biggest hits was Neria, a mournful song about the tribulations of a woman who was thrown into poverty when her husband died because customary law did not allow her to inherit his property. It was the title song of a movie of the same name. Mtukudzis rollicking, captivating performances won him devoted fans. He sang, played guitar and danced while directing a tight band of guitarists, keyboards, percussionists and dancers who seamlessly performed his catchy songs. He made several successful international tours and performed in South Africa late last year. He also was known for mentoring young Zimbabwean musicians. NewZimbabwe Breaking News via Email Loading... Related Zimbabwe Latest News CIVIL servants yesterday claimed Zanu PF activists had set up terror campaign bases at various schools throughout the country, where they allegedly interrogated teachers and other public servants and warned them against participating in this weeks planned industrial action over poor working conditions. Apex Council secretary David Dzatsunga said the 14-day deadline they gave to government to improve their welfare expires tomorrow, adding civil servants were likely to go on strike after that. Having met today (yesterday) to interrogate the $300 million offer that government presented to us and the 22,7% cushion from the government, the Apex Council contents that the problem of incapacitation is yet to be addressed as the offers from government fall short, in our calculation, by $1 219 (real time gross settlement or bond) for the lowest paid worker, Dzatsunga said. The Apex Council will not be liable for whatever happens thereafter, he said, with Zimbabwe Teachers Association leader Richard Gundane saying they would consult their membership for the way forward. Dzatsunga told journalists that they were now more worried about the victimisation of their members by non-government actors. Progressive Teachers Union of Zimbabwe secretary-general Raymond Majongwe said some Zanu PF activists had set up bases at some schools. We have noted with concern that there are Zanu PF party activists that are visiting several schools in rural Zimbabwe, getting names and log-in sheets, he said. Some of them are in Manicaland province, Mashonalands Chikomba and Mudzi, where Zanu PF activists have actually gone to set up bases in these schools and are taking note of which teacher is there or not, including in Matabeleland South and others. We believe that it is not Zanu PFs business to interfere with school operations. It is wrong, Zanu PF activists, in whatever capacity, have no business visiting schools and I think the Public Service Commission made this point very clear that it is not the duty and responsibility of any political party to visit schools and setting terms. Majongwe said they would not name the affected teachers for fear of exposing them to further victimisation. Apex Council chairperson Cecilia Alexander said no political party had a right to victimise civil servants. Intimidation targeting civil servants by politicians is in bad taste and we are not taking it lightly. Apex Council is apolitical, which means that we are not involved in anything to do with politics, she said. We are saying those intimidating workers, whether they are from the ruling party or MDC, this is purely a labour issue and they must leave us alone. However, Zanu PF spokesperson Simon Khaya Moyo professed ignorance over the alleged victimisation of civil servants by party members and urged the civil servants to report the matter to police. Why cant they give us a report, we dont know anything about that. Can they give a report to the police, we know nothing about that. If they feel aggrieved, they must report to the police. That is the function of the police, he said. But Guruve district schools inspector Pinias Dambuza confirmed receiving reports of Zanu PF officials who disrupted lessons at Nyamangore Secondary School on Tuesday, demanding to hold their meeting in one of the classrooms. I received the report from the school head, so I am planning to go on the ground to interview teachers, students and parents on the matter so as to give my superiors the correct version, Dambuza said. A teacher, who requested anonymity, said Zanu PF officials, clad in party regalia, demanded the use of a classroom, creating a tense environment at the school. The officials came and demanded a classroom during learning hours, around noon, and since we were afraid of victimisation, the school head complied and lessons had to stop, the teacher said. Fear gripped many of us since we were part of the schools that were forced to close during the fuel prices protests last week. A Zanu PF central committee member, Eleven Kambizi, confirmed the meeting, claiming they had been cleared by the school head to use one of the classrooms. We had our meeting at the school around 12 noon, yes, but it was raining so the local leadership asked for shelter and we were given a classroom. I dont think lessons were disrupted by our emergency meeting, Kambizi said. This also comes amid reports that over 60 parents in Mutoko besieged Chimoyo Primary School early this week and ordered all the teachers to vacate the area for allegedly participating in last weeks nationwide protests over fuel price hikes. NewsDay Breaking News via Email Loading... Related Zimbabwe Latest News Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (Zec)s acting chief elections officer, Utoile Silaigwana, yesterday admitted that the electoral body did not invite chief election agents of political parties to verify last years July 30 election results as required by the law. Silaigwana made the admission while testifying in the trial of MDC vice-chairperson Tendai Biti, who is facing charges of violating the Electoral Act by prematurely announcing the presidential results. Bitis lawyer Beatrice Mtetwa had asked the Zec boss if he invited the elections agents of various political parties when final results were announced. We did not invite the chief elections agents of various political parties when we formally announced the third and final results, which are now on our website. We only invited them when we announced the initial figure of 50,80%. On the next figure of 50,67% we also invited them to verify, but they were nowhere to be found, Silaigwana said while testifying before Harare magistrate Gloria Takundwa. He also admitted to releasing wrong results on two consecutive occasions, saying it was because of the countrys poor telecommunications network. He struggled to explain why they announced three different figures of 50,59%, 50,67% and 50,80% for President Emmerson Mnangagwas victory. I put it to you that Zec disowned what it posted outside polling stations, coming up with three different results. You are not producing this information and you are hiding it because it will not contradict the accused person, Mtetwa said. She further asked Silaigwana if he would dispute that Biti announced the results based on the collated figures from the polling stations around the country and that MDC leader Nelson Chamisa was ahead with 75%. Silaigwana said he could not dispute the assertion, but insisted that the presidential election results announced by Biti were incorrect and unofficial. The Zec boss later became hostile and threatened to stop responding to some of Mtetwas questions, claiming it was now turning into an election petition, but Takundwa insisted that he answers to all questions put to him. Silaigwana then told the court that he never investigated Bitis claim that Chamisa won by 75% as at July 31 because it was unnecessary. It was not necessary to disprove his utterances because we were still collating the results from across the country, Silaigwana said. Tafadzwanashe Mpariwa and Jonathan Murombedzi appeared for the State. NewsDay Breaking News via Email Loading... Related Zimbabwe Latest News Marvin Pfeiffer / When it comes to accepting climate change and mitigating its worst effects, the Lone Star State is more like the Dim Star State. We light no path to follow and prefer to stay in the dark. Our top officials struggle with the very notion of man-made climate change despite overwhelming scientific consensus. Thats been the story for years, but its a different story in our cities. In Texas cities, the science around man-made climate change is accepted, the implications of a warming world are vast and elected officials are engaged with solutions. Klaus Schwab, founder and executive chairman of the World Economic Forum (WEF), speaks at the first plenary session of the 49th Annual Meeting of WEF in Davos, Switzerland, Jan. 22, 2019. The 49th WEF Annual Meeting will be held on Jan. 22-25 this year in Davos. [Xinhua/Xu Jinquan] The annual World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos brings together hundreds of political and business leaders, with the aim of helping them collaborate and disentangle global challenges. It is truly global event, hosting over 3000 participants from 115 economies, representing every sphere of influence: governments, business, arts, culture, and the media. This year's forum, taking place between January 22-25, is entitled "Globalization 4.0: Shaping a Global Architecture in the Age of the Fourth Industrial Revolution." The fourth industrial revolution, is slowly and steadily sweeping across the world presenting a series of new challenges, and also opportunities. The snow-covered venue and its eerie calm provide a perfect setting for serious deliberations. However, the litany of challenges facing the world economy is enormous. The WEF is a leading voice for globalization but the phenomenon itself is under threat from different forces. The resurgence of protectionism and far-right nationalism have become serious threats. After decades of global economic integration, the entire edifice is creaking. A formidable hurdle is how to get global cooperation back on track, especially among the biggest economies. The problem is strategic as rising economies are also claiming a say in global politics and demanding a reshaping of the world order on a more equitable basis. It will not happen overnight, and thus delay the solutions of key economic and trade issues. The strain on the global system has been further compounded by the fourth industrial wave, the so-called digital revolution "Globalization 4.0." Digital technology offers the chance to speed up globalization through connectivity, but also increases the chances of confrontation. The challenge for the WEF is how to use its platform to make Globalization 4.0 different from the previous revolutions, which only helped a few nations get rich at the cost of others. Not only did the previous revolutions divide the world into first, second and third world nations, but also propelled inequality to staggering highs with elites arrogating many of the privileges and perks. Professor Klaus Schwab, founder and chief executive of the World Economic Forum, has rightly warned about the danger: "We are entering a period of profound global instability brought on by the technological disruption of the Fourth Industrial Revolution and the realignment of geo-economics and geopolitical forces," he said. "This fourth wave of globalization needs to be human-centered, inclusive and sustainable," according to Schwab. The participants of the latest WEF may not be able to tackle all global challenges. But among them are experts and professionals who should use their expertise and imagination to propose some practical and out-of-the-box solutions. The WEF should streamline all good proposals by transforming them from policy parameters to an action-oriented framework. For example, China's Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) connects Asia, Europe and Africa on the pattern of ancient Silk Road and offers open-ending opportunities for those becoming part of the initiative. So far, dozens of nations have joined it and some are already reaping the benefits. Globalization 4.0 can use initiatives like the BRI as a window to promote prosperity. The WEF and other platform can contribute by mobilizing support to make the new revolution a common heritage. It can be done by placing the development of human capital at the center of every policy and initiative. There should also be focus on the reforms of the global institutions, as old mechanisms and bodies will not be able to cope with the demands of the new challenges. Sajjad Malik is a columnist with China.org.cn. For more information please visit: http://www.china.org.cn/opinion/SajjadMalik.htm Opinion articles reflect the views of their authors, not necessarily those of China.org.cn. Ever since Donald Trump was elected, and especially since the appointment of a special prosecutor, the question of impeachment has been the focus of speculation by political pundits and the media. Almost weekly, sometimes daily, news stories suggest a variety of wrongdoings both legal and ethical committed by the president, as well as members of his administration and 2016 campaign team. In each case, the possibility of impeachment has been raised, especially by Democrat politicians unhappy with the outcome of 2016 and anxious to see Trump leave the White House. On Jan. 17, perhaps the most damning story to date was posted by BuzzFeed. For the first time, unnamed sources revealed that the president may have obstructed justice by encouraging his former attorney to lie to Congress something that would be a felony and one that William Barr, nominated by Trump to be attorney general, said would constitute subornation of perjury and obstruction of justice, thus potentially leading to a legal indictment. Not surprisingly, this story dominated the news on Friday and resulted in an outcry by Democrats in the House and Senate. To be sure, they have good justification for wanting to get to the bottom of the BuzzFeed report. We must know whether it is true, as the story reported, that President Trump instructed Michael Cohen to lie to Congress about the Moscow tower project. If that was the case, this indeed would be a crime and an impeachable offense. However, patience and caution are required. Until the story can be corroborated and all the anonymous sources interrogated, it would be a political mistake, not to mention legally inappropriate, for Democrats to call for impeachment or conclude prematurely that there is prima facie evidence to suggest that Trump committed a crime. This is especially critical since Muellers office Friday evening disputed at least some of BuzzFeeds report. I tend to think the story is at least partially accurate and reflective of a recurring pattern, that there may be supporting documents to substantiate the allegation, and that additional similar examples very well could emerge in the days to come. Moreover, there can be little doubt that special counsel Robert Mueller knows far more than the public or media does about this and other damaging allegations about Trump. Nevertheless, from a political standpoint, now is not the time for Democrats to get out in front of what is known. Beyond the obvious fact that no one yet has been able to corroborate BuzzFeeds reporting, the salient question is about timing and political costs. Allow me to offer a legal analogy: Democrats may not get two bites at the apple. As a colleague of mine astutely argued, there probably will not be two opportunities to impeach this president. Hence, just like a prosecutor knowing a target is guilty but delaying the indictment until the case is solid, Congress needs to carefully investigate, gather hard and diverse evidence, and build multiple articles of impeachment. Rushing in with one or two issues could easily result in a failure to convict in the Senate. That, in turn, could make any other attempt at impeachment look purely political no matter the evidence amassed. I continue to believe, therefore, that Democrats must not allow their opposition to Trump to overwhelm sound political judgment. There is nothing wrong with the House undertaking an investigation into the details of the BuzzFeed story, requesting that Mueller guide them on what is permissible given his ongoing investigation. It will be recalled, after all, that President Richard Nixon was investigated by the Congress prior to the conclusion of the special prosecutors investigation. Put simply, patience and caution are in order and perhaps even a realization that Trump may remain in office until 2020 when Americans will be able cast a vote based on all that has transpired. Cherwitz is the Ernest S. Sharpe Centennial Professor in the Moody College of Communication and Founder of the Intellectual Entrepreneurship Consortium, University of Texas at Austin. As the new freshman class of congressional women bopped, hopped and doo-wopped into town, old sourpusses smirked theyll meet reality soon enough. Actually,twas I who said this to herself. And, well, not to brag or anything. The gals were barely through orientation before the powder room became a powder keg, with some of the more lively issuing brash statements that many have interpreted as anti-Semitic, anti-Israel, anti-Republican, anti-President Donald Trump, and even anti-Sen. Lindsey Graham all steeped in self-identity with an occasional dash of profanity. Remember when women just wanted to roar? Now they want to impeach the mother(expletive). So said newly sworn-in Rep. Rashida Tlaib, D-Mich. She was only speaking to a MoveOn.org reception, so she was given a break. Besides, women hardly have the corner on stupid, overreaching, profane commentary. Tlaibs bigger problem out of the gate is her apparent preference for a one-state solution to a negotiated, two-state Israel and Palestine, which came as a bit of a surprise. Tlaib initially campaigned as a pro-two-stater, for which she received the support of J Street, a nonprofit, pro-Israel organization. But after winning the Democratic primary, she seemed to drop Israel from the map. In an August interview with In These Times magazine, she was unequivocal: One state. It has to be one state. Separate but equal does not work. J Street withdrew its endorsement soon thereafter. Whatever remains to be seen, its clear that Tlaib is a pro-Palestinian Palestinian, which she proudly clarified in a tweet this month. Right wing media targeting me again rather than focusing on the Presidents reckless government shutdown. Yes, I am Muslim and Palestinian. Get over it. Shes got a point there. But her approach is further complicated by her support of the controversial boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) movement aimed at shunning Israeli products and services because of the nations alleged human rights violations against Palestinians. Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn. the first Muslim woman to wear a hijab in Congress also sympathizes with BDS. But her greater offense (to some) was last weeks comment that Lindsey Graham is compromised, insinuating that he was somehow beholden to Trump and was being essentially blackmailed into supporting the president. If it were true that Trump is hanging something over Grahams head, this would at least help explain why the medias favorite senator has all but abandoned his former, jovial self. But the real explanation is much simpler. He cant get re-elected without the president, who remains popular among Grahams core constituency: South Carolina Republicans. Not least (and by far most fun), the youngest woman ever elected to the Congress, 29-year-old Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., danced her way into her office a day after being sworn in. This self-parody was in response to a video that right-wing critics had surfaced of her dancing on a rooftop during college. A proud socialist, Ocasio-Cortez says whatever pops into her head and is quickly becoming a quote collectors favorite. Who doesnt want to watch? One of the greatest hazards to politicians is the temptation to buy into his or her own myth. And in politics as in real life, its always a good idea to take the temperature of a room before opening ones mouth. In 2019, its also prudent to pay homage to the queen, in this case Speaker Nancy Pelosi, before trying to burn down the House. For your further consideration, note that the rise of this new class of young women coincides with the victorious return of the 78-year-old Pelosi to the speakership. Chew on that for a while. The combustion of exuberance and overnight fame, thanks to the medias excessive coverage of the rookies, could explain the giddy gall of some new members. And, really, who but the witless or numb could fail to appreciate that two women of the Islamic faith will bring strong voices to the floor for Muslim women (and men) around the world to hear? Or that two Native American women will be among those guiding their country? As history-making and fun as the past few weeks have been, the reality part is about to hit the rest of America in the face. No matter what the new members say, their governing philosophy by and large is several longitudinal notches to the left of mainstream Democrats, as weve understood them. The reality is that for now, these women, who will be driving a lot of the action and attention, are the mainstream. kathleenparker@washpost.com A San Antonio woman was arrested Wednesday after she struck a 76-year-old woman in the head with a metal pipe and stole her car, according to police. Neshia Harris, 22, is charged with aggravated robbery, jail records showed. FIND OUT FIRST: Get San Antonio breaking news directly to your inbox Harris was caught on surveillance footage on Jan. 16 knocking on the door of a home in the 100 block of Banbridge Avenue, in the city's Southeast Side, San Antonio police said. When the woman answered the door, Harris struck her multiple times in her head and body. The woman "sustained serious injuries" as a result of the beating, according to Harris' arrest affidavit. Harris fled the scene in the woman's 2011 Toyota Corolla before police arrived, the affidavit says. When police canvassed the area, they discovered the car Harris had arrived in and left behind, according to the affidavit. Officers contacted the car's owner, who identified Harris for them. RELATED: 12-year-old accused of fatally shooting man in head during S. TX home invasion The affidavit did not contain information on whether the two women knew each other or suggest a motive. Harris' bail was set at $75,000, jail records showed. Fares Sabawi covers crime in San Antonio and Bexar County. Read him on our breaking news site, mySA.com, and on our subscriber site, ExpressNews.com | fsabawi@mysa.com|@FaresInSA Ever since June 2018 when Bird Scooters descended upon the city overnight with hundreds of dockless electric vehicles, the new transportation method has taken over the city's sidewalks, roads, and, occasionally, the San Antonio River. As more and more companies entered the city, bringing a total of nearly 15,000 dockless vehicles, more and more complaints flooded the city's 311 program and city officials have grappled with how to regulate the novelty. On Tuesday, the City Council transportation committee voted to temporarily prohibit any new dockless vehicle permits. One council member described the scooters as constituents top complaint, according to Express-News reporting, and another said the scooters often left sprawled across sidewalks make the city look bad. The moratorium went into effect immediately. The city is also considering a number of other amendments, which the council will vote on Feb. 14. Proposed amendments would limit the hours of operation from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m.; require scooters and bikes downtown be removed from downtown between 11:30 p.m. and 5 a.m.; encourage the use of parking zones; and collect vehicles parked in prohibited areas without warning. RELATED: Google Maps is now giving directions via Lime scooters in San Antonio The council is further looking into other amendments, which are not currently scheduled for a vote. Those include requiring the vehicles to slow down or stop when entering a prohibited area, such as the forbidden River Walk, establish a maximum speed, consider a prohibition on sidewalk riding and more. The amendments would supplement measures passed in October that set a minimum age and required parking rules. In a report, the city laid out the scooters by the numbers, including how many scooters are in the city, have many rides have been taken, the number of injuries reported and more. Click through the slideshow to see those numbers. S. M. Chavey is a breaking news and general assignment writer. Read her on our breaking news site, mySA.com and on our subscriber site, ExpressNews.com | sarah.chavey@express-news.net | @smchavey The Guadalupe County Commissioners Court voted on Thursday to deny a permit for Float Fest, just days after a study commissioned by organizers of the annual music festival showed it generated $12.3 million in total economic impact last year. Without a permit, which is required for gatherings of more than 5,000 people, the event cannot be legally held. Commissioners voted 3-2 during a special meeting that lasted more than three hours to deny the request by festival promoter Marcus Federman. He had asked for a maximum attendance of 25,000 people per day, a 25 percent increase from the 20,000 allowed in 2018. Those voting to deny the permit cited congestion, river cleanliness and safety as their biggest concerns. Float Fest organizers could not be reached for comment on their decision or their plans moving forward. RELATED: Date for San Antonio's 2019 Barbacoa & Big Red Festival revealed The festival, which would be in its sixth year, was scheduled to take place July 19-21 at Cool River Ranch along the San Marcos River. Attendees often camp near the river overnight and float it during the day. Big-name musicians such as Snoop Dogg and Lil Wayne have been among the performers in previous years. The event has proven controversial, however, and for many residents of the 1,300-person town of Martindale where the festival takes place, even 20,000 people was too many. Several residents addressed the commissioners at the meeting to request the permit be denied. The music was too loud, they said, and the words too profane. The traffic congestion was unsafe and would severely hinder any emergency vehicles coming through. The portable toilets smelled bad, the beer cans trashed the river and that $12.3 economic impact didn't go to Guadalupe County, residents told commissioners. After a traffic engineer said at the meeting that while the sharp increase in vehicles caused some minor delays it was not substantial enough to cause major safety concerns, residents and some commissioners questioned whether the traffic study was thorough enough to come to that conclusion. FIND OUT FIRST: Get San Antonio breaking news directly to your inbox Beer cans and other trash in the river has long been one of the biggest sticking points between residents and the festival and some proposed a can ban. Federman said he also loves the river and wants it clean, but doesn't believe a can ban for this event is the right way to go about eliminating river trash. "It's got to be a process where you can change their mindsets and make them think it's their idea," Federman said during the meeting. "It's not just at my festival, but over the course of the summer there's thousands of people and thousands of opinions, and how do you get all of those people to like one thing? You have to come at them in a way they can understand and relate." Ultimately, the commissioners' decision came down to whether or not the Float Fest application met the occupations code. Three commissioners voted that Section 5 posed too serious a concern to ignore. The section reads, "The times of the festival and the festival location create a substantial danger of congestion and the disruption of other lawful activities in the immediate vicinity of the festival." The commissioners voting against denying the permit said there was not a preponderance of evidence to prove substantial danger of congestion. RELATED: Cleaning crew collected 40,000 beer cans during Float Fest In 2018, Federman faced a similar battle with the commissioners. He had applied for a permit to host up to 30,000 people more than double the previous year's attendance and was denied. Commissioners cited the same concerns and the same section of the occupations code in denying the permit as they did this year. Federman filed a lawsuit in March 2018 to appeal the decision. Before the state district court took any action, the commissioners reconsidered their denial. Later that month, they came to a compromise with Federman to move forward with a 20,000 person cap. It's wasn't clear on Thursday whether the commissioners would be willing to approve the festival with 20,000 attendees or whether Federman intends to sue again. S. M. Chavey is a breaking news and general assignment writer. Read her on our breaking news site, mySA.com and on our subscriber site, ExpressNews.com | sarah.chavey@express-news.net | @smchavey Nine members of the Lonestar Slab club have been charged with a misdemeanor for the traffic-clogging photoshoot at the iconic "Be Someone" bridge and if it happens again, authorities promise harsher consequences. Houston police Chief Art Acevedo berated the accused participants, among them Christopher Lopez, behind the Dec. 2 stunt on Interstate 45 as "a bunch of irresponsible members of our community" and warned that drivers who want to do a repeat under the Houston landmark will face felony charges. RELATED: Indicted road rage driver arrested for stopping traffic under 'Be Someone' bridge The stunt was flaunted in a video that was passed to Acevedo soon after it was recorded and then used to help authorities track down the drivers involved. "Their motivation is to be out there and show they're kings of the roads and make a name of themselves. And they videotape and put it out there for the world to see," Acevedo said Wednesday during a news conference. A murder charge, he said, is a guarantee should "the chain reaction" from future incidents result in death. Lopez was among the nine arrests stemming from the Traffic Enforcement Division's month-long investigation into the unauthorized photo shoot that Acevedo celebrated. The 48-year-old co-creator of Lonestar Slab is also accused of chasing and shooting at a car of egg-throwing teens before a deadly New Year's Day wreck. He has been charged with manslaughter. Lopez and eight others have been charged with obstructing a highway. Walter Williams, 30; Alexies Stephens Jr., 30; Jarvis Randle, 31; Victor Pailiet, 33; Josue Iracheta, 26; Eduardo Espino, 31; Joseph Deboest, 40; and Noah Cantu, 22, have been charged for their alleged participation in the traffic standstill. Additional arrests are expected, officials said. Pailiet has a lengthy criminal history dating back to 2004 with arrests that include aggravated sex assault, interfering with the duties of a police officer and possession of a prohibited weapon, records show. This was the first arrest in Harris County for Williams and Stephens. Capt. Kenneth Campbell said the brunt of those arrested "didn't seem to grasp the severity of what happened." "These guys literally didn't care about any laws or anyone else," said Sean Teare, chief of the Harris County District Attorney's Office Vehicular Crimes Division. "They stopped their cars, 12 of them at least, and stopped every lane." The crackdown is not an attack on slab culture, he noted. "These cars are works of art," Teare said, "but there's a time and place to display your cars and show them off properly, even on the roads. Interstate 45 under the bridge is not that place." Future arrests for similar stunts will automatically result in a felony deadly conduct charge even if no one is hurt or killed, Teare said. The intensified charge, according to Acevedo, is merited. "I don't want to wait until somebody gets stuck behind these vehicles in a big rig and decides, 'You know what? To hell with these guys. I'm going to plow into them,'" Acevedo said, listing off scenarios ranging from road rage to a domino effect of crashes. "I don't want to wait until somebody loses their mind out there and decides to shoot at people because of this foolish behavior," the chief said. Acevedo patted Officer James Kneipp on the back prior to the press conference for his work in identifying several members of Lopez's car club accused of blocking traffic. Kneipp detailed in charging papers that those accused were identified through a minute-long video shared to the Kandy_Red_Bread Instagram account, which law enforcement sources said is run by Pailiet. The footage showed the license plates on about a dozen customized vehicles, known in Houston as slabs. Pailiet was arrested Monday night and shared an image from the same social media account while in the back of an HPD cruiser. "I'll be out by tomorrow," Pailiet wrote, showing the divider between him and the officer typing into his console computer. A 10th person believed to have participated in last year's highway photoshoot has been arrested on an unrelated warrant for child neglect in Waller County, Teare said. A similar feat under the iconic train trestle resulted in a viral video in 2015 after a man set up a traffic blockcade to propose to his girlfriend. She said yes, but he was charged with obstructing a highway after an off-duty police sergeant was caught in the traffic jam. The case was dismissed after the groom-to-be wrote apology letters to the sergeant, the officer who investigated the incident and "the members of the public who were affected by this offense," according to court documents. Stephen Tucker Paulsen contributed to this report. nicole.hensley@chron.com Google Maps Screenshot James Madison High School's principal said Wednesday in a letter to parents that he's aware of threats posted by Instagram accounts impersonating him and other administrators. "These postings include pictures of individuals and the James Madison High School name," Principal Steve Zimmerman wrote. NEW YORK More than a year before Mexican drug lord Joaquin Guzman Loera pulled off one of the most notorious prison breaks in history, he got word to his associates how he planned to escape through an unlikely source: his wife, Emma Coronel Aispuro. The strategy that Guzman crafted and Coronel passed on was as daring as it was ingenious: Laborers staged near the prison would dig a milelong tunnel into his cell. To pinpoint his exact location, someone would sneak a watch with a GPS transmitter past the guards and into the crime lords hands. Like Guzmans flight from the authorities in 2014 through a secret tunnel hidden under his bathtub, the audacious escape from the Altiplano prison in Almoloya, Mexico, one year later is one of those almost unbelievable tales that have helped transform him into the criminal figure known as El Chapo. And as with other myths surrounding him, this one was told again Wednesday with astonishing new details at his trial in U.S. District Court in Brooklyn. The most important revelation emerging from Wednesdays testimony was that Coronel, then 26 years old, was neck deep in planning the Houdini-like escape. The witness who implicated her, Damaso Lopez Nunez, also testified that she had been part of another effort to break her husband out of prison after he had been recaptured (or rather, re-recaptured) the following year. RELATED: El Chapo Trial: The Kingpin's Mistress Tells All In what has become a familiar sight, Coronel was sitting in the courtroom as Lopez, one of El Chapos former lieutenants, calmly told jurors that she had ferried messages from her husband ordering his aides including his own four sons to purchase land near the prison and then obtain a cache of weapons and an armored pickup truck. Lopez never said Coronel had been the one who slipped the watch with GPS past the prisons guards, but did recount that she was one of only two people who regularly visited the kingpin behind bars. It was not the first time that evidence at the trial has suggested that Coronel aided and abetted her husbands myriad crimes. Two weeks ago, prosecutors introduced text messages between the couple showing Coronel handing her cellphone to her father, Ines Coronel Barreras, who then hashed out the details of a major cocaine deal with Guzman. In other messages, Coronel agreed to hide her husbands guns, fearing police were at their door and planned with him to place the deed to their sprawling new mansion in the names of their twin baby daughters. In court Wednesday morning, Coronel declined to comment on the prison break allegations, as did Guzmans lawyers. A spokesman for the U.S. attorneys office in Brooklyn, which has led the prosecution of the kingpin, also declined to comment on whether she had committed any crimes. RELATED: Once-Close Aide Tells of El Chapo's Once-Lush Life Now 29, Coronel lives in Mexico, but has attended the trial nearly every day since it started in November. Most mornings she waves to Guzman, making it clear that she is standing by him. Just before Christmas, in a move that seemed designed to catch the jurys eye, she brought their 7-year-old twin daughters, dressed in matching bows and sweaters, to the trial to see their father. On Tuesday, she took part in a strange sartorial stunt with Guzman. Both dressed in identical garnet velvet smoking jackets in what appeared to be a symbolic snub of the kingpins mistress who, in prison garb, was on the witness stand testifying against him. Despite her constant presence at the trial, Coronel has largely remained inscrutable. She rarely betrays emotion, and even when witnesses have mentioned her by name, she has often done no more than chew her gum and play with her hair. Coronel had no reaction Wednesday, sitting in the courtroom still and silent as Lopez described the details of the prison break that she helped plan. On July 11, 2015, he said, the tunnel diggers reached their destination, breaking through the shower floor of Guzmans cell. Descending into the darkness, Lopez said, the kingpin was met by an accomplice on a motorcycle attached to a pulley system. After they were hauled to safety, Guzman exited the tunnel, hopped aboard an all-terrain vehicle and rode it to an airstrip. There, Lopez said, the kingpin boarded a plane, which flew him to a hideout deep in the Sierra Madre mountains called The Sky. RELATED: Will El Chapo Testify? He May Not Have Much to Lose But in the constant game of cat-and-mouse that is Guzmans life, he was arrested again six months later and immediately sent to a different prison, in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico. Not long after the arrest, Lopez met with Coronel who, he said, informed him that her husband wanted to escape again. His plan was to be transferred back to Altiplano and have another tunnel dug. According to Coronel, Lopez said, to ensure the transfer happened, Guzman paid a $2 million bribe to the chief of Mexicos prison system. All of this sounded so incredible that on cross-examination, one of Guzmans lawyers, A. Eduardo Balarezo, wondered if it really happened. A tunnel? An ATV? A plane that whisked the kingpin to the mountains? Its pretty spectacular, right? Balarezo asked. Lopez was unfazed. It is very real, he said. This article originally appeared in The New York Times. Safety was a big item of discussion during the Crosby ISD school board meeting on Jan. 22. Crosby ISD Superintendent Scott Davis and the rest of the board presented different measures to secure the safety of students and staff. Davis told the board he is looking forward to hearing news from the 2019 Texas Legislature about any funds they will have for public education, specifically for school safety. Im curious to see where our legislature is going to end up infusing money to us and if they are going to put strings with it, Davis said. I know thats a heavy, heavy topic in Austin. The superintendent said the current safety practices in place are working well. Davis mentioned how well the students and staff have immediately reported unusual behavior and the nine different modules the staff has to take to recognize any strange behavior in students. Crosby ISD Board President John Swinney proposed the idea to look at federal grants to be implemented for the 2019-20 school year. You have the Department of Justice, you have the Department of Homeland Security, FEMA all of those federal agencies have security grants for schools, Swinney said. Swinney also proposed to talk with Crosby ISD staff and the community to get their input on different safety programs. Position 2 Board Member Kealynn Lewis suggested to look at what kinds of safety practices surrounding school districts are currently implementing. I think there are other programs we can do; (we can) get with Huffman (ISD) and see what they do (and other) surrounding areas intermixing with their staff, Lewis said. Back in May, Huffman ISD approved the Guardian Plan that allows qualified staff members to carry guns. It was shortly after a student brought a gun to Hargrave High School. Humble ISD, finished installing more than 10 security vestibules at several of their campuses this past summer as well as updating their security systems as part of their $575 million bond. I think this gives a chance to look at everything and to have that discussion, Davis said. Whether we go that way or not the public knows we care enough to have the hard discussions and to check on those things. The board also approved to renew their interlocal agreement with the Harris County Precinct 3 Constables Office in the amount of $423,961 to have one sergeant and five deputies at the different campuses. The agreement renewal starts on March 1 and ends on Feb. 29, 2020. kaila.contreras@chron.com Nearly one in five fifth-graders in greater Houston and two other U.S. areas have suffered violent injuries, most from guns or knives, according to new research. The study, conducted by researchers at the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, found the likelihood of injury increased as the children became older. One in three high school-age children sustained a gunshot, stab wound or assault-related injury needing medical attention. "The biggest surprise was the sheer scale of intentional violent injuries children are suffering, even at elementary school age," Katelyn Jetelina, the paper's first author, said in a statement. "It was also unexpected to discover it's not bullying victims, but bullies themselves who are most likely to get seriously hurt." Jetelina, a professor of epidemiology, human genetics, and environmental sciences at the UTHealth School of Public Health in Dallas, said the study findings "suggests the act of bullying may not necessarily be violent enough for victims to sustain serious injuries and that bullies may be involved in other harmful behaviors." The study was published this month in the Journal of Adolescent Health. Jetelina's team analyzed data from 4,300 children when they were in fifth, seventh, and 10th grades at public schools in districts in and around Houston, Los Angeles County and Birmingham, Ala. The children were questioned over time to see whether the number and type of injury changed. The study found 16.7 percent of fifth graders sustained at least one violent injury. Some 12.5 percent were injured by firearm, 8.4 percent by knife injuries and 3.6 percent from fights that required medically attention. Bullies were 41 percent more likely to be violently injured than other children, according to the study. By 10th grade, more than a quarter of their injuries were from firearms. Boys were 22 percent more likely to sustain violent injury than girls and black children were 30 percent more likely to experience injury than other races or ethnicities, according to the study. Children from lower-income families were also more vulnerable. Those whose parents were widowed had a 60 percent higher chance of reporting a violent injury. The study was funded by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Todd Ackerman covers medicine for the Houston Chronicle. He can be reached at todd.ackerman@chron.com or twitter.com/ChronMed. Welcome to Texas: one of the best states for road tripping, where the highways stretch for miles and the summer heat is sweltering. While Texas is home to some of the biggest cities in the U.S., there are some hidden gems along the backroads that you won't want to miss. Travel site TripAdvisor just unveiled the 2019 Travelers' Choice Awards -- its look at America's best hotels -- with a Texas hotel among the top 10 in the nation. San Antonio's Hotel Emma ranked at No. 8 on the list: "With views of the famous River Walk, the historical ambiance of this hotel offers a handsome bar and clubroom, a grand library, a restaurant, spa and comfortable yet unconventional South Texas luxury and geniality." A recent TripAdvisor review said, "The decor is carefully curated to present a bygone era - that of a 19th-century brew house. The rooms are nice with a quaint air of old-world charm! I found the place quite unconventional and yet very apt for a modern day luxury stay!" The Hotel Emma has already amassed a slew of accolades, including AAA's Five Diamond designation, a lofty hospitality industry award that few places achieve. Housed in a former brewery, the 146-room hotel features industrial style that still manages to be warm and inviting. Travel guides have also lavished the lodging's onsite restaurant, Supper, with awards for its New American dishes and custom cocktails. Rooms at the boutique hotel average roughly $500 per night, so it's definitely a splurge spot for those seeking a memorable stay. CRUISE CONTROL: Virgin Voyages unveils its cruise ship's RockStar Suites Others on the list include the Trump International Hotel Washington D.C., French Quarter Inn in Charleston and the Peninsula Chicago in Chicago. "We congratulate the properties around the world recognized as the best hotels, which receive our highest honor Travelers' Choice Hotel awards," said Desiree Fish, vice president of global communications for TripAdvisor. "Travelers can consider these award winners when picking the perfect hotel for their needs for any budget or trip type to help inspire their travels in 2019." The full list: 1. French Quarter Inn Charleston, South Carolina 2. The Nantucket Hotel & Resort Nantucket, Massachusetts 3. The Spectator Hotel Charleston, South Carolina 4. The Inn at Lost Creek Mountain Village, Colorado 5. Hotel Jackson Jackson Hole, Wyoming 6. Williamsburg Inn Williamsburg, Virginia 7. Trump International Hotel Washington D.C. Washington, D.C. 8. Hotel Emma San Antonio, Texas 9. The Peninsula Chicago Chicago, Illinois 10. Sonnenalp Vail, Colorado Scroll through the gallery above for a look at the top winning hotels in each category for every type of traveler. Note: This is a Just a Taste review, which the Express-News does soon after a restaurant or bar opens to give our first impressions. For a restaurant that literally operates on a learning curve, The Culinary Institute of Americas new student-staffed Savor made a surprisingly polished debut at the Pearl this week. I dropped in for a meal Wednesday, the second day of service, and found both the space and food a much-needed update relative to the schools Nao, which shuttered in December. Savor is located around the corner from Nao in the former home of the Sandbar Fishhouse & Market. Gone is the ersatz tropical decor and cacophonous color scheme of Nao, replaced by crisp and clean lines that feel simultaneously classic and contemporary. Gone is the focus on Latin American cuisine for a modern American menu at Savor. Make no mistake: this is an educational experience, both for the diner and the staff. My server immediately let me know she is a student, and there was noticeable hand-holding from the small team of CIA instructors tasked with keeping the ship on course. That being said, I found the overall experience an easy one to support and feel good about, knowing that my dining dollars were helping launch the next generation of culinary professionals. On ExpressNews.com: Sourdough is back, connecting new generations of bakers with starters decades old On the menu: The Savor experience is largely built around a three- or four-course meal, priced at $38 or $46, respectively. An a la carte bar menu is largely composed of items cribbed from the coursed options, with a tiny handful of unique dishes. I started with a trio of bar menu orders. The best of those was herb- and matcha powder-dusted yuca fries ($5), served airy and crisp with a side of Russian dressing. The silky steak tartare with chipotle ($11) delivered little smoky heat, but hit all the right notes with fried capers and mustard strewn about the plate and a petite quail egg on top of the bright red beef. The chile-spiced wings ($10) were overly sticky and sweet and arrived far too pink at the bone. My four-course feast demonstrated confident flavors and largely elegant plating. Diners may select one of four dishes for each course, which meant, in my case, a likable fingerling potato salad doused in a pungent mustard vinaigrette and sprinkled with crisp slivers of fried leek to start. The deeply savory mussels with heirloom tomatoes followed, the shellfish swimming in an addictive buttery white wine sauce. On ExpressNews.com: Review: A Dong Chinese & Vietnamese Restaurant speaks to the heart of Vietnamese food I opted for the pork schnitzel as my main course, which featured two tender chunks of crisply breaded pork, not pounded thin as Im accustomed to, and partnered with well-spiced applesauce and charred lemon. That included side dish of red cabbage and more fingerling potatoes, which wasnt mentioned on the menu, and that felt repetitive after my starter. I suspect a more seasoned staff would have warned me when ordering. The Coconut Cake dessert option was a decisive win, a tender sponge of cake served alongside a tangy lime-spiked avocado cream and playful kernels of popcorn. The bar also serves a lineup of classic cocktails and a few mocktails. Savors take on the sidecar ($11) was made with San Antonio-distilled Kinsman Rakia instead of the usual cognac, but it struggled to find a balance with tart and bitter lemon juice. The Rosemary Sipper mocktail was more interesting, despite the absence of alcohol, blending orange and lemon juice with an abundance of sliced chile and chopped rosemary leaves. As a student-staffed outfit, its easy to forgive Savors trespasses. Those were few and far between during my visit, and I look forward to trying the rest of the menu. Location: 200 E. Grayson St., Suite 117, 210-554-6484, savorcia.com, Facebook: @Savorcia Hours: 5:30 to 8 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday Paul Stephen is a staff writer in the San Antonio and Bexar County area. Read him on our free site, mySA.com, and on our subscriber site, ExpressNews.com. | pstephen@express-news.net | Twitter: @pjbites | Instagram: @pjstephen If you've been wanting a lifestyle attuned to Ariana Grande's "7 rings" but find yourself coming up short because your bank account won't cooperate with living a social life of luxury - it'll be alright. Yelp has gathered a list of local restaurants that will serve you gilded dishes without the hefty prices. A date for San Antonio's fourth annual event honoring Mexican Painter Frida Kahlo has been set. The 2019 free event will be held at the Wonderland of the Americas July 27-28 from noon to 6 p.m., according to the Facebook event page. Art gallery Que Retro Arts and paranormal investigative tour company Curious Twins Paranormal and Ghost Tours will be co-hosting the event. RELATED: Diwali San Antonio sets dates for 2019 festival Frida Kahlo's life was spent primarily in Mexico City where she painted portraits, self-portraits and Mexico-inspired pictures. She's known for pieces such as "The Two Fridas" and "Self-Portrait with Thorn Necklace and Hummingbird." Frida Fest will be held in her honor and will include food, fashion, music, performances, and handmade artisan mercado from across the state. Organizers tout more than 90 vendors offering "one-of-a-kind" and "handmade" art and goods. "Life and Times of Frida Kahlo" will also be screened during the event. S. M. Chavey is a breaking news and general assignment writer. Read her on our breaking news site, mySA.com and on our subscriber site, ExpressNews.com | sarah.chavey@express-news.net | @smchavey Oil climbed as growing instability in Venezuela outweighed fresh reminders of the American shale boom. Futures in New York gained 1 percent on Thursday as Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro defied calls from the U.S. and other nations to cede control of the Latin American country that holds the world's biggest crude reserves. The fortress-like U.S. embassy on a Caracas hilltop may become a flashpoint after Maduro's order for American diplomats to evacuate was ignored. A U.S. Energy Department report that showed the biggest increase in domestic crude stockpiles since November and record gasoline inventories was largely shrugged off by investors. PREVIOUSLY: Oil falters as U.S. shutdown, China trade cast pall over economy "It's a function of people keeping an eye on supply concerns out of Venezuela," said Marshall Steeves, energy markets analyst at Informa Economics IG in New York. "That's the overriding issue today." Crude markets had been off to their best start in 18 years on optimism about output cuts by Saudi Arabia, Russia and other top producers. That mood faltered in recent days as data showed rising production in the U.S. and weaker economic growth around the globe. U.S. President Donald Trump was said to be considering new sanctions against Venezuela as Maduro faces one of the toughest yet challenges to his reign. Separately, commodity traders Mercuria Energy Group Ltd. and Glencore Plc said OPEC supply cuts had set the stage for rising prices. Bullish sentiment could rein again if Trump follows through on a threat to expand sanctions against OPEC member Venezuela, forcing some Gulf Coast refiners to seek out new supplies. The administration added to pressure on Maduro's regime on Wednesday by recognizing opposition leader Juan Guaido as the country's interim president. SPENDING: Confident oil industry set to ratchet up spending in 2019 "With the U.S. now clearly taking sides with the opposition, changes might be in the making," said Tamas Varga, an analyst at PVM Oil Associates Ltd. in London. "This would deal a further blow to U.S. refiners that rely on whatever Venezuelan oil is still available and as such would be short-term bullish." West Texas Intermediate crude for March delivery added 51 cents to close at $53.13 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. International benchmark Brent crude, which is less affected by Venezuela than the U.S. grade, slipped 5 cents to $61.09 on the London-based ICE Futures Europe exchange and commanded a $7.96 premium to WTI. Also read: Two Venezuelan Presidents Raises Questions About OPEC Leadership The Trump administration has drafted a slate of sanctions but hasn't decided whether to deploy them, according to people familiar with the matter. Earlier this month, White House officials warned U.S. refiners and advised them to seek alternate sources of heavy crude. Some processors worried about restrictions experimented with alternatives last year before ultimately returning to Venezuelan crude. --With assistance from Tsuyoshi Inajima and Grant Smith. 2019 Bloomberg L.P. (Bloomberg) -- President Donald Trump said he wouldnt cave in his demand for a border wall, adding to the likelihood that two Senate measures aimed at opening shuttered federal agencies will fail in votes on Thursday. Without a Wall it all doesnt work, Trump said, asserting that the structure would reduce crime, human trafficking, gangs and drugs. Should have been done for decades. We will not Cave! At a news conference, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi dismissed Trumps arguments and said most drugs come into the U.S. through ports. Lets have this discussion after we open up the government, she said Thursday. The Senate votes threaten to leave lawmakers and Trump in the same place they started: deadlocked. Senate Democrats are poised to block a GOP bill to open the government that includes $5.7 billion for Trumps proposed border wall. A separate Democratic bill that would temporarily fund the government without funding the wall is unlikely to get the 13 Republican votes needed to advance, especially given Trumps opposition. If both measures fail, about one-fourth of the federal government will remain shut down. Prospects for a compromise are dim, as a tit-for-tat battle between Trump and Pelosi has been escalating. Last week, Pelosi wrote to the president suggesting he postpone his State of the Union address as a result of security vulnerabilities stemming from the shutdown. Trump responded by blocking Pelosi and other Democrats from using military aircraft to visit troops in Afghanistan. She said the administration then leaked her plans to travel on commercial aircraft, creating a security threat that prompted her to cancel the trip. Trump said Wednesday he still planned to deliver the address on Jan. 29. Pelosi responded by saying she wont allow the speech in the chamber unless government agencies are reopened. Then late Wednesday night, Trump said on Twitter that he would put off the address until the shutdown was over. He added that he was no longer looking for an alternative venue for the speech, an option he had discussed with reporters earlier in the day. As the shutdown enters its 34th day, Trumps support is slipping. Only 34 percent of Americans approve of Trumps job performance, down from 42 percent in December, according to a poll taken Jan. 16 to 20 by the Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research. On Thursday, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky called for lawmakers to approve the GOP measure, saying the legislation with wall funding is a pragmatic compromise that could end this shutdown right away. He said the Democrats temporary measure creates the possibility of a new crisis in several weeks when funding expires. Pressure is building on both parties as federal workers will miss their second paychecks on Friday. Lines at some airport security checkpoints are growing as Transportation Security Administration employees, who are working without pay, call in sick. White House Council of Economic Advisers Chairman Kevin Hassett said that if the shutdown extends through March, theres a chance of zero economic expansion this quarter. Providing a slight hope for compromise, bipartisan groups of lawmakers have convened private meetings in the House and Senate to try to find a way out of the partial shutdown that began Dec. 22. But those groups havent publicly advanced any solution. Senator Susan Collins, a Maine Republican, told reporters that a bipartisan group will take the Senate floor after Thursdays votes to talk about plans to develop a new proposal to resolve the shutdown. Collins is among a growing number of senators from both parties calling for lawmakers to stay in Washington this weekend to try to reach a deal. House Democrats are preparing a border security plan of their own that doesnt include a wall on the U.S.-Mexico border, according to a Democratic aide. The plan could include spending more than $5.7 billion -- the amount Trump wants for the wall -- on infrastructure, more immigration judges and aid to Central American countries. Substantial Sum The amount is subject to change, according to the aide, who said Democrats may make a proposal in a letter to Trump later this week. We are prepared to spend a very substantial sum of money for border security, second-ranking House Democrat Steny Hoyer of Maryland told reporters Wednesday without giving details on the planned letter. Hakeem Jeffries of New York, chairman of the House Democratic caucus, said his party is willing to discuss government funds for additional border agents, enhanced technology and increased security infrastructure -- especially at ports of entry where most illegal drugs enter the country -- but he didnt endorse any wall funding. Democrats will not pay a $5.7 billion ransom" for a "medieval border wall, Jeffries said. Conservatives, including House Freedom Caucus Chairman Mark Meadows of North Carolina, said the Democratic proposal isnt a real counteroffer because it wont contain funding for new border barriers. House Homeland Security Chairman Bennie Thompson of Mississippi said the planned proposal by Democrats in his chamber, to be sent by Friday, could form the basis of negotiations if the government is reopened. Pelosi told the U.S. Conference of Mayors on Wednesday that Democrats are holding firm in their resolve not to negotiate additional spending on border security until government agencies resume work. Justified Concern Otherwise, said Pelosi of California, There is serious and justified concern that this president will shut down the government every time he doesnt get his way legislatively. In the Senate, the bills designed to end the shutdown need 60 votes to begin debate. The GOP controls the chamber 53-47, meaning bipartisan support would be needed. If either measure advances, final votes on the underlying bill would be held later. Trump says hell veto any measure that doesnt fund his wall. Even if the Democratic plan got enough GOP votes to pass, its highly unlikely there would be 67 Senate votes to override a presidential veto, or the 290 votes needed in the House, meaning the shutdown would continue. A few Republicans left open the possibility they could vote for the Democrats plan. Im going to support anything that allows us to proceed, said Senator Lisa Murkowski, a moderate Republican from Alaska. Another Republican who has been pushing to reopen the government, Rob Portman of Ohio, said, Im going to vote for the presidents plan, which he called a "reasonable proposal." Still, he said it appears likely Trumps plan wont get enough support to advance. Portman told reporters he wants to support something that would lead to a resolution, saying hes looking at the text of the Democrats plan. (Updates with Senator Collins in 15th paragraph.) --With assistance from Steven T. Dennis, Billy House and Arit John. To contact the reporters on this story: Erik Wasson in Washington at ewasson@bloomberg.net;Laura Litvan in Washington at llitvan@bloomberg.net;Anna Edgerton in Washington at aedgerton@bloomberg.net To contact the editors responsible for this story: Kevin Whitelaw at kwhitelaw@bloomberg.net, Justin Blum, Laurie Asseo 2019 Bloomberg L.P. Saturday, Jan. 19 Plainview police arrested 19-year-old Zackery Nathaniel Vinson Saturday at the 1600 block of N. Date St. Officers were dispatched to the location around 3:50 a.m. and arrested Vinson for three outstanding warrants one for possession of drug paraphernalia, one for no driver's license and one for running a stop sign. Vinson was also charged with prohibited substance/item in a correctional facility, which is a felony. The incident report shows officers found marijuana. Officers arrested a 40-year-old man Saturday at the 700 block of Independence St. Police were called to the location just after 12:20 a.m. and arrested the individual for operating a motor vehicle without financial responsibility and operating an unregistered motor vehicle. Officers arrested a 29-year-old man for a misdemeanor active warrant Saturday at he 1000 Denver St. just after 1:30 p.m. The warrant was for interfering with an emergency call. Police arrested a 34-year-old man at the 800 block of N. Columbia St. just after 1:15 p.m. Saturday. The individual was arrested for four active warrants. A vehicle crash with vehicle damage was reported Saturday at the 400 block of SW Third St. just after 4 p.m. Criminal mischief was reported Saturday at the 100 block of E. Sixth St. just after 4:30 a.m. A 39-year-old man was arrested Saturday at the 100 block of W. 10th St. just after 7 p.m. for driving with an invalid license with previous conviction/suspension without financial resolution. Officers arrested a 41-year-old man Saturday at the 1200 block of Lexington just after 1:40 p.m. The individual was arrested for a warrant for public intoxication and another for failure to appear. Criminal mischief was reported Saturday at the 800 block of Joliet St. just after 8:20 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 20 Forgery was reported Sunday at the 2400 block of N. Columbia just before 10:30 a.m. A theft was reported Sunday at the 3100 block of W. Fourth St. just before 10 a.m. Four people were arrested Sunday at the 100 block of N. Date St. just before 2 a.m. Officers observed the individuals at the location and reported the case to dispatch at 1:50 a.m. Police arrested 37-year-old Annette Marie Cruz, 29-year-old Matthew David Garza, a 21-year-old woman and a 25-year-old woman. Garza, the 21-year-old and the 25-year-old were each charged with public intoxication. Garza was also charged with possession of a controlled substance in penalty group 1, which is a felony. Officers found cocaine at the scene. Cruz was also charged with driving while intoxicated, and evading arrest detention with previous conviction, which is a felony. Police arrested a 24-year-old woman Sunday at 11:20 a.m. at the 300 block of W. Fifth St. for two active warrants. Officers responded to the 600 block of W. 12th St. Sunday around 4:20 p.m. in reference to a terroristic threat made. Harassment was reported Sunday at the 200 block of SE Sixth St. just after 3 p.m. A burglary was reported Sunday at the 2600 block of Joliet St. just after 7 p.m. The victim reported the burglary occurred sometime between last Thursday and Sunday. A hit and run was reported at the 1000 block of W. 24th ST. Sunday just after 7 p.m. Vehicle damage was reported. Plainview police arrested two individuals for theft Sunday at the 600 block of N. Broadway. Officers were called to the location at 9:40 p.m. and arrested a 66-year-old and 25-year-old. The individuals were each charged with theft of property valued to at least $750 but less than $2,500. A 24-year-old man was arrested Sunday at the 800 block of Quincy around 11:40 p.m. for a warrant. Washington, DC A bill passed in the US House of Representatives, 357-22, to reiterate support for the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), was opposed by Congressman Tom McClintock. The resolution was introduced in Congress this week amid media reports that President Donald Trump had periodically discussed the idea of withdrawing from NATO with members of his administration. The House resolution is designed to send a message that Congress is against any type of exit. As Congress has the power of the purse, it would prohibit the use of federal funding to cover any of the expenses related to withdrawing from NATO. The Mother Lode Republican, McClintock, explained his reasoning for opposing the resolution, by stating, This act prohibits U.S. withdrawal from NATO and commits perpetual American support. While I support NATO and our continued presence in it, this bill is unnecessary and appears deliberately aimed at undercutting the Presidents efforts to get NATO countries to pay their fair share for its support. NATO was formed to provide security against the now-defunct Soviet Union; not to relieve individual European nations from their responsibility to maintain their own defenses at Americas expense. President Trump has recently called for other NATO countries to increase their defense spending. The Tuolumne River Trust will host a free snowshoe hike in the Sierra Nevada this Saturday, January 26th. Seth Connolly, Tuolumne River Trust staff member, was Thursdays KVML Newsmaker of the Day. According to Connolly, We will be meeting in Pinecrest at the Crabtree Trail Head located off of Dodge Ridge Road, just before the entrance of the Dodge Ridge parking lot. This will be a three hour, moderate hike. The hike will start 9 am and continue through noon. The Tuolumne River Trust is an environmental nonprofit representing the Tuolumne River from its headwaters in the Sierra Nevada, through the Central Valley, and all the way to San Francisco Bay. Since 1981, they have promoted river stewardship through advocacy, collaboration, education, and restoration projects. They have offices in Sonora, Modesto and San Francisco, Participants on the hike this Saturday can expect to learn about natural and human history, snow hydrology and plant and animal adaptations in the Tuolumne River Watershed. All of the hikers will be required to sign a liability waiver. Minors must be accompanied by an adult. Snowshoes will not be provided, but they can rented through a number of recreational businesses. Space is limited, so make your reservations by e-mailing seth@tuolumne.org or call 949-533-2346. The Newsmaker of the Day is heard every weekday morning at 6:45, 7:45 and 8:45 on AM 1450 and FM 102.7 KVML. Sonora, CA U.S. prosecutors are urging a federal judge to work with a court-appointed monitor to determine ways Pacific Gas & Electric Co. (PG&E) can prevent its equipment from starting more wildfires. In a court filing today, the U.S. attorneys office in San Francisco wrote that Judge William Alsup should refrain from immediately imposing new requirements on the utility. Earlier this month, the judge proposed ordering PG&E to remove or trim all trees that could fall onto power lines, among other things. The utility argues that would create safety risks and cost too much money. In its court filing Wednesday, the company insisted that it is committed to wildfire mitigation, but it contends that a criminal case being handled by the judge is not the right forum to address such measures. The judge is overseeing a criminal verdict against PG&E stemming from a deadly San Bruno gas pipelines explosion in 2010. In that case, the judge is currently considering additional probation terms against the utility. Outgoing Tuolumne County Chamber of Commerce ED Amelia Harrison View Photos Sonora, CA Shortly into the New Year major changes are in the works for the Tuolumne County Chamber of Commerce, including its chief executives departure and an office move. In an interview with Clarke Broadcasting, Chamber Executive Director Amelia Harrison shares details of her bittersweet decision to leave what she calls her dream job at the helm of an organization she has been involved with for the past 15 years. It all came down to family reasons, she says, further describing her planned mid-March move back to Orlando to help care for her special needs sister and assist her 84-year-old mother. The decision while recently made with Harrisons other two siblings, who live in or near the Mother Lode, follows the unexpected death of their father back in December. Someone needs to be closer than 3,000 miles away to help, and since I had a life back there that my siblings did not, we as a family, decided that I would go back, Harrison says. Without question, she adds, it is the right decision and one she is embracing even though she knows she will miss being part of all the progress she proudly notes over her past two-and-a-half years as ED. ED Search Plans Underway Harrison notes that the chamber board has put together a hiring committee and will be looking for a person to work as an interim ED to make sure everything continues moving forward in the right direction for the next three to six months while they are interviewing for her replacement. Under her tenure, Harrison says membership has grown from about 255 to 315 a gain of about 24 percent. She emphasizes that the members are active participants, not just dues payers, and that there are new benefits and new, priced down participant levels in place to encourage at home and remote businesses without storefronts. We have moved forward in outreach, providing workshops, town hall meetings and being more involved with the county and its business-related decisions, Harrison recounts, adding that personal interface has grown and her office is actively remapping how it works with businesses and those seeking to open businesses. Examples, she says, include providing ways and means for folks to get business counseling, work on new business plans and remain sustainable. Last March, education outreach involved a fire preparedness workshop focused on how to keep businesses up and running during an emergency. Then later in the year came the Dardanelle and Ferguson fires, which affected local businesses. She shivers, thinking about the Camp Fire that destroyed Paradise, a town with a somewhat similar rural profile to Mother Lode communities. New Home At New Economic Prosperity Center In the midst of Harrisons planned personal move, the chamber is in the process of relocating this month to a space it will share with the Mother Lode Workforce and Job Training at 197 Mono Way. We are going to be part of a developing concept called the Tuolumne County Economic Prosperity Centeralmost like a one-stop shop business- community help area, she explains. It is basically shared space and a bunch of wonderful minds brainstorming and working to move business forward in Tuolumne County, she continues. The goal is to gather all related resources in one place to communicate, work together for one common goal without replication of tasks, and to be more productive and proactive. Asked for any parting words to the community, Harrison confides plans to be a regularly returning visitor. Just please continue to support the chamber and businesses in Tuolumne County and Id like to be able to come back in six months to a year and say wowI just want to see everything continuing on a positive path and everyone working together as a team. Lack of cash flow can cripple a small business whether it is due to a clients refusal to pay or mismanagement of funds. For the most part a lack of cash flow is due to lack of accurate forecasting as well as spending money in areas that do not have a high ROI. The best thing that a company can do when it comes to finances is to list out all monthly expenditures. There will be certain costs that might need to be paid monthly but rather quarterly or biannually. Expenses like these also need to be considered as forgetting to list these can lead to a company taking out high interest loans to stock inventory needed to continue business as a healthy rate. Reduce Shipping Costs Shipping can be a large expense depending on the amount of products being shipped monthly. Being able to save money on an expense daily will add up immensely as well as increase profit margins. BluePostal, a shipping company in the Bahamas notes Many U.S. online retailers and auction site sellers do not ship purchases overseas, charge too much for international shipping, or do not accept international credit cards. This can alienate an entire demographic of customers as shipping costs can cost more than the product depending on where you are located. With this being said, try out a new shipping company with a small order as the last thing you want is to have orders arrive late for customers that have been loyal for years. Allow Certain Employees To Work Remotely A monthly expense that can be quite high is rent for a large office space if you do not own your office building. With technology continually improving the ability to connect with people all over the globe it opens up quite a few avenues to save money. Allowing certain employees to work from home will reduce the amount of space needed to conduct business. Being able to save a few extra thousand monthly will add up over the lifetime of the business. Outsourcing certain departments or roles is also recommended as long as you find a professional that does high quality work at a reasonable price. Staffing too many departments can also impact cash flow so instead of having a high priced accounting department, use an accounting company to slash costs while still receiving the same quality of work. Attend Industry Events To Garner Large Clients Certain industries have conferences where large percentages of companies attend for educational and sales purposes. The high concentration of people can make it easy to get lost in the shuffle so it is important to stand out. The right pitch or business card can do wonders but the importance of meeting a potential client face to face is irreplaceable. Often times these conferences can be attended at a reasonable price and have a much higher ROI than advertising or marketing campaigns . Larger companies are going to want to meet with a potential contractor or business partner in person so this can allow a company to pitch multiple in a day. The other option would be to travel to each clients location so this is a budget friendly tactic as well. Internship To Hire Programs Can Improve Company Hiring Processes One aspect of business that devastates cash flow is high employee turnover. It can take thousands of dollars and weeks of training to turn someone into a competent employee. With this investment there still is no guarantee the employee will work out or stay with the company long enough for the business to recoup the investment. Internship to hire programs can increase the quality of hire and also foster employee loyalty. Attracting top talents from universities will be easier than ever as every student dreams of having a job waiting for them after they graduate. This also allows the company to see if the intern is a culture fit and can work without constant supervision. Track Data On All Expenses Tracking the ROI on expenses needs to be done as it is possible that something like the marketing spend is not yielding results like that of advertising spend. Being able to turn the data on expenses into an actionable plan of saving money and maximizing returns will take time. A company would much rather make a decision on data than a hunch or an emotional response. Numbers do not lie so the translation of the data is what needs to be correct as well as the strategy that is formed from the data. There are a variety of tools that can help with this in nearly every aspect of business. Being able to reduce expenses will take a proactive approach but it can increase profits nearly immediately. Do not waste money that could be going back into the company or rewarding employees. Understand where the money is going and how to improve processes to begin saving money. I hope you enjoyed this blog post about how to improve cash flow and to cut costs at your small business to boost profit margins. Interested in more about bootstrapped businesses on a budget? Read Related Resources: There were six incidents involving weapons at Midland ISD campuses during the 2017-18 school year, according to a report that is part of the Texas Academic Progress Report (TAPR). Trustees heard a presentation at Tuesdays board meeting that there was at least one weapons incident at four of the districts 38 campuses, according to the Student Disciplinary Action Incident Counts report. None of the board members seemed to be alarmed by the report. I just want to say publicly that were transparent with our public, trustee Robert Marquez said at Tuesdays meeting. I think the school district does a great job with the safety of our students. I cannot speak for all board members, but I really do believe were doing the best possible. I appreciate all the hard work from MISD. There was one incident of a student using, exhibiting or possessing a prohibited weapon on campus at Scharbauer Elementary and five counts of students using, exhibiting or possessing a firearm on campus at Lee High, Midland High School and Coleman High. The weapon used by the elementary student was a set of brass knuckles with a knife on the end, according to Midland ISD Chief of Police Arthur Barclay. At all seven schools, the incident rate was less than 1 percent, and no MISD campus is considered a persistently dangerous school, according to Texas Education Agency codes. It is a low percentage but its still kind of high, Barclay said. I dont think we should have any students with firearms on campus. I wasnt here yet whenever any of these incidents happened. Barclay said he joined the district at the beginning of the 2018-2019 academic year. Since then, more safety measurements have been implemented within the school district. Ive added to our police department web page the Crime Stoppers link, Barclay said. Ive also added the anonymous alerts link so visitors to the website will have easy access and be able to submit an anonymous alert. We try to monitor each campus as closely as possible. He said the MISD police department has 15 officers who patrol the campuses daily. Each officer is assigned to a secondary school and two or three additional schools If the budget allows for it, he said he hopes to add a couple more officers to the department within the next few school years. And well be making some changes when it comes to next school year, adding civilian response to active shooter training thats required for teachers and faculty members. I think even though we do the lockdown (and) lockout drills on a yearly basis, the teachers need to have additional area that they can actually have some other options they can use. Lockdown and lockout drills do not always work under specific circumstances, he said, so he believes implementing civilian response to active shooter training should help by providing an alternative. Superintendent Orlando Riddick said the school district will begin to focus more on secondary school safety in 2019. He currently does not have any plan to include metal detectors or clear-bag policies as new safety measurements. It presents its challenges, Riddick said. If we were to put them in the secondary levels of the high schools, there are about 80 points of entry on the bottom floor, and students have to go to outdoor learning spaces. I dont know thats the answer metal detectors or clear bags. One side would say its better than nothing. Another side would say its too intrusive. Theres a multi-pronged approach to what safety looks like. Barclay also said he does not know if metal detectors are the most effective form of safety, and he will not consider it unless it becomes necessary. Metal detectors pick up just about every metal item you have, he said. Everyone will have to empty their pockets, and itll slow down the entering process. Bring that up to a thousand or more students and that would be pretty tough to be able to implement and monitor closely enough. However, he said there are wands used for sporting events and other major events for security to check when necessary. Barclay said he thinks clear-bag policies are a good idea, but that implementation is out of his authority and requires the school board to make that decision. Riddick said elementary schools have safeguards at the front of the building, such as requiring visitors to ring a bell for admittance, and that is one effective solution to the multi-pronged approach. Some of the schools were built in the 1950s and their design doesnt not lend themselves to using bells. We have TSA workers, and people still get past them, Riddick said There are metal detectors, and people still get things into prison. Im trying to wrap my head around, Does it give you a false positive? which means it is just a sense that youre protected but it doesnt really take care of everything. Were going to be using our best judgment on the ways were going to approach our school safety one of our bigger rocks that we have to take care of -- making sure when parents pick their kids up from school, they get back to them the same way they brought them. The TAPR had a total of 13 incidents on MISD campuses. These included one count of indecency with a child, one count of aggravated assault against non-employees or volunteers, one count of sexual assault or aggravated sexual assault against non-employees or volunteers; and four counts of felony controlled-substance violations on campus. Freddie Mac has announced that it has closed a low-income housing tax credit (LIHTC) fund in partnership with RBC Capital Markets' Tax Credit Equity Group (RBC) and initiated several investments within the fund. The partnership is Freddie Macs fourth investment in an LIHTC fund since re-entering the market after an absence of 10 years. Last year, the GSE inked similar LIHTC deals with Enterprise Community Investment, Hudson Housing Capital, and Boston Financial Investment Management. The LIHTC fund with RBC will focus on transactions in areas that have been underserved over the past decade, such as rural communities. It will also invest in supportive housing for special needs populations and housing in disaster-affected areas. Blasting the Liberal governments current strategy, NDP leader Jagmeet Singh recently alluded to what he assured is a broader, more effective housing plan. Further details of the announcement, made ahead of a February 25 byelection in the B.C. of Burnaby South, remain under wraps, but Singh assured that the particulars will help build 500,000 new affordable housing units nationwide over the next decade. Singh added that the plan will be released in full later. The NDP said that among the goals of the plan is to woo progressive urban voters away from the Liberals. When it comes to dealing with this housing crisis, we need to use every tool in our toolbox to solve this problem and ensure people have access to a place to call home, Singh said, as quoted by The Canadian Press. We need to get serious about this crisis, he stated. Mr. Trudeau is not serious about this crisis. He likes to talk about it but his actions don't back this up. Read more: Coalition of advocates calls on Trudeau to fulfil housing promises What is known about the plan is that it will urge the federal government to stop slapping GST onto the costs involved in the construction of new affordable units. The government should also raise the first-time home buyers tax credit from $750 to $1,500, along with giving subsidies to renters who are dedicating more than 30% of their earnings to housing expenses. Toronto Liberal MP Adam Vaughan countered by saying that the Liberals $5.7 billion in housing spending already speaks for itself. I dont think theres a government in the history of this country thats been invested in housing the way we have, he said. The NDP can talk about housing. Were busy building it. Vaughan further warned that the NDPs proposal of up-front investment in housing and subsequent maintenance, as opposed to a gradual strategy, represents considerable danger. Their front-end loading plan is a recipe to bankrupt housing providers right across the country. The term syndicated equity is often confused with syndicated mortgagethe latter becoming tarnished largely because of the Fortress Real Developments fiascobut according to a couple of industry veterans, the former should require special licensing. People who want to sell syndicated equity should be specially trained and have a special license because its a security, not a mortgage, said First Source Mortgage Corporations President David Mandel. Just because youre registered on title, its doesnt make it a mortgage. Theres no equity behind it. It was all soft cost financing. Elucidating how woefully unsuited brokers who sold syndicated equities for Fortress Real were, Mandel notes that they were calling them syndicated mortgages. Which have more than one person in a mortgage, but it doesnt reflect the risk associated with this type of product, he said. They didnt understand development, or even construction, therefore, they did not understand that this type of loan was really a loan for soft costs. They looked at it like any other mortgage and didnt realize this mortgage has to potentially postponeyou have a first mortgage on the land, a second, even a third, mortgage for construction, which could be behind a mortgage for bonding. At the end of the day, if youre in fourth position, its no different than a collateralized loan or security for a loan. Its not a mortgage; its just a charge on title. The syndicated equities Fortress Real fundraised werent, at an 8% yield, risk-adjusted, either. Companies that have done this historically yield north of 20% on that type of facility because its very risky and theres no underlying equity until such a time as the project is basically finished and on its way to registration, added Mandel. Soft cost construction loans are inherently risky because of how many things could go wrong and create delays, thereby driving costs higher. There could be a shortage of material or unionized workers could suddenly strike and cause months-long delays. Once again, you have all these interest costs and other debtors ahead of you, said Mandel. Youre basically fifth place by the time youre under construction. Its a very sophisticated investment, and the people who sell this product need to be highly educated in risk adjudication with regards to real estate development and construction. Calum Ross, a leverage wealth expert and VERICO broker with Mortgage Management Group, concurs with Mandels statement. In fact, he doesnt mince his words about selling syndicated equities without first satisfying stringent licensing requirements. How mortgage people, and realtors, were ever allowed to sell them and/or thought they were qualified to sell them, is absolutely idiotic to me, said Ross. Real estate and mortgage professionals were never, and should never have been, licensed to sell investment products and represent them as investment-grade assets. Even people who have completed the securities course and are licensed with investment firms would never dare recommend these as investment-grade assets. According to an action plan released by the Beijing Municipal Bureau of Economy and Information Technology, Beijing will have 5G coverage in its core districts, the sub-center in Tongzhou, and important function zones and sites by 2022. The plan also reveals five upcoming major 5G demonstration projects, covering the sub-center, the new airport, the horticulture expo, the 2022 Winter Olympics, and locations along Chang'an Street. Innovations in key technologies In the next three years, Beijing will focus on the implementation of a few key innovative projects, including making a breakthrough in the development of core devices of medium-high frequency, achieving the application of the 5G technology in five major scenes, and fostering an array of new commercial modes in the 5G industry. Beijing will establish a 5G medium-high frequency RF device industrial innovation center, and build a platform that integrates technology development of core devices, pilot verification processes, product analysis, and testing. In addition, a 5G device design project will be organized and a 5G device R&D and manufacturing base will be built. Based on the city's work in its Economic and Technological Development Zone and the third-generation semiconductor industrial base in Shunyi district, Beijing will introduce and boost the development of several enterprises featured in device designing, key material preparation, characteristic product manufacturing, and packaging. The city aims to have more than 10 percent of the global market share in 5G devices by 2022. Meanwhile, Beijing will also provide funding support for the R&D of 5G software and hardware, as well as for relevant industrial projects. Demonstration projects in auto driving and remote consultation Five major projects mentioned above will be carried out soon focusing on the application of five typical scenes, namely driverless vehicles, healthcare, industrial internet, smart city, and ultra-high definition video. The city will implement 5G technology in entry points such as ultra-high definition live video, self-driving cars, cloud robot management, automated logistics, drones, security and protection monitoring, and extend the scope of 5G application in public service, advanced manufacturing, city administration, etc. In the healthcare field, 5G technology will help doctors examine patients remotely through the collaborative application of technologies such as smart sensors, big data, and other new technologies in medical equipment, diagnosis, and treatment systems, etc. Thanks to 5G technology, remote medical consultation, including conducting procedures such as imaging, ultrasound, ECG, pathology, surgery, nursing and other services can be provided in the near future. 5G technology will also be applied in the field of urban management. In addition, "5G plus" ultra-high definition cameras will be deployed at major event sites and important locations to achieve intelligent awareness and ultra-high definition video surveillance of urban management such as pollution, crime, and traffic. Accelerating network construction The action plan also sets three goals for the development of the 5G industry in Beijing. The goal of network construction is to invest more than 30 billion yuan (US$4.42 billion) in 5G network by 2022, and achieve 5G network coverage in the functional core areas of the capital, the sub-center, and important functional areas and sites. The target of technological development is that by 2022, scientific research institutes and enterprises in Beijing will possess more than 5 percent of the basic patents in international standards regarding 5G, and the city can become an important contributor to the 5G technical standard, while making a few breakthroughs in key technologies and manufacturing processes for large-scale production of medium-frequency and high-frequency components above 6 GHz. The target of industrial development is that the 5G industry in Beijing will achieve an annual revenue of about 200 billion yuan, and drive a total scale of more than 1 trillion yuan in relative industries and new business activities. Also according to the plan, Beijing will speed up network construction and become the first in China to achieve 5G hotspot coverage. In weird, slightly disgusting news, a new start-up company is collecting used tissues and selling them for premium. The idea is that you can buy a used tissue, expose yourself to the germs and other things on it to get you sick so that you can skip work, or school, or whatever you may need to get sick for. Another benefit the Danish company claims you can also build up your immune system by exposing yourself to the germy tissues. Each tissue sold by Vaev has been treated with a hydrolayer of human sneeze collected from real sick people. "We have a rotation of people who get sick for the production of this product," company founder Oliver Niessen told The Sun. "The rotation guarantees that we always have at least one person sick/available to help make more. That is how the process works." Niessen insists his business is not an elaborate joke. Doctors have been asked about the start-up and whether what the company are claiming is true. Many doctors are debunking their ideas. One, an infectious disease expert from Northeast Ohio Medical University, called Vaev "bizarre" and said it seems "like a total waste of money." The share price of oil and gas producer Santos Limited [ASX:STO] jumped 4.78% today, adding $0.28 to trade at $6.24 per share. Santos operates in the exploration, development, production, transportation and marketing of natural gas, producing for Australian, Indonesian and other Asian markets. The company also develops oil and liquids businesses in Australia, Indonesia and Vietnam. Record quarterly sales saw Santos share price climb In its quarterly activities report released this morning, Santos announced a record quarterly sales revenue, including a record LNG sales profit. According to the report, sales revenue for Q4 2018 came in at $1.043 billion, up 7% from the previous quarter. LNG sales account for just under half of total sales revenue, pulling in $449 million, up 11%. Santoss acquisition of Quadrant Energy in November undoubtedly helped to lift these figures, as Santos reports an increase in total production of 6% during Q4. Free report: Aussie stock picker, Sam Volkering (with gains as high as 1,431% in the last 18 months) reveals what he believes are his next four big potential winners. Both Santos Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer Kevin Gallagher commented on the record quarter: Our cash generative asset portfolio set new records for quarterly and annual sales revenues, notwithstanding the divestment of our non-core Asian assets during the year, while our low cost and disciplined operating model enabled more investment in exploration and appraisal to improve ongoing organic resource and reserve replacement. Excluding the acquisition of Quadrant Energy, Santos realised sales volume of 77.2 million barrels exceeding their guidance of 74-76 million barrels, while the production of 57.1 million barrels stayed within guidance of 56-58 million barrels. Whats next for Santos? With the acquisition of Quadrant Energy now complete, Santos expects to realise $30$50 million in synergies per annum through the integration from Quadrants assets. Quadrants former CEO Brett Darley will now lead Santoss Australian offshore business. Mr. Darley has more than 25 years experience in the upstream oil and gas industry, both in Australia and overseas. According to their announcement, Santos focus for 2019 will centre on their growth portfolio, including the PNG LNG expansion and the Barossa backfill to Darwin LNG, as well as appraisal of new oil discoveries. Mr. Gallagher said, Santos is positioned for growth across each of our five core assets and we are targeting production of more than 100 mmboe (million barrels) by 2025, almost double 2018s level. The company has given guidance for 2019 sales to be in the range of 8898 million barrels and production of 7178 million barrels. More to come. Regards, Ryan Clarkson-Ledward, For Money Morning PS: If youre looking for the hottest resource stocks in 2019, then check out this FREE report: 10 ASX Resource Stocks you should be watching. Download now. Nassim Taleb is a ballsy guy. You probably know him as an author. But way back when, he was trading the riskiest assets around: derivatives. People like to say the derivatives market is a place to hedge your bets. But really, the market is chock full of speculators trying to make a quick buck. And boy did Taleb make some bucks. During his time as an options trader, Taleb liked to do things differently. Instead of buying options that had certain outcomes and selling those that had unlikely ones, he did the opposite. He bought options that had a remote chance of paying off. And he sold options that had better than a 50% chance of paying off. Im simplifying his method, but you get the point. For a long time, Taleb didnt make all that much money. Buying the unlikely and selling the likely usually doesnt lead to riches. But Taleb continued. He was waiting for a black swan to emerge: an unknown event that comes as a surprise. And in October 1987 when the stock market crashed, he got his black swan. All the remote options he owned became extremely valuable overnight. Taleb said later he made tens of millions of dollars on that one event in October. It might be years, maybe even decades, before we see another black swan. Thats what Chinas hoping for at least The growing Chinese middle class could translate into a massive investment opportunity for Australians. Get the details here. The clock is ticking on the trade war Donald Trump has had enough. Hes had it with the media. Hes had it with the political left. Hes also had it with China and their meetings that go nowhere. There are two big issues, according to Trump. Theft of American technology and innovation and a huge trade imbalance. During every meeting, China seems to side step the former. Its why when Chinese officials asked Trump for another sit down, he simply told them no. From The Australian Financial Review (AFR): An offer by two Chinese vice-ministers to travel to Washington this week for another round of preparatory talks was rejected by the Trump administration because of a lack of progress on key issues. Those key issues include forced tech transfers and more structural reforms to the Chinese economy. The AFR continues: Within hours, National Economic Council director Larry Kudlow took to CNBC, saying there was never a planned meeting, and that all sides were working towards a gathering of Vice Premier Liu He and US trade representative Robert Lighthizer at the end of the month. We are in constant communication with the Chinese officials, Mr Kudlow said. The story is unchanged. We are moving towards negotiations. These will be the broadest and deepest scope of negotiations with China in history. Whats got investors nervous is the time left on the trade truce clock. Trump and Xi Jinping agreed to hold off on any more tariffs until 1 March this year. Theres only six weeks left. Surely a deal both parties can agree on wont be inked in that time? Some analysts are saying its not realistic to expect a full deal by March 1. Instead there might be an agreement to continue negotiations under the truce. So theres now a bit more uncertainty thrown into the markets. Whats puzzling though, is why China would not want to do a deal as soon as possible. Their economy is slowing. Trade tensions arent helping. It makes so much sense for China to finally do a Real Deal, and stop playing around! Trump wrote on Twitter. Maybe China is no longer thinking of growth at all costs. According to Xis latest words, it seems hes more concerned with any black swan events on the horizon The only way Xi can save Chinas economy The problems China will face will be profound and complicated Xis words not mine. What Xi actually means is there will be difficult times ahead for his party. They were the ones who promised prosperity for all. How does it look when they dont deliver? What will the people say when theyre out of the job because manufacturers are shutting down? Xi is also on high alert for any black swans that come his way, telling communist party officials: We have to be highly alert to black swan incidents and also guard against risk of grey rhino. Just imagine what would happen if an October 1987 event struck Chinas economy. By definition it would be something the communists couldnt prepare for. Theyd have to do damage control on the fly and hope their popularity isnt affected. The way I see it, the best way forward for China is to transition their economy. Theyve got to wean themselves off export spoils. The government has to get workers out of the factories and into the service sector. That way, Chinas growth will be internally led and less exposed to international demand. It wont be an easy transition. It will take time. But the people of China will be better off for it. They wont be locked into factory jobs or ones on the farm. Theyll be free to move along the employment landscape, gaining new skills and knowledge to help their employers produce more. And isnt this what China wants? A thriving society as prosperous as America? Your service-minded friend, Harje Ronngard, Editor, Money Morning PS: Chinas New Boom: How three Aussie investments could be set to soar into 2018 and beyond, thanks to these international trendsetters. Get your free report. For many years, the federal government has required banks, brokerages and even casinos to take steps to stop customers from using them to clean dirty money. Yet one major part of the financial system has remained stubbornly exempt, despite experts repeated warnings that it is vulnerable to criminal manipulation. Investment companies such as hedge funds and private equity firms have escaped multiple efforts to subject them to rules meant to combat money laundering. The latest attempt, which began in 2015, appears to have ground to a halt, according to sources familiar with the process. Youve got several trillion dollars, the management of which nobody is required to ask any questions about where that money is coming from, said Clark Gascoigne, deputy director of the Financial Accountability and Corporate Transparency Coalition. This is very problematic. The Financial Action Task Force , an intergovernmental organization that seeks to combat money laundering around the world, characterized the lack of anti-money laundering rules for investment advisers, such as those who manage hedge funds and private equity funds, as one of the United States most significant lapses in a report two years ago. The push to regulate hedge funds and similar investment firms took off after the Sept. 11 attacks, when Congress passed the Patriot Act. Among other things, the law required federal agencies to take new steps to keep illicit money out of the U.S. financial system. The Treasury Department exempted investment firms at the time, planning to return to them after tackling other sectors. Eighteen years ago, the Patriot Act required investment companies to install their own AML [anti-money laundering] programs, said Elise Bean, a former staff director of the U.S. Senate investigations subcommittee who supports the proposed rule. But Treasury has yet to enforce the law, she said. The Treasury Department, through its Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, or FinCEN, initially proposed rules in 2002 and 2003 requiring firms like hedge funds and their investment advisers to adopt anti-money laundering measures. That attempt languished as FinCEN waited for the Securities and Exchange Commission to retool its approach, said Alma Angotti, who wrote the original proposal while at FinCEN and is now co-head of global investigations for the consulting firm Navigant. So much time passed that FinCEN withdrew the proposed rules in 2008. FinCEN then launched its second attempt to impose such regulations seven years later. That second attempt is the one that has now crawled to a virtual stop. Its the kind of thing that should have taken two to three years, not 17, said Joshua Kirschenbaum, senior fellow focusing on illicit finance at the nonpartisan think tank the German Marshall Fund and a former supervisor in FinCENs enforcement division. China aims to provide more efficient and convenient immigration services, especially after a record number of foreigners entered and exited the country in 2018, immigration authorities said. Foreigners entered and exited the country more than 95 million times in 2018, up 11.6 percent year-on-year, according to the National Immigration Administration. China has become a popular destination, particularly for visitors from South Korea, Japan, the United States and Russia, the administration said. Foreigners entered China more than 100,000 times via 72 hour and 144 hour visa-free stopovers in 2018, an increase of 23.9 percent year-on-year, it added. The visa-free policy has been introduced in many Chinese cities to attract more foreign visitors. The administration said the increasing number of people entering and exiting China has posed challenges for border control authorities, leading to simplified inspection procedures. People entering and exiting the countryboth Chinese citizens and foreignerswere inspected by immigration administration authorities more than 651 million times in 2018 with the average inspection time less than 45 seconds. To provide more convenient immigration services for foreigners, Beijing opened two new centers on Wednesday, offering visa, residence permit and permanent residency services. The center in Shijingshan district will better accommodate the needs of foreign talent recruited for the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing as its organizing committee is based in the district, while the center in Tongzhou district will aid with the development of the area where much of the municipal government has been relocated, according to the Beijing Municipal Public Security Bureau's Exit-Entry Administration Department. The capital has already set up four such centers since March 2016. Unlike previous facilities that received walk-in applicants, the new centers require foreigners to fill in online applications before making appointments to save time verifying documents. "The new centers aim to further optimize the city's business environment and better serve foreign talent," said Che Yan, head of the department. "Currently, there are about 3,000 foreign permanent residents and a larger floating foreign population in Tongzhou. Many of them said procedures for immigration services have been simplified in recent years," an officer at the Tongzhou center said on condition of anonymity. A kindergarten teacher from the United Kingdom who wished to be referred as Jema was at the Tongzhou center on Wednesday to renew her work visa. "In the past, I had to go to the department's headquarters in downtown Beijing for visa services. Now ... by submitting applications online in advance I can receive my visa within just seven working days," she said. China also stipulates harsher punishments for foreigners who illegally enter, live or work in China after the new Exit and Entry Administration Law took effect in July 2013. In 2018, China deported 69,000 foreigners, the administration said. Redevelopment is a fact of life in any ageing, land-starved metropolitan city. In India, no city defines this dynamic quite as accurately as Mumbai. The conventional norm of redevelopment in India involves appointing developers to redevelop old and dilapidated housing projects. However, several housing societies in Mumbai are now contemplating self-redevelopment instead. We can dispense with the usual metaphor 'not as easy as it sounds' - this does not sound easy by any definition, and it is not. Broadly, some homeowner groups are now taking the route of appointing their own architects, contractors and project management consultants to execute the redevelopment of their projects. These can be single stand-alone buildings or housing societies of more than one building. For funding self-redevelopment, the owner collective will invariably opt for bank loans. Benefits of Self-Redevelopment For redevelopment by any means, homeowner groups are motivated by the prospect of larger, more secure homes with vastly improved facilities and amenities. The only reason why a developer would undertake redevelopment is obviously that he gets a massive stake in the whole undertaking. In self-redevelopment, on the other hand, the housing society members themselves reap the full benefits of the unused potential of the property, without stake dilution. Because of the elimination of stake dilution, the homes they get via self-redevelopment are also invariably much bigger than what they could hope for if a builder does it. Moreover, the homeowners have complete control over the quality of construction, the completion timeline, and enjoy more corpus funds because they retain the right to sell surplus homes generated in the redevelopment process. In fact, there is a lot of scope for such extra homes to be generated, thanks to Government intervention. Understanding that Mumbai is in critical need of all and any kinds of redevelopment, the local authority, Maharashtra Housing and Area Development Authority (MHADA) also encourages this new trend by actively granting approvals to self-redevelopment projects within two months, as against the previous four to five months. It also hiked the floor space index (FSI) of such properties under the MHADA purview from 2.5 to 3 in 2017. Funding Self-Redevelopment With MHADA and the Maharashtra government promoting this concept, various banks and financial institutions are seeing the viability of lending to societies targeting self-redevelopment. For instance, Mumbai Central District Co-operative Bank has provided loans to nearly 30 societies so far, while MHADA - appointed as the supervising authority - can give single-window approval for self-redevelopment. Other banks like Thane District Cooperative Bank and Pune District Cooperative Bank have also consented to offer loans for self-redevelopment. However, why go in for self-redevelopment when a developer with the right know-how and resources can get it done much faster and more efficiently? The key reason is simple - in the past, several housing societies in Mumbai entrusted the redevelopment of their projects to builders and were left in the lurch. The Murky Past of Redevelopment In many cases, they were cheated by builders in a variety of aspects. In others, the builder ran out of capital and left the whole undertaking in indefinite limbo. Meanwhile, the original owners incur huge rental expenses in alternate accommodations and are generally at the mercy of an outside party whose only objective is a massive profit margin. In the ongoing NBFC crisis and generalized funding crunch, this danger is currently exceptionally high. Exceptions Always Exist Nevertheless, the reason why homeowner bodies turned to developers in the first place is that there were many positive antecedents where everyone got what they had signed up for. If done at the right time and by the right builders, redevelopment can certainly be a win-win situation for all concerned. There are indubitable benefits to engaging the right builder for redevelopment. Society members get new flats at almost zero extra cost plus additional benefits, while for the builders it is a cost-effective way to: Build residential or commercial structures by utilizing the unused potential of the property including FSI, the Transferable Development Rights with gradual capital investment The opportunity to establish a brand footprint in central micro markets where land prices are exceptionally high, or where no new land is available at all. However, the power that a developer wields over a redevelopment project is considerable, and such power can be - and has been - grossly misused in the past. A Highly Complex Undertaking Despite the many benefits of self-redevelopment, it goes without saying that it presents a huge challenge to people who have no expertise in any area of development. From applying for funds to finding the right contractors, and from monitoring the entire process to the fair division of the resulting properties, self-redevelopment is a huge uphill task - especially for people who lack the core expertise and have other jobs and businesses to maintain. There are also other potential complications on the route to self-redevelopment. As on date, there is no policy governing self-redevelopment projects; it remains the initiative of the respective society. Seeing its potential and probable benefits, the State Government is now mulling the creation of a state policy on self-redevelopment. However, no clear and actionable policy decision has emerged from this as yet. Inherent Limitations Currently, the trends witnessed so far indicate that most societies coming forward for self-redevelopment are smaller, with less than 50 units each. This is largely because it is easier to get full consent from all stakeholders if the number of stakeholders is relatively small. As the numbers of stakeholders go up, so does the number of potential change-averse dissidents who want things to remain the way they are. Unfortunately, banks offering loans for self-redevelopment make it mandatory to get 100% written consent from all involved stakeholders for the project to commence. Guidelines for Societies Considering Self-Redevelopment Depending on the right government policies and sufficient success antecedents, the trend of self-redevelopment can become a bigger market force and involve bigger housing projects in the future. Success antecedents are very important, so it is imperative that societies do their due diligence before appointing the necessary entities for the redevelopment of their projects. As already stated, getting consensus for every detail from all members of the society is very important, and the likelihood decreases as the size of the project increases. Success on this front depends on excellent communication between all society members and should, if possible, involve a steady stream of professionally crafted communications as well as expert in-person presentations to outline all the benefits. It is a far stretch indeed to expect a barrage of exhortations on a WhatsApp group to convince everyone involved. The best platform is a series of focused society meetings wherein all critical points can be explained in detail, and all doubts put to rest. A sufficient number of stakeholders must be proactively be involved in several activities until the completion of the project. From getting the requisite approvals from concerned authorities to getting all paperwork done to getting no-objection certificates, society members have to do it themselves. In other words, successful self-redevelopment calls for an exceptionally high level of co-operation and dedication among all stakeholders. (Anuj Puri is Chairman of ANAROCK Property Consultants) Pinjre Ke Panchchi is possibly the only movie that was directed by the legendary music composer Salil Chowdhury (of Madhumati fame). Unfortunately, his directorial efforts proved to be insipid. Though the plot is intriguing, the narrative falters at many places. Sabita Chowdhury doing the playback for Meena Kumari is another disaster. Salilda mentioned in an interview that completing the movie was nothing short of a pyrrhic victory for him. By the time the movie released, Meena Kumari had taken to drinking in a big way and had bloated. During the shooting of the movie (most of the movie has been shot outdoors in West Bengal in breath-taking locations) in Filmistan Studios, Kamal Amrohis assistant Baquer Ali slapped Meena Kumari in what he thought was an inappropriate act by the actress. People on the sets recalled his offensive behaviour with horror. Incensed by the humiliation and no longer willing to remain at the receiving end, Meena Kumari never returned home to her husband. Instead she went to her co-star Mahmoods house after the shoot. Mahmood was too happy to host her. He was married to Meena Kumaris sister Madhu who later had a troubled marital relationship with the comedian. Rumour mills insisted that to return the favour bestowed on her by her brother in law, Meena Kumari even bequeathed some of her property to him. Regrettably, during her last days, Mahmood failed to take care of his sister-in-law and the actress died a pauper. She was unable to pay even her medical bills and it was Nargis Dutt who ensured that all the bills of Elizabeth Hospital in Santa Cruz were cleared. Incensed by the humiliation and no longer willing to remain at the receiving end, Meena Kumari never returned home to her husband. Instead she went to her co-star Mahmoods house after the shoot. Mahmood was too happy to host her. He was married to Meena Kumaris sister Madhu who later had a troubled marital relationship with the comedian. Rumour mills insisted that to return the favour bestowed on her by her brother in law, Meena Kumari even bequeathed some of her property to him. Regrettably, during her last days, Mahmood failed to take care of his sister-in-law and the actress died a pauper. She was unable to pay even her medical bills and it was Nargis Dutt who ensured that all the bills of Elizabeth Hospital in Santa Cruz were cleared. For Kamal Amrohi, Meena Kumari was his muse as well as golden goose. Thanks to the mouthy Baquer Ali, Kamal had to deal with his wifes anger and later separation. Who would have thought that six years after the release of Pinjre Ke Panchhi, Meena Kumari would bid adieu to this world? At 40, the actress looked as though she was 60. Her personal life in complete shambles, it is remarkable that Meena Kumari managed to deliver a stellar performance in this forgettable flick. Credit is also due to Mahmood for his lively moments and to the legendary actor Balraj Sahni who delivers a strong but subdued performance. Even Shaukat Azmi in a 10-minute role manages to create an impression. It is a mystery why Shaukat Azmi did so few movies in her lifetime. Two thieves (one a murderer and another a pick pocket) manage to escape from the police jeep and land up in the nearby town where they occupy a house after breaking it open. Soon enough, the landlord visits them and mistakes them to be tenants who were supposed to occupy the house. After a few days, a woman Heena (Meena Kumari) lands up in the house. She is a former nurse who is married to a patient Abhi Bhattacharya in a temple atop a hill. While she was nursing him, both of them had fallen in love. Strangely, the husband sends her to this town assuring her that he would join her soon. He has a suspicion that he is a heart patient and has only a few months to live and in case he dies, he doesnt want his wife to suffer on that account. These details are narrated rather hazily in the film and the audience realizes this aspect only much later in the plot. Until then, the two thieves pose as Heenas relatives and soon a rapport develops between them. The thieves attempt to escape but are unsuccessful. They have to take the help of a former convict Keshto Mukherjee and the scenes involving the latter are a real drag on the pace of the movie. Pity the audiences who had to sit through the nonsense that Mukherjee kept on dishing out in several movies later. Surprisingly for a movie that is directed by Salil Choudhury, the music is a big disappointment. However, the background music is quite haunting. The mendacious ways of the thieves are soon revealed to Heena and she falls sick when her husband writes a letter to her saying that he may or may not return and in case he doesnt return, she should marry someone else. On reading this letter, Yateem Khan (Balraj Sahni) rushes to the neighbouring town where Heenas husband lives and brings him to the house at gun point. Bhattacharya (Heenas husband) manages to escape and calls the police. By then, Heenas plight has worsened and she has to be taken to hospital that is on the other side of the hill. Even as both the thieves managed to carry her to the hospital, the police shoot Yateem Khan dead. Heena is comforted by the other thief Mahmood and her husband. In between there is a sub plot which does not blend with the screen play at all. It features Harindranath Chattopadhyaya and Persis Khambatta. Yes, this was Persiss first movie and the title card shows her name as Miss Poonam (Miss India, 1965). Persis looks anything but an Indian name and so probably the beautiful Parsi had to be rechristened as Poonam. One wonders what made her accept such a miniscule role. She has one song sung by Asha Bhosale that she lip synchs to. This is the only catchy number in the film. But to be fair to her, Persis Khambatta looks ill at ease during the limited screen time at her disposal. In the hands of a better director, Pinjrey Ke Panchchi could have become a classic. The black and white frames do rob the viewer of scenic and colourful locales in West Bengal but then black and white films have their own charm, dont they? There are touching moments though. Despite their parlous financial situation, the thieves manage to help Heena to the extent possible. But such situations are very few and majority of the movie suffers from a painfully slow pace. Salilda was lucky that he had actors with monumental talent to support him but with a hackneyed screen play, very little could have been done to salvage the plot. Mercifully, the last scene where Balraj Sahni is shot dead is devoid of any prolix mouthed by the actor. As the narrative is nebulous most of the times, one cannot blame the viewer for losing interest halfway through. Meena Kumaris screen presence is clearly a facesaver. (After working in the corporate world for close to two decades, Bhagyalakshmi Seshachalam started her second career innings as a head-hunter. She is passionate about Hindi movies and loves retro music. When her family shifted to Chennai in the 80s, Bhagya had a taste of Tamil cinema too. In the long term, she plans a book on two of her favourite directors Guru Dutt and K Balachander. She travels across the country on work and is based in Mysore.) We had mentioned in Tuesdays closing report that Nifty, Sensex were directionless. The major indices of the Indian stock markets suffered a correction on Wednesday and closed with losses over Tuesdays close. On the NSE, there were 682 advances, 1,012 declines and 364 unchanged. The trends of the major indices in the course of Wednesdays trading are given below: After a largely choppy trade session for the better part of Wednesday the Sensex closed lower owing to the last hour selling in index heavyweight ITC, which missed estimates in its quarterly result. ITC lost over 4% after it reported its third quarter results on Wednesday. The FMCG (fast moving consumer goods) major reported a 3.85% year-on-year (y-o-y) growth in its standalone net profit. Globally, market sentiments were weak over concerns of a slowing global economy and the ongoing US-China trade tension. Metal stocks were back in favour on Wednesday after closing 2% lower on Tuesday, while IT (information technology), FMCG (fast moving consumer goods) and financials came under selling pressure. Markets globally had reversed course after the International Monetary Fund (IMF) revised down its forecast for global growth. Analysts said IMF now projects a 3.5% growth rate worldwide for 2019 and 3.6% for 2020 which is 0.2% and 0.1% points below its last forecasts in October 2019, making it the second downturn revision in three months. Investors were also cautious owing to reports that the US turned down an offer to hold preparatory trade talks with China. This was later denied by the US administration. The Indian rupee, however, gained 17 paise to trade at 71.27 (around 3.30 p.m.,) against the US dollar, providing some support to the overall dismal sentiment. It closed at 71.27 per dollar on Tuesday. FMCG (fast moving consumer goods) major ITC Ltd reported a 3.85% year-on-year (y-o-y) growth in its standalone net profit to Rs3,209.07 crore for the third quarter ending on December 31, 2018 as compared to Rs3,090.20 crore in the corresponding period last year. Driven mainly by FMCG (fast moving consumer goods), agri business and paperboards, paper and packaging, its gross revenue for the quarter soared to Rs11,340.15 crore, up by 15.1% from Rs9,852.74 crore in the corresponding period last year. Private life insurer HDFC Life Insurance Co Ltd closed the nine month period with a net profit of about Rs913 crore, said a top company official, against Rs762 crore registered for the earlier corresponding nine month period. HDFC Standard Life Insurance Company shares closed at Rs372.00, down 3.09% on the NSE. Budget airline IndiGo said its flight from Lucknow to Jaipur returned after take-off after the pilot noticed high vibration in the engine. "The pilot observed high vibration on engine number 2. As a precaution, he returned the aircraft to Lucknow," a company statement added. InterGlobe Aviation shares closed at Rs1,111.00, down 0.86% on the NSE. Hearing an appeal by ArcelorMittal for early resolution of bankrupt Essar Steel, the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) on Wednesday ordered its Ahmedabad Bench to pass the verdict in the case by January 31. Failing which, the two-member bench of NCLAT headed by Justice S.J. Mukhopadhyay said it would call the matter and pass an order at its next hearing. The appellate tribunal has asked for the matter to be listed for next hearing on February 4. ArcelorMittal's Rs42,000 crore resolution plan was approved by the Committee of Creditors (CoC) to Essar Steel last October and has been waiting for the Ahmedabad NCLT's approval. The next hearing on the matter by the Ahmedabad Bench is on January 31. Essar Shipping shares closed at Rs12.15, down 0.82% on the NSE. The top gainers and top losers of the major indices are given in the table below: The closing values of the major Asian indices are given below: Market regulator Securities & Exchange Board of India (SEBI) has clarified that it has not received any reference on relaxing regulations in the Jet Airways Ltd matter. Some newspapers have published reports attributing views of SEBI on certain relaxations of regulations to Jet Airways. In a statement SEBI says, "It is hereby clarified that SEBI has neither received any reference in this regard from any quarter nor has it expressed any views in the matter." According to reports, State Bank of India (SBI) chairman Rajneesh Kumar was scheduled to meet SEBI chairman Ajay Tyagi for a proposal to revive the ailing carrier. "Etihad Group chief executive (CEO) Tony Douglas earlier wrote to SBI, saying that the airline will invest in Jet only at Rs150 per share. Etihad wants an exemption from SEBI on preferential pricing and open offer guidelines in order to invest more money in jet for its bailout," a report from CNBC-TV18 had said Abu Dhabi-based Etihad, which owns 24% in the Indian carrier, and Jet Airways chairman Naresh Goyal, who owns 51% of the troubled airline, have been clashing over how to revive the airline, which defaulted on loans last month. Jet Airways owes more than Rs8,000 crore to lenders. The SBI chairman met SEBI chief on Wednesday; however, no details were available about issued discussed between them. . Last week, Mr Kumar had said that SBI-led consortium of lenders had not rejected Etihad Airways bailout offer for debt-rideen Jet Airways and was waiting for SEBI decision on exemption to the UAE-based carrier. If no regulatory exemption is required, then it is easier (to resolve). If a regulatory exemption is required, then they have to approach the regulator and we need to know the regulators view," the SBI chief was quoted as saying in a report from Business Standard Quoting sources, a report from Economic Times says that market regulator is unlikely to give an exemption to Etihad from making an open offer to minority shareholders of Jet Airways. The current regulations do not permit any such exemption. The rules permit exemptions only for those companies that are being resolved under the bankruptcy code, one person, who is involved in the process, told the newspaper. Etihad, for pouring more funds in the Indian carrier, wants Mr Goyal to give up his seat on the board and cut down his stake to 22% from 51% at present and the debt should not be converted into equity. At the same time, the Jet Airways promoter had reportedly told SBI that he was ready to invest up to Rs700 crore and pledge all his shares if he is allowed to retain 25% stake in the carrier, the report from Business Standard says. Last year, in August, there were reports about Jet Airways raising a $400 million fund from private equity (PE) players. However, the carrier had said that the article published by Economic Times was 'purely speculative in nature'. The growing popularity of social media platforms, including WhatsApp, has led to an upsurge messages that go viral. While some messages are fun, many can be harmful. Many users simply forward any or all messages without even realising implications of doing so. The main reason for this is 'illiteracy' and this applies to both digital natives (young generation) and digital migrants (older people). Social media might have originally promised liberation, but it proved an even more useful tool for stoking anger. The manipulation was so efficient and so lacking in transparency that the companies themselves barely noticed it was happening, a report from The New York Times had said. Many users get easily fooled and keep forwarding messages just by reading the name and not even reading or understanding the link or web address in the message. For example, every month, someone forwards a message on WhatsApp about Amazon giving top-ranked mobile phone at dirt cheap rates or at a huge discountof as much as 90%! The link may contain the word Amazon, but the domain is not owned by the ecommerce platform. People who create such messages are, often, found to collect a huge amount of personal data from users using a web page that looks like a replica of the original portal. A few months back, there was one message going viral on WhatsApp: Canon DSLR camera at just Rs199 against the normal price of over Rs30,000. Here is the link that was used in the viral message http://amazon.big-sales-offer.in . However, this website, which mimics Amazon design, is not owned by, or even distantly related with, the online platform. In this web address, the domain name is not amazon.com or amazon.in, but big-sales-offer.in, which has now become inactive. However, when it was active, it must have collected a huge amount of personal data from gullible or ignorant users. In addition, the user was asked by the website to share the link with 10 of her contacts so that she can buy the product at promised and cheap rates. Another message that instantly becomes viral is (morphed) photo or (re-edited) video of any famous personality, including politicians. However, before forwarding such message to everyone in your contact list, wait for a second and do a background check. It just takes a few seconds to do this. There are several free tools available that will tell you whether the photo or video you are about to forward is genuine and original or fake. Google offers reverse image search to verify photos or images. You can upload a photo to Google Images and, almost instantly, it will show you related images used on other websites and also different sizes of the same photo. For mobiles use https://reverse.photos/ for uploading and verifying the photo. In case of videos, you need to take a screenshot of the video and upload on these websites. For the Sherlock Holmes among us, there is one more useful tool that finds out every possible detail of a photograph. This tool is called Jeffrey's Image Metadata Viewer and is available online at this URL http://exif.regex.info/exif.cgi On this page, you can either share the URL of the photo or upload the photo. This tool shows the exact device from which the photo was clicked along with its orientation, date and time (for original and modified, if any), global positioning system (GPS) date and time, megapixels, lens used, colour mode and file format, among other technical details. Both these tools will clearly tell you whether the photo or video you had received on WhatsApp is genuine or morphed and, thus, may be fake. For videos, you can use free online exchangeable image file format (exif) viewers that reveals hidden metadata of the video or image. These exif viewers can also show meta information like codecs, video and audio streams in container formats like audio-video interleave (AVI) or MP4 (a file format created by the Moving Picture Experts Group -MPEG as a multimedia container) as well as location where the video was recorded. Use these tools and tips to safeguard yourself and others. Your small precaution can go a long way in protecting gullible users from frauds. Brexit British Prime Minister Theresa May's Brexit deal lay in shambles last week when the Parliament voted against it with an overwhelming majority. After winning the no-confidence motion, May has bought herself some time to decide on how to leave the European Union. But the uncertainty is already driving businesses out of London. Finance companies and big banks have decided to move their money out of the UK, with Frankfurt being the preferred choice for most of them, Bloomberg reported. Five of the biggest banks with customers mainly in continental Europe plan to move as much as 750 billion euro of balance sheet assets to Frankfurt. Sources told the agency that Deutsche Bank is withdrawing at least 400 billion euro from the UK and JPMorgan Chase will move 200 billion euro to Frankfurt over the next couple of years. Trading venues and traders that provide a bulk of the volumes have moved to Amsterdam. After the tentative Brexit date of March 29, trading venues will have to be physically present in the EU to ensure that firms in the bloc get access to them. Many trading venues are opening up their services in Europe. For example, BrokerTec, CME Group's entity for short-term funding, will be moved to Amsterdam from March 18. CME is also moving its European government bond venue and its separate EBS foreign-exchange forwards and swaps market to the city. In clearinghouses, London's LCH is most likely to cede business to Europe. At the end of 2018, Germany's third-biggest fund manager Union Investment had announced that it would shut its swap positions at LCH and switch to Eurex Clearing in Frankfurt. If there is a no-deal Brexit, LCH has been granted 12 months to clear swaps for its European customers, but that may not be enough to make Union Investment and other firms stay. Donald Trump US President Donald Trump on Thursday said that China wants to have a trade deal with the United States. "China very much wants to make a deal. We will see what happens. I like where we are right now. We are doing great as an economy, they are not doing very well because of the tariffs," he told reporters at the White House ahead of the US visit of a high-level Chinese delegation for talks on bilateral trade. Trump wants to reduce the massive trade deficit with China. Last year, he had imposed massive import duties on Chinese products. Beijing retaliated with its own import duties on the US products. In December last year, Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping at a meeting in Argentina agreed to give a pause to the trade war and find an agreement before March 1. Till then Trump had agreed not to impose any new tariffs on Chinese products. Trump threatened that in the absence of a new trade deal by March 1, he is all set to impose additional tariffs after that. "As you know fairly soon the deal that I made with them will come off, the tariffs will be substantially increased on China. They are paying billions of dollars to the United States Treasury, first time we've ever done that, first time we've ever had money coming the other way from China. It's always been a one-way street," he said. Trump said he enjoys a good relationship with Xi. "We will see what happens but we are doing very well in our negotiation with China. One way or the other it doesn't matter. One way or the other we are going to do well," he asserted Earlier, Council of Economic Advisers Chairman Kevin Hassett told CNN that deal with China is bound to happen. "I am confident that it can happen. That the talks are moving forward. There's a lot of progress to be made. But, you know, it's a very strong situation right now," he said. Ahead of the much-awaited meeting, a top Chinese official said in Davos that the two countries need each other. "The Chinese and the US economies are mutually indispensable, so their relations must be mutually beneficial and win-win," Chinese Vice President Wang Qishan told delegates assembled at the World Economic Forum in the Swiss Ski-resort of Davos. "This is the reality: neither side can do without the other side," he added. Have you ever thought why toothpastes come in cardboard boxes? At best, it has regulatory information and ingredients printed on it but mostly it is real estate for the brand to advertise. What is the need actually? There's isn't much need so why keep them when their fate is to just end up in the trash? Boxes should be eliminated from the toothpastes! Right? This is precisely what one Alan Wurman, who runs his page Alan's Theory on multiple platforms, is backing. Alan has started a petition on popular public opinion and petition website - Change.org building consensus towards asking big manufacturers like Colgate and Palmolive to do away with toothpaste boxes. The petitioner, Alan Wurman, who goes by the account Alans Theory told Moneycontrol that he is originally from Chile but is currently living in Los Angeles. He started his campaign against manufacturers who pack toothpaste in boxes that he says are useless. In his petition, he argues the boxes are useless, and the only reason toothpaste is packed inside them 'is that they look better.' The petition states that two-thirds of the world's population uses toothpaste on a daily basis and packing them in a box makes it expensive for the consumer as well as the manufacturer. According to Alan, on an average, if an individual uses three tubes of toothpaste in a year, it counts up to 900,000,000 empty boxes in the United States alone. As per the petition posted by Alan, Iceland is a country where toothpaste is sold without boxes, unlike the US where these brands sell millions of toothpaste in boxes. Alan in a YouTube video said that in Iceland, people decided to make changes in the way they consume and treat waste which made government and corporations to make changes in manufacturing that wouldnt lead to unnecessary waste generation, which is why it is the second most environmentally friendly country in the world. So far, over 29,500 users have signed the petition that will be sent to top manufacturers like Colgate, P&G, Unilever, Gillette, and few other brands. He even tagged the United Nations in the petition in his post. Alan expects at least 35,000 people to sign the petition. The petition also urges people only to buy toothpaste that comes without a box and asks people to share it with someone from the toothpaste industry. LG Gesture Control Smartphone While companies like Samsung, Motorola, Huawei and Xiaomi have announced prototypes of their foldable smartphones, LG seems to be doing something more. LG is biding time to ease into the foldable smartphone segment. The Korean giant has dropped a major hint of things to come at this years Mobile World Conference in Barcelona. The company recently sent out press invitations for the event with no information on what they will unveil, except for a 13-second teaser video that says 'Goodbye Touch'. The teaser doesn't reveal much details but perhaps hints at a new LG smartphone with gesture control. With rumours of a new LG G8 ThinQ set to debut at this years Mobile World Conference, could we get a glimpse of an innovative gesture-enabled smartphone? The teaser hints to a device which would allow you to scroll through web pages or documents by just waving your hands, implying that the device would be capable of identifying hand movements with the aid of a 3D sensor. A machine learning algorithm on the front camera could also be used to determine hand movements. LG isnt the first company to explore gesture control in smartphones. Samsung did something similar with the Galaxy S4 in 2013, calling it Air Gesture. Air Gesture used the proximity sensor on the S4 to detect swipes, letting you move icons and scroll browsers with hand movements, rather than touch. However, this feature had no shortage of bugs and only worked in certain apps, failing to make it to subsequent versions of Galaxy phones. Perhaps LGs slogan Goodbye Touch is overstating it, and gesture control might just be an optional feature present on the new device. Whatever it means, one thing is for certain, technology evolves with time, and the idea of bringing gesture control to a smartphone may be a fresh change in the current scenario. Whether this touch-less feature turns out to be a gimmick or the next big innovation in smartphone-tech is still uncertain. One thing that is certain is the anticipation of seeing a fully-functional version of this technology. White House Thirty-three days into partial government shutdown, US President Donald Trump and House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi appeared to be headed for a collision on the annual State of the Union Address that was initially scheduled for January 29. Trump in a letter to Pelosi on January 23 had asserted that there are no security concerns as claimed by her in a January 3 letter, and as such he looks forward to seeing her at the Congress on January 29 to deliver his annual State of the Union Address. On January 24, Pelosi fired back with a letter of her own, telling Trump that "the House of Representatives will not consider a concurrent resolution authorising the President's State of the Union Address in the House Chamber until government has opened". "Again, I look forward to welcoming you to the House on a mutually agreeable date for this address when government has been opened," she wrote. On being told that Pelosi has rejected his State of the Union Address letter, Trump said, "I'm not surprised. It's really a shame what's happening with the Democrats. They've become radicalised." Throughout the shutdown, now in its 33rd day, Democrats have repeatedly voted to reopen government so that federal workers can pay their bills, government services will be available to the American people, and the nation's economy will not be damaged further. Earlier, Kellyanne Conway, top presidential advisor, told reporters at the White House that Pelosi should have taken care of things before inviting Trump for the January 29 State of the Union Address. "Why did she issue an invitation? Why did she lie about security concerns? Why aren't you covering that? Do you think she lied about security concerns?" Conway asked reporters at the White House driveway, which of late as emerged as a place for reporters to ask questions to senior administration officials. "Honestly, the Secret Service and DHS affirmed to the president even before he asked that there are no security concerns and they have since confirmed that publicly to all of you. But you just let that go that she lied about the security concerns," she said. Conway said Trump's letter to Pelosi "was incredibly gracious to not mention that and just say to her thanks. I accepted your invitation. I plan on coming". Trump, she said, wants everybody to have certainty about Tuesday night that he intends to go to the chamber in Congress and deliver his State of the Union to the entire nation. "He hopes that the speaker and the caucus will be there," she said. First Lady Melania Trump is inviting her guests as every first lady does, Conway said, and hoped that the speaker will not deny seats to her guests. Responding to questions, she appeared to be against Trump holding a rally somewhere else in the country instead of the State of the Union. "Why would the President hold a rally when he can go and address the entire country," she said. "The big question is what are you afraid of him saying? Are you afraid of him quoting Democrats who have talked about how walls and barriers work? Are we afraid of talking about the number of illegal aliens who were stopped or drugs from coming in in places like Tucson and San Diego and tell them that walls have been erected successfully," she said. Conway alleged that Pelosi is worried that some of the members in the chamber would not show up. "That's not an embarrassment to the President. It's an embarrassment to her that she'd be there if they don't want to applaud," she said. China's Ministry of Veterans Affairs said Wednesday it had carried out multiple measures to help military veterans find jobs and support them in other fields. Local governments provided more than 80,000 former military officers with civilian jobs and helped over 400,000 retired soldiers resettle in 2018, said Wang Zhiming, a spokesman for the ministry at a press conference. The ministry was unveiled in April 2018 to provide better services to veterans. China's 123 centrally-administered state-owned enterprises have mobilized and offered around 15,000 job positions to veterans last year, Wang said, adding that the ministry also granted preferential policies to ex-servicemen who set up businesses, including financial and tax benefits. The ministry has strengthened the education and training for veterans to make them more competitive in the job market and provided additional benefits for job-seekers. The ministry noted that a draft law on veterans' welfare had been sent to departments at the central and provincial governments and the military for consultation. Wang said the draft law would be open for public comment in due time. The draft law includes provisions on the job placement, training, employment, favorable treatment and pensions of ex-serviceman, Wang said. Personnel files would be set up for veterans, and special treatment for retired soldiers with war experience clearly defined in the draft law. Wang said new rules were also added to the draft law to clarify the accountability and responsibilities of officials tasked with arranging veterans. The ministry added that the government was considering building military cemeteries to honor soldiers who had devoted their lives to the country. The move is crucial to strengthening the protection of rights and interests of military personnel and enabling their families to have a stronger sense of honor and pride, Wang said, adding such efforts would make military service an occupation enjoying public respect. The ministry has also relaxed certain restrictions concerning veterans' resettlement and enhanced the support for them before they were employed. With veterans' affairs department set up at various levels of governments, a unified working system to provide services has been established, Wang said. The ministry would put more efforts on improving the supervision and inspection mechanism to protect veterans' rights and interests. Answer: Shankar Singh Vaghela Former Gujarat chief minister Shankarsinh Vaghela is set to join the Nationalist Congress Party, the state unit of the Sharad Pawar-led party said on Thursday. The 78-year-old Kshatriya strongman had left the Congress before the 2017 Gujarat assembly elections. He had then helped the BJP in the Rajya Sabha polls. "Former Chief Minister of Gujarat Shankarsinh Vaghela will join NCP in presence of party president Sharad Pawar and senior leader Praful Patel," Gujarat NCP president Jayant Patel alias Boski said. "Vaghela ji is a dynamic leader who knows the pulse of state and the country. I welcome his entry into the NCP and it will give a boost to the party in the state," he said. The former Union minister is likely to join the NCP on January 29, the party sources said. However, Vaghela has so far neither confirmed nor denied that he will join the NCP. Vaghela's entry into the NCP can lead to a three-way fight on a few Lok Sabha seats in Gujarat if the Congress fails to enter into a pre-poll alliance with Pawar's party. The state has 26 Lok Sabha seats and all of them were won by the BJP in the 2014 general elections. Vaghela had left the Congress before the 2017 state assembly polls, after he and a few MLAs supporting him voted against Congress candidate for the Rajya Sabha, Ahmed Patel and backed BJP nominee Balwantsinh Rajput. Vaghela, however, did not join the ruling BJP and put up independent candidates in the state assembly elections held in December 2017. All his candidates had lost polls. Recently, Vaghela had toured various places, including Delhi, and declared that he will fight for removal of the BJP-led government at the Centre in 2019. In 2017, the Congress and the NCP had fought assembly elections separately. The NCP was able to win just one seat in the 182-member assembly. If in 2019, both the parties fail to reach a seat- sharing agreement, then it will be a three-way fight on some Lok Sabha seats where Vaghela and his supporters will contest as NCP candidates, the party sources said. Vaghela is a prominent OBC leader, who started his political career with the BJP. After the BJP came to power in 1995 in Gujarat and chose to make Keshubhai Patel chief minister instead of him, Vaghela engineered a split in the saffron outfit and became the CM in 1996 with outside support of the Congress. Later, he joined the Congress and served as Textile Minister in the Manmohan Singh government. Priyanka Gandhi Congress president Rahul Gandhi on Thursday said he has given his sister Priyanka Gandhi, newly entrusted with eastern Uttar Pradesh, the target of ensuring that the party forms the next government in the state. The Congress will also fight the coming Lok Sabha polls with full strength, he said at a public meeting in his constituency. His two-day visit to Amethi had coincided Wednesday with the formal entry of Priyanka Gandhi in politics, after years of speculation on whether she would take the plunge. She has been appointed general secretary for Uttar Pradesh East, while Jyotiraditya Scindia holds charge of UP West. "Priyanka and Scindia have been given a target. That is to form a Congress government in Uttar Pradesh in the next election by defeating and wiping out the BJP, the Congress president said. Unlike PM Modi, I do not talk of a 'BJP-mukt Bharat' but speak with respect," Gandhi said, referring to Narendra Modi's call to free India of the Congress. Whether it is Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh or Tamil Nadu, everywhere the Congress will fight with full might on the front foot, and you will see that after the Vidhan Sabha elections there will be a Congress government in the state, he said. In the Lok Sabha polls, we will contest with full strength, without taking a backward step," he said, referring to the election just months away. He criticised the Centre government over the Rafale aircraft deal and accused the prime minister of waiving industrialists' loans, charges countered earlier by the government. The watchman proved to be a thief," he said, and repeated the slogan, "Gali gali mein shor hai, chowkidar chor hai." Earlier in the morning, Gandhi visited a local Shiva temple after meeting party workers at a guesthouse. Addressing a public meeting in Salon area, he termed himself, his sister and mother Sonia Gandhi as soldiers for the people of the constituency. While Rahul Gandhi won the 2014 parliamentary elections from Amethi, Sonia Gandhi is an MP from adjacent Rae Bareli. Both fall under the turf carved out for Priyanka Gandhi. Narendra Modi's Varanasi constituency and Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath's bastion Gorakhpur are also in eastern UP. Rahul Gandhi reiterated he has full respect for leaders like Bahujan Samaj Party president Mayawati and Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav and his father Mulayam Singh Yadav. The SP and the BSP recently forged an alliance for UP in the coming Lok Sabha polls, keeping the Congress out of the pact. The Congress president said the prime minister had not kept his poll promise on creating jobs, and suggested that the Bharatiya Janata Party government had slowed development in his constituency. "You will get your food park back, not 99 per cent but 101 per cent. All development projects that have been stalled by Narendra Modi and Yogiji to hurt you will be back," he said. "The BJP people are spreading hatred in the name of religion, caste and region. They get people of UP and Bihar thrown out of Gujarat, get Hindus and Muslims fight each other,' he charged. Narendra Modi means hatred, he is the symbol of hatred, he said. We will remove Modi in 2019 and no one can stop this." BJP_bhartiya Janta party Shekhar Iyer Billed as Prime Minister Narendra Modis masterstroke, the 10% quota for the economically weaker sections (EWS) is considered an innovative political move even by his rivals and opponents. However, the first reaction from politically powerful sections, particularly the Jats, the Patidars and the Marathas, towards the new EWS quota is a mixed bag of hope and disappointment. The Jats are a predominantly landowning caste and a politically- and economically-dominant groups moreover, they do not easily qualify as OBCs. The Centres EWS quota means that their demand for a separate quota will take longer than expected. In Gujarat where the Patidar (Patel) agitation has seen many violent phases, the state government has sought to ensure the EWS quota is implemented before the general elections. The Patidar leaders are willing to wait and see how the quota rolls out to their benefit. In Maharashtra where the Devendra Fadnavis government has announced 16% quota for Marathas under the OBC category, there is confusion on whether the EWS quota will benefit them or not. For the moment, of these three groups, the Jats seem to be the angrier lot. Converging under the banner of All India Jat Arakshan Bachao Maha Andolan (AIJABMA), Jat leaders from Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Haryana, Delhi and Madhya Pradesh have alleged that the Centre betrayed them by not accepting their demands, and has instead given reservation for forward castes. Union minister, and BJP MP representing Meerut, Satyapal Singh has backed this demand for separate quota for Jats who come under OBCs in UP and six other states but have been left out from the Central list due to relatively better economic status. The UPA government introduced a quota for Jats in May 2014. However, in 2015 the Supreme Court struck it down saying that it did not have the mandatory recommendation of the National Commission for Backward Classes that decides which castes could be included in the OBC group based on their social and educational backwardness. Clamour for more quota OBC leaders such as Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, Apna Dal leader and Union minister Anupriya Patel and RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav do not openly oppose the 10% quota for EWS. Rather, they have begun to press for reservation on the basis of 'jiski jitni sankhya bhari, uski utni bhagidaari' (quota on population lines). These OBC leaders do not want to lose the clout they gained ever since VP Singh brought in the Mandal Commissions report in the 1990s and changed politics in India. Nitish Kumar has even advocated that the 2021 Census must record caste data to decide quotas on the basis of respective strength. Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu has announced the state government will give only five percent reservation EWS, and reserve the remaining five percent for the upper caste Kapus. Modi is yet to respond to these demands and has instead asserted that where previous governments have failed, his government has shown the strong political will to address the problems of the most poor among the unreserved sections. Senior BJP leaders have echoed Modis views and said that the Opposition has grudgingly back Modis EWS legislation. The Centre has also ordered a 10% increase in the number of seats in educational institutions so that the number of seats for the unreserved general category is not reduced owing to the addition of the EWS quota. This addition in numbers was necessary so as to not upset those sections in the general category who may not be able to avail the quota because of the application of creamy layer criteria (as is in the case of OBCs). False campaigns In addition to the threats posed by the above mentioned groups, the BJP will have to counter a campaign among the Schedule Castes, Schedule Tribes and OBCs, by politicians such as Jignesh Mevani that the BJP intends to eventually wrap up all caste-based quotas by bringing in the economic criteria as the yardstick to determine eligibility for reservation. Party leaders have been asked to check such misinformation campaigns. It also has to be seen what the EWS quota does to the existing reservations in various states. The outcome of this will dominate political discourse ahead of the Lok Sabha polls. With the 10% EWS quota the total reservation in Maharashtra will be a whopping 78% (including the 16% for the Marathas). In Tamil Nadu total reservation is 69% without the EWS quota. In spite of these political challenges, the BJP firmly believes that the EWS quota will bring solace to the most poor among the general category, who do not enjoy reservation in jobs or seats in educational institutions. Although the move is intended to benefit the poor 'upper caste' among the general category, the poor among different minorities are also covered under this quota. Many BJP leaders are of the view that in the meantime the discontent among the Jats, the Marathas and the Patidars is bound to flatten out since quotas on their caste lines is not a possibility in the foreseeable future. Shekhar Iyer is former senior associate editor of Hindustan Times and political editor of Deccan Herald. Views are personal. For more Opinion pieces, click here China's Foreign Ministry said on January 24 that he was not aware about any plans of President Xi Jinping's visit to India in the next two months for the second informal summit with Prime Minister Narendra Modi as reported by a Japanese publication. Japanese publication Nikkei Asian Review on January 22 carried a report titled "Xi plans India visit, as diplomatic chess with US intensifies". The story said, "Xi intends to visit India as early as February in a move seen at countering Washington's increasingly antagonistic trade policy and aggressive Indo-Pacific diplomacy." When asked about the report, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying said, "You said this was reported by Japanese media. So it is quite interesting. I am not aware of what you said." Hua said China and India are friendly neighbours. "We attach importance to maintain high level exchanges. And the leader of the both the countries also maintain friendly communication and exchange," she said. When pointed out that the Russian media also carried a similar report, Hua said, "Chinese media hasn't reported it and I am not aware of the information you mentioned". "But we attach importance to our relations with India and we stand to maintain close communication at various levels," she said. Officials sources here on January 23 told PTI here that there was no proposal for Xi to visit India for the second informal summit Prime Minister Modi. Wuhan summit was the first such high-level meeting ever between Indian and Chinese leaders. It was conceived by both the sides following the 2017 military standoff at Doklam which ratcheted up tensions between the two countries. The two-day summit at Wuhan during which the two leaders closely interacted for hours on bilateral and international issues has paved the way for the two countries to normalise relations on all fronts putting behind the Doklam standoff. Since then the two countries steadily normalised relations with intensified dialogue on various fronts, including the military and trade fronts. North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has ordered preparations for a second summit with President Donald Trump, saying he'll "wait with patience and in good faith" to work toward a common goal, the North's state media reported January 24. Despite Kim's determination for another meeting with Trump, the two remain at odds over fundamental issues. Experts say a major sticking point is what denuclearization steps Kim should take to move forward stalled nuclear diplomacy and what rewards Trump should provide to push Kim to take those measures. The Korean Central News Agency said Kim received a letter from Trump from a North Korean envoy who met the US president in Washington last week. After meeting with Kim's envoy, top lieutenant Kim Yong Chol, Trump said that he and Kim Jong Un will probably meet around the end of February but did not say exactly when and where the summit would take place. January 24 report said Kim expressed satisfaction over his envoy's meeting with Trump and spoke highly of the US president for "expressing his unusual determination and will for the settlement of the issue with a great interest in the second summit." "We will wait with patience and in good faith and, together with the US, advance step by step toward the goal to be reached by the two countries," Kim was quoted as saying. Kim also "set forth tasks and orientation for making good technical preparations for the second (North Korea)-US summit high on the agenda," according to KCNA. Nuclear diplomacy has been stuck since Kim and Trump met in Singapore last June for their first summit, which ended with a vague denuclearization pledge by Kim that his government had previously used when it called for the withdrawal of the 28,500 US troops in South Korea. A summit accord also stated that the United States and North Korea will commit to establishing new relations and join their efforts to build a lasting and stable peace regime on the Korean Peninsula. The strongest step Kim could promise to take for a second summit may be abandoning his long-range missile program targeting the US mainland. That step, if realized, would trigger a strong backlash from many in South Korea and Japan, which are still placed in the striking distance of North Korea's short- and medium-range missiles. In return, Kim is seeking to get UN sanctions on his government lifted and better relations with the United States to try to revive his country's moribund economy to pave the way for a prolonged rule by his family, experts say. North Korea observers say Vietnam is likely a venue for a second summit but there has been no official confirmation. The nuclear diplomacy has replaced fears of war caused by Kim's series of high-profile nuclear and missile tests in 2017 that were followed by his exchanges of crude insults and threats of total destruction with Trump. Kim has so far suspended nuclear and missile tests, dismantled North Korea's nuclear testing site and parts of its rocket engine test facility and took conciliatory measures like releasing American detainees. The North now says it's time for the US to come up with reciprocal measures. But satellite footage indicate North Korea is still running its main nuclear complex, raising a question on why it's producing nuclear materials if it is truly committed to denuclearization. US officials want North Korea to take more significant steps such as a declared accounting of its nuclear weapons program for future inspections. The North has rejected that, saying such a declaration would be like providing coordinates for US military strikes on its nuclear facilities. Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray and BJP's Devendra Fadnavis Maharashtra minister Chandrakant Patil on Thursday said if the BJP and the Shiv Sena don't forge an alliance for the upcoming elections, the Congress-NCP combine will come to power in the state. Speaking to reporters here, he said Lok Sabha and state assembly elections will be held separately. The revenue minister said since the alliance between both the parties is very strong, it has withstood numerous "quakes" in the last four years. "Had the Congress and the NCP decided to fight the polls separately, then there was no harm in our going solo. However, even the Sena knows that in the present scenario, if we fight separately, the Congress-NCP combine will come to power," the minister said. The BJP will not be affected in case it loses, as the party will come to power at the Centre. The party is already in power in 20 states, he said. "While the BJP will win 100-110 seats and Sena 40-50 seats, it is the people who will suffer. None of the political parties will be affected," Patil said. Replying to a query, the minister said elections to the Lok Sabha and state Assembly will be held separately "without any doubt". When asked about the tremors felt in Palghar district, Patil,who also holds the relief and rehabilitation portfolio, said seismologists and experts from IIT Bombay were studying the recent incidents. "The earthquake incidents are limited to two villages in Palghar. The collector has been asked to make alternate arrangements for them to stay. We will see if they should be shifted to some other place altogether or be given new homes," Patil said. Mild tremors were felt in and around Dahanu in Palghar district on Sunday and Thursday, officials said. N Chandrababu Naidu A day after Congress announced that it would fight the elections in Andhra Pradesh on its own, Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu on Thursday indicated that his party, the TDP, too would not have any electoral tie-up with the national party in the state. Alliances in states would be based on the wishes of respective parties, he told Telugu Desam Party (TDP) leaders during a teleconference. "We are together fighting the BJP at the national level. We have come on a common platform with the slogans save nation, save democracy, united India. Ending the dictatorial rule (of Modi) is our common minimum programme," Naidu maintained. Naidu pointed out that the Trinamool Congress and the Congress did not have any electoral alliance in West Bengal. "Still, Congress leaders attended the opposition rally in Kolkata. We have all come together on a platform in Bengaluru and Kolkata. Protecting the Constitution is the agenda of 23 non-BJP parties," the chief minister said. AICC general secretary and former Kerala Chief Minister Oommen Chandy had said the Congress party would contest all 175 Assembly and 25 Lok Sabha seats alone. "The TDP allied with us only at the national level, so we will have no truck (with it) in the state," Chandy had said. The TDP chief Thursday alleged that the YSR Congress and BJP were engaged in committing crimes and heinous acts while the TRS wanted an inefficient person in power. "All these (parties) only know to hatch conspiracies," he said. Naidu referred to his governments decision to earmark five per cent reservation for upper caste Kapus of the ten per cent quota for economically weaker sections provided by the Centre recently and wanted to know the YSR Congress and the BJPs stand on the matter. The YSR congress chief, Jagan Mohan Reddy, previously said Kapu reservation was not in his purview and now he is opposing five per cent quota to the community, Naidu claimed. BJP found fault with the Kapu quota, he added. The Chief Minister said his government not only fulfilled all promises made in the TDPs 2014 election manifesto but also did much more. "We promised Rs 1000 as (social security) pension but now we have enhanced it to Rs 2000. We promised Rs 10,000 each to self-help group women but are now giving Rs 20,000. We doubled the income of 97 per cent farmers in the state," Naidu claimed. Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Sushil Kumar Modi on January 24 said that the BJP would "gain" in Uttar Pradesh from the entry of Priyanka Gandhi Vadra into active politics, claiming that the move was aimed at "threatening the SP-BSP alliance" with the spectre of a split in votes. Priyanka Gandhi formally entered politics on January 23 with her brother and Congress president Rahul Gandhi appointing her as general secretary for Uttar Pradesh East. Sushil Modi also sarcastically said that her appointment would bring the alleged corruption scandals against her husband Robert Vadra onto "centre-stage", which would be to the NDA's benefit. "The BJP is not at all worried. Why should it be when her entry is only going to help us. The Congress has brought in Priyanka with a view to threaten the SP-BSP alliance, with the possibility of a split in their votes. It is a desperate attempt to make Akhilesh Yadav and Mayawati do a rethink on their strategy," Sushil Modi told reporters. As per the seat-sharing formula, the SP and the BSP would contest 37 seats each in UP, which has a total number of 80 constituencies. Out of the six that remain, only the Congress citadels of Amethi and Raebareli have been left for the party, while four have been assigned to Ajit Singh's Rashtriya Lok Dal. "If there is a split in anti-BJP votes, who else is going to gain except the BJP. Moreover, Priyanka would be seen as a representative of her husband Robert Vadra, whose name has cropped up in a number of massive scams. With her entry, the corruption cases against Robert Vadra will once again occupy the centre-stage," the deputy CM remarked. The younger sister of the Congress chief had until now confined herself to electioneering in the constituencies of her brother and mother Sonia Gandhi. With her appointment as general secretary for the politically-crucial eastern Uttar Pradesh, speculations are rife that the Congress has adopted an aggressive strategy to confront the BJP. Eastern UP includes Varanasi, the parliamentary constituency of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, besides other BJP pocket boroughs like Gorakhpur - a seat won by the party seven times on the trotk, until it was lost last year in a by-poll. Akhilesh Yadav Citing "doubts and controversy" surrounding EVM machines, Samajwadi Party supremo Akhilesh Yadav has requested Election Commission to conduct next polls through ballot papers. "The SP has asked the EC to conduct next elections through ballot papers. There are doubts and controversy related to EVMs that have raised question mark on entire democratic exercise of polls," Akhilesh said in a statement issued here on January 23. "Technology is being misused for political purposes and there is no doubt regarding this. Technological literate society should also raise their voice against misuses of EVMs. Use of ballot papers in elections strengthens relations between the state and common man. The trust is basis of democracy and it is necessary for the country", he said. He said in past elections too, a number of complaints related to faulty EVMs had come. People used to stand in queues for a long time for their turn to vote due to this. Is it technical or failure of election management or conspiracy to devoid people from their voting rights?" he questioned. On the claims of self-styled cyber expert from London that EVMs could be tampered with, Akhilesh said, "There should be an unbiased probe into it. This is a serious matter and an attempt to grab power with money." During a press conference in London on January 21, Syed Shuja had claimed that the EVMs can be hacked, and the 2014 Lok Sabha elections were rigged. The Delhi Police has registered a case based on a complaint filed by the Election Commission regarding Shuza's allegations. Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leader Raghuvar Rai was shot dead by unidentified assailants outside his residence in Kalyanpur block of Samastipur, Bihar on January 24. According to media reports, Rai was shot at by two motorcycle borne assailants when he had gone for a morning walk. Rai was rushed to Darbhanga Medical College and Hospital (DMCH) for medical treatment, where he succumbed to injuries. Rai was a former Zila Parishad member. Angry over the killing, Rai's supporters blocked the Samastipur-Darbhanga highway and demanded arrest of the miscreants. Police said that they are investigating the matter. A woman who successfully received a womb donated from her mother after a uterus transplant in November 2015 gave birth to a healthy baby boy in northwest China's Shaanxi province on Sunday. Weighing 2 kg and measuring 48 cm long, the baby is China's first and the world's 14th baby born from a transplanted womb, doctors with the Xijing Hospital in Xi'an, capital of the province, said Wednesday. Yang Hua, 26, the new mother, was born without a uterus but has her own ovaries. When the mother-daughter womb transplant, China's first human womb transplant, was done in 2015, Yang was 22 and her mother was 43. Doctors at the Xijing Hospital extracted eggs from Yang. With the help of assisted reproductive technology, they froze 14 embryos in August 2015. The frozen embryo was successfully implanted in Yang's womb on June 13, 2018. Yang became pregnant after two weeks. To ensure the health of Yang and her baby during the pregnancy, the experts from the obstetrics and gynecology department and the urology department of Xijing Hospital made a series of individual immune anti-rejection medication plans and conducted regular ultrasound, plasma concentration and hormone level monitoring. "The full-term fetus can bring pressure to the transplanted womb, which increases risks during labor," said Chen Biliang, director of the obstetrics and gynecology department of Xijing Hospital. Therefore, Chen and his team decided to conduct a cesarean section during the 33th week of Yang's pregnancy. Uterus transplants are not new. In the 1960s, Britain and the United States began to experiment with uterus transplants on animals. In 2000, the world's first human womb transplant took place on a 26-year-old woman in Saudi Arabia. The transplanted uterus failed after three months and had to be removed. In 2011, doctors successfully performed a uterus transplant on a woman in Turkey. Two years later, nine women in Sweden successfully received transplanted wombs donated by relatives. Chen said uterus transplants still remained a medical challenge. The uterus, with plenty of tenuous blood vessels, grows in the depths of a woman's pelvic cavity. Therefore, a string of problems including cutting, the structure of the blood vessels during the transplant and strong rejection reactions may occur, according to Chen. There are about a million women in China suffering from uterine infertility. Due to the limitation of the current assisted reproductive technology and the prohibition of surrogacy in many countries, uterus transplants have provided an effective way for women plagued by uterine infertility to have their own babies, according to Chen. Japan Airlines | The airline which reported an operating revenue of $13.47 billion for the first nine months of the financial year 2017-18 ranks fourth in the Travellers Choice Awards by TripAdvisor. In a year, the carrier serves about 41 million passengers. Moneycontrol News Come 2020 and travellers will have the luxury of traveling to Tokyo directly via Bengaluru. Japan Airlines (JAL), which operates direct flights between Delhi and Tokyo, said it plans to start operations from Bengaluru by next year. "The IT industry is thriving in Bengaluru and is known as the Silicon Valley of India... As direct flights are currently not in service from Japan, the launch of this service will provide customers from North America a new option when traveling to the southern region of India," the airline said in a statement. The non-stop daily Tokyo -Bengaluru flight will leave Narita at 6.25 pm and reach Bengaluru at 12.05 am. The return flight would depart at 2.45 am and will reach Tokyo at 2.55 pm, the airline said. This will be India's first flight to the east Asian country via any southern city. "Launch of non-stop flights from Bengaluru to Tokyo (Narita) will herald a new era of more strengthened economic relation between Karnataka and Japan. With this development not only will tourism flourish in Karnataka and Japan but also many new businesses will be established; thereby creating lots of new opportunities," said Takayuki Kitagawa, consul-general, Japan said in a statement. He said that relaxation of visa norms from January would help boost connectivity and movement of people between the two countries. The airline envisions to attract many US citizens and boost its ties with the western country througt this route. It hopes to make Japan the "third Silicon Valley" by connecting two (US and India) Silicon Valley of the world. Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Maldivian President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih before a meeting at Hyderabad House, in New Delhi. (PTI) India and Maldives on Thursday resolved to deepen their maritime security cooperation and give a new momentum to overall military ties during talks between Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and her Maldivian counterpart Mariya Ahmed Didi, officials said. In a statement, the defence ministry described the talks as "substantive" and said that the two countries will continue their counter-terror cooperation. "India and Maldives held substantive discussions on further strengthening bilateral defence cooperation here today. Both side agreed that the two countries would continue their traditionally close cooperation on issues of maritime security, counter-terrorism," it said. In the talks, Sitharaman reiterated India's commitment to contribute towards capacity building and training requirements of the Maldives national defence forces, the officials said. The issue of maritime security cooperation figured prominently during Prime Minister Narendra Modi's talks with Maldivian President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih here last month. The two countries had agreed to remain mindful of each other's concerns and aspirations for the stability of the Indian Ocean region and not allow their respective territories to be used for any activity inimical to their interests. India is concerned over China's efforts to expand influence over Maldives. Chief of Army Staff General Bipin Rawat, Chief of the Air Staff Air Chief Marshal B S Dhanoa and Vice Chief of the Naval Staff Vice Admiral Ajit Kumar P called on the Maldivian defence minister. It is Didi's first visit to India after becoming defence minister around four months back. The second round of the India-Maldives Defence Cooperation Dialogue was also held on Thursday. The Indian delegation was headed by Defence Secretary Shri Sanjay Mitra and Maldivian side was led by Chief of Defence Forces of Maldives Major General Abdulla Shamaal. Companies are optimistic about the employment outlook in India in the first half of 2019. About 84 percent of recruiters surveyed are anticipating an increased hiring activity in both new job creation and replacement hiring categories, according to Naukri Hiring Outlook 2019. The hiring trends suggest job openings to be broadly driven by IT, banking, financial services, insurance (BFSI) and BPOs. While this news may bring cheer to millions of job seekers, it may be time for applicants to review occupations that are more in demand. Here are five jobs that every company will be hiring for by 2020, according to The Future of Jobs report by the World Economic Forum (WEF): Indian IT companies bullish on hiring plans for next 6 months: Report Considering the pace at which data is gaining prominence, fuelled by technological advancements, big businesses will increasingly rely on data analytics to perform simple and sophisticated tasks. Thus, data analysts will become more important in all sectors by 2020, according to the report. Industries expect to have a greater demand for data analysts because they will need help making sense of all of the data generated by technological disruptions. Interestingly, India's analytics exports to major economies such as the United States (US), the United Kingdom and Australia has been growing by leaps and bounds. Owing to the country's success in examining information for businesses, the United States pays over $11 billion to India for data analytics every year, according to Analytics Industry Study-2017 by Analytics India Magazine & Analytixlabs. Source: Statista. In the current times, data is probably worth more than money as big data analytics can help organisations harness their data and use it to identify new opportunities. Data analytics may lead to smarter business moves, more efficient operations, higher profits and happier customers. DATA STORY: If data is the new oil, then Indian analytics firms are laughing all the way to the bank Big data technologies can bring significant cost advantages to companies and help them identify more efficient ways of doing business, International Institute for Analytics (IIA) Director of Research Thomas H Davenport and Jill Dyche stated in their report on Big Data in Big Companies. > Computer and Mathematical jobs In today's day and age, acquiring computer and mathematical skill have become a necessity as major organisations require computer programmers, software developers, information security analysts, and more to perform tasks. Jobs that fall under the computer and mathematical occupations will grow, according to the WEF report. Since a good chunk of job openings would hail from the IT sector, job seekers may want to sharpen these skills as jobs in IT product companies require a strong understanding of computer programming and algorithms. A lack of these skills may hurt the employability chances of applicants. In 2016, employability among ITI graduates decreased to 42 percent from about 44 percent in 2014, according to India Skills Report 2017. Around 90.72 percent of graduating engineers lacked the desired programming and algorithm skills required for IT product companies, whereas 72.77 percent showed lack of soft-skills and 59.40 percent lack cognitive skills, according to National Employability Report 2016. However, a focus on developing these skills may increase one's employability. And job seekers with good computer and mathematical skills may explore options of applying for openings in these areas. > Sales and Marketing Almost half of the recruiters who were surveyed in the Naukri Hiring Outlook 2019 said the hiring activities will be highest in sales and marketing. As technological advancements continue to disrupt industries, there will be a growing need for specialised sales people who can explain the company's offerings to a wide range of clients, including businesses, governments, consumers, as well as, to new clients that the company has never worked with before, according to the WEF report. For example, as the content is increasingly consumed on mobile, a digital media company would want to hire sales people who are knowledgeable with the ins and outs of mobile advertising. Demand for product designers across all sectors will continue to increase owing to the tough competition among organisations to launch a unique product. These people will design and develop products such as cars, appliances, gadgets, and other manufactured goods. Demand for designers would continue to grow as a lot of monotonous jobs can be automated, but creative jobs would still require a human. Thus, the eligible job seeker will be required to have one of the top skills that will be in demand by 2020 -- creativity. Source: Future of Jobs Report, WEF. "Creativity will become one of the top three skills workers will need. With the avalanche of new products, new technologies and new ways of working, workers are going to have to become more creative in order to benefit from these changes. Robots may help us get to where we want to be faster, but they can't be as creative as humans (yet)," according to the WEF report. > Senior managers With the nature of jobs at hand changing with the adaptation of new technologies, the managerial requirement may change too. Companies will hunt for senior managers who have a clear understanding of the ongoing digital transformation and can adapt one's overall mindset as a leader to cope with and promote digital transformation across an entire company. The industries, which are riding the wave of digital transformation, are already addressing the lack of management capabilities as of the key barriers for the digital transformation. Industry feels that finding the right management leader at the pace at which the technology is advancing will only become harder as time goes on. While 30 percent of respondents named 'lack of change management capabilities' as a barrier in 2018, 36 percent said it would be a problem in 2019, according to Infosys Digital Radar 2019 report. Thus, the job seekers may work towards acquiring the top skills that will be in demand over the coming years and seek an opportunity in the field that has more job openings. Punjab National Bank | Bank reported higher profit at Rs 620.8 crore in Q2FY21 against Rs 308.5 crore, NII grew to Rs 8,393.2 crore from Rs 6,748.4 crore QoQ. (Image: Moneycontrol) live bse live nse live Volume Todays L/H More The High Court of England and Wales on Thursday dismissed a USD 45-million deceit claim brought by the UK subsidiary of Punjab National Bank (PNB) against seven individuals and two companies, based in India and the US. London-based Punjab National Bank International Limited's (PNBIL) claim concerned eight loans it made between March 29, 2011, and December 1, 2014, for oil re-refining and wind energy generating projects in the US. PNBIL had accused the individuals and companies in question of breach of contract, misrepresentation and deceit. In his judgment at the High Court's Chancery Division, Chief Master Marsh concluded that the bank had failed to make an "arguable case in deceit against the defendants". "[The] core components of a claim in deceit are absent; or if they are present, they are provided as such a high level of abstraction as to be totally inadequate," he notes. Referring to the case as having "an unfortunate history", the judge also pulls up PNBIL for a lack of "frankness" with the court. "It is disturbing that the US claim was not brought to the attention of the court in a plain and direct manner from the outset. It is equally disturbing that the claimant's intention to bring proceedings in Chennai was not investigated and details of the claim was not revealed to the court," the judgment order states. The judge further observed that the failure to draw to the attention of the court the existence of the foreign claims was a "serious breach" of the claimant's duty to the court. UK-based law firm Zaiwalla & Co represented eight of the defendants against PNBIL Ravi Srinivasan, Trishe Resources INC (USA), Vathsala Ranganathan, Pesco Beam Environmental Solutions INC (USA), Pesco Beam Environmental Solutions Private Limited, Anantharaman Shankar, Luke Staengl and Anantharam Subramamium. The court noted that it was common ground that none of the defendants have any connection with England. However, the contracts were executed in England, the loans were negotiated here and the loan accounts are all held and operated in London. PNBIL had relied on these facts and the willingness of the borrowers and their directors to travel to London for the purposes of arranging the loans as part of its case. "The decision serves as a reminder that serious allegations of fraud have to be supported by cogent facts and evidence: speculative claims will not be permitted to proceed to trial," Zaiwalla & Co said in a statement. "The decision of the court has saved everyone concerned a great deal of time and money by being dismissed at an early stage, although the bank will still face claims for substantial costs as well as having to pay its own costs," it adds. PNB International Ltd had claimed that it had been misled and defrauded by the actions of the defendants following the granting of loans amounting to USD 45 million to companies in the US and India controlled by the individual defendants. The bank also alleged that money had been siphoned off and payments due had not been made under the loan facilities and guarantees. All the defendants, except one who is US-based, are resident in India and PNBIL, represented by UK-based Cubism Law, had served the proceedings by email on the defendants in India and the US. PNBIL is the wholly-owned subsidiary of Punjab National Bank (PNB) in India, which started its UK operations in 2007 and operates through seven branches around the country. The Supreme Court on January 24 said that it will resume the hearing on Vedanta's plea regarding Sterlite copper plant at Tuticorin in Tamil Nadu on January 29. The apex court, however, asked the Tamil Nadu government to immediately provide electricity supply to the copper plant at Tuticorin, according to a report by The Quint. On January 23, the Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board (TNPCB) had sought a compliance report from the plant in response to their application seeking renewal of Consent to Operate (CTO), according to a report by The New Indian Express. The state government has been opposing the re-opening of the plant, where at least 13 people were killed and several were injured in May last year when police had open fired at people staging a protest outside the plant against pollution caused by the plant. On January 8, the Supreme Court had refused to stay NGT's order of setting aside the Tamil Nadu government's decision to close Vedanta's Sterlite copper plant at Tuticorin. A bench, headed by Justice R F Nariman, had sought a response from Vedanta on the state government's appeal against the NGT's order to reopen the plant. Earlier, the state had moved the top court, saying that the NGT had "erroneously" set aside various orders passed by the Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board (TNPCB) last year with regard to the Sterlite plant. On December 15, the NGT had set aside the state government's order for closure of the Sterlite copper plant, saying it was "non-sustainable" and "unjustified". The state government had on May 28 ordered the Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board to seal and "permanently" close the mining group's copper plant following violent protests by locals over pollution concerns. Royal Enfield will invest an additional Rs 500 crore by 2021 to expand its three manufacturing facilities in Tamil Nadu under a pact with the state government to receive fiscal and monetary incentives. According to the memorandum of understanding (MoU) inked between the two parties, the state government will extend fiscal and monetary incentives to the company, subject to it investing Rs 1,500 crore over a period of five years beginning May 2016, Royal Enfield, two-wheeler arm of Eicher Motors, said in a regulatory filing. Out of Rs 1,500 crore, Royal Enfield has already invested over Rs 1,000 crore. The company is planning to put in the rest of the capital towards capacity expansion at its three existing manufacturing facilities in and around Chennai at Thiruvottiyur, Oragadam and Vallam Vadagal that are producing motorcycles for India and international markets. The company is also planning to invest for setting up the technology centre along the Old Mahabalipuram Road (OMR) in Chennai. The MoU is subject to ratification by the Board of Eicher Motors, the company said. Royal Enfield had signed a similar MoU in May 2012 with the Tamil Nadu government for setting up its new manufacturing unit at Oragadam with an investment commitment of Rs 350 crore. The time frame for the investment was from 2011 to 2016. live bse live nse live Volume Todays L/H More Moneycontrol News As a part of their clean-up act, public sector banks are looking to get rid of their bad loans going into financial year 2019-20. As per a report in Business Standard, PSBs are planning to off-load loans worth over Rs 96,000 crore (as per industry estimates), including those under bankruptcy proceedings. Bankers, according to the report, are getting "impatient" as cases under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC) are moving slower than expected. "Earlier we were expecting realisation of around Rs 3,200 crore through cases stuck at National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT)," Ashok Kr Pradhan, managing director and chief executive officer, United Bank of India, told the paper. The bank will sell loans, identified by the bank and approved by the board, worth Rs 3,000 crore through auction. He said that chances of recovering anything over Rs 1,500 looked bleak this financial year. Another executive from IDBI Bank told the paper that while the banks were hoping to resolve cases during the first quarter, not many cases have been resolved even till the last quarter of the current FY. "Banks have no choice but to shore up their balance sheets," he said. The bank plans to sell loans worth Rs 29,000 crore (Alok Industries) and Rs 3,900 crore (Jayaswal Neco). Other banks that plan to sell their loans include Dena Bank, Punjab National Bank, Bank of India and Central Bank of India. Accounts that could go under the hammer include Essar Steel (SBI, Central Bank; Rs 48,000 crore), Alok Industries (IDBI Bank; Rs 29,000), ABG Shipyard (Dena Bank; Rs 6,900 crore), Jayaswal Neco (IDBI bank; Rs 3,900 crore), Visa Steel (Bank of India; Rs 3,600 crore), Dighi Port (Bank of India, Rs 2,700 crore) and Moser Baer (PNB; Rs 2,300 crore). Syndicate Bank is waiting for the NCLT proceedings to finalise, the report said. Last week, State Bank of India (SBI) had announced to e-auction its loan to Essar Steel worth Rs 15,431 crore. The bank has quoted a reserve price of Rs 9,587.64 crore. The auction will take place on January 30. Ujjivan Financial Services | Aberdeen Standard Investments (Asia) raised stake by 0.2096% to 5.0825% via open market purchase on June 29. (Image: Moneycontrol) live bse live nse live Volume Todays L/H More Highlights: - Strong quarterly performance from Ujjivan Financial- Healthy growth in assets and deposits- Interest margin maintained- Asset quality improves- Despite regulatory overhang, the undemanding valuation deserves attention------------------------------------------------- Against the backdrop of stock underperformance due to Reserve Bank of India's (RBI) diktat, the financial result of Ujjivan Financial was something to cheer investors with a 54 percent year-on-year growth in after tax profit. Strong performance on the business front: 32 percent YoY growth in assets under management (AUM) to Rs 9,349 crore and 35 percent growth in disbursement to Rs 2,885 crore. Growth in disbursement as well as loan book was driven by small and medium enterprises (SME) as well as affordable housing. In SME, the non-banking financial company (NBFC) is shifting the loan book in favour of secured lending. Efforts to de-risk and diversify the loan book is on. Growth in micro-finance, at 21 percent, was lower than the company average. The non-microfinance book surged 220 percent (albeit on a small base) and constituted 13.4 percent of overall portfolio compared to 5.5 percent a year back. Its liability profile is improving, with steady accretion to deposits. While overall deposits showed a sequential growth of 28 percent, low-cost CASA (current and savings account) grew 49 percent and formed 10.4 percent of total deposits. At present, close to 58 percent of advances are funded by deposits as against 35 percent a year back. The bank is working on converting its asset customers to deposit holders and is targeting a CASA share of 30 percent in the next few years. Source: Company While the loan book is moving towards more secured lending (depressing yield on advances), thanks to the ramp-up in deposits (leading to a softening in the cost of funding), Ujjivan was able to maintain its interest margin at 11.8 percent. Asset quality improved, with gross non-performing assets (NPA) declining to 1.4 percent from 1.9 sequentially. Net NPA stood at 0.3 percent, with provision cover (provision against NPA) at 81 percent. Ujjivan is well capitalised to take advantage of the emerging opportunities, with capital adequacy ratio at 22.1 percent, much above the regulatory requirement. It is raising Tier II capital to boost its capital position further. Cost-to-income ratio is still high (77.7 percent) as the management continued to rollout branches and boost its headcount. It added 97 branches in Q3, taking the total number of banking outlets to 464. The pace of addition is certainly going to decelerate in FY20. As the bank starts sweating these assets efficiently, it is looking at substantial moderation in the cost-to-income ratio to 50-55 percent over the next three years. While farm loan waivers so far hasnt had any impact on its overall business, the management alluded to challenges in a small pocket of Madhya Pradesh on account of the same. Ujjivan is confident of asset growth upwards of 35 percent in the current fiscal. It has identified three candidates for the position of Managing Director, which will be sent to RBI shortly. To meet with the licencing norms (listing of the bank by January 2020 and paring down promoter holding to 40 percent by January 2022), the management is working on a number of alternatives and will initiate discussion with RBI and the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI). Improvement in the liability mix and diversification of asset book would continue to de-risk the business without comprising much on profitability. Moderation in cost-to-income ratio will provide significant boost to medium-term earnings. After the demonetisation blues, asset quality stress is largely behind. While the regulatory overhang pertaining to listing the small finance bank remains, correction in the stock price (down 30 percent in the past one year) has rendered valuation undemanding (1.7 times FY20 estimated book) in the context of its future prospects. Maruti Suzuki India | Company would re-start production of vehicles at its Manesar plant from May 12. (Image: Moneycontrol) live bse live nse live Volume Todays L/H More Maruti Suzuki India on Thursday signed a pact with the Haryana government for setting up a Japan-India Institute for Manufacturing (JIM) to train over 500 youth annually. The company will make an initial investment of Rs 7 crore to establish the model industrial training institute (ITI) at Uncha Majra village in Gurugram district, Maruti Suzuki India (MSI) said in a statement. "While the state government has provided land and building, Maruti Suzuki will offer latest equipment and tools, employ industry experts as trainers and ensure students are trained in quality, safety, discipline, kaizen and other Japanese practices so that they are employable and have a sound long-term career," MSI Executive Director (Corporate Planning) A K Tomer said. JIM Uncha Majra, which will be the first in Haryana, is expected to start its first session by August 2019. "Nearly 500 youth will be trained at this state-of-the-art model ITI," the company added. The institute will be located near the automobile hub of Manesar, Gurugram, Faridabad and Bhiwadi and will provide the youth with the skills to benefit from this economic opportunity. JIM is born out of a collaboration between Japanese and Indian governments to create a pool of skilled manpower for manufacturing in India. File Photo: A security guard stands outside a closed Yes Bank branch in New Delhi live bse live nse live Volume Todays L/H More Yes Bank shares surged 19 percent intraday on Thursday after the appointment of new MD & CEO of the lender and net interest income in Q3 beats estimates. But the gains trimmed to 8 percent at close on profit booking. The stock closed at Rs 213.85, up Rs 16.55, or 8.39 percent amid high volumes on the BSE. The fourth largest private sector lender said it has received RBI approval for its new MD & CEO, Ravneet Singh Gill for him to join on or before March 1, 2019. Currently Gill is the CEO of Deutsche Bank, India. Rana Kapoor will step down as MD & CEO of the bank on the closing of January 31, 2019. Profit, which was on expected lines, fell 7 percent year-on-year to Rs 1,001.8 crore for the quarter ended December 2018. The same grew 3.9 percent sequentially. The profitability was impacted by higher provisions, lower other income and operating income. Net interest income, the difference between interest earned and interest expended, grew by 41.2 percent YoY to Rs 2,666.4 crore in Q3 with credit growth of 42.2 percent YoY. The bank said deposits growth for the quarter was 30 percent YoY. Net provisions for the quarter stood at Rs 550.2 crore on account of Rs 570.8 crore of accelerated provisioning on exposure to a stressed infrastructure conglomerate, Yes Bank said. Provisions fell 44 percent YoY, but increased 30 percent QoQ. Asset quality deteriorated in December quarter, impacted by infrastructure account. Gross non-performing assets (NPA) as a percentage of gross advances were higher at 2.10 percent against 1.60 percent in previous quarter and net NPA higher at 1.18 percent against 0.84 percent in September quarter. "Excluding the extraordinary impact of aggregate exposure to a stressed infrastructure conglomerate, gross NPA improved sequentially to 1.32 percent from 1.60 percent last quarter, net NPA improved to 0.59 percent from 0.84 percent last quarter and provision coverage ratio improved to 55.6 percent from 47.8 percent," Yes Bank said. The lender has total exposure of Rs 2,530 crore to a stressed infrastructure conglomerate (IL&FS). Yes Bank believes that the aggregate provisions made on its (stressed infrastructure conglomerate) operating and subsidiary company exposures are adequate with the expected realisations. It also has additional non-fund based exposure of Rs 88 crore to the stressed infrastructure conglomerate. Other income or non-interest income during the quarter fell by 37 percent to Rs 891 crore and operating profit was down by 0.6 percent to Rs 1,990.4 crore compared to year-ago. "Non-interest income declined predominantly on account of treasury loss (corresponding offsets through provision write-backs) and lower corporate fees due to rebalanced sequential growth in corporate advances," the bank said. China's Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM) has denied reports that a preparatory trade meeting with the United States scheduled for next week had been canceled by the Americans. "The reports which said the U.S. canceled a trade planning meeting with China is not true," MOFCOM spokesperson Gao Feng told a regular press briefing. "Chinese Vice Premier Liu He will pay a visit to the U.S. on January 30 to 31 for a new round of trade negotiations." Gao made the remarks after the reports were published by international media outlets. "China and the U.S. have maintained close contact on the upcoming trade talks, during which the two sides will make in-depth negotiations on issues of common concern," he said. live bse live nse live Volume Todays L/H More Here are stocks that are in the news today: Results on Thursday: Yes Bank, UltraTech Cement, Biocon, Hatsun Agro Product, Reliance Power, Edelweiss Financial Services, Sharda Cropchem, PNB Housing Finance, Sintex Industries, Colgate Palmolive (India), Bharat Bijlee, ICRA, Punjab Chemicals & Crop Protection, Zee Media Corporation, Sunteck Realty, Pudumjee Paper Products, Quess Corp, PVR, Jyothy Laboratories, Poddar Pigments, Amj Land Holdings, Onward Technologies, VST Industries, Pfizer, MphasiS, Newgen Software Technologies, Sterlite Technologies, NIIT, Kokuyo Camlin, NELCO, Mold-Tek Technologies, Sunflag Iron, Century Enka, KRBL, Jindal Saw, Tijaria Polypipes, Orient Green Power Company, Hexa Tradex, Supreme Industries, Kamdhenu Bharti Infratel Q3: Profit rises to Rs 648.4 crore versus Rs 599.8 crore; revenue dips to Rs 3,640.2 crore versus Rs 3,668.3 crore QoQ. MEP Infrastructure: NHAI has given January 21 as appointed date for the project of Construction of Eight Laning of existing Four Lane Vadape to Thane in Maharashtra to subsidiary MEP Longjian VTR Private Limited. Tejas Networks Q3: Profit rises to Rs 32.84 crore versus Rs 30.14 crore; revenue falls to Rs 184.33 crore versus Rs 229.87 crore YoY. Apollo Micro Systems: Company has bagged a supply order from Bharat Dynamics worth Rs 12.99 crore. Reliance Communications Q3: Consolidated loss at Rs 238 crore versus profit Rs 1,141 crore; revenue rises to Rs 1,070 crore versus Rs 977 crore QoQ. Pidilite Industries Q3: Consolidated profit falls to Rs 219.5 crore versus Rs 239 crore; revenue jumps to Rs 1,848.3 crore versus Rs 1,542.9 crore YoY. United Spirits Q3: Profit jumps to Rs 192.4 crore versus Rs 134.7 crore; revenue rises to Rs 7,763.6 crore versus Rs 7,137.3 crore YoY. IDBI Bank: After significant capital infusion by LIC in IDBI Bank, Moody's upgraded ratings in the various instruments of the bank. Hathway Cable and Datacom Q3: Profit falls to Rs 6.44 crore versus Rs 23.87 crore; revenue declines to Rs 134.85 crore versus Rs 138.65 crore YoY. IL&FS Transport not paid to the debenture holders due to insufficient funds Concor fixed February 5 as record date for bonus issue Rcom - assets sale proceeds shall be utilized to repay company''s debt including NCD's Everest Industries: Aditya Vikram Somani has resigned from the position of Chairman of company. InterGlobe Aviation Q3: Profit dips to Rs 190.9 crore versus Rs 762 crore; revenue increases 28.1 percent to Rs 7,916.2 crore YoY. Vodafone Idea: Board approved fund raising up to Rs 25,000 crore by way of a rights issue to existing eligible equity shareholders; promoter shareholders (Vodafone Group and Aditya Birla Group) intend to contribute up to Rs 11,000 crore and up to Rs 7,250 crore respectively as part of such rights issue. Infosys: Company partners with HPE to accelerate enterprise digital transformation Ujjivan Financial Services Q3: Profit rises to Rs 45.2 crore versus Rs 29.3 crore; net interest income jumps 30.2 percent to Rs 255 crore YoY. Tanla Solutions Q3: Profit increases to Rs 9.97 crore versus Rs 8.4 crore; revenue rises to Rs 281.77 crore versus Rs 218.4 crore QoQ. Navin Fluorine International Q3: Profit falls to Rs 38.78 crore versus Rs 47.7 crore; revenue rises to Rs 226 crore versus Rs 221.5 crore YoY. Dil: Company's subsidiary Fermenta Biotech signed a Lease Deed with Gujarat Industrial Development Corporation (GIDC) for plot T-33 + T-34 in Sayakha Industrial Estate, Gujarat for the purpose of business operations. Parsvnath Developers: CRISIL has withdrawn its long term rating D for bank loan facilities of Rs 175.44 crore; and reaffirmed long term rating at D for bank loan facilities of Rs 74.56 crore. Bharat Financial Inclusion: Company assigned a pool of receivables of an aggregate value of Rs 832.3 crore to one of the largest public sector banks on a direct assignment basis. With this transaction, the company has completed direct assignment transactions worth Rs 4,697.21 crore in FY19. Shree Digvijay Cement Company Q3: Loss at Rs 0.36 crore versus profit Rs 3.55 crore; revenue rises to Rs 112 crore versus Rs 99.4 crore YoY. Everest Industries Q3: Profit rises to Rs 11.45 crore versus Rs 9.43 crore; revenue increases to Rs 307.3 crore versus Rs 291.21 crore YoY. Blue Dart Express: Board appointed Balfour Manuel, Head - B2B as Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and Key Managerial Personnel of the company. Sintex Plastics Technology Q3: Profit falls to Rs 26.12 crore versus Rs 51.84 crore; revenue declines to Rs 1,110.35 crore versus Rs 1,332.7 crore YoY. JM Financial Q3: Profit increases to Rs 221.09 crore versus Rs 219.3 crore; revenue rises to Rs 898.3 crore versus Rs 789.5 crore YoY. Bulk Deals on January 23 NSE Bhagwati Banquets: Arpit Agarwal HUF sold 1,50,000 shares of the company at Rs 17.85 per share. Pitti Engineering: Amit Kumar Agarwal bought 1,50,000 shares of the company at Rs 56.16 per share. Punj Lloyd: IFCI continued to offload shares of the company, selling another 18,13,012 shares at Rs 3.5 per share. Vivimed Labs: Competent Finlease Private Limited sold 5,00,000 shares of the company at Rs 25.01 per share. BSE Aryaman Capital Markets: Sajankumar Rameshwarlal Bajaj sold 1,35,000 shares of the company at Rs 37.15 per share. Hathway Cable and Datacom: Rajasthan Global Securities Private Limited bought 75,00,000 shares of the company at Rs 31.64 per share and 65,83,185 shares at Rs 31.65 per share while Norges Bank on Account of the Government Pension Fund Global sold 1,25,51,000 shares at Rs 31.65 per share. (For more bulk deals, click here) Analyst or Board Meet/Briefings Everest Industries: Extra-ordinary General Meeting of the company will be held on February 26. MAS Financial Services: Board meeting is scheduled on January 30 to consider the unaudited standalone financial results for the quarter and nine months ended on December 2018. TeamLease Services: Company has arranged a conference call for Q3FY19 results on January 29. Equitas Holdings: Board meeting is scheduled on February 1 to consider the unaudited standalone financial results for the quarter and nine months ended December 2018. Earnings call of the company with investors and analysts is scheduled to be held on February 4 to discuss the company''s financial performance for Q3FY19. Nucleus Software Exports: Company will announce its financial results for the third quarter and nine months ended December 2018 on January 28. Management team including the Managing Director, Vishnu R Dusad and Chief Executive Officer, Ravi Pratap Singh will participate in a conference call for investors and analysts. Eicher Motors: Company's officials will be meeting Nalanda Securities and analysts/investors in a Non-Deal Road Show in London on January 24. Indiabulls Integrated Services: Board meeting is scheduled on January 29 to consider the unaudited financial results of the company for the quarter and nine months ended December 2018. Wonderla Holidays: Investors/Analysts conference call to be held on January 28. Aurobindo Pharma: Board meeting will be held on February 7 to consider the unaudited financial results of the company for the third quarter and nine months period ended December 2018 and the proposal of payment of second interim dividend, if any. Sarda Energy & Minerals: Board meeting is scheduled on February 2 to consider the un-audited financial and segment wise results - standalone and consolidated - for the 3rd quarter 2018-19. NIIT Limited: Company would be hosting an analyst and investor call on January 24. Precision Wires India: Board meeting is scheduled on February 6 to consider the un-audited financial results of the company for the third quarter & nine months ended December 2018. Aegis Logistics: Board meeting is scheduled on January 31 to consider the unaudited financial results (standalone & consolidated) for the quarter and nine months ended December 2018. Persistent Systems: Board meeting is scheduled to be held on January 27 to consider a proposal for buyback of the fully paid-up equity shares of the company. JK Paper: Board meeting is scheduled on February 12 to consider the unaudited financial results of the company for the third quarter ended December 2018. Whirlpool of India: Board meeting is scheduled to be held on February 4 to consider the unaudited financial results for the quarter and nine months ended on December 2018. SEL Manufacturing Company: Board meeting is scheduled on February 5 to consider the unaudited financial results for the quarter and nine months period ended December 2018. Aster DM Healthcare: Board meeting is scheduled on February 13 to consider the unaudited financial results of the company for the quarter ended December 2018. Laurus Labs: Board meeting is scheduled on January 31 to consider the unaudited financial results of the company for the quarter and nine months period ended December 2018. Navneet Education: Board meeting is scheduled on February 4 to consider the un-audited financial results of the company for the quarter and nine months ended December 2018. Selan Exploration Technology: Board meeting is scheduled on January 31 to consider the unaudited financial results of the company for the quarter ended December 2018. Essar Shipping: Board meeting is scheduled on January 31 to consider the unaudited standalone financial results of the company for the quarter ended December 2018. : Board meeting is scheduled on January 31 to consider the unaudited (reviewed) financial results of the bank for the quarter / nine month ended on December 2018. live bse live nse live Volume Todays L/H More Financial creditors and home buyers of Jaypee Infratech have extended the deadline till February 15 for shortlisted bidders to submit proposals to revive the debt-ridden realty firm, according to a regulatory filing. The four shortlisted bidders, state-owned NBCC, Kotak Investment, Singapore-based Cube Highways and Suraksha group, were earlier asked to submit resolution plans by January 27 to revive Jaypee Infratech, which is undergoing insolvency proceedings in the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT). The proposal of 'Extension of last date for submission of Binding Resolution Plans by the Resolution Applicants till 15th February 2019' was approved by the Committee of Creditors (CoC) by nearly 70 per cent vote, Jaypee Infratech said in a regulatory filing. In the last CoC meeting held on January 17, NBCC, Cube Highways & Infrastructure and Suraksha ARC requested for extension of timelines for submission of binding resolution plans in order to get necessary internal approvals. "CoC members deliberated on the request and decided to extend the last date for submission of Resolution Plans till February 15, 2019 so as to ensure that Resolution Plans are submitted by the Resolution Applicants," it added. The committee also approved the extension of CIRP (Corporate Insolvency Resolution Process) for further period of 90 days with a voting percentage of over 71 per cent. It had last month approved the evaluation criteria to be adopted to select a bidder for taking over the realty firm. In October 2018, Jaypee Infratech's interim resolution professional (IRP) Anuj Jain started a fresh initiative to revive Jaypee Infratech on NCLT's direction after lenders rejected over Rs 7,000 crore bid of Suraksha group. He had invited companies and investors to submit resolution plans to revive Jaypee Infratech, which has many stuck housing projects in Noida and Greater Noida. In 2017, the NCLT had admitted the application by an IDBI Bank-led consortium seeking resolution for Jaypee Infratech under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC). The tribunal had appointed Jain as IRP to mange the company's business and invite bids from investors. Consequently, Lakshdeep, part of Suraksha group, had emerged as a front-runner to acquire the firm. However, in May last year, lenders rejected the Rs 7,350 crore bid by Lakshdeep as they found the amount to be inadequate. The realty firm has an outstanding debt of nearly Rs 9,800 crore, of which Rs 4,334 crore pertains to IDBI. Other lenders are IIFCL, LIC, SBI, Corporation Bank, Syndicate Bank, Bank Of Maharashtra, ICICI Bank, Union Bank, IFCI, J&K Bank, Axis Bank and Srei Equipment Finance. Jaypee Infratech, a subsidiary of Jaypee Group's flagship firm Jaiprakash Associates, is developing about 32,000 flats, of which it has delivered 9,500 units. Jaiprakash Associates had submitted Rs 750 crore in the registry of the Supreme Court for refund to buyers. However, this amount has now been transferred to NCLT as per an order of the apex court. Representative image The tariff war between the US and China is benefitting India as its exports to the neighbouring country have increased by about 32 per cent during the June-November 2018 period to USD 8.46 billion, apex exporters body FIEO said on Thursday. Exports to China had stood at USD 6.37 billion in June-November 2017. In June and September 2018, the US announced high customs duties on several Chinese goods. In retaliation, China also raised levies on American goods. "US-China tariff war is benefiting India. Exports to China jumped from USD 6.37 billion in June-November 2017 to USD 8.46 billion in June-November 2018," Federation of Indian Export Organisations (FIEO) President Ganesh Kumar Gupta said in a statement. He said commodities that have exhibited high growth during the period to China include petroleum products, chemicals, cotton yarn, plastic raw material, and marine products. Growth in exports to China is beneficial for India as it has huge trade deficit with the neighbouring country. Trade deficit with China increased to USD 63.12 billion in 2017-18 from USD 51.11 billion in 2016-17. India is taking several steps to promote shipments to China. Recently it has managed to export agricultural goods such as non-basmati rice to China. Narendra Modi_ India and Mauritius are very close to signing a comprehensive economic partnership very soon to deepen ties, Prime Minister of the island nation Pravind Jugnauth said on Thursday. India and Mauritius will sign at any moment a comprehensive economic cooperation agreement which will stimulate trade and investment in the region, he said at a State Bank of Mauritius event here. It is also proposed to have a Mauritius-India Infrastructure Investment Fund for the mutual benefit of both the countries, he said. Jugnauth said the Indian Ocean country can serve as a bridge between India and Africa specifically. He said Mauritius is developing special economic zones with many African countries and urged Indian investors to invest in such zones. His countrys long-term objective is to develop a international finance centre which will act as a bridge between India or Asia and Africa, he said. Jugnauth said there are a slew of investor-friendly initiatives which are offered by the country, including a three per cent corporate tax on export-oriented companies and also an eight-year tax holiday. SBM is the first foreign lender to start operations as a wholly owned subsidiary and has four branches at present. India is the second country after Kenya where it has expanded into and will be going next to Seychelles. Union commerce minister Suresh Prabhu said India is looking forward to a new relationship with Mauritius, knowing well that the future is Asias. He also alluded to the economic partnership agreement, saying the pact is in advance stages of preparation. Bitcoin has headlines over the past two years, thanks to its 2017 rally when it went up 13 times -- and its subsequent bust in 2018, in which it lost nearly 75 percent of its value. Now, one expert on blockchain, the technology on which the cryptocurrency is based, says bitcoin may go to zero. "I do believe it will go to zero. I think its a great technology but I dont believe its a currency. It's not based on anything," Jeff Schumacher, founder of BCG Digital Ventures, told CNBC during a debate on the future blockchain in Davos, Switzerland. Schumacher is a big investor in blockchain-focused companies. Also read: Bitcoin bears: As the cryptocurrency tanks, these experts are having the last laugh Hutchins and other panelists including 500 Startups Partner Edith Yeung, and Brad Garlinghouse, CEO of Ripple, however, synonymously agreed that their focus as an investor is on the underlying technology known as blockchain. "I am much less interested in investing around bitcoin as a currency unit or a currency equivalent, or even the blockchain as an accounting ledger. I am thinking much more about the protocols. In other words, what is the underlying protocol going to do as a consequence of which, which tokens are valuable or not," Hutchins said. The blockchain technology works as a decentralized public ledger of activity that is not owned by any individual. Instead, it is maintained by a network of people running specialized computers to solve complex cryptographic problems. Listen: Podcast | Editor's Pick: Bitcoin a cryptic story The industry is now trying to create "open decentralized systems," which would essentially be next generation protocols or infrastructure that businesses could run on, similar to cloud computing today, according to Schumacher. With the next generation of blockchain technology currently being developed, Yeung said that she sees blockchain adoption happening quickly in the area of payments, particularly in Asia. "Many developing countries, where just to start with they don't even have credit cards, there's no particular infrastructure, it's almost easier to see sort of blockchain-enabled payments, to see in Asia, you will see more action happening in Asia more than US and Europe," Yeung said. Also read: DATA STORY: India houses the second largest pool of blockchain developers in the world The top investors expect more widespread adoption of blockchain in about three to five years. Hinting at a shift in people's perception about blockchain in the coming years, Hutchins said that ultimately, consumers will not be talking about what blockchain is being used, they will just care how good the use case of a product is. "When you send an email out today, you don't think about the underlying technology you are using So you can hear us talk about what protocol, what token, what technology solutions, how many transactions per second, but eventually what's going to happen is if you are going to put something of value in, something of value will come out the other side and you are not going to care what the underlying technology is," Hutchins said. This would indicate the success of adapting the new blockchain technology, he added. Representative image live bse live nse live Volume Todays L/H More InterGlobe Aviation that operates IndiGo airlines has appointed Ronojoy Dutta as CEO with effect from January 24. The position had been vacant since the exit of then President Aditya Ghosh in early 2018. Dutta had joined the airline as Principal Consultant in December last year. With over 25 years of experience in the aviation industry, Dutta has a lot to offer. From July 2004 until 2006 he served as chairman of Air Sahara, and from 2004 until 2008, he served as the president of Sahara Airlines. An alumnus of IIT Kharagpur and Harvard Business School and a veteran of the American airline industry, Dutta has been tasked to frame a five-year business plan for IndiGo at a time when India's largest airline is furiously adding capacity. And the airline has big ambitions for international operations. This is a crucial time, and the role of the chief executive would be critical in pulling off the plans. He took on full responsibility of a Rs 2,849 crore full-service airline with a route system including 25 cities along with 44 aircraft. He later grew sales at 35 percent a year. In 2007, Dutta joined US-based AAR Corporation as a strategic adviser for the Indian market. From 1995 until 1999, prior to becoming the president of United Airlines, Dutta served as the Senior Vice-President of Planning and Revenue Management. Dutta's experience in the international market will be relevant for IndiGo, and also his relationships with his industry peers, as the Indian airline reaches out to international players for codeshare. A codeshare agreement allows passengers to tap networks of the two airlines. Dutta will work in tandem with Wolfgang Prock-Schauer, who was appointed COO of IndiGo in January. live bse live nse live Volume Todays L/H More When Korn Ferry was given the mandate for selection of new chief executive officer of Yes Bank, the mandate was clear. Given the background of the bank, including an ongoing boardroom battle, divergence in gross bank loans and Rana Kapoor being denied an extension, the new candidate was expected to have experience in dealing with both regulatory and compliance matters with decision-making powers. On January 24, Yes Bank announced that Deutsche Bank India chief Ravneet Singh Gill will be their new MD and CEO from March 1 onwards. It was a close competition between Gill and Yes Banks senior group president Rajat Monga. The bank said that Gill was the number one priority candidate in the submissions made by them to the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on January 10. "It was decided that it would be more appropriate to have a fresh set of eyes to review the functioning of the bank," said a source. Monga has been with the bank since its inception in 2004. Yes Bank vs Deutsche Bank In October 2017, Yes Bank reported a divergence in gross bad loans of Rs 6,355 crore for FY17. Divergence refers to the difference between the Reserve Bank of India (RBI)'s inspection report and the bank's own report. Following this, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) penalised Yes Bank for violations of various regulations issued by RBI in the assessment of non-performing assets (NPAs). A penalty of Rs 6 crore was imposed on account of asset classification issues and a delay in reporting a security incident across its ATM network in the previous year. In FY16, Yes Bank had reported just a sixth of the bad loans assessed by the banking regulator. During the year, it had reported gross NPAs worth Rs 748.9 crore as on March 31, 2016, while the RBI had asked the lender to classify gross NPAs worth Rs 4,925.6 crore. Gill, too, has been no stranger to controversy. In 2015, the Germany-based Deutsche Bank co-CEO Anshu Jain stepped down after a Libor manipulation controversy with the bank also being fined USD 2.5 billion. This was followed by appointment of a new CEO globally for Deutsche Bank. Speculations were rife that the next big step was to reduce retail operations in markets like India. Gill, who was the head of corporate market coverage during that time, did face a lot of questions on this development. Finally, this plan was shelved. Further, the corporate banking experience of Gill was also a reason for him being considered for the Yes Bank position at a time when its asset quality is being closely watched. Loyalty matters Gill who had been associated with Deutsche Bank since 1991 was regarded as a stable candidate for the position. Having worked across various functions till he came the India head in 2012, his track record has been blemish-free. "His re-appointment as CEO of Deutsche Bank India meant that his credentials were minutely reviewed by the Reserve Bank a few months ago. This also gave us the confidence there would be no roadblocks to his approval," said another official. Both the external as well the internal panel was of the view that an official who had served at an organisation for atleast one to two decades would be ideal since they would bring more stability to the position. This was coming from the fact that outgoing MD,CEO Rana Kapoor also had been serving in this position for almost 15 years. "Ravneet has handled global corporate clients at a closer level. So, the idea was to get his international expertise to use to help the bank manage its corporate accounts in a more efficient manner," the official quoted above said. Internal versus external candidate The search firm as well as the search panel did face the dilemma of whether an internal candidate or external candidate would be most suitable for the job. Monga was the top contender internally. "We not only look at the legacy of the banks and its strengths-weaknesses, the management changes among peers in the industry were also closely observed. Gill fit the box in all parameters," a source explained. From an initial shortlist of about seven candidates consisting of public sector, private sector and foreign bank chiefs, Gill was among the top ones in the list. Later, a formal communication was sent to the shortlisted candidates to gauge their interest. Post that, the shortlist was narrowed down for the committee to do a detailed inspection of the candidate's track record. Here, Monga and Gill emerged as top contenders. A consensus was that an outsider would be the right fit at this juncture. At competitor Axis Bank too, Amitabh Chaudhry, who headed HDFC Life Insurance, was appointed as its MD and CEO. Timeline June 2018: Yes Bank shareholders approve re-appointment of Rana Kapoor as MD, CEO for three years. Await RBI approval. Kapoor tenure was to end on August 31, 2018. August 30, 2018: Yes Bank says they have received regulatory approval for Rana Kapoor to continue as their MD & CEO till further notice from RBI. September 15, 2018: Reserve Bank of India (RBI) cuts short Yes Bank MD & CEO Rana Kapoor tenure to January 31, 2018. September 25, 2018: Yes Bank board requests more time from RBI to allow Kapoor to remain as MD, CEO until a minimum of April 30, 2019 and thereafter extend to September 30, 2019. October 5, 2018: Yes Bank appoints former SBI chairman OP Bhatt and former insurance regulatory body head TS Vijayan as external members in the search and selection committee for the search panel. Bhatt steps down in November 2018. October 11, 2018: Yes Bank announces the appointment of global firm Korn Ferry mandated by the 'Search & Selection Committee' to assist in evaluating both internal and external candidates for MD,CEO post. October 17, 2018: RBI turns down request to extend Kapoors term. Asks Yes Bank to appoint a successor to Rana Kapoor by February 1, 2019. December 13, 2018: Yes Bank board shortlists candidates for MD, CEO post. The list consisted of internal and external candidates. January 9, 2019: Yes Bank finalises the list of candidates for MD, CEO post, sends it to RBI for approval a day later. January 23, 2019: RBI gives the go-ahead for the appointment of Ravneet Gill as MD and CEO of Yes Bank. Yes Bank board meeting to finalise the interim transition. The Google homepage gets 620 million users every day and at any second, there are over 2 million searches being run on the website. (Image: Reuters) The search engines homepage loads faster than any other site. This is one reason that people test whether the internet is working or not by opening Google first. (Image: Reuters) To protect the sanctity of its brand name, Google has trademarked each letter of their company name. It has also bought the most common misspellings of Google, like gooogle.com, gogle.com, googlr.com etc. (Image: Reuters) Google pays nearly $110 million for the 'I'm Feeling Lucky' button, that no one really knows the use of. Why? That button takes you directly to the first result, instead of showing a list of results, which costs the search engine advertising revenue. It exists because users unanimously voted to keep it. (Image: Reuters) Google owns a dinosaur fossil and has named it Stan. The skeleton of a Tyrannosaurus Rex was dug up near its office building and the company purchased it and put it on display. (Image: Wikimedia Commons) Google loves animals, especially pet dogs and goats. It is in the company's code of conduct and it allows employees to bring their pet dogs and lets them roam around freely in its office premises. (Image: Reuters) Google pays competitor Mozilla huge sums annually. The company considers Mozilla, which produces open-source browsers like Firefox, a partner. In return of these funds, Firefox uses the Google search engine as a default option for users. (Image: Reuters) Google is a truly an international company as it boasts the largest network of translators in the world. In its list of languages, Google has included Klingon, a fictional language spoken by characters of the Star Trek universe. The first Doodle was published in 1998, simply to notify that co-founders Larry Page (left) and Sergey Brin had gone for a vacation to the Burning Man. (Image: Google) Oil prices slipped on Wednesday as the European Union seeks to circumvent US trade sanctions against Iran, and on weaker US gasoline prices. Brent futures fell 36 cents, or 0.6 percent, to settle at $61.14 a barrel, while the most active US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude contract for March fell 39 cents, or 0.7 percent, to settle at $52.62. France's foreign minister said he expected a European-backed system to facilitate non-dollar trade with Iran and bypass fresh US curbs imposed after Washington quit a landmark nuclear deal, would be established in coming days. Peter Cardillo, chief market economist at Spartan Capital Securities in New York said that EU announcement "knocked the wind out of oil prices." Analysts also said falling US gasoline prices and rising crude output in the United States were also pressuring the crude market. "We are paying particular attention to weakening NYMEX crack spreads where an increasingly heavy gasoline market is providing a limiter on near term WTI gains," Jim Ritterbusch, president of Ritterbusch and Associates in Chicago, said in a report. The crack, or spread, between US gasoline futures and WTI crude fell to $5.97 a barrel, its lowest since 2013. Both US crude and product futures extended their losses in post-settlement trade after an industry report showed that US crude stockpiles rose sharply last week, while gasoline and distillate inventories built. Data from the American Petroleum Institute showed crude inventories increased 6.6 million barrels, compared with analysts' expectations for a decrease of 42,000 barrels. Gasoline stocks rose by 3.6 million barrels, compared with analysts' expectations in a Reuters poll for a 2.7 million-barrel gain. Distillate fuels stockpiles gained by 2.6 million barrels, compared with expectations for a 229,000-barrel drop, the API data showed. If the weekly product builds are confirmed by government data on Thursday at 11 a.m. (1600 GMT), it would be the eighth rise in a row for gasoline, and the fifth straight build for both distillates and gasoline. US CONSIDERS VENEZUELA SANCTIONS The Trump administration ratcheted up pressure on Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro on Wednesday, announcing US recognition of the country's opposition leader as interim president and signalling potential new sanctions against its vital oil sector. Potential US sanctions on Venezuela's crude oil exports, however, would hit US refiners that are its biggest customers, as the OPEC nation would likely be forced to send more crude to China, India or other Asian countries, traders said. The US share of Venezuelan exports has fallen in recent years with more shipments going to Russia and China, largely through oil-for-debt repayment structures. "It would make a tight market even tighter. If it happens, it would be an unambiguous headwind for (US) refiners already struggling to find supplies," said Bob McNally, president of Rapidan Energy Group, an energy consultancy in Bethesda, Maryland. Huawei Technologies Co Ltd unveiled on Thursday arguably the world's first chipset for 5G base stations. The chip, Tiangang, can support a bandwidth of 200 megabytes and reduce the weight of a 5G base station by half. The move came as the world's largest telecom gear maker announced the same day that it has shipped over 25,000 5G base stations to the world, up from the number of 10,000 it disclosed in late December. Ding Yun, president of Huawei's telecom carrier business group, said Tiangang's computing capability is 2.5 times faster than previous products. The company will also use its 5G technology to help China Central Television live broadcast this year's Spring Festival gala. Huawei has so far secured 30 5G contracts, with 18 from Europe, nine from the Middle East and three in the Asia-Pacific. It will unveil its first 5G foldable smartphone at the Mobile World Congress 2019, which will be held in Barcelona, Spain, in late February. US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo sits during a meeting with Sultan of Oman Qaboos bin Said al-Said (not pictured) at the Beit Al Baraka Royal Palace in Muscat, Oman, January 14, 2019. [China Daily] US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo expressed optimism on Tuesday about relations between the United States and China and the possibility that a good outcome in upcoming bilateral trade talks will ease tensions, which have escalated since last year. "There are those who say that conflict, superpower conflict between our two countries, is inevitable. We don't see it that way. We want to find places where we can work together," Pompeo told the audience in Davos, Switzerland, via video link. Pompeo was also upbeat about trade discussions with the Chinese delegation led by Vice-Premier Liu He, who will be in Washington on Jan 30 and 31. "I am optimistic that we'll receive them well and that we'll have a good outcome from those conversations," Pompeo said. The messages have been seen by many as largely positive given the frequent negative rhetoric about China from senior US officials. Douglas Paal, vice-president for studies at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, a Washington think tank, said he thinks that Pompeo was trying to reinforce Trump's positive tweets about the trade talks. Trump tweeted on Jan 8, "Talks with China are going very well." Paal said: "His words on seeking cooperation with China are welcome and stand in contrast with voices elsewhere in the Trump administration. The results of the coming talks are likely to be equally mixed." The White House canceled the trip of the US delegation to Davos for the annual meeting of the 2019 World Economic Forum because of the longest US federal government shutdown in history. But the organizer announced early on Tuesday that Pompeo would still speak via video link in a conversation moderated by WEF President Borge Brende, a former Norwegian foreign minister. On Tuesday, Pompeo also sounded optimistic on US relations with Russia and talks with the Democratic People's Republic of Korea. Trump is expected to meet DPRK leader Kim Jong-un for a second summit in February, following their first in Singapore in June. In his speech, however, Pompeo did point a finger at China, Russia, the DPRK and Iran and said some of their behaviors are threats. The strains in China-US relations, especially over trade tensions, have been a major concern for government and business leaders attending the Davos forum. The International Monetary Fund, in announcing its latest World Economic Outlook on Monday, listed trade tensions as a major source of uncertainty for global economic growth. Eswar Prasad, a professor of international trade at Cornell University, said the US and China now have a strong common interest in finding a path to at least a temporary truce in the trade dispute, which is exacting a significant toll on business and investor confidence in both economies. "The trade war is not the main factor behind deteriorating economic sentiments in either country, but it undoubtedly contributes to an already uncertain and fragile economic environment," Prasad said in an email. There are many difficult challenges that will have to be overcome for China and the US to reach a deal that is acceptable to both sides, he added. Jon Taylor, a political science professor at the University of St. Thomas in Houston, Texas, said he believes Pompeo's speech offered "a very small measure of positivity". In his speech, Pompeo also said the course of the China-US relationship will be determined by "the principles that America stands by", and said he hopes China will adopt policies consistent with those of the US. Taylor said, "A win-win and lasting deal requires that the US treat China with both respect and as an equal. Until that happens, any proposals are going to be difficult to be concluded." Taylor said that given Pompeo's apparent call for China to bend to US trade demands on trade and change its model of development, it doesn't appear that the trade war is going to conclude any time soon. Iran has discovered a new oil field containing unspecified reserves of "light and sweet" crude in the southwestern province of Khuzestan, Iran's oil minister said Wednesday. The oil field was discovered on Tuesday on Minoo Island in the general area of Abadan, which is home to Iran's largest and oldest oil processing facility, said Bijan Namdar Zanganeh. "This is the first time we discover oil in the Abadan area," which is located at a depth of 3,770 meters, Zanganeh was quoted as saying by Press TV. Drilling will continue to estimate the total volume of the reserves and the possibility of production, he added. According to the report, Iran will determine whether it is an independent oil field or the extension of an Iraqi oil field across the border. Yan Xiusheng (L), Chinese ambassador in Barbados, shows Sandra Mason (C), governor-general of Barbados, the intangible cultural heritage skills of Beijing, Tianjin and Hebei in Bridgetown, capital of Barbados, on Jan. 22, 2019. A celebration of the Chinese New Year kicked off with a famous Chinese folk song "Jasmine Flower" in a gala in Bridgetown, Barbados, on Jan. 22. The gala is the first of an event series called "Happy Chinese New Year, Charming Beijing, Tianjin, Hebei." Artists from the northern Chinese region presented a variety of performances with rich Chinese cultural flavors, including acrobatics, Peking Opera, and martial arts. The stage performances won waves of applauses from the audience, among whom were the Chinese ambassador in Barbados Yan Xiusheng. Also on display at the venue were various intangible cultural heritage skills, including costumes of Peking Opera, woodprints of an ancient town of Tianjin, paper cuttings of Hebei province's Wei county. The event series will continue with a reception and performances in other locations in Barbados, as representatives and performing artists from the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region hope to bring the festival spirit of the Chinese New Year to all corners of the island. The activities were organized by the press offices of the local governments of Beijing, Tianjin, and Hebei province, and the Chinese embassy in Barbados. Similar "Happy Chinese New Year" activities will also soon land in Beverly Hills in the American city of Los Angeles. You are here: Arts A costume action film Yang's Female Warriors, featuring child actors, is releasing on Jan 25 in China's cinemas. The film is based on the story of the generals of the Yang family in early years of Song Dynasty (960-1279). Speaking about the movie, director Li Wenhao told a press conference on Jan 18 in Changsha, in Hunan province, that all the actors were very dedicated, especially when it came to the action scenes Li Ruozhu, 12, plays Yang Ye, the head of the family. Besides, he also sings the theme song of the movie. Black comedy meets sci-fi in Ning Hao's new film, Crazy Alien, which will be released during Spring Festival, Xu Fan reports. From Crazy Stone to No Man's Land to Dying to Survive, most of the films Ning Hao has directed or produced use black comedy to examine social issues. So, many people were surprised when the 42-year-old director recently revealed he has been a sci-fi fan since he was young. Sci-fi content carried by once-popular productions like the Kunming-based comic magazine, Aomi ("profound mysteries"), and the 1980s animated series, The Transformers, opened his eyes and made him curious about "other worlds", he said at a recent news conference. His sci-fi film, Crazy Alien, will open across the Chinese mainland in less than two weeks. It'll be his first time contending for a top spot during the lucrative Spring Festival holiday. It'll face 11 rivals during the period, starting on Feb 5, the first day of the Year of the Pig. The seven films Ning has made during the past decade have grossed nearly 2 billion yuan ($295 million). Our first Alberta Clipper of the winter is projected to hit the Great Lakes late Sunday through Tuesday. The Alberta Clipper will produce a drier, light-weight snow that can easily blow around. Early next week could have some widespread treacherous travel across Michigan and the entire Great Lakes region. Just below is the forecast surface map for 1 p.m. next Monday, January 28, 2019. A fairly strong storm center is forecast to be in Wisconsin midday Monday. An Alberta Clipper produces snow in colder air. The snow is able to blow and drift easily. The map above is from NOAAs GFS model. The storm is four days away, which is still fairly far in advance for a weather forecast. But both top-of-the-line models, the GFS and the Euro, show similar forecasts. The Euro is about 50 miles farther south, which doesnt change the outcome significantly in an Alberta Clipper situation. What I have seen so far this winter is the actual outcome is right in the middle of the GFS and the Euro. In that case Michigan is right in the solid snow shield of the storm, especially the southern half of Lower Michigan. The black lines surrounding the storm center indicate the wind potential. The more black lines there are, which are air pressure lines, the higher the winds. This storm could easily produce 20 mph to 30 mph wind gusts. With several inches of fluffy snow, there would be lots of drifting. Some Alberta Clippers can be quite weak. In this case, Id call this a higher-end strength Alberta Clipper, based on the air pressure pattern. The storm center Monday night could be in a position for a windy, snowy cold situation across Michigan. You probably want to know how much snow could fall. Its too early to give exact amounts at specific locations. Typically an Alberta Clipper of this strength brings two to six inches of snow. The issue here isnt really how much snow will exactly fall, but the wind that will blow it around. If you are planning on traveling Monday or Tuesday across Michigan, Id suggest moving travel up a day to Sunday. Sunday may not have perfect roads, but better than Monday and Tuesday. After the storm passes, a widespread heavy lake effect situation looks to develop Wednesday and Thursday. Along with temperatures near zero, road conditions could be very dangerous across much of Michigan next week. Ill keep you updated right through the weekend. UPDATE; SAGINAW TWP, MI A Saginaw Township officer has undergone surgery for bullet wounds received during a traffic stop, while the parolee accused of shooting him has been returned to prison. The suspect also is recovering from being shot in the face by an officer during his arrest. Late in the evening of Wednesday, Jan. 23, Officer Jeff Koenig, 48, underwent surgery at University Hospital in Ann Arbor for a wound to his jaw, said Saginaw Township Police Chief Donald F. Pussehl Jr. The surgery lasted for approximately two hours, Pussehl said. Surgeons cleaned the wound, however, were not able to begin reconstructive surgery due to swelling that has developed. Once the swelling subsides, additional surgeries will take place. Officer Koenig will continue to rest while awaiting further surgeries. Please continue to keep Officer Koenig in your thoughts and prayers. Also on Wednesday, shooting suspect Joshua M. Rosebush, 29, was returned to the Charles Egeler Reception & Guidance Center in Jackson, confirmed Michigan Department of Corrections spokesman Chris Gautz. Hes being processed again as a parole violator, Gautz said. Parole violations are all on us; we handle those internally. Rosebush has at least 13 convictions on his record, 10 of which netted him prison time. Most recently, a Tuscola County judge in March 2016 sentenced him to three concurrent terms of two to 15 years in prison. The MDOC paroled Rosebush in April and he is accused of absconding on Jan. 3 of this year by removing an electronic tether. Rosebush could serve the remaining time left on the sentence he was paroled on, though new charges are expected as well, Gautz said. Joshua M. Rosebush on being returned to prison on Jan. 23, 2019, bandaged due to the bullet wound he received. Saginaw County Chief Assistant Prosecutor Mark J. Gaertner previously told MLive that prosecutors in several counties where Rosebush is accused of committing crimes need to confer and form a game plan on how to proceed. He said his office plans to charge Rosebush with assault with intent to murder and weapons offenses at the minimum. As Rosebush is back in prison, prosecutors need not file new charges within the 72-hour timeframe that typically follows a suspects arrest, Gaertner has said. Rosebush was shot at least once when a Shiawassee County Sheriffs detective took him into custody about 1 p.m. on Tuesday, around 11 hours after police contend Rosebush shot Koenig in his jaw and right shoulder. Gautz said he had heard Rosebush was shot in the face as well, and though he could not confirm it, Rosebushs MDOC mug shot taken on Tuesday indicates as such. The case began about 2 a.m. Tuesday, when Koenig spotted a white Dodge pickup driving with its headlights off. Koenig stopped the truck on Tittabawassee Road between Fashion Square Boulevard and Bay Road in Kochville Township. When Koenig approached the truck to give its driver a warning about the lights, the driver opened fire on him, police have said. The truck drove off as Koenig managed to radio for help. Police later found the Dodge abandoned near Davis and Liberty roads in Kochville Township. Police believe Rosebush stole two more vehicles before the Shiawassee County Sheriffs detective spotted him heading east on Interstate 69. Rosebush stopped the van he was driving between Lansing and Braden roads in Woodhull Township, exited it, and pointed a handgun at the detective. The detective shot Rosebush, who was then taken into custody. Its unclear if Rosebush fired any shots at the detective. As a felon, Rosebush is prohibited from possessing guns. The detective had been placed on paid administrative leave pending an investigations conclusion. The Michigan State Police is investigating both shootings. Since Koenigs shooting, a Facebook page has been started to raise funds for his and his familys expenses, with a stated goal of $250,000. As of 8:45 a.m. Thursday, 4,770 people had donated a total of $155,151. BAY CITY, MI Before learning hed be spending more than six years in prison for trafficking in child pornography, the former president of a Saginaw County charter school described his crime as a lapse in judgment. U.S. District Judge Thomas L. Ludington on Thursday, Jan. 24, sentenced 36-year-old Jesse V. Medina to 78 months, or 6.5 years, in prison. Once hes served his term, he is to be on supervised release for an additional 10 years. Medina in September 2018 pleaded guilty to receipt of child pornography, which comes with a mandatory minimum five-year sentence. When he pleaded, Medina admitted he knowingly received at least 150 images of minors engaged in sexual conduct on his smartphone between the summer of 2017 and April 23. Medina said he did not know whom he had received the images from, but believed they came from Illinois. Medinas defense attorney, Christopher J. McGrath, said his client had had discussions with an Illinois man about taking a child, raping them, then dumping them off somewhere, but said this was just a fantasy. He stressed his client has a strong family support network and cited numerous letters penned by loved ones describing him as a considerate and caring person. McGrath also pointed out that Medina had earned a masters degree in business administration and has no criminal history. He asked Ludington to sentence Medina to between 60 and 78 months, his guidelines being 78 to 97 months. I do accept complete responsibility for the charges Im here for today, Medina told Ludington when allowed to speak. Im very remorseful. It pains me for (my family) to see me today in shambles. Im not perfect by any means. Im very sorry to all my family and friends I disappointed. Ludington asked Medina how he met the Illinois man whom he received the child porn from. Medina said he thought he met him on Craigslist. The judge then asked him how they got onto the topic of kidnapping, raping, and abandoning a child. It was a total lapse in judgment, Medina said. Its something Im regretful for. It was just something to keep the conversation going, and I initiated it. I would never, ever act on it. Ludington asked him why he even engaged in such a discussion, to which Medina again said it was a lapse in judgment and added that the conversation was not truly representative of who he is as a person. Assistant U.S. Attorney Janet L. Parker took issue with Medina blaming his lacking judgment for his crime. This was an ongoing course of conduct that resulted from his desires, she said. The reason he wanted to keep the conversation going is it was a conversation that interested him. When Medina committed his crimes, he was serving as the president of the board of directors of North Saginaw Charter Academy, 2332 Trautner Drive in Kochville Township. The school has a charter through Central Michigan University. Medina was appointed as a board member in May 2013 and was reappointed in May 2017. Board positions are voluntary and members do not receive compensation. Medina was suspended from the position upon his arrest, according to Janelle Brzezinski, director of communications for the Center for Charter Schools at CMU. Medina later submitted a resignation letter, Brzezinski said. MUSKEGON, MI -- A convicted sex offender, and repeated violator of the states Sex Offender Registry Act, has been charged with the sexual assault of a child. Clifford Lee Mallory, 57, of Muskegon could face life in prison if convicted of the second-degree criminal sexual assault charge. He was convicted of fourth-degree CSC in 1997, and since then has been convicted of four misdemeanors and two felonies related to his failure to comply with sex offender registry requirements. He was sentenced to 120 days served and 14 months of probation on the latest, a felony, on Jan. 7. Mallory is accused of at least one sexual contact with a child under age 13 between Jan. 1, 2013, and 2016, said Muskegon County Chief Assistant Prosecutor Timothy Maat. The child recently disclosed (the allegations) to her current caregiver, which is her great grandmother, Maat said. The Michigan Department of Corrections web site shows Mallory has felony convictions for delivery of a controlled substance in 2003, larceny over $100 in 1987 and receiving stolen property in 1984 Because of his prior convictions, Mallory faces the latest charge as a four-time habitual offender. That increases the potential penalty upon conviction from 15 years to life in prison. Mallorys preliminary examination is scheduled for 9 a.m. Feb. 7 before Muskegon County District Judge Geoffrey Nolan. He is being held in the Muskegon County Jail on a $25,000 cash or surety bond. VAN BUREN COUNTY, MI -- An Army soldier originally from Bloomingdale and stationed in western Texas has died in a crash between two military vehicles during a training exercise. Family of Cole Wixom, a 2013 Bloomingdale High School graduate, confirmed that he was killed in the Tuesday, Jan. 22 crash in Otero County, New Mexico. Wixom was stationed at Fort Bliss in the El Paso area and was married. Wixom was among two soldiers killed and seven injured in a crash involving two Interim Armored Vehicle Strykers on U.S. Route 54., according to KFOX14. KALAMAZOO, MI -- A federal grant used by Kalamazoo County to connect people experiencing homelessness with social services will impact six other Southwest Michigan counties. The $720,000, three-year Project to Assist Transition from Homelessness grant will primarily pay for staff for a boots-on-the-ground effort to meet with people on the street. Outreach and referral services will be available across seven counties in Southwest Michigan, including Berrien, Branch, Cass, Calhoun, Kalamazoo, St. Joseph and Van Buren counties. David Anderson, director of housing and facilities at Kalamazoo County Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services, said changes in the competitive program require regional partnerships. The approach will consolidate administration functions, making the grant more efficient, and give other counties tools to deal with issues in their own backyard. It is most certainly the case that people who are experiencing homelessness are not bounded by geographical boundaries and tend to gravitate to where there are services, Anderson said. Its trying to take those services to people where they are. Anderson is appreciative of the funds, but said the approach shows a discouraging disconnect between federal agencies. While the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services is increasing resources for outreach, Anderson said the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development is scaling back resources for people most likely to have substance abuse and mental health issues. My concern about it at this point is we are really trying to ramp up our outreach and engagement efforts, often times for folks who have very little interest in engaging with the system, Anderson said. At the same time were doing this, housing assistance is being diminished. I feel like my team here is working hard and tromping around in the woods. We have the engagement and referral side but we are weakening our permanent supportive housing side of things. Kalamazoo County has received PATH grant funding before, but Anderson said it was used to fund activities at sites where people experiencing homelessness congregate. The new grant is focused on outreach only. Anderson said it was helpful to meet people at the Kalamazoo Gospel Mission or other places. It could be difficult to find people who are disconnected from mainstream resources, he said. Youre trying to engage with folks and youre spending your time walking around looking for campgrounds," Anderson said. "When you get to places like Kalamazoo, you spend a great deal of time looking for folks. An annual accounting of people experiencing homelessness will begin on Jan. 30. The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development requires local Continuum of Care networks to conduct an annual count of people in emergency shelters, transitional housing, and safe havens -- as well as places not meant for human habitation -- on a single night. The results provide agencies with data on the area's homeless population, which is critical when applying for federal and state grants. Surveyors ask for personal identifying information, including age, race and gender, as well as veteran and disability status and their history of being homeless. People are also asked if they have a photo ID, and the data will be used as part of ongoing efforts to make obtaining personal identification easier. The 2018 point-in-time count shows 567 people experienced homelessness during a single night in January, including 53 people not staying in a shelter and 149 children. These numbers are expected to be higher in warmer months. Anderson said the point-in-time count is just a snapshot of the homeless population. It doesnt make a great deal of sense to do it in the middle of January in Michigan, Anderson said. I have no idea how we will do on that one day. Were making every effort we can to see if we can accurately reflect (the homeless population) its hard. Residents and law enforcement officials are encouraged to contact Kalamazoo County Mental Health and Substance Abuse Serivces at (269) 364-6945 if they see someone sleeping outside who is in need of help. Anderson said it could save someones life, especially in the winter. In December 2018, 51-year-old Ronald James was found dead behind an automotive retail business in Portage. Police identified him as a person experiencing homelessness, did not release the cause of death, pending an autopsy. Portage Lt. Joe McDonnell said police will transport people to local churches, shelters and other service providers if needed. JACKSON, MI A Jackson business founded 71 years ago isnt done growing. Alro Steel has started construction on a 195,000-square-foot facility in Oshkosh, Wisconsin. Its 4 miles from Alros other location in the city. Alro Steel is a distributor of metals, industrial supplies and plastics. The business offers cut-to-size orders for next-day delivery and will offer its processing capabilities at the new building. Its expected to open in early 2020, an Alro Steel press release said. The fate of the current Oshkosh location, the cost of the new construction and the potential number of employees to be added isnt being disclosed at this time, Vice President Brian Glick said. "We have no comment on future plans at this time, other than to say that Alro is excited to provide better support for cut-to-size metals to our current and future customers in Wisconsin," Glick said in an email. Brothers Alvin and Robert Glick sons of Jackson-area business leader Louis Glick founded Alro Steel in 1948. The company has grown to about 3,000 employees across 12 states in 70 facilities. GRAND RAPIDS, MI -- Protesters continue to call for Kent County to end its involvement with federal immigration authorities even as the sheriffs office recently scaled back cooperation. At the Kent County Board of Commissioners meeting Thursday, Jan. 24, representatives of Movimiento Cosecha GR and GR Rapid Response to ICE petitioned county leaders to sign a mock resolution seeking an end to the county jail contract with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. No commissioners signed the resolution. Whats different this time, as opposed to the last time protesters presented commissioners with a similar mock resolution sixth months ago, is the recent announcement that the Kent County Sheriffs Office will no longer honor ICE detainment requests without a federal arrest warrant. Kent County Sheriff Michelle LaJoye-Young announced that policy change Jan. 18 following public outrage at the three-day detainment of a U.S. citizen by ICE following his detention at the Kent County Jail. The man, a 27-year-old former U.S. Marine named Jilmar Ramos-Gomez, had a Michigan drivers license on his person when he was lodged at the jail but ICE issued a detainment request after he allegedly told ICE officers he was a foreign national illegally present in the U.S." Ramos-Gomez was transferred Dec. 14 from Kent County Jail to the Calhoun County Jail for possible deportation proceedings. He was released three days later only after an attorney, contacted by his mother, provided citizenship documentation to ICE. Like other people here I am glad for this change to the county's policy with respect to ICE holds, I truly am, said protester John Martin. For me, the news that the county agrees with us about the inexcusable nature of what was done to this family that raises another question ... Why would you trust a single word that ICE says? Why would you trust anything that comes from ICE? Does Kent County really want to keep shaking hands with the agency responsible for this just as long as they promise to be more careful? Gema Lowe, an organizer with Movimiento Cosecha GR, said stories like Ramos-Gomezs demonstrate the contract with ICE is not just unnecessary but morally wrong. I told you last time I was here I wasn't lying about the pain and suffering in my community, said protester Gema Lowe. I feel an apology now is not enough. Jilmar and his mom deserve more than an apology. We deserve from this commission to end the meaningless contract once and for all. Representatives from American Civil Liberties Union of Michigan and Michigan Immigrant Rights Center also spoke at Thursdays meeting. Both lauded the sheriffs decision to not hold people solely on detainment requests. What happened to Jilmar should never happen to anyone -- not here in Kent County, not here in Michigan and not anywhere in the United States, ACLU attorney Miriam Aukerman said. We particularly appreciate that the sheriff has said that she will advocate for judicial warrants nationwide. Other communities should not wait to have this kind of trauma happen in their community before they make the kind of change that she has made here. Marie-Claire Camp holds a letter that they asked commissioners to sign at the Kent County Board of Commissioners meeting in Grand Rapids on Thursday, Jan. 24, 2019. Commissioner Monica Sparks offered some edits. (Neil Blake | MLive.com)Neil Blake | MLive.com For the past seven months, protesters have continually showed up at the Kent County Board of Commissioners meetings seeking an end to the countys jail contract with ICE. The contract, signed in 2012 and renewed in late 2017, formalizes the amount of payment the jail receives for each day an inmate flagged for ICE detention is held. It also allows ICE detainments for up to three days, rather than the standard two. LaJoye-Young said the recent policy change to accept detainments only with a federal warrant does not violate the contract. The contract is set to expire at the end of August, the sheriff said. She said she couldnt comment at this time whether or not it will be renewed. In 2017, the county held 185 ICE detainees, according to jail records. In 2016, there were 90, preceded by 107 in 2015, 182 in 2014, and 151 in 2013. Under the contract, the jail is reimbursed $85 by ICE for each day of detainment. The average cost of housing an inmate each day was around $100 in 2016, sheriffs office officials previously said. ICE officials became aware of Ramos-Gomez after Grand Rapids police alerted them, and other federal authorities, of a possible act of terrorism" he was involved in. The possible act of terrorism" relates to a Nov. 21 incident at Spectrum Health Butterworth Hospital in which Ramos-Gomez allegedly breached security at the hospital, set a fire, pulled a fire alarm and stood out on the helipad, according to Grand Rapids police. He was arrested that day. Ramos-Gomezs family says his actions were related to post-traumatic stress disorder and that he is currently receiving mental health treatment. Ramos-Gomez, a lance corporal and tank crewman, served in Afghanistan from 2011 to 2014. GRAND RAPIDS, MI -- Less than a week after changing its policy, the Kent County Sheriffs Office has already refused a request from federal immigration authorities to hold a person past their detention on local charges. Kent County Sheriff Michelle LaJoye-Young said she was aware of at least one instance in the past week where a person lodged on local charges was free to leave county jail but also had a detainment request from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. ICE officers or their representatives were not present at release, so jail staff let the person free. LaJoye-Young said she was unable to detail the persons local charges. The sheriffs office would previously hold a person requested held by ICE for up to 72 hours past their free-to-go status on local charges. That policy remains in place, but LaJoye-Young recently strengthened the oversight needed for her office to honor such a request. LaJoye-Young announced Jan. 18 her office would no longer honor ICE detainment requests unless they were accompanied with a federal arrest warrant. I think its dangerous in any law enforcement circumstance to not have due process and judicial review, she said. I think its one of the cornerstones to our constitutional process that we have in place, so I think its important that they have that inserted step. The policy change came on the heels of outrage at the three-day detainment of a U.S. citizen by ICE following his detention at the Kent County Jail. LaJoye-Young previously said she shared that outrage. She has since sent a letter to the family of the detained man, 27-year-old former U.S. Marine Jilmar Ramos-Gomez. ICE officials issued a detainer on Ramos-Gomez after he allegedly told them, while interviewed in jail, that he was a foreign national illegally present in the U.S." He was transferred Dec. 14 from Kent County Jail to the Calhoun County Jail for possible deportation proceedings. He was released three days later only after an attorney, contacted by Ramos-Gomez mother, provided citizenship documentation to ICE. American Civil Liberties Union of Michigan officials say Grand Rapids police arrested Jilmar with several documents of identification on him: a U.S. passport, Michigan drivers license, military ID card and U.S. Marine tags. The sheriff previously said he was lodged in jail with a Michigan drivers license. Lawyers from ACLU and Michigan Immigrant Rights Center say they arent satisfied with explanations from Grand Rapids police and federal authorities about the detainment and want more answers. ICE officials became aware of Ramos-Gomez after Grand Rapids police alerted them, and other federal authorities, of a possible act of terrorism" he was involved in. The possible act of terrorism" relates to a Nov. 21 incident at Spectrum Health Butterworth Hospital in which Ramos-Gomez allegedly breached security at the hospital, set a fire, pulled a fire alarm and stood out on the helipad, according to Grand Rapids police. He was arrested that day. Ramos-Gomezs family says his actions were related to post-traumatic stress disorder and that he is currently receiving mental health treatment. Ramos-Gomez, a lance corporal and tank crewman, served in Afghanistan from 2011 to 2014. LaJoye-Youngs office continues to receive detainment requests from ICE but has yet to receive any federal arrest warrants attached to them. If a person with a detainment request is being released from Kent County Jail, sheriffs officials call ICE officials and let them know. Whats changed, though, is they wont hold that person any longer than someone without a detainer. What were saying isnt that ICE wont have access to that person to be detained, were saying were not holding them for you (without a federal arrest warrant)," LaJoye-Young said. The Kent County Sheriffs Office does not conduct immigration arrests. Rather, detainment requests are typically issued by ICE after a person is booked in the jail and that persons information is transmitted to federal authorities. OTTAWA COUNTY, MI -- A 25-year-old Holland Township man accused of breaking into the home of an acquaintance and shooting him in the mid-section last week in the Zeeland Township area has been arrested on four felonies. Holland police were handling a separate case when they came across the suspect and took him into custody Thursday, Jan. 24. He was arrested on charges of assault with intent to do great bodily harm less than murder, felon in possession of a firearm, use of a firearm in commission of a felony, and first-degree home invasion. MLive/The Grand Rapids Press is withholding the mans name, pending arraignment. He is booked in the Ottawa County Jail. The shooting occurred around 8:50 p.m. Jan. 15 at a Zeeland Township home at Ottogan Estates Park. Police said the man broke into the victims home and shot the victim in the mid-section. Officers were dispatched to Holland Hospital on a report that a man in his 20s had been admitted for a gunshot wound. He was treated at the hospital and released. The suspected shooter was arrested Thursday in the area of 24th Street and Waverly Road in Holland. He has an extensive criminal history, according to the Ottawa County Sheriffs Office. Documentary director Liu Junwei had been planning to make a documentary about Zhongguancun, China's entrepreneurial and innovation hub in Beijing, for years. But he needed a peg for the story. And 2018 provided the perfect opportunity as it was the 40th anniversary of reform and opening-up. Speaking about why he wanted to make the documentary, Liu says: "Everyone has heard of Zhongguancun, but some still think it's a market for electronic goods." As he researched Zhongguancun, he realized the electronics market was just the outcome of one phase of the area's development. So what is the secret of Zhongguancun, and what does it mean for the social and economic development of today's society? With these questions in mind, Liu started to shoot the documentary. The six-episode documentary named after the area, aired in December on the science and education channel of China Central Television, looks at Chinese entrepreneurs and internet companies such as Baidu, Sohu and Netease. According to Jin Ling, the producer, the documentary took 18 months to complete. "Many think that Zhongguancun is just a place in Beijing's Haidian district, but this documentary also includes 17 locations in the city," says Jin. A special film crew took more than one year to shoot scenes in Zhongguancun in different seasons. And a research team was assigned to collect historical material, including photos, videos, documents and newspapers that would showcase the story of Zhongguancun. GRAND RAPIDS, MI Nonprofit housing developers seeking to repair or demolish 16 tax foreclosed homes are getting a boost thanks to the city of Grand Rapids. The city is offering the developers loans, of up to $13,600 per property, to pay for expenses such as demolition, lead and asbestos abatement and public infrastructure improvements. Once repaired, the homes are expected to be sold or rented to low-income residents. Kara Wood, economic development director, said the loans will be repaid to the city over a 10-year period through property taxes generated by the redevelopment. As the resources decline and the availability of funds for affordable housing redevelopment get tighter and tighter, this is just one way that we can be of assistance, she said. The groups seeking the funds are: Inner City Christian Federation, Habitat for Humanity of Kent County, LINC UP, New Development Corporation, Westside Collaborative and Next Step of West Michigan. If a property does not generate enough tax revenue over the 10-year period to cover the loan, the unpaid balance would be turned into a grant and forgiven, according to the city. But because the pot of money the city is using to fund the repairs will, for an additional five years, continue to capture taxes generated as the result of the development, the city expects full repayment will be provided, according to a memo outlining the plan. Wood said the nonprofits want to start work on the homes as soon as possible. Some are in the process of acquiring the homes and others are waiting on resources to start making repairs. The redeveloped homes must be used to provide home ownership for residents earning 80 percent or less of the area median income ($50,400 for a 3-person household) or rental housing for residents who earn 60 percent or less of the area median income ($37,800 for a 3-person household). Developers could provide market-rate housing at the redeveloped homes, but only when reserving the properties for low-income residents is not feasible, according to the city. That would be the case when the appraised value of a completed redevelopment is significantly more (i.e. 20% or more) than a household earning 80% of area median income can afford, according to the city. The city acquired the 16 tax foreclosed properties from InnovaLaB, also known as the Kent County Landbank, and transferred them to the nonprofit organizations in December. The loan agreements are being offered through the citys Brownfield Redevelopment Authority. The citys Brownfield program enables developers to recoup tax revenue, that would otherwise go to the city, to cover the cost of cleaning up polluted properties. KENT COUNTY, MI The family of a man who was having a manic episode when he was shot and killed by police says police are ill-equipped to handle calls involving those with mental illness. Jonathan Sper, 30, died Jan 24, 2017, after a struggle with Kent County sheriffs deputies at his brothers house in Algoma Township. Kent County Proescutor Chris Becker determined the shooting to be justifiable. He said that Sper did not simply resist, he violently struck Deputy (Jason) Wiersma multiple times. Spers family, however, says that police lacked training to deal with those with significant mental illnesses. They blamed police for escalating violence. Many tragedies, including the tragedy that forms the basis of this case, result from officers lack of training on how to safely interact with individuals with serious mental illness and their deliberate and unnecessary use of excessive and deadly force, attorney Stephen Drew, representing Spers estate, said in a lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court in Grand Rapids. Standard police training such as issuing commands and aggressively intensifying actions when commands are not followed may work in certain circumstances. However, when those tactics are employed with those who suffer mental illness or developmental disorders, the tactics can exacerbate and escalate a situation quickly, leading to fatal injuries. Drew said the death resulted from unjustified excessive and deadly force and highlight(ed) the need for compassion, understanding, education, and training in order to protect the lives of those suffering mental illnesses as well as the law enforcement officers and first responders with whom they come into contact. The lawsuit names Kent County, Sheriff Michelle LaJoye-Young, retired-Sheriff Larry Stelma, and deputies Jason Wiersma, who fired the fatal shot, and John Tuinhoff, who also responded, as defendants. LaJoye-Young, who has not yet been served with the complaint, declined to comment. The incident began around 5:15 p.m. when Sper showed up at his brothers house on Summit Court NE. The homeowner, Jarred Sper, was out of state but another brother, Stephen Sper, was there. The prosecutor says Sper was not let in because of previous problems and that Stephen Sper called 911 after being attacked. He then locked his brother in the garage to keep him out of the house. Stephen Sper told a dispatcher that he lost keys to his truck during the struggle and was concerned because a gun was in the trucks console. When police showed up, Jonathan Sper was drinking beer in the garage. They tried to handcuff him but he attacked Wiersma, the prosecutor said. The deputies could not subdue Sper. He and Wiersma tumbled down 15 stairs. Sper was on top, hitting Wiersma in the back of his head with a hard object and reached for the deputys gun belt, police said. The deputies used Tasers but that did not slow Sper down. When Sper jumped on Tuinhoff, the deputy felt a stab from a sharp object, possibly a broken beer bottle or coffee cup, the prosecutor said. Sper ran upstairs, got into the house and started to shut the door when Wiersma told Sper to drop what he thought was a weapon in his hand. Wiersma was mistaken. Police found keys near the door that Wiersma mistook for a sharp object. "Despite Deputy Wiersma's order for Jonathan to 'drop it!' Jonathan instead started to slam the door in the face of the deputy," Becker wrote. Wiersma was concerned that Sper possibly armed with then gun was going inside to attack his brother again. "Jonathan was now inside the home, armed, in a manic state, and had access to his brother who he had attacked earlier. ... In the words of Deputy Wiersma, 'I had no other option than shooting to stop the suspect, Becker wrote. The lawsuit said that Sper, as a young man, was diagnosed with mental illness, including bipolar disorder and bipolar schizoaffective disorder. He had been hospitalized several times and underwent treatment programs. He had had prior contacts with police but no history of violence or use of weapons, the lawsuit said. Six days before the shooting, the lawsuit said, he suffered mental instability and was arrested for failing to pay a $10 tab at a restaurant. He was jailed until 3:15 p.m. Jan. 24, 2017. When he got out, he went to his brothers to drop off belongings before catching a planned flight to possibly relocate in Los Angeles. The lawsuit said Stephen Sper hugged his brother in the driveway, then got him a cup of coffee while his brother put his belongings in the garage. After a short talk, Stephen Sper believed his brother was having a manic episode and tried to calm him down. Just after 7 p.m., Stephen Sper called 911 for help keeping his brother out of the house. He told a dispatcher that his brother was in a manic state but said he was not in danger, the lawsuit said. He then realized his jacket was ripped while he was keeping his brother outside, and that keys to his truck, with the gun in the console, may have been in the garage with his brother. He called 911 back with that information. The deputies arrived around 7:20 p.m., talked to Stephen Sper, and requested backup, the lawsuit said. There was no indication that Stephen, the deputies, or anyone in the area were in any danger, the lawsuit said. Before backup got there the deputies decided to arrested Jonathan Sper in the garage. They shouted commands that undoubtedly escalated his manic episode, Drew wrote in the lawsuit. He said police did not check the truck for the gun or see anything in Spers hands when the altercation started. Stephen heard Jonathan yell repeatedly, Get off me! Im doing it! The suspect ran upstairs, closed a solid wood door, and was hit by four shots fired through the door, Drew said. He was hit in the chest, neck, left shoulder and left forearm. Deputy Wiersma was not in an immediate zone of danger when Jonathan entered the home, Drew wrote. He contended that the deputy did not see any type of weapon in Spers hands. The lawsuit said Wiersma acted in an extreme, outrageous and reckless manner in firing the gun through the door. The lawsuit contends that police used excessive force and denied Sper medical attention and violated the Americans with Disability Act. It says that the sheriff and former sheriff failed to train and supervise deputies in use of force and dealing with mentally ill people. The lawsuit includes state claims for negligence and assault and battery. GRAND RAPIDS, MI -- Lawyers with the American Civil Liberties Union say theyre not satisfied with explanations from Grand Rapids police and federal authorities about how a former Marine was detained for possible deportation. ACLU leaders on Wednesday, Jan. 23 sent letters to both the Grand Rapids Police Department and the Immigration and Customs Enforcement bureau, demanding answers. Jilmar Ramos-Gomez, born in Grand Rapids, was detained by ICE for three days in December after he was released from the Kent County Jail upon pleading guilty to a trespassing charge. According to the ACLU, Ramos-Gomez was arrested by Grand Rapids police on Nov. 21 with several documents on him: U.S. passport, Michigan drivers license, military ID card and U.S. Marine tags. Grand Rapids police in a Jan. 18 statement acknowledged they first notified ICE and the FBI about Ramos-Gomez because the Nov. 21 arrest stemmed from an incident at Spectrum Health Butterworth Hospital where Ramos-Gomez breached security," set a fire, pulled a fire alarm and stood on the rooftop helipad. Police in the beginning believed it could be a possible act of terrorism. But ACLU lawyers say police had access to his documents at the outset. And yet, the GRPD called ICE. We need to know why," ACLU lawer Miriam Aukerman and Michigan Immigrant Righs Center attorney Hillary Scholten wrote in the Wednesday letter to Grand Rapids police. They questioned whether Ramos-Gomezs name and ethnic background played a role. In the letter, the attorneys are asking police to conduct a further investigation into why ICE was contacted and present the findings at an upcoming city commission meeting. In a separate letter, they want ICE administrators to explain why federal authorities never looked at Ramos-Gomez;s documents. ICE officials recently said Ramos-Gomez told them at the Kent County Jail that he was a foreign national. The issue surrounding Ramos-Gomez, whose family says suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder and he needs mental health care, is expected to come up at a Thursday, Jan. 24 Kent County Board of Commissioners meeting. Sheriff Michelle Lajoye-Young is expected to talk about a recent policy change to only accept detainment requests from ICE if presented with a federal warrant. The jail has a contact with ICE to hold people for up to three days, but it previously required only a civil warrant from ICE for the holds. GRAND RAPIDS, MI A fifth suspect has been arrested in the killing of 17-year-old James King, an East Kentwood High senior who was shot during an alleged marijuana rip-off at a strip mall. The suspect, 17, is expected to be arraigned Thursday, Jan. 24, in Grand Rapids District. Grand Rapids police arrested the suspect Wednesday night during a traffic stop on Godfrey Avenue SW near Clemente Park. Police say five teens planned to rob King of marijuana after setting up a deal on social media. Israel Valdez, 17, allegedly shot King in the face when he tried to fight back during the robbery in the back seat of a car. Others in custody are Alanah Faith Claflin, 18, Ahmed Hasan, 17, and Kayleb Sims, 17. The five are charged with open murder, assault with intent to rob while armed and conspiracy to commit armed robbery, all life offenses. The shooting happened Jan. 13 at Towne and Country Shopping Center, near Kalamazoo Avenue SE and 44th Street. Police say Hasan drove his friends to the strip mall to rob King of marijuana after arranging a sale. Hasan got out of his car before the shooting happened. Another teen got behind the wheel after the shooting and sped off, leaving Hasan briefly at the scene. He was arrested later at his home after police found his car a few blocks away. THETFORD TWP., MI An investigation into a suspended police chief has been expanded to include other current and former officers, the chiefs attorney said Thursday. Genesee County Sheriff Robert Pickell confirmed deputies executed search warrants on Jan. 23, but would only say the searches were part of an ongoing investigation and would not comment further. He declined to say whether the searches were in connection with the chiefs case. But Thetford Township police Chief Robert Kennys attorney Frank J. Manley told MLive-The Flint Journal that four or five searches were conducted by investigators, one at Kennys home and some at the residences of current and former law enforcement officers. Kenny is on unpaid leave after allegations arose last year that he kept thousands of dollars earned from scrapping surplus military equipment for personal use rather than turn it over to township officials. These gentlemen have dedicated their lives to public service and protecting the community, Manley said. Were confident that anything theyre involved with is above board and within the law. Manley said the items sought in the search warrants involve property from a non-profit agency and the Thetford Township Police Department. He would not say what specific items investigators were seeking through. Manley would not identify the other people involved in the investigation because they have not been charged with a crime. Kenny is on unpaid leave as chief while he faces felony charges of embezzlement and obstruction. Kenny has been under investigation by the Genesee County Sheriffs office because of missing surplus equipment Kenny obtained for the Thetford Police Department through the federal Law Enforcement Support Office program. Pickell previously said Kenny received almost 4,000 items that had a retail value of more than $2.7 million since 2012. Items included parachutes, mine-detecting devices, excavators, hydroseeders and other equipment. Pickell said Kenny took several heavy-duty metal storage containers obtained through the support program to a Vienna Township scrapyard in 2012 and 2013. Kenny allegedly received more than $5,000 in three different checks and deposited the money in his own account or took it in cash, Pickell previously said. FLINT, MI-- A member of Flints city council was escorted by police from a meeting on Wednesday, Jan. 23 after a group of residents protested his treatment of female constituents. First Ward Councilman Eric Mays was also removed from his seat as finance chair prior to general council meeting earlier this month, he said. At Wednesday nights meeting, Mays stated he wouldnt resign from his position because he wasnt formally removed by council president, 6th Ward Councilman Herb Winfrey. Protesters in council chambers said Mays verbally harassed women on the city council to silence them in the midst of arguments that erupted between Mays, Winfrey and the new finance chair appointed by council president, 7th Ward Councilwoman Monica Galloway. Ive got a one-year term that ends on the second Monday of November Mays said. "What youre attempting to do is totally out of order and Im asking this meeting is called to order. The councilman is referring to a council rule that states any formally appointed committee chair can serve a year-long term that ends in November unless council votes otherwise. Mays has been finance chair for a little over a year and was verbally told by Winfrey hed lead the committee again in November 2018. Winfrey met with Mays weeks ago and told him his behavior of harassment is the reason he doesnt want him chairing the finance committee. I never formally appointed him, Winfrey said. Hes not willing to apply the rules fairly and because of his abusiveness, I dont believe he deserves that position. Ultimately, Mays refused to back down as committee chair during the meeting. He spoke over Galloway as she tried to chair the meeting and called her out of order for not letting him lead until he was removed by an police officer. After Mays was escorted out, the council moved to vote on removing him as finance chair with a 6-1 vote. Second Ward councilman Maurice Davis dissented. Mays has been removed or voluntarily left council meetings before he could be escorted by police at least five times since 2012. Once things settled down, council voted to move all resolutions on the committee meeting agendas to the next general city council meeting at 5 p.m. on Jan. 28., including a resolution granting more than $50,000 from the Planning and Development general budget to pay for renovations for vacant and vandalized Flint homes. Two of the homes are located at 1318 West Moore Street and 1414 West Moore Street and the other three are homes in Smith Village, per the drafted resolution. According to city administration, the homes originally received $52,113 in funds through a Community Development Block Grant to be restored. However, according to the resolution, they were left sitting there vacant for too long and were vandalized. They now need additional funding, according to the resolution. Smith Village is a subsidized subdivision project just north of downtown Flint. The city owns unsold homes in the neighborhood, bordered by Williams Street on the south, Wood Street on the north, Saginaw Street on the east and Martin Luther King Boulevard on the west. In 2015, the council grew weary with expenses tied to Flints troubled Smith Village development. Council members were briefed on a project by the Department of Community and Economic Development to restore and sell the homes in the village after agreeing to spend $90,000 to keep private security officers on patrol in the area to prevent theft and vandalism at 14 unoccupied homes. Fourth Ward Councilwoman Kate Fields also brought forth an add-on resolution that would require the city to use a predictive model to plan its final phase of lead service line replacements. The model was used between 2016 and 2017, but excluded from the FAST Start program when AECOM a Los-Angles based engineering firm took over in 2018. The companys extension of services and request for an traditional $4.8 million to its $6.1 million contract was voted down by council twice. The firm is no longer overseeing the FAST Start program and city officials stated they expect to hire a new management company to oversee its service line replacement program soon. Ultimately, council decided to postpone a vote on the add-on resolution to a Feb. 6 finance committee meeting so that all council members have had the chance to look over it. ANN ARBOR, MI - Some Washtenaw County school districts will be closed Thursday, Jan. 24, as superintendents worried roads would be too icy after temperatures Wednesday night dipped below freezing. Continue to check back for updates to this list. The following schools will be closed: ANN ARBOR, MI The mother of a 17-year-old driver who recently hit a pedestrian in an Ann Arbor crosswalk is speaking out. Barbara Clarke fought back tears as she addressed City Council on Tuesday night, Jan. 22, talking about the 21-year-old University of Michigan student critically injured the night of Jan. 14. Hes still in critical condition, according to police. His life and health will never be the same. His parents lives will never be the same, and I can only imagine the grief his parents feel, Clarke said, calling for more crosswalk safety improvements. My son was not texting or using other media, talking on the phone, impaired in any way and was not speeding. He didnt stop in the mid-block crosswalk because he didnt see the pedestrian. Clarke joined several other residents and parents in speaking out before council Tuesday night, calling pedestrian safety a critical issue the city needs to address. I dont want another pedestrian injured or killed, or their family to experience the devastation this family is feeling, Clarke said. And I dont want another driver to experience the guilt my son feels or to be unable to sleep through the night without waking up in a panic, hearing and feeling the jolt and sound from hitting someone. The crosswalk on Huron Street where the crash occurred, along with several others in Ann Arbor, are known to be dangerous, Clarke said. This particular crosswalk is in the middle of a block, poorly lit, next to a bus stop, with no additional safety measures in place, she said. We are at a crisis with respect to pedestrian safety in this city, said Claire Duvernoy, a member of A2 Safe Transport, a pedestrian safety advocacy group at Tuesdays meeting. If the city truly wants to achieve its Vision Zero goal to eliminate all traffic fatalities and severe injuries on city streets by 2025, it should conduct a comprehensive review of all crosswalks and improve them, including adding adequate lighting, Duvernoy said. This is urgent and it cannot wait, she said. The rash of recent pedestrian-vehicle crashes is proof that current laws and infrastructure dont adequately protect the public, said Tanya Ridella-Mehlos, another resident who spoke. We have a law that tells pedestrians that they have the right-of-way but at the same time, many of our crosswalks are so poorly marked that many drivers cant tell when they are approaching one, and quite often drivers have trouble seeing a pedestrian in a crosswalk due to poor lighting and/or the lack of RRFBs, she said, referring to the yellow flashing signals the city has at some crosswalks. The city should rethink its crosswalk law and hire a management-level engineer with expertise in traffic safety to review pedestrian safety infrastructure and help make changes, she said. Maureen Weinhold, a mother of four in the Old West Side, suggested the city should pay more attention to pedestrian safety around high schools, including adding crossing guards. The high school crosswalks are very dangerous places right now, she said. Her son and a friend were almost hit while crossing Stadium Boulevard on the way home from Pioneer High in November, using the crosswalk near Edgewood Avenue, she said. They pushed the button to cross, waited for the yellow flashing lights, and then started to walk, she said. Halfway through the street, a driver went around the cars that were stopped and literally blew right past them, she said, adding her son and friend were lucky they werent hit. As a new driver in Ann Arbor, having moved here a year and a half ago, Weinhold said, the fact that many crosswalks here use yellow flashing lights to alert drivers to stop, instead of a red signal, is confusing, and not all crosswalks are well marked. I was terrified on a couple occasions where I did not see a pedestrian. Luckily, I didnt hit them, she said. Council members responded to Tuesday nights public comments by acknowledging the city needs to do more. I think we have a crisis of sorts on our hands and hopefully we can address it, said Council Member Ali Ramlawi, D-5th Ward. Its the citys goal to make pedestrian safety improvements as quickly as possible, Mayor Christopher Taylor said. Suggesting accidents can happen and people shouldnt be so quick to judge or condemn others, he encouraged drivers and pedestrians to be more mindful of how they behave and try to take care of each other a little better. No one whos ever gotten behind the wheel of a car has done so perfectly, himself included, Taylor said. Accidents can happen, crashes can happen, even if one is conducting themselves in an entirely correct manner, he said. Council Member Kathy Griswold, D-2nd Ward, said shell be working with the citys staff over the next couple weeks and plans to introduce a resolution with specific actions to make crosswalks safer. Shes also hoping Michigan lawmakers will approve a statewide crosswalk law. Before the councils next meeting on Feb. 4, A2 Safe Transport plans to hold a reception at 6:30 p.m. in the city hall lobby. Griswold, a founding member of the group, is inviting residents to come share their thoughts on improving pedestrian safety. MILAN, MI - A prisoner recently joked, "I make more money than you do right now," says corrections officer Matthew Ruebush. But after 33 days working without pay at the federal prison in Milan, about 15 miles south of Ann Arbor, Ruebush isnt amused. "That's funny and all, but during holidays we still fed you Cornish game hen and all this other fancy food that you got to eat," he said. "You're getting paid more than I do and I can't guarantee my son anything right now." Prisoners are still being paid for their work in the UNICOR prison factory, while corrections officers, required to keep working, stand to miss their second paycheck on Friday if no resolution is reached in the month-long government shutdown. Its left morale pretty low at the prison at an already tense time, just weeks after a prisoner was beaten to death at the low-security facility, which houses an estimated 1,340 offenders. There have been assaults, too, Ruebush said, and its hard to distinguish whether or not its tied to changes in inmate attitudes during the shutdown. Workers already face a dangerous job. Now they have to go home and tell their loved ones they cant pay for certain things, said corrections officer Bruce Campbell. The distraction of not knowing when their next pay check is coming raises more concerns for safety. When youre worried constantly about, Am I behind on this car? How long is it going to take? Are they going to repossess my stuff? I imagine staff are at their wits end, he said. An estimated 800,000 federal government employees are caught up in the longest shutdown in U.S. history, which began Dec. 22, 2018, over funding for President Donald Trumps proposed border wall. Some workers are furloughed, while others have been forced to work without pay with the promise theyll receive back pay when the government reopens. About 97 percent of the nearly 36,360 Federal Bureau of Prisons staffers fall in the latter category, according to an email from the Federal Bureau of Prisons' office of public affairs. The promise for back pay means little right now to workers, such as Campbell and Ruebush, both the sole providers for their families. Campbell is the father of two teenagers with a 40-minute commute to work. Ruebush is a father of a 5-year-old and the new owner of a pit bull-Labrador puppy. Campbell is dipping into his savings. His mortgage is due at the end of next week. Weekly date nights with his wife have been cancelled. He worries what late payments could do to his position, which requires past debts be paid. And he's nervous to take a second job - it must be prison-approved and, even if he gets one, he risks skipping it for mandated overtime. Should he miss his paycheck Friday, Campbell said he'll start having to make hard choices - whether to spend money on gas to get to a job he isn't getting paid for or to take days off and face possible discipline. "There's guys right now that are already down and out," he said. "They miss another paycheck, they won't be able to come to work. They won't have the money." Ruebush, a veteran, took a few steps to prepare for the shutdown. He got a low-interest credit card and saved up some money. Still, when the shutdown hit, he contacted his son's school about the cost of school lunches and last week called about a plan for his mortgage. Federal prison worker Matthew Ruebush is shown with his family. He and his wife pick up only essentials at the grocery store: milk, cheese, bread and meat. Its a long drive to the soup kitchen, he said. He couldnt imagine paying for child care right now. He signed up to be an Uber driver, and applied to work in security at the University of Michigan. He worries for coworkers who live paycheck-to-paycheck. Thats 78 percent of Americans, according to a 2017 study by CareerBuilder. Many federal law enforcement employees are in that category, National Council of Prison Locals President Eric Young said in a press release by the American Federation of Government Employees Local 1741. During this administration, those same employees have faced hiring freezes, budget cuts, and staffing reductions, creating a severe understaffing crisis throughout the country," he said in the release. The shutdown is putting lives at risk both in and outside the Milan institution and detention center, said Matthew Ritzman, president of Local 1741 and a therapist at the prison. Workers also arent volunteering for overtime as much, resulting in more frequent mandated 16-hour shifts. To boost morale, the union planned a luncheon last week. Ritzman and others offered appreciation for organizations like JR's Hometown Grill and Pub, which they say offered discounts for federal employees. Others have offered similar deals and Ann Arbors city council voted this week to defer federal workers payments for at least 60 days after the shutdown ends. The state also issued food assistance benefits early this month. Though two competing proposals are on the table Thursday to temporarily or permanently end the shutdown, theres little faith those will move forward, the New York Times reports. Federal prison corrections officer Bruce Campbell Theres no end in sight and neither political party is doing the right thing, said Campbell. "You can't keep the American people hostage," he said. "You can't keep your workforce hostage over your disagreement." Ruebush goes to the VA to deal with some pent-up anxiety, he said. Otherwise, the greatest calming for his anger and anxiety has been falling asleep on the couch with his new puppy, Ares. Hes offered other workers advice on dealing with the shutdown. A 10-year veteran of military corrections, he says its a make or break point for the facility. "We work in a dangerous environment and when it becomes a one-for-one, 'I'm only taking care of myself' or 'I dont care because I'm not getting paid, we're not doing anything,' that can be scary," he said. I dont want to look forward to what might happen if we dont all stay together. LANSING, MI The owners of a Michigan Mexican restaurant have been charged with multiple felonies for claiming they had no monthly sales for years to avoid paying taxes. David Delacruz, 55, and Tamara Delacruz, 50, both of Okemos, have been charged with 48 tax-related felonies, Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel announced on Thursday. The couple, which owns and operates Otra Vez, LLC, is accused of collecting more than $250,000 in sales tax but never returning it to the Michigan Department of Treasury. Otra Vez does business as Tacos E Mas and is located at 3500 S. Cedar Street, Suite 101, in Lansing. The charges include: 31 counts of permitting the filing of a false sales tax return. 14 counts of failing to file a sales tax return Three counts of failing to file an income tax return We rely on business owners, regardless of how large or small, to abide by the law and pay their fair share, Nessel said in a statement. In this case, they not only cheated the system, but their scheme deprived the state School Aid Fund of $175,000. According to Nessel, the Delacruzs have not filed sales tax returns since 2015, claiming they made no sales at their Lansing restaurant. However, they were making sales the whole time, Nessel said. Additionally, the couple has not filed personal income tax returns since 2014. The Delacruzs were arraigned on Jan. 17 in the Eaton County District Court. Each received a $5,000 personal recognizance bond. A probable cause conference is scheduled for Jan. 28 and the preliminary exam is currently scheduled for Jan. 31. You are here: Arts The year 2018 will be remembered in the history of Chinese cinema because "most of the successful films were based on real-life stories, or explored social issues," said a report by China Daily Wednesday quoting a scholar. Zuo Heng, deputy director of the cinematic culture research department at the China Film Archive, said this marked a revitalization of cinematic realism. The report suggests China's movie market has eyed a new approach while real-life stories and social issues attract audiences. Last year, domestic feature films accounted for 62 percent of the nation's box-office revenue, the highest since the Chinese film industry started to take off in the early 2000s. While Hollywood is dominated by movies about superheroes, China has seen a shift in tastes. Realistic themes have started to attract vast audiences who were previously more interested in action blockbusters and domestic comedies. "Operation Red Sea" and "Dying to Survive," top and third, respectively, on last year's box-office charts, were both based on true stories. "Operation Red Sea" was inspired by the People's Liberation Army Navy's evacuation of nearly 580 Chinese nationals from Yemen in early 2015. Jiang Yong, a film industry analyst in Beijing, said "Operation Red Sea" reinforced investors' confidence that a realistic contemporary film could also be a commercial success. Social dramas reflecting changes in China or examining the lives of ordinary people have also won acclaim and success. "Dying to Survive" was based on the true story of Lu Yong, a leukemia patient who illegally bought unlicensed cancer drugs overseas for himself and many other patients. It touched Chinese audiences and triggered public recognition for struggling families who cannot afford life-saving medication. "A Cool Fish," a low-budget local comedy with no A-list actors, beat Hollywood rivals including "Wreck-It Ralph" and "Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald," to dominate the box-office charts in late November. This film tackles hot social issues. "Such success will encourage more talented people to join the creation of realistic stories. They can use their influence to boost the development of society," said Zhong Dafeng, a professor with the Beijing Film Academy. Mankinds first-ever mission aimed at deflecting an asteroid from orbit to demonstrate its potential use for planetary defense is set for 2022, NASA says. The U.S. space agency says the first target for its Double Asteroid Redirection Test -- DART -- is an asteroid set to make a distant approach of Earth in 2022 and again in 2024. NASA reports on its website that the launch window for the mission ranges between December 2020 and May 2021. The target asteroid is named Didymos," and is said to be 800 meters across with a secondary body of 150 meters. NASA reports that this is more typical of the size of asteroids that could pose a more common hazard to Earth. DART would be NASAs first mission to demonstrate whats known as the kinetic impactor technique -- striking the asteroid to shift its orbit -- to defend against a potential future asteroid impact, Lindley Johnson, NASAs planetary defense officer, said in a previous statement. Thats right, as if the mission didnt sound cool enough on the surface, NASAs plan to deflect an asteroid is to deliberately crash a spacecraft moving 3.7 miles per second into it. NASA believes this collision will be enough to change the speed of its secondary body enough to change its orbit around the main body by a fraction of a percent. DART is a critical step in demonstrating we can protect our planet from a future asteroid impact, Andy Cheng, the missions investigation co-lead, said on NASAs website. Since we dont know that much about their internal structure or composition, we need to perform this experiment on a real asteroid. With DART, we can show how to protect Earth from an asteroid strike with a kinetic impactor by knocking the hazardous object into a different flight path that would not threaten the planet. Related: Close approach asteroid gives NASA, ESA chance to test planetary defense In a more recent update, the European Space Agency reports that one of its spacecrafts -- Hera -- will accompany NASAs DART mission. The ESA says in a Jan. 9 news release that its Hera spacecraft will be accompanied by two CubeSats, which are versatile data-recording satellites small enough to fit inside a briefcase." Schematic of the DART mission shows the impact on the moonlet of asteroid (65803) Didymos. Post-impact observations from Earth-based optical telescopes and planetary radar would, in turn, measure the change in the moonlets orbit about the parent body. As well as testing technologies in deep space and gathering crucial science data, Hera is designed to be Europes contribution to an international planetary defence effort: it would survey the crater and measure orbital deviation of Didymoon caused by the earlier collision of a NASA probe, called DART, the ESA writes in its release. This unique experiment will validate the asteroid deflection technique referred to as kinetic impactor, enabling humankind to protect our planet from asteroid impacts. Related: NASA already working on ideas to deflect asteroid that could hit Earth in 2135 As for the current timeline, NASA believes it will reach the asteroid by October 2020 when it is within about 6.8 million miles from Earth. This range will allow the U.S. and European space agencies to measure the change in momentum imparted to the moonlet. The Michigan Senate is looking to weigh in as a legislative body in the federal lawsuit challenging Michigans existing political district lines as Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson seeks a settlement in the case. On Wednesday, the chamber passed a resolution via voice vote to grant Senate Majority Leader Mike Shirkey the authority to intervene in the case, which was initiated by the League of Women Voters in December 2017. Amber McCann, Shirkeys spokesperson, said the motion to intervene would be filed sometime Thursday. The court has final say over whether that motion is granted. As a whole, the majority leader thought it was important to insert the Senate into the legal proceedings in the event that the body is included in the settlement," McCann said. The lawsuit claims Michigans 2011 redistricting process heavily favored Republicans and resulted in gerrymandered districts. Former Republican Secretary of State Ruth Johnson - now a state senator - had defended the states existing political district lines prior to leaving office. The case was slated to go to trial in early February, but Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson filed a brief in court concurring with a request from attorneys for several Republican officials that the trial be put on hold, saying in a statement the court has found significant evidence of partisan gerrymandering, and the likely outcome would not be favorable to the state." For some members of the Michigan Senate, who were just elected to four-year terms, the prospect of re-running for seats in the middle of the term they were already elected to is raising concerns. Several individual lawmakers have already filed motions in the lawsuit, and this week state Sens. Ken Horn, R-Frankenmuth, Jim Stamas, R-Midland, and Lana Theis, R-Brighton, filed their own motion criticizing the possibility of disrupting the Senates four-year terms. Nothing could disenfranchise voters more than telling them their votes in November did not count," the Senators said in a joint statement. "As their elected representatives, it is our obligation to defend the will of the voters of our districts before the court. McCann said Senate leadership decided to weigh in as a body because any mid-term changes to contested Senate districts could have an impact on every member in the chamber. How the Constitution speaks to how senators are elected and the duration of their term we feel makes the Senate unique in this possible settlement situation," she said. The decision was not unanimous. Sen. Jeremy Moss, D-Southfield, said in a statement opposing the resolution that the legislature has no business butting into this federal lawsuit because we shouldnt be influencing how our own district lines are drawn. Any settlement reached with the case would only impact the 2020 election cycle. After the 2020 census, Michigans district lines will be redrawn by an independent redistricting commission following the passage of Proposal 2 in 2018. Republicans and conservative groups have criticized Bensons attempt to settle the case. Michigan Republican Party General Counsel Michael Pattwell said in a statement that the move allows Benson to manipulate the state legislative and federal congressional districts for the 2020 election. Were concerned Jocelyn Bensons proposed sue and settle tactic is being used to promote a partisan agenda without public input and deprive congressional and legislative leaders from participation in the crafting of important state policy," Pattwell said. A Michigan family was removed from a flight out of Miami after multiple" passengers, crew members and airport employees complained about their body odor, American Airlines said in a Thursday morning, Jan. 24 emailed statement. After being escorted off of the plane, the airline said it made sure to provide the family with hotel and food accommodations, as well as re-booking them on the next available flight home. See below for the full statement from the airline: Their removal was after multiple passengers, along with our crew members and Miami airport team, were concerned about the comfort of our other passengers due to the odor. Our team members took care of the family by providing overnight accommodations and meals, and rebooking them for the next available flight." On the flip side, WPLG-TV in Miami reports that the Adler family of Southfield claim that there was no body odor and that theres nothing wrong with us. The news outlet reports that Yossi and Jennie Adler were vacationing in the area with their 19-month-old daughter and were attempted to fly home on the Wednesday night flight. All of a sudden, as soon as they took us off, they closed the gate and then they said, 'sorry, sir, some people complained you had body odor and were not letting you back on, Yossi Adler told WPLG-TV. I want them to own up to what really happened and to tell me the truth. What was it? LANSING, MI Even the queen of the jungle must go to the dentist. Proof of that comes courtesy of the Potter Park Zoo in Lansing, which recently had one of its female African Lions undergo a root canal. Ulana, who came to the zoo from the Pueblo Zoo in Colorado in 2011, underwent the procedure last week. By keeping our animals teeth in excellent condition, we can help them have long healthy lives said Dr. Ronan Eustace, who provides all the animals at the zoo with routine dental checkups. Animals at zoos often live longer than those in the wild, and having complete dental care is a key factor to helping them live a long happy comfortable life at Potter Park Zoo. The veterinary staff at Potter Park Zoo is equipped to handle most dental issues, but for more complicated cases like Ulanas, the zoo benefits from the expertise of Dr. Colleen Turner, a veterinary dentist who works with Michigan State Universitys College of Veterinary Medicine. Dr. Turner was on hand to help with Ulanas procedure, according to a news release. Dental disease can cause an species of animal pain and discomfort, but may also predispose them to developing systemic health problems like heart disease. Potter Park staff monitor the animals daily for any signs of illness, including evidence of tooth problems. However, despite the diligent effort of staff, zoo animals often hide painful dental disease and regular examinations can help prevent, detect and treat dental conditions before they cause serious illness. Dental disease is one of the most common problems that I identify during routine examinations and correcting it can have a profound impact on an animals well-being, DR. Eustace said. The range of dental disease at the zoo is very diverse, ranging from routine cleaning and polishing on a mandrill to advanced treatments like performing a root canal on a lion. This year the Potter Park Zoo hopes to raise funds to purchase a digital dental x-ray system that would allow the zoo to perform dental digital radiograph. Visit https://potterparkzoo.org/donate/ to donate. GRAND RAPIDS, MI State and local officials will hold a public meeting next month as part of an investigation into toxic air pollution coming from a downtown factory. The Kent County Health Department, Michigan Department of Health and Human Services and the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality are hosting the meeting on Wednesday, March 6 at the Eberhard Center, 301 West Fulton Street in Grand Rapids. The meeting starts with an open house at 5:30 and lasts until 9 p.m. At the meeting, officials will answer questions about an investigation into elevated emissions of ethylene oxide, a known carcinogen, traced to the Viant Medical Inc. facility at 520 Watson Street SW near the downtown Grand Valley State University campus. The DEQ says elevated levels of ethylene oxide have been escaping the facility as fugitive emissions. Viant Medical uses the compound to sterilize medical equipment. The DEQ has issued the company several violation notices. State modeling indicates elevated levels of could be present in the air moving into West Side neighborhoods where health officials are studying incidences of cancer. The county health department says Viant emissions are being factored into that analysis. Viant Medical says it has and will continue to try and reduce emissions. The university sent an email blast on Jan. 18 stating that it had learned of the problem through media reports and would begin immediately working with the DEQ, the City of Grand Rapids, and the Kent County Health Department to keep our community fully informed of developments regarding the air quality testing and the upcoming meeting. The email quoted DEQ Air Quality Division supervisor Robert Sills as telling the university that we are not recommending that anyone change their behavior or leave the area." Our evaluation has found no reason to be concerned about short-term health effects at the level of emissions and exposure we think are occurring, Sills said. "Our concern is only for long-term exposure which can add up to be a lifetime increase of cancer risk that we want to see reduced. The DEQ has posted investigation documents on its website. GRAND RAPIDS, MI More testing is needed to determine whether harmful PFAS chemicals are poisoning drinking water near Michigans second busiest airport. Thats per the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality, which wants to see additional wells tested in a neighborhood northeast of Gerald R. Ford International Airport despite the airports claim several months ago that such effort was not necessary. Officials hope to use recently appropriated state funding to sample more than 50 wells straddling a Thornapple River tributary that bisects the neighborhood, which previously experienced problems from deicing fluid runoff coming from the airport. The testing could begin in late February. It would follow similar testing by the airport last summer, which found little PFAS in 29 wells selected by the airport. The results prompted the airport to claim drinking water in the area was safe, although it refused to disclose even the street names where it tested. Previous testing gave us a piece of the puzzle, but not the full picture, said Abby Hendershott, DEQ remediation division director in Grand Rapids. We need this additional sampling to complete that picture. According to an internal DEQ geologic analysis obtained via the Freedom of Information Act, experts believe a lack of protective clay under homes near the river puts drinking water at risk of contamination from PFAS in shallow groundwater at the airport. Exposure to PFAS is linked to some types of cancer, pregnancy complications, thyroid disease and other chronic health problems. The analysis shows that DEQ suspects PFAS may also be coming from other sources besides the airport, which began investigating contamination last spring following reports that it previously used PFAS-based AFFF firefighting foam for training and emergencies. The suspicion about other sources is based on test results that show PFAS in deep groundwater beneath a clay layer on the airport property. The airport has previously stated that it believes contamination from industrial sources nearby may be contributing to PFAS underneath its property. The source of the deeper groundwater PFAS impact at the former firefighting training area is unclear, wrote DEQ geologist Mark Worrall on Jan. 11. To evaluate if the deeper PFAS impact on the airport property is from an up-gradient source, monitor wells should be installed at the west property line and the south property line of the airport property. Hendershott said the DEQ is evaluating data on PFAS usage among local businesses that discharge contaminated wastewater to the Grand Rapids treatment plant to determine what other potential sources there may be around the airport. She said a plume caused by an old Lacks Enterprises plating shop, which the DEQ is also investigating nearby in Cascade Township, is not connected with this. The DEQ may spend between $75,000 and $100,000 on the additional drinking water testing near the airport, she said. The testing would likely occur in phases. The targeted area is along an unnamed tributary generally referred to as Trout Creek, which parallels Tanglewood Drive SE and parts of Tricklewood Drive SE. Hendershott said the airport is cooperating with the DEQ, although it claims that PFAS is not leaving its property. Were saying that we would like a little more data. In October, the airport filed an investigation report with DEQ that included a detection of 3,364 parts per trillion (ppt) in Total PFAS, or the sum of all PFAS compounds in a given sample, in a shallow groundwater on its property. The airport is developing a detailed conceptual site model to better understand soil and groundwater conditions on the property, which straddles a local watershed divide between the Thornapple River to the east, and Plaster Creek to the west. The DEQ added Gerald R. Ford International Airport to its growing list of PFAS-contaminated sites this month. The airport issued a statement, saying it remains actively engaged. This new information is currently under review with our environmental partners, and we have asked MDEQ and MPART for an opportunity to review the accuracy and completeness of this information, and are working with them to do so. In the interim, GFIA remains actively engaged and focused on a multi-phase, data-driven evaluation process, with the results from each phase guiding subsequent steps, the airport stated. Gerald R. Ford International Airport is among a handful of Michigan commercial airports with confirmed PFAS contamination. In Flint, the DEQ recently announced that contaminated groundwater linked to an old city landfill was also found at Bishop Airport. In Norton Shores, bottled water is being given to some homes around the Muskegon County Airport. Contamination is also confirmed at former military bases that are now used as commercial airports, such as the Oscoda-Wurtsmith Airport at the former Wurtsmith Air Force Base, and Sawyer International Airport at the former K.I. Sawyer Air Force Base near Marquette. Ford Airport is in the middle of a multi-year terminal remodel project and has seen recent growth in passenger traffic. The airport is owned by the Kent County Board of Commissioners and managed by an independent authority. It is under interim leadership after the recent resignation of CEO James Gill. WASHINGTON -- As the government shutdown has now lasted more than a month and federal employees are still being asked to work while not receiving a paycheck, some of those workers have turned to local food banks to help find their next meal. But Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross says he doesnt understand why those workers have to visit food banks when banks a re offering loans to federal workers during the shutdown. During an appearance on CNBCs Squawk Box Thursday, Ross said those workers could borrow against their back pay. I know they are and I dont really quite understand why, Ross said about workers going to food banks, before adding the loans would be federally guaranteed. "The 30 days of pay that some people will be out, theres no real reason why they shouldnt be able to get a loan against it, and weve seen a number of ads of financial institutions doing that. . @CommerceGov Secretary Wilbur Ross on federal workers going to homeless shelters for food during #shutdown: Well I know they are and I don't really quite understand why suggesting gov't employees take out loans through banks or credit unions pic.twitter.com/QFs4UySNcH Squawk Box (@SquawkCNBC) January 24, 2019 Banks and other financial institutions have promoted no-interest or very low-interest loans to federal workers who can borrow money now and repay the loan once the government reopens and their back pay is distributed. However, some workers -- such as furloughed contractors -- may not be subject to receiving back pay, meaning a loan is out of the question. Approximately 800,000 workers have gone without pay for several weeks as the government shutdown continues with no end in sight. President Trump, along with congressional Democrats and Republicans have all floated offers and deals that would reopen the government, however the rival sides have yet to reach a compromise. Trump has said he will not sign a bill that does not include $5.7 billion for a border wall at the U.S. Mexico border and Democrats have said they will not agree to any bill that includes such funding. A group of cannabis advocates is suing the state to get it to remove marijuana from the states list of controlled substances in its Public Health Code -- a move advocates say would bring an end to police raids. Despite the passage of the adult-use marijuana law in Michigan in 2018, two laws legalizing medical marijuana and the addition of bureaucracy and state taxes on marijuana sales, the states Public Health Code treats marijuana like opioids, heroin, codeine, peyote and mushrooms. For 80 years theyve been locking people up and taking their possessions and harassing and terrorizing us as citizens because we like to smoke weed, said poet and activist John Sinclair Wednesday at the Cannabis Counsel office in Detroit. I want to be part of every effort to completely remove the police from our lives regarding to marijuana. Theyve got nothing at all to do with marijuana. Sinclair is one of the plaintiffs on the lawsuit against the Michigan Board of Pharmacy and its chairwoman Nichole Cover, filed last week in the Michigan Court of Claims. The other plaintiffs include Dr. Christian Bogner, who researches the effects of cannabis to treat autism; Josey Scoggin, a medical marijuana patient; Paul Littler, a pharmacist; NORML of Michigan and the Michigan Medical Marijuana Association. The lawsuit argues that Michigan laws recognize the medical benefits of marijuana, and yet the Michigan Board of Pharmacy continues to list marijuana as a Schedule 1 drug -- a designation that means it has no accepted medical benefits and has a high potential for abuse. The Michigan Department of Attorney General is in the process of reviewing and preparing a response to the complaint," according to a statement from spokeswoman Kelly Rossman-McKinney. The absurdity of the legal conflict between the Medical Marihuana Facilities Licensing Act and the Public Health Code has to be addressed, said Michael Komorn, one of the attorneys behind the case. Its intellectually dishonest, Komorn said. For the past year, state officials have allowed caregivers to grow marijuana at home and bring it to provisioning centers to sell to patients -- a practice that continues as theres a shortage of licensed marijuana in the market. This is not a controlled substance, Komorn said. The idea that someone would be growing an opioid ... and bringing it to a pharmacy because they were running low on their meds is the scenario that would have to exist in order for marijuana to remain as a scheduled drug. Sinclair has a long history of advocacy in Michigan; his 1967 arrest over two joints sparked the first Hash Bash in Ann Arbor. The Michigan Supreme Court in 1972 noted in the opinion that overturned Sinclairs conviction that not only that there is no rational basis for classifying marijuana with the hard narcotics, but, also, that there is not even a rational basis for treating marijuana as a more dangerous drug than alcohol. Michigans Public Health Code was adopted in 1978, and mirrored much of the national rhetoric towards drugs, Komorn said. The lawsuit also takes issue with Covers position overseeing both the Michigan Board of Pharmacy, where marijuana is considered illegal, and as a member of the Medical Marihuana Licensing Board, where medical marijuana is considered legal. The Board of Pharmacy is responsible for overseeing pharmacy licenses and the manufacture and distribution of prescription drugs, as well as limiting or preventing the sale of drugs that dont comply with state laws. The Medical Marihuana Licensing Board is in charge of issuing licenses and overseeing regulations for the states newly regulated medical marijuana industry. It has come under fire for its pace and decisions. Federally, marijuana remains listed as a Schedule 1 Controlled Substance and its use remains illegal. The U.S. Attorney Generals office has declined to prosecute states or businesses that have launched medical and recreational marijuana programs. President Donald Trumps nominee for attorney general, Bill Barr, has said hell continue that approach -- but believes overarching change is needed. -- Amy Biolchini is the marijuana beat reporter for MLive. Contact her with questions, tips or comments at abiolch1@mlive.com. Read more from MLive about medical and recreational marijuana. Its too early to count out a reunion between Dallas Keuchel and the Astros, as Fancred Sports Jon Heyman reports (Twitter link) that Houston continues to have interest in the free agent left-hander. We havent heard much connecting Keuchel and the Astros this winter, though back in late December, MLB.coms Brian McTaggart speculated that the Astros could reconsider signing Keuchel if he was still on the market by late January, and if the team hadnt made any other notable pitching signings. This is exactly the situation both sides find themselves in, four weeks later, and its fair to wonder if there could be more than a slim chance (as McTaggart described things) of Keuchel again donning a Houston uniform in 2019. There hasnt been much recent news on Keuchel, as it could be that his market is being held up until Bryce Harper and/or Manny Machado both sign contracts. Of the teams who have been linked to Keuchel this offseason, at least three (the Phillies, Nationals, and Padres) have also had interest in one or both of Harper and Machado. Of course, Washington could be out of the running for Keuchel regardless of what happens with Harper, as the Nats have already augmented their rotation by signing Patrick Corbin and Anibal Sanchez. Beyond those three teams, the Reds, Rangers, Brewers, Angels, Braves, and Blue Jays have all reportedly had some level of interest in Keuchel at certain points this offseason. This group could all still be fits on paper, though Texas, Cincinnati, and Los Angeles have all preferred to add shorter-term arms to their rotations. Keuchel, meanwhile, was still looking for at least a five-year contract as of last month. With all this in mind, there seems to be some room for the Astros to re-emerge as a potential landing spot. Keuchel is represented by Scott Boras, who has negotiated some creative contracts for his pitching clients in recent months, and thus could find some common ground if Houston is wary of making a big multi-year commitment to a 31-year-old southpaw. Since Keuchel rejected a qualifying offer, the Astros are currently in line for a compensatory draft pick if signs elsewhere, but the club could decide that foregoing that extra pick is worth it if Keuchel could be re-signed at an acceptable price. The Astros pitching staff was already expected to take a hit this winter with Keuchel and Charlie Morton (now with the Rays) hitting free agency, but they lost another arm in early November when Lance McCullers underwent Tommy John surgery. While the one-two combo of Justin Verlander and Gerrit Cole gives Houston plenty of quality at the front of the rotation, the back end is less certain. Collin McHugh is returning to starting after a year in the bullpen, youngsters Josh James and Framber Valdez have less than a year of MLB experience between them, and some highly-touted arms in the farm system (namely top prospect Forrest Whitley and righty J.B. Bukauskas) are entirely unproven at the big league level. Adding a seasoned, playoff-tested veteran like Keuchel would go a long way towards reinforcing the staff in a year that the Astros hope to again contend for a World Series title. A Chinese New Year celebration for senior Chinese immigrants in Mongolia was held here on Monday. During the event, the Chinese Embassy in Mongolia and the Union of Chinese Immigrants in Mongolia gave flour, rice, fruits, sunflower oil, blankets and other necessities worth 20 million Mongolian tughriks (about 7,547 U.S. dollars) to 50 Chinese immigrants in the country. Chinese Ambassador to Mongolia Xing Haiming noted that as 2019 marks the 70th anniversary of the establishment of China-Mongolia diplomatic ties, the two sides will organize many activities this year to strengthen bilateral ties and cooperation and deepen the friendship between the two peoples. "There are many Chinese immigrants living and working in Mongolia. We will support you all the way," Xing said, wishing immigrants good health and happiness in the upcoming year of the Pig. Chinese New Year, also known as the Spring Festival, is the most important holiday in China, which comes on Feb. 5 this year. In the wake of a series of reports detailing lead poisoning and mold problems in family housing on Army bases across the U.S., the service is fielding a new survey asking on-base residents for their "candid feedback," according to a release posted late last month. The survey, created by the Army's Installation Management Command (IMCOM), was scheduled to hit inboxes starting Jan. 15, the release said. "Your feedback about your experiences while residing in Army-owned or leased housing is critical to shaping the future housing and services provided by the Army," Lt. Gen. Gwen Bingham, the Army's assistant chief of staff for installation management, said in the release. The survey is being sent in two stages, Army officials said in the release. First, about 10,000 residents living in Army-owned and -leased housing worldwide will be queried, with a response due date of Feb. 14. Then, in late March, a similar survey will be sent to residents in privatized housing. This is the second such survey to be sent to residents, the release said. The first, sent last year, had a response rate of 20.3 percent among residents of Army-owned housing. Officials said they are aiming to increase this year's participation. The survey program is operated by contractor CEL & Associates. Surveys are to be delivered by email to one member of each household from the address ArmyHousingSurvey@celassociates.com, the release said. The Army is pushing the survey through a variety of releases and even a video public service announcement from Holly Dailey, spouse of Sergeant Major of the Army Daniel Dailey. "The Army is looking for your help in identifying where it can make the [biggest] impact with its resourcing decisions, and how its partners are doing in providing housing services to residents in privatized housing," she said in the video, posted early this month. A series of Reuters reports last year detailed lead poisoning among the children of soldiers living on Army bases, including Fort Benning, Georgia. And a separate Reuters investigation in late December detailed mold, lead paint and other problems in housing operated by contractor Corvias Group, including at Fort Meade, Maryland; Fort Polk, Louisiana; and Fort Bragg, North Carolina. -- Amy Bushatz can be reached at amy.bushatz@military.com. The U.S. is prepared to drop out of the Cold War-era Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty (INF) next week unless Russia ceases violations of developing new missiles, a chief State Department arms negotiator said Thursday. "If Russia isn't in compliance, we'll suspend our obligations" under INF, said Andrea Thompson, the State Department's undersecretary for arms control and international security. Should the U.S. withdraw, the Defense Department would immediately begin research and development on new intermediate-range missiles and countermeasures to Russia's new Novator 9M729 missile, which the U.S. claims violates INF bans on land-based cruise missiles with ranges between 310 and 3,420 miles, she said at a breakfast with reporters in Washington, D.C. "That will start after Feb. 2 if Russia is not in compliance," Thompson said of the as-yet-undefined U.S. countermeasures. "Our Defense [Department] counterparts will move ahead" with developments. On Wednesday, Russian military officials and deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov, Russia's senior arms negotiator, presided at a static display in Moscow for foreign military attaches of the Novator 9M729, which they claimed has a range just under the INF's 310-mile limit. Lt. Gen. Mikhail Matveyevsky, chief of missiles and artillery for the Russian military, said the display was evidence of Russia's "increased transparency and our adherence to the INF treaty," according to Russian media outlets. The Russian claims were dismissed by Thompson, a retired Army colonel and former commander of the 902nd Military Intelligence Group. She charged that the new Russian missiles have already been deployed. "It's in the field. It's soldiers in uniform, multiple battalions. It's already occurred," Thompson said, adding that the U.S. had the support of NATO allies in challenging the Russians. Thompson said she was accompanied by Joint Chiefs of Staff aides last week for meetings in Moscow with Ryabkov in a last-ditch effort to reach a compromise that would keep the U.S. in the INF. "I was all ears," she said. "It wasn't the normal bluster, propaganda, the kind of dramatics that [we often] associate with some of these meetings. The deputy foreign minister did have the right people in the room, as did we. But as I said before, we didn't break any new ground." Thompson added, "The Russians acknowledged having the system but continued to say in their talking points it didn't violate the INF treaty." U.S. presentations of intelligence information show otherwise. Thompson said it is possible that she might meet again with Ryabkov on the sidelines of arms meetings in China next week, but she held out little prospect that Russia would comply with the Feb. 2 deadline. When asked if she were optimistic, Thompson said she wasnt. "The act of fielding a system that violates the treaty brought the demise of the treaty or the failure of the treaty," she said. "To not acknowledge it, and to continue to allow it, I think is an action that undermines arms control." The INF treaty was signed in 1987 by President Ronald Reagan and then-Soviet General Secretary Mikhail Gorbachev, and ratified by the U.S. Senate the following year. Last October, President Donald Trump announced his intention to "terminate" the treaty. "Russia has violated the agreement. They have been violating it for many years," he said at a rally in Elko, Nevada. "And we're not going to let them violate a nuclear agreement and go out and do weapons and we're not allowed to. "We'll have to develop those weapons," Trump said, "unless Russia comes to us and China comes to us, and they all come to us and say, 'Let's really get smart, and let's none of us develop those weapons.' " In early December, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced that the U.S. was giving Russia 60 days, ending Feb. 2, to come into compliance with the INF treaty or the U.S. would withdraw. "It makes no sense for the United States to remain in a treaty that constrains our ability to respond to Russia's violations," Pompeo said at a NATO meeting in Brussels. On Dec. 20, at his annual news conference in Moscow, Russian President Vladimir Putin issued dire warnings that U.S. withdrawal from the INF treaty could trigger a new arms race that would threaten world peace. "We are witnessing the breakup of the arms control system," raising the prospect of nuclear war, Putin said. "It could lead to the destruction of civilization as a whole and maybe even our planet." -- Richard Sisk can be reached at Richard.Sisk@Military.com. Military personnel, retirees and their family members now have access to an exclusive discount travel website managed by Priceline. American Forces Travel is a full-service travel booking site, offering hotel, flight, car rental and cruise deals as well as bundled or package deals that Priceline spokesman Devon Nagle said can save travelers an average of $240 per person. The site, which is available to active-duty military, National Guard members, Reservists, retirees and family members, as well as 100 percent disabled veterans and civilian Defense Department employees, officially went live Tuesday after having been beta-tested on several military bases for the past three months. According to Nagle, the site offers discounts that have been negotiated specifically for military personnel, including hotel deals up to 60 percent off and cruise deals up to 80 percent off. Roughly 1.2 million hotels can be booked through the site, as well as the most popular flight and car rental brands, he said. Related: Does the Military's Travel Discount Site Really Offer Deals? Brett Keller, Priceline chief executive officer, said that the company was thrilled to be selected by the DoD to "bring the site to life." "American Forces Travel was developed for a simple reason. The people who support the United States of America through military service have earned access to the world's most exclusive travel deals," Keller said. A recent review of the site by Military.com found hotel deals in San Diego ranging from $20 to $50 off prices found on non-military travel websites, and car rental discounts ranging from $10 to $18 off per day for a minivan, SUV or convertible. A non-stop round trip airline fare from the Washington, D.C., area to San Diego for a weekend in February was available for $323 on Alaska Airlines, while the same flight was advertised as $354 other travel websites. Still, non-stop flights for the same weekend on United could be purchased for significantly less on another website -- between $200 to $400 less. Advantages to booking air travel through American Forces Travel include reduced fees for reservation changes and all flights being cancellable within 24 hours, according to the site. For cars, benefits include free cancellation on post-paid cars and larger discounts for prepaid rates. Each AmericanForcesTravel.com transaction also will generate a commission that will go to the military services' Morale, Welfare and Recreation and quality-of-life programs. Nagle described the new site as a "labor of love for Priceline." "Members of the military are a unique community and deserve the opportunity to access great deals when they take vacations. With American Forces Travel, they can search for deals 24 hours a day," he said. Users can access the site by inputting their last name, date of birth and last four digits of their Social Security number when prompted. The DoD then verifies the information, and future travelers are ready to shop. Nagle said Priceline does not capture or retain any of the verification data that is provided. In addition to Defense Department service members, National Guard and Reserve and civilian employees, Coast Guard men and women and their families also can use the site. Military members have had access to travel deals through base ticket and tour offices, as well as lodging through the Armed Forces Vacation Club, a no-fee membership group that offers week-long stays at resorts, apartments, condominiums and homes -- usually timeshare destinations -- in more than 100 countries on a space-available basis for about $350 a week. Armed Forces Vacation Club is managed by Wyndham Worldwide. According to Nagle, Priceline was chosen to run AmericanForcesTravel.com by a competitive bidding process. Company executives said they -- and the Defense Department -- see their website as a way to thank the military community. "Until now, leisure travel was typically handled by travel agents on military bases. The DoD chose to create a new online platform that was modern, fast and widely accessible and to populate the site with the broadest and deepest collection of travel deals," the Priceline release states. -- Patricia Kime can be reached at Patricia.Kime@Military.com. Follow her on Twitter @patriciakime. Less than a month into the 116th Congress, lawmakers on both sides of the aisle in the House and Senate have introduced four bills that, if signed into law, would require the VA to conduct research on medical marijuana. Tennessee Republican Rep. Phil Roe, a medical doctor and ranking member of the House Veterans Affairs Committee, introduced legislation Thursday that would require VA to conduct research on medicinal cannabis, to include marijuana and cannabidiol -- a component extract of marijuana - for post-traumatic stress disorder, pain and other conditions. The bill, H.R. 747, is similar to one introduced Wednesday by Rep. Lou Correa, D-California, H.R. 601. In the Senate, Sens. Jon Tester, D-Montana, and Dan Sullivan, R-Alaska, introduced a bill, S. 179, on Jan. 17, directing the VA to carry out clinical trials on the effects of medical marijuana for certain health conditions. And on Jan. 16, Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Florida, introduced legislation that would create a pathway for VA to obtain the marijuana needed for research. Gaetz's bill, H.R. 601, would increase the number of manufacturers registered under the Controlled Substances Act to grow cannabis for research purposes. It also would authorize VA health care providers to provide information to veterans on any federally approved clinical trials. "For too long, Congress has faced a dilemma with cannabis-related legislation: we cannot reform cannabis law without researching its safety, its efficacy, and its medical uses -- but we cannot perform this critical research without first reforming cannabis law," Gaetz said in a statement. "The VA needs to listen to the growing number of veterans who have already found success in medicinal cannabis in easing their pain and other symptoms," said Tester, ranking member of the Senate Veterans' Affairs Committee, in introducing his bill. Lawmakers have tried for years to influence the debate on medical marijuana, offering numerous proposals on veterans' access to marijuana and its derivatives. Marijuana remains classified as a Schedule 1 drug under federal legislation, meaning they have a high potential for addiction and "no currently accepted medical use." In 2018, bills were introduced that would have required the VA to conduct research on medical marijuana, allowed VA providers to complete the paperwork patients need to obtain medical marijuana in states where it has been legalized and decriminalized the drug for veterans regardless of where they live. None made it into law. In August, Tester, Roe, Sullivan and former Democrat Rep. Tim Walz, now governor of Minnesota, wrote VA Secretary Robert Wilkie urging him to support "rigorous clinical trials" on medical marijuana. They pointed out that VA is currently conducting two small-scale studies, adding that veterans "deserve to have full knowledge of the potential benefits and side effects of this alternative therapy." "The pervasive lack of research makes [providers'] jobs even more difficult, leaving VA clinicians flying blind without concrete recommendations to veterans," they wrote. To date, 33 states, the District of Columbia, Guam and Puerto Rico have made marijuana legal for medical purposes. Roe said that, as a doctor, he believes medical research is needed to determine whether treatments are safe and effective. "While data remains limited, surveys have shown that some veterans already use medicinal cannabis as a means to help with PTSD. ... I would never prescribe to my patients a substance unless I was confident in its proven efficacy and safely and we need to hold medicinal cannabis to the same standards ... if research on the usage of medicinal cannabis is favorable, I am confident that it could become another option to help improve the lives of veterans and other Americans," he said. In 2017, the American Legion, the largest veterans organization with nearly 2 million members, urged the federal government for marijuana to be removed from the list of controlled substances. The organization also adopted a resolution urging passage of laws that would allow VA doctors to recommend medical marijuana. -- Patricia Kime can be reached at patricia.kime@military.com. Follow her on Twitter @patriciakime. The Justice Department notified a Maryland court Wednesday of its intention to file a motion striking down what may be the last barrier to new Pentagon rules that could lead to the discharge of transgender troops. Advocacy groups said they expected the motion to succeed, based on a Supreme Court ruling handed down Tuesday. The ruling lifted court injunctions against a policy approved by then-Defense Secretary Jim Mattis that followed President Donald Trump's proposed ban on transgender individuals serving in the military. In a notice of intent, Assistant Attorney General Joseph Hunt told U.S. District Court Judge George Russell in Maryland that he had no choice but to follow the Supreme Court's ruling and lift his own injunction. The other injunctions that had blocked the Defense Department's policy "are indistinguishable from the preliminary injunction in this case, and the Supreme Court's order is binding precedent on the application of the stay factors to the injunction at issue here," Hunt said, according to the court filing. Although the last barrier to the ban is likely to fall, it is still unclear whether or when the Defense Department might proceed with the policy put forward by Mattis, who largely delegated the authority to draw it up to Patrick Shanahan, then-deputy defense secretary and now acting secretary of defense. In a statement Tuesday, Air Force Lt. Col. Carla Gleason, a Pentagon spokeswoman, said, "We treat all transgender persons with respect and dignity." The Defense Department policy "is NOT a ban on service by transgender persons," Gleason said, but "it is critical that DoD be permitted to implement personnel policies that it determines are necessary to ensure the most lethal and combat effective fighting force in the world." On Wednesday, Gleason said the Pentagon was still barred from putting the policy into effect by the Maryland injunction. She said the Justice Department "is seeking relief from this remaining injunction in light of the Supreme Court's action, but at present it remains in place." Under the Mattis policy, transgender individuals would be barred from enlisting, but openly transgender individuals now serving in the military would be allowed to remain. However, transgender individuals currently serving who decide to come out and transition could face discharge. Advocates for LGBT (Lesbian Gay Transgender Bisexual) rights said the military would have the authority to implement the Mattis policy once there is a ruling on the Maryland injunction, but the Pentagon could also decide not to follow through. The Supreme Court ruling "allows but does not require the military to reinstate the ban for the duration of ongoing litigation over the policy," Aaron Belkin, director of the Palm Center advocacy group said in a statement Tuesday. In a phone interview Wednesday, Belkin said the military "can't discharge anybody until they implement the formal policy." Even then, "the issue would be ripe" for more lawsuits by transgender individuals who might be targeted for discharge, he said. Eventually, "transgender troops will serve openly in the military," Belkin said. "The arc of history is clear." He described the current court battles as a "zigzag in policy while Trump remains in office." -- Patricia Kime contributed to this report. -- Richard Sisk can be reached at richard.sisk@military.com. Months after popular manufacturer 3M reached a more than $9 million settlement to resolve allegations it supplied the U.S. military with defective earplugs, a former Army sergeant has filed his own lawsuit, claiming the gear left him with hearing damage and a constant ringing in his ears. His attorney says his complaint will likely be followed by hundreds more like it. Scott Rowe, a combat veteran who deployed to Iraq from 2003 to 2004 as part of the 411th Military Police Company, filed the suit Tuesday in U.S. District Court in the Western District of Texas, Waco Division. He's seeking unspecified damages for permanent ear damage he alleges was sustained while using the dual-ended Combat Arms earplugs 3M provided to the military under contract. "During my deployment, we were given earplugs ... we were told that these things were supposed to protect us," Rowe said during a Tuesday press conference hosted by the Abraham Watkins Law Firm in Houston. "We have a company here that lied, that took our well-being in jeopardy. Now everyday, I have to live with a high-pitched frequency in my ear that's deafening. I'm never at peace." Despite the recent settlement, 3M continues to maintain its products were not defective. "3M has a long history of serving the U.S. military," the company said in a statement released to Military.com. "We have sold and continue to sell thousands of products to help our troops and support their missions. Safety is a key component of what we do for the United States military, and 3M denies that Combat Arms Earplugs caused injuries." According to the lawsuit, the earplugs were designed by the company Aearo Technologies, acquired by 3M in 2008. They were supplied to the military between 2003 and 2012 and boasted a multi-use design feature: If worn with one side facing in, they purported to block all sound like traditional earplugs; if worn with the other side in, they were supposed to block louder battlefield sounds while still allowing the user to hear verbal commands and other quieter sounds. However, the suit alleges they were made too short, causing them to loosen in the wearer's ear and allow damaging sounds to enter the ear canal. While the earplugs could be manipulated to create a better fit, troops were not provided with manufacturer instructions stating that, the lawsuit said. "I started noticing the buzzing in the ear when I returned back from overseas," Rowe said at the press conference. "When I came home, sitting on the couch, I could hear that pitched sound." He said he suffered from headaches and dizziness due to the ringing in his ears. The lawsuit demands damages in amounts sufficient to cover past and future medical expenses; pain, suffering and mental anguish; and past and future wage loss due to the tinnitus. The lawsuit comes shortly after documents filed under seal pertaining to military allegations against 3M were made public for the first time. On July 26, 2018, 3M agreed to pay a $9.1 million settlement to resolve allegations that it had sold the earplugs to the U.S. military knowing they were defective. The U.S. government had alleged that 3M violated the False Claims Act in its contract for the earplugs. "The Department of Justice is committed to protecting the men and women serving in the United States military from defective products and fraudulent conduct," Acting Assistant Attorney General Chad A. Readler of the department's Civil Division said in a statement at the time. "Government contractors who seek to profit at the expense of our military will face appropriate consequences." Mo Aziz, an attorney for Rowe with Abraham Watkins, indicated that the government settlement may open the floodgates for military veterans to file their own lawsuits against 3M for personal injury suffered. Tinnitus is the number one claimed disability for veterans; it affects one in 10 Americans overall, but veterans are 30 percent more likely to have the condition, according to an assessment from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Figures from the Department of Veterans Affairs show 190,000 vets were diagnosed with tinnitus in 2016, and 103,000 received a hearing loss diagnosis. "Hundreds or thousands of cases are going to follow," Aziz said. -- Hope Hodge Seck can be reached at hope.seck@military.com. Follow her on Twitter at @HopeSeck. AUSTIN, Texas -- An airman was shot and killed Sunday night in front of his wife at an apartment complex in Texas, local officials said. The Cedar Park Police Department identified the active-duty airman Monday as Austin Robert Burroughs, 22. The airman first class was a student stationed at Presidio of Monterey, Calif., according to records from the Air Force Personnel Center. About 9:15 p.m. Sunday, Cedar Park police responded to a call about gunfire at the Lakeline Villas Apartments, according to police. A second call followed, stating a man had been shot. When officers arrived, they found Burroughs dead with an apparent gunshot wound. The case remains under investigation and the killer is still on the loose. The investigation revealed the couple arrived at the apartment complex, and, after parking, Burroughs was exiting the driver's side of the vehicle when the shooter approached and fired his gun. Police described the shooter as a male of thin build and average height who was wearing an orange- or red-colored hoodie and dark sweatpants. He left the scene in a gray or silver hatchback and he was armed with a semi-automatic handgun. At this time, police believe Burroughs' wife lived at the apartment complex, said Alicia Inns, a police spokeswoman. Burroughs lived at his duty station in California. Based on Air Force service records, Burroughs joined the Air Force on May 30, 2017, and had received the Air Force Training Ribbon, the Air Force Good Conduct Medal, the Global War on Terrorism Service Medal, the Air Force Basic Military Training Honor Graduate ribbon and the National Defense Service Medal. Cedar Park is a northwest suburb of Austin. The Air Force had planned to ask for $206 million next year for development on T-7, but will ask for just $189 million... U.S. Sen. Chris Murphy is definitely not running for president in 2020, despite appearing on multiple short lists as a potential candidate. Im flattered that Ive shown up on some of these lists, hopefully it means Im doing a decent job in Washington, the Connecticut Democrat said Wednesday after a news conference at Bradley International Airport in Windsor Locks, where he was discussing airport security amid the federal government shutdown. I dont think that I have to run for president to make a difference for Connecticut or for the issues that I care about it, he said. For up-to-date information on public policy issues, sign up for the CT Politics newsletter Murphy later tweeted an official announcement, let me be 100 percent clear: Im not running in 2020. I love the job I have now. And at least two or three Democrats in the Senate need to stay behind to keep the fight going here! Several of his colleagues in the Senate have lined up to run for president, including Sens. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., and Kamala Harris, D-Calif. Murphys top communications aide, Chris Harris, announced this week he is leaving Murphys staff to join Harris campaign. Im really excited for Chris, Murphy said. Hes been a great friend and staffer. Nancy Wyman, who was to officially become chairman of the Connecticut Democratic Party Wednesday evening, called Murphys decision unfortunate for the country, but great for the state of Connecticut. Hes been a great representative for our state and he will always have my backing no matter what he decides to do, she said. Especially with the president we have now, we need people in Senate who will stand up to him. Murphy did not say who he would support in 2020. He was easily re-elected to a second term in the U.S. Senate in November, and has long implied he wouldnt be in the presidential running. But that hasnt stopped his name from being included in the pool of potential candidates on lists by outlets like The Washington Post and Politico. Murphys popularity among progressives has soared since 2012 thanks to his activism on gun control. At 45, he is one of the youngest members of the Senate, and served in the House of Representatives for Connecticuts 5th Congressional District. I certainly havent been traveling to Iowa or New Hampshire like other folks have, Murphy said Wednesday, adding, I havent been acting like a candidate for president for quite some time. On whether its something he would consider in the future, he said, Its not something I would rule out. kkrasselt@hearstmediact.com; 203-842-2563; @kaitlynkrasselt Their two friends who were behind them and saw the whole thing thanked me, he said. I was pretty shaken up by the whole thing, but I would hope someone would do the same thing for my kids if they were in trouble. Im just glad that no one got hurt. NEWINGTON A special group of constituents has been busy giving well wishes to government representatives for the upcoming legislative sessionpets at the Connecticut Humane Society. Pets greeted Governor-elect Ned Lamont, Lieutenant Governor-elect Susan Bysiewicz and local and state representatives Sunday, Jan. 6, and were overheard lobbying for more treats in the new year. It was all a part of Lamonts Connecticut Day of Service. CHS was one of several nonprofits that Lamont and other legislators visited, in his effort to encourage the publics support of charities and spread awareness of local groups. Legislators received a behind-the-scenes tour of CHS that offered a glimpse of the extensive medical care all pets receive before they are ready for adoption, and of CHS Fox Memorial Clinic, which provides low-fee veterinary services to community pets. Lamont and Bysiewicz visited CHS Newington with Representative Tony Guerrera, Representative Rick Lopes, Representative-Elect Kerry Wood, Representative-Elect Gary Turco, US Senator Richard Blumenthal and Newington Mayor Roy Zartarian. At CHS Westport, visitors included Westport Selectwoman Melissa Kane, Senator-elect Will Haskell, Bysiewicz, Representative Jonathan Steinberg, Blumenthal, and Senator Tony Hwang. Since 1881, CHS has served Connecticuts pets by supporting their families, providing shelter and medical care, and improving animal welfare statewide, an effort only possible thanks to donors and without any funding from the government or any national groups. Yoga class enrollment open BRANFORD Gentle Flow yoga classes begin in March in Branford, offered by the Branford Recreation department. Gentle Flow Yoga: Build yoga skills in this Vinyasa style practice. Breath work linked with intention and postures allow you to tone and tighten the entire body, improve flexibility, enhance balance and build core strength. Class is suitable for beginners to advanced practitioners. Bring a yoga mat and water bottle. Classes begin March 11 and continue to April 15, 6-7 p.m. Fee is $75. Classes will be held at the Mary T. Murphy Elementary School Gymnasium. To register, call the Branford Recreation Department at 203-488-8304 or go to http://www.branford-ct.gov/parks Oddfellows offers Le Petit Studio MIDDLETOWN Oddfellows Playhouse announces Le Petit Studio a series of three theater workshops for ages 8 - 14 and their family members. The first workshop is Saturday, 10 a.m.-12 p.m. at Oddfellows Playhouse, 128 Washington Street in Middletown. Each week will be a new theater experience, a new story, a new creation. Students work with Congolese theater artist Toto Kisaku to create instant theater, continuing Feb. 9 and Feb. 23, 10 am.-12 p.m. Attend one Saturday, or all three. Tuition is $30 per session, or $75 for all three sessions. Financial aid is available. Toto Kisaku is a Congolese theater artist who is now a Middletown resident. His one-person show, Requiem for an Electric Chair was a highlight of last summer's International Festival of Arts and Ideas in New Haven. Le Petit Studio is an exciting kid and family theater event that Toto has devised and implemented all over the country. Here is a description in his words: Le Petit Studio is a workshop space for dramatic readings by and for children and adolescents, with optional participation by adults, including teachers, parents, and grandparents. The Petit Studio promotes a shared space where young people can experience and create around books, words, and sounds. A place to dramatize and recreate a universe that comes from writers from every part of the globe. Imagine that group of young people can recreate an entire world on stage. Imagine that they take responsibility for making artistic decisions to realize their vision and make their story come alive. First, the children choose a book or fable to dramatize. Next, they decide who will play each character, who will make sounds that will create the environment, and who will design the costumes and the set. Then the activity begins! For one hour, the young people cut, sew, paint, staple, and draw; they sing, whistle, blow, snap, stomp, and make unearthly sounds to recreate the world theyre creating; they practice voices for characters, look up how to pronounce unfamiliar words, try out various postures that fit their characters, and dig deeply into their charactershow they feel about themselves, how they feel about the other characters. Each workshop culminates with a performance: the costume group dresses their characters, who now read their individual parts with the sound effects group adding the appropriate accompaniment. There is much laughter and enthusiastic participation as the young people experience the joy of creating together. Toto has led more than 40 Le Petit Studio workshops for schools, nonprofit organizations and governments. To register, or for more information, contact Oddfellows Playhouse at 860-347-6143, email info@oddfellows.org, or go to www.oddfellows.org. Radon test kits still avaialble The Killingworth Health Department still has free radon test kits available and now is the best time to test your home for radon. Residents can stop into the office Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. to pick up their free test kit. Radon gas is the leading national environmental cause of cancer mortality. Health officials estimate that radon is responsible for more than 21,100 lung cancer deaths each year in the United States. A naturally occurring, radioactive gas formed from the natural decay of uranium, radon is found in rock, soil and water. While radon in outdoor air poses a relatively low risk to human health, it can enter homes from the surrounding soil and become a health hazard inside buildings. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency recommends that homes with radon levels at or above 4.0 pCi/L be fixed. Homeowners should consider reducing their potential lung cancer risk by fixing homes with radon levels between 2 pCi/L and 4 pCi/L. Smokers exposed to radon have a much higher risk for developing lung cancer. Radon problems can be corrected by qualified radon contractors, with costs typically ranging between $1,200 and $1,500. A homeowner should hire a qualified radon mitigation (reduction) contractor to decrease airborne radon levels. To learn more about radon and to obtain a list of qualified radon mitigation contractors, please visit the CT Department of Public Health Radon Program website at, www.ct.gov/dph/radon. Test kits are also available in most hardware stores and from the American Lung Association, https://www.lung.org/our-initiatives/healthy-air/indoor/indoor-air-pollutants/radon.html. Additional information may be found on the EPA web site, http://www.epa.gov/radon/index.html. For more information contact the Killingworth Health Department at 860-663-1765 x223. MIDDLETOWN Approximately 15 homes and two businesses in the North End were without water Thursday following an early morning water main break in a 120-year-old pipe near the Arrigoni Bridge into Portland. Middletown Water & Sewer personnel, alerted to the incident between 2 and 3 a.m., spent much of the day excavating the area of Spring and Main streets in an effort to reach the 10-inch pipe about 9 feet below ground, according to Chief Engineer Brian Robillard. Crews reached the broken portion of the pipe by mid-afternoon, made repairs, and spent the late afternoon back filling the site, compacting the soil, and paving the area. Director Joseph Fazzino said about 3:30 p.m. that he expected work to take another four to six hours to complete, followed by the flushing process. Officials said service was expected to be restored to all by late Thursday, but customers may go 20 or more hours in total without water. Weather conditions mild temperatures in the mid-50s, with driving rain and up to 23 mph winds affected efforts, officials said. Horse and buggies were trotting along a dusty Main Street when the water pipe was installed in 1898. The breach is near a sanitary sewer and storm drain, as well as a natural gas line. Its slow going. Theyre digging carefully around where the pipe is, Robillard said Thursday morning. However, there was no particular danger posed by the gas line, he said. Eversource media spokesman Mitch Gross concurred, saying the location is considered safe because the natural gas line was not hit. Typically theyll stand by in case theyre needed if theres an issue that may interrupt natural gas service in any way, he said of Eversource crews on site. Middletown and Cromwell police blocked off the roadway, next to the Route 66 approach to and exit from the bridge to Portland. More than a dozen customers on Rome, Spring and Stack streets were affected, including the Amazing Grace Food Pantry and The Dog Cabin day care, Robillard said. Macdonough Elementary School did not lose water, Robillard said. For a common ring break a crack in an area of the pipe well use a repair sleeve (for a permanent fix). A lot of times, with temperature changes, we see an increase in main breaks, but we dont know why this one in particular broke, he said. Some older lines do last longer, depending on the manufacturing process back then. They were much thicker. After the area is repaired, crews flush the line to get rid of any discolored water. The city was experiencing rain and wind all day as an area of low pressure approached from the west. The low and cold front passed across the area in the afternoon, with the rain coming to an end by mid- to late afternoon. This past weekend and into Tuesday saw frigid and dangerous conditions following an ice/snow storm Sunday which also brought sleet and freezing rain to Connecticut. It also knocked out power to tens of thousands across the state, causing school cancellations and delays, as well as other closings. An East Haddam man and subcontractor for Eversource was killed Sunday afternoon when a large tree fell on him on Millbrook Road while he was working to repair utility lines. Also, a 75-year-old Middletown man died Monday afternoon when his vehicle, parked in a steep and icy driveway on Fowler Avenue, rolled onto him, pinning him near the street. On Jan. 14, with the temperature below freezing, another water main break on Route 66/Washington Street sent a significant amount of ice onto the roadway. The 8-inch, 1950s-era main is located between Boston Road and Plaza Drive. Managing Editor Cassandra Day can be reached at cassandra.day@hearstmediact.com. Follow her on Twitter @cassandrasdis. Zolfo is as genuine as they come. She sincerely wants to give back to her community, and to the larger community of our country. This has nothing to do with patriotism, a word that has become twisted in America these days, and everything to do with simply being a good person. MIDDLETOWN Lt. Gov. Susan Bysiewicz visited Middletown Wednesday to attend the swearing-in ceremony of Lt. Col. Stavros Mellekas, 51, who now leads Connecticut State Police. Mellekas replaces retired Col. George F. Battle. Gov. Ned Lamont nominated Mellekas in December, highlighting his experience in law enforcement and dedication to keeping Connecticut communities safe. Lamont said Mellekas is a service-oriented trooper who believes in treating everyone with dignity and respect, and holds people accountable for their actions, according to a press release. Mellekas has served for nearly 25 years with the state police, and previously oversaw field operations for all three state districts, each of the three major crime squads, and the Bureau of Special Investigations, according to the release. The colonel, who started as a patrol trooper and rose through the ranks, has been awarded several citations for outstanding police work and meritorious service. He comes from a large, well-known Greek family, and has been married to his wife Kim for 25 years. They live in Bristol with their three children: two in college and one a senior in high school, according to the release. Governor Lamont and I congratulate Col. Mellekas on his swearing in, and are confident that he will continue to be a great leader in the state police. Safety is very important to us, and we will continue to support the efforts of Commissioner James Rovella and the Department of Emergency Services and Public Protection to keep Connecticut safe, Bysiewicz said during the ceremony. We are grateful to DESPP for all that they do to protect and improve the quality of life for all our residents by providing a broad range of public safety services, including training, regulatory guidance, prevention and education programs, she said. I know Col. Mellekas will do everything he can to ensure that our troopers are well-prepared to protect the people of Connecticut, and I look forward to seeing all the great things he accomplishes in this new role, Bysiewicz said. The corrections officers involved in the death last year of a mentally ill inmate at Garner Correctional Institution in Newtown have been cleared of criminal wrongdoing. States Attorney Stephen J. Sedensky on Thursday expressed "condolences" to the family of deceased inmate Jallen Jones but said the actions of officers was not criminal. "I have determined that the circumstances of the Mr. Jones death are not criminal in nature," Sedensky said in a statement. "Accordingly, the criminal investigation into this matter is closed. We express our sincere condolences to the family of Mr. Jones on their loss," Sedensky said. The state medical examiner had classified Joness death a homicide, a technicality because he did not die of natural causes. Jones died while being restrained and after mace and a calming medicine was deployed. Sedenskys conclusion did not satisfy activists who said the report offers no details into why the officers acted properly or discussion of the restraint they applied to an inmate known to be mentally ill. "Our concerns remain," said Dan Barrett, legal director for the Connecticut Chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union. "Anytime public employees cause a death thats a blinking red light," Barrett said. "This says there was no criminality. It does not say why or what happened." Prison officials said Jones, a 31 year-old inmate with a history of mental illness serving a 10-year sentence, became uncontrollable on March 25, 2018 while being moved to a mental health unit. Dr. James Gill, Connecticut's chief medical examiner, said Jones died suddenly "during struggle and restraint with chest compression." Life saving measures were initiated, and Jones was transferred to a nearby hospital, where he was declared dead. Karen Martucci, a state Department of Corrections spokeswoman, said the department is pleased with Sedenskys determination. "As part of its commitment to transparency and accountability, the DOC welcomes the findings of the thorough investigation conducted by the States Attorneys Office," Martucci said. "The agencys internal investigation is still ongoing, as we comprehensively examine every aspect of the incident to determine whether all internal policies and procedures were followed," Martucci added. The maximum-security prison is home to 500 or so of the states worst inmates those guilty of violent crimes such as robberies and assault. Some 48 cells are reserved as segregation units to protect other inmates living in cramped pods. Struggling inmate Sedenskys report noted that Jones was having mental health difficulties and engaged officers while he was being moved to a medical unit. "In the process of moving Mr. Jones, a personal search was required," Sedensky said in his report. "Mr. Jones struggled with the officers and physical force was applied to Mr. Jones, including the application of mace in an attempt to subdue him." Sedensky said medication was also administered to calm Jones. Sometime after that medication, Jones became unresponsive and efforts to revive him were unsuccessful, Sedenksy said. Included in the evidence reviewed was a video of the incident, Sedensky said. Barrett said the "press release" issued by Sedensky offers few details or insights into to what happened to Jones and whether officers were justified in using the force they deployed. "All this says is the state will not bring a case," Barrett said. "This is the state investigating itself." Barrett added the statement does not explain why the prosecutor is not bringing a case and contains no details in terms of what the prosecutor looked at. "I dont think the public should see this as getting to the bottom of it," Barrett noted. Michael Tuthill, president of AFSCME Local 1565 representing corrections officers, said the report confirms the unions belief that officers acted properly. "The state's attorney investigation affirms our union's position that the correction officers involved in the incident with Mr. Jones acted appropriately under the circumstances, Tuthill said. Mr. Jones's death is a tragedy that also serves as a reminder the difficult and dangerous environment within our state correction facilities," Tuthill said. Former DOC Commissioner Scott Semple told Hearst Connecticut Media last year that the officers did nothing wrong. "Ive viewed the video," Semple said. "If I felt the use of force was inappropriate, (the officers involved) would not be working now." A Hearst Connecticut Media review last year of DOC records found that correction officers use of force against inmates had increased over the last 10 years even as Connecticuts prison population declined. DOCs numbers showed an overall 15 percent rise in use of force over the 10-year period, with a 12 percent decrease coming during a recent five-year period. The states prison population has been on a downward trend for years, dropping from a high of nearly 20,000 inmates in 2010 to less than 14,000 last year. The decline is due in part to prison and justice system reforms, and a gradually improving economy. bcummings@ctpost.com PIGEON The Elkton-Pigeon-Bay Port School Board this week presented the superintendent evaluation for Brian Keim. For the second straight year, Keim received the rating of highly effective. Brian was evaluated using the MASB (Michigan Association of School Boards) evaluation tool, said board president Todd Tate. He was rated in many areas and had the evidence to show his extraordinary work in all key areas giving him the rating of highly effective. Keim received the highly effective grade for his work in two specific areas, according to Tate. The first is school safety. This is the main concern of our district for obvious reasons, Tate said. Brian has been a visionary in this area and has taken our school to the front of the class. He has improved access ability, upgraded our equipment and brought in a deputy to patrol to our campus. Our board feels that this is an ongoing area of focus and has asked Brian to put an emphasis on security and to increase the role of the security committee. The other area that Keim has excelled in, according to the board, is staffing. Our area has seen the teaching profession numbers dwindle, causing staffing issues, Tate said. Brian has shown great insight to take advantage of opportunities in recruiting quality teachers and administrators to combat the issue that has led our district by bringing in the best educators that he can find to our students. Keim has been the Laker superintendent since the fall of 2015, when he was promoted from his position of high school principal. Brians hard work and vision are two strong reasons he is able to achieve the highly effective mark, Tate said. In Brians short time as superintendent, he has helped to steer Lakers Schools in the direction the board and the community can be proud of. The board desires that Brian continues to improve upon his programs that Lakers offers, his extracurriculars and student growth, emphasizing not only on traditional learning, but also hands-on, critical thinking and problem solving, Tate added. It is our goal as a district to continue challenging our students to be the best young adults possible. In other business, the board: Elected its officers. Todd Tate remained president, Mary Tait remained secretary and Heath Krohn remained treasurer. Dana Reiter replaced Keith Hatfield, who is no longer on the board, as vice president. Approved Michigan Glass Coatings as the vendor and installer for the districts window film project. Approved the posting and hiring of an innovation center director. Accepted, with regret, the resignation of Morgan Bechler, who was recently hired for a support staff role in the elementary and will be moving on to Cass City. Heard an update on the bond and sinking fund proposal. Keim reported the preliminary building plans are now complete and bid package for the school bond project has been sent to the states bidding site. He also reported that the goal for completion of all work, except for the Legacy Center Fieldhouse, is the start of school this coming fall. The Legacy Center Fieldhouse is scheduled to open in the fall of 2020. The board is scheduled to meet again at 6 p.m. Feb. 18 inside Room 205 in the high school. PIGEON Author and conservation officer John Borkovich will be visiting the Pigeon District Library at 3 p.m. March 21. He will share stories of his adventures and will also be bringing examples of wildlife. Copies of his book will be available for purchase during the event. Borkovich was hired as a conservation officer in 1985 and was given a one-year freelance assignment to work around Michigan. He also served as an adjunct professor at St. Clair County Community College in the criminal justice department. His book, Wildlife 911, details some of his ventures as a Conservation Officer. Refreshments will be served during his visit at the library in Pigeon. The officer has been placed on paid administrative leave as is typical with any officer involved in a deadly force incident, Erow said, adding no additional information on the officer or the incident will be made available until the investigation by state police is complete. In 2017, she published a new book that detailed her life in journalism and many great behind the scenes newsroom stories. She grew up on the south side of Chicago and graduated from the University of Illinois and Purdue University Calumet, the latter of which just welcomed her as a new faculty member in the communication department. Her new book "Hugh Hefner's First Funeral and Other True Tales of Love and Death in Chicago" (2015, Eckhartz Press, $15.95) earned her winning accolades in 2017 at Chicago Writers Association Book of the Year awards ceremony. Vanuatu turns the Corner LETS USE THIS AS A SPRINGBOARD FOR THE FUTURE South Africa: Communications DM visits Beitbridge Communications Deputy Minister Pinky Kekana says the governments of South Africa and Zimbabwe continue to maintain close contact in monitoring events at the Beitbridge border post. The Deputy Minister visited Beitbridge on Wednesday as part of a broader initiative to deliver digital services to public facilities in Vhembe District. Her visit to the busiest land border in the country comes on the back of protests in the neighbouring country, sparked by steep fuel price increases, which led to scores of people trying to cross the border into South Africa to buy basic necessities. While reports state that shops have since reopened and business is starting to return to normal in Zimbabwe, authorities in both countries continue to closely monitor developments. Kekana said officials at Beitbridge are equal to the task of effective border management. The Ministers of Home Affairs in South Africa and Zimbabwe are forever in close contact to make sure that they monitor the situation... Our personnel, including police and soldiers, are on the ground monitoring various points in the system. Kekanas visit was in part an opportunity to look at how infrastructure, particularly broadband, can support the One Stop Border initiative, which was approved by Cabinet in December 2018 for implementation. The One-Stop Border Post (OSBP) National Framework provides guidance towards the speedy establishment of OSBPs between South Africa and its neighbouring countries. The OSBPs will enhance trade facilitation without compromising national security or revenue collection through the efficient movement of goods, persons and services between South Africa and the adjoining states of Botswana, Lesotho, Namibia, Mozambique and Zimbabwe. It will also result in the region realising a faster border clearance and limited duplication of border agency interventions, which in turn improves trade competitiveness and movement of person by cutting down on cost and time. We wanted to see how the economy will bring itself [together] at the border, including the project that Limpopo province is embarking on at the [Musina-Makhado] Special Economic Zone... said Kekana. The SEZ -- which focuses on energy, metallurgical processing, agro-processing, petrochemicals and logistics -- has the potential to turn the region into a smart city, which Kekana said can be achieved with the rollout of broadband. The Deputy Minister is currently in Limpopo, where she is unveiling various digital services at public facilities in Vhembe District. The services will enable the rural communities to become part of the digital society and improve services rendered. SAnews.gov.za This story has been published on: 2019-01-24. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article. The Lake County Extension Homemakers Association is accepting applications for the Lucile Smith Memorial Scholarship and the Indiana Extension Homemakers Association Career Advancement Scholarship. To be eligible for the Lucile Smith Memorial Scholarship, applicant must be 21 years of age or older and a resident of Lake County for at least six months. Applications must be received by March 1. To be eligible for the Indiana Extension Homemakers Association Scholarship, applicant must be a homemaker 25 years of age or older and a resident of Indiana. Applications must be postmarked by March 15. Both scholarships require that the applicant has been admitted or cleared for admission to an academic or vocational school that is state licensed or accredited. Preference will be given to a person studying at an undergraduate level. Applications and more information are with the Lake County Purdue Extension at 219-755-3240 or with Diana at dmcook@purdue.edu Scott currently has no cellphone with her and may be slightly disoriented or lost, police said. She is known to frequent the East Chicago and Hammond areas but has not been in contact with anyone, nor did she arrive at her destination as scheduled, police said. It is of great benefit for students to be able to apply to the college, complete financial aid requirements, meet with an advisor and attend classes, all in one place, Catrina Terrell, Student Services Professional at the new EEC in Crown Point, said. This saves time and minimizes transportation costs. In addition, having an Express Enrollment Center at all three locations allows us to personalize student customer service in a fashion that goes well beyond enrollment. Express Enrollment serves as a support unit throughout the entire student lifecycle. Police conducted surveillance on Happy Feet and Spa and saw that He was at the business most of the time and would be the person to open and close the business, according to an affidavit. He also provided transportation for employees on a number of occasions, the affidavit states. Most of the clientele at the spa were men, according to the affidavit. "The EPA and (Indiana Department of Environmental Management) tortured us for two years before issuing our permit. We had daily sometimes as many as 20 visits in a row, and we passed every one with flying colors," Condon said. "That's the truth. I want to tell you that my partner and I, since we've owned (the property) in 2007, have spent about a half a million dollars for voluntary cleanup. It took us five years." The officer saw a red SUV speed away from a parking lot of Park West Apartments where the shooting occurred, the affidavit states. The SUV pulled into a strip mall on Ridge Road up to Griffith police officers who were located there, according to the affidavit. Ortiz, who had been shot in the head, was taken to a local hospital where she died, police said. Following his participation in the EU Foreign Affairs Council and the EU-ASEAN ministerial meeting (21/01/2019), Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Terens Quick also participated in the EU-African Union ministerial meeting (22/01/2019) on strengthening relations between the European Union and the African Union, aiming at the development of African states, an issue related to migration flows originating from that continent. During his intervention at the said meeting, the largest ever held at the headquarters of the EU in Brussels, with the participation of 80 Ministers and Deputy Ministers of Foreign Affairs, Mr Quick, among other things, stressed the following: Greece is held in high regard by the peoples of African states, whether those bordering the Mediterranean in the north, or those in sub-Saharan Africa. You see, we never colonised them. Wherever Greeks settled, since the early twentieth century, they did so in order to work, to build a future, with love and respect for their neighbours. With the invaluable assistance of the Greek community abroad, Greece has greatly upgraded its political, diplomatic and economic relations with many states of the African continent over the past two years, a fact these states appreciate. We are both a member of the European Union and an important gateway for African relations with our European family. In turn, all member states of the African Union are part of the global family of the UN, without overlooking the participation of most states in the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation, a fact that we must note for numerous reasons which need not be explained at present. I want to assure you that, by definition, the Greek government wishes to participate in all initiatives that concern relations between the European Union and the African Union. This is why we would like to congratulate the European Union's High Representative for Foreign Affairs, Mrs Federica Mogherini, for this ministerial meeting following up on the EU-AU summit held in November 2017 in Abidjan. Greece has co-signed the EU's plan to support actions primarily focusing on African youth, aiming at creating jobs, providing them with education, and achieving harmonisation with the demands of the digital age. By helping young people and their families remain in their homelands, we are also greatly contributing towards reducing migration flows originating from those countries. I must also underline the need for the women of Africa to take their rightful place at the employment, social and educational level. Finally, I am in a position to announce that the Greek Ministry of Foreign Affairs will continue supporting Greek business missions on the African continent, and particularly in rapidly developing states, because, regardless of whether this contributes to the extroversion of our own economy, it also helps create jobs employing the local populace, as I was saying earlier. Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Markos Bolaris received, in the context of a courtesy meeting, the Turkish Ambassador to Greece, Mr. Burak Ozugergin. The possibilities that arise from exercising soft politics were discussed, especially with regard to issues of culture, art, religion, education, language, and tourism. Prospects that bring the peoples of the two sides into contact and, on a second level, create the prospects for further growth of the economy, commerce, entrepreneurship and, in this manner, create the trust required for essential issues of the hard core of politics to be resolved. As an example of this, the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs referred to his initiative for cooperation between the Hellenic Institute of Byzantine and Post-Byzantine Studies with the Museum of Turkish and Islamic Arts in Istanbul for an illustrative exhibition of the manuscript: The Story of Alexander, a manuscript which is decorated with high-quality illuminations, inscriptions in Greek, and notes in the margin in old Ottoman Turkish script. This text, where language and cultures are recorded, constitutes a meeting point among peoples. A second proposal by the Deputy Minister was the creation of a series of events by the aforementioned Institute, under the aegis of the Ecumenical Patriarchate, with the participation of an Italian Institute from Venice and a Turkish University in Istanbul which will highlight relations between the two cities. A decade ago, on the morning of January 22, 2008, Christopher Nolan's 'The Dark Knight' became the only superhero film to be nominated in a record-breaking 8 categories, a stature that has not been achieved by any superhero genre film till date. via GIPHY The heartbreaking reality associated with this film that still pinches the movie buffs happens to be its exclusion from being nominated in the Best Picture category. Years later, just a day after the announcement of nominations of the 91st Academy Awards, the world is contemplating a rather historic moment that might change the whole significance of the Oscars forever. Ryan Coogler's tour-de-force 'Black Panther', which is a superhero saga, has been nominated for the Oscars in multiple categories including the esteemed Best Picture category. via GIPHY Wakanda forever, tweeted 'Black Panther's' lead actress Lupita Nyong'o, as she shared her extreme delight on the micro-blogging platform, regarding the film's nominations. Since then, social media has been buzzing with tweets, comments, and memes. Seven #OscarNoms for #BlackPanther, including best picture!! This is our reaction the first time we saw footage from the film and we're feeling this way all over again today! Thank you @TheAcademy! #WakandaForever #Oscars pic.twitter.com/lXWv3nsN90 Lupita Nyong'o (@Lupita_Nyongo) January 22, 2019 Where on one hand, the film has been declared a shape-shifting cultural phenomenon prominently at various award ceremonies this year, others are fuming over the Academy's decision of putting the film in the Best Picture category. Who can forget the ultimate dismissal of 'The Dark Knight'? On the 10th death anniversary of Heath Ledger (Joker), fans remember! via GIPHY If we take a look back at Christopher Nolan's 'Batman' sequel, the film got nominated in eight categories and ended up winning two including the posthumous win by Heath Ledger who portrayed Joker in the film. The only possible reason behind the Best Picture nomination snub for 'The Dark Knight' is believed to be the Academy's limit on the number of candidates in this category. 'Black Panther's' nomination is being termed historic, however, one can't help but wonder if it's because of the controversial history of 'The Dark Knight' at the Oscars that the Marvel film got to this juncture? Does 'Black Panther' owe its nomination to the biggest snub of all time the dismissal of Christopher Nolan's beloved project? via GIPHY 2019 brings more room for nominees in the Best Picture category and the number has been increased from 5 to between 5 and 10 films. That makes us think more and deeply about the loss 'The Dark Knight' faced at the hands of the Academy. Other films that have got nominated this year are 'A Star Is Born', 'Vice', 'Bohemian Rhapsody', 'The Favourite', 'BlacKkKlansman', 'Green Book' and 'Roma'. But what are the chances of 'Black Panther's' win? The Academy has been famously known for dropping the last minute bombs! Remember the highly criticized 'La La Land' fiasco? As critics said, 'Moonlight's'well-deserved win was taken from their hands and the wrong film was announced on purpose, we don't know what the truth is, but two years later, we know that Hollywood is trying to prove a point here. via GIPHY In simple words, 'Black Panther's' nomination may just be a kind gesture by the Academy to avoid the 'Oscars So White' tirade! When the film surpassed James Cameron's 'Titanic' and became the third highest grossing movie ever in the United States, there came the indication that the Academy might consider it. However, this nomination is indeed a sheer surprise for us. via GIPHY Though stigma has taken a back seat and the film deserves an equal opportunity to win, but somehow, it is meant to be snubbed! Otherwise, it would be a naive but well-planned catastrophe directed towards Mr Nolan. Our mothers will always protect us from anything and everything under the sun, but if you piss her off then there's nothing, I repeat nothing, that can save you from her wrath. The incident that I am going to talk about now, is a legendary proof of the same. Fights between teenagers and parents is nothing unsual, nor is it strange for the kids to walk out of the house in anger and parents going after them to pursue them. This teenager in Mexico too must have fought with her mother and ran out of the house. But, here's a twist. The mother in question is not your regular parent. I would like to call her a 'ninja mom' especially after looking at her technique of stopping her kid. She didn't run after her. Instead, she launched her weapon - her chappal aka flip-flop - at her daughter and that weapon flew a ridiculous distance to hit her. When I say ridiculous, I mean nearly 30 meters. She should probably have an 'Angry Bird' game of her own. Nunca subestimen el poder de la chancla! pic.twitter.com/Btmib1JUol Nino Triqui (@nino_triqui) January 16, 2019 Such was the impact of the chappal of our ninja mom that her daughter was shocked to see it and tripped. People on internet have already started a virtual petition (not really) to make her compete in the Olympics for 'chanclazo volador' (flying flip-flop), because her throwing skills are pure gold. PORTLAND, Ore. Jan. 23, 2019 National University $250,000 Oregon $35,000 Oregon Oregon Tafflyn Williams-Thomas Kelsey Barnett Andrea Bustamante Maya Rios Tuba City, Arizona Navajo Oregon Oregon's Arizona OREGON'S Oregon State of Oregon North America Portland National University /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- The Oregon Health Authority (OHA) has awardedof Natural Medicine (NUNM) a biennial grant ofto provide educational scholarships for a select group of naturopathic medical students through the Scholars for a Healthy Oregon Naturopathic Physicians Opportunities (SHONPO) program. Upon graduation, the student recipients agree to provide healthcare services as primary care practitioners to Medicaid patients in medically underserved areas of. The SHONPO program provides each naturopathic student up toper year through graduation.The scholarship funds were made available by thelegislature and OHA in 2017 as a healthcare incentive program to address lack of access to health care in underserved communities. While a small number of states offer financial incentives to naturopathic doctors (NDs),is the first to offer scholarships to retain its most promising future naturopathic doctors to address the medical practitioner shortage., MBA, NUNM's director of Career Services, who is overseeing the launch of the SHONPO scholarships, said four NUNM students have been identified as the inaugural award recipients. "We were looking for students with the vision, skills, experience and commitment necessary to address the needs of medically underserved Oregonians for this landmark program. We are delighted to announce that naturopathic medical students, and LaKota Scott all submitted exceptional applications that far exceeded that criteria."A PERFECT CONFLUENCE OF NEEDS AND GOALS The NUNM scholarship awardees may choose to practice in any of the areas designated by OHA as an underserved area at the time of graduation. Those areas are defined as falling below the median threshold of unmet needs. A majority of NUNM's naturopathic students are often motivated to practice medicine due to healthcare inequity and lack of access to healthcare for underserved populations, but for NUNM student LaKota Scott, the SHONPO scholarship addresses a more personal and deeply held goal. Raised in, located on the northwest side of the Dine () Nation north of Flagstaff, Scott grew up volunteering in the hospital there and has long aspired to practice medicine within indigenous communities.Noting that the scholarship grant will alleviate the burden of paying her last two years of tuition and fees, Scott believes the scholarship also has a number of other important advantages, including preceptorship opportunities through the OHA's Office of Rural Health. After completing her residency program, Scott is planning to meet her OHA scholarship obligation on the Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs Reservation.Scott said that her volunteer service in her hometown hospital reinforced her desire to be a medical practitioner. She remembers that she was asked to be an interpreter for many of the Dine-speaking patients who entered the hospital. "I realized that they needed someone who understood not only their language, but their cultural values and belief systemsthat was missing in the care they received from non-native medical providers. Naturopathic medicine resonated with the way I grew up and the way I understood healing culturally."Scott is looking forward to her future career in. "I'm very thankful for the opportunity to exposetribal communities to naturopathic medicine," she said. The SHONPO scholarship has already altered her future plans, Scott said, noting that originally she planned to return directly to. "I've shifted my career plans to stay in the Pacific Northwest after graduation and am now focusing on studying to practice family medicine."HISTORY OF SUPPORT FOR NATUROPATHIC MEDICINE Williams-Thomas notes thathas been a leader in naturopathic medicine since 1927, when it first awarded licensure to NDs in the state. Said Williams-Thomas, "Thehas a long history of being on the leading edge of healthcare innovation. This is particularly true of its recognition of the naturopathic medical profession and its confidence in the quality of NUNM medical education, clinical training and care. From expanding our pharmaceutical formularies in 2009, to large grants from the Oregon Health Authority to treat patients, to recognizing our clinics as top-tiered Patient-Centered Primary Care Homes, NUNM has been fortunate to build a strong alliance with our partners at OHA. We're particularly grateful for the SHONPO scholarships that directly benefit our students."NUNM has graduated more than 2,500 NDs since 1956. NUNM's accredited naturopathic program is an intensive four-year medical degree. The first two years are focused on biomedicine courses: anatomy, biochemistry, immunology, microbiology, pathology and physiology. Students begin clinical observations and preceptorships in their first year. They also take more than 300 hours in nutrition alongside a comprehensive study of the microbiome. The objective is to incorporate nutrition as a fundamental part of every clinical diagnosis. In addition the program also includes botanical medicine, pharmaceutical medicine, midwifery, minor surgery, mind-body medicine and physical medicine, among other modalities.Naturopathic medicine provides safe, cost-effective and preventive health solutions for minor, chronic and acute conditions. The goal of a naturopathic doctor (ND) is to identify and treat the root cause of a patient's health complaint by combining natural therapies with modern science to help facilitate the body's inherent ability to restore and maintain optimal health.To learn more about SHONPO, visit studentservices.nunm.edu/shonpo-scholarship/. To learn more about NUNM's naturopathic medicine program, visit: nunm.edu/programs/nd/.ABOUT NUNM Founded in 1956, NUNM is the oldest accredited naturopathic medical school inand the leader in natural medicine education and research. In addition to three undergraduate degrees in health sciences, NUNM offers a number of doctoral and master's degree programs in naturopathic and classical Chinese medicine, nutrition research, mental health, global health and Ayurveda, and will soon launch an online Master's of Nutrition degree. NUNM Institutes provide community education seminars, workshops and conferences. NUNM Health Centers, the SIBO Center for Digestive Health, and NUNM's affiliatedmetro community clinics provide healthcare services to thousands of patients each year. Visit nunm.edu for more information.# # #SOURCEof Natural Medicine The pedestrian handed over his wallet to the gunman, who removed cash and a Ventra card valued at $105.50, police said. The two men then ran south on Oak Park Avenue, police said. Recent revelations about a particular brain circuit could lead to more effective treatment of cocaine addiction, which has a high rate of relapse. Share on Pinterest The human brain contains many mysterious connections, and new research uncovers one such circuit that may explain cocaine addiction. The first thing that scientists at the University of Pittsburgh in Pennsylvania did was to establish that synapses, or connections, in a circuit that links two particular brain areas get stronger with cocaine use. The study, which is available in Cell Reports, explains that the circuit links the medial geniculate nucleus (MGN) in the thalamus, which processes sensory inputs, such as sounds, and the lateral amygdala (LA), which is important for reward and motivation. This finding confirmed that strengthening the synapses in this MGN-LA circuit helps to form and reinforce memories that link the drug highs with environmental cues that accompany them. The team then demonstrated how weakening MGN-LA circuit synapses erased the cocaine-cue memories and reduced relapse in rats. The animals showed much-reduced drug-seeking behavior on exposure to cues. The researchers used two methods to erase the cocaine-cue memories. In the first, they used an exposure therapy approach. In the second, they weakened the synapses directly using optogenetics, a technology that uses light to change cell function. Both methods disrupted the memories that the rats had formed between environmental cues, such as the sound of a bell, and the high of cocaine that ensued when they pressed a lever. However, the method that weakened the synapses directly was more effective than exposure therapy at preventing relapse when cue exposure occurred in a different environment. While weve always known, says senior study author Mary M. Torregrossa Ph.D., who is an associate professor of psychiatry, that the brain forms these cue-associated memories, the specific circuits have never been clearly identified. by Sara Guaglione , January 24, 2019 The Washington Post has created a new role to develop advertising, subscriptions and technology opportunities to drive revenue growth. Jarrod Dicker has been tapped for the post, called the vice president of commercial technology and development. Now more than ever, revenue strategy needs to be at the core of every media company, Dicker stated. Dicker will report to both the CIO and CRO at The Washington Post. We look forward to seeing how he reimagines the ways we can use technology to maximize our revenue opportunities, stated CIO Shailesh Prakash. Dicker previously served at The Washington Post; he was named vice president of innovation and commercial strategy to oversee the research, experimentation and development team (RED) in 2017. advertisement advertisement Early last year, Dicker left WaPo to become CEO of Po.et, a blockchain platform for media companies. It is no surprise The Washington Post is committed to developing technology for revenue growth opportunities. Jeff Bezos, founder-CEO of Amazon, owns the newspaper company. by Joe Mandese @mp_joemandese, January 24, 2019 Nielsen -- which started as a privately held company that went public, then private, then public again -- may once again be going private. According to a report by the New York Post citing unnamed sources, private equity firms are weighing a $10 billion bid for the media and marketing research giant. The paper said the suitors include Blackstone Group, where former Nielsen CEO David Calhoun is a senior managing director. The news comes less than two months after Nielsen named advertising and media industry vet David Kenny its new CEO, but at least some have seen his appointment as a possible prelude to taking the company private once again. With a new CEO in place to help the company to improve its position as a public company or steward its exit as one (with a private equity take-out still a realistic outcome), Nielsen remains a durable company facing some unique challenges, Pivotal Research Groups Brian Wieser wrote in a note to investors earlier this month, in which he maintained his hold rating on Nielsens stock and reiterated his $25 per share target price. advertisement advertisement After rising on the news, Nielsen shares fell in overnight trading and are currently priced a little over $25. by Melynda Fuller , January 24, 2019 Digital-native pioneer BuzzFeed is reportedly gearing up to lay off 15% of its staff, or about 250 people, sources told The Wall Street Journal on Wednesday. The layoffs are part of a restructuring that will allow BuzzFeed to invest in more profitable business areas, like content licensing and ecommerce. The cuts are also happening as the company attempts to avoid another round of fund-raising. Its last was in 2016, with $500 million collected and a valuation of $1.7 billion. According the WSJs report, the company is also looking toward potential merger options with other digital media entities. The restructuring is intended to put it on the path to profitability. The company hit its 2018 revenue target of $300 million, but business remains unpredictable. advertisement advertisement BuzzFeed CEO Jonah Peretti said in a memo to staff: Unfortunately, revenue growth by itself isnt enough to be successful in the long run. The restructuring we are undertaking will reduce our costs and improve our operating model so we can thrive and control our own destiny, without ever needing to raise funding again. Over the last year or so, BuzzFeed has taken steps to stabilize revenue through selling ads on programmatic platforms and launching a membership program for its news business, BuzzFeed News. BuzzFeed was a finalist for the 2018 Pulitzer, but that division has long been financially precarious. However, according to the WSJ, Peretti stands by its mission. The news division recently came under fire when it ran a story about Trump lawyer Michael Cohen and his testimony to special counsel Robert Mueller. Muellers office, in a rare moment, issued a statement disputing the story, though it did not offer specifics. The company underwent a round of big layoffs in 2017, when it cut around 100 staffers, after missing its revenue target of $350 million by 15% to 20%. Those lost jobs were mainly on the business side. BuzzFeed also closed its offices in France in 2018, discontinued its production of podcasts in house and saw its BuzzFeed UK editor Janine Gibson step down this week. by Laurie Sullivan @lauriesullivan, January 24, 2019 Microsoft confirmed late Wednesday that its search engine Bing has been blocked from serving up in China, but a source in the country told "Search Marketing Daily" he can access the search engine from his home in Shanghai. China has tightened control around the type of news that citizens within the country can see, but a quick search on cn.bing.com from within the United States continues to work. At the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, Microsoft did confirm that the engine had been blocked in China. On Thursday the company said the search engine now works in China, but company executives are working to determine exactly why this happened. Online news sites in China have been required for years to have a government license to publish news on the web and social media, but Microsoft Bing has managed to operate in the country. Services like Google, Facebook and Twitter have been blocked for years. Google Search has been blocked in China since 2010, and in December Sundar Pichai, the companys CEO, said Google has no plans to relaunch a search engine there. advertisement advertisement Bing had been banned using a domain-name system (DNS) corruption, a method used to block websites in China, TechCrunch reports. It means Chinese name servers are unable to retrieve the IP address of a URL. Some people have been able to access Bing by directly typing in the IP address. As of two weeks ago, LinkedIn was required to verify people using a Chinese IP address to link a mobile phone number to their account as part of a name verification process. In a statement on Wednesday, reports Reuters, the Cyberspace Administration in China said it deleted more than 7 million pieces of online information and 9,382 mobile apps. And it criticized technology company Tencents news app for spreading vulgar information. Baidu -- which controls about 76% of the market share in China -- is the most popular search engine in the country, per Wikipedia, and now operates under strict guidelines until Chinese law. Sogou follows, along with SO.com, Youdao, and Shenma. Surgical Microscopes Market Overview Global Surgical Microscopes Market held a market value of USD 574.34 million in 2017 and is projected to grow at a CAGR of 11.63% over the forecast period. Surgical microscopes are the optical microscopes specially designed for the use in surgical settings. These surgical microscopes have a high magnification resolution which is highly beneficial during the microsurgeries. Also, surgical microscopes can be customized which is helpful for the component sterilization, and disinfection to ensure the complete cross-infection control. Generally, even the basic surgical microscopes can cost up to several thousand dollars. The advanced versions of such microscopes have high price points. There are several factors that fuel the growth of the global surgical microscopes market. These include, increasing number of surgical procedures, high demand for the minimally invasive surgeries, and continuous development in the medical sector to come up with better surgical approaches. Moreover, development of customized microscopy solutions, and increasing use of fluorescence image-guided surgery (FIGS) is expected to boost the growth of the market during the forecast period. Request Sample Copy at https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/sample_request/7065 On the other hand, there are several factors such as high cost of the microscopic devices, stringent regulatory norms, and lack of required medical infrastructure in the developing and underdeveloped regions which are likely to thwart the growth of the surgical microscopes market to an extent. Surgical Microscopes Market Competitive Players Some of the prominent players in the global surgical microscopes market are Accu-Scope Inc., Alltion (Wuzhou) Co., Ltd., Arri Medical (Arri Group), Carl Zeiss AG, Danaher Corporation, Haag-Streit Surgical GmbH, Leica Microsystems GmbH, Novartis AG, Olympus Corporation, Seiler Precision Microscopes, Takagi Seiko Co. Ltd., and Topcon Medical Systems, Inc. Surgical Microscopes Market Segmentation The Global Surgical Microscopes Market. Has been segmented into type, application and end user. Based on types, the market has been segmented into, on casters microscopes, wall mounted microscopes, table top microscopes, and ceiling mounted microscopes. The on casters microscopes segment is expected to account for the largest share in the global surgical microscopes market in 2017. This large share is majorly attributed to its convenience in the use as compared to other products. Based on application, the market has been segmented into neurosurgery & spine surgery, ophthalmology, ENT surgery, dentistry, oncology, plastic & reconstructive surgery, urology, gynecology, and other. The neurosurgery & spine surgery segment is expected to account for the largest share in the global surgical microscopes market in 2017 followed by ophthalmology segment. Based on end users, the market has been segmented into hospitals, physicians clinic, academic and research institutes, and other outpatient settings. The hospitals segment is expected to account for the largest share in the global surgical microscopes market in 2017. At the same time, the high awareness about the aesthetics, dental hygiene and increasing rate of ophthalmic surgical cases in the developed and developing countries has led physicians clinic segment to grow at the fastest rate during the forecast period. Based on the regions, the market for surgical microscopes is segmented in to, the Americas, Europe, Asia-Pacific, and the Middle East & Africa. The surgical microscopes market in the Americas region has further been segmented into North America and South America, where-in the North American market is further divided into the US and Canada. European surgical microscopes market has been segmented into Western Europe and Eastern Europe where-in Western Europe region is further divided into Germany, France, the UK, Italy, Spain, and the rest of Western Europe. The surgical microscopes market in Asia-Pacific has been segmented into Japan, China, India, South Korea, Australia, and the rest of Asia-Pacific. The surgical microscopes market in the Middle East & Africa has been segmented into regions such as the Middle East & Africa. Browse Complete 130 Pages Premium Research Report Enabled with 30+ Respective Tables and Figures at https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/reports/surgical-microscopes-market-7065 Surgical Microscopes Market Regional Analysis Geographically, the Americas is anticipated to dominate the global surgical microscopes market owing to the, rising number of the neurosurgeries, spinal surgeries, and ophthalmic surgeries, increasing awareness about dental hygiene leading to increase in dental procedures and surgeries. The development of the better surgical approaches and advanced treatment procedures have positively affected the growth of the American market. Moreover, high awareness among American population, state of the art medical infrastructure, high disposable income, are some of the many factors that drive the growth of the surgical microscopes market in this region. Europe is expected to hold the second largest market share in the global surgical microscopes market. The market growth in this region is majorly attributed to the presence of large number of market players in the region and increasing government support for the device manufacturers. Geographical expansion of companies has led to the wider reach of the medical products and services which has brought a huge change in terms of the acceptance and implementation of the new products as well as procedures. Similarly, Asia-Pacific region has observed a rapid growth in the surgical microscopes market owing to increased rate in neurosurgeries in the Asian region. Moreover, the development in the medical sector in developing countries like India and China. Moreover, increase in government funding for healthcare, rising R&D expenditure, and growing number of medical device companies in the region has led to its fastest growth during the forecast period. The Middle East & Africa region is anticipated to show minor growth opportunities in the surgical microscopes market during the forecast period. About Market Research Future: At Market Research Future (MRFR), we enable our customers to unravel the complexity of various industries through our Cooked Research Report (CRR), Half-Cooked Research Reports (HCRR), Raw Research Reports (3R), Continuous-Feed Research (CFR), and Market Research & Consulting Services. Contact Market Research Future Office No. 528, Amanora Chambers Magarpatta Road, Hadapsar, Pune 411028 Maharashtra, India +1 646 845 9312 Email: sales@marketresearchfuture.com Widespread prevalence of neuropsychiatric disorders across the globe has generated massive demand for treatment. The number of individuals affected by neuropsychiatric disorders such as depression, alcohol-use disorders, schizophrenia and bipolar disorders is likely to grow further in view of the growing ageing population. Neuropsychiatric disorders are common in people more than 65 years. Rise in global geriatric population increases the prevalence of neuropsychiatric disorders and induces high demand for treatment and diagnosis. Development in treatment and diagnosis methods have opened up new avenues for the growth of the market. In addition, the improving clinical availability of brain imaging modalities such as CT scan, MRI, and others have spurred the market growth. Massive investment in Research & development activities by pharmaceutical giants for the development of treatment of neuropsychiatric disorders has fostered the growth of the market. However, despite decades of research, the results of such research remain elusive which might constrain the growth of the market. Other market deterrents include long term treatment and lack of clinical trial data for neuropsychiatric diseases. Get Sample Report @ https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/sample_request/1281 Global Neuropsychiatric Disorders and Treatment Market Key Players Astrazeneca (UK), GlaxoSmithKline (UK), Universal Health Services Inc. (US), Biogen (US), Boehringer Ingelheim GmbH (Germany), Eli Lilly (US), Bristol-Meyer Squibb (US), Johnson & Johnson (US), Pfizer (US), Wyeth (US), Otsuka Holdings Co. Ltd (Japan), Astellas Pharma Inc. (Japan) Global Neuropsychiatric Disorders and Treatment Market Competitive Analysis AstraZeneca is a multinational pharmaceutical and biopharmaceutical company headquartered in UK. Recently AstraZeneca has completed its collaboration with National Institute of Mental Health. This collaboration will help to discover the new and better drug treatment for distressing condition. AstraZeneca has also collaborated with Vanderbilt Center for the Neuroscience Drug Discovery which aims to discover new drug for the treatment of neuropsychiatric disorders. Universal Health Services is an American Fortune 500 company headquartered in US. It is one of the largest hospital management companies in US. Universal Health Services is a huge company with the revenues of nearly USD 9.7 billion with the profit of more than USD 600 million. Boehringer Ingelheim is one of the worlds 20 leading pharmaceutical companies headquartered in Germany. In 2016, Boehringer Ingelheim is collaborated with Saniona. This collaboration aims to develop the new treatment for the patients suffering from schizophrenia. Industry News: In June 2018, the worlds first neurosurgical robotic system for bilateral stereotactic neurosurgery was designed by a mechanical engineering team of the Hong Kong University. The breakthrough technology can assist in the treatment of variety of neuropsychiatric disorders. In April 2018, Biogen and Ionis Pharmaceuticals entered into a partnership to work on a 10-year, $1 Billion-plus project to develop neuropsychiatric drugs. Biogen will be responsible for non-clinical studies, clinical development, commercialization and manufacturing. In addition, Biogen will have the option to license therapies coming out of this collaboration. Global Neuropsychiatric Disorders And Treatment Market Segmentation Global Neuropsychiatric Disorders And Treatment Market is segmented on the basis of disorders into degenerative diseases, neurotic disorders, psychosis and others. On the basis of treatments, it is segmented as shock treatment, drug treatment, others and on the basis of end users it is hospitals, clinics, research centers and others Global Neuropsychiatric Disorders and Treatment Market Regional Analysis On regional basis, global neuropsychiatric disorders and treatment market is segmented into North America, Europe, Asia Pacific and Middle East and Africa. North America commands the largest market for the neuropsychiatric disorders and treatment. In North America neuropsychiatric disorders account the highest rate of disability-adjusted life year (DALYs). DALYs is a measure of overall disease burden which express the number of years lost due to ill health or early death. According to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, around 5.3 million Americas are suffering from this disease and this number is expected get double in next couple of decades due to due to the aging of the population. This increasing number of the neuropsychiatric patients in North America has led to the growth of this market in North America. Browse Complete 80 Pages Premium Research Report Enabled with Tables and Figures @ https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/reports/neuropsychiatric-disorders-treatment-market-1281 Europe commands the second largest market for the neuropsychiatric disorders and treatment. Huge population suffering from mental disorders in Iceland, Norway and Switzerland has contributed a lot for the European market. Moreover, increasing demand for need of better treatment and increasing burden of neuropsychiatric disorders are the major factor for the growth of the market. Neuropsychiatric disorders and treatment market in Asia Pacific is growing at a steady pace due to huge geriatric population in this area, continuous improving healthcare infrastructure and rapid development in healthcare sector has boosted growth of this market. The Middle East and Africa has least market for the neuropsychiatric disorders and treatment. 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. In order to stay updated with technology and work process of the industry, MRFR often plans & conducts meet with the industry experts and industrial visits for its research analyst members. Contact: Market Research Future Office No. 528, Amanora Chambers Magarpatta Road, Hadapsar Pune 411028 Maharashtra, India +1 646 845 9312 Email: salesteam@marketresearchfuture.com Medical Tourism Market Highlights Global Medical Tourism Market is expected to burgeon with an impressive CAGR of 21.4% during the forecast period (2017-2023), reveals Market Research Future (MRFR). The report also includes other drivers such as affordable treatment options, quality service, and minimal waiting periods and a detailed segmental analysis for a predictive understanding of the medical tourism market in the coming years. Furthermore, the rise of the middle class with a substantial amount of disposable income is impacting the market prospect. Medical Tourism Market is gaining precedence as it can provide an inexpensive treatment opportunity in contrast to that available in the developed countries. A few countries, across the globe, are now offering world-class treatments at a cost-effective price. However, communication is a barrier that, at times, can defer the profits. In addition, travel expenses can impact the decision to travel abroad for treatment which can bring down the medical tourism market growth significantly. Request Sample Copy at https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/sample_request/1975 Top Players: Key players in the medical tourism market include Bumrungrad International Hospital (Thailand), CHRISTUS MUGUERZA (Mexico), Samitivej PCL (Thailand), Schon-Kliniken (Germany), Gleneagles Global Hospitals Group (India), Prince Court Medical Centre (Malaysia), Anadolu Medical Center (Turkey), Shouldice Hospital (Canada), Bangkok Hospital (Thailand), Fortis Healthcare (India), Clemenceau Medical Center (Lebanon), Asklepios Kliniken Verwaltungsgesellschaft mbH (Germany), and others. Segmentation: The global medical tourism market can be segmented by treatment type which includes sub-segments such as Orthopedic/Spine Treatments, Oncology/Cancer Treatments, Cosmetic Treatments, Cardiovascular/Cardiology Treatments, Dentistry Treatments, Neurology/Neurosurgery Treatment, and Fertility/IVF Treatments. Cosmetic treatments are currently dominating the medical tourism market by with the maximum market share. Face rejuvenation and breast reconstruction treatments are quite popular and are fetching in substantial revenue to help the market grow. Regional Analysis: Geographic analysis of the medical tourism market includes regions namely the Americas, Europe, Asia Pacific (APAC), and Rest-of-the-World (RoW). The APAC market is currently holding he premier spot. The region has several emerging economies in a cluster form who are offering treatment at a much-reduced cost. At present, almost 43.7% of the entire market is under its dominion. Emerging economies have revamped their medical infrastructure and improved their technological facilities to ensure patient influx. South Korea is one such instance which has made a name for itself as a cosmetic procedure destination. It is also expecting growth by 22% during the forecast period. Among the nations here, Thailand and India are showing huge market prospect and are expected to contribute more during the same period. The Indian government is taking initiatives to launch medical visas to facilitate easy interaction. Europe is also doing well with Eastern Europe providing significant business opportunity and treatment facilities to people from the western part. Turkey, Poland, the Czech Republic, Latvia, Hungary, and Romania are now much-preferred destinations for patients from all across Europe. In Latin America, Costa Rica is proving its mettle by providing the best dental care facilities. The regional market is thriving with the arrival of patients from North America. Furthermore, the region has an excellent rehabilitation program which is assisting the regional market in earning more from the citizens of North America. Competitive Players: The competitive medical tourism market is getting all the thrust from merger, acquisition, new concept launch, collaboration, and other methods. These strategies, implemented by companies, are definite signs of market expansion. Malaysias IHH Healthcare is planning now to contest for controlling the interest of Fortis Healthcare which would boost the market portfolio of both the organizations. In 2018, Malaysias Khazanah Nasional Bhd bought the Prince Court Medical Centre from Petroleum Nasional Bhd, and IHH Healthcare is expected to be roped in for further assistance. The agreement is expected to boost the medical tourism sector of Malaysia. Browse Complete 90 Pages Premium Research Report Enabled with 110 Respective Tables and Figures at https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/reports/medical-tourism-market-1975 Major TOC of Medical Tourism Market Research Report -Forecast till 2023: 1 Report Prologue 2 Introduction 3 Research Methodology 4 Market Dynamics 5 Market Factor Analysis 6 Global Medical Tourism Market, By Treatment Type 7 Global Medical Tourism Market, By Region 8 Competitive Landscape 9 List of Tables 10 List of Figures About Market Research Future: At Market Research Future (MRFR), we enable our customers to unravel the complexity of various industries through our Cooked Research Report (CRR), Half-Cooked Research Reports (HCRR), Raw Research Reports (3R), Continuous-Feed Research (CFR), and Market Research & Consulting Services. Contact Market Research Future Office No. 528, Amanora Chambers Magarpatta Road, Hadapsar, Pune 411028 Maharashtra, India +1 646 845 9312 Email: sales@marketresearchfuture.com The factors that have led to ablation devices market expansion includes growing awareness about minimally invasive procedures or surgeries has led to higher adoption as these procedures are less painful unlike traditional open surgeries, performed as an outpatient procedure and require less cost. Minimally invasive surgeries are considered potential substitutes for conventional therapeutic cancer surgeries, treating tumors of lungs, glands and liver. Key factors that propel the growth include high purchasing power parity, increasing prevalence of cancers in U.S. and Canada, government support for quality healthcare and availability of reimbursement. Download PDF Brochure of Ablation Devices Market Research Report: https://www.adroitmarketresearch.com/contacts/request-sample/635 For expample, in U.S., the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA), promotes affordability and quality of health insurance and lesser cost of healthcare for government and individuals. Government initiatives like Precision Medicine Initiative creating tailored strategies on distinctive characteristics of diseases, are assisting in enhancing the overall healthcare system condition, thus booming the market growth. The global ablation devices market share is expected to have highest value and credited to Europe. Europes healthcare system got reinforced with higher extent of public funding. Government support to control cancer and presence of target population base helped spur the market growth. Asia Pacific is projected to experience lucrative growth in the upcoming years owing to improving healthcare infrastructure and supportive government initiatives. Moreover, economic developments in China and India are slated to propel the global ablation devices market share. Dense population base along with low per capita income will led to high demand for affordable treatment options. Segmentation of global ablation devices market on the basis of technology, categories include thermal and non-thermal ablation. The thermal ablation devices are further segmented into radiofrequency, light, microwave, electrical, radiation, ultrasound, and hydrothermal ablation devices; whereas non-thermal ablation devices are sub-divided as hydromechanical and cryoablation ablation devices. In terms of application, the market is segmented into cancer, urology, ophthalmology, cardiovascular, gynecology, and orthopedics. By procedures, the ablation devices industry is classified as aesthetics body sculpting, aesthetics skin rejuvenation & tightening, fat reduction, and the reduction in the benign prostatic hyperplasia, appearance of cellulite, laser, transurethral needle ablation, stress urinary incontinence, and other energy-based therapies/ /enucleation of the prostate/ holmium laser ablation, menorrhagia/ endometrial ablation, spinal decompression & denervation, uterine fibroids, atrial fibrillation, varicose veins, and tumor ablation. On the basis of function, the market is divided into conventional and automated/robotic ablation devices. Enquire here get customization & check discount, please click: https://www.adroitmarketresearch.com/contacts/discount/635 The key players of global ablation devices market include Medtronic plc, St. Jude Medical, Inc., Boston Scientific Corporation, AtriCure, Inc., BTG plc, AngioDynamics, Inc., Conmed Corporation, Smith & Nephew plc, Olympus Corporation and Johnson & Johnson. Other prominent players of global ablation devices industry include C.R. Bard, Inc., Accuray Incorporated, Varian Medical Systems, Inc., Misonix, Inc., Elekta AB, Hologic, Inc., EDAP TMS S.A., Stryker Corporation, Japan Lifeline Co., Ltd., Merit Medical Systems, Inc., Halyard Health, Inc., Integra LifeSciences Holdings Corporation, Terumo Corporation and Abbott Laboratories. Key segments of Global Ablation Devices Market Based on application, the market has been segmented into, Cancer Cardiovascular Ophthalmology Gynecology Urology Orthopedics Others Based on function, the market has been segmented into, Automated/Robotic Conventional Based on region, the market has been segmented into, North America (U.S., Canada) Latin America (Mexico, Brazil) Western Europe (Germany, Italy, U.K, Spain, France, Nordic countries) Eastern Europe (Russia, Poland, Rest Of Eastern Europe) Asia Pacific Excluding Japan (China, India, ASEAN, Australia & New Zealand) Japan Middle East and Africa (GCC, S. Africa, Rest Of MEA) What to expect from the upcoming report on Global Ablation Devices Market: Future prospects and current trends of the global ablation devices market by the end of forecast period (2018-2025) Information regarding technological progressions as well as innovations taking place in developing economies Supportive initiatives by government likely to influence the market dynamics Trends, drivers, opportunities, restraints, challenges and key developments in the market In-depth analysis of different market segmentations including regional segmentations, and product types Deep analysis about the competitive landscape of the market and the initiatives by them to improve this market Who should buy this report? Venture capitalists, Investors, financial institutions, Analysts, Government organizations, regulatory authorities, policymakers, researchers, strategy managers, and academic institutions looking for insights into the market to determine future strategies. Else place an Inquire before Purchase Ablation Devices Market Size, Status and Forecast 2025: https://www.adroitmarketresearch.com/contacts/enquiry-before-buying/635 About Adroit Market Research: Adroit Market Research provide quantified B2B research on numerous opportunistic markets, and offer customized research reports, consulting services, and syndicate research reports. We assist our clients to strategize business decisions and attain sustainable growth in their respective domain. Additionally, we support them with their revenue planning, marketing strategies, and assist them to make decisions before the competition so that they remain ahead of the curve. Contact Information: Ryan Johnson Adroit Market Research 3131 McKinney Ave #600 Dallas, TX 75204 Tel: +1-214-884-6068 Email: sales@adroitmarketresearch.com Abbott received FDA approval for its innovative TactiCath Contact Force Ablation Catheter, Sensor Enabled. The device, cleared in Europe a couple of years ago, is used to ablate cardiac tissue as part of treatment for atrial fibrillation. It features a pressure sensor that provides feedback on the contact force applied to cardiac tissue, helping to make sure that an appropriate amount of ablation takes place. Coupled with the companys EnSite Precision cardiac mapping system, the tip of the catheter can be guided to target lesions while having a live map of the relevant anatomy, including its electrical activity, and the catheters location within it. A magnetic sensor is used to locate the catheters position within the heart and while the ablation is performed, the system constantly monitors to make sure the appropriate energy is delivered and only when the tip is in contact with cardiac tissue. The device was designed to be able to reach through relatively difficult anatomy, and having a 1:1 transfer of torque from the handle to the tip allows for precise and careful positioning of the distal end at the treatment site. Cardiac ablation has become a front-line therapy in the fight against conditions like atrial fibrillation in part because of improvements to the technology available today, in a published statement said Roger Winkle, M.D., an electrophysiologist at Sequoia Hospital in Redwood City, California. The Abbott TactiCath SE ablation catheter represents one of those major improvements, and offers an incredibly powerful, yet easy to use, combination of advanced technologies to improve ablation procedures. Flashback: Abbotts TactiCath Contact Force Ablation Catheter, Sensor Enabled Cleared in Europe Via: Abbott I wasnt looking for a PR firm but I ran into Klint in California and he really believed in me and my product, and when he tasted it, he knew I was on to something big, she said. When the people from the Dr. Oz show reached out and asked if there was a company and if he knew anyone, they contacted me and the show was taped in New York on Wednesday, Jan. 16. Industry Report Aromatherapy Market Research Report Forecast to 2023 provides a clear picture of the Current Market Scenario which includes past and estimated future size with respect to value and volume, technological advancement, macro economical and governing factors in the market. Global Aromatherapy Market Synopsis The Global Market is estimated to value at USD 4.3 Bn towards the end of 2023. The modernization of lifestyle has paved the way for different problems such as sleep disturbances, breathing disorders, etc. which has catalyzed the demand for aromatherapy across the world. Market Research Future (MRFR)s latest report predicts that the global aromatherapy market is set to strike a CAGR of 6.18 % during the forecast period 2017 to 2023. Aromatherapy has long been recognized as an alternative treatment, being offered in therapeutic practices, including yoga studios & spas, massage centers, even in hospice settings and chiropractic facilities. TRY PREMIUM SAMPLE COPY @ https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/sample_request/3241 Utilizing aromatic oils, and other aroma compounds this medicine practice is helpful in treating health conditions ranging from chronic stress, anxiety, and depression to insomnia and trouble sleeping and from muscle pain, respiratory infections skin problems or disorders, to blood sugar fluctuations, and even cancer. The growing demand for essential oils used in aromatherapy is likely to catapult the market on an upward trajectory. On the flip side, the stringent regulations and side effects of oils are poised to hold the proliferation of the aromatherapy market in the foreseeable future. Competitive Dashboard Key players are more focusing on the expansion of Aromatherapy business across the globe which is contributing around 40% of strategy share. After expansion, key players are acquiring companies to strengthen their presence and to get an edge over increasing competition. R&D, partnership, and product launch contribute equally (~10%) in the strategic share of key players in Aromatherapy market. Nu Skin Tree of Life Young Living NOW Foods Neals Yard Remedies Air Aroma Muji Zija International doTERRA Global Aromatherapy Market Segmentation By Products : Essential Oils (Citrus, Floral, Green/Vegetative, Spicy, and Herbaceous/Camphoraceous, Spices and others), Carrier oils & Blended oils, Equipment (Ultrasonic Diffuser, Nebulizer Diffuser, and Heat Diffuser, others), among others. By Applications : Inhalation, Tropical, and Aerial Diffusion among others. By Therapeutic Applications : Relaxation & Sleep, Pain Management, Skin & Hair Care, among other remedies. By Regions : North America, Europe, APAC and Rest of the World. Detailed Regional Analysis The global aromatherapy market, by region, has been segmented into Americas, Europe, Asia Pacific, and the Middle East & Africa. Americas is expected to lead the global market over the assessment period. The growth can be attributed to the widening range of product offerings made available by the key players. Furthermore, the vast market presence of aromatherapy oils is another major factor benefitting the expansion of aromatherapy market in the region. The U.S. is predicted to dominate the regional aromatherapy market in the upcoming years owing to an upsurge in demand. Europe is an extremely lucrative market placed at second position globally. The driving factors of the aromatherapy market in the region include increasing awareness about the medicinal benefits, rising import and export trade of aromatherapy oils, elevating standards of living, growing disposable income, etc. OBTAIN PREMIUM RESEARCH REPORT DETAILS @ https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/reports/aromatherapy-market-3241 Asia Pacific is likely to become the fastest growing region of the global aromatherapy market by the end of the forecast period. The region is forecasted to be led by an upsurge in demand from China and India. The Middle East & Africa is expected to witness steady growth during the projection period owing to the increase in demand for aromatherapy and essential oils in the Gulf nations particularly the U.A.E. and Saudi Arabia. However, the poor socio-economic conditions of African regions remain impediments to the market growth. Industry News In November 2018, a renowned medical provider in the Greater Cincinnati region, St. Elizabeth Health Care, has announced the addition of aromatherapy to its line of maternity services. In November 2018, The Gift of Scent LLC, an online e-commerce store, has been launched which offers a variety of fragrance products and various devices such as aromatic diffusers and ultrasonic diffusers. In November 2018, Cubot, based in Shenzhen, China, has announced the launch of AD36 aromatherapy diffuser ahead of the winter season for tackling skin problems. Some Points form Table of Content 1 Introduction 1.1 Definition 1.2 Scope of Study 1.2.1 Research Objective 1.2.2 Assumptions & Limitations 1.2.2.1 Assumptions 1.2.2.2 Limitations 1.3 Market Structure 2 Research Methodology 2.1 Research Process 2.2 Primary Research 2.3 Secondary Research 3 Market Dynamics 3.1 Drivers 3.2 Restraints 3.3 Opportunities 3.4 Macroeconomic Indicators GET DISCOUNT @ https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/check-discount/3241 About Us: Market Research Future (MRFR), enable customers to unravel the complexity of various industries through Cooked Research Report (CRR), Half-Cooked Research Reports (HCRR), Raw Research Reports (3R), Continuous-Feed Research (CFR), and Market Research & Consulting Services. Contact Us: Market Research Future Office No. 528, Amanora Chambers Magarpatta Road, Hadapsar, Pune 411028 Maharashtra, India Phone: +1 646 845 9312 Email: sales@marketresearchfuture.com Researchers at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln have developed a 3D-printed stent that can aid surgeons in stitching small arteries together. The small tube sits between the open ends of the artery and helps to hold them in place during stitching. The device is 3D-printed using a sugar-based material, meaning that it dissolves and disappears within minutes after the artery has been sealed. At present, it is a challenge for surgeons to join the ends of small clipped arteries. However, the procedure is vital in a variety of surgeries, from organ transplants to reconstructive surgeries. This fiddly task takes time and concentration, and if done incorrectly, whereby the suture threads through both the top and bottom wall of the artery, it can result in a blockage. One of the plastic surgeons told us about the challenges of this kind of microsurgery how time-consuming it is, how skill-dependent it is, said Ali Tamayol, a researcher involved in the latest study. This team of researchers set out to design a simple tool to help surgeons to perform this vital procedure. Their solution is a resorbable 3D-printed stent which can greatly simplify and expedite the process. The idea is simple the surgeon can insert the small tube into both open ends of the artery, where it sticks to the interior vessel surface, helping to hold to the artery together during the stitching process. However, the device is completely resorbable, and dissolves within minutes once the artery has been sealed. To achieve these specific properties, the researchers used a sucrose-based material, which not only dissolves in the bloodstream, but also helps to reduce the chance of dangerous blood clots. The research team was able to formulate the sugar mix so that it could be 3D-printed. This means that they can produce stents in a range of sizes for individual patients and so that the devices fit a range of different arteries. So far, they have tested the stent in a tubing rig on the lab bench, designed to mimic an artery that needed to be sutured, and in pig arteries. It took a surgeon just five minutes to suture the arteries when using the stent, compared to 15 minutes using conventional surgical techniques, and the sutured arteries did not leak. In the future, the researchers hope that such stents could be custom printed for individual patients in hospitals around the world. Study in Advanced Healthcare Materials: 3DPrinted SugarBased Stents Facilitating Vascular Anastomosis Via: University of Nebraska-Lincoln I just put salt, pepper and a little olive oil on the steaks and put them on the grill. While they are grilling, I melt some butter with a few rosemary sprigs in it. When the steaks are done, I pour on a little of the butter, flip the steaks and then pour some butter on the other side. It is a great way to finish the steaks. I believe in using butter. I have never been a margarine person, she said. A deadline for the already approved merger to be complete is April 2021, but neither side has taken any action to make that happen. Now voters will be asked if they instead want the Naperville Township Road District to be dissolved and its duties be assumed by Naperville Township something that is possible as a result of recently enacted state legislation. Force Sergeant Major, Warrant Officer Class One, Joshua Bong receiving the Commendation and bronze from General Angus J. Campbell, Chief of the Defence Force. The blood test results obtained by investigators in the manslaughter case against David Njuguna, the man accused of killing State Police Trooper Thomas Clardy by slamming his car into the back of the troopers cruiser, will not be excluded, a superior court judge ruled. Authorities say Njuguna was under the influence of marijuana when he crashed into Clardy's cruiser on March 16, 2016, on the Massachusetts Turnpike in Charlton. Njuguna is accused of crossing three lanes of traffic and slamming into the 44-year-old troopers cruiser. Clardy had pulled over another driver on the Mass. Pike at the time of the crash. Njuguna, authorities say, was driving 81 miles per hour at the time of the crash. Clardy was pronounced dead at UMass Memorial Medical Center. Njuguna was taken by medical helicopter to the same Worcester hospital, where samples of his blood and urine were collected. Tests of the blood showed Njuguna had marijuana in his system at the time of the crash, prosecutors argue. Njuguna is facing charges of manslaughter, manslaughter by motor vehicle, motor vehicle homicide while driving under the influence of marijuana, motor vehicle homicide by reckless or negligent driving and other motor vehicle violations. His lawyers argued the blood samples were improperly stored by State Police and the testing done at the State Police Crime Lab was deficient. Based on the evidence presented and the relevant law, the defendants arguments have no merit, Worcester Superior Court Judge Kenton-Walker wrote in the ruling filed Tuesday. Defense attorneys Peter Ettenberg and Jaclyn Greenhalgh were critical of State Police, stating investigators did not collect urine evidence even though it was available at the hospital. The urine was sent to a third-party lab for testing. Kenton-Walker said the urine samples however were not at the hospital when the search warrant was executed. The urine was already at Quest Diagnostics in Marlborough. The judge added that the independent lab found the presence of lidocaine and oxycodone in Njugunas urine. THC is not included as one of the drugs tested for in the urine test however, Kenton-Walker said. All of Njugunas arguments regarding the handling and storage of the blood, the choice made as to which sample to use for testing, the testing performed and results obtained, and if what the police and crime lab personnel did or did not do were in compliance with State Police policies and procedures, does not affect the admissibility of the results, the judge wrote. Any such arguments go only to the weight of the evidence, not its admissibility. The judge further stated, At best, the defendant may be able to show some weakness in the chain of custody that goes to the weight of the evidence as opposed to its admissibility. SPRINGFIELD A Hampden Superior Court jury on Wednesday found Gilka Rolon-Arroyo and Daryn Sampson guilty of involuntary manslaughter for supplying heroin to a Westfield woman who died of an overdose. The two Westfield residents were also found guilty of possession of heroin with intent to distribute and distribution of heroin. They were acquitted of possession of fentanyl with intent to distribute and distribution of fentanyl. Sentencing will be set for a later date. Bail was revoked and the two were taken into custody immediately. There is no mandatory sentence for involuntary manslaughter. Sampson, 35, and Rolon-Arroyo, 24, were charged in a joint venture case with supplying the heroin, which contained fentanyl, that resulted in Rebekah Swotchaks death in her Westfield apartment. Jurors began deliberations at about 12:30 p.m. Tuesday and the verdict was delivered at 2:30 p.m. Wednesday. When a parent loses a child, when a sibling loses a sibling, when a friend loses a friend, we have an obligation to hold those responsible for that death accountable," District Attorney Anthony Gulluni said. When, as in this case, there is a nexus between a victims fatal overdose and the supplier of the drugs that led to the death, we will investigate and prosecute these cases to the fullest extent of the law, up to and including charges of manslaughter. Lawyers Jared Olanoff, for Rolon-Arroyo, and Andrew Klyman, for Sampson, told jurors in their closing arguments there was no proof their clients provided the heroin resulting in the fatal overdose. But both lawyers put the blame on the other co-defendant. Assistant District Attorney Robert Schmidt told jurors, Everything is not nearly as complicated as defense counsel would have you believe. He said Sampson sold heroin to Swotchak and Sampson got that heroin from Rolon-Arroyo. This was a joint enterprise, he said. Schmidt went over texts that he said showed both defendants knew the heroin, labeled Bugatti, was extremely strong. These defendants knew what they were selling and they knew how dangerous it was, he said. I would like to thank the members of the jury for their deliberations, Gulluni said. "I applaud Assistant District Attorney Robert Schmidt for his commitment to the victim and to public safety. I also thank the Westfield Police Department and the Massachusetts State Police Detective Unit assigned to my office for their cooperation and conducting an excellent investigation that led to this conviction. " Former Red Sox manager John Farrell is staying with the Reds but hell be assuming a new role in 2019. Farrell, who served as a scout and advisor during the 2018 season, will take over as Cincinnatis pitching consultant, MLB.coms Mark Sheldon reported. Farrell also worked as an ESPN in-studio analyst last season. The 56-year-old former big league pitcher became the first manager in Red Sox history to win back-to-back AL East titles (2016-17) and the first to win three AL East titles overall (2013, 2016-17). He went 432-378 overall in his five seasons. He won the 2013 World Series in his first year with the club. Boston fired him after the 2017 season and replaced him with Alex Cora who went on to lead Boston to a club-record 108 regular season wins and the 2018 World Series. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission on Wednesday agreed to temporarily delay issuing a new operating license for Seabrook Nuclear Power Station, a massive 1,244-megawatt generator owned by NextEra. In a notice, the NRC said it would delay relicensing the coastal New Hampshire plant through 2050 until the commission meets with the public. Last week, congressional delegates from Massachusetts and New Hampshire wrote to the NRC seeking a delay until a hearing can be held this summer on problems with the plant's structural concrete. The concrete suffers from alkali-silica reaction, or ASR. The swelling and cracking was identified by plant operators in 2009. NextEra developed a plan to manage and monitor the deformation, a plan that the federal commission has accepted. A hearing on the concrete problems, to be held before a panel of administrative judges, is set for this summer. A nuclear watchdog group, the C-10 Research & Education Foundation, plans to challenge NextEra's plan for managing the ASR. The NRC recently issued a finding of "no significant hazards" regarding the concrete. The finding was issued after review of NextEra's plan by NRC staff and upon the recommendation of an independent nuclear advisory board, said Neil Sheehan, an NRC spokesman. The NRC had planned to grant a license amendment concerning the concrete on or around Jan. 22, and to renew the plant's overall operating license by the end of January. The 20-year license renewal would be good for the years 2030 to 2050. A new schedule will be released at a later date, said Sheehan. "C-10 is pleased that the NRC will slow down the process and meet with the public," said C-10 executive director Natalie Hildt Treat on Wednesday. "We would like to think that with 11 more years on the plant's current operating license, they can afford to wait a few more months." Last week, Massachusetts Sens. Edward J. Markey and Elizabeth Warren joined U.S. Rep. Seth Moulton to ask that licensing be stayed until the ASR hearing can be held. From New Hampshire, Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, Sen. Margaret Wood Hassan and Rep. Chris Pappas also wrote to the NRC, saying more public involvement was needed. NextEra on Tuesday acknowledged that public outreach is part of the NRC process, and said that it "expects public conversations to continue" regarding Seabrook. "License renewal is important for protecting the role of Seabrook Station as a regional asset and a producer of clean, reliable and low-cost electricity for New England," said a NextEra spokesman. The nuclear power plant, located near a tidal marsh, is about five miles from the Massachusetts border. Massachusetts congressional lawmakers took aim at U.S. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross Thursday for expressing confusion over why food banks and other supports have been set up for federal employees who have been furloughed or working without pay due to the 34-day government shutdown. U.S. Rep. Joe Kennedy III, a Newtown Democrat who helped hand out meals to federal workers earlier this week, took issue with Ross' Thursday suggestion that the 800,000 government employees going without pay could take out a loan against their future back pay to help cover their finances during the shutdown instead of using food banks and other resources. The congressman offered up, what he called a few facts that a Commerce Secretary should know." Forty percent of Americans cant cover (a) $400 emergency, he tweeted. Minimum wage doesnt cover rent for a two bedroom apartment anywhere in the United States. Fifty-five million Americans have no emergency savings. A few facts that a Commerce Secretary should know: - 40% of Americans cant cover $400 emergency - Minimum wage doesnt cover rent for a 2 bedroom apartment anywhere in the United States - 55 million Americans have no emergency savings https://t.co/YfWnPpTov2 Rep. Joe Kennedy III (@RepJoeKennedy) January 24, 2019 Kennedy, who volunteered as part of in Chef Jose Andres' Chefs for Feds effort -- which seeks to provide free hot meals and to go items to furloughed government employees -- told The Republican Wednesday that he didnt even know where to begin when it came to addressing criticism of federal workers who have turned to such resources during the shutdown. The Massachusetts Democrat, who noted that furloughed workers have already missed one paycheck and are about to miss another, pointed to the mortgage, car loan, child care and other expenses these individuals face during the federal funding lapse. He added that late payments or missed payments could impact these workers' credit -- creating additional challenges that could take months to sort out. If you dont think theres a human cost to this, go out there and see the line down the block and around the corner. Walk next door where theyve essentially set up whats literally a makeshift emergency response center based off of what theyve done with FEMA in (natural) disasters around the country and around the world," he said. U.S. Rep. Jim McGovern, a Worcester Democrat and outspoken supporter of anti-hunger efforts, meanwhile, compared Ross' comments to those historically attributed to Marie-Antoinette. Wilbur Ross, (President Donald Trumps) secretary of Commerce, is worth billions of dollars. His advice for 800,000 federal workers who have now gone a month without pay? Let them eat cake, he tweeted. Wilbur Ross, @realDonaldTrump's Secretary of Commerce, is worth billions of dollars. His advice for 800,000 federal workers who have now gone a month without pay? Let them eat cake. pic.twitter.com/kZowdXj5N1 Rep. Jim McGovern (@RepMcGovern) January 24, 2019 U.S. Rep. Katherine Clark, D-Melrose, pointed to Ross' comments as evidence that empathy is a virtue lost on this administration. The Commerce secretary, who is worth an estimated $860 million, said in an interview with CNBC that while thousands of federal workers are taking advantage of food banks and other supports, he does not "quite understand why. The banks and the credit unions should be making credit available to them. When you think about it, these are basically government guaranteed loans because the government has committed these folks will get their back pay when this whole thing gets settled down," he said. So there really is not a good excuse why there should be a liquidity crisis. Now true, people may have to pay a little bit of interest, but the idea that its paycheck or zero is not a really valid idea. Theres no reason why some institution wouldnt be willing to lend. The 420,000 federal employees working without paychecks will receive their back pay when the government reopens, news outlets noted. Congress, meanwhile, passed legislation to also give the 380,000 furloughed workers their back pay. With thousands of federal employees still furloughed or working without pay due to the government shutdown, U.S. Rep. Joe Kennedy III joined dozens of volunteers Wednesday in serving up lunches to those impacted by the 33-day funding lapse, as part of Chef Jose Andres' Chefs for Feds effort. The Newton Democrat, who has long admired Andres' work to help feed people following natural disasters, said he reached out to chef after hearing his non-profit World Central Kitchen had opened a Pennsylvania Avenue cafe to provide free hot meals and to go items to the estimated 800,000 furloughed government employees and their families. I saw that he was getting set up here in D.C. ... and I wanted to see if there was an opportunity to just show my support for his work and show support for the federal employees that have been put in this impossible situation, he said in an interview. Kennedy, however, noted that his request to volunteer with Chefs for Feds did not come without some stipulations. I reached out to (Andres') team and they said, 'Yeah, wed be happy to have you come, but you have to bring a colleague thats from the other party. Days later, the Massachusetts Democrat showed up at the downtown D.C. location with U.S. Rep. Will Hurd, a Texas Republican who joined him in handing out hundreds of cheesesteaks, rice bowls and other lunches to federal employees and contractors that had lined up for blocks around the cafe. Kennedy said it was heartbreaking to see firsthand the human toll of the federal government shutdown, noting that Chefs for Feds had served up over 7,000 meals on Tuesday and was on track to hand out another 10,000 on Wednesday. The guy who was next me, helping me put these meals out for folks and serving the folks that were coming through was, himself, a furloughed employee from the Department of Transportation, he said. The people we were serving were from the FBI, from the Department of Justice, from the Department of Transportation, from EPA -- thousands of people -- hundreds that wed seen in the time we were there." Kennedy said while he and Hurd received a largely warm reception, it was devastatingly sad to see a food line thats hundreds of people long and know that theres thousands of people that are trying to get a hot meal because (they) work for the United States government in 2019. I shudder to think about what that says about our government and about our country," he said. With my friend @HurdOnTheHill serving meals to federal workers at @WCKitchen #ChefsForFeds. Grateful for the incredible effort of @chefjoseandres but it should never have come to this. These families deserve better from the government they serve. pic.twitter.com/O17X3FLB7l Rep. Joe Kennedy III (@RepJoeKennedy) January 23, 2019 The congressman offered that while hes grateful that Andres and others have stepped up to help federal workers during the government shutdown, he believes it should never have come to this. Earlier this month, Andres launched the Chefs for Feds effort, which urges restaurants, food trucks, non-profits and other businesses around the country to serve meals to federal employees impacted by the shutdown -- now the longest in U.S. history. Food brings us all together... Now we need our government to do the same! Thank you @HurdOnTheHill & @RepJoeKennedy for joining us at the table! #ChefsForFeds @WCKitchen pic.twitter.com/fHDB1qpGQS Jose Andres (@chefjoseandres) January 23, 2019 Kennedy, who stressed that ending the shutdown is not a partisan issue, said he hopes more federal lawmakers visit or lend a hand at places like the Chefs for Feds Kitchen and Cafe. I dont know how you stop by and saw what I just saw and talk even briefly to folks waiting in line and hear what I just heard and still believe that theres not a human cost to what is taking place, he said. The Democrat added that his experience in serving the federal employees underscored the fact that reopening the government is the most important things that needs to happen in Washington. The government needs to open up and open up immediately so that these folks get their back pay -- to try to make sure that the financial edge that they are on, that everybody can breathe a sigh of relief, he said. Prior to serving lunch to furloughed federal employees, the congressman took that message directly to the House floor. Kennedy, in a floor speech, accused President Donald Trump of forcing the funding lapse over what he called a misguided immigration fight" and argued that the shutdown is the latest example of the White Houses attacks on American workers. This is about an Administration that has spent two years treating the livelihood of working families as a bargaining chip, quickly traded away, time and again, to protect power, profit and political gain," he said. Theirs is a system that asks American workers to make painful sacrifices that those in power only read about. The partial shutdown began late last month when funding ran out for nine Cabinet-level departments and various agencies after Congress and the White House failed to reach an agreement on border security in a must-pass spending measure. Trump has pledged to oppose any spending bill that does not include $5 billion for his proposed border wall. Democrats, in turn, have vowed to block funding for the presidents wall along the U.S.-Mexico border. U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Congressman Don Beyer, D-Virginia, have also volunteered at the Chefs for Feds Kitchen and Cafe this week. Just about everyone at some point has dreamed of driving the Oscar Mayer Wienermobile ... right? That dream could be a reality for some lucky people, as the company is looking for Hotdoggers to take the wheel. The Oscar Mayer Hotdoggers act as ambassadors to the company, traveling in the Weinermobile from coast to coast, making appearances on television, in print and in-person. The one-year public relations position is available to college graduates with a BA or BS preferably in public relation, journalism, communications, advertising, or marketing, though applicants are not limited to these degrees." Bilingual candidates are also encouraged to apply. The position is 100 percent travel and Oscar Mayer says some of the perks include a competitive salary, a self-managed position and, of course, a company car guaranteed to turn heads. Applicants should send their resume via email to wmrequest@kraftheinzcompany.com. A 53-year-old man who worked as a teacher at a Hingham private school is accused of indecently assaulting a student in a classroom last year. Matthew Browne, who worked at the Saint Paul School at the time of the alleged assault, was arraigned Wednesday in Hingham District Court on indecent assault on a battery on a child under 14 and assault and battery charges, according to police. He was released and will return to court on March. 1. Police say the alleged assault involved one of his students and took place in a classroom in October of 2018. Browne turned himself in to detectives Wednesday. There they found the man in a parking lot holding a gun to his head, the release said. When officers attempted to speak to him, he pointed his weapon in their direction and came at them, prompting one of the officers to shoot him, the release said. LONGMEADOW The four School Committee members who submitted letters of resignation Wednesday morning to Town Clerk Katherine Ingram cited vitriol, division and an unhealthy community environment of hostility and intimidation as among the reasons they stepped down. The letters were provided to The Republican on Wednesday afternoon. In November, committee chair Beth Baron and members Kerrin Morrin, Stephanie Jasmin and Melanie Rothstein voted against renewing the contract of Superintendent M. Martin OShea, triggering protests from students, parents, teachers and administrators. Baron wrote she stood behind all the decisions she made during her term, but believes the committee is no longer being given the opportunity to function in its role to serve the best interests of the students. Best of luck for those who will continue to work to improve our school district. It is my hope that our students remain the central focus of all the decisions that will be made, Baron wrote. In her letter, Morrin praised the incredibly passionate and committed people she worked with while serving on the board. "I am disheartened and discouraged by the vitriol and false narratives that have been spread by some, as well as the discord and fracture within the community and the board itself," Morrin wrote. It is clear that this division will not end without significant cost to the town - be it time, resources or community morale - of which I cannot be a part, Morrin wrote. Jasmin said the controversy over the superintendents contract serves only to divert attention away from the needs of students. Every decision I made as a committee member was made with the students as my priority and I stand behind those decisions and I am proud of the work accomplished, Jasmin wrote. Rothstein cited an unhealthy community environment of hostility and intimidation over the committees vote against renewing OSheas contract as a reason for her resignation. The ensuing division is a tragic disservice to the children of Longmeadow and the beauty of our community, Rothstein wrote. Read the letters of resignation: WEST SPRINGFIELD Authorities are investigating after two people were found dead in an apartment at 456 Main St. Thursday afternoon. Information on the causes of death was not immediately available. The West Springfield Police Department and the Massachusetts State Police Detective Unit assigned to the Hampden District Attorneys Office is currently conducting an investigation into two unattended deaths," said James Leydon, a spokesmans for the DAs office. This is a breaking news story and will be updated as information becomes available. HOLYOKE Police arrested a man, out on bail for a previous drug case, for trafficking in cocaine and heroin after officers found a virtual pharmacy of cocaine, heroin, crystal methamphetamine and hundreds of prescription medications in his home. Arthur Estabrook, 53, was charged on Wednesday with trafficking in cocaine over 200 grams, trafficking in heroin 36-100 grams and possession of crystal meth, said James Leydon, spokesman for Hampden District Attorney Anthony Gulluni. He was arraigned in Holyoke District Court and bail was set at $50,000 and his case was continued to Feb. 14. The judge also revoked his bail on the previous case, so Estabrook is being held in jail, Leydon said. The arrest came after a long investigation into narcotics dealing conducted by Gullunis Hampden County Narcotics Taskforce and Holyoke Police. Officers received a search warrant and raided Estabrooks apartment at 188 Beech St. on Wednesday. He was home at the time and taken into custody, Leydon said. During the search they found 54 grams of heroin, 621 grams of cocaine, 2 grams of crystal methamphetamine, hundreds of prescription medications packaged and labeled for sale, approximately $18,825 and drug paraphernalia, Leydon said. At the time, Estabrook was out on $25,000 bail from an arrest on Nov. 28, 2017. In that case he faces a variety of charges including trafficking in cocaine, Leydon said. Drug traffickers, whose work breeds violence and addiction, will be apparently relentless in their criminal profiteering unless and until the court system treats their work with a seriousness that matches the damage they do to our communities, Gulluni said. He thanked law enforcement officers for their dedication and professional work in the investigation and subsequent arrest. "Continuing to hold accountable those who wish to profit from addiction remains a focal point of my administration, Gulluni said. The Massachusetts Senate has formed a working group to look at the impacts of the federal government shutdown in Massachusetts and how to help affected residents. The seven-member working group, which includes Democrats and Republicans, will be led by Sen. Jason Lewis, D-Winchester. Members from Western Massachusetts include Sen. Jo Comerford, D-Northampton, and Sen. Don Humason, R-Westfield. The U.S. government has been shut down for 34 days due to a dispute between President Donald J. Trump and Congress over funding for Trumps proposed border wall. Creating this bipartisan working group will allow us to effectively strategize ways to protect and care for individuals and families affected by the government shutdown, while also preparing for the long-term implications for our economy, Senate President Karen Spilka, D-Ashland, said in a statement. Senate Minority Leader Bruce Tarr, R-Gloucester, said in addition to affecting federal workers, the shutdown holds a looming possibility of far reaching impacts for our state and our economy. According to Tarr and Spilkas offices, the group will examine ways to help struggling families and individuals who need help buy groceries or afford housing and childcare. It will evaluate proposals designed to extend unemployment insurance and attempt to assess coming challenges to the state if the shutdown continues. Correction: The number of working group members has been corrected, after the Senate provided incorrect information. SPRINGFIELD A Vermont woman seen in an arrest booking video telling police she was very ill and might need to go to a hospital died of blood poisoning and complications from an antibiotic-resistant staph infection, according to her death certificate. Madelyn E. Linsenmeir, 30, was arrested Sept. 29 in Springfield on warrants and a charge of giving police a false name. She was transferred to the Hampden County Sheriffs Department on Sept. 30 and was taken by ambulance to Baystate Medical Center Oct. 4. She died Oct. 7. An autopsy by the state medical examiner found Linsenmeirs immediate cause of death involved complications from methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus, commonly known as MRSA. The certificate says the immediate cause of death was due to or as a consequence of septicemia in the setting of tricuspid valve endocarditis. Septicemia, known as sepsis, is a type of blood poisoning caused by bacteria, according to the Johns Hopkins Medicine Health Library. Staph infections can develop into sepsis. According to the American Heart Association, endocarditis is "an infection caused by bacteria that enter the bloodstream and settle in the heart lining, a heart valve or a blood vessel." The certificate also says chronic substance abuse contributed to Linsenmeirs death, but was not an underlying cause. Linsenmeirs obituary saw broad news coverage for its frank discussion of her struggle with opioid addiction. Both conditions listed on Linsenmeirs death certificate can afflict people who inject drugs. Endocarditis most often affects the hearts tricuspid valve when an infection is caused by someone injecting street drugs, according to the American Heart Association. A study published last year by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, meanwhile, estimated that people who inject drugs are 16 times more likely to develop invasive MRSA infections. Video of Linsenmeirs booking at Springfield police headquarters shows her complaining of pain and swelling in her right knee and foot. At one point in the video, a booking sergeant asks Linsenmeir if shes ill. She responds: Yeah, Im very ill right now. I cant even think straight. Im going to like literally pass out. She later says she "might need to go to the hospital," explaining: "I have a really, really, really bad chest. Like, I don't know what happened to it. It feels like it's caving in. I can't even breath." Images the city supplied in response to a records request by The Republican, which asked for all photographs taken while Linsenmeir was in police custody, show that police took close-up shots of her right knee and foot. The photos appear to show swelling and some skin discoloration. A prisoner injury report said Linsenmeir complained of her right knee and right foot being swollen. She stated that she needed water because she felt like she was going to faint. Water was given and felt better. Springfield police spokesman Ryan Walsh said Thursday that no members of the department were disciplined in connection with Linsenmeirs arrest, booking or detention. A spokesman for the sheriffs department declined to comment on Linsenmeirs case last week, but said staff conduct a medical evaluation for all incoming inmates. In Facebook messages released by the American Civil Liberties Union, which sued the city for the release of records that included the booking videos, Linsenmeir told a sister in the days before her arrest that she was sick. The sister, Kate ONeill, urged Linsenmeir to go to a hospital but Linsenmeir said she was afraid a hospital would check for warrants, according to the messages. Are you a doctor or other medical professional who can offer context about these conditions? Contact assistant managing editor Greg Saulmon at gsaulmon@repub.com. An earlier version of this article incorrectly described messages Linsenmeir sent. The messages were sent via Facebook, to her sister, Kate O'Neill. LONGMEADOW The resignation of four Longmeadow School Committee members left conflicted emotions in town Wednesday. Committee chair Beth Baron and members Kerrin Morrin, Stephanie Jasmin and Melanie Rothstein resigned, citing divisions in town following a 4-3 vote against renewing Superintendent M. Martin OSheas contract. The resignations came less than a week after voters approved a Town Meeting amendment allowing for the recall of elected officials, a move explicitly associated with the OShea controversy. A number of Longmeadow High School students and a district educator Wednesday offered continued support for OShea while also expressing a frustration with the process that had led to the committee members' resignations. Kathy Russotto, a teacher at Williams Middle School and the president of the Longmeadow Education Association, said by phone that she hoped the school district could move forward together. Im sure that the decision to resign was a difficult one for the four members, Russotto said. "In the long run, I think that its good for staff and students that we can continue to move the district in a positive direction under OSheas leadership. Russotto, who voiced her frustrations at a number of committee meetings throughout the process, said there seemed to be a lack of communication between the school committee and local residents that became a source of frustration. We felt we had not been listened to as a staff, she said. Because the majority of us did feel that we were moving in a positive direction under (OSheas) leadership. A number of students at Longmeadow High School expressed support for OShea, and said issues with the school committee had arisen from a lack of communication. Senior Class President Caleb Moulema, 18, said that he and other students had reached out to the school committee in an attempt to get more information about the decision not to renew OSheas contract, but had not received much of a response. I think, from the students' perspective, we largely feel that hes a great superintendent," Moulema said. Hes very collaborative with students. Moulema said students had sent a letter to the school committee questioning its decision to remove OShea, but received little in the way of a satisfying response. They tended to not answer the questions directly, he said. We never really got a response, so were still standing with the superintendent. Aidan OKeefe, 17, is a senior at the high school and member of a school committee student advisory council, which connects students with the legislative process. I feel like if (the school committee members who resigned) werent ready to rethink their decision if they werent willing to see the other perspective then I respect their decision (to resign)," OKeefe said. We tried to see their side, by questioning about the details (about OShea) that we dont have, and we never really got a response, he said. Sophomore Katherine Li, 16, said that she considered OShea to be a good superintendent. From what I know, Marty was really involved in the school system, Li said, noting there was information that she was not privy to. From my perspective, I think that he did a good job in the schools." A lot of the students said that he was really supportive, said Shirley Yuan, 15, another high school student. Li she said she was unsure of the need for the committee members to leave their posts. At the same time, we elected the school officials, so they are representative of our voice, she said. I dont know that it was necessary for them to resign. BuzzFeed is laying off 15 percent of its workforce, about 215 employees, next week as it seeks to achieve profitability. The cutbacks are part of a wave of recent media layoffs. Verizon Communications is cutting about 7 percent of its digital-media operations, a business that includes AOL, Yahoo and the Huffington Post, Bloomberg reported. Gannett Inc. also has been laying off journalists from its collection of newspapers nationwide. Jonah Peretti, BuzzFeeds CEO , sent a memo to his 1,450 employees on Wednesday in which he explained that efforts to diversify revenue werent enough to help the company achieve profitability, according to The Hollywood Reporter. Unfortunately, revenue growth by itself isnt enough to be successful in the long run, Peretti wrote. The restructuring we are undertaking will reduce our costs and improve our operating model so we can thrive and control our destiny, without ever need to raise funding again. BuzzFeed was founded by Peretti and John S. Johnson III in 2006. The website has made strides in investigative journalism and was a finalist for a Pulitzer Prize. However, its reputation took a bruising last week when Special Counsel Robert Muellers office rebutted a report made by the website involving President Donald Trump and his one-time fixer, Michael Cohen. Former Senate President Stan Rosenberg, D-Amherst, paid nearly $150,000 in legal fees last year, as he faced an ethics investigation and lawsuit in a scandal that forced him to resign from the Senate. Campaign finance filings from Rosenbergs Statehouse campaign account, filed with the Office of Campaign and Political Finance, show that Rosenberg paid $148,700 to the Boston law firm Clements and Pineault between January and September 2018. Campaign accounts are funded by political donations and under state law, elected officials have significant leeway regarding how the money is spent. Rosenbergs husband Bryon Hefner was accused of sexually assaulting other men. Hefner is facing criminal charges. The Senate Ethics Committee conducted an investigation into whether Rosenberg acted improperly. The committee concluded that Rosenberg knew of Hefners inappropriate behavior, yet gave Hefner access to his Senate business for example, letting Hefner access his Senate email. Rosenberg resigned from the state Senate in the wake of the Senate Ethics Committee report in May. Rosenberg and Hefner also were the subject of a civil lawsuit by one of Hefners alleged victims. The man, who filed the lawsuit as John Doe, dropped the suit in October. BOSTON -- The Massachusetts Department of Public Health is celebrating its 150th anniversary in 2019. Commemorations include a new logo for the occasion and, according to a release, observances that will be held during National Public Health Week in April as well as activities at the state's Public Health Museum in Tewksbury this summer. "We're proud to celebrate our first 150 years," said Dr. Monica Bharel, the state public health commissioner, in the release. "Marking this year enables us to acknowledge our many 'firsts' and our continuing accomplishments. It also encourages us to think about how we are working now to improve public health today and for the next 150 years." The release notes that the country's first board of health was established by an act of the Massachusetts Legislature in Boston in 1799, with Paul Revere as president. Dr. Henry I. Bowditch was the first chair in 1869 of the state health board that, according to the release, merged with what was called the "Board of Health, Lunacy, and Charity" and went on to publish the first manual of public health laws, require mandatory reporting of dangerous diseases, establish the nation's first Food and Drug Laboratory and state public health microbiology lab, among other landmark achievements. Those interested in other such milestones in the commonwealth are directed to a list assembled by the Public Health Museum, the country's first, located in a historic building in Tewksbury. Some highlights from the list include: Authorities from multiple law enforcement agencies say there is no credible information to support a claim of a human trafficking ring in Cambridge that has gone viral on social media. Cambridge Police Spokesman Officer Jeremy Warnick said police have determined there is no evidence to support a message being shared widely on Facebook and other social media platforms that suggests a recent suspected kidnapping is tied to an alleged human trafficking operation run by Uber drivers in Cambridge. Variations of the social media post spread shortly after Boston Police found missing woman Olivia Ambrose and charged a 38-year-old Charlestown man, Victor Pena, with kidnapping. Warnick said police have received calls about the social media posts, and that they have flagged it internally and to other departments. Through conversations with Boston Police and other partners, Cambridge Police said they determined the claim is unfounded. Its a firestorm, by all accounts, Warnick said. There is no validity. Jake Wark, a spokesman for the Suffolk County District Attorneys office, said there is no evidence connecting the alleged kidnapping to the speculation being shared online. Boston Police would not comment directly on the social media buzz and said the investigation around the alleged kidnapping is ongoing. Thats what social media does, it creates a panic," said Boston Police Officer Kim Tavares. When asked if Cambridge residents should be cautious of Uber, Tavares said people be aware of taking Uber rides anywhere. Vargas: Im not sure because, you know, everything in Mexico is good. Maybe my favorite is the pozole and the recipe is the same as the way it was when I was a kid. A Cambridge fire lieutenant is asking for the publics help finding an irreplaceable badge that was stolen from his car Tuesday night. Lt. Brandon Hugh Sr. wrote in a Facebook post that the metal badge originally belonged to his father in 1982 and was handed down to him in 2007 when he was promoted. It has both of their initials and promotional dates engraved on the back. Hugh said the badge was stolen from his car while he was working at the Engine Co. 6 firehouse on River Street Tuesday night. His post was shared by the Cambridge firefighters union. Im very used to the family audiences and I really enjoy it because I love getting to bring families together to see a show, she said. Pinkalicious is one of those shows where parents and grandparents can come and still get something out of it while their kids are loving (the character) Pinkalicious. Its not necessarily a new direction for me, but its one of my favorite directions, for sure. In partnership with SHOWTIME. Dont talk about money is one of the oldest and most engrained adages of social decorum particularly, I would argue, for women (the somewhat anachronistic adjective unladylike comes to mind). However, talking about money with my female friends, from being transparent about our salaries to openly parsing our monetary ambitions, has resulted in some of my most enlightening personal and professional growth. Black Monday, a new SHOWTIME original series, puts the complex relationship between women and money under a microscope by highlighting the experiences of Dawn Darcy (played by Regina Hall), a black woman working on Wall Street during the infamous stock market crash in 1987. Dawn is a unique character, not only because her colleagues are almost exclusively white men, but also because she is unapologetic in her pursuit of wealth and success during a time when that was even more taboo. In 2019, there is still a stigma associated with the idea of women speaking candidly about their desire to earn a lot of money, but its grip on cultural mores has grown significantly less powerful. To that point, Man Repeller spoke with three women from different backgrounds about their relationship with money, and why theyre not ashamed to discuss it openly. Scroll down to read their stories, accompanied by a styled editorial that pays homage to the best of 80s workplace attire. 12 PHOTOS click for more Grace Grace, 28, is a business change consultant living between London and Luxembourg. I was fortunate to be born into a middle class family. Even though we werent uber wealthy, we were comfortable. Then, when I was about 10 years old, my parents got divorced, and my dad left my mom with no money. It was very strange to suddenly go from never having to really think about money to suddenly thinking about money all the time. There was a notable shift where money suddenly became a thing, and aspects of financial security that we took for granted before (like having enough to pay for school tuition) were no longer guaranteed. I started working as soon as I turned 16, even during school holidays. If I couldnt get a job, my mom made me go to the local job center and sign on to get unemployment benefits. It wasnt much around 150 pounds a week but I remember being really embarrassed and thinking, Oh my gosh, what if my friends find out about this? Theyre all living the high life, and here I am at the job center! I had a huge argument with my mom about it. As soon as I left school, I started working in a bar. That was a defining moment for me because it was my first proper paycheck, and I remember seeing it hit my bank account and being like, Oh my gosh! Its just so much money. I realized that if I worked more hours, I could make more money, so I told my boss I would work as many hours as I could. I didnt mind that I was working constantly and was exhausted all the time. I just wanted to see the number increase in my account. It became an addiction. I still, to this day, find it quite addictive to see my savings go up. People keep saying to me, Why wont you buy an apartment? You have enough money to put a deposit down. But I just dont feel comfortable doing that. Its important for me mentally to have access to a lot of cash and to be able to take that cash out whenever I want. I need to have a buffer, just in case. Partially because it makes me feel safe, but also because it allows me to take a lot of risks. I leave jobs without having a subsequent job lined up. I ask for higher rates as a consultant just to see what I can get and Im perfectly willing to talk about that. Most people get really uncomfortable if you ask them their salary, but I never hesitate to share the ballpark range of what I make when asked. Why would I? We talk about every other aspect of ambition and success. Money is money. Everyone needs it to survive. I dont understand why its such a taboo topic. Contessa Contessa, 35, is the director of commerce at Essence. She lives in New York. Growing up, I didnt know that we didnt have money, but when I stepped outside of that safety, it became apparent. I went to school in another district where there was a lot of money. Whether it was a school event I couldnt afford to attend, or people wearing certain clothes, or the fact that I lived so far away that I had to be driven in, I could sense the wealth disparity. I remember realizing, Okay, there is a difference between me and these people. I had to kind of take college upon myself. No one was just like, Go to school. I dont even think that was a conversation anyone had with me. When I eventually decided to go, I was dating someone who came from money and suddenly I was hanging around people that went to Bard, Vassar and Wellesley, and I wanted to be able to keep up because I knew that the only difference between them and me was they were book smart. There werent smarter than me they would say wild shit all the time so I was just like, Well, I could learn that. I believe I make the most money out of my cousins now. I am 35, and my career has considerably shifted in the last five years. Now Im the director of commerce at Essence, and before that, I was the director of strategy at Time Inc. But before that, I was sleeping on someones couch, with no home. Im grateful for it its made me really street smart, and thats really valuable in office spaces. But transitioning classes can be hard. When you come from middle class families, you dont just go make it by yourself you have to make it and bring your whole family with you. And then when I get into places of class, when people are talking, I dont always understand references they make and experiences they have. And I dont know what its like to not be in a shit ton of debt. Its like code switching almost. Working full-time and going to school full-time? Thats a whole different experience. No ones given me anything. My dad always said that poor is a state of mind and broke is a situation, something temporary. Language is important when you talk about money. He also said that these power structures of oppression and debt are meant keep a lot of poor black and brown people in this maddening loop of barely keeping their heads above water. So we have to be easy on ourselves, compassionate, which is why Ive really tried to change my relationship with money. Ive made it this far Im not gonna let the school loans system be the end of me and my brothers. My grandmas grandma was a slave, so I think to myself, Okay, how do I build wealth for my family and play a game of catch up? Its gonna be easier as the generations go on, but someone has to do the work now, so it might as well be me. Thats how I see my pursuit of wealth. Yes, I want nice things, but it would also help me fulfill a purpose starting a new generation. Generational money is real. If I can start a new one, my kids will be better off than I am. My parents are hard workers, my grandparents are hard workers. Theyre wonderful, amazing people whom I love deeply. We deserve this prosperity, and we deserve to be happy in a way that were comfortable. Lisa Lisa, 60 is currently retired. She worked as an attorney in Philadelphia, where she still resides, for over 30 years. I grew up with the womens movement. I also grew up in a Donna Reed environment women of the 50s, housewives, staying home. Mine was not a traditional African American household. Our entire history, Black women have always worked, but not my family, and not most of the women that I saw and knew growing up. They were housewives the men worked and the women took care of the household. But I was raised with a father that was adamant about his daughters becoming professional and not relying on a man, despite the fact that he was a chauvinist pig with regard to my mom. For his daughters, he wanted more. I had high hopes and dreams of being a successful lawyer, although I had no examples of what a lawyer did other than what I saw on TV. I grew up watching Perry Mason, and it seemed exciting, it seemed different. So I made that decision when I was in high school and then pursued that dream from high school through law school. I was very eager to start my career, although I didnt know what the earning potential was until I got into law school and started looking at the salaries. Eventually I became a litigator, meaning I dealt with the courts, and their judges, and the court staff, and opposing counsel and clients all of whom who have certain images of women being subservient. For those reasons, I found the profession extremely disappointing. Its very sexist. The upside is you do make a lot of money. Money is a major reason why you stay. I mean, it took me a couple years to finally realize I didnt like what I was doing, but before I realized that, I was loving that paycheck that came in. Earning that kind of money gives you total freedom. Economic power particularly if youre in a relationship. It allows you parity with that partner, and if youre not happy in that partnership, it allows you the comfort to get up and walk out and leave. Money is important, theres no question about it, and it allows women the freedom to stay or not stay in relationships. I had made up my mind not to have children in advance of my entering my profession, but getting into the practice of law and realizing that my time was even more limited than I thought it would be and seeing women having difficulty balancing work with having kids only buttressed my prior decision. It just reinforced for me: You were right not to try to have kids. Anyway, I stayed in the litigating profession into my mid-forties, so I was in it for 20 years. I wasnt happy the last 15 years of that but you buy a house and you have financial responsibilities and, therefore, you stay put and you keep chugging away and doing the job its difficult to walk away from a six-figure salary. By the time I was in my retirement, I was making $250,000 a year, and thats a lot of money to walk away from. When my firm dissolved, it was easier for me to just consider an alternative career, which is what I ended up doing. I left private practice at about 44 and I took a position with the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, which did not involve litigation and did not involve going and looking for business. I just recently retired from that. Im now retired and dont miss the practice of law at all. If youre thirsty for more money talk and 80s power dressing (same) Black Monday is now streaming, only on SHOWTIME. Photos by Edith Young; Styled by Harling Ross; Modeled by Karen Williams of Iconic Focus; Makeup by Rachael Krutchkoff. Editors note: January 24, 2020 marks the 36th anniversary of the unveiling of the Macintosh. This article originally posted on the 25th anniversary. In 1977, Apple made a splash on the world stage by introducing the Apple II, one of the worlds first personal computers. In the time between the Apple IIs release and IBMs introduction of the first IBM PC in 1981, Apple dominated the personal computer industry. However, almost as soon as the Apple II was launched, the company began planning successors for its flagship product, fearing that the Apple II would have a limited lifespan. (These fears wound up being unfounded, as variations on the original Apple II model sold well for more than 15 years.) The most enduring result of this quest was the Macintosh computer. The course of events that led to the Mac as we know it was convoluted, the result of luck or coincidence as much as planning. But those events began with desire of Apple executives to develop a next-generation computer following the success of the Apple II. Apple III The first stop on the journey to a post-Apple II world was the Apple III. Conceived as a business machine, the Apple III was compatible with Apple II hardware and software but also ran software designed specifically for the Apple III. The Apple III turned out to be one of Apples biggest flops. Plagued with design flaws (including an overheating issue, due to Steve Jobs insistence that the system ship without an internal fan) and offering hardware that didnt go significantly beyond what could be added to the less-expensive Apple II, the Apple III was eventually pulled from production after costing Apple $60 million (most of it in support efforts for customers). Lisa Another next-generation computer conceived as a business machine was the Apple Lisa. The Lisas original specifications were for a basic business computer with a price tag of $2,000. It was not intended to offer any next-generation features. But when it was released in 1983, the Lisa became the first Apple product to feature a graphical user interface (GUI), similar to the one that would ship on the Mac a year later. Early in the development of the Lisa, Jobs and a handful of Apple engineers made two trips to the Xerox Palo Alto Research Center (PARC). Xerox had created PARC as a think tank for engineers to develop new technologiesa place where some of the brightest technical minds could work to develop innovative products. Technologies such as ethernet, object-oriented programming, and GUI operating systems that accepted input from a mouse all emerged from PARC. Focused more on its copier business than on the emerging computer revolution, Xerox let many of these technologies languish because executives couldnt understand how to turn them into marketable products. Apple Lisa In 1979, Jobs and a team of Apple employees arranged two visits to PARC, allowing Xerox in return to invest in Apple before the companys initial public offering. After seeing the earliest examples of many modern computing technologiesmost notably the mouse-driven graphical operating system of the Xerox AltoApple decided to add as many of these technologies as feasible to the Lisa spec sheet. Engineers at Apple set about reverse-engineering and expanding on many of the features they had seen at PARC. The result was a computer that looked little like the original plans. When the Lisa shipped, it included a built-in display, a keyboard and a one-button mouse. The Lisa operating system featured not just a GUI that responded to mouse input, but several innovations that would go on to become standard features in Mac OS, Windows and other modern operating systems: files represented by icons, pull-down menus, and drag-and-drop functionality. It also pioneered Apples QuickDraw screen-drawing technology. Lisa also shipped with a suite of productivity applications that included spreadsheet, drawing, word processing, graphing, project management and terminal-emulation programsand a file manager. This was an important inclusion, as the Lisa was incompatible with any other software on the market (including the Mac when it was released). Despite pioneering many technologies, the Lisa never developed a significant following, largely because of its $9,995 price tag. Other factors in its failure were its incompatibility with other systems, its somewhat finicky floppy drives and rumors that Apple was working on a less-expensive baby Lisa. Apple did drop the price to $6,995 later in 1983, and the Lisa 2 was priced at $3,495 when it shipped in 1984. Still, Lisa sales failed to take off. Eventually, Apple converted its stock of Lisas so they would work with the Mac OS and sold the remaining units as the Mac XL. A conversion kit was also sold to existing Lisa owners. When the Lisa was finally discontinued in 1989, Apple literally buried the product, interring all unsold Lisas in a landfill in Logan, Utah. The original Mac concept Despite the fact that the Mac would go on to be a revolutionary product, it had humble beginnings. Commissioned in 1979, the Mac was conceived as a low-cost personal computer intended for the average consumer, with a price tag of around $500. The Mac project was initially considered a research product, one that didnt have the high profile of either the Apple III or the Lisa. Jef Raskin, at the time Apples director of publications and new product review, was chosen to oversee it. The somewhat obscure nature of the Mac project was one of the factors that led to its radical re-imagining by Steve Jobs. After the failure of the Apple III, the Apple board had reservations about allowing Jobs to manage another high-profile project. When Jobs asked to take over the Mac project, the board allowed him to do so, feeling that the relatively unknown project wasnt critical to Apples well-being. Under Jobs, the Mac went from being a low-cost computer with a traditional text-based interface to being a less-expensive version of the Lisa. But duplicating the work happening on the Lisa wasnt the only goal Jobs had in mind. He envisioned the Mac as expanding on the Lisas advances. Jef Raskin The result was a resolution by Jobs and his Mac team not only to make a baby Lisa but also to turn the Mac into a product that could advance the computing industry as much as or more than the Apple II had doneor, as Jobs has been quoted as saying, to put a dent in the universe. The Lisa and Mac teams actually worked simultaneously on similar technologies for some time, and a rivalry between the two groups developed. The Mac team fancied themselves as piratesgoing so far as a to fly a pirate flag outside their workspaceas opposed to the more corporate-oriented Lisa team. During the race to get both products to market, Jobs made a $5,000 bet with Lisa project manager John Couch that the Mac team would win. In the end, the Lisa made it to market first, but the Mac developed a much larger followingand a much longer lifespan. The drive to develop the Mac took on an almost religious fervor, with Jobs giving T-shirts to his engineers that read 90 HRS/WK AND LOVING IT. Throughout the process, ideas and even employees were regularly poached from other teams within Apple. One casualty of this zeal was Raskin; after repeated conflicts and a final showdown with Jobs, he chose to leave Apple and the Mac behind. Raskin eventually did end up developing some of his original ideas for the Mac into a word processor, which was sold in the late 1980s as the Canon Cat. Despite the passion and long hours that went into its development, the Mac slipped past its ship dates more than oncelargely because the difficulty of developing the system was underestimated. After the team missed one date in 1982, Mike Markkula, chairman of Apples board at the time, gave Jobs a womans black undergarment, saying that it was the Macs last slip. What the Mac became While many things changed during the Macs development, some of the original design concepts remained. Conceived by Raskin for the person in the street, the Mac was from the beginning aimed at being simple to use without complications such as expansion slots or cables. This consideration meant that users wouldnt need to worry about opening the computer for any reason. The idea inspired the Macs all-in-one look (and lack of expandability). Even the person in the street idea ended up informing the Macs eventual tagline as the computer for the rest of us. Indeed, although Jobs took over the Mac project and Raskin left Apple before it shipped, Raskin is often credited as the father of the Mac. The machine that started it all. Still, the computer that Apple shipped in 1984 bore only a passing resemblance to Raskins original Mac concept. In fact, rather than costing the consumer $500, the first Macintosh to ship cost Apple about that much to produce. The ultimate cost for new Mac owners was $2,495. When Steve Jobs unveiled the Mac on Jan. 24, 1984, it was something the likes of which the world had never seen. The new computer featured a bright graphical display and all-in-one design, relied on a mouse for input, and even offered speech synthesis capabilities. It garnered praise from both computer and mainstream publications, though some criticized the monochrome display, lack of expandability and incompatibility with existing software. Paltry by todays standards, the original Mac featured a 9-inch black-and-white display, 3.5-inch floppy drive (which could store 400KB of data on each disk), 128KB of RAM and a Motorola 68000 processor running at 8 MHz. It shipped with MacWrite, a word processing tool, and MacPaint, a drawing tool. Later the same year, Apple shipped the Mac 512K, which doubled the installed RAM but kept the same design. In fact, it wouldnt be until early 1987 that Apple would ship Macs that offered expansion slots or deviated from the all-in-one style of the original (a design still used by todays iMac line). Embedded on the inside of the case of every original Mac are the signatures of each member of the team that helped create it, including Raskin and Jobs. Over the years, the Mac has grown and changed significantly. The original model has given way to hundreds of updated models over the years. The processor family on which the Mac is based has gone through two major changes. Apple has even successfully managed to change the core of the Mac operating system in the release of Mac OS X. And yet the Mac remains true to its beginnings, an icon of how simple a computer can be and how much it can do. Slowly, noiselessly. There have always been political differences and family feuds, not to mention difficult circumstances that have dragged on for many years. Its not just the war that broke out in 1975 or the various migrations to Latin America, but rather the perennial economic, social and political situation that has led young and old alike to leave for France, Australia, Canada, Britain, Dubai, the United States anywhere the grass seems greener. Lebanon separates those who love each other: Parents from their sons, a brother from his sister, a husband from his wife, cousins, nephews. Every family has at least one member living abroad; an expat who we only see once or twice a year, in the best case scenario, because theyre too far and the travel is too expensive. There are people who went to study to get a Masters degree and never came back. We wouldnt have let them, anyway. What for? Such farewells are generally imposed on the person leaving by their loved ones because nothing is going well here. Coming back home, for the most part, is no longer an option. Our lives are no longer the same. We grow up separated. We grow old away from one another. We speak other languages. And we are grateful for technology, like Facetime, that lets us see our mothers wrinkles and our nephews first tooth. This nephew, he is almost virtual, except for the few hours we spend with him every time we come back to Beirut. On our visits for the holidays we have lunch at Entrecote between parties and visits to aunts and cousins. Once a year. We only see each other once a year. Lebanon separates those who love each other, and it couldnt care less. It doesnt care about the sorrow that we endure when our loved ones head to the airport or about the fact that we can no longer stand goodbyes. We can never know if it is a farewell for a short while or if years will go by. Lebanon doesnt care about our childrens future because it already neglects their present. It doesnt care about the hours their parents spent in the past waiting for a phone line to open so they could call those who were fortunate enough to be in exile during the fucking war. It doesnt care about the parents and grandparents with whom we were unable to spend Christmases and the celebrations at the end of Eid. Some of us came back because we felt guilty or because we believed in a future with a brighter horizon. But that horizon has darkened. Many who bet on the post-war reconstruction have left. Some have stayed. It is their turn to be seperated from those they love. They made a life in Lebanon, and now their children are making their lives in other countries. We get married. We start a family. We have children, and we raise them. We cradle them. We tuck them in bed, and we teach them to walk, talk and eat. We comfort and support them. We push them to get an education; to go further, and this is what they end up doing. They go far away, and we ask them to stay there. Their river is now the Seine. Their district is the 15th Arrondissement of Paris, and their corniche is the Atlantic coast. Their rooms in Lebanon are empty all year long, waiting for them to come back for a week or two. After they visit, their rooms, with walls still covered in yellowing posters from their teenage years, become empty again. Between Skype calls, we miss their socks being scattered across the living room floor where they used to lounge with their friends who have also left all but one foolhardy friend who, when we see them from time to time, evokes nostalgia for our sons or brothers. We couldve grown old sitting with our friends on the benches at the corniche and taken walks with our respective children. Alas, we wont. Lebanon separates those who love each other and will continue to do so more and more. Month after month, we see friends leave after closing shop and selling their homes. We see our children grow and know they will leave soon too. This is one of the greatest crimes committed by our leaders. They pollute our country, rob us of resources and force our children to leave. (This article was originally published in French on the 19th of January) Local News, Business & Finance, Press Releases, Politics By Long Island News & PR Published: January 24 2019 The bill passed overwhelmingly with bipartisan support and a vote of 58-2. Oyster Bay, NY - January 24, 2019 - Today the New York State Senate passed Senator James Gaughrans bill, S.1904, to make the property tax cap permanent. The bill passed overwhelmingly with bipartisan support and a vote of 58-2. Senator Jim Gaughran said I ran for State Senate on the promise that I would fight tirelessly for overburdened and overtaxed Long Islanders. Today I took the first step and introduced vital legislation to make the property tax cap permanent. No more temporary extensions. A permanent tax cap for permanent relief. Were beginning to feel the devastating effects of the federal limit on State and Local Tax deductions. We cannot let Long Islanders be taxed out of their homes. It is critical that New York State takes steps to providing real tax relief to Long Islanders, while the federal government continues its attack on New York taxpayers. The Democratic Senate Majority is going to provide local municipalities and school districts with mandate reform and increase state aid to our region to help lower local tax levies. Local News, Press Releases, Politics By Long Island News & PR Published: January 24 2019 Legislation Allows Early Voting 8 Days Before an Election; Consolidates Federal and State Primary Dates; Allows Voter Preregistration for Teens and Voter Portability Within the State; Closes the LLC Loophole. New York, NY - January 24, 2019 - Governor Andrew M. Cuomo today signed legislation that begins the process of bringing New York State's voting laws into the 21st Century, a central goal of his 2019 Justice Agenda for the first 100 days of the new legislative session. These historic new laws will allow for eight days of early voting before an election, synchronize federal and state primary elections, allow voter preregistration for teenagers, provide voter registration portability within the state, and close the LLC loophole. "At a time when the federal government is doing everything it can to disenfranchise voters, we are breaking down the barriers that have discouraged too many generations of New Yorkers from exercising their right to vote," Governor Cuomo said. "I'm proud to sign into law these important voting reforms that are part of our first 100-day Justice Agenda but this is only the beginning. We are going to finish the job and enact additional reforms in this year's budget including automatic registration and extending upstate voting hours to once and for all make it easier for New Yorkers to make their voices heard at the ballot box." "As Chair of the Women's Suffrage Commission, I advocated for much needed voting reforms statewide," said Lieutenant Governor Kathy Hochul. "With early voting, preregistration and other reforms, New Yorkers will have expanded access and opportunity to participate in the democratic process. This is only the beginning - we are committed to advancing additional measures to further modernize and strengthen our voting system. This common-sense legislation will increase voter participation and strengthen our democracy." Governor Cuomo signed the following voting reforms the first bills approved by the Legislature in the 2019 session into law: Closing the LLC Loophole: This bill will close the LLC loophole by limiting political spending by an LLC to a total of $5,000 annually, which is the same limit as corporations. The bill will also require the disclosure of direct and indirect membership interests in the LLC making a contribution, and for the contribution to be attributed to that individual. Early voting: Enacting early voting will make voting more convenient for voters whose professional or family obligations make it difficult to physically get to the polls, as well as reduce waiting times and ease logistical burdens for poll workers. Synchronizing federal and state elections: New York State currently holds separate primary elections for state and federal elections. With the addition of a presidential primary every four years and a general election, this means that in some cases New York is holding four different elections in a year. This can be confusing to voters and wastes administrative resources. This bill will unify the federal and state primaries once and for all and ensure that voters only go to the polls once to choose their nominees. Pre-registration for minors: New Yorkers are not permitted to register to vote unless they will be 18 years of age by the end of the year, and by the date of the election in which they intend to vote. This bill will allow 16 and 17-year-olds to pre-register to vote, meaning that a voter will automatically be registered on his or her 18th birthday. Universal transfer of registration: When New Yorkers move to a different county, their voter registration does not move with them. This requires the voter to re-register with his or her new local board of elections as if he or she were registering for this first time. This bill will ensure that when a voter moves elsewhere in the state, his or her voter registration will seamlessly go with them. In addition, the Governor celebrated the passage of two resolutions for Constitutional Amendments: No-excuse absentee voting by mail: The New York State Constitution currently restricts absentee ballots to individuals who provide a qualifying reason, such as absence from the county on Election Day or an illness or disability. This unnecessarily prevents New Yorkers from being able to vote by mail for reasons other than those currently listed in the constitution, or simply for convenience. This constitutional amendment will make absentee ballots available to any eligible voter, no matter their reason for wanting one, which will help make voting as accessible as possible. Same-day registration: The New York State Constitution prohibits voters from registering to vote less than 10 days before an election and still being able to vote in that election. In today's world with today's technology, there is no policy or administrative reason to prevent voters from registering to vote on the day of an election. This constitutional amendment will eliminate this outdated but formidable barrier to the ballot box. While these reforms are a pivotal step forward in encouraging every New Yorker to vote, Governor Cuomo's fiscal year 2020 Executive Budget proposes additional measures to modernize New York's voting laws, including: Voting before noon upstate: State Election Law currently prohibits poll places from opening before noon in primary elections only in upstate New York, creating unequal access to the polls across the state. New Yorkers everywhere are entitled to the same opportunity to vote, and this year New York will ensure that voting hours are extended for primary elections upstate to match voting hours across the rest of the state. Make Election Day a holiday: An inability to take time off of work should never be a barrier to voting. This year, New York will ensure that any New Yorker has time off to vote on Election Day. Automatic registration: Today New Yorkers are given the opportunity to register to vote when interacting with State agencies and they must affirmatively ask to be registered. The budget includes a proposal to reverse that process and register eligible New Yorkers to vote unless they affirmatively ask not to be registered. Automatic voter registration will not only boost voter registration and turnout in this state, it will also strengthen our democratic process. Online registration: Apart from DMV, there is currently no online option for voter registration in New York State. The budget includes a proposal to ensure automatic voter registration opportunities are available online, including allowing New Yorkers to apply to register to vote on the State Board of Elections website. Ban corporate contributions: Corporate money has overtaken our election system. The executive budget includes a proposal to ban all corporate contributions, restoring the power to the people and helping to remove dark money and special interest influences in our democratic process. Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins said, "Government should be about breaking down barriers. We need more voices in our democracy, not fewer. Easing access to voting and having New Yorkers exercise their Constitutional right to have their voices heard shouldn't be partisan or controversial. Other states have taken the lead on issues like early voting, same-day registration, pre-registration, and no-excuse absentee voting. It is time for New York State to catch up, so we can once again lead the way forward." Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie said, "For years, the Assembly Majority has worked to make it easier for voters to cast their ballots, and while New York has prided itself on being a progressive leader, our antiquated election laws have lagged behind. It was a pleasure to work with our partners in the Senate Majority to get real reforms - expanding access to the democratic process and bringing more transparency to our campaign finance laws. I look forward to continuing our work together to move New York State forward." Senator Zellnor Myrie said, "Voting is the right that protects all other rights, yet for too long, New Yorkers have been hampered by some of the most antiquated and regressive voting laws in the country. Early voting, along with all of these important reforms, will give more people the opportunity to vote and make our government more accountable to its voters." Assemblymember Charles Lavine said, "As a longtime sponsor of voting reform bills, today is an exciting day for the state of New York and our democracy. For too long, our antiquated voting laws have kept democracy in the dark, leaving staggering numbers of New Yorkers out of the voting process without a say in who should represent them. Today, we give a voice to the voiceless, and ensure that New York's elections are simple, fair, and all encompassing. I thank Governor Cuomo for passing this critical legislation." Senator Brian Kavanagh said, "The legislation Governor Cuomo is signing today is nothing short of transformative. Until today, our state has had some of the worst election laws in the country, making it unnecessarily difficult to vote and allowing special interests to drown out the voices of millions of New Yorkers by giving unlimited amounts of money to politicians through LLCs. For years, Democrats in both the Senate and the Assembly, with the Governor's support, have fought to change this, and as an Assemblymember I was proud to sponsor and pass nearly all of the bills being signed into law today--only to see them blocked by Senate Republicans. The sweeping reforms to our broken voting system that we are enacting under the leadership of Leader Stewart-Cousins, Speaker Heastie, and Governor Cuomo make it clear that we want every eligible voter to participate in our democracy without undue hardship. And closing the LLC Loopholethe most egregious defect in our campaign finance systemwill cut off an enormous flow of unlimited, often virtually anonymous campaign contributions that have allowed certain individuals and narrow business interests to buy influence wholesale. This is a huge first step in what I hope will be a broader modernization of our campaign finance system." Senator David Carlucci said, "I thank the Governor for signing these necessary voting reforms into law. New York's voting laws have now been brought into the 21st century, and will encourage people to get out and vote. I was proud to champion and sponsor bills allowing 16 and 17-year-old's to pre-register to vote and universal transfer of registration." Assemblymember Jeffrey Dinowitz said, "For years, New York has been at the bottom of the list nationally because of our antiquated election laws. I am incredibly proud this will no longer be the case. In one fell swoop, we accomplished a number of long-sought election reforms which make it easier for people to cast their ballot and diminish the impact of money on elections. Furthermore, with legislation such as my voter portability bill, New York is beginning to lead and will continue to lead on policies that make it easier for people to participate in our democracy. Thank you to Assembly Speaker Heastie and the advocates who stood with us, persevering year after year as we passed many of these bills in the Assembly. Thank you as well to Governor Cuomo for his support in getting these reforms across the finish line and to Majority Leader Stewart-Cousins for finally getting these bills through the state Senate." Local News, Crime, Business & Finance, Press Releases By Long Island News & PR Published: January 24 2019 Increases Criminal Penalties for Employers Who Knowingly Commit Wage Theft Violations. New York, NY - January 24, 2019 - Governor Andrew M. Cuomo today announced as part of his fiscal year 2020 Executive Budget a new proposal to crack down on wage theft. The Governor's proposal would increase criminal penalties for employers who knowingly or intentionally commit wage theft violations to more closely align with other forms of theft. "New York will always stand with workers and we have zero tolerance for unscrupulous employers who try to steal the hard-earned wages of their employees," Governor Cuomo said. "The State has already recovered millions of dollars for cheated workers, and this proposal will help bolster our efforts to hold accountable any employer who attempts to improperly withhold wages." Currently, only employers who commit repeated wage theft can be prosecuted with a felony, and such prosecutions are extremely limited. This legislation will amend the Labor Law to provide criminal penalties for employers who knowingly steal wages, with criminal penalties ranging from a Class B misdemeanor for wage theft less than $1,000 to a Class B Felony for wage theft greater than $50,000. This proposal will enhance the New York State Department of Labor's ability to make referrals for criminal prosecution as District Attorneys and the Attorney General will now have clear, unequivocal crimes to prosecute. The Department of Labor will continue existing Labor Law enforcement operations, but with the enhanced criminal penalties District Attorneys will be more likely to prosecute wage theft as a crime, and may begin to bring cases of their own, thereby expanding the resources available to combat wage theft throughout the state. Further, enhanced criminal penalties may operate as a deterrent for employers and reduce future instances of wage theft. New York State Labor Commissioner Roberta Reardon said, "The New York State Department of Labor is committed to the protection of workers and thanks to Governor Cuomo's leadership, we'll soon be able to take unprecedented action to ensure that workers who have wages stolen get what they're owed. This legislation helps build New York's reputation as a national leader in the fight against wage theft." Longford artist Gary Robinson will be speaking at a special artist event on Saturday, January 26. He will join the reclusive and eminent artist John Kingerlee, who was once described by a leading New York Times art critic as the 'best artist since Turner'. One of Robinsons contemporaries, artist and friend David Newton, says this artist returns again and again to the importance of an innocence being reflected in his art". "This innocence he speaks of is much like how sounds are made as music is played. Imagine loose and unclear ideas, streaming out a trumpet across a time and place just like notes floating around as a jazz player riffs along in a relaxed manner with a set of bleating sounds. This is the expanding logic and directionless sense of movement that Robinson says he seeks in his art." The talk will take place in the Origin Gallery, 37 Fitzwilliam St Upper, Dublin 2. Admission is free and there will be bloody Marys on offer. The exhibition will continue until the end of next week. Also read: Longford Culture Night: 'Memory has a Pulse' Exhibition Longford Vintage Club will once again be supporting the Dublin2Mayo Charity Tractor Run/Extreme Tractor Run over the Easter bank holiday weekend. Miceal Nolan, from Longford Vintage Club, explained that this years event starts on Good Friday, April 19 in the Phoenix Park and finishes in Castlebar on Easter Sunday, April 21. Over the two days of the hugely successful 2018 run, which travelled along the N4 and saw many of the participants stay overnight in Longford, a massive 96,424 was raised for Crumlin hospital in Dublin and the Special Care and Paediatrics Unit at Mayo University Hospital. The chosen charities for the 2019 run are the Special Care Baby Units and Paediatrics at both the Midlands Regional Hospital Mullingar and Mayo University Hospital in Castlebar, and the National Rehab Centre in Dun Laoghaire. Also read: Longford Macra tractor run hailed a 'massive success' Mr Nolan said this years Dublin2Mayo Charity Tractor Run will also be stopping in Longford on Good Friday and participants will be staying overnight. Longford Vintage Club is delighted to be associated with the run which raises much needed funds for some great causes. In conjunction with the run, the main fundraiser is a raffle for a Massey Ferguson 135 Tractor. Tickets are 10 each or 20 for three. Mr Nolan outlined that Longford Vintage Club and members of the Dublin2Mayo Charity Tractor Run committee will be selling tickets for the raffle on Saturday, February 2 in Longford. The tractor will be on display and we will have raffle tickets for sale and all support would be greatly appreciated. You can also get your raffle tickets for the Massey 135 raffle at www.ExtremeTractors.ie Longford Leader gallery: Car enthusiasts flock to Connolly Barracks for Longford Vintage Club annual Car Run Planning permission for the development of a battery energy storage system (BESS) in Longford has been refused owing to the risk of an explosion. Low Carbon Storage Ireland Ltd had sought planning in July 2018 to develop the BESS within a total site area of up to 0.41 hectare at Ballykenny, Co Longford (near Clondra). ALSO READ: We won't be blown away: No to Derryadd Windfarm group vow to fight controversial Bord na Mona plan However, Longford County Council planners this week cited two reasons for deciding to refuse permission. They said they were not satisfied that the proposed development, given its nature and the lack of fire safety information as requested, would not give rise to the risk of an explosion and/or fire hazard and pose a significant threat to public health, adjoining communities and power supply. Secondly, planners stated that the lack of specific fire safety information could have a detrimental impact on the residential, agricultural and natural amenity of the area. ALSO READ: Ten Longford families in mortgage arrears saved from repossession Low Carbon Storage Ireland Ltd has the option of submitting an appeal against Longford County Councils decision of January 14 to An Bord Pleanala within four weeks. Low Carbon Storage Ireland Ltd had proposed that the BESS at Ballykenny would include a single storey electrical substation building, a customer switchgear container, nine electrical inverter/transformer station modules (SKIDS), six containerised battery storage modules on concrete support structures, twelve heating, ventilation and air conditioning units (HVAC units), access tracks and upgraded site entrance. ALSO READ: REVEALED The shortlist for Longford's All Time Great Their plan also included associated electrical cabling and ducting, security gates, perimeter security fencing, CCTV security monitoring system, landscaping works and all associated ancillary infrastructure. ALSO READ: Longford Mass-goers advised not to shake hands as a sign of peace due to flu virus The decision by Longford County Council to demolish the old Providers building to make way for the construction of a new 'iconic' building that will house a digital hub in the centre of town has been warmly welcomed by local councillors. Director of Services Barbara Heslin announced the big decision at the January meeting of Longford County Council last Wednesday evening. We have decided that the most appropriate option is to demolish the existing building and to build a new custom-designed building which will meet our requirements, she explained. And the design of the building will incorporate the elements that weve already outlined at a previous meeting to you all, which will include a possible cafe, exhibition space, cultural space, digital hub hot-desking and meeting space. Also read: Lack of broadband in Longford is a 'poverty' of being peripheral to Dublin Work is to commence almost immediately on progressing the project and the relevant procurement processes that will be associated with that, so watch this space. Local councillors were quick to voice their approval of the plans, noting that a statement building will work wonders for the regeneration of that part of the town. This was looked at and to bring that existing building up to a significantly modern standard of insulation, of safety, of access and all of those items would have cost in excess of what it would cost to build a purpose-built iconic building, said Cllr Seamus Butler. It is a wonderful opportunity to make a statement. I think this building has to make a statement. It has to be iconic. It has to be something we can be proud of. Also read: Old Providers building to be knocked to make way for construction of 'iconic' Digital Hub in Longford town Cllr Joe Flaherty also welcomed the decision, but is anxious that the planners look to include a number of historic features from the old building in any new build and, if this is not possible, that the features are stored for possible future projects. The Connolly and McGinnity families haves links in Northern Ireland and all the steel used in the building was recycled from Harland & Wolff whilst the building also features an old lift shaft and giant safe that were bought from an historic hotel in Belfast, said Cllr Flaherty, adding that the council should endeavour to see if some of these features could be salvaged. You only have to look down to the end of Lower Main Street and the site of the old demolished castle to realise the sense of loss when we lose these features. I wholeheartedly agree with the plan to demolish but am hopeful that some of the features can be salvaged." Planning and procurement began immediately but will take some time, according to Barbara Heslin. But its more important to get it right than to do it quickly, she said. Also read: Call for creation of 'digital town' hubs across Longford Danville, WV (25053) Today Scattered thunderstorms in the morning, with mostly cloudy skies late. Gusty winds and small hail are possible. High near 85F. Winds SW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 50%.. Tonight Scattered thunderstorms in the evening. Cloudy skies overnight. Low 68F. Winds SW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 40%. A white supremacist from Baltimore on Wednesday pleaded guilty to fatally stabbing a black man in New York with a sword - a crime officials say was the first of many attacks on black people he had planned before turning himself in to authorities. James Jackson, 30, pleaded guilty to six counts, including murder and a hate crime charge, in the killing of Timothy Caughman in March 2017 with a Roman short sword, The Associated Press reported. Jackson told detectives he'd traveled to New York "for the purpose of killing black men," a criminal complaint revealed. Police at the time said Jackson, who is a military veteran, picked New York because it's "the media capital of the world" and he "wanted to make a statement." He traveled to the city from Baltimore via bus and stayed at a Midtown hotel for a few days before wandering through Manhattan. "That's true," Jackson replied to Judge Laura Ward on Wednesday when asked if he carried a sword and two knives as he stalked potential victims, according to the AP. Jackson would ultimately target 66-year-old Caughman, a self-described bottle-and-can recycler who was sifting through trash when he was stabbed multiple times. Caughman went to a police station for help after the attack and was taken to a hospital, where he died. Jackson may face life in prison without the possibility of parole after his guilty plea, the AP reports. He is scheduled to be sentenced Feb. 13. He turned himself in after killing Caughman, telling officers in a Times Square police substation that he was wanted for murder and recognized his own photo in news reports. Police said Jackson gave statements indicating that the attack was "clearly" racially motivated. His long-standing feelings of resentment toward black men were further clarified in the criminal complaint, which says Jackson "was angered by black men mixing with white women." In a jailhouse interview published in the New York Daily News shortly after the killing, Jackson said he hoped his attack would deter white women from entering romantic relationships with black men. "It's well over 10 years that he's been harboring these feelings of hate towards male blacks," Assistant Police Chief William Aubry said. The complaint further alleged that Jackson considered Caughman's killing to be "practice" before he went to Times Square, where he planned to kill more black men. Jackson told the Daily News that he felt some regret after the attack because he didn't know Caughman was elderly. Instead, he told the newspaper, he would have preferred to kill "a young thug" or "a successful older black man" who was with blond women. He claims he had his first racist thoughts at age 3, ideals that later proliferated as he spent time on websites such as the Daily Stormer. Cyrus Vance, the district attorney for Manhattan, said in a statement after the killing that Jackson had "acted on his plan, randomly selecting a beloved New Yorker solely on the basis of his skin color, and stabbing him repeatedly and publicly on a midtown street corner." Numerous public officials spoke out against the hateful act. Democratic New York Mayor Bill de Blasio issued a statement calling the killing "more than an unspeakable human tragedy" and an assault on the city's "inclusiveness and our diversity." Jackson was in the Army for more than three years, deploying to Afghanistan between December 2010 and November 2011, an Army representative told The Post in 2017. His service record did not include badges reflecting combat interaction with any enemy during that time. Jackson served as a military intelligence analyst and left the service in August 2012, having reached the rank of specialist. Frederick Sosinsky, one of Jackson's attorneys, told the judge on Wednesday that detectives who had no involvement in the case interviewed his client weeks ago without notifying defense lawyers, the AP reports. Sosinsky said the interview was "shocking to the conscience" and a violation of state and federal laws. Vance said he would investigate the apparent unauthorized interview, the New York Post reported. However, he also called the plea - New York's first prosecution under the "murder as a crime of terrorism" statute - a landmark conviction, the AP reported. "This was more than a murder case," Vance said outside the courtroom, according to the AP. "This was a type of cruelty that needs to be treated with the most serious of our laws." Nearly five weeks into the partial government shutdown, Congress is struggling to cut a deal to reopen the federal government, with President Donald Trump refusing to sign off on any proposal that does not include $5.7 billion for his wall on the U.S.-Mexico border. The Democratic-controlled House, has passed several bills to reopen the government, but none of them contains wall funding. On Thursday, the GOP-controlled Senate is set to take its first votes on competing Republican and Democratic plans to end the shutdown, but neither bill is expected to win the 60 votes needed for passage. Here's a guide to the various proposals, alongside a much bigger deal Trump rejected in February 2018 that would have traded wall funding for a path to citizenship for 2 million undocumented immigrants who came to the United States as children - a group known as "dreamers." - - - Is there funding for a border wall? Failed February 2018 deal A bipartisan compromise proposal that ultimately failed in the Senate in February did not include guaranteed funding for a border wall but created a $25 billion trust fund for border security measures that could include new walls. Trump rejected that proposal, and while it failed on a 54-to-45 vote, a proposal reflecting Trump's priorities failed by a larger margin. Trump's proposal $5.7 billion to build a wall across hundreds of miles along the southern border, plus funding for 750 more Border Patrol agents, 375 additional Customs and Border Protection officers and 2,000 more Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents and support staff. Senate Democrats' bill The Democratic proposal set for a vote Thursday includes no additional money for border security or any other government function. Instead, it opens the government through Feb. 8, under prior funding levels, to allow for further negotiations while also providing $14 billion in unrelated disaster-relief funding. House bills Since Democrats took control Jan. 3, the House has passed 10 government-funding bills that would reopen some or all agencies, none of which includes new border wall money. - - - What happens to the "dreamers?" Failed February 2018 deal The failed February 2018 bipartisan compromise contained a path to citizenship for as many as 2 million young undocumented immigrants who came to the United States as children, including those enrolled in a program that delays their deportation, known as Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA. Trump's proposal Trump offered a three-year pause in his plan to scrap rules that shield some immigrants brought to the country as children from deportation, as well as to end "temporary protected status" (TPS) for immigrants from some Latin American and African nations. But this is not the permanent legal status or citizenship for which Democrats had hoped. Senate Democrats' bill Senate Democrats do not address DACA or TPS in their government-funding stopgap, but many Democrats are willing to engage in talks about those programs as part of a larger immigration deal - talks they are willing to have only if the government reopens. House bills None of the House bills address DACA or TPS. While the Trump administration has moved to curtail those programs, courts have held up action, and Democrats are unwilling to negotiate amid a shutdown. - - - What about other changes to immigration? Failed February 2018 deal The February 2018 Senate compromise would have curtailed the parents of young undocumented immigrants from winning a path to citizenship and eliminated some family-based visas. It also would have directed enforcement efforts at illegal immigrants with criminal records. Trump's proposal The Republican legislation to be considered Thursday includes temporary protections for DACA and TPS recipients, but it also changes U.S. asylum law to allow authorities to screen asylum seekers abroad and to more quickly deport migrants who try to circumvent that process. Senate Democrats' bill Democrats have no immigration-related provisions in their proposal. Some individual senators are open to negotiations on changes to the asylum process. But most Democrats are interested in a permanent solution for DACA and TPS recipients, one that would give them a path to citizenship. House bills None of the House-passed bills includes new immigration-related provisions. As in the Senate, Democrats are trained on securing permanent relief for immigrants covered by the programs Trump has threatened. - - - Would it reopen the government? For how long? Congressional negotiators reached an agreement in the fall on funding for major parts of the federal government, including the Defense Department, the Department of Health and Human Services and Congress. But talks on funding the rest of the government fell apart due to the border wall standoff, prompting the passage of two short-term extensions before the shutdown began Dec. 22. Trump's proposal The entire government would reopen for the remainder of fiscal 2019, which ends Sept. 30. Trump also included emergency funding for areas hit by natural disasters and an extension of the Violence Against Women Act. Senate Democrats' bill Democrats are proposing to reopen the government only through Feb. 8, to make way for further talks on a border-security compromise. They include emergency disaster funding that would be available indefinitely. House bills Most of the bills the House has passed this year would fund agencies through Sept. 30. But Democrats have also passed a temporary funding extension through Feb. 28 to allow time to debate funding for a border wall, as well as a Homeland Security stopgap effective through Feb. 8. - - - How likely is each bill to succeed in ending the shutdown? Before the shutdown, a stopgap proposal keeping the government open through Feb. 8 unanimously passed the Senate but never got a House vote after Trump pulled his support. Trump's proposal Senate bills need 60 votes to pass, and there are 53 Republicans. While Trump included ideas that were intended to win moderate Democratic votes, those senators have shown little interest in the proposal. Senate Democrats' bill While some Republicans had expressed support for a three-week reopening of the government to start a border-funding debate, Republican leaders have been urging GOP senators to oppose the Democratic proposal to force a different compromise. House bills Democrats have already passed several funding options. But because none of them includes new border wall funding, Trump has indicated he won't sign any of them and Senate Republicans thus have not taken them up. CARACAS, Venezuela - For years, the hulking reinforced-concrete U.S. Embassy here has been a target of Venezuela's socialist leaders, who have expelled numerous senior American envoys. But the tension has perhaps never been higher than now, with authorities ordering diplomats out of the country by this weekend. President Nicolas Maduro severed relations with Washington after the Trump administration on Wednesday recognized opposition leader Juan Guaido as interim president. The U.S. government has defied Maduro's order to vacate the embassy, saying it has Guaido's permission to stay. The standoff raised the possibility that Maduro could use force to expel the remaining diplomats. Already, his allies have suggested the government could cut off services to the building. "They say they don't recognize Nicolas," Diosdado Cabello, the leader of Maduro's socialist party, said on state television late Wednesday. "OK. Maybe the electricity will go out in that neighborhood, or the gas won't arrive. If there are no diplomatic relations, no problems." John Feeley, a longtime diplomat and former U.S. ambassador to Panama who is now a political consultant for Univision, said Thursday it was "almost certain that ordered departure instructions will be issued" by the State Department, mandating the removal of nonessential personnel and their dependents from the country as a security measure. That would probably leave a skeleton staff to maintain a symbolic presence. The scene outside the U.S. Embassy in Caracas, normally abuzz with visa applicants, was eerily quiet Thursday, with embassy guards firmly preventing most access. The embassy issued a bulletin calling on staffers to keep their children home from school, confine themselves to two neighborhoods in the capital and avoid public demonstrations. The embassy said it would remain open for U.S. citizens needing "emergency services" but canceled most visa appointments for Venezuelans. State Department officials in Washington declined to provide details on the size of the U.S. staff in Caracas or any plans to protect the diplomats, with one official saying, "The full range of United States government resources are at the ready to ensure the safety and security of U.S. diplomats and their families." The official spoke on the condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the situation. But the diplomatic staff is small, because of the difficulty of getting Venezuelan permission for more personnel in recent years, officials said. Among those expected to remain is the charge d'affaires, James "Jimmy" Story, a veteran Foreign Service officer originally from the small town of Moncks Corner, S.C., who has served in Brazil, Colombia and Mexico and held several jobs in anti-narcotics work at the State Department. "Jimmy Story is one of the very best Latin Americanists we have," Feeley said. He described Story as a charismatic "good old boy Southerner" with a quick sense of humor but added that he has "nerves of steel." Tom Shannon, another longtime U.S. diplomat in Latin America who retired last year, said Story was an effective diplomat "with a kind of down-home touch." "But that kind of country-boy appearance hides a toughness and determination that should not be underestimated," he said. Maduro declared Thursday that he would recall all Venezuelan diplomats from the country's embassy in Washington, as well as from its seven consulates in the United States. Even before the current standoff, life was difficult for U.S. diplomats in Caracas. Venezuela is one of the most crime-racked countries in the world, with an average of 63 violent deaths every day, according to analysts. The country is facing skyrocketing inflation and acute shortages of food and medicine as the economy implodes. On top of that, former U.S. officials said, Venezuelan authorities routinely harass diplomats in ways ranging from aggressive surveillance to sending pro-government crowds to taunt representatives of the United States when they appear in public. The U.S. government has had a tense relationship with Venezuela dating back to the presidency of Hugo Chavez, who accused Washington of backing a coup attempt against him in 2002, a charge the American government denied. Over the years, Chavez and Maduro, his handpicked successor, have kicked out numerous senior U.S. diplomats, while alleging that Washington was preparing an invasion or anti-government violence - accusations the U.S. government denied. Those forced out include then-Ambassador Patrick Duddy, who was briefly expelled in 2008, and then-Charge d'Affaires Todd Robinson, who was kicked out last year. The U.S. and Venezuelan governments have not exchanged ambassadors since 2010. As in most U.S. embassies, the mission in Caracas has U.S. Marine guards who live on the compound. The embassy is a sprawling 100,000-square-foot building in the Andean foothills, built to withstand terrorist attacks. But the diplomats do not live in the compound, relying on Venezuelan authorities for protection outside the embassy - just as other foreign diplomats in the country do. One official at the embassy, Scott Smith, posted publicly on Facebook that concern should be focused on the Venezuelan people suffering from the political and economic crises. "Until the moment they force me to leave this beautiful place, I will do whatever I can - even if it's the smallest of acts - to support these brave people and help them regain their voices," Smith said in his Facebook post. "No one deserves what has been rained down upon them and I for one am proud to say that I will stand beside them - defiantly - until the end." - - - Sheridan reported from Mexico City. The Washington Post's Anthony Faiola in Rio de Janeiro, Rachelle Krygier in Miami, and Carol Morello and John Hudson in Washington contributed to this report. Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro has received full support from Turkey as he fights to retain control of his impoverished and restive country. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan called Maduro to tell him Turkey stands by him after countries including the U.S., Canada and Brazil recognized opposition leader Juan Guaido as head of state. "Maduro, my brother! Stand tall, we are with you," Erdogan -- who himself survived a coup attempt -- told Maduro, according to Turkey's Presidential Spokesperson Ibrahim Kalin. "Turkey will keep its principled stance against all coup attempts under the leadership of our President Erdogan. #WeAreMADURO," Kalin tweeted earlier on Thursday. #TurkeyWithMaduro and #WeAreMADURO became top-trending topics in Turkey on Twitter. Another presidential aide, Cemil Ertem, slammed the U.S. on Twitter for supporting Guaido, the National Assembly president, after he unilaterally declared himself Venezuela's leader. "The U.S. and its allies' coup attempt in Venezuela will not be successful. Turkey will stand by Venezuelan people and Maduro," Ertem said. Turkey has become one of Venezuela's most important backers in the midst of its desperation, their leaders both on the lookout for new allies as other longtime partnerships wither. Erdogan visited Caracas in December just two months after Maduro traveled to Istanbul, where he touched off a backlash at home for feasting on expensive Turkish steaks at celebrity chief Salt Bae's Istanbul restaurant while so many in his country are going hungry. The repressive Maduro is presiding over one of the deepest economic and humanitarian crises modern Latin America has known. Conditions in oil-rich Venezuela, fueled by mismanagement and corruption, have turned desperate, with hunger and crime rampant, and refugees fleeing by the thousands. Mass demonstrations have spawned violent crackdowns. Maduro still retains control of the security forces, the military, the courts, the treasury coffers and the state oil giant, making Guaido's claim to power largely symbolic, at least for now. But Maduro is under unprecedented pressure from Venezuelans who have taken to the streets in the biggest opposition protests in nearly two years in support of his rival. In Caracas last month, Erdogan defended the emerging alliance with a country shunned by the U.S. over abuse and corruption, and said others wouldn't dictate who Turkey's friends and trade partners would be. Tons of Venezuelan gold -- strip-mined under grim conditions in a desperate rush for cash -- are being shipped to Turkey for refinement and processing. U.S. officials say some of the gold may be making its way to Iran in violation of sanctions on the Islamic Republic. Maduro says the U.S. shouldn't interfere in Venezuela's trade with Turkey. Erdogan met with Venezuela's Economy Vice President Tareck El Aissami at the presidential palace in Ankara last week. El Aissami visited a gold refinery in Turkey's central Corum province to improve "friendship and cooperation," according to Turkish state-run Anadolu Agency. At least five people are dead after a gunman opened fire Wednesday at a SunTrust bank in Sebring, Florida, authorities said. The ordeal began around 12:30 p.m., when a man contacted emergency dispatchers to report he had fired shots inside the bank, according to the Highlands County Sheriff's Office. When authorities arrived, they established a perimeter and attempted to negotiate with the gunman from outside the bank, the sheriff's office said. "After negotiations to try to get the barricaded subject to exit the bank were not successful, the HCSO SWAT team entered the bank and continued the negotiations," the sheriff's office said. The suspect, later identified as 21-year-old Zephen Xaver of Sebring, eventually surrendered, authorities said. Xaver - wearing glasses, a light-colored shirt and cargo shorts - was handcuffed and led into the back of a police car after sundown Wednesday, according to video published by ABC Action News. When police entered the bank, they discovered "at least five victims - people who were senselessly murdered as a result of [the gunman's] act in this bank," Sebring Police Chief Karl Hoglund said at a news conference. Hoglund did not elaborate on whether others were wounded. "Today's been a tragic day in our community," Hoglund said. "We've suffered significant loss at the hands of a senseless criminal doing a senseless crime." At the news conference Wednesday afternoon, Hoglund said police had not finished identifying the victims or notifying their families. He and other officials did not take questions or offer possible motives for the shooting. The Florida Department of Corrections confirmed late Wednesday that Xaver had been hired last November as a correctional officer trainee at the Avon Park Correctional Institution, about 15 miles northeast of Sebring. Xaver resigned from that job on Jan. 9, the department noted. "He had no discipline while employed with the department," Florida corrections department spokesman Patrick Manderfield said. "Obviously, this is an individual who needs to face very swift and exacting justice," Gov. Ron DeSantis, R, said of the gunman. Authorities said another news conference is planned for Thursday morning. The incident threw Sebring, a central Florida city about 80 miles south of Orlando, into a frenzy, closing part of U.S. Highway 29 for much of the afternoon. A nearby kindergarten and elementary school were temporarily placed on lockdown as well, WFLA News Channel 8 reported. Throughout the day, aerial footage from a news station showed several police cars surrounding the bank, where the entrance was mangled and shattered. Earlier Wednesday, authorities had directed co-workers and relatives of anyone who was at the bank to go to a nearby hotel. "ONLY co-workers and family members please," the sheriff's office said. Representatives for SunTrust Bank did not answer questions and said they were "deeply saddened" by the shooting at the Sebring branch. "We are working with officials and dedicating ourselves to fully addressing the needs of all the individuals and families involved," SunTrust CEO Bill Rogers said in a statement. "Our entire team mourns this terrible loss." The bloodshed in Sebring was the latest mass shooting in Florida, where shooting rampages have cut down students, travelers and clubgoers in recent years. The Sebring shooting occurred just weeks before the first anniversary of the Parkland massacre, which saw 17 students and staff killed in a high school on Valentine's Day in 2018. In January 2017, a traveler flew to the Fort Lauderdale airport and then shot and killed five people in the baggage claim area. In June of that same year, police said a disgruntled ex-employee returned to an Orlando factory after being fired and gunned down five former colleagues. A year earlier, a gunman who pledged allegiance to the Islamic State killed 49 people in Orlando's Pulse nightclub. - - - The Washington Post's Mark Berman contributed to this report. Gov. Andrew Cuomo wants school buses in the state to have cameras that record drivers who illegally pass stopped buses. Cuomo also wants students to be required to wear seatbelts while on the buses. KINDE The North Huron Agriscience Program has always worked hard to help provide unique experiences to their students, striving to give students once in a lifetime opportunities. This spring, 10 students will have that opportunity. These students will participate in a study abroad to Costa Rica. The study abroad is titled Sustainable Agriculture in Costa Rica and participating students will learn about Costa Ricas culture, agricultural and environmental sustainability, as well as explore the tropical country. Students are excited to see banana and pineapple plantations, and to learn how chocolate is made and explore the rainforest and volcanoes. The trip is planned for May 5-12. MEXICO CITY - Mexico said Wednesday that more than 10,000 people have requested visas to cross its southern border as it seeks to grant legal documents to members of a rapidly growing U.S.-bound migrant caravan from Central America. If the migrants travel together, the convoy could exceed the size of the last such caravan, which became a flash point in U.S.-Mexican relations as President Donald Trump seized on it to argue for building a giant border wall. But the new movement is far less organized than the last caravan. Those migrants traveled together in part to avoid arrest. The current group of migrants, in contrast, will have legal papers and may disperse. Still, analysts said the new Mexican policy of welcoming migrants with visas marked a stark change from the past - and could lead to an increase in migration and tensions with the Trump administration. "If word gets out that people are able to get in legally, to work, that creates a huge incentive for people who hadn't thought of migrating," said Andrew Selee, president of the Migration Policy Institute, a nonpartisan research group. The latest caravan set out from Honduras on Jan. 15 and initially totaled about 2,000 people. But other migrants continued to join the human flow as it began to reach the Mexican border, and its members were welcomed with the chance to apply for humanitarian visas. The visas are part of a new policy by center-left President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, who has decried the sometimes-brutal treatment of Central American migrants by Mexican security forces in the past. In recent years, under American pressure, Mexico has also escalated its efforts to detain such migrants traveling without documents. Lopez Obrador has called for reducing migration by investing in job creation in Central America. But his government has also indicated its willingness to work with the Trump administration, which is seeking to have Mexico host migrants applying for U.S. asylum during the entire process, which can take months or years. Trump portrayed the last caravan as a national-security threat - even though most of the migrants appeared to be fleeing poverty and violence - and ordered the U.S. military to the border in response. Now, the president is locked in a bitter fight with congressional Democrats over a border wall, with his demand for funding leading to a government shutdown. "Mexico is doing NOTHING to stop the Caravan which is now fully formed and heading to the United States," Trump tweeted Saturday. On Wednesday, he threatened to cut off aid to El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras, saying the countries were "doing nothing for us." Since Mexican authorities started accepting applications for the new visas Thursday, more than 10,000 migrants have applied - including 8,446 adults and 1,897 children or adolescents, according to figures issued Wednesday morning. The majority are from Honduras, which suffers high levels of violence, poverty and political instability. So far, Mexican authorities have granted just 628 visas, causing the number of those stalled on the border to swell. The soaring number of migrants requesting visas has raised questions about whether such mass movements may become a regular phenomenon. The U.S.-Mexico border city of Tijuana has struggled to accommodate about 5,000 people who arrived in November in the last caravan. About 1,800 are still there, according to Cesar Palencia, the head of migrant affairs for the city - many facing long waits for asylum interviews with U.S. officials. "At the moment, we are beyond capacity, and there is still no shelter space," Palencia said in an interview. If a new caravan arrived, he said, it "would overwhelm us." Some analysts cautioned that the huge number of Central Americans seeking visas did not necessarily represent a jump in migration - yet. Stephanie Leutert, head of the Mexico Security Initiative at the University of Texas at Austin, noted that Mexican authorities apprehended more than 18,000 Central Americans trying to cross the country's southern border illegally in October, and about 12,000 in November. Some in the group seeking humanitarian visas, she said, may have been planning to cross illegally - and took advantage of a legal option when it emerged. But if the policy continues, she said, it could change some of the dynamics of migration. "It's a 180-degree flip" for Mexico, she said. Among those waiting Wednesday to receive visas was Samy Vazquez, 38, of San Pedro Sula, Honduras, who said he had gotten death threats for his work as a human-rights activist back home and wanted to seek asylum in the United States. Now that he was getting a visa, he said, he had decided to send for family members in Honduras so they could sign up, too. "I'm not sure if it's best to travel with the big group or if we should take a bus to the border," he said by telephone. Mexico has tried to help past caravan members by offering them jobs and temporary work permits. But most of the migrants want to head to the United States, Mexican officials acknowledge. Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan (R) compared President Donald Trump and congressional leaders to "a bunch of 2-year-olds" on Thursday and said they should stop playing "stupid political games" amid the longest-ever partial closure of the federal government. "It's crazy. 'If I don't get my wall, I'm going to shut down the government.' 'If we don't open the government, you can't speak in our chamber,' " Hogan said, mocking the postures the president and House Speaker Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., have taken. "It's a bunch of 2-year-olds, you know? Let's figure out border security, and let's get people to work, and let's let the State of the Union take place like it always does." A moderate Republican just elected to a second term in Maryland, Hogan has taken to the national stage in recent weeks to call for an end to the bitter polarization of Washington politics. He has also been vocal in demanding an end to the shutdown, citing its strong negative impact in his state. On Thursday, Hogan greeted Transportation Security Administration agents, Homeland Security workers and air traffic controllers at Baltimore Washington International-Thurgood Marshall airport and unveiled new efforts to help the more than 150,000 federal employees from Maryland who have now gone four weeks without a paycheck. Hogan said those workers can now get free fares on state mass transit, discounts on gas and late-fee waivers from utility providers. As he walked from checkpoint to checkpoint, Hogan told bag screeners and security officers the state would "back you up in whatever way we can." "This shutdown is impacting the security of our nation," the governor said. "It is impacting the economy of Maryland, and most importantly, it's impacting the lives of tens of thousands of our Maryland citizens." The state is also organizing a food drive with nonprofit partners, Maryland Food Bank and the Capital Area Food Bank, to help federal workers feed their families. Hogan called on all state employees and the private sector to donate to the food drive and support the workers. Public utility companies and the petroleum industry also vowed to waive certain fees and give gas card discounts to federal workers. The governor said the state is working with banks, lenders and insurance companies to give workers relief from payments or deferral until the shutdown ends and paychecks are issued. Asked what he was doing to continue communicating his concerns to political leaders in Washington, Hogan said he would be attending the annual Alfalfa Club dinner for political insiders in Washington Saturday night and expected to sit at a table with the president. An Iranian television journalist with dual U.S.-Iranian citizenship completed her testimony Wednesday before a federal grand jury in Washington and has been released from U.S. government custody, three people familiar with the case said. No further details were immediately available regarding the whereabouts of Marzieh Hashemi, 59, a veteran producer and on-air presenter for Iran's English-language Press TV, whose arrest Jan. 13 by the FBI on a "material witness" warrant drew protests from Iran's Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Hashemi's family said she was arrested when she arrived at Lambert International Airport in St. Louis, where she had been working on a documentary about Black Lives Matter, before boarding a flight to Denver to visit her adult children in Colorado. The U.S. government confirmed Friday in an unsealed court order that it was holding Hashemi, who also was referred to by her birth name of Melanie Franklin, pending her testimony, and that she has not been accused of any crime. Material witness warrants are rare and can be used to arrest witnesses if they have information important to a criminal investigation and are deemed likely to flee. Hashemi's case is the first such filed in federal court in Washington this year. Grand jury proceedings are closed and the nature of the investigation in which Hashemi's testimony has not been made public. Hashemi was seen entering the federal courthouse in Washington, District of Columbia, Wednesday morning with one of her sons, where her testimony was expected. The people familiar with her case said she was released after her testimony concluded Wednesday afternoon, as a small crowd of demonstrators rallied in her behalf outside the courthouse for the U.S. District Court for the District. Press TV, a Tehran-based network overseen by the Iranian government, and Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting objected to Hashemi's detention, and Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif last week called her arrest a "violation of freedom of speech." Her son Hossein Hashemi, a research fellow at the University of Colorado, told The Washington Post on Friday that he, his mother and two of his siblings had been subpoenaed to appear at court in Washington but said he did not know the subject matter. It was not clear by early Wednesday evening whether Hashemi's children had completed their testimony. Efforts to contact an attorney for one of them was unsuccessful. Preston Burton, an American attorney representing Hashemi, said the matter was under seal. One of the people familiar with the case said she and her children were together at a hotel. Emails to Iran's permanent mission at the United Nations and de fact consular interests section at the Pakistan Embassy in Washington requesting comment were not returned. A U.S. Justice Department spokesman referred questions to the unsealed order by U.S. District Chief Judge Beryl Howell, which stated the U.S. government expected to release Hashemi "immediately following the completion of her testimony before a grand jury investigating violations of U.S. criminal law." Sebring, Fla. A gunman opened fire inside a Florida bank Wednesday, killing five people before surrendering to a SWAT team, police said. The shooter called police to report that he had fired shots inside the bank in Sebring, about 80 miles southeast of Tampa. Negotiations failed to persuade the man to leave the building. The SWAT team then entered the bank, and the gunman eventually gave up, police said. "Today's been a tragic day in our community," Sebring Police Chief Karl Hoglund told a news conference. "We've suffered significant loss at the hands of a senseless criminal doing a senseless crime." Authorities identified the suspect as 21-year-old Zephen Xaver, who was arrested at the SunTrust branch, Hoglund said. Xaver briefly was an online student of Salt Lake City-based Stevens-Henager College. A spokeswoman for the college, Sherrie Martin, confirmed that Xaver was enrolled from September until December, when he withdrew. She said his residence was listed as Sebring. Florida Department of Corrections records show the man was hired as a trainee prison guard in November and resigned two weeks ago. Investigators did not offer any potential motive, and a police spokesman said he did not know if the attack began as a robbery. The dead were not immediately identified. Gov. Ron DeSantis was in the region for an infrastructure tour and traveled to Sebring after the shooting. He said the Florida Department of Law Enforcement would assist Sebring police and the Highlands County sheriff's office. "Obviously, this is an individual who needs to face very swift and exacting justice," DeSantis said of the suspect. An FBI mobile command unit arrived at the bank Wednesday evening to join the investigation. Meanwhile, police had wrapped up work at Xaver's pre-fabricated home about 4 miles from the bank. John Larose, who lives next door to Xaver's home, said Xaver and his mother had moved in several months ago. Xaver kept to himself, but Larose said he could hear Xaver playing and yelling at video games in the middle of the night. Sebring is a small, rural city northwest of Lake Okeechobee. While that argument wasnt a good one, Guzman is not an attorney and did try to raise some of the issues outlined in his appeal, said Guzmans attorney, Kevin Bry. The burden of proof falls on the objector and the objector did not meet that burden, Bry said. Whether in protest or out of necessity, a growing number of federal workers whose jobs have been deemed essential are calling in sick or claiming hardship exemptions -- testing the limits of strict laws against organized job actions. Absenteeism among correctional officers and other workers at a federal prison in West Virginia is running so high that the warden is threatening to declare some AWOL. So many airport security screeners have been skipping work -- one out of 10 on Sunday -- that airports have shut down some lines. Hundreds of Internal Revenue Service employees called back to process tax returns have asked to be excused due to hardship. "My job and my family's lives are being held hostage by this shutdown," said Ashley Bland, a tax examining technician based in Austin, Texas, who said she is considering putting in for a hardship exemption permitted in the National Treasury Employees Union contract. "I suspect if this goes on another couple weeks, the number of hardships will skyrocket." The partial shutdown of the government, sparked by an impasse over security measures along the Mexican border, has lasted more than four weeks. Some government-employee union chiefs and furloughed workers were arrested on Wednesday when they occupied the office of Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., who has agreed to hold votes Thursday to consider competing measures to end the shutdown. Union leaders stress they aren't encouraging their members to stay home, which may be illegal, but labor experts say calling in sick is one of the only ways federal employees prohibited by law from going on strike can defy demands that they work without pay. Jonathan Turley, a law professor at George Washington University Law School said many federal workers nearing their second missed paycheck are facing legitimate hardship as the costs of getting to work, child care and other expenses mount. "It's also clear that some of these absences are due to frustration with the president's position," he said. "Calling in sick is one of the few options they have." The seminal example of the limited rights of federal government workers to strike occurred in the summer of 1981 when President Ronald Reagan fired more than 11,000 air-traffic controllers who had walked off the job. While legal challenges went on for years, the union was dissolved, the vast majority of fired controllers never returned to their jobs and the action was seen as a warning shot for other government employees. "Even though these situations are pretty different, that precedent really continues to haunt labor," said Joe McCartin, a labor historian and professor at Georgetown University. Not reporting to work is something of an unnatural act for many federal workers, who are "by and large a pretty dedicated bunch and they're used to following rules," McCartin said. "They're not natural born rebels, however, they are being driven into a situation, many of them, where they're willing to consider doing things they wouldn't have considered doing two weeks ago, including more of them being willing to call in sick or engage in other kinds of protest," he said. The IRS has said it needs 46,000 of its roughly 80,000 employees to work without pay during the shutdown. This has led "hundreds" of IRS employees to seek financial hardship exemptions to allow them to remain at home, according to the NTEU, which represents IRS workers. The IRS declined to comment how many workers have requested the exemption or have called out sick. The NTEU doesn't support employees requesting financial hardship exemptions just as a form of protest and workers should only request it if they cannot afford to report for work, the union said. "I believe that IRS management understands the stress that employees are under and is doing its best to accommodate the very real hardships employees are experiencing," NTEU president Tony Reardon said in a statement. "Even as IRS employees continue to struggle with a lack of pay, they are dedicated to their jobs and returning to work, as directed, if at all possible." For some employees, that may not be possible for much longer. After being diagnosed with lupus and fibromyalgia in November 2010, Bland, the IRS technician from Austin, spends $500 to $600 monthly on medication that is critical to her health. The shutdown has subjected her family to harsh financial strains -- she's been unable to add her husband to her health insurance plan following their December wedding. "If this shutdown lasts a couple months, I really don't know how am I going to pay for my meds," Bland added. She said that February marks her 10th anniversary at the IRS. Steve Lenkart, executive director of the 110,000-member National Federation of Federal Employees, expects to see more stories like Bland's as the standoff continues. "A lot of federal employees can't go out and get second jobs because they're prohibited by federal regulations -- unless you clear a second job with your ethics department and your supervisor approves, you can't get another job, and those ethics people and those supervisors are also on furlough," Lenkart said. That means people who need an income will either defy those ethics restrictions or quit their jobs, he added. Absenteeism among federal workers at the U.S. Penitentiary, Hazelton in West Virginia, is running three to four times the normal rate and rising, said Rick Heldreth, president of the AFGE local that represents workers at the prison. "The further this goes and the less gas money, and child care money and food money people have, it's going to fuel the absenteeism even more," he said. Four violent episodes involving officers occurred within one recent week, compared to one or two in a typical month, he said. Violence was a concern at the prison even before the government shutdown: It's the facility where Boston mob boss James "Whitey" Bulger was beaten to death last fall. In October, Washington's congressional representative, Eleanor Holmes Norton, asked the Justice Department's inspector general to investigate "appalling conditions" and "brutal treatment" experienced by inmates at Hazelton, where she said employees seemed to be spread thin and insufficiently trained. Fellow AFGE leaders representing prison workers elsewhere have said they, too, were seeing an increase in violence and absenteeism since the shutdown took effect, he said. Heldreth said his members calling out from work have legitimate financial hardships, such as long commutes and child care costs that they can't afford without a paycheck. Yet he's concerned that as the shutdown continues, they could be come the target of misconduct investigations. The prison's warden sent an email to staff on Wednesday saying they would be charged their accrued time off for absences during the shutdown and would be placed on absent-without-leave status if they didn't have time to cover their absences, and that would trigger misconduct proceedings, Heldreth said. "It was kind of a veiled threat," he said. After-hours calls to the prison systems' public information office were not immediately returned. The Office of Personnel Management issued a memo on Wednesday that said "excepted" workers on the job without pay who seek to be excused can be treated as furloughed employees, meaning they won't need to use their limited allotment of leave. Officials at the Transportation Security Administration have been open about the cause of high absenteeism among its 51,000 airport security officers required to work without pay. "Many employees are reporting that they are not able to report to work due to financial limitations," the agency said in a press release Wednesday. In the past two weeks, an average of between 6 and 10 percent of screeners have been absent, which is as much as three times the historic rate. The agency won't attempt to discipline those who fail to show for their jobs and won't press employees for details, agency spokesman Michael Bilello said. "You can't treat it as a disciplinary action," Bilello said. "It's someone's personal reason for not coming into work." The TSA screener workforce is among the lowest of paid federal employee groups. They make an average of $41,000, according to the U.S. Department of Labor. Hydrick Thomas, president of the American Federation of Government Employees Council 100 that represents the TSA officers, said he is encouraging members to stay on the job and is pleased that so many have persevered. "We got sworn in to the oath to protect the flying public," Thomas said Wednesday while handing out care packages containing food to employees at New York's LaGuardia Airport. "I'm applauding all the workers who have been coming to work." --With assistance from Bloomberg's Laura Davison. EDWARDSVILLE The Greater St. Louis Area Council for the Boys Scouts of America will host its annual University of Scouting event at Southern Illinois University Edwardsvilles Vadalabene Center (VC) on Saturday, Jan. 26. More than 500 scouts and 300 adults are expected to attend and receive training for all levels of scouting. The University of Scouting is designed to provide knowledge about many areas of the Boy Scouts of America and its programs. University of Scouting is a day-long event that offers the widest variety of training opportunities, in all program areas, all in one place, said Chad Deschane, chancellor of the event. Offering more than 130 classes, attendees will find just about anything to do with scouting. This years theme is Every Scout Deserves a Trained Leader, and focuses on the participants, whether they are a scout, an adult leader, serve on a council committee or are parents. A welcome ceremony begins the agenda at 8:15 a.m. A vendor fair in the VC south mezzanine will be available. Among the wide variety of courses offered are leadership training, special needs scouting, STEM (science, technology, engineering, mathematics) topics, teaching and training, scouting skills and merit badges. The class schedule is available at scoutingevent.com. According to Deschane, SIUE fit their organizational needs. We chose the campus due to three factors the size and space needs are large, the location is central to our geographic area and our council has had many successful STEM events at the University, he said. The council will also use classrooms in Peck Hall, Science East and Alumni Hall in addition to the VC. For more information about the Boy Scouts of America, visit scouting.org. To contact the Greater St. Louis Area Council, call 314-361-0600 or visit stlbsa.org. Taurus Nelson previously told the Houston Chronicle that he resented the fact that he was never able to see his newborn grandchild open her eyes before her father allegedly stabbed her to death. Now, he says his daughter the only one to survive the early January attack that also left two of her other children dead is only communicating by opening one of her eyes as she lays in an area hospital. Kimaria Nelson, 23, was severely injured when her boyfriend Junaid Hashim Mehmood, 27, allegedly stabbed to death newborn Ashanti Mehmood, Prince Larry Brown, almost 2, and Angela Pilot, 5, on Jan. 3 in a Texas City apartment. Ashanti Mehmood is Junaid Mehmood's biological daughter. He turned himself into authorities and is facing a capital murder charge in the children's death. Taurus Nelson said his family isn't exactly sure if Kimaria Nelson, 23, knows why she's in the hospital or even if she knows her own children are dead. Taurus Nelson said he and his family are refraining from communicating to her about them. There is good news for Kimaria: she's been taken off a ventilator and is breathing on her own, her father said. In an interview with the Houston Chronicle the day after the attack, Taurus Nelson said the youngest of the children Ashanti Mehmood was born on Nov. 23. "(I) never got a chance to see her with her eyes open," Nelson said outside his Texas City home on Jan. 4. Taurus said the family will have a memorial service for the children next week. Mehmood is facing life in prison or the death penalty if convicted of capital murder. Jay R. Jordan covers breaking news in the Houston area. Read him on our breaking news site, Chron.com, and our subscriber site, HoustonChronicle.com | Follow him on Twitter at @JayRJordan | Email him at jay.jordan@chron.com | Text CHRON to 77453 to receive breaking news alerts by text message Colonie As politicians in Washington dithered and grandstanded, Gary Kleppel decided to take action. A few days ago, concerned about the plight of Transportation Security Administration employees working without pay during the federal government shutdown, Kleppel began calling around to farmers he knows to ask if they could donate food. On Wednesday afternoon, the 33rd day of the shutdown, Kleppel and his wife Pam made a delivery. The couple from Knox, in rural Albany County, pulled two carts loaded with food into Albany International Airport. The haul included 65 loaves of bread baked at the Kleppel's home, 200 pounds of potatoes, 13 dozen eggs and assorted other items including high-quality steaks from locally raised cattle. "I see people who stand between me and very bad actors every time I get on a plane, and it drives me crazy that they're struggling to pay their bills," Kleppel told me, explaining why he'd taken action. "I can't solve all the world's problems, but I can contribute to the solution for some." Kleppel, 67, paused. "It's being a human being," he said. More Information Contact columnist Chris Churchill at 518-454-5442 or email cchurchill@timesunion.com Contact Chris Churchill at 518-454-5700 or email cchurchill @times union.com See More Collapse Being human, in the grander, graceful and humane sense of the word, is a diminishing quality. Or so it seems if you turn to Twitter or cable news, where the world in recent days has devoted inexhaustible energy to litigating what teenage boys from Kentucky may have done at the Lincoln Memorial. Just the latest partisan fight, with many more sure to come, it was an ugly rush to judgment. It was outrage motivated by prejudiced presumptions that proved inaccurate. Certainly, with prominent people calling for violence against a teenage boy, nothing about the fracas was humane. Nor is the ongoing stalemate between President Trump and Congress over the president's mercurial, fear-mongering demand for billions of dollars to complete a towering and unnecessary wall on the southern border. It's a standoff with little regard for what will actually benefit the country or for the cost borne by the 800,000 federal workers who are not receiving their paychecks. "We're just really frustrated," said Anne Donnelly, 54, an Internal Revenue Service agent who lives in Troy and heads Chapter 61 of the National Treasury Employees Union. "Our bills aren't shut down. Only our paychecks are shut down." IRS workers do a difficult and thankless job, and you can believe Donnelly knows they aren't beloved. But their unpopularity doesn't mean IRS workers don't have families to feed, don't live paycheck-to-paycheck like most other Americans, don't have to pay for gas, day care, tuition or heat. Some of the 100 workers Donnelly represents, from Plattsburgh to Poughkeepsie and places in between, are furloughed. Others are working full time, without pay. A few are working just a few hours a week, also without pay. Like the other federal workers, they are pawns in a high-stakes game. "I don't know how many people out there could survive a month without pay," Donnelly said. "We're not any different than anyone else." Donnelly, noting the varied political beliefs of IRS workers, carefully avoided taking a stand on the shutdown. It doesn't matter which side wins, she said. Just get us back to work. Back at the airport, TSA employees are working, but without pay, of course. And so Kleppel's donation gathered from his own farm; the Barcomb Farm, also in Knox; and Schoharie Valley Farms in Schoharie was a welcome sight. It was hardly the first generosity to come the workers' way; somebody ordered pizza for them on Wednesday, and there have been other acts of kindness. Kleppel's donation, though, was the first of food intended for the workers to take home. As Kleppel's carts rolled across the terminal, the smell of freshly baked bread lingered behind. "This keeps their spirits up," Tim Fischer, a TSA explosion specialist at the airport, said of the donations. "After a month of no paycheck, it does start to wear you down." Kleppel isn't done. He expects to keep gathering food from farmers to bring to TSA workers, so long as the senseless shutdown continues. But his example can endure past its end. It is one of grace and beauty, kindness and compassion. It's about overcoming divisions in a time of walls and mass shootings and ceaseless anger. It's about sacrifice and tangible good in an age of keyboard warriors and virtual viciousness. It's a lesson about what it should mean to be human. cchurchill@timesunion.com 518-454-5442 @chris_churchill "Father Gary is a priest who loves his parishioners and would do anything for them. Those who did not believe in his innocence do not know him he has bought medicine for the sick, paid the rent of struggling families, he visits the sick. I never doubted him," she said. Winter is here, which means that Cattle Baron's Ball is coming. Sure, the annual all-night honky tonk out at George Ranch Historical Park is still four months away - that's April 27, for your Google calendar-ing pleasure - though for members of the American Cancer Society's Gentlemen's Committee, four months is just too long to wait. So they've made the annual celebration (not kick-off) part of the festivities, too. For the second year in a row, more than 140 supporters moseyed into Daisy Duke's on Washington, a country western bar in Rice Military that looks exactly how it sounds. And despite Wednesday night's frigid temperatures, attendees arrived sans outerwear to test-drive their boot-scooting outfits - wouldn't you? ON HOUSTONCHRONICLE.COM: Laurie Anderson and Timothy Morton headline A Night of Philosophy and Ideas A surplus of fringe, turquoise and suede filled the saloon-like watering hole. Live music by The Texas K.G.B. completed the unquestionably Lone Star State vibe. But those looking for barbecue - and honestly, who can blame them - were hard-pressed, though not disappointed. Organizers tapped Tony's Mexican Restaurant for a sophomore catering bid. They're a big draw. Droves of party-goers queued up two and three times for encore helpings of fajitas, cheese enchiladas and authentic yellow queso. Come April, Cajun fare will be on the menu. The ball's quartet of co-chairs Elaine Balagia Croucher, Ashley Plaeger, Darci Vazquez and Kelsey Wright confirmed that the event's famed buffets will salute Mardi Gras cuisine. The "City Lights & Bayou Nights" soiree honoring Elizabeth and Alan Stein, Laura Elizabeth Stein and Jacob Stein, the George Ranch Historical Park, the George Foundation, Fort Bend Historical Association and Rocky Parr also plans to shake up its program up by featuring not one, but two head-lining acts: Deana Carter and Diamond Rio. There's still time and ticketed opportunities to dance the night away "Strawberry Wine"-style. Funds raised benefit the American Cancer Society; the Gentlemen's Committee's preliminary efforts have already secured $32,000 designated specifically for prostate cancer research. This illustration shows the family of launch vehicles that Stratolaunch had in development. Stratolaunch, the private spaceflight company building the world's largest (and, perhaps, most bizarre-looking) airplane, is scaling back its operations. While Stratolaunch will continue to work on its massive, double-bodied carrier plane, which is taller than a four-story building from ground to tail tip, it will abandon plans for a new family of rockets. Those were designed to be launched from the plane in midair. "Stratolaunch is ending the development of their family of launch vehicles and [a] rocket engine," a Stratolaunch spokesperson said in a statement to Live Science. "We are streamlining operations, focusing on the aircraft and our ability to support a demonstration launch of the Northrop Grumman Pegasus XL air-launch vehicle. We are immensely proud of what we have accomplished and look forward to first flight in 2019." [Supersonic! The 11 Fastest Military Airplanes] Stratolaunch Systems Corp. was founded by billionaire Paul Allen, the Microsoft co-founder who died last October at age 65. Allen's vision was to create a huge carrier plane that could take off on a runway and then launch rockets into low-Earth orbit from cruising altitude. The concept is meant to enable satellites to be deployed in multiple orbits during a single mission. Stratolaunch has planned to use Pegasus XL air-launch rockets, built by Orbital ATK, to carry satellites to orbit during its first missions. With a wingspan of 385 feet (117 meters), the Stratolaunch aircraft can carry up to three of the Pegasus rockets on a single flight, with the rockets attached underneath the plane's conjoined center wing. But in August 2018, Stratolaunch announced that it was also developing its own family of launchers, including a "Medium Launch Vehicle," which would have carried a 7,500-lb. (3,400 kilograms) payload. Those launchers were set to be ready for flight as early as 2022. GeekWire, which first reported the news about Stratolaunch late last week, also reported that more than 50 Stratolaunch employees were being laid off amid the new strategy. The Stratolaunch spokesperson did not comment on this matter. The company has not yet set a date for its first flight, but Stratolaunch has been steadily performing tests at California's Mojave Air and Space Port. The vehicle reached 136 mph (219 km/h) during its latest test-drive on the runway on Jan. 9. Original article on Live Science. Chimpanzees are clever creatures that are known for learning skills to make their lives easier, like using twigs to pull tasty termites out of their dirt mounds for an easy snack. But in a surprising scene that unfolds in a clip from BBC America's new series, "Dynasties," male chimps, in particular, don't have it so easy. Male chimpanzees must fight and outwit other males if they want to make it to the top and have a chance at mating. In the clip, the alpha-male chimp David is unable to let his guard down even for a moment as rival males taunt him while staying just out of reach. The second episode of "Dynasties" airs this Saturday (Jan. 26) at 9 p.m. EST/8 p.m. CST on BBC America, and highlights the story of David, the long-reigning alpha male of the Fongoli chimpanzees in Senegal, West Africa. At the time the BBC filmed the episode, David had been in the alpha male position for more than three years, and he was no stranger to the never-ending fight to stay in charge. An article published in the International Journal of Primatology in 2017 provides a glimpse of what David is up against. The article described the dramatic story of how David's predecessor, Foudouko, lost his position as alpha male and met a violent end at the hands of his former group members. [In Photos: The Fongoli Savanna Chimpanzees] A leader in exile Foudouko ruled the Fongoli group for at least two years. Like many alpha-male chimps, Foudouko had a strong male ally, Mamadou, who acted as Foudouko's second-in-command. When Mamadou became seriously injured, he disappeared from the group and Foudouko was left alone to defend his alpha position. A group of rebellious young males took advantage of Mamadou's absence and attacked Foudouko. Outnumbered, Foudouko was forced to abandon his position and leave the group. Foudouko remained in exile for more than five years. Jill Pruetz, an anthropologist and the director of the Fongoli Savanna Chimpanzee Project (FSCP), has been studying the Fongoli chimps for nearly 20 years and has witnessed many unique behaviors. But she wasn't prepared for what happened to Foudouko. "It really struck us that Foudouko lived on the outskirts for so long," Pruetz said in a statement from Iowa State University. "Chimps are very social, so this type of isolation would be a huge stress, and it seemed Foudouko wanted to get back into the social group." During Foudouko's years in isolation, he followed the group at a distance, rarely interacting with any of the group members. His loyal ally, Mamadou, had stayed with Foudouko for several months at the beginning of Foudouko's exile. But Mamadou later rejoined the main group and regained his status as second-in-command to the newest alpha, Mamadou's brother, David. After a few years had passed, Foudouko made desperate attempts to rejoin the group. He was never successful, as young males continued to aggressively chase Foudouko away. David and Mamadou never participated in the chase and were even spotted alone with Foudouko a couple of times during his exile. David is the alpha male in the Fongoli savanna group of chimpanzees, and is the main character in the second episode of BBC America's new series, 'Dynasties.' (Image credit: BBC America) On the morning of June 15, 2013, a research assistant with the FSCP discovered Foudouko's freshly slain body. It appeared that Foudouko had been lethally attacked by other chimpanzees, probably during one of Foudouko's attempts to rejoin the group. The researchers were shocked. For hours after Foudouko's death, the aggressive chimps continued to beat and cannibalize Foudouko's body, tearing out his throat and ripping chunks from the corpse. One older female in particular, the mother of David and Mamadou, attacked the body the most frequently and consumed more of it than any other chimpanzee, which baffled the researchers. "It was incredibly hard to watch," Pruetz told National Geographic. "I was really disturbed for about three days [afterward], as if you had a falling-out with a friend." Mamadou seemed to try to rouse Foudouko but wasn't aggressive toward the body like the other chimps. David got close enough to smell the body, but otherwise left it alone, according to the researchers. Maintaining leadership The circumstances surrounding Foudouko's death were extraordinary because chimpanzee murders typically occur only between rival groups and not within the group. The researchers suspected the aggressive chimps may have seen Foudouko as a significant threat to their mating opportunities males far outnumber females in the Fongoli group. Two other males served as alpha males before David, but neither held their spot for as long. The second episode of BBC America's "Dynasties" tells David's story as the determined leader of this dynamic group of chimps. Find out if David can hold on to his position as leader and maintain order among the restless young males that want to overthrow him, as they did his predecessors. Originally published on Live Science. A woman's eye exam revealed 16 cuts on her eyeball arranged in a radial pattern, due to a now-outdated eye surgery. (The fiery-red appearance of the woman's pupil is simply due to the red-eye effect in the photograph.) The faint cuts in the woman's eyeball look like spokes on a bicycle wheel, or a poorly-sliced pizza numerous thin lines arranged to form a radial pattern. But these cuts aren't due to some kind of new eyeball tattooing. They are the result of a once popular, but now outdated, eye surgery the patient had years ago to correct her nearsighted vision, according to a new report of the case. Doctors spotted the odd-looking incisions during a relatively recent eye exam. The 41-year-old woman had told the eye doctors that her vision had gotten progressively worse over the past two decades, according to the report, published yesterday (Jan. 23) in The New England Journal of Medicine. The exam revealed 16 incisions in a radial pattern on her cornea the clear, dome-shaped surface that covers the front of the eyeball. These incisions are hallmarks of a type of eye surgery known as a radial keratotomy. Indeed, the patient confirmed she'd had this surgery 23 years earlier, according to the report, led by Dr. Muralidhar Ramappa of LV Prasad Eye Institute in Hyderabad, India. ['Eye' Can't Look: 9 Eyeball Injuries That Will Make You Squirm] Radial keratotomy was a popular procedure in the 1980s and 1990s for treating nearsightedness (myopia), before the development of laser eye surgery. For the procedure, doctors used a blade to make radial incisions in the cornea, said Dr. Michael Nejat, an ophthalmologist at Staten Island University Hospital in New York who was not involved in the case. "You'd make these radial slices, like you would in cutting a pizza," Nejat told Live Science. The incisions result in a flattening of the cornea, Nejat said, and for a person with nearsightedness, this helps them see better without glasses. In the current image, the fiery-red appearance of the woman's pupil is simply due to the red-eye effect, which occurs when light bounces off the back of the eye. The photo was likely taken this way to more clearly show the radial incisions on the cornea, Nejat said. But radial keratotomy was tied to a number of complications. "That's why we don't do it anymore," Nejat said. Overlapping incisions or ones that get too close to the center of the eye may result in reduced sharpness of vision, and scars on the cornea could lead to patients seeing glare and halos around objects, the report said. In addition, although patients may initially see improvements after the surgery, over time, the cornea may keep flattening, which results in overcorrected vision, Nejat said. Indeed, in the current case, the patient's vision had shifted to become more farsighted. The patient received a new prescription for corrective lenses, and 6 months later, her vision had not deteriorated further, the report said. Originally published on Live Science. With off and on snow predicted over the next week as well, Cooper said that the elderly and those with health issues should not attempt to exert themselves by shoveling and snowblowing, especially if they are not used to exercise. The so-called prehistoric platypus certainly didn't look intelligent. Its little head was strangely out of proportion with its large body and its tiny eyes probably couldn't see much. But despite this, it still found a way to hunt unsuspecting prey. Just like the modern platypus, this 250-million-year-old, Triassic-age marine reptile likely used its cartilaginous bill to discover and seize its next meal, a new study finds. "This animal had unusually small eyes for the body, only rivaled by some living animals that rely on senses other than vision and feed in the dusk or darkness for example some shrews, badgers and the duck-billed platypus," said study lead researcher Ryosuke Motani, a paleobiologist at the University of California, Davis. "So, it most likely used tactile senses [with its] platypus-like bill to detect prey in the dusk or darkness." [12 Extremely Weird Animal Feet] He added that "at this point, the species represents the oldest record of such small-eyed vertebrates with four limbs." An artist's interpretation of the prehistoric "platypus" named Eretmorhipis carrolldongi. It had small eyes and a bill, indicating that it hunted by touch, much like today's platypus. (Image credit: Gianluca Danini) Previously, scientists had only partial, headless fossils of the creature, known scientifically as Eretmorhipis carrolldongi. But about a decade ago, study co-researcher Cheng Long, of the Wuhan Center of China Geological Survey, and his team were invited by the government of Yuan'an County, Hubei province, to excavate the lower Triassic Jialingjiang Formation. It was there that they unearthed a spectacular E. carrolldongi specimen, including its tiny head, Long said. The local government was so impressed, it "built a geological museum for [its] display," Long told Live Science. And "recently, the area became a national geological park." The 2.3-foot-long (70 centimeters) E. carrolldongi had a lengthy, rigid body, four flippers and triangular bony blades sticking out of its back, "somewhat like in the dinosaur Stegosaurus [it's] very bizarre looking," Motani told Live Science. The critter likely ate soft invertebrates, such as shrimp and possibly worms. The complete fossil and a drawing of Eretmorhipis carrolldongi, which lived during the Triassic period in what is now China about 250 million years ago. (Image credit: L. Cheng et al, Scientific Reports, Creative Commons 4.0) The researchers quickly identified what the platypus-like creature couldn't do well: It likely had dismal hearing because sound localization in the water is difficult for small-headed animals. And, it probably couldn't taste much with tongue-flicking because it lacked a structure in its palate that helps convey chemical information from the tongue to other sensory organs. "This leaves the tactile sense as the most likely candidate among the traditional five senses," the researchers wrote in the study. E. carrolldongi was distantly related to ichthyosaurs, dolphin-like reptiles that swam through the seas during the dinosaur age. Previously, many researchers thought that marine animal diversification slowed for about 8 million years after the end-Permian mass extinction 252 million years ago. But now, the discovery and analysis of E. carrolldongi shows that marine reptiles had remarkable diversity shortly after that mass extinction, Motani said. "Slightly after the end-Permian mass extinction, there were a lot of open opportunities as life recolonized the Earth's surface," Motani said. "These bizarre forms grabbed the open niches and diversified, but were soon wiped out, probably by natural selection. The animal in question is one of them it must have been a slow swimmer and an inefficient feeder, but that was sufficient for the time being." The study was published online today (Jan. 24) in the journal Scientific Reports. Originally published on Live Science. THE ROAD is almost paved for construction work to begin on a new state of the art school campus for Gaelcholaiste Luimnigh. Demolition at the former Dawn Dairies-Kerry Group processing plant on Old Clare Street is currently underway, clearing the way for the new school. The designs for the new campus are also expected to be submitted shortly for planning permission. Students and staff recently visited the site along with Senator Maria Byrne, the chairperson of the schools board of management. Gaelcholaiste Luimnigh has been providing high quality education at their building at Sir Harrys Mall since 2006 but the success of the school has meant they have outgrown their current location, said Senator Maria Byrne, the chairperson of the schools board of management. I hope that this process can now progress rapidly and that the schools future students can access top quality education in a modern and built for purpose school at the new location in Clare Street. I want to compliment Thompson Architects for the unique design which will be submitted to Limerick City and County Council shortly for planning permission, she added. I look forward to the school continuing its good work in the years ahead. The unique design of the new campus has impressed the Department of Education and Skills, according to principal Donncha O Treasaigh. I know that Minister for Education and Skills Joe McHugh TD is very much looking forward to seeing the design. The stunning design will very much compliment the region and put Limerick on the map, he added. A BENCH warrant was issued for the arrest of a married couple after they were convicted of stealing a large quantity of door knobs from DIY retailer B & Q in Limerick. Having viewed CCTV footage and heard evidence from gardai and a security guard, Judge Brian OShea said it was a straightforward case and that he was satisfied as to the defendants guilt. Garda Claire Moriarty said she and a colleague attended the store at City East Business Park at around 4pm on November 10, 2017 after a complaint was made. She told Inspector Liz Kennedy that Bridget Delaney, 23, of Carrowlcogh, Tipperary and her husband William ODonoghue, 23, with an address at Davis Street, Tipperary Town, had been detained by security personnel and that both were subsequently arrested on suspicion of theft. Judge Brian OShea was told that having been alerted to the suspicious behaviour of the defendants, security personnel had tracked their movements for almost an hour as they moved around the store. In the footage, which was played in court, Mr ODonoghue can be seeing removing a number of door knobs and other items from shelves and placing them in his jacket and pants pockets. Ms Delaney was also seen putting a number of items under her clothing. While Ms Delaney had a trolley of other products which she paid for, it was the State case that the defendants passed the checkouts and tried to leave the store without paying for the door knobs which were worth almost 100. However, the were detained by security staff and the property recovered. Despite the absence of his clients, solicitor Darach McCarthy submitted there was a multitude of shortcomings in the State case. He said certain statements had not been disclosed to him in advance of the hearing and that there was no evidence before the court relating to the detention of Ms Delaney and Mr ODonoghue following their arrest. Convicting the defendants of theft, Judge OShea said he was satisfied they were the two people shown on the CCTV footage which was played in court. LIMERICK has been largely ignored in festival funding announced by Failte Ireland this Wednesday, claimed Deputy Niall Collins. It's a complete disgrace, he said. We see that the government has allocated 3 million to fund festivals across the country yet Limerick is only to receive a paltry 7,000 which equates to less than 1% of the total amount being given out," continued Deputy Collins. The Fianna Fail TD said only one festival in County Limerick is being funded while many other worthy and established festivals are being ignored. Why is this? Why is the government and Failte Ireland turning its back on the many festivals and festival committees doing invaluable work around Limerick, asked Deputy Collins. The only County Limerick recipient in the list is Foynes Air Show who will receive 7,000. The largest allocation of 950,000 went to the St Patrick's Festival in Dublin. Galway International Arts Festivals received the second highest of 300,000. THE president of the University of Limerick, Dr Des Fitzgerald, is expected to face questions from TDs this Thursday about concerns over whether potentially thousands of students were given incorrect exam records over many years. Dr Fitzgerald will appear before members of the Committee of Public Accounts (PAC), which has previously examined a number of long-running controversies related to the HR and finance departments at the university. Serious concerns about the reliability of ULs student records system were set out in a confidential report commissioned from Deloitte in 2015. A long-serving UL employee brought the Deloitte report to the attention of Dr Richard Thorn in July 2017. At that time, Dr Thorn was conducting an investigation into various matters at UL, commissioned by the Higher Education Authority. The employee told Dr Thorn about his repeated efforts to raise concerns about the stability of the student records system with senior management and the possible consequences, which included an unknown number of students potentially being given incorrect degree results, or being unable to progress to the next academic year. UL uses a complex system known as QCA, which expresses a students result as a number between 0 and 4.0. A students QCA determines the class of degree awarded by UL. A low QCA can result in a student being required to repeat a year, or leave the university altogether. In his published report, Dr Thorn noted that potentially serious weaknesses in the student records system had been flagged by different reports. He added that the employee, referred to as Person G, was of the view that university management has not paid sufficient attention to the findings of these reports and that the Governing Authority has not been made properly aware of these issues. However, Dr Thorn concluded that while the matter was worthy of attention by the university, he was satisfied that the issue is receiving appropriate attention and warrants no further investigation. The Leader sought to obtain the Deloitte report on the student records system under Freedom of Information legislation in October 2015, but UL declined to release it, for reasons of confidentiality and commercial sensitivity. The university also rejected an appeal of this decision. When this decision was further appealed to the Information Commissioner, UL fought to prevent the reports release and the appeal was turned down in December 2016. Sean Fleming, chairman of the PAC, has confirmed that Person G was one of a number of UL whistleblowers who were invited to private meetings with committee members this Tuesday. He described this as a listening process. Mr Fleming said the student records issue would definitely be raised with Dr Fitzgerald, adding: There are various reports that have been commissioned which we wouldnt have been aware of. Weve asked [UL] for information that the college would have that we wouldnt have been aware of, or had knowledge on until it was highlighted to us yesterday. Weve asked for that documentation. UL was strongly criticised by PAC members two months ago for providing misleading information about inappropriate top-up pension payments totalling 1.2 million to two senior staff members. The university was also criticised for misrepresenting the severance packages offered to two different staff members who were immediately rehired as highly paid consultants. The matters occurred during the presidency of Dr Don Barry, who vacated his post in 2017. The top-up pension arrangements were disclosed in a report by the Comptroller and Auditor General (C&AG) last November. Dr Fitzgerald has already criticised the payments and he will be questioned about the findings of the C&AG report from 9am this Thursday. Dr Fitzgerald will also be asked about ULs progress in implementing the recommendations of the Thorn report into HR, finance and other matters at UL. That report was published more than two years after UL sued the Limerick Leader over claims made by two whistleblowers from the finance department. That High Court action was later dropped, but the two women known as Persons B and C - remain in dispute with the university. Persons B and C were among the whistleblowers invited to private meetings with PAC members this week. Leona OCallaghan, a third whistleblower from the UL finance department who left her job in 2012, also met the PAC. Ms OCallaghan, known as Person A, reached a settlement with UL last year. She thanked Dr Fitzgerald at that time for owning the hurt caused to me. Ms OCallaghan first contacted the PAC about her concerns over being asked to pay questionable expenses to UL employees more than seven years ago, but her claims were brushed aside by Dr Barry in a letter written to the committee in April 2012. UL confirmed this Wednesday that the university was asked for, and has provided, documents relating to the student records system to the Public Accounts Committee. A statement added: We are not in a position to comment on the employment status of any of our UL staff. A TD has expressed fears that a crucial 96-bed block at University Hospital Limerick could be delayed as a direct result of the Governments overspend on the National Childrens Hospital. In late 2018, it was revealed that the estimated cost of the National Childrens Hospital is in the region of 1.4bn, more than 450m over the approved expenditure. Raising the issue in the Dail last week, Labour TD Jan OSullivan the 96-bed block could be put at risk or delayed because of the overrun in the childrens hospital project. Deputy OSullivan said Limericks overcrowding cannot be allowed to go on and I want an absolute assurance that there will be no delay, prevarication or hold up in the appointment of staff because the current situation is intolerable for patients and their families, as well as for the people who work in the emergency department. In response, Minister of State Jim Daly said that a a selection of health capital projects and programmes will be delayed to contribute to funding the increased capital costs of the new hospital project. Minister Daly said in the Dail: Health capital projects, including the development of additional beds at UHL, will be considered in the context of developing the HSEs capital plan for 2019. Deputy OSullivan said that if the childrens hospital is to be delivered within its timescale, other commitments made must also be delivered in that way. However, a spokesperson for the UL Hospitals Group has said that because no commencement date for construction for the 96 beds has ever been announced, there has therefore been no delay in the process. The HSE are working towards appointing a design team for the new 96-bed acute ward block in University Hospital Limerick and funding is included in the HSEs Capital Plan to progress the design phase. The award of a public works contract to develop the ward block would be subject to capital funding availability. A LIMERICK retailer has admitted selling alcohol to an employee of a rival company in breach of the licensing laws. The company which operates the store in the city was prosecuted after its rival orchestrated a sting operation and made a formal complaint to gardai resulting in a full investigation being carried out. Limerick District Court was told a bottle of Yellow Tail Pinot Grigot was sold at the store at 11.02am on December 31, 2017. While alcohol can be sold in off-licences between 10.30am and 10pm six days week, it cannot be sold before 12.30pm on Sundays. The court was informed the bottle of wine, which cost 9, was bought by a worker employed by a rival retailer which operates a store in the same locality. Noting the companys guilty plea and the circumstances of the offence, Judge Marian OLeary indicated she will not record a conviction if a contribution of 400 is made to the court poor box by May 15, next. A LIMERICK man charged with assaulting and injuring another man in a County Limerick town on Christmas Day has been granted bail despite a strong garda objection. Daniel (Danny) OBrien, 33, of 13 Ballywilliam, Rathkeale was arrested, charged and cautioned by Detective Garda Jerry OSullivan this Monday. He appeared before Judge Mary Larkin at Newcastle West court this Tuesday, charged under section three of the Non Fatal Offences Against the Person Act, 1997 in connection with an incident at Fair Hill, Rathkeale last December 25. It is alleged another man, Danny Quilligan, was struck with a broken glass bottle at around 8.20pm and that he received multiple wounds which required a large number of stitches. Solicitor Charlie OConnor applied for bail for his client but Det Garda OSullivan opposed the application on the grounds of the serious nature of the offence and that the accused would not remain in the jurisdiction or abide by the conditions of bail. OBrien, the garda said, had been in England since the assault, had only recently returned to Limerick and had admitted during interview that he was at the location but denied assaulting the injured party. Det Garda O'Sullivan said it was his belief and that of senior gardai that there would be further violence and tit-for-tat reprisals if the accused was bailed. Mr OConnor argued there was no evidence to suggest his client would not appear in court if granted bail. He said his client had returned from the UK voluntarily and he submitted that he is entitled to the presumption of innocence. Judge Mary Larkin said that given the nature and degree of the offence, she was satisfied it was a serious offence. I am concerned in relation to the evidence that this is an ongoing feud, she said. That leads me to believe it is reasonable to refuse bail to prevent the commission of further serious offences. Considering the objection, the Judge said she was concerned that the accused went to England the day after the alleged incident. Danny OBrien took the stand where he undertook, if given bail, to stay away from witnesses and the injured party. He lived in the UK, he said, but came back regularly. His parents and girlfriend live in Rathkeale, he said. He was prepared, he told his solicitor, to stay out of the jurisdiction at his home in the UK but to return for court appearances. He told Inspector Andrew Lacey he had gone to England after the incident because I was afeared of my life that something would happen me. After indicating she was willing to grant bail, the judge looked for an independent surety of 20,000 with 10,000 to be lodged in court to secure the accuseds return to deal with the charge. However, following a recess, consent to bail was agreed subject to the lodgement of 10,000 in the accuseds own name. When released, the accused is to reside in the UK, returning only for court appearances. If he comes to Ireland I want him to notify the gardai only to make sure there is no retaliatory response, Judge Larkin said. Mr OBrien was remanded in custody, with consent to bail, pending a further court appearance this Thursday. INFORMATION is being sought after a youth was assaulted in Limerick city at the weekend. The teenager sustained minor injuries in the incident which happened at the riverbank the Corbally area at around 11pm on Saturday. Its understood a number of other youths were seen in the area around the time. Gardai at Mayorstone Park station are investigating. First shock, incredulity and despair that then gave way to fatigue, dumbfoundedness and anger (Lecrivain britannique William Boyd en 2002 a Paris). JACQUES DEMARTHON / AFP Tribune. When I woke up on the 24th June 2016, the day after the Brexit referendum, my initial thought was that I had been dreaming that it was a grim political nightmare. Alas, no. It was all too horribly real. And now when I contemplate the gamut of emotions Ive gone through since that day as the Brexit chaos has lurched on and on and on , my emotional range has responded accordingly. First shock, incredulity and despair that then gave way to fatigue, dumbfoundedness and anger as I saw the faltering, inept negotiations taking place led by incompetent, woefully unprepared negotiators. And now, two and a half years later, having arrived at the endgame fiasco, what I am currently experiencing is something closer to shame. Shame that this country, Great Britain, should find herself in this abject, needless mess; shame at the third-rate quality of our prime minister, Theresa May, our third-rate leader of the opposition, Jeremy Corbyn, our third-rate Conservative government and most politicians (there are some exceptions) and shame at the self-serving mendacity and reckless propaganda of the Brexit-ultras. The Brexit problem, however, is an old one and goes back many decades. Its to do with a particular cast of mind, a pervasive fantasy of England and the English (rather than Britain and the British) that certain people, men and women, hold with a bizarre, iron certainty. The interesting aspect of this national delusion is that it transcends class and socio-economic barriers. Poor working-class Labour voters and extremely rich Conservative voters feel the same. Collectively they could be described as Little-Englanders . They cohere vaguely, emotionally to a fantastical myth of England and her place in the world. Part nostalgia for the days of the British Empire when the globe was coloured half red; part built on militaristic legends of Englands solitary heroism (the Armada, Trafalgar, Waterloo, Dunkirk, the Battle of Britain, the Blitz), part fuelled by personifications of nationhood Boudicca, Britannia, Richard the Lionheart, Good Queen Bess, John Bull this amorphous creed has all the ingredients of a cult or outlandish faith like Theosophy, Scientology or Zoroastrianism, let alone orthodox religions. You cant engage meaningfully with people who possess these beliefs: they and their convictions are not subject to reason. Its a mind-set, not an argument. All your cogent, logical rationality melts in the face of these fantasies of shrill, fervent patriotism. We can do it alone; we dont need anyone else; we are the Bulldog Breed. You see the same effect across the Atlantic with Trumps fervent, mindless sloganizing Make America Great Again. It is an appeal to the basest, most atavistic instincts and it can be very alluring to a certain type of person. Il vous reste 53.8% de cet article a lire. La suite est reservee aux abonnes. The new All Ireland Movement currently gaining momentum around the country will hold a public meeting in The Landmark Hotel, Carrick-on-Shannon, on Tuesday, February 5, at 7.30pm. This meeting is one of a series of meetings that are being held through the 32 counties. According to Peadar Toibin TD, who will be speaking at the event: "We are blown away by the level of support. There is an avalanche of people who are getting in contact with us. Many of these people, who are from a Fianna Fail background or a Sinn Fein background are seriously frustrated that the leaderships of their parties do not represent them anymore. "Its like watching a pressure cooker valve being released at meetings. People are saying that they have no one to vote for, that all the parties are uniform on so many issues. The truth is respectful opposition is not the enemy, its an important part of a health a democracy. "People in housing crisis, who have health care issues and are struggling to makes ends meet want and need their issues to be crowbarred back up the political priority agenda. Yet the political establishment seem to be prioritising everything else but economic justice. "We are an All-Ireland party. We seek the unity of the Irish people north and south. We seek the self-determination & Irish independence north and south. A seek to develop a broad inclusive organisation to achieve that. "It is our view that that Sinn Fein has narrowed the space in which people can participate. We will be broader and much more welcoming. "We believe that all human life should be protected and that no mother or child should be left behind. We seek to protect the most vulnerable in society at all stages of life. We believe that all of the necessary economic and social supports must be provided to mothers and families to ensure that they know that they can raise their children in confidence. "I would greatly encourage people from all political backgrounds and none to seize this opportunity and help build this new All Ireland movement," he said. Tesco Carrick-on-Shannon will remain open to customers despite staff strike actions this Saturday, January 26. Mandate Union staff at Tesco in Carrick-on-Shannon and Sligo will both picket this Saturday as part on the "ongoing" dispute over local working hours and contracts and conditions. Workers want the company to abide by collective agreements. A spokesperson for Tesco says they "remainscommitted to resolving this dispute. We request that Mandate, even at this late stage, desist from the industrial action and refer these issues back to the WRC where we are willing to engage with the union." David Gibney on behalf of Mandate said Tesco management has failed to respond to correspondence from the union to resolve the issues. He said the first strike at Tesco Carrick-on-Shannon which was held on one of the busiest days of the year, Saturday, December 22 was "ignored by Tesco management. Mr Gibney said the Leitrim public supported their previous strike and it is hoped they will stand by local workers and respect the picket again this Saturday. We apologise for the inconvenience to customers but until Tesco recognise us and sit down to negotiations, we have no other option. Workers in Carrick are determined to have their democratic rights abided by." Tesco staff around the country are also being consulted with to see if they too want to join the strike. Mr Gibney said he cant rule out more stoppages as the mood of workers hardens. Tesco Ireland said "It is regrettable that Mandate is proceeding yet again with strike action at our Sligo and Carrick-on-Shannon stores. This series of one-day strikes is entirely unwarranted and damaging to this area of the North-West near the Border. We regret the inconvenience to our customers and the hardship for colleagues who disagree with Mandates actions. Both stores will remain open for business as usual on Saturday 26th January. "The matters relating to the Sligo and Carrick-on-Shannon stores are local issues which should be progressed through the normal processes of the Workplace Relations Commission and the Labour Court. We have consistently said that we will attend the Workplace Relations Commission on these local issues. We have written to the union directly again to urge them with regards to Sligo to take up the offer of conciliation that was scheduled for the 24th October 2018 but declined by the union and with regards to Carrick-on-Shannon to refer these issues to the Workplace Relations Commission. "Tesco fully respects our colleagues right to choose to be represented by a trade union, unlike many other retailers and businesses who do not recognise or engage with Mandate. We remain committed to the States industrial relations machinery as we were before when we accepted a Labour Court recommendation that continues to remain rejected by Mandate." Also: Watch| Tesco workers on strike at Carrick-on-Shannon in December A Sallins man has been sent forward for trial to Naas Circuit Court on careless driving charges following the death of a 16-year-old schoolboy. William Nelson, 41, of 17 Sallins Bridge, Sallins, has been returned turned for trial to the March sitting of the Circuit Court. At Naas District Court on January 23, he and his legal team were presented with the book of evidence on the case. Mr Nelson is charged with careless driving, under Section 52 (1) and 52(a) of the Road Traffic Act, 1961, causing the death of Dane Loakman on the Clane road at Castlesize, Sallins, on November 27, 2017. After hearing about the death of the young person, Judge Desmond Zaidan sent his condolences to the youths family and friends. Judge Zaidan said that no matter how the case ended up, it was a difficult time for the family. Initially, the judge granted Mr Nelson free legal aid, a solicitor and one junior counsel. But solicitor, Matthew Byrne, representing Mr Nelson, asked for an additional senior counsel, given the seriousness of the charges. Judge Zaidan granted his request. The judge asked that the Gardai keep the Loakman family informed of the legal process. The court process can be very stressful for all concerned, he said. Some Naas residents are complaining about having to pay for grass cutting, according to a local politician. Naas councillor Sorcha ONeill sought confirmation from Kildare County Council that it reimburses the full cost of grass cutting and maintenance incurred by residents of estates that have been taken in charge by KCC. She said having to pay amounts to triple taxation However KCC says it does not reimburse or cover the full costs. Instead grants are provided annually, on application, for general maintenance in estates and these funds can be used to help pay for grass cutting costs. READ ALSO Naas home broken in into in broad daylight READ ALSO Arrested by Naas gardai for walking in the middle of the road A man with a Rathangan address, linked through DNA evidence to a revolver found inside a blood-stained plastic bag at a Dublin business park, will be sentenced next month at the Special Criminal Court. Sean Ruth, 29, with an address at Blacktrench, Rathangan, Co Kildare pleaded guilty on Tuesday to possession of a .38 Special Calibre "Rossi" revolver and a 9mm calibre round of ammunition at a place unknown within the State between January 1, 2016 and January 24, 2017, both dates inclusive. These offences are contrary to Section 2 of the Firearms Act, 1925 as amended by Section 27 of the Criminal Justice Act 2006. Prosecution counsel Paul Burns SC had made his opening address to the non-jury court in the firearms charges trial the previous day. At todays sentence hearing, Detective Inspector Noel Browne, of the National Drugs and Organised Crime Bureau, summarised the facts of the case. Detective Insp Browne told prosecuting counsel Mr Burns that after receiving confidential information, gardai put a surveillance operation in place and raided a warehouse at Greenogue Business Park, Grants Drive, Rathcoole, Co Dublin on January 24, 2017. Ruth was originally from Kilkenny but had been living in Kildare, the court heard. Det Insp Browne said five firearms were found during the search and they were laid out on cardboard boxes in the upstairs loft area of the warehouse. None of these firearms were connected to the defendant, he added. Other firearms were found on two other cardboard boxes nearby, which were labelled box 1 and box 2. Two assault rifles were on box 2 as well as a blood-stained bag which contained a Rossi revolver, a Glock automatic pistol and various calibre ammunition. The items were sent to Forensic Science Ireland and swabbed for DNA purposes. The witness said a blood-stained Spar plastic bag containing a disposable glove was found on top of a timber box downstairs in the warehouse. Inside the finger of this glove was a 9mm calibre round of ammunition which was not suitable for the revolver, the court heard. A radio transmitter was found on the mezzanine level of the unit and it had Ruths DNA. The witness said a Ford Focus car was also on the premises and there was blood-staining inside the passenger door which matched the defendants DNA. Ruth was arrested by gardai at the Amber Springs Hotel on May 7, 2017 and he was detained at Clondlakin Garda Station where he was photographed, fingerprinted and DNA buccal swabs were taken from him. Det Insp Browne said little evidence was provided during Ruth's interviews but he told gardai that he had an accident when he was in the Ford Focus car which had caused the blood. However, the defendant said he was not aware of the car being at Greenogue Business Park. The DNA profile generated from Ruth's buccal swabs matched the DNA recovered from the revolver as well as the two plastic bags. Ruths DNA profile also matched the profile generated from the glove, the radio and the blood-staining inside the Ford Focus. The court heard that Ruth has 29 previous convictions, which include those for road traffic, public order, misuse of drug offences and assault, as well as two conviction's for having a mobile phone in prison. Under cross-examination, Det Insp Browne agreed with Dominic McGinn SC, defending, that gardai were running a surveillance operation which had "specific targets" but his client was not one of these. The witness accepted that Ruth was not sighted at the premises during the search and agreed that he was in the gym at the time of the raid. The detective further accepted that blood cannot be dated and Ruths guilty plea was of value to the investigation. Mr McGinn asked the court to take into account that his client was from a good, law-abiding family and they had been very supportive of him through this process. In mitigating factors, Mr McGinn asked the court to consider that the revolver was loaded but not compatible with the ammunition in it. The barrister said Ruth was only linked through the blood and not tied to the crime through responsibility. Mr McGinn asked the judges to consider in mitigation his clients early guilty plea on Tuesday of this week which was of value to the court. The evidence against him in the original trial was 150 pages with over 300 additional pages in evidence which would have taken four to five weeks if the trial had gone ahead, he submitted. Another factor in mitigation, he said was a letter from the defendants parents who had attempted to paint the full picture of their son as a hard-working individual but with a restless spirit. According to his parents this "restless spirit" had led him down a road in his adolescents to early twenties that he should not have gone down. This downward trend is not of his character and the abrupt stop to his sequence of offending makes them optimistic for his future, indicated Mr McGinn. In his submissions, Mr McGinn said that his client had completed a number of courses since he went into custody in May 2017. He asked the court to fix the offence in terms of its seriousness and to weigh up the mitigating factors. Counsel submitted to the court that his client was not in immediate possession of the gun when it was found on January 24 and the weapon was not capable of being used as it was not loaded. The only inference the court can draw is that Mr Ruth has some amount of authority and control over the firearm, said the lawyer. Mr Burns told the court that the maximum sentence in respect of each count is seven years in prison. The prosecuting barrister said each of the counts were separate items found at the premises which were not directly related to each other. Mr Justice Paul Coffey, presiding, sitting with Judge Gerard Griffin and Judge David McHugh, remanded Ruth in custody until February 8, when he will be sentenced. Jonathan Harding (45) of McNeill Court, Sallins, Co Kildare, and James Walsh (33), with an address at Neilstown Drive, Clondalkin, Dublin 22 both previously pleaded guilty at the Special Criminal Court to the possession of nine revolvers, four pistols, a sub-machine gun, an assault rifle and various ammunition magazines at the unit in Greenogue Business Park on January 24, 2017. In January 2018, Harding was sentenced to ten years in prison with one year suspended and Walsh was sentenced to nine years in prison with one year suspended. A cheque for 2,150 was presented to Saplings Special School for Children with Autism and Needs, Kill last weekend. The presentation was made by Wayne ODriscoll of Irish Bling Hunters a company which organises running events to raise funds for charities. It was accepted by Chairperson of the Parents Association, Brian Friel as well as children and parents of the school. Wayne also used the opportunity to launch details of Irish Bling Hunters Super Hero Kildare 5k/10k run next month. This event will also be in aid of Saplings Special School for Children and will take place on Sunday, February 17 next, starting at 10am from the school. All are welcome to participate. People can register on www.popupraces.ie Read also: Council to investigate derelict buildings in Athy Works on the long-awaited Ring Road in Athy began yesterday, January 23, 2019. An update on the project was given at this months Municipal District meeting which was held on Monday, January 21 last. Kildare County Council senior engineer John Coppinger told members that the works will start this week. Members heard that heavy machinery will be brought in to begin the works along the southern area of the N78 route near the Dunbrinn housing estate. The machinery will not enter the housing estate, but will go across the field nearby. This is the advance contract, he said. The main contract will begin middle to end of 2019. There are lots of issues to deal with still, including the issue with Irish Rail regarding the abandoned rail line that still needs to be resolved. This will take another three to four months, he said. Cllr Mark Wall asked if the council were still on target to deliver the overall project on time. He assured members that the council is still on target with the road, despite the various issues that still need to be dealt with. I met with Irish Rail recently and we are going to increase the frequency of our meetings, he said. The abandonment rail process needs to be pushed forward and this will take at least another four months. This is a process Irish Rail must go through to make the line redundant so that the works can take place. He added that the advanced works will also include fencing boundary walls and clearing works which will all accumulate to the overall project. SEE ALSO: Council to investigate derelict buildings in Athy Lawyers for a driver guilty found guilty of manslaughter, after doctors agreed that he met the criteria to be found legally insane, have told the Court of Appeal that the jury verdict was perverse. Polish national Dariusz Alchimionek, 44, with an address at Barrow Way, Spa Street, Portarlington had denied the manslaughter of John Gorman, 19, and assault causing harm to his brother, Adam, on December 29, 2015. The brothers had been returning home from Tullamore when a vehicle driven by Alchimionek suddenly crossed the road into the path of their oncoming car at Ballycrystal, Geashill. Tullamore Circuit Criminal Court heard how Alchimionek had become convinced the Islamic State group, or Isis, were about to invade Europe and a third World War was about to begin. Consultant psychiatrists for both the prosecution and the defence agreed that Alchimionek met the criteria to be found not guilty by reason of insanity. The jury had the option of returning of three verdicts: guilty, not guilty or not guilty by reason of insanity. After two hours and 50 minutes of deliberations the jury returned majority guilty verdicts of 11-1 on both counts, which were met with applause in the courtroom. Alchimionek was then sentenced nine years imprisonment with the final three suspended by Judge Keenan Johnson in October 2017. Opening an appeal against conviction on Thursday, Alchimioneks barrister, Kenneth Fogarty SC, submitted the sole ground that the jurys verdict was perverse and against the evidence. Mr Fogarty, who appeared with Niall Flynn BL, said the atmosphere in the Circuit Court was "highly charged". There was an "outpouring of emotion" that was "humanly understandable" but not desirable in terms of how the law was to be applied. He said it was explained to Alchimionek that the foregone conclusion of a not guilty verdict by reason of insanity, was a referral to the Central Mental Hospital (CMH). He is currently in prison. Counsel for the Director of Public Prosecutions, Michael Delaney SC, said it was a jurys right to reject expert evidence, even if it was unchallenged, if they werent sufficiently convinced by it. He said questions asked by the jury suggested they were somewhat skeptical of Alchimionek's medical history. They asked whether there were any medical records relating to Alchimionek's time in Poland. There had been an attempted suicide when he was in his late 20s but that information had not been obtained for the trial and was not in evidence before the jury. Mr Delaney said the jury had evidence that when Alchimionek first spoke about the incident, he said he was trying to kill himself. But when he was interviewed by gardai he "gave this account that he was being followed by terrorists" who were trying to kill him. Those "contradictory accounts" were "unfortunately" not explored by the experts, Mr Delaney said, which might go some way to explain why the jury were not convinced. If Alchimioneks conviction was set aside, Mr Delaney said juries would be bound by the precedent to "rubber stamp" verdicts in every trial where insanity is raised and unchallenged. Mr Justice John Edwards commented that juries take an oath to give a true verdict in accordance with the evidence. There was no evidence, other than the unanimous expert opinion, on Alchimioneks state of mind at the time. Mr Delaney said the jury had asked pertinent questions about Alchimioneks previous medical history. None of that indicated the jury was ignoring it's oath. President of the Court of Appeal Mr Justice George Birmingham, who sat with Mr Justice John Edwards and Mr Justice Brian McGovern, said the court would reserve its judgment. Dublin criminal and long term inmate of Portlaoise and other prisons Brian Rattigan has been jailed for nine years at the Central Criminal Court for manslaughter. Rattigan, 38, formerly of Cooley Road, in Drimnagh has been in prison for most of his adult life and pleaded guilty last October to killing 21-year-old Declan Gavin. Rattigan has been in custody since 2003 and is currently serving a 17-year sentence imposed in 2013 for controlling the possession of drugs for sale or supply from within the prison walls in Portlaoise. This was backdated to 2008 and the expiration date was May 2025 but allowing for remission, Rattigan was due for release in November 2019. Mr Gavin was stabbed to death outside an Abrakebabra fast-food restaurant on Crumlin Road in Dublin in the early hours of August 25, 2001. He received two knife wounds, one to the hand but a fatal one to the heart. Rattigan went on trial for his murder twice in 2009. The first jury could not reach a verdict but a second jury convicted him. However, that conviction was successfully appealed in 2017. Speaking outside court today, Chief Superintendent Brian Sutton said this was "the first time" Rattigan had "put his hand up" for the killing of Mr Gavin. Passing sentence earlier, Mr Justice Michael White said it has been over seventeen years since Mr Gavin's death and his family had waited a very long time for closure and for Rattigan to say he was responsible for the victim's death. The Gavin family had felt the letter of apology from Rattigan was "too little too late", said the judge, but the court hoped they will now have some respite and be comforted in their fond memories of him. Mr Gavin was stabbed to death outside an Abrakebabra fast-food restaurant on Crumlin Road in Dublin in the early hours of August 25, 2001. He received two knife wounds, one to the hand but a fatal one to the heart. The former gangland figure was due to go on trial for the crime again this month, but the State accepted his plea to manslaughter when he entered it on arraignment on October 22 last. The convicted criminal also said on the same occasion that he was sorry to the victims family and anyone else he had hurt through his actions. Before delivering the sentence this morning, Mr Justice White said this was an involuntary manslaughter case where the death of another results from an unlawful and dangerous act. Aggravating factors in the case included Rattigan bringing an offensive weapon to a group of youths when he was high on drugs and alcohol as well as the tragic loss of Mr Gavin and the impact this loss had on his family. Mitigating factors in sentencing, Mr Justice White said, were the guilty plea and the length of time it has taken to prosecute the crime. "The accused caused the delay but he always denied murder," he indicated. The judge noted that another mitigating factor was Rattigan's attendance at and completion of significant drug and alcohol awareness courses in prison which hopefully indicated "a substantial departure" from the defendant's previous criminal behaviour. Another possible mitigating factor was a letter written by Rattigan to the Gavin family expressing his remorse but the judge said this was "much too late" to be considered as such. Mr Justice White said the court did not intend to impose a consecutive sentence and Rattigan had not served any time for this offence. Referring to the defendant, the judge said he was entitled to have the sentence imposed from the date he entered the plea and it was not appropriate to backdate it any further considering the seriousness of the offence. The headline sentence for the offence was 13 years imprisonment, the judge said, but the appropriate sentence to hand down was nine years. Mr Justice White sentenced Rattigan to nine years imprisonment, backdated to October 1, 2018. Dressed in a blue jacket and a navy tie, Rattigan wore a neatly trimmed beard and glasses for today's sentence hearing. He did not react when the sentence was revealed. Prosecuting counsel Pauline Walley SC said at the sentence hearing last December that the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) had accepted a plea to manslaughter from Rattigan as the cases frailties were likely to render the success of another murder trial questionable. Rattigan had already served a sentence for two counts of assault causing harm before killing Mr Gavin and Chief Supt Sutton outlined the other convictions that have kept him behind bars since 2003 at his sentence hearing last month. These included a firearms offence, assault and violent disorder. Rattigan 17-year sentence for controlling the possession of drugs for sale or supply from within the prison walls" was backdated to 2008 and the expiration date was May 2025 but allowing for remission, Rattigan was due for release in November 2019. Speaking outside the Criminal Courts of Justice today, Chief Supt Sutton said: On behalf of An Garda Siochana our thoughts are with the Gavin family today. Since 2001 this has been hanging over them, the killing of their brother Declan, their son Declan. They have been through several court proceedings and appeal proceedings and we are hopeful today for a bit of closure for the family and the extended Gavin family. "This was a difficult investigation. I want to pay compliment to the initial investigators and the people that followed up on it which resulted in a lengthy sentence for Brian Rattigan today. He was serving sentences in other matters even though he was charged. The charge was thrown out for lack of service of the book of evidence and then he was re-charged in 2005 and as a result of that charge it led to this sentence today. The scope of the investigation was difficult at the outset because we had an amount of reluctant witnesses and also when it came to trial some of the witnesses, even after being served witness orders, had to be arrested and brought to before the court, so there were several difficulties that it posed, he said. We dealt with it in our own organisation by arresting our own witnesses and bringing them to court to give evidence, he added. The Gavin family are happy, not only for the sentence, but the fact that there is closure and they are happy to move on with their lives. This is the first time he (Rattigan) put his hand up for the killing of Declan Gavin, concluded Chief Supt Sutton. At last months sentence hearing on December 20, prosecuting counsel Pauline Walley SC reminded Mr Justice Michael White that Rattigan had pleaded not guilty to murder but guilty to manslaughter. The prosecution indicated that, given the exceptional features now associated with this case, the director would accept this plea to manslaughter because of those features, she said. Chief Superintendent Brian Sutton summarised the facts of the case during the sentencing hearing and agreed Walley that the case had a complex litigation history. Various judicial reviews had been taken from 2005 to 2008 before the two trials got underway in 2009. Rattigan had made an unsuccessful appeal to the Court of Criminal Appeal in 2013 before his successful appeal to the Supreme Court in 2017. Chief Supt Sutton told Ms Walley that a man in a balaclava was witnessed stabbing Mr Gavin, who retreated into the safety of Abrakebabra. The evidence against Rattigan included his prints being found next to Mr Gavins blood on the restaurants door, he said, through which the defendant had tried to chase his victim. Chief Supt Sutton said that over 300 witness statements were taken as part of the investigation. However, it was a difficult investigation, he said. Over 22 people were arrested for withholding information, he explained. Rattigan had denied involvement, insisting that he hadnt been to the scene in months. I wont admit. Yous prove it. That's your job, he had said. The court heard that Rattigan was eventually charged in 2003, but this was struck out of the District Court later that year for failure to serve the book of evidence. It was a complex investigation and took a while to get the book of evidence together, explained Chief Supt Sutton, adding that there was a large number of very reluctant witnesses. He was re-charged in 2005 but took judicial review proceedings seeking an order of prohibition. Rattigan argued that there had been both an unacceptable delay and prejudicial pre-trial publicity, which would prevent a fair trial. He lost his case the following year but appealed to the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court agreed that there was a delay but found that the forensic evidence of blood and prints were extraordinary, exceptional and unexplained, and cried out to be examined. The court also took the view that there would be a media fade factor by the time his case came to court and that this would allow him a fair trial. It ruled in 2008 that the trial could proceed. Chief Supt Sutton said that a feature of both trials was that some key witnesses professed to no-longer remember what theyd stated to gardai. Some did not make themselves available and had to be arrested. Others left the jurisdiction. Some were charged with contempt and their statements had to be read to the court, using special legal provisions. One of these statements was described as a key piece of evidence and was made by a friend of both men, David Byrne. He was subsequently murdered in the Regency shooting, said Chief Supt Sutton. Niall Hannigan, another key witness in both trials, is also deceased. Such witnesses had described Mr Gavin being in good form before the attack. He had been going to leave in a taxi with some girls, but the car was full. Professor John Harbison, who had carried out the autopsy, was unavailable for the trials due to medical reasons. That was overcome at the time, but was likely to have been a greater problem if the trial had proceeded in January of this year. Despite the difficulties, a jury found him guilty in 2009. He was the last person to be convicted of murder in the Four Courts. However, he appealed this conviction and the Supreme Court eventually quashed it. A retrial was ordered in 2018. It would have begun earlier this month and lasted six weeks, but Rattigan decided to offer a plea to manslaughter. Chief Supt Sutton agreed that all the frailties mentioned and the passage of time were likely to render the success of the trial questionable. The DPP, therefore, decided to accept the plea. He agreed that, although this was painful for the Gavin family, it was bringing them closure. Chief Supt Sutton agreed with Brendan Grehan SC, defending, that Rattigan had recently written a letter of apology to Mr Gavins widowed mother. However, Pauline Gavin had declined to read the letter when she received it the week before the sentence hearing, feeling that it was a little bit late. Mr Justice Michael White asked the witness if Rattigan had ever been in custody only in relation to Mr Gavins death. He replied that he had not. Mr Gavins sister, Tara Gavin, delivered a victim impact statement at the sentence hearing in which she said that the loss and sadness had not disappeared over the past 17 years. Declan was my little brother and, even after all these years, I cant begin to describe how close we were, she said. He made me laugh. She said that his amazing sense of humour was what she had missed most of all. She said that happiness had been taken from their home and replaced with a sense darkness. My world turned upside down, she said. She explained that she had gone from someone concentrating on finishing college and looking forward to travelling to someone, who couldnt comprehend what she was going to do next. She said that watching the effect it was having on her mother was soul destroying. She said that the manner in which her brother had died and the events that followed were things she couldnt bare to think about. It was an extremely hard time to live through, she said. We acknowledge the short letter of apology, she continued. After so many years of listening to: I didnt kill Declan, it seems the timing of this apology is a little too convenient. She said that the family had waited nearly 18 years to hear what theyd known after 24 hours: that Brian Rattigan was responsible for her brothers death. She finished by thanking her mother for doing everything possible to encourage her to live her life. Mr Grehan read out his clients letter to Mrs Pauline Gavin. Im very sorry for taking your sons life, he wrote. Ive regretted that night in silence ever since. As I get older, it doesnt get any easier. He said that he hoped she could find peace and closure now. May Declan rest in peace and may God protect him, he concluded. Mr Grehan asked the judge to take this and a number of testimonials into account. He also outlined his achievements while in prison, which included playing the lead or a supporting part in a production of Cinderella. He had also obtained a diploma and certificates in various subjects. The former gangland figure was due to go on trial for the crime again this month, but the State accepted his plea to manslaughter when he entered it on arraignment on October 22 last. The convicted criminal also said on the same occasion that he was sorry to the victims family and anyone else he had hurt through his actions. Prosecuting counsel Pauline Walley SC said at the sentence hearing last December that the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) had accepted a plea to manslaughter from Rattigan as the cases frailties were likely to render the success of another murder trial questionable. At a sentencing hearing this morning, Mr Justice Michael White sentenced Rattigan to nine years imprisonment, backdated to October 1, 2018. The defendant did not react when the sentence was revealed. Instead of apologizing when they had an opportunity to do that, when they ascertained that I was the owner of the vehicle, even that would have ended the rest of the night, Crosby said. It would have been somewhat traumatic still, but the actions they took after that were the most egregious to me. They knew that I owned the car, they made a mistake, and they decided to persist in prosecuting these crimes that they knew I didnt commit. Every seat was taken Wednesday night inside Mercy Hall, and several people stood, as the Diocese of Metuchen bishop responded to the arrest of a Phillipsburg priest on allegations he sexually assaulted a teenage girl. The parishioners of St. Philip & St. James Church came with questions and concerns during the pastoral meeting in the hall across Stockton Street from the sanctuary. They offered compassion for the victim and some also expressed compassion for the accused priest. Others aired fears of a crisis of faith in the Roman Catholic church, as the Archdiocese of Newark and New Jerseys four other dioceses -- Metuchen, Paterson, Camden and Trenton -- prepare in coming weeks to release a list of all priests and deacons who have been credibly accused of sexual abuse. It is a tragic time, said the Most Rev. James F. Checchio, adding he has felt heartbroken, sad, angry since the arrest Jan. 16 of Father Thomas P. Tom Ganley. Ganley reportedly admitted to investigators the the accusations of him sexually assaulting the victim in the early 1990s are true. He was serving at Saint Cecelia Church in Woodbridge, Middlesex County, at the time. He was later assigned to St. Philip and St. James. He was still serving there when he was arrested last week but is now no longer listed as a staff member. Ganley will face laicization from the priesthood upon sentencing, Checchio said. Acknowledging Ganley's reported confession, Checchio said the allegations seem to be true. "We had absolutely no indication of anything in the father's background that would have led us to believe anything about this," the bishop told the congregants Wednesday night. Checchio said his heart breaks for the victim, a woman in her 40s now, and her family; for Ganley and his family; and for the congregation, some of whom went to high school with the disgraced father. Among the questions Wednesday were how closely was Ganley involved at St. Philip and St. James School in Phillipsburg. Ganley was said to have had limited interaction, primarily assisting with confessions in the gymnasium. His main role was hospital ministry. "That was what he did," said Father John Barbella, pastor at St. Philip & St. James Church. Ganley's position as parochial vicar at the church won't be filled immediately, but is likely to be addressed in spring, according to Checchio. The bishop noted his gratitude toward the priests assigned to Phillipsburg and said he is "relieved" to have Barbella at the helm. Mayor Stephen Ellis drew applause when he voiced "full confidence" in Barbella. The church is Ellis' safe haven, he said, and he felt very distressed when he learned of Ganley's arrest. Ellis said he fears parishioners questioning their faith. "We can't let Father Tom take away everything good that comes out of this church," said one woman who spoke during the meeting. St. Philip & St. James Church in Phillipsburg is seen in 2002.SL In response to another woman who voiced concern for the priesthood in the face of abuse accusations coming to light, Checchio said he fully supports the churchs zero-tolerance policy for priests. Its a stance that was established in 2002 under the Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People signed by Catholic leaders in Dallas. Before that, the church "didn't deal as promptly or transparently" with allegations as it does now, Checchio said. Today, the church maintains a focus on balancing mercy with "justice, truth and calling things for what they are," he said. Under New Jersey law, there is no statute of limitations on charges relating to priest abuse. Metuchen's Bishop Emeritus Paul Bootkoski already provided to law enforcement the full list of church leaders accused of sexual crimes, as requested last year by Attorney General Gurbir S. Grewal, according to Checchio. Checchio described the timetable for the diocesan publication of allegations as in February, at the earliest. The beginning of 2019 is what church officials had agreed to. The Catholic church does more than any other institution in New Jersey to protect children, Checchio said, referring to its system of background checks, education and preparations for priests to face a life of celibacy. "We go to great efforts," said Checchio, who has been Bishop of Metuchen since 2016. "Is it perfect? No. Is it foolproof? No. But we're doing all we possibly can to protect our children." The church is not providing legal representation for Ganley, nor he is being paid, Checchio said. Salvation and forgiveness will remain open to Ganley, the same as anyone, the bishop said, adding that he hopes Ganley gets the help he needs. "For someone to do these things, they're sick," Checchio said. "A healthy person does not do these things to children." In a letter about Ganleys arrest sent Jan. 19 to St. Philip & St. James Church, Checchio asks anyone with information on misconduct or abuse involving clergy or church personnel to contact local law enforcement or New Jerseys 24-hour Clergy Abuse Hotline at 855-363-6548. Kurt Bresswein may be reached at kbresswein@lehighvalleylive.com. Follow him on Twitter @KurtBresswein and Facebook. Findlehighvalleylive.com on Facebook. It should be no surprise that one of the loudest cheers at Gov. Tom Wolfs second inaugural address came when he spoke about education, specifically about restoring past funding cuts and enacting a new formula to distribute state money to public schools more fairly. We all know how important investments in education are to our children and communities, but that work is just beginning. The state share of funding for public schools one of the lowest in the country is still leaving many students in classes too large for teachers to do their jobs effectively. Too many students are trying to learn with outdated textbooks and outmoded technology, or in crumbling buildings. Too many do not have access to the courses they need to be prepared for 21st century jobs. Wolf made another important point in his address, that progress can be made when both parties work together. That is why it is so vital that the governor and the Legislature come together to prioritize Pennsylvanias future by making significant increases in funding for public schools this year. If they do, the people will respond, just as they did on inauguration day. Sandra Miller Saucon Valley School Board member Northeast Coordinator, Field Advocacy, PA Schools Work Lower Saucon Township By a 5-4 vote, the U.S. Supreme Court said this week that President Donald Trumps transgender military ban may take effect immediately. The court did not take a position on the legality of the policy. The armed forces were required to accept transgender applicants on Jan. 1, 2018, under a federal court ruling. The four liberal members of the court dissented, noting that transgender individuals now serving could face an uncertain fate, and some could be be forced out. Arguments for allowing or excluding transgender military members, specifically those with a condition known as gender dysphoria, will now be heard in lower courts. Under the Trump directive, people with gender dysphoria defined as a conflict between ones physical gender and the gender with which he or she identifies are banned from serving, with few exceptions. Those not diagnosed with the condition may serve, but they must to do so according to the sex identity assigned at birth. The Department of Defense said the existing policy is not an outright ban on transgender persons, and that those now serving would continue to be be treated with respect and dignity. LGBT advocates called it a setback for people who have demonstrated their capabilities in the armed forces, without causing disruption. What do you think? Should transgender people be allowed to serve? Have a say in our informal, unscientific poll, and feel free to elaborate in the comment section. Truck drivers who chose to ignore Gov. Tom Wolfs commercial vehicle ban during Winter Storm Harper now face an expensive consequence. Facing dire weather forecasts, Wolf declared a state of emergency on Friday and banned commercial vehicles from noon Saturday to noon Sunday on most interstates and the Pennsylvania Turnpike. The commercial vehicle ban was lifted as weather and conditions improved. Pennsylvania State Police said troopers issued 993 citations and 222 warnings to drivers who traveled into the Keystone State during the ban. The tickets carry a $300 fine, plus court costs. Troop M, which covers Bucks, Lehigh, and Northampton counties, issued 81 tickets and 7 warnings. Troop N to the north, covering Columbia, Carbon, Lower Luzerne, and Monroe counties, issued the most tickets -- 151 -- and three warnings. That region includes I-80, I-81, I-380 and the Pennsylvania Turnpike Northeast Extension. The troop with the second most tickets was Troop R, which covers Lackawanna, Pike, Susquehanna and Wayne counties, with 126 tickets and eight warnings. Troop A, in southwest Pennsylvania near Pittsburgh, and Troop K, covering Philadelphia, Delaware and Montgomery counties, issued 0 tickets and 0 warnings. Sarah Cassi may be reached at scassi@lehighvalleylive.com. Follow her on Twitter @SarahCassi. Find lehighvalleylive.com on Facebook. When Ken French was applying to colleges he knew he wanted to attend a great engineering school, but he also needed a financial boost to get there. The Buffalo, N.Y, high schooler weighed his competitive financial aid packages from several universities and Lehigh University rose to the top. He graduated from the Bethlehem school in 1975 and he says the experience impacted his life tremendously. Thats why the alum and his wife, Vickie, decided to pay it forward with a $5 million endowed gift to his alma mater that will be used to provide scholarships for students with financial need. I am repaying a debt. Thats the way I think of it. The school was very generous, said French, the Roth Family Distinguished Professor of Finance at the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth College. I could not have gone to a school of Lehighs caliber without somebody stepping up and saying, OK, we will pay for this. Lehigh says the gift will give five students each year a full-ride to Lehigh over four years of undergraduate study. Preference will be given to first-generation college students who are currently underrepresented in 5,061 undergraduate student body. Ultimately, 20 students annually will be awarded the scholarships and known as the French Scholars. Ken and Vickie have shown their commitment to creating a diverse, vibrant community of the most talented students. We are in deep appreciation for their leadership gift that secures permanent and lasting resources to scholarship and financial aid, Lehigh President John D. Simon said. By providing these resources, they are preparing the next generation to lead lives of consequence. Today, almost 48 percent of Lehigh students rely on scholarships and financial aid to afford the $68,795 2018-19 sticker price. That figure includes all expenses -- tuition, housing, meals, books and personal expenses, and technology and activity fees. The average annual net cost is $32,501, according to the U.S. Department of Education. Lehigh historically has operated under a need-blind admissions policy. Ken and Vickies gift is particularly meaningful to high-achieving, low-income students and their families. It will be instrumental in continuing to attract a greater number of talented students in all socio-economic levels, said Maria Chrin, a member of the Lehigh University Board of Trustees and co-chair of GO: The Campaign for Lehigh. The $5 million gift is the first major donation in the public phase of Lehighs ambitious $1 billion plus fundraising and engagement campaign, GO: The Campaign for Lehigh. It supports Lehighs underway Path to Prominence, which features plans to grow enrollment by 1,800 students and add 100 faculty members over seven years, build new dorms, create a College of Health and boost financial aid to diversify the student body. The gift will help Lehigh deliver on its promise to meet 100 percent of the financial need of achieving students who otherwise would not have considered Lehigh due to its price tag. It comes at a time when trends indicate Lehighs applicant pool will have more teens who are first-generation college students, that need more financial aid and are coming from new and different regions. French credits his time studying mechanical engineering at Lehigh with teaching him how to think analytically and critically. Scholarships financed most of the renowned economist, academic and researchers education. Following his graduation, he did machine design at Eastman Kodak and then earned his MBA at the University of Rochester. Last year, the Frenchs made a similar $5 million gift to Rochester. He went on to earn a master of science and a doctorate in finance at Rochester. The couple met while Vickie was earning her bachelors degree in business at Moravian College. They won the International Rescue Committees Humanitarian Leadership Award in 2014. Ken French sits on the IRCs board of overseers and chairs the board of directors for the Valpo Surf Project, an organization that mentors underprivileged and at-risk youth. Sara K. Satullo may be reached at ssatullo@lehighvalleylive.com. Follow her on Twitter@sarasatullo and Facebook. Findlehighvalleylive.com on Facebook. Police say a man wanted in an April fatal shooting in Allentown was arrested this week in Massachusetts. Anderson Jorge Cruz, 20, had been wanted on a single count of homicide related to the killing of Juan Alfredo Sanchez Jr. Cruz was arrested Wednesday in Lowell, Massachusetts, the Lehigh County District Attorneys office said. Police said Sanchez was shot at 315 Linden St., the apartment complex off American Parkway. Officers found Sanchez with gunshot wounds to his upper torso. He was taken to Lehigh Valley Hospital in Salisbury Township, where he was pronounced dead at 11:08 p.m. The death was ruled a homicide. Investigators believed Cruz had fled to Massachusetts after the shooting, and in June filed federal paperwork charging him with unlawful flight to avoid prosecution. A detainer has been filed for Cruz in Massachusetts, so he can be extradited to be arraigned in Pennsylvania. Sarah Cassi may be reached at scassi@lehighvalleylive.com. Follow her on Twitter @SarahCassi. Find lehighvalleylive.com on Facebook. - Transparency International Nigeria (TIN) speaks on the federal government TraderMoni scheme - The TIN says the TraderMoni scheme is form of voter inducement in the forthcoming elections - The group maintains that the scheme is not part of manifesto of the All Progressive Congress Transparency International Nigeria (TIN), has claimed that the federal government TraderMoni scheme is a form of vote-buying in the forthcoming general elections. Awwal Rafsanjani, chairman of the observer group, made this claim while appearing as a guest on Channels Televisions Lunch Time Politics. Rafsanjani declared that the initiative is an official use of public funds in the name of TraderMoni to actually induce voters. He stated that the scheme is not a programme that was part and parcel of the manifesto of the ruling party. READ ALSO: Oby Ezekwesili withdraws from presidential race The TIN chairman said the scheme which is not a part of the constitution would have been looked at differently if had started three years ago, noting that running the exercise so close to the elections, raises all the wrong flags. Rafsanjani stated: The allegation by many Nigerians that this is clearly a case of vote buying using public funds to do that, and it goes contrary to our constitution and to having a free and fair election. He said the TraderMoni scheme goes contrary to President Buharis statement in which the President said no public fund will be used for his re-election. Rafsanjani said if the government had TraderMoni as a policy plan, they should have begun its implementation before the elections. PAY ATTENTION: Install our latest app for Android, read best news on Nigerias #1 news app He said no matter what the intention is, running TraderMoni few weeks to the election will give different signals to Nigerians across the federation, adding that if the government was sincere about the scheme, they would have started before the elections drew this close. Rafsanjani said mixing election campaign with this distribution of money is not a good move, adding that the government was ill-advised on the TraderMoni initiative. The TIN chairman, however, declared that the opposition will capitalise on the scheme as an excuse for protest, adding that clearly for him, TraderMoni is vote buying. Meanwhile, Legit.ng had reported Former President Olusegun Obasanjo who expressed disappointment in Yemi Osinbajos activities said he shew human weakness and proved the saying that the corruption of the best is the worst form of corruption. Obasanjo mocked the President Buhari-led administrations TraderMoni initiative describing it as an outrightly idiotic programme. He made the statement in an open letter titled Point for Concern and Action which he distributed to journalists at a press conference held at his house at the Olusegun Obasanjo Presidential Library, Abeokuta. NAIJ.com (naija.ng) -> Legit.ng. We have upgraded to serve you better. Nigeria Latest News: Buhari vs Atiku - 2019 Elections | Legit TV: Source: Legit Newspaper - Nigerian traders living in Ghana and Benin have praised President Muhammadu Buhari over improved services at Seme borders - The traders said that the level of security at the border has improved which has made travelling to Ghana less stressful and faster - They also said that this development will bring about economic boom for them and in turn improve their standard of living President Muhammadu Buhari and Patrice Talon, the Benin Republic head of state have been praised by the Nigerian union of traders in Ghana over improved services at Seme border. READ ALSO: NAIJ.com upgrades to Legit.ng: a letter from our Editor-in-Chief Bayo Olupohunda In a recent statement, Chief Chukwuemeka Nnaji, the president of the union said that the scope of things at Seme has taken a more positive outlook following better services by security agents at the border, Daily Trust reports. Nnaji revealed that due to the development, Nigerians now travel to Ghana spending less time with no intimidation and harassment from some officials unlike before. PAY ATTENTION: Get the Latest Nigerian News Anywhere 24/7. Spend less on the Internet! He said that he was certain that this will improve economic activities along the border which in turn would better the living standard of Nigerians who reside in the west African countries. Meanwhile, Legit.ng reported that President Nana Akufo-Addo of Ghana had assured Nigerians in his country of freedom to operate their businesses without harassment. Akufo-Addo said this on Wednesday, November 7, 2018, while receiving President Buharis special Envoy to Ghana, led by foreign affairs minister, Geoffrey Onyeama. The assurance was sequel to attacks on some Nigerian traders in Ghana in July 2018, and subsequent closure of shops owned or run by Nigerians. He urged Nigerians to go about their normal businesses in Ghana. NAIJ.com (naija.ng) -> Legit.ng: Same great journalism, upgraded for better service! What is working well and what needs improvement in Nigeria? | Legit TV Source: Legit.ng - PDP chairman has accused President Buhari and the APC of plans to truncate Nigeria's democracy following the allegation of false declaration of asset against the Chief Justice of Nigeria - Uche Secondus said the APC-led administration has perfected its plans to rig Nigeria's forthcoming 2019 presidential election - According to Secondus, the APC led by Buhari believes that an independent judiciary will obstruct their alleged rigging plan in the 2019 presidential election The national chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Uche Secondus, has condemned the call for resignation of the Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN) Walter Onnoghen by the federal government. Secondus said the alleged false declaration of asset charges levelled against Onnoghen shows that the federal government under the watch of President Muhammadu Buhari is orchestrating the destruction of democracy in Nigeria. The PDP chairman alleged that the agenda of the All Progressives Congress (APC)-led administration is to rig Nigeria's forthcoming 2019 presidential election. A statement signed by Ike Abonyi, special assistant on media and publicity to the PDP national chairman said: "The president and his team are arm twisting the code of conduct tribunal to force out the Chief Justice of Nigeria, CJN, Justice Walter Onnoghen." According to Abonyi, the APC led by President Buhari believe that an independent judiciary will obstruct their alleged rigging plan in the 2019 presidential election. READ ALSO: Tears as former CDS Air Chief Marshal Alex Badeh is laid to rest (photos, video) Abnyi said: "Prince Secondus said that the President and his team are arm twisting the code of conduct tribunal to force out the Chief Justice of Nigeria, CJN, Justice Walter Onnoghen because they believe that an independent Judiciary will obstruct their rigging plan." The statement also alleged plans to blackmail, frame up and add up fictitious figures in the CJN's bank accounts by the government and their agents. Secondus said the the ploy is aimed at destroying the envious career of a man because of desperation for power "What they are trying to do is not only illegal but a recipe for anarchy and breakdown of rule of law and must be vehemently resisted. President Buhari's inclination to non-democratic behavour is now apparent as he moves to muscle all other arms of government as well as ingredients of democracy," Secondus said. Accusing the present administration of planning to truncate democracy in Nigeria, Secondus also called on all lovers of democracy and rule of law in Nigeria to stand up to counter the alleged plan. READ ALSO: NAIJ.com upgrades to Legit.ng: a letter from our Editor-in-Chief Bayo Olupohunda He also advised the embattled CJN to disregard the directive from the executive over his resignation, stating that his trial at the CCT failed to follow the provision of the law "The agenda is not hidden, which is to truncate democracy rather than face the Nigerian electorate. "Because of what they have in stock, their nefarious plans to thwart the will of the people in the forthcoming general election, they want to raise the level of the intimidation of all critical organs of democracy, the legislature, the Judiciary including but not limited to the fourth estate of the realm, the press. "What other evidence do we need to show that threat to democracy is real and evident with President Buhari abhorring all known ingredients of democracy including rule of law," he added. Meanwhile, Legit.ng previously reported that on the resumption of his trial on Tuesday, January 22, Justice Onnoghen, represented by a senior advocate of Nigeria, Wole Olanipekun, was absent at the CCT. PAY ATTENTION: Install our latest app for Android, read best news on Nigerias #1 news app The Code of Conduct Bureau had filed a six-count charge of false assets declaration against Onnoghen, on January 14. Also during the resumed hearing, protesters stormed the CCT in Abuja on Tuesday, January 22, calling for an end to the trial of Justice Onnoghen by the CCT. The protesters in their scores held miniature Nigerian flags and banners with various inscriptions as they called for an end to the trial. NAIJ.com (naija.ng) -> Legit.ng: Same great journalism, upgraded for better service! Onnoghen's trial is politically motivated - APRJ - on Legit TV Source: Legit.ng - Nigerians have reacted to the new minimum wage approved by the federal government - The FG on Tuesday approved N27,000 as new minimum wage in Abuja - A civil servant who spoke to Legit.ng said the cut in the recommended minimum wage is a reflection of the greedy and selfish nature of the countrys political class The organised labour and some Nigerians have expressed mixed reactions over the N27,000 new minimum wage approved by the federal government on Tuesday, January 22, at the National Council of State Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC) had told the government that its would not accept anything below N30,000 for the new minimum wage. Legit.ng regional reporter, Subair Mohammed, reports that some Nigerians expressed displeasure over the cut, saying the wages of elected public officers should be cut rather than the wages for the civil servants. READ ALSO: NAIJ.com upgrades to Legit.ng: a letter from our Editor-in-Chief Bayo Olupohunda They described injustice as a situation when senators and House of representatives members were paid millions of Naira for part-time legislation in a month and public and private sectors workers that keep the economy working diligently cannot be paid N30, 000 per month. A civil servant, George Popoola, who spoke with Legit.ng, said the cut in the recommended minimum wage is a reflection of the greedy and selfish nature of the countrys political class. He said: It is like feeding on a cow head and offering its bone to others. Look at the humongous amount legislators collect monthly not to talk of billions of naira and foreign currencies that are stolen by the executives. I think if the federal government is sincere with Nigerians, they can conveniently pay the proposed amount. "Nigerian workers deserve a better deal. It is only in Nigeria that a civil servant cant afford to sponsor his childrens education not to talk of putting a well-balanced meal on the table for his family. "I am a level 8 civil servant with monthly salary of N56,000. I am living in a room self-contain with my wife and two children on the mainland. I spent at least N800 daily on transportation for 24days and I have to provide for the domestic needs of my children and wife. "If I am asked, the proposed N30, 000 minimum wage is not even enough for those the live and work in Lagos not to talk of cutting it to N27,000. "I can only pray that those that are militating against better living condition for Nigeria workers will die a miserable death because the hardship is getting harder by the day. Expressing labour position on the cut, the national president, United Labour Congress (ULC), Joe Ajaero in his interview on Wednesday, January 23, on TVC Breakfast Show, said any attempt by the federal government would not be accepted as the organised labour is eagerly expecting the president to transmit the recommendation of the tripartite committee to the National Assembly to be passed into law. He said: Both the FG and the tripartite committee have concluded on what should be the minimum wage and any other attempt to railroad any amount will not be accepted by the Organised labour. "We are expecting Mr. president to transmit the report of the tripartite committee to the National Assembly to be passed into law. Issues bordering on education, health, transportation are inevitabilities for every Nigerian. But these are not ready available for the masses. "I have to pay my children school fees, pay for my transportation, pay for my medical bills. So, if I am doing all these by myself, it will be uncharitable for anyone to ask me not to ask for a salary increase that will take care of all these needs. "We can be thinking of a low minimum wage if the government at both levels are alive to their responsibilities and other issues like good transportation, quality healthcare delivery, qualitative and free education are being taken care of but if they are not, we have to bring everything to the table. In his reaction, a Lagos-based business man, Anthony Mark, said he was bothered about the impact of the new wages on cost of goods and services. He said: The Organised Labour is flexing muscles with the Federal Government on the minimum wage. But what about those of us that are self-employed? "Our income is not increasing but daily expenditure is on the increase. For me, I dont think increasing workers salaries is the solution to the economic hardship Nigerians are facing. "The federal government should provide social amenities like accommodation, good road network, good transportation, quality education, free and quality healthcare and more. If every Nigerian has access to all these, who cares about the amount a worker is being paid? "The task before the federal government is to alleviate the suffering of the masses and not bestow on them Greek gifts that will further worsen their situation. READ ALSO: More suspicious funds allegedly found in CJN Onnoghens account Meanwhile, Legit.ng had previously reported that the Trade Union Congress of Nigeria (TUC) declared it is rejecting the N27,000 as the minimum wage approved by the National Council of State on Tuesday, January 22, even though the federal government agreed on N30,000. NAIJ.com (naija.ng) -> Legit.ng We have upgraded to serve you better. Minimum Wage: Is N30,000 Too Much for FG to Pay Workers? - Nigeria Street Gist | - on Legit TV Source: Legit Rome, January 24 - Catania magistrates on Thursday requested authorization to proceed with a case in which Deputy Premier and Interior Minister Matteo Salvini is accused of kidnapping for refusing to allow over 100 migrants saved by the Coast Guard to get off the Diciotti ship during a 10-day stand-off with the EU in August. The request was made even though prosecutors in the Sicilian city had requested the case be dropped. "They are trying again," League leader Salvini, who has brought in a hard line on migrants that has seen NGO-run rescue ships denied access to Italy's ports, said in a live Facebook broadcast. "Once again I am under investigation for kidnapping people and minors, with a possible term of between three and 15 years. "I wouldn't get that even if I were a drug dealer or a rapist. "Now it's up to the Senate and the Senators will have to say yes or no, free or innocent, trial or not. "But I say right away that my position is not changing one centimetre. "I ask the Italian people if they think I should keep being minister, exercising rights and duties, or if should ask this court or another about immigration policy. "I admit it, I confess it and I stand by it - I stopped the disembarkment. "And I declare myself guilty of the crimes of the coming months, because I'm not changing". Salvini also commened on the decision by a ship run by the Sea-Watch NGO to head towards Italy with 47 rescued asylum seekers on board, calling it an "umpteenth provocation". Sea-Watch says that it desperately needs a port of safety after rescuing the asylum seekers on Saturday. It said via Twitter that it was heading towards Italy to seek shelter because of a violent storm with seven-metre high waves. Fellow Deputy Premier and Labour and Industry Minister Luigi Di Maio said the Sea-Watch ship should go to France. "The Sea-Watch NGO ship, which is sailing towards Sicily, will have medical and sanitary support from the Italian government if necessary," 5-Star Movement (M5S) leader Di Maio said via Facebook. "After that, I invite it to point the bow towards Marseilles and get the people to disembark on French soil instead of pointlessly waiting in Italian waters for days". Ancona, January 24 - Marche Governor Luca Ceriscioli on Thursday said the region has filed a lawsuit against Interior Minister Matteo Salvini's security and migration decree. "Fortunately there is still a charter that recalls for us in a clear way the principles with which people in this country are to be treated," Ceriscioli said. "We believe the security decree violates numerous points in the constitutional charter," he said. Panama, January 24 - The Catholic Church should be humble and poor, not arrogant, Pope Francis said in Panama Thursday. "In the Church Christ lives among us, and so it must be humble and poor, because an arrogant Church, a Church full of pride, a self-sufficient Church is not the Church of 'kenosis', he said, using a word meaning 'emptying out'. Addressing central American bishops, Francis recalled the thinking of St Oscar Romero, assassinated by death squads in 1980, who said the kenosis of Christ highlighted the need for a humble and poor Church, at the service of an impoverished and oppressed people. Saint Oscar Romero (15 August 1917 - 24 March 1980) was a prelate of the Catholic Church in El Salvador who served as the fourth Archbishop of San Salvador. He spoke out against poverty, social injustice, assassinations, and torture. In 1980, Romero was assassinated while celebrating Mass in the chapel of the Hospital of Divine Providence. Though no one was ever convicted for the crime, investigations by the UN-created Truth Commission for El Salvador concluded that the extreme right-wing politician, founder of ARENA and death squad leader Roberto D'Aubuisson had given the order. Rome, January 24 - Premier Giuseppe Conte said Wednesday he was concerned over the escalation of violence in Venezuela as President Nicolas Maduro fights back after congress head Juan Guaido swore himself in as interim head of state with the support of the United States and some major Latin American nations. "I am following developments in Venezuela and I express strong concern for the risks of an escalation in violence," said Conte. "We are close to the Venezuelan people and at the side of the Italian community in the country. "I hope for a democratic process that will respect freedom of expression and the popular will". Living check to check: Im just watching TV now and it shows you how messed up the government is. They got government people are living check to check. And they havent worked in two months. Some of these people who dont work for the government make $10 or $11 an hour. Now they know what its like to live check by check. Im working three jobs to make ends meet. I do what I have to do to survive. I make $300 a month, and I have to get a food card. I have to go to the church to get food. The whole world is messed up. Everything is about money. I feel sorry for the United States. Reggio Emilia, January 24 - A 23-year-old Italian woman was raped by two men in Reggio Emilia in September, the Resto del Carlino newspaper reported Thursday. One of the two was a 45-year-old Moroccan who was arrested Wednesday, it said. The woman, who has since given birth, is still being treated for post-traumatic stress. The identity of the second man is unknown. Perugia, January 24 - Amanda Knox said Thursday she hoped the European Court of Human Rights ruling that her rights were breached in the Meredith Kercher murder case "will be the last legal affair linked to this story". The American former exchange student in Perugia was informed of the decision by her lawyer via Skype to her home in Seattle, where she almost broke into tears at the verdict. Lawyer Carlo della Vedova said Knox's conviction and eventual acquittal in the death of her housemate was "the biggest mistake in Italian judicial history in 50 years, also considering the media clamour aroused by the affair". "Huge damage was done to this girl," he said. In a long post on her website, Knox repeated that she had been questioned for 53 years without a lawyer or interpreter, and had been slapped on the head while police shouted "Remember!" at her. She said she and former Italian boyfriend Raffaele Sollecito, who was also convicted and later cleared, had been subjected to "psychological torture and abuse". While finding that her defence rights were violated, the ECHR found that "it did not have any evidence to show that Ms Knox had been subjected to the inhuman or degrading treatment of which she had complained". It did not deal with Knox's complaint against a conviction for allegedly smearing an innocent man, Perugia bar manager Patrick Lumumba, for the crime. Knox has always said her pointing the finger at Lumumba was a result of her allegedly violent and exhausting questioning by police. Lumumba spent two weeks in jail before being released. Vatican City, January 24 - There is too much disinformation and distortion of facts on the Internet, Pope Francis said Thursday. "If the Internet represents an extraordinary possibility of access to knowledge," the pope said, "it's true that it has also revealed itself to be one of the places most exposed to disinformation and conscious and targeted distortion of facts and interpersonal relations, which often assume the form of discredit". The pope warned against "the manipulatory use of personal data, aimed at gaining advantages on the political and economic plane" and for young people against the fact that "one child in four is involved in episodes of cyber bullying". The pope also called for a halt to the use of social media to "foment hatred and prejudice". "They too often give space to suspicion and the venting of all types of prejudice (ethnic, sexual, religious and others)," he said. "This tendency fuels groups that exclude heterogeneity, that fuel in the digital milieu too an unbridled individualism, ending up sometimes in fomenting spirals of hate". Rome, January 24 - President Sergio Mattarella warned on Thursday that the hatefulness that caused the Holocaust could return. He compared this "evil" to a "deadly virus" that is "hidden in the gutters of society, in the hidden folds of ideology, in the blinding darkness of stereotypes and prejudice". He said it was "ready to reawaken, to strike, to infect, to destroy, as soon the the conditions reoccur", during a ceremony at the presidential palace for 'Women of the Shoah' ahead of Holocaust Remembrance Day on Sunday. "Acts of anti-Semitism and racism, inspired by old doctrines and new, perverse ideologies, are increasing in Italy and around the world," the head of State continued. "It's true that they are minorities. But they are minorities that are increasingly out in the open, that astutely exploit modern forms of communication, that poisonously worm their way into stadiums, schools and situations of distress". Rome, January 24 - Deputy Premier and Interior Minister Matteo Salvini on Thursday said the decision by a ship run by the Sea-Watch NGO to head towards Italy with 47 rescued asylum seekers on board was an "umpteenth provocation". He added that the government's stance of refusing access to NGO-run migrant rescue ships was not changing. Sea-Watch says that it desperately needs a port of safety after rescuing the asylum seekers on Saturday. It said via Twitter that it was heading towards Italy to seek shelter because of a violent storm with seven-metre high waves. Fellow Deputy Premier and Labour and Industry Minister Luigi Di Maio said the Sea-Watch ship should go to France. "The Sea-Watch NGO ship, which is sailing towards Sicily, will have medical and sanitary support from the Italian government if necessary," 5-Star Movement (M5S) leader Di Maio said via Facebook. "After that, I invite it to point the bow towards Marseilles and get the people to disembark on French soil instead of pointlessly waiting in Italian waters for days". Rome, January 24 - Graffiti saying 'Don't shoot a round, shoot Salvini' was found on a wall in Milan on Thursday. The graffiti targeting Deputy Premier and Interior Minister Matteo Salvini was flanked by the anarchist symbol of a letter A inside a circle. Crime scene investigators are gathering evidence, sources said. Rome, January 24 - One month after an operation at Rome's Bambino Gesu Hospital on a 20-month-old child affected by a rare genetic disease, the bone-marrow transplant from his parents using an innovative manipulation of stem cells has been successful and the child is in "good condition", doctors at the Vatican-run pediatric hospital said Thursday. Alessandro Maria Montresor, known as Alex, will be leaving the hospital in the next few hours after the transplant treatment was concluded "in a positive way". The father's cells, which were manipulated and then infused, "have taken root perfectly", the hospital also said. The Italian boy suffering from a grave genetic disorder, travelled to Italy last November from London's Great Ormond Street Hospital to be treated at the Bambino Gesu Hospital to have a bone-marrow transplant from his parents. The transplant was carried out on December 20. The father's cells, which were manipulated and infused, one month after the transplant "have taken root perfectly, adequately repopulating the hematopoietic and immune system of the patient", the hospital said. No complications were registered over the four weeks following the transplant and therefore the transplant can be considered to have concluded successfully, it said. The life-saving drug treatment (emapalumab) that was used to keep the disease under control by regulating the child's immune system was suspended last week, doctors said. Alex had a rare condition said to affect just 0.002% of children, hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis, commonly known as Hly. Alex was born in London where his Italian parents live and work. Davos, January 24 - European Economic Affairs Commissioner Pierre Moscovici said Thursday that the impact on Italy's public finances will need to be assessed if the country's growth is not as high as was previously forecast this year. The European Commission forecast in the autumn that Italy's GDP would increase by 1.2% in 2019, double the level of 0.6% recently given in revised-down forecasts by the Bank of Italy and the IMF. The lower growth prospects have led to speculation that Rome may have to pass a corrective budget, although government figures have ruled this out. Moscovici told Mediaset television that, while he could not say what the EC's new growth forecast for Italy would be, "usually our estimates are not very different to those of the other international institutions". "We'll have to evaluate the consequences in the case of a deterioration," he added. Rome, January 24 - The League and the 5-Star Movement (M5S) have reached an agreement over offshore drilling, an issue that has reportedly caused tension within the ruling coalition, sources said on Thursday. Deputy Premier and Labour and Industry Minister Luigi Di Maio's M5S has expressed opposition to offshore drilling and on Wednesday Environment Minister Sergio Costa said he would not sign permits for new projects. Fellow Deputy Premier, Interior Minister Matteo Salvini's League has criticised this and the M5S's opposition to other infrastructure projects. The issue of offshore drilling features in the government's simplification decree that is being examined in the Senate. According to the agreement, offshore drilling fees will increase 25 fold and hydrocarbon research will be suspended for 18 months, the sources said. League sources confirmed that the deal had been reached but added that irritation was growing about the "party of noes". The League sources said that "jobs have been saved, the continuation of extraction activities and the renewal of the deferred concessions has been guaranteed" while adding that "the policy of saying no to everything is not good for the country". Easy access USA: This goes back approximately 20 years, but its the thought. I visited a friend who lived in Yuma, Ariz. While visiting, we went to Mexico, crossed over to the Mexican border and we did some shopping. We were really checked out for ID going into Mexico. Coming back to the USA we just walked across the border. Another example is a trip to Niagara Falls. We traveled into Canada when our children were young. Again, we were really checked for ID. They took a bottle of fruit juice the children were drinking and would not let us take it across the border. But when coming back to the USA, we just drove in and nobody checked our ID. Hopefully those checkpoints are tighter of checking ID now. The town always supported me. I had a good business built out there so when (the landlord) said it was available again, I said, Yeah, that would be cool, Alevras said. My cousin had always wanted to have a restaurant so he came on board. I dont really go to the mall too often, but Ive never thought it wasnt safe, Natalie Harrison said near the 143rd Street Metra station. I thought they said this was some sort of fight and not a random shooting. Something like that could happen pretty much anywhere. The city will purchase a step van for use by the city Water Department to deal with instances of broken water mains. The city will spend $50,356, with another $6,000 to alter the existing vehicle for the citys specific use. Lynch Truck Center of Waterford, Wis., is selling the vehicle to the city. The residents of the Village of Posen are a diverse group of people who take pride in their reputation of being hard working men and women of honor and integrity and we here in Posen will not let the abhorrent acts by one former defeated official harm the wonderful reputation we have rightfully earned, Podbielniak said, adding that the village looked forward to the return of any funds found to have been embezzled by Schupek. Miller will use the tax advocate office, which will be relocated to currently-empty space within City Hall while walls are erected in the rear of the council chambers to create another private office for Miller. Mayor Henry Kuspa said the agreement also will permit Miller to use the council chambers for meetings related to Cook County government. Auburn, IN (46706) Today Cloudy skies during the morning hours followed by scattered showers and thunderstorms in the afternoon. Gusty winds and small hail are possible. High 83F. Winds WSW at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 40%.. Tonight Scattered thunderstorms in the evening. Partly cloudy skies overnight. Low 64F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 50%. Angola, IN (46703) Today Scattered showers and thunderstorms. Gusty winds and small hail are possible. High 82F. Winds WSW at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 40%.. Tonight Isolated thunderstorms during the evening hours. Skies will become partly cloudy overnight. Low 61F. Winds NW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 30%. Kendallville, IN (46755) Today A few isolated thunderstorms developing during the afternoon. Gusty winds and small hail are possible. High 83F. Winds WSW at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 40%.. Tonight Partly to mostly cloudy skies with scattered thunderstorms before midnight. Low 63F. Winds NW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 40%. Sanjeev Khagram, dean and director general of Thunderbird School of Global Management at Arizona State University, expresses his hope to gather students from all around the world through the Thunderbird Seoul Office in Myeong-dong, during an interview with The Korea Times at the office, Wednesday. / Courtesy of Shinil Education Foundation By Jung Hae-myoung Thunderbird School of Global Management, an international business school at Arizona State University in Phoenix, opened its office in Seoul, Thursday. Sanjeev Khagram, the dean and director general of Thunderbird School, said he hopes to build important relationships with South Korean companies and government agencies. The office is the school's second in Asia, following the first one in Japan. Seoul was selected for its location as it was deemed one of the 20 major cities around the world that has a large economy, strong market and growing population, Khagram said. "We feel we uniquely provide the education today's global leaders need. But we don't just want people to come as much as Phoenix. We believe we have to get out to the world," Khagram told The Korea Times. The office will act as a bridge for Korea and Thunderbird, providing online courses in which students can get digital degrees and helping company employees take business programs. With the Seoul office as a base, Thunderbird School plans to reach out to other Asian countries to recruit students from Vietnam, Cambodia and maybe even North Korea in the future. "Places we have selected are those that have huge impact on not only its own country but the region and often times globally," he said. "For any Korean students, whether young, professional, or leaders who want to have greater access, we believe we could do anything that Thunderbird could offer." As a critical asset to become a global leader in this century, Khagram highlighted the school's mission to promote and advance sustainable prosperity around the world. He mentioned his personal background of Indian heritage, and his experience as a refugee that impacted him greatly in deliberating about sustainable prosperity. His parents were some of the wealthiest people in Uganda, but lost everything when they fled from the dictatorship and landed in the United States. "They made sure we had the opportunity to study and become successful, but also taught us to give back, because you can be successful and wealthy but things can always change overnight like what happened to us," he said. As a global economist, Khagram explains the key to sustainable prosperity has three parts: holistic point of view, hard and soft skills and leadership characteristics. "We believe we need many more people with a combination of skills, not only leadership skill and understanding of the global economy and technology but also language and culture," he said. Thunderbird School, headquartered in Phoenix, Arizona, was selected as No. 1 Master in Management ranking by Wall Street Journal for 2019. Creating spaces that are truly inclusive does come with a higher price tag, Smith said. Dream Build Play Experience has worked with our teachers, staff and students to design truly amazing spaces, and we are hopeful that with the additional support of generous donors who share in our goal of true inclusivity, we can make this dream become a reality. Even people who don't know much about classical music will recognize it when they hear it because the music is used in ads and movies all the time, Sitzer said. However, the version of Pictures that is most played is the orchestral arrangement even though the piece was originally written for solo piano, it's actually somewhat rare to hear a live performance of it that way and with Natashas particular commitment to the piece, this will make for a very special evening. The concerts smaller setting is also rather rare. Im trying not to have any preconceived ideas, he said. Im trying really hard to absorb as much as possible from the scientists. Its a process, and its going to take a little time to dissect whats going on at Fermilab. * Vedanta Resources will invest up to 600 billion Indian rupees ($8.42 billion) in India in the next three years, Chairman Anil Agarwal told TV channel ET Now. * Vedanta, which is looking to expand its zinc business in India and Africa, is targeting a total annual global production of the metal of 2 million tonnes, Agarwal told ET Now. * The oil-to-metals conglomerate, which operates in India through its unit Vedanta Ltd , plans to invest $3 billion in oil and gas, he said. * The company is also looking to produce 1,400 tonnes of silver in India, he said, adding that he is also looking to set up a glass manufacturing unit in Maharashtra, India's most industrial state. * Vedanta is committed to invest $1.5 billion in South Africa, Agarwal said, without specifying a timeline. * The company is currently out of the race to acquire debt-laden Essar Steel, he said. * Willing to buy remaining stakes in Hindustan Zinc Ltd and Bharat Aluminium Co Ltd whenever the government is ready to disinvest, Agarwal said. ($1 = 71.2550 Indian rupees) (Reporting by Sudarshan Varadhan; editing by Christian Schmollinger) LONDON, Jan 24 (Reuters) - Britain expects that it will have most of the agreements it needs to replicate existing trade deals between the European Union and third countries ready by the end of March, trade department minister George Hollingbery said on Thursday. With just over two months until March 29 Brexit day, parliament is at an impasse over how and even whether Britain should leave the world's biggest trading bloc, increasing the risk of a no-deal exit with no provisions to soften the economic shock. The government has said it hopes to roll over around 40 EU free-trade agreements with third countries by the time Britain leaves the bloc. It has said it has reached continuity agreements with Switzerland and Israel as well as mutual recognition agreements with Australia and New Zealand, but Hollingbery said the government had not yet formally signed any free trade deals. "I believe that the majority of those will be in place by March 29," he told parliament. "Some of them are challenging, one or two are even more than challenging - they are close to impossible," he added, citing Turkey as one such difficult country as it is part of a customs union with the European Union. Trade minister Liam Fox has said there is "a pipeline of agreements" to be signed in the coming weeks and is meeting his counterparts from around the world at the World Economic Forum in Davos to push them to agree to replicate the deals. Fox said some trade partners had been slow in coming to an agreement because they were underestimating the chance of Britain leaving without a deal at the end of March. May's exit deal with Brussels was rejected by a large majority in parliament last week, and lawmakers are due to debate the way forward on Jan. 29. Hollingbery said that if a deal were reached by March 29, the "time pressure" would be reduced on rolling over trade agreements because of a transition period with the EU due to last until December 2020. (Reporting by Kylie MacLellan; editing by Stephen Addison) DAVOS, Switzerland (Reuters) - Consumer spending and business optimism remains strong in the United States despite disruption in the global economy because of trade wars and the U.S. government shutdown, Bank of America (BAC.N) Chief Executive Brian Moynihan said on Thursday. Based on experts and consumer activity (this month), it looks like a solid year for the U.S., though less growth than last year, Moynihan told a panel discussion at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. However David Rubenstein, co-executive chairman of Carlyle Group (CG.O), told the same panel that if the shutdown continued much longer, it could really impair the economy of the United States.. Rubenstein also said Britains decision to exit the European Union was still a cause for concern, with uncertainty over the ripple effects on the global economy. LONDON (Reuters) - Oil fell on Thursday as concern over the global economy reasserted itself, reversing earlier price gains made on the potential for U.S. sanctions on Venezuela. Brent crude futures LCOc1 were down 39 cents at $60.75 a barrel by 1150 GMT, while West Texas Intermediate (WTI) futures CLc1 fell 26 cents to $52.36. An unexpected rise in U.S. crude inventories reported the day before eclipsed possible U.S. sanctions on the Venezuelan oil sector. Investors at present perceive oil supply to be fairly tight relative to demand, but given concern over the longer-term outlook for global economic growth, bullish drivers have been short-lived in the last couple of weeks. The chances for another down-day are not bad at all if you believe the confirmation of last nights (U.S. inventory) stats by the EIA this afternoon will actually put further downward pressure on prices. According to the API, all major categories built, PVM Oil Associates strategist Tamas Varga said. The American Petroleum Institute said on Wednesday U.S. crude inventories rose by 6.6 million barrels in the latest week, versus expectations for a fall of 42,000 barrels. [API/] The U.S. Energy Information Administration reports official figures later on Thursday. [EIA/S] Earlier, oil hit a session high of $61.38 after the United States said it could impose sanctions on Venezuelas crude exports as the Latin American country descends further into turmoil. Venezuelan oil is predominantly heavy crude, which requires extensive refining, and as such, is frequently blended with lighter crudes to give refiners higher-value products. With Iran already crippled by U.S. sanctions on its oil, a further drop in Venezuelan exports could squeeze global supply and rapidly push up prices. The potential is that the U.S. is starting to put things in motion and the risk for an acceleration in the decline in production from Venezuela is increasing, Petromatrix strategist Olivier Jakob said. For now, its not being fully priced in, but I think this does provide a new upside risk for the market. Neither the Brent nor the WTI contract, both of which are backed by light, sweet crude, are linked directly to Venezuelan oil. But evidence of the concern around supply of heavy crudes is apparent in the U.S. physical market, where prices for Mars Sour WTC-MRS, a medium crude, shot to their highest since early 2011 this week. (Graphic: Venezuela's crude exports and US crude prices - tmsnrt.rs/2S57l4p) Concern about the U.S. trade war with China, as well as slower European growth and more fragile emerging economies, has undermined confidence in the oil market in the last few months. (Updates with closing prices, adds column) By Peter Hobson LONDON, Jan 24 (Reuters) - Aluminium prices fell on Thursday from the previous session's four-week high as worries over the effect of a Chinese economic slowdown outweighed signs of tight supply. On-warrant stocks of aluminium available to the market in London Metal Exchange-registered warehouses tumbled to 848,650 tonnes from more than a million tonnes a week ago. The drawdowns helped to lift the LME's benchmark aluminium contract by 7 percent from a two-year low in early January, but it closed down 1 percent at $1,890.50 a tonne. Fears that demand for metal in top consumer China will fall are holding back metals prices, said Societe Generale analyst Robin Bhar. "I really don't see that changing without a breakthrough in trade talks (between China and the United States), a weaker dollar or Chinese stimulus measures," he said. However, he predicted that prices would rise to $1,950-$2,000 a tonne by the end of March if there were no escalation in the U.S.-China trade conflict. TRADE WAR: The United States and China are "miles and miles" from resolving trade issues but there is a fair chance the two countries will get a deal, U.S. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross said ahead of talks in Washington next week. CHINA: China's economy can maintain sustainable rates of growth despite global uncertainties, Vice President Wang Qishan said. COLUMN: Global aluminium production growth brakes sharply in 2018: Andy Home DOLLAR: The U.S. currency continued to recover towards December's 18-month high. A stronger dollar makes metals more expensive for buyers with other currencies, pressuring prices. ZINC: Benchmark LME zinc ended up 0.8 percent at $2,640 a tonne after touching a seven-week high. On-warrant zinc stocks in LME warehouses tumbled to 67,725 tonnes, down from 117,075 tonnes at the start of January and the lowest since 2007. Exacerbating fears of low availability of metal is LME data showing two entities between them hold most LME zinc warrants. Cash zinc still commands a premium over the three-month contract, suggesting nearby supplies are tight. But at $8.50 a tonne, the premium is far from a recent high of $125. TIN: LME tin finished up 1.1 percent at $20,925 a tonne after reaching a seven-month high. Headline LME inventories fell to a record low of 975 tonnes, down from about 3,000 tonnes in mid-December and enough to cover only one day of global demand, according to Commerzbank analysts. One entity holds 50-79 percent of LME tin warrants and the premium of cash tin over three-month metal has surged to nine-month highs above $100 this month. OTHER METALS: LME copper closed down 0.5 percent at $5,922 a tonne, lead gained 2.3 percent to $2,073 and nickel rose 0.6 percent to $11,770. <^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ Top Base and Precious Metals Analysis - GFMS ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^> (Additional reporting by Melanie Burton in MELBOURNE and Tom Daly in BEIJING Editing by Jon Boyle and Elaine Hardcastle) LME price overview COMEX copper futures Base metals news All metals news All commodities news Metals diary Foreign exchange rates SPEED GUIDES )) (Kitco News) - Gold and silver prices are moderately lower in early U.S. trading Thursday, pressure by outside forces that include a stronger U.S. dollar, lower crude oil prices and firmer U.S. stock indexes. Some technical selling is also likely occurring in both metals, as their near-term chart postures have deteriorated a bit recently. February gold futures were last down $5.50 an ounce at $1,278.50. March Comex silver was down $0.085 at $15.29 an ounce. The European Central Banks regular monetary policy meeting just ended with no change in policy, as expected. Traders are now awaiting ECB President Mario Draghis press conference. European and Asian stock markets were mixed but mostly higher overnight. U.S. stock indexes are pointed toward slightly higher openings when the New York day session begins. Traders and investors pointed to generally upbeat U.S. corporate earnings reports as supporting buying interest in equities, which has pushed the U.S. indexes to four-week highs this week. The U.S. indexes remain in near-term price uptrends on the daily bar charts. In other overnight news, the Euro zone Markit purchasing managers index (PMI) showed a composite reading of 50.7 in January from 51.1 in December. Thats yet another sign of a gradually slowing Euro zone economy. The January PMI reading was the lowest in five years. Reports overnight said the Microsoft search engine Bing has disappeared from Chinas internet users screens. China heavily censors the internet. This wont help U.S.-China trade relations when the two sides hold high-level trade talks in Washington, D.C., next week. The partial U.S. government shutdown drags on, along with the lack of U.S. economic data to drive many markets. A top Trump administration economic advisor on Wednesday said the shutdown could prompt zero growth in the U.S. economy in the first quarter of 2019. The outside markets today see the U.S. dollar index trading higher. Meantime, Nymex crude oil prices are slightly lower and trading around $52.50 a barrel. Political turmoil in Venezuela, including the U.S. recognizing the opposition leader as leader of the country, is a potentially bullish element for the oil market. The U.S. may sanction Venezuelan oil exports. U.S. economic data due for release Thursday includes the weekly jobless claims report, the U.S. flash services PMI, the U.S. flash manufacturing PMI, leading economic indicators, the Kansas City Fed manufacturing survey, and the weekly DOE liquid energy stocks report. Technically, the gold bulls have the overall near-term technical advantage but have faded recently. Prices are still in a two-month-old uptrend on the daily bar chart, but just barely. Bulls next upside price objective is to produce a close in February futures above solid resistance at $1,300.00. Bears' next near-term downside price breakout objective is pushing prices below solid technical support at $1,260.00. First resistance is seen at this weeks high of $1,286.00 and then at $1,292.20. First support is seen at this weeks low of $1,276.00 and then at $1,270.00. Wyckoff's Market Rating: 6.0 March silver futures bulls are fading. Silver bulls' next upside price breakout objective is closing prices above solid technical resistance at the January high of $15.955 an ounce. The next downside price breakout objective for the bears is closing prices below solid support at $15.00. First resistance is seen at this weeks high of $15.445 and then at $15.60. Next support is seen at this weeks low of $15.195 and then at $15.00. Wyckoff's Market Rating: 5.5. By Andy Home LONDON, Jan 24 (Reuters) - Global aluminium production grew at its slowest pace in a decade in 2018, and most of that was in the first half of the year. Output totalled 64.34 million tonnes, according to the International Aluminium Institute (IAI), up by just 1.5 percent on 2017. Production did no more than flat-line over the second half of 2018. It was the weakest production performance since 2009, when the industry was battered by the global financial crisis, a collapse in prices and multiple smelter closures. Even China, the world's dominant producer, ran out of expansion steam last year with growth of 1.6 percent, while the rest of the world managed just 1.4 percent. For the world outside China it was a year of unusually high disruption rates but for smelters everywhere the real problem is price. As articulated by U.S. producer Alcoa last week, at current prices some 30-40 percent of the world's smelters are losing money. CHINESE ALUMINIUM MACHINE STUTTERS The IAI's assessment of Chinese production last year jars with the official figures from China's National Bureau of Statistics (NBS). The NBS figures suggest China's output surged to a record high of 3.050 million tonnes in December with full-year output apparently up 7.4 percent. This is a "record" only within the troubled parameters of the official count, which started losing credibility some time during Beijing's "illegal" capacity closure campaign of 2017. The IAI now compiles its own estimate with inputs from three Chinese research companies -- Aladdiny, Antaike and China Nonferrous Metals Industry Association -- as well as international research house CRU Group. The difference between the NBS figures and those published by the IAI is dramatic. The IAI's estimate of Chinese production in 2017 was 3.65 million tonnes higher than that of the NBS. The gap last year was a still significant 700,000 tonnes. That's a lot of aluminium to go statistically missing, creating an element of double vision in trying to figure out how much metal the world's largest producer is actually producing. The IAI's version of Chinese smelting reality is more internally consistent and tallies better with the accumulating evidence of smelter curtailments towards the end of last year as Shanghai prices sank to two-year lows. Smelter margin compression is proving a more powerful driver of short-term production trends than the winter heating season restrictions but these haven't totally disappeared either, witness the expected 500,000-tonne hit to Hongqiao Group ordered by the city of Binzhou in Shandong province. The fact that Chinese production grew at all last year is a reminder that new capacity is still being brought on line. SMELTER HITS Outside of China production growth was dampened by an unusually high level of disruption. Latin American output has been in long-term decline for a decade but dropped another 15 percent in 2018 due to a 50 percent curtailment of the 450,000-tonne per year Albras smelter in Brazil. Hydro , which operates the plant, has trimmed operating rates to match lower supplies of alumina from its Alunorte refinery, currently operating at half capacity as mandated by a Brazilian court on environmental grounds. In North America, capacity restarts by Alcoa, Century Aluminum and Magnitude 7 Metals (the old New Madrid smelter) were completely offset by the loss of production from the Becancour smelter in Canada. A union lock-out has been running for more than a year and production at the smelter fell to 136,000 tonnes in 2018 from 438,000 tonnes in 2017, according to minority owner Rio Tinto. Alcoa, majority owner and plant operator, said in December it would curtail half of the one line still operating at the plant to align it with the number of salaried employees remaining. The Becancour impact translated into North American production falling for the fifth straight year, recording an annual drop of 4.5 percent. There were smaller outages at the Dunkirk plant in France and Hillside in South Africa earlier in the year, both of which served to reduce marginally output in those regions. The only area of significant geographical growth was the IAI's non-China Asia region, which captures the continued build-out of capacity in India. And despite grabbing many of the year's headlines, U.S. sanctions on Russia's Rusal appear to have had no impact whatsoever on the company's smelter operating rates. Eastern European production last year came in at 4.05 million tonnes, up 1.25 percent on 2017. WHAT NEXT FOR 2019? So what to expect this year? Given the unusually high number of disruptions to plants in the Western World last year, it seems likely output will pick up some momentum this year, particularly given the cumulative effect of U.S. restarts. But the bigger question, as always with aluminium, is what happens in China, which accounted for 57 percent of global production in 2018. There appears to be something of a backlog of permitted capacity waiting to come online but the pace of activation is going to be heavily dependent on market conditions. It is quite clear from the bombed-out Shanghai price and the scale of China's exports of semi-fabricated products last year that 2018 was a particularly weak year for Chinese demand. A downturn in both the automotive sector and construction completions, both closely correlated with aluminium usage, was exacerbated by the simmering trade dispute with the United States. A weaker pricing environment and evident over-supply in the Chinese market is going to restrain output growth. The government, meanwhile, remains focused on over-capacity in the sector. "While the Central Economic Work Conference in December implicitly relaxed supply-side restrictions in a number of industries, aluminium was one specifically called out as still having excess capacity," analysts at BMO Capital Markets wrote. ("Aluminium: Can a record deficit really feel this bad?", Jan. 8, 2019). China's aluminium production, to quote Wood Mackenzie, "is not going to fall off a cliff in 2019". Equally, it is becoming increasingly clear that years of unfettered expansion with double-digit growth are in the past. (Editing by Edmund Blair) Billionaire Sam Zell just announced that he bought gold for the very first time in his life because, as he puts it, it is a good hedge. In a recent Bloomberg interview, the Equity International founder and creator of the real estate investment trust (REIT) admitted to seeing an opportunity in golds increasing supply shortage. For the first time in my life, I bought gold because it is a good hedge, Zell, 77, told Bloomberg. Supply is shrinking, and that is going to have a positive impact on the price. He added: The amount of capital being put into gold mines is at most nonexistent. All of the money is being used to buy up rivals. I believe Zells reasons for investing in gold are sound, and Ive discussed them in detail a number of times before. Supply is indeed shrinking. The low-hanging fruit has likely already been mined, and its become prohibitively expensive for many companies to look for large-scale deposits, to say nothing of developing them. As you can see below, the number of ounces in major discoveries has been falling for years, and exploration budgets are still far below the 2012 peak. click to enlarge We Believe Supply-Demand Fundamentals Look Constructive As if to confirm Zells reasoning, the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (CIBC) forecast in a report this week that a gold deficit will emerge in 2019 on the back of stronger demand over the next two years, primarily from bar hoarding, net central bank buying and exchange-traded products (ETFs). Peak production, according to the bank, will occur in 2021 at close to 34 million ounces, but then decline to under 16 million ounces by 2030. click to enlarge Demand isnt abating, though. Were seeing appetite grow for the precious metal, not just from investors but also central banks, which have been net buyers since 2010. According to CIBC, several central banks stepped back into the market last year, most notably the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), which until recently has expressed negative sentiment around gold purchases. CIBC raised its gold price forecast this year to $1,350 an ounce, up from $1,300. The bank is also looking for $1,400 an ounce in 2020. But These Gold Miners Could Be Even More Effective as a Store of Value As attractive as I think gold bullion looks right now, there could be some incredible opportunities in gold equities, which are extremely discounted compared to the S&P 500 Index. Among CIBCs favorite gold equities are Agnico Eagle, Wheaton Precious Metals, B2Gold and SSR Miningall of which we own in either our Gold and Precious Metals Fund (USERX) or World Precious Minerals Fund (UNWPX). And in an article dated January 22, Bloomberg analysts David Stringer, Ranjeetha Pakiam and Danielle Bochove point out that a good place to look for gold equities could be mid-sized producers, which have outperformed both bullion and the entire global mining industry. For the 12-month period as of January 18, four miners in particularKirkland Lake Gold, Northern Star, Evolution and OceanaGoldall posted double-digit performance. By contrast, the Bloomberg World Mining Index was down more than 20 percent. click to enlarge Northern Star, one of the top holdings in USERX as of December 31, was up 54 percent for the 12-month period. The Australian producer had a phenomenal fiscal year 2018, with net profit up a respectable 3 percent even as the price of gold was in decline. Dividend payouts were raised 6 percent. And the company continues to carry no debt. Consolidation in the Goldfields Sam Zells other pointabout miners allocating their capital not to projects right now but to acquisitionsis also well-made. Indeed, industry consolidation is beginning to happen, which could possibly signal that the industry has found a bottom. Back in September, mining giants Barrick Gold and Randgold Resources announced a deal worth $6.5 billion, making the worlds largest gold producer by annual output. That record will stand for only four months, as Newmont Mining just made public its own plan to buy rival Goldcorp for $10 billion. The next deal to surface could be nearly as large. Its now rumored that South African producers Gold Fields and AngloGold Ashanti are interested in merging. Although the rumor has not yet been confirmed, Gold Fields CEO Nick Holland said in an interview this month that if you are going to survive in the long term, you are going to have to look at consolidation. With combined output of 6 million ounces in 2017, a Gold Fields-AngloGold merger would create the worlds third largest producer after Newmont-Goldcorp (7.9 million ounces) and New Barrick (6.6 million ounces). Gold Fields, which we own in the Gold and Precious Metals Fund (USERX), was up as much as 4.19 percent in New York trading on Tuesday on the news. From its 52-week low in September, the South African company has now risen a remarkable 78 percent. Kingstree, SC (29556) Today Mostly cloudy skies. Hot. High 91F. Winds SW at 10 to 15 mph.. Tonight Cloudy with occasional rain after midnight. Low around 70F. Winds SW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 80%. CEDAR FALLS, Iowa (AP) Sen. Joni Ernst on Wednesday denied allegations leveled by her ex-husband that she had an affair with a subordinate while she served in the military. The Iowa Republican answered questions from reporters about that and other allegations at a town hall event on the University of Northern Iowa campus in Cedar Falls, the Des Moines Register reported . In the court documents, Ernst's ex-husband, Gail Ernst, accused her of having an affair with one of her soldiers while she was deployed as a company commander. She said Wednesday that she cares "about all of my soldiers" that the allegation was not true. Ernst also accused her ex-husband in divorce documents of having an affair and physically assaulting her during an argument before she was elected to the Senate. Gail Ernst denied in court documents that he had an affair, but the abuse allegations were not addressed. A working phone number for him could not be found, and his attorney on Tuesday declined to comment. Joni Ernst said Wednesday at the event that she believed the court documents would be sealed from the public and was caught off guard by news reports on the allegations. In an emotional interview with the Register, Ernst said she has always been a strong supporter of survivors of domestic violence and sexual assault. She said people will now likely view that work as coming from not just a lawmaker but also a survivor of abuse. "What I want to remind everybody is that I'm still the same person I was a week ago," she said, her voice breaking as she sought to hold back tears. "The only difference is that you know more about me now than you did a week ago." Ernst, 48, has indicated she'll run for a second six-year Senate term in 2020. MASON CITY, Iowa- It is sure to be a hot topic. I just think theres more temptation to have outside shootings, said Kim Frank waiting for her kid to get out of school Wednesday. Frank and Jayn Davis are among dozens who pick their kids up from school. My daughter Im picking up is 13, said Davis. A new bill would allow for licensed and permitted gun carriers to have their firearms in the driveway or parking lot of schools making the No weapons allowed signs irrelevant. I dont think weapons should be in a school area, said Davis. The bill is only in its early stages. Senators I spoke with said the idea is to allow off-duty law enforcement or retired folks to carry their weapons on school grounds. The argument is that its too much of a hassle to take out of the car before picking up the kids. I t shouldnt take that long to remove it, said Davis. Mason City Police said off-duty officers can already legally carry on school grounds. This change would just clean up some of the language of the law. If its a police officer I would trust their judgement, said Frank. But multiple school superintendents question the benefits of such a law. Im looking for whats going to be best for our kids and protecting our kids, said Clear Lake Superintendent Doug Gee. I dont see why this would do anything to protect our kids. Which is exactly what parents said they would like to see. My grandson walks out the doors, other peoples children walk out those doors, I dont want to put any child in that kind of jeopardy, said Davis. The bill does still have to pass through committee before being voted on in the Senate. AUSITN, Minn. The Salvation Army recently received a check for $3,475.46, thanks to customers of Austin Utilities. The money comes from the HeatShare program to provide emergency utility help for people in need. We are happy to provide an avenue for customers who choose to participate in the HeatShare program, said Melissa Swenson, Customer Service Supervisor at Austin Utilities. We are in a position that allows us to see the need for this program first hand. An annual Share the Heat 5K and 1-mile walk also raises money for the HeatShare fund. This program is very important to us said Lori Espe, Salvation Army case worker, because it gives us a chance to help families in real emergency situations that may not qualify for other programs. HAMPTON, Iowa A Franklin County man accused of sexually assaulting an underage female is pleading not guilty. Luis Miguel Damas Hernandez, 22 of Hampton, is charged with 3rd degree sexual abuse. He was arrested January 1 after authorities say he entered the girls bedroom and sexually assaulted her. Damas Hernandez is demanding a speedy trial and one is set to begin on March 26. AUSTIN, Minn. A man of many aliases is pleading not guilty to attacking a woman. Cesar Ruben Rios, 33 of Austin, is charged with 3rd degree assault, two counts of domestic assault, terroristic threats, and forgery. Hes accused of slamming a womans head against a wall and choking and smothering her until she lost consciousness. The victim also told law enforcement that Rios threatened that he or his family would kill her and her children if she reported the attack. Court documents state that after his arrest, Rios said the woman and her child were lying about the January 8 confrontation at a home in the 17000 block of Highway 218 in Austin Township and her injuries were from Rios pushing the woman away while she was biting his finger. The Mower County Sheriffs Office says Rios was arrested with a forged Missouri ID card that had his photo and the name Marco Torres. Court documents say Rios is also know by the names Silvestre Cantu and Cesar Ruben Rios-Rodriguez. Authorities say Rios was convicted in May 2014 of stalking and terroristic threats in Olmsted County is subject to deportation. A Kilkenny man linked through DNA evidence to a revolver found inside a blood-stained plastic bag at a Dublin business park will be sentenced next month at the Special Criminal Court. Sean Ruth (29), with an address at Blacktrench, Rathangan, Co Kildare pleaded guilty (GUILTY) on Tuesday to possession of a .38 Special Calibre "Rossi" revolver and a 9mm calibre round of ammunition at a place unknown within the State between January 1, 2016 and January 24, 2017, both dates inclusive. These offences are contrary to Section 2 of the Firearms Act, 1925 as amended by Section 27 of the Criminal Justice Act 2006. Prosecution counsel Paul Burns SC had made his opening address to the non-jury court in the firearms charges trial the previous day. At todays sentence hearing Detective Inspector Noel Browne, of the National Drugs and Organised Crime Bureau, summarised the facts of the case. Detective Insp Browne told prosecuting counsel Mr Burns that after receiving confidential information, gardai put a surveillance operation in place and raided a warehouse at Greenogue Business Park, Grants Drive, Rathcoole, Co Dublin on January 24, 2017. Ruth was originally from Kilkenny but had been living in Kildare, the court heard. Det Insp Browne said five firearms were found during the search and they were laid out on cardboard boxes in the upstairs loft area of the warehouse. None of these firearms were connected to the defendant, he added. Other firearms were found on two other cardboard boxes nearby, which were labelled box 1 and box 2. Two assault rifles were on box 2 as well as a blood-stained bag which contained a Rossi revolver, a Glock automatic pistol and various calibre ammunition. The items were sent to Forensic Science Ireland and swabbed for DNA purposes. The witness said a blood-stained Spar plastic bag containing a disposable glove was found on top of a timber box downstairs in the warehouse. Inside the finger of this glove was a 9mm calibre round of ammunition which was not suitable for the revolver, the court heard. A radio transmitter was found on the mezzanine level of the unit and it had Ruths DNA. The witness said a Ford Focus car was also on the premises and there was blood-staining inside the passenger door which matched the defendants DNA. Ruth was arrested by gardai at the Amber Springs Hotel on May 7, 2017 and he was detained at Clondlakin Garda Station where he was photographed, fingerprinted and DNA buccal swabs were taken from him. Det Insp Browne said little evidence was provided during Ruth's interviews but he told gardai that he had an accident when he was in the Ford Focus car which had caused the blood. However, the defendant said he was not aware of the car being at Greenogue Business Park. The DNA profile generated from Ruth's buccal swabs matched the DNA recovered from the revolver as well as the two plastic bags. Ruths DNA profile also matched the profile generated from the glove, the radio and the blood-staining inside the Ford Focus. The court heard that Ruth has 29 previous convictions, which include those for road traffic, public order, misuse of drug offences and assault, as well as two conviction's for having a mobile phone in prison. Under cross-examination, Det Insp Browne agreed with Dominic McGinn SC, defending, that gardai were running a surveillance operation which had "specific targets" but his client was not one of these. The witness accepted that Ruth was not sighted at the premises during the search and agreed that he was in the gym at the time of the raid. The detective further accepted that blood cannot be dated and Ruths guilty plea was of value to the investigation. Mr McGinn asked the court to take into account that his client was from a good, law-abiding family and they had been very supportive of him through this process. In mitigating factors, Mr McGinn asked the court to consider that the revolver was loaded but not compatible with the ammunition in it. The barrister said Ruth was only linked through the blood and not tied to the crime through responsibility. Mr McGinn asked the judges to consider in mitigation his clients early guilty plea on Tuesday of this week which was of value to the court. The evidence against him in the original trial was 150 pages with over 300 additional pages in evidence which would have taken four to five weeks if the trial had gone ahead, he submitted. Another factor in mitigation, he said was a letter from the defendants parents who had attempted to paint the full picture of their son as a hard-working individual but with a restless spirit. According to his parents this "restless spirit" had led him down a road in his adolescents to early twenties that he should not have gone down. This downward trend is not of his character and the abrupt stop to his sequence of offending makes them optimistic for his future, indicated Mr McGinn. In his submissions, Mr McGinn said that his client had completed a number of courses since he went into custody in May 2017. He asked the court to fix the offence in terms of its seriousness and to weigh up the mitigating factors. Counsel submitted to the court that his client was not in immediate possession of the gun when it was found on January 24 and the weapon was not capable of being used as it was not loaded. The only inference the court can draw is that Mr Ruth has some amount of authority and control over the firearm, said the lawyer. Mr Burns told the court that the maximum sentence in respect of each count is seven years in prison. The prosecuting barrister said each of the counts were separate items found at the premises which were not directly related to each other. Mr Justice Paul Coffey, presiding, sitting with Judge Gerard Griffin and Judge David McHugh, remanded Ruth in custody until February 8, when he will be sentenced. Jonathan Harding (45) of McNeill Court, Sallins, Co Kildare, and James Walsh (33), with an address at Neilstown Drive, Clondalkin, Dublin 22 both previously pleaded guilty at the Special Criminal Court to the possession of nine revolvers, four pistols, a sub-machine gun, an assault rifle and various ammunition magazines at the unit in Greenogue Business Park on January 24, 2017. In January 2018, Harding was sentenced to ten years in prison with one year suspended and Walsh was sentenced to nine years in prison with one year suspended. Kilkenny's Indian nurses held a protest at St Luke's general hospital today, Thursday, in support of their Irish colleagues who will strike next week. Kranthi, a cultural and political organisation for people in Ireland from the Kerala region, wanted to publicly express their solidarity with their Irish colleagues. (Kerala is a region on the south west coast of India.) According to Shinith Ak, secretary of Kranthi, about 99% of Kerali families in Ireland have at least one family member who is a nurse. There are 35 Kerali nurses working in Kilkenny, most at St Luke's, with others at St Columba's in Thomastown and in nursing homes. Mr Shinith said his organisation felt it was their responsibility to support the nurses' strike. If the INMO (Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation) strike goes ahead next Wednesday, January 30, Kranthi will join them. Today's protest took place from 10am to 11am in Kilkenny, Drogheda (in front of Our Lady of Lourdes hospital), and Waterford (Waterford Hospital) simultaneously. Mr Shinith said there was a lot of public support from the people of Kilkenny, with motorists beeping horns and passers-by giving them a 'thumbs up.' Kranthi Ireland can be found on Facebook. Members of the Irish Nurse and Midwives Organisation in Kilkenny are set to take part in a series of nationwide 24-hour strikes - with the first strike on January 30. Talks to resolve the issues are currently ongoing. There will be further 24 hour strikes on February 5 and 7, and then again on February 12, 13 and 14, if the dispute is not resolved. The INMO announced the series of strikes on Tuesday in response to concerns about staffing levels and pay rates. A compromise proposal with smaller scale housing units than originally envisioned has been agreed by local councillors for the future development of the old Brogmaker site on the Castlecomer Road. Among the changes are a reduction in floor space and alterations from a three-bed to two-bed unit. A new building will be set back from the Castlecomer Road edge, allowing for footpaths and a green area. Extra parking spaces are also to be provided, with the total number of spaces set at 23 (originally, 16). The plans got the green light in a 23-1 vote by local councillors at a meeting on Monday, which was attended by residents of the area. The sole dissenting vote was by Cllr Patrick McKee. An amendment was proposed by Cllr Andrew McGuinness calling for a deferral of the item until the February meeting, but this only received support from five other members. Having purchased the site in 2017 for 850,00, Kilkenny County Council put forward proposals to convert the pub and guesthouse building into ten apartments. The plans also set out to demolish any existing ancillary building and construct two new apartments in its place, and build two new houses and four new apartments in what is currently a carpark. Most of these units are one or two bedroom. In total during the public consultation process, 19 submissions were received, mostly from local residents. They raised concerns over issues such as unit density, parking, construction management and ongoing management of the units. On Monday, prior to the vote, director of services for housing Mary Mulholland reminded members that of the more than 2,000 people on the councils housing waiting list, more than half are seeking accomodation in Kilkenny City. The vast majority of these have a preference for one or two-bed units. She said efforts had been made to address concerns and work with residents, and she did not believe there could be further meaningful amendments to the plan. Ms Mulholland said that it was proposed to procure a management company to operate the apartments. Proposing that the council proceed with the development, Cllr Peter Chap Cleere said the members were being asked to make a decision in the public interest, as a housing authority. He said it could provide real solutions for real people at a central location. The lone dissenting voter, Cllr Patrick McKee acknowledged the need for housing and said he supported the development of the Brogmaker, but the carpark development was entirely inappropriate. He said a middle ground could have been found, and the plans would negatively alter the existing fabric of the area. He also expressed concern with how the purchase of the site had been communicated to the elected members . Its left a bad taste in my mouth the way it was dealt with, and it will have a significant impact on existing local residents, he said. TENDER Ms Mulholland confirmed to the Kilkenny People that Detailed Design on the project will now commence, followed by a tender process for a contractor. Its hoped works will begin on the site before the end of the year. The failure by the Government to honour its commitment to erect CCTV cameras at key locations on motorways, which are being used by criminal gangs to access and escape the communities they are terrorising was raised in the Dail by Deputy Bobby Aylward. Speaking during a debate on a motion on crime, he said two motorways go through his constituency of Carlow-Kilkenny, the M9 and M7. Organised gangs are targeting businesses, robbing them and using the motorway to aid their escape, he said. Billions of euro of taxpayers' money have been spent on upgrading our motorways over recent decades, and the advantages of this investment speak for themselves, but we must do more to police our national primary routes effectively. Referring back to the community-based CCTV grant-aided scheme, Deputy Aylward said he was receiving complaints about the cumbersome application process from individual communities around the country, in particular those in his area. I accept that taxpayers' money must be put to good use and due diligence must be applied to the application to ensure that CCTV systems are effective, but there must be some way of streamlining the system, he said. I know of one text alert group in my constituency that is seeking clarification from the local authority and the Garda as to who will have responsibility for monitoring the footage. The local authority continues to state that it awaits advice on data protection legislation, and this has been ongoing for some time. The community is setting it up and getting funding from the Department, yet no one is taking responsibility because of data protection legislation. This needs to be clarified in order that these schemes can be put in place. This would at least be of help in crime prevention. Perhaps the Minister of State (David Stanton) could indicate where the responsibility lies. Approximately 17,000 has been collected by the people of the community I speak of, and the CCTV is badly needed. Turning to the bail laws, Deputy Aylward said everyone knew about people out on bail who commit crimes and then come before the courts. We all know of terrible cases in which they have 40 or 50 cases against them and they are out on bail, he said. These people do not mind the recording of another offence against them. It means nothing to them. Fianna Fail brought forward legislation in the Dail and in our manifesto during the previous general election proposing that second and third offenders would not get free legal aid or, if they did, would only get it on a limited basis. These people do not care. They are free to commit more crime, more robberies - it is usually robberies - and what difference does another one or two convictions make when added to the five, six or 20 they have already? I ask the Minister of State to look at our bail laws and do something about people who commit crime consistently. They should be kept either in jail or under a curfew such that they cannot go out and create havoc in our communities, in particular in rural Ireland. The Cathaoirleach of Kilkenny County Council, Councillor Eamon Aylward, led a commemoration of the centenary of the first meeting of Dail Eireann on January 21, 1919 at an event of remembrance and celebration held by Kilkenny County Council at County Hall on Monday January 21. The first Dail met at Dublins Mansion House just 6 weeks after the December 1918 general election of the United Kingdom of Britain and Ireland. The meeting of the first Dail claimed the right of Ireland to self government. Kilkennys part in this significant historic event was remembered, including the role of the two Kilkenny MPs W.T. Cosgrave and James OMara, neither of whom attended the meeting of the first Dail. W.T. Cosgrave was incarcerated in England and James OMara, as a Sinn Fein deputy did not attend for fear of arrest. Both men went on to play significant roles in the governance structures of the new Dail in the following years. Role of Women Also remembered at the commemoration was the significance of women achieving a vote in the 1918 general election. Speaking at the event Cllr. Mary Hilda Cavanagh said I am conscious that without the campaigning courage of the women of a century ago I wouldnt be here today as the longest serving woman on Kilkenny County Council. Cllr Cavanagh paid tribute to those women who campaigned to play a part in public life and have their voices heard, and acknowledged the part played in the suffrage movement in Ireland by women such as Mrs Moya Bligh. Young people from Comhairle na nOg attended the event and were encouraged by the speakers to maintain and promote active engagement for all in politics regardless of gender or age. Cathaoirleach, Cllr. Eamon Aylward thanked the representatives of the 3rd Infantry Battalion from James Stephens Barracks for the attendance of their flag party and reminded all present that it was a day of celebration as well as a commemoration we are celebrating Irish democracy, and its endurance. The celebration ended with the planting of two native oak trees in the grounds of County Hall to commemorate the first Dail and the achievement of womens right to vote. Cllr Aylward pointed out that Planting these trees ensures that we have a reminder of our history, and a symbol of hope for the future. Local Enterprise Office (LEO) Kilkenny is this week launching the Kilkenny stage of the Irelands Best Young Entrepreneur programme for 2019. The LEO Kilkenny team is looking for dynamic, innovative young business people from across Kilkenny city and county to enter the Irelands Best Young Entrepreneur 2019 competition. Hosted by the Local Enterprise Offices around the country, the competition is staged in conjunction with the Dept. of Business, Enterprise and Innovation, Enterprise Ireland and the Local Authorities of Ireland. Now in its fifth year, this nationwide competition invites 18-35 year olds who have a business idea, a start-up or an already established business to enter. Applying is quick and simple. It takes about 15 minutes, is free of charge and is done on www.IBYE.ie. Applicants are then invited to participate in an Enterprise Day hosted by the Local Enterprise Office. Shortlisted applicants take part in Business Bootcamps and compete in the County Final. Here in Kilkenny, the Local Enterprise Office has an investment fund of 50,000 to share between the winners of the Best Business Idea, Best Start-Up and Best Established Business categories. From there, County Winners go on to compete at Regional Finals and, if successful, all the way to the National Finals at Google HQ! But its not all about the National Finals. Taking part in Irelands Best Young Entrepreneur challenges young business people to focus on where their business is now, and where they can take it. The business planning, mentoring, advice and support they receive during the process is of significant value. IBYE helps them to build a network of fellow local entrepreneurs and they often become trusted friends and advisors to each other. IBYE is often their first experience of getting media exposure, which is important in building a profile as a business grows. Interested participants can apply now by visiting www.IBYE.ie. The closing date is Friday, March 15. EUGENE, Ore. -- The George Bush 4141 locomotive made it's way through Eugene Wednesday night into Thursday morning. A KEZI 9 News viewer sent a photo and video of the train, custom painted in the 41st president's honor, as it passed through Eugene. The train was used in December 2018 to transport former President George H.W. Bush to his final resting place, the George Bush Presidential Library & Museum in College Station, Texas. "The George Bush 4141 locomotive is traveling to various Union Pacific facilities around our network to give employees an opportunity to see it firsthand," Union Pacific wrote on their website. "It was our honor and privilege to participate in President Bush's final journey, and to provide an opportunity for Americans to participate in that experience. While there may be future public displays, none are planned at this time out of respect for the late president and his family." NORTH BEND, Ore. -- A North Bend man was fatally stabbed Wednesday after authorities said he kicked in his ex-girlfriends front door and charged her 18-year-old son. The Coos County Sheriffs Office responded to White Lane at about 6 a.m. to a reported stabbing and found Eric Steven Woodworth, 39, dead on the front porch. Investigators said Woodworth had broken into the home of a woman who had recently ended a relationship with him. They said the womans son was armed with a knife and stabbed Woodworth in the chest during an altercation. No arrest has been made in the case at this time as the sheriffs office said they believe it to be a matter of self-defense or defense of another person. The investigation is ongoing. The Coos County Major Crimes Team was called in to investigate and personnel from the Coos County District Attorneys Office, Coos County Sheriffs Office, Coquille Tribal Police, Oregon State Police, North Bend Police and South Coast Interagency Narcotics Team assisted. LEBANON, Ore. -- The Lebanon Police Department is asking for the public's help after a man stole thousands of dollars worth of equipment and other items, including keys to an airplane, from a business at the Lebanon State Airport. Detective Chris Miner said the crime happened just after 6 a.m. on Jan. 5 at LebanAir Aviation, a private company that sells fuel and other services to pilots. Surveillance video of the break-in shows a white man using a crowbar to break a glass window to get into the manager's office before leaving holding a bag. Miner said the suspect got away with two Bose aviation headsets, valued at $1,900, $381 in cash, an ignition key for a two-seater airplane, a Garmin handheld GPS device valued at $600, and the business owners FAA medical license. A plane was not stolen. "We ruled out all of our options and exhausted every lead that we had," Miner said. "So now we are reaching out to the public to help identify who did this and help us out." The general manager for LebanAir Aviation didn't want to talk to KEZI 9 News on camera or give his name but said they take the security of their facility and customer's aircraft very seriously, and they'll invest in improving their security systems. The Lebanon airport is maintained by the state. Matthew Maass with the Oregon Department of Aviation said they've also identified a few things they can do to prevent any future break-ins. Security cameras also captured what appears to be a light-colored crew cab style pickup truck, which police believe is connected to the suspect. They urge anyone with information to come forward and contact Miner at 541-258-4314. 10 Shares Share Earlier this year, we put together a list of what we thought were the best medical apps for health care providers. Now at the end of 2018, were augmenting that list to give you a full picture of what we think are must-haves medical apps for those in primary care. Safe Motherhood Initiative: ACOG DII SMI Quick reference for common obstetric emergencies Many of us in family medicine practice full-scope including obstetrics and urgent/emergent care. Routine vaginal deliveries can quickly deteriorate into one of many frightening obstetrical emergencies. Recent information from the CDC shows a sobering statistic that maternal mortality in the U.S. is increasing not decreasing. The number of reported pregnancy-related deaths in the United States steadily increased from 7.2 deaths per 100,000 live births in 1987 to 18.0 deaths per 100,000 live births in 2014. The three most common causes of maternal mortality worldwide and in the U.S. have not changed: postpartum hemorrhage, venous thromboembolism, and severe hypertension of pregnancy. The SMI is an initiative of ACOG District II in New York State. This group links hospitals across the state together and provided health care bundles and education aimed at reducing mortality from these three most common lethal pregnancy complications. Safe Motherhood Initiative: ACOG DII SMI is a combination of expert opinion, ACOG position statements, and algorithms supported by evidence-based medicine, clinical practice guidelines and standard of care medical practice. The app contains easy to follow checklists, algorithms, and teaching slides targeted at the three most common causes of maternal mortality. Psych on Demand Screening and assessment of mental health conditions Mental health conditions are exceedingly common and costly in the U.S. medical system. Recent statistics from the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and Prevention estimate that they account for 60 million visits to primary care and 6 million ER visits annually. Depression alone accounts for more than 10% of all primary care visits. These conditions result in a sobering 44,000 suicides per year in the U.S. Screening for these conditions is commonly performed in most primary care practices with supporting recommendations from the United States Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) for conditions such as depression, alcohol, etc. Psych on Demand is an app by a board-certified psychiatrist that puts all of the most common (and some uncommon) screening instruments in one user-friendly app. The app contains more than 35 instruments covering disorders including depression, PTSD, ADHD, anxiety, bipolar disorder, and many others. Its an exceptional value for all who screen and treat mental health disorders. The American Diabetes Association (ADA) Standards of Care 2018 App Finally! Type 2 diabetes remains a global epidemic. According to a 2017 CDC report, over 100 million Americans have prediabetes or diabetes. Diabetes was the number seven leading cause of death in 2015. The World Health Organization (WHO) published a report showing a quadrupling of the prevalence of diabetes since 1980 worldwide. According to the CDC, 1 in 4 with diabetes do not know they have the disease. Diabetes creates a significant burden on morbidity and mortality and comes at a cost of $245 billion per the American Diabetes Association (ADA) in the U.S. alone. The ADA app had not been updated since the release of the 2014 standards. In June, the app was updated to the 2018 ADA Standards of Care and completely redesigned finally. The latest version of the app includes detailed information on diagnosing and treating diabetes, lifestyle and nutrition recommendations, and specific guidelines from lipid management to retinopathy treatment. ADA Standards of Care is well-referenced and provides content any medical student up to seasoned attending could benefit from having available at the tips of their fingers. The app contains hyperlinks to references, comprehensive PDFs, and links to online ADA articles. DizzyFix Teaches the Epley maneuver for vertigo on your smart device Im dizzy, doctor! Those were the words of a patient I saw in clinic recently. Upon further questioning, it was clear this patient had vertigo. The question was what type? Luckily, a good patient history and physical exam can both make a solid diagnosis and in some cases, treat the patient. Primary care providers must know how to properly perform the Dix-Hallpike maneuver to help make a diagnosis of vertigo especially the most common form, benign paroxysmal positional vertigo (BPPV). Luckily, the vast majority of vertigo cases seen in primary care are due to BPPV, and this very disturbing condition (for the patient) can be effectively treated in nearly 90% of the cases by proper performance of the Epley maneuver. An enterprising ENT physician and inventor in Canada created a unique solution to BPPV. He created an app called DizzyFix for providers to teach proper diagnosis and treatment of BPPV using the Dix-Hallpike and Epley maneuvers, and the DizzyFix device that patients can place on any ball cap to guide them through the Epley Maneuver at home. CDC PneumoRecs Ensures your patients receive the correct pneumococcal vaccines at the right time in the right sequence One of the most common tasks during clinic is to ensure my patients are up-to-date on their vaccinations. In 2015, the CDC/FDA/ACIP introduced the new pneumococcal conjugate 13 valent vaccine (PCV13) for use in adults in addition to the pneumococcal polysaccharide 23 valent vaccine (PPSV23). For many of our clinics nursing staff, residents, and faculty, the transition caused some confusion. The guidelines have been revised slightly since then with the most current pneumococcal vaccine guidelines published in November 2018. Despite updates to existing shots apps such as Shots by STFM, CDV Vaccines, and ACP Immunization Advisor, the process can still be challenging to explain to patients and ensure immunizations are given at the right time and in the proper sequence. Recently, the CDC entered the pneumococcal vaccines fray with their own app to help providers called, CDC PneumoRecs. This app covers both infant/child as well as adult pneumococcal vaccines. The app uses a patients date of birth (DOB) to calculate which vaccine(s) the patient requires, when, and in what sequence based on age and risk factors. Disclaimer: The views expressed are those of the author(s) and do not reflect the official policy of the Department of the Army, the Department of Defense or the U.S. Government. Douglas Maurer is a family physician and associate editor, iMedicalApps, where this article originally appeared. Image credit: Shutterstock.com 41 Shares Share When you enter the doors of an emergency department, what you are entering is the realm of the unknown. Needles, blood, blaring alarms and all-nighters with nurses are about to become your new norm. For your whole life, you thought good food, sleep, and TV reruns could fix anything. But those are in short supply in a place you need it the most. Oh, and when else in your adult life had you had to ask to use the bathroom? Safe to say, your life is about to be flipped upside down. Here are the ten things you should know before going. 1. Hospitals are in it to make money. Yep, thats right. Everyone jokes about it, but its true. The vast majority of hospitals are in it to make money. Now to make money, they need to take care of people and make sure the hospital doesnt have a bad reputation. But that doesnt mean they have to provide state-of-the-art care or have the best outcomes. Sad, right? Who goes into a hospital wanting anything but the best? The truth is that isnt always (or even usually) the goal of organizations. Sure, everyone wants to do a good job, but thats not whats driving most of the decisions. We would be doing hospitals a disservice if we stopped there. People arent inherently evil. Its just that people who treat people do not usually run hospitals. Business folks run them. Dollars-and-cents folks. They dont know what excellent patient care looks like (usually). Which brings me to my next point. 2. No one will fight harder for you than health care workers. Believe it or not, its true. Nurses, doctors and hospital staff are usually very passionate about their work. They are the ones saying, We need to do this better, or We need this equipment so that patients get better care. By and large, they care. The problem is they arent usually represented well enough in hospital committees. And they surely arent making significant decisions. Many nurses and doctors leave hospitals at the end of their shift upset that they couldnt take care of patients well enough for one reason or another. They were too busy because they dont have enough help. Or they dont have the equipment they need. They are afraid to speak up because the hospital culture is toxic. Hospitals are full of caring people who wish they could do more. 3. Nurses are worth their weight in gold. Nurses are consistently ranked as the most trusted profession, and there is a reason. They spend the most time with patients and typically have the deepest bond. A good nurse will make sure that you are getting everything you need to get better. They will go to bat with administration, doctors and even your family at times for you. Now, the opposite is also true. A lousy nurse can ruin your stay in many ways. 4. A good doctor will take care of you in every way. A good doctor does a lot more than provide medical care. They make sure that you have good nurses. They make sure that all of your testing, labs, and studies are done in a timely fashion and done correctly. They follow up on things so that you dont have to stress so much. No one has more respect in a hospital than doctors, and when they make it clear they want excellent care for their patients people listen. 5. Your bill is going to be as much as a used car. This varies depending on your stay and insurance. But go ahead and prepare for it. Be ready to gasp when you see that your Tylenol costs $35. Or when you see that one night costs $1500. Nope, you didnt even get Egyptian cotton sheets. There is hope. It is possible to dispute a hospital bill successfully. Its not going to be easy or quick, but it can be done. 6. The worst infections come from the hospital. Yes, it makes no sense at all. The places where the most vulnerable people reside have the most super-bugs. And you better believe they are everywhere. On doorknobs, cafeteria salad utensils, and sometimes on health care workers hands! Make certain that everyone entering your room washes their hands to keep these uglies at bay. The good news? If you arent sick or vulnerable, its pretty unlikely youll get infected. 7. Hospital food is the furthest thing from nurturing. Im pretty sure someone famous said: Let thy food be thy medicine and thy medicine be thy food. Oh yeah, that was Hippocrates. The father of modern medicine. But something went awry between 461 BC and now. So whats a person to do? Well, its a great time to cash in on any favors from friends and family. Never has Chipotle tasted so good. If you are less lucky, its good to know there are more options. Often the public cafeteria has better food if you can make it down. Ask the food service what they can do, they make custom meals that are better than your standard fare! 8. You wont be 100 percent on discharge day. Maybe if you were a patient 50 years ago, but today the emphasis is on getting folks out quicker. Of course, some people push the limits, but by and large, it is just a change in practice. I have to say its usually a negative thing though. If you can feasibly go home and resume your recovery, wouldnt you want to? When should you worry? Lots of hospitals have devised goals for the length of stay and can determine whether or not a person gets a bonus or other incentive. See the problem here? Though not common, dont be afraid to ask if there is an arbitrary discharge goal for you. 9. Youre not going to remember half of what you were told about your illness. In the heat of the moment, we tend to shut down. Its not the best time to educate someone on diabetes or heart failure, but you have to start somewhere. Dont be embarrassed to ask for clarification. Dont be ashamed to ask for more information or even the same information if you didnt get it the first time. Its a good idea to take notes and look stuff up on reputable sources at another time. Or talk to your doctor at your next visit. 10. Hospital experiences are like playing the lottery. No two stays are the same, and its likely that even your neighbor had a much different experience than you. One person may come into a hospital and get great nurses and doctors and be out in three days. Hell, maybe the food was even decent. But the next week when you come the scanner is down, and everyones in a bad mood. You have to stay an extra day now your bill is higher! David Slone is a nurse practitioner who blogs at the Savvy Patient. Image credit: Shutterstock.com PHOTOS Heart healthy foods to add to your diet When it comes to showing your heart some serious love, there are a few things you can do. Managing stress and getting enough sleep are massively important, but so is eating well, according to Julia Zumpano, a registered dietician in preventive cardiology and rehabilitation at the Cleveland Clinic. Managing your diet can help reduce cholesterol, reduce blood pressure, reduce weight, weight circumference, triglycerides; all of those things are influenced by the way that you eat, Zumpano said. And all of those are risk factors for developing heart disease. Incorporating more of these foods into your diet can help you do those things, and youll be giving your heart a helping hand. SOUTHERN OREGON/ WASHINGTON D.C-- After the supreme court made the announcement on the ban, the pentagon made a clarification that this ban is not on all transgender people. It is targeting those with gender dysphoria. That is a mental conflict between a person's assigned sex and gender and what they identify with. If a military person is diagnosed with this they won't be allowed to serve. If they are not diagnosed they are able to serve but have to do so in the sex they were assigned at birth. According to Williams Institute at UCLA about 15,000 transgender people are in the US military. Roughly half are active duty and the other half are serving in the guard or reserve forces. Gina Duquenne is the president of southern Oregon pride. She says "doesn't make any difference what their gender is." She tells me it feels as though the administration and the country are taking steps backwards when it comes to the LGBTQ plus community, Gina says " I feel as if the LGBTQ plus community we have worked so hard to get everything that we have gotten and as far as we have gotten and the administration that we have in place right now is chipping away at our rights." Gina is not only a voice for the community, but is apart of it. Gina says " I feel as a lesbian woman of color it's important to let everyone be themselves and live their truths." This change isn't out of the blue. In July of 2017 President Trump sent out a serious of tweets announcing he wanted to implement this ban, with medical costs being the reason why. Gina says, "people put their lives on the line so that i can have my freedom and that is the important thing not what gender they are." A transgender solider is making her voice heard nationally. Saying this ban won't change anything. Staff SGT. Patricia King a transgender soldier says "transgender people have been serving in the military for as long as the United States has had a military. We've done it in silence." Gina tells me she hopes more steps backward aren't in the future. Gina says, "when you have fought as hard as we have. To see things chipped away and taken away step by step it's not a good feeling, it doesn't make you feel good." Today Newswatch 12's Leah Thompson reached out to the American Legion, Medford National Guard and the Medford National Guard Recruiting Office to get there opinion on this new ban. I also want to know how many transgender military personnel are in Southern Oregon or Oregon. When we do get that information we will post it on here. ASHLAND, Ore. With the 2019 season of the Oregon Shakespeare Festival (OSF) already hurtling toward us, the organization announced on Wednesday that it has named Paul Christy as acting executive director. Christy will begin working at OSF later this week. The Board is delighted that Paul has agreed to join the organization as its acting executive director. So much of Pauls government experience fits the administrative and business expertise that OSF was seeking in this position, said OSF Board President Gail Lopes. Those who have worked with Paul admire his leadership style, which is even-keeled, thoughtful and respectful of team members and their ideas. He makes tough decisions in a way that builds consensus. Christy is a current resident of Southern Oregon who served as the U.S. Small Business Administration's chief operating officer before retiring in 2014. He will partner with current artistic director Bill Rauch in leading the organization while OSF's Board of Directors searches for a long-term executive director to replace Cynthia Rider, who last held the post. I am thrilled to be partnering with Paul, Rauch said, and am grateful to have someone with his ties to OSF and the Rogue Valley in this role as we enter my final season as artistic director. As acting executive director, Christy will supervise OSFs administrative staff and operations, playing a crucial role, according to OSF, in the development of a multi-year budgetary plan, organizational hiring, human resource initiatives, IT and infrastructure projects, and development and marketing revenue opportunities. Christy spent 40 years working for the federal government in the Congressional Budget Office, the Commerce Department and the Small Business Administration. He later served as a senior federal employee deployed in times of transition. Christys wife Teresina grew up in Southern Oregon and for almost 40 years the couple came back from Washington, D.C. to attend plays at OSF eventually moving to the Rogue Valley for retirement, while volunteering at Southern Oregon University and OSF. MEDFORD, Ore. -- Jackson County Circuit Court judges want an additional judge to lessen the docket load. According to to court data, Jackson County Circuit Court ranks fifth when it comes to the amount of cases filed across the state. In 2018, Jackson County saw 26,268 cases filed. Top five counties for total cases filed: 1. Multomah: 454,216 2. Marion: 33,663 3. Lane: 33,112 4. Washington: 28,658 5. Jackson: 26,268 Top five counties for juvenile cases: 1. Multnomah: 1,390 2. Lane: 969 3. Marion: 886 4: Washington: 859 5. Jackson: 831 "That's a tremendous number of cases for a county of this size," Presiding Judge Tim Gerking said. Gerking says an additional judge would help with juvenile cases. The county also ranks fifth in the amount of juvenile cases, coming in at 831 cases filed. CASA of Jackson County often has volunteers in the courtroom during juvenile proceedings. Wenonoa Spivak, the deputy director of CASA of Jackson County, says an additional judge would be a huge help. "Jackson County has highly complex cases and it would be wonderful to have another judge on the bench who could spend more time on each case," Gerking adds. She adds the existing judges are doing an excellent job, but that she thinks each case could use more attention. She adds judges right now can only spend 15 to 20 minutes on each case because of the workload. Gerking said they don't put a time limit on cases, and sometimes have to extend them. This creates an hours-long waiting period, or sometimes hearings are rescheduled. Spivak said an additional judge would help take some of the pressure off. "That would really help our CASAs and our community partners understand that the judge has spent the amount of time he or she thinks is important for that particular case," Spivak said. Oregon's Chief Justice recommended about $4.5 million for additional judges and staff across the state. Gerking says so far, so good. "The judicial department is advocating for that and the [Oregon Judicial Department] is supporting Jackson County's need for an additional judge." Gerking adds in a perfect world, Jackson County would recieve more than one judge. But, he adds, that would require a remodel of the justice building to make room for an additional courtroom. Cinema 53, a partnership series between the Harper Theater and the University of Chicagos Gray Center for Arts and Inquiry, offers screenings and discussions of films by and about women and people of color. This winters screenings were curated by writer/poet/U. of C. professor Eve L. Ewing, and this weeks film is 2013s American Promise, which looks at two middle-class Black families as they navigate the ups and downs of educating their sons. Following the screening, Amanda Lewis, director of the Institute for Research on Race and Public Policy at UIC, will lead a discussion. The event is free, and doors open at 6:45 p.m. at the Harper Theater (5238 S. Harper Ave.). Seating is first come, first served. Details: graycenter.uchicago.edu SALEM, Ore. Speaking before the Oregon State Senate Campaign Finance Committee on Wednesday, Governor Kate Brown outlined what she calls her "defending democracy agenda" a list of policies intended to strengthen voting rights for constituents. "Truly representative leadership and access to decision-making roles requires meaningful change to the status quo," said Brown. "We can't begin to address the status quo until we address the constitutional issues. Oregonians have time and again proven that they want campaign finance reform. It's our job as state policy makers to find the best way to accomplish it." Brown's major points included expanding automatic voter registration, mandating paid postage on mail-in ballots, reforming Oregon's campaign finance laws, and increasing transparency on political expenses. "It's time to make everyone's mailbox a drop-box at no cost to the voter. And frankly, the stamp is a functional barrier for voters with disabilities or rural voters who may live far from any drop box not just for those under 40 who think that ink and a stamp are body are options, not voting necessities," Brown said. According to the Governor, Oregon was the first state to adopt automatic voter registration at the DMV, a development that she praised however, she said, that system should be expanded to encompass all eligible citizens. "We have so much to be proud of in Oregon. While other states are rolling back voting rights, Oregon has led the way," Brown said, referring to mail-in ballots and automatic registration. Pivoting, Brown then addressed what she called the "wild, wild West" of Oregon's campaign finance laws, or lack thereof. Oregon has some of the most permissive campaign finance rules in the nation allowing practically infinite contributions to political campaigns from individuals, corporations, and PACs with limited transparency to voters. "'Defending democracy' is not a mantra I developed," Brown said. "It is a mobilizing force for Americans across the country as they see our nation's most sacred institutions threatened." Brown suggested greater transparency for campaign contributions and expenditures, plus setting caps for those contributions. Brown cited her own recent gubernatorial race against Rep. Knute Buehler in 2018, which was the most expensive campaign in Oregon history. "It costs more to run for office in Oregon than it does in Washington [D.C.]," Brown said. The Governor said that she intends to see some of these changes represented in a constitutional amendment that would appear on the ballot in 2020. Constitutional amendments have to be ratified by popular vote. No one I've seen or heard from has anointed the teenagers with heroism for simply minding their own business while waiting for a bus. Nor did they claim any. If the Democrat- and liberal-serving media had bothered to watch the entire video not merely less than a minute's snippet they would've seen and heard the disgusting vilification of these kids by the Black Hebrew Israelites and that the boys were initially approached by Native American tribal elder Nathan Phillips, not the other way around. The Israelites alone started the ugly fracas. Then theres Bill Daley. He has signed on to the reform-minded group think, too. But Daley is taking it one step further with his proposal to reduce the size of the City Council from 50 to 15 members. Credit where its due: In mid-December another candidate, former Ald. Bob Fioretti, introduced to this campaign the perennial suggestion that Chicago cut its council to 25 members. A Pine Bluff, Arkansas family is grateful to be alive, and they say it's all thanks to their 7-year-old son, Kayden. We were very lucky," Shana Cooper says. A fire broke out in Shana's father's room early Tuesday morning. Smoke filled the home, but the only person who woke up was Kayden. "I couldn't see anything for a moment and then I woke up my brother and I got my mom and we ran outside," Kayden says. Felix Tshisekedi, who takes over as DR Congos new president on Thursday, is the son and heir of the countrys veteran opposition leader but has never himself held high office. Barely two years at the helm of the countrys oldest and largest opposition party, Tshisekedi has been propelled to power following a long-running political crisis that culminated in last months bitterly disputed election. Known to his friends as Fatshi, the portly 55-year-old has secured the prize long denied his late father Etienne, who spent 35 years in opposition but never reached the top. It was his death in February 2017 that triggered his sons unexpected path to the presidency. Taking over as head of the Union for Democracy and Social Progress (UDPS), Tshisekedi steered the party his father founded through a period of growing unrest over President Joseph Kabilas refusal to step down despite his term ending in 2016. Although Tshisekedi has never enjoyed the same degree of popularity as his father, he was one of three frontrunners in the December 30 election. Polls, however, predicted a win by his opposition rival Martin Fayulu and many observers expected a result rigged in favour of Kabilas handpicked successor, Emmanuel Ramazani Shadary. But provisional results named Tshisekedi the winner in an unexpected victory which was confirmed by the courts, though tainted by cries of fraud, with Fayulu declaring it an electoral coup masterminded by Kabila. A late rapprochement? Back in 2017, Tshisekedi told AFP that if he won the presidency, he would set up a truth and reconciliation commission to call Kabila to account for his iron-fisted rule since taking office in 2001. But days before the results were announced, rumours began swirling of a rapprochement after Tshisekedi spoke warmly of Kabila in an interview with Belgiums Le Soir newspaper. It is clear that he will be able to live peacefully in his own country and carry out his business, he has nothing to fear, he said. One day we might even think of paying him tribute for agreeing to stand down, he said, suggesting Kabila could even be named a special ambassador. And immediately after he was declared winner, his first words were a tribute to Kabila. Today we should no longer see him as an adversary, but rather as a partner in the democratic change in our country, he told crowds of triumphant supporters. Almost didnt run Analysts said the delay in announcing the results had raised suspicions of some kind of backroom deal which would benefit Kabila and enable him to influence the new president. A Tshisekedi presidency would be the least bad alternative for the regime as it would put a veil of legitimacy on the electoral process and would be more manageable than a Fayulu presidency, said Adeline VanHoutte of the Economist Intelligence Unit. For a while, it looked like Tshisekedis name would not even be on the ballot. In November, he had joined six other opposition leaders to rally behind Fayulu as the single unity candidate. But days later, following a furious response from his supporters, he and fellow opposition leader Vital Kamerhe abandoned the deal and said they would run on a joint ticket, splitting the opposition. Diplomatic, conciliatory Since its founding in 1982, the UDPS has served as an opposition mainstay in the former Belgian colony first under dictator Mobutu Sese Seko, then under Kabilas father Laurent-Desire Kabila, who ruled from 1997 until his death in 2001. Over the years, Tshisekedi rose steadily through the ranks of the party which was fashioned and directed by his father. In 2008, he became the partys national secretary for external relations and then in 2011 he was elected to parliament as the MP for Mbuji-Mayi, the countrys third city. But he never took up his seat after refusing to recognise his fathers 2011 election defeat by Kabila. Etienne was stubborn and proud, said one keen observer of the countrys opposition. Felix is more diplomatic, more conciliatory, more ready to listen to others. A father of five, Tshisekedi goes to the same Pentecostal church as Fayulu in Kinshasa, the capital. Although he holds a Belgian diploma in marketing and communication, he has had little political or managerial experience, with some detractors even suggesting his diploma is not valid. VANCOUVER, BC / ACCESSWIRE / January 24, 2019 / Skeena Resources Limited (TSX.V: SKE, OTCQX: SKREF) (''Skeena'' or the ''Company'') is pleased to announce final Au-Ag drill results for six holes from the recently completed Phase I surface drilling program at the Eskay Creek Project (''Eskay Creek'') located in the Golden Triangle of British Columbia. The multifaceted Phase I program was performed in the 21A, 21C and 22 Zones. Assays reported in this release are from the 22 Zone. Reference images are presented at the end of this release as well as on the Company's website. Eskay Creek 22 Zone Phase I Drilling - Current Highlights 4.07 g/t Au, 122.30 g/t Ag, (5.71 g/t AuEq) over 92.15 m (SK-18-049) Including: 20.10 g/t Au, 321.62 g/t Ag, (24.39 g/t AuEq) over 14.00 m 2.61 g/t Au, 137.89 g/t Ag, (4.44 g/t AuEq) over 73.10 m (SK-18-050) Including: 11.56 g/t Au, 63.01 g/t Ag, (12.40 g/t AuEq) over 7.60 m 1.65 g/t Au, 10.27 g/t Ag, (1.79 g/t AuEq) over 74.00 m (SK-18-051) Gold Equivalent (AuEq) calculated via the formula: Au (g/t) + [Ag (g/t) / 75]. Core lengths are reported as true widths as exact zone geometries cannot be accurately determined from available drilling information. Grade capping of individual assays has not been applied to the Au and Ag assays informing the length weighted AuEq composites. Processing recoveries have not been applied to the AuEq calculation and are disclosed at 100%. Samples below detection limit were nulled to a value of zero. 22 Zone Phase I Drilling - Discussion Originally outlined by limited surface drilling in 2003 and 2004, the 22 Zone is a tabular, sub-vertical, rhyolite-hosted feeder structure to the now eroded mudstone hosted mineralization typical of the Eskay Creek deposits. As such, mineralization within the 22 Zone is not enriched in the epithermal suite of elements (Hg-As-Sb) and is geologically and geochemically analogous to other non-deleterious rhyolite-hosted mineralization such as the 21C Zone and underlying mineralization of the 21A Zone. The 22 Zone currently has a drill-defined strike length of 300 m and horizontal width in excess of 50 m; it has only been tested in the upper 100 m at average 40 m drill spacings. Further drill testing will take place during the 2019 field season. Due to the paucity of drilling in this area, 22 Zone mineralization remains open for expansion along strike and to depth. The 2018 pit constrained inferred resources hosted within the 22 Zone are comprised of 171,000 AuEq ounces (1.452 Mt grading 2.5 g/t Au, 89 g/t Ag or 3.7 g/t AuEq; for full resource details including indicated and underground resources, refer to the Company's News Release dated September 17, 2018). The 2018 Phase I drilling program was designed to infill and upgrade the inferred resources in the 22 Zone by increasing drill density to 20 m intercept spacing. Due to the onset of winter weather conditions, only six of the planned 20 holes were drilled. The outstanding portion of the program will be completed during the 2019 exploration season. This drill spacing will allow for future economic analyses and will also allow the Company to collect fresh material for an upcoming metallurgical characterization and testing program. 2018 Regional Snip Drilling Three drillholes were completed at the Company's 100% owned Snip project in Q4 2018. These holes were designed to test regional soil targets outside of the former mine footprint as well as to collect new lithostructural information to inform regional targeting for the 2019 regional exploration programs. No material assay results are reported. About Eskay Creek In December 2017, Skeena secured an option to acquire 100% interest in the Eskay Creek property. Discovered in the Golden Triangle in 1988, the former Eskay Creek mine produced approximately 3.3 million ounces of gold and 160 million ounces of silver at average grades of 45 g/t gold and 2,224 g/t silver. Eskay Creek was once the world's highest-grade gold mine and fifth-largest silver mine by volume. A precious and base metal-rich volcanogenic massive sulphide (VMS) deposit, Eskay-style mineralization has been the focus of considerable exploration activity in the Golden Triangle dating back to 1932. Exploration programs in 1988 led to the discovery of the 21A and 21B zones, followed by underground development of the 21B zone starting in 1990 with the official opening of the Eskay Creek mine in 1994. Over the 14-year life of the mine, approximately 2.2 million tonnes of ore were mined with cut-off grades ranging from 12 to 15 g/t AuEq for mill ore and 30 g/t AuEq for direct shipping smelter ore. Eskay is endowed with excellent infrastructure including all-weather road access and proximity to the new 287-kilovolt Northwest Transmission Line. The Property consists of 8 mineral leases, 2 surface leases and several unpatented mining claims totaling 6,151 hectares. About Skeena Skeena Resources Limited is a junior Canadian mining exploration company focused on developing prospective precious and base metal properties in the Golden Triangle of northwest British Columbia, Canada. The Company's primary activities are the exploration and development of the past-producing Snip mine and the recently optioned Eskay Creek mine, both acquired from Barrick. In addition, the Company has completed a Preliminary Economic Assessment on the GJ copper-gold porphyry project. On behalf of the Board of Directors of Skeena Resources Limited, Walter Coles Jr. President & CEO Qualified Persons Exploration activities at the Eskay Creek Project are administered on site by the Company's Exploration Managers, Colin Russell, P.Geo. and Adrian Newton, P.Geo. In accordance with National Instrument 43-101 Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects, Paul Geddes, P.Geo. Vice President Exploration and Resource Development, is the Qualified Person for the Company and has prepared, validated and approved the technical and scientific content of this news release. The Company strictly adheres to CIM Best Practices Guidelines in conducting, documenting, and reporting its exploration activities on its exploration projects. Quality Assurance - Quality Control Once received from the drill and processed, all drill core samples are sawn in half, labelled and bagged. The remaining drill core is subsequently securely stored on site. Numbered security tags are applied to lab shipments for chain of custody requirements. The Company inserts quality control (QC) samples at regular intervals in the sample stream, Including blanks and reference materials with all sample shipments to monitor laboratory performance. The QAQC program was designed and approved by Lynda Bloom, P.Geo. of Analytical Solutions Ltd., and is overseen by the Company's Qualified Person, Paul Geddes, P.Geo, Vice President Exploration and Resource Development. Drill core samples are submitted to ALS Geochemistry's analytical facility in North Vancouver, British Columbia for preparation and analysis. The ALS facility is accredited to the ISO/IEC 17025 standard for gold assays and all analytical methods include quality control materials at set frequencies with established data acceptance criteria. The entire sample is crushed and 1kg is pulverized. Analysis for gold is by 50g fire assay fusion with atomic absorption (AAS) finish with a lower limit of 0.01 ppm and upper limit of 100 ppm. Samples with gold assays greater than 100ppm are re-analyzed using a 50g fire assay fusion with gravimetric finish. Analysis for silver is by 50g fire assay fusion with gravimetric finish with a lower limit of 5ppm and upper limit of 10,000ppm. Samples with silver assays greater than 10,000ppm are re-analyzed using a gravimetric silver concentrate method. A selected number of samples are also analyzed using a 48 multi-elemental geochemical package by a 4-acid digestion, followed by Inductively Coupled Plasma Atomic Emission Spectroscopy (ICP-AES) and Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectroscopy (ICP-MS) and also for mercury using an aqua regia digest with Inductively Coupled Plasma Atomic Emission Spectroscopy (ICP-AES) finish. Samples with sulfur reporting greater than 10% from the multi-element analysis are re-analyzed for total sulfur by Leco furnace and infrared spectroscopy. Cautionary note regarding forward-looking statements Certain statements made and information contained herein may constitute ''forward looking information'' and ''forward looking statements'' within the meaning of applicable Canadian and United States securities legislation. These statements and information are based on facts currently available to the Company and there is no assurance that actual results will meet management's expectations. Forward-looking statements and information may be identified by such terms as ''anticipates'', ''believes'', targets, ''estimates'', ''plans'', ''expects'', '' may'', ''will'', ''could'' or ''would''. Forward-looking statements and information contained herein are based on certain factors and assumptions regarding, among other things, the estimation of mineral resources and reserves, the realization of resource and reserve estimates, metal prices, taxation, the estimation, timing and amount of future exploration and development, capital and operating costs, the availability of financing, the receipt of regulatory approvals, environmental risks, title disputes and other matters. While the Company considers its assumptions to be reasonable as of the date hereof, forward-looking statements and information are not guarantees of future performance and readers should not place undue importance on such statements as actual events and results may differ materially from those described herein. The Company does not undertake to update any forward-looking statements or information except as may be required by applicable securities laws. Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor the Investment Industry Regulatory Organization of Canada accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. Table 1: Eskay Creek Project Phase I 22 Zone length weighted drill hole gold and silver composites: HOLE-ID FROM (M) TO (M) CORE LENGTH (M) AU (G/T) AG (G/T) AUEQ (G/T) SK-18-042 10.00 24.00 14.00 1.04 <5 1.04 SK-18-043 11.50 20.75 9.25 0.49 <5 0.49 SK-18-048 39.00 68.00 29.00 1.23 12 1.39 SK-18-049 2.85 95.00 92.15 4.07 122 5.71 INCLUDING 12.00 26.00 14.00 20.10 322 24.39 INCLUDING 16.50 18.00 1.50 10.95 36 11.43 AND 18.00 18.70 0.70 20.80 113 22.31 AND 18.70 19.50 0.80 32.10 257 35.53 AND 19.50 21.00 1.50 3.05 154 5.10 AND 21.00 22.50 1.50 28.00 177 30.36 AND 22.50 24.00 1.50 78.10 1,840 102.63 AND 24.00 25.10 1.10 33.60 633 42.04 AND 25.10 26.00 0.90 8.30 193 10.87 AND 45.00 46.00 1.00 6.94 465 13.14 AND 48.00 48.65 0.65 9.86 2,220 39.46 SK-18-050 3.90 77.00 73.10 2.61 138 4.44 INCLUDING 11.00 18.60 7.60 11.56 63 12.40 INCLUDING 11.00 12.50 1.50 10.40 19 10.65 AND 12.50 14.00 1.50 13.50 95 14.77 AND 14.00 15.50 1.50 21.90 81 22.98 AND 18.00 18.60 0.60 17.30 209 20.09 AND 34.00 35.00 1.00 2.46 494 9.05 AND 35.00 36.00 1.00 4.60 795 15.20 AND 53.50 55.00 1.50 2.53 831 13.61 AND 55.00 56.50 1.50 4.33 745 14.26 SK-18-051 24.50 98.50 74.00 1.65 10 1.79 INCLUDING 26.00 27.50 1.50 5.36 11 5.51 AND 82.00 83.50 1.50 4.93 20 5.20 Gold Equivalent (AuEq) calculated via the formula: Au (g/t) + [Ag (g/t) / 75]. Core lengths are reported as true widths as exact zone geometries cannot be accurately determined from available drilling information. Grade capping of individual assays has not been applied to the Au and Ag assays informing the length weighted AuEq composites. Processing recoveries have not been applied to the AuEq calculation and are disclosed at 100%. Samples below detection limit were nulled to a value of zero. Table 2: Mine grid Phase I drill hole locations and orientations: Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - January 23, 2019) - GoviEx Uranium Inc. (TSXV: GXU) (OTCQB: GVXXF) ("GoviEx" or "Company") today provides a Market Update & Letter to Stakeholders from the Executive Chairman, Govind Friedland and the Chief Executive Officer, Daniel Major. To Our Fellow Stakeholders, Thank you for placing your trust in our team during a turbulent 2018 and continuing to support our efforts to build GoviEx into a significant uranium company. We wish to reaffirm our belief in the fundamentals of nuclear power and to state clearly our resolve to play a leading role in the development of clean energy solutions for years to come. We appreciate this opportunity to present our perspective of the sector as we advance into 2019. We do so with increased confidence in the overall uranium and nuclear industries, and our positioning to respond to improving market conditions and underlying sector fundamentals. As a uranium exploration and development company, GoviEx has one of the largest undeveloped mineral resources in the industry and two mine-permitted projects, which includes our flagship project located in Niger (the "Madaouela Project") that has key infrastructure (road access, skilled mine labor, ground water and grid power) already in place.1 Our team has been operating in Niger for more than 10 years, taking the Madaouela Project from early exploration to mine permitted project in that time frame, and we are grateful for the work completed by our predominately local team, the strong support from the local communities and all levels of government as we focus on the next phase of development. When we reflect on market dynamics, the spot uranium price2 was US$22.32/lb U3O8 at the beginning of 2018 and had risen to US$29.10/lb U3O8 by the end of the year. Global nuclear energy generation has returned to the levels last seen in 2011. The rate of global reactor construction is now at the highest level in the past 25 years.5 With the announcement recently of six new power reactor construction starts in China and the restart of nuclear reactors in Japan, we should expect the level of nuclear energy generation to continue its rise. The supply constraint shouldered by the major uranium producers, combined with the increase in uranium inventories shifting to investment funds, has resulted in the supply of the yellow metal being in a deficit with forecasts now indicating that the uranium price will continue to rise through 2019. From a corporate finance perspective, in 2018 the Company successfully resolved, at a substantial discount, the 6 year old Toshiba B Bond that removed not only a leveraged loan from the balance sheet but also the related loan security, an important steps towards securing project finance for the Madaouela Project. Responding to an expected improvement in uranium price the Company appointed SRK Consulting (UK) Ltd ("SRK") and SGS Bateman (Pty) Ltd ("SGS") as the consultants for the completion of a feasibility study for the Madaouela Project. SRK and SGS have considerable experience in uranium and African project development. Together, our teams are focused on options that have the potential to improve the feasibility of the Madaouela Project. Some of these include3: Negotiations with the Government of Niger to include in the Madaouela Mining Permit the mineral resources associated with the Miriam deposit situated on Agaliouk Exploration Permit. The Miriam deposit on the Agaliouk Permit includes 5.96 million pounds (Mlb) U3O8 in the Measured and Indicated categories. 1 Analysis of contractor mining operations vs owner operator mining (as currently forecast in the current pre-feasibility study 1 ), which has the potential to significantly reduce up front capital costs. ), which has the potential to significantly reduce up front capital costs. The inclusion of membrane separation in the Madaouela Project process design could potentially reduce operating and capital costs. Potential of stand-alone solar hybrid power supply to reduce power supply risks and reduce power costs. The funds from the recent C$1m private placement closed at the end of 2018, and the commitment from Linkwood Holdings Pte Ltd. to repay GoviEx US$2.95m (loan plus interest) by the end of June 20194, are planned to be utilized to fund the advancement of key aspects of the Madaouela Project including, continued engineering and project optimization as well as the advancement of primary corporate objectives related to project finance, long-term offtake and for working capital and general corporate purposes. GoviEx anticipates the uranium price to continue to improve through 2019, and will continue to advance our projects with discretionary spending commensurate with improving market fundamentals. Thank you for your support and encouragement. Sincerely, Govind Friedland, Executive Chairman Daniel Major, CEO Notes: 1. See: An independent NI 43-101 technical report was prepared for the Madaouela Project in 2015 to a prefeasibility level of confidence. The report titled "An Updated Integrated Development Plan for the Madaouela Project, Niger" has an effective date of August 11, 2015, and a revision date of August 20, 2015, and is available at GoviEx's profile on SEDAR at www.sedar.com. 2. Source: https://www.cameco.com/invest/markets/uranium-price 3. See: News release dated September 19, 2018 4. See: News release dated December 31, 2018 5. Source: World Nuclear Association Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor the Investment Industry Regulatory Organization of Canada accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. About GoviEx Uranium GoviEx is a mineral resource company focused on the exploration and development of uranium properties in Africa. GoviEx's principal objective is to become a significant uranium producer through the continued exploration and development of its flagship mine-permitted Madaouela Project in Niger, its mine-permitted Mutanga Project in Zambia, and its other uranium properties in Africa. Information Contacts Govind Friedland, Executive Chairman Daniel Major, Chief Executive Officer +1-604-681-5529 This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. www.goviex.com Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Statements This news release may contain forward-looking information within the meaning of applicable securities laws. All information and statements other than statements of current or historical facts contained in this news release are forward-looking information. Forward-looking statements are subject to various risks and uncertainties concerning the specific factors disclosed here and elsewhere in GoviEx's periodic filings with Canadian securities regulators. When used in this news release, words such as "will", "could", "plan", "estimate", "expect", "intend", "may", "potential", "should," and similar expressions, are forward-looking statements. Information provided in this document is necessarily summarized and may not contain all available material information. Forward-looking statements include those with respect to the expected ability for the Company to play a leading role in the development of clean energy solutions and continue to position itself to respond to improving market conditions and underlying sector fundamentals; the expectation that the level of nuclear energy generation to continue its rise; the expectation that the uranium price will continue to rise through 2019; the expectation that that the implementation of certain options may potentially improve the feasibility of the Madaouela Project; and the proposed use of the proceeds of the Linkwood Holdings Pte Ltd. ("Linkwood") loan repayment and C$1m private placement closed at the end of 2018; and that Linkwood is scheduled to repay GoviEx all outstanding loan principal and interest amounts by June 2019. Although the Company believes the expectations reflected in such forward-looking statements are based on reasonable assumptions, it can give no assurances that its expectations will be achieved. Such assumptions, which may prove incorrect, include the following: (i) Linkwood will repay the GoviEx loan on the agreed schedule; and (iii) the price of uranium will remain sufficiently high and the costs of advancing the Company's mining projects will remain sufficiently low so as to permit GoviEx to implement its business plans in a profitable manner. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from expectations include (i) the failure of the Company's projects, for technical, logistical, labour-relations, or other reasons; (ii) the failure of Linkwood to repay the GoviEx loan on the agreed schedule; (iii) a decrease in the price of uranium below what is necessary to sustain the Company's operations; (iv) an increase in the Company's operating costs above what is necessary to sustain its operations; (v) accidents, labour disputes, or the materialization of similar risks; (vi) a deterioration in capital market conditions that prevents the Company from raising the funds it requires on a timely basis; and (vii) generally, the Company's inability to develop and implement a successful business plan for any reason. In addition, the factors described or referred to in the section entitled "Financial Risks and Management Objectives" in the MD&A for the year ended December 31, 2017, of GoviEx, which is available on the SEDAR website at www.sedar.com, should be reviewed in conjunction with the information found in this news release. Although GoviEx has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual results, performance, or achievements to differ materially from those contained in the forward-looking statements, there can be other factors that cause results, performance, or achievements not to be as anticipated, estimated, or intended. There can be no assurance that such information will prove to be accurate or that management's expectations or estimates of future developments, circumstances, or results will materialize. As a result of these risks and uncertainties, no assurance can be given that any events anticipated by the forward-looking information in this news release will transpire or occur, or if any of them do so, what benefits that GoviEx will derive therefrom. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. The forward-looking statements in this news release are made as of the date of this news release, and GoviEx disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise such information, except as required by applicable law. The votes will test the abilities of McConnell and Schumer to unify their sides and, likely, to negotiate with each other afterward. In other dramatic fiscal showdowns over the past decade, the Senate has almost always been the chamber that found the bipartisan solution as the House hit roadblocks, from the Wall Street bailout of 2008 to reopening of government after the 2013 shutdown. But those were crises that predated President Donald Trump's mercurial presidency. For a better experience on our website and avoid any trouble, we strongly recommand to activate Javascript ( click here ). Hello and welcome to Journal des Palaces You are a communication or the PR manager? Click here You are an applicant? Check out our questions and answers here ! Zephen Xaver, 21, "for some reason always hated people and wanted everybody to die," Alex Gerlach told WSBT-TV in Indiana, shortly after Wednesday's massacre in Sebring. "He got kicked out of school for having a dream that he killed everybody in his class, and he's been threatening this for so long, and he's been having dreams about it and everything." Kylie Mohr covers the education and health beats. Mohr grew up in Washington and came to Wyoming via Georgetown. She loves seeing the starry night sky again. Mike has reported on the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem's wildlife, wildlands and the agencies that manage them since 2012. A native Minnesotan, he arrived in the West to study environmental journalism at the University of Colorado. She also said Burke called himself the law, claimed to have tapes that would humiliate Sheriff Tom Dart, vowed to run for sheriff and said he would fire a bunch of employees when he won, records show. A county memo included in the records dated after Burke Jr.s resignation said the sheriffs Office of Professional Review did not get to interview Burke Jr. before he resigned and recommended no further action be taken in the matter. I think there are still serious questions about what were the conversations (Mendoza) was having with Solis and his sister, said Ramirez-Rosa, 35th. And theres the need to address implications of wrongdoing in her position as comptroller as she accepted money from Solis and these firms that were benefiting from the comptrollers offices ability to speed up or slow down the timing of vendor payments. Today Mainly sunny. Near record high temperatures. High 118F. Winds SSE at 10 to 20 mph. Tonight Clear skies. Low 82F. Winds WSW at 10 to 20 mph. Tomorrow Sunny skies with gusty winds developing later in the day. Very hot. High 116F. W winds at 5 to 10 mph, increasing to 20 to 30 mph. The three Michael Saunders, Vincent Thames and Harold Richardson were convicted along with Terrill Swift for the rape and murder of Nina Glover, a slaying that happened when they were teenagers. The Englewood Four, as they came to be known, were later cleared and a judge granted them certificates of innocence despite prosecutors objections. Telstra is sacking another 752 workers as part of its move to cut more than a quarter of the total workforce, a move announced in June last year. The Community and Public Sector Union said in a statement on Wednesday that it been notified of the cuts, which would be partially offset by the creation of 347 new jobs. This is the second mass cut since the June announcement, with 1100 jobs being cut in August last year. CPSU deputy national president Brooke Muscat-Bentley said: This is disturbing news for Telstra workers and customers alike. Telstra is pushing on with its self-destructive and short-sighted plan to slash a quarter of its workforce, ignoring the harm that will cause to staff and Telstra services. Each and every one of these 752 people makes a valuable contribution to Telstra. The impact from a mass sacking on this scale wont just hit these workers and their families. It will be felt throughout the entire organisation." In June last year, Telstra chief executive Andy Penn said the company would effect a net reduction of 8000 employees and contractors by 2022 and reduce two to four layers of management, leading to the cutting of one in four executive and middle management roles. Sadly we believe this is just the start for the jobs apocalypse planned by Telstra management. Clearly sacking one in four workers isnt going to help with faltering customer satisfaction in Telstras services," Muscat-Bentley said. Telstra isnt treating those workers who will remain any better, with the telco continuing to stand in the way of union efforts to negotiate a fair and decent enterprise agreement. Of particular concern is Telstras continuing refusal to agree to provide a dignified redundancy process, and that the company is still pushing whats an effective wage cut on staff. The only way for Telstra to halt its sad decline is for the company to recognise that its workforce is the companys best asset. Industrial action is a possibility as we explore ways to make Telstra management see sense. The NBN Co's latest promotional move, offering retail service providers $160 for each customer who signs up for a 100Mbps service, effectively requires these customers not to downgrade or disconnect until January 2021, according to the head of a small ISP. Damian Ivereigh, the chief executive of Launtel, a Launceston-based firm, told iTWire he was not sure that he could craft any promotional offers around it, in the way that other ISPs, like the NSW-based small ISP MyRepublic, has done. "At this point I don't think there is much I can comment on around this 100/40 discount," Ivereigh said in response to queries. "We are not yet sure that we can materially use it due to the way it effectively requires the customer to not downgrade or disconnect until Jan 2021 (two years). "This suits those companies that do contracts for sure. However, not only do we not do contracts, due to our daily pricing, we encourage people to change their speeds or pause their service (which processes a disconnect) when they don't need their service (e.g. when they go on holiday)." He added: "Unfortunately we break the mould in many ways and we have to accept that some of NBN's discount schemes just don't suit our way of doing business." NBN Co's move was made on 21 January on an internal document, offering a rebate of $160 to retail service providers for each user who takes up a 100Mbps plan between 21 January and 30 June 2019. Called the Fast Anytime 100 Rebate, the details are buried in the company's discounts, credits and rebates list. Ivereigh said he believed that the NBN Co had made this offer because, during its effort to push 50Mbps connections - a campaign called Focus on 50 - not only had many people taken up 50Mbps connections, a portion of the market had downgraded from 100Mbps to 50Mbps. "This was because the price construct of both Focus on 50 and the new bundles make the 50Mbps relatively cheaper. Indeed under the new bundles, the 100Mbps plans went up in price. Some companies (e.g. MyRepublic) started offering 50Mbps plans for the first time." The NBN Co's move is geared towards raising its average revenue per user towards the figure of $52 which will enable it to break even. The ARPU has been stuck at $44 for a while; it was at this level when the company announced its latest quarterly results, not moving an iota since its full-year 2018 results. NBN Co had pushed 50Mbps plans for a while, under a campaign known as Focus on 50. In December last year, the company announced new plans for businesses in order to increase its revenue from the sector. MyRepublic appears to be the only company that has reacted immediately to the NBN Co's move, by offering 100Mbps plans that are $79.95 per month, a $10 decrease from its existing price, for an unspecified period, as iTWire reported on Monday. iTWire asked a few other RSPs whether they had any promotional plans on the anvil. An Aussie Broadband spokesperson said the company had plans to introduce some new 100Mbps plans but was yet to work out the details. A spokesperson from Vodafone Hutchison Australia said it was maintaining in-market pricing and offers at the existing level at the moment. A Telstra spokesperson said the company was looking at the details of the NBN Co's announcement but had not made any decision to offer new plans yet. Optus was also contacted, but did not respond to iTWire's request before publication. Update, 25 February: An Optus spokesperson said: "Optus regularly reviews our NBN pricing plans, and our competitors' offers, to ensure we continue to deliver great value to our customers. "We believe any measures to improve customer experience will be welcomed by our consumers." Meng Wanzhou has been stuck in Vancouver since her arrest on 1 December last year. Comments made by US President Donald Trump after the arrest by Canada of Chinese telecommunications equipment provider Huawei's chief financial officer Meng Wanzhou may help prevent her extradition to the US, a Canadian diplomat has said. Canada's China ambassador John McCallum told an event in Markham, Ontario, on Tuesday, where Chinese-language media were present, that Meng had "some strong arguments she can make before a judge" in fighting extradition, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation reported. McCallum was quoted as saying, "One, political involvement by comments from Donald Trump in her case. Two, there's an extraterritorial aspect to her case, and three, there's the issue of Iran sanctions which are involved in her case, and Canada does not sign on to these Iran sanctions. So I think she has some strong arguments that she can make before a judge," Meng was arrested in Vancouver on 1 December at the request of US law enforcement under the terms of a bilateral extradition treaty. The US has now said it will make a formal bid to extradite her to face charges of violating its sanctions on Iran. When Trump was asked in December if he would intervene in the matter, he: Whatevers good for this country, I would do. If I think its good for what will be certainly the largest trade deal ever made which is a very important thing whats good for national security I would certainly intervene if I thought it was necessary. McCallum told his audience: "It's purely a judicial process. There may come a time when the justice minister is required to give a view, but that will not be for some months to come. "I know this has angered China, but we have a system of extradition treaty, a system of rules of law, which are above the government. The government cannot change these things, and as I said, I think Ms. Meng has quite a strong case." China has detained two Canadians after Meng was arrested and also re-sentenced a third, and awarded the man the death penalty, in what is seen as retaliation for Meng's arrest. When Chinese foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying was asked at a regular press briefing in Beijing on Wednesday whether a US extradition request would affect forthcoming US-China trade talks on 30 January, she said she would not offer any reply to a hypothetical question, seemingly unaware that the US had said on Monday that it would proceed with a formal request. Hua added: "I have to point out that the US side claimed that its extradition request to Canada is essentially related to the US sanction bills on Iran. But as you may all have known, Huawei for many times has solemnly stated that it complies with all applicable laws and regulations where it operates. "I want to stress in particular that China holds a consistent position on opposing the US unilateral sanctions on Iran outside the framework of the UN Security Council. What the US has done does not accord with the international law and has been opposed by the whole world, including its allies. The Canadian side is also opposed to that. "Therefore, the US actions, fundamentally speaking, do not comply with the international law and are not legitimate at all. Its actions are highly political and are in nature scientific bullying. "The real motive of the US side is clear for all to see, which is leaving no stones unturned in oppressing China's hi-tech companies and depriving China of its legitimate development rights. I believe that whoever that sees things clearly and has a sense of justice should voice their firm opposition to that." Last year, the US Department of Commerce imposed a seven-year ban on another big Chinese telco equipment maker, ZTE, claiming that the company had made false statements during talks in 2016 over a charge of shipping telco equipment to Iran and North Korea. ZTE shut down its main business activities in the US on 9 May. But following the intervention of US President Donald Trump, a deal was worked out for ZTE to return to business by paying a fine of US$1 billion, changing its management team and depositing US$400 million in an escrow account against possible future transgressions. Amazon Web Services has gained certification as a Protected Cloud provider from the Australian Signals Directorate, the company said in a statement on Thursday, adding that this meant it could store data with the highest security classification in the AWS Asia Pacific (Sydney) Region. This brings to six the number of companies certified at this level, the others being Dimension Data, Macquarie Government, Sliced Tech, Vault and Microsoft. The accreditation awarded to the AWS Sydney Region to run and store Protected security classification workloads in Australia is a major milestone for our existing customers and paves the way for others who may have been waiting for this certification in order to begin their cloud journey on AWS, said Peter Moore, Asia Pacific regional managing director, Worldwide Public Sector, Amazon Web Services. This accreditation also generates new opportunities for our AWS Partner Network to build value-added services and solutions to serve AWS customers in the region and will inspire even more start-ups to build their businesses on AWS. Australian Cyber Security Centre chief Alastair MacGibbon said: "The ACSC has certified 42 AWS services at Protected, and we have certified an additional four services to AWSs UDLM CCSL offering. The list of cloud providers cerrtified to different security levels by the ASD. Courtesty ACSC "This provides Australian Government agencies assurance that these services meet stringent Australian Government security requirements. "The government provides a robust risk-management framework to assess cyber security risks. The ACSC recommends customers review the certification documentation and make sound risk-based decisions when choosing a cloud service. Digital Transformation Agency chief executive Randall Brugeaud said: "The Digital Transformation Agency is already using AWS to deliver cloud.gov.au, a secure cloud-based platform for hosting website applications that helps government agencies build digital services quickly. "Cloud is a critical part of the DTAs whole of government transformation agenda. The Protected certification of AWS makes it easier for agencies to leverage cloud services, AWSs security capabilities and accreditations can be seen here and here respectively. After releasing iOS 12.1.3 with a few minor bugfixes, Apple has has moved on to iOS 12.2. The first beta was released to developers on January 24, 2019, with the first public release following on the 28th. At its Show time event on March 25, Apple mentioned the release of iOS 12.2, which brings with it the companys new Apple News+ subscription service and a host of smaller features, such as four new Animoji. To download the update, open the Settings app, tap General, then Software Update. Updated 03/25/19: After six beta releases lasting two months, iOS 12.2 is now available. Whats new in iOS 12.2 Apple News+: Apples new premium subscription service is the star feature of iOS 12.2. It provides access to over 300 magazines and several newspapers, including the LA Times and Wall Street Journal. The subscription costs $9.99 a month, and includes family sharing. Youll see a News+ tab at the bottom of the News app in iOS 12.2. Head there to get started. IDG Head to the News+ tab at the bottom of the News app to get started with Apples new premium subscription service. Support for AirPlay and HomeKit on TVs: Apple recently announced that AirPlay is coming to a bunch of smart TVs this year and iOS 12.2 starts to add support for them. Theyre referenced in the Home app, and theres an updated design to the TV Remote control center tile. Apple News in Canada: iOS 12.2 brings Apple News to Canada, including Apple News+. New Animoji: You can now chat with your friends using the new giraffe, shark, owl, and boar Animoji. IDG Four new Animoji grace your Messages in iOS 12.2 (starting with Developer Beta 2). Minor interface tweaks: In addition to TV references in the Home app, iOS 12.2 tweaks a few other minor interface elements. The Wallet gets a cleaned-up last transaction details list, and the AirPlay screen mirroring icon is new, for example. Improved voice Messages: Voice messages in the Messages app have sounded pretty bad for a long time. iOS 12.2 fixes that by replacing the old AMR voice code with the superior Opus codec, and tripling the sample rate from 8,000 Hz to 24,000 Hz. Fredrik Riedel noticed the change and documented the night-and-day difference on Twitter. Safari changes: Sites that do not use HTTPS are now listed as Not Secure in the menu bar. This used to appear only if a non-HTTPS site requested a password or credit card number. There are now blue arrows in the google search suggestions, which will add those terms to the search bar when tapped. Apple has added a new Motion & Orientation Access toggle in the the Privacy & Security section of Safari settings. Weather and AQI in Maps: In Settings > Maps, theres a new Climate section with toggles for Weather Conditions and Air Quality Index. Previously, there was no way to turn weather conditions off, and AQI is entirely new. The weather and AQI appear in the lower right corner of the Map view. Support for new devices: iOS 12.2 adds support for the new iPad Air and iPad mini, the second-generation AirPods, and adds Logitech Crayon support to the iPad Pro. Apples complete iOS 12.2 release notes iOS 12.2 provides support for Apple News+, adds the ability for Siri to play videos from your iOS device to Apple TV, and includes four new Animoji. This update also includes bug fixes and improvements. Apple News+ Apple News+ is a new subscription service that extends the Apple News experience with hundreds of magazines and top newspapers Our editors handpick top articles and magazine issues, and you also get personalized recommendations on the topics most interesting to you Automatic downloads make it easy to read magazine issues offline Apple News is now available in Canada, with a free experience that includes handpicked Top Stories, a personalized Today feed, and support for both English and French Apple News+ is available in the U.S. and in Canada, with dozens of additional Canadian magazines Siri Ask Siri on your iPhone or iPad to play any video, show, movie, sports game, or channel on Apple TV. For example, Hey Siri, play Free Solo on my TV Animoji Four new Animojiowl, boar, giraffe and sharkare included for iPhone X and later, iPad Pro 12.9-inch (3rd generation) and iPad Pro 11-inch AirPlay Dedicated TV controls in Control Center and on the Lock Screen give you quick access to TV controls AirPlay multitasking for video allows you to browse other apps, as well as play other short form audio and video files locally on your device without interrupting AirPlay AirPlay destinations are now grouped by content type making it faster for you to find what device you want to play to Apple Pay Apple Pay Cash customers can now transfer money to their bank accounts instantly using their Visa debit cards Wallet app now conveniently displays Apple Pay credit and debit transactions right below the card Screen Time Downtime can be configured with a different schedule for each day of the week A new toggle enables easily turning app limits on or off temporarily Safari Website sign-in now occurs automatically after filling credentials with Password AutoFill Warnings now appear when loading unencrypted webpages Removes support for the expired Do Not Track standard to prevent potential use as a fingerprinting variable; Intelligent Tracking Prevention now protects against cross-site tracking by default Smart Search Field queries can now be modified by tapping the arrow icon next to search suggestions Apple Music The Browse tab shows more editorial highlights on a single page making it easier to discover new music, playlists, and more AirPods Support for new AirPods (2nd generation) This update also includes other improvements and bug fixes. This update: After the Cook County states attorneys office withdrew from the case, state law required Gaughan to first ask the Illinois attorney generals office and then the Illinois appellate prosecutors office to see if they would handle the prosecution. When they declined, Gaughan solicited prosecutors from across the state, and McMahon was the only states attorney from the collar counties to volunteer to take on the hot-button case. The Qualcomm/FTC trial is pulling a lot of interest because the outcome could shift mobile technology leadership from the U.S. to China, which sadly isnt an uncommon result of trials like this. Ive been involved in litigation myself for nearly a decade, or all told, on and off since the early 1980s. Over the years, Ive been pulled into litigation discussions by clients, observed trials, and had the privilege to serve as a foreman on several juries and an expert witness in several trials. What you come to realize is that a trial isnt a search for truth, but performance art where the best performance in a less than open-and-shut case (most fall into this category) wins. This is one of the reasons good litigators are paid, and are worth, their weight in gold. They are expert at this performance art and, if used properly, can improve the odds of winning significantly. You can often tell who knows they are in the wrong by the class of attorney they hire. Someone sure of a win will typically scrimp on attorneys fees while someone who has severe doubts will generally pay whatever it takes to get top talent. What makes the Qualcomm vs. FTC (with Apple and Intel in the wings) litigation very interesting is that Qualcomm, because it is a licensing company, has an unusual number of attorneys working at the firm, and its licensing practice is specifically designed to avoid litigation. Apple has Intels old top attorney, who was uniquely famous for using litigation as a weapon, and Intel is famous for losing lawsuits in such a way that the result defined Pyrrhic victory. That is a victory in which the costs are so high that the result for the winner isnt significantly better than if they had lost. But Apple and Intel are working through the FTC, which is missioned to help the consumer, offsetting what otherwise would likely be an unbeatable advantage. Pages of Testimony Ive been reading through the hundreds of pages of testimony on the Qualcomm vs. FTC case for the last week and much of it appears designed to confuse the judge, Lucy Koh, who seems to be rightfully getting kind of annoyed with these efforts. Judges arent engineers or licensing specialists, and given how unique Qualcomm is, there isnt a ton of case law on this subject. Qualcomm is at a disadvantage because it is far smaller than either Intel or Apple and because its licensing model is relatively unique in the market. Courts have trouble with unique concepts, largely because of that lack of case law, and that means they must rely on the experts put forth by the various parties, who lose credibility due to the fact that they are paid selectively by each side. In some cases, the court can appoint something like a Special Master, a type of in-house expert, to help with their understanding but that hasnt happened in this instance. It is clear that the FTC got involved in this at Apple and Intels request, which could backfire on them. This risk is largely since FTC, or any government agency, doesnt work for anyone but the government. The reason that this could backfire is that Apple and Intel behave like monopolies themselves. Apple maintains margins that are around three times industry average and employs a lock-in strategy, which has allowed it to increase revenues during times of reduced sales by simply raising prices that their locked-in customers must then pay. Intel has repeatedly been caught locking out competitors like AMD from key markets using anti-competitive practices, which the FTC has sued it for. (Intel has been repeatedly hit for this, as has Apple.) The irony is that this is very much like the two biggest bullies in school dragging a smaller kid to the principal, complaining about being bullied. Even if true, youd think it would still end badly for the bullies because, well, they are more obviously bullies. Maybe it is to shift interest from their own anti-trust exposures, but it seems incredibly risky given that we are only talking something like $1.50 per $1,000 phone. But we arent. The end goal appears to be the destruction of Qualcomm, with the eventual dominance by Apple of the smartphone market, where it is currently having serious problems because there are far better smartphones for far less money and Qualcomm is enabling them. Deceptions and Misdirection So, the FTC, backed by Apple and Intel, is the plaintiff and Qualcomm, largely standing alone, is the defendant. If it wasnt for the fact that the FTC really doesnt work for Apple or Intel, Qualcomm would be totally outmatched regardless of its defense. This is particularly true given that Apple sought to cripple Qualcomm by unilaterally cutting its contractually obligated payments to the firm, allegedly backing an unsuccessful hostile takeover by Broadcom (which failed), and allegedly supplying Qualcomms intellectual property to Intel so that Intel could close what has been a huge technology gap between Qualcomm and Intels modem offerings. In reading through the testimony, it appears clear that even the basis of this case is in question. It is presented as a pricing dispute over a $7.50 licensing charge Qualcomm levies on iPhones, which they argue should be closer to $6 (most pay $13 and get less service, by the way). This disputed amount is about .15 percent of the cost of a $1,000 iPhone. Even if Apple passed the saving through to consumers, which it likely would never do, given its focus on increasing margins, this would save you $1.50 on your next iPhone purchase. The seeming misdirection is that while this would result in billions to Apple, it likely should be paying a premium over the $13 other firms pay because it requires a massive amount of special services also identified in the trial. So, ironically, Qualcomm shouldnt have given the firm a discount and likely wouldnt be in this position if it hadnt. (Typically, Qualcomm licenses the manufacturers of the phones, not the brand owner, but made a regrettable exception for Apple.) What became clear in testimony this week was that Apple just wants Qualcomms IP, but doesnt want to pay for it. An Apple executive witness testified that Qualcomm refused to sell Apple modems to support the FTC contention that Qualcomm punitively punished firms that didnt license its technology. While true, this was an interesting deception that avoided the nuance. What happened was that Apple wanted access to source code as part of the deal, but since it had been allegedly providing this source code to Intel to help it catch Qualcomm, Qualcomm demurred and provided three choices. Apple could get the modems without the source code (since Qualcomm does much of the integration work, Apple doesnt really need it); it could get the last generation of Qualcomm modems, which it had the source code for and had been crippling to cover up the fact that the Intel modems werent competitive; or it could get the new modems and the source code if Apple committed to using them for at least 50 percent of its phones. On this last, Qualcomm wanted to make sure it didnt provide Intel the source code through Apple and then not actually sell any of its own modems. This reminds me a bit of an experience I had with Microsoft a decade or so ago. The company was briefing me on Office pricing changes and indicated it had killed a program that allowed employees whose companies provided them with Office to get a free copy at home. It was a very popular feature of the Microsoft license, so I asked why this change was done. They said that companies asked for this popular feature to be dropped. They then explained that this happened after they told the companies that if the employees provided illegal copies to their families or friends, the company, not the employee, would be sued. You see, it wasnt that the firms didnt want the free copies, they didnt want to be sued. In the Qualcomm case, it wasnt that the company didnt want to sell Apple modems, it just wanted to be paid and not ripped off. Which, to me, seems rather reasonable. Wrapping Up: Looking Toward the Results of This Important Case It is worth looking at this case because it is a showcase of how strong litigation teams perform and how twisted the truth can become in the process. Clearly, if the court realizes that this is just a complex strategy to remove Qualcomm from the board, initially replacing it with Intel and eventually allowing Apple to again dominate the smartphone market, it will go in Qualcomms favor. If the court doesnt realize that and is instead focused on this being about Qualcomm overcharging, then the result could be very different even though, and this is ironic, Apple appears to get more benefit for less cost than any other smartphone vendor. From the outside, this is kind of like looking into an abusive relationship where the abused spouse is protecting the abuser. Qualcomm still hasnt really taken the gloves off and seems to believe that reconciliation is a viable outcome, even though it is clear Apple and Intels goal is to drain and then kill Qualcomm. Adding to this is that it appears likely that Apple plans to do the same thing to Intel. And as people in Qualcomm early on were pointing out that Apple was being disingenuous and planned to hurt that company, I expect people in Intel who are also not being seriously considered are anticipating Apple will do the same to that firm. Intel doesnt really like dissention in the ranks so, I expect, those folks are being managed out of the company as we speak. Both Apple and Intel are having serious issues that have nothing to do with Qualcomm. Apple hasnt had a true hit product since the iPad, largely because Tim Cook has no clue how Steve Jobs turned Apple around and made it successful again. Intel doesnt even have a CEO. Its last one was terminated for cause and under a cloud of insider trading. Litigation can be, and in this case is, a massive distraction that wont fix either critical problem, though it does take attention away from them. I just dont see that shifting attention is what either firm needs now. In the end, this is relatively simple. Apple created the current smartphone market and wants to own it. It cant with Qualcomm providing technology to rivals so it has convinced Intel and the FTC to help it get rid of Qualcomm with the eventual plan to render Intel redundant as well, thus assuring it can again own the market. Of course, if it is successful, the FTC will likely break it up, but not before the existing executive team retires with massive financial gains. That is what really makes this fascinating to watch. Rob Enderle is President and Principal Analyst of the Enderle Group, a forward-looking emerging technology advisory firm. With over 30 years experience in emerging technologies, he has provided regional and global companies with guidance in how to better target customer needs; create new business opportunities; anticipate technology changes; select vendors and products; and present their products in the best possible light. Rob covers the technology industry broadly. Before founding the Enderle Group, Rob was the Senior Research Fellow for Forrester Research and the Giga Information Group, and held senior positions at IBM and ROLM. Follow Rob on Twitter @enderle, on Facebook and on Google+ Thursday, January 24th, 2019 (2:00 pm) - Score 2,577 Last March the Belfast City Council (BCC) secured a public investment of 11.5m to support their plans for deploying a 1Gbps+ capable full fibre network, which would connect public sites across the city. Since then weve been waiting for news on the contract and Openreach (BT) may have just given a clue. The funding itself came from Wave 2 of the UK Governments 190m Local Full Fibre Network (LFFN) challenge fund (here), which was setup to help stimulate commercial investment in gigabit capable broadband (rural and urban) networks. As part of this Belfast established the Public Sector Anchor Tenancy project, which aims to connect 96 council sites to a new Gigabit capable Dark Fibre network. The new network would also be extended to areas of the city where intensive local regeneration plans have been prepared (c.1,468 premises passed or 22,724 potentially addressable premises). The primary aim of this was to future proof BCCs own connectivity requirements for the next 25 years. BCCs Fibre Plan Statement (Dec 2018) Through the BCC Public Sector Anchor Tenancy project, the Council intends to connect council buildings across the city to create a gigabit capable fibre network which will future proof BCCs own connectivity requirements for the next 25 years. The Council is also seeking to maximise the availability and benefit of gigabit capable broadband services in the City Centre through, the Public Sector Asset Reuse (PSAR) project, which aims to allow ducting within the Streets Ahead area to be used to deploy fibre services to businesses in this area much more cost effectively than is currently the case. The BCC LFFN programme also supports the aims of the Belfast Region City Deal and Smart Belfast Framework. The BCC LFFN project will open up new opportunities to support digitally transformed user focussed Customer services, and innovative digital infrastructure covering networking, IoT sensors, modern devices, data management systems and 5G smart districts and test-beds. A related contract notice for this project was published last September 2018, which proposed a total value of 25m. The result of this is expected soon but in the meantime Openreach may have offered a hint. In a new briefing the operator has decided to offer their OSA Filter Connect (Single Fibre XG-210) service on 25-year term pricing, specifically in response to and for the [Belfast LFFN] bid. The OSA Filter Connect service is kind of a virtual (grey) dark fibre style solution and so far as were aware the longest term for their single fibre variant is usually 60 months (5 years). The 60 month option for this tends to carry a one-off connection charge of 8,590.00 +vat and an annual rental of 4,380.00. Thursday, January 24th, 2019 (10:18 am) - Score 2,249 Broadband customers who complain about their service or seek support from a UK ISP via Twitter need to be extra cautious. A security expert has uncovered how scammers are abusing the platform in order to pose as fake customer service agents, albeit by using one of the oldest but easily overlooked tricks in the book. In this example the problem began after the co-founder of a Cambridge-based penetration-testing outfit (Fidus Information Security), Andrew Mabbitt, complained to Virgin Medias official Twitter feed about a problem that he had been having with broadband connectivity. Within minutes of posting a complaint I got two replies; one from Virgin Media themselves in a public message and another from somebody purporting to be from Virgin Media in my DMs. It seems those behind the account(s) are watching for keywords in real time and sending these messages very quickly; exploiting both the speed of a reply and the frustration being held by the person writing the initial tweet, said Andrew. The Direct Message contact and its linked account looked almost identical to the official one and replicated some of its content, although anybody paying close enough attention will have noted that the twitter handle was @virgincsmedia (this account has now been suspended) rather than @virginmedia. We should point out that a lot of bigger ISPs have several different accounts on Twitter, some of which are dedicated to providing support and others are more promotional (e.g. @TalkTalkBiz and @TalkTalkBizCare). As such something like @virgincsmedia by itself wouldnt necessarily jump out at a regular user as being overtly suspicious, but in security terms its always wise to be overly cautious of such things. The message itself asked for Andrews name and address (i.e. the one linked to his account) and so for amusement he played along, albeit while using the fictional comic character of Deadpool (Wade Wilson) as his alter-ego. Naturally it didnt take long before the fraudster (well call this a type of phishing) was asking for the full details of Andrews credit card, which is something that a real support agent would never do! In the end Andrew successfully used his skills to trick the fraudster into clicking a link that exposed his IP address. All of this is a useful demonstration of how scammers will do their best to try and steal your data, even on social media. So be on your guard for fake Twitter accounts and the same goes for Facebook users etc. Credits to The Register for spotting. Thursday, January 24th, 2019 (9:21 am) - Score 773 The Welsh Economy, Infrastructure and Skills Committee has warned that Mobile coverage in Wales consistently lags behind the rest of the UK, which could hamper the roll-out of future Gigabit capable 5G services unless changes are made (e.g. allowing 30m tall masts, stricter coverage requirements and more engagement). Wales has long had a problem with weak mobile network coverage and a big part of the reason for that stems from the countrys difficult rural terrain, although in terms of geographic coverage theyre by no means as bad as Scotland. According to Ofcoms most recent Connected Nations 2018 report, geographic 4G coverage from all operators in Wales stands as 57% (90% for just EE) and that compares with 38% in Scotland (78% for just EE). So network coverage for 4G is improving in Wales, although todays report notes that this is because of investment from mobile phone networks rather than any interventions by the Welsh Government (WG). Back in 2017 the WG recognised this by publishing a Mobile Action Plan, which proposed tax breaks for new masts, changes to permitted development rights (e.g. allowing 25 metre tall masts instead of the current 15m limit) and support for 5G. However progress has been slow and todays report, which examined the aforementioned plan, urges the WG to work with mobile providers as soon as possible in order to identify the challenges of 5G and how to tackle them. As a spokesperson for Mobile UK said, the Government is at risk of getting itself ready for 4G, when weve already moved on to the next technology. Russell George AM (Conservative), Committee Chair, said: Mobile phone coverage in Wales consistently lags behind the rest of the UK. The advent of 5G promises to further integrate technology into our lives through smart devices such as autonomous cars. It is critical therefore that Wales is not left behind in this new era. But while the country as a whole prepares for the next generation of mobile connectivity, there are still parts of Wales with no connection at all. That simply isnt good enough and it is crucial these not-spots are covered, particularly in remote, rural areas. We are therefore urging ministers to engage with the network operators, establish the challenges ahead and how best to tackle them face on. A Spokesperson for EE told the Committee: If you want to be able to share infrastructure, it needs to be large enough, big enough, to accommodate the equipment for multiple operators, and if, broadly, we are restricted to 15m high masts in Wales under permitted development rights, it makes that incredibly difficult. In response the committee has made several recommendations, many of which seem to echo those in the original Mobile Action Plan but also tend to go much further. For example, the WG is currently preparing to increase the maximum mast height to 25 metres but the Committee says they should aim higher and go for 30m. Key Recommendations * The Welsh Government should allow higher masts under the permitted planning regime; * The Welsh Government should engage with mobile operators as soon as is practicable to identify the challenges of rolling out the 5G network, and consider how to address those challenges using the levers it has at its disposal; and, * In areas outside of commercial viability, either providers should be obliged to provide coverage as part of the regulatory framework in which they operate, or the right to provide coverage should revert back to the public sector after a reasonable time. Apparently there are a total of 10 recommendations, but at the time of writing we struggled to find the report document online and so cannot yet provide the full list (the most recent one from the committee concerns roads). We should also add that Ofcom have recently proposed tougher coverage obligations for operators as part of their forthcoming plan to auction of the 5G friendly 700MHz band (details). The 700MHz Coverage Obligation The binding coverage rules mean that up to two winning bidders would each have to, within 4 years of the award: 1. Extend good, outdoor data coverage to at least 90% of the UKs entire land area within four years of the award. 2. Improve coverage for at least 140,000 homes and offices which they do not already cover. This means new coverage will be targeted at areas that are harder to reach; and 3. Provide coverage from at least 500 new mobile mast stations in rural areas. This will ensure operators transform coverage in areas where it is lacking, rather than meeting the rules by just boosting existing signals. On top of that the UK Governments Future Telecoms Infrastructure Review (FTIR) last year put forward a bunch of additional changes. While in custody, Glover spit and kicked in the direction of the supervising officer, according to police. He threatened to kill the officer as well as the judge who signed the warrant. Specials Chinas Six Belt and Road Projects in Myanmar to Watch in 2019 China's President Xi Jinping shakes hands with Myanmar pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi during their meeting at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, China on June 11, 2015. / REUTERS Guest Column What We Can Hope For From the 70th Anniversary of Karen National Resistance Day KNLA soldiers march in a parade to mark the 68th anniversary of Karen Martyrs Day in Hpa Pun, Karen State, in August. / Aung Kyaw Htet / The Irrawaddy The Karen National Union (KNU), the oldest ethnic armed group in Myanmar and a signatory to the Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement (NCA), plans to celebrate the 70th anniversary of Karen National Resistance Day at its headquarter in Law Khee Lar, Karen State, on Jan. 28-31. For the first time, the KNU will mark the event with a military parade joined by its splinter groups: the Democratic Karen Benevolent Army (DKBA); Karen National Liberation Army-Peace Council (KNLA-PC); and Border Guard Force (BGF). The KNU has been observing the anniversary for decades, but this is the first time the Karen armed groups will mark it together. The decision to celebrate the anniversary together came about when they met on Oct. 8, when they agreed to work together on securing self-determination for the Karen people. According to a senior KNU official, the group has invited all ethnic armed organizations (EAOs) to the ceremony. It has also invited the Myanmar military, or Tatmadaw, the Union government, political parties and some foreign diplomats. Surprisingly, U Aung Min, head of the Myanmar Peace Center and a peace negotiator under ex-President Thein Sein, is among the invitees as well. All those invited are expected to attend. The KNUs reasons for inviting them all boil down to two reasons. First, the KNU wants to solve the many territorial disputes among the EAOs. Clashes over territory continue to occur between the Restoration Council of Shan State (RCSS) and Shan State Progress Party (SSPP), the RCSS and Taang National Liberation Army, and the KNU and New Mon State Party. The RCSS and SSPP are engaged in heavy fighting right now; they are expected to discuss their dispute at the anniversary. Second, the KNU wants to talk about the stalled national peace process and set it on the right track. The KNU temporarily pulled back from the peace process in October, and the RCSS followed suit the next month. They said a recent high-level meeting with the government and Tatmadaw had failed to achieve a breakthrough on key obstacles. It appears that all NCA signatories are disappointed with the peace process. After several meetings with the government and Tatmadaw and three rounds of the 21st Century Peace Conference, signatory EAOs now believe that the current trajectory will get them little. The fact is that the NCA also cannot guarantee any ceasefires between the Tatmadaw and signatory EAOs. Recent clashes between the Tatmadaw and KNU, over the Tatmadaws alleged deployment of patrols to facilitate a road upgrade, highlight the weakness of the NCA. General Yawd Serk, a leader of the RCSS, accused the Tatmadaw of not abiding by the terms of the NCA after the Myanmar military attache in Bangkok blocked a meeting of the Committee for Shan State Unity in Chiang Mai, Thailand, in 2017. The Tatmadaw and RCSS clashed the same year. As all the EAOs NCA signatories and non-signatories alike share a common vision to build a federal union, they will surely discuss the stalled peace process and at least try to devise a new strategy to move it forward. It appears the KNU also wants U Aung Min to give them some advice on how to do that, and possibly even broker future negotiations. In 2015 the KNU signed the NCA with seven other EAOs after several dialogues with a negotiating team led by U Aung Min. The NCA signatories and U Aung Min undeniably used to have good relations; the KNU now wants to revamp the relationship. It is also undeniable that Myanmars peace process is faltering. Achieving peace and ending the conflict in the near future seems impossible, in spite of a four-month unilateral ceasefire the Tatmadaw called in late December. Heavy fighting between the Tatmadaw and Arakan Army continues in Rakhine State. Meetings between the EAOs and Tatmadaw are key to ending the conflict and solving the problem. But before any meaningful peace talks can happen with the Tatmadaw and government, the EAOs must settle the territorial disputes between each other. Thus, we hope all EAOs attend this years anniversary and meet in order to solve their disputes and forge a new path to peace. Joe Kumbun is the pseudonym of an analyst based in Kachin State. News Man Shot Dead Outside Home in Rakhines Minbya Township A Minbya Township signpost. / Min Aung Khine / The Irrawaddy SITTWEA resident of Pann Myaung village in Rakhine States Minbya Township was shot dead in front of his house on Wednesday evening, according to township police. U Maung Aye Thein, 56, was shot five times at close range at around 9 p.m., Police Captain Mya Zaw told The Irrawaddy. He saw somebody trying to open the gate in his fence. Thinking it was a guest, he went outside and approached the gate. He was shot near the fence, the police officer told The Irrawaddy. U Aye Maung Thein sustained five gunshot wounds and died on the spot. His body was sent to a local hospital for a post-mortem examination. The motive for the killing was not immediately clear. The victim, who made a living by doing odd jobs, was an ex-member of the Union Solidarity and Development Party and formerly served as a 10-household administrator and auxiliary firefighter, Pol. Capt. Mya Zaw said. Villagers didnt see anything. They said they heard something like a firecracker. His wife said she saw the gunman. She said he is not a local, he said. There are over 1,400 households in Pann Myang village, and locals have been in a state of panic since the murder, he said. We are still gathering information. So we still dont know the motive for the murder. And we are still investigating the type of bullets used, he added. U Khin Than Maung, a member of the Central Executive Committee of the Arakan League for Democracy (ALD), was murdered at his residence in Kyar Inn Taung village in Rakhine States Myebon Township on Dec. 24 last year. News Govt Reports 2nd ARSA Attack in Northern Rakhine State This Month A border police officer stands guard near Myanmar's border fence with Bangladesh near Taungpyo Letwea Town, Maungdaw Township, Rakhine State, in March. / Moe Myint / The Irrawaddy YANGON Three officers were wounded by artillery shells in a two-hour assault on a police post in northern Rakhine States Maungdaw Township Thursday morning by the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA), according to the General Administration Department (GAD). It was the militant Muslim groups second reported attack on police in the area in as many weeks. U Hla Tun Tin, an official with the GADs Kyein Chaung office in northern Maungdaw, said the attack near Wai Lar Taung Village began at about 7 a.m., according to an initial police report. Citing the report, he said about 40 ARSA fighters crossed into Myanmar from Bangladesh near border marker No. 41 and tried to seize the post, which lies some 200 meters from the border. But he said the officers managed to repel the assault with the help of reinforcements from a neighboring regiment after two hours. They broke through the border fence and ambushed them with artillery. U Hla Tun Tin told The Irrawaddy. The police, he added, said the militants were well armed and managed to destroy some structures before retreating back across the border. He said ARSA had also mounted an attack near Maungdaws Wat Kyein Village on Jan. 16. Some people were confused about [who carried out] the previous attack. But this time we can definitely say that this mornings attack was carried out by ARSA, U Hla Tun Tin said. The military and Ministry of Home Affairs initially and wrongly attributed the Jan. 16 attack on the Arakan Army, a claim it immediately denied. The Arakan Army is mostly active in neighboring townships. Video footage posted to Facebook on Jan. 19 appeared to show ARSA fighters armed with assault rifles waiting for an approaching police vehicle near Wat Kyein Village and then firing on it. Government media reported that six police officers were wounded in the attack. The militants also used an improvised explosive device. ARSA has not released any statement about this months reported attacks via its Twitter account. Burma Yangon Ditches Campaign Ban on Party Logos For Local Elections Yangon City Hall. / Aung Kyaw Htet / The Irrawaddy YANGON The Yangon municipal election commission has reversed an order banning candidates for the March 31 local polls from using their party logos while campaigning. We have reversed our previous decision and announced that the logos of political parties, big or small, the Union Solidarity Development Party or the National League for Democracy, can be used to ensure a free and fair election, commission chairman U Aung Khine told The Irrawaddy on Wednesday. The commission originally said that political party members could contest the elections but could not use their party logos and emblems in their campaigns. Not everyone was please with the about-face. There are countries that allow the use of party logos in municipal elections. But it is not good that [the municipal election commission] changes its decision often, said Daw Thin Thin, a Sanchang Township resident who is monitoring the polls. A total of 105 seats will be up for grabs: three in each of the citys 33 townships and six for the executive board of the Yangon City Development Committee (YCDC). The elections will be held under the new YCDC Law, which came into effect on June 28 and supplements the 2013 Municipal Law. One of the six elected committee members will be named vice mayor, a post created by the new law to ease the workload of the mayor of Myanmars largest city. Candidates have until Monday to submit applications to contest the elections. The list of qualified candidates will be announced in the second week of February. The first-ever municipal elections were held in Yangon in December 2014. Translated from Burmese by Thet Ko Ko. Asia Huawei Executive Has Strong Case to Fight Extradition: Canadian Envoy A Canadian flag is seen outside of the British Columbia Supreme Court bail hearing of Huawei CFO Meng Wanzhou, who was held on an extradition warrant in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, on Dec. 7. / Reuters OTTAWA A top executive from Huawei Technologies Co Ltd being held in Canada can make strong arguments against extradition to the United States, in part due to President Donald Trumps politicization of the case, Canadas ambassador to China said. Canadian envoy John McCallums comments to Chinese-language media, which were broadcast on Wednesday, are the most explicit sign yet from a Canadian official that Meng Wanzhou, Huaweis chief financial officer, may not be sent to the United States. Meng was detained on Dec. 1 in Vancouver at the request of the United States over alleged violations of U.S. sanctions on Iran. She is currently under house arrest and China is demanding that she be freed. In a clip shown by the Canadian Broadcasting Corp, McCallum said Meng had quite good arguments on her side, the first of which was political involvement by comments from Donald Trump in her case. Trump told Reuters last month he would intervene in Mengs case if it served U.S. national security interests or helped close a trade deal with China. Canadian Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland quickly warned Washington not to politicize extradition cases. McCallum also said extradition would not be a happy outcome, a comment that could irritate the Trump administration, which has generally cool relations with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeaus Liberal government. Huawei declined to comment on McCallums remarks. The envoys comments, which were made in English on Tuesday, are potentially awkward for Canadas government, which insists it cannot intervene because of judicial independence. Trudeau sidestepped questions about the matter on Wednesday, telling reporters in Saskatchewan that under Canadian law Meng would have a chance to mount a strong defense. The Liberals may face a tough reelection fight this October against the opposition Conservative Party, which said McCallums actions raised questions of political interference. David Mulroney, an ex-Canadian ambassador to China, tweeted that McCallums comments were almost impossible to understand. Possible options McCallum noted Canada has not applied the same sanctions against Iran as the United States. Canada does not sign onto these Iran sanctions. So I think she [Meng] has some strong arguments she can make before a judge, he said. The U.S. Justice Department has until Jan. 30 to file a formal extradition request and Canadian officials will then take up to a month to decide whether an extradition hearing is warranted. Legal experts say they expect a hearing to be held. Canada respects its international legal commitments, including by honoring its extradition treaty with the United States, Freeland spokesman Adam Austen said in an email. Mengs arrest has hurt Canadas relations with China, which subsequently detained two Canadians last month, citing national security concerns. Additionally, a Chinese court later retried a Canadian who had been jailed for drug smuggling and sentenced him to death. McCallum said he saw three possible options for resolving the case. One would be Mengs extradition, which he said would not be a happy outcome and that would take years given that she could lodge legal appeals. The second would be for the United States to make a deal with China whereby the extradition request would be dropped. The third would be Mengs release by a Canadian court on the grounds the U.S. request was not warranted. McCallum, 68, a former Liberal cabinet minister, has made headlines in the past with offhand or colorful comments. Fashion & Design Young Myanmar Photographer Living the Dream in New York New York-based Myanmar photographer Kim, AKA The Street Sensei / supplied New York-based Myanmar photographer Kim, also known as The Street Sensei, has earned coveted opportunities to work with international brands, and has worked in various media including world famous magazines Forbes and Vogue. The talented young photographer was also one of several street style photographers who appeared as models in Vogue in September 2018 for the Tom Wood x Kelly Harrington Denim capsule collection. The collection showed the lifestyles and fashions of inspiring young street photographers. Before the Vogue appearance, she was mentioned in Forbes magazines #Sheshistory campaign for International Womens Day back in March. And many of her fashion shoots were published in Paper and V magazines. I was super honored to be published in Forbes. This was definitely one of the highlights of my life, said the 26-year-old tomboy. She added, When I was growing up in [Myanmar], I could only dream about something like this. So having it come true in real life is such a blessing. Kim shared her special moments with The Irrawaddy while spending some time back in Yangon working on a photography project. She has worked for various well-known brands including Tiffany and Co., W Hotels, Maybelline, Huawei and H&M fashion, whom she counts among her regular customers, though it was New York Fashion Week that marked the beginning of her long photographers journey. Kim left Myanmar at the age of 14 and studied Asian Politics & Culture at Franklin & Marshall College in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. The college requires all students to take one art class, and she chose photography. That was the beginning. At that time, I never knew that I would become a photographer one day, Kim said. Later, she started capturing everything in front of her, as well as making fashion portraits of friends. After graduation, I had more time. Before becoming a photographer, I was so interested in fashion. Ive always tried trying to stay up to date with fashion weeks and bloggers, she said. One day in 2015, with New York Mens Fashion Week coming up, she texted the popular young blogger Dathias Godfrey to say she wanted to capture all the moments with him at New York Fashion Week. I just tried to reach him and he said yes. That was my very first step into this industry, Kim said. She added, That day was amazing and so tiring. Godfrey took me to the after-party and I got a chance to meet many models and bloggers. Then, she found herself working as a photographer. I was so happyeven without drinking. It was physically tiring, but that was when I knew that this is what I love to do, she said. She started polishing her photography skills that day, learning from inspiring photographers online. She adopted the name The Street Sensei. The Street Sensei was given to me by one of my friends from New York. I like street style and culture, and shoot a lot of street fashion photography. And sensei means master in Japanesemost people know this word. So, my artist name became The Street Sensei, Kim explained. In the beginning, she wasnt paid for her photography because she just collected experiences. All she knew was that she wanted to capture every moment, she said. She soon established a network; Godfrey helped her with many things, and they became best friends, she said. By 2017, she had already been to many New York Fashion Weeks and done a lot of street and fashion photography. Many clients started to notice her. The main struggle is that I dont know the pricing, marketing and how to negotiate, but Godfrey helped me loads, she said. She said clients hire her because of her different points of presentation. They want what she has to offer and what she can do. Im always trying to go beyond the normal, she said. Kims style is definitely fashion-focused, but with a street twist and a dash of storytelling. Its somewhere between lifestyle and fashion. The clients tell me the concept for the project and give me full creative control. Thats amazing. They believe in my vision, Kim said. Of course, she works with a lot of top local models and bloggers as well. Kim became noticed locally through her fashion videography of local supermodels, and her travel videos. I havent worked in Myanmar before. Supermodels come to New York for fashion weeks and I shoot them. This time, I came here with a few projects, Kim said. She collaborated with The Moment and organized a talent-search event called Push Your Boundaries. They will choose the best models together. Then, they will train them to become influencers in the future, Kim explained. And I have some photo shoots for fashion magazine, she said. She shared her feelings about working in Myanmar and New York, saying, Both countries have stress. In New York, the clients will ask for many things to be done because they have paid you. In Myanmar, if the clients have a budget, their desired marketing strategy is still very traditional, because Myanmar is very religious and very traditional, and she has to respect that. Im OK with it all; I like challenges like that. So, thats the only difference. I literally fight with them to get what I want. Because, at the end of the day, its my name on the damn things. So, I want to make sure its good, Kim said. She added that, When they do give me full creative freedom, the clients dont have the budget for it. The fashion industry in Myanmar is really strong, she says, and she believes some of the supermodels in the country could work on international catwalks. I think the talent here is so good. Some models are really professional and they could be on International catwalks. They try so hard, they do research, catch updates and always listen to whats trending, Kim said. She added that, Now, social media is really trending and we use it as a positive way to grow ourselves; you use it as a tool for yourself and your brand. She loves working as a photographer because it doesnt require working in the same place, city or country. It can be done anywhere. Now everything is digital; everything is going digital. If we have a good image and network, we can do our work anywhere and earn money, Kim said. Kim urges local young talents to do what they love and love what they do. She advises, If you want to do something, just try. I mean, just focus on the job you want to do and do the research, learn from your seniors or others. If it doesnt work, then you know it, but if you dont try, youll never know. So, just try. She plans to go back to New York and shoot, then travel to other cities and work. Then she wants to come back to Myanmar and shoot. I will collaborate with other young talents from Myanmar. The young talents are so inspiring because I was there [in the same position]. And then someone found me; I want to, like, give back, she said. She added, I want my own cool studios, both in Myanmar and New York. Ha ha! Is that too much? People are really lucky if they get to do what they love. Its really a blessing if people get paid to do what they love. If people get paid to do what they love, thats the dream. Now, its like Im living the dream, but then therere more dreams, because you cant just stop, she said. Arts Concept, Context, ContestationArt That Asks You to Look Inside Yourself Artist Htein Lin's exhibit "Recently Departed" at the Concept, Context, Contestation contemporary art exhibition in the Secretariat photographed on January 23, 2019. / Htet Wai / The Irrawaddy YANGONA wide-ranging set of political issues, societal injustices and human rights abuses of both the past and present from across Southeast Asia have been brought to life through art in the latest exhibition to be held at Yangons Secretariat. This is the Yangon leg of a traveling exhibition commissioned by Thailands Bangkok Art & Culture Centre and organized in conjunction with Goethe Institut Myanmar. Viewers should consider two main things when looking at this exhibition: that Southeast Asia has its own unique journey in art, politics and history, and that art and society are deeply and intimately connected. For artists showing in this work, there is no separation, said Nathalie Johnston, founder of Yangon modern art gallery Myanm/art and curator of the exhibition. Spanning the entire southern wing of the historic Secretariat building, the artists have used photographs, glass, paintings, video, models, sculpture, projections and performances to introduce their ideas to the viewer. Many of the art pieces awaken a sleeping inner citizen in us, dealing with topics like the distortion of cultural traditions, globalization, consumerism, citizenship, genocide and displacement. They ask the viewer, Where do you stand? In the collection of works by Thai, Cambodian, Indonesian, Philippine, Vietnamese and Myanmar artists, the voyeur is shaken into the urge to take action; the cell phone addict is forced to look up and be present in reality; the materialistic youth is face to face with atrocities suffered by the last generation. In Cambodian artist Vandy Rattanas piece16 documentary-style photographsviewers are seen casually watching the Khmer Rouge trials on a television. Subjects are distracted by newspapers, dozing in chairs and sipping coffee, raising critical ideas about a generation of Cambodians who may have been forgotten. During the opening ceremony, veteran Myanmar artist Aung Myints performance involved creating an outline of the map of Myanmar with rice and adding cheap plastic China-made toys to depict the loss of Myanmars natural and cultural heritage to globalization. In the remaining installation, traditional toys and lengths of wood are seen moving en masse across the border to China. Thai artist Manit Sriwanichpooms piece Horror in Pink is a provocative set of photographs from three events of violent social repression in Thailands past, which have been infused with the image of a cheerful character watching the scene with impartiality, raising questions about our civic responsibility in a crisis today. Myanmar artist and ex-political prisoner Htein Lin uses the charred remains of a mighty old tree felled in downtown Yangon by the city authorities in his piece Recently Departed. A number of pieces depict family life, loss and displacement, which are too often connected for members Myanmars ethnic minority groups. The artist recounts visiting villages in northern Myanmar in previous decades where the people had recently fled for their lives, with only the scorched skeletons of their homes and belongings left behind. A strong dichotomy between Htein Lins workshowing what we can sayand Sawangwongses work, showing what we cannot, I think best reflects the complicated situation Myanmar finds itself in at this time, said Johnston, referring to the almost-blank board that is Myanmar artist Sawangwongse Yawnghwes exhibit titled Myanmar Peace Industrial Complex No. 1 (censored version). The exhibition continues to run daily from 10:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. until Feb. 10. Admission is free. Ross, of the 8000 block of South Sawyer Avenue, was initially arrested on Oct. 4 when he arrived at the Leighton Criminal Court Building to attend closing arguments in the trial. He was charged then with county offenses of electronic harassment and disorderly conduct and released on a recognizance bond, records show. At least five people have been killed in a shooting in Florida, US. The shooting happened in a SunTrust bank in the suburb of Sebring. Police have identified the suspect as 21-year-old Zephan Xaver from Sebring. Police have identified the suspect as Zephan Xaver. Picture: Highlands County Sheriff's Office The investigation into his motives is still ongoing. Police say the suspect barricaded himself inside the building before eventually surrendering himself to the Highland County Sheriff's Office SWAT team. Police also said that the victims were the only people in the building at the time. Their names and ages have not yet been released. Sebring Police Chief Karl Hoglund said: This is something that you hope will never happen anywhere, much less in your hometown. This has been a tragic day for our community. Weve suffered a significant loss at the hands of a senseless criminal doing a senseless crime. "We will continue to investigate and work to see that the victims and their families are taken care of and that they receive the justice they deserve. Sherrif Paul Blackman said: I am heartbroken that this horrendous incident has occurred in our county. I pray for the victims, their families and our community. "This tragedy will have a lasting impact on Highlands County and likely this community will never be the same. I have been in law enforcement all of my adult life and this horrific incident shocks and angers me more than anything I have encountered in my career. "While we still dont know what drove the suspect to commit this heinous act, there is no excuse that can justify the cold-blooded murder of multiple victims. THE best that can be said about the Control of Economic Activity (Occupied Territories) Bill 2018 is that it is a well meaning show of solidarity with the Palestinians living under Israeli occupation in the West Bank area. The worst that can be said about it is that, by targeting the actions of Israel alone, the Bill risks the accusation that Ireland is anti-semitic. It is already being seen as such in the United States, particularly in Boston where politicians, business people and other power brokers have spoken against it, among them Mayor Martin J Walsh. The most trenchant criticism has come from prominent Boston lawyer Robert Popeo who describes the Bill as the most outrageous blatant piece of anti-Semitism that Ive seen in the past few years. The Bill was tabled by Independent Senator Frances Black and seeks to prohibit trade with Israeli settlements illegally established on territories considered occupied under international law. It appears to reflect UN Security Council Resolution 2334 of December 23, 2016 which calls for the international community to differentiate between its relations with Israel within the 1967 borders and its dealings with Israeli settlements in the occupied territories. If passed it will mean that Ireland will boycott goods produced in those settlements in the West Bank area of Palestine, which has been under occupation since 1967. The Bill has moral force as the Israeli occupation of the territories stands in violation of numerous UN resolutions and is generally regarded by international observers as a major obstacle to peace in the region. The recent announcement by the Israeli government of plans to build thousands of new homes in those territories has galvanised opponents of the occupation, which is now in its 51st year. The stated purpose of the Bill, currently being debated in the Dail, is to give effect to the States obligations arising under the Fourth Geneva Convention relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War and under customary international humanitarian law. If that is its purpose, then the reach of any law that criminalises certain trade should seek to include other major violators of international law. The state of Israel is not the only occupying force. What about the occupied territories of Russia (Ukraine, including Crimea, from 2014, also parts of Moldova 1992 - and Georgia - 2008), Turkey (northern Cyprus from 1974 and parts of Aleppo in Syria since 2016), Morocco (most of the Western Sahara since 1975)? All of these territories are either under direct occupation of a foreign power or have been occupied by an armed group with the support of a foreign power. If our legislators are serious about using economic boycott to make a political point, they should broaden the debate to include all of those occupied territories. There is also an inherent contradiction in continuing to trade with a nation whose government continues to breach international law while, at the same time, banning trade that is likely to hurt Palestinians as much as Israelis. In one word: mayhem. On Tuesday, the European Commission's spokesperson Margaritis Schinas admitted what everyone already privately feared, saying "if you'd like me to push and speculate on what might happen in a no deal scenario in Ireland, I would think it is pretty obvious, you will have a hard border". The public admission was a complete surprise to the Government, which was not pre-warned of the comments, and has led to fears the EU may throw Ireland under the Brexit bus. While Taoiseach Leo Varadkar, Tanaiste Simon Coveney and Agriculture Minister Michael Creed attempted to downplay the comments, their insistence a border is not a runner because the withdrawal agreement and backstop will prevent it has made the situation even more confusing. This is because the House of Commons last week voted by a landslide against the withdrawal agreement and backstop, with British prime minister Theresa May now targeting backstop changes and refusing to rule out a no deal Brexit if she doesn't get her way. But I thought this was all settled before Christmas? You wish. If a week is a long time in politics, a couple of months are an eternity. In November, the EU and Britain agreed to the 585-page withdrawal agreement after almost two years of talks, with the backstop a key part of the deal. However, there was one snag, namely that the House of Commons had to vote in favour of it. Fast-forward one Conservatives party heave against Ms May, one delay on the vote and a lot of hot air, and the withdrawal agreement is now in tatters after the deal was defeated by the biggest government loss in British history in a House of Commons vote last week. Ms May has a plan B which looks suspiciously like plan A with added 'please change the backstop' sprinkled on top, which the EU is highly unlikely to accept, which has caused this week's problems. Okay, so will there be an Irish border? The honest answer is for now no one knows for sure, but it is looking increasingly likely by the minute. This is because if Britain crashes out of the EU on March 29 without a deal or the backstop, the EU will insist on a customs border between the Republic and Northern Ireland to protect the single market. What does the Government say and do they have any choice? In clear statements in recent months Mr Varadkar and Mr Coveney have been insistent the Government has no plans to introduce a hard border and will not do so. This is underlined by the fact it is the one scenario not included in the Government's contingency plans or its no deal Brexit law changes due to go through the Dail in the coming weeks. Britain is also clear it does not want a hard border. However, the Government press secretary admitted on Tuesday there will be "difficult conversations" with the EU if Brussels ultimately insists it is introduced, and declined to say this insistence would be refused. If it comes to it, we may have no choice. What other options are there? If the withdrawal agreement does not somehow find a new lease of life, and if a no deal hard border is somehow avoided, there is one other potential option that has peaked its head above the parapet. However, it poses its own significant problems. As revealed in Wednesday's Irish Examiner, during a private briefing with opposition leaders on Tuesday evening Mr Varadkar and his department's secretary general John Callinan said in an absolute worst case scenario the continental EU may put up its own border. While a hypothetical situation so far, several sources confirmed the fear is that if a no deal Brexit does not result in a hard border, a hard customs border may be put up in Calais and Rotterdam. This would treat Irish exports the same as British ones because the lack of a hard border in Ireland means Irish food exports may not be fully trusted - a hypothetical situation which solves the border problem but causes another just as serious one for Irish firms, farmers and businesses. Britain and the EU are just playing chicken though, right? Don't politicians always cut a deal? Don't bet on it. Despite our own interests, the world doesn't begin and end with Ireland. Brexiteers are adamant they will not back the withdrawal agreement as they fear it will tie them into de facto EU rules. The EU is equally adamant the withdrawal agreement is the only soft Brexit option, officially because it took almost two years of talks and changing it now could mean the entire deal would unravel. No one wants to go over the cliff edge, but neither side is showing any sign of backing down. Politicians cut deals. But sometimes they sleep-walk into disaster too. Can any of this be avoided? Of course. There is an argument Ms May's 'plan B is plan A' stance is designed to show Brexiteers and the DUP there is no other coherent option and that it is basically back the backstop or bin Brexit. There is another argument that article 50 - the EU rule triggering a member state's departure from the bloc - can be extended by six months, which the British Labour party wants, provided the EU can be shown there is a reason to do so. There is also the genuine possibility of a British general election or a new Brexit referendum, both of which may solve the stand-off. However, all of these options are at present unlikely although not completely off the table, meaning it is anybody's guess what the actual outcome will be. Can we trust the EU not to throw us under the bus? Brussels says of course we can, which given recent history will lead to some worried looks in Ireland right now. EU chief negotiator Michel Barnier was adamant the EU stands with Ireland on Monday, as was German foreign minister Heiko Maas. However, while the European Commission's spokesperson Mr Schinas rowed back slightly on his remarks on Wednesday, his Tuesday comments and Poland's foreign minister Jacek Czaputowicz suggest the backstop could be limited to five years on Monday have given rise to fears of a crack in the EU solidarity wall. There are a lot of complicated phrases being used. What does it all actually mean for me? The Irish Examiner last week published a comprehensive breakdown of what might happen in deal and no deal Brexit scenarios. It can be read in full here. What happens now? The next key step in the long walk to Brexit will be next Monday and Tuesday when the House of Commons discuss amendments to Ms May's plan B - including ruling out a no deal, seeking an extension, trying to remove the backstop and other matters - before a vote on the plan. Talks are then expected between London and Brussels, while separate talks may also take place between Brussels and Dublin over no deal planning. Brexit is now just nine weeks away. And still no clear solution is in sight. Guy Verhofstadt says that by shooting down Teresa Mays deal, the UK parliament also rejected the EUs best offer after months of negotiations. The populist revolts in the US and the UK have each reached a critical juncture. At the start of his third year in office, US president Donald Trump is presiding over the longest federal government shutdown in history. Having painted himself into a corner, he remains largely at the mercy of congressional Democrats to negotiate an end to a crisis he created. Likewise, British prime minister Theresa May, having failed to secure parliamentary approval for her Brexit deal, now must negotiate either with the Labour Party or with Tory Brexiteers and the Democratic Unionists who prop up her government. Meanwhile, diplomats and politicians in Brussels have been deeply regretting Mays latest setback. After all, the agreement that was voted down was not just Mays deal but also the European Unions deal a point that has been lost on too many British MPs. Given the red lines that May drew around limiting immigration and removing the UK from the jurisdiction of the European Court of Justice, the deal she reached is nothing if not balanced. By settling financial obligations and offering certainty both to EU and UK citizens caught in the crossfire, it provides for an orderly divorce. Moreover, the political declaration accompanying the divorce agreement lays the groundwork for a close and enduring future relationship between the UK and the EU. Both sides have committed to negotiating a post-Brexit settlement quickly, which means the contentious Irish backstop a necessary safeguard for preserving the Good Friday Agreement and peace in Northern Ireland will never have to come into play. To be sure, Remain-orientated Conservative and Labour MPs have complained that the political declaration is not prescriptive enough, while Brexiteers argue that it is too prescriptive. But the EU made clear from the very start that a divorce treaty must be concluded before the details of the future relationship can be negotiated. No amount of griping will change that now. Besides, the framework outlined in the political declaration can still be revised in the coming weeks. For example, Andrew Duff, a Liberal Democrat Remainer, has suggested that a UK-specific conceptualisation of the free movement of people or customs-union membership could break the parliamentary impasse. But while British politicians will no doubt find new doors to open, whether they can reach a multiparty agreement on which one to walk through remains uncertain. Cross-party solutions do not come naturally to the UKs bipolar, adversarial political system. And yet, where theres a will, theres a way to put the national interest before narrow partisan concerns. A multiparty approach is, of course, familiar to continental European politicians. EU legislation regularly ends up being finalised through late-night negotiations between MEPs and ministers who have locked themselves in a room. A cultural shift toward an EU-style co-decision process could well win the support of the British public, as well as of European Brexit negotiators, who have been eagerly awaiting a more representative position from London for two years now. And if British political leaders are to have any hope of uniting their bitterly divided country, they will have to lead by example. Looking ahead, the EU will remain somewhat flexible, as it has from the start. What it will not tolerate are attempts by British politicians to settle domestic political disputes by dumping them onto European policymakers shoulders. In this context, British requests to extend the Brexit negotiations should be assessed in good faith and granted if more time is needed to settle technical matters. But no extension can go beyond July 2, 2019, as that is when a new European Parliament will be seated, following an election in May that will be a battle for Europes soul. Pro and anti-Brexit campaigners continue to make their opinions heard in the UK. The public here has been left in the dark as to what will happen should Britain leave without a deal. With populists in Hungary, Poland, and elsewhere campaigning against the EUs foundational values, European politicians have much more than British domestic political squabbles to worry about. As for the Remainers seeking to overturn the 2016 Brexit referendum, they should remember that the UK need not remain outside the EU forever. The current deal on the table would not prevent Britain from reapplying for membership, even during the transition period. To my mind, it is almost inevitable that some compelling young British politician will emerge one day to lead the UK back into the EU, where it belongs. But for now, the clock is ticking, and those who will be the most adversely affected by Brexit including British businesses, young people, Britons living in the EU, and EU citizens living in the UK deserve an orderly withdrawal. Given that a chaotic countdown to a disastrous no deal Brexit in which the UK crashes out of the EU single market and customs union would poison UK-EU relations for decades to come, no responsible politician should even entertain the possibility. It is time for British politicians to come out of their trenches and start talking. Only Britons can move their politics from adversarial zero-sum brinkmanship to constructive consensus-building. Such a change in the UKs political culture is long overdue. Guy Verhofstadt, a former Belgian prime minister, is president of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe Group in the European Parliament. A series of comments in Europe led to raised eyebrows in Leinster House this week, but nothing seems to have changed on Brexit, writes Political Editor Daniel McConnell. IT WAS beginning to look like our luck with Europe had run out. After 18 months of extraordinary solidarity from our EU friends on the need to protect Ireland from the impacts of Brexit, cracks were beginning to show. On Monday, Polish foreign minister Jacek Czaputowicz broke ranks with his colleagues, suggesting the proposed backstop should be time-limited, something the Irish Government has repeatedly ruled out with force. The backstop is the insurance policy that guarantees the status quo will remain at the border after Brexit by keeping the UK inside a single EU-UK customs territory until a trade deal can be struck. It also keeps Northern Ireland aligned to parts of the single market in terms of some rules and regulations. It was feared Czaputowiczs comments were not those of a lone wolf but rather the flying of a kite by some within the EU to gauge the reaction to it. In the Irish context, if the Government wants to fly a kite and see how it goes, it sends a junior minister or an MEP out to make a mad suggestion and see if it flies or not. If it goes belly up, the Taoiseach has plausible deniability. On Tuesday, the chief spokesman for European Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker dropped what appeared to be a bombshell when he said its pretty obvious border controls would be needed. In the event of a no-deal Brexit, the commission confirmed there will be a hard border on the island of Ireland. Speaking to reporters, commission spokesman Margaritis Schinas said it was pretty obvious that border infrastructure would be necessary if the UK were to leave without a deal. He said while the EU stands behind the Good Friday Agreement and with Ireland in its negotiations, a no-deal Brexit would mean a hard border. Schinas told reporters at Tuesdays briefing: If youd like to push me and speculate on what might happen in a no-deal scenario in Ireland, I think its pretty obvious you will have a hard border. So in 24 hours, Ireland was on the wrong end of two negative pronouncements from the continent. Even before Schinas had finished speaking, you could hear the panic in Dublin. It was certainly a what was that moment, said one senior Government source about the reaction in Government Buildings. Within the hour, Tanaiste Simon Coveney and Finance Minister Paschal Donohoe were out addressing the media, insisting the Irish position had not changed and a border on the island of Ireland was not being prepared for. They were pounded by an increasingly sceptical media who felt there were echoes of 2010 in what was being said. By that, people were reminded by government denials that the IMF was on the way to bail out the country, four days before troika officials arrived in Dublin. One seasoned reporter and commentator remarked that Coveney and Donohoe, in their denials, reminded him of Dermot Ahern and Noel Dempseys Laurel and Hardy routine nine years ago. Later on Tuesday, Taoiseach Leo Varadkar invited opposition leaders to a briefing in his office, during which he appeared to suggest Ireland could be isolated with Britain in a worst-case no-deal Brexit, with a customs hard border erected in Calais or Rotterdam instead of along the Irish border. Varadkar told opposition party leaders of the risk that border checks could be operated in France or the Netherlands just hours after the commission had warned a hard border is the obvious consequence of a no-deal Brexit. Varadkar and his department secretary general, John Callinan, said unless the Irish question is resolved, the EU could hypothetically move control of any border away from Ireland and onto the continent. Such a scenario would remove the need for a hard border between the Republic and the North. However, it would also mean Ireland and the UK would be treated as one bloc, several sources at the meeting told the Irish Examiner, which must be avoided at all costs. Callinan said technical EU rules could apply which require it to protect its outer reaches. One source said: The risk is restrictions could be imposed in Calais or Rotterdam as they [EU] would not trust us. It would be [like] if the UK was bringing in chlorinated chicken or the likes into Ireland. Things were looking bad but matters calmed significantly yesterday. The EUs chief Brexit negotiator, Michel Barnier, moved to assuage Irish concerns, saying a temporary safeguard to avoid erecting a physical border between Ireland and the North after Brexit would serve no purpose. In an interview published in the newspapers Le Monde, Rzeczpospolita, and Luxemburger Wort, Barnier said the current backstop proposal over the border is the only option on the table. The Irish border. The question of limiting the backstop in time has already been discussed twice by European leaders. This is the only possible option because an insurance is of no use if it is time limited, he said. Agriculture Minister Michael Creed said the Government is not countenancing a border infrastructure on the island of Ireland, in any shape or form, in the context of Brexit preparations. He said any reimposition of checks and border infrastructure would run the high risk of leading the country back into a situation where we would revisit the troubles. But most importantly, Schinas took to the podium in Brussels and rowed back from his comments the day before. He said: The EU is determined to do all it can, deal or no deal, to avoid the need for a border and to protect peace in Northern Ireland. The EU is fully behind Ireland and has expressed, on numerous occasions, full solidarity with Ireland. That has not changed. That is why the backstop, that is part of the withdrawal agreement, is of fundamental importance. It is why the withdrawal agreement is the best and only possible deal available and is not open for renegotiation. The feeling in Dublin is that Schinas misspoke as opposed to it being a significant shift in position from the EU. Given the clarification, clearly the Irish diplomatic effort went into overdrive but a senior Government source said it was not a red Batphone moment but rather one handled by officials already on the ground in Brussels. So it appeared the crisis had passed. We are still left in the position that the Government is not officially preparing for the return of a hard border. The public is still left in the dark as to what will happen should the UK crash out of the EU. The Government and the EU say that eventuality will be avoided. But the key question remains: How? Helen OCallaghan talks to filmmaker Nicholas Ryan-Purcell about his new documentary and growing up with Aspergers syndrome. A new documentary set to screen at Corks Gate Cinema next Tuesday evening is a movie about many things. This Is Nicholas Living With Autism Spectrum Disorder is about a mothers recognition of a sons difficulties and her unstoppable determination to see him through. It is a documentary that opened the floodgates of emotion for its maker, Nicholas Ryan-Purcell, finally allowing him to let go the emotional trauma around a childhood bereavement. And its above all a tribute of deep gratitude to the people many of them in the rural community of Emly, Co Tipperary who helped Nicholas navigate through challenging times, the struggles posed by having Aspergers syndrome as well as depression. Now 29 and living independently in Nenagh since April 2018, Nicholas is an award-winning documentary maker. Hes very thankful to the IMC group of directors for putting the documentary into 11 of their cinemas countrywide. I think its fantastic theyre helping to educate and raise awareness of autism in all these regions, he says. From an early age, Nicholass mother, Dorothy, knew he was different. He knew all his colours and shapes. Hed see the gable end of a house and hed say triangle hed say it 500 times, she says in the documentary. He was reading, writing and spelling way beyond his years, but he didnt understand what he was reading, writing or spelling. He could only say words but he wasnt joining them to make sentences. Dorothy tells how when Nicholas was almost five, everybody was saying he should start school, and she was panicking, knowing he was nowhere near ready. And then a woman in the community told her: You know your own child best if you think its better to leave him at home for another year, then leave him at home for another year. It was, says Dorothy, like a 10-ton weight was taken off her shoulders. It changed everything. This is just one example of how people in the community reached out to Nicholas and to his family and made a difference. Another key influencer in his young life was neighbour John Joe McGrath, who included Nicholas in his school run, bringing him home every afternoon. Nicholas describes how as soon as he got in the car John Joe would ask how school had gone that day, what was the highlight. Hed tell me about his wife, his two sons and his greyhounds. He was kind and compassionate. He gave me time to talk when I needed to get out my emotions. He was a grandfather and guardian angel figure. He made me feel happy about myself. Then one afternoon, when Nicholas was in third class, John Joe didnt turn up. I walked out and just didnt see [his] car. I thought: Where was he? Where was he? Had he forgotten me? Until one of the parents told me he had died of a heart attack earlier that day. Things began to crumble for me and break in two because I knew I wasnt ever going to see him again and he was gone In the documentary, Nicholas describes poignantly how, at the funeral, the church was packed full to capacity, yet felt so cold, dark and empty. At the age of 10, it was like a light bulb suddenly switched off and an almighty depression set in. Describing it to Feelgood, he says: It felt like I was looking through tinted glasses everything was darker. I was combated by a terrible critical inner voice that always knocked me. Nicholass dad, Oliver, says his wife Dorothys constant attention, care and concern for her son was what saved him. Without her, he could have ended up any way at all. Throughout the documentary, mother of two Dorothy (Nicholass sister, Joanna, is two years younger) comes across as refreshingly honest and direct. My job is not to be liked by my child my job is to make sure my child is liked by everybody else, she says, around teaching Nicholas to behave appropriately with others. Nicholas was diagnosed with Aspergers syndrome aged 13 and when people asked her the question: Why label your child?, Dorothy was quick to respond: Why not?. Nicholas needed help and if it took a label to get him help, bring on the label. From early on, Dorothy knew there always had to be light at the end of the tunnel for Nicholas, something for him to look forward to. Whatever he was interested in, Oliver and I made sure we took him to those places. Nicholas himself explains that intense focus on a subject enabled him to brush away the negative thoughts. So when he was interested in Scania trucks, Dorothy bought him a model of one and a family connection brought him on a trip on a real-life Scania vehicle. He lived on that joy for at least a month after, says Dorothy, whod also bring him to Limerick Junction because the presence of trains always gave [him] a sense of exhilaration. When Nicholas was aged 15, Oliver saw an ad about a steam train coming to Wexford. The family went to see it. Steam trains were [Nicholas] saviour, says Dorothy. Through Dubliner Wesley Riddall who became another guardian angel figure for Nicholas he got to know the Railway Preservation Society of Ireland. The stewards, driver and crew always encouraged me they gave me that internal lift, he recalls in the documentary. They were Nicholass second family, says Dorothy. Some time earlier, shed bought him an analogue camcorder and it was soon clear he had a flair for film-making. Before long, he insisted he needed a digital camcorder and Dorothy said shed get it for him after hed put the last piece on a Titanic model he was making. She kept her word. With people with Aspergers you have to keep your promise, she says. Nicholass first feature-length film Against The Odds, Racing With Gordon Lord Byron centred upon the story of race horse Gordon Lord Byron, famous for winning races internationally. The movie won two prizes, editing and best foreign feature, at a documentary festival in Hollywood. His current documentary, This is Nicholas, premiered at the NYC Mental Health Film Festival, Manhattan last October. Nicholass purpose in creating the film was to revisit the places that were significant and to acknowledge the people who navigated me through challenging times. He has done it admirably. From the Burke farming family in Emly, who invited me into their house and made me feel so good about myself to Buteyko Breath therapist Charles Maguire, who helped Nicholas with his depression, this hopeful, optimistic documentarys big message is that it takes a village to rear a child and the village is even more important when the child has special needs. A special showing of This is Nicholas - Living With Autism Spectrum Disorder at the Gate Cinema, Cork, Tuesday, January 29 at 6.30pm. Tickets at: www.onlinecinematickets.com JUST as last years Black 47 took a dark period in our history the Famine and based a revenge thriller around it, Cellar Door turns to Irelands troubled past to form its story, writes Esther McCarthy. The provocative psychological thriller is partly inspired by the story of the Tuam babies, and revolves around a young woman struggling for control of her motherhood while being held at a Magdalene Laundry. Starring Karen Hassan and Catherine Walker, Cellar Door follows the story of Aidie, a young woman who embarks on a search for her son while in the grip of the Catholic Church. Writer/director Viko Nicki, who previously brought us the documentary Coming Home, had been interested in doing a mystery thriller based around the concept of imprisonment. When I made Coming Home, it was a documentary about a guy called Angel, who suffered a huge miscarriage of justice. He did a lot of time in prison for something he didnt do, Nicki says. I was very involved in that culture of prisoners and what that must feel like. I took a lot of that into the idea of imagining these women who were taken in. It was very much like a prison, and their life was like a prison. They were trapped. Even broader and more abstractly speaking, the film is about the trapping of culture, the trapping into this religious regime. I wanted to represent that in a way that was cinematic, that wasnt even shown but was felt. As the horror of events in Tuam unfolded, he put pen to paper. When that came out, that was when I wrote the script. I have three kids, and just the idea theres a lot of horrible parts to every countrys history. But just that in particular, it was such a small ground. Words like septic tank and the amounts of bodies and all that was just quite horrific. I wanted to approach that in the film, but I didnt want to tackle it straight on. Instead, he placed them as themes within Cellar Doors psychological thriller narrative, centred around a women struggling to relive her past and find her son a son Church authorities tell her doesnt exist. There is a present story but she is reliving her past. If you have a character that had love and lost love, that had a kid and lost a kid, to have a character with emotional, impactful, tragic parts of her life, how is that recounted from the past? Belfast actress Karen Hassan excels as the lead character, and Nicki cast the star of The Fall TV series for her blend of confidence and vulnerability. There is a lot of talent out there. But Karen had this kind of fragility mixed with this kind of confidence. Its a very interesting mixture, and she was also one of these people whos different under the surface than on the surface. Shes extraordinarily beautiful, shes got this really cinematic look. Then right away, theres this depth of intelligence that was really interesting to put to a character that needs to use her intelligence to get out of situations. Nicki, who has lived in his adopted homeland of Ireland for more than twenty years, was born in Kosovo and then lived for many years in New York. Ireland became home when he fell in love with a fellow theatre worker, Doireann Sheridan, who worked in the same theatre group as he did one summer. Im originally from Kosovo. We moved to New York when the troubles started in the early 80s. I grew up in New York city, and I met a lovely Irish lady working in theatre in New York. I first got to Dublin in 1998 were still here three kids and twenty years later. I was working with the Irish rep theatre in New York in my late teens. Ive actually come full circle because Ive started producing a few theatre shows last year and this year. Cellar Door can be seen in some cinemas from tomorrow A woman stole over 200,000 in cash and cheques while she was senior accountant at a Dublin hotel, a court has heard. Jeanette Murray (44) took over 137,200 in cash and 67,600 in cheques and bank drafts from Brooks Hotel, Dublin over five years. She spent the cash on personal items, but did not lodge the cheques. These were later returned to the hotel after the offending came to light. Murray, a mother-of-two of Knockdarragh, Newry pleaded guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to 12 sample charges of theft between September 2003 and November 2008. She has no previous convictions. Sergeant Paul O'Hanlon told Kerida Naidoo SC, prosecuting, that another accountant had noticed irregularities on the hotel's system in 2009, while Murray was on maternity leave. Sgt O'Hanlon said Murray's thefts were straightforward and that on particular days she would steal the cash and cheques from the hotel's safe at close of business. She deleted and falsified information on the hotel's system and gave incorrect records to auditors each year to hide her thefts. A victim impact report, which was completed by Brooks' general manager, revealed that the offending came to light when hotels were suffering in the economic downturn. Sgt O'Hanlon agreed with Bernard Condon SC, defending, that the hotel owners were aware of Murray's children and did not wish to see innocent lives affected by the behaviour of their parent. The sergeant said he was not aware the hotel had sued the auditors. Mr Condon submitted to Judge Melanie Greally that his client's family had raised 70,000 through great efforts to be transferred to the hotel owners. He handed up testimonials and asked the judge to consider that the first offence happened 15 years ago and that there had been a delay in getting the case to court. He asked the judge to consider his client's early plea, which has avoided a lengthy and difficult trial. He also submitted that Murray is a different person than the one who made a bad decision 15 years ago to put her hand into the till. Judge Greally remanded Murray on continuing bail to next May. She ordered a report from the Probation Service to focus on Murray's family situation and how it may be managed if there is a custodial sentence. She also ordered a community service assessment, saying she was keeping all sentencing options open. Update: A Co. Clare GP is calling on politicians and the media to be more responsible in how they deal with public health issues, writes Vivienne Clarke. Dr Maire Finn says that the current delay of six months in cervical smear results is because the system is overwhelmed following Minister for Health Simon Harriss decision to offer free repeat smear tests to every woman after the CervicalCheck controversy. The six-month delay (in smear results) is a result of political and media hype, she told RTEs Today with Sean ORourke show. There needs to be more responsibility about how they talk about this. Dr Finn said that the CervicalCheck programme works very well and it is important to reassure women about the decision to offer repeat HPV tests to 6,000 women. This is a second test for low-grade abnormalities. The risk is incredibly low, she said. There are delayed diagnoses now because the system is overwhelmed following the Ministers decision. Delays in results is the main issue. Clare Daly. However, Independents 4 Change TD Clare Daly said: this is not something that rests on the shoulders of the Minister. The Government had a knee-jerk reaction, she added. If Simon Harris didnt offer Micheal Martin would have been first on his feet to demand it. Mandatory open disclosure was the key issue here, said Ms Daly. There also needs to be more HPV screening. Trust has been damaged in the screening process. How do we repair that trust? She said that in a way the HSE decision to contact 6,000 women to repeat their HPV smears was a good thing because it highlights the issue and the need to implement the key recommendations of the Scally Report. The key problem is a lack of open disclosure. Women are not being given the proper information. People need to know that the correct information is being given. Earlier: Dr Peter McKenna admits volume of repeat smears may have uncovered HPV test problems The head of the HSEs Women and Infants Health programme, Dr Peter McKenna, has acknowledged that the volume of women seeking repeat cervical smears could have contributed to delays, but that it brought to light the problem of HPV checks being out of date. He was speaking on RTEs Morning Ireland about reports that 6,000 women will likely be called for a repeat smear test following the identification of an issue with HPV tests. Dr McKenna explained that in 2015 a decision was reached by the HSE to refer women with a middle-grade cervical smear test reading for an HPV test, writes Vivienne Clarke. Dr Peter McKenna. The test should be carried out within 30 days of the smear being taken, but it has transpired that the laboratory was counting 30 days from when they received the tests, not 30 days from when the test was taken. Dr McKenna said: We will have to find out how that happened. Our main concern now is to find the women in question. The HSE was alerted to the problem last November, he said, when Quest Laboratories advised CervicalCheck of a "specific problem in relation to standard HPV tests that have been carried out outside of the manufacturer's recommended timeframe since secondary HPV screening was introduced." The extent of the problem unfolded in December, added Dr McKenna, with the HSE working from the New Year until now to identify the patients involved who will receive letters in the coming days inviting them to come back for a repeat HPV test. He said: The information is that the test is still very reliable, but we feel it is prudent to do a repeat. "Were in a position to say that the chance of a test giving an incorrect result is very small. When asked if the volume of women seeking a free cervical smear test following an announcement by the Minister for Health Simon Harris last year had exacerbated the problem, Dr McKenna acknowledged that might have been the case. But equally you could say, because of it, this problem came to light. Earlier: Up to 6,000 women to have repeat smears after problems at lab The HSE has confirmed that up to 6,000 women who had a smear test carried out by CervicalCheck are to be called back for re-testing. It comes after a problem arose in one of its laboratories which could lead to a risk of abnormalities being missed. Quest Laboratories, which conducts screening of smears, advised CervicalCheck of a specific problem in relation to standard HPV tests that have been carried out outside of the manufacturer's recommended timeframe. HPV testing is an extra form of screening carried out on samples where low-grade abnormalities have been detected by the lab. The results of the test determine whether or not a woman will need a referral. The HSE said action is being taken to investigate the issue fully, review any clinical impact or risk. They have assured that this issue poses little risk to women's health and that evidence shows that HPV tests of this kind are effective outside the manufacturer's recommended timeframe CervicalCheck expects to be able to contact the women affected by the end of next week. Meanwhile, the Health Minister Simon Harris has been strongly criticised over problems relating to delays in smear test results. The Dail heard on Wednesday that waiting times for cervical smear tests were at crisis levels. Meanwhile, it was announced that the State would fund the costs associated with the drug Pembro for cervical cancer patients who doctors deem suitable for treatment. Labour Party Health Spokesperson, Alan Kelly, said delays in smear tests are having a knock-on effect on the service. Mr Kelly said: "There are additional problems because women who are due there smears are now being delayed, but also women who need to be prioritised for smears are all put into the one bundle as regards delay here. "There wasn't enough resources here when Minister Harris announced that there was going to be free smears for everyone in Ireland, and when he did so he should have ensured that there was more resources." EU negotiator Michel Barnier has admitted there will be checks on foods and goods transiting through Ireland if there is a disorderly Brexit. Mr Barniers candid remarks about possible new border checks come as the Irish Government scrambles to answer questions about a no-deal scenario. Agriculture Minister Michael Creed was accused yesterday of treating the public as stupid while MEP Brian Hayes said the stand-off with Britain over a looming chaotic Brexit is a gigantic game of chicken. With just over two months before the Brexit date, the Government will tomorrow publish details of contingency measures and legislation to protect Ireland in a no-deal outcome. These include plans to keep aviation, train, and shipping services operational and healthcare arrangements in place with the UK. Nonetheless, Mr Barnier admitted fresh checks would be needed in the event of a no-deal Brexit. There will be checks in case of a no-deal Brexit. We will do everything possible to enforce them unobtrusively. However, that will not be possible with everything. How should we control animals crossing the border? There will have to be checks, he told the Luxembourg Times. Brussels had sought to row back on any suggestions of a fresh border. European Commission spokesman Margaritis Schinas insisted the EU would do all it can to avoid a border and to protect peace in Ireland. The UK also has responsibilities under the Good Friday Agreement, he said. UK prime minister Theresa May is expected to put her Brexit plan B before Westminster next Tuesday. Downing St last night formally offered Ireland the opportunity of bilateral talks, as the clock ticks closer to a no-deal Brexit on March 29. The bilateral talks offer on how to avoid a hard border in the event of a no-deal had been flagged in weekend reports. The Government, as expected, rejected the offer, insisting talks involve all 27 members. The UK is leaving the EU and the negotiations on that are between London and Brussels, not any one member state, said a government spokesman. Government TDs and senators raised questions about border plans for a no-deal Brexit at the Fine Gael weekly parliamentary meeting last night, with Tanaiste Simon Coveney saying a chaotic Brexit would need discussions between Ireland, the UK, and EU. Meanwhile, Justice Minister Charlie Flanagan joked at the meeting last night that Transport Minister Shane Ross had his boot on my neck, but said delays to the Judicial Appointments Bill risk destabilising the Government. A Dublin tour operator is aiming to cause a stir in Cork in the coming months. Vintage Tea Tours has been brewing up a storm since launching in Dublin in 2016 with its blend of sight-seeing bus tour and afternoon tea. It has been a huge hit with tourists and locals alike and now the company is looking to expand its operations with hopes high that its eye-catching 1960s Routemaster bus could become a regular feature on Cork streets. The operators of the Dublin-based attraction took to Leeside to check out potential routes for the tour, which would allow people to indulge in afternoon tea on board a vintage double-decker bus while taking in tourist sites around the city. The Dublin tour includes the likes of St Stephens Green, St Patricks Cathedral, Christchurch, the Guinness Brewery, and Phoenix Park. While the details of the Cork route are still up in the air, the test run included the likes of St Fin Barres Cathedral, Shandon, the docks, and many of the citys famous bridges. Ciara McCaughey, sales and marketing executive of Vintage Tea Tours, said they are keen to be a regular feature on Cork streets as soon as possible. This visit was us sussing it out to see if we can bring it to Cork, she said. Cork, Galway, and Belfast are in our plans for the next 12 to 18 months. We have no plans to slow down. Our call centre staff are based in Cork and they had never been on the bus so we brought it down to show them and to suss out a possible route. Ms McCaughey said the tours attract a broad range, with weddings and hen parties popular, alongside groups of friends and couples, as well as tourists looking for an alternative way to see the city. Jackie Leahy and Sarah Foley of Arema Connect board the Vintage Tea Tours bus in Cork City yesterday. It has been a whirlwind rise for the company, which was founded in 2016 by Dubliner Karen Nixon. With a background in property rather than in transport, Ms Nixon took a risk buying the vintage Routemaster bus. Having seen the idea work in London, she was inspired to bring it to Dublin. Now the company has two buses in its fleet, Pauline and Kitty, named after Ms Nixons grandmothers. A third bus, named Molly, is on its way. Vintage Tea Tours tells a light-hearted social history, with tours focusing more on the characters of the city than historical events. The information is served with an impressive spread, including sandwiches and cakes. They have ironed out a few kinks by serving tea and coffee in plastic cups with lids, eliminating the risk of a spill when the old-style bus hits a speed bump along its route. And, perhaps most importantly of all, it is a taste of Cork that is being served. Tea-riffic. Cork is the home of Barrys and thats, of course, the tea we serve on board, said Ms Nixon. Wed love to see Vintage Tea Tours take Cork in the next 18 months or so. With a history as rich and diverse as Dublins theres no reason as to why it shouldnt be a success. The Naval Service is inviting surviving members of the first crews of its to oldest ships onboard them for a reunion to celebrate the vessels' 30th anniversaries of service. LE Orla (P41) and LE Ciara (P42) were purchased from the British Royal Navy which had used them as coastal patrol vessels off Hong Kong. Both ships went onto make some history by becoming involved in the most significant drugs seizures off the Irish coast. Formally HMS Swallow (LE Ciara) and HMS Swift (LE Orla) were Coastal Patrol Vessels (CPVs) designed in 1985 by Hall, Russell and Co for use by the British Royal Navy (RN) in Hong Kong waters. The vessels, known as Peacock class corvettes, were part of a contingent of five ships commissioned by the Royal Navy in 1985 to replace aging minesweepers which had defended the then British territory. They were ideal for coastal patrol work, being purpose-built warships, with a size, speed and maneuverability which made them excellent at interception, coastal patrol and search and rescue. Today #OglaighnahEireann celebrates the 30th anniversary of the commissioning of LE Orla #P41 & LE Ciara #P42. Built by @RoyalNavy to patrol #HongKong waters, the Peacocks have, and continue to provide outstanding service to #Ireland, at and from the #sea. #StrengthenTheNation pic.twitter.com/3b9iLp1P9a Irish Naval Service (@naval_service) January 16, 2019 In addition, their shallow draft made them capable of inshore patrols. Late in 1988 Ireland purchased the two vessels and in January the following year they were commissioned into the Irish Naval Service at Haulbowline Naval Base by then Taoiseach Charles Haughey. A Naval Service spokesman said LE Orla and LE Ciaras speed, weapon systems, and internal damage-control capabilities were greatly superior to those of their ships and many of their design features would later be incorporated into newer vessels which are also currently in service. In July 1993, the LE Orla scored a notable operational success when she conducted the biggest drug seizure in the history of the State at the time, with her interception and boarding at sea of the 65ft ketch, Brime. LE Ciara The ship was intercepted off Loop Head carrying around 25m of drugs. In 2008, she was also involved in Operation SeaBight when 400 million worth of cocaine was intercepted by the Naval Service when the yacht, Dances with Waves, was taken into custody off Mizen Head. Likewise, LE Ciara was involved in the interception of the MV Posidonia. It was seized by customs officers off the coast of Cork in November 1999, carrying 17 million of cannabis resin destined for the streets of Limerick. LE Ciara and LE Orla, are due for replacement in the coming years. The 2015 White Paper on Defence states that these ships will be replaced with similar vessels with counter-mine capabilities. Update: The head of the Revenue Commissioners has confirmed that there will be no customs posts along the border in the case of a no-deal Brexit. Niall Cody is answering questions before the Oireachtas Finance Committee this morning on their preparations for Britain leaving the EU without a deal. He has also said that an extra 400 staff are ready to come on stream to deal with the workload. They expect a 12-fold increase in customs paperwork after the UK's departure. Mr Cody said the customs process will happen online, saying: "The Government has made clear that its overriding objective is to avoid a hard border on the island of Ireland. Revenue is not planning for customs posts on the land border. "The Government has indicated that in the event of no deal, it will engage in intensive discussions with the EU Commission and our EU partners and Revenue will provide technical expertise and whatever assistance may be required during this process." Earlier: Revenue to recruit 400 staff to deal with potential 12-fold rise in customs paperwork in event of no-deal Brexit Revenue is planning to hire an extra 400 staff by March to deal with a potential no-deal Brexit. It is expected to rule out having customs posts at the border when it appears before an Oireachtas committee later today. According to the Irish Times, Revenue Commissioners chairman Niall Cody will say there could be a 12-fold increase in customs paperwork that will have to be processed after Britain leaves. Fianna Fail TD and Chair of the Oireachtas Finance Committee, John McGuinness, said it is important Ireland is prepared for all outcomes. Mr McGuinness said: "It would not surprise me if there was work being done behind the scenes of government to establish exactly how they would respond to a hard border. "I would sincerely hope that the British will find a way out of this, understand the huge implications for, not just their country, but for other trading partners that are significant to them, like Ireland." Brexiteers are not right to say cross-border trade will continue as normal should the UK and Europe fail to negotiate a withdrawal agreement, the chair of the Revenue Commissioners has warned. Niall Cody told the Oireachtas Finance Committee that Revenue will need to bring forward plans to have 600 extra staff in place by 2021 to as soon as possible in the event of a no-deal Brexit. Sinn Fein Finance Spokesperson Pearse Doherty asked Mr Cody if Brexiteers are right to say a no-deal scenario will not result in any border checks, that things will go on as normal, and that those who say otherwise are scaremongering. The implications of Brexit itself will lead to significant change in how trade is conducted, Mr Cody said. I have to be very careful in what I say, because when I say something it ends up as headlines in various places, but the Brexiteers are not right. "There will be significant change and what we have to do, and what were trying to do, is manage the implications of legitimate trade and concentrate all the time on how we facilitate legitimate trade. There are other significant challenges that will flow into the future in relation to tackling illegitimate trade, but the first concern is to ensure that there are systems in place to deal with legitimate trade. Responding to Fianna Fail finance spokesperson Michael McGrath, Mr Cody said Revenue estimates it needs 600 extra staff as a result of Brexit, regardless of whether or not there is a withdrawal agreement. The central case that formed the basis for the Government decisions in July and September was based on a withdrawal agreement, a transition period, and essentially the full implementation of the process from January 1, 2021, Mr Cody said. So what we planned for was January 1 2021, that we would need in the region of 600 staff and infrastructure to administer that. Effectively what we have to do in the event of no deal is pull that forward to as soon as possible in 2019. So the 600 for January 1, 2021 has to be now put in place as soon as possible, and we wont be able to put it all in place for March 30. Mr Cody refused to rule out the possibility of customs officials conducting border checks, saying it wasnt in his authority to rule out something forever. Mr Doherty said a solution would need to be found for those doing cross-border shopping. Youre not going to stop cross-border trade, so dont make us criminals because were buying our shopping in Derry, or Omagh, or vice versa. We need to sort that out, because its been happening for decades, its going to continue happening, so were going to need to find a specific arrangement there, he said. Mr Cody said he personally believed trying to prevent such shopping was an impossibility. Thats an area where there is not a particularly big fiscal risk, but it is a particular challenge, he said. Mr Cody also gave assurances that there are no secret works being carried out to build custom posts along the border. We dont have the facility to have secret funds and secret expenditure, it has to be voted on, he said. He added that Budget 2017 included the provision of 2 million for investment in scaling up Revenues customs IT framework, and that he is confident its IT systems will handle the increased transaction levels in a no deal scenario. "When the police superintendent tells the mayor that this guy is going to have a problem articulating why he did what he did, we're talking about possible criminal prosecution of a police officer for murder," he said. "And if somebody didn't hear that in what I said because I didn't say the last part, I can't explain it. Because what did you think we were talking about? We're talking about a shooting where an officer just killed somebody." The Irish Primary Principals' Network has said 27% of primary schools have children in their school that are homeless. According to a recent survey carried out by the IPPN, homelessness can often impact on childrens school attendance and result in reduced participation in school life and learning. Anger has been expressed at a delay in fixing an important weir, a large section of which has crumbled away in recent days. The collapse of the weir on the River Blackwater in Fermoy, County Cork had been predicted by members of a local rowing club, fishermen and county councillors as they lobbied in vain for the past two years to get government funding to repair it. A 10m section of the weir collapsed last Wednesday morning and there are now serious concerns about the migration of fish and how it will affect the activities of Fermoy Rowing Club, which has produced a number of Olympians. Last October lobby group Save The Weir, Save The Salmon met in Fermoy with minister for state at the Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment, Sean Kyne. The group, which represents 12 local organisations, urged him to take action to prevent the weir crumbling. He said he has asked the council to provide a commitment in writing that it would provide 300,000 of its own funds to progress planning and to provide him with a fully-costed design. When asked at the time if his department and IFI (Inland Fisheries Ireland) would fund the project he said he was confident, but admitted at that stage he could not guarantee it. Save The Weir, Save The Salmon spokesman, Paul Kavanagh, who is also a prominent member of the rowing club, said they have been lobbying for two years and nothing has progressed. However, the crumbling state of the weir was raised a number of years earlier at meetings of the now-defunct Fermoy Town Council. Mr Kavanagh said the course of the river and its speed has changed as a result of the latest weir collapse and because there is now a real danger for people using the river for recreational activities they are looking at putting up warning buoys: "The water course has again changed from going directly across the river last summer, to now going down the south bank by the garda barracks." He said that breaches in the weir have resulted in a drop in water levels and warned: If we get a hot summer similar to last year's we may not be able to run our annual regatta. The rowing club has held a regatta for more than 100 years and it is always one of the most eagerly anticipated events for rowers all over the country. He said that the damage would cause serious problems for migrating salmon and lamprey and that salmon fishing is worth a lot of money to the local economy. "Fishing is something we're trying to promote in what is the tidiest town in Ireland," Mr Kavanagh said. Fermoy-based Cllr Noel McCarthy said he will raise the matter at Cork County Council meeting next Monday and expressed his frustration at the delay in getting funding to repair the weir. He also predicted that it would collapse, but was surprised that it didn't crumble during a serious flood: "There's no doubt in my mind that if we do get a serious flood in the river it will take away what remains of it. This is a big problem and we need action now, not more words." He said the County Council is still awaiting 300,000 funding for a survey to be undertaken on the extent of the damage to the weir and how it would be fixed. It's understood this will include a small land acquisition and the building of a new fish run. A nine-month jail term was imposed on a young woman with a third-level education who fell into a heroin addiction and was caught with over 1,600 worth of shoplifted goods just before Christmas. Amanda Dineen of Braemar, Old Blackrock Road, pleaded guilty to six counts of shoplifting at Cork District Court. She stole goods from various stores on St Patrick St and close to the city centre at Holland & Barrett, Claires, Tesco, Gap, Accessorise and Dunnes. In respect of Tesco, the amount of stolen property totalled 706, and for Gap, the stolen clothes were worth 553. Sgt Annmarie Twomey said on December 23, Dineen was stopped while walking through the city centre with a very large amount of shopping with the tags visible. All of the stolen property was recovered and she made full admissions. She has 13 previous theft convictions and one for burglary. Frank Buttimer, solicitor, said: This is a lady who has had a significant addiction to heroin. She is educated to third-level standard I would have certain knowledge that she was prevailed on to do this. Judge Olann Kelleher said: Unfortunately, she got some help from probation that she was not able to avail of due to her addiction. Unfortunately, she has fallen by the wayside. She goes in and takes a lot of property and walks through the city with the tags still on the goods. A European human rights body has taken Ireland to task over its continuing failure to give gardai the legal right to strike. It also said there was still a substantial deficiency by the State in providing accommodation to Travellers and in improving the conditions of halting sites. The European Committee of Social Rights (ECSR), which is part of the 47-nation Council of Europe, said that while the State has made progress in both areas, it was still in breach of the European Social Charter. The ECSR is responsible for monitoring compliance with the charter, which is a legally-binding counterpart to the European Convention on Human Rights. Following a complaint taken by the European Confederation of Police, on foot of a case by the Association of Garda Sergeants and Inspectors, the ECSR ruled in December 2013 that Ireland was in violation of the European Social Charter. This was because of restrictions imposed on Garda representative bodies and the complete abolition of the right to strike by police. In findings, published today, the committee found that while progress had been made, that the necessary reforms had not been completed. It said the Irish authorities had not provided information on the key issue of the right to strike. The committee also said the Government had agreed to draft legislation to provide Garda associations with full access to the Workplace Relations Commission and the Labour Court and that they would have full access to public service pay negotiations. It noted that an inter-departmental working group had produced its first report in September 2017 and that a second and final report was awaited. But the first report does not contain information on the committees finding that the complete abolition of the right to strike violated the charter. The ESCR also said that, in December 2015, it found that Ireland was in violation of the charter over the quality and quantity of accommodation provided to Travellers and the legal safeguards around evictions. The ruling followed a case taken by the European Roma Rights Centre. In its finding today, the committee noted that despite the progress made, there is still a substantial deficiency in accommodation for Travellers. It said a number of sites are in poor condition, lack maintenance and are badly located while noting that legal safeguards for those facing eviction are also still inadequate. In its submission, sent before the inquest, the IHREC said the fire at Carrickmines which claimed 10 lives (five of them children) as well as the life of an unborn child was a shocking illustration of the discriminatory barriers members of the Traveller community experience in accessing appropriate accommodation over and above those experienced by the rest of society. The Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission said a fire safety review found that separation distances between Traveller dwellings was an issue of concern in almost 60% of halting sites examined. It specifically mentioned the Spring Lane halting site in Cork City, where ongoing fire risks were identified. Fianna Fail and the North's SDLP have announced a partnership. The two parties will work together as Fianna Fail considers running candidates in the North. A full merger between the two parties had been suggested but will not go ahead for now. Fianna Fail leader Micheal Martin has said there is a crisis in Northern Ireland and more needs to be done to plan a new way forward. Mr Martin said: "The achievements of the Good Friday Agreement have been immense and deserve to be celebrated. Unfortunately the reality is that today there is a deep and pervasive crisis which is causing far too many people to lose faith in politics and to believe that progress is impossible. "This is a crisis which has been made worse by Brexit but has been steadily growing for most of the last decade. "At this dangerous moment, we simply cannot just accept business as usual. We must accept that there is a deep crisis and a new way forward must be plotted. "A new agenda which responds to the needs of the people of all parts of this island - which can show that we dont just have to accept the permanent cycle of partisanship, underdevelopment and crisis is urgently needed. "Through a programme of joint working groups, research and public engagement we will work together on proposing alternatives for critical issues." SDLP leader Colum Eastwood. SDLP leader Colum Eastwood said: "Our parties are determined to work together to try and change the failure our politics lies frozen in. "We will not do so by gestures or gimmicks or through photo opportunities. "Instead we will do it through a focus on policy and issues, not party or sectarian positioning. "Both the SDLP and Fianna Fail have agreed to work in partnership on an unprecedented programme of public engagement in Northern Ireland which can help frame an ambitious and practical agenda for the future of this island and our people. "Without doubt this partnership marks an historic moment for both the SDLP and the Fianna Fail parties. "Far more importantly though, I hope and believe it marks an important contribution in finally breaking the cycle of vacuum and division which has failed our people over the last two years." Ireland has been found to be in breach of the European Social Charter in relation to the treatment of the Traveller community. The European Committee of Social Rights has said current laws do not give Travellers enough consultation rights in cases where landowners wish to evict families camping on their property. The Government has launched the first course in Ireland to enable deaf and hard of hearing people who use Irish Sign Language (ISL) to become primary school teachers. The new B.Ed (Irish Sign Language) will be provided by Dublin City Universitys Institute of Education from September, and applications are now invited through the current CAO process (closing date: February 1st 2019). Addressing the launch event at DCUs St. Patricks Campus, the Minister for Education and Skills Joe McHugh said: This new degree programme route for people who are deaf and hard of hearing to become teachers is a hugely important step towards ensuring increased access and inclusion for all in the classroom. It will enable deaf children who use Irish Sign Language in primary school to fully access the curriculum by having teachers who are fluent ISL users. I want to thank DCUs Institute of Education. It is an historic development. It will open the door to a world of teaching both for young people who use Irish Sign Language but also for people who want to teach through sign. The new B.Ed is being introduced on a pilot basis from September, with subsequent intakes of students scheduled for 2023 onwards. The existing pre-requisite for Leaving Certificate higher-level Irish is being replaced with an entry requirement at a similar level in Irish Sign Language. While entry to the course is exclusively for members of the deaf community who wish to become primary school teachers working in the deaf education sector, core modules will be delivered along with hearing peers in the B.Ed programme, while modules specific to deaf education will be delivered as a specialism. Some deaf education-specific modules will be made available as electives to hearing student-teachers. The four-year, full-time undergraduate course also includes a 30-week school placement. Dr Anne Looney, Executive Dean of the Institute of Education at DCU, said: This new course means that children who access learning and express themselves through Irish Sign Language can be taught by teachers who do the same and who will be fantastic role models for deaf students in our education system. "Traditionally, the languages needed to enter primary teaching have been English and Irish. Now, ISL gets its full recognition, and equal status as a path to primary teaching. "I want to thank Minister McHugh, his predecessors and the Department of Education and Skills for this important designation, and would also like to acknowledge the efforts of Dr Elizabeth Mathews from the School of Inclusive and Special Education at the DCU Institute of Education in championing this work over the past eight years. Legislation to pave the way for the first extension of Corks City boundary in over half a century passed through the Dail last night. The historic moment, which will increase the citys population by almost 100,000 people and quadruple its footprint, was welcomed by Lord Mayor Mick Finn. While the Local Government Bill 2018 has yet to be signed into law by President Michael D Higgins, Mr Finn said its passage through both houses of the Oireachtas will help the city further develop on its huge potential and will have hugely positive implications for housing, transport and other infrastructural development and investment in the years ahead. The green light from both the Dail and Senate which now just has to be signed into law by President Higgins - will accelerate a transition process already underway between the city and county councils. Huge work has gone into the transfer of electoral data for the registers which will be published in mid-April and which will outline the new Local Election Areas (LEAs) in which people will vote. Staff, asset management and service issues are also being worked on in advance of the city expansion which will come into force June 4. This will be the date when the new Cork City Council, which will represent a vastly expanded geographic area including Ballincollig and Blarney, will meet. Because the population of the city will expand by over 85,000 to over 210,000, and because the citys geographical footprint will quadruple, there will be changes to city council management and operational systems which also are being worked on, Mr Finn said. A public information campaign is being planned over the coming weeks to inform residents, city and county councillors and potential local election candidates about the changes in advance of the local elections on May 24. The Cork city boundary extension saga has been dragging on for years after the controversial statutory Smiddy report recommended a merger of the city and county council and the creation of a super-council. It peaked in 2015 with a High Court threat by the city over the Smiddy report. Over a dozen former Lord Mayors branded the merger proposal as an attack on democracy and a potential disaster for the city. It led to the establishment of a review group which went on to recommend the retention of the two local authorities and a city boundary extension that would bring areas such as Ballincollig, Blarney, Cork Airport, and Carrigtwohill into the city. The county argued that it would be hit financially by the extension and a compromise boundary extension subsequently emerged. But legislation was deemed necessary to give effect to the extension after both sides failed to agree on the boundary line. The compromise extension was formally approved by Government last summer and the process to legislate began. High-end fashion with hefty prices is often sought in robberies: Over the past two years, two Louis Vuitton stores in the Chicago area have been hit by smash-and-grab thieves who used cars to smash into the front of the stores to get at the pricey handbags and clothes inside. In a robbery last year at the Oak Brook Louis Vuitton store, police said robbers left with more than $50,000 worth of merchandise. At least 200 staff are set to transfer from Cork County Council to the city council as part of the citys boundary extension process. The figure emerged following the passing of legislation in the Dail on Wednesday to give effect to the first city boundary extension in half a century. From June 4, the citys geographic footprint will more than quadruple - from 39 sq kms to 187 sq kms - and its population increase by 85,000 to 210,000. Towns like Ballincollig and Glanmire, as well as areas such as Blarney, Tower and Cork Airport, will become part of the extended city. The move will create will new local election areas but will not affect the number of city or county councillors - the city retaining 31 and the county retaining 55. It is understood that broad agreement has been secured for the transfer of around 205 county council staff to the city. Senior city official, David Joyce, who is liaising for the city with the Implementation Oversight Group overseeing the transition process, declined to comment on the exact numbers while discussions are ongoing. But he said the process is nearing completion and it is hoped to brief unions, who have been engaged in the process to date, on specific proposals over the coming days. Cork County Council said it is assessing the passing of the legislation. Both councils have devoted considerable time and effort into planning and organising the transition of services from county to city over the past 12 months, it said. This work continues apace with both councils working on the basis that a majority of services will transfer from late May or early June. But the Mayor of County Cork, Cllr Patrick Gerard Murphy, said the county is particularly disappointed that the case it put forward to retain the Blarney and Tower areas was ignored. He said county council members steadfastly believe that these two settlements are inherently rural in character and nature" and have little in common with the city. However, he said that while the boundary alteration process has proven, at times, to be very challenging and complex, the passing of the legislation has brought finality to the matter and allows both councils to get on with ensuring a seamless and efficient transition of services. The chief executive of Cork City Council, Ann Doherty, described the passing of the legislation as a significant milestone in the history of Cork City and in the development of the second city as a real and sustainable counterbalance to Dublin. It presents a huge opportunity for the city region and provides certainty and clarity to voters and electoral candidates before this years local elections, she said. "Staff at the city council have been working with, and will continue to work with, our colleagues in the county council to ensure a smooth and efficient transition of services from the county to the city and we look forward to engaging fully with the citizens, communities and many organisations in the newly extended area." A major public information campaign is planned over the coming weeks to inform residents, city and county councillors and potential local election candidates about the changes in advance of elections on May 24. Independent Alliance Ministers were convinced to abstain on a Dail vote today relating to the purchase of goods from the occupied territories amid protests from Israel, it can be revealed. The Alliance Ministers Shane Ross, Finian McGrath, John Halligan and Kevin Boxer Moran have strong pro-Palestine views but are not backing the bill, following a tetchy meeting with Taoiseach Leo Varadkar. Sources have said that Mr Varadkar said both Israel authorities and the US have expressed concerns at the Control of Economic Activity (Occupied Territories) Bill 2018. The bill was originally brought by Senator Frances Black, but is being backed by Fianna Fail in the Dail. One minister said Israel threatened the withdrawal of its embassy in Ireland were the Government to support the bill, which seeks to prohibit the purchase of goods or services produced in settlements deemed illegal. The Government is set to oppose the bill on the grounds Ireland could not act unilaterally by banning the trade on goods from the region. The Government is relying on advice from the Attorney General, Seamus Woulfe, that finds because trade is an EU competence, individual EU member states cannot impose trade bans unilaterally. However, Senator Black has said she has received expert legal advice which found the bill is fully compliant with EU trade regulations. Fianna Fails Niall Collins, backing the bill, said if passed, Ireland and our parliament will be sending a strong message that we condemn the occupation of territories which are deemed illegal under international law. This bill at its most basic is about upholding international law, he said. The bill applies to illegal occupations anywhere in the world and not just Israel and Palestine, but I am conscious that it is this occupation that has been the main focus of discussions on this bill. I want to state clearly and from the outset that if passed this bill would not ban trade in Israeli goods, it would only ban those produced in settlements built illegally beyond Israels borders. Sinn Feins former president Gerry Adams said the Governments decision to oppose the Occupied Territories Bill is reprehensible. He recommended the work of Frances Black and the Seanad for passing the Bill. In contrast to the Seanad, the Governments policy toward Palestine is reprehensible. The refusal to honour its Programme for Government commitment to recognise the state of Palestine, and to implement the democratic vote of both Houses of the Oireachtas to give formal recognition to a Palestinian state, is wilfully shameful, he said. Procter & Gamble has raised its full-year sales forecast and beat Wall St estimates for quarterly revenue and profit, driven by price increases and robust demand for detergent and premium skincare brands. And the shares of the worlds largest consumer goods maker rose. Procter & Gamble, like other traditional consumer-goods companies, has been facing a string of challenges, including stiff competition from supermarket brands and direct-to-consumer start-ups, as well as higher commodity costs. To counter this, Procter & Gamble has been launching newer products in its beauty and fabric care business, while also raising prices. Core sales in the beauty business rose 8%, driven by strong demand for its premium SK-II and Olay skin care brands, while feminine care business, which includes brands such as Tampax and Whisper, also witnessed high single-digit growth. Overall core sales in the second quarter, which exclude items like acquisitions and foreign currency impact, rose 4%. Fabric and home care business, which includes brands such as Tide and Ariel, rose 2% to $5.56bn (4.89bn). The business is Procter & Gambles biggest contributor to sales. The company said it now expects full-year sales growth to range between a decline of 1% and a rise of 1%. The top end of its full-year forecast for core sales was also raised by 1%. We delivered strong organic sales in the second quarter, building on our first quarter momentum, which enables us to increase our outlook for the year, said chief executive David Taylor. In contrast, industry peer Kimberly-Clark said it expects the environment in 2019 to remain challenging, while its quarterly profit misses expectations. Procter & Gamble said net income attributable to the company rose 28% to $3.19bn in the second quarter to the end of December. Excluding items, the company earned $1.25 per share, beating analysts estimates of $1.21 per share. Net sales rose marginally to $17.44bn, beating analysts average estimate of $17.15bn, according to Ibes data from Refinitiv. - Reuters Finance Minister Paschal Donohoe has denied claims Irelands corporate tax regime is giving it a free ride as he reiterated opposition to any new attempt to usher in an EU-wide digital tax. Speaking on a panel at the annual gathering of corporate leaders and politicians at the Swiss ski resort of Davos, the finance minister again said that Ireland was committed to global tax reform led by the OECD. The panel, called Rethinking Taxes: Creating a Fair and Balanced System, heard claims Ireland was getting a free ride while dragging its feet over the digital tax. But Mr Donohoe said Ireland along with some other EU countries opposed an EU-wide digital tax or setting a minimum level of corporation tax, on the basis it would impinge on their national sovereignty. US tax cuts last year had changed the landscape by incentivising US companies to repatriate profits back to the US, he said. Asked about whether Ireland was dragging its feet over the digital tax, he repeated that Ireland failed to get the credit for taking on the reforms under the OECD initiative but said the Government was very concerned about any system that moved away from the principle of taxing company profits in the location where value was created. And Ireland had collected the 14bn from Apple but will make its case in its appeal against the European Commission ruling, Mr Donohoe said. He said he supported Spains right to set a digital tax and added that he believed that corporate tax rates following the US tax cuts would not drop as sharply as some believed. Fellow panellist, Angel Gurria, head of the Organisation for Co-operation and Development, which is driving global tax reform, said Italy and Spain and the UK plan to bring in some form of digital tax. He said the OECD believed that countries should set their own levels of tax but it opposed sweetheart deals, citing the Apple tax case with Ireland, which the EU ruled had broken state-aid rules. But Mr Gurria said Ireland had dismantled its Double Irish tax loophole and that the Netherlands had ended its Double Dutch loophole, adding that the Apple case could never happen again, It was the second year in a row that Mr Donohoe faced claims on a Davos panel that the Government was gaming worldwide tax rules. Last year, some panellists accused Irelands tax regime of facilitating world hunger and poverty by helping multinationals avoid paying their fair shares of tax. On a separate Davos panel, Taoiseach Leo Varadkar faced calls from Polish counterpart Mateusz Morawiecki and by leading European banker Ana Botin for the EU to review corporate tax regimes. The Polish premier said that people feel distant from the institutions in Brussels which meant that the EU would need to do more to promote the concept of empowering its people. He said inequality had been neglected for far too long as he linked the issue with what he said were tax havens operating in Europe and in the rest of the world which he said the EU should move against. The Polish government backs the efforts of Frances Emmanuel Macron and Germanys Angela Merkel for a digital tax. But more than that, he favoured removing tax havens which were preventing a level playing field in Europe, he said. He said that the EU needed to take account of the way tax systems impede Poland, which was for 50 years under communist rule, saying his gut feeling was a middle way between taxing companies was needed. Ms Botin, who chairs Spains Santander Bank, said the principle of paying tax where it was generated was not being adhered to, creating problems for communities and jobs. But she said she was not in favour of the digital tax proposal. But the Taoiseach said that Ireland was taking in a record level of corporate taxes and no longer tolerates accounting loopholes such as the Double Irish. KBC has become the first Irish bank to offer multi-banking. It means that customers who hold an AIB or Bank of Ireland account can check their balance in the KBC app. KBC's Director of Transformation and Innovation Kelvin Gillen is looking forward to taking another step in the bank's digital-first approach to banking. He said: "Our ambition is to change the way that the Irish people bank by providing instant, accessible financial products and services with this being a big step on our journey towards achieving this." KBC was also the first bank in Belguim to bring in multi-banking in 2018. Here's your morning bulletin. GET INFORMED ... IRELAND: Families affected by the cervical cancer tests scandal have warned womens lives are still being put at risk after the Government admitted a thousand free checks given after the crisis are useless because of chronic delays in producing results. IRELAND: The Irish Primary Principals' Network has said 27% of primary schools have children in their school that are homeless. IRELAND: Ireland has been found to be in breach of the European Social Charter in relation to the treatment of the Traveller community. IRELAND: Legislation to pave the way for the first extension of Corks City boundary in over half a century passed through the Dail last night. WORLD: US president Donald Trump will postpone his State of the Union address until the partial government shutdown ends. BUSINESS: Apple believes climate change will add 800m to its value. SPORT: Hes just passed his first 100 days in office, but for new Kerry manager Peter Keane, the real work is only beginning. ... SOME DISTRACTION SHOWBIZ: Co Down guitar firm, Lowden Guitars, have teamed up with Ed Sheeran to create a new range of acoustic guitars called Sheeran by Lowden. VIRAL: US President Donald Trump has a new rhyming slogan for his wall, and people are responding in kind. FEATURE: Sometimes you must accept what you cant control, stop freaking out and get on with your life. Heres an exclusive extract from Sarah Knights Calm the F**k Down that will help you navigate your way through the world. Lora Kolodny, Christina Farr, Paul A. Eisenstein January 24, 2019 (Investorideas.com Newswire) Apple dismissed just over 200 employees this week from Project Titan, its stealthy autonomous vehicle group, people familiar with the matter told CNBC. An Apple spokesperson acknowledged the layoffs and said the company still sees opportunity in the space: "We have an incredibly talented team working on autonomous systems and associated technologies at Apple. As the team focuses their work on several key areas for 2019, some groups are being moved to projects in other parts of the company, where they will support machine learning and other initiatives, across all of Apple," the spokesperson said. "We continue to believe there is a huge opportunity with autonomous systems, that Apple has unique capabilities to contribute, and that this is the most ambitious machine learning project ever." In August, Apple enlisted a Tesla engineering vice president and Apple veteran, Doug Field, to lead the Titan team alongside Bob Mansfield. This week's dismissals from the group were seen internally as anticipated restructuring under the relatively new leadership. Other employees who were impacted by the restructuring of Project Titan are staying at Apple, but moving to different parts of the company. CEO Tim Cook has been touting Apple's initiatives in health as the key to its future. "I believe, if you zoom out into the future, and you look back, and you ask the question, 'What was Apple's greatest contribution to mankind?' it will be about health," Cook told CNBC's Jim Cramer. Apple executives have been mum in recent months about the company's car prospects, which appear to have been scaled back from the initial rumored vehicle to a focus on software. In 2016, Apple laid off employees from the same group, shifting its strategy. Fully self-driving cars remain experimental, even for major players in the field such as Waymo, Cruise and Tesla. Venture and strategic investors from the traditional automotive world have poured billions into start-ups developing self-driving vehicles including Zoox, Pony.AI, Aurora, May Mobility and Embark. - CNBC's Jordan Novet contributed to this report. For more information contact: Jennifer Dauble CNBC t: 201.735.4721 m: 201.615.2787 e: jennifer.dauble@nbcuni.com Erin Kitzie CNBC t: 201.735.4739 m: 201.753.8107 e: erin.kitzie@nbcuni.com More Info: This news is published on the Investorideas.com Newswire - a global digital news source for investors and business leaders Disclaimer/Disclosure: Investorideas.com is a digital publisher of third party sourced news, articles and equity research as well as creates original content, including video, interviews and articles. Original content created by investorideas is protected by copyright laws other than syndication rights. Our site does not make recommendations for purchases or sale of stocks, services or products. Nothing on our sites should be construed as an offer or solicitation to buy or sell products or securities. All investing involves risk and possible losses. This site is currently compensated for news publication and distribution, social media and marketing, content creation and more. Disclosure is posted for each compensated news release, content published /created if required but otherwise the news was not compensated for and was published for the sole interest of our readers and followers. Contact management and IR of each company directly regarding specific questions. More disclaimer info: https://www.investorideas.com/About/Disclaimer.asp Learn more about publishing your news release and our other news services on the Investorideas.com newswire https://www.investorideas.com/News-Upload/ and tickertagstocknews.com Global investors must adhere to regulations of each country. Please read Investorideas.com privacy policy: https://www.investorideas.com/About/Private_Policy.asp HARTFORD, CT - January 24, 2019 (Investorideas.com Newswire) Nearly 500 of Connecticut's leading investment and financial professionals convened at CFA Society Hartford's 2019 Forecast Dinner for the highly-anticipated local appearance of national economist Brian Wesbury. Wesbury shared "The Real News About the U.S. Economy" at the annual event held on January 22nd at the Connecticut Convention Center. Following a networking hour, Juliana Dalton, CFA, president of CFA Society Hartford, opened the evening by honoring Michelle Rotondo, CFA and Benjamin M. Lavine, CFA, CAIA, with the Volunteer of the Year 2018 awards. "We want to use this opportunity to commend Michelle and Ben for their tireless service to our organization," said Dalton. "These two members exemplify what it means to hold the CFA designation." Special guest CT Secretary of State Denise Merrill offered an insightful presentation entitled, "Election Cybersecurity: A Wake Up Call". While Merrill reassured the audience that Connecticut has outstanding voting election security well ahead of other states, she contended, "There is no doubt there was international interference in the 2016 Presidential election." Charismatic keynote speaker Brian Wesbury, who was named by the Wall Street Journal as the #1 U.S. economic forecaster in 2001, offered his positive outlook for the year, despite the gloomy concerns of many on Wall Street. "America is still large and in charge," said Wesbury. By using key indicators including quantitative easing, oil fracking, corporate taxes and tariffs, Wesbury counters there is no sign of recession as "Pundits of Pessimism" have predicted. As a respected and renowned economic and market forecaster at First Trust Advisors, Wesbury is a frequent contributor on television stations such as CNBC, Fox Business and Bloomberg TV. His writing appears in national magazines and he has authored several books, including "It's Not as Bad As You Think". CFA Society Hartford is one of the leading associations of local investment professionals in Connecticut, steeped in rich history spanning over 60 years. The non-profit organization has been serving Connecticut since 1952. The Hartford chapter is one of 151 local member societies of the CFA Institute, a worldwide organization of investment professionals that sets the standard for professional excellence and credentials. The organization is a champion of ethical behavior in investment markets and a respected source of knowledge in the global financial community. There are more than 150,000 CFA charterholders worldwide in 165+ countries and regions. For more information about the Hartford chapter, visit www.hartfordcfa.org or follow us on Twitter at @CFAInstitute and on Facebook.com/CFAInstitute. PHOTO: From left: Juliana B. Dalton, CFA, President of CFA Society Hartford, keynote speaker Brian Wesbury, Chief Economist at First Trust Advisors L.P., CT Secretary of State Denise Merrill, and CFA Society Hartford Past-President Raymond Bovich, CFA at the Annual Forecast Dinner on January 22 in Hartford hosted by the CFA Society Hartford. Credit: Alliances By Alisa Media Relations More Info: This news is published on the Investorideas.com Newswire - a global digital news source for investors and business leaders Disclaimer/Disclosure: Investorideas.com is a digital publisher of third party sourced news, articles and equity research as well as creates original content, including video, interviews and articles. Original content created by investorideas is protected by copyright laws other than syndication rights. Our site does not make recommendations for purchases or sale of stocks, services or products. Nothing on our sites should be construed as an offer or solicitation to buy or sell products or securities. All investing involves risk and possible losses. This site is currently compensated for news publication and distribution, social media and marketing, content creation and more. Disclosure is posted for each compensated news release, content published /created if required but otherwise the news was not compensated for and was published for the sole interest of our readers and followers. Contact management and IR of each company directly regarding specific questions. More disclaimer info: https://www.investorideas.com/About/Disclaimer.asp Learn more about publishing your news release and our other news services on the Investorideas.com newswire https://www.investorideas.com/News-Upload/ and tickertagstocknews.com Global investors must adhere to regulations of each country. Please read Investorideas.com privacy policy: https://www.investorideas.com/About/Private_Policy.asp Even though the building (once the scene of the Summerdale police scandal of 1960) was to have been turned over to Griffin for $1, the small non-profit theater was unable to raise the funds to turn the building into a theater. January 24, 2019 (Investorideas.com Newswire) Saudi Arabia isn't buying the peak oil demand narrative. OPEC's largest producer continues to expect global oil demand to keep rising at least by 2040 and sees itself as the oil producer best equipped to continue meeting that demand, thanks to its very low production costs. Saudi Arabia will be the one to pump the last barrel of oil in the world, but it doesn't see the 'last barrel of oil' being pumped for decades and decades to come. "I don't see peak [oil] demand happening in 10 years or even by 2040," Amin Nasser, president and chief executive officer of Saudi oil giant Saudi Aramco told CNN Business' Emerging Markets Editor John Defterios on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Davos this week. "There will continue to be growth in oil demand ... We are the lowest cost producer and the last barrel will come from the region," Nasser told CNN. For several years, Nasser has been saying that peak oil demand is nowhere in sight, that petrochemicals will drive oil demand growth through 2050, and that all the 'peak oil demand' and 'stranded resources' talk is threatening an orderly energy transition and energy security. Saudi Arabia&-which has just announced that its huge oil reserves are slightly higher than previously estimated&-looks to diversify its economy away from heavy dependence on crude oil, but one of the goals of its Vision 2030 diversification plan is to use less oil in domestic power generation to free up more barrels for exports. As the world's top crude oil exporter, Saudi Arabia will not be giving away easily its crown and the geopolitical clout that comes with it. The Saudis have the two key ingredients to continue pumping oil till kingdom come&-huge reserves and low production costs. In addition, various organizations, including OPEC, estimate that shale production in the world's current top oil producer&-the United States&-will peak at some point in the late 2020s, reviving demand for crude oil from OPEC (and its biggest oil producer Saudi Arabia). Earlier this month, Saudi Arabia announced that an independent estimate of its oil reserves by DeGolyer and MacNaughton (D&M) showed that the Kingdom's total proven oil reserves were 268.5 billion barrels as of the end of 2017, up from around 266 billion barrels previously estimated. The BP Statistical Review of World Energy 2018 put Saudi Arabia's oil reserves at 266.2 billion barrels at end-2017, or 15.7 percent of global oil reserves, second only to Venezuela's 303.2 billion barrels. DeGolyer and MacNaughton said last week that it completed the first contemporary independent assessment of reserves in Saudi Arabia, adding that at this point, it would "make no further comments on this extensive project." "This certification underscores why every barrel we produce is the most profitable in the world, and why we believe Saudi Aramco is the world's most valuable company and indeed the world's most important," Saudi Energy Minister Khalid al-Falih said in the statement released by the Saudi Press Agency. Saudi Aramco's cost of production is just $4 a barrel, al-Falih later said in a news conference, as carried by Reuters. Saudi Arabia may need oil prices higher than $80 a barrel to balance its budget because most of the income comes from oil. Yet, the Kingdom has what is probably the world's lowest cost of pumping one barrel of oil. While surging U.S. shale production has been boosting the global oil supply which Saudi Arabia and OPEC and non-OPEC Russia are looking to drain again with a new round of production cuts, current estimates point to shale peaking in the late 2020s. According to the International Energy Agency (IEA), U.S. tight oil production will continue rising through 2025, and "Thereafter, with our current estimate for recoverable resources, production starts to fall gradually." In its latest World Oil Outlook, OPEC sees non-OPEC supply peaking in the late 2020s, mainly because of expected U.S. tight oil supply peak. In the medium term, through 2023, demand for OPEC crude is seen waning to 31.6 million bpd in 2023 because of non-OPEC supply growth. But after that, with the U.S. shale peak expected in the late 2020s, OPEC forecasts that demand for its crude will start rising again, to reach nearly 40 million bpd by 2040. Will the world need oil in 2040? Saudi Aramco's answer to this question is an emphatic 'yes'. The world will continue to need a lot more oil and a lot more exploration will be needed just to offset declining oil production at mature fields, Aramco's Nasser said in Houston last year. The energy transition is much more complex than simply replacing oil with renewables and electric vehicles (EVs), Nasser said last March and added: "In other words, I am not losing any sleep over 'peak oil demand? or 'stranded resources?." Link to article: https://oilprice.com/Energy/Crude-Oil/Saudi-Arabia-Well-Pump-The-Worlds-Very-Last-Barrel-Of-Oil.html More Info: This news is published on the Investorideas.com Newswire - a global digital news source for investors and business leaders Disclaimer/Disclosure: Investorideas.com is a digital publisher of third party sourced news, articles and equity research as well as creates original content, including video, interviews and articles. Original content created by investorideas is protected by copyright laws other than syndication rights. Our site does not make recommendations for purchases or sale of stocks, services or products. Nothing on our sites should be construed as an offer or solicitation to buy or sell products or securities. All investing involves risk and possible losses. This site is currently compensated for news publication and distribution, social media and marketing, content creation and more. Disclosure is posted for each compensated news release, content published /created if required but otherwise the news was not compensated for and was published for the sole interest of our readers and followers. Contact management and IR of each company directly regarding specific questions. More disclaimer info: https://www.investorideas.com/About/Disclaimer.asp Learn more about publishing your news release and our other news services on the Investorideas.com newswire https://www.investorideas.com/News-Upload/ and tickertagstocknews.com Global investors must adhere to regulations of each country. Please read Investorideas.com privacy policy: https://www.investorideas.com/About/Private_Policy.asp PG&E Corp. estimates it would cost as much as $150 billion this year alone to comply with a federal judges proposal to prevent wildfires. Californias largest investor-owned utility said U.S. District Judge William Alsups plan for it to trim branches and inspect and repair thousands of miles of power lines would cost about five times as much as PG&Es forecast liabilities for wildfires that scorched the state in 2017 and 2018 and would have to be funded by ratepayers. His extraordinary safety precautions arent feasible as they would require more than 100 million trees to be removed and more than 650,000 employees to work full time, according to a court filing with PG&Es response. Prosecutors, too, said the proposal may be unworkable, raising questions about whether Alsup went too far with his plan to reduce to zero the number of wildfires caused by PG&E in the 2019 wildfire season. The latest foray by the San Francisco judge is weighing on PG&E as it plans to seek bankruptcy protection by the end of this month amid potential liabilities of as much as $30 billion for wildfires from the last two years. Alsup is overseeing PG&Es probation for safety violations that led to felony convictions for a previous incident the 2010 explosion of one of its gas pipelines, which killed eight people. In a Jan. 9 court order, Alsup said its his job to protect the public from further wrongs and promote the rehabilitation of the offender. His assertiveness was praised by Californias new governor, Gavin Newsom. PG&E would be subject to criminal sanctions if it fails to meet the new probationary conditions that the judge wants to impose including trimming tree branches close to power lines and cutting local electricity supply in high-risk weather conditions. Both the utility and prosecutors recommended having a court-appointed compliance monitor review the companys wildfire-mitigation efforts. After the companys 2016 conviction, the monitor was tasked with making sure PG&E doesnt violate the terms of its probation and with scrutinizing its business practices more broadly. PG&E does not believe the proposed probation conditions are appropriate, and indeed PG&E does not believe it would be appropriate for the court to impose any new probation conditions that may conflict with the laws and regulations with which PG&E must comply, the company said in its court filing. The judge has warned that PG&E may face further prosecution from findings that its equipment caused more than a dozen wildfires in 2017 although officials havent determined the causes of the most destructive and deadliest of the blazes over the past two years, the Tubbs and Camp fires. Alsup also has suggested that PG&Es uninsulated power lines could be the root of the problem causing wildfires. Some legal experts said its awkward for the company to object to the judges plan when its so closely aligned with what PG&E said it would do on its own. After the November fire that leveled the town of Paradise and killed 86 people, the utility pledged precautions similar to what Alsup is calling for, including more careful vegetation management near its electric equipment. Only safe operation will be allowed, Alsup wrote in his Jan. 9 order. The case is U.S. v. Pacific Gas and Electric Co., 14-cr-00175, U.S. District Court, Northern District of California (San Francisco). Copyright 2021 Bloomberg. Topics USA California Catastrophe Legislation Wildfire Authorities in North Carolina say one person is dead and two people are hurt after a barrier collapsed at a construction site. News outlets report the N.C. Department of Labor said the accident occurred Tuesday at a site where affordable housing was being built on the north side of Raleigh near Triangle Town Center shopping mall. Police have not identified the victims. WRAL-TV in Raleigh reports emergency personnel and labor officials said workers and others at the scene were able to pull two of the buried workers to safety, but werent able to dig the third person out from under the dirt. The two injured workers were taken to Wake Medical Center in Raleigh for treatment of non-life-threatening injuries, but information about their conditions wasnt known Tuesday afternoon. Copyright 2021 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Topics North Carolina Training Development Construction The estate of a girl killed and three other students wounded in a shooting at a Kentucky high school have filed suit against the school district and school officials, the teenage suspect and his mother and stepfather. The lawsuit filed Monday in Marshall County Circuit Court alleges school system employees knew or shouldve known of suspect Gabe Parkers dangerous propensities and didnt monitor or prevent his actions. It says employees failed to comply with school safety regulations, resulting in the January 2018 shooting at Marshall County High School. The school superintendent declined comment. The lawsuit was filed by the family of Bailey Holt, one of two students killed, and three of the eleven others hurt. Parker was indicted as an adult on two murder charges and 14 assault charges. The judge in the case entered a not guilty plea on Parkers behalf. Copyright 2021 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Topics Lawsuits Education Kentucky The importance of drones and aerial imagery rose to a new level in the wake of 2018 natural catastrophes as insurers made them an integral part of their disaster recovery procedures, particularly following the hurricanes in the Southeast. From the images of Hurricane Florences floods across North and South Carolina to Hurricane Michaels devastation in the Florida Panhandle, insurers were able to see the impact immediately and get straight to work handling claims for their customers, and gather data from the events from aerial images. [In 2018] instead of being an experiment, it was really a bigger part of their tool set, said Cory Shelton, head of UAV Operations and Technologies for Geomni, a Verisk business. They had an opportunity to vet and work with the data [in 2017] and realized this is a critical part of our workflow now thats the biggest shift thats occurred. Geomni saw increased use of drones for post-catastrophe inspections compared with last year because of Hurricanes Florence and Michael in the Southeast and the wildfires in the West. Usually what we find is we have carriers that are very anxious to get airplane imagery right after a catastrophe They want that data as fast as possible, said Shelton. This was the first year that we started getting requests from insurance carriers to have drone inspections executed shortly thereafter [the events] as well. Usually theyre more hesitant and theyre of the opinion, Okay, we can wait this out, well send drones if we need them.' The company, formed five years ago as a spin-off of claims estimating software company Xactimate, currently works with four of the top 10 insurers in the country while nine of the top 10 work with its sister company Xactimate, according to Shelton. He said in the five years since Geomni started, the use of aerial imagery and drone technology by insurers has been growing fast, particularly for claims, but 2018 was a turning point. Every single partner that we have, or even partners that we dont have and weve just been in discussions with, are in one way either exploring a drone program or trying to fit it into their workflow, Shelton said. Geomni focuses on geospatial operations, specifically airplanes, satellites, drones and gathering data. It currently has 12 operational hubs with airplanes and other remote sensing devices used to gather data. Shelton said the company has its own fleet of airplanes, as well as drones and drone technology and tools that are used to support insurance carriers that also deploy their own drones. Shelton said after insurers had an opportunity to vet drone services and use drones in their workflows for storms like Harvey and Maria in 2017, they were anxious to deploy them after this years catastrophes to view overall damage to their books as well as start claims inspections for policyholders. Shelton said some carriers were even impatient about getting drone teams out to inspect damage right away. That was a big shift from [2017] to [2018], Shelton said. Shelton said because of the scale of the Hurricane Florence, which was primarily a flood event, Geomni relied more on aircrafts to gather data and received many more requests from insurers for that data than for drones. Its because of the scale of the disaster and thats where airplanes shine, he said. You just dont have the ability to gather as much data with drones as you do in airplanes. Still, the use of drones after Hurricane Florence was incredibly prevalent, according to Irina Denisenko, vice president and general manager of drone technology provider PrecisionHawks pilot network of 15,000 commercially licensed drone pilots called Droners.io. PrecisionHawk announced a partnership with EagleView, which provides high-resolution aerial imagery, property data analytics and structural measurements to the insurance industry, shortly before Hurricane Florence made landfall on Sept. 14. Through the partnership, EagleView collects insurance claims imagery using drones piloted by PrecisionHawks network and the drone operators can use EagleViews claims technology for remote claims inspections. PrecisionHawk had about 40 drone pilots actively working on claims inspections in the wake of Hurricane Florence and worked with about 20 or so carriers in the area of the storm. We saw the first big usage of drones in a post-storm situation [in 2017] between the hurricanes in Florida and Houston [Irma and Maria], because so many places were unreachable, she said. It was more coordinated this time around and we were on top of it and were able to get ahead of it, so it was a smooth integration. Tim Frank, vice president of marketing for NearMap, a global location content provider that specializes in high-resolution aerial maps provided through a cloud-based service, said its post-hurricane coverage for Florence covered more than 4,500 square kilometers from Newport, N.C., down to Myrtle Beach, S.C. over a 28-day period, partly because the storm slowed quickly but went on for many days. The flooding from Hurricane Florence also made it difficult During Hurricane Michael, which was a more intense and rapidly-developing storm, the company captured 1,380 sq.km. of images over the course of nine days. All images Nearmap collects are stitched together to create one seamless map that can be uploaded and used by businesses including insurance companies. The use of Nearmaps imagery of the impacted hurricane areas increased by eight times between mid-August and mid-October 2018 compared with the same period in 2017. Any time there is an event like this, we definitely see an increase in activity, Frank said. Were growing very, very rapidly. The adoption of location content and location intelligence is becoming very critical, because it automates much of the manual work. Nearmaps aircrafts regularly fly over the 430 largest urbanized areas in the U.S., representing 70 percent of the population, up to three times a year, according to Frank. During disasters like Hurricanes Michael and Florence the aircrafts again fly over the affected regions so that insurers have access to both before and after images from its camera systems affixed to the aircrafts. That data becomes very useful because you have both before captures, as well as captures that happen after those types of events. Its very helpful in terms of validating damage claims, he said. While many insurers are contracting out drone and aerial imagery services, a growing number are developing and utilizing their own technology. State Farm, which was the first insurer in the U.S. to receive permission from the Federal Aviation Administration to operate unmanned aircrafts for commercial use back in 2015, has been actively using drones for aerial roof inspections since August 2016. In September, it was the first insurer granted a waiver by the FAA to inspect damage caused by Hurricane Florence. It then used drone technology to assess widespread damage, as well as for individual aerial roof inspections of customers homes and property from Hurricane Michael after receiving an additional waiver for operations related to that storm. Jeremy Carnahan, a data analyst at State Farms RedLabs Department, the innovation area at State Farm focusing on new and emerging technology, said State Farm having its own in-house drone technology operation helps its customers and gives the insurer better and quicker access for inspections. With the damage assessment piece for Florence and Michael, being able to go in once the storm has cleared and gather a wide range of footage of the damage is very helpful in determining the damage allocation and where to deploy resources, he said. Before sending drones out for individual claims after a disaster, Carnahan said State Farm first evaluates each claim to see if using a drone makes sense. But being able to survey the area and the damage provides a better perspective than from the ground for its overall response efforts. It allows us the insight of how we can access the areas that are heavily damaged, he said. The Future The last two years suggest that drones and aerial-imagery will soon become commonplace after catastrophes, as well is in other areas for the insurance industry. The potential is hard to even grasp there are so many avenues to potentially look at. We will definitely be seeing more use and harnessing the power of aerial imagery, and drones in particular, said Carnahan. Frank said as aerial imagery capture technology and services continue to increase and improve, he expects the insurance industry will begin to employ it in more areas of their business. One of the big trends that we see becoming more prevalent in the future is the use of high-resolution aerial imagery to power machine learning that can then extract very important features from it. Not just related to damage, [but on] specific features on homes or on land and thatll be important, he said. It could be things such as flood plains; it could be things such as the type of roof material; it could be things such as water outlets that are close to specific areas that could represent flooding problems. While aerial imagery and drone use have exploded on the claims side, on the underwriting side the adoption rate has been a bit slower, said Shelton. And even with the fast-adapting technology, the use of drones and aerial imagery is not the only tool insurers use for inspecting claims. We still do have to have a person physically on site [to inspect claims], so if flooding prohibits our access, sometimes that causes a delay. And that was one of the big challenges we faced with Florence was the weeks of flooding after the event, Shelton said. The challenge for insurance companies right now, he said, is integrating the use of drones with the processes they already have in place. [Insurers] all want to embrace it, but theyre looking for the technologies to bridge the gap between a flying camera, which is what a drone is, and a tool thats really going to help them integrate it directly into their workflows as part of the claims settlement process. So thats one challenge towards getting to that 100 percent or 90 percent adoption and acceptance, he said. There are also plenty of carriers that are not comfortable settling a claim from imagery without having a human inspection. Thats a big challenge and I think thats going to require some time and it may require judicial precedents in order for that to actually occur, Shelton said. Of all the partners we work with, only two of them have actually been willing to deny a claim based off of drone imagery. Denisenko said even though the number of claims being inspected with drones is up from two years ago, the majority of claims still do not rely on drones or aerial imagery. Its still early in the market so I wouldnt be surprised if its less than 50 percent or so. Its been a low market penetration it takes time, she said. For those insurers that are embracing the technology, particularly after large-scale disasters, Shelton said its not because theyre just trying to defend their bottom line. They came to us because they said, Our policyholders are hurting and we really can make a difference in their lives by utilizing new technology. And I think that thats a really great attitude for the industry as a whole, said Shelton. State Farm says it will continue to apply new technology where it makes sense for customers. We are making sure we are being innovative and utilizing all the tools available to make sure we help our customers recover as quickly as possible, said Angie Harrier, State Farm spokesperson. Topics Carriers Catastrophe Claims Hurricane InsurTech Flood Tech Market Aviation The Independent Insurance Agents of Houston announced that IIAH Executive Director Carole Shelton has decided to retire from her position effective March 15th. Shelton has played a major role in the organization for over three decades, serving as a guiding hand, thoughtful voice and keen business manager, IIAH said. IIAH President-Elect Stuart Ray will chair the selection committee for our search for the groups new executive director. Interested candidates should contact Stuart directly at sray@higginbotham.net, 713-952-9990. Source: Independent Insurance Agents of Houston Topics Agencies A Houston company has pleaded guilty to workers compensation premium fraud in a case that spanned four years, the Texas Department of Insurance, Division of Workers Compensation announced. According to the announcement, Alpha Mar entered the plea in a Travis County District Court. The company, which makes custom parts for various industries, was ordered to pay $250,000 to workers compensation carrier Texas Mutual Insurance Company. The Texas Department of Insurance, Division of Workers Compensations (DWC) prosecution unit obtained the conviction. The DWC prosecution unit is embedded in the Travis County District Attorneys Office. From 2008 to 2012, John Stergion of Alpha Mar concealed payroll and misrepresented the number of employees the company had. This resulted in a lower workers compensation policy premium, TDI said. Workers compensation premiums are based on an employers payroll, job classification codes, and the employers past losses which are used to estimate future losses. Manipulating or misrepresenting one or more of these factors to get lower rates is premium fraud. When companies commit premium or payroll fraud, they can put their employees coverage at risk, said Debra Knight, DWCs deputy commissioner of Compliance and Investigations, said in TDIs announcement. It gives dishonest companies a business advantage over ethical companies that are paying the full cost of their premiums. Source: TDI, DWC Topics Texas Workers' Compensation Fraud Facebook Inc.s repeated privacy scandals have infuriated users, lawmakers and data-security advocates who are clamoring for a forceful government response. That job mainly falls to Joe Simons, who is under pressure to satisfy doubters or risk sidelining his agency as the nations chief privacy watchdog. The chairman of the Federal Trade Commission talked tough when he took over the agency last year, vowing to increase scrutiny of Americas technology giants after years of a mostly hands-off approach. More than eight months later, his critics are getting impatient. They need to demonstrate theyre willing to use the tools they have aggressively, said Justin Brookman, the director of consumer privacy and technology policy for Consumer Reports Inc. Everyone wants to see the hammer brought down. To some Facebook critics, that means more than just a large fine for allegedly violating a 2011 consent agreement with the FTC over an earlier privacy breach. The FTC is investigating whether the social-media giant failed to honor its commitments when political consulting firm Cambridge Analytica gained access to information about millions of users. While a conclusion could still be months away, the agency is expected to hit Facebook with a record fine, said a person familiar with the case who asked not to be named because the investigation is confidential. That likelihood seems to indicate officials have determined there was a violation of the settlement. Facebook says it hasnt violated the decree. The Cambridge Analytica case was already the agencys most high-profile investigation when Simons took over in May last year. Facebooks mishaps have since increased, with disclosure of a security breach affecting 50 million accounts and news that some of the worlds biggest technology companies were given more access to users data than had been disclosed. Privacy Law Some privacy experts, including Brookman at Consumer Reports, are lobbying for passage of the nations first privacy law, which could upend how Facebook does business. Others want to break the company into three components: the main social-network business; the Instagram photo-sharing app, which Facebook acquired in 2012; and WhatsApp, the direct-messaging service it bought in 2014. A break-up is the best way to generate competition to offer stronger privacy protections, says Barry Lynn, the executive director of the left-leaning Open Markets Institute in Washington, which advocates for aggressive antitrust enforcement. Open Markets deputy director, Sarah Miller, said she and other members of a coalition called Freedom From Facebook discussed that approach with Simons over the summer. It would require an expensive and risky court fight that some privacy experts say the FTC is unlikely to undertake. Passive Lapdog Some argue that the FTC is so overly cautious that it should lose its privacy-protection role. Jeff Chester, the executive director of the Center for Digital Democracy, which advocates for online privacy, is among them. This is why the industry wants the FTC to be the regulator of choice for privacy, Chester said. The industry knows that its nothing more than a passive lapdog. For his part, Simons, a Washington antitrust lawyer and former partner at Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP, is pushing Congress for more power to punish privacy violations, and not give away his authority to a new agency. Simons, 60, has declined to comment on the Facebook investigation beyond telling lawmakers in November that the FTC will take action as fast as possible. He wouldnt comment for this article. Lacks Spine Some lawmakers also think the FTC lacks spine. Democratic Senator Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut, who is planning to offer bipartisan privacy legislation this year, accuses the agency of failing to use the power it already has. Time and again, the FTC has shied away from pursuing clear consumer abuses by big technology companies, Blumenthal said in a statement. The FTC must demonstrate that it is willing to step up to hold Big Tech accountable. Tougher in Europe Europe has been tougher on U.S tech companies for antitrust and privacy infringements, with Frances regulator on Monday fining Google 50 million euros ($56.8 million) for violating new European Union data-protection rules. Google, in a statement, said it is studying the decision, which can be appealed, to determine its next steps. Since Simons took over, the commission has held hearings on competition and consumer-protection issues, but hasnt brought any major enforcement actions. The Facebook investigation is fact-intensive and its length so far isnt unusual, said a former FTC official, who declined to be identified discussing a confidential matter. Record Fine The agency cant impose fines on first-time offenders, only on companies that, like Facebook, have previously agreed to settle charges with the agency. In 2012, it fined Google $23 million for misrepresenting to Safari internet-browser users that it wouldnt place advertising trackers known as cookies on their computers. That was a record for the agency, but a minuscule amount for Google, which reported net income of $10.7 billion that year. The fine for Facebook, which earned $15.9 billion in 2017, will exceed the Google penalty, according to the person familiar with the case. The first enforcement action stemming from Cambridge Analytica came not from the federal government, but from the attorney general for the District of Columbia, Karl Racine. Racine said in a Dec. 19 lawsuit that Facebook violated the citys consumer-protection law by misleading users about the security of their data and failing to properly monitor apps use of data. Other states have opened similar investigations. Deceptive Practices The commissions 2011 consent decree addressed a litany of deceptive practices. Facebook, for example, allowed profile information photos, education, place of employment that a user chose to restrict to Only Friends or Friends of Friends to be accessible to apps that the persons friends used. Facebook also promised users that it wouldnt share personal information about them with advertisers when in fact the company identified to advertisers the users who clicked on their ads or to whom ads were targeted. Facebook was required to implement a privacy program, obtain express consent from users before making changes that override privacy preferences, and undergo regular privacy audits. Under that decree, the FTC can fine Facebook about $40,000 per violation. Now the question is how far Simons takes that authority. Some privacy experts say the Cambridge Analytica mishap may not have violated the order. The incident stems from a personality-quiz app offered to Facebook users by a Cambridge University researcher. About 270,000 people downloaded the app, allowing the researcher to access data about both those individuals and their friends. The information was subsequently sold to Cambridge Analytica, which worked on Donald Trumps 2016 presidential campaign. Facebooks settings at the time allowed third-party apps to access the data of a users friends. Because Facebook disclosed that to users, its unlikely to be a violation, according to Matthew Schettenhelm, a Bloomberg Intelligence analyst in Washington. Thats one of the arguments Facebook is using to defeat a class-action lawsuit users have filed. Another Avenue Another potential avenue of investigation for the FTC is whether Facebook violated the order when it allowed more than 150 companies, including Amazon.com Inc., Netflix Inc. and Spotify Technology SA, access to more users personal data than Facebook had disclosed, as reported by the New York Times in December. Facebook disclosed that it shares details about users with service providers, which plausibly includes many of those companies, according to Schettenhelm. The Times, however, reported that Netflix and Spotify were able to read users private messages and werent considered by Facebook to be service providers. Facebook probably needed users consent before sharing their private messages with those companies, Schettenhelm said. The company says it hasnt violated the decree with those partnerships, either, and has disputed some details of the Times report. Its up to Simons to decide how aggressive to be. He risks drawing fire from Capitol Hill and privacy advocates with a weak settlement, but doing anything too radical could lead to a costly court battle with Facebook, a move that carries its own risks. When the agency brought an enforcement action against medical-testing firm LabMD, a federal appeals court in June clipped the agencys power by ruling that the FTCs order to establish a privacy program was too vague and therefore unenforceable. They have a choice, said Open Markets Lynn about the FTC. Are they actually standing up for the American people? Are they standing up for democracy? Copyright 2021 Bloomberg. Topics USA Legislation Europe Tech Washington Privacy Waukee, Iowa-based insurance services firm, Holmes Murphy, has created the Holmes Murphy Foundation for its philanthropic and charitable-giving initiatives. This newly-formed foundation will oversee all philanthropic and community engagement efforts, company-wide. Through this foundation, we are creating an investment strategy that incorporates input from our communities, clients, and employees across all Holmes Murphy locations, said Holmes Murphy Senior Vice President Craig Hansen, who is leading this effort. We are excited about this change and to further demonstrate our commitment to giving back to the communities we serve. The concept of giving back is not new to the company; Holmes Murphy currently contributes over $1.3 million in charitable donations and logs more than 10,000 volunteer hours annually. Creating the foundation will help maximize and broaden Holmes Murphys community efforts with the establishment of four giving channels Community Grants, Direct Giving, the Employee Match Program, and Volunteer Time Off (VTO). At Holmes Murphy we believe everyone deserves to be healthy, receive proper education, and be able to surround themselves with arts and culture, Holmes Murphy Chairman and CEO Dan Keough said in the firms announcement. All three of these important causes help shape more productive and vibrant communities, and we are grateful for the opportunity to contribute. A corporate giving committee made up of employees from multiple Holmes Murphy locations has created a process for receiving charitable requests from its communities, clients, and employees. The Holmes Murphy Foundation is primarily focused on the following causes: health and at-risk, education, and arts and culture. For more information on how to participate, please visit https://www.holmesmurphy.com/foundation/. Source: Holmes Murphy Topics Iowa Allianz announces its intention to enter the general insurance sector in Vietnam through a digital joint venture (JV) to be set up with the FPT Group driving long-term success in the market and expanding Allianzs footprint in Asia. FPT Group, as the strategic technology partner, will support Allianz in the fast-growing Vietnamese insurance market to develop innovative digital insurance products and services to meet the protection needs of local customers. The memorandum of understanding (MOU) proposes bringing the two complementary businesses together, with Allianz providing expertise and advice on best practices in insurance product customization, financial technology, and asset management, explained Allianz. On the other hand, FPT will provide access to its distribution channels and affiliates, advise and assist Allianz with local market knowledge, and connect the firm with FPTs subsidiaries and partners. The MOU details both Allianz and FPT Groups intention to enter into a joint-venture agreement for the establishment of a newly incorporated general insurance company in Vietnam. In line with local regulations, regulatory approval will be sought at the appropriate time, said Allianz. The MOU signing ceremony took place on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Davos and was attended by Prime Minister of Vietnam Nguyen Xuan Phuc, Allianz SE Board Member Sergio Balbinot, and FPTs Founder & Executive Chairman Dr. Truong Gia Binh. We are delighted to embark on the next stage of our partnership with FPT Group at an exciting time for the development of the Vietnamese economy, said Balbinot. Allianz is well-placed to support the protection needs of local consumers by delivering innovative digital insurance solutions for a demographic ready to adopt them. FPT and Allianz are the perfect match to address the needs of the growing Vietnam market, said Gia Binh, founder & executive chairman of FPT Group, said Binh. Allianz has the protection expertise to provide accessible and innovative insurance services, while FPT provides the local knowledge and a digital network reaching an expanding, educated and youthful population, Binh added. Our partnership is exciting for the future growth potential of Vietnam, and we look forward to many successes. Todays announcement outlines our intention to expand Allianzs world-leading digital insurance products and services into Vietnam a key emerging market and one of the fastest growing economies in Asia, said George Sartorel, regional chief executive, Allianz Asia Pacific. FPT is the right partner for Allianz to enhance its ability to build a strong market position in the country, and further underscores our ambitious growth strategy in the wider region, Sartorel continued. We look forward to contributing to the continued development of Vietnams fast-growing insurance sector, boosting financial inclusion for the under-protected, and reaching an expanding pool of digitally-minded consumers. As a leading IT corporation in Vietnam with more than 10 years of experience in the insurance industry, FPT is well-placed to assist clients with end-to-end services, which are trusted by customers worldwide, said Allianz. Vietnam is one of the fastest growing economies in Asia, said Allianz, noting that its general insurance market is expected to experience robust growth. Combined with Vietnams high internet and mobile penetration, the country is well placed for increased access to digital insurance solutions. Source: Allianz Topics Mergers Trends Market New Markets Allianz When the late Louis Wolf and his partner, Kenneth Goldberg, bought the theater from the Plitt movie chain after the Uptowns 1979 closure, it was clear to preservationists that the new landlords did not intend to restore the building. Wolfs modus operandi was to let historic buildings fall into disrepair, usually because the land was expected to increase in value. All kinds of horrors were being discussed for the Uptown following its closure to the public as a concert venue. Somebody wanted to install an indoor go-kart track. Someone else wanted to turn it into a mausoleum. As all this chatter went on, thieves were already seen entering the building indeed, according to Bob Boin, a civil engineer and longstanding Uptown volunteer, some of the Uptowns fixtures already were showing up a local salvage stores, where volunteers would proceed to buy them back, and then store them in their homes. International General Insurance Holdings Ltd. (IGI), the Dubai-based speciality re/insurer, has appointed Nick Garrity as chief executive officer of IGIs Labuan Branch in Malaysia. Garrity will be based in the Kuala Lumpur office. In his new role, Garrity will help strengthen the groups offering in Asia Pacific, with a planned growth strategy from IGIs Kuala Lumpur office, which will serve as the groups hub, for expansion in the region. Garrity has 28 years of experience in the international insurance and reinsurance industry and joins IGI from Swiss Re Corporate Solutions in Singapore, where he was head of Sales, Asia Pacific. Prior to that, Garrity was Strategic Customer and Broker Relationship director at Royal Sun Alliance, also in Singapore. He has also held chief executive officer and chief operating officer roles at Lockton Companies. Before that, he was at Marsh, starting his career at Willis. Since the companys inception in Amman, Jordan in 2001, IGI has expanded beyond the Middle East and North Africa region. Today, IGI now writes specialist commercial insurance and reinsurance in over 200 countries. Registered in the Dubai International Financial Centre, IGI has offices in London, Bermuda, Amman, Dubai, Kuala Lumpur and Casablanca. In Nick, IGI has identified a proven industry expert, who will be able to provide immediate strong leadership and strategic direction to the Ggoups plans for growth in Asia, said Wasef Jabsheh, chief executive officer at IGI. Source: International General Insurance Holdings Topics Swiss Re The flood insurance protection gap in the United States is massive, but the take-up rate of private flood insurance continues to be low. The relative inability of private insurers to penetrate the flood insurance market has been blamed on the lack of risk models, low consumer demand, high private premiums and, most of all, on the availability of relatively inexpensive government-sponsored insurance. Some of those systemic issues have been resolved for example, flood risk models have been developed. But most issues remain. The private flood insurance market is small, but the [flood protection] gap is huge, affirmed Robert Muir-Wood, chief research officer for RMS, the Newark, Calif.-based catastrophe modeling company. In the U.S. at present, there are 5.1 million households in the so-called 100-year flood zone as defined by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), he added. Of those households, 65 percent do not have flood insurance, which shows the extent of the potential business opportunities for the insurance industry, said Muir-Wood during a panel discussion at the reinsurance Rendez-Vous de Septembre (RVS). During Hurricanes Harvey and Sandy, less than 20 percent of the houses that were flooded had flood insurance, he said, noting that these catastrophes have highlighted the enormous protection gap around U.S. flood peril. The insurance protection gapor underinsuranceis defined as the value of assets at risk that are not covered by insurance when a catastrophic event occurs, either natural or manmade. If you write flood business in any of the coastal Gulf or eastern states, you will find that many of the top flood events are hurricanes. The National Association of Insurance Commissioners has found that half of U.S. flood losses occur outside the designated high-risk areas, yet only 1 percent of properties outside of the defined flood zones have flood insurance, according to a report on the protection gap published by Lloyds of London. Part of the problem is that the governments National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP), which is managed by FEMA, dominates the flood insurance market. Indeed, Muir-Wood said that 95.5-96.5 percent of the flood policies are offered by the NFIP, which means that only 3.5-4.5 percent of all the residential flood policies in the U.S. are now covered in the private market. Muir-Wood was joined on the RVS panel by Karl Jones, managing director, head of Catastrophe Analytics at Willis Re. They discussed the state of the private flood insurance market and some of the potential remedies to improve growth. The panel was moderated by Ben Brookes, vice president at RMS. While a robust private insurance market has yet to develop in the U.S., there is growing interest on the part of insurers and reinsurers, looking to diversify their books by offering cover for the flood peril, agreed the panelists. In his comments, Muir-Wood began with an historical perspective of catastrophe models that were developed after Hurricane Andrew in 1992. Through the 1990s Andrew was the big poster child of what a hurricane looks like. Yet, we see in retrospect that Andrew was actually pretty unusual, he said, explaining that the storm was dominated by wind impacts and had a low proportion of flood damage. Over time, its become completely clear that flood causes a much more significant part of hurricane losses, he added. Muir-Wood pointed to events like Hurricane Katrina in 2005, Hurricane Sandy in 2012, Hurricane Harvey in 2016 and Hurricane Florence in 2018, where flooding caused significantly more than half the economic loss. (See related article, Hurricane Florence Demonstrates the Perils of Being Underinsured/Uninsured, Says RMS.) Actually, what this means from a modeling perspective is that we need tools that combine and integrate the wind loss, the storm surge loss, the inland flood loss and even the wave impacts on offshore platforms, Muir-Wood said, stressing that by addressing these four hurricane perils, insurers can be more confident that all of the risk is being covered. If you write flood risk, deep inland in the U.S., it doesnt have a strong correlation with hurricane. But if you write flood business in any of the coastal Gulf or eastern states, you will find that many of the top flood events are hurricanes. As a result, an insurer needs to manage its book for the wind, storm surge and inland flooding all together, he said, noting that modeling technology has only recently advanced to the point where its able to combine all the perils. Previously, [an insurer was] a bit in the dark about how to diversify its risk. Jones at Willis Re agreed, saying that flood has moved from being an unmodeled peril to one for which models are availablegreatly assisted by advances in computing and technology. Both Jones and Muir-Wood affirmed that flood is actually a highly predictable peril and that profitable risk selection is possible for insurers and reinsurers as long as they understand the models and determine the correct price for the risk. There are more elegant ways of putting this, but if your property sits on top of a hill, youre not at risk. If youre in lower-lying areas, theres a flood risk, said Jones. You can delineate the flood plain and you can deal with that. We have the tools and the accuracy to be able to identify the hazard in a very detailed manner. Further, he added, the flood events of the last few years are helping insurers, reinsurers and modeling companies to be able to validate the models against the losses. In addition, the information about the building exposure at risk is much more accurate than it has been in the past, said Jones, pointing to detailed data on properties, captured by insurers and brokers, which is brought together by modeling companies. Definable Peril Muir-Wood emphasized how flood risk is arguably more of a definable peril than even hurricane and earthquake. He provided a technical explanation of modeling, which faces two classes of uncertainty: epistemic uncertainty and aleatoric uncertainty. Epistemic uncertainty is what you dont know, while aleatoric uncertainty is the basic randomness associated with the risk, he said. When you think about hurricanes or earthquakes, theres actually a lot of aleatoric uncertainty, because wind is a chaotic process. One house is hit by strong gusts, while the next house is missed by strong gusts. The peril can be very variable on a small scale, and its not possible to model that full variability, Muir-Wood continued. He noted that the same applies to earthquake ground motion, which is chaotic and complicated. And actually floodhas a much lower level of aleatoric uncertainty, a much lower level of intrinsic variability, because flood heights are pretty consistent from one patch of land to the next, he explained. He said that means flood models have to contend with mostly epistemic uncertainty, for which information is needed in three areas in order to model flood effectively: Elevation data of the property. The existence of flood defenses. Information on what is happening in that property below the ground floori.e., does the property have a basement? If so, what is the basement used for? Is it occupied? Is it full of expensive artwork or something valuable? By obtaining this data, flood risk modeling can become more accurate than even hurricane wind or earthquake loss modeling, Muir-Wood affirmed. Were in a better state to be able to really quantify the flood risk, and an insurer can write that business with confidence. So, if flood is such an insurable peril, then why is insurance penetration so low? Muir-Wood said the slow growth of the private flood insurance market in the U.S. is mainly due to the existence of the NFIP. Jones agreed by saying that the U.S. government is offering subsidized, cheaper insurance. The rating schemes from the National Flood Insurance Program are proven not to be sufficient to build up enough reserves to pay for losses, which is why the scheme has had to borrow more than $30 billion altogether from the government to pay for its claims from Katrina, Sandy, from the Louisiana floods in 2016 and Harvey in 2017, Muir-Wood added. The coverage provided by NFIP creates a big challenge for the private market because if insurers have to compete against NFIP rates, then there are only certain niches in which a company can operate, which is why the private market currently is so small in the U.S., he went on to say. One such niche is available because the NFIP only offers coverage up to $250,000, so if you want to buy excess of that, you need to go to the private market to buy coverage, Muir-Wood said. Insurers also are offering coverage outside the defined 100-year flood plain, where its easier to find modeled risk prices that are lower than the NFIPs pricing of the flood-risk costs, he said. The NFIP has indicated it plans to move to risk-based pricing, which is made possible for the first time because of the new modeling capabilities. However, Muir-Wood said that such a move would likely cause protests among people living in high-risk areas such as southern Florida. Until the NFIPs pricing actually reflects the risk, it will be very hard for insurers to compete against it, he continued. Jones predicted that consumer demand will be driven when people feel the governmental safety net is reducing. Governments will look for support from the private sector to develop insurance solutions, he noted. If youre seeing a situation where that is under pressure, youre going to see a natural opportunity in the market. How to Increase Penetration The Lloyds report on the insurance protection gap noted that in the countries where flood risks are automatically included in insurance policies for households and businesses, penetration rates are generally higher. For example, in the U.K., take-up rates for residential property insurance are more than 90 percent, while for home contents (for which flood damage insurance is not required by mortgage lenders), insurance penetration can drop to just 44 percent, said the Lloyds report titled A world at riskClosing the insurance gap. Penetration rates are also high in other countries where flood risk is included in standard coverage, such as France and New Zealand, said the report. On the other hand, in countries where flood coverage is optional, such as Portugal and the U.S., insurance penetration is generally much lower, it continued. In the U.S., flood insurance is only required by banks when you take out a mortgage if you live in a designated flood zone, according to Lloyds. However, in recent years, areas that havent been classified as being at risk have been hit hard by floods, which shows the need for new analysis and mapping of risk, said the report. In the U.K., Flood Re (established 2016) is not primarily state-backed but instead risks are pooled among all insurers offering flood policies, said the Lloyds report. In an extreme case, the government would step in as the final guarantor. The U.K. also seeks, as many countries do, to implement an engineering solution to flooding, the report added. In his comments at the RVS, Jones noted that the U.K. has committed to risk-based pricing by 2039 for its Flood Re program. In addition, any property built from 2009 cannot be included in the program, so there is a disincentive to build properties in places where there is a potential flood risk. So, the U.K. is starting to combine the forces that influence the market. Mandated Flood Insurance? Brookes, vice president at RMS, the moderator of the panel, asked Muir-Wood and Jones if they think there are ways in which flood insurance might be mandated or required as part of a mortgage. In the U.S., there is a requirement that if you take out a mortgage, then you have to have to have flood insurance if youre within the so-called 100-year flood zone. But one year after you take out a mortgage, your mortgage has probably gone to Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac to be packaged into a mortgage-backed security, said Muir-Wood. As a result, the bank that issued the mortgage is no longer interested in the question of whether the property is protected by flood insurance, and so, the lapse rate for flood insurance policies is about 25 percent per year, he said. There actually is no mechanism to ensure the flood insurance is persistent through time, he noted. If the property is located just one meter outside the 100-year flood zone, insurance isnt required even though your flood risk may be pretty much the same, said Muir-Wood. In California, you have this ridiculous situation where if you take out a mortgage you have to have flood insurance, but you dont have to have earthquake insurance, so most people dont bother with the earthquake insurance, Muir-Wood continued. Policymakers could actually take away the freedom not to have coverage and require people to purchase it, he suggested. Another possibility would be to change policy design, he affirmed, pointing to the example of Japan, where property insurance products for fire, wind and flood are offered that run with the life of the mortgage. Another reason for underinsurance against flooding is the prevalence of adverse selection in this market, said the Lloyds report, explaining that people who buy flood insurance are those who know they are most at risk, which drives up price and reduces uptake in the coverage. It is also the case that many homeowners believe their property is insured by their regular home insurance policies, which is rarely the case, it continued. Awareness-raising is an important initiative to encourage insurance uptake. A version of this article first appeared in Insurance Journals sister publication, Carrier Management. Related: Topics Carriers USA Catastrophe Profit Loss Excess Surplus Hurricane Flood Property Reinsurance Market Lloyd's Uk Earthquake In 2018, Delaware licensed 46 newly formed captive insurers despite a challenging environment, according to Delaware Insurance Commissioner Trinidad Navarro in a press release issued by the Delaware Insurance Department. Captive insurance formations faced a number of challenges in 2018, due to recent changes in tax law, Navarro stated in the release. Despite the headwinds, Delawares having knowledgeable captive regulators continues to attract quality applicants. Navarro added in the release that Delaware is the fifth largest captive domicile in the world, and the third largest in the U.S. The state is one of four captive insurance domiciles that is ICCIE (International Center for Captive Insurance Education) trained, and its captive insurers generate more than $12.5 billion of annual captive insurance premium. We are committed to licensing captive insurers with sound business plans formed by reputable individuals, Navarro said in the release. Navarro attributes 2018s success to the newly enacted conditional licensing legislation allowing electronic filing of a conditional license. It permits the issuance of a conditional license to a captive insurance applicant on the same day as the application submission. Of the 46 licenses issued in Delaware, 30 were conditional licenses. This is only available to certain captive managers who satisfy specific standards set by the Department of Insurance. If approved captive managers need a captive insurance license by a certain date, they are encouraged to seek a conditional license. Source: Delaware Insurance Department Topics Carriers Delaware In fact, 2018 was another year marking major wildfire exposures and losses in the US, added Holzheu. The Camp Fire turned out to be the biggest wildfire loss in history and it was also the largest insured loss of the year. It shows that among the experts in the industry what you would consider secondary perils are again moving up in terms of importance, and a larger number of major, but not mega events accumulates to a very significant overall loss exposure, said Holzheu. A silver lining to the losses was that a larger-than-average proportion of them came from the US, which was part of the reason that almost half of the losses were insured. If you look at a historic longer term context worldwide, this is usually more around 70% thats uninsured and only 30% that is covered, said Holzheu. One of the main reasons for that is that a lot of losses happened in the US where insurance penetration is higher, but then also wildfire losses are better covered than flood losses or earthquake losses that were more prominent in other years. Swiss Re however also identified the vulnerabilities that contribute to natural catastrophe exposures, namely a higher concentration of people, the ongoing development and popularity of coastal properties, and the fact that people are living in areas with more wildlife. The growth in exposure is driven by human activity to a large degree. We do have a climate-driven phenomenon of longer wildfire seasons that start earlier in the year and last longer. This has to do with temperatures and then also related to that, there are larger such events, explained Holzheu, adding that nonetheless, The main driver is the fact that human [and] urban development grows into this urban-wildlife interface. Read more: The world is sleep-walking into environmental catastrophe Zurich Because land is running out in less exposed areas, a lot of development is moving into higher risk zones that, for example, leave homes and businesses surrounded by vegetation prone to turning quickly into kindling. This situation is repeated when it comes to hurricanes and windstorms, where the exposed areas globally tend to be places where economic development is strong. We see more population growth and economic development in the US in coastal zones, and also in the southwest of the US where earthquake exposures are high, said Holzheu, adding that exposure also increases as manufacturing and other economic activity moves outside of the developed world and into Asia. It happens to be that a lot of these economic development regions are coastal areas where you have windstorms, and often also flood or earthquake exposures. A lot of the exposure drivers are again related to migration and economic activity that happens to move and shift towards higher risk zones. Ridge joined Lockton in June of last year. He has 37 years of experience in the reinsurance industry, and served as chairman of global specialty reinsurance at Willis Re prior to joining Lockton. He has also served as co-CEO of Willis Re Specialty and managing director of Willis Re Global Marine and Energy. As Lockton Re continues to strengthen its position as one of the leading global reinsurance providers, I am delighted to welcome Jerry to his new role, said Neil Nimmo, CEO of Lockton International. Jerry brings close to four decades worth of experience within the reinsurance market, which will be invaluable as we continue to execute our ambitious international strategy. I am confident he will continue the success achieved under Georges leadership, building on his impressive track record of growth and high-profile client wins. I would like to thank George for all his dedication and leadership, and wish him all the very best in the future. James Moss will continue in his role as business leader for non-marine reinsurance, and Carla Moffett will continue as business leader for strategy and business development, the company said. Allianz Partners are committed to supporting our partners in delivering assistance products that can add value to their customers and support their core offering, said Simon Wilson, national business development manager for Allianz Partners. We are excited about the opportunity and the differentiation it will bring to Arcadias presence in-market. "We are thrilled to be offering this bundled insurance proposition in the intermediated and real-estate channels, where we strive to deliver innovative solutions that keep our customers protected in their time of need," said Scott Wilford, Arcadia CEO. The three individuals allegedly facilitated the lodging of fake personal accident claims through the chiropractors clinics, located in Tanjong Pagar and Tampines. The conspiracy reportedly happened between June 2017 and March 2018, according to the SPF. The suspects encouraged patients to receive treatment for pre-existing medical conditions at the clinics, and then buy personal accident insurance after treatment, the police said. Afterwards, the patients would claim reimbursement from the insurer, with the chiropractor pretending that the injuries happened after the purchase of the policies. A total of 17 false claims were lodged, worth SG$17,000. Around SG$4,450 was paid out. If the three individuals are found guilty, they could face up to 10 years in prison, plus a fine. According to a statement by Sedgwick, with the integration of the two companies, its Taiwan branch will benefit from an extensive list of clients who are very interested in the size, scale and global reach of the company. Also, its local experts will have the support of Sedgwicks global knowledge and access to high-quality training, best industry practices, and global resources. Sedgwick currently has 21,000 professionals in 65 countries to serve employers, insurance companies, brokers, policyholders, and consumers. The brand change forms part of our planned expansion of the market leading international businesses, said Ian V. Muress, CEO of Sedgwick International. Having completed the acquisition, Sedgwick is now perfectly positioned for growth internationally and we have a tremendous opportunity to offer an end-to-end service solution to our new and existing clients around the world. Our strategic vision is to align our complementary services and further grow the reach to a scale that will shape and define the enhanced expertise and talent we can offer. This part of "Pandas" is fine as far as it goes, but it doesn't exactly ignite you with storytelling energy. Training bears for the wild turns out to be less fun than simply observing bears in the wild. We're rooting, of course, for Qian Qian, whose progress (or lack of it) comes to symbolize the future hope for pandas. For a while, she seems to thrive. She learns to climb trees, and to master the activity that pandas do best: sitting around and eating 50 pounds of bamboo a day. (That's part of why we love them; they're nature's couch potatoes.) But then she's left on her own, and she doesn't do so well. It's a transplant that doesn't take. The self-loathing theater critic in Conor McPherson's "St. Nicholas" is a booze-soaked anti-hero who goes on a bender of the soul. He's played at the Goodman in this visiting Donmar Warehouse production by Brendan Coyle, best known for playing Mr. Bates on "Downton Abbey." At least he can laugh at his own absurdism, at the ridiculousness of what passes for his story, throwing up his throat-scorching whisky in a sink as he tries to use the final throes of power to regain a lost youth. This is a play about alcoholism and vampires. But most of all, this solo monologue is a play about aging. Coyle gives a very fine performance; he is an inveterate creature of the stage, a live actor, in all the best senses of that word, twitching, reacting, holding up a moment, soaking up the audience Sunday night. Through Jan. 27 at the Goodman Theatre, 170 N. Dearborn St.; $31-$85 at 312-443-3800 or www.goodmantheatre.org The Latest from Barchart Sign up to receive your Watchlist or Portfolio sent to you by email up to 4 times a day; available at market open, mid-day, market close or end-of-day. Premier Members can also receive the results of custom Screeners - alerting to price or trend changes during and after each trading day. Sign up for a risk-free 30-day Barchart Premier trial. A stop sign is seen near the White House during a government shutdown in Washington, D.C., Dec. 27, 2018. The shutdown has furloughed hundreds of thousands of government employees and halted services that arent deemed essential, including, in many instances, the immigration courts overseen by the Justice Department. (Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/AFP/Getty Images) Union Human Resource Development Minister Prakash Javadekar speaking at the inauguration of the National Conference on Positioning India on the Global Education Map: Strategies and Road Map, in New Delhi on Dec 14, 2018. (IANS/PIB photo) We all know that Google has not all but fairly enough information about us, but it can be a little unnerving to know that the government is tapping into almost all of your personal information. Reuters That's exactly what's happening in China. On the heel of the upcoming social credit system in 2020, the Chinese government has rolled out a new app that can literally detect people who are in debt. So, here is how it works. The app alerts users with a flash when they are within 500 meters of someone who is in debt. ALSO READ: China Has Grown Cotton On The Far Side Of Moon, And It's The 1st Country In The World To Do It According to this report, there's a map of deadbeat debtors, and can be accessed via WeChat - Chinas most popular networking site. The main aim of the app is to keep an eye on those who are knee-deep in debt. For the uninitiated, people in China prefer saving than spending and those who are in debt are looked down upon in society. On the other hand, those involved in tax evasion are put through hell in the communist country. According to Mail Online, more than 6,000 people who failed to pay their taxes on time or misbehaved in public transport were barred from taking planes or trains in and out of China between June 2018 and January 2019. Things are pretty tough in China and you were worried about Google knowing everything about you! ALSO READ: Meet 73-YO Dai Dali, China's Oldest Pole Dancer Who's Smashing Age Stereotypes With Her Moves I always took the time to try and understand the people the smart, passionate, good people from the A-B side and learn from them while, as humbly as I could, educating them about how we looked at beer, Jankoski said. It was a challenge, but it was really fascinating and interesting. And at the end of the day, I hope I played a meaningful role to help make better beer in the big breweries and have everyone coming away thinking weve made some progress over the years. College students living in hostels can often find it hard to get their everyday grocery delivered to them. Not in this college though. Reason, George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia has employed a fleet of self-driven delivery robots for this task. Manufactured by Starship Technologies, a company dedicated to the development of self-driving delivery vehicles, two dozen plus autonomous robots will now be delivering Starbucks and pizzas to the college students. World's largest fleet of autonomous delivery robots launches on @GeorgeMasonU Campus today in Virginia USA. 40,000 students, faculty and staff will have access to the new service with retailers Blaze Pizza, Starbucks, Dunkin', Second Stop grocery and more: https://t.co/fpRAenhEEl pic.twitter.com/6c5amyacdY Starship (@StarshipRobots) January 22, 2019 Also read: Indian Army Might Soon Predict Stone Pelters In J&K, Thanks To Technology By IIT Students A total of 25 such robots can be requested to deliver up to 9 kgs of goods across the college campus. Students can use a dedicated app to get these goods delivered, which will be within 15 minutes, as per the publication Fast Company. Once at their residency, students can use their app to unlock the compartment and take out the contents. The autonomous robots work on a combination of cameras, ultrasound and radar based navigation technology for driving themselves around the campus. They are also equipped with artificial intelligence to make impromptu decisions on the way, if and when they face an obstacle. The robots have been designed to run on one side of the sidewalk in order to avoid clashes with pedestrians. Fleet of autonomous deliver robots by Starship Technologies. (Starship Robots/ Twitter) Also read: Electric Bicycles And Scooters May Soon Drive To The Charging Stations On Their Own Back in 2017, Virginia legalised the use of autonomous vehicles to deliver goods to consumers. This also helped in making the George Mason University an ideal choice for such a test run. The ultimate goal is to rely on autonomous bots for such deliveries, rendering the current system of a full fledged, carbon spitting vehicle delivering a pizza or a coffee useless. Jammu and Kashmir has been reeling under terrorism for decades. Armed Forces Special Powers Act was imposed in the valley in 1990 and has been implemented ever since. Over the years, war and terrorism has eroded the valley of its peace and normal life. Stone pelting, firing and teargas shells have claimed a thousand lives. Certain districts of the region are more vulnerable to terrorism such as Pulwama, Rajouri, Shopian and others where regular encounters between terrorists and security personnel take place. Photo: AP On Wednesday the police said that Baramulla district in the north of Jammu and Kashmir became the first region to eliminate all surviving militants, as reported by news agency ANI. This comes a day after three terrorists were gunned down in Binner area of the district. Jammu and Kashmir DGP Dilbagh Singh: Yesterday's operation in Baramulla district in which 3 militants were killed makes Baramulla the first district of Kashmir with no surviving militant, as on date. (file pic) pic.twitter.com/dhU1B1r0CC ANI (@ANI) January 24, 2019 Director General of Police, Jammu and Kashmir Dilbag Singh told ANI, Baramulla has become the first district of Kashmir with no surviving militant as on date. Jammu and Kashmir Police extends its thanks to the local population for all their support in providing a better security environment in the district. A district is declared militant free when no militant in that particular region is listed as active as per police records. However, while speaking to Indian Express Baramulla SSP Imtiyaz Hussain said that they couldn't rule out the possibility that militants from neighbouring towns could enter Baramulla. As per media reports, 18 militants were active in the district at the beginning of 2018 out of which 13 were killed in encounters and a few others were forced out of the district. Meanwhile, local media in Kashmir reported that a shutdown was observed in the district for two consecutive days following the killing of the three Lashkar militants. Local residents held a demonstration and raised pro-militant slogans. The terrorists were identified as Suhaib Farooq Akhoon, Mohsin Mushtaq Bhat, residents of Baramulla and Nasir Ahmad Darzi from Sopore, who were active in Baramulla since 2017. Arms and ammunition were also recovered from the militants. India has accused Pakistan of fomenting trouble, political unrest and terrorism in parts of Kashmir. When a few cleaners arrived at a Virar residential building to find out what had been blocking the establishments drainage system, they were not expecting 200 pieces of flesh and bones in it. In a spine chilling incident, Pintu Sharma in his 40s killed his 58-year-old friend Ganesh Kolhatkar, after both of them got into a fiery argument. The murder took place last week in Bachraj Paradise Society, Virar in Mumbai. Photo: India Today According to reports, Sharma had lent Rs one lakh to Kolhatkar out of which he had only returned Rs 40,000. According to a PTI report, Dy SP Jayant Bajbale said the killing was the outcome of a dispute over financial dealings between Ganesh and Pintu. Pintu rented a flat in the building and called Ganesh to the house on January 15. According to media reports, an argument erupted between the two over the unpaid amount following which Sharma pushed Kolhatkar and he died on the spot. To avoid getting caught, Pintu cut his friends body into 200 pieces using a hexa blade over the next four days. He then pulled out the flesh and dumped them into the toilet and flushed it following which the sewage system got blocked. Bajbale informed that the body parts were recovered on Tuesday. The police then started checking all closed flats in the building and found a closed room from where a foul smell was emanating. The accused has been arrested and booked under IPC sections related to murder and causing disappearance of evidence of offence, the police officer told PTI. While Sharma is an investor in stock markets, Ganesh used to run his printing press business in Mira road. Eight days after the passengers in Duranto Express were robbed off their belonging in Delhi at knifepoint, nearly 12 people including a women judge and the ticket examiner himself have been robbed off their valuables onboard the Ajmer-Chandigarh Garib Rath Express. According to an HT report, the incident took place on Wednesday in wee hours when the train was about to reach Rohtak junction in Haryana. The few men boarded the train and later pulled the chain for their accomplices who boarded the train with knives and guns. There were more than 10 men, each having a gun or a knife in their hand. They put their guns on our heads, placed knives on our necks and took away all our valuables, Hindustan Times quoted a victim as saying. The passengers were robbed off an approx Rs 2 lakh in cash and other valuables including jewellery. The passengers, however, said the men were 10 in number but the the GRP police inquiry said that there were maximum five or six robbers. The case has been registered against unidentified people. From Maddy the charmer in Rehnaa Hai Terre Dil Mein to his rough and tough avatar in Saala Khadoos, R Madhavan has always surprised his massive fan following playing distinct roles. The man who, with just one picture (remember his shower selfie?), can make women go weak in their knees, is all set to surprise us all in his next film titled Rocketry: The Nambi Effect. Instagram R Madhavan is not only donning a directors hat, but he is also playing the lead role of legendary ISRO scientist S Nambi Narayanan, who was wrongly accused a spy. A couple of days ago, R Madhavan showcased how he has transformed for to play the role of Nambi Narayanan. He looked uncannily similar to the 48-year-old actor. So much so, he left all his fans to believe that he was a doppelganger. Take a look! And just like everything that trends on internet, this picture of R Madhavan also became a viral meme. The results are indeed hilarious. Take a look at this hilarious version of #10YearChallenge. #1 *when you're 25 and unmarried at family function.* 1) How you really look . 2) How your relatives see you . pic.twitter.com/1FaWyd4gpQ Aditii (@Sassy_Soul_) January 23, 2019 #2 Entering MBBS By the time you finish MBBS, MD, fellowships pic.twitter.com/LBIoksFpyu DR. GILL (@ikpsgill1) January 23, 2019 #3 Make goa plan. Finally Going. pic.twitter.com/R6coJAjAm2 Pranjul Sharma (@Pranjultweet) January 23, 2019 #4 *phone call* she: ek second hold karo pic.twitter.com/A9y5xBedhZ Maithun - HMP (@Being_Humor) January 23, 2019 #5 Waiting for SRK Hit Film pic.twitter.com/3hlcrMS3ys Virender Sehwag (@SirURFake) January 23, 2019 #6 1) started doing CA 2) when you complete CA pic.twitter.com/bICcekfGOd _()_/ (@shubhh_jain) January 23, 2019 #7 Entering SBI Coming out of it pic.twitter.com/J1FEez61sx Chirag (@igot10on10) January 23, 2019 #8 Single and Breakup and became became Lover. Poet... https://t.co/UdiY1qmoZ4 (@AliveInCoffin) January 23, 2019 #9 1) texted 2) waiting for her reply pic.twitter.com/zTeBK7RFRG (@firkiii) January 23, 2019 #10 Waiting for Vodafone executive to pick up your phone... pic.twitter.com/qyJgrDBAfq Devil (@Baredevil_) January 23, 2019 #11 *My Uncle* When Afridi When Afridi played his first played his last international international match match pic.twitter.com/tWwj7MQiwv keetaANU Malik (@VirusUncle) January 23, 2019 #12 Marwadi deciding to do something else apart from going to dukan. pic.twitter.com/ZXCQM9kAdd Akshay | | (@AkshayKatariyaa) January 23, 2019 #13 1. Waiting for a decision on Pandya and Rahul 2. Still waiting pic.twitter.com/gTnlpCHPTE Bade Chote (@badechote) January 23, 2019 #14 First year in JNU Vs Final year in JNU pic.twitter.com/Y8fBq7ri1S Desi Mojito (@desimojito) January 23, 2019 #15 Three stages of life- 1. You believe in Santa. 2. You don't believe in Santa. 3. You become Santa. pic.twitter.com/SCioTH2EII The Sarcastic Jerk (@The_Sarcastic_J) January 23, 2019 R Madhavans Rocketry: The Nambi Effect will be released in English, Hindi and Tamil. The curious case of protests against the release of Kangana Ranauts Manikarnika: The Queen of Jhansi and Karni Senas involvement in it has left everyone puzzled. First, reports suggested that Karni Sena is opposing the release of the movie because they fear it will show the queen in bad light and distort history. Then, Kangana hit back at the organisation saying that the film has been certified by CBFC, and if it will continue to harass her, she will destroy each one of them. Dr Himanshu, Karni Senas national spokesperson and ex-major, then went on to rubbish the reports and said that the groups name is being used for personal vested interests. Ajay Singh Sengar, president of Maharashtra Karni Sena soon told ANI, If she continues to threaten the members of our outfit, we will not let her walk freely in Maharashtra and will burn her film sets. He also claimed that if the film insults the queen of Jhansi, the Hindu society will not forgive her. Instagram Kangana Ranaut recently said that she will not apologise for her comments. I will not apologize to anybody. I have never apologized whenever I havent made a mistake. We have promised that we havent shown anything wrong about Rani Lakshmibai in the film so, they should support us. Rani Lakshmibai is not my relative and I feel she is daughter of the entire country so, we all should support the film. Shri Rajput Karni Sena should not play their ego card with me because I am not here to say sorry to anyone, she was quoted as saying by IANS. Now, it is said that Karni Sena is protesting outside Kangana Ranauts house in Mumbai. In a video doing the rounds on social media, Karni Sena members can be seen raising slogans while the police officials try to control the scenario. Take a look! Ahead of the release of Manikarnika: The Queen of Jhansi on Jan 25, security at Kangana Ranauts house has been beefed up. IHS child-molester sentenced Gets 18 years for molesting Indian boysBy Talli NaumanNative Sun News Today Contributing Editor GREAT FALLS, Montana A U.S. District judge here sentenced former Indian Health Service pediatrician Stanley Patrick Weber on January 17 to more than 18 years in prison on his convictions of molesting Native American boys. A grand jury found Weber, 70, guilty in September of the federal crimes of attempted aggravated sexual abuse of a child, abusive sexual contact of a minor, and aggravated sexual abuse of a child. The crimes stem from his engagement in sexual acts with boys going back to 1992, when he was working for Indian Health Service in Browning, Montana, on the Blackfeet Indian Reservation. The acts include groping and trying to have oral and anal intercourse. Judge Brian Morris also fined Weber $200,200 and prescribed five years of supervision in the aftermath of incarceration. Weber remains in the custody of the federal Bureau of Prisons. He now faces prosecution by the South Dakota U.S. District Attorneys Office on 12 more federal grand jury charges of aggravated sexual abuse, sexual abuse, and sexual abuse of a minor. The charges relate to his alleged criminal misconduct with minors between 1995 and 2011 while employed as a physician with Indian Health Service at Pine Ridge. Legally, Weber is presumed innocent on the South Dakota charges until and unless proven guilty, according to prosecutors. The grand jury handed down the indictments against him in 2017 and 2018. One of the "bad men": Stanley Patrick Weber, a former Indian Health Service pediatrician, has been convicted of abusing Indian children on the Blackfeet Nation in Montana and is facing a trial for abusing children on the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota. Photo: U.S. Attorney's Office South Dakota Attorney James D. Leach said he believes an untold number of Native American childhood sex-abuse sufferers could claim monetary reparations from the federal government if they are Webers victims. Any person, including a child who was abused sexually by Dr. Weber, may have a substantial claim against the federal government for monetary compensation under the 1868 treaty. Leach told the Native Sun News Today. The Rapid City barrister established that the Bad Men Among the Whites clause in the 1868 Ft. Laramie Treaty between the U.S. government and signatories of the Great Sioux Nation applies to not only authorities but also private citizens. In a 2012 complaint on behalf of the families the late Oglala Sioux tribal members Robert Whirlwind Horse and Calonnie Randall, Leach convinced the U.S. Circuit Court in Washington, D.C. that the clause makes a tribal member who suffers a crime at the hands of a non-tribal member on an Indian reservation eligible for federal reimbursement. Found in Art. 1 of the treaty, the clause states: If bad men among the whites, or among other people subject to the authority of the United States, shall commit any wrong upon the person or property of the Indians, the United States will, upon proof made to the agent and forwarded to the Commissioner of Indian Affairs at Washington City, proceed at once to cause the offender to be arrested and punished according to the laws of the United States, and also reimburse the injured person for the loss sustained. In the precedent-setting case, a drunken non-Indian driver ran down Whirlwind Horse and Randall as they were walking along a reservation road, killing them. The perpetrator pled guilty and the government settled with the survivors rather than going to trial over damage compensation. The ruling applies not only to the Ft. Laramie Treaty signatory tribes, but also for others that have Bad Men Among the Whites language in their treaties: the Navajo, Kiowa, Comanche, Cheyenne, Arapaho, Ute, Crow, Northern Cheyenne, Northern Arapaho, Shoshone, Bannock, and Apache. Lt. Gen. William Tecumseh Sherman, who was a principal U.S. negotiator of all those treaties, likely was responsible for enshrining the phrase bad men among the whites, as he used it in co-authoring an 1868 Indian Peace Commission report to then-President Andrew Johnson, Leach notes. The commissions report declared, Many bad men are found among the whites; they commit outrages despite all social restraints; they frequently, too, escape punishment. The Indian Peace Commission identified treaty-making as a way to redress Indian grievances and ultimately establish peace, Leach observes. Providing a system of redress for wrongs was believed essential to preserving the lives of United States citizens. The main considerations for success in applying the clause to claim compensation are that the plaintiffs must first follow all the steps necessary to satisfy administrative rules and must bring the case within the legal time limit, which varies from case to case. Survivors of childhood sex-abuse may be leery of seeking treaty-based compensation, Leach admits. The biggest impediment is that people just dont want to talk about it because its humiliating, he says. On the other hand, he notes, The reason that people might want to bring a claim is because if the federal government has to pay money, it will be less likely to send out someone like Dr. Weber in the future. Contact Talli Nauman at talli.nauman@gmail.com Copyright permission Native Sun News Today Join the Conversation Related Stories By Acee Agoyo Tribal leaders and advocates are welcoming a new leader for New Mexico's Department of Indian Affairs Lynn Trujillo, a citizen of the Pueblo of Sandia, will serve as Secretary of Indian Affairs for Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham (D). She comes to the job with over two decades of work in tribal, state and federal policy "Lynn Trujillo is a great choice for New Mexico Secretary of Indian Affairs," Rep. Deb Haaland (D-New Mexico), who is one of the first two Native women in Congress , said in a post on Twitter after the announcement on Tuesday. Leaders of the Navajo Nation also hailed the appointment. The tribe has the largest land base in the state and is eager to work on infrastructure capital outlay projects and gaming issues. Over the years, weve built a stronger partnership with the state and we want to strengthen that even more under the leadership of Secretary Trujillo and Governor Lujan Grisham," President Jonathan Nez, who took office last week , said in a press release on Tuesday Today I announced the appointment of Stephanie Schardin Clarke as Secretary of the Taxation and Revenue Department and Lynn Trujillo as Secretary of Indian Affairs. pic.twitter.com/FUAmKSO44Q Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham (@GovMLG) January 22, 2019 Delegates on the Navajo Nation Council identified capital outlays , education and improved tribal-state relations as priorities as Trujillo gets to work. "We are seeking her support to move forward our education and capital outlay initiatives, and to cut the red tape to better serve our New Mexico Navajo people, said Delegate Seth Damon, who is serving as Speaker Pro Tem until the tribe's legislative body selects a permanent leader at its upcoming session. "We also feel this is an important time for the state of New Mexico to enact and fulfill obligations under the State Tribal Collaboration Act , added Delegate Mark Freeland, who represents Navajo communities in New Mexico. Lujan Grisham, a former member of the U.S. Congress, took office on January 1. In her first State of the State address a couple of weeks later, she vowed to strengthen relations with the Apache, Navajo and Pueblo tribes with homelands in New Mexico. "Under this administration, we will see a full restoration of positive, collaborative relationships between the state and our tribes," Lujan Grisham said on January 16. "We will rebuild an effective inter-governmental framework by working directly with the sovereign Native nations of New Mexico." During the tenure of Lujan Grisham's predecessor, the Fort Sill Apache Tribe had to go to court to gain recognition of its status in the state. And the Pueblo of Pojoaque repeatedly fought the prior governor, a Republican, on gaming issues "No more disregard, no more disrespect," Lujan Grisham said in her address, in which she vowed to increase funding for Indian education. "Let us begin renewing these essential relationships, starting today." Under the state law that established the Department of Indian Affairs , Trujillo can begin working as Secretary immediately. However, the New Mexico Senate must still vote to confirm her to the post. Join the Conversation Send to Email Address Your Name Your Email Address Post was not sent - check your email addresses! Email check failed, please try again Sorry, your blog cannot share posts by email. To answer that question, we need to go back to late 2017, when I spent a month slurping 17 different bowls of ramen around Chicago. After that quest, I realized my favorite version came not from a restaurant, but from an amateur ramen enthusiast named Mike Satinover, who regularly served the dish to his friends in his one-bedroom Buena Park apartment. Erik Bentz, the chef at The Izakaya at Momotaro, was lucky enough to attend one of those gatherings. "I thought it might be a hype train," says Bentz, of Satinover's ramen. "I went over, and I'm now a believer. It's not novelty ramen." Highlands County Sheriff Paul Blackman speaks to the media about a fatal shooting in Florida (Chris OMeara/AP) A gunman who overtook a bank branch in Florida apparently made the five women inside lie down on the lobby floor before shooting them in the backs of their heads, police said. There is no indication Zephen Xaver intended to rob the SunTrust Bank, and no apparent connection among him, the bank or the victims, Sebring police chief Karl Hoglund said. Xaver, 21, has been charged with five counts of premeditated murder in the shooting deaths of the four bank employees and a customer. He overtook the bank by force. He then shot everyone in the bank, Mr Hoglund said. After shooting them, he called 911 and told dispatchers that hed killed everyone in the bank. Expand Close Zephen Xaver (Highlands County Sheriffs Office via AP) / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Zephen Xaver (Highlands County Sheriffs Office via AP) According to an affidavit, all the victims were found in the banks lobby, lying face down with gunshots to the backs of their heads. Shell casings from Xavers 9mm handgun were scattered on the floor. After calling 911, Xaver refused to surrender and would not allow officers to reach the victims, the chief said. After more than an hour of negotiations, the chief ordered a Swat team in; they had to use an armoured vehicle to break through the front doors. Xaver was found in an office in the rear. By then, all the victims were already dead, the chief said. Mr Hoglund identified two of the victims: customer Cynthia Watson and bank employee Marisol Lopez. Citing Floridas version of a victims rights law, he said three of the families do not want the names released. The community is mourning the loss of our sisters, our mothers, our daughters and our co-workers, Mr Hoglund said. Authorities ended their news conference after only a few questions and did not respond when asked how Xaver obtained the gun. Xaver wore a black-and-white striped prison uniform in a brief court appearance on Thursday morning as he was appointed a public defender and ordered held without bail. His father said he is heartbroken for the victims and that his son wasnt raised to be like this. Expand Close The SunTrust Bank branch in Sebring, Florida (Chris OMeara/AP) / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp The SunTrust Bank branch in Sebring, Florida (Chris OMeara/AP) Hes always been a good kid. Hes had his troubles, but he has never hurt anyone ever before. This is a total shock, Josh Xaver told CNN. It was not a shock to Alex Gerlach, who identified herself as Xavers former girlfriend. She said he has long been fascinated with the idea of killing, but no-one took her warnings seriously. For some reason, he always hated people and wanted everybody to die, Ms Gerlach told WSBT-TV in South Bend, Indiana. He got kicked out of school for having a dream that he killed everybody in his class, and hes been threatening this for so long, and hes been having dreams about it and everything, she said. Every single person Ive told has not taken it seriously, and its very unfortunate that it had to come to this. Ms Gerlach told The Washington Post that Xaver said he purchased a gun last week and no-one thought anything of it because he had always liked guns. Two school districts in northern Indiana said Xaver attended high school for several years but did not graduate. Xaver was also briefly an online student of Salt Lake City-based Stevens-Henager College. A spokeswoman for the college, Sherrie Martin, confirmed that Xaver was enrolled from September 2018 until December, when he withdrew. In Florida, he tried to be a prison guard: Florida Department of Corrections records show he was hired as a trainee at Avon Park Correctional Institution on November 2 and resigned on January 9. No disciplinary issues were reported. Public records and neighbours say Xaver and his mother moved to Sebring in the autumn from Plymouth, Indiana, a small city south of South Bend. They lived in a nondescript pre-fabricated home about four miles from the bank. John Larose, who lives next door, said Xaver kept to himself but he could hear him playing and shouting at video games in the middle of the night. This was at least the fourth mass shooting in Florida with five or more dead in the last three years. A gunman killed 49 at an Orlando nightclub in 2016, five died at the Fort Lauderdale airport in 2017, and 17 died in February at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in a Fort Lauderdale suburb. The White House yesterday recognised Venezuela's opposition leader as the country's rightful president as the army fired tear gas at anti-government protesters in Caracas. The move puts the US on a collision course with Nicolas Maduro, the beleaguered Leftist president, as the opposition leader symbolically swore himself in as president. Juan Guaido, the Venezuelan National Assembly President, raised his right hand in front of tens of thousands of Venezuelans, "assuming the duties of the executive branch". The move had been anticipated for weeks after the 35-year-old announced that he was "willing" to assume the presidency on January 11, one day after Mr Maduro was inaugurated for a second term in office. The opposition-controlled parliament and about 60 countries have pledged not to recognise Mr Maduro in his second term, and claim that Mr Guaido should assume the presidency under Venezuela's constitution. They consider Mr Maduro's re-election in May 2018 as a sham. US President Donald Trump yesterday said the opposition-controlled assembly, of which Mr Guaido is the head, was "the only legitimate branch of government duly elected by the Venezuelan people". Mr Trump said that the US did not consider Mr Maduro the legitimate ruler of the Latin American country, and deemed "the office of the presidency therefore vacant". Mr Maduro announced shortly after Mr Trump's declaration that he was ending diplomatic relations with the US and gave all US personnel 72 hours to leave the country. Daily Telegraph, London Telegraph Media Group Limited [2021] All about the timing: Nancy Pelosi, who has stopped Donald Trumps speech to Congress, leaves a Capitol Hill meeting. Photo: Getty Images Donald Trump has been barred from delivering the annual presidential State of the Union address in its traditional location, the chamber of the House of Representatives. Nancy Pelosi, the Democrat Speaker of the House, announced the US president was not welcome for the planned major speech next Tuesday, January 29. She said he would not be welcome until the US government was reopened. The government has been partially shut down for over a month due to a row between Mr Trump and Democrats over funding for his proposed border wall. The latest escalation put relations between America's legislative and executive branches in uncharted territory. Mr Trump said Ms Pelosi had "cancelled" the State of the Union and the decision was a "great blotch" on the country, and a "negative part of history". He added that it was a "disgrace". For the State of the Union speech, both houses of the legislature cram into the House chamber for an annual update from the president. The event is a convention, rather than having written-down rules. The US Constitution states only that the president "shall from time to time give to the Congress Information of the State of the Union". It does not specify the location, or preclude the president from giving his update in writing. The president cannot speak in front of a joint session of Congress without explicit permission from both chambers. A resolution needs to be approved by both chambers specifying the date and time. But Ms Pelosi said the Democrat-controlled House would not authorise such a resolution at this time. The traditional invitation to the president had gone out before the shutdown began. Last week, Ms Pelosi suggested the high-profile event be suspended due to security concerns stemming from the shutdown. However, yesterday Mr Trump wrote to the speaker formally accepting the original invitation to speak on January 29. Mr Trump said he had consulted with the Secret Service and they would have "no problem" keeping him safe. The president wrote to Ms Pelosi: "Therefore, I will be honouring your invitation, and fulfilling my Constitutional duty to the people and Congress regarding the State of our Union. "It would be so very sad for our Country if the State of the Union were not delivered on time, on schedule, and very importantly, on location!" In a quick written response, Ms Pelosi said the House would not authorise the resolution allowing Mr Trump into the chamber. She wrote: "I look forward to welcoming you to the House on a mutually agreeable date for this address when government has been opened." Immediately after that, Mr Trump said: "I'm not surprised. It's really a shame what's happening with the Democrats. They've become radicalised. "The State of the Union has been cancelled by Nancy Pelosi because she doesn't want to hear the truth. "She's afraid of the super-left Democrats, the radical Democrats. What's going on in that party is shocking. She doesn't want to know the truth. I think that's a great blotch on the great country we all love." In recent days White House officials have been working on a back-up plan to give the speech somewhere else. Officials have been considering a list of potential alternative venues, including a rally-style event, an Oval Office address - as Ms Pelosi previously suggested, a speech before the Senate chamber, and even a return visit to the US-Mexico border as Mr Trump is expected to continue to hammer the need for a barrier, according to two others familiar with the discussions. Multiple versions are being drafted to suit the final venue. North Carolina's House Speaker Tim Moore wrote a letter inviting Mr Trump to deliver the speech in the North Carolina House chamber. And Michigan House Speaker Lee Chatfield invited Mr Trump to deliver the address at the state Capitol in Lansing instead. Kellyanne Conway, Mr Trump's counsellor, had said it would be "remarkably petty" for Ms Pelosi to deny Mr Trump entry to the House. In what is becoming a deeply personal stand-off Mr Trump recently revoked Ms Pelosi's use of a military aircraft, thereby cancelling her visit to meet troops in Afghanistan. ( Daily Telegraph London) A nurse has been charged with rape after a severely disabled woman gave birth in a care home in Arizona. The 29-year-old victim stunned her caregivers and family when she gave birth to a baby boy late last month, sparking an investigation. Expand Close Jeri Williams: We owed this arrest to the victim and that innocent baby / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Jeri Williams: We owed this arrest to the victim and that innocent baby Nathan Sutherland, a 36-year-old licensed practical nurse, was arrested yesterday on one count of sexual assault and one count of vulnerable adult abuse, Phoenix Police chief Jeri Williams said. Mr Sutherland was responsible for providing care to the victim during the time the assault occurred. He was arrested after his DNA was matched to that of the baby, Phoenix Police department said. The 29-year-old victim, who police said "was not in a position to give consent", has been in the care of the Hacienda Health Care facility in Phoenix, Arizona, since the age of three. The victim's family described her as having "significant intellectual disabilities as a result of seizures very early in her childhood". While she does not speak, she has some mobility in her limbs, head and neck. She also responds to sound and can make facial gestures, the family said in a statement. The family's lawyer, John Michaels, said the relatives were "outraged, traumatised and in shock" at the assault. The child is now in the care of the patient's family. Court documents state that the woman is "not alert" and requires a "maximum level of care", according to the 'Arizona Republic' newspaper. Staff at the facility said they had no idea she was pregnant and the case has triggered reviews by state agencies and highlighted safety concerns for patients who are severely disabled or incapacitated. The CEO of the nursing facility resigned following the scandal and earlier this week the clinic announced that one of the victim's doctors had resigned and another has been suspended. Police are still investigating whether Mr Sutherland, who has worked at the facility since 2011, has assaulted any other patients and are encouraging anyone with information to come forward. Tommy Thompson, a spokesman for Phoenix Police, said the baby boy was "doing good". "We can't always choose how we come into this life, but what we can choose to do as a community is love this child, and that's what we have the opportunity to do," he said. The force said that the case had become "the highest priority of our police department". In a press conference yesterday, Ms Williams said she had not encountered a similar case during her 30-year career in law enforcement. "We owed this arrest to the victim. We owed this arrest to the newest member of our community - that innocent baby," the police chief added. On the 34th day of a partial U.S. government shutdown, President Donald Trump and congressional Democrats remained at odds over his demand for funding for a wall on the border with Mexico. Trump has refused to sign any legislation to fund an array of government agencies, including the departments of agriculture, commerce, justice, interior and homeland security, unless it includes $5.7bn for his long-promised wall. The Democrats, who control the House of Representatives, have rejected the wall as ineffective and immoral, and want the government to be reopened before any further talks about border security. As long as the stalemate continues, 800,000 federal employees are on furlough or working without pay. The following are some possible ways the standoff might end: Expand Close All about the timing: Nancy Pelosi, who has stopped Donald Trumps speech to Congress, leaves a Capitol Hill meeting. Photo: Getty Images / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp All about the timing: Nancy Pelosi, who has stopped Donald Trumps speech to Congress, leaves a Capitol Hill meeting. Photo: Getty Images GLIMMERS OF PROGRESS With the Senate on Thursday blocking competing measures by Republicans and Democrats to break the impasse, there were new signs of negotiations on a bipartisan deal, even if only as a temporary fix. Many senators were talking about the possibility of a bipartisan bill to fund the various federal agencies, which comprise about one-quarter of the US government, for three weeks. During that time, Congress and the White House would work on a border security compromise. The White House was insisting, however, that Trump would support such a move only if it includes a downpayment on the wall, which Democrats have opposed. OTHER POSSIBLE WAYS TO BREAK THE IMPASSE * Democrats agree to more than the $1.3bn in border security funding they have been backing, but less than the $5.7bn Trump wants. If Trump faces a public opinion backlash or there are signs Republican lawmakers may be abandoning him, he might have to settle for less. * Democrats and Republicans agree on $5.7bn in border security funding this year, but the language allows both sides to claim victory by including different ways of securing the border. Democrats insist the money will not be used to build a wall; Trump and his fellow Republicans tout the money that will include funding for various types of barriers and other tools to discourage illegal immigration and drugs. * A "grand bargain" emerges that reopens the government, bolsters border security and also provides protections from deportation for "Dreamers," who were brought to the United States illegally as children by their parents. Other changes to immigration law also could be included. Such a deal would fund federal programs through the fiscal year that ends on Sept. 30, and add funds for an array of border security tools without imposing new curbs on immigration that Trump has previously attempted. This scenario, however, is fraught with difficulties. Democrats are likely to insist that Dreamers be granted a pathway to citizenship, an idea many conservatives oppose and some do not want any special protections for Dreamers enacted into law. Trump would probably insist on some new controls on immigration, such as additional restrictions on asylum claims. TRUMP DECLARES 'NATIONAL EMERGENCY' While the possibility that this might happen has faded recently, Trump could revive his threat to declare a national emergency at any time. His rationale would be that illegal immigration jeopardises US security, which gives him the authority to redirect existing federal funds to build the wall, possibly targeting Defense Department accounts. Under the Constitution, it is up to Congress to decide how taxpayers' money is spent and using presidential powers to move funding around is almost certain to face legal challenges. Still, such a step would probably lead to prompt enactment of legislation reopening the government under the belief that Trump would sign it into law, without the $5.7bn. Troubled regional airline Flybe has said it has already received the first 10 million in crucial funding as part of its takeover amid mounting shareholder unrest over the deal. Troubled regional airline Flybe says it has already received the first 10 million in crucial funding as part of its takeover amid shareholder unrest over the deal. In an update to clarify details of the sale, Flybe sought to assure that it continues to receive payments from its credit card acquirers which has been vital to its survival. It said: The arrangements with the companys credit card acquirers and banks are important to enable Flybe to continue to trade and are conditional themselves upon the SPA (share purchase agreement completing). The group which is being bought by a consortium of buyers comprising of Virgin Atlantic, Stobart Group and investment firm Cyrus Capital Partners last week overhauled its takeover after the carrier failed crucial financing terms. Flybe said it had failed to meet the conditions for receiving a promised 20 million bridge loan under the original takeover deal as credit card banks clamped down amid fears over the airlines financial security. But the consortium of bidders restructured its takeover in a bid to speed up the deal and offer immediate financial support to Flybe, with a revised loan of up to 20 million. The buyers will instead pay 2.8 million to take control of the main trading company Flybe and the online arm Flybe.com in a deal set to complete by February 22, while later completing the purchase of the wider holding company for 1p a share. However, its biggest investor London-based asset manager Hosking Partners is reportedly considering legal action over the cut-price takeover, accusing the companys directors of breaching their obligations to investors. It is understood Hosking Partners wrote to Flybes directors expressing concerns that it had allowed a false market to develop by failing to notify the City of its financial position quickly enough a letter that was also sent to other City regulators. Flybe confirmed on Thursday that shareholders will not be able to vote on the initial sale of the main trading assets of the airline, but only the 1p-a-share of the remaining holding company. Under the takeover plans, the airline will be combined with Stobart Air in a joint venture called Connect Airways. Cyrus will own 40% of the new company, while Virgin and Stobart will take 30% apiece. Flybe chief executive Christine Ourmieres-Widener said earlier this month the firm had been forced to seek a buyer due to higher fuel costs, currency fluctuations and Brexit uncertainty. Flybe has also agreed with Vueling Airlines to sell its slots at London Gatwick Airport for 4.5 million. Vueling is a subsidiary of British Airways owner IAG. The funds will be paid in two tranches, one due in the next few days for slots to be used this summer, and the second due in June for slots to be used during winter. The regional airline put itself up for sale in November after warning over profits in 2018. The Exeter-based carrier is battling challenging conditions in the airline industry and has suffered with falling demand and a 29 million hit from rising fuel costs and the weak pound. Flybe has 78 planes operating from smaller airports including London City, Southampton and Norwich and flies to destinations across the UK and Europe. It carries around eight million passengers a year. Trade unions have already raised concerns over the impact of Flybes sale on the carriers 2,300 employees. Fever-Tree has reported another year of rapid growth as consumers snapped up its mixers during the heatwave and the busy Christmas period. In a trading update, the group said full-year revenue for 2018 was around 236 million, an increase of 39%. The groups board expects full-year results to be comfortably ahead of its expectations. Shares in the company were up almost 9% in early trading at 2,830p. The UK was the fastest growing market, with sales up 52% as a result of an outstanding summer and strong Christmas. Meanwhile, the US saw 21% growth during the period in which the company took control of its American operations. Fever-Tree brought the division under direct management in June, appointing a dedicated chief executive for the market. The company said the move had helped boost momentum in the second half. It has also signed an exclusive deal with North Americas largest drinks distributor Southern Glazers. Group chief executive Tim Warrillow said: We are particularly encouraged by the progress to date in the USA and the strong platform for further growth this provides. In continental Europe, revenue jumped 24% while the rest of world division saw 48% growth. Mr Warrillow said: Drinking habits are changing. The rise of premium spirits and the advent of premium mixers has reinvigorated and re-established the quality and enjoyment of the long-mixed drink, be it a gin & tonic, vodka & ginger beer or whiskey & ginger ale to name but a few. Fever-Tree is at the forefront of this trend, broadening the appeal of the spirits category, drawing in new consumers and with it providing a genuine alternative to the beer and wine occasion. Members and some residents wants the council to adopt an ordinance against cooperating with the federal immigration agency. Kennebunk Post "We are trying to tell the narrative of our town as a whole, all the pieces that makes us who we are today." Italy's populist coalition has come under intense criticism for removing migrants from the country's second-largest reception centre, amid concern that some will end up living on the streets. The migrants, some of them in tears, were reportedly given no notice about their removal from the reception centre at Castelnuovo di Porto, north of Rome. They will be transferred to other centres hundreds of kilometres away, in the southern regions of Campania and Basilicata. The reception centre is due to be closed at the end of the month as part of a controversial reform of Italy's migrant reception system by the populist government, which came to power last June. A security decree passed by the government last month seeks to drastically reduce the number of migrants receiving "humanitarian protection" and make it easier to expel them. Around 30 migrants were removed on Tuesday and the operation was continuing yesterday, with another 75 due to be moved. Some migrants chose to leave the centre of their own accord and were seen heading to Rome, where many asylum seekers end up living in squats and abandoned buildings. An MP from the left-wing Free and Equal party stood in front of one of the buses taking migrants away, blocking it temporarily. Politicians from the opposition, centre-left Democratic Party accused Matteo Salvini, the hardline interior minister, of orchestrating an operation "that recalls the Nazi concentration camps". "We're unhappy and we're worried. We ask that they not be treated like cattle," Manuel Torres, a local parish priest, said. In a tweet directed at Mr Salvini and his coalition partner Luigi di Maio, who both hold the position of deputy prime minister in the coalition, he wrote: "Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do." Monica Cirinna, a senator from the Democratic Party, said: "These are the first poisoned fruits produced by the security decree." She called Mr Salvini "il ministro del inferno" - the minister from hell - using a play on words of his official title in Italian, "ministro del interno", or interior minister. But Mr Salvini dismissed the criticism, claiming the migrant centre cost 6m a year to operate. "Salvini is deporting children, migrants, he's a racist, a fascist, a Nazi," he wrote in a sarcastic social media post. "Lies of galactic proportions." Migrants who have their requests for asylum granted will be allowed to stay in Italy while the others will be sent back to their home countries, he said. Daily Telegraph, London Telegraph Media Group Limited [2021] File photo of Nicola Stocker, who is appealing a libel case she lost to the Supreme Court over posts she made about her ex-husband on Facebook. Anthony Devlin/PA Wire The UK's highest court is set to hear an appeal by a woman who lost a libel case over posts she made about her ex-husband on Facebook. Nicola Stocker said businessman Ronald Stocker had tried to strangle her, during an online exchange with his new partner Deborah Bligh in December 2012. Mr Stocker (68) won a libel ruling against his ex-wife at London's High Court in 2016 after Mr Justice Mitting said the comments wrongly painted him as a "dangerous and thoroughly disreputable man". The judge said the libel was "not trivial", and assessed the appropriate compensation at 5,000 - though Mr Stocker did not want any money. Mrs Stocker (51) of Longwick, Buckinghamshire, challenged the judge's ruling at the Court of Appeal. But she was left facing a hefty legal bill after her case was rejected by three senior judges in February last year. Expand Close File photo of Ronald Stocker, whose ex-wife is appealing a libel case she lost to the Supreme Court over posts she made about her him on Facebook. Anthony Devlin/PA Wire / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp File photo of Ronald Stocker, whose ex-wife is appealing a libel case she lost to the Supreme Court over posts she made about her him on Facebook. Anthony Devlin/PA Wire She is now bringing a legal challenge at the Supreme Court, where her case was being heard by a panel of five justices on Thursday. Her lawyers will argue the High Court judge was wrong to find Mrs Stocker's comments bore the meaning that her ex-husband had tried to kill her. They will also contend that the Court of Appeal judges "erred in their approach" to the case. During the High Court trial, the court heard the allegations about Mr Stocker, of Aston Clinton, Buckinghamshire, were published to 21 individuals who had authorised access to the page. They were also visible to 110 of Ms Bligh's "friends" and to their Facebook "friends". Ruling in favour of Mr Stocker, Mr Justice Mitting said a comment on Facebook was the same as a comment posted on an office noticeboard and Mrs Stocker had no right to assume it was private. The judge found Mr Stocker did "in temper" attempt to silence his ex-wife, but was not satisfied he had threatened to kill her and therefore her comments had a defamatory meaning. Dismissing her appeal, Lady Justice Sharp said the judge "made no error" in reaching his decision. She said: "It seems to me that the various arguments raised for Mrs Stocker tend to divert attention away from some basic points. "She was the originator of the libel, she was aware that the particular Facebook platform concerned was a semi-public one and she deliberately posted on that platform without thinking about who else might see what she posted." Egypt has waged a crackdown on homosexuality in recent years (stock photo) An Egyptian court has sentenced a television presenter to a year in prison for interviewing a gay sex worker on his chat show. Mohammed el-Gheiti was found guilty of encouraging immorality following a segment in which the guest described his profession. El-Gheiti was also fined 3,000 Egyptian pounds (150). He can appeal and is free pending a final verdict. Egypt has waged a crackdown on homosexuality in recent years, imprisoning people on vague charges of "debauchery". Homosexuality is not a crime but is widely seen as taboo in the conservative, Muslim-majority country, while prostitution is illegal. In September 2017 dozens of people were arrested after an LGBT rainbow flag was waved at a Cairo concert. Charges against El-Gheiti stemmed from a complaint filed by Samir Sabry, a lawyer who has previously taken other high profile Egyptian media figures to court. The interview was broadcast in August on the LTC TV channel, which is privately owned. El-Gheiti himself has previously expressed his opposition to homosexuality. The interviewee had his face disguised and spoke about how he regretted being a prostitute. Some numbers Leo might want to mull over in advance of next week include the fact the UK remains the dominant destination for beef, with 50pc of exports going to the UK, and 75pc of beef imported into the UK in November was from Ireland. Photo: Getty Images Next Tuesday, Taoiseach Leo Varadkar will address the Irish Farmers' Association's (IFA) AGM. It's pretty standard for the Taoiseach of the day to address the largest farming organisation, but given the last few weeks, it will be interesting to see the appetite farmers have for Leo this time around. Just 12 months ago, he told the same group of farmers that agriculture is the heartbeat of rural Ireland, that farmers are the lifeblood of the recovered economy, that no one gets up earlier than a farmer, and on behalf of the Irish people he thanked them for the sacrifices they have made in recent years to help the Irish economy. Everyone in Farm Centre next week will no doubt be thinking 'awkward moment' when Leo will no doubt have to address his much-maligned comments about cutting back on eating meat. There's no criticism of his attempts to reduce his carbon footprint, but how the 80,000 or so beef farmers on this island feel about his comments will hardly be allayed by his 'I had a lovely Hereford steak last night' row back on the situation. But it calls into question his understanding of the crisis facing the agri-food sector. Some numbers Leo might want to mull over in advance of next week include the fact the UK remains the dominant destination for beef, with 50pc of exports going to the UK, and 75pc of beef imported into the UK in November was from Ireland. When it comes to exports we're heavily reliant on the UK, our closest neighbour and best trading partner - making it the best export market from a climate change point of view, as it saves shipping meat halfway around the world. On top of that, our beef exports to the UK are worth 1.27bn; 50pc of cheese and 24pc of butter exports go to the UK and on top of those faceless numbers, there are 230,000 people employed in the agri-food sector. Beef farmers around the country, though, are facing the bleakest outlook, wondering how low can beef prices go - industry commentators say they must be getting north of 4.20/kg to make a margin, they're currently receiving 3.85 if they're lucky. If the predicted doomsday scenario of Brexit plays out, Irish beef exporters simply have no market in the UK any more as WTO tariffs look set to price us out of our main market. Perhaps Leo is thinking he can pay off thousands of beef farmers to exit the industry? Or perhaps he has a great plan to incentivise farmers to play a more active role in helping reduce their greenhouse gas emissions and save the country (again) from the millions of euro in fines we're facing as a nation for not meeting our climate targets? After all, he did remind farmers this time last year that while Ireland is one of the world's most efficient food producers, agriculture contributes one-third of the country's overall greenhouse gas emissions. Either way, the farmers of Ireland, and in particular the beef sector, will be waiting with bated breath to hear what the Taoiseach has to say. Between broadband (or the lack of it in rural Ireland), the controversial changes to drink-driving legislation and now his slight on the beef farmers, someone might remind Leo that if the so-called heartbeat of rural Ireland is to stay beating, surely a former doctor will know he'll have to deliver a much better line next week as the industry faces possible obliteration in the case of a no-deal Brexit. One Hereford steak won't appease 80,000 angry beef farmers. Since its founding, the movement to boycott, divest and sanction (BDS) Israel has largely been symbolic. Since the BDS movement began in 2005, Israel's GDP has doubled. Now legislation scheduled for debate this week in the Dail would criminalise any transactions with businesses or individuals living in Israel's West Bank. The Control of Economic Activity Bill would impose jail for up to five years and heavy fines on Irish citizens who import or sell products from the West Bank. Crucially, it would require foreign companies with divisions or subsidiaries in Ireland to adhere to the boycott as well. Because of Ireland's low corporate tax rates, many of the world's largest companies keep their wealth here. US companies accounted for 67pc of all foreign direct investment in the country in 2017, and Ireland is especially popular with America's tech giants. Apple is Ireland's largest company. Google, Microsoft and Facebook are also in the top 10. Some choices in life can be finessed and fudged. Others cannot. When faced with an either/or choice, you can't have the best of both worlds. You must choose one or the other. So it is with countries' choices about markets. Because the mechanics of markets are complex and often not intuitively understandable, most busy people with lives to lead don't delve into the detail of how they work. This is one reason why the seemingly endless discussion of Brexit has been a fog for many people. The words of a eurocrat in Brussels this week seemed - however briefly - to clear some of the fog hanging over this island about Brexit. If Britain exits acrimoniously from Europe's market mechanisms - the customs union and the single market - in just two months' time, European Commission spokesman Margaritis Schinas said bluntly on Tuesday that the Border on this island would have to change. There has, in fact, never been any doubt about this. The EU treaties could not be clearer about the obligations of members to police the bloc's borders with the rest of the world. The European Commission is the guardian of those EU treaties. Any failure of Ireland to police the external frontier of the EU would not be tolerated for long. In the event of a no-deal Brexit, goods coming into the EU from British territory would immediately be subject to checks and new taxes, known as "tariffs" in the jargon of international trade. In some cases, these tariffs would be a substantial percentage of the value of the imported product. Most of the revenue from tariffs on all non-EU goods goes straight to Brussels. These revenues, which are known in EU jargon as "own resources", are used to pay for the Common Agricultural Policy's farm payments, regional funds and other things. The European Commission would not only be treaty-bound to take Ireland to task if the Government here flatly refused to collect the tariffs for anything other than a short period after a crash-out Brexit, it would also have a financial incentive to do so. It is likely that some or all of the near 50bn Britain owes to the EU would not be paid in the event of a no-deal. Collecting tariffs on British goods coming into the EU would be one way to make up some of the shortfall. But it is not only the Brussels bureaucrats who would not tolerate a large and permanent tear in the membrane around the EU's market. The member countries have been unified in Brexit talks because they all refuse to give Britain a better deal from the EU than they themselves have as paying members subject to its constraints as well as its benefits. They have also shown no little solidarity by standing behind Ireland on the Border backstop issue. But solidarity is a two-way street. Ireland would have few allies if it refused to play by the rules and other countries believe they stood to suffer as a result. France is the country to watch most closely in this regard. It is the EU's second most powerful member state. It is not known for being timid in exercising that power in pursuit of its interests. There are many direct shipping routes between Ireland and France. If there were to be a no-deal and Ireland did not make good on its obligations to the rest of the EU, France, along with other countries, would start to change how they treat ships arriving from Ireland. If Ireland were not to comply with the terms of customs union and single market, sooner or later it would cease to be a full member of both those market mechanisms. It needs to be clear in the national debate that the Government's long-standing and unwavering position on the Border would lead to this outcome in the event of a no-deal. While it is to be hoped that a no-deal Brexit can be avoided, there also needs to be clarity about the huge costs and risks of taking this position. Being part of the world's largest market is the foundation of Ireland's success in creating jobs in the internationally traded sectors that really matter for a small, peripheral economy. At the beginning of January, the body tasked with luring foreign multinationals to Ireland announced yet another record year in 2018. The companies the IDA has helped to attract directly employed almost 230,000 people as of the end of the year. That amounts to one in eight people at work in the private sector. If those employed indirectly as a result of the multinationals were included, it would be closer to one in four. Any uncertainty about Ireland's position in, and commitment to, full and complete EU market integration imperils tens of thousands of current and future jobs and poses a threat to Ireland's tried and tested economic model. It is as stark as that. If the economic vista of all this is awful, the political one is little better. The Government stated this week there would be "very difficult discussions with our EU partners" about the Border if an acrimonious Brexit happens. At a time when Ireland-Britain relations are at a three-decade low point, and poised to get a lot worse if no-deal happens, talk of simultaneously taking on Brussels and Paris is unwise if not reckless. Ireland faces some potentially momentous choices within weeks. It is imperative that everyone has a full and clear understanding of what is at stake. The scene of a fire at a dry cleaners on Rathmines Road . Photo: Frank McGrath The scene of a fire at a dry cleaners on Rathmines Road . Photo: Frank McGrath The scene of a fire at a dry cleaners on Rathmines Road . Photo: Frank McGrath A number of people were forced to flee their flats in Rathmines in Dublin this morning after a fire broke out in a dry cleaners below their accommodation. The fire was reported at around 7am on Rathmines Road in the ground floor property. Dublin Fire Brigade responded to an emergency call and sent two tenders from Dolphins Barn station and one from Donnybrook. The premises was closed at the time and the emergency service had to force entry and use breathing apparatus and ladders while bringing the fire under control. An evacuation of the upstairs flats was already in progress when the fire brigade arrived and there were no reports of injuries. The flats were searched by fire crews after the fire but everyone was reported to have got out on time. Expand Close The scene of a fire at a dry cleaners on Rathmines Road . Photo: Frank McGrath / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp The scene of a fire at a dry cleaners on Rathmines Road . Photo: Frank McGrath There was extensive damage caused to the dry cleaners in the fire. Early indications are that blaze was accidental but Gardai sealed off the business until an examination of the scene could be carried out. Vital building projects such as new primary care centres face being delayed because there are not enough skilled workers in the economy, Finance Minister Paschal Donohoe has warned. The minister is worried that the State will struggle to compete with the private sector for engineers and other key workers. He said the growth in large capital projects "is changing even more quickly than I had anticipated". The problem is being made worse by competition for construction workers from other EU countries. Mr Donohoe has flagged that the lack of skilled workers could also lead to projects costing more than was originally anticipated. "The growing feedback that I have been given is that, for example, the electrical engineers whom we need to be involved in building our primary care centres and national children's hospital are the same ones for whom there is a growing demand in the building of data centres and other new facilities," he said. The Government allocated an additional 1.4bn for schools, universities, public transport and other new projects. The total capital allocation for 2019 is 7.3bn. The ministers told the Budgetary Oversight Committee that the demand for workers is resulting in changes to the prices being quoted for construction projects. "While that is happening for good reasons, it is having an impact on the public finances, for which I am responsible." Pointing to Europe, Mr Donohoe added: "Large companies, the skills and staff of which we need to deliver projects here, are looking at attractive big projects taking place across Europe and private sector projects within Ireland, and that is all going into the mix in the tendering decisions that they make. "That is happening quickly now. For example, across Europe we will see big changes in how other countries respond to the climate change agenda. That will involve complex, intensive projects. Those needed to do that work are the same people we need to deliver projects in our country." Mr Donohoe was responding to questions from Fine Gael TD Martin Heydon. The Kildare TD said: "It is another sign of the further strengthening of our economy, that we have now created the environment where business is competing with the State for highly skilled staff for large-scale infrastructural projects. "I am determined that Ireland catches up on the lost decade of investment in infrastructure but we must balance that demand with need for achieving value for money for the taxpayer, as well as delivering on key infrastructural projects around the country." The Government will have to publicly fundraise to secure 130m of the massive overrun which has pushed up the bill for the new national children's hospital to 1.7bn, it emerged yesterday. Department of Health official Tracey Conroy revealed yesterday 130m of the 450m overrun in the construction bill will have to come from "philanthropic" sources. It was originally envisaged only 20m would need to be raised from philanthropic funds. But the spiralling construction cost of the hospital, which has risen from 983m in April 2017 to 1.4bn last November, has forced this target to be revised upwards. When the construction cost of 1.4bn is added to the 300m non-capital funds needed for areas like IT, the project totals 1.7bn for now. Around 80m will also need to be collected from charitable sources for the research and education centre. The revelations were made at the Oireachtas Health Committee yesterday, where it emerged extra beds earmarked for University Hospital Limerick and Cork University Hospital - two of the hospitals worst hit by the trolley crisis - may have to be delayed because so much capital funding will be needed to pay for the children's hospital. Taoiseach Leo Varadkar admitted in the Dail the extra cath lab in Waterford and new MRI scanner in Mullingar may have to be put back. An external review by PCW consultants to examine how the cost of the new hospital spiralled is now under way at a cost of 450,000. Asked by Fianna Fail TD Stephen Donnelly on whether she regarded it as a catastrophic failure, Ms Conroy said she did not. Neither did Dean Sullivan, deputy HSE head. Mr Donnelly responded he could think of 1.7 billion reasons why it should merit this description. Questioned on what level of oversight was in place, they said various committees and groups were part of a reporting system to inform Health Minister Simon Harris and health officials. Asked by Mr Donnelly who was "ultimately in charge", it emerged the buck stopped with Jim Breslin, secretary general of the Department of Health. Mr Breslin was not present for yesterday's meeting because of a prior commitment to sit on an interview board. The Department of Health was told of a 200m overrun in August last year. In the following months, a maximum price for the second "above-ground" part of the build was agreed and by November it had jumped to 1.4bn. The National Paediatric Hospital Development Board outlined how extras, such as the volume of materials needed and a nine-month delay in completing the hospital, were driving up costs. The hospital is scheduled to be completed in 2022 and opened to patients in 2023. Some 100m needs to be found this year. The health committee had invited Robert Watt, secretary general of the Department of Expenditure, to appear. However, Mr Watt declined saying it was impractical as his officials already account to two other committees, including the Public Accounts Committee. Health committee chairman Michael Harty said the failure to attend was "disrespectful." Colum Eastwood of the SDLP and Micheal Martin of Fianna Fail arriving for at a joint press conference in Belfast Photo credit: Niall Carson/PA Wire Fianna Fail and the SDLP have announced a planned partnership and are developing joint policy proposals on Brexit and uniting Ireland's people. The arrangement falls far short of a mooted merger and Fianna Fail will not run its own candidates in Northern Ireland. However, Micheal Martin didnt rule out such a merger in the future when pressed on the issue saying I dont have a crystal ball. Speaking in Belfast this morning, Fianna Fail leader Micheal Martin and SDLP leader Colum Eastwood both hit out at Sinn Fein and the DUP as they announced the arrangement in Belfast this morning. With no Northern Ireland Assembly and Executive for two years, Mr Martin argued that Sinn Fein and the DUP took us from a situation where there was genuine public enthusiasm about devolved government, to one where the public has grown cynical about institutions. Mr Eastwood said that the reckless bombing in his own city of Derry last weekend have underlined the fragility with which we are all now living. He warned that political vacuums in Northern Ireland never end well and it's a disgrace that our people have been asked to live with it for this long. He said that the partnership with Fianna Fail seeks to deliver an alternative to what he claimed is a record of mismanagement, incompetence and inertia delivered by the DUP and Sinn Fein. Mr Martin noted that it's 21 years since the Good Friday Agreement, and it's achievements have been immense and deserve to be celebrated. He said that unfortunately today there is a deep and pervasive crisis which is causing far too many people to lose faith in politics. He said this crisis has been made worse by Brexit and the fact that it's been two years since the institutions collapsed leaving Northern Ireland without a voice at the very moment that its future is at the centre of international debate. Mr Martin claimed that the Dublin and London governments have had a "failed policy" of just let them get on with it when it comes to the institutions in the North. He continued: "added to this has been Brexit an issue which has taken Europe from being a force for unity in Northern Ireland to a divisive and sectarian one with the largest parties using it to promote their own priorities and not those of the people." Mr Martin pointed to the involvement of Fianna Fail and the SDLP in the peace process and said they have shared much and have achieved much He said they share an understanding of the need for a new agenda which rebuilds trust in achieving progress. According to Mr Martin, there is overwhelming admiration for the SDLP for its its bravery, vision and leadership at critical moments. He said: It is a non-sectarian party which has proven time and again that it puts people before politics and its heroes are our heroes. That is why we are very happy to agree the partnership which is being announced today. Mr Martin said: Our absolute focus will be on trying to reinvigorate the agenda for shared peace and prosperity on this island. Mr Eastwood said his party's discussions with Fianna Fail began in response to deepening division and crisis in politics including the Brexit referendum result and the collapse of the Northern Ireland institutions. He said the partnership is a common proposal on how to respond. He said that former SDLP leader John Hume and the late Taosieach Sean Lemass remain the intellectual heart of both parties. He said both understood the core choice of Irish politics - we either repeat our history or we seek to renew and remedy it. Mr Eastwood said the values of those two political giants are more relevant and more important than ever. He conceded that the partnership may be uncomfortable to some in both the SDLP and Fianna Fail but said: unlike some political parties, I respect and value healthy discussion and disagreement. "This is a big change and a big step in the history of both of our parties and such change is never easy." He said he will bring the partnership before the SDLP membership for its final say. Mr Eastwood said the two parties will "work in partnership in an unprecedented programme of public engagement". There are to be three themes of the partnership - 'A politics that works'; 'Better Public Services' and 'Uniting Ireland's People'. Policy proposals are to be prepared on economic development; Brexit; the Unity of our People; health, education; housing and reforming institutions. A Fianna Fail-backed bill that seeks to boycott goods from the Occupied Palestinian Territories could jeopardise US investment in Ireland. As the economy faces the threat of Brexit, it has been claimed that the proposed law could create serious difficulties for US multinationals, perhaps even prompting some to consider leaving. The respected Bloomberg news agency warned that companies like Apple and Facebook may be forced to choose between its operations in Ireland and their business in Israel. Meanwhile, Simon Coveney said that the law - which is likely to pass the Dail today - could see US companies in Ireland "placed in an impossible conflict of jurisdictions". He said there is legislation in the United States that would forbid companies from cooperating with trade bans on Israel and Israeli settlements. Mr Coveney said Irish diplomatic missions and agencies in the US have already received queries from companies concerned about the impact of the bill. The American Chamber of Commerce which represents 700 US companies here is monitoring the situation. It is taking the views of its members on provisions in the bill "which could cause economic impacts or uncertainty for inward investment". A spokesperson called on all political parties to ensure its members "can continue to operate in Ireland in compliance with its laws and that of the United States". The proposed law, the Control of Economic Activity (Occupied Territories) Bill 2018, was originally put forward by Independent Senator Frances Black. Fianna Fail has backed the law as have Sinn Fein, Labour and Solidarity-People Before Profit, meaning it is all but certain to pass a Dail vote. Niall Collins, Fianna Fail's foreign affairs spokesman, last night defended his party's backing for the bill despite concerns over its impact on US companies here. He said he doesn't believe it will jeopardise any jobs in Irish-based US multinational companies. Mr Collins added: "Any sensible company that takes the time to actually read the Bill will accept and understand that it does not advocate a boycott of Israel. "This bill does not ban trade in Israeli goods; it would only ban those produced in illegally built settlements." Mr Collins said Fianna Fail has legal advice that if passed, the bill "will not have an adverse effect on trade generally", and isn't contrary to EU and international law. Mr Coveney disputed this in the Dail, saying the Attorney General has advised that the passing the bill would put Ireland in breach of EU law and Ireland would face legal action and "very significant fines". He said that despite being well intentioned, it "will do serious damage to Ireland and bring only momentary consolation to Palestinian citizens". Dublin Zoo has opened up a naming competition following the birth of two rare tiger cubs at the Zoo. The Amur female tiger cubs were born more than three months ago and are finally ready for visitors to the zoo this weekend. Theyre the first cubs to be born to zoo inhabitants Tundra and Ussuri and have grown from a mere 1.5kg when they were born on October 4 to 15kg now. Dublin Zoo say the species is endangered with only 500 or so believed to be living in the wild. They are hoping the two females which were formerly considered Siberian tigers - will become part of an international breeding programme for the species in order to help population numbers rise. The tigers are now only found in the Amur Valley in Russia, so Dublin Zoo say the naming competition must be based around their Russian origins. Team Leader at the zoo, Ciaran McMahon said both clubs are playful and energetic, just like their mother. The cubs are doing extremely well, Tundra is an exceptional first-time mother and she has shown strong maternal instincts from the very beginning, he said. The cubs have fun chasing each other and play-fighting which helps keep their claws sharp, while Tundra makes sure to clean them up straight afterwards, just like any good parent would. Tiger themed activities will take place at Dublin Zoo this weekend between 11am and 3pm on both Saturday and Sunday. Insurance companies engaged in "sharp practices" that saw victims of Storm Ophelia and Storm Emma receive smaller pay-outs than they were owed, a Department of Finance report has found. An unpublished study suggests homeowners, farmers and even large-scale commercial enterprises were short-changed in the aftermath of the freak weather events. Minister of State Michael D'Arcy is now working on proposals to stamp out the use of 'cash payments' and 'retention payments' by insurance companies. Although he wants to implement changes through a voluntary code of practice, the minister is prepared to bring forward legislation. "I want to push the insurance companies. They are no white knights. They don't give away money easily, but this isn't their money. "People paid for cover. They calculate the risk and I want to make sure their clients are treated properly," Mr D'Arcy told the Irish Independent. Estimates suggest Storm Emma and the 'Beast from the East', which combined to bring the heaviest snows in living memory last March, cost Irish insurers 39m. Storm Ophelia, which brought hurricane-like conditions in parts of the country in October 2017, is thought to have cost 45m. But concerns have now been raised that insurers took advantage of the crises situation that some people found themselves in. A review found that significant numbers of people received cash offers for less than their damaged property was insured. "It's easier, it's quicker, it's cleaner but it's still not an offer of what you insured," Mr D'Arcy said. In other instances, insurance companies paid out 80pc of a claim and retained 20pc subject to a site inspection. "We've too many examples of the 20pc being withheld. These are sharp practices that I want to discontinue," Mr D'Arcy said. Asked whether the issue was limited to specific insurance companies, Mr D'Arcy said: "It was pretty consistent." The issues were discussed at a meeting of the Cost of Insurance Working Group in the Department of Finance earlier this week. The State Claims Agency, Personal Injuries Assessment Board and Central Bank have now been asked to come up with ways of improving the consumer experience when it comes to insurance. Mr D'Arcy said it should not be "a negotiation" because insurance companies have professionals who deal with cases everyday, whereas the average person will make one or two claims in a lifetime. The Cost of Insurance Working Group has looked at a number of issues in the sector, including the price of motor insurance. There has been some criticism that it has not made enough progress in clamping down on insurance fraud. The minister said they are now "moving well" on that issue but gardai need to pursue more cases. "There were 400 cases in 2017 where insurance companies went to the guards and said they suspected fraud. Very, very few of those were pursued. "That needs to be changed," the minister said. A general view of a clock on the side of Northcliffe House, where the offices of British newspapers the Daily Mail and Mail On Sunday are located. Photo: Getty Images Microsoft is warning internet users that the 'Daily Mail' UK website is now an unreliable news source that "fails to maintain basic standards of accuracy and accountability". Visitors to the 'Daily Mail' UK website who use Microsoft's Edge browser are now greeted with a notice that the site "regularly publishes content that has damaged reputations, caused widespread alarm, or constituted harassment or invasion of privacy". The move is part of an effort by tech companies to cut down on access to misleading and fake news sites. Microsoft is applying the same warning to the websites of the US newspaper the 'National Enquirer' and the right-wing conspiracy website 'Infowars'. The warning has infuriated the British tabloid, which has the third highest web traffic of any newspaper in the world. A spokesman told the BBC that the paper was contesting the fact-checkers' conclusion. "We are in discussions with them to have this egregiously erroneous classification resolved as soon as possible," said the spokesman. The warning comes on mobile versions of Microsoft's Edge browser. It is based on a partnership with NewsGuard, a company set up to fight fake news. NewsGuard "uses journalism to fight false news, misinformation and disinformation," according to the company. "Our trained analysts, who are experienced journalists, research online news brands to help readers and viewers know which ones are trying to do legitimate journalism and which are not." Microsoft Edge has a much smaller share of the global web browser market than more common services such as Chrome, Firefox or Safari. However, the NewsGuard service is available as a downloadable extension for these larger browsers. It's not the first time that major online information services have criticised the 'Daily Mail', which has a daily print circulation of 30,000 in Ireland. In 2017, Wikipedia restricted the newspaper from being used as a reference for the online information site, labelling it as an "unreliable source". Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales has publicly criticised the paper for stories on Brexit and UK immigration. But the move will also raise questions over the suitability of web browsers and technology firms to adjudicate on the validity or legitimacy of media content. It will also add tension to the strained relationship between large media companies and the tech industry, with many major publishers still angry at the biggest web companies for cornering the online advertising market. As children, the Moore brothers arrived penniless in Ellis Island in 1886, a world away from their Meath village. But 20 years later, in a remarkable rags to riches story, Owen, Matt and Tom Moore had starred in more than 500 movies, with each of them later getting their own star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Calls have been made to formally recognise the forgotten achievements of the three Irish brothers from Fordstown village, Co Meath. The siblings were household names across the US in the 1920s, with Matt's two cats also having stars in the animal section of the walk of fame. Their fame reached new heights when Owen married the famous silent screen actress Mary Pickford in 1911, before she divorced him to marry Douglas Fairbanks days later. Their other brother Joe also starred in more than 40 films, and their sister Mary appeared in 13 productions. A small plaque was erected in their native village in 2005 to recognise their achievements, but now Fordstown wants to do something more. Award-winning historian Turtle Bunbury has lent his support to the campaign. "The Moores of Fordstown were extremely well-known across the USA back in the Roaring Twenties. They were right up there with the Hollywood elite in the Golden Age, starring alongside people like Mae West and Cary Grant and indeed, Mary Pickford, or 'the lady with the curls' as she was known, was as famous as any of the Kardashians today. "It's really high time Meath capitalised on this connection and laid on something to keep their memory alive - an exhibition, a festival, a statue or even a walk of fame of its own," he said. "Nowhere else would three brothers who were Hollywood stars go unrecognised. If three Irish brothers were on Irish TV nowadays, they'd be huge, never mind on the international stage," said local bar owner Stephanie Bray. "All the older generations who knew about the Moore brothers have all but died and most people nowadays have never heard of them. The community here got funding for a plaque for the village in 2005 but it would be nice to remember them nationally." Local Fianna Fail TD Shane Cassells said they should be remembered. "We can't let this amazing story die. I would be asking the council to even place a star in their honour at the entrance to the Solstice Arts Centre in Navan as a starting point and go from there. Who knows, in years to come there could even be a film about the lives of the Moore brothers." The brothers and sister Mary were brought to the US by their parents John and Rosanna in 1896 and settled in Ohio before teenagers Tom and Owen ran away to join a travelling theatre company. "This is a remarkable story with a most interesting local connection and the council will certainly look at how they can be appropriately commemorated," said a spokesperson for Meath County Council. UP TO 13,000 households have been issued a 'boil water' notice after a parasite was detected in a treatment plant in Co Sligo, with some residents reporting "stomach bugs and rashes". Irish Water issued the notice for almost 13,000 residents near the Lough Talt Public Water Supply after levels of cryptosporidium were discovered at the treatment plant. Cryptosporidium is a type of parasite that can have a number of health implications on humans in contact with the bug. Levels of the parasite were discovered almost one year ago in February 2018, and locals have expressed frustrated at the return of the boil water notice. Some of us were on an eight-month boil notice last year. Its a massive inconvenience, Kellie Cadman told Independent.ie. Apart from the health and safety issues, theres extra hassle and upkeep of trying to keep clean water in the house. You never think youll have to deal with it until it happens. The affected areas include Tubbercurry and Ballymote and a large rural hinterland. A number of areas in Co Mayo have also been effected. According to Kellie, some residents have already experienced stomach bugs from the water contamination - or skin rashes, like herself. My skin is burned. There are two members in the household that have a constant rash from the water. Its our human right to have clean water, she said. Im not a politician, Im just a civilian, a mother living in a rural area that wants clean water. Kellie explained that those that afford it buy bottled water, but others are left no choice but to boil water for every day necessities. There are vulnerable people in the community, people with dementia that dont even remember to drink water, let alone boil it. There are young kids that will go to the tap. You have to build this it into your daily routine- you need water for your food, brushing teeth, your hair. For Annmarie Waters, the news of the return of cryptosporidium has left her worried, after her daughter contracted the bug in 2017. My daughter was diagnosed with brain tumor in 2004 and has been left with a compromised immune system, Annmarie told Independent.ie. When she contracted cryptosporidium in 2017, it was horrendous, she was vomiting and had diarrhoea. When she was let home from the hospital, she couldn't tolerate the water and ever since then I've been buying water for her. Expand Close Annmarie Waters and her daughter Chloe from Co Sligo. / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Annmarie Waters and her daughter Chloe from Co Sligo. Annmarie said her concern also lay with the wider community and the cost implications that may arise. "The cost factor is huge. I would imagine where there are families of five or six, the cost alone of buying bottled water or electricity bills for boiling would be through the roof, she said. I honestly don't know if I can trust the water because it could be fatal if my daughter was to contract it again. According to Irish Water, the level of treatment currently provided at the Lough Talt water treatment plant does not provide adequate protection against cryptosporidium. A planning application was made to Sligo County Council in May 2018 seeking permission for an upgraded treatment plant, with further information supplied to the Council in December 2018. A spokesperson for Irish Water apologised to local residents and said that they are awaiting a decision from the council on the statutory process, which "involves complex environmental assessments and statutory consultee engagement. We fully recognise the disruption and inconvenience caused to customers as a result of this Boil Water Notice and would like to assure the public that we are working as a matter of priority to restore a safe and compliant water supply as quickly as possible, in consultation with the HSE, Anthony Skeffington from Irish Water said. Public health is our number one priority and ultimately our aim is to provide compliant and robust water treatment for the 13,000 people who are supplied by the Lough Talt public water supply in the shortest possible time and that is where our attentions are focused. Irish Water and Sligo County Council sincerely apologise to all customers for any inconvenience caused by this Boil Water Notice. Customers are reminded to continue to boil water before consumption including the washing of teeth, making of ice and in the preparation of food that is not cooked. It is imperative that people adhere to the boil water notice. Wexford TD Mick Wallace is known for his colourful wardrobe but today he took it to a new level. The Independents4Change representative raised eyebrows when he showed up in the Dail waring a kaleidoscopic shirt. He told TDs he was wearing it in solidarity with the people of Malawi. Mr Wallace was questioning junior minister Catherine Byrne about funding for the Irish Deaf Society, adding that his clothing choice was also in solidarity with that most special group. The striking choice of shirt involved a mid-afternoon wardrobe change as Mr Wallace was in the Dail a short time earlier wearing a wine coloured t-shirt. Minister Byrne told him the colours suit you, but you always wear bright colours anyway. A VAT hike on food supplements is set to increase the price of vitamins and minerals by almost a quarter. The hike, from zero to 23pc, has been slammed as a "slap in the face" to both consumers and small businesses. Finance Minister Paschal Donohoe defended the move yesterday after the Government was accused of "sneaking" in the price rise by Labour Party leader Brendan Howlin in the Dail. He said that hundreds of thousands of people across the country take vitamins and minerals daily. According to the Revenue Commissioner's guidance document, the standard rate of VAT applies to food supplements like slimming aids and protein powders. These will remain unaffected by the VAT hike. However, there has been a zero-VAT rating on certain types of vitamins, minerals and fish oils since 1972. The increase is set come into effect on these products on March 1. Speaking this morning, Matt Ronan, a spokesperson for Health Stores Ireland, said the VAT increase on food supplements will be a "hammer blow" to the industry. "We're talking about the vulnerable in our society, the elderly, those on pensions, heavy users of the products," Mr Ronan told RTE Radio One's Morning Ireland. "This is right across the board. It's like this, if you're buying something in the 20 area, this will be jumping up almost five euros. "You're putting a fiver on top of all those types of products. On the more expensive products, around the 40 mark, you're adding 10 euros on top. It really pushes the prices higher." Mr Ronan continued; "Then you have people who will try and buy a cheaper product or a smaller pack size, it'll be less good value to them. "People will be struggling to maintain the benefits they're getting from these products." When asked if businesses will be able to absorb any of the price hike, Mr Ronan replied; "Thousands of small businesses like myself are struggling in small towns. We need to keep going and get the bills paid. "All these small businesses will struggle on how to cope. How we will all cope, nobody knows. "We're already in chaos because of Brexit." Gardai investigating the savage killing of a Polish gardener who was butchered in front of his family have obtained key forensic evidence in their murder probe. Forensic data including fibre, blood, DNA and CCTV evidence underpinned the arrest of three men in Cork in connection with the killing of Mikolaj Wilk (35) in Cork last June. Two - a Pole and a Latvian - were released without charge after being questioned overnight at separate Garda stations. The third man, a Polish national, was still being questioned yesterday but is also expected to be released without charge. None of the three is suspected of carrying out the brutal killing. However, they were questioned about providing logistical support to the murderers. Gardai last year raided a number of properties in Cork and seized several vehicles. Forensic data was obtained from the raids, coupled with CCTV footage. Mr Wilk was attacked with a machete at his Ballincollig home in front of his wife and children on June 10 last. He later died from the horrific injuries he sustained. The killers fled overseas within 24 hours of the murder. A file will now be submitted to the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP). The two criminals who masterminded the brutal murder are now living between Latvia and Lithuania. More than one in four primary schools have pupils who are homeless, according to a survey of principals. And about one in six schools have children who are in living in the States direct provision accommodation for asylum. The survey found that the top three challenges for children who are either homeless or living in direct provision are anxiety, neglect and family issues, such as marital breakdown, bereavement and financial difficulties. It was conducted by the Irish Primary Principals Network (IPPN) ahead of its annual conference this week and found that 27pc schools had pupils who were homeless, while 16pc had pupils in direct provision. IPPN chief executive Pairic Clerkin said the daily reality for these families could often result in poor physical and mental wellbeing, low self-esteem, exhaustion and feelings of isolation. "This can impact childrens school attendance and can result in reduced engagement and participation in school life and learning," he said. Homelessness for children was lonely and they often became isolated from their closest friends and relations, he said. "They become restricted and confined; their play area reduced to a hotel corridor, homework done at the side of the bed in a room the family share." Latest figures show that about 4,000 children in Ireland are homeless currently and Mr Clerkin said schools are often only "the one positive place where they can be kids". Mr Clerkin commended the many school leaders and teachers who were "quietly supporting these children and their families on a daily basis." The first primary teacher training course in Ireland for deaf sign language users starts next September at Dublin City University (DCU). Graduates of the Bachelor of Education (BEd) degree programme will be qualified to teach in schools for the deaf and special classes for deaf pupils in mainstream schools. Crucially for this cohort, the pre-requisite for Leaving Cert higher-level Irish - a condition for entry to a primary teaching degree programme - is being replaced with a requirement for a similar standard in Irish Sign Language (ISL), the language used by deaf people in Ireland and one of a number of different styles internationally. Education Minister Joe McHugh described the course as "historic" and "a hugely important step towards ensuring increased access and inclusion for all in the classroom". DCU Institute of Education's Executive Dean Dr Anne Looney said it meant that children who accessed learning and expressed themselves through ISL could be taught by teachers who did the same "and who will be fantastic role models for deaf students in our education system". There will be about six places on the course this autumn, with no further intake until 2023. Students will attend core modules with hearing peers in the BEd programme, while modules specific to deaf education will be delivered as a specialism. A heroin addict, who owed a drug dealer 5,000 and had a gun rammed into his mouth, had to hand over keys to his city council flat while the dealer rented it out to recover the debt, a court heard. Declan Hendley (50), who is now fighting to remain drug free and keep his home, told Circuit Court President Mr Raymond Groarke he could not tell gardai about the threats as he had been warned he would be shot. Instead he had opted to sleep in drug dens, cars, or on sofas in other people's houses while the dealer, known only as "Paul", rented out his Hampton Wood, north Dublin, flat to two tenants. In the meantime, Dublin City Council continued to receive his rent from his social welfare allowance. Carol O'Farrell, counsel for the local authority, said he had been considered a model tenant. Hendley told his counsel Serena McGrane he had been "clean" until a relapse caused by the death of his mother and his partner in 2016. The court heard that Mr Hendley's predicament was not discovered until the debt had been paid and the new "tenants" had moved out. Dublin City Council sought a repossession order at the Circuit Civil Court for Mr Hendley's flat which is in a major development off Jamestown Road between Ballymun and the M50. Mr Hendley, who appealed a District Court decision granting possession to the council, told the court he would be homeless again if his flat was repossessed. Dublin City Council housing manager Michael Clarke said Mr Hendley's tenancy agreement had been breached by the sub-letting of the property. Mr Hendley, who said he received a disability allowance, denied having breached his tenancy agreement with the council. He had owed his dealer 5,000 and had been told to carry out robberies or move drugs, which he refused to do. When the new tenants in his flat left, he had broken the door to get back in. Judge Groarke said he was satisfied Mr Hendley, who had clearly overcome very considerable personal difficulties, had been getting on very well with his life until he had relapsed. He refused the council's application and granted Mr Hendley his legal costs. Judge Groarke issued a stern warning against any letting or estate agency or auctioneer who would facilitate drug pushers with unsigned, sham letting agreements as, the judge said, had happened in Mr Hendley's case. Gangland criminal Brian Rattigan has been jailed for nine years for stabbing a man to death outside a takeaway. Rattigan (38) had the sentence handed down at the Central Criminal Court today for the 2001 killing of Declan Gavin. Mr Justice Michael White made the sentence concurrent to a jail term he is already serving, and backdated it to October 1 last year. Rattigan, wearing a blue-grey blazer, with navy slacks, a white shirt and dark tie remained seated throughout the hearing and nodded when the sentence was passed, but showed no other reaction. He then gathered up a white jacket and was led away. Members of Mr Gavins family left the court in silence, then embraced investigating gardai outside but did not comment to reporters. Rattigan, of Cooley Road, Drimnagh, pleaded guilty to the manslaughter of Mr Gavin (20), who he stabbed in the heart with a knife outside an Abrakebabra in Crumlin on August 25 that year. Expand Close Victim Declan Gavin was killed in 2001. Photo: RTE / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Victim Declan Gavin was killed in 2001. Photo: RTE He had been tried for murder twice in 2009; the first jury could not reach a verdict but a second jury convicted him. However, that conviction was successfully appealed in 2017. He was due for another retrial last year but on October 22 last he entered a guilty plea to the lesser charge, which was accepted by the State. Rattigan has been in custody since 2003, and in 2013 was given a 17 year sentence for sale or supply of drugs from within prison, with a release date with remission in November this year. Mr Gavins killing sparked the infamous Crumlin-Drimnagh feud, which claimed 16 lives over 10 years. Expand Close Tara Gavin, the victim's sister, leaving court / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Tara Gavin, the victim's sister, leaving court Supt Brian Sutton had told the court Mr Gavin had been out socialising with friends at around 3am when a Nissan Micra pulled up. Witnesses heard shouting of rat, where is he? and a man wearing a balaclava- Rattigan -got out carrying a large knife and ran towards Mr Gavin, stabbing him in the hand and chest. Fatally injured, he retreated into Abrakebabra and collapsed, while Rattigan tried to follow him but the security man held the door closed. Mr Gavin died from shock and blood loss due to a single stab wound to the heart. In a victim impact statement the victim's sister Tara Gavin had said her world was turned upside down by the her brother's death and after nearly 18 years the loss and sadness doesnt disappear. Their mother Pauline Gavin had not read Rattigans apology letter to her and felt it came too late, the court heard. Rattigan's apology letter was also read out on the last court date. I would like to apologise to you and your family for the events that led to the death of your son, the letter read. Nothing I can say can change how you feel. I am very sorry for taking your sons life. Ive regretted that night in silence ever since. As I get older it doesnt get any easier. "Im terribly sorry. I hope you can find peace now. I hope that after over 17 years it will be over and you will have closure. May Declan rest in peace and may God protect him. Mr Justice White said today it had been over 17 years since Mr Gavins death and his mother still lived in the locality. The victims family had waited a very long time for closure and acknowledgement from Rattigan that he was responsible for Mr Gavins death. The long, drawn out nature of the case had placed an extra burden of suffering on them, he said. The family felt the accused's letter of apology had been too little too late but said he hoped they will now have some respite and comfort in their fond memories of Mr Gavin, the judge said. The aggravating factors the court had to consider included the nature of the offence, and the bringing by the accused of an offensive weapon - a knife - to a crowded scene in the early hours of the morning while he was high on drugs and alcohol. The judge also cited the tragic loss of life of a man in the prime of his life and the effect on his family, as well as Rattigans previous convictions. In mitigation, he had pleaded guilty and how he was getting on in prison hopefully indicates a substantial departure from his previous criminal behaviour. Of the letter of apology, he said, while the court accepts that it seems to be genuine on his part, its much too late to be considered a mitigating factor. He said making a sentence consecutive did not arise in the case and Rattigan was entitled to have the sentence imposed from the date that he unambiguously offered a plea. It was not appropriate to back date it any further, he said. The appropriate headline sentence, he said was 13 years, but taking into account all the mitigating factors this was reduced to nine years. Gardai examine the slurry tank where the body of Bobby Ryan was found in Fawnagown, Co Tipperary. Picture: Brian Gavin/Press 22 Patrick Quirke, who is on trial for the murder of Mr Ryan. Picture: Collins A farmer murdered his "love rival" - a DJ known as 'Mr Moonlight' - and hid his naked body in a slurry tank so he could rekindle an affair with his best friend's widow, a prosecution barrister has told a murder trial. Michael Bowman SC opened the trial of Patrick Quirke by saying the prosecution will use circumstantial evidence to prove the guilt of the accused. Mr Quirke (50) of Breanshamore, Co Tipperary has pleaded not guilty to the murder of Bobby Ryan (52) on a date between June 3, 2011 and April 13, 2013. Outlining the prosecution's case Mr Bowman said the accused started an affair in 2008 with Mary Lowry after the death of her husband Martin, Mr Quirke's best friend. Mr Quirke is married to Martin Lowry's sister, Imelda. Ms Lowry had been left with a farm following her husband's death but had no interest in farming so Mr Quirke leased about 63 acres from her. He continued his relationship with Mary Lowry in secret until she ended it in 2010. In August of that year she met Bobby Ryan, a local DJ who went by the name Mr Moonlight. They started a relationship and Mr Bowman said Bobby Ryan offered Ms Lowry something the married Patrick Quirke could not - a "conventional relationship". Mr Bowman said the accused "did what he felt compelled to do and got rid of his love rival in the hope that he could go back to how things were before Bobby Ryan." Mr Ryan spent the night of June 2 with Mary Lowry at her home and left at about 6.30am so that her children would not know he had stayed over. Ms Lowry was in the habit of waiting to hear Mr Ryan's van cross the grate at the end of the drive so that she could relax knowing he had left unnoticed. On this morning, however, she noticed that he took longer than usual to drive away. When Mr Ryan failed to turn up for work that morning at a local quarry his family were alerted and a search began. Mr Ryan's silver van was found by a local beauty spot known as Kilshane Wood. His daughter Michelle became concerned when she realised it was parked in fourth gear and was not locked despite having her father's DJ equipment inside. The seats had been moved into an unfamiliar position. Mr Bowman said the accused would say he was milking cows that morning. Despite a search of the farmland, Mr Ryan was not found. In his absence, the relationship between the accused and Ms Lowry was rekindled. But, Mr Bowman said, again Ms Lowry put an end to it. By April 2013 Ms Lowry had decided to terminate Mr Quirke's lease on her land and he agreed to leave by July 1 of that year. On April 13, Mr Quirke said he was trying to get water from a slurry tank when he came across Mr Ryan's naked, dead body buried in what Mr Bowman described as a "concrete sarcophagus" inside the tank. His clothes, car keys, phone and other belongings have never been found. A post-mortem showed he had suffered blunt force trauma and sustained fractures to his skull, ribs and one leg. The finding of the body, Mr Bowman said, was "carefully managed, orchestrated and staged" by Mr Quirke in circumstances where he knew he would soon be giving up control of the land where he had dumped the body. He said the "innocent" explanation for finding the body at that time would not stand up to scrutiny. While counsel said there would be no "smoking gun" evidence, the cumulative weight of circumstantial evidence would be enough to prove his guilt. He said Mr Ryan had been murdered and the only question was by whom. The accused, he said, had the motive and the opportunity and had access to the tank where the body was found. The trial continues in front of Justice Eileen Creedon and a jury of six men and six women. The family of a girl born with profound disabilities have called for a mandatory obligation on the HSE to tell parents when a child was injured as a result of medical negligence. Margaret Hurley (18), from Skibbereen, Co Cork, who has cerebral palsy, yesterday settled her High Court action against Erinville Hospital, Western Road, Co Cork, for 11m for the circumstances of her 2000 birth. She has spastic quadriplegia, cannot speak and has to use a wheelchair. Margaret's parents Claire and Gerald (51) called for a mandatory obligation on the HSE to tell parents when their child has been injured as a result of medical negligence. The couple, from Lisheen, in West Cork, have three other children: twins - a boy and a girl - and another boy. Ms Hurley said mandatory reporting obligations had to be backed by criminal sanctions. "As a newly married young couple we were looking forward with joy and anticipation to the birth of our daughter in the year 2000. "Due to my high blood pressure and the fact I was 14 days overdue, I should have been induced earlier. Sadly, Margaret was born with profound physical and intellectual disabilities. The extent of these disabilities became apparent as she grew older. We never thought her disabilities were as a result of medical negligence nor, more importantly, were we told by the hospital. "The HSE clearly knew as is shown by their payment of 11m to Margaret. Thank God for the court system." Lyndy Cantillon, partner with Cantillons Solicitors, who advised and led Margaret's medical negligence claim, said this failure to inform the parents added to Margaret's suffering. "The severity of Margaret's condition could have been alleviated by early intervention and therapies available at the time," she said in a statement on behalf of the family. "Margaret sadly did not avail of these," she said. She said Margaret's mother was a 32-year-old public patient at Erinville, expecting her first child when problems occurred. "The young teacher was 14 days overdue and also had high blood pressure, but it was decided not to induce birth. Claire Hurley's daughter, Margaret, was born with profound disabilities on March 1, 2000." Ms Hurley had to give up her job teaching to care for Margaret full time, while her husband continued to farm. "It was only in 2014, when Margaret was 14, that her mother read about another child we represented with similar devastating disabilities. "No one in the HSE had told Claire there might be medical negligence involved in Margaret's birth." Yesterday Mr Justice Kevin Cross was told the settlement against the HSE was without admission of liability. Evita Hoverun, mum of Milan Nasyron, of Kilkee House, Clarehall, Dublin pictured at the Four Courts for a Circuit Civil Court action.Pic: Collins Courts An 11-year-old schoolboy, who was bitten by a neighbours greyhound dog and left with scarring to his leg, has been awarded 27,500 damages against the dog owner. Barrister Kevin DArcy, counsel for Milan Nasyron, told the Circuit Civil Court that Milan, who sued neighbour Fiona Coggins through his mother Evita Hoverun, had been attacked on May 25th 2017 as he placed his bicycle in a communal basement car park at a residential development at Clarehall, Malahide Road, Dublin. Mr DArcy, who appeared with Niall Corr Solicitors, Malahide Road, Artane, Dublin, said the defendant, dog carer Fiona Coggins, of Quilty House, Clarehall Village, Malahide, through negligence had allowed the greyhound to escape and roam without a muzzle and attack Milan, of Kilkee House, Clarehall. He told Circuit Court President, Mr Justice Raymond Groarke, that Coggins had failed to take proper remedial action following previous incidents involving the dog and as a result Milan had suffered personal injuries and distress. Mr DArcy said that after returning to his home and placing his bicycle in the car park the dog had lunged at Milan from the direction of Ms Coggins car parking area and attacked him, puncturing the back of his left thigh. He had been knocked forward in the attack further injuring his right knee with a laceration. He said Milan had been able to extricate himself from the situation and had run and get into the lift and get into his home. Milan, who was nine at the time, had been brought to the emergency department of Temple Street Hospital where his puncture wound was cleaned and dressed and he was treated with antibiotics. He had later been noted to have a half inch scar on his right knee and a small puncture scar on the back of his left thigh. Milan had afterwards suffered from anxiety and had developed a fear of dogs. Judge Groarke, who examined the scar on Milans leg, said it could be described from a boys point of view as a badge of honour but felt the 27,500 settlement offer on behalf of the defendant was a good one which he approved with an order for costs. Alex Salmond, the former leader of the Scottish National Party (SNP) Photo: REUTERS/Henry Nicholls/File photo FORMER Scottish first minister Alex Salmond has appeared in court charged with attempted rape and sexual assault. Mr Salmond faced a total of 14 charges when he appeared at Edinburgh Sheriff Court on Thursday. He was charged with two counts of attempted rape, nine counts of sexual assault, two of indecent assault and one breach of the peace. After a brief hearing, which was held in private, he said: "Now that these proceedings are live it is even more important to respect the court and therefore the only thing I can say is I refute absolutely these allegations of criminality and I will defend myself to the utmost in court. "I've got great faith in the court system in Scotland." He made no plea during the hearing and was released on bail. Mr Salmond was arrested on Wednesday after attending a police station in central Scotland. From Linlithgow, West Lothian, was Scotland's first minister from 2007 to 2014. He resigned his membership of the SNP in August 2018. Mr Salmond guided the party to a narrow Scottish election win in 2007 and then led a minority government as he became Scotland's first SNP First Minister. In the 2011 election, he led the party to an unprecedented victory with a majority win, meaning the SNP's manifesto pledge to hold an independence referendum could be delivered. But the result of the 2014 referendum - a 55% to 45% vote to stay in the UK - led to him stepping down as first minister and SNP leader. Part gig, part play, Kate Stanley Brennans show hangs on a collection of songs by herself (written in the persona of MissKate) and Adam Fogarty, aka MathMan. We meet Mary Jane, a live-wire growing up in south county Dublin, negotiating Wes disco, going to UCD Freshers Week, and finally fetching up in New Yorks nightclub scene. Themes explored include unwanted pregnancy and unwanted sex. Stanley Brennan has a mellow voice and the songs have a contemporary, pop sound. She struts through the evening in funky, neon-coloured dance gear and the clubby dance routines are terrific the audience loved them. The writing bears echoes of Emmet Kirwans recent work, in its familiar, immediate subject matter, its druggy aura, and its neatly pleasing rhyme. Video work by Bobofunk adds a sophisticated pop-art element to the mix of club atmosphere and theatre show. DJ Handsome Paddy makes his presence felt with zippy turntable work. For those who miss the element of narrative at gigs, this will give you a pleasing thrill. For those who find the theatre too contemplative and formal, this will give you a buzz. And Stanley Brennan, with her blonde extension mega-plaits, knows how to command the stage. Walk For Me Project Arts Centre, Dublin until Jan 26 Rod Stewart will follow up his Pairc Ui Caoimh date on May 25 with dates in Dublin and Belfast, although fans will have to wait until December. Rod is hitting the road in support of his 30th studio album, Blood Red Roses, which released in September and he'll perform at the SSE Arena Belfast on December 2 and the 3Arena in Dublin on December 4, 2019. This year marks his first return to Ireland in three years following two sold-out tours in 2016 - The Hits Stadium Tour and the arena tour From Gasoline Alley to Another Country Hits. The new show will be a mix of his classic hits and new songs from Blood Red Roses, a personal 13-track collection of originals and three covers, including Grace, which is released almost 50 years to the date from when he signed his very first solo recording contract. Rod has earned countless of the industrys highest awards, among them, two inductions into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, the ASCAP Founders Award for songwriting, New York Times bestselling author, Grammy Living Legend, and in 2016 he officially became Sir Rod Stewart after being knighted by Prince William at Buckingham Palace for his services to music and charity. Tickets for the Belfast & Dublin Shows will go on sale at 9am Thursday 31 January from all usual outlets. Fan Club Pre-sale tickets will go on sale at 9am Monday 28 January from https://fanclub.rodstewart.com Christian Bale said he deliberately tried to convince people he is American and was glad when people were shocked to discover he was British (Ian West/PA) Christian Bale said he deliberately tried to convince people he was American and was glad when people were shocked to discover he is actually British. The Oscar-nominated, Welsh-born star picked up a Golden Globe for his role in Vice earlier this month and left many surprised after his acceptance speech. Fans on Twitter said they expected to hear an American accent rather than that of a British chimney sweep. Bale made his name playing American characters in films such as American Psycho and the Dark Knight trilogy and said he pretended to be from the US after finding it difficult to secure acting jobs in his homeland. He told the Press Association as a young actor, he couldnt get any work in England, I dont know what it was about me but nobody would bloody hire me. Bale said that while he could get jobs in the US, it was, always in a sort of billowing sleeve and vest period thing with floppy hair and stuff. He added: Great, but thats not what I wanted to do for my whole life. But that was all that kept coming my way, but it was work, and in England it was no work. And so I said Ive really got to just be able to convince people Im American. Bale said he had spoken with an American accent during various interviews in order to keep up the act. He said people not knowing much about him is the ideal as an actor, adding: So it was lovely to see them getting surprised by that. Bale, who was born in Pembrokeshire, Wales, added: But what was interesting was a lot of them got it very wrong and they go, listen to his Welsh accent. Yes, I was born in Wales but I dont think Ive got any ring of Welsh in my accent at all. Vice star Christian Bale has said Donald Trump is a clown who does not understand how government works (Chris Pizzello/Invision/AP) Vice star Christian Bale has said Donald Trump is a clown who does not understand how government works. Bale earned a best actor nomination earlier this week for his portrayal of controversial former US vice president Dick Cheney, an instrumental figure in the countrys foreign policy decisions post-9/11. Bale, who under went a drastic transformation to play Cheney, said he and Vice director Adam McKay had no interest in painting the politician in a purely bad light, because were not children who think that monsters look like monsters. Monsters dont look like monsters. And he discussed the differences between Cheney and Mr Trump, insisting the current occupant of the White House is the less dangerous of the two. Expand Close Vice star Christian Bale has discussed the differences between Dick Cheney and Donald Trump (Dominic Lipinski/PA) / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Vice star Christian Bale has discussed the differences between Dick Cheney and Donald Trump (Dominic Lipinski/PA) Bale told the Press Association: Hes (Trump) bombastic, hes loud. Cheney was quiet and secretive and far more capable, far more brilliant. In terms of their ability to understand government, theres no comparison. Trump doesnt understand it, Cheney did, thats what made him so powerful, these decades within the government. Whereas Trump is sort of a clown by comparison. Clowns can do a lot of damage but fingers crossed in the next two years that doesnt happen. Bale added: But I would say because of his enormous ego, Trump is actually far less dangerous providing he doesnt go bloody pushing the button than Cheney. Cheney is portrayed in the film as the most powerful vice president in US history, whose influence in the War On Terror following the September 11 attacks in New York had dire consequences for American soldiers, Iraqi civilians and the world at large. Expand Close Former US vice president Dick Cheney, who was portrayed by Christian Bale in Vice (Olivia Harris/PA) / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Former US vice president Dick Cheney, who was portrayed by Christian Bale in Vice (Olivia Harris/PA) The film was categorised as a comedy at the Golden Globes, however Bale prefers to class it as a tragedy. He said: It is bloody funny in places but in an absurdist, ridiculous manner. And in a way that makes it more possible to look at tragedy because you look at it through the lens of some comedy. And people say comedy is tragedy plus time and that applies so well to this. But also understanding that many of the people that are making decisions that change the nations lives, the global life, the trajectory that the world is on, are often quite ridiculous individuals, very dubious people who you might sit in a room with and think, How on Earth did we put faith in this person to actually run the country?. Its absurdist, its satirical but its very emotional as well. I find the film really poignant, theres something about it that talks to the human condition and being a family, and being a nation, that goes beyond Dick Cheney. Expand Close Christian Bale has described Donald Trump as a clown (Niall Carson/PA) / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Christian Bale has described Donald Trump as a clown (Niall Carson/PA) Vice is nominated for best picture at the upcoming Academy Awards, one of eight nods including supporting actor and actress nominations for Bales co-stars Amy Adams and Sam Rockwell. McKay is also up best director and original screenplay while the film has been recognised for its editing and makeup. Bale, already an Oscar winner for 2010s The Fighter, said being nominated for best actor was delightful but the main reward comes from making the film. He said: It makes it worth it just doing it. Because you get no guarantee as an actor that the film is going to end up being a great film, its always a gamble. Its a good gamble when youre dealing with Adam McKay and a great script and a great cast, everything is kind of being handed to you on a silver platter, its really mine to mess up. Then youve got Hank Corwin editing, it was an incredible combination of people. Bale, 44, added: In my mind the whole point of it is get a kick, get satisfaction out of the day-to-day work. Its gravy and wonderful gravy if the film ends up really being what you hoped or even somewhere close to what you hoped. Bale was born in Wales but now holds US citizenship. He said the Brexit vote was a mirror image of Mr Trumps 2016 election and both left his jaw on the ground. Bale said he saw fertile ground for drama in the Brexit situation, adding: Definitely a good film could come out of that. Vice is out in UK cinemas on Friday January 25. Barry Jenkins said he was overjoyed to see Spike Lee honoured for his work on BlacKkKlansman (Ian West/PA) Barry Jenkins has paid tribute to Spike Lee after the veteran filmmaker received his first best director Oscar nomination. The Moonlight director, who is also among the nominees this year for his adapted screenplay of If Beale Street Could Talk, said he was overjoyed to see the Do The Right Thing director honoured for his work on BlacKkKlansman. And the biggest congrats to the a ran into this portrait last night in Paris, couldnat help but grab a selfie; no words necessary. And by every measure, this man a so necessary pic.twitter.com/YXuzAwNdk3 Barry Jenkins (@BarryJenkins) January 22, 2019 He told the Press Association: There are just some people who bring me joy and I think Spike brings me joy. His enthusiasm at his nomination brought me so much joy because I think for a filmmaker who has given so much to the culture, both in cinema and the culture of blackness all over the world, to see his work recognised in the way that it should was just quite amazing. Lees previous Oscar nominations were for his screenplay for 1989s Do The Right Thing and his 1997 documentary 4 Little Girls. Lee is the sixth black filmmaker to be Oscar-nominated for directing, while Jenkins was the fourth, for his work on best picture winner Moonlight. He jointly won the Academy Award for best adapted screenplay with Tarell Alvin McCraney for the film. Expand Close Barry Jenkins (right) and Tarell Alvin McCraney with their screenplay Oscars (Ian West/PA) / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Barry Jenkins (right) and Tarell Alvin McCraney with their screenplay Oscars (Ian West/PA) No black filmmaker has ever won best director. Jenkins said he was delighted to be recognised by the Academy again, with a nomination for his screenplay, adapted from James Baldwins novel, while star Regina King is nominated in the best supporting actress category and composer Nicholas Britell is nominated for his score. On nomination day, Jenkins shared a photograph of the notes slipped under his hotel room door, informing him of each nomination and said: We started it on Moonlight, I just happened to be in Europe whenever the nominations come out and I was so tired and we were in Amsterdam and I was like I dont want to watch this live, this doesnt make any sense and so I just took a nap and woke up to these notes under the door. Iam always overseas when noms come out and I donat watch. Instead my publicist slips notes under my door and I find them when I return. MUCH love from the a@BealeStreeta family to QUEEN a@ReginaKinga and my right hand a@NicholasBritella on their Oscar Noms!!! pic.twitter.com/qds8u9N6jK Barry Jenkins (@BarryJenkins) January 22, 2019 Then we did the same thing (this year) and its wonderful. I like the spread of the nominations, between Nick and his score and Regina and her performance and then Mr Baldwin with the adapted screenplay nomination, which is a really wonderful affirmation of the work we put into the film. If Beale Street Could Talk will be released in UK cinemas on February 14. A no deal Brexit would result in a period of 'chaos' and Ireland would have to negotiate with the EU and the UK to avoid a hard border, Taoiseach Leo Varadkar has said. Mr Varadkar said Ireland would face a 'major dilemma' if there is a no deal scenario. "Ireland has obligations to protect the single market...the United Kingdom would have a responsibility to abide by World Trade Organisation rules, and both the United Kingdom and Ireland would have responsibilities to honour the Good Friday Agreement and the peace process. "So I think we'd end up in a situation whereby the EU and Ireland and the UK would have to come together and in order to honour our commitment to the people of Ireland that there would be no hard border, we would have to agree on full alignment on customs and regulations. "So after a period of chaos we would perhaps end up exactly where we are now, with a very similar deal." Mr Varadkar said however that this was a hypothetical answer to a hypothetical question. "The truth is nobody can know for sure what would happen in a no-deal scenario, that's why we worked so hard over the past two years to put together a withdrawal agreement." Mr Varadkar also said in an interview with Euronews that he was concerned about dissident Republican violence in the context of Brexit. Expand Close Chancellor Philip Hammond outside 11 Downing Street, London. Photo credit: Victoria Jones/PA Wire / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Chancellor Philip Hammond outside 11 Downing Street, London. Photo credit: Victoria Jones/PA Wire He said it was 'very lucky' that nobody died in a recent car bomb in Derry, believed to have been carried out by dissidents. "I don't want to say that that was directly linked to Brexit, or that it was directly linked to the 100th anniversary of the Irish parliament being founded. But Brexit is now all part of the context. "It's one of the reasons why the power-sharing Government isn't functioning in Northern Ireland, and it is something that's causing great concern for citizens in the North and also along the border counties." "Every day thousands of people cross the border to go to work, thousands of people cross the border to go to college or school. And all of those people are very worried now about what the future holds. "Things that they thought had been settled have now been unsettled, and that does create an environment that dissidents can exploit." Mr Varadkar dismissed the idea of a bilateral UK-Ireland deal that would avoid a hard border. "We're always happy to discuss matters with our British colleagues But it should be well understood by now that when it comes to negotiations that they're conducted between the EU and the UK. "When it comes to issues like trade in particular, those are a European competence, so any agreement relating to trade or market regulations has to be done at an EU level. And Ireland is stronger, we're in a much stronger position being part of a team of 27." The Taoiseach's comments come after UK Chancellor Philip Hammond has pulled out of a panel discussion on Europe he was participating in, alongside a number of other European leaders. Mr Hammond would likely have faced difficult questions on the state of Brexit. Taoiseach Leo Varadkar defended the Irish tax system in the face of a thinly veiled swipe from Polish PM Mateusz Morawiecki in Davos this morning at the debate. Sitting beside Taoiseach Mr Varadkar for a panel discussion on Europe, Mr Morawiecki said he was a strong supporter of the digital tax plan to which Ireland was opposed. "There are tax havens in Europe which abuse their taxation systems to the detriment of other countries. And we should stop this because this is not helping the European Union to build trust towards each other. "I would be in favour of eliminating all tax havens from Europe because this would bring a level playing field." Later in the discussion Mr Varadkar said Ireland was "forever closing tax loopholes" like the Double Irish, saying this had been a factor in the boom in corporation tax receipts. "We're going to continue to do that". "I think big companies should pay their taxes, should pay the taxes they owe, should pay them in full and should pay them where they are owed." He said Ireland was opposed to the digital tax because it taxed revenues rather than profits. "The principles have to be that the tax is where value is created - not where there is turnover." Speaking as the panel concluded, Mr Morawiecki said there needed to be a 'level playing field' on tax to take account of Poland's history with communism. "For 50 years we couldn't develop... now in terms of taxation, in terms of many other critical systems for the social and economic environment, we need to take this into account to have a real level playing field." "It was an interesting intervention by Leo about where the taxes should be paid, turnover versus where the value is created.. we have to find out a common denominator on all of those." Mr Varadkar in his opening remarks to the panel said Europe's influence is diminishing in the world, and that no member state is in the top 20 most populous countries. "If we've any chance of preserving our values and our way of life, and the way we believe things should happen, we need to stick together." "We're all small countries," he said, saying that no nation state could deal with issues like climate change or managing migration. Mr Varadkar said he wanted to see Europe become "a international group of nations that is politically influential". "America has decided to move away from its former role in world leadership, regrettably, at least for now. "China is becoming ever stronger which isn't necessarily a bad thing. But I think that Europe needs to really be able to have a common foreign policy in particular, and act in the world, and to be a force for good in the world." Meanwhile, Dutch prime minister Mark Rutte said a hard border on the island of Ireland would potentially lead to the return of the Troubles. He said that if there was any expiry of the backstop agreement, that would lead to a hard border - indicating the challenge Ireland would face if trying to negotiate to avoid a border in a no-deal scenario. "And what does a hard border mean? The end of the Good Friday Agreement, back to potentially the Troubles we have seen in Ireland. Nobody wants that," Mr Rutte said. UK chancellor Philip Hammond was supposed to be on the panel but pulled out. Post Malone: John Malone, CEO of Liberty Global, has to come up with a new plan for his Liberty Latin America operation John Malone needs a backup plan for Latin America. It's been a year since the billionaire launched a spinoff to focus on the region, splitting Liberty Latin America Ltd from his Europe-focused telecom carrier Liberty Global, which owns Virgin Media Ireland. The idea was to capitalise on operations in places like Chile, Puerto Rico and the Caribbean, and look for ways to ramp up growth. But one of Liberty Latin America's biggest expansion plans - a proposed $7.6bn takeover of Millicom International Cellular - has faltered. Mr Malone's company terminated the talks after Millicom raised concerns about the merger. Shares in both companies tumbled. The famously deal-hungry Malone, who has a large Irish portfolio, can now pursue other transactions. The problem is, there aren't a lot of options. "There's no obvious other M&A target that is anywhere near the significance of Millicom," said Kevin Roe, an analyst at Roe Equity Research. For now, Liberty will probably focus on smaller Latin American cable deals, he said. Bloomberg OECD secretary general Angel Gurria has joined the criticism of Ireland's tax regime at Davos in stark fashion. Sitting beside Finance Minister Paschal Donohoe, Mr Gurria criticised Ireland's treatment of Apple. "He [Mr Donohoe] says every country has to have the sovereignty to fix the taxes. And I totally agree, the OECD has never said that there is a tax which everybody should adopt," Mr Gurria said. "What we have always said is you can have any level of tax you want as long as you treat everybody the same "What we were against were the sweetheart deals...we just found out with the Apple case, 0.05pc. Not bad eh? It's a good low tax rate. So there you have a situation where you say: the system is being abused, the system is being gamed, and you basically do not want that either. You want companies to pay their fair share". The Government has always denied giving Apple a sweetheart deal and is appealing the EU Commission's finding that such a deal was given. Earlier, Mr Donohoe rejected a suggestion by German chancellor Angela Merkel that companies should pay an international 'minimum tax'. The proposal would see companies forced to pay a certain amount of tax which would then be divided up between countries. Mr Donohoe said the ability for country's to set their own tax rate is a "very important part of their national sovereignty". "We believe that competitiveness is not just an opportunity for bigger countries... smaller countries can play a role in looking at how they can be competitive too. And tax and competitive taxation is an element of that," he said. "We disagree with the assessment that the European Commission made...but we have played by the rules in relation to it. We were asked to put in place a process to collect 14bn. we have done that, all that money has been collected. "The key case that we will be putting forward here is that much of the charges that have been levied against us are due to the fact that there was a mismatch between our tax code and the international tax environment. And a huge amount of this has now been addressed." Mr Donohoe said he would not be cutting Irelands corporate tax rate, in response to whether a cut by Donald Trump in the US rate could spark a race to the bottom. "I will not be reducing our rate. Ive absolutely no plans to do it at all. Ireland will not be part of [a race to the bottom]. My judgment is that you will see a movement down in top line rates but I dont believe it will be of the magnitude that many are currently indicating." Mr Donohoe has consistently said that the OECD is the place to carry out international tax reform rather than the EU. But he said that some European colleagues think it might be difficult to make progress on international level. Just doing enough to get by in school and studying a college course as you hated it the least is not everyones ideal path to success. But it worked for the founder and CEO of Soti, Carl Rodrigues. Then again, not everyone has the single-minded nature that can grow a one-man startup into a $1bn business, originating from the basement of his own home in 2001. While the name Soti may not ring a bell with many people the company sells its mobile technology software systems to firms rather than consumers its growth trajectory is phenomenal. Achieving 93 consecutive quarters of growth to date, with over 17,000 enterprise customers in 178 countries, the Canada-based company has reached this point without an exit strategy or public funding. In 2001, I quit my job and went to the basement to see if I could create a product and I started fiddling around, said Rodrigues. The first product I came up with was the Pocket Controller, which created the seed funding to grow the next stage of the company. The Canada-headquartered company recently announced a 20m expansion investment in its Galway base. The company specialises in mobility and internet of things (IoT) products and services to keep workers working, facilitate the building of apps and manage mobile devices. Soti is funded entirely on its own profitability, said Rodrigues. Taking on external funding is not something Im interested in for this company; I wanted to make this the next Google, not look to build it up and sell it on. A number of US companies have expressed interested in buying the firm over the past two decades, including an undisclosed offer from Microsoft in its early days. Not bad for that uninspired student who trudged his way through computer science and mathematics at Toronto University. But Rodrigues is emphatic in his belief that a firm doesnt have the staying power to become world-class unless the original spark plugs are there to keep the passion burning. And his own commitment and belief in his product, and relentless approach to innovation, is evident, especially as regards pitching it against potential competitors. There are firms that are offering a little bit of this and a little bit of that, he said. But we are the only company in the world that provides the unified answer for companies. Soti also has a help-desk solution that fixes mobile device and app problems and a cross-platform, app development solution for business that enables organisations to build mobile apps. Read More Why select your steering wheel, your engine and your tyres in different places? Were the only completed product. Thats a part of why were growing at such a crazy rate. We are constantly keeping an eye on the market as we try to make sure we are relevant every single day. Just 12 months ago, we expanded from one to six products, which is huge growth, but there is still a lot of work to do, he said. There is so much demand from a technology perspective, customers love the product but they always want more. Its a good problem to have but it can be challenging. Last October, Irelands part in Sotis rapid EMEA expansion was earmarked with 20m investment in a site in Galway that will see 150 jobs created over the next five years. The new office adds to the nine the company has established across the world, with a global workforce that has reached around 1,000 employees thus far. Choosing a region in the west as the location for its Irish development hub is a reflection of the companys relaxed culture, according to Rodrigues. Galway is a beautiful place. I had visited before and thought it would be a great place to expand and build somewhere that has the same culture, with a really good vibe that would suit our culture model, he said, outlining which talent would best fit this model. Ive worked for a number of companies with a lot of red tape and hierarchy, and thats one thing I didnt want at my own company. Its getting more difficult as we grow, but I want anyone to be able to approach or call me if they have a problem. On the flipside, they need to be prepared to do whatever needs to get done. We want people who are entrepreneurial, without an ego. If a bunch of boxes need to get moved, then I pick them up and carry them. Further expansion across the country hasnt been ruled out either, as Rodrigues plans to expand tech support and professional services here as fast as possible. Viewing tech as part of the bigger global picture, he also expressed a desire to work with universities and colleges in Ireland in terms of getting more students, particularly girls, interested in Stem subjects. However, despite a large part of their business coming from Europe, with their HQ based in Birmingham, Brexit doesnt factor into company strategy. No one knew what would happen on day one after the referendum and certainly no one knows whats going to happen now. Im not waiting for the politicians to decide what happens. Im very happy with the UK hub. KBC has become the first major Irish bank to let its customers see current account balances from rival banks within its app. KBC has made the changes following the implementation of the European Payments Services Directive, which compels banks to offer more competition and services to their customers. It means that KBC customers who hold an AIB or Bank of Ireland current account can now view their balance from those banks in the KBC app. However, it is limited to AIB and Bank of Ireland, with no availability for Ulster Bank or Permanent TSB. KBC is the first major bank to offer the service in the Irish market. "Over the coming year we will add more features," said Kelvin Gillen of KBC Bank Ireland. Mr Gillen said that this will include "the ability to view transactions and initiate payments among others". Under the European Payments Services Directive, European banks are required to make current accounts details available to authorised third parties. Other payment methods are expected to emerge in time. KBC has pursued a strategy of offering digital-friendly services rather than physical branches in Ireland, of which it has 16. It is currently the only bank in Ireland to offer Apple Pay, Google Pay, FitBit Pay and Garmin Pay. Meanwhile, there is still no sign that the country's second-largest bank, Bank Of Ireland, is to introduce any mobile payment options. Bank Of Ireland is the only Irish bank not to offer the mobile options, which are now widely used in the Irish market. A spokesman for Bank Of Ireland said that the bank would, in time, update "features and functionality" for its customers. "While we are not in a position to confirm timings, we intend to integrate phone payments in the future," he said. "We will launch our new mobile banking app later this year, providing customers with improved functionality. We will continue to update the app with new digital features and functionality, enhancing customers' experience." The bank has been widely criticised for being behind on the implementation of modern payment systems and IT functionality. This week, Apple announced a significant expansion of Apple Pay within the US. There are also expectations that the mobile payment service will be introduced in Slovakia and the Czech Republic this Spring. The service is not available in all EU countries, with Austria, Greece, Hungary and Romania not supported by local banks. Meanwhile, Google recently received the all-clear from the Central Bank to issue and acquire payments under the same European Payments Services Directive as KBC is using for its new services. The move, announced Wednesday, will eliminate 170 positions at the office, which is set to close on June 28. Related work will shift to TreeHouse Foods suburban Chicago corporate headquarters, but it is not clear if any jobs will follow. A planned sale of Goodbody Stockbrokers to a Chinese consortium has been abandoned. In a statement, Goodbody and its majority owner Fexco said theyve jointly taken the decision not to proceed with the proposed acquisition of Goodbody by a consortium of Chinese strategic investors. Both companies have concluded that the rationale for the original transaction is no longer applicable due to a proposed change in the make-up of the shareholder structure made by the acquiring group, they said. Goodbodys own balance sheet was strengthened following the sale last year of the Irish Stock Exchange, where it was among the shareholders. Building for the future: Autodesk CEO Andrew Anagnost says construction is going to be vital for some time as nations improve infrastructure and meet growing demand for housing in Ireland and beyond Dublin's tech corridor welcomed a new addition last week when US company Autodesk, which specialises in construction and manufacturing software, formally opened its European office, completing a move from Switzerland. The company has been working in Dublin already and has 170 staff moving into its new headquarters, which house its engineering and support functions for the region as well as support, sales and human resources. It may not be a household name among tech royalty like Google, Facebook and Apple that already have a big presence in Ireland. However, the chances are that if you have not stepped into a building whose construction involved Autodesk, you soon will. While Ireland's low-tax environment for companies certainly helps, CEO Andrew Anagnost told the Irish Independent it was not the sole reason behind the move from Neuchatel, which itself is hardly a high-tax environment. "It certainly helps," Mr Anagnost said of the tax status here. "It changes the cost structure and it gives Ireland an advantage over other locations where the tax structure is not like that. "But we have a 20-year lease, so we are here and we are committed." Autodesk has been around since 1982 and is a provider of computer-aided-design software for the construction and manufacturing sectors. It has moved recently to a cloud-based subscription model for its software services. Last year it completed two large acquisitions to bolster its presence in the construction market, spending $875m (771m) on PlanGrid, a construction software company and $275m (242m) for BuildingConnected, a specialist in bid-management software. All of this sounds very esoteric, but the end product of the company's software can already be seen in the streets of Dublin and on its skyline, including the Guinness Storehouse, the Central Bank and the Samuel Beckett Bridge. Its recent acquisitions and the opening of the Dublin office are all part of a long-term plan that aims to put the company at the centre of the construction industry's workflow, which Mr Anagnost believes will enable the company to ride out the volatility of stock markets and the tech sector in general. Even the prospect of a dip in global economic growth, as the US economic cycle pushes on a 10-year expansion - the longest in history - doesn't dismay the company chief executive, an engineer with a PhD from Stanford whose career includes a stint at Nasa. "You can't plan by economic cycles, that is for companies that are just watching their profits and nothing else. There's a 'now' opportunity in our world," he said. If anything, a slowdown in economic growth and cost pressures in construction will intensify the push to use Autodesk's software. During the last downturn it was noticeable that IT spending in the industry expanded. "In the last downturn, construction IT spend continued to increase. The reason for that is if you are competing for a smaller pool of products then the digital contractor wins," Mr Anagnost said. For those commissioning construction projects, the key elements are to know how accurate a bid is and whether the project can be delivered on time, while for the building company it is essential to know whether a bid will be profitable. "There are lots of reasons to think that construction is going to be important for quite a long time. "Highways are in decline in countries, bridges need to be rebuilt, roads need to be rebuilt. "Right here in Ireland, there is a housing crisis [and you can] cut and paste that housing crisis to just about anywhere," he said. While the 'future' has already arrived for Autodesk in construction, it is still some way off in manufacturing. A productivity revolution, driven in part by software, has yet to be unleashed. The lack of productivity gains over the past decade and more has been taxing governments and economists, some of whom believe the 'productivity revolution' that drove incomes higher in the US and elsewhere has stalled. Without higher productivity, it becomes more difficult to keep mature economies growing. Despite the advent of life-changing tech in recent years, such as the smartphone, there has yet to be a second or third industrial revolution. That may be coming Mr Anagnost believes, and although it will yet again change the kind of jobs people have and cause disruption in the workplace, it will feed through into the wider economy. "Everybody you talk to in manufacturing knows a tsunami of change is coming, but the technology is not yet ready," he said. That will be unlocked by new technologies such as the rise of 3D printing and new design which will open a path to highly automated micro-factories where lots of different things can be built. For Autodesk to share in that future, it needs to compete in the global battle for top talent, which brings the focus back to Dublin. As a tech company based in the San Francisco Bay Area, Autodesk and Anagnost know at first hand what it is like to operate in an environment where there is a premium for the best talent and immense completion for the best brains. Despite frequent talk of a skills shortage in Dublin, there is a large pool of high-quality workers and Ireland is committed to free movement of people. "You can hire people here, you don't have any trouble getting people to move here. "We have relocated quite a few people. We have a lot of Irish talent, but we have been able to get people to move here - even from Singapore," Mr Anagnost said. Autodesk may even have found a way to keep hold of workers in the Dublin market, although it appeared to be a new one on Mr Anagnost. Did you see the pub? Its a real pub, I was a little shocked, there is a pub here. Taoiseach Leo Varadkar attends a session of the annual meeting of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, Thursday, Jan. 24, 2019. (Gian Ehrenzeller/Keystone via AP) At Davos being accused of operating a tax haven is practically a compliment - if you're not doing it, it's probably a sign that you're not as pro-business as you could be. But the problem for Leo Varadkar today was that he was publicly, brutally, undercut by his Polish counterpart in front of an audience of the world's most influential people. Mateusz Morawiecki made an emotive plea for an overhaul of Europe's tax system, taking a thinly veiled swipe at the Taoiseach sitting next to him. Mr Morawiecki invoked Poland's history with communism as a reason to create a 'level playing field' on tax. "For 50 years we couldn't develop...now in terms of taxation, in terms of many other critical systems for the social and economic environment, we need to take this into account to have a real level playing field." "There are tax havens in Europe which abuse their taxation systems to the detriment of other countries. And we should stop this because this is not helping the European Union to build trust towards each other. "I would be in favour of eliminating all tax havens from Europe because this would bring a level playing field." Mr Morawiecki said he was a strong supporter of the so-called digital tax - a levy on the revenues of big tech companies to which Ireland was opposed. Mr Varadkar, for his part, defended the Irish tax system, saying we are "forever closing tax loopholes". He said Ireland was opposed to the digital tax because it taxed revenues rather than profits. "The principles have to be that the tax is where value is created - not where there is turnover." It was the second time Poland has caused a problem for Mr Varadkar this week, with its foreign minister earlier this year suggestive a five-year limit on the backstop. With Brexit weeks away it's important for Ireland to demonstrate that the EU is united behind us as we come to the crunch. That did not happen today. To be sure, Poland has its own agenda. Hundreds of thousands of Poles live and work in the UK, and Britain is a reliable NATO ally. But we have an agenda too, and we need our EU partners to help carry it through. An elderly man has died in hospital following an accident on a farm in Co Clare earlier today. The 68-year-old is understood to have been helping a neighbour load cattle onto a trailer when the tragedy occurred around 8.30am. The accident happened near the village of Cooraclare in the west of the county. According to locals, the man wasnt a farmer himself but had been known to help local farmers and had experience working with cattle. The man was rushed by ambulance to University Hospital Limerick where he later died. A Garda spokesman has confirmed that a 68-year-old man was pronounced dead in hospital following an incident in Cooraclare. The spokesman added that an investigation is underway and that a file will be prepared for the county coroner in due course. A spokesman for the Health and Safety Authority (HSA) has also confirmed that they have launched their own investigation into the incident. A post-mortem examination is expected to carried out at University Hospital Limerick. The latest sale of Skimmed Milk Powder for EU intervention stores saw all Irish product removed from the system Sources in Brussels suggest that the latest intervention sale saw 18,514 tonnes of SMP sold at a minimum price of 1585t. The price was up from 1554.90 two weeks ago. It is understood that all Irish Stock has been now removed from the system with in the region of 4,000 t left in stock. The Commission's previous sale of SMP in intervention saw some 80,000t sold. The Commission has said that it helped to remove surpluses in a very imbalanced market scenario, playing a decisive role in stabilising prices between 2015 and 2017. This led to a total of 380,000 tonnes of skimmed milk powder being stored in warehouses across the European Union. The Commission opened at the end of 2016 a process of monthly and later bi-monthly public tenders to gradually and cautiously put these stocks back into the market to avoid any kind of disruption or negative effect on producers. Agriculture and rural development Commissioner Phil Hogan said the latest tender is a clear vindication of the Commission's prudential approach to the management of the stock of skimmed milk powder. "My objective, at all times, has been to use public intervention as a measure to protect farmers' incomes and, to that extent, we resisted calls over the last three years to reduce stocks through a number of ways or even by simply destroying the stocks. "None of these options would have achieved the outcome we have now achieved. Instead, our patient approach ensured that not only were European dairy farmers' incomes protected, but so too were the interests of the European taxpayer. Public intervention of skimmed milk powder has proven to be an effective tool, especially when used in a responsible and effective manner and today's and previous tenders are a clear demonstration of the European Commission's commitment to support European farmers when the circumstances demand it. "It also illustrates that the Common Agricultural Policy contains an effective safety net in the event of such market disturbance as we saw in the years 2014-2016." Is your business Brexit-ready? It's a question that Enterprise Ireland has been asking client companies for the best part of two-and-a-half years. Many can now answer that question in the affirmative. Others have done very little. The truth in business is that companies don't like uncertainty, so some firms have already done quite a lot. The state jobs agency says that over 80pc of firms have taken some actions. This isn't bad, but it depends on whether that means much more than having a meeting or committing something to paper. Enterprise Ireland has been all over Brexit from the start and it has laid out the implications as well as provided direct assistance. Yet for many firms, they either don't believe they can do anything until they see what happens, or in some cases they are ploughing ahead with Brexit-triggered changes even though Brexit hasn't happened yet. There are very few businesses which will put together a Brexit plan and then sit back and wait until the end of March to start implementing it. They are doing it now whether it is on a trial basis or indefinitely. Nowhere has this been more obvious than in the meat-processing sector. Since the Brexit referendum, the top three meat processors in Ireland have all spent millions acquiring or developing further processing capacity in the UK. Larry Goodman's ABP announced in 2017 that it was investing 19m expanding its plant in Perth in Scotland. Kepak spent an undisclosed sum buying the meat operations of 2Sisters in the UK. This gave it a further five facilities across the UK: three sites in Cornwall, in south-west England, as well as one in southern Wales and another in the north-east of Scotland. At the time, the Co Meath-based business described the deal as a "strategic growth acquisition". It said the move would be a hedge against Brexit and currency fluctuations, and would support its "meat-based, value-added business". Co Waterford-based Dawn Meats entered into a strategic partnership with rival, Dunbia, which saw it establish a new joint venture in the UK. Dunbia has two plants in the North and seven in Britain. This is seen as providing a Brexit buffer and securing its supply chain for the British market. So what if there was a second referendum and Brexit didn't happen? Or what if the British government eventually secures a much softer Brexit with a permanent customs union? These deals have been done. That genie is out of the bottle. Undoubtedly the threat of Brexit has shaped the investment decisions of these companies, which will want to ensure they are successful. Inevitably, these large meat processors had to make strategic decisions to protect their businesses. The longer term outcome for meat production could be negatively affected by Brexit, even if it didn't go ahead. The uncertainty around Brexit is already costing jobs in Ireland. One industrial supplier I spoke to has let people go because a large Irish buyer of his products is now sourcing them in the UK. The Irish buyer has switched supplier for this raw material and is saving money by sourcing more product in the UK and availing of a lower sterling. It is an example of an Irish company doing the right thing for its business. As an exporter of finished product, a weaker sterling is making its final product more expensive. If it can source some raw materials more cheaply in the UK, it can offset some of that loss. The casualty is the Irish supplier of those raw materials. The best advice will be that everybody should look at their own cost base, where they purchase and find new customers, whether they be in Ireland, the UK or in new markets. Unfortunately, a weaker sterling has severely challenged some businesses and they have lost out to the Brexit referendum before Brexit even happens. Those searching for new export markets know it is achievable but not easy. The issues with direct access to continental markets is a very real problem. There are businesses in Ireland which have only really ever exported to the UK. Depending on the age of the owner/manager, succession planning and the appetite for new longer term thinking, they may well be simply praying that the whole Brexit thing will just go away. I know of one Northern Ireland-based importer of home furnishings. This guy had a small solid lifestyle business importing from China for many years. The fall in sterling after the referendum wiped out his margin as he had to pay more for his product, but couldn't hike prices at home by the same amount. Brexit stopped his business in its tracks. We are no clearer about what the final outcome of the Brexit debacle will be. Such prolonged uncertainty is prompting more businesses to enact their Brexit plans ahead of any real change. It is proving painful. UK Prime Minister Theresa May has two options - retain the course towards her Brexit which may well precipitate a no-deal crash out or move towards a softer Brexit. She appears to have chosen the former. Her Plan B is basically a re-run of Plan A. No matter what the final outcome looks like, Brexit is re-casting the business relationship between Ireland and the UK and not always for the better. Rare opportunity: Uncle Toms Cabin, has been in the Collins family since 1890. The pub sits on a 0.8 acre site zoned Major Town Centre and Residential under the DLRCC Development Plan 2016 -2022 Rare opportunity: Uncle Toms Cabin, has been in the Collins family since 1890. The pub sits on a 0.8 acre site zoned Major Town Centre and Residential under the DLRCC Development Plan 2016 -2022 John Ryan of CBRE's hotel and licensed division is guiding a price in excess of 3.75m for the landmark south Dublin pub, Uncle Tom's Cabin. Located at the heart of Dundrum and immediately beside the high-profile Dundrum Town Centre, the premises sits on a site of 0.32 hectares (0.8 acres) which is zoned 'Major Town Centre' (MTC) and 'Residential' under the Dun Laoghaire / Rathdown Development Plan 2016-2022. Accordingly, the subject site presents a high-profile redevelopment opportunity subject to the necessary planning consents. The proximity of the site to Dundrum village is likely to appeal to a range of developers, retailers, investors, publicans and other high net worth purchasers seeking alternative investment opportunities. Uncle Tom's Cabin occupies a high-profile location on Dundrum Road close to Dundrum village and the iconic cable-stayed Luas bridge at Taney Cross. The pub is situated in a highly sought after and densely-populated residential suburb of south Dublin, which is well known as being the home of the Dundrum Town Centre, one of the largest and busiest shopping centres in Ireland. Dundrum itself enjoys excellent connectivity with easy access to the M50 motorway and the Luas light rail system. In addition, there are excellent bus connections to both Dublin city centre and Dublin Airport. Uncle Tom's Cabin in long-established licensed premises. The property is being sold on behalf of Tony Collins who is retiring after a lifetime of service within the licensed trade. The Collins family have traded from the premises for 129 years having acquired the property in 1890. In terms of its existing business, Uncle Tom's Cabin is an imposing, traditional-style licensed premises with extensive road frontage to Dundrum Road. The accommodation briefly comprises ground floor public bar, extensive lounge bar and compact catering kitchen facilities with a rear patio smoking area. There is a large basement with ample keg and bottle storage areas. On the first floor there is the former residential accommodation. John Ryan of CBRE says: "The sale of Uncle Tom's Cabin quite literally represents a once in a lifetime opportunity to acquire a high-profile site located in the heart of Dundrum as the property last came on the market in 1890 - 129 years ago!" Industrial property specialists, William Harvey, have secured a price of 7.555m on behalf of a group of private investors for a prime warehouse facility at Aerodrome Business Park in south west Dublin. Based on that sale price, the purchaser, Aviva Life & Pensions UK Ltd, can expect to secure a net initial yield of 5.19pc rising to 5.49pc. Located at the front of Aerodrome Business Park, Unit H extends to 4,290 sq m (46,177 sq ft) on a site of 2.97 acres. The low site density provides capacity for future expansion of the building. The subject property was purpose built for Fannin Ltd (not affected) in 2007. The warehouse benefits from a clear internal height of 12 m (39 ft) with no internal columns, together with both dock level and ground-level loading access. The service yard and expansion space areas are fully concrete surfaced. The lease is for 25 years from 2007 with the next rent review and break option due in 2027. The current annual rent of 425,000 steps to 450,000 in November 2022. Commenting on Aviva's acquisition of the property, Rhys Evans, Fund Manager of the Aviva Irish Property Fund said: "We are delighted to secure this asset, continuing our strategy of acquiring well-let assets within the Dublin market. The unit is well-specified and the occupier has excellent financial credentials which will deliver strong income performance for the Fund and its investors". The sale of Unit H was handled by Siobhan Convery and Philip Harvey of William Harvey. Peter Flanagan of Knight Frank acted for the purchaser. A worst case Brexit scenario could see thousands of jobs lost in Ireland, according to Simon Barry, chief economist at Ulster Bank Ireland. At a Brexit seminar hosted by the British Irish Chamber of Commerce at Ulster Bank in Dublin, Mr Barry said IDA Ireland figures showed that more than 55 firms, promising to create as many as 4,500 jobs, had invested in Ireland. However, he warned that unemployment could run into thousands in a worst case Brexit. In order to mitigate against Brexit, Ireland needs to fully understand our exposure to the UK, and pursue other markets for growth, he added. "Being able to spread the risk offers firms mitigation; but this is difficult for companies to achieve, and it can't be done overnight." With 64 days to go before Brexit, Mr Barry told delegates that the UK economy was starting to see Brexit impact confidence levels. "The further the UK ends up away from the current status quo, the bigger the damage facing the Irish economy," Mr Barry said. He added that the Irish economy was facing an economic loss of between 2pc-7pc, however Mr Barry said in a really adverse scenario the impact "could be much worse." Meanwhile Michael Hodson, director of asset management and investment banking at the Central Bank, said the regulatory would not reduce its standards when examining applications from companies that wish to set up in Ireland before the UK leaves the EU on March 29. Mr Hodson said the Central Bank remains committed to its regulatory gate keeper role, and while it continues to engage with companies that are looking at establishing in Ireland, "at this late stage we have to concentrate on firms that heeded our advice and engaged with us in a timely manner," he added. "We have no appetite for firms who have not done the work, or for firms that have no real intention in setting up a substantial business in Ireland, but rather just see their authorisation as a last resort for a hard Brexit". The event was opened by Minister for Financial Services and Insurance Michael DArcy TD, who told delegates that a no deal outcome to Brexit would be "the worst possible outcome" for Ireland, the UK, and the EU, describing Brexit as "a huge challenge". "Brexit is the overarching challenge for Ireland right now," Minister DArcy said. Noting the countrys close trading and geographical proximity to the UK, Minister DArcy said he looking forward to Ireland "trading with the UK with a new structure." "The Government has been consistent that there will be closest possibly relationship between Ireland and UK," he said. He also noted that the challenge of Brexit was bringing opportunities for Ireland in the form of companies looking to establish here, including Barclays Bank, JP Morgan, and Bank of America Merrill Lynch. He added that the Government would "continue to leverage its strategy to maximise opportunities to attract financial services." The company now known as Mold-A-Rama got its start in 1971, when it acquired about a dozen machines already in service at the Brookfield Zoo and the Museum of Science and Industry. It now has more than 60 machines throughout the Midwest, including at the Milwaukee County Zoo, the Henry Ford Museum in Dearborn, Mich., and the Como Park Zoo in St. Paul, Minn. TENANTS served with notices to quit a Dublin apartment block were given the option to renew their leases only two months ago. Residents of nine apartments in Riverwood Hall, Castleknock received letters in the post last week notifying them of the landlords intention to sell the properties. However, a number of tenants have revealed how they were asked to extend their rental agreements only eight weeks ago. A property manager with estate agent Hooke & MacDonald emailed tenants whose leases were due to expire on November 14 asking if they were happy to remain in the apartments. "If you are happy to remain in the property we will send out new leases to you for signing," the email said. Some tenants said they subsequently never received the leases. A family-of-four who have been living in Riverwood Hall for four years claim they were told they could lease their apartment for a further two years. "We were shocked to then get a letter in through the door saying we would have to leave within a matter of weeks... we've been looking around now and we're looking at having to pay an extra 800-900 to move elsewhere," one tenant said. Sinn Fein councillor Paul Donnelly said the notices "go against the spirit of the Tyrrelstown legislation". The Tyrellstown amendment was introduced in 2017 to prevent mass evictions whereby residents in single developments are served with termination notices simultaneously by a landlord in order to sell the entire development with vacant possession. It followed the high-profile attempt to terminate multiple tenancies in a development in Tyrrelstown, Dublin in 2016. I have had contact from a number of other residents over the past 24 hours who are desperately fearful of what is going to happen to them now, they said they have been desperately trying to get new accommodation but without any success," councillor Donnelly said. I have written to the estate agent involved and have asked that these families be given as much time as is needed to be able to secure appropriate accommodation. "I am also looking to ascertain if the real owner of the properties is now NAMA following the appointment of the receiver; if so, then the Taoiseach must step in to stop these evictions." Labour TD Joan Burton is calling for tenants to be given more time to consider their options. "This decision by landlords is mean spirited, coming so soon after Christmas and gives tenants grossly inadequate time to consider their options. "Some residents may qualify for the County Council home purchase scheme if their joint income is below 75,000 (or 50,000 single). Either way, residents need a lot more time to consider their options." Tenants were given the option of buying the properties and were told to advise the estate agent of any potential offer by Friday. A spokesperson for the appointed receiver from Grant Thornton said the notices are compliant with the Tyrellstown legislation as only 9 apartments have been issued termination notices and "Tyrellstown legislation is applicable to 10 properties and above". The tenants have been given an additional 28 days notice above statutory obligations to allow for alternative accommodation to be sought, the spokesperson added. A spokeswoman for Taoiseach Leo Varadkar said that he will "respond to any requests for assistance." She said in a statement: "None of Taoiseachs constituents have been in touch with him or his constituency office about as of yet. "He will look in to the matter and respond to any requests for assistance made in the normal way. "Laws to protect tenants have been considerably strengthened by the Government and it is against the law for a landlord to issue more than ten notices to quit in a development at any one time. "Also, long-standing tenants must be given several months notice so they have time to find an alternative place to rent." A spokesperson for Grant Thornton said: "I can confirm that, as administrator of the estate of Liam Maye, 9 tenants of Riverwood Hall were issued with notice of termination on the 14th January 2019. All tenants were given statutory notice plus an additional 28 days. "Tenants have also been given first right of refusal to purchase. There are no other properties or tenants to be affected in the future." The Irish Government is making contingency plans in case of a no-deal Brexit (PA) The Irish Government has published draft legislation for its no-deal Brexit contingency plans. The proposed law is set to be introduced into Parliament ahead of the March 29 deadline for the withdrawal of the UK from the EU. The omnibus Bill, known as the Miscellaneous Provisions (Withdrawal of the United Kingdom from the European Union on 29 March 2019) Bill, is made up of 17 parts and was prepared by nine ministers. The 95-page document is part of the Governments action plan in the event of a no-deal scenario. This is vital in the context of the Good Friday Agreement and the Northern Ireland Peace Process, as well as broader UK-Ireland relations.Department of Foreign Affairs In a statement, the Department of Foreign Affairs said that while the ratification of the Withdrawal Agreement is still the Governments preferred outcome, the publication of the draft Bill is the next step in a series of measures being taken in preparation for the possibility of no-deal. The proposed laws cover a wide range of areas including citizens rights, healthcare, transport, education and energy. Protecting and maintaining the Common Travel Area and the associated rights and privileges it affords is a key part of the Governments plans. This is vital in the context of the Good Friday Agreement and the Northern Ireland Peace Process, as well as broader UK-Ireland relations, the statement read. Both the Irish and British governments have committed to maintaining the Common Travel Area in all circumstances. A number of the measures, in particular in the areas of healthcare, transport, energy and education, aim to support North-South co-operation arrangements. The department said: This co-operation brings tangible benefits to the daily lives of people in the border region and contributes to economic opportunity and development. It is also a very practical outworking of the peace process which allows for the normalisation of relationships between people across the island, to mutual benefit. Expand Close Several measures also aim to support North-South co-operation arrangements (Niall Carson/PA) / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Several measures also aim to support North-South co-operation arrangements (Niall Carson/PA) A spokesman for the department said the Bill focuses on areas that need to be addressed urgently and immediately through primary legislation. For example on health, the proposed legislation would allow the Health Minister and the HSE, as appropriate, to cover the cost of healthcare provided in the UK under the same conditions as currently. This means that where treatments are not provided under the Irish healthcare system or if an Irish person becomes ill while on a visit to the UK and needs immediate care, they will continue to be looked after. The Bill outlines that EU student grants will continue to be paid to those who are studying in the UK. It also states 21 social protection benefits, including pensions, illness benefits and child benefit, that have a UK element will continue to be paid. On transport, the draft laws would give a statutory basis for cross-border rail and bus services. The Bill ensures extradition arrangements between Ireland the UK are maintained post-Brexit. It also facilitates the ongoing immigration co-operation arrangements that are already in place. The proposals also aim to ensure there is protection in place for consumers who have already bought financial service products before the date of Brexit. On energy, the Bill will allow for the continued operation of the all-island single electricity market in the context of a no-deal Brexit, pending longer term provisions in this area. A Government spokesman said ministers will work closely with opposition parties to ensure necessary legislation is passed through the Oireachtas before the UK leaves the EU at the end of March. This would mean that at committee stage, the proposed legislation could be debated on the floor of the House instead of at committees to help speed up the process of the legislation becoming enacted. There is an argument, heard as often from his friends as from his enemies, that Donald Trump is a completely new type of American president, of a different class, of a different mindset and with different priorities from his predecessors. For his friends, his uniqueness imbues him with a special sort of disruptive, anti-Washington, appeal. For his enemies, it offers the hope that, because he is the first and last of his kind, the US will return to a reassuringly predictable normality once he is gone. This view is held particularly by mainstream Democrats in the United States and by appalled Europeans abroad. But is this true, or is something else going on? And if something else is going on, what is it? My exhibit A for something else is the destructive mayhem currently playing out in Venezuela. This Latin American basket-case has returned to the world news with a vengeance. The latest flare-up was prompted by the inauguration of Nicolas Maduro for a second presidential term, following elections last year, which were branded fraudulent and boycotted by the opposition. Now, after two weeks of unrest and more than a dozen deaths, the United States has recognised Juan Guaido, the chairman of the elected National Assembly, as the lawful president, and a whole slew of mainly Western countries have followed suit. The oil-dependent economy has been in meltdown for years; a tenth of the 30 million-plus population has left the country, and a great many more, stripped by poverty of all vestige of human dignity, would have no hesitation in leaving if they could. Now, following the US move, there is not only a tussle for power in Venezuela, with the military as yet standing by Maduro, but a sharp divide between foreign governments in how they view developments. While Donald Trump described Maduros rule as illegitimate and praised Venezuelans for having courageously spoken out ... and demanded freedom and the rule of law, Russia through the Kremlin spokesman was as forthright on the other side. It was, the spokesman said, a US attempt to usurp sovereign authority in Venezuela, which risked a direct path to bloodshed and constituted a violation of international law. And while Canada, Brazil and six other South American states lined up behind the US, another group Cuba, Mexico, Bolivia and Turkey all backed Maduro. Does any of this from the US de-legitimising of Maduro to the geopolitical divisions remind you of anything? Why, of course, it is an almost exact replay of what was a staple of the Cold War years. US attempts by fair means or foul, to determine what happened in what it regarded as its own back yard, and third countries in difficulty laying themselves open to proxy superpower wars. Wind back the news bulletins four decades or so, and you had Nicaragua and El Salvador and the death of Salvador Allende in Chile dominating the headlines. This time around, the proxy war remains so far in the sphere of words. There is scant evidence, though suspicion aplenty, of direct CIA involvement. And the illegality might be a little more blurred than in the past, with Guaido resting his claim to power on a provision that obliges the National Assembly chairman to take over in the absence of the president, much hinging, of course, on the definition of absence. But it is not hard to see here, and to sense in the response of Donald Trump, a rather old-fashioned US approach to what it regards as somewhere close to home. Recent presidents may have fought wars in other continents, whether to curb communism, secure oil supplies or spread democracy, but Trump who came to office on a pledge to keep out of foreign wars and has honoured that, as far as his top brass have allowed might be seen as a Monroe Doctrine type of guy, holding to an older way of looking at things, where America First fits right in. Support free-thinking journalism and attend Independent events Engineering regime change in Venezuela would suit such a president, for both doctrinal and practical reasons. It would suit him in part because Maduro has continued the socialist model of development pursued by his predecessor, Hugo Chavez a model inimical to everything Trump holds dear. And it would suit him, too, because the exodus of Venezuelans from this failed economy has swollen the numbers of migrants trying to reach the United States, thus supporting his border wall agenda. Lets move to exhibits B and C, and consider whether there is more evidence of Donald Trump, not as a unique phenomenon, but as a continuation of what came before. Exhibit B would be the current government shutdown. There are those who regard this shutdown of the federal government as unprecedented. In fact, it is without precedent only in its length, and not yet by much. For all the hardship that it causes to employees and recipients of state benefits, it is the standard way in which US legislatures and executives test their strength. This stand-off is inevitably more bitter than many because of the resistance to Trump in Washington and the sense of mission with which the Democrats took control of the House of Representatives. The likely postponement of the presidents State of the Union address is emblematic, but it sets Trump apart in his staying power rather than anything else. He is a transactional politician, a bargainer, who will try harder than most to face his opponent down. And exhibit C would be the overall shape of Trumps foreign policy as it is emerging. Along with a return to some old preoccupations, as exemplified by his response to Venezuela, there is his use of presidential clout to address particular US interests China, North Korea and his relative neglect of Europe as well as his scepticism about active involvement in the Middle East (as opposed to the pre-emptive stationing of troops in Gulf bases). To these should also be added his initial desire to engage with Russia just as Cold War presidents tried to do, with varying degrees of success, with the Soviet Union. That todays congress will not grant to him what it granted to them in terms of freedom to talk to Moscow is likely to be a source of frustration until he leaves office, whenever that is. In sum, Donald Trump does not seem to me to be a new type of American president, or unique. He is something else, but it is not something entirely unfamiliar. In his self-centred approach to the legislature, he seems in many ways to distil old-style presidential power. And in his priorities and his worldview, far from representing anything new, he seems rather a throwback to an earlier American age. Before Europeans become too hopeful for eventual change, however, that does not mean that such attitudes will depart with him. That they have resurfaced after so long suggests that they run deeper than his many critics might think. Ever since the governments Brexit deal was voted down Theresa May and Jeremy Corbyn have been waiting for each other to expose their king chess pieces. For Corbyn that is May ruling out a no-deal Brexit or offering a permanent customs union to add to her withdrawal agreement. If the prime minister were to make such moves then the ERG and many members of the cabinet would be incandescent with rage. Worse still, the DUP could deliver on the threat to terminate their confidence and supply arrangement with the Conservatives for ratifying a deal with a legally binding backstop. The government could then lose a vote of no confidence. Corbyn exposing his king to May would be throwing his weight behind a second referendum. The Conservatives calculate that Corbyn supporting another plebiscite would damagingly divide Labours membership and lead to a backlash from many Labour MPs in Leave-supporting seats. In lieu of either leader being able to claim checkmate which few are holding out much hope for the question is whether parliament can provide itself with a mechanism to wrest control of the Brexit process from the government. Amendments to the governments Brexit motion introduced this week aim to create several. The ones tabled by Yvette Cooper and Dominic Grieve in particular would even enable MPs to control the order of business in the Commons. This control can be used to programme the passage of a piece of legislation, such as the bill Yvette Cooper introduced to mandate the government to seek a nine month extension to Article 50. If a majority of MPs voted for such legislation then it could conceivably clear the Commons in a single day, just like the recent legislation on a budget for Northern Ireland. Importantly, the government would have no power to stop MPs advancing the bill in this chamber. There have been interventions from people such as Jacob Rees-Mogg saying that the government could ask the Queen to prorogue parliament to stop Yvette Coopers bill in its tracks. There have also been suggestions that the Queen should be advised to block the bills Royal Assent. These calls for an outlandish use of monarchical power are unnecessary. The middle of the bills passage its stages in the House of Lords provides a far easier opportunity to block it. Support free-thinking journalism and attend Independent events Conventional wisdom suggests that the legislation would clear this chamber as rapidly as it cleared the Commons, given that most of its 800 members are opposed to Brexit. This is not the case. The Lords is completely self-governing, and unlike those who sit on the green benches down the corridor its members can speak for as long as they like and filibuster to their hearts content. No guillotine motions can be introduced to silence a member or stop them from dancing on the Queens throne. The Coalition government discovered this reality when Labour frontbenchers and crossbenchers in the Lords threatened to filibuster the legislation required to deliver the 2011 referendum on AV. Peers know that normally it is futile to obstruct or talk out legislation that a majority in the Commons support. MPs could simply trigger the Parliament Act and bypass the Lords 12 months later, as Blair did over the banning of fox hunting. But a year is too long to wait given that the Article 50 clock runs out in fewer than 70 days time. This poses the question of what the government might do if a bill it opposed were to end up in the Lords. Would ministers on the benches of the second chamber filibuster it? This would run contrary to Theresa Mays speech where she promised to respect the will of parliament after losing the vote on her Brexit deal. Another option for the government might be to happily sit on its hands as proponents of Brexit in the Lords, such as Norman Lamont or Peter Lilley, obstruct all five stages of any legislation that doesnt deliver on the 2016 referendum. They could even be encouraged to by ministers. The UKs constitution would certainly be pushed to the breaking point, but isnt that to be expected when a parliamentary democracy disagrees with the decision asked of its people? Most folk outside the United States and until this month, most Americans wont have heard of Michelle Alexander. Shes a civil rights lawyer and academic and has written a book called The New Jim Crow, and a few months ago The New York Times took her on as a regular columnist. Like millions of black and white Americans, shes a devotee of Martin Luther King Jr. And last week, she began her op-ed in the Old Gray Lady of record and one-time conservatism with a long and admiring tribute to the black, Christian, nonviolent civil rights campaigner who, just a year before his 1968 assassination, decided he must speak out about the disaster of the Vietnam war. He had been told to soft-pedal the conflict which had by then cost the lives of 10,000 Americans, but which was still supported by the political establishment. So even though he would be falsely accused of being a communist, he chose to break his silence. So far, so good. But last week, Alexander chose to break her own silence. Not about racism in the US or about second-class citizenship or Trump, but about the Palestinians. Whoops! Palestinians clash with Israeli troops during mass demonstrations Show all 10 1 /10 Palestinians clash with Israeli troops during mass demonstrations Palestinians clash with Israeli troops during mass demonstrations Palestinian protesters flee from teargas AFP/Getty Palestinians clash with Israeli troops during mass demonstrations Israeli soldiers stand as Palestinian protesters gather on the Israel Gaza border AP Palestinians clash with Israeli troops during mass demonstrations A Palestinian is carried on a stretcher after being injured during the demonstration AFP/Getty Palestinians clash with Israeli troops during mass demonstrations Israeli soldiers take aim as they lie prone over an earth barrier along the border with the Gaza strip in the southern Israeli kibbutz of Nahal Oz as Palestinians demonstrate on the other side commemorating Land Day AFP/Getty Palestinians clash with Israeli troops during mass demonstrations Palestinian paramedics evacuate an injured man on the Gaza side of the Israel-Gaza border Reuters Palestinians clash with Israeli troops during mass demonstrations Palestinians demonstrate with crossed-out posters depicting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and US President Donald Trump, during a tent city protest near Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza Strip AFP/Getty Images Palestinians clash with Israeli troops during mass demonstrations Palestinian protesters flee from teargas AFP/Getty Palestinians clash with Israeli troops during mass demonstrations Israeli soldiers shoot tear gas grenades towards the Palestinian tent city protest commemorating Land Day AFP/Getty Palestinians clash with Israeli troops during mass demonstrations Palestinian protesters take cover from Israeli troops AP Palestinians clash with Israeli troops during mass demonstrations Palestinians chant slogans as they attend a demonstration near the Gaza Strip border AP For not only did she reiterate Kings belief that Israel must return parts of its then newly conquered territories East Jerusalem, the West Bank, Gaza and Golan but she launched into a long, eloquent, rather patronising, self-indulgent but courageous condemnation of Israels outrageous treatment of the Palestinians. Like King, she had been silent on one of the great moral challenges of our time along with the US congress, civil rights activists and students but further silence on Israel and the Palestinians, she decided, would be betrayal. If they had been wise, Israels friends, supporters and lobbyists in America might have held their peace. After the election of Rashida Tlaib and Ilhan Omar to congress both supporting the boycott, divestment and sanctions campaign against Israel the states comrades-in-arms might have dismissed Alexander as a parvenu, a hitherto respected scholar who had tried to advance her social status by adopting the Palestinian cause in Kings shadow with neither the knowledge nor political support to sustain her. But no. The sky fell. She was vicious in her views, wrong on facts, potentially antisemitic, a strategic threat to Israel itself. Her article was dangerously flawed, an error-ridden rant that ignored Palestinian violence and terrorism. It was a sign of just how shaken Israels friends have become in an America that is breaking the old taboo on US-Israeli relations and Washingtons permanent acquiescence in Israels illegal colonisation of Arab land that even that old artillery-piece Alan Dershowitz was trundled out onto his Harvard battlements to take aim at one of the most biased, poorly informed and historically inaccurate columns about the conflict between Israel and Palestine ever published by a mainstream newspaper. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez sparks controversy after referring to the 'occupation' of Palestine Like one of those magnificent iron cannons which tourists are expected to admire on ancient fortress walls, Dershowitz hurled forth barrage after barrage at Alexander. She condemned the bulldozing of Palestinian homes without mentioning that these are the homes of terrorists who murder Jewish children, women, and men. She bemoaned casualties in Gaza without mentioning that many of these casualties were human shields from behind whom Hamas terrorists fire rockets at Israeli civilians. But this sort of gunfire is now regarded as so inaccurate that Americans especially in the Democratic Party are beginning to ask themselves just what is really going on in Israel and the occupied Palestinians lands. Not once in his own rant did Dershowitz mention the massive Israeli Jewish colonisation project which is stealing land from Arab Palestinians for Jews and Jews only on the West Bank. Is the boycott and divestment campaign against Israel which Alexander supports along with congresswomen Tlaib and Omar really delegitimising Israel, as her critics claim? Or is Israel delegitimising itself by confiscating land which does not belong to it? Recommended Bernie Sanders could still be US president in 2020 The real reason for all the battlefield smoke, of course, has less to do with Alexanders robust if occasionally cringe-making assault on Israeli injustice towards Palestinians as it does her scholarly background as a black civil rights worker who might understand what injustice really means, and the dangerous fissures appearing within the Democratic Party over Americas automatic, uncritical, all-appeasing and fearful support for Israel. Its easy to accuse a white American of being an antisemite for breaking the silence over US-Israeli shenanigans; quite another to condemn a black American without giving the impression that such condemnation is not itself racist. Recommended Netanyahu is paying the price for his aggression towards Gaza And just read what Alexander actually wrote. If the US is to honour Kings message and not merely the man, she insisted, we must condemn Israels actions: unrelenting violations of international law, continued occupation of the West Bank, East Jerusalem, and Gaza, home demolitions and land confiscations. We must cry out at the treatment of Palestinians at checkpoints, the routine searches of their homes and restrictions on their movements. Americans should question the US government funds that have supported multiple hostilities [sic] and thousands of civilian casualties in Gaza, as well as the $38bn the US government has pledged in military support to Israel. There are the usual mistakes, of course. Gaza is technically no longer occupied since Israel closed its settlements there in 2005. But since the Gaza Strip is under economic and military siege, its land and sea borders sealed, its territory at the mercy of Israeli bombs and shells each time Hamas fires its real but inaccurate rockets into Israel often in retaliation for Israeli raids into Gaza itself its nitpicking to claim that this does not constitute a form of occupation. As Alexander added, we must not tolerate Israels refusal even to discuss the right of Palestinian refugees to return to their homes, as prescribed by United Nations resolutions without mentioning that these were unbinding UN General Assembly resolutions and that few Palestinians inside the West Bank and Gaza let alone in the vast Palestinian diaspora really believe that the 1948 refugees and their descendants will return to property inside what is now Israel. The host of critics, in Israel as well as the US, who now assault the latest taboo-breaking liberal American academic probably do realise just how serious Alexanders op-ed could turn out to be. They complain that infinitely worse assaults on human rights have occurred in Syria, Iraq, Chechnya, Kurdistan. True. But Israels role as an American ally changes such equations. The Syrians, the Iraqis, the ocean of Arab dictators and their torturers, the Russians in Ukraine and the Turks in Kurdistan do not claim to represent us, except insofar as they all now trumpet their apocalyptic battle against world terror. But the Israelis say they are just like us, that they represent our values of democracy and freedom, that they are upholding our freedoms, that Israel and America must be inseparable. And then they treat the Palestinians with brutality, deny their nationhood, steal and colonise their lands and expect us to shut up. Support free-thinking journalism and attend Independent events The very blackmail which has been historically used against US politicians, diplomats, journalists and academics that they are antisemitic if they dare to express their outrage at Israels actions is one of Alexanders targets. The fear engendered by the Canary Mission website, which lists pro-Palestinian students and professors, and local US legislation that can deprive American citizens of their livelihood if they choose to boycott products from a foreign country called Israel, is causing real anger. Thats why attempts to ram through new legislation against boycott movements is being opposed by Bernie Sanders and his colleagues. The silence which Alexander is breaking on the Middle East represents the very threat to American free speech which Sanders whether or not hes a presidential candidate in 2020 has identified. Yet now weve reached another weird precedent in the efforts of Israels supposed friends to silence Alexander. For many of them are now telling her what Martin Luther King would have said if he were alive today. He was a Zionist, they tell her. He would repudiate her views. So a black woman academic must now be told how she should interpret the thoughts and example of her own iconic and inspirational black leader. And if the brave and liberal members of Americas Jewish community who condemn Israel are regularly smeared as self-hating Jews, what does that make Alexander? If Britain ends up staying inside the European Union it will be a shock to both systems. All those inside the EU contemplating its breakup, or the weakening of its institutions, will have to seek a different game plan. But what should remain and reform mean for the left? Ive toured European capitals in 2018 explaining my answer to centre-left politicians and it tends to make their faces drain of blood: scrap the Lisbon Treaty and redesign the project. The Europe of the 21st century needs to be statist, dirigist and offer a future of high welfare and wages to its 500 million citizens, or it will not survive. Though it needs to defeat the economic nationalism currently rising among its discontented populations, it needs to become (within limits) economically nationalist on behalf of the union itself. Because, by enshrining neoliberal economics in a treaty, and activating its lesser-known counterpart German ordoliberalism, the Lisbon Treaty of 2007 has profoundly weakened Europe as an economic bloc, and as a concept. From Maastricht onwards, the deflationary politics of austerity were mandated for the eurozone. But Lisbon went further, giving the European Court of Justice the irreversible constitutional power to override left wing, pro-growth policies. Brexit deal vote: Opposing groups of protesters gather by parliament Show all 20 1 /20 Brexit deal vote: Opposing groups of protesters gather by parliament Brexit deal vote: Opposing groups of protesters gather by parliament Brexit supporters outside parliament PA Brexit deal vote: Opposing groups of protesters gather by parliament An anti-Brexit protester adjusts her pro-EU wig AFP/Getty Brexit deal vote: Opposing groups of protesters gather by parliament A message to Jeremy Corbyn in support of a peoples vote Getty Brexit deal vote: Opposing groups of protesters gather by parliament A mock Titanic captained by Theresa May heads towards an iceberg in a stunt by campaigning group Avaaz AP Brexit deal vote: Opposing groups of protesters gather by parliament Anti-Brexit protesters outside parliament PA Brexit deal vote: Opposing groups of protesters gather by parliament Protesters of opposing sides are in close contact outside of parliament PA Brexit deal vote: Opposing groups of protesters gather by parliament Paintings of Theresa May and Jeremy Corbyn Getty Brexit deal vote: Opposing groups of protesters gather by parliament Former Ukip leader Nigel Farage speaks to the media at the protests outside parliament Reuters Brexit deal vote: Opposing groups of protesters gather by parliament A pro-Brexit protester in Parliament Square Getty Brexit deal vote: Opposing groups of protesters gather by parliament Opposing protesters share the space outside parliament Getty Brexit deal vote: Opposing groups of protesters gather by parliament An anti-Brexit protester holds EU balloons outside parliament Reuters Brexit deal vote: Opposing groups of protesters gather by parliament Anti-Brexit protesters stand on Westminster Bridge PA Brexit deal vote: Opposing groups of protesters gather by parliament Former Ukip leader Nigel Farage speaks to the media at the protests outside parliament Reuters Brexit deal vote: Opposing groups of protesters gather by parliament Anti-Brexit protesters demonstrate outside the Houses of Parliament EPA Brexit deal vote: Opposing groups of protesters gather by parliament A pro-Brexit protester sets up outside parliament Reuters Brexit deal vote: Opposing groups of protesters gather by parliament An Avaaz campaigner holds a Peoples Vote life float Reuters Brexit deal vote: Opposing groups of protesters gather by parliament A demonstrator holds a sign advocating a no-deal Brexit outside parliament AFP/Getty Brexit deal vote: Opposing groups of protesters gather by parliament An anti-Brexit protester waves an EU flag on Westminster Bridge PA Brexit deal vote: Opposing groups of protesters gather by parliament Protesters of opposing sides demonstrate outside parliament AFP/Getty Brexit deal vote: Opposing groups of protesters gather by parliament Protesters of opposing sides stand near parliament Reuters If the worlds economy were stable, that might only be of detriment to socialists. But since 2008 numerous crises have hit the world order, of which the financial crisis was only the first. The slow, inadequate and one-sided response of the eurozone authorities to the financial crisis is well documented. It produced mass unemployment in the periphery, full employment with a crumbling infrastructure in northern Europe. Alongside this, from around 2013, began the fragmentation of the rules-based geopolitical order. It is the stated intent of Vladimir Putin to make Europe the chessboard across which three multipolar global powers fight for influence: Russia, China and the USA. Since the election of Donald Trump in 2016, its clear that the USA has become an unreliable ally for those who want to keep Europe wedded to a democratic, independent but basically Atlanticist orientation. So, to put it bluntly, we have an economic model that only works for Germany, Austria and the Netherlands; declining consent for democracy and social liberalism; and a strong geopolitical player in the east actively trying to exacerbate the economic and political fragmentation of Europe. Meanwhile, in the critical technologies of the 21st century, European strategy is lagging far behind. We face in the USA, China and Japan economic superpowers with a clear economic, nationalist and dirigist approach to investment and innovation. China overtly, and the USA by default, both operate policies of technological sovereignty, promoting the interest of their national champions (Google, Amazon, Apple, Facebook and Tencent and Alibaba). Europe is designed to be incapable of responding. Recommended Remaining in EU better for UK economy than any kind of Brexit says IMF Once you understand the problem the answers write themselves. Europe must break with austerity. It must embrace smart state intervention to promote and defend hi-tech innovation. We need to reject the Lisbon strictures against state aid and state ownership, and the philosophy that underpins them needs to be driven out of the technocratic and corporate culture. To address the problems created by freedom of movement, the left should fight for a Europe-wide employment policy, with incentives and disincentives, aimed at forcing welfare and wage levels upwards in eastern Europe. To the extent that the corrupt, right-wing nationalist governments of the east obstruct this, we should be prepared to create a two-speed Europe, and even to lose member states that cannot abide by the Copenhagen criteria, which say that rigging your own elections, and controlling the press, are not compatible with EU membership. This strategy of tough love for Europe may not succeed. Even the people groping towards it, such as Thomas Piketty with his asset tax plan and Yanis Varoufakis with his Democracy in Europe movement, are too timid and cannot find the language to inspire the working class victims of eurozone-imposed austerity. Likewise the German business elite, and its allies in Austria, Hungary and the Netherlands, seem content to go on gaming the eurozone to create stagnation for everybody else. Support free-thinking journalism and attend Independent events If they continue to do this, the left would have to retreat to a second trench, positing the strategy of social justice at primarily national level. The trailblazers here are Jean-Luc Melenchon in France and the Aufstehen movement in Germany: with every hour of inaction and complacency by the European centre, their arguments grow stronger. But as long as the possibility remains to remain, reform and restructure Europe, it is worth fighting for resolutely. Resolutely in this case means the slogan: scrap Lisbon and start again. Paul Mason wrote this piece as part of the Best for Britain series of articles Staying and Rebuilding. You can find out more here Donald Trump has promptly recognised formerly-unknown quantity Juan Guaido as his interim president of Venezuela. Without taking the trouble to wait for elections, Guaido proclaimed himself president and swore himself before almighty God and the cameras. Pictures reproduced around the world show him holding a constitution, approved during Hugo Chavezs administration, with liberator Simon Bolivar on its cover. The stunt is supposed to send a message to millions of Venezuelans outside the mostly urban, middle-upper class strongholds of the right-wing opposition, and the world, who before yesterday had never heard of Mr Guaido, that he too recognises the Bolivarian foundations of the Republic, historical and more recent. But neither God nor Trump and staged spectacle provide legitimacy or cover for what this is: a coup. Most Venezuelans would recognise it as such. Engineered from outside, decorated with a thin constitutional patina. Interventions like this, using lawfare rather than warfare, have now become a norm in the region. But they arent new. Its the exact same script of the 1973 coup against the also democratically elected, also socialist president of Chile, Salvador Allende. As US-imposed economic sanctions deepened an economic crisis caused by industrialist strikes, retail boycotts, currency failure, lack of imports and thereafter political division and paralysis, Allende too was accused of usurpation of power by a right-wing legislature. The rest is history, or tragedy. A similarly farcical script has been followed recently in the region, as the US struggled to react to democratic left-wing, progressive governments in places like Honduras, Paraguay or Brazil. This doesnt mean the threat of force is absent. Last year, world media reported that Trump had stunned his White House security advisors asking for an invasion of Venezuela. He was told by General HR McMaster such an option would alienate US allies in the region. Recommended May throws weight behind Venezuelan opposition leader amid protests But now McMaster is gone and the hemispheric landscape has changed: in Colombia liberal Juan Santos has been replaced by an appointee of the notorious neo-con Alvaro Uribe, whose own counter-terrorist dirty war displaced close to seven million people (no humanitarian interventions back then); neo-fascist Bolsonaro rules Brazil supported by Argentinas conservative Macri who is facing deep economic troubles of his own, and pro-Pinochet Pinera is in Chile. In fact, vice-president Mike Pence said yesterday that although Trump dislikes interventions elsewhere he thinks differently about this hemisphere. This is as explicit a reinstatement of the old Monroe and Manifest Destiny doctrine as you can get. Under the doctrine, the US has historically held its responsibility to intervene in its backyard by all means necessary. Thats why the White House declared yesterday it would remain vigilant of developments on the ground, keeping all options on the table. Which means hoping for a heavy-handed response by Maduros government that would provide moral justification for an intervention perhaps approved by the Organisation of American States, whose current leadership responds to Americas commands, on humanitarian grounds or the Responsibility to Protect doctrine, in defence of democracy, constitutionalism and human rights. Bolsonaro and the like as self-proclaimed humanitarian leaders in the region will be fooling no one. Hence the condemnation by the other powerhouse in the region, Mexico, and outright refusals by Bolivia (next in line), Uruguay or the Cubans who know a thing or two about these things. To staunchly reject Guaidos move as an external intervention isnt to endorse everything Maduro has done. Its true that Venezuelas problems are dire, and the responsibility ultimately lies with the government. Theres plenty to criticise about late or misguided economic measures, corruption, and power-hoarding. None of these things can justify nor disguise a coup. Moreover, staunch refusal of this coup becomes all the more necessary now that the winds of war are being fanned with uncertain global consequences. Further economic sanctions already promised by the White House will have no other effect than punishing already suffering Venezuelans, causing millions more to leave. They know that. The US also said theyll re-direct oil revenues towards the new Venezuelan government, in a rare admission that the latter is unlikely to gain control over state institutions and they, the US, controls the cheque book. Since the White House acknowledges the relative weakness of lawfare options, theyre surely contemplating more muscular ones. Trump counts on Colombias Uribe appointee and Brazils Bolsonaro to support a military option, welcoming US bases, advisers or contributing troops of their own if needed. The prospect of a smaller number or no US troops involved in a multi-regional humanitarian effort against a communist dictator would seem palatable, to say nothing of the electoral spoils of a just war and distraction from impeachment proceedings. But many in Venezuela, including Maduros critics whore still Bolivarians, fear more the prospect of intervention and right-wing purge than Maduros alleged incompetence. Further, as Chavez once put it apropos of Allendes historical precedent, the people may be democrats but unlike the Chileans theyre armed. Would they stand by or happily cheer the intervention? Furthermore, theres China and Russia. Theyve rejected US-backed intervention. Russia vowed to come to its allys defence. Is this the beginning of the next worlds crisis? Oscar Guardiola-Rivera teaches human rights and philosophy at Birkbeck College, University of London There are two Davos meetings. There is the one that you read about in the papers or see on TV. It is the Davos of the presidents and prime ministers hobnobbing with the celebrities. It is the Davos of the earnest speeches by billionaires about the need for greater equality in the world, a pitch slightly tarnished by the record number this year of private aircraft bringing their important occupants to the meeting. And it is the Davos of the demos about the state of the world that challenge the Davos man globalist ethos. But there is another Davos, which gets zero publicity, and which is just as important actually, more so. This goes back to the origin of the meeting in 1971 when a professor at Geneva University, Klaus Schwab, created the European Management Forum, where the heads of European businesses could meet, talk, ski, and do business together in a relaxed place. Late January is low season for the Alps and Davos was delighted to be able to fill its rooms at discounted rates. Those cheap rates have certainly changed as the conference has grown, and Im afraid the informality has gone too. It has gone global, rather than just European, and the genius of Klaus Schwab was to steer it though this transformation. But what has not changed is the business case for this sort of informal gathering. 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 It costs a company upwards of 500k to send a small team there and that is without the cocktail party or the private jet. But if you can see the heads of, say 12 of your top 20 customers in two days rather than having to fly round the world to each of them, the cost becomes more worthwhile. So it is the tens of thousands of little meetings, sometimes one-on-one, sometimes more formal, that really matter. They fall into three groups. There are the straightforward commercial meetings between businesses. You talk to your customers, suppliers, government representatives, regulators and so on. The meetings are all set up in advance and with a clear agenda. The second group is the less structured meetings between business leaders and the non-business groups that the forum has invited to the meeting. The organisers add glamour by inviting Prince William to interview Sir David Attenborough, but below this level they ask a group of writers, artists, academics to give presentations. It is nice for the professionals to have this platform to promote their ideas, but it is useful for someone engrossed in running a business to meet people at the top of their game in quite different fields. Out of these meetings come continuing relationships. I know of one occasion where an oil giant hired an environmental consultant they met at Davos to look at the impact their drilling policies was having on recruitment. They found they could no longer attract top graduates and had to find out why. But it is the third group of informal meetings that is the most interesting of all. It is hard for most of the rest of us to understand the scale of the decisions facing chief executives, and the lack of knowledge on which they take them. One duff call perhaps a botched takeover and your career is wrecked, and you have lost a lot of other peoples money. What happens at Davos is the unplanned and unintended interchange. I know of one company that pulled out of Russia following a chance meeting in Davos, and was very glad to have done so. And this year? Of course these chance meetings cannot be predicted or even documented, and I am not there this year anyway. But what I think one can see is the areas where you would look for changes of direction by the business community. One huge topic is the future of globalisation, which is where I believe a retreat from the complex global supply chains that multinationals have lumbered themselves with will emerge. Yes, it may be cheaper, but does it make strategic sense? Another obvious area is coping with populism. If you are by education, background and job, part of the elite, it is tough to accept that this anti-elitist tide may flow for another generation before it ebbs. So how do you turn this to a positive opportunity? Are there people in Davos who can help? Support free-thinking journalism and attend Independent events Another challenge is coping with the change in the balance of power in the world. This year President Bolsonaro of Brazil, just three weeks into the job, is advertising investment into his country: This trip is a great opportunity for me to showcase to the world the unique point in time my country is going through, he said. Yeah, maybe. Brazil was one of Goldman Sachss famous BRICs, but has disappointed over the past 15 years. Will it continue to underplay its natural advantages? If it gives the new president the opportunity to showcase the country, it also gives potential investors the opportunity to sniff the air and judge whether he is for real. I also think, and hope, that the initiative on mental health will lead somewhere. To be brutal, if a company chief executive realises that having a more active approach to its employees mental health can feed through to the bottom line, then that company will change its policies. If one does, others will follow. I would be surprised if there is not some action following the meetings on mental health there this week. Davos works. It wont forever, and I dont think it will long outlive Klaus Schwab. But the world does need something like it precisely because of the business it does, not the headlines it makes. The transformation will require some temporary downtime, Felker said, with idled hourly workers getting 75 percent of their pay until the plant resumes operation. There are no changes planned for the size of the plant's workforce with the new SUV line. Todays arrest of Alex Salmond marks a new chapter in the polices investigations and a move on from the botched nature of the Scottish governments inquiry. With luck, the investigation will be swift, but the allegations against Salmond have brought to the fore tensions within the party that threaten to split it down the middle, with the two great personalities of the independence movement staring across from either side. The former Scottish first minister was charged with two counts of attempted rape and nine counts of sexual assault on Thursday. Speaking to the media outside court, he said: I refute absolutely these allegations of criminality, and Ill defend myself to the utmost in court. The political cracks have been showing for a while now. No sooner had the Scottish government inquiry into allegations of sexual harassment against Alex Salmond been found to be unlawful than there were calls for his immediate reinstatement to the party despite the fact he was still under police investigation. Meanwhile, this week it was revealed that the SNP website had been changed to erase Alex Salmonds role in bringing the party to prominence. All mentions of Salmond had been removed. Instead, the page bizarrely details how the 2014 independence campaign was spearheaded by the SNP and its then depute leader Nicola Sturgeon. Recommended Alex Salmond charged with two counts of attempted rape It hasnt always been this way. Indeed, the strength of the SNPs unity had long been the subject of envious glances. Motions at their party conference usually passed unanimously, the message discipline of both its MSPs and MPs was renowned, and the executive dominance of Nicola Sturgeon universally acknowledged. Much of the SNPs 21st century success can be owed to its transformation from a raucous protest party to a well-slicked and on-message political machine. But the reason that machine is now threatening to grind to a halt goes beyond what happened today. Rather, the serious allegations against Salmond and the terrible mishandling of those allegations by Sturgeons government are only the catalyst to divisions that have been brewing for some time and calls to mind the Blair-Brown conflict in New Labour. Most fundamentally, these are over independence. Salmond believes the Yes campaign rightfully won in 2014, but Westminster tricked voters at the last minute and snatched victory from him. Sturgeon has never offered such denials. On Sunday, meanwhile Salmond called for an end to the uncivil war within the party, but also simultaneously pushed Sturgeon towards calling an early independence referendum a move which she has consistently resisted. In the same way that the shared goal of an independent Scotland held the party together before the referendum overriding other differences amongst members and candidates the means to achieve that same goal has now left the party divided. In pictures: Alex Salmond's campaign for Scottish independence Show all 9 1 /9 In pictures: Alex Salmond's campaign for Scottish independence In pictures: Alex Salmond's campaign for Scottish independence The campaign for independence Alex Salmond stepped down as Scotland's First Minister and the leader of the SNP after the country voted no to independence Getty Images In pictures: Alex Salmond's campaign for Scottish independence The campaign for independence Alex Salmond said he accepted 'the democratic verdict of the people' PA In pictures: Alex Salmond's campaign for Scottish independence The campaign for independence First Minister of Scotland Alex Salmond chats to school children at Strichen Primary School in Strichen PA In pictures: Alex Salmond's campaign for Scottish independence The campaign for independence Scotland's First Minister Alex Salmond delivers his final independence speech to supporters in Perth EPA In pictures: Alex Salmond's campaign for Scottish independence The campaign for independence On the last day of campaigning before the polling booths open, the SNP leader wrote to voters in a final attempt to convince them to vote for independence Getty In pictures: Alex Salmond's campaign for Scottish independence The campaign for independence It was decided to give Alex Salmond an extra year in government AFP In pictures: Alex Salmond's campaign for Scottish independence The campaign for independence Alex Salmond and Alistair Darling taking part in a live television debate in Glasgow on 25 August Getty Images In pictures: Alex Salmond's campaign for Scottish independence The campaign for independence Alex Salmond during the live television debate with Alistair Darling at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland on 5 August in Glasgow Getty In pictures: Alex Salmond's campaign for Scottish independence The campaign for independence Scottish First Minister Alex Salmond presents the White Paper for Scottish independence Getty Images These arent just empty words from an ex-leader. If you need proof of Salmonds continuing popularity, consider how easily he raised over 100,000 for his legal fund, his supporters donating an average of 25 to ensure that the target was reached in only three days. He has supporters high up in the party hierarchy too. Former justice secretary Kenny MacAskill and former presiding officer Tricia Marwick have attended court hearings with Salmond. Popular MP Joanna Cherry, meanwhile, has liked a tweet saying: Personally, I would love to see @AlexSalmond back at the helm of the SNP and finally deliver us our independence #Indy2. She also liked another story headlined Alex Salmond tells Nicola Sturgeon to focus on achieving independence. More central than Salmonds comments from the sidelines, however, is the grassroots changes which Sturgeon is having to grapple with. The 2014 referendum may have left the Acts of Union unscathed, but the forces the SNP unleashed that year still leave their mark on Scotlands public sphere. Their membership, once fairly modest, is now claimed to be second only to the UK-wide Labour Party at around 125,000 members. Support free-thinking journalism and attend Independent events This post-2014 new wave of activists are bent on independence and reigniting the Yes campaign, and Sturgeon has struggled to temper their expectations with her desire to wait for a better moment. More widely, the radical discourse in the build up to 2014 has reawakened political interest and made the electorate at large less deferential to authority. In 2015, these same forces catapulted the SNP to an unprecedented electoral victory. They now threaten to unravel the party. In the next few months, the future of the party and by extension both Scottish and British politics will be determined one way or the other. The tragic truth, however, is that these political conflicts have become so entangled with the allegations against Salmond, that the ensuing factionalism will likely only get more divisive. Pilotless air taxis have moved closer to becoming a reality after Boeing successfully completed its first test flight of a passenger air vehicle. The prototype is a vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) autonomous craft. It lifted off from the companys plant in Manassas, Virginia, hovered and landed safely. The battery-powered aircraft is 30 feet long and 28 feet wide, and looks rather like a giant drone. Boeings chief technology officer, Greg Hyslop, said: In one year, we have progressed from a conceptual design to a flying prototype. In 2017 the manufacturer acquired Aurora Flight Sciences, which has been working with Uber to create the means for an airborne ride-sharing network. Taxi drivers strike in Spain against ride-hailing companies like Uber Show all 10 1 /10 Taxi drivers strike in Spain against ride-hailing companies like Uber Taxi drivers strike in Spain against ride-hailing companies like Uber Demonstrators hold a huge banner reading 'Madrid's taxi demands that the law has to be enforced' as drivers protest outside IFEMA Convention and Congress Center, against the regulation of ride-hailing and car-sharing services such as Uber and Cabify EPA Taxi drivers strike in Spain against ride-hailing companies like Uber The taxi strike continues in the capital in a row after regional authorities rejected the sector's proposals to regulate VTC companies (VTC means 'transport vehicle with chauffeur), a day after a taxi driver was seriously injured when he allegedly threw himself in front of a VTC car in a picket set on a highway. FITUR is the most important fair running in Madrid EPA Taxi drivers strike in Spain against ride-hailing companies like Uber EPA Taxi drivers strike in Spain against ride-hailing companies like Uber EPA Taxi drivers strike in Spain against ride-hailing companies like Uber Spanish National riot policemen stand guard EPA Taxi drivers strike in Spain against ride-hailing companies like Uber EPA Taxi drivers strike in Spain against ride-hailing companies like Uber EPA Taxi drivers strike in Spain against ride-hailing companies like Uber Taxi drivers stand near garbage burning during a demonstration AFP/Getty Taxi drivers strike in Spain against ride-hailing companies like Uber AFP/Getty Taxi drivers strike in Spain against ride-hailing companies like Uber Taxi drivers stand next to a burning barricade during a strike Reuters Boeing is in a race with Airbus and other enterprises to create a suitable craft for short on-demand flights between and within cities. The successful test of takeoff and landing is an essential first stage, but since VTOL was first developed in the 20th century the biggest technological hurdle has been switching between vertical and forward-flight modes. For hire: Boeings Autonomous Passenger Air Vehicle on its first flight (Boeing) This transition phase is typically the most significant engineering challenge for any high-speed VTOL aircraft, Boeing acknowledged. Uber says: On-demand aviation has the potential to radically improve urban mobility, giving people back time lost in their daily commutes. Imagine travelling from San Franciscos Marina to work in downtown San Jose a drive that would normally occupy the better part of two hours in only 15 minutes. An Uber Air network is planned to begin in Los Angeles and the Dallas-Fort Worth conurbation in 2023. This is what revolution looks like, said John Langford, president and chief executive of Aurora Flight Sciences. Certifiable autonomy is going to make quiet, clean and safe urban air mobility possible. But Uber acknowledges: VTOL aircraft are new from a certification standpoint, and progress with certification of new aircraft concepts has historically been very slow. Support free-thinking journalism and attend Independent events Developing and certifying a viable flying taxi solves only part of the problem. The aircraft would be sharing the skies with commercial planes already airspace in the LA and Dallas-Fort Worth areas is congested, with multiple airports and possibly cargo air vehicles and driverless parcel-delivery drones. Uber has set its initial target for acceptable risk: A safety level that is twice that of driving a car based on number of fatalities-per-passenger mile. The US and Canada, and much of Latin America with the exception of Mexico, Cuba and Bolivia have lined up against the embattled Nicolas Maduro, now struggling to hang on as president of Venezuela. Russia which has billions invested in the country is the only world power that has come to its defence. But Mr Maduro has found an unlikely in Nato and G-20 member Turkey and its president Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who has pulled out all stops in voicing support for the government in Caracas. Our president has called [Maduro] to express Turkeys support, Mr Erdogans spokesman Ibrahim Kalin wrote on Twitter. Brother Maduro, stand tall, Turkey stands with you, he quoted Mr Erodgan as saying. With President Erdogans leadership, Turkey will maintain its principled stance against all coup attempts. The unqualified support by Mr Erdogan for a Latin American leader 6,000 miles away raised eyebrows. If you follow foreign policy, its really quite strange to see such a strong relationship between Turkey and Venezuela, said Emre Ersen, professor of international relations at Istanbuls Marmara University. Even Washingtons arch-nemesis Iran, which has ploughed billions in investments in Venezuela, took a restrained tone, calling for non-interference in the battle between Mr Maduro and the National Assembly president, Juan Guaido, who has been recognised as the countrys leader by Washington and Ottawa, as well as most of Latin America. We hope all disagreements and political problems in Venezuela are resolved as soon as possible by the people and the government of this country and through legal and peaceful methods, Iran foreign ministry spokesman Bahram Qassemi said. In contrast, Mr Erdogan and his supporters have enthusiastically supported Mr Maduro on social media. Of 137,000 tweets using the hashtag #WeAreMaduro, more than half were in Turkish. Less than a third were in Spanish, according to an analysis by the firm Spredfast. They launched a coup attempt in Turkey and spilled blood. Now the US is carrying out a coup in Venezuela and the world is watching Ersin Celik, editor of pro-government newspaper Many Turks likened the unrest in Venezuela to the 2013 coup that toppled Egyptian Islamist Mohamed Morsi, and the attempted coup against Mr Erdogan by alleged supporters of US-based cleric Fethullah Gulen in 2016. They carried out a bloody coup in Egypt, tweeted Ersin Celik, an editor of the pro-government Yeni Safak newspaper. They launched a coup attempt in Turkey and spilled blood. Now the US is carrying out a coup in Venezuela and the world is watching. Millions of people have emigrated from Venezuela amid sky-high inflation and food shortages (Statista (https://www.statista.com/chartoftheday)) In Mr Maduro, Mr Erdogan, along with Mr Putin, may see a fellow traveller. His downfall could encourage other US foreign policy gambits. If this gives the US or any other country the right to interfere in other countries leadership battles, that might be dangerous to Erdogan and others, said Mr Ersen. Personal ties might bind the two men. Mr Maduro and Mr Erdogan became close in 2016, during an energy conference in Istanbul. Like Russia and Iran, Turkey also has significant economic ties to Venezuela, which since last year began using Turkey to process and certify gold ore in the face of US sanctions. Trade between the two countries has more than doubled over the last five years. Venezuela protests: thousands rally against government Show all 18 1 /18 Venezuela protests: thousands rally against government Venezuela protests: thousands rally against government Protesters clash with the Bolivarian National Police during a demonstration against the government of the Venezuela and president Nicolas Maduro in Caracas on 23 January 2019 EPA Venezuela protests: thousands rally against government Demonstrators cheer as Venezuela's National Assembly head Juan Guaido declares himself the country's "acting president" at a rally in Caracas AFP/Getty Images Venezuela protests: thousands rally against government Opposition supporters take part in a rally against Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro's government REUTERS Venezuela protests: thousands rally against government Opposition supporters take part in a rally against Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro's government in Caracas REUTERS Venezuela protests: thousands rally against government Juan Guaido, head of Venezuela's opposition-run congress, declares himself interim president of the nation until elections can be held during a rally in Caracas demanding leader Nicolas Maduro's resignation AP Venezuela protests: thousands rally against government Opposition supporters carry letters to form the word "Democracy" while taking part in a rally against Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro's government REUTERS Venezuela protests: thousands rally against government Police watch over marching anti-government protesters in Caracas EPA Venezuela protests: thousands rally against government A vehicle is overturned as opposition demonstrators block a road during a protest against the Venezuelan government AFP/Getty Images Venezuela protests: thousands rally against government A National Police officer fires rubber bullets during a protest against Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro's government in Caracas REUTERS Venezuela protests: thousands rally against government A demonstrator throws back a gas canister while clashing with security forces during a rally against Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro's government in Caracas REUTERS Venezuela protests: thousands rally against government Security forces look on after clashing with opposition supporters participating in a rally against Venezuelan president Nicolas Maduro's government REUTERS Venezuela protests: thousands rally against government Demonstrators during a protest against the government of Nicolas Maduro at Plaza Altamira in Caracas Getty Images Venezuela protests: thousands rally against government Demonstrators during a protest against the government of Nicolas Maduro at Plaza Altamira in Caracas Getty Images Venezuela protests: thousands rally against government EPA Venezuela protests: thousands rally against government AFP/Getty Images Venezuela protests: thousands rally against government The remains of a statue of Venezuela's late President Hugo Chavez is seen hanging from a pedestrian bridge after it was destroyed in San Felix, Venezuela REUTERS Venezuela protests: thousands rally against government Riot police on motorcycles clash with opposition demonstrators during protests in Caracas AFP/Getty Images Venezuela protests: thousands rally against government Supporters celebrate Juan Guaido declaration that he is Venezuelan president EPA They have good relations, said Mr Ersen. There might be some type of financial deal. But experts say theres more to Mr Erdogans support for Mr Maduro than money or survival. Though Turkey is ostensibly allied with the US in Nato, Mr Erdogan has pursued a populist agenda, and his rhetorical defiance of Washington plays well both among his supporters and secular critics, who also often see the US as a bloodthirsty imperial predator. Hes trying to keep the image that hes a supporter of countries that are under pressure by the US both domestically and internationally, said Ilhan Uzgel, an Ankara-based international affairs scholar and columnist. It helps to perpetuate his image as the protector of the oppressed. Violence erupts as anti-government protests in Venezuela continue Mr Erdogans supporters in Turkey and among Islamists throughout the Arab world also consider Mr Maduro and his predecessor, Hugo Chavez, to be strong backers of the Palestinian cause, which is wildly popular among rank-and-file members of the Turkish presidents Justice and Development Party (AKP). The AKP faces voters in 31 March municipal elections that will be the first since a financial meltdown last summer. Mr Erdogans support for Mr Maduro could help rally his partys voters, but unlike the US, or Venezuelas Latin American neighbours, Turkey doesnt have the ability to alter events on the ground. The support will be confined to words only, said Mr Uzgel. Turkey does not have the means, instruments of power, or capacity to support the Maduro regime. It is a policy that does not have any cost. Its easy to declare he supports Maduro, and thats all. This week Independent Minds hosted the Middle East in Crisis: a region on the brink, a special event in which correspondents Patrick Cockburn and Bel Trew endeavoured to answer the most pressing questions on the region. There was not enough time to answer all of them from the audience or social media, so Bel Trew has returned to some of the most pressing ones here. Jenny Greenwood: To what extent was Benjamin Netanyahu approach to democracy an inspiration or example for a subsequent authorities government in say Hungary, Poland or the US? For those covering Israel and the Palestinians, we couldnt help noticing the similarities in a tweet on 19 January by President Donald Trump who said he would be making a major live-streamed announcement about issues on the USs southern border and one penned by Netanyahus office just days before. Netanyahu had also promised he was going to make a dramatic statement live on air too. In both instances, there was mass speculation about what would be revealed from an (albeit jaded) media. In both instances there was disappointment. But it certainly did look like Trump was picking up tips from Netanyahu, a master of populist and clever oratory, about how to drum up support by channelling anger into votes. Trump has repeatedly used Israel to defend his case for building the wall on the Mexico border. I dont think it would be too dramatic to say that Netanyahu set a trend of populist rhetoric and illiberal democracy that has largely been picked up in eastern Europe. And its no coincidence that last year the Israeli leader was busy courting his fellow right-wing leaders including Hungarys Victor Orban, Polands Andrzej Duda and the Philippines Rodrigo Duterte. The illiberal bromances, as left-wing Israeli paper Haaretz called it, sparked uproar among the opposition in Israel, largely because of allegations of antisemitism from each of the leaders Netanyahu hosted. The cornerstones of that illiberal democracy were created when Netanyahu returned to power in the wake of Israels first Gaza war in 2008, peddling a right-wing hardline nationalism which engaged an enraged electorate: similar tactics were later used across eastern Europe, and arguably by Trump. He has used a string of controlled wars with Gaza to ignite nationalist fervour without causing mass casualities in a bid to distract the Israeli electorate from domestic woes or to secure votes. Last year the passage of the controversial nation-state law, which holds a constitution-like status, was again another stepping stone in Netanyahus form of democracy. The law, which was slammed by critics as apartheid legislation, describes Israel as a Jewish state, it prioritises the right of Jewish settlements, it downgrades the Arabic language and it defines national self-determination as the unique right of the Jewish people. But it isnt just his actions but the mode of delivery that has arguably inspired others. The director of a new Israeli documentary King Bibi told me at a recent screening that the team had spent many weeks deliberating the full title and in the end went with the life and performances of Benjamin Netanyahu. The film tracks the meteoric rise of a shy, quiet economic consultant to a powerful orator and savvy politician who, as one opponent says in one of the films archival clips, is adept at manipulating his audience. Kerry Greenwood: I read your article on the state of Gaza today and that it will be uninhabitable by next year. What in your opinion will it take for the outside world to take notice and action? Having covered the last two Gaza wars and followed the enclave over the past few years, I have become increasingly frustrated with the lack of interest in, or the quiet acceptance of, the humanitarian disaster that is Gaza. No matter what side of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict you sit on, no matter who you blame, the facts remain the same: there are 2.2 million people corralled into a 25-mile-long strip that is not fit to live in. More than 97 per cent of Gazas drinking water is undrinkable, three-quarters of its beaches are so polluted they really ought to be shut down, and 70 per cent of the youth are unemployed, which among the highest rates in the world. If you are aged just 10 in Gaza you have lived through three wars the numbers and statistics go on. The journey across the border between Gaza and Israel is a stark and bewildering one: on one side bombed-out skeletons of buildings line pock-marked dust roads; on the other, tree-lined highways snake towards sweeping metropolises. I think the problem may lie in the fact that so few people can actually get into Gaza and see it, and few from Gaza can get out. Gaza is always seen within the frame of the wars, as an abstract. At a recent United Nations event in Moscow, which was attended by both Israeli and Palestinian leaders and journalists, I realised I was one of just two people (also a journalist) in the room who had been inside Gaza in the past decade. No one from Gaza was able to make it. The other problem is that Gaza is propped up by aid agencies, so it can just about limp on. The World Health Organisation told me the only reason there has not been an outbreak of diseases like typhoid is because 100 per cent of the children are vaccinated in Gaza, thanks to UN programmes there. But I do believe this may change this year. The UN has sounded the alarm about Gaza saying it will be uninhabitable by next year. That is largely anchored in the fear that the coastal aquifer, Gazas only natural source of water, will collapse if people do not stop over pumping it. The pollution is also seeping up the coast into Israel and having a direct impact on the safety of Israeli civilians: water treatment plants and beaches in Ashkelon have been shut down. Groups like EcoPeace argue that the environmental crisis in Gaza is an Israeli national security issue and I would push that even further to say it is a threat to regional security. I hope attitudes will change in time to save Gazas aquifer because that damage is irreversible and people will just have to leave. How safe can Israel be if millions of people try to breach its borders? Tom Greenwood: How much is a threat if any do you feel Iran is to the stability of the Middle East? Iran is often portrayed as the bogeyman whose dangerous expansionist agenda is the greatest threat to peace in the region. This idea has been a unifying force for military alliances such as the Saudi Arabia-led coalition fighting the Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen, or Turkish-backed rebels groups fighting Assad and its main ally Iran in Syria. Iranian forces are certainly involved in many conflicts in the region right now: either physically the ground (in Syria), where they are apparently trying to build permanent bases, or virtually according to Israeli army officials they are funding Hamas in Gaza. Just a few days ago saw another flare-up of cross-border conflict between the Israeli army and Iranian forces in Syria, after an Iranian missile hit a ski resort in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights. Again questions were raised about whether an Israel-Iran war would erupt. Israeli officials have told me that most of Hezbollahs impressive weapons stockpile of some 150,000 rockets is due to Iran. But I dont think anyone knows to what extent Iran actually wants to go to war with its old enemy Israel (and follow through with the fiery propaganda threats to wipe it off the face of the planet ). How much does Tehran really want permanent military infrastructure in Syria from which to threaten the region? How much is it intent on using northern Yemen as a diving board for further attacks on Saudi? That said, it doesnt necessarily matter, as the perceived threat can be as destabilising as a real threat itself. The main reason Saudi Arabia intervened in Yemen was because of the fear that Iran would have influence through the Houthis right on its borders and possibly excite Saudis own embattled and oppressed Shia minority in the eastern provinces. Personally I doubt Iran would actually want to flatten Riyadh from northern Yemen, but the threat of that is enough for the Saudis and their allies to engage in a ruinous and costly four-year war, which has sparked the worlds worst humanitarian crisis. It has also seen Israel, which has no interest at all in intervening in the Syrian crisis, strike targets in Syria repeatedly. Isreal also does not want another war with Lebanon but last month had to launch a military operation on the border to destroy Hezbollah attack tunnels it feared would be used by the (Iran-armed) Lebanese militants to strike Israeli citizens. It is also important to remember that Iran is not a homogenous entity: there is an internal conflict. The agenda of the powerful Iranian Revolutionary Guards is often at odds with the comparatively moderate president, Hassan Rouhani. Audrey Bauccan: Conflict in the Middle East has been going on for thousands of years was there any one event this century that lead to the escalation of conflict in the Middle East? I think the short answer to this is that there is no one key event that has caused the many wars that have ripped apart the Middle East; instead, there has been a bewildering concatenation of events. Some would argue the fairly arbitrary and ill-thought out lines of the Sykes-Picot agreement after the First World War is to blame. Others would say the conflict surrounding the creation of Israel, which resulted in at least three regional wars and three more domestic ones with Gaza, has divided and continues to divide the region. The 1979 Iranian revolution also saw the creation of a Shia theocratic state that arguably wants to export its ideology across the region, igniting conflicts today in Yemen and Syria, and between Israelis and Palestinians. But then the 2003 intervention in Iraq ultimately lead to the creation of Isis. The 2011 Arab Spring is still playing out eight years later. Its hard to pick. Anna: Why is the Middle East in crisis given most of this region is close to the US? Is it though? The Palestinians have pretty much cut diplomatic contact with the Trump administration after he moved the US embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem last May and then slashed funding to the UNs Palestinian refugee programmes. Assad and his allies, Iran and Russia, are certainly not on the side of the US. Saudi Arabia and the US have, at least partially, fallen out over the killing of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi. Egypt has had intermittent outbursts with Washington over the withholding or freezing of military and economic aid. Iraq does have strong ties with America, but I would argue the US influence there has massively waned in the past decade. In 2018 there were serious tensions between powerful Shia militias in the south of the country and the US, who had to order all non-essential personnel out of Basra in September amid security threats. And even if the region was close to the US Im not sure that could heal the ruptures which have ripped it apart. Fissures appear along roads while massive holes open up in the countryside, their gaping maws a visible sign from the air of something Iranian authorities now openly acknowledge: the area around Tehran is literally sinking. Stressed by a 30-year drought and hollowed by excessive water pumping, the parched landscape around Iran's capital has begun to sink dramatically. Seen by satellite and on foot around the city, officials warn that what they call land subsidence poses a grave danger to a country where protests over water scarcity have already seen violence. "Land subsidence is a destructive phenomenon," said Siavash Arabi, a measurement expert at Iran's cartography department. "Its impact may not be immediately felt like an earthquake, but as you can see, it can gradually cause destructive changes over time." He said he can identify "destruction of farmland, the cracks of the earth's surface, damage to civilian areas in cities, wastewater lines, cracks in roads and damages to water and natural gas pipes." Tehran, which sits 1,200 meters (3,900 feet) above sea level against the Alborz Mountains on a plateau, has rapidly grown over the last 100 years to a sprawling city of 13 million people in its metropolitan area. All those people have put incredible pressure on water resources on a semi-arid plateau in a country that saw only 171 millimeters (6.7 inches) of rain last year. Over-reliance on ground aquifers has seen increasingly salty water pumped from below ground. "Surface soil contains water and air. When you pump water from under the ground surface, you cause some empty space to be formed in the soil," Mr Arabi told Associated Press. "Gradually, the pressure from above causes the soil particles to stick together and this leads to sinking of the ground and formation of cracks." Rain and snow to recharge the underground aquifers have been in short supply. Over the past decade, Iran has seen the most prolonged and severe drought in more than 30 years, according to the United Nations' Food and Agriculture Organisation. An estimated 97 per cent of the country has faced some level of drought, Iran's Meteorological Organisation says. That has caused the sinkholes and fissures now seen around Tehran. Iranian authorities say they have measured up to 22 centimetres (8.6 inches) of annual subsidence near the capital, while the normal range would be only as high as 3 centimetres (1.1 inches) per year. Even higher numbers have been measured in other parts of the country. Some sinkholes formed in western Iran are as deep as 60 metres (196 feet). Those figures are close to those found in a study by scientists at the GFZ German Research Centre for Geosciences in Potsdam previously discussed by the journal Nature and accepted by the journal Remote Sensing of Environment. Using satellite images between 2003 and 2017, the scientists estimate the western Tehran plain is sinking by 25 centimetres (9.8 inches) a year. Either way, the numbers are alarming to experts. "In European countries, even 4 millimetres (0.15 inches) of yearly subsidence is considered a crisis," Iranian environmental activist Mohammad Darvish said. World news in pictures Show all 50 1 /50 World news in pictures World news in pictures 30 September 2020 Pope Francis prays with priests at the end of a limited public audience at the San Damaso courtyard in The Vatican AFP via Getty World news in pictures 29 September 2020 A girl's silhouette is seen from behind a fabric in a tent along a beach by Beit Lahia in the northern Gaza Strip AFP via Getty World news in pictures 28 September 2020 A Chinese woman takes a photo of herself in front of a flower display dedicated to frontline health care workers during the COVID-19 pandemic in Beijing, China. China will celebrate national day marking the founding of the People's Republic of China on October 1st Getty World news in pictures 27 September 2020 The Glass Mountain Inn burns as the Glass Fire moves through the area in St. Helena, California. The fast moving Glass fire has burned over 1,000 acres and has destroyed homes Getty World news in pictures 26 September 2020 A villager along with a child offers prayers next to a carcass of a wild elephant that officials say was electrocuted in Rani Reserve Forest on the outskirts of Guwahati, India AFP via Getty World news in pictures 25 September 2020 The casket of late Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg is seen in Statuary Hall in the US Capitol to lie in state in Washington, DC AFP via Getty World news in pictures 24 September 2020 An anti-government protester holds up an image of a pro-democracy commemorative plaque at a rally outside Thailand's parliament in Bangkok, as activists gathered to demand a new constitution AFP via Getty World news in pictures 23 September 2020 A whale stranded on a beach in Macquarie Harbour on the rugged west coast of Tasmania, as hundreds of pilot whales have died in a mass stranding in southern Australia despite efforts to save them, with rescuers racing to free a few dozen survivors The Mercury/AFP via Getty World news in pictures 22 September 2020 State civil employee candidates wearing face masks and shields take a test in Surabaya AFP via Getty World news in pictures 21 September 2020 A man sweeps at the Taj Mahal monument on the day of its reopening after being closed for more than six months due to the coronavirus pandemic AP World news in pictures 20 September 2020 A deer looks for food in a burnt area, caused by the Bobcat fire, in Pearblossom, California EPA World news in pictures 19 September 2020 Anti-government protesters hold their mobile phones aloft as they take part in a pro-democracy rally in Bangkok. Tens of thousands of pro-democracy protesters massed close to Thailand's royal palace, in a huge rally calling for PM Prayut Chan-O-Cha to step down and demanding reforms to the monarchy AFP via Getty World news in pictures 18 September 2020 Supporters of Iraqi Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr maintain social distancing as they attend Friday prayers after the coronavirus disease restrictions were eased, in Kufa mosque, near Najaf, Iraq Reuters World news in pictures 17 September 2020 A protester climbs on The Triumph of the Republic at 'the Place de la Nation' as thousands of protesters take part in a demonstration during a national day strike called by labor unions asking for better salary and against jobs cut in Paris, France EPA World news in pictures 16 September 2020 A fire raging near the Lazzaretto of Ancona in Italy. The huge blaze broke out overnight at the port of Ancona. Firefighters have brought the fire under control but they expected to keep working through the day EPA World news in pictures 15 September 2020 Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny posing for a selfie with his family at Berlin's Charite hospital. In an Instagram post he said he could now breathe independently following his suspected poisoning last month Alexei Navalny/Instagram/AFP World news in pictures 14 September 2020 Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga, former Defense Minister Shigeru Ishiba and former Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida celebrate after Suga was elected as new head of the ruling party at the Liberal Democratic Party's leadership election in Tokyo Reuters World news in pictures 13 September 2020 A man stands behind a burning barricade during the fifth straight day of protests against police brutality in Bogota AFP via Getty World news in pictures 12 September 2020 Police officers block and detain protesters during an opposition rally to protest the official presidential election results in Minsk, Belarus. Daily protests calling for the authoritarian president's resignation are now in their second month AP World news in pictures 11 September 2020 Members of 'Omnium Cultural' celebrate the 20th 'Festa per la llibertat' ('Fiesta for the freedom') to mark the Day of Catalonia in Barcelona. Omnion Cultural fights for the independence of Catalonia EPA World news in pictures 10 September 2020 The Moria refugee camp, two days after Greece's biggest migrant camp, was destroyed by fire. Thousands of asylum seekers on the island of Lesbos are now homeless AFP via Getty World news in pictures 9 September 2020 Pope Francis takes off his face mask as he arrives by car to hold a limited public audience at the San Damaso courtyard in The Vatican AFP via Getty World news in pictures 8 September 2020 A home is engulfed in flames during the "Creek Fire" in the Tollhouse area of California AFP via Getty World news in pictures 7 September 2020 A couple take photos along a sea wall of the waves brought by Typhoon Haishen in the eastern port city of Sokcho AFP via Getty World news in pictures 6 September 2020 Novak Djokovic and a tournament official tends to a linesperson who was struck with a ball by Djokovic during his match against Pablo Carreno Busta at the US Open USA Today Sports/Reuters World news in pictures 5 September 2020 Protesters confront police at the Shrine of Remembrance in Melbourne, Australia, during an anti-lockdown rally AFP via Getty World news in pictures 4 September 2020 A woman looks on from a rooftop as rescue workers dig through the rubble of a damaged building in Beirut. A search began for possible survivors after a scanner detected a pulse one month after the mega-blast at the adjacent port AFP via Getty World news in pictures 3 September 2020 A full moon next to the Virgen del Panecillo statue in Quito, Ecuador EPA World news in pictures 2 September 2020 A Palestinian woman reacts as Israeli forces demolish her animal shed near Hebron in the Israeli-occupied West Bank Reuters World news in pictures 1 September 2020 Students protest against presidential elections results in Minsk TUT.BY/AFP via Getty World news in pictures 31 August 2020 The pack rides during the 3rd stage of the Tour de France between Nice and Sisteron AFP via Getty World news in pictures 30 August 2020 Law enforcement officers block a street during a rally of opposition supporters protesting against presidential election results in Minsk, Belarus Reuters World news in pictures 29 August 2020 A woman holding a placard reading "Stop Censorship - Yes to the Freedom of Expression" shouts in a megaphone during a protest against the mandatory wearing of face masks in Paris. Masks, which were already compulsory on public transport, in enclosed public spaces, and outdoors in Paris in certain high-congestion areas around tourist sites, were made mandatory outdoors citywide on August 28 to fight the rising coronavirus infections AFP via Getty World news in pictures 28 August 2020 Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe bows to the national flag at the start of a press conference at the prime minister official residence in Tokyo. Abe announced he will resign over health problems, in a bombshell development that kicks off a leadership contest in the world's third-largest economy AFP via Getty World news in pictures 27 August 2020 Residents take cover behind a tree trunk from rubber bullets fired by South African Police Service (SAPS) in Eldorado Park, near Johannesburg, during a protest by community members after a 16-year old boy was reported dead AFP via Getty World news in pictures 26 August 2020 People scatter rose petals on a statue of Mother Teresa marking her 110th birth anniversary in Ahmedabad AFP via Getty World news in pictures 25 August 2020 An aerial view shows beach-goers standing on salt formations in the Dead Sea near Ein Bokeq, Israel Reuters World news in pictures 24 August 2020 Health workers use a fingertip pulse oximeter and check the body temperature of a fisherwoman inside the Dharavi slum during a door-to-door Covid-19 coronavirus screening in Mumbai AFP via Getty World news in pictures 23 August 2020 People carry an idol of the Hindu god Ganesh, the deity of prosperity, to immerse it off the coast of the Arabian sea during the Ganesh Chaturthi festival in Mumbai, India Reuters World news in pictures 22 August 2020 Firefighters watch as flames from the LNU Lightning Complex fires approach a home in Napa County, California AP World news in pictures 21 August 2020 Members of the Israeli security forces arrest a Palestinian demonstrator during a rally to protest against Israel's plan to annex parts of the occupied West Bank AFP via Getty World news in pictures 20 August 2020 A man pushes his bicycle through a deserted road after prohibitory orders were imposed by district officials for a week to contain the spread of the Covid-19 in Kathmandu AFP via Getty World news in pictures 19 August 2020 A car burns while parked at a residence in Vacaville, California. Dozens of fires are burning out of control throughout Northern California as fire resources are spread thin AFP via Getty World news in pictures 18 August 2020 Students use their mobile phones as flashlights at an anti-government rally at Mahidol University in Nakhon Pathom. Thailand has seen near-daily protests in recent weeks by students demanding the resignation of Prime Minister Prayut Chan-O-Cha AFP via Getty World news in pictures 17 August 2020 Members of the Kayapo tribe block the BR163 highway during a protest outside Novo Progresso in Para state, Brazil. Indigenous protesters blocked a major transamazonian highway to protest against the lack of governmental support during the COVID-19 novel coronavirus pandemic and illegal deforestation in and around their territories AFP via Getty World news in pictures 16 August 2020 Lightning forks over the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge as a storm passes over Oakland AP World news in pictures 15 August 2020 Belarus opposition supporters gather near the Pushkinskaya metro station where Alexander Taraikovsky, a 34-year-old protester died on August 10, during their protest rally in central Minsk AFP via Getty World news in pictures 14 August 2020 AlphaTauri's driver Daniil Kvyat takes part in the second practice session at the Circuit de Catalunya in Montmelo near Barcelona ahead of the Spanish F1 Grand Prix AFP via Getty World news in pictures 13 August 2020 Soldiers of the Brazilian Armed Forces during a disinfection of the Christ The Redeemer statue at the Corcovado mountain prior to the opening of the touristic attraction in Rio AFP via Getty World news in pictures 12 August 2020 Young elephant bulls tussle playfully on World Elephant Day at the Amboseli National Park in Kenya AFP via Getty The sinking can be seen in Tehran's southern Yaftabad neighbourhood, which sits close to farmland and water wells on the edge of the city. Cracks run down walls and below windows, and water pipes have ruptured. Residents fear poorly built buildings may collapse. The sinking also threatens vital infrastructure, like Tehran's Imam Khomeini International Airport. German scientists estimate that land under the airport is sinking by 5 centimetres (1.9 inches) a year. Tehran's oil refinery, a key highway, automobile manufacturing plants and railroads also all sit on sinking ground, said Ali Beitollahi, a Ministry of Roads and Transportation official. Some 2 million people live in the area, he said. Masoud Shafiee, head of Iran's cartography department, also acknowledged the danger. "Rates (for subsidence) are very high and in many instances it's happening in densely populated areas," Mr Shafiee told AP. "It's happening near sensitive infrastructures like airports, which we consider a top priority." Geopolitics play a role in Iran's water crisis. Since the country's 1979 Islamic Revolution, Iran has sought to become self-sufficient across industries to thwart international sanctions. That has included agriculture and food production. The problem, however, comes in inefficient water use on farms, which represents more than 90 per cent of the country's water usage, experts say. Already, the drought and water crisis has fed into the sporadic unrest Iran has faced over the last year. In July, protests around Khorramshahr, some 650 kilometres (400 miles) southwest of Tehran, saw violence as residents of the predominantly Arab city near the border with Iraq complained of salty, muddy water coming out of their taps amid the years-long drought. The unrest there only compounds the wider unease felt across Iran as it faces an economic crisis sparked by President Donald Trump's decision to withdraw America from Tehran's nuclear deal with world powers. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who has long opposed Iran's theocratic government, even released an online video in June offering his country's water technology in a jab at Iran's leaders. "The Iranian regime shouts: 'Death to Israel, Mr Netanyahu said. "In response, Israel shouts: 'Life to the Iranian people. Iranian officials shrugged off the offer. But solutions to the water crisis will be difficult to find. The crisis "stems from decades of sanctions and compounding political mismanagement that is likely to make it very difficult to alleviate the emerging crisis before it wreaks lasting damage upon the country," wrote Gabriel Collins, a fellow at Rice University's Baker Institute. Iranian authorities have begun to crack down on illegal water wells. They are also exploring using desalinisation plants along the Persian Gulf as well, though they require tremendous energy. Farming practices also need to change as well, experts say. "We need to shift our development model so that it relies less on water and soil," Mr Darvish, the activist, said. "If we don't act quickly to stop the subsidence, it can spread to other areas." Associated Press Russia has unveiled a new missile as it attempts to show the US it is not violating a key nuclear arms pact. The Russian military spelled out the exact specifications of the land-based cruise missile to demonstrate it conforms to the limits of the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty (INF) which bans the production, testing and deployment of land-based cruise and ballistic missiles with a range of 500 to 5,500 kilometres (310 to 3,400 miles). Washington had announced its intention of abandoning the INF because they believe the new Russian missile violated provisions of the pact - a claim that Moscow denies. The US has said it will suspend its treaty obligations if Russia does not come into compliance by 2 February. Lieutenant General Mikhail Matveevsky, the chief of the Russian military's missile and artillery forces, said at a meeting with foreign military attaches that the new missile has a maximum range of 480 kilometres. He said the 9M729 missile differs from the previous 9M728 model by having a modified warhead and guidance system that enhances its capability. The military then displayed the weapon along with its mobile launcher during a presentation at its exhibition centre near Moscow. Lt Gen Matveevsky insisted that the new missile's booster, cruising engine and fuel tank remain unchanged. He added that the new missile actually has a range 10 kilometres less than the older type due to heavier warhead and control systems and emphasised that the new missile cannot be modified in field conditions. The Russian general said that the modified mobile launcher for the new type of missile is bigger because it carries four of them rather than the previous two. Lt Gen Matveevsky added that the military gave the presentation to underline its "increased transparency and our adherence to the INF Treaty". The Kremlin has staunchly denied the US claim of Russian violations of the pact. 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 Russian deputy foreign minister Sergei Ryabkov noted that the US has not put forward any data to prove its claim that Russia has tested the missile at a range exceeding the treaty's limit. He said the US ignored Moscow's offer to inspect the missile made during talks in Geneva earlier this month - a refusal he alleged reflected the lack of US interest in meaningful negotiations. Mr Ryabkov said the US has made it clear during diplomatic contacts that President Donald Trump's decision to abandon the pact is final and not subject to talks. US undersecretary of state Andrea Thompson, who led the American side in the talks, has said Moscow's offer is inadequate. "To see the missile does not confirm the distance that missile can travel, and at the end of the day that's the violation of the treaty," she told reporters last week. Agencies contributed to this report An Italian court has ruled that Italys deputy prime minister and interior minister, Matteo Salvini, can face trial for kidnapping. Mr Salvini was placed under investigation for alleged abuse of power and holding people against their will after he refused to let 150 migrants disembark from a rescue ship which had been docked in Sicily for six days last year. The migrants were eventually allowed to land, but since then Mr Salvini has tightened the screws and is refusing to let any rescue ships into Italian ports. "I risk between 3 and 15 years in jail for having blocked illicit migrants from coming to Italy. I am speechless," Mr Salvini wrote on Twitter. "I ask the Italian people: Should I continue to be the minister, exercising my rights and duties, or should I ask this or that court to [decide] immigration policy?" A special tribunal, which reviews investigations involving government ministers, overturned a previous recommendation by prosecutors to drop the case. Following the court's move, Italy's upper-house Senate will now be called on to decide whether Mr Salvini should be tried. The deputy prime minister said he was confident he had the support of the senators from his party but the support of his coalition partners, the populist Five Star Movement, is less than certain. One of the founding principles of the Five Star Movement has been to demand the resignation of any politician who is under investigation. Two years ago when interior minister Angelino Alfano was under investigation the Five Star Movement called for his resignation. 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 choice for Five Star Movement could potentially be between undermining their own ideological and moral position or threatening their current coalition agreement with Mr Salvinis League Party. Mr Salvini has been adamant that he will not alter his stance. "Let me be totally clear. I will not change my position in the slightest. Boats, little boats, big boats. No one will get off the boats in Italy," he said. Additional reporting by agencies MPs from Germanys far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party staged a walk out from the Bavarian parliament during a service to remember Holocaust victims, after it was accused of playing down the crimes of Nazis. After Charlotte Knobloch the former head of Germanys Central Council of Jews told the chamber that the AfD based its policies on hate and marginalisation, more than a dozen state politicians made a point of walking out. She said the party had downplayed the crimes of the Nazis and has close connections to the extreme right. MPs from rival parties gave her speech a standing ovation as their AfD colleagues walked out of the parliament. Katrin Ebner-Steiner, head of the AfDs parliamentary party in Bavaria, said it was an appropriate response, before accusing Ms Knobloch of abusing a memorial service for the victims of the Nazis in order to defame the complete AfD and its democratically elected representatives with the worst blanket insinuations. Others, including Katharina Schulze, a Greens leader in Bavaria, praised the clear and truthful words of her tribute. Markus Soder, minister-president of Bavaria, also criticised the disrespectful actions of the AfDs members. Ms Knobloch, who was speaking ahead of Sundays International Holocaust Remembrance Day, survived Second World War by hiding in the Bavarian countryside. AfD members have a long history of inflammatory comments regarding the actions of the Nazis. Charlotte Knobloch, Holocaust survivor and former head of Germanys Central Council of Jews, speaks at the Bavarian Parliament in Munich (AP) In 2018, the partys co-leader dismissed the period as a speck of bird poo in more than 1,000 years of successful German history. AfD co-founder, Alexander Gauland, also said in 2017 that Germany had the right to be proud of the achievements of the German soldiers in two world wars. He added: People no longer need to reproach us with these 12 years. They dont relate to our identity nowadays. Remembering the Holocaust Show all 16 1 /16 Remembering the Holocaust Remembering the Holocaust 119165.bin Hannah Bills Remembering the Holocaust 119169.bin Hannah Bills Remembering the Holocaust 119229.bin Hannah Bills Remembering the Holocaust 119167.bin Hannah Bills Remembering the Holocaust 119162.bin Hannah Bills Remembering the Holocaust 119166.bin Hannah Bills Remembering the Holocaust 119163.bin Hannah Bills Remembering the Holocaust 119224.bin Hannah Bills Remembering the Holocaust 119168.bin Hannah Bills Remembering the Holocaust 119228.bin Hannah Bills Remembering the Holocaust 119152.bin Hannah Bills Remembering the Holocaust 119226.bin Hannah Bills Remembering the Holocaust 119150.bin Hannah Bills Remembering the Holocaust 119151.bin Hannah Bills Remembering the Holocaust 119147.bin Hannah Bills Remembering the Holocaust 119231.bin Hannah Bills The AfD came third in the countrys 2017 national election after campaigning strongly against immigration. It is now Germanys biggest opposition party nationally. A former police officer from northern Belgium has been arrested on suspicion of hiding information and manipulating an investigation into a gang known as the Crazy Brabant Killers. The group carried out an astonishing crime spree in the Brabant region between 1982 and 1985, shooting dead 28 people including children in the course of their armed raids on bars, jewellers and supermarkets. The perpetrators behind the murders and the robberies, however, were never caught. The retired gendarme named by the Belgian media on Wednesday as Philippe V was a member of the Delta police group in the city of Dendermonde. The Delta force had been investigating the gangs activities. He led the team which discovered weaponry apparently used by the killers after a second search of the Brussels-Charleroi canal in Ronquieres in November 1986. But later forensic research revealed a firearm, ammunition and a bulletproof vest had been thrown into the canal only a few days before they were found, according to local broadcaster RTL. Eric Van der Sypt, of the federal prosecutors office, said it was not normal to find objects that were not there the year before. Philippe V was detained by police on Tuesday evening. The unsolved case of the Crazy Brabant Killers has held a grim fascination in Belgium ever since the trail went cold following their final robbery at a supermarket in Aalst. Eight people were killed by shotgun fire, including a nine-year-old girl waiting outside in a car. The nature of the violence shocked the nation, since the gang had deliberately shot dead employees, customers and bystanders despite stealing only petty cash and low-value items. 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 Various conspiracy theories sprang up about the identities of the group, usually made up of three face-painted men who became known as The Killer, The Giant and The Old Man. In 2017, the brother of Christiaan Bonkoffsky claimed his dying sibling made a deathbed confession to being The Giant. Bonkoffsky was a former member of an elite police commando unit, but was dismissed from the force in 1981. In the beginning I was in denial because I really struggled with it, the anonymous man told local broadcaster VTM at the time. But today I can say formally that this is my brother. After taking over the investigation, Belgiums federal judicial authorities came to the conclusion last year that the original police investigation had been manipulated, according to the Flemish broadcaster VRT. One of Norways richest men has received a message about his missing wife from those who are believed to have kidnapped her. Anne-Elisabeth Falkevik Hagen has been missing since 31 October last year, after she disappeared from her home in Lrenskog, just outside Oslo. She is married to Tom Hagen, a property mogul and owner of Scandinavian power giant Elkraft AS, who is estimated to be worth nearly 1.7 billion kroner (152m). A note was found in the couple's house describing what would happen to the 68-year-old if a demanded ransom was not paid by Mr Hagen. Norwegian media said the ransom was 9m (7.8m) and must be paid in cryptocurrency. Mr Hagens lawyer said on that on 16 January a message was received that appeared to be from Ms Hagen's captors but it did not include a sign that she was alive. "The digital platform on which the message arrived is not suited for it to be answered and that is the reason for me standing here today and me saying what I am saying," lawyer Svein Holden said. He declined to give further details, including whether there had been further contact, and police declined to comment. "The family is now strengthened in their hope that Anne-Elisabeth is alive and wants to do what we can to make her come home safely," Mr Holden added. "We want to establish better contact with those who have Anne-Elisabeth." 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 Police were informed about Ms Hagen's disappearance on 31 October but did not publicly speak about it until 9 January, after which hundreds of tips poured in. Witnesses saw men with cameras with long lenses on the edge of the lake adjacent to the Hagen house, and in recent days divers have searched the waters for possible clues, police said. Mr Hagen - a real estate investor and owner of power facilities - is number 172 on a list of Norway's wealthiest people published by the financial magazine Kapital. Additional reporting by agencies Similar scenes are playing out atop buildings and structures throughout Chicago as wireless companies work to deliver the fifth generation of mobile internet. The hype surrounding 5G has been building for more than a year, promising lightning-fast download speeds that will usher in the future and change the way society operates. But the realities of the network will be more gradual, and it likely will take years for its full potential to be reached. Judges have ruled in favour of Amanda Knoxs appeal over her remaining conviction in connection to the murder of British exchange student Meredith Kercher more than a decade ago. Ms Knox, now 31, was convicted but later cleared of murdering 21-year-old Meredith Kercher in Italy in 2007. She was released from prison after serving almost four years but her conviction for malicious accusation was upheld. The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) said on Thursday that there had been breaches of Ms Knoxs rights leading up to the remaining conviction. Italian police alleged Ms Knox made false accusations against Congolese bar owner Diya Patrick Lumumba, knowing him to be innocent and in order to distract investigators away from her own responsibility. The Knox watchers: Meet the people who are obsessed with Amanda Knox's fate Show all 6 1 /6 The Knox watchers: Meet the people who are obsessed with Amanda Knox's fate The Knox watchers: Meet the people who are obsessed with Amanda Knox's fate 490061.bin AP The Knox watchers: Meet the people who are obsessed with Amanda Knox's fate 488864.bin Stuart Isett The Knox watchers: Meet the people who are obsessed with Amanda Knox's fate 488867.bin Sam Holden The Knox watchers: Meet the people who are obsessed with Amanda Knox's fate 488865.bin Stuart Isett The Knox watchers: Meet the people who are obsessed with Amanda Knox's fate 488868.bin Simon Hadley/UNP The Knox watchers: Meet the people who are obsessed with Amanda Knox's fate 488869.bin Francesca Ferretti However Ms Knox appealed on the grounds she was denied access to a lawyer and an independent interpreter, and was slapped on the head and subjected to psychological pressure when interviewed by Italian police. The ECHR ruled that there had been a violation of Ms Knoxs rights when her claims of ill-treatment in police custody were not investigated although judges said the court had not seen any evidence of the inhuman or degrading treatment she complained about. They also said the Italian government had failed to show that Ms Knoxs restricted access to a lawyer during the police interview had not irreparably undermined the fairness of the proceedings as a whole. Judges further found that authorities had failed to assess the conduct of the interpreter assigned to Ms Knox and whether this had affected criminal proceedings against her. The Italian government was ordered to pay Ms Knox 10,400 (9,000) in damages and 8,000 (7,000) for costs and expenses. The family of Meredith Kercher wants Amanda Knox to be extradited from the US if her conviction is upheld in Italy (PA) The judges ruling is not yet final, with any party in the case given a three-month period to request for it to be referred to the Grand Chamber of the ECHR, where it could be further examined. The body of Meredith Kercher, a 21-year-old British exchange student, was found by police in the flat she shared with Ms Knox in Perugia, Italy, on 2 November, 2007. Officers discovered her throat had been slashed and that she had been sexually assaulted. Ms Knox and her then-Italian boyfriend Raffaele Sollecito were found guilty of murder and sexual assault, but their convictions were later overturned. Support free-thinking journalism and attend Independent events Two years later, the Perugia Court of Appeal acquitted the pair of the more serious charges, but upheld Ms Knoxs conviction for malicious accusation. Ms Knox challenged the malicious conviction, but the Court of Cassation the countrys highest court quashed her acquittal in 2013 and referred the case back to the Assize Court of Appeal. That court re-sentenced her to more than 28 years in prison for complicity in sexual assault and murder, and three years for malicious accusation. Ms Knox launched another appeal, and in 2015 she and Mr Sollecito were acquitted of sexual assault and murder by Italys highest court, but Ms Knox was not cleared of the malicious accusation charge. Rudy Hermann Guede, from the Cote dIvoire, is serving a 16-year sentence for Ms Kerchers murder. Press Association contributed to this report North Koreas leader has expressed large satisfaction at receiving a great letter from Donald Trump, state media has said. Kim Jong-un has ordered preparations for a second summit with the US president, saying he will wait with patience and in good faith to work towards a common goal. He said he would trust President Trumps approach, according to the Norths official KCNA agency. Kim Jong-un said that we will believe in President Trumps positive way of thinking, wait with patience and in good faith and, together with the US, advance step by step toward the goal to be reached by the two countries, KCNA said. It comes weeks after Mr Kim warned the North could seek a new path if US sanctions and pressures continued. Singapore Summit: historic first meeting between Trump and Kim Jong-un Show all 20 1 /20 Singapore Summit: historic first meeting between Trump and Kim Jong-un Singapore Summit: historic first meeting between Trump and Kim Jong-un Mr Trump and Mr Kim leave following their historic meeting AFP/Getty Singapore Summit: historic first meeting between Trump and Kim Jong-un Mr Trump and Mr Kim sign a document committing to peace between their nations, amongst other things EPA Singapore Summit: historic first meeting between Trump and Kim Jong-un Mr Trump holds up a document that both he and Mr Kim have signed AFP/Getty Singapore Summit: historic first meeting between Trump and Kim Jong-un The two leaders reach out to shake hands for the first time AP Singapore Summit: historic first meeting between Trump and Kim Jong-un Mr Trump and Mr Kim shake hands as they meet for the first time Reuters Singapore Summit: historic first meeting between Trump and Kim Jong-un Mr Trump and Mr Kim walk off stage, following their historic meeting Reuters Singapore Summit: historic first meeting between Trump and Kim Jong-un Mr Trump and Mr Kim take a stroll after their meeting on June 12 Reuters Singapore Summit: historic first meeting between Trump and Kim Jong-un Mr Trump and Mr Kim interrupt their stroll to talk to the media AP Singapore Summit: historic first meeting between Trump and Kim Jong-un Mr Kim and Mr Trump look out over a balcony at the Capella hotel, where they held their meeting on June 12 Reuters Singapore Summit: historic first meeting between Trump and Kim Jong-un Mr Trump takes questions at the press conference following his meeting with with Mr Kim AP Singapore Summit: historic first meeting between Trump and Kim Jong-un Mr Trump appreciates the crowd in the press conference following his meeting with Mr Kim Getty Singapore Summit: historic first meeting between Trump and Kim Jong-un Mr Trump travels to the Istana ahead of the summit with Kim Jong Un on June 12 Reuters Singapore Summit: historic first meeting between Trump and Kim Jong-un Kim Jong Un travels to the Istana ahead of the summit with President Trump on June 12 Reuters Singapore Summit: historic first meeting between Trump and Kim Jong-un Mr Kim poses for a photo with Singapore's Finance Minister Vivian Balkrishnan and Education Minister Ong Ye Kung ahead of the summit with Mr Trump Twitter/Reuters Singapore Summit: historic first meeting between Trump and Kim Jong-un Mr Trump shakes hands with Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, meeting on Monday June 11 in the Istana, Singapore's presidential palace AP Singapore Summit: historic first meeting between Trump and Kim Jong-un At a working lunch on Monday, Singapore's Prime Minister surprised Mr Trump with a birthday cake, in early celebration of his 72nd birthday later in the week EPA Singapore Summit: historic first meeting between Trump and Kim Jong-un US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo answers questions about the summit at a press briefing in Singapore on Monday, June 11 Getty Singapore Summit: historic first meeting between Trump and Kim Jong-un US President Donald Trump arrives at the Paya Lebar Air Base in Singapore on June 10, two days prior to his summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un Reuters Singapore Summit: historic first meeting between Trump and Kim Jong-un Mr Trump and Mr Kim met on Tuesday June 12 in the Capella hotel on the island resort of Sentosa, just off the south coast of Singapore AFP/Getty Singapore Summit: historic first meeting between Trump and Kim Jong-un Mr Trump boards Air Force One following the summit AFP/Getty The White House said last week a second summit between the two leaders would be held in late February, but it did not say where. On Thursday, Mr Trump said in a series of tweets: The Fake News Media loves saying so little happened at my first summit with Kim Jong Un. Wrong! After 40 years of doing nothing with North Korea but being taken to the cleaners, & with a major war ready to start, in a short 15 months, relationships built, hostages & remains back home where they belong, no more Rockets or Ms being fired over Japan or anywhere else and, most importantly, no Nuclear Testing. This is more than has ever been accomplished with North Korea, and the Fake News knows it. I expect another good meeting soon, much potential! Despite Mr Kims enthusiasm for another meeting with Mr Trump, the two remain at odds over fundamental issues such as the denuclearisation of the Korean peninsula. Progress on negotiations has been patchy since their first landmark summit in Singapore last June, which ended with Mr Kim making a vague pledge to denuclearise his government had previously used when it called for the withdrawal of the 28,500 US troops stationed in South Korea. The strongest step he could promise during a second summit would be abandoning his long-range missle programme, which is capable of targeting the US mainland. This is unlikely to satisfy South Korea and Japan, which are within striking distance of the Norths short- and medium-ranged missiles. North and South Korean leaders Kim Jong-un and Moon Jae-in sign joint agreement on denuclearisation In return for such gestures, Mr Kim has sought to get UN sanctions on his country lifted. So far he has suspended nuclear and missile tests, dismantled the countrys nuclear testing site and part of its rocket engine facility, along with releasing American detainees. However, satellite imagery indicates the North is still running its main nuclear complex, begging the question of why is it is still producing nuclear material if it is truly committed to denuclearisation. Donald Trump and Kim Jong Un meet for first time While Mr Trump has said there is no rush and no time limit on denuclearisation negotiations, his secretary of state, Mike Pompeo, has given varying statements about the extent of Washingtons patience. After the Singapore summit Mr Pompeo said the US hoped to achieve major disarmament by the end of Mr Trumps current term in office in January 2021. He has subsequently said he would not put a timeline on talks. Chairman Kim continues to assure the President of the United States he is intent on denuclearisation and I hope that at the end of February, when the two leaders get together, we can make a substantial step along the way, Mr Pompeo told Fox News on Wednesday. Additional reporting by agencies He hated black men. He wanted to kill one, and he did. In a videotaped confession, James Harris Jackson, a white Army veteran from Baltimore, told investigators that he spent several days two years ago stalking black men in Manhattan before he spotted a 66-year-old man sifting through rubbish for recyclables. And in an undeniable testament of his hate, Jackson said he pulled a short sword from his coat and repeatedly stabbed the man, Timothy Caughman. The killing, Jackson said, was practice for a larger attack he had planned for Times Square, where he intended to murder young black men who were with white women because he loathed interracial dating. Jackson, 30, pleaded guilty on Wednesday to rare state charges of murder as terrorism and murder as a hate crime, accepting what is certain to be a sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole. 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 His dramatic plea to all counts against him came four months after the video of his interview with police was presented at a pre-trial hearing in the state Supreme Court in Manhattan. Jackson, who walked into the courtroom on crutches, wearing black slack trousers and a white button-up shirt, made no speech and expressed no remorse. He answered a series of questions from Justice Laura A Ward in a matter-of-fact tone. The judge asked him if he had stabbed Mr Caughman because he was black and hoped the attack would incite a racial war". Yes, he said. The murder of Mr Caughman came at a time when hate crimes were rising throughout the country and in New York City. While New York has continued to be one of the safest big cities in the country, the number of reported hate crimes increased by 5 per cent last year. Prosecutors in Manhattan say the number of cases in the borough has increased steadily since the 2016 election of President Donald Trump, whose rhetoric is often divisive. Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus R Vance Jr said Jacksons conviction was the first of a white supremacist on terrorism charges in New York, and one of several in the country. Mr Vance had intended to try the case himself. This is an incredibly disturbed young man and he brought tragedy to Manhattan, and he certainly showed Mr Caughman no mercy, and I dont think this office should show him any, Mr Vance said during an interview at his office. It was a cruel and completely planned attack with a broader political goal. James Harris Jackson, who pleaded guilty to traveling to New York City and fatally stabbing an African-American man in an racially motivated attack (Reuters) (REUTERS) A family friend and a cousin of Mr Caughman looked on as Jackson entered his guilty plea. The pain is still there, said Mr Caughmans long-time friend, Portia Clark, 66. Im grateful he pleaded guilty to all of the charges and they can take him back and throw the key away. Ms Clark, standing outside the courtroom, addressed Jackson: And no I dont forgive you for what you did. CCTV shows James Harris Jackson running moments after stabbing Timothy Caughman On St Patricks Day in 2017, Jackson boarded a bus in Washington, DC, and rode it to New York City. He said he thought about going to another city, but settled on New York because he believed his attack would receive the most media attention there: I wanted to basically influence the national conversation. he said. I was planning on doing basically as many as I could in Times Square, he told detectives during a two-hour interview after his arrest. He said he had planned to send an email to The New York Times or CNN to explain the motive behind his terrorist attack or what he described as an amateurish, slipshod version of one. After arriving in the city, Jackson checked into a hotel on West 46th Street. He spent three days hunting victims with a short sword and two smaller knives tucked into his coat. Then, at about 11.15 pm on 20 March, Jackson spotted Mr Caughman rummaging through rubbish on West 36th Street near Ninth Avenue. Mr Caughman was a recycler who lived nearby in a room at the Barbour Hotel, which now houses formerly homeless people transitioning to permanent housing. (In earlier reports about the murder, Mr Caughman was inaccurately described as homeless.) Jackson told investigators he stabbed Mr Caughman in the back. Mr Vance said the sword struck several of Mr Caughmans organs, causing him to bleed out. Mr Caughman screamed and asked Jackson: What are you doing? Jackson responded by stabbing Mr Caughman several more times in the chest before fleeing. He broke the tip of his sword during the attack and tossed it in a rubbish bin in Washington Square Park. Bleeding, Mr Caughman walked a block to a police station on West 35th Street, where officers called an ambulance, police said. He died at Bellevue Hospital. Soon Jacksons image from security cameras appeared in news reports. A day after the attack, Jackson turned himself in at a police substation in Times Square. During his interview with detectives, Jackson said he intended the murder of Mr Caughman to be a declaration of global war on the Negro race, and that he wanted to inspire white men to kill black men, to scare black men and to provoke a race war". He told a detective that he felt no remorse. He said his goal was a global policy aimed at the complete extermination of the Negro race". I was going for something a bit bigger, he said. The New York Times Venezuelas military chief has declared his support for president Nicolas Maduro and warned the US not to intervene a move that may be crucial if the man sworn in for a second term two weeks ago is to cling on to power. As Britain became the latest nation to recognise opposition politician Juan Guaido as the countrys president, military forces loyal to Mr Maduro took to the airwaves to declare their support for him. In a televised speech on Thursday, defence minister Vladimir Padrino Lopez said Mr Maduro was the countrys legitimate president and that the opposition was seeking to carry out a coup. I warn the people that there is a coup under way against our democracy and our president Nicolas Maduro, Mr Padrino said, according to Telesur. As soldiers, we work for peace and not for war. Those of us who lived through the coup of 2002 have it etched into our minds, we never thought wed see that again, but we saw it yesterday. 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 support of the military will be crucial if Mr Maduro, first elected in 2013 after the death of Hugo Chavez, sees off what is probably the sternest challenge yet to his rule, as his country reels from an economic crisis and financial sanctions. Millions of Venezuelans have fled the country, while even former supporters of Chavez have criticised his successor and accused him of incompetence and increasing authoritarianism. Shortages of basic food and medicine have become drasticm and health experts have warned about weight loss because of insufficient calories, especially among children. In the summer of 2017, Mr Maduro convened a special assembly to rewrite the countrys constitution, a move that was widely condemned. In doing so, he stripped the parliament of which Mr Guaido is head, of its powers. The move triggered widespread protests and a warning from a number of countries that Venezuelas democracy was being further eroded. On Wednesday, the US recognised Mr Guaido as the countrys legitimate leader. In its role as the only legitimate branch of government duly elected by the Venezuelan people, the national assembly invoked the countrys constitution to declare Nicolas Maduro illegitimate, and the office of the presidency therefore vacant. The people of Venezuela have courageously spoken out against Maduro and his regime and demanded freedom and the rule of law, Mr Trump said in a statement Canada quickly followed, as did Britain Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Paraguay, Peru, Ecuador, Guatemala and the Organisation of American States. In turn, Mr Maduro cut diplomatic ties with the US and gave US diplomats 72 hours to leave. The State Department said it did not recognise the order as it had been made by Mr Maduro and not Mr Guaido. But it later ordered non-emergency US personnel to leave the country and strongly suggested all US citizens follow suit. On Thursday, tensions escalated further as Mr Maduro ordered all of Venezuelas diplomats home from the United States and closed the countrys embassy. He told US diplolats to leave Caracas. They believe they have a colonial hold in Venezuela, where they decide what they want to do, he said in a speech that was televised. You must fulfill my order from the government of Venezuela. Russia, China, Mexico and Turkey have said they still recognise Mr Maduro. Russia has accused the US of hypocrisy. Support free-thinking journalism and attend Independent events The 35-year-old who has claimed to be Venezuelas president has enjoyed something of a meteoric rise. The Associated Press said his mentor was Leopoldo Lopez, Venezuelas most popular opposition leader, who is under house arrest and considered by government opponents to be a political prisoner. The government accuses Mr Lopez of taking part in a right-wing coup against Chavez that briefly unseated him in 2002. With up to 16 people reported to be dead in protests that have taken place this week, the Vatican said Pope Francis was closely following developments in and supported all efforts that helped save the population from further suffering. A statement from Vatican spokesman Alessandro Gisotti on Thursday did not say if the Holy See recognised opposition leader Mr Guaidos claim to the interim presidency. On a visit to Washington, British foreign secretary Jeremy Hunt, said: It is clear that Nicolas Maduro is not the legitimate leader of Venezuela ... the United Kingdom believes Juan Guaido is the right person to take Venezuela forward. The US has a long history of interfering with democratically elected governments in Latin America and in Venezuela it has sought to weaken the elected governments of both Mr Maduro and Mr Chavez. Some of the effort has been in distributing funds to opposition groups through organisations such as the National Endowment for Democracy, while some has been in the form of simple propaganda. Mark Weisbrot, co-director of the Centre for Economic and Policy Research in Washington, said that for the past 20 years it had been US policy to seek a change of government in Caracas. Mr Trumps recognition of Mr Guaido was the most obvious effort to undermine the government. More than anything else, I think this was a crime of opportuity, he told The Independent. Its been trying to do this for years. Right now, the economy is in tatters and there for the first time are lot of conservative leaders in the region who support what the US has done. The US has had to cancel an annual border security conference amid its ongoing government shutdown caused by a backlash over plans for a Mexican border wall. The 16th International Export Control and Border Security Conference was due to bring 270 security experts from 85 countries together in Edinburgh next month to discuss border-related issues. However the US State Department, which hosts the event, announced it had been postponed and did not confirm a new date for when it will take place. The annual conference, hosted by the governments Export Control and Related Border Security Program, brings countries together to work to prevent the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and destabilising accumulations. Donald Trump has been in a standoff with Democrats after failing to agree a government funding bill with them unless it contains the $5.7bn (4.4bn) he wants to build a wall on the US-Mexico border. Trump shuts down US government over Mexico border wall in pictures Show all 15 1 /15 Trump shuts down US government over Mexico border wall in pictures Trump shuts down US government over Mexico border wall in pictures Federal workers and contractors rally against the partial federal government shutdown Getty Images Trump shuts down US government over Mexico border wall in pictures The US Capitol on the first morning of a partial government shutdown in Washington EPA Trump shuts down US government over Mexico border wall in pictures Federal workers and contractors rally against the partial federal government shutdown Getty Trump shuts down US government over Mexico border wall in pictures President Trump speaks with children who called the North American Aerospace Defense Command Santa tracker in the State Dining Room of the White House. He earlier in the day, tweeted that he was 'all alone in the White House' waiting for Democrats to make a deal on border security EPA Trump shuts down US government over Mexico border wall in pictures Furloughed federal workers pick up free food at a pop-up store of Kraft Heinz Getty Images Trump shuts down US government over Mexico border wall in pictures Hundreds of federal workers and contractors rally against the partial federal government shutdown Getty Trump shuts down US government over Mexico border wall in pictures Reuters Trump shuts down US government over Mexico border wall in pictures From left, House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, Sen. Dick Durbin and Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi walk to speak to reporters after meeting with President Donald Trump about border security in the Situation Room of the White House. Trump declared he could keep parts of the government shut down for "months or even years" as he and Democratic leaders failed in a second closed-door meeting to resolve his demand for billions of dollars for a border wall with Mexico Evan Vucci AP Trump shuts down US government over Mexico border wall in pictures Federal workers and contractors rally against the partial federal government shutdown Getty Images Trump shuts down US government over Mexico border wall in pictures A sign alerts visitors to the closure of the National Archives on the fifth day of a partial government shutdown EPA Trump shuts down US government over Mexico border wall in pictures Hundreds of federal workers and contractors rally against the partial federal government shutdown Getty Images Trump shuts down US government over Mexico border wall in pictures Visitors read signs announcing the closure of the White House Visitor Center EPA Trump shuts down US government over Mexico border wall in pictures President Donald Trump speaks during a round-table discussion on border security and safe communities with State, local, and community leaders in the Cabinet Room of the White House Getty Images Trump shuts down US government over Mexico border wall in pictures A sign alerts visitors to the closure of the White House Visitor Center on the first day of a partial government shutdown EPA Trump shuts down US government over Mexico border wall in pictures Furloughed federal workers show their IDs for entering a pop-up store of Kraft Heinz Getty Images His request has sparked the longest government shutdown in US history, which has now entered its 34th day. Mr Trump insists a wall the length of Mexico is needed because of security issues, but Democrats and others say it is not necessary. Nancy Pelosi, speaker of the House, has blocked the president's plans to deliver his State of the Union address on Tuesday until the government reopens. In a series of tweets, Mr Trump responded by saying well do something in the alternative, while branding Democrats radicalised". The leaders disapproval ratings have reached an all-time high at 59 per cent as he continues to refuse to back down. A CBS News poll on Wednesday also revealed 71 per cent of voters did not believe the issue was worth keeping the federal government closed. The State Department said in a statement to CNN, which first reported the conferences postponement: In light of the very limited funding available during the lapse in appropriations, the department will exercise judicious use of limited, remaining resources. Travel, hiring, contracting, public affairs, and other activities will continue to operate in a constrained manner. Support free-thinking journalism and attend Independent events Rubbish has been piling up in Americas national parks since federal employees downed tools last month. About 800,000 federal employees have been left struggling to make ends meet without their regular pay cheques as the shutdown rumbles on. The whole of the US government has not been shut down, but nine federal departments and agencies in particular are feeling the squeeze. Those which have been closed since funding ran out on 22 December include the Federal Aviation Administration, Environmental Protection Agency and the Securities and Exchange Commission. In closed agencies and departments, only employees considered "essential" have been told to come to work without pay until the shutdown ends. The US has seen 13 shutdowns since 1981, with many lasting just a short period of time. The previous record holder ran 21 days from December 1995 until January 1996. As new polls showed a majority of Americans had cooled to the idea of a protracted government shutdown over his long-promised border wall, Donald Trump woke up with the same two options facing him as the past 33 days - he could fight back or concede. Or maybe he could try rhyming? BUILD A WALL & CRIME WILL FALL! Mr Trump wrote in his daily morning Twitter address. This is the new theme, for two years until the Wall is finished (under construction now), of the Republican Party. Use it and pray! Two minutes later, Mr Trump tweeted the rhyme again for emphasis. Mr Trump, a born marketing machine, brought to the White House a history of selling Americans everything from steaks to questionable real estate credentials to the catchphrase Youre Fired! And his red-and-white Make America Great Again hat is instantly associated with Mr Trump; an accessory that, as Americans were reminded last weekend, draws controversy like a laser beam. According to people who have been in the room when Mr Trump fires off a tweet, the president gets visibly excited when he comes up with a message he believes will go over well with his base he peers over his phone with a watch this expression, according to two people who have observed such a process. The wall rhyme appears to fit into that same bulls-eye category. The White House press office did not respond to a request for comment about the origin of Mr Trumps latest catchphrase. But a senior aide to the president said Mr Trump came up with it himself, and credited the new slogan to his marketing genius. There are a few hitches: Mr Trumps rhyming sales pitch that a border wall will reduce crime is not credible and the facts he uses to bolster his claims are often correctable. First, despite the presidents repeated claims, construction has not yet started on the border wall: The under construction now in his morning tweet needs more context. Customs and Border Protection has begun or completed several projects to replace old fencing with new barriers, but no additional miles of wall have been added yet. Construction to build a new levee wall system in Texas is scheduled to begin in February, the first extension of existing barriers. Who could be running against Trump in 2020? Show all 23 1 /23 Who could be running against Trump in 2020? Who could be running against Trump in 2020? Joe Biden The former vice president - poised to be a frontrunner - has announced his run. He recently faced scrutiny for inappropriate touching of women, but was thought to deal with the criticism well AFP/Getty Who could be running against Trump in 2020? Bernie Sanders The 2016 runner-up has announced that he will be running again in 2020 Getty Who could be running against Trump in 2020? Hillary Clinton The 2016 Democratic presidential candidate and former Secretary of State says she is still considering whether she will run again. Getty Who could be running against Trump in 2020? Pete Buttigieg The Indiana mayor and war veteran will be running for president. If elected, he would be the first openly LGBT+ president in American history. Getty Who could be running against Trump in 2020? Kamala Harris The former California attorney general will be running for president in 2020. Introduced to the national stage during Jeff Sessions testimony, she has endorsed Medicare-for-all and proposed a major tax-credit for the middle class. AP Who could be running against Trump in 2020? Elizabeth Warren The Massachusetts Senator has formally launched her bid for president in 2020. A progressive Democrat, she is a major supporter of regulating Wall Street. AP Who could be running against Trump in 2020? Beto ORourke The former Texas congressman told Oprah Winfrey that he has been thinking about running for presidency, but stopped short of formally announcing his bid to run in 2020. AFP/Getty Who could be running against Trump in 2020? Wayne Messam Mayor of the city of Miramar in the Miami metropolitan area, Wayne Messam has announced his bid. He intends to run on a progressive platform against the "broken" federal government. He favours gun regulations and was a signatory to a letter from some 400 mayors condemning President Trump's withdrawal from the Paris Climate Accord. Vice News Who could be running against Trump in 2020? Kirsten Gillibrand The New York Senator formally announced her presidential bid in January, saying that healthcare should be a right, not a privilege. Getty Who could be running against Trump in 2020? Cory Booker The New Jersey Senator has announced that he will be running for the presidency in 2020. If he secures the nomination he said finding a female vice president would be a priority. Getty Who could be running against Trump in 2020? John Delaney The Maryland congressman was the first to launch his bid for presidency, making the announcement in 2017. AP Who could be running against Trump in 2020? Julian Castro The former San Antonio mayor announced his candidacy in January and said that his running has a special meaning for the Latino community in the US. Getty Who could be running against Trump in 2020? Tulsi Gabbard The Hawaii congresswoman announced her candidacy in January, but is likely to face tough questions on her past comments on LGBT+ rights and her stance on Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. Getty Who could be running against Trump in 2020? Andrew Yang The entrepreneur has announced his presidential candidacy, and has pledged that he would introduce a universal basic income of $1,000 a month to every American over the age of 18. AFP/Getty Who could be running against Trump in 2020? Marianne Williamson The author and spiritual advisor has announced her intention to run for president. She had previously run for congress as an independent in 2014 but was unsuccessful. Getty Who could be running against Trump in 2020? John Kerry The former secretary of state has said he is still thinking about whether to run. Getty Who could be running against Trump in 2020? Michael Bloomberg The entrepreneur and former New York mayor with a net worth of around $50bn has said he will decide by the end of February whether to seek the presidency. AFP Who could be running against Trump in 2020? Howard Schultz Former Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz has not yet ruled out running for president in 2020, despite criticism that his bid could help re-elect Mr Trump by dividing the Democrat vote. AP Who could be running against Trump in 2020? Eric Holder The former attorney general has said he will decide in the next month or so whether to run as a 2020 presidential candidate. AP Who could be running against Trump in 2020? Eric Swalwell The California congressman said he is ready to do this and will decide before April whether to run. MSNBC Who could be running against Trump in 2020? Terry McAuliffe The former Virginia governor, who worked to elect Democratic governors during 2018 midterms, said there was a 50 per cent chance he would run. AP Who could be running against Trump in 2020? Sherrod Brown The Ohio senator is still undecided about whether to run for president in 2020. Who could be running against Trump in 2020? Mitch Landrieu The former New Orleans mayor said he doesnt think he will run for president, but never say never. AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin Second, Mr Trumps rhyme that a wall will lead to falling crime rates may be catchy, but it is at odds with what data shows about the influence immigration has on crime. Law enforcement agencies rarely release crime data that includes immigration status, but several studies have found that immigration does not lead to an increase in crime. Others have shown that immigrants including those who are in the country illegally are less likely to commit crimes than native-born Americans. Also, a border wall would not suddenly alter the population of unauthorised immigrants already in the country, as the president suggests; most of them are here because they overstayed temporary visas, not because they crossed the border illegally. The statistics Mr Trump often uses to portray a criminal threat are also misleading. He has pointed to 17,000 criminals caught trying to cross the border, omitting the fact that a majority were stopped at legal ports of entry, not wall-less areas of the border. He has recounted that officials have made 260,000-some arrests of immigrants with criminal records in the last two years, though the charges included a range of crimes, many non-violent like traffic violations or illegal entry. He has also issued baseless warnings of terrorists infiltrating the border, despite State Department and counterterrorism officials saying there is no credible threat. Mr Trump, known to be more concerned with the broad contours of his messaging than the particulars, continued to push his new slogan, targeting a segment on MSNBC that showed immigrants slipping across the border into the United States from Mexico. Even Trump Haters like (MS)NBC acknowledge you BUILD A WALL & CRIME WILL FALL!' Mr Trump wrote, his delight undimmed by his new rhyme. The New York Times Barack Obama's former photographer Pete Souza has shared a throwback image on Instagram of the former president laughing with an opposition leader at one of his State of the Union addresses. The photo, taken by Mr Souza in 2014, shows the former president looking back towards John Boehner, the former Republican House speaker who served in the US House of Representatives from 2011 to 2015. The two politicians are seen laughing with each other as Joe Biden looks on while smiling. The photographer captioned the photo, State of the Union 2014: back when our President was big enough to get along with a Speaker of the House from the opposition party and with whom he had major policy disagreements. Mr Souzas photo was seen as mocking Donald Trump, whose calls for border wall funding to be included in bills to reopen the federal government has spurred the longest shutdown in American history. In the midst of the presidents border wall battle, a new fight has emerged on Capitol Hill over the upcoming State of the Union address that was initially scheduled for the end of the month. 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 letter to Mr Trump, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi suggested working with the president to pick a new date for the address after initially inviting him to give the speech on 29 January from the US House of Representatives. The California Democrat cited the ongoing shutdown and security concerns as part of the reason she was inclined to push back the address, as the federal employees responsible for keeping lawmakers safe throughout the event would be forced to work without pay. Recommended Obama photographer Pete Souza trolls Trump after Comey firing The letter triggered swift backlash from Mr Trump, who cancelled a CODEL trip involving Ms Pelosi and other Democrats hours before they were expected to travel to Afghanistan to meet with US troops. He later wrote a letter to the House speaker saying he intended to conduct the address on the previously scheduled date, causing Ms Pelosi to officially revoke her invitation to the president. Support free-thinking journalism and attend Independent events Mr Trump said on Wednesday he was considering conducting an alternative address, either from the US Senate or some other location. The Senate Intelligence Committee has subpoenad Donald Trump's former personal lawyer Michael Cohen to compel him to testify before the committee next month, CNN reports. The subpoenas come as a part of the committee's ongoing investigation into Russia's interference in the 2016 presidential election, and follow after Cohen was sentenced last month to three years in prison for several felonies including campaign finance violations, lying to Congress, and financial misdeeds. Cohen had also been expected to testify before the House Intelligence Committee next month, but postponed that appearance citing "ongoing threats against his family" from Mr Trump and his current attorney Rudy Giuliani. "Due to ongoing threats against his family from President Trump and Mr Giuliani, as recently as this weekend, as well as Mr Cohen's continued cooperation with ongoing investigations, by advice of counsel, Mr Cohen's appearance will be postponed to a later date," Lanny Davis, Cohen's attorney, said in a statement. "Mr. Cohen wishes to thank Chairman Cummings for allowing him to appear before the House Oversight Committee and looks forward to testifying at the appropriate time". That postponement has led to democrats in that committee newly in power after taking control of the House during the 2018 midterm elections to consider whether to subpoena Cohen before he reports to prison next month. 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 Senate Intelligence Committee refused to comment on its reported subpoena when contacted by The Independent for confirmation. Cohen was previously viewed as the president's right hand man, and pleaded guilty to having made a $130,000 payment to Stormy Daniels, the adult film actress who has claimed she had an affair with Mr Trump over a decade ago. Support free-thinking journalism and attend Independent events Mr Trump has denied having had an affair with Daniels, and the two have been involved in a lenthy legal battle. Commerce secretary Wilbur Ross has said he does not understand why federal workers who have already missed one pay check as a result of the government shut down, have been relying on food banks to keep being able to feed their families. Mr Ross suggested the 800,000 federal workers who have not been paid as a result of the shutdown fueled by Donald Trumps refusal to sign a funding bill that does not include border wall funding should just take out loans. I know they are and I dont really quite understand why, Mr Ross said on CNBC, hen asked about the use of food banks. The government shutdown has now lasted 34 days, and several Republican senators have indicated they think it is time for an end to the shutdown with or without border wall funding. While the Democratic controlled House has repeatedly passed bills to reopen the government, Senate majority Leader Mitch McConnell has refusd to bring a bill to the floor for a vote that Mr Trump would veto, even if there were majority support in the chamber. Mr Ross continued: So the 30 days of pay that some people will be out, theres no real reason why they shouldnt be able to get a loan against it, and weve seen a number of ads of financial institutions doing that. Trump shuts down US government over Mexico border wall in pictures Show all 15 1 /15 Trump shuts down US government over Mexico border wall in pictures Trump shuts down US government over Mexico border wall in pictures Federal workers and contractors rally against the partial federal government shutdown Getty Images Trump shuts down US government over Mexico border wall in pictures The US Capitol on the first morning of a partial government shutdown in Washington EPA Trump shuts down US government over Mexico border wall in pictures Federal workers and contractors rally against the partial federal government shutdown Getty Trump shuts down US government over Mexico border wall in pictures President Trump speaks with children who called the North American Aerospace Defense Command Santa tracker in the State Dining Room of the White House. He earlier in the day, tweeted that he was 'all alone in the White House' waiting for Democrats to make a deal on border security EPA Trump shuts down US government over Mexico border wall in pictures Furloughed federal workers pick up free food at a pop-up store of Kraft Heinz Getty Images Trump shuts down US government over Mexico border wall in pictures Hundreds of federal workers and contractors rally against the partial federal government shutdown Getty Trump shuts down US government over Mexico border wall in pictures Reuters Trump shuts down US government over Mexico border wall in pictures From left, House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, Sen. Dick Durbin and Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi walk to speak to reporters after meeting with President Donald Trump about border security in the Situation Room of the White House. Trump declared he could keep parts of the government shut down for "months or even years" as he and Democratic leaders failed in a second closed-door meeting to resolve his demand for billions of dollars for a border wall with Mexico Evan Vucci AP Trump shuts down US government over Mexico border wall in pictures Federal workers and contractors rally against the partial federal government shutdown Getty Images Trump shuts down US government over Mexico border wall in pictures A sign alerts visitors to the closure of the National Archives on the fifth day of a partial government shutdown EPA Trump shuts down US government over Mexico border wall in pictures Hundreds of federal workers and contractors rally against the partial federal government shutdown Getty Images Trump shuts down US government over Mexico border wall in pictures Visitors read signs announcing the closure of the White House Visitor Center EPA Trump shuts down US government over Mexico border wall in pictures President Donald Trump speaks during a round-table discussion on border security and safe communities with State, local, and community leaders in the Cabinet Room of the White House Getty Images Trump shuts down US government over Mexico border wall in pictures A sign alerts visitors to the closure of the White House Visitor Center on the first day of a partial government shutdown EPA Trump shuts down US government over Mexico border wall in pictures Furloughed federal workers show their IDs for entering a pop-up store of Kraft Heinz Getty Images Meanwhile, federal employees have begun showing up to food banks in their federal uniforms, while other stories of charity a teenager donating a recently-won lifetime supply of peanut butter, for instance have proliferated. Recommended US government shutdown cancels annual border security conference It was a really sobering moment for her to have to step in and say, I need help, Kellie OConnell, the CEO of Lakeview Pantry in the Chicago area, told the Chicago Tribune of a federal employee who cried as she signed up for assistance. Mr Ross is reportedly worth roughly $700m, an amount of wealth that is astronomical compared to the financial circumstances of the vast majority of government workers. Many of those workers live paycheck to paycheck, and have been forced to work second jobs to even pay for gas to get to work if they have been deemed essential and forced to work during the shutdown without pay. Support free-thinking journalism and attend Independent events Mr Trump, who has forced the now 34-day-long shutdown, signed a bill last week promising backpay for federal workers impacted by the government. But, some federal contractors may still not receive any backpay. As the shutdown has progressed, hundreds of banks and credit unions have offered low or no-interest loans that can be taken out against that back pay, but stories of federal workers struggling to make ends meet abound. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 7th Circuit ruled 8-4 against lawyer Dale Kleber, who was 58 when he applied for an in-house senior counsel position in the Vernon Hills office of medical technology company CareFusion. It reversed a 2-1 ruling made in April by a panel of the same court and reinstated the decision of a federal trial court judge. The trial judge had dismissed Klebers claim on the basis that certain age discrimination laws apply only to current employees, not outside job applicants. A child in California accidentally shot their mother through the seat of her car after accessing an unsecured shotgun, the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department says. A department statement sent to The Independent says the shooting happened Wednesday in the Los Angeles suburb of Norwalk. The mother was wounded in the torso and was taken to a hospital, where she was in fair condition. Preliminary information gathered at the scene revealed that the females three children were in the backseat of the vehicle when one of the children accessed an unsecured shotgun and shot her through the back of the seat, the statement read. All four children are currently in the custody of Department of Children and Family Services. Another woman and a child in the front passenger seat were not hurt. World news in pictures Show all 50 1 /50 World news in pictures World news in pictures 30 September 2020 Pope Francis prays with priests at the end of a limited public audience at the San Damaso courtyard in The Vatican AFP via Getty World news in pictures 29 September 2020 A girl's silhouette is seen from behind a fabric in a tent along a beach by Beit Lahia in the northern Gaza Strip AFP via Getty World news in pictures 28 September 2020 A Chinese woman takes a photo of herself in front of a flower display dedicated to frontline health care workers during the COVID-19 pandemic in Beijing, China. China will celebrate national day marking the founding of the People's Republic of China on October 1st Getty World news in pictures 27 September 2020 The Glass Mountain Inn burns as the Glass Fire moves through the area in St. Helena, California. The fast moving Glass fire has burned over 1,000 acres and has destroyed homes Getty World news in pictures 26 September 2020 A villager along with a child offers prayers next to a carcass of a wild elephant that officials say was electrocuted in Rani Reserve Forest on the outskirts of Guwahati, India AFP via Getty World news in pictures 25 September 2020 The casket of late Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg is seen in Statuary Hall in the US Capitol to lie in state in Washington, DC AFP via Getty World news in pictures 24 September 2020 An anti-government protester holds up an image of a pro-democracy commemorative plaque at a rally outside Thailand's parliament in Bangkok, as activists gathered to demand a new constitution AFP via Getty World news in pictures 23 September 2020 A whale stranded on a beach in Macquarie Harbour on the rugged west coast of Tasmania, as hundreds of pilot whales have died in a mass stranding in southern Australia despite efforts to save them, with rescuers racing to free a few dozen survivors The Mercury/AFP via Getty World news in pictures 22 September 2020 State civil employee candidates wearing face masks and shields take a test in Surabaya AFP via Getty World news in pictures 21 September 2020 A man sweeps at the Taj Mahal monument on the day of its reopening after being closed for more than six months due to the coronavirus pandemic AP World news in pictures 20 September 2020 A deer looks for food in a burnt area, caused by the Bobcat fire, in Pearblossom, California EPA World news in pictures 19 September 2020 Anti-government protesters hold their mobile phones aloft as they take part in a pro-democracy rally in Bangkok. Tens of thousands of pro-democracy protesters massed close to Thailand's royal palace, in a huge rally calling for PM Prayut Chan-O-Cha to step down and demanding reforms to the monarchy AFP via Getty World news in pictures 18 September 2020 Supporters of Iraqi Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr maintain social distancing as they attend Friday prayers after the coronavirus disease restrictions were eased, in Kufa mosque, near Najaf, Iraq Reuters World news in pictures 17 September 2020 A protester climbs on The Triumph of the Republic at 'the Place de la Nation' as thousands of protesters take part in a demonstration during a national day strike called by labor unions asking for better salary and against jobs cut in Paris, France EPA World news in pictures 16 September 2020 A fire raging near the Lazzaretto of Ancona in Italy. The huge blaze broke out overnight at the port of Ancona. Firefighters have brought the fire under control but they expected to keep working through the day EPA World news in pictures 15 September 2020 Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny posing for a selfie with his family at Berlin's Charite hospital. In an Instagram post he said he could now breathe independently following his suspected poisoning last month Alexei Navalny/Instagram/AFP World news in pictures 14 September 2020 Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga, former Defense Minister Shigeru Ishiba and former Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida celebrate after Suga was elected as new head of the ruling party at the Liberal Democratic Party's leadership election in Tokyo Reuters World news in pictures 13 September 2020 A man stands behind a burning barricade during the fifth straight day of protests against police brutality in Bogota AFP via Getty World news in pictures 12 September 2020 Police officers block and detain protesters during an opposition rally to protest the official presidential election results in Minsk, Belarus. Daily protests calling for the authoritarian president's resignation are now in their second month AP World news in pictures 11 September 2020 Members of 'Omnium Cultural' celebrate the 20th 'Festa per la llibertat' ('Fiesta for the freedom') to mark the Day of Catalonia in Barcelona. Omnion Cultural fights for the independence of Catalonia EPA World news in pictures 10 September 2020 The Moria refugee camp, two days after Greece's biggest migrant camp, was destroyed by fire. Thousands of asylum seekers on the island of Lesbos are now homeless AFP via Getty World news in pictures 9 September 2020 Pope Francis takes off his face mask as he arrives by car to hold a limited public audience at the San Damaso courtyard in The Vatican AFP via Getty World news in pictures 8 September 2020 A home is engulfed in flames during the "Creek Fire" in the Tollhouse area of California AFP via Getty World news in pictures 7 September 2020 A couple take photos along a sea wall of the waves brought by Typhoon Haishen in the eastern port city of Sokcho AFP via Getty World news in pictures 6 September 2020 Novak Djokovic and a tournament official tends to a linesperson who was struck with a ball by Djokovic during his match against Pablo Carreno Busta at the US Open USA Today Sports/Reuters World news in pictures 5 September 2020 Protesters confront police at the Shrine of Remembrance in Melbourne, Australia, during an anti-lockdown rally AFP via Getty World news in pictures 4 September 2020 A woman looks on from a rooftop as rescue workers dig through the rubble of a damaged building in Beirut. A search began for possible survivors after a scanner detected a pulse one month after the mega-blast at the adjacent port AFP via Getty World news in pictures 3 September 2020 A full moon next to the Virgen del Panecillo statue in Quito, Ecuador EPA World news in pictures 2 September 2020 A Palestinian woman reacts as Israeli forces demolish her animal shed near Hebron in the Israeli-occupied West Bank Reuters World news in pictures 1 September 2020 Students protest against presidential elections results in Minsk TUT.BY/AFP via Getty World news in pictures 31 August 2020 The pack rides during the 3rd stage of the Tour de France between Nice and Sisteron AFP via Getty World news in pictures 30 August 2020 Law enforcement officers block a street during a rally of opposition supporters protesting against presidential election results in Minsk, Belarus Reuters World news in pictures 29 August 2020 A woman holding a placard reading "Stop Censorship - Yes to the Freedom of Expression" shouts in a megaphone during a protest against the mandatory wearing of face masks in Paris. Masks, which were already compulsory on public transport, in enclosed public spaces, and outdoors in Paris in certain high-congestion areas around tourist sites, were made mandatory outdoors citywide on August 28 to fight the rising coronavirus infections AFP via Getty World news in pictures 28 August 2020 Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe bows to the national flag at the start of a press conference at the prime minister official residence in Tokyo. Abe announced he will resign over health problems, in a bombshell development that kicks off a leadership contest in the world's third-largest economy AFP via Getty World news in pictures 27 August 2020 Residents take cover behind a tree trunk from rubber bullets fired by South African Police Service (SAPS) in Eldorado Park, near Johannesburg, during a protest by community members after a 16-year old boy was reported dead AFP via Getty World news in pictures 26 August 2020 People scatter rose petals on a statue of Mother Teresa marking her 110th birth anniversary in Ahmedabad AFP via Getty World news in pictures 25 August 2020 An aerial view shows beach-goers standing on salt formations in the Dead Sea near Ein Bokeq, Israel Reuters World news in pictures 24 August 2020 Health workers use a fingertip pulse oximeter and check the body temperature of a fisherwoman inside the Dharavi slum during a door-to-door Covid-19 coronavirus screening in Mumbai AFP via Getty World news in pictures 23 August 2020 People carry an idol of the Hindu god Ganesh, the deity of prosperity, to immerse it off the coast of the Arabian sea during the Ganesh Chaturthi festival in Mumbai, India Reuters World news in pictures 22 August 2020 Firefighters watch as flames from the LNU Lightning Complex fires approach a home in Napa County, California AP World news in pictures 21 August 2020 Members of the Israeli security forces arrest a Palestinian demonstrator during a rally to protest against Israel's plan to annex parts of the occupied West Bank AFP via Getty World news in pictures 20 August 2020 A man pushes his bicycle through a deserted road after prohibitory orders were imposed by district officials for a week to contain the spread of the Covid-19 in Kathmandu AFP via Getty World news in pictures 19 August 2020 A car burns while parked at a residence in Vacaville, California. Dozens of fires are burning out of control throughout Northern California as fire resources are spread thin AFP via Getty World news in pictures 18 August 2020 Students use their mobile phones as flashlights at an anti-government rally at Mahidol University in Nakhon Pathom. Thailand has seen near-daily protests in recent weeks by students demanding the resignation of Prime Minister Prayut Chan-O-Cha AFP via Getty World news in pictures 17 August 2020 Members of the Kayapo tribe block the BR163 highway during a protest outside Novo Progresso in Para state, Brazil. Indigenous protesters blocked a major transamazonian highway to protest against the lack of governmental support during the COVID-19 novel coronavirus pandemic and illegal deforestation in and around their territories AFP via Getty World news in pictures 16 August 2020 Lightning forks over the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge as a storm passes over Oakland AP World news in pictures 15 August 2020 Belarus opposition supporters gather near the Pushkinskaya metro station where Alexander Taraikovsky, a 34-year-old protester died on August 10, during their protest rally in central Minsk AFP via Getty World news in pictures 14 August 2020 AlphaTauri's driver Daniil Kvyat takes part in the second practice session at the Circuit de Catalunya in Montmelo near Barcelona ahead of the Spanish F1 Grand Prix AFP via Getty World news in pictures 13 August 2020 Soldiers of the Brazilian Armed Forces during a disinfection of the Christ The Redeemer statue at the Corcovado mountain prior to the opening of the touristic attraction in Rio AFP via Getty World news in pictures 12 August 2020 Young elephant bulls tussle playfully on World Elephant Day at the Amboseli National Park in Kenya AFP via Getty The Sheriff's Department says all four children were placed in the custody of the county Department of Children and Family Services. In its statement, the sheriffs department warned of the threat of unsecured weapons, writing, Its its not secure, its not safe. The child's age was not disclosed. A department spokesperson declined to provide further information. Recommended Gunman kills five in central Florida bank The incident was just the latest accidental shooting to draw national attention. Earlier this month, officials identified two teens in Georgia who were killed with a mishandled gun on New Years Eve. Detectives said one of the teens was showing his friends a handgun when he accidentally fired a shot, striking another teen who died at the scene. Support free-thinking journalism and attend Independent events The teenager who accidentally fired the shot then ran away and turned the gun on himself. Additional reporting by AP Kamala Harris hopes voters focus on her career as a top prosecutor when choosing a Democratic nominee to take on Donald Trump in the 2020 presidential election. That is, if she can first get past the criticisms surrounding her record. Shortly after announcing her candidacy, the senator was forced to respond to a New York Times Op-Ed penned by University of San Francisco law professor Lara Bazelon, which triggered a debate over whether Ms Harris was truly a progressive prosecutor as she had been proudly labelled. The article condemned Ms Harris for defending the death penalty, upholding wrongful convictions and a series of other apparent failures from her tenure as an attorney general. "Time after time, when progressives urged her to embrace criminal justice reforms as a district attorney and then the states attorney general, Ms Harris opposed them or stayed silent," Ms Bazelon wrote. The 2020 contender took "full responsibility" for the criticisms when speaking at one of her first campaign stops on Monday, saying, "The bottom line is the buck stops with me." "There are many cases," she continued, "where there were folks that made a decision in my office and they had not consulted me and I wish they had." Law experts and attorneys who worked with Ms Harris over the years debated the merit of referring to her record as progressive in a series of interviews conducted by The Independent. However, most, if not all, described her prosecutorial career as at least somewhat "forward-minded," and suggested her potential victory in 2020 could pave the way for historic criminal justice reforms due to her "smart" and "bipartisan" nature towards the issue. Who could be running against Trump in 2020? Show all 23 1 /23 Who could be running against Trump in 2020? Who could be running against Trump in 2020? Joe Biden The former vice president - poised to be a frontrunner - has announced his run. He recently faced scrutiny for inappropriate touching of women, but was thought to deal with the criticism well AFP/Getty Who could be running against Trump in 2020? Bernie Sanders The 2016 runner-up has announced that he will be running again in 2020 Getty Who could be running against Trump in 2020? Hillary Clinton The 2016 Democratic presidential candidate and former Secretary of State says she is still considering whether she will run again. Getty Who could be running against Trump in 2020? Pete Buttigieg The Indiana mayor and war veteran will be running for president. If elected, he would be the first openly LGBT+ president in American history. Getty Who could be running against Trump in 2020? Kamala Harris The former California attorney general will be running for president in 2020. Introduced to the national stage during Jeff Sessions testimony, she has endorsed Medicare-for-all and proposed a major tax-credit for the middle class. AP Who could be running against Trump in 2020? Elizabeth Warren The Massachusetts Senator has formally launched her bid for president in 2020. A progressive Democrat, she is a major supporter of regulating Wall Street. AP Who could be running against Trump in 2020? Beto ORourke The former Texas congressman told Oprah Winfrey that he has been thinking about running for presidency, but stopped short of formally announcing his bid to run in 2020. AFP/Getty Who could be running against Trump in 2020? Wayne Messam Mayor of the city of Miramar in the Miami metropolitan area, Wayne Messam has announced his bid. He intends to run on a progressive platform against the "broken" federal government. He favours gun regulations and was a signatory to a letter from some 400 mayors condemning President Trump's withdrawal from the Paris Climate Accord. Vice News Who could be running against Trump in 2020? Kirsten Gillibrand The New York Senator formally announced her presidential bid in January, saying that healthcare should be a right, not a privilege. Getty Who could be running against Trump in 2020? Cory Booker The New Jersey Senator has announced that he will be running for the presidency in 2020. If he secures the nomination he said finding a female vice president would be a priority. Getty Who could be running against Trump in 2020? John Delaney The Maryland congressman was the first to launch his bid for presidency, making the announcement in 2017. AP Who could be running against Trump in 2020? Julian Castro The former San Antonio mayor announced his candidacy in January and said that his running has a special meaning for the Latino community in the US. Getty Who could be running against Trump in 2020? Tulsi Gabbard The Hawaii congresswoman announced her candidacy in January, but is likely to face tough questions on her past comments on LGBT+ rights and her stance on Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. Getty Who could be running against Trump in 2020? Andrew Yang The entrepreneur has announced his presidential candidacy, and has pledged that he would introduce a universal basic income of $1,000 a month to every American over the age of 18. AFP/Getty Who could be running against Trump in 2020? Marianne Williamson The author and spiritual advisor has announced her intention to run for president. She had previously run for congress as an independent in 2014 but was unsuccessful. Getty Who could be running against Trump in 2020? John Kerry The former secretary of state has said he is still thinking about whether to run. Getty Who could be running against Trump in 2020? Michael Bloomberg The entrepreneur and former New York mayor with a net worth of around $50bn has said he will decide by the end of February whether to seek the presidency. AFP Who could be running against Trump in 2020? Howard Schultz Former Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz has not yet ruled out running for president in 2020, despite criticism that his bid could help re-elect Mr Trump by dividing the Democrat vote. AP Who could be running against Trump in 2020? Eric Holder The former attorney general has said he will decide in the next month or so whether to run as a 2020 presidential candidate. AP Who could be running against Trump in 2020? Eric Swalwell The California congressman said he is ready to do this and will decide before April whether to run. MSNBC Who could be running against Trump in 2020? Terry McAuliffe The former Virginia governor, who worked to elect Democratic governors during 2018 midterms, said there was a 50 per cent chance he would run. AP Who could be running against Trump in 2020? Sherrod Brown The Ohio senator is still undecided about whether to run for president in 2020. Who could be running against Trump in 2020? Mitch Landrieu The former New Orleans mayor said he doesnt think he will run for president, but never say never. AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin Ms Bazelon said she believed it would be difficult for progressive voters to contend with Ms Harris' tenure as a prosecutor in an interview discussing her Op-Ed with The Independent, saying on Tuesday, "She's going to have to reckon with her record and stop painting it as something it isn't." "It's important to point out she has a few things shes done that were forward-minded," Ms Bazelon said. "But it wont be easy for her to say, Im a progressive prosecutor she cant have it both ways." Ms Harris, the second African-American woman to serve in the US Senate, made the announcement for her candidacy on Martin Luther King Jr Day, releasing a campaign slogan titled "Kamala Harris: For the People" a nod to her record as a prosecutor in California and sharing an accompanying video that showcases her record as an attorney general and junior senator. While she has taken responsibility for several of her reported prosecutorial failures, Ms Harris also continues to incorporate her career as a central component of her candidacy. Theres a lot about what I did as a prosecutor that Im proud of, she said in a recent interview, including a recognition that there are fundamental flaws in our criminal justice system. She has already faced backlash from the far left and progressive factions of the Democratic Party over her record, and those criticisms were then swiftly covered in real-time and echoed by conservative outlets like Fox News. Still, law experts said Ms Harris willingness to work with anyone on criminal justice reform makes her not just a viable candidate to tackle the issue, but perhaps one of the most experienced. Ms Harris provided initial key support for a major crime reform bill backed by Mr Trump called the First Step Act, calling the legislation smart on crime while adding, we ultimately need to make far greater reforms if we are to right the wrongs that exist in our criminal justice system. Recommended Meet the Democrats running against Trump in 2020 She was then one of just six senators who pushed Chuck Grassley to advocate for provisions on sentencing reforms to be included in the final version of the bill before it went to the Senate Judiciary Committee for a vote. That strategic move among the coalition of senators was ultimately successful in adding significant sentencing reforms to the final measure, according to Marc Mauer, executive director of The Sentencing Project, an advocacy centre in Washington focused on reducing the use of incarceration in the US. Our office has worked with her since she was elected as a senator, he said. Senator Harris has been a strong voice for broad criminal justice reform, both in her work on the Judiciary Committee and in her public engagements. This has included most notably advocacy for reform of the harsh mandatory sentencing provisions that apply to many federal drug offenses. Support free-thinking journalism and attend Independent events David Carillo, the executive director of the California Constitution Centre at the University of California, Berkeley, School of Law, pointed to several examples of important actions Ms Harris took as a prosecutor, from suing big banks and for-profit colleges to her Back on Track programme launched to reduce recidivism among first-time, non-violent drug offenders. Senator Harris was a smart, principled prosecutor, he said. I served in San Francisco and California government during her tenures...I think her view has always been to reject the false choice between being tough or soft on crime and to focus on being smart about it." Donald Trumps decision to change definitions of domestic violence and sexual assault has rolled back womens rights by half a century, campaigners have warned. The Trump administration quietly changed the definition of both domestic violence and sexual assault back in April but the move has only just surfaced. The change could have significant repercussions for millions of victims of gender-based violence. The Trump Justice Departments definition only considers physical harm that constitutes a felony or misdemeanour to be domestic violence meaning other forms of domestic violence such as psychological abuse, coercive control and manipulation no longer fall under the departments definition. Under the Obama administration, the definition was drastically more expansive and was assessed by domestic violence organisations. Political figures caricatured at German carnival Show all 22 1 /22 Political figures caricatured at German carnival Political figures caricatured at German carnival Donald Trump is depicted as a raging bull AP Political figures caricatured at German carnival Prime Minister Theresa May is depicted as piercing the economy with Brexit Getty Political figures caricatured at German carnival US president Donald Trump is depicted as an angel flying behind Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman who is wielding a bloody chainsaw Getty Political figures caricatured at German carnival Italian Inteior Minister and deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini is depicted as feeding racism and nationalism. He also bears a tattoo of affection for the mafia Getty Political figures caricatured at German carnival Chairman of Poland's leading Law and Justice Party (PIS) Jaroslaw Kaczynski is depicted as crucifying liberal Poland Getty Political figures caricatured at German carnival Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II is depicted running towards the EU for asylum AP Political figures caricatured at German carnival Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II is depicted running towards the EU for asylum Reuters Political figures caricatured at German carnival Planet Earth is depicted as eating plastic waste EPA Political figures caricatured at German carnival The frontside of a float depicting Germany's far-right party Alternative fur Deutschland (AFD)... Reuters Political figures caricatured at German carnival ...and the backside of the float. Depicting a German nazi AP Political figures caricatured at German carnival US president Donald Trump and Russian president Vladimir Putin are depicted tearing up the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty, which the US recently pulled out of Getty Political figures caricatured at German carnival A Catholic bishop is depicted as sleeping on "the merciless processing of abuse cases" Getty Political figures caricatured at German carnival Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman is depicted as being covered in blood Reuters Political figures caricatured at German carnival Donald Trump is depicted as a raging bull Reuters Political figures caricatured at German carnival German Chancellor Angela Merkel is depicted as sitting on a knackered horse and holding out a carrot AP Political figures caricatured at German carnival The horse is called "Koalition" in reference to Germany's ruling coalition AFP/Getty Images Political figures caricatured at German carnival The carrot bears the label "AKK", an abbreviation of Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer, Merkel's successor as leader of the Christian Democratic Union Reuters Political figures caricatured at German carnival A paper mache figure of a priest carrying an attache case reading "let the children come towards me" is seen during the presentation of the floats for the upcoming Rose Monday parade in Mainz, Germany Reuters Political figures caricatured at German carnival German Chancellor Angela Merkel is depicted as a rabbit waiting to be shot by her Interior Minister Horst Seehofer AP Political figures caricatured at German carnival German Chancellor Angela Merkel is depicted as a rabbit waiting to be shot by her Interior Minister Horst Seehofer EPA Political figures caricatured at German carnival German Interior Minister Horst Seehofer is depicted as holding a bent gun that he intends to aim at Chancellor Angela Merkel EPA Political figures caricatured at German carnival Andrea Naples, leader of the German Social Democrats (SPD) who are in coalition with Chancellor Angela Merkel's party AP The Office on Violence against Women (OVW), part of the Department of Justice, has amended its definition of sexual assault to also focus on criminal justice aspects. Holly Taylor-Dunn, a senior lecturer at the University of Worcester who has been working in the field of domestic and sexual violence for 17 years, said she was shocked by the move. The academic, who has worked in frontline roles in the domestic violence sector and used to be a domestic abuse officer for the police, argued the Trump administrations decision turned the clock back 50 years. I was massively surprised and really shocked," she said. "It is quite scary how quietly it has happened. It is a massive step backwards. We have literally gone back to the 70s. We have worked so hard since the 60s and 70s to get domestic abuse and sexual violence understood as being about more than physical violence. Changing the definition to take it back to being about physical harm completely undermines what domestic abuse is about. Narrowing the definition will stop victims being able to access the services they need. Prosecutions for domestic and sexual violence will also fall because they are limiting it to the most severe forms of abuse so fewer victims are likely to come forward and seek help. The move sets a bad example. People look to America and the UK to be progressive on issues such as these. If America does it then other countries could quite conceivably think it is an appropriate response. Ms Taylor-Dunn, who leads a Masters degree in Understanding Domestic and Sexual Violence, argued it was unlikely for the UK government to follow Americas lead and introduce such a measure. Controlling or coercive behaviour in intimate or familial relationships became a new offence n the UK, punishable with a maximum prison sentence of five years, under the 2015 Serious Crime Act. The academic said both research and victims prove that the problem is not about physical violence at its core, but noted it had been a slow process getting this form of abuse criminalised here in Britain. Ms Taylor-Dunn said the domestic violence sector had strived to raise awareness of how complex the issue of is. She argued survivors of sexual violence and domestic violence are already treated badly by the criminal justice system due to deeply ingrained sexist stereotypes of women and the White Houses decision would only feed existing stereotypes. Recommended Domestic abuse victims at risk after Violence Against Women Act expiry Suzanne Jacob, of UK domestic violence charity Safe Lives, said: These changes are a huge step backwards that will have very real consequences for victims and survivors of domestic abuse in the States. "Wherever you live, if youve experienced domestic abuse or listened to those who have, you know all too well that physical violence is never the whole picture and many survivors tell us that the emotional and psychological abuse takes much longer to recover from. Closer to home, with the publication this week of the draft Domestic Abuse Bill, this is a timely reminder that the new statutory definition of domestic abuse must encompass the different forms it can take. Womens Aid identify domestic abuse as a gendered crime saying that while both men and women may experience incidents of interpersonal violence and abuse, women are considerably more likely to experience repeated and severe forms of abuse, including sexual violence. The Trump administrations new definition says the term sexual assault means any non-consensual sexual act proscribed by Federal, tribal, or State law, including when the victim lacks capacity to consent. Donald Trump does not answer question from press about domestic violence In contrast, the previous definition was more expansive, saying: Sexual assault is any type of sexual contact or behaviour that occurs without the explicit consent of the recipient. Falling under the definition of sexual assault are sexual activities as forced sexual intercourse, forcible sodomy, child molestation, incest, fondling, and attempted rape. The Trump governments amendments to the definitions were first written about by Natalie Nanasi director of the Judge Elmo B Hunter Legal Centre for Victims of Crimes Against Women at Southern Methodist University Dedman School of Law. What is clear is that these seemingly semantic changes, even if not yet embodied in official law or policy, are part of a broader trend toward the devaluation of women by this administration and this president, Ms Nanasi wrote in a piece for US publication Slate. She said the new terms may mean the OVW restricts grants for community efforts to combat domestic and sexual abuse to agencies that serve victims of crime meaning many survivors could be left without resources. OVW may also change its education and training resources to include the new definition, no longer considering some abuse survivors as victims, she said. Some 43.5 million women have experienced psychological aggression from an intimate partner in the US, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. More than half of women murdered each year in the US are killed by an intimate partner. A third person has died more than a week after a man wielding a hammer attacked victims in a New York City restaurant, authorities said on Thursday. Tsz Mat Pung was the manager of the Seaport Buffet in the Sheepshead Bay area of Brooklyn, New York, where the attack took place. His death was announced on Thursday, according to WABC. The alleged attacker has been identified as Arthur Martunovich, of Brooklyn. He reportedly remains in the hospital in a psychiatric ward. The attacker walked into the restaurant on 15 January and began hitting unsuspecting victims with a hammer. The incident caused a panic in the restaurant, sending people fleeing as police officers arrived on the scene. 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 Fufai Pun, a 34-year-old chef who worked at the restaurant, was killed during the attack. The owner of the restaurant, 60-year-old Kheong Ng-Thang, died three days later. Recommended Mother and baby threatened with hammer in Manchester carjacking Authorities do not believe the attacker had a connection to the restaurant prior to the incident. Mr Martunovich has been charged on murder and attempted murder charges in the unprovoked attack. Police have described him as emotionally disturbed Support free-thinking journalism and attend Independent events Information on the suspects lawyer was not immediately available. Additional reporting by AP A 13-year-old girl who escaped from her kidnapper after three months in captivity will be handed a $25,000 (19,000) reward initially offered to members of the public for information leading to her release. Jayme Closs was taken from her home in Wisconsin on 15 October and both of her parents were killed. The teenager escaped 88 days later. Jennie-O, a company producing turkey products in the neighbouring state of Minnesota, said it would honour its promise to pay the reward money to anyone providing information leading to Jaymes return by handing the sum directly to the victim. The FBI and Jennie-O where both Jaymes parents worked contributed a total of $50,000 to the reward for information on Jaymes whereabouts. Jennie-O and its parent company, Hormel Foods, announced they were working with police to get their share of the reward to Jayme. 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 Steve Lykken, Jennie-Os president, said he hoped a trust fund would be set up for Jaymes current and future needs. It is not clear what the FBI will do with the $25,000 it offered. Details on FBI rewards are generally not disclosed. Thirteen-year-old Jayme Closs, who was reported missing from Barron, Wisconsin in October (EPA) Jake Patterson, 21, was charged with kidnapping and homicide earlier this month. A criminal complaint alleged he told investigators that on his drive to a job at a cheese factory in Almena, Wisconsin, he spotted Jayme get on the school bus and came up with the idea to abduct her. Recommended Jayme Closs 911 call transcript shows moments after teenager found Prosecutors believe Mr Patterson broke into Jaymes home in the town of Barron by blasting the front door open with a shotgun. They allege he shot her parents and then abducted the young girl. Jayme escaped and was found by a woman out walking her dog on 10 January in northwest Wisconsin, about an hours drive north of Barron. A Utah-based Mormon who became a prominent advocate of the widely discredited gay conversion therapy says he now identifies as gay. David Matheson, the creator of courses seeking to change a persons sexuality, revealed he could no longer stay in his marriage of 34 years and said it was "time for me to affirm myself as gay. He came out in a Facebook post after the LGBTQ charity Truth Wins Out obtained a private post made by fellow conversion therapist Rich Wyler saying Mr Matheson was no longer part of the movement. Mr Matheson said he was not renouncing his religious faith, or the entirety of his work as a conversion therapist, despite dating men. But he did criticise the shame-based, homophobic-based system of his upbringing in the Mormon church. Fifteen US states have banned mental health professionals from practicing conversion therapy on minors. The New York state legislature became the latest to prohibit licensed professionals from using the pseudoscientific therapy on children earlier this month, finding that efforts to change sexual orientation could do serious harms. 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 an interview with NBC News, Mr Matheson acknowledged the hurt he may have caused through the practice. I know there are people who wont be satisfied by anything less than a complete and unequivocal renunciation of everything, he said. Thats hard, because I want people to feel the genuineness of my change of heart, but people need to understand that there is more than one reality in the world. To the LGBTQ individuals who felt damaged by his conversion courses, he said: I unequivocally apologise. Truth Wins Out founder Wayne Besen said many people in the conversion therapy or ex-gay movement looked to Mr Matheson as an intellectual godfather". He created the Journey Into Manhood programme, was a director at the Centre for Gender Wholeness, and the author of a book entitled Becoming a Whole Man. Support free-thinking journalism and attend Independent events Chaim Levin, a plaintiff in a successful lawsuit that led to the shutting down of Jews Offering New Alternatives to Homosexuality (JONAH), said he hoped Mr Matheson would do whatever he can to rectify the harm that hes inflicted on people in the LGBTQ community. While I am pleased for Mr Matheson that he has found a path forward for his life, I cant help but think of the hundreds if not thousands of people who are still stuck in the closet, a closet that was created in part by Mr Matheson himself, he said. The Williams Institute at UCLA School of Law estimates as many as 700,000 LGBTQ adults in the US have undergone some kind of therapy in an effort to change their sexuality. A gunman killed five people in a bank in central Florida, before calling police himself and eventually surrendering, according to authorities. The shooting took place at a SunTrust Bank branch in Sebring, Florida, at about 12.30pm local time, Police Chief Karl Hoglund said at a news conference. The 21-year-old suspect, identified as Zephen Xaver, called police and said he had fired shots inside the bank, according to authorities. After negotiators failed to convince the suspect to leave the bank, the Highlands County Sheriff's Office SWAT team entered the building and continued to talk to him, police said. He eventually surrendered and is in custody. Police did not offer any details about a possible motive. "This is a terrible day for Sebring, Highlands County and for the state of Florida," Governor Ron DeSantis said in a statement following the shooting. 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 front of the bank seems to have been damaged with doors ripped off their hinges, WFTS reported. After the suspect was taken into custody, police said there was no longer any danger to people in the surrounding area. However, local businesses close to the bank and two nearby schools were instructed to be put on conditional lockdown. Support free-thinking journalism and attend Independent events "We are working closely with officials and seeking to take care of everyone affected," SunTrust's Chief Communications Officer Sue Mallino told CNN. "We will provide more information as soon as we can." Sebring is in central Florida. It is located about two hours south of Orlando. The Brazilian government has accused a missionary from the US of exposing an isolated indigenous tribe to potentially fatal diseases. The Christian missionary Steve Campbell entered an area occupied by the Hi-Merima tribe last month, one of the few dozen tribes in Brazil that has had no contact with the outside world. Its a case of rights violation and exposure to risk of death to isolated indigenous population, said a spokesman for the Brazilian governments Indigenous Affairs Department (Funai). Even if direct contact has not occurred, the probability of transmission of diseases to the isolated is high. Mr Campbell camped in the area the Hi-Merima occupy and invaded one of the isolated tribe's recently abandoned camping grounds, Funai said. Little is known about the tribe, who live in the state of Amazonas. They became known for rejecting contact with the outside world and maintaining hostile relations even with other indigenous communities. Details about what kind of penalties Mr Campbell may face are not clear. Funai has not yet notified federal prosecutors or the police, but the government agency said it will notify them this week. According to reports from Brazilian newspaper Folha de Sao Paulo, Mr Campbell claimed to have entered the area by mistake, while teaching Indians from the neighbouring Jamamadi tribe to use a GPS device. Mr Campbell has been living among the Jamamadi for years, but received no authorisation to do so, according to Funai officials. Attempts to reach Mr Campbell for clarification were unsuccessful. In pictures: The uncontacted tribes of the Amazon Show all 7 1 /7 In pictures: The uncontacted tribes of the Amazon In pictures: The uncontacted tribes of the Amazon A group from the Mashco Piro people in Peru, photographed from a distance by the Madre de Dios river Survival International In pictures: The uncontacted tribes of the Amazon Uncontacted Brazilian people, photographed from the air Survival International In pictures: The uncontacted tribes of the Amazon Uncontacted Brazilian people, photographed from the air Survival International In pictures: The uncontacted tribes of the Amazon Uncontacted Brazilian people, photographed from the air Survival International In pictures: The uncontacted tribes of the Amazon Uncontacted Brazilian people, photographed from the air Survival International In pictures: The uncontacted tribes of the Amazon Uncontacted Brazilian people, photographed from the air Survival International In pictures: The uncontacted tribes of the Amazon Uncontacted Brazilian people, photographed from the air Survival International Two months ago another US missionary, John Allen Chau, tried to contact an isolated tribe on an island in the Bay of Bengal. He was killed by the indigenous people and Indian police later abandoned efforts to recover his body. Experts said there is an increasing likelihood of missionaries trying to contact isolated tribes in Brazil in an effort to spread their religion after Jair Bolsonaro, the Brazilian president, appointed an evangelical preacher as the new minister in charge of indigenous affairs. During his presidential campaign last year, Mr Bolsonaro pledged to open up protected land and leave not one centimetre for indigenous people or quilombolas the descendants of runaway slaves. On Wednesday Brazils top prosecutor called on the right-wing presidents government to respect the land rights of 900,000 indigenous citizens, which have been threatened by a wave of land invasions since he took office. Support free-thinking journalism and attend Independent events Mr Bolsonaro has said he will not allow any new reservations and put land decisions under the Agriculture Ministry, a move that many saw as elevating farmers interests above those of native groups, who often make competing claims on land. Prosecutor General Raquel Dodge said indigenous land rights were guaranteed in Brazils constitution and the new government must explain its intentions because the international community is concerned about the future of indigenous peoples. There can be no backsliding on public policies toward the indigenous people, she said at a conference attended by representatives of some of Brazils 305 native tribes and advocacy groups. Additional reporting by Reuters A group of 33 Cypriots who claimed they were raped and tortured by British forces during an uprising to end colonial rule, will be paid a 1m settlement by the British government. After being arrested on suspicion of being members of the paramilitary group Eoka more than 60 years ago, the group alleged they were beaten and raped while in custody. Foreign minister Alan Duncan said the settlement does not constitute any admission of liability and does not set a precedent for any future claims gainst the British government. But he said the government regretted the violence and loss of life which preceded Cyprus independence in 1960. Thassos Sophocleous, head of an association of former fighters who waged a four-year armed campaign, said the 33 Cypriots interpreted the out-of-court settlement as an acknowledgement that they were tortured while in the hands of British authorities. Mr Sophocleous, 85, claims the beatings he received while in British custody for 17 days damaged his knees and fractured vertebrae. 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 claimants, now in their 70s and 80s, launched their legal battle in 2015 after government documents detailing their treatment were declassified in 2012. The seven-year dispute in Cypriot and British courts was initiated after more than 5,000 Kenyans successfully took similar legal action of their own against the British government. In a written statement to Parliament, Sir Alan said: The settlement does not constitute any admission of liability and is not a precedent in respect of any potential future claims against the government. Indeed, the government has maintained throughout proceedings that the passage of time means that it is now no longer possible to establish all of the facts with certainty. However, the government has settled the case in order to draw a line under this litigation and to avoid the further escalation of costs, which would ultimately be borne by the taxpayer. Sir Alan said the government reaffirms its highest respect for the memory and sacrifice of British and Cypriot service personnel and employees of the crown who gave their lives during the Emergency period declared between 1955 and 1959. He added: It is a matter of regret for the UK government that the transition of Cyprus from British administration to independence should have been preceded by five years of violence and loss of life, affecting all residents of the island. Support free-thinking journalism and attend Independent events The government in Cyprus hailed the settlement as a courageous act by Britain, adding the passions of the past should be consigned to history as both countries aim to improve already excellent relations. Britain still retains two military bases on Cyprus. Last year, more than 1.3 million Britons spent their holidays on the island. Kevin Conroy, the lead solicitor for the claimants, said: I always believed in this case, as did the many other people who became involved. My faith in the clients and in the team I put together to assist the claimants has been vindicated. Howard Shelley, another solicitor involved in the case, said: This has been the most interesting and challenging case I have ever been involved in. A no-deal Brexit would ruin any chances Britain had of negotiating free trade deals with other countries, Irelands prime minister has warned. Speaking in Davos Leo Varadkar suggested the unresolved Irish border question would make it very difficult for Theresa Mays vision of a global Britain trading with the world outside the EU to be realised. He said the combination of World Trade Organisation rules and the Good Friday Agreement meant the country would likely have to adopt full alignment with the EU rules and single market anyway to meet its commitments. The United Kingdom in a no-deal scenario will face enormous difficulties, he told an audienc at the World Economic Forum. In a no-deal scenario Ireland will still be in the single market, and will still be part of all those trade deals which come with being part of Europe, the trade deal with Japan, the trade deal with Canada, the trade deal with Korea, the trade deal with Singapore. Recommended Netherlands says 250 firms in talks to move from UK because of Brexit In a no-deal scenario, the UK won't have any trade deals with anyone, and I think it will be very difficult for them to conclude any trade deals with the question of the Irish border unresolved. Given we have a solution on the table already, let's ratify that. Under the Good Friday Agreement and political commitments made by Theresa May during Brexit talks, the UK is committed to preventing a hard border from appearing in Northern Ireland. However under World Trade Organisation (WTO) rules the UK is bound not to cut special favours for other countries unless they are part of a recognise free trade agreement under the so-called most favoured nation regulation. The rules are in place to prevent countries from waging trade wars against their competitors. Mr Varadkars intervention is the latest bid to up the pressure on British MPs to agree to the so-called backstop provision in the Brexit withdrawal agreement. Eurosceptic MPs are implacably opposed to the Irish backstop, which locks the UK into some EU rules to help prevent a hard border between Ireland and Northern Ireland. They say it is a breach of sovereignty and are voting down the entire Brexit deal in opposition to it. The policy is set to automatically trigger in 2021 if there is no trade deal between the UK and EU negotiated by then or if the trade deal does not allow for frictionless trade. 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 part of MPs resistance to the plan is because while it is operational it would effectively keep the UK in a customs union with the EU limiting Britains ability to do trade deals with other countries. Some Brexiteers say Brexit is an opportunity for the UK to do trade deals with other countries other than the ones that the UK already has agreements with as part of its EU membership. The United States is sometimes cited as a plausible example, though president Donald Trump has said that under the agreement struck between the UK and EU a trade deal would likely be off the table Before joining the Red Bulls, Rzatkowski spent two seasons with Red Bull Salzburg and four years with FC St. Pauli. He began his career in the academy of hometown club VfL Bochum before signing his first professional contract in 2009. A no-deal Brexit would be a betrayal of what was promised by Leave campaigners during the EU referendum campaign, the chancellor has said. Philip Hammond told UK business leaders at the World Economic Forum in Davos that such an outcome which Theresa May has refused to rule out would undermine prosperity and equally undermine the referendum. The intervention comes just weeks after Mr Hammond told another group of business leaders in a conference call that a no deal should be taken off the table by the government as Labour has suggested. He also warned the attendees at the Davos dinner not to try and thwart Brexit with a second referendum, and called for their help implementing a more liberal immigration regime after the UK leaves. Not leaving would be seen as a betrayal of that referendum decision, but equally leaving without a deal would undermine our prosperity and would equally represent a betrayal of the promises that were made, he said. Speaking at the same summit, Leo Varadkar, the Irish prime minister, warned the twin commitments of the Good Friday Agreement and WTO rules meant that the UK would find it very difficult to sign trade deals under a no-deal Brexit. Some Brexit-sceptic ministers in government have become increasingly vocal as the clock ticks down to the exit date, with increasing pressure on the prime minister to soften her plan to get cross-party support and avoid crashing out. David Gauke, the justice secretary, said a week ago that the government should be flexible and consider making concessions such as passing a customs union to get the Brexit deal through. Before Christmas work and pensions secretary Amber Rudd called on the government to build a coalition in parliament to pass the deal. It has been reported that 18 ministers, including Mr Hammond and Ms Rudd, have been meeting once a fortnight to organise to block a no-deal Brexit. Defence minister Tobias Ellwood, who also attends the meetings, has described a no deal as a historic act of self-harm, with profound economic, security and repetitional consequences for the UK. Business minister Richard Harrington, who has said he will resign if there is a no deal, has said: My clear objective is to stop the nonsense of a hard Brexit. Brexit deal vote: Opposing groups of protesters gather by parliament Show all 20 1 /20 Brexit deal vote: Opposing groups of protesters gather by parliament Brexit deal vote: Opposing groups of protesters gather by parliament Brexit supporters outside parliament PA Brexit deal vote: Opposing groups of protesters gather by parliament An anti-Brexit protester adjusts her pro-EU wig AFP/Getty Brexit deal vote: Opposing groups of protesters gather by parliament A message to Jeremy Corbyn in support of a peoples vote Getty Brexit deal vote: Opposing groups of protesters gather by parliament A mock Titanic captained by Theresa May heads towards an iceberg in a stunt by campaigning group Avaaz AP Brexit deal vote: Opposing groups of protesters gather by parliament Anti-Brexit protesters outside parliament PA Brexit deal vote: Opposing groups of protesters gather by parliament Protesters of opposing sides are in close contact outside of parliament PA Brexit deal vote: Opposing groups of protesters gather by parliament Paintings of Theresa May and Jeremy Corbyn Getty Brexit deal vote: Opposing groups of protesters gather by parliament Former Ukip leader Nigel Farage speaks to the media at the protests outside parliament Reuters Brexit deal vote: Opposing groups of protesters gather by parliament A pro-Brexit protester in Parliament Square Getty Brexit deal vote: Opposing groups of protesters gather by parliament Opposing protesters share the space outside parliament Getty Brexit deal vote: Opposing groups of protesters gather by parliament An anti-Brexit protester holds EU balloons outside parliament Reuters Brexit deal vote: Opposing groups of protesters gather by parliament Anti-Brexit protesters stand on Westminster Bridge PA Brexit deal vote: Opposing groups of protesters gather by parliament Former Ukip leader Nigel Farage speaks to the media at the protests outside parliament Reuters Brexit deal vote: Opposing groups of protesters gather by parliament Anti-Brexit protesters demonstrate outside the Houses of Parliament EPA Brexit deal vote: Opposing groups of protesters gather by parliament A pro-Brexit protester sets up outside parliament Reuters Brexit deal vote: Opposing groups of protesters gather by parliament An Avaaz campaigner holds a Peoples Vote life float Reuters Brexit deal vote: Opposing groups of protesters gather by parliament A demonstrator holds a sign advocating a no-deal Brexit outside parliament AFP/Getty Brexit deal vote: Opposing groups of protesters gather by parliament An anti-Brexit protester waves an EU flag on Westminster Bridge PA Brexit deal vote: Opposing groups of protesters gather by parliament Protesters of opposing sides demonstrate outside parliament AFP/Getty Brexit deal vote: Opposing groups of protesters gather by parliament Protesters of opposing sides stand near parliament Reuters It may be the way to do that is supporting Cooper/Boles, it may be that someone can suggest a better way of doing it or ideally a way I can do it in cooperation with the government. Labour looks set to back a backbench amendement, dubbed Cooper/Boles after its originators, Labours Yvette Cooper and Conservative Nick Boles, with cross-party support to avoid a no-deal Brexit by instructing the government to extend Article 50. The EU treaty clause, which legally regulates the Brexit negotiation process, can be unilaterally revoked by the UK, but has to get EU approval for an extension. Michel Barnier, the EUs chief negotiator, as well as some EU national leaders, have said that an extension could be possible but it would have to have a reason behind it. Close Union leader Frances O'Grady says Theresa May failed to offer brexit guarantees Theresa May has held talks with trade union bosses at Downing Street as part of desperate efforts to win support for her Brexit plan. In a highly unusual move, Unite boss Len McCluskey, a close ally of Jeremy Corbyn, visited No 10 for high-level discussions, as well as TUC general secretary Frances O'Grady, Dave Prentis, of Unison, and GMB chief Tim Roache. The prime minister is scrambling to win political backing for a Brexit plan that could secure a Commons majority after her deal was overwhelmingly rejected by MPs. And on Thursday, cabinet minister Amber Rudd repeatedly refused to say whether she would resign from her government role to stop a no-deal Brexit, just hours after Airbus issued a stark warning over the impact of a disorderly Brexit on its business in the UK. During an interview on BBC Twos Newsnight, Ms Rudd, the work and pensions secretary said she was going to wait and see if the prime minister allows a free vote on a series of amendments in the Commons next week. Asked three times whether she would quit the Cabinet to back a bid by Labour's Yvette Cooper to extend Article 50 unless a deal is reached by the end of February, and she refused to rule it out. She said: "At this stage I'm going to stick to trying to persuade the Government to allow it to be a free vote. There is a lot taking place and there are a lot of new amendments. We'll have to wait and see." Ms Rudd also told the programme she is "committed to making sure we avoid no-deal", which she described as "the worst possible outcome. This liveblog has now closed, but you can scroll down to view the day's events The head of plane giant Airbus has branded Theresa Mays handling of Brexit a disgrace and ramped up a threat to close its plants if the UK crashes out of the EU with no deal. Tom Enders, the companys chief executive, urged Britons to ignore Brexiteers madness that it was too well-established to pull out of the country altogether. It is a disgrace that, more than two years after the result of the 2016 referendum, businesses are still unable to plan properly for the future, Mr Enders said. We, along with many of our peers, have repeatedly called for clarity, but we still have no idea what is really going on here. Brexit deal vote: Opposing groups of protesters gather by parliament Show all 20 1 /20 Brexit deal vote: Opposing groups of protesters gather by parliament Brexit deal vote: Opposing groups of protesters gather by parliament Brexit supporters outside parliament PA Brexit deal vote: Opposing groups of protesters gather by parliament An anti-Brexit protester adjusts her pro-EU wig AFP/Getty Brexit deal vote: Opposing groups of protesters gather by parliament A message to Jeremy Corbyn in support of a peoples vote Getty Brexit deal vote: Opposing groups of protesters gather by parliament A mock Titanic captained by Theresa May heads towards an iceberg in a stunt by campaigning group Avaaz AP Brexit deal vote: Opposing groups of protesters gather by parliament Anti-Brexit protesters outside parliament PA Brexit deal vote: Opposing groups of protesters gather by parliament Protesters of opposing sides are in close contact outside of parliament PA Brexit deal vote: Opposing groups of protesters gather by parliament Paintings of Theresa May and Jeremy Corbyn Getty Brexit deal vote: Opposing groups of protesters gather by parliament Former Ukip leader Nigel Farage speaks to the media at the protests outside parliament Reuters Brexit deal vote: Opposing groups of protesters gather by parliament A pro-Brexit protester in Parliament Square Getty Brexit deal vote: Opposing groups of protesters gather by parliament Opposing protesters share the space outside parliament Getty Brexit deal vote: Opposing groups of protesters gather by parliament An anti-Brexit protester holds EU balloons outside parliament Reuters Brexit deal vote: Opposing groups of protesters gather by parliament Anti-Brexit protesters stand on Westminster Bridge PA Brexit deal vote: Opposing groups of protesters gather by parliament Former Ukip leader Nigel Farage speaks to the media at the protests outside parliament Reuters Brexit deal vote: Opposing groups of protesters gather by parliament Anti-Brexit protesters demonstrate outside the Houses of Parliament EPA Brexit deal vote: Opposing groups of protesters gather by parliament A pro-Brexit protester sets up outside parliament Reuters Brexit deal vote: Opposing groups of protesters gather by parliament An Avaaz campaigner holds a Peoples Vote life float Reuters Brexit deal vote: Opposing groups of protesters gather by parliament A demonstrator holds a sign advocating a no-deal Brexit outside parliament AFP/Getty Brexit deal vote: Opposing groups of protesters gather by parliament An anti-Brexit protester waves an EU flag on Westminster Bridge PA Brexit deal vote: Opposing groups of protesters gather by parliament Protesters of opposing sides demonstrate outside parliament AFP/Getty Brexit deal vote: Opposing groups of protesters gather by parliament Protesters of opposing sides stand near parliament Reuters And he added: Please dont listen to the Brexiteers madness which asserts that because we have huge plants here we will not move and we will always be here. They are wrong. Airbus employs 14,000 people in Britain, including 6,000 jobs at its main wings factory at Broughton, in North Wales, and 3,000 at Filton, near Bristol, where wings are designed and supported. With around 110,000 more jobs in connected supply chains, the aerospace group is among the UKs key employers and among the most vulnerable to the loss of just-in-time manufacturing across the EU. Mr Enders said Britains multibillion-pound aerospace sector, a world-leader for a century, is standing at a precipice, with only nine weeks until the intended departure date from the EU. In a global economy, the UK no longer has the capability to go it alone. Major aerospace projects are multinational affairs, Mr Enders said in a video message. He added: Brexit is threatening to destroy a century of development based on education, research and human capital. If theres a no-deal Brexit, we at Airbus will have to make potentially very harmful decisions for the UK. Owen Smith, a Labour supporter of the anti-Brexit Best for Britain group, said of the warning: The damage caused by Brexit wont fly with big businesses like Airbus, and certainly wont fly with the British people. Jobs and livelihoods are at risk. If companies like Airbus, or GE Aviation in my own patch, disinvest in Britain as a consequence of our leaving the EU, the Brexiteers in Parliament should never be forgiven. The warning comes after the Netherlands revealed that more than 250 companies are in contact about moving to the country because of Brexit. The trade and investment arm of the Dutch government has been soliciting moves from companies worried about access to the EU market, with Britain set to leave the single market and customs union. A number of high-profile companies have already announced a decision to cross the North Sea, including Japanese electronics giants Sony and Panasonic. Labour divisions on Brexit have torn open after a group of MPs accused Jeremy Corbyn of killing off hope of securing a new referendum next week. It included four Labour members who said Mr Corbyns refusal to back an amendment to give the British public a Final Say meant it had no chance of getting through the commons on Tuesday. One of those making a press statement outside parliament said young Labour voters cannot understand why Labour is standing in the way of them having a new referendum. The intervention indicates that a compromise proposal put forward by Mr Corbyn earlier this week, has failed to paper over cracks in his party about what should happen next. At the same time a group of Labour MPs are threatening to defy any attempt to whip them in favour of a new referendum, with one frontbencher saying she is prepared to quit her role over the matter. Luciana Berger said there is an urgent need for leadership on the Brexit debate following the record-breaking governments defeat on its Brexit deal. Regrettably the Labour leadership wont commit to an achievable policy and yet we know that the majority of Labour voters, supporters and members want a final say on any Brexit deal. Yet at a time when Labour should be championing a Peoples Vote the leadership avoids answering that call. Brexit deal vote: Opposing groups of protesters gather by parliament Show all 20 1 /20 Brexit deal vote: Opposing groups of protesters gather by parliament Brexit deal vote: Opposing groups of protesters gather by parliament Brexit supporters outside parliament PA Brexit deal vote: Opposing groups of protesters gather by parliament An anti-Brexit protester adjusts her pro-EU wig AFP/Getty Brexit deal vote: Opposing groups of protesters gather by parliament A message to Jeremy Corbyn in support of a peoples vote Getty Brexit deal vote: Opposing groups of protesters gather by parliament A mock Titanic captained by Theresa May heads towards an iceberg in a stunt by campaigning group Avaaz AP Brexit deal vote: Opposing groups of protesters gather by parliament Anti-Brexit protesters outside parliament PA Brexit deal vote: Opposing groups of protesters gather by parliament Protesters of opposing sides are in close contact outside of parliament PA Brexit deal vote: Opposing groups of protesters gather by parliament Paintings of Theresa May and Jeremy Corbyn Getty Brexit deal vote: Opposing groups of protesters gather by parliament Former Ukip leader Nigel Farage speaks to the media at the protests outside parliament Reuters Brexit deal vote: Opposing groups of protesters gather by parliament A pro-Brexit protester in Parliament Square Getty Brexit deal vote: Opposing groups of protesters gather by parliament Opposing protesters share the space outside parliament Getty Brexit deal vote: Opposing groups of protesters gather by parliament An anti-Brexit protester holds EU balloons outside parliament Reuters Brexit deal vote: Opposing groups of protesters gather by parliament Anti-Brexit protesters stand on Westminster Bridge PA Brexit deal vote: Opposing groups of protesters gather by parliament Former Ukip leader Nigel Farage speaks to the media at the protests outside parliament Reuters Brexit deal vote: Opposing groups of protesters gather by parliament Anti-Brexit protesters demonstrate outside the Houses of Parliament EPA Brexit deal vote: Opposing groups of protesters gather by parliament A pro-Brexit protester sets up outside parliament Reuters Brexit deal vote: Opposing groups of protesters gather by parliament An Avaaz campaigner holds a Peoples Vote life float Reuters Brexit deal vote: Opposing groups of protesters gather by parliament A demonstrator holds a sign advocating a no-deal Brexit outside parliament AFP/Getty Brexit deal vote: Opposing groups of protesters gather by parliament An anti-Brexit protester waves an EU flag on Westminster Bridge PA Brexit deal vote: Opposing groups of protesters gather by parliament Protesters of opposing sides demonstrate outside parliament AFP/Getty Brexit deal vote: Opposing groups of protesters gather by parliament Protesters of opposing sides stand near parliament Reuters Because the Labour leadership and frontbench wont back a Peoples Vote, there will not be a vote on a cross-party peoples vote amendment next week this is not good enough. The MPs had hoped to join with Conservative backers of a new referendum to table an amendment in the commons next week directly calling for fresh vote, but admitted that it had little chance of passing with Mr Corbyns support, which is currently withheld. Ms Berger went on: There are millions of young people in our country that supported the Labour Party at the last general election. Over two million of them were under the age of 18 in 2016. They would today now have a vote. And so many of whom I speak too, cannot understand why Labour is standing in the way of the younger generation having a say on this. Conservative MP Dr Sarah Wollaston, who is among those working with Labour MPs to secure a new vote, said: With great regret we will not be laying that amendment [for a new referendum] because at this stage and until we have the leader of the oppositions backing, it would not pass. The alternative motion proposed by Mr Corbyn would if passed only commit ministers to securing time for MPs to consider and vote on options including renegotiating the withdrawal agreement and also then legislating to hold a public vote on any deal that passes through the commons. Polling indicates Labour voters in general and members are in favour of a new vote, but the leadership has had to walk a fine line with many constituencies in heartland areas having heavily backed Brexit. A separate group of MPs strongly oppose a new referendum, including frontbencher Melanie Onn, who wrote to her constituents saying she would quit her role in Mr Corbyns top team if the leadership did back a new vote. There are around a dozen amendments down to the governments plan B motion to be put to a vote on Tuesday, including those that will see MPs seek to extend Article 50 if Ms Mays deal fails to gain parliamentary backing and another which will allow MPs to bring forward legislation to be voted on, including potentially for a new referendum further down the line. Theresa May could avoid taking Britain into the controversial Irish backstop if she changes her Brexit red-lines, the European Parliament is set to say. A leaked draft of conclusions from a meeting of the bodys Brexit steering group seen by The Independent says tweaking the demands could see the UK avoid deployment of the backstop. The intervention is the clearest signal yet from Brussels that it sees changes to the future UK-EU relationship as a way of neutralising the tricky issue. Chief negotiator Michel Barnier has said the EU would immediately respond to any changes in position by the UK. But despite the hints from Brussels, the prime minister has refused to budge including on Labour demands for adopting single market common standards and a customs union. Talks with opposition MPs last week appeared in vain, with those attending Downing Street reporting that Ms May read from a script during the meetings and gave nothing away. Brexit threatens life on the Irish border: in pictures Show all 15 1 /15 Brexit threatens life on the Irish border: in pictures Brexit threatens life on the Irish border: in pictures An abandoned shop is seen in Mullan, Co Monaghan. The building was home to four families who left during the Troubles. The town was largely abandoned after the hard border was put in place during the conflict. Mullan has seen some regeneration in recent years, but faces an uncertain future with Brexit on the horizon Reuters Brexit threatens life on the Irish border: in pictures A defaced Welcome to Northern Ireland sign stands on the border in Middletown, Co Armagh Reuters Brexit threatens life on the Irish border: in pictures Mervyn Johnson owns a garage in the border town of Pettigo, which straddles the counties of Donegal and Fermanagh. Ive been here since 1956, it was a bit of a problem for a few years. My premises has been blown up about six or seven times, we just kept building and starting again, Johnson said laughing. We just got used to it [the hard border] really but now that its gone, we wouldn't like it back again Reuters Brexit threatens life on the Irish border: in pictures Farmer Gordon Crocketts Coshquin farm straddles both Derry/Londonderry in the North and Donegal in the Republic. At the minute there is no real problem, you can cross the border as free as you want. We could cross it six or eight times a day, said Crockett. If there was any sort of obstruction it would slow down our work every day Reuters Brexit threatens life on the Irish border: in pictures John Murphy flies the European flag outside his home near the border village of Forkhill, Co Armagh Reuters Brexit threatens life on the Irish border: in pictures Potter Brenda McGinn stands outside her Mullan, Co Monaghan, studio the former Jas Boylan shoe factory which was the main employer in the area until it shut down due to the Troubles. When I came back, this would have been somewhere you would have driven through and have been quite sad. It was a decrepit looking village, said McGinn, whose Busy Bee Ceramics is one of a handful of enterprises restoring life to the community. Now this is a revitalised, old hidden village Reuters Brexit threatens life on the Irish border: in pictures Union Flag colours painted on kerbstones and bus-stops along the border village of Newbuildings, Co Derry/Londonderry Reuters Brexit threatens life on the Irish border: in pictures Grass reflected in Lattone Lough, which is split by the border between Cavan and Fermanagh, seen from near Ballinacor, Northern Ireland Reuters Brexit threatens life on the Irish border: in pictures Donegalman David McClintock sits in the Border Cafe in the village of Muff, which straddles Donegal and Derry/Londonderry Reuters Brexit threatens life on the Irish border: in pictures An old Irish phone box stands alongside a bus stop in the border town of Glaslough, Co Monaghan Reuters Brexit threatens life on the Irish border: in pictures Billboards are viewed from inside a disused customs hut in Carrickcarnon, Co Down, on the border with Co Louth in the Republic Reuters Brexit threatens life on the Irish border: in pictures Seamus McQuaid takes packages that locals on the Irish side of the border have delivered to his business, McQuaid Auto-Parts, to save money on postal fees, near the Co Fermanagh village of Newtownbutler. I live in the south but the business is in the North, said McQaid. "I wholesale into the Republic of Ireland so if theres duty, Ill have to set up a company 200 yards up the road to sell to my customers. Ill have to bring the same product in through Dublin instead of Belfast Reuters Brexit threatens life on the Irish border: in pictures A disused Great Northern Railway line and station that was for customs and excise on the border town of Glenfarne, Co Leitrim Reuters Brexit threatens life on the Irish border: in pictures Alice Mullen, from Monaghan in the Republic of Ireland, does her shopping at a former customs post on the border in Middletown, Co Armagh. Id be very worried if it was a hard border, I remember when people were divided. I would be very afraid of the threat to the peace process, it was a dreadful time to live through. Even to go to mass on a Sunday, youd have to go through checkpoints. It is terribly stressful, said Mullen. All those barricades and boundaries were pulled down. I see it as a huge big exercise of trust and I do believe everyone breathed a sigh of relief Reuters Brexit threatens life on the Irish border: in pictures A bus stop and red post box stand in the border town of Jonesborough, Co Armagh Reuters The leaked statement also says that the EU committee, which is chaired by Guy Verfhofstadt and works closely with Mr Barnier, expects greater clarity next week from the UK on its position on the EU-UK relationship for the future. But it reiterates the EU line that the backstop itself is not up for negotiation, and that the parliament would use its veto on any deal without it. Eurosceptic MPs are implacably opposed to the Irish backstop, which locks the UK into some EU rules to help prevent a hard border between Ireland and Northern Ireland. They say it is a breach of sovereignty and are voting down the entire Brexit deal in opposition to it. The policy is set to automatically trigger in 2021 if there is no trade deal between the UK and EU negotiated by then or if the trade deal does not allow for frictionless trade. But the EU says that prime ministers red lines of leaving the single market, customs union, jurisdiction of the European Court of Justice, and ending free movement mean that frictionless trade for the whole would not be possible, and there would therefore be checks which would require a backstop. The PMs current plans for the future relationship effectively make the backstops use inevitable. Police separate clashing Brexit protesters outside Parliament Show all 11 1 /11 Police separate clashing Brexit protesters outside Parliament Police separate clashing Brexit protesters outside Parliament Anti-Brexit protester Steve Bray (left) and a pro-Brexit protester argue as they demonstrate outside the Houses of Parliament Getty Images Police separate clashing Brexit protesters outside Parliament A pro-Brexit protester argues Getty Images Police separate clashing Brexit protesters outside Parliament Police surround the pro-Brexit protester after he confronted Steve Bray, a pro-European protester Getty Images Police separate clashing Brexit protesters outside Parliament A leave supporter is spoken to by a police officer as he argues with a remain supporter, Steve Bray, outside Parliament PA Police separate clashing Brexit protesters outside Parliament MPs in Parliament are to vote on Theresa May's Brexit deal next week after her December vote was called off in the face of a major defeat Getty Images Police separate clashing Brexit protesters outside Parliament A leave supporter is spoken to by a police officer PA Police separate clashing Brexit protesters outside Parliament Police look on as anti-Brexit protesters demonstrate outside the Houses of Parliament. Getty Images Police separate clashing Brexit protesters outside Parliament Police hold back a leave supporter PA Police separate clashing Brexit protesters outside Parliament A police officer speaks with anti-Brexit protester Steve Bray Getty Images Police separate clashing Brexit protesters outside Parliament Police surround a pro-Brexit protester after he confronted a pro-European protester Getty Images Police separate clashing Brexit protesters outside Parliament Conservative MP David Davies, wearing a gopro camera, speaks to anti-Brexit protester Steve Bray Getty Images The deadlock has partly arisen because of the failure of the prime ministers Chequers plan which sought to get the UK frictionless trade with the bloc, but without many of the obligations that EU member states have to follow to get it. The EU has said a deal increasingly known as Norway+ would be required to remove all border checks: membership of a customs union while following single market rules. According to the logic of the parliament's statement, with this in place, the backstop would not be used. But the prime minister is partly locked in to her red lines because changing or dropping them would likely further incense Tory eurosceptics who are already pushing for a no-deal Brexit despite the prime minister steering a course for a hard Brexit. The statement from the cross-party Brexit steering group says: The Brexit steering group reiterated that the withdrawal agreement is fair and cannot be re-negotiated. This applies especially to the backstop, since it is the guarantee that under no circumstances will there be a hardening of the border on the island of Ireland while at the same time safeguarding the integrity of the Single Market. Support free-thinking journalism and attend Independent events The EU remains clear, firm and united on this even if the negotiated backstop is not meant to be used. Therefore, the Brexit steering group insists that, without such an all-weather backstop-insurance, the European Parliament will not give its consent to the Withdrawal Agreement. The Brexit steering group also reiterated Parliaments long standing position that it is open to a much more ambitious future relationship, would the UK consider this. This would not only allow for a closer EU-UK future partnership but could also avoid deployment of the backstop. It expects greater clarity next week from the UK on its position on the EU-UK relationship for the future. A group of cross-party British MPs and international lawyers have given the government of Saudi Arabia until the end of the month to grant access to women activists who are alleged to have suffered torture in prison. Refusal by the kingdom to allow the visit to take place will result, they warn, in the publication of a damning report from accounts compiled by human rights organisations and activists who have accused the Saudi authorities of abuse against the detainees ranging from water-boarding to sexual assault. The group, which has formed a detainee review panel, had sent an official request to the Saudi ambassador to the UK, Prince Mohammed bin Nawwaf bin Abdulaziz, at the beginning of this month to obtain first hand testimony from 10 women who are being held in a number of jails in the country. If there is no positive response by 29 January, they say, then a report will be published soon afterwards with details of allegations of mistreatment. Failure to cooperate with the investigation would be a clear indication, say activists, of an admission of culpability by the Saudi authorities. The Saudi government has repeatedly denied the claims of mistreatment of the detainees. Speaking at a meeting in the Houses of Parliament, three members of the panel, the Conservative MP Crispin Blunt, former chair of the foreign affairs select committee; Liberal Democrat MP Layla Moran; and Paul Williams, the Labour member of the health and social care committee, wanted to stress that they were prepared to keep an open mind and listen to the Saudi governments case on the issue. But it was imperative, they stressed, that they are allowed to carry out their inquiries in Saudi Arabia. If that does not happen then we will have to publish the report based on other sources including organisations like Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International, said Mr Williams. Mr Blunt had faced criticism in the past for backing British arms sales to Saudi Arabia and supporting the war being waged in Yemen by the Saudi-led coalition. He had also declared that Britain was right to roll out the red carpet for the visit of the Saudi Crown Prince, Mohammed bin Salman, last year. Tunisians protest against Saudi Crown Prince's visit Show all 10 1 /10 Tunisians protest against Saudi Crown Prince's visit Tunisians protest against Saudi Crown Prince's visit Street protests greeted Mohammed Bin Salman during his visit to Tunisia AFP/Getty Tunisians protest against Saudi Crown Prince's visit A mural depicting Mohammed Bin Salman washing his hands of blood Simon Speakman Cordall Tunisians protest against Saudi Crown Prince's visit A protester holds a banner accusing Mohammed Bin Salman of being a war criminal AP Tunisians protest against Saudi Crown Prince's visit Protesters pass down Habib Bourguiba avenue in Tunis Simon Speakman Cordall Tunisians protest against Saudi Crown Prince's visit A Tunisian man holds up a cartoon that depicts Donald Trump assisting Mohammed Bin Salman in the murder of Jamal Khashoggi AP Tunisians protest against Saudi Crown Prince's visit A poster depicting a war ravaged Yemeni child Simon Speakman Cordall Tunisians protest against Saudi Crown Prince's visit Protesters hold up saws in reference to the reportedly gruesome manner in which Jamal Khashoggi was disposed of AFP/Getty Tunisians protest against Saudi Crown Prince's visit Protesters pass down Habib Bourguiba avenue in Tunis Simon Speakman Cordall Tunisians protest against Saudi Crown Prince's visit Protesters chant slogans as they move down Habib Bourguiba avenue in Tunis Reuters Tunisians protest against Saudi Crown Prince's visit Protesters pass down Habib Bourguiba avenue in Tunis Simon Speakman Cordall Mr Blunt commented: One can say that it was my support for arms sales to Saudi Arabia that cost me re-election as chair of the foreign affairs committee. The Saudi government should be reassured that there is someone like me on the panel. It should show that they will get a fair hearing. Riyadh needs to demonstrate, Mr Blunt added, after the catastrophe of the murder and dismemberment of the journalist Jamal Khashoggi, by Saudi officials at the Kingdoms consulate in Istanbul, that it was not mistreating opponents. The panel will be focused on the allegations of torture and not the broader issues of the Saudi legal system. However, Mr Blunt said it was a matter of regret that a reform programme under which the British Ministry of Justice was working with the Saudi ministry was stopped by Michael Gove when he was secretary of state for the prison service. Ms Moran said the panel will not broaden their probe into such matters as the time period the activists being held in prison without trial, pointing out that the UK too practices indefinite detention. But, she continued: We need to find out what is happening to these woman, these are very serious allegations of abuse. I am a woman and an activist, I think these women in prison would relate to me. The Saudi government should allow us this visit. Saudi ministers, meanwhile, maintained that the climate of international censure over the Khashoggi affair was dissipating. A number of heads of governments and multinationals pulled out of an international business conference in Saudi Arabia at the time of the murder. But Saudi economy minister, Mohammed Al Tuwaijri, said at the Davos economic forum on Thursday that, On a day to day basis Saudi Arabia is business as usual. Our job as government is to make sure infrastructure, legal in particular, is stable. This transformation journey, hopefully, will attract investors. Among political and economic leaders, the Swiss President Ueli Maurer wanted to stress We have long since dealt with the Khashoggi case ... We have agreed to continue the financial dialogue and normalise relations again. And the CEO of the French oil conglomerate Total, held that if we boycott Saudi Arabia over Khashoggi, itll only hurt ordinary people. A British woman who was kidnapped more than 30 years ago and taken to war-torn Yemen has returned to the UK. Safiah Saleh was only 18 months old when her father abducted her and her two older sisters, who were aged four and five, and took them to the Middle East. Her mother, Jackie Saleh, from Cardiff, raised more than 7,000 as part of a campaign to bring her youngest daughter back to the UK and in December helped her flee from the Yemen town of Hodeidah. The town is being bombed by Saudi Arabian warplanes as they fight the Houthi rebels who have taken over much of the country. A spokeswoman for the Foreign Office said: Our staff issued Emergency Travel Documents to a British woman and her children and we are pleased that they are now reunited with their family in the UK. Brutal effects of Yemeni war Show all 12 1 /12 Brutal effects of Yemeni war Brutal effects of Yemeni war Yemen organised by the UAE's National Media Council shows a Yemeni woman holding a child diagnosed with malnutrition at a hospital in the southeastern port city of Mukalla, the capital Hadramawt province AFP/Getty Images Brutal effects of Yemeni war Mohamed, 2, is treated for Malnutrition in Mukalla, the capital Hadramawt province, Yemen Bel Trew Brutal effects of Yemeni war a trip in Yemen organised by the UAE's National Media Council (NMC) shows a Yemeni woman holding a child diagnosed with malnutrition at a hospital in the southeastern port city of Mukalla, the capital Hadramawt province. AFP/Getty Images Brutal effects of Yemeni war UAE's National Media Council (NMC) shows a Yemeni woman sitting next to a child diagnosed with malnutrition at a hospital in the southeastern port city of Mukalla, the capital Hadramawt province. AFP/Getty Brutal effects of Yemeni war AFP/Getty Images Brutal effects of Yemeni war Mohamed, 2, is treated for Malnutrition in Mukalla, the capital Hadramawt province, Yemen Bel Trew Brutal effects of Yemeni war A Yemeni child suffering from malnutrition is weighed at a hospital in the northern district of Abs, in Yemen's Hajjah province AFP/Getty Images Brutal effects of Yemeni war A Yemeni child suffering from malnutrition awaits treatment at a hospital in the northern district of Abs, in Yemen's Hajjah province AFP/Getty Images Brutal effects of Yemeni war A Yemeni child suffering from malnutrition awaits treatment at a hospital in the northern district of Abs, in Yemen's Hajjah province AFP/Getty Images Brutal effects of Yemeni war Yemeni nurses weigh a malnourished child at a hospital in the northern district of Yemen's Hajjah province AFP/Getty Images Brutal effects of Yemeni war A Yemeni woman carries a malnourished child as she waits during food distribution in the province of Hodeida AFP/Getty Brutal effects of Yemeni war AFP/Getty Images The family arrived in Cardiff on Wednesday after Safia Saleh, now 35 and married with four children, fled to Egypt in December. Ms Saleh said on Thursday she had been trying to leave Yemen since 2006. She said they had no money, no house and no school for the children in Yemen. Her mother Jackie thanked supporters and Welsh Assembly member Neil McEvoy for their help in bringing her daughter home. She said: I want to thank everybody for all your support and everyone who donated to the crowd funder. This day would have never happened otherwise. I want to thank Neil McEvoy for all his support and in organising the crowd funder. I am very overwhelmed and so, so happy to be reunited with my daughter Safia after 34 years. I have also gained four grandchildren and a son in law. I never gave up fighting for my children. The 34-year journey has been a roller-coaster. Everything has been so intense and I ask that our family be left now to start our new lives. Thank you all from the bottom of my heart. Casualties as Saudi-led coalition air raids hit Yemen's Hodeidah Safia Saleh said: I thank everyone here who helped. This situation was very hard, even just to get contact with my mam. The situation in the Yemen because of the war is very, very, difficult. We didnt have the money to come to Wales, so my mother had to help. I have been trying to leave the Yemen since 2006. The Embassy in Yemen was no help at all. They just took the fees and did not help. I still have the receipts for the payments. I am very happy that I arrived to be with my mother and my sister. It was so difficult in the Yemen. We had no money, no house and no school for the children. There was no security. Neil McEvoy AM said: I hope they can all now live in peace and dignity and that they have a happy home full of love. They deserve that. For my part, Ill continue to help them in any way I can as they move on to the next chapter in their amazing story. The UK has started returning migrants who crossed the Channel to France in a bid to deter future attempts. Sajid Javid announced the move as part of an agreement that will see the UK pay 6m for security equipment including drones and video surveillance along the French coast. The Home Office said a small number of migrants who travelled to Kent in boats at the end of last year were returned to France on Thursday morning. There will be a mutual commitment to conduct return operations as quickly as possible under the Dublin Regulation, the Home Office said. The UK will continue to work closely with France and other countries to return more migrants who have entered the UK by small boat, in order to provide a strong deterrent against the dangerous crossings. The Independent understands that the returns policy has been backdated to 1 October, meaning it will apply to hundreds of men, women and children. Even if they have already applied for asylum in Britain, the government will seek to transfer responsibility to France, but could face legal challenges. Mr Javid was previously condemned for suggesting that officials would hamper claims made by those reaching British shores, who had mostly given their nationality as Iranian. He suggested those attempting the journey might not be genuine asylum seekers and said: We will do everything we can to make sure that you are often not successful. Critics called the remarks disgusting and said any attempt to interfere with asylum applications or pre-judge the outcome would be unlawful. Calais refugee camp evacuation Show all 15 1 /15 Calais refugee camp evacuation Calais refugee camp evacuation Refugees run past a fire in the makeshift migrant camp known as 'the jungle' in Calais, October 2016 AP Calais refugee camp evacuation French authorities say the closure of the slum-like camp in Calais will last approximately a week in what they describe as a "humanitarian" operation, October 2016 AP Calais refugee camp evacuation A painted message saying 'Bye Jungle' on a tent in the camp in Calais, October 2016 Getty Calais refugee camp evacuation Refugees set rubbish bins alight as a protest in the makeshift camp 'the Jungle' in Calais, France, October 2016 EPA Calais refugee camp evacuation French riot police advance through tear gas and smoke from a fire to disperse refugees throwing stones and lighting fires at the Jungle migrant camp Getty Calais refugee camp evacuation French CRS riot police secure an area on the eve of the evacuation and transfer of refugees to reception centers in France Reuters Calais refugee camp evacuation Journalists run away from smoke during clashes near a makeshift refugee camp known as 'the jungle' in Calais AP Calais refugee camp evacuation French CRS riot police secure an area on the eve of the evacuation and transfer of refugees to reception centers in Franc Reuters Calais refugee camp evacuation Migrants queue for transportation by bus to reception centres across France, from the 'Jungle' refugee camp in Calais Getty Calais refugee camp evacuation Refugees line-up to register at a processing centre in the 'jungle' near Calais, northern France, as the mass exodus from the migrant camp begins PA wire Calais refugee camp evacuation Refugees 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 Calais refugee camp evacuation French far-right Front National (FN) party's member of parliament Marion Marechal-Le Pen (L) delivers a speech next to a banner reading "They arrive in Vaucluse, no migrants in our place" as she attends a rally against the hosting of refugees in La Tour d'Aigues Getty Images Calais refugee camp evacuation French police forces secure the area near the 'Jungle' refugee camp in Calais Getty Calais refugee camp evacuation Refugees leave messages on their tents in the Jungle migrant camp Getty Calais refugee camp evacuation Refugees carry their belongings and transfer to reception centers in France French authorities said 71 attempted boat crossings were recorded in 2018, compared to just 12 the previous year. Of the 504 migrants seeking to cross the English Channel, 276 managed to reach British waters and coastlines and 228 were intercepted and taken back to France. More than 80 per cent of launches came in November and December alone, with the influx declared a major incident by the home secretary. Recommended Growing number of families attempting dangerous Channel crossing On Tuesday, Mr Javid met his French counterpart to finalise a joint action plan to stem the crossings, which will see the UK hand France 6m for new security equipment. The Home Office said it would fund additional surveillance and security on French beaches and ports, as well as greater coordination between the French authorities on land and at sea. Just over half of the investment will come from 44.5m already pledged under the Sandhurst Treaty, which was agreed a year ago, by Theresa May and Emmanuel Macron. An additional 3.2m of new funding will be used for equipment including drones, radar, night goggles and number plate recognition capability for UK and French border and maritime teams to spot smugglers. Additional security cameras would be placed at French ports and in areas where migrants could attempt to launch boats, the Home Office said, feeding live footage into the UK-France Coordination and Information Centre in Calais. There would be increased surveillance of the Channel from air and sea, with UK and French authorities sharing intelligence, as well as foot patrols along the French coast Both governments have made clear that all criminals will be prosecuted, the Home Office said. The new plan will come into force immediately. Asylum seekers in Dunkirk (Adrian Abbott/Help Refugees) The agreement also stated that migrants encountered in the Channel would be taken to the nearest safe port, in accordance with international maritime law. Mr Javid said: It is vital we continue to work closely with our French partners to stop vulnerable migrants making these treacherous crossings and tackle the people smugglers who are putting their lives in danger. Todays joint action plan strengthens our already strong relationship and increases joint action around keeping both our borders secure and discouraging these dangerous journeys. Recommended UK government funding drones to spot migrant boats leaving France Christophe Castaner, the French interior minister, praised the UKs commitment to managing the shared border. By combating illegal channel crossings by migrants, were saving lives and deterring new migrants from coming to Hauts-de-France, he said. The British government previously deployed another Royal Navy ship to bolster patrols by the Border Force and the Maritime and Coastguard Agency. The National Crime Agency (NCA) has arrested suspects for allegedly arranging some of the crossings but said that while some recent launches involved criminal groups, others were opportunistic. Investigators believe that increased port security in France and unseasonably calm weather and sea conditions in December could have been a factor behind the influx. Support free-thinking journalism and attend Independent events Despite the high-profile closure of the jungle in Calais, migrants have remained at informal camps along the northern French coast and smugglers continue to open new routes across Europe from arrival points in Italy, Greece and Spain. Charities in northern France warned that the number of families sleeping rough in Dunkirk had risen sharply over the summer, with dozens more people arriving with their children. Police have carried large-scale evictions, ordering people onto buses to be taken to accommodation centres in nearby towns. But charities said a lack of support and information for claiming asylum once they arrive in the centres meant families were returning to the woods within weeks or even days. Last month Josh Hallam, field manager for Help Refugees, told The Independent that the sheer desperation of refugees in the winter months led to a growing number taking huge risks to cross the Channel, an issue exacerbated by people smugglers who charge anything from 3,000 to 10,000 for a place in the back of a lorry or on a boat. Theres a lack of appropriate and authoritative information for governments and actual bodies that could bust these myths about the situation and help people access legal routes of travel, he said. The vacuum is filled by people who are really exploitative and dangerous. A man who sexually assaulted three women and performed a sex act in front of a fourth as they travelled on buses is being hunted by police in London. Scotland Yard said four women - aged between 19 and 31 - had been the victim of attacks in September and November last year. In the first three cases, the suspect sexually assaulted the victims. The fourth offence was one of outraging public decency, it added. Detectives have released CCTV footage recovered from a bus showing images of a man and are appealing to the public to help identify him. The suspect is described as black, aged between 25 and 35, around 6ft tall and with short black hair. These incidents have left the victims feeling very frightened and violated," said Detective Constable Clare Beauchamp. "I am appealing to the public to help identify and locate this man as quickly as possible. "Although none of the victims have suffered physical injury, the effects of becoming a victim of sexual assault can be lasting and traumatic." Police said the first sexual assault took place at 1.30pm Tuesday 11 September on a route 253 bus near Camden Road Station. A second sexual assault was carried out at 7.45pm on Wednesday 21 November on a route 149 bus near St Leonards Hospital in Islington. The third took place shortly before midnight on Saturday 23 November on a route 91 bus near Kings Cross Station. A fourth incident, of outraging public decency, took place on Tuesday 13 November on a route 38 bus near Hackney Central Station. Scotlands former first minister Alex Salmond has been arrested and charged, police have said. A Police Scotland spokesman said: We can confirm a 64-year-old man has been arrested and charged and a report has been sent to the procurator fiscal. Mr Salmond, who has been under investigation into allegations by two women that he sexually harassed them several years ago, is expected to appear in court on Thursday afternoon. He has strenuously denied the allegations and attacked a patently ridiculous investigation by the Scottish government, which sent its final report to police in August last year. Earlier this month, the 64-year-old won a legal victory when the Scottish government was found to have acted unlawfully while investigating the misconduct allegations against him. The two sides agreed a deal in which the Scottish government conceded its investigation into Mr Salmonds conduct had strayed outside of the rules and, as such, was unlawful. However, the police probe into the complaints was entirely separate to the governments investigation and continued. UK news in pictures Show all 51 1 /51 UK news in pictures UK news in pictures 18 June 2021 A British Airways plane at Heathrow airport in west London which has been damaged after tipping on to its nose PA UK news in pictures 17 June 2021 Members of the Tootsie Rollers jazz band pose on the third day of the Royal Ascot horse racing meet AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 16 June 2021 A woman and child examine life-size sculptures of a herd of Asian elephants set up by the Elephant Family and The Real Elephant Collective to help educate the public on the elephants and the ways in which humans can better protect the planets biodiversity, in Green Park, central London AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 15 June 2021 Hydrotherapists with Dixie, a seven-year-old Dachshund who is being treated for back problems common with the breed, in the hydrotherapy pool during a facility at Battersea Dogs and Cats Home's in Battersea, London, to view their new hydrotherapy centre PA UK news in pictures 14 June 2021 Scotland's David Marshall in the net after Czech Republic's Patrik Schick scored their second goal at Hampden Park Reuters UK news in pictures 13 June 2021 Raheem Sterling celebrates with Harry Kane after scoring Englands first goal of the Euro 2021 tournament in a match against Croatia at Wembley Reuters UK news in pictures 12 June 2021 Oxfam campaigners wearing costumes depicting G7 leaders pose for photographers on Swanpool Beach near Falmouth, Cornwall EPA UK news in pictures 11 June 2021 Members of the Vaxinol team, who are commercial, industrial and residential cleaners specialising in disinfection and decontamination, use electrostatic spray systems to deep clean the Only Fools Bar in Liverpool PA UK news in pictures 10 June 2021 A woman walks her dogs as the incoming tide begins to wash away the heads of G7 leaders drawn in the sand by activists on the beach at Newquay, Cornwall AP UK news in pictures 9 June 2021 Adam Chamberlain, 45, general manager of Big Tree pub in Sheffield, has put up over 500 flags, taking 36 hours, in preparation for Euro 2020, which kicks off this weekend Tom Maddick / SWNS UK news in pictures 8 June 2021 REUTERS UK news in pictures 7 June 2021 A pedestrian wearing a face covering walks over Westminster Bridge near the Houses of Parliament in central London AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 6 June 2021 Isobel Salamon, founder of the Edinburgh Cinema Club, poses alongside the Leith Trainspotting murals in Quality Yard, Leith, Edinburgh, for the programme launch of the Cinescapes Festival which starts on July 4 with a Trainspotting 1 and 2 double bill PA UK news in pictures 5 June 2021 A long exposure photograph captures the rotation of the earth as the stars blur into circles over Knowlton church ruins in Dorset Nick Lucas/SWNS UK news in pictures 4 June 2021 Balloonists take flight during the opening of the Midlands Air Festival in Alcester, Warwickshire PA UK news in pictures 3 June 2021 Members of the Household Cavalry during the Major General's annual inspection of the Household Cavalry Mounted Regiment in Hyde Park, London PA UK news in pictures 2 June 2021 Hannah Vitos of the Blenheim Art Foundation, poses for a photograph next to artist Ai Weiwei's Gilded Cage (2017) sculpture in the grounds of Blenheim Palace in Woodstock, Britain Reuters UK news in pictures 1 June 2021 People swim in the Sky Pool, a transparent swimming pool bridge across two exclusive residential blocks standing next to the US Embassy in Nine Elms, in London, Tuesday, June 1, 2021 AP UK news in pictures 31 May 2021 People enjoy the hot weather at Brighton beach Reuters UK news in pictures 30 May 2021 People venture into the sea as they enjoy themselves during a hot day on Brighton Beach AP UK news in pictures 29 May 2021 Swimmers at the Stonehaven Open Air Pool in Aberdeenshire, which reopens after lockdown restrictions were eased PA UK news in pictures 28 May 2021 Britain's Prime Minister Boris Johnson gestures as he meets Hungary's Prime Minister Viktor Orban at Downing Street in London REUTERS UK news in pictures 27 May 2021 White Pelicans in the sunshine in St James's Park, London PA UK news in pictures 26 May 2021 Boats are seen at Southsea Moorings in Portsmouth Reuters UK news in pictures 25 May 2021 York Glaziers Trust employees Kieran Muir (left) and Emily Price (right) remove a stained glass window panel at the start of a new five year, 5m project to conserve York Minsters South East Transept and its medieval St Cuthbert Window PA UK news in pictures 24 May 2021 Dark rain clouds above an oast house at Bewl Water reservoir near Lamberhurst in Kent during one of the rainiest Mays on record, with the UK seeing 131 per cent of the usual months rainfall already PA UK news in pictures 23 May 2021 The Premier League trophy with the Manchester City club colour ribbons on, at Etihad Stadium, prior to the last Premier League match of the season. City will finally pick up the trophy after they won the league on 11 May Getty UK news in pictures 22 May 2021 Gary Kenny lifts the Buildbase FA Vase Trophy after Warrington Rylands won the FA Vase Final against Binfield at Wembley Stadium Getty UK news in pictures 21 May 2021 A family buffeted by the wind whilst crossing the the Millennium Bridge in London, with wind and rain forecast to ravage the UK on the first Friday that people have been allowed to meet in large groups outside in England PA UK news in pictures 20 May 2021 Devon And Cornwall Police Demonstrate Their Skills For Policing The G7 Summit Getty Images UK news in pictures 18 May 2021 An employee stands before a costume for the Queen of Hearts by Bob Crowley on display at the Alice: Curiouser and Curiouser exhibition at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London PA UK news in pictures 17 May 2021 Passengers prepare to board an easyJet flight to Faro, Portugal, at Gatwick Airport after the ban on international leisure travel for people in England was lifted following the further easing of lockdown restrictions in England PA UK news in pictures 16 May 2021 Emergency workers at the scene of a suspected gas explosion, in which a young child was killed and two people were seriously injured, on Mallowdale Ave Heysham which caused 2 houses to collapse and badly damaged another PA UK news in pictures 15 May 2021 Pro-Palestinian activists and supporters let off smoke flares, wave flags and carry placards during a demonstration in support of the Palestinian cause as violence escalates in the ongoing conflict with Israel, in central London AFP via Getty UK news in pictures 14 May 2021 Member of staffs tighten screws and paint a Marlin skeleton, before it goes on display at the Natural History Museum in London, as the museum prepares to reopen to the public on 17 May, following the further easing of lockdown restrictions in England PA UK news in pictures 13 May 2021 A worshipper at the Baitul Futuh Mosque in Mordon, south London, ahead of Eid al-Fitr. The celebration marks the end of the Muslim month of fasting, called Ramadan. PA UK news in pictures 12 May 2021 A couple have wedding photos taken in Westminster, London Getty UK news in pictures 11 May 2021 The sun rises on Coquet Island, off Amble on the Northumberland coast, where as many as 35000 seabirds cram onto this tiny island to breed PA UK news in pictures 10 May 2021 Newly elected for a second term Mayor of London Sadiq Khan during his signing in ceremony at Shakespeare's Globe Theatre on Londons Southbank PA UK news in pictures 9 May 2021 People mill around St. Michael's tower on top of Glastonbury Tor as it is seen through blooming yellow rapeseed on a day of mixed weather in Glastonbury, Somerset PA UK news in pictures 8 May 2021 Wales First Minister Mark Drakeford elbow bumps newly elected MS Labour candidates Elizabeth Buffy Williams, Rhondda, left, and Sarah Murphy, Bridgend & Porthcawl Labour, right, as they meet in Porthcawl, Wales PA UK news in pictures 6 May 2021 A group of five Sisters from Carmelite Monastery in Dysart cast their vote in the Scottish Parliamentary election at Dysart Community Hall, West Port, Dysart PA UK news in pictures 5 May 2021 Leader of the Labour Party Sir Keir Starmer (centre) with West Midlands Metro Mayor candidate Liam Byrne (far right) and Labour Deputy Leader, Angela Rayner (far left) during a visit to Birmingham, whilst on the election campaign trail PA UK news in pictures 4 May 2021 Artists Heather Ackroyd and Dan Harvey stand within 100 oak saplings which form part of a living art installation entitled Beuys' Acorns by the UK-based artist duo, outside the Tate Modern in London PA UK news in pictures 3 May 2021 Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Willie Rennie feeds the Gentoo penguins during a visit to Edinburgh Zoo on the campaign trail for the forthcoming Scottish Parliamentary Election on May 6 PA UK news in pictures 2 May 2021 Chelsea players celebrate their fourth goal during the Womens Champions League semi-final second leg against Bayern Munich, at Kingsmeadow Stadium in south west London. The Blues won the game 4-1, (and the tie 5-3 on aggregate) sending them through to their first Champions League final AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 1 May 2020 Demonstrators during a march through London during a 'Kill the Bill' protest Angela Christofilou UK news in pictures 30 April 2021 Shoppers queue outside Primark in Belfast as shops reopen and hospitality is able to open outdoors in Northern Ireland where lockdown restrictions have begun to gradually ease PA UK news in pictures 29 April 2021 Specialist operators at the Royal Air Force Museum Cosford, near Telford, Shropshire, clean the Hawker Hunter aircraft displayed within the museum's National Cold War Exhibition, during annual high-level aircraft cleaning and maintenance PA UK news in pictures 28 April 2021 Millions of tulips in flower near Kings Lynn in Norfolk, as Belmont Nurseries, the UK's largest commercial grower of outdoor tulips, offers socially-distanced visits to its tulip fields at Hillington to raise funds for local charity The Norfolk Hospice Tapping House PA UK news in pictures 27 April 2021 Paula Laughton checks one of the newly installed Lego models in the new Lego Mythica land at Legoland Windsor Resort PA Mr Salmond is still a figurehead for those Scottish Nationalist Party supporters who are pushing for an immediate rerun of the failed 2014 independence referendum. This week, he urged his former ally Nicola Sturgeon to call for a fresh vote, saying: Westminsters Brexit difficulty should be Scotlands opportunity. The relationship between the current first minister and her former mentor deteriorated spectacularly after the accusations of sexual harassment. Mr Salmond accused Ms Sturgeon of deleting him from history by whitewashing his role in the 2014 independence referendum from the party website. At the weekend, he said: Nicola should be concentrating all her energies on the independence agenda when we will never have better circumstances. The Westminster political establishment is at its weakest point in my lifetime while the national movement is in good heart. There is not likely to be a better time to force the issue. Ms Sturgeon has promised an update on the timing of a second independence vote in a matter of weeks, but is currently focused on support for a Final Say referendum over Brexit. Barcelona's hopes of winning a fifth consecutive Copa del Rey were dented on Wednesday as they were beaten 2-0 by Sevilla in the first leg of the quarter-finals. Lionel Messi was rested and Luis Suarez left on the bench as Kevin-Prince Boateng made his debut for Barca in a match that Sevilla might even have been disappointed not to win by more. Even so, Pablo Sarabia and Wissam Ben Yedder each scored in the second half at the Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan to leave their opponents facing an uphill task if they are to rescue next week's second leg. Barcelona thrashed Sevilla 5-0 in last year's final, when Andres Iniesta delivered a masterclass in what was one of his final appearances for the club. Winning a domestic double, however, did little to ease the disappointment of crashing out of the Champions League and Ernesto Valverde is clearly keener to rotate in the Copa del Rey this season. Messi and Sergio Busquets were left out completely while Luis Suarez, Philippe Coutinho and Jordi Alba all started on the bench, only to come on as substitutes in the second half. Boateng, who has joined on a six-month loan deal from Sassuolo, was signed to spare Suarez nights just like these and he did little particularly wrong, or spectacular, before being replaced after 63 minutes. Barca's biggest signing of the transfer window was announced three and a half hours before kick-off, a 75-million euro deal for Frenkie de Jong to join from Ajax in the summer. They could have done with some of the 21-year-old's craft in the first half, which was high on intensity but low on precision as both sides traded blows but failed to create much of note. A quick free-kick sent Ben Yedder free and he fooled the sliding Gerard Pique with a dummy only to shoot wide, off-balance. Barca's best early chance fell to the out-of-sorts Malcom but he took the ball too far left after nipping round Juan Soriano and hit the side-netting. Sevilla had been the better team and their dominance continued after half-time. Just before the hour-mark, they scored, as the lively Quincy Promes did brilliantly down the left and his cross fell to Sarabia at the back post. Sarabia's drilled the bouncing ball into the far corner, with the offside Ibrahim Amadou darting across Jasper Cillessen's line of sight. Barca brought on Suarez and Coutinho, who almost made an instant impact. Suarez's first contribution was to lose the ball and his second was to win it back. Coutinho was given a free shot at goal but fired over. Sevilla could have made it two but Ever Banega headed over and then they did, as his cross grazed Sergi Roberto on its way to the back post, where Ben Yedder had timed his run perfectly. He slid in to bolster his team's advantage. Ben Yedder celebrated by unveiling a t-shirt in support of Argentine striker Emiliano Sala, the player who is feared to have died in a plane crash on his way to join new club Cardiff City in Wales. (CNN) World Youth Day in Panama is supposed to be about young people, from all over the globe, celebrating their Catholic faith with the Pope. But this year, it's happening during arguably the greatest crisis of Pope Francis' pontificate and of the modern-day Catholic Church. The gathering is taking place January 22-27 in Panama City, with the Pope arriving on the 23rd. Panama is 88% Catholic, according to the Vatican, and despite the shadow of controversy, this is a coming home of sorts for Pope Francis, the first Latin American pontiff. His 10 speeches will be in his native Spanish, which typically means he might improvise instead of sticking to prepared texts. According to the Vatican, about 150,000 youth have enrolled so far, a much lower turnout than World Youth Days in 2013 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil and in 2016 in Krakow, Poland, which attracted about 3 million each. The Pope is expected, as he often does, to weave politics into his speeches, particularly issues such as migration, corruption, violence and the role of women, said a Vatican spokesperson. Will the Pope meet with clergy abuse survivors? Two clergy abuse survivors from nearby Costa Rica are hoping to meet with Pope Francis in the sidelines of World Youth Day. As is customary, the Vatican has not announced if the pontiff will meet with survivors; but advised reporters the Pope might address the topic. Survivors Michael Rodriguez and Anthony Venegas, both from Costa Rica, say the Latin American culture of "machismo" justifies the actions of the abusers and revictimizes the victims, making it very difficult for survivors to break their silence. "In many towns people don't dare to speak out against a priest because they see the priest as a representative of God," Rodriguez told CNN. "It's a way the Pope can show the world that any victim abused... by a priest -- be it from a big country or a small one -- has a voice before the Pope." "If the Pope doesn't meet with these victims that is a message that can be interpreted as a message: Don't speak up," said Frank Mora, a Latin American studies expert at Florida International University. Mora says Francis, as the first Latin American pontiff, understands the barriers Rodriguez and Venegas have had to break through to speak out and the vulnerabilities they live with every day for doing so. After World Youth Day in Rio De Janeiro in 2013 Pope Francis made his famous "who am I to judge" comment that landed him on front pages around the world. Could the Pope say or do something to similarly make international waves in Panama? Patricia McGuire, president of Trinity Washington University in Washington, D.C., said she believes so, saying she hopes Francis speaks directly to youth about the clergy sex abuse crisis. But McGuire is cautiously optimistic because she says Francis, himself, suffers from the same clericalism that he often says is at the root of the abuse crisis. Depending on how it's defined, clericalism is often taken to mean an excessive deference to the church's all-male priesthood. "He lives in a world that is closed," McGuire told CNN. "It's powerful men of the hierarchy." How will American youths be received? This is the first World Youth Day held in Central America, according to the Vatican. The smaller crowds are due in part because the even is normally held during the summer months, coinciding with school vacation time. About 12,000 people from the United States are expected to attend, according to the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, and some are worried about how they will be received given their country's divisive debate over immigration. Amanda Pawelek attended World Youth Day in Krakow, Poland in 2016 and remembers how youth from around the globe chanted "USA, USA" when they learned she was from Texas. This time the 26-year-old is nervous about how she and other Americans will be received in Panama given the politics and attention focused on President Donald Trump's proposal to build a wall on the country's southern border with Mexico. Ariana Zepeda, 17, also from San Antonio and traveling with the same group as Pawelek, says the issue has been on her mind, too. Their group's youth coordinator, Rosa Balderas, says she is not worried about how they will be received in Panama; but she planned to stow her stars and stripes hat during a layover in Mexico City. Balderas says that in Panama she trusts faith will overcome divisive political rhetoric. "I think everyone there will see that we are people and Trump is another person," Balderas said. What else to watch for For off the cuff remarks that could make news, keep an ear open Thursday during his meeting with the Central American Bishops at the St. Francis of Assisi Church. He has historically been stern with his brother bishops. The holy Mass on Sunday at Saint John Paul II Field, which has capacity for 700,000 youth, could inspire Francis to toss his scripts and speak from the heart. For heartfelt images, monitor his visit to the youth detention center on Friday. It's the only event outside of Panama City. The Pope will fly there by helicopter to meet with 200 youth. The vigil with youth on Saturday and his meeting with AIDS patients on Sunday are also expected to be emotional. This story was first posted on CNN.com, "Could World Youth Day in Panama give Pope Francis a boost?" Humanity is still as close to annhiliation as it has ever been, scientists have said. The experts behind the famous "Doomsday Clock" have left the time at two minutes to midnight. That time was chosen last year, reaching a record only rivalled in 1953, at the very depths of the Cold War. The researchers stressed that the decision to keep the clock the same did not mean people should relax. In fact it reflects the "new abnormal" they said a disturbing state of affairs where an unstable and unsettling state of affairs is becoming ordinary. "Humanity now faces two simultaneous existential threats, either of which would be cause for extreme concern and immediate attention," the experts wrote. "These major threatsnuclear weapons and climate changewere exacerbated this past year by the increased use of information warfare to undermine democracy around the world, amplifying risk from these and other threats and putting the future of civilization in extraordinary danger. "There is nothing normal about the complex and frightening reality just described." Science news in pictures Show all 20 1 /20 Science news in pictures Science news in pictures Pluto has 'beating heart' of frozen nitrogen Pluto has a 'beating heart' of frozen nitrogen that is doing strange things to its surface, Nasa has found. The mysterious core seems to be the cause of features on its surface that have fascinated scientists since they were spotted by Nasa's New Horizons mission. "Before New Horizons, everyone thought Pluto was going to be a netball - completely flat, almost no diversity," said Tanguy Bertrand, an astrophysicist and planetary scientist at NASA's Ames Research Center and the lead author on the new study. "But it's completely different. It has a lot of different landscapes and we are trying to understand what's going on there." Getty Science news in pictures Over 400 species discovered this year by Natural History Museum The ancient invertabrate worm-like species rhenopyrgus viviani (pictured) is one of over 400 species previously unknown to science that were discovered by experts at the Natural History Museum this year PA Science news in pictures Jackdaws can identify 'dangerous' humans Jackdaws can identify dangerous humans from listening to each others warning calls, scientists say. The highly social birds will also remember that person if they come near their nests again, according to researchers from the University of Exeter. In the study, a person unknown to the wild jackdaws approached their nest. At the same time scientists played a recording of a warning call (threatening) or contact calls (non-threatening). The next time jackdaws saw this same person, the birds that had previously heard the warning call were defensive and returned to their nests more than twice as quickly on average. Getty Science news in pictures Turtle embryos influence sex by shaking The sex of the turtle is determined by the temperatures at which they are incubated. Warm temperatures favour females. But by wiggling around the egg, embryos can find the Goldilocks Zone which means they are able to shield themselves against extreme thermal conditions and produce a balanced sex ratio, according to the new study published in Current Biology journal Ye et al/Current Biology Science news in pictures Elephant poaching rates drop in Africa African elephant poaching rates have dropped by 60 per cent in six years, an international study has found. It is thought the decline could be associated with the ivory trade ban introduced in China in 2017. Reuters Science news in pictures Ancient four-legged whale discovered in Peru Scientists have identified a four-legged creature with webbed feet to be an ancestor of the whale. Fossils unearthed in Peru have led scientists to conclude that the enormous creatures that traverse the planets oceans today are descended from small hoofed ancestors that lived in south Asia 50 million years ago A. Gennari Science news in pictures Animal with transient anus discovered A scientist has stumbled upon a creature with a transient anus that appears only when it is needed, before vanishing completely. Dr Sidney Tamm of the Marine Biological Laboratory could not initially find any trace of an anus on the species. However, as the animal gets full, a pore opens up to dispose of waste Steven G Johnson Science news in pictures Giant bee spotted Feared extinct, the Wallace's Giant bee has been spotted for the first time in nearly 40 years. An international team of conservationists spotted the bee, that is four times the size of a typical honeybee, on an expedition to a group of Indonesian Islands Clay Bolt Science news in pictures New mammal species found inside crocodile Fossilised bones digested by crocodiles have revealed the existence of three new mammal species that roamed the Cayman Islands 300 years ago. The bones belonged to two large rodent species and a small shrew-like animal New Mexico Museum of Natural History Science news in pictures Fabric that changes according to temperature created Scientists at the University of Maryland have created a fabric that adapts to heat, expanding to allow more heat to escape the body when warm and compacting to retain more heat when cold Faye Levine, University of Maryland Science news in pictures Baby mice tears could be used in pest control A study from the University of Tokyo has found that the tears of baby mice cause female mice to be less interested in the sexual advances of males Getty Science news in pictures Final warning to limit "climate catastrophe" The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has issued a report which projects the impact of a rise in global temperatures of 1.5 degrees Celsius and warns against a higher increase Getty Science news in pictures Nobel prize for evolution chemists The nobel prize for chemistry has been awarded to three chemists working with evolution. Frances Smith is being awarded the prize for her work on directing the evolution of enzymes, while Gregory Winter and George Smith take the prize for their work on phage display of peptides and antibodies Getty/AFP Science news in pictures Nobel prize for laser physicists The nobel prize for physics has been awarded to three physicists working with lasers. Arthur Ashkin (L) was awarded for his "optical tweezers" which use lasers to grab particles, atoms, viruses and other living cells. Donna Strickland and Gerard Mourou were jointly awarded the prize for developing chirped-pulse amplification of lasers Reuters/AP Science news in pictures Discovery of a new species of dinosaur The Ledumahadi Mafube roamed around 200 million years ago in what is now South Africa. Recently discovered by a team of international scientists, it was the largest land animal of its time, weighing 12 tons and standing at 13 feet. In Sesotho, the South African language of the region in which the dinosaur was discovered, its name means "a giant thunderclap at dawn" Viktor Radermacher / SWNS Science news in pictures Birth of a planet Scientists have witnessed the birth of a planet for the first time ever. This spectacular image from the SPHERE instrument on ESO's Very Large Telescope is the first clear image of a planet caught in the very act of formation around the dwarf star PDS 70. The planet stands clearly out, visible as a bright point to the right of the center of the image, which is blacked out by the coronagraph mask used to block the blinding light of the central star. ESO/A. Muller et al Science news in pictures New human organ discovered that was previously missed by scientists Layers long thought to be dense, connective tissue are actually a series of fluid-filled compartments researchers have termed the interstitium. These compartments are found beneath the skin, as well as lining the gut, lungs, blood vessels and muscles, and join together to form a network supported by a mesh of strong, flexible proteins Getty Science news in pictures Previously unknown society lived in Amazon rainforest before Europeans arrived, say archaeologists Working in the Brazilian state of Mato Grosso, a team led by archaeologists at the University of Exeter unearthed hundreds of villages hidden in the depths of the rainforest. These excavations included evidence of fortifications and mysterious earthworks called geoglyphs Jose Iriarte Science news in pictures One in 10 people have traces of cocaine or heroin on fingerprints, study finds More than one in 10 people were found to have traces of class A drugs on their fingers by scientists developing a new fingerprint-based drug test. Using sensitive analysis of the chemical composition of sweat, researchers were able to tell the difference between those who had been directly exposed to heroin and cocaine, and those who had encountered it indirectly. Getty Science news in pictures Nasa releases stunning images of Jupiter's great red spot The storm bigger than the Earth, has been swhirling for 350 years. The image's colours have been enhanced after it was sent back to Earth. Pictures by: Tom Momary The Bulletin of Atomic Scientists, which runs the Doomsday Clock, said that it recognised there were some reasons to be positive. The belligerent rhetoric between the US and North Korea that was a particular focus last year has calmed, they noted. But they said that many other concerns including the threat of cyber attack, continuing tensions between the US and Russia, and a lack of progress on climate change meant that the world was under just as much threat as last year. In a number of areas, the world took significant steps back, including in Donald Trump's decision to drop out of a number of important nuclear deals. "Humanity now faces two simultaneous existential threats, either of which would be cause for extreme concern and immediate attention," the scientists write. "These major threatsnuclear weapons and climate changewere exacerbated this past year by the increased use of information warfare to undermine democracy around the world, amplifying risk from these and other threats and putting the future of civilization in extraordinary danger." It concluded with a plea to the world to do what it can to push the hands back away from midnight and bring humanity back from the edge. "Dire as the present may seem, there is nothing hopeless or predestined about the future. The Bulletin resolutely believes that human beings can manage the dangers posed by the technology that humans create. Indeed, in the 1990s, leaders in the United States and the Soviet Union took bold action that made nuclear war markedly less likelyand that led the Bulletin to move the minute hand of the Doomsday Clock far from midnight," the Bulletin wrote. "But threats must be acknowledged before they can be effectively confronted. The current situationin which intersecting nuclear, climate, and information warfare threats all go insufficiently recognized and addressed, when they are not simply ignored or deniedis unsustainable. The longer world leaders and citizens carelessly inhabit this new and abnormal reality, the more likely the world is to experience catastrophe of historic proportions." A common gum disease bug plays a "central role" in the development of Alzheimer's, scientists claim. The new evidence that infectious bacteria drive Alzheimer's progression could potentially transform current thinking about how the disease should be tackled. Porphyromonas gingivalis is one of the chief causes of gum disease and tooth loss in humans, and has also been associated with artery damage. There have been previous suggestions that it may play a role in Alzheimer's, but the latest study by a US-led international team of scientists appears to put the link beyond question. Researchers made the discovery after analysing brain tissue, spinal fluid, and saliva from dead and living patients with diagnosed and suspected Alzheimer's. The seven Alzheimer's risk factors Show all 7 1 /7 The seven Alzheimer's risk factors The seven Alzheimer's risk factors Hypertension 8 percent of Alzheimer's cases are linked to mid-life hypertension Getty The seven Alzheimer's risk factors Smoking Smoking accounts for 11 percent of Alzheimer's cases Getty The seven Alzheimer's risk factors Obesity Midlife obesity accounts for 7 percent of Alzheimer's cases PA The seven Alzheimer's risk factors Low Educational attainment Low education or simply not using your brain enough accounts for 7 percent of Alzheimer's cases Getty The seven Alzheimer's risk factors Diabetes Problems with blood sugar control kick off the list of modifiable risk factors for Alzheimer's.The study suggests that 3 percent of Alzheimer's cases are linked to diabetes The seven Alzheimer's risk factors Depression 15 percent of Alzheimer's cases may stem from depression Rex The seven Alzheimer's risk factors Too little exercise Not enough physical activity is the number one preventable factor that contributes to Alzheimer's cases Rex Features They found evidence of toxic enzymes, known as gingipains, that are released by P. gingivalis, as well as DNA from the bacterium. In addition, the bug was found to spread from the mouths to the brains of mice. Tests on the animals confirmed that gingipain enzymes destroyed brain neurons. However, there was also good news. The scientists tested drugs that blocked gingipains and found they were able halt the neurodegeneration. One drug, given to mice in food, effectively treated P. gingivalis brain infections and prevented the loss of memory neurons. The team has now developed a new drug, COR388, that better penetrates the central nervous system and could form the basis of a human Alzheimer's treatment. A large-scale clinical trial that will involve giving the drug to patients with mild to moderate Alzheimer's is planned for later this year. Dr Stephen Dominy, one of the study authors and co-founder of the US company Cortexyme, which developed COR388, said: "Infectious agents have been implicated in the development and progression of Alzheimer's disease before, but the evidence of causation hasn't been convincing. Portraits of people living with dementia around the world Show all 8 1 /8 Portraits of people living with dementia around the world Portraits of people living with dementia around the world South Africa Heidedel Community Centre - A community centre dedicated to taking care of people displaced by mental illnesses and disabilities. It mostly houses people living with dementia. Many traditional healers tell family members that if they have dementia or other disorders they are cursed. These people do not have family to care for them, and this centre is one of the first centres that is privately funded in a township with limited government support Leah Beach Portraits of people living with dementia around the world Guatemala This is a family from Antigua in Guatemala. After undergoing surgery the father lost his ability to walk and also had amnesia, which developed into dementia. His wife who is a full time teacher had to make sacrifices to care for him. The daughter also left her job to care for him full time, while the mother works. They all adore him and would do anything and sacrifice anything for him Leah Beach Portraits of people living with dementia around the world South Africa Heidedel Community Centre - A community centre dedicated to taking care of people displaced by mental illnesses and disabilities. It mostly houses people living with dementia. Many traditional healers tell family members that if they have dementia or other disorders they are cursed. These people do not have family to care for them, and this centre is one of the first centres that is privately funded in a township with limited government support Leah Beach Portraits of people living with dementia around the world Guatemala ERMITA is an adult day-care centre located in the heart of Guatemala City. It is a privately funded organization that allows families to not only drop off loved ones for physical therapy and alternative therapeutic treatment methods, but also offers medications at a huge discount, and training classes for care partners. They have even established a dementia carers programme at the local university, as well as providing outreach in local homes Leah Beach Portraits of people living with dementia around the world South Africa Heidedel Community Centre - A community centre dedicated to taking care of people displaced by mental illnesses and disabilities. It mostly houses people living with dementia. Many traditional healers tell family members that if they have dementia or other disorders they are cursed. These people do not have family to care for them, and this centre is one of the first centres that is privately funded in a township with limited government support Leah Beach Portraits of people living with dementia around the world South Africa This woman is cared for by her son. The photograph captures the moment he brought out a pot that she had left on the stove which caught fire. As you can see in the photos shes so embarrassed. He says he worries to leave her on her own and is so sad to see her lose her independence Leah Beach Portraits of people living with dementia around the world India This woman is a member of the Parsi community, a cultural group in India which has Persian ties. People with Persian heritage are considered to be a race in India and there are often separate hospitals and community centres. This woman, who asked to remain anonymous, is an inhouse patient in the Parsi ward of a public hospital. She is living with dementia and her family hardly ever come to visit her. Most patients living in this ward are abandoned by their family, or have no family to look after them Leah Beach Portraits of people living with dementia around the world India Mrs Roop Chungani, 72 years old. Mrs Roop was a hairstylist in her youth and was known to be one of the most famous hairstylists in Mumbai, working with celebrities and high-profile stars of Bollywood. She worked in one of Bombays most famous beauty parlours. After her dementia diagnosis, she says that her husband was very hard on her because of the change in her behaviour Leah Beach "Now, for the first time, we have solid evidence connecting the intracellular gram-negative pathogen Pg (P. gingivalis) and Alzheimer's pathogenisis, while also demonstrating the potential for a class of small molecule therapies to change the trajectory of the disease." The findings are published in the latest edition of the journal Science Advances. The scientists tested more than 50 brain tissue samples and found that 96% contained one type of gingipain enzyme and 91% another. Further testing of DNA uncovered the P. gingivalis gene hmuY in three brains from dead Alzheimer's patients. The gene was also found in cerebro-spinal fluid from seven out of 10 living patients diagnosed with Alzheimer's. Saliva samples from 10 patients with suspected Alzheimer's all proved positive for the P. gingivalis gene. The mouse studies found that blocking gingipains effectively protected the hippocampus, a part of the brain vital to memory, from P. gingivalis infection. It also reduced inflammation and levels of beta-amyloid, a brain molecule strongly linked to Alzheimer's. Writing in the journal, the scientists concluded: "The findings of this study offer evidence that P. gingivalis and gingipains in the brain play a central role in the pathogenesis (development) of AD (Alzheimer's disease), providing a new conceptual framework for disease treatment." The bacteria may access the brain by infecting immune system cells or spreading through cranial nerves passing through the head and jaw, said the researchers. Laboratory tests indicated that gingipain enzymes may trigger tau tangles - knots of proteins within neurons that are thought to drive the damage caused by Alzheimer's. Health news in pictures Show all 40 1 /40 Health news in pictures Health news in pictures Coronavirus outbreak The coronavirus Covid-19 has hit the UK leading to the deaths of two people so far and prompting warnings from the Department of Health AFP via Getty Health news in pictures Thousands of emergency patients told to take taxi to hospital Thousands of 999 patients in England are being told to get a taxi to hospital, figures have showed. The number of patients outside London who were refused an ambulance rose by 83 per cent in the past year as demand for services grows Getty Health news in pictures Vape related deaths spike A vaping-related lung disease has claimed the lives of 11 people in the US in recent weeks. The US Centre for Disease Control and Prevention has more than 100 officials investigating the cause of the mystery illness, and has warned citizens against smoking e-cigarette products until more is known, particularly if modified or bought off the street Getty Health news in pictures Baldness cure looks to be a step closer Researchers in the US claim to have overcome one of the major hurdles to cultivating human follicles from stem cells. The new system allows cells to grow in a structured tuft and emerge from the skin Sanford Burnham Preybs Health news in pictures Two hours a week spent in nature can improve health A study in the journal Scientific Reports suggests that a dose of nature of just two hours a week is associated with better health and psychological wellbeing Shutterstock Health news in pictures Air pollution linked to fertility issues in women Exposure to air from traffic-clogged streets could leave women with fewer years to have children, a study has found. Italian researchers found women living in the most polluted areas were three times more likely to show signs they were running low on eggs than those who lived in cleaner surroundings, potentially triggering an earlier menopause Getty/iStock Health news in pictures Junk food ads could be banned before watershed Junk food adverts on TV and online could be banned before 9pm as part of Government plans to fight the "epidemic" of childhood obesity. Plans for the new watershed have been put out for public consultation in a bid to combat the growing crisis, the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) said PA Health news in pictures Breeding with neanderthals helped humans fight diseases On migrating from Africa around 70,000 years ago, humans bumped into the neanderthals of Eurasia. While humans were weak to the diseases of the new lands, breeding with the resident neanderthals made for a better equipped immune system PA Health news in pictures Cancer breath test to be trialled in Britain The breath biopsy device is designed to detect cancer hallmarks in molecules exhaled by patients Getty Health news in pictures Average 10 year old has consumed the recommended amount of sugar for an adult By their 10th birthdy, children have on average already eaten more sugar than the recommended amount for an 18 year old. The average 10 year old consumes the equivalent to 13 sugar cubes a day, 8 more than is recommended PA Health news in pictures Child health experts advise switching off screens an hour before bed While there is not enough evidence of harm to recommend UK-wide limits on screen use, the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health have advised that children should avoid screens for an hour before bed time to avoid disrupting their sleep Getty Health news in pictures Daily aspirin is unnecessary for older people in good health, study finds A study published in the New England Journal of Medicine has found that many elderly people are taking daily aspirin to little or no avail Getty Health news in pictures Vaping could lead to cancer, US study finds A study by the University of Minnesota's Masonic Cancer Centre has found that the carcinogenic chemicals formaldehyde, acrolein, and methylglyoxal are present in the saliva of E-cigarette users Reuters Health news in pictures More children are obese and diabetic There has been a 41% increase in children with type 2 diabetes since 2014, the National Paediatric Diabetes Audit has found. Obesity is a leading cause Reuters Health news in pictures Most child antidepressants are ineffective and can lead to suicidal thoughts The majority of antidepressants are ineffective and may be unsafe, for children and teenager with major depression, experts have warned. In what is the most comprehensive comparison of 14 commonly prescribed antidepressant drugs to date, researchers found that only one brand was more effective at relieving symptoms of depression than a placebo. Another popular drug, venlafaxine, was shown increase the risk users engaging in suicidal thoughts and attempts at suicide Getty Health news in pictures Gay, lesbian and bisexual adults at higher risk of heart disease, study claims Researchers at the Baptist Health South Florida Clinic in Miami focused on seven areas of controllable heart health and found these minority groups were particularly likely to be smokers and to have poorly controlled blood sugar iStock Health news in pictures Breakfast cereals targeted at children contain 'steadily high' sugar levels since 1992 despite producer claims A major pressure group has issued a fresh warning about perilously high amounts of sugar in breakfast cereals, specifically those designed for children, and has said that levels have barely been cut at all in the last two and a half decades Getty Health news in pictures Potholes are making us fat, NHS watchdog warns New guidance by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE), the body which determines what treatment the NHS should fund, said lax road repairs and car-dominated streets were contributing to the obesity epidemic by preventing members of the public from keeping active PA Health news in pictures New menopause drugs offer women relief from 'debilitating' hot flushes A new class of treatments for women going through the menopause is able to reduce numbers of debilitating hot flushes by as much as three quarters in a matter of days, a trial has found. The drug used in the trial belongs to a group known as NKB antagonists (blockers), which were developed as a treatment for schizophrenia but have been sitting on a shelf unused, according to Professor Waljit Dhillo, a professor of endocrinology and metabolism REX Health news in pictures Doctors should prescribe more antidepressants for people with mental health problems, study finds Research from Oxford University found that more than one million extra people suffering from mental health problems would benefit from being prescribed drugs and criticised ideological reasons doctors use to avoid doing so. Getty Health news in pictures Student dies of flu after NHS advice to stay at home and avoid A&E The family of a teenager who died from flu has urged people not to delay going to A&E if they are worried about their symptoms. Melissa Whiteley, an 18-year-old engineering student from Hanford in Stoke-on-Trent, fell ill at Christmas and died in hospital a month later. Just Giving Health news in pictures Government to review thousands of harmful vaginal mesh implants The Government has pledged to review tens of thousands of cases where women have been given harmful vaginal mesh implants. Getty Health news in pictures Jeremy Hunt announces 'zero suicides ambition' for the NHS The NHS will be asked to go further to prevent the deaths of patients in its care as part of a zero suicide ambition being launched today Getty Health news in pictures Human trials start with cancer treatment that primes immune system to kill off tumours Human trials have begun with a new cancer therapy that can prime the immune system to eradicate tumours. The treatment, that works similarly to a vaccine, is a combination of two existing drugs, of which tiny amounts are injected into the solid bulk of a tumour. Nephron Health news in pictures Babies' health suffers from being born near fracking sites, finds major study Mothers living within a kilometre of a fracking site were 25 per cent more likely to have a child born at low birth weight, which increase their chances of asthma, ADHD and other issues Getty Health news in pictures NHS reviewing thousands of cervical cancer smear tests after women wrongly given all-clear Thousands of cervical cancer screening results are under review after failings at a laboratory meant some women were incorrectly given the all-clear. A number of women have already been told to contact their doctors following the identification of procedural issues in the service provided by Pathology First Laboratory. Rex Health news in pictures Potential key to halting breast cancer's spread discovered by scientists Most breast cancer patients do not die from their initial tumour, but from secondary malignant growths (metastases), where cancer cells are able to enter the blood and survive to invade new sites. Asparagine, a molecule named after asparagus where it was first identified in high quantities, has now been shown to be an essential ingredient for tumour cells to gain these migratory properties. Getty Health news in pictures NHS nursing vacancies at record high with more than 34,000 roles advertised A record number of nursing and midwifery positions are currently being advertised by the NHS, with more than 34,000 positions currently vacant, according to the latest data. Demand for nurses was 19 per cent higher between July and September 2017 than the same period two years ago. REX Health news in pictures Cannabis extract could provide new class of treatment for psychosis CBD has a broadly opposite effect to delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the main active component in cannabis and the substance that causes paranoia and anxiety. Getty Health news in pictures Over 75,000 sign petition calling for Richard Branson's Virgin Care to hand settlement money back to NHS Mr Bransons company sued the NHS last year after it lost out on an 82m contract to provide childrens health services across Surrey, citing concerns over serious flaws in the way the contract was awarded PA Health news in pictures More than 700 fewer nurses training in England in first year after NHS bursary scrapped The numbers of people accepted to study nursing in England fell 3 per cent in 2017, while the numbers accepted in Wales and Scotland, where the bursaries were kept, increased 8.4 per cent and 8 per cent respectively Getty Health news in pictures Landmark study links Tory austerity to 120,000 deaths The paper found that there were 45,000 more deaths in the first four years of Tory-led efficiencies than would have been expected if funding had stayed at pre-election levels. On this trajectory that could rise to nearly 200,000 excess deaths by the end of 2020, even with the extra funding that has been earmarked for public sector services this year. Reuters Health news in pictures Long commutes carry health risks Hours of commuting may be mind-numbingly dull, but new research shows that it might also be having an adverse effect on both your health and performance at work. Longer commutes also appear to have a significant impact on mental wellbeing, with those commuting longer 33 per cent more likely to suffer from depression Shutterstock Health news in pictures You cannot be fit and fat It is not possible to be overweight and healthy, a major new study has concluded. The study of 3.5 million Britons found that even metabolically healthy obese people are still at a higher risk of heart disease or a stroke than those with a normal weight range Getty Health news in pictures Sleep deprivation When you feel particularly exhausted, it can definitely feel like you are also lacking in brain capacity. Now, a new study has suggested this could be because chronic sleep deprivation can actually cause the brain to eat itself Shutterstock Health news in pictures Exercise classes offering 45 minute naps launch David Lloyd Gyms have launched a new health and fitness class which is essentially a bunch of people taking a nap for 45 minutes. The fitness group was spurred to launch the napercise class after research revealed 86 per cent of parents said they were fatigued. The class is therefore predominantly aimed at parents but you actually do not have to have children to take part Getty Health news in pictures 'Fundamental right to health' to be axed after Brexit, lawyers warn Tobacco and alcohol companies could win more easily in court cases such as the recent battle over plain cigarette packaging if the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights is abandoned, a barrister and public health professor have said Getty Health news in pictures 'Thousands dying' due to fear over non-existent statin side-effects A major new study into the side effects of the cholesterol-lowering medicine suggests common symptoms such as muscle pain and weakness are not caused by the drugs themselves Getty Health news in pictures Babies born to fathers aged under 25 have higher risk of autism New research has found that babies born to fathers under the age of 25 or over 51 are at higher risk of developing autism and other social disorders. The study, conducted by the Seaver Autism Center for Research and Treatment at Mount Sinai, found that these children are actually more advanced than their peers as infants, but then fall behind by the time they hit their teenage years Getty Health news in pictures Cycling to work could halve risk of cancer and heart disease Commuters who swap their car or bus pass for a bike could cut their risk of developing heart disease and cancer by almost half, new research suggests but campaigners have warned there is still an urgent need to improve road conditions for cyclists. Cycling to work is linked to a lower risk of developing cancer by 45 per cent and cardiovascular disease by 46 per cent, according to a study of a quarter of a million people. Walking to work also brought health benefits, the University of Glasgow researchers found, but not to the same degree as cycling. Getty The research also lent support to the controversial idea that the peptide beta-amyloid is actually part of the brain's anti-microbial defence system, said the team. P. gingivalis infection was thought to fuel high levels of beta- amyloid that eventually became toxic. Traditional broad-spectrum antibiotics would probably be ineffective against P. gingivalis in the brain, according to the research. In laboratory experiments, antibiotics did not prevent cell death induced by P. gingivalis. The bug was also shown rapidly to develop resistance against the broad-spectrum antibiotic moxifloxacin, but not to COR388. Dr David Reynolds, chief scientific officer at charity Alzheimer's Research UK, pointed out that Alzheimer's was likely to have multiple causes, one of which may be gum disease bacteria. He added: "Maintaining good dental health is an important part of a healthy lifestyle, and while we don't yet fully know the extent to which it can affect our dementia risk, the presence of a single type of bacteria is extremely unlikely to be the only cause of the condition." Gum disease affects an estimated 45% of the UK population, according to the British Dental Association (BDA). Many types of bacteria contributed to gum disease, but P. gingivalis was one of the most important. Support free-thinking journalism and attend Independent events BDA scientific adviser Professor Damien Walmsley said: "This study offers a welcome reminder that oral health can't remain an optional extra in our health service. "Everyone's life can be improved by regular appointments and good oral hygiene, reducing the bacterial load that's ever present in our mouths to a level that's unlikely to cause tooth decay, gum disease or tooth loss." Dr James Pickett, head of research at Alzheimer's Society, said: "The laboratory work does suggest that this infection could cause damage to cells of the brain but there isn't yet clear evidence that it can cause this damage in people or result in Alzheimer's. "Success of this new drug depends on whether the infection really does play an important role in Alzheimer's disease. "It's important to pursue that as there hasn't been a new drug for dementia in 15 years. The upcoming clinical trial will be a crucial test to see if this can be a potential treatment for Alzheimer's." Press Association A light snow is falling on this sleepy Saturday morning in November in Chicago. Despite the weather, a steady stream of families pours into the lobby of a nondescript brick building: middle-aged parents with gadget-toting teenagers, young couples with rambunctious toddlers. Some have traveled an hour or more to come here, the Developmental Disabilities Family Clinic at the University of Illinois at Chicago. Their draw is the monthly meeting of Grupo Salto, a nonprofit organization that aids Spanish-speaking, low-income families with autistic children. Most of the attendees have been here before. They sign in, exchange a few warm words with acquaintances and disperse. Parents drop off small children for an art class or supervised play and then head to the auditorium for an educational session. (Today a state representative is giving an overview in Spanish of public services that help individuals with disabilities find work.) A gaggle of young adults on the spectrum peels off to another room for Tu y Yo (You and I), where they advise each other on everything from college applications to romantic relationships. Flitting amid the incoming families is Matie Ovalle, who co-founded Grupo Salto in 2003 with her husband and the university clinic staff. Though shes nearing 60 and complains of aging knees, Ovalle moves through the crowd with the grace of a dancer. She hugs a longtime member whose headscarf gives away her challenges with chemotherapy Mami, weve missed you! then pivots to offer reassurances and parking directions to a 20-something woman whose son was diagnosed with autism a month earlier. Ovalle, who is also a policy analyst at the clinic, has twin sons, now 28, who are both on the spectrum. As the crowd thins, two women look uncertainly around the lobby. They have brought their teenage nephew with them to be screened for autism. A volunteer takes them to meet Ann T. Cutler, who is a developmental pediatrician at the university, and her bilingual graduate student, who deliver the Social Communication Questionnaire. A few minutes into conversation with the boy, Cutler observes multiple signs of autism, including a lack of affect and diminished eye contact. The results of the 45-minute screening support her observations, and she refers the boy for a formal evaluation, which is scheduled for February. At 13, he is nearly a decade older than when most children are diagnosed. At Grupo Salto, he is hardly an exception. Most of the families in Grupo Salto qualify for Medicaid a government program that provides healthcare coverage to tens of millions of low-income people in the United States. Most of the caregivers also speak only a little English and have no more than a high-school education. Although this organization caters specifically to Spanish-speaking families, children of all ethnic backgrounds from low-income communities are, on average, diagnosed with autism later than children from wealthier communities if they are diagnosed at all. That means the needs of an untold number of children arent being met. It also has serious ramifications for research, because it can skew estimates of autism, says Maureen Durkin, an epidemiologist at the University of Wisconsin-Madison: It means that the prevalence of autism is probably even higher than we're measuring. Aware of this urgent problem, scientists and community groups are striving to solve it. They are, for example, providing autism training to pediatricians who serve low-income communities; they are offering marginalized families individual support; and they are connecting families with others who have had similar experiences. The need is enormous. Grupo Salto offers valuable support for more than 500 Chicago-area families. Many parents have never heard of autism before their child is diagnosed, Ovalle says. We help them understand what autism is, what resources are available and that they have a community that understands what theyre going through. Money divide Numerous studies, starting with Leo Kanners seminal 1943 paper in Nervous Child, have suggested mistakenly, researchers now suspect that autism occurs more often in children from affluent, highly educated, white families. Kanner described a very interesting common denominator among his young patients, commenting that they all came from prominent, highly intelligent families: Four fathers are psychiatrists, one is a brilliant lawyer, one a chemist and law school graduate employed in the government Patent Office, one a plant pathologist, one a professor of forestry, one an advertising copy writer who has a degree in law and has studied in three universities, one is a mining engineer, and one a successful business man. Nine of the eleven mothers are college graduates. All but three of the families are represented either in Who's Who in America or in American Men of Science, or in both. The first studies of autism prevalence a quarter century later estimated that the condition affected only about 3 children in every 10,000, again mostly in families with high socioeconomic status. Since then, autism prevalence has risen dramatically to 1 in 59 children, in part thanks to increased awareness and policies for routine screening. And yet the socioeconomic disparity Kanner noted has persisted. One 2015 report, for example, found steady increases in autism prevalence among low-income children receiving some form of government aid between 2000 and 2012. But based on estimates of the condition in the general population, the prevalence was still significantly lower than it should have been: Less than half the expected number of low-income children had an autism diagnosis. Durkin and her colleagues saw a similar pattern when they analyzed health and education records of more than 1 million children at age 8 from 11 states. From 2002 to 2010, they found, autism prevalence increased overall from 6.2 to 11.9 per 1,000 children across all socioeconomic levels. But the gap between low-, middle- and high-income children did not change. The highest prevalence of autism was still among the highest socioeconomic groups. Several factors strongly suggest that the discrepancy is not real. For instance, of the more than 13,000 children the analysis identified as meeting the criteria for autism, 16.6 percent did not have an official diagnosis and those children were more likely to live in a low-income area than children with a diagnosis. This socioeconomic gap is less stark in European countries that offer government health services. The predominantly privatized healthcare system in the U.S. can require a half-dozen doctor appointments to obtain a referral for a diagnostic evaluation, and it can result in waiting lists of a year or longer in some parts of the country. It's so complicated to get an autism diagnosis and treatment [in the U.S.], says Katharine Zuckerman, a pediatrician at Oregon Health and Science University in Portland. When we have this process that's really convoluted and complicated, it's always the families with the least privilege who don't make it through. Those delays cost low-income families disproportionately. To begin with, their autistic children may miss out on early interventions. Studies show that autistic children who receive behavioral interventions at around age 3 develop better language vocabulary than those who start at age 4, never mind even later. But also, an earlier diagnosis can be key for obtaining affordable treatment. Wisconsin, for instance, provides free services for any child with autism so long as they receive a diagnosis by age 8. For low-income families, hitting that deadline is far from guaranteed. Built-in bias Racial or ethnic bias and the effects of poverty interact in complicated ways to block some children from getting timely autism diagnoses and services. Its a puzzle that Wendy Shaia is all too familiar with. Shaia, executive director of the Social Work Community Outreach Service at the University of Maryland, Baltimore, began seeking services when her son John was about 2 years old. John was slow to talk and did not respond to his name or make eye contact, and Shaia was convinced he was on the spectrum. But her pediatrician and other healthcare providers proposed a litany of other conditions, including auditory processing disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder, generalized anxiety disorder and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. Im thinking, Ive got my masters in social work; Im working on my doctorate in education. Im middle class and educated, so why wont you consider that my child is on the spectrum? she says. Were a black family that matters. There is very much a sense that autism is a white disorder, a white condition. Research shows that black children who eventually receive an autism diagnosis are more likely to be initially misdiagnosed than white children are. John was not diagnosed with autism until he was 10 at which point Shaia, who had private insurance and did not need referrals from a primary-care physician, had already arranged for speech and occupational therapy and an individualized education program at school. But the experience got her thinking. Because we had resources, John got the services he needed, she says. What about families that dont have the means? She and her colleagues explored that question last October through the experiences of 22 female caregivers in Baltimore 20 of whom are black, one who is white and one Hispanic. Of the 22 women, 8, or 36 percent, reported that healthcare providers disregarded their early concerns about their childrens developmental delays. How the women responded to this disregard diverged along education and socioeconomic lines. Those who ignored the pushback from their providers and went ahead and sought a diagnosis, those parents were more highly educated and had a higher income, says Sarah Dababnah, assistant professor at the University of Maryland, Baltimore. Their children were diagnosed with autism by age 5 on average, about a third of a year earlier than those of lower socioeconomic status. Although the sample size in Dababnahs qualitative study was small, the finding could help explain why, in Durkins analysis, children at the lower end of the socioeconomic spectrum consistently seem to show a low prevalence of autism. If you're black and low-income, you have a much less chance of being identified as having autism, Durkin says. By contrast, wealthier black families show no differences from wealthier white families in autism prevalence. Compared with low-income black children, low-income Hispanic children such as those who seek help from Grupo Salto are even less likely to receive autism diagnoses or services. At least part of the difference is due to language barriers. Sometimes, a child will be diagnosed and then [the parents] are not given information and forms they can use, says Sandy Magana, professor of autism and neurodevelopmental disabilities at the University of Texas at Austin. Three or four years later, they still don't know what autism is in their child. In 2009, Magana reported that middle-class white families in Wisconsin were more likely to obtain state-funded therapy for their autistic children than low-income Latino families. In that analysis of 49 counties, she found that white families made up 86.2 percent of the population and Latinos 4.3 percent. Yet among the children receiving autism services, 88.6 percent were white, and only 3.2 percent were Latino. Having poor access to healthcare, or none at all, only discourages these families even more. In numerous surveys, black and Latino caregivers report experiencing racial or ethnic bias from healthcare providers. When they don't feel they can trust their provider, Dababnah says, that's huge. Remote access Geography cuts some low-income children off from autism diagnoses and quality care. Autism appears to be less prevalent in rural communities than in urban ones, but distance from clinics can delay diagnosis. It can also increase the costs of seeking services, often putting them out of reach for low-income families. In Montana, the third most sparsely populated state after Alaska and Wyoming, access is a big challenge, says Jake Henderson, service director for AWARE, a statewide nonprofit that provides services to people with mental illness and developmental disabilities. If youre living out in Eastern Montana, you may have to travel two to three hours to get to a clinician, to go to a psychiatry evaluation, he says. Even then, theres a really limited number of providers with autism expertise in the state. Like Shaia in Baltimore, Teri Noon, a resident of Belgrade, Montana, became concerned about her sons health when he was about 2. Joseph stopped speaking and interacting, so Noon took him to her pediatrician one of the only ones in town. Noon followed the doctors advice to wait and see. When Joseph did not improve, the pediatrician diagnosed a hearing problem and put tubes in his ears. It didnt help. So out came Josephs tonsils. Then his adenoids. Joseph still did not speak and he started rocking violently, screaming and sleeping poorly. Growing increasingly desperate, Noon drove several hours to Helena, Montana, to see a specialist. The neurologist told us that the part of Josephs brain that deals with speech and comprehension didnt work and he would never speak with anything other than utterances in his life, Noon says. She paid $1,000 out of pocket for that visit and the other medical bills; her family couldnt afford private insurance, but they earned just enough to not qualify for Medicaid. When Joseph was 4, Noon took him for a physical examination needed to enroll him in Head Start, a federally funded early-childhood education program for low-income families. The clinic staff did not believe that Joseph couldnt speak, she says. When a nurse went to draw blood from his finger, he repeatedly threw his head back into Noons chest and thrashed. The nurse said, If you bite me, thats the last thing youre ever going to do, Noon recalls. I left there bawling. An hour later, however, someone from the clinic called to set up an appointment for Joseph with a case manager from AWARE. Five minutes into that meeting, the following week, the case manager told Noon she thought Joseph has autism. Okay, Noon remembers saying. Whats that? Through AWARE, Joseph, now 17, saw a psychiatrist and other therapists, and he was assigned behavioral aides and a case manager who made monthly home visits and helped Noon navigate the medical system. Things were still tight financially. Noon was afraid that if she quit her job to gain Medicaid coverage, they would not be able to afford their house payments or grocery bills. So the family paid up to $1,000 each month for Josephs behavioral medications and therapy. After six years on a waiting list, at age 10, Joseph obtained a waiver from the state to cover his care. A series of cuts to Montanas budget during 2017 and 2018 forced AWARE to make cuts of its own. Joseph lost access to many of the organizations services, along with his longtime case manager, aides and psychiatrist. He has since had four case managers from the state, the most recent of whom has spent no more than an hour with him, Noon says. The case manager and Noon exchange emails and the occasional phone call, but Noon says she feels like she is once again flailing, and struggling with the paperwork required to get the funds for his services. Making connections A new wave of initiatives aims to ensure that caregivers like Noon will not have to figure it out on their own. Magana is exploring the use of video modules or e-learning to reach remote communities in Texas. Durkin, meanwhile, is working to make the vast amounts of information about autism services on the University of Wisconsin website more user-friendly and more accessible to a broad audience. Her team is also looking at providing training and support to clinicians who may see people with autism in rural and underserved urban communities. This sort of training for pediatricians could go a long way toward helping them help low-income and minority families, Zuckerman says. We found that a lot of pediatricians felt really uncomfortable identifying the early signs of autism in general, but particularly for families who are from a different culture, she says. In May, Zuckerman and her colleagues reported on the results of a 12-month project in which they trained 42 clinicians serving Latino communities to screen for autism and refer at-risk children for further evaluation. They also taught the doctors how to talk with caregivers about autism and available services. After the training, providers conducted autism screenings at 89 percent of the 18- and 24-month well visits they conducted, up from 58 percent. In early childhood, especially if you are a lowincome family or a racialethnic minority family, your primary-care provider might be the only person with any developmental expertise you encounter, Zuckerman says. How they act and what they do is really important in terms of what services families will ultimately access. Some researchers are investigating one-on-one interventions with families. In 2011, Magana spearheaded a pilot study with 19 Latino families in Wisconsin, pairing up Spanish-speaking parents of newly diagnosed children with volunteer parents whose children had been diagnosed years before. Her team gave the volunteers, called promotoras, a solid base of information about autism and available services. Then they sent the promotoras out on weekly home visits for 14 weeks. It addresses a lot of cultural issues because theyre from their own cultural communities, speak the same language and can relate to them as a peer, she says. Families that received the intervention increased their knowledge of autism, empowerment in seeking services and confidence and frequency in using evidenced-based strategies, the researchers found. Whats more, their childrens communication improved. Magana is analyzing the results from a four-year randomized trial of the same program with 100 families in both Chicago, where members of Grupo Salto took on the role of promotora, and Los Angeles. In Baltimore, Shaia and Dababnah are also testing a parent-to-parent approach. They trained three mothers who began working with 20 black families late last year. With input from an advisory panel comprising parents of autistic children, an individual on the spectrum, providers and educators they tweaked Maganas manual, tailoring the language and images to fit the experiences of the local black community. They are enrolling families with newly diagnosed children, as well as those who have just received a screening. Right now, were in the feasibility stage, Dababnah says. With positive results, they plan to scale up. Another adaptation is being deployed in southern California. The state committed $11 million toward such initiatives in 2016, after data showed that minority families visiting its 21 regional centers for people with disabilities were receiving fewer services than white families. Each center is exploring targeted strategies to lessen the disparity. Psychologist Lauren Brookman-Frazee partnered with San Diegos regional center to implement parent-led interventions for 40 children. Unlike most interventions, which are developed for younger children, this one focuses on children aged 11 to 16, because, she says, theyre the ones who have really been overlooked, who are missing out on services. The pilot project, now nearing the end of its second year, aims to examine whether the families access more services at the end of the intervention. In New Haven, Connecticut, Boston and Philadelphia, paid family navigators, rather than volunteers, are delivering interventions as part of a five-year trial. More than 80 percent of the 340 families receive public insurance. Like the promotoras, some of the navigators are culturally matched to the families they meet. They track the families from an initial referral when the child is aged 15 to 27 months to 100 days after diagnosis, ensuring that the child is treated. Others serve as more traditional case managers and advise caregivers by phone. One of the main goals is not only getting children connected to services, but reducing the amount of time to get the diagnosis, says project coordinator Andrea Chu. The preliminary results look promising, Chu says, although its too early to know which of these interventions will ultimately pan out. Theres also the question of finding the funding to expand them. Its expensive, Zuckerman says, but failing to diagnose autism is expensive, too. The best of these efforts might seed communities like Grupo Salto. As the November meeting comes to a close, Ovalles husband, Jose, opens up the floor in the auditorium to questions. Attendees ask for advice on a tricky situation at school. They wonder whether their children will ever drive. One father queries the crowd to find out if older children on the spectrum have romantic relationships. Parents share their fears about what will happen to their children when they become too old to care for them. Jose Ovalle talks about the importance of keeping all of their children tied to their community. Securing support for a child with autism can be difficult for any parent. For the low-income caregivers he is addressing, whose children are more likely to be overlooked and discounted by the healthcare system, he knows it can be extra challenging. Autism is forever, he says. It's very important for us to work toward looking after them as much as we can. This article was first published on Spectrum. More reading from Spectrum: Drug-resistant disease should be regarded as a global health emergency, the health secretary is to say, as he unveils a plan to cut antibiotic-resistant infections in UK patients by 10 per cent by 2025. The phenomenon is as great a threat to humanity as war and climate change, Matt Hancock will tell the World Economic Forum in Davos, warning that common surgical procedures including hip operations and caesarean sections could become too risky to carry out if super-bacteria is left unchecked. What would go through your mind if your child cut their finger and you knew there was no antibiotic left that could treat an infection? This was the human condition until almost a century ago. I dont want it to be the future for my children, he will say. Under the plan the NHS and the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence will attempt to devise a new way of paying drug companies based on value to the health service, rather than volume of antibiotics supplied, within six months, the government said. Extra funding will also be given to smaller firms to develop new treatments particularly ones targeted at resistant strains that must be treated urgently. NHS at 70: demonstration and celebration march to mark anniversary Show all 18 1 /18 NHS at 70: demonstration and celebration march to mark anniversary NHS at 70: demonstration and celebration march to mark anniversary AFP/Getty Images NHS at 70: demonstration and celebration march to mark anniversary Labour Party leader, Jeremy Corbyn, addresses demonstrators following the march AFP/Getty NHS at 70: demonstration and celebration march to mark anniversary AFP/Getty Images NHS at 70: demonstration and celebration march to mark anniversary EPA NHS at 70: demonstration and celebration march to mark anniversary AFP/Getty Images NHS at 70: demonstration and celebration march to mark anniversary Reuters NHS at 70: demonstration and celebration march to mark anniversary REUTERS NHS at 70: demonstration and celebration march to mark anniversary EPA NHS at 70: demonstration and celebration march to mark anniversary REUTERS NHS at 70: demonstration and celebration march to mark anniversary PA NHS at 70: demonstration and celebration march to mark anniversary REUTERS NHS at 70: demonstration and celebration march to mark anniversary AFP/Getty Images NHS at 70: demonstration and celebration march to mark anniversary REUTERS NHS at 70: demonstration and celebration march to mark anniversary PA NHS at 70: demonstration and celebration march to mark anniversary AFP/Getty Images NHS at 70: demonstration and celebration march to mark anniversary AFP/Getty Images NHS at 70: demonstration and celebration march to mark anniversary AFP/Getty Images NHS at 70: demonstration and celebration march to mark anniversary AFP/Getty Images The governments own data shows that while the amount of antibiotics used in the UK has dropped 7 per cent since 2014 and sales for use in food-producing animals by 40 per cent the number of drug-resistant bloodstream infections rocketed by 35 per cent between 2013 and 2017. Bloodstream infections affect the whole body, as opposed to ones that affect only the sinuses or throat, for example. Among Mr Hancocks new targets is a pledge to slash the incidence of these infections by half by 2024, the Department of Health confirmed to The Independent. The government will also announce details of 14 research projects awarded money by a global fund to combat drug-resistant infections. And new targets to cut antibiotics use in animals will be brought in by 2021, following a pledge to reduce usage by one-quarter between 2016 and 2020, it said. Mr Hancocks strategy will include new mechanisms to harness real-time patient data, to help clinicians understand when to use and preserve antibiotics in their treatment and help inform the development of new interventions, a government statement said. The statement also noted that more than one-fifth of antibiotic prescriptions in primary care are inappropriate, adding that resistant infections cost the NHS an estimated 88m a year. Mr Hancock wants to reduce human antibiotic use by 15 per cent. Professor Helen Stokes-Lampard, chair of the Royal College of GPs, said: This is a society-wide issue and not something GPs can be held responsible for tackling on their own. We need to get to a stage where antibiotics are not seen by patients as a catch all for every illness, but rather as a serious drug option, usually reserved for when all other treatment options have either failed or been deemed inappropriate. Mr Hancocks 20-year vision is that antimicrobial resistance is under control by 2040. Sir James Dyson has defended himself against accusations of hypocrisy following the decision to move his tech companys HQ from Wiltshire to Singapore. The billionaire inventor, who has been a vocal support of Brexit, came under fire earlier this week as critics said the relocation contradicted Mr Dysons claim that he was enormously optimistic about the UKs trading future post-Brexit. The company had previously revealed that its new electric car would be built in Singapore. Mr Dyson wrote in the Telegraph that Brexit played no part in his firms plan to move out of the UK. Instead, the decision was made because Dyson has amassed great manufacturing and operations knowledge over time in Singapore. Though Singapore has a comparatively high cost base, it also has great technology expertise meaning it is the right place to make a high quality, technology loaded, electric vehicle. It would be downright stupid to think we could build our own automotive manufacturing plant from scratch, procure billions of pounds worth of components, and establish new production methods for automotive and battery technology, while our management team sat 7,000 miles away with an eight hour time difference. That would be reckless, he said. Mr Dyson said most of the criticism of his decision was missing the point entirely. Success abroad means we can invest more here, as were doing, with new money going into research and development, building new campuses, educating a future generation, and creating new jobs. Every pound of investment and employment we spend in Britain is a vote of confidence in Britain, he said. The future is incredibly exciting, I accept that I may be ambitious to get there faster than some, but please dont take it the wrong way: these are not the actions of a hypocrite but someone wanting to invest more in the UK post-Brexit, not less. Sony is to move its European headquarters from Britain to the Netherlands in order to avoid Brexit-related customs difficulties. The Japanese electronics giant will move its HQ by the end of March, a company spokesman said. The relocation will have no impact on personnel and operations in the UK, but will make the firms European arm an EU company after Brexit. The announcement follows Panasonics decision to make a similar move, announcing in August last year that it would move its European HQ from London to Amsterdam. Meanwhile, British firm Dyson, founded by outspoken Brexit backer James Dyson, revealed earlier this week that it was moving its headquarters from the UK to Singapore. The company said its decision was not linked to Brexit, however, the announcement was widely criticised. Layla Moran, MP for Oxford West and Abingdon, described the decision as being utterly unbelievable and accused Sir James of staggering hypocrisy. James Dyson can say whatever he wants but he is ditching Britain. This can only be seen as a vote of no confidence in the idea of Brexit Britain, Ms Morgan said. Rather than fleeing can I suggest he maybe donates to the Final Say campaign to help mop up some of the disaster he created. This is damning for the government. Britains biggest carmaker Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) will halt production at its UK plants in April due to potential disruption caused by Brexit. The firm, which has previously warned about the impact of Britains withdrawal from the European Union, will pause work at three of its UK plants. JLR employs just under 39,000 workers at sites including Castle Bromwich, Solihull and Wolverhampton in the West Midlands, and Halewood on Merseyside. A spokeswoman for JLR said the extra week of stand-down would also affect its engine plant. There will be an additional week of production stand-down [from the] 8-12 April due to potential Brexit disruption, Jaguar Land Rover said in a statement. Earlier this month JLR announced it would cut 4,500 jobs to make 2.5bn of cost savings. The majority of those cuts are expected to be in the UK and a voluntary reduction programme has been launched. The flood of companies rushing to leave the country after Brexit seemed to have become a torrent this week as Dutch authorities revealed they were in talks with 250 firms over moves to the Netherlands. Thats not to mention those that have opened or expanded offices in Ireland, France, Germany and other EU member states. So are companies leaving in droves and taking jobs with them by the thousand or is this the latest propaganda from Project Fear? British supermarket chain Iceland is accused of hypocrisy for allegedly continuing to sell products containing palm oil, despite pledging to stop doing so by the end of 2018. Last April, the retailer promised to stop supporting the use of palm oil which is devastating rainforests in Asia and remove it from all its own-brand products. It even based its Christmas TV ad on a Greenpeace video highlighting the issue. The advert was subsequently banned when it was deemed too political, creating a social media uproar which broadly supported Icelands choice to make an environmental statement. Despite Icelands promises, according to the BBC there are still 28 own-brand products listed on the website which contain palm oil or fat, as well as more than 600 from other brands. Iceland responded by saying that any products containing palm oil were old stock of frozen products with a longer shelf life presumably manufactured before its self-imposed ban went into effect. However the BBC noted that one such item was a six-pack of fruited hot cross buns which were marked as new, and included palm and rapeseed oil. A seemingly identical product is now listed on the site as containing only rapeseed oil. Many own-brand products on Icelands website appear with a no palm oil logo, while others many of which do not mention palm oil in the ingredients do not have the logo attached, leading to scepticism among some consumers, while others praised the brand for making an effort. The BBC said it was able to purchase a number of own-brand products containing palm oil, but that since Iceland was contacted, many of these products have been marked as currently unavailable on the retailer's website. Iceland responded to these allegations saying: We committed to stop using palm oil as an ingredient in Iceland own label food by the end of 2018, and this promise has been fulfilled. No lines produced after 31 December 2018 contain it as an ingredient. To avoid food waste, some own label lines made before we completed the removal of palm oil as an ingredient remain on sale until stocks are exhausted. We are grateful to the BBC for alerting us to a technical glitch on our website certain product descriptions had not been updated. These have now been corrected. The guilty secrets of palm oil: Are you unwittingly contributing to the devastation of the rain forests? Show all 3 1 /3 The guilty secrets of palm oil: Are you unwittingly contributing to the devastation of the rain forests? The guilty secrets of palm oil: Are you unwittingly contributing to the devastation of the rain forests? Greenpeace The guilty secrets of palm oil: Are you unwittingly contributing to the devastation of the rain forests? Greenpeace The guilty secrets of palm oil: Are you unwittingly contributing to the devastation of the rain forests? Getty Images They went on to say that they'd "worked tirelessly to remove palm oil from our own label food, and have invested millions of pounds to do so." Iceland said: "Removing palm oil represents a huge technical challenge: it is not simply a matter of switching to a substitute ingredient. In many cases the manufacturer has to change its production equipment and processes, often at considerable cost, and this is not something that can be accomplished overnight." John Sauven, executive director at Greenpeace UK said that: "If they still have old stock on their shelves they need to make that clear to consumers in order to fulfil the promise they made." He continued: Big brands like Unilever, Nestle and Mars also promised to only buy palm oil with no links to deforestation by 2020. They are nowhere near delivering and must now be transparent about how they plan to fulfil that vital commitment. There are a number of branded products containing palm oil available to buy on Iceland's Website, including Oreos, McVities Jaffa Cakes and Utterly Butterly, leading consumers to question the brands commitment to sustainability. Palm oil is a cheap, mass-produced ingredient found in almost half of all supermarket products, from crisps to biscuits, salad dressings and even soap. Its problematic because in the process of harvesting the oil, the trees are cut down, leading to deforestation and loss of animal habitat among endangered species in the rainforest. In the past 16 years, demand for palm oil has led to the death of an estimated 100,000 orangutans, according to research. Perry Evans feared he would never have a family after he contracted HIV through infected blood in a transfusion. But through a revolutionary process known as sperm washing he was able to father two children without passing the virus on. The news was broken to him in 1985, when he was just 23, and he was told he had two to three years left to live. I was quite numb when I was told, said Mr Evans, who suffers from haemophilia, a condition that stops the blood clotting. At the time, I was quite healthy and active. I had just finished my degree. I was young, free and single. My life was just starting. Two years after his diagnosis, he met a woman called Heather whom he married a year later. Heather went into our marriage thinking I would soon die and knowing we couldnt have kids, Mr Evans said. Friends of ours were starting families and I felt like a part of life had been taken away from me. But in 1999, three years after the introduction of effective HIV treatment, the future began to look very different. Carole Gilling-Smith, a gynaecologist and fertility specialist, set up the sperm washing programme at Chelsea and Westminster Hospital, giving men diagnosed with HIV in the UK a chance at becoming parents without infecting their partner or child. Initially the treatment was available only on a paid-for basis at the hospital, and was offered on the NHS soon after. In 2001 Mr Evanss son Isaac was born. The IT worker said: It was like a gift from God. At that point I was thinking I shouldnt be here and I most certainly shouldnt have a child. The couples daughter Cerian was also born through sperm washing at the clinic in 2005. Dr Gilling-Smith said: HIV would not attach itself to sperm, it was found in the fluid surrounding sperm. By processing the sperm we could separate it from the contaminated fluid. We could then inseminate that sperm in a womens uterus and she would not get infected. The technique was developed in Milan nine years earlier, but it was undertaken in Britain only after doctors at Chelsea and Westminster had concluded a year-long study. Dr Gilling-Smith said the clinic experienced a drop in referrals around 2008 as HIV treatments had evolved to such a degree that the virus in the bloodstream was becoming undetectable, meaning it was untransmittable. The team also started a womens programme in 2002, in which they would help women get pregnant if they were HIV positive and their partner was negative. They were taught how to self-inseminate using their partners sperm or they would be put on IVF. Indian clinic provides drop in support and HIV testing in effort to make Delhi #AIDSfree Dr Gilling-Smith, who now runs her own assisted conception clinic in Brighton, said her patients included doctors and nurses who had acquired HIV through work. She added: We were able to change lives. It gave HIV-positive people a chance at leading a normal life, becoming parents, perhaps even grandparents in the future. When you are told you are HIV positive, for a lot of these people they think they are going to die. So witnessing their child being born, seeing a part of you live on is a really important thing. Mr Evans, who was living in Watford when his children were born but has since moved to Winchester, Hampshire, said: I suffer from a lot of colds, infections and pneumonias. I am unfortunately living with a body that has been scarred and its done irreplaceable damage. But I choose not to live in the past. I had two amazing kids, whom I love very much and who are my inspiration, so I feel very lucky. Jochen Sauer, the head of Bayern's youth academy, says "Chris has given a good account of himself here over the last half year, and we're confident he will continue to develop very well at FC Bayern. We see a lot of potential in him." My dad once told me to stand by my principles...but also to make sure I didn't have a lot of them. So I took his advice. I don't murder and I don't steal. Hey, it's a start, OK? When I read about people who have their own set of principles and then put their money where their mouth is, I really take notice. Jon Speed, the owner of a small used bookstore in Syracuse, New York, is one of those guys. Speed ardently opposes abortion. I'm personally a pro-choice guy. But that's not relevant. Speed feels differently and I respect that point of view. He's been active in the pro-life movement. Over the past few years he helped make an anti-abortion documentary called Babies Are Murdered Here and he's working on a sequel. He's very vocal about his beliefs. I'm assuming he's protested abortion without turning to violence, and I have no reason to believe otherwise. "I'm pro-life mainly because I'm a Christian," Speed told Faithwire, a religious-oriented online publisher. "And because I understand that murder is wrong. What I understand from prenatal science is that clearly--and even from what the Bible says--that the baby in the womb is a baby, it's a human life." Speed's pro-life sentiment was taken to another level this week, after the New York state legislature passed a new law that allows non-physicians to conduct abortions, thereby making the practice more accessible to women who seek one. Most business owners I know, including myself, don't mix their personal beliefs with their commercial practices. That's because it's a risky game. Hang a cross in your lobby, close for a Jewish holiday, or stick a political sign on your company's walkway and you're tempting potential customers who may not be like-minded to take their business somewhere else. But Speed seems to have no problem with that. This week he closed his bookstore for a full day so that no sales taxes would be incurred by him as a protest to the law. He also hung a sign on the shop's front door which makes no secret of his opposition to the law. "I really felt like I needed to do something," Speed said. "I obviously can't stop paying sales tax to the state of New York. I can't change what happened, but I can certainly register my displeasure with it and how upset about it I am." OK, I realize this not a huge thing--one day will probably not make a big difference to the guy's business and the demonstration was mostly symbolic. I also realize that some may accuse him of just doing a PR stunt to attract attention. But I don't think that's what's going on here. Whereas I'm passionate about the Philadelphia Phillies, going to the movies, and sushi, Speed is passionate about things that--well--kind of matter a little bit more. And he's willing to put both himself and his business out there. By doing so, he may anger people who don't agree with him and it could affect his profits. Electric scooters could soon be coming to the streets of New York City. The city council's Committee on Transportation held a public hearing Wednesday on a package of bills that would legalize e-scooters and clarify rules around certain electric bicycles. If the four bills pass and are signed by Mayor Bill de Blasio, the city could establish a dockless e-scooter pilot program by this summer. The hearing comes less than a week after New York Governor Andrew Cuomo proposed allowing New York localities control over whether to allow e-bikes and scooters on their streets. The proposal, part of his annual budget plan, would impose new statewide regulations for riders, including the use of helmets and reflective gear. Still, advocates for transportation alternatives view the governor's move as a green light to the city bills. "Our whole state is getting hip with the times and looking to legalize e-bikes," said council member Rafael Espinal, a sponsor of the bills, at Wednesday's hearing. Council member Fernando Cabrera said he hoped the legalization of e-scooters would reduce congestion, improve accessibility to transportation, and improve the environment. Among other rules, the legislation would require the city Department of Transportation to create a one- to two-year pilot program with an electric dockless scooter company. E-scooters would need to be operated in a bike lane, and would be capped at 15 miles per hour. Lobbying for a win The e-scooter effort has a powerful tool in lobbying for the bills: Tusk Ventures, the firm that advised Uber on government affairs and helped it move into new cities. It has been working with policymakers, grassroots supporters, and community leaders in hopes of passing the bills as soon as possible. Bird, the Santa Monica, California-based e-scooter business that has amassed $415 million in venture capital funding, is one of Tusk's portfolio companies. It's not difficult to imagine that if resistance were to develop in the council or the mayor's office, Tusk Ventures could replicate its Uber playbook on behalf of Bird. When, in 2015, de Blasio supported a proposal to cap growth of the number of Uber drivers at 1 percent a year, Tusk advised Uber to create a massive advertising campaign accusing the mayor of ignoring the transportation needs of communities of color outside of Manhattan. Tusk told me previously that the undertone was: "This is racist." Eventually, council members who had favored regulating Uber's growth relented--as did de Blasio. While it's unclear whether the pilot program for scooters will pass, it's likely that Bird, Lime, and other companies with e-scooter dreams, such as Uber and Lyft, are already throwing their hats into the ring to run it. (Scoot CEO Justin Dawe told Inc. that his lightweight-transit company is not applying to the potential pilot, as it was just awarded permits for a kick-scooter pilot in San Francisco.) Paul Steely White, Bird's director of safety policy, wrote in prepared testimony for the hearing: "We believe Bird provides an incredible opportunity for New Yorkers to cut down on commute times, make streets safer, and help improve the local environment and economy." Dockless bike and e-scooter company Lime is already operating a bike pilot program in parts of the city, including Far Rockaway, the Bronx, and Staten Island. "Lime's success in New York so far reflects our work around the world, guided by the principle that all communities deserve access to smart, affordable mobility," said Phil Jones, Lime's senior director for the East Coast. "It is time to deliver new, affordable, reliable transportation options to help millions of New Yorkers, and this legislation will deliver." One of the primary arguments alternative transit advocates make is that failing to legalize electric-powered bicycles in New York City puts bicycle food-delivery workers at risk of having their vehicles confiscated, and being fined $500. The NYPD confiscated 1,215 e-bikes in 2018, according to the department, and issued more than 1,300 summonses related to e-bike-related violations. While the department had also issued more than 100 summonses to establishments, it had no available breakdown of how many of the summons went to delivery workers. Do Lee of Biking Public Project, a nonprofit that advocates for underrepresented bicyclists around New York City, took issue with the police department's confiscation of electric bikes as unduly harsh on immigrant workers, who have been punished with steep fines for using the vehicles that enable them to do their jobs. It is "punitive on those who have the least power," Lee said. At Wednesday's hearing, the safety of the e-scooters was a significant matter of discussion. When Council member Espinal said they were generally considered safe, many audible "No!"s were flung back at him from a full chamber. According to NYC Department of Transportation commissioner Polly Trottenberg, there have already been three deaths due to e-scooters being struck by vehicles in New York City. Bird, the scooter company with a presence in more than 100 cities, is only a year and a half old--so there is not a great quantity of data to parse. One recent study, based on Portland, Oregon's five-month e-scooter trial period, identified 176 emergency-department visits related to scooters, and zero fatalities. More than 700,000 e-scooter trips were taken during that period, between July and November of last year. Want to know what is really on the minds of todays small business owners? Ask the Chase for Business team. Last year, Chase created the Chase for Business BizMobile, a traveling consultation center that toured the nation to provide entrepreneurs free advice on digital marketing, financing and other practical topics. Twenty-six cities, 500 in-person consultations, and 22,000 miles later, the BizMobile crew is reflecting on its inaugural journey. Turns out, those offering advice got just as much as they gave. Lets take a behind-the-scenes look at the BizMobile 2018 tour and whats next for the roaming resource. A no-brainer Many small business owners are so entrenched in day-to-day operations that it feels near impossible to spend time and money attending a conference or training class. That is certainly the case for Dayne Bartscht, founder of Eastern Market Brewery Co., a craft brewery and taproom in Detroit. Bartscht started the business in October 2017 with five friends from college. In the beginning, they were naive enough to think they could get the business up and running and then return to their day jobs, he says. They quickly realized that would not be the case. (For more on Bartschts story, check out this video.) Today, growing the business is Bartschts full-time job, and he is always grateful for resources that can help him do so. The problem, though, is he just doesnt have a lot of time to find these resources. He first learned about the BizMobile from his local Chase banker. For Bartscht, popping by for a free consult was a no-brainer. He sought input on how to expand his brand, seek financing, and use social media to engage audiences beyond just millennials. At some locations, Chase invited small business customers to showcase their products and services. In Detroit, Ken Porter, founder of Porter Media Group, a strategic communication and marketing company that specializes in futuristic printing, was given the opportunity to promote his business right alongside the BizMobile, which generated multiple leads. Porter also met with BizMobile consultants to get advice on finding top talent. He implemented their advice on LinkedIn paid search and received more high-potential applicants than ever before. (To learn more about Porter, watch this video.) Porters relationship with Chase runs deep, too. In 2016, he received funding through the Entrepreneurs of Color fund provided by J.P. Morgan Chase. This allowed him to move production in-house, in turn increasing revenue by 110% in just one year. Talking Trends Providing in-person guidance has always been a core part of Chases DNA, says Brent Reinhard, chief marketing officer for Chase Business Banking, adding that no digital interaction is as powerful as hearing a customers story firsthand. But still, Reinhard wasnt sure what to expect when Chase launched the BizMobile, in partnership with two Chase for Business clients, Dallas-based Zen Media and Detroit-based MRA, Inc. He knew small business owners were hungry for advice and insights, but the response to the concept exceeded expectations. Reinhard was struck by the diversity of the participating companies, which ranged from microbusinesses to multi-million-dollar organizations, digital startups to established brick-and-mortars. In Detroit, BizMobile advisors even met with a 10-year-old and 12-year-old boy, brothers who had invented a mobile app and wanted to know how to drive downloads. As predicted, finance and marketing were hot topics for business owners. Common financial topics included cash flow, access to capital, and account expense management. BizMobile marketing experts fielded a mixture of basic questions, like how to best use social media, and more advanced ones, like how to launch a customer loyalty program. Throughout the tour, those giving the advice gained as much as the business owners they were counseling. When Shama Hyder, chief executive officer of Zen Media,asked her employees what they enjoyed most about their job in 2018, the top answer was working with the BizMobile. They said it was so rewarding to watch business owners faces light up as we solved an issue that had been keeping them up at night, she explains. Reinhard says small business virtues came through in every consultation. He was inspired by the way entrepreneurs approach hurdles. They never say, Oh man, now I have to deal with this problem. They say, I cant wait to solve this challenge. The Journey Continues Chase is now working on the 2019 tour schedule for the BizMobile, drawing on everything it learned last year--about locations, time of day, and topics--to make the next tour even better. But the core design will not change. The BizMobile will continue to offer free advice to small business owners, whether they are a Chase customer are not. And no business is too small, notes Reinhard. We want to serve your business from start to finish; from day one all the way until when we can take you public. That approach resonates with Bartscht. Going down to local Chase branch to open a bank account was probably the first formal step we took as a business, he recalls. Now he, like so many small business owners across the country, is using Chase resources to help his business grow. Several journalists have been targeted by the Sudanese authorities amid the massive public protests. Several media staff have had their media accreditation revoked this week. The IFJ joins its affiliate the Sudanese Union of Journalists (SUJ) in condemning any attempts to intimidate the press and urges the authorities to end the clampdown and respect journalists' right to report in a safe working environment. Sudanese men shout slogans during an anti-government protest following Friday noon prayers on January 18, 2019 outside a mosque in Khartoum's twin city Omdurman. Deadly protests have rocked Sudan since they first erupted on December 19 after a government decision to raise the price of bread. The rallies have since escalated into broader demonstrations against President Omar al-Bashir's three decades of iron-fisted rule and triggered clashes with the security forces. AFP UPDATED 25.01.19 In a statement published on 22 January, the Qatari media network Al Jazeera said the Sudanese authorities had withdrawn the accreditation of their correspondents in the country, Osama Ahmed and Ahmed Alrehaid as well as cameraman Badawi Bashir. The media staff were duly issued accreditations for 2019 by the Sudanese Press and publication council. Al Jazeera denounced an "arbitrary decision which lacks any credible justification and contradicts the basic norms of press freedom," and recalls the core ethical values that its staff abide by. The withdrawal of the journalists' accreditations follows a month of protests against President Omar al-Bashirs rule and demands for his removal. Since the start of the demonstrations, the government has tightened its censorship on Sudanese and foreign media, banning the publication of news and editorials and issuing warrant arrests against dozens of journalists. This measure was criticised by the SUJ. On 14 January, the Sudanese security forces detained for several hours over 20 journalists- most of them working for Aljareedah newspaper - who were protesting against the censorship and the repeated publication bans on the newspaper . The journalists were released following strong representation by the Sudanese Union of Journalists (SUJ). According to media reports, work permits were also withdrawn from media staff covering Sudan for Saudi Al-Arabiya television and Turkish news agency Anadolu . According to IFJ sources, the Sudanese authorities justified the withdrawal of journalists accreditation by highlighting the low professionalism level of news reports that were based on social media's content only. IFJ General Secretary Anthony Bellanger said "We ask the Sudanese authorities to let journalists report on events in the country free from any intimidation and to reinstate journalists accreditations and work permits for all those who have been targeted. Journalists should not be held responsible for the current crisis in Sudan and must be able to work in a safe environment, without intimidations and threats." Federation of African Journalists (FAJ) President Elsadig Ibrahim said: " The actions of the Sudanese government violate the fundamental rights of journalists in the country and must stop immediately. The rights of journalists in Sudan to work and report freely without fear for their livelihood and freedom must be respected." Ireland will host the International Energy Agencys fourth annual Global Conference on Energy Efficiency, which will take place in Dublin this year on 24 June. The IEAs annual conference draws a large international audience and brings together Ministers, CEOs, heads of international organisations and other senior leaders to advance global progress on energy efficiency. The event will begin with an address by Taoiseach Mr Leo Varadkar, Prime Minister of the Republic of Ireland. Ireland is a founding member of the IEA and has a strong record of performance on energy efficiency. The announcement follows a meeting between Dr Fatih Birol, the Executive Director of the IEA, and the Taoiseach at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. The conference theme this year is Modernising Energy Efficiency through Digitalisation, with a focus on the next generation of efficiency policies using digital technologies and data analytics. The event will also feature senior representatives from major technology companies to outline how innovative technologies can enhance global energy efficiency. Energy efficiency is the first fuel in a global sustainable energy system, and digital technologies can help boost efficiency gains across a range of economic sectors, Dr Birol said. Holding our annual conference in Ireland will be an excellent opportunity to shine a spotlight on this critical topic together with leaders from across the globe. Energy efficiency is a key focus area for the IEA, which conducts a range of activities on energy efficiency including in-depth analysis, best practice sharing with governments across the globe and capacity building with policy makers in emerging economies. The IEA also provides extensive online resources on efficiency, analysis and data. Taoiseach Leo Varadkar said Energy efficiency is an essential element of our response to the challenges posed by climate change. By making our homes, businesses and communities more energy efficient, we can reduce our carbon footprint and make a positive contribution to future generations. I am pleased that the IEA is holding its global conference in Dublin this summer. Ireland has a strong record on energy efficiency and I look forward to discussing how we can take a leading role on this area in the years ahead. Recent analysis by the IEA shows that, despite solid gains made since the turn of the century, and extensive evidence on the multiple benefits using energy more rationally, progress on energy efficiency has slowed in recent years. Some countries have made important progress and innovations, but governments generally are not introducing enough new efficiency policies. In addition, global investments are still far below what is required to achieve the full potential of energy efficiency. The conference will provide an important occasion for key international stakeholders to take stock of progress on efficiency, and to commit to renewed action. iciHaiti - Croix-des-Bouquets : Carnival logo contest The Town Hall of Croix-des-Bouquets in collaboration with the Carnival Committee is launching a contest to find the most beautiful Carnival logo. If you are a graphic designer, or a resident of the communbe of Croix-des-Bouquets, try your luck to showcase your talent and promote the carnival of the town. Free registration To register online and take part in the Carnival of the Croix-des-Bouquets logo contest, go to : https://goo.gl/forms/GF8zrnSgapfzNPw42 and complete the registration form. Make a logo on the theme of the carnival "Kwadebouke ke m" and sent your creation in electronic version on the site: https://goo.gl/forms/GF8zrnSgapfzNPw42 or by email at : mairiecroixdesbouquetscom@gmail.com Deadline to submit your logo : February 15, 2019 The result of the chosen logo will be published on February 18, 2019. If your logo is among the 3 most beautiful, you will receive a big bonus... See also : https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-26725-haiti-croix-des-bouquets-1st-pre-carnival-sunday-zero-wounded-zero-deaths.html https://www.icihaiti.com/en/news-26699-icihaiti-croix-des-bouquets-members-of-the-organizing-committee-of-carnival-2019.html https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-26692-haiti-culture-launch-of-the-3rd-edition-of-the-carnival-of-croix-des-bouquets.html https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-26587-haiti-notice-logo-contest-2019-carnival-of-port-au-prince.html IH/ iciHaiti Guide To Making Your Live Show More Interesting The shows that truly stick in our minds often transcend just great music, using stunning visuals or other dramatic elements to emphasize the emotional power of the performance. Here we look at how artists can take their show to the next level and give fans a truly unforgettable experience. ____________________________ Guest post by Evan Zwisler for Soundfly's Flypaper Great, memorable shows go so far beyond the music itself. Great performers will tap into what makes their music special, their sound and image unique, and theyll use visual and dramatic elements to reinforce and cement the emotional power of their songs. Ive played in touring rock bands for over 10 years, so I know a thing or two about how to engage an audience, but Im by no means an expert on the subject. So I sought out two people who, in my opinion, are creating some of the best live show experiences in New York City right now Claudi Love of Pinc Louds and Elijah Sokolow from The Living Strange to ask them about how they put on such electrifying and unforgettable performances. Heres what they had to say. Show that you value your audiences time. Its always helpful to keep a goal in the back of your mind when you take the stage. One such goal is to make sure youre doing everything you can to entertain your audience in any given moment. How can you reconfigure the raw materials of your live set to provide them with the most exciting thing theyll see all night? You dont want to have them thinking that they wished theyd done something else. Heres Claudi Loves advice: People can listen to your music on the internet. If they come to a show, its because they want an experience. Give them something beautiful and unforgettable. Give them something no one else can. You need to think about what youre bringing to the performance beyond the music. Once you feel you can play your set well, continue to work on giving your songs a living element on stage. Heres how Pinc Louds does it: Give every show a theme. Another recommendation straight from Love is to Give your show a theme just something that can hold the songs together. If you have an overarching idea about what youre trying to do, then the audience will feel as if theyre part of something special. Its always more fun to be part of a conceptualized experience, then simply watching a group of people play 10 songs in a row. The concept of our shows, says Elijah Sokolow of The Living Strange, is to break down what the typical rock concert is and leave the audience members feeling like they saw something unique. We often do things that we wish other bands would do. Giving your show a theme is, at its core, a helpful way to force yourself to think about what youre doing and how to be a more interesting act. While The Living Strange takes a broader approach, Pinc Louds went really specific for their last show: We built our last NYC show around the fact that we were going to Puerto Rico in a couple of days. First we told the audience about how wed dug a subway tunnel to the Caribbean. After a couple of songs, we showed the audience how to peel a mango. Later we sang a song in Spanish, and at the end we left on a giant subway puppet destined for Puerto Rico. Of course, not every band has (or wants) puppets, but its about storytelling. And you can get your story across just by talking to the audience between songs (or stage banter). Its always good to thank the venue, promoter, sound engineer, and other bands, but think about ways to make your inter-song announcements kind of funny and interesting. Audiences love anything unpredictable that takes them by surprise. But great shows can also feature consistent visual styles or repeated motifs that support the music. Be a performer, dammit! Powerful performances can take all shapes and forms. Whether its the wavering voice of Daniel Johnston, David Lee Roth doing back flips, or Prince shredding Purple Rain in the pouring rain at the Super Bowl while wearing four-inch heels, a powerful performance is more that just recreating your music live. Every artist has to figure out their own unique voice, says Love, but whats important to remember is that there is an audience, and that each person in that audience has a different story, a different life, a different apartment in a different part of the city and a different subway route they took to come here to see you. Theyre here to see you. Dont take that for granted. The Living Stranges shows are a crazy theatrical cavalcade of insanity, too. Our shows have no rules for both us and the audience, says Sokolow. One time, an audience member ended up playing an impromptu slide whistle solo. Another time, I brought everyone down with a toy ray gun while playing a guitar solo. Twice, our bassist Miles died onstage in a Shakespearean manner. Usually, I talk to the audience through samples recorded on my phone. Its important for you to develop your own live persona. You want to make sure that youre able to command the attention of everyone in the room while youre playing. It never hurts to over-prepare. Preparation for a show goes far beyond rehearsing your music. Think about whats going to happen both before and after you play. For example, how are you going to transition between songs? Is there one small thing you can mention that will make the experience of a particular song so much better for the audience? Take time to address all the little things that go into making your set something special, but always try to leave room for improvisation, too! Love explains: Once you know what you want to happen in your show, write a script that also includes the setlist. This way everyone is on the same page. I script our shows very lightly. I give a general idea of what has to happen and the message that has to come across, but I never write what has to be said word for word because we want some flexibility to work with. Its important to be able to improvise and feed off of what the crowd gives us. In other words, always plan for the unexpected! I hope this has given you some things to think about in terms of how to infuse your live show with a bit more excitement (that hopefully doesnt include getting injured!). Have you already mastered this art? How do you elevate your performance? Share your advice with us in the comments below! Evan Zwisler is a NYC-based musician who is most notably known for his work with The Values as a songwriter and guitarist. He is an active member of the Brooklyn music scene, throwing fundraisers and organizing compilations for Planned Parenthood and the Anti-Violence Project. He started playing music in the underground punk scene of Shanghai with various local bands when he was in high school before going to California for college and finally moving to New York in 2012. Share on: The Government introduce a new corporate manslaughter/corporate homicide offence. This is likely to see companies, and possibly senior executives, held criminally liable when a worker is killed in the workplace. International experience in the United Kingdom and Australia suggests that large fines and, potentially, imprisonment will be the penalties. We are pessimistic about whether this will make any difference to health and safety outcomes. The Government strengthen worker engagement requirements in health and safety, with a particular focus on health issues and Maori and Pacifica workers. The Governments Health and Safety at Work Strategy was launched in late 2018 and highlights the need to focus on what will best reduce harm and to build capacity to understand risks. We expect to see a push for greater union involvement in health and safety, possibly, including check inspectors in some high risk industries. Reclamation of the drift in the Pike River mine. The issue will then become whether it is necessary (or even possible) to go deeper into the mine to achieve the goal of the miners families and recover any remains that may be there. WorkSafe continue to focus on high risk industries like agriculture, construction, fisheries, forestry, logistics, and manufacturing. WorkSafe emphasise the need for consultation between businesses when their activities overlap. This collaboration will require ongoing engagement so risks are identified and actions are taken to proactively manage them. WorkSafe begin to ask hard questions of directors and other company officers, and to verify that they are conducting due diligence about management of health and safety within their organisations. This is likely to shock many business leaders, especially those who are relatively hands off about safety. Ongoing upward pressure on fines so penalties bite and incentivise better health and safety practices. In addition, we expect greater use of court ordered enforcement options including court ordered enforceable undertakings, training orders and publication orders. There is no need for doom and gloom. Good planning and processes, coupled with ongoing communication and care, should allow all businesses to achieve safe outcomes in 2019. Grant Nicholson is a Partner at Kensington Swan and heads the firms dedicated health and safety team, the largest specialist practice of its type in New Zealand. No jobs in the UK will be lost and its R&D facilities will remain in the country, with expan-sion plans in the books, reported the BBC. The move to Singapore reflects its investment in the region. An increasing majority of Dyson's customers and all of our manufacturing operations are now in Asia, the company said in a press release. This shift has been occurring for some time and will quicken as Dyson brings its electric vehicle to market. As a result, an increasing proportion of Dyson's executive team is going to be based in Singapore; positioning them to make the right decisions for Dyson in a quick and efficient way. Late last year, the company chose to base its manufacturing facilities for a new electric car in Singapore. One of the reasons for the decision was the ready availability of engi-neering talent. The company currently has over 1,100 employees in Singapore and about 3,100 spread across the rest of Asia. 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. Its no fairy tale to say that the immigration debate could really use more Goldilocks solutions not too hard or too soft, not open borders or a tightly sealed door. We need answers that are just right. Negotiations will often turn on being able to take half a loaf. But President Trumps new offer to end the government shutdown with what he billed as a common-sense compromise both parties can embrace is more like a crumb. Trump is asking for $5.7 billion to build a steel barrier along a sliver of the U.S.-Mexico border, along with billions of dollars more for drug-detection technology, border patrol agents, immigration judges, and humanitarian aid for refugees. In exchange, the president offered to re-instate provisional legal status for three years for the hundreds of thousands of undocumented young people who signed up for Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA). Trump ended that program in September 2017, thereby sending recipients spiraling toward an uncertain future that could include forcible removal. Under Trumps latest pitch, these young people couldnt be deported for three years, but theyd have no permanent legal status. They would remain at the whim of a political system that has shown them little regard, and their special dispensation could we taken away with the stroke of a pen. Thats weak porridge. You would think someone who has wreaked so much havoc on the lives of so many would have more to give by way of a remedy than simply kicking the can down the road past his re-election campaign in 2020. Still, none of this lets Democrats off the hook. Theyve been louses where immigrants are concerned, simultaneously acting tough and compassionate. Its maddening, the con they run. Their quick repudiation of Trumps offer even before the ink was dry tells us they dont think the shutdown is costing them politically because Trump is catching the blame. It also confirms that Democrats are as duplicitous as ever when it comes to immigration. In fact, they are often part of the problem. Its sad. The modern Democratic Party flips John F. Kennedys famous line on its head: It never asks what it can do for Dreamers, only what holding Dreamers hostage can do for it. Meanwhile, on the cultural right which is populated by racists who worry that America is overrun by Latino immigrants from south of the border critics tore into Trump for allegedly offering lawbreakers a full-blown amnesty with all the trimmings. Ringleader Ann Coulter who considers it her sacred duty to prevent the eradication of white people in a nation that is still run by them has written and said too many racially insensitive things to list here. About the presidents plan, Coulter tweeted, Trumps solution: Lets just amnesty them! Someone needs to bone up on the English language. Amnesties are permanent and unconditional. What Trump proposes is neither. The big flaw in the compromise proposed by the White House is that it is tied to the original sin DACA. The Obama administration used that program to trick desperate young people who were dying of thirst to guzzle water that wasnt safe to drink. Its hard to imagine anyone characterizing DACA as a government giveaway when the recipients did most of the giving handing over fingerprints, mugshots and home addresses to law enforcement who can now deport them at will. Dont be distracted. DACA is better off dead, and it deserves no resurrection. The just right solution is obvious: full legal status and green cards for the nearly 700,000 DACA recipients, and mere protective status for the estimated 1.8 million Dreamers who didnt sign up but still shouldnt be deported. No one gets citizenship unless they jump through the necessary hoops to earn it. Most importantly, we ought to make sure this whole part of the debate stays separate and apart from any horse-trading about Trumps wall, which was always doomed to fail. After all, whether you call it a wall, a fence or a steel barrier, its expensive, poorly defined, likely to disappoint and almost certain not to keep anyone out. Trump must realize all this by now. Surely, the former real estate tycoon knows a troubled asset when he sees one. His proposed big beautiful wall is as troubled as they come. Which is why he desperately needs Democrats to take the project off his hands, by accepting a deal that makes them part owners of whatever monstrosity rises from the ground. Navarrette is a columnist for the Washington Post. NASA scientists, engineers and other employees working without pay at Johnson Space Center are being asked to do something else for free: clean the bathrooms during the federal government shutdown. A NASA manager, whose work involves developing requirements for spacewalks to maintain the International Space Station, tweeted Thursday a copy of a sign posted at JSC asking workers to volunteer for bathroom cleanup duty once a week until the shutdown ends. "This is our reality at the Johnson Space Center," the manager tweeted. "We now have no custodial services while we work without pay to keep the International Space Station operating." She ended her tweet with an angry-face emoji. BRAIN DRAIN? Postdocs at NASA's Johnson Space Center latest to lose funding under shutdown Anger and frustration over the shutdown has reached a boiling point in Houston, where 94 percent of the 3,055 federal employees at Johnson have been forced out of work since the government was shuttered Dec. 22 because of a political battle over the proposed border wall. With Johnson employees set to miss their second paycheck of the shutdown Friday, about 50 people took to the streets last week to protest, begging Congressional leaders to reopen the government so they could get back to work and get paid. Even postdoctoral fellows at NASA, who were assured the shutdown wouldn't affect them, have found themselves out of funding and therefore out of work because of the budgetary impasse. Four of the 203 NASA postdocs work out of the Houston center. 'HELPLESS:' About 50 people protest government shutdown at NASA's Johnson Space Center Custodians may be next. Byron Williams, Houston-area labor representative for the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers, said Thursday that only about 20 of the 50 or so custodians he represents currently are working on site. "They're operating at a 50 percent reduction right now," he said. "If they don't reopen the government by [Jan.] 29th or 30th, they're no longer going to be able to fund it and they'll furlough the entire crew." 'Wipe Toilet Seats' Now Playing: People protest against the government shutdown outside of NASA's Johnson Space Center Tuesday, Jan. 15, 2019. Video: Houston Chronicle Johnson is home to the nation's astronaut corps, where human space flight research and training take place. It also is home to the space station's mission operations and the Orion program. About 200 federal employees still working at Johnson are there primarily to ensure the astronauts aboard the space station remain safe. Those employees are not getting paid. The manager who tweeted the photo could not be reached for comment Thursday. The notice posted asks workers to sign up to help "clean toilets, wipe toilet seats, handles, and sink faucet handles with disinfectant wipes." It also asks employees to pick trash up from the floors and take out their own garbage. "Please bring your personal desk-side trash to the brown bin (across from the men's bathroom) so we don't attract ants or rodents," the sign read. Gloves will be provided, the sign says. EXPERTS: Shutdown may drive NASA workforce to the private sector The tweet was directed at Texas' Republican Senators John Cornyn and Ted Cruz, and U.S. Rep. Brian Babin, a Republican whose district includes the Johnson Space Center. When asked for a comment, a spokeswoman for Cornyn pointed to the senator's vote Thursday to end the shutdown by supporting funding for President Trump's proposed border wall. "This shutdown may have begun as a battle over border security, but it's affecting men and women in all 50 states whose jobs have nothing to do with border security," Cornyn said in a news release distributed after the vote. Cruz also voted for the bill to reopen the government, a spokesman said in a statement, and is "committed to finding a solution to pay federal workers and fund common-sense border security." "Sen. Cruz believes that NASA employees and all federal workers deserve good working conditions and a reliable paycheck," the statement said. Out of work A representative of Native Resource Development, the New Mexico-based company that holds Johnson's custodial contract, told the Houston Chronicle last week that they would begin accepting voluntary layoffs last Friday because of the shutdown, though he could not provide an exact number needed. Some individuals, he added, are exempt and will continue working. "The task has been reduced because there's buildings that are not occupied," he said. He directed more specific questions to company President Steven Cammack, who declined to comment Thursday. Cammack referred all questions to NASA personnel who were unavailable because of the shutdown. UNPAID: Workers at NASA's Johnson Space Center brace for first missing paycheck Shaun Azimi, a robotics engineer at Johnson who is working part-time during the shutdown, said Thursday he and his colleagues are less concerned about dirty bathrooms than they are about the welfare of the custodial staff themselves. "Frankly, I wouldn't mind cleaning all the bathrooms on site if it meant the custodial staff could keep getting paid," Azimi said. "We are like a family here at JSC, and we just want to keep everyone, including our contractor team members, safe and employed. We're all just trying to do our jobs and support NASA's mission." Alex Stuckey writes about NASA and the environment for the Houston Chronicle. You can reach her at alex.stuckey@chron.com or Twitter.com/alexdstuckey. NEWS WHEN YOU NEED IT: Text CHRON to 77453 to receive breaking news alerts by text message | Sign up for breaking news alerts delivered to your email here. Laura Rosales is excited for the future. The 30-year-old Houston architect is originally from Maracaibo, a coastal city in Venezuela. But as the South American country fell into chaos, Rosales said she had to "practically run away." On Wednesday, Rosales joined her boyfriend and hundreds more in a parking lot near Uptown Houston to celebrate what demonstrators called the beginning of a return of democracy to Venezuela. "We know it's a slow process," Rosales said. But "we're really excited." Now Playing: Local Venezuelans demonstrate against Maduro Video: Brett Coomer/Houston Chronicle The demonstration one of at least 160 worldwide, according to organizers was a response to events in the United States and abroad. Juan Guaido, a Venezuelan politician and president of the National Assembly, earlier in the day had declared himself the legitimate leader of the troubled country. Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro dismissed the move, citing a history of "gringo interventions and coup d'etats." But President Donald Trump accepted Guaido's claim, announcing on Twitter that he now views Guaido as the new president of the South American nation. Now Playing: Local Houstonians gather supporting Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido Video: Brett Coomer/Houston Chronicle For the elated crowd standing in the cold and wind along Westheimer, it was clear whose side they were on. "Houston presents Juan Guaido as president," they chanted at one point, in Spanish. Waving Venezuelan flags and wearing the red, yellow and blue colors of their country, the crowd had come to show support for Guaido and defiance to Maduro. They'd come, said Dennis Peterson Mejia, 22, a native of Venezuela, because they were tired of Maduro allegedly "killing with hunger, lack of medicine and lack of security." "The dictatorship is already down," added Mejia, who was demonstrating with his mother. "We don't want any more murder from the dictatorship of Maduro." Jorge Marquez, originally from Venezuela's Anzoategui State, had helped organize the Houston demonstration through the group Unidad Houston. On Instagram and other social media platforms, Marquez helped spread the word about the gathering. Marquez told people to come at 3 p.m. but, when he arrived at 2 o'clock, hundreds already had turned out, he said. At its peak, roughly 2000 people were demonstrating, according to estimates by police. "We're more than happy," Marquez said. "We're convening to recover freedom." The demonstration snarled traffic on Westheimer at rush hour. Car after car let out short, supportive honks as it drove by. One woman leaned out her car, holding a Venezuelan flag. "Venezuela libre!" she shouted. The crowd cheered. Houston Police Sergeant Tim Zaragoza, who was helping to keep order, described the crowd as "well-behaved" and "cooperative." At around 5 p.m., another officer, Al Olvera, drove his police cruiser to move demonstrators off the lot. Through a loudspeaker, he told them in Spanish that "they're welcome to stay but not on the property," as he later translated. The crowd started to oblige, moving out to the sidewalk, posing for pictures with officers. But Olvera had one more thing to say. "Viva Venezuela," he added. The crowd cheered. The protest in Houston had both historic and geographic significance. January 23 was a special day in Venezuela, several demonstrators said, because it marked the fall of dictator Marcos Perez Jimenez, in 1958. Besides, this parking lot was just down the street from the Consulate General of Venezuela a symbol to many demonstrators of the collapsing Maduro government. The consulate could not be reached for comment , and its voicemail was full and could not accept new messages. Jason Spindler was a rock climber, a salsa dancer and a DJ. He roped friends into numerous adventures and served as an inspiration to his three nephews. He was an entrepreneur and a humanitarian. He survived the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, years before another terrorist attack claimed his life in Nairobi, Kenya. Dozens of family members and friends - some hailing from across the globe - gathered to remember the 40-year-old native Houstonian, who was among 21 people killed in Nairobi on Jan. 15 when Islamic extremists stormed the compound with guns and explosives, beginning a coordinated assault, Kenyan officials said. To many, Spindler was a hero. He was never self-serving, Rabbi Barry Gelman said at Spindlers burial service on Thursday. He dedicated his life to opening windows of opportunity. He did all of this with zeal and drive, almost as if he knew that there was no time to waste. On a cold day under clear skies, Spindlers loved ones told stories through tears. They spoke of a family-oriented, driven and compassionate man who lived to help others and changed the lives of everyone in his path. The void in our life thats been created will never be filled, childhood friend Justin Esch said at the service at Beth Yeshurun Cemetery. People like Jason do not just happen theyre made. Spindlers death rattled colleagues and strangers across the nation, especially after news emerged that the investment banker-turned-humanitarian was near the Twin Towers on Sept. 11. He was walking out of the subway that day in 2001 when he saw the first building coming down, his father said. He should have been in the World Trade Center that day, but was running late. He then rushed toward the rubble and came back day after day for about a week, providing aid. This was just Jasons higher calling of life, friend Adnan Chaudhry said. Spindler earned a business degree from the University of Texas at Austin and worked as an investment banker on Wall Street. After 9-11, he went on to become a Peace Corps volunteer and got a law degree at New York University. He eventually co-founded I-DEV International, a California company that matches investors to emerging markets in Latin America, Africa, Asia and South Asia. Spindler had lived in Kenya for the last several years, his father said. He loved Houston and was a huge fan of the sports teams here, Chaudhry said. Jonathan Spindler said his older brother was the best uncle, FaceTiming his nephews frequently and visiting often. Everything that made Jason a great big brother made him the worlds best uncle, he said. My kids like me, but they loved Jason. I am their dad, and he was their hero. Esch had the crowd bursting with laughter as he told about the time when he first met Spindler in Houston at age 8. Spindler, sore about losing a karate match at the YMCA, called Esch a Yankee. Esch and his brother almost drowned Spindler in the pool later that day, and Spindler still offered to share his McDonalds french fries, saving them from eating their horrible lunch butter and tuna fish sandwiches. They became lifelong friends, even after Esch moved from Houston within the year. Jason saw the positive in everyone and everything, his entire life, Esch said in his eulogy. Business partner and I-DEV cofounder Patricia Chin-Sweeney recounted meeting Spindler when they were both at NYU. She thought she was just going to a simple meet-and-greet, which eventually led them on a path to starting a company. They went on adventures around the world, including climbing Mount Kilamanjaro. Hed want us to do something big and bold in his memory, she said, surrounded by about a dozen of Spindlers international friends. Many of those people were instrumental in helping to find Spindler after the attack and communicating with his family from abroad, his brothers said. Al-Shabab, an Islamic extremist group allied with Al-Quaida, claimed responsibility for the bloodshed at the hotel. Spindlers father previously told the Chronicle that his son frequently ate at a cafe there. The group is based in neighboring Somalia, and carried out the 2013 attack at Nairobi's nearby Westgate Mall that killed 67 people. They also killed 147 people, mostly students, in an assault on Kenya's Garissa University in 2015. In addition to Jason Spindler, the civilian victims at the hotel included 16 Kenyans, one British person and three people of African descent whose nationalities were not immediately known, police said. An all-night operation ended with the deaths of five extremists. After speaking fondly of growing up with his brother, Aaron Spindler lamented the difficulties in forgiving the people who killed his best friend. Im absolutely honored to have been his brother, but I am also very angry, Aaron Spindler said. Im still angry at the people that targeted a true angel, who endlessly dedicated most of his precious resource, time, to helping people make impactful change. The Rabbi noted the irony that Spindler died in a place where he was trying to boost the economy to reduce the need for terror. Jason was in the business of spreading light in dark places, Gelman said. Dear God, today we return to you a righteous man, and our world is darker for it. Spindlers family is launching the Jason J. Spindler Foundation in his memory. For more information, visit jjsfoundation.com. samantha.ketterer@chron.com Twitter.com/sam_kett Nine members of the Lonestar Slab club have been charged with a misdemeanor for the traffic-clogging photoshoot at the iconic "Be Someone" bridge and if it happens again, authorities promise harsher consequences. Houston police Chief Art Acevedo berated the accused participants, among them Christopher Lopez, behind the Dec. 2 stunt on Interstate 45 as "a bunch of irresponsible members of our community" and warned that drivers who want to do a repeat under the Houston landmark will face felony charges. RELATED: Indicted road rage driver arrested for stopping traffic under 'Be Someone' bridge The stunt was flaunted in a video that was passed to Acevedo soon after it was recorded and then used to help authorities track down the drivers involved. Now Playing: The video, originally uploaded by Instagram user Kandy_Red_Bread to social media on Dec. 2, was obtained by law enforcement as evidence and used to charge several members of the Lonestar Slab club with obstructing a highway. The same video is referenced in court documents detailing the incident. Video: Harris County District Attorneys Office "Their motivation is to be out there and show they're kings of the roads and make a name of themselves. And they videotape and put it out there for the world to see," Acevedo said Wednesday during a news conference. A murder charge, he said, is a guarantee should "the chain reaction" from future incidents result in death. Lopez was among the nine arrests stemming from the Traffic Enforcement Division's month-long investigation into the unauthorized photo shoot that Acevedo celebrated. The 48-year-old co-creator of Lonestar Slab is also accused of chasing and shooting at a car of egg-throwing teens before a deadly New Year's Day wreck. He has been charged with manslaughter. Lopez and eight others have been charged with obstructing a highway. Walter Williams, 30; Alexies Stephens Jr., 30; Jarvis Randle, 31; Victor Pailiet, 33; Josue Iracheta, 26; Eduardo Espino, 31; Joseph Deboest, 40; and Noah Cantu, 22, have been charged for their alleged participation in the traffic standstill. Additional arrests are expected, officials said. Pailiet has a lengthy criminal history dating back to 2004 with arrests that include aggravated sex assault, interfering with the duties of a police officer and possession of a prohibited weapon, records show. This was the first arrest in Harris County for Williams and Stephens. Capt. Kenneth Campbell said the brunt of those arrested "didn't seem to grasp the severity of what happened." "These guys literally didn't care about any laws or anyone else," said Sean Teare, chief of the Harris County District Attorney's Office Vehicular Crimes Division. "They stopped their cars, 12 of them at least, and stopped every lane." The crackdown is not an attack on slab culture, he noted. "These cars are works of art," Teare said, "but there's a time and place to display your cars and show them off properly, even on the roads. Interstate 45 under the bridge is not that place." Future arrests for similar stunts will automatically result in a felony deadly conduct charge even if no one is hurt or killed, Teare said. The intensified charge, according to Acevedo, is merited. "I don't want to wait until somebody gets stuck behind these vehicles in a big rig and decides, 'You know what? To hell with these guys. I'm going to plow into them,'" Acevedo said, listing off scenarios ranging from road rage to a domino effect of crashes. "I don't want to wait until somebody loses their mind out there and decides to shoot at people because of this foolish behavior," the chief said. Acevedo patted Officer James Kneipp on the back prior to the press conference for his work in identifying several members of Lopez's car club accused of blocking traffic. Kneipp detailed in charging papers that those accused were identified through a minute-long video shared to the Kandy_Red_Bread Instagram account, which law enforcement sources said is run by Pailiet. The footage showed the license plates on about a dozen customized vehicles, known in Houston as slabs. Pailiet was arrested Monday night and shared an image from the same social media account while in the back of an HPD cruiser. "I'll be out by tomorrow," Pailiet wrote, showing the divider between him and the officer typing into his console computer. A 10th person believed to have participated in last year's highway photoshoot has been arrested on an unrelated warrant for child neglect in Waller County, Teare said. A similar feat under the iconic train trestle resulted in a viral video in 2015 after a man set up a traffic blockcade to propose to his girlfriend. She said yes, but he was charged with obstructing a highway after an off-duty police sergeant was caught in the traffic jam. The case was dismissed after the groom-to-be wrote apology letters to the sergeant, the officer who investigated the incident and "the members of the public who were affected by this offense," according to court documents. Stephen Tucker Paulsen contributed to this report. nicole.hensley@chron.com WASHINGTON - In the days since a video featuring a group of Covington Catholic High School students and a Native American elder first captivated the nation, journalists, lawmakers, celebrities and even President Donald Trump have all weighed in, their comments joining the cacophony of voices that have only fueled what has become an explosive debate on race and politics with few clear answers. But emerging from that fray as one of the most prominent people supporting the students from the private, all-male school in Park Hills, Kentucky, is White House press secretary Sarah Sanders. "I've never seen people so happy to destroy a kid's life," Sanders, echoing Trump, said Tuesday in an interview with Fox News's Sean Hannity on Tuesday. She doubled down in another Fox News appearance Wednesday, saying Trump "would certainly be open" to having the students - some of whom were wearing "Make America Great Again" hats in the video - visit the White House once the partial government shutdown ends. "The idea that anybody could take joy in the destruction of young kids is absolutely outrageous to me, and that's exactly what we saw members of the media and other leaders do," she said on "Fox & Friends." She continued: "These are kids. Let's not forget, these are 15-, 16-year-old kids that were put in a very tough position and actually handled it very well." While the students have maintained that they were not the aggressors, critics argue that their actions are more morally ambiguous than their supporters claim. Sanders's words mark the latest flash point in a raging battle over who has the right interpretation of a moment that appears to change depending on the angle from which it is viewed. Her comments drew instant disbelief and rebuke, with many slamming her as a "hypocrite." "Really?" Parkland survivor and activist David Hogg wrote in a tweet that had more than 335,000 likes as of early Thursday. More for you US & World Truth and stereotypes: the Covington kids in the red hats In the aftermath of the February 2018 school shooting that left 17 dead, Hogg and his classmates were vilified by prominent conservatives and right-wing media figures who accused the teens of being "crisis actors" or making up their experiences. The surviving students and their families also received death threats. In March, Fox News host Laura Ingraham took aim at Hogg on Twitter, taunting him over his college applications getting rejected. Ingraham later apologized after Hogg organized an aggressive advertiser boycott of her show, "The Ingraham Angle." Many also quickly drew attention to Trump's family separation policy at the border, which Sanders has defended, saying at one point, "It's a moral policy to follow and enforce the law." Trump halted the separations in June 2018 and a federal judge ordered reunifications to be completed the following month. As of October, The Washington Post's Arelis R. Hernandez reported, 245 children had yet to be returned to their families. "Your administration tore babies from their parents' arms and threw children in cages," tweeted Sen. Jeff Merkley, D-Ore. Others wanted to remind Sanders of how minority youths are often treated by the public. Several people highlighted the treatment of Tamir Rice and Trayvon Martin, both young black men who were shot and killed by white police officers in recent years. Studies about race and media have often come to the conclusion that black people are more likely to be shown in a negative light, compared with white people. Trump, critics pointed out, also took an active role in disparaging the Central Park Five, a group of black and Latino teenagers who were convicted, and later exonerated with DNA evidence, for raping a woman in the 1980s. At the time, Trump spent a reported $85,000 on ads in all four major New York daily newspapers that referenced the Central Park rape case and called for the death penalty, according to The Washington Post's Janell Ross. The five men were freed when a serial rapist confessed to the crime in 2002. In 2016, when asked about the men, Trump continued to imply he believed they were guilty, Ross reported. Some, however, stood up for Sanders. "I wish Sarah Sanders would run for POTUS," one Twitter user wrote. "I have never known a @PressSec with so much grit." Unpaid air traffic controllers are waiting tables and driving for Uber when they're not working 10-hour shifts tracking the position and speed of aircraft to prevent collisions. The federal employees responsible for the safety of millions of airborne passengers each day are nearing a breaking point amid the longest government shutdown in history, the head of the National Air Traffic Controllers Association, Paul Rinaldi, said in an interview with The Washington Post. His union is suing the Trump administration for freezing the earnings of members, who are preparing to miss a second paycheck on Friday. In a blistering statement issued Wednesday, Rinaldi joined the leaders of the unions representing pilots and flight attendants in expressing "growing concern for the safety and security of our members, our airlines, and the traveling public due to the government shutdown." The exhortation to reopen the government underlined the enormous strain that the nation's aviation system is under, as the partial shutdown entered its 33rd day. On Sunday, 1 in 10 Transportation Security Administration agents did not show up to work, bringing checkpoints to a standstill. The union leaders, who together represent about 130,000 aviation professionals, said they "cannot even calculate the level of risk currently at play, nor predict the point at which the entire system will break." "It is unprecedented," noted the statement, signed by Rinaldi, as well as by Air Line Pilots Association President Joe DePete and Association of Flight Attendants-CWA President Sara Nelson. They called it "unconscionable" that their members were being required to work without pay, "and in an air safety environment that is deteriorating by the day." While air traffic controllers were committed to maintaining a safe, efficient flow of planes, Rinaldi said, the shutdown had stripped away crucial safeguards. It was possible, the statement acknowledged, that safety reporting data "used to identify and implement corrective actions in order to reduce risks and prevent accidents" was not being fully combed over because of reduced resources. "The system is built on layers of redundancy, but this is adding risk into the system," Rinaldi warned. "I don't know when a system gets to that critical mass, but when you take away equipment that helps us see that a plane is on the appropriate runway, that's risk in the system. When some of our radars are down, and we're not able to tell the pilot that there's dangerous weather ahead until we get a pilot report of it, that's risk in the system." New hires have resigned, he said. Those eligible to retire - currently 20 percent of the workforce - are inclined to cut their losses and leave the profession. People are calling in sick, threatening staffing, which was already at a 30-year low. Americans in highly technical, middle-class jobs are straining to find money for child care. Meanwhile, officials on the job are toiling without the aid of tactical specialists, training specialists, support staff specialists, quality-assurance specialists and other staff deemed nonessential, Rinaldi said. What would have been manageable for several days is becoming untenable after nearly five weeks, he said. "This is a stressful work environment," the union president said. "What this shutdown is doing is putting the stress on steroids." The lengths to which federal employees are going to support themselves have not gone unnoticed on Capitol Hill, where congressional Democrats have laid blame for the shutdown on the shoulders of President Trump. Rep. Mike Levin, D-Calif., labeled it "insane" that an air traffic controller would have to moonlight as an Uber driver. Meanwhile, Lara Trump, the president's daughter-in-law and campaign adviser, this week said that the 800,000 government workers going without paychecks were experiencing "a little bit of pain" but sacrificing "for the future of our county." The president, for his part, has claimed without evidence that government employees support his position. Thus far, he has been unwavering in his refusal to open shuttered agencies until Democrats agree to fund a border wall to the tune of $5.7 billion. It was unclear if his capitulation to the demand of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., that he delay his State of the Union address until after the shutdown would shift his stance. The two sides appeared no closer to an agreement even as Senate leaders scheduled a set of votes for Thursday - a flurry of legislative activity that promised mainly to expose their deep differences. With the nation's leaders deadlocked, evidence mounted of the toll of the shutdown, affecting core government services and federal institutions while also reaching beyond the public sector. Last week, the State Department was forced to cancel an international summit on border security - because of the shutdown over border security. The FBI Agents Association has warned that funding uncertainties have compromised counter-terrorism operations. The droves of Internal Revenue Service employees skipping work will hinder the agency's ability to process taxpayer refunds. The secretary of the Smithsonian Institution wrote in a USA Today op-ed Tuesday that the shutdown is costing the prized institution $1 million a week. And in the private sector, companies that do business with the government are losing $200 million a week, according to estimates. Aviation professionals have been particularly vocal. Air traffic controllers, pilots and flight attendants rallied outside the Capitol earlier this month, calling for an end to the shutdown. Soon after, air traffic controllers in Canada sent pizza to their American counterparts. "The great pizza delivery has gone viral," Peter Duffey, the president of the Canadian Air Traffic Control Association, tweeted. "Small gesture of kindness, big gesture of solidarity." But scenes of federal workers lining up for food aid cast the "great pizza delivery" in a new light. The show of solidarity also underscored a desperate economic reality. Government workers, whose job it is to serve the citizens of the United States, are being served food in what amounts to a government bread line. Public employees are turning to precarious sources of assistance in order to feed themselves, including the philanthropy of celebrity chef Jose Andres. Tamika Capone thought she was making a smart call by traveling to Mexico for bariatric surgery. Her doctor had urged her to have the procedure to reduce her out-of-control weight and blood pressure. But her husband's health insurance would not cover the $17,500 bill. After a friend got the surgery in Tijuana for $4,000, Capone decided to do the same. Nearly four months later, the Arkansas woman is one of at least a dozen U.S. residents who returned from surgeries in Tijuana with a rare and potentially deadly strain of bacteria resistant to virtually all antibiotics, say federal health officials. Some in the group recovered, but Capone, 40, remains seriously ill despite being treated witha barrage of drugs. More for you US & World Urgent care clinics are prescribing too many unnecessary... If the bacteria spreads to her bloodstream, doctors say it could be fatal. "I've not yet had a patient with zero options, but this is as close as I've had," said Ryan Dare, an infectious disease doctor at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences College of Medicine in Little Rock who is treating her. The Tijuana outbreak, which includes one death, prompted the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to issue an unusual warning this month, urging travelers to avoid surgery at Grand View hospital linked to eight of the infections until Mexican authorities confirm its safety. Hospital officials did not return calls seeking comment. Nor did the medical tourism agency, Weight Loss Agents, which books procedures there and at other hospitals. A woman who answered the weight loss agent's telephone blamed reports of infections on "a competitor's smear campaign." She declined to give her name. Mexican authorities said they temporarily closed the hospital's operating unit in December, but the facility has since reopened and resumed surgeries, according to patients posting on its website. The Tijuana cases highlight the growing number of Americans getting antibiotic-resistant infections overseas after traveling to get medical care abroad. Some who were not traveling for medical procedures but fell ill and went to foreign hospitals have also contracted such infections. Officials say they are anxious to prevent such pathogens from gaining a foothold in the United States because they are so difficult to treat. "We pounce when we see them [extremely antibiotic-resistant infections] because we know they can smolder and spread," said Maroya Spalding Walters, an epidemiologist leading the CDC team investigating the outbreak. "And no one may recognize it until this becomes an out-of-control wildfire." According to Patients Beyond Borders, a medical tourism guidebook, 1.7 million Americans traveled to other countries in 2017 for medical care, and that number is expected to increase. Many like Capone travel to save money. Mexico is among the top 10 destinations. Weight-loss surgery, in vitro fertility procedures and cosmetic surgery are among the most sought treatments generally, according to the Medical Tourism Association, a U.S.-based organization whose members include hospitals, clinicians and insurance companies. There is little data about infectious diseases related to medical tourism. But the CDC has documented several outbreaks, including severe skin infections among dozens of patients who had cosmetic surgery in theDominican Republic in 2013 and 2017. Several of the infections were drug-resistant. In 2014, five New York residents contracted Q fever, a flulike illness caused by a bacteria found in goats, sheep and cows, after getting injections of fetal sheep cells in Germany. The World Health Organization considers the superbug that infects Capone - carbapenem-resistant Pseudomonas aeruginosa - one of its three highest priorities for new antibiotics. The organism packs "a double whammy," Walters said, because it has a genetic mutation that allows it to transmit its antibiotic-destroying gene to other bacteria to make them resistant as well. People can carry the pathogens in their bodies and not become infected themselves. In hospitals, where the most serious infections occur, the germ can spread on the hands of health-care workers or equipment that gets contaminated and is not properly cleaned. There have been only 86 cases of the strain reported in the United States through 2017, officials said. Half of the 12 people who came back from Tijuana with confirmed cases were hospitalizedonce they returned home to Arkansas, Arizona, Oregon, Utah, Texas, Washington and West Virginia, according to CDC officials. Most people had weight-loss surgery. Eight had had surgery at Grand View Hospital. The remainder had surgery at other Tijuana clinics the CDC did not identify. The CDC is investigating two additional cases. Most of the patients were women in their 30s and 40s and had surgeries between August and December, the officials said. Many describe devastating experiences for themselves and their families. An unidentified Oregon man died in November, according to state and federal health officials. They say they do not know whether the infection caused his death because he had other health problems. Even patients who were infected with a less resistant strain of Pseudomonas describe devastating experiences. Mindy Blohm, 45, of Riverton, Utah, said she and her husband were forced to sell their home to pay over $50,000 in hospital bills for treatment of her infection, a less resistant Pseudomonas, after her weight-loss surgery at Grand View on Oct. 31. Her wound finally healed last week, she said. Capone, whose weight-loss surgery to reduce her stomach by about 80 percent was on Oct. 8, said she is still ill. Doctors had urged her to have the procedure because at 5 foot 7 inches, she weighed 291 pounds. Her blood pressure "was getting way out of control," she said. Three days after the procedure at Grand View, as she waited in the San Diego airport for her return flight, she said her main incision started to leak. Back home in Jonesboro, she got worse. Over the next few weeks, she said she was hospitalized twice and developed an abscess that doctors had to cut open and drain. By then, tests showed she had no ordinary infection. The Arkansas health department told Capone it was the first time they had seen this organism. "They were worried about other people catching it, especially other medical staff," Capone recalled. "They told me if I see any doctor, I have to inform them." CDC's Antimicrobial Resistance Laboratory Network knew of three other patients with the same infection. But there was no discernible pattern until Capone's was reported in mid-November - it was the second linked to Grand View Hospital. "That was really the 'aha' moment," said Walters, the epidemiologist. Within days, the agency alerted state health departments about the superbug and urged them to test antibiotic-resistant organisms in people who had traveled to Mexico for invasive procedures. Capone's condition, meanwhile, grew worse. In mid-December, she was referred to Dare, the Little Rock specialist. He said her only option was colistin, an antibiotic discovered in the late 1940s that is seldom used because it causes kidney and nerve damage. But the drug has resurfaced as a last-line treatment for multidrug-resistant organisms. On her second day on the antibiotic, Capone's lips swelled. Her tongue and face went numb. "I got to the point where I could barely talk," she said. She had to stop treatment. Now she has a hole in her stomach that requires daily cleaning. Capone wears gloves to clean her wound, then throws her used bandages in the trash outside. Her husband and teenage daughter are not at risk, nor is the general public; the bacteria does not spread in the air. She has incurred more than $30,000 in medical bills related to her infection. "The wound has not healed, and it hurts a lot," Capone said. "They told me they've done all they could do." She has tried to warn others about her experience on a Facebook page established for bariatric patients of Grand View, but she said her posts have been quickly taken down. A few days ago, she received even more worrisome news. Arkansas and other state health officials are contacting Capone and other infected patients to tell them they may be at risk for diseases that can be transmitted by blood or other bodily fluids, such as HIV, hepatitis B and hepatitis C, because equipment in Tijuana may not have been properly sterilized. Officials are urging patients to talk to their clinicians about additional screening or testing. "I'm at a breaking point," Capone said. "I'm so scared. I don't want to lose my life for this. I don't want to have my family suffer because I chose to go to Mexico." - - - The Washington Post's Alice Crites and Andrea Morales contributed to this report. WASHINGTON - First Rudy Giuliani said serious conversations about developing a Trump Tower project in Moscow occurred throughout the 2016 campaign, then he said they were hypothetical. He said they might have stretched the entire campaign, then he said they ended by "January 2016 or shortly thereafter." He said he had listened to recordings proving President Donald Trump was not guilty of instructing his former lawyer Michael Cohen to lie to Congress, then he said he shouldn't have mentioned any tapes exist and that they were not pertinent. He said it would have been "perfectly normal" for Trump to talk with Cohen before he testified on Capitol Hill in 2017 about the Moscow project, then he said he was not sure they had spoken, then he said they had definitely not. "I have since checked the record. The answer is he didn't talk to him at all," Giuliani said of Trump in an interview Tuesday night. These were among the dizzying array of statements and clarifications made in recent days by Giuliani, one of Trump's lawyers and the public face of the president's legal team handling the special counsel investigation into Russia's interference in the 2016 election. The former New York mayor has left White House aides, his fellow lawyers and people involved in the special counsel's probe puzzled over what, exactly, he was trying to say in defense of the president - and why he was saying any of it at all. "There is a strategy," Giuliani said. "The strategy will become apparent. There have been these objections in the past. It's become obvious somewhat thereafter. You have to be patient." The strategy, it seems, was lost on his client. Trump this week asked Giuliani to scale back his media appearances after the recent series of interviews, White House aides said, and complained that his lawyer did not know all the facts of the case. The president also asked Giuliani to clean up some of his misstatements publicly, complaining he created a weekend of news, including negative cable chyrons, at a time when Trump wanted public attention focused on special counsel Robert Mueller III disputing a BuzzFeed story that Trump had asked Cohen to lie to Congress. The recent tensions between Trump and Giuliani highlight the unique role he plays for the president. Even though Trump has been frustrated with Giuliani's performance several times since he became his lawyer in April, he continues to get a longer leash than most of the president's aides and surrogates. That's because Giuliani, whom he considers a friend, is doing what Trump wants - serving chiefly as his public defender rather than his pragmatic legal counsel - and because the president would struggle to replace him after being turned down by several high profile attorneys reluctant to represent the mercurial Trump. The first lawyer who represented Trump in the Russia probe, John Dowd, quit in March over a dispute on how to best handle responding to the investigation. For now the two septuagenarian New Yorkers appear stuck with each other - to the chagrin of some of the president's allies. The White House communications staff has grown frustrated with Giuliani and privately mock some of his interviews, saying they spend more time responding to Giuliani's answers than Giuliani does preparing to give them. A person close to the president's legal team said the comments were seen as "bizarre," even by those involved in the case. A second person said the president's other lawyers are also frustrated with Giuliani for his TV appearances and do not view him as helping the case. Both requested anonymity to discuss Giuliani's performance. "Most of what he says is not consistent with the actual facts," one of these people said. "Thinking there is a strategy would give Rudy too much credit. He doesn't know what he is talking about." People familiar with the legal team say Giuliani's public comments could hurt their standing with Mueller and prolong the probe - as the special counsel's office investigates his various statements and contradictions. "From a legal standpoint and a public perception standpoint in terms of trying to help your client, nothing he is doing makes any sense whatsoever," said Ted Boutrous, a Gibson Dunn partner who regularly argues cases in front of the Supreme Court. Jay Sekulow, one of the president's lawyers, said Giuliani remains a "valuable member" of the legal team. The president does not plan to oust Giuliani and continues to consider him a friend, according to five current and former White House aides and outside advisers who requested anonymity to discuss the sensitive issue. Trump wants people out there "pushing back, pushing back on everything," said a senior administration official. The president sees much of the battle over Mueller's investigation as a public relations fight and is often unconcerned if Giuliani's answers are inaccurate - as long as they are delivered with confidence and don't sow confusion. "His role is largely in the court of public opinion. Giuliani's goal is to tell the American public that this is political, not legal. He's succeeded in doing that with some blips along the way," said Alan Dershowitz, a retired Harvard Law School professor and occasional Trump adviser. "His main task is to politicize legal issues. In the end, Rudy has been a major plus for Trump." Trump has told advisers and other lawyers that Giuliani's combative posture toward Mueller's team and his refusal to answer questions from the special counsel's office was a welcome change from the early days of the investigation, when lawyers convinced the president to cooperate - and that the inquiry would be over soon if he did. Giuliani has finished a lengthy report that he has shown the president, questioning the integrity of the investigation, and Trump has been impressed at its length. The two men have complain about particular members of Mueller's team such as prosecutor Andrew Weissman, whom they view as overly aggressive. Many of the president's closest aides want nothing to do with the investigation, fearful of legal fees and subpoenas. For example, former White House Chief of Staff John Kelly would often walk out of the room when the president would begin talking about the probe - or had a meeting scheduled with his lawyers. White House press secretary Sarah Sanders has sought to avoid questions about the investigation and to have statements put in her name. And the president's other lawyers - Jane Raskin and Jay Sekulow - are not regular TV personalities like Giuliani. Two people close to the president's legal team said Raskin and Sekulow handle much of the actual interactions with Mueller, and then brief Giuliani later. Trump frequently commiserates with Emmet Flood and Pat Cipollone, White House lawyers focused on the Mueller investigation who he has come to trust. "There is an outside, inside game happening," Dershowitz said. Trump has told advisers that people increasingly see the probe his way, partially because of Giuliani, even though the latest Politico/Morning Consult poll shows 57 percent of Americans believe Russia has compromising information on Trump. Giuliani is shrugging off the latest criticism of his performance, saying it's part of the job. "He doesn't get upset with me," Giuliani said in an interview. "At least I don't think he does. My goal is to make sure nothing bad happens to him. If I get bad publicity for a day or two, so what?" - - - The Washington Post's Philip Rucker contributed to this report. Not long after Marty Baron became editor of the Boston Globe in 2001, he met with Cardinal Bernard Law, the spiritual leader of the enormous Roman Catholic community in Greater Boston. Baron had recently joined the Globe from the Miami Herald, and he had just ordered an investigation that would win a Pulitzer Prize for exposing, among other things, Law's role in protecting sexually abusive priests. The 2015 movie "Spotlight" depicts the meeting as polite but awkward, as the new guy in town submits to the scrutiny of a man who symbolized an insular local power structure. In the film, Law tells Baron about his experience editing a diocesan newspaper in a small town in the South. He recalls that the paper took some heat when it wrote favorably about civil rights leaders. "I think you'll find that Boston's still a small town, too, Marty, in many ways," says Law, portrayed in the film by Len Cariou. "But if I can be of any help, Marty, don't hesitate to ask. I find that the city flourishes when its great institutions work together." "Thank you," replies Baron, played by Liev Schreiber. "Personally, I am of the opinion that for a paper to best perform its function, it really needs to stand alone." Curtis McGee/Houston Chronicle Law's view of a newspaper's role in its community a partner with political and business leaders in a mutual quest for the civic good, rather than an independent watchdog reflects an idea that long held sway, and not just in small towns. Welcome Wilson Sr., a prominent figure in Houston's real estate industry for decades, alluded to this concept in a Houston Chronicle opinion essay published Jan. 20. Wilson's piece argues for renewed efforts to prevent discrimination against the city's LGBTQ community. To place the issue in historical context, Wilson recalls how he and other advisers worked with then-Mayor Lewis Cutrer to deal with expected efforts to integrate downtown lunch counters in the 1960s. Their goal was to prevent the violent protests and riots that other cities endured during the civil rights movement. Wilson, Cutrer and their colleagues persuaded retailers with lunch counters to simultaneously open their services to African-Americans. They arranged for protest leaders to bring students to the lunch counters at the appointed hour. The planning didn't end there. "I called the editors of the Houston Chronicle and the Houston Daily Press," Wilson writes, while a colleague called the editor of the Houston Post. "We asked that the media play down the integration. They were welcome to run a story, we said, but they should make it a small story with no banner headlines and put it in the back pages. I telephoned the two local television stations and asked them to do the same. Everybody agreed. I'm not sure that would happen today." (He's right; more on that later.) "The Houston Post ran a one-column story on Page 18," Wilson continues. "The Chronicle and Press ran no story. The TV stations did not cover it. The problem was solved. The Houston business community had come together to work out problems head on." A newspaper, of course, is a part of the "business community," in the sense that most newspapers are in business to make a profit. This is an increasingly elusive goal; two of the three newspapers mentioned in Wilson's essay, the Post and the Press, ceased publication decades ago. Tension has always existed between the business and public service missions of news organizations. At the first newspaper where I worked, in a small Texas town in the late 1970s, the managing editor taught me about something known as a "BOM," or "business office must." This was an item that had no real news value but was published in the news columns to please a major advertiser. My protests about this practice were regarded as naive. This was the real world. When I came to work for the Houston Chronicle in 1979, the paper's management was closely tied to the local power structure it was responsible for covering. Until the New York-based Hearst Corp. bought the Chronicle in 1987, the paper was owned by the Houston Endowment Inc., the largest charitable trust in Texas. Prominent local business leaders served on the Endowment board. During the eight years I worked at the Chronicle before it was sold, at least one important local story was killed because of these connections. (The reporter promptly quit and wrote the story for our competitor, the Post.) To my knowledge, this dereliction of duty was never repeated after the paper was sold. And today, ignoring or playing down a major news story like the integration of lunch counters would be unthinkable. Never mind independence the event would be all over social media even if not a single reporter or photographer showed up to cover it. Mainstream coverage inevitably would follow. In a phone conversation a few days after his piece was published, I asked Wilson, 90, why Cutrer and his advisers wanted to limit coverage of the integration of the lunch counters. "Because it had been banner headlines in other newspapers across the South," he said. "And what would happen is, the banner headlines brought out anti-black protesters, and that's why there were riots." Wilson said the editors he spoke to at the Chronicle and the Press offered no real objections to his request: "It was not uncommon in those days. I was close to the newspaper and the TV stations and so forth and knew them all. Them agreeing not to run anything was not uncommon." Whether more aggressive coverage would have led to riots is open to question. And responsible news organizations are not blind to the potential consequences of their reports on sensitive matters. The New York Times delayed publication of an explosive story about warrantless wiretapping for a year in response to concerns about national security expressed by President George W. Bush's administration. The current media landscape, of course, offers plenty of cause for concern, if not outright panic: The business model that supported newsrooms for decades has collapsed. People increasingly gravitate to news sources that reflect their own points of view, contributing to a tribally polarized culture. A high-level administration official speaks with a straight face about "alternative facts." It's possible, I suppose, that cutbacks in newsrooms will make news organizations more vulnerable to pressure from advertisers or government leaders. But by and large, the days when local officials could more or less dictate the coverage of important stories are well behind us. Wilson said he understands this. "I think the press is a lot more independent now," he said. "In my case, I liked it better in the old days, but the point is, the press needs to make up their own mind about things. My experience in more recent years is that trying to get the press not to cover something typically has the opposite effect." Mike Snyder (@chronsnyder) is an assistant metro editor at the Houston Chronicle. Sign up for the Gray Matters newsletter. It's full of small stories with no banner headlines that are put it in the back pages. The street in front of Boulevard Realty was busier than usual Tuesday and Wednesday. Cars pulled in and out of nearby parking spots throughout the day, the drivers unloading bags filled with toiletries, pantry items and dog food. They lugged the bare necessities inside the real estate company's sunlight-filled office and placed them in the corner of the room, alongside more items being donated to federal workers impacted by the government shutdown. "The one's furloughed are typically the least-paid (federal) employees," said Bill Baldwin, owner of Boulevard Realty and founder of the Houston Relief Fund. "I think everyone was thinking (the government shutdown) was going to end in week two or three when you get past 30 days it get more and more severe." Boulevard Realty, at 833 Studewood St., is just one of multiple sites that have opened their doors to furloughed workers through the Houston Relief Fund. Helping Hands, at 600 Kenrick Dr., will also be taking and handing out donated items. The City of Houston announced Monday that it would be partnering with local nonprofits to provide relief for federal workers without pay due to the government shutdown. Houston Relief Fund is coordinating the effort. Furloughed employees can apply for a $100 voucher, according to a news release from Mayor Sylvester Turner. "We hope to ease the burden of federal employees who, through no fault of their own, are being forced to make a huge personal sacrifice," Turner said in a statement. The vouchers are being funded by the public, Baldwin said. They can only be picked up from Helping Hands and Boulevard Realty. Impacted workers can apply for the voucher via Houston Relief Hub's website, as can anyone who wants to volunteer or donate goods or money. As of Wednesday afternoon, over 1,500 people had registered for the vouchers online, according to an employee at Helping Hands. The goal is to have them ready to distribute by Friday. "Of course, we know that $100 is not going to go very far," said Tonya Dixon, marketing director for Helping Hands, one of the Houston Relief Fund's partners. "But it's something to let them know that the city cares about them." Baldwin added that the vouchers are a way to identify impacted workers and "get them the other help that they need." Diapers, paper goods, food, toiletries and dog food are among the donations in highest demand. "If you don't have pretty good savings, when tragedy hits it can really wipe you out," Dixon said. Marina Guerra, a supervisor with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission in Houston, says she was lucky she's in a double income household, her daughter has pitched in for expenses and her and her husband had savings in the bank. Some of her coworkers, though, weren't so lucky. "Some people are single income," she said. "I try to check up on them just because I know that's got to be tough." On Thursday and Friday, Baldwin said, there will be 200 more vouchers available for Harris County residents who are single head of households and the value can increase depending on the number of dependents in the family. "At the end of the day, I don't really know anybody who can work for a month without pay," Guerra said. "To degrade or belittle people because they didn't have savings, or say they can go get another job that's not helpful. For a lot of people this is their dream job, it's where they've put their life behind." There are over 60 restaurants, banks and centers that are offering free and discounted services for impacted workers, some of which are also serving as pick-up sites for the community-at-large. The map of participating businesses can be found at the bottom of the Fund's website. "We're going to try to keep this up as long as the government's still partially shut down," Mario Castillo, who has volunteered at Houston Relief Hub since its Harvey days, told the Chronicle onMonday. "The longer this drags on, the more folks are going to be in need of assistance." The federal government shutdown began on Dec. 22, largely over President Donald Trump's demand for $5 billion for a wall and increased security along the nation's southern border. Democrats in Congress say they will not pay for the wall and have insisted the government reopen before negotiations over a spending bill proceed. The shutdown has left some 800,000 federal employees unpaid and government agencies unable to pay their bills. The George Bush International Airport in Houston has shut Terminal B until further notice due to a shortage of Transportation Safety Administration workers, and employees of NASA's Johnson Space Center staged a protest last week. Contracts for 315 affordable units in Harris County are expiring, and the Department of Housing and Urban Development has no way to pay landlords. For Guerra, though, she's not only worried about her coworkers and fellow federal employers she's worried about the public they serve. "Before we were shut down, we were working on settlements and helping people with (discrimination) cases," she said. "That's all at a standstill at this point, which is unfortunate because people are still waiting for our assistance." Mary Steenburgen stars in this Arkansas-shot indie drama about a man who searches for his roots after his father dies. Unrated. Playing at Studio Movie Grill Pearland. The Gandhi Murder This drama is set in India during the years leading up to the assassination of Mahatma Gandhi in 1948, in which three police officers have intelligence that an attack might be imminent. Directed by Karim Traidia and Pankaj Sehgal, it stars Stephen Lang, Luke Pasqualino and Jesus Sans Unrated. Playing at AMC Studio 30, Houston. The Girl in the Orange Dress Jericho Rosales and Jessy Mendiola star in this Philippine rom-com about a young womans relationship with a movie star. Unrated. Playing at AMC Studio 30, Houston. In Like Flynn Thomas Cocquerel (Billionaire Boys Club) plays iconic, Australian-born early Hollywood swashbuckler Errol Flynn in this Aussie biopic. Rated R. Playing at AMC Studio 30, Houston. The Kid Who Would Be King What happens when a contemporary shy English kid finds out hes the hero who can pull the legendary sword from the stone? He organizes his own Knights of the Round Table and wages war against evil, of course. This childrens adventure film from Joe Cornish (Attack the Block) is sweetly engaging without being cloying. Rated PG. Playing throughout Houston. Manikarnika: The Queen of Jhansi Rani Lakshmibai, who fought against the British Raj in colonial India and helped lead a 19th-century rebellion, is the subject of this biopic. Unrated. Playing at AMC Studio 30, Houston. Mr. Majnu This is an Indian romantic drama about a playboy who finally meets the right woman. Unrated. Playing at Cinemark Memorial City, Houston. No Date, No Signature Irans official entry for the foreign-language Oscar is a drama about a coroner who is determined to find out the true cause of a boys death. The film has won several accolades on the global festival circuit. Unrated. Playing 2 p.m. Sunday at the Asia Society Texas, Houston. Que Leon Its not every day that a romantic comedy from the Dominican Republic lands on our door. Frank Perozo, Christine Marzano and Jorge Pabon star. Unrated. Playing throughout Houston. Serenity Heres one of those movies with a decent cast (Matthew McConaghey, Anne Hathaway, Diane Lane, Jason Clarke) and a solid director (Steven Knight) who made one of the best movies of 2013 (Locke) thats being dumped in January with little promotion. Maybe everyone involved with this thriller about a boat captain who becomes tangled up in his ex-wifes mysterious life just wanted a free trip to the lush island of Mauritius where it was filmed? Rated R. Playing throughout Houston. Shoplifters Hirokazu Koreedas engaging Shoplifters, an Oscar and Golden Globe nominee in the foreign-language category, offers a different view of Japan than whats usually seen here. He follows a poor family who survive through small-time theft but still take in a young girl who has it even worse than they do. Rated R. Starts Jan. 31 at Museum of Fine Arts, Houston. Stan & Ollie This biopic about the famous comedy duo of Laurel & Hardy is being noticed for performances from John C. Reilly and Steve Coogan. Rated PG. Playing at AMC Studio 30, Houston; Regal Edwards MarqE 24, Houston; Edwards Greenway Grand Palace 23, Houston. Thackeray Indian politician Bal Thackeray is the focus of this biopic. Unrated. Playing at AMC Studio 30, Houston. cary.darling@chron.com There are two foreign-language, black-and-white films set in the past that have a lot of people talking this year. One, of course, is Alfonso Cuarons Roma but the other hasnt received quite as much hype, even though its equally deserving. Pawel Pawlikowskis Cold War, the Polish movie originally set to open Friday in Houston but now opening Feb. 1, is competing with Roma in the director and foreign-language categories at this years Oscars. Back in September, Indie Wire even declared the potential showdown between the two as a rare battle of black-and-white foreign-language films. Starting off as a parable of post-WWII communist Europe before evolving into an evocative love story that bounces two lovers between Warsaw, Berlin, Paris and Yugoslavia, Cold War is the kind of movie that crosses boundaries with a universal story bound to enchant audiences. Its also an unflinching perspective into the battle of the sexes. But one of the most striking elements about Cold War is its look, a lustrous black and white that evokes memory and mood. The film is dazzling as it follows Wiktor (Tomasz Kot), the musical director of a state-sponsored choral dance troupe based on the real-life Mazurek Ensemble, and his free-spirit love interest, Zula (Joanna Kulig), from approximately 1949 through 1961. In addition to beautiful use of monochrome, its shot in the boxy Academy format (4:3 aspect ratio), the square frame fitting perfectly with the films frequent use of two-shots. For much of its distinctive style, viewers can thank director of photography Lukasz Zal, who also worked with Pawlikowski on the 2013 film Ida, which was the first Polish film to win the foreign-language Oscar. We wanted to shoot on 35 mm, but for financial reasons, we shot digitally. The money we saved we used elsewhere, says Zal in a phone interview about Cold War. Zal and Pawlikowski performed complex tests with actors, costumes and sets, shooting with both 35 mm and a digital camera. We found the look that we liked on film and we adjusted the digital camera to look like that, says Zal. When we watched the results side by side, it was hard to distinguish them apart. 35 mm gives you nice grain, nice texture, you have all those things from the start, but with digital, you have to manipulate that, he continues. The result looks like a hybrid you also have a more silvery look than film. Honestly, I dont feel its a big matter what you use because the most important thing is what happens in front of the camera, says Zal. Changing with the times As Cold War progresses through the 1950s, the difference between life under communism and life in the West seems to dominate the circumstances but not the characters. Likewise, the music evolves from folk chants to more sophisticated jazz and even rock and roll. We looked at pictures from this era and tried to decide how to link to that time, to link with those pictures, says Zal. Generally, the idea was to use a functional camera. So the camera moves when it needs to follow a character or when revealing something, says Zal. Were not just trying to make the picture attractive but also keep it simple. No TV Zal was working as the assistant to director of photography Ryszard Lenczewski on Ida and took over camera duties when Lenczewski became ill. For me, it was a strange transition because I went from shooting documentaries and small commercials and then all of a sudden I was the DP, recalls Zal. And then we were nominated for the Oscar. Zal raised in the little village of Koszalin in Poland was not allowed to watch television as a child. His mother didnt allow one in the house. She felt it wasnt good. My local library had great sections on cinema that were divided into Russian cinema, U.S. cinema, Oscars, European cinema, he says. Today, Zal owns a television but uses it to watch Blu-rays and stream films. Michael Bergeron is a Houston-based writer. As everybody knows, production of Bad Boys 3 is currently underway in Atlanta and so far Will Smith has given his fans some cool updates from set life and what goes on behind the scenes. We've also posted about the news that DJ Khaled and Nicky Jam will be appearing in the film adding even more hype to the third installment. Today Will has hopped on Instagram to offer an update on day seven of filming, reminding us once again that the film is set to be fire. The video sees Will and Martin Lawrence's faces singing along to the beat of "The Whisper Song" with their own lyrics about how great the upcoming movie will be. "Its like we were never apart. The Ying to my Yang - Our Chemistry is TRUTH! Luvya Marty Mar!!" will captioned the video The last Bad Boys film was 16 years ago and the latest one is set to arrive on January 17th, 2020. "The film will see Lawrences character Marcus Burnett working as a private eye after a falling out with Smiths Mike Lowery, who is going through a midlife crisis as a bachelor who finally wants to mature, all while dealing with a new a young and cocky partner who is loyal to Lowery but that loyalty is not reciprocated, and finds bond with Burnett when he returns to the fray," the plot for the film reads. "Lowery and Burnett are brought together again when a lean, mean, skilled, Albanian mercenary with a vendetta puts a death order on Lowery and Burnett for the death of his brother. Now the two must work together once again to bring him down." Wendy Williams has placed her talk show on hiatus due to health issues. She shared a statement that cited a fractured shoulder and complications related to her Graves disease as the reasons for the extended break. This news came after reports of marital troubles, which were quickly shut down by the public figure. New claims concerning William's marriage with Kevin Hunter have surfaced. If these reports are revealed to be true, Williams' retreat from television would have yet another valid justification. Johnny Nunez/WireImage According to Bossip, William's mother-in-law told The National Enquirer that she had seen her son using violence against his wife. The actions she is said to have witnessed include "Kevin choking out Wendy" and "pushing her down the stairs." Apparently, seeing Wendy with a sling compelled the parent to offer up this information for publication, betraying the entertainer's efforts to cover up the alleged violent nature of the relationship. This same report states that multiple sources have come forward with similar tales of depicting Hunter choking her, kicking her and punching her in the face. One of these sources is said to stem from a former employee's lawsuit that mentions horrendous physical abuse at the hands of her husband. With New York making a heavy resurgence over the past few years, there's a lot of new acts to be keeping an eye on. Thutmose is one of the most promising voices coming out of the Big Apple these days and 2019 is already looking like it has a lot in store for him. The rapper recently appeared on the Spider-Man: Enter The Spider-Verse soundtrack and now, he follows it up with his new single, "Wait Up." With Valentine's Day a few weeks away, Thutmose comes through with an essential track to add to the holiday's playlist with "Wait Up." The rapper flexes his melodies and bars over Avedon's production. Thutmose's latest song proves that he's readying for a major year ahead of him. The release of "Wait Up" arrives a few days before he hits the road as MadeinTYO's opening act on the "Sincerely, Tokyo" tour. Thutmose will be joining him on the North American dates which kicks off on Jan. 24 in Vancouver before concluding in Chicago on March 1st. Get to know more about Thutmose here. Quotable Lyrics Im tryna be polite But its hard to be nice With a bad girl like you Babe Im racing against time When Ariana Grande dropped off her "7 Rings" single on January 17th it received some clap back from Soulja Boy, Princess Nokia and 2 Chainz who accused Ariana of biting their flow. "Does that sound familiar to you? 'Cause that sound really familiar to me," Princess Nokia said in a video that saw her playing her own tune next to Ariana's. "Ain't that the little song I made about brown women and their hair? Hmmm.. Sounds about white." Now that the debacle has settled just a little bit, someone has come through to prove just exactly what Soulja Boy, Princess Nokia, and 2 Chainz really meant with a video that takes all the tracks and mashes them up to see the similarities. The video is quite a masterpiece and we're curious to see if Ariana has anything else to say about her single. As we learned today, the track comes off of Ariana's Thank U, Next album that arrives February 8th. The 13 -track album features "Thank U, Next," "Imagine," and "7 Rings," of course, as well as other interesting titles such as "Break Up With Your Girlfriends, I'm Bored," "Ghostin," and "Bad Idea." It's safe to say there's a theme to the tape and the full story will be revealed in just a few weeks. Believe it or not, Ronny J is holding unpublished material from XXXTentacion. The Florida-born producer made the assertion on Instagram after paying tribute to his fallen comrade on what would have been his 21st birthday. "We still got some music @xxxtentacion x RJ," the producer wrote in an IG Story update. "It ain't over." Ronny J and XXXTentacion were frequent collaborators, with the producer contributing heavily on A Ghetto Christmas Carol! EP, and the rapper's debut ?. In good faith, XXXTentacion appeared on Ronny J's compilation record OMG Ronny, in an effort to bolster the producer's name, beyond the delimitations of "SoundCloud Rap." Ronny J was among those who attended XXXTentacion's open casket funeral service alongside hip-hop artists such as Lil Uzi Vert, PnB Rock, Ugly God, Denzel Curry, Kid Trunks, Fat Nick, and a plethora of X's close friends. Although Ronny J claims to be holding unpublished X material, there's no word on when and what type of recordings will become available, bet it a couple of loosies, or a full-length project administered by the producer. Check out Ronny J's Instagram page for a roundup of XXXTentacion-themed coverage. The producer is steadfastly branching out to rapping and modeling in the new year. Be on the lookout for Ronny J updates, as well news on the matter at hand: XXXTentation's treasure trove recordings. Ray J is a businessman, and his insight has just landed him a million dollar deal. According to TMZ, Ray J sold his Scoot-E-Bike business to Canadian company LOOPShare for an amount in the high 7-figures. That's one sweet deal. Although he sold his business, Ray J will be heavily involved in the company moving forward. He will control close to 19 million shares while still guiding the creative path for the scooters' construction. The venture will kick off by producing three models of the convenient mode of transportation. A traditional sit-down model, a vespa style unit, and stand-alone scooter will expand Scoot-E-Bike, and make Ray J a very rich man. The bikes will begin to appear in America and Canada, but the end goal is to go global. The bikes limit air pollution, have a top speed of 20 mph, and a range of up to 30 miles per charge. Ray J's manager, David Weintraub, told TMZ that Ray's mission is to grow his tech business. He has turned down several television deals to pursue ventures such as the one with LOOPShare, and it paid off. Raycon, Ray J's tech company, is allegedly pulling in $2-3 million in sales every month. Nas and Kelis are back at it in court again over claims that Kelis violated their custody agreement. According to documents obtained by TMZ, Kelis is striving to become a farmer in Colombia and want to bring their son along with her. However, Nas told the court that she's in contempt for violating their custody agreement. Brad Barket /Getty Images Nas is taking issue with Kelis over the fact that she's trying to move their son to Colombia which he said is a violation of their custody agreement. Kelis reportedly took their 9-year-old son Knight to Cartagena, Colombia last month. However, Nas said that Knight was supposed to spend New Year's Eve with him, per their agreement, but Kelis texted him saying that won't be case as they were still in Colombia. He said that she didn't return to America until Jan. 14. Nas also claimed that Kelis told him that she and her husband have a farm in Colombia where they plan on staying. Additionally, Nas claims that she's homeschooling Knight in Colombia after pulling him out of private school in Los Angeles. The Illmatic rapper already said that he's had difficulties co-parenting with Kelis, but the plan to move to Colombia is a massive violation of their agreement, especially since she didn't give the required notice about her travel plans. Nas also claimed that he didn't get Knight on Father's Day in 2018, as well as Halloween and Thanksgiving. Per their agreement, Knight is supposed to spend those holidays with his father on even-numbered years. Kelly Rowland was tapped to play Gladys Knight in American Soul, a BET-produced series chronicling the creation of Soul Train, an iconic show that aired for 35 years. Destiny's Child's Michelle Williams was also cast as Diana Ross, in addition to Bobby Brown, K. Michelle and many more. Get a glimpse of Rowland's performance in the clip below. The scene recalls Chicago DJ Don Cornelius attempting to sell his show's concept to Gladys Knight. BET described their project in a press release: American Soul is the story about the struggle to make the dream of Soul Traincome true. Set in the early 70s, filled with music, dance, fashion and glamour, this is the untold story of the launch of the first nationally-syndicated Black music show and what happened when the music stopped. Battles with record labels for top talent, off-camera drama as young dancers vie for the spotlight, stand in the way of a 30-something Don Cornelius who is sacrificing all that he loves to follow his dream. The journeys of these characters collide in a racially charged LA with the odds stacked against them. All they have is each other and the magic of Soul Train. American Soul is set to premiere with back-to-back episodes on February 5 on BET at 9 pm ET/PT. Faking illness to skip a day of work is not uncommon, but it could lead to some pretty serious repercussions. Depending on your job and your boss, it could lead to a warning or even termination. However, it's an entirely different story if you're apart of a drug cartel such as El Chapo's cousin who was allegedly killed after skipping a day of work. According to New York Post, during El Chapo's trial on Tuesday, the jurors heard from a witness about how the kingpin allegedly murdered his own cousin for playing hooky. According to former Sinaloa cartel lieutenant Damaso Lopez Nunez, Juan Juancho Guzman told his cousin El Chapo that he was out of town. Unfortunately, he was spotted at a "public park" in Culican, Mexico, which apparently drove El Chapo into a fit of rage. My compadre became angry, because he had lied to him, Nunez said. [Chapo] ordered [the assassin] to take [Juancho] toward Culican, to kill him, and to leave him on the outskirts of Culican." Nunez added that Chapo ordered the death of Guzman's secretary because they were together. "They both have to suffer the same fate," Chapo allegedly added after ordering the death of the two. Lucero Guadalupe Sanchez Lopez, El Chapo's alleged mistress, spoke on Juancho's murder in court last week. She recounted eating dinner with Chapo before his secretary interrupted them to inform him of the death of Juancho He turned around and looked at me in a slow demeanor and then he said something I did not like, she said. He said from that point on, whoever betrayed him, they would die. Whether they were family or women, they were going to die. This entire Chris Brown rape story has gotten out of hand. As we reported, Chris Brown was arrested and then released in Paris, France for allegedly raping a young lady. He was released with no charges and was given clearance to leave the country. Brown decided to stay though, and complete the production for his music video. Brown has vowed to take legal action against the accuser, who claims Brown and his friends raped her. Now, according to TMZ, it's become clear why Parisian authorities let Brown go with no charges. The media site has a source directly connected to the case who stated, "The weakest part of the case is the alleged victim's statement to police." The accuser claimed Brown raped her for about a half an hour in a secluded room. Then, she claims she went into another room and was raped by one of Brown's friends. Then, she said she was "abused" for a third time in another room. Police are having a hard time believing the story due to the fact that she never raised an alarm, asked for help, or tried to escape through three alleged sexual assaults. While the investigation is still ongoing, Brown is staying in the same hotel. Travelers sometimes want a cookie-cutter room in a downtown hotel, and they sometimes want a cozy Tuscan farmhouse to share with friends. Hotels have always been good at providing the first one. Now, they're trying to figure out how to provide the second. Excerpt from Daily Hampshire Gazette Travelers sometimes want a cookie-cutter room in a downtown hotel, and they sometimes want a cozy Tuscan farmhouse to share with friends. Hotels have always been good at providing the first one. Now, they're trying to figure out how to provide the second and blunt the growth of competitors like Airbnb. But they're having mixed success. Marriott recently announced it's expanding its home-sharing pilot in London to three additional European cities. Then Hyatt announced it was pulling out of a money-losing collaboration with luxury home-sharing company Oasis. Analysts say hotels are wise to experiment. Airbnb now has 5 million listings on its site, up 25 percent from a year ago. By comparison, Marriott grew 5 percent last year to 1.3 million rooms. In some markets, like New York and Miami, studies indicate that home-sharing is already eroding hotel profits. But it's not yet clear how far hotels are willing to expand into home-sharing, which challenges their traditional business models. It costs more to clean homes scattered in various neighborhoods than rooms at a central location, for example. The barriers are so great that at least one major hotel company Hilton is giving home-sharing a pass for now. The company's CEO, Chris Nassetta, says the quality, consistency and amenities that Hilton customers expect are best provided in hotels. Other hotel companies, like Marriott, say they can bring order and standards to the chaotic home-sharing market. Hotels promise perks they say Airbnb can't match: fully vetted properties, fluffy white towels and popular loyalty programs that let members use points to book homes. "The lines are beginning to blur, and depending on what kind of trip it is, sometimes a home feels better than a hotel," said Jennifer Hsieh, Marriott's vice president of customer experience. Click here to read complete article at Daily Hampshire Gazette. Daily News Delivery Join your colleagues and stay up to date on the latest Hotel industry news and trends. Subscribe 2021 Hotel News Resource Translation fails can be downright hilarious, but they sure arent funny or amusing to a business whose brand has been tarnished. What causes translations to go awry? How can global marketers avoid being lost-in-translation? 'Lost in Translation' - a commonly used expression that could also mean different things in different scenarios. To movie buffs, it's about the great 2003 romantic comedy-drama film written and directed by Sofia Coppola who won Best Original Screenplay. The leading actors Bill Murray and Scarlett Johansson also won awards for their roles. The film, shot in Tokyo, was about two people who were somewhat lost in their own lives. In a literal sense, we experience people of different language background being lost-in-translation. While on the flip side, we also get to understand that friendship needs no translation. As far as this movie 'lost-in-translation' goes, it was all for its intended fun, to add to the amusement and the comical outcome enjoyed by the audience. But in a real business world, 'lost-in-translation' can have very damaging consequences to one's reputation, which could even result in an unfavorable bottom line too. Hotel, Japan: YOU ARE INVITED TO TAKE ADVANTAGE OF THE CHAMBERMAID. Moscow hotel located across a Russian Orthodox monastery: YOU ARE WELCOME TO VISIT THE CEMETERY WHERE FAMOUS RUSSIAN AND SOVIET COMPOSERS, ARTISTS AND WRITERS ARE BURIED DAILY EXCEPT THURSDAY. Airline ticket office, Copenhagen: WE TAKE YOUR BAGS AND SEND THEM IN ALL DIRECTIONS. Most businesses promoting to multi-ethnic customers depend on translation services for creating cross-language marketing content. Understandably, this is the most economical and efficient option, instead of creating publicity literature freshly copywritten in various foreign languages. In global marketing, content localization (which is a more complex process of translation) is the ideal approach for corporate branding objectives, such as the creation of a standardised content look-and-feel, consistent layout, colour concept and use of images or illustrations for the respective language versions. In essence, the source text and design concept of the original language content are provided to translators as a form of template. These templates are then overlaid with translated text to create derivative versions in whatever target languages. Undoubtedly, translation is a service that helps simplify and expedite international business communication. However, when processes are incorrectly or incompletely applied, it can be a very expensive lesson. In extreme cases, the end-result of a marketing or publicity campaign can be downright catastrophic. Why Translations Go Awry? There are many causes and reasons that lead to poor or bad translations. This results in a localised language content that reads awkwardly or nonsensically. Bad translation occurs due to a misunderstanding of the source (original) content or the copywriter's intended pun. This is likely to be the cause in localising creative or marketing-related literature where writers are fond of using satire, colloquial slangs and figurative expressions to entice readers' interest. Erroneously translated information, due to a wrong interpretation of the original intended message, could even be life-threatening or disastrous, especially when dealing with critical instructions (read: major fails). Whichever is the outcome, it is certainly distressing for any business to have wasted time and money. Poor quality translations will definitely impact marketing efforts negatively and tarnish a company's reputation. Such failures in global marketing will cause undue embarrassment and lost opportunities. To understand why translations can go awry, we need to examine certain underlining principles: Terms of Reference vs Sense The 'Terms of Reference' of a word or phrase is the object or concept that it is meant to be ascribe to. While the 'Sense' of a word or phrase is the perception to which the word or phrase captures the reader's visual and emotion that are more prominently attached to the object or the concept. Although the 'Terms of Reference' of each word or phrase is intentionally assigned by a writer, the sense of perception of its object or concept could vary from reader to reader. This is due to a person's vocabulary, intellectual experience, level of exposure on general knowledge, language skills, etc., resulting in different people perceiving the sense of a word or phrase differently. These are the so-called nuances that are unique to each language. For example, was it something for the 'sense' to perceive as serious or funny? Was it meant as a metaphoric expression, in other words, not to be literally applicable? Language is Alive Languages are living phenomenon and cannot be regarded as black and white. Like most living things, there's going to be change, variation and influence in languages by their many compounding aspects such as, lexicon, vernacular, colloquial jargon, etc. (Read: Language is Alive!) Before World War II, a 'beetle' is understood as an insect, but subsequently, it is also understood as a car. While thirty years ago, a 'mouse' is commonly understood as a small mammal well, you get the drift. Writer's Meaning vs Audience Meaning The 'Writer's Meaning' of particular words or phrases is the intended meaning that the content was referring to. While 'Audience Meaning' is what the audience understands when reading those same words or phrases. Since the whole point in language is about communication, the primary aim is for 'Writer's Meaning' and 'Audience Meaning' to correspondingly tally up. When a source copy 'Writer's Meaning' and the translated 'Audience Meaning' fail to connect (do not match up), it is a case of 'lost-in-translation'. In other words, through the conversion into another language, it either became an unintelligible message, or a different message altogether. Resulting in a loss of understanding, while for marketing initiatives, a potential loss in revenue too. After all, when your customer does not understand what you're selling, they are less likely to buy. Being Bilingual Doesn't Qualify as a Translator In language communication, a bilingual person isn't necessarily a translator. Often times, a bilingual colleague may be called upon to perform translation. While it may seem that some cost has been saved, the outcome is questionable if that colleague is not sufficiently knowledgeable of the topic, or not qualified enough to perform a proper publishing standard and well-understood translation. It's quite obvious when we consider that professional translators must first undergo tertiary studies on linguistic, cultural and social conventions. They must also be tested and certified, as well as having attained several years of in-depth and professional involvement in a related industry. For example, having the ability to appreciate good tasting food doesn't qualify one as a good cook. While an eloquent speaker is not necessarily an eloquent writer, and vice versa. Online Translation Tools in The Wrong Hands Spell Disaster Although AI technology has improved in its deliverance for translated cross-language messages, it is far from the requirements and expectations when we are dealing with a business world. AI systems literally focus on words as a form of 'dictionary' meaning, instead of its context (the intended meaning when combined with other words). Although software can be programmed to recognize the context of words and create a translated version in another language, it's simply impossible to create a complete database of translations since there are infinite word combinations. In fact, machine translation systems were created to aid professional translators, and not to replace or make them redundant. Improper or Incomplete Source Content Due to oversight occurring in the source file, the wrong, improper or incomplete source content may have been provided for the translation workflow. Usually, these are instances where the source files sent to the translator were not the latest or did not tally with the final copy used for creating the website or printed materials. Other potential pitfalls could be due to missing words or sentences, use of colloquial slangs, jargons or coined word that are not internationally understood, use of abbreviations, text with software codes, extensive grammatical errors, SMS-type text, incorrect references, etc. Therefore, it is essentially critical that all source copy must have been thoroughly proof-checked, approved and ready, prior to releasing them for translation. Examples of Amusing & Humorous Outcomes Here are real-life translations from around the world with their respective target language versions provided as back-translations in English: In a Bangkok temple: IT IS FORBIDDEN TO ENTER A WOMAN, EVEN A FOREIGNER IF DRESSED AS A MAN. Dry cleaners, Bangkok: DROP YOUR TROUSERS HERE FOR THE BEST RESULTS. Advertisement for donkey rides, Thailand: WOULD YOU LIKE TO RIDE ON YOUR OWN ASS? Cocktail lounge, Norway: LADIES ARE REQUESTED NOT TO HAVE CHILDREN IN THE BAR. Doctors office, Rome: SPECIALIST IN WOMEN AND OTHER DISEASES. In a Nairobi restaurant: CUSTOMERS WHO FIND OUR WAITRESSES RUDE OUGHT TO SEE THE MANAGER. On the main road to Mombassa, leaving Nairobi: TAKE NOTICE: WHEN THIS SIGN IS UNDER WATER, THIS ROAD IS IMPASSABLE. In a cemetery: PERSONS ARE PROHIBITED FROM PICKING FLOWERS FROM ANY BUT THEIR OWN GRAVES. Tokyo hotel's rules and regulations: GUESTS ARE REQUESTED NOT TO SMOKE OR DO OTHER DISGUSTING BEHAVIOURS IN BED. In a Tokyo bar: SPECIAL COCKTAILS FOR THE LADIES WITH NUTS. On the menu of a Swiss restaurant: OUR WINES LEAVE YOU NOTHING TO HOPE FOR. Hotel, Yugoslavia: THE FLATTENING OF UNDERWEAR WITH PLEASURE IS THE JOB OF THE CHAMBERMAID. Hotel, Zurich: BECAUSE OF THE IMPROPRIETY OF ENTERTAINING GUESTS OF THE OPPOSITE SEX IN THE BEDROOM, IT IS SUGGESTED THAT THE LOBBY BE USED FOR THIS PURPOSE. A laundry in Rome: LADIES, LEAVE YOUR CLOTHES HERE AND SPEND THE AFTERNOON HAVING A GOOD TIME. The above are just a fraction of laughable bloopers - certainly weren't funny to the brands or businesses they were associated with. Which is your favourite one? About IPPWORLD As a Language Service Provider, IPPWORLD (http://www.ippworld.com) assists travel, hospitality and lifestyle establishments enhance their engagement strategy in global markets. We provide end-to-end Multilingual Localization and Transcreation (creative translation) solutions for website content and online booking information. Transcreation encourages higher readership amongst native-language speaking communities, helps drive conversions, grows revenue and builds brand loyalty. To understand how you can connect with your global audience through transcreation, drop us a mail at info.singapore@ippworld.com, or connect with Joanne Chan on Linkedin. Daily News Delivery Join your colleagues and stay up to date on the latest Hotel industry news and trends. Subscribe 2021 Hotel News Resource (CNN) A 36-year-old nurse has been arrested on suspicion of impregnating a woman in a vegetative state who unexpectedly gave birth last month at a Phoenix health care facility, police said Wednesday. Nathan Sutherland, a licensed practical nurse who was caring for the woman at the Hacienda HealthCare facility, has been charged with one count of sexual assault and one count of vulnerable adult abuse, according to court documents from Maricopa County Superior Court. A court order compelled Sutherland to provide a DNA sample to investigators on Tuesday, and crime lab technicians determined his DNA "matched the baby," Phoenix police Sgt. Tommy Thompson said. Sutherland was arrested on Tuesday. A judge set a cash bond at $500,000 and scheduled Sutherland's next court appearance for January 30. The nurse is being held in the Maricopa County Jail. Sutherland has "invoked his Fifth Amendment rights" and has not participated in an interview with police, Thompson said. The arrest is the latest chapter in a weekslong investigation that started when the 29-year-old woman who is not able to give consent and has been at the facility since 2002 gave birth in late December. Sutherland has worked at the facility since 2011, and investigators are trying to determine whether he assaulted anyone else, or whether this woman was assaulted more than once, Thompson said. "We owed this arrest to the victim. We owed this arrest to the newest member of our community that innocent baby," Phoenix police Chief Jeri Williams said at a news conference Wednesday. The woman's family is aware of Sutherland's arrest but declines to comment further, their attorney John Michaels said. Hacienda HealthCare said that every member of the company is "troubled beyond words to think that a ... nurse could be capable of seriously harming a patient." The arrest came two days after the facility announced, without elaboration, that one doctor who led the woman's care resigned, and another was suspended. The company did not name the doctors, and police did not mention them at their news conference. 'We had no idea she was pregnant' Caretakers of the woman were surprised by the December 29 birth, with one telling a 911 dispatcher, "We had no idea she was pregnant." The woman is a member of the San Carlos Apache Tribe and has long been in a vegetative state, the tribe's chairman has said. "The baby, I am told, is doing quite well," Thompson said, without elaborating on who is taking care of the infant. Police began investigating the case as a sexual assault because the woman cannot give consent. Hacienda was ordered to hire a third-party manager to oversee several of its facilities. Investigators received search warrants for records that helped them identify people who had access to the woman, as well as court orders to get DNA evidence from men who worked at the facility, police said. Detectives learned that Sutherland was among those responsible for caring for the woman "during the time this sexual assault occurred," leading to the court order compelling him to provide a DNA sample, Thompson said. At Sutherland's initial court appearance, Cohen explained the prosecution's decision to seek the significant cash bond. "The charges in this case are very serious, the defendant sexually assaulted a very vulnerable adult who had no capacity to resist, no capacity to cry out, no capacity to do anything other than to be subject to what the defendant did to her," Cohen said. Sutherland attorney David Gregan asked for a much lower bond, saying there was "no direct evidence that Mr. Sutherland has committed these acts," and that he anticipated that Sutherland's defense would include his own DNA expert. Sutherland, wearing a dark shirt and jacket, said nothing other than his name and date of birth. If he posts bond, Sutherland must be under house arrest and wear an electronic monitoring bracelet while awaiting trial, a judge said. Sutherland has also been ordered to stay away from the Hacienda HealthCare facility and cannot contact the victim or any witnesses involved in the case, according to the court documents. CNN has reached out to the San Carlos Apache Tribe, the Arizona Department of Health Services and the Maricopa County Attorney's Office for comment on the development. Hacienda HealthCare offers apology "Once again, we offer an apology and send our deepest sympathies to the client and her family, to the community and to our agency partners at every level," the company said in a statement Wednesday. Hacienda HealthCare said Sutherland, who had a current nursing license and had undergone an extensive background check before he was hired, was fired as soon as the company learned of his arrest. "We will do everything in our power to ensure justice in this case," the statement said, adding that Hacienda had been cooperating with investigators. "In the past two weeks, the Hacienda team has increased security measures to ensure the safety of all our patients. We will continue to do so. We also will continue to review and improve what is already an in-depth vetting process for caregivers at Hacienda. We will not tolerate any mistreatment of a Hacienda patient, nor will we stop until every Hacienda patient is as safe as we can make them." Family says woman is not in a coma CNN is not reporting the woman's name because police are investigating the case as a sexual assault. The woman's parents said in a statement Tuesday that she has "significant intellectual disabilities" but is able to move and respond to sound. "The victim's parents would like to make clear that their daughter is not in a coma," said the statement released to CNN by the attorney for the parents. "She has significant intellectual disabilities as a result of seizures very early in her childhood." The woman does not speak but has some ability to move her limbs, head and neck. She also "responds to sound and is able to make facial gestures." "She has feelings, likes to be read to, enjoys soft music and is capable of responding to people she is familiar with, especially family," the parents said. "The important thing is that she is a beloved daughter, albeit with significant intellectual disabilities." Woman has breathing and feeding tubes A doctor who gave a yearly checkup to the patient about 37 weeks before she gave birth wrote that there were no major changes in her health, according to medical records sent to an Arizona court. Medical records say the woman had an external exam April 16. A doctor noted her "firm belly" in the abdomen section. There were no notes on the forms about a pelvic exam, or urine or blood tests. The doctor had given the woman her physicals since 2009 when a court appointed her mother as legal guardian. The woman has breathing and feeding tubes, the records show. In March, she weighed 112 pounds. This story was first published on CNN.com "A nurse is accused of impregnating a woman in a vegetative state who later gave birth" Hotelogix, a cloud-based Property Management System provider has been selected as the preferred technology partner by IndonesiaAs Agata Hospitality. With Hotelogix PMS, the group aims to accomplish efficient multi-property operations. Currently, the group has adopted Hotelogix PMS at three of its properties. Hotelogix, a cloud-based Property Management System provider has been selected as the preferred technology partner by Indonesias Agata Hospitality. With Hotelogix PMS, the group aims to accomplish efficient multi-property operations. Currently, the group has adopted Hotelogix PMS at three of its properties. Agata Hospitality manages and operates 6 highly popular boutique hotels spread across scenic locations in Bali. Thanks to their top-class guest services, all of its properties have garnered good ratings and guest reviews in almost all the leading hotel booking sites. At present, Hotelogix PMS is in use at three properties of the group Umasari Rice Terrace Villa, Cepik Villa and AB Hotel. Umasari Rice Terrace Villa was the first property of the group to have adopted Hotelogix PMS early this year. Prior to implementing Hotelogix, Umasari Rice Terrace Villa carried out all their hotel operations manually. They couldnt automate their operations. They had to manually update inventory on OTAs, which was time-consuming, prone to errors and led to overbooking issues. According to Ketut Ginastra, Managing Director of Agata Hospitality, their experience with Hotelogix at Umasari was excellent. Look at our ROI in the last 9 months. Hotelogix has helped us generate 10% more bookings via both direct channels and OTAs and has led to a 20% increase in our overall revenue. This is the main reason, we have now adopted Hotelogix PMS at Cepik Villa and AB Hotel. Speaking about the multi-property capabilities of Hotelogix PMS, Ketut further said, With the single sign-on and centralized control provided by Hotelogix, managing all 3 hotels spread across locations will now become easy. I can now see property level data from anywhere and anytime I want to. Expressing his views on this, Brijesh Surendran, Vice President - Partnerships & International Business at Hotelogix said, Good to see that our PMS fulfils Agata Hospitalitys technological requirements to handle multi-property operations. We are sure that they will see similar ROI at the two newly added properties, too. We look forward to welcoming the rest of their hotels. About Hotelogix Hotelogix provides a robust cloud-based Hotel PMS that helps hotels to automate and manage their end-to-end operations with ease. It also assists hotels to drive growth, increase revenue and to enhance their online reputation. The PMS is hosted on Amazon Web Services, and thus offers the much-needed stability and security to hoteliers. The company has rich experience in serving global markets with customers in 100 plus countries including North America and Europe. Media Contact Debi Prasad Sarangi Corporate Communications Ph: +91 9986496849 Mail: debiprasad.sarangi@hotelogix.com Daily News Delivery Join your colleagues and stay up to date on the latest Hotel industry news and trends. Subscribe 2021 Hotel News Resource You are using an out of date browser. It may not display this or other websites correctly.You should upgrade or use an alternative browser Other Hosting Offers This forum is intended for web hosting companies to publish their special hosting offers for services that don't fit in any other advertising category: email, backup/storage, streaming, adult, website builder solutions, SEO hosting, etc. NOTE: 10 days of membership and 15 relevant and valuable posts are required in select community forums in order to start a thread in this forum. Non-value posts, added with the sole purpose of increasing your post count, will be deleted and infraction issued. JavaScript is disabled. For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding. You should upgrade or use an You are using an out of date browser. It may not display this or other websites correctly.You should upgrade or use an alternative browser Opinion Article 24 January 2019 Hotels worldwide are looking for technological advances to thrive in this competitive environment. As a result, many are turning to CRM systems to gain an advantage. Hotels are pouring millions of dollars into driving loyalty through guest engagement, but without reliable data and technology, many initiatives fail to deliver. While CRM can, at its core, represent so many things, CRM technology is the system hotels have in place to manage interactions with current and potential guests. The prioritization of building relationships is nothing new to the hospitality landscape. Hotel CRM technologies have taken many forms over the years as they evolved to meet modern demands of businesses and consumers alike. In industries where the customer is king (which is every industry), CRM acts as the integral connective tissue between brands and their consumers. Within the hospitality industry specifically, it seems we have been talking about and investing in creating a 360-degree view of the guest for decades. However, the unpleasant truth is that most of the legacy systems achieve the opposite impact. They create independent silos of data that hinder growth, rather than creating a cohesive and whole picture of the guest profile in an actionable way. Although CRM technology has the potential to positively transform your offering, it also has the capacity to harm your operational model if the tool fails to meet rising industry standards. Are current hotel CRMs doing more harm than good? The short answer is quite possibly, yes. While customer relationship management seems to be a simple concept, it's a complex process, particularly given the ever-evolving number of channels and systems that contribute to guest experience and data today. Relying on basic demographic data or guest history is no longer enough to connect to the modern traveler. With credit to social media, hoteliers have a new array of sources to obtain guest data from, and forge unique guest relationships. Social media platforms also act as preferred channels of expression, meaning they offer valuable insight into personal preferences and more (who each guest is, why they stay at a hotel, booking behaviors, social influence, reviews, etc.). This means a truly effective CRM technology must offer the capacity to access data from disparate and growing sources and make the insights available in a user-friendly way. When hoteliers learn about their guests, they should anticipate their guests' needs and fulfill them. Otherwise, hoteliers fall victim to incomplete/improper segmentation and lose the ability to properly understand guests that offer the most value to their hotel or provide relevant and personalized marketing and context. Effectively, by using most antiquated CRMs, hoteliers miss out on vital aspects of the guest experience and conversation. It is also important for CRM systems to consistently and automatically update information, to ensure hoteliers aren't relying on outdated data to inform their marketing efforts and reach guests. With accurate information at their disposal, hoteliers can then begin the process of attaching meaning to that information developing insight-driven strategies to effectively reach guests at the right time, through the right channel and with the right messaging. With the recent implementation of GDPR, privacy concerns are top of mind for hoteliers eager to stay within the industry's new, prescribed limitations. CRM databases cannot provide valuable data if that data is collected without explicit permissions - it's important for CRM technology to employ effective communication prompts for privacy requirements. In today's customer-centric world, one of the most essential aspects of your CRM should be its ability to integrate seamlessly with other systems, both existing and those yet to be developed. A hotel's operational model is much like an ecosystem and requires various moving parts (and technologies) to work together in alignment. If a hotelier is using their CRM platform as a standalone system, they're not only creating more work for themselves, but they aren't tapping into the potential of CRM. Data is useless without context, and the integration of other integral systems with a CRM platform provides that context and a complete picture of each guest. It's critical your CRM system can connect with your existing technology, whilst also offering a user-friendly process to ensure there is no barrier to adoption for new staff. The bottom line - CRM is a powerful piece of software for any hotel. You can use it to correctly segment your guests in order to market your property, upsell products and services, and engage with new and existing guests. Just make sure you choose to move past traditional CRM systems to a product that allows your property to holistically view the true portrait of a guest - across all channels - and to engage with them in the right place, at the right moment, to drive both connection and conversion. Opinion Article 24 January 2019 Big data. We've all heard and talked about it. Big data is a major component of every industry and hospitality is not an exception. Knowing how to recognize and utilize big data to your company's advantage unlocks great amounts of power. However, having access to data is one thing, but to maximize big data, it needs to be actionable and clearly defined in a detailed data strategy. Take children for example - we all have been a child and many of us have raised one. Let's use a metaphor of a child playing in a room and when you arrive, it's a complete mess with toys, books, and clothing everywhere.You immediately start thinking of how to clean up the mess into an organized state. This is how many of today's data points look if they're not structured properly and well managed. Without organization of any form, big data is one gigantic room with data points scattered around and thrown everywhere - it's a big data problem and it's time to clean up. Big Data Problem There are many reasons for data problems to occur, but one of the biggest ones is simply from low maturity and low value of treating the data. While big data has been around for quite some time now, the hospitality industry is still at a low level of maturity in comparison to other industries when handling data. The combination of silos between systems and technologies, large amounts of unstructured data, and legacy systems, hinders the hospitality industry from advancing and taking advantage of this valuable resource and deploying big data management. In order to resolve these barriers, companies must endure high integration costs, as well as allocate additional resources, money and time which could be spent on other important matters. Data Value Other industries have understood the value of data for quite some time now, but the hospitality industry is just getting started. Could we be too late? Understanding the value of data and creating a data strategy takes not only time, but also effort and investment. For a better grasp of the data status in the hospitality industry, it is possible to look at the industry through four ways: the industry average, mid-sized/larger groups, smart groups, and external industry influences, the "tech titans". Data Silos - Industry Average The industry average is made up of mostly groups and independent hotels with legacy data and technology-based thinking. These hotels tend to use premise-based technology, have invested less in technology solutions and generally have a lower value assigned to data. When it comes to the level of data sophistication among industry average hotels, they have the tools to only conduct basic data reporting. Given that these hotels are predominately still using on-premise legacy technologies with little integration, data silos are naturally created due to the tendency for systems to retain their data and causes difficulty in sending data from A to B with little hope of any type of data analysis. It's a well-known fact that hospitality organizations deal with many more systems besides PMS, including CRS, GDSs, OTAs, POS, and more. Hotels have data stockpiled in operational systems, secondary platforms like online travel agency partners, and tertiary platforms for functions like SaaS systems or messaging. Attempting to pull all of these different types of data into an actionable format that hoteliers can use is difficult, especially when some third parties produce data and are not inclined to easily share data. Furthermore, integration costs between operational systems, secondary platforms, and tertiary platforms still remain high and the industry suppliers still do not cooperate easily. Data Lakes - Mid-sized/Larger Groups Returning to the child metaphor, progress in cleaning up a room and managing un/structured data can be looked at as a data lake management problem. While improvements have been made, it's great you know where your data is, all you've done is moved it into the closet or child's toy box and there are still many steps to be taken to convert that data into information or knowledge. Hotels that fall under this category tend to be mid-sized to larger hotel groups who understand that data has value. They have invested more than the industry average in technology, including cloud solutions, and have a data strategy that is evolving. Essentially, data lakes, as mentioned in our article explaining hospitality data platforms, copy data from one place to another, but the data is left in its source format. While the data becomes centralized, it is still difficult to index the data and find what you are looking for when the data is left in un/structured forms. While not impossible to find and manage, you need to use a variety of tools and systems to work with the data you need. Data lakes act as a temporary storage solution to the data management problem. They also begin to address challenges of integration and data silos, but they don't completely fix the issue. Hotels under the data lakes scenario are able to produce basic reporting as well as report aggregation and data warehousing. Wouldn't you want to maximize your hotel data in a strategic, organized way that allows the to use of data analysis to make better business decisions? Returning to the metaphor, wouldn't you want your child to have always have a clean and organized room that they are happy about, you are happy about, and allows your child to have free time for fun with friends and family? Enter the data hub. Data Hubs - Smart Groups Data hubs are one solution that the smart groups of the hospitality industry who place a high value on data, have utilized to help properly collect, harmonize and prepare data for deeper analysis and mining. These hotels and groups are rare to the industry and have realized this high value of data is the key to understanding the customer, the business and how to get ahead of their competitors. Smart groups see technology investments as a business differentiator and have developed a mature data strategy. With their investments and full understanding of the value of data, smart groups are able to perform data aggregation, predictive analytics and deep mining, which extends their knowledge and capabilities well beyond the average in the industry. No matter the size of your company, whether you're a multibrand chain or independent property, data hubs allow for businesses to optimize processes, increase their technology ROI and generate keen customer insights through effective data management. Here at SnapShot, we're evolving our data strategy to a data hub model to collect and harmonize data. We also offer the ability to move, abstract, and build on top of your data with advanced analysis and data visualization. By incorporating a data hub into your data strategy, your hotel begins to open up to even more capabilities for next level data management, such as AI operations, machine learning, and predictive analytics Gatekeepers - Tech Titans Tech titans like Apple, Amazon, Google, and Facebook, have paved the way for the tech industry and continue to do so today. However, they have increasingly begun to pay more and more attention to the hospitality industry and see data as part of the product. With advanced technology solutions, the dominant players are the big consumer tech companies, or gatekeepers, as we call them, control devices and what customers receive for searches. The control that the gatekeepers possess will extend to the types of content they require for ad ranking and placement and how hotels are presented to customers. They are the gatekeepers to access the data of your own guests and they already have a deep understanding of them. They will own your customer unless you have your own data strategy. As Arne Sorenson, CEO of Marriott International, so rightly said, "We are in an absolute war for who owns the customer." Tech titans are not only dominating control to information, but also see data as their product. These companies do not want to own or manage hotel, but instead they want a piece of the value chain in filling hotels - many services that are traditionally delivered by brands will shift to vendors offering convenient consolidation to consumers, and they are already using advanced technologies to mine the data they already have. There are countless examples of how the tech titans are becoming more involved in the hospitality industry. Amazon has launched Alexa for Hospitality for hotel rooms, and booking a room through Alexa won't be long to follow. Google Travel is also involved in the industry by combining mapping, search, and hospitality data. Alibaba's online travel platform Fliggy and their Alipay payment platform are driving the need for implementing their payment type outside of China. You can even book a room through Facebook's Instagram app now, not to mention the number of Instagram ads and social media posts about hotels. The tech titans don't stop there. All functions that are device-driven give an advantage to the device vendors who own the consumer's actions when they own their device. Loyalty cards can be tracked by app vendors like iTravel, which can also offer incentives to use Apple Pay or Google Wallet and risk devaluation of the brand loyalty. Hotel brands that are among the industry average or semi-aware can resist the changes, but it will be futile and at a cost. Consumers are self-driving this trend and the tech titans know that. It's rare time that hospitality players realize the value of data and how it is driving the industry. Data Strategy Imagine a world where you have the ability to predict your guest's future purchases, wants and needs. Predictive analysis is achieved when full advantage of data is taken and applied through a combination of algorithms and machine learning to make predictions of which future outcomes are most likely. Many technology companies are already adept to predicting the next product a consumer wants to buy and then serve it up as a recommendation. For example, Amazon's recommendation engine is estimated to generate more than one-third of its consumer purchases by using artificial intelligence to identify, rank, and serve up the most appropriate product recommendations. But what would happen if Amazon decided to start selling hotel rooms using this knowledge? In order to get to this ultimate goal of predictive analysis, it is imperative to implement a strong data strategy. In hospitality, companies are beginning to link predictive analytics with geolocation data to deliver effective recommendations on-property and in real-time through mobile applications. For instance, a hotel company is piloting a program to drive ancillary revenues through the use of next-product-to-buy algorithms. The predictive analytics revolution in hospitality has only just begun as more and more new players are entering the playing field and accelerating innovation with a data strategy. It's not as simple as purchasing new technology to accomplish predictive analysis. You can't tell a child to clean up their room one time and expect a perfectly tidy room from then on - maintaining a data strategy is a hard work. By identifying the issue and navigating through all three stages from data silos to harmonized un/structured data, hotels can begin to achieve the same predictive analysis that other technology giants have. However, designing a data strategy is easier said than done. To begin with, a data management program needs to be put in place where the development, execution, and supervision of all plans and programs that will deliver, control, and enhance the value of data and information are managed. However, that's not the final result smart organizations are aiming to achieve. Data are discrete elements. Data evolves into information from linking these accessible data elements which leads to data exploration. Once the data and information are managed and available for exploration, you can then build data strategy by design as an extension of the basic data management program. During this deliberate design phase, the focus of an organization is not on the quantity of data, but on the quality. This drives an organizational maturity by treating information as an invaluable and strategic company asset. Having reached the strategic asset level, information can drive knowledge which enables data driven decision making, multiple sources of truth, new informational dimensions and opens new opportunities for mining the rich data and information sets. Beyond the knowledge level, the next step in data is wisdom, whereby organizational maturity reaches a point of applied data knowledge. Data wisdom is highly qualitative with active resources being constantly applied and is central to the core decision making process. Data wisdom is discoverable, minable and becomes available for applied predictive analytics and machine learning. We are no longer talking about simple reporting aggregation and revenue optimization, but about treating data as a science. Such data maturity, when used as a competitive differentiator, can ultimately enable an organization to become an industry leader. While the value of data has evolved tremendously over the past 20 years - and business users recognize it - few companies have adjusted their approaches to capturing, sharing, and managing corporate data assets. Their behavior reflects an outdated, underlying belief that data is simply an application by product. Organizations need to create tailored data strategies that match today's realities. To build such a comprehensive data strategy, they need to account for current business and technology commitments, while also addressing new goals and objectives. Which side of the revolution do you want to be on? Will you still be the child in your messy room or have an organized mess? Or are you ready to enter the new frontier of predictive analysis and AI operations with central repository of harmonized data? Join us in our journey to bring the hospitality industry up to the level of the technology giants, where it truly belongs. Press Release 24 January 2019 Chris Nader, Vice President - Development, Shaza Hotels, made a special presentation to a large audience of hotel owners and investors about 'Mysk by Shaza' at the Saudi Arabia Hotel Investment Conference (SHIC) in Riyadh. Mysk was voted the winner of The Three Minute Pitch out of the 16 leading brands that participated in the session open for owners and investors only. Advertisements Emphasising on the brand's unique personality inspired by the Arabian lifestyle, Chris said, "Mysk by Shaza has been designed to provide a distinct guest experience combined with a compelling investment proposition to owners. A significantly lower cost of development per key than expected for such a quality upscale hotel, better back of house efficiencies, reduced staff to key ratio and stronger ADR (Average Daily Rate) versus the competition allow us to deliver a strong return on investment." Speaking about expansion in KSA, Chris stated, "Saudi Arabia is a priority market for us with 35 per cent of our portfolio located in the country and SHIC is an excellent platform to showcase our latest brand offering to hotel owners and investors. We have operated in the Kingdom with great success since the launch of our first 5-star property Shaza Al Madina and thereafter expanded to Makkah, Riyadh and will soon be open in Jeddah." The recent reforms and widespread investment in Saudi Arabia's tourism's sector are driving demand for a new generation of hotels and Mysk by Shaza is ideally suited for the market given its innovative concept and compelling brand proposition. Chris stressed, "The upscale segment is one of the fastest growing sectors in KSA and represents a massive opportunity for us that we are eager to capitalise on. As the leading alcohol-free brand in the luxury and upscale segment that proudly celebrates the Arabian hospitality, we are well placed to unlock the enormous potential for growth in Saudi Arabia while accelerating expansion in primary and secondary cities." A member of the Global Hotel Alliance, Mysk by Shaza has a strong development pipeline with fabulous hotels coming up in the UAE and Kuwait in addition to its hugely successful flagship hotel Mysk Al Mouj in Oman. Press Release 24 January 2019 London - Melia Hotels International, Spain's largest hotel brand, has announced the evolution of the INNSiDE by Melia portfolio at this year's FITUR - Spain's International Tourism Trade Fair, which takes place in Madrid, 23-27 January 2019. INNSiDE has been previously renowned for its centrally-located, urban lifestyle hotels in Europe. Advertisements 2019 will see INNSiDE by Melia expand to include resort destinations, to bring a stronger leisure and wellness offering to its portfolio. With the reinvention of INNSiDE, the Spanish hotel brand is adapting its business strategy to captivate the younger generation of business and leisure travellers, taking the brand from urban into resort destinations. Melia Hotels International is the only group out of the 20 leading global hotel companies that was initially founded in leisure, and 50 per cent of its business remains in the resort sector. The group has recognised an opportunity to target millennials in the mid-scale lifestyle category by expanding into resort-led destinations, where the lines between work and leisure are becoming more fluid. Consumers are looking for flexibility and freedom when they travel, and ultimately hotel brands that fit seamlessly with their lifestyle. INNSiDE will boast 22 hotels, with plans to expand into resort locations in Europe and Indonesia, including Fuerteventura, Mallorca and Bali, as well as urban locations in Asia, Europe and the Middle East. Relaunching in 2019, INNSiDE by Melia will offer a range of design-led lifestyle and resort hotels, to give guests more freedom to relax and explore, whether they are travelling for work or leisure. The brand will focus its strategy on sustainability, holistic bleisure, music and local culture, to introduce initiatives that target millennials. The properties will provide a space and place that embraces the local culture and creates environments where guests can work, workout, rest and play. To encourage them to discover new neighbourhoods, guests will have access to INNSiDE city guides, with local sights and wellness tips. Photo: Melia SUSTAINABILITY INNSiDE by Melia is set to be a flagship for sustainability for Melia Hotels International. The new brand will use recyclable materials throughout properties, work with hyper-local suppliers and guarantee no single-use plastic. The launch of the refreshed INNSiDE at FITUR will feature #TheArtofECO, an art installation by sustainable Spanish artist Jorge Penades. The installation will be created entirely from plastics collected from guests at INNSiDE Palma Bosque, supplemented by additional plastics contributed by attendees of FITUR. INNSiDE will be the leading brand on the Melia Hotels International stand at FITUR, which will be built to emulate the interior of the new hotels. The stand will host talks and workshops on sustainability, alongside #TheArtofECO. HOLISTIC BLEISURE The lifestyle hotels will provide spaces to disconnect and rest body and mind, with state-of-the-art fitness suites, the latest digital fitness software and on-site swimming pools. Daily Yoga classes will be available at beach locations and weekly at urban locations. DJs will play throughout the lobby and poolside, from noon to night. Rooms will be renovated to provide cosy in-room amenities, including bathrobes, slippers and flip-flops, a luxurious coffee machine, complimentary minibar, with fresh juices and local beer. Smeg fridges will be available to Superior+ guests, packed full of healthy treats, drinks and snacks. Superior+ rooms will also have high-end sound systems, complimentary streaming services and complimentary bike rental to encourage guests to explore the local area. Guests will be able to relax in a hammock in resort locations or a hanging chair in urban destinations. All properties will have open lobby spaces for meetings, whether social or business, as well as boasting creative meeting room spaces including a cinema, wellness studio and recording studio, which can be hired for events and functions. For further information visit: www.melia.com@innside_by_melia Press Release 24 January 2019 Expansion of the competitive position: With an 51% investment in the family-run Zleep Hotels, Deutsche Hospitality is bringing a fifth hotel brand under the umbrella of the global player, thus creating the best possible conditions for further growth of all brands. Advertisements The umbrella brand Deutsche Hospitality combines four well-known hotel brands: Steigenberger Hotels and Resorts, MAXX by Steigenberger, Jaz in the City and IntercityHotel. With the Zleep Hotels brand, Deutsche Hospitality is expanding its product offering, entering the economy market and expanding into Scandinavia for the first time. "Zleep Hotels are the perfect complement to our brand portfolio," explains Thomas Willms, CEO, Deutsche Hospitality. "Peter Haaber, the founder and CEO of Zleep Hotels, has created a remarkable success story in the past few years in establishing a well-known brand among those guests who are price-conscious but at the same time emphasize on design and quality during their hotel stay. With their strong presence in Scandinavia, Zleep Hotels are the ideal partner for the further growth of Deutsche Hospitality", Willms continues. With Zleep Hotels, Deutsche Hospitality is not only further expanding its competitive position in Central Europe, but is also beginning its market entry into Scandinavia. Ten hotels in Denmark and one hotel in Sweden are currently part of the Zleep Hotels portfolio, and four more are in the planning stage. Both parties, Deutsche Hospitality and Zleep, will invest a multi-digit million amount in the further development of the company. Zleep also offers the platform and the knowledge for Deutsche Hospitality to expand in Northern Europe with all brands. CEO Peter Haaber will strengthen the success of Zleep within the brand family of Deutsche Hospitality: "Zleep's vision is to always deliver quality, service and design at a great rate for the many. Since our founding in 2003, Zleep has developed into a well-known and successful hotel brand in Scandinavia. The cooperation with Deutsche Hospitality enables us to gain a foothold in Central Europe in particular. So the different brands complement each other perfectly and we can develop together." With the planned Zleep Hotels, the portfolio of Deutsche Hospitality currently includes almost 150 hotels on three continents 30 of which are in the pipeline. Industry Update Appointment 24 January 2019 Stephen Morahan Appointed General Manager At The Tasman, a Luxury Collection Hotel in Hobart, Australia Stephen steps into his new role with over 10 years' experience at Marriott International. His career commenced in 2006 in food and beverage at Sheraton Noosa Resort & Spa and has taken him across Australia and Thailand to properties including Sheraton Grand Sydney Hyde Park, Westin Siray Bay Phuket and Le Meridien Chiang Rai. His most recent role as General Manager at Aloft Perth saw him manage the successful opening of the Australian-first hotel. This experience will be invaluable in his new role at The Tasman, a Luxury Collection Hotel, Hobart, scheduled to open in 2020, which will mark Marriott International's debut in Tasmania and the first Luxury Collection-branded hotel in Australia. Marriott International, Inc. Marriott International, Inc. (NASDAQ: MAR) is based in Bethesda, Maryland, USA, and encompasses a portfolio of more than 7,600 properties under 30 leading brands spanning 133 countries and territories. more information Recent Appointments at Marriott Alex Dallocchio - General Manager 18 June 2021 The Westin London City is delighted to announce the appointment of Alex Dallocchio as General Manager to mark the debut of Westin Hotels & Resorts in the UK. Dallocchio joins the 222-key property, which is due to open this September, with over 20 years' experience within the international hospitality sector. read more David Martins - Director of Sales & Marketing 16 June 2021 The St. Regis Washington, D.C. is thrilled to announce the appointment of David Martins as Director of Sales & Marketing. In this role, Martins will be overseeing all sales, marketing and catering efforts for the iconic luxury hotel prominently located just steps away from the White House. read more Appointment 24 January 2019 As director of rooms, Chidiac is responsible for overseeing all rooms division functions at Raffles Dubai. With 15 years of managerial experience in luxury hospitality, she joins the property from the Arlo Soho hotel in New York City, where she was director of rooms and a pre-opening team member since March 2016. She started her career as an assistant housekeeping manager for the Parker Meridien in New York, and worked her way up in landmark properties in the city including Jumeirah Essex House Hotel (now Marriott), Fairmont The Plaza, Hilton Fashion District, The Manhattan Affinia Collection, where she oversaw refurbishments in all properties. Chidiac holds a Bachelor of Arts in Tourism & Hotel Management from the University of Balamand in Lebanon. W ith their move to Frogmore Cottage on the horizon, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex's preparations for their new family home are underway and the pair are understood to be making environmentally friendly decor choices. Not only have they installed a 50,000 green boiler in their new home, but Prince Harry and Meghan Markle are also using a vegan paint brand to decorate their baby's nursery, according to the Sun. Meghan is a well-known animal lover and is a patron of Mayhew animal welfare centre in London, which she visited last week. As well as being cruelty-free, the Auro paint, supplied by The Organic & Natural Paint Co, is also non-toxic and eco-friendly. What is vegan paint and where to find it Some house paints use casein a protein derived from milk or beeswax as a binding agent, while many use ingredients that have been tested on animals. Vegan paints avoid these products and do not use animal testing. The Organic & Natural Paint Co was set up by father-of-two Chris Ridley in 2012, after he researched which paints would not aggravate his family's asthma. Using non-toxic paint is a popular choice for parents-to-be who are often worried about Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs). Ridley says that VOCs are released into the air as the paint dries and can trigger allergies such as asthma. Auro's wall paint is vegan and safe for children Its the only brand I wanted to use myself, because of my own childrens breathing difficulties. Natural paints can change the lives of people with these allergies. How will Frogmore Cottage be decorated? Meghan is understood to have chosen a gender-neutral colour scheme for the nursery. It is believed she has employed the services of celebrity interior designer Vicky Charles. Charles, who worked for Soho House for 20 years, has previously styled Soho Farmhouse and The Ned. Soho Farmhouse: Meghan has reportedly appointed interior designer Vicky Charles to decorate The rustic-look Soho Farmhouse, a favourite location of the Duchess, was the setting of her three-day hen do in 2018. It is on the same Cotswolds estate as Harry and Meghan's countryside bolthole. The Western saloonlike the European coffeehouse or colonial tavernwas an institution, an all-male preserve where a man could go for a few drinks with buddies and indulge in games of chance and fighting as side dishes. Forget the Gunsmoke portrayal of Dodge Citys Long Branch Saloon as the domain of Miss Kitty. Women were generally not permitted in saloons. A man could always find a willing partner in a dance hall, of which there were a few in every saloon district, but if he would rather just share a drink with a woman in private, hed find his way to a wine room attached to a saloon. Each saloon boasted its special amenitieswell-ventilated rooms, meals at all hours, choice whiskies, Havana cigarsbut by the 1870s few had set aside a space for women such as the nook in the Palace Beer Hall in Denison, Texas, which advertised in the May 18, 1877, Daily News that its wine room, which has recently been fitted up, is nicely furnished. Proprietor Louis Libbie was reportedly the first in north Texas to cater to women. Westerners did not invent the term wine room. A traditional feature of exclusive private clubs back East, wine rooms were tony parlors where gentlemen could enjoy fine liquors and cigars while discussing the days topics. The wine room of the New York Democratic Club, as described in 1902 by the New-York Tribune, was the only place where democracy ever seems to reign supreme in the club, where Supreme Court justices rubbed elbows with policemen, horse trainers and lawyers of shady reputation, and where high-rollers would periodically treat everyone in the room, announcing, Well, boys, whatll you have on me? Western wine rooms sought a more gender-inclusive mix of clientele. The name itself was a way of circumventing Victorian strictures against women in saloons without driving off male customers or incurring the wrath of moral uplifters. Few men of the era expected or particularly wanted to turn around at a public bar to find a woman hoisting one beside him. With that in mind, some entrepreneurial proprietors fixed up wine rooms out back for female drinkers. Saloons with a second story were able to accommodate upstairs wine rooms. Either way, that section of the establishment was accessible through a separate door, posted as the Family Entrance or Ladies Entrance, which typically opened on an alley. Proprietors pitched them as an option for respectable people averse to entering by the front door. In 1904 one liberated young woman explained the appeal of the ladies entrance to a Chicago Chronicle reporter: How is a girl ever to begin coming to the saloon if there isnt a side entrance? Its like this: Girls have got to have a good time. They go to the family entrance of some saloon with some boy they know to get a glass of beer or maybe of soda. They see the dancing. He says, Lets try it. She thinks there is no harm in dancing with him, and there you are. That was what I did. Conservative lawmen of the era didnt buy the euphemism or such naive explanations. Theyre hellthats what they are, one officer declared. Many others concurred. There are several ways by which a young woman can go down the toboggan slide into the depths, one Kansas paper editorialized. There is no quicker and surer way than by the wine-room route. While upscale wine rooms might appeal to Victorian propriety, lower-end places were little more than glorified prostitution cribs attached to saloons. One Texas officer described the worst of the worst to a Fort Worth Telegram reporter. Carpeted with sawdust, the establishment was split into closet-sized spaces by partitions little taller than a man that offered a modicum of privacy. How one might exploit that privacy was up to the customer. The trend quickly spread to cities across the regionFort Worth, Dodge City, Denver, Los Angelesany town with a vice district and a sizable female population. Many proprietors discovered their male clientele preferred to imbibe wine or claret rather than whiskey or beer and, like the ladies, preferred to share drinks in more discreet surroundings than the public barroom. While the newspaper cynics might make fun of wine-bibbers, no profit-minded saloonkeeper could ignore the increasing market segment. You see, wine is gradually taking the place of beer among a certain class of drinkers, one Chicago barkeep confided to a reporter in 1885. Its only a trifle more expensive than beerthat is, California wine isand the men you meet in a wine room are a much better class of people than you find in lager-beer saloons. The Western wine room was never meant for connoisseurs. Most barkeeps didnt know a Bordeaux from a Chablis, nor did their customers. The wine served was often adulterated with glucose, caramel, even coal tar. There are tricks in all trades, explained the same Chicago barkeep, but most of the doctored stuff is the high-priced beverage that comes from Europe. The California wines are generally purer, butthey are not old enough [matured]. Recognizing a good thing, saloon proprietors devoted ever more space to wine rooms. Saloons built around the turn of the century often included them in the floor plan. In a typical layout, a single closed door at the rear of the barroom led to a hallway. Off the hallway were several rooms, each equipped with a table and chairs, perhaps a sofa, some with enough floor space for dancing. A door at the other end of the hallway served as the ladies entrance. A bartender or waiter used the door between the barroom and hallway to deliver drinks and food to patrons. Of course, they were always discreet and knocked before entering any wine room. After indoor plumbing became the norm, wine rooms had their own water closets, more for the comfort of female patrons. Mixing men and women in private rooms within a saloon produced two predictable results: 1) trysts, and 2) violence. The second naturally was related to the first. In 1889 a Dallas poet published an ode to El Paso Mame in the Dallas Morning News. Mame was no innocent but a frequenter of wine rooms, a boon companion of their hellish brood who carried a knife that would square an insult with a lifeand blood. The poem ends with Mame laying down her life to save a young woman lured to a wine room by a pair of ruffians. The girl was saved, but poor Mame lay dead. The ode was as much a moral lesson as an expose of what transpired in wine rooms. Others would write about them in far less romanticized terms. Violence was a byproduct of the fact that on occasion drinking partners of the opposite sex were either married or attachedto others. Court records indicate that among the clientele were husbands seeking a little extracurricular activity and wives seeking to escape unhappy marriages. If the partner of either showed up, trouble was sure to erupt. On June 19, 1901, Fort Worth railroad foreman Henry Moore tracked wife Emma to a wine room in that burgs red-light district, known as Hells Half Acre, or simply the Acre. There he found her in the company of one H.H. Russell. Henry pistol-whipped the lovers, shot both to death, then calmly surrendered to police. Such incidents gave wine rooms their growing reputation as dens of iniquity. Flagstaff, Arizona Territory, among other towns, passed an ordinance specifically barring any prostitute, courtesan or lewd woman from its wine roomswhich of course was their very reason for being. Wine rooms triggered other transgressions besides murder and fornication. Set up for a secluded rendezvous with a not-so-respectable woman, a man of means could be easily drugged and robbed. One out-of-town jeweler visiting Fort Worth one Saturday night woke up the next morning with a massive headache to find his companion of the prior evening had robbed him of $150 in jewelry and $10 in cash. The woman, he complained, had accosted him at his cups in the wine room and asked him to buy her a drink. Being of gallant disposition, reported the Morning Register, he shared a drink or two with her. Suddenly feeling woozy, he asked the bartender to summon a carriage to return him to his hotel. The man told police he wouldnt be able to identify the woman, then left town hurriedly. Police in towns across the region registered scores of similar complaints. Sometimes women were the victim. In 1902 an unidentified woman who had slipped into a wine room out back of Henry OHaras Chicago saloon for a tryst with two men was subsequently found beaten and strangled. Police determined shed been drugged and then killed. From her fashionable attire, the Chicago Journal reported, officers concluded she was not accustomed to such places. By the turn of the century Fort Worth authorities had come to the conclusion the wine room evil was even more serious than the saloon problem that had long caused so much anguish. Drinking, gambling and fighting, they seemed to have decided, were less of a threat to society than the debauchery that went on in those back rooms. On the night of Sept. 20, 1902, Fort Worth Officer Sebe Maddox rescued two 12-year-old girls from a wine room in the wrong part of town. The girls claimed theyd been enticed by a mystery woman whod promised them lunch and a glass of soda water. Once there, however, shed plied them with beer, and thats when officers arrived on the scene. The girls story was obviously preposterous, but it raised the alarm level. From almost every city comes the news that the custom of saloon-drinking by women is growing, reported the Chicago Chronicle in 1904. Despairing of their state or territorial legislatures doing anything, some cities passed ordinances further restricting or even prohibiting wine rooms. Saloon owners, bartenders unions, wholesale liquor dealers and anyone else who profited from such establishments fought the new laws. But the handwriting was on the wall. Soon cities across the West began cracking down on wine rooms. Police mounted raids, rounding up everyone they found. As such raids collared as many men as women, authorities surmised there was a lot more than drinking going on behind closed doors. That in turn led them to consider any woman found in a wine room a lewd woman. The accused typically offered a seemingly innocent explanation for her presence. In one 1908 court case reported in Oregons Morning Astorian, a woman observed entering a wine room claimed shed stopped in to use the lavatory, while her companion said he was merely chatting with the barkeeper. The prosecution questioned the womans credibility based on the fact she had sauntered into the place and stepped right into the wine room as if she was very much at home. By criminal justice standards of the day that was considered direct evidence of guilty intention. Despite the best efforts of prosecuting attorneys, however, the all-male juries of the day were not always willing to convict violators under the applicable ordinances. Thus police court appearances were often a roll of the dice for prosecutors. Drinking, gambling and fighting, authorities seemed to have decided, were less of a threat to society than the debauchery that went on in those back rooms State authorities took the initiative against wine rooms in Texas. In 1905 the 29th Legislature introduced a bill that would prohibit gambling and wine rooms in saloons and altogether ban women and minors from entering. Spurred on by prohibitionists, the Legislature also debated raising the licensing fee on saloons to a level that would effectively drive many small operators out of business. The bill divided saloon owners into two camps: those able to afford such amenities, and those who could not. A spokesman for Fort Worths small operators told the Evening Telegram, Its not fair to discriminate against the small saloon man, many of whom do not permit even dominoes to be played or keep a wine room or gambling hall, in favor of the saloonkeeper who has plenty of means. The most problematic loophole in state law was that it was not a crime for a woman to enter a saloon or even have a few drinks. One afternoon in early 1906 the proprietor of Fort Worths Senate Saloon was shocked when two well-dressed ladies sauntered in and said, Give us a drink, bartender. When he refused, they protested vigorously before leaving in a huff. He told the Telegram that while the women were within their rights, so was he to refuse service for reasons of propriety. Caught between the uplifters and the law, authorities declined to get involved in what they deemed a civil matter. That summer Police Chief James Maddox flatly stated he would not bother about wine rooms or their visitors as long as they do not violate city lawin other words, as long as they didnt stray into the realm of disorderly houses. The Telegram wryly observed, [County prosecutor] R.E.L. Roy says it is up to the police, the police say it is up to the county prosecutor and the sheriff, and the sheriffs department says it is not up to them unless a complaint is filed. It was as slick a case of passing the buck as ever seen. Apparently, however, the heat ultimately got to the police, as that September they commenced raiding the citys wine rooms and jailing any women apprehended. The city fathers seemed resolved to drawing the gender line at the saloon door. Question was, by what authority? Illicit trysts and public drunkenness were against the law, but it remained perfectly legal for a woman to enter a saloon. Making a case against one quietly drinking in the private back room of a saloon would prove very difficult indeed. The pushback against wine rooms lacked teeth. Later that year, however, back-to-back political decisions put Fort Worth wine rooms on a death spiral. The first was the citys adoption of the commission form of government, whose charter included strong prohibitions against saloons. The second was the Legislatures adoption of the Baskin-McGregor Law, which specifically prohibited serving liquor to women in wine rooms, tolerating lewd women in any saloonor employing women, except for a wife or direct relative. The traditionalists argument, succinctly expressed in a letter to the Dallas Morning News, that a saloon is a public place in which a man sells liquor to all who wish to buy no longer held sway. The twin measures put wine rooms squarely in the sights of both state and local authorities. Wine rooms were now under the jurisdiction of county courts, and city police were under strict orders to shut them down. The only remaining question was where violators would be prosecutedcounty court or police court. Despite the renewed offensive against wine rooms, they continued to operate in Hells Half Acre and other vice districts on the QT, though no longer under the pretense they were a concession to gender equality. They were now widely regarded as alternatives to cribs, the quickie houses of prostitution that once crammed the side streets off lower Rusk. In some eyes they were worse than cribs precisely because of their clientele. Decent women didnt work in cribs, and decent men didnt patronize them. Wine rooms, however, were Exhibit A in many a good womans downfall. To these places they are frequently taken by their companions and given liquor until their senses are deadened, wrote an 1898 committee tasked with addressing the problem, after which the evil design is accomplished. According to Harry Seay, an advocate of designated saloon districts, wine rooms were also the cause of more divorces on the grounds of infidelity than probably any other instrumentality. In a lengthy 1906 letter to the Dallas City Council, reprinted in the Morning News, he said the wine room was the last stop on a slippery slope that began with a housewife sending to a saloon for drinks, then going herself, at first stopping at the door to collect her merchandise, but then coming inside and finally finding her way to the wine room. Once there, the Telegram chimed in, ruin will surely follow! Wine rooms as trysting places were still common in Hells Half Acre in the years following the 1907 uproar. As long as they were confined to that sordid district, however, police tolerated them, as they did illegal gambling. The Acre was an unofficial reservation, where vice laws were suspended in the name of progressive law enforcement. But even that began to change in 1909 when the city moved to clean it up, first ordering saloons out of the district, then ordering out lewd women. While that dried up business in the Acre, beginning its long slide to irrelevance, there was plenty of vice still to be found in Fort Worth. Elsewhere across the region wine rooms became the objects of muckraking exposes in big-city newspapers. The reports provided detailed descriptions of the establishments, such as Frank Goings saloon and wine room in Los Angeles, which operated on the ground floor of the most prominent brick structure in the district, with a hotel occupying the two floors above. Investigative reporters with the Los Angeles Herald described the entrance to the wine room through a side door with a curtained glass upper sash. Inside was a sort of central aisle with curtained booths on both sides, each furnished with a table and seats. Another doorway opened to the saloon, while a private stairway led up to the hotel. The reporters witnessed men entering booths with girls still in their teens. A waiter from the barroom brought rounds of drinks, with which the men plied the girls before enticing them upstairs. The reporters ended their account there, presumably to spare the tender sensibilities of their readers. The point was clear: Wine rooms branded saloons with the sin of fornication, contributing more to their unsavory reputation than all the drinking that went on at the bar. Prohibition and ratification of the 18th Amendment in 1919 and the defiant flapper phenomenon of the 1920s finally put an end to wine rooms. The law closed all legal saloons for 14 years, and by the time they reopened in 1933, women were standing alongside men at the bar, a cigarette in one hand, a drink in the other. Today it seems hard to imagine men and women were once segregated in the pleasure palace known as the American saloon. WW Richard Selcer of Fort Worth is a frequent contributor to Wild West. For further reading see his 2004 book Legendary Watering Holes: The Saloons that Made Texas Famous. Strikes that shaped America There are many ways to examine the American story. In the 1890s, historians wanting to move beyond the explorer-general-president lens developed a subspecialty of labor history. At first this school focused on the creation of unions and their battles with management. In the last 50 years or so, the field has widened and deepened to incorporate the greater working class, with emphasis on its social and political settings. The latest entry in this new labor history movement is A History of America in Ten Strikes, by the University of Rhode Islands Erik Loomis. That title sets up false expectations. Loomis so expansively defines strike that many entries in his proletarian decalogue are hardly strikes at all. For instance, he lumps together anything slaves did to hamper plantation outputfrom slowing down in the fields to burning food in the kitchenas a form of strike. And even when he homes in on more classic actions, such as the 1936 sit-down strike when workers refused to vacate a General Motors body plant in Flint, Michigan, and the 1981 air traffic controller strike, the eras general state of worker-employer relations gets much more ink than the particular dispute. Loomis writes with an unvarnished political perspective. In prose reminiscent of 1930s- style Marxist-influenced diatribes, he casts all employers as greedy and all workers as worthy but oppressed. He views compromisea key cog in a functioning democracyas an inherent shortcoming. And hes not always accurate: he lists United Auto Workers president Walter Reuther as the only white to address the 1963 March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, ignoring five other white men on the program. Loomis does chart effectively how labors power has waxed and waned over the past two centuries. He is honest about the extent to which organized labors failure to embrace non-white workers and, to a lesser extent, women, limited unions impact on society even in their heydays. Loomis emphasizes that throughout American history, the fate of labor unions largely rests on the ability to elect politicians that will allow them to succeed, and he crisply shows how shifting social values jibe with such electoral results. So, caveats aside, Ten Strikes is a useful primer on the history of labor in the United States. Daniel B. Moskowitz writes the SCOTUS 101 column. The United States and major South American nations recognised Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido as interim leader on Wednesday while the EU called for free elections to restore democracy, leaving President Nicolas Maduro increasingly isolated. Major regional players Brazil, Colombia, Chile, Peru and Argentina all gave their backing to Guaidos self-proclamation as acting president, which he made in front of a crowd of tens of thousands of supporters in the capital Caracas. Cuba, however, sprang to the defence of its socialist ally, expressing solidarity with Maduro while Mexico extended lukewarm support to him. The avalanche of support for Guaido dramatically raised the stakes in Venezuela, an oil-rich nation that has become deeply impoverished under Maduro. Maduro has clung to power through the support of the Venezuelan military, and he is an ally of Russia, which last month sent two nuclear-capable bombers to the country to participate in a military drill. Just minutes after Guaidos declaration, US President Donald Trump recognised him as interim leader, and declared that his National Assembly was the only legitimate branch of government duly elected by the Venezuelan people. Also read: 13 dead in two days of protests in Venezuela against socialist President Nicolas Maduro The people of Venezuela have courageously spoken out against Maduro and his regime and demanded freedom and the rule of law, Trump said. The US said it stood ready to use all options if Maduro tries to quash the opposition, in what was an implied threat of military force. Maduro responded by saying he was cutting off diplomatic ties with Washington, as his riot police clashed with opposition supporters in Caracas. Get Out! Leave Venezuela. Here we have dignity, damn it, Maduro said, giving US diplomats 72 hours to depart. But Guaido tweeted in response that, under him, Venezuela wants countries to maintain their diplomatic presence in our country. And the US State Department said former president Maduro did not have the authority to sever relations. Broadening support Tweeting from the Swiss ski resort of Davos, where he and other leaders were attending the World Economic Forum, Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro said, Brazil recognises Juan Guaido as Venezuelas interim president. He added that Brazil will support politically and economically the process of transition so that democracy and social peace return to Venezuela. Bolsonaro, a far-right former paratrooper who has set about forging close ties with the Trump administration since taking power at the beginning of January, has repeatedly vowed to challenge Maduro in any way he can. He initially said he was open to discussing Brazil hosting a US military base, before changing his mind when the idea sparked objections from his military brass. Colombian President Ivan Duque, another US ally also at Davos, told reporters that his country is behind Guaido and will accompany this process of transition to democracy so that the Venezuelan people free themselves of their dictatorship. Canadian foreign minister Chrystia Freeland expressed her countrys full support for Guaido, adding: Its an important day for Venezuela and Im grateful for the solidarity of the Lima Group in speaking out on this. Eleven members of the 14-nation Lima Group Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Honduras, Panama, Paraguay and Peru later issued a joint statement endorsing Guaido as interim president. The three holdouts included Mexico, which has maintained a principle of non-intervention under leftist President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, as well as Guyana and Saint Lucia. The US is not a member but supports the group, which has taken an increasingly strident stance against Maduro, whom it sees as anti-democratic. The European Union did not join the countries lining up behind Guaido but called for free and credible elections. The EU strongly calls for the start of an immediate political process leading to free and credible elections, in conformity with the constitutional order, the blocs diplomatic chief Federica Mogherini said in a statement. The bloc and its member states remain ready to support the restoration of democracy and rule of law in Venezuela through a credible peaceful political process in line with the Venezuelan constitution, she added. And EU Council President Donald Tusk tweeted that I hope that all of Europe will unite in support of democratic forces in Venezuela. He added: Unlike Maduro, the parliamentary assembly, including Juan Guaido have a democratic mandate from Venezuelan citizens. A senior Pakistani diplomat said there is no cultural and religious repression in Xinjiang province, amid mounting international criticism about Chinas decision to hold members of Muslim Uyghur community inside camps, which Beijing says are vocational training institutes. Pakistans support of Chinas policies in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR), said to be specifically targeting the Uyghurs, comes as Beijing mounts a sophisticated and large-scale publicity campaign to blunt international condemnation of the camps. From denying the existence of the camps until October, China is now inviting diplomats and journalists to visit the province to take chaperoned tours of the training institutes. Mumtaz Zahra Baloch, the charge daffaires of the Pakistani embassy in China, was among the diplomats from 12 countries including India who were taken by the Chinese government to tour Urumqi, Kashgar and Hotan in XUAR end of December. When asked by nationalistic tabloid Global Times whether she found the existence of forced labour, cultural or religious oppression in Xinjiang, Baloch was emphatic. During this visit, I did not find any instance of forced labour or cultural and religious repression, she said. Baloch said she was told by Muslim clerics and students that they are free to practise Islam. The imams we met at the mosques and the students and teachers at the Xinjiang Islamic Institute told us that they enjoy freedom in practising Islam and that the Chinese government extends support for maintenance of mosques all over Xinjiang, she said. Similarly, I did not see any sign of cultural repression. The Uyghur culture as demonstrated by their language, music and dance is very much part of the life of the people of Xinjiang. We saw that in official establishments, airports, subway stations, police stations or hotels the Uyghur language is being widely used, the Pakistani diplomat said. Even the copies of the Koran that we saw in the mosques and the Islamic centre were translated into the Uyghur language, she said. Rights groups differ from Balochs impressions. Chinese authorities have long imposed pervasive restrictions on peaceful religious practice. In Xinjiang, a northwestern region in which over half the population is Muslim, people cannot wear long beards, veils, or anything deemed extremist attire, Maya Wang from Human Rights Watch wrote in September last year. Children are prohibited from learning about religion, even at home. People are not allowed to go to Mecca unless they join state-organised pilgrimages, she had said. In December, the United Nations asked for direct access to the re-education camps in the province. UN Human Rights High Commissioner Michelle Bachelet said she wanted to verify worrying reports the organisation had received about the situation in Xinjiang. And, in November, more than a dozen countries urged China to end the arbitrary detention of Uyghurs at a UN session. Beijing has staunchly defended its policies in the province, saying in a recently released white paper: Chinas government is committed to protecting its citizens freedom of religious belief while respecting and protecting religious cultures. Pakistans jailed former prime minister Nawaz Sharif used prominent Urdu poet Mirza Ghalibs poetry to explain his condition when the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz leaders visited him in the Kot Lakhpat jail in Lahore on Thursday. Sharif, 69, who is serving a seven-year imprisonment in Lahores Kot Lakhpat jail, was rushed to a hospital Tuesday after he complained of heart related complications. He was later discharged from the hospital and taken back to jail following the medical tests. The jail administration has fixed Thursday as meeting day for visitors. When the visitors asked him about his heath, the incarcerated PML-N supreme leader said, Un ke dekhey se jo ajati hai munh par rounaq, Woh samajhtey hain ke beemar ka haal achcha hai, Geo News reported. Sharif said he is not shown any list of visitors by jail administration. I welcome anyone who comes here, he was quoted by Geo News as saying. During his conversation with the PMLN leaders, Sharif said he took measures for economic development and betterment of the country but the current situation saddens him. The three-time former prime minister said he left no stone unturned for China-Pakistan Economic Corridor for Pakistans prosperity, adding that it would be great loss to the country if the CPEC is halted. TV reports said Sharifs mother and daughter Maryam Nawaz also visited him in the prison. After five leading business organisations said they are watching in horror at Westminster politics preventing progress on Brexit, Airbus chief executive Tom Enders said on Thursday it is a disgrace that companies are still unable to plan ahead. Reflecting wider ennui, Enders comments were significantly received with delight by business minister Richard Harrington, who said he was not worried if Prime Minister Theresa May drops him. The UK is due to leave the EU on March 29, and companies have been clamouring for clarity on life beyond Brexit. These include nearly 900 Indian companies, many of whom use a base in the UK to access the European market, but have put a hold on investments and expansion. Tata-owned Jaguar Land Rover and appliance major Dyson are among major UK-based companies who have expressed concern over the future of supply chains across Europe, tariffs and passporting rights, or the ability to operate and service markets across the European Union. Enders said Airbus will have to make potentially very harmful decisions for the UK in the event an agreement on the way ahead is not reached, adding: Please dont listen to the Brexiteers madness which asserts that, because we have huge plants here, we will not move and we will always be here. They are wrong. Harrington told an audience of German industrialists: This is a disaster for business. I am very happy to be public about it and very happy if the prime minister decides I am not the right person (to be business minister). (A no-deal Brexit) would be a total disaster for the economy. I was delighted to read Airbuss comments this morning because it is telling it like it is. I do believe time is of the essence here. If I could put myself in the head of Ralf Speth (CEO of JLR), they must be placing order for parts now; ordering eight to 10 weeks ahead, he said. Sony said recently it would transfer its European headquarters from the UK to the Netherlands to avoid disruptions caused by Brexit, while Dyson announced it was moving its headquarters to Singapore from Wiltshire. May has been seeking support and views from various MPs and stake-holders to ensure that an agreement on the terms of leaving the EU can be reached in parliament. The draft agreement reached with Brussels was voted down in the House of Commons earlier this month. Thirteen people have died during two days of unrest in Venezuela amid protests against leftist leader Nicolas Maduro, a Caracas-based rights group reported on Wednesday. The deaths, mostly from gunshot wounds, were recorded in the capital and across the country, along with reports of looting in the Brazilian border state of Bolivar, the Venezuelan Observatory of Social Conflict told AFP. Unrest first kicked off on Monday when 27 soldiers rose up against Maduro at a command post in Caracas, calling upon people to take to the streets in a video circulated on social media. But the most fierce protests began on Tuesday night in Caracas and Bolivar continuing on Wednesday throughout Venezuela on a day of huge opposition-backed demonstrations against Maduro. In Bolivars San Felix, demonstrators burned a statue of former president Hugo Chavez late on Tuesday night. On Wednesday, anti-riot police confronted protesters in east Caracas following the march called for by opposition leader Juan Guaido, who declared himself Venezuelas interim president as part of his aim to remove Maduro. Chaos erupted when dozens of young people, some hooded, blocked a key route through the wealthy Altamira neighbourhood only for military personnel to fire tear gasses and rubber bullets, which were in turn met with stones from protesters. Apart from the capital Caracas, deaths were reported in Tachira, Barinas, Portuguesa, Amazonas and Bolivar states. Wednesdays demonstration, meanwhile, marked the first significant clash between the government and the opposition in the streets after violent protests left 125 people dead between April and July 2017. Juan Guaido the opposition-led legislature head who declared himself acting president called for the protests two weeks ago. His aim is to remove Maduro, set up a transitional government and hold elections. He accuses Maduro of being a usurper following his disputed re-election in a poll dismissed as a fraud by the European Union, the US and OAS. For a few hours on Wednesday, chief minister Devendra Fadnavis and Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray shared a stage and appeared cordial at an event to hand over a plot at Shivaji Park for the Bal Thackeray memorial, even as uncertainty continues over whether the BJP and Sena will join hands for the upcoming elections. Before the event, Fadnavis and Thackeray held a 20-minute meeting, but Sena leaders maintained there was no discussion of the polls or the alliance during this time. There was a great deal of camaraderie between the CM and the Thackeray family, said a senior Sena leader, but added, The CM is trying hard for the alliance to continue. One still cant say if it will happen as Sena top brass is divided on the issue. Fadnavis attendance at the function came a day after his government cleared a proposal to grant 100 crore to build the memorial, and is seen as part of the BJPs alliance diplomacy to get the Sena, despite the latters continued criticism against it. Apart from Fadnavis, BJP MP and member of the Balsaheb Thackeray National Memorial Trust, Poonam Mahajan was also at the function. The Sena does not mind losing seats in Lok Sabha to teach the BJP a lesson, the senior Sena leader said. But, we are concerned with how the party performs in the Assembly. Further, in lieu of the Congress-NCP tie-up, we may need an alliance and a favourable one from the BJP. The leader said Thackeray was still considering going solo but is also keeping in mind the Congress resurgence in three states. HT earlier reported that informal talks for an alliance was held by both the party heads, and the Sena insisted on an equal seat-sharing formula for both the Lok Sabha and Assembly polls. It is also learnt the party plans to call PM Narendra Modi for the formal bhumipujan for the memorial, if alliance talks work out. On its part, the Sena has firmed up plans to contest the Lok Sabha polls in Bihar, Rajasthan, Jammu and Kashmir and Uttar Pradesh, in a clutch of seats to expand its base, get a national tag and keep the BJP in check. Party leaders admitted this was also a way to pressurise the BJP to agree to a better deal. The Shiv Sena will contest Lok Sabha elections in all states, except those in the north-east. The move is in line with the partys resolution in its national executive meeting in 2018 In Uttar Pradesh, we are contesting 25 seats. We will field candidates in Jammu and Kashmir, Bihar, etc, said Anil Desai, Rajya Sabha MP and Sena secretary. He said the party does not have any presence in the seven northeast states, and would not put up candidates there. The party is working out the number of seats it would contest in different states in the general elections. On January 23, 2018, the national executive of the party passed a resolution to contest all elections without an alliance with BJP. The Sena contested Assembly polls in Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh recently. According to the rules of the Election Commission of India, a political party is eligible to be recognised as a national one if it fulfils two criteria it has won 2% seats in Lok Sabha from at least three different states in the latest general elections; or, in a Lok Sabha or Assembly election, it has polled 6% of the total valid votes in at least four states, in addition to winning four Lok Sabha seats; or it has been recognised as a state party in at least four states. If all goes as per the Thane Municipal Corporations (TMC) plans, you will be able to travel by the internal Metro in five years. Last week, the TMC submitted a detailed project report of the internal Metro to the state government and plan to start operations by 2025. The proposed 29-kilometre internal Metro with 22 stations, estimated to cost around 10,893 crore, is projected to have a daily ridership of 5.76 lakh. Fares will range from 17 to 104. A TMC official requesting anonymity said, We sent the proposal to the state last week. The plan is to complete all approvals by the end of this year and start the civil work by January next year. We will have to acquire all the developmental plan [DP] roads from where the Metro route is proposed. A 21-km High Capacity Mass Transit Route (HCMTR) is proposed in the developmental plan of the city. The Metro will operate along 18.17-km DP roads, six-km HCMTR route and 4.83 km of reserved land. The new internal Metro was first proposed along the same route as HCMTR. However, the corporation later connected the internal Metro to the New Thane station and changed the route from Kopri to Teen Hath Naka to New Thane station to Wagale Estate. The second phase will operate along Mumbra-Kalwa route. The official added, The internal Metro will have a projected ridership of 5.76 lakhs daily and a peak hour ridership of over 23,000. The minimum fare will be 17 for up to 2 km and the maximum fare will be 104 for more than 31km. The internal Metro will connect Wadala to Kasarvadavli Metro at two places at the proposed New Thane station and Dongripada. It will also connect Mumbai Metro Line 5 (Thane-Bhiwandi- Kalyan) at Majiwada junction. Experts Speak KD Lala, retired city engineer of Thane Municipal Corporation, said, The internal Metro will be feasible in the city only if it connects the main Wadala to Kasarvadavli Metro at several places along the entire Anandnagar to Kasarvadavli route. Residents living in interior parts will need a mode of transport to connect to the main Metro which connects Thane to Mumbai. The old HCMTR route will not work and the TMC will need to revise the route to connect it to the main Metro. With both the Metro projects being carried out simultaneously, traffic will be a major issue in the city. Lala said it was better to carry out projects together instead of executing it one by one. He said, The Metro authority has given 100% alignment to the contractor so he can carry out work on any of the patches. This pattern should also be adopted in internal Metro to speed up the work. After the fully underground Colaba-Bandra-Seepz Metro-3, the city is set to get another set of twin tunnels. This time for Metro-7A that will link Andheri (East) to the Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport (CSIA). According to Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) officials, of the 3.175km of Metro-7A, 2.195km is set to go underground. The underground tunnels are likely to be built using the cut-and-cover method, where an entire road will be taken up for digging and reinstated after the underground work is completed. The line will be elevated from Andheri (East) till the airport colony. From there, it will be an underground stretch, with an underground station at CSIA, said a senior official from MMRDA, requesting anonymity. The first elevated station on the line will be Airport Colony. MMRDA has invited tenders for construction of Metro-7A and Metro-9 (Dahisar E-Mira Bhayander). The two corridors will be the north-south extension of the under-construction Metro-7 (Dahisar E- Andheri E). In September 2018, the Maharashtra cabinet gave an approval to the two extended corridors, which will be built at a cost of 6,518 crore. Metro-9 will be a 10.40-km elevated stretch with eight stations. The corridors are expected to cater to 11 lakh citizens by 2031. So far, the 33.5-km Metro-3 is the only fully underground stretch in the city. It will also connect to the international airport, making it possible for citizens to travel from Bhayander to Colaba by the Metro, once all four proposed corridors are operational. The metropolitan authority has also planned a line between CSIA and the proposed Navi Mumbai International Airport, which is expected to be partially underground. With this, the airport will be linked to three Metro lines running across the city. Weeks after slashing the fees for post-graduation courses at four private medical colleges for the coming academic year, the state fee regulating authority (FRA), during its meetings on Tuesday and Wednesday, raised it at three institutes, bringing it closer to or even more than the last years fees. FRA decides the fees of all professional courses offered at private unaided institutes in the state. The fees for Dr Vasantrao Pawar Medical College in Nashik, MIMSR Medical College, Latur and Sanjeevan Medical College, Miraj have now been fixed at 8 lakh and 7 lakh an annum for PG courses and MBBS, respectively. The regulator changed its decision after realising that the amount calculated according to the existing norms was insufficient to purchase new equipment and build infrastructure. Earlier this month, FRA ruled that the excess fees charged by colleges from students admitted under 35% management and 15% non-residential Indian (NRI) quota in the current academic year should be used to reduce the fees for 2019-20. The decision resulted in an unprecedented drop in the fees almost half to one-third of the fees in 2018-19 for PG courses at some of the institutes. There was little to no change in MBBS fees. FRA follows an expense-based model to calculate the fees, where the overall expenditure of the college is equally divided by the number of students at the institute to arrive at the tuition fee. Colleges are also allowed to charge a development fee, which is capped at 10% of the tuition fee, to develop new infrastructure. The Medical Council of India (MCI) requires colleges to equip themselves with expensive machines. They wont be able to meet these norms if the fee is too low. Besides, the colleges are also required to pay a stipend of 6 lakh an annum to every PG student. We have to strike a balance between the interest of the college management as well as students, said an FRA member. The additional income generated owing to the minimum fees fixed by the regulator will have to be shown as a surplus in the balance sheet and will have to be spent on infrastructure development within the next three years, ruled the FRA. We will keep monitoring the institutes, said the member. Its unlikely that the colleges will spend the money properly, said Mahendra Chaudhari, parent of an MBBS student. After West Bengal chief minister Mamatas Banerjees show of strength, its time for her arch rival, the Communist Party of India (Marxist), or CPI (M), to hold rally at the same iconic venue Kolkatas Brigade Parade Ground. Participants at the rally, scheduled for February 3, will be limited to the Left, unlike the parties cutting across political ideologies assembled by Banerjee on Saturday It will be the rally of only the Left parties. Unlike Mamata Banerjee, we dont need help from other parties. What did she achieve by organising that flop rally? said CPIM politburo member Nilotpal Basu. She is on the back foot and now trying to project herself as the prime ministerial candidate. No one thinks that she can be the PM. We, on the other hand, will send the message that time has come to defeat the BJP (Bharatiya Janata Party) at the Centre and the Trinamool in the state. We will also state the alternative policies we stand for, he added. As many as 18 opposition parties, cutting across regional and ideological barriers, came together at the rally organised by Banerjees Trinamool Congress and resolved to oust the BJP from power in the upcoming general election. The meeting was described by analysts as one of the biggest Opposition rallies in recent times; the organisers claimed that an estimated half-a-million people attended it. Political leaders from 14 states shared the stage, but there was no talk of a common PM candidate. The Left is also keen for a prominent space in the Opposition camp, but wants to maintain a distance from its arch rival, Trinamool. The Lefts rally is expected to kick off its Lok Sabha campaign in West Bengal, a state where it is scrambling to remain relevant since the Trinamool ended its 34-year reign in 2011 . The CPI(M) and other Left parties performance in the Lok Saha polls depends a lot on how it fares in the eastern state. The party is keeping the doors open for some seat adjustments with the Congress at the state level. A senior leader added that as the seat sharing is yet to be finalised, the CPI (M) has not yet taken a call on its candidates list. The CPI (M)s best performance in the Lok Sabha polls was in 2004, when it won 44 seats on its own and the Left Front, of which it was a part, won 61. In 2014, the CPI(M) won just 9 seats and the Left Front, 11. Former parliamentary affairs secretary Afzal Amanullah maintained that The biggest challenge before the countrys Left forces is to regain its importance and electoral strength. In Lok Sabha, the numbers matter the most. But in West Bengal they face the formidable force of Trinamool Congress. You know that irritating moment when youre in the market to buy some used tissues and they arent any? No? Because why would anyone want someones used tissue paper and pay good money to buy it? Well, turns out there is a reason why one may - or so this company will have you believe. The company is selling used tissue papers online for $79.99 (approximately Rs 5700). And guess what? Theyre sold out at the moment. The company, born in Copenhagen, is called Vaev and believes that when flu season comes around, you should be able to get sick on your terms. Their website further states, Were not about chemicals or prescription drugs here at Vaev. We believe using a tissue that carries a human sneeze is safer than needles or pills. According to the website, each tissue is specially treated with organic ingredients, is non-prescription, and works hand in hand with the human body to keep your immune system feeling like your immune system. The idea behind the product is that one can simply choose when they wish to fall sick. Oliver Niessen, the 34-year-old founder of the company, told Time that the company has recruited 10 sneezers. A sick person sneezes into a batch of our tissues, and then we put them in our packaging, and thats how they work, he said. We just send it through the mail, he added. However, not everyone is convinced the tissues will work as promised. There are more than 200 types of rhinoviruses, so youre going to have to shove about 200 tissues up your nose each time to get a different one, Charles Gerba, professor of microbiology and environmental sciences at the University of Arizona told Time. The product has created quite a stir on Twitter. @VaevTissue Just heard about your product, and I'm curious. Can a used product be returned for a full refund, or does it double in value upon use? I imagine it's not like a pair of underwear, where once it's opened, it can't be returned for hygienic reasons. Littil Avindar (@LittilAvindar) January 24, 2019 Vaev who do you think you are? $80 for used tissues that I have to stuff up my nose so I dont get sick. Smh Ill stick with brand new Kleenex. #GoodDayDC dvmo (@Damo_Seayn3D) January 23, 2019 #BeatTheColdBy purchasing used tissues! $80 but Ill sell ya mine for $40 pic.twitter.com/6PCqKZH7sD J-Town Dadio (@J_TownDadio) January 23, 2019 This morning I heard people (them) are taking used tissue to head off a flu or cold. USED TISSUES FROM OTHER PEOPLE. But yall go ahead and be free thinkers. pic.twitter.com/FwbHSqjLt5 N. (@HoneyBadger10) January 23, 2019 What do you think of these tissues? To enhance the operational capability of Andaman and Nicobar Command, Naval Air Station (NAS) Shibpur will be on Wednesday commissioned as INS Kohassa, a Defence release said. This will be Indias fourth air base and the third naval air facility in the region that overlooks key sea lanes of communication and strategic points. These islands dominate the Bay of Bengal and the Six Degree and Ten Degree channels with more than 60,000 commercial vessels passing through each year. With the addition of this airfield, the Andaman and Nicobar Commands ability to operate independently from all the areas of the Union Territory will get a great boost, the release said. Chief of Naval Staff Admiral Sunil Lanba will commission NAS Shibpur, which was established in 2010, as INS Kohasa. The NAS Shibpur was set up as a Forward Operating Air Base (FOAB) for surveillance in North Andaman. Located in the northern most part of the islands, the airfield holds strategic importance not only for the security of the islands but also for its overall development. Named after a White-Bellied Sea Eagle, which is a large bird of prey endemic to Andaman and Nicobar Islands, INS Kohassa will become the third Naval Air Base in the region after INS Utkrosh at Port Blair and INS Baaz at Campbell Bay. Post commissioning, the station will function as a base for joint operation of both military and civil aircraft in keeping with the UDAN scheme of the government. At present, the airbase will be able to handle Helicopter and Dornier Aircraft. With commissioning the base will become self-contained with fuel storage, repair facility, manpower under a commanding officer. As part of an expansion plan, the runway length will be be extended to 3000 metre. This will enable the operation of bigger civil and defence aircraft, the release added. Former Navy chief Admiral R K Dhowan had also said that the Andaman and Nicobar Islands are a very very important aspect of Indias security, acting as extended arms of the country. Dhowan had said that India needed to deploy naval assets to the islands for surveillance in important sea lines of communication. The Congress partys announcement on Priyanka Gandhi Vadra joining active politics took not only the BJP and other political parties by surprise, but even several senior Congress leaders. The move was kept strictly under the wraps and timed to match with Congress president Rahul Gandhis Uttar Pradesh visit. Even senior leaders were not aware of the developments The partys general secretary, Ghulam Nabi Azad, who till Wednesday was looking after the party affairs in the state that sends 80 MPs to the Lok Sabha, had called a meeting of select office bearers in Lucknow on Thursday. Also read: Tactical or strategic: Decoding Priyanka Gandhi Vadras big role in UP politics Azad, who has now been given the charge of Haryana, had also scheduled a brainstorming session for UP at the partys war room at 15, Gurudwara Rakabganj Road in Delhi on Friday. He had even booked flight tickets for Lucknow. On January 12, during a speech in Dubai Rahul Gandhi had dropped a few hints when he said a big surprise was in the offing but had not given any details. Gandhi is reported to have gone to the US from Dubai to meet his sister Priyanka Gandhi to discuss the political plunge. Also read: Voters will see Indira Gandhi in her: Shiv Sena on Priyanka Gandhis new political role A large number of Congress leaders have demanded over the years that Priyanka Gandhi take the plunge into active politics. But she confined herself to campaign management in Rae Bareli and Amethi, and was informally involved in the partys election preparedness in UP in Lok Sabha and assembly elections in the past. She was seen to have played a key role in stitching up an alliance with SP for the 2017 assembly elections, but the tie-up failed to help the Congress in its revival attempt as it managed to win just seven of the 403 seats. Her entry will change the nature of politics in the country. This will also shatter the illusions of the BJP and give its leaders sleepless nights henceforth, said Prakash Joshi, AICC secretary in-charge of UP. Also watch: Too early for Priyanka Gandhi to become Congress PM face: Prashant Kishor Former Union minister and party in-charge of Jharkhand RPN Singh, who contests elections from UPs Kushinagar, echoed the sentiment. She will strengthen the party in its resolve to fight communal and casteist forces. She has brought the Congress back in the narrative straightway, he said. Another former Union minister from UP, Jitin Prasada, said: She is a game-changer. The politics in the Hindi heartland is about to change. With a new general in command, each UP Congress worker is battle-ready. She has not taken any position in a place where the Congress is doing well but taken a challenge head-on in a state where the party badly needs her. According to a party statement, Priyanka Gandhi will take charge in the first week of February. Scindia, who represents Madhya Pradeshs Guna in the Lok Sabha, will take over immediately and continue to be the partys chief whip in the Lower House of Parliament. Justice AK Sikri on Thursday recused himself from hearing a petition challenging appointment of M Nageshwar Rao as the interim director of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). This follows a controversy after it was reported that Justice Sikris name had been cleared for appointment to a tribunal in London after his retirement. Earlier, Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi had recused himself from hearing the same matter. The matter will now be heard tomorrow by another bench. The report came soon after Justice Sikri participated in the CBI selection panel which removed Alok Verma as the agencys chief. Justice Sikri had sided with the governments view on the matter. Rao was given the charge of CBIs interim chief earlier in January till the appointment of a new director after a high-powered committee headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi removed Alok Kumar Verma as the chief of the probe agency on charges of corruption and dereliction of duty. The petition, filed by NGO Common Cause and RTI activist Anjali Bhardwaj, has sought laying down of specific mechanisms to ensure transparency in the process of appointment of the CBI director. It alleged Raos appointment was not made on the basis of recommendations of the high-powered selection committee, comprising the Prime Minister, the leader of the single largest opposition party and Chief Justice of India or a judge of the top court nominated by him. Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi has recused himself from hearing the plea and said that the petition should be heard by a court number 2 presided by justice AK Sikri. Seeking transparency in the process of short-listing, selection and appointment of the CBI director, justice Gogoi said he would be participating in a meeting of the selection panel to select the agency chief. The panel is likely to meet on Thursday. Earlier, a bench led by CJI had revoked a government order sending then-CBI chief on leave and restored him as the agency boss. It had asked the selection panel headed by Prime Minister Modi to take a call on the matter. The CJI who was supposed to be a member of the panel, deputed justice Sikri in his place as he had heard the case against him. The panel, which also comprises leader of the largest opposition party in the Lok Sabha, Mallikarjun Kharge of Congress, had however removed Verma as the chief within a few days of the verdict. Rao, who was appointed as interim chief of the premier investigation agency in October when Verma and his deputy were sent on leave, was re-appointed as the interim chief of the agency. Verma, the first CBI director to be removed by a PM-led panel, refused to take up his next assignment and resigned from service. He complained that he had not been given an opportunity to present his side and the Central Vigilance Commission. Congress Kharge had opposed Vermas removal in a dissent note, saying he should not be penalised and be given an extension of 77 days for which he was not allowed to attend the office. The Supreme Court on Thursday refused to extend the July 31 deadline for the publication of final Assam National Register of Citizens (NRC), reports ANI. The top court ordered Assam chief secretary, state NRC coordinator Prateek Hajela, and Election Commission to meet within 7 days to decide how to conduct the citizen register verification hearings. The process for Lok Sabha elections may continue simultaneously, the court said. Hajela told the court that there were 36.2 lakh claims for inclusion of names in final NRC. Over2 lakh objections were filed against names included in draft till Dec 31. Notices have been issued to claimants 15 days before hearing of claims, that will start on Feb 15, he added. The Supreme Court had in December extended the last date to file claims and objections on inclusion of names in NRC from December 15 to December 31, 2018. The courts order came after the Assam government asked it to extend the deadline. The state government had asked for an urgent hearing which the court had refused but had said that it would consider the plea. The Supreme Court had earlier allowed the populace to use five more documents to prove their citizenship and be included in the final NRC. This, the state government, had claimed was putting additional burden on the NRC authorities to make the process of inclusion fool-proof. Terming Priyanka Gandhi Vadra ass entry into active politics as an internal matter of the Congress, Union home minister Rajnath Singh on Thursday said the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) did not consider Congress as a major challenge in Uttar Pradesh. The reaction came a day after All India Congress Committee (AICC) president Rahul Gandhi appointed his sister Priyanka as the general secretary in-charge of east UP which has about 30 parliamentary constituencies, including Varanasi, the Lok Sabha seat of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. In an informal interaction with media persons during his three-day visit to his parliamentary constituency Lucknow, Rajnath said: The NDA government led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi has executed several developmental projects that were pending for over a decade. Congress is no match to BJP. People have realised that we are working to take the country ahead. Also read: Senior Congress leaders were unaware of Priyanka Gandhis political move We dont consider Congress a challenge in UP. This (Priyankas appointment as AICC general secretary of east UP) is their internal matter, Singh said. BJP has been dubbing the entry of Priyanka into politics as a failure of Rahul, who has been vociferously attacking the PM in his speeches. Union minister Manoj Sinha, who is Lok Sabha MP from Ghazipur in eastern UP, said Piyankas appointment is an attempt by the Congress to gain some importance in the state as it was left in a bad shape after being left out of the SP-BSP alliance. Usually, there isnt much of a story to prominent politicians children joining politics. Its an inevitability. Over the last four decades of dynasty-fication, Indian leaders have converted their constituencies into riasats (estates) and anointed themselves the new maharajas. Succession, then, follows naturally. So why the excitement over Priyanka Gandhi now? She is only doing what she had always been expected to. Whats the story in the inevitable except the timing? Now think harder. There is also another, equally important usual to dynasty politics. Any offspring is given a convenient and safe launch-pad in the political principalitys pocket borough and then nurtured along to take over. From Indira Gandhi beginning comfortably with Rajya Sabha to Sonia and Rahul Gandhi in Rae Bareli-Amethi, to Jyotiraditya Scindia in Gwalior-Guna, Deepender Hooda in Rohtak, Supriya Sule in Baramati to Ashok Chavan, Milind Deora and practically anybody new-gen within the United Progressive Alliance has been gifted a soft launch. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) cant feel smug either. The Yadav families in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar have their own princely enclaves, respectively. All the new kids, of Vasundhara Raje, Shivraj Singh Chouhan, Raman Singh, Maneka Gandhi, Prem Kumar Dhumal, Pramod Mahajan, Gopinath Munde, Purno Sangma, Ram Vilas Paswan and even others such as Piyush Goyal owe their political birth to some kind of assisted delivery. No new dynast, whether child, child-in-law or widow that I can remember, has yet been denied an easy pass. You cant afford to see your child and successor lose. Risks are for the foot-soldiers, or political wet-nurses. This is the law of Indian dynastic politics Priyanka Gandhi has broken. Instead of moving quietly into Rae Bareli (even if she were to take it later) and claiming the goodwill her mother and grandmother have built over five decades, she has taken over the partys campaign in the most challenging political geography for it in all of India. Congress has been dead for long in eastern Uttar Pradesh. Even its mummies or fossils are hard to find. Further, it is the home of Yogi Adityanath, includes Narendra Modis much-pampered Varanasi. Even under Gandhi, how likely is Congress partys revival here? The truthful answer: nearly zero. This underlines what is different about Gandhis formal entry into politics. Her choice of the challenge, and the timing underline a go-for-broke audacity rare among our risk-averse dynasties. We dont know enough about her to say what impact her entry would have on the party. Will she be the first among the equals, which is 13 general secretaries of the party, or president Rahul Gandhis de facto no. 2, as tradition would demand? Or, can she surprise everybody by focusing on her charge of eastern Uttar Pradesh while Jyotiraditya Scindia picks up the pieces in the polarised west? Here is what we know about her. She, more than Rahul, has rootedness, focus and a sense of destiny. You can dismiss it as merely the chip on a mere royaltys shoulder, if you so wish. But play that short clip as she walked out of the Congress Parliamentary Party meeting in the summer of 2004 after her mother announced she wasnt accepting the post of prime minister. Gandhi said, paraphrased, that sacrifice, physical risk and the burden of governing India, was the familys responsibility. It was spoken with a curious mix of pain, helplessness and also pride bordering on dynastic entitlement if not vanity. She is more her reluctant-politician fathers child than the grandmother she physically so resembles. She has spent years in deep Buddhist training and meditation to rid herself of the pain and anger of his cruel assassination, and ambition for power. This had enabled her to duck a greedy partys pressures and prayers and keep clear of politics. We dont know what changed it now. But now that she is there, she is not the type to step into anybodys warm shoes or chappals. Shes in it for a fight. It can revive her party, or leave her stranded in the dal-dal (sounds better in Hindi than the English quicksands) of eastern UP politics and finish the Gandhi-Nehru dynasty with no other to fall back on. For her personally, the move is comparable with Indira Gandhi breaking up the Congress in 1969, 50 years ago. To that extent it is out of her fighter grandmothers book, not her hesitant fathers. Thats why we say that Priyankas is a go-for-broke plunge. Prime Minister Narendra Modi would inaugurate a solar-powered memorial to the 1930 protest march Mahatma Gandhi led against British monopoly over salt in Gujarats coastal village of Dandi on Gandhis 71st death anniversary on January 30. Gandhi began the march against the ban on Indians producing or selling salt from Ahmedabad to Dandi near Surat, over 380 km away, on the Arabian Sea coast on March 12, 1930. He led his followers in picking up handfuls of salt as a mark of protest against the ban around a month later on April 6, 1930. The march was among the first protests in Gandhis civil disobedience movement against the British. A laser-lit salt making experience has been planned for the visitors at the National Salt Satyagraha Memorial (NSSM). Although the memorial will be dedicated to the nation on January 30, we plan to open it fully for the visitors after 10-12 days, said Sudarshan Iyengar, the vice president of the High-Level Dandi Memorial Committee (HLDMC) that was constituted in 2011 The NSSM, which is also known as Dandi Memorial, has been built to recreate the spirit of the march in 1930 and has come up at the cost of nearly Rs 70 crore with the Union culture ministrys support. It is being opened to the public around 14 years after it was proposed. IIT-Bombay was assigned the task of designing, coordinating and implementing the project under the Central Public Works Departments supervision. Iyengar said the memorial was spread over 15 acres of land and will be powered by as many as 41 solar panels. The monument is 40 metres high with a steel frame. It has a glass cube on the top, symbolising hands holding a salt crystal, he said. Iyengar said the memorial was not just a technological marvel. We want to communicate to the masses how Gandhiji and the satyagrahis fought against the British Empires injustice and exploitation. The meeting of Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led selection committee to decide on the next CBI chief remained inconclusive, officials said Thursday. A list of eligible officers along with their dossiers was shared with the panel members. But no decision has been taken so far, an official said requesting anonymity. The selection committee will meet again any time next week to finalise the name of the CBI director. The selection committee led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and members Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi and leader of the largest opposition party in the Lok Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge met late in the evening to finalise the name of the next CBI chief. Talking to reporters after the meeting, Kharge said names of officers were shared. The government presented names of 70-80 officers. There was no mention of their career details including relevant experience. We (referring to CJI Gogoi) have asked them to provide all the necessary details. The next meeting will be convened may be by next week, he said. The Central Bureau of Investigation has been working under interim director M Nageswara Rao after Alok Verma was removed as its chief on charges of corruption and dereliction of duty by the high-powered committee headed by Prime Minister Modi. Raos appointment has also been challenged in the top court. The meeting of the PM-led panel comes after CJI Gogoi and top courts number 2 Justice AK Sikri recused themselves from hearing the petition challenging Raos appointment as the CBI interim director. Justice Sikri was nominated by the CJI for the plea hearing. CJI Gogoi had cited the meeting of the CBI selection panel as the reason for recusing himself from hearing the petition. Also read: Will ensure no officer with BJP link makes the cut: Congress on CBI chiefs selection The petitioner, NGO Common Cause, claim Raos appointment was not based on the recommendation of the selection panel and, thus, in complete contravention of the law. The petitioners have sought appointment of a regular chief of the agency. The petitioners also want all records of deliberations and rational criteria related to short-listing and selection of the CBI director to be made available under the transparency law. They have also asked for the entire process of selection, including the composition of the panel, its mandate and minutes of the meeting of the search committee to be made public. Alok Verma and his deputy, CBI special director Rakesh Asthana, were engaged in a feud that affected the agencys functioning. Asthana levelled charges of corruption against Verma in a letter to the cabinet secretary in August last year. The probe agency filed a first information report (FIR) against Asthana in October last year. On the intervening night of October 23 and 24, the government divested both of their powers. Rao took charge as the interim director for the first time on the intervening night of October 23 and 24. Verma challenged the government order in the top court and it conditionally reinstated him as the CBI chief on January 8, saying that only the selection panel could remove him. The panel decided by a majority decision of 2-1 to remove Verma on January 10. Besides the PM and Kharge, the panel meeting was attended by justice Sikri as a nominee of chief justice Gogoi, who didnt participate since he had heard Vermas petition. In between all this, the government initiated the process of looking for Vermas successor. Officers from the four oldest serving batches of the Indian Police Service, from 1982 to 1985, will be in contention for the post of CBI director as per the guidelines set by the Supreme Court. Their suitability for the job will depend on criteria such as seniority, integrity and experience in the investigation of anti-corruption cases. Congress president Rahul Gandhi on Thursday said his party will keep all its promises once it is elected to power as he attacked Prime Minister Narendra Modi for doing nothing for the people of Uttar Pradesh. Rahul Gandhi targetted Prime Minister Modi on several issues while addressing a roadside meeting in Salon area of his parliamentary constituency Amethi, where he is on a two-day visit since Wednesday. The Congress president asked the Prime Minister what was the hurry to remove CBI chief Alok Verma amid slogans of chowkidar chor hai, a refrain he has used for Modi to point out corruption under the BJP regime. When the CBI wanted to investigate the Rafale deal, the director was removed at 1:30am. When the Supreme Court said no its wrong and he be reinstated, the person is reinstated. But within two hours they get a note that there will be a meeting, that the CBI director needs to be removed, he said. Rahul Gandhi also accused the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party of making the poor stand in queues during the demonetisation. Did you see any industrialist standing in queue during demonetisation? Only poor people stood in queues, he told the gathering as he jumped to another point to attack the Prime Minister. Demonetisation affected common man, farmers but Rs 3.5 lakh crore of industrialists was waived. This was your money, said. Read more| PM Modi shifted projects out of Amethi, says Rahul Gandhi Once the Congress is back in power, he promised, all the work that was stalled by the Centre and state government will begin again. He said they have already started working in Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh, where his party recently won the assembly elections. We will keep our promises. Amethi will get food park back. You will get whatever Modi and (Uttar Pradesh chief minister) Yogi (Adityanath) have denied you. When BJP workers come to you to seek your vote, tell them that PM Modi and CM Yogi did nothing for you, he said. Rahul Gandhi said he has appointed his sister Priyanka Gandhi Vadra and Congress leader Jyotiraditya Scindia as the general secretaries of the party to bring the Congress back in the reckoning. I have given them a mission to make the government in Uttar Pradesh. Now, you have three soldiers working for you in the country, he said. I have asked Priyanka to come to you soon after taking over charge as general secretary, he said. The meeting of the selection committee to decide on the next chief of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) remained inconclusive, although the panel broadly discussed the 79 names put up before it in two lists one with 19 names and the other with 60 because one member of the panel, Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge, insisted on getting detailed background information of the officers, people familiar with the development said on the condition of anonymity. The convention is to consider the four senior-most serving batches of the Indian Police Service (IPS), and there are around 80 officers in the 1982, 1983, 1984, and 1985 batches according to a back-of-the-envelope calculation by HT. It isnt clear how the list was further broken up into 19 and 60. HT learns that the name of the agencys former special director Rakesh Asthana was in the list of 60. He is now serving as the head of the Bureau of Civil Aviation Security. HT further learns that details of the names on the shortlist, including their past experience, postings, etc, were not provided and that when Kharge, in the panel by virtue of being the Congresss leader in the Lok Sabha, pointed this out, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the head of the panel, agreed that this should be made available. The third member of the panel is Chief Justice of India (CJI) Ranjan Gogoi. The panel will meet again, the people cited in the first instance said, perhaps early next week, once the information has been compiled. The Prime Minister agreed that the most suitable person should occupy the post, the people added. The Congress said earlier in this week that it would go strictly by the criteria laid down for selecting the head of the federal investigation agency. It added that it would also ensure that the person selected has not had any truck with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the past. The list prepared by the government only mentioned basic details such as date of birth, date of appointment in the IPS, batch, and date of retirement. A slew of sops announced by Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu, who is also the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) president, in the run-up to the assembly and parliamentary elections slated for April-May this year has drawn flak from the Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS), the ruling party in the neighbouring Telangana. The TRS has branded the TDP leader and Andhra CM as a copycat. Telangana chief minister K Chandrasekhar Raos son and TRS working president KT Rama Rao alleged that Naidu copied the welfare schemes implemented by the Telangana government with an eye at winning elections in Andhra Pradesh. Among the schemes that KTR accused Naidu of copying from the TRS government are doubling the amount of pension for senior citizens and the disabled, increments given to the state government employees and waiver of motor vehicle tax for tractors and auto-rickshaws. Since welfare schemes brought the TRS back to power in Telangana, Naidu thinks he can come to power by copying our schemes. But the people of Andhra are intelligent. They wont get carried away by such last-minute gimmicks for elections, he said. TDP spokesperson Dokka Manikya Varaprasad, on the other hand, rubbished KTRs claim. It was the Maha Kootami or Peoples Front including the TDP and the Congress which had first promised to double the pension amounts. KCR copied our promise in his manifesto. Even his promise of increase in retirement age was copied from the Andhra Pradesh government, he said. Both the TRS and the TDP governments in Telangana and Andhra Pradesh respectively have enhanced old-age pension amount from Rs 200 to Rs 1,000 per month and that for disabled persons from Rs 500 to Rs 1,500 per month in recent times. As KCR advanced the state elections in Telangana by recommending dissolution of assembly eight months ahead of it tenure, which led to fresh polls in December last year, he promised to double the pension amounts. After the TRS was voted back to power in Telangana for a second term, Andhra Pradesh CM Naidu announced doubling of the pension amounts only months ahead of elections. While KCR is, however, yet to implement the new pension scheme, Naidu announced that the new pension scheme would be implemented with effect from January itself. He is planning to organise a three-day programme beginning February 3 to disburse increased pensions. The other major scheme which Andhra Pradesh is accused of copying from Telangana is Rythu Bandhu, a direct transfer of Rs 8,000 per acre per year into the accounts of farmers towards investment support. The TRS announced enhancement of the amount to Rs 10,000 per acre from next financial year. Naidu is planning to implement the scheme under the name of Rythu Raksha. While TRS government launched Mission Bhagiratha to provide piped drinking water to every household, Naidu government launched a similar scheme in the name of Jala Siri in October, 2018. The Basavatarakam Mother Kit launched by Naidu in August last is also very similar to a TRS governments populist scheme, KCR Kit that contains all materials required for a new-born. Similarly, the Talli-Bidda Express of Andhra Pradesh government is allegedly a copy of KCR governments Amma Odi scheme aimed at encouraging institutional deliveries. However, copying does not seem to be a one-way affair. The TRS government has implemented schemes similar to those already in place in Andhra Pradesh. For example, on the lines of the Naidu governments move to increase the retirement age of state government employees from 58 to 60 years, KCR promised to increase the retirement age to 61 years in Telangana during the last assembly elections. Similarly, KCR has announced unemployment allowance from coming June on the lines of a scheme in place in Andhra Pradesh, where the Naidu government pays Rs 1,000 per month to jobless youth. Lance Naik Nazir Ahmad Wani, a surrendered militant who became a soldier, will be posthumously awarded Indias highest peacetime gallantry award, the Ashok Chakra, on Republic Day for his courage during a fierce encounter in which six terrorists were killed in Kashmir last November. Wani belonged to an army unit raised 15 years ago with surrendered militants as an experiment to rewrite the rules of counter-terror operations in Kashmir. President Ram Nath Kovind will present the award to Wanis wife, Mahajabeen Wani, at the 70th Republic Day parade, the army said on Thursday. Wani, who was 38 when he died, will be the first soldier from Kashmir to be awarded the Ashok Chakra. Thus far, 88 individuals have been awarded the Ashok Chakra; of these 68 have been awarded posthumously. Exactly two months ago, on November 25, 2018, the army received intelligence on the presence of six heavily-armed terrorists at Hirapur village in south Kashmirs Shopian district. Wani and his squad were asked to block the terrorists most likely escape route, a standard drill during such operations. The soldiers closed in on the target house and positioned themselves to engage the terrorists at close range. Sensing danger, the terrorists attempted breaching the inner cordon, firing indiscriminately and lobbing grenades. Undeterred by the situation, L/Nk Nazir held ground and eliminated one hard core terrorist [a district commander of LeT] in a fierce exchange at close range, said a notification issued by the Presidents secretariat on Wednesday. Nazirs second kill followed a few minutes later when he fearlessly stormed into the house, amid bullets and grenades flying around him. Seeing the foreign terrorist escaping from the window, he [Wani] encountered him in a hand to hand combat situation. Despite being severely wounded, L/Nk Nazir eliminated the terrorist, the notification added. In the ensuing gun battle, Wani was hit multiple times, and took a shot to the head, army officials said. Bleeding heavily, the soldier continued to engage the remaining terrorists and injured a third one at close range. His action helped his squad kill the remaining terrorists. Wani even helped evacuate his wounded colleagues before succumbing to his injuries. This was not the first time Wani demonstrated courage in combat, according to army officials. He was twice decorated with the Sena Medal for gallantry in counter-terrorism operations in 2007 and 2018. He was a hero right from the beginning, the army said in a statement, adding that he operated with Rashtriya Rifles units in Kashmir to fight the onslaught of Pakistan-supported terror outfits. Wani joined the Indian Armys 162 Infantry Battalion (Territorial Army), Jammu and Kashmir Light Infantry, in 2004. This is no ordinary fighting unit. It was raised in 2004 with scores of ex-militants, or Ikhwanis, drawn together as part of a plan to make them a potent weapon in the fight against militancy in Kashmir. The Ikhwanis have been a powerful intelligence tool for the army and the battalion has eliminated hundreds of terrorists since it was raised 15 years ago. The army has acknowledged the valour and contribution of these former militants with a series of gallantry awards. The army has to protect the Ikhwanis from retribution by terror groups which see them as traitors. Rotating them across units guarantees safety and secrecy, army officials said. Hailing from Cheki Ashmuji in Kulgam district, Wani is survived by his wife and two sons aged 20 and 18, the army said. Under intense hail of bullets from the terrorists, he eliminated the district commander of LeT and one foreign terrorist in a very daring display of raw courage, defence spokesperson Colonel Rajesh Kalia said, describing Wani as Kashmirs seasoned warrior. A civilian teenager was also killed in clashes with security forces that erupted around the encounter site during the fateful day. The chief of the Indian Army, Gen Bipin Rawat, on Wednesday said that his Pakistani counterpart Gen. Qamar Bajwa will have to make any approach for talks only through the Indian government, dismissing reports that an overture was made to him by the Pakistan Army chief last year. Let Gen Qamar Bajwa approach me through the Indian government, and we will take a decision on whether to talk or not. I am neither saying yes, nor no, Gen Rawat said. I am a soldier and we talk straight. We will take a call if I am approached, Gen. Rawat said, before going on to indicate that terror and talks cannot be delinked. Several media reports, including one in the New York Times last September, quoted Western diplomatic and Pakistani sources as saying that Gen Bajwa, concerned about Pakistans international isolation and faltering economy, quietly reached out to archrival India about resuming peace talks, but the response was tepid. According to the newspaper, the outreach was directed at Gen Rawat. Also read | Made them do bhangra: Army chief Bipin Rawat on improved military ties with China The two army chiefs served together in a UN Peacekeeping force in Congo a decade ago, that report added. I am the chief of the Indian army. The governments stand is my stand. There are many questions that need to be answered. I will ask him if he [Gen Bajwa] is going to take action against the likes of Hafiz Saeed and Masood Azhar, Gen Rawat said. India has long held that Saeed and Azhar, the heads of terror outfits Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) and Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM), which export terror into India, are proxies of the Pakistan Army. LeT was behind the 2008 Mumbai attacks, and JeM was involved in the attack on the Indian Air Force base in Pathankot in 2016. Peace talks between India and Pakistan have been derailed following multiple terror attacks, and Indias position is that talks and terror cannot go hand in hand. When anything goes wrong in Kashmir, all of you are quick to blame the Indian Army. Why not blame the Pakistani army, which is inciting people on the ground? Gen Rawat asked. India believes Pakistan is funding the youth who pelt stones at the security forces. Pakistans newly elected Prime Minister Imran Khan offered an olive branch to India in July, 2018, soon after he took over, and said he was willing to take two steps, if India took one step. India agreed to a meeting of the two foreign ministers, Sushma Swaraj and Shah Mahmood Qureshi, on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly in New York in September last year but pulled out abruptly citing the brutal killings of three policemen in Kashmir as well as the release of postal stamps glorifying slain militant commander Burhan Wani. Several policy strategists, including former Research & Analysis Wing chief AS Dulat have called for talks between the army chiefs of the two countries but there has been no official response from the Indian government. Reacting to Rawats comments, Dulat said, There are several ways in which messages for talks are sent. India needs to make up its mind on whether it wants to talk or not. Dont forget, even enemies like the US and North Korea came together to forge a fresh start. Also read | If ready for talks with Taliban, why not Kashmiri separatists? ask Omar and Mehbooba Kerala Congress working president K Sudhkaran, also a former MP from Kannur, landed in a big controversy after he said the Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan was worse than a woman. He later tendered an apology. While speaking at a UDF-sponsored protest rally in Kasargode (north Kerala) on Wednesday against the state government which completed 1,000 days in office he said party workers often eulogized the chief minister as a man with two strong hearts and that everyone thought he would be something like a man when he assumed power. But he said he not only failed to act like a man but also proved to be worse than a woman. We all thought he will do something like a man but he proved beyond any doubt that he is worse than a woman, he said at the meet. Many women rights activists and CPI(M) leaders have criticised his speech. It clearly exposes his chauvinistic attitude. The party should explain his irresponsible statement, said tribal leader and activist CK Janu. He later tendered an apology saying his speech was taken out context and misinterpreted. It was not meant to hurt anyone. If anybody is hurt I am really sorry for it, he said. A senior CPI(M) woman leader said she will file a complaint with the state women commission over the gender-insensitive comments. Notorious for his acerbic tongue, Sudhakaran has found himself in the thick of many such controversies earlier too. When the party remained silent on the emotional Sabarimala issue, he warned the leadership that the partys continued silence will be a blank cheque to saffron forces. A grassroots leader he is one of the top contenders for the Kannur Lok Sabha seat which he lost to PK Sreemati of CPI(M) with a slender margin in 2014. Ogyen Trinley Dorje, a claimant to the position of 17th Karmapa Lama, has not completed the formal application process for an Indian visa and the government is not blocking his return to the country, people familiar with the developments said on Thursday. Dorje, who fled from Tibet to India in January 2000, left the country in May 2017 and travelled to Europe and then the US using his Identity Certificate, a document issued by the Indian government to stateless citizens from the Tibetan Autonomous Region of China. Since then, Dorje has cited various reasons for not returning to India. The issue of his return took another twist on Tuesday, when a video message by Dorje posted on his YouTube channel suggested officials of the Indian consulate in New York had informed him they were not authorised to issue him a visa. Dorje indicated he had approached the consulate for a visa last year. What Dorje has said is not in accordance with the facts, said a government official who spoke on the condition of anonymity. On November 12, 2018, Indias consul general in New York met Dorjes authorised representative, his sister Ngodup Palzom. He informed her the Indian government would issue Dorje an appropriate visa on his new passport from the Commonwealth of Dominica, this official added. The consul general explained the visa application procedure in detail, the official said. The consul general again met Palzom at her request on November 26, 2018, and reiterated a visa would be issued whenever Dorje applied, the official added. Since then, there has been no communication and we have not received the application or the passport, the official said, adding that it appears that someone in Dorjes inner circle was misinforming him or misrepresenting the facts. The people cited in the first instance said that though an online visa application was initiated by Dorje on November 27, it wasnt completed and no receipt was issued. Dont say that India is not giving you a visa, the official said. A representative of the Tsurphu Labrang or Dorjes office in New Delhi said Dorje was currently in retreat in Germany. The visa application process is yet to be completed and for this, he needs to be in the US to complete some documentation, the representative said. Dorje obtained a passport from the Commonwealth of Dominica, a former British crown colony in the West Indies, last year. With this, his Identity Certificate became invalid. In the video featuring a voice-over in English, Dorje said he had gone to the Indian consulate in New York to turn in his Identity Certificate and to seek a visa. The people cited above said Dorje hadnt personally visited the consulate but sent his representative. With the killing of three local Lashkar militants in Baramulla, the Jammu and Kashmir police have declared that strategic police district of North Kashmir free from militancy. It is the first district in Kashmir where there is no surviving militant. Officials say that Lashkar commander Shuiab Akhoon and his two associates, Mohsin Mushtaq and Nisar Darzi, were the last of the listed militants in Baramulla. The police were chasing them for past six months. They had zeroed in on them earlier as well but the trio managed to give police a slip. The Baramulla police district is now without any surviving militant. These three were last active militants operating in Baramulla and affiliated with Lashkar-e-Taiba, a senior police officer said. We were after this group for past several months. At one time when we arrested their associates at Baramulla but they managed to give us a slip, he said. J&K Police spokesperson said, There is no surviving militant as on date, he said. J&K Director General of Police(DGP) Dilbag Singh also complimented police for making the district militancy-free. The three militants on Wednesday were trapped in an underground hideout at a village orchard eight kilometres from Baramulla town. Of the three militants, Akhoon, 23, had joined militancy in 2017 and was pivotal in getting Mushtaq and Darzi into militancy. The three were neighbours. The slain militants didnt heed the calls from their parents to return their homes and shun militancy. Akhoons another associate Aqil, who was also his neighbour from Khanpora locality was killed in an encounter with the security forces in October last year at Athoora Kreeri along with other militant of Sopore. Akhoon was a second-year student, when he joined militancy. His family says that Akhoon was being frequently arrested by police which forced him to pick up the gun. He first went missing on November 17 when his father Farooq Ahmad was taking him to Humhuma police station as they were looking for him. Police said that Akhoon went to Pakistan on a passport two years ago and had received arms training at Lashkar-e-Taiba camp, and when police started questioning him, he joined militancy. Akhoon had a realeased a video last year, ahead of the panchayat and local body elections, asking people of North Kashmir to stay away from the polls else they would have to face consequences. In early 2000s, a group of 13 foreign militants sneaked into Baramulla town and remained active for a year before they were killed in a series of encounters. Baramulla is close to the LoC and its not a big deal that militants can make a comeback in the district or town. The separatist have good base and network in the district. The peace will return only if India and Pakistan will talk to each other, said Suhail Ahmad a political analyst. Baramulla is a strategic district with the headquarters of armys 19 Infantry Division which overlooks the Line of Control (LoC) in Uri, Gulmarg and Nowgam in North Kashmir. The Baramulla is also the district where separatists have good support base especially in the old Baramulla town which was once a hub of local militants. However, this is not the first instance when a district or town in Kashmir has been declared militancy-free. Previously, Kulgam was declared militancy-free during Omar Abdullahs tenure as chief minister. The Abdullah government had then advocated lifting of the AFSPA (Armed Forces Special Powers Act) from Srinagar, Budgam and Ganderbal as there were no active militants at these places. Pakistan on Thursday described Indias response to its proposal to finalise an agreement on the opening of the Kartarpur corridor as childish, saying that Islamabads reply will be mature. Foreign Office Spokesperson Muhammad Faisal said that Pakistan shared a detailed proposal along with a draft agreement with the Indian authorities and invited an Indian delegation to Pakistan to discuss and finalise modalities for the agreement. Instead of responding to Pakistans initiative, India asked a Pakistani delegation to visit New Delhi and suggested two possible dates - February 26 and March 7 - for the meeting, Faisal told the media in Islamabad. Pakistan, unlike India, would come out with a very mature and well considered response on this highly important matter and respond to the Indian move very soon, he said. The much-awaited corridor will connect Darbar Sahib in Pakistans Kartarpur -- the final resting place of Sikh faiths founder Guru Nanak Dev-- with Dera Baba Nanak shrine in Indias Gurdaspur district. It will enable Sikh devotees to offer prayers at the historic shrine where Guru Nanak had spent his last 18 years. Faisal alleged that India committed 2,300 ceasefire violations last year and these violations are still on the surge. Pakistan is responding in a befitting manner to the unprovoked Indian firing on the Line of Control, he said, adding that Pakistan would respond to India in the same coin. If it (India) speaks the language of peace, we will respond peacefully and if it speaks the language of bullet, we will respond with the bullet, he said. Faisal also rejected the Indian claim about sinking of their fishing boat in Pakistani waters on 17th of this month. He, however, alleged that poaching in Pakistani exclusive economic zones is a frequent activity by the Indian fishing boats. He said Pakistan Maritime Security Agency (PMSA) conducts anti-poaching operations as per the laws and international regulations and the relevant UN convention. Lance Naik Nazir Wani, who had joined the Indian Army giving up terrorism in 2004, will be awarded Ashok Chakra posthumously this Republic Day. Ashok Chakra is the highest peacetime gallantry award given to a soldier. Wani lost his life in November last year during operations in Jammu and Kashmirs Shopian. Six militants were killed in the Shopian encounter. Wani had joined 162 Territorial Army battalion in Kashmir and received Sena Medal twice in 2007 and in August last year. Before joining the Indian Army, Wani was part of Ikhwan, a counter-insurgency force formed in 1990s. Ikhwan mostly consisted of former militants and fought militants. Although they dealt a blow to militancy, they were also accused of human rights violations in the Valley. Wani ultimately joined the Indian Army in 2004. Wani sustained bullet injuries during the encounter. He was provided immediate first aid and evacuated to 92 Base Hospital, but unfortunately succumbed to his injuries. The braveheart form Kulgam district of South Kashmir was a highly decorated soldier. He was 38 and belonged to Cheki Ashmuji village of Kulgam Tehsil in Kulgam. He is survived by his wife and two children. One month after forming the government, Chhattisgarh chief minister Bhupesh Baghel believes that former CM Raman Singh could be behind bars in the PDS scam. Baghel claims that people have the right to know who is CM sir and CM Madam in the PDS scam. Baghel has initiated more than a dozen probes in cases such as the PDS scam, Jhiram Ghati attack, DPR Scam and others in the last one month. Speaking about controversial IG SRP Kalluris appointment, Baghel said Kalluri was Raman Singhs favourite, and hence he decided to give the probes to Kalluri in which Raman Singh is under the scanner. Excerpts from the interview: Question: The political environment of Chhattisgarh changed in the last one month and everyone in the state is now talking about Mahatma Gandhi and Nehru instead of Syama Prasad Mukherjee and Deen Dayal Upadhyaya. How is the present government working for political change in the state? Answer: The Congress always had a strong presence in Chhattisgarh ever since the state was formed in 2000. The Congress lost three elections but the winning margin was very small. But the BJP lost this election with a very huge margin. They were almost washed out by the people of the state. Congress never got as little as 15 seats in any of the three assembly elections. The Congress has been in the veins of Chhattisgarh from the very beginning. Our government is just a reflection of the people and the political environment of the state. Question: From the very beginning, the Congress has said that if it comes to power it will send Raman Singh to jail. In the last one month, a probe has been initiated against Raman Singh in the PDS scam. Has your government got any evidence till now? Answer: We just began the probe in PDS scam and now they have started crying foul. The names of 18 officers are mentioned in the diary which is an important evidence of the scam. The people have the right to know who are the people addressed in the diary as CM sir, CM Madam and Aishvarya Residency. We have only taken the courts permission to re-open the case and now Raman Singh is worried. Question: There are many institutions where political appointments have been made in the last 15 years. Many RSS functionaries were appointed to some important educational and other institutions of the state. What is your plan of action for these political appointments? Answer: This is an important issue and we will redress it. Several political appointments were made in the state under the BJP rule which is a serious concern for our government. Question: You are known for your fight against the ideological spread of RSS in the state but after forming the government you have not taken any action against the ideological spread or appointments of RSS... Why? Answer: We have defeated RSS and its ideology in the elections and we have won with a huge margin. Ab araam se karenge... humein hadbadi nahi hai (We will do it slowly... We are not in a hurry). Question: During your recent Bastar visit, you said the government will not talk with Maoists. Why dont you want to talk to the Maoists, when they are also a party in conflict area along the victims? Answer: Till now every government either wanted to fight the Maoists or talk with them. But nothing happened. Raman Singh also said that his government wants to talk with the Maoists. I believe that those people who are victims of Maoist violence should be engaged in the conversation which was never been done in the past. Question: Has your government chalked out a model of conversation with the victims of Bastar? Answer: We will go to them now. We will talk to everyone who is living in Bastar. We will talk to the tribals, non-tribals, security forces and journalists of the region. First we will talk to them. I personally believe that the victims of Maoist violence will understand the problem better than me. It could be possible that they may have a solution to the Maoist problem. Question: You are saying that you will speak to the journalists of the region and then come to any conclusion. But recently, an important face of Bastar journalism, Kamal Shukla, sat on a dharna against your government for giving a key post to controversial IG SRP Kalluri. Human rights activists in the country are criticising your decision to give a plum post to Kalluri. When he was Bastar IG, you yourself fought a long battle against him. But now you are giving him an important probe of the state? What is going on? Answer: See, who was behind Kalluri? Raman Singh. An officer can do things only when the government wants him to do. Kalluri has violated laws in Bastar and I myself opposed and fought against him. Kalluri spoke against me in Raman Singhs government, which means he was Raman Singhs favourite, hence I decided to give the probes to Kalluri in which Raman Singh is now under the scanner. I have not given Kalluri any field posting, he has been appointed as IG Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB). I want to tell human rights defenders that under any government, a police officer has to discharge his duty, so we are utilising him (Kalluri) to discharge his duties. While the BJP is still smarting under the defeat in assembly elections in Madhya Pradesh along with Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh, its veteran Babulal Gaur on Thursday created a flutter with the claim that he was offered to contest the Lok Sabha polls from Bhopal seat on Congresss ticket. Babulal Gaur is a former chief minister of Madhya Pradesh and a veteran in the state politics. Gaur claimed that he was offered the Congress ticket by senior party leader and former MP chief minister Digvijaya Singh. He also said he will think about the offer of contesting the Lok Sabha polls as Congress candidate. News agency ANI quoted Gaur as saying, He (Singh) visited me and offered me to contest polls from Bhopal Lok Sabha seat on Congress ticket. I told him I will think about it. The development follows reports that the BJP would field senior party leaders from Madhya Pradesh in the Lok Sabha elections, likely to be held in April-May this year, on the winnability factor signalling that many veterans may be ignored in ticket allocations by the central leadership of the party. Eighty-eight-year-old Gaur, on the other hand, has maintained in the past that he was not yet ready to take retirement from politics. The Congress stunned the BJP in 2018 assembly elections in Madhya Pradesh, where the party was ruling for 15 years. The Congress won 114 seats, two short of the majority mark in the 230-member Madhya Pradesh assembly, while the BJP could win only 109 seats in the elections. Delhi law minister Kailash Gahlot has issued a show cause notice to the principal secretary (law) for clearing the sanction to prosecute former Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) students of sedition without his approval, and has written to the Delhi high court chief justice, apprising him of the matter. The case relates to anti-national slogans allegedly raised in February 2016 on the JNU campus. Former JNU students union president Kanhaiya Kumar is among those named in the charge sheet. Gahlot said the prosecution file would now have to be sent back to the law department for review. The file on prosecution sanction is presently with Delhi home minister Satyendar Jain, who received it on Monday after the high court rapped Delhi Police earlier this month for filing a charge sheet without the governments approval. Under the Code of Criminal Procedure, in cases of sedition, the police have to obtain sanction from the state government before filing a charge sheet, without which the court cannot take cognisance of the document. The law ministers show-cause notice to principal secretary (law) AK Mendiratta pointed to Rule 13 of the transaction of business rules, which states no decision or views can be communicated by any principal secretary without the approval of the minister in-charge. In his notice dated January 21, Gahlot said soon after the court rejected the charge sheet, the home department had sent the file to the law department for its opinion. Instead of sending the file to the minister (law) for approval, the principal secretary (law) has directly sent the file to principal secretary (home) on January 18, read the ministers show-cause notice, a copy of which is with Hindustan Times. This is not only insubordination but appears to have been done intentionally so that the views of minister (law) are not recorded on the file, read the notice, which directed Mendiratta to furnish an explanation immediately. When contacted Mendiratta refused comment on the issue. Government officials privy to the case said the law department, while returning the file to the home department, did not disapprove of the prosecution sanction. The minister has written to the chief justice of the Delhi high court, informing about the alleged insubordination. This has been done because the court is yet to take cognizance of the sedition case. The court must be aware of all the nuances related to the prosecution sanction, a government official said on condition of anonymity. The principal secretary (law) is appointed by the Delhi high court, which reviews the performance of such officers. An adviser to chief minister Arvind Kejriwal said that the government was not going to hurry the sanction as the rules grant three months time for the directorate of prosecution to convey its final decision. However, if the government does not take a decision within the time frame, the sanction is deemed granted, he said. The Delhi Police had filed the charge sheet in the court on January 14, saying sanction for prosecution was pending before the government. Police also charged former JNU students Umar Khalid and Anirban Bhattacharya for allegedly shouting anti-India slogans during the event to mark the hanging of Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru. The event had taken place despite the university administration cancelling the permission following a complaint from the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad. Asserting that Priyanka Gandhi Vadras formal entry in active politics will have no impact on Lok Sabha polls, the BJP on Thursday said her appointment as Congress general secretary of Uttar Pradesh-East may have generated a buzz in Delhi but it has drawn no response from the region of which she has been made in-charge by her party. Union minister Manoj Sinha, who is Lok Sabha MP from Ghazipur in eastern UP, said Piyankas appointment is an attempt by the Congress to gain some importance in the state as it was left in a bad shape after being left out of the SP-BSP alliance. At a BJP press conference, he also played down ally Shiv Senas praise for Priyanka, saying it is the partys personal opinion. Priyanka Gandhi Vadra was made a general secretary in Delhi and you people have been discussing it here. But it seems that people of the region of which she has been made in-charge are not noticing it, Sinha said, adding her presence would have no impact on the general election. He said that Lok Sabha election will be fought on a different plane, stressing that the Modi government has changed the lives of 22 crore families with its development policies. He also lashed out at Congress president Rahul Gandhi over his use of impolite words against Prime Minister Narendra Modi during his visit to Amethi, saying such language is not used even in panchayat politics. Sinha said Rahul Gandhis remarks were condemnable. The Congress partys decision to go it alone in Andhra Pradesh in the upcoming general elections has opened fault lines within the grand old party which faces a fresh wave of desertions. A day after the no-truck statement by Congress general secretary in-charge of Andhra Pradesh, Oommen Chandy, former Union minister Kotla Suryaprakash, son of former chief minister Kotla Vijayabhaskar Reddy from Rayalaseemas Kurnool district appears setting the stage for switching over to the Telugu Desam Party (TDP). The Kotla family has been loyal to the Congress for decades as Vijayabhaskar Reddy served as Union minister and a member of Congress Working Committee (CWC), besides being the CM of undivided Andhra Pradesh. His son Suryaprakash was instrumental in organising a rally addressed by Congress chief Rahul Gandhi, during which a promise of special category status in Kurnool in September 2018 was made. According to information, Suryaprakash Reddy is planning to hold a meeting with his followers in his home district on Friday for consultations over his course of action. A senior TDP leader from Kurnool district said that their party chief and Andhra Pradesh chief minister Chandrababu Naidu has cleared the decks for Reddys entry. But deputy chief minister KE Krishnamurthy, who is engaged in a turf war with Kotlas family, has expressed his strong reservations against the TDP aligning with Congress and admission of Suryaprakash Reddy as well. A Congress spokesman said there could be more power-starved seniors, who might take cue from Suryaprakash Reddy in pursuit of greener pastures in the coming days. Haunted by the demon of bifurcation which decimated the grand old party in 2014 elections, the Congress party found a dependable ally in the TDP to gain a toehold and stay relevant in the state politics after the latter broke away with NDA early in 2018. Right from constituency in-charges to former ministers, most of the senior leaders reportedly conveyed their opinion to Oommen Chandy favouring a truck with the TDP in course of interactions for the partys survival. But the AICC emissary explicitly made clear the high commands stand for a solo show that raised many an eyebrow. A senior leader who served as a minister during the Congress regime (2009-14) said the no-truck decision is well-conceived by top brass to prevent YS Jaganmohan Reddy of the Yuvajana Sramika Rytu Congress (YSRC), the common enemy for Congress and TDP, from capitalising on the unsuccessful alliance experiment as was evident in Telangana. The mahakootami (grand alliance) experiment of the Congress and TDP has ended up with 19 and 2 seats respectively in Telangana following failure of vote transfer in favour of the alliance partners. There is a strong apprehension of repeating a similar experience in Andhra also if the Congress ties up with TDP to the advantage of the common enemy, a former minister said on the condition of anonymity. The TDP is also reportedly haunted by similar apprehensions that the alliance with Congress might be a more liability than an asset since Andhra people are still not able to atone it for dividing the state. The Congress suffered a first wave of desertions after the bifurcation before the 2014 general elections. Most of its leaders preferred to jump off the sinking boat and seek asylum either in Jagan Reddys YSR Congress or to Naidus TDP. In the recent past three former ministers from the Congress Vatti Vasanta Kumar, C Ramachandraiah and Pasupuleti Balaraju crossed over to the YSR Congress and Jana Sena in protest against their party joining hands with the TDP against the NDA. The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Thursday said it has registered a case of criminal conspiracy and fraud against ICICI Banks former chief executive officer (CEO) and managing director (MD) Chanda Kochhar, her husband Deepak Kochhar, and Videocon Group head Venugopal Dhoot, 13 months after it started an investigation into alleged irregularities in loans sanctioned to the Videocon Group companies. Kochhar resigned from the bank last October. When contacted, Dhoot said: I cannot talk about it at the moment. The Kochhars didnt reply to phone calls and messages seeking comment. ICICI Bank did not respond to an emailed query. The federal investigation agency was looking into a possible quid pro quo where Kochhar may have favoured Videocon, which had an investment in a firm promoted by her husband Deepak Kochhar. She initially denied there was any conflict of interest, and the banks board backed her at first. The agencys investigation officer has also recommended that the role of other senior ICICI Bank officials, Sandeep Bakshi, K Ramkumar, Sonjoy Chatterjee, Zarin Daruwala, Rajiv Sabharwal, KV Kamath and Homi Khusrokhan, be looked into. HT has seen a copy of the first information report (FIR) of the agency which lists these names, although they have not been accused of anything. The names include those of some of the banks directors (including non-executive directors). Some of the names are of people who were on the banks credit committee, which signed off on the Rs 3,250 crore loan to Videocon in 2012. Daruwala has left the bank and is now the CEO of Standard Chartered Banks Indian operations. Kamath is now head of the BRICS bank. Chatterjee too has left the bank and is the CEO of Goldman Sachs India. Khusrokhan is an independent director on the board of the bank. Sabharwal has also left the bank and is now the CEO of Tata Capital. Bakshi took over as CEO and MD of the bank after Chanda Kochhar resigned. Following the registration of the FIR, agency officers on Thursday carried out searches at four premises of Dhoots Videocon Group and Deepak Kochhars company Nupower Renewables in Maharatshtras Aurangabad and Mumbai. Besides the Kochhars and Dhoot, the FIR names four companies, Nupower Renewables Ltd (NRL), Supreme Energy Pvt Ltd (SEPL), Videocon International Electronics Ltd (VIEL) and Videocon Industries Ltd (VIL) as accused along with other unknown private persons and unknown public servants. It was alleged that the accused sanctioned certain loans to private companies in a criminal conspiracy with other accused to cheat ICICI Bank, said a CBI spokesman. Curiously, a day after registration of the FIR on January 22, the supervisory officer of the case, superintendent of police Sudhanshu Dhar Mishra found himself caught in the maze of mass transfers ordered by CBIs interim director M Nageswara Rao. Ever since being given interim charge of the agency on January 10, Rao has assigned and reassigned at least two dozen officials of the agency. An order issued by the agencys personnel wing on January 23 transferred Mishra, an Indian Revenue Service officer, on deputation to CBI in Ranchi. The FIR was filed after CBI said its preliminary enquiry found enough evidence of a quid pro quo. It was also alleged that as a part of quid pro quo, Sh VN Dhoot made an investment of ~64 crore in M/S Nupower Renewables Ltd (NRL) through M/S Supreme Energy Pvt Ltd (SEPL) and also transferred M/S SEPL to Pinnacle Energy Trust managed by Deepak Kochhar through a circuitous route between 2010 and 2012, said the FIR. CBIs preliminary enquiry, conducted by the agencys inspector DJ Bajpei, revealed that between June 2009 and October 2011, ICICI Bank transferred six high-value loans to various companies of the Videocon Group. As per the enquiry, on August 26, 2009, a rupee term loan of Rs 300 crore was sanctioned to an accused company, VIEL, in contravention of the rules and policy by the sanctioning committee. On September 7, 2009, the loan was disbursed to VIEL, and the next day Dhoot transferred Rs 64 crore to M/S NRL, managed by Deepak Kochhar. The money was transferred by Dhoot from another accused company, VIL, through M/S SEPL which also belonged to the Videocon Group promoter, the enquiry found, according to CBI. The FIR says this was first major capital received by NRL to acquire its first power plant. The agency termed it as illegal gratification/undue benefit . NRL was incorporated on December 24, 2008, with three directors Deepak Kochhar, VN Dhoot and Saurabh Dhoot. On January 15, 2009, VN Dhoot and Saurabh Dhoot resigned from the directorship of the company. But before resigning, VN Dhoot allotted 1,997,500 warrants to Deepak Kochhar at the rate of ~10 per warrant on an initial payment of Rs 1 per warrant. On June 5, 2009, an equal amount of shares of M/S NRL held by VN Dhoot and Deepak Kochhar (under another company Pacific Capital Services Pvt Ltd) was transferred to M/S SEPL, which then became 95% shareholder of M/S NRL. The enquiry also revealed that M/S SEPL was incorporated in July, 2008, and Dhoot resigned from the directorship of the company on January 15, 2009, the same day he and Saurabh Dhoot also resigned from the directorship of M/S NRL. Subsequently, VN Dhoot transferred control of M/S SEPL to Deepak Kochhar-managed Pinnacle Energy Trust (PET). ICICI Bank also sanctioned five other rupee term loans totaling Rs 1,575 crore between 2009 and 2011 to five other companies that belonged to VN Dhoot, according to CBI. These loans turned non-performing assets (NPA) resulting in wrongful loss to the ICICI Bank, the agency said. The agency enquiry officer also alleged that ICICI Bank released security available in the form of fixed deposit receipts of ~50 crore in the account of two Dhoot associated companies without any justification. The FIR said that as on April 26, 2012, the outstanding amount in the six loan accounts was adjusted in rupee term loan of Rs 1,730 crore and it sanctioned under the refinance scheme of domestic debt. On June 30, 2017, the account of VIL and its group companies were declared NPAs. Bengal film producer Shrikant Mohta was on Thursday arrested by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in connection with the multi-crore rupee Rose Valley Chit Fund scam, an official said. Mohta has been arrested following interrogation in connection with the Rose Valley Chit fund scam as the officials concerned found many of his statements unsatisfactory, a senior CBI official told IANS. Mohta is the co-founder of Shree Venkatesh Films (SVF), which has produced over 120 films, including Chokher Bali and Memories in March. The officials first interrogated Mohta at his office at a lavish south Kolkata complex and later took him to the agencys office in Salt Lake for further interrogation where he was arrested. He is likely to be taken to Bhubaneswar and produced before a court on Friday. The CBI had attached assets including resorts, hotels, land parcels worth Rs 2,300 crore across districts of West Bengal. The agency has been probing the diversion of funds from the Rose Valley Groups deposit-taking companies. Under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), the agency had registered an FIR against the company and Chairman Gautam Kundu in 2014, who was arrested the next year. The CBI had recovered incriminating documents, gold ornaments and precious stones worth Rs 40 crore during searches at showrooms at a jewellery house in the ponzi scheme. Moushumi Chatterjee, a veteran actor who recently joined BJP, faced backlash from media after she told the anchor at an event not to wear jeans. While interacting with media, Chatterjee said that there is a need to tell the next generation what to wear for their own good. She further stated that she gave her opinion to the girl as a mother, and an Indian woman. Watch: You need to understand what to wear. You cant wear jeans to the temple because it is uncomfortable. Wear salwar kameez or saree. This is our legacy, Chatterjee said. When quizzed about her decision to join BJP, Chatterjee who was at an event in Surat along with other party leaders said: Joining BJP is not my proof of patriotism. I am doing my bit for the nation. Chatterjee contested 2004 Lok Sabha seat on Congress ticket and lost. (This story has been published from a wire agency feed without modifications to the text. Only the headline has been changed.) The Union Cabinet on Wednesday cleared Constitutional amendments to give more resources and administrative powers to the autonomous councils of the northeastern states of Assam, Meghalaya, Mizoram and Tripura, amid an ongoing controversy over the citizenship bill that seeks to allow minorities from Bangladesh, Pakistan and Afghanistan to become Indian citizens. Announcing the Cabinet decision, law minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said the Finance Commission will be asked to recommend devolution of financial resources to the 10 autonomous district councils as well as village and municipal councils in the so-called sixth schedule areas of the north-east. This move to amend Article 280 and the sixth schedule to the Constitution, the government maintained, will fulfil the long standing aspirations of tribespeople in the region. The sixth schedule of the Constitution makes special provisions for the management of areas dominated by tribals in the region. It lists 10 autonomous district councils across the four states with specific judicial and administrative powers. This will be a game changer, as it will substantially enhance the funds available to these local government institutions for undertaking development works in these tribal areas, Prasad said after the Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led Cabinet finished its meeting. The Cabinet also cleared 30% reservation for women in these councils. The amendment provides for transfer of an additional 30 subjects, including the Public Works Department, Forests, Public Health Engineering, Health and Family Welfare; Urban Development, Food and Civil Supply department to Karbi Anglong Autonomous Territorial Council (KAATC) and Dima Hasao Autonomous Territorial Council (DHATC) in Assam, thus greatly strengthening the autonomous councils and giving them a major role in the day to day governance and developmental activities, a government statement said. The village councils will be empowered for preparation of plans for economic development and social justice including those in relation to agriculture, land improvement, implementation of land reforms, minor irrigation, water management, animal husbandry, rural electrification, small scale industries and social forestry, it added. Many leaders from the northeast, however, refused to give any credit to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) for the changes. Congress president in Assam Ripun Bora claimed it was his party which initiated these changes to empower tribal people of Assam and northeast. By taking unilateral decision on a subject relating to concurrent list, Centre has violated federal structure and encroached upon powers of state government. This is nothing but an election gimmick. The BJP spokesperson in Tripura, Ashok Sinha, maintained that the proposed amendment to Article 280 will give greater financial resources to the autonomous district council to undertake developmental work. Tripura Tribal Areas Autonomous District Council chief executive officer Radhacharan Debbarma claimed that in reality, there will be no power. Regarding reservation, the former Left government introduced 50% women reservation in panchayats and (Wednesdays) decision is just an eye wash, Debbarma added. Mizoram chief minister Zoramthanga said he can comment on the matter only after he sees the decision in writing. Congress spokesperson in Mizoram, Lallianchhunga, said, In the long run it is good for the areas. People will no longer blame the state for lack of development. He added that while the timing of the BJP-led central governments announcement could be driven by the coming parliamentary elections, it isnt clear how this could benefit the party. Meghalaya CM Conrad K Sangma tweeted his thanks to Modi and Union home minister Rajnath Singh for the historic decision to approve constitutional amendment to substantially increase financial resources and other powers of autonomous council in the Sixth Schedule areas of northeast. The amendments are expected to fulfil the commitments made under tripartite memorandum of settlements signed by the Centre, relevant state governments and some ethnic groups. The amendments, which have to be ratified by Parliament, come amid controversy over the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2016 that has laid bare differences among state units of the BJP in the northeast. Some BJP units are openly opposing the Bill that seeks to grant citizenship to Hindus, Sikhs, Christians, Parsis, Jains and Buddhists from Bangladesh, Pakistan and Afghanistan. The region is concerned that the bill, if it becomes law, could lead to large-scale migration and affect indigenous populations. (with agency inputs) Rescuers on Thursday managed to pull out the remains of the lone body that they had managed to locate in the flooded Meghalaya coal mine in East Jaintia Hills district. On Tuesday, the body had slipped from the grip of the Indian Navys underwater remotely operated vehicle (ROV). The body was found late on Wednesday evening. The body was pulled out in a joint operation by the NDRF and Indian Navy. It took six men - 2 from the NDRF, 3 navy men and one civil hospital staffer - to pull out the body from the flooded mine. The rescuers went into the shaft in two teams with an inflatable boat, a body bag and other NDRF equipment. The body was finally packed and pulled out from a depth of 170 feet in the 355-foot deep main shaft of the mine. The body was handed over to the officer in charge PS Saipung in the presence of civil administration. The retrieved body has been sent to the Civil Hospital Khliehriat for post-mortem. A police official said that the recovered body is largely intact. The body is largely intact but the face is slightly disfigured. It has been kept in cold storage for now and the families of all suspected missing persons have been informed and called, he said. While three families are locals, the other families are from distant places in Assam and are likely to reach the place either tomorrow or on Saturday. An official involved in the rescue, who did not want to be named, said the body was relocated late in the evening on Wednesday. Another official familiar with development also confirmed that the body has been relocated and in the process to pull it out continues. The body disengaged from the ROV after it was pulled from the rat hole to the main shaft of the mine on Tuesday. The Indian Navy today (Wednesday) resumed their work with the ROV inside the main shaft to locate the remains that slipped from the jaw of ROV yesterday (Tuesday) while trying to pull it upwards, R Susngi, the spokesperson of the East Jaintia Hills district administration, said earlier on Wednesday as the navy ROV searched for the body. At least 15 miners were trapped in the illegal rat-hole mine in Khloo Ryngksan of East Jaintia Hills district, when it was flooded on December 13. Due to the presence of pipes, cables, debris, their efforts to locate have not been successful, Susngi said elaborating the difficulties in tracing the body. Officials involved in the rescue operation said they believed the body would float in the water in the main shaft. Instead, it went to the bottom. The main shaft has around 170 feet of water which has not receded despite attempts to pump it out. The body which was spotted by the ROV in one of the rat holes on January 16, was in a highly decomposed state and authorities had sought the help of family members of the missing miners to identify the victim. Parts of the body started disintegrating as the ROV tried to pull it out, officials had said earlier. The Meghalaya government informed the Supreme Court on Monday that the operations at the rat-hole coal mine to look for survivors will continue. It also indicated that the workers trapped in the mine for more than a month may have died. An 18-year-old class 12 student was arrested by Ghaziabad Police on Wednesday for allegedly attempting to rape a six-year-old girl and later strangulating her to death when he resisted his attempt. Police said the suspect, the girls private tutor, also tried to allegedly sexually assault the body before dumping it. The incident took place in Loni on Monday evening. The girl had returned home around 7pm from her tuitions but left again soon, saying bhaiya was calling her and that she would be back soon. She did not return. Her father found her body the next morning outside a mosque when he went to offer prayers after a night-long reach. Police arrested Faizul Islam, a student of a government school in Delhi, who used to teach eight children, including five girls, in his neighbourhood. The cops got a hint about his involvement as the girl had told her family that bhaiya was calling her. Her family told police she used to refer to Faizul as bhaiya and this led them to close in on him during investigation. On Monday evening, the accused called the girl, saying he would give her an eraser. He took her to his maternal uncles house, where he used to take tuitions. There was no one in the house at that time. He took her to a room on the first floor, where he tried to assault her but she started crying. He gagged her with his hand when she tried to resist, AK Maurya, superintendent of police (rural), said. Police said the girl lost consciousness and later died. He took her to the roof and wrapped her body in a quilt to hide it. He was planning how to dump the body, while the girls family started searching for her. Around 1.30am, once the streets became quiet, he dumped the body on a sand pile outside the mosque and went to sleep, Maurya said. Police said based on the initial investigations, they booked the accused for rape, murder and destruction of evidence, besides levying provisions of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act. We recovered the quilt he used to hide the body on the roof and the slippers of the victim which he had hidden in the house. He is an adult. Initially, he denied any involvement but later broke down and narrated all events leading to the girls murder, Maurya said. Police said he had been eyeing the girl for the past one week before the incident. The officers said he had created a social networking group in which he had invited his known friends and used to chat about pornography. At the Luka Chuppi trailer launch on Thursday, actor Kriti Sanon opted to stand out in a vibrant green and white printed dress with matching white pumps and metallic jewellery. Kriti joined her Luka Chuppi co-star Kartik Aaryan for the event in Juhu, Mumbai. Green and white are quite the hot match, so if you want to get in on Kriti Sanons bold style, do so by wearing a similar printed wrap dress. You can wear it with a blazer and pumps at formal occasions, with strappy metallic sandals on a date or with flats or white sneakers on a weekend brunch with friends and family. Kriti Sanon kept her make-up minimal and styled her hair in loose waves. Although her nautical bandhini print dress by fashion designer Nupur Kanoi was stunning alone, the highlight of Kritis look was her jewellery. She accessorised with lots of delicate, gold pieces, including unusual hoop earrings. For contrast, Kriti kept her wrists clear, only wearing multiple flower-shaped and pearl-encrusted rings on her fingers. Watch: Kriti Sanon at the Luka Chuppi trailer launch in Mumbai Follow more stories on Facebook and Twitter Two simultaneous processes are likely to significantly increase north-south migration in India in the not-so-distant future. Southern states are aging at a much faster rate than their northern counterparts. By 2050, more than 20% of the population in the south will be more than 65 years old. This figure will be around one-tenth for big northern states such as Bihar and Uttar Pradesh. The south is also richer than the north, which means that wage rates are significantly higher in the latter. To be sure, migration is not a new phenomenon in India. While policy reforms like Goods and Services Tax have facilitated the movement of goods across states finally ( 70 years after Independence) there have been no restrictions on inter-state labour mobility in the country. But Indias migration story is not without problems. Bulk of the migration which happens comprises of poorly educated unskilled workers. They are most vulnerable to being exploited by not just labour contractors, who pocket a significant share of their earnings, but also miss out on the various social welfare provisions in their places of work. Schemes such as the public distribution system often demand permanent address proofs, which migrants find difficult to furnish. Governments are increasingly coming under pressure to exclude migrant workers from subsidised provisions of health and education. Migrant workers are also unlikely to be able to use local patronage networks comprising of politicians and bureaucrats to work the local administration to their advantage in times of need or crisis. The State has a responsibility to correct this growing imbalance. Unskilled workers are among the most insecure sections of our workforce. Being a migrant worker increases that vulnerability even more. Because state governments are more likely to be influenced by local interests, they cannot be expected to act on this problem. The central government must take the initiative to evolve a consensus on a fair and compassionate migration policy. India has once again decided to reject Australias participation in the Malabar naval exercises. Japan became a permanent member of these exercises in 2015. After the resumption of the quadrilateral dialogue, or the Quad, between India, the US, Japan and Australia in 2017, most analysts had assumed that Australia would be allowed in the Malabar exercises too. But Canberra has found it tough to woo New Delhi despite Tokyo and Washington backing Australias entry. India has also rebuffed suggestions from the US to elevate the Quad dialogue to foreign secretary level from the current setup of joint secretary level talks. Curiously, India sees the Malabar exercises separately from the Quad. It also draws a clear line between the Quad and the Indo-Pacific strategy. It is no surprise that India is now increasingly being considered the weakest link in the Quad. Ironically, one of the reasons India has been refusing Australias participation in the Malabar exercises has to do with its own perception of Australia-China relations. New Delhi is not sure that the current tensions between Australia and China will outlast the stint of a Labor government in Canberra. It was, after all, Kevin Rudd, a Labor prime minister, who had pulled Australia out of the Quad in 2008. It is also believed that India fears that quadrilateral naval exercises will invite reprisals from China. As a country which shares a long and disputed border with China, India would be most vulnerable to such hostilities. However, it has been proven time and again that respecting Chinas sensitivities is a one-way street; Beijing doesnt respect New Delhis sensitivities in return. Indeed, a quadrilateral exercise will send out a political message to China. But it will also send a much needed message to other countries in Southeast Asia which are afraid to confront China on their own. Moreover, these exercises arent merely about messaging. They are about building joint procedures to work together in crisis situations. A crisis need not be triggered only by Chinas activities but could well be the result of a tinpot dictator in the region or due to some natural disaster in the shared maritime space. The idea of Quad, one should recall, owes itself to the 2004 Tsunami in the Indian Ocean. It is high time India stopped dragging its feet on Australian participation in the Malabar exercises. Elevating the level of engagement in the Quad should be the next logical step. Three days ahead of Republic Day, the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) on Wednesday caught a 44-year-old man who was trying to sneak into the Delhi Metro with a packet full of batteries hidden in wheat flour dough and a powdered substance, triggering panic among the security agencys bomb squad. The man, on being interrogated by the Intelligence Bureau and Delhi police, told the police he was trying to check if explosives can be carried inside the metro. Assistant inspector general of CISF, Hemendra Singh, said eight packets were recovered. Seven packets contained AA batteries with wheat flour dough and the last packet had ammonium chloride. It was concealed in the hood of his jacket, Singh said. A police officer said ammonium chloride and potassium nitrate, when mixed with other chemicals, are known to be used for making explosives. However, Singh said the man told them ammonium chloride is used for cleaning gold and that he is involved in gold smuggling. But the way he was hiding these items raises suspicion. He said he had been taking shelter in different parts of Delhi during his visits to the capital, the AIG said. Police are verifying his links, background and his claims. Till late Wednesday night, he was being interrogated by several law enforcement agencies. Preliminary investigation revealed the man had extensively travelled to Egypt, Qatar, UAE and Nepal. Currencies of a few countries were recovered from him, police said. According to CISF officers, the man, later identified as Shihabudheen from Malappuram in Kerala, arrived at the Subhash Nagar metro station on the Delhi Metros blue line around 4 pm. He was carrying a packet with him. Our man who was manning the X-ray scanner spotted a few batteries in the packet and the man was stopped for detailed frisking. On checking manually, we found batteries wrapped in dough. There was some powdered substance in the bag. We immediately alerted our bomb squad and the entry was cordoned for some time, said an officer who is not authorised to speak to the media. After the bomb detection team cleared the packet, the CISF men took it to the control room along with Shihabudheen and Delhi Police was called in. The man told us he was conducting a recee. He said he wanted to know if an explosive can be sneaked into the Delhi metro. We scanned CCTV footage and he was seen travelling alone, the officer said. The CISF is already maintaining a high alert in Delhi Metro and the Delhi airport following a few terror threats conveyed by the intelligence bureau ahead of the Republic Day. Deputy commissioner of police (railways) Dinesh Gupta said they were questioning the man to check his background. He said joint interrogation continued till late Wednesday night. Five members of an international drugs cartel were arrested over the past week and around 25 kilos of party drugs Meow Meow, ketamine, alprazolam and tramadol in tablet and powdered form were seized from them, Delhi Police said on Wednesday. Police said a 45-year-old British national of Indian origin, who was wanted in Britain in a money-laundering case, was among those arrested. According to investigators, the seized narcotics had been collected from various places in Mumbai, Delhi, and other cities and were to be exported to the UK, Sri Lanka, Malaysia and Nepal after being concealed in sealed rice drums. Police estimated the value of the seized drugs, mostly supplied to nightclubs in India and abroad, to be around Rs 90 crore, according to the international market rates. Sanjeev Kumar Yadav, deputy commissioner of police (special cell), said interrogation of the suspects led them to busting a drug manufacturing unit, which was being run from the house of one of the arrested men, Neeraj Arora, in central Delhis Old Rajendra Nagar. Two godowns, where the prepared party drugs were stored, were also busted in west Delhis Hari Nagar and Vikas Nagar. Raw materials used in manufacturing party drugs were seized. According to the police, a Pakistani national, Mahzar, and an Indian man Amarjeet Bains both based out of London along with one Jaspreet Singh Dhillon, who is settled in Nepal and runs several nightclubs there and in Malaysia, were the key receivers of the drugs from the syndicate. The arrested British national, Rajesh Dutta, was evading arrest in the UK in a two million pound money laundering case. He had been hiding in central Delhi to avoid arrest, while his family is in London. The UK police had also opened a look out circular against him, DCP Yadav said. The other arrested were identified as Sunil Kumar alias Raju, Lokesh Mehta and Satish Sahu. DCP Yadav said the arrests were made in the last seven days following inputs that a cartel had procured psychotropic substances from various places in India to produce party drugs. On January 16, Yadav said, Kumar and Mehta were caught from near Bharati College in Janakpuri with around 5.275 kilos of tramadol powder, a party drug also known as Meow-Meow. Their interrogation led to the arrest of Sahu with another 5.1 kilos of Meow-Meow and the busting of Hari Nagar godown. We interrogated Sahu and he led us to Arora and Dutta, who were arrested on January 20 with 480 grams of ketamine. We later also raided Aroras Old Rajendra Nagar house where he had set up a drugs processing unit. More party drugs were seized from there and another godown in Vikas Nagar, Yadav said. Meanwhile, the Narcotics Control Bureau Wednesday said they have arrested a doctor and two courier company employees for smuggling 50,000 tablets of zolpidem and alprazolam. The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Tuesday said it would not field any of its MLAs in the Lok Sabha elections likely to be held in April-May. AAPs Delhi unit convener Gopal Rai, while making the announcement, acknowledged that the party had received several requests from legislators who had shown their interest in contesting the general elections. No MLA will be given ticket to contest the Lok Sabha elections. There have been a lot of requests, but the top leadership has decided to give chance to new faces, said Rai, who is also the Delhi labour minister. Party functionaries, on condition of anonymity, said a minister in the Delhi cabinet was trying hard to get a ticket. Responding to this, Rai said, It is true. But, the party has decided not to field any of the ministers as well. The party, though, had fielded two former MLAs in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections from Delhi. The capital was under Presidents rule at that time. Presently, all seven Lok Sabha MPs in Delhi are from the BJP. Rai said the party, in all likelihood, would announce its list of candidates for Delhi, Haryana and Punjab by the end of this month. Like we did for the 2015 assembly elections, the party will announce its candidates well in advance. The idea is to get people familiarised with the AAP candidate in their respective areas, the minister said. The AAP will contest elections in these three states on its own. Until mid-December last year, the party was in talks with top leaders of the Congress for an alliance. But it ended on a bitter note after AAP was embroiled in a row when a few of its MLAs demanded stripping former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi of his Bharat Ratna. In Delhi, the AAP, so far, has appointed in-charges for six out of the total seven Lok Sabha seats for the 2019 polls. While Kejriwal himself declared Atishi and Raghav Chadhas candidatures for the East Delhi and South Delhi seats, respectively, names for the remaining seats were yet to be announced. Rai said all the names would be announced by the end of this month in all likelihood. The party had put Rajpal Solanki in charge of West Delhi constituency but he resigned from the post citing health issues. Rai said a replacement would be announced shorty. AAP leaders had earlier said the party would announce names after a review of the preparations by officials in charge of the Lok Sabha seats in Delhi. According to party leaders, there is a likelihood of most of the in-charges being declared as candidates. Metro services are to be restricted on the Yellow and Violet lines on Saturday on account of Republic Day security arrangements, the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) has said. On the Yellow line between HUDA City Centre and Samaypur Badli, the entry and exit at Central Secretariat and Udyog Bhawan Metro stations will remain closed from 6 am up to 12 noon, DMRC said. Central Secretariat will remain open for interchange services between Yellow and Violet lines. Patel Chowk and Lok Kalyan Marg Metro stations on Yellow Line will be closed for entry and exit between 8.45 am and 12 noon. On Violet Line between Kashmere Gate and Badarpur/Escorts Mujesar, the Metro stations ITO, Delhi Gate, Lal Quila, Jama Masjid will remain open throughout the day. Read: Man held for trying to sneak in batteries, chemical in Delhi Metro, triggers panic ahead of Republic Day However, certain entry/exit gates at these stations will remain closed till 12 noon. At ITO, the gate numbers 3, 4 and 6, at Delhi Gate, gate numbers 1, 4 and 5, at Lal Quila, gate number 4 and at Jama Masjid, gate numbers. 3 and 4 will remain shut till 12 noon. In addition, all Metro station parking lots will remain closed from 6 am of January 25 to 2 PM of January 26. Security has been stepped up in the Delhi Metro network for the Republic Day with the deployment of about 400 more Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) personnel in addition to quick response teams and counter-terror squads, officials said. Also, commuters are being frisked twice, first with hand, and then with metal detector, and their luggage checked thoroughly at some Metro stations. In a tiny village somewhere in northern India, three-year-old Leela is malnourished, but no one knows. Her parents, poor labourers barely making ends meet, dont notice. The government health system hasnt spotted the child. Across hundreds of villages, mothers and children who need attention are routinely being missed out. That is a key reason why almost 36% of children under the age of five are underweight and over 50% of pregnant women are anaemic, according to national health statistics. In every village, government health and nutrition services are delivered through three women health workers. The Accredited Social Health Activist (ASHA) mobilises the community through home visits, and the anganwadi worker is responsible for nutrition needs of women and children, and early childhood education. The ASHA and the anganwadi worker independently share their information with the Auxiliary Nurse Midwife (ANM), who delivers services such as immunisation, and antenatal care, basic diagnosis, treatment and referral. These three women who have complementary health related responsibilities comprise an enlightened system on paper. Where they team up, they are a powerful force. The fundamental problem is structural. The anganwadi worker reports to the Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) system of the women and child development (WCD) ministry; the ANM into the health ministry; and the ASHA to health (with a dotted line to WCD). With two ministries controlling three women workers, there is inadequate data sharing and weak accountability. There are problems with data collection, recording and sharing, with practices varying across states. In Rajasthan, the anganwadi worker and the ASHA do separate baseline surveys of the village population one looks at every household, and the other only at dwellings with eligible couples in the age group of 15-49. They even use different house numbers in their records. Each of the AAA keeps voluminous registers, and their records are often unreliable. There can be different ways of collecting data. In most states, the anganwadi worker assesses malnutrition by weighing the child. In Rajasthan, the ASHA does it measuring mid upper arm circumference (MUAC). Common baseline, data collection and recording are essential if the AAA workers are to zero in on cases like Leela. Accountability for case identification fundamentally requires role clarity. ASHAs and anganwadi workers responsibilities overlap. The latter maintains information on anaemia, blood pressure and other indicators, which she could easily obtain from her health department counterparts. This would allow her to discharge her primary functions of nutrition and early childhood education provision more effectively. With overlapping functions, it is difficult to hold workers accountable. The accountability issue extends upward through the system, since the AAA workers have different supervisory systems, reporting into different ministries. The first solution is better coordination, and best practices are to be found in a few states like Tamil Nadu and Kerala. Certain states, and the central government, are taking good steps. In every village in Rajasthan, through the Rajsangam programme, ASHAs, ANMs and AWWs are being trained to use a common AAA platform. They together map their villages, work off a common database, and routinely share data. Poshan Abhiyan, a visionary central government programme requires that several ministries (beyond health and woman and child) take up joint activities for better nutrition. Convergence activities are good, but ultimately, there must be a more incisive structural solution bring ICDS within the purview of the health ministry and create a single chain of command for health and nutrition workers and supervisors. Nutrition is ultimately a health issue. Mother and child should receive a continuum of care from conception till the child turns six. This system would also spur innovation. For instance, the Common Application Software (CAS) has been introduced by the ICDS department. It is a wonderful product, and its obvious evolution is into a CAS2 an integrated product that would link all three workers in real time. We have created such an integrated app and field tested it and seen that it makes a huge difference to workers morale as well as efficiency. The question is whether, with two ministries involved, CAS2 will happen any time soon. Today there is talk about convergence in activities, but little debate about structural change. Merger of ICDS with health could be painstaking, but the best solution. All stakeholders media, influentials, communities must raise the issue. The well being of thousands of Leelas is at stake. Ashok Alexander is founder-director of the Antara Foundation The views expressed are personal A law student was arrested for opening fire at pizza outlet staff following an argument as the pizza was cold, though no one was injured. Sanam Setia, the law student staying on rent in Desumjara in Kharar, had ordered two pizzas and one bread cheese dip from Dominos in Gilco Valley in Kharar, police said. When the pizza was delivered about 20 minutes later, Setia questioned the delivery boy Saheb Singh why it was cold, triggering an argument, and refused to make payment. Setia verbally abused the delivery boy and made him call his manager Jasbir Singh. Setia abused Jasbir on the phone too. When Jasbir and two other staff reached Setias house, he abused them too. Then he went inside, got his licensed revolver and fired at Jasbir and his colleagues. They escaped unhurt as Setia missed the target, and called the police, who arrested Setia. Acting on Jasbirs complaint, police have registered case under sections 307 of IPC and various sections of arms act in police station Kharar (sadar). Police said Setia who hails from Fazilka is pursuing 5-year law course from Rayat and Bahra for about 7 years. Police seized his licensed .22 bore revolver from the accused, who is also into business of selling properties. Setia was produced before court in Kharar and sent to judicial custody. French carmaker Renault said Thursday that it has named Thierry Bollore as its new chief executive and Jean-Dominique Senard as board chairman, replacing former boss Carlos Ghosn following his arrest in Japan for alleged financial misconduct. Senard will represent Renault in its powerful alliance with Japanese carmakers Nissan and Mitsubishi, the French company added in a statement. Carlos Ghosn resigned on Thursday as chief executive and chairman of Renault, ending his leadership roles in the auto industry and signalling the start of new era for the French manufacturer. Ghosn, the most powerful man in car-making until his sensational arrest last November in Japan on financial misconduct charges, had already been sacked as chairman of Japanese auto groups Nissan and Mitsubishi. But the 64-year-old had held on to the top job at Renault, which has been run on an interim basis by one of his deputies while he languishes in a Japanese jail. French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire confirmed to AFP that Ghosn tendered his resignation late Wednesday -- ahead of a Renault board meeting in Paris that led to the announcement of his successors. A senior director from the firm received last night the letter of resignation from Carlos Ghosn, Le Maire said at the Davos gathering in Switzerland. As head of Renault since 2005, Ghosn was the keystone of its alliance with Nissan and Mitsubishi, forging an industry powerhouse which together sold more cars than any of its rivals last year. But his career came screeching to a halt when Tokyo police arrested him on suspicion of under-reporting millions of dollars in income over eight years. Ghosn has denied the charges, but with his release from jail unlikely anytime soon, Renaults board prepared to name new directors. Rani Laxmibai, the queen of Jhansi, remains one of the most iconic freedom fighters of India. Her story has been the stuff of legendschildren read her tale in school lessons and poets and writers have been inspired by her selfless love for the motherland, sense of honour and courage. Whats more, many Britishers too extolled her commitment to her land and its people. On the eve of the release of Kangana Ranauts Manikarnika: The Queen of Jhansi, heres a look at the major aspects of her exemplary life. Birth and early life Kangana Ranaut will play Rani Laxmibai in Manikarnika. Laxmibai was named Manikarnika at birth. She was born into a Maharashtrian brahmin family in Varanasi on November 19, 1838. Laxmibai lost her mother, when she was barely four years old, and grew up in the court of Peshwa of Bithoor, (now in Uttar Pradesh). From a young age, she displayed an independent spirit, as compared to other girls her age, and went on to be home taught, while learning Maratha martial art Malakhambh, archery, horsemanship and fencing. Marriage, motherhood and inheritance Called Chhabili by the Peshwa of Bithoor because of her playful nature, she was married to the king of Jhansi, Raja Gangadhar Newalkar in 1842. She was soon renamed Laxmibai, in honour of the Hindu goddess of wealth, goddess Laxmi. She later gave birth to a boy, who was named Damodar Rao. However, the boy did not survive beyond four months and died in 1851. The king adopted a boy named Anand Rao, his cousins son and renamed him as Damodar Rao, a day before he died. The adoption was conducted in the presence of a British official who was instructed, via an official letter, that the boy be considered his heir and treated with respect and the governance of Jhansi be given to his widow, Laxmibai, for her lifetime, after his death. However, the British refused to accept the adoption and applied their annexation policy called Doctrine of Lapse, under which the British annexed a land that did not have a biological heir to the throne. However the queen of Jhansi would have none of it. She is said to have declared: Main apni Jhansi nahin doongi. Also read: Manikarnika The Queen of Jhansi to dominate box office across India, Thackeray may win Maharashtra, say analysts 1857 Rebellion, mutineers, British and Jhansi Some reports suggest that Laxmibai did not immediately join the mutineers when the first instance of revolt against the British was reported. On May 10, 1857, Indian sepoys (sipahi) of the British Army stationed in Meerut, rebelled. During the riot, Jhansi remained calm under her able rule. The queen is said to have asked the British to raise her own defences against the mutineers, a permission that was granted. The mutineers were said to have attacked her fort too and left with a bounty. Ranis forces even defeated a faction of mutineers who tried to install her late husbands cousin, Sadashiv Rao as the monarch. All this, while, the queen maintained her peace with the British. As the rebellion gained momentum in more places across north and central India, and the British expressed their intention of sending in troops to control Jhansi too (but strangely none arrived for long). Then, sometime in January 1858, guided by her advisors, Laxmibai decided to fight for Jhansis independence from the British. The Company forces, soon laid siege over her fort but she continued to fight them. Through March of that year, she and her troops fought the British till her fort fell, and she with her young son Damodar tied to her back and others, loyal to her, fled the fort. This is the image that is often associated with her and has been immortalized in statues and popular culture. Through May and June of 1858, Laxmibai, as part of the rebels now, with her band of men and women, fought the British in Kalpi and Gwalior. Her end came on June 17, on the battleground. It is said that she was laid to rest under a tamarind tree in Gwalior. According to another tradition, a badly wounded queen, not wanting the British to capture her body, told a hermit to burn it. Her passion and selfless defence of Jhansi and her people inspired poetess and freedom fighter Subhadra Kumari Chauhan to write the following lines: Bundele harbolon ke mooh, humne suni kahaani thi Khoob ladi mardaani, woh toh Jhansi wali rani thi Author tweets @mniveditatweets Follow @htshowbiz for more Actor Aishwarya Rai Bachchan recently attended a brand promotion event for Longines and shared pictures of her look on Instagram on Thursday. The actor and former beauty queen wore beige at the event. On her last endorsement tour for the brand, Aishwarya had taken her daughter, Aaradhya, and mother Brinda, to Paris. Aishwarya Rai Bachchan at an event. (Instagram) Recently, her husband, Abhishek Bachchan, and Abhisheks sister, Shweta Bachchan Nanda, had appeared on chat show Koffee With Karan and spoke about Aishwarya. Shweta called her a self-made, strong woman and a fantastic mother but added that she doesnt call back on time. Abhishek also revealed that he hates Aishwaryas packing skills. The actor was rumoured to be pairing up with Abhishek in a film titled Gulab Jamun. The couple was last seen together on screen in the 2010 film Raavan. According to a report in India Today, the two actors have now walked out of the film after asking for a few changes in the script. Aishwarya has reportedly also signed a Mani Ratnam project, which may even star her father-in-law Amitabh Bachchan. The film is said to be a period drama made on the lines of the Baahubali franchise and is set to star several other big names form the South film industry. It will be based on the adaptation of Kalki Krishnamurthys book, Ponniyin Selvan (The Son of Ponni), which narrates the story of Rajaraja Chola I during the 10th and 11th century. Also read: Karan Johar on Hardik Pandyas Koffee with Karan controversy: Had sleepless nights, its beyond my control now Also read: Kangana Ranaut on Karni Senas threats against her: Theres no need for useless ego, Im not here to apologise to anyone Follow @htshowbiz for more Bharatiya Janata Party MLA Sadhana Singh, a legislator from Uttar Pradeshs Mughalsarai, recently courted controversy after attacking Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) chief Mayawati with caste and gender-coloured remarks, calling her a blot on womankind and worse than a eunuch, a vicious jibe at both women and the transgender community. Then came a ghastly remark by Congress leader K Sudhakaran, who said that Kerala chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan turned out to be worse than a woman, while addressing the alleged ineffectiveness of the latters administration. In the first case, Sadhana Singhs comment comes from a position of caste power. She is a Kshatriya (according to the UP governments website), which she must feel gives her the upper hand in a fight against Mayawati, the Dalit leader. Whats alarming here isnt just that its one woman attacking another, but how her caste supremacy came into it. In the second, entrenched patriarchy is the foundation of our social order, so much so that even women are found to be patriarchal. Two instances which boil down to the same problem: that politics is understood as a mans domain. Mayawati has built her political career on the social mobility of the lower castes (Dalits and OBCs), and brings the voices of the oppressed to the forefront of politics, all while carrying the weight of her womanness. Women in Indian politics have been subjected to violence of all kinds facing hate at the drop of a hat. The attempted disrobing of the late AIADMKs leader Jayalalithaas in the Tamil Nadu assembly at the beginning of her career, BJPs Uma Bharti being accused of and shamed for an affair with RSS ideologue Govindacharya (without proof), BJPs Smriti Irani being mocked by leaders of her own party and other parties about her life before politics (as a TV star), former Congress president Sonia Gandhi being called a widow while being accused of corruption late last year, the list goes on and on. Politics hasnt favoured even the most powerful of women politicians. The tone of political discourse in India, mired in caste, class and entrenched patriarchy, is representative of a culture supported by all parties. After all, politics is a reflection of our society. India also continues to battle a significant gender imbalance in Parliament, with a lower percentage of women than most other South Asian nations. But gender discrimination in politics isnt just an Indian problem. Womens pursuit of a predominantly male political sphere has been challenged world over. The Telegraph, a British newspaper, doesnt just call out United States President Donald Trumps sexism, it tracks sexist remarks made by him from the 1980s until now. Many of these have been attacks on women politicians since he took over the White House. The Inter-Parliamentary Union and the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe interviewed 123 women from 45 European countries (81 Members of Parliament and 42 parliamentary staff members) and concluded that 85% of the respondents suffered from psychological violence in Parliament. Towards the end of 2018, when Julia Banks of Australias Liberal Party quit because of bullying and intimidation within the party, she said, Women have suffered in silence for too long. Women across the world have fought long and hard to conquer both ends of the political spectrum: from ensuring suffrage, to stepping into Parliament as policymakers. Empowerment can only be achieved when there is equality in operation. This places the onus of cultural change largely on political parties to stop this behaviour from going unchecked, and from being encouraged. Perpetuating this toxic culture consequently inhibits womens growth in politics. Ironically, a study by the United Nations Women titled Womens Leadership and Political Participation highlights how the role of women in politics and policymaking paves the way for an inclusive, peaceful society with health and childcare benefits increasing. Specifically taking the example of Panchayats/local governments in India, female-led councils take up a more development projects than male-led councils. These include drinking water projects. But if getting her foot in the door wasnt already hard enough, the current political discourse doesnt make it any easier. Its time we admit that we have a problem, and its as much a reflection on us as it is on our politicians. marika.gabriel@htdigital.in Flowing from the Information Technology (IT) Act, Indias current intermediary liability regime roughly adheres to the safe harbour principle, i.e. intermediaries (online platforms and service providers) are not liable for the content they host or transmit if they act as mere conduits in the network, dont abet illegal activity, and comply with requests from authorised government bodies and the judiciary. This paradigm allows intermediaries that primarily transmit user-generated content to provide their services without constant paranoia, and can be partly credited for the proliferation of online content. The law and IT minister shared the intent to change the rules this July when discussing concerns of online platforms being used to spread incorrect facts projected as news and designed to instigate people to commit crime. On December 24, the government published and invited comments to the draft intermediary liability rules. The draft rules significantly expand due diligence intermediaries must observe to qualify as safe harbours: they mandate enabling tracing of the originator of information, taking down content in response to government and court orders within 24 hours, and responding to information requests and assisting investigations within 72 hours. Most problematically, the draft rules go much further than the stated intentions: draft Rule 3(9) mandates intermediaries to deploy automated tools for proactively identifying and removing [...] unlawful information or content. The first glaring problem is that unlawful information or content is not defined. A conservative reading of the draft rules will presume that the phrase means restrictions on free speech permissible under Article 19(2) of the Constitution, including that relate to national integrity, defamation and incitement to an offence. Ambiguity aside, is mandating intermediaries to monitor for unlawful content a valid requirement under due diligence? To qualify as a safe harbour, if an intermediary must monitor for all unlawful content, then is it substantively different from an intermediary that has active control over its content and not a safe harbour? Clearly, the requirement of monitoring for all unlawful content is so onerous that it is contrary to the philosophy of safe harbours envisioned by the law. By mandating automated detection and removal of unlawful content, the proposed rules shift the burden of appraising legality of content from the state to private entities. The rule may run afoul of the Supreme Courts reasoning in Shreya Singhal v Union of India wherein it read down a similar provision because, among other reasons, it required an intermediary to apply [...] its own mind to whether information should or should not be blocked. Actual knowledge of illegal content, since then, has held to accrue to the intermediary only when it receives a court or government order. Given the inconsistencies with legal precedence, the rules may not stand judicial scrutiny if notified in their current form. The lack of technical considerations in the proposal is also apparent since implementing the proposal is infeasible for certain intermediaries. End-to-end encrypted messaging services cannot identify unlawful content since they cannot decrypt it. Internet service providers also qualify as safe harbours: how will they identify unlawful content when it passes encrypted through their network? Presumably, the governments intention is not to disallow end-to-end encryption so that intermediaries can monitor content. Intermediaries that can implement the rules, like social media platforms, will leave the task to algorithms that perform even specific tasks poorly. Just recently, Tumblr flagged its own examples of permitted nudity as pornography, and Youtube slapped a video of randomly-generated white noise with five copyright-infringement notices. Identifying more contextual expression, such as defamation or incitement to offences, is a much more complex problem. In the lack of accurate judgement, platforms will be happy to avoid liability by taking content down without verifying whether it violated law. Rule 3(9) also makes no distinction between large and small intermediaries, and has no requirement for an appeal system available to users whose content is taken down. Thus, the proposed rules set up an incentive structure entirely deleterious to the exercise of the right to freedom of expression. Given the wide amplitude and ambiguity of Indias restrictions on free speech, online platforms will end up removing swathes of content to avoid liability if the draft rules are notified. The use of draconian laws to quell dissent plays a recurring role in the history of the Indian state. The draft rules follow Indias proclivity to join the ignominious company of authoritarian nations when it comes to disrespecting protections for freedom of expression. To add insult to injury, the draft rules are abstruse, ignore legal precedence, and betray a poor technological understanding. The government should reconsider the proposed regulation and the stance which inspired it, both of which are unsuited for a democratic republic. Gurshabad Grover is a senior policy officer at the Centre for Internet and Society The views expressed are personal Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, January 24) Three members of the ISIS-linked Maute group were killed while several other gunmen were wounded in clashes with government forces in Lanao del Sur on Thursday, the military said. Three soldiers were also wounded in the firefight that broke out shortly after 8 a.m. in Sultan Dumalondong and dragged on intermittently through the day. The town is around 40 kilometers south of war-torn Marawi City, the battleground of soldiers and terrorists from May to October 2017. Two members of the extremist group, including a minor, surrendered in Butig, Lanao del Sur at around 3 p.m., telling troops they feared they might be the next target of government forces' operation, a military statement said. They were identified as Hussein, 17, and Ashlani, 34. "Takot kami na baka isunod na lang kami sa operation. Iniwan na lang kami ng mga leader pagkatapos nung encounter namin. Wala narin kami matakbuhan kaya sumuko nalang kami," the statement quoted Ashlani as saying [Translation: We were afraid the next military operation would target us. Our leader left us after the encounter. We also had nowhere to run to so we just surrendered.] Coronel Romeo Brawner of the 103rd Infantry Brigade earlier told CNN Philippines that the troops were fighting with remnants of the Maute group, estimated to be around 30. Brawner said the encounter is part of the military's "deliberate operation" against remaining members of the group now led by the elusive "Abu Dar." He has a 6-million bounty on his head. Brawner appealed to residents of Lanao del Sur to stay calm, saying evacuations are not necessary as there are enough troops to keep them safe. "Nananawagan po kami sa mga taga Lanao del Sur. 'Wag po silang mag-panic, we have this under control," Brawner said. In a statement later in the day, Brawner called on remaining Mauter fighters "to surrender peacefully to the nearest military installation before the next combat operations falls into your doorsteps." Martial law remains in effect in the island region of Mindanao since the Maute group attacked Marawi City in May 2017. Congress has granted President Rodrigo Duterte's three requests for martial law extension to quell the rebellion in the region. CNN Philippines' Gerg Cahiles contributed to this report. This is a developing story. Please refresh page for updates. Hong Kong: Frank Chan to visit Guangxi Secretary for Transport & Housing Frank Chan will lead a delegation to Guangxi on January 26 to promote Hong Kong as a premier regional logistics hub and an international maritime centre. Mr Chan will meet the Chairman of the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region Chen Wu, visit port and logistics facilities in the province and meet representatives of the Beibu Gulf International Port Group Company. He will also introduce Hong Kong's strengths in logistics and maritime services to the Guangxi business community at a luncheon seminar. During Mr Chans absence, Under Secretary for Transport & Housing Raymond So will be Acting Secretary. This story has been published on: 2019-01-24. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article. Juneteenth celebrations set and about time, too, some say Juneteenth commemorates the day the last remaining enslaved people learned they were free. Juneteenth spread as they moved on. But why June 19? Photo: Contributed UPDATE:2 p.m. Castanet reporter Alanna Kelly attended the scene and said upon arrival RCMP let the males drive off in their vehicle without incident. Police would not comment on why the search was initiated. ORIGINAL: 1:50 p.m. Police have swarmed a vehicle on Richter Street in downtown Kelowna, Thursday afternoon. Four police cruisers are on scene, two unmarked, along with a canine unit ,near 1664 Richter St. A witness from the scene says two males appear to be being searched by police. No further details are available at this time. Gardai at the scene of Zach Parkers murder in Applewood Close, Swords A Traveller gang suspected of ordering Ireland's latest gangland gun murder is closely linked to feared crime boss Cornelius Price, the Herald can reveal. A garda investigation is continuing into the shooting of drug dealer Zach Parker (23), who was gunned down outside a Swords gym last Thursday night. The prime theory is that Parker owed 50,000 to a dangerous local gang closely aligned with Price. However, it also emerged last night that Parker owed a smaller amount of money to a separate up-and-coming Coolock-based crime mob. Local sources said some members of this crew were "absolutely devastated" about last week's slaying. Twisted Expand Close Zach Parker was shot dead while sitting in his car / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Zach Parker was shot dead while sitting in his car The Herald revealed last week that Parker's car had been burnt out and he was involved in an incident in which a house was stormed as a local drugs dispute threatened to spiral out of control. "The local Traveller gang remain the chief suspects and their twisted logic seems to be that they were putting down a marker to other young fellas who owe them cash, and there are plenty of them too," one source said. "The victim was a Jekyll and Hyde character in many ways - he could be very pleasant and kind to people but he could also be highly aggressive and dominating. "He obviously crossed people who are much more powerful in the Dublin criminal underworld and it is clear that some of these individuals have close links to Cornelius Price." Expand Close Jailed gang boss Cornelius Price / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Jailed gang boss Cornelius Price Price is not suspected of any involvement in Parker's shooting, which happened outside a gym in Applewood Close at 7.30pm last Thursday. Parker's innocent pal James Morrison (25) suffered serious injuries in the attack. A major garda policing plan will be in put in place for Price's release in May from Wheatfield Prison, when "serious carnage is expected", according to sources. Price has had a number of serious scrapes in prison since he was jailed for three years in February 2017 after being convicted of reckless endangerment of a garda at Balbriggan Garda Station in 2014. His mob is suspected of involvement in three gangland murders, and Price is believed to be still "directing operations" from jail. Sources have revealed that Price is suspected of using junior criminals to meet his associates in the prison where drugs and phones are handed over. While Price himself is not a suspect for any of the three murders, his associates are the chief targets for the murder of Benny Whitehouse (36), who was shot dead in September 2014. In May 2015, Price was arrested and later released without charge by gardai investigating that murder. Price's mob are also believed to be behind the suspected murders of missing Tallaght man Willie Maughan (34) and his Latvian partner Anna Varslavane (21), who were last seen near Price's house in the Gormanston area on April 14, 2015. There have been no arrests so far in the Parker murder investigation. Gardai are probing whether the gang recruited a criminal with "deep local knowledge" to carry out the shooting. Barber CCTV could play a crucial role in identifying Parker's killer. The young barber died when at least five shots were fired into the BMW X5 he was driving, with his friend Mr Morrison in the passenger seat. Gardai said that, although Mr Morrison was injured, CCTV footage indicated that the killer approached the driver's side of the car only and fired directly at Parker. A 36-year-old Dublin man has been sent forward for trial accused of a seven-year campaign of online harassment against six women. Charges were proffered following an 18-month investigation by the Garda National Cyber Crime Bureau's investigations unit. Brendan Doolin, of Leighlin Road, Crumlin, faces six counts of harassment contrary to the Non-Fatal Offences Against the Person Act 1997. The offences allegedly occurred between 2011 and 2018. Mr Doolin was charged last November at Kevin Street Garda Station and faced his second hearing at Dublin District Court yesterday. Writers The Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) had directed that the accused was to face trial on indictment. The six named complainants include journalists and writers. A number of them were present for yesterday's hearing but they were not required to give evidence. A book of evidence was served on Mr Doolin in court by Garda Colm Gallagher. Judge Michael Walsh noted that the DPP had directed the accused was to be returned for trial on all six charges in the book of evidence. He told Mr Doolin that he was being sent forward to the Dublin Circuit Criminal Court where he will face his next hearing on February 15. There was no objection to him remaining on bail subject to the same terms set down last November. Judge Walsh read out the bail conditions and told the accused to have "no contact whatsoever" with the alleged injured parties. Furthermore, he could not have any contact with a number of witnesses, he was warned. Judge Walsh told him that if he intended to use an alibi in his defence he had to notify the prosecution within 14 days. Dressed in a navy anorak and black jeans, the accused spoke briefly, saying "Yes" when asked if he understood. Judge Walsh also directed that copies of video evidence should be furnished by the prosecution to Mr Doolin's solicitor. The defendant has not yet indicated how he will plead. Mr Doolin is accused of harassing the six women on dates between April 4, 2011, and November 6, 2017; June 2015 and 2018; August 2012 and July 2017; May 2012 and October 2017; August 2012 and October 2017, and February 2011 and February 2018. Legal aid was granted following an application by defence solicitor Peter Keatings. Patrick McIvor is old school very old school. McIvor is a blacksmith, one of only a few thousand in all of North America. At one point in time, every village had a 'smith, but with modern production, the art of smithing nearly vanished. McIvor became interested in being a blacksmith when he was just eight years old. The challenge at the time was there was no Internet or Google, so he had dig up information on how to be a blacksmith from wherever he could. He read a lot of books and as he grew older, he found blacksmiths that could teach him the ancient craft. He even spent two years in Europe travelling from Turkey to Finland, learning what he could. Now, McIvor is passing on his skills to whoever wants to learn. He holds classes at Historic O'Keefe Ranch. Here I teach some very basic blacksmithing skills. We do an introductory class where we do a dinner triangle and striker which teaches the basics in fire management, safety and hand control using the anvil, he said. Once the basic course is complete, McIvor said students can move onto more advanced skills like making tools, knives and more artistic items. Every class you come to you learn a skill, but you also have something you walk away with. More information on classes can be found on the O'Keefe Ranch website. Huntington, WV (25701) Today Scattered thunderstorms in the morning. Cloudy skies late. Gusty winds and small hail are possible. High 86F. Winds SW at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 70%.. Tonight Partly to mostly cloudy skies with scattered thunderstorms before midnight. Low 69F. Winds SW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 40%. A CAR parts shop in Henley has closed and a bank will soon follow suit. Autolex in Friday Street, shut last week after the lease expired. A sign on the window of the shop says: It is with sadness and regret that we have had to close our Henley-on-Thames store. We would like to thank all our customers for their support over the years. Owner Richard Walters, who bought the business 12 years ago, said he had decided not to renew the lease as the business was costing too much to run. He said: When you look at the rents and rates in Henley, it was a decision we had to take. It was time. Its a shame because it has been there for 40 years but with the internet and everything footfall was down. We thank all our loyal customers. We had a good customer base they were great but there just werent enough of them. The unit is now being offered for rent at of 1,917 a month. Meanwhile, Santander will close its branch in Duke Street in May. The Spanish-owned bank announced this week that it will be closing 140 outlets nationwide, blaming the rise of internet banking. Susan Allen, head of retail and business banking, said: The way our customers are choosing to bank with us has changed dramatically in recent years, with more and more customers using online and mobile channels. As a result, we have had to take some very difficult decisions over our less visited branches and those where we have other branches in close proximity. We will support customers of closing branches to find alternative ways to bank with us that best suit their individual needs. We are also working alongside our unions to support colleagues through these changes and to find alternative roles wherever possible. Patisserie Valerie in Henley market place is also at risk of closure after the company went into administration. The cafe is one of almost 200 nationwide that could close after parent firm Patisserie Holdings was served a wind-up order over 1.14 million owed to HM Revenue and Customs. In October, the company discovered fraudulent activity in its accounts, which resulted in chief executive Paul May standing down. Administrators KPMG are closing 70 stores immediately and are looking for buyers for the remaining 121, which include Henley. Until then the cafe will remain open. Photo: The Canadian Press A majority of Americans blame President Donald Trump for the record-long government shutdown and reject his primary rationale for a border wall, according to a new poll that shows the turmoil in Washington is dragging his approval rating to its lowest level in more than a year. Overall, 34 per cent of Americans approve of Trump's job performance in a survey conducted by The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research. That's down from 42 per cent a month earlier and nears the lowest mark of his two-year presidency. The president's approval among Republicans remains close to 80 per cent, but his standing with independents is among its lowest points of his time in office. "Trump is responsible for this," said poll respondent Lloyd Rabalais, a federal contractor from Slidell, Louisiana, who's not affiliated with either political party. The 47-year-old has been furloughed for more than a month. He said he'd need to start drawing on his retirement savings next week to pay his bills if the shutdown continues. "I do support a wall, but not the way he's handling it," Rabalais added. "Trump guaranteed everybody that Mexico would pay for the wall. Now he's holding American workers like me hostage." The drop in approval comes as Trump begins the third year of his presidency under the weight of the longest government shutdown in U.S. history, an international trade war that's straining the global economy and new revelations about his push for a real estate deal in Russia during his 2016 campaign. Compared with earlier presidents, Trump's approval rating has been relatively stable over the course of his presidency, ranging from the mid-30s to the mid-40s. By contrast, President Barack Obama never fell below 40 per cent in polling by Gallup. Still, five presidents since Gallup began measuring presidential approval have had their rating fall into the 20s at least once, including Harry S. Truman, Richard Nixon, Jimmy Carter, George H.W. Bush and George W. Bush. Trump has never fallen into that range of historic lows, but he's also the only president never to have reached 50 per cent in Gallup's polling. The new AP-NORC poll shows most Americans see the shutdown as a major problem, and they blame Trump far more than congressional Democrats for the mess that has ensnared the lives of roughly 800,000 government workers who are going without pay. Sixty per cent of Americans say Trump bears a great deal of responsibility for the shutdown. About a third place the same amount of blame on congressional Democrats (31 per cent) or Republicans (36 per cent). Sixty-five per cent of Americans, including 86 per cent of Democrats, 69 per cent of independents and 33 per cent of Republicans, call the shutdown a major problem. Trump may be popular overall with Republicans, but a sizable share holds him responsible for the current situation. Almost 3 in 10 Republicans think Trump bears a great deal of responsibility, while 73 per cent of his party says he's at least partly responsible. Trump's demand for a $5.7 billion border wall is also unpopular. Overall, 49 per cent of Americans oppose the plan to build a massive wall along the Mexican border; 36 per cent of the nation is in favour. Opinions fall largely along ideological lines, with 8 in 10 Democrats opposing the wall and nearly 8 in 10 Republicans supporting it. About 7 in 10 supporters of the wall prefer to extend the shutdown than to reach a deal without funding it, while a nearly identical number on the other side would rather the shutdown continue than provide that funding. About 6 in 10 Americans do say the wall would at least slightly decrease the number of people entering the U.S. illegally, though only 3 in 10 think the number would significantly decrease. Yet just 35 per cent of Americans believe the wall would make the country safer, while a majority of Americans 57 per cent believe it would make no difference to safety in the U.S. Only 21 per cent believe the wall would significantly reduce the availability of illegal drugs in the nation, though 28 per cent say access to illegal drugs would be slightly reduced; 49 per cent say the wall would have no effect. On the economy, about as many Americans say the border wall would do more to help almost 3 in 10 as say it would do more to hurt; 43 per cent say the wall would not make much difference to the U.S. economy. Scientists at USC Michelson Center for Convergent Bioscience and Japans Nagoya University find and test a promising drug that stops cancer by interfering with the cancer cells metabolism and other circadian-related functions. By Emily Gersema A new drug shows potential to halt cancer cells growth by stunting the cells biological clock. The findings from scientists at the USC Michelson Center for Convergent Bioscience and Nagoya Universitys Institute of Transformative BioMolecules (ITbM) advance a burgeoning area of research: turning the bodys circadian rhythms against cancer. Their study, conducted on human kidney cancer cells and on acute myeloid leukemia in mice, was published Jan. 23 in the journal Science Advances. Scientists know that disrupting sleep and other elements of humans circadian rhythm can harm health. The same is true for the circadian clock of cells themselves. If researchers could disturb the circadian clock of cancer cells, they theorize, they could potentially hurt or kill those cells. The scientists found that a molecule named GO289 targets an enzyme that controls the cells circadian rhythm. This drug-protein interaction then disrupts the functions of four other proteins that are important for cell growth and survival. In effect, GO289 can jam the cogs of the cells circadian clock, slowing its cycles. And it can do so with little impact to healthy cells. In some cancers, the disease takes over the circadian clock mechanism and uses it for the evil purpose of helping itself grow, said Steve Kay, director of convergent biosciences at the USC Michelson Center and USC Provost Professor of Neurology, Biomedical Engineering and Biological Sciences. With GO289, we can interfere with those processes and stop the cancer from growing. Kay is among several scientists from USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences, USC Viterbi School of Engineering and Keck School of Medicine of USC who are collaborating across multiple disciplines to find new solutions for treating cancer, neurological disease and cardiovascular disease. Finding the right candidate On its initial interactions with human bone cancer cells, GO289 appeared to slow the tumors circadian clock as it targeted an enzyme, named CK2. To see if GO289 consistently hindered other cancers in the same way, the scientists then tested it on human kidney cancer cells and on mice with acute myeloid leukemia. They found that GO289 specifically affected cancer cell metabolism and other circadian-related functions that normally would enable the cancer to grow and spread. Kay is optimistic about the findings. This could become an effective new weapon that kills cancer, he said. About the study In addition to Kay and Hirota, other study co-authors were ITBM researchers Tsuyoshi Oshima, Yoshimi Niwa, Keiko Kuwata, Ashutosh Srivastava, Tomoko Hyoda, as well as Yoshiki Tsuchiya of Kyoto Prefectural University of Medicine , Megumi Kumagai of Seitama Medical University, Masato Tsuyuguchi of Osaka Prefecture University, and Teruya Tamaru of Toho University School of Medicine, Akiko Sugiyama of ITBM, Natsuko Ono, Norjin Zolboot, Yoshiki Aikawa, Shunsuke Oishi as well as Atushi Nonami of Kyushu University Graduate School of Medical Sciences, Fumio Aria of Kyushu University, Shinya Hagihara of ITBM, Junichiro Yamaguchi of Waseda University, Florence Tama of ITBM, Yuya Kunisaki of Kyushu University Graduate School of Medical Sciences, Kazuhiro Yagita of Kyoto Prefectural University of Medicine, Masaaki Ikeda of Saitama Medical University, Takayoshi Kinoshita of Osaka Prefecture University, and Kenichiro Itami of ITBM. Funding sources for the work include PRESTO Grant JPMJPR14LA from JST AQ49AQ50 (to T.Hi.); Grant-in-Aid for Research Activity start-up 26891011, Young Scientists (A) 15H05590, and Scientific Research (B) 18H02402 from JSPS (to T.Hi.); the Naito Foundation (to T.Hi.); the Inamori Foundation (to T.Hi.); the Takeda Science Foundation (to T.Hi.); Grant-in-Aid for JSPS Fellows 16J04435 (to T.O.) and 15J05509 (to Y.N.) from JSPS; Grant-in-Aid for Scientific AQ51 Research (B) 18H02841 from JSPS (to Y.K.); and Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research 26119006 and 15K21711 from JSPS (to F.T.). Preliminary experiments and diffraction data collection werecarried out at the beamline BL17A of the Photon Factory (proposal no. 2016G665) and at the Osaka University beamline BL44XU of SPring-8 (proposal no. 2015A6518). THE USC DORNSIFE INITIATIVE The vast majority of full-time working Australians (93%) are uncomfortable discussing or disclosing a mental health condition to a manager, and instead would prefer to lie when taking sick day. Moreover, the research found 85% of employees feel their manager is more likely to think their need for time off is genuine if they say they are suffering from a cold or flu rather than for stress or anxiety. It also found most employees are generally afraid to talk about mental illness for fear of stigma (90%), and fear of losing their job (78%), and are concerned that mental health issues wont be taken as seriously as physical illnesses in the workplace (84%). Mental health-related conditions and symptoms now account for nearly 40% of all Allianz Australias total active workers compensation claims and 11% cent of all payments. Helen Silver, chief general manager, Allianz Australia said that despite good worker health and wellbeing boosting organisational health, business performance and productivity, there is a rising trend of mental ill-health in Australian workplaces which needs to be addressed. Havre Police Department A Havre area caller reported Wednesday at 7:52 a.m. that she heard her stolen truck had been painted black and license plates changed. -- A Third Street caller reported having trouble getting a child to go to school and asked Wednesday at 8:27 a.m. to speak with the school resource officer. -- Wednesday at 12:37 p.m. a Sixth Street caller asked to speak to an officer about suspicious activity. -- Officers investigated a complaint made by a Sixth Street business Wednesday at 12:47 p.m. -- A Sixth Street caller at 1:20 p.m. Wednesday reported theft of missing collectable coins. -- A 19th Street caller reported Wednesday at 9:41 p.m. the theft of some tires from her yard. -- David Paul Patera of Columbia Falls, 54, was arrested on charges of driving under the influence and driving without vehicle insurance after a caller at a First Street West business reported at 2:32 a.m. today headlights from a pickup truck were being flashed at the front entrance. Hill County Sheriff's Office Jobe Jacob Barrows of Havre, 20, was arrested on a charge of driving with a suspended or revoked driver's license, during a traffic stop of a vehicle on First Street Wednesday at 10:34 a.m. -- A County Road 20 South caller reported Wednesday at 10:49 a.m. that a business account was hacked and money taken. -- Deputies investigated a scam reported Wednesday at 1:32 p.m. from Bullhook Road Southeast. -- Deputies investigate an assault reported at Hill County Detention Center at 10:30 p.m. Wednesday. Havre Fire Department Emergency medical personnel responded to four calls Wednesday. Havre Animal Shelter The Havre shelter this morning held two medium-hair cats, one long-hair 8-month-old kitten and two long-hair 6-month-old kittens of unknown gender, one medium-hair female cat and four medium-hair male cats, as well as eight cats for its trap-spay/neuter-release program. -- The Havre shelter also held this morning a male American bulldog, two female mixed-breed dogs, a female Labrador retriever dog, a female Weimaraner-dachshund dog, a male Australian cattle dog-blue heeler-corgi mix 8-month-old puppy, a male shepherd dog, a female Anatolian shepherd-husky 10-month-old puppy and a male pit bull-Labrador 9-month-old puppy. Published on 2019/01/23 | Source On the latest episode of the SBS drama "The Last Empress", Min Yoo-ra (Lee Elijah) returned to the palace as the Queen Mother's (Shin Eun-kyung) servant and served her up a plate of her loyalty. Advertisement The people who saw Min Yoo-ra couldn't help but be surprised. However, Min Yoo-ra wasn't affected by their reactions and stood by the Queen Mother's side. Oh Sunny (Jang Nara) asked why she had to survive and she answered with an evil smile, "I was still of use to someone. Isn't that enough reason to live?" Min Yoo-ra brought Na Dong-sik (Oh Han-kyul), the brother of Na Wang-sik (Choi Jin-hyuk) who Mr. Choo (Ha Do-kwon) found, to the palace. He was bait to catch Na Wang-sik. When she realized someone had been in the room where she kept Na Dong-sik, she yelled at him to tell who had come by. She discovered the chief bodyguard badge on his clothes and suspected Cheon Woo-bin (Choi Jin-hyuk). She then asked Mr. Choo to look into Cheon Woo-bin. Haiti - Politic : Summary of the parliamentary week The first week of January 2019, from January 1st to 4th, was almost marked by New Year festivities. It was not until the week of January 7, 2019 to constat a return to normalcy in the functioning of both public and private institutions. The Citizen Observatory for the Institutionalization of Democracy (OCID) presents, briefly, an assessment of the follow-up of the activities of the parliament carried out during the period from January 1 to 18, 2019. During this period, the Observatory has followed 3 working sessions of the Economy, Finance and Budget Committee of the Senate of the Republic, a session in the National Assembly and 3 plenary sessions. Sessions in standing committees : The Economy, Finance and Budget Committee of the Senate of the Republic received, on invitation, respectively, the Minister of Planning and External Cooperation on 8 January 2019; the Minister of Public Health and Population and Minister of the Environment on January 9, 2019 and January 10, 2019, the Ministers of Agriculture, Natural Resources and Development, the Minister of Haitians Living Abroad and Minister of the Interior and Territorial Communities. The three (3) points discussed with the Ministers concerned the examination of the 2018 - 2019 Finance Law; some clarifications on the shadow points of the budget; and the possibility for Ministers to defend the amounts allocated to their ministry. Session in National Assembly : On Monday, January 14, 2019, in accordance with the wishes of the Constitution, 80 Deputies and 16 Senators met in ordinary assembly to, on the one hand, to close the extraordinary session convened by the President of the Republic last September and, on the other hand, open the first session of the 2019 legislative year from the second Monday in January to the second Monday in May. This meeting was also an opportunity for the Prime Minister to table in Parliament the report of the activities of his government for the past year and the President of the Republic to present the state of the nation. In his speech, the Prime Minister underlined, among other things, the efforts of his government to bring peace to the country during the end of 2018 and the beginning of 2019, then, the launching and continuation of some major roadworks across the country. In terms of perspective for the year 2019, he reaffirmed his commitment to the organization of the legislative elections and the continuation of the process of inter-Haitian dialogue already launched. The President of the Republic, in his speech, decreed the year 2019 of election year, national dialogue and reconstruction of the national economy. He took the opportunity to ask parliamentarians to vote, as soon as possible, the draft Finance Act 2018-2019 and the electoral bill. Both bills were tabled in parliament in December 2018. Disturbed at first by a group of 10 opposition deputies demanding a public apology from Senator Lambert Joseph, Speaker of the Senate and Legislature, the meeting was completed without major incident and ended the deputies' vacation. Plenary sessions : On Tuesday, January 15, 2019, the Chamber of Deputies held its first plenary session for the 2019 legislative year which brought together one hundred and fifteen (115) Deputies. This session was devoted to the election of a new bureau to the chamber. https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-26673-haiti-politic-results-of-the-elections-of-the-bureau-of-the-chamber-of-deputies.html The installation ceremony of the new bureau took place on Wednesday, January 16, 2019. For its part, the Senate had its first plenary session on Thursday, January 17, 2019. Twenty-eight (28) Senators were present at the beginning of this session devoted to the election of a new level at the Senate of the Republic https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-26690-haiti-politic-results-of-the-elections-of-the-new-senate-bureau.html If the new bureau of the Chamber of Deputies has 2 women, that of the Senate has none. HL/ HaitiLibre Haiti - Politic : We are all obliged to put together for a new beginning dixit Jovenel Moise Tuesday, at the BRH Convention Center, the President of the Republic Jovenel Moise delivered a speech at the National Forum for discussions on the finalization of the Governance Pact, a speech in which he advocated the union for a national agreement for a new beginning for the country "I do not know what name you will give to this national agreement. Whatever the name we must join together to prepare the 25 years, 30 years, 50 years, I would say, of this country. It is not a story to say that this group is good and the other is not good. Today we are all obliged to put together for a new beginning." "[...] After hearing the speakers this morning, I told myself that I was going to put aside my text, to tell you that today Haiti needs you, Haiti needs of her daughters and his sons. Haiti needs Haitians. I know that the dialogue I launched on November 21, 2018 was clear. I gave the Prime Minister the mandate to consult everyone. He did it. But I see that a lot of people are not in the room. This is also democracy ! I see that many sectors are represented. However, there are people, I would say important people, who are not there. Today, it is a democratic exercise that we do. I think we are at year one of this democratic exercise. My decision to initiate this dialogue, by mandating the Prime Minister, was a decision of wisdom. It was just to tell you, to tell the Nation that as Head of State, President of the Republic, I know very well that I do not have the infused science. From my electoral campaign, I was clear in committing myself to achieve the Sectoral General States of the Nation. I tried. I dared, and I must have the courage to tell you this morning. If the Sectoral General States of the Nation are not yet final, it is because the people want to deepen the dialogue. That is why I made the decision to give this mandate to the Prime Minister on November 21st. Even today, as some speakers have said so well, dialogue should in no way be something that happens sometimes ... Dialogue must be a process. The dialogue must be permanent. The dialogue we are asking for is frank, sincere and direct dialogue. Under the constitution, there must be no taboo subject. We have arrived at a crucial crossroads for our future. As the Bishop of Gonaives said so well last year, we are at the edge of an abyssal hole. Yes, a deep hole! We must be able to look into our eyes today, to speak to us and tell us the truth, and nothing but the truth. It is not possible for a country that, 40 years ago, was wble to produce all that it needs for its consumption is now unable to feed itself. If we are where we are, it is because each of us has some responsibility for it. I know that in two months the Prime Minister did not have time to do what I wanted. He met a lot of people, but he could not convince everyone in two months. This is of course a pre-dialogue process. And that is why I am going to ask the Prime Minister to speed up because we have a deadline of February 7th. I want to start the dialogue on February 7th, 2018. Prime Minister, I ask you to continue this momentum. We must continue to sit with those who are not here today because we need everyone. The country has suffered too much from this mistrust situation. We have arrived at a crossroads where the Haitians must put themselves together, are obliged to join together, to leave this country, I do not want to speak of hell or underdevelopment but of alienation altogether. We are talking about a postmodern world today. How can you imagine someone who lives in the fifth communal section, I would say Petite-Riviere de l'Artibonite, uses a telephone, and from this device he can do anything, but does not have the possibility of to have a light bulb ... And yet, we have 300 days of sunshine each year. It is simply inconceivable. We are not there at the head of this country to interpret or comment on the problems. We are here to solve them. And that's why we initiated this process of dialogue, because this change must come from you, from me, from all of us. We are responsible for future generations. We are here in this room judging past generations. But do you think that 30 or 40 years later, future generations will judge us. We can not leave this country as it is now. A term of office of President is five years... there is a team that will leave this power after three years. But we need an agreement. I do not know what name you will give to this national agreement. Whatever the name we must join together to prepare the 25 years, 30 years, 50 years, I would say, of this country. It is not a story to say that this group is good and the other is not good. Today we are all obliged to put together for a new beginning. I will let you, men anvan m ale, li t ap difisil pou m pa remesye chak moun ki nan sal lan la a, pou m pa remesye moun ki te pale yo, moun ke m konn pafwa tande nan radyo k ap di de bagay ki di e difisil. Jodi a m tande yo live! Jwet demokratik la se sa l mande, se tolerans, se kapasite pou w genyen pou w tande moun ki pa dako ave w, moun ki pa renmen w E se sa a nou vle pote bay pep ayisyen an jodi a. Pou di yo ke peyi a bouke, Nan tet peyi sa a apre 2 zan, gen anpil moun ki di Prezidan an te dwe pran anpil gwo desizyon, moun pa gen dwa di tout bagay nan peyi a. Men, se yon egzesis demokratik 2 zan apre ke nou ap fe paske nou konnen ke peyi a bouke. Nou pap pran nan pwovokasyon epi pou gen de bevu ki fet pou le sa a se nou menm ki pote chay. Nou konnen se pa tout sa ki di nan radyo k ivre. E Gen de lot moun ki konn sa tou. Men, Jodi a m ap di l sa k te pase apre 1986, le nou deside fe yon konstitisyon kote ladann nou met yon atik e nou we ki bo sa te mennen nou pandan 10 zan. Nou konnen 10 zan de tibilans politik paske nou te deside retire yon kategori moun, yon kategori ayisyen. Jodi a se sa a m vin di nan sal sa a, tout moun, tout tandans dwe ladann. E se sa a m ap mande Premye Minis la pou l konnen ke jodi a si gen yon satisfaksyon pesonel ke m pa genyen, se paske gen de moun ki pa la a. Konnen tou PM fok ou al cheche yo, fo w al cheche yo paske fok yo vin chita avek nou. Paske kote nou deside ale a, nou pa pral poukont nou, Kote n deside ale a nou pap kite pesonn deyo, Kote nou deside ale a, se kote nou ka rele mete dlo sou te pou moun fe jaden, mete dlo nan wobinet moun, Kote n deside ale a se kote n ka mete limye kay tout moun, Kote n deside ale a se kote nou ka entekonekte tout komin nan opeyi a. Kote n deside ale a se kote envestisman djaspora a ki jodi a mande dwa l paske l pa deside se devwa selman pou l genyen, nou ka pemet li gen dwa l pou l ka vin envesti lakay li. Men pou n al kote sa yo, nou pa ka ale poukont nou PM. Pa gen sakrifis ke m konnen ke w konnen ki two gran pou peyi sa a, Manda a li lan men w, mete w an 4 pou w mete tout moun chita ansanm. Mesi anpil." HL/ HaitiLibre Haiti - ALERT : USA advise to reconsider travel to Haiti The US State Department has updated its Level 3 Travel Advisory to Haiti, January 18, 2019. Last updated reissued with updates to U.S. government restrictions on personnel. Reconsider travel to Haiti due to crimes and civil unrest. Protests, tire burning, and road blockages are frequent and unpredictable. Violent crime, such as armed robbery, is common. Local police may lack the resources to respond effectively to serious criminal incidents, and emergency response, including ambulance service, is limited or non-existent. Travelers are sometimes targeted, followed, and violently attacked and robbed shortly after leaving the Port-au-Prince international airport. The U.S. Embassy requires its personnel to use official transportation to and from the airport, and it takes steps to detect surveillance and deter criminal attacks during these transports. The U.S. government has limited ability to provide emergency services to U.S. citizens in some areas of Haiti. The Embassy discourages its personnel from walking in most neighborhoods. The Embassy prohibits its personnel from : Visiting establishments after dark without secure, on-site parking; Using any kind of public transportation or taxis; Visiting banks and using ATMs; Driving outside of Port-au-Prince at night; Traveling anywhere between 1:00 a.m. and 5:00 a.m.; and Visiting certain parts of the city at any time without prior approval and special security measures in place. If you decide to travel to Haiti : Avoid demonstrations. Do not attempt to drive through roadblocks. Arrange airport transfers and hotels in advance, or have your host meet you upon arrival. Be careful about providing your destination address in Haiti. Do not provide personal information to unauthorized individuals located in the immigration, customs, or other areas inside or near any airports in Haiti. As you leave the airport, make sure you are not being followed. If you notice you are being followed, drive to the nearest police station immediately. Do not physically resist any robbery attempt. Purchase travel insurance and medical evacuation insurance ahead of time. See also : https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-26262-haiti-alert-the-united-states-advises-against-traveling-to-haiti.html HL/ HaitiLibre Photo: The Canadian Press A red SUV is seen parked outside the damaged SunTrust bank early Thursday, Jan. 24, 2019, in Sebring, Fla. Authorities say five customers were shot and killed at the bank on Wednesday. A former prison guard trainee accused of fatally shooting five people inside a Florida bank branch has long been fascinated with the idea of killing, but people who could have done something about it didn't take his threats seriously, a woman who identified herself as his former girlfriend told a television station. Zephen Xaver, 21, "for some reason always hated people and wanted everybody to die," Alex Gerlach told WSBT-TV in Indiana, shortly after Wednesday's massacre in Sebring. "He got kicked out of school for having a dream that he killed everybody in his class, and he's been threatening this for so long, and he's been having dreams about it and everything." "Every single person I've told has not taken it seriously, and it's very unfortunate that it had to come to this," Gerlach said. Gerlach told The Washington Post that Xaver said he purchased a gun last week and "no one thought anything of it" because he had always liked guns. Public records and neighbours say Xaver and his mother moved to Sebring in the fall from Plymouth, Indiana, a small city south of South Bend, home of the University of Notre Dame. Investigators said Xaver called police from inside the SunTrust Bank branch Wednesday, saying "I have shot five people." Then he barricaded himself inside and when negotiations failed, the SWAT team burst in, capturing Xaver and discovering the bodies, police said. Investigators did not offer a possible motive, and a police spokesman said he did not know if the attack began as a robbery. The victims were not immediately identified. No one else was inside the bank. The bank sits between a hotel and a hair salon located in a business district of U.S. 27. The four-lane highway passes through farming communities and small towns as it connects South Florida and central Florida. Sebring, with 10,000 residents, is known internationally for its annual 12 Hours of Sebring endurance auto race that draws world-class drivers. Metro Manila (CNN Philippines) The first of a series of senatorial fora in December featured eight aspirants who wish to take a seat in the Senate in the 2019 midterm elections. CNN Philippines puts in the spotlight seven new bets in its second senatorial forum held on Sunday. Former Interior Secretary Rafael Alunan III. RAFFY ALUNAN Raffy Alunan is a member of the Bagumbayan party. He served as former Secretary of Tourism under the late President Corazon Aquino. After that, he was appointed by former President Fidel Ramos as the new Interior chief from 1992 to 1996. He ran in the 2016 elections for a Senate seat but lost. Alunan is the lead convenor of the West Philippine Sea Coalition. The senatorial aspirant has refuted China's expansive claim over the South China Sea, but he expressed openness for joint exploration with China as long as the Philippines' sovereign rights are respected. Former Bayan Muna party-list representative Neri Colmenares. (FILE PHOTO) NERI COLMENARES Former Bayan Muna Party-list Rep. Neri Colmenares is also vying for a Senate post for the second time. He is part of the Makabayang Koalisyon ng Mamamayan (Makabayan) political party. During his time in Congress from 2010 to 2016, he was able to author 117 bills and 103 resolutions. Among these are Republic Act 10353 or the Anti-Enforced or Involuntary Disappearance Act, and Republic Act 10653 which adjusts the 13th month pay and other benefits ceiling excluded from the computation of gross income for taxation purposes. Colmenares is a staunch human rights defender. Former Quezon 4th District Representative Erin Tanada. ERIN TANADA Erin Tanada was a former lawmaker from the 4th District of Quezon Province, serving for three terms. Tanada authored 76 bills and 42 resolutions in his term as Quezon representative. Some of the bills which Tanada authored and were signed into law include the Republic Act 9346 or An Act Prohibiting the Imposition of Death Penalty in the Philippines, Republic Act 10368, which created the Human Rights Victims' Claims Board for those who suffered under the dictatorship of former President Ferdinand Marcos, and Republic Act 10174, which establishes the People's Survival Fund to address the problem of climate change. He is affiliated with the Liberal Party, as its vice president for external affairs. Samira Gutoc-Tomawis. SAMIRA GUTOC Samira Gutoc was a member of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao's legislative assembly in 2012. This is her first foray into national politics. The senatorial aspirant was a member of the expanded Bangsamoro Transition Commission, which helped create the Bangsamoro Organic Law. She was tasked to draft terms of the Bangsamoro autonomy, following the 2014 peace agreement between the Philippine government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front. But in May 2017, she resigned from the commission after President Rodrigo Duterte's controversial remarks about soldiers raping women and his martial law declaration in Mindanao, following the Marawi siege. Former presidential spokesperson Harry Roque. HARRY ROQUE Harry Roque has flip-flopped on his decision to run for a Senate seat. The President had discouraged him from eyeing a post in the upper chamber, but he decided to go against Duterte's advice, and filed for candidacy in October 2018 under the late Senator Miriam Defensor-Santiago's political party, the People's Reform Party. Roque was a former Kabayan Party-list Representative before Duterte took him in as presidential spokesperson in November 2017. During this time, Roque had defended Duterte's various controversial statements against human rights advocates. Prior to this, Roque was a human rights advocate himself. He was among the counsel for the families of the victims of the 2009 Maguindanao massacre, and was also the legal counsel for the family of slain transgender woman, Jennifer Laude, in a case against United States Marine Joseph Scott Pemberton. Roque has been admitted to practice before the International Criminal Court. During his stint as presidential spokesperson, Duterte announced that the Philippines would pull out from the international tribunal, citing its interference in the administration's drug war. Former Department of Interior and Local Government Secretary Manuel Roxas II. MAR ROXAS Defeated 2016 presidential candidate Mar Roxas is making a Senate comeback. He was heavily criticized during his time as secretary of Interior and Local Government for his supposed incompetence in post-Typhoon Yolanda relief efforts. He also faced plunder charges filed by the Duterte government's transportation officials over the anomalous 3.8 billion maintenance contract for the MRT. Roxas, grandson of former President Manuel Roxas, was a senator from 2004 to 2010. He was also secretary of Trade and Industry from 2000 to 2003. He entered into politics after he replaced his late brother Gerardo Roxas as Capiz 1st District representative, and he was congressman of the district from 1993 to 2000. Among his key legislations include Republic Act 9501 or the Magna Carta for Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises, and Republic Act 8799 or the Securities Regulation Code. He ran alongside Vice President Leni Robredo during the 2016 polls under the Liberal Party. FLORIN HILBAY Florin Hilbay was the country's Solicitor General from 2014 to 2016. He helped argue for the government in the country's case in The Hague against China on their overlapping maritime claims in the West Philippine Sea. The UP law professor is an outspoken critic of the Duterte administration, especially on its policy of warming ties with China. Hilbay has also defended in court two of Duterte's most outspoken critics in the Senate - Senators Leila de Lima and Antonio Trillanes IV. This is his first time running for a national position under the Aksyon Demokratiko Party. To get to know the candidates more and their stances on national issues, watch #TheFilipinoVotes: Senatorial Forum Part 2 at 5 p.m. only here on CNN Philippines. More photos of the Samsung Galaxy S10 have surfaced, this time showing off a new feature. The Galaxy S10 in these images shows a Samsung Blockchain KeyStore where you can presumably store supported cryptocurrencies. The Galaxy S10 in these images have a single camera in the display cutout, so were likely seeing the regular Galaxy S10 variant in the pictures below. Here we can peek at some of the messages in the wallet setup page. The welcome screen for the Samsung Blockchain KeyStore describes it as a secure and convenient place for your cryptocurrency. Youll be able to Import an existing wallet or Create a new wallet. In its current and probably unfinished state, the app shows Ethereum (ETH) as the only supported cryptocurrency. The latest rumor prices the highest tier Galaxy S10+ at 1,600 for 12GB + 1TB with the base Lite model starting at 780 and the medium sized S10 starting at 930 for 6GB + 128GB. The largest model will have a dual front-facing camera cut out of the display. The latest rumors says the Galaxy S10 will support reverse wireless charging akin to the Huawei Mate 20 Pro. The Samsung Galaxy S10 and likely the Galaxy F (Fold) are going to be announced at the next Samsung Unpacked event set to take place on February 20 in San Fransisco. There will be three different sizes and up to five different variants including a version compatible with 5G networks. Source Today Huawei has started sending out a new software update to the P10, its flagship smartphone from the first half of 2017. Additionally, the Honor 9 is getting the same software, namely EMUI 9.0.1. Currently the rollout is happening only in China, but it's clearly only a matter of time before the new release hits other markets. EMUI 9.0.1 comes with the January 2019 security patches, and it's based on Android 9 Pie like EMUI 9 was before it. EMUI 9 with Android Pie was released in Asia for the P10 and Honor 9 back in December of last year, and it's nice to see Huawei and its sub-brand still keeping the new software builds rolling out for these phones that are getting pretty old by mobile world standards. Aside from the new security update, EMUI 9.0.1 also brings support for VoLTE on China Telecom, an improved system of full-screen navigation gestures, along with other unnamed fixes and enhancements. Source BOE Technology, Chinas leading maker of AMOLED displays, has surpassed LG and is catching up to Samsung, according to industry insiders. The company is also planning a massive $6.85 million investment into a third production line for 6G flexible AMOLED panels. During Q3 of 2018, BOEs yield rates for 6.39 QHD+ AMOLEDs were just 10%. That means only one in ten screens was usable. This improved to 30% in Q4 and could get higher than 50% by the end of this year. In that final quarter of 2018 it cost BOE an estimated $80 to make such a 6.39 AMOLED panel while Samsung only spent $60 pen panel. However, improving yield rates and other factors will help BOE drop the production costs to match Samsung or even beat it, based on info from the Display Supply Chain Consultants. BOE has been pulling in talent from Korea to help improve yield rates as much as possible. Thanks to that it was able to ship a million units a month during Q4, compared to just over 30,000 a month the quarter before. You may have seen BOEs work before. Its 6G AMOLED panels were first featured on the Mate 10 Pro and more recently the company became the largest supplier of displays for the Mate 20 Pro, edging out LG (LGs panels were plagued with issues while BOEs were not). Meanwhile, Japan Display Inc (JDI) has been hurt from the poor performance of the iPhone XR as over half of JDIs revenue comes selling LCDs to Apple. And Apple has not only been cutting component orders, it may drop LCD in favor of AMOLED entirely starting next year. JDI was reported to be in talks with Chinas Silk Road Fund, but the fund denied that. JDI was also connected with Taiwanese touch-panel maker TPK Holding, looking for an investment. Previously, JDI received funding from Japans state-backed fund INCJ, which owns 25% of the display maker. In 2016 INCJ got into a bidding war with Foxconn over Sharp. BOE (and other Chinese companies) considered investing in Japan Display, but decided against it. Source 1 | Source 2 Photo: The Canadian Press NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh door knocks for his byelection campaign, in Burnaby, B.C., on January 12, 2019. Even for the federal leader of the New Democratic Party, finding rental housing in Metro Vancouver is no easy feat. Jagmeet Singh began calling landlords last year as he prepared to move across the country from Brampton, Ont., to run in a byelection in Burnaby South. "I'd say, 'OK, let me check with my wife.' I'd get back a day later and the place would be gone," Singh said. "The market's really hard out here. If it's hard for me, I can only imagine how hard it is for so many people." Housing is shaping up to be a defining issue in the byelection, set for Feb. 25, and in the federal election later this year. In Burnaby, renters have been kicked out of older apartments to make way for luxury condos, and sky-high prices are shutting millennials out of the market. Singh proposed measures this week to build 500,000 new affordable units over the next decade, challenging the Liberal government to start by removing federal tax on the construction of such units. Finance Minister Bill Morneau said the government's mortgage stress test has already cooled overheated markets and it's working on initiatives to help young people buy homes. On a recent sunny Saturday, Singh knocked on doors inside a co-operative housing complex that is several decades old. The government needs to invest immediately in co-operative and non-market housing and use tax tools to tackle speculation, he said. "The federal government used to be in the business of investing in housing, hasn't been for decades, and it's something we've got to get back into doing," said Singh. As for his own search, the 40-year-old politician eventually asked a real estate agent to help. He and his wife now rent the top floor of a house, with a view of snow-capped mountains, above another couple living downstairs. Liberal candidate Richard T. Lee, a former provincial legislator, said he's lived in Burnaby for three decades and it's an attractive place to live so demand has outpaced supply. The government has introduced a 10-year national housing strategy, he said, worth $40 billion when investments from provinces, cities and non-profits are factored in. The plan aims to cut homelessness in half, build 100,000 new units across Canada and repair aging affordable housing, Lee said. "I believe that some of those investments will come to Burnaby South as well," he said. Lee jumped into the race after the Liberals' first candidate, Karen Wang, resigned after a controversial online post saying she was the "only" Chinese candidate while Singh was "of Indian descent." The riding is profoundly diverse, with more than half of residents born outside Canada. About three-quarters of those immigrants are from Asia and the top source countries are China, the Philippines, Hong Kong and Taiwan. Since 2010, Google has dedicated resources to Moonshot projects, forward thinking endeavors designed to solve the worlds biggest problems. So what has the Alphabet-owned company been cooking up? To start, its not entirely a surprise that a division with an emphasis on science fiction is intent on making robots a reality. Not much is available to the public on this particular area, but according to the X website, teams are investigating how machine learning can be used to teach robots new skills that will enable them to reliably perform useful tasks in unstructured environments. (Alphabet formerly owned Boston Robotics.) So all in good time, we suppose. Read on for some of the most intriguing projects being worked on in X, the Moonshot Factory. Related: These Are the 10 Highest Paying Jobs at Google Makani Makani energy kites, which look like model airplanes tricked out with a bunch of propellers and have the wingspan of a smaller jet plane, are X's attempt to better harness wind energy. They can generate up to 600 kilowatts of energy, which is enough to power roughly 300 homes. So how does it work? The M600 kite is attached to a ground station, and as the kite is flown, the wind moves through the propellers and the spinning action generates power, which is then sent down to the grid via a tether. Glass Enterprise Edition Though the companys first stab at Google Glass proved that we werent quite ready to wear computers on our faces in casual social settings, the Moonshot factory is currently working on Glass Enterprise Edition, designed with manufacturing and outdoor workers in mind. The idea is that Glass can be clipped onto safety goggles or shields, so if something needs to be repaired, for example, workers can use the display to read directions. Free Space Optics This project is working to bring high-speed internet to areas that do not have access without requiring extensive digging and the laying of lines. Essentially, free space optics is the utilization of beams of light to transmit high speed data between point A and point B. It is currently being implemented in Andhra Pradesh, a state in India. Waymo As of the end of the 2016, with more than 2 million miles in the books -- roughly 300 years of human driving, including the first ride on public roads -- Google's self-driving car project graduated from X. Now named Waymo, its first public trial is currently happening in Phoenix, Ariz. Related: Three Things To Learn From Google's Workplace Culture Wing Developed in an effort to increase access to goods and reduce traffic and pollution, this effort to create delivery drones made its first real-world deliveries in 2014, bringing first-aid supplies, candy, dog treats and water to farmers in Queensland, Australia. In 2016, it completed what was at the time the largest and longest drone delivery in the U.S., when students at Virginia Tech got air dropped some delicious burritos. The project officially graduated in July 2018. Loon Project Loon was developed to try a different way of connecting people to the internet -- instead of wires in the ground, a network of stratospheric balloons. In 2017, Loon worked with Spanish telecom firm Telefonica to provide internet connectivity to people in Peru who had to leave their homes due to flooding. After Hurricane Maria in 2018, Loon worked with AT&T and T-Mobile to get more than 200,000 people in Puerto Rico back online. Verily This team is focused on improving medical tech, developing prototypes for smart contact lenses that could accurately measure biological markers in our eyes, nanotech that could potentially identify and latch onto cancer cells and wearables that could tell when those nanoparticles found the cells and eating utensils that could help users with hand tremors or limited mobility. Malta One way you probably didnt realize you could store energy was in giant tanks of molten salt and chilled liquid. But Malta does just that, sending electricity back to the grid when it's needed the most. The team is currently at work developing a pilot plant to show whether the tech can be used at a broad commercial scale. Related: 8 of the Coolest Projects to Come Out of X, Google's Moonshot Factory Por que Google le 'dono' 2 millones de dolares a Wikipedia No tienes pagina web? Esta empresa te ayuda a llegar a Google de todas formas Copyright 2019 Entrepreneur.com Inc., All rights reserved Central Connecticut State University student Jessica MacLean was shocked to learn this week that the theater professor she considered a trusted mentor had been accused of sexual misconduct and will likely be fired. MacLean, who had been looking forward to her advanced acting class with Professor Thomas Delventhal, who was also her adviser, said she had never known him to behave inappropriately with students. He was very much a father figure to all of us, MacLean, a junior theater major, said Wednesday. Its very hard to process for all of us right now. We talked about our futures, our lives with him. Of course that doesnt excuse it. Its very hard for us. Elliott Skidmore, a sophomore who expects to major in theater, agreed. Tom played a very key role in the theater department, Skimore said. A lot of us grew very close to Tom. MacLean and Skidmore were among the close to 200 students, faculty and staff who attended a university forum on Wednesday when President Zulma Toro discussed the investigative report releasedthis week detailing the alleged sexual misconduct of Delventhal and another theater faculty member, Joshua Perlstein. The report concluded that it was more likely than not that each had engaged in sexual misconduct with one or more students. The report also detailed the failure of the administration to take proper action on complaints of sexual misconduct over many years. Delventhal has not responded to attempts to reach him, while Perlstein said Tuesday that he had no comment at this time. A day after the report was released, the university president attempted to reassure students and answer their questions. It was not easy for me to read those reports, but I have to tell you I am convinced now more than ever that we are going to emerge from this situation stronger than ever, Toro said. Toro has taken steps to dismiss both faculty members. Perlstein was the subject of an article in the universitys student newspaper, The Recorder, last April that reported accusations of sexual misconduct from his former students. Toro placed Perlstein on paid administrative leave at that time and hired the Hartford law firm, Shipman & Goodwin, to conduct an investigation. The nine-month investigation, which entailed reviewing thousands of documents, including emails and texts, and interviews with dozens of faculty, staff, and current and former students, supported many of the claims of sexual misconduct that were included in The Recorder article. It also uncovered additional complaints, including some against Delventhal. Toro placed Delventhal on paid administrative leave last week, just before the spring semester started. Both faculty members, who have been at CCSU since the 1990s, will continue to draw their salaries, which are in the $100,000 range. Toro said this week it may take as long as a year to fire the men because of steps required under collective bargaining. She also announced plans to appoint new leadership of the universitys Office of Diversity & Equity and to reorganize the human resources department. At the forum, Toro talked about her plans to adopt an institution-wide reporting, monitoring and tracking system to collect and disseminate information and data, as well as her plans to explore a new model for investigating sexual misconduct on campus. She said she intends to meet with students and faculty to get feedback as those plans develop. No matter how much I work, No matter how much I do as president, I cannot change the culture myself, Toro said. I need all of you to join me in achieving that goal. Two victims react Two of the women who said they were victims of Perlsteins unwanted advances and whose allegations are included in the investigative report attended Wednesdays forum and spoke after the event. Anna Kelly, who said Perlstein kissed her, hugged her and grabbed her buttocks when she was a student in 2004, said Wednesday said that it seemed last spring that the university was just doing damage control. The release of the report, however, has given her more confidence that the university will make needed changes. In the report, Perlstein conceded that he had kissed and hugged Kelly but said he did not grab her buttocks. I think that now that Toro and the school has the weight of evidence from the law firm Those 30 pages [of the report] are damning, Kelly said. This is ammunition for them to start taking real action. I am very encouraged. But, Kelly added, yesterday and today have just been crushing as she read the report and realized the full scope of the misconduct and the administrations failure to respond adequately to complaints. I think its OK to acknowledge that this is awful and painful, Kelly said. This just has a devastating effect, to realize the full weight and the full extent. Kileen Nadeau, who alleges that Perlstein kissed her outside the Black Box Theater at CCSU in the 1990s when she was a student, said she is very much encouraged by Toros plans. Perlstein admitted to kissing Nadeau but stated that the incident was the result of a misunderstanding. Nadeau said it was clear from the report that Perlstein was unapologetic and was making excuses and lying blatantly. In an email, Nadeau said she is pleased that the investigators conclusions were in the victims favor, though that didnt make the report less painful or saddening to read. She said the report documents what we have known all along: that Central Connecticut State University was, at best, negligent in dealing with the various complaints and allegations for the last 20 years and at worst, complicit in the enablement of a sexual predator to remain employed by the university, thus exposing more women to his egregious and deplorable behavior. Theater department under siege Erin Sagnelli, a senior theater major, asked Toro what she would do to publicly support the theater department. Theres a lot of articles written criticizing our department for the actions of a single person in it, Sagnelli said. I just want to know how the university will publicly support the department in the face of criticisms. Toro said the university will send out press releases about the achievements of faculty members and students in the department and will purchase large advertisements for each production. In addition, she said the university is pursuing a partnership with Hartford Stage. Toro also said that she is going to be hiring two-tenure track faculty members and will ensure that students are offered all the classes they need and that productions continue as scheduled. The show must go on, she said. Several students said they are concerned that the report appeared to be critical of certain aspects of the theater departments operation which they see as positives. The report spoke of an informal atmosphere in the theater department where students called faculty members by their first names and said some faculty frequently socialized at parties or other gatherings with students where alcohol was consumed. Delventhal required students to keep personal journals, the report said, which they shared with him, and made them participate in massage circles two practices that some of those interviewed told the investigators made them uncomfortable. The investigators said that witnesses consistently reported that Delventhal shared many details or stories of his personal life, sometimes crying in class, which also made some students feel uncomfortable. It appears as though the informality of the department has led to a climate in which personal space and boundaries are not respected, the report said. Maria Franco, a theater major, told Toro that the report made it seem that the journals and calling professors by their first name was a bad thing. Those are things that, if youre not a theater person, youre not going to understand, Franco said, but she said such practices help the students bond with professors and each other. Franco, who fled Puerto Rico last year after Hurricane Maria, said Delventhal was the person who showed me everything when she arrived at CCSU in November. Skidmore told Toro that while he found much of the reports findings completely appalling, he was confused by the questions raised about the journals and the openness of the classes. For me as a theater student, those are things I come to expect, Skidmore said. He said that the theater instruction teaches students how to be open with people a skill that is particularly helpful during auditions with people who are strangers. Relatively few students and faculty members spoke up during the forum, but a cluster of theater students lingered after the forum. The students said they werent shocked by the allegations against Perlstein because of last years Recorder article and because several said they had thought of him as creepy as the investigative report also said and had been warned by older students never to be alone with him. But some did say they were surprised at the manipulative and threatening emails that Perlstein allegedly wrote to a student with whom he allegedly had a long sexual relationship, according to the report. However, the students were shocked to learn of the allegations against Delventhal and his own admission that he had kissed at least five students on the neck and/or forehead over the years. The report also said Delventhal was untruthful during his investigatory interview, and denied attempting to engage in any relationship with current or former students. It felt like Tom was the glue that held us all together, MacLean said. We could really go to him for anything. We all placed a lot of trust in him and thats why this is very, very difficult. Sagnelli said she is angry on a very personal level about the alleged sexual misconduct of the faculty members. I think it is a betrayal, Sagnelli said. It hurts. The students said they are encouraged by Toros steps to dismiss the professors and her other plans to improve the administrative response to sexual misconduct complaints. Photo: The Canadian Press A man busted with 27,500 fentanyl pills during a roadside stop in the Fraser Valley in 2017 is walking away a free man after a Supreme Court judge found his Charter rights had been violated by the search of his vehicle. Sandor Rigo was pulled over by RCMP for speeding on Highway 1 in Chilliwack, while driving a van from Calgary to Vancouver on April 4, 2017, according to a BC Supreme Court decision posted online this week. Cpl. Clayton Catellier, a police dog services officer, approached the vehicle and noticed a strong odour of cologne and several cell phones between the driver and passenger seats, both red flags for drug dealing. The officer noticed Rigos right hand and arm was shaking violently, something the man explained was due to low blood sugar. After Cpl. Catellier ran Rigos name and noticed he had a criminal record, the officer detained him and brought out his drug dog to search the van for narcotics. Cpl. Catellier walked the police dog, Doods, around the exterior of the van. The search was caught on camera. During the search, Doods appeared to be in odour and was tracking something. At one point, the dog attempted to sit near the front passenger door, but was thwarted by the curb. A sitting drug dog typically indicates narcotics has been detected, but Doods did not stay down after being startled by the curb. Regardless, Cpl. Catellier arrested Rigo for possession of a controlled substance. A search of the van at a mechanic shop would turn up 27,500 fentanyl pills hidden above a wheel well. In a voir dire prior to the trial, B.C. Supreme Court Justice Michael Brundrett found the search violated Rigos Charter rights, calling the drug dogs sit confirmation ambiguous and not sufficiently objectively reliable so as to justify a search of the vehicle. He determined Cpl. Catellier lawfully detained Rigo and had the right to conduct a search of the vehicle with Doods, but found the drug dogs alert was not strong enough. The arrest of the accused and subsequent searches of the accuseds van incident to that arrest therefore violated s. 8 of the Charter, his decision found. This was not a situation where the police merely opened the hood or the rear of the vehicle to take a quick peek inside. It was not a minor or technical breach. Rather, the breach was more blatant. The impact of state intrusion was thus relatively high. Brundrett ruled the evidence seized in the search could not be used in trial and Rigo was acquitted. GREENWICH For more than 25 years, Greenwich resident Betsy McCaughey has been one of the most outspoken critics of government health care reform. And she continued that streak Wednesday morning in a speech at the Retired Mens Association of Greenwich. A former Republican lieutenant governor of New York who once briefly ran for office as a Democrat, McCaughey said speaks out because she does not want to see anything stop innovation and advancement in medicine. I try to call them as I see them based on the facts, McCaughey said, pointing out that 39 percent fewer women die from breast cancer in the United States and 52 percent fewer men die from prostate cancer compared to 25 years ago. Life expectancy has increased, too: Someone turning 65 today will live four years longer and in better health than someone who turned 65 in 1970. And a baby born in 2019 will, on average, live 10 years longer than a baby born in 1950, she said. These staggering achievements are all due to one thing: medical innovation, McCaughey said. My message today is, Dont let Washington kill this. Dont let politicians on either side of the aisle discourage or impede medical innovation. Many politicians who claim our health care system is broken ignore these achievements, she said. They want to measure the quality of our health care system or the progress in our health care system by how many people are insured, not how many people can survive a heart attack or a cancer diagnosis. A vocal critic of the Affordable Care Act, known as Obamacare, McCaughey trained most of her criticism on Wednesday on the political push for Medicare for All. U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., called for expanding Medicare to cover all Americans in his 2016 presidential campaign. The idea has gained steam ever since as the next step in health care reform, with several Democratic contenders for president in 2020 expressing support for it. But McCaughey said Medicare for All is a terrible idea, claiming that a bill Sanders introduced in 2017 would result in a system that would cost too much, provide less quality care and end innovation that saves lives. She also criticized proposals to put price controls on prescription drugs. Americans suffer from sticker shock at the cost of medicines, she said, but price controls would do more harm than good by delaying medical innovation. In the past, McCaughey has come under fire from both sides of the political aisle for her positions. She clashed often with then-Gov. George Pataki while serving as lieutenant governor for one term. Many of her claims about the impact of health care laws have been called out as lies, including her insistence that the ACA included death panels, which some ended up incorrectly believing was true. During her arguments against Medicare for All, one audience member at the RMA even called her claims b------t, and she immediately shot back by insisting they were not b------t. While she received both loud applause and criticism from the audience of more than 100, the audience at the RMA was entirely united with her on one topic: Reduce Infection Deaths, a group McCaughey founded that is dedicated to stopping infections at hospitals and health care facilities. Infections are caused primarily by dirty facilities and lax procedures, claims which had a lot of support from the audience. Infection is the biggest threat to our future access to all that medical innovation has to offer, McCaughey said. No matter how innovative our medical system is, if you cant dare go into the hospital because of infection risk, you are cooked. She called it the most serious problem of all and said the danger is worsening because the infections are more often multidrug resistant. When visiting someone in the hospital, she urged attendees to take bleach wipes to clean instead of flowers or candy, McCaughey said. Hospitals in the United States are not doing nearly enough to take precautions and properly clean, which can stop the infection, she said. Everywhere you go, the science is the same, McCaughey said. Screening and cleaning (need to happen). We need to identify the patients coming into the hospital who are carrying these drug-resistant bacteria and so we can take the appropriate precautions like dont put them in the same wheelchair everyone is using. Dont use the same blood pressure cuff youre wrapping around everyone elses arm. Put them in an isolation room and wear gowns so the patient in the next room isnt unfairly exposed to the bacteria but its not happening here. A recording of McCaugheys presentation will be posted online at www.greenwichrma.org with other past speeches. kborsuk@greenwichtime.com Here I am, sitting in front of my lovely large window waiting for the snow. In spite of this upcoming storm, not much has happened. Last weekend, there was much goings on about a huge snowstorm that had been predicted, but there was none of the white stuff on the ground. I, of course, had stayed up until all hours to see the start of what was supposed to be, according to the TV, the storm of the century. But as often happens, there was just a dusting of white stuff, and since then absolutely nothing, in spite of the ire warnings of the storm that was due our way. Now, although I consider myself a weather buff, I could not figure out why the TV, radio and all make so much of what the weather experts have to say, and then the whole thing came clear to your scribe. Everyone listens to the weather reports, and especially when a blizzard is in the offing. Of course this means that the food stores would make do in a big way, also the stores selling shovels and the like to all those who were, as the TV stated, getting ready for what is to come. There was much ado about shovels, salt, and all sorts of things to do with goodness knows what. And one certainly needs all sorts of winter things to spend ones money on. I certainly have a large selection of such matter, although I dont feel the need to stuff the garage with all sorts of goodies for the winter. Especially as big storms are a thing of the past, except for only every once in a while. So everyone was downtown, trying to find a parking space, which was not easy to do. On Monday, as I suspected, the so-called blizzard ended up as mostly ice. It all depends on where one lives. As far as our town goes, and in spite of the big deal of getting ready for a huge blizzard, not much happened in our neck of the woods. This, however, was not true for other parts of Connecticut. As far as one can tell from the weather reports, the rest of the state plus the East Coast got hammered by ice. Ice is one thing I do not get involved with. In the old days I was willing to drive from Greenwich to Stowe, Vt., in lots and lots of snow, but no to ice. So there was no blizzard, very little snow and the sun began to come out. Its all part of the winter scene. When I was young, my friends and I thought that snow was the greatest thing to happen, especially as a good storm gave us all that white stuff in the middle of school vacation. This was indeed something to crow about, as my friends and I would go to our favorite place, Mad River Glen, to see good friend Betsy Pratt, once the owner of Mad River Glen. Betsy also owned, since her husbands death, the Inn at Mad River. This was done up by Greenwichite Clifford Agnew, who bought it as an old farm. It was then sold to Trux Pratt, and later acquired by his widow, Betsy. With her ability in the decorating department, she did it over in a country manner, and maintained the areas rustic charm for more than two decades, which brought in our old friends. The fabulous mountain was designed by Roland Palmedo in the 1930s, after leaving Stowe when it had become too crowded. He met with friends to discuss how to organize their trips more effectively and established the Amateur Ski Club. Since then, Mad River Glen has become our home away from home, even though all of our friends go the other way to Florida. I, unfortunately, can no longer ski, but I enjoy listening to the grandchildren talk of the fun they are having on the mountain that we all love. As far as I am concerned, it is the only place left to ski in Vermont. Greenwich native Norma Bartol, a former Greenwich Time reporter and columnist, lives in the backcountry. GREENWICH The new leader will take over this summer at Eagle Hill School, a private school for students with language-based learning differences in Greenwich. Clay Kaufman, who is currently co-head of The Siena School in Silver Spring, Md., will be the next head of school at Eagle Hill, effective July 1, the Board of Trustees announced Tuesday. A Yale graduate, Kaufman will be returning to Connecticut as he succeeds Marjorie Castro, who is completing her 10th year as head of Eagle Hill School. Im really excited to be coming to Eagle Hill School, Kaufman said. It has a wonderful reputation for making a big difference in the lives of children who learn differently. I spent a long part of my career working with students with learning differences. Theres nothing more satisfying than seeing a student suddenly figure out that they know how to learn and can learn. Founded in 1975, Eagle Hill is an independent, co-educational day and five-day boarding school for students ages 5 to 15. It serves students with language-based learning differences, including dyslexia, dyscalculia, dysgraphia, executive functioning disorder, auditory processing disorder, and ADHD. Kaufman brings more than 34 years of independent school leadership to this role, including the past 12 years as co-head of school at The Siena School. He has a deep understanding of both the classroom environment and the administrative demands of leading a successful school, Eagle Hill School said in the announcement. As a teacher, he has implemented hands-on, experiential learning and has developed integrated curricula in the humanities, math and sciences, focusing on students with learning differences. He has led training and professional development programs aimed at educating professionals from Washington-area schools about strategies for teaching students who have learning differences. The Eagle Hill School community is excited to have Clay Kaufman be its next head of school, board co-chair Jeremy Henderson said in a statement. Clays enthusiasm and commitment to the mission and vision of Eagle Hill School will honor our past and move us decisively forward as a national leader in LD education. Before working at the Siena School, Kaufman was at The Field School in Washington, D.C., for 23 years, serving as the director of admissions and as a math and history teacher. He also has served on the Board of Trustees of The Sheridan School in Washington, D.C.; as a chair of the D.C. Alumni Schools Committee for Yale University; as director of the Woodside Kids Chorale; and as president of the Yale Glee Club Board. Kaufman earned his bachelor of arts in American Studies from Yale University and his masters degree in government from Georgetown University. He has been an EE Ford Fellow in the NAIS program for Aspiring Heads, and spent a year in Turkey in the Fulbright Teacher Exchange Program. The goal of Eagle Hill is to provide intensive, short-term remedial instruction to children with learning differences and return them to the educational mainstream as soon as possible. At Eagle Hill, each child is carefully evaluated and, based on the specific nature of his or her learning difference, a customized educational program is developed. For more information, visit the schools website. jo.kroeker@hearstmediact.com GREENWICH Only one obstacle stands between Interim Superintendent Ralph Mayo and his daughters wedding this weekend: the presentation of the budget for the Greenwich Public Schools on Thursday night. Between these professional and personal milestones and the daily responsibility of taking care of 9,000 children and 1,300 employees in the district Mayo says he doesnt have time to get involved in the decision the school board made Friday to hire Toni Jones as its 14th superintendent and the a public display of disappointment that the board did not pick him. This is the only selection the board gets to make, Mayo said in an interview Wednesday with Greenwich Time. While I dont agree with it, I respect it, and its time to move on. The selection, announced at 4:30 p.m. last Friday before a long weekend, was not unanimous for the first time, with board member Peter Sherr dissenting. Many residents expressed shock and dismay in multiples posts on social media that Mayo, a hometown favorite son, was passed over. Mayo, who has just started reading the many emails and text messages, did not expect the outpouring of support for him and disagreement with the school board would be this intense. Ive known for a week, but they learned on Friday, he said of his many supporters in the community. They get their time to vent, and like all professionals, were going to move on. They need to have their chance. Mayo was a candidate for the job, and going through the process confirmed for him what he knew all along: The district is always looking to improve, he said. But before Jones and Mayo start working together later this year, they both have budgets to present. After that, she will come to Greenwich, learn the ropes, and discuss what his role will be going forward. He took over as interim superintendent last summer after his predecessor, Jill Gildea, resigned after less than a year on the job to take a similar post in Utah. If there is an opening, Mayo said he would like to stay in the Central Office. Returning to his previous job at Eastern Middle School is a possibility, but he would hate to bump the interim principal, Jason Goldstein, who replaced Mayo, and the sitting Cantor Housemaster, Christina Shaw, who took over for Goldstein in the Greenwich High post. Im hesitant to do that; I want to see what other options we can come up with, Mayo said. Weve created a lot of nice new leadership roles, and I think theyre doing well. People keep asking him what is next, so he wants to have an answer sooner rather than later, he said. Nationwide, the average tenure for a superintendent is three years, with urban districts seeing new superintendents as often as every two years, board member and superintendent search committee head Kathleen Stowe said on Friday and again Monday. Having occupied the role for seven months, Mayo can say that average is not good. Two to three years is not enough time to get things done correctly, Mayo said. Even building a team takes longer than a couple years. Some say superintendents leave because of school board overreach, but Mayo said it has more to do with the nature of the job: Ultimately, superintendents bear the responsibility of making the final decisions, he said. They dont want that responsibility, he said. I think they get scared and want to go backwards. I love the challenge: Were a big district, and things happen, and unless you understand that and are ready to deal with that, youre in the wrong job. The problems superintendents deal with did not go away because he is a local, but his Greenwich roots were an advantage. Mayo grew up in town, graduated from Greenwich High and became a teacher in town. Hes been an administrator for 26 years in the district. It might be a little bit easier because I know who to call, and I know theyll call me back because they know me, he said. These connections and the additional year of experience under the belts of Chief Operations Officer Lorianne ODonnell and Director of Facilities Dan Watson came in handy during the year of mechanical failures. Weve had more of that kind of stuff than ever, he said. The three floods in October, November and December taught him how the district works in a crisis, and taught him to see the interconnectedness of every building and service in the public school district, and the ripple effects emergencies cause. The floods also brought him before the school board, finance board and Representative Town Meeting often. While Mayo does get frustrated when people do not understand or believe what he says during public meetings, he enjoys the process of Greenwich governance particularly the the Representative Town Meeting. Ive said this to whoever listens: the purest form of democracy is that RTM meeting, he said. I love watching it; its what this country was founded on. But Mayo takes the most pride in being the superintendent in one of the highest-performing districts in a high-performing state. Ive reached a high point in my career that I never thought Id reach, he said. Im happy to be the superintendent. We have a lot of work to do between now and July 1 when Toni comes aboard. jo.kroeker@hearstmediact.com GREENWICH The Anti-Defamation Leagues A World of Difference Institution provided a forum for the boys of Brunswick Middle School to speak out about issues of diversity, bullying and name-calling. The ADL worked with students and faculty to develop a common language for talking about these issues in the forum on Wednesday. The representative informed students about the different roles people play in name-calling and bullying incidents, as well as the behaviors associated with each role, in its 90-minute assembly, Step Up!: Building a School of Allies. The trade group representing Connecticuts home heating oil dealers is renewing its efforts to fight the expansion of the natural gas network in Connecticut. Chris Herb, president of the Connecticut Energy Marketers Association, sent a letter to Gov. Ned Lamont Tuesday urging that Lamont issue an Executive Order that would bring a halt to all efforts to expand the natural gas distribution network and connecting new residential and industrial customers. In the letter, Herb cited the explosion of a natural gas pipeline in Massachusetts last year and two additional incidents that occurred last weekend in New York and Rhode Island. A pressure buildup in the natural gas distribution of Columbia Gas caused explosions and fire that impacted 8,600 customers across three eastern Massachusetts communities. Last years Massachussets disaster killed an 18-year-old and injured about two-dozen other people. It also left thousands without heat and hot water, in some cases for months Rhode Island Gov. Gina Raimondo declared a state of emergency for the Newport area late Monday after National Grid suspended natural gas service to 7,100 customers due to a pressure problem associated with the Algonquin Pipeline, with is part of the transmission network that brings the fuel into New England. The natural gas transmission pipeline runs through Connecticut, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, New York and New Jersey and is 1,130 miles. It is owned by Enbridge, based in Canada. Enbridge officials were not immediately available for comment Wednesday. Herb said Wednesday that he also heard from the Connecticut home heating oil dealers that service residential and commercial customers in New York City and surrounding community that hundreds of service interruptions have prompted home owners and business to switch to home heating oil. I was trying to loop our new governor in on what has been going on, Herb said. This expansion was part of an initiative by the previous governor. Lamonts press office did not respond to a request for comment about Herbs letter. The state Public Utilities Regulatory Authority in late 2013 gave the go-ahead for the states three natural gas utilities to expand 900 miles of mains to 280,000 customers over a 10-year period. Herb insisted that he is not trying worry the public unnecessarily. The natural gas system is falling apart just over Connecticuts eastern border in Rhode Island and to its western border in New York, and that is why we are calling on Governor Lamont to take action before it hits home, he said. Its time for the natural gas industry to be transparent and explain what it is going to do to fix these problems. Eversource Energys natural gas division and two other utilities, Southern Connecticut Natural Gas and Connecticut Natural Gas, are three companies that distribute the fuel to Connecticut consumers. Orange-based Avangrid is the corporate parent of SCG and CNG as well as Berkshire Gas. Spanish energy-giant Iberdrola holds a controlling interest in Avangrid. Natural gas is one of the safest, most efficient and most reliable energy sources available. Its also clean-burning, convenient and affordable compared with fuel oil, which is why so many Connecticut residents ask for gas when they build new homes or upgrade their heating systems. Ed Crowder, a spokesman for Avangrid, said our companies have a decades-long track record serving customers safely and reliably in Connecticut. They know they can count on natural gas being there for them when they need it, Crowder said. Theres no need to worry about scheduling delivery trucks, leaky oil tanks or running out during a cold snap. We look forward to making safe, convenient and environmentally friendly natural gas available to more Connecticut homes and businesses in the years ahead. Tricia Modifica of Eversource said the public wants natural gas. Natural gas is efficient, clean and safe and this call for a moratorium is, unfortunately, more of the oil dealers associations rhetoric aiming to scare consumers, Modifica wrote in an email. The states gas expansion program was developed to give Connecticut residents and businesses another fuel choice - which they requested and are embracing as demonstrated by the interest in conversions. While we know more natural gas capacity is needed in this region to ensure fuel security, reduce greenhouse gas emissions and improve reliability, our gas customers can rest assured we have planned for these types of weather conditions and work to ensure we have ample gas supply even during these record-breaking usage days. As for the Rhode Island incident, we are assisting National Grid in their efforts to get their customers back online and we resent this attempt by CEMA to run another campaign based on inaccuracies. Officials with both Avangrid were not immediately available for comment Wednesday. luther.turmelle@hearstmediact.com Photo: The Canadian Press Anti-government protesters tear off razor wire from a wall surrounding a vacant lot, to make a barricade during clashes against the Venezuelan Bolivarian National Guard, after a rally demanding the resignation of President Nicolas Maduro in Caracas, Venezuela, Wednesday, Jan. 23, 2019. The head of Venezuela's opposition-run congress declared himself interim president at the rally, until new elections can be called. (AP Photo/Fernando Llano) Venezuela's crisis quickly escalated Wednesday as an opposition leader backed by the Trump administration declared himself interim president in a direct challenge to embattled socialist Nicolas Maduro, who retaliated by breaking off relations with the United States, his biggest trade partner. For the past two weeks, ever since Maduro took the oath for a second six-year term in the face of widespread international condemnation, the newly invigorated opposition had been preparing for nationwide demonstrations Wednesday coinciding with the anniversary marking the end of Venezuela's last military dictatorship in 1958. While Maduro has shown no signs of leaving, his main rival, National Assembly President Juan Guaido, upped the ante by declaring himself interim president before masses of anti-government demonstrators the only way, he said, to rescue Venezuela from "dictatorship." Outside the capital, seven demonstrators were killed amid disturbances during protests that rocked several cities. In a seemingly co-ordinated action, the U.S. led a chorus of Western hemisphere nations, including Canada, Brazil, Argentina and Colombia, that immediately recognized Guaido, with President Donald Trump calling on Maduro to resign and promising to use the "full weight" of the U.S. economic and diplomatic power to push for the restoration of Venezuela's democracy. "The people of Venezuela have courageously spoken out against Maduro and his regime and demanded freedom and the rule of law," Trump said in a statement. The stunning move, which to some harkened back to dark episodes of heavy-handed U.S. interventions in Latin America during the Cold War, drew a strong rebuke from Maduro. He responded by swiftly cutting off diplomatic relations with the United States, the biggest importer of the OPEC nation's oil, giving American diplomats 72 hours to leave the country. "Before the people and nations of the world, and as constitutional president. .... I've decided to break diplomatic and political relations with the imperialist U.S. government," Maduro thundered while holding up a decree banning the diplomats before a crowd of red-shirted supporters gathered at the presidential palace. "Don't trust the gringos," he said, rattling off a long list of U.S.-backed military coups Guatemala, Chile, Brazil in decades past. "They don't have friends or loyalties. They only have interests, guts and the ambition to take Venezuela's oil, gas and gold." Not to be undone, Guaido issued his own statement, urging foreign embassies to disavow Maduro's orders and keep their diplomats in the country. A few hours later, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said the United States would abide by Guaido's directive and ignore Maduro's order to withdraw its diplomats. The 35-year-old Guaido, a virtually unknown lawmaker at the start of the year, has reignited the hopes of Venezuela's often beleaguered opposition by taking a rebellious tack amid a crushing economic crisis that has forced millions to flee or go hungry. Raising his right hand in unison with tens of thousands of supporters, the fresh-faced leader of the opposition-controlled congress took a symbolic oath to assume executive powers he says are his right under two articles of Venezuela constitution to take over as interim president and form a transitional government until he calls new elections. "Today, January 23, 2019, I swear to formally assume the powers of the national executive as president in charge of Venezuela," he told the cheering crowd as he stood behind a lectern emblazoned with Venezuela's national coat of arms. "We know that this will have consequences," he shouted, moments before quickly slipping away to an unknown location amid speculation he would soon be arrested. Photo: The Canadian Press Democratic Caucus Vice Chair Katherine Clark, D-Mass., accompanied by Democratic Caucus Chairman Rep. Hakeem Jeffries of N.Y., left, speaks at a news conference following a House Democratic Caucus meeting on Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday, Jan. 23, 2019. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik) House Democrats, feeling pressure to display their vision for border security, are preparing a package that would ignore President Donald Trump's demand for $5.7 billion for a wall with Mexico and would instead pay for other ideas aimed at protecting the border. As the government slogged through a record 33rd day of its partial shutdown Wednesday, details of Democrats' border security plan and its cost remained a work in progress, though some said it might match Trump's $5.7 billion figure. Party leaders said it would include money for scanning devices and other technological tools for improving security at ports of entry and along the boundary, plus funds for more border agents and immigration judges. "If his $5.7 billion is about border security, then we see ourselves fulfilling that request, only doing it with what I like to call using a smart wall," said No. 3 House Democratic leader Jim Clyburn, D-S.C. Democrats' movement toward producing a plan, which they said they expected to unveil this week, was significant because it underscored a growing uneasiness with letting Trump cast them as soft on border security. It came as the Senate prepared for Thursday votes on rival plans for reopening federal agencies and paying 800,000 federal workers who are days from missing yet another paycheque. Republicans would couple ending the shutdown with financing Trump's wall and revamping immigration laws. Democrats would reopen agency doors through Feb. 8 while bargainers seek an accord. Both faced likely defeat, but that might spur the two sides into a more serious effort to strike a compromise when each saw it lacked the votes to prevail. Both proposals would need 60 votes to pass in a chamber with 53-47 Republican control. Ominously, the day's signs pointed to continued partisan hostilities. Trump told White House reporters that Democrats had become "radicalized" and "a very, very dangerous party," and took personal aim at Congress' top two Democrats. He said Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer is "very strongly dominated" by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, calling him her "puppet." Schumer, D-N.Y., called on Senate Republicans to abandon Trump despite his sway with conservative voters, saying, "I know that President Trump has some power in these Republican primaries, but sometimes you have to rise to the occasion." A poll by The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research released Wednesday was the latest indicator that the shutdown is hurting Trump with the general public. While his approval among Republicans remains strong, just 34 per cent of Americans like his performance as president and 6 in 10 assign a great deal of responsibility to him for the shutdown, around double the share blaming Democrats. Re: the Jan. 14 letter praising the Liberal brand, by Jon Peter Christoff. What hyperbole and claptrap, and I quote: The Liberals who occupy the mushy-middle ground understand the fringes could be persuaded to stray, but also understand that with clear-eyed open debate of their values, their record and their vision, voters will be open to stay the course. First, the Liberals have occupied the same mushy, ill defined, left of centre political position advocating for socialist ideology, world governance, soft on crime and long on labeling foreign financed vocal minority dissidents as forward thinking activists, not the puppets they often become. The Liberals, through higher taxes, uncontrolled spending and international donations beyond Canadas means, have impoverish the lowest earning and the lower middle class citizens. They follow the policy of anti business, anti resource development, anti Western Canadian development, while subsidizing the likes of foreign owned industrial giants like Bombardier (Airbus), Pratt and Whitney, and General Motors by debt forgiveness in Liberal strongholds. The same policy they have followed for the past 100 years. Their contempt of parliament is palatable, and is demonstrated in the number of ethics violations from Justin Trudeau, Bill Morneau on down. This Liberal government has broken nearly every election policy platform promise but for legalization of cannabis, which is a fiasco of supply and licensing issues. It has no policy but to put a pretty face forward for photo ops. This government with support of less than 40 per cent of the national vote claims to represent Canadians. Who voted $10.5 million for Omar Khadr, or 31,000 illegal asylum seekers crossing outside of regular ports of entry, all of whom get medical, education, language training, housing, accelerated immigration hearings, displacing those legally waiting their turn and with all the trappings of legal immigration applicants? No one I know! The writer links Conservatives as following Trump messaging, populists, outside the mainstream. Disagreeing with any Liberal claims means disagreeing with the only right way, the Liberal way, and is a populist uprising worthy of only contempt and ridicule. No, Trudeau does not keep us grounded in the middle. He has moved us left of the middle to unstable ground; further from self reliance, economic independence, and fiscal security than ever before. Doug Waines Endangered caribou have been moved in an effort to protect the remaining animals. Provincial government biologists successfully moved three caribou from the South Selkirk and South Purcells herds to Revelstoke last week. The two endangered caribou herds had dwindled to just six animals. The animals - the single remaining South Selkirk cow and one cow and one bull from the South Purcells herd were moved to a holding facility near Revelstoke to protect them from predators. Two bulls and one male yearling in the South Purcells could not be captured safely. All three captured animals are in good condition and the hope is that these animals will be able to join the Columbia-North herd, which has an estimated population of 147 animals. They will be closely monitored to determine the right time to release them back into the wild. The number of caribou in British Columbia has been in decline over the past century, from approximately 40,000 animals, to about 15,000 today. To support the recovery of caribou, the Province is investing $27 million over three years to develop and implement an extensive Provincial Caribou Recovery Program Plan. Actions include protecting remaining caribou in the province, increasing habitat protection in select locations, habitat restoration, supplemental feeding, primary prey management, predator management and enhanced research and monitoring. UPDATE 7 p.m. The Kelowna RCMP has confirmed a suspect is in hospital after being shot by police at Orchard Park mall. Plain-clothes officers and the Southeast District Emergency Response Team attended the mall just after 3 p.m. to attempt the arrest of a man known to police. Shots were fired by police. The man has been transported to hospital with undetermined injuries, that are believed to be non-life threatening, police said in an email to media. While the incident occurred near a banking institution, the arrest is not related to an offence at the bank. The Kelowna RCMP says it is investigating the incidents that led to the need for the arrest. The area will remain closed to the public for some time. Shoppers are asked to enter the mall using the Springfield Road, Dilworth Drive or the southeast Cooper Road entrances. The Independent Investigation Office of B.C. is also investigating how police actions or inactions were linked to the mans injuries. UPDATE: 5:55 p.m. The black Dodge Caliber that appears to have had its two front side windows shot out in Wednesday's shooting incident may have belonged to an innocent bystander, who had left his keys in the car when he went into the bank to make a quick deposit. In a video taken from inside the CIBC, a man can be heard telling police that the car was his, as the suspect is being arrested on the ground outside the car by several officers. "I just went in to deposit like a dollar in pennies and now I've got my window shot out," he says. Other witnesses report the suspect ran from a yellow Kelowna cab on the other side of the bank as RCMP ERT members moved in. It appears he had attempted to flee the scene in the black Dodge before police stopped him. Bullet holes are visible in the side of the car, and what appears to be blood is smeared on the inside of the driver's side door. Police have yet to provide details on the incident. UPDATE: 5 p.m. The shooting incident outside the CIBC bank at Orchard Park was not a part of a robbery, according to the manager at the bank. A witness at the scene said he noticed RCMP Emergency Response Team vehicles moving in on the location before the shooting occurred. It's unclear if both the RCMP officers and the suspects were shooting, but the Independent Investigations Office says it is investigating an "officer-involved shooting." The witness said he heard a loud bang from the mall side of the bank before he saw a man running toward the highway. He was taken down by several officers, with the help of RCMP dogs. A man inside the bank at the time said the incident was "very scary," and he's still shaken up. A yellow Kelowna Cab on the mall side of the bank appeared to have been boxed in by two ERT SUVs, while a black Dodge Caliber on the highway side had its front side windows shattered, and bullet holes could be seen in its side. Pieces of clothing scattered the ground beside the Dodge, where the witness said the man was arrested. The condition of those involved in the shooting is unknown at this time. Police have yet to provide details about the incident. UPDATE: 4:27 p.m. B.C.'s Independent Investigations Office has tweeted that it is being deployed to an "officer-involved shooting" in Kelowna. Investigators will arrive later this evening. UPDATE 3:30 p.m. Castanet News has received numerous reports of shots being fired around the CIBC branch at Orchard Park Mall Wednesday afternoon. One witness says civilians were seen shooting at each other. Castanet reporter Nich Johansen is at the scene. He says police have cordoned off much of the parking lot around the bank with yellow crime tape. He says a black Dodge Caliber in the parking lot appears to have had the front side windows shot out. A second vehicle, a yellow cab has damage as well. It has been boxed in by police vehicles. Another witness says the Emergency Response Team surrounded a blue pickup. More details as they become available. ORIGINAL: 3:10 p.m. Castanet is receiving reports of a large police presence around the CIBC branch at Orchard Park. One witness tells Castanet the RCMP's Emergency Response Team is out in force for what is believed to be a bank robbery. Another witness said there was some sort of explosion. Castanet has a reporter heading to the scene. We'll have more information when it becomes available. Send your news tips, photos, and video to [email protected] In any democratic government, transparency is key to good governance and enhances trust between the people government serves and the elected officials sworn to represent their constants. When Gov. Mark Gordon announced his intent to form a financial transparency group, we were happy to see the governor and State Auditor Kristi Racines taking the issue of transparency seriously. We were also excited to see the group include Kristen Czaben, editor of the Sheridan Press, included on the committee as it telegraphs an intent to include journalists in a conversation weve long been passionate about. The state has rightfully been criticized for its lack of transparency. Wyoming received a failing grade last year in government spending transparency by the U.S. Public Interest Research Group Education Fund and received an F grade in transparency from the Center for Public Integrity. The state auditors office was subject to a lawsuit filed by Openthebooks.com after the previous auditor, Cynthia Cloud, complied with a request for state spending records, but after charging more than $8,000 in fees and providing the information at a rate the transparency group argued would take 30 years to fulfill. One would assume the state is poised to improve on its transparency problems, but they would be wrong. Two bills introduced in the Wyoming House will limit transparency local governments would be required to have when it comes to public notices. House Bill 146 would exempt the names of employees from publication in lists of employee salaries while, HB 201 would give cities and counties the choice of publishing legal notices on their websites. HB 146 completely negates the goals Gov. Gordons transparency group and others who have fought to make those salaries more transparent. The lawsuits against the state auditors office show a desire by citizens to know who is doing what for a local government and how much theyre being paid. With HB 201, while the bill is being sold as a cost saving measure, the reality would be anything but. Throughout the state, local governments have claimed they cannot provide electronic documents for many reasons, including claims the cost is too expensive, too much staff time would be needed and because their data systems cannot handle the task. Local governments would need to hire additional staff and invest in better security for their websites to undertake this task. Also, proving corruption in government would be much more difficult as corrupt officials could change or destroy documents to hide illegal action. A private entity, free from government influence, should be the distribution point and repository of public notices, as the Founding Fathers intended. They recognized the need for a public resource free from government influence citizens can use to verify information they receive from the government. Its for these reasons and more that we oppose HB 146 and HB 201. Changes are coming to the Green River Star, and were definitely excited about what the future holds. The change readers will likely notice this week is new titles given to Stephanie Thompson and myself. Starting this week, I will now serve as the Green River Stars publisher, while Stephanie will be the newspapers chief editor. It brings me great joy to announce Thompson as the Stars new editor and to see her climb as my own career progresses. She has always been a wealth of information and a steadfast believer in the responsibility journalists have to the communities they serve, as well as the duty we have in being the communitys watchdog. Stephanie previously served as president of the Wyoming Chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists, currently is a member of the Sweetwater County School District No. 1 Board of Trustees and is an active member of her church. She is also the first professional journalist I worked under, being assigned as her summer intern at the Rock Springs Daily Rocket-Miner years ago. Another exciting development for the newspaper is our new membership in the Wyoming News Exchange. The service allows Wyomings newspapers to share news articles and photos amongst one another, giving the newspapers a better opportunity to provide coverage of events occurring throughout the state. Wyoming, despite the distances separating its towns and cities, is a close-knit state and were excited to provide our readers important information about whats happening in Kemmerer, Cody, Evanston and other places within the Cowboy State. Immediately, these changes wont impact anything seen in the newspaper. Even as we get accustomed to our new roles, it wont hinder us from providing the unique perspective into life and politics in Sweetwater County that only we can provide. A grant matched by Sweetwater County will continue to be used to fund two full-time Sweetwater County Emergency Management Agency positions. During the Sweetwater County Commissioners meeting Tuesday morning, the Commissioners unanimously approved a fiscal year 2018 Emergency Management Performance Grant agreement from the Wyoming Office of Homeland Security. Under the agreement for the $120,000, the grant will provide $60,000 and the county will match it with $60,000. According to Judy Roderick, emergency management coordinator, the money will go to fund two full-time positions like it always has in past years. These employees will then complete all of the grants activities, including preparing a comprehensive all hazards emergency preparedness system. Its our goal to make the county and all of its residents ready for an emergency, Roderick said in an interview. Roderick said on of the countys biggest concerns is the hazardous waste traveling down Interstate 80 and on the Union Pacific railroad. There are other concerns for the county also, including flooding, earthquakes, snow storms and road closures. Commissioner Randy Wendling asked what would happen if the grant didnt come through for fiscal year 2019 and beyond. If the moneys not there, its not there and it would go before the board, Human Resources director Garry McLean said. Roderick said this particular grant has changed its requirements over the years, which has actually benefited the county. In the past, the county was just given $30,000. Now it actually receives more. She said other counties havent been going after the grant money because of tougher requirements to obtain the grant. However, Sweetwater County has no problem meeting those requirements. In the future, as funding gets tight for more counties, they may work to meet those requirements and the grant could become more competitive and harder to obtain. Photo: The Canadian Press RCMP Const. Kwesi Millington A former Mountie involved in the death of a man jolted by a Taser at Vancouver Airport is suing the federal and provincial governments for damages, claiming he acted in accordance with RCMP training. Kwesi Millington was in charge of the Taser when he and three other Mounties approached a troubled Robert Dziekanski in 2007. A public inquiry heard that Dziekanski was jolted five times with the Taser just seconds after the officers approached him. He died on the floor of the arrivals terminal. A lawsuit filed in the B.C. Supreme Court this week alleges that Millington's actions were in line with RCMP policy and standards, and that he was a victim of negligence and defamation, including a failure by RCMP to correct "misinformation" it disclosed to media about what happened immediately following the event. "The defendants' conduct is reprehensible, calculated and exacted to cause harm to the plaintiff. As a result of the defendants' extreme conduct, the plaintiff has suffered pecuniary loss, mental and physical injury," the civil claim says. The allegations have not been proven in court. The RCMP, on behalf of the federal government, and the provincial government declined comment because the case is before the courts. Millington and his senior officer, Benjamin (Monty) Robinson, were later found guilty in B.C. Supreme Court of colluding to make up testimony at the public inquiry into Dziekanski's death. Millington was sentenced to 30 months for perjury. The lawsuit filed Monday says that the Integrated Homicide Investigations Team found Millington and other RCMP officers acted in accordance with the RCMP's training. A RCMP use of force instructor who trained Millington also testified during the inquiry into Dziekanski's death that the four officers' actions were consistent with their training, it says. It alleges that public comments made by the RCMP following the death failed to state that its own internal investigation concluded the Taser deployment at the airport was "entirely consistent" with their training. The document says RCMP Commissioner William Elliott issued several statements after the death that had a damaging effect on Millington, including saying in 2009 that Tasers can kill agitated subjects. "The effect of this isolated statement without the inclusion of context that the members had acted in accordance with their training provided an opportunity for the public to reach unfounded conclusions about the RCMP members' use of the Taser, specifically that it was excessive in the circumstances," it says. The public inquiry's commissioner, Thomas Braidwood, said in his 470-page report that the officers approached the scene as if they were responding to a "barroom brawl.'' He said they failed to reassess the situation when it became clear they were dealing with a distraught traveller who didn't speak English, rather than the drunk, violent man they'd anticipated. On Dec. 15, 2010, Elliott publicly agreed with the findings of the inquiry report. Sacramentos SMUD, the US sixth-largest community-owned, not-for-profit, electric service provider, will develop a model for a future Mobility Center that will foster innovation in the clean transportation sector and serve as a catalyst for carbon reduction and inclusive economic development. SMUD is funding two feasibility studies to support the Mobility Center. The Mobility Center would bring existing regional efforts to secure an electric vehicle prototyping hub and the Autonomous Transportation Open Standards initiative under one umbrella organization. The Mobility Center is envisioned as a public-private partnership of governmental entities, leading universities, electric utilities, technology and automotive companies, and venture capitalists. Once up and running, the Mobility Center will support, fund and commercialize new mobility technologies including electric vehicles, autonomous transportation, battery storage, shared mobility solutions, public transit and new business and policy models for adoption on the international stage. As the Capitol of California, Sacramento is uniquely positioned to leverage cutting edge public policy, electric transportation expertise, university research, and an innovative ecosystem to lead in developing, supporting and testing emerging transportation technologies, and business and policy models, while at the same time improving the environmental, social and economic vitality of communities across our region. SMUD is proud to support the Sacramento region in taking a leading role in the future of mobility and this is the first step. SMUD CEO and General Manager Arlen Orchard This announcement puts in motion a feasibility study conducted by German based PEM Aachen GmbH, which has extensive expertise in key facets of the mobility sector. Spun off from RWTH Aachen University, PEM currently has a large testing and prototyping facility in Germany and has a strong interest in expanding with a location in the Sacramento area. Organized by the Greater Sacramento Economic Council, city of Sacramento officials, business leaders and university representatives visited the PEM facilities in 2018 and came away impressed. In 2017, the city of Sacramento and business leaders helped launch the Autonomous Transportation Open Standards initiative to position Sacramento as a testbed for connected and autonomous vehicles throughout the Sacramento region. The Mobility Center will build on the ATOS model by providing a full life cycle suite of services from idea all the way to market. In addition to PEM, EnerTech Capital has been retained to develop a financially sustainable consortium framework with a goal of attracting global investors to the Mobility Center. With offices in Toronto, Philadelphia, Montreal, Menlo Park and Calgary, EnerTech is a venture capital firm specializing in early to growth stage companies in the energy, transportation and technology space. While the feasibility studies are funded by SMUD, the concept of a Mobility Center has garnered the interest of regional leaders such as the Greater Sacramento Economic Council, city of Sacramento, Sacramento County, University of California, Davis, Sacramento State, Valley Vision and VSP, as well as policy makers and venture capitalists. Once the feasibility studies are completed in late March, supporters will begin the process of securing partners and investors in the new Mobility Center. Safran acquired an equity interest in Li-Sulfur battery manufacturer OXIS Energy (earlier post) through its Safran Corporate Ventures subsidiary, which invests in disruptive technology businesses. OXIS Energy, a leader in lithium-sulfur cell technology for high energy density battery systems, has already been granted 173 patents with 96 pending. Benefiting from more than 15 years of R&D in the field of lithium-sulfur chemistry, interest in its work from different industry sectors is growing significantly. Source: OXIS Energy. Safran Corporate Ventures is participating in a 7-million (US$9.1-million) round of fresh funding alongside Aerotec and new investors, including Arkema. The investments made by these companies take the total capital raised to just under 24 million (US$31.3 million) and include Samsung Ventures which contributed to the fund in December 2016. The capital raised will be used to commercialize and to automate the process of mass production of rechargeable Lithium-Sulfur cells/modules, using state of the art digital manufacturing machinery for worldwide distribution to manufacturers of vehicles. OXIS intends to focus on the aviation, defense and the heavy electric vehicles markets, such as buses and trucks. Potential benefits for new hybrid and electric propulsion solutions on tomorrows airplanes. Simultaneously, OXIS announced the signature of two Joint Development Agreements with its partners. First, Safran and OXIS will cooperate on high energy density battery cells for the aviation industry. Second, Arkema and OXIS have defined a common roadmap to further improve battery lifetime and energy density. Safran is an international high-technology group, operating in the aircraft propulsion and equipment, space and defense markets. Safran Corporate Ventures is Safrans venture capital arm, tasked with funding innovative technology businesses and startups. Since being founded in April 2015, it has contributed financing to nine innovative companies active in sectors related to Safrans businesses (Industry 4.0, onboard components, new materials, new services, new flying platforms). Photo: Castanet Staff The Penticton and Wine Country Chamber of Commerce is launching a campaign to encourage the community to put #PentictonFirst. The campaign gives participants entries to win quarterly prize draws while buying products and services from local businesses. Entries are awarded each time shoppers choose to support a local business and post on a social media platform of their choice and include the hashtag #PentictonFirst, tag @chamberpenticton, and either check-in at a business or include a photo of the business in the post. Each #PentictonFirst post will be entered to win a quarterly prize. The first prize will be drawn on April 5 for the first quarter. The prize includes one night's accommodation at Chute Lake Lodge for two people, full day bike rental for two from the lodge to ride down KVR to Penticton with shuttle from Penticton back to Chute Lake for two, and a one-hour canoe rental at Chute Lake. The prize is valued at $320, provided by Hoodoo Adventure Company. According to a chamber of commerce press release, studies show every $100 spent at a local business, $68 will stay in the local economy, while spending $100 at a non-local business returns $43 to the local economy. The chamber is hoping the campaign will encourage shoppers to explore local shops they have yet to visit, become a tourist in your own town, try a new restaurant or experience, spend an evening at a Vees game, a concert or play. Invite family and friends. Soak in all this wonderful city has to offer, the chamber states in their press release. Uh-oh! It could be you, or it could be us, but there's no page here. Netanyahu Mocks Iran's Top General Over 'the State of Iranian Bases' in Syria Sputnik News 02:20 24.01.2019(updated 02:22 24.01.2019) Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu suggested to Iranian Quds Force Commander Qassem Soleimani that he should look into the state of "bases he is trying to establish in Syria" instead of "interfering in the [Israeli] elections." The response came after Kuwaiti newspaper Al-Jarida reported that Soleimani spoke of the need for a response to the Israeli air raid, as it would cause Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to fail in the forthcoming elections, citing Iranian sources. "Instead of intervening in the elections, Soleimani should look at the state of the Iranian bases he is trying to establish in Syria," Netanyahu tweeted in response, referring to recent strikes by Israel targeting alleged Iranian military infrastructure in Syria. Instead of interfering in the elections, Soleimani would do well to check the state of the Iranian bases that he is trying to establish in Syria. Our policy is clear and will not change: We are determined to prevent Iran from militarily entrenching itself in Syria against Israel. pic.twitter.com/c4e3o8IqEJ On Sunday, the Israeli Air Force carried out a missile attack on alleged Iranian targets in Syria, including "military facilities of [Iranian unit] Quds Force, including weapons depots, mainly in the area of Damascus International Airport, Iranian intelligence centre, Iranian training camp" in response to a rocket fired at the Golan Heights. Israel has consistently expressed concern over Iran's alleged attempts to establish itself in Syria, including a permanent military presence in the Arab Republic. Tehran, in turn, has repeatedly emphasised that it has only been providing military advisers to Syria to help the country fight against terrorism. Sputnik Russia Suspects US Tests Short-, Medium-Range Missile Tech Under Guise of Drills Sputnik News 11:20 23.01.2019(updated 13:21 23.01.2019) The US will suspend adherence to the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty (INF) with Russia on 2 February, triggering a six-month notice of a complete withdrawal. Washington stated that Moscow would have six months to "prove compliance" with the treaty, if it wishes to preserve the accord. Russia, in turn, has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing. Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said that Washington had informed Moscow via diplomatic channels that the country's decision to withdraw from the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty (INF) was not up for discussion. "The accumulated problems stem from the mutual claims by Russia and the United States on issues related to compliance with the treaty. Over many years of discussions, we have not managed to bring our positions closer together. We are deeply convinced that the current state of affairs is solely the result of the policy chosen by Washington, as well as its manner of managing issues", he said. The deputy foreign minister said that Moscow suspects Washington has been testing short- and medium-range missile technology banned by the INF under the guise of missile defence drills. "It's no secret that for a long time the US has been conducting research and development work on various rocket systems, the creation of which would contradict the spirit of the INF Treaty. [] We had and still have every reason to believe that the United States is working off the technological potential of short- and medium-range ground-launched ballistic missiles, prohibited by the INF range, under the guise of anti-missile tests", he said. US Conclusions on Alleged INF Violations Unclear The United States has not yet explained why it concluded that the ground-launched SSC-8 cruise missile (Russian designation 9M729) violated the INF Treaty, Ryabkov said on Wednesday. "For a long time, the United States has refused to clearly indicate the specific type of missile in the Russian arsenal citing some mysterious intelligence data. Only about a year ago, the United States reported that this was a 9M729 rocket. [The United States] has so far not explained to us why Washington has concluded that this missile was being tested for a range prohibited by the INF", he said. He noted that Washington's demand to eliminate all rockets of this type was totally "unacceptable" for Moscow. Reasoning for Pullout 'Untenable' The diplomat vehemently denied that Moscow had violated the terms of the INF Treaty, saying that many of the US claims were falsified, while Moscow's reasoning has been ignored. "As part of the political games organised by the Americans, plans were announced to suspend the fulfillment of their obligations under the INF Treaty, starting 2 February, if Russia does not eliminate the subject of its so-called violation. In turn, we believe that, due to the absence of any violations of the INF on our part, the corresponding rationale designated by Washington to suspend the validity of the treaty is untenable, and the decision itself is void from a legal point of view. In practice, this means that for the period of the so-called suspension, the contract will remain in force and binding for both parties". Ryabkov underscored that Moscow was ready to be utterly transparent about its compliance with the treaty, and suggested that the US should act accordingly. "Almost immediately [after announcement], the United States confirmed to us through bilateral channels the intention [to leave the INF] and explained that the announced step was not an invitation for dialogue and that the decision was made due to the combination of circumstances and was final", Ryabkov said. The deputy foreign minister elaborated that the 1987 INF Treaty should be preserved: since Russia is ready for a full-scale dialogue, it is up to the US to decide the future of the agreement. Russia to Submit Info on 9M729 Missile Voluntarily Ryabkov further emphasised that the 9M729 missile could not be tested for a range banned by the INF, because it was not developed for that purpose. "Today, our colleagues from the Russian Defence Ministry will prove that the 9M729 missile could not be tested for a range between 500 and 5,500 kilometres [310 and 3,400 miles] prohibited under the treaty, since it has not been developed for this purpose". In addition, Russian Missile Troops and Artillery commander Gen. Mikhail Matveyevsky has stated that Russia will voluntarily submit the information "about the 9M729 cruise missile, which, according to the United States is linked" to the violations of the INF. Matveyevsky said that Russia has been testing various types of missiles at the Kapustin Yar test range, including those designated for the country's Strategic Missile Troops, Aerospace Forces, Air Defence, but that none of the missiles violate the flight range stipulated under the INF Treaty. "For the period from 2008 to 2014, more than 100 missiles of various types and designations were tested at the range. At the same time, all launches of surface-to-surface missiles conducted there did not exceed the flight range limitations under the INF Treaty. The only exceptions are strategic missile launches, notifications for which were sent to the United States under the 1987 agreement", he said. The military official elaborated that the maximum flight range of the 9M729 missile, an advanced version of the 9M728, had been reduced by 6.2 miles to 298.3 miles during the upgrade and is within the rules set by the INF. "As a result of the [upgrade], maximum flight range of the 9M729 was reduced by 10 kilometres [roughly 6.2 miles], compared to the 9M728 missile and is now 480 kilometres". INF Treaty In early December, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said in a statement that Washington would suspend its adherence to the accord within 60 days unless Russia returns to full compliance with the agreement. His remark came two months after President Donald Trump announced the intention to abandon the 1987 treaty, having accused Russia of violating its terms. Moscow has vehementy denied the allegations, emphasising that Washington, in turn, was deploying launchers for Tomahawk cruise missiles in Eastern Europe, which is prohibited by the treaty. The INF treaty was inked by the Soviet Union and the US in 1987, and provides for the destruction of all nuclear-armed ground-launched ballistic and cruise missiles with ranges between 500 and 5,000 kilometres (about 300 to 3,400 miles). Sputnik 'Your Turn To Lie': Former Russian State TV Cameraman Describes 'The Business Of Misinforming Viewers' By Dmitry Volchek January 23, 2019 Strict control of broadcast television has been a key element of Russian President Vladimir Putin's nearly two decades in power. The vast majority of Russians continue to get most of their information from TV, giving the Kremlin a powerful tool for shaping public perceptions. Leonid Krivenkov worked as a camera operator for the Rossia-24 round-the-clock news channel from 2006 until his retirement in 2016. He worked in Studio Seven, where live broadcasts are organized, and recorded programs featuring leading political and cultural figures. He learned the ins and outs of Rossia-24's parent company, the All-Russia State Television and Radio Company (VGTRK). Krivenkov spoke with RFE/RL Russian Service correspondent Dmitry Volchek about what goes into Russian state TV broadcasts -- from how they squeeze out troublemakers and what they shout into the anchorwoman's earpiece to what "Give me an 8!" means. RFE/RL: When you began working at Rossia-24, did you have the political views that you have now? Or were they changed by what you saw there? Leonid Krivenkov: I have always been very cautious regarding the ruling regime. I understood that they pursue their own interests and deceive the public while pretending they adopt laws for the general good. But while I was there I began to take an interest in politics, since I was sitting there all day long watching the news and discussing developments with the moderators. Sometimes after work we'd drink a glass of cognac and chat. They told me things that were quite different from what they were saying on the air. I came to understand exactly how things work in Russia. In the first years of my work at Rossia-24, I was shocked by the cynicism that people had toward their work. They all, of course, understood perfectly that they were misinforming the viewers. On the in-ear talk-back channel, you can hear discussions about how best to present some bit of news -- often you'd hear the most fantastic, mutually contradictory versions. It was a favorite joke of directors and moderators that "now it's your turn to lie." That's exactly what they said to the correspondents right before they went on the air. RFE/RL: So you weren't really an oddball there? There are a lot of people with similar views? Krivenkov: Yes. I think the majority understands perfectly. People who really hold pro-government views are the exceptions. Some of them are trying to portray themselves as Putinist patriots. I don't know -- maybe they're putting on a show, maybe they're really like that. But the majority are normal people who by chance ended up in this orbit and are obligated to earn their living by spinning around like that. RFE/RL: People who work in television often tell me that if the authorities changed, then the very same people who are now praising Putin would denounce him with just as much enthusiasm. Krivenkov: I think that's true. If the authorities changed, the next day they would be saying something completely different. A lot of people there are dependent and have to say what they're told to say. The official salaries at VGTRK are laughable. If a person for some reason starts acting incorrectly, they simply start paying him the official salary that's written in his contract. Either he quits or he apologizes. Management has levers of control over employees. Many of them have loans. Many came from different regions and bought apartments in Moscow. They have mortgages to pay. And so they hang on to their positions and have to act as they're told. RFE/RL: Some people have miserly salaries, while others get a lot of money. Channel One moderator Sergei Brilyov bought an apartment in London for hundreds of thousands of pounds. Krivenkov: The income gap is, of course, enormous. Some of the hosts come to work in personal cars with chauffeurs. They have additional sources of income -- for instance, they are often invited to host corporate events. A camera operator gets a salary of about 45,000 rubles ($680). The work is rather intensive and exhausting. There are some employees who get even less than that. But the official VGTRK salaries are pathetic, even by Russian standards. In 2015, the official salary for a camera operator was 6,860 rubles ($120). That's per month, not per day. Of course, no one is going to work for that money, so VGTRK has a clever system of bonuses that might be paid or might not be paid depending on whether the employee behaves "incorrectly." Several times I was paid exactly that sum 6,860 rubles. I sued them over that, but the court said everything was legal. RFE/RL: You probably know a lot of strange things that happened on the air while you were there. Can you tell us something about that? Krivenkov: The best-known one is the 146 percent for the 2011 State Duma elections. (Editor's note: While giving the results for each party by region, state television showed several regions where the figures added up to more than 100 percent, including Rostov Oblast, where the seven parties between them polled 146 percent of the vote.) I worked for several years in one studio with moderators Ivan Kudryavtsev and Anna Shnaider, who were announcing the 146 percent results to the whole country. I asked Anna, Ivan, and Rossia-24 editor in chief Natalya Shchedrinskaya about this. Of course, it wasn't true as [then-Central Election Commission head Vladimir] Churov said that some employee got a nice house overseas for doing that. It was all a lot simpler: The instruction came to Rossia-24 from the Kremlin stating what percentage to show for [the pro-Kremlin party] United Russia. The editor asked, "And what about the other parties?" The answer came: "Just show whatever they got." The editor wasn't going to argue with them. After all, the Kremlin knows best. So she did exactly as she was told. And that's how you get 146 percent. RFE/RL: In general, the discussion shows are all staged and the roles are set in advance. But don't unpredictable things happen sometimes? Krivenkov: There were some guests who acted "appropriately" during the preliminary interviews but then began telling the truth when they got on the air live. There was one big scandal about a guest who was invited to a program about the use of chemical weapons by the forces of [Putin ally and Syrian President] Bashar al-Assad. The guest began telling the truth about the production and use of chemical weapons by Syrian government forces. The editor, Aleksei Kazakov, was screaming at the moderator on the in-ear channel: "Don't you hear what he's saying? Shut him up immediately!" The moderator immediately interrupted the expert and said there was no more time. Later, the Kremlin called and there was a scandal. That expert never appeared on television again. I remember once I was recording a debate between [Liberal Democratic Party of Russia leader Vladimir] Zhirinovsky and [Communist Party leader Gennady] Zyuganov. Initially, they were chatting like old friends. Then the cameras went on and they began cursing one another until they nearly ended up fighting. But as soon as the cameras went off for commercials, they immediately started talking about their grandchildren and turned into completely different people. It was all theater and they are just actors. You can't be angry at an actor because of the role he plays. I also remember an amusing incident with [children's author, poet, and author of the lyrics to the Russian national anthem] Sergei Mikhalkov. It was early in the morning and we had to record a telephone interview with him about something immediately. They called Mikhalkov, but it turned out that he was on an airplane that was standing on the runway waiting to take off. The editor called the Kremlin and the flight was delayed by half an hour. I was shocked that they would delay a commercial flight just so Rossia-24 could do a telephone interview. RFE/RL: Do they call often from Putin's office or other agencies and create scandals, or do they just explain what needs to be done? Krivenkov: The editors are constantly getting calls from some people in the Kremlin telling them to "correct" the content of the news. You can easily figure out the content of those conversations, because the in-ear channel microphone is usually on and everyone who has access to it can hear the editor's side of the conversation. After such calls, the editor will demand that the moderator read the news in some new way, often one that completely contradicts what the moderator had said the previous hour. RFE/RL: We're told that sometimes broadcasts are changed after they appear in the Far East and before they are shown in the European part of Russia. Does that happen often? Krivenkov: Yes, there are some items that the management doesn't like that disappear entirely. There are sometimes live interviews that are later radically "corrected" for the rebroadcasts. RFE/RL: A lot depends on the camera operator. You can flatter someone or not. Does Rossia-24 have rules about how some guests or moderators must be shown? Krivenkov: The camera operator always follows the orders of the director so everything falls within the parameters set out by the management. In VGTRK's Studio Seven, there are about 20 or 30 photographs on the wall that were taken from broadcasts and approved by the management. All the images sent by the operator for broadcast have to correspond to one of those photos. The director might say, "Camera two, give me an eight!" That means you have to shoot the shot that corresponds to photograph No. 8. I didn't really understand at first why that was important, since sometimes those shots didn't really look that good. Sometimes, for instance, someone moved a bit of set decoration a little bit. Then the director would come running in and give us a lecture about how it is not allowed to touch anything. "Do you think all these little squares and beams of light are just for beauty?" That's actually exactly what we naively thought. But it turns out things aren't that simple. One director told me that the studios are set up with the help of leading psychologists in order to have a subconscious effect on the audience. Even if you don't know what the person is saying or are watching with the sound turned off, it makes an impression....Somehow the picture increases trust in the person who is on the screen. RFE/RL: Do they keep track of the loyalty of the employees? Did you have problems? Krivenkov: Once an assistant to the head camera operator came up to me and asked me to remove something from my Facebook page. I had written what I thought about Ukraine. It wasn't an official reprimand. I had to remove it and that was the end of it. RFE/RL: Recently, moderator Yekaterina Andreyeva told the BBC that she doesn't watch television at all because it gets on her nerves. Do you watch television now that you are retired? Krivenkov: To tell you the truth, I used to have two televisions. I gave them both away. Now I don't have any. I only watch news on Internet channels. I don't believe anything on Russian television. My advice is to turn your television off. Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/your-turn-to- lie-former-russian-state-tv-cameraman-describes-the business-of-misinforming-viewers-/29726481.html Copyright (c) 2019. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036. Russia Presses Claim In Cold War Missile-Pact Dispute By RFE/RL January 23, 2019 Russia has held an elaborate presentation to amplify its claim that a new missile at the center of a dispute with the United States and NATO does not violate a key Cold War-era arms pact, the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty. Foreign military attaches were invited to the Defense Ministry's January 23 event outside Moscow, the latest salvo in a series of accusations between Russia and the United States over the treaty. President Donald Trump announced in October that the United States would pull out of the pact, citing an alleged Russian violation and concerns that Washington is restricted by the bilateral treaty while nuclear-armed countries such as China are not. On December 4, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo warned Moscow that the United States would begin its withdrawal from the pact if Russia did not come into compliance within 60 days. The United States says that the 9M729 violates the treaty, which prohibits the two countries from possessing, producing, or deploying ground-launched cruise and ballistic missiles with a range of between 500 and 5,500 kilometers. Russia denies it is in breach. At the conference outside Moscow, Lieutenant General Mikhail Matveyevsky, the chief of the military's missile and artillery forces, said the 9M729 -- also known as the SSC-8 -- had a maximum range of 480 kilometers. "The distance was confirmed during strategic-command-and-staff exercises" in 2017, he said. "Russia has observed and continues to strictly observe the points of the treaty, and does not allow any violations," Matveyevsky said. But U.S. and other Western officials have repeatedly rejected that claim, and the Defense Ministry said that U.S. and other Western diplomats who were invited to the presentation did not attend. "The military attaches from the United States, the United Kingdom, France, and Germany, and the NATO and EU officials who were sent invitations declined to attend the briefing," the ministry said. Amid strained ties with the West, President Vladimir Putin's government has held several conferences and presentations in recent years that have been dominated from the Russian side by criticism of U.S. military policies such as missile-defense plans. Moscow has said it is ready to work with Washington to save the INF agreement. But it has given no indication that it might abandon its claim that the 9M729 is compliant, and U.S. officials have suggested such remarks are a ploy. A January 25 meeting of the NATO-Russia Council will be "another opportunity to show allied unity" and "to hear Russia's proposals for how they intend -- if they intend -- to come back into compliance," Alberque said. "Somehow, I doubt they will. I think they are going to continue to try to seek to divide allies." The 9M729 "is a threat to European security," Alberque said at a meeting of the European Parliament's Subcommittee on Security and Defense. "These missiles cannot hit targets in North America. They are designed to hit targets in Europe." "It is designed to cut off Europe from North America," he added." It is even designed to do a dual decoupling -- to decouple Western and Eastern Europe, to divide allies, to try to build divisions within the [NATO] alliance. And so far, it has not worked." Talks in Geneva earlier last week failed to end the dispute, and a U.S. diplomat said on January 21 that there is "only one path forward" for Moscow to return to compliance: to "verifiably destroy all SSC-8 missiles, launchers, and associated equipment." Putin has threatened to develop nuclear missiles banned under the INF treaty if the United States does so. He said in December that he was open to the idea of other countries joining the deal or to talks on a new agreement. Alberque, who is American, seemed to suggest that the United States would be open to a broader agreement involving other countries in addition to Russia and the United States. "I think there is a positive way forward," he said. "There was a Russian proposal back in 2007 with the United States in the UN General Assembly to globalize the INF Treaty....I do think precision missiles in every conflict context around the world [are] a threat to crisis stability, and I think there are ways to look at some sort of globalized limits on ballistic and cruise missiles in the intermediate range." In December, a day before Pompeo announced the 60-day deadline for Russia to comply with the INF, Trump said he was certain that "at some time in the future" he, Putin, and Chinese President Xi Jinping would "start talking about a meaningful halt to what has become a major and uncontrollable arms race." With reporting by Rikard Jozwiak in Brussels, AP, AFP, dpa, TASS, and Interfax Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/russia-presses-claim-in-cold- war-missile-pact-dispute/29726216.html Copyright (c) 2019. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036. Russia's new missile keeps INF dispute with US hot Iran Press TV Wed Jan 23, 2019 04:53PM Russia has refuted the US claim that its new missile is violating the Intermediate-range Nuclear Forces Treaty (INF), releasing the specifications of the missile for the first time since Washington threatened to withdraw from the Cold War-era nuclear arms control treaty. Chief of missile and artillery troops Major General Mikhail Matveevsky said at a briefing that the maximum range of the 9M729 missile is 480 kilometers (300 miles), which is allowed under the agreement that bans missiles with a range more than 500 kilometers. "The distance was confirmed during strategic command and staff exercises" in 2017, Matveevsky told an audience of reporters and military attaches at the military Patriot Park outside Moscow on Wednesday. He noted that Moscow was releasing details of the cruise missile system in the interests of "voluntary transparency." "The treaty must be preserved. It is for the American side to make the choice," Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said at the briefing. US President Donald Trump said on October 20 that Washington would withdraw from the INF, which was signed towards the end of Cold War in 1987 by then President Ronald Reagan and Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev. The treaty, seen as a milestone in ending the Cold War arms race between the two superpowers, banned ground-launch nuclear missiles with ranges from 500 kilometers to 5,500 kilometers and led to the elimination of nearly 2,700 short- and medium-range missiles. On December 4, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Washington will withdraw from the treaty within 60 days if Russia does not dismantle the missiles. Russian President Vladimir Putin has warned that Moscow will be forced to respond if the US withdraws from the treaty, saying that Russia will develop missiles currently banned under the agreement if Washington makes good on its threats. The European Union has called for the full implementation of the treaty. EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini last month pleaded for the treaty to be saved, warning that Europe did not want to become a battlefield for global powers once again, as it was during the Cold War. Russia snubs US 'counterproductive' anti-Iran summit in Poland Iran Press TV Wed Jan 23, 2019 07:28AM Russia has opposed an anti-Iran summit due to be organized by the United States in Poland as "unacceptable" and "counterproductive," saying Moscow will not attend the so-called Middle East security forum, which is merely meant to "shift the international focus" from the real crises gripping the region. In a statement released on Tuesday, the Russian Foreign Ministry denounced the event, slated for February 13-14 in Warsaw, as Washington's latest attempt to "promote its unilateral geopolitical interests." "Following a thorough analysis of the provisional agenda and program of this conference provided by the organizers, Russia has decided not to attend it for the following reasons," it said. The ministry complained that the Warsaw conference will not cover basic problems in the Middle East, particularly the Arab-Israeli conflict and its core element, the Palestinian issue. The meeting, it added, has been arranged "hastily and behind closed doors," without due regard for the opinions of influential states in the region and beyond in a bid to weaken the 2015 Iran nuclear agreement. "It is an obvious attempt to bring together as many countries as possible on an anti-Iran platform, to create conditions for the ultimate erosion of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action known as the Iran nuclear deal, and to shift the international focus from Syria and Yemen to anti-Iran efforts," it noted. Last year, President Donald Trump unilaterally withdrew the US from the JCPOA and re-imposed "toughest ever" sanctions against Iran. The remaining parties France, the UK, Germany, Russia and China -- have stressed their commitment to the accord and pledged to defend the deal in the face of US pressure and compensate for Washington's absence. "In light of the above, we once again point out that the current US policy of fostering anti-Iran sentiments and creating new dividing lines in the Middle East is unacceptable," the Russian Foreign Ministry pointed out. Moscow further underlined the need to find compromise solutions to problems with the help of the UN and based on international law instead of promoting unilateral approaches. US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced the summit during his tour of the Middle East earlier this month. He claimed the meeting would focus on stability and security in the Middle East, including the "important element of making sure that Iran is not a destabilizing influence." EU foreign policy chief Mogherini has announced that she will not be attending the conference. A mere attempt to sideline Palestine issue Separately on Tuesday, Russia's ambassador to the UN condemned the upcoming anti-Iran forum, emphasizing the Warsaw meeting would fail to bolster security in the Middle East due to its "one-country aspect" and disregard for the decades-long Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Addressing the UN Security Council debate on the Middle East, Vasily Nebenzya said, "Attempts to create some kind of military alliances in the region by holding conferences and focusing on having a simplified unilateral approach that is clearly linked just to Iran are counterproductive." "Why has that conference not invited Iran, which is one of the most significant and large countries in the region?" he asked. Iran's Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif has already criticized the event as a "desperate anti-Iran circus." His deputy Abbas Araqchi has also said that the Islamic Republic does not allow any country to build a coalition against its interests during a meeting with his Polish counterpart, who was in Tehran earlier this week to explain hosting the event. Iran's Foreign Ministry also summoned Polish charge d'affaires in Tehran, Wojciech Unolt, to demand answers as to why Warsaw had agreed to host the summit. Iran firms defy sanctions by signing $1 billion in oil deals Iran Press TV Wed Jan 23, 2019 09:33AM Iranian companies have signed $1 billion in contracts for enhanced recovery at nine aging oilfields of the country which is now left to its own devices in the face of the most restrictive US sanctions ever. Minister of Petroleum Bijan Zangeneh oversaw the signing between two subsidiaries of the National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC) and seven domestic contractors to raise recovery at the fields by 90,000 barrels a day, media reports said Wednesday. The fields seven located in Khuzestan province and two in Bushehr and Fars provinces are all onshore. They are among 33 oilfields selected for revival by Iranian companies at a total cost of $6 billion over three years after which they will add 300,000 barrels a day to Iran's production capacity. The new dark clouds of US sanctions have a silver lining for Iranian companies which normally have a slim chance of being involved in upstream projects because major investment schemes are mostly snapped up by international firms. President Donald Trump's decision in May to withdraw the US from a 2015 nuclear deal with Iran and reimpose sanctions prompted a host of oil and gas companies to abandon their projects in the country. The decision, however, was a piece of uplifting news to Iranian companies and NIOC has wasted no time in putting its trust in their capabilities and not disappointing them. "We wanted to create projects only for Iranian contractors," Zangeneh said at the signing ceremony in Tehran Tuesday. "We wanted to raise hope among local companies as the US wants to cause worry and upset Iranian people by the sanctions," he was quoted as saying. Unlike foreign developers which bring in both investment and technology, local firms are usually spared investing in projects and the Iranian government shoulders the lion's share of providing capital. In the case of the nine investments signed Tuesday, NIOC Deputy Managing Director for development and engineering Reza Dehqan said the government will provide 80 percent of the funds and the contractors will share the remaining 20 percent. After a year and half, the Iranian companies will have to use their income from operation of the fields to pay further costs of the projects, Zangeneh reportedly said. Four of the 33 fields earmarked for development by Iranians are offshore, signaling probably the first ever inroads by domestic entities into a field which has traditionally been a monopoly of big foreign companies because of the complications involved. Early this month, ISNA news agency said Iran was in talks with several domestic companies to extract more oil from South Pars after foreign companies abandoned the plan in the face of US sanctions. Iran's development of the South Pars oil layers is still at the pilot phase, but the country sees positive prospects for 150,000 barrels per day of recovery in the currently producing reservoir. Officials have said the development of the layers is a complex process, where highly intricate horizontal drilling into different reservoirs is needed to link them up for cumulative production at an offshore wellhead. US re-enactment of sanctions has left Iran's oil industry headed for choppy waters but officials say the measures will accelerate the growth of domestic capabilities. "A few years ago, we were begging to foreign and even Chinese companies for the purchase of some drilling equipment, but we have now become self-sufficient for them," head of exploration at NIOC Saleh Hendi said last month. Iran, he said, was currently scouring 60 percent of its total area for new oil and gas reserves, including in places which were deemed until recently the least likely to have hydrocarbon-bearing formations. "Our preliminary studies show that hydrocarbon resources are likely to be found in the Bostanabad and Miyaneh regions of East Azarbaijan Province," he told reporters in Tehran. Oil-rich Iran cannot be barred from global energy market: Rouhani Iran Press TV Wed Jan 23, 2019 11:17AM President Hassan Rouhani says Iran, as a country rich in oil and gas resources, cannot be excluded from the global energy market despite US attempts to cut the country's oil exports. Speaking at a cabinet meeting in Tehran on Wednesday, Rouhani said that Iran's discoveries of oil has almost doubled over the past 40 years. "Today, the country possesses higher amounts of oil reserves and condensates compared to the early days of the [1979 Islamic] Revolution; this shows that we have made great achievements in discovering new resources," he said. "Given its capabilities in oil and gas [sectors], Iran is not a country that they could exclude from the energy market," the chief executive said. Under the administration of President Donald Trump, the US has stepped up its pressure campaign against Iran. Trump's hostile approach intensified last May, when he unilaterally withdrew America from the 2015 nuclear deal, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), and unleashed the "toughest ever" sanctions against Iran. Washington had initially vowed to cut Tehran's oil exports to "zero," putting pressure on customers to stop their purchase of Iranian oil. A few months ago, however, it gave waivers to almost all of Iran's major customers. Rouhani added that Iran could be left out of neither the energy sector nor fields such as global and regional politics, science, technology and culture. "Regarding oil issues, we have fortunately various methods to sell oil, and we will proudly circumvent the US sanctions," he said. "All countries know that these sanctions are oppressive and illegal and target the Iranian people as a whole - not any individual, institution or government body - and that they will only pile pressure on the nation," he noted. Iranian Parliament Speaker Ali Larijani echoed the president's remarks on Wednesday, and stressed that the US has failed to prevent Iran from exporting its oil. "The US sought to bring our oil exports to zero, but was unsuccessful," he said. "At any rate, our oil is being sold, and we enjoy good economic relations with our neighbors." France says it expects Iran-EU trade mechanism to be established in 'coming says' Iran Press TV Wed Jan 23, 2019 07:08PM French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian says a European-backed trade mechanism, known as the Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV), aimed at facilitating non-dollar business with Iran in the face of US sanctions should be established in the coming days. The SPV "should be implemented in the coming days," Le Drian told the French parliament's foreign affairs committee on Wednesday. "It will work as a sort of clearing house that will allow in euros for Iran to benefit from some of its oil resources and at the same time buy essential products from the main three main (European) partners," he added. In May 2018, US President Donald Trump withdrew his country from the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, under which Tehran agreed to put limits on its nuclear program in exchange for the removal of nuclear-related sanctions, and decided to re-impose unilateral sanctions against Tehran. In November, the Trump administration announced the re-imposition of the "toughest" sanctions ever against Iran's banking and energy sectors with the aim of cutting off the country's oil sales and crucial exports. Despite Washington's withdrawal from the deal, officially known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, the three big European Union powers of the UK, France and Germany and the EU as a whole have reaffirmed their commitment to the JCPOA, as have Russia and China. Iran has not left the landmark nuclear deal yet, but stressed that the remaining signatories to the agreement have to work to offset the negative impacts of the US pullout for Iran if they wanted Tehran to remain in it. The SPV is an alternative payment mechanism that can help companies trade with Iran without facing US penalties. Iran has stressed on several occasions that Europe needs to translate its verbal support for the JCPOA into action by taking "operational" steps to salvage the agreement after the US withdrawal, warning that the EU should account for the "consequences" of the delay. "The Islamic Republic of Iran holds Europe definitely responsible for failing to implement the financial mechanism called the SPV," Foreign Ministry spokesman Bahram Qassemi said earlier this month. Qassemi made the remarks after EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini said that efforts to implement the SPV for trade with Iran would continue into 2019. "The European Union and even the three European parties to the deal with Iran are captive and hostage to the American economy, so they need to decide for their independence," Qassemi added. US in reverse gear on anti-Iran summit as international boycott widens: Report Iran Press TV Wed Jan 23, 2019 07:35PM The Unites States may call off a controversial anti-Iran summit in Poland scheduled for next month as Washington is facing a setback due to a widening international boycott of the gathering, a report says. Jonathan Cohen, the acting US ambassador to the United Nations, told the UN Security Council on Tuesday that the upcoming meeting in the Polish capital of Warsaw, jointly hosted by the US State Department, wasn't a "venue to demonize or attack Iran." Some European diplomats said US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo may be forced to cancel the conference at the last minute due to "low attendance" or US allies' refusal to send high-level officials, The Wall Street Journal reported. Cohen went as far as calling the meeting a "global brainstorming session" with an agenda that revolved around cybersecurity, extremism and humanitarian aid to people trapped in conflicts in Syria and Yemen. The American envoy insisted that Washington had no plans to use the event as an opportunity to reopen arguments about the 2015 Iran nuclear deal either. Upon announcing the summit earlier this month, Pompeo said the conference would focus on issues concerning stability and security in the Middle East, including the "important element of making sure that Iran is not a destabilizing influence." However, the push to form an international front against Iran was met with cold shoulders. Ministers from several European Union countries and EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini have indicated that they would skip the summit, which will be held on February 13-14. Russia also declined the invitation to the Warsaw meeting on Tuesday, with Russian UN Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia calling the event "counterproductive." Inviting Iran Nebenzia said Washington should explain why Iran, as a regional power, wasn't invited if the conference was really aimed at improving regional stability. "Attempts to create some kind of military alliances in the region by holding conferences and focusing on having a simplified, unilateral approach that is clearly linked just to Iran are counterproductive," Nebenzia told the Security Council. Cohen tried to offer reassurances in response to the international criticism, saying while Iran's ballistic missile program and regional influence would be discussed, "the scope of the discussion will be much broader than any one country or set of issues." According to some diplomats, the Polish foreign minister discussed the meeting with European foreign ministers and reassured them that Warsaw supported Iran's nuclear agreement and that it planned to give a readout of the meeting to Iran. Iran's foreign minister, Mohammad Javad Zarif, has denounced the conference as an "anti-Iran circus" and slammed Poland for co-hosting the event with the US State department. The apparent collapse of the Warsaw meeting is in many ways similar to the unraveling of another anti-Iran attempt by Washington in September. Back then, the White House was forced to broaden an anti-Iran Security Council session hosted by President Donald Trump to include other issues amid world leaders' disagreement over America's pressure campaign against Tehran. North Korea's Kim Received Letter From Trump - Reports Sputnik News 03:20 24.01.2019 TOKYO (Sputnik) - The deputy chair of North Korean Workers' Party's central committee, Kim Yong Chol, who recently returned from the United States where he held high-level talks, handed US President Donald Trump's letter over to North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, local media reported on Thursday. The statement comes after Trump held talks at the White House with visiting the North Korean vice chairman on bilateral relations and denuclearization. Having received Trump's letter, Kim expressed great satisfaction, the Korean Central News Agency reported. Kim also praised Trump's interest in holding the second North Korea-US summit, according to the news agency. Last week, Mike Pence said that Donald Trump feels optimistic about his next meeting with the North Korean leader and expects real progress on denuclearization. On June 12, 2018, Trump and Kim held their first meeting in Singapore, where a peaceful solution to the nuclear crisis on the Korean Peninsula was discussed. Sputnik Supreme Leader Kim Jong Un Meets Delegation to 2nd DPRK-U.S. High-level Talks Korean Central News Agency of DPRK Date: 24/01/2019 | Source: KCNA.kp (En) | Read original version at source Pyongyang, January 24 (KCNA) -- Kim Jong Un, chairman of the Workers' Party of Korea (WPK), chairman of the State Affairs Commission of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea and supreme commander of the Korean People's Army, met the delegation to the second DPRK-U.S. high-level talks that had visited Washington D.C. of the United States. On January 23, Supreme Leader of the Party, state and army Kim Jong Un met the members of the delegation led by Kim Yong Chol, vice-chairman of the WPK Central Committee, and listened to the results of the visit. He was reported about the details of the visit during which the delegation visited the White House, met the U.S. president and discussed the issue for the second DPRK-U.S. summit and also had negotiations with the U.S. working group on a series of issues to be settled between the two countries. He was presented by Kim Yong Chol a personal letter sent to him by President of the United States of America Donald Trump. Upon receiving the good personal letter sent by President Trump, the Supreme Leader expressed great satisfaction. He spoke highly of President Trump for expressing his unusual determination and will for the settlement of the issue with a great interest in the second DPRK-U.S. summit. Kim Jong Un said that we will believe in the positive way of thinking of President Trump, wait with patience and in good faith and, together with the U.S., advance step by step toward the goal to be reached by the two countries of the DPRK and the U.S. Expressing satisfaction over the results of the talks and activities done by the DPRK delegation in Washington D.C., the U.S., he set forth tasks and orientation for making good technical preparations for the second DPRK-U.S. summit high on the agenda. -0- Chinese Military Aircraft Flexes Muscles Flying Near Taiwan Sputnik News 02:13 24.01.2019(updated 02:42 24.01.2019) On Tuesday, Chinese military aircraft flew over the Bashi Channel, a waterway between Taiwan and the Philippines, according to Taiwan's defense ministry. A Sukhoi Su-30 fighter jet and a Shaanxi Y-8 transport plane manned by the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) were seen flying over the channel Tuesday. "[The aircraft came] from the southern part of the Chinese mainland, and flew through the Bashi Channel and then to the western Pacific," Taiwan's defense ministry announced Tuesday, the South China Morning Post (SCMP) reported. The ministry also reassured the people of Taiwan not to panic over the Chinese aircraft. "The Taiwanese military sent aircraft and surveillance ships in response to ensure the safety of national airspace and sea areas," the ministry continued, adding that "after the long-distance drill, the [PLA] aircraft returned to base." Last Thursday, Taiwan held live-fire drills in order to enhance combat readiness, starting off a number of combat exercises scheduled for 2019 that Taiwan Major General Yeh Kuo-hui announced earlier this month are meant to defend "against a possible Chinese invasion," the Diplomat reported. The PLA Navy and Air Force have been conducting patrols near Taiwanese waters and airspace ever since pro-independence Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen was elected in 2016. Relations between mainland China and Taiwan have been tense since 1949. China considers self-governing Taiwan part of its territory and claims sovereignty over it. Taiwan, by comparison, still bears the name of the pre-communist-era government, the Republic of China, whose territorial control was confined to the island at the conclusion of the civil war in 1949, when the People's Republic of China was established in Beijing on the mainland. The latest drill by the PLA comes just a few days after the US Chief of Naval Operations Adm. John Richardson said that the US Navy will not rule out sending aircraft carriers through the Taiwan Strait, a 180-kilometer-wide strait separating the island of Taiwan from mainland China. "We don't see really any kind of limitation on whatever type of ships could pass those waters," the US Navy official noted, after Chinese President Xi Jinping reiterated earlier this month that Beijing would not rule out the use of force in territories Beijing claims to control in the Taiwan Strait, Sputnik previously reported. "We make no promise to renounce the use of force and reserve the option of taking all necessary means," Xi said earlier this month. On January 4, President Tsai appealed to the international community for support to protect the self-ruled island's democracy. "We hope that the international community takes it seriously and can voice support and help us," Tsai told reporters in Taipei, a few days after Xi made comments that Taiwan was a part of China and that both sides should aim for "reunification," Reuters reported. Sputnik Chinese, Russian Anti-Satellite Tech Puts US 'Space Assets at Risk' - Report Sputnik News 00:08 24.01.2019 A new report released by the US National Air and Space Intelligence Center (NASIC) on Wednesday is claiming that Chinese and Russian military forces are using advanced and counterspace technologies for warfighting strategies in an effort to "challenge US superiority." The 25-page document, which includes graphics, assessments and projections, notes that Chinese military units have already begun training with anti-satellite missiles, and that Russia is "probably also developing an anti-satellite missile." "These missiles can destroy US and allied space systems in low Earth orbit, making intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance and communications satellites vulnerable," the report states, adding that both Russia and China are looking into counterspace directed-energy weapons that are "designed to produce reversible or non-reversible effects against space systems by emitting highly focused radiofrequency or laser energy." The NASIC report lists a range of potential space attacks, which includes jamming global navigation and communication satellites used for military operations; using anti-satellite missiles to shoot down low Earth orbit satellites; and physical attacks against ground sites and infrastructure that support space operations. Without naming any countries but China and Russia, the report notes that "foreign competitors are capable of conducting electronic attacks to disrupt, deny, deceive or degrade space services." In an effort to realize the possibility of "foreign competitors" actually using anti-satellite missiles to strike down US satellites, the report cites an incident from 2007 in which China used said technology to destroy Fengyun-1C, an aging Chinese weather satellite that had been orbiting Earth since May 1999. At the time, Harvard astronomer Jonathan McDowell told the New York Times that China's actions marked the "first real escalation in the weaponization of space that we've seen in 20 years." The NASIC report comes days after the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) released a review last week on the core capabilities of China's military. "The Military Power series of unclassified overviews is designed to help the public achieve a deeper understanding of key challenges and threats to US national security," a release on the DIA report reads. In December of 2018, the US Government Accountability Office released its own take on the topic, revealing that there are no countermeasures or effective defenses that exist that could tackle hypersonic weapons created by Russia and China. Sputnik Voters Are Deciding Extent of Muslim Autonomy in Philippines By Ralph Jennings January 23, 2019 More than 50 years of Muslim rebel violence, which has killed 121,000 and attracted the terrorist group Islamic State, came down to the ballot box this week. Voters in two cities and three other regions of the southern island Mindanao combined on Monday to ratify a law that creates the country's strongest ever semi-autonomous Muslim region. Another province and seven more towns will cast votes February 6 to finalize ratification and help set the region's boundaries. Though the region of roughly 4.3 million people won't keep its own army or restrict entry by other Filipinos, the government is expected to give it enough local control so that Muslims get a sense of the autonomy they have fought for since the 1960s. Proponents of the move hope the sense of self-rule might in turn stop fighting between armed rebels and government troops, battles that sometimes catch civilians in their net, and let the population develop economically. "It will help our lives, for as long as the leaders are committed to peace and development, I think this is a major stepping stone for peace and tranquility," said Monara Maruhom, assistant dean of the King Faisal Center for Islamic, Arabic and Asian Studies at Mindanao State University. "At least we will give peace a chance for our future generation." Final stage for new region The voting so far has effectively upheld the law approved in July by Congress and signed by President Rodrigo Duterte to form the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao. Vote counts will also determine which cities and provinces will join the region. In one surprise turn, the hub city of Cotabato voted 59-41 percent to join the region. Bangsamoro will replace an existing 12,536 square-kilometer tract carved out for Muslim groups in Mindanao 29 years ago, but widely considered ineffective at offering autonomy. "The outcome of the plebiscite is crucial not only to the establishment of the future political structure of Bangsamoro Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao, but more so it would determine how people in the defined areas think about themselves as a group belonging to a new political structure," said Henelito Sevilla, assistant international relations professor at University of the Philippines. Money, resources and control The half-year-old Bangsamoro Organic Law, which authorizes the new region, calls for the central government to give its local leadership grants equal to 5 percent of national tax and customs revenue. Leaders of the old region had to apply for funding. The central government also will pay $95 million annually over 10 years for the rehabilitation of conflict areas. Revenue from locally extracted coal, gas, oil and uranium will be equally shared with the Philippine government. Muslims have lived in Mindanao's west and its outlying islands for more than 500 years. Many resent the Christian majority's control of minerals and fossil fuels from their resource-rich part of the archipelago. The last large-scale violence erupted in 2017 as troops battled Islamic State-backed rebels in the city of Marawi, which would be in the new region. Duterte told a 7,000-person assembly in Cotabato last week that ratification would "pave the way for fair and just distribution of land and resources," on the surrounding, largely impoverished island of Mindanao, the presidential office website says. The Bangsamoro Organic Law will "lead to better governance, inclusive political empowerment, and enhanced systems for transparency and accountability," Duterte said. Win-win, for now Duterte wins from the polling victories Monday, said Maria Ela Atienza, a University of the Philippines political science professor. The president had campaigned for change in Mindanao before his 2016 election. The Mindanao native also advocates a federal system of government giving provinces around the country more local decision-making power. "I personally would also see this as an opportunity to test whether a semi-federal setup can work, because the power given to the (Bangsamoro Organic Law) is vast," said Antonio Contreras, political scientist at De La Salle University in the Philippines. Mindanao's once heavily armed rebel group, the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, will find the vote "beneficial" in the short term, Atienza said, because it had advocated setting up the region since signing a peace deal with the government in 2014. The front is expected to take a lead role in governing the region. Long-term pitfall potential "No" voters may fear the Bangsamoro region will further divide rival Muslim groups or split Muslims from Christians who now co-exist, Philippine media reports say. In the offshore province of Sulu, where the violent Abu Sayyaf kidnapping outfit has a stronghold, voters rejected ratification. About 20 Muslim rebel groups still operate in Mindanao. One splintered off from the front and another has competed with the front in the past for influence in Mindanao. Those excluded from Bangsamoro leadership might turn to Islamic State, scholars said last year. "It's also a challenge for the government and the MILF (Moro Islamic Liberation Front) because they have to prove that they represent not just the MILF, they can work with different sectors, because even if this gets approved, there are also significant political elites both Muslims and Christians as well as other groups who disagree with this law," Atienza said. S. Korea: Japanese Warplane Made Threatening Pass over Naval Vessel By VOA News January 23, 2019 South Korea says a Japanese military aircraft made a threatening low-altitude flight over one of its naval vessels Wednesday, describing it as a "provocative act." General Suh Wook, the chief director of operations for South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff, told reporters in Seoul the Japanese patrol plane flew over a destroyer at an altitude of 60-70 meters in international waters off the southern South Korean island of Jeju. General Suh said this was the third such incident this month involving a Japanese military aircraft flying near a South Korean warship. He warned that South Korea will respond accordingly based on the military's rules of conduct. South Korea's Defense Ministry summoned a Japanese defense attache from its embassy in Seoul to lodge a formal protest. Wednesday's incident is the latest chapter in a heated military dispute between two Asian neighbors since last month, when Tokyo claimed a South Korean destroyer locked its targeting radar on a Japanese surveillance plane in the Sea of Japan. Seoul accused the Japanese plane of flying too close to the destroyer, which was engaged in a rescue operation. In Tokyo, Japanese Defense Minster Takeshi Iwaya denied South Korea's allegation, while Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said it was essential the two sides maintain open communication. Japan's brutal colonial occupation of the Korean peninsula between 1910-45 has left a bitter legacy among South Koreans, with hundreds of thousands subjected to numerous atrocities, including the so-called "comfort women" who were forced into sexual slavery in Japanese military brothels. Tokyo is angered over recent decisions by South Korean courts ordering Japanese companies to compensate victims of Japan's forced labor policy, which Japan says was covered by the 1965 treaty that formally normalized bilateral ties between the two. Thousands of Nigerian Refugees Flee to Chad for Safety By Lisa Schlein January 23, 2019 The U.N. refugee agency says thousands of Nigerian refugees are fleeing to Chad to escape a surge of violence in northeastern Nigeria's Borno state. Fierce clashes between government forces and armed militants from the radical Islamic group Boko Haram erupted in late December in Borno state's Baga town, near the Chadian border. The U.N. refugee agency reports an estimated 6,000 Nigerian refugees have fled for their lives over the past month, many paddling across Lake Chad to reach safety. The UNHCR says most of the new arrivals are women and children. Many describe their desperation to escape the violence after receiving threats of retaliation and intimidation following militant attacks. UNHCR spokesman Charlie Yaxley says Chadian authorities have asked his agency to move the refugees away from the border area because of security concerns. He tells VOA UNHCR staff so far has moved some 4,200 refugees to an existing camp some 45 kilometers away. "At the moment, we do not have any indications that the fighting has spilled out across the border. But as I mentioned, the fighting in Borno state remains extremely volatile and as a precautionary measure it was decided to bring them further inland in order to provide them with their needs and assure their safety," he said. Yaxley says the UNHCR is racing against time to provide shelter and other aid to those arriving. He says new arrivals are staying in shelters where they are receiving relief items, including blankets, mats and mosquito nets, as well as hot meals. Last week, the government of Cameroon forcibly deported some 9,000 Nigerian refugees who had fled fighting in Borno state. Yaxley says the UNHCR is following up on their fate. He acknowledges, however, it is difficult to get good information about their whereabouts and condition since insecurity restricts access to the area. Boko Haram seeks to destroy Nigeria's secular state and establish an Islamic State under Shariah. Security Council should 'nurture' Colombian consensus against return to violence, top UN official urges 23 January 2019 - Two years after the signing of the historic peace agreement in Colombia and following a recent escalation of violence, the newly-appointed representative of the United Nations in the country, told the UN Security Council on Wednesday that its people have established a "broad consensus" against further conflict, before highlighting key steps to stabilize the nation. The briefing from Carlos Ruiz Massieu took place less than a week after a car bombing outside the National Police Academy in the capital Bogota, which left 21 dead and injured dozens. The attack was claimed by the National Liberation Army (the ELN), one of the remaining active armed opposition groups in Colombia. In total, more than 220,000 people were killed during the long-running conflict beginning in 1964, between Government security forces, and various armed opposition groups, chiefly the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia guerilla movement, or FARC, and drug traffickers. "In the swift rejection of the attack from across the political spectrum in Colombia, and in the marches held around the country this past Sunday, Colombians demonstrated their ever-broader consensus around the rejection of violence," said Mr. Ruiz Massieu, who was appointed on 7 January to head the UN's mission in the country mandated with verifying the implementation of the November 2016 peace agreement. "This consensus must continue to be nurtured," he told the Security Council. Important milestones for reconciliation Special Representative Ruiz Massieu went on to highlight some of the recent major achievements of the peace process, including the fact that the Government's High-level Forum on Gender responsible for implementation of the gender provisions of the peace agreement met for the first time on 16 January. He also noted "an important milestone" with the inauguration in May 2018 of the 'Truth Commission', a body created to examine past human rights violations, including sexual violence, and to foster reconciliation over the next three years. Mr. Ruiz Massieu stressed that the Special Jurisdiction for Peace the transitional body in charge of deciding responsiblity for crimes committed during the armed conflict and which started working a year ago is currently examining five cases of "violent actions impacting no less than 32,000 victims". "As this Council has itself insisted, it remains vitally important that the independence and autonomy of the Special Jurisdiction are respected and that it receives the support required to operate effectively," stated the Special Representative. Reintegration and security: two major challenges ahead Among the near-term challenges ahead, Mr. Ruiz Massieu cited the gaps remaining for the economic reintegration of former combatants, including members of the FARC. He said the various meetings he held in the field have "confirmed both the strong desire of former combatants to work and to find their place in society, as well as the uncertainty many still feel regarding their security, including their legal security, and economic future". The 26 December 2018 quarterly report prepared by the UN verification mission for the UN Secretary-General, notes that efforts must be accelerated "to advance on the acquisition of land and to work on the development of markets for goods and services produced." In another step forward for full political integration and reform, on 27 October the FARC party, now a democratic force, will take part for the first time in regional and local elections. Representative Ruiz Massieu noted that efforts are being made to guarantee their and every other party's security and protection. In Colombia, the security situation remains fragile, as highlighted in the Secretary-General's report. According to the UN human rights office (OHCHR), since the signing of the 2016 peace agreement, 163 killings of social leaders and human rights defenders have been verified and a total of 454 deaths reported. In the first week of January alone, seven leaders were killed and a total of 31 attacks reported. FARC members are also regularly the targets of attacks, a major challenge to national reconciliation. "The security of communities, leaders and FARC members are ultimately tied to the ability of the State to establish an integrated security and civilian presence in conflict-affected areas," said Mr. Ruiz Massieu, as he welcomed the efforts made by the Colombian Government to address this issue. "I would like to stress that one of the messages I have heard consistently from Colombians during my first weeks on the ground, is how strongly they both welcome and expect the support and accompaniment of the international community as they seek to overcome the many challenges to consolidating peace," he concluded. "The continued engagement and support of the Security Council will remain a vital pillar of Colombia's peace process." Recognition of Juan Guaido as Venezuela's Interim President Press Statement Michael R. Pompeo Secretary of State Washington, DC January 23, 2019 The United States recognizes Juan Guaido as the new interim President of Venezuela, and strongly supports his courageous decision to assume that role pursuant to Article 233 of Venezuela's constitution and supported by the National Assembly, in restoring democracy to Venezuela. As President Trump said, "The people of Venezuela have courageously spoken out against Maduro and his regime and demanded freedom and the rule of law." The Venezuelan people have suffered long enough under Nicolas Maduro's disastrous dictatorship. We call on Maduro to step aside in favor of a legitimate leader reflecting the will of the Venezuelan people. The United States supports President Guaido as he establishes a transitional government, and leads Venezuela, as the country prepares for free and fair elections. We urge all Venezuelans to support peacefully this democratic process, as granted in the 1999 Constitution. We will work closely with the legitimately elected National Assembly to facilitate the transition of Venezuela back to democracy and the rule of law, consistent with the Inter-American Democratic Charter. The United States also stands ready to provide humanitarian assistance to the people of Venezuela as conditions allow. The Venezuelan people are clamoring for a free and democratic Venezuela. As we have said before, the United States, with the international community, including the Organization of American States, the Lima Group, and the European Union, support the Venezuelan people as they seek to restore their democracy. We repeat our call to the Venezuelan military and security forces to support democracy and protect all Venezuelan citizens. The new Venezuelan government carries the flame of democracy on behalf of Venezuela. The United States pledges our continued support to President Guaido, the National Assembly, and the Venezuelan people. IDF Says Israeli Jets Struck Hamas Targets in Northern Gaza After Border Unrest Sputnik News 02:45 23.01.2019(updated 02:51 23.01.2019) TEL AVIV (Sputnik) - The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) confirmed that their fighter jets carried out strikes in the northern Gaza Strip targeting a Hamas camp in response to "terrorist" fire on the Israel-Gaza border. Local media reported late on Tuesday that the Israeli Air Force stroke targets in the Northern Gaza Strip following Tuesday's escalation along the border. "Terrorists shot at our troops stationed along Israel's border fence with Gaza several times throughout the day. In response, IDF fighter jets struck several terror sites in a Hamas military camp in the northern Gaza Strip," the IDF said on Twitter. The IDF said on Tuesday that an Israeli officer had been injured in clashes with Palestinians, who participated in riots along the Gaza border. In response, an Israeli tank attacked an observation post used by Hamas. The Gaza Health Ministry said a Palestinian was killed and two others were injured as a result of the Israeli attack. Sputnik Japanese Patrol Plane Flies Close to S Korean Warship in Korea Strait - Reports Sputnik News 13:08 23.01.2019 MOSCOW (Sputnik) - A Japanese maritime patrol aircraft flew close to a South Korean warship in the Korea Strait on 23 January, the Yonhap news agency reported, citing an unnamed South Korean official. At 2:03 p.m. local time (05:03 GMT), a Japanese Maritime Self-Defence Force patrol plane flew close to the South Korean Navy warship at an attitude of 60 to 70 meters (197 to 229 feet), near the Jeju Island, the Yonhap news agency specified. "[South Korean] Defence Minister Jeong Kyeong-doo, along with the Joint Chiefs of Staff, is working on this issue at this point", the unnamed official told Yonhap. Suh Wook, the chief director of operations at the Joint Chiefs of Staff, condemned the Japanese aircraft's flight as a "provocative act." "This low-altitude, close-range flight toward the ship of a partner country again today is a clearly provocative act, and we cannot help but doubt Japan's intent, and [we] strongly condemn this", he said at a press conference, as quoted by Yonhap. He pledged that the South Korean military would "strongly" respond if such an incident repeated again. The statement comes after the Japanese Defence Ministry released a document on 21 January with its "final opinion" on a similar incident that took place in December and involved another low-altitude flight by a Japanese patrol plane allegedly endangering a South Korean Navy ship. Japan slammed South Korean claims about the threat that the flight had posed to its ship as baseless and announced that it would suspend related bilateral consultations. According to the Japanese side, on December 20, a South Korean destroyer purposefully directed its fire-control radar at Japanese Maritime Self-Defence Force patrol plane in the Sea of Japan. Seoul responded by saying that it had been rescuing a North Korean fishing ship in distress, using an optical camera and not the radar. Sputnik US Wants Seoul to Pay Over $1Bln in 2019 for Deployment of Its Troops - Reports Sputnik News 17:06 23.01.2019 MOSCOW (Sputnik) - Washington has insisted that Seoul boost its spending related to maintaining the 28,500-strong US Forces Korea (USFK) to 1.35 trillion won ($1.2 billion) this year, a 41 percent increase from 2018 and more than South Korea is willing to consider contributing, South Korean media reported on Wednesday, citing a diplomatic source. Washington and Seoul had 10 rounds of talks on the matter in 2018 but failed to reach a consensus on sharing the defene costs. South Korea, for its part, intends to keep the payment under 1 trillion won, the Yonhap news agency reported. Another source of disagreement for the two parties is the duration of the contract. The news outlet said that the United States was seeking a one-year contract, while South Korea was pushing for three- to a five-year contract, the news outlet added. US President Donald Trump has repeatedly stated that US allies should pay a fair price for the protection provided by Washington, which is why South Korea has been asked to sharply raise its contribution to support the USFK. Since 1991, South Korea has been sharing the costs of maintaining the US military on its territory under the Special Measures Agreement (SMA). Each agreement has a duration of five years, and the last one expired on December 31. Since 1991 Seoul's contribution has increased from 150 billion won to around 960 billion won last year in light of Washington's tougher stance on helping its allies. Sputnik Trump Recognises Venezuela's Opp Leader Juan Guaido as Acting President Sputnik News 20:58 23.01.2019(updated 22:50 23.01.2019) Earlier this week, Venezuela's National Assembly adopted a statement declaring Maduro usurped power and all the decisions made by him and the executive bodies were void. Maduro replied he would hold the National Assembly accountable for ridiculing the country's constitution. Juan Guaido, the president of the disempowered National Assembly took the oath of office as Interim President of Venezuela. Before the ceremony, Guaido claimed that 4 of the 23 Venezuelan states had joined the protests against the government. "Barinas, Aragua, Bolivar and Nueva Esparta today have awakened in a single voice, rose and supported their legitimate National Assembly", he wrote on Twitter. US President Donald Trump stated that Washington recognises Guaido as the legitimate head of the South American country. "We continue to hold the illegitimate Maduro regime directly responsible for any threats it may pose to the safety of the Venezuelan people", Trump added. Later, the US President told reporters at the White House when asked if he was considering sending the US military to the country, that all options were on the table for Venezuela, according to Reuters. "We're not considering anything, but all options are on the table," Trump said. Meanwhile, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo called on Nicolas Maduro to step aside, also vowing to support the transitional government. "The Venezuelan people have suffered long enough under Nicolas Maduro's disastrous dictatorship", Pompeo said. "We call on Maduro to step aside in favour of a legitimate leader reflecting the will of the Venezuelan people." The chief of the Organisation of American States, which includes 35 countries from both North and South America, has also recognised Guaido as the Venezuelan president. At the same time, Reuters reported that Ottawa would soon join the US and recognise Guaido as the president. Hours later, Colombia's leader Duque also said that he recognizes Guaido as Venezuela's legitimate head, while Paraguay president Abdo said that he recognizes the Venezuelan opposition leader as the country's interim president. Brazil's government later also recognized Guaidoas Venezuela's acting president. The news comes amid protests against Maduro, which broke out across Venezuela late on Tuesday, with at least four people killed and dozens injured during the demonstrations. Later on Tuesday, Vice President Mike Pence told the Venezuelan people in a video message that the US government supports Guaido's call for a transitional government. Sputnik Venezuela Breaks Diplomatic Ties With United States, Orders Diplomats to Leave Sputnik News 23:22 23.01.2019(updated 23:54 23.01.2019) Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro said Wednesday that the United States had attempted to stage a coup in the country. Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro announced Wednesday that Caracas was breaking diplomatic and political relations with the United States, and gave American diplomatic staff 72 hours to leave. Maduro stressed that the US had attempted to stage a coup in Venezuela. Maduro also vowed to fight for the Venezuelan people's right to peace and a sovereign government of their choosing. Earlier in the day, US President Donald Trump recognized Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido as the interim president of the country, after Guaido, president of the recently disempowered National Assembly, took his own oath of office and declared himself interim president of Venezuela. The act followed the National Assembly's adoption on Tuesday of a statement accusing Maduro of "usurping" power and declaring all his decisions void. Maduro replied he would hold the National Assembly accountable for ridiculing the country's constitution. Meanwhile, media reports have suggested that the United States is considering imposing an oil embargo against Venezuela if Maduro takes drastic action to defend his government. Trump, asked by White House reporters Wednesday afternoon if he was considering sending the US military to Venezuela, replied that nothing was being considered, but that all options were on the table. A senior White House official, shortly before Trump's statement, had told reporters on a conference call, "If Maduro and his cronies choose to respond with violence if they choose to harm any of the national assembly members or any of the other duly legitimate officials of the government of Venezuela all options are on the table for the United States in regards to actions to be taken." Earlier, the chief of the Organisation of American States, which includes 35 countries from both North and South America, also recognised Guaido as the Venezuelan president. The leaders of Colombia, Paraguay, Peru and Brazil have also recognised Guaido as Venezuela's legitimate head. Sputnik Skirmishes Across Venezuela as US, Allies Endorse Presumptive President Guaido Sputnik News 23:30 23.01.2019(updated 23:31 23.01.2019) Following news that Venezuela's opposition leader, Juan Guaido, had declared himself interim president Wednesday, the US rushed to endorse him as the legitimate leader, and others mulled following suit. Violence has broken out across Venezuela as anti-government protesters skirmish with police and crowds in favor of President Nicolas Maduro. The move followed a declaration by Venezuela's National Assembly earlier this week that Maduro, whose second term as president began on January 19 following elections last May, had usurped power. The legislature has been disempowered since the Constituent Assembly was formed in the summer of 2017 to redraft the country's constitution, and the National Assembly, controlled by Maduro's adversaries, rejected the Constituent Assembly's legal superiority. "Barinas, Aragua, Bolivar and Nueva Esparta today have awakened in a single voice, rose and supported their legitimate National Assembly," Guaido, who is also president of the National Assembly, wrote on Twitter Wednesday after he took the oath of office as interim president of Venezuela. Large protests, both for and against the Maduro government, have taken over streets across the country, and pro-opposition protests in particular have exchanged violent acts with the police and national guard, who have responded with tear gas and buckshot. Four have already died in protests leading up to the declaration, and two more are reported dead in Wednesday's exchanges. In the capital city of Caracas, protesters blocked a highway and attempted to occupy Madariaga Square and were dispersed with non-lethal weapons by the national guard. Footage shows tear gas canisters being rolled into a crowd and at least one protester being arrested. Protesters appeared in masks in Caracas' El Paraiso neighborhood and threw tear gas back at the police. In the city of Maturin, the capital of Monagas state, protesters attacked and burned the local headquarters of the United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV), Maduro's party. However, not all are in the streets protesting against the government. Large parades are also demonstrating in favor of Maduro and celebrating his legacy as the heir of his predecessor Hugo Chavez's Bolivarian movement. Guaido, the US and its allies have derided the 2018 elections as rigged, but two thirds of the 9.3 million votes cast were for Maduro, the PSUV's candidate. "We continue to hold the illegitimate Maduro regime directly responsible for any threats it may pose to the safety of the Venezuelan people," US President Donald Trump said Wednesday. He later added, "We're not considering anything, but all options are on the table." Paraguay, Argentina, Canada, Guatemala and Peru have also recognized Guaido as Venezuela's interim president. Bolivian President Evo Morales took to Twitter to express support for Maduro. Sputnik Saudi Arabia confirms its categorical rejection of all Israeli policies, practices and plans against the Palestinian people Saudi Press Agency Wednesday 1440/5/17 - 2019/01/23 United Nations, January 22, 2019, SPA -- The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has unequivocally rejected all Israeli illegal policies, practices and plans as well as Israel's attempts to perpetuate racial discrimination against the Palestinian people, to obliterate their national identity and to undermine their legitimate rights. This came in the speech of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia before the Security Council today on the situation in the Middle East, delivered by Permanent Representative of the Kingdom to the United Nations Ambassador Abdullah bin Yahya Al-Mualimi. He called on the international community and the Security Council in particular to shoulder its responsibilities and immediately intervene to stop settlement projects and provide protection for the Palestinian people and work to force the Israeli occupation authorities to implement international resolutions, lift the siege on the Gaza Strip and open the crossings immediately and permanently and end the humanitarian and economic crisis affecting the Palestinian people. He said, "My country stresses the importance of a comprehensive and lasting peace in the Middle East as a strategic option to end the Arab-Israeli conflict in accordance with the international prerogatives and the Arab peace initiative of 2002, which was presented by my country and included the establishment of a Palestinian state on the borders of June 4, 1967 with Jerusalem as its capital and end the Israeli occupation of all Arab territories, including the Syrian Arab Golan and the Lebanese territories." He added, "The Syrian people, too, are still living the worst human crisis of the century. The former Special Envoy of the Secretary-General in Syria, Stephane de Mistura, has completed his duties without achieving the desired results... because of the intransigence of the Syrian regime and its unwillingness to reach a just political solution to end the tragedy of the Syrian people." He congratulated the new Special Envoy of the Secretary-General for Syria, Geir Pedersen, on the new and difficult task entrusted to him and stressed the support of the Government of Saudi Arabia for his efforts in achieving a political solution based on resolution 2254. He added that the Kingdom's government stresses the importance of reaching a just political solution in order to put an end to the suffering of Syrians all over the world and demand the withdrawal of all foreign forces and foreign fighters, especially the Iranian forces and their militias from all Syrian territory. He stressed the condemnation of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and its rejection of any use of chemical weapons in Syria, and called on the international community to seek to punish those responsible for these crimes. The Permanent Representative of the Kingdom to the United Nations referred to the latest developments of the Yemeni issue, the most prominent of which was the holding of the Yemeni consultations in Sweden last December, which resulted in what is now known as the Stockholm Agreement. He said that the Iranian-backed Houthi disregard does not show truthful intentions of this group, which was confirmed by the attack on Al-Anad Military Base in Yemen by an Iranian made unmanned aircraft and Houthi execution, resulting in the martyrdom of six Yemeni officers, as well as injuring a number of others, in addition to the attack on the UN Redeployment Coordination Committee in Hodeidah, which was also carried out by this militia, as the reports of the United Nations and independent observers have shown that Iran continues to support the Houthi militias with weapons and military expertise. He called on the Security Council to continue pressure on Iran to abide by the resolutions of the Council, particularly resolutions 2231, 2140 and 2216, stressing the importance of reaching a comprehensive political solution in Yemen that guarantees the sovereignty of the state on all its territory and the unity of arms within the framework of a unified national army, the commitment to the three references, which are the Gulf Initiative, the outcomes of the national dialogue and relevant Security Council resolutions, particularly resolution 2216. He concluded that the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia will continue to support the Yemeni people, their legitimate leadership and respond to humanitarian needs. --SPA 04:08 LOCAL TIME 01:08 GMT 0034 Pompeo Says It's 'Struggle' To Reduce Risk Of Confrontation With Russia By RFE/RL January 23, 2019 U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has told the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland that Washington and Moscow are not "doomed to a Cold War rivalry," but "it has been a struggle" to reduce the risk of confrontation with Russia. Pompeo said the Kremlin needed to change its "outlook and behavior," and that talks were needed with Moscow to prevent the proliferation of nuclear weapons. He made the remarks to global business leaders at the gathering on January 22 by live video link after an ongoing U.S. government shutdown triggered the cancelation of his trip to the event. Pompeo chided the Kremlin for its policies on Ukraine, where Moscow supports pro-Russian separatists. He also criticized Russia for its alleged interference into elections in the United States and other countries. "These aren't the behaviors of nations that want to be part of the international community," Pompeo said. "We hope that they'll return to the right course of actions...that lead them down the path of the rule of law and order and liberty," he said. If Russia does so, Pompeo said he was "confident that our two nations can prosper and grow alongside of each other. We are not destined to be antagonists." In his remarks, Pompeo reiterated President Donald Trump's criticism of international institutions and Trump's calls for "strong borders" to protect national sovereignty. "New winds are blowing across the world," Pompeo said. "I'd argue that this disruption is a positive development." Pompeo voiced optimism about a round of trade talks with China scheduled for January 30-31, saying conflict could be avoided if Beijing started protecting intellectual property rights and accepted the principles of fair and open trade. He also predicted progress in upcoming nuclear negotiations with North Korea, saying he expected "another good marker along the way" when Trump meets with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in late February. The World Economic Forum began on January 22 and will continue through January 25. German Chancellor Angela and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe are scheduled to address the gathering on January 23. With reporting by Reuters, AP, and dpa Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/pompeo- davos-world-economic-forum-russia-china- north-korea/29725575.html Copyright (c) 2019. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036. U.S. House Votes Overwhelmingly To Prohibit Exit From NATO By RFE/RL January 23, 2019 The U.S. House of Representatives has overwhelmingly passed a bill affirming congressional support for NATO, amid renewed concerns over President Donald Trump's commitment to the 29-member alliance. The bipartisan NATO Support Act, which forbids the use of funds to withdraw from the alliance and states that it is U.S. policy to remain part of the alliance, passed by a 357-22 vote. Beside asserting Congress's control over the money, the bill reaffirms U.S. backing of NATO and its mutual defense clause. It also voices support for Montenegro, its newest member, and for "robust" U.S. funding for the European Deterrence Initiative, and for the goal that each alliance member spend at least 2 percent of its gross domestic product on defense by 2024. Just hours before the vote, Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs Wess Mitchell, the top U.S. diplomat to Europe and an outspoken NATO supporter, tendered his resignation amid strained ties in trans-Atlantic relations. The House vote and Mitchell's resignation come amid tensions with European leaders over Washington's commitment to NATO and transatlantic ties in general. The New York Times, citing federal government sources, recently reported that Trump put forward the idea of withdrawing the United States from NATO last year, a move that would effectively destroy the alliance, which marks its 70th anniversary in April. "The NATO alliance is central to American security and to maintaining peace and stability around the world," House majority leader Steny Hoyer said in a statement before the January 22 vote. Mitchell's departure will be effective from February 15. He had served in the post for just over a year. Elisabeth Millard, a career public servant, will take over the job in a temporary capacity. Reuters reports that Mitchell submitted his resignation letter to U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on January 4, stating that he felt he had completed his goals at the job and wanted to spend more time with his family. There was no overt sign that Mitchell, a former policy analyst on Central and Eastern Europe, was resigning in protest against the policies of Trump's administration. The administration has been constantly losing top officials since Trump took over the White House two years ago. Jim Mattis resigned at the end of last year as defense secretary, following strong disagreements with Trump's Syria policy. With reporting by dpa, AP, and The New York Times Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/us-house- votes-overwhelmingly-to-prohibit-us-exit- from-nato/29725853.html Copyright (c) 2019. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036. Trump Backs Venezuela Opposition Leader, Angering Russian Lawmakers By RFE/RL January 23, 2019 U.S. President Donald Trump has said he recognizes Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido as interim president, leading the South American country break diplomatic relations with bitter rival Washington. Guaido, the president of the opposition-led National Assembly, earlier on January 23 declared himself acting president in Caracas, as tens of thousands of people marched across the country against socialist President Nicolas Maduro. Canada, Brazil, Argentina, and Colombia were among regional countries offering support for Guaido, while European Union Council President Donald Tusk tweeted that "I hope all of Europe will united in support of democratic forces in Venezuela." "Unlike Maduro, the parliamentary assembly, including Juan Guaido have a democratic mandate from Venezuelan citizens," Tusk wrote. Russian lawmakers, meanwhile, accused the United States of attempting to stage the "next color revolution" in Venezuela, using the term for popular uprisings that overthrew leaders in countries such as Ukraine and Georgia. "I do not think we can recognize this. It is, in essence, a coup," Duma foreign affairs committee member Vladimir Dzhabrailov was quoted as saying by the Interfax agency. Russia has had close relations with Venezuela under Maduro and recently sent two nuclear-capable strategic bombers to the country to participate in military maneuvers in an unusual display of Russian military force in South America. Venezuela has also purchased millions of dollars in military equipment from Russia in recent years. Venezuela's defense minister, Vladimir Padrino Lopez, in a Twitter statement indicated that the country's armed forces would not recognize Guaido, or any other "self-proclaimed" person, as president. "Soldiers of the Motherland do not recognize the president imposed on us under the influence of foreign interests and self-proclaimed unlawfully. The Armed Forces are defending the Constitution and are guarantors of national sovereignty," he wrote, raising fears of further violence. Images from the protests in the capital showed some demonstrators facing off against National Guard security forces, tear gas being dispersed, and vehicles on fire. A rally the night before reportedly left four people dead. Some counterdemonstrations were also being held in support of Maduro, who was reelected last year in a vote labeled as illegitimate at home and abroad. He was sworn in for a second term two weeks ago but has been met by international condemnation. In response to Trump's recognition of the opposition leader, Maduro gave all U.S. diplomatic staff in the country 72 hours to leave. Maduro, who took office in 2013 after the death of Hugo Chavez, has been criticized for alleged human rights abuses and for his handling of Venezuela's economy. An estimated 3 million people have fled the country amid shortages of items like medicine and food. With reporting by the BBC, AP, Reuters, Interfax, and AFP Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/trump- russia-venezuela-guaido-president -maduro/29727187.html Copyright (c) 2019. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036. Lebanon arrests Mossad agent over car bomb attack against Hamas official Iran Press TV Tue Jan 22, 2019 09:59PM Lebanon's army says it had arrested a suspected agent of Israel's spy agency Mossad over a car bomb explosion in the country's southern city of Sidon, which slightly wounded a member of the Palestinian Islamic resistance movement, Hamas, last year. The Lebanese Army Intelligence Directorate said in a statement on Tuesday that Hussein Ahmad Batto was captured on January 21 in the Sharhabeel area of Sidon, located 40 kilometers (25 miles) south of the capital, Beirut. The statement added that Batto reportedly admitted that he had been under Mossad's employment since 2014. "[Batto] met his employers outside Lebanon, and was handed equipment and devices specifically for monitoring and communication. "He also admitted to monitoring (Mohammed) Hamdan since the summer the 2017, and that he located his residence, followed his movements and transferred the gathered information to his employers," the statement pointed out. Lebanon's army further noted that Mossad ordered Batto to leave Lebanon on January 23, 2018. "He stayed outside the country for three months and returned based on their request," the statement said, adding that Lebanese army forces had seized a large number of electronic devices from the Israeli agent. According to a report published by Lebanon's Arabic-language al-Akhbar newspaper on January 29, 2018, two Israeli agents were aided by two locals in the assassination operation against Hamdan on January 14 last year. They left Lebanon using Georgian, Swedish and Iraqi passports. The report added that Lebanese security officials had managed to identify the pair, obtain their photographs and copies of their identity documents, the date of their entry into and exit from Lebanon, their respective roles in the operation and the nationality they used to operate under disguise. Lebanese intelligence officials, requesting anonymity, told al-Akhbar that one of the Israeli agents was a man holding a duel Swedish-Iraqi citizenship, while another was a Georgian woman working for Mossad. The officials went on to say that, Mossad kept Hamdan under surveillance for more than seven months. Hamdan suffered a leg injury in the car bomb explosion. He was taken to a local hospital for treatment. The explosion destroyed the vehicle and caused damage to a nearby building, sending black smoke rising above the city. Firefighters rushed to the scene to put out the flames, while security forces cordoned off the area. Israeli jets strike northern Gaza Strip in new act of aggression Iran Press TV Tue Jan 22, 2019 11:19PM Israeli military aircraft have carried out a series of airstrikes against targets in the northern part of the Gaza Strip as the Tel Aviv regime continues with its acts of aggression against the besieged Palestinian coastal sliver. "The strike was executed following earlier strikes during the day and in response to the shooting incidents against our forces," the Israeli Air Force said in a statement released late on Tuesday. The statement added that the Israeli warplanes pounded several targets at a training camp belonging to Hamas resistance movement. There were no reports of injuries. Earlier in the day, at least one Palestinian was killed while four others were injured as Israeli forces shelled the Gaza Strip after an Israeli soldier was shot along the border between the coastal enclave and occupied territories. Ashraf al-Qidra, the spokesman for the Gaza Health Ministry, identified the fallen Palestinian as 24-year-old Mohammed al-Nabaheen. Hamas later confirmed he was a member of its military wing, Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades. The attack came shortly after an Israeli soldier was slightly injured near the border fence in the southern Gaza Strip. The Israeli army said the soldier was wounded when a bullet struck his helmet. Palestinians have held weekly protests on the Gaza border, over the siege on the enclave and the right for refugees to return to their homes they fled during the 1948 creation of Israel. Nearly 250 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli forces ever since anti-occupation protest rallies began in the Gaza Strip on March 30. Over 26,000 Palestinians have also sustained injuries. The Gaza clashes reached their peak on May 14 last year, on the eve of the 70th anniversary of Nakba Day (Day of Catastrophe), which coincided this year with the US embassy relocation from Tel Aviv to occupied East Jerusalem al-Quds. On June 13, 2018, the United Nations General Assembly adopted a resolution, sponsored by Turkey and Algeria, condemning Israel for Palestinian civilian deaths in the Gaza Strip. The resolution, which had been put forward on behalf of Arab and Muslim countries, garnered a strong majority of 120 votes in the 193-member assembly, with 8 votes against and 45 abstentions. The resolution called on UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres to make proposals within 60 days "on ways and means for ensuring the safety, protection, and well-being of the Palestinian civilian population under Israeli occupation," including "recommendations regarding an international protection mechanism." It also called for "immediate steps towards ending the closure and the restrictions imposed by Israel on movement and access into and out of the Gaza Strip." In letter, Palestinian Authority asks US to drop all remaining aid Iran Press TV Wed Jan 23, 2019 06:50AM The Palestinian Authority (PA) says it will refuse American aid in its entirety after Washington cut humanitarian funds to Palestinians, adding that accepting such help could carry unwelcome legal consequences for the Ramallah-based administration. The Authority "sent an official letter to the US administration requesting it stop all aid to the PA, including assistance to the Palestinian security services," senior negotiator Saeb Erekat said on Tuesday. US President Donald Trump has already pledged to cut almost all humanitarian aid to Palestinians. American-funded projects are being phased out gradually. Erekat further said the decision was made due to concerns over the so-called Anti-Terrorism Clarification Act (ATCA), approved by President Trump in October 2018, which makes it possible for US citizens to sue foreign entities that receive US aid. This may prompt US families to start exposing the PA to "costly" lawsuits over alleged "past Palestinian attacks," AFP said. American authorities have, in the past, blamed Palestinians for "political violence" targeting American interests inside and outside the occupied territories. This is while Washington provides an annual military aid of around $3 billion to Israel, which engages in routine deadly acts of aggression against Palestinians. PA Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah wrote in the letter sent to US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo back on December 26, 2018 that "as of January 31st, 2019, it fully disclaims and no longer wishes to accept any form of assistance referenced in ATCA." The US aid features roughly $50 million in annual support for Palestinian security services, including support for security coordination with the regime in Tel Aviv. Israel claims that the coordination is "crucial" for maintaining calm in the occupied West Bank, where Israeli acts of aggression are a daily occurrence. Relations between the PA and the US, already strained due to Washington's unwavering support for Israel, took an unprecedented dip in late 2017, when Washington recognized Jerusalem al-Quds as Israel's "capital" in the face of the Palestinians' internationally-recognized claims to the occupied city. The PA, in response, stopped recognizing any mediation role by Washington in the decades-long conflict with the Israeli regime. Venezuela 'to fully revise US ties, announce measures soon' Iran Press TV Wed Jan 23, 2019 08:11AM Venezuela has announced a decision to fully revise its diplomatic relations with the United States, claiming that Washington has given "orders" for a coup in the socialist Latin American country. During a radio and TV broadcast on Tuesday, President Nicolas Maduro ordered Foreign Minister Jorge Arreaza to begin "a total revision of relations" with Washington. He also pledged to announce a new foreign policy regarding Washington imminently. Maduro's remarks came in response to comments made earlier on Tuesday by US Vice President Mike Pence. Pence published a video message voicing Washington's support for Venezuelan protesters and opposition leaders before anti-government demonstrations planned for Wednesday. In the message, Pence described Maduro as a "dictator with no legitimate claim to power." "As the good people of Venezuela make your voices heard tomorrow, on behalf of the American people, we say: estamos con ustedes. We are with you," Pence said. Maduro referred to that statement as an "order" for a coup in Venezuela. "What the government of the United States did through Vice President Mike Pence was to give orders to carry out a coup from the fascist state... which is unparalleled in the history of relations between the United States and Venezuela in 200 years," the Venezuelan president said. 'Yankee, go home!' Other Venezuelan officials also slammed Pence. "Yankee, go home! We won't let them interfere in the affairs of the homeland," Maduro's Vice President Delcy Rodriguez said. Communications Minister Jorge Rodriguez accused Pence of having ordered "terrorists" to carry out acts of violence on Wednesday. Counter-demonstrations are planned for Wednesday. The opposition in Venezuela is currently led by the National Assembly President Juan Guaido. Guaido, 35, a legislator from the hard-line Popular Will opposition party and an arch-foe of Maduro, has called for the military to disavow Maduro. He promised a future amnesty for those who help topple the government. "We're not asking you to launch a coup d'etat, we're not asking you to shoot. We're asking you not to shoot at us," Guaido told members of the military on Monday. On the same day, some two dozen officers seized a military outpost near the presidential palace in Caracas but soon surrendered. Afghan intelligence agency kills mastermind of recent deadly raid Iran Press TV Wed Jan 23, 2019 10:18AM Afghanistan's intelligence agency says it has killed a Taliban commander who masterminded a recent deadly terror attack on a military base in the central province of Maidan Wardak, which reportedly killed some 126 security forces. Afghanistan's National Directorate for Security (NDS), which is the country's main intelligence service, said in a statement on Wednesday that the terrorist commander, who was only identified as Noman, had been killed in an air raid on Tuesday night. "Noman, along with seven others, was targeted after being identified by the NDS forces in an operative task," the statement said. "NDS will follow the terrorist group and kill them all." The Taliban militants attacked the military base in Maidan Wardak on Monday. Reuters on the same day cited a senior defense source as saying that 126 Afghan security forces had been killed and scores wounded in the Taliban attack. On Tuesday, however, NDS offered a different tally, saying that 36 people had been killed and 58 had been injured. The assault followed an earlier attack, on Sunday, on a convoy of security forces in the country's eastern province of Logar, where the Taliban killed at least eight security forces and wounded several others. The Taliban militants have stepped up attacks on security forces in recent months, though they have recently also been engaged in talks with the United States for a possible compromise. Taliban's five-year rule over at least three quarters of Afghanistan came to an end in the wake of a US-led invasion in 2001, but the militant group still continues to attack government and civilian targets as well as foreign forces still present on Afghan soil. The militant group has so far refused to deal directly with the government in Kabul, which it says it does not recognize. 'Terms of Yemen prisoner exchange to be thrashed out in coming days' Iran Press TV Wed Jan 23, 2019 05:00PM Delegates from Yemen's Houthi Ansarullah movement and representatives loyal to former Yemeni president Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi are expected to agree on the terms of a prisoner exchange within the next 10 days. "We expect that in 10 days time the final signing will have happened," the head of the pro-Hadi delegation to the prisoner exchange talks, Hadi Haig, told Reuters by telephone on Wednesday. Last week, officials from the former Yemeni government and Ansarullah movement held a round of UN-brokered negotiations in the Jordanian capital city of Amman to hammer out a prisoner swap deal. The two sides met separately with the mediators and submitted lists of prisoners they wanted to be released. The Jordanian Foreign Ministry announced in a statement that the kingdom had accepted a request from UN Special Envoy for Yemen Martin Griffiths to host the talks. Ansarullah delegates and Hadi loyalists held a round of peace negotiations in Rimbo, north of the Swedish capital city of Stockholm, last month. The talks resulted in the announcement of a break-through agreement. The document includes three provisions: a ceasefire along the Hudaydah front and the redeployment of armed forces out of the city and its port; an agreement on prisoner exchange; and a statement of understanding on the southern Yemeni city of Ta'izz. Saudi Arabia and a number of its regional allies launched a devastating military campaign against Yemen in March 2015, with the aim of bringing Hadi's government back to power and crushing the Houthi Ansarullah movement. According to a new report by the Armed Conflict Location and Event Data Project (ACLED), a nonprofit conflict-research organization, the Saudi-led war has so far claimed the lives of around 56,000 Yemenis. The Saudi-led war has also taken a heavy toll on the country's infrastructure, destroying hospitals, schools, and factories. The UN has already said that a record 22.2 million Yemenis are in dire need of food, including 8.4 million threatened by severe hunger. According to the world body, Yemen is suffering from the most severe famine in more than 100 years. A number of Western countries, the US and Britain in particular, are also accused of being complicit in the ongoing aggression as they supply the Riyadh regime with advanced weapons and military equipment as well as logistical and intelligence assistance. Venezuela's US-backed Guaido declares self acting president Iran Press TV Wed Jan 23, 2019 07:27PM The president of Venezuela's opposition-led National Assembly, Juan Guaido, has declared himself interim president of the country and was immediately recognized by the United States, which is accused by Caracas of plotting to topple President Nicolas Maduro. Addressing anti-government protesters in the capital Caracas on Wednesday, Guaido took an oath, swearing himself in as interim president. "I swear to assume all the powers of the presidency to secure an end of the usurpation," he said. But Venezuelan Defense Minister Vladimir Padrino said via Twitter on Wednesday that the country's armed forces disavow any president who is self-proclaimed or imposed by "dark interests." Minutes later, US President Donald Trump recognized Guaido as the "legitimate" interim president of the Latin American country, calling on other governments in the Western Hemisphere to also recognize Guaido. Maduro cuts US ties Shortly after Trump's recognition of Guaido as Venezuela's interim president, Maduro said he was severing diplomatic and political ties with the United States. Signing "a diplomatic note," the Venezuelan president said he would give "the entire diplomatic and consular personnel of the United States of America in Venezuela 72 hours to leave the country." At a rival gathering from the presidential palace broadcast live on state television, Maduro also accused the opposition of seeking to stage a coup with the support of the US, which he said was seeking to govern Venezuela from Washington. The move by the US administration was swiftly followed by similar statements from Canada and a slew of right-leaning Latin American governments, including Venezuela's neighbors Brazil and Colombia. Last week, Russia said Washington's approach to the South American country showed that its efforts to undermine governments around the world it did not favor were ongoing. Guaido said he would be willing to replace Maduro with the support of the military and to call elections. The opposition leader on January 11 branded Maduro, 56, as an illegitimate "usurper," saying he was prepared to take on the South American country's presidency on an interim basis and call elections, only a day after socialist Maduro was sworn in for a second term. Rival demonstrations were staged in Venezuela for and against President Maduro on Wednesday. Venezuela, which sits atop the world's largest oil reserves, has been struggling with a worsening economic situation over the past years, which has caused civilian cross-border journeys into Colombia to purchase basic commodities and foodstuffs. Maduro has accused the US of being behind Venezuela's economic crisis, saying Washington is orchestrating attempts to topple him as part of a wider offensive against Latin American leaders defying the US hegemony. In 2017, Trump said he would not "rule out" a military option for Venezuela to solve the ongoing crisis in the country. Washington also intensified unilateral sanctions on the socialist country, announcing bans on Maduro's wife and several of his top allies to further increase pressure on the government in early September. Multiple sources were quoted as saying that the Trump administration could impose new sanctions on Venezuela's vital oil sector as soon as this week to mount more pressure on Maduro. Exercise Sea Dragon Concludes Navy News Service Story Number: NNS190123-04 Release Date: 1/23/2019 10:52:00 AM By Mass Communication Specialist 1st Class Kevin A. Flinn, Commander, Task Force 72 Public Affairs ANDERSEN AIR FORCE BASE, Guam (NNS) -- Three U.S. and one Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) P-8A Poseidons from three squadrons along with one Los Angeles-class attack submarine completed operations from 2019 Exercise Sea Dragon Jan. 22. Exercise Sea Dragon is an annual, multilateral exercise that stresses anti-submarine warfare (ASW) prosecution. This year's exercise was conducted out of Andersen Air Force Base, Guam. Participating U.S. units were Patrol Squadron (VP) 47, VP-16, both operating under Commander, Task Force (CTF) 72, and Commander, Submarine Squadron (CSS) 15, operating under CTF-74. CTF-72 lead and oversaw the exercise. Squadron 11 from RAAF as well as servicemembers from the Republic of Korea Navy (ROKN) joined U.S. units throughout the exercise. "Sea Dragon 2019 was a huge success" said Lt. Cmdr. Aaron Roberts, Commander, Task Force (CTF) 72 Exercise Sea Dragon Officer in Charge. "The exercise allowed participants to refine their ASW skills while exposing them to unique differences between each squadron." Respectively, four U.S. aircrews and one RAAF aircrew, along with ROKN servicemembers observing operations as passengers, executed over 20 sorties and 80 operational hours, advancing through multiple levels of ASW proficiency, with support from Mobile Tactical Operations Center (MTOC) 1, over the eight days of the exercise. "It was an invaluable opportunity for our junior operators to train on a live submarine," said Roberts. "You cannot always replicate this type of training in a simulator." During the exercise, U.S. and RAAF aircrew coordinated ASW prosecution against both simulated and live targets to include a Los Angeles-class attack submarine assigned to CSS-15. "This exercise provides our Los Angeles-class submarines the opportunity to work and train with the Marine Patrol and Reconnaissance Aircraft of the RAAF in an effort to increase our readiness and lethality in the region," said Capt. Timothy Poe, CSS-15. Additional to the joint units conducting the exercise, many other U.S. entities were involved during the many developmental and implemental stages of the exercise. "I appreciate all the planning and execution from CTF-74, Marianas Island Range Complex, Anderson AFB, MTOC 1, and U.S. Naval Undersea Warfare Center, whose hard work made this exercise possible," said Roberts. "CTF-72 looks forward to hosting this exercise again in 2020 and expanding it to more partners and allies in the future." Exercise Sea Dragon illustrates that the U.S. and partner nations stand ready to ensure the freedom of navigation and the free flow of commerce wherever international law allows. "The American-Australian alliance is rock solid and based on a common purpose: to promote peace and prosperity," said Poe. "Our friendship is underpinned by a deep alignment of interests and our societies' shared commitment to the values of freedom and democracy. We are committed to fostering an Indo-Pacific region where all countries abide by international law." The United States looks forward to taking part in forging stronger relations, safeguarding safe and established maritime zones, and ensuring safe sea lanes. "A free, open, and prosperous rules-based order in the Indo-Pacific region is in our nations' enduring national interests and reflect our shared commitment to a region based on these convergent principles," said Poe. CTF-72 leads patrol, reconnaissance and surveillance forces in support of U.S. 7th Fleet (C7F), promoting regional security and enhancement of theater security operations through multilateral engagements to build reconnaissance and surveillance capability within C7F and partner forces. NAVSEA Sprints into Future with Cold Spray Navy News Service Story Number: NNS190123-10 Release Date: 1/23/2019 3:12:00 PM By Nathanael Miller, Naval Undersea Warfare Center Division, Keyport Public Affairs KEYPORT, Wash. (NNS) -- Metal powder blasts from the end of the nozzle in a hurricane of nitrogen gas, colliding with the target at supersonic velocities. The powerful impact flattens the particles, welding them to the object and creating an essentially brand-new part with a lifespan measured in years instead of months or days. The cold spray process is a dynamic technology that promises to both revolutionize much of the routine maintenance performed on naval assets, as well as significantly extend the life of older components, and the Naval Sea Systems Command (NAVSEA) 04X3's Tactical Innovation Implementation Lab (TIIL) and Naval Undersea Warfare Center (NUWC) Division, Keyport are on the cutting edge, leading NAVSEA's effort to field this innovation. The TIIL led a Cold Spray Sprint Jan. 15 and 16 in order to advance fielding of cold spray into Navy maintenance in NUWC Division, Keyport's Advanced Technology Innovation Center (ATIC). TIIL created sprints as fast-paced, action-based events focused on accelerating delivery of a specific technology or solution. The Cold Spray Sprint brought together representatives from many parts of the Navy, such as the four shipyards, the Ship Repair Facility in Yokosuka, the Trident Refit Facility, and Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR), as well as the U.S. Coast Guard, and several high-level civilian scientists. "The sprint is not a meeting and not a working group," said Janice Bryant, director of NAVSEA 04X3's Tactical Innovation Implementation Lab. "It is work, and takes actions needed to transition a technology creating new capability to get ship's done." Bryant was standing in Keyport's vast Bldg. 73, which houses NUWC Division, Keyport's ATIC, and was surrounded by a bustling crowd of engineers, active duty personnel, shipyard officials, and scientists. The cavernous structure echoed with multiple conversations as different parts of the Navy's technological workforce addressed the multiple challenges of getting this cutting-edge process to the fleet. Cold spray uses an inert gas, such as helium or nitrogen, to "fire" a powder at supersonic velocities onto a target structure in order to resurface that structure. The term "cold spray" refers to the fact this process involves relatively low temperatures during the bonding process, normally between 212 930 degrees Fahrenheit. Traditional welding uses a far higher temperature range. Welding uses temperatures tend to start around 5,000 degrees Fahrenheit, and often go higher. Cold spray relies primarily on the kinetic energy imparted by the powder's high velocity rather than high heat in order to bond it to the target structure. These lower temperatures mean the underlying metal being reworked is in no danger of distortion, nor of having its metallurgical properties unintentionally altered by heat. The low temperatures also allow more than just metal to be used. Ceramics and composite material can be used to resurface and rebuild worn parts. New material combinations can be formed by the process that can't be formed by other traditional alloying processes. The new coating is uniform and can be laid to any desired thickness. This essentially allows an old, worn part to become a framework upon which a new part is laid. The TIIL team pulled the Navy together with this sprint in order begin the work of putting cold spray technology in the shipyards. Fielding such an innovative new system presents both logistical and engineering challenges that NUWC Division, Keyport, can begin to provide expertise to overcome. "We're taking the burden off the shipyards by being the project administers," Bryant said. "We provide the methodology and systemic integration with lessons learned by the Army, Air Force and NAVAIR to accelerate fielding for NAVSEA." Cold spray technology will give NAVSEA a new level of cost-effective flexibility by allowing more repairs and maintenance internally. "It'll be organic; in house: our equipment, our people, our needs," Bryant said. Cold spray technology can refurbish corroded parts in a relatively short amount of time to a high level of structural integrity, thus allowing those components a new lease on life and giving ships both in the yards and at sea access to a far greater range of less expensive and readily available parts and supplies. "This process allows us to take something worn and reconfigure it to something new," Bryant said. Dr. Victor Champagne of the U.S. Army's Cold Spray Center at the Army Research Laboratory (ARL) said the process was first described by Samuel Thurston in 1900 and patented by him in August 1902 under the title "Method of Impacting One Metal Upon Another." However, Thurston was nearly 100 years ahead of his time and was unable to make the process work. "He just didn't have the hardware at the time," said Champagne. It would be almost a century later before Russian scientist Dr. Anatoli Papyrin created a new, practical cold spray process and patented it. Papyrin eventually came to the U.S. to work with Penn State University and Sandia National Laboratories in the 1990s. Champagne, standing next to a yellow robot that looked as if it would be at home in a Hollywood science fiction blockbuster, said his work with Papyrin allowed him to recognize the potential benefits of the technology. He assembled a cold spray team at the ARL and got the ball rolling within the United States. Even so, Champagne said it took nearly 20 years to reach the point where the technology is being fielded fleet-wide by the Navy. The ARL cold spray team had to figure out how to begin integrating the new technology into an existing world. "This led to the establishing of applications, processes, and newer materials," Champagne said. Each of these then had to be researched and developed in order to create a practical new system to employ. Champagne said the Air Force is slightly ahead of the Navy in the use of Cold Spray, but the technology and its applications are still only in their infancy. Standing with a clipboard full of notes in hand, Brian Dougherty, a chemical engineer with NUWC Division, Keyport's Rapid Prototyping and Fabrication Technology Division, said the forward leap of cold spray will be a significant factor in allowing engineers to shorten maintenance time and reduce costs by allowing components to be reused. "Our main focus is restoring hardware and extending longevity," Dougherty said. In today's world, some ships and aircraft are expected to maintain operational capabilities for as long as nearly half a century (perhaps longer). Dougherty said cold spray is a practical innovation that will enable those systems to be kept running at a fraction of the cost and man-hours needed today. Alex Frank, a mechanical engineer who also works in the Rapid Prototyping and Fabrication Technology Division, agreed. Standing next to a self-contained, mobile cold spray unit that is expected to end up pierside in the near future, Frank said cold spray was good for more than just replacing traditional welding in many jobs. "This can replace brush plating and epoxy repairs," Frank said. Both brush plating and epoxy repair involve hazardous chemicals and require hours, if not days, to complete. Eventually a mobile cold spray unit that employs an articulated robot could possibly be installed directly into a space on a ship or submarine to complete a repair or conduct required maintenance in a fraction of the time and provide a more robust repair solution over existing outdated technologies. The goal is to meet the national defense strategic goal of a 355-ship Navy while reducing costs, labor, and even the environmental impact of maintenance and repair processes. Cold spray technology promises to be a critical tool in this effort by shortening maintenance and repair times, and allowing worn components to be made new and return to service in the fleet. "We've hit the limits of efficiency on older processes," said Dougherty. Cold spray will allow the Navy to sprint into the future, extending the useful life of older components at a fraction of the time and cost, thereby helping ensuring the success of NAVSEA's mission to ensure freedom on the high seas. Alameda-based Coast Guard cutter and crew depart for Western Pacific patrol Navy News Service Story Number: NNS190123-11 Release Date: 1/23/2019 4:05:00 PM From From U.S. Coast Guard Pacific Area Public Affairs ALAMEDA, Calif. (NNS) -- On a gray and foggy morning, tears intermingled with rain as family members braved the elements to say goodbye to the 170 crewmembers of Coast Guard Cutter Bertholf (WMSL-750), a 418-foot national security cutter, which departed Alameda, Jan. 20, for a patrol in the Western Pacific Ocean. The U.S. Coast Guard has an enduring role in the Indo-Pacific going back more than 150 years. The service's ongoing deployment of resources to the region directly supports U.S. foreign policy and national security objectives in the Indo-Pacific Strategy and the National Security Strategy. "The United States is a Pacific nation," said Vice Adm. Linda Fagan, commander Coast Guard Pacific Area, who was present to see the cutter depart. "We have deep and long-standing ties with our partners in the region, and more importantly, we share a strong commitment to a free and open Indo-Pacific, governed by a rules-based international system that promotes peace, security, prosperity and sovereignty of all nations." Bertholf will be operating in support of United States Indo-Pacific Command, which oversees military operations in the region. As part of its planned operations, the cutter will engage in professional exchanges and capacity building with partner nations. "Security abroad equals security at home," said Fagan. "Enhancing our partners' capabilities is a force multiplier in combating transnational criminal and terrorist organizations and deterring our adversaries." As both a federal law enforcement agency and an armed force, the Coast Guard is uniquely positioned to conduct defense operations in support of Combatant Commanders on all seven continents. The service routinely provides forces in joint military operations worldwide, including the deployment of cutters, boats, aircraft and deployable specialized forces. "I'm excited to see Bertholf sail today to the Indo-Pacific region of operations," said Fagan, who described the cutter as one of the most capable in the Coast Guard fleet. "They will be serving alongside other DoD military forces, particularly the U.S. Navy, and I know they will contribute key capabilities to that mission set. This crew has worked incredibly hard to get ready for today's sailing, and I can't think of a better ship and crew to be sending to the Indo-Pacific." Commissioned in 2008, Bertholf is the first of the Coast Guard's legend class national security cutters. These advanced ships are 418-feet long, 54-feet wide, and have a 4,600 long-ton displacement. They have a top speed in excess of 28 knots, a range of 12,000 nautical miles, endurance of up to 90 days and can hold a crew of up to 170. The cutter is named for Coast Guard legend Ellsworth P. Bertholf, who served as captain of the Revenue Cutter Bear during the famous Overland Relief Expedition, earning the Congressional Gold Medal. As the Coast Guard's fourth commandant, Bertholf oversaw the transfer of the Coast Guard into the Department of the Navy during World War I and advocated for the successful postwar reconstitution of the service. National security cutters feature advanced command and control capabilities, aviation support facilities, stern cutter boat launch and increased endurance for long-range patrols to disrupt threats to national security further offshore. The Coast Guard is scheduled to commission its seventh national security cutter, the Coast Guard Cutter Kimball, in 2019. Kimball, along with the Midgett, which is currently under construction, will be homeported in Honolulu and will enhance the Coast Guard's presence throughout the Indo-Pacific. "The U.S. Coast Guard's unique authorities, capabilities, and missions make us the maritime safety and security partner of choice for sea-going countries around the world," said Capt. John Driscoll, Bertholf's commanding officer. "Our increased presence throughout the Indo-Pacific will enhance regional stability and improve maritime governance and security." In an address to the families and crew before the cutter set sail, Driscoll emphasized how critical family support is to crew wellbeing and readiness. "Support from our families, wherever they live, is vital to ensuring we are ready to sail and answer the demands of our nation," Driscoll said. "We must ensure our families are ready to weather the storm at home. We operate in a dangerous and high-consequence environment, and your ability to focus on mission can become easily compromised if you are worried about family." Fagan acknowledged the current lapse in appropriations and government shutdown has added stress and feelings of uncertainty to the typical emotions that surround a cutter departure. "I know it is hard for these crews to be leaving behind their dependents and spouses it's a thousand times more so when everyone is wondering when our next paycheck will be, and how they can support the family they are leaving behind," Fagan said. "There has been an incredible outpouring of support for the families here in the Alameda area, but the tension and the anxiety for the crew is real," said Fagan. "We are standing by to help support those families who are left behind the same way that we are going to support the crew as they sail for the Western Pacific." Joint press point by NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg and the President of Georgia, Salome Zourabichvili NATO - North Atlantic Treaty Organisation 23 Jan. 2019 (As delivered) President Zurabishvili, Salome, Welcome to NATO. It is a great pleasure and honor to welcome you to NATO headquarters. And Georgia is really a highly valued partner of NATO. And let me start by congratulating you on your recent elections. It's a great honor to meet with you at the headquarters of our Alliance. Georgia makes strong contributions to our shared security. You are one of the largest troop contributors to our training mission in Afghanistan. You also contribute to the NATO Response Force. And in March, you will host a joint NATO-Georgia exercise. With the participation of 17 NATO Allies. All of this demonstrates that Georgia is a unique partner of the Alliance. And that our partnership is getting even closer. At our meeting today, we agreed to continue working together to prepare Georgia for NATO membership. The Substantial NATO-Georgia Package is already strengthening your country's defences. Including with our Joint Training Centre. We also welcome the progress you are making on reforms. Including on more effective security and defence institutions and modernising your armed forces. I encourage you to continue on this path. And I welcome your commitment to match the NATO guideline of spending 2% of GDP on defence. NATO fully supports Georgia's territorial integrity within its internationally recognised borders. Which includes the regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia. We call on Russia to end its recognition of and withdraw its forces from both regions. NATO and Georgia also share concerns about Russia's military build-up in the Black Sea region. And we are stepping up our cooperation at sea, including with: Training for Georgian Coast Guard boarding teams; More cooperation between Georgian and NATO naval forces; and Cooperation between Georgia's Joint Maritime Operations Centre and NATO's Maritime Command. So Madam President, thank you again for being here. NATO's partnership with Georgia makes us all safer and all more secure. And I look forward to working with you as Georgia moves closer to NATO membership. So once again welcome. President Zourabichvili: Thank you very much Mr Secretary General. This is my first foreign trip to Brussels and my visit here during this first foreign trip is another demonstration of how important our links with NATO are. Our path towards integration into NATO is that's not only my choice, this reflects the choice of the Georgian nation of the Georgian population. It is why we have enshrined in the Georgian constitution this Georgian commitment to enter NATO and the EU and that remains a top foreign policy priority and it will be one of the priorities of my mandate for six years. So, I am very hopeful that during that mandate I will be as successful as one of my woman predecessor in the Baltic region. I am very thankful for all the support that Georgia has received from you Mr Secretary General, personally. And from this organisation. Our path towards integration has been a very successful one, which has provided Georgia with more security, more readiness for its armed forces. Modernisation - what you have mentioned now, what is going to be done for the coastguards is something that is extremely important in the new environment that is the one of Georgia. Also it is very important the support that we received to the territorial integrity to the sovereignty of Georgia at a time when we have two territories that are occupied - when we have this occupying line, which is a constant reminder of a very tense situation. One that is constant pressure on the population that is living on this close to the occupying line but, also for the rest of the population because it cannot be forgetting what is there so close - even so close from our capital city. Georgia has proven not only its determination but, that it is a very reliable partner. And a very capable partner of NATO. We are delivering sometimes more than other members on the requirements of the requisites of the two percent. We are also spending now twenty percent on modernisation of our equipment, which is another request. So, Georgia is really trying to be a model partner for NATO and we are also taking note of the increased professionalism and dedication of our military servicemen. And thanks also to the operations we are contributing to because that is a two-way road. We are contributing, we are financially also contributing but, we are getting also quite a lot in exchange. We are actively engaged on the issues of Black Sea security; it is so close to us and we need certainly more security, more stability in the Black Sea. We have enough of having one border that is a border of tension and sometimes confrontation so, it's very important for us that Black Sea be a sea of stability and security and one that unites us with the European Union and our partners on the other side of the Black Sea. We have discussed the very intensive programme that we have this year in 2019. We are going to receive, as you mentioned, the Georgia-NATO exercise, the military community, your visit. All of that is extremely important to making NATO very visible in Georgia for the Georgian population and also for all the issues that we are going to discuss at that occasion. So, thank you also for these very concrete signals that we are receiving in that matter. I hope that Georgia will be able to celebrate together with NATO in Washington the 70th Anniversary of NATO. And we are standing ready to do more, to be more cooperative and to progress together with you in the path that will lead to our further integration and to our final integration. Thank you very much, Mr Secretary General. OANA LUNGESCU [NATO Spokesperson]: Okay. First question, Georgian Public Broadcasting? GEORGIAN PUBLIC BROADCASTING: Thank you so much, Georgian Public Broadcasting. Mr Secretary General, as you said before you were going to visit to our country in March. Can you tell us more about your visit? About the importance of this visit, and also joint exercise which will be held in March? What is the main message of this exercise: for our partners and for those who always say it is unacceptable for them NATO enlargement. And Madam President, your also plans for future how are you going to help and convince partners that we really deserve NATO membership? Not in the future but now. Thank you. JENS STOLTENBERG [NATO Secretary General]: Well, I am going to visit Georgia in March and I am very much looking forward to that because I have been in Georgia several times before and I know that to visit Georgia is to visit a country which is so nice and shows so much hospitality when they have guests, especially from NATO. And the purpose of the visit is of course to, once again, sit down with the leadership in Tbilisi to discuss how we can further strengthen the partnership. I will also be there during the NATO exercise and the message we are sending both through frequent visits both from Georgia to NATO but, also from NATO to Georgia is that we are strengthening our partnership; the way we work together and that's to the benefit of Georgia and to the benefit of NATO. The exercise will help us to further integrate to increase improbability between Georgian forces and NATO forces. Again, good for Georgia and good for NATO because we get better when we exercise together. And it also highlights the importance of the NATO presence in Georgia and the training centre we have already established in Georgia. The NATO Heads of State and Government, at the NATO Summit in July, reiterated the Bucharest decision that Georgia will become a NATO member, and, for us, this is important to highlight that this is the right of every sovereign nation to decide its own path. And, of course, Georgia has the right to join NATO. It's for Georgia and the 29 Allies to decide when that happens. No-one else has any right to try to interfere or to deter such a process because Georgia has the right to decide its own path. That's a fundamental principle and we will never accept that big nations Russia - try to establish some kind of sphere of influence where they have a right to decide what neighbours can do or cannot do. So, this is a question of respecting the sovereignty of Georgia and their sovereign democratic decision to strive for a NATO membership. PRESIDENT ZOURABICHVILI: Thank you. I will add to that just the fact that Georgia has made the decision and again, has inscribed it into its constitution so there cannot be a stronger signal of its willingness and its political will. And it is shared. And that is what is very important by all political forces, by the population, by today's authorities in Georgia but, also by tomorrow whoever will be in charge of the leading the country politically. So, that's very important to have this consensus. That is the consensus that will be portraying to all the partners that will be meeting on a bilateral level to reiterate that Georgia wants, that Georgia is ready that Georgia, has accomplished all the reference that were expected from her. And at the same time so that it's not just a verbal declaration of willingness, I will be asking what I've been asking today is that, we are ready to be waiting. There are realities that maybe will imposed to wait a bit longer but, at the same time, we are waiting. We need to have more NATO, more cooperation, more security and that's the gist of our cooperation with NATO itself and with NATO Allies. Black Sea security is a model of that of what we can get today. More today even if we are not today a member. Joint press point by NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg and the Prime Minister of Romania, Viorica Dancila NATO - North Atlantic Treaty Organisation 23 Jan. 2019 So Prime Minister, Viorica, Welcome to NATO. It is a great pleasure and honor to meet you here at NATO Headquarters. Romania being such a staunch and highly valued Ally. It's really great to have you here. This year is the fifteenth anniversary of Romania joining our Alliance.Your membership has been important for NATO and for Romania. You contribute to our shared security in many different ways and your contributions are making us all stronger and safer. Romanian forces are part of NATO's training mission in Afghanistan, helping to stabilize the country. And you contribute to stability in the Western Balkans with your troops in the KFOR mission. In Europe, Romania serves in our multinational battlegroup in Poland. Romania also plays a crucial role in the security in the Black Sea region. Including with a Romanian-led, multinational brigade in Craiova; air policing and a strong naval presence. Romania also hosts a site for NATO's Ballistic Missile Defence, at Deveselu. Helping to protect Europe from missile threats from outside the Euro-Atlantic area. So thank you for all that Romania does to make us all more secure. At the start of January, Romania assumed the presidency of the European Union for the first time. NATO and the EU are already working more closely than ever, in areas including military mobility, cyber and hybrid threats, and maritime security. And I welcome your plans for further strengthening NATO-EU cooperation during Romania's presidency. We face a more dangerous and unpredictable world, so it is important that all Allies invest in defence. I welcome therefore Romania's plans to spend 2% of GDP on defence this year. And that you intend to modernise your armed forces over the next decade. This is important, because fair burden-sharing means more than just cash. It also means investing in modern capabilities, and contributing to NATO missions and operations. I encourage Romania to continue on this path. So Prime Minister, Once again welcome to NATO and many many thanks for your leadership and your strong commitment to the Alliance. So please. Viorica Dancila [Prime Minister of Romania] [Interpreted]: I would like to thank Secretary General Stoltenberg for the warm welcome and for the substantial discussions we have had. This is an important moment for Romania. During the first half of this year, we have the Presidency of the Council of the European Union and we also celebrate 15 years since our country's accession to the North Atlantic Alliance. At the same time, in 2019, NATO celebrates 70 years since its founding. All these landmarks prompt us to a strategic reflection on the modalities to answer as efficient as possible to the challenges that we are confronted with. Under these auspices, I have assured the Secretary General that Romania remains a staunch Ally. We strongly support a strong Alliance and also the strengthening of the transatlantic relation, which is crucial for the Euro-Atlantic security. We have fulfilled and we will continue fulfilling all our responsibilities within NATO. We have significantly increased the budget allocated to the defence sector and we provide special attention to the programmes meant to modernise and procure new equipment for our armed forces. We are present in the Allied theatres of operation and I'd like to mention here Afghanistan, as Romania is there as one of the most important contributors, as well as our participation to the measures taken in order to strengthen the defence on the Eastern Flank, on the national soil as well as in Poland. The sacrifice of Romanian soldiers, to whom I'd like to pay a tribute on this occasion as well, represents the ultimate proof of our commitment within NATO. I have presented the Secretary General with the Romanian priorities during our Presidency of the Council of the European Union, with a focus on such priorities and that improving cohesion and cooperation among member states, facing the new security challenges, as well those priorities which would like to ensure a more visible role to the European Union on the global scene. We wish for the European Union to strengthen its capacity, to answer to any security threats. However, as a NATO partner, I have underlined the importance that Romania provides to the further development of the NATO-EU partnership, based on a number of specific measures taken by the two organisations. The EU actions taken on security policy area must complement Alliance's actions and should avoid any overlapping. We are confronted with more and more common challenges, such as hybrid attacks, including the cyber-security area, and the use of disinformation and of fake news in order to create tension and distrust. We must face such challenges together. These are some of the topics included within the priorities that Romania will have throughout its mandate, at the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, as well as within NATO. We are still witnessing some complex security challenges in the immediate neighbourhood of the Alliance. We upheld the Romanian government support towards the important progress achieved in the process of adapting NATO to the new realities and we have focused on the need for this process to continue. Strengthening NATO's defence and deterrence posture represents a priority which requires sustained efforts from behalf of all Allies. During the discussions we had today, we have had a substantial exchange of assessment on the security situation in our region, with a focus on the developments in the Black Sea area. The defence on the Eastern Flank and in the Black Sea region is an integral part of these efforts and it represents a paramount action for the entire Alliance, and Romania will continue to pay special attention to these efforts. I have underlined that the Black Sea security represents an integral part of the security of the entire Euro-Atlantic area, and the Alliance needs to have a strategic approach in this region. At the same time, we upheld the importance of deepening cooperation between NATO and its partners; those in the southern neighbourhood as well as with those in the eastern neighbourhood in the Western Balkans. Our partners require a strong support from the Allies in order to be able to face the existing security risks, and Romania is prepared to have an active contribution in this respect. Concluding, we will continue our excellent cooperation with the Alliance and we will be waiting for the Secretary General to pay a visit to Romania, in order to participate to the meetings organised under the auspices of the Romanian Presidency of the Council of the European Union, as well as in order to continue our dialogue on security topics. Thank you. Israeli jetfighters attack Hamas base in Gaza IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency Tehran, Jan 23, IRNA -- The warplanes of the Zionist regime of Israel have conducted attack on positions of Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of the Palestinian Hamas organization in Beit Lahia. According to Palestinian media ' Maan News Agency', Zionist fighters shot four rackets toward Ashkelon base, north of Beit Lahia. Meanwhile, a helicopter also targeted the area. In the wake of the recent tensions in eastern borders of Gaza, the base have earlier been evacuated. Earlier on Tuesday, the Israeli regime declared start of air attacks on northern Gaza in the pretext of retaliating targeting of a Zionist force and then killing of a Resistance force affiliated with Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades and injuring two others in an artillery attack on eastern Bureij. Israel claimed that Hamas is responsible for any accident which happens inside and outside Gaza. This is while, The Palestinian Society Prisoner's Club in a statement announced earlier that the Israeli forces attack on Ofer Prison in the occupied West Bank had injured at least 100 Palestinian detainees. The great 'March of Return' rallies culminated on May 15 to mark what Palestinians refer to as the Nakba, or Catastrophe--a reference to the forced removal of 750,000 Palestinians from their homes and villages to clear the way for Israel's establishment in 1948. The mass Friday demonstrations have continued since. Since the protests began on March 30, Israeli forces have killed at least 254 Palestinians in the besieged coastal enclave and wounded about 26,000 people, according to health officials in Gaza. 9376**1424 Jan. 23, 2019 News By Jim Garamone Defense.gov New Strategy Encourages Innovation, Better Intel Sharing WASHINGTON -- The latest iteration of the National Intelligence Strategy aims at encouraging innovation and sharing information and intelligence among like-minded nations, the director of national intelligence said. Daniel R. Coats released the quadrennial strategy yesterday, calling it "our guide for the next four years to better serve the needs of our customers, to help them make informed decisions on national security issues, and to ultimately keep our nation safe." The strategy is built upon President Donald J. Trump's National Security Strategy and is comparable to the National Defense Strategy released last year. The intelligence strategy will help the agencies that make up America's intelligence community align resources money, equipment and people where they are most needed. "We face significant changes in the domestic and global environment; we must be ready to meet 21st century challenges and to recognize emerging threats and opportunities," Coats said in the foreword to the strategy. Overall, the strategy calls on the U.S. intelligence agencies to increase integration and coordination inside the community and search for new ways to accomplish their missions. The strategy also calls on agencies to "better leverage strong, unique and valuable partnerships to support and enable national security outcomes." Finally, the strategy calls on the intelligence community to be more transparent while safeguarding information and personal accountability. Return of Near-Peer Competition Like the National Defense Strategy, the intelligence strategy focuses on the return of near-peer competition with Russia and China. "Russian efforts to increase its influence and authority are likely to continue and may conflict with U.S. goals and priorities in multiple regions," the report says. "Chinese military modernization and continued pursuit of economic and territorial predominance in the Pacific region and beyond remain a concern, though opportunities exist to work with Beijing on issues of mutual concern, such as North Korean aggression and continued pursuit of nuclear and ballistic missile technology." The strategy warns that China and Russia are doing what they can to weaken America's greatest advantage: its network of allies, partners and friends developed since the end of World War II. "These adversaries pose challenges within traditional, non-traditional, hybrid, and asymmetric military, economic, and political spheres," according to the report. China, Russia and other nations such as North Korea and Iran "are increasingly leveraging rapid advances in technology to pose new and evolving threats particularly in the realm of space, cyberspace, computing, and other emerging, disruptive technologies," the report says. New Technologies These technological advances will allow smaller nations or even terror groups to field sophisticated capabilities that could be used against the United States and its allies. The United States must be at the forefront of research into these new technologies, which include artificial intelligence, advanced automation, nano-technologies and bio-technologies. These last two have incredible potential to cure disease and improve lives, "but without common ethical standards and shared interests to govern these developments, they have the potential to pose significant threats to U.S. interests and security," the report says. The intelligence strategy is a living plan, and the director of national intelligence will continue to monitor developments to ensure the strategy is followed and to determine whether it needs to be changed in reaction to new developments. Eight Defense Department agencies are part of the intelligence community: the Defense Intelligence Agency, the National Security Agency, the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, the National Reconnaissance Office and the four intelligence branches of the Army, Navy, Air Force and Marine Corps. Wed Wednesday 96 /65 Mix of sun and clouds. Highs in the mid 90s and lows in the mid 60s. Sony Xperia XZ4 latest real-life leaked images suggest 21:9 aspect ratio display News oi-Sandeep Sarkar The leaked images also show a Home Button at the front which is in pill shape and it is suggested that the smartphone will ship with Android 9 Pie OS onboard. The biggest technology show Mobile World Congress 2019 is approaching and with the event nearing we are coming across numerous smartphone releases which are expected to take place during the event. The event which will be hosted from 25th February to 28th February in Barcelona, Spain is expected to see a lot of action this year. And as the MWC 2019 is approaching we are coming across numerous leaks and rumors related to upcoming smartphones. Sony, the Japanese tech giant is also prepping up to bring a couple of smartphones this year during the MWC 2019. Sony is expected to bring Xperia XA3 series and the Xperia L3 smartphone during the event. The company is also expected to introduce its next premium offering the Xperia XZ4 at the MWC 2019 and ahead of the event the smartphone has been leaked revealing some key information on the device. This time, the real-life images have made its way to the web. The images have been leaked by Sumahoinfo and the leaked imaged reveal that the device will boast quite a tall display panel and will offer a revamped UI. The Sony Xperia XZ4 has been leaked in the past as well suggesting the specifications and features which the smartphone will offer. The latest leak does confirm some of the previously leaked specifications. The latest leaked images of the Sonu Xperia XZ4 smartphone are slightly low in quality, but, it does back up the early leaks and rumors. Some previous leaks had suggested that the device will sport a big display panel that will have a taller aspect ratio. Now, backing up the rumor, the leaked images reveal that the device will offer a screen panel with an aspect ratio of 21:9. Besides, the images also show a Home Button at the front which is in pill shape and it is suggested that the smartphone will ship with Android 9 Pie OS onboard. In order to activate single hand mode, the device features a transparent bar which is similar to that of side sensor function available on the Xperia XZ3 smartphone. We are still waiting some more information to appear on the same and will keep you posted with all the updates. 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 Redmi Note 7 India launch confirmed with a cryptic message News oi-Vivek Redmi Note 7 comes with a 48 MP primary camera Xiaomi India has started to tease the launch of the much anticipated Redmi Note 7 in India. The company has tweeted a new cryptic message in Hinglish, hinting towards the imminent launch of the Redmi Note 7 smartphone with a 48 MP primary camera. The Tweet says, Apna time aayega (Our time will come) #48MP Laayega (Will bring the #48MP) Sab ka sar gumayega (Make everyone turn their head) Industry pe chhayega ( That the phone will rule the market) Apna time aayega (Our time will come) The tweet has an inverse picture of Manu Jain, Vice President, Xiaomi and Managing Director along with CEO Lei Jun with the Redmi Note 7. ud d snpuI n s qS #W8 ud pic.twitter.com/4CcoWosp25 Redmi India (@RedmiIndia) January 24, 2019 Redmi Note 7 specifications The Redmi Note 7 comes with a 6.3-inch IPS LCD screen with 2.5D curved Corning Gorilla Glass 5 protection. The smartphone is powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 660 SoC with 3/4 GB LPDDR4x RAM with 32/64 GB internal storage with a microSD card slot for additional storage expansion. The smartphone has a premium all-glass design with color changing back panels and a rear-facing camera. The Redmi Note 7 is also the first smartphone from the company with a water-drop notch with 19.5:9 aspect ratio. The display offers 1500:1 contrast ratio with a peak brightness of 450 nits. The smartphone has a dual camera set up at the back with a 48 MP primary sensor with an f/1.8 aperture and a 5 MP depth sensor. On the front, the device has a 13 MP selfie camera with 1080p video recording capability. The Redmi Note 7 is fueled by a 4000 mAh Li-ion battery with support for Qualcomm Quick charge 4.0 via USB type C with a dedicated 3.5 mm headphone jack. The mobile phone runs on MIUI 10 based on Android 9 Pie. The base variant of the Redmi Note 7 retails for 999 Yuan in China (Rs 10,000), and the same is expected to launch in India for Rs 11,000 or Rs 12,000. 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 Moto G6 receives Android Pie soak test update in Brazil News oi-Sandeep Sarkar The Android Pie soak test for the Moto G6 smartphone comes with a build number PPS29.55-10. It has been quite a while since the Android Pie made its way to the market officially. Google's latest Android OS has already been released for a number of smartphones by the respective smartphone manufacturers. While Samsung and Nokia are going in with a full force and have released the update for their smartphones, the other brands have also started pushing out the Android Pie to their smartphones. Motorola, the American smartphone brand has also released the update for a couple of its smartphones with the most recent being the premium Moto Z3 and the mid-range Moto G6 Plus. Now, the company has started the Android Pie soak test for another of its mid-range device. Motorola has apparently started the Android Pie soak test for the standard Moto G6 smartphone. The update is released for the users based in Brazil. The information comes from the screenshots that were posted by a Moto G6 user on Telegram group, cites a report from XDA-developers. The user has reportedly posted the screenshot of the system OTA update on the Telegram group. As for the update, the Android Pie soak test for the Moto G6 smartphone comes with a build number PPS29.55-10. The update brings various system related improvements and bug fixes and it also brings along the January 2019 Security patch along with it. To recall, the Moto G6 was announced back in June 2018 and it ships with Android 8.0 Oreo out-of-the-box. The smartphone packs a 5.7-inch IPS LCD display that has a screen resolution of 1080 x 2160 pixels. The display gets a Corning Gorilla Glass 3 protection. Under the hood, there is an octa-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 450 chipset powering the smartphone that clocks at 1.8GHz. The processor is paired with Adreno 506 GPU and 3/4GB of RAM. The device comes in two storage options including a 32GB and a 64GB storage option that is further expandable to up to 256GB via microSD card. 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 Xiaomi ShareSave e-commerce platform lets you purchase Mi products from China News oi-Abhinaya Prabhu Xiaomi ShareSave lets you purchase Mi products yet to be launched in India. Xiaomi has launched ShareSave, its new e-commerce platform. This platform is limited only to India and makes it easy for buyers to get the Xiaomi products that are available only in China. It uses social e-commerce as the core model and lets users make outright purchases and also pair their orders with those of their family and friends in order to benefit from discounts. ShareSave is an Android app available on Google Play Store. As of now, there is word regarding when the company plans to release an iOS version or Web version of the same. As per a post on the official Xiaomi blog, the Chinese electronics brand has come up with the same to provide its fans in India with an affordable and convenient way to order Mi ecosystem devices in China. It is a global initiative and India is the first market to get it. It will be expanded to other markets as well in the future. Features of Xiaomi ShareSave platform This e-commerce platform offers three purchase modes - Pair-up, Drop, Kickstart. The first one, Pair-up will let you pair your orders along with those of your friends and family members so that both of you get a fixed discount. On the other hand, Drop lets you choose a product from the list and invite friends and family to the Drop. The more friends join in the Drop, the lesser will be the pricing. When the product reaches the targeted price, you will get it either for free or 50% off. When it comes to the third one - Kickstart, it lets you back the desired products starting from $0.2 initial payment. When the product completes the funding process, you will get 10x the initial funding amount as the reward. This will be given to you as a shopping voucher. You can also make outright purchases at the pricing that is listed. Xiaomi says that it has teamed up with 100 IoT and lifestyle companies for the launch of ShareSave. Most of these companies are said to belong to its incubation platform. 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 Georgian PM aims to turn Georgian into a center of the region - GeorgianJournal Georgian citizens are granted the right to work in France - GeorgianJournal Erin, Eliza, Taika, Colin? Which New Zealand social media influencer gives you the best bang for your buck? One recent study reckons it has the answer. According to one well-known specialist agency, $10,000 will buy you anywhere from seven to 20 posts from as many as 14 paid influencers. The variation in posts is said to differ from the quality of influencers a would-be client would choose from. But how do you determine the 'quality' of an influencer? Is it to do with follower count? The number of likes? The amount of media coverage said influencer gets? In an attempt to quantify social media influence in a measurable way, MoneyHub, a consumer-focused online resource, has conducted a study on Instagram 'influencers' to determine how effective they really are. It did this by recording the number of likes an influencer received on posts dated 1 August 2018 to 31 October 2018. It then contrasted this to said influencer's total number of Instagram followers as of 10 November 2018 to give it a number indicating average engagement per post, or 'like ratio'. "While it's arguable that 25,000 likes on a post is more 'influencing' than a post with 4,000 likes, the quality of the engagement can be deduced by looking at the total number of followers as a benchmark," says MoneyHub senior researcher Christopher Walsh. "A business is paying for results when using social media influencers, so we believe the percentage engagement on posts gives the best indicator." A good example of this is to look at Shannon Harris (@shaaanxo) who currently has more than 1.5 million followers. Although she regularly attracts well over 20,000 likes per post, it's interesting to note that when you compare her to someone like Taika Waititi - who has less than half of what Harris has in followers - he still seems to be able to rack up just as many, if not more, likes on his. For the purposes of the study, a list of more than 40 influencers was drawn up based on brand associations, media coverage and for some, a history of sponsored or collaborative posts. All influencers who were chosen fell into three broad categories (celebrities, experts, and bloggers/micro-influencers) and anyone who posted fewer than ten times over this period was excluded from the final result (ie: Lorde). While most would be hesitant to classify actors, news presenters, or rugby players as 'social media influencers', the line between 'celebrity' and 'influencer' has blurred in recent years to the point where it's almost impossible to distinguish one from the other. Is former New Zealand's Next Top Model judge Colin Mathura-Jeffree a 'celebrity' for being on TV a decade ago, or a 'micro-influencer' for being at the whim of luxury brands like Lexus? What about someone like Iyia Liu, founder of businesses like Waist Trainer and Celebration Box? Is she an 'expert' because of her entrepreneurial chops? Or a 'micro-influencer' because she's offering us a deal for three personal training sessions for $99? Today, the sponsored post knows no bounds. Being a social media influencer is no longer exclusive to beauty bloggers, meme makers, gaming addicts and fitness fanatics. Even Hollywood elite aren't immune to the allure of making a few quick bucks on the side. Walsh says the purpose of the study was to bring transparency to this "new, somewhat untested and unvalidated form of marketing spend", adding that while big businesses can afford to lose money on a couple dud sponsored posts, it's a very different story when it comes to small businesses who need to challenge the return on investment before being sold on social media influencer spending. "We believe that any 'influencer' who fails to convert at least 3 percent of their followers into likes is at risk of becoming irrelevant. And based on accepted industry norms - and I think even social media advertisers would agree here - anyone below 2 percent is totally irrelevant for advertising purposes." "In our view, social media does not appear to be a solution for fool-proof marketing spending; it remains an evolving niche that offers little insights into its short or long-term effectiveness." Welcome to my genealogy blog. Genea-Musings features genealogy research tips and techniques, genealogy news items and commentary, genealogy humor, San Diego genealogy society news, family history research and some family history stories from the keyboard of Randy Seaver (of Chula Vista CA), who thinks that Genealogy Research Is really FUN! Copyright (c) Randall J. Seaver, 2006-2021. Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, January 24) Senator Antonio Trillanes on Thursday interrogated businessman Dennis Uy on his relationship with the President, speculating "preferential treatment" for his consortium's winning bid to become the country's third major telecommunication player. Uy, chief executive officer of Udenna Corporation which is one of the firms of the Mislatel Consortium that was declared the third major telco player in the country, confirmed he had ties to President Rodrigo Duterte and his former aide, Bong Go during a Senate panel hearing. The Davao-based businessman said he contributed P30 million to Duterte's presidential campaign in 2016. Trillanes, a vocal critic of Duterte, enumerated several names under Udenna's subsidiary companies -- Chelsea Logistics Holdings Corp. and Phoenix Petroleum Holdings Inc. -- and Uy identified them as board members of these companies. The Senator claimed the people mentioned also made contributions to Duterte's campaign, to which Uy gave no comment on. Paul Dominguez, the former director of Phoenix, is also the brother of Finance Secretary Sonny Dominguez, who is a member of the oversight committee for the selection of the third telco player, Trillanes added. The Senator insinuated conflict of interest in the inclusion of Mislatel in the bidding process and eventually in awarding them the spot of third telco player. "Kaibigan mo si Bong Go, si Duterte kaibigan mo yung kapatid ng secretary of finance na member ng oversight committee dati mong member of Board of Directors 'yung officers at Board of Directors mo nagcontribute kay Mr. Duterte, so ano ito? Medyo lumiliwanag yung pagkaluto rito," he said. [Translation: Bong Go is your friend, Duterte is your friend, the brother of your former board member is the secretary of finance who is also in the overisght committee, your officers and Board of Directors contributed to Mr. Duterte, so what is this? It seems it's becoming clear that this was set up.] Uy did not respond to the Senator's insinuations. Trillanes also questioned Uy's prior experience in managing telecommunication companies, to which Uy admitted he did not have. However, he assured their partner company, China Telecom, has the technical experience needed to run the company. "I think our partners have technical experience, China Telecom, to be able to deliver the promises, and as a businessman I think we are capable in due time to learn and compete in telco," Uy said. The Senator also asked about Uy joining the finance chief, Executive Secretary Salvador Medialdea and National Security Adviser Hermogenes Esperon on a trip in his private jet. Uy confirmed that the aforementioned officials did ride on his private jet with him. "As it is, it's now oozing with preferential treatment and at worst, cronyism," Trillanes said. Esperon, who was present in the hearing as another member of the oversight committee, denied that there was conflict of interest involved based on Trillanes' evidence. "Hindi porke't nagkita-kita kami, sumakay sa isang eroplano e may niluluto na kami. For all I know, baka hindi pa ako kasali sa oversight committee noon," he argued. [Translation: Just because we met each other in a plane does not mean we were cooking up something. For all I know, I wasn't a member of the oversight committee yet then.] Senate Committee on Public Services Chair Grace Poe said the consortium must comply with the requirements to prove their qualifications and remove all speculations. "Hindi po kasalanan na maging kaibigan ninuman, hindi po kasalanan na mamuhunan, pero kailangan mabura natin ang impresyon na may kinilingan," Poe said. [Translation: It is not a sin to be friends with anyone, there is nothing wrong with investing but we have to set aside the impression of favoring someone.] Many modern industrial enterprises operate across multiple locations in various countries. In many cases, all the companys plants use the same machine types and identical production specifications yet the quality of the products often varies from one facility to the next. To tackle this issue, Fraunhofer experts are collaborating with Swedish research and industry partners to connect production facilities at different sites. The result is the Swedish-German Testbed for Smart Production, an initiative that will be used in the future to develop and test new technologies for fully networked manufacturing. The researchers goal is to optimize manufacturing and boost efficiency. To test connectivity between multiple locations and countries, three testbeds are distributed over three different sites: Aachen, Chemnitz and Stockholm. The organizations involved include the three Fraunhofer institutes based in Aachen the Fraunhofer Institute for Production Technology IPT, the Fraunhofer Institute for Laser Technology ILT and the Fraunhofer Institute for Molecular Biology and Applied Ecology IME cooperating in the Fraunhofer High Performance Center for Networked, Adaptive Production. Other partners include the Fraunhofer Institute for Machine Tools and Forming Technology IWU in Chemnitz, the Powertrain Manufacturing for Heavy Vehicles Application Lab (PMH Application Lab) at the KTH Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm, vehicle makers Scania and Volvo, and the Swedish telecom supplier Ericsson. This initiative brings together numerous partners from a range of industries. Together, we will be developing production environments for Industrie 4.0 and subjecting them to rigorous testing, says Jannik Henser, managing director of the PMH Application Lab in Stockholm. One of the key areas we are focusing on is the 5G mobile communications standard that, in the future, will link the production machinery to machine control systems. Swedish testbed The first products currently being manufactured in a networked production environment at the Swedish testbed are gearbox components used in Scania and Volvo commercial vehicles. Researchers intend to use this initial example which will also be on show at Hannover Messe to showcase multiple different ways of improving conventional manufacturing. One method they will be highlighting is the technique of processing metal parts in machine tools using power skiving to transform workpieces into high-tech gear parts. This technique uses a high-precision tool to shave metal off the workpiece. It requires a level of precision on the micrometer scale, says Prof. Thomas Bergs from Fraunhofer IPT. Power skiving is a highly dynamic process. Any vibration during the manufacturing process for instance due to tool wear can cause damage within a fraction of a second. This damage is generally not spotted until the fully assembled transmission undergoes functional testing, so the resulting costs can be very high. 5G enables adaptive machining in real time One way to achieve faster intervention is to attach vibration sensors to the workpiece or the tool itself and to enable the sensors to send the information to the machine control via the 5G mobile network. 5G is so fast that the system can react within a matter of milliseconds. That means the latency the time between the problem emerging and the machine responding is short enough to prevent the damage from occurring, says Bergs. One of the biggest advantages of 5G is that it can transfer data without requiring cables, says Bergs: A wired sensor is totally unfeasible when you are dealing with a part rotating in the machine at 1,000 revolutions per minute. In future, however, the 5G standard will provide the option of self-adjusting, adaptive machining in quasi real time. Right now, it is often a time-consuming process for customers to troubleshoot damage caused by a defective part, largely because it is so hard to identify the stage of the production chain in which the defect emerged. But the concept of capturing all available data with sensors during production and storing it in the companys own cloud paves the way for complete documentation of the entire manufacturing process. It opens the door to continuously monitoring production parameters and recording the corresponding data. All that information is then stored in a digital part, a digital twin, which is available for analysis at any time, says Jannik Henser. Test environment available as a service So how can industry customers benefit from this networked research community and testbed? For one thing, they can use it to develop technologies together with partners or even competitors without revealing too much of their proprietary information. In a sense, it provides the perfect setting to develop technologies on neutral turf. There is a very open and trusting atmosphere between us and our industrial customers. After all, we are not competing with them, but rather providing a link between manufacturing companies and IT enablers. Our goal is to work together to improve production processes, says Raphael Kiesel, Community Manager at the Aachen-based International Center for Networked Adaptive Production, or ICNAP (see box), which was launched recently as part of the High Performance Center. That format gives our customers the reassurance of knowing that their data is in safe hands. A further advantage for industry partners is that they can access the test environment as a service. That reduces the need to invest in their own infrastructure and minimizes the uncertainty and risk associated with new technologies. The networked test environments bring together many companies from a range of industries and offer partners an opportunity to learn from each other. A telecommunications company is not necessarily going to know what a metalworking company needs, says Raphael Kiesel. But here they learn to appreciate what other businesses need and get the chance to develop new solutions that would have been tough to achieve without this kind of cooperation. Kiesel argues that the collaboration is also more creative because of the combination of different mentalities in international partnerships. The Swedes are very open to new technologies, especially in the field of communications, adds Jannik Henser, who has spent many years living in Sweden. And the German partners introduce key benefits, too, such as their expertise in making machine tools. The resulting cooperation is far more than the sum of its parts. This Swedish-German collaboration will be on show at a variety of Hannover Messe booths. The Ericsson booth will be demonstrating how 5G technologies are being used for the German and Swedish testbeds. Meanwhile, the Swedish cooperation booth (Hall 2, Stand 61) will be showcasing exhibits from the transmission industry. It will also incorporate a touchscreen connected to the Swedish-German Testbed via 5G to explain the intricacies of networked manufacturing. Meanwhile, the Aachen-based Fraunhofer institutes will be presenting further examples of networked manufacturing at their own stand (Hall 6, Booth A30), not just from the realm of machine tools, but even from life sciences and other industries. Fraunhofer IPT researchers will be giving some preliminary insights into this collaborative venture at the Hannover Messe Preview on January 24, 2019 in Hall 19. Samsung is known to be working on the Galaxy S10 flagship series which is due in February. Though we have been hearing reports and rumors about the phones, theres still a lot more to know. Before the official public launch, the standard S10 has surfaced the internet along with it brought our first look at the companys new cryptocurrency wallet, Samsung Blockchain KeyStore. One thing that we can be sure of is the fact that the Galaxy S10 will have a punch hole Infinity O display with in-display camera present on the right side. Though the live image doesnt reveal much in terms of the hardware specifications, as expected the phone comes with a bezel-less design. Theres a loose gap between the camera and the battery icon. Moving along, the companys new cryptocurrency wallet as the company describes is a secure and convenient place for your cryptocurrency. Users can apparently import currency from other wallets or create a new one with the app. The current build only has support for Ethereum, but presumably, at the time of launch, it would also support Bitcoin and other popular cryptocurrencies. Another screenshot shows that the KeyStore can be secured with biometrics. Thats all we know at the moment, but with launch inching closer, we dont have to wait much to learn more about the flagships. Source Samsung Display has announced that it has succeeded in developing a 15.6-inch UHD (3840 x 2160 pixels) OLED panel which is the worlds first UHD panel for notebooks/laptops market. The mass production of the same will begin in mid-February, initially for use in premium notebooks produced by leading manufacturers. The newly released display will provide ultra-high resolution optimized for gaming, graphic design and video streaming. It comes set of new features including a contrast ratio of exceptional quality, as well as extreme color accuracy, full HDR compatibility, a very wide color gamut, and remarkable outdoor visibility. It features a brightness level from 0.0005 to 600 nits, and a dynamic contrast ratio of 120,000:1. The new display provides a spectrum of 3.4 million colors, with colors meeting the DCI-P3 standard, the specification best suited for video streaming. The Samsung Displays new 15.6-inch OLED panel comes with a 1.7 times higher color volume compared to LCDs of similar size. Samsung also said that the 15.6-inch UHD OLED panel meets the latest DisplayHDR True Black specification released by VESA. Jae-Nam Yun, head of the marketing team at Samsung Display said: Apple has hired Soonho Ahn executive from Samsung SDI Co., which is the battery making affiliate of Samsung Electronics Co. This move will help Apple lead its own battery department. Soonho Ahn joined Apple in December as global head of battery developments, after working as a senior vice president at Samsung SDI since 2015, according to his LinkedIn profile. At Samsung SDI, Ahn led the development of lithium battery packs and worked on next-generation battery technology. Samsung is the largest shareholder of Samsung SDI and the companys biggest customer. Apple has used batteries from Samsung SDI to power its own products in the past. Apple, on the other hand, is working towards reducing its reliance on third-party components, and the notable battery technology hire suggests it may be doing the same for batteries. The company has been working on its MicroLED display technology for future devices, meaning this would cut off its reliance with Samsung in other areas too. It is also building its own processors and is investigating the development of its own cellular modems. The company has been in talks with Cobalt, a key component of battery packs, directly from miners. Source By Roberta Rampton, Matt Spetalnick and Patricia Zengerle WASHINGTON (Reuters) - When U.S. national security adviser John Bolton branded Venezuela as part of a hemispheric 'troika of tyranny' in a speech in November, the Trump administration was still struggling to decide how far it would go in confronting the country's socialist president, Nicolas Maduro. But what has taken shape in recent days is a sharply more aggressive approach based on President Donald Trump's full-throated backing for opposition leader Juan Guaido and bolstered by a coordinated diplomatic response with many of Venezuela's neighbours, who rapidly followed suit in withdrawing recognition of Maduro's rule. By Roberta Rampton, Matt Spetalnick and Patricia Zengerle WASHINGTON (Reuters) - When U.S. national security adviser John Bolton branded Venezuela as part of a hemispheric "troika of tyranny" in a speech in November, the Trump administration was still struggling to decide how far it would go in confronting the country's socialist president, Nicolas Maduro. But what has taken shape in recent days is a sharply more aggressive approach based on President Donald Trump's full-throated backing for opposition leader Juan Guaido and bolstered by a coordinated diplomatic response with many of Venezuela's neighbours, who rapidly followed suit in withdrawing recognition of Maduro's rule. Driving this hardened U.S. stance is the growing assertiveness of more hawkish White House aides led by Bolton, Vice President Mike Pence's deep engagement on the issue, a push by anti-Maduro U.S. lawmakers and the arrival of like-minded rightist presidents in Brazil and Colombia, according to people familiar with the matter. On Wednesday, Venezuelan congress head Guaido declared himself interim president, the boldest challenge in years to Maduro's hold on power. Washington's decision to throw its weight behind Guaido, a virtual unknown in Venezuelan politics until recently, came only after it became convinced that the 35-year-old with a U.S. education was a democratic-minded leader they could trust and work with, U.S. officials said. That was the conclusion drawn from U.S. contacts with Guaido in the days ahead of his declaration, including two phone calls with Pence, officials said, asking to remain anonymous because of the sensitivity of the situation. In Pence's second call, which according to a White House official was kept under wraps for security reasons, the vice president assured Guaido: "We're praying for you, the U.S. stands with you, your bravery and courage are something we admire." "It was the U.S. position that Guaido had to have the constitutional backing," the official said. The constitutionality of Guaido's move is unclear. Venezuela's constitution says if the presidency is determined to be vacant, new elections should be called in 30 days and that the head of the congress should assume the presidency in the meantime. Maduro, who started a second term on Jan. 10 following a widely-boycotted election last year, has called Guaido's move an attempted coup. While the outcome remains uncertain and the risks are high, Trump's handling of the situation has stood in sharp contrast to his more chaotic approach to some other major foreign policy decisions, such as Iran and Syria. He has mostly stayed on message in public, consulted with his advisers and avoided antagonizing regional allies needed for their support. Senior administration officials, including Pence, Bolton and White House Latin America adviser Mauricio Claver-Carone, made a flurry of calls to Latin American leaders ahead of Guaido's announcement to ensure that many of them would join Trump in recognising Guaido. Luis Almagro, president of the Organization of American States, Carlos Trujillo, U.S. ambassador to the OAS, and other senior State Department officials also helped secure Latin American diplomatic support, officials said. Questions remain about how the United States and other countries will now deal with the Maduro government's finances and diplomats and how events inside Venezuela will unfold if Maduro continues to show no signs of losing the vital support of Venezuela's military. TOUGH LINE Trump so far has stopped short of taking the harshest economic measures sanctioning OPEC member Venezuela's vital oil sector but, according to people familiar with the matter, even that is under is under consideration if Maduro cracks down hard on the opposition. U.S. military intervention is widely seen in Washington as an unpalatable and unlikely option. However, Trump has taken an increasingly tough line with Venezuela since he took office in January 2017, imposing an escalating series of targeted sanctions. But there has been growing frustration within the administration that more was needed. U.S. Senator Marco Rubio is considered to have played a major role in convincing fellow Republican Trump to ratchet up pressure on Maduro, subtly reminding him of the importance of the Cuban-American vote in presidential swing state Florida. "The president's instincts have always been to do the strongest possible action (against Venezuela) that doesn't undermine the cohesion of this multilateral approach," Rubio told Reuters. Rubio led a delegation of Florida lawmakers to discuss Venezuela with Trump on Tuesday, although an aide said Trump had decided before the meeting to recognise Guaido. Bolton, known for his harsh views on the Latin American left, laid some of the groundwork well before Guaido's emergence. In a November speech in Miami, home to large numbers of immigrants from Cuba and Venezuela, Bolton pledged that the United States would crack down on what he called "the troika of tyranny" in the Western Hemisphere, naming Cuba, Venezuela and Nicaragua. Bolton also met Jair Bolsonaro, then Brazil's president-elect, in late November and discussed how the far-right leader could cooperate with the United States to pressure Venezuela. Brazil was one of the first countries to recognise Guaido. The stricter approach to Venezuela has also been pushed by Claver-Carone, named by Bolton as his top Latin American adviser after Bolton took over at the National Security Council last year. Claver-Carone is known as a hardliner on communist Cuba and outspoken critic of former President Barack Obama's rapprochement with Havana. Bolton has also worked with U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to form a united front within the administration, needed to overcome resistance from career State Department diplomats. Venezuela has long been a divisive issue in the State Department, with some diplomats pushing for dialogue and others backing deeper sanctions. The departure last year of veteran diplomat Tom Shannon, who favoured dialogue with Caracas and was often dispatched for talks with Maduro, helped open the door to those who wanted a heavier-handed approach, according to U.S. officials. One senior official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said there was concern among some in the department that by recognising Guaido the United States would divide the region, especially as Mexico's new leftist government supports Maduro. While acknowledging that mediation efforts had failed, the official said there were also worries that as long as the Venezuelan military supported Maduro, little would change. (Reporting by Roberta Rampton, Matt Spetalnick and Patricia Zengerle, Additional reporting by Lesley Wroughton; Editing by Mary Milliken and Rosalba O'Brien) This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed. The United States and major South American nations recognised Venezuelan Opposition leader Juan Guaido as interim leader Wednesday while the European Union called for free elections to restore democracy, leaving President Nicolas Maduro increasingly isolated The United States and major South American nations recognised Venezuelan Opposition leader Juan Guaido as interim leader Wednesday while the European Union called for free elections to restore democracy, leaving President Nicolas Maduro increasingly isolated. Major regional players Brazil, Colombia, Chile, Peru and Argentina all gave their backing to Guaido's self-proclamation as acting president, which he made in front of crowd of tens of thousands of supporters in the capital Caracas. Cuba, however, sprang to the defence of its socialist ally, expressing "solidarity" with Maduro while Mexico extended lukewarm support to him. The avalanche of support for Guaido dramatically raised the stakes in Venezuela, an oil-rich nation that has become deeply impoverished under Maduro. Maduro has clung to power through the support of the Venezuelan military, and he is an ally of Russia, which last month sent two nuclear-capable bombers to the country to participate in a military drill. Just minutes after Guaido's declaration, US President Donald Trump recognised him as interim leader, and declared his National Assembly was "the only legitimate branch of government duly elected by the Venezuelan people". "The people of Venezuela have courageously spoken out against Maduro and his regime and demanded freedom and the rule of law," Trump said. The US said it stood ready to use "all options" if Maduro tries to quash the opposition, in what was an implied threat of military force. Maduro responded by saying he was cutting off diplomatic ties with Washington, as his riot police clashed with opposition supporters in Caracas. "Get Out! Leave Venezuela. Here we have dignity, damn it," Maduro said, giving US diplomats 72 hours to depart. But Guaido tweeted in response that, under him, Venezuela wants countries "to maintain their diplomatic presence in our country". And the US State Department said "former president Maduro" did not have the authority to sever relations. Broadening support Tweeting from the Swiss ski resort of Davos, where he and other leaders were attending the World Economic Forum, Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro said: "Brazil recognises Mr. Juan Guaido as Venezuela's interim president." He added that "Brazil will support politically and economically the process of transition so that democracy and social peace return to Venezuela". Bolsonaro, a far-right former paratrooper who has set about forging close ties with the Trump administration since taking power at the beginning of January, has repeatedly vowed to challenge Maduro in any way he can. He initially said he was open to discussing Brazil hosting a US military base, before changing his mind when the idea sparked objections from his military brass. Colombian President Ivan Duque, another US ally also at Davos, told reporters his country was behind Guaido and will "accompany this process of transition to democracy so that the Venezuelan people free themselves of their dictatorship". Canadian Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland expressed her country's "full support" for Guaido, adding: "It's an important day for Venezuela and I'm grateful for the solidarity of the Lima Group in speaking out on this." Eleven members of the 14-nation Lima Group -- Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Honduras, Panama, Paraguay and Peru -- later issued a joint statement endorsing Guaido as interim president. The three holdouts included Mexico, which has maintained a principle of non-intervention under leftist President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, as well as Guyana and Saint Lucia. The United States is not a member but supports the group, which has taken an increasingly strident stance against Maduro, whom it sees as anti-democratic. The European Union did not join the countries lining up behind Guaido but called for "free and credible elections". "The EU strongly calls for the start of an immediate political process leading to free and credible elections, in conformity with the constitutional order," the bloc's diplomatic chief Federica Mogherini said in a statement. The bloc and its member states "remain ready to support the restoration of democracy and rule of law in Venezuela through a credible peaceful political process in line with the Venezuelan constitution", she added. And EU Council President Donald Tusk tweeted that "I hope that all of Europe will unite in support of democratic forces in Venezuela". He added: "Unlike Maduro, the parliamentary assembly, including Juan Guaido have a democratic mandate from Venezuelan citizens." By Abdul Qadir Sediqi and Jibran Ahmad KABUL/PESHAWAR, Pakistan (Reuters) - A co-founder of the Taliban was appointed as the leader of its political office in Qatar on Thursday to strengthen its hand in peace talks with the United States as they try to establish a mechanism to end the 17-year Afghan war. Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar was released from a prison in Pakistan in October last year has been authorised to lead the political team and take decisions, two Taliban sources in Afghanistan said By Abdul Qadir Sediqi and Jibran Ahmad KABUL/PESHAWAR, Pakistan (Reuters) - A co-founder of the Taliban was appointed as the leader of its political office in Qatar on Thursday to strengthen its hand in peace talks with the United States as they try to establish a mechanism to end the 17-year Afghan war. Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar was released from a prison in Pakistan in October last year has been authorised to lead the political team and take decisions, two Taliban sources in Afghanistan said. The Taliban issued a statement to announce Baradar's appointment and a reshuffle in their team to put senior leaders into key positions as the talks with U.S. officials gain momentum. "This step has been taken to strengthen and properly handle the ongoing negotiations process with the United States," the Taliban said in statement. U.S. special peace envoy Zalmay Khalilzad's meeting with the Taliban representatives, which was originally due to run over two days, entered its fourth day on Thursday. It was not clear whether the talks were to continue on Friday, or how soon Baradar could join the talks. "Baradar will soon fly to Qatar. He has been given the new position because the U.S. wanted senior Taliban leadership to participate in peace talks," a senior Taliban official said. Baradar, who coordinated the insurgent groups military operations in southern Afghanistan, was arrested in 2010 by a team from Pakistans military-controlled intelligence agency, the Inter-Services Intelligence, and the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency. His release, according to security experts, was part of high-level negotiations led by Khalilzad with the Taliban. Diplomatic efforts to end the United State's longest running conflict intensified last year after the appointment of the Afghan-born Khalilzad to lead direct talks with the Taliban. He has held at least four meetings with the Taliban representatives. But there has been no let up in the violence. And abiding fears about how Afghan government forces would withstand the Taliban threat without U.S. military support have been heightened by reports that U.S. President Donald Trump wants to bring home almost half of the 14,000 U.S. troops deployed in Afghanistan. "POSITIVE PROGRESS" But the unexpected extension of peace talks was a positive sign, according to two senior Taliban leaders in Afghanistan who have been kept informed of the progress made in Qatar. During the first two days, the talks focussed on a roadmap for the withdrawal of the foreign forces and a guarantee that Afghanistan would not be used for hostile acts against the United States and its allies, according to one of Taliban leaders. "The mechanism for a ceasefire and ways to enter into an intra-Afghan dialogue were the two other big topics that were supposed to be discussed on Thursday," he told Reuters, speaking on condition of anonymity. A third source based in the Gulf, who has close ties to the Taliban representatives, said the decision to extend the meeting in the Qatari capital Doha came after "positive progress" during the first two days. Members of Afghanistans High Peace Council (AHPC), a body which oversees peace efforts but does not represent the government said they were hoping for positive news. "When talks take a long time it means the discussion is in a sensitive and important stage, and the participants are getting close to a positive result," said Sayed Ehsan Taheri, the spokesman for AHPC in Kabul. The Taliban who are fighting to oust foreign troops have repeatedly rejected the offer to hold direct talks with President Ashraf Ghanis government, which they consider an illegitimate foreign-imposed regime. The U.S. and regional powers insist that the peace process should be "Afghan-led and Afghan-owned". Newly appointed Baradar will also hold the additional post of third deputy of Mullah Haibatullah Akhundzada, the leader of Taliban and work with Sher Mohammad Abbas Stanekzai, a veteran Taliban official who has been running the group's political office in Qatar since 2015 and has participated in the latest rounds of peace talks. "Stanekzai was given the responsibility but he was not powerful to make all decisions," said a second Taliban official on conditions of anonymity. (Additional reporting and writing by Rupam Jain; Editing by Simon Cameron-Moore and Alison Williams) This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed. Salmond led the pro-independence SNP for 20 years and headed Scotland's semi-autonomous government as first minister, from 2007 to 2014. London: Former Scottish leader Alex Salmond, one of the country's best-known politicians, appeared in court on Thursday on charges including attempted rape and sexual assault. Salmond was arrested Wednesday, and faces 14 charges including nine counts of sexual assault and two of attempted rape. In a brief statement outside Edinburgh Sheriff Court, Salmond said: "I am innocent of any criminality whatsoever." "I refute absolutely these allegations of criminality and I will defend myself to the utmost in court," he said. Salmond stepped down as leader of the governing Scottish National Party in August after sexual harassment allegations were made by two women. He denied any wrongdoing and sued the Scottish government over its handling of the claims. Scotland's highest civil court ruled earlier in January that the way the Scottish government handled the allegations against Salmond was unlawful, but that didn't derail the police investigation. Salmond led the pro-independence SNP for 20 years and headed Scotland's semi-autonomous government as first minister, from 2007 to 2014. A big figure on the Scottish political stage for decades, he led the 2014 referendum campaign for Scottish independence a vote won by the "remain" side. By Philip Pullella and Diego Ore PANAMA CITY (Reuters) - Pope Francis wasted no time wading in on the standoff over funding for a U.S.-Mexico border wall on Wednesday as he started his trip to Panama, saying on the plane from Rome that hostility to immigrants was driven by irrational fear. In a brief conversation between the pope and journalists on the flight, one reporter described the barrier that juts out into the Pacific Ocean between the two countries in San Diego, California, as a 'folly' By Philip Pullella and Diego Ore PANAMA CITY (Reuters) - Pope Francis wasted no time wading in on the standoff over funding for a U.S.-Mexico border wall on Wednesday as he started his trip to Panama, saying on the plane from Rome that hostility to immigrants was driven by irrational fear. In a brief conversation between the pope and journalists on the flight, one reporter described the barrier that juts out into the Pacific Ocean between the two countries in San Diego, California, as a "folly". Francis, who has made defence of migrants a key part of his papacy, responded: "Fear makes us crazy". President Donald Trump, with whom the pope has sparred before on immigration, has triggered a U.S. government shutdown over demands for $5.7 billion in funding for a wall along the United States' southern border. Immigration is expected to be one of the main themes of Francis's six-day trip. The pope met eight refugees in Rome before heading to the airport for his 13-hour flight to Panama for World Youth Day. Since mid-October, thousands of Central Americans, mostly from Honduras, have travelled north to the United States through Mexico in caravans, some walking much of the way. Many are seeking asylum, saying they suffer from rampant crime and bleak opportunities in their native countries. "Nobody wants to leave their country but young Salvadorans are doing it searching for opportunities, employment, security," said Edwin Valiente, a 28-year-old architecture student who came to Panama from El Salvador for Francis' visit. Francis, on his first trip to Panama and the first by a pope since 1983, was greeted at the airport by President Juan Carlos Varela and thousands of cheering children. World Youth Day has been dubbed the "Catholic Woodstock", a jamboree where young people celebrate their faith and discuss social issues. It is held in a different city every three years. About 150,000 have registered for this year's event, being held in Latin America for only the third time since Pope John Paul instituted it in 1985. Several hundred thousand people are expected at the final Mass at a park on Sunday that will be open to all visitors and citizens of the country of 4 million people, which is about 89 percent Catholic. (Additional reorting by Elida Moreno; Editing by Sonya Hepinstall) This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed. By Joyce Lee SEOUL (Reuters) - North Korean leader Kim Jong Un spoke highly of U.S. By Joyce Lee SEOUL (Reuters) - North Korean leader Kim Jong Un spoke highly of U.S. President Donald Trump, state media said on Thursday, and expressed satisfaction over the results of talks between officials from both countries about a second summit between Kim and Trump. Kim said he would trust Trump's approach, the North's official KCNA news agency said, weeks after Kim warned North Korea could seek a "new path" if U.S. sanctions and pressure continued. That suggested Kim was focussed on the next meeting with Trump to produce results. "Kim Jong Un said that we will believe in President Trump's positive way of thinking, wait with patience and in good faith and, together with the U.S., advance step by step towards the goal to be reached by the two countries," KCNA said. It said Kim expressed "large satisfaction" at receiving a "great" letter from Trump and a briefing about the results of the negotiations from the North Korean delegation that visited Washington last week but did not elaborate. Kim ordered working-level preparations for the second North Korea-U.S. summit to be done well, KCNA said. The White House said last week a second Trump-Kim summit would be held in late February but did not say where. That follows their landmark first summit in Singapore last June, which produced a promise to work towards the complete denuclearisation of the Korean peninsula. Progress since then has been patchy. 'GROUNDBREAKING' MEASURE Kim has indicated to South Korean President Moon Jae-in he would undertake a "groundbreaking" denuclearisation measure, South Korean newspaper DongA Ilbo reported on Thursday. The newspaper, citing an unidentified source with direct knowledge of the U.S.-North Korea situation, said the same had been made clear to Trump during senior North Korean official Kim Yong Chol's Washington visit last week. North Korea has hinted, for example, at the possibility of agreeing to the U.S. demand for verification of denuclearisation efforts before it discards its Yongbyon nuclear facilities. In turn, the United States has mentioned potential measures such as easing limits on oil imports, a conditional restart of the Kaesong industrial zone in North Korea, and opening a liaison office in Pyongyang, DongA reported. Under U.N. sanctions imposed in 2017, up to 500,000 barrels of refined petroleum products per year from all U.N. member nations are allowed to be supplied, sold or transferred to the North. DongA also said that, according to several South Korean government sources, talks between officials from North Korea, the United States and South Korea near Stockholm this week appeared to have been constructive in setting some of the agenda for the second Trump-Kim summit. The White House said after Trump met Kim Yong Chol, the North's chief nuclear negotiator, last week that economic sanctions against Pyongyang would be maintained despite agreeing to the second summit. Trump has said there is "no rush" and "no time limit" on denuclearisation negotiations, but Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has given varying statements about the degree of Washington's patience. Pompeo said after the Singapore summit the United States hoped to achieve "major disarmament" by North Korea by the end of Trump's current term in office in January 2021. He has subsequently said he would not put a timeline on talks. Pompeo said on Tuesday there remained "an awful lot of work to do" to achieve denuclearisation but he anticipated more progress by the end of February. He also said he saw an important role for the private sector in helping to develop North Korea if substantial steps were made. (Reporting by Joyce Lee, Ju-min Park and Heekyong Yang; Additional reporting by David Brunnstrom in WASHINGTON; Editing by Jonathan Oatis, Phil Berlowitz and Paul Tait) This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed. By Giulia Paravicini KINSHASA (Reuters) - Opposition leader Felix Tshisekedi called for national reconciliation on Thursday as he became Democratic Republic of Congo's president, succeeding Joseph Kabila in Congo's first transfer of power via an election in 59 years of independence. 'We want to build a strong Congo, turned toward its development in peace and security,' he said to cheers from thousands of supporters on the lawn of the presidential palace. 'A Congo for all, in which everyone has a place.' The pageantry of the ceremony was briefly interrupted when Tshisekedi was taken ill during his inaugural address and had to sit down By Giulia Paravicini KINSHASA (Reuters) - Opposition leader Felix Tshisekedi called for national reconciliation on Thursday as he became Democratic Republic of Congo's president, succeeding Joseph Kabila in Congo's first transfer of power via an election in 59 years of independence. "We want to build a strong Congo, turned toward its development in peace and security," he said to cheers from thousands of supporters on the lawn of the presidential palace. "A Congo for all, in which everyone has a place." The pageantry of the ceremony was briefly interrupted when Tshisekedi was taken ill during his inaugural address and had to sit down. But he returned to the podium moments after a brief pause, saying he was exhausted by the election and the emotion of the moment. His spokesman later told Reuters that his bulletproof vest had been too tight. Tshisekedi's victory in the Dec. 30 election was marred by accusations he struck a backroom deal with the outgoing president to deny victory to another opposition candidate. Kabila and Tshisekedi's camps reject those allegations. Tshisekedi, wearing a blue suit and dark glasses, took the oath of office before his supporters, government officials and foreign ambassadors. However, in a sign of lingering doubts about the vote's credibility, Kenya's Uhuru Kenyatta was the only foreign head of state present. Still, the imagery of one leader handing off the presidency to another as Kabila wrapped the presidential sash around his successor was striking in a country where previous power transfers have resulted only from coups, assassination or rebellion. In his address, Tshisekedi called for "a reconciled Congo" following a contentious election that saw him narrowly defeat another opposition leader, Martin Fayulu, and Kabila's hand-picked successor, Emmanuel Ramazani Shadary. DISPUTED RESULT Fayulu said he won the election by a landslide, a claim backed by tallies from Congo's Catholic Church, which deployed 40,000 observers to the polls. He told Reuters on Thursday that he would never work with Tshisekedi. "Felix has to start by telling the truth," Fayulu said. "He's not the president-elect. He is the president appointed by Kabila." Many African and Western countries, wary that a dispute could reignite unrest in the volatile central African country, have recognised Tshisekedi after Congo's highest court dismissed Fayulu's fraud complaints. Tshisekedi's late father, Etienne, was one of Kabila's fiercest political rivals, losing to him in the 2011 presidential election. Supporters of his Union for Democracy and Social Progress (UDPS) party were among the dozens killed by security forces in protests in response to Kabila's refusal to step down on time. At Thursday's ceremony, UDPS supporters dressed all in white cheered soldiers as they marched along the palace lawn, and longtime political foes sat together in the tribune. "I am happy today because Felix will change the country. He will give children free education and people food," said Nsangaa Tshibula, 39, whose white gown was decked in glittery beads. But Tshisekedi faces widespread suspicion outside the UDPS that his election win came through a secret deal with Kabila that will see the outgoing president continue to pull the strings behind the scenes. BREAK WITH THE KABILA YEARS? Congolese sources in contact with senior government officials told Reuters that Fayulu won the election decisively, but that top officials ordered the electoral commission to award the vote to Tshisekedi after he struck a deal with Kabila. Tshisekedi and Kabila's camps deny that, but Tshisekedi will find it difficult to shake Kabila's influence regardless. During his 18 years in power, Kabila installed loyalists throughout the federal bureaucracy, and his ruling coalition won a resounding majority in legislative elections, meaning Tshisekedi's prime minister will come from its ranks. Kabila has refused to rule out a fresh run for president in 2023, when he will no longer be constrained by term limits. That has left many Congolese wondering whether Tshisekedi's presidency will mark a meaningful break with the Kabila years, during which the economy grew at a healthy clip on the back of surging copper and cobalt production but failed to significantly dent endemic poverty. Congo remains deeply unstable years after the official end of a 1998-2003 regional war in the eastern borderlands with Uganda, Rwanda and Burundi that led to millions of deaths, most from hunger and disease. Dozens of militia continue to ravage those areas. Three days of ethnic violence last month in the normally peaceful west also killed nearly 900 people, according to the United Nations. During the election campaign, Tshisekedi vowed to move the government for at least three months to the city of Goma, on the border with Rwanda, in a bid to reassert state control over that part of the country. But analysts say his perceived lack of legitimacy in some quarters after the disputed election could embolden armed challenges to his government. (Additional reporting by Stanis Bujakera and Benoit Nyemba in Kinshasa and Juliette Jabkhiro in Dakar; Writing by Aaron Ross; Editing by Jon Boyle) This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed. Despite Kim's determination for another meeting with Trump, the two remain at odds over fundamental issues. Experts say a major sticking point is what denuclearisation steps Kim should take to move forward stalled nuclear diplomacy and what rewards Trump should provide to push Kim to take those measures. Seoul: North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has ordered preparations for a second summit with President Donald Trump, saying he'll "wait with patience and in good faith" to work toward a common goal, the North's state media reported on Thursday. Despite Kim's determination for another meeting with Trump, the two remain at odds over fundamental issues. Experts say a major sticking point is what denuclearisation steps Kim should take to move forward stalled nuclear diplomacy and what rewards Trump should provide to push Kim to take those measures. The Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said Kim received a letter from Trump from a North Korean envoy who met the US president in Washington last week. After meeting with Kim's envoy, top lieutenant Kim Yong-chol, Trump said that he and Kim Jong-un will probably meet around the end of February but did not say exactly when and where the summit would take place. Thursday's report said Kim expressed satisfaction over his envoy's meeting with Trump and spoke highly of the US president for "expressing his unusual determination and will for the settlement of the issue with a great interest in the second summit." "We will wait with patience and in good faith and, together with the US, advance step-by-step toward the goal to be reached by the two countries," Kim was quoted as saying. Kim also "set forth tasks and orientation for making good technical preparations for the second (North Korea)-US summit high on the agenda," according to KCNA. Nuclear diplomacy has been stuck since Kim and Trump met in Singapore in June 2018 for their first summit, which ended with a vague denuclearisation pledge by Kim that his government had previously used when it called for the withdrawal of the 28,500 US troops in South Korea. A summit accord also stated that the United States and North Korea will commit to establishing new relations and join their efforts to build a lasting and stable peace regime on the Korean Peninsula. The strongest step Kim could promise to take for a second summit may be abandoning his long-range missile program targeting the US mainland. That step, if realized, would trigger a strong backlash from many in South Korea and Japan, which are still placed in the striking distance of North Korea's short- and medium-range missiles. In return, Kim is seeking to get UN sanctions on his government lifted and better relations with the United States to try to revive his country's moribund economy to pave the way for a prolonged rule by his family, experts say. North Korea observers say Vietnam is likely a venue for a second summit but there has been no official confirmation. The nuclear diplomacy has replaced fears of war caused by Kim's series of high-profile nuclear and missile tests in 2017 that were followed by his exchanges of crude insults and threats of total destruction with Trump. Kim has so far suspended nuclear and missile tests, dismantled North Korea's nuclear testing site and parts of its rocket engine test facility and took conciliatory measures like releasing American detainees. The North now says it's time for the US to come up with reciprocal measures. But satellite footage indicate North Korea is still running its main nuclear complex, raising a question on why it's producing nuclear materials if it is truly committed to denuclearization. US officials want North Korea to take more significant steps such as a declared accounting of its nuclear weapons program for future inspections. The North has rejected that, saying such a declaration would be like providing coordinates for US military strikes on its nuclear facilities. ATHENS (Reuters) - Greek police used teargas on Thursday to disperse crowds gathered outside parliament protesting a deal over the name of Macedonia. Several thousand people had assembled outside the Greek legislature chanting 'traitors' as lawmakers debated ratification of an agreement reached with the neighbouring ex-Yugoslav state last year. (Reporting By Michele Kambas) ATHENS (Reuters) - Greek police used teargas on Thursday to disperse crowds gathered outside parliament protesting a deal over the name of Macedonia. Several thousand people had assembled outside the Greek legislature chanting 'traitors' as lawmakers debated ratification of an agreement reached with the neighbouring ex-Yugoslav state last year. (Reporting By Michele Kambas) This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed. By Renee Maltezou and Michele Kambas ATHENS (Reuters) - Greek police fired teargas to disperse crowds gathered outside parliament on Thursday to protest against a deal over the name of neighbouring Macedonia, as an at times angry parliamentary debate spilled into a third day. Several thousand people massed outside the Greek legislature, some of them chanting 'traitors' as lawmakers debated ratification of an agreement reached with the neighbouring ex-Yugoslav state last year. By Renee Maltezou and Michele Kambas ATHENS (Reuters) - Greek police fired teargas to disperse crowds gathered outside parliament on Thursday to protest against a deal over the name of neighbouring Macedonia, as an at times angry parliamentary debate spilled into a third day. Several thousand people massed outside the Greek legislature, some of them chanting "traitors" as lawmakers debated ratification of an agreement reached with the neighbouring ex-Yugoslav state last year. The Greek parliament delayed the expected approval of the U.N-brokered deal by a day due to an increased number of lawmakers who wanted to have a say over the deal. The so-called Prespes Agreement between Athens and Skopje changes the tiny Balkan nation's name to Republic of North Macedonia, ending a 28-year old dispute between the two countries. Although Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras appears to have secured the support of at least 151 deputies in the 300-seat house to get the deal approved, opinion polls have shown most Greeks oppose the term "Macedonia" being used in any agreement. They fear it could lead to territorial claims over Greece's largest northern province of Macedonia and an appropriation of Greek cultural heritage. "We feel betrayed," Zografos Stathakopoulos, a 47-year-old protester, said on Thursday. "Most Greeks don't want this deal, but politicians are betraying us." Members of the Greek Communist Party (KKE) unfurled banners on the walls of the ancient Acropolis to protest against the deal on Thursday. Protesters chanted "Long live Macedonia, long live Greece!", referring to the Greek province of Macedonia. Police chased protesters on Syntagma Square, the same area of large, violent protests in Athens on Sunday. There were also protests in the northern Greek city of Thessaloniki. Parliamentary speaker Nikos Voutsis said close to 230 MPs had wanted to have their say. Most are given six minutes to speak, a rule which has been routinely broken in the highly-charged session, which opened on Wednesday. The accord has already been ratified by Macedonia's parliament and Greek parliamentary endorsement is necessary for the country to eventually join the European Union and NATO. Protesters are planning new rallies for Friday, before the vote takes place around 1230 GMT. (Additional reporting by Lefteris Papadimas, writing by Michele Kambas; Editing by Alexander Smith and Andrew Heavens) This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed. European and EU leaders, while expressing support for popular protests against Nicolas Maduro in Venezuela, did not go so far stressing calls for new elections Brussels: The European Union reacted cautiously Thursday to the fast-moving crisis in Venezuela, reluctant to abandon all hope of dialogue in a country with a huge European expat community. On Wednesday, the United States, Canada and most of Caracas' South American neighbours endorsed opposition leader Juan Guaido's claim on the Venezuelan presidency. But European and EU leaders, while expressing support for popular protests against incumbent Nicolas Maduro, did not go so far stressing calls for new elections. In doing so, they hope to preserve an opportunity to reason with the Maduro regime, and to shield thousands of European expatriates from possible retaliation or mob violence. "Europe supports the restoration of democracy," France's President Emmanuel Macron declared Thursday, dubbing Maduro's May 2018 election "illegitimate". "I hail the courage of the hundreds of thousands of Venezuelans who march for their freedom," he said, without endorsing Guaido's self-declaration as president. In this, he went only slightly further than EU policy chief Federica Mogherini who rushed out a statement in the name of the 28 EU members after Wednesday's US decision. "The people of Venezuela have massively called for democracy and the possibility to freely determine their own destiny. These voices cannot be ignored," she said. "The EU strongly calls for the start of an immediate political process leading to free and credible elections, in conformity with the Constitutional order." So, if the members are agreed that it is time for change, why did Brussels not follow its north and south American allies in recognising Guaido as president? Spain's Foreign Minister Josep Borrell dropped one clue. "I want to remind you that in Venezuela there are 200,000 Spanish citizens... for us it is important," he said, expressing frustration at his more outspoken colleagues. "The scenario has changed radically, there are deaths, there has been violence, we cannot be as we were before yesterday, we have to prevent things from getting worse." For Borrell, the official EU line has to remain that Venezuela must return to stability through constitutional means and fresh polls, and caution must prevail. German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said the priority must be to avoid violence breaking out on the street, where opposition protests face pro-Maduro security forces. "At the moment the situation is critical and we want to avoid anything that could escalate the situation," he said. Before the latest crisis, France, Italy, the Netherlands, Portugal and Spain were pushing to form a diplomatic contact group to help mediate a resolution. That plan now appears likely to fall by the wayside or be superseded by events on the ground, but Brussels is wary of irrevocably burning all bridges with the Maduro camp. This is probably the right approach for now, argues Carlos Malamud, principal researcher at the Real Instituto Elcano think-tank, based in Madrid. "Evidently, if Europe had a single government, it would be easier to reach a common position but... it does not seem to me to be a bad response," he told AFP. "If they recognise Guaido as the only legitimate authority in Venezuela, that means breaking all bridges with Chavismo and negotiating solution will be much more complicated. "For some time now, there has been a search for different options for dialogue, some of which are still open. If all the bridges are cut, it will be very difficult." Some saw the nuanced European response as a sign that Brussels had been caught unaware of US President Donald Trump's decision to make his dramatic intervention. But a European diplomat said that this time "for a change" US officials had given them a heads up. Intense international coordination is continuing in particular in Davos and the next EU foreign ministers' meeting that could agree a new stance will be next week, on 31 January, in Bucharest. Citing threats to his immediate family members, US president's former fixer Michael Cohen, who has threatened to unload dirt on his former boss, has decided to put off his public testimony before the US House Oversight Committee. Cohen attorney Lanny Davis put out a statement Wednesday even as angry Democrats are saying this amounts to 'witness tampering' by Trump and team. Citing threats to his immediate family members, the US president's former fixer Michael Cohen, who has threatened to unload dirt on his former boss, has decided to put off his public testimony before the US House Oversight Committee. Cohen attorney Lanny Davis put out a statement Wednesday even as angry Democrats are saying this amounts to "witness tampering" by Donald Trump and team. Witnesses who have spent more than 70 hours speaking with the Robert Mueller team investigating alleged Russian meddling in the 2016 elections say "threats" from Trump seem absolutely spot on. "That's the one word that stands out for me", Carter Page said on MSNBC tonight. On the same show, Michael Caputo, another witness, thinks Cohen is postponing because Mueller may have advised him to, not because of threats. The threats may be a smokescreen, he said. By advice of counsel, Mr. Cohens appearance will be postponed to a later date, Cohen's attorney Davis said in the statement. Mr. Cohen wishes to thank Chairman Cummings for allowing him to appear before the House Oversight Committee and looks forward to testifying at the appropriate time. He added, This is a time where Mr. Cohen had to put his family and their safety first. Yet, Cohen will testify, say Democrats who now control the House. "As surely as day turns to night and night turns to day, we will hear from Michael Cohen", Democrat in charge of the House Oversight Committee Elijah Cummings told reporters at the Capitol. Democrats are not ruling out a subpoena before Cohen leaves for jail on 6 March. We will not let the Presidents tactics prevent Congress from fulfilling our constitutionally mandated oversight responsibilities. This will not stop us from getting to the truth. We expect Mr. Cohen to appear before both Committees, and we remain engaged with his counsel about his upcoming appearances, Cummings said in a joint statement with fellow Democrat Representative Adam Schiff who is chairman of the House Intelligence Committee. Our nations laws prohibit efforts to discourage, intimidate, or otherwise pressure a witness not to provide testimony to Congress. There's no word yet on when Cohen might testify if he doesn't on 7 February. He begins a three year jail term on 6 March. He has pleaded guilty to lying to Congress, financial crimes and campaign finance violations, including one in which he implicated Trump who is referred to as 'Individual 1' in court filings. Porn star Stormy Daniels and her attorney Michael Avenatti blasted Trump's former longtime attorney for backing out of public testimony before the House Oversight Committee out of fear for his family. "Are you f---ing serious, Mikey?!" Daniels tweeted. "What about MY family? You gave zero sh--- about my baby. In all serious though, this is WHY you shouldn't back down! This is your chance to be a hero! I'll loan you some of my balls, hold your hand, or whatever else you need to do the right thing." Avenatti tweeted that it was "ludicrous" that Cohen and his legal adviser sought to "sell Cohens refusal to testify as him looking out for his family." Given the timing of the Cohen backtracking, when Trump is less than a month into having a House not controlled by his own party, Trump has scored Round 1 against Cohen, who said his testimony would send "chills" down Washington and expose what it was like to work for a "madman". We won't know on 7 February. A bomb attack hit the Adawi area in Syrias capital Damascus, in a location near the embassy of Russia Damascus: A bomb attack hit a northeastern neighbourhood of the Syrian capital Thursday, state media said, in the third such explosion in a regime-held area in less than a week. State news agency SANA reported "a terrorist bombing in the Adawi area with an explosive device planted in a car, causing material damage but no casualties". The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the blast hit near the embassy of key government ally Russia. The Britain-based war monitor said four people were lightly wounded. The latest blast came after the first explosion in Damascus in more than a year on Sunday, in which the Observatory reported "some people killed and injured". State media said there were no victims. On Tuesday, a car bomb killed one in the regime's coastal stronghold of Latakia, according to state media. Syria's civil war has killed more than 360,000 people and displaced millions since it started in 2011 with the bloody repression of anti-government protests. With key military backing from Russia, President Bashar al-Assad's forces have retaken large parts of Syria from rebels and jihadists, and now control almost two-thirds of the country. The Syrian regime in May retook a final scrap of territory held by the Islamic State group in southern Damascus, cementing total control over the capital for the first time in six years. By Jake Spring BRASILIA (Reuters) - Brazil will add the Trans-Amazonian Highway to the list of projects for privatisation, its infrastructure minister said on Tuesday, seeking new investment to pave part of a dictatorship-era roadway already blamed for extensive deforestation. The road concession will be added to a priority list for privatisation at a meeting next month, Infrastructure Minister Tarcisio Freitas told Reuters in an interview. The government will package a short section of highway with a concession to run a major section of BR-163, a key northern route for shipping Brazilian grains, a ministry spokesman said later on Tuesday By Jake Spring BRASILIA (Reuters) - Brazil will add the Trans-Amazonian Highway to the list of projects for privatisation, its infrastructure minister said on Tuesday, seeking new investment to pave part of a dictatorship-era roadway already blamed for extensive deforestation. The road concession will be added to a priority list for privatisation at a meeting next month, Infrastructure Minister Tarcisio Freitas told Reuters in an interview. The government will package a short section of highway with a concession to run a major section of BR-163, a key northern route for shipping Brazilian grains, a ministry spokesman said later on Tuesday. The 40-km (25-mile) section of the Trans-Amazonian up for privatisation will connect BR-163 with the river port of Miritituba in northern state of Para, the spokesman said. President Jair Bolsonaro's government is seeking to overhaul Brazil's poor transportation infrastructure, which raises costs and causes delays for the commodity-exporting powerhouse, by seeking private investors to operate dozens of road, rail and airport projects. On Monday, government Secretary Adalberto Vasconcelos, who has been tasked with creating public-private infrastructure partnerships, said the country would privatise more airports and secure new investment for railways. For roadways, five concessions are slated for auction this year with a long pipeline of projects to follow, according to Freitas. BR-262/381 in the state of Minas Gerais, sometimes called the "Road of Death" because its poor condition has contributed to lethal accidents, will also be put on the privatisation list next month, he said. The Trans-Amazonian highway, officially known as BR-230, was inaugurated in the 1970s under Brazil's military dictatorship, but only a fraction of its nearly 3,000 kilometers (1,864-miles) were paved and much of the existing roadway has fallen into disrepair. It stretches from the coastal state of Paraiba deep into Amazonas state. Original plans for it to reach the border with Peru were never completed. Nevertheless, research by Brazil's space agency and academics has linked the road to a rise in deforestation, and road improvements allowing easier access deep into the Amazon have consistently led to increased deforestation nearby. He said that major construction firms that were implicated in corruption schemes remain unable to participate in public auctions for infrastructure projects, but could act as subcontractors for winners of concession auctions. Engineering conglomerates Odebrecht SA and Andrade Gutierrez SA, both implicated in corruption schemes to fix contracts, signed leniency deals with the government admitting guilt and agreeing to cooperate, which allows them to contest government contracts. Companies linked to corruption but without such leniency deals may be subject to legal challenges. "They are companies that have know-how, companies with engineering (ability), companies that can provide good services," Freitas said. (Reporting by Jake Spring; editing by Lisa Shumaker and Bill Berkrot) This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed. Unrest first kicked off on Monday when 27 soldiers rose up against Nicolas Maduro at a command post in Caracas, calling upon people to 'take to the streets' in a video circulated on social media Caracas: Thirteen people have died during two days of unrest in Venezuela amid protests against leftist leader Nicolas Maduro, a Caracas-based rights group reported on Thursday. The deaths, mostly from gunshot wounds, were recorded in the capital and across the country, along with reports of looting in Brazilian border state Bolivar, the Venezuelan Observatory of Social Conflict said. Unrest first kicked off on Monday when 27 soldiers rose up against Maduro at a command post in Caracas, calling upon people to "take to the streets" in a video circulated on social media. But the most fierce began on Tuesday night in Caracas and Bolivar continuing Wednesday throughout Venezuela on a day of huge opposition-backed demonstrations against Maduro. In Bolivar's San Felix, demonstrators burned a statue of former president Hugo Chavez on late Tuesday night. On Wednesday, anti-riot police confronted protesters in east Caracas following the march called for by opposition leader Juan Guaido, who declared himself Venezuela's interim president as part of his aim to remove Maduro. Chaos erupted when dozens of young people, some hooded, blocked a key route through the wealthy Altamira neighborhood only for military personnel to fire tear gasses and rubber bullets, which were in turn met with stones from protesters. Apart from the capital Caracas, deaths were reported in Tachira, Barinas, Portuguesa, Amazonas and Bolivar states. Wednesday's demonstration, meanwhile, marked the first significant clash between the government and the opposition in the streets after violent protests left 125 people dead between April and July 2017. Juan Guaido the opposition-led legislature head who declared himself "acting president" called for the protests two weeks ago. His aim is to remove Maduro, set up a transitional government and hold elections. He accuses Maduro of being a usurper following his disputed re-election in a poll dismissed as a fraud by the European Union, the US and OAS. tech2 News Staff On 24 January, a new variant of the Indian Space Research Organisation's PSLV will launch the world's smallest satellite built by a student startup from Chennai, the KalamSAT. The satellite will be powered by the PSLV's fourth stage a first for any space agency. The launch mission, called PSLV-C44, will be the first in the world to not just launch a satellite but use the rocket as a platform for experiments in space. #ISROMissions #PSLVC44 to launch #Kalamsat and #MicrosatR from Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Sriharikota on January 24. Kalamsat is a student payload while Microsat-R is an imaging satellite. Stay tuned for updates. pic.twitter.com/cbYzkR4s7n ISRO (@isro) January 16, 2019 The same rocket will also carry an earth observation satellite for the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), called MicroSAT-R, into orbit for surveillance and imaging. "PSLV-C44 is a new variant of the PSLV whose last stage PS-4, which usually becomes dead after ejecting the primary satellite, will remain active for six months," said ISRO's Chairman K Sivan at a press briefing, according to a Times of India report. "We have received seven applications from students for doing experiments in space. Based on requirements from students, we will launch more such PSLV rockets this year so as to enable students to perform tests in space. This facility will be free for all students," Sivan added. With this new opportunity, students need not worry about the launches or rocket modules for their satellites, and can instead focus just on their experiments. This PS4 platforms will provide both platform and power to their satellite, the ISRO chief said. In 2017, one of the students had designed an earlier version of the KalamSAT and launched it on a NASA's sounding rocket. The Class 12 student from Chennai broke the global space record for the smallest and lightest satellite launched at the time. So far, the agency has already sent up nine satellites built by students, but this is the first to be launch in the new PSLV variant. Reuters Microsoft Chief Executive Satya Nadella said on Thursday that with the growth of facial recognition technology, he would "welcome regulation that will help the marketplace not be a race to the bottom." Nadella said there is no discrimination now between right and wrong use of the technology, which has drawn concern from civil liberties groups about surveillance and violation of privacy. Microsoft has "principles to build it and make sure (there are) fair and robust uses of the technology," Nadella said at the World Economic Forum in Davos. Tech2 News Staff LG is set to unveil its first 5G smartphone on 24 February and will exhibit its products at MWC 2019 held in Barcelona from 25 to 28 February. The company has not only announced the release date of its upcoming device but has revealed some major details about the smartphone. This new device is claimed to be equipped with Qualcomm's latest Snapdragon 855 chipset. It has also spoken about something called as the 'Vapor Chamber' which is a heat-dissipation device made of copper with large surface area. This new heat pipe is claimed to deliver better heat-proofing in comparison to the existing heat pipes. The surface area of this new 'Vapor Chamber' heat pipe is 2.7 times more than that of the LG V40 ThinQ and the amount of water contained is twice than ThinQ. All of this leads to the reduction of temperature change inside the smartphone as per the company. The 5G enabled smartphone also packs in a 4,000 mAh battery pack which is 20 percent more than ThinQ. In August 2018 the company had spoken about how its first 5G smartphone is expected to be a Sprint exclusive in the US later this year. Also, LG claims to have been working with a variety of operators to ensure availability in Europe. There are no other design details or specifications of the phone revealed by the company yet, but through the information spilt it seems as LG has taken care of the primary concerns that surround 5G tech. As LG's 5G smartphone would not be accessible to everyone, LG is also expected to announce a 4G LTE-compatible G8 ThinQ flagship at MWC 2019. Recent rumours also point that the G8 might recognise hand gestures from nearly 11-inches away using a sensor on the front, cue in Touchless Navigation! Also, the phone is expected to come with a triple-camera setup. Renders that surfaced earlier indicated that the LG G8 might have a 6.1-inch display in a 19.5:9 aspect ratio. It might also come packed with a Qualcomm Snapdragon 855 SoC. tech2 News Staff While the rollout of Android Pie has been slow for most smartphones, HMD Global's Nokia was one of the first brands to announce updates for all of their existing devices. The company has now shared a fresh roadmap detailing when to expect Android Pie on phones which are yet to receive the upgrade. For the record, Nokia has already updated quite a few of its devices to Android Pie, most recently including the flagship Nokia 8 Sirocco. Eight more devices are still in the queue, though, including some devices dating back to 2017. Revealing our Android Pie update roadmap! We were the fastest in deploying Android Oreo 8.0 and 8.1 portfolio wide, with Android Pie we are committed to be even faster. You can also take a peek into the kitchen here: https://t.co/NlWbss4q3P #nokiamobile #android #androidone pic.twitter.com/lrJADwJOxO Juho Sarvikas (@sarvikas) January 23, 2019 The chief product officer at HMD Global, Juho Sarvikas took to his Twitter account to confirm the Android Pie update for older Nokia phones including the Nokia 3, 5 and 6. Nokia is aiming to finish rolling out all the updates by Q2 of this year. Nokia 5 January 2019 Nokia 3.1 Plus January 2019 Nokia 6 Q1 2019 Nokia 5.1 Q1 2019 Nokia 3.1 Q1 2019 Nokia 2.1 Q1 2019 Nokia 3 Early Q2 2019 Nokia 1 Early Q2 2019 The only phone that appears to not make it to the list is the Nokia 2, which was released back in November 2017. HMD Global hasn't stated why that's the case but there might be hardware limitations at play here. As is the case with most software roadmaps, this one could be subject to change, but HMD's progress so far suggests that there are unlikely to be too many problems. However, do expect minor changes if your phone makes the list. The Associated Press Googles self-driving car spinoff Waymo said Tuesday it will bring a factory to Michigan, creating up to 400 jobs at what it describes as the worlds first plant 100 percent dedicated to the mass production of autonomous vehicles. The company plans to spend about $13.6 million to retrofit a to-be-determined manufacturing facility in the Detroit area. In exchange, it will get a state incentive grant worth up to $8 million that was approved Tuesday by the Michigan Strategic Fund Board. Waymo spokeswoman Alexis Georgeson said the company plans to hire up to 400 people to work at the factory, including engineers, operations experts and fleet coordinators. She said Waymo is looking for a site and hopes to open the plant in the middle of this year. A memo from the Michigan Economic Development Corp. says Waymo will create 100 jobs, with the potential for up to 400, and it chose Michigan despite a high level of interest from states in the Midwest, South and Southwest. The company integrates its self-driving system into vehicles it buys from automakers and is currently testing autonomous Chrysler Pacifica minivans in a preferred rider program for passengers in the Phoenix area, but with human backup drivers on board. It plans to expand the service to the San Francisco area but has not given a time frame. Waymo previously announced plans to buy 62,000 Pacificas and 20,000 I-Pace electric SUVs from Jaguar. Waymo, which has a 20-employee facility in the Detroit suburb of Novi where it tests vehicles in snowy weather, will put the new factory in Wayne, Oakland or Macomb counties, where the auto industry dominates the economy with thousands of jobs from the U.S. and foreign-based automakers as well as parts supply companies. As we begin to commercialize our business and vehicle supply grows, were laying the foundation for a scalable, robust vehicle integration plan, starting in Michigan, the company said in a blog. Bryant Walker Smith, a University of South Carolina law professor who studies autonomous vehicles, said the announcement shows that Waymo, which was spun off from Google and is part of parent company Alphabet Inc., has plans to integrate itself into the existing auto industry. You cant reinvent everything. Coming to Michigan in some ways is your complete recognition of that, Smith said. Michigan is where you go in the United States to be fully immersed in automotive culture and industry. Smith said Waymo will find abundant labor supply at a lower cost than in California, where it is now headquartered. The announcement confirms that Waymo will use the Michigan factory to produce a large number of vehicles for ride-hailing services in many cities, Smith said. But it did not say when it will deploy the vehicles without human backup drivers. This is an announcement about a facility to be, and the cars that will come from that facility one day, Smith said. What this is is that Waymo plans to eventually expand. Theyve been setting that foundation for a couple of years now. Michigan Economic Development Corp. CEO Jeff Mason said Silicon Valley companies are increasingly interested in relocating to or expanding in the state. He cited KLA-Tencors plan to open a $70 million semiconductor research-and-development center in Ann Arbor and Samsung SDIs plan to build a $60 million-plus electric vehicle battery pack plant in Auburn Hills. tech2 News Staff Samsung will be unveiling the Galaxy M-series smartphones next week but today it has made a new important announcement regarding the software updates for the phones in this series. As per the company's roadmap for Android 9.0 Pie update, Sammobile spotted that the two Galaxy M-series smartphone, which will likely be called the Galaxy M10 and Galaxy M20, will be receiving the Android Pie by the end of August. That seems to be a bit strange since the phones should ideally be launched with Android Pie out of the box, however, Samsung is notoriously famous for not providing software updates in time. What is also possible is that Samsung has listed the devices by mistake and would soon remove them from the list. A Reuters report previously suggested that the South Korean tech giant might bring three smartphones under its new Galaxy M-series branding this month. The report quoting Samsung Indian mobile business head Asim Warsi said that the M-series will be available in the sub-Rs 20,000 range, and offer "huge capacity" batteries. The upcoming budget Galaxy M-series will include three models dubbed as M10, M20 and M30. The Galaxy M20 is tipped to feature a tall 6.3-inch display and carry a massive 5,000 mAh battery. Reuters Facebook Incs operations chief Sheryl Sandberg said on Wednesday that the worlds largest social network needed to win back public trust after facing scandals for violating its users privacy. The social media platform is investing billions of dollars a year to improve the security of its network, Sandberg said in an interview hosted by German newspaper Die Zeit and UK law firm CMS at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. We did not anticipate all of the risks from connecting so many people, Sandberg said, adding that the site had added features that give users greater control over their personal information. The 15-year-old technology company has been a darling of Californias Silicon Valley, making stars out of its founder, chief executive and chairman Mark Zuckerberg, and Sandberg, known for her feminist manifesto Lean In. But its shares have fallen roughly 33 percent since July to $144 due to concerns about user privacy. Last year, the company was buffeted by revelations that UK consultancy Cambridge Analytica had improperly acquired data on millions of its US users to target election advertising. We need to earn back trust, Sandberg said. Some of Facebooks major shareholders have pushed for Zuckerberg, who has majority control of the company, to step down as chairman. Sandberg said he should remain both chair and CEO. She said that she also plans to remain at Facebook, where she has worked since 2008. I think I have a job to do, she said. Its a job I really want to do. Sandberg said that if Facebook had to change its business model and charge users a subscription fee instead of collecting advertising revenue, far fewer people would be able to use it. Fundamentally disallowing our business model would harm a lot of people all over the world. She said her grassroots womens movement, spurred by the publication of Lean In, was still going strong. But, asked if she was considering a run for US president in the 2020 election, shereplied:: Its not on my agenda. Reuters Chinas cyber watchdog said on Wednesday it had deleted more than 7 million pieces of online information as well as 9,382 mobile apps, and it criticized tech giant Tencents news app for spreading vulgar information. The Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC) said in a statement on its website the action was part of a clean-up of unacceptable and harmful information that started this month, adding that it had also shut down 733 websites. The administration singled out Tencents Tiantian Kuaibao news app, saying the platform had been ordered to make changes as it had been spreading vulgar and low-brow information that was harmful and damaging to the internet ecosystem. Tencent did not immediately respond to requests for comment. The regulator also criticized Huaban, a photo-sharing social network, as having serious ecosystem problems. Huaban said on its website its online service had been temporarily taken down for upgrades. Control of the internet has tightened under President Xi Jinping - an effort that has accelerated since 2016, as the ruling Communist Party seeks to crack down on dissent in the booming social media landscape. In November, the CAC scrubbed 9,800 social media accounts of independent news providers for violations that included spreading politically harmful information and falsifying the history of the Communist Party. Unlike her brother who has failed to enthuse voters and is a subject of mirth and ridicule among a section of voters, Priyanka starts with a clean slate The 12th Century bard Chand Bardai is credited for an immortal line in his epic poem on the life of Prithviraj Chauhan: Tau par sultan hai, mat chuke Chauhan. (the sultan Mohammad Ghauri is within striking distance, don't miss the opportunity, Chauhan). These lines can be rephrased to explain the timing of Priyanka Gandhi's entry into active politics a decision announced by the Congress on Wednesday. For the Congress, this is the best time in five years to attack Narendra Modi; it simply cannot afford to miss the opportunity. So, it has unleashed what party workers and leaders call its Brahmastra a weapon that never misses the target. Two simultaneous political events since December have created the conditions for Priyanka's arrival. For starters, the BJP's aura of invincibility has faded because of electoral setbacks in Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh. In the North East, the BJP is in trouble because of the controversial citizenship bill that has led to a furore in Assam. As a result, two of the BJP's potential bastions the Hindi heartland and the North East are under siege. Meanwhile, the Opposition has got its act together. In Uttar Pradesh, the BSP-Samajwadi Party-RLD combine is threatening to not just defeat but trounce the BJP. A recent poll by India Today predicts that the BJP will win just 15 seats in the state that contributed 73 MPs to its tally in the previous election. In West Bengal, Mamata Banerjee has stopped the BJP's juggernaut and dampened the saffron spirit by aggressively projecting herself as the face of the Opposition, a ploy that will help her gain electorally. With the BJP under attack in West Bengal, Uttar Pradesh and the North East, the Congress realised it needed to strike hard in the Hindi heartland to trap the BJP in the Opposition chakravyuha. But, the party also knew that attacking the BJP with Rahul Gandhi as its leader was fraught with risks. The problem with the Congress president is well known: In a head-to-head contest with Modi, he is a lightweight who could have been easily knocked out. Even in states where the Congress won the recent Assembly polls, the chatter on the ground suggested voters just dont buy the idea of Rahul as prime minister even if the Congress is acceptable to them. He is considered an inferior brand compared to Modi and, thus, someone whom voters don't want to be seen endorsing. The Congress needed a choice, its cadres needed new josh and its potential voters needed a viable political option. Since nobody can stop an idea whose time has come, enter Priyanka Gandhi. The BJP should be wary of Priyanka and the impact she can have on the 2019 elections. Over the next three months, she will attract huge crowds as a star campaigner. Those who have seen and heard Priyanka in Amethi and Raebareli guarantee that she will match Modi word for word, gesture for gesture, sob for sob, and slogan for slogan. The media will give her enormous weightage and footage. She will be both seen and heard, giving the Congress a lot of visibility and bringing it on par with the BJP in the battle of optics, theatrics and TRPs. For a party low on poll funds, she is a godsend. Unlike her brother who has failed to enthuse voters and is a subject of mirth and ridicule among a section of voters, Priyanka starts with a clean slate. The BJP will attack her as another 'naamdar' who has entered the fray. But other than that, it has nothing to say about her. The ploy of targeting her husband and his business deals is unlikely to work because people will question the BJP's inability to act against him in spite of having governments in Rajasthan, Haryana and at the Centre since 2013. You will see a lot of Robert Vadra jokes in the next three months, but they will add levity only to the lives of hardcore BJP voters. Attacking a woman has its own risks. With men, politicians often get away with frivolous remarks, below-the-belt jibes, crass jokes and even nasty innuendo. But a "50 crore ki girlfriend" or a "widow devoured all the funds" assault can lead to a severe backlash that can change the poll narrative. The BJP's guarded response to Priyanka's entry shows that the party will have to be careful in dealing with her. It's a signal to its lunatic fringe to not violate the Lakshman Rekha they sometimes cross while dealing with her brother. The Congress is gung-ho also because of her potential to sway Brahmins and youths across north India. These two segments of voters are Modi's core supporters. But, rising unemployment, the impact of demonetisation and GST on the economy are making them rethink their loyalty to the BJP. In Uttar Pradesh, where Yogi Adityanath has been criticised for practicing 'Thakurwaad', the Congress senses anger among Brahmins who can be tapped by highlighting Priyanka's Brahmin lineage. In 2014, the BJP had swept polls in states where it was in direct fight with the Congress, winning 100 out of 106 seats. With Rahul as the only alternative, Modi was the clear frontrunner in the Congress versus BJP narrative. By firing its Brahmastra at the right time, the Congress has made the battle tough for the BJP. You can already hear its supporters chant: Tau pe hai Modi, chuke na Priyanka. In the run up to his bid for another term, Priyanka's formal entry into politics is the sternest test till date for Modi, both in the short-run and in the long-term. The smart politician that he is, Modi will know that the completion of what former aide, Prashant Kishor, dubbed as 'one of the most awaited entries in Indian politics' adds to his litany of headaches. Prime Minister Narendra Modi expectedly dismissed Priyanka Gandhi Vadra's appointment as AICC General Secretary for Uttar Pradesh (East) with a veiled barb. He said while for some, the "family was the party", for the Bharatiya Janata Party, the "party was the family or parivar". He could not have responded differently because in battle, acknowledging that the adversary has made a smart move is a self-defeating tactic. Although his public response was no different from that of an average party karyakarta or publicist (spokesperson Sambit Patra said the same thing) Modi's personal assessment can be the same only at great cost to his ambition of coming back into office. In the run up to his bid for another term, Priyanka's formal entry into politics is the sternest test till date for Modi, both in the short-run and in the long-term. The smart politician that he is, Modi will know that the completion of what former aide, Prashant Kishor, dubbed as "one of the most awaited entries in Indian politics" adds to his litany of headaches. Since August 2017 when chinks in Modi's armoury became visible and disenchantment with the regime and he personally began rising, the prime minister has been in search of a national narrative. His hunt has been for a story to tell people which matches the tale he spun in 2014. Modi and his associates were aware that chances of returning to office would be undermined if he was drawn into an aggregation of state polls against different leaders and dissimilar alliances with local issues playing a major role in shaping electoral choices. As a result, part of the job of floating and sustaining the idea of a hold-all Mahagathbandhan was taken up Modi and his cohorts. At every public meeting or media interaction, BJP leaders would always ask the invisible opposition "who is your prime ministerial candidate?" Presidentialising the election was Modi's way of contesting the election on a national narrative that of an able, decisive leader who has run a corruption-free efficient government which although a shade short on deliveries, has kept integrity intact and above all, the idea of New India remains in the making. The argument that while he brought all these attributes and qualities to the table, the challenger brings nothing but an imposed dynasty and intra-party bickering over the spoils. Stability was Modi's mantra even though record shows that India has not done poorly on most fronts under coalitions or minority governments. In contrast, woes of people have mounted under leaders governing post massive mandates Indira Gandhi, Rajiv Gandhi and Modi being prime instances. The Bahujan Samaj Party and Samajwadi Party decision to keep out the Congress followed by absence of Rahul Gandhi and Sonia Gandhi at the show of strength rally in Kolkata organised by Mamata Banerjee suggested that the electoral contest was indeed moving towards disaggregation and with that possibility looming large, Modi's frustration rose. With Priyanka's entry into politics, Modi finally has a nationwide narrative even though she is formally restricted to half of Uttar Pradesh. However, this national tale is not Modi's but instead has the Indira Amma's granddaughter (she is not Sonia Gandhi's daughter in public imagination) as the chief protagonist. For a man used to playing the lead role in every political conflict, this is not a happy development for Modi. While it is premature to say that Priyanka has stolen the thunder, there is no denying that the BJP is beginning to play catch-up at least as far as UP is concerned. It is also too early to speculate if the anti-BJP alliance in Uttar Pradesh will finally include the Congress or not and if subsequent to such an understanding, Priyanka will evolve into the star campaigner of the 2019 polls across India. There are logical arguments to make a case for both possibilities but the moot point is that Priyanka remains the focal point in the two either limited to Uttar Pradesh's 40 odd seats that lies east of Lucknow or as the opposition brahmastra across India. Modi's worry is that Priyanka, the political campaigner, has no caste. Just as Modi took out caste from the equation in 2014, she has the capacity to reach out to every caste group, especially those who have not been traditional BJP loyalties. In contrast, she is likely to hurt the BSP and SP to a lesser degree because social constituencies of the two have backed the parties for generations. This is not the case with BJP whose traditional loyalty is restricted to the Bania-trader base. Besides hurting the BJP by forcing cracks in the social coalition forged in the Modi era, Priyanka's entry in the immediate context will energise the cadre. History tells us that one of the reasons behind the BJP's astonishing performance in UP after it touched rock bottom, was due to the revival of enthusiasm of the party's foot-soldiers by Modi's entry. Similarly, with Priyanka's charisma self-evident in public response to her previous public engagements, the BJP and even BSP-SP combine will suddenly be up against a Congress network which either did not exist or was dormant till the other day. However, Modi's biggest worry is if Priyanka, too, plays the temple card and in fact, takes it one step beyond Rahul Gandhi. Modi would be hard pressed for a response if the Congress under Priyanka's chooses to make much to dismay of the party's liberal backers once again an affirmative statement for constructing the Ram temple and promise looking at means to disentangle the legal imbroglio. Already small brass of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad has made noises of not being averse to the Congress if it pledges to deliver the temple. With such a threat on the anvil it is possible that Modi may be tempted to look at ways to take the Ayodhya story forward even if the Supreme Court remains unfazed and proceeds with the case at the pace the Judges deem fit. Modi cannot but double-down what he has played all these past months even after this development. The choice before him is to attempt a 250-plus tally or else he may well be staring at a 150-minus final score. Consequently, the BJP being the sole democrat in a contest with parties rooted in feudal culture will be a recurring theme. To his list of alliterations, Modi is sure to add, figuratively, Double B - Bhai-Behen, and Bua-Bhatija. As someone who has worked with him in the past said, Modi has, in Poker language, no option but to be all-in. Reacting to the news of Priyanka Gandhi entering active politics, Prime Minister Modi made an oblique reference to the Congress subscribing to dynastic values while Congress president Rahul Gandhi expressed his happiness to be working with his sister. Prime Minister Modi on Wednesday made an oblique reference to Priyanka Gandhi Vadra finally taking the plunge into politics with her appointment as in-charge of poll preparations in eastern Uttar Pradesh, according to reports. "For Congress, the parivar is party," Modi said while on a video conference with BJP workers, reported India Today. He did not directly bring up Priyanka, whose appointment comes as a direct challenge to Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath. According to reports, Congress workers across India raised the slogan, "Priyanka Gandhi aandhi hai, doosri Indira Gandhi hai." "I am very happy that my sister, who is extremely capable and hard-working, will work with me," Rahul said. He further added that Priyanka and Jyotiraditya Scindia will work towards what the youth in Uttar Pradesh wants. "We are not going on the back foot, we do politics for development and people's welfare. I have not sent Priyanka and Jyotiraditya for just two months. Priyanka and Jyotiraditya in Uttar Pradesh will spread the real Congress ideology and change the politics of Uttar Pradesh. That is the agenda," said Rahul. Priyanka's husband Robert Vadra congratulated her on Facebook: Senior Congress leader Motilal Vohra said Priyanka now has a "very important" responsibility as her appointment will not only have an effect in eastern Uttar Pradesh, but other regions as well. Rajasthan deputy chief minister Sachin Pilot also congratulated Priyanka, and said he wishes her a bright future. Party leader Rajeev Shukla said Priyanka's entry into politics will help in the revival of the Congress not only in Uttar Pradesh, but the entire country. BJP says move suggests Rahul's failure Speaking to ANI, BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra said, "The Congress is a family party; there is no doubt about it. After being rejected from the 'mahagathbandhan' everywhere, the party has sought a crutch from within their own family." Patra added that the move was "expected," and that Congress is all about dynastic politics. "They consider family as the party while BJP considers party as the family. Congress has accepted that Rahul Gandhi ji has failed," he further told ANI. Uttar Pradesh BJP leader GVL Narasimhan Rao on Twitter called it the "most uneventful news of 2019". He added: "The Priyanka card was played before every election and flopped each time. Perils of Parivar Politics: FAIL & THRIVE. Pity!" Speaking to News18, Union minister Babul Supriyo congratulated Priyanka, but added that it was a move made by the Congress to "help support" Rahul. He added that the development proved Congress approach towards dynastic politics. BJP MP and general secretary for Karnataka Shobha Karandlaje said on Twitter, "When clown prince is failing consistently, princess makes her entry! Congratulations Priyanka Gandhi On your appointment as Gen Secretary of East UP." Opposition offers support National Conference (NC) chief and former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Farooq Abdullah told News18, "Thrilled that she is entering electoral politics. Hope she will contribute to politics. We extend our best wishes to her. She is like her mother Sonia and grandmother Indira. The people of India want her to help the party, and help her brother." "Both Priyanka and Rahul will prove to be a great help to the Opposition," Abdullah added. JDU vice-president Prashant Kishor, a former poll strategist for Prime Minister Narendra Modi, tweeted: "One of the most awaited entries in Indian politics is finally here! While people may debate the timing, exact role and position, to me, the real news is that she finally decided to take the plunge! Congratulations and best wishes to Priyanka Gandhi." Follow LIVE updates on Priyanka Gandhi Vadhra entering politics here The Congress has certainly created a buzz through Priyanka and has its supporters in Uttar Pradesh jubilant. It certainly makes life difficult for the BJP, but could also have some unforeseen consequences for the SP-BSP alliance. Priyanka Gandhi's entry into politics shows the Congress still has the capacity to dare. It will boost the morale of its workers, seek to wean away the upper caste supporters of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), and entice Muslims to its fold. Priyanka is charismatic and should, therefore, at least on paper, have a cross-community appeal in the era of caste and religious polarisation. She will certainly strike a chord among women and the young. The decision of India's grand old party to make her general secretary for Uttar Pradesh East conveys a message that the Gandhis want their home state to become their political citadel, as it had been for decades, as Gujarat is for Prime Minister Narendra Modi. This may or may not happen in 2019, but it is certainly their plan for the future. From this perspective, the Congress understands that its existential crisis stems from its weaknesses in North India. Its victories in Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan mean the party does not have to target the entire North for political recovery. For the next five years at least, the Congress can concentrate its energies on Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, where it had been reduced to irrelevance. This explains its decision to field Priyanka, touted as the party's biggest gun in its armoury, just three months before the Lok Sabha elections. However, there could be negative fallouts, as well. For instance, Modi will claim, in a more stentorian tone, that the Congress is a dynastic party. But Modi has been flinging this charge around for months now, even before Priyanka's surprise entry into politics. It can't damage the Congress any further. If anything, Modi's focus on Priyanka will only enhance her importance. Some believe the Priyanka factor, even though its efficacy is still to be tested, will prompt the government to speed up the investigation into the alleged dubious land deals of her husband and businessman, Robert Vadra. With Priyanka in politics now, any action against Vadra will seem a desperate method to malign and neutralise her appeal. It just might trigger a sympathy wave for Priyanka. Her entry, therefore, is not only astutely timed, but also suggests that the Opposition no longer fears Modi as it did, say, two years ago. Obviously, Priyanka will have an echo across Uttar Pradesh, not just in Uttar Pradesh East, of which she has been made in charge. The reason behind assigning her the region is to send a signal to Brahmins, who are not only numerous there but also dominant because of their large land holdings. Uttar Pradesh's Brahmins have been restive under the chief ministership of Yogi Adityanath and view his rule as the rule of Rajputs. The rivalry between Rajputs and Brahmins is proverbial, though they do combine whenever there is a challenge to the upper caste hegemony. In this sense, the Priyanka card is a counter to the Modi government's decision to reserve 10 percent quota for the economically weaker sections, essentially a caste-neutral code for the upper castes. They have been the nucleus of the BJP's support, but a substantial percentage of them did switch their vote to the Congress in the recent Assembly elections in Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan. The 10 percent quota was designed to check their desertion from the BJP. Priyanka's entry is aimed at tempting the Brahmins to return to the Congress. The Gandhi-Nehru family has a Brahmin identity. The community, too, has had a history of identification with the family. It is this old relationship with the Brahmins that the Congress wishes to rekindle remember, for instance, how Congress president Rahul Gandhi was projected as a 'janeu dhari Brahmin'. But Brahmins, as a social group, have their own interests to protect. This is ensured through their support to the BJP, though they are said to be restive now. Why should they then ditch the BJP for the Congress? This is where Uttar Pradesh East matters. Priyanka's responsibility of Uttar Pradesh East would also include the state's central region. It is in the region carved out for her that the Congress has a set of relatively strong leaders, regardless of whether they are Brahmins. Think RPN Singh, Lalitesh Pati Tripathi, Ajay Rai, Sanjay Singh, Rahul Gandhi and Sonia Gandhi (or will it be Priyanka?). Will Phulpur and Allahabad, both associated with the Nehru-Gandhi family, sing a different tune this time because of Priyanka? Memory matters in politics. Even though the Congress never stood a good chance of performing well in Uttar Pradesh for over two decades, it still managed to get a chunk of Brahmin votes. In the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, according to the data of the Centre for the Study of Developing Societies, 11 percent of Brahmins voted for the Congress. After the BJP, it is usually the second most favoured party of the community. In 2009, the Congress polled 31 percent of Brahmin votes. Then again, in the 2009 Assembly elections, it had polled the second highest votes among Brahmins 19 percent. It was, however, the fourth favourite in 2007, but still bagged 13 percent of the votes. It is also true that the decision of the Samajwadi Party and the Bahujan Samaj Party to exclude the Congress from the alliance prompted the party to bring Priyanka into the battlefield. There are 28 Lok Sabha constituencies in Uttar Pradesh East. It is thought that the SP-BSP alliance could, on the basis of caste arithmetic, take away as many 20 of them. The Congress cannot endure yet another clobbering of the kind it suffered in 2014. Although all three SP, BSP and the Congress have positioned themselves against the BJP, the Congress hopes that Brahmins, plus the energy that strong candidates and their communities bring in, will convince Muslims to vote for it. Muslims, as is well known, do not vote for a non-BJP formation until it has the support of at least one dominant group, or numerous social groups, in each constituency. In this sense, Priyanka is a counter-challenge to the BJP, but it could also cause a headache for the SP-BSP alliance. Priyanka is also bound to have an appeal for women and the youth. That the Congress wants to target them can be gleaned from the fact that Jyotiraditya Madhavrao Scindia has been given charge of Uttar Pradesh West. Like Priyanka, he is young, articulate and has a high recognition value. Scindia could well have an impact in the Bundlekhand districts of Uttar Pradesh. The Congress has certainly created a buzz through Priyanka and has its supporters in Uttar Pradesh jubilant. It certainly makes life difficult for the BJP, but could also have some unforeseen consequences for the SP-BSP alliance, which is largely protected because the OBCs have never been really been inclined to the Congress, and the Dalit subcaste of Jatavs remain solidly behind Mayawati. Regardless of whether the Priyanka card succeeds, the Congress has shown a dare it rarely does. Piyush Goyal has a tough task at hand, presenting this all important 'interim' Budget within a week of temporarily assuming charge as finance minister "Good economics makes for good politics. We are today at the cusp of a development explosion," begins Piyush Goyal's biography on his personalised official website, quoting himself. He had made this statement in the past, but these words assume a great deal of significance now because in seven days 1 February, to be precise he will rise to present the interim "Budget", the final annual financial statement of the Narendra Modi government. Whether or not he lives up to his own words will be watched closely. This becomes even more important because within 30 days of him presenting the Union Budget, the Lok Sabha election will be announced and the contents of the Budget will have a bearing on popular mood and consequently on the election. Regardless, Goyal has a tough task at hand, presenting this all important "interim" Budget within a week of temporarily assuming charge as finance minister. At 8.55 pm on Wednesday, Rashtrapati Bhawan issued a press communique: "The President of India, as advised by the Prime Minister, hereby directed that during the period of indisposition of Shri Arun Jaitley, Minister; the portfolios of Minister of Finance and Minister of Corporate Affairs held by him, be temporarily assigned to Shri Piyush Goyal, in addition to his existing portfolios." Goyal now is at the helm of four important ministries Railways, Coal, Finance and Corporate Affairs. Of these, policies and actions of Railways and Finance touch the lives of every single Indian. Goyal has worked closely with Arun Jaitley as a party leader, as an MP and as a minister. And Jaitley, for a long time, has been his friend, philosopher and guide, but temporarily stepping into Jaitley's high profile ministerial position (particularly when the government and national polity is already in election mode) is a wholly different proposition. He will ever have the distinction of being a leader who was twice at the helm of finance ministry, that too within a year, and the first temporary additional charge minister to present the Union Budget. Before taking the reins on Wednesday, Goyal held the charge from 14 May to 22 August, 2018. In the past and since Independence, there have been situations when there was no full-time finance minister, but in almost all those circumstances it was the prime minister who took charge of the finance ministry. Four prime ministers have presented the Union Budget due to the absence of a full-time finance minister. Jawaharlal Nehru, India's first prime minister, was the first to do so in 1958-59 when he held the finance portfolio after TT Krishnachari was forced to resign on account of the Mundra Scandal. India Gandhi presented the Budget in 1970 after Morarji Desai resigned from the government and left the prime minister to take charge of the finance portfolio. Rajiv Gandhi presented the Budget in 1987 when he briefly (from January to July 1987) held the finance portfolio after he sacked VP Singh. Desai held the finance ministry portfolio as prime minister and presented two Budgets (between 1977 and 1979). Prime Minister Narendra Modi chose to a different route. Although his stamp is going to be all over the interim Budget, he gave the 54-year old chartered accountant by training, Goyal, an opportunity to be temporarily at the helm of the finance ministry. Goyal's rise up the BJP ranks is noteworthy. He is the son of prominent BJP leader, Vedprakash Goyal, who had been shipping minister in the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government and also party treasurer. Goyal Jr was made Rajya Sabha MP and in May 2014, he was given charge of the power ministry by Modi under difficult circumstances: It was the peak of the summer when the ministry was facing a severe energy supply crisis. The first-time minister rose to the occasion and succeeded in electrifying villages across the country and used technology to monitor the quantum of energy supply, disruption and transmission in all parts of the country. This information was made accessible to the public, so that any false claims could be questioned. In September 2017, he was elevated to the Cabinet and given a politically and socially significant ministry, Railways. While he was minister of coal and mines, he had introduced a transparent system of auctioning and Modi didn't want to disturb administration in the ministry, so he was allowed to stay on as in-charge of the ministry. Given Goyal's understanding of economic matters, Modi saw thought it fit to give him ad hoc charge of the finance ministry on both the occasions when Jaitley was indisposed. Goyal had impressed Vajpayee and LK Advani and shared a close personal rapport with them. Later, he won the confidence of Modi and Amit Shah in the run-up of 2012 Gujarat Assembly election and 2014 Lok Sabha polls. He had been treasurer of the party and, as many say, continues to informally handle that role because no full-time treasurer succeeded him in the party. Follow full coverage of Union Budget 2019-20 here Two road improvement projects, one in the city and another in North Fort Myers, are anticipated to make travel for motorists a little bit easier. One project, passed by the Cape Coral City Council during its regular meeting Monday, is to award Ajax Paving Industries of Florida a contract to re-pave 22 lane miles of six major roadways at a cost of just over $1.4 million. The roads to be resurfaced include two stretches of Chiquita Boulevard south of Pine Island Road and Cape Coral Parkway, Gulfstream and Yucatan parkways from Burnt Store to Old Burnt Store roads, Southeast 47th Terrace from Palm Tree Boulevard to Coronado, and Vincennes Boulevard. The project includes other related work such as milling, utilities adjustments, limited structural repair and restriping, and has a completion time frame of 120 days after the notice to proceed is issued. On Dec. 10, the City Council approved an additional $4.6 million for 82 lane miles of minor roads. Pavement Management was awarded the contract for that. An additional $500,000 is spent to repair potholes. Cape Councilmember John Gunter, from District 1, said there are some areas being done in his district, which covers the South Cape. Portions of Cornwallis and Blanco Grande are being done, as well as Southeast 47th Terrace and Vincennes. We budget $6.5 million every year for repaving projects. We get a lot of complaints for some of the conditions of the roads, Gunter said. During the recession nothing was getting done and were still trying to play catch-up. City Manager John Szerlag has budgeted $6.5 million for road repaving for each of the past five years as some roads had not been repaved in decades. Another project, which is slightly more long term, is one that was approved the Lee County Board of County Commissioners on Tuesday which will widen a 1.2-mile stretch of Littleton Road to three lanes from Corbett Road to U.S. 41. The plan will include two 11-foot travel lanes and one 12-foot bi-directional lane with on-road bike lanes and 6-foot sidewalks on both sides. A minimum right-of-way width of 92 feet is needed to accommodate these improvements. Among the comments we heard was what kind of an impact a four-lane road would have on the community. We looked at the alternatives and we found we can add a central turn lane and right turn lanes into the community and still improve traffic flow and still keep the appeal, County Commissioner Brian Hamman said. The original plan was to make Littleton four lanes. However, that would have required the relocation of 36 residential units and the purchase of rights-of-way for roadway improvements, which alone would have added nearly $14 million to the cost. A four-lane highway would have cost $31.2 million, as opposed to $14.2 million for three lanes. This is actually more in line with the communitys vision and saves the taxpayers money, Hamman said. The widening is part of another plan to connect Littleton Road to Kismet Boulevard in Cape Coral to create one road and another east-west corridor into Cape Coral. Currently, drivers on Littleton need to take a left and an immediate right to access Kismet. Many obscenities that Indians toss at rivals without a second thought, besides being savage and crass in language, are personal in nature. As a cub reporter in 1981, I accompanied a senior journalist to the home of a top Congress leader in Hyderabad. He was talking to some partymen inside a room. From the visitors room where we waited, we could hear him shout a downright obscenity to refer to Indira Gandhi. Apparently he was furious with what the high command had done to him. Those were the days when obscenities were more or less confined to private spaces in politics in India. Now, look at an American example. In 2004, when US vice-president Dick Cheney got into a tiff with Senator Patrick Leahy, he famously shouted: F**k yourself. The US media was in a tizzy. The Washington Post printed the f-word verbatim, while The New York Times said Cheney used an obscene phrase to describe what he thought Mr Leahy should do. Fierce arguments flared up in the US if newspapers should reproduce dirty words uttered by politicians. And those were the days when swear words were seldom part of the American political conversation. But in both India and US, as in many other democracies, filthy language is the new medium for the modern political narrative. As standards of political discourse take a severe beating, an argument is rarely complete without an invective hurled at the rival. American public affairs research firm GovPredict said there were only 83 instances of lawmakers using curse words in 2014, but the number rose to 1,571 in 2017 and to 2,409 till November 2018. The use of 'sh*t' rose from 21 times in 2014 to 1,166 four years later, while 'f**k' saw a growth from only four times in 2014 to 410 in 2018. The eunuch comment But there is one difference in India. Many obscenities that Indians toss at rivals without a second thought, besides being savage and crass in language, are personal in nature. If the epithets they fire were bullets, half of Indias political population would have been assassinated. The latest example of this gutter language is the case of UP MLA Sadhana Singh concluding that BSP leader Mayawati was worse than a eunuch. Her basis for this putrid language was that by aligning herself with Samajwadi Party whose workers had once attacked her, Mayawati gave up self-respect. The BJP MLA was referring to the 1995 incident of SP workers attacking a guesthouse where Mayawati was staying. This had forced the BSP leader to lock herself in a room and later say that she had feared rape. On his part, SP leader Mualayam Singh Yadav had shocked the nations conscience when he wondered aloud: Is she so beautiful that anyone should want to rape her? It was difficult to say which was worse: the attack on the guesthouse by SP workers or their leaders lewd sense of wit. But the lady of BJP has now plumbed deeper into the abyss of indecency by insulting both Mayawati and transgenders. Its easy to see that profanity in politics saw a huge growth in the US after Donald Trump stormed into the scene. In India, filthy language has surely seen a spike after the advent of NDA rule in 2014, but, despite the claims of some, this has more to do with the nations newly surcharged politics than Narendra Modi, whose language is nowhere near as coarse as Trumps. To say that Modi was the original progenitor of verbal thuggery is to deny the credit to Rajiv Gandhi for such gems as Hum apne virodhiyon ko unki nani yaad dila denge" (which he said to his critics) or When a big tree falls, the earth shakes (which he said about the massacre of Sikhs after Indira Gandhi's assassination). His son Rahul (or his ghost-writer) dishes out tweet after tweet to target Modi in a language just as offensive, but cloaked in an insufferable sense of humour which the lovers of the dynasty, however, hail as the coming-of-age of the familys heir. We have had foul-mouthed verbal diarrhea of all kinds: Muslim-bashing by Hindutva goons, Hindu-baiting by Islamic fundamentalists and protagonists of fake secularism, one party abusing another and then personality-based character assassination. Its tough to judge which kind is worse than the other, but India seems to excel in the political name-calling of the personal kind. So, we had Modi call Sonia Gandhi a Jersey cow in 2004. And we had Arvind Kejriwal branding Modi as a coward and a psychopath. Then Mani Shankar Aiyar discovered Modi to be a neech kism ka aadmi. Lalu Prasad Yadavs son Tej Pratap Yadav threatened to skin Modi. BJP minister Sadhvi Niranjan Jyoti asked a gathering to choose between Ramzaadon (followers of Lord Ram)" and haramzaadon (illegitimately born)". BJP MLA Heeralal Regar declared his intention to strip Sonia and Rahul and transport them to Italy. Indian leaders have turned character assassination into a fine art that gave metaphor an altogether new definition, making it their favourite (dis)figure(ment) of speech. And when bad-mouthing is considered to be superior politics, no party can resist it. The true-feelings theory It has been said by psychologists that, when sparingly used, razor-sharp language conveys a speakers true feelings and can work well to hammer home a point. But like razor, the more you use it, the blunter it gets. When what is legitimate strength of expression is stretched beyond acceptable limits, tongues and hell break loose. The true-feelings theory holds water when invectives are tossed at institutions instead of individuals. Sonia Gandhis jibe of 'maut ka saudagar' in the 2007 Gujarat Assembly election campaign lacked the crassness of the eunuch remark and indeed seemed justified in her expression of what she thought of Modi, though it ended up as a political blunder. It polarised voters against Congress, which lost that election. But if she targeted BJP, calling it a party of 'maut ke saudagaron' instead of targeting the popular Modi individually, Congress might have got away with less damage. Her son refused to learn. Rahuls childish 'khun ki dalali' (brokering in blood) wisecrack after the surgical strikes against Pakistan backfired badly on him. Modi scores over his rivals even in bad-mouthing. He could get away with his true feelings when, during the 2017 Himachal Pradesh Assembly elections, he compared Congress to termites, and his remark didnt get him into as much trouble as the merchant-of-death outburst did Sonia. But his critics hope that the prime ministers fondness for the termites metaphor which he has used at least thrice so far would one day expose his true colours instead of true feelings. EC warning to Amit Shah During the 2014 Lok Sabha election, the Election Commission banned Amit Shah from holding rallies and making speeches in Uttar Pradesh after he said the poll was an opportunity to seek revenge for the insult inflicted during the Muzaffarnagar riots. Only after Shah promised not to use abusive language did the Election Commission lift the ban, with the rider that officials would constantly video-track his speeches. This wasnt the first time that the Election Commission cracked down on abusive language. With 2019 promising an even more bitterly fought election than 2014, its more than likely that verbal abuse may plumb depths not seen so far. Parties and leaders might do well to hold their tongues, but if they dont, the Election Commission must do it for them. It must get tougher than it did in 2014 right from day one. Author tweets @sprasadindia Not that Priyanka Gandhi can single-handedly change the face of Uttar Pradesh politics, but the Congress has played its cards right, and the BJP and SP-BSP should worry. The future of the Congress in Uttar Pradesh has been uncertain since the BJP came to power in the state in 2017 with a landslide victory over the Congress-Samajwadi Party pre-poll alliance. This uncertainty grew manifold after the Samajwadi Party (SP), led by Akhilesh Yadav, and Mayawati's Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), formally announced their tie-up at a joint press conference on 12 January while keeping the Congress out of it. This came as quite a googly for political observers, who widely believed that the Congress would be part of such an anti-BJP alliance in Uttar Pradesh. In fact, the Congress was seen as integral to any alliance looking to trounce the BJP, especially in Uttar Pradesh, which plays a crucial role in the parliamentary elections with its 80 Lok Sabha seats. Congress president Rahul Gandhi reacted to the news of the SP-BSP alliance with maturity, saying he has "tremendous respect" for both former chief ministers of Uttar Pradesh and that the parties have "every right to have an alliance". Akhilesh had justified the decision, saying the Congress had been kept out of the alliance to correct the "poll arithmetic" in Uttar Pradesh. Left with no ally in the politically pivotal Uttar Pradesh, the Congress decided to make its own corrections and finally launched Priyanka Gandhi into politics on Wednesday, a move widely seen as a well-played strategy by the party. After the SP and BSP announced their tie-up, the Congress had announced that it will contest all 80 Lok Sabha seats in the state solo. Having been appointed the Congress general secretary for Uttar Pradesh East, Priyanka will now oversee the party's functioning in at least 30 constituencies that fall in this region, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Varanasi, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath's home turf Gorakhpur, brother Rahul's Amethi constituency and mother Sonia Gandhi's Rae Bareli among them. The BJP currently holds power in a majority of these seats, but looking at the caste arithmetic, it is believed that the SP-BSP alliance could bag as many 20 of them in the Lok Sabha elections this year. The Congress cannot afford to suffer another thrashing the way it did in the 2014 Lok Sabha election, and with Priyanka finally taking the political plunge, the party hopes to prevent just that. With the Priyanka card, the Congress hopes to improve the party's chances in the state by reviving Uttar Pradesh politics, as Rahul said. Now that she has been made in-charge of some of the key constituencies in Uttar Pradesh, the BJP has reason to worry. The grand old party believes it can use Priyanka's natural appeal to people to its advantage if her presence and interactions at Congress rallies are anything to go by. Priyanka could not only help woo the Brahmin and other upper caste votes back to the Congress but can also attract votes from the Muslim community, both of which could pose a risk to the BJP. The latter, however, is a threat to the SP-BSP as well, as, besides the votes of the Other Backward Classes and Scheduled Castes, the alliance depends on Muslim votes to remain afloat. Although it is debatable how much of an impact Priyanka's entry into active politics will have on the SP-BSP voter base, the Congress' latest move has introduced a new scenario in this game of chess. If she does succeed in drawing votes from the upper castes eating into the BJP base and the Muslim community (from SP-BSP vote base) to the Congress, it would give the party an edge in the predominantly-Hindu state. However, the BSP seems unperturbed by the development. "Priyanka's elevation will impact only BJP's votes voters from upper castes and trader communities, who had earlier been with the Congress but had subsequently shifted to the BJP, may return," The Indian Express quoted a BSP leader as saying. The SP-BSP front may be shielded from the Priyanka effect as OBCs have never rallied behind the Congress much, and Dalit subcastes are near-firmly behind Mayawati. "Such a situation will damage the BJP. Votes for the SP-BSP alliance, including Dalits, Muslims and Yadavs, are intact," the BSP leader said. But the SP-BSP alliance may still have reason to be wary. The two parties cannot completely overlook the influence Priyanka's entry may have on those looking for a complete change in the state. Priyanka being the only leader who has never been part of active politics or the government provides that 'change', and this category of voters may switch to the Priyanka camp in the hope for a revival of not just the political scene in Uttar Pradesh but also the state administration. The youth factor The Congress has divided Uttar Pradesh into two for organisational reasons. While launching Priyanka into politics from Uttar Pradesh East, the party also gave Jyotiraditya Scindia the charge of Uttar Pradesh West. With both Priyanka and Jyotiraditya on the helm, Rahul has stayed true to his word of letting young faces leading the Congress and getting the party's ideology across to the masses. "The new Uttar Pradesh AICC team led by Priyanka and Jyotiraditya will herald the dawn of a new kind of politics in the state," Rahul tweeted on Wednesday. With two young guns at its disposal and the renewed energy they come with, the Congress has given both the BJP and BSP-SP alliance enough reasons to be nervous, regardless of how nonchalant they may appear about the major developments in Uttar Pradesh politics. That the SP-BSP alliance can stall the saffron front's path to another victory became evident after the two defeated the BJP in the bypolls to the Gorakhpur and Phulpur seats early in 2018. But the parties are aware that both their rise and fall in Uttar Pradesh is relative to the Congress rout. The experienced, established fronts that they are, one can assume that the SP and BSP would know that going by these calculations, any revival of the Congress in the state would be at the cost of their votes. This establishes the fact that the SP-BSP combine now has a new opponent to compete against in the 76 seats where it is fielding candidates, and a major part of their efforts would be towards ensuring that the alliance draws a higher number of Muslim votes than the Congress. If not the BSP, the Samajwadi Party at least is aware of the way Priyanka can manoeuvre her way around Uttar Pradesh politics as she had been instrumental in stitching together the Congress-SP alliance ahead of the 2017 Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections. This isn't to imply that Priyanka can single-handedly change the face of Uttar Pradesh politics, but the Congress has played its cards right and chosen the right time to bring her to the battleground. The BJP and the SP-BSP alliance have reason to worry. Rahul reiterated he has full respect for leaders like BSP supremo Mayawati and Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav and his father Mulayam Singh Yadav. Amethi (Uttar Pradesh): Congress president Rahul Gandhi Thursday said he has given his sister Priyanka Gandhi, newly entrusted with eastern Uttar Pradesh, the target of ensuring that the party forms the next government in the state. The Congress will also fight the coming Lok Sabha polls with "full strength", he said at a public meeting in his constituency. His two-day visit to Amethi had coincided Wednesday with the formal entry of Priyanka Gandhi in politics, after years of speculation on whether she would take the plunge. She has been appointed general secretary for Uttar Pradesh East, while Jyotiraditya Scindia holds charge of Uttar Pradesh West. "Priyanka and Scindia have been given a target. That is to form a Congress government in Uttar Pradesh in the next election by defeating and wiping out the BJP," the Congress chief said. "Unlike Modi, I do not talk of a 'BJP-mukt Bharat' but speak with respect," Rahul said, referring to Narendra Modi's call to "free" India of the Congress. "Whether it is Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh or Tamil Nadu, everywhere the Congress will fight with full might on the front foot, and you will see that after the Vidhan Sabha elections there will be a Congress government in the state," he said. "In the Lok Sabha polls, we will contest with full strength, without taking a backward step," he said, referring to the election just months away. He criticised the Centre government over the Rafale aircraft deal and accused the prime minister of "waiving" industrialists' loans, charges countered earlier by the government. "The watchman proved to be a thief," he said, and repeated the slogan, "Gali gali mein shor hai, chowkidar chor hai". Earlier in the morning, Gandhi visited a local Shiva temple after meeting party workers at a guesthouse. Addressing a public meeting in Salon area, he termed himself, his sister and mother Sonia Gandhi as "soldiers" for the people of the constituency. While Rahul won the 2014 parliamentary elections from Amethi, Sonia Gandhi is an MP from adjacent Raebareli. Both fall under the turf carved out for Priyanka. Narendra Modi's Varanasi constituency and chief minister Yogi Adityanath's bastion Gorakhpur are also in eastern Uttar Pradesh. Rahul reiterated he has full respect for leaders like Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) supremo Mayawati and Samajwadi Party (SP) chief Akhilesh Yadav and his father Mulayam Singh Yadav. The SP and the BSP recently forged an alliance in the state for the upcoming polls, keeping the Congress out of the pact. The Congress president said the prime minister had not kept his poll promise on creating jobs, and suggested that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government had slowed development in his constituency. "You will get your food park back, not 99 percent but 101 percent. All development projects that have been stalled by Narendra Modi and Yogi ji to hurt you will be back," he said. "The BJP people are spreading hatred in the name of religion, caste and region. They get people of Uttar Pradesh and Bihar thrown out of Gujarat, get Hindus and Muslims fight each other," he charged. "Narendra Modi means hatred, he is the symbol of hatred," he said, adding "We will remove Modi in 2019 and no one can stop this." When the news of Priyanka Gandhi's entry into active politics broke on Wednesday, Kapil Sibal had welcomed her into the political realm, saying that she will 'energise cadres and be a catalyst for the rising fortunes of the Congress Party.' Kapil Sibal's latest tweet on Priyanka Gandhi's formal induction into Congress has raised speculations that apart from the party post, the Congress heiress may also be readying to make her electoral debut in 2019 Lok Sabha polls. In a not so veiled attack at Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath, Sibal stopped short of naming any names but said that Priyanka will unseat ...... from the two high profile constituencies. Sibal's tweet came on Thursday, a day after Priyanka took charge of the All India Congress Committee (AICC) in the eastern Uttar Pradesh. Taking to Twitter, Sibal wrote: Modiji and Amit Shah called for a : Congress mukt Bharat With the entry of Priyanka Gandhi in UP (East) will we see a : .............mukt Varanasi ? .............mukt Gorakhpur ? Kapil Sibal (@KapilSibal) January 24, 2019 Rumours that Priyanka may also contest polls this year as Sonia Gandhi is planning to retire from electoral politics were already abound. However, after Sibal's tweet, news channels and political pundits quoted sources to report that she might take on the two tall leaders of BJP, Narendra Modi and Yogi Adityanath who contest from Varanasi and Gorakhpur respectively. Earlier, Congress leader Abhishek Manu Singhvi had also commented that Priyanka's entry into the political arena will give sleepless nights to Adityanath and Modi, both star campaigners and top leaders of the party. "The appointment of the two young guns is definitely going to give sleepless nights for Yogiji and Modiji," Abhishek Manu Singhvi tweeted. When the news of Priyanka Gandhi's entry into active politics broke on Wednesday, Sibal had welcomed her into the political realm, saying that she will "energise cadres and be a catalyst for the rising fortunes of the Congress Party." Various other Congress leaders also welcomed Congress president Rahul Gandhi's decision to appoint his sister. Senior Congress leader and Madhya Pradesh chief minister Kamal Nath said that the move will give a big boost to the party's prospects in the upcoming Lok Sabha polls. "This (Priyanka's appointment) was long overdue and was in offing for about six months. This will be a big boost for the party in a state as important as Uttar Pradesh," Nath told PTI in an interview. Former Delhi unit chief of Congress Ajay Maken tweeted, "This is just a brilliant move by Rahul Gandhi. Priyanka Gandhi and Jyotiraditya Scindia being made general secretaries of AICC and incharges of UP... Great announcements!" Congress spokesperson Kumari Selja also responded to the news, and said that Priyanka's entry into politics will "further enthuse our party workers to defeat the nefarious agenda of the Bharatiya Janata Party". Having thundered at a 'United India' rally she had organised of 23 Opposition parties in Kolkata, chief minister Mamata Banerjee has pulled out all stops to ensure that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is defeated in the Darjeeling Lok Sabha, which with its own distinctive political dynamics, has become a fight for prestige for her. Having thundered at a "United India" rally she had organised of 23 Opposition parties in Kolkata, chief minister Mamata Banerjee has pulled out all stops to ensure that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is defeated in the Darjeeling Lok Sabha, which with its own distinctive political dynamics, has become a fight for prestige for her. Mamata claimed that the BJPs tally in West Bengal, among certain other states, will be "zero" in the forthcoming general elections. Coming close on the heels of the Kolkata rally, where the gauntlet was thrown at the BJP, the political significance of Mamata's visit to the Darjeeling Hills cannot be overstated, even though a high-point was a public assembly in Darjeeling on Wednesday to commemorate the birth anniversary of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose. Without mentioning the BJP, Mamata said that those bent on breaking the country into bits could not provide national leaders." Having won the seat for two successive terms, the BJP seems to have cut a sorry picture for itself in the Hills where the political scenario, ever since the 104-day June-September 2017 agitation for statehood, has been marked with a tussle for supremacy between the regional surrogates of Mamata's Trinamool Congress and the BJP. Not only has the BJP been berated for not living up to the assurances given by Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh in September 2017, when he said that the Centre would be convening tripartite talks to find ways out of the crisis precipitated by the statehood demand. Local BJP MP and Union Minister of State S S Ahluwalia has been held accountable for not having visited the Hills since the agitation. Prime Minister Narendra Modi's remark "the dream of Gorkhas is my dream," while campaigning in the run-up to the last elections, appears to have faded into an echo. Mamata, on the other hand, has made significant strides in regaining her popularity after deeming it prudent to stay away from the region for nearly seven months, during and in the aftermath, of the statehood agitation precipitated by TMC governments miscalculation of the volatility of the political situation back then. But since, she seems to have successfully out-manoeuvred her detractors, primarily by weaning over support of a dominant section of the leadership of the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha(GJM) the principal political player in the region though turning it into a site for a proxy tussle involving her and the BJP. The backing of the GJM is critical for electoral success in the Hills. It is against such a backdrop that the recent commitment by the Binay Tamang-led faction of the GJM to supporting a third party alliance in the coming parliamentary polls should be viewed. Tamang, who was anointed by Mamata's helmsman of the Board that runs the affairs of the Gorkhaland Territorial Administration (GTA), a semi-autonomous regional body and for which elections are long overdue, was among those present on the dais of the United India Kolkata congregation. Subsequently, he made the GJMs electoral preference official, adding that the GJM, a partner in the NDA for the last ten years, was pulling out of the alliance. On the future of the GTA , Mamata hinted at the Darjeeling rally that augment powers of the GTA was on the cards, stating that 'the accord (for the setting up of the GTA) will be renewed after the Lok Sabha elections. Tamang's announcement of support to the third party alliance, however, has been questioned by the opposing faction within the GJM, led by fugitive leader Bimal Gurung. In a social media post shortly after, a leader of the pro-BJP camp, dismissed the announcement, arguing that Tamang is in no position to speak for the GJM as he had been expelled from the party in September 2017. This was rubbished by Tamang asserting that it was he who had replaced Gurung as party chief in deference to a decision of the GJM central committee. Mamata, in the months since the last statehood agitation in 2017, has steadily consolidated her grip over the Hills despite red-lining the demand for a separate state. She has done this by throwing up a collage of authorities locally in the form of committees and development boards for various ethnic communities. They were designed to protect your (the Gorkha) identity and greater development in the hills, she said at Wednesdays rally. The chief minister's moves have been widely construed as attempts to tap into the feelings of bitterness, betrayal and exhaustion spawned by the protracted shutdown and the BJP-led Centres failure to address the outstanding problems of the region. These also include New Delhi making little progress in granting tribal status for eleven Hill communities an issue which is turning into a fulcrum of local politics and which the Tamang-faction of the GJM would like the third party alliance to promote. Presently such a status is enjoyed by about 34 percent of the local population, which could grow to more than 70 percent if the eleven communities are included. The state government has given the (required) letter (of assent). But till today the Centre has done nothing...Why does it take so long? she asked. Such a development could facilitate Sixth Schedule status to the region, a demand prioritised by another important local political entity the Gorkha National Liberation Front (GNLF) which had spearheaded the statehood campaign in the mid-1980s. It is significant that the leaders who met Mamata in the course of her visit to Darjeeling expressed their satisfaction following the talks, indicating they could support her choice for the coming polls, as was the case in the 2014 elections. Was Jyotiraditya Scindia given 2019 Lok Sabha election duty in Uttar Pradesh West in order to make way for Madhya Pradesh chief minister and Congress leader Kamal Nath to go unchallenged in the state? In the days that led to 28 November, when the 230 Assembly constituencies in Madhya Pradesh went to the polls, Jyotiraditya Scindia toured nearly 100 of them. His role in the Congress' campaign had acquired such a strong, unrelenting, personal note that the message was loud and clear that he would like nothing more than to become chief minister. He did not, however, become chief minister. And now that Jyotiraditya has been moved to Uttar Pradesh on Lok Sabha poll duty, the question begs to be asked if it was to make life easier for the man who did become chief minister, Kamal Nath. On Wednesday, in one of the most publicised developments in the run up to the 2019 General Election, Congress chief Rahul Gandhi announced that his sister Priyanka Gandhi Vadra was to formally enter politics as party general secretary in charge of polling activities in Uttar Pradesh East. For the West, he named Scindia. "Priyanka and Jyotiraditya in Uttar Pradesh will spread the real Congress ideology and change the politics of Uttar Pradesh," Rahul said. What is overtly an effort to harness the possibilities offered by two charming, younger politicians in a state important for the Congress, could well be a deployment for Jyotiraditya that will shift his focus from a state where he has significant clout. Jyotiraditya is popular enough in Madhya Pradesh to have won four successive times from his constituency in Guna. He is popular enough to have been one of the only two Congress leaders who won in Madhya Pradesh in 2014, when the BJP swept 27 of the 29 Lok Sabha seats. The other Congress leader who won was Kamal Nath. A nine-time former MP, Kamal Nath has long enjoyed closeness with the Gandhi family. He has been one of Sanjay Gandhi's closest friends, Indira Gandhi's closest aides after her 1977 electoral defeat and one of Rajiv Gandhi's few trusted lieutenants in the 80s. When he was announced as Madhya Pradesh chief minister, his role in the 1984 anti-Sikh riots notwithstanding, comparisons were drawn to how Jyotiraditya had missed out on the chair just as his father Madhavrao Scindia had, in 1989, to Motilal Vora. Jyotiraditya had been open about his chief ministerial ambitions. "It would be an honour to serve as chief minister," he had told NDTV. He has served as minister of state for telecom and information technology and commerce and also as minister of state (independent charge) of power in two UPA governments. Amidst rumours of mounting tension between him and Kamal Nath, who enjoys his own degree of wild popularity in the state, Jyotiraditya made little effort to hide his disappointment. "Many of the party's decisions go against what you wish, but such is life... Don't think Kamal Nath or Ashok Gehlot spent more time in the respective states than me or Sachin Pilot," he told India Today. Pilot was made deputy to Ashok Gehlot when it came to choosing a chief minister of Rajasthan, in circumstances similar to Madhya Pradesh's. In the one-and-half months for which he has been chief minister, Nath has waived farmer loans in keeping with the Congress's pre-election promise and the time is ripe for him to settle into his two very important roles as chief minister and Madhya Pradesh Congress chief. Reports have pointed out that Jyotiraditya's journey to Uttar Pradesh could well mean that the Congress has effectively handed over responsibility of leading the party into the Lok Sabha polls in Madhya Pradesh to Kamal Nath and Digvijaya Singh. On Monday, Jyotiraditya paid a late night call to recently defeated former Madhya Pradesh chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan. The visit had set off a buzz among circles, mostly because the Scindia scion usually prefers to stay away from Bhopal, reported News18. Both leaders maintained the visit was a courtesy call, but the report noted that Chouhan, too, had been snubbed by his own party for the Leader of Oppositions post. In another stroke of similarity with Jyotiraditya, Chouhan too was kept away from Madhya Pradesh by BJP leadership which has named him national vice-president, the report pointed out. Another News18 report says this was despite Chouhan's open declaration that he wishes to remain in Madhya Pradesh. Jyotiraditya's task in Uttar Pradesh is a tall one, points out India Today. The Mayawati-Akhilesh Yadav alliance, with a possibility of Ajit Singh's Rashtriya Lok Dal joining, and the BJP government of Yogi Adityanath already in power, offers manifold challenges to the Congress leader in a state where he does not have a constituency that supports not just him but his lineage. Kamal Nath, meanwhile, tweeted congratulations to Jyotiraditya, Priyanka and new Congress general secretary KC Venugopal, from Davos where he is attending the World Economic Forum, on Wednesday. With Priyanka Gandhi joining Congress, Rahul Gandhi may have stumbled upon a veritable strategy to if not revive Congress but at least add to Narendra Modis difficulties in Indias most crucial state that sends 80 lawmakers to the Lok Sabha There are many ways of looking at the Priyanka Gandhi announcement. Much has already been written and much more remains to be said. The simplest way of describing Rahul Gandhis decision to appoint Priyanka as general secretary in charge of Uttar Pradesh (East) is that it is the proverbial last throw of the dice. It is a desperate Congress way of saying, as James Bond said in the film Casino Royale, Im all in. The 2019 Lok Sabha election isnt just another election for Congress. It is the last chance to sustain the inherently feudal structure of the party and ensure the client-patron relationship between the family and the party continues, and the party doesnt splinter into factions. That could be an irrevocable process because the Congress is a much weaker unit now than it was at any point in time in its history. It not only faces a formidable challenge from the BJP but also a growing challenge from an electorate that is slowly learning how to harness the true power of democracy. As Indian economy grows, more people will be pulled out of poverty, the nation will rise and grow more confident, and with it, the old feudal structure that operated under the garb of a democratic political system will come under increasing threat. Rahul, however, doesnt need to worry about all that just yet as these churnings are slow and will take generations. He has a simple task at hand. In order to ensure Congress' survival, all that Rahul needs to do is to make sure that Narendra Modi doesnt return to power and Congress betters its 2014 performance. To get to this task, Rahul must ensure that Congress improves upon the abysmal performance of his party in Uttar Pradesh, the most consequential state in general elections. In 2014, Congress suffered a 10.75 percent swing in vote share to garner just 7.5 percent votes that translated into two seats. Three years later, during the Uttar Pradesh Assembly polls, the party was left wiping the floors when its pre-poll alliance with Samajwadi Party suffered a spectacular implosion. The BJP's commanding win sapped the morale of the party leadership and Congress almost became non-existent on the ground. The subsequent bypolls reinforced the inconsequential nature of Congress presence. Its graph was hitting the bottom. The first thing for Rahul Gandhi was to ensure that Congress retains a modicum of presence in Uttar Pradesh, so that it may have a bargaining chip. In excluding Congress from their tie-up, the Samajwadi Party and Bahujan Samaj Party ironically gave Rahul a clearer path to follow. Sometimes not having options is a good thing. It brings clarity. Rahul and his advisors clearly believe that fielding Priyanka from eastern Uttar Pradesh that encompasses roughly 40 seats and includes the family bastions of Rae Bareli and Amethi, and Prime Minister Narendra Modis Varanasi constituency, will send the right signals for Congress rank and file. This move may have been borne out of desperation because Rahul had no other aces up his sleeve but then the motivation behind a decision is no indication of its success or failure. Priyankas formal induction into the party may work for several reasons. One, the grassroots workers will be clearly energised as has been witnessed already since the news broke out on Wednesday. The value of this shouldnt be underestimated. Witness the way Narendra Modi has been holding regular interactions with BJPs booth-level workers through the mera booth, sabse majboot initiative. Second, Priyankas entry throws a spanner into BJPs caste calculations. Between the Samajwadi Party and the Bahujan Samaj Party, the Muslim and Dalit votes have been accounted for. The BJP could try a combination of other castes to go with the backing from their traditional upper caste vote bank, but here, Priyanka may ruin the saffron partys pitch. Third, Congress may rightfully hope that the media will act as Priyankas public relations arm and amplify her persona and appeal, and subsequently help in attracting the middle-class swing voters who seem to be disillusioned with the BJP. Here, Priyankas image as a more natural politician, a better communicator and a more television-friendly persona than her brother may work in her favour. Some analysts such as Devesh Kapur of Johns Hopkins Universitys School of Advanced International Studies feel that as an individual, Priyanka may hardly make a difference given the structural impediments of the Congress party in Uttar Pradesh... You cant build a base overnight, he was quoted, as saying in The Financial Express. But Priyanka doesnt need to build a base. Fourth point, the reason why this experiment may work for the Congress, is that there could be a tacit understanding between the Samajwadi Party, Bahujan Samaj Party and the Congress it is known as the Jangipur model in some quarters whereby Congress may target 15-20 Lok Sabha seats and go all out while in the rest it might be content in shaving off some of the BJPs upper caste vote pie. The SP and BSP may field weak candidates in those 15-20 seats. Both parties have already decided not to field candidates in Rae Bareli and Amethi. Fifth, Priyankas role in eastern Uttar Pradesh is significant. It includes Modis Varanasi constituency and both the prime minister and Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath, are expected to spend a fair bit of time there. If Priyanka, through the hype and hoopla generated in media, succeeds in tying down Modi to his constituency at least cause him to spend more time there than he would have otherwise it would hamper BJPs plans of fielding its star campaigner elsewhere in the country. Modi remains BJPs biggest vote-catcher, and Adityanath has also been fielded in places such as Karnataka in that capacity. What we see, therefore, is that out of desperation Rahul may have stumbled upon a veritable strategy to if not revive the Congress but at least add to Modis difficulties in Indias most crucial state that sends 80 lawmakers to the Lok Sabha. Rahul is going for broke, and his sister presents him with the last chance to turn the tide. Keeping in tune with the focus of the 12th edition of the Jaipur Literature Festival all things science the keynote address at the inaugural session will be delivered by the structural biologist and Nobel laureate, Sir Venki Ramakrishnan on The Role of Science in Today's World The annual Kumbh Mela of literature at the Diggi Palace in Jaipur is set to kick off on 24 January and thousands already have gotten in line to get the best seats and catch the most colourful discussions this season has to offer. The 2019 edition of the ZEE Jaipur Literature Festival (JLF) will open with the inaugural session, Imagining Our Worlds, on the front lawn of the palace with an address by co-director Namita Gokhale and Sanjoy K Roy accompanied by Ruth Padel's poetry reading of The First Cell on Earth. Keeping in tune with the focus of the 12th edition of the annual extravaganza all things science the keynote address at the inaugural session will be delivered by the structural biologist and Nobel laureate, Sir Venki Ramakrishnan on The Role of Science in Today's World. On the morning of the first day of the JLF, the deputy chief minister of Rajasthan, Sachin Pilot and journalist Sreenivasan Jain will explore the topic Democracy, Freedom and the Political Process: Looking to the Future. Presented by Dainik Bhaskar, filmmaker Pradip Krishen will host the Norwegian novelist, scriptwriter and children's author, Maja Lunde in a session entitled, Imagine a World without Bees, that will discuss the prevalent issue of the reduced population of bees, crucial for pollination, and its impact on the environment. One of the leading voices of the feminist movement, the author of works such as The Female Eunuch, Shakespeare's Wife and The Whole Woman, Australian writer Germaine Greer is also scheduled to attend the 2019 edition of the one-stop literary delight for audiences across the country. Journalist Bee Rowlatt will engage in a discussion with Greer on the afternoon of the first day in the session, Beyond the Female Eunuch. Also read: Zee Jaipur Literature Festival 2019: Your guide to the authors and must-attend events at this 12th edition Also in the line-up of the festival is the panel discussion presented by Nordic Lights, titled Reading and Conversations, comprising a delightful mix of writers such as the Icelandic author Einar Karason (Devil's Island) and Norwegian writer Hanne Orstavik, among others, in conversation with Margit Walso. The discussions, Woman in the Window author AJ Finn in conversation with Amrita Tripathi, So Many Books, So Little Time Urvashi Butalia with Juergen Boos and How to be Human Ruby Wax with the celebrated writer Jerry Pinto, are among some of the other highlights of the first day of the literature festival. The last of the events on Day 1 include a conversation between the Pulitzer Prize-winning author Colson Whitehead (The Underground Railroad) and writer Kanishk Tharoor. To be held at Charbagh immediately afterward is the book launch of Namita Waikar's work on our agrarian crisis, The Long March, by veteran activist and founder of the Mazdoor Kisan Shakti Sangathan, Aruna Roy. The author, who is the managing editor of the People's Archive of Rural India (PARI) will also engage in a conversation with Mahesh Rao at JLF 2019. A talk by Christopher de Hamel introduced by Dan Jones on Meetings with Remarkable Manuscripts is also a part of Day 1 of the festival. The literature festival's first day will draw to a close with sessions such as the conversation, Writing About Writing, with yet another Pulitzer awardee, Andrew Sean Greer and the author of Eating Wasps, Anita Nair, moderated by Prayaag Akbar and Autumn in Venice: Ernest Hemingway and his Last Muse, Andrea di Robilant in conversation with Carlo Pizzati, a part of The J Paul Getty Trust Series. The Zee Jaipur Literature Festival will go on from 24 January to 28 January 2019 at the Diggi Palace in Jaipur, Rajasthan. More details here. Historical and mythological literature have swerved towards female protagonists, with authors giving them interesting twists and disrupting beliefs both traditional and religious, and sometimes, even historically documented facts Why are there so many women on the throne? wonders Riyaz Khan in The Queens Last Salute. As a matter of fact, there was nothing extraordinary about this. India has had several women wear the crown through the centuries leading up to the Revolt of 1857, among whom the queen of Jhansi, Maharani Lakshmibai, is perhaps the best known. But, there were others, too, who were equally illustrious and who ruled with aplomb. Barring a few names such as Queen Didda of Kashmir, who ruled in the 10th century and has been talked about in Kalhanas Rajtarangini, Razia Sultan, Rani Rudramma Devi, Chand Bibi, Ahilyabai Holkar and Begum Hazrat Mahal, not much has been documented about the other female rulers in literature, such as Rani Avantibai, Rani Veli Nachiyar, Uda Devi, Rani Durgavati, Keladi Chennamma or Kittur Chennamma; nor have they been represented in popular culture and in contemporary literature. The Queens Last Salute is not just a story about Lakshmibai, the queen of Jhansi. It is, in fact, the story of female heroism that stretches beyond the portrayal of a queen who was as much at ease being a mother, as being an astute diplomat and a warrior. It is also the story of Chandraki, an ordinary woman, a lady-in-waiting to the queen, who was just as brave. Though she did not carry a royal title, she was in every way as heroic and brave as her beloved queen. Chandraki, like many women before her, emerged as an audacious, fearless fighter despite humble beginnings. Such women broke through the stereotypical roles of being supportive and nurturing. They chose instead to draw up the battle lines. So, who is Chandraki? Did she really exist? Perhaps. Perhaps, not. She could be Jhalkari Bai, or Motibai, or Sundar, Mundar or even Kashibai women who played significant roles in Lakshmibais life both as a companion and later, her comrades-in-arms. Chandraki could be anyone of them, or all of them combined, or none of them. But, to me, she is the archetype of the combative minority of women characters who exist in our history and may well have been epitomised in Indian literature. She could be Bankim Chandras Shanti or Devi Chaudhurani, or Amish Tripathis version of Sita. She could be Devi Yashodharans Aremis, or Chitrangada, the princess of Manipur and wife of Arjuna, who first appears in the Mahabharata and who is later, in a delightful turn, presented as a warrior princess in Rabindranath Tagores play Chitrangada. Though over the centuries, women have been deified and glorified in myths, they were expected to always be willing to sacrifice and submit to the commands of the men in their lives. Thats how we knew them, thats how they were portrayed, and thats how they were preferred by most. And, even if there were women who played a significant role in changing the destiny of a nation and displayed great courage, their roles were mostly non-militarist in nature, and who were eulogised for their 'moral courage and quiet strength'. In fact, Mahatma Gandhi, too, subscribed to a similar school of thought. Mahima S Acttuthan, in her article Gandhi on the Role of Women in Freedom Struggle, says that Gandhi chose to reject Rani Lakshmibais militaristic contributions as a symbol of female strength for women to emulate, and advocated instead an alternative non-violent representation. Aggressiveness and forceful intervention, as represented by the Rani, was not seen as a viable tool for attaining Swaraj or political power in the movement. Women were to instead use their superior qualities of passivity, patience and self-sacrifice to attain their goals. Representing Gandhi's perception of the ideal Indian woman, female followers were encouraged to embody the virtues of purity, firmness and self-control. He urged women to be as self-reliant as Draupadi and upholders of superior moral courage as seen in the chaste Sita. The Mahatma used the aid of religious and traditional symbols of Indian womanhood to convey a complex socio-political message. In doing so, Gandhi also limited the definition of female strength by restricting it to the passive realm of moral and spiritual courage, says Acttuthan. Also read on Firstpost How Lakshmibai became Rani of Jhansi: Read an excerpt from Moupia Basu's book, The Queen's Last Salute Rani Lakshmibai, who came into prominence nearly half a century before Mahatma Gandhi, and who wielded the sword from an early age, did just the opposite. The Rani embodied the sort of feminine strength that is usually associated with masculine bravery. Embarking on a new journey her reign of martial prowess began, where she not just assumed the role of the military leader, but raised an equally capable force of female soldiers, says Acttuthan. This later found resonance in the Rani Lakshmibai regiment in Subhash Chandra Boses Indian National Army. Her example of feminine bravery thus lends a vastly different perspective to the traditional definition of female heroism as seen in Gandhian philosophy. Feminine bravery, though, cannot be limited to the role of a warrior queen, but extends to that of her close aides as well, whom the queen herself in most cases, trained in warfare and espionage. Besides the queens who took to the battlefield, there were others of more humble origin who did remarkable work for the cause of the nation in terms of both military combat and espionage. There were spies such as Saraswathi Rajamani, Noor Inayat Khan, Azizun Bai, and Sehmat Khan. With the exception of Sehmat Khan on whom the book Calling Sehmat was based, the others are hardly talked about. Then there are the likes of Jhalkari Bai, or Motibai from Lakshmibais own court. Like them, there may have been ordinary women in other kingdoms, too, who have not been documented. These women fought at the forefront of the battle lines and defied the conventional stereotype that women simply play the role of supporters and nurturers. It is interesting to note that in the last decade, a whole lot of women from our history and mythology have resurfaced and reared their heads like the proverbial Medusa in contemporary Indian fiction, in avatars drastically different from those perceived or known until now. Both historical and mythological fiction have swerved towards female protagonists, with the authors giving them interesting twists and disrupting beliefs both traditional and religious, and sometimes, even historically documented facts. This is perhaps in keeping with the current milieu where women are emerging out of the closets and are increasingly seen to be fighting for their rights and for justice. So, is Indian historical and mythological fiction becoming feminist? Perhaps. Just as well for our lion-hearted ladies, whose names until now were lost in the sands of time despite their outstanding contributions. They rightfully deserve their moment under the sun. Its never too late to dust off the layers of obscurity under which they lie buried. There are so many women out there. Their stories need to be told. Its great that so many writers are now making such women the protagonists of their novels. In that case, we are in for an exciting phase of Indian fiction writing. Moupia Basu is the author of The Queen's Last Salute: The story of the Rani of Jhansee and the 1857 mutiny, published by Juggernaut in January 2019 Many years ago, author and journalist Andrea di Robilant was on a walk with a few friends in Venice when they entered a property by mistake. It turned out to belong to Gianfranco Ivancich, brother to Adriana, the young Venetian girl who captured the attention of Ernest Hemingway and became his muse. Call it serendipity. Many years ago, author and journalist Andrea di Robilant was on a walk with a few friends in Venice when they entered a property by mistake. It turned out to belong to Gianfranco Ivancich, brother to Adriana, the young Venetian girl who captured the attention of Ernest Hemingway and became his muse. At the time, Gianfranco was well into his nineties and had recently had a stroke. Instead of kicking out the trespassers, he invited them home for a cup of tea. During that conversation he happened to mention that he recently sold the last batch of Hemingways letters to the JFK Library in Boston. You could see Robilants ears perking up. Initially I wasnt so much fascinated by Hemingway as I was by the material I found: a rich correspondence between him and Adriana, the 18-year-old girl he met in Venice and fell in love with. It seemed to me the letters showed Hemingway in an interesting new light: tender, generous, protective, deeply sentimental. I thought there was an interesting story to tell. And it was an interesting entry point for me into Hemingways life, says Andrea. In 2018, he released Autumn in Venice: Ernest Hemingway and his Last Muse, a book that is a deep dive into the relationship between the writer and the woman who inspired him to write the seminal, Pulitzer Prize-winning The Old Man and the Sea. Fun fact: Andreas great uncle, Carlo di Robilant, was a part of Hemingways coterie of writers back in 1948. Andrea will be speaking about this book and his other work at the Zee Jaipur Literature Festival 2019. It is his second appearance at the festival, which he says is a unique opportunity to listen to writers from Asia, Africa and the Indian subcontinent and get a sense of where things are in the world, away from the Atlantic pond. Andreas first visit to India was as an 18-year-old, on his way to Kathmandu. The most vivid memory is arriving in the plains of Punjab on a bus from Pakistan and being struck by the colours, the women in their beautiful clothes, he says. He returned several times as a journalist. Travel, it appears, has always held Andrea in thrall. Born in Rome in 1957, Andrea studied history and politics at Columbia University. He has taught in Iran, gone on a hippy trail across Afghanistan, Pakistan, India, Nepal and South East Asia, and has travelled the world as a journalist for Italian newspapers. Iran had a great impact on his life. I travelled there right after high school in the mid-seventies and taught English at the state university. I was interested in architectural ruins, the ancient history, and the timeless life in the countryside. In Tehran, instead, you felt the growing chasm between the privileged elite around the Shah and the rest of the population. The whole experience left a strong impression on me, he says. If Iran fascinates Andrea, Venice appears to be his muse he shuttles between Rome and Venice. Andrea has written five non-fiction books set in the city. His Venetian ancestry can be traced in A Venetian Affair and the sequel, Lucia: A Venetian Life in the Age of Napoleon. Both books are, again, based on letters he and his father found in the attic of their home. They speak of a clandestine love story of two teenagers in 18th century Venice, and the fall and rise of a new age during the Napoleonic period, as witnessed by his great-great-great-great-grandmother Lucia. Irresistible North tells the story of two Venetian brothers who sailed to the North Atlantic at the end of the 14th century, and Chasing the Rose is the search for the identity of a pink rose that grew wild on the family's former country estate (and is linked to Lucia). Venice has been a source of inspiration to me for nearly two decades. Not by design! Very simply, the archives are so filled with wonderful material and stories that one book led to another. Im trying to change course but my publishers want one more [book set in Venice]! Its a group portrait of three fascinating and very talented young Venetians Renaissance Boys I call them who helped usher in the modern world each in his own way. Its about printing and publishing and map-making, he says. It is Andreas work as a journalist that inspired his love for travel. Journalism has helped me develop an instinct for a good story and pursue it doggedly. Another lesson is you always want to go to the places you write about. Places always yield an unexpected something, he says, though he seldom travels now that he has retired as a journalist. Currently, Andrea is a teacher of creative non-fiction and travel writing at Romes John Cabot University. Teaching, he says, helps him improve his own writing, keeps complacency at bay and keeps him in touch with young people and thus, with the world around him. The students from very different backgrounds and different countries enlighten me, enrich my life and have wonderful stories to tell, he says. Has he finished writing about his family? I hope not! he says. The last book I wrote on my family was Chasing the Rose and we have since developed a perfume based on that rose Rosa Moceniga. Hopefully, I will stop writing books about my family but I will sell a lot of perfume. If nothing else, he always has invitations from other families to write about their secrets! Thursday, January 24, 2019 at 4:02AM Samsung just released what phones will be getting Android Pie update in the coming months. Included in the list are two new devices expected to launch in the next few days: the Galaxy M10 and Galaxy M20. The update seems to be heading to most of its existing lineup. This coming month, the Galaxy Note8 and S8 series will be the first ones to get the updateif Samsung sticks to this schedule, that is. Source: SamMobile Justice (retired) Madan B Lokur, who once led the public revolt against then CJI Dipak Misra alongside Justice Ranjan Gogoi, no longer sees eye to eye with his long-time associate and the current Chief Justice of India. Justice (retired) Madan B Lokur, who last year stood alongside Ranjan Gogoi now Chief Justice of India at a press conference of senior judges against former CJI Dipak Misra, seemingly no longer sees eye to eye with his long-time associate. Lokur has been thought of as a close friend of Gogoi, their association going back to their graduation years when they were students at Delhi Universitys Law Faculty, according to The Indian Express. Speaking at a farewell function of justice Lokur in December, Gogoi referred to their five decades of association and said it was an emotional moment for him when his friend was retiring as an apex court judge, The Times of India reported. Now, just months later, Lokur said he is disappointed that the Supreme Court broke protocol by not publishing the resolution of the collegium in December that reportedly cleared the names of justices Pradeep Nandrajog and Rajendra Menon to the Supreme Court. "It does disappoint me that the resolution passed on 12 December, 2018, wasn't put in public domain. But why it wasn't is not my business," Lokur said, speaking at an interaction in New Delhi on 'State of the Indian Judiciary' organised by legal news portal The Leaflet. Lokur's comment, while subtle and inoffensive on the face, is an admission that all is still not well with the manner in which judges are being selected. The ongoing controversy also puts the onus on CJI-headed collegium to bring more transparency. Lokur was one of the four senior judges (along with CJI Gogoi) of the apex court who staged a virtual revolt against the then CJI Misra by holding an unprecedented press conference on 12 January, 2018. Ironically, the point of dissent against the chief justice also included a matter of appointment and the lack of transparency within the judiciary. Now, while Misra was accused of being arbitrary and autocratic in allotting cases to judges, on his part, he did uphold transparency in judiciary by coming up with the rule of making public all resolutions passed by the collegium. This time around, the onus lies on CJI Gogoi to bring more transparency to the system. The collegium, while it still included Lokur, recommended the elevation of justices Nandrajog and Menon after its 12 December meeting. However, this resolution was not made public. After the retirement of Lokur on 30 December, this decision was reportedly reconsidered by the new collegium at its meeting on 10 January. The collegium ultimately decided to elevate justices Maheshwari and Khanna and bypass several senior judges. The new collegium, which now includes Justice Arun Mishra, cited the discovery of some additional material as the reason behind the decision. However, justice Lokur said he was not aware of the additional material that emerged after his retirement which led the collegium to its decision against elevating the senior judges. He said he was not privy to the developments between 12 December and 10 January that may have influenced the collegium's decision. "A meeting was held on 12 December, 2018. Certain decisions were taken. But what happened between 12 December and 10 January, I am not privy to, so I can't say," justice Lokur said. "What happens in the collegium is something done in confidence. I'm not going to betray anyone's trust by saying whether we discussed this or not, but certain decisions were taken. It's a matter of trust and confidence. We take certain decisions which have to be uploaded on the Supreme Court website." Lokur, however, asserted that healthy discussions take place at collegium meetings and agreements and disagreements are part of it, even though he admit that system needed tweaking. "The system needs to improve. I dont think the system has failed, Were dealing with human beings, were not dealing with machines. Certain things in the system may need tweaking but its not a failure," Bar and Bench quoted him as saying. He also advocated time-bound decisions on the recommendations of the collegium by the executive and said that in the event of no response from government it can be deemed to be accepted. He added that it was public knowledge that government on many instances has sat on the collegium's recommendations for months, perhaps in reference to to the case of Justice KM Joseph's elevation to the Supreme Court when the Centre sat on the files for months. Skirting any direct questions about Gogoi, Lokur also opposed a suggestion that the additional material pertaining to the two judges be put in public domain by the CJI. The retired judge evaded questions as to whether Justice Gogoi, who was in the panel to select the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) director, should have heard former CBI chief Alok Verma's petition as on Tuesday as he refused to hear a plea challenging the appointment of the agency's interim director M Nageswar Rao. Lokur said although the CJI heard and decided Verma's petition against his divesting of powers, that did not mean he should also hear the case against the acting CBI director as he was part of the selection panel to choose the central probe agency's chief. "Are you suggesting that he (CJI) should have heard the case and taken a meeting tomorrow?" Lokur asked. Lokur also skirted questions on the CJI being a part of the bench hearing the politically sensitive Ayodhya land dispute case and the Rafale matter. Lokur requested all not to make a specific mention of any case being heard either by the CJI or any other judges. Speaking on the 12 January, 2018, press conference by the four senior judges, Lokur said it was worth holding and that it "achieved something". The press conference brought some openness in the functioning of Supreme Court, Lokur added. With inputs from agencies An official statement said that the 'most important part' of the amendments is that they will 'significantly improve the financial resources and powers' of the autonomous districts councils in Assam, Meghalaya, Mizoram and Tripura. New Delhi: Aiming to woo the tribal population in the North East ahead of the Lok Sabha polls, the NDA government on Wednesday decided to grant more power and funds to 10 autonomous councils in the region. The Union Cabinet approved a "landmark" constitutional amendment to increase the powers of the autonomous councils in the Sixth Schedule areas of the North East. The Finance Commission will be mandated to recommend devolution of financial resources to them, an official statement said. The amendment also provides for transfer of additional 30 subjects including departments of Public Works, Forests, Public Health Engineering, Health and Family Welfare, Urban Development and Food and Civil Supply to Karbi Anglong Autonomous Territorial Council and Dima Hasao Autonomous Territorial Council in Assam. "The cabinet approves landmark amendment to Article 280 and Sixth Schedule of the Constitution. The most important part of these amendments is that these will significantly improve the financial resources and powers of the autonomous districts councils in Assam, Meghalaya, Mizoram and Tripura, fulfilling longstanding aspirations of the tribal population in these northeastern states," the statement read. A bill in this regard is expected to be introduced in the upcoming session of Parliament, a home ministry official said. "This will be a game changer, as it will substantially enhance the funds available to these local government institutions for undertaking development works in these tribal areas," the official said. The proposed amendments provide for elected village municipal councils, ensuring democracy at the grassroots level. The village councils will be empowered to prepare plans for economic development and social justice including those related to agriculture, land improvement, implementation of land reforms, minor irrigation, water management, animal husbandry, rural electrification, small scale industries and social forestry. At least one-third of the seats will be reserved for women in the village and municipal councils in the Sixth Schedule areas of Assam, Mizoram and Tripura and at least two of the nominated members in all autonomous councils in the North East Sixth Schedule areas resulting in empowerment of women. There will be State Election Commissions for holding elections to the autonomous councils, village and municipal councils in the areas of Assam, Mizoram and Tripura. There will be a provision for anti-defection too. Meghalaya has for the time being kept out of the purview of the provision for elected village and municipal councils and one-third reservations for women. The amendments will fulfil the commitments made under tripartite Memorandum of Settlements signed by Government of India, governments of Assam and Meghalaya, United People's Democratic Solidarity (UPDS), Dima Halam Daogah (DHD) and Achik National Volunteers' Council (ANVC). The amendments propose to rename the existing autonomous councils as Karbi Anglong Autonomous Territorial Council (KAATC), Dima Hasao Autonomous Territorial Council (DHATC), Garo Hills Autonomous Territorial Council (GHATC), Khasi Hills Autonomous Territorial Council (KHATC), Jaintia Hills Autonomous Territorial Council (JHATC) and Tripura Tribal Area Autonomous Territorial Council (TTAATC) as the present jurisdiction of these councils extend to more than one districts. There will also be increase in seats in KAATC (from 30 to 50 seats), DHATC (30 to 40 seats), GHATC (30 to 42), KHATC (30 to 40) and JHATC (30 to 34). Haryana fire and emergency services officials, along with three National Disaster Response Teams (NDRF) reached the site of the collapse in Gurugram's Ullawas village to to assist in the operations The toll in the Gurugram building collapse rose to six after two more bodies were recovered from the rubble of a four-storey building Thursday, ANI reported. #UPDATE Building collapse in Ullawas, Gurugram: Two more dead bodies recovered from the site of collapse. Death toll rises to 6. Operations are still underway. ANI (@ANI) January 24, 2019 Haryana fire and emergency services officials, along with three National Disaster Response Teams (NDRF) reached the site of the collapse in Ullawas village to to assist in the operations. ANI quoted Sanjeev Singla, SDM Gurugram as saying that the building was unstable and was being built "without any technical expertise." He told the news portal that almost 150 people are carrying out rescue operations, and the exact number of people trapped under the debris is yet to be ascertained. Earlier, ANI reported that least five people were trapped under the building. Haryana: More than five people trapped after a four-storey building collapsed in Ullawas, Gurugram, early morning today. Rescue operation underway. pic.twitter.com/Ac1B0JA4ct Building collapses are not uncommon in the national capital region (NCR). One man succumbed to injuries sustained from a roof collapse in northwest Delhi's Swaroop Nagar on 1 October, 2018, The Times of India reported. A similar accident was also reported in July, where two adjacent buildings collapsed in Greater Noidas Shahberi village, killing three people. As per a report from The Times of India, the incident put the spotlight on the increasing illegal constructions across the NCR region. According to the report, a building must have a maximum height of 15 metres, depending on the strength of the land. The report estimates that at least a thousand buildings in Gurugram are above 25 to 40 metres in height, leaving them vulnerable to accidents. With inputs from agencies According to police, Baramulla, located in the north of Jammu and Kashmir on Wednesday became the first district in the state to have eliminated all surviving militants. Jammu: Jammu and Kashmir Governor Satya Pal Malik on Thursday said that killing terrorists was not the solution. "I feel bad if there is loss of even one life, even if that is of a terrorist. I feel sad about the fact that they could not be brought back to the mainstream. Terrorism is not in the gun but in the head," Malik said. He further said that all the militants should come back to the mainstream and a good rehabilitation offer will be made for their settlement. Lauding the police for their efforts, he said that several militants have been neutralised by the police and armed forces, but that is the achievement of the security forces. "Baramulla, located in the north of Jammu and Kashmir on Wednesday became the first district in the state to have eliminated all surviving terrorists," according to police. In 2018, the security forces gunned down as many as 200 militants in the state. The Supreme Court today declined to stay amendments in the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989 Asserting that no interim orders can be passed in the matter, the Supreme Court today declined to stay amendments in the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989. A three-judge bench, headed by Justice AK Sikri, also said that the Chief Justice of India will decide if review petitions and pleas against the amendments should be heard together. Attorney General KK Venugopal said that the review petition against the 2018 Supreme Court verdict should be decided first. In August 2018, the Rajya Sabha and Lok Sabha had passed a bill which sought the overturn on the Supreme Court order that struck down the provision for an immediate arrest of a person booked under the SC/ST Act. A petition was also filed by two senior lawyers around this time, which sought that amendments to the Act be declared null and void. The 20 March, 2018 Supreme Court order, passed by a bench led by Justice AK Goel, also incorporated the provision for a preliminary inquiry into the case, to deal with the Acts misuse against government servants. The order also stated that a public servant can be arrested only after approval by a competent authority. The bill passed by the two Houses of the Parliament, on the other hand, held that anyone booked under the Act cannot apply for anticipatory bail. The Centre had justified the amendments and said that the Parliament had the power to take this decision, the aim of which is to protect marginally weaker sections of the society from atrocities. The Supreme Court Thursday granted two weeks to Karnataka government for filing appeal against a high court decision that paved the way for the resumption of iron ore mining by some firms from certain mines in the state New Delhi: The Supreme Court Thursday granted two weeks to Karnataka government for filing appeal against a high court decision that paved the way for the resumption of iron ore mining by some firms from certain mines in the state. The Karnataka High Court on 16 November last year had set aside the state's notification of 29 June, 2018, on demarcating certain mining areas as "revenue land". Following this, firms can now commence mining of iron ore on revenue land, which cannot be done on forest land. A bench comprising Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi and Justices L Nageswara Rao and Sanjiv Khanna was informed by the state government that it would be filing an appeal in the apex court against the decision of the high court. The Supreme Court is already seized of a PIL and various interim pleas since 2009 on the mining issue in the state and had earlier said that miners cannot be allowed to mine iron ore in excess of 35 million tonnes in a year. On Thursday it said: "The effect of the order of the High Court is that the notifications under the Karnataka Forest Act, 1963, dated 4 August, 1994, and 4 September, 2014, are no longer in existence. "This, prima facie, may go in support of the claim of the lessees (mining firms) to allow them to commence mining in the leased areas." Taking note of the submission, the bench said, "We, therefore, adjourn the hearing of these applications to a subsequent date, which will be notified once the special leave petition filed by the State of Karnataka against the judgment and order of the High Court...comes up before this court". Meanwhile, lawyer Prashant Bhushan, appearing for NGO Samaj Parivartana Samudaya, said that the iron ore export should not be allowed keeping in mind the impact of mining on the environment in the state. It had also said that mined iron ore cannot be exported and will be kept for domestic use. t least six Indian sailors were killed and an equal number of them went missing after two fuel ships carrying Indian and Turkish crew members caught fire in the Kerch Strait, where the blaze was still raging following the accident on Monday, officials said on Wednesday. Moscow/New Delhi: At least six Indian sailors were killed and an equal number of them went missing after two fuel ships carrying Indian and Turkish crew members caught fire in the Kerch Strait, where the blaze was still raging following the accident on Monday, officials said on Wednesday. Russian authorities on Wednesday resumed search operation for 10 missing sailors, including six Indians, in the Kerch Strait which separates Russia from Crimea. One of the ships, the Candy, had a 17-member crew, including nine Turkish citizens and eight Indian nationals. The other one, the Maestro, had 15-member crew, including seven Turkish nationals, seven Indians and an intern from Libya. "We regret to inform that there have been causalities among Indian seamen working on these ships," the Ministry of External Affairs said in a statement in New Delhi. The deceased were identified as Pinal Kumar Bharatbhai Tandel, Vikram Singh, Sarvanan Nagarajan, Vishal Dod, Raja Debnarayan Panigrahi and Karankumar Haribhai Tandel. Four Indian sailors, Harish Jogi, Sachin Singh, Ashish Ashok Nair and Kamleshbhai Gopalbhai Tandel, were rescued by the authorities. Six missing Indian sailors include Siddharth Meher, Neeraj Singh, Sebastian Britto Breezlin Sahayaraj, Rushikesh Raju Sakpal, Akshay Baban Jadhav and Anandasekar Avinash. "Russian Maritime Agency and Maritime Rescue and Coordination Centre Novorossiysk are continuing efforts to locate those listed as missing," the MEA said. It said that arrangements are being made after completion of necessary formalities to bring back the bodies of the deceased to India. The repatriation of the other sailors is also being facilitated through Director General Communication Center, Indian Registry of Shipping, Mumbai. "The two ships are still burning, the Spasatel Demidov vessel approaches them from time to time in order to throw water on them, but it cannot stay close to the fire all the time," a Russian Federal Agency of Maritime and River Transportation official was quoted as saying by the TASS news agency. Turkey has said four of its nationals were killed, eight were rescued and four went missing after the fire. Indian authorities said the Indian embassy in Moscow was in constant touch with the concerned Russian agencies to get more information on Indian nationals. Both vessels were flying Tanzanian flags. One of them was a liquefied natural gas carrier and another one was a tanker. The fire broke out as the two ships were transferring fuel from one to the other. Turkey's Milenyum Denizcilik Gemi company is believed to own both ships. A local official of the maritime rescue service said that the Merkury tow boat, which brought the sailors to Crimea's Kerch on Tuesday, was also returning to the accident scene. "Merkury is heading to the fire scene, it will be involved in searching [for the sailors] and extinguishing the fire," a spokesperson said. A special vessel, Spasatel Demidov, is continuing the effort to put out the fire, which is still underway. The ships have not sunk because their important parts remain intact. Citing a source in the Azov-Black Sea branch of the Maritime Rescue Service, the TASS said that attempts to extinguish the fire were failing because of burning LNG. "Only LNG is burning at the moment. The fire engulfing parts of the ships has been extinguished but gas is coming out and burning, it is like a gas burner," the source said, adding that according to recent information, the Candy was carrying about 2,500 tonnes of LNG. There is no information about the amount of gas carried by the Maestro but the two ships are similar in size, so it might be the same. The condition of sailors who were rescued during the ship fire incident in the Kerch Strait causes no concern, head of Crimea's Disaster Medicine and Ambulance Center Sergei Olefirenko was quoted as saying by the TASS. "The rescued sailorsare being treated at Kerch City Hospital. Their condition is fair, there are no signs of deterioration. There is no danger to their lives," he said. Meanwhile, Crimean Human Rights ombudsperson Lyudmila Lubina said that border guards and consular workers were preparing documents for the rescued sailors. "They are Turkish and Indian nationals. Border guards and consular services are working on documents so that they can return to their home countries," the ombudsperson added. In October 1951, Shyam Saran Negi became the first person to vote in Independent India. Now, over 67 years on, Negi has not missed voting in a single election It wasn't yet five in the morning when Shyam Saran Negi unlocked the doors of the school in the tiny Himachal Pradesh village of Kalpa, blanketed in snow blowing off the majestic Kinner Kailash range. As a gaggle of villagers gathered outside, he carefully laid out cargo that had been hauled over the Himalayas on mule-back. Then, it was the moment for a decision: Negi dropped slips of paper into two of the eight steel boxes in front of him, and became the first person to vote in free India. Ever since that first encounter with an election held in October 1951 in the Kinnaur region and 1952 everywhere else, Negi has never missed a chance to vote. He's looking forward to voting again this summer, in the company of his granddaughter, college student Manisha Negi. Now 102 years old, Negi's story mirrors the making of modern India: Through disappointments and changing circumstances, he has held on to the values of the Republic, and of democracy. Negi can usually be found on the roof of his two-storey stone and wood ancestral home in Kalpa, drinking hot, milky tea sweetened with jaggery. He protects himself from the bitter cold with a brown wool coat that is more than seven decades old a flag that signifies his own small role in the gigantic struggle for independence, and what he believes to be its unfinished task. "Mahatma Gandhi told us how our country could eliminate hunger through khadi," Negi says, "He told us that we could meet our own needs and also sell some cloth; then nobody would die of hunger." Gandhi's message reached Kalpa in the late 1930s, in the form of his call for all Indians to stop buying foreign cloth, and instead turn to the spindle and loom to weave their own. Negi had just finished a seven-year stint as a forest guard, and begun work in what was then just one of three schools in the entire region. Negi insisted that that his pupils join him in spinning for an hour every day a practice that continued until 1975 when he retired. For Negi, the Raj years are not an abstraction: His ideas of how imperialism incapacitated India's rural economy are based on lived reality. Negi vividly recalls being lined up to salute visiting British imperial officials who would arrive to supervise the Rampur royal family's extraction of revenues from Kinnaur's wool trade. The work was hard and the pay poor. The social fabric of the mountains divided neatly, he recalls, into a small sliver of rich feudal families and a peasantry "of the kind who didn't know where their next meal would come from despite backbreaking work". "The angrez (British) controlled all the avenues for revenue collection the forests, the public works and whatever remained was the Raja's. The British wanted money and they took it," he remembers with bitterness. From the plains came stories of Bhagat Singh, Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru and Subhash Chandra Bose the last of them remains Negi's hero. "Bose was a unique heavyweight, capable of taking on the British. He started the Indian National Army chupke-chupke, secretly," says Negi. The stories he heard made him yearn to be a freedom fighter, too but there was no way to become one in Kalpa. Instead, Negi turned to khadi to take on the British. "When you just spin and weave 12 months a year, you're bound to end up saving at least a little," he argues. Independence, for him, was fundamentally about this kind of individual accountability and independence. "We spun for an hour every day, but they did not market khadi properly, so it died out. Now, everyone buys things from markets and there's no self-sufficiency," he says. Back in 1951, polling stations had separate ballot-boxes for each candidate; all a voter had to do was drop their slip into the boxes marked with their candidate's symbol. Like everyone else in the Mandi-Mahasu constituency, Negi had two ballot papers; the constituency was, because of its size, allowed to elect two candidates. Amrit Kaur, the Oxford University-educated princess who abandoned her privilege for the rigours of Gandhi's ashram, won 47,152 of the 175,377 votes cast; her Congress party colleague, Gopi Ram, came in second with 41,433. Today, Negi is a voluble supporter of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the Bharatiya Janata Party. Funds meant for local development, and infrastructure such as roads and electrification, used to be stolen by corrupt leaders, he says, but the prime minister has put an end to their corruption. "Earlier, we voted for Congress because they won us freedom. They were also the only party we had. But all their mistakes have been exposed before the public now," he says. "People just dont understand the value of their vote," Negi argues, "I have seen the suffering the British inflicted. They let the rajas and maharajas be. Even the Congress did not disturb them." For Negi, the choice is simple: A "good man" in Parliament or the state Assembly will improve the country while a "bad man" will harmful in equal measure. In Negi's book, goodness and toughness are indivisible qualities, both of which he seeks in the leaders of a party for whom he votes. "The Congress has too many internal squabbles, that's also why I moved away from it," he says. His drift away from the Congress took place sometime around the 1970s or 1980s Negi cannot remember exactly but it was the twin promises of clean governance and strong leadership that moved him firmly into the BJP camp in the 2014 elections. And theres a bit of Modi in Negi's shift. The question of who could be prime minister after the 2019 elections is of great importance to Negi. He finds Modi charismatic and Rahul Gandhi, the Congress leader and a possible prime minister, not so appealing. Negi is also charmed by Modi's ability to forge a connection with voters, an attribute he feels the prime minister's less-experienced Congress rival lacks. "People had even rejected Indira (Gandhi)," Negi says, recalling the elections for the sixth Lok Sabha in 1977, when the then prime minister took her party from 518 to 153 seats in the wake of the Emergency she had imposed in June 1975. People in the plains, Negi knows, recently voted for the Congress in Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan but he insists theres no chance he will stray from the BJP. "Some people are always dissatisfied," he says, dismissing arguments that the prime minister hasnt delivered on his promises. The only post-Independence politician before Modi who inspires Negi's admiration is Indias second prime minister, Lal Bahadur Shastri. Negi remembers, fondly, his speeches during the 1962 India-China war. The speeches inspired him to push one of his sons to join the Indian Army. "My son turned out to be an idler who spent five years in Dehradun preparing for military exams, but didnt get selected," he complains, "He became a bank manager when I wanted him to shoulder the countrys burden. Had he joined the military we would have earned name and fame." In spite of corruption that so angers Negi, Kalpa did transform rapidly in the decades after Independence, turning from an obscure provincial outpost to the heart of a prosperous, apple-growing region. Kinnaur became a district in the early 1960s, and state governments encouraged apple plantation in an effort to stimulate the economy. The idea worked: Negi's family is one of Kalpa's 226 landlords with significant holdings. Their apple crop earns them Rs four to five lakh every year. From Negi's point of view, though, the change hasn't all been positive. "Apple-growers use chemical fertilisers, and that kill off our traditional buckwheat crop," he says. Kalpa's steeply terraced farms are incapable of supporting fodder. Farm animals are few his family has just one cow. That means manure has to be bought from Rekong Peo, the district headquarters a half-hour drive downhill. Negi recognises that before apples were grown in Kalpa, farmers had to do much more backbreaking work. "In the past, people woke at 6 am and returned late every evening. For small girls or old people, there was nothing but work, work, work." But that, he says, wasn't all that bad. "The apple has made people lazy," he snorts. Behind that belief lies a deeper discontent, fuelled by a changing social structure. The joint family system, built around fraternal polyandry, has all but disintegrated. "Earlier, Kalpa had a common marriage system with one wife for many brothers, all living together. One brother looked after the animals, one the fields and one had a job. All incomes combined benefited the whole family," he says. "These days one has as many problems as there are sons who have all become independent." Negi admits polyandry wasn't always fair to women, but blames politics for replacing it with something worse. "When the country became Independent, they raised the slogan 'Sukhi Parivar' happy family which meant husband, wife and two children, that's it. This is how we were told to live, so everybody became separate. Now our farmholdings are shrinking and the population is growing too fast," he says. "I think," Negi says, "if brothers cannot stay together, how will the country stay united?" Even his family has been subjected to deep change. In the past decades, the family voted en bloc but times have changed, and in past elections, each member has been free to follow their political conscience. Chander Prakash the son and his wife Prema care for Negi isn't enthused by politics; at least, not that he lets on. Prema's expectations from politics and politicians are also low. "I vote because everyone has a vote and should use it," she says. Then she shrugs. Granddaughter and engineering student Manisha used to be an enthusiastic BJP supporter. Now, though, she isn't so sure. "Elected governments must provide jobs and security," she says. Manisha is concerned that it's going to hard to find work after she completes her degree. The divided opinions in the family on India's political future, though, reflect how it has always been and, perhaps, should be. Even back in 1951, there were eight candidates fighting to get elected. Tej Singh, from the left-leaning Kisan Mazdoor Praja Party, socialist candidate Anokhi Ram, and the Bharatiya Jan Sangh's Hari Datt, picked up tens of thousands of votes in Mandi-Mahasu, making clear there was no one voice that represented a free India. "After Independence," Negi says, "our leaders declared that nobody is big or small in India, nor Hindus, Muslims and Sikhs, that all will be equal. This idea was what Independence was all about, but it wasn't implemented. The angrez left behind this illness." But Negi sits on the roof of his home in Kalpa and still hopes that his next vote might help cure it. Former Gujarat CM and Congress leader Shankersinh Vaghela is set to join the Nationalist Congress Party, the state unit of the Sharad Pawar-led party said Ahmedabad: Former Gujarat chief minister Shankersinh Vaghela is set to join the Nationalist Congress Party, the state unit of the Sharad Pawar-led party said Thursday. The 78-year-old Kshatriya strongman had left the Congress before the 2017 Gujarat assembly elections. He had then helped the BJP in the Rajya Sabha polls. "Former Chief Minister of Gujarat Shankersinh Vaghela will join NCP in presence of party president Sharad Pawar and senior leader Praful Patel," Gujarat NCP president Jayant Patel alias Boski said. "Vaghela ji is a dynamic leader who knows the pulse of state and the country. I welcome his entry into the NCP and it will give a boost to the party in the state," he said. The former Union minister is likely to join the NCP on 29 January, the party sources said. However, Vaghela has so far neither confirmed nor denied that he will join the NCP. Vaghela's entry into the NCP can lead to a three-way fight on a few Lok Sabha seats in Gujarat if the Congress fails to enter into a pre-poll alliance with Pawar's party. The state has 26 Lok Sabha seats and all of them were won by the BJP in the 2014 general elections. Vaghela had left the Congress before the 2017 state assembly polls, after he and a few MLAs supporting him voted against Congress candidate for the Rajya Sabha, Ahmed Patel and backed BJP nominee Balwantsinh Rajput. Vaghela, however, did not join the ruling BJP and put up independent candidates in the state assembly elections held in December 2017. All his candidates had lost polls. Recently, Vaghela had toured various places, including Delhi, and declared that he will fight for removal of the BJP-led government at the Centre in 2019. In 2017, the Congress and the NCP had fought assembly elections separately. The NCP was able to win just one seat in the 182-member assembly. If in 2019, both the parties fail to reach a seat- sharing agreement, then it will be a three-way fight on some Lok Sabha seats where Vaghela and his supporters will contest as NCP candidates, the party sources said. Vaghela is a prominent OBC leader, who started his political career with the BJP. After the BJP came to power in 1995 in Gujarat and chose to make Keshubhai Patel chief minister instead of him, Vaghela engineered a split in the saffron outfit and became the CM in 1996 with outside support of the Congress. Later, he joined the Congress and served as Textile Minister in the Manmohan Singh government. While in the Congress, he also served as its state unit president and Leader of Opposition in the Gujarat assembly. Noted Bengali film producer and Shree Venkatesh Films owner Shrikant Mohta, who is close to Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee, was interrogated at his Kolkata office and then arrested by CBI officials for involvement in the multi-crore Rose Valley chit fund scam. Kolkata: Noted Bengali film producer and distributor Shrikant Mohta was on Thursday interrogated at his office in the city by CBI officials who then arrested him for involvement in the multi-crore Rose Valley chit fund scam, sources said. Mohta, the co-owner of Shree Venkatesh Films, was served a notice by the investigating agency regarding "acceptance of money from Rose Valley" and was questioned by the officials at his office located at a shopping mall in south Kolkata, they said. Later, he was taken to the CGO office complex of the CBI at Salt Lake for further interrogation. Mohta is believed to be close to West Bengal chief minister and Trinamool Congress (TMC) chief Mamata Banerjee. "He (Mohta) had been called to join the investigation", a CBI source said. The Enforcement Directorate is also probing the Rose Valley scam. Rose Valley chairman Gautam Kundu is in jail in a money laundering case. In 2017, Trinamool Congress Lok Sabha member Sudip Bandyopadhyay was arrested by the CBI on charges of alleged links with Kundu. Rose Valley Group has been accused of duping investors of Rs 17,000 crore in different states including Odisha and West Bengal. The CBI in its chargesheet against the ponzi scheme company in January last year had mentioned that the investors from Odisha alone had deposited Rs 450 crore with the Rose Valley Group. Another TMC MP, Tapas Pal, had also been arrested for involvement in the scam. Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, January 24) Malacanang on Thursday shot down some lawmakers' concern over a China-funded camera surveillance project of the government. Presidential Spokesperson Salvador Panelo said the government will not allow any security or information leaks, amid senators' bid to stop the closed-circuit television (CCTV) loan deal between the government and a Chinese state-run firm. "Siguro we understand some apprehensions of some senators, but necessarily this government will not allow any security leaks. Di naman tayo papayag," Panelo told reporters. [Translation: Perhaps we understand some apprehensions of some senators, but necessarily this government will not allow any security leaks. We won't agree with that.] The Senate, in its version of the 2019 budget, included provisions that will stop the government from paying the P20 billion loan deal between the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) and the China International Telecommunication Construction Corporation (CITCC). READ: Senate version of budget blocks payment for Chinese CCTV project Senate President Pro Tempore Ralph Recto said the project has signs of a behest transaction "lacking in studies, consultations, validation." But Panelo said that President Rodrigo Duterte can opt to veto the Senate restriction. "If the President will exercise his power of veto, that can be vetoed. He has that option," the spokesperson noted. "Anything that will contribute to the progress of this country, syempre (of course) it's an important project," he added. The project, dubbed as "Safe Philippines," targets to put up 12,000 camera surveillance systems around Metro Manila and Davao City. RJD leader and the party's Bihar general secretary was shot dead at Samastipur, early on Thursday, evoking condemnation from Lalu Prasad Yadav, Tejashwi Yadav and Upendra Kushwaha. Samastipur: An RJD leader was shot dead at Kalyanpur in Samastipur district of Bihar, early on Thursday, evoking condemnation from opposition leaders in the state including the party's jailed national president Lalu Prasad. Raghuvar Rai (50), state general secretary of the RJD and a former deputy chairman of the Zila Parishad, was gunned down while he was on morning walk, Superintendent of Police Harpreet Kaur said. She said motorcycle-borne assailants, whose identity and number were yet to be ascertained, fled the spot after firing at Rai. The leader was taken to a hospital in the neighbouring Darbhanga district where he succumbed to injuries, Kaur said. Following the murder, the RJD supremo took to Twitter and trained his guns at Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar, though he did not mention the latter by name. Sharing a news report about Rai's killing being the fifth incident of murder reported from the state in the past 24 hours, Prasad tweeted in Hindi, "He feels no shame, keeps saying there is rule of law. People are being killed like insects in Bihar and he goes on playing the same record". Prasad is serving sentences in a number of fodder scam cases and lodged at a hospital in Ranchi for various ailments. His official twitter handle is operated by people close to him. , - https://t.co/R8CTX4KZIy Lalu Prasad Yadav (@laluprasadrjd) January 24, 2019 Prasad's younger son Tejashwi Yadav, leader of the opposition in the Bihar assembly, tweeted: "Nitish Kumar ji, please rein in the goons who enjoy state patronage. What is the use of your keeping the Home portfolio. Criminals have been killing workers of RJD and RLSP but till date you have kept silent." Rashtria Lok Samata Party (RLSP) chief Upendra Kushwaha also came out with a tweet alleging that the state government had become "deaf, dumb and mute" and also used the Bihari slang "thethar" (callous) for the regime while expressing concern over the state of affairs. Speaking in Amethi, his Lok Sabha constituency, on Thursday, Congress president Rahui Gandhi targeted Prime Minister Narendra Modi over a spate of issues including the Rafale deal, demonetisation, the ongoing CBI row and promises of 'acche din'. Congress president Rahul Gandhi, while speaking in his Lok Sabha constituency of Amethi on Thursday, targetted Prime Minister Narendra Modi over a spate of issues plaguing the Centre, including the Rafale deal, demonetisation, the ongoing CBI row and promises of "acche din". He began his address by asking the gathering where Modi's "acche din" were, saying that the prime minister has instead only spent his time waiving loans for his "industrialist friends". Rahul also said he has given his sister Priyanka Gandhi, newly entrusted with eastern Uttar Pradesh, the target of ensuring that the party forms the next government in the state. The Congress will also fight the coming Lok Sabha polls with full strength, he said at a public meeting in his constituency. He added that by appointing Priyanka and Jyotiraditya Scindia to lead the Congress in Uttar Pradesh, the party will work "harder than ever before" in the state. He added that Priyanka will also address the Amethi and Raebareli when she is formally appointed. "Priyanka and Scindia have been given a target. That is to form a Congress government in Uttar Pradesh in the next election by defeating and wiping out the BJP, the Congress president said. The Congress chief reiterated his slogan of 'chowkidaar chor hai' and said that Modi has stolen money from the people to feed industrialists like Nirav Modi, the key accused in the Punjab National Bank scam. He also spoke about the Rafale deal, and said that the Modi government decided to go around the then defence minister Manohar Parrikar to buy 36 Rafale fighter jets from France and gave the account to Reliance Defence, "putting Rs 30,000 crore in Anil Ambani's pocket". In addition, he called demonetisation the "nation's biggest scam," adding that while "hard-working citizens such as farmers, labourers and women had to stand in line in harsh conditions, India's biggest thieves such as Nirav Modi and Mehul Choksi did not." In addition, he also called out the BJP government over the ongoing CBI row, and said that the prime minister fired CBI Director Alok Verma overnight because he was scared that the investigation agency would "find out the truth about (the prime minister's) robbery". Attacking the Centre over the ongoing farmers' crisis, Rahul promised to set up food processing factories near agricultural land across Uttar Pradesh, same as the Congress did in Madhya Pradesh. "Where potatoes grow, we will set up factories to make potato chips. Where tomatoes grow, we will set up a factory to make ketchup," he said amid cheers. In a move to emphasise the Congress' promise to waive farm loans within 10 days, Rahul said: "The farmers have given everything to the country. But Modi has refused to waive their loans. See how the chowkidar has become a chor in four-and-a-half years. Gali gali mein shor hai, chowkidar hi chor hai." Rahul addressed the newfound alliance between the Mayawati-led Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) and the Akhilesh Yadav-led Samajwadi Party (SP), and said, "I respect Mulayam Singh Yadav, Akhilesh Yadav and Mayawati. But Congress should carve out a space of its own, and has to fight for its beliefs." India's expanding bilateral ties with Australia is offset by its peculiar reluctance to let Canberra join the Malabar naval exercises despite repeated requests. New Delhi seems to view the trilateral naval exercise as some sort of a political tool. In his seminal essay 'China: The Anaconda in the Chandelier', Princeton University professor and China scholar Perry Link had elaborated on the nature of Chinese repression. He had not compared China's intimidatory tactics and its authoritarianism with "a man-eating tiger or fire-snorting dragon" but had described it as a "giant anaconda coiled in an overhead chandelier". "Normally the great snake doesn't move. It doesn't have to. It feels no need to be clear about its prohibitions. Its constant silent message is 'You yourself decide', after which, more often than not, everyone in its shadow makes his or her large and small adjustments all quite 'naturally'," he wrote. In the 2002 essat, Link had predicted that as China grows and seeks to rise, these tactics, previously aimed at Chinese citizens, would increasingly be projected overseas. What Link may have not foreseen is that China's assertiveness under President Xi Jinping would become more aggressive and audacious in such a short time, shaking off the 'purposeful vagueness' of its authoritarianism that defined the pre-Xi era. From Doklam to Taiwan to Canada, we need not stretch our necks too far. This preface provides context to India's decision to, once again, reject Australia's decision for inclusion in the US-India-Japan annual Malabar naval exercise. There could be many reasons why India is unwilling to add Australia to the Malabar mix, but the signs deliberate or inadvertent that indicate the motivation behind the decision are disturbing. According to The Hindu, India is wary of including Australia in the trilateral exercise to "avoid sending a political message" to Beijing, even though China apparently has put no pressure on India. The article quotes a "defence source" as saying: "If we do a quad exercise, it has political messaging. So what is the big value in having that exercise as opposed to Malabar? So we strengthen the bilateral engagement, focus on practical engagement, have closer dialogue bilaterally and plurilaterally with Australia." 'Quad' here refers to the quadrilateral grouping of the four Indo-Pacific democracies. This is the fifth time at least for an observer that India has rejected Australia's request to be included in the tri-nation naval exercise. Going by The Hindu report, it is unclear whether India wants to avoid irritating China and be respectful of its 'sensitivities', or whether New Delhi is unconvinced of Canberra's China policy. If it is the former, then it is a fundamental misreading of Chinese worldview that respects strength and looks down upon weakness. Any signal from New Delhi that it is anxious to accommodate China by adjusting policies keeping its 'delicate feelings' in mind will play into the Chinese paradox. The ever-expanding Chinese 'sensibilities' may readjust to lay down new red lines for New Delhi to follow, and these may become additional tools for Beijing to use as leverage. If China has no concern for India's interests and sensitivities on the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), Nuclear Suppliers Group, Masood Azhar or Arunachal Pradesh and is in no mood for a reciprocal relationship, then China is likely to misinterpret unilateral adjustments that cater solely to Chinese sensitivities, and Beijing may feel more encouraged to disregard Indian interests. On the second point, it is difficult to imagine that India is unconvinced of Australia's intentions after the country has repeatedly, and with some degree of clarity, laid down its Indian Ocean priorities. Australia's former foreign minister Julie Bishop had reiterated, during an interview with The Hindu last year, that Canberra is "very interested" in joining the Malabar exercises, describing India as a "significant strategic partner" with whom Australia shares "converging interests, particularly in the Indian Ocean" and has identified security and defence ties, economic engagement and people-to-people links" as the underpinnings of the relationship. At the Raisina Dialogue held recently in Delhi, Foreign Minister of Australia Marise Payne elaborated on Canberra's Indian Ocean policy that advocates close partnership with India, focuses on building stronger regional institutions and norms, seeks India's cooperation in supporting smaller nations to withstand coercive 'debt-trap' diplomacy and promotes economic growth and market liberalisation, as Brookings India fellow Dhruva Jaishankar points out in his piece for Lowy Institute. Payne's speech laid bare Australia's priorities in maintaining its stake in the Indo-Pacific, but it equally stressed on the nature of bilateral relationship. At the heart of it, she said, "lie common values" because both nations are "free, open and independent democracies; champions of international law; supporters of an open and inclusive Indo-Pacific; and firm believers that 'might is not right'." There is certainly an apparent dichotomy in India's position on Australia. The bilateral relationship has expanded to now include joint exercises across all three services, shared values and interests in upholding the rule of law in the Indo-Pacific theatre and ensuring regional stability. This is offset by India's peculiar reluctance to let Australia join the Malabar drills despite repeated requests. New Delhi seems to view the trilateral naval exercise as some sort of a political tool. Some analysts believe that even though Australia had pulled out of the 'quad's' first version in 2007 in deference to China, since then, Beijing's aggression and coercion have imposed new structural realities on the region. Arzan Tarapore, a non-resident fellow at the National Bureau of Asian Research in Washington DC, wrote in The Indian Express that Australia has also recalibrated its defence policies since 2007, and there now exists a bipartisan consensus that China is the "primary strategic challenge". Tarapore believes that denial of Australian participation in Malabar will "harm the quad" and is a "missed opportunity". If we assume that India is being deferential to China in rejecting Australia's legitimate request, it becomes hard to explain why India has continued to stand up to China in certain ways (while it might have stood down in some cases). India's balancing initiatives in response to China's assertiveness in the past year alone have been quite potent. As Dhruva Jaishankar has expanded in a Twitter thread, India has continued the 2+2 dialogue with the US, while simultaneously holding the trilateral (India-Japan-Australia) dialogue and the India-Australia-Indonesia talks, participating in Australian air exercises (Pitch Black), continuing the AUSINDEX (the third iteration of the bilateral naval exercise), and maintaining military-to-military contacts, such as INS Sahyadri taking part in international maritime exercise, KAKADU. Not to forget the fact that the 'quad' has met three times in 18 months. As opposed to, say, all this: pic.twitter.com/6zj89l1Oaz Dhruva Jaishankar (@d_jaishankar) January 23, 2019 Gradualism might be one way of looking at India's decision regarding Malabar. Given that India's strategic options against China are already quite limited in terms of economic, military, diplomatic or geopolitical influence, Malabar and the 'quad' provide India with precious leverage that could be deployed as signaling tools. China's concern with President of the United States Donald Trump and the trajectory of its US ties has caused Beijing to soften its stance towards India. But this apparent benevolence might be temporary. To deal with Beijing's coercive strategies in the future, adding a military angle to the 'quad' or including Australia in the Malabar drills to reinforce it could work. The effectiveness of this strategy will depend on external circumstances, such as Chinese behavior and India's ability to navigate the US-China dynamic in a way that suits its own interests. There could be more such signaling in the offing. In Pakistan the army decides what it is going to talk about, but in India the bureaucracy takes the final call. The Indian Army chief General Bipin Rawats statements often come thick and fast, but theyre usually newsworthy. Recently however, General Rawat was less focussed on hurling threats at Pakistan, and instead sought to clarify that a report in The New York Times which alleged he had been quietly approached by the Pakistani Army chief General Qamar Bajwa for talks, was completely incorrect. The media house then reported that General Bajwa reached out to his counterpart well before the general elections that brought Prime Minister Imran Khan to power. It then went to state rather curiously that a key objective for Pakistan in reaching out to India is to open barriers to trade between the countries, which would give Pakistan more access to regional markets. Any eventual peace talks over Kashmir are likely to involve an increase in bilateral trade as a confidence-building measure. Now thats curious. While the military in Pakistan is all-encompassing in its interests at a national level, it is hardly General Rawats brief to talk trade with his counterpart. It is undoubtedly true that Pakistans chief is now showing a healthy interest in trade and investment issues, since he is fast realising that the key to getting a better deal for his institution lies in reviving the lagging Pakistani economy. His speech to the Pakistan Chambers of Commerce and Industry in October 2017 underlined his concern at Pakistans sky-high debt, warning that the region will sink or sail together. I want to convey to our neighbours to the east and to the west that our destinies are inextricably linked. At the end of his speech, Bajwa added that the springboard for this shared development was the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC). In other words, the chief seemed to be not only opting for opening up trade with neighbours, he was also selling the CPEC as a vehicle to do so. Thats a lot for any army chief to say. Certainly, General Rawat, for all his eloquence and all too frequent chats with the press, can hardly draw such grand designs without clearance from half a dozen ministries. So the question is: What was the objective of the Pakistani Army chief in reaching out to his counterpart, when he would know full well that the Indian Army is very properly (and rigorously) bounded about by the civilian bureaucracy and the political leadership as befits a democracy? Military to military talks or mil to mil as they are called are hardly ever precursors to a formal political dialogue. Its usually the politicos who sit together first, and then later much later the militaries sit down and talk to each other, usually on subjects linked to their domains. None of this is to say that militaries dont talk to each other at all. But these issues are usually single subject meetings: like flag meetings to discuss border violations. For instance, a flag meeting at the Brigade-level was held in Poonch just two months ago, to discuss how to strengthen the ceasefire. Thats politesse. The reality is that the one probably inflicted one too many losses on the other, and there was a decision to fend off any possible escalation. Thats fairly standard stuff, and hardly the kind of reaching out that the Pakistani chief has in mind. While considering the Pakistani Army chief's motives, the underlying fact remains that talking to the centre of power in Pakistan is very much in Indias interest. That just about everyone else sees it as in their respective interest is apparent in the fact that every foreign diplomat worth his salt will make his bow to the civilian leadership, and then hasten to army headquarters to get the real lowdown on whats possible and whats not with regard to a bilateral relationship on in wheeling and dealing on Afghanistan. So while agreeing the mil to mil talks are desirable, the problem remains how to get it off the ground in a situation where the politicians can't (or won't) talk to each other. In such a scenario, it is possible for the two chiefs to meet quietly at another location in much the same way as the two National Security Advisors of India and Pakistan have met in Bangkok and other such convenient cities. Alternatively, they could meet at a location where both army chiefs are present in an official capacity. There is no shortage of locations. The point is what subject they are to discuss. NSAs on both sides can and do talk freely. But with all due respect, the Indian Army chief is hardly capable of having dialogue with authority on any other subject other than war-making or its avoidance. Other than that, the only other subject that could possibly be discussed is Kashmir, which the army knows and knows well. And in the final analysis, that is all there is to discuss: not in its substance, but quite literally in its terms of reference. In other words, is Pakistan willing to go ahead with resolution of Sir Creek for instance, and open up trade while putting aside the issue of Kashmir? Its a black and white situation, with the Indian Army chief only required to assess his opposite numbers position on this vital question. Other add-ons like Indian involvement in CPEC has to await entirely separate dialogues, probably with the Chinese rather than Islamabad. And finally, while in Pakistan the army decides what it is going to talk about, in India it is the bureaucracy that takes the final call. So the actual question is whether any bureaucrat worth his sacrosanct file will allow this kind of leeway to a rather more than loquacious army chief. That answer is probably a resounding 'no'. Thats regrettable. Talking to the top is always a good idea, even if you have to crane your neck while doing it. The AIR will broadcast regional language versions of Ram Nath Kovind's Republic Day address 9.30 pm onwards on its respective regional networks. New Delhi: President Ram Nath Kovind will address the nation on Friday on the eve of the 70th Republic Day. "The address will be broadcast from 7 pm on the entire national network of All India Radio (AIR) and telecast over all channels of Doordarshan in Hindi followed by the English version," the Rashtrapati Bhavan said. This will be followed by broadcast in regional languages by regional channels of Doordarshan, it said in a statement. "The AIR will broadcast regional language versions 9.30 pm onwards on its respective regional networks," the statement said. A panel probing former Tamil Nadu chief minister J Jayalalithaa's death has rejected Apollo Hospitals' plea to set up a medical board. Chennai: A panel probing former Tamil Nadu chief minister J Jayalalithaa's death has rejected Apollo Hospitals' plea to set up a medical board to help examine medical records related to her treatment in 2016. Citing the assistance provided by government doctors following its request to decipher the medical records, the Justice A Arumughaswamy Commission of Inquiry dismissed Apollo Hospitals' application saying it could examine any number of doctors on their (Apollo) side. Specialists, including a cardiothoracic surgeon and a biochemist from Madras Medical College and Rajiv Gandhi Government Hospital in Chennai, scrutinised the medical records of Apollo Hospitals on the late leader's treatment, the commission said. Affirming that it alone can analyse the evidence, the commission said, "This duty can be discharged only by the commission, not by the panel of doctors." It added that even if a panel of doctors is appointed, its opinion has to be weighed with the evidence of the doctors already recorded by the commission. "This application is highly belated...it is an attempt by the Apollo Hospitals to scrap the evidence already recorded by the commission..that is the reason the applicant has come forward with this application at the last stage of evidence," the commission of inquiry said. The commission's standing counsel, M Mohammed Jafarullah Khan, objected to the hospital's application saying it was "intended to stall" proceedings of the commission which had almost reached the final stage. He said the commission alone can evaluate the "medical evidence and medical records" to see whether proper treatment was provided to Jayalalithaa. "Medical board cannot be constituted to play a supervisory role," Khan said. The Apollo Hospitals here had petitioned the commission in December 2018 to rope in 21 specialists and set up a medical board to examine the voluminous medical records related to the 75-day hospitalisation of Jayalalithaa. Pointing out mistakes in the depositions recorded by the commission, the hospital had said the panel needed the support of a "medical board of calibre" to help it come to a decision. The bloopers included "enterococcus", a bacteria, getting into the commission's records as "endocarditis", which is inflammation of the endocardium and heart valves. Responding to this point, the commission's counsel said, "The medical terms as spelt out by doctors alone have been recorded...the spelling mistakes may be corrected after due notice to parties...even the spelling mistake will not change the name of the disease or its treatment." To an objection that the appointment of a panel of government doctors had not been disclosed, the commission said no sanction was needed from anyone "for mere inspection of Apollo medical records by government doctors". On a plea of the commission's standing counsel to implead Health Secretary J Radhakrishnan and former Chief Secretary Rama Mohana Rao as respondents, the panel said the question did not arise as it had in the first place not decided anything vis-a-vis Apollo Hospitals and VK Sasikala the present respondents. Jayalalithaa died on 5 December, 2016 and the commission was constituted the next year by her AIADMK government following allegations and suspicions surrounding her death. Odisha Pradesh Congress Committee (OPCC) president Niranjan Patnaik on Thursday said that he has no information about Economic Offence Wing (EOW) of Delhi Police issuing a summon notice against him. Bhubaneshwar: Odisha Pradesh Congress Committee (OPCC) president Niranjan Patnaik on Thursday said that he has no information about Economic Offence Wing (EOW) of Delhi Police issuing a summon notice against him. Speaking to ANI Patnaik said, "I have no information that I have to go to police tomorrow. I will check and then comply if it is true. So far I have no information. Maybe they are seeking some documents. Nobody can blackmail me. If I'm a thief, then the police may arrest me." This comes after Patnaik and his son Navjyoti Patnaik were summoned by Economic Offence Wing (EOW) of Delhi Police for interrogation, in a fraud case. The Delhi Police EOW is probing a case wherein the complainant, KS Ahluwaliya, paid Rs 32 crore to a firm called Vavasi Telecom Pvt. Ltd in 2007-08. The dispute pertains to Ahluwaliya alleging that the money was taken from him by way of fraud and the non-honouring of a cheque issued by the company. During the financial year 2007-08, both Niranjan Patnaik and his son Navjyoti were directors of the company. The firm has also given in writing that Navjyoti misappropriated Rs 6 crore out of the Rs 32 crore that Ahluwaliya paid when he was the director of the company. In an official document, the EOW confirmed that a "case needs to be filed in the light of allegations of fraud/forgery against" the Odisha Congress chief. The EOW has asked the Patnaik father-son duo to file all documents related to the case. Ramdev said, 'To control population of the country, voting rights, jobs and treatment facilities should be taken away from people who give birth to more than two children and whether they are Hindus or Muslims. Then only the population will be controlled.' Forget every other measure ever taken to tackle the issue of India's rising population; yoga guru Ramdev has come up with a solution snatch voting rights and jobs from people who go for more than two children. At an event in Aligarh on Wednesday, ANI quoted Ramdev as saying: "To control population of the country, voting rights, jobs and treatment facilities should be taken away from people who give birth to more than two children and whether they are Hindus or Muslims. Then only the population will be controlled." While inaugurating a Patanjali Garment outlet in Aligarh, Ramdev, told reporters that such people should be denied admissions in government schools, not be allowed to contest elections, not given treatment a government hospitals and not be allowed to take government jobs. This is not the first time Ramdev has suggested extreme steps over his concerns on India's population problem. In November 2018, he said that people like him, who do not get married, should be accorded special honours. "In this country, those who, like me, do not marry, should be honoured, and those who marry and have more than two children, their voting rights should be taken away," he said while addressing a gathering at his 'yogpeeth' in Haridwar. He said that while the ancient vedas allow one to have up to 10 children, it is not the right thing to practice anymore. In April 2018, the entrepreneur, who is the face of the Patanjali empire, had attributed his success in life to bachelorhood. "I don't go around with the baggage (of having a family). I have created brands. I want to make 1,000 such brands which will make India the world's biggest economy by 2050," PTI quoted him as saying at Goa Fest.. "If I had children, they would have staked claim for Patanjali I feel the God has saved me. I have made no mistake, or like in case of (former Uttar Pradesh chief minister) ND Tiwari, someone would come up (claiming to be his son) You don't require wife and kids to become happy. I am always smiling," the yoga guru had said. His comments aimed at the Muslim population had sparked a controversy in 2015. "The population of Hindus and Sikhs has declined and of a particular community increased. This imbalance could creates social, economic and political conflicts and challenges in society," India Today quoted Ramdev as saying. He had also suggested that there was "no harm" even if India adopted China's one-child policy. Ramdev's remarks may be controversial in nature, but his concerns are justified. According to a 2015 prediction by the United Nations, India will overtake China to be the world's most populous country by 2022. With inputs from agencies The meeting of Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led Selection Committee to decide on the next CBI chief remained inconclusive, officials said. New Delhi: The meeting of Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led Selection Committee to decide on the next CBI chief remained inconclusive, officials said on Thursday. They said no decision on the CBI director was taken at the meeting. "A list of eligible officers along with their dossiers was shared with the panel members. But no decision has been taken so far," an official said requesting anonymity. He said another meeting of the panel will be called soon to finalise the name. The meeting, which was held at the prime minister's residence, was attended by Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi and leader of the Congress in Lok Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge. The post of CBI head has been lying vacant since 10 January after the unceremonious exit of Alok Verma, who was engaged in a bitter fight with Gujarat-cadre IPS officer Rakesh Asthana over corruption charges. Both Verma and Asthana have accused each other of impropriety. Verma, after being removed from the post of CBI director, was named as the Director General of Fire Services, Civil Defence and Home Guards a less significant portfolio. Verma did not accept the offer and wrote to the government, saying he should be considered as deemed superannuated as he has completed 60 year age of superannuation. He had taken over as the CBI chief on 1 February, 2017 for a fixed two-year tenure. In a letter to Secretary of Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT), C Chandramouli, Verma said he could not accept the new assignment offered by the government as he had superannuated on 31 July, 2017. The Centre has not yet made public its decision on Verma's letter. M Nageshwara Rao has been working as the interim CBI chief after Verma's ouster. Verma's resignation letter led to political slugfest with the opposition parties, mainly the Congress, accusing the central government of alleged interference in public institutions. Kharge had recently written to the prime minister terming Rao's appointment as CBI's interim chief "illegal". He had asked the government to immediately convene the meeting of the panel to decide on the new CBI chief. Amid the controversies surrounding the post of Central Bureau of Investigation's (CBI) director, the high powered selection committee led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi will meet on Wednesday to discuss probable candidates and pick a name for the coveted post. Amid several controversies surrounding the post of Central Bureau of Investigation's (CBI) director, the high-powered selection committee led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi will meet on Wednesday at 6.30 pm to zero in on name for the coveted post. The meeting will be attended by Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi or his nominee and Leader of the Congress party in the Lok Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge. On 24 January, the panel's talks remained inconclusive after meeting at the prime minister's residence. Reports had said that the panel had a list of 12 names shortlisted for the post of CBI head. However, four of these names are said to be the strongest contenders as the government intends to give the job to an experienced hand at a time when the agency's image has taken a beating following the bitter spat between former CBI director Alok Verma and his deputy Rakesh Asthana. The government has shortlisted these names based on their seniority, integrity, experience in investigating anti-corruption cases and most importantly, their experience of working with the CBI or handling vigilance matters. "The government does not want to take a chance this time, that's why they have shortlisted as many as dozen officers," a senior officer in the Prime Minister's Office told NDTV. Among the officers, whose name are being discussed at the meeting, are JK Sharma and Parminder Rai from the 1982 batch the senior most IPS officers but lacking experience in the CBI. Also in the list of front-runners is woman IPS officer Rina Mitra of the Madhya Pradesh-cadre. Here is a list of candidates who are most likely to be picked for the coveted post in India's premier investigating agency. Parminder Rai Parminder Rai, a Haryana-cadre officer is the Director General, State Vigilance Bureau, which makes him eligible for the post. His experience with the job will help him take over the reigns of CBI which is tasked with probing high-profile cases, alongside cases of corruption and fraud by central government officers. Rai is one of the senior most IPS officers in the country and he is set to retire on 31 January, 2019. However, if picked as the CBI chief, the current regulations mandate that Rai will complete the entire term in the office. Rina Mitra Special Secretary (Internal Security), Home Ministry, Rina Mitra of the 1983-batch is another strong contender for the post of CBI director. If picked, Mitra will be the first woman to head the CBI. She served in the CBI for five years and had a long tenure in Madhya Pradesh state vigilance where she handled serious corruption cases. Mitra headed the Wildlife Crime Control Bureau, an organisation tasked to combat organised wildlife crime, in its early years, they said, adding that if chosen, she would become the first woman chief of the CBI. The Telegraph reported that Mitra's chances to land the job are particularly bright as she has a clean record, a non-controversial image and has experience of working in the CBI. That elevating her would shatter the glass ceiling is a big plus. A CBI officer, speaking on condition of anonymity, told the newspaper that government might want to "extract political capital" by appointing the first woman to lead the CBI. YC Modi YC Modi, a 1984-batch IPS officer of Assam-Meghalaya cadre, is considered to be another favourite in the race to the top post in the CBI. He is currently the Director General of National Investigation Agency. He was part of the Supreme Court-appointed Special Investigation Team which probed the 2002 riots in Gujarat from 2010 to 2012. The SIT had cleared Narendra Modi, who was then the chief minister of the state. Modi was also part of the CBI team that probed the murder of former Gujarat minister Haren Pandya and arrested 12 accused. But the evidence was rejected by the Gujarat High Court which acquitted all the accused. Sources told NDTV, the Modi's chances were also bright because he is affiliated with the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS). Javeed Ahmed Current chief of National Institute of Criminology and Forensic Sciences Javeed Ahmed, a 1984-batch IPS officer of Uttar Pradesh cadre, is amid the top contenders as he is one of the most experienced IPS officers in the fray. He has served the CBI for 13 years starting as an SP and going up to the rank of DIG from 1994 to 2002 and as joint director from 2009-14. He could not be promoted to post of Additional Director, CBI, as the then Home Secretary Anil Goswami had not cleared the empanelment file of the entire 1984-batch IPS officers till his term came to an end. Goswami was forced to resign for trying to stall the arrest of a former Union minister in a case, sources in the government told PTI. Ahmed was posted as Uttar Pradesh DGP and he led many initiatives like Twitter outreach campaign, UP100 and special help line for women. Other contenders Amid other contenders are OP Galhotra, former Rajasthan DGP, who is the second most experienced officer in CBI on the list. Closely following Ahmed in terms of experience, Galhotra has served in the agency for 11 years as an SP from 1996-2000 and as a Joint Director from 2008-15, the officials said. HC Awasthy, Galhotra's batchmate from the UP cadre, also served in the agency for over eight years, they said. Director General of CISF Rajesh Ranjan, a 1984-batch Bihar cadre officer, has served in the agency for nearly five years and also in Interpol. He was never inducted into the CBI after 2011 as there were "vigilance issues", officials told PTI but didn't expand on the matter. BSF Director General Rajni Kant Mishra, a 1984-batch officer of Uttar Pradesh cadre is also being considered a front-runner for the post of the CBI Director. He is retiring in August, 2019 and had served for nearly five years in the agency. Another contender DG Indo-Tibetan Border Police SS Deshwal has five years' experience of working in the CBI, they said. Arun Kumar, a 1985-batch officer of the Uttar Pradesh cadre, who led the first CBI team that probed the Aarushi case, is also in the race. The report prepared by him indicting three servants of the Talwars in the Aarushi-Hemraj murder case was rejected by the then CBI chief Ashwani Kumar as he was not convinced by the evidence. Other contenders from the 1985-batch include Rishi Raj Singh and Loknath Behera from Kerala cadre who have around 6 and 10 years' of experience in the CBI respectively. Delhi Police Commissioner Amulya Patnaik has also been shortlisted but he lacks experience in the agency, the government sources said adding that experience in the vigilance unit of the state compensates it. With inputs from PTI Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led committee on Thursday met here to decide the name of the next CBI chief, the post lying vacant following the unceremonious exit of Alok Verma early this month, officials said. The meeting was being attended by Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi and leader of the Congress in Lok Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge, they said. New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led committee on Thursday met in Delhi to decide the name of the next CBI chief, the post lying vacant following the unceremonious exit of Alok Verma early in January, officials said. The meeting was being attended by Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi and leader of the Congress in Lok Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge, they said. The panel had on January 10 removed Verma, who was engaged in a bitter fight with Gujarat-cadre IPS officer Rakesh Asthana over corruption charges. Both Verma and Asthana have accused each other of impropriety. Verma, after being removed from the post of CBI director, was named as the Director General of Fire Services, Civil Defence and Home Guards a less significant portfolio. Verma did not accept the offer and wrote to the government, saying he should be considered as deemed superannuated as he has completed 60 year age of superannuation. He had taken over as the CBI chief on 1 February, 2017 for a fixed two-year tenure. In a letter to Secretary of Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT), C Chandramouli, Verma said he has superannuated on 31 July, 2017. The Centre has not yet made public its decision on Verma's letter. The Centre has appointed M Nageshwara Rao as the interim CBI chief. Verma's resignation letter led to a political slugfest with the opposition parties, mainly the Congress, accusing the central government of alleged interference in public institutions. Kharge had recently written to the prime minister terming Rao's appointment as CBI's interim chief "illegal". He had asked the government to immediately convene the meeting of the panel to decide on the new CBI chief. Lance Naik Nazir Wani, who was killed in an encounter with militants in the Kashmir Valley, will posthumously be awarded this year's Ashok Chakra, India's highest peacetime gallantry award. New Delhi: Kashmiri militant-turned-soldier Lance Naik Nazir Wani, who was killed in an encounter with militants in the Kashmir Valley on 26 November, will posthumously be awarded this year's Ashok Chakra, India's highest peacetime gallantry award. The soldier was once a terrorist, but gave up those activities and joined the Territorial Army. He was in the 34 Rashtriya Rifles during the operation in which he was martyred, and was in the Jammu and Kashmir Light Infantry regiment. He laid down his life during an encounter in South Kashmir's Shopian district, in which six militants were killed. Wrapped in tricolour, the body of the decorated soldier was taken to his native village Ashmuji in Kulgam and handed over to family members. The village is surrounded by areas like Koinmooh, which are notorious for terrorist activities. The highly-decorated soldier has already received the Sena Medal twice for his gallantry against terrorists. A resident of Cheki Ashmuji village in Kulgam, he is survived by his wife and two children. Ashok Chakra is the highest peacetime gallantry award in the country, followed by the Kirti Chakra and Shaurya Chakra, respectively. Four officers and soldiers have received the Kirti Chakra while 12 others have also been awarded the Shaurya Chakra this year. With inputs from ANI At least 15 miners are trapped inside the mine in Meghalaya since 13 December, 2018 after one of them accidentally punctured the wall of the mine, leading to its flooding. After a period of over 40 days since 15 miners were trapped in an illegal coal mine in Meghalaya, a body of one of them has been retrieved from the site at East Jaintia Hills on Thursday afternoon. The unidentified body has been sent to a civil hospital for postmortem. The National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) along with India Navy divers launched a search operation at 9 am on Thursday, which continued till afternoon, reported CNN-News18. #NewsAlert Body of one miner retrieved today. The first body was retrieved after 41 days. #MeghalayaMineTragedy | @karishmahasnat with more detail pic.twitter.com/5bKpdIooW3 News18 (@CNNnews18) January 24, 2019 On 17 January, the Indian Navy had recovered another body of a miner from a depth of more than 200 feet. According to News18, the rescue teams detected the body with the help of an underwater remotely-operated vehicle (ROV). On their Twitter handle, the Indian Navy clarified that the body has been pulled upto the mouth of rat-hole mine and will be extracted only under the supervision of doctors. Meghalaya: Operation continues to rescue the miners who have been trapped in a mine at Ksan near Lytein River in East Jaintia Hills, one body has been recovered. The miners are trapped since 13th December. #meghalayaminers pic.twitter.com/trqWsHmzwc ANI (@ANI) January 17, 2019 The Indian Navy, however, abandoned all efforts on 21 January to pull out the decomposed body of the miner. At least 15 miners are trapped inside the mine since 13 December, 2018 after one of them accidentally punctured the wall of the mine, leading to its flooding. "The navy today (Sunday) suspended the pulling of the remains, which they had been trying since yesterday (Saturday) evening, as too much disintegration (of the body) took place with every pull by the ROV jaw," operation spokesperson R Susngi said. The families of four of the 15 miners urged the rescuers to retrieve the decomposed body so that they could perform the last rites. Kerala's women know what it means to place your body at the site of protest: To know that it is derided, unwanted and hated, but somehow finding the strength to soldier on. Editor's note: This article was originally published on 28 January, 2019. It is being republished in light of the Supreme Court verdict on a batch of petitions seeking the re-examination of its decision to allow the entry of women of menstruating age into Kerala's Sabarimala Temple that is due on Thursday. There is something urgent and necessary about a body claiming space. It is a call for action that moves beyond back and forth dialogue, beyond discourse obsessed with pros and cons. When a person, aware of pushback, moves forward and asserts themselves, they have squarely aligned with the revolution. When Rosa Parks refused to give up her bus seat for a white passenger in the deeply segregated state of Alabama, courting arrest; when the mothers of Manipur took to the streets of Imphal against the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Acts, they werent protesting from cushioned heights. They were making themselves visible the vulnerable frontline of a battle that would outlast them. Just like the women fighting to enter Sabarimala and those volunteering for the Agasthyakoodam trek. Despite the September 2018 verdict by the Supreme Court of India that revoked the Kerala Sabarimala Temples ban on women below the age of 50 from its premises, it has been an uphill struggle for female devotees under that age to gain entrance there. The Agasthyakoodam trek leads devotees to the idol of Agasthya Muni, revered by members of the Kani tribe who call the hills of Agasthyamala home. An unofficial code disallowed women from the trekking season, when the tribe members offer prayers to the deity. As the controlled trekking period coincided with the holy days, women were essentially barred from climbing up the hills. That is, until a November 2018 Kerala High Court ruling, which lifted any gender-based restrictions imposed by the trek. Registrations for trekking the 23 km path sought after by the adventurous and faithful alike were only recently opened up to women. [Dhanya Sanal, the spokesperson of the Defense Ministry in Thiruvananthapuram, became the first woman to trek to the top of the trail on 15 January 2019.] The resistance to the opening of both spaces for women is vested in upholding the celibacy of the gods in question, and the male devotees who flock to these sites. The virtue of men is prioritised to the exclusion of women. All over the world across religions and states, democracies and theocracies faith is used to justify segregation of people. That it took the Supreme Court to qualify menstruation as a non-polluting biological phenomenon would be shocking, were it not for the countless Hindu families who continue to exclude menstruating women from their living spaces. India allows every citizen the fundamental right be treated with fairness and equality. This includes the women who wish to trek the Agasthyakoodam trail, the women who fought for and won access to the inner sanctum of the Haji Ali Dargah in 2016, and the women who wish to pray to Ayyappa at Sabarimala. The women who have backed and supported the legal battle to enter Sabarimala and Agasthyakoodam may be buoyed by the court judgements, but they have been offered no support from the loud, visible players of the national political arena. These women have been fighting alone, with some support from fellow activists and social media crusaders. Our tweets, our circulation of court verdicts, our take down of trolls aside, it is the women lining up to enter Sabarimala, to trek to Agasthyakoodam who are placing their bodies at immense personal risk to lead the revolution. On the first day of the New Year, braving calls for strike by BJP-RSS workers and aggressive pushback, approximately 50 lakh women lined up with arms outstretched, to build a Vanitha Mathil a womens wall of solidarity and assertion. On 2 January 2019, two women Bindu and Kanaka Durga entered the temple premises for the first time after the Supreme Court ruling. Immediately after their exit, the temple priest carried out a purification ritual. Other women, in their attempts to enter the temple, have met with reactionary anger from protestors and have had to turn back. This is what it means to place your body at the site of protest: To know that it is derided, unwanted and hated, but somehow finding the strength to soldier on. To use your body to walk, climb, kneel, assert in the face of absolute adversity is awe-inspiring. Over the last several years, Indian feminism has come of age; it has escaped from the controlled, exclusive spaces of academia and come into our living rooms and mobile phones. But with the women entering Sabarimala and trekking up Agasthyakoodam, it is also ready to reflect on majoritarian faith and fight for its revision. The powers that be, the ones whose opinion rests on vote bank politics, will never fully commit to the fight, and thats precisely why these women and their corporeal revolution are so vital to the very fabric of the gender equality movement in this country. In 1980, American urban historian, architect, and poet Dolores Hayden published a revelatory, inspired essay titled, 'What Would a Non-Sexist City Be Like?' In it, she argued that for far too long, urban spaces had been designed to exclude the domestic from the professional, to isolate the invisible labour of women to prioritise private time for the breadwinning men of the nuclear family. She proposed an alternative model, one that broke down the walls of secluded domestic work spaces to favour communal housing and organising, where women are visible, and thus compensation for labour accessible. The model assembles women into a force, because real assimilation can never happen with one woman alone. Public space in India has always been resistant to the freedom and safety of women and other people of marginalised gender and caste identities. Women persisting to enter spaces of faith only goes on to normalise their presence in our temples, on our streets, and at workplaces. The women in Kerala have mobilised themselves into a mass movement, and it is time for us to follow. Meher Manda is a poet, short story writer, journalist, and educator from Mumbai, currently based in New York. The sedition case, related to anti-national slogans allegedly raised during a February 2016 event on the campus of JNU, has been filed against former JNU Students' Union (JNUSU) president Kanhaiya Kumar, among others. New Delhi: Delhi law minister Kailash Gahlot on Thursday sent a show-cause notice to the principal law secretary for clearing without his approval the sanction to prosecute former Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) students in a case of sedition. The sedition case, related to anti-national slogans allegedly raised during a February 2016 event on the campus of JNU, has been filed against former JNU Students' Union (JNUSU) president Kanhaiya Kumar, among others. Gahlot has sought an explanation from the law secretary AK Mendiratta for sending the file directly to the principal home secretary stating that law secretary deliberately to bypass him. "It appears to have been done intentionally so that views of the minister aren't recorded," he said in the show-cause notice. This development has come in the backdrop of the Delhi government seeking legal advice with regard to granting sanction for prosecution in the JNU sedition case. On Saturday, the Delhi government and the Delhi Police levelled allegations against each other after the judicature questioned the department for filing a charge sheet in the matter against Kanhaiya Kumar and nine others without procuring the required sanction from the authorities. On 14 January, the Delhi Police had filed the charge sheet in the court, stating the sanction for prosecution was pending before the government. Under the Criminal Procedure Code, the court cannot take cognisance of the police charge sheet without sanction from the home department of the state concerned. As per 112-page charge sheet, Kumar was leading a procession and supported seditious slogans raised on the JNU campus during an event held in February 2016. Police also charged former JNU students Umar Khalid and Anirban Bhattacharya for allegedly shouting anti-national slogans during the event to mark the hanging of Parliament attack mastermind Afzal Guru. The elephant was found dead on 16 January near a railway crossing at Chhipadohar in Latehar district and its tusks were missing. Medininagar, Jharkhand: A special team of the forest department has recovered a pair of elephant tusks from a house in Latehar district, eight-days after a tusker was found dead with its tusks missing, a senior forest official said Thursday. Director of Palamau Tiger Reserve (PTR), Mohan Lal told PTI that the tusks of the dead elephant and Rs 2 lakh in cash were recovered by the special team on Wednesday from the house at Garu village which falls under the PTR range. The elephant was found dead on 16 January near a railway crossing at Chhipadohar in Latehar district and its tusks were missing. The composition of the mission includes an advisory council, governing council, mission director and national mission leader. For the Indian judiciary, delays and backlog are an old woe. By launching the National Mission for Justice Delivery and Legal Reforms in 2011 the Central government attempted to redeem the situation and usher in significant legal reforms. As the Working Group for Department of Justice for the 12th Five-Year Plan in its report of 2011 noted, the idea behind the mission was to ensure a well-coordinated response of the executive and the judiciary for speeding up delivery of justice in the country and to reduce the delay in the disposal of cases by the courts. The ambitious target of the mission was to reduce pendency from 15 years to three years within the time frame of five years spanning from 2011 to 2016. This umbrella programme was designed for efficient utilisation of funds under the 12th Plan and convergence of various initiatives such as Action Research and Studies on Judicial Reforms, Access to Justice - Government of India Project, E-Courts Phase-II and the centrally sponsored scheme for developing judicial infrastructure facilities. This initiative was an outcome of national consultation in pursuance to the then prime minister Manmohan Singhs address at the joint conference of chief ministers and chief justices in 2009 where he expressed his concerns over the fact that India has to suffer the scourge of the worlds largest backlog of cases. The composition of the mission includes an advisory council, governing council, mission director and national mission leader. The purpose of the advisory council was to advise on the goals, objectives and strategies of the national mission and the action plan and its implementation and performance in meeting its objectives. It is chaired by the Union Minister of Law and Justice and the Union Minister of State for Law and Justice acts as the vice-chairman. Its membership consists of representatives of the Parliament, Central and state governments, the bar, Law Commission as well as jurists. This was perhaps the first time when such a focussed approach was taken for efficient allocation and utilisation of resources for the judiciary by invoking a consultative process. The advisory council in its past meetings deliberated on important judicial reforms. Some of the topics that have been brought up for discussion, according to the minutes of the meetings, include strategic initiatives that may help in reduction of pending cases, comprehensive review of the criminal justice system including suitable changes to be made to the Code of Criminal Procedure, implementation of the Gram Nyayalaya Scheme, judicial vacancies, setting up of fast track courts to deal with commercial matters, streamlining of court processes to process automation under the eCourts project, etc. Evidently, these meetings become a platform for the executive as well as the legal fraternity to sit together and discuss the possible judicial reforms and track the developments on their past decisions. The appraisal of the Action Taken Reports of ministries, high courts, Law Commission and various other institutions ensure the continuity in the dialogue between the stakeholders. The National Mission to its credit has made significant development in computerisation of courts, infrastructure creation, increasing the number of judges and other structural changes. To date, the council has held 10 meetings, the last of which was conducted over two years ago on 18 October, 2016. With the website of the Department of Justice only publishing the agendas and minutes of the seventh to the tenth meeting, it appeared that the council had performed a disappearing act, especially since it is mandated to meet every six months. To understand the reasons behind the disappearing act, we filed an RTI application with the Department of Justice. The response by the ministry revealed that despite several attempts by the Department of Justice to convene a meeting since 2016, the same has not taken place. Proposals for the same were circulated with the objective of scheduling a meeting in the months of April or May in 2017. However, for reasons best known to the ministry, these plans did not materialise and repeated attempts, by the department to convene the meeting were made in June, July and November of 2017. Finally, as the authors gather from the replies, the meeting had been scheduled for the 11 November 2017 with the approval of the Minister for Law and Justice. However, due to the non-availability of the minister (who is also the Union Minister for Electronics & Information Technology) on the said date, the meeting had to be postponed. With a staggering number of cases still pending and most of the reforms deliberated under the national mission still remaining incomplete, there is undoubtedly a lot that remains to be done. Given that even the vision statement of the mission recognises that workable deliverables cannot be projected by the mission beyond 10 years because of the rapid changes taking place in the nation, the consequences of ironic delays by the council cannot be overstated. Moreover, the Union Budget had earmarked over Rs 1,200 crore for the national mission for the years 2016-19, and the possibility that majority of the development under the mission during this time took place without the advisory council in the picture is not particularly reassuring. The initiation of the National Mission for Justice Delivery and Legal Reforms was indeed a major step towards the radical transformation required by the judiciary. We can only hope that this year a meeting of the advisory council will feature on the priority list of the law minister and the discussions that were halted two years ago will finally resume. The authors are research fellows at Vidhi Centre for Legal Policy, New Delhi A Gujarat couple has earned praise from Prime Minister Narendra Modi for designing their wedding invitation card with a dedicated page justifying the NDA government's decision to buy Rafale fighter jets. Surat: A Gujarat couple has earned praise from Prime Minister Narendra Modi for designing their wedding invitation card with a dedicated page justifying the NDA government's decision to buy Rafale fighter jets. In a letter sent to the Surat-based couple, Yuvraj Pokharna and bride Sakshi Agrawal, Modi described the content of the card as "ingenious" and asserted that it had inspired him to work even harder for the country. The couple tied the knot on 22 January. Talking to the media on Monday, Pokharna had said he received Modi's letter, which is addressed to his mother Babita Prakash Pokharna, on 17 January through e-mail. "Heartiest Congratulations to Pokharna family on the joyous occasion of the marriage of Yuvraj and Sakshi. I noticed a unique feature of the marriage invitation card sent to the guests," read the letter signed and sent by Modi. "The ingenuity of its content reflects your abiding concern and love for the nation. This also inspires me to keep working harder for our country," the letter said. "Best wishes and blessings to the couple for a happy and prosperous life," Modi said in the letter shared by Pokharna with the media. On the second page of the invitation card, the couple has tried to justify the multi-crore defence contract with France by enlisting several points under the heading "Some facts about Rafale deal". "Even a fool will not compare prices of a simple fly-away aircraft with a weaponised jet," reads the very first line, followed by some figures, comparisons and information. "It would be cheaper than the price which UPA had negotiated. The price (Rs 526 crore) which Congress quotes is nowhere in official documents. The weaponised aircraft is 20 per cent cheaper," it said. "The offset was given to 72 companies including DRDO, TATA, Mahindra...in which HAL is also included," it added. On the controversy surrounding the alleged last-minute exclusion of PSU Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL) from the deal, the couple defended the Modi government by writing, "UPA itself had refused the contract to HAL, which quoted 2.7 higher man hours required for the job". Talking to reporters, Pokharna said he was extremely happy that Modi noticed the gesture and showered praises. "I am surprised to know that the PM gives so much importance to a common man like me. I hope that the content of the card would clear people's doubt about the deal," said Pokharna, a self-confessed BJP supporter. His fiancee said the intention was to make women, especially housewives, aware about the deal in which the opposition Congress has alleged irregularities, a charge stoutly denied by the BJP and the Modi government. "We want to convey to the people that the deal was good for the country. Many women, especially housewives, did not know the technicalities of the deal. Thus, we have put it in a simple way to make them understand," she said. The couple even requested the guests invited for the wedding to vote for the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls. "Our gift would be whatsoever you may wish to contribute towards BJP via NAMO app and your vote for Modi in 2019 Lok Sabha elections," reads the footnote on the front page of the invitation card. Most of Chinas neighbours, including India, are struggling to remain engaged with China while also trying to preserve their security and sovereign interests A joint column by French ambassador Alexander Ziegler and German Charge d affaires Jasper Wieck has called for deeper cooperation between the European Union (EU) and India. The Franco-German partnership, based upon the need to uphold a multipolar rules-based order, a trade and development policy based on partnerships, a free and open Indo-Pacific region, has huge importance for India if it wants to make sure that strength of the law and not the law of the strongest regulate the international order. The Indo-Pacific is a strategic reality of our turbulent times, and this phenomenon has manifested in the rising prominence being accorded to promoting the rules-based order, including freedom of navigation, peaceful dispute settlement, support for international law and financially sustainable infrastructure. As many countries are trying to constrain Chinas capacity to infringe on their national interests, the entry of France and Germany in this club must be welcomed. Most of Chinas neighbours, including India, are struggling to remain engaged with China while also trying to preserve their security and sovereign interests. As the EU has also been struggling to define its central purpose amidst the chaos surrounding Brexit, and to cobble up a coherent response to a rising Asian power, the call for India-EU partnership in the Indo-Pacific makes perfect sense. Post-Brexit, France and Germany will be Indias preferred EU member-state partners on confronting many common global challenges. As Indo-Pacific stands for freedom, transparency and openness, India stands to gain both diplomatically and economically by making France and Germany close partners in its endeavour to preserve the sanctity of democratic institutions. What binds the countries subscribing to the Indo-Pacific vision is their unwavering commitment towards democracy. The partnership should include cooperation on questions of emerging technologies that breach new territories every day. Various social media platforms are now being used by hostile State and non-State actors for disseminating hate as well as destabilising propaganda. This fact can no longer be denied that open societies and economies are extremely vulnerable to influence operations by non-democratic entities. Against a backdrop of recent state-sponsored influence operations and electoral interference in many developed democracies around the world, India-EU partnership must discuss ways on how to counter this growing menace. The partnership must recognise that better information sharing on how bad actors are exploiting new technological platforms in democratic societies can lead to better solutions. There is no doubt about externally-mounted efforts to influence the US domestic audience through social media users for shaping political perceptions. India and the EU cannot ignore this dimension as they seek to expand their cooperative agenda amidst gathering pace of viral information sharing. In the emerging world of social media, it is fake news which is increasingly shaping perceptions which not only affect electoral outcomes but also trigger socio-political violence of horrifying proportions. For Franco-German collaboration with India to succeed, it is imperative to find effective ways to counter subversion of the democratic process and exacerbation of societal divisions without jeopardising individual freedoms. As informed people in India and the EU have concerns about how vulnerable democratic processes can be, deeper analysis of the misuse of social media must be a matter of results-oriented consultations between them so that they can protect their critical infrastructure. The US under President Donald Trump has already opened many fronts against China on cyber security and economic protectionism. Of course, some of these measures are controversial as well. However, many developed democracies are seriously contemplating to forbid Chinese equipment from their domestic communications network on grounds of national security. As the Chinese surge in the domain of Artificial Intelligence, there are serious questions of surveillance and data privacy regarding the booming market of autonomous products and technologies. This is also a matter of concern for all freedom-loving countries in the Indo-Pacific region, and they would certainly welcome India and EU collaboration in this regard. Counter-terrorism and countering violent extremism can be a solid agenda for cooperation between the two. Counter-terrorism is already among the issues regularly discussed in India-EU consultations. Now they would do well to enlarge the agenda and underline the importance of deeper coordination among law enforcement agencies. An enhanced emphasis on countering violent extremism in urban spaces will also deepen trust. However, India-EU partnership would be strengthened if upholding freedom of navigation and a rules-based international order becomes its leitmotif. As the Pentagon has become more flexible in conducting freedom of navigation patrols in the South China Sea, Franco-German collaboration with India has a great opportunity at this moment to deepen their partnership for upholding freedom of navigation. As vibrant democracies, they should claim an important security agenda in the Indo-Pacific region which must be rooted in democratic principles of transparency and openness. It needs to be recognised that in the time of censorship and self-censorship, it has become extremely challenging to measure the degree to which coercion from China has made journalists, scholars and institutions shy away from reporting or writing about China. Priority must be accorded to break this vice-like grip. Due to Beijings predatory economic agenda, Chinas Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) has begun to encounter resistance in many countries in the Indo-Pacific such as Sri Lanka, the Maldives and Malaysia to name just a few. India and the EU should work towards offering an efficient and transparent alternative to the BRI since many small and middle powers in the Indo-Pacific are keen to benefit from infrastructure development and investment. With China striving for global leadership and liberal democracies struggling to preserve the rules-based international order, many Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) member-states are contemplating their own strategic options. The ASEAN has always been the cornerstone of regional security architecture, but the intensification of great power competition between US and China leaves most of ASEAN states with uncomfortable choices. Therefore, Franco-German partnership with India gives the ASEAN a significant opportunity to increase its leverage vis-a-vis China. Beijings growing ascendancy needs to be balanced with an inclusive approach that combines leading European powers and Indo-Pacific countries. An enhanced India-EU dialogue on how to keep the Indo-Pacific free and open has the potential to provide a comprehensive strategic framework to strengthen ties between two important geographic regions of the world. So far, a number of non-traditional security issues such as climate change and disaster response have remained on the margins of discussion about the future of Indo-Pacific. The EU and India should therefore develop a priority list for how best to promote greater trade and investment and sustainable cooperative security regime in their consultative agenda. Doing so will send a strong message about the seriousness they accord to good governance and democratic politics across the Indo-Pacific. Retired Supreme Court judge Madan B Lokur evaded questions as to whether CJI Ranjan Gogoi should have heard former CBI chief Alok Verma's petition challenging Nageshwara Rao's appointment. New Delhi: Justice Madan B Lokur, who retired from the Supreme Court on 30 December, on Wednesday refused to be dragged into the controversy related to the handling of Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) matters and the politically sensitive Ayodhya land dispute by Chief Justice of India (CJI) Ranjan Gogoi. Lokur, one of the four senior judges of the apex court who staged a virtual revolt against then CJI Dipak Misra by holding an unprecedented press conference on 12 January, 2018, was speaking at an event in New Delhi on "State of the Indian Judiciary" organised by legal news portal The Leaflet. The retired judge evaded questions as to whether Justice Gogoi, who was in the panel to select the CBI director, should have heard former CBI chief Alok Verma's petition as on Tuesday, he refused to hear a plea challenging the appointment of the agency's interim director, M Nageshwar Rao. Justice Lokur said although the CJI heard and decided Verma's petition against his divesting of powers, that did not mean he should also hear the case against the acting CBI director as he was part of the selection panel to choose the central probe agency's chief. "Are you suggesting that he (CJI) should have heard the case and taken a meeting tomorrow?" he asked. When the questions about the CBI case involving Verma and Rao were repeated, Justice Lokur was visibly not happy. He also skirted questions on the CJI being a part of the bench hearing the politically sensitive Ayodhya land dispute case, the Rafale matter and others. Justice Lokur requested all not to make specific mention of any case, which was being heard either by the CJI or any other judges. | BY Ricki Green | New Zealand has weighed in on the debate as to whether they do, in fact, do Australia better than Australia following MLAs proposed merger that would see Aussies and their Kiwi cousins unite to form a new nation New Australia-Land, and the proof is in the pav. Developed by Tourism New Zealand and TBWA\Sydney, 100% Pure New Australia-Land is a website that brings together all the best parts of New Australia-Land but with a cheeky twist. Says Andrew Waddel, general manager, Tourism New Zealand: We felt the people of New Zealand needed to respond to such a proposition, so we packaged all of the best bits of New Australia-Land into one place. They all just happen to be in New Zealand. 100% Pure New Australia-Land features just some of the world class experiences available in New Zealand, from trekking through thousand year old glaciers to enjoying one of the hundreds of locally brewed craft beers to securing front row seats at a light show like no other. Says Waddel: There is no limit to what you can experience when you make the trip across the ditch, which for our friends on the eastern seaboard is as quick as two movies and a meal. Says Andy DiLallo, chief creative officer, TBWA\Sydney: Aussies seem to think Kiwis are all about Phar Lap and Flat Whites, but NZ has so much more to offer; exciting art and culture, a great food and wine scene and a rich history of one-upmanship. We realised this was the perfect creative opportunity to share all this awesome stuff with the rest of the world. Says Katrina Alvarez-Jarratt, creative director, TBWA\Sydney: There are just so many signs pointing to the fact that New Zealand has all the best bits of New Australia-Land, not forgetting the lamb it even looks like a chop. Air New Zealand has also dished up a limited time offer so Aussies can experience all that New Australia-Land has to offer. Client: Tourism New Zealand General Manager: Andrew Waddel PR Manager: Lauren Blank Campaign Manager: Lauren OConnor Digital Campaign & Conversion Specialist: Chloe Hedley Creative agency: TBWA\Sydney CEO: Paul Bradbury CCO: Andy DiLallo Creative Director: Katrina Alvarez-Jarratt Creative Director: Ben Clare Creative Director: Doug Hamilton Creative: Andrew Torrisi Creative: Meredith Besseling Creative: Anne Lau Integrated Producer: Elicia Varley/Ben Stephens Designer: Chris Mawson Business Director: Helen Campbell-Borton Planner: Matthew Moran PR: Eleven Media: Blue 449 Julia Bannerman: Associate Client Director Owen Browne: Performance Director Three days after self proclaimed cyber expert Syed Shuja claimed that EVMs could be hacked, Chief Election Commissioner Sunil Arora said there is no way the country will be 'intimidated, bullied or coerced' into going back to the ballot paper system. Chief Election Commissioner Sunil Arora on Thursday said there is no way the country will be "intimidated, bullied or coerced" into giving up electronic voting machines (EVMs), reports say. Arora's remarks come in the aftermath of the EVM hacking charge levelled by self-proclaimed cyber expert Syed Shuja at a hackathon in London on Monday. "We are open to any criticism and feedback from any stakeholder, including from political parties. At the same time, we are not going to be intimidated, bullied or coerced into giving up these and start the era of ballot papers," Arora said at an event in Delhi. "I would like to make it very clear that we are not going back to the era of ballot papers," ANI quoted Arora as saying. The event and Shuja's claims that the 2014 Lok Sabha elections won by the BJP were "rigged" kickstarted a political slugfest with the Congress and other Opposition parties calling for an inquiry and the BJP pointing a finger at the presence of senior Congress leader Kabil Sibal at the hackathon. Sibal went on to defend his presence at the event, saying he was there in his "personal capacity". "VVPATs were introduced after charges that the EVMs could be tampered with were levelled by Opposition parties. But to say that EVMs, which have been used in elections for nearly two decades now, can be tampered with is wrong," the CEC added, according to News18. VVPAT stands for voter-verifiable paper audit trail, a way of providing feedback to voters using a paperless voting system. The Delhi Police, on Wednesday, registered a case based on a complaint filed by the Election Commission regarding Shuja's allegations. In its complaint, the poll panel had asked the police to investigate the matter "promptly" for violation of certain sections of the Indian Penal Code dealing with spreading rumours to "create fear" in the minds of people. The Election Commission also said that all the "elections to the Lok Sabha and Vidhan Sabha are conducted with the EVMs manufactured by Electronics Commission of India Limited and Bharat Electronics Limited", both public sector undertakings. "The Supreme Court and various high courts have also endorsed the use of EVMs in elections through various judgments," the poll panel had highlighted in its complaint. Shuja had alleged, at the event organised by the European chapter of the Indian Journalists' Association, that the BJP had manipulated the EVMs used in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections using a modulator that transmitted military-grade frequency. Claiming that he had been part of the team that had made the EVMs used in the polls, Shuja said he could demonstrate how the voting machines could be hacked, though he did not proceed to do so at the press conference. The most startling among the cyber security researcher's claims were that BJP leader Gopinath Munde, who died in a car accident in 2014, had been killed because he knew about the rigging, and that journalist Gauri Lankesh, too, was murdered as she had agreed to run a story on the EVM hacking after he approached her. After its pre-poll alliance with the TDP in neighbouring Telangana came a cropper, the Congress Wednesday asserted it would contest on its own the upcoming elections in Andhra Pradesh, both to the state Assembly and the Lok Sabha Amaravati: After its pre-poll alliance with the TDP in neighbouring Telangana came a cropper, the Congress Wednesday asserted it would contest on its own the upcoming elections in Andhra Pradesh, both to the state Assembly and the Lok Sabha. All India Congress Committee general secretary and former Kerala chief minister Oommen Chandy made the assertion while making it clear that the Congress will not have any alliance with the ruling Telugu Desam Party(TDP) in Andhra Pradesh. "We will contest all 175 Assembly and 25 Lok Sabha seats alone. "The TDP allied with us only at the national level, so we will have no truck (with it) in the state," he maintained. Addressing a press conference after a meeting of the PCC office-bearers here, Chandy said they would meet again on January 31 to discuss about the poll preparations. The state Congress also decided to undertake a bus yatra in all the 13 districts in February, he said. APCC president N Raghuveera Reddy said they left the decision of electoral alliances to AICC president Rahul Gandhi. However, he hastened to add that the Congress would fight the elections in Andhra Pradesh on its own. The Congress, which formed a pre-poll alliance with the TDP and two others for the recent Assembly polls in Telangana, ended up with 19 seats, down from 21 in 2014, while the TDP won two seats as against 15 last time. The Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) won 88 seats in the 119-member Assembly to retain power. Day's top stories: High-powered selection committee to meet to decide on a new CBI director; The Supreme Court to hear a plea against the appointment of M Nageswara Rao as interim CBI director; ISRO to launch the Kalamsat payload and Microsat-R satellite; and more. Selection meeting for new CBI director A high-powered selection committee will meet at 6 pm on Thursday to decide on a new CBI director. The meeting comes after the panel ousted Alok Verma from the post earlier in January. Prime Minister Narendra Modi heads the committee, in which the Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi and the Leader of Congress in Lok Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge are the other members. Supreme Court to hear plea on Nageswara Rao's appointment The Supreme Court is scheduled to hear a plea by NGO Common Cause challenging the government's 10 January order appointing M Nageswara Rao as interim CBI director. On Monday, Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi Monday recused himself from hearing the plea, saying he would be taking part in the meeting to select the CBI director on Thursday. The bench, also comprising Justice Sanjiv Khanna, then said that the PIL would be heard by some other appropriate bench on 24 January. Priyanka enters politics, BJP says "most un-eventful" news of 2019 Congress, in a surprise move, announced Priyanka Gandhi's entry into politics. Her appointment became a point of political debate with leaders of Congress and its allies welcoming it saying she will be a "great success" for the party while the BJP dubbed her entry into active politics "as an admission by the Congress that its president Rahul Gandhi has failed in providing leadership". Spokesperson GVL Narsimha Rao said that it was the most un-eventful news of 2019. In an apparent reference to her appointment, Narendra Modi said unlike "many cases" where family is the party, for the BJP the party is family. Interacting with BJP booth workers from Baramati, Gadchiroli, Hingoli, Nanded and Nandurbar in Maharashtra, Modi also said that in the BJP, decisions are not taken on the wishes of a person or family. BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra said Rahul Gandhi has opted for family "crutches" after facing rejection from other opposition parties. Another spokesperson Shahnawaz Hussain said the defeat of Congress is imminent and Priyanka's entry cannot stop that from happening. Second day in Amethi for Rahul Gandhi: Scheduled to meet party workers Congress president Rahul Gandhi continues visit to his parliamentary constituency Amethi which started on Wednesday. During this two-day visit, the Congress chief is expected to take part in several party programmes and a meeting. At 09.30 am, he is scheduled to hold a meeting with Congress workers at Bhuamau guest house. By 3 pm is will reach Fursatganj airport to end his visit. Congress-JD(S) meet in Bengaluru The Congress-Janata Dal Secular (JDS) coordination committee meeting is set to take place in Bengaluru at 5 pm on Thursday. The meeting is likely to initiate Lok Sabha seat-sharing discussions between the coalition partners, according to reports. Building collapses in Gurugram More than five people were trapped after a four-storey building collapsed in Ullawas, Gurugram, on early Thursday morning. The rescue operation is currently underway. Piyush Goyal given temporary charge of finance ministry As Finance Minister Arun Jaitley remains in the US for medical treatment, Union minister Piyush Goyal has been given temporary charge of the ministry. Goyal likely to present the interim Union Budget on 1 February. ISRO to launch the Kalamsat payload and Microsat-R satellite The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) will launch the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle-C44 (PSLV-C44) carrying Kalamsat payload and Microsat-R satellite into space on Thursday from Sriharikota in Andhra Pradesh. The countdown for the launch of PSLV-C44 started on Wednesday at 7.37 pm at Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota. The launch is scheduled for Thursday at 11.37 pm. Five killed in shooting at Florida bank A gunman opened fire inside a Florida bank on Wednesday, killing five people before surrendering to a SWAT team. The shooter called police to report that he had fired shots inside the bank in Sebring, about 80 miles (129 kilometers) southeast of Tampa. Negotiations failed to persuade the barricaded man to leave the building. The SWAT team then entered the bank, and the gunman eventually gave up, police told AFP. Microsoft attempting to fight fake news on its mobile Edge browser Going forward, Microsoft's Edge mobile browser users can expect to receive warnings when they visit untrustworthy news sites. The software giant has joined hands with NewsGuard, an organisation that employs journalists to review thousands of websites on the web, scoring them on 9 different factors. The news rating feature warns users of fake news, and of publications that fail to maintain accuracy in their reporting. The feature simply rates a website green or red, with green suggesting safe. Yes Bank Q3 results today Private lender Yes Bank's December quarter results are expected today. Media reports said that the bank may report higher slippages and loan provisions on account of its exposure to the IL&FS group. However, net interest margins is likely to remain stable for the third quarter. Yes Bank shares climbed 2 percent in early trade on Wednesday after the bank partnered with Government of Maharashtra to onboard PDS shops onto the electronic PDS initiative through which they can become agents of the bank. Congress leaders, including former minister Anand Sharma, said the party has been struggling to find enough helicopters to ferry its leaders ahead of the Lok Sabha election and accused BJP of hogging resources. New Delhi: Congress has said it is struggling to find enough helicopters to ferry its leaders ahead of the Lok Sabha election, accusing BJP of hogging resources. Chartered aircraft are a critical part of elections in India, with a population of 1.3 billion people, where national leaders like Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Congress chief Rahul Gandhi often address multiple rallies in a single day. But an official of the Congress, which is hoping to make a comeback after a massive electoral thrashing at the hands of the BJP in 2014, told Reuters on Wednesday that the ruling party had already reserved much of the entire available fleet of helicopters in the country for 90 days instead of the usual 45 days. The official declined to be identified, but senior party leader and former minister Anand Sharma said the BJP had "preempted everything" ahead of the polls due by May. "Most of them have been cornered by the BJP because they have massive resources and money at their disposal. Theyve pre-booked most of the fleets," Sharma said. "On a scale of 100 (in terms of resources), they are 90, we are 10." The BJP denied the charge, calling Congress a "machine of lies". The alleged shortage of aircraft for Congress reflects the widening gap in resources available with both parties as they head into what will be the world's biggest elections. In 2017-2018, the BJP's total income including donations stood at Rs 1027 crore compared with Rs 190 crore for Congress, according to the Association for Democratic Reforms, a Delhi-based advocacy group that examines political funding and candidate disclosure forms. More than half the income for both parties came from unknown sources, an ADR analysis showed. There has been much criticism on how the Citizenship Amendment Bill, by selectively picking six religious denominations, violates the core principles of equality before the law (Article 14) embedded in Indias Constitution. Editor's Note: The two-part series on the Joint Parliamentary Committee report on the Citizenship Amendment Bill is a detailed political-legal analysis of the report, the Bill, and the surrounding sociopolitical context around it. This is the first part of the series. *** On 8 January, the Lok Sabha passed the Citizenship Amendment Bill (CAB) 2019, which seeks to facilitate the granting of Indian citizenship to migrants of six religious denominations Hindus, Buddhists, Jains, Sikhs, Christians and Parsis who came to India from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan on or before 31 December 2014. It further aims to shorten the naturalisation period for future immigrants belonging to these communities from eleven to six years. Before the Bill was tabled in the Parliament, it was assessed by a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) of both Houses formed in August 2016. The JPC, which undertook study visits to Jodhpur, Rajkot, Ahmedabad, Guwahati, Shillong and Silchar and held discussions with key stakeholder groups like government representatives, civil society members, public representatives and migrants, adopted its final report on 3 January 2019 in which it concluded that the CAB is fit to be tabled in Parliament. The 437-page report, which largely concurs with the governments position on citizenship and immigration, is a rare glimpse into the communally-vested political imagination that the current Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led government at the Centre has been trying to institutionalise since it came to power four years back. In itself, the report is rife with startling contradictions and conclusions that belie not just ground realities, but also its own findings and premises. According to the JPC report, the governments intent behind the CAB is to exempt those who were compelled to seek shelter in India due to religious persecution or fear of religious persecution in Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Afghanistan from being flagged as "illegal immigrants" under the Foreigners Act 1946 [Clause 1.12, page 13]. The JPC further feels that the CABs aim is to protect the interest of those migrants of Indian origin who are subjected to unfair treatment for no fault of theirs [Clause 5.48, page 79]. But, there has been much criticism on how the CAB, by selectively picking six religious denominations, violates the core principles of equality before the law (Article 14) embedded in Indias Constitution. The government, however, argues that the Bill doesnt violate Article 14 because the latter encompasses the positive concept of equality that entails equality of treatment in equal circumstances or to similarly situated persons [emphasis added by authors]. According to the government, [...] a legislature is entitled to make reasonable classification for purposes of legislation and treat all in one class on equal footing. [Clause 2.33, page 43] The assumption here is that the six religious communities together form a class of distinct people on equal footing. The JPC agrees with the governments legal position on this, concluding that the CAB does not violate Article 14 of the Indian Constitution [Clause 2.43, page 51] and to justify its legal position, the Ministry of Law and Justices (MoLJ) Department of Legal Affairs (DoLA) cites the case of Ram Krishna Dalmia v. Justice S R Tendolkar (1959), which argued that while Article 14 forbids class legislation, it does not forbid reasonable classification for the purposes of legislation while laying down two necessary preconditions for a particular classification (in this case, the six communities) to pass the test of reasonability: (i) that the classification must be founded on an intelligible differentia which distinguishes persons or things that are grouped together from others left out of the group; and (ii) that that differentia must have a rational relation to the object sought to be achieved by the statute in question. The MoLJs Legislative Department further cites State of West Bengal Vs. Anwar Ali Sarkar (AIR 1952 SC 75) to argue that the classification in the Bill is clear and substantial [Clause 2.32, page 43]. However, on closer scrutiny of the complex ground realities of religious persecution in and migration thereof from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan, it becomes clear that the first condition itself is not fulfilled by the CABs provisions. If religious persecution or fear of religious persecution are the only parameters for differentiating these six communities from others, then even Muslim minority sects like Bohras, Ahmadis, Ismailis, Hazaras, and self-proclaimed atheists should be included in the cluster. Even they are routinely subjected to unfair treatment for no fault of theirs in the three Muslim-majority countries mentioned in the CAB. Two recent reports published in the Indian media - here and here - indicate this in Pakistans context. It is possible that some of them have already fled to India, or if not, may be compelled to seek shelter in India in the future. Whats more, majority sects like Sunnis, too, have been compelled to seek shelter in India due to religious persecution in the hands of religious fundamentalists out to eliminate heretics. Stories of Afghan Muslim refugees in Delhi who fled the brutal Taliban regime, among others, prove this. Why, then, did the government leave these groups out of its seemingly reasonable classification? One possibility is that the current government believes that these persecuted Muslim denominations are not of Indian origin. However, the Citizenship Act 1955 defines an Indian origin person to be one who was herself or whose either parent was born in undivided India. Since that definition covers the population living in todays Pakistan and Bangladesh, the CAB could technically cover persecuted Muslims born in unpartitioned India and living in these two countries today. The other possibility is that the government has actually found solid evidence of widespread persecution of the six non-Muslim minorities in these three countries, and not found any evidence of persecution of Muslim minorities. In this regard, the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) said that religious persecution in the neighbouring countries was ascertained through "inputs from security agencies along with other corroborative evidence in the print/electronic media. But, this is a slippery argument for two reasons: First, intelligence inputs from the agencies given their inherently classified nature operate in a grey area that doesnt allow for scrutiny or verification by a third party, which in this case is the JPC. As a parliamentary body vested with the duty to test the CABs viability and basis, the JPC should ideally have probed deeper into the MHAs evasive admission, which it failed to. Second, if the MHA indeed consulted corroborative evidence in the print/electronic media, one wonders it missed mainstream press reports such as this, this or this that indicate widespread persecution of Muslim minorities in Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Afghanistan. Further, the Supreme Court judgment of Sarbananda Sonowal vs Union of India (2005), which the JPC itself cites (Clause 1.8, page 12), quotes a government status report filed in 1998 to highlight three key push factors behind immigration from Bangladesh to India: steep and continuous increase in population; sharp deterioration in land-man ratio; and low rates of economic growth particularly poor performance in agriculture. There is no mention of religious persecution. What is also odd is that in a separate section, the MHA agrees that Muslim minorities too have faced atrocities. When the JPC asked the government if it has brought up the issue of minority persecution with the governments of the three neighbouring countries, it says: [...] between mid 1990s and 2001, when the Taliban were in power in Afghanistan, the atrocities perpetrated by them against non-Muslim and Muslim minorities [emphasis added by authors] were not taken up since India did not recognise the Taliban "Government". [Clause 2.16, page 38] Hence, it is clear that there are other groups of people facing religious discrimination and persecution in the three countries for no fault of theirs who have been left out of the CAB. This renders the first precondition intelligible differentia moot. Further, the fact that many of these persecuted Muslims have fled to India (like the Afghan Sunnis and Hazaras fleeing Taliban) also renders the second precondition of reasonable classification - rational relation to the statutes intent - weak, if not moot. It is also difficult to understand why on the one hand, the government believes that just a Standard Operating Procedure (SOP), which is in place since 2011, suffices in dealing with migrants facing persecution because of their sex, nationality, ethnic identity, membership of a particular social group or political opinion [Clause 2.27, page 41], but on the other, a "law" is seen to be of utmost necessity to deal with religious persecution. This is even more so because the report concludes that the CAB is a "display of such supportive and humanitarian approach on the part of the Government [Clause 5.48, page 79]. However, if indeed the concerns are purely humanitarian then the underlying criteria should not have been restricted to religion or, to be more specific, six religious communities alone. It is, therefore, fair to conclude that the CABs classification is not reasonable. In this regard, the MoLJ must also refer to the case of The Special Courts Bill vs Unknown (1958) where the Supreme Court explained that the doctrine of classification is only a subsidiary rule evolved by the courts to give practical content to the doctrine of equality, over-emphasis on the doctrine of classification or anxious or sustained attempt to discover some basis for classification may gradually and imperceptibly erode the profound potency of the glorious content of equity enshrined in Article 14 of the Constitution. By deliberately overlooking persecuted minorities of denominations other than the ones mentioned in the Bill, the government is not just treading into the arbitrary, but also diluting Article 14 of the Constitution. This is a precarious position to take for any sitting government, and by endorsing its decision, further, the JPC has only abetted reckless decision-making on a core national issue. Also Read: https://www.firstpost.com/india/citizenship-amendment-bill-fails-to-address-key-questions-on-section-6a-of-existing-act-sidelines-assam-accord-5961481.html Angshuman Choudhury is a senior researcher at the Institute of Peace and Conflict Studies, New Delhi. and Jonmani Das is an MPhil student of History at Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi. Reacting to the report, which said that Xi Jinping hopes to meet Narendra Modi prior to the Lok Sabha elections, official sources in Beijing said that there is no such proposal for President Xi to visit India in the next two months after which India is poised for general elections. Beijing: There is no proposal for Chinese president Xi Jinping to visit India for the second informal summit with Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the next two months as speculated by a Japanese media report, highly placed sources said in Beijing on Wednesday. Japanese publication Nikkei Asian Review on Tuesday carried a report titled "Xi plans India visit, as diplomatic chess with US intensifies". The story said, "Xi intends to visit India as early as February in a move seen at countering Washington's increasingly antagonistic trade policy and aggressive Indo-Pacific diplomacy." According to the report, Xi is expected to discuss with Modi measures to defuse border tensions as well as propose deals to expand imports of Indian farm products and increase cooperation in advanced technologies. "Xi hopes to visit ahead of India's general elections due by May. An Indian source said the visit would be in February at the earliest, but a Chinese source said it will be after China's National People's Congress in March," it said. Reacting to the report, official sources in Beijing said that there is no such proposal for President Xi to visit India in the next two months after which India is poised for general elections. In view of this, the visit by the Chinese president is expected to take place after the polls and after the new government takes charge, the sources said, adding that no preparations were currently underway for such a high-level visit. Xi's visit to India is due in 2019 after the informal summit between him and Modi at Wuhan in April last year. Both the sides had made it an institutional arrangement for such summits to take place every year to improve relations. Wuhan summit was the first such high-level meeting ever between Indian and Chinese leaders. It was conceived by both the sides following the 2017 military standoff at Doklam which ratcheted up tensions between the two countries. The two-day summit at Wuhan during which the two leaders closely interacted for hours on bilateral and international issues has paved the way for the two countries to normalise relations on all fronts putting behind the Doklam standoff. Since then, the two countries steadily normalised relations with intensified dialogue on various fronts, including the military and trade fronts. Commerce Secretary Anup Wadhawan has concluded his two-day visit to China on Tuesday after talks with Chinese vice minister of commerce Wang Shouwen and Zhang Jiwen, Chinese vice minister of General Administration of Customs of China (GACC), to enhance Indian exports to China to reduce the trade deficit of over $57 billion. Protesters in Assam are rejecting the new riders in the citizenship bill, added by the Centre to allay fears among indigenous people that they would become a minority in their homeland Protesting groups in Assam are rejecting the new riders in the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2016 added by the Centre in a bid to allay fears among indigenous people that passing of the legislation would turn them into a minority in their homeland. Like the bill, the new riders too face severe criticism, which is making it difficult for the ruling BJP to create a conducive atmosphere within which to get it passed in Rajya Sabha before the Lok Sabha polls. The fate of the party's electoral politics in West Bengal depends largely on the passage of the bill. Significantly, the Ministry of Home Affairs on Tuesday announced two riders in the proposed legislation in a purported bid to limit the number of illegal immigrants availing citizenship in the North East through the proposed legislation. The Indian Express reported that as per newly amendments, incentives would be given to illegal immigrants living in the north eastern states to settle anywhere else in India. Moreover consent of the state government will be required to grant citizenship under the new amendment. As it stands, the riders added to pacify anger over the bill have hardly any takers in Assam. Rather protesters see them as moves to divert attention from the main issue of illegal immigration from Bangladesh, which according to them, is posing an existential threat to Assamese identity. "Giving incentives to illegal immigrants to settle out of the North East is a laughable proposition. A huge section of the people who have illegally migrated to India and settled in the North East are unlikely to be willing to resettle anywhere else in India," says Junmoni Devi Khaund, a leader in the alliance of 70 civil society organisations opposing the bill. She also said that lakhs of people who have settled in Assam and other parts of the region enjoy all the benefits meant for any native and the cost of resettling would be much more higher than that of staying back. "Does the government want us to believe that millions of foreigners who have settled in the region would migrate to other parts of India just for the sake of a fistful of incentives and that too leaving a life of certainty behind?" she asks. Although there are no official figures regarding the number of illegal immigrants who would be eligible to avail citizenship under the provisions laid by the new amendment, Finance Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma puts the figure at around eight lakh. To the contrary, Akhil Gogoi, a leader of the Krishak Mukti Sangram Samitee a civil society group, claims that the number of illegal immigrants living in Assam, who would benefit from the bill would be nearly 20 lakh. The new rider that mandates consent of the state government before granting citizenship to any illegal immigrant also draws flak. "As per the new rider added by the Centre to the bill, only after the state government's consent can a person be granted citizenship. But why would the state government not consent?" asks Palash Changmai, a leader among the protesting 70 organisations. He adds that the present state government has passed the resolution to accept the Citizenship Amendment Bill. Hence, he notes that there is no reason why the state government would oppose granting new citizenship. "Time and again, state governments in Assam have betrayed the cause of the Assamese people, who are being made a minority in their own state. We have no trust in the state government," he says. The All-Assam Students' Union, one of the most powerful civil society groups, dubs these two new riders as unscientific and impracticable. Khaund says that efforts are on to ensure that the bill does not receive the Rajya Sabha's assent. The bill was passed in the Lok Sabha in the Winter Session of Parliament. The Opposition did not allow the tabling of the bill in the Rajya Sabha where it has the majority, but it is expected that it will be tabled in the Upper House again in the upcoming Interim Budget Session. Facing a severe backlash in the North East, the Centre added the above-mentioned riders to the proposed law. In the meantime, a number of civil society groups from the North East are meeting Opposition leaders in Delhi with the request to ensure that the bill is not passed in the Rajya Sabha. The Citizenship Amendment Bill aims to grant citizenship to Hindus, Sikhs, Jains, Parsis, Buddhist and Christians who have fled from Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh facing religious persecution. Although the bill has caused tremors in the north eastern region, the BJP aims at scoring high in West Bengal in the upcoming election by playing up the issue of Hindu Bangladeshi immigrants. It's little wonder then that BJP president Amit Shah, at a rally in West Bengal's Malda, assured, "I want to assure you that all Bengali refugees will be given citizenship under the citizenship bill. The TMC government has done nothing for the refugees, but we will give them citizenship." It may be recalled that West Bengal accounts for 42 Lok Sabha seats, while the North East collectively has only 25. Between Bipin Rawat's hyperbole and the political slugfest over Rafale, it is the Indian Air Force (IAF) which seems to be losing the war Nearly two months after Prime Minister Narendra Modi signed the 'Rafale deal' with France's Dassault Aviation, political warfare had erupted in November 2016, with the Congress accusing BJP of non-transparency in the Rs 58,000 crore deal for 36 Rafale twin-engine fighter jets. Ever since the offensive has refused to die. And this is despite the fact the Indian Air Force's squadrons are depleting. With only 33 squadrons against a sanctioned strength of 42, this ageing force stands to lose even more squadrons as many are slated to be decommissioned in the coming years. In a report by The Indian Express, it has been estimated that the IAF will be left with an alarmingly low 26 squadrons of fighter aircraft by 2022. Apart from it, the indigenously developed Tejas is still waiting to be inducted into the force. By 2022, the Express further reports, six squadrons of the Soviet-era MIG aircraft will be decommissioned and only one squadron of the French Rafale and another of the HAL-manufactured LCA Tejas will be inducted. Defence minister Nirmala Sitharaman had in December 2017, told the Parliament that 10 squadrons equipped with MiG-21 and MiG-27 aircraft are scheduled to retire by 2024 on completion of their total technical life." Nearly a year later, in December 2018, the defence ministry had issued a Request for Information (RFI) to procure 110 fighter jets, stating that it is currently doing with 31 squadrons of 18 jets each. During a press conference in the same month, former Air Force chief Air Chief Marshal Arup Raha had said that the IAF needed at least 200 more fighter jets in the next 10 years. The problems for the Indian government and the Indian Air Force are plenty, the most notable being the Tejas conundrum. According to reports, the IAF is not too keen on inducting Tejas into its fleet which is manufactured by Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL). The single-engine fighter jet has an "endurance" limit of only an hour and its radius of action is up to 400 kilometres. While Tejas has a weapon-carrying capacity of three tonnes, other single-engine fighter jets like the Swedish Gripen-E and the American F-16 have two times its capacity and triple the endurance. The HAL has also missed its delivery target for the year's first quarter. According to a report by NDTV, the force currently depends on Su-30 MKI and MiG 29s, the British-made Jaguar and French-made Mirage 2000s. Meanwhile, Army chief Bipin Rawat had recently said that the country was battle-ready if war is forced upon by enemy forces. Between Rawat's hyperbole and the political slugfest over Rafale, it is the IAF which seems to be losing the most. TCS is also the first Indian IT services brand to achieve success in the Japanese market New Delhi: India's Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) has been ranked third most-valued IT services brand globally in 2018-19, after Accenture and IBM, according to a report by Brand Finance. Four Indian IT services companies -- TCS, Infosys, HCL and Wipro -- clinched spots in the top-10 global tally. Valued at $26.3 billion, Accenture took the title of the world's most-valued IT services brand. The tag was previously held by IBM, which now occupied the second place with a brand value of $20.4 billion, according to the report. "Holding steady in third place is India's largest IT services conglomerate, TCS, up 23 percent to $12.8 billion, with a value bolstered by the brand's disciplined focus on the market's increased demand for digital services," it added. Brand Finance said TCS is also the first Indian IT services brand to achieve success in the Japanese market and has positioned itself as a leader in providing a superior all-round customer experience, leveraging artificial intelligence and robotic automation across its transformation programmes. Wipro entered the top-10 list for the first time this year, said the report, which was released at the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting in Davos, Switzerland. "Up 25 percent to $4 billion, Wipro's significant investments in digital transformation capabilities, niche acquisitions, and a recent brand refresh, have propelled it to be the third fastest-growing brand in the segment," the report noted. American brand Cognizant (brand value up 12 percent to $8.7 billion) and India's Infosys (brand value up 8 percent to $6.5 billion) held onto their last year's ranking of fourth and fifth positions, respectively. The report pointed out that although Cognizant is headquartered in New Jersey, US, it holds a major employee base in Chennai and has offices in Kolkata, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Mumbai, Pune, and Cochin. Others in the top-10 list included Capgemini, DXC Technology and NTT Data. "There is a reason why Bangalore is known as the Silicon Valley of India. As more IT services brands ramp up their outsourcing outposts across the country, it is the skilled workforce, world-class facilities and infrastructure that makes India such an attractive location and ultimately a global powerhouse," Brand Finance Chief Executive Officer David Haigh said. The index is based on Brand Finance's analysis of marketing investments, stakeholder equity and business performance of these companies. "2018 was a year of celebrations at TCS, marking the completion of five decades of industry-leading customer satisfaction, business performance, and community impact," TCS Chief Marketing Officer Ravi Viswanathan said in a statement. He added that the past year was characterised by momentum and milestones for TCS, including reaching $100 billion in market capitalisation, and securing record-level new customer partnerships in digital services. In a separate statement, Wipro President (Marketing, Innovation and Technology) Milan Rao said the recognition is a testament to the company's rich technology heritage, sustained investments in building digital transformation capabilities, and deep domain and consulting expertise. "As we further bolster our innovation ecosystem and capabilities for the digital era, we are confident that our brand value will go from strength and strength," he added. To keep watching Indias No. 1 English Business News Channel CNBC-TV18, call your Cable or DTH Operator and ask for the Colors Family Pack (inclusive of 24 channels), available for Rs. 35/- per month, or subscribe to the channel for Rs. 4/- per day. To keep watching the Leader in Global Market & Business News CNBC-TV18 Prime HD, call your Cable or DTH Operator and ask for the Colors Family HD Pack (inclusive of 25 channels), available for Rs. 50/- per month, or subscribe to the channel for Rs. 1/- per day. | BY Ricki Green | Australian red wine Pepperjack has launched a mouth-watering campaign via Geometry highlighting the wines quintessential pairing an Aussie barbeque. Over the next week, 1.4 million commuters at major Melbourne train station, Southern Cross, will witness a Pepperjack digital station domination, the highlight being two Innovate Panels, where passers-by can push to release a mouth-watering barbeque scent. The campaign supports Pepperjacks national in-store promotion where consumers can collect up to $100 to spend at Barbeques Galore when purchasing from the Pepperjack range. Pepperjack Shiraz has enjoyed the top spot as Australias number one red wine for six years running and this campaign demonstrates a creative and disruptive approach, highlighting the wine as the perfect accompaniment for steak. Says Clive Coleman, brand director, Pepperjack: For many of us there is nothing better than having a fantastic glass of red wine with friends. Add a great piece of perfectly cooked piece of steak and life is good! Pepperjack is unashamedly the perfect partner for steak. This campaign not only highlights this perfect pairing, but also takes the consumer on a sensory journey reminding them of warm summer nights. Live now, Pepperjacks fully integrated campaign features across social, influencer, a national out-of-home program and in-store visibility that will run until the end of February. Singh said that there are challenges also, such as infrastructure challenges, but the government is putting a lot of efforts for building new airports. SpiceJet chief Ajay Singh has favaoured hike in airfares in the country and said that major players in the aviation sector need to take the initiative in this direction. "The underlying demand is extremely strong. I think the issue really is on the yield. We need to make sure that we take up average fares," Singh was quoted as saying by CNBC-TV18 on the sidelines World Economic Forum in Davos. Singh was of the view that IndiGo, the market leader with 42 percent market share, should make the first move, the report said. He said it's high time for the country to become a major global hub for connecting flights and its airlines to be leading international players. Singh said the country is emerging as "aviation power", as the Indian aviation sector is the fastest growing in the world with a growth rate of 20 percent a year. "But despite this 20 percent growth, we have only 3-3.5 percent of population flying, so clearly there is a great potential to grow further," said the SpiceJet chairman and managing director. "Certainly, there are challenges also, such as infrastructure challenges, but the government is putting a lot of efforts for building new airports. Then the Udan scheme is connecting smaller cities which were never on the aviation sector map. In the past 75 years, just 75 airports were connected in another 3-4 years another 70-75 airports would (have) come on line," Singh told PTI in an interview. Asked about the challenges, he said costs are high and that's the biggest problem. "Aviation turbine fuel costs are high, airport costs are on higher side and airfares tend to be lower than the global averages. But these are the issues that would get resolved in a few years," he said and added that some of the problems are "problems of plenty". ....." Some infrastructure shortages have also been because of the phenomenal growth we have seen," he said. He said there is a tremendous opportunity for India to become a major global hub to rival places like Dubai and Abu Dhabi and all such places. "We have our own inherent massive volume of people who want to fly, we have an ideal strategic location geographically to connect Europe and Far East Asia. "We should be an ideal hub. We should be a huge provider of trained manpower for aviation in terms of engineers and pilots and even cabin crew as we Indians have a traditional service mentality. We can be a huge exporter of services as well, in terms of maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) services and other things," he said. "So, India is certainly an aviation power. There is no question about that," he added. Asked whether Indian airline can become global anytime soon, he said there is no reason for Indian airlines not to be global ones. "We have to be global airlines and we will become so. We have so many inherent strengths. Our own customer base is so strong and so large. "With better policies, there is no reason on earth, why our traffic should be making these Mid-East or Far-Eastern airlines the global airlines and why we should we be only supporting and strengthening their airlines and their hubs. Ultimately, Indians would have to create global airlines and global hubs. I am sure we will get there eventually," he said. With PTI inputs To keep watching Indias No. 1 English Business News Channel CNBC-TV18, call your Cable or DTH Operator and ask for the Colors Family Pack (inclusive of 24 channels), available for Rs. 35/- per month, or subscribe to the channel for Rs. 4/- per day. To keep watching the Leader in Global Market & Business News CNBC-TV18 Prime HD, call your Cable or DTH Operator and ask for the Colors Family HD Pack (inclusive of 25 channels), available for Rs. 50/- per month, or subscribe to the channel for Rs. 1/- per day. By Scott DiSavino NEW YORK (Reuters) - Oil prices slipped on Wednesday as the European Union seeks to circumvent U.S. trade sanctions against Iran, and on weaker U.S By Scott DiSavino NEW YORK (Reuters) - Oil prices slipped on Wednesday as the European Union seeks to circumvent U.S. trade sanctions against Iran, and on weaker U.S. gasoline prices. Brent futures fell 36 cents, or 0.6 percent, to settle at $61.14 a barrel, while the most active U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude contract for March fell 39 cents, or 0.7 percent, to settle at $52.62. France's foreign minister said he expected a European-backed system to facilitate non-dollar trade with Iran and bypass fresh U.S. curbs imposed after Washington quit a landmark nuclear deal, would be established in coming days. Peter Cardillo, chief market economist at Spartan Capital Securities in New York said that EU announcement "knocked the wind out of oil prices." Analysts also said falling U.S. gasoline prices and rising crude output in the United States were also pressuring the crude market. "We are paying particular attention to weakening NYMEX crack spreads where an increasingly heavy gasoline market is providing a limiter on near term WTI gains," Jim Ritterbusch, president of Ritterbusch and Associates in Chicago, said in a report. The crack or spread between U.S. gasoline futures and WTI crude on the New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX) fell to $5.97 a barrel, its lowest since 2013. Market participants said they were looking ahead to the U.S. weekly petroleum inventories report, which was expected to show crude stocks holding steady, while gasoline inventories were forecast to build for the eighth straight week. [EIA/S] The weekly report from the American Petroleum Institute (API), an industry group, is due at 4:30 p.m. (2130 GMT) and data from the Energy Information Administration (EIA) will be released on Thursday. Both reports were delayed a day due to the U.S. Martin Luther King Jr holiday on Monday. The EIA said on Tuesday it expected shale output to rise to a record high in February. For graphic on U.S. oil production growth, click https://tmsnrt.rs/2AZSnDc U.S. CONSIDERS VENEZUELA SANCTIONS The Trump administration ratcheted up pressure on Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro on Wednesday, announcing U.S. recognition of the country's opposition leader as interim president and signalling potential new sanctions against its vital oil sector. Potential U.S. sanctions on Venezuela's crude oil exports, however, would hit U.S. refiners that are its biggest customers, as the OPEC nation would likely be forced to send more crude to China, India or other Asian countries, traders said. The U.S. share of Venezuelan exports has fallen in recent years with more shipments going to Russia and China, largely through oil-for-debt repayment structures. "It would make a tight market even tighter. If it happens, it would be an unambiguous headwind for (U.S.) refiners already struggling to find supplies," said Bob McNally, president of Rapidan Energy Group, an energy consultancy in Bethesda, Maryland. (Additional reporting by Sinead Carew in New York, Noah Browning in London and Henning Gloystein in Singapore; Editing by Marguerita Choy and Alexandra Hudson) This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed. Chanda Kochhar is not the only person to take the decision by herself in the board of ICICI Bank, says Gupta The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Thursday registered an FIR against former ICICI CEO Chanda Kochhar, her husband Deepak Kochchar and Videocons Venugopal Dhoot in connection with the alleged irregularities in the Rs 3,250 crore loan case. Arvind Gupta, the whistleblower who brought out the scam, had exposed alleged dealings between the bank, through Chanda Kochhar, and the Videocon Group to benefit her family. In June 2018, levelling fresh allegations of quid pro quo deals by Chanda Kochhar, Gupta had alleged that Ruia brothers of Essar group got undue favours from the bank for "round-tripping" investments into her spouse Deepak Kochhar's NuPower Group. The Ruias funded the NuPower and its subsidiary through their son-in-law Nishant Kanodia and nephew Anirudh Bhuwalka during December 2010 to March 2012 by subscribing to compulsorily convertible preference shares and equity shares, Gupta had alleged in his fresh letter dated 11 May, 2018, addressed to Prime Minister Narendra Modi. In April 2018, Gupta had, while alleging masked share transfers, demanded that NuPower Renewables the company founded by ICICI Bank CEO Chanda Kochhar's husband Deepak Kochhar must disclose the real identity of its majority shareholder DH Renewables Holding Ltd of Mauritius. Arvind Gupta, the whistleblower who brought out the alleged scam, in an interview with Firstposts Dinesh Unnikrishnan says the ambit of the probe should be widened. Edited excerpts from the interview: Whats your reaction after the CBI registered FIR against Chanda Kochchar in Videocon case? No question of being very happy or unhappy. The fact is that everything had started very long back. Everybody in the system was saying that nothing is gone. Even the ICICI board management, they gave clean chit then and there. Do you think the board was misdirecting the public from the very beginning in this case? She (Chanda Kochhar) was at the helm of affairs of the bank. The risk committee and the credit committee. She was a very powerful person on the board. The chairman of the bank continued holding press conferences and saying it is all rubbish, everything is fine. Not only that, if you recall, the RBI, SEBI all came forward and said look nothing has been found against her. Legal adviser Mangal Das and others came forward and gave a clean chit. I came to know about it recently. Now an FIR has been registered in this case. What more should be done on the banks side? It is the investigating agency that will dig deeper into the case. And I would like to know as to how far it has gone. The investigation only will provide further details. If you see, ICICI Bank has very prominent defaulters in the country. Now the loans have become NPAs. I feel that the ambit of the probe should be widened. Does the board owe an apology to the depositors and to the public for what happened in the bank? An apology is a very soft and polished word. I say they are all hand in glove. Why are you being soft with them? There are many board members who are in the risk committee, the credit committee, and independent directors. Do you want me to believe that they are not aware of whats happening in the bank? So there is a case for a deeper investigation into the case? She is not the only person to take the decision by herself. There has to be an organizational hierarchy and some other person had seen it for a pretty long time. How has been your experience so far in this case? The experience was very challenging sometimes because the entire system gangs up against you. Nobody would listen. Have you faced any threats? No threat. How can there be any threat? Was there any attempts to negotiate with you not to escalate the issue further? Not at all. Nobody in the bank. You have also raised a few other cases including Essar. Any updates? I only see them when they surface in media. But I feel that the scope has to widen and the hands of the law should not remain within the country. It should go beyond because only then you will come to know the kind of quid-pro-quo and bad banking happened in the country. This years budgeted fertiliser subsidy is Rs 70,079 crore. So there will be a change in the form of expenditure, but not of substance. There is speculation that departing from the convention the government will announce a big-bang vote-catching giveaway in its election-eve budget on 1 February. Governments have so far restrained themselves in pre-election budgets believing it is the prerogative of the next government to announce fresh taxes, reliefs and expenditure. Constitutional propriety requires that new government formulates the tax and expenditure policies for 2009-10, Pranab Mukherjee said in his interim budget speech of February 2009 as finance minister. Such policies must aim at sustaining an annual economic growth of 9 percent for many years, creating 12 million jobs per year, reducing the share of poverty in 2014 to half of the 2009 level and aim at an annual agricultural growth rate of 4 percent, he said. But Mukherjee did not try to win the voters over with sops. In his interim budget speech of 3 February, 2004, the then finance minister Jaswant Singh also did not depart from convention. He sought Parliaments approval for incurring essential expenditure for the first four months of 2004-05 while extending the existing tax structure to the next year. Former finance minister P Chidambaram too did not make changes to tax law in his February 2014 interim budget in keeping with the conventions. But he had tried to win over farmers by announcing a loan waiver in the previous years budget, which ultimately cost the government Rs 52,275 crore. In the interim budget, he reduced excise duties on capital goods, consumer non-durables, cars and cell phones. However, changes in indirect taxes, that is, excise and customs duties do not need Parliaments approval. He also provided Rs 500 cr in the budget so that all retired soldiers of the same rank got the same pension. But finance minister Arun Jaitley has told a TV news channel that the larger interest of the nation dictates what will be part of the interim budget. Some papers have reported that the government intends to transfer Rs 70,000 crore directly to farmers in place of urea subsidy. If that is the case the government would be abiding by convention and not incurring additional fresh expenditure. This years budgeted fertiliser subsidy is Rs 70,079 crore. So there will be a change in the form of expenditure, but not of substance. Giving cash instead of subsidised fertilisers is a fraught exercise. First is the issue of identifying the beneficiaries when land records are not properly maintained. Since tenancies are informal, tenant farmers will be excluded from direct cash transfers. So the government might end up antagonising one section of farmers while pleasing another. Fertiliser use varies according to crops. The amount that is applied to wheat and paddy is not the same as the requirement of potato or pulses. Even within a crop like rice, fertiliser-responsive varieties grown in say, irrigated Punjab will need higher doses of fertiliser than those grown in the rainfed areas of Orissa. So the subsidy or cash transfer cannot be uniform. India imports much of its fertilisers. Their market prices fluctuate, so the subsidy will have to vary if farmers are to be protected. And the government will have to be diligent in making payments well before the sowing season to enable farmers to pay for fertiliser. For these reasons, former agriculture secretary Siraj Hussain believes the government will not make changes in the subsidy regime and news reports of the government replacing fertiliser subsidy with cash transfers are speculative and ill-informed. A comparison has been made to Pahal as the scheme for payment of cooking gas subsidy in cash is called. Cash transfers in lieu of subsidised cooking gas work because the entitlement of a household is capped at 12 cylinders per year. Both the subsidy amount and the market price of cooking gas are also fixed by the government. Faced with the erosion of its popularity the government can yet defy propriety and throw money at voters. Its record in office shows it is not a stickler for niceties. In March 2016, it passed the Aadhar (Targeted Delivery of Subsidies, Benefits and Other Services) Act as a money bill to get over its lack of majority in the Rajya Sabha. The government is also likely to present a prettified picture of its compliance with revenue and fiscal deficit targets. The Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) has criticised it for resorting to off-budget financing to cover arrears of fertiliser subsidy in 2016-17 through special banking arrangements and borrowing from NABARD to meet the expenditure of the Accelerated Irrigation Benefit Programme. But Jaitley will be in the company of other finance ministers who have resorted to such practices. Chidambaram issued oil bonds to park fuel subsidies outside the budget. He also underprovided for fertiliser and food subsidies. When Pranab Mukherjee was finance minister, the state-owned Life Insurance Corporation bailed out the government by buying shares of Oil and Natural Gas Commission at a loss so it could meet the disinvestment target. In 1998-99, the Cabinet Committee on Disinvestment headed by late Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee allowed Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Limited and Videsh Sanchar Nigam Limited to buy back their shares from the government; Gas Authority of India and Indian Oil Corporation were also permitted to pick up minority stakes in Oil and National Gas Commission (ONGC). If a government does not wish to be self-disciplined, conventions cannot restrain it. (The author is a senior consultant to ICRIER and blogs on www.smartindianagriculture.com. He tweets @smartindianagri) Follow full coverage of Union Budget 2019-20 here To keep watching Indias No. 1 English Business News Channel CNBC-TV18, call your Cable or DTH Operator and ask for the Colors Family Pack (inclusive of 24 channels), available for Rs. 35/- per month, or subscribe to the channel for Rs. 4/- per day. To keep watching the Leader in Global Market & Business News CNBC-TV18 Prime HD, call your Cable or DTH Operator and ask for the Colors Family HD Pack (inclusive of 25 channels), available for Rs. 50/- per month, or subscribe to the channel for Rs. 1/- per day. The government is set to earmark about 1.8 trillion rupees ($25.28 billion) for food subsidies next fiscal year India is poised to raise the subsidies for the worlds biggest food welfare programme by 6.5 percent for the fiscal year beginning 1 April, the smallest increase in three years, in the nations interim budget next month, two sources directly involved in the decision told Reuters. The government is set to earmark about Rs 1.8 lakh crore ($25.28 billion) for food subsidies next fiscal year as it tries to contain its budget deficit ahead of the next general election due by May. Its budget targets for the next two years are already under pressure because of plans to make various payments to farmers to offset low crop prices. The 6.5 percent increase in food subsidies might not be adequate to cover the cost of the mammoth food welfare programme, especially after a sharp increase in the price at which the government buys rice from domestic farmers, the sources said. The sources didnt wish to be named as the budget discussions were not public. On 1 February, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, who is currently in the United States for a medical check-up, could make these numbers public while presenting an interim budget for the 2019/20 fiscal year. Under the National Food Security Act (NFSA), Indias main food welfare plan, the state-run Food Corp of India (FCI) buys rice and wheat from farmers at a guaranteed price and the state agencies sell the staples to 67 percent of Indias 1.3 billion people at about one-tenth of the market price. The bulk of the food subsidies go towards covering the cost of buying rice and wheat from farmers at a higher price and selling these grains to the poor at highly subsidised prices. The finance ministry officials are struggling to keep the fiscal deficit under check, said the first source, adding more funds could be allocated in the full budget if the current government is re-elected. That budget is likely to be presented in July. The finance ministry had previously estimated next fiscal years food subsidies at Rs 1.9 lakh crore. Since coming to power in 2014, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has raised food subsidies, the federal governments biggest spending after defence, by nearly 47 percent to Rs 1.69 lakh crore in the current fiscal year. But the allocations for food subsidies are still falling short, and the FCI, the main grain procurement agency, has been forced to borrow billions of dollars to run the welfare programme. Last month, the countrys top auditor said the arrears of FCI have gone up to Rs 81,300 crore by March 2017, up from Rs 23,400 crore in the 2011/12 fiscal year. Of the Rs 1.69 lakh crore allocated for food subsidies for the year to 31 March, the government had spent Rs 1.46 lakh crore until November. Follow full coverage of Union Budget 2019-20 here To keep watching Indias No. 1 English Business News Channel CNBC-TV18, call your Cable or DTH Operator and ask for the Colors Family Pack (inclusive of 24 channels), available for Rs. 35/- per month, or subscribe to the channel for Rs. 4/- per day. To keep watching the Leader in Global Market & Business News CNBC-TV18 Prime HD, call your Cable or DTH Operator and ask for the Colors Family HD Pack (inclusive of 25 channels), available for Rs. 50/- per month, or subscribe to the channel for Rs. 1/- per day. Single-brand foreign retailers may be allowed to adjust the incremental sourcing of goods from India for global operations during the initial 10 years New Delhi: In order to attract big foreign players in the single-brand retail sector, the government is considering measures to relax the mandatory 30 percent local sourcing norms by allowing them more time to comply with the regulations, sources said. Big single-brand retail firms may also be permitted to open online stores before setting up brick-and-mortar shops. Currently, online sale by a single-brand retail player is allowed only after opening of physical outlet. As per a proposal under active consideration of the government, single-brand foreign retailers may be allowed to adjust the incremental sourcing of goods from India for global operations during the initial 10 years from the current five years (beginning 1 April of the year of the opening of first store) against the mandatory sourcing requirement of 30 percent of purchases from India, they added. The relaxation, however, would be subject to a condition that a foreign entity would have to bring foreign direct investment (FDI) in excess of $200 million within the first 2-3 years. The move is aimed at attracting big players in the sector. The proposal requires approval of the union cabinet for implementation. In January 2018, the government allowed 100 percent FDI in the sector, permitting foreign players in single-brand retail trade to set up own shops in India without government approval. That time, the government also relaxed mandatory local sourcing requirement of 30 percent by stating that a foreign retailer would be able to get credit from incremental increase in sourcing for its global operations from India towards the mandatory 30 percent local sourcing requirement for its business in the country. During April-June 2018-19, FDI in India grew by 23 percent to $12.75 billion. The Commerce and Industry Ministry has not released the foreign investment data after June 2018. To keep watching Indias No. 1 English Business News Channel CNBC-TV18, call your Cable or DTH Operator and ask for the Colors Family Pack (inclusive of 24 channels), available for Rs. 35/- per month, or subscribe to the channel for Rs. 4/- per day. To keep watching the Leader in Global Market & Business News CNBC-TV18 Prime HD, call your Cable or DTH Operator and ask for the Colors Family HD Pack (inclusive of 25 channels), available for Rs. 50/- per month, or subscribe to the channel for Rs. 1/- per day. - Jan Dhont Joins the Firm's Brussels Office - PALO ALTO, California, Jan. 24, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati, the premier provider of legal services to technology, life sciences, and growth enterprises worldwide, announced today that Jan Dhont has joined the firm's privacy and cybersecurity practice as partner in the Brussels office. Dhont has more than 20 years of expertise counseling corporations and public sector entities on European data and privacy issues. He helps companies identify and resolve privacy and cybersecurity compliance issues in the EU; design and implement their General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) compliance programs; and respond to cybersecurity incidents. Dhont has specific experience with assisting companies in data protection authorities' investigations and representing them in privacy litigation. He works with global and U.S.-based public and private companies in several key industries, such as the pharmaceuticals, biotechnology, retail, technology, insurance, and payments services sectors. "Jan is a respected practitioner and one of the few lawyers in Europe who has been practicing EU data protection law at the highest level for more than 20 years. He has an impressive range of experience across data protection and cybersecurity-which are areas of significant concern for our clients," said Cedric Burton, a partner based in WSGR's Brussels office who is co-leader of the firm's privacy and cybersecurity practice and leads the European privacy practice. "Jan's addition expands our firm's EU team-which is among the largest in and around Brussels, and places us in a unique position to assist clients as they face increased scrutiny from data protection authorities." Prior to joining WSGR, he was a partner at a global law firm since 2015, where he led its European data privacy practice. Dhont started his legal career at the Belgian Data Protection Authority. From 2000 to 2007, he was an associate at Hunton & Williams, and later Crowell & Moring, in each firm's Brussels office. In 2007, Dhont was involved in the establishment of Lorenz Law, a boutique law firm that focused on privacy and data security issues for U.S.-based public and private companies. Over the course of eight years, he successfully built a leading privacy practice from scratch. Dhont received his J.D. from the University of Leuven in 1996 and his LL.M. from the University of Brussels in 1998. Dhont is the third senior-level attorney to join the firm's privacy and cybersecurity practice in recent months. In December 2018, WSGR announced that Allison Bender joined WSGR's Washington, D.C., office as Of Counsel, and in October 2018, WSGR announced that Lore Leitner had joined WSGR's London office as Of Counsel. In addition, as of February 1, 2019, the firm's privacy and cybersecurity practice will include two more partners, Beth George and Matt Staples, who focus on cybersecurity and transactional privacy, respectively. Both were elected partner in December 2018. About Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati For more than 50 years, Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati has offered a broad range of services and legal disciplines focused on serving the principal challenges faced by the management and boards of directors of business enterprises. The firm is nationally recognized as a leader in the fields of corporate governance and finance, mergers and acquisitions, private equity, securities litigation, employment law, intellectual property, and antitrust, among many other areas of law. With deep roots in Silicon Valley, Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati has offices in Austin; Beijing; Boston; Brussels; Hong Kong; London; Los Angeles; New York; Palo Alto; San Diego; San Francisco; Seattle; Shanghai; Washington, D.C.; and Wilmington, DE. For more information, please visit www.wsgr.com. Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/138117/wilson_sonsini_goodrich_and_rosati_logo.jpg Toronto, Ontario--(Newsfile Corp. - January 24, 2019) - Braingrid Limited (CSE:BGRD) would like to cordially invite you to visit us at Booth #308 at the Cantech Investment Conference to be held at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre (255 Front St. West, Toronto) on Tuesday January 29 - Wednesday January 30, 2019. The Cantech Investment Conference opened the floodgates of capital to Canada's innovation companies. The Conference has grown every year since its inception in 2013 and has been host to every major player in Canadian technology and finance. This is the hallmark event, that attracts the interest of investors, funds and media from both sides of the border to meet with Canadian innovation entrepreneurs. For more information and/or to register for the conference please visit: https://cambridgehouse.com/cantech-investment-conference We look forward to seeing you there. For further information: Braingrid Limited Doug Harris 416-480-2488 ir@braingrid.io www.braingrid.io Options database and analytics company's head of quantitative research to present on momentum factor in buying, selling stocks OptionMetrics, an options database and analytics provider for institutional investors and academic researchers, will be sponsoring and exhibiting at the 3rd annual Europe EQD: The Volatility Alternative Risk Premia Forum in Barcelona from January 28 29. OptionMetrics' Head of Quantitative Research Garrett DeSimone will also present his paper on "Implied Idiosyncratic Vol for Momentum Strategy Enhancement," examining the drivers of the momentum factor. With the focus of Europe EQD on the latest in cross-asset volatility, alternative risk premia, and advances in quantitative investment management for traders, portfolio managers, and asset allocators in the Americas, EMEA, and Asia Pacific, OptionMetrics CEO David Hait, Ph.D. says his team is eager to share how options data is providing greater insight into markets. "Options are becoming more popular with a growing number of investors in the U.S. and Europe. In fact, we're seeing increased volumes not seen since 2010," said Hait. "More conservative firms are getting interested in options too, particularly pension funds." DeSimone says his paper and presentation take a deeper look at the drivers of the momentum factor. "A traditional momentum strategy involves buying winners and selling losers based on the past 12 months returns. This strategy can be amplified by selecting stocks within the Winner-minus-Loser portfolio that have high implied idiosyncratic volatility (IVOL), which is extracted from option prices," he says. To secure a meeting with OptionMetrics at Europe EQD or for a PDF of Garrett DeSimone's paper, email Eran Steinberg. About OptionMetrics Founded in 1999, OptionMetrics distributes its IvyDB historical options databases for U.S., Canada, Europe, Asia, and global indices to corporate and institutional subscribers, as well as top business schools worldwide. It has covered every U.S. strike and expiration option on over 3,000 underlying stocks and indices since 1996. Leading portfolio managers, equity options traders, and quantitative researchers rely on OptionMetrics for extensive, high-quality data to construct and test options investment strategies, perform empirical research, and accurately assess risk. www.optionmetrics.com, LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20190124005602/en/ Contacts: Media Contact: Hilary McCarthy Clearpoint Agency Hilary@clearpointagency.com To: PR Newswire From: Strategic Equity Capital PLC LEI: 2138003R5GB8QZU2G577 Date:24 January 2019 Strategic Equity Capital plc (the "Company") Appointment of new Director The Board is pleased to announce the appointment of David Morrison as a non-executive Director of the Company with effect from 1 February 2019. Mr Morrison is currently chairman of Be Heard Group plc, a marketing services company, and Maris Africa Group, a privately-owned industrial holding company active predominantly in East Africa. He has previously served on the boards of several private and public companies, including PayPoint plc, Record plc and Snoozebox Holdings plc. Mr Morrison started his career in investment management at the Industrial Commercial and Finance Corporation (now 3i), before joining Abingworth Management, where he was actively involved in venture capital investment both in the UK and United States. He subsequently spent time at Botts & Co and Blakeney Management, before founding Prospect Investment Management in 1999, to provide venture capital investment management services to a group of private and institutional investors. Mr Morrison holds no other publicly quoted directorships. There are no other details or disclosures required under LR 9.6.13R of the Financial Conduct Authority Listing Rules. Richard Hills, Chairman, commented, "We are delighted that David Morrison is joining us and look forward to his contribution to the development of the Company". Enquiries: Steven Davidson 0131 538 6603 PATAC Limited | BY Ricki Green | Australian social media marketing agency Hello Social has been awarded the 2019 Australia Day social media project by the Australia Day Council of NSW. The Australia Day Council of NSW, supported by the Department of Premier and Cabinet has engaged with Hello Social to provide 12 hours of content creation, social listening, live on-ground content capture and community management for Australia Day 2019. From the country to the city, Australia Day is an opportunity to reflect on the people, culture, and landscape, and to celebrate what it is to be Australian. Part of Hello Socials role on the day will be to capture the energy and enthusiasm of attendees and event goers celebrating the day through a plethora of events held around Sydney Harbour, local community events, family gatherings, and even backyard parties. Under the banner of this years official event theme Australia Day Everyone, Every Story, Hello Social will look to share the many and diverse stories from Australians across the country and capture the different ways they celebrate their day. Says Sam Kelly, director of client services, Hello Social: Hello Social is honoured to be partnering work with the Australia Day Council of NSW to bring the 2019 Australia Day celebrations and event coverage to life on social media. Hello Social will deploy content capture teams on the ground to broadcast key events live from the best vantage points, manage a social media command centre to share content from community events and celebrations across the country as well as publish inspiring stories from Indigenous Australians and people with diverse backgrounds, cultures, and history. While thousands are expected to enjoy the live events taking place on and around Sydney Harbour, our social media program will allow even more Australians to witness the showcase and participate in the conversation from anywhere in the world. I encourage anyone who cant attend the live events to visit the Australia Day Facebook page or Instagram account where they can enjoy the spectacular from the palm of their hand. MONTREAL, Quebec, January 24, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Not for Distribution in the United States LGC Capital Ltd. (TSXV: LG) (OTC-PINK: LGGCF) ("LGC") is pleased to announce that it has received a binding commitment from Arlington Capital Inc., a private London based investment company for a private placement of 80,000,000 common shares in the capital of LGC at a price of $0.10 per share for aggregate proceeds of $8,000,000. John McMullen, CEO of LGC Capital stated: "We are pleased to welcome Arlington Capital as a strategic investor in our company. This funding significantly boosts our company's balance sheet, and LGC is now fully funded to complete all of the cannabis acquisitions announced in 2018. Our focus will forthwith shift on driving revenues and revenue growth throughout 2019 from our growing footprint of cannabis investments throughout Canada, Australia, Jamaica and Europe. This funding will also allow LGC the necessary capital to consider significantly increasing our ownership in a number of our key investments and pursue new growth opportunities." Closing of this non-brokered private placement is subject to customary closing conditions including, but not limited to, approval from the TSX Venture Exchange. On closing of the private placement, LGC will pay a 3% finder's fee to an arms-length third party. Upon closing of the private placement, Arlington Capital will become an insider as they will hold a greater than 10% in LGC and will be entitled to appoint a representative to its board of directors. About LGC Capital Ltd. (www.lgc-capital.com) LGC Capital is a leading cannabis investment firm with a focus on the Legal Global Cannabis market. Through its growing portfolio investment companies, LGC is building a vertically integrated system of interconnected legal cannabis companies with cultivation, processing and distribution in Canada, Australia, Jamaica, Switzerland, and Italy serving domestic and export markets. LGC Capital Ltd. is a Canadian incorporated public company listed on the TSX Venture Exchange (TSXV: LG). Through its partners and assuming pending transactions under review by the TSXV are approved, LGC presently will have interests in over 450,000 square feet of planted cannabis in Jamaica, Switzerland, Italy, and Australia. That is expected to increase to over 2,100,000 square feet by 2021, as its portfolio companies execute their expansion plans, in addition to the anticipated licensing of Tricho-Med's operations in Quebec, Canada. LGC partners currently sell cannabis products in over 1,000 points of sale across Switzerland and Italy under the ONE Premium Cannabis and EasyJoint brands as well as medical cannabis oils in Australia under the Little Green Pharma brand. LGC's partners' branded products are available in a variety of formats including dry cannabis flower, tinctures, oils, seeds, and beverages. Notice Regarding Forward Looking Statements This press release may contain forward-looking statements with respect to LGC and their respective operations, strategy, investments, financial performance and condition. These statements can generally be identified by use of forward- looking words such as "may", "will", "expect", "estimate", "anticipate", "intends", "believe" or "continue" or the negative thereof or similar variations. The actual results and performance of LGC could differ materially from those expressed or implied by such statements. Such statements are qualified in their entirety by the inherent risks and uncertainties surrounding future expectations. Some important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from expectations include, among other things, general economic and market factors, competition, government regulation and the factors described under "Risk Factors and Risk Management" in LGC's Management's Discussion and Analysis for the three and nine months ended June 30, 2018, as filed on SEDAR (www.sedar.com). The cautionary statements qualify all forward-looking statements attributable to LGC and persons acting on its behalf. Unless otherwise stated, all forward-looking statements speak only as of the date of this press release and LGC has no obligation to update such statements, except to the extent required by applicable securities laws. Caution Regarding Press Releases Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Service Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. For further information please contact: Chief Executive Officer, John McMullen, +1-416-803-0698, john@lgc-capital.com Chief Financial Officer, Anthony Samaha, +44-20-7440-0640, anthony@lgc-capital.com Investor Relations, Dave Burwell, +1-403-221-0915, dave@howardgroupinc.com Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo--(Newsfile Corp. - January 24, 2019) - Robert Friedland and Yufeng "Miles" Sun, Co-Chairmen of Ivanhoe Mines (TSX: IVN) (OTCQX: IVPAF), today extended their congratulations to Felix Tshisekedi on his inauguration as the new President of the Democratic Republic of Congo. "On behalf of everyone at Ivanhoe Mines, we congratulate Mr. Tshisekedi and we salute the people of the Democratic Republic of the Congo for their insistence on a peaceful and democratic transfer of power," said Mr. Friedland. "We are confident that the trust placed in Mr. Tshisekedi by the citizens of the DRC will inspire him to continue important efforts in promoting the unity of his country, leading it on the path of prosperity, security and empowerment for its people. "We also recognize outgoing President Joseph Kabila's commitment to democracy in becoming the first President in DRC history to cede power peacefully through an electoral process. The DRC attracted significant foreign direct investment during Mr. Kabila's presidency, which resulted in strong economic growth and transformed the DRC. "This is a time of tremendous opportunity for responsible development of the mining sector in the DRC. We look forward to working with Mr. Tshisekedi in meeting the challenges before us, in the same warm spirit that has marked the relations between Ivanhoe Mines and the DRC government and its people for so many years. "Ivanhoe Mines also looks forward to work together with all members of government, the Governors and relevant officials in Lualabla and Haut-Katanga to advance our world-class Kamoa-Kakula copper project and the historic Kipushi zinc-copper-germanium-silver mine," Mr. Friedland added. Ivanhoe Mines is scheduled to attend the Mining Indaba in Cape Town, South Africa in February 2019. The annual conference - Africa's largest mining event - is attended by political leaders, government ministers and representatives of most African nations, international investors, financial institutions, mining industry executives and major news media. Following the Mining Indaba, Ivanhoe Mines will host an investor tour for selected investors and industry participants. About Ivanhoe Mines Ivanhoe Mines is a Canadian mining company focused on advancing its three principal projects in Southern Africa: the development of new mines at the Kamoa-Kakula copper discovery in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and the Platreef palladium-platinum-nickel-copper-gold discovery in South Africa; and the extensive redevelopment and upgrading of the historic Kipushi zinc-copper-germanium-silver mine, also in the DRC. Information contacts Bill Trenaman +1.604.331.9834 Investors Media North America: Bob Williamson +1.604.512.4856 South Africa: Jeremy Michaels +27.82.772.1122 CENTOGENE's state-of-the-art genetic laboratory facilities in Rostock, Germany awarded accreditation for the fourth year CENTOGENE today announced that it has been recommended for re-accreditation from the College of American Pathologists (CAP) for its flagship genetic testing laboratory in Rostock. This marks the 4th year that the Company has received accreditation for its high standards of laboratory operations. "At the heart of our dedication to transform the science of genetic information into treatment solutions is a steadfast focus on exceptionally high standards of operations and data safety. This recognition by CAP is a hallmark of our focus on helping pharmaceutical companies accelerate the development of orphan drugs for rare disease patients," said Ellen Karges, VP Regulatory Compliance Quality Management at CENTOGENE. CENTOGENE recently opened its first U.S. genetic testing laboratory focused on rare genetic disease diagnostics in Cambridge, MA, to further identify and accelerate the diagnoses and treatment of rare diseases around the world. CAP is the world's largest organization of board-certified pathologists and the leading provider of laboratory accreditation and proficiency testing programs. As part of the re-accreditation process, inspectors examined the laboratory's records and quality control of procedures for the preceding two years. They also examined laboratory staff qualifications, equipment, facilities, safety program and the overall quality management program. About CENTOGENE CENTOGENE is a rare disease company focused on transforming clinical, genetic, and biochemical data into medical solutions for patients. We are focused on bringing rationality to treatment decisions and accelerating the development of new orphan drugs by using our knowledge of the global rare disease market, including its epidemiological and clinical heterogeneity and our innovative biomarkers. As one of the largest rare disease companies worldwide, CENTOGENE is dedicated to transforming the science of genetic information into solutions and hope for patients with rare diseases and their families. www.centogene.com View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20190124005478/en/ Contacts: CENTOGENE Ross Bethell Director, Corporate Communications ross.bethell@centogene.com Press Contact Lauren Arnold MacDougall 781-235-3060 larnold@macbiocom.com PHILADELPHIA, Jan. 24, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Richardson, a leading global sales training and performance improvement company, announced today the completion of their Connected Selling Curriculum, a collection of sales training programs built to work together and build upon each other across roles and capabilities to drive a common language and clear approach for sales performance at scale. This announcement follows the recent launch of three new programs in late 2018 from Richardson: Prosperous Account Strategy, Intentional Pursuit Strategy, and High-Stakes Consultative Dialogues. Backed by significant research in behavioral science and the current business environment, Richardson spent the past 24 months reengineering and digitizing its core sales training programs as well as launching new programs in order to meet the needs of the market today. The Connected Selling Curriculum is a part of Richardson's blended learning architecture that minimizes time out of market by providing pre and post work on Richardson Accelerate, a digital learning platform, and maximizes impact spent in the classroom. Richardson's Connected Selling Curriculum provides: Flexibility to train different roles across the organization while achieving consistency and a common language among various groups, such as field sales, complex sales, inside sales, service, and managers Sales and learning leaders' options to leverage subscription access to the full curriculum of content Interconnected skills across programs, as well as transferrable skills across different roles Behavioral science to help navigate the modern buyer journey and drive more sales The skills necessary to help organizations shape better customer conversations and create competitive advantage "This is a major milestone for Richardson," said Chief Product Officer, Chris Tine. "We have invested in building a curriculum that delivers modern selling capabilities in a blended offering that leverages our Accelerate platform and is unlike anything else in the market right now. This isn't the end of that work; we are excited to continue our investment and expand the curriculum to continue to stay at the front edge of what sales professionals need to be effective in today's business climate." To learn more about Richardson's Connected Selling Curriculum, please click here. To learn more about Richardson, please contact Meghan Steiner at meghan.steiner@richardson.com or visit richardson.com. About Richardson Richardson is a global sales training and performance improvement company focused on helping you drive revenue and grow long-term customer relationships. Our market proven sales and coaching methodology combined with our active learning approach ensures your sales teams learn, master, and apply new behaviors when and where they matter most - in front of the buyer. Get to know us and learn about how we help drive the world's most inspiring sales organizations to their next levels of excellence. Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/95500/richardson_logo.jpg Report spotlights key examples from China of how digital technology can drive inclusive growth Luohan Academy an open research institute initiated by Alibaba Group Holding Limited (NYSE: BABA) today released its first report examining the oft-debated relationship between digital technology and economic growth at the 2019 World Economic Forum in Davos. The report demonstrates how digital technology can drive inclusive growth in ways previous technology revolutions have not, especially when policies and public-private sector cooperation are supportive. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20190124005445/en/ From left to right: Kristalina Georgieva, Chief Executive Officer of the World Bank; H.M. Queen Maxima of the Netherlands; Jack Ma, Executive Chairman of Alibaba; Dame Minouche Shafik, Director, London School of Economics; Chen Long, Director, Luohan Academy (Photo: Business Wire) The report was launched at an event co-hosted with the World Bank, and featured speeches and discussions with high-profile experts, including Her Majesty Queen Maxima of the Netherlands and the UN Secretary-General's Special Advocate for Inclusive Finance for Development (UNSGSA); Kristalina Georgieva, CEO of the World Bank; Michael Spence, Professor of Economics at New York University and Nobel Prize Winner; Jack Ma, Alibaba Group Executive Chairman; and Chen Long, Director of Luohan Academy. More than 120 delegates from the World Economic Forum attended the launch event, including government officials, chief executives, academics, and heads of NGOs, international organizations and development agencies. The report "Digital Technology and Inclusive Growth" details why the benefits of the current digital revolution can be more evenly distributed than they were in previous technological revolutions. At the macro level, widespread adoption and application of digital technology is no longer dependent on level of income and economic development. At the micro level, digital technology is making it easier for consumers to start businesses, reach consumers, and access financing. Using China as a case study, the report illustrates how digital technologies can provide more access to economic opportunity in ways not possible previously. "Experience in China and other emerging markets shows the tremendous potential of a new growth path, one that makes development more inclusive and sustainable," said Chen Long, Director of Luohan Academy. "With public-private joint efforts and the right policies, the digital age presents new opportunities for emerging markets that did not exist before." This report identifies where digital technologies have made a material difference for inclusive growth in China, and offers some insights on how to apply the lessons learned in China to other markets. Some key findings include: Lowering the skill threshold: In order to promote digital penetration, lowering the skill threshold needed to use technology is as important as raising the level of technological expertise. For example, in rural Taobao villages in China, e-tailer households that participate in e-commerce earn more than double the income of non-e-tailer households at every education level because the skills can be learned on the job; no formal education required. In order to promote digital penetration, lowering the skill threshold needed to use technology is as important as raising the level of technological expertise. For example, in rural Taobao villages in China, e-tailer households that participate in e-commerce earn more than double the income of non-e-tailer households at every education level because the skills can be learned on the job; no formal education required. Leveraging digital platforms: Digital platforms represent a new form of exchange and coordination to create an ecosystem for inclusive growth. It is a free-spinning wheel that connects numerous consumers and producers, and facilities interactions with very low cost, high efficiency, and reliability. Digital platforms represent a new form of exchange and coordination to create an ecosystem for inclusive growth. It is a free-spinning wheel that connects numerous consumers and producers, and facilities interactions with very low cost, high efficiency, and reliability. Forming effective public-private partnerships: It is more important than ever for the public sector to create a benign macro environment for the private sector to grow and make necessary investments for the population to access digital technology. It is more important than ever for the public sector to create a benign macro environment for the private sector to grow and make necessary investments for the population to access digital technology. Managing unanticipated effects: In the digital age, there have been concerns about real and complex issues such as technological unemployment, abuse of private information, lagging competition policy, and increased inequality. The first step to address these challenges is to separate facts from speculation and anxiety. The evidence in China shows that the benefits of new market access and opportunities are more pronounced in less developed countries. "This report on digitally enabled growth patterns in China is very interesting. The data shows that the mobile internet, e-commerce, mobile payments and internet-based financial services together have accelerated overall growth and produced startlingly inclusive growth patterns in multiple dimensions. The report documents this, and explains why these effects occur," said Michael Spence, 2001 Nobel Prize Laureate in Economics and professor at New York University. "In conjunction with gained experience in other developing countries, there is a very convincing case that digitally-enabled, platform-based ecosystems are a new and powerful growth engine." Launched in June 2018 in Hangzhou, the Luohan Academy is focused on addressing universal challenges that arise from the rapid development of digital technologies. With 16 Nobel Prize laureates and prominent academics as committee members, the institute aims at bringing together the top scholars in the world to study the most pressing issues of the digital economy and advance the research of technology and its impact on humanity. About Luohan Academy Luohan Academy, an independent think tank and open research institute, was initiated by Alibaba Group on 26th June, 2018 in Hangzhou, China. It was launched by Jack Ma, Alibaba's founder and Executive Chairman, and 16 academic committee members. Luohan Academy intends to bring together the best thinkers in the world with first-hand practical insights into the digital economy in order to advance the research frontiers of digital technology and its impact on humanity. Its mission is two-fold: to understand how digital technology can help achieve common good; and to build a broad research community for systematic and in-depth learning, leading to new paradigms for solving the most pressing issues in digital society. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20190124005445/en/ Contacts: Media: Holly Zhao Holly.zhao@alibaba-inc.com +1 (505) 469-3316 LONDON, January 24, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Despite UK doctors being legally able to prescribe medical cannabis since November 1st 2018, patients still struggle to access cannabis medicines, according to a new report launched at Davos by legal cannabis expert, Prohibition Partners. Yet against this challenging environment, the report forecasts the UK's medicinal cannabis market could soar in value in 2019 as patient access is widened. (Logo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/717815/Prohibition_Partners_Logo.jpg ) The European Cannabis Report 4th Edition, the most comprehensive study undertaken on the region's market, found the absence of professional medical education around prescribing cannabis has created a barrier for the fledgling UK market. Although the law has changed, doctors and healthcare professionals are playing catch up as formal educational programmes have not yet been established. Treatment is also cost-prohibitive. Carly Barton, who suffers chronic pain from fibromyalgia, became the first UK resident to receive a medicinal cannabis prescription - but her treatment is not covered by the NHS and costs 10,000 per year. Stephen Murphy, Co-Founder of Prohibition Partners, explains: "A lack of educational infrastructure and prohibitive costs are impeding UK patient access to potentially transformative cannabis medicines. NHS doctors have little guidance on how to prescribe cannabis and many won't do it because they lack the infrastructure to support them should something go wrong. They are unlikely to prescribe cannabis for conditions other than those listed, notably chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting, HIV and AIDS, epilepsy, chronic pain and multiple sclerosis. These factors have slowed medicinal cannabis use and pushed patients into the black market." Genevieve Edwards, director of external affairs of the MS Society, recently voiced concern that, as far as the Society was aware, no patient with multiple sclerosis has been able to access cannabis-based medicine since the law changed. In response, NHS England has established a system to monitor the prescribing of cannabis-based products, with the first data expected by the end of March 2019. Murphy says: "The legalisation of prescription cannabis has given people with chronic illnesses a glimmer of hope. Increased data and better education services for healthcare professionals will improve access rates and drive down cost, but progress is slow." Nevertheless, the report predicts the UK's medicinal cannabis market is poised to take off in the medium-term. According to the findings, the UK medicinal cannabis market has the potential to be worth some 10m this year but without obstacles to growth, the market could be worth in excess of 1bn by 2022. The World Health Organisation is reassessing the legal status of cannabis and European Union Committees are looking at how to regulate the market internationally. Moreover, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence guidance, due in October 2019, will examine the effectiveness and safety of cannabis-based medicinal products. Murphy says: "This wave of change supports the report's valuation forecasts, and longer term, we will undoubtedly see restrictions lifted in the UK and across Europe, opening up the market and fuelling unprecedented growth." Positive experiences of cannabis-related treatments are also filtering through. A recent survey by the United Patients Alliance found more than three quarters of patients with problems including depression, anxiety, pain and spasms saw significant improvements in their condition with cannabis use. About Prohibition Partners Founded in 2017, Prohibition Partners was established with a mission to provide cutting edge information and business intelligence on the international cannabis industry. Our team provide data, insights and strategic consultancy for this emerging frontier. We work with regulators, entrepreneurs and investors to identify and execute opportunities in the international cannabis market. For further information, contact: Astrid Caloren-Bielz t: +44 (0) 203 781 7768 astrid@kl-communications.com APAC-based talent joins global creative team NEW YORK, NY, March 28, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- INVNT, the global live brand storytelling agency, has appointed Adam Harriden to the role of Executive Creative Director. Harriden brings nearly 20 years' experience to the role, and has worked in a creative capacity at agencies including Jack Morton New York, Host/Havas's PR arm, Red Agency, Clemenger BBDO's experiential agency, Traffik, and most recently as a freelance consultant. Over the course of his career Harriden has produced award-winning creative campaigns in Sydney, New York and Dubai, for globally renowned brands including Samsung, Sony, Schweppes, Vivid Sydney and SXSW in Austin, Texas. His work has been recognised at major international and local awards shows including Cannes Lions, The Australian Effies, Spikes Asia and The Mumbrella Awards. Harriden's career began in fashion marketing and design at Volcom, Ben Sherman and Billabong, and he transitioned agency side when brand experience was first emerging in Australia. From there he evolved into more traditional marketing and advertising roles, where brand experience often had a prominent role to play. A recognised industry leader and passionate environmentalist, Harriden is the founder of not-for-profit organisation GoodSurfWax Australia. He was invited to participate in the first D&AD Impact Academy Master Class in New York as part of their 2018 Impact Awards off the back of this. He is a pro-active mentor, guest lecturing on a range of topics related to the creative discipline at Bond University in Queensland, and has sat on judging panels for awards including the Effies North America. Reporting into INVNT's Chief Creative Officer, Paul Blurton, Harriden is responsible for leading the creative output of campaigns for the agency's APAC clients, as well as collaborating with INVNT's global creative department to ensure international clients' events are on brand and on message, yet also resonate with and engage local APAC audiences on the ground. "There wasn't an agency in the region that wasn't chasing Adam; and yet we met, and just instantly hit it off," said Blurton. "I introduced him to the other Creative Directors at INVNT, and it was like an instant chemical fire. We saw eye-to-eye! INVNT's creative offering is our core differentiator. We're a cohesive and yet fiercely independent crew of agitators and provocateurs, from wildly diverse backgrounds, and Adam's challenger mentality, matched with his passions outside of work - from lecturing to creating eco-friendly surf wax - make him an ideal addition to our global creative network, and the perfect expression of INVNT's creative edge in the APAC region." Harriden explained: "If you look at the way societies are created they are all about rules and regulations. We need to escape these environments every now and then and stop comparing ourselves to others - that's when we're able to start thinking differently, and that's the key to great creative. I take an honest approach when it comes to my client relationships, and encourage them to re-think the way they do things, so INVNT's 'challenge everything' mantra really resonated with me. "I am a big believer that it we're not doing work that's good, it's not worth doing. I am passionate about collaborating with brands that are doing good, whether it's educating and inspiring their customers and communities, partnering with not-for-profit organisations or taking a pro-active stance on sustainability. I look forward to developing campaigns for our clients that break through traditional barriers and in doing so, help them meet their objectives." Laura Roberts, Managing Director, INVNT APAC added: "We're a tribe of wicked smart, ambitious, and industrious individuals, and Adam fits this bill perfectly. It's no surprise that his creative and strategic approach is already challenging the status quo. The addition of Adam will continue to position INVNT as a game-changer in Australia and the APAC region." ### About INVNT Founded in 2008 by Scott Cullather and Kristina McCoobery, INVNT is the global live brand storytelling agency. The company's "challenge everything" positioning statement helps clients including General Motors, Grant Thornton, Merck, PepsiCo, Samsung and Subway - share their stories - live - with every audience that matters. "The tribe" is INVNT's diverse, talented and creative team behind the stories and brand experiences that people just can't stop talking about. INVNT's offices are strategically located in New York, London, Sydney, Detroit, San Francisco, Washington D.C., Stockholm and Singapore. For more information visit www.invnt.com Attachment RALEIGH, North Carolina, January 24, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- The global industrial valves market is expected to grow at a CAGR of 4 - 5 percent until 2020, according to Beroe Inc., a procurement intelligence firm. The tremendous rise in demand for power in developing regions has given rise to the need for power plant investments, leading to an increase in demand for industrial valves. (Logo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/777512/Beroe_Logo.jpg ) Developing regions such as LATAM, Middle East, Africa, and APAC boost the growth of industrial valves globally due to increased investment in infrastructure such as power plants, water supply lines, and sewage water treatment facilities. The utilization of smart valves is increasingly being adopted in North America and Europe because of their ability to control fugitive emissions which are required for compliance with environmental regulations. https://www.beroeinc.com/category-intelligence/industrial-valves-market Beroe, which is based in North Carolina, further stated that procurement experts can access this report on its recently launched market intelligence platform Beroe LiVE: live.beroeinc.com The immense growth in the demand for power in developing regions has given rise to the need for power plant investments, leading to an increase in demand for industrial valves. However, patent violations and copies of the original by the local players would hamper the growth of the industrial valves market due to the copies being relatively cheaper. A major trend in the industrial valve market is the use of robotics in handling complex and repetitive tasks such as replacing broken valves, which has remarkably reduced labor requirements. The use of control valves has helped in reducing fugitive emissions, while also reconditioning older valves rather than replacing them. The industrial valves market has constant innovation taking place; for instance, the chemical sector has replaced generic valves with smart valves. Since the market is highly fragmented with the entry of global players, competition has increased and local players are adopting newer technologies to stay competitive. Key Findings: The material is the major cost driver of the valves, and it accounts for approximately 50-53 percent of the total cost. Emerging markets have high potential to grow due to huge investments in infrastructure, power, etc. The obstacles faced by new entrants in the industrial valves market will be huge investments, technical expertise, product offerings, distribution network, and gaining buyer confidence. Labor is the second-biggest contributor to the total price, and the labor costs will deteriorate as companies are moving to the emerging countries for manufacturing. Implementing standardization of valves in the industry results in cost savings of approximately 15-20 percent until 2025. Valves are purchased from ad-hoc suppliers for applications where the need of the valve is low. This offers a huge cost advantage with a moderate-quality parameter. The research methodology adopted for the report included: Experts with twenty years of domain experience Interaction with buyers Inputs from supply chain partners Technical specifications and type of material of the valve have to be as per design mentioned in the contract. Products failing to comply will be returned to the supplier for rectification. For valves of high precision, which are critical for operation, a global manufacturer is an ideal fit. But for valves of low critical application, local/regional suppliers can be engaged at a competitive price point and quicker delivery. The report also includes: Market Analysis: Market Maturity Trends Drivers and Constraints M&A Industrial Valve Revenue Breakup by Valve Type and End-use Industry Regional Market Outlook Supply Analysis: Supply Outlook Global Supplier Capability Regional Supplier Capability Top Global Supplier Profiling Cost and Pricing Analysis: Cost Structure Direct Materials: Future Trend and Impact on Buyer Key Success Factors in Procurement of Valves Procurement Best Practices: Sourcing Models Comparative Analysis Pros and Cons Cross-industry Sourcing Model Adoption Pricing Models KPIs and SLAs About Beroe Inc.: Beroe's unique business model involves providing market intelligence and analytics to the procurement teams of businesses across the globe. Beroe leverages its deep domain expertise in 300 + categories across 14 industries. It boasts of more than 80 of the Fortune 500 companies as its clients. To learn more about Beroe Inc, please visit http://www.beroeinc.com Media Contact: Debobrata Hembram debobrata.hembram@beroe-inc.com Seattle, Washington--(Newsfile Corp. - January 24, 2019) - CFN Media Group ("CFN Media"), the leading agency and financial media network dedicated to the North American cannabis industry, announces publication of an article and video interview discussing Grown Rogue International Inc. (CSE: GRIN) (OTC: NVSIF). The company recently announced plans to build out a presence in Michigan, which recently legalized recreational cannabis in November 2018. The move marks the company's ongoing expansion outside of its home state of Oregon, as well as California operations, and into new markets throughout the United States. CFN Media recently sat down with Grown Rogue CSO Jacques Habra at the Benzinga Capital Conference in Miami to discuss Grown Rogue's strategic expansion into Michigan. Michigan's Cannabis Market Michigan legalized cannabis for medical and recreational use in 2018. While cannabis was never decriminalized statewide, most cities had decriminalization laws in place to limit incarcerations and fines for cannabis consumers. Ann Arbor, home to the University of Michigan, has maintained some of the most liberal laws in the entire country since the 1970s, with marijuana possession classified as a civil infraction with a token fine. In November 2017, cannabis supporters collected the 365,000 signatures needed for legal recreational cannabis to appear on the 2018 ballot. The state voted to legalize the recreational use of marijuana in the 2018 Michigan Regulation and Taxation of Marijuana Act (RMLA). The initiative allows adults 21 and older to possess up to 2.5 ounces of cannabis and grow up to 12 cannabis plants at home, as well as create a tax infrastructure. The RMLA enables municipalities to prohibit or limit the number of marijuana establishments within their boundaries, as well as provide the Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs (LARA) with the authority to issue licenses. The Act also imposes a ten percent excise tax on the sale of recreational marijuana and a six percent sales tax on marijuana sales generated at retailers and microbusinesses (selling direct to consumers). Analysts believe that Michigan's current medical cannabis market is worth $711 million per year and generates about $21 million in tax revenue. With recreational legalization, analysts believe that the market could easily surpass $1 billion per year in sales. Colorado is half the size as Michigan and generates more than $1.5 billion in medical and recreational sales per year-although its cannabis market is much more mature. Grown Rogue Plans Expansion Grown Rogue recently announced plans to expand into Michigan through a strategic partnership with an established cannabis conglomerate. The initial expansion will include two retail dispensaries-referred to as provisional centers in Michigan, a 19,000 sq. ft. indoor cultivation and processing center in Detroit, and an interest in a 28 acre parcel located in the northern portion of the lower peninsula that can be used for cultivation. "We invested significant time looking for the right partners for our Michigan expansion," said Grown Rogue CEO Obie Strickler in a press release announcing the new partnership and entry into Michigan's market. "Our Michigan partners include executives with multi-generational leadership track records in real estate development and business investment throughout the state, as well as experienced cannabis operators." With Michigan only recently legalizing cannabis, the company could enjoy an early-mover advantage in a $1+ billion market with high barriers to entry. The company's fully-integrated approach of owning assets across the supply chain could make it extremely competitive in terms of price and quality compared to other operators. Finally, Grown Rogue's existing brands provide a valuable jumpstart in commercial operations. "There is already such a significant adoption of cannabis by the general population in Michigan that we really hit the ground running with our established brand and proven business processes," said Grown Rogue CSO Jacques Habra in the same press release. "This strategic partnership, in one of the most exciting states in the U.S., continues our focus on building a multi-state cannabis company." Looking Ahead Grown Rogue International Inc. (CSE: GRIN) (OTC: NVSIF) represents a compelling investment opportunity with a multi-state cannabis presence. With its existing strength in Oregon, the company is rapidly expanding into California, Nevada, and Michigan, where it could rapidly scale up its revenue and market share. Investors may want to take a look at the stock given these near-term catalysts and its long-term growth potential. For more information, visit the company's website or investor page for more details. Cannot view this video? Visit: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rwtLKg8RNrg Please follow the link to read the full article: https://www.cannabisfn.com/cfn-medias-exclusive-executive-interview-with-grown-rogue-on-michigan-exp... About CFN Media CFN Media (CannabisFN) is the leading agency and financial media network dedicated to the global cannabis industry, helps companies operating in the space attract investors, capital, and publicity. Since 2013, private and public cannabis companies in the US and Canada have relied on CFN Media to grow and succeed. Learn how to become a CFN Media client company, brand or entrepreneur: http://www.cannabisfn.com/featuredcompany Download the CFN Media iOS mobile app to access the world of cannabis from the palm of your hand: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/cannabisfn/id988009247?ls=1&mt=8 Or visit our homepage and enter your mobile number under the Apple App Store logo to receive a download link text on your iPhone: http://www.cannabisfn.com Disclaimer CannabisFN.com is not an independent financial investment advisor or broker-dealer. You should always consult with your own independent legal, tax, and/or investment professionals before making any investment decisions. The information provided on http://www.cannabisfn.com (the 'Site') is either original financial news or paid advertisements drafted by our in-house team or provided by an affiliate. 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Please follow the link below to view our full disclosure outlining our compensation: http://www.cannabisfn.com/legal-disclaimer/ Frank Lane 206-369-7050 Flane@cannabisfn.com To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/42423 PALM BEACH, Florida, January 24, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- FinancialNewsMedia.com News Commentary According to a recent Forbes article, Cannabis dispensaries are a radically new retail phenomenon, selling a commodity that is still shrouded in stigma and illegal under federal law. For a Baby Boomer whose most recent cannabis transaction may have been clandestinely copping a dime bag from their neighborhood dealer some 50 years ago, visiting a dispensary can make them feel like the proverbial kid in a candy store. Following a year of huge advancements in marijuana policy reform, experts predict that 2019 would be a "real game-changer" in terms of the conversation surrounding cannabis legalization at both the state and federal level. "In 2019, I think that we can expect to see more of the same type of change, but maybe at a more rapid pace," Jolene Forman, senior staff attorney at the Drug Policy Alliance, told Newsweek . Active cannabis stocks in the markets today include:CROP Infrastructure Corp. (CSE:CROP) (OTC:CRXPF), The Supreme Cannabis Company, Inc. (TSX-V:FIRE) (OTC:SPRWF), Canopy Growth Corporation (NYSE:CGC)(TSX:WEED), HEXO Corp. (TSX:HEXO) (OTC:HYYWF), Green Growth Brands Inc. (CSE:GGB) (OTC:GGBXF). To our north, Canada ended nine decades of recreational marijuana prohibition with the passage of the Cannabis Act in June, and the official legalization of adult-use weed on Oct. 17. Once the industry has had some time to ramp up production, it wouldn't be surprising if Canadian legal weed companies were generating up to $5 billion in added annual sales by the early part of the next decade. CROP Infrastructure Corp. (CSE:CROP) (OTCPK:CRXPF) BREAKING NEWS: CROP Infrastructure announced today it will, initially, be making 100,000 premium Moon Rock Cones at one of its California subsidiaries as it expands its footprint in the state. The raw material will be finished cannabis from CROP's Humboldt County farm which is trimmed, high grade flower and will be for distillate input for cartridges and pre-rolls cones that will then be dipped in kief (cannabis crystals) to make the infused Cones. The infused cones will be Hempire and Evolution branded with custom filters bearing the name. Additional equipment to fulfill the order is expected to arrive shortly. After some initial market research, the company has established the best-selling SKUS are cones and pens. The company has instructed its toll process partner to convert equivalent material to produce approximately 50 Liters of Oil to fill 75,000 half gram cartridges and 50,000 quarter gram disposable pens as well as the company will roll and tube approximately 200,000 Hempire and evolution branded 1-gram infused cones. The distributor has offices in Oakland and Orange County. The distribution network consists of approximately 350 licensed cannabis stores across California. The chart below has been prepared to give the break-down of inventory. The farm will shortly be taking down an additional 10,000 sq ft of canopy crop for harvest. Additionally, the company has retained local engineers to plan and permit the 2019 expansion, including a proposed 30,000 sq ft automated greenhouse facility, extra vault space and security upgrades. CROP also announced it has made a cannabis retail application in Chula Vista, California, for its Emerald Height's brand and is working with its local partners to apply in additional municipalities. Read this full announcement and more news for CROP Infrastructure at:https://www.financialnewsmedia.com/news-crop/ Additional cannabis industry related developments from around the markets: The Supreme Cannabis Company, Inc. (TSX-V: FIRE.V) (OTCQX: SPRWF) On January 9, 2019 the company announced that it had received conditional approval from the Toronto Stock Exchange (the "TSX") to graduate from the TSX Venture Exchange ("TSXV") and list its common shares on the TSX. "Graduating to the TSX will broaden our investment appeal and leave us well positioned to execute on our strategic imperatives for 2019, which is why we're pleased to add this milestone to our list of accomplishments for the year," said Navdeep Dhaliwal , CEO of Supreme Cannabis. "Our Company had a banner year that was headlined by our wholly-owned subsidiary, 7ACRES, generating the sixth highest revenue among Canadian licensed cannabis producers this past quarter. On a revenue basis, the first year of cannabis sales for 7ACRES was one of the best among any Canadian licensed cannabis producer, validating our belief that long-lasting value flows from foundational investments in high-end cannabis cultivation. Looking forward, we are eager to build on these accomplishments and make significant advancements by cementing 7ACRES as a leading premium flower brand, establishing export channels for Medigrow, launching jointly-developed products with Khalifa Kush Enterprises and more in 2019." Canopy Growth Corporation (NYSE: CGC)(TSX: WEED.TO) recently, on January 21, provided an update key European progress in the UK and Poland where its medically-focused business Spectrum Cannabis continues to build a sophisticated, pan-European cannabis production and distribution network serving the needs of physicians and their patients throughout the continent. For example:United Kingdom - In the United Kingdom the Company has formed Spectrum Biomedical UK, a new company focused on providing access to cannabis-based medicinal products to UK patients with severe unmet clinical need. Spectrum Biomedical UK was formed as a joint venture between Canada's Canopy Growth and Oxford-based research-company Beckley Canopy Therapeutics to address a groundswell of patient need for high quality, standardised cannabis-based medicinal products in the UK. Under the British government's new classification, which took effect November 1, specialist doctors in the UK can prescribe cannabis-based medicines to patients managing a wide range of symptoms - from chronic pain, chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting, to muscle spasticity for those with multiple sclerosis. HEXO Corp. (TSX:HEXO.TO) (OTCPK:HYYWF) on January 21, 2019 announced that it will be filing a preliminary prospectus supplement (the "Preliminary Supplement") to its amended and restated short form base shelf prospectus dated December 14, 2018 (the "Base Shelf Prospectus") relating to a proposed marketed public offering of common shares of the Company for gross proceeds of approximately C$50 million (the "Offering"). The Offering will be priced in the context of the market with the price and total size of the Offering to be determined at the time of entering into an underwriting agreement for the Offering. The Company will also grant the underwriters for the Offering an over-allotment option to purchase up to an additional 15% of the common shares to be sold pursuant to the Offering. The over-allotment option will be exercisable for a period of 30 days after closing. The Company will use the net proceeds from the offering for general corporate purposes, including funding the Company's global growth initiatives and research and development to further advance the Company's innovation strategies. Green Growth Brands Inc. (CSE:GGB.CN) (OTCQB:GGBXF) on January 22, 2019 announced that it has filed its Offer to Purchase and Circular and related documents with the applicable securities regulatory authorities in Canada and the United States and will formally commence its offer (the "Offer") to acquire all of the issued and outstanding common shares of Aphria Inc. on Wednesday, January 23, 2019 . The Company also announced that it has entered into a commitment letter (the "Commitment Letter") with All Js Greenspace LLC (the "Investor"), pursuant to which the Investor has agreed, subject to the terms and conditions set forth in the Commitment Letter, to subscribe for and purchase up to $150 million of Green Growth shares (the "Commitment") as a backstop to the Company's previously announced intention to complete a $300 million equity financing in connection with the completion of the Offer. DISCLAIMER: FN Media Group LLC (FNM), which owns and operates FinancialNewsMedia.com and MarketNewsUpdates.com (FNM) is a third party publisher and news dissemination service provider, which disseminates electronic information through multiple online media channels. FNM is NOT affiliated in any manner with any company mentioned herein. 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For current services performed FNM has been compensated forty nine hundred dollars for news coverage of the current press release issued above by CROP Infrastructure Corp. by a non affiliated third party. FNM HOLDS NO SHARES OF ANY COMPANY NAMED IN THIS RELEASE. This release contains "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended and such forward-looking statements are made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. "Forward-looking statements" describe future expectations, plans, results, or strategies and are generally preceded by words such as "may", "future", "plan" or "planned", "will" or "should", "expected," "anticipates", "draft", "eventually" or "projected". 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Contact Information: Media Contact email: editor@financialnewsmedia.com +1(561)325-8757 PALM BEACH, Florida, January 24, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- FinancialNewsMedia.com News Commentary The worldwide demand for lithium will almost certainly continue to grow as the industry searches for new deposits and methods to commercially extract it from existing known reserves. An article by Mining.com, an industry resource, discussed the supply & demand for lithium: "Lithium isn't rare, but the lithium market is definitely under developed in comparison to most other industrial commodities, leaving the space to a select few conglomerate giants and a group of junior companies. The fact is, lithium has a ton of applications, from lubricating grease and glass fabrication, to glazes for ceramics, and finally, batteries. In particular, lithium is and will continue to play an increasingly important role in the battery-powered clean air future. Lithium reserves exist on 5 continents: North America, South America, Africa, Asia and Australia but the concentration is in South America, where there are approximately 66% of the world's reserves In Chile, the number 2 producer of lithium in the world and 1st in reserves, their reserves are held in brine deposits. Active miners in the markets today include:American Lithium Corp. (TSX-V:LI) (OTC:LIACF), Sociedad Quimica y Minera de Chile S.A. (NYSE:SQM), Lithium Americas Corp. (NYSE:LAC) (TSX:LAC), Albemarle Corporation (NYSE:ALB), Orocobre Limited (TSX:ORL) (OTC:OROCF). But there also reserves in the continental US and they are also held in brine deposits. The current major cost in the brine refinement process is the removal of impurities such as magnesium, calcium, iron and potassium via evaporation and additives. If they are successful, it will revolutionize the lithium mining industry, as more deposits will become economical and existing mining operations could change production methods to capitalize on cheaper processing costs. "Lithium Grade - Arguably the most important figure in any type of deposit.Typically, the higher the grade of lithium, the more economic the deposit." The article concluded: "I believe it's undeniable that lithium will play a major role in powering our clean air future. The trend is your friend and in this case it is only the beginning of what appears to be a major turning point in the way we live our day to day lives." American Lithium Corp. (TSX.V: LI) (OTCQB: LIACF) (Frankfurt: 5LA;) BREAKING NEWS: American Lithium is pleased to report that preliminary hydrometallurgical tests have been completed on TLC project samples demonstrating that lithium will effectively leach from the project area claystones with increased extraction relative to immersion time. CEO, Mike Kobler states "This news is very exciting. Our preliminary results from the TLC project validate what we are looking for in lithium projects; shallow deposits, high grade and low-cost extraction opportunities. In fact, test results indicated a greater percentage of leached output in higher grade samples which is really positive." Seven TLC samples were sent for testing at America Assay Laboratory and processed using ICP-AEP protocols. The samples were leach tested with a mixed concentrate extraction, beginning with one-hour agitation in purified water, followed by a progression of one hour, six hour and twenty-four-hour agitation in up to a 20% total sulfuric acid solution. Lithium extraction increased progressively through increased formulation strength and duration. Additional testing will evaluate the consumption of chemicals and the relationship of solution formulation relative to Li extraction within a 24-hour period. Advanced phase column tests will commence once the initial curing process provides consistent data. American Lithium is evaluating the extraction economics of selected lithium-enriched claystones from both its TLC and FLV Projects and expects to report initial results early in 2019. Employees as well as independent consultants have been tasked with evaluating potential processing requirements and initiating advanced studies. Testing includes, but is not limited to, determination of grain size, agitation requirements, chemical strength and consumption, water consumption, material balance and durations. American Lithium's consultant has established the testing protocols and management will submit requests for proposals from select engineering firms in the first half of the year.Read this full announcement and more news for American Lithium at:https://www.financialnewsmedia.com/news-li/ Additional miningindustry developments from around the markets: Lithium Americas Corp. (NYSE:LAC) (TSX:LAC) is advancing two world-class lithium projects to production. Lithium Americas is focused on advancing the Cauchari-Olaroz project in Jujuy, Argentina and Thacker Pass project in Nevada, USA to production. Cauchari-Olaroz is currently in construction with first production targeted by 2020. Thacker Pass is completing detailed engineering and permitting with construction expected to begin in 2020 Last August the company, in a press release said that it was strengthing its Senior management team following the recently announced strategic transaction with Jiangxi Ganfeng Lithium Co. Ltd. ("Ganfeng Lithium") to jointly advance the Cauchari-Olaroz lithium project in Jujuy, Argentina ("Cauchari-Olaroz"), in addition to the Company's continuing development of the 100%-owned Thacker Pass lithium project in Nevada, USA ("Thacker Pass"). Sociedad Quimica y Minera de Chile S.A. (NYSE:SQM) Developments: In an article issued on CNBC.com, Chile's environmental regulator this month approved a $25 million compliance plan by SQM, ending a multi-year investigation by authorities that found the Chilean miner had overdrawn lithium-rich brine from the Atacama salt flat. The plan requires the world's number two producer of lithium to reduce its extraction of brine. The decision is unlikely to have a major impact on SQM's total output of the ultralight battery metal, as the reduction represents a relatively small percentage of the total authorized to SQM by regulators. This month it was reported Albemarle Corporation (NYSE:ALB), a leader in the global specialty chemicals industry, signed an Asset Sale and Share Subscription Agreement (Agreement) with Mineral Resources Limited (ASX: MIN) for a wholly-owned subsidiary of Albemarle to acquire a 50 percent interest in MRL's Wodgina hard rock lithium project (Wodgina Project) in Western Australia and form a joint venture with MRL to own and operate the Wodgina Project to produce spodumene concentrate and battery grade lithium hydroxide. Upon closing of the transaction, Albemarle would acquire a 50 percent interest in all mineral rights within the Wodgina tenements, other than iron ore (which will be retained exclusively by MRL) and tantalum (which remain held by a third party), the spodumene concentration plant and all other fixed infrastructure, utility assets and mobile mining equipment to be used in the Wodgina Project, other than the crusher (which will remain owned and operated by MRL), for a purchase price of $1.15 billion. The parties would jointly manage the joint venture through a company to be owned in equal shares by the parties. Orocobre Limited (TSX:ORL) (OTCPK:OROCF) (ASX:ORE) recently advise that effective Jan. 17th Mr Martin Perez de Solay has been appointed to the Orocobre Board as Managing Director following the retirement of Richard Seville. At the same time, Mr Perez de Solay has formally commenced his duties as Chief Executive Officer. Mr Seville will continue with Orocobre as a Non-Executive Director. Orocobre Chairman, Mr Robert Hubbard commented, "I am pleased to welcome Martin to the Board of Orocobre as he commences his CEO duties. The transition period between Martin and Richard has been extremely smooth and reflects the high calibre and commitment of both people. "I would also like to take this final opportunity to thank Richard for his contribution to Orocobre over the past twelve years and wish him all the very best in his future endeavours." DISCLAIMER: FN Media Group LLC (FNM), which owns and operates FinancialNewsMedia.com and MarketNewsUpdates.com (FNM) is a third party publisher and news dissemination service provider, which disseminates electronic information through multiple online media channels. FNM is NOT affiliated in any manner with any company mentioned herein. FNM and its affiliated companies are a news dissemination solutions provider and are NOT a registered broker/dealer/analyst/adviser, holds no investment licenses and may NOT sell, offer to sell or offer to buy any security. FNM's market updates, news alerts and corporate profiles are NOT a solicitation or recommendation to buy, sell or hold securities. The material in this release is intended to be strictly informational and is NEVER to be construed or interpreted as research material. All readers are strongly urged to perform research and due diligence on their own and consult a licensed financial professional before considering any level of investing in stocks. All material included herein is republished content and details which were previously disseminated by the companies mentioned in this release. FNM is not liable for any investment decisions by its readers or subscribers. Investors are cautioned that they may lose all or a portion of their investment when investing in stocks. For current services performed FNM has been compensated forty six hundred dollars for news coverage of the current press release issued above by American Lithium Corp. by the company. FNM HOLDS NO SHARES OF ANY COMPANY NAMED IN THIS RELEASE. This release contains "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended and such forward-looking statements are made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. "Forward-looking statements" describe future expectations, plans, results, or strategies and are generally preceded by words such as "may", "future", "plan" or "planned", "will" or "should", "expected," "anticipates", "draft", "eventually" or "projected". You are cautioned that such statements are subject to a multitude of risks and uncertainties that could cause future circumstances, events, or results to differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements, including the risks that actual results may differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements as a result of various factors, and other risks identified in a company's annual report on Form 10-K or 10-KSB and other filings made by such company with the Securities and Exchange Commission. You should consider these factors in evaluating the forward-looking statements included herein, and not place undue reliance on such statements. The forward-looking statements in this release are made as of the date hereof and FNM undertakes no obligation to update such statements. Contact Information: Media Contact email: editor@financialnewsmedia.com +1(561)325-8757 SpendEdge, a global procurement market intelligence firm, has announced the release of their Global Document Management and Storage Services Category Procurement Market Intelligence Report. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20190124005416/en/ Global Document Management and Storage Services Category Procurement Market Intelligence Report. (Graphic: Business Wire) The growing focus on streamlining and securely storing data is mainly driving the category adoption rate across various significant organization across the globe. End-user industries such as healthcare and chemical are increasing spend on the data protection as a service, which is a sub-segment of the category, to fortify the security of their repository of sensitive data. Despite the growth drivers at play, factors like lack of expert service providers, lack of proactive service during downtime, and market dynamism due to newer technological trends will pose significant procurement challenges in the market for document management and storage services. Request a Free Sample of this market intelligence report here! While stringent privacy laws are driving the demand for data protection service, a category sub-segment of the category in the US, expensive skilled workforce and the increasing compliance costs will impede the category adoption rate in the region. The growing demand for document management from the healthcare sector and focus on upgrading the existing systems at buyer's facilities will propel the category spend momentum in APAC. With a view of the procurement challenges faced in this market, this document management and storage services procurement research report has made specific recommendations that will aid buyers from the different business spectrum. Additional insights offered in this market intelligence report include supply market forecasts, primary cost drivers, and category management insights. Such insights are relevant for both the buyers and the suppliers who seek a risk-free and a cost-effective procurement strategy. Get free customization of this market intelligence report on document management and storage services to get information tailored to your every requirement. "Buyers must partner with service providers that offer tape vaulting services offsite to secure critical business information," says SpendEdge procurement expert Tridib Bora. "This will help to reduce the instances of data security breaches that might result in loss of critical business information," added Tridib. This market intelligence report on document management and storage services has estimated the following cost drivers to influence the category growth in the coming years: Increasing minimum wages will lead to category price growth Cyber attacks will contribute to the category risk Purchase the full market intelligence report on document management and storage services here! SpendEdge is now offering limited-time discounts on report purchases. Buy two reports and get the third one for free. SpendEdge's procurement market intelligence reports for the professional services category provide detailed supply market forecasts and cost drivers that impact category growth. Such information will help procurement managers as well as the suppliers to determine the total cost of ownership and change their procurement strategies accordingly. Additionally, SpendEdge's reports provide category management insights and information on the procurement best practices for the category. Report scope snapshot: Document management and storage services Category pricing insights Pricing outlook Total cost of ownership analysis Supplier cost structure Interested to know more about the scope of our market intelligence reports? Download a FREE sample Cost-Saving Opportunities Supplier-side levers Buyer-side levers Quantifying cost savings by negotiation strategies Want customized information from the document management and storage services procurement research report? Get in touch Category ecosystem Competitiveness index for suppliers Buyer power Supplier power score To view the table of contents of this market intelligence report, Download a FREE sample Do you purchase multiple reports in a year? Our subscription platform, SpendEdge Insights, provides ready-to-use procurement research reports for various categories. Now access latest supplier news, innovation landscape, markets insights, supplier tracking, and much more at the click of a button. Start your 7-day FREE trial now Related Reports: Global Health and Safety Consulting Category Procurement Market Intelligence Report Global Organization and Change Management Consulting Category Procurement Market Intelligence Report About SpendEdge: SpendEdge shares your passion for driving sourcing and procurement excellence. We are the preferred procurement market intelligence partner for 120+ Fortune 500 firms and other leading companies across numerous industries. Our strength lies in delivering robust, real-time procurement market intelligence reports and solutions. To know more, https://www.spendedge.com/request-free-proposal View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20190124005416/en/ Contacts: SpendEdge Anirban Choudhury Marketing Manager US: +1 630 984 7340 UK: +44 148 459 9299 https://www.spendedge.com/contact-us PALM BEACH, Florida, January 24, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- FinancialNewsMedia.com News Commentary In the global rush to supply lithium batteries for the electric car revolution, South America is most likely where the supply will originate. Chile & Argentina are the two main players. Both have their reserves largely in brine deposits which are the most financially advantageous sites. 66% of the world's reserves are in South America. Chile, the number 2 producer in the world also has the largest reserves but Argentina is 3rd in both producing and reserves and more importantly has less government hurdles to overcome. An industry magazine, The Business Financial Post reported that Argentina is set on becoming a lithium superpower. "Argentina is looking to take market share from neighboring Chile where would-be producers need authorization from the nuclear energy commission in a throwback to a 1979 decision to declare lithium "strategic." Under President Mauricio Macri, Argentina has ambitions to become a lithium superpower, supplying as much as 45 per cent of the market, up from about 16 per cent now. Battery makers are depending on the South American nation's high-altitude salt flats as a key new supply of the metal, with vast deposits and an investor-friendly government luring prospectors and developers. Active stocks in the markets this week include NRG Metals Inc. (TSX-V:NGZ) (OTC:NRGMF). Nemaska Lithium Inc. (TSX:NMX) (OTC:NMKEF), LSC Lithium Corporation (TSX-V:LSC), Neo Lithium Corp. (TSX-V:NLC) (OTC:NTTHF), Millennial Lithium Corp. (TSX-V:ML) (OTC:MLNLF). NRG Metals Inc. (TSX-V:NGZ.V) (OTCQB:NRGMF) BREAKING NEWS: NRG Metals is pleased to announce that it has selected Knight Piesold Consulting (KP) and JDS Energy & Mining (JDS) to prepare a National Instrument 43-101 Preliminary Economic Assessment (PEA) on its flagship Hombre Muerto Norte (HMN) Lithium Project, located in Salta Province, Argentina. The HMN Project is strategically located in the Hombre Muerto Salar, an area of active lithium production. The development strategy for HMN focuses on production of 5,000 tonnes per year of lithium carbonate, with the potential for expansion. A site visit was completed in December 2018 and the project evaluation and report are progressing in a timely manner. The report is expected to be completed during Q1 2019. KP is a global consulting firm that provides specialized services to the mining, power, water resources, infrastructure, and oil and gas industries. The company focuses on creating value at every stage of a project through quality driven, sustainable, and cost-effective solutions. Established in South Africa in 1921, KP has expanded their reach into a global network of over 800 professionals based in offices in North and South America, Europe, Africa, Australia, and Asia. KP has extensive experience working in Argentina, with offices in Mendoza, San Juan and Neuquen. JDS is an engineering, project, and construction management firm composed of a diverse set of skilled and highly experienced mining and construction professionals. With a proven record of providing clients with fit-for-purpose solutions and value delivery, JDS has acquired a reputation for delivering and executing project plans on budget, on time, and most importantly, safely. The JDS team prides itself on delivering project concepts from inception to full operations, providing clients with technical engineering support, onsite operations services and EPCM. NRG recently filed a report titled "Initial Measured Lithium and Potassium Resource Estimate Hombre Muerto North Project, Salta and Catamarca Provinces, Argentina." The report was completed in accordance with National Instrument 43-101 Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects, on behalf of the Company by independent consultants Montgomery and Associates, of Santiago Chile. The report identifies 571,000 tonnes of Lithium Carbonate Equivalent at a grade of 756 parts per million lithium in the combined Measured and Indicated categories, with a low magnesium to lithium ratio of 2.6 to 1.0 (October 3, 2108 press release) that will be used in the completion of the PEA.Read this and more news for NRG Metals at:http://www.financialnewsmedia.com/news-ngz/ Other recent developments in the mining industry include: Nemaska Lithium Inc. (TSX:NMX.TO) (OTCQX:NMKEF) announced recently that it has appointed Robert Beaulieu as its new Vice President, Operations. Since January 3, Mr. Beaulieu has been overseeing the construction and operations readiness work that will lead to the commissioning of the Whabouchi mine and the Shawinigan electrochemical plant. "We are truly pleased to welcome Robert to Nemaska Lithium, an incredible talent developed through various Canadian and international experiences," said Guy Bourassa, President and CEO of Nemaska Lithium. "Robert has led the start-up and operations of large-scale projects and we will benefit from his vast experience in transitioning from construction and development to ramp-up and commercial operations and process optimization. As we are fast approaching a new turning point in our history, his extensive track record in the development of complex and innovative mining and metallurgical processing projects will be an excellent addition to team." LSC Lithium Corporation (TSX-V:LSC.V) announced recently that it has entered into an arrangement agreement with Pluspetrol Resources Corporation B.V., pursuant to which Pluspetrol will acquire all of the outstanding common shares of LSC by way of a plan of arrangement under the Business Corporations Act (British Columbia). Under the Arrangement, Pluspetrol would acquire 100% of the issued and outstanding common shares of LSC for cash consideration of C$0.6612 per LSC share (the "Transaction"). The Transaction was unanimously approved at the meeting of the LSC Board of Directors and the LSC Board of Directors recommends that LSC shareholders vote in favour of the Transaction. The Transaction provides total consideration of approximately C$111 million. Neo Lithium Corp. (TSX-V:NLC.V) (OTCQX:NTTHF) recently announced that it has successfully completed and tested the pilot plant (the "Plant") built by the Instituto de Investigaciones Tecnologicas from Universidad de Concepcion, Chile and has shipped the Plant to the warehouse in Fiambala, Catamarca, Argentina. The Company estimates that it will take 45 days for the Plant to be shipped, clear customs, and be reassembled and operational. The Plant was tested with artificial brine in Chile and the Company now is concentrating approximately 4% lithium brine in its pilot evaporation ponds to start production of lithium carbonate at the Plant. Currently the annual capacity of the pilot ponds is over 500 tons of approximate 4% lithium brine per year. "I am pleased with the progress made and our ability to ship and commission the Plant during the first quarter which puts us on track with our objectives," said Gabriel Pindar, Director and COO of Neo Lithium. "Management hopes the proposed prefeasibility study will support that the plant can produce battery grade lithium at one of the most competitive cash cost of the market." Millennial Lithium Corp. (TSX-V:ML.V) (OTCQX:MLNLF) recently reported that bench scale process test work completed by SGS Canada Inc. (SGS) in their facilities in Lakefield, ON on brine from the Company's Pastos Grandes project in Salta, Argentina, has yielded battery grade (> 99.5% Li 2 CO 3 ) lithium carbonate. Final purification testwork results yielded a lithium carbonate product that is 99.92% Li 2 CO 3 with low levels of magnesium (Mg), calcium (Ca), boron (B), sulphate (SO 4 ) and iron (Fe), with no other detectable metals. Millennial President and CEO, Farhad Abasov, commented: "We are excited that the bench scale process test work recently completed by SGS has yielded very positive results with a lithium carbonate product purity of 99.92%. Typical lithium carbonate battery grade for EV batteries is approximately 99.5% Li 2 CO 3, so we are very encouraged by these results that suggest the Pastos Grandes brine is amenable to industry standard processing and capable of producing a battery grade product. The bench scale testing has also provided an excellent framework for our pilot plant, which is currently in the final design phase, and provides a basis for the potential commercial plant design for the Company's Definitive Feasibility Study." DISCLAIMER: FN Media Group LLC (FNM), which owns and operates Financialnewsmedia.com and MarketNewsUpdates.com, is a third party publisher and news dissemination service provider, which disseminates electronic information through multiple online media channels. FNM is NOT affiliated in any manner with any company mentioned herein. FNM and its affiliated companies are a news dissemination solutions provider and are NOT a registered broker/dealer/analyst/adviser, holds no investment licenses and may NOT sell, offer to sell or offer to buy any security. FNM's market updates, news alerts and corporate profiles are NOT a solicitation or recommendation to buy, sell or hold securities. The material in this release is intended to be strictly informational and is NEVER to be construed or interpreted as research material. All readers are strongly urged to perform research and due diligence on their own and consult a licensed financial professional before considering any level of investing in stocks. All material included herein is republished content and details which were previously disseminated by the companies mentioned in this release. FNM is not liable for any investment decisions by its readers or subscribers. Investors are cautioned that they may lose all or a portion of their investment when investing in stocks. For current services performed MNU has been compensated forty nine hundred dollars for news coverage of the current press releases issued by NRG Metals Inc. by a non-affiliated third party. FNM HOLDS NO SHARES OF ANY COMPANY NAMED IN THIS RELEASE. This release contains "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended and such forward-looking statements are made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. "Forward-looking statements" describe future expectations, plans, results, or strategies and are generally preceded by words such as "may", "future", "plan" or "planned", "will" or "should", "expected," "anticipates", "draft", "eventually" or "projected". You are cautioned that such statements are subject to a multitude of risks and uncertainties that could cause future circumstances, events, or results to differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements, including the risks that actual results may differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements as a result of various factors, and other risks identified in a company's annual report on Form 10-K or 10-KSB and other filings made by such company with the Securities and Exchange Commission. You should consider these factors in evaluating the forward-looking statements included herein, and not place undue reliance on such statements. The forward-looking statements in this release are made as of the date hereof and FNM undertakes no obligation to update such statements. Contact Information: Media Contact email: editor@financialnewsmedia.com +1(561)325-8757 Complex abdominal wall repair completed at University College London Hospital in London, England MALVERN, Pennsylvania, Jan. 24, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- TELA Bio, Inc., a surgical reconstruction company leading the development and commercialization of OviTex Reinforced BioScaffolds (RBSs) for soft tissue repair, today announced the first patient has been treated with OviTex RBSs in Europe. The complex abdominal wall repair was performed by Alastair Windsor, M.D., FRCS, at University College London Hospital in London, England. "Bringing the OviTex portfolio to Europe further demonstrates our commitment to providing high-tech, cost-effective solutions that can adapt to the ever-changing soft tissue repair marketplace on a global scale," said William Allan, vice president of European operations for TELA Bio. "We want to thank Dr. Windsor and University College London Hospital for their willingness to partner with us. We are encouraged by their initial success and look forward to seeing more European cases completed in the coming months." TELA Bio's partner Aroa Biosurgery, a soft-tissue repair company based in New Zealand that develops and manufactures medical products to improve healing, was granted EC Certification (CE Mark) for OviTex RBSs in the European Union (EU). The distinct class of surgical mesh integrates both biologic and synthetic materials to maintain flexibility without compromising on strength. "This was a complex abdominal wall repair with a patient who was at risk for several complications," said Dr. Windsor. "As soon as I picked up OviTex, I knew this surgical mesh was different from any other I had used. The superior handling characteristics of the mesh allowed me to easily conform it to the wound bed and suture it into place, leaving the patient with a seamless repair. I look forward to sharing my experience with my colleagues and continuing to provide patients with options that have the potential to improve their surgical outcomes." More than 3,500 implantations with OviTex RBSs have been completed to date in a wide range of hernia procedures using a variety of surgical techniques. Previously published clinical data shows the use of OviTex RBSs in abdominal wall reconstruction procedures led to low recurrence and complication rates. TELA Bio will be exhibiting at the Abdominal Wall Reconstruction Europe conference in London from January 31 to February 2 to provide European surgeons with additional information about OviTex. About TELA Bio, Inc. TELA Bio, Inc. is a privately-owned company focused on bringing innovative, cost-effective, surgical reconstruction solutions to surgeons, hospitals and patients. The company's OviTex Reinforced BioScaffolds (RBSs) products, designed for hernia repair and abdominal wall reconstruction procedures, integrate polymer and biologic materials in a uniquely embroidered construction using novel engineering design principles. The OviTex portfolio is supported by high-quality, data-driven science and extensive pre-clinical research that has consistently demonstrated the advantages of RBSs over commercially available products. OviTex RBSs are commercially available in the U.S. and in Europe. The company is collaborating with leading surgeons to drive rapid product development and establish TELA Bio as a leader in surgical reconstruction. To learn more about TELA Bio visit http://www.telabio.com. About OviTex Reinforced BioScaffolds OviTex Reinforced BioScaffolds (RBSs) are intended for use as a surgical mesh to reinforce and/or repair soft tissue where weakness exists. Indications for use include the repair of hernias and/or abdominal wall defects that require the use of reinforcing or bridging material to obtain the desired surgical outcome. Do not use OviTex RBSs in patients known to be sensitive to materials of ovine (sheep) origin. For additional important safety information, please see the OviTex RBSs Instructions for Use. The statements made or results achieved by TELA Bio customers described herein were achieved in their specific setting. Due to variations in clinical experience and technique, there is no guarantee that these results are typical. Bench testing may not be indicative of clinical performance. Caution: Federal (US) law restricts this device to sale by or on order of a physician. TELA Bio, Inc. owns or has applied for the following trademarks or service marks: OviTex, TELA Bio. Media contact Adam Daley Berry & Company Public Relations 212-253-8881 adaley@berrypr.com State of the Art Systems Will Ensure Excellent Service and Curriculum Management for 30,000+ Students SIS Global and Unit4, leaders in enterprise systems for higher education, announce that STADIO, a Johannesburg Stock Exchange listed company invested in private higher education institutions, has appointed SIS Global (South Africa) to undertake a strategic transformation project to replace legacy finance, HR, and student systems with Unit4's cloud, next-generation education management solutions, hosted on Microsoft Azure. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20190124005125/en/ STADIO has appointed SIS Global (South Africa) to undertake a strategic transformation project to replace legacy finance, HR, and student systems with Unit4's cloud education management solutions, hosted on Azure. (Photo: Business Wire) SIS Global will deliver and support a modern technology environment and transformation of core applications covering everything from finance and HR, to student and campus management for over 30,000 students. SIS Global has built a strong reputation in the African higher education market. Together, Unit4 and SIS Global will help STADIO to differentiate from the competition and drive best practice across its institutions to achieve its long-term goal of serving 100,000 students. Unit4's Business World ERP in the Azure cloud will be used to manage back-office processes across its portfolio of private universities, bringing them onto a single system. Combined with Prevero CPM, STADIO will have full visibility into departments and projects, and powerful reporting and analytics supporting strategic initiatives with actionable data. Fully integrated with Unit4's market leading Student Management solution, the software will provide a superior user experience for students and staff, best in class curriculum management and an intuitive mobile experience. Headquartered in Cape Town, South Africa, STADIO is focused on meeting the demand for quality and relevant higher education programs in South Africa. STADIO is in the process of creating its Multiversity, defined as a large, diverse institution covering a diverse range of educational courses through specialist institutions. With six institutions today, the Group's offerings include undergraduate (higher certificates, diplomas and degrees) and post-graduate programs (Honours and Masters degrees and doctorates), aimed at providing graduates with a real chance of creating employment opportunities (entrepreneurship) or finding employment. Brands within the STADIO group include AFDA, Embury, LISOF, Milpark Education, Prestige Academy and Southern Business School. STADIO will replace its legacy finance and student management systems across all registered institutions and will roll out the Unit4 Suite as a standard. The transformation project will be led and implemented by Unit4 partner, SIS Global, selected for its ERP, education industry expertise and technology background, along with its ability to demonstrate a clear understanding of STADIO and the South African higher education sector's requirements. "Quality, student-centeredness and innovation are our commitment at all institutions in the STADIO Group," said STADIO CEO, Dr Chris van der Merwe. "We are focused on doing all things reasonable to enable our students to succeed. Unit4 has proven it can help us deliver this success. Unit4 will support our objective to track students' learning progress and provide appropriate interventions (learning development facilitators, tutors, online academic support, credit re-try) where needed to promote positive outcomes. Most importantly, this single end-to-end system will allow us to monitor business success and drive efficiencies, innovations and best practices across the Group to achieve our long-term goal of serving 100,000 students." "This comes at a hugely exciting time for the Student Information Systems market, as more Universities and Colleges seek to expand beyond legacy solutions and embrace cloud functionality," said Rob Hawley, CEO, SIS Global. "We work with our customers to grow, evolve and digitally transform their business to better meet changing markets. Our knowledge working with many higher education institutions, combined with Unit4's industry leading technology, will ensure STADIO can work smarter, and more efficiently taking a modern approach to delivering higher education in South Africa." "Unit4 is proud to support STADIO as it responds to the need for change in the sector and widens access to education for people in South Africa," said Austin Laird, Product Director, Higher Education at Unit4. "Our modern integrated solution for higher education combines the latest technology with 30 years' experience working with education institutions and underpins STADIO's quality teaching and learning ethos that prioritizes student success." About SIS Global SIS Global is a strategic Unit4 Partner for Sub Saharan Africa with a focus on providing Cloud Solutions which drive Digital Transformation. With 27 years of local and international experience managing and delivering advanced, complex cloud and on-premises enterprise solutions, SIS Global helps customers improve business operations and drive profit. SIS Global understands that each industry brings with it unique challenges and scenarios. As such, they have formulated specialist industry teams with a primary focus on innovation and industry alignment. By focusing on industry processes, consulting, implementation and support of industry specific enterprise solutions, we offer our clients best practice aligned with global trends. Press Enquiries Contact: Justine.Beavis@sisglobal.com www.sisglobal.com About Unit4 in Higher Education Unit4 is in business for people. We've specialised in software for service organizations since the early 1980s. Today, we build the smartest enterprise applications on the planet. Our technology is central to the organizations we serve it improves efficiency and productivity and allows people to spend more time on meaningful work. Using the latest AI, machine learning and digital technologies, our customers can make more sense of business-critical data than ever before. We provide ERP, performance management and student information systems to over 1000 colleges and universities globally to help them accelerate growth, boost student success, and improve institutional effectiveness. Clients include Oxford and Cambridge Universities, HEC Paris, University of Waterloo, American University of Paris, Manchester Metropolitan University, Robert Morris University, Baylor College of Medicine, Hult International, and University of Dubai. For more information, please visit the website at http://www.unit4.com, follow us on Twitter @Unit4global, or visit our LinkedIn page View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20190124005125/en/ Contacts: Unit4 Emma Keates, +44 (0) 1423 537977 Global PR Manager Emma.Keates@unit4.com Twitter: @emmajkeates DAVOS, Switzerland, Jan. 24, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- President Petro Poroshenko witnessed the signing of two deals worth US$370 million of investment for Ukraine at Ukraine House Davos, underlining the return of big investors to the European country after a period of economic reform. The private equity and foreign direct investment deals involving Total Eren, the French energy giant; NBT, a Norwegian energy company; European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD); and Horizon Capital, an investment fund, follow a landmark agreement signed with the IMF in October. "This shows that Ukraine is opening for business because it is reforming, because it has been reforming the energy sector for several years now and moving towards EU standards," said Sir Suma Chakrabarti, President of the EBRD. The EBRD arranged a syndicated loan of 150 million loan for the construction of a 250 MW windfarm in the Kherson region of southern Ukraine. The loan will be extended to the local developer SyvashEnergoProm LLC, co-owned by Total Eren and NBT for the construction of the initial 133 MW phase. The farm is expected to begin power generation by the end of 2019. At the same signing ceremony at Ukraine House Davos, Lenna Koszarny, Founding Partner and CEO Horizon Capital, announced a $200 million private equity fund for Ukraine. "When we first started raising this fund people told us this could not be done. We set a target of $150 million and we exceeded it. Then we reached the maximum of $200 million and we were turning away investors," she told a packed audience, including co-investors the International Finance Corporation and Western NIS Enterprise Fund. "Our success is Ukraine's success. This sends a strong signal to the market that Ukraine is an attractive investment destination. Certainly our investors believe so: and our investors include investors with over $350 billion in capital, putting money to work in a long term fund that is over a decade for Ukraine," she added. President Poroshenko said he was pleased that the reform efforts of the Government, and Prime Minister Volodymyr Groysman, over the past two years had created a business environment that was highly attractive to investors. "This shows that foreign investors are returning to Ukraine on the back of reform," said Sir Chakrabarti of the EBRD. "Renewable energy an area where I think Ukraine is going to be a world leader, if not a regional leader, and this is the largest wind farm in Ukraine." The loan package will consist of a 75 million EBRD A-loan and a B-Loan of up to 75 million from the Green for Growth Fund (GGF) and the Netherlands Development Finance Company (FMO). A parallel loan of 5 million will be provided by the Nordic Environment Finance Corporation (NEFCO). Ms Koszarny said Horizon's $200 million Emerging Europe Growth Fund III, L.P. would be invested in Ukraine's manufacturing, agribusiness and services sectors. "This financing will also help create new jobs in Ukraine. This is very important because the $650 million that we have already put to work has already created 46,000 jobs over the years," she said. Horizon Capital is the leading private equity firm in Ukraine, and a co-organizer of Ukraine House Davos, with over $850 million under management and investing more than $650 million to date in Ukraine and the near region. EEGF III's investment strategy is focused on fast-growing, export-oriented companies that leverage Ukraine's cost competitive platform to generate global revenues primarily in IT, light manufacturing, food and agriculture. The Fund will also pursue investments in select, high-growth domestic market segments, including e-commerce, healthcare and pharma, consumer goods and financial services. Since holding its first close last year, EEGF III has concluded six investments and plans to invest the new fund in compelling, fast-growing companies over the coming years. Once the wind farm project is fully commissioned, it is expected to reduce CO2 emissions by 470,000 tonnes annually, and to produce over 850,000 MWh of renewable energy each year - enough to provide power to the Ukrainian municipality of Rivne, which has approximately 100,000 households. The EBRD is the largest international financial investor in Ukraine. Since the start of its operations in the country in 1993, the Bank has made a cumulative commitment of almost 13.1 billion across some 418 projects in Ukraine. About Ukraine House Davos Ukraine House Davos is powered by co-organizers Ukrainian Venture Capital and Private Equity Association (UVCA), Western NIS Enterprise Fund (WNISEF), Victor Pinchuk Foundation and Horizon Capital. Ukraine House Davos is proud of its all-female, five-member Organizing Committee of volunteers Svitlana Grytsenko (Victor Pinchuk Foundation), Jaroslawa Johnson (WNISEF), Lenna Koszarny (Horizon Capital), Olga Afanasyeva (UVCA) and Alexa Chopivsky (Ukraine House Davos). In addition to the generous support of its Co-Organizers and Gold Sponsor Temerty Foundation, Panel Sponsors of Ukraine House Davos include BHFF, Business 100, EBS, Effective Investments LLC, First Generation Capital, Hillmont Partners, ICU, IT Ukraine Association, TA Ventures, TIU Canada and UFUTURE Investment Group. Ukraine House Davos is supported by UkraineInvest, National Investment Council, Ukrainian World Congress, Aspen Institute, Aspen Institute Kyiv and the Atlantic Council. Social media: DAVOS, Switzerland, Jan. 24, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- The Ukraine House Davos organizers and team extend sincere congratulations to Horizon Capital on closing their new private equity fund for Ukraine at its hard cap of $200 million. This is a tremendous achievement, particularly given the fund, Emerging Europe Growth Fund III, L.P. ("EEGF III", the "Fund"), had a target size of $150 million. Horizon Capital is the leading private equity firm in Ukraine, and a co-organizer of Ukraine House Davos, with over $850 million under management and investing more than $650 million to date in Ukraine and the near region. EEGF III's investment strategy is focused on fast-growing, export-oriented companies that leverage Ukraine's cost competitive platform to generate global revenues primarily in IT, light manufacturing, food and agriculture. The Fund will also pursue investments in select, high-growth domestic market segments, including e-commerce, healthcare and pharma, consumer goods and financial services. Since holding its first close last year, EEGF III has concluded six investments and plans to invest the new fund in compelling, fast-growing companies over the coming years. "I would like to take this opportunity to congratulate Lenna Koszarny, Founding Partner and CEO, Horizon Capital and her team on this stellar achievement. Having lived and worked in Ukraine for over 25 years, Lenna is a true ambassador of investing in Ukraine. We are delighted that Horizon Capital chose to break the news of their successful fundraise together with us in Davos this week," said Alexa Chopivsky, Executive Director of Ukraine House Davos. "This is a superb example that demonstrates Ukraine is regaining its status as an attractive investment destination for international investors. We wish Lenna and her team great success in putting capital to work backing Ukraine's talented entrepreneurs." About Ukraine House Davos Ukraine House Davos is powered by co-organizers Ukrainian Venture Capital and Private Equity Association (UVCA), Western NIS Enterprise Fund (WNISEF), Victor Pinchuk Foundation and Horizon Capital. Ukraine House Davos is proud of its all-female, five-member Organizing Committee of volunteers Svitlana Grytsenko (Victor Pinchuk Foundation), Jaroslawa Johnson (WNISEF), Lenna Koszarny (Horizon Capital), Olga Afanasyeva (UVCA) and Alexa Chopivsky (Ukraine House Davos). In addition to the generous support of its Co-Organizers and Gold Sponsor Temerty Foundation, Panel Sponsors of Ukraine House Davos include BHFF, Business 100, EBS, Effective Investments LLC, First Generation Capital, Hillmont Partners, ICU, IT Ukraine Association, TA Ventures, TIU Canada and UFUTURE Investment Group. Ukraine House Davos is supported by UkraineInvest, National Investment Council, Ukrainian World Congress, Aspen Institute, Aspen Institute Kyiv and the Atlantic Council. Follow us on social media: DETROIT, January 24, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Stratview Research announces the launch of a new research report on Aluminum Fishing Boat Market by Boat Type (Deep-V Boat, Bass Boat, Multi-Species Boat, and Others), by Size Type (<14 Feet, 14-16 Feet, and >16 Feet), by Engine Type (<200 HP, 200-300 HP, and >300 HP), and by Region (North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, and Rest of the World) Trend, Forecast, Competitive Analysis, and Growth Opportunity: 2019-2024. (Logo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/660595/Stratview_Research_Logo.jpg ) This strategic report, from Stratview Research, studies the aluminum fishing boat market over the trend period of 2013 to 2018 and forecast period of 2019 to 2024. The report provides detailed insights on the market dynamics to enable informed business decision making and growth strategy formulation based on the opportunities present in the market. The Global Aluminum Fishing BoatMarket: Highlightsfrom the Study Boating is one of the major outdoor participation activities globally, especially in the USA. It alone accounts for more than 35% of the total USA's outdoor participation activity. Freshwater participants are more than thrice as compared to saltwater fishing participants. There are different boat types designed for fishing activities in saltwater and freshwater, such as steel, wood, aluminum, fiberglass and concrete. Aluminum fishing boats are preferably used for freshwater fishing, whereas fiberglass boats are generally used for saltwater fishing. As per Stratview Research, the global aluminum fishing boat market is projected to depict healthy growth rate over the next five years to reach an estimated value of US$ 1,366 million in 2024. Aluminum is the most widely used hull material in fishing boats in the global boating industry. Increasing new boat sales, increasing outdoor activities coupled with increasing number of fishing participants, and lower cost of aluminum boats over fiberglass boats are some of the key factors fueling the demand for aluminum fishing boats across regions, especially in North America. Click Here and Run Through the Detailed Table of Contents (TOC) of the Report Based on the boat-type, Deep-V boat is expected to remain growth engine of the market during the forecast period. Extra-wide bottom making anglers more comfortable, smoother riding experience, and excellent stability on bigger waves are some factors spearheading the demand for deep-V hull boat in the market. In terms of region, North America is expected to remain the largest aluminum fishing boat market during the forecast period with the USA being the growth engine. Aluminum fishing boats are majorly sold in the Northern USA region. Europe also holds a considerable share in the market with Scandinavia and Germany being the key demand generators in the region. Register Here for a Free Sample of the Report Some of the key aluminum fishing boat manufacturers are Brunswick Corporation, White River Marine Group, Bombardier Recreational Products Inc. Correct Craft, Smoker Craft Inc., and Yamaha Motor Company Ltd. Development of high-performance and valuable aluminum fishing boats, expansion of distribution network in the untapped markets, regional expansion, and mergers & acquisitions are the key strategies adopted by the major players to gain a competitive edge in the market. Report Features This report provides market intelligence in the most comprehensive way. The report structure has been kept such that it offers maximum business value. It provides critical insights on the market dynamics and will enable strategic decision making for the existing market players as well as those willing to enter the market. The following are the key features of the report: Market structure: Overview, industry life cycle analysis, supply chain analysis. Market environment analysis: Growth drivers and constraints, Porter's five forces analysis, SWOT analysis. Market trend and forecast analysis. Market segment trend and forecast. Competitive landscape and dynamics: Market share, product portfolio, product launches, etc. Attractive market segments and associated growth opportunities. Emerging trends. Strategic growth opportunities for the existing and new players. Key success factors. This report studies the global aluminum fishing boat market and has segmented the market in four ways, keeping in mind the interest of all the stakeholders across the value chain. Following are the four ways in which the market is segmented: Aluminum Fishing Boat Market, By Boat Type Deep-V Boat (Regional Analysis: North America , Europe , Asia-Pacific , and RoW) Bass Boat (Regional Analysis: North America , Europe , Asia-Pacific , and RoW) Multi-Species Boat (Regional Analysis: North America , Europe , Asia-Pacific , and RoW) Others (Regional Analysis: North America , Europe , Asia-Pacific , and RoW) Aluminum Fishing Boat Market, By Size Type <14 Feet Fishing Boats (Regional Analysis: North America , Europe , Asia-Pacific , and RoW) 14-16 Feet Fishing Boats (Regional Analysis: North America , Europe , Asia-Pacific , and RoW) >16 Feet Fishing Boats (Regional Analysis: North America , Europe , Asia-Pacific , and RoW) Aluminum Fishing Boat Market, By Engine Type <200 HP (Regional Analysis: North America , Europe , Asia-Pacific , and RoW) , , , and RoW) 200-300 HP (Regional Analysis: North America , Europe , Asia-Pacific , and RoW) >300 HP (Regional Analysis: North America , Europe , Asia-Pacific , and RoW) Aluminum Fishing Boat Market, By Region North America (Country Analysis: the USA , Canada , and Mexico ) Europe (Country Analysis: Germany , France , Scandinavia, Russia , and RoE) Asia-Pacific (Country Analysis: Australia , New Zealand , China , and Rest of Asia-Pacific ) Rest of the World (Country Analysis: Latin America , the Middle East , and Others) Stratview Research has several high value market reports in the consumer goods industry. Please refer to the following link to browse through our reports: Click Here for Other Reports from Stratview Research in the Consumer Goods Industry Other premium report from Stratview Research in the Boat Industry: Pontoon Boat Marketby Application Type (Family-Fun pontoon, Fishing Pontoon, Cruising Pontoon, Watersports Pontoon, and Others), by Tube Type (Two-Tube Pontoon and Three-Tube Pontoon), by End-Use Type (Private and Commercial), by Size Type (<20 Feet, 20-24 Feet, and >24 Feet), and by Region (North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, and Rest of the World), Trend, Forecast, Competitive Analysis, and Growth Opportunity: 2018-2023. About Stratview Research Stratview Research is a global market intelligence firm providing wide range of services including syndicated market reports, custom research and sourcing intelligence across industries, such as Advanced Materials, Aerospace & Defense, Automotive & Mass Transportation, Consumer Goods, Construction & Equipment, Electronics and Semiconductors, Energy & Utility, Healthcare & Life Sciences, and Oil & Gas. We have a strong team of industry veterans and analysts with an extensive experience in executing custom research projects for mid-sized to Fortune 500 companies, in the areas of Market Assessment, Opportunity Screening, Competitive Intelligence, Due Diligence, Target Screening, Market Entry Strategy, Go to Market Strategy, and Voice of Customer studies. Stratview Research is a trusted brand globally, providing high quality research and strategic insights that help companies worldwide in effective decision making. For enquiries, Contact: Stratview Research E-mail: sales@stratviewresearch.com Direct:+ 1-313-307-4176 Next-generation, IP-based VSAT Platform to Deliver Advanced Performance and Management Capabilities HAUPPAUGE, New York, Jan. 24, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Speedcast International Limited (ASX: SDA), the world's most trusted provider of remote communication and IT solutions, today announced the completion of a 1,000-site managed service VSAT network offering superior communications and remote SCADA capabilities for a leading North American provider of midstream energy services to producers and consumers of natural gas, natural gas liquids (NGLs), crude oil, refined products and petrochemicals. Globecomm, Speedcast's recently completed acquisition, deployed this network, which spans 27 U.S. states and is managed from the primary network hub at Speedcast's teleport in Hauppauge, New York. Speedcast will provide network diversity services via a new hub located in Gulfdale, Texas. "Speedcast is proud to be entrusted with the performance of this mission-critical network," said Keith Johnson, EVP of Energy for Speedcast. "The network supports the operational quality and safety of import/export terminals, processing plants, oil and gas storage and 50,000 miles of pipeline, and can scale for future growth. Our customer was looking for a partner with experience delivering similar solutions, strong operational and technical capabilities, and the ability to deliver significantly increased value." In deploying the network, Globecomm replaced older VSAT equipment at all 1,000 locations with state-of-the-art, software-defined equipment to take advantage of next generation VSAT platform advancements for providing more throughput, greater bit/Hz performance and higher data rates. Under the contract, Speedcast will also provide hosted hub services, satellite bandwidth, network management, field service, maintenance and 24-hour technical support. For more information about Speedcast, visit www.speedcast.com or contact marketing@speedcast.com. About Speedcast International Limited Speedcast International Ltd (ASX: SDA) is the largest provider of remote communications and IT services in the world. Speedcast's fully-managed service is delivered via a leading global, multi-access technology, multi-band and multi-orbit network of 70+ satellites and an interconnecting global terrestrial network, bolstered by extensive on-the-ground local support from 40+ countries. This global "network of networks" allows customers to fully rely on the most robust, integrated infrastructure available in the market for their mission critical applications. Speedcast is uniquely positioned as a strategic business partner, tailoring communications, IT and digital solutions to meet unique customer needs and enable business transformation. Speedcast extends its managed services through differentiated technology offerings including cyber-security, crew welfare, content solutions, data and voice applications, and network systems integration services. With a passionate customer focus and a strong safety culture, Speedcast serves more than 2,000 customers in more than 140 countries in sectors such as Maritime, Energy, Mining, Enterprise, Media, Cruise, NGOs and Government. Learn more at www.speedcast.com. Speedcast is a trademark and registered trademark of Speedcast International Limited. All other brand names, product names, or trademarks belong to their respective owners. 2019 Speedcast International Limited. All rights reserved. Contact Information: Toni Lee Rudnicki Vice President, Global Marketing Speedcast International Ltd ToniLee.Rudnicki@Speedcast.com +1-832-668-2634 Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/610079/Speedcast_International_Ltd_Logo.jpg Certain information contained in this announcement would have been deemed inside information for the purposes of Article 7 of Regulation (EU) No. 596/2014 until the release of this announcement 24 January 2019 Tri-Star Resources plc ("Tri-Star" or the "Company") Update on First Metal, SPMP Funding and Disposal of Goynuk Project in Turkey Tri-Star (AIM: TSTR), the mining and minerals processing company, is pleased to announce that management at Strategic & Precious Metals Processing LLC ("SPMP") in Oman, which Tri-Star has a 40% shareholding, expects the initial production of pure antimony metal to take place in the next week. The event is a key milestone for SPMP as it proves all aspects of this technologically advanced facility are functional and the country of Oman can boast a world-class, strategic industrial asset. The production of first metal is also a key requirement in obtaining a long-term finance package for the plant and the board of Tri-Star understands that SPMP is well advanced in these discussions. As was recently announced, SPMP has requested an additional US$10.5m from its shareholders. The Company is confident that an equity placing will not be required in order to meet its 40% share of the funding requirement. In addition, the disposal of the Company's interest in the Goynuk mine in Turkey has completed for a total cash consideration of US$500,000, with the first tranche of US$200,000 already received by Tri-Star. Highlights of Goynuk Transaction: The Goynuk mine consists of the exploration and mining rights for a historical artisanal mine in a known antimony belt in the Murat Dagi mountains of western Turkey , of which the Company currently owns 99.93%; , of which the Company currently owns 99.93%; Tri-Star has signed a Sale Purchase Agreement ("SPA") with a local Turkish entity which has experience in mining (the "Purchaser"); Under the terms of the SPA the Purchaser will pay US$500,000 cash to Tri-Star in three tranches, the first was paid on the signing of the SPA on 21 January 2019 , the second payment falls due upon share transfer, and the third payment of US$100,000 falls due on the first sale of material from the mine; cash to Tri-Star in three tranches, the first was paid on the signing of the SPA on , the second payment falls due upon share transfer, and the third payment of falls due on the first sale of material from the mine; Following the closing of the transaction, the Purchaser plans to bring the mine back into production before the end of 2019; Tri-Star is facilitating an offtake contract between the Purchaser and SPMP. Karen O'Mahony, Acting Chief Executive Officer of Tri-Star, commented: "We are pleased that first metal is now imminent. The SPMP Plant is a key strategic asset for Oman with very strong backing from the country's Government - who have shown exceptional support for the Project. The success of the Project demonstrates the potential that can be realised through Foreign Direct Investment in Oman by international partners, particularly the UK, with whom the country enjoys a special relationship. In Turkey, the new owners of the Goynuk Project are extremely keen to advance its development, which will help secure feedstock for the Company's flagship SPMP Project. We look forward to continuing to work with the purchaser post completion so that we can establish an offtake agreement for SPMP for the Goynuk production." ENDS Enquiries: Tri-Star Resources plc Karen O'Mahony, Acting CEO/ CFO Tel: +44 (0)20 7653 6291 Tavistock Communications Ltd Charles Vivian/ Gareth Tredway Tel +44 (0)20 7920 3150 SP Angel Corporate Finance (Nominated Adviser) Robert Wooldridge/ Jeff Keating Tel: +44 (0)20 3470 0470 FinnCap Ltd (Broker) Christopher Raggett/Scott Morrison/Camille Gochez Tel: +44 (0)20 7220 0500 Notes to the Editor Tri-Star's principal activities are in an antimony and gold production facility (the "SPMP Project" or the "Project"). The SPMP Project is based in Sohar, Sultanate of Oman, and is being developed by Strategic & Precious Metals Processing LLC ("SPMP"), an Omani company in which Tri-Star has a 40% equity interest. Tri-Star also has antimony exploration licenses in Canada which is held for its potential contribution of feedstock to the SPMP Project. Niagara Falls, Ontario--(Newsfile Corp. - January 24, 2019) - EnerDynamic Hybrid Technologies Corp. (TSXV: EHT) ("EHT") is pleased to announce it has signed an agreement with the Government of Ghana and its Ministry of Works and Housing to supply up to 100,000 rooftop solar systems under the United Nations OPS program. This order is part of the Government of Ghana's Building of Social Green Housing initiative that is at the forefront of the Government's Solar program in conjunction with the United Nations. This is a priority infrastructure project for the Ghanian Government. The UN program will start in the 2nd quarter of this year and will continue over the next 5 years. EHT will supply 3Kw to 5Kw solar systems to the project depending on the homes requirements. The 3kw system including panels, inverter and 2 batteries will cost approximately $6000 US with the 5Kw system including panels, inverters and 4 batteries will cost approximately $10,000 US. John Gamble, CEO of EHT, commented that "We have been working with the Ghanian Ministry of Works and Housing on this project for a number of months and we are very excited to get this project moving and helping the people of Ghana." About EnerDynamic Hybrid Technologies EHT delivers proprietary, turn-key energy solutions which are intelligent, bankable and sustainable. EHT's expertise includes the development of its ENERTEC module structures with full integration of smart energy solutions. Using a proprietary skin and foam core that is stronger than traditional wood or steel structural insulated panels, EHT provides exceptional thermal energy efficiency in modular homes, cold storage facilities, residential/commercial out buildings and emergency/temporary shelters. EHT works with its partners worldwide to erect the buildings on-site utilizing EHT staff and local crews. In addition to traditional support to established electrical networks, ENERTEC buildings excel where no electrical grid exists. About ENERTEC The EHT advanced ENERTEC Modular Wall and Roof System uses a proprietary skin and foam core that is stronger and more energy efficient than traditional wood or steel structures providing the highest ratings for energy efficiency. EHT works with its partners worldwide to erect the buildings on-site utilizing EHT staff and local crews. After installation, each structure can be furnished and finished to meet the customer's requirements including siding, tile, kitchens and bathrooms or segregated commercial rooms. The finished wall product can be shipped on pallets and delivered via rail, truck or water in standard formats. At the core of the ENERTEC product line is the ENERTEC Embedded Solar Roof Module. Solar cells can be embedded in a proprietary fire proof skin resulting in substantial cost savings by eliminating heavy glass panels and aluminum racking required for traditional solar panels. Two barriers to greater adoption of solar energy are weight limitations of the roof on which solar panels could be deployed and onerous shipping and labour costs. A lighter product at a better price point will open a larger market for solar due to the faster return of capital investment especially for rural and remote users looking to go off-grid. Furthermore, the entire EHT embedded solar roof becomes a massive solar panel capable of producing significantly more energy than the home requires, allowing the structure to then become an important source of power for the local micro grid or large battery storage systems. 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. The statements herein that are not historical facts are forward-looking statements. Forward-looking information relating to sales of the products (the "Opportunities") involves risk, uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual events, results, performance, prospects, for the Opportunities to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking information. Although EHT believes that the assumptions used in preparing the forward-looking information on the Opportunities outlined in this news release are reasonable, undue reliance should not be placed on such information, which only applies as of the date of this news release, and no assurance can be given that such events will occur in the disclosed time frames or at all. EHT disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking information, whether a result of new information, future events or otherwise, other than as required by applicable securities laws. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION PLEASE CONTACT: John Gamble Director (289) 488-1699 jgamble@ehthybrid.com info@ehthybrid.com Website: www.ehthybrid.com To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/42419 Dealers can now structure and sell new credit default protection and tailored debt securities on demand - without committing capital NEW YORK, Jan. 24, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- DelphX Capital Markets Inc. (TSXV: DELX) ("DelphX") today unveiled its new Cloud-based platform in which fixed income dealers can structure new 144A securities that optimally meet the investment, hedging and speculation needs of their institutional customers. Through the platform dealers can customize the terms of each new security they sell, and make markets in all outstanding issues, without incurring capital costs or inventory limitations. The streamlined process enables dealers to design a new security while concurrently negotiating its sale with potential purchasers. Included among the available security forms are: a) put options that provide pre-funded protection against loss from a credit event involving a referenced underlying issue; and b) enhanced-yield notes linked to the performance of a 3rd party corporate, municipal, sovereign, structured or other credit issue. All securities originated on the platform will be collateralized by cash and investment grade debt securities held in custody by an independent custodian. "Our system is the first and only source of pre-funded default protection and is designed to restore the ability of dealers to profitably provide cost-effective protection and robust credit liquidity - with no adverse balance sheet impact," said Larry Fondren, DelphX's Founder and CEO. "It also enables dealers to structure new securities that can be exchanged with counterparties for outstanding CDS contracts - providing superior protection to customers and increasing dealers' capital, inventory capacity and ROTE." About DelphX: DelphX is a technology and financial services company focused on optimizing fixed income markets. Its Cloud-based solution employs proprietary distributed ledger technology, actuarial science and reinsurance protocols to facilitate optimal diffusion of credit risk. The new DelphX platform will be regulated by the SEC and operated by DelphX Services Corporation, a FINRA member firm, to facilitate the origination and trading of: Covered Put Options (CPOs) that provide secured default protection for underlying corporate, municipal and sovereign securities, with each CPO strike-price equaling the par value of its underlying security; and (CPOs) that provide secured default protection for underlying corporate, municipal and sovereign securities, with each CPO strike-price equaling the par value of its underlying security; and Covered Reference Notes (CRNs) that enable credit investors to take on the default exposure of a single underlying security or optionally participate in a pool of diversified risks that broadly diffuses the impact of credit events. All CPOs and CRNs will be transparently administered within DelphX's immutable distributed ledger. A traditional book-entry record of each security will also be maintained in parallel by an independent issuing and paying agent to provide additional transparency and efficiency. For more information about DelphX, please visit www.delphx.com. Forward-Looking Statements This news release contains certain "forward-looking statements" including, without limitation, statements regarding the launch of the DelphX facility. Such forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties, both known and unknown. The results or events depicted in these forward-looking statements may differ materially from actual results or events. In addition to other factors and assumptions which may be identified herein, assumptions have been made regarding and are implicit in, among other things: the state of the capital markets, tax issues associated with doing business internationally, the ability of DelphX to successfully manage the risks inherent in pursuing business opportunities in the financial services and Blockchain industry, and the ability of DelphX to obtain qualified staff, equipment and services in a timely and cost-efficient manner to develop its business. Any forward-looking statement reflects information available to DelphX as of the date of this news release and, except as may be required by applicable securities laws, DelphX disclaims any intent or obligation to update any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future events or results or otherwise. Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/689443/DelphX_Capital_Markets_Inc_Logo.jpg Werbehinweise: Die Billigung des Basisprospekts durch die BaFin ist nicht als ihre Befurwortung der angebotenen Wertpapiere zu verstehen. Wir empfehlen Interessenten und potenziellen Anlegern den Basisprospekt und die Endgultigen Bedingungen zu lesen, bevor sie eine Anlageentscheidung treffen, um sich moglichst umfassend zu informieren, insbesondere uber die potenziellen Risiken und Chancen des Wertpapiers. Sie sind im Begriff, ein Produkt zu erwerben, das nicht einfach ist und schwer zu verstehen sein kann. ALBANY, New York, January 24, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Transparency Market Research has released a new market report titled "electric vehicle charging station market - Global Industry Analysis, Size, Share, Growth, Trends, and Forecast, 2018-2026." According to the report, the global electric vehicle charging station market is anticipated to expand at a CAGR of about 10% during the forecast period and estimated to touch US$ 3 Bn by 2026. (Logo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/664869/Transparency_Market_Research_Logo.jpg ) An electric vehicle charging station, also called Electric Vehicle Supply Equipment (EVSE), is a device that connects the electric vehicle to a source of electricity in order to recharge the electric vehicle's battery. Charging stations include wired and wireless charging, depending on the vehicle type. The EVSE can be installed at home, at municipality-operated charging stations, at private charging stations, at malls, and beside roads. Continuous research and development have resulted in the development of chargers that can charge vehicles at a rapid pace. Get PDF Brochure for Research Insights at:https://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=B&rep_id=48960 Based on charging speed, chargers have been classified into various levels. Level 1 chargers are basic chargers, which have very slower speed of charging. DC chargers or level 3 chargers are widely being utilized owing to their rapid charging ability; however, these chargers are not compatible with all types of electric vehicles. Few electric vehicle manufacturers, such as Tesla, have developed superfast chargers that are capable of expressively rapid charging. Increase in the number of electric vehicles is fueling the demand for publicly available fast chargers, which in turn is expected to offer lucrative opportunities for manufacturers of fast chargers. Advancement in Technology Likely to Offer Promising Growth Opportunity On the basis of technology, the global market for electric vehicle charging station is likely to dominate on account of level 2 charger that provide charging capacities of 120 to 240 Volts. This charger is better and more cost effective than the other charger such as charging level 3 charger and also more efficient than the level 1 charger are some of the factor boosting its growth across the globe. Geographically, Asia Pacific likely to dominate the global market for electric vehicle charging station on account rising concern about the environmental pollution and favorable government policy to boost the growth of this market in near future. Request a Sample of Report: https://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=S&rep_id=48960 Tax Exception by the Government Likely to Boost Sale The demand for electric vehicle charging station increases due to rise in sale of the electric vehicles across the globe. Furthermore, increasing government regulation and policy and environmental awareness about the growing population are some of the key factors likely to influence positive growth of the global electric vehicle charging station. The government has promoted several policies such as tax exception to boost the growth of the electric charge vehicle, this can be another factor propelling the overall growth of this market. Moreover, the government are also lowering the overall production cost of the highly advanced electric vehicle at favorable price which is one of the important factor positively triggering the growth of the global electric vehicle charging station market. On the other hand, high cost involves with the production of the electric vehicle and high speculation associated with the manufacturer to develop charging are some of the factor negatively impacting the growth of this market in coming years. As the market keeps on reeling under these speculations and the electric vehicle market is missing out in the developing countries, this can be another restraining factor affecting the growth of the overall global electric vehicle charging station market. Request For Discount On This Report:https://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=D&rep_id=48960 In terms of region, Asia Pacific dominates the global electric vehicle charging station market. Asia Pacific accounted for around 84 % share of the market. This high share held by the region is due to the expansion of the electric vehicle industry in the region, especially in China, Japan, and South Korea. China held a prominent share of the market in Asia Pacific and is projected to remain dominant during the forecast period. Rising sales of electric vehicles in the region and surging electric vehicle network in China are major factors that are anticipated to propel the electric vehicle charging station market during the forecast period. Furthermore, the government of China has formulated several policies toward the development of charging bases and electric vehicle fleet. Prominent players operating the global electric vehicle charging station market include ABB, EVgo Services LLC., ChargePoint, Inc., Blink Charging Co., Allego, Scheinder Electric, Toshiba Corporation, Wi Tricity Corporation, Mojo Mobility, Inc., AeroViroment, Inc., Robert Bosch GmbH, GENERAL ELECTRIC, Evatran Group, Chargemaster plc., Siemens AG, Hella KGaA Hueck & Co., Leviton Manufacturing Co., Inc., Efacec, Alfen N.V., Elix Wireless, Engie, Denso Corporation, ClipperCreek, Tesla, Infineon Technologies AG, and Qualcomm Technologies, Inc. Browse Research Release at:https://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/pressrelease/electric-vehicle-charging-station-market-2018-2026.htm The global Electric Vehicle Charging Station Market can be segmented as follows: Electric Vehicle Charging Station Market, by Charging Station Type AC Charging DC Charging Wireless Charging Electric Vehicle Charging Station Market, by Power Output <11 kW 11 kW-50 kW >50 kW Electric Vehicle Charging Station Market, by End-user Private Type Public Type Electric Vehicle Charging Station Market, by Supplier Type OE Charging Station Private Charging Station Electric Vehicle Charging Station Market, by Region/ by Countries/ Sub-region North America U.S. Canada Europe Germany U.K. France Italy Spain Rest of Europe Asia Pacific China India Japan ASEAN Rest of Asia Pacific Latin America Brazil Mexico Rest of Latin America Middle East & Africa (MEA) GCC South Africa Rest of MEA Browse MoreAutomotive & Transport Market Research Reports Popular Research Reports by TMR: Electric Bus Market - https://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/electric-bus-market.html https://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/electric-bus-market.html Hybrid Vehicles Market - https://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/hybrid-vehicles-market.html https://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/hybrid-vehicles-market.html New Energy Vehicle(NEV) Taxi Market - https://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/nev-taxi-market.html About Us Transparency Market Research is a next-generation market intelligence provider, offering fact-based solutions to business leaders, consultants, and strategy professionals. Our reports are single-point solutions for businesses to grow, evolve, and mature. Our real-time data collection methods along with ability to track more than one million high growth niche products are aligned with your aims. The detailed and proprietary statistical models used by our analysts offer insights for making right decision in the shortest span of time. For organizations that require specific but comprehensive information we offer customized solutions through adhoc reports. These requests are delivered with the perfect combination of right sense of fact-oriented problem solving methodologies and leveraging existing data repositories. TMR believes that unison of solutions for clients-specific problems with right methodology of research is the key to help enterprises reach right decision. Contact Mr. Rohit Bhisey Transparency Market Research State Tower, 90 State Street, Suite 700, Albany NY - 12207 United States Tel: +1-518-618-1030 USA - Canada Toll Free: 866-552-3453 Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.com Website: https://www.transparencymarketresearch.com Research Blog: https://transparencyjournal.com/ Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - January 24, 2019) - Bluestone Resources Inc. (TSXV: BSR) (OTCQB: BBSRF) ("Bluestone" or the "Company") is pleased to announce additional drill results from resource conversion drilling underway at its high-grade Cerro Blanco Gold project. The current mineral resource estimate as disclosed per Company press release dated September 11, 2018 contains 3.7 million tonnes grading 10.1 g/t Au in Measured and Indicated Resource categories (1,200,000 oz Au), as well as, 1.4 million tonnes grading 8.1 g/t (360,000 oz) in the Inferred category. The focus of the ongoing infill drill program is to upgrade the Inferred resources into Measured and Indicated categories. Bluestone is nearing the completion of a Feasibility Study on the high-grade Cerro Blanco Gold project and expects to announce the results in the coming weeks. Darren Klinck, President and CEO commented, "We continue to be encouraged by the drilling progress to date. The grades and widths of the main veins in these drill results continue to be consistent with our expectations based on what the Measured and Indicated portions of these veins have already identified." Two LM-75 diamond drill rigs are currently situated within the North Zone of the Cerro Blanco underground workings and are targeting specific veins in the upper part of the Cerro Blanco resource that can be converted to the Indicated resource category by infill drilling. The primary focus of the program is to upgrade the Inferred resources identified during the previous infill drill program completed in 2018. In addition, this program is also designed to define new resources along known veins in the mine plan that extend outside of the current resource envelope. Table 1. Significant Intercepts HOLE ID FROM (meters) TO (meters) CORE INTERVAL TRUE WIDTH Au g/t Ag g/t VEIN ID UGCB18-104 69.40 70.71 3.3 3.3 14.05 45.93 VN_03 77.90 78.95 1.1 1.1 8.1 51.5 84.00 88.42 4.4 4.3 7.0 20.1 VN_05 101.30 102.6 1.3 1.3 5.9 38.6 UGCB18-105 55.78 56.78 1.0 1.0 24.3 45.8 VN_01 67.18 68.34 1.2 1.2 13.9 12.5 70.90 71.9 1.0 1.0 7.3 5.1 93.27 97.68 4.4 2.8 13.6 15.5 VN_02 UGCB18-106 35.2 36.2 1.0 1.0 12.4 67.1 105.9 108.2 2.3 2.3 25.4 238.8 VN_03 114.2 116.4 2.2 2.2 6.1 42.8 VN_05 131.1 132.1 1.0 1.0 5.3 46.0 VN_07 141.2 142.2 1.0 1.0 5.1 54.6 VN_11 Notes: Intervals in bold are cited in the text of the news release. A complete table with hole coordinates and azimuth/dip information accompany the plan view attached to this release. Hole UGCB18-104 was drilled at a positive angle (+13 degrees) and drilled through the lower contact of the Salinas Unit at 68.4 meters, a silicified conglomerate that forms a cap over the deposit. Vein VN_03 was intersected at 69.4 meters and assayed 3.3 meters at 14 g/t Au, and Vein VN_05 was intersected at 84 meters (4.4 meters at 7.0 g.t Au). Hole UGCB18-105 was drilled at -18 degrees from the same platform as UGCB18-104 and confirmed Vein VN_02, assaying 2.8 meters at 13.6 g/t Au (true width). The same vein was intercepted in UGCB18-100 located 22 meters away (see Company press release dated January 9, 2019) and assayed 2.7 meters at 13.7 g/t Au, highlighting good continuity of grade and width, with the vein remaining open to the north-east. Additional structures intersected between veins VN_01 and VN_02, e.g., 13.9 g/t over 1.2 meters (67.2 - 68.3 meters) represent additional structures previously un-interpreted and requiring further definition. Hole UGCB18-106 was successful in its objective of infill drilling VN_03 (2.3 meters at 25.4 g/t Au, 239 g/t Ag). Similar to UGCB18-104, this was also drilled at a positive angle (+38 degrees) and intercepted several veins hosted in the Salinas Unit, inclusive of VN_03, indicating that perhaps more veins continue upward into the silicified Salinas cap rocks than previously predicted. Other intercepts, e.g., 1 meter at 12.4 g/t Au (35.2 - 36.2 meters) are additional structures that require follow up. Drilling is continuing and further results will be reported as received. A plan view showing drill hole locations and cross sections can be accessed by clicking HERE. Quality Analysis and Quality Control Assay results listed within this release were performed by Inspectorate Laboratories ("Inspectorate"), a division of Bureau Veritas, which are ISO 17025 accredited laboratories. Logging and sampling are undertaken on site at Cerro Blanco by Company personnel under a QA/QC protocol developed by Bluestone. Samples are transported in security-sealed bags to Inspectorate, Guatemala City, Guatemala, for sample preparation. Sample pulps are shipped to Inspectorate Laboratories in Vancouver, BC, Canada or Reno, NV, USA, and assayed using industry-standard assay techniques for gold and silver. Gold and silver were analyzed by a 30-gram charge with atomic absorption and/or gravimetric finish for values exceeding 5 g/t Au and 100 g/t Ag. Analytical accuracy and precision are monitored by the analysis of reagent blanks, reference material, and replicate samples. Quality control is further assured by Bluestone's QA/QC program, which involves the insertion of blind certified reference materials (standards) and field duplicates into the sample stream to independently assess analytical precision and accuracy of each batch of samples as they are received from the laboratory. A selection of samples is submitted to ALS Chemex Laboratories in Vancouver for check analysis and additional quality control. Qualified Person David Cass, P.Geo., Vice President Exploration, is the designated Qualified Person for this news release within the meaning of National Instrument 43-101 and has reviewed and verified that the technical information set out above in this news release is accurate and therefore approves this written disclosure of the technical information. About Bluestone Resources Bluestone Resources is a mineral exploration and development company that is focused on advancing its 100%-owned Cerro Blanco Gold and Mita Geothermal projects located in Guatemala. The Cerro Blanco Gold Project, as disclosed in the Company's Cerro Blanco Preliminary Economic Assessment ("PEA") which is available at www.sedar.com, returned robust economics with a quick pay back and all-in sustaining cash costs (as defined per World Gold Council guidelines, less corporate general and administration costs) in the first quartile. The Company trades under the symbol "BSR" on the TSX Venture Exchange and "BBSRF" on the OTCQB. On Behalf of Bluestone Resources Inc. "Darren Klinck" Darren Klinck | President, Chief Executive Officer & Director For further information, please contact: Bluestone Resources Inc. Stephen Williams | VP Corporate Development & Investor Relations Phone: +1 604 646 4534 info@bluestoneresources.ca www.bluestoneresources.ca Cautionary Language The PEA is preliminary in nature, it includes inferred mineral resources that are considered too speculative geologically to have the economic considerations applied to them that would enable them to be categorized as mineral reserves, and there is no certainty that the PEA will be realized. Mineral resources that are not mineral reserves do not have demonstrated economic viability. Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. Forward Looking Statements This press release contains "forward-looking information" within the meaning of Canadian securities legislation and "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 (collectively, "forward-looking statements"). All statements, other than statements of historical fact, that address activities, events or developments that Bluestone Resources Inc. ("Bluestone" or the "Company") believes, expects or anticipates will or may occur in the future including, without limitation: the conversion of the inferred mineral resources; increasing the amount of measured mineral and indicated mineral resources; the proposed timeline and benefits of further drilling; the proposed timeline and benefits of the Feasibility Study; statements about the Company's plans for its mineral properties; Bluestone's business strategy, plans and outlook; the future financial or operating performance of Bluestone; capital expenditures, corporate general and administration expenses and exploration and development expenses; expected working capital requirements; the future financial estimates of the Cerro Blanco Project economics, including estimates of capital costs of constructing mine facilities and bringing a mine into production and of sustaining capital costs, estimates of operating costs and total costs, net present value and economic returns; proposed production timelines and rates; funding availability; resource estimates; and future exploration and operating plans are forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements reflect the current expectations or beliefs of the Company based on information currently available to Bluestone and often use words such as "expects", "plans", "anticipates", "estimates", "intends", "may" or variations thereof or the negative of any of these terms. All forward-looking statements are made based on the Company's current beliefs as well as various assumptions made by them and information currently available to them. Generally, these assumptions include, among others: the ability of Bluestone to carry on exploration and development activities; the price of gold, silver and other metals; there being no material variations in the current tax and regulatory environment; the exchange rates among the Canadian dollar, Guatemalan quetzal and the United States dollar remaining consistent with current levels; the presence of and continuity of metals at the Cerro Blanco Project at estimated grades; the availability of personnel, machinery and equipment at estimated prices and within estimated delivery times; metals sales prices and exchange rates assumed; appropriate discount rates applied to the cash flows in economic analyses; tax rates and royalty rates applicable to the proposed mining operation; the availability of acceptable financing; anticipated mining losses and dilution; success in realizing proposed operations; anticipated timelines for community consultations and the impact of those consultations on the regulatory approval process. Forward-looking statements are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties that may cause the actual results of the Company to differ materially from those discussed in the forward-looking statements and, even if such actual results are realized or substantially realized, there can be no assurance that they will have the expected consequences to, or effects on, Bluestone. Factors that could cause actual results or events to differ materially from current expectations include, among other things: risks relating to variations in the mineral content within the mineral identified as mineral resources from that predicted; risks and uncertainties related to expected production rates, timing and amount of production and total costs of production; risks and uncertainties related to ability to obtain or maintain necessary licenses, permits, or surface rights; risks associated with technical difficulties in connection with mining development activities; risks and uncertainties related to the accuracy of mineral resource estimates and estimates of future production, future cash flow, total costs of production and diminishing quantities or grades of mineral resources; risks associated with geopolitical uncertainty and political and economic instability in Guatemala; risks and uncertainties related to interruptions in production; the possibility that future exploration, development or mining results will not be consistent with the Company's expectations; uncertain political and economic environments and relationships with local communities; variations in rates of recovery and extraction; developments in world metals markets; risks related to fluctuations in currency exchange rates; as well as those factors discussed under "Risk Factors" in the Company's Amended and Restated Annual Information Form. Any forward-looking statement speaks only as of the date on which it was made, and except as may be required by applicable securities laws, Bluestone disclaims any intent or obligation to update any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future events or results or otherwise. Although Bluestone believes that the assumptions inherent in the forward-looking statements are reasonable, forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance and accordingly undue reliance should not be put on such statements due to their inherent uncertainty. There can be no assurance that forward-looking statements will prove to be accurate, and actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. TOKYO, Jan. 24, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Global digital asset platform Liquid has released language support for Traditional Chinese and Simplified Chinese, enabling customers to select their preferred language in Chinese, in addition to Korean, Japanese and English. Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/812952/Liquid_language_support.jpg Other languages are in the pipeline to cater for a growing base of global customers, in preparation for Liquid's next phase of expansion. "As a regulated trading platform in Japan, we are committed to building transparency and asset liquidity in the blockchain ecosystem with trusted partners in China. This is a key market for us, as interest in blockchain projects from China continues to grow globally," said Liquid CEO Mike Kayamori. Liquid is the flagship product of Quoine, a global fintech company licensed by the Japan Financial Services Agency, with more than 300 staff around the world. The Liquid platform offers a suite of professional trading tools to buy and sell Bitcoin, Ethereum and other cryptocurrencies. Liquid customers are also able to trade on margin with up to 25x leverage. For those who prefer to hold their tokens, there is the option to lend digital assets to margin traders and earn interest. Liquid provides extra security protection by keeping customer funds securely in cold wallet storage. ABOUT LIQUID BY QUOINE Founded in 2014, Quoine is a leading global fintech company that operates Liquid.com ("Liquid"), a global cryptocurrency platform that provides trading, exchange, and next generation financial services powered by blockchain technology. With offices in Japan, Singapore and Vietnam, Liquid by Quoine combines a strong network of local partners with extensive team experience in banking and financial products to deliver best in class financial services for its customers. More information is available at Liquid.com In September 2017, Quoine Corporation became the first global cryptocurrency exchange to be officially licensed by the Japan Financial Services Agency. In October 2017, Quoine became the first licensed global cryptocurrency exchange in Japan to launch a global Initial Coin Offering (ICO), also known as the Qash Token Sale. In November 2017, Quoine successfully raised 350m Qash (the equivalent of 350K ETH or ~USD105m) in an oversubscribed ICO, to fund the growth of the Liquid platform. As part of the Liquid platform development, Quoinex and Qryptos was merged into Liquid. In September 2018, Quoine's historical trading platforms, Quoinex and Qryptos, was merged and relaunched as Liquid. Liquid is powered by the World Book, which provides customers enhanced price matching and deeper liquidity for various fiat and cryptocurrency pairs. As at July 2018, Quoine's trading platforms exceeded USD50 billion in transaction volume in the past 12 months. Liquid is one of the world's largest regulated crypto-fiat platform in the world by transaction volume, providing trading services for major cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin and Ethereum against fiat currency pairs in Japanese yen, US dollar, Euro, Singapore dollar, and Australian dollar. Liquid offers powerful trading features, which include: Margin trading of up to 25x leverage for select crypto-fiat pairings A sophisticated user dashboard for pro traders Secure cold wallet storage and KYC compliance for individual and corporate customers Proprietary World Book technology that matches orders across global order books, providing access to liquidity pools sourced by a unified platform, Liquid.com A range of new features and services are being developed as part of the Liquid roadmap, including a distributed ledger, which will allow other fintech companies to build their products and services on distributed ledger technology. Corporate Website: https://quoine.com Liquid Website: https://liquid.com Liquid Blog: https://blog.liquid.com/ Telegram Community: https://t.me/Quoine Twitter: www.twitter.com/Liquid_Global Facebook: https://facebook.com/LiquidGlobal/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/quoine Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/liquid_global/ Reddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/liquid YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/c/LiquidGlobal Liquid brand reel: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kv8dhqOnXg0 HolonIQ Finds an AI led explosion in Innovation & Investment in Education. Meanwhile Political Instability and declines in Government Funding are delaying policy and education reform in the formal sector. LONDON, Jan. 24, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Global education market intelligence firm, HolonIQ, released its 2019 Global Education Outlook today in London at the global education conference Learnit. HolonIQ's outlook includes key market estimates for 2025, critical trend and policy analysis, and assessments on the potential impact from new technologies. The Outlook includes global data demonstrating that even with impressive 11% annual growth, today's Education Industry will leave 500 million students behind without serious and immediate transformation. The Outlook finds a grossly under-digitized industry (less than 3% of expenditure), unable to scale and meet the needs of an additional 500 million students around the world by 2025. The half a billion un-served students represent a critical source of human capital for global growth - for developing and developed economies alike. A protracted decline in public funding and ongoing political instability, are producing a significant delay in both reform and innovation policy from many governments around the world. HolonIQ's Smart Estimate for Total Global Education Expenditure is $8 trillion for 2025. While the formal sector is not expected to change significantly over that period, Education Technology Expenditure, fueled by Artificial Intelligence (AI), is expected to double, reaching $341 billion by 2025, evidenced by the aggressive acceleration in venture capital invested through 2018, which reached a record $8 billion. Education focused AI expenditure itself is estimated to be a $6 billion market by 2025. "Gradually, then suddenly. That's how we expect education technology adoption to change through to 2025," explained Maria Spies, Co-Founder and Managing Director, HolonIQ. "We estimate that the speed of digitisation in education will overtake healthcare, due primarily to the build-up in capability over the past 10 years, and fueled by explosive growth in artificial intelligence with China, the US and India taking the lead on innovation." Worldwide Impact: Asia Leading, U.S. Behind, Europe playing catchup. Education technology is becoming a global phenomenon, and as distribution and platforms scale internationally, the market is projected to grow at 11% per annum, to $341 billion by 2025. The US set the pace for the prior five years and now Asia, led by China and India, are experiencing the world's fastest growth in investment into the Education sector. Europe has seen strong grassroots innovation; however, the region remains a largely under-invested and fragmented market, home to the publishers and content giants that dominated the last century. Africa is poised for explosive growth post-2025 as population growth fuels enormous demand for skills and the tech-ready continent of almost half a billion unique mobile subscribers leapfrogs the traditional infrastructure of developed nations, adopting mobile-first learning solutions. Patrick Brothers, Co-Founder and Managing Director, HolonIQ explained that the growth and innovation in education and training will come from the informal learning and technology-led sectors, driven by consumer and enterprise investment outside of the traditional schooling and post-secondary market. "Pre-K, tutoring, language training, credentialing, professional upskilling, online programs, peer-to-peer and mentoring models are but a few of the innovation clusters which will either augment or displace more traditional, expensive and slower alternatives," detailed Mr. Brothers. Population growth will be a key challenge for the Education sector. By 2035, there are expected to be 2.7 billion students worldwide. "In order to meet higher education demand under the current structure, at least two universities need to be built each day, over the next ten years," Mr. Brothers said. As such, the report finds that leading education providers must seek new ways to capitalize on growth by expanding their brands to export markets, allowing individuals to access internationally-recognized qualifications. As a whole, Education is very early in the technology adoption stage, giving it the opportunity to leapfrog the typical linear technology path most other industries have followed. This opens the door for Education Technology such as AI, voice interfaces, machine learning and others, to address the student cost, access and ROI challenges and institutional efficiency, effectiveness and growth objectives. With 90% of the world's population under 30 living in emerging markets, education and vocational training in the area will be led by mobile-first strategies that provide knowledge and skills when and where they're needed. In other words, the global market for education and training will turn from a supplier-driven to a learner-led market. "In a rapidly evolving economy where skill sets continue to progress at an accelerated pace, innovative digital models offer a way to capture these changes and provide new routes for re-skilling as well as addressing widespread labor shortages," Mr. Brothers continued. "An enormous number of new and radically different jobs will emerge by 2025, and consequently, there will be a growing need to continually re-train the workforce in order to address current skill gaps and increase the use of continuous learning." The 2019 Global Education Outlook will be discussed in detail at the Learnit education conference in London on 24-25 January, during which more than 1,000 delegates and over 100 speakers from around the world will come together to champion growth and innovation in the education sector. To learn more about HolonIQ or to find out more, visit https://www.holoniq.com About HolonIQ HolonIQ is the world's global education market intelligence firm. HolonIQ is focused on powering innovation in learning and talent, believing that the development of human capital is one of the world's most fundamental and critical challenges. By connecting the leaders around the world with data, skills, and capital, HolonIQ seeks to support the transformation of education across the globe. HolonIQ's founders Maria Spies and Patrick Brothers, together bring decades of experience in education, technology, innovation and investment and have worked extensively around the world in the public and private sector with multi-lateral institutions such as the World Economic Forum and G20 Human Capital Task Force. Groupe PSA has been highlighted as a global leader on corporate climate action by environmental impact non-profit CDP, achieving a place on the "CDP Climate Change A List". The Groupe has been recognized for its actions to cut emissions, mitigate climate risks and develop the low-carbon economy, based on its 2018 disclosure to CDP. Groupe PSA had been included in CDP's "A List" for the first time in 2016. Regulatory News: Carlos Tavares, CEO of Groupe PSA (Paris:UG), said:"We are very honoured to be recognized by CDP as a leader in the transition to a new sustainable economy. Reducing our vehicles' environmental impact has been one of the major challenges guiding our technological choices for more than 20 years, with innovative solutions that are publicly recognized for their effectiveness in reducing CO 2 emissions. Today, we are all mobilized to meet the challenges of the energy transition and offer our customers clean and sustainable mobility solutions to guarantee their freedom of movement." Paul Simpson, CEO of CDP, said: Congratulations to all companies that made it onto CDP's "A List" this year. As the severity of environmental risks to business becomes ever more apparent, these are the companies that are positioning themselves to provide solutions, seize new market opportunities and thrive in the transition to a sustainable economy. We need to urgently scale up environmental action at all levels in order to meet the goals of the Paris Agreement and the Sustainable Development Goals. It's clear that the business world is an essential player in this transition and the "A List" companies are set to make a substantial contribution to those goals". Every year, thousands of companies disclose data about their environmental impacts, risks and opportunities to CDP, for independent assessment. In 2018, companies were requested to do so by over 650 investors with over US$87 trillion in assets, and 115 major purchasing organizations with US$3.3 trillion in purchasing power. Companies receive scores of A to D- for how effectively they are tackling climate change. Those that don't disclose or provide insufficient information are marked with an F. The full list of companies that made this year's CDP "Climate Change A List" are available here: https://www.cdp.net/en/scores CDP assesses companies on the comprehensiveness of their climate disclosure, their awareness and management of environmental risks. It also takes into account their demonstration of best practices and their environmental leadership, such as setting ambitious and meaningful targets. The full methodology and criteria for the "Climate Change A List" are available on CDP's website at: https://www.cdp.net/en/guidance/guidance-for-companies under 'CDP scoring methodologies 2018'. About Groupe PSA Groupe PSA designs unique automotive experiences and delivers mobility solutions to meet all customer expectations. The Group has five car brands, Peugeot, Citroen, DS, Opel and Vauxhall and provides a wide array of mobility and smart services under the Free2Move brand. Its 'Push to Pass' strategic plan represents a first step towards the achievement of the Group's vision to be "a global carmaker with cutting-edge efficiency and a leading mobility provider sustaining lifetime customer relationships". An early innovator in the field of autonomous and connected cars, Groupe PSA is also involved in financing activities through Banque PSA Finance and in automotive equipment via Faurecia.. Media library: medialibrary.groupe-psa.com @GroupePSA_EN About CDP CDP is an international non-profit that drives companies and governments to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions, safeguard water resources and protect forests. Voted number one climate research provider by investors and working with institutional investors with assets of US$87 trillion, we leverage investor and buyer power to motivate companies to disclose and manage their environmental impacts. Over 7,000 companies with over 50% of global market capitalization disclosed environmental data through CDP in 2018. This is in addition to the over 750 cities, states and regions who disclosed, making CDP's platform one of the richest sources of information globally on how companies and governments are driving environmental change. CDP, formerly Carbon Disclosure Project, is a founding member of the We Mean Business Coalition. Visit www.CDP.net or follow us @CDP to find out more. Communications Division www.groupe-psa.com/en - +33 6 61 93 29 36- @GroupePSA_EN View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20190124005290/en/ Contacts: Media contact: Pierre-Olivier Salmon +33 6 76 86 45 48 - pierreolivier.salmon@mpsa.com DUBLIN, January 24, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- FlowForma, the leading provider of Process Automation tools for Microsoft Office 365, today announced that Nipro Europe Group Companies (hereafter Nipro Europe) will implement the award-winning FlowForma Process Automation tool. (Photo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/812504/FlowForma_Keith_Lally_CSO.jpg ) (Logo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/715823/FlowForma_Logo.jpg ) Nipro Europe, headquartered in Belgium, is a subsidiary of Nipro Corporation Japan. As a leading global healthcare company, Nipro is a total solution provider of medical devices, pharmaceutical drugs, and pharma packaging. For over 60 years, Nipro continues to build long-term meaningful partnerships with healthcare professionals to ensure the highest degree of patient safety and quality of life. Advancing its already large portfolio, Nipro Europe spans the markets of renal, hospital products, diabetes, enzymes IVD, and pharma packaging. In addition to Nipro-branded products, Nipro Europe also provides OEM (original equipment manufacturer) solutions to some of the biggest names in the medical field. In order to enhance the overall experience of its customers, Nipro Europe will move their business processes online. By digitizing their Field Sales Process, employees can capture information with immediacy, thanks to forms available via SharePoint desktop, mobile, and offline. With workflows in place, actions will become automated and greater visibility achieved. Nipro Europe also plan to digitize their Customer Visit Reporting Process, wherein each customer visit will be logged, and underlying action programs will be automated, thereby enhancing transparency to the entire organization and contributing to an even greater customer experience. Nipro Europe's Global Procurement Director, Geert Heyrman, has described selecting FlowForma as a "once in a lifetime technology decision we will make as a company." "As Nipro Europe continue to influence and impact the lives of its customers though its cutting-edge medical devices, it's important that their workforce spend their time liaising with healthcare staff. With FlowForma Process Automation, Nipro employees will have transparency around customer engagements and increased productivity across their site," commented Keith Lally, Chief Sales Officer, FlowForma. Supporting Resources: To find out how the FlowForma Cloud Process Automation tool works visit: www.flowforma.com/how-it-works T o download a free trial of FlowForma Process Automation visit : www.flowforma.com/start-your-flowforma-trial To learn more about FlowForma Process Automation, book a demo with one of our experts: www.flowforma.com/book-a-demo To find out how FlowForma Process Automation compares against its peers visit: www.g2crowd.com/products/flowforma-process-automation/reviews About FlowForma FlowForma, the leading provider of Process Automation tools for Microsoft Office 365 has been revolutionizing the traditional BPM space with an innovative approach to developing award winning products that empower users to create and streamline processes smarter and faster, utilizing the familiar SharePoint platform, without any coding. FlowForma is a Gold Microsoft Partner, with over 150,000 users across Europe, America and Asia. The company is headquartered in Dublin with offices in London and Boston and is motivated by its values to innovate, evolve and achieve with employees, customers and partners. For further information or a 30-day free trial, visit www.flowforma.com About Nipro Europe Nipro Europe Group Companies is part of Nipro Corporation Japan, a leading global healthcare company established in 1954. With over 28,000 employees worldwide, Nipro serves the Medical Device, Pharmaceutical, and Pharma Packaging industries. Nipro Europe Group Companies is headquartered in Mechelen, Belgium and home to Nipro Medical Europe, Nipro PharmaPackaging International, and the Institute for Medical Practice (iMEP) Belgium - a fully equipped research and training facility for medical professionals and Nipro employees alike. As a total solution provider of medical devices and pharma packaging, Nipro continues to build long-term, meaningful partnerships. Together with its people, products, and processes, Nipro shows continuous commitment to improving patient outcomes and quality of life, offering safe and superior quality products that optimize time, effort, and costs. GLASGOW, Scotland, January 24, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Phase IIa trial to evaluate MGB-BP-3 in patients with CDAD on track to start in Q1 2019 MGB Biopharma, a biopharmaceutical company developing a novel class of anti-infectives to address the major global problem of antibiotic resistance, announces that the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and Health Canada have cleared Investigational New Drug applications (IND/CTA) for its lead candidate MGB-BP-3. The Company intends to commence its dose-range finding Phase IIa clinical trial, in the US and Canada, on MGB-BP-3 for the treatment of Clostridium difficile-associated diarrhoea (CDAD) in Q1 2019. MGB-BP-3 is a potent bactericidal antibiotic with a completely novel mode of action that is active against a broad range of important multi-resistant and susceptible Gram-positive pathogens. The oral formulation of MGB-BP-3 is being developed specifically for the treatment of CDAD, an infection to which the most frequent occurrence of diarrhoea in hospitals in developed countries is attributed. These infections have a high mortality rate, with 1 out of every 11 patients aged 65 or older dying within 30 days of diagnosis. MGB Biopharma believes that MGB-BP-3 has the potential to offer a new paradigm in the treatment of CDAD because it kills C. difficile very quickly whilst still in its vegetative form, before it sporulates. The amount of dormant C. difficile spores formed during therapy with MGB-BP-3, compared to the amount formed during therapy with alternative bacteriostatic antibiotics, should therefore be reduced, resulting in a significant reduction of disease recurrence. MGB-BP-3 has also shown a strong bactericidal effect against hypervirulent strain BI/NAP1/027 (in addition to other tested strains), which is less responsive to current antibacterial therapy. The planned Phase IIa trial will assess the initial cure and sustained cure rates that MGB-BP-3 delivers in the treatment of CDAD. Dr Thomas Louie, a clinical professor at the Cumming School of Medicine at the University of Alberta, Calgary (Canada) will be the trial's Principal Investigator. Headline results from the trial are anticipated in Q3 2019. Dr Louie said: "C. difficile infection represents a major burden to the Canadian and US healthcare systems. A novel antibiotic that is able to kill this deadly pathogen before it is able to sporulate offers new hope to patients and their families who suffer the pain and misery caused by this disease." Dr Miroslav Ravic, CEO of MGB Biopharma, said: "We are delighted that the FDA and Health Canada have cleared our IND/CTA applications. Our Phase IIa trial will mark a significant milestone in the progress of MGB-BP-3. We believe that having a bactericidal antibiotic like MGB-BP-3 available, which is able to kill bacteria before sporulation, will clearly offer a differentiated treatment option for patients with life threatening infections caused by resistant or hyper-virulent C.difficile. We are looking forward to working with Dr Louie, a well-known expert in the treatment of CDAD, to start a Phase IIa trial in the coming months. This trial will be a key step in bringing MGB-BP-3 closer to the market." C. difficile Infection Clostridium difficile (C. difficile) caused almost half a million infections among patients in the US in a single year, according to a study released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in 2015. 1 out of every 5 patients with a healthcare-associated C. difficile infection experienced a recurrence of the infection, and 1 out of every 11 patients aged 65 or older with a healthcare-associated C. difficile infection died within 30 days of diagnosis. Previous studies indicate that C. difficile has become the most common cause of healthcare-associated infection in US hospitals and costs up to $4.8 billion each year in excess healthcare costs for acute care facilities alone. There is currently no vaccine or approved product for the prevention of C. difficile infection. About MGB Biopharma MGB Biopharma is a clinical stage company developing a novel class of anti-infectives. Its lead candidate, MGB-BP-3, is an antibacterial which is active against a broad range of important multi-resistant and susceptible Gram-positive pathogens. The Company is developing an oral formulation of MGB-BP-3 for the treatment of Clostridium difficile-associated diarrhoea (CDAD). MGB Biopharma believes that MGB-BP-3 will offer a much-improved treatment option for CDAD because its bactericidal activity will prevent bacterial sporulation, the key reason that these infections recur in about 20% of patients. In addition to its C. difficile programme, MGB Biopharma has a pipeline of early preclinical compounds against Gram-positive, Gram-negative, and anti-fungal pathogens. MGB Biopharma acquired rights to the proprietary minor groove binder (MGB) platform, developed at the University of Strathclyde, Glasgow, with exclusive worldwide licensing rights for all anti-infective fields, including Gram-negative bacteria. This platform provides an opportunity to develop various compounds with a completely new mode of action which are distinct from the antimicrobial drugs used in clinical practice today. As a result, many MGB-based drugs have the potential to offer significant advantages over existing anti-infectives, for example, MGB-BP-3, which exhibits high efficacy against many multi-drug susceptible and resistant Gram-positive pathogens. To date, no resistance to MGB compounds has been observed. The Company intends to work with partners to fully capitalise on the multiple value creating opportunities offered by its broad and innovative anti-infectives platform. The Company, founded in 2010 and headquartered in Glasgow, Scotland, is backed by Scottish investors including Archangel Investors Limited, Barwell, TRI Cap, Syndicate Room and the Scottish Investment Bank, Scottish Enterprise. For more information please visit www.mgb-biopharma.com Or follow MGB Biopharma on Twitter @MGB_Biopharma New Location to Support Accelerated Growth in EMEA DUBLIN, Jan. 24, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Investis Digital (https://www.investisdigital.com), a leading digital communications company, today announced its expansion into Ireland with the official launch of a Dublin office. This new office, which expands the company's footprint across EMEA, will be led by Sales Director Niamh Tallon, who recently relocated back to Dublin after working with the company in London for the last four years. This expansion reflects the company's commitment to provide integrated, end-to-end communication solutions for its rapidly growing roster of clients in Ireland. "Investis Digital already has a strong foothold in Ireland, helping a number of key clients in the country innovate and evolve their digital capabilities," said Tallon. "The opening of a Dublin office now cements our presence here in Ireland. We are excited to further develop existing relationships as well as build out new relationships with companies who are increasingly becoming acutely aware of the importance of their digital estate." With its new office, Investis Digital will build on a strong foundation of client work in the fast-growing Irish market with more than 40 clients in the region already, including Glanbia, DCC, Grafton Group, Hibernia REIT, Hostelworld, Permanent TSB and Ryanair, amongst others. Investis Digital has provided these businesses with comprehensive services to power their digital brands and hopes to strengthen these relationships while also developing new ones. One of its existing and longstanding clients, Glanbia, added: "Glanbia has worked with Investis Digital since 2011 and the team has provided a very good service during this time." Adrian Goodliffe, Chief Commercial Officer of Investis Digital, said, "Dublin has become a hotbed for innovation, and we're seeing a strong demand from companies looking to redefine how they communicate online. A Dublin office gives us a base to expand our operations and provide clients a dedicated local team of proven digital communications experts who know how to deliver results." The opening of the Dublin office builds on the company's global network, which includes offices in the United Kingdom, United States, Germany, the Nordics and India. About Investis Digital Investis Digital is an award-winning digital communications company. Founded in 2000, the company combines effective storytelling and engaging digital experiences with world-class performance marketing and cutting-edge technology to help businesses communicate clearly and authentically with any audience. Investis Digital's 2,000 global clients, including Ascential, ASOS, Rolls-Royce, Whitbread, Paddy Power Betfair and Dixons Carphone, trust the Investis Digital team of more than 500 employees to deliver stronger relationships with audiences and improved ROI through its Connected Content approach. For more information, please visit https://www.investisdigital.com. Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/784164/Investis_Digital_Logo.jpg News release from Vestas Wind Systems A/S Aarhus, 24 January 2019 Vestas has been at the frontier of wind energy for 40 years, introducing market-leading wind energy solutions that have driven the down cost of energy and taken wind energy from niche to mainstream. Today, Vestas introduces the EnVentus wind turbine platform, which represents another significant step forward in the continuous efforts to lower the levelised cost of energy and accelerate the global transition to a more sustainable energy mix. The EnVentus platform will initially be available in two new variants: the V150-5.6 MW and V162-5.6 MW, together covering low, medium and high wind conditions. Based on advanced modular design, EnVentus supports Vestas' vision to become the global leader in sustainable energy solutions and provides a wider range of turbine configurations that can better meet evolving customer needs. EnVentus represents the next generation of wind turbine technology and connects four decades of wind energy innovation with the experience and knowledge represented by Vestas' 100 GW of installed wind turbine capacity. The new platform demonstrates the benefits of Vestas' industry-leading investments in R&D and unmatched volume of wind data. Anders Runevad, Vestas President and CEO, says "EnVentus is a great achievement by everyone at Vestas that allows us to meet customers' increasing needs for customisation and continuous reduction of the cost of energy. Our relentless focus on delivering industry-leading revenue and profitability the past years has given us the resources to develop a new platform built on our world-class R&D. Following our 2018 order record and 100 GW milestone, EnVentus is another important step in Vestas' journey to become the global leader in sustainable energy solutions". As Vestas' first platform introduction since 2011, EnVentus combines proven technology and system designs from Vestas' 2 MW, 4 MW and 9 MW platforms with advanced modularity, building a foundation that reliably and efficiently lowers the cost of energy. The journey towards a modular platform was initiated in 2012 and is expected to create increased scale advantages and opportunities to optimise current and future value chain needs, such as design cycles and transportation. Anders Vedel, Vestas Chief Technology Officer, says "Vestas has pioneered wind energy since 1979 and by introducing EnVentus and its first two variants, we connect heritage with innovation to underline our technology leadership. With the introduction of a platform built on advanced modularity, we increase our ability to provide customised solutions while ensuring value chain optimisation. I'm incredibly proud of everyone in Vestas who has been part of developing our new platform and variants, once again showing Vestas has the most passionate and innovative minds in the industry". The platform's first two variants: the V162-5.6 MW and V150-5.6 MW will be globally applicable and are added to the wide range of Vestas' existing 2 MW and 4 MW platform turbines, giving customers an unmatched combination of turbines to harness wind in any specific location. The turbines feature a full-scale converter, capable of meeting complex and differing grid requirements in local markets. The full-scale converter is matched by a permanent magnet generator for maximum system efficiency and balanced by a medium-speed drivetrain. With a swept area of over 20,000m2, the V162-5.6 MW offers the largest rotor size in onshore wind to achieve industry-leading energy production. When paired with a high capacity factor, the V162-5.6 MW offers 26 percent higher annual energy production than the V150-4.2 MW, depending on site-specific conditions. It is primarily relevant in low to medium wind conditions, but also has extensive applicability in high average wind speeds depending on site-specific conditions. The first V162-5.6 MW prototype is expected to be installed in mid-2020, with serial production later that year. The V150-5.6 MW takes our existing 150m rotor and applies it to higher wind speeds and extended market applicability. When combined with its higher generator rating, the tubine increases the annual energy production potential by 30 percent compared to V136-4.2 MW depending on site specific conditions. It is primarily relevant in medium to high wind conditions. The first V150-5.6 MW prototype is expected to be installed in the second half of 2019, while serial production is scheduled for mid-2020. Initially, the new variants are targeted at the onshore market, but may have offshore applicability. The name EnVentus combines "energy", "environment", "invent" and the latin word for wind "ventus" to encompass our pioneering and innovative heritage within wind energy and aspiration to lead the global transition to a more sustainable energy system. For updated Vestas photographs and videos, please visit our media images page on: https://www.vestas.com/en/media/images. For more information, please contact: Anders Riis Director, Communications Mail: ANPRR@vestas.com Tel: +45 4181 3922 About Vestas Vestas is the energy industry's global partner on sustainable energy solutions. We design, manufacture, install, and service wind turbines across the globe, and with 100 GW of wind turbines in around 80 countries, we have installed more wind power than anyone else. Through our industry-leading smart data capabilities and unparalleled volume of wind turbines under service, we use data to interpret, forecast, and exploit wind resources and deliver best-in-class wind power solutions. Together with our customers, Vestas' more than 24,400 employees are bringing the world sustainable energy solutions to power a bright future. We invite you to learn more about Vestas by visiting our website at www.vestas.com and following us on our social media channels: www.twitter.com/vestas (http://www.twitter.com/vestas) www.linkedin.com/company/vestas (http://www.linkedin.com/company/vestas) www.facebook.com/vestas (http://www.facebook.com/vestas) www.instagram.com/vestas (http://www.instagram.com/vestas) www.youtube.com/vestas (http://www.youtube.com/vestas) Attachment MOSCOW, January 24, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- A team of scientists from the National University of Science and Technology "MISIS", the Moscow Technological University (MIREA) and the Pirogov Russian National Research Medical University has experimentally proved the effectiveness of the formerly suggested "light" method in oncotherapy. In a series of laboratory preclinical tests, the tumor growth stopped in 70% of mice, treated according to the innovative scheme. The results are presented inPharmaceuticsjournal. (Photo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/812284/NUST_Maxim_Abakumov.jpg ) (Logo: http://mma.prnewswire.com/media/484501/NUST_MISIS_Logo.jpg ) Selective elimination of malignant cells (when the active ingredient targets the tumor, not the whole body) is a vital part of modern oncotherapy. If this elimination is of high quality, the "hit" becomes more precise and the drug toxicity decreases; the resource to fight the disease increases. The combination of modern photodynamic therapy with the latest methods of targeted drug delivery demonstrates positive results in the fight against malignant tumors. "Photodynamic therapy is a cancer treatment method that uses a combination of special preparations - photosensitizers and light with waves of a certain length. Photosensitizers tend to accumulate in the tumor and when exposed to light with a certain wavelength contribute to the formation of a special form of oxygen, which destroys cancer cells. In addition to destroying cancer cells, photodynamic therapy destroys cancer in two other ways. First, photosensitizers can damage the blood vessels in the tumor, thus disrupting the flow of nutrients to it. Second, they can activate the immune system, causing it to attack cancer cells", - Mikhail Green, one of the authors, Sc.D. in Chemistry, Head of the Department of Chemistry and Bioactive Compounds, MIREA. Scientists have combined a magnetic nanoparticle (deliverer) with a molecule-photosensitizer, which kills cancer cells when affected by light. The resulting hybrid allows using MRI to track the movement in the bloodstream of molecules-"killers" and the level of their accumulation in the tissues in real time. The most important issue is that for the effectiveness of treatment, it is necessary to irradiate the organ with light exactly when the concentration of the drug in the tissues is on its peak. But how to capture the right moment? "Even at the theoretical stage, we have suggested that the optimal time of exposure to light can be determined by the intensity of the signal on the MRI image and the data obtained after the introduction of the hybrid "magnetite + photosensitizer" is 60-100 minutes, - Maksim Abakumov, one of the coauthors, Head of NUST MISIS Laboratory "Biomedical Nanomaterials", - Next, we conducted a series of preclinical tests on three groups of mice for 21 days. The first group received radiation after 30 minutes after injection of the test drug, the second one - for 60-100 minutes, the third - after 3 hours or more. As a result, almost all mice from the second group demonstrated stop in tumor growth, which proved the correctness of the proposed hypothesis." Thus, the team was able to obtain and prove the effectiveness of the method that allows choosing the right time scheme for photo-therapy. In the nearest future, scientists plan to proceed with clinical trials of the innovative hybrid. Sour?e: http://en.misis.ru/university/news/science/2019-01/5912/ PARIS, January 24, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Teach on Mars, Europe's leading mobile-native learning technology provider, today announces the completion of its third round of funding, worth 7 million. This new investment is led by Omnes and Region Sud Investissement (advised by Turenne Capital), and also includes the company's existing investors, who have strengthened their capital position. This new funding will directly fuel Teach on Mars' development in three critical areas: its commercial expansion, most notably in international markets; the extension and reinforcement of its content partner network; and the acceleration of its Research and Development programme. Founded in 2013 in Sophia-Antipolis on the French Riviera by Vincent Desnot, Tanguy Deleplanque and Quentin Derunes, Teach on Mars launched a digital learning revolution by being the first company to recognise the potential of the modern mobile device to redefine the learner experience. Its 100% mobile-native learning environment incorporating solutions for the creation, distribution and management of professional training and personal development content through users' smartphones was the first of its kind in the world. With Teach on Mars, the smartphone becomes a personal learning assistant, enabling users to learn anytime, anywhere and on any device. The company rapidly became a European leader in next-generation learning solutions, growing in just over five years into a team of nearly 60 staff serving more than 100 blue-chip organisations and world-renowned brands. To date, Teach on Mars has been deployed to a million learners and operates in more than 20 languages and over 60 countries throughout the world. Its client portfolio includes more than half the companies in France's CAC 40 and world leaders in numerous sectors of activity, including luxury goods and financial services, as well as highly reputed training organisations. This latest round of funding will see Teach on Mars enter a completely new phase of its growth, consolidating its position as European champion in the mobile learning sector with the explicit objective of leadership on a global scale. It will enable the company to implement a three-prong growth strategy through 2019 and into the mid-term. Firstly, it will continue extending its international presence, primarily though the formalisation of Value-Added Reseller distribution partnerships in Europe. Secondly, it will accelerate its programme of partnerships with providers of premium mobile-first learning content. This will strengthen its unique offering of multilingual learning resources specifically designed for deployment in a connected, mobile learner experience. Finally, it will maintain an aggressive R&D policy in order to consolidate its technological leadership. This will specifically include further investment in the development of smart algorithms leveraging the latest advances in artificial intelligence. These algorithms hold the key to significantly reducing the cost of creating and indexing learning content. They will also enable radically enhanced competency and performance management through the automatic construction of ultra-personalised training paths based on real-time semantic analysis of the needs, progress and learning preferences of individual users. "Since 2013, Teach on Mars has moved comfortably ahead of the first-generation pack in the race to make digital learning mobile-first," explains Vincent Desnot, Co-Founder and CEO of Teach on Mars. "The next challenge is to deliver on the promise of 'permanent learning', where every aspect of the user's connected lifestyle is linked to his ongoing development. To do that, we must continue to pursue our objective of offering the finest learning ecosystem in the market. Teach on Mars will ultimately become more than a digital learning solution: it will be a tool for the continued employability of the new generations entering the workforce and a means to harness the power of collective intelligence for our client organisations." This new funding round marks the arrival of two new institutional investors, Omnes and Turenne Capital's Region Sud Investissement fund. "We are delighted to join forces with Teach on Mars for the coming years. Omnes truly believes in the power and the relevance of a mobile-first experience when it comes to the digital learning space. The impressive execution so far by Vincent Desnot and his team led us to support their international expansion plan as well as their product roadmap," says Xavier Brunaud, Director at Omnes. "An undisputedpioneer and leader in the fast-growing mobile learning marketplace, Teach on Mars has rapidly succeeded in convincing more than 50% of France's CAC 40 companies thanks to the quality of its solution. We are proud to support Vincent Desnot through this new growth plan designed to reinforce the company's international presence and consolidate its dominant position" states Marie Desportes, General Partner at Turenne Capital. Download a full Teach on Mars press-pack including graphic assets in our Press Room: https://www.dropbox.com/sh/3jtsfhv1m5fe3n6/AACfmfoQHCNKRTDmvoJcyI0za?dl=0 About Teach on Mars Teach on Mars is a 100% mobile-native learning technology provider. Our solution helps today's organisations connect people with the learning and the communities they need to do their jobs and live their lives better. Winner of numerous industry awards, Teach on Mars is recognised as European leader in the mobile learning space. Since its foundation in 2013, the company has delivered its solution to over 100 blue-chip clients, in 20+ languages across more than 60 countries throughout the globe, and today it has bases in Sophia-Antipolis, Paris, Milan and London. 60 Teach on Mars staff and an extensive worldwide network of 40+ content and technology partners collaborate to equip organisations with the toolset, mindset and skillset required to create their next-generation learning ecosystem. And because Teach on Mars takes its responsibility for the future of our planet seriously, it invests 1% of its revenues in education projects contributing directly to the UNESCO Sustainsable Development Goals. www.teachonmars.com Download our app today on App Store or Google Play and see for yourself how Teach on Mars could help you reboot the way you think about learning. Twitter: @teachonmarsen LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/teach-on-mars Press contacts: Vincent Desnot, CEO & Co-founder, vincent.desnot@teachonmars.com / +33-6-20-80-75-66 Adam Charlesworth, International Marketing Director, adam.charlesworth@teachonmars.com / +33-7-82-90-30-99 Clotilde Hullin, Press Relations Officer, clotilde.hullin@teachonmars.com / +33-9-72-62-46-90 About Omnes Omnes is a leading Paris-based European investor in private equity and infrastructure. With 3.6 billion of assets under management, Omnes provides SMEs with the capital needed to finance growth. The firm has dedicated investment teams across three key areas: Venture Capital, Buyout & Growth Capital and Infrastructure. With more than 30 trade sales and nearly 15 IPOs in 20 years (including Novaled, Biovex, arGEN-X and Direct Energie), Omnes Venture Capital team is a leading French player in financing innovative SMEs with dual expertise in the deep-tech and healthcare sectors. Its current portfolio includes AB Tasty, BlaBlaCar, Bankin', Scality and Sigfox. Omnes is owned by its employees. Omnes is committed to ESG issues and has set up the Omnes Foundation in aid of children's charities. It is also a signatory to the United Nations Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI). www.omnescapital.com Press contacts: Omnes: Gaelle de Montousse, gaelle.demontousse@omnescapital.com - +33-1-80-48-79-16 Brackendale Consulting: Fay Margo, fay@brackendaleconsulting.com - +44-7962-1115825 About Region Sud Investissement Region Sud Investissement is the regional co-investment fund created in 2010 by Region Sud to support the appearance and development of growing regional companies. This investment fund, with 80 million under management, has benefited from the support of the European Union through the ERDF fund that has accounts for 50% of its capital. Since July 2011, this fund, advised by Turenne Capital, has invested in 74 regional companies for a total of 36,6 million. For more information: www.pacainvestissement.com About Turenne Capital Turenne Capital Group is a French major player in Private Equity, supporting entrepreneurs in their business development and transferring for 20 years. Innovacom, Turenne Capital's innovation brand, supports technology startups in early stage and seed capital. Turenne Capital is an independent firm owned by its management, with 930 million in assets under management. Its teams, 55 employees of whom 38 are investors, are based in Paris, Lille (affiliate in partnership with Credit Agricole Nord de France), Lyon, Marseille et Metz and support 250 businesses, in health sector, hotel industries, new technologies, distribution or innovative services. Contact: josepha.montana@turennecapital.com For more information: www.turennecapital.com Calero Solution is now exclusively available to the UK public sector LONDON, Jan. 24, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Calero, a leading global provider of Communications and Cloud Lifecycle Management (CLM) software and managed services, and Crown Commercial Service (CCS) announced that the RM3802 Technology Expense Management (TEM) framework is officially launched and now available to UK public sector organisations. Calero was selected as the sole supplier of the framework by CCS. Calero is a portfolio company of Riverside Partners, a Boston-based private equity firm. Effective today, Calero begins selling its Technology Expense Management (TEM) solution and services to the UK central government and the wider public sector. The objective is to help public sector organisations better manage their telecom assets and usage in order to cut costs and realise savings. This endeavor supports CCS's objective to help central government to reduce telecom spending by 20 percent (50m) over three to four years; for the wider public sector similar levels of savings are expected to be made. "Calero is very proud to begin working with CCS as we utilise our TEM solution to help the UK public sector meet its cost savings objectives," said Joe Pajer, CEO and President of Calero. "What this means for UK public sector organisations, is that over time, they will benefit from improved efficiency, visibility and control of their IT and telecoms environment." Calero is working closely with CCS throughout the framework term to ensure complete customer satisfaction. Calero's TEM solution is delivered through the secure Microsoft Azure Cloud environment; furthermore, the solution's Cyber Essentials Plus certification will give customers peace of mind that the security of their data is protected. "CCS is very pleased to begin working with Calero on this important initiative," said Deborah Mylett, Category Lead for Technology Asset Management, Crown Commercial Service. "Calero has undergone a rigorous tender process to win its place as single supplier on our framework. CCS believes that it is possible to reduce public sector spend through the application of TEM methodologies and Calero will be able to play a key part in helping public sector customers to achieve cost savings." Leveraging their ISO 9001 accreditation, Mason Advisory will provide quality assurance, bringing a wealth of experience in delivering telecom consultancy throughout the Public Sector. ABOUT CALERO Calero is a leading global provider of Communications and Cloud Lifecycle Management (CLM) solutions designed to turn communication data into actionable insight by simplifying the management of voice, mobile and other unified communications services and assets. With a deep commitment to innovation and customer service, Calero's CLM approach enables organisations to support the full communications lifecycle, from procurement to payment, including software and services that aid Technology Expense Management (TEM), Managed Mobility Services (MMS) and Usage Management. Calero has thousands of customers in over 50 countries worldwide, including Fortune 2000 corporations, universities and government agencies. Calero is a portfolio company of Riverside Partners, a Boston-based private equity firm. Learn more at http://www.calero.com. ABOUT RIVERSIDE PARTNERS Founded in 1989, Riverside Partners is a middle market private equity firm currently investing Riverside Fund VI, L.P. The fund focuses on growth-oriented companies primarily in the healthcare and technology industries. Riverside Partners is particularly experienced at partnering with founders, owners and management teams and it brings substantial domain expertise and operating experience to its portfolio companies. For more information, visit www.riversidepartners.com. ABOUT CROWN COMMERCIAL SERVICE (CCS) Crown Commercial Service (CCS) is an Executive Agency of the Cabinet Office, providing commercial and procurement expertise and services to the public sector. To find out more about CCS, visit www.gov.uk/ccs , follow on Twitter @gov_procurement and on LinkedIn. CCS is the UK's largest procurement organisation. Using their commercial expertise to help buyers in central government and across the public and third sectors to purchase everything from locum doctors and laptops to police cars and electricity. The collective purchasing power of public sector customers, plus CCS's procurement knowledge, results in compelling commercial frameworks that save time and money and deliver value to taxpayers. ABOUT MASON ADVISORY Mason Advisory is an independent IT consultancy that does things differently. We offer experts in IT who match technology know-how with commercial and business sense. IT leadership and their teams work with us to solve complex business challenges through intelligent use of IT resources. Our experienced consultants quickly add value to businesses, while also ensuring that client teams receive the help they need to drive sustainable change for themselves - learn more at www.masonadvisory.com. CONTACT Scott Davis Calero Software +1 (470) 246-5681 Scott.Davis@calero.com Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/700877/Calero_Logo.jpg LONDON, Jan. 24, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- The Lumenia ERP HEADtoHEAD event offers a unique opportunity to meet, compare and experience the leading ERP vendors and their products. Taking place on 12th and 13thMarch 2019 at the MK Dons Stadium in Milton Keynes, 12 of the UK's leading ERP vendors will go head to head to demonstrate their ERP solutions. This will be the 4th running of the event in the UK, the 12th event overall. If you are planning to select, upgrade or replace your ERP system, then the ERP HEADtoHEAD event is for you. It is the perfect opportunity for senior finance or IT executives and members of their ERP selection teams to efficiently review and compare the leading ERP products. The ERP HEADtoHEAD event, was established by Sean Jackson, Managing Director of independent ERP consultants, Lumenia Consulting. "One of the pitfalls you can fall into when selecting a new ERP system, is to rely solely on the vendor's sales demo. Each vendor will have their own interpretation of what they think you are looking for, which makes it difficult to make comparisons." says Jackson, "What you need the vendors to do, is to follow a demo script so that you can compare. This is the fundamental idea of the ERP HEADtoHEAD." The event takes place over 2 days and is facilitated by Lumenia Consulting. On Day 1, all vendors take part in an 'Elevator Speech' to introduce themselves. During this session vendors present a summary of their USP's to convince delegates why it would be a good idea to attend their demo. Solution providers such as SAP, Microsoft, IFS, Infor and Sage are amongst the 12 demonstrating their ERP solutions. Delegates can choose to attend sessions focused on Finance, Production, Procurement, HR, Projects or Sales. Each demonstration lasts 60 minutes and is based on defined high-level scripts. Day 2 includes the opportunity to hear a panel discussion, comprised of industry end users sharing their experiences on how to avoid ERP implementation mistakes. Attendees can also hear thought-provoking, vendor-independent presentations from Lumenia Consulting on 'Are you ERP Ready?' (on Day 1) and 'Characteristics of Successful ERP Projects' (on Day 2). There will be lots of opportunities for delegates to meet with vendors within the expo area and to network and compare experiences with other organisations also planning to implement ERP. "Good opportunity to compare different ERP systems over a short timescale. Good event - worthwhile attending". "Good overview of the ERP Process. Suppliers very helpful and knowledgeable. Good scripts giving apple for apple comparisons," commented previous event delegates. Special discounts apply for early bird bookings and for more than two attendees registering per company. For further information and to register check out the event website www.erpheadtohead.com Press Contact: Linda Davey Marketing Manager Lumenia Consulting UK Ltd T: +44-207-470-8766 E: info@erpheadtohead.com NBT AS ("NBT"), a utility-scale wind power developer based in Oslo, and Total Eren SA ("Total Eren"), a leading renewable energy Independent Power Producer ("IPP") based in Paris, have signed definitive financing agreements for the first phase of a 250 MW wind project located in the Kherson region of Ukraine. The 155M financing agreement was signed at a special meeting of Ukraine's National Investment Council in Davos. The project's start of construction is imminent. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20190124005105/en/ The onshore wind project, called Syvash wind farm ("Syvash") has been developed by Norway-based NBT together with France-based Total Eren. At its full capacity, Syvash represents a 380 million total investment. Syvash will consist of 64 wind turbines and will be located on 1,300 hectares of land in the southern Kherson region of Ukraine. Once completed, it is expected to become the country's largest renewable energy project. Syvash is the first internationally financed large-scale wind farm in Ukraine. An A/B loan of up to 155 million has been raised for the construction of the initial 133 MW phase. It will consist of a 75 million EBRD loan, while B-Loans of up to 75 million will be provided jointly by the Green for Growth Fund (GGF) and the Netherlands Development Finance Company (FMO). A parallel loan of 5 million will be provided by the Nordic Environment Finance Corporation (NEFCO). The Syvash wind farm will be built to very high international standards, conforming to EBRD Performance Standards and Equator Principles. The electricity generated from Syvash will be sold to state-owned company "Energorynok" Ukraine's wholesale electricity market operator. Once the full project is constructed, it will have a planned production of 850 GWh per year, and will generate enough electricity to meet the needs of approximately 100,000 households in the municipality of Rivne, in Ukraine. It is expected to reduce CO2 emissions by 470,000 tonnes per year, hence creating a positive impact on the environment. The Engineering, Procurement and Construction (EPC) contract has been signed with PowerChina, one of the largest power plant construction companies worldwide and Nordex Group, a leading producer of onshore wind turbines. Construction work is expected to start in a few weeks. The project will bring economic development and significant tax revenues to the Kherson region and will have a lasting economics impact even after its construction is completed. Syvash represents Total Eren and NBT's first project in Ukraine, a country with high potential for renewable energy sources, combined with strong local support from the Ukrainian Government, the Office of the National Investment Council, regional authorities and other partners to develop the Ukrainian renewable energy market. David Corchia, CEO of Total Eren, stated: "This signature marks an important milestone for Total Eren in extending its development efforts to Eastern Europe with a project of this scale. We are proud to have mobilized, together with our partner NBT, this trusted lender group led by EBRD and look forward to starting construction and finalizing the second phase of the project. We see tremendous potential for further development for Total Eren in Ukraine." Joar Viken, CEO of NBT, stated: "We are extremely happy that we can invest along with our strategic partner Total Eren in utility-scale wind farms that will power the sustainable future growth of Ukraine. The 250MW Syvash wind farm is just the start of our plans to invest a considerable amount of capital in our large pipeline of wind projects in Ukraine over the next two to three years. With improved business climate in Ukraine and success of this international project financing, we envision that private commercial institutions and international investors will see the benefits of investing in Ukraine. In addition, we foresee potential interest for Green Bonds to financing NBT's pipeline of new wind projects in Ukraine. We look forward to working with the Government of Ukraine and our strategic partners to support our expansion plans for investing in wind power in Ukraine." About Total Eren Founded in 2012 by Paris Mouratoglou and David Corchia, Total Eren has built up a substantial and diversified portfolio of wind, solar and hydroelectric assets representing an installed gross capacity of more than 1,300 MW in operation or under construction worldwide. Through partnerships with local developers, Total Eren is currently developing numerous energy projects in countries and regions where renewable energy represents an economically viable response to growing energy demand, such as in Asia-Pacific, Africa and Latin America. Its objective is to achieve a global net installed capacity of more than 3 GW by 2022. On 1 December 2017, Total S.A, the major energy company, acquired an indirect 23% interest in Total Eren. For more information, go to www.total-eren.com. About NBT NBT AS is a developer and operator of utility-scale wind farms in emerging markets. The company was founded in 2004 and is based in Oslo, Norway. NBT has operations in Norway, China, Cyprus, Sweden, Singapore and Ukraine. For more information, go to www.nbtas.no. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20190124005105/en/ Contacts: Media relations Solange Petit de Bantel (Total Eren) +33 1 58 97 58 07 solange.debantel@total-eren.com Yannick Tetzlaff, Laura de Carne (Brunswick Group) +33 1 53 96 83 83 eren@brunswickgroup.com Anniken Jensen (NBT) +47 452 69 023 Anniken.Jensen@nbtas.no THE INFORMATION CONTAINED IN THIS ANNOUNCEMENT IS DEEMED BY THE COMPANY TO CONSTITUTE INSIDE INFORMATION AS STIPULATED UNDER THE EU MARKET ABUSE REGULATION (596/2014). UPON PUBLICATION OF THE ANNOUNCEMENT VIA A REGULATORY INFORMATION SERVICE, THIS INFORMATION IS CONSIDERED TO BE IN THE PUBLIC DOMAIN. 24 January 2019 MetalNRG plc (The "Company" or "MetalNRG") UPDATE ON OPTION TO ACQUIRE ADVANCED URANIUM PROJECT & GRANTING OF MINING LICENSE MetalNRG plc (NEX:MNRG), the natural resource investing company quoted on the NEX Exchange Growth Market in London is pleased to follow up on its previous announcement of 16 August 2018 (the "August 2018 Announcement") concerning its option to acquire an interest in the Kamushanovskoye Uranium deposit in Kyrgyzstan (the "Uranium Project"). MetalNRG today announces that the State Reserve Committee of Kyrgyzstan has granted the application for a mining license dated 22 January 2019 (the "Mining License") for 3,371.1 tonnes U reserves (8.731 million lbs U308) which has an in-situ value of approximately US$253.1 million at current uranium spot prices. Uranium Project Highlights: The Uranium Project is in the Kamushanov community, Sokuluksky District, Chuy Province , 48km from Bishkek the capital city of the Kyrgyz Republic ; The Uranium Project held an exploration license 2276 MP, which covers an area of 4,078 hectares (40.78 km2) which will now be converted into the Mining License granted; Additionally, the Uranium Project offers a potential exploration upside of an additional 2.58Mlb of uranium from a partially explored zone (to be brought into Compliant Resource) plus as yet untested prospective ground; The Uranium Project is intended to be developed on an In-Situ Recovery ("ISR") basis providing for lower initial capital outlay and operating cost of production. The pilot using this technique was completed and reported on in the Competent Persons Report carried out during the Company's due diligence of the Uranium Project and can be found on our web site www.metalnrg.com Infrastructure around the Uranium Project includes 12-month road access, together with electricity and water supplies; There are 3 uranium refineries within 550km of the Uranium Project, the closest being at Kara Balta, 60km away, demonstrating that the region is familiar with development of uranium production opportunities; The Uranium Project is currently owned 94.7%% by International Mining Company Invest Inc ("IMC") incorporated and registered under the laws of Nevada whose registered office is at 111 La Costa Court, Holmdel, NJ 07733, USA. The remaining interest in the Uranium Project is held by MetalNRG through its 5.3% stake in IMC; The Option (as defined in the August 2018 Announcement) provides for the formation of a new holding company ("Newco") into which the project vendor will transfer the Uranium Project (including the Mining License) in full and MetalNRG will inject the agreed acquisition funds, ensuring that any acquisition consideration is spent on project development rather than vendor compensation; and To date, MetalNRG has supported IMC financially in relation to the Mining License application process. Once Newco is set up and funded, MetalNRG will own at least 51% of Newco (and, indirectly, the Uranium Project). MetalNRG intends to pay a further US$45,000 in the coming weeks. To attain 51% the Company will fund a further US$813,500 . Rolf Gerritsen, Chief Executive Officer of MetalNRG commented: "Uranium is a key commodity and market dynamics make it an extremely interesting time for uranium. Our project is moving towards production and we are all extremely pleased with the progress. The financials around the project make it an outstanding opportunity and we look forward to the ongoing working relationship with IMC who are doing a great job." The Option Agreement: As described in the August 2018 Announcement, MetalNRG paid a fee of US$50,000 to enter into an option agreement with IMC (the "Option Agreement") and complete due diligence on the Uranium Project. MetalNRG has decided to pursue the joint venture and the initial transaction completion deadline of 28 December 2018 has been extended. On 5 December 2018, MetalNRG entered into an agreement with IMC amending the Option Agreement (the "Amended Option Agreement") to restructure the cash payments paid by MetalNRG in order to progress the application of the Mining License. Under the Amended Option Agreement, it was acknowledged that MetalNRG had, as at the date of the Amended Option Agreement, made a payment of US$100,000 to IMC, representing 5% of the equity in the capital of Newco. It was agreed that each additional payment of US$50,000 made by MetalNRG to IMC would represent an additional 2.5 per cent of the equity in the capital of Newco. To date an additional US$7,500 has been paid to IMC, posted amended agreement date, bringing the Company's position to 5.3%, additional payments will be made to secure the mining license. The person who arranged for the release of this announcement on behalf of the Company was Rolf Gerritsen, Chief Executive Officer. The technical information contained in this announcement has been read and approved by Mr Nick O'Reilly (MSc, DIC, MAusIMM, FGS), who is a qualified geologist and who acts as Competent Person. Mr O'Reilly is a Principal consultant working for Mining Analyst Consulting Ltd which has been retained by MetalNRG PLC to provide technical support. The Directors of the Company accept responsibility for the contents of this announcement. Contact details: Regulatory News: MedinCell (Paris: MEDCL) The Bill Melinda Gates Foundation has made the payment of the second tranche of a grant to fund the second formulation research phase of a best-in-class long acting contraceptive. This payment is based on promising in vivo results that have been obtained during the first 12 months of the project and substantiates the feasibility potential. The Gates Foundation is supporting MedinCell to develop a product for women most in need in emerging countries. MedinCell is evaluating ways to extract the product's potential in developed countries, especially in the US where the contraceptive market is worth 4.7bn. Project highlights Following positive results of in vivo studies, the Bill Melinda Gates Foundation has confirmed its support to pursue the formulation research of a 6-month active contraceptive. The objective is to enter non-clinical development in 2020 and then clinical development. MedinCell has been awarded a $3.5m grant by the Bill Melinda Gates Foundation to fund the formulation research phase of this program. A first tranche of $2m was received at the start of the program in November 2017, and the second of $1.5m has just been received following promising first in vivo results. The product should be the first contraceptive to combine the following essential features that would make it a best-in-class product both in developing and developed countries. Progestin molecule (non-MPA) 6-month duration Subcutaneous injection Full bio-resorption Affordability The Foundation aims at making the product available to most in need women in emerging countries. The product could indeed address major challenges such as low affordability, weak distribution systems or cultural barriers. Unlike most other Long-Acting Reversible Contraceptives (LARC) such as contraceptive implants, no surgical or specialist intervention will be necessary with the product of MedinCell. After a simple subcutaneous injection, a depot is formed that acts as a virtual-pump up for 6 months and then disappears completely. Studies have shown that the risk of contraceptive failure for women using oral contraceptive pills or other methods is 17 to 20 times higher than the risk for those using LARCs mostly due to the lack of patient adherence to contraceptive treatments1 MedinCell is evaluating ways to leverage the product's potential in developed countries, especially in the US where contraceptive market worth 4.7bn. In 2017, LARCs represented 30% of the 4.7bn US contraceptive market with 10% 5 years-CAGR (mainly composed of solid implants and intrauterine devices)2 1. Winner, B; Peipert, JF; Zhao, Q; Buckel, C; Madden, T; Allsworth, JE; Secura, GM. (2012), "Effectiveness of Long-Acting Reversible Contraception", New England Journal of Medicine, 366 (21): 1998-2007, doi:10.1056/NEJMoa1110855, PMID 22621627 2. Source: IQVIA data in at constant exchange rates in ex-manufacturer prices About MedinCell MedinCell is a pharmaceutical company that develops a portfolio of long-acting injectable products in various therapeutic areas by combining its proprietary BEPO technology with active ingredients already known and marketed. Through the controlled and extended release of the active pharmaceutical ingredient, MedinCell makes medical treatments more efficient, particularly thanks to improved compliance, i.e. compliance with medical prescriptions, and to a significant reduction in the quantity of medication required as part of a one-off or chronic treatment. The BEPO technology makes it possible to control and guarantee the regular delivery of a drug at the optimal therapeutic dose for several days, weeks or months starting from the subcutaneous or local injection of a simple deposit of a few millimeters, fully bioresorbable. Based in Montpellier, MedinCell currently employs more than 130 people representing over 25 different nationalities. Glossary Formulation research Formulation research is the first stage for all programs. It enables a prototype of the product to be obtained that complies with the targeted specifications, notably the duration of action and the dose of active ingredient to be regularly released. For each product, a new combination of polymers is created, thus making each formulation unique and exclusive. Non-clinical development Launched after the development of the prototype, non-clinical development includes a series of studies and operations aimed at confirming the product's viability, testing its safety and establishing the scientific bases and regulatory strategy necessary for all applications for clinical trial approval. Clinical development Clinical development includes three major trial phases undertaken on human cohorts: Phase I includes healthy volunteers to assess their tolerance to the treatment. Phase II is carried with a limited group of sick patients to assess the treatment's efficacy, the drug's optimal dose and any side effects. Phase III is undertaken with a large number of sick patients to compare the treatment's efficacy to that of a placebo or standard of care. If successful, this is the final step before the marketing of the product. NB: as the products developed by MedinCell use active ingredients that are already widely known and marketed, they can be exempt from certain clinical studies. LARC Long-Acting Reversible Contraceptive Methods of birth control that provide effective contraception for an extended period without requiring user action. They include injections, intrauterine devices (IUDs) and subdermal contraceptive implants. They are the most effective reversible methods of contraception because they do not depend on patient compliance. So, their typical use failure rates, at less than 1% per year, are about the same as perfect use failure rates. Amy Stoddard, Colleen McNicholas, and Jeffrey F. Peipert, "Efficacy and Safety of Long-Acting Reversible Contraception" (2011) In Vivo Studies Tests conducted in non-human living systems to study the activity of a drug candidate. CAGR (Compound Annual Growth Rate) CAGR is a useful measure of average growth over multiple time periods. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20190123005886/en/ Contacts: MedinCell David Heuze Communication leader david.heuze@medincell.com +33 (0)6 83 25 21 86 NewCap Louis-Victor Delouvrier Alexia Faure Investor relations medincell@newcap.eu +33 (0)1 44 71 94 94 NewCap Nicolas Merigeau Media relations medias medincell@newcap.eu +33 (0)1 44 71 94 94 BEIJING, Jan. 24, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Hainan Airlines plans to launch non-stop service between Shenzhen, China and Tel Aviv, Israel on February 22. The route, with two round trip flights weekly on Mondays and Fridays, will be serviced by a Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner. The flights will depart from Shenzhen Bao'an International Airport at 1:35 amBeijing time (BJT) and arrive at Tel Aviv Ben Gurion International Airport at 7:35 am Israel Standard Time (IST). The return flight will depart from Tel Aviv at 12:10 pm IST and arrive in Shenzhen at 5:00 am BJT the next day. Shenzhen is one of the first places where China's economic reform, now in its fortieth year, was initiated. As one of China's three major technology and financial centers, the city's aviation market has huge potential. In recent years, Hainan Airlines has launched over ten long-distance intercontinental routes originating from Shenzhen, with service to and from Brussels, Madrid, Paris and Vancouver, among several other destinations. Route Flight No. Departure Time Arrival Time Schedule Aircraft Shenzhen-Tel Aviv HU743 1:35 am 7:35 am Monday/Friday B787-9 Tel Aviv-Shenzhen HU744 12:10 pm 5:00 am+1 Monday/Friday B787-9 Hainan Airlines' Shenzhen-Tel Aviv Flight Schedule (All times are local) Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/721051/Hainan_Airlines_logo.jpg Join Inspirata at Frontiers in Laboratory MedicineEurope, Ltd. confirmed today its participation in Frontiers in Laboratory Medicine 2019and Kantonsspital Aarauof Switzerland as new European customers in 2018, Inspirata is acutely aware of the need to square these requirements. On acquiring Dynamyx, Inspirata immediately set about 'opening-up' the solution and actively soliciting new technical partnerships based on their open API. Inspirata's embrace of solution agnosticism is empowering customers to procure and integrate new technology such as whole-slide scanners, LIMS and image analysis tools with a confidence of compatibility, and further sweat earlier software and hardware investments on the same basis. Mindful of the issues many institutions face when it comes to financing new pathology initiatives, Inspirata has also introduced new commercial mechanisms deliberately designed to enable laboratories to take their first step on their path towards digitization, even in instances in which the funds cannot be made available straightaway. As Inspirata look ahead to the next twelve months, there is much to be excited about. "We do not consider our customers electing to go digital with us as an end in itself," details Mark. "In addition to acquiring Dynamyx, 2018 also saw us welcome Toronto-based Artificial in Medicine and population health provider Caradigm into the Inspirata family. Pushing the frontiers in pathology represents just one constituent part of our overall effort to provide our customers with an informed longitudinal view of their oncology patients - from diagnosis, through treatment and therapies to outcomes" Taking their cue from the meeting's official thematic focus for 2019 of 'getting things right first time', Inspirata's workshop presentation at FiLM is entitled 'Digital Pathology - Focus on the Workflow' and will be delivered by Tim Wing in the Faraday Room, IET Austin Court at 1pm Tuesday January 29th. Event attendees will likewise be able to request personal demonstrations of Dynamyx throughout the two-day event at Inspirata's stand so they can see for themselves how real-time collaboration, case-sharing and utilisation of AI-based image analysis could be put to work at their institution. About Inspirata Europe Ltd. Inspirata Europe Ltd. provides oncology diagnostics workflow solutions that span digital pathology; diagnostic and predictive assays; and precision medicine. It also offers cancer informatics workflows that, in combination with its Natural Language Processingor contact info@inspirata.com. iRoyal College of Pathologists: Histopathology Workforce Study 2018 Attachments President hails agreement: "New dawn for Ghana and our citizens" Copenhagen, Denmark, Jan. 23, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Vous trouverez ci-joint le communique de presse en francais. Agreement signed with the government of Ghana, UNOPS and its partners hopes to deliver at least 100,000 affordable homes nationwide. UNOPS and its partners aim to attract $436 million worth of investment. worth of investment. UNOPS to invest $11 million in seed funding. in seed funding. Project has an estimated gross development value of $5.3 billion. Project will last six to ten years, providing 3,000 job opportunities for local communities. UNOPS landmark agreement with the government of Ghana has moved forward this week with the Executive Director, Grete Faremo's announcement this week in New York. As part of the agreement, UNOPS and its partners seek to attract $436 million worth of investment to deliver at least 100,000 affordable homes across the country. The project, which will last between six and ten years, will also provide job opportunities for local communities nationwide and help towards alleviating the housing crisis in Ghana. The agreement is a major milestone in UNOPS commitment to fostering innovative financing for the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and will help the government of Ghana open access to sustainable, affordable and environmentally sound housing for its citizens. UNOPS Executive Director Grete Faremo said: "There is great potential to improve access to sustainable and resilient housing for thousands of people in Ghana. "At the same time, this project will work to boost livelihoods and the local economy. "The knock-on effect means unlocking new opportunities and resources for local communities, which helps drive progress towards the SDGs". The 100,000 houses are to be constructed using energy-efficient solar rooftops, and manufactured locally, which will provide up to 3,000 jobs for local people. In a previous statement on the project, President Nana Akufo-Addo said: "I believe we are all well aware of the challenges Ghana, and most of Africa, faces when it comes to the provision of decent, well-planned and organized housing for our citizens. The difficulty in addressing this on-going challenge has led to a huge housing deficit in our country. "I believe that with the signing of this project agreement, we shall be ushering into existence a new dawn for Ghana and our citizens". UNOPS Social Impact Investment Initiative (S3i) seeks to de-risk infrastructure investment projects in an effort to help attract financing from the private sector to national development agendas. Projects selected are subjected to a rigorous due diligence process that will ensure a positive environmental, social and economic impact, with a financial return. ENDS Notes: About UNOPS UNOPS mission is to help people build better lives and countries achieve peace and sustainable development. We help the United Nations, governments and other partners to manage projects, and deliver sustainable infrastructure and procurement in an efficient way. Read more about UNOPS: www.unops.org About UNOPS Social Impact Investment Initiative (S3i) UNOPS S3i seeks to de-risk and structure infrastructure investment projects in an effort to help attract financing from the private sector to national development agendas. Projects selected are subjected to a rigorous and comprehensive due diligence process that will ensure a positive environmental, social and economic impact, with financial returns for private sector investors. Attachment Nayanthara In Sye Raa After a short break, Nayanthara is returning to the Telugu film industry, with a movie which is rightly one of the much-awaited Indian movies. The actress essays the role of the leading lady in Sye Raa, starring Chiranjeevi in the lead role. For Promotions It is well-known to all that Nayanthara is one such actress, who stays away from movie promotions activities and unwanted publicity, and it has been a policy that the actress has been following even for the movies in which she essays the leading role. Nayanthara To Promote Sye Raa? Now, certain unconfirmed reports doing the rounds suggest that Mayanthara might break this rule for the film Sye Raa. According to a report surfaced in cinejosh.com, Nayanthara has given the nod to promote Sye Raa, upon the special request of Ram Charan, who is the producer of the movie. Sye Raa Sye Raa is a big budget venture which ranks top in terms of expectations. The film also features Amitabh Bachchan, Vijay Sethupathi, Sudeep etc., in important roles. Tamannaah Bhatia is also a part of the film and essays the role of one among the leading ladies. Prithviraj is one such actor who has been always eager to do fresh films with unique concepts and has been eager on taking Malayalam cinema to another level. The actor's next film 9, directed by Jenuse Mohammed is expected to be one such venture that is something really fresh to Malayalam cinema. As you all know, the year 2018 did witness the arrival of some really special movies. Prithviraj too had pitched in with some quality movies, which were lapped up by the audiences. Meanwhile, Prithviraj has opened up about his favourite Malayalam movie of the year 2018. It was in an interview given to Movie Man Broadcasting YouTube channel that the actor opened up about the same. When asked about his favourite Malayalam movie of the year 2018, Prithviraj picked the film Sudani From Nigeria as his favourite film. Well, Sudani From Nigeria is indeed one of the most-appreciated and celebrated Malayalam movies of the recent times. The film, directed by Zakariya, featured Soubin Shahir and Samuel Abiola Robinson in the lead roles and it narrated a very compassionate tale. Meanwhile, Prithviraj's next big release 9 will be coming out in the theatres on February 07, 2019. His debut directorial venture Lucifer will also be coming out in the theatres during the first quarter of this year. Govinda's Nephew Janwendra Ahuja Mysterious Death shocks everyone | FilmiBeat As shocking as it might sound, Govinda's nephew Janmendra Ahuja was found dead under mysterious circumstances in his apartment in Yari Road, Mumbai and the cause of his sudden death is still not known. Janmendra Ahuja was just 34 years old at the time of his untimely demise and the body has been rushed to a nearby hospital at 6.30 am for the postmortem. Family member, Kashmera Shah opened up by saying that the cause of his death is natural. "We have just reached here. Janmendra is no more. It's a natural death. We are deeply shocked. I'll come back to you later," she said to Spotboye. The police are waiting for the postmortem report to be out and have kept their options open and will look through all the other angles if the report turns out to be unnatural. Stay tuned to Filmibeat for more developments about Govinda's nephew Janmendra Ahuja's untimely demise. This Actor Had The Guts To Openly Ask Katrina Kaif For Marriage Right In Front Of Salman Khan Category Select Category Apparel/Garments Textiles Fashion Technical Textiles Information Technology E-commerce Retail Corporate Association Press Release SubCategory Select Sub-Category The Fauquier Times is honored to serve as your community companion. To say thank you, we are excited to offer 4 weeks FREE Digital & Print access to all subscribers new and returning alike. We are dedicated to continuing providing reliable, high quality journalism. This is possible with the trust and support of our subscribers in the community we are proud to serve. A farming charity has paid out more than 1.4m in regular grants last year to financially support retired, elderly, and disabled farmers. The Royal Agricultural Benevolent Institution (RABI), a welfare charity which offers financial support to farmers in hardship, paid out the huge sum of money during 2018. Around 84% of all the people the charity helps are no longer working, with many having retired or stopped farming due to sickness. Alicia Chivers, CEO of RABI, said: People are sometimes surprised to discover that we support retired farmers as well as working ones. In fact our reach goes a whole lot wider than that to include retired farm workers, dependants, widows and widowers. Our aim is to be there for farming people throughout their lives, not just during the days when theyre fit enough to work the land and help put food on our plates. The charity also offers financial support for elderly and disabled farming people to continue living safely in their own homes. In 2018, it paid around 190k to fund disability equipment, aids, home adaptions and home help. It also helps those who have moved or would like to move into care homes. Last year, around 197k went towards covering the shortfall between individual funding from local authorities and care home fees. RABI runs two of its own residential care homes: Beaufort House in Burnham-on-Sea, Somerset and Manson House in Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk. Each of the homes can accommodate more than 30 residents, who are often from a farming background. The Islay, Jura and Colonsay Agricultural Show held its very first meeting on the last day of July in 1838. The object of the Association was to curate the advancement of agriculture generally and in particular within the islands of Islay, Jura and Colonsay. This was to be achieved by means of shows, demonstrations, lectures, subscriptions for research work, with the awarding of prizes and premiums or otherwise as the Association may decide from time to time. Rural Accommodation near this Show The time that Delaware County grain farmer Bret Davis spends speaking on behalf of soybean growers is no doubt a benefit to his own operation. As one of two partners on a 3,500-acre farm, anything he can do to increase demand helps with his own business. But for Davis, who has spent at least a dozen years on the Ohio and American soybean associations, the reward is what he is able to do for all producers, from one corner of the country to the other. I have a passion for what the soybean industry and farmers are doing, he said. I dont do this for myself I do it for all of the farmers here (in Ohio) and in the United States. In December, Davis was elected secretary of the American Soybean Association, where he helps with records and minutes, and reaching out to lawmakers and federal regulators. Davis farms with his stepson, Wade McAfee. The two manage a grain farm that is now in its sixth generation. Davis and his wife, Janie, have seven adult children between them, and nine grandchildren, with another on the way in March. Farm history Davis grew up farming with his father and uncle, and his family traces their roots in the area to the 1800s, when they emigrated from Wales. Family is important to him, and he wants to see the operation continue. Thats why I do this, he said. Its not for me or anybody else its for longevity. In 2018, he led the farm bill task force for the American Soybean Association, where he helped to tell federal lawmakers about the importance of crop insurance and farm safety net programs. Judging by the most recent farm bill, signed by the president in December, Davis said its obvious that lawmakers listened and took farmers concerns seriously. He said crop farmers did not get everything they wanted, but thanks to their voice, farmers ended up with a workable bill that satisfies most of what they needed. I think they (lawmakers) listened to us, Davis said. When you get 60-70 farmers to go to D.C. and spend their day in the Capitol and make those connections, it really makes a difference. Davis said the last five or so years have especially been good for the soybean association, and today when lawmakers have a question or want to know how farmers across the country feel, they call the association to ask. To have that two-way conversation it goes a long way, he said. Ryan Findlay, CEO of ASA, said that Davis is a good listener who tries to look at both sides of an issue before making a decision. He considers the on-the-ground application of policy decisions, not for himself but for farmers around the nation, Findlay said. Its an incredibly selfless act, and its this type of leadership style that makes us so effective as an organization. Davis Farms At his own farm, things are always changing, whether its a new farming practice, a new piece of equipment or something bigger. Davis just recently sold his seed business and home, known as Bret Davis Seeds, to a young couple in the area, who were looking for a new opportunity. Davis said it allows someone local to carry on the seed business, and hes confident the buyers have the ambition to keep it going. With his own place sold, hes in the process of building a new house, just a short distance down the road from the seed business. Davis Farms has seen many other changes over the years, and at one time included a beef and feeder cattle operation. However, when the meat packing industry moved out of the area, Davis said it no longer seemed economical to keep feeding beef. Today, the farm is exclusively a crop operation, and that alone has seen its share of changes. The farm went from tillage to mostly no-till, and continues to evolve with new conservation practices and precision planting, as well as precision nutrient application. I say weve got a 3,500-acre test plot because were always testing something against the other, he said. Making changes In the past, Davis would spread fertilizer in the winter, when conditions would allow. But with the changes in nutrient management and water quality, he now tries to target a growing crop, and he also plants about 2,000 acres of cover crops to improve organic matter and keep nutrients and soil in place. The changes arent always easy, he said, but in the long run, they make economic sense and theyre better for the environment. This past year, conditions were so wet that Davis and many area farmers had fertilizer applied by aircraft because fields were too wet for land equipment, and the crop was too tall. Davis has been a certified crop adviser since 1990, and is a regular at area nutrient meetings and training events. Im always trying to learn, he said. Youve got to keep on learning, to understand how to fix things. One of the biggest things farmers like Davis are trying to fix is nutrient runoff. While they may not be able to stop it completely, Davis said its a priority issue, whether the water is flowing north, into Lake Erie, or south, to the Ohio River. But he said change takes time, and its important to study the science behind what is happening, so the right changes get made. He complimented farmers who are taking part in edge-of-field studies, to determine how much nutrients are leaving fields, and the best solutions. Studying the markets An ongoing issue for Davis and the soybean association is developing more markets. Although the U.S. lost a lot of market share with the current trade war with China, Davis said hes optimistic about some of the new agreements being made with countries like India, Singapore and South Africa. One positive thing about the dispute with China, he said, is that both countries now understand how reliant each is on the other, and he hopes there will be new opportunities with China going forward. In the meantime regardless of where prices are at Davis said farmers need to develop a solid marketing plan and think in advance. For his own farm, that means marketing as far as three years out, and maintaining good on-farm storage and delivery. Everybody knows how to grow a crop, but its how to market a crop that makes the difference, he said. Students who are passionate about changing the world for the better can get up to $5,000 to support their education through POETs Never Satisfied program. Scholarship applications close on Friday, Feb. 1. POET, the worlds largest producer of biofuels, is offering scholarships to students enrolled in any two- or four-year post-secondary school, regardless of major or GPA. POET is expanding its scholarship program, now in its third year, to support 10 students for a cumulative total of up to $50,000. For over 30 years, weve been changing the world with one big idea after another, said Kyle Gilley, POET Senior Vice President of External Affairs and Communications. Our strength has come from the communities were connected to, and weve excited to support our future innovators and change-makers as they strive to fulfill their big ideas. To apply for the POET Never Satisfied Scholarships, visit www.poet.com/neversatisfied. About POET POET, the worlds largest biofuels producer, is a leader in biorefining through its efficient, vertically integrated approach to production. Started in 1987, the company today has a network of 27 production facilities. POET, through its joint venture with DSM, also operates a commercial-scale cellulosic ethanol plant in Emmetsburg, Iowa. For more information, visit http://www.poet.com. ASHLAND, Ohio On Jan. 15, the Crestview FFA hosted State FFA Officer, Kolesen McCoy, to talk to students about many different things. In first period, McCoy explained to the juniors and seniors how to be the change in FFA, with the freshman, he explained how to become more involved with FFA. In third period with the sophomore and juniors, McCoy explained how to be a leader and the qualities of a good leader, and finally in fourth period with the sophomore and juniors he explained how concurring your fears can have a reward. The visit gave the FFA members a new look on how FFA can continue after high school and help throughout life. COLUMBUS The Ohio AgriBusiness Association recently announced the recipients of the 2019 Industry Excellence Awards. The Excellence in Customer Service recipient is Kevin Brinkman, United Equity, Delphos. The Achievement as an Emerging Leader goes to Kevin Fall, Rosens, Middletown. Excellence in Safety and Stewardship went to Jason Nowakowski, Centerra Co-op, Ashland. Award recipients will be recognized at the OABA Industry Conference on Jan. 31. Winners will be recognized with a plaque and $1,000 cash award, sponsored by ABIS/J.H. Ward Agency and The Elliott Group. Excellence awards The Industry Excellence Awards honor excellence, professionalism and achievement among OABA member companies and their employees. The Excellence in Customer Service Award is presented to an individual who goes above and beyond in their service to customers, to help define what excellent customer service looks like, and honors those whose contributions may often go unnoticed. Brinkman, of Ft. Jennings, is head mechanic at United Equity, in Delphos, where he is responsible for all agronomy equipment at his facility, as well as seed treatment, nurse truck operations and much more. Although customer service is not in his job title, Brinkman frequently makes himself available to customers outside working hours to assist with equipment problems. Achievement award The Achievement as an Emerging Leader Award is presented to an individual who represents the spirit of leadership as a growing agribusiness professional. Fall, of Middletown, is a seed treatment specialist for Rosens, where he seeks to help retail partners all across Ohio and Indiana better understand the value of emerging technology. By offering demonstrations, plots and research results, Fall carries out his personal philosophy that actions speak louder than words. The Excellence in Safety & Stewardship Award is presented to an individual who demonstrates safety and stewardship in day-to-day activities and interactions with customers, encouraging others to put safety first and be good stewards of equipment and land. Nowakowski, of Ashland, is safety and risk manager for Centerra Co-op, where he directs safety and environmental duties to reduce injuries and accidents for Centerras 35 branch locations. By involving employees from all areas of the company, he works to improve the overall culture of safety through collaborative, innovative solutions. Nowakowski takes it to the personal level of involving employees in the safety committees, said Jean Bratton, CEO of Centerra Co-op. Industry conference The two-day Industry Conference, Jan. 31 Feb. 1, 2019, in Columbus, is filled with widely-respected speakers and industry professionals, sharing their expertise on a variety of topics relating to agronomy, grain and feed, safety and more. All-inclusive registration for the event covers admission to both days of educational programming, all meals, including the industry networking reception and dinner, and the OABA Annual Meeting. Registration fees are $275 for members ($350 after Jan. 15, 2019). Non-member registration is $425 ($500 after Jan. 15, 2019). Individual day and reception/dinner-only registrations are also available, as are exhibitor and sponsorship opportunities. Visit www.oaba.net/events_conference for more information and to register. Hotel accommodations for the Columbus Marriott Northwest can be made online by visiting www.oaba.net/events_conference or by calling 614-791-1000 and using the code Ohio AgriBusiness Association. The OABA hotel block reservation deadline is Jan. 15. Anybody ever seen an Earthworm tractor? Well, neither have I, except in a movie. The Earthworm Tractor Co., located in Earthworm City, Illinois, made crawler tractors and had a head salesman by a man named Alexander Botts. Now Botts knew very little about tractors when he first wangled a job with the Earthworm Co., but his ego, brashness and supreme self-confidence he described himself as a master mechanic and a natural born salesman usually carried the day and, even though Botts was totally inept, he never gave up and was strangely successful at selling tractors. A series of stories by William Hazlett Upson (I wrote about Upson about a year ago) that were published in Saturday Evening Post magazine during the 1930s, 40s, and 50s told of Botts many unlikely adventures. The stories, each one of which is a stand-alone piece, are told through a series of telegrams (remember them?) between Botts and his boss, Gilbert Henderson, the president of the Earthworm Tractor Co. Stories revisited As a kid during those years, I loved the Alexander Botts stories in the Post and usually read them first when the magazine came. For example, one titled, Tractor Mans Holiday appeared in the August 12, 1939 issue of the Post. It seems that Botts, while on vacation in Florida, had stopped at the local Earthworm Dealer, Frank Stanley, to introduce himself. Stanley revealed that he was waiting to see Mr. Brookins, a circus owner who wanted to buy a tractor but that he, Stanley, refused to do business with Brookins and planned to throw him out. Just then Brookins showed up and before Botts horrified eyes Stanley ran Brookins out of the place with a pistol! Unable to convince Stanley to reconsider, never one to give up on a prospective sale, and aware that the Behemoth tractor dealer was due to demonstrate his tractor to Brookins, Bott sprang into action. Sneaky adventure Unable to convince Stanley to allow him to use his only demonstrator machine, Botts discovered where it was kept (an unlocked shed) and that night he sneaked in and stole the tractor, hid it for the night and next morning drove it onto the circus grounds, where the Behemoth salesman had already started a demonstration of his machine. Each feat of the Behemoth tractor was more than topped by Botts and the Earthworm in a spectacular way, usually leaving a trail of destruction behind. The Behemoth had climbed over half a dozen railroad ties; Botts ran at full speed into a large pile of a hundred ties, scattering them everywhere. The Behemoth ran through some six inches of water at the shallow end of a hippopotamus pool; Botts, at full speed in high gear, ran off the bank of the deep end, flew through the air, and came down in three feet of water with a gigantic and satisfying splash, before driving out the other side. Full speed The by-now desperate Behemoth man then ran fast into a sturdy board fence, knocking it down, but breaking a track. Not to be outdone, Botts ran full speed into a large barnlike building and just as he crashed through the side he saw a sign, Lion House Keep Out. As Botts stopped inside the building, he noticed that the hood and grill of the Earthworm were badly battered, but the engine was still humming and nothing vital was damaged. He also noticed to his horror that he had knocked open a cage and there was a loose lion crouching down and glaring at him. As Botts said in his telegram to the boss, He showed his teeth. He snarled. Slowly he crouched the typical killer, getting ready to spring upon his prey. Just then, Frank Stanley, waving his pistol and followed by half a dozen cops, ran into the wrecked building. However, as soon as Stanley saw the lion, he went over to it and started scratching the beast behind the ears, muttering, Why, its Old Charley! The story was that Stanley had once been the star lion tamer for Brookins Circus, but had quit in a dispute over his favorite, Old Charley, after which Stanley believed Brookins had shot the animal. This was the reason for Stanleys refusal to do business with Brookins. According to his own account, Botts then convinced the two men they had nothing to be angry about and Brookins offered Stanley his job back, which he accepted and signed a cancellation of his Earthworm contract, which Botts planned to turn over to the Tampa dealer. Botts wired his boss from Nassau, I arranged to credit Mr. Brookins with two hundred dollars for the damage to his building. And Mr. Brookins, after expressing his admiration for my sensational Earthworm demonstration, signed an order enclosed herewith for twenty machines, including the slightly damaged demonstrator. Reward earned He concluded the wire, Having thus brought matters to a happy conclusion, I felt I rated a reward. I therefore treated myself, at the expense of the Earthworm Tractor Co., to a delightful trip down here to Nassau, where we had an unusually ineffective dealer and where I am now continuing my recuperation by forcibly dragging this dealer all over the island, showing him how to sell tractors. There was a movie made in 1936 movie, titled Earthworm Tractors, in which Botts, the intrepid salesman, is played by Joe E. Brown. In the movie Botts tries to sell tractors to a crusty old lumberman who doesnt like the mechanical monsters. The Earthworm tractor in the film looks suspiciously like a Caterpillar RD-8, except for Earthworm in the locations where Caterpillar usually appears. The Alexander Botts stories are fun reads that Ive enjoyed since I was a kid. Nomura Holdings, Inc. provides various financial services to individuals, corporations, financial institutions, governments, and governmental agencies worldwide. It operates through three segments: Retail, Asset Management, and Wholesale. The Retail segment offers various financial products and investment services for individuals and corporations. As of March 31, 2020, this segment operated a network of 128 branches. The Asset Management segment engages in the development and management of investment trusts; and provision of investment advisory services for pension funds and other institutional clients. The Wholesale segment is involved in the research, sale, trading, agency execution, and market-making of fixed income and equity-related products. It also engages in underwriting various securities and other financial instruments, such as various classes of shares, convertible and exchangeable securities, investment grade and high yield debts, sovereign and emerging market debts, structured securities, and other securities; arranging private placements, as well as other capital raising activities; and the provision of financial advisory services on business transactions comprising mergers and acquisitions, divestitures, spin-offs, capital structuring, corporate defense activities, leveraged buyouts, and risk solutions. In addition, this segment offers various financial instruments. The company was formerly known as The Nomura Securities Co., Ltd. and changed its name to Nomura Holdings, Inc. in October 2001. Nomura Holdings, Inc. was founded in 1925 and is headquartered in Tokyo, Japan. Read More Wall Street analysts have given iShares MSCI United Kingdom ETF a "N/A" rating, but there may be better buying opportunities in the stock market. Some of MarketBeat's past winning trading ideas have resulted in 5-15% weekly gains. MarketBeat just released five new stock ideas, but iShares MSCI United Kingdom ETF wasn't one of them. MarketBeat thinks these five companies may be even better buys. View MarketBeat's top stock picks here. Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, January 24) A senator said the franchise of Mindanao Islamic Telephone Company (mislatel), a firm under the consortium chosen to be the country's next major telecommunications player, is considered void due to numerous violations. Mislatel received its congressional franchise to operate in Mindanao in April 1998, but it has yet to start operations. Senator Franklin Drilon said according to the franchise, it should operate within a year after its franchise is granted. "A franchise is a privilege, the privilege has conditions. Among the conditions you must operate within one year and operate continuously. Number two you must seek the approval of Congress when you seek control. When you violate the terms, the franchise is ipso facto revoked," he said. Mislatel president Nicanor Escalante explained "peace and order problems" became an issue for their operations in Parang, Maguindanao. Escalante also said he and two other businessmen were invited merely as additional stakeholders of Mislatel in 2015 before the turnover of leadership. He said their lawyer told them they did not have to get the approval of Congress since they were acquiring the existing shares of the incumbent shareholders. However, Drilon cited Section 15 of Mislatel's franchise which states that the sale, lease, or transfer of controlling interest requires congressional approval. A valid franchise is a requirement under the guidelines of selection of the National Telecommunications Commission of the third player. Drilon then asked Department of Information and Communications Technology Acting Secretary Eliseo Rio Jr. if this affects the case of the Mislatel consortium, which was named the new telco player. Rio said if Mislatel fails to meet the qualifications, the selection process will return to "square one." "We were under time pressure," Rio said. "What we did was you have to take the risk in the post-qualification." Drilon said pressure is not an excuse to violate its own guidelines. But Mislatel consortium legal counsel and spokesperson Atty. Adel Tamano said a quo warranto petition filed by the state is the "proper action" to revoke a franchise. "The Supreme Court made a very simple decision here that since a franchise is a property right, there is a due process requirement for it to be revoked and a direct action for a quo warranto is the proper action to take. So until such action is undertaken by the state, collateral attacks on a franchise are not permitted," Tamano said. No Chinese capital Meanwhile, Senator Grace Poe grilled Udenna Corporation's Dennis Uy for Mislatel consortium's capitalization. Udenna Corporation, in line with Mislatel, and Chelsea Logistics Holdings, are the Filipino firms teaming up with Chinese state-owned firm China Telecommunications Corporation (China for the consortium. Uy clarified that there will only be loans coming from China, adding that the transaction is a private endeavor and will have no effect on Philippine sovereignty and security. "Wala pong kapital galing sa China. Nangungutang lang po tayo," he said. [Translation: There is no capital from China. We are just borrowing.] Uy said China is willing to invest up to 40 percent of Mislatel's capital, compliant with state laws on foreign ownership. The ownership structure of the Mislatel Consortium is 35 percent Udenna Corporation, 25 percent Chelsea Logistics Holdings Corporation and 40 percent China Telecom. Chelsea Logistics Holdings Corporation is a subsidiary of Udenna Corporation. Wall Street analysts have given General Steel a "N/A" rating, but there may be better buying opportunities in the stock market. Some of MarketBeat's past winning trading ideas have resulted in 5-15% weekly gains. MarketBeat just released five new stock ideas, but General Steel wasn't one of them. MarketBeat thinks these five companies may be even better buys. View MarketBeat's top stock picks here. The Toronto-Dominion Bank, together with its subsidiaries, provides various personal and commercial banking products and services in Canada and the United States. It operates through three segments: Canadian Retail, U.S. Retail, and Wholesale Banking. The company offers personal deposits, such as chequing, savings, and investment products; financing, investment, cash management, international trade, and day-to-day banking services to businesses; and financing options to customers at point of sale for automotive and recreational vehicle purchases through auto dealer network. It also provides credit cards; real estate secured lending; auto finance; consumer lending; point-of-sale payment solutions for large and small businesses; wealth and asset management products, private banking, investment advisory, and trust services to retail and institutional clients; and property and casualty insurance, as well as life and health insurance products. The company also provides capital markets, and corporate and investment banking services, including underwriting and distribution of new debt and equity issues; advice on strategic acquisitions and divestitures; and trading, funding, and investment services to companies, governments, and institutions. It offers its products and services under the TD Bank and America's Most Convenient Bank brand names. The company operates through a network of 1,085 branches, 3,440 automated teller machines, and 1,223 stores, as well as offers telephone, digital, and mobile banking services. The Toronto-Dominion Bank was founded in 1855 and is headquartered in Toronto, Canada. Read More FAIRFIELD Following a round of meetings and updates regarding the ongoing fill pile lawsuit with Julian Enterprises, some selectmen are pushing for the arbitration hearing scheduled for next month to be open to the public. The Board of Finance meeting where (the town attorney and First Selectman Mike Tetreau) gave an update made me think more about the process and how it was discussed, Selectman Ed Bateson said at the Jan. 16 meeting. What became obvious is that I cant be guaranteed that (the arbitration hearing) will be public. Batesons comments come in the wake of the Jan. 8 Board of Finance meeting where Stanton Lesser, the town attorney, updated the selectmen on the status, a meeting that at times turned contentious. Fellow Republican Selectman Chris Tymniak agreed, arguing a public arbitration hearing would help ensure transparency and openness. I believe this process should be done in public, its been in the news multiple years for now and I was under the impression that the binding arbitration hearing would be public, Tymniak said. When I found out it wasnt, I was disappointed by that. The ongoing litigation between the town and Julian Enterprises spans back to May 2017. The town sued the company for breach of contract, claiming the company had violated its agreement to reduce a fill pile on Richard White Way from 2013 to 2016. The company countersued the town for defamation. According to court documents filed Nov. 15, the town and Julian both withdrew their lawsuits against each other to enter into binding arbitration, a hearing which is scheduled to take place at Cohen and Wolf law offices in Bridgeport on Feb. 13-15. Lesser has said the option to settle the case is always present until the arbitrator makes a decision, a decision that could be made by the Board of Selectmen. Certain Board of Finance members also called for the arbitration hearing or its conclusion be made public. Tetreau said he would write an email to the town counsel informing them about the selectmens request following the Jan. 16 meeting. Bateson emphasized he didnt want the legal team to come back in February to discuss the request, but rather that they be prepared to inform the board about a resolution or arrangement to accommodate their request. A special Board of Selectmen meeting was scheduled for Jan. 23 with one item an executive session with the town attorney regarding the fill pile lawsuit. humberto.juarez@hearstmediact.com Update: According to court documents, the case against Eliezer Soto was dismissed. FAIRFIELD Eliezer Soto, of Old Saybrook, was charged with larceny and failure to provide notice of three-days right to cancel of a contract he issued to a 75-year-old resident who hired his landscaping services. The resident reported to police he had hired Soto, from Budget Fence LLC, to install a fence on his property. After receiving payment in May of last year, police say, Soto did not complete the job he was hired for, providing excuses to postpone the work and not refunding the payment. Soto allegedly told police he would provide the client with a refund by the end of September. Connecticut law requires that contracts note a start and finish date and a three-day right to cancel the work, items that Soto did not provide in the contract with his client, according to police. In early October, the client still had not received a refund, and Soto was charged with larceny and failure to provide notice of three-days right to cancel. humberto.juarez@hearstmediact.com National Buying Group has welcomed Putney Builders Merchants and its parent company Alloway Timber as new partners. Founded in 1971, family-owned Alloway Timber supplies traders in London and Surrey from its locations in Putney, Fulham, Kingston, Cheam, Mitcham and Byfleet. In 2003, PBM Builders Merchants was launched from a single depot in Putney. Since then, the business has grown to 3 depots across London and Surrey, opening its second location in Kingston in 2006 before adding a third in Byfleet in 2012. In 2019, Alloway Timber and PBM Builders Merchants set out on a new strategy to improve service for their shared customers. The three-year initiative will take the company through to its 50th year and focuses on simplifying the business and delivering service excellence throughout the customer journey. Finbarr Doyle, Managing Director at Alloway Timber and Putney Builders Merchants, said: When it came to choosing a buying group, NBG was an obvious choice. Our core values chime with NBGs and the emphasis we place on people, relationships and loyalty are definitely aligned. NBG succeeds due to its approach to supplier partnerships. While other groups pressure suppliers for the best deals, NBG focuses on building lasting relationships and understands that sometimes the best deals are delivered through partnerships, not pressure. NBG Managing Director Nick Oates said: We are delighted to welcome Alloway Timber and Putney Builders Merchants on board as partners. With such a strong history and emphasis on community and relationships, we can see this being a very successful partnership for both NBG, Alloway Timber and PBM Builders Merchants. HARTFORD The 2019 General Assembly is just two weeks old but already one of the signature battles expected to dominate this session legalizing recreational marijuana is heating up. Marijuana legalization proponents wasted no time, as they held a mini-rally in favor of legalization the same day Gov. Ned Lamont was inaugurated on Jan. 9. On Wednesday, those opposed to legalization fired back. The Connecticut Chapter of Smart Approaches to Marijuana and the Connecticut Association of Prevention Professionals held a Legislative Office Building press conference to inform legislators and the public regarding the health risks of legalizing retail marijuana and recent findings, such as how states that have legalized marijuana now lead the U.S. in teen use. Those speaking out against legalization ranged from police chiefs, to medical experts, to legislators, to high school students. Their message was that the legislature should tread carefully before legalizing it and to not fall in love with the potential financial windfall it could bring. They warned of other costs, such as increased drug use, that could outweigh the benefits. Local law enforcement does not have the resources to deal with the legalization of recreational marijuana, said Wethersfield Police Chief James Cetran, who is also president of the Connecticut Police Chiefs Association. Cetran said Connecticut police are already overwhelmed by the opioid crisis in the state of Connecticut and would be unable to handle marijuana legalization. He said that if the legislature and governor insist on pushing forward with it then perhaps the Consumer Protection should set up a marijuana policing department. Consumer Protection already oversees the medical marijuana program. Cetran and other opponents said another objection to legalization is the lack of an industry standard for drivers under the influence of marijuana. Three of the marijuana bills introduced in the General Assembly so far this year seek to study or implement a DUI standard-type test for police to use to test for marijuana. Dr. Deepak Cyril DSouza, a research scientist and professor of psychiatry at the Yale School of Medicine, said his research shows that the highest rates of cannabis use among young people are in states where marijuana is legal. He said that, in his opinion, that is particularly dangerous because there is accumulating evidence that the brain of adolescents and young adults (mid-20s) is more vulnerable to the effects of cannabis. Lawmakers in favor of legalization are seeking to only give access to residents over the age of 21. Regardless, as has been the case in previous years debates, proponents and opponents trot out their own statistics and arguments when making their case. Brian Essenter, public outreach director for Connecticut NORML, a state chapter of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML), said NORMLs research shows fewer young people smoke pot in Colorado now than before it was legalized. He also said that NORML believes marijuana is not a gateway to harder drugs. He said when cannabis is sold in an unregulated marketplace the dealers are more concerned about keeping customers or hooking them on more profitable drugs. He said thats not the case in a regulated marketplace. He said children would have less access to cannabis in a regulated marketplace. He added that if adults keep telling kids lies, theyre going to research it themselves. One of the most adamant opponents is Bo Huhn, a spokesman for the Connecticuts Smart Approaches for Marijuana (SAM), has made repeated trips to the state capitol over the past few years to speak against legalization. Huhn, from Guilford, said his own research shows him that marijuana can be a gateway to harder drugs. He said its personal for him because my youngest daughter got addicted to crack as a sophomore in high school. We went through a nightmare, Huhn said. The impact was devastating. Also speaking against legalization was Julia Rubbo, a Guilford High School student. She said shes concerned that the mindset of my peers is so dangerously casual about pot. I am deeply concerned about all the people who have tried marijuana that are my age. While legalization seems to still be a toss-up issue in this years General Assembly it is not with the general population. The most recent poll was conducted in October 2017 by Sacred Heart University. Results suggested that 71 percent of Connecticut residents strongly supported or somewhat supported legalizing and taxing marijuana at that time, in the context of the states budget crisis. The Office of Fiscal Analysis estimated last year that Connecticut could bring in $45.4 million to $104.6 million a year if it legalizes marijuana in the same way its been done in Massachusetts or Colorado. Connecticut is still facing a substantial two-year, multi-billion budget deficit. Massachusetts recently became the seventh state in the nation to establish a regulated cannabis market for adults. A total of nine states have enacted laws to legalize, regulate, and tax marijuana for adult use. Lawmakers in Vermont and voters in Washington, D.C. adopted laws making marijuana possession and cultivation legal for adults, but not commercial production or sales. In Maine, sales are expected to begin in the fall. Christine Stuart contributed to this story Im talking to the carnivores out there. Its the middle of winter, and youve been eating way too much red meat. Of course you have. The cold makes us all crave the full, unbeatable umami flavor of a real burger, but chefs have found ways to achieve satisfying alternatives. The trend is to keep the ingredients fresh natural, bypassing tofu and fillers like breadcrumbs. Non-beef burgers have come a long way in the past few years, and more restaurants are offering them. Some attempt to immitate the taste of beef. But most dont, which is wise. A good veggie burger can be as full-flavored as a beef burger without trying to fool a persons palate. B.Good, a Boston-based farm-to-table chain with restaurants in Greenwich and Fairfield, does a good job of making eggplants beefy. Which is a good thing because they serve meat-free meatballs, made from eggplant, either as a side or with zucchini spaghetti. Eggplant delivers the flavor profile of beef, and even more so at B.Good, where a mix of garlic and oregano brings even more depth to the dish. Linh Aven, B.Goods executive chef, has a background as a research scientist, experience that she says serves her well in the kitchen. Ill experiment and experiment for hours, she says. Although not a vegetarian, Aven likes the notion that natural foods should be favored over imitation meat. Id rather have mushroom or eggplant, she says. On another day, we visited a restaurant with a name so similar, we sometimes got tripped up. (It was even more confusing when the short-lived bfresh grocery store was its neighbor.) Plan B Burger Bar, a small Connecticut-owned chain with restaurants in Stamford, Fairfield and Milford among other places, has two meat-free options on its extensive menu. One tries to be a hamburger, the other doesnt. Its the Impossible Burger that tries to fool you. This lab-produced patty made headlines when it was released to the public, mainly because its plant-based, and yet seems to bleed in its raw state. The Impossible Burger is like a well-done hamburger patty. Its best accompanied with more savory condiments such as cheddar cheese, pickles and spicy mustard. Dan Anderheggen, general manager of the Fairfield branch, confided that his wife is a vegan while hes a meat lover, but the Impossible Burger is one meal they can share. They also sell very well, he adds, because they are hard to find. The veggie burger sells better, but not buy a large margin. Pinto Bean-Beet Burgers Servings: 8 Start to finish: 1 hour Salt and pepper 2/3 cup medium-grind bulgur, rinsed 1 large beet (9 ounces), trimmed, peeled, and shredded 3/4 cup walnuts 1/2 cup fresh basil leaves 2 garlic cloves, minced 1 (15-ounce) can pinto beans, rinsed 1 (4-ounce) jar carrot baby food 2 tablespoons water 1 tablespoon whole-grain mustard 1 1/2 cups 100 percent whole-wheat panko bread crumbs 6 tablespoons expeller-pressed canola oil, plus extra as needed Bring 1 1/2 cups water and 1/2 teaspoon salt to boil in small saucepan. Off heat, stir in bulgur, cover, and let stand until tender, 15 to 20 minutes. Drain bulgur, spread onto rimmed baking sheet, and let cool slightly. Meanwhile, pulse beet, walnuts, basil, and garlic in food processor until finely chopped, about 12 pulses, scraping down sides of bowl as needed. Add beans, carrot baby food, water, mustard, 1 1/2 teaspoons salt, and 1/2 teaspoon pepper and pulse until well combined, about 8 pulses. Transfer mixture to large bowl and stir in panko and cooled bulgur. Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 200 F. Divide mixture into 8 equal portions and pack into 3 1/2-inch-wide patties. Heat 3 tablespoons oil in 12-inch nonstick skillet over medium-high heat until shimmering. Gently lay 4 patties in skillet and cook until crisp and well browned on first side, about 4 minutes. Gently flip patties and cook until crisp and well browned on second side, about 4 minutes, adding extra oil if skillet looks dry. Transfer burgers to wire rack set in rimmed baking sheet and place in oven to keep warm. Wipe out skillet with paper towels and repeat with remaining 3 tablespoons oil and remaining patties. Serve. The recipe was provided by America's Test Kitchen to the Associated Press. See More Collapse Some people that dont like to eat to eat meat dont even want to feel like theyre eating meat, and when you eat the Imposible Burger, its feels like meat, says Anderheggen. Their Organic Veggie Burger, a pattie formed with beans, quinoa and vegetables, is served with the most traditional of fixings: American cheese, lettuce, tomato and onion. The patties are made in-house, and naturally taste fresher than a frozen patty. They also fall apart a little while handled, but who cares? It was delicious and satisfying. Not beefy at all, but full-flavored. Just the right amount of salt, and even a little sweet. It struck me after lunch that although I was having a vegetarian lunch at a burger restaurant, I didnt leave feeling deprived. Next, we traveled farther down the road and stopped at a Whole Foods to see the veggie burger options in the freezer case. Years ago, we ate frozen veggie burgers regularly, but quit when we noticed the salt content on the label. One interesting entry to market is the Dr. Praegers brand, which has a lot less salt than some competitors. Its kale-and-quinoa burger, which has nine other vegetables packed into this powerhouse patty, is my favorite. After 12 minutes in a 450-degree oven, the little green-ish patty gave off the aroma of a kale soup that had simmered for hours. I dressed it on a bun with similar toppings to Plan Bs, and found a very rich flavor. Not bright like the fresh burger, but more complex. Praegers has lots of veggie burgers, including one made with mushroom rissoto, another with heirloom beans and one with a California blend of carrots, zucchini and red pepper. For extra protein, top it with a fried egg. The fourth option is to make them at home, from scratch. Americas Test Kitchen, my go-to for sharpening my cooking skills, has published a veggie burger recipe with one unusual ingredient: carrot baby food from a jar, which acts as a binder and lends a subtle sweetness to the mix. They also combined pinto beans with beets for the earthiness, walnuts for the richness and bulgur for the chewiness. The recipe is in the sidebar. Lee Steele is the editor of Sunday Arts & Style. As the Greenwich artist Margot Bittenbender herself might say, she didnt go down a rabbit hole to discover Alice in Wonderland as a muse. Instead, she found Alice in Japan, where she lived for years during her own real life journey. Take Go Ask Alice (Magical Mushroom Kimono), one of the prints Bittenbender had in her recent solo show at the Silvermine Art Center in New Canaan. The titular mushrooms are rendered with scientific precision, but the kimono they float over is flattened to near abstraction. Both in turn are framed by a musical score. Your remember that song by the Jefferson Airplane, Go ask Alice, I think shell know, thats what the music is in the background, Bittenbender says, paraphrasing the lyrics to White Rabbit. Its all based on the kimono and where your imagination can go. The idea is if Alice had gone to a Japanese wonderland, she and the White Rabbit would meet and there would be a different kind of kimono than could be found in Japan or here. So I imagined the kimono in a surreal Japanese wonderland. The Go Ask Alice kimono belongs to a set Bittenbender had in the Silvermine show. Another, Kimono for White Rabbit, shows a Wonderland clock with mixed up hours, some rabbits drawn in the kawaii (Hello Kitty) style popular in Japan, while others are faithful to John Tenniel, the early Alice illustrator. Altogther Bittenbender had some two dozen Alice or Japanese inspired prints in the show. She made each using a labor intensive intaglio, or etching, process, and loaded each with cross-cultural meaning. Go Ask Alice alone connects the 1960s U.S. music and drug scene with Japans centuries old kimono tradition (the actual garments are hung flat, just like her imagined ones) as well as its mushroom cuisine. Then theres Alice, or what she has become. Its incredible, such serious attention is paid to these books, says Bittenbender, who belongs to a Lewis Carroll Society. She just had her 150th anniversary. I see her now as a young girl, almost a woman, whos very self-possessed and very serious. She doesnt hesitate to explore or ask questions. Most of the time, she doesnt get answers, but she keeps trying to understand the surreal world she finds herself in. As it was for Alice, so it has been for Bittenbender on her Asian travels. After studying art at Wittenberg University in Ohio, she spent 14 years abroad with her husband, a banker, adopting to different cultures. Her first stay in Japan, when she was a young mother, lasted five years. The second, after theyd settled in Greenwich, lasted two. It was during that stay that Bittenbender began to see Alice as more than a fun story or Disney heroine. In a contemporary art museum, she bought a Japanese translation of Alice with the original Tenniel illustrations. I thought it was kind of cool. Then I started noticing how popular Alice is in Japan, especially with manga and anime artists. They had Alice cafes where the waitresses dressed like Alice. Serious artists do oil paintings of her, she says. In a nation where most businesses have a cartoon mascot, Alice is the only western one and has a larger following in general than Anne of Green Gables, another Japanese obsession. Anne appeals to young women. Alice appeals to everyone, she says. Over the years, Bittenbender kept up her art work, including studying and eventually teaching print making at Silvermine. She also taught art at Greenwichs Parkway Elementary School for 20 years, leading several trips to China. Her retirement in 2012 roughly coincided with her second Japan residency and led to an outburst of creativity. One of her first important solo shows was at the gallery of the Tokyo American Club, in 2015. The gallery normally exhibits only established local, or Japanese, artists. The intaglio label she puts on most of her prints embraces a tool kit of etching methods. She may begin with a bare copper plate but cover it with a variety of substances into which she will etch an image or pattern. The plate is then dipped a chemical bath, imprinting the etched image into the metal. In the final stages, she may add color or cut paper to the etching. A favorite etching medium is soft ground, a dark asphalt material that she describes as being like Vaseline. I think I use it more than most artists. Maybe more than any artist, she says. I love the effects. Its like sealing wax. Her studio, including a chemical sink, is in the unfinished basement of her modest home in Old Greenwich. Besides Alice, Bittenbender also has done series of prints based on Mount Fuji and another on Noguchis 40-ton Moto Taro stone sculpture at the Storm King Art Center in New York. A series inspired by Oriental puppets and dolls is ongoing. Her interest in them dates back 20 years and she still seeks them out in village puppet shows during the weeks-long return trips she and her husband make once or twice a year. Some she has collected are quite old. I have puppets that have traveled in the villages of western China in the 1940s, where there would be a cart (pulled by itinerant puppeteers). So I figure those puppets have been places Ive never been, she says. Traditional puppeteers think of their puppets has having souls and they depend on the humans to allow them to speak and have a life. I put dolls in the same category. The doll sits there until the little girl comes along and gives it life and movement. Bittenbender feels much the same when she does prints of puppets or dolls. I think Im sort of doing portraits, she says. She also sees connections between the mysteries embodied in puppets and Alices adventures in Wonderland with her own in Japan. Im more interested in things I dont understand, I guess, she says. I thought there are many things in Japanese culture I dont understand. So I sometimes felt like Alice. The artists upcoming solo show, Prints and Photographs by Margot Bittenbender, is March 3-April 30 at the Mayors Gallery, 888 Washington Boulevard, Stamford. An opening reception, from 5 to 7 p.m. Wednesday, March 20, is free and open to the public. Joel Lang is a frequent contributor to Sunday Arts & Style. The Civil Aviation Agency of Slovenia has completed its audit of Adria Airways' business after obligating the carrier to submit proof of its liquidity. The regulator found that the Slovenian airline successfully proved its future financial stability, ending speculation that its Air Operator's Certificate (AOC) could be revoked. Adria's owner, 4K Invest, injected four million euros into the carrier late last year and promised a further ten million euros in funding during the first quarter of 2019. The agency launched an investigation into the airline's operations after it was determined that it met one of the conditions for declaring insolvency based on its 2017 financial report. In a statement, the carrier said, "The Agency found that Adria Airways, with its implemented and planned business and financial measures, proved it is able to settle all of its obligations over a long period of time and that, in the long-run, is solvent based on all legal criteria. Furthermore, it fulfilled all necessary requirements set for holders of an operating license". It added, "At the same time, in several separate procedures, the Agency confirmed that Adria Airways meets all technical requirements which ensure appropriate aviation safety levels". The airline's CEO, Holger Kowarsch, said, "I did not expect for any other decision to be made by the Agency, as Adria Airways has always been in compliance with the requirements of the operating license holder". Mr Kowarsch noted the airline would continue implementing its restructuring program. "I regret that there have been so many false and misleading reports in recent months about the company's business condition. However, at the same time, I am looking forward to continuing with the implementation of our strategic plan and building on the long-term development of the Slovenian airline. We will further adjust our network of flights, add frequencies and also keep all connections to major European hubs". The company recently said it was "positive about the future". "Sustainable growth remains Adria Airways long-term goal", it noted. "This year's winter season focuses more on the stability of operations in the segment of scheduled transport and the strengthening of relations with other airlines". The Croatian Minister for Sea, Transport and Infrastructure, Oleg Butkovic, has met with his Chinese counterpart in Beijing to discuss the introduction of flights to Zagreb this year. Initial talks on establishing the route began in 2018. Mr Butkovic will also meet representatives from Chinese carriers. A final agreement on the new service is likely to be inked at this year's 16+1 CEEC - China summit in Dubrovnik in May, which will bring together sixteen Central and Eastern European nations and China. "We are attempting to reach an agreement over nonstop flights between Zagreb, Beijing and Shanghai. Croatia has been recognised by Chinese tourists as an interesting new destination in Europe", Croatia's Prime Minister, Andrej Plenkovic, said recently. Despite growing demand, Croatia Airlines currently has no codeshare agreement in place with any Chinese carrier nor does it have a codeshare partnership with other airlines on flights to China. Hainan Airlines is said to be "very interested" in commencing flights to Croatia. "We discussed the possibility of Hainan Airlines introducing nonstop flights from China to Croatia, most probably to Zagreb. The launch of this service would boost the number of Chinese tourists to Croatia", the Zagreb-based Chinese Southeast European Business Association, said recently. Beijing Capital Airlines, which shares the same owner as Hainan Airlines, was to introduce services between Beijing and the Croatian capital over the 2017 summer season, however, the planned operations were later cancelled. Initially, the carrier filed for a permit for a two weekly service with an Airbus A330-200 aircraft. Zagreb Airport recently noted, "We anticipate to finalise talks over the arrival of a Chinese carrier because Croatia is becoming of growing interest to Chinese tourists. There is also an increasing number of Chinese investments in Croatia and we believe that we will be able to find a common ground for the introduction of flights from a Chinese city". Over 215.000 Chinese tourists visited Croatia last year, with numbers expected to further grow in 2019. "This is primarily about simplifying and accelerating visa procedures, opening new routes and introducing new airlines from China, and adapting Croatian destinations to online payment services through Chinese mobile applications", the Croatian Minister for Tourism, Gari Capelli, said. Re: Tipping point seen in shrinking of ice sheet front page, Tuesday: The article says the melting ice sheet will be a major factor in sea-level rise around the world within two decades. This is much ado about nothing because Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., said Monday, The world is gonna end in 12 years if we dont address climate change. Why should I be concerned about something happening in 20 years if Im not going to be around after 12 years? Also makes me wonder which one of these clowns to believe. Don Ripley, Floresville Now theyre angry There is another name for the federal employees and contractors affected by the longest government shutdown in American history: Voters. And if you affix the adjective angry to it, you get a sizable population that will not be voting for Donald Trump in 2020, even if they did in 2016. Their relatives can be included in that number as well. I spoke to an H-E-B cashier who told me he has to send his father money to live because of the shutdown. One more unhappy camper. As many have said before, Trump is his own worst enemy. He is shooting himself in the foot with his intransigence. Loretta Van Coppenolle Because Democrats Re: Political pawns, Your Turn, Sunday: Letter writer Carlos Carranco Jr. from Laredo says, Can someone explain to me why the president didnt build the wall when both houses of Congress were predominantly Republican? The answer is incredibly simple. One word can sum it up: Democrats. To elaborate, it takes more than a simple majority to get anything passed through either chamber. Neither the House nor the Senate had more than a slim margin. Neither were what any reasonable person could call dominant. Even before the feckless Paul Ryan led 40-plus spineless lemmings over the cliff, the numbers in the House were a slim majority. And, of course, not one Democrat the party of no was going to put the American peoples security ahead of what they considered a political win at best, or at least, a chance to obstruct. All the people on furlough or not getting paid should blame the Democrats. I hope that clears it up for you. Gene Peterson Erik Walsh has spent 24 years with the city, rising to the top. The San Antonio native has emerged as the sole finalist to be the next city manager his dream job since he was a freshman at Central Catholic High School. Walsh has the experience for the position and exudes a love for San Antonio, and he has the respect of city staff and a reputation for staying cool during heated moments. Such intangibles should serve him well because he is taking the reins at a sensitive moment. He will need to maintain the standard of excellence that outgoing City Manager Sheryl Sculley has set, and yet manage with a much different style and tone that puts City Council at the forefront of policymaking. Sculley served this city for 13 years, and she was an excellent city manager. But her base compensation of $475,000 was a flashpoint, and her critics accused her of acting imperiously. It all came to a head with this fall with the overwhelming passage of Proposition B, one of three charter changes on the ballot. Proposition B limits Walshs compensation to 10 times the pay of the lowest-earning city employee and his term to eight years. Proposition C also passed, giving the fire union the sole right to declare an impasse in contract negotiations. In response, Fitch downgraded San Antonios credit rating. Walsh also faces a fairly big to-do list. Top of the list is negotiating a contract with the San Antonio Professional Firefighters Association, which pushed for these charter changes. We suspect the fire union will wait to see the results of Mays municipal elections before it comes to the table. Still. There is a new manager, and no excuse not to talk. The city and Bexar County remain at an impasse over the countys new Justice Intake and Assessment Center. The citys intake and detention center at the Frank Wing Municipal Court is outdated and depressing. The countys building is modern and embraces best practices. Is it perfect? No. But in this dispute, local officials have lost sight of taxpayers, who should not be paying for two intake and detention centers. Mayor Ron Nirenberg has made transit a priority, and if Nirenberg wins re-election this year, the public will likely vote on his transit plan in November 2020. Walsh will play a key role in implementing this vision. And the city needs more affordable housing and better controls for residents affected by gentrification. If Walsh can hit the mark on these issues, and others, perhaps voters will rethink those unfortunate charter changes that have ushered in this new era. David Young, Managing Director of Bradfords Building Supplies and Tony France, Sales Director of Ibstock Brick will take part in in a lively Industry Forum debate at this years All-Industry Conference. The Industry Forum is one of the most popular sessions at the BMFs biennial Conference, which takes place in June in Dubrovnik. Bringing together delegates from every sector of the industry to debate key business issues of the day. The scene is set with initial presentations by four industry leaders, with many years of experience between them, before the debate is opened to the floor Of the first two speakers to be named, Tony France will give a suppliers view, while David Young will draw on his current role, heading one of the countrys largest independents, and his earlier merchanting career within the Wolseley Group. Tony France (pictured right) is Sales Director of Ibstock Brick, the UKs market-leading brick manufacturer with 21 factories producing over 800 million bricks a year. He is also Supplier Advisor to the BMF Board and the BMBI Expert for Bricks. Tony has worked in the brick industry for 34 years since joining the sales team of Steetley Brick & Tile in 1985. Having worked through the acquisitions of Steetley by Redland in 1992, then of Redland by Ibstock in 1996, he has seen a lot of change in the industry most of which, he says, for the good. He has always worked closely with Builders Merchants, forming strong relationships and a deep passion for the sector. He has also attended every BMF Conference since his first in Barcelona in 1994. David Young (pictured left) specialises in developing businesses through strong relationships with customers, suppliers and employees. He has been Managing Director of Bradfords Building Supplies since 2015, heading a business that encompasses 43 builders merchants, 23 plumbing and heating branches, 23 toolhire branches and seven kitchens and bathroom showrooms. He has worked in the construction materials industry throughout his career, joining the Wolseley UK graduate sales management training scheme in 1996. He ran his first branch the following year and undertook a number of sales and operational roles within the Build Center brand, becoming Build Center trading director for the southwest in 2006 before moving to a national role with Drain Center five years later. He joined Bradfords Building Supplies in 2014 as Business Development Director before taking up to his current role. John Newcomb, BMF CEO, said: With our Conference theme of Building Excellence we will be exploring how our industry can thrive no matter what the challenges presented by external environments beyond our control. Im delighted that David and Tony, who both have a wealth of experience in managing through change, have accepted our invitation to help set the agenda for this unmissable debate. The sold-out BMF All Industry Conference takes place in Dubrovnik from 13-16 June 2019. Further details are available on the Conference website, www.bmfconference.co.uk AUSTIN State officials are planning to build a brand-new $320 million San Antonio State Hospital at its same South Side site, with construction set to start next year and doors opening in 2023. Theres just one hitch: the money isnt there yet. The Legislature dedicated $300 million in the 2018-19 budget, including $14.5 million to plan the replacement for the San Antonio psychiatric hospital. Texas lawmakers are in the early stages of writing the next state budget, and an early Senate proposal would again dedicate $300 million to state hospital projects. This is a priority, said Sen. Kirk Watson, D-Austin, who is on the Senate Finance Committee. Were talking about evolving our facilities in ways where they are designed for the patient. San Antonios current 300-bed facility is a relic from an era where the mentally ill were essentially warehoused out of sight, out of mind often said to be for their own safety as well as that of the community. It includes numerous buildings, some that date back to 1892; on the west end of the 250-acre campus, the newest structure was built in 1946. On ExpressNews.com: Lack of funding keeps shoddy buildings at state hospital Living spaces are clean but the hallways are narrow with low ceilings and harsh artificial lighting. Weathered buildings are crumbling in places; sloping floors and sinking foundations are evident. There were a few buildings added in the 1970s, but a 2014 structural analysis found that, overall, 80 percent of the facility was in critical condition. The new San Antonio State Hospital calls for grouping patients into smaller units, separated by open-air courtyards that let in natural light and allow patients to go outside. In the middle of the two-story, V-shaped building would be large rooms for occupational therapy and exercise, according to design plans released this week by the Texas Health and Human Services Commission. It's going to be a much better, healthier environment for our patients, said Vincent Creazzo, assistant superintendent at the psychiatric hospital. Preliminary estimates put the cost of the proposed new 296-bed hospital at about $320 million, but that could change. The new hospital is part of a sweeping state plan to update nearly half of the states 10 aging psychiatric hospitals and meet growing patient demand. This week, some 700 patients statewide waited for an open bed. People are waiting in jail for access to inpatient services. People end up in the emergency room being held there, said Greg Hansch, with the National Alliance on Mental Illness Texas. Its a major drain on local resources. For years, mental health advocates across Texas have sought to improve the states psychiatric facilities with little success. Word of the new state plans brought renewed hope. We need a new hospital, said Martha Steczkowski, longtime volunteer and past president of the hospitals Volunteer Services Council. We are excited about this. We think its going to be great and were looking forward to seeing how it all turns out. Other projects include replacing Austin State Hospital, renovating Kerrville State Hospital, building a 100-bed maximum security unit at Rusk State Hospital, and adding a 240-bed psychiatric hospital in Harris County. Together, the projects would add more than 300 beds, according to health commission officials. Texas Take: Get the latest news on Texas politics sent directly to your inbox every weekday The state hospitals also house forensic patients who have been found temporarily incompetent to stand trial or not guilty of a crime by reason of insanity. About 40 percent of the beds at San Antonio State Hospital are currently taken by forensic patients, Creazzo said. This week, 50 forensic patients were on the hospitals waiting list, officials said. Once the new hospital is complete, there wouldnt be a dedicated number of beds for forensic patients, Creazzo said. New units would be smaller, he said, with 24 beds instead of the current 40, giving the hospital more flexibility to adjust to patient demand. More beds are expected to come online, however, before the new hospital is complete. Construction is set to begin later this year on an $11.5 million project to convert a now vacant building at the state hospital campus into a new treatment unit with 40 additional beds. The renovation is expected to be complete by mid-2021, according to HHSC plans. The structural analysis conducted by Cannon Design recommended that all of the buildings be demolished, noting it would cost more to improve and maintain the property than it would to pay for a new facility. No decision has been made about demolishing the facilities; its possible some of the newer buildings could be repurposed. Theres plenty of room for the new facility even if the old one isnt razed; most of the campus 250 acres are empty land previously used for a vegetable and dairy farm. amorris@express-news.net Hundreds of advocates for private school vouchers and other forms of school choice rallied on the grounds of the Texas Capitol on Wednesday but with less momentum than they appeared to have in past legislative sessions. New Texas House Speaker Dennis Bonnen has already said the House has little interest in delving into the issue of private school vouchers and the issue has not been a big talking point for either Gov. Greg Abbott or Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick this year. It is a considerable shift from two years ago when both Republican leaders had it high on their lists of priorities. Patrick, Bonnen and Abbott all did not attend the school choice rally in front of the Capitol this year. Two years ago, Patrick and Abbott were featured speakers at the event. Still, that didnt stop supporters of school choice on Wednesday from hitting the Capitol in force to promote charter schools, magnet schools, homeschooling and other non-traditional public school programs. After the rally, which featured speeches from Texas Land Commissioner George P. Bush and U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, the crowd of parents and students filtered through the Capitol talking to lawmakers and their staffs about the benefits of other schooling options. Randan Steinhauser, who helped organize Wednesdays events and is a founder of the Texas School Choice Coalition, said that while voucher legislation isnt advancing, other parts of the school choice movement are gaining steam. School choice is more than one policy proposal, she said. State Sen. Larry Taylor, a Friendswood Republican who chairs the Senate Education Committee, said he fully supports school choice still and was among those at the rally. But, he acknowledges this session has different priorities than 2017. My priority this session is school finance, Taylor said in an interview after the rally. Two years ago, it was Taylor who led the efforts in the Senate to pass legislation that would have allowed state dollars to help pay for private school tuition subsidies. State Sen. Jose Menendez, a San Antonio Democrat, said he cant imagine school voucher legislation getting much support in a year that the Legislature is trying to fix school funding issues in Texas. He said doing something that could take more money out of public schools would be counterproductive to that mission. Every year since Ive been here in 2001, that issue has been brought up by somebody, Menendez said of school vouchers. Its gone nowhere. Though Patrick did not attend the rally, his press secretary Alejandro Garcia said the issue is still an important one. School choice is important to the lieutenant governor, especially for children with disabilities, Garcia said. He believes it is particularly important for parents of a disabled child to be able to send their child to the school they believe is best to educate their child, regardless of whether it is public or private. The battle over school choice has been divisive for not just Democrats, but created strains within the GOP ranks as well. Just this week, Patrick, as leader of the Senate, stripped longtime State Sen. Kel Seliger, an Amarillo Republican, of his committee chairmanship on Agriculture over tensions that trace back to Seligers opposition to school voucher legislation. Seliger was an open critic of the school voucher legislation Patrick advocated for in 2017, saying people in his West Texas district opposed the idea. At the rally, Cruz declared school choice as the civil rights issue of the 21st Century. The Houston area Republican said school choice can help families from every background access excellent education through private schools, charters or other options. Justice is on our side, Cruz said. You know the rich and the middle class have had school choice from the dawn of time. Those with lots of money have the ability to choose the educational option for their kids. School choice is about assuring every child has that option regardless of if mom or dad have a bunch of money in the bank or not. jeremy.wallace@chron.com Eric Gay, STF / Associated Press The Texas Legislature is starting to pick up the pace after House Committee assignments were announced on Wednesday. Whats happening at the Texas Capitol on Thursday: A visitation and funeral have been scheduled for a mother and her two daughters who were found shot to death in a luxury home in far Northwest Bexar County two weeks ago. Hairstylist Nichol Leila Olsen, 37, and daughters Alexa Denice Montez, 16, and London Sophia Bribiescas, 10, will be honored together, said the teens father, Carlos Montez Jr. Visitation will take place from 4 to 9 p.m. Friday at Mission Park Funeral Chapels Stone Oak at 23755 U.S. 281 North, said Michael Hoffman, general manager of that facility. The funeral will follow at 11 a.m. Saturday at Place for Life Church at 5820 N.W. Loop 410, Hoffman said. Interment will happen at a later date, he said. That will be private. FIND OUT FIRST: Get San Antonio breaking news directly to your inbox Olsen and her two daughters were found fatally shot Jan. 10 in a house where they lived with Olsens boyfriend in the gated Anaqua Springs Ranch subdivision near Leon Springs. Olsen had been shot once in the head, and her death was ruled a suicide by the Bexar County medical examiners office. But her friends and family have strongly rejected that finding, saying she never would have harmed her children or herself. Montez, a cheerleader and sophomore at Clark High School, had been shot once in the head, while Bribiescas, a fifth-grader at Leon Springs Elementary School, suffered a gunshot wound to the head and neck. Their deaths were ruled homicides. Bexar County Sheriff Javier Salazar has been reluctant to accept the medical examiners ruling that Olsen died by her own hand without doing further investigation. His agency still is examining the shootings. Salazar has called in the FBI to assist. Olsens boyfriend, Charlie Wheeler, 31, who owns the house where the shootings occurred, told authorities he returned there the morning of Jan. 10 to find the mother and daughters dead. RELATED: FBI joins investigation into fatal triple shooting in luxury San Antonio-area home He told investigators hed left the house the previous night after a conflict with Olsen and went to stay at a family members home in another city. Investigators are waiting on cellular tower records and vehicles GPS data to verify his statements. Salazar has called Wheeler a person of interest, but not a suspect. Wheeler has not been charged with any wrongdoing and has fully cooperated with the investigation since the day of the shootings, sheriffs officials said. His attorneys said they welcome the FBIs involvement. Wheeler is not the only person of interest, Salazar said. Peggy OHare is a staff writer in the San Antonio and Bexar County area. Read her on our free site, mySA.com, and on our subscriber site, ExpressNews.com. | pohare@express-news.net | Twitter: @Peggy_OHare Its said third times the charm, and former Bexar County Sheriff Susan Llewellyn Pamerleau may have been thinking of that when she took the oath of office as the U.S. marshal of the Western District of Texas for the third time Wednesday. I hope this one sticks, Pamerleau quipped, after she was sworn in by Chief U.S. District Judge Orlando Garcia in front of a packed courtroom of observers that included members of area law enforcement, friends and other supporters. Related: Trump nominates Susan Pamerleau for U.S. marshal President Donald Trump nominated Pamerleau in April and her appointment was confirmed by the U.S. Senate in August. She took a quick oath in Washington so she could immediately begin work and then took a second oath in September, also administered by Garcia, to ensure she was legally serving as the U.S. marshal. But the formal ceremony was yet to come. It was finally scheduled for December, and then was delayed by the death of former President George Walker Bush. Despite the repeat oath-taking events, Pamerleau and those in attendance Wednesday were enthusiastic about her appointment. Im honored to be asked by President Trump to serve, to continue to serve my nation and do important work, protecting the judicial process to ensure and support the fair, impartial, efficient and transparent administration of justice at every level, Pamerleau said. At Wednesdays ceremony, Pamerleau particularly thanked the Brackenridge High Schools JROTC Golden Female Honor Guard, which presented the colors. Pamerleau, who served 32 years in the Air Force, was the first woman to command its ROTC program, said former State District Judge Stephani Walsh, who emceed the event. Im very proud of what you do and what you stand for, Pamerleau told the JROTC members. The marshal also highlighted the accomplishment of several women who she said are heroines, including Angie Salinas, CEO of the Girl Scouts of Southwest Texas and a retired Marine Corps major general; former Texas Secretary of State Hope Andrade; and obstetrician/gynecologist Dr. Margaret Kelley, among others. On ExpressNews.com: Retired Marine Maj. Gen. Angie Salinas carries on legacy Pamerleau praised those in the marshals service and others in the court who have helped her learn the ropes and called her staff a group of true professionals. The Marshals Service, an arm of the Justice Department, is the countrys oldest federal law enforcement agency. Its duties include judicial and courthouse security, fugitive apprehensions and asset forfeiture. The Western District of Texas was formed in 1845 and is one of the busiest in the country. Besides San Antonio, it includes Austin, Waco, Del Rio, Alpine, Midland/Odessa and El Paso. Pamerleau, the Western Districts 33rd marshal, oversees 150 deputy marshals. Only about a dozen are women, according to supervisors, who said the district is working to recruit more women. In 2012, Pamerleau defeated incumbent Amadeo Ortiz in 2012 to become the first woman to be elected sheriff of Bexar County. She lost the seat in the 2016 election to current Sheriff Javier Salazar. After 32 years of service in the Air Force, she retired in 2000 as the director of Personnel Force Management at the Air Forces headquarters at the Pentagon. From 2001 to 2007, Pamerleau served as vice president and senior vice president for USAA in San Antonio. She also served on the board of directors for Government Personnel Mutual Life Insurance Company, and on the boards of several non-profit agencies in the area. Pamerleau holds a masters degree in public administration from Golden Gate University, a bachelor of arts in sociology from the University of Wyoming, and is a graduate of the FBIs National Executive Institute. On ExpressNews.com: U.S. Marshals Service chief here resigns under pressure The previous marshal, Robert Almonte, appointed by the-president Barack Obama in 2010, resigned in May 2016 amid allegations that he violated the Marshal Services rules and polices, which he denied. Guillermo Contreras covers federal court and immigration news in the San Antonio and Bexar County area. Read him on our free site, mySA.com, and on our subscriber site, ExpressNews.com. | gcontreras@express-news.net | Twitter: @gmaninfedland The four teen girls were hard at work at the San Antonio International Airport on Wednesday evening, loading up a car with all the goods they had collected for Transportation Security Administration personnel who have been working without pay for more than a month. We really appreciate them coming out to help during this hard time, said TSA Officer Tiffany Rios, as she and fellow Officer Chynae Raiford transferred goods from the car to a cart at Terminal B. Missing two paychecks is really hard. The four girls, members of the nonprofit Girl Up organization, wanted to help TSA workers kids. So they started collecting food and other items several days ago and held another drive at the airports cell phone lot Wednesday, gathering trunkfuls of donated gifts and needed goods such as juice boxes, granola bars, fruit snacks, backpacks stuffed with school supplies, tissues and diapers. Girl Up, started by the United Nations Foundation, offers leadership training and tools for girls around the world to create community-based movements. Janet Young, host mom of the San Antonio chapter of Girl Up, proposed the outreach project after she heard about the government shutdown and her thoughts went to the young government workers and their children. We know when the family is hurting, the kids hurt, Young said. The 20 members of her Girl Up chapter promptly took up the cause. The girls secured a $500 donation in gift cards from CNG Engineering and they contributed $500 in personal donations, with help from parents, to the week-long project. As 5 p.m. traffic moved slowly past the lot Wednesday, vehicles with donations came by for the girls to empty their trunks and transfer the items to Youngs car. Brittney Carson, 15, Simone Green, 17, and Reanna Wilson, 17, joined Youngs daughter, Jada, 16, on Wednesday. Jada Young, chapter president, said its sad that President Donald Trump partially closed the government until Congress approves the money to build a border wall. All I can do is pray for him and hope it ends soon, she said. Green said helping the workers felt good, but at the same time, she felt sorrow. I think helping out children is one of things I like to do, she said. I wish it was under different circumstances. Once Youngs car was empty, the girls helped the officers wheel the loaded cart inside the terminal. There, Vanessa James, supervisory transportation officer, joined the officers in thanking the girls for the donations she said would help many officers. Its hard to put into words, James said. I have a lot of young officers, who have babies, young kids in school and living payday to payday. This will definitely help, the smallest of things really help. Josh Cottrill, TSA security manager, said the donations were part of an ongoing outpouring of support the officers have received from San Antonio residents. While other airports have seen sickouts as a result of the government shutdown, the manager said the Alamo City has had a low percentage of officers missing work. Its a testament to San Antonio officers and their sense of duty, he said. Well get through this together. Vincent T. Davis is a reporter in the Greater San Antonio and Bexar County area. Read him on our free site, mySA.com, and on our subscriber site, ExpressNews.com. | vtdavis@express-news.net | Twitter: @vincentdavis After the departure of its most powerful legislator, San Antonios House delegation made up ground this week by securing two leadership positions and boosting its presence on the panel charged with writing the states budget. House Speaker Dennis Bonnen announced the chambers committee assignments Wednesday, marking another step in the progression of the states 86th Legislative Session. San Antonio had lost much of its clout in the chamber with the retirement of Joe Straus, a San Antonio native who led the House for the past decade, and the resignation of Justin Rodriguez, a member of the Appropriations Committee who joined Bexar County Commissioners Court earlier this month. RELATED: Castro leads Democrats in swearing off PAC money but will it hurt? Rodriguezs departure left the delegation down a member. The special election to fill his seat will be Feb. 12. Rep. Trey Martinez Fischer, the dean of the delegation, said the group made progress in regaining some of that clout Wednesday, calling it a high-momentum day. We certainly had a great distribution of significant committees that are not just very important to San Antonio but important to the entire state, said Martinez Fischer, a Democrat. Martinez Fischer returned to the House this year after a two-year absence he ran unsuccessfully for state Senate in 2016. He kept the 16 years of seniority from his first stint, making him the countys dean and helping to build back some of the delegations influence in the House. He will also chair the Business and Industry Committee, and Rep. Lyle Larson, a Republican, will continue leading the Natural Resources Committee. That matches the number of chairmen the delegation had last session. RELATED: City manager finalist wants San Antonio to be the best The county also was able to increase its representation on the budget-writing Appropriations Committee. Democratic Reps. Philip Cortez and Ina Minjarez landed spots on the powerful panel in this years session after Rodriguezs departure. The delegation also will have three members on committees central to the Houses top priorities school finance and property tax reform. Martinez Fischer is on the tax-writing Ways and Means Committee and Reps. Diego Bernal and Steve Allison are on the Public Education Committee. Freshman Rep. Leo Pacheco secured a seat on the Higher Education Committee, which Martinez Fischer said filled a key gap in the countys representation. Dylan McGuinness covers local politics and the Bexar County government for the Express-News. Read him on our free site, mySA.com, and on our subscriber site, ExpressNews.com. | dylan.mcguinness@express-news.net | Twitter: @DylMcGuinness In a reversal of two highly controversial decisions made by previous boards, South San Antonio Independent School District trustees voted Wednesday night to consider reopening closed schools in an effort to lure back students from charter schools and garner community support. Trustees voted 4-2, with one abstention, in favor of a resolution that calls for re-opening Athens Elementary School, Kazen Middle School and South San Antonio High School West Campus. The resolution is not a binding decision. A board workshop is scheduled Thursday night to discuss the Superintendent's recommendation concerning the re-purposing of closed campuses. RELATED: North East ISD mulls closing elementary school Superintendent Alexandro Flores declined to comment on the proposal until after Thursdays workshop. Trustees Louis Ybarra Jr, and Mandy Martinez voted against the resolution, and Elda Flores abstained. Connie Prado, Homer Flores, Gilbert Rodriguez and Shirley Ibarra Pena supported the resolution. The resolution, which was put on Wednesday's agenda by Homer Flores, declares that the board believes re-opening the schools will cause the return of students who have left the school district, restore existing students to their neighborhood campus and establish goodwill in the community. It calls for a smaller footprint at both Athens and Kazen, which were closed in 2017, and opening the former West Campus High school on a phase-in basis. The high school had about 600 students when it closed after flooding damaged the campus, but chronic low enrollment had been a source of concern for years. South San Antonio High School, currently the districts only high school, had about 2,600 students in 2017-18, according to TEA data, up from about 1,800 in 2007 before the two high schools were consolidated. RELATED: San Antonio commission recommends historic designation for Beacon Hill Elementary Trustees voted 4-3 to close Athens, Kazen and the districts alternative school in April 2017, citing low enrollment and budgetary concerns. Forty-one percent of the districts classrooms were empty, South San officials said at the time, and the alternative school had just 15 students. Closing the schools was expected to save more than $3.1 million, former Superintendent Abelardo Saavedra said. Enrollment in the district has declined by more than 10 percent since the 2013-14 school year. South San had just over 10,000 students that fall, according to data from the Texas Education Agency. In October, the district had 8,936 students, officials said. That was a slight decrease from last year, but a smaller drop than the district projected last spring. District officials said this fall that better-than-expected enrollment helped cut the projected $2.7 million budget deficit, but that a gap of about $1.5 million remained. Like many other San Antonio districts, South San has pointed to the rising popularity of charter schools as a factor in its shrinking enrollment. Board president Connie Prado said at a board meeting in December that school closures handed over our kids to IDEA, which is the citys largest charter school operator. Newly elected trustees Homer Flores, Rodriguez and Pena also voiced support for reopening the closed schools at that meeting. Flores said Wednesday that he believes passing the resolution is the "consistent with the constituents and the voice of the people." Trustee Elda Flores, one of two current board members who voted to close the schools in 2017, said she is not opposed to reopening the campuses but said the superintendent needs more time to research the proposal. She said voting on the resolution Wednesday would be overstepping the board's authority. Last month, City Councilman Rey Saldana, a South San graduate, proposed partnering with the city to use Kazen as a multi-generational center. He said the district could partner with the city to develop a center at the Kazen campus that would combine senior services, organizations like the YMCA and Boys and Girls Club and other non-profit partners, which could be funded by a future city bond issue. Saldana said Thursday that he hopes the school district seeks community input on the proposal before deciding to repurpose the campuses. The theory of change theyre operating on is opening buildings will increase the student population, he said. I dont know that the building means as much to a parent thats considering educational choices. Five people spoke in favor of reopening the schools during the public comment portion of Wednesdays meeting, including former trustee Stacey Alderete and Prados husband Raul Prado, a former city council member. Several of the speakers said the district's schools are overcrowded, and that students benefit from and would prefer to attend schools in their own neighborhoods. In a letter read into the record by Prado and addressed to the superintendent, State Rep. Philip Cortez, whose district includes part of South San ISD, also voiced support for reopening the schools. The resolution says that failing to act in a responsible and swift manner will cause the school district to lose an entire academic school year, and, consequently, lose our students to our competitors. It calls for an aggressive public relations campaign this spring to attract students to the campuses. LTeitz@express-news.net Note: This is a full Taste Test review, with a star rating based on multiple visits. This is a tale of three Acenars: the working lunch Id recommend to anyone; the glimmering, ideal River Walk dinner; and the night when things went sideways. All three stories take place in one of the most style-forward restaurants on the River Walk, a three-level showcase of bold pop art colors and staircase drama. Started in 2005 by restaurateurs Lisa Wong (Rosarios) and Peter Selig (Biga on the Banks, Maverick Texas Brasserie), Acenars the easy answer when people ask, Where can I get Mexican food at a nicer place downtown thats not just Tex-Mex? In that nicer place, lunch is a solid value at Acenar, and thats where the story starts. The prices come down, the menu tightens up and the frenetic urgency of a night on the River Walk gives way to the calmer business of getting people fed. Queso flameado is good food for drinking. But even during a stone-cold sober working lunch, the dense, greasy tangle of Chihuahua and Monterey Jack cheeses created its own satisfying buzz, amplified by chorizo and grilled peppers and onions, scooped with tortillas made fresh for everybody to see. Good ones, too, and not just the flour tortillas all steambath fluffy, but full-size corn tortillas with rollable flex and big corn flavor. Acenar ** 146 E. Houston St., 210-222-2362, acenar.com Quick bite: Upscale contemporary Mexican food in a stylish River Walk setting Hit: Spicy shrimp, huitlacoche crepes Miss: Mixed grill, tableside guacamole Hours: 11 a.m.-10 p.m. Sunday-Thursday; 11 a.m.-11 p.m. Friday-Saturday Price range: Appetizers, $8.95-$13.50; soups and salads, $7.25-$14.95; $12.95-$28.95; desserts, $5.75-$6.95; lunch, $6.25-$13.95 Alcohol: Cocktails, wine and beer **** Superior. Can compete nationally. *** Excellent. One of the best restaurants in the city. ** Very good. A standout restaurant of its kind. * Good. A restaurant that we recommend. (no stars) We cannot recommend this restaurant at this time. Express-News dining critics pay for all meals. See More Collapse Lunch favors substance over style, and both a rich chicken mole and a big chile relleno stuffed with pork and beef delivered. The chicken breast was seared and juicy beneath velvet mole with the dusky aura of dried chiles, and the big poblano chile carried a lithe egg-batter breading set off with sharp ranchero salsa. On ExpressNews.com: Review: Selmas A Dong Chinese & Vietnamese Restaurant speaks to the heart of Vietnamese food But when it came for lunchtime style, Acenar came through twice, first with fried oyster tacos as delicate as parchment, smartly dressed with charred pineapple and jalapeno-honey mayo, and second with rolled poblano corn pancakes filled with mushrooms and that enigmatic corn mold called huitlacoche for an earthy but elegant starter. From there, Acenar rolled into a trainwreck of a weeknight dinner, plowed under with convention business and big tables. The well-rehearsed lunch dance gave way to the hectic turn-and-burn of life in the tourist zone: basic River Walk margaritas, a $27 snapper plate gone fishy, icy ice cream, corn tortillas suddenly mealy and burned and an expensive mixed grill of beef fajitas, chicken thighs, sausage, shrimp and pork that went mushy and greasy by turns, leaving a trail of oily smoke. And if Im paying $12.95 for tableside guacamole, I want to see some avocado action tableside. Ours came from the back, maybe a cups worth, already fully formed with chips sticking out of it. It was fine, but its like ordering takeout at Benihana. Without the show, whats the point? It wasnt a total loss. Acenar took the familiar formula of stewed chicken tinga and applied it to duck for a chalupa with the look and feel of street food and the flavor of haute cuisine. And the oysters that made lunch tacos special worked the same kind of magic on fried yuca chips. The third incarnation of Acenar appeared on the eve of the Super Wolf Blood Moon, a rapturous night on the patio balcony overlooking the River Walk, with fires burning for warmth and avocados being rendered into guacamole RIGHT THERE at the table. The food rose to meet the mood. Starting with a mounded dome of cochinita pibil, the shredded pork dripping with achiote was ready to fold into perfect corn tortillas with pickled red onions. The Acenar Combo of a cheese enchilada with chicken fajitas showed that the kitchen could downshift smoothly to Tex-Mex, even if the mealy, overworked chicken suggested ongoing problems at the grill. On ExpressNews.com: 365 Days of Tacos: Acenar The rest of the night passed with one of the best tomatillo sauces Ive had over chicken enchiladas verdes and good fish tacos, grilled and dressed with cabbage slaw and the jalapeno-honey mayo that Acenar deploys like special forces. Desserts came stacked with whipped cream and crosshatched with syrups and sauces, key among them a smooth pineapple flan with a coconut cookie and a plate of hot, finger-size churros with caramel, berry and chocolate sauces for bowl-hopping. Acenar completed the nights moondance diorama with Camarones a la Diabla, a transformative display of big grilled shrimp guarding a center of cilantro rice draped with a chipotle garlic butter that spoke San Antonios language of sauce and spice with the lilting trace of a Cajun accent. That version of Acenar is one of the best restaurants in the city. Vibrant, creative, romantic, true to the flavors and spirit of San Antonio. But to earn three stars, Acenar would have to play at that level all the time, not just on the eve of a global lunar event. Three visits, three Acenars. Ill do the math, round up the average to two stars and hope that all is right with the moon next time. Mike Sutter is a food and drink reporter and restaurant critic in the San Antonio and Bexar County area. Read him on our free site, mySA.com, and on our subscriber site, ExpressNews.com. | msutter@express-news.net | Twitter: @fedmanwalking A Herndon, Va.-based technology company is considering setting up a hub for cybersecurity operations at Port San Antonio depending on whether it receives local incentives. LGS Innovations sells communications products, research and development and support services to government agencies, telecommunications companies and others. The company is looking to expand here and establish a regional hub for cybersecurity programs at the Ports new Project Tech facility. LGS said in a news release it expects to hire at least 46 people in the next several years for its San Antonio expansion. Project Tech was designed to draw more cybersecurity and tech jobs to Port San Antonio. Lockheed Martin was the first tenant to move in. On ExpressNews.com: Lockheed Martin to open new cyber facility in San Antonio, bring 100 jobs It was unclear whether LGS operates an existing San Antonio office. The company did not respond to an interview request by deadline. This is an exciting period of growth for the company, said Kevin Kelly, CEO of LGS Innovations, in the news release. We are proud to expand our presence in dynamic markets like Port San Antonio, and see great potential for continued work there with new and existing customers, partners and the community. The company is also looking at locations in Maryland, Virginia and Georgia, and will decide whether to set up the hub in San Antonio after City Council votes on the incentives Jan. 31. On ExpressNews.com: Head of CyberSecurity San Antonio leaving for new job The incentive deal includes an Economic Development Incentive Fund grant of up to $180,000 for employee training and the creation of new jobs. Bexar County officials are also expected to vote on an incentive package next week. It would include a 381 Skills Development Grant of up to $50,000 based on 50 new jobs paying at least $50,000 a year, excluding benefits, bonuses and commissions, a county spokesperson said. The deal would also include $1,000 for each job that is created and filled within the first five years. The company worked with the San Antonio Economic Development Foundation, CyberSecurity San Antonio and local officials to choose a site. madison.iszler@express-news.net A small army of people in fluorescent yellow vests scurried around Ikeas new Live Oak store Wednesday, pulling plastic wrap off couches, hammering shelves into place and putting the finishing touches on brightly colored room displays. In three weeks, thousands of shoppers are expected to descend on the mammoth blue-and-yellow store near Interstate 35 and Loop 1604. Ikea opens at 9 a.m. on Feb. 13. But the news media got an early look at the Scandanavian retailers newest location Wednesday afternoon. Beds, tables, chairs, kitchenware, light fixtures, stuffed animals, tents, chests of drawers, desks, plants, candles and of course, tools, are the mainstays among the 10,000 products scattered throughout the 289,000-square-foot store. The location features 40 room displays, many with elements meant to appeal to San Antonio-area shoppers, store manager Diedre Goodchild said. Some settings have stucco-textured walls, stone and wood features and rich color tones. Many are multifunctional, with connected kitchen, living-room and play spaces a trend in San Antonio but also nationally, Goodchild said. The room snapshots usually take workers between three and five days to set up, and theyre updated frequently. Theres a restaurant, bistro and Swedish food market at the store where people can chow down on meatballs and buy lingonberry preserves. The area seats 359 people, and the restaurant opens 30 minutes before the store. Theres also a childrens play area. On ExpressNews.com: Despite store closures, San Antonios retail market stays healthy Arrows and maps in the maze-like store point toward the self-serve area, where people can pick up the items they saw earlier and then head home for the sometimes-daunting task of assembling them. Whats Goodchilds top tip for furniture-building? Follow the directions, she said. About 500 construction workers built the store, which will employ roughly 250 permanent workers. The single-story Ikea store anchors a new shopping hub with another 500,000 square feet of retail, restaurants and other commercial operations. Weitzman, a Dallas commercial real-estate firm, is developing the mixed-use project, called Live Oak Town Center. Ikea announced its plans for the location, its fifth in Texas, in 2016. Officials with Live Oak and Bexar County said at the time that they had been courting the furniture giant for at least a decade. On ExpressNews.com: European furniture store Ikea to open San Antonio store in 2019 The shopping center will receive $27 million in incentives, with $26 million in sales and property tax rebates over nine to 10 years and $1 million in fee waivers and a lump sum payment when Ikea opens their doors, said Live Oak City Manager Scott Wayman. Live Oak officials have been told as many as 26,000 people could visit the store on opening day. Wayman expects visitors from San Antonio and other local cities as well as Mexico, and said theyve been marketing the store south of the border and in the Rio Grande Valley. madison.iszler@express-news.net Hi, My wife has performed role of Quality Analyst (similar to Quality Assurance Engineer ANZ Code 263211) with Infosys BPO under the designation of process engineer. Can I apply for the ACS assessment for this role? Would it be a problem if the letter head shows Infosys BPO? i.e. I don't want her experience to be misunderstood as a support engineer due to the letter head - Infosys BPO(?) I need some advice to overcome this issue.Experts pls share your thoughts. Regards, Selva GBP/NZD UPDATE: After surging to a fresh two-month high on Thursday, the Pound to New Zealand Dollar (GBP/NZD) exchange rate fell back on Friday as Sterling was undermined by a bout of profit taking. Meanwhile, broad losses in the US Dollar (USD) led to an upswing in risk appetite on Friday, which helped to prop-up the Kiwi. Improving risk sentiment wasnt enough to stem the Brexit-boosted Pound Sterlings (GBP) appreciation against the New Zealand Dollar (NZD) during Thursdays session which saw the GBP/NZD exchange rate close out at a 10-week high of 1.94254. The Pound Sterling (GBP) found significant support to extend the current rally amid reports from the UKs Sun newspaper that the DUP, the small northern Irish party which props up PM Mays minority Conservative government, look set to back the Prime Ministers withdrawal agreement. Further afield, improving risk appetite early in the session was stemmed slightly on comments from the US Commerce Secretary, Willbur Ross, who said the US and China were miles and miles from reaching a trade accord. Given the Kiwi Dollars commodity-coupled nature and close ties with China, as the nations largest trading partner, the NZD remains particularly vulnerable to swings in risk sentiment as well as developments which impact the Chinese economy. Pound Sterling New Zealand Dollar (GBP/NZD) Exchange Rate Slips on EU Barnier Comments Comments from Michel Barnier, European Chief Negotiator for the UKs withdrawal from the European Union, likely caused the Pound to slip slightly against NZD earlier. He warned that the UK will leave the EU without a deal unless it makes positive proposals and that the withdrawal agreement presented by Prime Minister, Theresa May is the best option available. The European Parliament has said that it would not approve a withdrawal agreement without an Irish backstop to avoid a hard border in Ireland, with Barnier insisting that it would be legally impossible for the UK to forge a separate treaty with Ireland. Meanwhile, Decembers credit card spending data for New Zealand was released this morning showing an increase of 4.5% on the previous December, the lowest figure since July 2018, which did little to see the Kiwi make any gains on Sterling. Yesterday: Pound Sterling (GBP) Makes Gains as Traders Consider Delayed Departure from EU Most Likely Yesterday morning the Pound Sterling New Zealand Dollar (GBP/NZD) pairing rallied following comments from former UK Chancellor George Osborne in which he described leaving the European Union without a deal as Russian Roulette. He also suggested that the possibility of a no-deal Brexit will increase if MPs do nothing, stating: Its not enough for there to be parliamentary majority against no-deal the law of the land says that unless we come up with an alternative, MPs can coalesce around, no-deal happens. Osborne noted that the most likely option was that Britains departure from the EU would be delayed, which likely caused the Pound to make gains on the Kiwi. New Zealand Dollar (NZD) Sentiment Dampened Following US Confirmation Yesterday the US officials confirmed their plans to pursue the extradition of Huaweis Chief Financial Officer, Meng Wanzhou who had been arrested in Canada last month. The hearing is expected to begin next month, it could take months, or even years, to extradite Ms Meng to the US, which could see US-China relations remain strained, and sentiment for risk-sensitive currencies such as the Kiwi dampened. In comments that have been deemed inappropriate and political meddling, John McCallum, Canadas ambassador to China stated: I think she has quite good arguments on her side. One, political involvement by comments from Donald Trump in her case. Two, theres an extraterritorial aspect to her case. And three, theres the issue of Iran sanctions in her case and Canada does not sign on to these. So I think she has some strong arguments she can make before a judge. GBP/NZD Outlook: Will a Decreased Risk of No-Deal Brexit Buoy Sterling? This evening the release of Novembers visitor arrivals figures for New Zealand are likely to cause the Kiwi to rise if foreign tourism increases at a higher rate than the previous year, as tourism comprises a large part of New Zealands GDP. As there is a lack of economic data releases tomorrow for both the UK and New Zealand, it seems likely that Brexit will remain the main catalyst for movement within the GBP/NZD pairing. Any further indication of the likelihood of a no-deal Brexit being avoided could see the Pound push back against the New Zealand Dollar. If there is any further development in the US-China trade tensions which indicate the tow countries are closer to ending trade sanctions it could see sentiment for risk-sensitive currencies such as the New Zealand Dollar increase. - Data-deprived pound sterling investors turn to internal bank flow for positioning figures - GBP net 'shorts' cut as expectations of no-deal Brexit pare - BAML flow tracker indicates hedge funds are GBP bullish Over the course of the last two years, the Pound Sterling (GBP) has depreciated significantly against a basket of peer major currencies amid continued uncertainty regarding the UKs economic positioning in a post-Brexit world. The new year, however, brought with it renewed hopes that UK lawmakers can navigate a course which ultimately avoids the worst-case-scenario no-deal outcome which finds consensus as the exit route likely to cause the greatest economic disruption. Senior market analyst, Charalambos Pissouros at JFD Brokers commented on recent GBP gains, The driver behind the latest recovery in the pound has been expectations that a no-deal withdrawal can be avoided, and yesterdays headlines encouraged investors to add to those bets. Fuelled by expectations that MPs will back an amendment to seize the power necessary to attempt to block a no-deal outcome, the Pound Sterling appreciated significantly against peers since the turn of the year. With the clock ticking down to the Article 50-imposed March 29th deadline, expectations of a delay are also growing. Data-Deprived Investors Look to Internal Bank Flows as Gauge of Positioning Given the protracted partial federal government shutdown which continues unabated in the US, data-driven investors have been deprived of the weekly Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) data which provides key insights into net currency positioning. The latest CFTC data available, dated December 21st, indicated a net short GBP position of $4.84B versus the US Dollar (USD) down almost a third from Septembers $6.5B net short. In lieu of the indicative CFTC data, investors have instead been forced to assess internal bank flows, compiled using a sales trading flow data and other derivative market data streams to gauge GBP positioning. The FX positioning tracker provided BNP Paribas indicated that net sterling short positioning has seen a significant decline in recent weeks. On a +50/-50 scale, Sterling shorts have reduced considerably, cut from -30 at the end of December to a January 21st reading of -18, indicating decreased expectations for GBP downside. Data from RBC Capital Markets find GBP positioning to be similar against the Greenback with current GBP short positioning just 19% of the peak post-Brexit-referendum October 2016 high while net GBP positioning against the Euro (EUR) has now entered long territory. While net positioning indicates pared pessimism with regards to the Pound Sterling, GBP x-rates remain vulnerable to waning support which could scupper the current rally. Millennium Global Investments head of global economic and strategy, Claire Dissaux, wrote The question is how quickly sterling positioning is being rebuilt, based on potential for a second referendum, a general election or just softer Brexit, adding Most (investors), if not all, have decreased the possibility of disorderly Brexit which has shifted sentiment towards sterling. As it stands, the GBP positioning index compiled by the Millennium Global Fund currently shows Pound positioning at just -0.3 (on a +5/-5 scale), up substantially from last months -1.7. Above: Millennium Global Investment GBP (Versus USD) Positioning Tracker While the CFTC data, which represents the most accurate proxy for GBP psoitioning has been unavailable, bank flow indicators have typically registered decreases in short GBP positioning over recent weeks. The partial rebalancing comes in the wake of turbulent UK politicking. While Brexit remains unresolved with the clock ticking down to the March 29th deadline, hopes have been elevated that MPs will seek powers to block a no-deal outcome or even extend the exit deadline. Thursdays session saw GBP implied volatility dip to a 10-week low as perceived steps towards steering clear of a hard Brexit prompted traders to reduce their risk premium on the Sterling. While internal bank flow gauges of the majority of institutions remain net short on the GBP, the Bank of America Merrill Lynch (BAML) flow tracker indicates that hedge funds appear to have already turned GBP bullish. Commenting, BAML cirector of G10 FX strategy, Kamal Sharma, said Markets are pricing out the probability of a no-deal Brexit and that has boosted the pound in recent days and we see strong demand for the British currency below $1.2850 levels. Above: Bank of America Merrill Lynch GBP Positioning Tracker Near-term, the GBP remains distinctly vulnerable to political developments as we enter the Brexit endgame with a number of institutions advising clients to err on the side of caution and avoid large GBP positions given considerable potential for both up and downside. CIO at Fidelity International, James Bateman, commented on his preference for neutral positioning, We have powder dry ready to deploy by being neutral. We can take advantage of a move in either direction. Overall, despite the recent rally in favour of the Pound Sterling which this month alone has seen the GBPUSD exchange rebound to the upside by 4%, Pound-paired crosses remain distinctly lower than peak 2018 levels suggesting room remains for further upside potential, should Brexit developments allow. POST ECB UPDATE: Analysts at Lloyds released their post-ECB press conference analysis, summarised by the following key points: The main news from todays ECB policy meeting was the change in its assessment of the balance of risks for the economic outlook, which had moved to the downside. President Draghi said that the likelihood of a recession was low, but he noted that a full monetary toolbox is available just in case. It was not sufficient to change the ECBs policy guidance this month. The ECB reiterated that interest rates were expected to remain at their present levels at least through the summer of 2019. There was discussion about a new round of TLTROs to provide long-term loans to banks, but no decision was made. All eyes will be on the next meeting on 7 March. There will be more information on how the economy is faring by then, including new ECB economic forecasts; its December forecasts for growth and inflation already look too optimistic. The European Central Banks (ECB) post-rates-release monetary policy press conference saw the euro exchange rates crosses come under renewed pressure as ECB President Mario Draghi highlighted significant negatives for the Eurozone economy. At the time of writing, the Pound-to-Euro (GBP/EUR) exchange rate was last seen breaching resistance at 1.15 to hit a session and fresh multi-week high of 1.1515. Against the firming US Dollar (USD), the Euro-to-Dollar (EUR/USD) x-rate dipped sharply to $1.13067, 3 pips off the current 2019 low of $1.13064. Following the as-expected rates release which saw rates held and guidance unchanged, suggesting hikes could occur post-Summer 2019, speaking at the ECB press conference, Draghi acknowledged that incoming data had been weaker than expected. Draghi highlighted softening external demand as dragging on business activity in the bloc. Earlier in the session, Eurozone PMIs dipped to multi-year lows. On a positive front, Draghi mentioned rising wage growth, prompted by robust underlying labour market conditions, as a primary driver of upwards inflationary pressure, supporting expectations that inflation will, over time, converge with the ECBs targets. Draghi went on to state that recent monetary policy had been extremely accommodative and would continue to be so with the ECB maintaining their intention to continue reinvesting, in full, the principal payments from maturing securities purchased under the asset purchase programme. PREVIEW - Thursdays ECB meeting is expected to bring no policy announcements, but plenty dovish rhetoric. - But just how dovish will the central bank get? ING suggest a possible dovish announcement. - The Euro exchange rates look vulnerable against the US dollar and British Pound. Thursdays session brings one of the highlights of the week for traders, the ECB meeting. The central bank has been on auto-pilot for around half a year now with no change in policy, but will soon have to start signalling its next step. This is unlikely to happen during Thursdays meeting, but there are still plenty important matters to address. ECB President Mario Draghi's press conference is at 14:30 CET, and after last weeks ultra-dovish message, there is plenty to discuss. As a reminder, Draghi used his last appearance to say that economic developments have been weaker than expected and uncertainties remain prominent. This laid the groundwork for further comments saying there is no room for complacency as significant amount of monetary policy is still needed to support the further build-up of domestic price pressures. Weak data backs up the cautious, dovish stance, but Draghi may be asked what exactly he meant by a significant amount of monetary policy. Any plans to raise rates in 2019 may be pushed back. As ING point out, data releases since the December meeting have done little to stop fears of a more prolonged slowdown of the eurozone economy. Confidence indicators are still plunging, hard data remains weak and latest Brexit developments suggest that new turbulence in both financial markets and the real economy is still on the horizon. The December forecast of 1.7% GDP growth in 2019 looks increasingly unrealistic. Again, no formal announcement is expected on Thursday, but the tone is likely to be dovish enough to prop up equity markets and leave the door open for dovish policy adjustments going forward. ING expect ECB President Mario Draghi to leave the ECBs forward-guidance on rates unchanged, while at the same time, adding a dovish note by stressing the ECBs data-dependency and downside risks to growth. ING also point out that the meeting may not be all dovish rhetoric and no action. an option to make the current dovish bias a bit more credible could be to signal the ECBs willingness to conduct new longer-term liquidity operations, for example, by announcing on Thursday that the Governing Council has tasked the relevant committees to look into ways to tackle possible liquidity shortages and to investigate the impact from the negative deposit rate on banks. Such an announcement would be a surprise for the markets and surely send the Euro lower and equity markets such as the Dax higher. The Euro has been weak against major currencies such as the USD and GBP, but mostly because there have been positives in these currencies and the EUR has been bogged down by poor data and political pressures. The last thing it needs is a central bank switching from a small hawkish step towards normalization back to full on doves. The Stock Recovery Pauses Healthy or a Warning? US stock markets held steady on Wednesdays session after Tuesdays heavy falls. After such a large recovery from the December lows, a pause and pullback is inevitable at some point, but traders are wondering if the recovery is now over, or if it is just taking a break. Now the danger of a crash has passed, it has relieved the pressure on the Fed to pause its hiking cycle. The strength in the USD seems to suggest the Fed will not completely stop hiking. So it seems one market is wrong and the Fed at some point has to clear things up. Signaling a definite pause will likely reverse the USD and boost the markets, while a commitment to further hikes will do the opposite. Fed Chair Powell has the fate of the markets in his hands. The National Academy of Sciences honors scientist Eve Marder The organization called Marder "one of the most influential neuroscientists of her generation." Photo: Heratch Ekmekjian Eve Marder Eve Marder '69, the Victor and Gwendolyn Beinfield Professor of Neuroscience, has received the prestigious National Academy of Sciences (NAS) Award in the Neurosciences. In announcing the award, the NAS cited Marder as "one of the most influential neuroscientists of her generation." The organization also praised her role in supporting the careers of other researchers. Her "impact on the people in her field is as important as her research," the NAS said in its press release. "Throughout her career she has served as a mentor to generations of neuroscientists and served the community on numerous other professional levels. She has also served as an important voice for young scientists." "I was thrilled to learn of the NAS Award, as its previous recipients are some of the most influential and respected leaders in the field of neuroscience," Marder said. Marder is only the second woman to receive this award since it was first established in 1988. Her research on small neural circuits found in lobsters and crabs has revolutionized our understanding of the fundamental nature of neuronal circuit operation, including how neuromodulators control behavioral outputs and how the stability of circuits is maintained over time. Her laboratory now uses experimental and computational tools to study animal to animal differences in resilience to environmental perturbations. Marder began studying the stomatogastric nervous system of the West Coast spiny lobster as a graduate student at the University of California, San Diego in the early 1970s. Today, she oversees her own lab at Brandeis, where she conducts her innovative research with the participation of post-docs, graduate students and undergraduates. Marder's research was the focus of the recent book, "Lessons from the Lobster: Eve Marder's Work in Neuroscience" by independent scholar and writer Charlotte Nassim. The other 17 researchers recognized this year by the NAS for their extraordinary contributions to science include Stanford University neuroscientist Liqun Luo PhD'93 who received the Pradel Research Award. Luo's work focuses on the logic of brain wiring using genetic tools. As part of the NAS press release , Marder reflected on the importance she places on teaching and mentoring. She wrote: For my entire scientific career I have been dedicated to the principle that outstanding science must go hand-in-hand with excellent education. To that end, I teach undergraduates and graduate students in the classroom, and my laboratory combines undergraduates, graduate students and postdocs who work together. I take pride in the accomplishments of my trainees of all levels, and hope to help each and every trainee find their way to success, in whatever role or venue best suits him or her. I believe that the skills and discipline that scientific inquiry engender will serve my trainees well, whether they continue in academic science, move into medicine, industry, politics, or other careers. I also believe that the pursuit of science in individual labs must be coupled with contributions to our joint community, because science as we now practice it is essentially a communal enterprise. Consequently, I have always combined editorial service, grant evaluation duties, and other activities with my own work. The NAS will present Marder with the award at its 156th NAS Annual Meeting on April 28. For more information on Marder and her research, see: Brandeis neuroscientist Eve Marder '69 awarded prestigious Kavli Prize Neuroscientist Eve Marders advice to aspiring scientists Neuroscientist Eve Marders research chronicled in a new book Brandeis biologist Eve Marder '69: My life as a scientist Inside the Marder Lab this news is not available From the second we are born, humans start to develop social relationships with individuals and groups starting with parents, family and friends. Similarly, mice are social animals just like us. Social relationships are a key determinant of social behavior, and numerous studies have shown that when mice experience maternal separation or social isolation during development, their socio-emotional and cognitive behaviors are affected. However, a long-term behavioral analysis of multiple animals in a natural group setting had been required to elucidate the biological basis of the social behaviors developed. To investigate, a research team led by Professor Masaki Kakeyama of Waseda University developed a novel-video based behavioral analysis system for a long-term behavioral tracking of multiple mice. This software, referred to as the Multiple-Animal Positioning System (MAPS), can automatically and separately analyze the social behavior of multiple mice in group housing. "Each mouse is individually identified by a mouse ID tag on its back," explains Professor Kakeyama. "MAPS can then automatically acquire their individual positions based on a pattern-matching technique and save this information to a hard disk drive along with video images. This approach allows MAPS to perform an automated, long-term video tracking of each mouse under social housing conditions." In their study, Professor Kakeyama's team examined how social experience of mice in adolescence affects adult social proximity with unfamiliar mice. First, male mice were either housed in groups or reared in social isolation during adolescence. To detect behavioral differences of mice when interacting with other adult mice from the same rearing background, four mice that had never been co-housed before were placed in an experimental chamber, creating a group-housed mice only housing and socially-isolated mice only housing conditions. Their behavior was then recorded by MAPS. "Though both groups of mice began to explore the experimental chamber almost immediately, the group-housed mice began to huddle in one location within two hours. On the contrary, the mice reared in social isolation stayed as far away from each other as possible and took two days for all four of them to finally huddle together, showing that adolescent social isolation results in deficient social relationship formation in adulthood." In the next experiment, two isolated and two group-housed mice were placed in the same experimental chamber to examine their behavior under mixed housing condition. The group-housed pair type was the fastest to huddle together, the isolated pair type was the slowest, and the heterogeneous pairs were somewhere in between. Interestingly, the isolated mice took less time to form relationships with unfamiliar mice under the mixed-housing than in the isolated-mice-only housing condition, indicating that it is not only individual behavioral traits but also those of surrounding individuals can influence social proximity. "Additionally, visual observation of video images revealed that the group-housed mice reduced their activity or even became immobile when approached by others," says Professor Kakeyama. "This suggests that this low activity, or being 'composed,' might be an important factor for establishing social relationships." The results of this study may not be directly applicable to humans, but Professor Kakeyama hopes that the newly-developed software will contribute to research in help understanding how our minds develop through socialization and advance treatment of psychiatric disorders, such as autism spectrum disorder and social anxiety disorder. ### A paper on this study was published in Communications Biology on December 11, 2018. University news on this study: https:/ / www. waseda. jp/ top/ en-news/ 63259 More about MAPS MAPS is a video- and PC-based analysis system capable of determining the position of each mouse under social housing conditions (O'HARA & CO., LTD., Tokyo, Japan). MAPS software is available at http://www. waseda. jp/ sem-lbn/ kakeyama/ MAPS. html About the paper Published in Communications Biology on December 11, 2018 Title: Multiple animal positioning system shows that socially-reared mice influence the social proximity of isolation-reared cagemates Authors: N. Endo, W. Ujita, M. Fujiwara, H. Miyauchi, H. Mishima, Y. Makino, L. Hashimoto, H. Oyama, M. Makinodan, M. Nishi, C. Tohyama and M. Kakeyama DOI: https:/ / doi. org/ 10. 1038/ s42003-018-0213-5 Corresponding author: Masaki Kakeyama About Waseda University At Waseda, we work wonders. January 24, 2019 - Based on limited research, there's no strong evidence that selective serotonin-reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) - the most widely used class of antidepressants - have an adverse impact on fertility, according to a paper in the Harvard Review of Psychiatry. The journal is published in the Lippincott portfolio by Wolters Kluwer. "There is insufficient evidence at present to propose that SSRIs reduce fertility or influence infertility-treatment outcomes," concludes the study by Christie Sylvester, MD, and colleagues of the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center. "SSRIs may have an adverse impact on sperm quality, but further research is warranted." Reassuring Findings on the Link Between SSRIs and Fertility Affecting about one in six American couples, infertility has been linked to increased rates of psychological distress and depressive symptoms. Studies have estimated that four to eleven percent of women undergoing in vitro fertilization (IVF) are taking SSRIs at the time of treatment. While many studies have explored the effects of SSRIs on pregnancy and fetal outcomes, less is known about how these drugs affect fertility or the outcomes of infertility treatment. To address this issue, Dr. Sylvester and colleagues reviewed and analyzed the findings of 16 previous studies of the association between SSRIs and fertility and infertility-treatment outcomes. Seven studies evaluated the impact on antidepressants in couples receiving infertility treatment - most commonly measured by the success rate of IVF treatment. Six of the studies found no significant association between SSRIs and infertility-treatment outcomes. Three studies showed possible trends toward a lower probability of pregnancy per IVF cycle or reduced fertility biomarkers in women taking SSRIs. In one study, SSRIs were associated with increased pregnancy rates. Just two studies looked at the effects of SSRIs in fertile women, with conflicting results. One study suggested a lower probability of conception in women who had depressive symptoms, but not in those taking antidepressants. Seven studies looked at male fertility and SSRIs. Of these, six found that SSRIs negatively affected semen parameters and sperm quality. But the authors note that this group of studies had some significant limitations, such as not accounting for the effects of depressive symptoms. "In reproductive-age men and in couples trying to conceive, a discussion regarding the possible effects of SSRIs on sperm and fertility may be warranted," Dr. Sylvester and coauthors write. They emphasize that the associations between depression, antidepressants, and infertility are complex - mental illness is linked to many psychosocial and lifestyle factors that may affect fertility, including smoking, obesity, and alcohol/drug use. Further studies in fertile men and women and in couples seeking treatment for infertility will be needed to clarify the possible effects of SSRIs on fertility and conception rates. "It is important to weigh the possible benefits of antidepressant medication against any potential risks, including the potential impact of untreated depression, on fertility in couples trying to conceive," the researchers add. They note that psychotherapy is an effective alternative to antidepressants for patients with mild depression and anxiety, including those coping with the diagnosis of infertility. ### Click here to read "Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors and Fertility" DOI: 10.1097/HRP.0000000000000204 The Harvard Review of Psychiatry is the authoritative source for scholarly reviews and perspectives on a diverse range of important topics in psychiatry. Founded by the Harvard Medical School Department of Psychiatry, the journal is peer reviewed and not industry sponsored. It is the property of Harvard University and is affiliated with all of the Departments of Psychiatry at the Harvard teaching hospitals. Articles encompass major issues in contemporary psychiatry, including neuroscience, epidemiology, psychopharmacology, psychotherapy, history of psychiatry, and ethics. About Wolters Kluwer Wolters Kluwer is a global leader in professional information, software solutions, and services for the health, tax & accounting, finance, risk & compliance, and legal sectors. We help our customers make critical decisions every day by providing expert solutions that combine deep domain knowledge with specialized technology and services. Wolters Kluwer, headquartered in the Netherlands, reported 2017 annual revenues of 4.4 billion. The company serves customers in over 180 countries, maintains operations in over 40 countries, and employs approximately 19,000 people worldwide. Around 56 million years ago, global temperatures spiked. Researchers at Uppsala University and in the UK now show that a major explosive eruption from the Red Hills on the Isle of Skye may have been a contributing factor to the massive climate disturbance. Their findings have been published in the journal Scientific Reports. Large explosive volcanic eruptions can have lasting effects on climate and have been held responsible for severe climate effects in Earth's history. One such event occurred around 56 million years ago when global temperatures increased by 5-8 C. This event has been named the Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum (PETM). The warm period was associated with volcanic activity in the North Atlantic region, especially in Greenland, the British Isles and the present day North Sea region. However, until now, no large-scale explosive eruptions had been confirmed in current-day Scotland. A team of researchers at Uppsala University, Sweden, the Universities of Durham and St Andrews in the UK, and the Scottish Environmental Research Centre in Glasgow, now seem to have found a missing piece of the puzzle. By studying volcanic rocks called pitchstones from islands more than 30 kilometres apart in the Inner Hebrides off the west coast of Scotland, the researchers have found plausible evidence of a major eruption from what is today the Isle of Skye. The researchers used several different methods to compare the pitchstones recovered from the two sites (Sgurr of Eigg and Oigh-sgeir) including isotope geochemistry. Samples from the two pitchstone outcrops display identical textures and compositions in all analyses, confirming that the two outcrops represent deposits of a single, massive and explosive volcanic eruption. The researcher's geochemical data identify the Red Hills on Skye, around 40 kilometres to the North, as the most likely vent area for this large eruption. Using this vent location, a reconstruction estimates the eruption to have been similar in magnitude to the infamous Krakatoa eruption of 1883, one of the deadliest and most destructive volcanic events in recorded history. Earth scientists have long thought that the Scottish sector of the North Atlantic Volcanic province did not see any large explosive eruptions at the time of the PETM. This notion is now contradicted by the findings of the current study and the researchers conclude that large explosive volcanic events in the Scottish sector of the North Atlantic Volcanic Province were likely a major contributing factor to the climate disturbance of the PETM. ### A team of bioengineers at The University of Texas at Arlington is working to develop a method that will allow physicians to repair vaginal prolapses while they are in their early stages, potentially avoiding surgery and other complications. Hong, an associate professor in UTA's Bioengineering Department, is leading an interdisciplinary team that will use a five-year, $1.6 million grant from the National Institutes of Health to develop a new method of treating a vaginal prolapse before the vagina completely detaches, which could prevent complications and improve the quality of life of thousands of women. Hong's UTA colleagues Kytai Nguyen, Liping Tang and Jun Liao, along with UT Southwestern urologist Phillippe Zimmern are co-investigators on the project. Vaginal prolapse is a condition affecting almost 3 percent of U.S. women, according to the Office on Women's Health. In a prolapse, the pelvic floor muscles weaken and tear, allowing the vagina to stretch or expand and protrude on surrounding organs and structures. Treatment usually involves surgical implantation of mesh to repair the muscles, but the mesh often leads to severe complications that require extended recovery time and cause discomfort. Hong and his team are developing a strong, bioactive bioadhesive that is strong and bioactive to reattach the pelvic floor muscles early, before they detach completely, and stop further tearing while the body repairs the affected muscles. "A lot of women suffer from vaginal prolapse and it really affects their quality of life. Hopefully, our research will help women and ease their discomfort," Hong said. "It is difficult to repair a full muscle tear, but if a prolapse is detected early, we can glue the two edges together while they are still partially attached and prevent further damage. Because it is bioactive, the adhesive will allow the body to rejuvenate naturally, and there will be far less discomfort for the patient." Hong's research is an example of health and the human condition, one of four themes of UTA's Strategic Plan 2020, and of the ways that the University is making an impact on the community, said Michael Cho, chair of the Bioengineering Department. "This is a condition that affects women of all ages, and Dr. Hong and his team have a chance to make its treatment easier and less intrusive for those women. His ability to apply knowledge and techniques from previous research, as well as the strengths from the interdisciplinary team of investigators, will lead to success," Cho said. ### The Bioengineering Department has served North Texas for more than 40 years, with research strengths in bioinstrumentation, biomaterials and tissue engineering, biomechanics, medical imaging and nanomedicine/nanotechnology. The program was ranked No. 96 in the 2019 U.S. News & World Report graduate rankings. UTA offers a joint program with UT Southwestern, one of the top medical schools in the country, and students can take courses and conduct research at either campus. UTA researchers have labs in UTSW's Bill and Rita Clements Advanced Medical Imaging Building for work on medical imaging projects. An undergraduate program was added in 2012. In 2017, the department won a National Institutes of Health T-32 grant to subsidize and train doctoral students in healthcare applications for nanotechnology, specifically to develop tools to battle cardiovascular and pulmonary ailments. Trillions of cells -- all different shapes and sizes -- form a human body's structure. Surrounding each cell is a membrane, jointly acting as hostess and security -- welcoming certain information into the cell while making sure its components don't spill out into the body's void. Much is known about how the individual pieces of a cell work, but a significant understanding of how proteins interact with the cell membrane has remained a mystery until now, following a recent study at the University of Missouri. "When you think about the fundamental components of living systems, proteins are among the most important, right up there with nucleic acids," said Gavin King, an associate professor of physics in the College of Arts and Science at MU, and joint associate professor of biochemistry. "Proteins execute more activity in the cell compared to DNA." Proteins are the workhorses of a cell. About 30 percent of proteins in any given cell frequently interact with membranes or reside within membranes in order to facilitate and regulate the flow of information and materials in and out of cells. Using high precision atomic force microscopy experiments, King's team measured the force required for proteins to break free from the membrane. "Imagine you are going fishing, and your fishing rod is a force microscope," King said. "At the end of our fishing rod we attached a lure, or in this case a really short protein. In a very careful and controlled manner, we lower the fishing rod to the vicinity of a membrane. In a way we can't control or directly observe, the lure is frequently bitten by the fish, which in this case is the membrane. When the fish bites, we can pull the lure back and we can ask how much force it takes to pop the lure out of the fish's mouth. What surprised us is that if you do that same experiment repeatedly, you get different results. We were struggling to find a model that could fit this complexity." To answer this question, Ioan Kosztin, a professor of physics in the College of Arts and Science at MU, partnered with King and developed a theoretical model that shows there is more than one way a protein can break free of the membrane involving several different pathways. They discovered that the protein-membrane interaction can exhibit a "catch-bond" behavior. "Catch-bond behavior is similar to a Chinese finger trap, where counterintuitively, the harder one pulls on the trap, the stronger the trap pulls back," Kosztin said. "Though similar behavior has been previously described on a cellular level, to our knowledge, this is the first report for protein-membrane interactions." The researchers hope this discovery will provide a foundation for future studies on signaling pathways in cells and how drugs vary cellular functions. ### The study, "Multiple stochastic pathways in forced peptide-lipid membrane detachment" was published in Scientific Reports. Other contributors to the study include Milica Utjesanovic and Tina R. Matin who were graduate students at MU during the study, and Krishna P. Sigdel, a postdoctoral associate at MU during the study. Utjesanovic is currently a doctoral student in the MU department of physics and astronomy. Matin is a postdoctoral associate in anesthesiology at Weill Cornell Medicine in New York. Sigdel is an assistant professor of physics and astronomy at California State Polytechnic University, Pomona. This study was supported by the Burroughs Wellcome Fund Career Award at the Scientific Interface, a National Science Foundation Career Award (#1054832), and the MU Research Board. The computations were performed on MU's RCSS HPC infrastructure (NSF grant #CNS-1429294). The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the funding agencies. LEXINGTON, Ky. (Jan. 24, 2019) -- Regeneration is one of the most enticing areas of biological research. How are some animals able to regrow body parts? Is it possible that humans could do the same? If scientists could unlock the secrets that confer those animals with this remarkable ability, the knowledge could have profound significance in clinical practice down the road. Scientists at the University of Kentucky have taken this fantasy one step closer to reality, announcing today that they have assembled the genome of the axolotl, a salamander whose only native habitat is a lake near Mexico City. Axolotls have long been prized as models for regeneration, said Randal Voss, a professor in the UK Spinal Cord and Brain Injury Research Center and a co-PI on the project. "It's hard to find a body part they can't regenerate: the limbs, the tail, the spinal cord, the eye, and in some species, the lens, even half of their brain has been shown to regenerate," he said. Though humans share many of the same genes with axolotl, the salamander genome is ten times larger, posing a formidable barrier to genetic analyses. According to Jeramiah Smith, an associate professor in the UK Department of Biology and Voss' co-PI, recent efforts have provided much of the genetic data for the axolotl but, like a pile of puzzle pieces, until the genome is assembled in the correct order scientists cannot attempt large scale analyses of genome structure and function, which is key to teasing out the mechanisms that bestow upon axolotl their magical powers. While the massive undertaking to map the human genome provided scientists with the tools to reproduce data in other organisms, the remarkable computational burden posed by organisms with larger genomes made such efforts largely impossible. But Smith and Voss cleverly adapted a classical genetic approach called linkage mapping to put the axolotl genome together in the correct order quickly and efficiently -- the first genome of this size to be assembled to date. "Just a few years ago, no one thought it possible to assemble a 30+GB genome," said Smith. "We have now shown it is possible using a cost effective and accessible method, which opens up the possibility of routinely sequencing other animals with large genomes." As proof of concept, Voss and Smith used the assembled data to rapidly identify a gene that causes a heart defect in an axolotl, thus providing a new model of human disease. "Biomedical research is increasingly becoming a genetically-driven enterprise," said Voss. "To understand human disease, you have to see be able to study gene functions in other organisms like the axolotl." "Now that we have access to genomic information, we can really start to probe axolotl gene functions and learn how they are able to regenerate body parts. Hopefully someday we can translate this information to human therapy, with potential applications for spinal cord injury, stroke, joint repair...the sky's the limit, really." The University of Kentucky hosts the only federally-funded axolotl stock center in the U.S., providing axolotls to researchers and educators worldwide. Having a complete genome sequence for the laboratory axolotl greatly increases the value of this resource for biomedical research, particularly since wild axolotls have been designated critically endangered since 2006. According to Voss, UK has almost 1000 adult axolotls, a laboratory population whose pedigree dates back to the 1800's. Voss' and Smith's data will be published in the February issue of Genome Research. ### Their work is supported by grants from the National Institutes of Health (R24OD010435; P40OD019794) and the U.S. Department of Defense (W911NF1110475). Researchers at Shiley-Marcos Alzheimer's Disease Research Center (ADRC), part of University of California San Diego School of Medicine, report that autopsies of patients diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease (AD) when they were alive -- and confirmed by autopsy -- indicate many cognitive issues symptomatic of the condition are less noticeable in living Hispanic patients. The findings, produced in collaboration with colleagues at the University of Southern California (USC), are published in the January 2019 issue of the Journal of Alzheimer's Disease. Authors say the data suggests it may be more difficult for clinicians to detect AD in its mild to moderate stages among living Hispanic patients compared to non-Hispanic patients. As a result, intervention and treatment could be delayed and less effective. The study involved autopsies of 14 Hispanic and 20 non-Hispanic persons, all with autopsy-confirmed physiological evidence of AD and an equal number of autopsies of cognitively healthy Hispanic and non-Hispanic individuals without an AD finding. The scientists looked at patterns of neuropsychological deficits, vascular risk factors and neuropathological differences between the Hispanic and non-Hispanic patients, who were matched by age, education, global mental status and severity of functional decline at first diagnosis. They found that mild-to-moderately affected Hispanic patients with AD were significantly less impaired than non-Hispanic patients with AD, relative to their respective culturally appropriate control groups, on measurements of memory, attention and executive functioning. While the patient groups had similar overall AD pathology, the authors found, Hispanics with AD showed greater small blood vessel disease in the brain than non-Hispanics with AD, as well as increased amyloid angiopathy, the accumulation of protein fragments in blood vessels associated with AD. "There have been very few autopsy studies in Hispanic elderly with Alzheimer's disease that have allowed researchers to gain insight about factors that might make it more difficult to clinically diagnose the disease in this demographic," said senior author David P. Salmon, PhD, professor in the Department of Neurosciences and Helen A. Jarrett Chair in Alzheimer's Research at UC San Diego School of Medicine. "Information from our study can help guide how we assess living Hispanic patients who may have Alzheimer's, to more accurately detect the disease in its early stages." AD affects 5.7 million Americans, with that number expected to nearly triple by 2050 without prevention or cure. Some studies suggest that the prevalence of dementia might be higher among Hispanics than non-Hispanic whites. Hispanics comprise the largest ethnic minority in the United States. By 2050, they are projected to represent nearly one-third of the total national population. In California and Texas, Hispanics already represent almost 40 percent of residents. As those numbers grow, the authors said it will be vital that physicians and dementia clinicians use protocols that allow them to best assess this particular demographic, including measures of AD detection that take into account possible effects of bilingualism, educational disparities and cultural factors on neuropsychological procedures. Their research suggests multiple factors can influence the assessment of severity and profile of cognitive deficits seen in AD, making it difficult to differentiate the disease from normal aging or other dementing disorders. The authors said further study of neuropsychological deficits associated with AD in elderly Hispanic patients, and consideration of possible health disparities and cultural adaptation of cognitive tests, is necessary. "The evidence we found is important to moving forward because early identification of Alzheimer's disease can allow for earlier implementation of treatments and interventions that prolong the life and well-being of patients and their caregivers," said first author Gali Weissberger, PhD, a postdoctoral researcher at USC Keck School of Medicine. "The majority of Alzheimer's disease research has focused on non-Hispanic White populations, and findings from this study suggest that certain contextual factors may contribute to a different and less salient profile of cognitive deficits in Hispanic older adults. Findings support the critical need for additional research with minority groups." ### Co-authors include: Tamar H. Gollan, Mark W. Bondi, Lawrence A. Hansen and Douglas Galasko, all at UC San Diego; and Daniel A. Nation, USC. Disclosure: Salmon is a consultant with Takeda Pharmaceuticals, Inc. and receives compensation. Daniel Bennett BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - During development in the womb, immune cells called macrophages go to the kidneys, and they remain there for life. Understanding the possible healing role for these macrophages after kidney damage may be crucial to helping treat patients who suffer acute kidney injury. Acute kidney injury, or AKI, is a devastating condition that develops in two-thirds of critically ill patients, and patients with AKI have a 60 percent risk of dying. In AKI, kidneys can become scarred and can show progressive decline in function, becoming unable to heal their tissue. In a JCI Insight study published today, University of Alabama at Birmingham researchers have found that, during AKI in a mouse model, the kidney-resident macrophages are reprogrammed to a developmental state, resembling these same cells when they are found in newborn mice. Newborn mouse kidneys are still developing. This reprogramming during AKI may be important to promote healing and tissue regeneration. If a similar developmental shift is seen for human kidney-resident macrophages during AKI, that could aid new therapeutic approaches for patients. The experimental challenge in this study was distinguishing the kidney-resident macrophages from the many cells that invade the kidney from blood circulation in response to kidney damage. Some of these invading cell types can differentiate into macrophages and dendritic cells in the kidney, and it was unknown whether some of the invaders become kidney-resident macrophages. The UAB researchers used parabiosis -- the linking of the blood circulatory systems between two mice -- to reveal whether the kidney-resident macrophages after AKI were from invading precursors or from renewal by existing kidney-resident macrophages in the kidney. In the parabiosis experiments, two mice shared blood circulation for four weeks, and then one underwent ischemia/reperfusion-induced AKI. Because the immune cells of the two mice have different surface markers that identify which mouse they come from, researchers could follow the invasion of the AKI kidneys by circulating immune cells from the healthy mouse. They found that the infiltrating cells contributed only minimally to the kidney-resident macrophage cell pool in the damaged kidneys. Thus, after kidney injury, the kidney-resident macrophages are a distinct cellular subpopulation that does not differentiate from nonresident, infiltrating, precursor immune cells. Researchers, led by co-senior authors Anupam Agarwal, M.D., director of the Division of Nephrology in the UAB Department of Medicine, and James George, Ph.D., professor in the UAB Department of Surgery, detailed how the kidney-resident macrophages are reprogrammed to a developmental state after injury. In response to the disease model, the kidney-resident macrophages turned off their expression of major histocompatibility complex type II, or MHCII. This lack of expression is similar to kidney-resident macrophages in newborn mice -- those mice, the researchers showed, lack expression of this protein up to postnatal day seven, and then begin to express it over the next two weeks. Notably, MHCII protein and macrophages have important roles in autoimmunity and transplant rejection. In addition, kidney-resident macrophages after AKI underwent transcriptional reprogramming to express a gene profile closely resembling that of the kidney-resident macrophages in newborn mice at postnatal day seven. Further supporting their role in development and healing, the reprogrammed kidney-resident macrophages were enriched in Wnt signaling, an active pathway that is vital for mouse and human kidney development. Co-first authors of the JCI Insight study, "Resident macrophages reprogram toward a developmental state after acute kidney injury," are Jeremie M. Lever and Travis D. Hull, M.D., Ph.D., who are trainees from the NIH-funded UAB Medical Scientist Training Program, an M.D., Ph.D. program. "Macrophage biology has reached a pivotal point," said Lever, a UAB graduate student and NIH F31 individual fellow. Many basic science research studies have suggested the importance for tissue-resident macrophages in healing after injury, but development of therapies promoting them is still in early stages, Lever says. "In order to successfully utilize these cells for contemporary translational interventions, I believe we will need to be specific about the origin -- tissue-resident versus infiltrative -- of the cells we plan to target." Hull, now a surgery resident at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, said, "This work demonstrates that tissue resident macrophages possess the same plasticity that has been demonstrated in other immunological cell types. Moreover, this ability to reprogram to an early ontological phenotype is a potential avenue for therapeutic intervention, if the cellular signals and mechanisms of this reprogramming can be fully elucidated. "This is an exciting development in the field of acute kidney injury," Hull said, "but also may represent a therapeutic target in fields such as transplantation, where the importance of macrophage biology is less well understood." ### Other co-authors are Ravindra Boddu, Laurence M. Black, Oreoluwa O. Adedoyin, Zhengqin Yang, Amie M. Traylor, Yanlin Jiang, Jacelyn E. Peabody, Hannah E. Eckenrode, Subhashini Bolisetty and Michal Mrug, UAB Department of Medicine; Mark E. Pepin and Adam R. Wende, UAB Department of Pathology; Zhang Li, Kurt A. Zimmerman and Bradley K. Yoder, UAB Department of Cellular, Developmental and Integrative Biology; and David K. Crossman and Michael R. Crowley, UAB Department of Genetics. This work was supported by National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases grants DK59600, DK115752, DK097423, DK115169, DK116672 and DK103931, and also the core resource of the UAB-UCSD O'Brien Center for AKI Research, DK079337. Additional support came from the Office of Research and Development, Medical Research Service, Department of Veterans Affairs grant BX00229; the Polycystic Kidney Disease Research Foundation grant 214G16A; the UAB School of Medicine AMC21; and the UAB Medical Scientist Training Program grant GM008361. At UAB, Agarwal holds the Marie S. Ingalls Endowed Chair in Nephrology Leadership, and George holds the UAB Cardiovascular Surgical Research Chair. Although this is correct on larger scales, the assumption fails on smaller scales, according to various experiments and computer simulations carried out in recent decades. In an article recently published in Nature Physics, a group of mathematicians from Universidad Carlos III de Madrid (UC3M) and Imperial College London have come up with a new approach that solves this problem. When materials are in a solid state, their atoms are arranged in very uniform patterns, like grids, sheets and lattices. This means that, knowing the position of one atom, we can deduce the positions of all its neighbouring atoms. However, in liquids and gases, the arrangement of the atoms is very different, since they are subject to a disorderly motion. As a result of this motion, the atoms may be "locally" packed closely together for a moment, which leads to greater instantaneous density, and then separate. This only happens at microscopic scales; on larger scales, we are unable to discern this behaviour. In order to explain these systems, the theory of capillary waves had been used successfully, which fits with the "drum skin" analogy. However, at smaller scales, this theory fails. For decades, all attempts to "adapt" it by means of small modifications have been unsuccessful and we have been unable to reproduce the experimental results and computer simulations. However, the authors of this study have found that a more microscopic (and, therefore, more fundamental) description can neatly explain these elusive results. According to the authors of the study, the key lies in the fact that the functions that describe the arrangement of the atoms exhibit certain mathematical properties called "resonances" which, until now, had gone unnoticed. Taking these resonances into account, the mathematical consistency of the problem itself means the solution has to adopt a very particular form. "It's a completely new way of viewing the liquid-gas interface that can be applied to other systems; for example, by putting into contact two different liquids that do not mix," explains one of the authors of the study, Professor Andrew Parry, from the Mathematics Department at Imperial College London. "The most surprising thing for us was the simplicity and neatness of the mathematics of this theory and the fact that the theoretical models that we had all used for decades turn out to be, quite unexpectedly, special cases without any significance. Who would have suspected it?" says Carlos Rascon, co-author of the study and lecturer from the Mathematics Department at UC3M. The study has not only given rise to a consistent description of the liquid-gas fluctuations but it has also, in an indirect fashion, allowed for the discovery of a family of theoretical models that can be solved analytically, without the need to use computer numerical calculations. Models with analytical solutions are always welcome in physics because they allow for a very useful comparison with more complex models. "In truth, these new analytical models are going to involve more work for us. Perhaps it would have been better not to have discovered them," jokes Carlos Rascon. ### A new study of Tasmanian devils has revealed that a transmissible cancer which has devastated devil populations in recent years in unlikely to cause extinction of the iconic species. New research led by Dr Konstans Wells from Swansea University has revealed that it is more likely that the disease will fade-out or that the devils will coexist with Tasmanian Devil Facial Tumour Disease (DFTD) in future. DFTD typically kills the majority of devils it infects and has wiped out around 80% of wild devils with continuous decline of existing populations since the disease was first identified. An international team of scientists from the UK, Australia and the USA matched field epidemiological evidence from wild populations collected over a 10-year period in north-west Tasmania with simulation studies, which revealed that DFTD is unlikely to continue causing ongoing population declines of Tasmanian devils in future. They say the findings of their study, published in Ecology, offers much-needed hope that the species, which is the world's largest remaining marsupial carnivore, will not necessarily become extinct due to DFTD. First discovered in north-eastern Tasmania in 1996, DFTD causes tumours to form on the face and neck of the animal. The cancer spreads when the devils bite each other's faces during fighting, thus killing the animals within six to twenty four months. Dr Konstans Wells, lead author of the study, said: "Our findings suggest that immediate management interventions are unlikely to be necessary to ensure the survival of Tasmanian devil populations. This is because strong population declines of devils after disease emergence do not necessarily translate into long-term population declines". To explore the long-term outcomes of DFTD and devil populations, the researchers conducted a large number of simulations of possible disease spread in devils. Based on evidence such as current infection rates in the wild, the most likely simulation scenarios were selected to explore how DFTD will affect devil populations over the next 100 years. Among the most likely scenarios were those in which DFTD faded out (57% of likely scenarios) or coexisted with devils (22% of likely scenarios). Co-author of the study, Dr Rodrigo Hamede from the University of Tasmania, said: "With growing evidence that devils are showing signs of adaptation to DFTD and that so far the disease has not caused local extinctions, management actions targeted at understanding the devil's adaptive strategies to cope with DFTD should be considered. "Complete eradication of DFTD is not feasible, therefore studying the long-term interactions between devils and tumours will provide a realistic prognosis for the species and at the same time will help us to understand important evolutionary processes. This is particularly relevant given the recent outbreak of a new transmissible cancer - devil facial tumour 2 - affecting devil populations in south-eastern Tasmania. Devils seem to be prone to transmissible cancers, so studying epidemic dynamics and evolutionary responses to this type of diseases should be a priority". The research suggests that management efforts to maintain devil populations should be guided by the changing understanding of the long-term outcome of the disease impact on devils. Dr Wells explained: "Management efforts in wild populations that solely aim to combat the impact of DFTD can be counterproductive if they disrupt long-term forces at work that may eventually lead to stable devil populations that are well able to persist with the cancer. "Wildlife diseases such as DFTD should not disguise the fact that sufficiently large and undisturbed natural environments are a vital prerequisite for wildlife to persist and eventually cope with obstructions such as infectious diseases without human intervention". The study Individual and temporal variation in pathogen load predicts long-term impacts of an emerging infectious disease is published in Ecology. ### Patients who identify as transgender have lower odds of being screened for cancer, suggests a new study from St. Michael's Hospital, which also explores how doctors can address the disparity. The study assessed screening rates for cervical, breast, and colorectal cancer among 120 transgender patients eligible for screening and compared these with screening rates among the cisgender (i.e. non-transgender) patient population at the St. Michael's Hospital Academic Family Health Team. Transgender patients had 70 percent lower odds of being screened for breast cancer, 60 percent lower odds of being screened for cervical cancer, and 50 percent lower odds of being screened for colorectal cancer - even after accounting for other factors like age and the number of visits to the team. "Our overall cancer screening rates were improving and if we hadn't thought to look at this particular patient population we would have been happy with our results," said Dr. Tara Kiran, a family physician and a researcher at the Centre for Urban Health Solutions of St. Michael's. "This study stemmed from a realization that our system had the potential to miss patients whose gender had changed on their health card but who still required screening," Dr. Kiran said. "Our findings have prompted us to develop a system to include transgender patients in the outreach we do to patients overdue for cancer screening so that we're not missing anyone." Patients who have transitioned from female to male and still require cervical cancer screening are often missed when provincial agencies send reminders to those overdue. This analysis of cancer screening rates at the Family Health Team led Dr. Kiran and her colleagues to embark on a quality improvement project to learn more about perspectives towards cancer screening among transgender patients. "In many cases, physicians had discussed cancer screening with patients and patients had made an informed decision not to get screened," she said. "That was really important for us to understand. For people who have transitioned from female to male, having a Pap test can be upsetting as it can sometimes be gender dysphoric." The research team is still investigating reasons to explain the lower rates of colorectal cancer screening among transgender patients. At the St. Michael's Academic Family Health Team, physicians, nurse practitioners, social workers, and nurses work together to deliver comprehensive care to more than 400 transgender patients. The Family Health Team routinely welcomes transgender patients who are having difficulty finding a primary care provider. Dr. Kiran and her team hope this research helps increase awareness among primary care providers of the unique health needs of transgender patients and helps prompt decision-makers to address systems that overlook these unique needs. St. Michael's Academic Family Health Team clinics recently took steps to make waiting rooms more welcoming to gender-diverse patients, for example, by displaying Positive Space posters and ensuring access to gender neutral bathrooms. They also provided training for front-line clerical staff involved in patient registration on providing gender inclusive and sensitive care. "This study shows the importance of an equity approach," Dr. Kiran said. "Improvements in care may not reach everyone and we need to have targeted strategies to reach those with unique needs. Our research also highlights the importance of tracking not just whether patients have had a test but whether they have had an informed discussion. "Improved shared decision-making may be a more appropriate quality improvement goal than increasing cancer screening rates. We are hopeful that engaging trans patients in our quality improvement efforts will help us challenge our assumptions and provide better care to the trans population." ### PCR Tokyo Valves, the learning platform for sharing the best practice of Japan, the Asia Pacific region and beyond in valvular interventions, will be back at the JP Tower Hall & Conference, Chiyoda-ku from Feb. 15-17, 2019 2019, the year of Mitral -- Since the approval of MitraClip in April 2018 in Japan, the number of cases has registered a significant increase. It is therefore fundamental for the local percutaneous community to get on board with the techniques and innovations currently developing around this procedure. Hence, the Programme includes a special focus on edge-to-edge therapy with MitraClip, which is currently reaching its prime-time in the Asia Pacific region. The How should I treat and Learning sessions will offer ideal opportunities to apprehend MitraClip from A to Z, including potential complications, through a case-based approach. TAVI for beginners and advanced -- TAVI naturally continues to occupy an important place in the Course's curriculum. As the Asian Pacific experience in TAVI reaches maturity, this year's sessions are devised to explore the expansion of the treatment to more complex patients and anatomies. For those who are just entering the field, beginner sessions will bring relevant and easy-to-apply tips and tricks. Imaging techniques, key element for optimal procedures -- The Course is kicking off with an Imaging Day on Friday 15, 2:00 PM. Throughout the day, participants will be able to take part in case-based sessions exploring multi-modality imaging methods and striving to deliver key learnings on the use of such techniques in both aortic and mitral valve interventions. A relevant Programme, made By and For the Japanese Heart Team -- Interventional Cardiologists, Cardiac Surgeons, Imaging Specialists, Nurse and/or an Allied Professionals from the local percutaneous community will find relevant content within this year's comprehensive curriculum. Indeed, 35 abstracts and 86 clinical cases were submitted by community members, a great number of which were selected to be part of the Course Programme. Some sessions will even be held in the Japanese language. Yet, the international scope which characterises PCR Courses remains present. Collaborations with the European interventional field will be supported on this occasion by LIVE demonstrations transmitted from the Institut Cardiovasculaire Paris Sud - Massy in France. ### Key information: Tokyo, Japan - JP Tower Hall & Conference, Chiyoda-ku PCR Tokyo Valves - 15 - 17 February 2019 The detailed Course Programme is now available on the dedicated website http://www. pcrtokyovalves. com . You can also already join the conversation on Twitter using #PCRtokyo About PCR The mission of PCR is to serve the needs of each individual patient by helping the cardiovascular community to share knowledge, experience and practice. PCR offers a large range of many other educational meetings and resources for the continuing education of the interventional cardiovascular community. These include major annual Courses across the globe, E-Learning with high-profile PCR Webinars, Courses specifically dedicated to valvular heart disease, tailor-made PCR Seminars on specific topics, online resources and medical publications such as EuroIntervention, the official journal of the EAPCI. Gateways to all PCR activities are available on http://www. pcronline. com For further information, please contact Celia Vila: cvila@europa-group.com Ten African scientists have been selected for training at the National Institutes of Health as part of a new fellowship program to build research capacity in African countries and develop ongoing scientific partnerships. NIH, the African Academy of Sciences, and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation are collaborating to establish the African Postdoctoral Training Initiative. The inaugural cohort will assume their positions in NIH host labs in early 2019. NIH will provide two years of training under principal investigators who share the fellows' research interests. The African scientists will then return to their home institutions and receive two years of support to continue the research and establish themselves as independent investigators. NIH and the Gates Foundation are together providing about $4 million for the program. "Our goal is to equip these talented African fellows with the skills to become scientific leaders, prepared to help solve their country's health challenges and train future generations of researchers," said NIH Director Francis S. Collins, M.D., Ph.D., whose intramural research lab will host one of the fellows. "By designing the African Postdoctoral Training Initiative to begin at NIH and then continue at their home institution, we aim to prevent 'brain drain,' build sustainable research capacity, and establish long-term collaborations between U.S. scientists and African investigators and research institutions." "It is imperative to strengthen African scientific leadership to advance health and development goals on the continent. We are thrilled to partner with NIH and the African Academy of Sciences to support these 10 outstanding researchers working to solve the world's greatest health challenges," said Trevor Mundel, president of the Global Health Division at the Gates Foundation. "To achieve the Sustainable Development Goals by 2030, the world needs to accelerate innovation and global scientific collaboration. Training from NIH, one of the world's foremost biomedical research institutions, will help these scientists develop the transformational solutions the world and their communities urgently need." The fellows come from six African countries: Ghana, Mali, Nigeria, Ethiopia, Kenya and Egypt. They've been matched with labs from seven institutes at NIH and will study diseases and conditions that are research priorities in their respective countries, including infectious diseases, maternal and child health, and diabetes. The fellowship program targets early career scientists who have doctoral degrees and less than five years of research experience. Candidates must also be citizens of an African country and employed at one of the continent's academic, research or government institutions. NIH's Fogarty International Center is coordinating the fellowship program. The African Academy of Sciences managed the recruitment and selection process, and plans to recruit another cohort in 2020. 2019 African Postdoctoral Training Initiative Fellows and NIH Hosts Fellow: Dr. Idowu Aimola Home institution: Ahmadu Bello University, Nigeria Host institution: National Human Genome Research Institute Research area: diabetes, maternal and child health Fellow: Dr. Nana Ama Amissah Home institution: Noguchi Memorial Institute for Medical Research, Ghana Host institution: National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Research area: infectious diseases Fellow: Dr. Thomas Hormenu Home institution: University of Cape Coast, Ghana Host institution: National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases Research area: diabetes Fellow: Dr. Musa Kana Home institution: Federal University Lafia, Nigeria Host institution: National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences Research area: tuberculosis, respiratory diseases, child health Fellow: Dr. Rania Labib Home institution: Children's Cancer Hospital, Egypt Host institution: National Cancer Institute Research area: child health Fellow: Dr. Hamma Maiga Home institution : Institut National de Recherche en Sante Publique, Mali Host institution: National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Research area: malaria, maternal and child health Fellow: Dr. Bartholomew Ondigo Home institution: Egerton University, Kenya Host institution: National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Research area: malaria Fellow: Dr. Kolapo Oyebola Home institution: University of Lagos, Nigeria Host institution: National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute Research area: sickle cell disease Fellow: Dr. Irene Offei Owusu Home institution: Noguchi Memorial Institute for Medical Research, Ghana Host institution: National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Research area: infectious diseases, viruses Fellow: Dr. Markos Tesfaye Woldeyohannes Home institution: St. Paul's Hospital Millennium Medical College, Ethiopia Host institution: National Institute of Nursing Research Research area: child health ### About the Fogarty International Center: the Center addresses global health challenges through innovative and collaborative research and training programs, and supports and advances the NIH mission through international partnerships. For more information, visit http://www. fic. nih. gov . Gary S. Gilkeson, M.D., Distinguished University Professor in the Division of Rheumatology & Immunology at the Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC) and Associate Dean for Faculty Affairs and Faculty Development in the MUSC College of Medicine, was awarded the American College of Rheumatology's (ACR) Master's Designation, its highest honor, at the organization's annual meeting in Chicago. The award recognizes a lifetime of clinical and research contributions to the field of rheumatology. Gilkeson, whose research focuses on lupus, was one of only 18 rheumatologists worldwide to receive this distinction. Founded in 1934, the ACR is a global medical society that seeks to improve the care of patients with rheumatic disease and to support rheumatology research. Its members include more than 9,600 physicians, health professionals and scientists across the globe. "It's very special and humbling to me to be selected for this award given the thousands of rheumatologists there are in the world," says Gilkeson. "To get recognition by our peers is something special that we all look for." Of his many contributions to the field of rheumatology, Gilkeson is most proud of his mentoring. He has been the primary mentor for ten NIH K award recipients, all of whom remain active in academic research. He received the ACR 2015 Award for Excellence in Investigative Mentoring. The Lupus Foundation of America named its Career Development Award in his honor. "People that I have trained are successful in the field now," says Gilkeson. "I have been recognized for my mentoring of junior colleagues and investigators and that has been the major achievement I am most proud of." How fitting, then, that Gilkeson was recognized the same year that his former mentee, Deanna Baker Frost, M.D., Ph.D., an Assistant Professor in the Division of Rheumatology & Immunology at MUSC, received the ACR's Distinguished Fellows Award. With this award, the ACR recognizes up to ten fellows for clinical or research excellence. "It was just crazy how all of it came full circle," says Baker Frost, who was mentored by Gilkeson as she completed her medical and doctoral degrees in rheumatology. "I did my Ph.D. in his lab, and I worked with him in clinic. Prior to that I knew nothing about rheumatology at all. But I saw the relationship he had with his patients. I saw how much they loved him and cared about him, and how much he cared about them as well." Gilkeson is a quintessential clinician-scientist, engaged at once in treating patients with lupus and in conducting research that will provide these patients better treatments in the future. He has studied why women and African Americans are more susceptible to the disease. He has also explored the role genetic and environmental factors play in lupus in African Americans, leading him to make four trips to Sierra Leone, West Africa. He is collaborating with Chinese investigator Linyung Sun, Ph.D., of Nanjing University to explore mesenchymal stem cells as a therapeutic approach in lupus. Following in Gilkeson's footsteps, Baker Frost is pursuing a career with a twin emphasis on clinical care and research. Her research focuses on scleroderma, a rheumatic disease that causes fibrosis (scarring) of the organs and skin. Working with Kitty Trask Holt Endowed Chair for Scleroderma Research Carol Feghali-Bostwick, Ph.D., Baker Forest is examining whether blocking estrogen would improve fibrosis in these patients. She is also a scholar in the KL2 program administered by the South Carolina Clinical and Translational Institute at MUSC, which is meant to serve as a stepping stone for clinicians interested in pursuing research. "As I was coming to the end of fellowship, I thought this would be a program that would give me the necessary tools to move forward to becoming an independent investigator," says Baker Frost. Richard M. Silver, M.D., Distinguished University Professor and then Chief of the Division of Rheumatology & Immunology at MUSC, who also holds the Master's Designation from the ACR, nominated both Gilkeson and Baker Frost for their awards. Faye N. Hant, D.O., program director for the rheumatology fellows program at MUSC, co-nominated Baker Frost. "These two awards are an indicator of the excellence in our Division of Rheumatology & Immunology," says Gilkeson. "There are two other rheumatologists at MUSC who have gotten the Master's Designation -- Dr. Rick Silver and Dr. Murray Passo, a retired pediatric rheumatologist. To have that many recognized, to have our fellows recognized, shows the quality of the division and the contributions we have made in patient care and research in the field of rheumatology." ### About MUSC Founded in 1824 in Charleston, The Medical University of South Carolina is the oldest medical school in the South. Today, MUSC continues the tradition of excellence in education, research, and patient care. MUSC educates and trains more than 3,000 students and residents, and has nearly 13,000 employees, including approximately 1,500 faculty members. As the largest non-federal employer in Charleston, the university and its affiliates have collective annual budgets in excess of $2.2 billion. MUSC operates a 700-bed medical center, which includes a nationally recognized Children's Hospital, the Ashley River Tower (cardiovascular, digestive disease, and surgical oncology), Hollings Cancer Center (a National Cancer Institute-designated center) Level I Trauma Center, and Institute of Psychiatry. For more information on academic programs or clinical services, visit musc.edu. For more information on hospital patient services, visit muschealth.org New Orleans, LA - Dr. Paul Harch, Clinical Professor and Director of Hyperbaric Medicine at LSU Health New Orleans School of Medicine, and Dr. Edward Fogarty, Chairman of Radiology at the University of North Dakota School of Medicine, report the first PET scan-documented case of improvement in brain metabolism in Alzheimer's disease in a patient treated with hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT). The report, published in the current issue of the peer-reviewed journal Medical Gas Research, is available at http://www. medgasres. com/ article. asp?issn= 2045-9912;year= 2018;volume= 8;issue= 4;spage= 181;epage= 184;aulast= Harch . The authors report the case of a 58-year-old female who had experienced five years of cognitive decline, which began accelerating rapidly. Single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) suggested Alzheimer's disease. The diagnosis was confirmed by 18Fluorodeoxyglucose (18FDG) positron emission tomography (PET) brain imaging, which revealed global and typical metabolic deficits in Alzheimer's. The patient underwent a total of 40 HBOT treatments - five days a week over 66 days. Each treatment consisted of 1.15 atmosphere absolute/50 minutes total treatment time. After 21 treatments, the patient reported increased energy and level of activity, better mood and ability to perform daily living activities as well as work crossword puzzles. After 40 treatments, she reported increased memory and concentration, sleep, conversation, appetite, ability to use the computer, more good days (5/7) than bad days, resolved anxiety, and decreased disorientation and frustration. Tremor, deep knee bend, tandem gain, and motor speed were also improved. Repeat 18FDG PET imaging one month post-HBOT showed global 6.5-38% improvement in brain metabolism. "We demonstrated the largest improvement in brain metabolism of any therapy for Alzheimer's disease," notes Dr. Harch. "HBOT in this patient may be the first treatment not only to halt, but temporarily reverse disease progression in Alzheimer's disease." The report also contains video imaging, including unique rotating PET 3D Surface Reconstructions, which allow the lay person to easily see the improvements in brain function. "PET imaging is used around the world as a biomarker in oncology and cardiology to assay responses to therapy," says Dr. Fogarty. "We now have an irrefutable biomarker system that this intervention has promise where no other real hope for recovery of dementia has ever existed before." The physicians report that two months post-HBOT, the patient felt a recurrence in her symptoms. She was retreated over the next 20 months with 56 HBOTs (total 96) at the same dose, supplemental oxygen, and medications with stability of her symptoms and Folstein Mini-Mental Status exam. According to the National Institutes of Health, "Alzheimer's disease is an irreversible, progressive brain disorder that slowly destroys memory and thinking skills and, eventually, the ability to carry out the simplest tasks. It is the most common cause of dementia in older adults. Alzheimer's disease is currently ranked as the sixth leading cause of death in the United States, but recent estimates indicate that the disorder may rank third, just behind heart disease and cancer, as a cause of death for older people." The authors note that four pathological processes have been identified and primary treatment is with acetylcholinesterase inhibitors or the N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor antagonist memantine, which have been shown to have a positive impact on Alzheimer's disease progression with no significant disease-modifying effects. HBOT is an epigenetic modulation of gene expression and suppression to treat wounds and disease pathophysiology, particularly inflammation. HBOT targets all four of the pathological processes of AD by affecting the microcirculation; mitochondrial dysfunction, and biogenesis; reducing amyloid burden and tau phosphorylation; controlling oxidative stress; and reducing inflammation. The first successful HBOT-treated case of Alzheimer's disease was published in 2001. The present case report is the first patient in a series of 11 HBOT-treated patients with Alzheimer's disease whose symptomatic improvement is documented with 18fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography (18FDG PET). "Our results suggest the possibility of treating Alzheimer's disease long-term with HBOT and pharmacotherapy," concludes Harch. ### Philippine microsatellite DIWATA-2 has successfully captured initial images. Launched last autumn, it is the second microsatellite designed and developed under a collaborative project between Hokkaido University, Tohoku University, the Advanced Science and Technology Institute (DOST-ASTI), and the University of the Philippines-Diliman (UPD) Microsatellites have attracted worldwide attention due to several advantages they have over traditional satellites, including their cost-efficiency, making their development and operation affordable for smaller countries. The microsatellite DIWATA-2 was launched by H-IIA rocket from Japan's Tanegashima Space Center on October 29th, 2018. Featuring improved operation features and technology of its predecessor, the DIWATA-1, the handling of the DIWATA-2 has been extremely smooth, with the satellite being able to send high-quality images back to Earth. DIWATA-2 carries 5 types of optical payloads, including a spectral camera capable of sensing 590 spectral bands; the highest in the world. In addition to these cameras, the satellite has a target pointing capability which allows a constant observation of a specific location from its attitude control, and also can increase the observation frequency accordingly. DIWATA-2 was developed as part of the PHL-Microsat Program, a Philippine government program that aims to build, launch, and utilize two Earth observation microsatellites to make effective use of disaster monitoring, and natural resource management. The program is managed and operated by the Philippine Council for Industry, Energy, and Emerging Technology Research and Development (PCIEERD), but was made possible through close collaboration between Hokkaido University and Tohoku University in Japan, DOST-ASTI, and UPD. As part of the program, both Hokkaido University and Tohoku University admitted Filipino researchers and students as graduate students to help them develop the skills needed to develop, create, operate, and analyze a satellite program from scratch. The control, operation, and acquisition of satellite data of both DIWATA-1 and DIWATA-2 are currently being handled by the Philippine Earth Data Resource Observation Center (PEDRO), which is managed by the DOST-ASTI. Cameras onboard the DIWATA-1 can detect outbreaks of blight in banana groves -- a major cause of economic damage in the country -- from space. This was the first time in the world satellite technology has been successfully used for this purpose, one of many prominent results. Together with Tohoku University, the Hokkaido University team that worked on the development of DIWATA-1 and DIWATA-2 have successfully created and launched 4 microsatellites in total. In addition, they are making progress toward the establishment of the "Asian Micro-satellite Consortium", proposed to be an international network made up of 9 member countries and 16 institutions. Together, the group aims to create, launch, and operate a network of microsatellites capable of relaying real-time information on natural disasters around the globe. ### On earth, environmental protection has the primary goal of ensuring the availability of clean water and clean air for human beings in the future. Human interests usually take also precedent when it comes to protecting more developed animals and plants. Lower life forms such as bacteria, on the other hand, are considered worthy of protection only in exceptional cases. Claudius Gros, professor for theoretical physics at Goethe University, has now investigated the degree to which the norms for the protection of planets can be derived analogously from issues that arise in environmental protection on Earth. The international COSPAR agreements on space research stipulate that space missions must ensure that any existing life - such as possibly on the Jupiter moon Europa - or traces of previous life forms - perhaps on Mars - are not polluted, so that they remain intact for scientific purposes. The protection of extra-terrestrial life as valuable in and of itself is not stipulated. The COSPAR Guidelines apply to our solar system. But to which extent should they be applied to planetary systems beyond our solar system (exoplanets)? This will become a relevant issue with the advent of launch pads for miniature interstellar space probes, such as of the type in development by the "Breakthrough Starshot" initiative. Gros argues that the protection of exoplanets for the use of humankind could not be justified. Apart from fly-bys, we could carry out scientific studies only with space probes able to slow down in an alien solar system. Using the best technology available today, this would require magnetic sails and missions lasting thousands of years, at the least. According to Gros, the protection of exoplanets would also be irrelevant if these planets were lifeless, even if they were otherwise habitable. This probably includes planet systems such as the Trappist-1 system, whose central star is an M-dwarf star. Planets orbiting in the habitable zone of an M-dwarf star have a dense oxygen atmosphere that was formed through physical processes before cooling. Whether life can develop on such planets is questionable. Free oxygen acts corrosively on prebiotic reaction cycles, which are considered prerequisites for the origin of life. "Whether there is another way for life to form on these oxygen planets is an open question at this time," says Gros. "If not, we would find ourselves living in a universe in which most of the habitable planets are lifeless, and thus suitable for settlement by terrestrial life forms," he adds. ### Publications: Claudius Gros: Why planetary and exoplanetary protection differ: The case of long duration Genesis missions to habitable but sterile M-dwarf oxygen planets, Acta Astronautica 2019, in press. https:/ / arxiv. org/ abs/ 1901. 02286 Claudius Gros: Developing Ecospheres on Transiently Habitable Planets: The Genesis Project, Astrophysics and Space Science 361, 324 (2016) http://link. springer. com/ article/ 10. 1007/ s10509-016-2911-0 Further information: Professor Claudius Gros, Institute for Theoretical Physics, Riedberg Campus, Tel.: +49 69 798 47818, gros07[@]itp.uni-frankfurt.de Current news about science, teaching, and society in GOETHE-UNI online (http://www. aktuelles. uni-frankfurt. de ) Goethe University is a research-oriented university in the European financial centre Frankfurt The university was founded in 1914 through private funding, primarily from Jewish sponsors, and has since produced pioneering achievements in the areas of social sciences, sociology and economics, medicine, quantum physics, brain research, and labour law. It gained a unique level of autonomy on 1 January 2008 by returning to its historic roots as a "foundation university". Today, it is one of the three largest universities in Germany. Together with the Technical University of Darmstadt and the University of Mainz, it acts as a partner of the inter-state strategic Rhine-Main University Alliance. Internet: http://www. uni-frankfurt. de Publisher: The President of Goethe University Editor: Dr. Anne Hardy, Referee for Science Communication, PR & Communication Department, Theodor-W.-Adorno-Platz 1, 60323 Frankfurt am Main, Tel: (069) 798-13035, Fax: (069) 798-763 12531. Lugano, Switzerland, 24 January 2019 - The TAT 2019 Honorary Award for cancer drug development has been given to Dr Geoffrey Shapiro, Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School and Institute Physician at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, for his leadership in developmental therapeutics, particularly in solid tumours. The award will be presented during the International Congress on Targeted Anticancer Therapies (TAT) 2019, to be held in Paris, France, 25-27 February. (1,2) The TAT Honorary Award was established in the early 1990s to acknowledge distinguished cancer drug development experts who have devoted a major part of their careers to the discovery and development of better anticancer medicines. Shapiro has built a comprehensive programme in early cancer drug development, particularly in solid tumours, as Leader of the Early Drug Development Center at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute (DFCI), Clinical Director of the DFCI Center for DNA Damage and Repair, and co-Leader of the Developmental Therapeutics Programme at the Dana-Farber/Harvard Cancer Center (DF/HCC). In his leadership roles, Shapiro has provided scientific and clinical direction for the design of early phase clinical trials evaluating a broad range of investigational agents including cell cycle inhibitors, such as those targeting CDKs and mitotic kinases, as well as DNA damage response modulators that inhibit PARP and checkpoint kinases. He has also conducted studies of a variety of signal transduction and angiogenesis inhibitors. He has made proof-of-mechanism studies a mission of his programme and has worked closely with basic and translational scientists at his institution and elsewhere to establish robust preclinical rationale for many trials. On receiving the award, Shapiro said: "For many years, the TAT International Congress has been a critical venue for the presentation of translational research and discussion of all facets of early drug development, from biology of novel drug classes to clinical trial design, to monitoring of toxicities and responses, to reporting of early clinical results. There is no other place where those involved in early drug development can find such a strong and supportive community of premier investigators with international representation. It is therefore a great honour to be selected by my peers for the TAT Honorary Award this year, one of my proudest accolades for which I am tremendously grateful." Shapiro's laboratory has made major contributions toward the development of several combinations of targeted agents that are currently in clinical evaluation, such as the combination of palbociclib, a CDK4 inhibitor, and PD-0325901, an experimental MEK inhibitor, for treatment of solid tumours. He has also established translational assays to identify target engagement of these combinations in patients. More recently, he has sought to understand the effects of several classes of agents, notably CDK and PARP inhibitors, on the immune microenvironment, in order to further develop rational combinations. Shapiro contributes to the field of early drug development in cancer through membership of several committees. These include the TAT Scientific Advisory Committee, the National Cancer Institute (NCI) Investigational Drug Steering Committee, the Alliance for Clinical Trials in Oncology Experimental Therapeutics Committee, and the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) Scientific Programme Committee for the Developmental Therapeutics Track. Professor Giuseppe Curigliano, Chair of the ESMO Nomination Committee, said: "Shapiro has dedicated his career to developing better anticancer medicines. His work has been a key factor in the successful advancement of a number of drugs, including CDK 4/6 inhibitors, now approved in breast cancer and under active investigation in other cancers. It is therefore a great pleasure for ESMO to present him the TAT 2019 Honorary Award for cancer drug development." ### Notes to Editors Please make sure to use the official name of the meeting in your reports: TAT International Congress 2019 Official Congress Hashtag: #TAT19 References (1) https:/ / www. esmo. org/ Conferences/ TAT-2019-International-Congress-on-Targeted-Anticancer-Therapies (2) Dr. Shapiro will present his keynote lecture entitled "Development of Cyclin-Dependent Kinase Inhibitors: A brief history and future directions", during the TAT 2019 opening and welcome session, Monday 25 February, from 08:45 to 09:30 in Amphitheatre Bordeaux About the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) ESMO is the leading professional organisation for medical oncology. With more than 20,000 members representing oncology professionals from over 150 countries worldwide, ESMO is the society of reference for oncology education and information. ESMO is committed to offer the best care to people with cancer, through fostering integrated cancer care, supporting oncologists in their professional development, and advocating for sustainable cancer care worldwide.Visit http://www. esmo. org About the International Congress on Targeted Anticancer Therapies (TAT) The TAT Congress is a well-differentiated ESMO event focusing on early phase drug development and translational research. The TAT Congress series has been at the forefront of revolutionary transformation in early drug development and has succeeded in broadening the conversation on phase I trials to include a wide circle of stakeholders. Black holes are known for their voracious appetites, binging on matter with such ferocity that not even light can escape once it's swallowed up. Less understood, though, is how black holes purge energy locked up in their rotation, jetting near-light-speed plasmas into space to opposite sides in one of the most powerful displays in the universe. These jets can extend outward for millions of light years. New simulations led by researchers working at the Department of Energy's Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) and UC Berkeley have combined decades-old theories to provide new insight about the driving mechanisms in the plasma jets that allows them to steal energy from black holes' powerful gravitational fields and propel it far from their gaping mouths. The simulations could provide a useful comparison for high-resolution observations from the Event Horizon Telescope, an array that is designed to provide the first direct images of the regions where the plasma jets form. The telescope will enable new views of the black hole at the center of our own Milky Way galaxy, as well as detailed views of other supermassive black holes. "How can the energy in a black hole's rotation be extracted to make jets?" said Kyle Parfrey, who led the work on the simulations while he was an Einstein Postdoctoral Fellow affiliated with the Nuclear Science Division at Berkeley Lab. "This has been a question for a long time." Now a senior fellow at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center in Maryland, Parfrey is the lead author of a study, published Jan. 23 in Physical Review Letters, that details the simulations research. The simulations, for the first time, unite a theory that explains how electric currents around a black hole twist magnetic fields into forming jets, with a separate theory explaining how particles crossing through a black hole's point of no return - the event horizon - can appear to a distant observer to carry in negative energy and lower the black hole's overall rotational energy. It's like eating a snack that causes you to lose calories rather than gaining them. The black hole actually loses mass as a result of slurping in these "negative-energy" particles. Computer simulations have difficulty in modeling all of the complex physics involved in plasma-jet launching, which must account for the creation of pairs of electrons and positrons, the acceleration mechanism for particles, and the emission of light in the jets. Berkeley Lab has contributed extensively to plasma simulations over its long history. Plasma is a gas-like mixture of charged particles that is the universe's most common state of matter. Parfrey said he realized that more complex simulations to better describe the jets would require a combination of expertise in plasma physics and the general theory of relativity. "I thought it would be a good time to try to bring these two things together," he said. Performed at a supercomputing center at NASA Ames Research Center in Mountain View, California, the simulations incorporate new numerical techniques that provide the first model of a collisionless plasma - in which collisions between charged particles do not play a major role - in the presence of a strong gravitational field associated with a black hole. The simulations naturally produce effects known as the Blandford-Znajek mechanism, which describes the twisting magnetic fields that form jets, and a separate Penrose process that describes what happens when negative-energy particles are gulped down by the black hole. The Penrose process, "even though it doesn't necessarily contribute that much to extracting the black hole's rotation energy," Parfrey said, "is possibly directly linked to the electric currents that twist the jets' magnetic fields." While more detailed than some earlier models, Parfrey noted that his team's simulations are still playing catch-up with observations, and are idealized in some ways to simplify the calculations needed to perform the simulations. The team intends to better model the process by which electron-positron pairs are created in the jets in order to study the jets' plasma distribution and their emission of radiation more realistically for comparison to observations. They also plan to broaden the scope of the simulations to include the flow of infalling matter around the black hole's event horizon, known as its accretion flow. "We hope to provide a more consistent picture of the whole problem," he said. ### Other participants in the research are Alexander Philippov, who was an Einstein Postdoctoral Fellow at UC Berkeley, and Benoit Cerutti, a CNRS researcher at the Universite Grenoble Alpes in France. Parfrey and Philippov were members of the Department of Astronomy and Theoretical Astrophysics Center at UC Berkeley, and Philippov is now at the Flatiron Institute in New York. The work was supported by NASA through the Einstein Postdoctoral Fellowships program, CNES, Labex OSUG@2020, NASA's High-End Computing Program, TGCC, CINES, and the Simons Foundation. Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory addresses the world's most urgent scientific challenges by advancing sustainable energy, protecting human health, creating new materials, and revealing the origin and fate of the universe. Founded in 1931, Berkeley Lab's scientific expertise has been recognized with 13 Nobel Prizes. The University of California manages Berkeley Lab for the U.S. Department of Energy's Office of Science. DOE's Office of Science is the single largest supporter of basic research in the physical sciences in the United States, and is working to address some of the most pressing challenges of our time. For more information, please visit the Office of Science website at science.energy.gov. The government of Liberia, in partnership with the Center for Infection and Immunity (CII) at the Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health and EcoHealth Alliance, announced the discovery of Ebola virus in a bat in Liberia. This is the first finding of Zaire ebolavirus in a bat in West Africa, adding to other evidence suggesting bats serve as a natural wildlife reservoir for Ebola and other related viruses. Scientists found both genetic material from the virus and ebolavirus antibodies in a Greater Long-fingered bat (Mineopterus inflatus) in Liberia's northeastern Nimba District. CII has been working to identify and characterize novel viruses at the intersection of humans and animals, on a global scale, for more than three decades. This work is a part of the USAID PREDICT project, which aims to better understand the animal reservoirs, seasonality, and transmission of viruses that can cause epidemic diseases. This is the first identification of Ebola virus in a bat in West Africa. There are six species of Ebola virus and Zaire ebolavirus is the one responsible for causing the West African Ebola epidemic which infected nearly 30,000 people between 2013 and 2016. Researchers at CII are working to determine whether the strain found in the bat is exactly the same one associated with the 2013-2016 outbreak. The evidence so far from about 20 percent of the virus' genome suggests that it is closely related. Zaire ebolavirus is also responsible for the ongoing outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo, which is now the second deadliest Ebola outbreak in history. No human cases of Ebola are linked to this discovery and Liberia has remained free of any new human cases since the 2013-2016 outbreak. However, this finding brings us closer to understanding where human Ebola cases come from. "There have been unanswered questions about the source of Ebola outbreaks. There was speculation that they may have originated from bats, but there was no direct evidence," says Simon Anthony, D.Phil, assistant professor of Epidemiology in the Center for Infection and Immunity at the Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health, who led the laboratory discovery. "A critical element in this discovery, was VirCapSeq-VERT, a tool invented at the CII that improves the sensitivity of next generation sequencing 1,000-fold. It is possible that there are also other bat species that carry Ebola. Going forward, we will be analyzing additional specimens to fill in the picture." "This discovery is a major step forward in understanding how Ebola outbreaks happen," says EcoHealth Alliance Vice President for Science and Outreach Jonathan Epstein, DVM. Epstein also serves as the lead for USAID-PREDICT in Liberia. "The West African Ebola epidemic was devastating, and it began with a single transmission from an animal to a person. It's critical that we identify which animals naturally carry Ebola and related viruses - without knowing that, we can't truly understand and reduce the risk of another outbreak occurring in the region." The search for wildlife hosts for filoviruses like Ebola is a part of USAID's PREDICT project, an international initiative to conduct surveillance and build local capacity to detect novel and known zoonotic viruses in nature so that countries are better prepared to prevent and respond to outbreaks. Partners in the discovery include EcoHealth Alliance; the Society for the Conservation of Nature, Liberia; the National Public Health Institute of Liberia; the Forest Development Authority; the Liberian Ministry of Agriculture; and Center for Infection and Immunity at Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health; and the University of California, Davis, which leads the PREDICT Consortium. Ebola is a zoonotic disease transmitted from wild animals to humans Ebola virus belongs to the Filoviridae family which also includes the Marburg and Cueva viruses. Like other zoonotic diseases (SARS, influenza, and rabies), Ebola virus is harbored by a natural animal reservoir, in Ebola's case believed to include one or more species of bat, based on previous scientific studies. Prior Ebola outbreaks in Central Africa have been associated with deforestation and bushmeat hunting, where human cases were linked to contact with and consumption of chimpanzees, gorillas, and duikers that were infected. These animals were also victims of Ebola virus and it's still a mystery as to exactly how they were infected. However, there is substantial evidence that filoviruses, such as Ebola and Marburg virus, are carried by bats. Marburg virus was recently discovered for the first time in Sierra Leone in its known bat reservoir, but it has historically been difficult to identify bats infected with Ebola virus. Bats play a critical role in ecosystems around the world, by removing pest insect species and pollinating fruiting trees, for example. The finding of Ebola virus in a bat should not be taken as a reason to exterminate, remove or harass bats in their natural environment. In fact, previous work shows that efforts to remove wildlife populations can lead to enhanced disease spread. "The government of Liberia has been not only a committed partner, but is working proactively to prevent further Ebola infections in the country," says EcoHealth Alliance President Dr. Peter Daszak. "When we shared this discovery with them, they mobilized immediately to share these findings with their citizens. For the government to now be able to offer specific guidance so as to protect people's health is critical. Past experience has shown that simply telling people not to eat bats is neither practical nor effective. Helping them live safely with bats is." Keeping local communities safe Greater Long-fingered bats are found in parts of West Africa and other regions. They are an agriculturally important species in the area, as they eat insects which do damage to crops. Additionally, they do not tend to roost in homes or buildings, as some bats do. Instead they are found in forests, caves, and mines which makes preventing contact with them easier by avoiding entering caves or mines. The Liberian government is working to engage local communities about this finding to help reduce the possible risk of exposure and educate people about the positive impacts of bat species on pest control and the environment. Moving forward Further testing is underway to determine whether or not the virus detected in this bat is the same strain which caused the West African Ebola epidemic. The PREDICT team is also working with partners to understand how commonly these bats or other bat species may be infected with Ebola virus and whether there are any seasonal patterns to infection in bats, all of which helps understand risk to people and will inform public health strategies designed to prevent another Ebola outbreak. "This discovery is the result of an extraordinarily productive partnership between the government of Liberia, CII, EcoHealth Alliance, and UC Davis," says Ian Lipkin, MD, director of CII. "It builds on years of investment and methods established under the auspices of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases in biodefense and emerging infectious diseases." ### New York, NY (January 24, 2019)--Drug overdose is now the leading cause of death for individuals under the age of 50, as the opioid epidemic continues unabated. One reason is that the majority of the estimated 2.4 million Americans with opioid use disorder aren't getting evidence-based treatment, including medications to treat opioid addiction. In a paper out today in The American Journal of Drug and Alcohol Abuse, Columbia researchers present an expanded model to reduce opioid overdose and death by addressing gaps in addiction care and by monitoring treatment outcomes. A group of researchers led by Arthur Robin Williams, MD, MBE, assistant professor of clinical psychiatry at Columbia University's Division on Substance Use Disorders, developed a "Cascade of Care" model for treating individuals with opioid use disorder based on lessons learned in the HIV/AIDS field. The model identifies key stages through which people with opioid use disorder must successfully, and sequentially, progress to increase the chance of reaching remission. The care model expands an earlier framework, published in Health Affairs, that has become a key element in the response to the opioid epidemic from the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) and the Centers for Disease Control. The expanded model includes diagnosis, linkages to care, medication initiation, retention in a treatment program, and remission. The model also emphasizes prevention services targeting populations by risk level. Mark Olfson, MD, MPH, professor of psychiatry at Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons and the paper's senior author says, "The cascade of care model provides a common language to identify gaps, measure progress, highlight successes, and share best practices in the community treatment of opioid use disorder." The framework has been embraced not only by NIDA and the CDC, but by other organizations as well. Dr. Charles Barron (CDC), Deputy Chief Medical Officer of NYC Health + Hospitals, the nation's largest public health care system, reports, "At NYC Health + Hospitals, we understand that navigating a complex health care system is difficult for anyone, and even more so for vulnerable patients with numerous competing psychosocial priorities. The Opioid Cascade of Care model we are building will be a valuable tool to target areas for quality improvement and to ensure that the greatest number of people receive life-saving treatment in our efforts to combat the opioid epidemic." Recent efforts to curb the opioid epidemic have included legislation charging the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) with disbursing nearly $1 billion for treatment services, with priority given to those states hit hardest by the opioid epidemic. The funding requires states to perform needs assessments and to develop strategic plans for increasing access to opioid addiction medications under a chronic care model. The team of Columbia researchers sees the application of this new framework as a valuable means to track use of medications and patient outcomes across states and localities in a standardized way. "This report demonstrates how research can be brought to bear on this pernicious public health challenge," says Dr. Jeffrey Lieberman, the Lawrence C. Kolb Professor of Psychiatry and Chair of the Department of Psychiatry at CUIMC. "The task now will be to make available and extend the scope of services based on this model more widely." "While the scale of the opioid crisis presents states and policymakers with a daunting and urgent task, adapting the OUD Cascade of Care for today's crisis will help expedite and scale programs needed for an effective response," says Williams. "Applying quality measures informed by the Cascade of Care to treatment of opioid use disorder holds great promise to help ensure optimal returns on federal funding for areas hardest hit by overdose. Treatment programs with historically low use of evidence-based practices in the face of the worsening epidemic need compelling incentives to change. Identifying which patients struggle at which stages of the Cascade to help target clinical and policy interventions can help State Targeted Response funding achieve its greatest impact." ### The paper is titled "Development of a Cascade of Care for Responding to the Opioid Epidemic." The other authors of this paper are Edward V. Nunes MD, Adam Bisaga MD, and Frances R. Levin MD, all Columbia Psychiatry faculty. The study was supported by the National Institutes of Health (NIH)/National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) K23 DA044342-01 (Williams) and by the Christopher D. Smithers Foundation (Williams). Dr. Nunes reported receiving medication or software for research studies from Alkermes and Reckitt-Benckiser. Dr. Bisaga received medication, extended-release naltrexone, for NIH funded research studies from Alkermes. Columbia University Department of Psychiatry Columbia Psychiatry is among the top ranked psychiatry departments in the nation and has contributed greatly to the understanding and treatment of brain disorders. Co-located at the New York State Psychiatric Institute on the NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Columbia University Irving Medical Center campus in Washington Heights, the department enjoys a rich and productive collaborative relationship with physicians in various disciplines at the Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons. Columbia Psychiatry is home to distinguished clinicians and researchers noted for their clinical and research advances in the diagnosis and treatment of depression, suicide, schizophrenia, bipolar and anxiety disorders, eating disorders, substance use disorders, and childhood psychiatric disorders. Columbia University Irving Medical Center provides international leadership in basic, preclinical, and clinical research; medical and health sciences education; and patient care. The medical center trains future leaders and includes the dedicated work of many physicians, scientists, public health professionals, dentists, and nurses at the Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons, the Mailman School of Public Health, the College of Dental Medicine, the School of Nursing, the biomedical departments of the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, and allied research centers and institutions. Columbia University Irving Medical Center is home to the largest medical research enterprise in New York City and State and one of the largest faculty medical practices in the Northeast. For more information, visit cuimc.columbia.edu or columbiadoctors.org. Jan 24, 2019 -- Differences in genetic diversity among bacterial pathogens correlate with clinically important factors, such as virulence and antimicrobial resistance, prompting the need to identify clusters of similar bacterial strains. However, current bacterial clustering and typing approaches are not suitable for real-time pathogen surveillance and outbreak detection. In a study published today in Genome Research, researchers developed PopPUNK (Population Partitioning Using Nucleotide K-mers), a computational tool for analyzing tens of thousands of bacterial genomes in a single run, up to 200-fold faster than previous methods. Using k-mers, short sections of DNA length k, this software enables rapid estimation of the proportion of k-mers present in one genome that are also shared by another. Differences in k-mer content between genomes may represent changes to individual bases in otherwise similar stretches of DNA or differences in gene content. By calculating these relationships across isolates, the population structure of a species can be efficiently estimated. Importantly, PopPUNK applies a machine learning method that enables easy identification of emerging strains in a population. Using a previously published data set of E. coli isolates collected over a ten-year study, PopPUNK was able to efficiently classify the prevalence of different strains in the population each year and identify the emergence of antibiotic-resistance strains over time. Researchers envision PopPUNK will expedite the identification of bacterial strains as the scale of bacterial genomes being sequenced increases and, importantly, allow public health agencies to quickly identify outbreak strains that pose a public health risk. ### Researchers from New York University School of Medicine, Wellcome Sanger Institute, University of Helsinki, University of Cambridge, and Imperial College London contributed to this work. The study was funded by grants from the United States Public Health Service, Wellcome, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, European Research Council, and the Royal Society. The authors are available for more information by contacting Greg Williams, NYU School of Medicine media contact; +1-212-404-3533) or Ryan O'Hare, Imperial College London communications and public affairs office; +44-(0)20-7594-2410). Interested reporters may obtain copies of the manuscript via email from Dana Macciola, Administrative Assistant, Genome Research; +1-516-422-4012). About the article: The manuscript will be published online ahead of print on 24 Jan 2019. Its full citation is as follows: Lees J, Harris S. Tonkin-Hill G, Gladstone R, Lo S, Weiser J, Corander J, Bentley S, Croucher N. 2019. Fast and flexible bacterial genomic epidemiology with PopPUNK. Genome Research doi: 10.1101/gr.241455.119 About Genome Research: Launched in 1995, Genome Research is an international, continuously published, peer-reviewed journal that focuses on research that provides novel insights into the genome biology of all organisms, including advances in genomic medicine. Among the topics considered by the journal are genome structure and function, comparative genomics, molecular evolution, genome-scale quantitative and population genetics, proteomics, epigenomics, and systems biology. The journal also features exciting gene discoveries and reports of cutting-edge computational biology and high-throughput methodologies. About Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press: Anyone who has ever put a small child to bed or drifted off in a gently swaying hammock will know that a rocking motion makes getting to sleep seem easier. Now, two new studies reported in Current Biology on January 24, one conducted in young adults and the other in mice, add to evidence for the broad benefits of a rocking motion during sleep. In fact, the studies in people show that rocking not only leads to better sleep, but it also boosts memory consolidation during sleep. "Having a good night's sleep means falling asleep rapidly and then staying asleep during the whole night," says Laurence Bayer of the University of Geneva, Switzerland. "Our volunteers--even if they were all good sleepers--fell asleep more rapidly when rocked and had longer periods of deeper sleep associated with fewer arousals during the night. We thus show that rocking is good for sleep." Bayer and their colleagues had earlier shown that continuous rocking during a 45-minute nap helped people to fall asleep faster and sleep more soundly. In the new study, led by Laurence Bayer and Sophie Schwartz, University of Geneva, Switzerland, they wanted to explore the effects of rocking on sleep and its associated brain waves throughout the night. The researchers enlisted 18 healthy young adults to undergo sleep monitoring in the lab. The first night was intended to get them used to sleeping there. They then stayed two more nights--one sleeping on a gently rocking bed and the other sleeping on an identical bed that wasn't moving. The data showed that participants fell asleep faster while rocking. Once asleep, they also spent more time in non-rapid eye movement sleep, slept more deeply, and woke up less. Next, the researchers wanted to know how that better sleep influenced memory. To assess memory consolidation, participants studied word pairs. The researchers then measured their accuracy in recalling those paired words in an evening session compared to the next morning when they woke up. They found that people did better on the morning test when they were rocked during sleep. Further studies showed that rocking affects brain oscillations during sleep. They saw that the rocking motion caused an entrainment of specific brain oscillations of non-rapid eye movement sleep (slow oscillations and spindles). As a result, the continuous rocking motion helped to synchronize neural activity in the thalamo-cortical networks of the brain, which play an important role in both sleep and memory consolidation. The second study in mice by Konstantinos Kompotis and colleagues is the first to explore whether rocking promotes sleep in other species. And, indeed, it did. The researchers, led by Paul Franken, University of Lausanne, Switzerland, used commercial reciprocating shakers to rock the cages of mice as they slept. While the best rocking frequency for mice was found to be four times faster than in people, the researchers' studies show that rocking reduced the time it took to fall asleep and increased sleep time in mice as it does in humans. However, the mice did not show evidence of sleeping more deeply. Researchers had suspected that the effects of rocking on sleep were tied to rhythmic stimulation of the vestibular system, the sensory system that contributes to the sense of balance and spatial orientation. To explore this notion in the mouse, the researchers studied animals whose vestibular systems were disrupted by non-functioning otolithic organs, found in their ears. Their studies showed that mice lacking working otolithic organs experienced none of the beneficial effects of rocking during sleep. Taken together, the two studies "provide new insights into the neurophysiological mechanisms underlying the effects of rocking stimulation on sleep," Bayer and Perrault write. The findings may be relevant for the development of new approaches for treating patients with insomnia and mood disorders, as well as older people, who frequently suffer from poor sleep and memory impairments. The researchers say it will be essential in future work to explore the precise deeper brain structures involved in the effects of rocking on sleep. "Current tools, such as optogenetics, can help us decipher which structures, or even neuronal populations, receive the stimulus from the otolithic organs and transfer it further to the structures of the sleep circuitry," Franken says. "Mapping the network of communication between the two systems will provide with basic understanding, as well as novel clinical targets to cope with sleep disorders, like insomnia." ### Current Biology, Perrault et al.: "Whole-Night Continuous Rocking Entrains Spontaneous Neural Oscillations with Benefits for Sleep and Memory" https://www.cell.com/current-biology/fulltext/S0960-9822(18)31662-2 DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2018.12.028 Perrault et al. was supported by the Swiss National Science Foundation and hosted by the University of Geneva. Current Biology, Kompotis et al.: "Rocking Promotes Sleep in Mice through Rhythmic Stimulation of the Vestibular System" https://www.cell.com/current-biology/fulltext/S0960-9822(18)31608-7 DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2018.12.007 Kompotis et al. was supported by the Swiss National Science Foundation, the state of Vaud, and the state of Geneva. Since the 1960s, consensus about whether human adults generate new neurons with age has swayed back and forth from "yes, at least in some places in the brain" to "no, not at all." The debate reignited in 2018 when two headline-grabbing papers (10.1016/j.stem.2018.03.015 and 10.1038/nature25975), published weeks apart, made convincing arguments for each side. In a review paper published January 24 in the journal Trends in Neurosciences, University of British Columbia professor Jason Snyder (@jsnsndr) argues that the conflicting reports are reconcilable, reveal issues related to the way we study the brain, and draw attention away from how enhancing adult neurogenesis, even artificially, could benefit human health. "It's clear that there is a lot of controversy, which to me seems unwarranted because a yes or no for 'is there adult neurogenesis' is a little too simplistic and distracts us from other important questions," says Snyder. "It's worth asking if methodological differences are the only reason that some people aren't finding new neurons or if there is some truth to the observations that neurogenesis may be limited with age in humans. I wanted to take a quantitative look at the research and see where it all leads." One stand-out issue he found is that labs that find more neurogenesis in mice than in humans are studying it in young mice, while human research is often conducted in adults from middle to old age. In addition, primates and rodents develop most of their neurons at different times in their early development: human neuron populations peak during the first half of gestation, while mouse neurogenesis continues through birth or after birth. So the observation that there is more neurogenesis in mice might also be because the rodent brain develops later in life, Snyder writes. "The literature also indicates that if you look at a middle-aged rodent, it doesn't have much neurogenesis either," he says. "If we were to study the same in relative-aged human subjects, I don't think the story is much different. For much of the adult lifespan, we're not bursting at the seams with new neurons. While that may be disconcerting for people, it does reconcile the field: it's not that some studies are right and some are wrong." Snyder is still uncertain whether neurogenesis in adult humans occurs but says that if it does, the evidence suggests that it is happening at low rates and in specific parts of the brain, likely the hippocampus, where new memories are formed. There are many questions unanswered regarding what these new neurons would do, whether they have different functions throughout the lifecycle, and whether they would have therapeutic relevance. "The neurogenesis field is a great case study because it may be one of the most dramatic examples of progress ping-ponging back and forth over the course of 50 years," he says. "This is just how science works, but we shouldn't let our search for a smoking gun stop us from asking better questions." "We've gone through phases where people didn't even study the topic because a paper concluded adult neurogenesis didn't occur, which meant labs weren't investigating its potential for human health," Snyder says. "We need to appreciate the work of others--everyone is producing a lot of really sound and solid stuff. But rather than focus on winning the debate, we need to collaborate more to go after the truth. The field is still finding its way." ### Work in the Snyder lab is supported by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada and the Michael Smith Foundation for Health Research. Trends in Neurosciences, Snyder, J.: "Recalibrating the relevance of adult neurogenesis" https://www.cell.com/trends/neurosciences/fulltext/S0166-2236(18)30314-X There is only scant scientific evidence available on whether the genetic risk for developing specific psychiatric disorders or cognitive traits is manifest in brain structure from childhood and, to date, studies have focused primarily on adult populations. The question remains unanswered. New evidence has now been provided by a study led by a researcher from the Barcelona Institute for Global Health (ISGlobal), a centre supported by "la Caixa", which analysed data from a large paediatric sample. The study, which has been published in the Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, analysed data from a sample of 1,139 boys and girls aged 10 years drawn from the Dutch Generation R Study cohort. Using polygenic risk scores based on genetic data, the authors calculated each participants' genetic susceptibility to five psychiatric disorders and two cognitive traits. The polygenic scores were calculated on the basis of the most recent findings of genome-wide association studies obtained from samples including thousands of participants. Regression analysis was used to test for associations between the polygenic risk scores and the results of magnetic resonance brain imaging. The results showed that total brain volume tended to be larger in the children with higher polygenic scores related to intelligence or educational attainment. By contrast, in participants with higher polygenic risk for attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), the volume of the caudate nucleus, one of the structures that make up the brain, was smaller. ISGlobal researcher Silvia Alemany, lead author of the study, comments: "This finding is significant because, while the association between ADHD and a smaller caudate nucleus is now considered to be a consistent finding, the mechanism involved is still poorly understood. Our findings in this study indicate that the association could be explained by genetic variants related to ADHD". The analysis showed that morphological differences in the caudate nucleus could, in part, explain the association between genetic risk for ADHD and attention problems in boys; however, this association was not observed in girls. "ADHD is more prevalent among boys than girls and the reasons for this difference are still being investigated", explains Silvia Alemany. "And our findings suggest that the genetic variants associated with ADHD may act differently in the brains of boys and girls." Polygenic risk was calculated for five psychiatric disorders: ADHD, autism spectrum disorders, schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, and major depression. ADHD was the only condition found to be significantly associated with the volume of any part of the brain. "This study was based on data collected at one specific point in the lives of the participants" explains the lead author. "More research is needed involving measurement of the brain over time to determine whether the polygenic risk for psychiatric disorders or cognitive traits is related to changes in developmental trajectories." ### Reference Researchers facing a future with a larger population and more uncertain climate are looking for ways to improve crop yields, and they're looking to photosynthetic bacteria for engineering solutions. In the Journal of Biological Chemistry, a Canadian research team reports on how cyanobacteria finesse one of the most wasteful steps in photosynthesis. The study investigated the assembly of carboxysomes in which the bacteria concentrate carbon dioxide, boosting the efficiency of a critical enzyme called RubisCO. "Essentially everything we eat starts with RubisCO," said Matthew Kimber, a professor at the University of Guelph in Ontario, Canada, and senior author on the recent paper. The enzyme, which is made of 16 protein subunits, is essential for photosynthesis. Using energy captured from light, it incorporates carbon dioxide into organic molecules from which the plant then builds new sugar. Unfortunately, it's not terribly efficient. Or, from Kimber's point of view, "RubisCO has a really thankless task." The enzyme evolved in an ancient world where carbon dioxide was common and oxygen was rare. As a result, it isn't very picky in discriminating between the two gases. Now that the atmospheric tables have turned, RubisCO often accidentally captures oxygen, generating a useless compound that the plant then has to invest extra energy to recycle. Compared with plants, cyanobacteria make very few such mistakes. This is because bacteria collect their RubisCO is into dense bodies known as carboxysomes. The bacteria pump bicarbonate (simply hydrated CO2) into the cell; once it gets into the carboxysome, enzymes convert the bicarbonate into carbon dioxide. Because the carbon dioxide can't escape through the protein shell surrounding the carboxysome, it builds up to high concentrations, helping RubisCO avoid costly mistakes. Kimber's interest in carboxysomes is mainly in understanding the logic of their organization. "They're actually phenomenally intricate machines," he explains. "The cyanobacterium makes eleven or so normal-looking proteins, and these somehow organize themselves into this self-regulating mega-complex that can exceed the size of a small cell." One of carboxysomes' most impressive tricks is self-assembly, which Kimber's lab set out to understand. They looked at a protein called CcmM, which corrals RubisCO enzymes into new carboxysomes. They knew that part of CcmM looks a lot like a subunit of RubisCO--so much so, in fact, that researchers suspect that ancient cyanobacteria originally created CcmM by duplicating a RubisCO gene. Most scientists in the field believed that CcmM binds to the enzyme by usurping that subunit's spot. But when Kimber's lab took a detailed look at CcmM, using biophysics techniques to observe the protein's structure and binding, the results showed that received wisdom was wrong. True, CcmM was similar in shape to the small RubisCO subunit. But the complexes it formed still included all 8 small subunits, meaning that instead of stealing a spot from a RubisCO subunit, CcmM had to be binding somewhere else altogether. "This is very odd from a biological perspective, because if CcmM arose by duplicating the small subunit, it almost certainly originally bound in the same way," Kimber said. "At some point, it must have evolved to prefer a new binding site." The researchers also found that a linker between binding domains in CcmM is short enough that "instead of wrapping around RubisCO, it tethers (individual enzymes) together like beads on a string. With several such linkers binding each RubisCO at random, it crosslinks everything into this big glob; you wrap a shell around it, and this then becomes the carboxysome." Scientists at a different university reported last fall that they had succeeded in making tobacco plants with a stripped-down carboxysome in their chloroplasts. Those plants didn't grow especially well, and the authors concluded that they had taken away too many components of the carboxysome; although it could be built in the chloroplast, it was a drag on the plants instead of a help. Having a better understanding of how proteins like CcmM contribute to carboxysome construction and function could help bioengineers leverage carboxysome efficiency in the next generation of engineered plants. ### Doi: 10.1074/jbc.RA118.006330 This research was funded by Canada's Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council. Other authors include Patrick Ryan, Taylor Forrester, Charles Wroblewski, Tristan Kenney, from the University of Guelph, and Elena Kitova and John Klassen from the University of Alberta. About the Journal of Biological Chemistry JBC is a weekly peer-reviewed scientific journal that publishes research "motivated by biology, enabled by chemistry" across all areas of biochemistry and molecular biology. The read the latest research in JBC, visit http://www. jbc. org/ . About the American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Russian scientists have developed a new method for synthesizing para-carboxyplenylsiloxanes, a unique class of organosilicon compounds. The resulting compounds are promising for creating self-healing, electrically conductive, heat- and frost-resistant silicones. Organosilicon compounds, especially materials based thereon such as silicones, are among the most in-demand products. The outstanding ability to withstand incredible thermal and mechanical stress makes it possible to use silicones for sealing and protecting many items in aircraft and rocket construction. The strength and durability of silicones enable their application in medicine, food industry, and in many other fields of human live. Though many silicone materials have already been created and their fields of application have been found, scientists believe that their usability potential has not been fully revealed to date. This is due to one of the central problems in the modern chemistry of silicones, namely, the synthesis of organosilicon products with a "polar" (-C(O)OH, -OH, -NH2, etc.) functional group in an organic substituent. Such a moiety allows one to introduce other substituents much more easily, tune the ability of a compound to repel water or to form stable aqueous emulsions, and to impart other "super-capabilities" to a material. This opens quite unique prospects for subsequent modification of these compounds in order to synthesize new copolymers, self-healing and conductive materials, and compounds for the storage and delivery of drugs and fuels. Just a small modification of a compound would also allow one to solve the problem of low mechanical strength and "incompatibility" of silicones with polymers, such as polyesters and others. With rare exception, the classical methods for synthesizing silicones (first monomers, then polymers) do not allow one to obtain functional organosilicon substrates. As a rule, these methods are either applicable to a narrow range of substrates or are time-consuming, expensive and involve multiple stages. In recent years, there have been an increasing number of publications on the oxidation and functionalization of organic compounds involving molecular oxygen, i.e., a "green", simple and available oxidant. A number of industrially important processes already rely on this approach. However, despite all the advantages, these processes generally feature low selectivity and require rather drastic conditions (elevated temperature, high pressure, etc.). A team of scientists from A.N. Nesmeyanov Institute of Organoelement Compounds of the Russian Academy of Sciences (INEOS RAS), in collaboration with colleagues from the Russian Federation, used a combination of a metallic and organic reaction accelerators (catalysts), which allowed them to solve these problems: the reaction conditions were softened and high process selectivity was achieved. The reaction occurred with involvement of molecular oxygen, in liquid phase and at temperatures slightly above the room temperature, whereas many industrial processes are performed in gas phase under drastic conditions. Even now, the method can be scaled to gram amounts in order to produce a required compound. According to the scientists, this is very important since it is far not always that chemists can offer a reaction that can be used for applied purposes already tomorrow. "Thus, we suggested a highly efficient method based on aerobic metal- and organo-catalyzed oxidation of starting para-tolylsiloxanes to para-carboxyphenylsiloxanes. This approach is based on "green", commercially available, simple and inexpensive reagents and employs mild reaction conditions: molecular oxygen as the oxidant, a process temperature of 40-60?, atmospheric pressure", - says Dr. Ashot Arzumanyan, the leader and one of the contributors of this study, Senior Scientist of the Laboratory of organosilicon compounds named after K.A. Andrianov, INEOS RAS. Furthermore, it has been shown that the suggested method is applicable to the oxidation of organic derivatives (alkylarenes) to the corresponding acids and ketones, as well as hydridosilanes to silanols (and/or siloxanols). The scientists also studied whether materials can be obtained on the basis of para-carboxyphenylsiloxanes, including an analogue of such an industrially important polymer as PET that is used, for example, to bottle water and other beverages, to obtain fibers for clothes and for technical applications, etc. "The compounds that we obtained open prospects for the creation of self-healing, electrically conductive, heat- and frost-resistant and mechanically strong silicones. They can also serve as a base for developing new hybrid materials that may find use in catalysis, drug delivery, fuel storage, and in other fields of science, technology and medicine", Ashot notes. ### The studies were performed by scientists from INEOS RAS in collaboration with colleagues from V.A. Engelgardt Institute of Molecular Biology, N.S. Enikolopov Institute of Synthetic Polymeric Materials, and N.D. Zelinsky Institute of Organic Chemistry of the Russian Academy of Sciences. This study was supported by a grant of the President programme of research projects of the Russian Science Foundation (RSF). The results of studies have been published in the Journal of the American Chemical Society. Children tend to prefer to be friends with other children who speak with the same local accent as they have, even if they grow up in a diverse community and are regularly exposed to a variety of accents, according to research published by the American Psychological Association. "It's common knowledge that adults unconsciously discriminate against others based on the way they speak, but we wanted to understand when, how and why these biases develop," said lead author Melissa Paquette-Smith, PhD, of the University of California, Los Angeles. The findings were published in the journal Developmental Psychology. Previous research has shown that children as young as 5 years old prefer to be friends with peers who speak like them and that these preferences are so strong that they can override preferences for friends of the same race, according to Paquette-Smith. She and her co-authors wanted to extend the existing research and explore whether regular exposure to a wide variety of accents might change these preferences. The researchers conducted three experiments with nearly 150 5- and 6-year-old English-speaking children living in the Greater Toronto Area, one of the most culturally and linguistically diverse metropolitan areas in the world. More than half of the residents there were born outside of Canada and close to 50 percent learned a language other than English from birth, the study noted. In experiment one, 5- and 6-year-olds were shown pairs of children on a computer screen. One child in each pair spoke English with the local Canadian accent and the other spoke English with a British accent. After listening to both speakers, children were asked to pick which child they wanted as their friend. The researches also examined whether the amount of exposure children had to different accents in everyday life influenced these preferences. Given the diversity in the community, most of the children reported moderate to very frequent contact with non-local accents, whether it was because they lived with someone in their home or had a daycare provider or teacher with a different accent. "Even though they were regularly exposed to a variety of accents, Canadian children still preferred to be friends with peers who spoke with a Canadian accent over peers who spoke with a British accent. The amount of exposure children had to other accents in everyday life did not seem to dampen these preferences," said Paquette-Smith. Paquette-Smith and her colleagues then wanted to see how children's friend preferences would be affected if they did the same task with children who were not native English speakers. The second experiment used the same number of English-only speaking children and again, most reported having medium or high exposure to non-local accents. The set-up was the same, except that instead of British children, the participants listened to voices of children who were born and raised in Korea and who had learned English as a second language. As in the first experiment, the children showed a preference for their Canadian-accented peers, but the effect was even greater in the second experiment, according to Paquette-Smith. "There are a number of reasons why this may have been the case," said Paquette-Smith. "It could be that the Korean kids were less fluent in English or that the Canadian participants had a harder time understanding them, or that the British accents were simply harder to distinguish from the Canadian accents." For the final experiment, the researchers investigated the possibility that children's ability to tell apart the two accents could have played a role in these preferences. The team predicted that the children would be better at identifying their Canadian variety of English when it was compared with a Korean accent and that they would have more difficulty distinguishing between the Canadian and British varieties of English. The children listened to the voices of the Canadian, British and Korean speakers used in experiments one and two. After the voices were played, the experimenter asked the child, "Who talks like you? Like they grew up here?" and then the children made their selections. "Our predictions were right, children had an easier time differentiating between the Canadian and Korean and British and Korean speakers," said Paquette-Smith. "The most difficult comparison for the children to make was between the Canadian and British speakers. We believe this is because children are better at distinguishing their local accent from a non-native accent compared with a regional accent." Paquette-Smith cautioned that a preference for friends with similar accents does not necessarily mean that the children were biased against those with non-native accents. "It is possible that preferences seen in early childhood may be driven more by familiarity than a dislike for people who speak differently," she said. "This work is an important step towards understanding the complex relationships that exist between exposure and preference in early childhood and how these preferences might translate into biases in adulthood." ### Article: "The Effect of Accent Exposure on Children's Sociolinguistic Evaluation of Peers," by Melissa Paquette-Smith, PhD, University of California, Los Angeles; Helen Buckler, PhD, University of Nottingham; Katherine S. White, PhD, University of Waterloo; Jiyoun Choi, PhD, Sookmyung Women's University; and Elizabeth K. Johnson, PhD, University of Toronto at Mississauga. Developmental Psychology. Published online January 24, 2019. Full text of the article is available from the APA Public Affairs Office and at https:/ / www. apa. org/ pubs/ journals/ releases/ dev-dev0000659. pdf Contact: Melissa Paquette-Smith, PhD, at paquettesmith@psych.ucla.edu The American Psychological Association, in Washington, D.C., is the largest scientific and professional organization representing psychology in the United States. APA's membership includes nearly 115,700 researchers, educators, clinicians, consultants and students. Through its divisions in 54 subfields of psychology and affiliations with 60 state, territorial and Canadian provincial associations, APA works to advance the creation, communication and application of psychological knowledge to benefit society and improve people's lives. Using data on the family background of members in the 2014, 2009 and 2004 Parliaments, this paper argues against the perception that dynastic rule in India is on the way out, thanks to the replacement of the Gandhis and the Congress Party by Narendra Modi and the Bharatiya Janata Party, and with the rise of "young, aspirational voters". It points out that dynastic representation in the new Parliament is lower than in 2009, but nevertheless alive and well. Two persistent features of Indian democracy - the high returns associated with state office and the weak organisation of political parties - are catalysts to this trend, which even the BJP is not immune from. With the replacement of the Gandhis and the Congress Party by Narendra Modi and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Indias TV channels have quickly proclaimed the end of dynastic rule. They interpret the drubbing that the Congress has received as a sign that dynastic rule is on the way out. And they locate the cause of this alleged end of dynastic rule in the emergence of a young, aspirational voter who values performance over family ties. A look at the data on the new Parliament suggests otherwise. This article makes four points, based on these data. (1) Dynastic representation in the 2014 Parliament, although lower than in 2009, is nevertheless alive and well at significant levels. (2) It owes this persistence in part to two persistent features of Indian democracy the high returns associated with state office, which ensure that the families of politicians will want to enter politics, and the weak organisation of political parties, which makes them more likely to allocate tickets to members of these families. (3) The drop in dynastic representation in Parliament overall is due primarily to the increase in the number of seats captured by the BJP, which is less dynastic than the outgoing Congress. But the trend in the BJP too is towards more dynasties. (4) The influx of young aspirational voters does not represent a deterrent to dynastic politics. Quite the opposite. The youth bulge among Indian voters and contestants may as a matter of fact intensify the trend towards dynastic politics, both in the BJP and the Indian political system in general. EU Carbon market update, 21 January 2019 Channels: Carbon, Policy People: Louis Redshaw MARKET DEVELOPMENTS Carbon ends the week 9% higher at 24.86 Technical support at 21.80 once again holds firm Cold weather, climbing energy prices and low auction supply provide launchpad for moves higher Germany close to agreeing coal phase out Brexit vote provides no further clarity on EU ETS inclusion for UK installations European carbon trading volumes surge in 2018 EU ALLOWANCE AUCTION OVERVIEW Auction volumes falls to 7.5Mt, down from more than 11Mt last week, and 9.5Mt lower than the corresponding week in 2018. No UK auctions in Q1 due to Brexit PRICE ACTION Carbon ended the week at 24.86, a gain of 2.14 (9%) as short-term fundamentals took over. The main moves higher came on Wednesday and Friday as the chances of a hard-Brexit appeared more remote and the cold weather took a hold. We had maintained our bullish outlook on prices going into the week, however, Monday saw another test of the downside support. Carbon was facing intraday losses of nearly a Euro, but technical support identified at 21.80 held firm by the close of play, having been breached momentarily (again) as prices hit the low of the week at 21.78. The hold of the technical level gave the bulls fresh impetus, but Tuesday was all about the Brexit vote. Trading was muted amid low volumes and a tight trading range as traders went into Tuesday evening's Brexit vote with a risk-off approach. The Brexit agreement was rejected by Parliament, ensuring Brexit uncertainty will last a while longer. Despite this, the shackles came off the carbon price on Wednesday as more than 78c was added to the price. The gains were driven by a combination of pent-up buying by traders who waited on the outcome of the vote, speculators closing or reversing short positions once it became clear there would be no Brexit-related downside (the GBP/EUR FX rate did something similar and the pound strengthened) and surging power and prompt gas prices as a result of cold weather forecasts and low renewable output. There were further modest gains on Thursday before the biggest move of the week on Friday. Prices soared more than a euro as the combination of colder weather supporting the energy complex and no auctions meant there was little resistance standing in the path of moves higher. Price Impact: the (eventual) downside rejection was emphatic as the short-term fundamentals came to the fore. Just three auctions in the coming week reduce total auction supply further to less than 7.5Mt. WEEK AHEAD There is a chance of further Brexit-related turmoil this week as PM Theresa May presents her 'Plan B' for Brexit. At this point all options remain on the table. Other than a hard Brexit, we are neutral-bullish for all other outcomes. Auction supply falls this week to just 7.5Mt as the UK and German auction slots remain vacant. Whilst the longer-term generation spreads are not favourable, the cold weather and resulting increase in power demand and fossil fuel generation will ensure there is still healthy demand from the utilities. Technical analysis suggests the next big hurdle for carbon is the 25.73-26.00 level, which was the high of 2018. This is expected to be a big level, with carbon having fallen at this hurdle twice in the last four months of 2018. However, should carbon manage to break this level, third time lucky perhaps, the next big target will be 29.69. On the downside, 22.87-89, 22.30 and 21.80 are the levels to watch out for. Based on the cold weather and low auction supply it is hard not to go into the week with a bullish outlook. However, the weak Clean-Dark Spreads will limit utility demand for longer dated hedging and will likely temper gains. Given that some speculators will have positioned themselves for a rally and may now reverse those positions amid a weakening gas market, there is a chance of softness. However, overall we maintain our view that the short-term fundamentals will keep carbon supported at best and at worst lead to further gains. OTHER NEWS Germany close to agreeing coal phase out The German government has pledged long-term payments to lignite mining regions to help them with planned closures and the governing coalition has so far agreed to spend 1.5bn to help regions affected by the planned coal exit. However, North Rhine-Westphalia is looking for 10bn in support. Chancellor Angela Merkel and Finance Minister Olaf Scholz said last week a deal from the coal exit commission is due by 1 February although key issues including supply security and power prices must be resolved first. It is thought that the German economy as a whole will barely suffer from phasing out lignite. However, the coal regions would see rising unemployment and people moving away unless the state aid is secured. Unless the German Government cancels EUAs, as they have previously said they would, the price of EUAs will be depressed by significantly lower demand from lignite plants if the closures go ahead. No further clarity on EU ETS inclusion for UK installations The UK's continued involvement in the EU emissions trading system after March 2019 remains unclear following the UK Parliament rejecting Theresa May's draft withdrawal agreement for the country's exit from the EU last week. The prime minister is expected to put forward a new Brexit plan this week. If the UK leaves the EU with a deal in place, it expected the country would continue to participate in the EU ETS until the end of 2020. A no-deal Brexit would see the UK leave the carbon market on the country's scheduled EU exit date of 29 March. If the UK was to delay EU exit to after 29 March, we would expect to see a decision on the UK's ETS participation postponed beyond this date and an extension of the suspension of UK EUA auctions. It is expected a no-deal Brexit would be temporarily bearish for the allowance market, as UK emitters quickly sell off excess EUAs. A deal would be neutral to bullish (it doesn't change what we already know about UK auctions but it will bring UK installations back to the market) and an Article 50 extension that is less than a year long would be very bullish (we think that the UK would have to keep its auctions on hold). European carbon trading takes off once again Global traded carbon volumes, dominated by Europe, rose 45% in 2018 to a five-year high of 9.1 billion tonnes as the EU ETS market saw significant price and participant gains. This led to the overall value of global carbon markets reaching a record 144 bln, 90% of which resided in Europe. The previous high was in 2010 with a peak of 92bln. The majority of the price and volume rise has been put down to the introduction of the Market Stability Reserve in January 19 which will reduce 2019 auction volumes by up to 40%. UN-guaranteed CER volume fell by around 30% due to falling opportunities for the exchange of these units in the EU ETS. In a recent survey the majority of the respondents supported carbon taxes, where revenues are given back to people or spent on climate projects. Some form of carbon pricing is seen as the most economically efficient way of reducing emissions worldwide, and while a global top-down system has failed to gain traction, the mechanism's use has tripled over the past decad Louis Redshaw is a founder of Redshaw Advisors Putin hails Turkeys efforts against terror groups Moscow, Ankara agree to work on additional measures to implement Idlib memorandum, says Russian president. Last September, following a meeting between Erdogan and Putin, the two sides agreed to set up a demilitarized zone in Idlib, Syria. Under the deal, opposition groups in Idlib are to remain in areas where they are already present, while Russia and Turkey conduct joint patrols in the area to prevent renewed fighting. TURKEY-RUSSIA MEETINGS "Ankara and Moscow agreed to work on additional measures to implement the Idlib memorandum signed by the two countries," Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Wednesday. Speaking at a joint news conference with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Putin said the regular meetings between the two countries yield positive results. He also praised the Astana process in which Russia and Turkey work together with Iran. Putin called the process most effective with respect to Syrian settlement. Commenting on the prospects of the Syrian political process, Putin said Russia and Turkey have a position to achieve a solution to the Syrian crisis via political and diplomatic means. Speaking about the situation in Syrias Idlib, Putin said: Turkish friends are doing a lot to eliminate the terrorist threat emanating from there. For his part, President Erdogan stated that the necessity of joint fight against terrorist groups is aiming to undermine Turkey-Russian cooperation. "It is critically important that a vacuum during the US withdrawal, which can be exploited by terrorists, doesn't form," Erdogan went on to say. "The US will take measures on threatening regions, which is 30 km deep [in Syria]. We are on the same page with Russia on this topic," he added. He said Turkish ministers and officials have held negotiations on the safe zone in northern Syria, adding: "sensitivity of the regions that threaten us is of great importance." Over 270 irregular migrants held across Turkey Migrants held in Erzincan, Izmir, Edirne and Tekirdag provinces At least 276 irregular migrants were held across Turkey, security sources said on Thursday. In eastern Erzincan province, after receiving a tip-off that some migrants entered Turkey by illegal means, police rounded up 69 irregular migrants -- all Afghan nationals --, said a source, who asked not to be named due to restrictions on speaking to the media. Separately, the Turkish Coast Guard rounded up 64 irregular migrants -- 36 from Central Africa, 19 from the Democratic Republic of Congo and nine from Palestine -- in a boat off the Sigacik gulf of the Aegean province of Izmir. Some 17 other irregular migrants -- four Syrian, five Afghan and eight Ghana nationals -- in Izmir's Cesme district were rounded up by gendarmerie forces as they were hiding in the bushes and carrying an inflatable boat, said another source. Two suspects were arrested over the charge of human smuggling. Gendarmerie forces in northwestern Edirne province held 123 irregular migrants from Palestine, Bangladesh, Afghanistan, Pakistan and Iran. In another operation in northwestern Tekirdag province, gendarmerie forces held three irregular migrants from Afghanistan during regular patrols. Two human smugglers were arrested. All migrants were referred to the provincial migration directorates. In recent years, Turkey has been a main route for irregular migrants trying to cross to Europe, especially since 2011, the start of the Syrian civil war. Over 265,000 irregular migrants were held in Turkey in 2018, according to Turkey's Interior Ministry. Istanbul, Moscow churches trade barbs over Ukraine Ukraine conflict brings Istanbul-based Fener Greek Orthodox Church into dispute with Russian Orthodox Church The autonomy status granted to the Ukrainian Orthodox Church by Istanbul's Fener Greek Orthodox Church has caused a dispute between Fener and Moscow Orthodox Patriarchate. Fener says it has right to grant the status, Moscow called it a violation of canon law. UKRAINE CHURCH ISSUE On Jan 5, at the Fener Greek Orthodox Church in Istanbul, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko received the Tomos of Autocephaly (autonomy) of Ukraines church from the hands of Fener Greek Orthodox Patriarch Bartholomew. Nicholas Papachristou, Director of the Fener Greek Orthodox Patriarchates Press and Communications Office, told Anadolu Agency that Fener Patriarchate has the right to grant autocephaly to the Ukrainian Orthodox Church. The Patriarchate "has the exclusive privilege and right to grant the status of Autocephaly to local churches when specific pastoral needs and conditions call for such action," Papachristou said. He said the Patriarchate "rightly" decided to grant autocephaly to the church of Ukraine. FENER'S ACTIONS ARE A GROSS VIOLATION OF CANNON LAW Papachristou said for the last five centuries, Fener Patriarchate has granted autocephaly to many local churches like churches of Russia, Greece, Serbia, Romania and others. In all of these cases, including the most recent one concerning the Church of Ukraine, Fener Patriarchate acted within the framework of its canonical duty and responsibility in order to ensure the unity of Orthodoxy, he noted. He added it would be impossible for the Fener Patriarchate to exhibit any less interest for its "Orthodox brothers and sisters" in Ukraine than it has already demonstrated to its "fellow Orthodox brethren" in Russia, Greece, Bulgaria and elsewhere. On the other hand, Vladimir Legoyda, head of the Synodal Department for Church relations with society and media for the Moscow Orthodox Patriarchate, told Anadolu Agency the granting of tomos of autocephaly by Fener Patriarchate to Ukrainian President Poroshenko is a violation of canon law. "The Russian Orthodox Church believes that Fener's actions are a gross violation of canon law, its interference in the internal affairs of the canonical Ukrainian Orthodox Church, which is part of the Moscow Patriarchate. Apart from the Ukrainian authorities and a group of political radicals, no one asked Patriarch Bartholomew about granting a tomos. The canonical Ukrainian Orthodox Church, which unites the majority of believers, unanimously condemned his actions," Legoyda said. Legoyda said Fener Patriarchate colluded with the Ukrainian authorities, "acting as the executor of President Poroshenko", in order to assist him in the election campaign. "This significantly undermined the authority of Fener in the Orthodox world and practically destroyed the trust to Patriarch Bartholomew as the first among equals among the primates of the local churches," Legoyda stressed. Legoyda added that the Russian Orthodox Church stated that it was impossible to continue the Eucharistic communion with the Fener Patriarchate. The Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church did not respond to Anadolu Agency's request for comment on the issue. THE DECISION WILL STRENGHTEN UKRANIAN CHURCH IN THE LONG RUN "This is a big problem from Russian point of view. Because they consider Ukraine and Belarus as part of the Russian world," Professor Oktay Tanrisever from Ankara's Middle East Technical University International Relations Department told Anadolu Agency, referring to the granting of status of autocephaly to Ukrainian Orthodox Church. He said Orthodox Christian people in Ukraine and Belarus share some loyalty to Moscow Patriarchate. "Although," he added, "it is a religious issue, because of its impact for nationalism in Ukraine, probably it will deteriorate relations between Moscow and Kiev." By the autocephaly, Ukrainian nationalists gained justification for their criticism of presence of Russian Orthodox Church in Ukraine, according to Tanrisever. "But this cannot be resolved in a short time period. It is a decision by an external player: The Church in Istanbul. But the people in Ukraine will make their decision by themselves." The short-term impact of the autocephaly will be minimum, he went one to say and added: "But in the long run, this will strengthen the position of Ukrainian Orthodox Church." Because Autocephalous Ukrainian Orhodox Church will use the granting of autocephaly as a religious argument to gain more supporters from Orthodox Christians who belong to Moscow Patriarchate, Tanrisever explained. Tanrisever said these developments show that relations between Ukraine and Russia will get tense and more conflictual. "The timing of the decision was also interesting. It was just before the Ukrainian elections. Ukrainian nationalists will use this decision to strengthen their position," Tanrisever said. He added that it should not be expected that all Ukrainians will move to Autocephalous Ukrainian Orthodox Church from Russian Orthodox Church. A VERY IMPORTENT STEP FOR REAL INDEPENDENT OF UKRAINE Professor Hakan Kirimli, from Ankara's Bilkent University International Relations Department, also said after Ukraine received independence in 1991, the autocephaly of Ukrainian Church could have been realized, but then Ukrainian governments were under Russian pressure and could not do it. Kirimli said when Russia invaded Ukraine's Crimea and Donbass in 2014 and then Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovich fled to Russia, everything became more clear and as Poroshenko became president, he took the issue seriously and the autocephaly was achieved. "It is a very important step for real independency of Ukraine and the Orthodox people of Ukraine to be free from Moscow's influence," Kirimli said. Before giving the tomos of autocephaly to Poroshenko, Patriarch Bartholomew had earlier requested recognition of the Ukrainian church's new status by sending letters to 13 Orthodox patriarchates and churches. But Russian Patriarch Kirill also sent letters asking the churches and patriarchates to reject the split. On Oct. 11, 2018, the Fener Greek Orthodox Patriarchate greenlit the process for the Ukrainian church's independence, over Russias objections, and with Ukrainian-Russian geopolitical tensions in the background. The Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church was created last year following the results of the Dec. 15 All-Ukrainian Orthodox Unity Council, where Epiphanius, the metropolitan of Pereiaslav and Bila Tserkva, was elected primate of the local Ukrainian Orthodox Church. The independence decision comes in the wake of Russia's illegal annexation of Ukraine's Crimean peninsula in 2014 -- a move not recognized by either Turkey or the UN -- as well as unrest on Ukraine's eastern border with Russia. An incident last November when Russia fired on Ukrainian vessels around the Kerch Straits exacerbated bilateral tensions. France's Macron to visit Egypt The visit will be French president's first to Egypt since assuming office in 2017. French President Emmanuel Macron will visit Egypt for the first time since taking office on Sunday, according to Egypt's official MENA news agency. HE LOOKS FOR NEW INVESTMENT FIELDS While in Egypt, Macron hopes to discuss ways of enhancing cooperation between the two countries, especially in the field of investment, MENA reported. Macrons visit will be his first trip to Egypt since assuming office in 2017. The Egyptian Presidency, for its part, has yet to reveal details of Macrons scheduled visit to Cairo. Since President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi came to power in 2014, Cairo and Paris have signed a range of arms deals, making France -- alongside the US and Russia -- one of Egypts main sources for weapons. According to the French embassy in Cairo, the total trade volume between Egypt and France stood at some 2.46 billion euros in 2017. Erdogan voices support for Venezuelan President Maduro Turkish presidential spokesman Ibrahim Kaln said on Twitter that Erdogan called Maduro early Thursday to voice his support for the Venezuelan president. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan voiced solidarity with Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro early Thursday after Washington recognized opposition-controlled National Assembly's President Juan Guaido as interim president. "WE ARE MADURO" Brother Maduro, stand tall, Turkey stands with you, Erdogan tells President Nicolas Maduro by telephone, according to Turkish presidential spokesman Ibrahim Kaln. Kaln shared the #WeAreMADURO hashtag to show solidarity on Twitter. Juan Guaido, the head of the opposition-controlled legislature, caused a sensation on Wednesday when he told a crowd of tens of thousands of opposition supporters that he was declaring himself "acting president." US President Donald Trump announced Wednesday support for Guaido. Venezuelas President Nicolas Maduro has slammed the decision and said his country was cutting off diplomatic relations with the US, giving American diplomats 72 hours to leave the country. Maduro made the announcement while speaking to supporters who gathered at the Presidential Palace in the capital of Caracas. Managua, Jan 24 (epa-efe).- Organizations representing Nicaragua's business community on Thursday demanded that the National Police withdraw its public accusation against them for allegedly participating in the "failed coup d'etat" of April 2018. "We demand that the unfounded accusations of the police authorities be withdrawn immediately," the leaders said in a statement read by the president of the Cosep Employers Federation, Jose Adan Aguerri. During the reading of the statement in the presence of journalists, the Cosep office was surrounded by a strong police contingent, EFE confirmed. Police on Wednesday accused the businessmen of being "participants in last April's failed coup d'etat," which is why the force denied them a permit they had requested to hold a demonstration to express support finding a solution to the socio-political crisis in Nicaragua. The police statement likewise accused business organizations of being "promoters, inciters, leaders, in the realization of blockades (roadblocks)." The businessmen referred to in the statement are members of Cosep, the American Chamber of Commerce of Nicaragua and the Nicaraguan Foundation for Economic and Social Development, who requested permission to hold a march on Thursday, permission for which was denied. "The National Police - without any legal basis - is rejecting our request, and with political arguments contrary to the principles of police ... legality and professionalism, it accuses us of being participants in a series of absurd activities, which we strongly deny," the businessmen said in a statement. Before the social crisis that broke out last April, the private sector was one of the main allies of President Daniel Ortega's government. Last September, the National Police prohibited public demonstrations without prior approval. The crisis in Nicaragua has left between 325 and 561 people dead, and 340 to 767 under arrest, depending on which figures from humanitarian agencies one uses. However, Ortega claims that there have been 199 deaths and 340 arrests, calling those people "terrorists" or "common criminals." The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights has said that Ortega's government has committed crimes against humanity. Suchiate, Mexico, Jan 23 (epa-efe).- Honduran migrant Juan Fernando is waiting on Mexican authorities to issue him a visitor's card for humanitarian reasons, and he wants to stay in Mexico instead of pursuing a life in the United States, a desire shared by thousands of members of the Central American caravan who arrived at the southern Mexican border recently. "We're really looking for space here in Mexico because to go to the US we need money and we don't have it," Juan Fernando said as he waited patiently in a park in Suchiate, on the border between Mexico and Guatemala. Juan Fernando says he is confident that he and his family will receive the humanitarian visitor cards that Mexico has offered to members of the caravan - the first of this year - after other caravans had arrived in the country late last year. "What we are going to do with the aid we're about to receive is look for a job," said Juan Fernando, who has experience in construction. He said that in his home country things are becoming economically difficult and that his family joined the caravan with the intention of traveling to the US for security reasons. Traveling with him are his wife and two children, his sister and three other sisters-in-law, who also brought their five children ranging in age from eight months to eight years old. "We're going to Mexico City. They say it's good and that there is employment, that you get paid well. That's why we want to go there," he said. The Honduran migrant explained that he's not interested in going further from the Mexican capital because they have been told that the trip is very dangerous because of criminal groups, drug traffickers and kidnappers, things to which he doesn't want to expose his family. Juan Fernando said that his journey from Honduras has been very difficult, especially because of the disappointment he experienced after finding out that his country's currency - the lempira - "has no value" compared to the Guatemalan quetzal, trading at just 3.1 lempiras per quetzal. "It's very difficult because after crossing through Guatemala we noticed that the quetzal is more expensive. Mexico helps us a little more, not very much, but if our currency is totally devalued it's even harder," he said. While Juan waits with his children, sister and a brother-in-law, his wife Sheyla Matamoros has been in a shelter run by Mexico's National Migration Institute with her eight-month-old baby so she could get the humanitarian visitor card, which she obtained after waiting for several days. "I am super grateful because it's a great opportunity that cleared the path for us to get into Mexico, because my destination is the United States," she said. "First I'll find out (if there is) employment here, in Mexico, and then I'll take a look at my chances of getting to the US and working there. And maybe, if they give me the opportunity to study, I'll study," Matamoros said. Upon arriving at Guatemala's border with Mexico, Juan and Sheyla's family stayed at shelters in Tecun Uman, where there are about 4,000 migrants waiting for Mexico's OK on their humanitarian visitor requests. "I'm excited for my children. I'm traveling with my baby, my sister, my sister-in-law, my husband and my two children. And I asked my husband to join us because it's a great opportunity. God has opened the doors for us," Sheyla said. Sheyla also mentioned that her husband warned her that the trip would be dangerous, that maybe they could split up but "we saw an opportunity to be together and get ahead even if it was in another country." Unlike last year's caravans, this first caravan of 2019 includes many families of up to 14 people - adults, teenagers and children - who have come on the journey for the same reason: to seek a better quality of life. Mexico City, Jan 24 (efe-epa).- The Mexican government recognizes Nicolas Maduro as Venezuela's president and sees dialogue as the answer to political strife blamed for 13 deaths, Foreign Secretary Marcelo Ebrard said Thursday, citing his country's tradition of not interfering in the affairs of other nations. "Mexico will maintain its stance. In synthesis: no intervention and a readiness to contribute however we can to any process that leads to peace and dialogue," he said during President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador's daily morning press conference. Ebrard said that Mexican officials have had no contact with either the Maduro government or its foes since Wednesday's violent clashes, which came as the speaker of the opposition-controlled National Assembly, Juan Guaido, proclaimed himself acting president of Venezuela. The United States quickly recognized Guaido as interim head of state and Caracas responded by severing diplomatic relations with Washington. "Mexico will keep relations open with the current Venezuelan government, as well as its diplomatic mission (in Caracas), Ebrard said. The events in Venezuela on Wednesday are practically unprecedented and Mexico "will not accompany an action of this nature," he said, apparently referring to Guaido's proclamation "We are concerned about peace, human rights and freedom, and I agree with the UN that we first need to make efforts to reduce tensions and avoid the escalation that leads to violence," the foreign secretary said. Lopez Obrador pointed out that the Mexican constitution calls for "non-intervention, self-determination for peoples, peaceful solution of controversies and respect for human rights." "The attitude of the new government of Mexico arises from these values. On this issue and others, it's not that we are in favor or against, we are for compliance with constitutional principles," the leftist president said. Mexico wants neither "confrontation nor disputes" with any country or people, Lopez Obrador said. Venezuela's opposition, with support from the US and Washington's Latin American allies, refuses to accept Maduro's victory in the 2018 presidential election, denouncing the process as fraudulent. Panama City, Jan 24 (epe-efe).- Pope Francis arrived Thursday at the Palacio de Las Garzas (Herons' Palace), the seat of the Panamanian government, for a private meeting with President Juan Carlos Varela, his first official act in the Central American country that is hosting this year's edition of World Youth Day (WYD). The pontiff was welcomed by Varela and his wife, Lorena Castillo, after which they posed for official photos and then moved to the president's office for their private meeting. Besides the meeting, which - as per standard procedure when the pontiff meets with world leaders - usually lasts about 20 minutes, Varela will also introduce his family and his team to Francis. The pontiff and the president took a few moments to greet the people who had gathered to see them and observe the panoramic view of the bay, where today's event with young people will be held. Pope Francis will award the president with the commemorative medal of the trip representing Santa Maria La Antigua, while the president will present him with a rosary designed by artisan Agnes Santomenno with native details in silver and inlaid with jasper spheres. The president will also present the pontiff with eight coins, six of them representing the Catholic churches of Panama's Casco Viejo, as a second gift. After the courtesy visit, the pope will travel with Varela to Palacio Bolivar (Bolivar Palace), the Foreign Ministry headquarters, where he will deliver a speech to some 700 people including officials, diplomats and representatives of civil society and culture. According to his official agenda, the pontiff will then walk to the nearby church of St. Francis of Assisi, where he will meet with the bishops of the seven Central American countries - Panama, Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Honduras, El Salvador, Guatemala and Belize. Pope Francis is expected to address issues concerning the region's churches during that meeting. On Thursday afternoon, the first WYD event will be held, a reception ceremony at the Campo Santa Maria la Antigua and a speech by the pope to some 150,000 young people participating in the event. Five young people representing the world's continents will welcome Francis and present the patron saints of WYD, including Oscar Romero, who was recently canonized by the pope in Rome. U.S. ENERGY INFORMATION ADMINISTRATION WASHINGTON DC 20585 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE January 24, 2019 EIAs Annual Energy Outlook 2019 projects continued robust growth in U.S. energy production, emergence of the United States as an energy exporter, and a cleaner U.S. electric power generation mix The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) today released its Annual Energy Outlook 2019 (AEO2019), including a Reference case and six side cases designed to examine the robustness of key assumptions. The AEO2019 Reference case projects significant continued development of U.S. shale and tight oil and natural gas resources, as well as continued growth in use of renewable resources. The AEO2019 Reference case projects that in 2020, for the first time in almost 70 years, the United States will export more energy than it imports, and will remain a net energy exporter through 2050. U.S. energy export growth is driven largely by petroleum exports including crude oil and products, and by additional liquefied natural gas exports. These trends have become clearly established, and the Reference case shows them continuing for the next few years, and then slowing and stabilizing. The United States has become the largest producer of crude oil in the world, and growth in domestic oil, natural gas, and renewable energy production is quickly establishing the United States as a strong global energy producer for the foreseeable future said EIA Administrator Linda Capuano. For example, the United States produced almost 11 million barrels per day of crude oil in 2018, exceeding our previous 1970 record of 9.6 million barrels. EIAs Reference case also highlights the impact of sustained low natural gas prices and declining costs of renewables on the electricity generation fuel mix. Natural gas will maintain its leading share of electricity generation and continue to grow, increasing from 34% in 2018 to 39% in 2050. The renewables share, including hydro, also increases from 18% in 2018 to 31% in 2050, driven largely by growth in wind and solar generation. The AEO highlights the increasing role of renewable energy in the U.S. generation mix said EIA Administrator Linda Capuano. Solar and wind generation are driving much of the growth. In fact, our Reference case projects that renewables will grow to become a larger share of U.S. electric generation than nuclear and coal in less than a decade. Other significant findings include: The United States will continue to see record high levels of oil and natural gas production. According to the AEO2019 Reference case, U.S. crude oil production will continue to set annual records through the mid-2020s and remain greater than 14.0 million barrels per day (b/d) through 2040. Continuing development of tight oil and shale gas resources will support growth in natural gas and natural gas plant liquid (NGPL) production, which will reach 6.0 million b/d by 2030, as well as the growth in dry natural gas production. Dry natural gas production will reach 43 trillion cubic feet by 2050. NGPLs grow faster than other fossil fuels, and account for almost one-third of cumulative U.S. liquids production during the projection to 2050. U.S. net exports of natural gas will continue to grow, as liquefied natural gas becomes an increasingly significant export. In the Reference case, U.S. liquefied natural gas (LNG) exports and pipeline exports to Canada and to Mexico increase until 2030 and then remain fairly constant through 2050 as relatively low, stable natural gas prices make U.S. natural gas competitive in North American and global markets. Increasing energy efficiency across end-use sectors will keep U.S. energy consumption relatively stable, even as the U.S. economy continues to expand. U.S. energy consumption grows across all major end-use sectors in the Reference case, with electricity and natural gas consumption growing fastest. EIAs AEO2019 features a Reference case that includes the effects of current laws and regulations on the U.S. energy industry. As such, it can be used as a baseline in estimating the impact of potential policy changes in the future. The release also includes six side cases. The AEO2019 includes data browser tables and spreadsheets that can be downloaded from www.EIA.gov for free. Annual Energy Outlook 2019 is available at: https://www.eia.gov/outlooks/aeo The product described in this press release was prepared by the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA), the statistical and analytical agency within the U.S. Department of Energy. By law, EIAs data, analysis, and forecasts are independent of approval by any other officer or employee of the United States Government. The views in the product and press release therefore should not be construed as representing those of the Department of Energy or other federal agencies. EIA Program Contact: Angelina LaRose, 202-586-6135, Angelina.LaRose@eia.gov EIA Press Contact: Jonathan Cogan, 202-586-8719, Jonathan.Cogan@eia.gov EIA-2019-02 Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, January 24) The Transportation Department said it will consider the suggestion to extend train operating hours to accommodate more commuters. In a statement Thursday, the Department of Transportation (DOTr) said it will look into adding two more hours to the operating schedule for the Metro Rail Transit-3, which is set from 5:30 a.m. to 10:30 p.m. "The DOTr MRT-3 welcomes the suggestion to extend for two more hours the operating system of Metro Rail Transit Line 3 (MRT-3) from its original schedule of 5:30AM to 10:30PM," its statement said. Quezon City 2nd District Rep. Winston "Winnie" Castelo, who also chairs the House Committee on Metro Manila Development, aired the suggestion Monday saying trains should extend operating hours to decongest buses in the evenings. "We should exert the powers of the Congress and ask them to operate past 10 because the bulk of the commuters are still away from their homes," Castelo said. DOTr said it will study the proposal, however, it clarified that the non-operating hours used for regular maintenance would have to be considered. "Please note that while we echo our pledge of providing a quality, fast, and reliable service to our commuters, we also need to consider that our two-decade old trains need to have sufficient time for preventive maintenance works," DOTr explained. It takes an extra four hours to perform regular maintenance to prevent breakdowns and other service interruptions, DOTr said. It explained that maintenance work is necessary to ensure smooth operations. On Wednesday, the DOTr posted its latest report on the total number of unloading incidents for 2018. The MRT-3 posted 56 unloading incidents, significantly lower than its previous record of 440 incidents in 2017. The train also recorded 17 services interruptions for 2018, while it counted 75 interruptions in 2017. The DOTr attributed the numbers to the work of their maintenance team. "NGAYON, mula ng humalili ang maintenance transition team upang pangasiwaan ang operasyon sa MRT-3, nabawasan ang unloading incidents," a post on its official Facebook account said. [Translation: Now, since a maintenance transition team has been assigned to oversee MRT-3 operations, the unloading incidents have decreased] https://www.facebook.com/DOTrPH/posts/1286143761524757 Log in to Facebook Log in to Facebook to start sharing and connecting with your friends, family and people you know. The DOTr also emphasized that the MRT-3 will also be undergoing "extensive" rehabilitation and maintenance by Sumitomo-Mitsubishi Heavy Industries as per the 18 billion-peso agreement between the Philippine government and the Embassy of Japan, signed in November 2018. By Tara Lohan Two years into the Trump administration, its attacks on environmental regulations, policy and science are already well documented. But the current partial government shutdown, now more than a month long, provides a unique lens through which to view the administration's priorities. The list of what isn't being done is long and troubling, but equally concerning is what is being done during the shutdown. Over the past several weeks national parks have been trashed, climate change research stalled and crucial wildfire prevention work haltedall while oil and gas drilling efforts continue to cruise along and national wildlife refuges are reopened to hunters. Lawmakers and nonprofits are calling out the administration for using the shutdown to cater to special interests like the oil and gas industry while there's limited oversight, and with possible suspect use of funds. Aiding Industry Several moves by the Interior Department to bring back furloughed staff to attend to oil and gas activities aren't sitting well with some elected officials. Arizona's Rep. Raul Grijalva, chair of the House Natural Resources Committee, wrote a letter to David Bernhardt, acting director of the Interior Department, admonishing the agency for making sure it's business as usual for oil and gas industry while ordinary Americans and the environment bear the brunt of the shutdown impacts. The letter was also signed by Rep. Betty McCollum (D-Minn.) and Rep. Alan Lowenthal (D-Calif.). "Your department has continued to hold public meetings on oil and gas development on the North Slope of Alaska, refused to extend the comment period for leasing the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, and opened up Bureau of Land Management field offices to allow drilling permits to continue to be issued," the letter said. Dozens of furloughed workers from the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management were brought back to work on January 15 in order to complete plans for a major sale of oil and gas drilling leases in the Gulf Mexico, which is scheduled for March. They were also processing applications for seismic testing for offshore oil and gas exploration but a judge put an end to that on January 18. "If you are an oil and gas company awaiting a lease, there is a big open sign at the Bureau of Ocean and Energy Management, where federal workers are being brought inwithout payto service the oil and gas industry," Lowenthal, who's also the incoming chairman of the Energy and Mineral Resources Subcommittee on the House Natural Resources Committee, said in a statement. It was telling, he said, that staff members of the same agency who deal with renewable energy are still furloughed. It's not just offshore waters, either. The Bureau of Land Management has continued to issue drilling permits on public lands during the shutdown, and some environmental groups are calling into question the legality of those actions, since the public is blocked from participating in the process and can't even reach agency staff on the phone or file public comments. "It's not at all reasonable to completely shut the public out from any access to agencies like the BLM while allowing private industrythe oil and gas industryto have apparently full access to the agencies," Connie Wilbert, director of the Sierra Club Wyoming Chapter, told U.S. News and World Report. "The public has no way to get access to the agency to find out what's going on, yet right in our local newspapers, the Petroleum Association of Wyoming is saying, 'We're working with BLM to get this stuff open again.'" One area of particular concern is oil and gas lease sales planned for February and March that would put more than 2 million acres of public lands across six western states up for auction, even when staff members who would review any environmental issues or cultural concerns from tribes are likely furloughed. All of this stands in stark contrast to the 2013 shutdown, when drilling permits and leases were halted, Bloomberg News reported. President Trump has exempted the activity during this shutdown. Gaming the Shutdown It's not just federal workers concerned with oil and gas activities that are being brought back to work. A partial restaffing of 38 national wildlife refuges was ordered "to make sure hunters and others have access despite the government shutdown," the Associated Press reported after obtaining an email from Margaret Everson, principal deputy director of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. The view from the top of Mount Scott at the Wichita Mountains Wildlife Refuge in Oklahoma. Nenortas Photography / CC BY-NC-ND 2.0 Jeff Ruch, executive director of Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility, a nonprofit that advocates for public employees who work on environmental issues, said he's also concerned by information they uncovered that other nonessential staff from six regional offices of the Fish and Wildlife Service were being brought back from furlough to prepare National Environmental Policy Act assessments for more than 60 wildlife refuges that could open hundreds and thousands of acres of refuge lands to hunting and fishing. Ruch's organization wrote to the U.S. Government Accountability Office urging it to examine the legality of these staffing moves and what source of funding is being using to finance it and other nonemergency work, like the oil and gas lease sales preparation. The Interior Department has said that workers are being paid with carryover funds, but Ruch said his organization has no idea where that money is coming from. "We don't believe that there are carryover funds," he said. "We think they are operating in violation of the Antideficiency Act, which is why we are asking the Government Accountability Office to find out what it is they're doing. In the shutdown, people who are working on life and property protection are brought back as excepted workers to work without salary. But these people are doing nonemergency work on salary." It doesn't add up, he said, and the Bureau of Land Management doesn't typically have significant surpluses. "We're in the second quarter of the new fiscal year. Where are they getting this money?" Ruch said the administration appears to be "gaming the shutdown" and that activities are taking place in violation of the Antideficiency Act for political purposes. But, he admits, it's hard to fully understand what's going on because Freedom of Information Act requests aren't being processed and the shutdown has created a new veil of secrecy. "A decision has been made at high levels to try to minimize the inconvenience of the shutdown for favored groups," he said. "And while we understand the politics of it, that doesn't mean it's right or it doesn't bear examination." Reposted with permission from our media associate The Revelator. A number of websites for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) are currently unavailable for public access due to a "lapse in appropriations" from the ongoing government shutdown, an agency spokesperson told The Hill. For instance, the website for the National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI)a vast and significant archive of historical climate, oceanic, atmospheric and geophysical dataredirects to https://governmentshutdown.noaa.gov/. The online portal is a publicly available resource and is vital for studies on climate change and other earth sciences. But the page now states: "NOAA.gov and specific NOAA websites necessary to protect lives and property are operational and will be maintained during this partial closure of the U.S. Government." "See weather.gov for forecasts and critical weather information," it adds. The NOAA spokesperson was "unable to comment on the number of pages across the agency that are currently redirected" and did not comment on why the sites were pulled entirely instead of allowing archived data to remain online, according to The Hill. The National Centers for Environmental Information, headquartered in Asheville, North Carolina, hosts "the world's largest climate and weather data archive," according to a NASA blog post. It holds a trove of environmental information, from Thomas Jefferson's weather observations to near-real time satellite remote sensing data, the post noted. The NCEI is "the nation's leading authority for environmental information," a National Parks Service (NPS) blog post stated. NPS listed the website as one of the top online tools "to help people identify climate threats and vulnerabilities, as well as reduce their risks from the impacts of climate variability and change." Screenshot of NOAA's National Centers for Environmental Information website before the shutdown NCEI represents the merger of three former NOAA data centers: the National Climatic Data Center, the National Geophysical Data Center and the National Oceanographic Data Center. The website for each individual center redirects to the shutdown page. That's not the only way the partial U.S. government shutdown has delayed or disrupted scientific research. Affected agencies such as the National Science Foundation have stopped awarding research grants. Government scientistsas well as university researchers, nonprofits and private companies that collaborate with the governmenthave also seen their work jeopardized due to lack of federal funding, the Associated Press reported. By Andrea Germanos Sixteen-year-old climate activist Greta Thunberg threw down the gauntlet to the global elite gathered in the Swiss Alps for the World Economic Forum (WEF) this week, urging them to work towards meaningful climate action in order to "safeguard the future living conditions for humankind." "Some people say that the climate crisis is something that we all have created. But that is just another convenient lie," the Swedish teen says in a video posted to Twitter. The video was also posted on the WEF Facebook page and was intended to be shown to the attendees inside. In fact, there is blame to be assigned, she says, namely to "some companies and decision makers" who have "known exactly what priceless values they are sacrificing." She calls on those powerful interests to set aside their drive for massive economic profits and instead "safeguard the future living conditions for humankind" by committing to "real and bold climate action." She expresses skepticism that that will happen, but said she hopes she's proven wrong "for the sake of your children, for the sake of your grandchildren, for the sake of life and this beautiful living planet." Doing so would allow them to "stand on the right side of history," she adds. Thunberg posted the video a day ahead of her arrivalby trainin Davos, where she'll take part in a panel discussion. Meanwhile, her joint op-ed with former United Nations climate chief Christiana Figueres declared it "outrageous" that the climate crisis is not taking center stage at the WEF gathering. Published Wednesday at the Washington Post, the pair, "united by the same concern for our planet," argue that it "should be the number one priority." There is plenty to lamentrising CO2 emissions, new coal burning power plants, and deadly air pollution. We are "quickly approaching tipping points of no return," they write. At the same time, they believe "these are inspirational times for transformational change," noting the historic Paris climate accord and global "school strike for climate," which Thunberg catalyzed. Students around the world taking a stand for urgent climate action, they write, have declared that "they are unstoppable and that another world is possible." But to even begin taking a crack at the urgent crisis, they lay out a three-step "find and replace" exercise for Davos attendees: Find coal, and replace it with renewable energy supported by storage. Find internal combustion engines, and replace them with zero-emissions mobility. Find crop burning (when farmers burn the stubble left over from the harvest to clear the ground quickly for new planting) and replace it with "no till" and "low till" technologies that enrich the soil instead of burning its nutrients. "We are going to do everything we can to put an end to dirty fuels and dirty air so we can improve the prospects of people everywhere," they conclude. Though she will still be in Switzerland on Friday, Thunberg has no plans to put a pause on her Friday strikes: Reposted with permission from our media associate Common Dreams. A Brand's Guide to Digital Shelf Analytics | eBook What can you do to improve your digital commerce game? The first rule of the digital shelf is to make sure your products can be found. Some might say its mission impossible. Unless, of course, you use digital shelf analytics (DSA). Get the eBook Today! To say I'm typically not a fan of CES would be an understatement, but this year was very different. A combination of better logistics and fewer people at the show (likely tied to the government shutdown and China drama), coupled with some truly earth-shattering content, made CES a must-attend event this year. One of the things that jumped out at me -- given that the show took place while the controversy heated up over that damn silly wall President Trump wants to build -- is that IBM announced a compelling fix. It's a fix that actually could improve the U.S. government overall. In addition, I had an interesting chat with Frank Shaw at Microsoft on big takeaways from the show, and I think he offered the best one: that this show not only showcased the death of the tech market, but that its death would be a good thing. That should wake up a few folks. I'll cover all that this week and close with my product of the week: the HP Spectre Folio laptop. Although it was a product of the week last year, it made such a huge difference for me at this show that I'm bringing it up again. CES 2019's Fix for the Clash Over Trump's Wall Overshadowing CES this year was the government shutdown, which not only prevented a lot of government speakers from attending the show, but also raised the specter of many of us running into a nightmare when we headed home (due to a potential TSA strike). The standoff was on my mind when I met with Ranit Aharonov, IBM's manager of debating technologies, and Noam Slonim, IBM's senior technical staff member of debating technologies. I was looking forward to the meeting, because I once trained to be a debater when I was thinking of becoming a lawyer. Sadly, my school's debate program was killed due to lack of budget. What IBM's Project Debater does is use a new form of artificial intelligence -- kind of a blend of machine learning and deep learning -- to capture the best arguments on a subject. It does this by training the system with humans (which seems more like machine learning) but it doesn't use data scientists as an interface (which is more like deep learning). The machine trains itself by observing submissions of arguments on a topic from real people, as well as the results of real people comparing two arguments on the same side and choosing which is better. For instance, let's say we were debating whether the world was flat. People would submit arguments on both sides and get back arguments on the side they supported and then pick the best ones. They would compare arguments on the same side in order to minimize bias. The system then would trains itself, utilizing its access to a deep repository of true facts, in order to determine the best arguments on a topic. Now apply this to a debate on the wall. Both sides would go through this process, which would result in the system producing the strongest true arguments from each side (eliminating the false facts from both). A third party viewing the results then could determine which side presented the strongest best argument. Now think about this in the context of a political debate. Individuals with access to this system either would be able to present the best arguments supporting their positions, or realize that their positions were untenable, possibly leading them to make some changes before taking the stage. At least with respect to political debates, those who took advantage of this system arguably would be unbeatable, because they would have the strongest argument and be on the right side. (Even if they chose to be on the wrong side, they likely would still win against opponents who didn't have access to this system.) This approach could be built into a social media system like Facebook. It could be used as a mechanism to resolve a dispute in a timely way, taking the place of annoying strings of pointless arguments. (It might be possible to mine Facebook's existing threads to build a model for this type of application.) Just think -- this could make Facebook part of the solution, offsetting its current position as a huge part of the problem. From a personal standpoint, it might provide answers to critical questions like which argument is strongest when someone wants to convince a spouse or parents to buy something, or to persuade opponents in a dispute that their position is wrong. IBM's Project Debater has the potential to change the very nature of discussion, and make social networks like Facebook relevant again. The Death of the Tech Market I had an interesting off-the-cuff chat with Frank Shaw at Microsoft's technical showcase. He indicated his big takeaway from CES was that the tech market was dead. Sounds bad, right? But I not only agreed with him, but also welcomed it as a sign of maturity for the technology industry. You see, one of the historic problems with tech companies is that they tend to think they are the center of the universe and know everything about their clients' businesses. This historically has been a huge problem with companies that operate like Microsoft once did. They'd come in and tell others how to run their businesses. Years ago, I got a panicked call from a CIO whose CEO had met with Bill Gates. Apparently Bill had convinced this banking CEO that he needed to rip out his mainframes, which experienced relatively infrequent downtime, with Windows NT Servers, which were known to crash daily. He wanted me to talk the CEO out of doing it, because it would have killed the company, which I did. Microsoft wasn't alone. With few exceptions, tech companies would come into an account with their mouths rather than their ears open, and provide solid-sounding advice that actually was brain-dead-stupid, leading to disastrous results. With the rise of the huge Linux and open source initiatives, the industry began to grok that if firms wanted to survive, they had to listen, and do what their clients wanted done. While this thinking forms the basis of Microsoft's current customer engagement strategy, it is hardly alone. Much of the work I saw from most of the major companies that supply tech to clients appears focused on this same pivot, and that means the tech market has been subsumed into other markets. It now is a critical part of automotive, aerospace, farming, manufacturing, government, enterprise and others. The reason that this is good is that we're getting far better results. Microsoft showcased its work with a variety of retailers like Kroger in creating higher-yield stores. It is interesting to note that some newer firms (I won't mention names, but one sounds like Oogle) don't yet get this. Speaking of Alphabet, as I write this, I just got a call that the firm has been hit with a massive sexual harassment lawsuit, indicating it is about to have a Harvey Weinstein moment. Wrapping Up Next week I'll share my reactions to some of the wild and interesting products I saw at CES, including a hearing aid that can be used as a fitness tracker, a solar-powered smartwatch with weeks of battery life, and a machine that makes super-clean water out of solar energy and air. Overall, I saw some incredibly interesting progress at the show (including the world's first fourth-generation 20 qubit quantum computer). Rather than being a must-miss show, CES turned out to be a critical show to attend this year. It could be even better if I could just convince Las Vegas and CES to implement some of this wonderful technology to improve transport. It is still way to hard to get around the event. I was tempted to make the Ose sex toy, which is designed for women, my product of the week. After it received an innovation award, CES revoked it, saying it didn't fit any of its product categories, and banned its display at the show. In the past, CES has featured various male-oriented sex tech products, so this seemed like blatant sexism to me. The company, Lora DiCarlo, developed the gadget in collaboration with Oregon State University. Its CEO, Lora Haddock, lives near me. This kind of blatant sexism just pisses me off and put a cloud over the show. However, the reason I went with the HP Spectre Folio is that at every CES, I've carried a backpack during the show to make sure I have everything I need. HP Spectre Folio My backpack weighs in, with laptop, at around 35 pounds, and lugging the thing around the show pretty much wipes me out. It is basically 12 to 14 hours of running between meetings, briefings and keynotes, and waiting in lines. (I literally tore off both soles of my feet one year, and that was impressively painful.) This year all I carried was the 3.2-pound HP Spectre Folio. I've been unwilling to just carry a laptop in the past, because they are hard to hold, the Amazon Kindle reader on the PC sucks, and I run out of battery before I run out of work. Well, the leather-wrapped Folio is easy to hold, and it has all-day battery life. I discovered that Amazon fixed its reader (I read when I have downtime between meetings), and the result was that I didn't feel like I'd been ridden hard and put away wet this year. This thing may not be a sex toy, but it is still amazing, and it just became my favorite show-going PC because I never want to have to lug my massive backpack around ever again. Oh, and it has built-in WAN wireless, which helped when I was at events where the WiFi sucked (and there were several). Because the HP Spectre Folio made CES livable for me this year, it is my product of the week. (I just wish it came in black.) The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of ECT News Network. Rob Enderle has been an ECT News Network columnist since 2003. His areas of interest include AI, autonomous driving, drones, personal technology, emerging technology, regulation, litigation, M&E, and technology in politics. He has an MBA in human resources, marketing and computer science. He is also a certified management accountant. Enderle currently is president and principal analyst of the Enderle Group, a consultancy that serves the technology industry. He formerly served as a senior research fellow at Giga Information Group and Forrester. Email Rob. Decode Your Future with an Online Computer Science Degree from Drexel Drexel University's online computer science programs are designed to prepare you for work on the cutting edge of technology. The curriculum is designed for students with any level of experience or previous knowledge. Choose the program thats right for you. Learn More. The U.S. Department of Labor on Tuesday filed a court action against Oracle for underpaying non-white male employees by as much as US$400 million. "Oracle suppressed starting salaries for its female and non-White employees, assigned them to lower level positions and depressed their wages over the years they worked for Oracle," states an amendment to a complaint the DoL's Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs initiated against the company in 2017. Based on OFCCP's preliminary analysis, "Oracle's method of compensating employees for their work resulted in losses of more than $400 million for female, black and Asian employees," the court filing states. Additional data supplied by Oracle since the original complaint was filed confirms "stark patterns of discrimination" from 2013 and beyond 2017, the OFCCP maintainted. Throughout the office's investigation of Oracle's compensation practices, the company allegedly refused to provide information it is required to maintain as a government contractor. Oracle does about $100 million in business with the federal government annually. The amended complaint notes that "not only did Oracle refuse to produce key documents and data it was required to keep during the compliance review and in discovery -- it destroyed records relating to its hiring process as the case was ongoing." Rare Lawsuit Companies that do business with the federal government must agree not to discriminate against their employees or applicants for employment on the basis of race, color, sex or national origin. They also must agree to federal government audits of their compliance with nondiscrimination requirements. It was during a compliance audit that the OFCCP discovered the following: disparities in the compensation of women relative to men employed on the product development, information technology and support functions at Oracle's Redwood City, California, headquarters; disparities in pay of Asians and Afro-Americans relative to whites in Oracle's product development job function at its HQ; and disparities in the hiring of non-Asian applicants relative to Asian applicants. Based on those findings, the office filed a lawsuit in January 2017, alleging compensation, recruiting and hiring discrimination. "It's fairly rare for the OFCCP to bring these kind of lawsuits, particularly one this big," said J. Thomas Spiggle, an attorney with The Spiggle Law Firm in Arlington, Virginia. Loss of Federal Contracts When the office does bring a lawsuit, it's not uncommon for it to ask for "debarment" for a contractor, Spiggle told the E-Commerce Times. In its complaint, the office requests cancellation of all of Oracle's federal government contracts, as well as any extensions or modifications of those contracts. In addition, it asks that Oracle be prohibited from entering into future federal contracts and subcontracts until it fixes its prior discriminatory practices and proves compliance with federal rules on discrimination. "Debarment would be an immediate blow of $100 million to Oracle," Spiggle said, "and much more if it's cut off from the federal government as a client for a long time." The penalties for underpaying workers are very stiff under the Fair Labor Standards Act, he noted. "The damages portion of a suit like this can be hundreds of millions of dollars, so this is a big deal." Strong Asian Preference The amended complaint revealed that Oracle's "highly discriminatory college and university hiring practices" strongly preferred Asian recent college and university graduates over all others. From 2013 to 2016, of the 500-plus college and university hires Oracle made, 450 -- or 90 percent -- were Asian, although the academic population targeted by Oracle was only 65 percent Asian, the complaint notes. By contrast, there were several years when no Black or Hispanic college graduates were hired. "Not only does Oracle prefer to hire Asian recent college and university graduates, but it prefers to hire visa-holding Asian recent college and university graduates," the complaint continues. "This preference for a workforce that is dependent on Oracle for authorization to work in the United States lends itself to suppression of wages." The OFCCP also found that "Oracle's focus on hiring Asian recent college and university graduates resulted in the refusal to hire more than 100 qualified, non-Asian applicants for employment." Oracle declined to comment for this story through spokesperson Deborah Hallinger. The Labor Department is declining interviews on the case at this time, said spokesperson Jose Carnevali. State Lawsuit In addition to the Labor Department's action, a private lawsuit has been filed against Oracle in Superior Court in San Mateo County, California. The law firm of Altshuler Berzon filed the litigation on behalf of 4,200 women employed by Oracle. It alleges that Oracle's systemic practice of paying women less than men for doing substantially equal and similar work violates the California Equal Pay Act, according to papers filed with the court. Those papers include an analysis of 4,201 women employed at Oracle from 2013 to 2018 in product development, information technology and support, performed by David Neumark, a professor of economics at the University of California at Irvine. "There are statistically significant gender disparities in compensation," he noted. "Looking across base pay, Medicare wages, total compensation, bonuses, and stock grants," Neumark continued, "women received statistically significantly lower compensation than men who were, based on the data available, performing substantially equal work in jobs the performance of which required substantially equal skill, effort, and responsibility, performed under similar working conditions." Neumark's analysis uncovered the following: 3.8 percent gender gap in base pay 6.3 percent gap in Medicare wages 13.2 percent gap in bonuses 33.1 percent gap in stock grants 5.8 percent gap in total compensation "Based on my analysis of the data," Neumark added, "these statistically significant disparities are also not explained by other job-related factors. Job definition, tenure at Oracle, tenure in position, job performance, years of job experience, and location of work site do not explain these statistically significant gender compensation disparities." Give Tech a Kick in the Butt "The Department of Labor's case illustrates the profound problem that Silicon Valley has with race, gender and diversity in general," said Peter Romer-Friedman, an attorney with Outten & Golden, a law firm in Washington, D.C. "It's a problem that there's been a lot lip service to by Silicon Valley executives, but these kinds of cases are embarrassing," he told the E-Commerce Times. "Hopefully they will give the industry a kick in the butt to get more serious about taking action to hire diverse workers." Whether that happens, especially with the current atmosphere in the nation's capital, remains to be seen. "The Labor suit was initiated before the Trump administration took over," Spiggle observed. "That administration has done many things to take its foot off the gas in enforcing fair labor practices, so there's a question whether or not the government is going to continue this." John P. Mello Jr. has been an ECT News Network reporter since 2003. His areas of focus include cybersecurity, IT issues, privacy, e-commerce, social media, artificial intelligence, big data and consumer electronics. He has written and edited for numerous publications, including the Boston Business Journal, the Boston Phoenix, Megapixel.Net and Government Security News. Email John. Small businesses are encouraged to plan for the upcoming Australia Day public holiday by checking Enterprise Agreements and penalty rates. This year, Australia Day falls on a Saturday, which means the recognised public holiday is Monday, January 28. Employsures senior employment relations adviser, Jonathan Wilson said Saturday was not considered a public holiday and therefore employers were not required to pay public holiday rates for staff working on Saturday. He also said that a series of new penalty rates would need to be applied for workers in the hospitality, restaurant, fast rood, retail and pharmacy industries. The biggest issues facing small business when it comes to public holidays is balancing competing priorities such as, cashflow, customer expectations, and managing staff, Mr Wilson said. For small business owners, public holidays can mean changes in customer and staff behaviour. These issues can have an increased impact on a business on what is an already busy time of year and it is important that business owners and employers prepare and forecast for their business needs. Consider the impact public holiday entitlements and penalty rates can have on a small business forecast revenue. For example, before deciding to trade on a public holiday you should take time to check the minimum rates that apply on public holidays. Doing this will allow you to forecast and budget staffing levels, expenditure, and revenue expectations. Mr Wilson advises employers to check Enterprise Agreements or employee Awards, which will outline public holiday entitlements, penalty rates, trading hours and required obligations. Ensure you check the provisions of the Awards or Agreements which apply to your business and employees, along with their contracts of employment for any terms relevant to a public holiday such as minimum engagement periods. A young man from the coastal village of Bunbeg has become what many might describe as an overnight sensation having progressed from selling papers locally to the glittering lights of the catwalks in Paris. During the summer months the blazing red-haired Ferdia Gallagher was selling newspapers for his aunt in Matt Bonners shop in Bunbeg and more recently has graced the catwalks and fashion houses in Paris as well as being referred to as a rising star in the prestigious Vogue magazine. No stranger to fame The young Gallagher is no stranger to fame, it is in the genes. His father Pat is well known to us all as the man behind Goats Dont Shave and the famous Donegal anthem, Las Vegas in the Hills of Donegal. Pat said: Ferdia has always been one of those creative people. Anything at all involving the visual arts he has always been stuck into it. Photography, design, fashion, video production and social media keep him more than occupied. In fact he was the person behind our recent video for our hit Christmas single Christmas Day which evoked memories for many Irish emigrants. The excerpt from the recent magazine article stated: Its no surprise that Hedi Slimane chose to debut his first standalone menswear collection with this kid at the forefront. Who's that bloke? The teenager, whos just moved to the French capital and signed to Banana Models, made his exclusive catwalk appearance on the closing night of Paris Fashion Week and has had casting directors asking "Whos that bloke?" ever since. Ferdia has always had a huge interest in Instagram where he has amassed over 13,000 followers and feels that this has attributed a lot to his success. Fashion experts now regard Ferida as one of the most talked about kids of the high fashion circuit. Ferdia said: To be a part of the industry now just feels surreal. I think Tokyo is next on the list so there will be no shortage of travel. Speaking to his mother Caitlin we asked did she think that his bright ginger hair had anything to do with his success. She joked : I'll put it to you this way, both Pat and I are both claiming the red hair so I think that answers the question. You wouldn't exactly miss him in a crowd. Pobailscoil Ghoath Dobhair Yesterday afternoon Pobailscoil Ghoath Dobhair took to social media and posted a message to relay how proud they are of their former student: "Comhghairdeas le iar-scolaire dar gcuid, Ferdia O Gallchoir as Dobhar ata ag spreagadh fiosracht's suime agus ag ardu cinn go hidirnaisiunta i dtionscal an fhaisin. Go n-eiri an t-adh leis i saol an fhaisin agus an mainicinneacht ardain. Ta muid uilig fianta broduil as a bhfuil bainte amach aige." Gardai are completely in the dark about what is facing them in the coming months as pressure mounts on garda management to alleviate concerns about border security. The increasing prospect of the UK leaving the EU without a deal and the bomb attack and security alerts in Derry in recent days have led to calls for assurances about garda numbers in the county. There has also been a renewed call on the Garda Commissioner Drew Harris to meet the Donegal Joint Policing Committee due to the uncertainty over Brexit. GRA Garda Representative Association representative in Donegal Brendan OConnor said gardai here need to be told what may be expected of them in the event of a hard border. Members are completely in the dark as far as what may or may not be expected, he said. We understand that no one has a crystal ball, and members are willing to stand up to the plate, but it would be nice to know what is being considered and what may be expected of them. He said the PSNI and police forces in Scotland have indicated that they require extra personnel to deal with Brexit but 200 fewer gardai are being recruited than planned. Garda numbers Mr OConnor said the number of gardai in the county is still a huge issue. We have stopped haemorrhaging numbers but we are still 100 or so members down on 2007 and 2008. He said a no-deal Brexit would require the involvement of the gardai in some capacity. If you have any diversion from regulation in any jurisdiction, traditionally anywhere in the world, smuggling and organised crime would be trying to profit from the regulatory difference. Why would that be different here? With any regulatory difference, there will be some demand on gardai to provide some contribution to border control. JPC Chair of the Donegal Joint Policing Committee (JPC) Cllr Gerry McMonagle said he had requested the garda commissioner meets a delegation from the JPC or attends a meeting. He said he had received no further correspondence and that the JPC will write again requesting a meeting. A meeting would be very apt because of the Brexit issue and the events across the border in recent days, he added. The garda press office said divisions are kept under constant review based on policing and security demands. Commissioner Harris has spoken on this matter on several occasions most recently on Tuesday of this week. He had said that An Garda Siochana is a growing organisation and as part of this additional garda members have been placed in the Border region and potential further resources for that region are being kept under constant review. Centre to set up national bench of Goods and Services Tax Appellate Tribunal The government will set up a national bench of the Goods and Services Tax Appellate Tribunal, which will be the forum of second appeal in GST laws and the first common forum of dispute resolution between centre and states. The union cabinet, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday approved the creation of a National Bench of the Goods and Services Tax Appellate Tribunal (GSTAT). The National Bench of the Appellate Tribunal will be situated at New Delhi. It will be presided over by its president and will consist of one technical member (centre) and one technical member (state). The creation of the National Bench of the GSTAT would involve a onetime expenditure of Rs92.50 lakh while the recurring expenditure would be Rs6.86 crore per annum, a cabinet release stated. Goods and Services Tax Appellate Tribunal is the forum of second appeal in GST laws and the first common forum of dispute resolution between Centre and States. The appeals against the orders in first appeals issued by the Appellate Authorities under the central and state GST Acts lie before the GST Appellate Tribunal, which is common under the Central as well as State GST Acts. Being a common forum, GST Appellate Tribunal will ensure uniformity in redressal of disputes arising under GST, and therefore, in implementation of GST across the country, says the cabinet note. Chapter XVIII of the CGST Act provides for the appeal and review mechanism for dispute resolution under the GST regime. Section 109 of this chapter under CGST Act empowers the central government to constitute, on the recommendation of the GST Council, by notification, with effect from such date as may be specified therein, an Appellate Tribunal known as the Goods and Services Tax Appellate Tribunal for hearing appeals against the orders passed by the Appellate Authority or the revisional authority. Vodafone Idea plans Rs28,000-cr war chest to take on Jio Vodafone Idea, the merged entity of Vodafone India and Idea Cellular, is creating a Rs28,000-crore war chest to take on arch rival Reliance Jio Infocomm that has made life miserable for all the remaining telecom companies in the country. Vodafone will invest up to Rs11,000 crore in the fund while the Aditya Birla group will add Rs7,250 crore to the fund that would invest in new technology and cost reduction progammes. The board of Vodafone Idea Cellular on Wednesday approved a Rs25,000-crore rights issue that will give the countrys largest telecom operator by subscribers more money muscle to take on rival Reliance Jio. The promoter shareholders will together infuse over Rs18,000 crore in the proposed rights. While Vodafone will invest up to Rs11,000 crore, the Aditya Birla group will put in up to Rs7,250 crore in the joint venture. Vodafone Idea is also planning to sell its over 11.5 per cent stake in Indus Towers. In a communication to the bourses, Vodafone Idea said the board had authorised the capital raising committee of the company to decide on the details of the rights issue, including the instrument, issue price, rights entitlement ratio and its timing. Vodafone holds a 45.1 stake in the combined entity, while Kumar Mangalam Birla-led Aditya Birla Group controls 26 per cent and Idea shareholders own 28.9 per cent. The mega merger was announced a few months after the entry of Reliance Jio, whose free calls and cheap tariff adversely affected the bottomline of the entire industry. Vodafone Idea is currently Indias leading telecom service provider with over 422 million customers and revenue market share of 32.2 per cent (Q1 of FY19). Jio had 280 million subscribers as of December 2018. During the third quarter of this fiscal, the Reliance Industries arm had clocked a net profit of Rs831 crore, which marked an increase of 22 per cent on a sequential basis. Vodafone India had suffered a loss of Rs4,974 crore in the second quarter of this year. The board has considered and approved the offer and issue of fully paid-up and/or partly-paid up equity shares of the company and/or other securities convertible into equity shares of the company, including but not limited to, compulsorily convertible debentures, for an amount aggregating Rs 25,000 crore by way of a rights issue to existing eligible equity shareholders, Vodafone Idea said. Besides, the promoter shareholders are willing to subscribe to a part or the whole amount of any unsubscribed portion of the rights offer, the company said. Meanwhile, tower companies Bharti Infratel and Indus Towers have sought exit charges following the Vodafone-Idea merger. The amalgamation had led to two tenancies on a single tower being converted into one. Vodafone Idea on Wednesday told the bourses in a clarification that negotiations were on in this regard. Before the merger, both the entities had tenancies on the same tower of infrastructure service providers, including Indus Towers and Bharti Infratel. After the merger, these two tenancies on a single tower have been converted to a single tenancy Both Bharti Infratel and Indus have raised demands for exit charges on the company on account of this change and for which the company is in negotiations with them, the company said in the filing. ITC Q3 net up nearly 4% at Rs3.090 cr; revenue rises 15% to Rs11,228 cr Diversified group ITC Ltd has reported a standalone net profit of Rs3,209.07 crore for fiscal third quarter ended 31 December 2018, a 3.84 per cent increase from a net profit of Rs3,090.20 crore in October-December quarter a year ago. In a filing with the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE), ITC said profit was largely driven by other income that increased 30 per cent YoY to Rs836.4 crore in Q3. ITC, which branched out from its cigarette business to packaged food, homecare and personal care products, hotel et al, reported a 15 per cent year-on-year increase in revenue from operations at Rs11,227.66 crore, driven by growth across segments. ITC said revenue from its cigarette business, which contributed over 40 per cent to total revenue, increased 9.6 per cent to Rs5,074 crore in Q3FY19 with its earnings before interest and tax (EBIT) rising 8.8 per cent YoY but margin contracted to 70.1 per cent against 70.6 per cent in the corresponding period of the previous year. Overall earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) grew 11.2 per cent to Rs4,325.8 crore, but margin dipped to 38.5 per cent against 39.8 per cent in the year-ago quarter. Other FMCG, ITCs second biggest segment, recorded a 10.3 per cent growth in revenue at Rs8,274 crore. At operating level, its EBIT grew 9.6 per cent, but margin contracted to 43.9 per cent against 44.2 per cent YoY. Other FMCG includes packaged foods, apparel, education and stationary products and personal care products. Hotels business recorded 11.7 per cent growth in fiscal third quarter revenue at Rs452 crore and its EBIT increased 10 per cent but margin dropped 30 bps to 13.3 per cent. ITC said its agri segment recorded a whopping 25.7 per cent growth in revenue at Rs1,925 crore, but EBIT fell sharply by 14.8 per cent in the quarter ended December 2018. Paper business also showed an excellent performance during the quarter, growing 20.5 per cent to Rs1,543 crore. Its operational earnings, too, were strong in Q3 as EBIT jumped 23.8 per cent to Rs332 crore and margin improved by 50 bps. IndiGo Q3 net profit nosedives 75% to Rs191 crore Hit hard by rising fuel prices, low-cost airline IndiGo has reported a 75 per cent fall in its net (after-tax) profit to Rs190.9 crore for the quarter ended December 2018. IndiGo had reported a net profit of Rs762 crore in the comparable quarter of the previous year. In a statement to the Bombay Stock Exchange, the airline said its profitability was adversely affected by high fuel prices and currency depreciation. Though we have seen a reduction in fuel prices this quarter as compared to the previous quarter, on a year-on-year basis, fuel prices are 31 per cent higher and the rupee has weakened by 11 per cent, Rahul Bhatia, airline founder and interim chief executive officer, said in a conference call. Bhatia said the airline added 19 aircraft in the latest quarter and ended the year with 208 aircraft. He said that during the last one year, the airline had taken delivery of 55 aircraft, which was roughly one aircraft a week. During the quarter, the airline reported a total income of Rs8,229.4 crore, an increase of 28.4 per cent over the same period of the previous fiscal. For the October-December 2018-19 quarter, passenger ticket revenues stood at Rs7,065.9 crore, an increase of 32.8 per cent, and ancillary revenues stood at Rs805.1 crore, an increase of 15 per cent. The EBITDAR or earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, amortisation, and rent/restructuring before exceptional items stood at Rs1,681.4 crore with an EBITDAR margin of 21.2 per cent for the quarter ended December 2018 compared to an EBITDAR of Rs2,001.9 crore with a margin of 32.4 per cent for the same period last year. The airline said it had a strong balance sheet with total cash of Rs14,136.1 crore, including free cash of Rs4,618.3 crore and restricted cash of Rs9,517.8 crore as of 31 December last year. Basic earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter stood at Rs4.97, Bhati said. Speaking about domestic operations, Bhatia said the airline had increased its daily domestic departures by 75 flights during the quarter. Bhatia also announced that IndiGo was planning to start direct flights to Istanbul in March and commence service to other global destinations as the year progresses. Adani Group proposes Rs12,000-cr investments in TN The first day of the global investors summit in Tamil Nadu saw two major investment proposals by private sector Adani Group and public sector Indian Oil Corporation Ltd. While Adani has promised investments to the tune of Rs12,000 crore in Tamil Nadu, IOC plans to invest Rs16,641 crore across various projects in the state. The announcements were made at the two-day global investors summit that kicked off in Chennai on Wednesday. Karan Adani, CEO of Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone, stated this while speaking at the inaugural session of the Tamil Nadu Global Investors Meet 2019 in Chennai on Wednesday. He said the company will invest around Rs10,000 crore in port and port-led industries (including the expansion of the Katupalli Port in Ennore), industrial parks and defence, and another Rs2,000 crore on pipeline gas distribution. Adani hailed the states investment climate and said Tamil Nadu is one state in India that every state should be emulating. He also pointed to the states balanced economy with a 45 per cent share for the service sector, 34 per cent for manufacturing and 21 percent for agriculture. Every business that seeks to grow in India must have a strong presence in Tamil Nadu and we are no exception, he said. The Adani Group currently operates two ports in Tamil Nadu, including the Ennore Container Terminal and the Katupalli Port, which it acquired from L&T for Rs1,950 crore in 2018. Adani is expanding operations at the Katupalli port. We expect to make this port one of the largest in the country with a capacity to handle over 300 million tonnes of cargo and make this key enabler to support the growth ambition of Tamil Nadu, he said. Adani has also make major investments in renewable energy in Tamil Nadu, staring with the construction of the worlds largest solar farm of 640 MW capacity at Kamuthi in Ramanathapuram district at a cost of Rs4,550 crore. This would not have been possible without the support of the Tamil Nadu government, Adani added. Public sector oil major Indian Oil Corporation said it would be investing Rs16,641 crore across various projects in Tamil Nadu, which will create direct and indirect job opportunities for 20,000 people. The proposed investments include expansion of retail outlet network (petrol bunk), upgradation and capacity expansion of its facilities in the state, and two new gas distribution projects. Subscriber content preview Photo from King County [enlarge] This is one of six trailers that will house 48 adults in Sodo. King County bought and refurbished 20 trailers that once housed crews at mines and oil fields. Earlier this month, trucks arrived from Texas hauling six modular homes for adults who are moving from shelters to permanent housing in Seattle's Sodo neighborhood. . . . Subscriber content preview By JILL LAWLESS Associated Press LONDON Businesses in Britain and the European Union need to prepare for the possibility the U.K. will leave the bloc in March without an exit deal, a senior British government minister said Wednesday, as a growing number of firms braced for disruption by stockpiling goods or shifting operations overseas. Last week British lawmakers threw out Prime Minister Theresa May's EU divorce deal, and attempts to find a replacement are gridlocked. International Trade Secretary Liam Fox said no deal is a possibility. . . . Toachi Mining Inc. engages in the mineral exploration activities. It holds an option to acquire 60% to 75% interest in the La Plata gold-rich copper-zinc-silver-lead volcanogenic massive sulphide project located to the southwest of Quito, Ecuador. The company was formerly known as Ferrum Americas Mining Inc. and changed its name to Toachi Mining Inc. in March 2016. Toachi Mining Inc. was founded in 2010 and is based in Toronto, Canada. Read More Wall Street analysts have given iShares S&P 400 MidCap ETF a "N/A" rating, but there may be better buying opportunities in the stock market. Some of MarketBeat's past winning trading ideas have resulted in 5-15% weekly gains. MarketBeat just released five new stock ideas, but iShares S&P 400 MidCap ETF wasn't one of them. MarketBeat thinks these five companies may be even better buys. View MarketBeat's top stock picks here. Highlights: Huawei launches Balong 5000 chips and 5G CPE Pro router It is claimed to support 2G, 3G, 4G and 5G on a single chip Huawei 5G smartphones powered by Balong 5000 will be released at MWC Huawei has launched its 5G multi-mode chipset called Balong 5000 along with the first commercial 5G device powered by it, the Huawei 5G CPE Pro router. The Chinese company claims that together, these products provide the world's fastest wireless connections. Huawei also claims that the chipset supports a broad range of 5G products, including smartphones, home broadband devices, vehicle-mounted devices, and 5G modules. The Balong 5000 will enable everything to sense, and will provide the high-speed connections needed for pervasive intelligence. Powered by the Balong 5000, the Huawei 5G CPE Pro enables consumers to access networks more freely and enjoy an incredibly fast connected experience. Huawei has an integrated set of capabilities across chips, devices, cloud services, and networks, Richard Yu, CEO of Huawei's Consumer Business Group, said in a statement. Huawei says that the Balong 5000 supports 2G, 3G, 4G and 5G on a single chip, and reduces latency as well as power consumption when exchanging data between different modes. At Sub-6 GHz (low-frequency bands, the main spectrum used for 5G), it is claimed that the Balong 5000 can achieve download speeds up to 4.6 Gbps. On mmWave spectrum (high-frequency bands used as extended spectrum for 5G), Balong 5000 is said to achieve download speeds up to 6.5 Gbps, which is 10 times faster than top 4G LTE speeds. Balong 5000 is also claimed to be the world's first chipset that supports both standalone (SA) and non-standalone (NSA) network architectures for 5G. With non-standalone, 5G network architecture is built on top of legacy 4G LTE networks, whereas standalone 5G, as the name implies, will have its own independent architecture. Huawei says that the chip can meet different user and carrier requirements for connecting devices. The Balong 5000 is also claimed to be the world's first multi-mode chipset to support Vehicle to Everything (V2X) communications, providing low-latency and highly reliable solutions for connected vehicles. Huawei's 5G smartphones powered by Balong 5000 will be released at this year's Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, the company said. Meanwhile, the Huawei 5G CPE Pro supports 4G and 5G wireless connections. Huawei claims that on a 5G network, a 1GB HD video clip can be downloaded within three seconds, and 8K video can be streamed without lag. The router also adopts a new Wi-Fi 6 technology to deliver speeds of up to 4.8 Gbps. It is claimed to be the first 5G CPE to support Huawei HiLink protocols. Related Read: Huawei foldable smartphone, 5G-enabled flagships and phones with rear quad-camera setup coming soon Highlights: Moto Z3 and Moto G6 Plus start getting Android Pie OS update. Moto Z3 to get December and Moto G6 Plus to get January security patch. The update brings support for the 5G Moto mod to the Moto Z3 . Motorola has started rolling out the Android Pie 9.0 OS update to two of phone, the Moto Z3 and the Moto G6 Plus. While the company has officially announced that the latest Android update will be coming to the Moto Z3, the development regarding the update to the Moto G6 Plus was posted on Reddit. A user posted a screenshot of the changelog of the Android update claiming that he got the update on his Moto G6 Plus having AT&T carrier in Mexico. The update will bring an improved mobile experience to the Moto Z3 by adding Intuitive Navigation and Recent App, an improved Do Not Disturb mode and a colourful settings menu to the phone. The Moto Z3 will also get revamped split screen, a redesigned Quick Settings, simplified volume controls among several other improvements. You can read the complete list of the features here. Motorola also says that the Android Pie update will also bring the January security update to the Moto Z3, while the changelog image of the Moto G6 Plus shared on Reddit shows that the OS update will bring the December security patch. Another enhancement that the Moto Z3 will get is the 5G support through 5G moto mod. The 5G Moto mod is isnt available yet but when it does, itll work exclusively on Verizon. Earlier this month, Motorola had announced that it will soon start the roll out of the Android 9.0 Pie update to its Moto G6 Plus smartphone in India. The company, however, did not give a specific time during which the update will be available to download but mentions that people will get notified about the update by themselves. The Moto G6 Plus is one of the eight phones that were announced to get the OS update. Related Read: Motorola One Power getting Android 9 Pie update in India Highlights: The ShareSave app will enable one to buy devices from China. The new app utilises social e-commerce as its core model. Xiaomi says it will provide full local support, after-sales services and doorstep delivery. Xiaomi has announced a cross-border e-commerce platform called ShareSave in India. The new e-commerce platform will enable users to buy products that are not yet available in the country by ordering them from the Chinese mainland. The company says that ShareSave uses social e-commerce as its core model. The platform features three types of purchase modes called Pair-up, Drop and Kickstart. Under Pair-up, users can save more money when buying products with a friend to get an exclusive discount for both buyers. Under the Drop section, one will have to join a drop group to get devices with up to 100 percent price cuts. However, they will need to get enough people to join the group to avail the offer. There is also a Kickstart tab on the app where one can contribute $0.2 (Rs 15 approx) and back products for receiving up to 10 times the reward. The ShareSave e-commerce platform can be accessed via an app of the same name, which is available for download from the Google Play Store. Xiaomi strongly believes in the power of communities and Mi Fans, and the social aspect of ShareSave is a perfect reflection of this. ShareSave allows for a place where Mi Fans connect, enjoy and share a unique #SharetoSave shopping experience. It also serves as a testing ground for key markets, allowing Xiaomi to learn more about the local demand for various types of product, states Xiaomi in a blog post. The new e-commerce platform by the company seems to be another way of checking users interest in products that are not yet available in India. We checked out the app and found that it hosts products by various companies, along with devices by Xiaomi backed companies like Yeelight, Yuemi and others. Xiaomi says that those who buy these products will get full local support, such as after-sales services and delivery right to their doorstep at honest prices. The devices listed on the app range from smart hardware, mobile peripherals, to lifestyle products. Related Reads: Mi Mix 3 First Impressions: Look ma, no notch Thai regulator NBTC (National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission) has shot down a proposal to reschedule its upcoming 700MHz spectrum auction from May to December. The Bangkok Post reported an NBTC subcommittee originally put forward the proposal as the spectrum in question will not be freed for use until 2020. However, the regulators board dismissed the suggestion so the auctions will stick to their originally scheduled date. Seven 5MHz blocks in the 700MHz band will be available for bidding, and the licences will be valid for 20 years. Successful bidders will need to pay a fifth of their final bid within the first year. NBTC secretary general Takorn Tantasith has reportedly met with representatives from operators in Malaysia and South Korea that are potentially interested. However, if reserve prices are at a similar level to previous auctions, companies are likely to abstain, reported the Post. The three largest operators in Thailand spent a combined total of THB270 billion ($8.5 billion) on acquiring 3G and 4G spectrum. Last week, second-placed True Move confirmed that it would not bid in the 700MHz auction. Sara Ali Khans Floral Skirt Is Totally Affordable At Just Rs 643. Yes, Really Sara Ali Khan has achieved more in her short 25 years than many will in a lifetime a hugely successful film, Simmba, opposite actor Ranveer Singh, and a dedicated social following of millions of fans, to name a few. Whether shes wearing one-of-a-kind designer dresses at the countless public appearances she makes or a T-shirt and jeans outfit at the airport, Sara Ali Khan can barely leave the house without having her every move documented in detail. Lucky for us, were served an endless amount of outfit inspiration. Case in point: For a recent interview with Filmfare, Sara Ali Khan looked flawless wearing an unexpected pink shirt with a floral skirt. Check out Saras look: View this post on Instagram A post shared by Lakshmi Lehr (@lakshmilehr) on Jan 11, 2019 at 5:42am PST View this post on Instagram A post shared by MADISON (@madison_onpeddar) on Jan 16, 2019 at 11:19pm PST Sara Ali Khans style is always on point. If youre a fan of Saras outfits, but dont want to spend a lot on expensive designer pieces, you can still tap into her style for yourself. There are plenty of affordable items (remember Saras Rs 2,100 maxi dress?) mixed into her closet. In fact, Sara Ali Khans sequin mini skirt in a bold green shade is by British fashion retailer, Topshop, and you can afford it. Saras skirt is available to purchase on the Topshop website at 7 (Rs 643). You can take some cues from the stylish actor for how to style it for yourself. Although the bright hues and pattern of the skirt might seem intimidating, they are surprisingly easy to wear, as Sara Ali Khan showed. View this post on Instagram A post shared by A Fashionista's Diary (@afashionistasdiaries) on Jan 14, 2019 at 12:23am PST View this post on Instagram A post shared by Florian Hurel (@florianhurelmakeupandhair) on Jan 10, 2019 at 11:34pm PST Sara Ali Khan teamed her skirt with a tucked-in pink shirt (Rs 5,700) by Mumbai-based designer label, Madison on Peddar. We adore the lace details on this off-shoulder top. The white ankle-strap sandals provided a cool, high-impact counter to Saras pretty outfit. Sara Ali Khans make-up and hair choices brought this look to new heights. Saras thick, black eyeliner took center-stage and the hair was pulled back into a high ponytail. She threw on a subtle pink flush of blush and rosy lipstick to pull her look together. Follow more stories on Facebook and Twitter We are now over a month into the government shutdown. Thousands of Utahns are furloughed or are on the job without pay. Its obvious to all Americans that the dysfunction in Washington, D.C., has hurt Utah families, cost the economy, weakened our national security and puts us at risk of a recession. The cost of the shutdown is now equal to the cost of an average hurricane about $26 billion. Utah families rightly expect us to put an end to the political games and to find bipartisan solutions that move us forward. The reality is that in the era of divided government, the only legislation that will get us out of this mess is bipartisan legislation. Thats why I signed letters to Speaker Nancy Pelosi and to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell to first come together to end the brinkmanship and pass bipartisan bills to reopen the government. Next, they must follow up with a long-term, bipartisan solution that ensures strong, effective border security and permanent protections (not temporary) for the Dreamers. Only House and Senate leadership have the power to bring these solutions to the floor and, if necessary, have strong enough support to override a presidential veto. Through no fault of their own, working families are missing a second paycheck. Ive listened to their stories face to face, in meetings and at my town hall. Family members are dealing with medical issues due to the stress of wondering when a spouse will be paid. IRS workers worry about missing the training they need to be ready to process tax returns. Air traffic controllers show up every day, keeping airplanes in their proper airspace over the Salt Lake Valley, but without the normal staff backup and routine equipment maintenance. One individual who has been in government service for 30 years as a member of the military and as a civilian wants to work but is prohibited from showing up and assisting his fellow air traffic controllers. He has taken up searching for new jobs in an attempt to bring home a paycheck to support his family. As Utahns, we have all had enough of the political games in Washington. This shutdown is a disgrace. Thats why Ive voted more than 10 times to end the shutdown. Ive joined Democrats and Republicans on a measure to start paying federal employees now. Once the government is open, lets have a full debate on the House floor about border security and immigration reform and find consensus. Lets start to mend the broken system in Congress so that we can come together on solutions for the challenges, such as rising health care costs and protecting Social Security and Medicare that we were elected to address. SALT LAKE CITY Gov. Gary Herbert said Thursday a hate crimes law should be considered by the 2019 Legislature and that members of the LGBT community should be able to feel safe in Utah. "We think there's a benefit there for stopping crime," the governor said during his monthly news conference on KUED of enhancing penalties for crimes targeting victims because of personal characteristics such as race or sexual orientation. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints will not oppose hate crimes legislation, Marty Stephens, the church's director of government and community relations, told the Deseret News Wednesday. "We think this is an issue that the Legislature should rightfully wrestle with and come up with good public policy so that people are protected, whatever the Legislature feels is the best way to do that," Stephens said. The church's position, Herbert said, "can't hurt the possibilities. I don't know that it changes everybody's mind. But I think it's certainly a discussion we ought to have, and I welcome the debate." Asked if the LGBT community should be included in any legislation, the GOP governor said they should know they "are loved and welcomed and appreciated for who they are. They ought to feel safe. They ought to feel loved." Herbert said that means "anything we can do to enhance that, we ought to do." He also said he supports a way for Utahns to make sure their birth certificates reflect their gender identity. Rep. Merrill Nelson, R-Grantsville, has filed a bill that would not allow changes to the gender assigned on birth certificates. "I haven't seen the bill and I don't know the motivation," the governor said. But he said he agrees "that if people want to be identified by whatever it is they want to be identified, if that's a gender issue, if it's sexual orientation, they ought to have the ability to do that. If they want to have that on a public record, there ought to be a process, in fact, for that to happen." Herbert stopped short of saying what action he would take on Nelson's bill. "Without seeing the bill, I don't use the 'V' word very often," he said, adding he tries to work to shape legislation to avoid a veto. "I'd expect that's how we will work on this issue." A hate crimes bill is expected to be introduced again this session by Sen. Daniel Thatcher, R-West Valley City. A hate crimes bill was voted down in 2016, and subsequent similar proposals have not been advanced by Republican leaders. The governor also discussed other issues expected to be front and center during the 45-day legislative session the begins Monday, including the fate of the Medicaid expansion ballot initiative approved by voters. "There's not really any simple answer. But what I do know is the people have spoken on Proposition 3," Herbert said. "I do expect it to be implemented at the will of the people." However, he said the 0.15 percent sales tax increase imposed by the initiative isn't expected to be enough in two or so years to pay for the full Medicaid expansion available under the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare. "That puts us in a tough situation," he said. "Some way you've got to pay that cost of expanding Medicaid. That debate needs to happen and I expect we're going to need to make some modifications for that," to cap the costs. A "viable option," the governor said, is to once again seek a federal waiver allowing the state to provide coverage to fewer people at the higher federal funding match. The Trump administration chose not to approve a similar request last year. He suggested that going forward with the full Medicaid expansion approved by voters and waiting to see if there is indeed a shortfall seems "very logical," given the state's more than $1 billion budget surplus, but warned that is one-time money. "It's not imprudent for us to take a look at this in the long term," Herbert said, even though a short-term solution might be better politically. "We need to take a hard look at the fiscal aspects of this. We'll do that." Sen. Allen Christensen, R-North Ogden, has already backed off plans to introduce a bill repealing and replacing the full Medicaid expansion that would cover 150,000 Utahns, but only after the federal government approves the needed waiver. Now, he is putting together a "bridge plan" intended to start coverage on April 1, as called for in the initiative. Christensen has said it would cover about 100,000 low-income Utahns while those left out would have other federally subsidized options. Also Thursday, the governor apologized to federal works in Utah working without pay as a result of the ongoing federal government shutdown for "the dysfunctionality of Washington, D.C.," calling it disappointing. "We feel your pain and we're doing what we can in the state of Utah," Herbert said. He said the standoff between Congress and President Donald Trump has "nothing to do" with the president's demand that money for a wall along the U.S. border with Mexico be included in a short-term funding bill. "This is about who's king of the hill. This is between the president and the speaker of the House (Nancy Pelosi) and their little food fight that's going on here. You would hope they would set aside the hyperpartisanship." SALT LAKE CITY Jayme Closs will get a reward after all. What's happening: A company that donated $25,000 to the reward fund for finding missing Wisconsin teen Jayme Closs announced Thursday that the teen, who recently returned to her hometown, will receive the reward money, CNN reports. Closs spent about three months in captivity, according to law officials, before she appeared in Gordon, Wisconsin, earlier this month. Gordon is about 70 miles from her hometown of Barron, and about an hour away. Hormel Foods, which is the parent company for Jennie-O Turkey Store, which donated the money to the reward fund, said Closs parents James and Denise Closs, who were allegedly murdered by Jake Patterson, who is accused of kidnapping Jayme were longtime employees of the store. On behalf of the entire Jennie-O and Hormel Foods family, we are overjoyed at the news of Jaymes safe return, Jim Snee, Hormels CEO, said in a statement Wednesday. Her bravery and strength have truly inspired our team members around the world. Barron is an incredibly strong community and one that never lost hope. We celebrated with the community, and the world, that Jayme is home. Steve Lykken, the president of Jennie-O Turkey Store, said he hoped the money would go into a trust fund for Jaymes future and present needs, according to The Washington Post. "While we are still mourning the loss of longtime family members Jim and Denise, we are so thankful for Jayme's brave escape and that she is back in Barron," Lykken said, according to The Washington Post. Flashback: I reported earlier this month that the FBI and The Jennie-O Turkey Store each contributed $25,000 to a reward fund for anyone who could help find her. SALT LAKE CITY Utah Jazz employees and season ticket holders are pitching in to help support furloughed federal employees by offering free tickets. A limited number of tickets to Friday's game against the Minnesota Timberwolves will be available to eligible federal workers who show a government-issued identification card at Vivint Arena on Friday from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Each worker can purchase up to two tickets. The 7 p.m. game is expected to be the team's 50th sellout in a row. The tickets come from season ticket holders and Utah Jazz employees, the team said in a news release. Friday will mark the second time some federal employees will have missed a paycheck because of a partial government shutdown. The Jazz (27-22) have won nine of their last 11 games, including Wednesday night's chippy contest against the Denver Nuggets, and are now tied for sixth place in the Western Conference. The G League's Salt Lake City Stars are also offering free tickets (up to four per federal employee) for Friday's game versus the Long Island Nets and Monday's game against the Oklahoma City Blue. SALT LAKE CITY A man who police say hit and killed a bicyclist and then drove off told investigators he was scared, police say. Sotero Valerio, 36, was arrested Wednesday night for investigation of failing to remain at the scene of an accident involving death. Tot Nguyen, 72, was crossing 400 South near 1033 West on a bicycle Tuesday night when he was struck by an eastbound vehicle. The car continued without stopping, according to Salt Lake police. Witnesses told officers a white car, possibly a Nissan, was involved. At that point, Salt Lake police detective Robert Ungricht said good work by investigators led to an arrest. Detectives looked up vehicles that matched the description of the car to find out if any were registered to homes in the area. One potential lead took detectives to a street a few blocks away, where they spotted a white vehicle with front end damage parked in front of a house, Ungricht said. Investigators knocked on the door and Valerio answered. When they questioned him, he eventually "stated he knew he hit an individual but left the scene because he was scared," according to a Salt Lake County Jail report. Police said the area where the cyclist was hit was dark and it's unclear whether Nguyen was wearing reflective clothing. Another person who witnessed the crash told investigators he almost hit Nguyen before the other driver hit him. Ungricht said if Valerio had stayed at the scene, and if he wasn't impaired, he may not have been arrested at all. State law requires motorists to stay on the scene of an accident with injuries until police arrive, Ungricht said. Valerio has no criminal history in Utah outside of traffic citations, according to state court records. PROVO A Denver man visiting Provo who police say threatened to become "the next mass shooter" by "killing as many girls as I see" was formally charged with a felony Thursday. Christopher Wayne Cleary, 27, is charged in 4th District Court with making a terroristic threat, a second-degree felony. His initial appearance in court is scheduled for Friday. On Saturday, authorities in Colorado contacted Provo police and told them that Cleary had posted threatening messages on Facebook, according to charging documents. He had also arrived in Provo from Colorado the day before. "All I wanted was a girlfriend," he wrote, according to a police affidavit. "All I wanted was to be loved, yet no one cares about me I'm 27 years old and I've never had a girlfriend this is why I'm planning on shooting up a public place soon and being the next mass shooter cause I'm ready to die and all the girls the turned me down is going to make it right by killing as many girls as I see." The posts also included Cleary's picture, which police used to identify him, the charges state. The concern level among investigators was elevated because there were several women's marches taking place in Utah that day, including in Provo and Salt Lake City. An FBI agent and members of the Utah County Major Crime Task Force located Cleary at a local McDonald's restaurant and arrested him. Cleary told investigators that he was "upset and not thinking clearly" when he made the posts, according to the affidavit. "He told me he had deleted the Facebook post because he'd been receiving threats from other people since posting it," the report states. But Colorado authorities also said that "this is a pattern of behavior with Cleary" who is currently on felony probation in Jefferson County, Colorado, for "stalking and threatening women," charging documents state. Cleary was being held Thursday without bail in the Utah County Jail. MOSCOW Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan met Wednesday to coordinate their moves in Syria as their governments bargain over zones of influence in the war-torn country. The leaders share strong opposition to the U.S. military presence in Syria, seeing it as an obstacle to their clout in the country. The Kremlin meeting marked their first encounter since U.S. President Donald Trump announced the pullout of American troops in a Dec. 19 tweet. "If such plans are implemented, it will mark a positive move that would help stabilize the situation," Putin said about the planned U.S. withdrawal. Putin emphasized Moscow's readiness to respect Turkey's interests, but encouraged it to talk to the Syrian government to help stabilize the border areas. Turkey has pushed for the creation of a 32-kilometer (20-mile) "safe zone" in northeastern Syria to ensure that the Syrian Kurdish militia The People's Protection Units, or YPG, which Turkey considers to be a "terrorist group" for its ties to outlawed Kurdish rebels inside Turkey is kept away from the Turkish border. The YPG is the main component of the Syrian Democratic Forces that rolled back the Islamic State group from wide parts of Syria with the help of the U.S.-led coalition. "It is of critical importance that a power vacuum that can be abused by terror groups does not emerge during the process of the U.S. withdrawal," Erdogan said. The Turkish leader noted that the U.S. has given positive signals regarding the "safe zone" and added that "there is no problem between us and Russia" in creating it. "I have stated that our only aim is our duty to clear (the region) of terror organizations such as the PYD and the YPG, and especially of Daesh," Erdogan said, referring to the Kurdish militia group's political arm and IS. Putin, however, used the meeting to reaffirm Moscow's support of contacts between Syrian President Bashar Assad's government and the Kurds. "Such dialogue will help consolidation of the Syrian society and the national reconciliation," Putin said. "It will be beneficial not only to Syria but its neighbors." Russia says it expects Assad's government to take over Kurdish-held border regions east of the Euphrates River following the planned U.S. troop withdrawal from the area, which Turkey objects to. Turkey fears any deal between the Syrian government and the YPG in the border area as well as in the strategic town of Manbij, under which the Kurdish militia would remain a threat to Turkey's security. Putin signaled Russia's willingness to accommodate Turkish security concerns, seeing strong ties with Turkey as an essential counterbalance to U.S. influence in the region. "We respect the interests of our Turkish friends in ensuring security," Putin said. But at the same time, he encouraged Turkey to use a 1998 treaty with Syria to help ensure border security. Russia appears eager to sponsor Damascus' talks with the Kurds in the hope that it would extend the Syrian government's gains and further cement its hold on the country. The U.S. plan to withdraw has further bolstered Russia's role as the top power broker in Syria. Syrian pro-government paper Al-Watan reported Tuesday that a Kurdish delegation arrived in Moscow a day before Erdogan. There was no independent confirmation yet from Kurdish officials. Putin and Erdogan called each other "dear friend," hailing the close ties between their countries and their importance for regional security. They were accompanied by a retinue of security and military officials for detailed discussions on Syria. Russia and Iran have helped Assad to win back control of most of the country, while Turkey has backed Assad's foes during the nearly eight-year conflict. Despite that, the three countries have teamed up to broker a peace deal for Syria, united by their shared desire to undercut the U.S. clout in the region. The agreement is now tested by Trump's abrupt decision to withdraw from Syria, leaving Moscow, Ankara and Tehran jockeying for influence in the country. Russian and Turkish interests also collide in the northwestern province of Idlib, which is packed with 3 million people, including many who were displaced from other parts of the country. Last September, Putin and Erdogan struck a de-escalation deal on Idlib that averted the Syrian army offensive that sparked fears of a humanitarian catastrophe. The agreement created a security zone free of heavy weapons and monitored by Turkish troops to halt fighting. Turkey is pushing for that deal to stay in place, fearing the Syrian government forces are trying to undermine the agreement. Russia, in its turn, has urged Turkey to act more resolutely in reining in militants in Idlib who have launched attacks on Syrian government forces and the Russian military. Putin praised Turkey for helping stabilize Idlib, but emphasized that more joint efforts are needed to combat militants. "The cessation of hostilities mustn't hurt the fight against terrorism that should continue," the Russian leader said. "Our fight against terror organizations in Idlib will continue jointly in the same way," Erdogan said. Both leaders boasted of their effort to produce a list of candidates for a committee that would work out Syria's new constitution. Putin noted that its approval by the United Nations has been blocked by France, Germany and Britain, voicing hope that a compromise will be found. ___ Fraser reported from Ankara, Turkey. Associated Press writer Sarah El Deeb in Beirut contributed to this report. SALT LAKE CITY Rep. Ben McAdams, D-Utah, signed a letter along with other moderate Democrats calling for House and Senate leadership in both parties to come up with a solution to the federal government shutdown. The border wall sought by President Donald Trump but opposed by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and other Democratic leaders could be part of that solution, McAdams spokeswoman Alyson Heyrend said. "Congressman McAdams believes there should be a vote on border security measures that all sides can debate and formulate," Heyrend told the Deseret News. "A border barrier could be part of that debate and vote." McAdams, the lone Democrat in Utah's congressional delegation, "supports effective border security and immigration reform, including permanent protection for Dreamers," Heyrend said, referring to people brought into the country illegally as children. "That's not a 2,000-mile border wall but it could be additional border barrier construction in combination with other types of security technology and personnel," she said. On Tuesday, a founder of the Blue Dog Coalition behind the letter, Rep. Collin C. Peterson, D-Minnesota, became one of the first Democrats to say publicly Congress should agree to Trump's demand for $5.7 billion for a wall along the Mexican border. The coalition's letter does not mention the president's wall. Instead, it says House and Senate leaders need to hold a bipartisan summit to come up with legislation that can pass Congress and withstand a possible presidential veto. "Our current political stalemate is punishing families, destabilizing our economy, weakening our national security, and embarrassing our great country on the world stage," the letter reads. McAdams said in a statement that more than a month into the shutdown, "people see that what we're doing back here isn't working." He said the shutdown is weakening the nation's security and is costing an estimated $26 billion. "In my district, families are struggling with paying bills, covering medical costs and finding temporary jobs," McAdams said. "The shutdown is a disgrace and people are rightly frustrated that we're not doing the job of funding government operations." CLEARFIELD As Clearfield High School prepared to open the doors to its new food pantry Wednesday, organizers emphasized that hunger isn't just a problem in far-flung parts of the world, it can happen right next door. Jodi Lund, director of Davis County Education Foundation, emphasized that point during a ribbon-cutting ceremony for the Clearfield Cares Falcon Food Pantry, celebrating the effort ahead of its formal opening next month. "It's so important to give where you live," she said. The school raised $65,000 to open the community food pantry as part of its annual service project, Falcons are Fabulous. The funds will be used to sustain the pantry long term. "It brings to light that hunger is an issue and this feels very good to know that we're doing something to fight it and help our community," said Christina Gillespie, student service officer. The pantry partnered with Bountiful Food Pantry and is also part of the foundation's "No Hunger Zone," aimed at addressing food insecurity in Davis County. "These students are our leaders for tomorrow and they led by example," Lund said. "Nothing makes me happier than to be part of work that serves an entire community." The students raised the money through donors, community events and different in-house fundraisers like the popular "Save or Shave" event, which brought in $20,000 but cost one student his famous long hair. Bryce Spafford, student body president, said he wouldn't shave his head for anything less than $20,000 something he thought wasn't possible. "I didn't think we would ever be able to reach that," he said. "I was just shocked the students were able to raise the money that fast." However, he said he doesn't regret it and is looking forward to seeing the difference the pantry will make in the community. "I"m excited to see it up and running," Spafford said. "We see the check and we see the money but it's not going to make a difference until we get it in action." Davis Hospital and Medical Center donated $10,000 to the project. "Helping to alleviate the insecurity of not having enough to eat is fundamental to being a good community partner," said Mike Jenson, president of the hospital in a press release. "We couldn't be more proud of the work that is being done to help the kids in need as they build the future." Gillespie said the project wouldn't be possible without the community support. "We're grateful to everybody who donated time, materials and money," She said. "It makes a difference every donation counts." The food pantry will be open 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. on Thursdays, starting Feb. 7. SALT LAKE CITY A new national report released Thursday cites Utah's pro-growth calling cards namely "a dynamic high-tech sector, educated workforce and business-friendly tax and regulatory climate" as the factors behind the Provo-Orem area earning the No. 1 ranking among the nation's best performing metros. And it's the second year in a row that the area has occupied the top spot in Milken Institute's annual Best Performing Cities report. Other Utah cities that made the list include Salt Lake City, repeating its 2017 No. 10 ranking and Ogden-Clearfield, which moved up seven places this year to earn the No. 21 slot. The report notes expansion of tech sector gross domestic product in Provo-Orem, which uses the U.S. Census Bureau's metropolitan statistical area definition that includes all of Utah and Juab counties, outpaced the national rate by 31 percent in the five years ending in 2016. Milken Institute Center for Regional Economics Director Kevin Klowden said factors like spiraling costs and tougher labor markets in more established innovation hubs were driving tech growth toward interior cities. Tighter competition for talent and rising housing costs have pushed some firms to expand outside the big coastal centers, driving growth inland, Klowden said in a statement. The report used factors like job growth, wage and salary growth and high-tech GDP to assess the 200 largest U.S. metros as well as a number of smaller locales. Both St. George and Logan made Milken's Best Performing Small Cities list at No. 2 and No. 10, respectively. Milken researchers highlighted that the Provo-Orem area was also encountering challenges with a tightening labor market, but the close proximity of talent-feeder institutions like BYU and the University of Utah were helping mitigate the issue. While these schools "train graduates for the high-skill opportunities being created in the metro," the sector was also relying on in-migration to maintain the pace of growth. Growing Utah County tech firms Adobe, Qualtrics and Podium were all highlighted in the report, and researchers noted those expanding companies and others "helped the region best the much larger and more established tech metros in the top 5." Another burgeoning tech effort in the area, Canopy, just moved into a spacious new building just up the slope from Adobe's Lehi office. While, for the moment, lesser known than some of the longer-running tech endeavors in the area, Canopy currently employs over 300, has drawn some $70 million in funding since launching in 2014 and is working to revamp the world of tax professionals with cloud-based products aimed at streamlining and optimizing tax practices. Canopy founder and CEO Kurt Avarell, who is a California native but earned undergraduate, graduate and law degrees from BYU, said he could have located his company anywhere, but Utah's combination of advantages made the decision relatively easy. "Two years after we started Canopy we were in a big hiring cycle and looking to add 150 new employees," Avarell said. "I was talking to an investor in the Bay Area and he made the comment that, 'The reality is you cant build Canopy here in California. Its not possible because its so prohibitively expensive to bring on that many people.' "We were fortunate to be in a place where you have tens of thousands of students in the local universities and colleges, a very educated workforce and where doing business is friendlier and cheaper." Avarell also noted that while the number of companies vying for top tech talent in Utah is continuing to grow, it is still a much better labor pool than in California's top tech hub in and around the Bay Area. Juliette Tennert, director of economic and public policy research at the University of Utah's Kem C. Gardner Policy Institute, aid Utah County has become an economic powerhouse and she isn't surprised by the new Milken rankings. "I'm certainly not surprised to see Provo-Orem in the No. 1 spot again this year," Tennert said. "Our Silicon Slopes are cranking out jobs and fueling incredible growth. "We've often seen our state take a top rank in economic strength over the course of the economic expansion, but if you pull Utah County's growth out of the state numbers, the state's ranking falls. Utah's economic growth as a state is heavily supported by what's happening in Utah County." Tennert also noted that while Provo-Orem, Salt Lake City and Ogden-Clearfield all occupy separate rankings on the Milken report rankings, all three metros are intertwined in a manner that works to fuel each area's ongoing economic vitality. "Seeing the Salt Lake and Ogden-Clearfield postings are consistent with how connected the metropolitan statistical areas along the Wasatch Front are," Tennert said. "These analyses are limited by metropolitan statistical area boundaries. While Salt Lake, Ogden and Provo all have unique dynamics, together they make up an economic region with benefits that include economic diversity, high labor force participation and even geography. Literally the crossroads of the West." While the report lauded Provo-Orem's back-to-back top rankings, it hinted at some factors that might impede the area's continued nation-leading growth. Those included an ever tightening job market, overall wages that fell below rates in other tech centers and a rising cost-of-living rate. Tennert, while optimistic, noted some other factors that could come into play for all the Utah metros that earned high marks from Milken. "Moving forward, I think you can continue to see the Utah places rank well in these types of analyses," Tennert said. "Challenges that come along with growth that could become a drag include housing affordability, transportation adequacy and air quality." Find the entire Milken Institute 2018 Best Performing Cities report at milkeninstitute.org. TOOELE One of the state's most successful vocational training programs is expanding its reach. The Governors Office of Economic Development, in conjunction with diesel industry partners and education leaders, announced Wednesday the expansion of the Utah Diesel Technician Pathways Program to Davis and Tooele counties. The pathways initiative was developed to create more opportunities for Utah students by providing a direct route from high school and college into the workforce. For some former students, like Kelly Nobles, 23, the program has already become the career dreams are made of. "I always liked messing with diesel engines," the former Tooele Tech student explained. "Ever since then, I've always wanted to do it." Launched in February 2016, the two-year diesel tech program was piloted in the Jordan and Canyons school districts. A year later, the program grew to include the Alpine, Nebo and Provo school districts with Mountainland Technical College and Utah Valley University also joining the initiative. In 2017, there were 100 students enrolled in the first year, while that number increased to 120 last year. This latest expansion of the program will include students from the Davis and Tooele school districts, as well as Tooele Tech and Davis Tech colleges, offering new opportunities for career-seeking students, said Davis Technical College President Darin Brush. "(This is) exposure to career and technical education earlier and a fluid pathway with stackable credentials where they could be lifelong learners, grow with the industry and into the jobs of tomorrow," he said. The program starts in high school with the completion of select classes. Upon graduation, students will complete an internship with one of the diesel technician industry partners and then at least a year of training at one of the secondary education partners. After graduating from Tooele school, Nobles worked at a local truck dealership and eventually got a job at Detroit Diesel Remanufacturing, where he now works as a team leader building large engines something he didn't even dream of when he was in high school just a few years ago. "I figured I'd still be turning wrenches or doing lube (jobs) at a dealership," Nobles said. "Without the tech program, I wouldn't have gotten the job (at Detroit Diesel) building large engines. It's because of the certification from Tooele Tech." Taylor Morris, 17, a junior at Syracuse High School who is concurrently enrolled in the diesel pathways program through Davis Tech, said it's the exact kind of career training he has always wanted to pursue. "It's a great career to go into, great money to be made, but at the same time I love what I do," he said. "I've always had a mechanical mind and so to be able to find a program where you can turn what you love to do into a career, that's really important." Morris noted that his father has completed the program, which influenced him to check it out since they often tinkered with car and truck engines when he was growing up. "I'm just continuing the family tradition," he added. While he thought about taking a traditional path to college and then into a career, the diesel pathways program seemed like a better fit for his ambitions. "It's cool that our districts give us the opportunity to go into a technical college early while you're still in high school," Morris said. The program is free to high school students but it is also available to adults for a relatively modest cost, which depends on the fees charged at the particular institution they attend. Clinton resident Andrew Huddleston, 35, joined the diesel pathways program after trying numerous other career options. He said finding the diesel program was a life-changing discovery. "I'm more of a hands-on person," he said. "I like to get in and get my hands dirty." "(Diesel trucking) is the lifeblood of this country," he said. "I love doing (technician work). The program gives me a leg up on everyone else." The plan is part of Talent Ready Utah started by Gov. Gary Herbert to improve the state's education system and workforce by concentrating on growing and enhancing job-training strategies to meet industry needs for more qualified workers. Currently, there are four programs, including Medical Innovations Pathways, Utah Aerospace Pathways, IT Pathways and Diesel Tech Pathways. The goal of Talent Ready is to fill 40,000 high-skill, high-paying jobs by 2020, explained GOED spokesman Scott Romney. Making more students and adults aware of the possibilities that are available to them in vocational training will help bolster the states employment economy in the years to come, said the agency's executive director, Val Hale. "We all know young people (and adults) that want to work with their hands," he said. "They want to create, they want to fix, they want to build. For those type of students, this is a great opportunity." PROVO A small flock of privately owned chickens in Utah County have tested positive with virulent Newcastle disease, a viral infection of the birds' respiratory, nervous and digestive systems and the first of its kind in Utah. Three of the chickens were recently moved from southern California, which is experiencing an outbreak of the contagious and fatal disease that affects all species of birds, including poultry, but not humans. The Utah Department of Agriculture and Food confirms that the disease has been contained to the one small domestic flock of 250 birds in Utah County. The viral outbreak has sent more than 500,000 backyard and commercial chickens to their deaths in California, according to a recent industry-related publication. It was first detected there in May 2018 and more than 299 cases have been confirmed. California State Veterinarian Annette Jones told AgNet West that wet and rainy conditions contributed to the spread of the disease. Utah and federal officials are encouraging good biosecurity practices, including proper washing of hands, boots, tires and equipment before and after potential exposure to sick birds. "The disease is spread when healthy birds come in contact with bodily fluids from infected birds and contaminated surfaces," Utah Department of Agriculture and Food State Veterinarian Barry Pittman said. The disease, he said, can be transmitted by contact with manure, egg flats, crates, farming materials or equipment, vehicles, or by people who have handled such materials, including touching their clothes, hands and shoes. Virulent Newcastle disease, formerly called exotic Newcastle disease, does not pose a risk to humans, including eating an infected bird; but it does kill the birds, the Utah agency reports. A 2002-03 outbreak reportedly cost the commercial poultry industry in California more than $165 million. Symptoms of the disease, the agency said, include sudden death of the animals, sneezing or gasping for air, nasal discharge, coughing, green and watery diarrhea, drooping wings, tremors, circling and swelling around the eyes and neck. Even birds that have been vaccinated are susceptible to infection. Owners of domestic poultry, including chickens, geese or ducks, who observe any unexpectedly sick or dying birds should call 801-520-4311 immediately so that the Utah Division of Agriculture and Food can help. To report sick or dead wild birds in Utah, contact the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources in Springville, at 385-368-1128. SALT LAKE CITY A 10-year-old Kentucky boy reportedly died by suicide last weekend. Tami Charles said she came home from the grocery store Saturday morning to find that her son Seven Bridges had died in his closet, according to WDRB. Sevens father Donnie Bridges was at a church choir practice at the time. I saw my son dead. That's something in my head, Tami Charles told WHAS11. According to Charles, Seven underwent 26 surgeries, one of which included the insertion of a colostomy bag, that ultimately failed to fix a bowel defect he had struggled with since birth. Charles told WHAS11 that in August 2018, Seven, who was a fifth-grader at Kerrick Elementary, had to be taken to the hospital for a CT scan after being choked and called a racial slur on the school bus. Bridges told WDRB, He couldnt fight back. He didnt know how to hurt you. He had no malice, none. Charles pressed school and district officials to take action against the bullying, according to reports, and the Jefferson County Public Schools District opened an investigation into the incident. Seven was labeled a snitch by some of his classmates, Charles said, adding that because I was so aggressive in advocating for him, they started to act differently toward him. Jefferson County Public Schools Director Renee Murphy said of Sevens death, We are devastated. Our hearts are breaking for this family. This school community is hurting right now. According to reports, JCPS plans to launch a full investigation to see how complaints were handled and review the steps taken to prevent bullying from continuing. Charles believes that the district did not do enough and needs to make changes to prevent another tragedy like Sevens death from happening. "We found that the school system had a lot of holes and a lot of inconsistencies with their policies about bullying. They stood on the verbal message, the lip service of zero tolerance, but they did not deliver, Charles told Kentucky news station WLKY. Charles has since created a GoFundMe page to help raise funds for Sevens funeral expenses, which insurance will not cover due to the cause of Sevens death. If you or someone you know may be struggling with suicidal thoughts or showing warning signs of suicide, please consider calling the U.S. National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 800-273-TALK (8255), texting the Crisis Text Line at 741741, or seeking help from a professional. SALT LAKE CITY One of the most popular Valentines Day candies wont be on the shelves this year. SweetHearts candies have gone missing this year, and they wont be on the shelves at all. Why it matters: Conversation hearts reign as the most sold Valentines Day candy has come to an end, as sales have dropped 80 percent, according to CandyStore.com. The conversation heart candies which feature little romantic sayings such as Be Mine and Marry me will no longer reach the shelves since its parent company, Necco, went out of business in 2018, according to The Boston Globe. So for now, dont expect to see those lovable candies around. However: There are some competitors out there that release conversation candies, so youll still see the candy type on the shelves. It just wont be the SweetHearts, specifically. New champion: Conversation heart candies have dominated the most popular Valentines Day candy for a year. But the reign has come to an end now that the candy will see an 80 percent drop. M&Ms proved to be on the rise, claiming the No. 2 spot in three different states and becoming the third most popular candy in five other states,according to CandyStore.com data. Utah: Hersheys Kisses topped the state of Utah as the most popular candy this year, according to the data. PROVO By the numbers, Wonderland was a flop. As a lead in the Broadway musical, Danny Stiles wasnt oblivious. You check the Playbill sales totals and the percentages. You can see when you're not selling as well as you should be, said Stiles, a Brigham Young University theater graduate. Despite what he saw online, Stiles remained optimistic. The Broadway producers had encouraged the cast, telling them they would work hard to keep the show running. And then a couple of days later, the bad news came: The show would be closing at the end of the week. Frank Wildhorns Wonderland a telling of Alice in Wonderland that places Lewis Carrolls story in present-day New York ran on Broadway from April 17, 2011, through May 15, 2011, for a total of 33 performances. I may have been in two Broadway flops but I was in two Broadway flops! Danny Stiles It was a flop, but Stiles was on top of the world. Wonderland had given him his first Broadway credit, and from there, he landed roles in Broadway productions of Alan Menkens Sister Act and Leap of Faith all within a year. The latters shelf life was much like Wonderland, but again, Stiles rose above the criticism. I may have been in two Broadway flops but I was in two Broadway flops! he said. Being on Broadway had been a dream of mine for years and years. A Broadway career that started at 40, for a show that didnt last long. But it happened. (I) got there. I had my own bow, I had my own storyline," he said. "Regardless of where (Wonderland) went from there, that was a personal moment for me that was really special. Its been almost eight years since his Broadway debut, and now Stiles will revisit Wonderland this time as a spectator when his alma mater BYU premieres its revamped take on Wildhorns fantastical production Jan. 24-Feb. 2. If it goes well, the production could go on to become a regional theater piece. But beyond that, could BYU's reworking of the musical be enough to put it back on Broadway? "We'll see what we've got at BYU, and then we'll go from there, said Wildhorn, who will be in attendance for opening night, along with Stiles. Its all up to BYU There are many wonders in Wonderland, chief among them: Who thought this musical was ready for Broadway? Wildhorn doesnt pay his critics much mind, but to that opening sentence of the Associated Press review of Wonderland, he does have a response: His musical wasnt ready. Wonderland was set to go into Broadway in a much smaller theater at a later time. And unfortunately what happened, given just the way Broadway works, is a much larger theater than I wanted to be in opened up early and the schedule got changed and we had to kind of rush in, Wildhorn said. I like my stuff in smaller theaters that have an intimacy, (and) I wish that we were more set up and ready to go financially (in terms of) advertising and marketing. (But) I say in the same breath, I am also very grateful that the theater owners gave me a chance to come into Broadway with it. Broadway gave it the life that it now has around the world. Now BYU's Department of Theatre and Media Arts is about to breathe new life into the production. Wildhorn didnt hesitate to hand his musical over to BYU students for a theatrical overhaul. In his eyes, the universitys theater department proved its worth with the successful U.S. premiere of his musical The Count of Monte Cristo in 2015. Wildhorn well-known for composing Whitney Houstons hit song Where Do Broken Hearts Go and musicals like Jekyll & Hyde and The Scarlet Pimpernel visited the university last fall, when the students began workshopping Wonderland. Its amazing, this wonderful relationship I seem to have with my music, my work and the Utah audiences, he said, noting Scarlet Pimpernels popularity in Utah. Its been going on for a while now and Im just so grateful for it, and I hope it continues on. Wildhorn hopes BYUs revamping of Wonderland will find the same success Monte Cristo did four years ago. Its all up to BYU. BYUs an amazing school and the music (and) theater departments are fantastic, he said. The talent there is incredible. I cant wait to see what (theyve) come up with. It hasn't been an easy journey. In addition to creating their own set and costumes, director Tim Threlfall estimates BYU has changed around 100 lines of the Wonderland script. Studying Wonderland took Threlfall and his students down the rabbit hole: They werent just working with one script they had a conglomeration of scripts from the productions pre-Broadway workshops and performances in Tampa, Florida, and Houston from 2009-2011, and a U.K. script from its post-Broadway run in 2017. It was a lot to absorb, but for Threlfall, one thing was clear: The Broadway script, ushered in by Broadway producers, did not do the story justice. The Broadway (script) was really reliant upon a lot of bells and whistles, but I dont think it told as good of a story, Threlfall said. With (the pre-Broadway scripts), you can follow the story of (grown-up) Alice, whos down on her luck. She finds herself in Wonderland and it restores her childhood dreams and it restores her creativity. And it restores her family as well. Theres redemption in it and theres the resurrection of a family. Its more potent I think than the one they did on Broadway and much more appropriate for our Utah audience and for our BYU audience. The Broadway business To this day, Stiles cant help but wonder if the outcome of "Wonderland" on Broadway would have been different had Broadway producers gone with an earlier script a story he had grown to love after auditioning for Wildhorn and getting cast on the spot. I understood that maybe we were trying to attack it more on a commercial level (with) the Broadway script, he said. (But an earlier script) couldve worked. But script speculations aside, Wonderland was against some tough odds from the get-go. The production premiered during the same time as The Book of Mormon musical a show Stiles lumped with what he called other cash machines like Wicked, The Lion King and Dear Evan Hansen. (Those shows) become part of the staple of the fabric there, so it becomes a little bit more difficult for smaller projects that are lesser-known to succeed, he said. Thats a big lesson that I learned about Broadway: Its not just about having a great product its a business. The show has to be in place when the theater is available. That takes away your time to perfect things, to work on things. According to Threlfall, it takes about 10 years for the average Broadway musical to open on Broadway. That process sometimes speeds up when its a well-known composer. Frank is one of only two composers who's had three Broadway musicals running simultaneously, he said. But hes also had his share of ones that havent been hits and 'Wonderland' was certainly one of those. Sometimes that 10-year process might seem forever, but the kinks get worked out and the story gets told better by the time it gets there. Although its Broadway run was short-lived, in the eyes of the people involved, Wonderland had its successes. According to Threlfall, Wildhorns infectious pop-rock music alone shouldve been enough to keep the production running well past its early expiration. And each night, when Stiles took his bow on the Broadway stage, he could feel the love of supporters. We connected to a lot of people. We had a fan base that came to see the show as much as they could, Stiles said. We had a beautiful show and we had a great family there. We really loved each other. So when all those things are going that way and you believe and youre so close to the project, its hard to see why other people dont embrace it as much as you do or see the value in it the way that you see it. As BYU prepares to stage its reworking of Wonderland, Threlfall and his cast hope people will see the value in it and believe in it as much as those who performed it 33 times on Broadway did and as much as Wildhorn still does. Im a person who wakes up and I feel like Im the luckiest guy in the world, Wildhorn said. (Wonderland) has this life, and Im very proud of that. If you go What: BYU presents Wonderland When: Jan. 24-Feb. 2, dates and times vary Where: de Jong Concert Hall, Harris Fine Arts Center, BYU, Provo How much: $18-$26 Web: arts.byu.edu SALT LAKE CITY An Oscar-nominated short film has come under fire for humanizing the two killers of toddler James Bulger, who was just 2 years old when he was brutally murdered by 10-year-olds Jon Venables and Robert Thompson in Liverpool, England. The film, Detainment, directed by Irish filmmaker Vincent Lambe, is based on transcripts and interview tapes from Venables and Thompsons police interrogations. The details of the horrifying and highly publicized case rocked England, The Washington Post reported. On Feb. 12, 1993, James Bulger was kidnapped by Venables and Thompson from a mall near Liverpool, where he had been shopping with his mother, Denise Fergus. The boys then led him to train tracks near the Leeds and Liverpool Canal, where they threw paint in his eyes, threw bricks at him, and beat him to death with an iron pipe before leaving his body on the tracks. He was later run over by a train. Venables and Thompson became Englands youngest convicted murderers in nearly 250 years and were sentenced to eight years in prison, according to the Post. Fergus issued a statement Tuesday about the film on Twitter, calling for it to be removed from the Oscar considerations. I cannot express how disgusted and upset I am at this so-called film that has been made and now nominated for an Oscar, Fergus wrote. Its one thing making a film like this without contacting or getting permission from (James's) family but another to have a child re-enact the final hours of Jamess life before he was brutally murdered and making myself and my family have to relive this all over again! This is all I want to say at present. pic.twitter.com/GbyshtVoa9 Denise Fergus (@Denise_fergus) January 22, 2019 Ralph Bulger, James father, told the Daily Mirror, Hollywood should hang its head in shame. There are some things that should be off limits and the murder of a baby is one of them To Hollywood, it is just another film. But to me and my family it is a living nightmare. There is currently a Change.org petition circulating to remove Detainment from the Oscars shortlist, the Post reported. As of Wednesday afternoon, it had over 100,000 signatures. Lambe has since apologized on Twitter for not consulting the Bulger family before making the film, but added that he didnt contact any of the families involved, relying solely on the factual material which has been public knowledge for 25 years. Lambe also argued that his film doesnt aim to humanize Venables and Thompson, but rather make room for measured public debate on the circumstances in which this terrible crime occurred, according to his tweet. The popular opinion at the moment is that the killers were simply born evil and anyone who suggests an alternate reason is criticised, Lambe wrote. As a result, it has stifled debate on the issue. I do feel their actions were evil, but I think it is important to gain a deeper understanding of how it could have happened because dismissing children as evil could lead to more similar crimes being committed. I think one of the most important things to be learned from the case is that if children are not properly cared for, they can become dangerous. In an interview with Awards Circuit, Lambe elaborated on his point that the type of family we grow up in deeply affects the type of people we become, explaining that Thompson came from a terribly dysfunctional family rife with domestic abuse, violence, alcoholism, drug abuse and suicide attempts. He added that Venables was weak but desperate to impress his tough friend. Thompsons father had left his family, and Venables parents were divorced, the Post reported. If there is no one around to guide children, then they go wrong. The people who guide children are their fathers and mothers. William Golding, the author of the 1954 novel Lord of the Flies William Golding, the author of the 1954 novel Lord of the Flies perhaps the best-known literary example of childrens propensity for violence and evil offered a similar opinion on the Bulger case in an essay called Why Boys Become Vicious. Golding argued that we are born with both good and evil in us, but that we can be twisted and distorted beyond recognition by the guidance or lack of it that we absorb directly from our families. If there is no one around to guide children, then they go wrong, Golding wrote. The people who guide children are their fathers and mothers. Children need both and in the later part of this century they often have neither. If parents are absent then children will plumb the depths of their nature. The public condemnation of Venables and Thompson often resulted in fingers being pointed at their neglectful mothers, while their fathers were somehow absolved of having any role in how the children were raised, Guardian reporter Audrey Gillan pointed out in a 2000 opinion piece. She also pointed out that not all children who come from troubled homes or whose parents are divorced are murderers. Can such guilt be so neatly apportioned? There are many families where the parents are struggling to cope, where the children have behavioural problems. Parents are invariably ordinary people with problems of their own. They should instill values and principles in a child but they cannot be there all the time as Denise Bulger (now Fergus) learned at a terrible cost, Gillan wrote. The link between parental failings and juvenile homicide is not so straightforwardly simple as it might appear, she concluded. James Bulgers murder irrevocably affected his family, a Guardian profile of Fergus revealed 25 years after the killing. Fergus fought for longer prison sentences for Venables and Thompson and opposed the courts decision to give them new identities so they could attempt to resume normal lives and avoid retaliation, according to the Guardian. She has also written a book about James, I Let Him Go, and established the James Bulger Memorial Trust. Venables and Thompson were released from prison in 2001, but Venables was arrested again in 2010 and 2017 for possession of child pornography, the Independent reported. It is unclear whether the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences will remove Detainment from its Oscars shortlist. According to the Post, the academy could not be reached for comment. OGDEN Weber State Universitys 23rd annual Storytelling Festival will bring performances from around the world to northern Utah Feb. 25-27. This years theme will be Stories From My Culture. In addition to national, regional and youth storytellers, the festival will offer a fundraising dinner, workshops and storytelling concerts. All events, except for the dinner, are free. Events will be held at a variety of locations including the Davis Conference Center in Layton, the David Eccles Conference Center, Perry's Egyptian Theater, the Childrens Treehouse Museum, local schools and WSUs main campus. According to organizers, the festival is unique because it combines the talents of both professional and youth storytellers from local schools. Youth storytellers from local charter schools as well as public schools in the Weber, Ogden, Davis and Morgan school districts compete at district festivals. The winners are invited to perform at the festival. For more information and to view a full schedule of events, visit weber.edu/storytelling. SALT LAKE CITY Thank you, next song. Ariana Grande released the full track list for her upcoming album, Thank U, Next. The album will be released Feb. 8. Grande released the track list in an Instagram post. See it below. Title: The album shares the name with the hit song Thank U, Next, which was a song from Grande addressing many of her ex-boyfriends. First single: According to Variety, the hit song, released Nov. 3, 2018, was Grandes first song to debut at the No. 1 spot. She released a follow-up called 7 Rings on Jan. 18. Grandes previous album, Sweetener, dropped back in August 2018. What itll have: Grande said the new album will focus on heartbreak and the tragedies shes experienced in the last year, according to Bustle. She told Billboard she started recording after her longtime friend and ex-boyfriend Mac Miller passed away. She said she wrote the entire album in one week. "This (albums) not particularly uplifting," Grande said. "A lot of it sounds really upbeat, but its actually a super sad chapter." She said the album will have "feminine energy and champagne and music and laughter and crying." Utah: Grande was supposed to perform in Salt Lake City as a part of her "Sweetener" tour in April. It has been rescheduled for July. WASHINGTON Academics and advocates took first steps recently toward what they hope will be solutions to a high-stakes clash that has dragged child welfare into the culture war over LGBT and religious rights. Signaling a willingness on the part of religious groups to find a solution, an attorney who had represented faith-based adoption agencies in legal conflicts with LGBT groups declared same-sex couples should not be prevented from fostering or adopting children. Gay couples can be fantastic parents and should not be banned from adopting or fostering children, Stephanie Barclay, former legal counsel for the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty and now an associate law professor at Brigham Young University, said at a conference last week sponsored by the Cato Institute. Another law professor offered the solution of government certificates that could shield same-sex couples from feelings of humiliation brought from rejection by a faith-based adoption agency that won't accept LGBT clients. But the legal director of a leading gay rights advocacy group was skeptical of how these solutions would play out in the real world, where adoption agency workers and same-sex couples interact. There is no willingness (to compromise) there because they want to be able to express their animus towards LGBTQ people and they dont want LGBTQ people to be able to adopt, Sarah Warbelow, of Human Rights Campaign, told the Deseret News. Such distrust underscores the difficulty in forging a solution to a conflict that centers on whether faith-based adoption agencies that receive government funding have a right to refuse to work with same-sex couples seeking to foster and adopt children. The debate has galvanized the attention of LGBT and religious rights advocates, a conflict playing out in legislatures and courtrooms across the country. Conservative Christians and their Republican allies see the issue as one of religious freedom and, in some cases, free speech; Democrats and LGBT rights activists as one of equal treatment under the law. Prominent stakeholders in the conflict met June 19 at the Cato Institute, a libertarian think tank, for a conference aptly titled Solomons Decree: Conflicts in Adoption and Child Placement Policy." Robin Fretwell Wilson, director of the Family Law and Policy Program at the University of Illinois College of Law, said the key to finding compromise is a willingness on both sides to let go of a purity model one in which neither side gets everything it wants. We need all hands on deck, she said. Every loving couple that can care for children should be able to do so without being humiliated. It also means we have to keep every one of these agencies, including the religious agencies, in the marketplace doing that important work for children." The conference convened the same week the Becket Fund appealed a federal court ruling that found Catholic Social Services in Philadelphia couldn't contract with the city as a foster care provider so long as the agency violated the city's nondiscrimination policies by refusing to fully serve same-sex couples. Catholic Social Services says it would have to shut down its foster care program without the city contract. The July 13 ruling was the first but won't be the last on the conflict. In a Michigan federal court, the ACLU is suing the state for contracting with faith-based adoption agencies that refuse to evaluate married same-sex couples as potential parents. The Deseret News covered the case in-depthearlier this month. And in Congress, House Republicans amended an appropriations bill to allow adoption agencies that receive government funding to refuse to work with same-sex couples if doing so would violate their religious beliefs. The amendment would permit the Department of Health and Human Services to withhold 15 percent of the federal funding the state receives for foster care services if that state was found to discriminate against a religious agency for following its religious convictions. Meanwhile, 400,000 children nationally stand in need of foster care and 20,000 kids per year reach adulthood never having had a family to call their own. The Anti-Discrimination Wars' In the plush conference room at the Cato Institute, attendees gathered in anticipation of the first panel, entitled The Anti-Discrimination Wars. We are richer as a country when we have a plurality of voices working to provide safe homes to children in need, Barclay said, including both faith-based and secular agencies. She explained that most faith-based agencies object to the requirement to provide a written endorsement for a couple to be licensed to adopt. When a couple approaches an agency expressing an interest in foster care or adoption, the agency conducts a home study evaluating the potential parents' qualifications, which includes a written statement evaluating the couples relationship. The agency then makes a recommendation to the state, which decides whether to give the couple a license. Barclay says that many faith-based organizations cannot endorse the relationship between same-sex married couples or unmarried couples in writing without violating deeply held religious beliefs, such as the Catholic teaching that marriage is a sacred union between a man and a woman. For that reason, many faith-based agencies would prefer to stand aside and refer same-sex couples elsewhere for home evaluations. In the case of St. Vincent Catholic Charities of Michigan, after a same-sex couple has been licensed by the state, it can still adopt a child in St. Vincents custody. Warbelow of the Human Rights Campaign said while she has no qualms with private agencies acting according to their religious beliefs, they should not be allowed to accept public money and refuse services to particular groups of people. These agencies want to say, you dont model the Holy Family, youre not deserving and we wont allow you to foster kids in crisis, even though you are perfectly qualified to do so," she said. "Thats not in the best interest of the child, not by a long shot. Warbelow said the best way to serve the interests of children was to make more families available, not fewer families, which she said is what religious organizations do when they turn away same-sex couples. Barclay said no one is stopping same-sex couples from fostering and adopting children, as there are plenty of other agencies available that are providing this service. But Warbelow says thats often not true in rural areas, where there are fewer service providers. If youre in Texas or Montana in a rural area you (are) out of luck if the only agency there is an agency that refuses to work with same-sex couples, said Warbelow. Although research in this area is limited, a 2011 Clark University study lends some support to Warbelows claim, with 18 percent of their sample of same-sex couples indicating they had difficulty finding adoption agencies willing to work with them in rural areas, in some cases those agencies were faith-based. Warbelow was skeptical of the argument that shuttering faith-based agencies that can't comply with nondiscrimination laws would have a devastating impact on the child welfare system. Yet these reactions are more evidence of the difficulty of reaching some kind of solution: Are there really gay couples unable to adopt because of these agencies and if so, how many? And if religious-based adoption organizations are prevented from working with individual states will it fundamentally disrupt the ability to find homes for children? Faith-based agencies do not dominate the children welfare arena, according to a Heritage Foundation report, but they are an active and substantial part of it, writes Stephen Monsoma, a professor of political science at Pepperdine University in his book, "Pluralism and Freedom: Faith-Based Organizations in a Democratic Society." In 2016, Catholic Charities agencies around the country served around 10,500 children through its foster care and adoption services, states the Heritage Foundation report. Finding statistics for every faith-based agency is difficult, but the evidence gathered from annual reports, interviews, and data requests strongly suggests the number of children served is significant, the report continues. Barclay told the Deseret News the issue is not really about funding, but state contracts, without which faith-based agencies cannot provide public adoption and foster care services. Even if the agencies could find alternate sources of funding, losing government contracts would bar them from providing these services on behalf of the state. Barclay said religious agencies can be particularly skilled at recruiting new families by engaging faith communities that believe it is their calling to be involved in the difficult work of foster and adoption, and in reuniting sibling groups and placing children with special needs. Religious faith has motivated and guided charitable work from the founding era until today, Barclay says. Faith-based organizations were often the first groups historically to provide foster and adoption services to vulnerable children, and they continue to be some of the best at providing these services. A viable solution? Wilson presented the first and, so far, only solution. Her plan, modeled after the Child Care and Development Block Grant Program, would give money directly to families ready to adopt, allowing them to choose the agency religious or secular that best fits their needs. Her goal is to put foster and adoptive parents in the drivers seat, while sparing gay couples the humiliation of being rejected. At the same time, her plan would allow faith-based agencies to remain in the marketplace to do what they do best, such as recruiting families in faith communities to adopt and foster children. Barclay said Wilsons plan would not resolve the conflict at the heart of the Michigan case, as the ACLUs clients have specifically sought to adopt from a faith-based agency, despite having access to other providers. Warbelow said she thinks that Wilson is coming at this from a good heart in trying to find a solution, but didnt feel it addresses the bigger issue of more parents available to help more kids. I haven't seen a proposal yet that doesn't result in fewer prospective parents for kids who are in dire circumstances, she said, particularly in remote areas where willing same-sex couples have limited to no opportunities to help. On that point, Wilson said she hopes her plan will result in more agencies able to meet the needs of big and small communities across the country. She says the current funding structure favors large agencies who can bear the high upfront costs associated with providing child welfare services. She says her plan would help distribute funds more broadly, easing the "chokepoint" between LGBT couples and faith-based agencies in communities with a limited number of providers. Despite the differences expressed at the conference, Wilson says she remains hopeful both sides will come together. We can take the children out of culture wars where they do not belong, said Wilson. If we have learned anything this week, its that we need to do this now. Denton, TX (76205) Today A mainly sunny sky. Hot. High around 95F. Winds S at 5 to 10 mph.. Tonight A mostly clear sky. Low 74F. Winds S at 5 to 10 mph. Caracas: Thirteen people have died during two days of unrest in Venezuela amid protests against Leftist leader Nicolas Maduro, a Caracas-based rights group reported on Thursday. The deaths, mostly from gunshot wounds, were recorded in the capital and across the country, along with reports of looting in Brazilian border state Bolivar, the Venezuelan Observatory of Social Conflict said. Unrest first kicked off on Monday when 27 soldiers rose up against Maduro at a command post in Caracas, calling upon people to take to the streets in a video circulated on social media. But the most fierce began Tuesday night in Caracas and Bolivar continuing Wednesday throughout Venezuela on a day of huge Opposition-backed demonstrations against Maduro. In Bolivars San Felix, demonstrators burned a statue of former president Hugo Chavez late on Tuesday night. On Wednesday, anti-riot police confronted protesters in east Caracas following the march called for by opposition leader Juan Guaido, who declared himself Venezuelas interim president as part of his aim to remove Maduro. Chaos erupted when dozens of young people, some hooded, blocked a key route through the wealthy Altamira neighborhood only for military personnel to fire tear gasses and rubber bullets, which were in turn met with stones from protesters. Apart from the capital Caracas, deaths were reported in Tachira, Barinas, Portuguesa, Amazonas and Bolivar states. Wednesdays demonstration, meanwhile, marked the first significant clash between the government and the Opposition in the streets after violent protests left 125 people dead between April and July 2017. Juan Guaido the opposition-led legislature head who declared himself acting president called for the protests two weeks ago. His aim is to remove Maduro, set up a transitional government and hold elections. He accuses Maduro of being a usurper following his disputed re-election in a poll dismissed as a fraud by the European Union, the US and OAS. The imperial government of the United States is leading a coup attempt against us: Nicolas Maduro. (FIle Photo) Caracas: After the USA recognised opposition leader Juan Guaido as the Interim President, the beleaguered President Nicolas Maduro broke off all diplomatic ties with the USA, giving American diplomats 72 hours to leave the country. "Before the people and nations of the world, and as constitutional President...I've decided to break diplomatic and political relations with US. Get out! Leave Venezuela. We have (our) dignity dammit!" Mr Maduro told a crowd of red-shirted supporters gathered at the Miraflores Presidential palace on Wednesday. The Presidents announcement comes amid raging protests in the South American country, with protesters demanding fresh elections to be held. "The imperial government of the United States is leading a coup attempt against us in order to install a puppet presidency that they can control Venezuela," CNN quoted Maduro as further saying from the balcony at Miraflores. The opposition-controlled National Assembly, which is presided over by Guaido, called for Wednesday''s nationwide protests on a symbolic date for the Venezuelans. Around 61 years ago on this date, a civil and military uprising in the nation had overthrown former Venezuelan dictator, General Marcos Perez Jimenez. The economic crisis in the nation, coupled with a food shortage, has strengthened an anti-Maduro sentiment across the South American nation, with the opposition accusing Maduro of "usurping power". "The citizens of Venezuela have suffered for too long at the hands of the illegitimate Maduro regime. Today, I have officially recognized the President of the Venezuelan National Assembly, Juan Guaido, as the Interim President of Venezuela," US President Donald Trump had tweeted in Guaido's support on Wednesday (local time). Countries like Colombia have extended their support for Guaido as the Interim President of Venezuela, with the USA urging other "western hemisphere governments" to recognise Guaido's leadership. In a few short weeks, Samsung will debut its 2019 flagship handsets from the Galaxy S-series line-up and with it, we expect to get three new handsets S10, S10E and S10+. The Galaxy S10E is expected to be the cheapest edition of the lot, while the S10 will sit between the S10E and S10+. If the latest information by SamsungNews on Twitter is anything to go by, it appears that Samsung will be re-branding the Plus version of its handsets as the Pro. As per a related report by Softpedia, Samsungs plans are not yet known and as of now, all this information is still in the rumour stage and nothing is set in stone. The Samsung Galaxy S10 Pro, when launched, will come in a ceramic version that will feature a metallic black finish. This variant is expected to be a special edition of the Samsung Galaxy S10 Pro and it is reported that it will be priced significantly higher as well. The Samsung Galaxy S10 Pro will be priced at EUR 1,600 which is roughly Rs 1,29,500 while it could sell for USD 1,800 (Rs 1,28500) in the US. The Samsung Galaxy S10 Pro is reported to have some insane specifications with reports claiming that it will come with as much as 12GB of RAM and up to 1TB of onboard storage when the top of the line configuration is ordered. The base version of the Samsung Galaxy S10 Pro is expected to cost EUR 1,200 which is about Rs 97,000 in India. The base variant of the Galaxy S10 is expected to be priced at EUR 779 (about Rs 63,000) and it will be the most affordable option of the lot. The standard Galaxy S10s price is expected to be starting at EUR 999 which is about Rs 80,900. As of now, these rumours are merely based on hearsay and nothing concrete has been leaked so far. The Samsung Galaxy S10 will be officially announced at the Unpacked Event on February 20 and this is when all this and more will be known. Disclaimer: The above report is completely based on online rumours and leaks from the respective sources. These views and opinions do not necessarily represent those of Deccan Chronicle and/or other staff and contributors to this website. Click on Deccan Chronicle Technology and Science for the latest news and reviews. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter. Western intelligence agencies have raised concerns in recent years that Huawei is beholden to the Chinese state, raising the risk of espionage. New Zealands prime minister has assured Chinese telecoms equipment group Huawei Technologies Co Ltd of even-handed treatment after the small US ally blocked the sale of some Huawei equipment citing national security concerns. Western intelligence agencies have raised concerns in recent years that Huawei, the worlds largest maker of telecoms network gear, is beholden to the Chinese state, raising the risk of espionage. Huawei has always denied that Beijing has any influence over it, but last November the New Zealand intelligence agency blocked a local telecoms operator, Spark, from using Huawei equipment to build out its fifth-generation network. This is not about a particular vendor, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said in an interview on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in the Swiss ski resort of Davos. This is about a framework in New Zealand that I think serves us well, she added, noting that local legislation provided a framework within which Spark and Huawei would have an opportunity to address the security concerns. The intelligence service has not detailed its concerns and Ardern declined to elaborate on them. New Zealand is a member of the Five Eyes intelligence group, which also includes the United States, Britain, Australia and Canada. The United States is also seeking to extradite a top Huawei executive from Canada for allegedly seeking to skirt US sanctions against Iran. Huawei has denied wrongdoing. In a wide-ranging interview, Ardern stressed the importance of free trade and the need to jointly combat climate change, saying nations should look to strengthen international organizations such as the World Trade Organisation. The 38-year-old, who took power in 2017, has emerged as the fresh face of multi-lateralism at this years Davos summit, an elite gathering that has been hit by the withdrawal of several major world leaders. US President Donald Trump pulled out on the eve of the event because of the US government shutdown. Ardern made a splash after coming to power, becoming the first New Zealand leader to take maternity leave while in office and earning global headlines last September when she attended the UN General Assembly with her baby girl on her lap. She voiced concern about the impact of the US-China trade dispute on trading nations like New Zealand and said she was focusing on negotiating a free-trade deal with the European Union, describing it as an important opportunity. Her government is also working on the nations first wellness budget, a document that will not only include fiscal targets but also goals for social improvement in areas like child poverty, domestic violence and mental health. She had one overriding wish for her daughter, Neve Te Aroha, and other young New Zealanders as they grow up in an uncertain world. That, no matter what they do in life, they are just happy. Click on Deccan Chronicle Technology and Science for the latest news and reviews. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter. Franciss writings overflowed with the love of God and neighbours. His Introduction to the Devout Life and Love of God and Spiritual Conferences are spiritual classics with striking sayings like: (Representational image) I was once asked: Why do writers always feel cold? Stumped, I replied, Dont know! I was then told: Because writers are always surrounded by drafts! Im often drafted into those so-called drafting committees at conferences a job I dislike. At such times, when stuck for words or short of ideas, I remember my namesake patron of writers: Saint Francis de Sales (1567-1622) whose feast is celebrated today. Youve probably heard of two popular saints named Francis: Jesuit Francis Xavier, after whom many schools are named Xavier; and Francis of Assisi, the nature-lover from whom the present pope has taken his name. However, Francis de Sales specifically teaches us about the wise use of words in writing and speaking. Born in an aristocratic family at the castle of Sales in Savoy, France, Francis was the eldest of 13 children. Being extremely bright, his father pinned hopes on him excelling in diplomacy and law. Aged 25, with a degree in law, Francis refused to become a senator according to his dads plans, but became a priest. Writers and speakers can imbibe three virtues from Francis de Sales: (a) He believed that every word spoken or written must be an expression of Gods love; (b) Anger and fear are foes of love; hence, writers should neither give vent to their anger nor induce fear in people through their words; and, (c) Patience is the finest of virtues. Franciss writings overflowed with the love of God and neighbours. His Introduction to the Devout Life and Love of God and Spiritual Conferences are spiritual classics with striking sayings like: The measure of love is to love without measure, Be who you are and be that well and You learn to speak by speaking, to study by studying, to run by running, to work by working; and just so, you learn to love by loving. Cautioning about anger, Francis wrote: Fits of anger, vexation and bitterness tend to pride; and they spring from no other source than self-love, which is disturbed and upset at seeing its imperfections. He added, Do not lose courage in considering your own imperfections. He held that spiritual progress is possible only when one introspects, accepts ones imperfections, and then attempts to improve oneself. Have patience with all things, but chiefly have patience with yourself, wrote Francis, adding: Never be in a hurry; do everything quietly and in a calm spirit. Do not lose your inner peace for anything whatsoever, even if your whole world seems upset. If all writers were calm and patient, never inducing anger and fear into readers, ever expressing words of love, our drafts would never make people cold; rather, theyd warm their hearts with hope and love. Hyderabad: Telangana Rashtra Samiti supremo K. Chandrasekhar Rao, whose strategy of declaring the names of 105 candidates two months prior to the recent Assembly polls had paid such rich dividends, is now planning to declare the names of 15 candidates for the Legislative Council, for which elections are likely to be held in March. Sources in the party said that the party chief will likely announce the names of the candidates in the second week of February. Sixteen seats, including one nominated post of MLC, will fall vacant on March 29 as the term of the five elected members from the Assembly and two members from the teachers constituency, one member each from the Graduates and Hyderabad Local Authorities constituencies, will end. The Telangana Legislative Council chairman, Swamy Goud, recently disqualified R. Bhupathi Reddy, K. Yadav Reddy and nominated member Ramulu Naik, all of the TRS, for indulging in anti party activities. M. Hanumantha Rao and P. Narender Reddy, who were elected from Malkajgiri and Kodangal Assembly segments, have resigned and K. Rajagopal Reddy, who was elected from Munugodu on a Congress ticket, also resigned. Konda Murali who joined the Congress during the recent elections has also submitted his resignation. In this context, the Election Commission already commenced its exercise to conduct biennial elections to the Council and announced the schedule for de-novo preparation of electoral rolls for two teachers, one graduate and one local authorities constituency, and declared that the final voters list would be announced on February 20. Hyderabad: The Opposition parties in Telangana state are demanding an inquiry against Chief Election Officer (CEO) Rajat Kumar for not conducting fair elections. The Congress and other parties staged a protest against the Election Commission (EC) at Indira Park on Thursday. The common target of the opposition parties is Mr Rajat Kumar. During the election process last month, the alliance of opposition parties had alleged that Mr Rajat Kumar was behaving like an agent of the Telangana Rashtra Samiti (TRS). Telangana Jana Samiti (TJS) president M. Kodandaram said, We have many doubts about the CEO Rajat Kumar. He did not monitor the voters registrations and allowed deletion of many voters from the list. Later, he came up with an apology. The VVPAT slips of Jubilee Hills constituency have gone missing. We demand an enquiry on Mr Rajat Kumar. The EC is not able to give reasons for the difference in the total number of votes polled and counted. Never in the history of the country, so many allegations have been raised against the Election Commission. The Opposition parties have demanded that the forthcoming Lok Sabha elections be conducted using ballot papers. They said they had doubts about the EVMs and hence, the Voter Verified Paper Audit Trails should have been used. The Commission refused to count VVPAT slips. They were counted in states like Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh, so why did the they refuse to count them here (Telang-ana state)? asked TPCC president N. Uttam Kumar Reddy. He added, The Election Commission has failed to conduct free and fair elections in Telangana state. The EC had told the High Court that it will present the voting details, but Mr Rajat Kumar has failed to do so. It is proved that there has been huge difference between the total number of votes polled and total votes counted. The EC should count the VVPAT slips in the constituencies where the winning margin is less than 10,000 votes. Vijayawada: Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu rubbished on Thursday, the remarks of the YSR Congress and the BJP on Kapu reservations and wondered why they should have any objection if reservations were provided to the Kapu community. Addressing a teleconference on Thursday, he said, They say that the state does not have the power to provide a quota for Kapus. They don't t want anything to happen in the state. Nobody should be happy here; only then can the YSRC and BJP gain politically. This is their agenda. Kapus have demanded that Jagan provide reservations for Kapus. Jagan said that it was not in his purview. Now when we give five per cent out of the 10 per cent EBC quota to Kapus, he is opposing this. The BJP recently objected to the quota for Kapus and now Jagan does the same. What is the stand of the YSRC and BJP on Kapu reservations? People will teach them a lesson. He said that there was a united fight against the BJP at the national level. Parties may differ in the elections on different issues, but we work on the same platform - Save Nation, Save Democracy, United India. All parties came together in Karnataka and Kolkata on the same platform. The Congress has no alliance with the Trinamool in West Bengal, but Congress leaders came to the Kolkata rally. Our common minimal programme motto is to put an end to autocratic rule. To protect national institutions, to save the Constitution is the agenda of the 23 non-BJP parties with a secular joint agenda for SC, ST, and Muslim minorities, the Chief Minister said. The BJP and YSRC are committed to crime, killings, conspiracies and machinations but not to public service. KCRs fear is that his incapable governance in Telangana will come to light. He was invited as a guest to Jagans house warming. Jagan has compromised with Modi over his cases. He has pledged the state to the TRS. He is a financial criminal, that's why he went to jail for 16 months. We should take this to the notice of people, Mr Naidu said. The Chief Minister said that all promises in the TD manifesto were implemented within five years. What was not mentioned in it was also done. Though enhancement of pension to Rs 1,000 was promised, it was hiked to Rs 2,000 increasing the pension ten-fold. DWCRA women were promised Rs 10,000 but were now getting Rs 20,000. The income of 97 per cent of the farmers in the state had doubled. Double-digit growth was achieved in the state and therefore patronage to the TD should also be doubled, he opined, adding that he worked like the family head of people. Mr Naidu also said that 78.5 per cent of people were happy with government. In some constituencies, the satisfaction level was 84 per cent and once it reached 90 per cent, there would be no place for the opposition in the state, he pointed out. In this context, he cited the example of Singapore where the same government ruled for 50 years which was why that country could achieve excellent progress. People would support a government which is efficient, Mr Naidu noted. Observing that every household in the state had benefited under TD rule, he urged party cadres to ensure that they all supported the Telugu Desam. Mr Punetha, suggested that the division of the movable assets may be done in the population ratio in tune with the provisions of the AP Reorganisation Act, 2014. Vijayawada: A meeting was held on Thursday in the Buddha Purnima Project Building, Hyderabad, on the issue of distribution of movable assets belonging to the common High Court of Judicature at Hyderabad for Telangana and Andhra Pradesh, between the High Courts of both the states. Andhra Pradesh Chief Secretary A.C. Punetha and Telangana Chief Secretary S.K. Joshi, Registrars General of High Courts of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, Law Secretaries of both the states participated in the meeting. The issue of division of movable assets like vehicles, mobile phones, other Computer Systems and Printers, LED Display Boards and Hardware VC Units and Library Books was discussed. Mr Punetha, suggested that the division of the movable assets may be done in the population ratio in tune with the provisions of the AP Reorganisation Act, 2014. The suggestion of the Chief Secretary, government of Andhra Pradesh was accepted and division of movable assets was done accordingly. Amanatullah Khan said that AAP will extend support to the Congress if the next PM will be from the Rahul Gandhi-led party. (File Photo) New Delhi: Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) MLA Amanatullah Khan on Wednesday said that AAP will extend support to the Congress if the next Prime Minister will be from the Rahul Gandhi-led party. Somebody told me outside that people are saying they will vote for the Congress because the next prime minister will be from that party. We are saying that if this happens, then we will also extend support to their Prime Minister (Abhi bahar mujhse koi keh raha tha ki log keh rahe hain ki Congress ko vote isliye denge kyunki Pradhanmantri unka banega, hum ye keh rahe hain ki agar Pradhanmantri unka hi bana toh hum bhi usey support kar denge), Khan said at an event here. His statement comes after leaders from both AAP and Congress have said that they are currently in no mood to contest the upcoming Lok Sabha elections together. "Our party will contest Lok Sabha elections in Delhi, Punjab and Haryana alone. For Congress, their arrogance is bigger than national interest, it is visible from recent statements of Punjab Chief Minister (Captain Amarinder Singh) and Sheila Dikshit ji," AAP leader Gopal Rai told ANI last week. Earlier this week, Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh also said, Till now there is no question of Congress allying with the AAP as the party does not have its presence in Punjab. It is not a crime. Everyone should be patriotic and by flagging a march is a good start, Dilbar Singh said. (Photo: File) Lucknow: Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MLA Dalbir Singh on Thursday expressed disappointment over the show-cause notice issued by Aligarh Muslim University to his grandson and others for taking out a Tiranga Yatra on the campus recently. "Unfortunate that my grandson and his nephew Ajay were issued a notice by AMU administration. Don't think they did anything wrong. Daily some rally or the other is organised on various issues, one was even in support of Afzal Guru, so what is wrong in a Tiranga yatra?" "It is not a crime. Everyone should be patriotic and by flagging a march is a good start," he added. Aligarh Muslim University administration on Wednesday issued a notice to two students for holding a Tiranga Yatra. The students had held a bike rally chanting 'Vande Mataram' from the Education Department to the Baba Syed Gate, in remembrance of the sacrifice made by freedom fighters. The varsity administration alleged that it had not given permission to carry out the Yatra. The notice issued by the proctor sought a reply within 24 hours, failing which ex-parte action would be taken against the student leaders. Omar Saleem Peerzada, Public Relation Officer (PRO) of AMU said the students violated the code of conduct and varsity rules and regulations. There was no permission and their step was illegal. On 26 January and 15 August every year, the University holds one week programme, and the students should participate in that. Show-Cause notices have been issued and action would be taken against them as per the university rules, he added. Police are searching for Ganesh to arrest him. Already he has been suspended from the party, Karnataka Deputy CM Dr G Parameshwara. (Photo: PTI | File) Bengaluru: The Congress on Thursday formed a panel led by deputy chief minister Dr G Parameshwara to inquire into the incident at Eagleton Resort where Kampli MLA J N Ganesh allegedly attacked Hosapete MLA Anand Singh on January 20. "Police are searching for Ganesh to arrest him. Already he has been suspended from the party. Further, a committee headed by me has been formed to inquire into the matter and furnish a report to the party high command," Parameshwara said. He was talking to reporters after meeting Infosys founder N R Narayana Murthy at the BDA head office. Murthy had called on Parameshwara to chalk out plans to improve his 'alma mater' National Institute of Engineering at Mysuru. He also gave some suggestions on improving the city. Ganesh and Anand Singh had reportedly entered into a brawl at Eagleton Resorts on the city outskirts where the Congress MLAs were herded together amid allegations of BJP's attempts to poach Congress MLAs. Anand Singh, who suffered two fractured ribs and a fracture in the bone below the right eye in the fracas, is presently undergoing treatment at the Apollo Hospital in the city. On the other hand, sarpanches for 25 gram panchayats, where elections were to be held in the third phase on January 30, were elected unanimously. Khammam: The second phase of gram panchayat elections to be held on January 25 is expected to be in sensitive areas. Candidates are making attempts to get sympathy by evolving various strategies. For instance, a case has been filed in Tallada police station by B. Rambabu, follower of the candidate for the Venkatagiri GP post that the rival candidates followers attacked and injured him. Police took the complaint and started an inquiry. They called the complainants relatives and others and enquired about the attack. However, it transpired that the complainant sustained injuries in an accident while riding his two-wheeler in an inebriated condition. He lodged a complaint at the instance of the followers of a candidate. The police warned Rambabu and let him go. The incident is an eye-opener for the cops and vigilance has been stepped up in all the villages where elections are being held on January 25 to avert the possibility of clashes. On the other hand, sarpanches for 25 gram panchayats, where elections were to be held in the third phase on January 30, were elected unanimously. There are 12 GPs in Raghunathapalem mandal in the list. TRS won all of the 12 GPs and Khammam MLA Puvvada Ajay Kumar worked hard to get unanimity. Villages including Sivaigudem, Hariathanda, Badhyathanda, Korlaboduthanda, Lachiramthanda, Mangyathanda, Putanithanda, VK Banjara, Koyachelaka, G K Banjara, Donabanda, Ramuluthanda and S Banjara elected their sarpanches unanimously. Mr Kumar visited every village and assured development. There are 37 villages in Raghunahtapalem mandal and the MLA plans to ensure TRS win in a majority of the GPs where elections will be held. Interestingly, there are two public representatives from the same family in Bodulabanda under Nelakondapalli. Anagani Anita was elected as sarpanch for the village and her husband A. Narasimha Rao is already the MPTC of the village. He was elected for the post in 2014 elections. The mandal parishad elections will be held later. According to sources, the Indian Army is retaliating strongly and effectively. (Representational Image) Poonch: Pakistani army on Thursday violated ceasefire at four locations along the Line of Control (LoC) in Poonch and Rajouri sectors of Jammu and Kashmir. No casualties have been reported so far. According to sources, the Indian Army is retaliating strongly and effectively. This comes a day after Pakistani troops pounded Indian positions along with the LoC in Mendhar Sector of Jammu and Kashmir with mortar and small arms fire. Since the beginning of the year, Pakistani troops have been targeting Poonch district of Jammu and Kashmir along the LoC. Last week, India had summoned Pakistan High Commission official and lodged a strong protest at the unprovoked ceasefire violations in the Valley. Hyderabad: Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao on Thursday offered prayers along with his wife Shobha Rao to Goddess Rajashyamala for the overall prosperity of the country on the fourth day of the Sahasra Maha Chandi Yagam in his farmhouse at Erravalli village. The fourth day of the yagam saw Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao performing pujas in blazing red attire with the Pundits and Seers also in red attire. The yagam taken up by the Mr Rao intended for the overall prosperity of the country, commenced with different rituals in the forenoon session. The CM and his wife offered prayers to Rajashyamala Devi in the morning session amidst chanting of Vedas by the Pundits acclaiming the mother goddess with the words Sarvamangala Mangalye, Sri Rajash-yamala Dyveya namastey in the Rajashyamala Mother Goddess mandap. At the mandap, the couple sought the blessings of the pundits. Later the CM took part in the Maharudra Mandap prayers. At Brahma Swarup-ini Bagalamukhi Mand-ap, the couple conducted the rituals in the presence of Veda pundits and seers amidst chanting of mantras. The pundits blessed the couple saying satamanam bhavatey. With the Mahaharathi, the forenoon rituals were concluded. Amethi (UP): Congress president Rahul Gandhi Thursday said he has given his sister Priyanka Gandhi, newly entrusted with eastern Uttar Pradesh, the target of ensuring that the party forms the next government in the state. The Congress will also fight the coming Lok Sabha polls with full strength, he said at a public meeting in his constituency. His two-day visit to Amethi had coincided Wednesday with the formal entry of Priyanka Gandhi in politics, after years of speculation on whether she would take the plunge. She has been appointed general secretary for Uttar Pradesh East, while Jyotiraditya Scindia holds charge of UP West. Priyanka and Scindia have been given a target. That is to form a Congress government in Uttar Pradesh in the next election by defeating and wiping out the BJP, the Congress president said. Unlike PM Modi, I do not talk of a BJP-mukt Bharat but speak with respect, Gandhi said, referring to Narendra Modis call to free India of the Congress. Whether it is Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh or Tamil Nadu, everywhere the Congress will fight with full might on the front foot, and you will see that after the Vidhan Sabha elections there will be a Congress government in the state, he said. The Congress has decided to go solo in West Bengal as well, sources said. On Wednesday, the Congress broke ties with the TDP, with which it fought the recent Asse-mbly polls in Telangana, and announced its decision to contest the 25 Lok Sabha seats in Andhra Pradesh on its own. The start of Mr Gandhis two-day visit to Amethi, on Wednesday coincided with the formal entry of Ms Vadra in politics, after years of speculation on whether she would take the plunge. However, it is still not clear whether she herself will contest the parliamentary elections. New Delhi: Lance Naik Nazir Ahmad Wani, a militant-turned-soldier who laid down his life during an anti-terror operation at Shopian in Kashmir in November last year, has been awarded the Ashoka Chakra, Indias highest peacetime gallantry award. President Ram Nath Kovind will present the award to the gallant soldiers wife Mahajabeen on the Republic Day, officials said on Thursday. On November 25, 38-year-old Wani, hailing from Cheki Ashmuji in Kulgmam district of Jammu and Kashmir, lost his life in a counter-terror operation against six terrorists in Hirapur village near Batgund, in Shopian. Under intense hail of bullets from the terrorists, he eliminated the district commander of the Lashkar-e-Tayyaba (LeT) and one foreign terrorist in a daring display of raw courage, officials said. In the ensuing gunfight, he was hit multiple times including on his head. He also injured another terrorist before succumbing to his grievous wounds, they said. Apart from his wife, he is survived by two sons Athar (20) and Shaid (18). Mahajabeen, a teacher, said she has been trying to show the right path to young minds, drawing inspiration from her late husband. Lance Naik Wani joined the Armys 162 Infantry Battalion (Territorial Army) Jammu and Kashmir Light Infantry in 2004. He was a brave soldier and a hero right from the beginning. He always served for peace in his home state of Jammu and Kashmir, said a senior Army official. Wani was a recipient of the Sena Medal for gallantry twice in 2007 and 2018. He always had the interests of the nation in his heart. He operated with Rashtriya Rifles units in Kashmir. Throughout his active life he always willingly faced grave potential threats and was a source of inspiration for others, said one of his colleagues. The institute claimed on its website last year that during the tenure of the present director, eight classical Arabic books were translated into English and 25 Arabic books were reprinted. (Representational Image) Hyderabad: Dairatul Ma'arif-il-Osmania (Osmania Oriental Publications Bureau) is in the midst of a controversy with the termination of services of four sub-editors and allegations of embezzlement of crores of rupees released under the Hamari Dharohar scheme of the ministry of minority affairs. Dairatul Maarifil Osmania, established in 1888, is a treasure trove of rare manuscripts and books and is globally acclaimed. The employees whose services were terminated had approached the High Court asking it to issue writ orders or directions to the institution to consider their request of regularising their services. The court, while disposing of the writ (WP No. 3,290 of 2010) on December 13, 2018, directed the respondents to consider the case of the petitioners for regularisation of their services and pass appropriate orders, in accordance with law, within a period of four weeks. Director of the institution, Dr Mehjabeen Akhter, not only rejected the plea, but simultaneously issued termination notice on January 10, 2019, citing financial crisis and no substantial work to allocate to them as reasons for their termination. Then, surprisingly, on the very next day, she issued and published a notification in an Urdu daily, inviting application for eight posts of sub-editors. The Centre had launched Hamari Dharohar, a scheme to preserve the heritage of minority communities of India under the concept of Indian culture. Telangana was the second state after Gujarat to get this prestigious project. The Centre sanctioned Rs 37.71 crore for modernisation, digitisation, translation and re-printing of classic books available at Dairatul Ma'arif-il-Osmania, over a period of five years. The institute claimed on its website last year that during the tenure of the present director, eight classical Arabic books were translated into English and 25 Arabic books were reprinted. But these were not displayed in the institution, nor available for purchase. When scholars complained, the institution closed its website. It was alleged that the director had claimed bills on already printed books; she had included her name and changed the title pages, prologues and epilogues of the books to show that the work was done freshly under Hamari Dharohar. The institution claimed that the funding under this scheme for the books Tafseer Al Multaqat Volume I, Kitab ul-Asl Volume III, Al-Muqaffa Al-Kabir Volume VI, Kitabul-Muhabbar, Nazmud-dirar fi tanasubil ayati was-suwar Volume XII, Nuzhatul Khawatir Volume VI and Nuzhatul Khawatir Volume VII. It is alleged that she even submitted books that were printed using outdated techniques. Dr Mohammed Iqbal Mukarram, a scholar, has demanded a high-level inquiry into the affairs of the institution and the autocratic attitude of its director. He said that the director had terminated the services of employees who had served many years in the institution on the grounds of shortage of funds and lack of work, but at the same time she is inviting applications for double the number of posts. Karnataka Chief Minister was among the various leaders who were present in Mamata Banerjees opposition unity rally on Sunday. (Photo: File) Bengaluru: As the oppositions Mahagathbandhan confronts a question of who will be the prime ministerial candidate, one of the key players says his partys mission remains to see Rahul Gandhi at the top post after 2019 general elections. Karnataka Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy said that Janata Dal-Secular will work towards the goal to see Rahul Gandhi at the top post, even though he had recently said Mamata Banerjee is an able candidate. "My party's decision is we want to support Rahul Gandhi as the prime ministerial candidate. This is our commitment and it remains so," said Kumaraswamy, who heads a coalition government with the Congress in Karnataka. Kumaraswamy clarified that his statement is taken out of context and said that he meant among the regional parties there are several capable leaders other than the BJP. He added he has confidence in Rahul Gandhi that he can take on PM Modi. PM Modi was "only a paper tiger", he said, and Rahul Gandhi had matured as a politician. "Modi-ji speaks well, his presentation is good, he uses social media but what is his achievement in the last four years," Kumaraswamy said. Karnataka Chief Minister was among the various leaders who were present in Mamata Banerjees opposition unity rally on Sunday. The Congress has said it will not project its chief Rahul Gandhi for the top post and will respect the wishes of its coalition partners if the BJP is defeated in the national election. The nun is among the four who were transferred to various places from Kerala. KOTTAYAM: Sister Neena Rose, one of the four rebel nuns who has been asked to appear before the superior-general at the generalate house in Jalandhar, is worried over her safety and said bishop Franco, accused in the nun rape case, was still powerful. She said that she would go to Jalandhar only if the Missionaries of Jesus congregation ensures her safety during her travel from Kerala. Superior-general Rejina Kadamthottu had sent her a letter on January 21 asking her to report at the generalate on January 26 to explain her conduct. Sister Neena told Deccan Chronicle that the letter was an indication of the power wielded by bishop Franco, who is facing a criminal case for raping a nun. "The superior-general herself and many others support the bishop and hence I am worried over my safety during my trip to Jalandhar," she said. However, she asserted that she could not be intimidated by evoking the canon law provisions as the law of the land is more important than canon law. The nun is among the four who were transferred to various places from Kerala. Though they had approached Apostolic Administrator Agnelo Rufino Gracias to permit them to stay at the St Francis Mission home at Kuravilangadu, he could not help them. "Though he presented our request to the superior- general, she rejected it saying she had consulted the senior nuns of the congregation on the decision. Moreover, he was asked not to involve in our issue since the case is ongoing," Sister Neena said. The superior-general had warned that if the nun did not abide by the summons, she would face punitive action. KOCHI: Sunil Linus De believes that the paper, water and the colours work on their part simultaneously with the artist to help attain the final result. It is a unique mantra the middle-aged master tries to impart to children at a workshop that ran alongside the Kochi-Muziris Biennale last weekend. At the art room under the Kochi Biennale Foundations programme, the artist reiterated to the students that transparency is the basic quality of water colour. You got to have enough confidence while trying with this medium. Even before you attempt to draw, you must have the final draft ready in mind, says the Kerala-born artist. Thats why I said its a medium where paper, colour and the water work together to attain the result. Whats more, water colours have the propensity to change hues overtime. So it becomes a strenuous task to conceive the colour in the long run while painting it now, he tells his trai-nees at the two-day workshop in Fort Kochis Cabral Yard, a key venue of the 108-day biennale that is on till March 29. Most of the raw practitioners dont know how to handle the wetness when you paint. How much of water to be mixed, how not to get the paper dampened too much, the 50-year-old from Kottayam points out, demonstrating a piece before the children around him who are keen to imbibe the techniques. The opening session of the January 18-19 event saw 20 students, besides those on a visit from two neighbourhood schools, St Sebastians HSS in Thoppumpady and GHSS, Calvathy. Among them was Panjami M.S., a homeschooled teenager. This is interesting, she says. I am getting to know so many techniques which I wasnt aware of. Geofrin T of St Sebastian said that the workshop is an eye-opener. I am learning certain nuances of the med-ium, says the Class-8 student. So is Xena Jose, who has been to Simple Arts Academy. When I learned about such a wo-rkshop, I couldnt resist coming here, adds the 12-year-old. Blaise Joseph who heads the KBFs Art by Children programme says the workshop will help children deal with various peculiarities of the medium. Sunil, who hails from the hilly belt of Mund-akayam and has done his course from Raja Ravi Varma College of Fine Arts in Mavelikkara, has excelled in watercolours as a light-sensitive medium that is hard to work on. He is one among the five Indians to find mention in the International Watercolour Artists, published fro-m America, which featured 39 names from 32 countries. The girl said relationship turned ugly on the night of January 12 when the assistant professor physically assaulted her and threatened to throw her out of his house. (Representational Image) Hyderabad: A live-in relationship between an assistant professor with the media department at the English and Foreign Languages University (EFLU) and his student ended bitterly, with the girl filing a sexual harassment complaint against him. The relationship between Dr Ranjith Thankappan and his student reportedly turned sour because the teacher, who is already married, had promised to marry her after his divorce but later changed his mind. The Osmania University police has booked a case under Section 420 (cheating), 376 (charges of rape) and 506 (criminal intimidation) under the Indian Penal Code. During the first semester of my programme, I became friends with Dr Ranjith Thankappan..., the student said in a complaint filed with the Osmania University police station. Our friendship initially started with online conversations through Facebook and Instagram, and occasionally we met at the university canteen for lunch and breakfast. Many a times in our personal conversations, he had mentioned about his probable divorce from his wife, who is teaching at a college in Delhi, she alleged. The friendship between the two grew. Gradually our friendship became more intimate, as I started visiting him at his residence in Sitaphalmandi. Subsequently, he expressed interest in marrying me as soon as they get divorced. I was under the impression that he was being genuine and honest when he proposed to me, the student said in her complaint. In June 2018, he requested me to stay with him and support him as, he said, he was going through severe depression. From then, we started living like husband and wife. He exploited me sexually many times during my stay at his place. I consented to him, believing that he was going to marry me as promised, the student said. The girl said relationship turned ugly on the night of January 12 when the assistant professor physically assaulted her and threatened to throw her out of his house. A second incident took place on the night of January 16. He started threatening me again, saying that Im illegally staying in his house and pressurising him to marry me, the girl complained. He forced me out of the house. His colleague Dr Parthasarathy Muthukaruppan was a witness to all these events. Many of my personal belongings, including my passport and original certificates, are still with him. I feel I have been cheated and sexually exploited after false promises of marriage, she said. Osmania University inspector S. Rajashekhar Reddy confirmed the police had received the complaint. The girl is being counselled. No case has been filed so far. The accused is absconding, said an officer. EFLU authorities are yet to take action against the absconding professor. The accused has been absconding. hindu groups assaulted the anchor and attacked the cameraman for trying to cover the protest. Hyderabad: A female journalist working with Mojo TV, a Telugu news channel, and the camera person in her crew were attacked on Wednesday by men who were protesting against the entry of women of menstrual age into the Sabarimala shrine, in the Gandhinagar area. Several Hindu organisations, including the Vishva Hindu Parishad, staged a protest at Dharna Chowk near Indira Park, Lower Tank Bund on the Sabarimala Ayyappa Seva Samajam issue. When Mojo TV crew tried to cover the event, the crowd objected and asked them to leave, raising slogans like Go Back Mojo TV. Gandhinagar police inspector Mr Sreenivasa Rao said the situation escalated quickly. The police staff present there rushed to their rescue and escorted them to their vehicle. When asked if they wanted to file any complaint, they refused, he said. Last September, when the Supreme Court passed a verdict saying women of all ages can enter the shrine, Mojo TV sent its female reporter, Kavitha, to enter the temple. However, angry protesters prevented Kavitha and activist Rehena Fathima from entering the temple. Since then, the Hindu groups in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana who are opposing entry of women into the shrine are angry with the channel. When the journalists were returning after being denied coverage and arguments, about 15-20 members followed and surrounded them. They started shouting Because of you people, women entered Sabarimala. We engaged in a heated argument with them. Around that time, a man in an orange shirt attacked my camera person and then tried to assault me, said the reporter. The staff submitted a video of the incident as evidence to Hyderabad police commissioner Anjani Kumar seeking action against the offenders. A cultural show, stalls and delegates at GIM in Chennai Trade Centre, on Friday. (Photo: DC ) Chennai: Australian Consul General in Chennai Susan Grace has said that the country proposed to invest $100 billion in India in the coming years. Addressing the media on the sidelines of the second edition of TN Global Investors Meet 2019 on Wednesday, she said that Australia proposed to increase commercial relations with India. She said of the countrys investment, Tamil Nadu would receive a large chunk of the funds. Last year, state health minister C. Vijay Baskar had visited the country and met health sector officials. Australia has the best health care facility in the world. It will offer assistance to the state in trauma care service, which will help the state in reducing the number of deaths in accidents. Tamil Nadu will emulate the Trauma Care services offered in Australia, Grace said. She said Australia had one of the best education systems in world. More than 70,000 students were pursuing various courses in educational institutions in Australia. The country is also known for vocational courses and students from India can benefit from these courses. She added that Australia had been offering assistance in the Smart City Project in the country, especially in Tamil Nadu. A press statement said that Tamil Nadu was a priority state for Australias India economic strategy and a powerhouse state for the Indian economy. The state presented many opportunities in various sectors, including manufacturing, infrastructure, education, energy and agri-business, for Australian companies. Australia set an ambitious target for India, aiming to bring India into its top three export markets by 2035 and for India to become its third largest destination in Asia. GIM presents a platform for Australian companies to explore trade and business opportunities and to broaden their footprint in the state. More than 50 Australian companies are providing employment opportunities to 1,000 people. Among others Munish Sharma, Australian Trade Commissioner in Chennai, participated in the meeting. The envoy also talked about Japanese companies coming forward to invest in Tamil Nadu and stated that a master plan was being prepared by the Japan International Cooperation Agency. (Photo:Representational Image) Chennai: Japanese Airline All Nippon Airways (ANA) has proposed to introduce direct flights from Chennai to Tokyo this year. Addressing the Tamil Nadu Global Investors Meet 2019 in Chennai on Wednesday, Japan Ambassador Kenji Hiramatsu said that a direct flight service between Chennai and Tokyo would commence during winter 2019. Hiramatsu said that that there were 1,441 Japanese companies present in India of which 200 were located in Chennai. The envoy also talked about Japanese companies coming forward to invest in Tamil Nadu and stated that a master plan was being prepared by the Japan International Cooperation Agency. Later, general manager of ANA India, Yasuo Taki, said that the expansion was being planned with a sizeable number of Japanese companies investing in Chennai. He said that ANA was targeting both passengers as well as cargo from Chennai to Japan. There is a lot of potential for cargo. The airline also has plans of expanding its reach in Asia-Oceania. Currently, ANA operates only in Delhi and Mumbai. The incident took place in 2016 under Karkhana police limits. The man had sexual intercourse with a 15-year-old girl under the pretext of marrying her. (Representational Image) Hyderabad: The first Additional Metropolitan Sessions judge for trial of cases under PoCSO has sentenced Golla Suresh, 23, to 10 years imprisonment, as he was guilty of raping a minor. The incident took place in 2016 under Karkhana police limits. The man had sexual intercourse with a 15-year-old girl under the pretext of marrying her. The victim and her parents then went and pleaded Suri to marry her as she was pregnant. However, the accused refused to marry the girl citing caste differences and insulted her parents. The girl belongs to Schedule Caste. Subsequently, the girl who did not terminate her pregnancy, gave birth to a baby at Gandhi Hospital. However, the child did not survive. After conducting a series of tests, including a DNA test, the accused was proved to be the father of the child and guilty of rape. The accused was found guilty under Section 5 of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (PoCSO) Act 2012 and punishable under Section 6 of the PoCSO Act and under Section 376 (2) (i), 376 (2) (m) and 420 of Indian Penal code. 'After killing Kolhatkar, to eliminate the evidence, Pintu chopped the body into pieces and flushed them down the toilet over the course of four days,' police said. (Representational Image) Mumbai: Pieces of human flesh were found blocking the sewage system of a society near Mumbai which led the police to uncover the mystery behind a missing man. Ganesh Vitthal Kolhatkar, 58, was killed by a friend last week in Bachraj Paradise Society in Virar, near Mumbai, for not being able to pay a loan of Rs 1 lakh, police said. According to police, Kolhatkar was invited by the accused, who is identified as Pintu, to his house on January 16, on the pretext of moving furniture. The men had few drinks and got into a scuffle over the unpaid loan during which Kolhatkar died. Officials said Kolhatkar was soon to be married and the accused questioned his partying as his loan was unpaid. "The accused had lent the victim a sum of Rs 1 lakh for his business, of which the latter had returned only Rs 40,000 to the former. After killing Kolhatkar, to eliminate the evidence, Pintu chopped the body into pieces and flushed them down the toilet over the course of four days. He then took the bones separately and threw it out of train," the police added. Family members of Kolhatkar had registered a missing complaint but the police failed to trace him. Workers cleaning the septic tank in Virar's Bachraj Paradise Society found pieces of human flesh blocking the sewage drainage system and immediately informed the police who launched an investigation. The victim ran a printing press business while Pintu is an investor in stock markets and a resident of Vakola in suburban Mumbai. A case was registered and the accused has been arrested. A few years ago, when Katya Tosheva stared at the computer in her office cubicle, what reflected was a bored, tired and unhappy version of herself. Everything was mechanical and not-so-charming events were going around her. But, when her husband introduced her to a local yoga teacher, she started feeling curious about it, and eventually decided to go on a spiritual trail, which would change her entire life. Through yoga, she came to know about India its culture, cuisines, colours, epics and art. After spending 13 years in front of the computer, I realised what I wanted in my life. I didnt have to think twice before quitting the job as an engineer that filled my wallet well, but left my soul empty, says Katya. Sitting at her apartment in the city of Sofia, she told her family about her passion to learn Indian classical arts and travel to India. Incidentally, the two streets on the sides of her apartment are named after Indira Gandhi and Jawaharlal Nehru! Fast forward to five years, she is an expert in classical dance forms including Kathak, Odissi and Bharatanatyam, and tours around Bulgaria and often visits India to perform. She also continues learning the artforms from her beloved gurus. But, it was not a cakewalk for her. For many in the world, India is synonymous with Bollywood. The colours, jovial songs and drama of Bollywood are associated with the country more than anything else. After getting an idea about India, she started learning the Bollywood dance. It was mere Indian type of dancing that we see in movies. We dance for Bollywood songs. It actually was not that hard to learn. But later, I found out there is much more in Indian art and Bollywood is very, very little of it. Katya She came to India along with her husband, Rosen Genkov, whom she calls her biggest inspiration. They set off a long journey covering major cities in South India. Katya runs out of words when talks about her first trip. I began to love this country once I started the trip. When my yoga teacher showed me a video of Indian classical dance, I was like this is not possible for a human. They were so agile. Coming to India and talking to experts under whom I was going to learn was even more amazing. At the moment, along with her performances, she learns Kathak under the tutelage of Guru Ravi Shankar Mishra in Varanasi, Odissi at the Sanjali Centre for Odissi Dance n Bangalore with Guru Sharmila Mukherjee and Bharatanatyam at Nada Brahma Nrityala School with Nivedita Badve. During her training, she had private lessons and attended many workshops by teachers including Swati Tiwari, Vidha and Abhimanyu Lal, Christinaa Zanni and Saraswathi Rajathesh. She was interested in other dance styles like American tribal style, tribal fusion, flamenco, contemporary and jazz ballet, too. She underwent two years training in Bulgarian folklore dances under the famous Bulgarian dancer and choreographer Peter Netsov. Katya grasped the structure of North Indian classical music with the help of Stefan Hristov, who trains her in North Indian taal (rhythm). Hristov later became her husbands tabla guru. Learning the basics of taal from him was really helpful. Learning Sanskrit is a part of my education, too. She gives yoga all the credits for changing her life forever and making her a better person. I was not the same person before I learned yoga. It also helped me in preparing my body and mind to learn classical dance. She believes that knowledge is power and knowledge shared is power multiplied. Her initiatives at her home country substantiate that. In the city of Sofia, I teach at 79 Indira Gandhi Secondary School, the only school that is very much connected with Indian culture. Besides, I started an Indian dance school called Kaya and conduct regular classes for both adults and kids in the two biggest Bulgarian cities, Sofia and Plovdiv. I had been invited twice to Serbia to share my knowledge and experience in Indian arts. In an effort to mark her love for India, she conducts monthly dance workshops and lectures about Indian culture in many parts of the country. She has been performing around the world for some years and won the first prize in a dance competition in Pune. Her husband, who plays tabla, hopes to associate with her in her performances soon. Katya used to volunteer for giving care for refugees and kids without parents. Though she has not been able to continue it due to travels and performances, she is hopeful that she could help more people. Katya says she has a lot to achieve as an artiste and believes she has found the right path as a person. Ottrai Panai Maram, directed by Pudhiyavan Rasaiah and screened in 37 International Film Festivals, won 12 awards. The film, set against the backdrop of 30 years of armed conflict for a separate state for Tamils in Sri Lanka that came to an end on May 18, 2009 is to be released in India. The film highlights the plight of people in refugee camps between 2009 and 2012. Talking to DC, Pudhiyavan, who also directed Maan earlier, says, It is a journey of three lives affected by the war Sundaram who lost his pregnant wife in the brutality, a widow who was a former revolutionist and now without any identity after losing her husband and a 16-year-old mute girl whose entire family was killed. I belong to Vanni and play the role of Sundaram and a personal loss that I suffered led to making this film. Ask the producer if he fears problems in clearance from the Censor Board and Thanigaivel replies, No, not at all! The politics the film speaks in neither against India nor Sri Lanka. So, I dont anticipate any hitch in getting censor approval. It is a good film. I am confident that the film will be lapped up by audiences as well as critics. Mumbai: Superstar Sanjay Dutt has been extremely busy shooting for his multiple projects relentlessly with an exciting line up of five films in 2019. Sanjay Dutt who is all set for the next schedule of Panipat in which he is essaying the role an Afghan King. The actor will be resuming the shoot for the period action drama later this week for the second schedule in Jaipur. Sanjay Dutt will be sporting a bald look for the film which the actor will wrap by the end of March. Earlier last month, Sanjay Dutt underwent look test for another period action thriller titled "Shameshra" in which Real and Reel Sanju will be sharing the screen space for which the actor has shot the initial portion of the film in Mumbai and will resume the same post-Panipat. Since Sanjay Dutt will be sporting another look for it. The actor has a jam-packed year with the shoot schedules of his home production, Prasthanam in Lucknow, where he plays the leader of a political party in Uttar Pradesh, and his upcoming films Torbaaz, Panipat, Shamshera, Sadak 2 and the multistarrer, Kalank simultaneously. Shooting for both period dramas will be wrapped up by mid-next year, after which Sanjay jumps into Mahesh Bhatt's directorial Sadak 2 which will be shot start-to-finish schedule. In between schedules, Sanjay will squeeze in time to promote Kalank in March. Sanjay Dutt will be seen in a variety of roles such as an army officer, an Afghan king, Billiards champions and a politician. He is leaving no stone unturned to nail his performances in all these films. Over the years, Sanjay Dutt has gained an extensive fanbase owing to his varied work and versatile performances. The upcoming line up of the superstar has got the audience excited to witness more interesting performances by the actor. Mumbai: The most written-about newcomer in tinsel town may soon find herself barred from excessive media interaction by someone who is none other than father Saif Ali Khan. She is just two films old and is already being written about extensively. Saif has expressed his concern to her and the rest is up to her. He isnt the kind to put any pressure on his children, the friend says. Sara, reportedly, loves every bit of the attention. Interestingly Saifs youngest born Taimur was so far the most written-about member of that family. These days its neck-to-neck between Taimur and Sara as far as media coverage is concerned. Mumbai: When Milap Zaveris upcoming action-thriller Marjaavaan was being planned, producer Bhushan Kumar told the writer-director that he should not show people being burned anymore. Bhushanji was upset that there was a Muharram scene in Satyamev Jayate as well as the burning and bloodshed, which resulted in the film getting an A certificate. As a result, the film missed the Rs 100-crore mark by a whisker, says a source. It seems that the suggestion from the producer was put on the back burner as actor Sidharth Malhotra had a back-burning scene the other day. There was a scene in which Sidharth was fighting off some hoodlums. His back and shoulder were to be on fire and he was asked to use a stunt double, which he politely refused, says a source. Thankfully, the scene culminated without any mishaps. Scheduled for an October release, Marjaavaan also features Tara Sutaria in the lead and will see Riteish Deshmukh playing a dwarf. Sanskriti Media Goel was willing to step aside from Jet Airwayss board and chairmanship only if Etihad enhanced its quote for Jet shares. (Photo: AFP) New Delhi: State Bank of India (SBI) chairman Rajnish Kumar will push for waiver of open offer and pricing relaxation for Abu Dhabi-based Etihad Airways thats willing to invest in the near-bankrupt Jet Airways. Kumar will meet the market regular Securities Board of India (Sebi) chief Ajay Tyagi at the earliest to secure the waiver under the regulators Substantial Acquisition of Shares and Takeover Code. Banking sources divulged that Etihad was unwilling to pay beyond Rs 150 per share for the cash-strapped Jet Airways. This has been set as a pre-condition for further infusion of funds in Jet Airways. Jet Airways shares closed at Rs 271 on the BSE on Wednesday. The SBI chiefs effort to get the waivers for Etihad Airways comes in the back of its move to take up to 49 per cent stake in the Naresh Goel-controlled airline. Goel was willing to step aside from Jet Airwayss board and chairmanship only if Etihad enhanced its quote for Jet shares. Etihad group chief executive Tony Douglas had written to Rajnish Kumar saying that the airline would not go beyond Rs 150 per share besides seeking an exemption from Sebi on preferential pricing and open offer guidelines in order to invest as well as bailout Jet Airways. Market sources said that Etihad might have to revise its offer to up to Rs 250-Rs 260 per share, i.e. the Jet counters six-month average. Etihad told SBI of pledging 50 per cent of Jet Airways' shares against infusion of $35 million. The Abu Dhabi-based airline owns a 24 per cent stake in Jet Airways and would most likely bring in more funds. The Etihad offer of Rs 150 a share is a marked climbdown from the Rs 754.74 a share it had paid to Jet Airways in 2013 to secure the 24 percent stake. SBI is the lead banker of the consortium that provided debt to Jet. When contacted a SBI spokesperson told FC, "It is a policy of the bank not to comment upon the individual accounts and its treatments". Early this month, State Bank of India had said lenders were considering a resolution plan for Jet Airways to ensure its long-term viability. Etihad and the banks have been discussing an emergency funding mechanism that the foreign carrier is expected infuse into Jet. Etihad, along with banks, plans to approach the Sebi on the pricing for fresh equity and the relaxation. Etihad wants an exemption from giving an open offer, which will be triggered if it invests beyond 25 per cent in Jet Airways. As per regulations, any investment that goes beyond 25 per cent of the total shareholding by any single shareholder triggers an open offer. The banks want both the sides to finalise a deal as soon possible, as Jet Airways has defaulted on debt repayments. The airline needs to make another payment of Rs 1,700 crore by March this year. In December 2018, Jet Airways was in discussions with the SBI for raising Rs 1,500 crore short-term loan to meet its working capital requirement and some payment obligations, a source said. Jet's stock is now hovering around Rs 270 a share, and that doesn't give much space for Goyal to bargain. The airline at present has a market cap of Rs 3,112 crore. On the other hand, it has debts of over Rs 8,000 crore. Etihad is likely to provide a guarantee for the loan, he said. Jet Airways, which has posted three consecutive quarterly losses of over Rs 1,000 crore each since March, already has as much as Rs 8,052 of debt on its books as on 30 September, 2018. The airline has been looking for funds for the past few months to keep it afloat amid rising debt and loan defaults besides non-payment of salary to its employees. On 17 January, Goyal had said he was ready to invest up to Rs 700 crore in Jet Airways on the condition that his stake does not fall below 25 per cent. Goyals offer came against the backdrop of strategic partner Etihad reportedly putting forward strict conditions, including that Goyal should give up control, for infusing funds into the crisis-hit carrier. Etihad CEO had, in a veiled warning, said, Jet Airways will not be able to continue funding its operation beyond the current week and Etihad is willing to immediately release $ 35 million if their conditions are met. Apart from a comprehensive car check-up, customers can also engage themselves in fun-filled activities. Renault owners can also choose to avail roadside assistance (RSA) at a discounted price. The service camp will be held for three days, from 23-25 January. Renault India is holding a three-day service camp across all its service centres in India from January 22 to 25. Renault owners can take their cars to any authorised Renault service station for a winter check-up to ensure optimal running condition for the ongoing winter season. More importantly, buyers can also avail a special price on insurance renewal, 15 per cent discount on labour and value added services (VAS), 10 per cent discount on select parts and accessories, and a 10 per cent discount on roadside assistance (RSA). Theres also a complimentary car wash as well. Have a look at the press release from Renault below to know more about the service camp. Also Read: Renault Captur Prices Drop; RXT Dual-Tone, Platine Variants More Affordable Press Release New Delhi, January 22, 2019: Renault, the Number One European brand in India, today announced the commencement of a nationwide Republic Day Celebration Camp for its customers. As part of the national celebration, a three-day long Service Camp would be conducted from Jan 22nd to Jan 25th at all Renault service facilities across India. The objective of organizing the Republic Day Celebration Camp is to ensure optimal performance of the cars, which is an imperative during the winter season. Trained and well-qualified service technicians are dedicated to provide the care and expert attention that is needed for the cars. The service camp offers Renault owners a car check-up as per the guidelines stipulated by Renault India enabling a detailed examination of all key functions of the car. Such periodical checks ensure necessary actions for enhanced performance of the car and provide customers a rewarding ownership experience with the brand. As an integral part of Renault Indias commitment to constantly deliver excellence in customer comfort and convenience, the Republic Day Celebration Camp is a special initiative to best serve the Indian customers and reinforce the brands bonding with assurance of utmost care of the customers vehicles. Not only does the customer get a complimentary and comprehensive service car checkup from Renault Indias team of expert technicians, but they will also get a host of additional benefits. The customers can avail a host of exciting offers including Special price on Renault Assured car insurance renewal, 15% discount on Labour & Value Added Services, 10% discount on select parts and accessories, 10% discount on Road Side Assistance (RSA) Enrolment and complimentary car top wash. In addition to these comprehensive car check-up facilities, interesting customer engagement activities will be organized at the workshops, making it a delightful experience for customers to cherish for long. Also Read: Upcoming Renault RBC MPV Spied; Gets Projector Headlamps Driven by its brand ideology, Passion for Innovation, Renault has undertaken many first-of-its-kind after-sales initiatives to offer a seamless brand ownership experience to its customers. These include - Renault SECURE, Renault ASSURED, Renault ASSIST, Workshop on Wheels (WoW), Passion on Wheels (PoW), new MY Renault app and regular customer service camps. Earlier this year, Renault India introduced a Category First Warranty - 4 years or upto 100,000 KM (whichever is earlier) along with Road side assistance on Renault KWID. While expanding the product portfolio will be pivotal as part of Renaults long-term commitment to India, Renault wants to carve a niche for itself by making after-sales and service experience a key differentiator in the Indian automobile landscape. With substantial efforts and developments on product, network and customer engagement, Renault is gearing up towards making its products and services more accessible to customers across the country. Disclaimer: This article has not been edited by Deccan Chronicle and is taken from a syndicated feed. Photos: CarDekho. Twenty years after David Kau first started his successful career as a stand-up comedian the funny South African is slated to host his one man show at Maitisong Theatre on February 1st. The show, which marks the start of his SADC tour is dubbed Half man, Half Comic. The title of the show celebrates how he has spent half of his life in making people laugh. The show is a special one for the Gaborone audience as it marks ten years since he last performed in Botswana. Now married and a father of three, Kau tells this publication in a telephone interview that it has been a while since he performed in a one-man show. He notes that this is the beginning of his SADC tour, which includes Namibia, Botswana, Zambia and Lesotho. He explains that it was a good time to come and celebrate his big milestone with his Botswana fans during the Botswana Music Awards weekend. He learnt about the awards from one of the most promising and talented gems of Botswana, namely Thato Jessica who is looking at breaking into the comedy market outside the country. Kaus company, Disadvantaged Backgrounds Productions is trying to find a way that they can assist the performer to penetrate the market outside the country. According to Kau, it was no brainer when it came to picking a partner that clearly understands his vision and can pull off a memorable show hence he settled on his long time trusted friend/partner, namely Fish Pabalinga of Leap Frog. The duo had previously worked together in shows that includes Miss Botswana. Over the past couple of years, he had to cut back on traveling as he wanted to focus on his family, and raising his children. I decided to stay at home more. And I have also been making movies, he explains. To date, he has made close to 15 movies for Mzansi Magic. He has also moved a bit from doing political commentary. The material is different, says Kau. He reveals that he is planning to take advantage of the many platforms that are available for creators. He is also working on a Black Only documentary. Blacks Only is one of the many projects he wanted to use to create a platform for the up and coming comedians. The landscape and the economy has changed. We have more infrastructures, and we want to reach other countries such as Kenya, Ghana, Uganda and Nigeria where there is a strong comedy industry, explains Kau. His last visit to Botswana was to MC at Miss Botswana pageant and he was not successful as the audience were impatient with him. But, this is something that he has put behind him, and is looking forward to doing what he was best known for over the past twenty years. Kau was discovered at the Smirnoff International Comedy Festival in October 1998 at The Baxter theatre in Cape Town. Over the course of the twenty years, Kau has risen, and grown to become a force to reckon with in comedy. Not one to hog the limelight, he has given a platform to some of the best comedians in South Africa including the likes of Celeste, Thapelo Tips, as well as Chris Mapane to mention a few through events such as the 'So you think you are funny. 'Reached for a comment, Pabalinga confirmed the event, and highlighted that this was one event that comedy lovers do not want to miss. Botswana Development Corporation has parted ways with Managing Director, Bashi Gaetsaloe a month after he led the corporation into impressive results, Botswana Guardian has heard from two sources familiar with the goings on at the state owned firm. Employees of the government investments arm have already been informed of the MDs departure. Gaetsaloe left the employ of BDC on Wednesday. Specific details on why the man who has transformed BDC into a profitable entity left were not clear at the time of going to press. Furthermore, it is understood he could have left last year, but his departure was delayed by financial results which were paraded to stakeholders mid December. Head, Corporate Affairs and Strategy, Boitshwarelo Lebang did not want to dwell into specific reasons why Gaetsaloe quit, save to state that: Botswana Development Corporation(BDC) confirms the departure of Bashi Gaetsaloe from the employ of BDC as Managing Director to pursue other opportunities with immediate effect. The Corporation wishes to thank Bashi for his contributions to BDC and wish him well in his future endeavours. This publication could not immediately reach Blackie Marole, BDC board chairman to explain why Gaetsaloe, who was appointed on April 2014, has left before his second contract lapses. His contract was renewed about three years later(2017), but at the time, some legislators raised concerns that, his relations with Vincent Seretse, who was then a trade and industry minister was not ideal. Gaetsaloe is Seretses brother in law. BDC falls under the trade ministry which is now under Bogolo Kenewendo. Meanwhile, speculation is rife that, Chief Investment Officer at the corporation, Moatlhodi Lekaukau will be appointed on an acting capacity until a new Managing Director is found. Lekaukau who is former Standard Chartered Chief Executive has been with the multimillion-Pula Company for about a year now. Gaetsaloe is leaving at a time when the group has just started investing in the African continent, having been given the leeway by the sole shareholder, government. The group has also vowed to invest in the local front, especially on high value projects which can meaningfully boost the economy. For the year to June 2018, BDC reported a profit before tax of P187 million, up 37 percent year on year. Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, January 24) The Commission on Human Rights (CHR) said Congress should not amend the Juvenile Justice and Welfare Act to lower the minimum age of criminal responsibility (MACR) from 15 as the law still needs to be fully implemented. "The law that is right now existing, the status quo, is better than what is being proposed," CHR Commissioner Leah Armamento told CNN Philippines' The Source on Thursday. This came in the heels of the House's approval on second reading of a bill on Wednesday which seeks to make 12-year-olds responsible for crimes, suddenly turning its back on its initial proposal to lower the MACR to nine and dropping mentions of "criminal responsibility" in favor of "social responsibility." The last minute amendments came after congressmen agreed that it is better to lower the age of responsibility to 12 years old. "Marami kaming nag-oppose. Sabi namin, [A lot of us opposed. We said,] nine is too young and it was well accepted. The compromise after the plenary discussions yesterday and the other day was it should be 12," 1-Pacman party-list Rep. Mikee Romero told CNN Philippines. Romero noted that the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child (CRC) General Comment No. 10 on children's rights in juvenile justice only stated that it was not "internationally acceptable" for the MACR to be below 12 years old. However, the CRC also encouraged state parties to the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, like the Philippines, to "increase their lower MACR to the age of 12 years as the absolute minimum age and to continue to increase it to a higher age level." But with more lawmakers expressing openness to making 12 years old the MACR, Romero expects the measure to be passed by Congress before the 17th Congress ends in June. However, CHR spokesperson Atty. Jacqueline Ann de Guia said increasing the proposed MACR to 12 is "not an act of compassion" and is not in line with the government's obligation to protect the rights of children. Citing experts, Armamento also said that 12-year-olds are still too young to be held liable for crimes as their brains are not yet fully-developed. "Even in the study, it even states that as early as three years old, the child already knows what is right and what is wrong. But it is the decision-making process that is material. So there is even discernment already even earlier than 15. But still, how do you react to a certain situation is a different thing, depending on the maturity of the brain," she said. Armamento explained that the existing law already had mechanisms in place to reform children aged 12 to 15 who commit heinous crimes. The Juvenile Justice and Welfare Act was amended in 2012 to require children from 12 to 15 who commit crimes like murder, homicide, kidnapping and offenses punishable under the Comprehensive Drugs Act of 2002 to be placed in a special youth care facility called "Bahay Pag-asa." However, de Guia said only 58 Bahay Pag-asas are operational as of 2018 and only eight of these are accredited by the Social Welfare department. Under the law, Bahay Pag-asas should have a "multi-disciplinary team composed of a social worker, a psychologist/mental health professional, a medical doctor, an educational/guidance counselor and a Barangay Council for the Protection of Children member." READ: 'Bahay Pag-asa' centers not fit for children juvenile justice agency "But the existing facilities that we have now are not conducive and not even up to the criteria of Bahay Pag-asa," Armamento said. With the lack of proper youth care facilities, she said the CHR has recorded some cases where children in conflict with the law are detained with adults or are just kept in the police office or brought to the home of a social worker. Under the House proposal, the Social Welfare department would be in charge of the establishment, funding and management of Bahay Pag-asas instead of local government units, which proponents have blamed for the poor condition of youth care facilities. The bill also seeks to establish at least two agricultural camps each in Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao where children convicted of crimes would be confined instead of a regular jail. It also makes mandatory the confinement of convicted children in agricultural camps or other training facilities. This provision already exists in the Juvenile Justice and Welfare Act, but makes the confinement of convicted children to an agricultural camp or training facility optional. But Armamento said this runs counter to laws banning child labor. "Children below 15 are not supposed to work. If you are 15 and above, if you are to work, it's with your family and it should not be hazardous. So if you put the child to agricultural, not all children like to be farmers, there are children who are artists," she said. Under the present law, children who run are required to undergo diversion programs, which are formulated depending on the circumstances surrounding the children. They may include payment of damaged property, written or oral apology, counselling, training, and being committed to an institutional facility. President Rodrigo Duterte has long been pushing for amendments to the Juvenile Justice and Welfare Act. He told reporters yesterday that he is "okay" with lowering the MACR to 12. READ: Senators oppose criminal responsibility at 9 years old "Ganoong edad pa lang, pukpukin na because they will be ultimately responsible. Sila 'yung tatamaan eh. Any violation of law na ang bata ngayon at nagkulang 'yung supervision at vigilance ng parents, sila idedemanda." [Translation: At that age, the children should be disciplined because they (parents) will be ultimately responsible. They would be held accountable, any violation of the law by the children would mean the lack of supervision and vigilance by the parents, and they will be sued.] Teledyne Technologies Incorporated provides instrumentation, digital imaging, aerospace and defense electronics, and engineered systems in the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, Denmark, France, the Netherlands, and internationally. The company's Instrumentation segment offers monitoring and control instruments for marine, environmental, industrial, and other applications, as well as electronic test and measurement equipment; and power and communications connectivity devices for distributed instrumentation systems and sensor networks deployed in mission critical and harsh environments. Its Digital Imaging segment provides image sensors and digital cameras for use in industrial, scientific, academic research, and medical applications; and hardware and software for image processing and automatic data collection in industrial, academic research, and medical applications, as well as manufacturing services for micro electro-mechanical systems. This segment also offers light detection and ranging systems; focal plane arrays, sensors, and subsystems; and geospatial software products. The company's Aerospace and Defense Electronics segment provides electronic components and subsystems, as well as communications products, such as defense electronics; environment interconnects; data acquisition and communications equipment for aircraft; components and subsystems for wireless and satellite communications; and general aviation batteries. Its Engineered Systems segment offers systems engineering and integration, technology development, and manufacturing solutions for defense, space, environmental, and energy applications; and designs and manufactures electrochemical energy systems and electronics for military applications. The company markets and sells its products and services through sales forces, third-party distributors, and commissioned sales representatives. Teledyne Technologies Incorporated was founded in 1960 and is headquartered in Thousand Oaks, California. Read More Suncor Energy Inc. operates as an integrated energy company. The company primarily focuses on developing petroleum resource basins in Canada's Athabasca oil sands; explores, acquires, develops, produces, transports, refines, and markets crude oil in Canada and internationally; markets petroleum and petrochemical products under the Petro-Canada name primarily in Canada. It operates in Oil Sands; Exploration and Production; Refining and Marketing; and Corporate and Eliminations segments. The Oil Sands segment recovers bitumen from mining and in situ operations, and upgrades it into refinery feedstock and diesel fuel, or blends the bitumen with diluent for direct sale to market. The Exploration and Production segment is involved in offshore operations off the east coast of Canada and in the North Sea; and operating onshore assets in Libya and Syria. The Refining and Marketing segment refines crude oil and intermediate feedstock into various petroleum and petrochemical products; and markets refined petroleum products to retail, commercial, and industrial customers through its other retail sellers. The Corporate and Eliminations segment operates four wind farm operations in Ontario and Western Canada. The company also markets and trades in crude oil, natural gas, byproducts, refined products, and power. The company was formerly known as Suncor Inc. and changed its name to Suncor Energy Inc. in April 1997. Suncor Energy Inc. was founded in 1917 and is headquartered in Calgary, Canada. Read More Manulife Financial Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, provides financial products and services in Asia, Canada, the United States, and internationally. The company operates through Wealth and Asset Management Businesses; Insurance and Annuity Products; And Corporate and Other segments. The Wealth and Asset Management Businesses segment provides mutual funds and exchange-traded funds, group retirement and savings products, and institutional asset management services through agents and brokers affiliated with the company, securities brokerage firms, and financial advisors pension plan consultants and banks. The Insurance and Annuity Products segment offers deposit and credit products; individual life, and individual and group long-term care insurance; and guaranteed and partially guaranteed annuity products through insurance agents, brokers, banks, financial planners, and direct marketing. The Corporate and Other segment is involved in property and casualty insurance and reinsurance businesses; and run-off reinsurance operations, including variable annuities, and accident and health. It also manages timberland and agricultural portfolios; and engages in insurance agency, portfolio and mutual fund management, mutual fund dealer, life and financial reinsurance, and fund management businesses. Additionally, the company holds and manages oil and gas properties; holds oil and gas royalties, and foreign bonds and equities; and provides investment management, counseling, advisory, and dealer services. Manulife Financial Corporation was incorporated in 1887 and is headquartered in Toronto, Canada. Read More The following companies are subsidiares of Vodafone Group: 360 Connect S.A., [email protected] Telecom, A-ccelerator B.V., A-ccelerator Holding B.V, AAA (Euro) Limited, AAA (MCR) Limited, AAA (UK) Limited, Acorn Communications Limited, Africonnect (Zambia) Limited, Ag Mercantile Company Private Limited, Al-Amin Investments Limited, Amsterdamse Beheer- en Consultingmaatschappij B.V., Apollo Submarine Cable System Limited, Array Holdings Limited, Asian Telecommunication Investments (Mauritius) Limited, Aspective Limited, Astec Communications Limited, Autoconnex Limited, Aztec Limited, BelCompany BV, Bluefish Apac Communications Pte. Ltd, Bluefish Communications, Bluefish Communications Limited, Business Serve Limited, C&W Worldwide Nigeria Limited, C.S.P. Solutions Limited, CCII (Mauritius) Inc., CGP India Investments Ltd., CGP Investments (Holdings) Limited, COOP Mobil s.r.o, CT Networks Limited, CWGNL S.A., CWW Operations Limited, Cable & Wireless Access Limited, Cable & Wireless Americas Systems Inc., Cable & Wireless Aspac Holdings Limited, Cable & Wireless CIS Services Limited, Cable & Wireless CIS Svyaz LLC, Cable & Wireless Capital Limited , Cable & Wireless Communications Data Network Services Limited, Cable & Wireless Communications Starclass Limited, Cable & Wireless Communications Technical Service (Shanghai) Co. Ltd (Beijing Branch), Cable & Wireless Europe Holdings Limited, Cable & Wireless GN Limited, Cable & Wireless Global (India) Private Limited, Cable & Wireless Global Business Services Limited, Cable & Wireless Global Holding Limited, Cable & Wireless Global Telecommunication Services Limited, Cable & Wireless Holdco Limited, Cable & Wireless Networks India Private Limited, Cable & Wireless Trade Mark Management Limited, Cable & Wireless UK Holdings Limited, Cable & Wireless UK Services Limited, Cable & Wireless Waterside Holdings Limited, Cable & Wireless Worldwide, Cable & Wireless Worldwide Limited, Cable & Wireless Worldwide Pension Trustee Limited, Cable & Wireless Worldwide Services Limited, Cable & Wireless Worldwide Voice Messaging Limited, Cable & Wireless a-Services Inc, Cable & Wireless a-Services Limited, Cable and Wireless (India) Limited, Cable and Wireless (India) Limited Indian Branch Office, Cable and Wireless Nominee Limited, Cable and Wireless Worldwide South Africa (Pty) Ltd, Cavalry Holdings Ltd, Celfocus Solucoes Informaticas Para Telecomunicacoes S.A, Cellops Limited, Cellular Operations Limited, Central Communications Group Limited, Central Telecom (Northern) Limited, Centurion GSM Limited, Chelys Limited, City Cable (Holdings) Limited, Cobra do Brasil Servicos de Telematica ltda., Commnet Cellular Inc., Complete Network Technology, Connect (India) Mobile Technologies Private Limited, Cornerstone Telecommunications Infrastructure Limited, Dataroam Limited , Device Insight, Digital Island (UK) Ltd, Digital Mobile Spectrum Limited, East Africa Investment (Mauritius) Limited, Emtel Europe Limited, Energis (Ireland) Limited, Energis Communications Limited, Energis Holdings Limited, Energis Local Access Limited, Energis Management Limited, Energis Squared Limited, Erudite Systems Limited, Esprit Telecom B.V., Eudokia Limited, Euro Pacific Securities Ltd., Eurocall Holdings Limited, Europolitan Holdings AB (now Europolitan Vodafone AB), FB Holdings Limited, FM Associates (UK) Limited, FinCo Partner 1 B.V., FireFly Networks Limited, Flexphone Limited, GS Telecom (Pty) Limited, Gateway Communications Africa (UK) Limited, Gateway Communications Tanzania Limited, General Mobile Corporation, Generation Telecom Limited, Ghana Telecommunications, Ghana Telecommunications Company Limited, Global Cellular Rental Limited, Globe Limited, GrandCentrix GmbH, Grupo Corporativo ONO S.A.U., H3ga Properties (No 3) Pty Limited, HBO Nederland Cooperatief U.A., HBO Netherlands Channels sro, HBO Netherlands Distribution B.V., Hellas Online, How2 Telecom Limited, Hutchison Essar Ltd, Indus Towers Limited, Intercell Communications Limited, Internet Network Services Limited, Invitation Digital Limited, Ipergy Communications NV, Isis Telecommunications Management Limited, Jaguar Communications Limited, Jaykay Finholding (India) Private Limited, Jupicol (Proprietary) Limited, KABELCOM Braunschweig Gesellschaft Fur BreitbandkabelKommunikation Mit Beschrankter Haftung, KABELCOM Wolfsburg Gesellschaft Fur BreitbandkabelKommunikation Mit Beschrankter Haftung, Kabel Deutschland, Kabel Deutschland Holding, Kabel Deutschland Holding Erste Beteiligungs GmbH, Kabel Deutschland Holding Zweite Beteilgungs GmbH, Kabel Deutschland Neunte Beteiligungs GmbH, Kabel Deutschland Siebte Beteiligungs GmbH, Kabelfernsehen Munchen Servicenter GmbH & Co. KG, LG Financing Partnership, LGE HoldCo V B.V., LGE HoldCo VI B.V., LGE HoldCo VIII B.V., LGE Holdco VII B.V., LLC Vodafone Enterprise Ukraine, Le Bunt Holdings Limited, Legend Communications Limited, Liberty Global, Liberty Global Content Netherlands B.V., London Hydraulic Power Company, M-PESA Foundation, M-PESA Holding Co. Limited, ML Integration Group Limited, ML Integration Limited, ML Integration Services Limited, MV Healthcare Services Private Limited, Mannesmann AG, MetroHoldings Limited, Mezzanine Ware Proprietary Limited (RF), Mirambo Limited, Misrfone Trading Company LLC, MobiFon S.A., Mobile Commerce Solutions Limited, Mobile Phone Centre Limited, Mobile Wallet VM1, Mobile Wallet VM2, Mobile by Sainsburys Limited, Mobiles 4 Business.com Limited, Mobileworld Communications Pty Limited, Mobileworld Operating Pty Ltd, Mobilvest, Motifpros 1 (Proprietary) Limited, Multi Risk Indemnity Company Limited, Multi Risk Limited, ND Callus Info Services Private Limited, Nadal Trading Company Private Limited, Nat Comm Air Limited, National Communications Backbone Company Limited, Navtrak Ltd, Netforce Group Limited, Netgrid Telecom SRL, Number Portability Company (Proprietary) Limited, ONO, Omega Telecom Holdings Private Limited, Oni Way Infocomunicacoes S.A, Oskar Mobil S.R.O., Oxygen Solutions Limited, P.C.P. (North West) Limited, PPL Pty Limited, PT Network Services Limited, PTI Telecom Limited, Peoples Phone Limited, Pinnacle Cellular Group Limited, Pinnacle Cellular Limited, Plex Limited, Plustech Mercantile Company Private Limited, Prime Metals Ltd., Project Telecom Holdings Limited, Quickcomm Software Solutions, Radio Opt GmbH, Rian Mobile Limited, SBC SMART CITY 1517 B.V., SMMS Investments Pvt Limited, Safaricom Limited, Safenet N.P A., Sarmady Communications, Scarlet Ibis Investments 23 (Pty) Limited, Scorpios Beverages Pvt. Ltd, Silver Stream Investments Limited, Singlepoint (4U) Limited, Singlepoint (4U) Ltd., Singlepoint Payment Services Limited, Siro Limited, Spar Aerospace (Nigeria) Limited, Sport TV Portugal S.A, Starnet, Stentor Communications Limited, Stentor Limited, Storage Technology Services (Pty) Limited, T.W. Telecom Limited, T3 Telecommunications Limited, TKS Telepost Kabel-Service Kaiserslautern Beteiligungs GmbH, TKS Telepost Kabel-Service Kaiserslautern GmbH & Co. KG, TNAS Limited, TSM NZ Limited, Talkland Airtime Services Limited, Talkland Australia Pty Limited, Talkland Communications Limited, Talkland International Limited, Talkland Midlands Limited, Talkmobile Limited, Tele2 Italia SPA, Tele2 Spain, Telecom Investments India Private Limited, Telecommunications Europe Limited, Ternhill Communications Limited, The Cobra Group, The Eastern Leasing Company Limited, The Old Telecom Sales Co. Limited, Thus Group Holdings Limited, Thus Group Limited, Thus Limited, Thus Profit Sharing Trustees Limited, TnT Expense Management LLC, Tomorrow Street GP S.a r.l., Tomorrow Street SCA, Torenspits II B.V., Townley Communications Limited, Trans Crystal Ltd., UMT Investments Limited, UPC Nederland Holding I B.V., UPC Nederland Holding II B.V., UPC Nederland Holding III B.V., Unified Communications, Uniqueair Limited, Urbana Teleunion Rostock GmbH & Co.KG, Usha Martin Telematics Limited, VAPL No. 2 Pty Limited, VBA (Mauritius) Limited, VBA Holdings Limited, VBA International (SL) Limited, VBA International Limited, VEI S.r.l., VM SA, VND S.p.A, VSSB Vodafone Shared Services Budapest Private Limited Company, Verwaltung Urbana Teleunion Rostock GmbH, Victus Networks S.A., Vizzavi Finance Limited, Vizzavi Limited, Voda Limited, Vodacall Limited, Vodacash s.p.r.l., Vodacom (Pty) Limited, Vodacom Business (Angola) Limitada, Vodacom Business (Ghana) Limited, Vodacom Business (Kenya) Limited, Vodacom Business Africa (Nigeria) Limited, Vodacom Business Africa Group (Pty) Limited, Vodacom Business Africa Group Services Limited, Vodacom Business Cameroon SA, Vodacom Business Cote Divoire S.A.R.L., Vodacom Congo (RDC) SA, Vodacom Financial Services (Proprietary) Limited, Vodacom Group Limited, Vodacom Insurance Administration Company (Proprietary) Limited, Vodacom Insurance Company (RF) Limited, Vodacom International Holdings (Pty) Limited, Vodacom International Limited, Vodacom Lesotho (Pty) Limited, Vodacom Life Assurance Company (RF) Limited, Vodacom Payment Services (Proprietary) Limited, Vodacom Properties No 1 (Proprietary) Limited, Vodacom Properties No.2 (Pty) Limited, Vodacom Tanzania Limited Zanzibar, Vodacom Tanzania Public Limited Company, Vodacom UK Limited, Vodafone (NI) Limited, Vodafone (New Zealand) Hedging Limited, Vodafone (Scotland) Limited, Vodafone 2, Vodafone 4 UK, Vodafone 5 Limited, Vodafone 5 UK, Vodafone 6 UK, Vodafone Albania Sh.A, Vodafone Alternatif Telekom Hizmetleri A.S., Vodafone Americas 4, Vodafone Americas Virginia Inc., Vodafone And Qatar Foundation L.L.C, Vodafone Asset Management Services S.a r.l., Vodafone Australia Pty Limited, Vodafone Automotive Deutschland GmbH, Vodafone Automotive Electronic Systems S.r.L, Vodafone Automotive France S.A.S, Vodafone Automotive Iberia S.L, Vodafone Automotive Italia S.p.A, Vodafone Automotive Japan K.K, Vodafone Automotive Korea Limited, Vodafone Automotive SpA, Vodafone Automotive Technologies (Beijing) Co Ltd, Vodafone Automotive Telematics Development S.A.S, Vodafone Automotive Telematics S.A, Vodafone Automotive UK Limited, Vodafone Belgium SA/NV, Vodafone Benelux Limited, Vodafone Bilgi Ve Iletisim Hizmetleri AS, Vodafone Business Services Limited, Vodafone Business Solutions Limited, Vodafone Canada Inc, Vodafone Cellular Limited, Vodafone Central Services Limited, Vodafone China Limited (China), Vodafone China Limited (Hong Kong), Vodafone Connect 2 Limited, Vodafone Connect Limited, Vodafone Consolidated Holdings Limited, Vodafone Corporate Limited, Vodafone Corporate Secretaries Limited, Vodafone Czech Republic A.S., Vodafone DC Pension Trustee Company Limited, Vodafone Dagitim Hizmetleri A.S., Vodafone Data, Vodafone Distribution Holdings Limited, Vodafone Egypt Telecommunications S.A.E., Vodafone Elektronik Para Ve Odeme Hizmetleri A.S., Vodafone Empresa Brasil Telecomunicacoes Ltda, Vodafone Empresa Mexico S.de R.L. de C.V., Vodafone Enabler Espana S.L., Vodafone Enterprise Australia Pty Limited, Vodafone Enterprise Austria GmbH, Vodafone Enterprise Bahrain W.L.L., Vodafone Enterprise Bulgaria EOOD, Vodafone Enterprise Chile SA, Vodafone Enterprise Communications Technical Services (Shanghai) Co. Ltd, Vodafone Enterprise Corporate Secretaries Limited, Vodafone Enterprise Denmark A/S, Vodafone Enterprise Equipment Limited, Vodafone Enterprise Europe (UK) Limited, Vodafone Enterprise Europe (UK) Limited Czech Branch, Vodafone Enterprise Europe (UK) Limited DubaiI Branch, Vodafone Enterprise Finland OY, Vodafone Enterprise France SAS, Vodafone Enterprise Germany GmbH, Vodafone Enterprise Global Businesses S.a r.l., Vodafone Enterprise Global Limited, Vodafone Enterprise Global Network HK Ltd, Vodafone Enterprise Global Network Pte. Ltd., Vodafone Enterprise Hong Kong Ltd, Vodafone Enterprise Italy S.r.L, Vodafone Enterprise Korea Limited, Vodafone Enterprise Luxembourg S.A., Vodafone Enterprise Netherlands BV, Vodafone Enterprise Norway AS, Vodafone Enterprise Regional Business Singapore Pte.Ltd., Vodafone Enterprise Singapore Pte.Ltd, Vodafone Enterprise Spain S.L.U. Portugal Branch, Vodafone Enterprise Spain SLU, Vodafone Enterprise Sweden AB, Vodafone Enterprise Switzerland AG, Vodafone Erste Beteiligungsgesellschaft mbH, Vodafone Espana S.A.U., Vodafone Euro Hedging Limited, Vodafone Euro Hedging Two, Vodafone Europe B.V., Vodafone Europe UK, Vodafone European Investments, Vodafone European Portal Limited, Vodafone Finance Limited, Vodafone Finance Luxembourg Limited, Vodafone Finance Sweden, Vodafone Finance UK Limited, Vodafone Financial Operations, Vodafone Financial Services B.V., Vodafone Fixed Ltd, Vodafone Foundation, Vodafone Foundation Australia Pty Limited, Vodafone Gestioni S.p.A, Vodafone Ghana Mobile Financial Services Limited, Vodafone Global Content Services Limited, Vodafone Global Enterprise (Hong Kong) Limited, Vodafone Global Enterprise (Italy) S.R.L., Vodafone Global Enterprise (Japan) K.K., Vodafone Global Enterprise (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd, Vodafone Global Enterprise Limited, Vodafone Global Enterprise Russia LLC, Vodafone Global Enterprise Taiwan Limited, Vodafone Global Enterprise Telecommunications (Hellas) A.E., Vodafone Global Network Limited, Vodafone Global Network Limited Slovakia Branch, Vodafone Global Services Private Limited, Vodafone GmbH, Vodafone Group (Directors) Trustee Limited, Vodafone Group Pension Trustee Limited, Vodafone Group Services GmbH, Vodafone Group Services Ireland Limited, Vodafone Group Services Limited, Vodafone Group Services No.2 Limited, Vodafone Group Share Trustee Limited, Vodafone Hire Limited, Vodafone Holding A.S., Vodafone Holdings (Jersey) Limited, Vodafone Holdings (SA) Proprietary Limited, Vodafone Holdings Europe S.L.U., Vodafone Holdings Luxembourg Limited, Vodafone Hutchison Australia Pty Limited, Vodafone Hutchison Finance Pty Limited, Vodafone Hutchison Receivables Pty Limited, Vodafone IP Licensing Limited, Vodafone India Digital Limited, Vodafone India Limited, Vodafone India Services Private Limited, Vodafone India Ventures Limited, Vodafone Institut fur Gesellschaft und Kommunikation GmbH, Vodafone Intermediate Enterprises Limited, Vodafone International 1 S.a.r.l. Luxembourg Zweigniederlassung Bern, Vodafone International 1 S.a r.l., Vodafone International 2 Limited, Vodafone International Holdings B.V., Vodafone International Holdings Limited, Vodafone International M S.a r.l., Vodafone International Operations Limited, Vodafone International Services LLC, Vodafone Investment UK, Vodafone Investments (SA) Proprietary Limited, Vodafone Investments Australia Limited, Vodafone Investments Limited, Vodafone Investments Luxembourg S.a r.l., Vodafone Investments Luxembourg S.a r.l. Luxembourg Zweigniederlassung Bern, Vodafone Ireland Distribution Limited, Vodafone Ireland Ltd., Vodafone Ireland Marketing Limited, Vodafone Ireland Property Holdings Limited, Vodafone Ireland Retail Limited, Vodafone Italia S.p.A., Vodafone Jersey Dollar Holdings Limited, Vodafone Jersey Finance, Vodafone Jersey Yen Holdings Unlimited, Vodafone Kabel Deutschland Field Services GmbH, Vodafone Kabel Deutschland GmbH, Vodafone Kabel Deutschland Kundenbetreuung GmbH, Vodafone Kenya Limited, Vodafone Leasing Limited, Vodafone Libertel B.V., Vodafone Limited, Vodafone Luxembourg 5 S.a r.l., Vodafone Luxembourg 5 S.a r.l. Luxembourg Zweigniederlassung Bern, Vodafone Luxembourg S.a r.l., Vodafone Luxembourg S.a r.l. Luxembourg Zweigniederlassung Bern, Vodafone M-PESA SH.P.K., Vodafone M-Pesa S.A, Vodafone M.C. Mobile Services Limited , Vodafone Magyarorszag Mobile Tavkozlesi Zartkoruen Mukodo Reszvenytarsasag, Vodafone Malta Limited, Vodafone Marketing UK , Vodafone Maroc SARL, Vodafone Mauritius Ltd., Vodafone Mobile Commerce Limited, Vodafone Mobile Communications Limited, Vodafone Mobile Enterprises Limited, Vodafone Mobile NZ Limited, Vodafone Mobile Network Limited, Vodafone Mobile Operations Limited, Vodafone Mobile Services Limited, Vodafone Multimedia Limited, Vodafone Nederland Holding I B.V., Vodafone Nederland Holding II B.V., Vodafone Nederland Holding III B.V., Vodafone Net Iletisim Hizmetleri A.S., Vodafone Network Pty Limited, Vodafone New Zealand Foundation Limited, Vodafone New Zealand Limited, Vodafone Next Generation Services Limited, Vodafone Nominees Limited1, Vodafone ONO S.A.U., Vodafone Oceania Limited, Vodafone Old Show Ground Site Management Limited, Vodafone Overseas Finance Limited, Vodafone Overseas Holdings Limited, Vodafone Panafon International Holdings B.V., Vodafone Panafon UK, Vodafone Partner Services Limited, Vodafone Payment Solutions S.a r.l., Vodafone Portugal Comunicacoes Pessoais S.A., Vodafone Procurement Company S.a r.l., Vodafone Property Investments Limited, Vodafone Pty Limited, Vodafone Qatar Q.S.C., Vodafone Retail (Holdings) Limited , Vodafone Retail Limited, Vodafone Roaming Services S.a r.l., Vodafone Romania S.A, Vodafone Romania M - Payments SRL, Vodafone Romania Technologies SRL, Vodafone Sales & Services Limited, Vodafone Satellite Services Limited, Vodafone Servicios SL.U, Vodafone Servizi E Tecnologie S.R.L, Vodafone Servicos Empresariais Brasil Ltda., Vodafone Shared Services Romania SRL, Vodafone Specialist Communications Limited, Vodafone Stiftung Deutschland Gemeinnutzige GmbH, Vodafone Technology Solutions Limited, Vodafone Teknoloji Hizmetleri A.S., Vodafone Tele-Services (India) Holdings Limited, Vodafone Telecel-Comunicates Pessoais S.A., Vodafone Telecommunications (India) Limited, Vodafone Telekomunikasyon A.S, Vodafone Towers Limited, Vodafone UK Content Services Limited, Vodafone UK Investments Limited , Vodafone UK Limited1 , Vodafone US Inc, Vodafone Ventures Limited1 , Vodafone Vierte Verwaltungs AG, Vodafone Worldwide Holdings Limited, Vodafone Yen Finance Limited , Vodafone m-pesa Limited, Vodafone-Central Limited Vodaphone Limited, Vodafone-Panafon Hellenic Telecommunications Company S.A., VodafoneZiggo Group Holding B.V, Vodata Limited , Vouchercloud SA (Pty) Ltd, Wataneya Telecommunications S.A.E, Waterberg Lodge (Proprietary) Limited, Wayfinder, Wheatfields Investments 276 (Proprietary) Limited, Wireless Interactions & NFC Accelerator 2013 B.V., Woodend Cellular Limited, Woodend Communications Limited, Woodend Group Limited, Woodend Holdings Limited, XB Facilities B.V, XLink Communications (Proprietary) Limited, Your Communications Group Limited, ZUM B.V., ZYB, Zelitron S.A., Zesko B.V., Ziggo B.V., Ziggo Bond Company B.V., Ziggo Deelnemingen B.V., Ziggo Finance 2 B.V., Ziggo Financing Partnership, Ziggo Holding B.V., Ziggo Netwerk B.V., Ziggo Netwerk II B.V., Ziggo Services B.V., Ziggo Services Employment B.V., Ziggo Services Netwerk 2 B.V., Ziggo Zakelijk Services B.V., and Zoranet Connectivity Services B.V.. Toyota Motor Corporation designs, manufactures, assembles, and sells passenger vehicles, minivans and commercial vehicles, and related parts and accessories. It operates in Automotive, Financial Services, and All Other segments. The company offers hybrid cars under the Prius, Prius PHV, C-HR, LC HV, LS HV, Camry, JPN TAXI, Avalon, Crown, Century HV, UX HV, Corolla SD, Corolla Sport, and WG HV names; fuel cell vehicles under the MIRAI and SORA names; and conventional engine vehicles, including subcompact and compact cars under the Yaris, Aqua, Passo, Roomy, Tank, Etios, Vios, AGYA, Rush, GLANZA, and Raize names. It also provides mini-vehicles, passenger vehicles, commercial vehicles, and auto parts under the Toyota name; mid-size cars under the Camry and REIZ names; luxury cars under the Lexus, Avalon, and Crown names; Century limousines; sports cars under the LC and Supra names; and recreational and sport-utility vehicles under the Sequoia, 4Runner, RAV4, Highlander, and Land Cruiser names. In addition, the company offers pickup trucks under the Tacoma and Tundra names; Minivans, Cabwagons, and Semi-Bonnet Wagon under the Alphard, Vellfire, Noah/Voxy, Esquire, Calya, Estima, Sienta, and Sienna names; and trucks and buses. Further, it provides financial services, such as retail financing and leasing, wholesale financing, insurance, and credit cards; and designs, manufactures, and sells prefabricated housing. Additionally, the company operates GAZOO.com, a web portal for automobile information. It operates in Japan, North America, Europe, Asia, Central and South America, Oceania, Africa, and the Middle East. The company was founded in 1933 and is headquartered in Toyota, Japan. Read More CA, Inc., doing business as CA technologies, develops, markets, delivers, and licenses software products and services in the United States and internationally. It operates through three segments: Mainframe Solutions, Enterprise Solutions, and Services. The Mainframe Solutions segment offers solutions for the IBM z Systems platform, which runs various mission critical business applications. Its mainframe solutions enable customers enhance economics by increasing throughput and lowering cost per transaction; increasing business agility through DevOps tooling and processes; increasing reliability and availability of operations through machine intelligence and automation solutions; and protecting enterprise data with security and compliance. The Enterprise Solutions segment provides a range of software planning, development, and management tools for mobile, cloud, and distributed computing environments. It primarily provides customers secure application development, infrastructure management, automation, and identity-centric security solutions. The Services segment offers various services, such as consulting, implementation, application management, education, and support services to commercial and government customers for implementation and adoption of its software solutions. The company serves banks, insurance companies, other financial services providers, government agencies, information technology service providers, telecommunication providers, transportation companies, manufacturers, technology companies, retailers, educational organizations, and health care institutions. It sells its products through direct sales force, as well as through various partner channels comprising resellers, service providers, system integrators, managed service providers, and technology partners. The company was formerly known as Computer Associates International, Inc. and changed its name to CA, Inc. in 2006. CA, Inc. was founded in 1974 and is headquartered in New York, New York. Read More Wall Street analysts have given JPMorgan Alerian MLP Index ETN a "N/A" rating, but there may be better buying opportunities in the stock market. Some of MarketBeat's past winning trading ideas have resulted in 5-15% weekly gains. MarketBeat just released five new stock ideas, but JPMorgan Alerian MLP Index ETN wasn't one of them. MarketBeat thinks these five companies may be even better buys. View MarketBeat's top stock picks here. Wall Street analysts have given Invesco Dynamic Market ETF a "N/A" rating, but there may be better buying opportunities in the stock market. Some of MarketBeat's past winning trading ideas have resulted in 5-15% weekly gains. MarketBeat just released five new stock ideas, but Invesco Dynamic Market ETF wasn't one of them. MarketBeat thinks these five companies may be even better buys. View MarketBeat's top stock picks here. Intu owns and manages some of the best shopping centres, in some of the strongest locations, in the UK and Spain. Our UK portfolio is made up of 17 centres, including eight of the top-20, and in Spain we own three of the country's top-10 centres, with advanced plans to build a fourth. We are passionate about creating compelling experiences, in centre and online, that make our customers smile and help our retailers flourish. We attract around 400 million customer visits and 26 million website visits a year offering a multichannel approach that truly supports retail strategies. Our strategic focus on prime, high-footfall flagship destinations, combined with the strength and popularity of our brand, means that intu offers enhanced footfall, dwell time and loyalty. This helps our tenants flourish, driving occupancy and income growth. We are committed to our local communities, with our centres supporting nearly 130,000 jobs (representing about 3 per cent of the total UK retail workforce), and to operating with environmental responsibility. We have already met or exceeded a significant number of our 2020 environmental targets. Read More InterXion Holding N.V. provides carrier and cloud-neutral colocation data center services in France, Germany, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Ireland, Spain, Sweden, and Switzerland. The company enables its customers to connect to a range of telecommunications carriers, cloud platforms, Internet service providers, and other customers. Its data centers acts as content, cloud, and connectivity hubs that facilitate the processing, storage, sharing, and distribution of data between its customers. The company offers colocation services, including space and power to deploy IT infrastructure in its data centers; a range of output voltages and currents; connectivity services that enable its customers to connect their IT infrastructure to exchange traffic and access cloud platforms; and systems monitoring, systems management, engineering support, and data backup and storage services, as well as installs and manages physical connections running from its customers' equipment to the equipment of its telecommunications carriers, Internet service providers, Internet exchange customers, and other customers. It provides its services to telecom operators, Internet service providers, and content delivery networks; content and cloud providers; and enterprises through direct sales forces, as well as through tradeshows, networking events, and industry seminars. As of December 31, 2018, it operated 51 carrier and cloud neutral colocation data centers in 13 metropolitan areas in 11 countries. The company is also involved in real estate management/holding businesses. InterXion Holding N.V. was incorporated in 1998 and is headquartered in Hoofddorp, the Netherlands. Read More The following companies are subsidiares of Illinois Tool Works: A V Co 1 Limited, A V Co 2 Limited, A V Co 3 Limited, ACCU-LUBE Manufacturing GmbH - Schmiermittel und -gerate -, AIP/BI Holdings Inc., Accessories Marketing Holding Corp., Advanced Molding Company Inc., Allen Coding GmbH, Allen France SAS, Alpine Automation Limited, Alpine Engineered Products, Alpine Holdings Inc., Alpine Systems Corporation, Anaerobicos S.r.l., AppliChem GmbH, AppliChem Inc., Arylux Hungary Elektromechanikus Alkatreszgyarto Kft, Avery Berkel France, Avery India Limited, Avery Malaysia Sdn Bhd, Avery Weigh Tronix, Avery Weigh-Tronix (Suzhou) Weighing Technology Co. Ltd., Avery Weigh-Tronix Finance Limited, Avery Weigh-Tronix Holdings Limited, Avery Weigh-Tronix International Limited, Avery Weigh-Tronix LLC, Avery Weigh-Tronix Limited, Avery Weigh-Tronix Properties Limited, Azon Limited, B.C. Immo, Beijing Miller Electric Manufacturing Co. Ltd., Berkel (Ireland) Limited, Berrington UK, Brapenta Eletronica Ltda., Brooks Instrument, Brooks Instrument (Shanghai) Co. Ltd, Brooks Instrument B.V., Brooks Instrument GmbH, Brooks Instrument KFT, Brooks Instrument Korea Ltd., Buell Industries Inc., CAPMAX Logistica S.A. de C.V., CCI Realty Company, CFC Europe GmbH, CS (Australia) Pty Limited, CS (Finance) Europe S.a.r.l., CS Mexico Holding Company S DE RL DE CV, CSMTS LLC, Calvia Spolka z Ograniczona Odpowiedzialnosci, Capital Ventures (Australasia) S.a r.l, Capmax Logistica S.A. de C.V., Celeste Industries Corporation, Cetram Pty Limited, Coeur, Coeur (Shanghai) Medical Appliance Trading Co. Ltd, Coeur Asia Limited, Coeur Holding Company, Coeur Inc., Compagnie Hobart, Compagnie de Materiel et d'Equipements Techniques-Comet, Constructions Isothermiques Bontami C.I.B., Crane Carrier Company, Densit Asia Pacific Sdn Bhd, Despatch Industries, Diagraph Corporation Sdn. Bhd, Diagraph ITW Mexico S. de R.L. De C.V., Diagraph Mexico S.A. DE C.V., Dongguan Ark-Les Electric Components Co. Ltd., Dongguan CK Branding Co. Ltd., Dorbyl U.K. (Holdings) Limited, Duo Fast de Espana S.A.U., Duo-Fast Korea Co. Ltd., Duo-Fast LLC, E.C.S. d.o.o., ECS Cable Protection Sp. Zoo, ELRO (Holding) AG, ELRO Grosskuchen GmbH, ELRO-WERKE AG, Elga Skandinavian AS, Elro Group, Eltex-Elektrostatik-Gesellschaft mit beschrankter Haftung, Envases Multipac S.A. de C.V., Eurotec Srl, FEG Investments L.L.C., Fasver, Filtertek, Filtertek De Mexico Holding Inc., Filtertek De Mexico S.A. de C.V., GC Financement SA, Gamko B.V., Gun Hwa Platech (Taicang) Co. Ltd., HOBART Gesellschaft mit beschrankter Haftung, Hartness International, Hobart (Japan) K.K., Hobart Andina S.A.S., Hobart Brothers International Chile Limitada, Hobart Brothers LLC, Hobart Dayton Mexicana S. de R.L. de C.V., Hobart Food Equipment Co. Ltd., Hobart Foster Belgium, Hobart International (Singapore) Pte. Ltd., Hobart Korea LLC, Hobart LLC, Hobart Nederland B.V., Hobart Sales & Service Inc., Hobart Scandinavia ApS, Hobart Techniek B.V., Horis, ILC Investments Holdings Inc., ITW (China) Investment Company Limited, ITW (Deutschland) GmbH, ITW (EU) Holdings Ltd., ITW (European) Finance Co. Ltd., ITW (European) Finance II Co. Ltd., ITW (Ningbo) Components & Fastenings Systems Co. Ltd., ITW AEP LLC, ITW AOC LLC, ITW Aircraft Investments Inc., ITW Airport Ground Equipment (Beijing) Co. Ltd., ITW Alpha Sarl, ITW Ampang Industries Philippines Inc., ITW Appliance Components EOOD, ITW Appliance Components LLC, ITW Appliance Components S.A. de C.V., ITW Appliance Components S.r.l.a, ITW Appliance Components d.o.o., ITW Australia Holdings Pty Ltd, ITW Australia Property Holdings Pty Ltd., ITW Australia Pty Ltd, ITW Automotive Components (Chongqing) Co. Ltd., ITW Automotive Components (Langfang) Co. Ltd., ITW Automotive Japan K.K., ITW Automotive Korea LLC, ITW Automotive Parts (Shanghai) Co. Ltd, ITW Automotive Products GmbH, ITW Automotive Products Mexico S. de R.L. de C.V., ITW Bailly Comte, ITW Befestigungssysteme GmbH, ITW Belgium, ITW Brazilian Nominee L.L.C., ITW Building Components Group Inc., ITW CER, ITW CP Distribution Center Holland BV, ITW CS (UK) Ltd., ITW Canada Inc., ITW Celeste Inc., ITW Chemical Products Ltda, ITW Chemical Products Scandinavia ApS, ITW Colombia S.A.S., ITW Construction Products (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., ITW Construction Products (Singapore) Pte. Ltd., ITW Construction Products AB, ITW Construction Products AS, ITW Construction Products ApS, ITW Construction Products CZ s.r.o., ITW Construction Products Italy Srl, ITW Construction Products OU, ITW Construction Products OY, ITW Contamination Control (Wujiang) Co. Ltd., ITW Contamination Control B.V., ITW Covid Security Group Inc., ITW DS Investments Inc., ITW DelFast do Brasil Ltda., ITW Delta Sarl, ITW Denmark ApS, ITW Dynatec, ITW Dynatec Adhesive Equipment (Suzhou) Co. Ltd., ITW Dynatec GmbH, ITW Dynatec Kabushiki Kaisha, ITW EF&C France SAS, ITW EF&C Selb GmbH, ITW Electronic Business Asia Co. Limited, ITW Electronic Components/Products (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., ITW Electronics (Suzhou) Co. Ltd., ITW Epsilon Sarl, ITW Espana S.A., ITW FEG Hong Kong Limited, ITW FEG do Brasil Industria e Comercio Ltda., ITW Fastener Products GmbH, ITW Finance Designated Activity Company, ITW Finance Europe S.A., ITW Fluids and Hygiene Solutions Ltda., ITW Food Equipment Group LLC, ITW GH LLC, ITW GSE ApS, ITW GSE Inc., ITW Gamma Sarl, ITW German Management LLC, ITW Global Investments Holdings LLC, ITW Global Investments Holdings Y Compania Sociedad en Comandita por Acciones, ITW Global Investments II Inc., ITW Global Investments LLC, ITW Global Tire Repair Europe GmbH, ITW Global Tire Repair Inc., ITW Global Tire Repair Japan K.K., ITW Graphics (Thailand) Ltd., ITW Graphics Asia Limited, ITW Graphics Italy S.R.L. in liquidazione, ITW Great Britain Investment & Licensing Holding Company, ITW Group France (Luxembourg) S.ar.l., ITW HLP Thailand Co. Ltd., ITW Holding Quimica B.C. S.L. Sole Shareholder Company, ITW Holdings Australia L.P., ITW Holdings I Limited, ITW Holdings II Limited, ITW Holdings III Limited, ITW Holdings IV Limited, ITW Holdings IX Limited, ITW Holdings Inc., ITW Holdings LP, ITW Holdings UK, ITW Holdings V Limited, ITW Holdings VI Limited, ITW Holdings VII Limited, ITW Holdings VIII Limited, ITW Hungary Finance Beta Kft, ITW ILC Holdings I Inc., ITW IPG Investments LLC, ITW Imaden Industria e Comercio Ltda., ITW India Private Limited, ITW International Holdings LLC, ITW International Intellectual Property LLC, ITW Invest Holding GmbH, ITW Ireland Holdings Unlimited Company, ITW Ireland Unlimited Company, ITW Italy Finance Srl, ITW Italy Holding Srl, ITW Japan Ltd., ITW Korea LLC, ITW LLC & Co. KG, ITW Limited, ITW Lombard Holdings Inc., ITW Lys Fusion S.r.l., ITW M FILMS II LLC, ITW MH LLC, ITW Marking & Coding (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., ITW Medical Group de Mexico S. de R.L. de C.V., ITW Meritex Sdn. Bhd., ITW Metal Fasteners S.L., ITW Mexico Holding Company S. De R.L. de C.V., ITW Mexico Holdings LLC, ITW Morlock GmbH, ITW Mortgage Investments II Inc., ITW Mortgage Investments III Inc., ITW Mortgage Investments IV Inc., ITW Netherlands Beta B.V., ITW Netherlands Finance Alpha BV, ITW New Universal LLC, ITW New Zealand, ITW Novadan Sp. Z.o.o., ITW PPF Brasil Adesivos Ltda., ITW Participations S.a r.l., ITW Pension Funds Trustee Company, ITW Performance Plastic (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., ITW Performance Polymers & Fluids Japan Co. Ltd., ITW Performance Polymers & Fluids Korea Limited, ITW Performance Polymers & Fluids OOO, ITW Performance Polymers (Wujiang) Co. Ltd., ITW Performance Polymers ApS, ITW Performance Polymers and Fluids Group FZE, ITW Peru S.A.C., ITW Philippines Holdings LLC, ITW Poly Mex S. de R.L. de C.V., ITW Polymers Sealants North America Inc., ITW Pronovia s.r.o., ITW Pte. Ltd., ITW Qufu Automotive Cooling Systems Co. Ltd., ITW Real Estate Germany GmbH, ITW Residuals III L.L.C., ITW Residuals IV L.L.C., ITW Rivex, ITW SMPI, ITW SPG Mexico S. de R.L. de C.V., ITW Simco-Ion (Shenzhen) Co. Ltd., ITW Slovakia s.r.o., ITW Spain Holdings S.L., ITW Specialty Film LLC, ITW Specialty Films France, ITW Specialty Materials (Suzhou) Co. Ltd., ITW Spraytec, ITW Sverige AB, ITW Sweden Holding AB, ITW Test & Measurement Equipment (Shanghai) Co. Ltd, ITW Test & Measurement GmbH, ITW Test and Measurement Italia Srl, ITW Test and Measurement Services Industry and Trade Ltd., ITW Texwipe Philippines Inc., ITW Thermal Films (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., ITW UK, ITW UK Finance Beta Limited, ITW UK Finance Delta Limited, ITW UK Finance Gamma Limited, ITW UK Finance Limited, ITW UK II Limited, ITW Universal II LLC, ITW Welding, ITW Welding AB, ITW Welding GmbH, ITW Welding Products B.V., ITW Welding Products Group FZE, ITW Welding Products Group S. DE R.L. De C.V., ITW Welding Products Italy Srl, ITW Welding Products Limited Liability Company, ITW Welding Produtos Para Solgdagem Ltda., ITW Welding Servicios Mexico S. de R.L. de C.V., ITW Welding Singapore Pte. Ltd., ITW de France, ITW do Brasil Industrial e Comercial Ltda., ITW haubold Paslode GmbH, Ideal Molding Technologies LLC, Illinois Tool Works (Chile) Limitada, Illinois Tool Works (ITW) Nederland B.V., Illinois Tool Works Norway AS, Impar Comercio E Representacoes Ltda., Industrie Plastic Elsasser GmbH, Inmobiliaria Cit. S.A. de C.F., Innova Temperlite Servicios S.A. de C.V., Innovacion y Transformacion Automotriz S.A. de C.V., Instron (Shanghai) Ltd., Instron (Thailand) Limited, Instron Brasil Equipamentos Cientificos Ltda., Instron Foreign Sales Corp. Limited, Instron France S.A.S., Instron GmbH, Instron Holdings Limited, Instron International Limited, Instron Japan Company Ltd., Instron Korea LLC, International Leasing Company LLC, International Truss Systems Proprietary Limited, Isolenge - ITW Sistemas de Isolamento Termico Ltda., KCPL Mauritius Holdings, Kester, Kester Components (M) Sdn. Bhd., Kleinmann GmbH, Krafft Argentina S.A., Krafft S.L., Lock Inspection Systemes France Sarl, Loma Systems (Canada) Inc., Loma Systems BV, Loma Systems sro, Lombard Pressings Limited, Lumex Inc., Luvex - Industria De Equipamentos De Protecao Ltda., Lys Fusion Poland Sp. z.o.o., M&C Specialties (Shenzhen) Co. Ltd., M&C Specialties Co., MAGNAFLUX GmbH, MEHB Holdings Limited, MGHG Property LLC, Magna Industrial Co. Limited, Manufacturing Avancee S.A., Meritex Technology (Suzhou) Co. Ltd., Meurer Verpackungssysteme GmbH, Miller Electric Mfg. LLC, Miller Insurance Ltd., NDT Holding LLC, NOVADAN APS, Norden Olje AB, North Star Imaging Europe, North Star Imaging Inc., Nova Chimica S.r.l., Odesign Inc., Orbitalum Tools GmbH, PENTA-91 OOO, PR. A. I. Srl, PT ITW Construction Products Indonesia, Pacific Concept Industries Limited (Enping), Panreac Quimica S.L., Paslode Fasteners (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., Peerless Machinery Corp., Penta Dnepr LLC, Penta Sever OOO, Penta Volga OOO, Polyrey, Premark FEG L.L.C., Premark HII Holdings LLC, Premark International, Premark International LLC, Prolex Sociedad Anonima, QSA Global Inc., Quimica Industrial Mediterranea S.L., Ramset Fasteners (Hong Kong) Ltd., Rapid Cook LLC, Refrigeration France, S.E.E. Sistemas Industria E Comercio Ltda., ST Mexico Holdings LLC, Salter India Limited, Sealant Systems International Inc., Sentinel Asia Yuhan Hoesa, Shanghai ITW Plastic & Metal Co. Ltd, Simco (Nederland) B.V., Simco Japan Inc., Societe de Prospection et dInventions Techniques SPIT, Speedline Holdings I Inc., Speedline Holdings I LLC, Speedline Technologies GmbH, Speedline Technologies Mexico S. de R.L. de C.V., Speedline Technologies Mexico Services S. de R.L. de C.V., Stokvis Celix Portugal Unipessoal LDA, Stokvis Danmark ApS, Stokvis Holdings S.A.R.L., Stokvis Promi s.r.o, Stokvis Prostick Tapes Private Limited, Stokvis Tape Group B.V., Stokvis Tapes (Hong Kong) Co. Limited, Stokvis Tapes (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., Stokvis Tapes (Shenzhen) Co. Ltd., Stokvis Tapes (Taiwan) Co. Ltd., Stokvis Tapes (Tianjin) Co. Ltd., Stokvis Tapes BVBA, Stokvis Tapes Benelux B.V., Stokvis Tapes Deutschland GmbH, Stokvis Tapes France, Stokvis Tapes Italia s.r.l., Stokvis Tapes Limited, Stokvis Tapes Limited Liability Company, Stokvis Tapes Norge AS, Stokvis Tapes Oy, Stokvis Tapes Polska Sp Z.O.O., Stokvis Tapes Sverige AB, Stolvis Holdings II S.A.R.L., Tarutin Kester Co. Ltd., Technopack Industria Comercio Consultoria e Representacoes Ltda., Teknek (China) Limited, Teknek (Japan) Limited, Teksaleco Ltd., The Miller Group Ltd, Thirode Grandes Cuisines Poligny, Tien Tai Electrode (Kunshan) Co. Ltd., Tien Tai Electrode (Qingdao) Co. Ltd., Tien Tai Electrode Co. Ltd., Tregaskiss Welding Products, US Finance Gamma LLC, Unichemicals Industria e Comercio Ltda., VR-Leasing Sarita GmbH & Co. Immobilien KG, VS European Holdco BV, Valeron Strength Films B.V.B.A., Veneta Decalcogomme S.r.l., Versachem Chile S.A., Vesta, Vesta (Guangzhou) Catering Equipment Co. Ltd, Vesta Global Limited, Viltronics Soltec, Vitronics Soltec B.V., W Packaging Technology (China) Co. Ltd., Wachs Canada Ltd., Wachs Subsea LLC, Weigh-Tronix Canada ULC, Weigh-Tronix UK Limited, Wilsonart International Holdings LLC, Wujiang Advanced Cleaning Co. Ltd., Wynn Oil (South Africa) (Pty) Ltd., Wynn's Automotive France, Wynn's Belgium BVBA, Wynn's Italia Srl, Wynn's Mekuba India Pvt Ltd, ZF TRW (Engineered Fasteners and Components), and Zip-Pak International B.V.. The following companies are subsidiares of Dominion Energy: 96WI 8me LLC, Alamo Solar LLC, Align RNG Grady Road LLC, Align RNG LLC, Align RNG North Carolina LLC, Align RNG Utah LLC, Align RNG Utah-Milford LLC, Align RNG Virginia LLC, Align RNG Virginia-Waverly LLC, Atlantic Coast Pipeline LLC, Azalea Solar LLC, BrightSuite Distributed Solar Holdings Inc., BrightSuite Home LLC, BrightSuite Inc., BrightSuite Solar LLC, Buckingham Solar I LLC, CEA Americus LLC, CEA Clovis LLC, CEA Dairy RNG Colorado LLC, CEA Dairy RNG Georgia LLC, CEA Dairy RNG Nevada LLC, CEA Dairy RNG New Mexico LLC, CEA Greely LLC, CEA Mason LLC, CID Solar LLC, CNG Coal Company, CNG Power Services Corporation, Carolina Gas Transmission Corporation, Catalina Solar 2 LLC, Clean Energy Asset USA LLC, Clean Energy Enterprises Inc., Clipperton Holdings LLC, Consolidated Natural Gas Company, Correctional Solar LLC, Cottonwood Solar LLC, Cove Point GP Holding Company LLC, Cove Point LNG Limited, DE Fluvanna Solar LLC, DE Hanover Solar LLC, DE King William Solar LLC, DE Powhatan Solar LLC, Dairy RNG Holdings LLC, Dominion ACP Holding Inc., Dominion Alternative Energy Holdings Inc., Dominion Atlantic Coast Pipeline LLC, Dominion Bridgeport Fuel Cell LLC, Dominion Brine LLC, Dominion Capital Inc., Dominion Cogen WV Inc., Dominion Cove Point Inc., Dominion Cove Point LLC, Dominion Energy BTM Inc., Dominion Energy Carolina Gas Services Inc., Dominion Energy Carolina Gas Transmission LLC, Dominion Energy Cove Point LNG LP, Dominion Energy Field Services Inc., Dominion Energy Fuel Services Inc., Dominion Energy Gas Distribution LLC, Dominion Energy Gas Holdings LLC, Dominion Energy Generation Marketing Inc., Dominion Energy Inc., Dominion Energy Kewaunee Inc., Dominion Energy Marketplace LLC, Dominion Energy Midstream GP LLC, Dominion Energy Midstream Partners LP, Dominion Energy Nuclear Connecticut Inc., Dominion Energy Overthrust Pipeline LLC, Dominion Energy Payroll Company Inc., Dominion Energy Questar Corporation, Dominion Energy Questar Pipeline LLC, Dominion Energy Questar Pipeline Services Inc., Dominion Energy RNG Holdings II Inc., Dominion Energy RNG Holdings Inc., Dominion Energy Services Inc., Dominion Energy Smart Home LLC, Dominion Energy Solar CA LLC, Dominion Energy Solutions Inc., Dominion Energy South Carolina Inc., Dominion Energy Southeast Services Inc., Dominion Energy Technical Solutions Inc., Dominion Energy Technologies II Inc., Dominion Energy Technologies Inc., Dominion Energy Terminal Company Inc., Dominion Energy Transmission Inc., Dominion Energy Wexpro Services Company, Dominion Equipment III Inc., Dominion Equipment Inc., Dominion Fairless Hills Inc., Dominion Fowler Ridge Wind LLC, Dominion Gas Projects Company LLC, Dominion Gathering & Processing Inc., Dominion Gathering?& Processing Inc., Dominion Generation Inc., Dominion Greenbrier Inc., Dominion High Voltage Holdings Inc., Dominion High Voltage MidAtlantic Inc., Dominion Investments Inc., Dominion Iroquois Inc., Dominion Keystone Pipeline Holdings Inc., Dominion Keystone Pipeline LLC, Dominion MLP Holding Company II Inc., Dominion MLP Holding Company II LLC, Dominion MLP Holding Company III Inc., Dominion MLP Holding Company LLC, Dominion Modular LNG Holdings Inc., Dominion Mt. Storm Wind LLC, Dominion North Star Generation Inc., Dominion Nuclear Projects Inc., Dominion Oklahoma Texas Exploration & Production Inc., Dominion Oklahoma Texas Exploration?& Production Inc., Dominion Person Inc., Dominion Privatization Florida LLC, Dominion Privatization Georgia LLC, Dominion Privatization Holdings Inc., Dominion Privatization Kentucky LLC, Dominion Privatization South Carolina LLC, Dominion Privatization Texas LLC, Dominion Privatization Virginia LLC, Dominion Products and Services Inc., Dominion Projects Services Inc., Dominion Resources Capital Trust III, Dominion Retail Gas Holdings Inc., Dominion Solar Construction and Maintenance LLC, Dominion Solar Gen-Tie LLC, Dominion Solar Holdings I LLC, Dominion Solar Holdings II LLC, Dominion Solar Holdings III LLC, Dominion Solar Holdings IV LLC, Dominion Solar Projects A Inc., Dominion Solar Projects B Inc., Dominion Solar Projects C Inc., Dominion Solar Projects D Inc., Dominion Solar Projects I Inc., Dominion Solar Projects II Inc., Dominion Solar Projects III Inc., Dominion Solar Projects IV Inc., Dominion Solar Projects V Inc., Dominion Solar Projects VI Inc., Dominion Solar Projects VII Inc., Dominion Solar Services Inc., Dominion Solar?Gen-Tie ?LLC, Dominion State Line LLC, Dominion Voltage Inc., Dominion Wholesale Inc., Dominion Wind Development LLC, Dominion Wind Projects Inc., Eagle Holdco Solar LLC, Eagle Solar LLC, Eastern Shore Solar LLC, Enterprise Solar LLC, Escalante Solar I LLC, Escalante Solar II LLC, Escalante Solar III LLC, Farmington Properties Inc., Four Brothers Solar LLC, Fremont Farm LLC, Granite Mountain Holdings LLC, Granite Mountain Solar East LLC, Granite Mountain Solar West LLC, Greenbrier Marketing Company LLC, Greenbrier Pipeline Company LLC, Greensville County Solar Project LLC, Hecate Energy Cherrydale LLC, Hecate Energy Clarke County LLC, Hope Gas Inc., Imperial Valley Solar Company (IVSC) 2 LLC, Indy Solar Development LLC, Indy Solar I LLC, Indy Solar II LLC, Indy Solar III LLC, Innovative Solar 37 LLC, Iron Springs Holdings LLC, Iron Springs Solar LLC, Iroquois GP Holding Company LLC, Louis Dreyfus Natural Gas, Maricopa West Solar PV LLC, Moffett Solar 1 LLC, Moorings Farm 2 LLC, Mulberry Farm LLC, Mustang Solar LLC, NE Hub Partners L.L.C., NE Hub Partners L.P., NiCHe Storage Solutions LLC, Niche LNG LLC, North Star Generation LLC, PSNC Blue Ridge Corporation, PSNC Cardinal Pipeline Company, PSNC Southgate LLC, Pavant Solar LLC, Phone House, Pikeville Farm LLC, Prairie Fork Wind Farm LLC, Public Service Company of North Carolina Incorporated, QPC Holding Company, QPC Holding Company LLC, Questar Corporation, Questar Energy Services Inc., Questar Field Services LLC, Questar Gas Company, Questar InfoComm Inc., Questar Southern Trails Pipeline Company, Questar White River Hub LLC, RE Adams East LLC, RE Camelot LLC, RE Columbia LLC, RE Columbia LLC, RE Columbia Two LLC, RE Kansas LLC, RE Kent South LLC, RE Old River One LLC, Rev LNG SSL BC LLC, Richland Solar Center LLC, Ridgeland Solar Farm I LLC, SBL Holdco LLC, SCANA, SCANA Communications Holdings Inc., SCANA Corporate Security Services Inc., SCANA Energy Marketing Inc., SCANA Energy Marketing LLC, SCANA Pharmacy LLC, SCANA Services Inc., SRFI LLC, Sappony Solar LLC, Scana Corporation, Scott-II Solar LLC, Scott-II?Solar LLC, Seabrook Solar LLC, Selmer Farm LLC, Siler Solar LLC, Somers Solar Center LLC, South Carolina Electric?& Gas Company, South Carolina Fuel Company Inc., South Carolina Generating Company Inc., Southampton Solar LLC, Summit Farms Solar LLC, TA - Acacia LLC, TA ? Acacia LLC, TWE Myrtle Solar Project LLC, The East Ohio Gas Company, Tioga Properties LLC, Tredegar Solar Fund I LLC, VP Property Inc., Virginia Electric And Power Company, Virginia Power Fuel Corporation, Virginia Power Nuclear Services Company, Virginia Power Services Energy Corp. Inc., Virginia Power Services LLC, Virginia Solar 2017 Projects LLC, Wakefield Solar LLC, Wexpro Company, Wexpro Development Company, Wexpro II Company, Wilkinson Solar LLC, Wrangler Retail Gas Holdings LLC, and roquois GP Holding Company LLC. Hannover RAck SE, together with its subsidiaries, provides reinsurance products and services worldwide. It operates through Property & Casualty Reinsurance, and Life & Health Reinsurance segments. The Property & Casualty Reinsurance segment offers specialty lines comprising marine, aviation, facultative and direct business, credit, surety, and political risks reinsurance products; and treaty, catastrophe XL, and structured reinsurance, as well as insurance-linked securities. This segment also provides risk solutions for agricultural, livestock, and bloodstock businesses; aviation and space business; and marine and offshore energy business. The Life & Health Reinsurance segment offers group and individual credit life, enhanced annuities, group life and health, and Sharia-compliant Takaful reinsurance products. This segment also provides risk solutions in the areas of critical illness, disability, health, longevity, long term care, and mortality and morbidity, as well as underwriting services. In addition, it offers various financial solutions, including new-business financing; monetization of embedded value; reserve and solvency relief; and divestiture of non-core businesses. The company was formerly known as Hannover RAckversicherung AG and changed its name to Hannover RAck SE in March 2013. The company was founded in 1966 and is headquartered in Hanover, Germany. Hannover RAck SE is a subsidiary of Talanx AG. Read More Citizens Financial Group, Inc. operates as the bank holding company for Citizens Bank, National Association that provides retail and commercial banking products and services in the United States. The company operates in two segments, Consumer Banking and Commercial Banking. The Consumer Banking segment offers traditional banking products and services, including checking and savings accounts, home and education loans, credit cards, business loans, mortgage and home equity lending, and unsecured product finance and personal loans, as well as wealth management and investment services to retail customers and small businesses. This segment also provides indirect auto finance for new and used vehicles through auto dealerships. The Commercial Banking segment offers various financial products and solutions, such as loans and leasing, trade finance, deposit and treasury management, cash management, and foreign exchange and interest rate risk management solutions; and loan syndications, corporate finance, merger and acquisition, and debt and equity capital markets capabilities. It serves government banking, not-for-profit, healthcare, technology, professionals, oil and gas, asset finance, franchise finance, asset-based lending, commercial real estate, private equity, and sponsor finance industries. Citizens Financial Group, Inc. operates approximately 2,700 ATMs and 1,000 branches in 11 states in the New England, Mid-Atlantic, and Midwest regions, as well as through online, telephone, and mobile banking services; and maintains approximately 130 retail and commercial non-branch offices. The company was formerly known as RBS Citizens Financial Group, Inc. and changed its name to Citizens Financial Group, Inc. in April 2014. Citizens Financial Group, Inc. was founded in 1828 and is headquartered in Providence, Rhode Island. Read More Cantel Medical Corp. provides infection prevention and control products and services for the healthcare market. The company's Medical segment offers automated endoscope reprocessing systems; disinfectants and sterilants; detergents; leak testing and manual cleaning products; storage cabinets and transport systems; manual cleaning products; endoscope process tracking products; other consumables, accessories, and supplies for use in disinfect rigid endoscopes, flexible endoscopes, and other instrumentation; and technical maintenance services. Its Life Sciences segment provides dialysis water purification and bicarbonate mixing systems; hollow fiber filters, and other filtration and separation products; liquid disinfectants and cold sterilization products; dry fog products; room temperature sterilization equipment and services; and clean-room certification and decontamination services for the dialysis and other healthcare, research laboratories, food and beverage, and commercial industrial customers, as well as microbiological testing services. The company's Dental segment offers hand and powered dental instruments, instrument reprocessing and sterility assurance products, towels, bibs, tray liners, sponges, nitrous oxide/oxygen sedation equipment and related single-use disposable nasal masks, face masks, and shields. It also provides hand sanitizers, germicidal wipes, disinfectants, surface disinfectants, waterline treatment products, saliva ejectors, evacuator tips, plastic cups, prophy angles, and prophy paste. The company's Dialysis segment provides hemodialysis concentrates and other ancillary supplies; medical device reprocessing systems; and sterilants and disinfectants. The company sells its products through its direct distribution network in the United States; and directly or under various third-party distribution agreements internationally. Cantel Medical Corp. was founded in 1963 and is headquartered in Little Falls, New Jersey. Read More BT Group plc provides communications services worldwide. Its Consumer segment sells telephones, baby monitors, and Wi-Fi extenders through high street retailers, online BT Shop, and Website BT.com; and offers home phone, copper and fiber broadband, TV, and mobile services in various packages. The company's EE segment offers 2G, 3G, and 4G mobile network services; broadband, fixed-voice, and TV services; and postpaid and prepaid plans, and emergency services network. This segment also sells 4G mobile phones, tablets, connected devices, and mobile broadband devices from various manufacturers. Its Business and Public Sector segment provides fixed voice, mobility, fiber and connectivity, and networked IT services to retailers, utilities, public sector, healthcare, sports, construction, finance, and educational sectors. The company's Global Services segment offers business communications and ICT services comprising BT Connect, BT Security, BT One, BT Contact, BT Compute, BT Advise, and BT for financial markets. This segment serves approximately 5,500 customers in 180 countries. Its Wholesale and Ventures segment enables communications providers and other organizations to provide fixed or mobile phone services. Its ventures provide mass-market services, such as directory enquiries and payphones; and enterprise services comprising BT Fleet and BT Redcare. This segment also provides broadband and Ethernet, voice, hosted communication, mobile virtual network operator, managed solutions, machine-to-machine, roaming, and media services. The company's Openreach segment engages in the provision of services over the local access network; and installation and maintenance of fiber and copper communications networks that connect homes and businesses. The company was formerly known as Newgate Telecommunications Limited and changed its name to BT Group plc in September 2001. BT Group plc was incorporated in 2001 and is headquartered in London, the United Kingdom. Read More BancorpSouth Bank provides commercial banking and financial services to individuals and small-to-medium size businesses. The company operates through Banking Services Group, Mortgage, Insurance Agencies, Wealth Management, and General Corporate and Other segments. It accepts various deposit products, including interest and noninterest bearing demand deposits, and saving and other time deposits. The company also provides commercial loans, including term loans, lines of credit, equipment and receivable financing, and agricultural loans; a range of short-to-medium term secured and unsecured commercial loans to businesses for working capital, business expansion, and the purchase of equipment and machinery; and construction loans to real estate developers for the acquisition, development, and construction of residential subdivisions. In addition, it offers fixed and adjustable rate residential mortgage loans secured by owner-occupied property; construction loans; second mortgage loans; and home equity lines of credit, as well as non-residential consumer loans that consist of automobile, recreation vehicle, boat, personal, and deposit account secured loans, as well as issues credit cards. Further, the company operates as an agent for the sale of commercial lines of insurance; and offers a line of property and casualty, life, health, and employee benefits products and services. Additionally, it provides credit related products, trust and investment management, asset management, retirement and savings solutions, and estate planning and annuity products. As of March 4, 2021, the company operated through 305 full-service branch locations, as well mortgage, insurance, and loan production offices in Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Tennessee, and Texas; and an insurance location in Illinois. The company was formerly known as BancorpSouth, Inc. and changed its name to BancorpSouth Bank in October 2017. BancorpSouth Bank was founded in 1876 and is headquartered in Tupelo, Mississippi. Read More The following companies are subsidiares of Archer-Daniels-Midland: ADM (Shanghai) Management Co. LTD, ADM (Thailand) Ltd, ADM Ag Holdings Ltd, ADM Agri-Industries Company, ADM Agriculture Limited, ADM Agro Iberica S. L. U., ADM Agro Indust Latur and Vizag Pvt Ltd, ADM Agro Industries India Private Limited, ADM Agro Industries KOTA and AKOLA Pvt. Ltd., ADM Agro SRL, ADM Agroinvestimentos LTDA, ADM Alliance Nutrition of Puerto Rico LLC, ADM Americas S de RL, ADM Andina Peru SRL, ADM Antwerp NV, ADM Arkady Ireland Limited, ADM Asia-Pacific Trading Pte. Ltd., ADM Australia Holdings I PTY Limited, ADM Bio Science And Technology (Tianjin) Co Ltd, ADM Bioproductos SA DE CV, ADM CZERNIN SA, ADM Caribbean Inc, ADM Chile Comercial LTDA, ADM Clinton Bioprocessing Inc, ADM DO Brasil LTDA, ADM Direct Polska SP. ZO.O, ADM Dominican Holdings Inc., ADM Dominicana SA, ADM Edible Bean Specialties Inc, ADM Europe HoldCo SL, ADM European Holdings LLC, ADM European Management Holding GMBH, ADM Export Co, ADM Food Technology (Beijing) Co. Ltd., ADM France, ADM Germany GmbH, ADM Grain River System Inc., ADM Hamburg Aktiengesesllschaft, ADM Holding (Thailand) LTD, ADM Holdings LLC, ADM Hungary Agro Trading LLC, ADM Industries Centers Ltd, ADM International Holdings Inc, ADM International SARL, ADM Interoceanic LTD, ADM Investments LTD, ADM Investor Services Inc, ADM Investor Services International LTD, ADM Ireland Receivables Company Limited, ADM Israel, ADM Japan Ltd, ADM MALBORK SA, ADM Mainz GMBH, ADM Medsofts Sarl, ADM Mexico Inc, ADM Mexico SA DE CV, ADM Milling Co, ADM Milling LTD, ADM New Zealand Limited, ADM Olomouc S.R.O., ADM Paraguay SRL, ADM Protexin Limited, ADM Pura Limited, ADM Receivables LLC, ADM Rice Inc, ADM Ringaskiddy Unlimited Company, ADM Romania Logistics SRL, ADM Romania Trading SRL, ADM Specialty Ingredients - Europe BV, ADM Spyck GMBH, ADM Szamotuly SP Z O.O, ADM Trading Australia Pty. Ltd., ADM Trading Co, ADM Transportation Company, ADM Trucking Inc, ADM Vietnam CO. LTD, ADM WILD Europe GmbH and Co. KG, ADM WILD Ingredients GmbH, ADM WILD Nauen GmbH, ADM WILD Valencia S.A., ADM Wild Netherlands BV, ADM Worldwide Holdings LP, ADMIS Holding Co Inc., ADMIS Hong Kong LTD, ADMIS Singapore Pte Limited, AOR, AT Holdings II Company, Agri Port Services Investments Ltd., Agri Port Services LLC, Agricolas Madagascar SARLU, Agrinational Insurance Co, Agriserve, Agrograin LTD, Alfrebro LLC, Alfred C Toepfer International Netherlands BV, Alimenta USA, American River Transportation Company LLC, Ameriseed, Amylum Bulgaria EAD, Amylum Nisasta Sanayi Ve Ticarek Anonim Sirketi, Archer Daniels Midland (UK) Limited, Archer Daniels Midland Asia Pacific Ltd., Archer Daniels Midland Erith LTD, Archer Daniels Midland Europe BV, Archer Daniels Midland Europoort BV, Archer Daniels Midland Nederland BV, Archer Daniels Midland Singapore PTE LTD, Arinos Unlimited, Aston Foods & Food Ingredients, Balanceados Nova SA Balnova, Barbados Mills Limited, Bela Vista Bio Etanol Participacoes LTDA, Bern Aqua, BioPolis SL, Biopolis, Campa Sued GmbH & Co KG, Cattleman's Choice Loomix LLC, Chamtor, Ci ADM Colombia Ltda., Controladora ADM Sa De Cv, Crosswind Petfoods Inc., Daavision BV, Eaststarch, Eatem Corporation, Eatem Foods, Elstar Oils, English River Pellets Inc., Epicore Bionetworks INC, Epicore Networks (USA) INC, Erich Ziegler GmbH, Evialis France, Fasco Mills Co., Filozoo SRL, Florida Chemical, Florida Chemical Company LLC, GP Blanching Inc., Global Cocoa Holdings LTD, Golden Peanut Company LLC, Golden Peanut and Tree Nut Seed SA (PTY) LTD, Golden Peanut and Tree Nuts SA, Group Lysac, Guyomarc'h - VCN Company Limited, Guyomarc'h Vietnam CO LTD, HFR Shipping Company Ltd, HRA Shipping Company Ltd, HTI Shipping Company Ltd, Harvest Innovations, Hilltop Grain and Feed, Holding P and A Asia Company Limited, Hubei Meiweiyuan Biotechnology, Ilitchevskiy Maslo Extractionniy Zavod (IMEZ), Invivo NSA Asia PTE LTD, Invivo NSA Philippines Inc, Jamaica Flour Mills Limited, Julius Meijer-Alpharma BV, LLC ADM Ukraine, Liquid Feed Commodities, Malta Industries SA de CV, Malta-Texo De Mexico SA de CV, Master Mix of Trinidad LTD, Medsofts Investment Co, Medsofts L.L.C., Medsofts Trading Co, Mepla Comercio e Navegacao Ltda, NRG Inc, Naviera Chaco SRL, Neovia, Neovia Latina SL, Neovia Nutricao E Saude Animal LTDA, North Star Shipping S.R.L., P and A Marketing SA, PJSC ADM Illichivsk, PT Wirifa Sakti, Pancosma (Shanghai) Feed Additives CO LTD, Pancosma France SAS, Pancosma SA, Premiere Agri Technologies of Mexico Inc, Pura Foods LTD, Rodelle Inc., Schokinag-Schokolade-Industrie Herrmann, Sermix, Setna Nutricion SA, Societe Industrielle Des Oleagineux, Southern Cellulose Products Inc, Soy Investors LLC, Specialty Commodities, Specialty Commodities LLC, Sul Mineira Alimentos LTDA, SzSzV Kft, Toepfer International, Toepfer International Trading (Shanghai) Co. LTD., Vantage Corn Processors LLC, WILD Amazon Flavors Ltda, WILD Flavors, Wild Flavors Inc., Wild Flavors International GmbH, Wild Flavors Singapore Pte. Ltd., Wild Intermare GmbH, Wild Russia LLC, and Wisium SA (PTY) LTD. Telecom Italia S.p.A., together with its subsidiaries, provides fixed and mobile telecommunications services in Europe, South America, and the Mediterranean Basin. The company operates through Domestic, Brazil, and Other Operations segments. It offers fixed and mobile voice and Internet, and public telephony services, as well as products managed and developed for individuals and families; and voice, data, and Internet services and products, and information and communications technology solutions for small and medium-size enterprises, small offices/home offices, the public sector, large accounts, and enterprises in the fixed and mobile telecommunications markets. The company also manages and develops a portfolio of regulated and unregulated wholesale services for fixed and mobile telecommunications operators; provision of infrastructure for housing radio transmission equipment of mobile telephone networks; and development, engineering, building, and operation of network infrastructures, information technology (IT), real estate properties, and plant engineering. In addition, it engages in customer care, operating credit support, loyalty, and retention activities; and staff functions and other support activities. Further, the company offers office products and services for IT sector. The company was founded in 1908 and is headquartered in Rome, Italy. Read More The following companies are subsidiares of AMETEK: AEM Limited, AIP/MPM Funding Inc., AIP/MPM Holdings Inc., AMETEK (Barbados) SRL, AMETEK (Bermuda) Ltd., AMETEK (GB) Limited, AMETEK Aerospace & Defense Grp UK Ltd, AMETEK Aerospace & Power Holdings Inc., AMETEK Aircraft Parts & Accessories Inc., AMETEK Airtechnology Group Ltd., AMETEK Ameron LLC, AMETEK B.V., AMETEK CTS Germany GmbH, AMETEK CTS US Inc., AMETEK Canada 1 ULC, AMETEK Canada 2 ULC., AMETEK Canada 3 ULC, AMETEK Canada LLC, AMETEK Canada Limited Partnership, AMETEK Ceramics Inc., AMETEK Commercial Enterprise Shanghai, AMETEK Creaform Financing L.P., AMETEK Creaform Inc., AMETEK Denmark A/S, AMETEK Do Brasil Ltda., AMETEK EMG Holdings Inc., AMETEK Elektromotory s.r.o, AMETEK Engineered Materials Sdn. Bhd., AMETEK Europe L.L.C., AMETEK European Holdings GmbH, AMETEK European Holdings Limited, AMETEK Financing Canada Limited Partnership, AMETEK Germany GmbH, AMETEK Global Tubes LLC, AMETEK GmbH, AMETEK Grundbesitz GmbH, AMETEK HSA Inc., AMETEK Haydon Kerk Inc., AMETEK Holdings B.V., AMETEK Holdings SARL, AMETEK Holdings de Mexico S. de R.L., AMETEK Industrial Technology (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., AMETEK Instruments Group UK Limited, AMETEK Instruments India Private Ltd., AMETEK International C.V., AMETEK Italia S.r.l., AMETEK Kabushiki Kaisha, AMETEK Korea Co. Ltd., AMETEK Lamb Motores de Mexico S.deR.L. de C.V., AMETEK Land Inc., AMETEK Latin America Holding Company S.a r.l., AMETEK MRO Florida Inc., AMETEK Material Analysis Holdings GmbH, AMETEK Mexico Holding Company LLC, AMETEK Motors Asia Pte. Ltd., AMETEK Nordic AB, AMETEK PIP Holdings Inc., AMETEK Precision Instruments (UK) Ltd., AMETEK Precitech Inc., AMETEK Programmable Power Inc., AMETEK Receivables Corp., AMETEK Russia (UK) Ltd., AMETEK S.A.S., AMETEK S.r.l., AMETEK SCP, AMETEK SCP (Barrow) Limited, AMETEK Singapore Private Ltd., AMETEK Taiwan Co. Ltd., AMETEK Technical & Industrial Products Inc., AMETEK Thermal Systems Inc., AMETEK UK Limited Partnership, AMETEK VIS-K Inc., Advanced Measurement Technology Inc., Aero Components International Corp., Airtechnology Pension Trustees Ltd., Akron Standard Bestry (Guangzhou) Measurement Equipment Co. Ltd., Amekai (BVI) Ltd., Amekai Meter (Xiamen) Co. Ltd., Amekai Singapore Private Ltd., Amekai Taiwan Co. Ltd., Ametek Advanced Industries Inc., Ametek-Reading Alloys Inc., Amptek Inc., Antavia SAS, 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 Material Testing Technology Ltd., Atlas Netherlands AcquisitionCo Cooperatief U.A., Avicenna Technology Inc., Avtech Avionics & Instruments LLC, B&S Aircraft, Barben Analyzer Technology LLC, Brookfield Engineering, CAMECA Instruments Inc., CAMECA SAS, CARDINALUHP LLC, CS Holdings Co. Inc., CS Intermediate Holdings Co. Inc., Cameca, Chandler Instruments Company LLC, Cognex - Surface Inspection Systems Division, Coining Holding Company, Coining Inc., Controls Southeast Inc., Creaform, Creaform France S.A.S., Creaform Inc., Creaform Japan K.K., Creaform Shanghai Ltd., Creaform USA Inc., Crystal Engineering Corp, Crystal Engineering Corporation, Direl GmbH, Direl Holding GmbH, Drake Air, Drake Air Inc., Drexelbrook Engineering Company, Dunkermotoren GmbH, Dunkermotoren Linear Systems Ltd., Dunkermotoren Subotica d.o.o., Dunkermotoren Taicang Co. Ltd., Dunkermotoren USA Inc., EDAX Inc., EM Test (Switzerland) GmbH, EMA Corp., EMA Finance 1 LLC, EMA Finance 2 LLC, EMA Holdings Inc., EMA Holdings UK Limited, EMA MX LLC, EMtest, ESP Holdco Inc., ESP/SurgeX, Electronic Systems Protection Inc., Elgar Holdings Inc., Fine Tubes Limited, Frameflair Limited, GS Electric, Glasseal Products Inc., Global Tubes, Grabner Instruments Messtechnik GmbH, HCC Aegis Inc., HCC Industries Inc., HCC Industries International, HCC Machining Company Inc., HDR Power Systems LLC, HS Foils Oy, Hamilton Precision Metals Inc., Hamilton Precision Metals of Delaware Inc., Haydon Kerk Motion Solutions Inc., Haydon Linear Motors (Changzhou) Co. Ltd., Hermetic Seal Corporation, High Standard Aviation, Imago Scientific Instruments, KBA Enterprises Inc., Land Instruments International Ltd., Laserage Technology Corp, Luphos GmbH, MCG Acquisition Corporation, Micro-Poise Industrial Equipment (Beijing) Ltd., Micro-Poise Measurement Systems Europe GmbH, Micro-Poise Measurement Systems LLC, Milmega Limited, Mocon, Motec GmbH, Motion Control Group, Muirhead Aerospace Limited, Muirhead Aerospace Ltd., NewAge Testing Instruments Inc., Newage Testing Instruments Inc., Nu Instruments (Beijing) Co. Ltd., Nu Instruments Asia Ltd., Nu Instruments Japan KK, Nu Instruments Limited, Nu Instruments Ltd, O'Brien Corp, OBCORP International LLC, OBCORP LLC, OOO AMETEK, OBrien BVBA, OBrien Holding Co. Inc., OBrien Superior Holding Co. Inc., Patriot Sensors & Controls Corporation, PennEngineering Motion Technologies, Petrolab L.L.C., Powervar, Powervar Canada Inc., Powervar Deutschland GmbH, Powervar Inc, Powervar Limited, Powervar Mexico S.A. de C.V., Precitech, QM China Holding Inc., Quizix Inc., RAI Enterprises Inc., RETE Holding GmbH, Rauland-Borg, Reading Alloys Inc., Reichert Inc, Reichert Technologies, Rotron Inc., Rotron Incorporated, SCPH Holdings Inc., SPECTRO Analytical Instruments (Asia-Pacific) Ltd., SPECTRO Analytical Instruments (Pty). Ltd., SPECTRO Analytical Instruments GmbH, SPECTRO Analytical Instruments Inc., SPECTRO Analytical UK Limited, SSH Non-Destructive Testing Inc., Sealtron Inc., Seiko EG&G Co. Ltd., Six Brookside Drive Corporation., Solartron Group Ltd., Solartron Metrology Ltd., Solidstate Controls Inc. de Argentina S.R.L., Solidstate Controls LLC, Solidstate Controls LLC, Solidstate Controls Mexico S.A. de C.V., Southern Aero Partners Inc., Southern Aeroparts Inc, Spectro Analytical Instruments Inc., Spectro Scientific, Sterling Ultra Precision Inc., SunPower Inc., Sunpower Inc., Superior Tube Company Inc., TPM Russia Inc., Taylor Hobson Holdings Limited, Taylor Hobson Inc., Taylor Hobson Ltd., Taylor Hobson Trustees Limited, Technical Manufacturing Corp, Technical Manufacturing Corporation, Technical Services for Electronics Inc., Telular Corporation, Teseq AG, Teseq Company Ltd., Teseq GmbH, Teseq Holding AG, Teseq Limited, Thelsha Technical Services, Tritex Corporation, Tubes Holdco Limited, Unispec Marketing Pvt. Ltd., Universal Analyzers Inc., VTI Holdings Inc., VTI Instruments Corporation, VTI Instruments Private Limited, VTI Integrated Systems Private Limited, VXI Acquisition Inc., Vision Research Europe B.V., Vision Research Inc., Vision Research Limited, Vision Research srl, Zemetrics Inc., Zygo, Zygo Canada ULC., Zygo Germany GmbH, Zygo Pte Ltd., Zygo Richmond Corporation, and ZygoLamda Metrology Instrument (Shanghai) Co. Ltd.. Ralph Lauren Corporation designs, markets, and distributes lifestyle products in North America, Europe, Asia, and internationally. The company offers apparel, including a range of men's, women's, and children's clothing accessories, which comprise sandals, eyewear, watches, fashion and fine jewelry, scarves, hats, gloves, umbrellas, and belts, as well as leather goods, such as handbags, luggage, small leather goods, and belts; home products consisting of bedding and bath products, furniture, fabrics and wallpapers, lightings, tabletops, floorcoverings, and giftware; and fragrances. It sells apparel and accessories under the Ralph Lauren Collection, Ralph Lauren Purple Label, Polo Ralph Lauren, Double RL, Lauren Ralph Lauren, Polo Golf Ralph Lauren, Ralph Lauren Golf, RLX Ralph Lauren, Polo Ralph Lauren Children, Chaps, Club Monaco, and other brand names; women's fragrances under the Ralph Lauren Collection, Woman by Ralph Lauren, Romance Collection, Ralph Collection, and Big Pony Women's brand names; and men's fragrances under the Polo Blue, Safari, Purple Label, Polo Red, Polo Green, Polo Black, Polo Supreme, Polo Sport, and Big Pony Men's brand names. The company's restaurant concepts include The Polo Bar in New York City; RL Restaurant in Chicago; Ralph's in Paris; and Ralph's Coffee concept. Ralph Lauren Corporation sells its products to department stores, specialty stores, and golf and pro shops, as well as directly to consumers through its retail stores, concession-based shop-within-shops, and its digital commerce sites. The company directly operates 530 retail stores and 654 concession-based shop-within-shops; and operates 80 Ralph Lauren stores, 31 Ralph Lauren concession shops, and 139 Club Monaco stores and shops through licensing partners. Ralph Lauren Corporation was founded in 1967 and is based in New York, New York. Read More SunTrust Banks, Inc. operates as the holding company for SunTrust Bank that provides various financial services for consumers, businesses, corporations, institutions, and not-for-profit entities in the United States. It operates in two segments, Consumer and Wholesale. The Consumer segment provides deposits and payments; home equity and personal credit lines; auto, student, and other lending products; credit cards; discount/online and full-service brokerage products; professional investment advisory products and services; and trust services, as well as family office solutions. This segment also offers residential mortgage products in the secondary market. The Wholesale segment provides capital markets solutions, including advisory, capital raising, and financial risk management; asset-based financing solutions, such as securitizations, asset-based lending, equipment financing, and structured real estate arrangements; cash management services and auto dealer financing solutions; investment banking solutions; and credit and deposit, fee-based product offering, multi-family agency lending, advisory, commercial mortgage brokerage, and tailored financing and equity investment solutions. This segment also offers treasury and payment solutions, such as operating various electronic and paper payment types, which comprise card, wire transfer, automated clearing house, check, and cash; and provides services clients to manage their accounts online. The company offers its products and services through a network of traditional and in-store branches, automated teller machines, Internet, mobile, and telephone banking channels. As of December 31, 2018, it operated 1,218 full-service banking offices located in Florida, Georgia, Virginia, North Carolina, Tennessee, Maryland, South Carolina, and the District of Columbia. SunTrust Banks, Inc. was founded in 1891 and is headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia. Read More Nabors Industries Ltd. provides drilling and drilling-related services for land-based and offshore oil and natural gas wells. The company operates through five segments: U.S. Drilling, Canada Drilling, International Drilling, Drilling Solutions, and Rig Technologies. It provides tubular running, wellbore placement, directional drilling, measurement-while-drilling (MWD), equipment manufacturing, and rig instrumentation services; and logging-while-drilling systems and services, as well as drilling optimization software. The company also offers REVit, an automated real time stick-slip mitigation system; ROCKit, a directional steering control system; SmartNAV, a collaborative guidance and advisory platform; SmartSLIDE, an advanced directional steering control system; and RigCLOUD, which provides the tools and infrastructure to integrate applications to deliver real-time insight into operations across the rig fleet. In addition, it manufactures and sells top drives, catwalks, wrenches, drawworks, and other drilling related equipment, such as robotic systems and downhole tools; and provides aftermarket sales and services for the installed base of its equipment. As of December 31, 2020, the company marketed approximately 354 rigs for land-based drilling operations in the United States and Canada, as well as in 14 other countries worldwide; and 29 rigs for offshore platform drilling operations in the United States and internationally. Nabors Industries Ltd. was founded in 1952 and is headquartered in Hamilton, Bermuda. Read More The following companies are subsidiares of Fidelity National Information Services: 11601 Roosevelt Boulevard Realty LLC, AGES Participacoes Ltda., Advanced Portfolio Technologies Inc., Advanced Portfolio Technologies Ltd., Aircrown Limited, Aquarius Particpacoes S.A., Armed Forces Financial Network LLC (50%), Automated Securities Clearance LLC, Birza Limited, C&E Holdings Luxembourg S.a.r.l., Card Brazil Holdings Inc., Card Brazil LLC, Central Credit Services Limited, Certegy Canada Company, Certegy Card Services B.V., Certegy Card Services Limited, Certegy Check Services Inc., Certegy Dutch Holdings B.V., Certegy EziPay Ltd., Certegy France Limited, Certegy SNC, Certegy UK Holdings B.V., Chex Systems Inc., Clear2Pay, Clear2Pay (Shenzhen) Co., Clear2Pay APAC Pte. Ltd., Clear2Pay APAC Pty Ltd., Clear2Pay Americas Inc., Clear2Pay Beijing Co., Clear2Pay Belgium NV, Clear2Pay China Limited, Clear2Pay France SAS, Clear2Pay Germany GmbH, Clear2Pay Integri NV, Clear2Pay Limited, Clear2Pay NV, Clear2Pay Nanjing Co., Clear2Pay Nederland BV, Clear2Pay Polska s.p.z.o.o, Clear2Pay Scotland Holdings Limited, Clear2Pay Scotland Limited, Clear2Pay Spain S.l., ClearPark N.V., ClearTwoPay Chile SpA, Complete Payment Recovery Services Inc., Compliance Coach, Credit Management Solutions, Decalog (1991) Ltd., Decalog (UK) Limited, Decalog N.V., F.I.S. Systems (Middle East) Limited, FAME Information Services (Asia Pacific) Pte Ltd, FIRM I LLC, FIRM II LLC, FIS (Benelux) N.V., FIS (Switzerland) SA, FIS (Tunisia) I SARL, FIS (Tunisia) II SARL, FIS Apex (International) Limited, FIS Apex (UK) Limited, FIS Asia Pacific Inc., FIS AsiaPacRim Holdings Ltd., FIS Australasia Pty Ltd., FIS AvantGard LLC, FIS Bilgisayar Hizmetleri Ticaret Limited Sirketi, FIS Brokerage & Securities Services LLC, FIS Business Integration (UK) Limited, FIS Business Integration AG, FIS Business Integration GmbH, FIS Business Systems LLC, FIS Card Processing Services (Chile) S.A., FIS Card Services (Thailand) Co. Ltd., FIS Card Services Caribbean Ltd., FIS Computer Services LLC, FIS Consulting Services (Ireland) Limited, FIS Consulting Services (UK) Limited, FIS DIS Inc., FIS Data Systems Inc., FIS Derivatives Utility Services (Singapore) Pte. Ltd., FIS Derivatives Utility Services (UK) Limited, FIS Derivatives Utility Services LLC, FIS Energy Solutions (Italia) S.r.l., FIS Energy Solutions Limited, FIS Energy Systems Inc., FIS Financial Solutions Canada Inc., FIS Financial Strategies LLC, FIS Financial Systems (France) SAS, FIS Financial Systems LLC, FIS Foundation Inc., FIS GCS LLC, FIS Global Business Solutions India Private Ltd. (99%), FIS Global Execution Services Limited, FIS Global Holdings S.a.r.l, FIS Global Recovery Services India Private Limited, FIS Global Solutions Philippines Inc., FIS Global Trading (Belgium) N.V., FIS Global Trading (Deutschland) GmbH, FIS Global Trading (Hong Kong) Limited, FIS Global Trading (Iberica) S.L. Unipersonal, FIS Global Trading (Nederland) B.V., FIS Global Trading (Portugal) Unipessoal Lda, FIS Global Trading (Singapore) Pte. Ltd., FIS Global Trading (Suisse) SA, FIS Global Trading (UK) Limited, FIS Healthcare Trustee Limited, FIS Holdings (Cayman Islands) Ltd., FIS Holdings (Germany) GmbH i.L., FIS Holdings Limited, FIS Holdings Mauritius, FIS Insurance Services Limited, FIS International Subsidiaries Holdings Inc., FIS Investment Systems (UK) Limited, FIS Investment Systems LLC, FIS Investment Ventures LLC, FIS Investor Services LLC, FIS Italy S.r.l., FIS Japan KK, FIS Kingstar Cayman Islands Limited, FIS Kiodex LLC, FIS Korea Ltd., FIS Management Services LLC, FIS Management Services Mexico S. de R.L. de C.V., FIS Pakistan (Private) Limited, FIS Payment Solutions & Services India Private Limited, FIS Payments (Ireland) Limited, FIS Payments (UK) Limited, FIS Public Sector AG Limited, FIS Reference Data Solutions LLC, FIS Risk and Security Services Inc., FIS Romania SRL, FIS SG (Italia) S.r.l., FIS SG International Holdings LLC, FIS SG Systems Philippines Inc., FIS Securities Finance LLC, FIS Shareholder Systems LLC, FIS Sherwood Systems (Netherlands) B.V., FIS Sherwood Systems Group Limited, FIS Sherwood Systems Limited, FIS Solutions (India) Private Limited, FIS Solutions LLC, FIS Solutions Software (India) Private Limited, FIS Systeme GmbH, FIS Systems (Hong Kong) Limited, FIS Systems (Luxembourg) S.A., FIS Systems (Malaysia) Sdn. Bhd., FIS Systems (Singapore) Pte. Ltd., FIS Systems Canada Inc., FIS Systems International LLC, FIS Systems Kenya Limited, FIS Systems Limited, FIS Systems NZ Limited, FIS Systems Pty Limited, FIS Systems South Africa (Pty) Limited, FIS Systems de Colombia S.A.S., FIS Technology (Beijing) Co. Limited, FIS Technology Services (New Zealand) Limited, FIS Technology Services (Poland) Sp. z.o.o., FIS Technology Services (Tunisia) SARL, FIS Technology Services Singapore Pte. Ltd., FIS Treasury Systems (Europe) Limited, FIS Treasury Systems (UK) Limited, FIS UK Holdings Limited, FIS Vietnam LLC, FIS Wealth Management Services Inc., FIS Workflow Solutions LLC, FIS eProcess Intelligence LLC, FIS iWORKS LLC, FIS iWORKS P&C (US) Inc., FIS-SG Holding Corp., FNIS Holding Brasil Ltda., FNIS Istanbul Danismanlik Limited Sirketi, FNX India Software Private Limited, Fidelity Holding Ltda., Fidelity Information Services (France) SARL, Fidelity Information Services (Hong Kong) Limited, Fidelity Information Services (Iberia) S.L.U., Fidelity Information Services (Israel) Ltd., Fidelity Information Services (South Africa) (Pty) Ltd., Fidelity Information Services (Thailand) Limited (99.9%), Fidelity Information Services Front Arena AB, Fidelity Information Services GmbH, Fidelity Information Services Holdings B.V., Fidelity Information Services India Private Limited, Fidelity Information Services International Holdings Inc., Fidelity Information Services LLC, Fidelity Information Services Limited, Fidelity Information Services Operations GmbH, Fidelity Information Services Slovakia s.r.o., Fidelity Information Services de Mexico S. de R.L. de C.V., Fidelity International Resource Management Inc., Fidelity National Card Services Inc., Fidelity National Global Card Services Inc., Fidelity National Information Services (Netherlands) B.V., Fidelity National Information Services C.V., Fidelity National Information Services Inc., Fidelity National Participacoes e Servicos de Informatica Ltda., Fidelity National Servicos de Tratamento de Documentos e Informacoes Ltda., Fidelity Participacoes e Servicos Ltda., Fidelity Processadora S.A., Fidelity Servicos e Contact Center S.A., Financial Insurance Marketing Group Inc., GL Settle Limited, GL Trade (South Africa) (Proprietary) Limited, GL Trade Americas Inc., GL Trade CMS (Thailand) Limited, GL Trade Software DOO, GL Trade Solutions CMS (Thailand) Limited, Glesia S.r.l., Information Services Luxembourg S.a.r.l., Integrity Treasury Solutions Europe Limited, Integrity Treasury Solutions Inc., Integrity Treasury Solutions Limited, Integrity Treasury Solutions Pty Limited, Level Four Americas LLC, Link2Gov Corp., Memento, Metavante Corporation, Metavante Leasing LLC, Metavante Payment Services LLC, Metavante Technologies Inc, Metavante Technologies Limited, Minorca Corporation NV, Monis Management Limited, Monis Software Inc., Monis Software Limited, NYCE Payments Network LLC, Oshap Software Industries Ltd., Oshap Technologies Ltd., PREFCO VI LLC, PT Fidelity Information Services Indonesia, PT. FIS Systems Indonesia, Panther GP 1, Panther GP 2, Panther Holdco 2 Inc., Panther Holdco Inc., Panther Sub LLC, PayNet Payments Network LLC, Payment Brasil Holdings Ltda., Payment Chile S.A. (99.99%), Payment South America Holdings Inc., Penley Inc., Platform Securities Holdings Limited, Platform Securities International Limited, Platform Securities International Nominees Limited, Platform Securities LLP, Platform Securities Nominees Limited, Platform Securities Services Limited, Reech Capital Limited, Reliance Financial Corporation, Reliance Integrated Solutions LLC, Reliance Trust Company, Reliance Trust Company of Delaware, Sanchez Computer Associates Pty Limited, Secondco Limited, Sherwood US Holdings Limited, Solutions Plus Consulting Services Limited, Stratix Technologies Inc., SunGard, SunGard Ambit (Australia) Pty Ltd, SunGard Ambit Holdings Pty Ltd, SunGard Data Systems Beijing Co. Ltd., SunGard Global Services (Tunisia) III, SunGard Global Trading (Australia) Pty. Ltd., SunGard India Sales Private Limited, SunGard Kingstar Data System (China) Co. Ltd., SunGard Pensions Limited, TP Technologies N.V., Transax Limited, Trax N.V., Valuelink Information Services Limited, Valutec Card Solutions LLC, WildCard Systems Inc., Worldpay, eFunds Corporation, eFunds Holdings Limited, eFunds IT Solutions Group Inc., eFunds International Limited, i DLX International B.V., and mFoundry Inc.. The following companies are subsidiares of Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft: 87 Leonard Development LLC, ABFS I Incorporated, ABS MB Ltd., Acacia (Luxembourg) S.a r.l., Accounting Solutions Holding Company Inc, Alex. Brown Financial Services Incorporated, Alex. Brown Investments Incorporated, Alfred Herrhausen Gesellschaft mbH, Amber Investments S.a r.l., Ambidexter GmbH, Ambidexter GmbH i.L., Argent Incorporated, BHW - Gesellschaft fur Wohnungswirtschaft mbH, BHW Bausparkasse Aktiengesellschaft, BHW Holding GmbH, BHW Kreditservice GmbH, BNA Nominees Pty Limited, BT Globenet Nominees Limited, BTAS Cayman GP, BTD Nominees Pty Limited, Baincor Nominees Pty Limited, Bainpro Nominees Pty Ltd, Baldur Mortgages Limited, Bankers Trust Investments Limited, Barkly Investments Ltd., Bayan Delinquent Loan Recovery 1 (SPV-AMC) Inc, Bayan Delinquent Loan Recovery 1 (SPV-AMC) Inc., Berkshire Mortgage Finance, Betriebs-Center fur Banken AG, Biomass Holdings S.a r.l., Birch (Luxembourg) S.a r.l., Blue Cork Inc, Blue Cork Inc., Borfield Sociedad Anonima, Breaking Wave DB Limited, Cape Acquisition Corp., CapeSuccess Inc., CapeSuccess LLC, Cardales UK Limited, Cardea Real Estate S.r.l., Career Blazers LLC, Career Blazers Management Company Inc, Career Blazers Management Company Inc., Career Blazers Personnel Services Inc, Career Blazers Personnel Services Inc., Career Blazers Personnel Services of Washington D.C. Inc. Washington D.C., Caribbean Resort Holdings Inc, Caribbean Resort Holdings Inc., Carpathian Investments Designated Activity Company, Cathay Advisory (Beijing) Co. Ltd., Cathay Advisory (Beijing) Co. Ltd., Cathay Asset Management Company Limited, Cathay Capital Company (No 2) Limited, Cedar (Luxembourg) S.a r.l., Centennial River 2 Inc., Centennial River Corporation, Chapel Funding, Charlton (Delaware) Inc, China Recovery Fund LLC, China Recovery Fund LLC, Cinda - DB NPL Securitization Trust 2003-1, City Leasing (Thameside) Limited, City Leasing Limited, Consumo S.p.A., Consumo Srl in Liquidazione, Cyrus J. Lawrence Capital Holdings Inc., Cyrus J. Lawrence Capital Holdings Inc., D B Investments (GB) Limited, D&M Turnaround Partners Godo Kaisha, D.B. International Delaware Inc., D.B. International Delaware Inc., DAHOC (UK) Limited (in members' voluntary liquidation), DAHOC Beteiligungsgesellschaft mbH, DB (Barbados) SRL, DB (Malaysia) Nominee (Asing) Sdn. Bhd., DB (Malaysia) Nominee (Tempatan) Sendirian Berhad, DB (Pacific) Limited, DB (Pacific) Limited New York, DB (Pacific) Limited New York, DB Abalone LLC, DB Alex. Brown Holdings Incorporated, DB Alps Corporation, DB Aotearoa Investments Limited, DB Asia Pacific Holdings Limited (in voluntary liquidation), DB Asset Finance I S.a r.l., DB Asset Finance II S.a r.l., DB Aster II LLC, DB Aster III LLC, DB Aster Inc., DB Aster LLC, DB Beteiligungs-Holding GmbH, DB Boracay LLC, DB Capital Investments Sarl, DB Capital Markets (Deutschland) GmbH, DB Capital Partners Inc., DB Capital Partners Inc., DB Cartera de Inmuebles 1 S.A.U., DB Cartera de Inmuebles 1 S.A.U., DB Chestnut Holdings Limited, DB Commodity Services LLC, DB Consorzio S. Cons. a r. l., DB Corporate Advisory (Malaysia) Sdn. Bhd., DB Covered Bond S.r.l., DB Credit Investments S.a r.l., DB Delaware Holdings (Europe) Limited, DB Direkt GmbH, DB Elara LLC, DB Energy Commodities Limited (in members' voluntary liquidation), DB Energy Trading LLC, DB Enfield Infrastructure Holdings Limited, DB Equipment Leasing Inc., DB Equipment Leasing Inc., DB Equity Limited, DB Finance (Delaware) LLC, DB Finance (Delaware) LLC, DB Finance International GmbH, DB Ganymede 2006 L.P., DB Global Markets Multi-Strategy Fund I Ltd., DB Global Technology Inc., DB Global Technology Inc., DB Global Technology SRL, DB Group Services (UK) Limited, DB HR Solutions GmbH, DB Holding Fundo de Investimento Multimercado Investimento no Exterior Credito Privado, DB Holdings (New York) Inc., DB Holdings (New York) Inc., DB Holdings (South America) Limited, DB IROC Leasing Corp., DB Immobilienfonds 1 Wieland KG, DB Immobilienfonds 2 KG i.L., DB Immobilienfonds 4 KG i.L., DB Immobilienfonds 5 Wieland KG, DB Impact Investment (GP) Limited, DB Impact Investment Fund I L.P., DB Impact Investment Fund I L.P., DB Industrial Holdings Beteiligungs GmbH & Co. KG, DB Industrial Holdings GmbH, DB Intermezzo LLC, DB International (Asia) Limited, DB International Investments Limited, DB International Trust (Singapore) Limited, DB Investment Managers Inc., DB Investment Managers Inc., DB Investment Partners Inc., DB Investment Partners Inc., DB Investment Resources (US) Corporation, DB Investment Resources Holdings Corp., DB Investment Services GmbH, DB Io LP, DB Litigation Fee LLC, DB London (Investor Services) Nominees Limited, DB Management Support GmbH, DB Managers LLC, DB Municipal Holdings LLC, DB Nexus American Investments (UK) Limited (in members'voluntary liquidation), DB Nexus Investments (UK) Limited (in members' voluntary liquidation), DB Nominees (Hong Kong) Limited, DB Nominees (Singapore) Pte Ltd, DB Omega BTV S.C.S., DB Omega Holdings LLC, DB Omega Ltd., DB Omega S.C.S., DB Operaciones y Servicios Interactivos Agrupacion de Interes Economico, DB Overseas Finance Delaware Inc., DB Overseas Finance Delaware Inc., DB Overseas Holdings Limited, DB PWM, DB Portfolio Southwest Inc., DB Print GmbH, DB Privat- und Firmenkundenbank AG, DB Private Clients Corp., DB Private Wealth Mortgage Ltd., DB RC Holdings LLC, DB Re S.A., DB Service Centre Limited, DB Service Uruguay S.A., DB Services Americas Inc., DB Services Americas Inc., DB Servizi Amministrativi S.r.l., DB Strategic Advisors Inc., DB Strategic Advisors Inc., DB Structured Derivative Products LLC, DB Structured Derivative Products LLC, DB Structured Finance 1 Designated Activity Company, DB Structured Finance 2 Designated Activity Company, DB Structured Holdings Luxembourg S.a r.l., DB Structured Products Inc., DB Structured Products Inc., DB Trustee Services Limited, DB Trustees (Hong Kong) Limited, DB U.S. Financial Markets Holding Corporation, DB UK Bank Limited, DB UK Holdings Limited, DB UK PCAM Holdings Limited, DB USA Core Corporation, DB USA Corporation, DB Valoren S.a r.l., DB Value S.a r.l., DB VersicherungsManager GmbH, DB Vita S.A., DBAB Wall Street LLC, DBAH Capital LLC, DBAH Capital LLC, DBCIBZ1, DBCIBZ2, DBFIC Inc., DBFIC Inc., DBNZ Overseas Investments (No.1) Limited, DBOI Global Services (UK) Limited, DBOI Global Services Private Limited, DBR Investments Co. Limited, DBRE Global Real Estate Management IA Ltd., DBRE Global Real Estate Management IB Ltd., DBRE Global Real Estate Management IB Ltd., DBRE Global Real Estate Management US IB L.L.C., DBRMS4, DBRMSGP1, DBUK PCAM Limited, DBUKH No. 2 Limited, DBUSBZ1 LLC, DBUSBZ1 LLC, DBUSBZ2 S.a r.l., DBUSBZ2 S.a r.l., DBX Advisors LLC, DBX ETF Trust, DBX Strategic Advisors LLC, DBO Vermogensverwertung GmbH, DEBEKO Immobilien GmbH & Co Grundbesitz OHG, DEE Deutsche Erneuerbare Energien GmbH, DEUFRAN Beteiligungs GmbH, DEUKONA Versicherungs-Vermittlungs-GmbH, DEUTSCHE BANK A.S., DG China Clean Tech Partners, DI Deutsche Immobilien Treuhandgesellschaft mbH, DIB-Consult Deutsche Immobilien- und BeteiligungsBeratungsgesellschaft mbH i.L., DISCA Beteiligungsgesellschaft mbH, DNU Nominees Pty Limited, DSL Portfolio GmbH & Co. KG, DSL Portfolio Verwaltungs GmbH, DTS Nominees Pty Limited, DWS Alternatives France, DWS Alternatives Global Limited, DWS Alternatives GmbH, DWS Asset Management (Korea) Company Limited, DWS Beteiligungs GmbH, DWS CH AG, DWS Distributors Inc., DWS Distributors Inc., DWS Far Eastern Investments Limited, DWS Group GmbH & Co. KGaA, DWS Group Services UK Limited, DWS Grundbesitz GmbH, DWS International GmbH, DWS Investment GmbH, DWS Investment Management Americas Inc., DWS Investment Management Americas Inc., DWS Investment S.A., DWS Investments Australia Limited, DWS Investments Hong Kong Limited, DWS Investments Japan Limited, DWS Investments Shanghai Limited, DWS Investments Singapore Limited, DWS Investments UK Limited, DWS Management GmbH, DWS Real Estate GmbH, DWS Service Company, DWS Trust Company, DWS USA Corporation, De Heng Asset Management Company Limited, De Meng Innovative (Beijing) Consulting Company Limited, DeAM Infrastructure Limited, Deloraine Spain S.L., Delowrezham de Mexico S. de R.L. de C.V., Deposit Solutions, Deutsche (Aotearoa) Capital Holdings New Zealand, Deutsche (Aotearoa) Foreign Investments New Zealand, Deutsche (Mauritius) Limited Port, Deutsche (New Munster) Holdings New Zealand Limited, Deutsche Access Investments Limited, Deutsche Aeolia Power Production Societe Anonyme, Deutsche Alt-A Securities Inc., Deutsche Alt-A Securities Inc., Deutsche Alternative Asset Management (France) SAS, Deutsche Alternative Asset Management (UK) Limited, Deutsche Asia Pacific Holdings Pte Ltd, Deutsche Asset Management (India) Private Limited, Deutsche Asset Management (Japan) Limited, Deutsche Asset Management (Korea) Company Limited, Deutsche Asset Management S.A., Deutsche Asset Management S.G.I.I.C. S.A., Deutsche Australia Limited, Deutsche Bank (Cayman) Limited, Deutsche Bank (Chile), Deutsche Bank (China) Co. Ltd., Deutsche Bank (China) Co. Ltd., Deutsche Bank (Malaysia) Berhad, Deutsche Bank (Suisse) SA, Deutsche Bank (Uruguay) Sociedad Anonima Institucion Financiera Externa, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft, Deutsche Bank Americas Holding Corp., Deutsche Bank Bauspar-Aktiengesellschaft, Deutsche Bank Capital Finance LLC I, Deutsche Bank Capital Finance Trust I, Deutsche Bank Europe GmbH, Deutsche Bank Financial Company, Deutsche Bank Holdings Inc., Deutsche Bank Holdings Inc., Deutsche Bank Insurance Agency Incorporated, Deutsche Bank Insurance Agency of Delaware, Deutsche Bank International Limited, Deutsche Bank Investments (Guernsey) Limited, Deutsche Bank Luxembourg S.A., Deutsche Bank Luxembourg S.A. - Fiduciary Deposits, Deutsche Bank Luxembourg S.A. - Fiduciary Note Programme, Deutsche Bank Mutui S.p.A., Deutsche Bank Mexico S.A. Institucion de Banca Multiple, Deutsche Bank Mexico S.A. Institucion de Banca Multiple, Deutsche Bank National Trust Company, Deutsche Bank National Trust Company Los, Deutsche Bank Nominees (Guernsey) Limited, Deutsche Bank Nominees (Jersey) Limited, Deutsche Bank Polska Spolka Akcyjna, Deutsche Bank Representative Office Nigeria Limited, Deutsche Bank S.A. - Banco Alemao, Deutsche Bank S.A. - Banco Alemao Sao, Deutsche Bank SPEARs/LIFERs Series DBE-8011 Trust, Deutsche Bank Securities Inc., Deutsche Bank Securities Limited, Deutsche Bank Services (Jersey) Limited, Deutsche Bank Sociedad Anonima Espanola, Deutsche Bank Sociedad Anonima Espanola, Deutsche Bank Societa per Azioni, Deutsche Bank Trust Company Americas, Deutsche Bank Trust Company Delaware, Deutsche Bank Trust Company National Association, Deutsche Bank Trust Company National Association, Deutsche Bank Trust Corporation, Deutsche CIB Centre Private Limited, Deutsche Capital Finance (2000) Limited, Deutsche Capital Hong Kong Limited, Deutsche Capital Management Limited, Deutsche Capital Markets Australia Limited, Deutsche Capital Partners China Limited, Deutsche Cayman Ltd., Deutsche Colombia S.A.S., Deutsche Custody N.V., Deutsche Domus New Zealand Limited, Deutsche Equities India Private Limited, Deutsche Finance Co 1 Pty Limited, Deutsche Finance Co 2 Pty Limited, Deutsche Finance Co 3 Pty Limited, Deutsche Finance Co 4 Pty Limited, Deutsche Finance No. 2 Limited, Deutsche Foras New Zealand Limited, Deutsche Gesellschaft fur Immobilien-Leasing mit beschrankter Haftung, Deutsche Gesellschaft fur Immobilien-Leasing mit beschrankterHaftung, Deutsche Global Markets Limited, Deutsche Group Holdings (SA) Proprietary Limited, Deutsche Group Services Pty Limited, Deutsche Grundbesitz Beteiligungsgesellschaft mbH, Deutsche Grundbesitz Beteiligungsgesellschaft mbH i.L., Deutsche Grundbesitz-Anlagegesellschaft mit beschrankter Haftung, Deutsche Holdings (BTI) Limited, Deutsche Holdings (Grand Duchy), Deutsche Holdings (Luxembourg) S.a r.l., Deutsche Holdings (Malta) Ltd., Deutsche Holdings Limited, Deutsche Holdings No. 2 Limited, Deutsche Holdings No. 3 Limited, Deutsche Holdings No. 4 Limited, Deutsche Immobilien Leasing GmbH, Deutsche India Holdings Private Limited, Deutsche International Corporate Services (Ireland) Limited, Deutsche International Corporate Services Limited, Deutsche International Custodial Services Limited, Deutsche Inversiones Dos S.A., Deutsche Inversiones Limitada, Deutsche Investments (Netherlands) N.V., Deutsche Investments India Private Limited, Deutsche Investor Services Private Limited, Deutsche Knowledge Services Pte. Ltd., Deutsche Leasing New York Corp., Deutsche Mandatos S.A., Deutsche Master Funding Corporation, Deutsche Mexico Holdings S.a r.l., Deutsche Morgan Grenfell Group Limited, Deutsche Morgan Grenfell Group Public Limited Company, Deutsche Mortgage & Asset Receiving Corporation, Deutsche Mortgage Securities Inc., Deutsche Mortgage Securities Inc., Deutsche Nederland N.V., Deutsche New Zealand Limited, Deutsche Nominees Limited, Deutsche Oppenheim Family Office AG, Deutsche Overseas Issuance New Zealand Limited, Deutsche Postbank, Deutsche Postbank Finance Center Objekt GmbH, Deutsche Postbank Funding LLC I, Deutsche Postbank Funding LLC II, Deutsche Postbank Funding LLC III, Deutsche Private Asset Management Limited, Deutsche Securities (India) Private Limited, Deutsche Securities (Proprietary) Limited, Deutsche Securities (SA) (Proprietary) Limited, Deutsche Securities Asia Limited, Deutsche Securities Australia Limited, Deutsche Securities Inc., Deutsche Securities Israel Ltd., Deutsche Securities Korea Co., Deutsche Securities Mauritius Limited, Deutsche Securities Menkul Degerler A.S., Deutsche Securities S.A., Deutsche Securities S.A. de C.V. Casa de Bolsa, Deutsche Securities S.A. de C.V. Casa de Bolsa, Deutsche Securities Saudi Arabia, Deutsche Securities SpA, Deutsche Securities Venezuela S.A., Deutsche Securitisation Australia Pty Limited, Deutsche Services Polska Sp. z o.o., Deutsche StiftungsTrust GmbH, Deutsche Strategic Investment Holdings Yugen Kaisha, Deutsche Trust Company Limited Japan, Deutsche Trustee Company Limited, Deutsche Trustee Services (India) Private Limited, Deutsche Trustees Malaysia Berhad, Deutsche Wealth Management S.G.I.I.C. S.A., Deutsches Institut fur Altersvorsorge GmbH, Durian (Luxembourg) S.a r.l., EC EUROPA IMMOBILIEN FONDS NR. 3 GmbH & CO. KG i.I., Elba Finance GmbH, Elizabethan Holdings Limited, Elizabethan Management Limited, Emerald Asset Repackaging Designated Activity Company, Erste Frankfurter Hoist GmbH, European Value Added I (Alternate G.P.) LLP, Exinor SA, FARAMIR Beteiligungs- und Verwaltungs GmbH, FRANKFURT CONSULT GmbH, Fiduciaria Sant' Andrea S.r.L., Finanzberatungsgesellschaft mbH der Deutschen Bank, Franz Urbig- und Oscar Schlitter-Stiftung Gesellschaft mit beschrankter Haftung, Freddie Mac Class A Taxable Multifamily M Certificates Series M-037, Freddie Mac Class A Taxable Multifamily M Certificates Series M-039, Freddie Mac Class A Taxable Multifamily M Certificates Series M-040, Freddie Mac Class A Taxable Multifamily M Certificates Series M-041, Freddie Mac Class A Taxable Multifamily M Certificates Series M-043, Freddie Mac Class A Taxable Multifamily M Certificates Series M-044, Freddie Mac Class A Taxable Multifamily M Certificates Series M-047, Funfte SAB Treuhand und Verwaltung GmbH & Co. Suhl "Rimbachzentrum" KG, G Finance Holding Corp., G.O. IB-US Management L.L.C., G918 Corp., GAC-HEL Inc., GWC-GAC Corp., Galene S.a r.l., Gemini Technology Services Inc., German American Capital, German American Capital Corporation, Gladyr Spain S.L., Global Markets Fundo de Investimento Multimercado, Global Markets III Fundo de Investimento Multimercado - Credito, Greenwood Properties Corp., Grundstucksgesellschaft Frankfurt Bockenheimer Landstrae GbR, Grundstucksgesellschaft Kerpen-Sindorf Vogelrutherfeld GbR, Grundstucksgesellschaft Leipzig Petersstrae GbR, Grundstucksgesellschaft Wiesbaden Luisenstrae/Kirchgasse GbR, HTB Spezial GmbH & Co. KG, Hollandsche Bank-Unie, IOS Finance EFC S.A., ISTRON Beteiligungs- und Verwaltungs-GmbH, IVAF I Manager S.a r.l., IVAF I Manager S.a r.l., Immobilienfonds Buro-Center Erfurt am Flughafen Bindersleben I GbR, Immobilienfonds Buro-Center Erfurt am Flughafen Bindersleben II GbR, Immobilienfonds Mietwohnhauser Quadrath-Ichendorf GbR, Immobilienfonds Wohn- und Geschaftshaus Koln-Blumenberg V GbR, J R Nominees (Pty) Ltd, Joint Stock Company Deutsche Bank DBU, Jyogashima Godo Kaisha, KEBA Gesellschaft fur interne Services mbH, Kidson Pte Ltd, Konsul Inkasso GmbH, Kradavimd UK Lease Holdings Limited, LA Water Holdings Limited, LAWL Pte. Ltd., Latitude Australia Secured Personal Loans Trust, Leasing Verwaltungsgesellschaft Waltersdorf mbH, Leonardo III Initial GP Limited, Lindsell Finance Limited, London Industrial Leasing Limited, MEF I Manager S. a r.l., MEF I Manager S. a r.l., MHL Reinsurance Ltd., MIT Holdings Inc., MIT Holdings Inc., MPP Beteiligungsgesellschaft mbH, Maher Terminals Holdings (Toronto) Limited, Morgan Grenfell & Company, MortgageIT, MortgageIT Inc., MortgageIT Inc., MortgageIT Securities Corp., Motion Picture Productions One GmbH & Co. KG, NCW Holding Inc., Navegator - SGFTC S.A., Navegator - SGFTC S.A., New 87 Leonard LLC, Nordwestdeutscher Wohnungsbautrager Gesellschaft mit beschrankter Haftung, OOO "Deutsche Bank TechCentre", OOO "Deutsche Bank", OPB Verwaltungs- und Beteiligungs-GmbH, OPB Verwaltungs- und Treuhand GmbH, OPB-Holding GmbH, OPB-Nona GmbH, OPB-Oktava GmbH, OPB-Quarta GmbH, OPB-Quinta GmbH, OPB-Septima GmbH, OPPENHEIM Capital Advisory GmbH, OPPENHEIM Flottenfonds V GmbH & Co. KG, OPPENHEIM PRIVATE EQUITY Manager GmbH, OPPENHEIM PRIVATE EQUITY Verwaltungsgesellschaft mbH, OPS Nominees Pty Limited, OVT Trust 1 GmbH, OVV Beteiligungs GmbH, Opal Funds (Ireland) Public Limited Company, PADUS Grundstucks-Vermietungsgesellschaft mbH, PARTS Funding LLC., PB Factoring GmbH, PB Firmenkunden AG, PB International S.A., PB Spezial-Investmentaktiengesellschaft mit Teilgesellschaftsvermogen, PBC Banking Services GmbH, PCC Services GmbH der Deutschen Bank, PT Deutsche Sekuritas Indonesia, PT. Deutsche Verdhana Sekuritas Indonesia, Pan Australian Nominees Pty Ltd, Peruda Leasing Limited, Plantation Bay Inc., Plantation Bay Inc., Postbank Akademie und Service GmbH, Postbank Beteiligungen GmbH, Postbank Direkt GmbH, Postbank Filialvertrieb AG, Postbank Finanzberatung AG, Postbank Immobilien GmbH, Postbank Immobilien und Baumanagement GmbH, Postbank Immobilien und Baumanagement GmbH & Co. Objekt Leipzig KG, Postbank Leasing GmbH, Postbank Service GmbH, Postbank Systems AG, QR Tower 2 LLC, Quantiguous, R.B.M. Nominees Pty Ltd, REO Properties Corporation, RREEF, RREEF America L.L.C., RREEF China REIT Management Limited, RREEF European Value Added I (G.P.) Limited, RREEF Fund Holding Co., RREEF India Advisors Private Limited, RREEF Management L.L.C., RTS Nominees Pty Limited, Reference Capital Investments Limited, RoPro U.S. Holding Inc., RoPro U.S. Holding Inc., Route 28 Receivables LLC, Route 28 Receivables LLC, SAB Real Estate Verwaltungs GmbH, SAGITA Grundstucks-Vermietungsgesellschaft mbH, SAPIO Grundstucks-Vermietungsgesellschaft mbH, SCUDO Grundstucks-Vermietungsgesellschaft mbH i.L., SEDO Grundstucks-Vermietungsgesellschaft mbH i.L., SENA Grundstucks-Vermietungsgesellschaft mbH & Co. Objekt Kamenz KG, SIFA Grundstucks-Vermietungsgesellschaft mbH, SOLIDO Grundstucks-Vermietungsgesellschaft mbH, SP Mortgage Trust, SPINO Grundstucks-Vermietungsgesellschaft mbH i.L., SPV I Sociedad Anonima Cerrada, SPV II Sociedad Anonima Cerrada, STATOR Heizkraftwerk Frankfurt (Oder) Beteiligungsgesellschaft mbH, Sal. Oppenheim, Sal. Oppenheim Alternative Investments GmbH, Sal. Oppenheim jr. & Cie. AG & Co. Kommanditgesellschaft auf Aktien, Sal. Oppenheim jr. & Cie. Beteiligungs GmbH, Sal. Oppenheim jr. & Cie. Komplementar AG, Sechste Salomon Beteiligungs- und Verwaltungsgesellschaft mbH, Sechste Salomon Beteiligungs- und Verwaltungsgesellschaft mbH i.L., Service Company Four Limited, Sharps SP I LLC, Singer Island Tower Suite LLC, Somkid Immobiliare S.r.l., Stelvio Immobiliare S.r.l., Structured Finance Americas LLC, Structured Finance Americas LLC, Swabia 1. Vermogensbesitz-GmbH, Suddeutsche Vermogensverwaltung Gesellschaft mit beschrankter Haftung, TAKIR Grundstucks-Vermietungsgesellschaft mbH, TELO Beteiligungsgesellschaft mbH, TEMATIS Grundstucks-Vermietungsgesellschaft mbH i.L., TERRUS Grundstucks-Vermietungsgesellschaft mbH i.L., TESATUR Beteiligungsgesellschaft mbH & Co. Objekt Halle I KG i.L., TESATUR Beteiligungsgesellschaft mbH & Co. Objekt Nordhausen I KG i.L., TOSSA Grundstucks-Vermietungsgesellschaft mbH, TRIPLA Grundstucks-Vermietungsgesellschaft mbH, TRS Aria LLC, TRS Leda LLC, TRS Maple II LTD, TRS Oak II LTD, TRS SVCO LLC, TRS Scorpio LLC, TRS Tupelo II LTD, TRS Venor LLC, TRS Walnut II LTD, Tagus - Sociedade de Titularizacao de Creditos S.A., Tasfiye Halinde Deutsche Securities Menkul Degerler A.S., Tempurrite Leasing Limited, Thai Asset Enforcement and Recovery Asset Management Company Limited, Tianjin Deutsche AM Fund Management Co. Ltd., Treuinvest Service GmbH, Triplereason Limited, UKE Beteiligungs-GmbH, UKE Grundstucksgesellschaft mbH, UKE s.r.o., Ullmann - Esch Grundstucksgesellschaft Kirchnerstrae GbR, Ullmann - Esch Grundstucksverwaltungsgesellschaft Disternich GbR, Ullmann Ullmann Krockow Krockow Esch GbR, VCJ Lease S.a r.l., Vesta Real Estate S.r.l., VOB-ZVD Processing GmbH, WEPLA Beteiligungsgesellschaft mbH, WEPLABeteiligungsgesellschaftmbH, Wealthspur Investment Ltd., Whale Holdings S.a r.l., World Trading (Delaware) Inc., World Trading(Delaware)Inc., Zumirez Drive LLC, db PBC, and norisbank GmbH. The following companies are subsidiares of TE Connectivity: 999 Arques Corp., ABB ENTRELEC terminal block business, ACC Telecommunications, ADC Chile Limitada, ADC Communications (SEA) Pte. Ltd., ADC Communications (UK) Holding Ltd., ADC Communications (UK) Ltd., ADC Communications Hong Kong Limited, ADC Telecommunications Equipment (Shanghai) Co., AMP Amermex, AMP Products Pacific Limited, AMP Taiwan B.V., AMP Trading B.V., AMP de Venezuela, Acalon Holdings Limited, Advanced Fiber Products LLC, Advanced Fiber Products Limited, Advanced Tube Technologies, AdvancedCath, AdvancedCath Technologies, Alpha Technics, American Sensor Technologies, Betatherm (R&D) Limited, Brantner Holding Company, Brantner and Associates, Butterfly Management SAS, C.S. Tyco Decisive Inc., C.S. Tyco Dependable Inc., C.S. Tyco Durable Inc., C.S. Tyco Reliance Inc., C.S. Tyco Resolute Inc., C.S. Tyco Responder Inc., CII Guardian International Limited, Cablotec GmbH, Carrier Kheops Bac SAS, Catheter and Disposable Technology, Celis Eletrocomponentes Ltda., Cima de Acuna S.A. de C.V., Clarebury Pty. Ltd., Codenoll Technology Corporation, Communication Expert International Investments Limited, Compagnie Deutsch Distribution SAS, Compagnie Deutsch SAS, Comtec Systeme GmbH, Connecteurs Electriques Deutsch SAS, Corcom, Corcom West Indies Limited, Cotsworks LLC, Creganna, Creganna Captial Holding Ireland Unlimited Company, Creganna Finance (US) LLC, Creganna Finance Ireland Limited, Creganna Luxembourg SARL, Creganna Medical Devices, Creganna Medical Pte. Limited, Creganna Medical Technology Unlimited, Creganna Medical s.r.l., Creganna Regulatory, Creganna Solutions Limited, Creganna Solutions Unlimited Company, Creganna Tactx Singapore Limited, Creganna Unlimited Company, Cregstar Bidco Limited, Critchley Group Limited, Crompton Instruments (South-East Asia) Pte. Ltd., Deutsch, Deutsch Connectors Hong Kong Limited, Deutsch Connectors Manufacturing (Shanghai) Co., Deutsch Connectors Trading (Shanghai) Co., Deutsch Finance SAS, Deutsch GB Limited, Deutsch Group SAS, Deutsch India Power Connectors (Pvt) Ltd, Deutsch Israel Ltd., Deutsch SAS, Deutsch Servicios S. de R.L. De C.V., Deutsch Subco Limited, Deutsch UK, F.A.I. Technology (Hong Kong) Limited, First Sensor, Grangehurst Enterprises Pty. Ltd., Hirschmann Car Communication, Hong Kong Sensors Technologies Limited, Howard A. Schaevitz Technologies, Intercontec Connector System (Shanghai) Co., Intercontec Produkt GmbH, Intercontect Pfeiffer Industrie-Steckverbindungen GmbH, Jaquet North America, Jaquet Technology Group AG, Kemex Holding Company, Kenabell Holding Limited, LADD Distribution LLC, LADD Distribution Limited, LSA, MEAS Asia Limited, MEAS Europe SAS, MEAS France SAS, MEAS Ireland (Betatherm) Limited, MEAS Norway AS, MEAS Shenzhen Limited, MEAS Switzerland S.a r.l., MEAS US Holding, MP&E, Measurement Specialties, Measurement Specialties (Chengdu) Ltd., Measurement Specialties (China) Ltd., Measurement Specialties (China) Ltd. Production Branch, Measurement Specialties Foreign Holdings LLC, Measurement Technology (Chengdu) Ltd., Medical Engineering & Design, MicroGroup, Morlynn Ceramics Pty. Ltd., Nikkiso-Therm Co., PT KRONE Indonesia, PT. Tyco Electronics Indonesia, Pfeiffer GmbH & Co KG, Pfeiffer Verwaltungs GmbH, Polamco, Polamco Limited, Potter & Brumfield de Mexico, Precision Interconnect LLC, Precision Subsea AS, Precision Wire Components, Precision Wire Holding Company, Produxx, RAYCHEM-RPG Private Limited, Raychem (HK) Limited, Raychem (Shanghai) Trading Ltd, Raychem China Limited, Raychem Dominicana S.A., Raychem Industries BVBA, Raychem International LLC, Raychem International Manufacturing LLC, Raychem Juarez, Raychem Limited, Raychem Ltd., Raychem Pacific Corporation, Raychem Saudi Arabia Limited, Raychem Shanghai Cable Accessories Ltd, Raychem Technologies Limited, Rochester Wire and Cable LLC, SEACON Advanced Products LLC, Seacon (Europe) Limited, Seacon Global Production, Seacon Produtos e Servicos Opticos e Eletricos Ltda., Sensitive Object, Servo Interconnect Limited, Shanghai CII Electronics Co., Shenzhen Century Man Communication Equipment Co., Sibas Electronics (Xiamen) Co., TCN Holding (Luxembourg) S.a.r.l., TE Connectivity (Barbados) SRL, TE Connectivity (Denmark) ApS, TE Connectivity (HKZ) Holding Limited, TE Connectivity (Kunshan) Company Limited, TE Connectivity (Netherlands) Holding S.a r.l. - Irish Branch, TE Connectivity (Schweiz) Management AG, TE Connectivity (Suzhou) Co., TE Connectivity Argentina S.R.L., TE Connectivity Australia Pty Ltd, TE Connectivity Colombia S.A.S., TE Connectivity Connectors (Suzhou) Co., TE Connectivity Distribution (Thailand) Limited, TE Connectivity EMEA Holding GmbH, TE Connectivity Germany GmbH, TE Connectivity HK Limited, TE Connectivity Holding International II S.a r.l., TE Connectivity Holding International II S.a r.l. Luxembourg (LU) Schaffhausen E-Finance branch, TE Connectivity Holding International II S.a r.l. Luxembourg (LU) Schaffhausen branch, TE Connectivity Holding International II S.a r.l. (Ireland Branch), TE Connectivity Holding International S.A., TE Connectivity Inc., TE Connectivity India Private Limited, TE Connectivity Investments Holding S.A., TE Connectivity Investments Holding S.A. Luxembourg (LU) Schaffhausen branch, TE Connectivity Ireland Limited, TE Connectivity LATAM Holding S.a r.l., TE Connectivity LATAM I S.a r.l., TE Connectivity LATAM II S.a r.l., TE Connectivity Limited, TE Connectivity MOG Europe S.a r.l., TE Connectivity MOG Holding S.a r.l., TE Connectivity MOG Inc., TE Connectivity MOG Sales GmbH, TE Connectivity Manufacturing (Thailand) Company Limited, TE Connectivity Manufacturing Sdn. Bhd., TE Connectivity Morocco SARL, TE Connectivity Nederland B.V., TE Connectivity Netherlands (Poland II) Cooperatief U.A., TE Connectivity Netherlands (Turkey) B.V., TE Connectivity Netherlands Cooperatief U.A., TE Connectivity Phoenix Optix Inc., TE Connectivity Seacon Phoenix Inc., TE Connectivity Sensors Germany GmbH, TE Connectivity Services India Private Limited, TE Connectivity Solutions GmbH, TE Connectivity South Africa Proprietary Limited, TE Connectivity Spain, TE Connectivity SubCom S.L.U., TE Connectivity SubCom Spain Holding S.L.U., TE Connectivity Technology Solutions Limited, TE Connectivity Tunisia Sarl, TE Connectivity ULC, TE Connectivity US Group Holding Inc., TE Connectivity Vietnam Holding Company Limited, TYCO Electronics Polska Sp.z.o.o., TYCO SUBMARINE SYSTEMS INC., TacPro, Tactx Medical, Taicang Speed & Spin Sensors Co., Taliq Taiwan Limited, Tappat Engineering Pty Ltd, TechDevice Costa Rica Limitada, TechDevice Holdings, TechDevice LLC, The Whitaker LLC, Transoceanic Cable Ship Company LLC, TyCom Holdings II SA, TyCom Networks (Peru) S.A., Tyco Electronics (AMP Korea) Malta Limited, Tyco Electronics (Dongguan) Ltd, Tyco Electronics (Gibraltar) Holding Limited, Tyco Electronics (Gibraltar) Limited, Tyco Electronics (Korea) Malta Limited, Tyco Electronics (Kunshan) Ltd, Tyco Electronics (Malaysia) Sdn. Bhd., Tyco Electronics (Qingdao) Ltd., Tyco Electronics (Schweiz) Holding II GmbH, Tyco Electronics (Shanghai) Co., Tyco Electronics (Shenzhen) Co. Ltd., Tyco Electronics (Suzhou) Ltd., Tyco Electronics (Zhuhai) Ltd, Tyco Electronics AMP Guangdong Ltd, Tyco Electronics AMP Italia Products S.R.L., Tyco Electronics AMP Italia S.R.L., Tyco Electronics AMP Korea Co., Tyco Electronics AMP Manufacturing (S) Pte Ltd, Tyco Electronics AMP Qingdao Ltd., Tyco Electronics AMP Shanghai Ltd., Tyco Electronics Austria GmbH, Tyco Electronics Belgium EC BVBA, Tyco Electronics Brasil Ltda., Tyco Electronics Canada ULC, Tyco Electronics China (Gibraltar) Limited, Tyco Electronics Componentes Electromecanicos Lda., Tyco Electronics Corby Limited, Tyco Electronics Corporation, Tyco Electronics Czech s.r.o., Tyco Electronics Del Peru S.A.C., Tyco Electronics EC Trutnov s.r.o., Tyco Electronics EC Verwaltungsgesellschaft mbH, Tyco Electronics Eta Limited, Tyco Electronics Finance Alpha GmbH, Tyco Electronics Finance S.a r.l., Tyco Electronics Finland Oy, Tyco Electronics France SAS, Tyco Electronics Germany Holdings GmbH, Tyco Electronics Group S.A., Tyco Electronics Group S.A. (French Branch), Tyco Electronics Group S.A. (Ireland Branch), Tyco Electronics H.K. Limited, Tyco Electronics Hellas MEPE, Tyco Electronics Holding Corp., Tyco Electronics Holding France, Tyco Electronics Holding S.a r.l., Tyco Electronics Holdings (Bermuda) No. 7 Limited, Tyco Electronics Holdings (Bermuda) No. 7 Limited Taiwan Branch, Tyco Electronics Hong Kong Holdings No. 1 Limited, Tyco Electronics Hong Kong Holdings No. 2 Limited, Tyco Electronics Hong Kong Holdings No. 3 Limited, Tyco Electronics Hungary Termelo Kft, Tyco Electronics Idento, Tyco Electronics India (Gibraltar) Limited, Tyco Electronics Industrial Y Comercial Chile Limitada, Tyco Electronics Integrated Cable Systems LLC, Tyco Electronics Ireland Limited, Tyco Electronics Israel Ltd., Tyco Electronics Italia Holding S.r.l., Tyco Electronics Japan G.K., Tyco Electronics Lambda, Tyco Electronics Latin America Holding LLC, Tyco Electronics Manufacturing Singapore Pte Ltd, Tyco Electronics Mexico, Tyco Electronics Middle East FZE, Tyco Electronics Motors Ltd, Tyco Electronics NZ Limited, Tyco Electronics Netherlands (Germany Holding) S.a r.l., Tyco Electronics Netherlands (Gibraltar China) Cooperatief U.A., Tyco Electronics Netherlands (Gibraltar India) Cooperatief U.A., Tyco Electronics Netherlands (India) Cooperatief U.A., Tyco Electronics Netherlands Holding B.V., Tyco Electronics Norge AS, Tyco Electronics Philippines, Tyco Electronics Precision Engineering Ltd., Tyco Electronics Printed Circuit Group LP, Tyco Electronics RIMC Holding LLC, Tyco Electronics RUS OOO, Tyco Electronics Raychem GmbH, Tyco Electronics Raychem Korea Limited, Tyco Electronics SIMEL SAS, Tyco Electronics Saudi Arabia Limited, Tyco Electronics Services GmbH, Tyco Electronics Singapore Pte Ltd, Tyco Electronics Subsea Communications LLC, Tyco Electronics Svenska AB, Tyco Electronics Svenska Holdings AB, Tyco Electronics Technology (SIP) Co., Tyco Electronics Technology (SIP) Ltd., Tyco Electronics Tecnologias S. de R.L. de C.V., Tyco Electronics UK Holdings Ltd, Tyco Electronics UK Ltd., Tyco Electronics UK Ltd. (Kenya Branch), Tyco Electronics Ukraine Limited, Tyco Electronics Uruguay S.A., Tyco Electronics Verwaltungs GmbH, Tyco Electronics Wireless Systems B.V., Tyco Electronics de Venezuela, Tyco Elektronik AMP Ticaret Limited Sirketi, Tyco Global Networks Ltd., Tyco Iberia, Tyco International Services GmbH, Tyco Networks (Argentina) S.R.L., Tyco Networks (Italy) Srl, Tyco Networks (Netherlands) B.V., Tyco Networks Iberica, Tyco Submarine Systems, Tyco Submarine Systems C.A., Tyco Submarine Systems de Argentina S.A., Tyco Telecommunications Ltd., Wema Americas LLC, Wema Automotive System Private Limited, Wema Environmental Technologies (Shanghai) Co., Wema Environmental Technologies (Shenzhen) Co., Wema Environmental Technologies Ltd., Wema System AG, Wema System AS, Wema System Hong Kong Limited, Wema System Production and Distribution HK Limited, Xiamen Delixing Electric Equipment Businesss, and motec Montage GmbH. 20 hours ago | June 18th | 2021 5:00 AM Nio Stock is Revving Up, But Should You Jump on Board? Its been a wild ride for electric vehicle (EV) stocks, and Nio (NYSE:NIO) has been no exception. At a quick glance, the 13% drop in NIO stock for 2021 doesnt look too bad. However, the stock is down approximately double that since reaching a high of over $60 in February. And without a rally of over 30% over the AmerisourceBergen Corporation sources and distributes pharmaceutical products in the United States and internationally. Its Pharmaceutical Distribution segment distributes brand-name and generic pharmaceuticals, over-the-counter healthcare products, home healthcare supplies and equipment, outsourced compounded sterile preparations, and related services to various healthcare providers, including acute care hospitals and health systems, independent and chain retail pharmacies, mail order pharmacies, medical clinics, long-term care and other alternate site pharmacies, and other customers. It also provides pharmacy management, staffing, and other consulting services; supply management software to retail and institutional healthcare providers; and packaging solutions to various institutional and retail healthcare providers. In addition, this segment distributes plasma and other blood products, injectable pharmaceuticals, vaccines, and other specialty products; provides other services primarily to physicians who specialize in various disease states, primarily oncology, as well as to other healthcare providers, including hospitals and dialysis clinics; and offers data analytics, outcomes research, and additional services for biotechnology and pharmaceutical manufacturers. The company's Other segment provides integrated manufacturer services, such as clinical trial support, product post-approval, and commercialization support; offers specialty transportation and logistics services for the biopharmaceutical industry; and sells pharmaceuticals, vaccines, parasiticides, diagnostics, micro feed ingredients, and various other products to customers in both the companion animal and production animal markets, as well as provides demand-creating sales force services to manufacturers. AmerisourceBergen Corporation was founded in 1985 and is headquartered in Chesterbrook, Pennsylvania. Read More Claiming that they would still fight of front-foot despite of going alone in Uttar Pradesh, Congress president Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday said that the bringing in his sister Priyanka Vadra and Jyoitraditya Scindia, is just first step in this regard. He claimed that the youth leaders would now write new era to the history of this State adding that Bharatiya Janta Party is now living under a fear of losing the battle of ballots. ``We are still not avert to talking with the Samajwadi Party or Bahujan Samaj Party over going together but I wanted to make it clear that we will not fight on back-foot but would take the battle on front-foot showing that the Congress is as powerful as it was earlier and it was a mistake to write us off, asserted Rahul while claiming that he still give full respect to both Akhilesh Yadav and Mayawati, even when they ignored them while announcing the alliance. We still have door opens for larger alliance and anyone who can defeat the BJP is welcome, he said while indicating that Congress wants to take one-to-one with the BJP in UP. If SP and BSP wants to talk with us for a big alliance in UP, then they are welcome to join us, there is no problem in it, Rahul said but we know that Akhilesh and Mayawati too wants to defeat the BJP. In his first reaction after appointment of his sister Priyanka as the Party general secretary, Rahul said that the decision was taken to strengthen the party and this two powerful Congress leaders including Jyotiradtiya will pave way for the spread of the Congress ideology of the youths, fathers and other section of the society. I trust Priyanka Gandhi Vadra and Jyoitraditya Scindia. We will not play on the backfoot, he told reporters at Fhursatganj. He further said that the Party has appointed both the leaders in a permanent basis in UP and had not sent Priyanka and Jyotiraditya for just two months or till the Lok Sabha polls. I have sent them to take Congress ideology forward in Uttar Pradesh. Our ideology is of standing and fighting for the poor, for the youth, for the farmers. Both Priyanka and Jyotiraditya are very capable and dynamic, and will surely take Congress forward in UP, he added. The sudden appointment of Priyanka on the day Rahul visiting UP, has changed the political dynamics in the state which will elect 80 Lok Sabha members in next three month time when Congress has announced to contest the elections alone against the BJP and the SP-BSP alliance. When asked if Priyanka would be contesting the Lok Sabha polls, he said, It is up to Priyanka to take a decision. I have already said that now Congress will not play on the backfoot and will only bat on the front foot in UP and elsewhere, The Congress president said. He said that by appointing both these leaders, the most powerful in the party, it want to change the political atmosphere in UP and to change the thinking of the people that Congress has no plan for the largest state of the country. Meanwhile, UP Congress MLC and a close confident of Rahul and Priyanka, Deepak Singh hailed the decision of the party to appoint Priyanka and Jotiyraditya Scindia as the partys new in-charge of UP. This strategy will work intensively in the Lok Sabha polls and it will not stop till 2022, the next assembly polls in UP, Singh said. Earlier Rahul Gandhi was given a warm welcome here at Airport by senior leaders including Raj Babbar, Sanjay Singh, Pramod Tewari, Deepak Singh, Ajay Kumar `Lallu, Aradhana Mishra `Mona, Vinod Mishra and others. Sources said that during interaction, Rahul asked the leaders to get ready as the Party would now go in alliance. When partys state general secretary and in-charge of Lucknow district Vinod Kumar Mishra while interacting with Rahul Gandhi thanked him for announcing to go alone in the Lok Sabha polls in UP as the party workers are happy with the central leadership decision, the party president responded with pat on the back of the state leader and assuring him that the workers sentiment would be respected and Congress will contest alone in UP. Meanwhile in Amethi, Rahul Gandhi was greeted with posters hailing him as the next prime minister. Posters stating Amethi Ka MP, 2019 Ka PM, Mission 2019 - Vidhan Sabha Tiloi Welcomes soon-to-be Prime Minister Rahul Gandhi, Abhi to Jeete Teen Pradesh, 2019 Mein Jeetengey Pura Desh dotted the skyline of the constituency. It was Gandhis fist visit to his constituency after the partys stupendous victory in the assembly polls in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh. The posters hailing the Congress chief as the next PM came up in most parts of the constituency like Jais and Gauriganj. Indore RTO department on Thursday raided Colonels Academy CBSE School Mhow and checked the school buses. The team was surprised to see that the school buses were clearly flouting the Supreme Court rules of 40 kms per hour of maximum limit. The school administration tampered the speed governor of the buses and the buses were running at the speed of 80 kms per hour thus risking the life of dozens of students travelling in the bus. The GPS and CCTV camera of all the 16 buses of the Colonels Academy School was not functional and login id of the GPS and CCTV camera of all the 16 school buses were not found. The seats were found on the emergency exit gate of the buses. The fitness of total 6 buses was cancelled on the spot. The indicators horn and light of the 3 buses were not working and the fine of rs 3000 were imposed on the Colonels Academy school administration. ARTO Indore Hridesh Yadav told The Pioneer that the administration is fully prepared for the safety and security of school students who are travelling in the buses. ARTO Indore Nisha Chouhan told that as per the Supreme Court guidelines every school bus should have Speed Governor, CCTV camera, GPS system, Fire Extinguisher, Fast aid box, Drivers with 5 years of experience of driving heavy vehicles and no overloading. Transport commissioner Shailendra Shrivastava, Indore collector lokesh Jatav Indore RTO Jeetendra Raghunvanshi and Mhow SDM Anshul Gupta is monitoring the school buses on day to day basis. It is to be noted that Colonels Academy CBSE School Mhow is the first school in Indore district till now where the fitness of 6 buses are cancelled in one time of checking. The Delhi Police's Special Cell has arrested five members of an international drug syndicate, including an NRI, for allegedly smuggling "party drugs" and banned hallucinogenic substance worth more than Rs 100 crore has been seized, police said on Wednesday. The accused have been identified as Sunil Kumar (33), Lokesh Mehta (25), Satish Sahu (45), Neeraj Arora (43) and Rajesh Dutta, a British citizen (45), they added. Party drugs worth more than Rs 100 crore in the international market including 13.5 lakh tablets of drugs, 10.2 kg of tramadol powder and 500 gm of ketamine have been recovered, officials said. According to police, the accused collected drug tablets and other contraband from Mumbai and Delhi and exported them to London in UK, Nepal and Malaysia. The kingpins of the gang are Mazhar, a Pakistan national, and Amarjeet Bains both based in London, UK and Jaspreet Singh Dhillon based in Nepal, they said. Technical surveillance revealed that Kumar and Mehta had procured a large consignment of drugs and their counterpart in Mumbai identified as Sahu had come to Delhi to collect the load for exporting them, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Special Cell) Sanjeev Kumar Yadav said. Kumar and Mehta used to pack and store the contraband, he said. "After we received input that a drug consignment would be handed over to one of the gang members on the intervening night of January 15 and 16 near Bharati College in Janakpuri, a trap was laid at the spot," he added. Subsequently, Kumar and Mehta were apprehended and 5.275 kg of party drug tramadol powder was recovered from their possession, the officer said. The arrested helped the police recover huge quantity of the party drug from a godown at Hari Nagar, he said. On January 17, Sahu was arrested and 5.1 kg of tramadol powder, known as 'meow meow' was recovered from his possession. Upon interrogation, two more accused Arora and Dutta were arrested on January 20 and 480 gm of Ketamine drug was recovered from their possession, the DCP said. Investigation revealed that Dutta is an associate of international bucksman Sandeep Singh Gill and a Look Out Circular was opened against him by the British government authorities in connection with a two million pound money laundering case, he said. "Arora and Dutta used to prepare the drugs at the former's house. A drug manufacturing-cum-synthesising setup was seized from Arora's house in old Rajender Nagar area. Raw materials used for the same were also recovered," he added. Police also conducted a raid at Dutta's godown in Vikar Nagar following which 7.945 lakh tablets of party drugs, concealed in rice drums were recovered, Yadav said. "The recovered consignment was supposed to be smuggled to Europe via Sri Lanka and other routes. These tablets were procured by Dutta and Arora from Ashwani Rattan, who presently resides in UK," he said. The accused persons used to supply illegal drugs to each other as per their requirement for supplying abroad and other parts of India, he added. Kumar and Mehta, both are partners in the dealing of narcotics and psychotropic drugs in tablets and powdered form, officials said, adding they procured contraband from various sources, including Sahu. During sustained interrogation, it was revealed that Kumar and Mehta used to supply narcotics and psychotropic tablets and powder to one Mazhar, a Pakistan national based in UK, through cargo and courier, as per demand, the DCP said. With the euphoria generated by the of alliance followed by the mega meet of opposition leaders at Kolkatta, over the Samajwadi party and the Bahujan Samaj party are grappling with the `real politik of seat sharing. Both the parties are also to grapple with the dissidence as many aspirants will not be able to contest the election following the alliance. The entry of Priyanka Gandhi has added to the woes of the fledgling alliance. The move has come as a setback for the SP-BSP alliance as it has created fresh avenues for the prospective Lok Sabha candidates of both SP and BSP but denied opportunity to contest as both the parties have shared 38 seats each and rest for the small parties. The SP, BSP appeared over confident of their electoral arithmetic comprising of the SC, OBCs and minorities. ``The likely improvement in the electoral fortune of the Congress has brought a new hope for those SP and BSP leaders who were at the dead end of their political career because of the alliance of the two parties. Now they have the option of knocking at the door of the Congress said a political an analyst. ``Entry of Priyanka Gandhi could be setback for the Samajwadi Party-Bahujan Samaj Party alliance. The strategist of the SP-BSP were confident that there will be direct fight with the BJP, now the electoral battle is likely to be triangular which may benefit the BJP, said the Rajya Sabha MP of the Samajwadi party. He added`` the forceful entry of the congress could also create dilemma for the Muslim voters and providing credible alternative to the rebels of SP, BSP and the BJP. Bahujan Samaj party former MP refusing to be identified said `` the SP-BSP leaders should have made efforts for the honourable accommodation of the Congress in the alliance. He said this would have sealed the fate of the BJP and the tally of the ruling party at the Centre could have been reduced to a single digit. If 2017 UP assembly election is the benchmark, then the alliance plus Congress would have secured 52.08% vote share as compared to 39.67% of the BJP. said the BSP leader. Political observers say that voters, particularly Muslims, have not forgotten Mayawatis decision to take the BJPs support to form the government in Lucknow in 1995, and later in 1997 and 2002. They say these voters will not rule out the possibility of this happening again if the opposition fails to unseat Narendra Modi and the BJP at the Centre. There is this fear amongst Muslims that Mayawati could switch sides after the elections if she is not in a powerful position. This assumption that Muslims will vote only for the alliance is somehow misplaced. UP Congress general secretary Onkar Nath Singh said `` `all sections of the society are looking at the Congress as a possible alternative on seats that will be contested by BSP and SP. If they feel the Congress is in a strong position, they could end up voting for the Congress instead of the alliance. The last time the Samajwadi Party and Bahujan Samaj Party had joined hands was for the Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections in 1993, when the BJP was riding the Hindutva wave after the demolition of the Babri Masjid the previous year. Continuing its operation against alleged conduits of ISIS network in Uttar Pradesh, the sleuths of the National Investigation Agency (NIA) again carried out raid in Gonda on Wednesday. They reportedly picked up a Madarsa teacher for further interrogation. Earlier the central agency carried out search operations in Western Uttar Pradesh and Punjab, and so far picked up 16 persons. The ISIS module is allegedly planning suicide attacks and serial blasts, targeting politicians and government installations, in Delhi and other parts of north India. The NIA so far arrested Muhammad Absar (24) from Hapur on January 12. The NIA said that searches were being conducted based on inputs from interrogation of the people arrested for allegedly being part of Harkat ul Harb e Islam module of global terrorist group ISIS. Sources said that a joint team of NIA and UP ATS conducted a raid on the house of suspect in Mewatiyan locality and picked up for interrogation on Wednesday morning. The accused was said to be teacher in Forkaniya Madarsa in Gonda and said to be an expert in Arabic Language. The cops also took two bags and a laptop for further investigation. CM Raghubar Das on Thursday performed ground breaking ceremony of domestic airport at Dhalbhumgarh in Ghatshila sub-division. On the occasion, the State Government also signed a MoU with the Airport Authority of India. Das said that today 30 airplanes are flying daily from Bhagwan Birsa Munda airport for other states of the country. In the last year 2018 about 25 lakh 50,000 passengers traveled by airplane. This is the achievement of 4 years i.e. the purchasing power of the people of Jharkhand is increasing. Air service will start from Dhalbhumgarh Airport in one and a half years. The Chief Minister said that before December 28, 2014, 1500 people used to fly in Jharkhand every day and only 8 airplanes used to go daily and now in one year only 150,000 passengers travelled by airplane. He said that during the Prime Minister's rule in the last four years, on an average, 60,000 passenger passengers are traveling every day and due to this, lot of work is being done in the area under Dumka, Palamu, Hazaribagh, Daltonganj, Bokaro. Very soon these areas will get connectivity through the flight. The Chief Minister said that for the second phase 55 acres of land is required. The Chief Minister said : I will request the people of the surrounding area that whatever land they will give 55 acres of land under 2013 land acquisition act, they will give fur times the value of the market price. Along with this, we will also provide land so that they can build their own house and also make business and farming. Minister of State for Civil Aviation, Jayant Sinha said that today is the historic day for the East Singhbhum and Dhalbhumgarh region. The Union Minister said that this is a concrete step forward in fulfilling the decades-old demand of this region. In a year and a half, the aircraft will fly and fly to Kolkata, Patna, and Ranchi. He said that it was possible with full cooperation of the Chief Minister and tireless efforts of the MP of the area. The Union Minister said that this is the first state in the country where we will sign MOU for developing the world class the state-of-the-art airport. This will act as a role model for other states. Sinha said that there is a revolution in connectivity. Along with the National Highway, Telecom Sector, there has been a revolution of connectivity in the aviation sector too. Acting quickly against Kaparasa mines mishap, where four persons were killed in a cave while extracting coal illegally from there early in the morning under Nirsa police station of Dhanbad district on Wednesday, police have registered FIR against 10 persons including GM ECL Mugma, Project Officer Kaparasa, Colliery Manager Mugma, outsourcing company manager Jayant Sharma, Biswajit Ghosh and Yesh Agarwal. Officer-in-Charge of Nirsa Police station Sushma Kumar said that the list of accused also included the four persons who died in the incident. They have been charged for coal theft, negligence in discharging their duties, criminal conspiracy as well as under the provisions of Coal Mines Act, said the OC, taking the matter seriously, an investigation in this regard has been initiated, she added. At least four persons were killed and around six injured as the roof of a mine partially collapsed at Kaparasa mines. The incident occurred when some persons had entered the mine for carrying out illegal mining activities. The place where the incident occurred is 50 metres away from the mines which the Eastern Coalfield Limited (ECL), a subsidiary of Coal India Limited, has outsourced to private company, Kanta Transport. Dhanbad Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP), Kishore Kaushal said, The incident occurred at the mines where illegal mining was being carried out. With a survey predicting whitewash of the Bharatiya Janata Party in Uttar Pradesh in case the opposition parties unitedly contest the Lok Sabha elections, speculations are rife about a possible realignment of the gathbandhan in the politically active state. What gave grist to the rumour mill was the statement of Congress chief Rahul Gandhi in Amethi on Wednesday, where he said that his party was still open to alliance with Samajwadi Party and Bahujan Samaj Party. We have a common goal to defeat the BJP. Therefore, Congress is open for an alliance if they (SP and BSP) approach us. I have earlier said that I have immense respect for both Mayawati and Akhilesh Yadav. But Congress is not going to play on the back foot. Not in UP, not in Gujarat, said an upbeat Rahul. The Congress chief made the statement hours after Priyanka Vadra Gandhi was appointed as party general secretary and made in-charge of eastern Uttar Pradesh affairs. By Wednesday evening, as the survey was released and showed that the BJP would win just five seats if SP, BSP and Congress joined hands, murmurs started in opposition ranks that all three major players must come together and give a united fight to the BJP. Dr SP Pandey of Pandit Govind Ballabh Pant Institutes of Studies in Rural Development said that Congress stake had gone up after the party inducted Priyanka Vadra into mainstream politics. Her induction as national general secretary and in-charge of eastern UP will definitely invigorate Congress workers. The electoral fight in UP will be three-cornered, and the scenario will help the BJP, Dr Pandey said. If SP, BSP and Congress join hands, it would prevent division of Muslim votes. Besides, upper castes, who are now with the BJP, could shift to Congress making this mahagathbandhan (grand alliance) a potent force in UP, he said. Political pundits felt that despite Congress dismal performance in recent polls in UP when it won just two Lok Sabha seats in 2014 and a meagre seven in the UP assembly in 2017, the partys vote share was almost 12 per cent. After Congress recent success in three states and Priyankas nomination as general secretary, the stakes are likely to go up. Congress will be able to attract minority votes because for them, the party is the first choice as they know that only Congress can counter the lies of BJP at the national level. Priyankas entry into active politics is bound to change the permutation and combination of all parties, Dr Pandey said. In this scenario, if SP, BSP and Congress join hands, the mahagathbandhan would sweep the elections in UP, reducing the BJP to single digit. Reacting to Priyanka Vadras appointment as AICC general secretary Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) said that induction is nothing new but an extension of Pariwarvad in the grand old party of India. The BJP also claimed that this appointment was indication that Rahul Gandhi has failed to deliver. UP BJP in-charge for Lok Sabha and union health minister J.P.Nadda, said in a statement here on Wednesday that Priyanka Gandhi officially became General Secretary of Congress, but everyone knows how this household company works. It is also first official declaration from Congress that Rahul ji has failed, he should tell what is his view of Parivarwadi soch? What is new in this announcement? It is an extension of family influence from Rae Bareli to eastern UP. In other words it is just an extension of parivarvaad. He said. UP BJP president Dr Mahendra Nath Pandey told reporters here that be it Rahul or Priyanka the congress has already been wiped out from UP. Even the alliance (SP- BSP) is not taking them seriously. People too will not take Priyanka seriously, he said. Another senior BJP leader and Minister in Yogi Cabinet Sidharth Nath Singh said that rise of Priyanka in party shows fall of Rahul. The announcement of appointment Priyanka as general secretary and in-charge of eastern UP shows that Congress believes that it cannot depend on Rahul anymore, he said. It is wrongly perceived that Priyanka will now be active in politics. The fact she was active in politics for last many years as she was in-charge of her mothers constituency of Rae Bareli. What she did there for everyone to see, Singh, who is also the UP government spokesperson, said. Terrorist-turned-soldier Lance Naik Nazir Ahmed Wani, who died fighting ultras in Kashmir last year, will be conferred with the highest peacetime gallantry medal Ashok Chakra on Republic Day this year. Wani was a surrendered terrorist before becoming a soldier in 2004. Earlier, the 38-year-old soldier was awarded Sena Medal twice in 2007 and 2018 for showing exemplary bravery in anti-terrorist operations. Hailing from Ashmuji in Kulgam, Kashmir, Wani died on November 25 during a fierce gunfight and hand-to- hand combat with militants in Shopian. He was part of anti-terrorist operations in South Kashmir and had joined 162 Battalion of Territorial Army after surrendering as a terrorist. He is the first Kashmiri soldier to be awarded the highest peacetime gallantry award. His wife, Mahajabeen, will receive the award from President Ramnath Kovind on January 26 at Rajpath. Wani exhibited the most conspicuous gallantry in eliminating two terrorists and assisting in the evacuation of his wounded colleagues and made supreme sacrifice in the highest traditions of the Indian Army, a Press release communique from the Presidents Secretariat said. Giving details of the encounter wherein Wani attained martyrdom, officials said here on Thursday he was attached with 34 Rashtriya Rifles; on November 23 his unit got an intelligence input about the presence of six heavily armed Hizbul and Lashkar terrorists at Batagund village. Wani and his team were entrusted with the task to block the likely escape route of the terrorists. Sensing danger, the terrorists attempted breaching the inner cordon, firing indiscriminately and lobbing grenades. Undeterred by the situation, Wani held ground and eliminated one terrorist in a fierce exchange at close range, the statement said. Wani then closed in on a house where another terrorist was hiding. As the terrorist tried to flee, Wani engaged him in a hand-to-hand combat. Despite being wounded, he killed the terrorist. Under intense hail of bullets from the terrorists, he eliminated the district commander of the Lashkar-e-Tayyeba (LeT) and one foreign terrorist in an act of raw courage. In the ensuing gunfight he was hit multiple times, including on his head. He also injured another terrorist before succumbing to his grievous injuries, the Army said in a statement. He is survived by his wife and two children. Army officials said here throughout his life, Wani willingly faced grave potential threats and was a source of inspiration for others. Incidentally, he was awarded the Sena Medal last year for eliminating a terrorist from very close range. Wani was from a humble background and had worked for the benefit of the underprivileged section in his village and surrounding area, officials added. CJI, Kharge seek career graph of eligible officers The meeting of the high-powered selection committee headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to appoint a new CBI Director remained inconclusive, officials said on Thursday. A list of eligible officers, along with their dossiers, was shared with the panel members. But no decision was taken. Another meeting would be called soon to finalise a name for the (CBI chief) post, an official said. The dossiers of the officials included only sketchy details like the date of appointment and date of superannuation. The names of 70-80 officers eligible for the post was presented to the panel comprising Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi and Congress leader in the Lok Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge. Kharge and the CJI are learnt to have sought specific details of the career graph of the eligible officers, a reason why the meeting remained inconclusive, sources said. The meeting, was held at the Prime Ministers residence and was attended by Gogoi and Kharge. Talking to reporters after the meeting, Kharge said, There was discussion on the names. There was no mention of their career details, including relevant experience. We (referring to CJI Gogoi) have asked them to provide all the necessary details. The next meeting may be convened by next week. The post of CBI head has been lying vacant since January 10 after the high-powered selection committee transferred the agency chief Alok Verma as DG of Fire Services, Civil Defence and Home Guards. Vermas removal was necessitated after a bitter feud with his then deputy Rakesh Asthana. Both Verma and Asthana had traded charges of corruption against each other. In a midnight operation on October 23, the Government had sent both Verma and Asthana on forced leave pending enquiries against them by the Central Vigilance Commission. However, Verma challenged the transfer through a petition before the Supreme Court. The apex court on January 8 reinstated him as CBI chief with riders that the issue of his transfer would decided by the PM-led panel. While Verma refused to join as DG Fire Services, Civil Defence and Home Guards and resigned, Asthana was subsequently transferred as DG of Bureau of Civil Aviation Security. Presently, the CBI is headed by Additional Director M Nageswara Rao as an interim chief. The post of the CBI Chief enjoys a fixed tenure of two years. On Wednesday, it was reported that the list of officials in the race for the CBI Directors post are Uttar Pradesh and Gujarat Directors General of Police OP Singh and Shivanand Jha respectively, CISF chief Rajesh Ranjan, and BSF Director General Rajnikarnt Mishra besides Special Secretary (Internal Security) in the Union Home Ministry Rina Mitra, sources said. While Singh and Jha do not have any experience in the CBI, Ranjan, Mishra and Mitra have served in the CBI. First State to get two party presidents, move to help Priyanka in poll strategy After galvanising the cadre with the appointment of Priyanka Gandhi Vadra as in-charge of eastern Uttar Pradesh, the Congress is likely to put in place two State presidents in the politically crucial State. The party is serious about gaining its lost clout in UP with Rahul Gandhi on Thursday asserting that the next Chief Minister in the major Hindi heartland will be from the Congress. AICC sources said the party high command is contemplating to appoint two party UPCC presidents, who will share the responsibility of the eastern and the western UP, just like the division of responsibility between Priyanka and Jyotiraditya Scindia. The incumbent UPCC chief, Raj Babbar, may be given other role, sources said. While it has been a practice in the Congress to appoint working presidents to aide and assist their chiefs, if the move takes place, it will be for the first time that a State will have two party chiefs. While senior party leader and former Rajya Sabha member Pramod Tiwari seems to be the front runner for the eastern UP Congress chief post, there is no clarity on who could head western UP. Sources said Priyanka will stage a road show possibly in Lucknow next month. As Priyankas political plunge generated enthusiastic support from Congress leaders across the country, posters urging her to contest the coming Lok Sabha election from Varanasi came up at many places. AICC sources, however, said her candidature from any Lok Sabha seat has not been decided, but it is unlikely that she would be pitched against Modi. Meanwhile, continuing his tirade against Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Rahul on Thursday exuded confidence in Amethi of reviving the party and prophesised that the next Chief Minister of UP would be from the Congress. Rahul said people were frustrated that the PM fooled them by making tall promises. He also accused Modi of destroying Constitutional institutions to protect his partys illegal interests. Gali gali mein shor hai, chowkidar chor hai. (Its common knowledge that the the chowkidar is a thief), Rahul said, adding, The PM says it has no money to waive farm loans. On the other hand, his industrialist friends get sops and one Neerav Modi fled with funds of the poor. Our PM swears by God and then dishes out numeorus lies to fool the people. Where are the achchhey din as promised by him ? Rahul asked Addressing a gathering in Amethi on Thursday, Rahul hit out at the Centre over the Rafale fighter jet deal saying the Government paid Rs 1,600 crore per aircraft when it was just Rs 526 crore during the UPA regime. Our PM talked to his French counterpart and forced him to give Rs 30,000 crore deal to a private company in the country. I have conveyed to Priyanka and Scindia that we have to form Governments at the Centre and in UP this time at any cost, Rahul told the media. Amid sloganeering, Rahul announced that once the party came to power at the Centre, Amethi and Rae Bareli would get food parks, national highways and paper mills. In MP and Rajasthan we are setting up food processing plants in large number to help farmers get good price of their produce. Such things will also happen in Amethi and Rae Bareli. My sister and I will work 24 hours for you, the Congress president said. The BSF and the State police have increased vigilance along India-Bangladesh border to check infiltration of Rohingya Muslims, Director General of Police (DGP) Akhil Kumar Shukla said on Wednesday, two days after 30 refugees were apprehended at Churaibari in Assam. The immigrants, including 12 children, were on their way to Guwahati from Agartala in a bus Monday, when the Assam Police held them at Churaibari in Assams Karimganj district, about 200 km from here. They were sent to jail by a district court Tuesday. Last week, 31 Rohingyas were holed up behind the barbed wire fencing along the Bangladesh boundary in Tripura, as the border guards of both sides debated over their status. The Border Security Force (BSF) and the state police have been put on alert to ensure that no new Rohingya Muslims enter into our territory through the India-Bangla international border, Shukla said. Tripura shares 856-km-long border with Bangladesh. C L Belwa, the deputy inspector general of BSF (Tripura Frontier), said Rohingyas make their way to India through different routes in the east and then move to other parts of the country for job and livelihood. The refugees, who were apprehended at Churaibari on Tuesday, had actually entered India through Assam, he said. They had come to Tripura to work in brick kilns, but their livelihood issues were not solved here so they were returning to Assam again, Belwa said. The 31 Rohingya Muslims, who were holed up in no-mans land since January 18, have been handed over to Tripura Police by the BSF after talks with Border Guards Bangladesh (BGB) failed. They underwent a medical check-up and were later produced before a court in West Tripura district which sent them to 14-day judicial custody Tuesday. More than 700,000 Rohingya Muslims fled Myanmars Rakhine state to neighbouring Bangladesh since August 2017 after a military crackdown, triggering a massive refugee crisis. In October 2017, the Ministry of Home Affairs had urged all states to take immediate steps to identify and monitor Rohingya immigrants. If the Government has the political will to reach out to vulnerable populations affected by TB, malaria and HIV, it must find the funds to cure them Consider the following facts: (i) With 2.1 million people living with HIV, India is home to the worlds third largest HIV population. (ii) With 2.7 million new cases of tuberculosis (TB) every year, India has the worlds highest share (27 per cent) of TB cases. With an estimated 79,000 multi-drug resistant TB patients among the notified cases of pulmonary TB each year, India also has the highest number of multi-drug-resistant (MDR) TB and TB-HIV co-infected cases. (iii) India has the third highest malaria burden in the world and is also one of the 11 countries (the remaining 10 are from sub-Saharan Africa) that bear the highest global burden of malaria. Together, they accounted for the bulk of all malaria cases and deaths, globally, in 2017. Is this a cause to worry? Yes. Should we lose hope? No. For, this would mean leaving the millions affected, both visible and invisible, in the lurch. Women and girls would be the worst-hit considering gender barriers, stigma and discrimination that prevent them from accessing prevention and care services related to TB, HIV and malaria. Besides women, the lives and potential of children, migrants, tribal and slum populations, communities living in geographically difficult areas and vulnerable groups such as people co-infected with TB and HIV, would also be compromised. Now, more than ever, these figures should act as a trigger to power greater commitment and action. It is no rocket science that targeted and enhanced health financing can avert new cases of TB, HIV and malaria and, thus, save millions of lives. This was reiterated by the 2019 replenishment investment case report by the Global Fund to Fight Aids, Tuberculosis and Malaria (Global Fund). In a recently released summary in Delhi, it underlined the need for $14 billion to get the world back on track to end AIDS, TB and malaria. This investment would help save 16 million lives, cut mortality rate for the three diseases by half and avert 234 million new infections by 2023. A full investment case will be released at the Global Funds sixth replenishment preparatory meeting in India in February. In India, investments in TB control received a boost when Prime Minister Modi pledged to eliminate TB by 2025, five years before the 2030 target of meeting Sustainable Development Goal 3 (SDG:3) to ensure healthy lives and promote well-being of all. So, the Governments domestic funding went up from $110 million (Rs 79 crore) in 2016 to $458 million (Rs 3,320 crore) in 2018. But was this enough? Malaria, on the other hand, hasnt caught attention to the same extent; although 90 per cent of the Indian population is at risk of malaria infection. Incidentally, people in less developed neighbouring countries like Bangladesh and Nepal face a much lower risk at 11 per cent and 48 per cent respectively. Although the National Strategic Plan for Malaria hopes to end the epidemic by 2027, three years ahead of the global deadline (2030 SDG:3), it also states that it will need $1.518 billion (Rs 10,653.16 crore) for the period between 2017-2022. And these funds will be raised from Government sources, international donors and the corporate sector as part of corporate social responsibility. Will this be possible? While there has been a 67 per cent decline in HIV incidence in India, less than half the people with HIV are on antiretroviral treatment (ART). This implies that the infection is not under control for many people. A 2018 assessment of the burden of HIV drug resistance mutations in India found that the overall burden of resistance against first-line ART remained steady over a decade. Indias National Strategic Plan for HIV has a budget of $4.715 billion for the period of 2017-2022. But with an estimated 69,000 deaths in 2017 from AIDS-related illnesses and the emergence of 88,000 new infections, is the funding available adequate? It doesnt seem so with public spending on health still being 1.2 per cent of GDP, significantly lower than required. At the recent Delhi meeting organised by the Global Fund, the Global Fund Advocates Network Asia-Pacific and India Working Group, communities and civil society groups expressed concerns about India not being on track. India must take concrete steps to fully fund the countrys HIV, TB and malaria response, contended Dr Sonal Mehta, IWG member and head of the India HIV/AIDS Alliance. Increased funding should not be a problem considering the statement by Amitabh Kant, the NITI Aayog CEO, that the Indian economy may even exceed the IMF growth forecast of 7.5 per cent. Unfortunately, economic growth does not always ensure or guarantee equitable system responses or equal access to healthcare, or end debilitating out-of-pocket expenditures for the marginalised. But this should not stop the Government from stepping up its efforts and listening to the voices of survivors and affected populations. If it has the political will to reach out to key and vulnerable populations disproportionately affected by the three diseases, it must find the funds to expand the use of rapid diagnostic tests, provide early treatment for malaria, HIV and TB cases, including rolling out newer TB drugs like Bedaquiline. (The writer is a senior journalist) Arrested car boss Carlos Ghosn resigned his position as chief executive and chairman of Renault, ending his leadership roles in the auto industry and signalling the start of new era for the French manufacturer. Ghosn, the most powerful man in car-making until his sensational arrest in Japan last November on financial misconduct charges, had already been sacked as chairman of Japanese auto groups Nissan and Mitsubishi. But the 64-year-old had held on to the top job at Renault, which has been run on an interim basis by one of his deputies while he languishes in a Japanese jail. French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire confirmed to AFP that Ghosn tendered his resignation late Wednesday ahead of a Renault board meeting in Paris that would have seen him replaced. A senior director from the firm received last night the letter of resignation from Carlos Ghosn, Le Maire said. As head of Renault since 2005, Ghosn was the keystone of its alliance with Nissan and Mitsubishi, forging an industry powerhouse which together sold more cars than any of its rivals last year. But his career came screeching to a halt when Tokyo police arrested him on suspicion of under-reporting millions of dollars in income over eight years. Ghosn has denied the charges, but with his release from jail unlikely anytime soon his trial has yet to open Renaults board was preparing to name new directors. The companys board is widely expected to name interim chief executive Thierry Bollore as CEO, and Michelin head Jean-Dominique Senard as its chairman both roles were previously held by Ghosn. PANAMA CITY, Jan 24 (Reuters) - Pope Francis is following the situation in Venezuela closely and the Holy See supports all efforts to spare its people from further suffering, the Vatican said on Thursday. But in its first statement on the crisis, the Vatican took no sides between Nicolas Maduro, who was elected president in a vote last year widely regarded as fraudulent, and congress leader Juan Guaido, who declared himself interim president on Wednesday. The Argentine pontiff, Latin America's first pope, is currently on a visit to Panama. "In Panama, the Holy Father has been informed of the news coming from Venezuela and is closely following the situation as it evolves," spokesman Alessandro Gisotti said. "He is praying for the victims and for all the people of Venezuela. The Holy See supports all efforts that help save the population from further suffering," he said. In 2016, the Vatican convened mediation talks between Maduro and the opposition, with little success. The United States and many Latin American countries, including Argentina, have recognized Guaido as president. (Reporting by Philip Pullella, Editing by Rosalba O'Brien) The Chinese government has granted Ivanka Trumps company preliminary approval for another five trademarks this month, as her fathers US administration pushes ahead on trade negotiations with China. Four trademarks, including for childcare centres, sunglasses and wedding dresses, were approved on Sunday. A fifth, covering brokerage, charitable fundraising and art valuation services, was approved on January 6, according to online trademark office records. The applications were filed in 2016 and 2017. If no-one objects, they will be finalised after 90 days. Ivanka Trumps representatives assert that trademark filings are needed to protect her name from copycats seeking to capitalise on her fame (Mark Schiefelbein/AP) Ivanka Trumps expanding intellectual property holdings have long raised ethical concerns, particularly in China, where the courts and bureaucracy tend to reflect the will of the ruling Communist Party. Critics argue that by asking a foreign government for valuable intellectual property rights, White House officials could open themselves up to pressure in government negotiations. There is also concern that the familys global trademark portfolio would open the way for lucrative business opportunities once President Donald Trump leaves office. The sheer number of foreign trademarks Ivanka Trump has got while working in the White House would be troubling enough, but the fact that she just got one for charitable fundraising when her fathers namesake foundation which she served as a board member for and is closing in scandal following a New York attorney general investigation outlining numerous legal violations is especially troubling, Jordan Libowitz, a spokesman for watchdog group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, said. Ivanka Trump closed her fashion brand in July. Her representatives assert that trademark filings are a normal business practice and are needed to protect her name from copycats seeking to capitalise on her fame. Companies apply for trademarks for a range of reasons. They can be signs of corporate ambition, but many are also filed defensively, particularly in China, where trademark squatting is rampant. China has said it treats all trademark applications equally under the law. Irelands deputy premier has said that the European Union would be willing to accommodate the UK if it changed its red lines on Brexit. Simon Coveney said his meeting with EU chief Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier on Monday pointed to the willingness of the EU to be flexible. Speaking at the Foreign Affairs Council in Brussels, Irelands Foreign Affairs Minister said: If the UK wants to change its red lines, or change its approach, I think they would get a generous response from the EU in terms of doing what they can, within reason, to accommodate that. He (Mr Barnier) confirmed that the EU remains firmly supportive of the Withdrawal Agreement in full, which includes the guarantees and fall-back mechanisms to ensure there will be no physical border between the two jurisdictions on the island of Ireland. Tanaiste @simoncoveney is in Brussels attending a meeting of the EU Foreign Affairs Council for discussions on disinformation & upcoming EU-League of Arab States Summit. The Tanaiste will also attend EU-ASEAN and EU-African Union ministerials. More https://t.co/3K92gGEXib pic.twitter.com/eXoEFpeIIp Irish Foreign Ministry (@dfatirl) January 21, 2019 We both want to wait and see what the British Prime Minister (Theresa May) says to Westminster today when she makes her statement following the events of the last 10 days or so. He said the EU has been repeatedly clear that the Withdrawal Agreement is not up to renegotiation. Tanaiste Simon Coveney said the EU would be willing to accommodate the UK if it changed its red lines on Brexit. Mr Coveney added: What the EU is not willing to do is to start renegotiating a legal withdrawal agreement that took nearly two years to put together and was a series of lots of compromises, taking into account British red lines and EU concerns. I hope we will see a willingness to look again at the future relationship that Britain is seeking with the EU as a mechanism to find a way forward. I think thats what Michel Barnier has been hinting and talking about, but this is matter for Westminster and for the British Prime Minister. He also dismissed reports that Prime Minister Theresa May could consider amending the Good Friday Agreement in order to break the deadlock over the Irish border. I got confirmation from the British government that is not something they are looking to pursue and I think they are right not to pursue it, he continued. The Good Friday Agreement is a hugely important foundation for the peace process and I dont think we should be talking about changing it in an attempt to try and solve a political problem. Mr Barnier also appeared to rule out the prospect of the UK striking a bilateral deal with Ireland. He was asked about reports suggesting Mrs May was considering the move as a way to resolve the Irish border backstop impasse, potentially even by changing the terms of the Good Friday agreement. When asked about the suggestion by RTE in Brussels on Monday morning, Mr Barnier replied: As you know, its in evidence, we are working 27 as a team, a single team and we negotiate as one. Pressed on whether there was any scope for a bilateral deal between the UK and Ireland, he responded: We are one team. A further 23 migrants have been intercepted by the Border Force in the English Channel, bringing the weekend total for arrivals to almost 40. Border Force cutter HMC Vigilant and Coastal Patrol Vessel (CPV) Hunter were dispatched at around 11.30pm on Sunday to 15 people that were on board a rigid-hulled inflatable boat. Just four and a half hours later on Monday, at around 4am, HMC Vigilant and CPV Hunter were deployed to help another eight people spotted on board a small boat. Once located off the coast of Kent, all 23 migrants were taken to Dover, medically assessed and transferred to immigration officials for questioning. It comes after 16 migrants, all male and most of whom claimed to be Iranian, were detained when three small boats landed on UK shores on Sunday. The latest incidents follow a recent rise in the number of migrants attempting to cross the English Channel from France in small boats. Home Secretary Sajid Javid cut short his Christmas break last month to deal with what he described as a major incident unfolding in waters off the south coast. Mr Javid has promised to do more to tackle the issue, saying it is of grave concern that people are attempting the perilous crossing. Two Border Force cutters that have been operating abroad are due to be brought back to Britain to help patrol the English Channel, in a measure announced by Mr Javid on December 31. But all three British patrol boats still appear to be abroad, with HMC Seeker confirmed to be in port in Gibraltar, with the website Marine Traffic showing both HMC Protector to be alongside in Malta and HMC Valiant in port in Greece. Conservative Dover MP Charlie Elphicke pressed Mr Javid in the House of Commons on Monday over when two of the cutters would return to the UK. The Home Secretary said the arrival of two cutters in the English Channel would not take place until early February. During his question in the House of Commons, Mr Elphicke also called for 24/7 aerial surveillance and a new cross-Channel pact between the two countries to ensure all boats are intercepted and returned. Home Secretary Sajid Javid (middle) meeting Border Force staff at Dover (Gareth Fuller/PA) Mr Javid said aerial surveillance is already a measure that we have started deploying since he declared the issue a major incident, and confirmed he would be meeting his French counterpart this week. Mr Elphicke said in a statement afterwards: Its now getting on for a month since we were told the cutters would be brought back from the Med. Now we learn they may not return for another few weeks. That is completely unacceptable they are needed urgently to secure our borders and protect lives. The most effective deterrent to people trafficking and the best way to prevent tragedy is for traffickers to know that small craft will always be intercepted and returned to France. Thats why when the Home Secretary meets his counterpart he should seek a new cross-Channel compact to put an end to these crossings. He added: This crisis has gone on far too long. Urgent action is now required to bring the crisis to an end before there is a tragedy in the English Channel. A no-deal Brexit risks triggering a further slowdown in global growth as countries hunker down for a turbulent 2019 in the face of growing trade tensions, the IMF has warned. In its latest World Economic Outlook, the organisation downgraded its global growth forecast for 2019 to 3.5% and 3.6% for 2020 0.2% and 0.1% respectively below its previous prediction. The Washington DC-based fund maintained its 2018 estimate for global growth at 3.5%, but warned that weakness seen in the second half of last year will carry over in the coming months. The fund warned that Britain leaving the European Union without a deal and a greater than expected slowdown in China could spark a further deterioration in sentiment and hit global growth, exasperating risks already posed by the deterioration in US-China relations. Risks to global growth tilt to the downside. An escalation of trade tensions beyond those already incorporated in the forecast remains a key source of risk to the outlook. A range of triggers beyond escalating trade tensions could spark a further deterioration in risk sentiment with adverse growth implications, especially given the high levels of public and private debt. These potential triggers include a no-deal withdrawal of the United Kingdom from the European Union and a greater-than-envisaged slowdown in China, the IMF said. The warning comes as Theresa May prepares to present her so-called Brexit Plan B to Parliament, following a crushing defeat for her Plan A last week. (PA Graphics) The Prime Minister is expected to make further concessions to Brexit die-hards in the Tory party who favour Britain crashing out of the EU on WTO rules. However, in a press briefing, Gita Gopinath, the IMFs new chief economist, told reporters that Britains GDP could take a hit of up to 8% in the event of a no-deal Brexit and the country quitting on WTO terms. Weve already seen the negative effect of this uncertainty on British investment. We have done our estimates of what it would, how costly it would be to the British economy to have a no-deal Brexit, which would be a reversal to WTO rules, and that would be a decline in long-run output of about, or long-run GDP, of between five to eight percentage points. She added that it is imperative for political leaders to end the Brexit impasse. It is absolutely essential that this uncertainty is resolved sooner than later. If there is a disruptive exit, or there is continued uncertainty for many more months, both of those are going to weigh negatively on growth going forward, she said. Growth forecasts for the global economy were lowered in October due to the tariff war between the US and China, but the IMF has downgraded projections further as a result of the new automobile fuel emissions standards in Germany, concerns about Italy and a steeper contraction in Turkey. The IMF called on countries to resolve cooperatively and quickly their trade disagreements and the resulting policy uncertainty, instead of raising barriers further and destabilising an already slowing global economy. Across all economies, measures to boost potential output growth, enhance inclusiveness, and strengthen fiscal and financial buffers in an environment of high debt burdens and tighter financial conditions are imperatives, the IMF said. The growth projection for the UK in 2019 was maintained at 1.5% as the IMF expects the effects from Brexit uncertainty on trade and investment will be offset by the fiscal stimulus announced in the Budget. For 2020, growth projections were raised by 0.1% to 1.6% on the assumption that Britain will reach a Brexit deal this year and that the country will gradually transition a new regime. However, it warned that currently, the shape that Brexit will ultimately take remains highly uncertain. Ministers are being urged to come down hard on public-sector bodies which pull out of town-centre sites. The Federation of Small Businesses said to help build a high street renaissance in Scotland the government should penalise those public bodies that undermine local high streets by closing their town centre premises. Andrew McRae, the organisations Scottish policy chair, made the plea as he argued the future of many high streets now depended on finding new uses for empty shops. These could be turned into restaurants, offices or homes as part of a bid to make town centres not just about shopping but also attractive places to working, living and socialising, he added. FSB: Use town centre funding to drive high street renaissance https://t.co/bmYMKcKtxq pic.twitter.com/7s9qMCPdTh FSB Scotland (@FSB_Scotland) January 21, 2019 Mr McRae spoke out after a shopping centre in Kirkcaldy, Fife, was reported to have been put up for sale with a reserve price of just 1. The Scottish Government has already earmarked 50 million in its draft budget for 2019-20 to help transform struggling high streets up and down the country. Ministers are being urged to `come down hard on public-sector bodies which pull out of Scotlands high streets (Lynne Cameron/PA) The FSB said the town centre fund, which was announced by Finance Secretary Derek Mackay in December, would not be sufficient to transform every high street in the country, it should kick off a national debate about the future of these important local places. Mr McRae suggested that to maximise the economic impact, councils should focus on a small number of towns, working in partnership with local business and resident groups. He stated: Theres no reason why we cant kick off a Scottish high street renaissance if we get our public and private sectors to back our town centres. With the Scottish Government already encouraging property investment, another nudge in the right direction could get the ball rolling. On the other hand we cant see one part of government trying to boost a local economy while another withdraws footfall and spending power by closing their town centre estate. Ministers must come down hard on public bodies that undermine local high streets by closing their town centre premises. The Scottish Retail Consortium, which represents the countrys retailers, has already called for councils to be able to use the 50 million town centre fund to cut business rates for high-street premises. Finance Secretary Mr Mackay said: Town centres are facing challenges as retail patterns change and evolve. That is why we are investing 50 million in a new town centre fund to help communities maintain their vibrancy, creativity and accessibility while supporting them to become more diverse and sustainable. This fund will enable local authorities to stimulate and support a wide range of investments which encourage town centres to diversify and flourish, creating footfall through local improvements and partnerships. We will work in partnership with Cosla and local authorities to deliver this investment. He said the fund is part of a range of measures in the budget to help business, including a competitive business rates package and rates relief. You Can Change a Child's Life, Without Changing Yours Puerto Vallarta, Mexico - "Quality of Education Doesn't Matter" was a headline in an article in The Guardian describing the state of education in Mexico. According to the article, Mexico ranks last in education among the 35 Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) countries. Mexican children leave school with the worst literacy, math and science skills. The poorest children in Vietnam outperform the most privileged in Mexico. Volcanes is one of the poorest colonias (suburbs) in Puerto Vallarta but the people have formed a very close and cooperative community around the after-school project for their kids. Volcanes is less than a 30 minute drive from the golden beaches and beautiful living conditions we enjoy here. Volcanes's government-run elementary school is meant to have English speaking teachers teaching English. It doesn't. It should have a computer class. It doesn't. It should have a reading and writing intervention class to help students who have fallen behind. It doesn't. It should have a library. It doesn't. Who cares? Well, the Director of the school does, and so does the community. Eight years ago, in 2011, a joint effort between the Volcanes Parents Association, the staff and Director of the elementary school, local government leaders and someone who just wants to help Mexican kids, Art Fumerton, resulted in the creation of the Volcanes Community Education Project (VCEP) - and now it is thriving. VCEP was given free access to an old, derelict school building with five small classrooms. Fund raising by Art Fumerton and voluntary work by members of the Volcanes community saw the installation of windows, flooring, fans and electrical outlets in the classrooms, sinks and toilets in the bath rooms, grass and trees in the dirt outside. Now, after much more fundraising and volunteer help, VCEP offers "after-school" help to over 400 children a week (The elementary school double-shifts like many Mexican schools with shifts going from 7:00 am to 1:00 pm and from 2:00 to 8:00 pm.) VCEP employs five full-time teachers, including one who helps kids achieve their grade level in writing; the computer lab has twenty laptops for the students in grades three through twelve; Internet is available in all classrooms; English is taught by English speaking teachers from grades two through twelve and there is a well-stocked library. VCEP teachers and the elementary school staff coordinate closely in deciding the programs needed. All of these tremendous results have been achieved without any government financing. All costs are met by donations from local businesses and help from readers like you. The International Friendship Club (IFC) has been supporting VCEP since its earliest days by helping with teachers' salaries. If you would like to give a hand up to a child who just wants a decent education you can by clicking HERE. For just $300 USD a year, or less than a dollar a day (tax-deductible in Canada), can change a child's life without changing yours. The quality of education DOES matter! For more information on work being done in Volcanes by the VCEP, visit the Volcanes Project website or Facebook page. SANAA, Yemen (AP) - The Latest on the conflict in Yemen (all times local): 7:15 p.m. A Saudi demining group says five of its international experts have been killed by an accidental explosion in Yemen while transporting mines and explosives to be destroyed. The MASAM Demining Project says Monday that two South Africans, a Croatian, a Bosnian and a Kosovar were killed a day earlier while transporting the material in the central Marib province to a remote location where it could be safely detonated. It says a British national was wounded. The project, part of the Saudi King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Center, began last year and seeks to remove unexploded ordnance from Yemen, where a Saudi-led coalition has been at war with Iran-aligned Houthi rebels since 2015. MASAM says the experts "lost their lives while attempting to bring safety and security to the Yemeni people, and their service to mankind will not be forgotten." ___ 5:15 p.m. Yemeni security officials say U.N. envoy Martin Griffiths has arrived in the capital, Sanaa, on an unannounced visit to discuss the "complex situation" in and around the coastal city of Hodeida, where Yemen's warring parties agreed to a cease-fire last month and agreed on a prisoner exchange that has yet to take place. Also under discussion from Monday will be disagreements between Yemen's Houthi rebels, who hold Hodeida, and Retired Dutch Maj. Gen. Patrick Cammaert, who is heading a U.N. mission charged with monitoring the cease-fire. The conflict in Yemen began with the 2014 takeover of Sanaa by the Iran-aligned rebels. A Saudi-led coalition allied with the internationally recognized government has been fighting the Houthis since 2015. The officials spoke anonymously as they weren't authorized to brief journalists. - Ahmed al-Haj BOCA RATON, Fla. (AP) - A few comic books from a stolen Batman collection worth $1.4 million have been recovered after an arrest in Arizona. News station ABC-15 in Phoenix reports that police charged Phillip Weisbauer of Royal Palm Beach, Florida, with theft and trafficking in stolen property after he tried to sell four comic books. Those items alone are valued at nearly $100,000, part of a collection of nearly 450 comic books stolen from a storage unit in Boca Raton. Their owner, Randy Lawrence, told the South Florida Sun Sentinel that someone broke into the unit through the ceiling. He discovered the theft on Jan. 8. Now he's hoping the rest of the collection can be recovered. ___ Information from: Sun Sentinel , http://www.sun-sentinel.com/ NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) - Four people suspected of helping Islamic extremists attack a hotel and office complex in the Kenyan capital last week have appeared in court. A judge in Nairobi on Monday ordered three of the suspects to be held for up to 30 days, and a fourth for up to 10 days, as authorities investigate possible links to the deadly attack in Nairobi. Another six suspects, including a Canadian national, appeared in court on Friday in connection with the investigation. The five attackers, all of whom died, killed 21 people in the Jan. 15 assault on the dusitD2 hotel and surrounding buildings. Al-Shabab, which is linked to al-Qaida and based in neighboring Somalia, claimed responsibility. Al-Shabab also carried out the 2013 attack at Nairobi's nearby Westgate Mall that killed 67 people. PRISTINA, Kosovo (AP) - Kosovo's president on Monday said he would respond positively if summoned by a European Union-funded court investigating crimes against ethnic Serbs during and after the 1998-99 independence war with Serbia. At a news conference, Hashim Thaci said that "if there is any invitation at any moment I will respond with full transparency," and urged others to do the same. The Kosovo Specialist Chambers was set up four years after a 2011 report by the Council of Europe, the continent's top human rights body, which catalogued allegations of widespread crimes committed by ethnic Albanian members of the Kosovo Liberation Army. Last week the court, based in The Hague, Netherlands, started questioning some former Kosovo fighters. Thaci was the KLA commander during the war. Thaci also criticized his government's decision last year to impose a 100-percent tax on Serb imports until Belgrade recognizes its sovereignty and stops preventing it from joining international organizations. The president said such a move has damaged ties with the United States and the European Union, which have called on Prime Minister Ramush Haradinaj to revoke the tax. Serbia won't continue normalizing talks with Kosovo until Pristina lifts the tariff that is causing millions of euros of damage to its businesses. "Kosovo should not create obstacles and difficulties to the dialogue. We should produce positive arguments. We should not let Serbia get unnecessary favors in the dialogue," said Thaci. Since 2011 Brussels has been facilitating a Kosovo-Serbia dialogue to normalize their ties, a precondition before joining the bloc, into which both countries are at different stages of integration. Kosovo's 1998-99 war ended with a 78-day NATO air campaign. Its 2008 independence has not been recognized by Serbia. ___ Semini reported from Tirana, Albania. Jovana Gec contributed from Belgrade, Serbia. ___ Follow Llazar Semini on Twitter: https://twitter.com/lsemini SAO GONCALO, Brazil (AP) - Fearing for his safety amid rising crime in Latin America's largest nation, Paulo Alberto joined a gun club three years ago and learned to shoot. But he says Brazil's tight carry laws that mean he can't take his gun anywhere but to the club limit his ability to protect himself outside his home. "The current laws are very strict and end up helping out the thugs," Alberto said between rounds at the Calibre 12 gun club in this city across Guanabara Bay from Rio de Janeiro. "We need laws to make it easier to both possess and carry guns." It's a view held by many, including Brazil's new President Jair Bolsonaro. On Tuesday, Bolsonaro, a former army captain who waves to supporters with his hands in the shape of pistols, took a first step toward dramatically increasing the number of guns in Brazil, the nation that leads the world in total homicides. By decree, Bolsonaro eliminated the requirement that aspiring gun owners justify to federal police officials why they need a firearm, creating instead a wide range of qualifying circumstances. The categories are so broad - citizens living in rural areas, those in urban areas with high levels of homicide, business owners, gun collectors and hunters - that just about any citizen age 25 or older wanting a firearm could effectively get one. Prospective gun owners must still meet requirements that include not having a criminal record, taking a psychological exam and getting training from a gun club. And the restriction most despised by gun proponents - the right of civilians to carry - remains intact, at least for now. During Tuesday's announcement, Bolsonaro said that more reforms would be "pursued legislatively," referring to carry laws. In this Jan. 10, 2019 photo, Rildo Anjos, owner of the Calibre 12 gun club, fires his pistol during a practice session at the club in Sao Goncalo, Brazil. President Jair Bolsonaro's plan to loosen gun laws in Brazil has been met with both fear and enthusiasm in a nation that is the world's leader in annual homicides. (AP Photo/Leo Correa) Such changes energize supporters and are a potential boon for major gun makers. On Bolsonaro's first day in office earlier this month, stocks of gun manufacturer Forjas Taurus jumped 30 percent. For civil rights groups, security experts and many in Brazil's violence-wracked slums the potential changes are terrifying. Myriad studies in Brazil and the United States show that more guns lead to higher homicide rates. That is a scary prospect in a country that in 2017 broke its own record for murders, with nearly 64,000 killed - 70 percent by firearms - the most recent figures available. "We are talking about life and death," said Ilona Szabo, co-founder of Igarape, a think tank that focuses on public security. "This is not something to play with in the most murderous country in the world." Szabo and other security experts argue that instead of expanding access to guns, current guns laws should be more rigorously enforced. In a scathing editorial titled "Reckless Decree," the Rio de Janeiro daily O Globo said there was already little oversight of gun owners and noted that a major investigation by Rio de Janeiro's state legislature in 2011 found that the vast majority of illegally trafficked guns started out legal. "There is no guarantee that facilitating (gun) possession will be paired with any effective control," it said. Bolsonaro's decree made no mention of beefing up the current reporting system. In contrast, it extended the license renewal period from five to 10 years. In Congress, the pro-gun lobby known as the "bullet caucus" has made clear its focus is deregulation, not adding more administrative hoops. Since major legislation to tighten gun laws was passed in 2003, the pro-gun lobby has put forward several bills to expand access and availability of firearms. These include sanctioning the carrying of concealed weapons, increasing the number of guns an individual can own and how much ammunition they can buy. Those bills have been defeated by the previous four administrations led by the left-leaning Workers' Party. But political analysts say Bolsonaro's strong electoral victory in October combined with deep frustration over violence means they now have a good chance of passing. Still, polls have consistently shown that a majority of Brazilians are not convinced that more guns are a good idea. A Datafolha poll published at the end of last year found that 61 percent of those surveyed believe firearms should be prohibited and pose a threat to others. The poll, which surveyed 2,077 people, had a margin of error of 2 percent. Similar to arguments made by the National Rifle Association in the U.S., supporters of loosened gun laws frequently argue that "guns don't kill people, people kill people." The debate comes with a disconcerting backdrop: Nobody knows how many guns are already in circulation in Brazil, a nation of 210 million people bordered by more than half a dozen countries. In the wake of the 2003 legislation to restrict firearm possession, studies estimated the number of guns at around 17.5 million, both legally and illegally owned. Since then, however, security experts say there have been no definitive studies, in part because the tracking of guns has never been properly funded or implemented. Proponents of looser regulation contend that, given the failure of successive governments to ensure security, citizens have a right to protect themselves by being armed. But an incident involving Bolsonaro himself would seem to illustrate how carrying a gun doesn't necessarily mean protection. In 1995, the then congressman was confronted by two gunmen while riding his motorcycle in Barra da Tijuca, an affluent Rio neighborhood. They stole Bolsonaro's motorcycle and a Glock 380 pistol, which he was allowed to carry as a former member of the military. "Even armed, I felt defenseless," Bolsonaro told local newspapers at the time. Despite the incident, Bolsonaro and other administration officials argue civilians need guns to protect themselves. Sen. Major Olimpio, a member of Bolsonaro's party, said earlier this month that Congress would move toward repealing parts of the 2003 disarmament legislation. "It's a big fallacy to say that guns will increase violence," Olimpio told Globo News TV. "Illegal weapons are involved in crimes." Guns possessed illegally are at the center of many crimes in Brazil, particularly those involving drug-trafficking gangs, who often brandish automatic weapons in the poor neighborhoods they control. However, these weapons often start out as legally owned by police, military personnel or the security companies many rich people hire for safety. Given the reality that many guns wind up in criminals' hands through theft or corruption, opponents of more lax laws argue that more legal guns will only translate into more illegal guns and crime. Among them is 32-year-old Camila Lima, who was hit by a stray bullet in the neck when she was 12 during a shootout between criminals and security guards in her Rio neighborhood that left her paralyzed. She and her mother lobbied in favor of the 2003 legislation to tighten gun laws, and regret that the country is going in the other direction. "If government officials want to arm the population, they should include a clause saying that they will be responsible for the victims," Lima said. "I was shot, nobody took responsibility for that." Still, in a country where violence plays an outsized role in everyday life, some victims of gun violence believe the solution is arming up. On Tuesday night, just hours after Bolsonaro issued his gun-law decree, 22-year-old Matheus Lessa was shot and killed while trying to protect his mother during a robbery in their family-owned store in Rio de Janeiro. At his son's funeral on Thursday, Luciano Lessa lamented that the family had no way to protect itself. "The criminals can walk around armed, so why not working people?" a distraught Lessa asked. "We have to wait for them to shoot us like they shot my son?" _____ Associated Press writer Marcelo Sousa de Silva and video journalist Yesica Fisch in Rio de Janeiro contributed to this report. _____ Follow Peter Prengaman: twitter.com/peterprengaman In this Jan. 17, 2019 photo, Carla Cristina Santos grieves over the open-coffin holding her 22-year-old son Matheus Lessa in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Lessa was shot and killed while trying to protect his mother during a robbery in their family-owned store. (AP Photo/Leo Correa) In this Jan. 10, 2019 photo, gun instructor Jorge Moura makes ammunition to be used at the Calibre 12 gun club in Sao Goncalo, Brazil. President Jair Bolsonaro took a first step toward dramatically increasing the number of guns in Brazil, the nation that leads the world in total homicides. (AP Photo/Leo Correa) In this Jan. 17, 2019 photo, relatives and friends carry the coffin of 22-year-old Matheus Lessa who was shot dead when he tried to defend his mother during an assault at their family-owned store in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. In a country where violence plays an outsized role in everyday life, some victims of gun violence, like Lessa's family, believe the solution is arming up. (AP Photo/Leo Correa) In this Jan. 10, 2019 photo, Rildo Anjos, owner of the Calibre 12 gun club, shows a pistol to club member Paulo Alberto as they stand at the shooting range in Sao Goncalo, Brazil. "The current laws are very strict and end up helping out the thugs," Alberto said between rounds. "We need laws to make it easier to both possess and carry guns." (AP Photo/Leo Correa) In this Jan. 17, 2019 photo, Luciano Lessa grieves during the burial of his 22-year-old son Matheus Lessa who was shot dead when he tried to defend his mother during an assault at their family-owned store in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Luciano lamented that the family had no way to protect itself. "The criminals can walk around armed, so why not working people?" Lessa asked. "We have to wait for them to shoot us like they shot my son?" (AP Photo/Leo Correa) In this Jan. 10, 2019 photo, shooting instructor Alex Cordeiro, right, holds a fake pistol as he demonstrates a movement to Rildo Anjos, owner of the Calibre 12 gun club, during a practice session in Sao Goncalo, Brazil. In Congress, the pro-gun lobby known as the "bullet caucus" has made clear its focus is deregulation. (AP Photo/Leo Correa) In this Jan. 17, 2019 photo, Carla Cristina Santos holds a white rose as she grieves during the burial of her 22-yer-old son Matheus Lessa who was shot dead as he tried to defend her during an assault at their family-owned store in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Brazil broke its own record for murders last year, with nearly 64,000 killed, 70 percent by firearms. (AP Photo/Leo Correa) In this Jan. 10, 2019 photo, Rildo Anjos, owner of the Calibre 12 gun club, fires his pistol as shooting instructor Alex Cordeiro looks on during a practice session in Sao Goncalo, Brazil. By decree, President Jair Bolsonaro eliminated the requirement that aspiring gun owners justify to federal police why they need a firearm. However, prospective gun owners still must not have a criminal record, take a psychological exam and get training from a gun club. (AP Photo/Leo Correa) In this Jan. 18, 2019 photo, Camila Lima gives an interview from her wheelchair inside her home in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Lima, who supports the tightening of gun laws, was hit by a stray bullet in the neck when she was 12 during a shootout between criminals and security guards in her Rio neighborhood that left her paralyzed. (AP Photo/Leo Correa) WARSAW, Poland (AP) - Poland's foreign minister says Iran has not been invited to an international conference on the Middle East next month in Warsaw, while Russia has declined the invitation. Iran has protested the Feb.13-14 conference, calling it a hostile move. Poland and the U.S. are co-hosting the event that has also met with a lukewarm reaction from the European Union, whose foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini will not be attending. Minister Jacek Czaputowicz said in remarks published Monday that Iran's presence would have hampered talks because the language that Tehran uses is "hard to accept." He said Russia has advised that it will not participate, either. Czaputowicz insisted the conference could help solve the impasse over the international agreement on curbing Iran's nuclear ambitions. CAMERON, Wis. (AP) - Residents of two Wisconsin communities gathered for a church service to give thanks for the safe return of a 13-year-old girl who was abducted after her parents were fatally shot at their home. Jayme Closs escaped from the man accused of holding her captive for nearly three months on Jan. 10. The suspect, 21-year-old Jake Patterson, is charged with kidnapping Jayme and fatally shooting her parents after breaking into their home near Barron on Oct. 15. St. Peter Catholic Church in Cameron held the funerals for Jayme's parents, James and Denise Closs , last fall. The church hosted a happier service Sunday night for residents of Barron and Cameron to celebrate the reuniting of Jayme with family. "I know this community can do anything now," Barron County Sheriff Chris Fitzgerald told people attending the church service. "I have seen it. We've done the impossible, and it starts with a 13-year-old girl and it ends with a community of 44,000 strong." Residents attending the service also expressed gratitude for the law enforcement officers who quickly apprehended the Patterson the same day Jayme escaped from the remote cabin where she was being held in Gordon, a town about an hour's drive north of Barron. Investigators believe he targeted Jayme after first spotting her getting onto a bus near her home. Patterson is due back in court for a preliminary hearing Feb. 6. BANGALORE, India (AP) - At least eight people drowned when their boat capsized in a river in southern India on Monday as they were returning home from a religious festival on a nearby island, police said. Police officer Patil Vinayak said 18 people were rescued from the river in Karwar area in Karnataka state. Indian navy spokesman D.K. Sharma said in a tweet that coast guard rescuers and a Dornier aircraft were searching for one missing person. He said eight bodies have been recovered from the river. Vinayak said the villagers were returning to their island homes when the boat sank. The cause of the accident was not immediately known. The region is about 520 kilometers (325 miles) northwest of Bangalore, the state capital. Such accidents are common in India, where many boats are overcrowded and operate without proper safety equipment. ___ This story has been corrected to show site of boat accident is Karwar instead of Dharwad, fixes distance from state capital. BERLIN (AP) - Germany has banned Iran's Mahan Air from landing in the country with immediate effect, citing security concerns and the airline's involvement in Syria, officials said Monday. Mahan Air is on a U.S. sanctions list and Washington has long urged allies to ban the airline from their territories. The decision to ban it came after consultations with European allies and the U.S., Chancellor Angela Merkel's spokesman Steffen Seibert told reporters. "It cannot be ruled out that this airline carries out transports to Germany that affect our security concerns," he said. "This is especially true against the backdrop of terrorist activities, intelligence on terrorist activities from the Iranian side and Iranian entities in Europe in the past." U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo welcomed the German decision. FILE-In this March 15, 2015 file photo a Yemeni airport security official walks on the tarmac next to a plane from the Iranian private airline Mahan Air at the international airport in Sanaa, Yemen. Germany has banned Iran's Mahan Air from landing in the country with immediate effect, citing security concerns and the airline's involvement in Syria. (AP Photo/Hani Mohammed) "The airline transports weapons and fighters across the Middle East, supporting the Iranian regime's destructive ambitions around the region," he said in a tweet. "We encourage all our allies to follow suit." The airline had several weekly flights between Tehran and German cities. The company's general sales office in Germany said it had no comment on the ban. Foreign Ministry spokesman Christofer Burger said the decision was taken to safeguard Germany's "foreign and security policy interests," citing increasing evidence of Iranian intelligence activity in Europe. In addition, he said the airline has ties to Iran's Revolutionary Guard and provides military transport flights to Syria. Iran has supported Syria's President Bashar Assad. The move comes at a time of particularly sensitive relations with Iran. Germany plays a large role in trying to salvage the 2015 nuclear deal with Tehran after U.S. President Donald Trump's decision to unilaterally pull out last year. It was the latest of several issues, however, that have caused friction. Among other things, German prosecutors said last week they had detained a 50-year-old German-Afghan dual citizen who had worked as a translator for the army on suspicion he had been spying for Iran. Iran's Foreign Ministry dismissed the allegations on the weekend, saying that "enemies" were aiming to "sour relations" between Iran and Europe. And last year, Germany's central bank changed its conditions allowing it to block transfers unless it receives assurances a transaction doesn't violate financial sanctions or money-laundering rules - prompting Iran to rescind a request to repatriate 300 million euros ($341 million) from a Hamburg-based bank. _____ Frank Jordans contributed to this story. LONDON (AP) - The Latest on Britain's exit from the European Union (all times local): 4:40 p.m. The European Parliament's chief Brexit official has welcomed British Prime Minister Theresa May's decision to scrap the 65 pound ($84) fee that the EU citizens living in Britain would have to pay to get settled status after Brexit. Guy Verhofstadt, the head of the EU Parliament Brexit steering group, said it had been a "key demand" for the EU legislature all along. He said he hoped the speech of May would now set off "cross-party cooperation." He expressed hope "consultations will really start now, leading to the closest possible EU-U.K. future relationship." ___ Britain's Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn responds after Prime Minister Theresa May made a statement to MPs in the House of Commons, London, Monday, Jan. 21, 2019. British Prime Minister Theresa May has rejected calls to delay Britain's departure from the European Union, and says she will press on with efforts to get an EU divorce bill approved by Parliament. May says she will hold more talks with government and opposition lawmakers about their concerns over the deal, before going back to EU leaders. (House of Commons via AP) 3:50 p.m. Prime Minister Theresa May says Britain is scrapping a fee it was due to charge European Union citizens applying to settle permanently in the U.K. after Brexit. After Britain leaves the EU, citizens of the bloc will no longer have the automatic right to live in Britain. The government says everyone already here can stay, and has set up an online registration process with a fee of 65 pounds ($84) for adults. May says that after hearing the concerns of some of the 3 million EU nationals in Britain, she was scrapping the fee. She made the announcement to the House of Commons as part of moves to try to overcome opposition to the government's divorce deal with the EU. ___ 3:45 p.m. British Prime Minister Theresa May has rejected calls to delay Britain's departure from the European Union, and says she will press on with efforts to get an EU divorce bill approved by Parliament. May says she will hold more talks with government and opposition lawmakers about their concerns over the deal, before going back to EU leaders. The EU insists the withdrawal agreement can't be renegotiated. May's divorce deal with the European Union was rejected by Parliament last week, and she faced a deadline of Monday to come up with a "Plan B." Parliament will debate May's plan, and alternatives proposed by lawmakers, on Jan. 29. ___ 2 p.m. Poland's foreign minister has suggested the Brexit impasse could be broken by setting a five-year time limit on an Irish border guarantee in the agreement. Jacek Czaputowicz said in comments published Monday that the solution would be less beneficial to Ireland than an indefinite backstop, but much better than a no-deal Brexit. Czaputowicz told the Rzeczpospolita daily that the U.K. and Ireland are playing a "game of chicken" over the border issues and "soon we will have a head-on collision." He said Ireland would then "lose the most" and would be obliged to guard the EU's external border. Irish Foreign Minister Simon Coveney said Monday that "putting a time-limit on an insurance mechanism, which is what the backstop is, effectively means that it's not a backstop at all." ___ 10:25 a.m. Britain is rolling out a program to help register an estimated 3.5 million European Union citizens living in the United Kingdom as it begins the process of leaving the bloc. Under a plan that enters the test phase on Monday, EU nationals who want to stay must apply for settled status, and pay a charge of 65 pounds ($83) for adults and 32.50 pounds for children. Immigration Minister Caroline Nokes says the authorities will "deliver a system that will make it easy and straightforward for EU citizens to obtain status." But trust in the authorities is low, in part because of the recent Windrush scandal in which long-term U.K. residents from the Caribbean were deported or detained because they could not produce documents to prove their right to live in the country. ___ 9:55 a.m. The governments of Spain and the United Kingdom have signed an agreement to safeguard voting rights in local elections for their citizens residing in the other country regardless of the way Brexit unfolds. Britain's Brexit minister, Robin Walker, says the agreement is the first of its kind for Britain with a member of the European Union. Walker was in Madrid for the signing on Monday. Some 300,000 British citizens living in Spain, the largest community outside of the British Isles, and 175,000 Spaniards who are residents in Britain and Northern Ireland will be able to vote and run in local elections that both countries are due to hold in May, officials have said. Spain's state secretary for EU affairs, Marco Aguiriano, says the agreement will enter force with Britain's departure from the EU, whether at the end of March as initially planned or later and with or without an agreement between the two sides. ___ 9:45 a.m. European Union nations are vowing not to reopen the draft agreement on Britain's withdrawal from the bloc as they await details of British Prime Minister Theresa May's plan to break the Brexit deadlock. EU foreign ministers arriving for a regular monthly meeting Monday also insisted they would need a very convincing reason to extend the March 29 departure date. German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas shared the frustration with the British indecision on how to leave the bloc and said that "we now know what they don't want in London. Now, we finally need to know what it does want." Several ministers said a reopening of the draft withdrawal agreement was out of the question. Austrian Foreign Minister Karin Kneissl said "this is the text we all invested ourselves in." ___ 9:30 a.m. Prime Minister Theresa May is set to unveil her new plan to break Britain's Brexit deadlock - and it's expected to look a lot like the old plan decisively rejected by Parliament last week. May plans to brief the House of Commons Monday on how she intends to proceed. There are few signs she will make radical changes to her deal, though she may seek alternations to its most contentious section, an insurance policy to guarantee an open Irish border after Brexit. The EU insists it will not renegotiate the withdrawal agreement. May also faces a battle from lawmakers who are trying to use amendments to rule out the possibility of Britain leaving the EU without a deal. Lawmakers are due to vote on May's "Plan B" on Jan. 29. Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May leaves 10 Downing Street, in London, Friday, Jan. 18, 2019. Talks to end Britain's Brexit stalemate appeared deadlocked Friday, with neither Prime Minister Theresa May nor the main opposition leader shifting from their entrenched positions. (Stefan Rousseau/PA via AP) Nigeria overtook India as the country with the most number of people living in extreme poverty last year, with 87 million people in dire financial hardship In the Ago Egun Bariga area of Nigeria's commercial capital, Lagos, there is no road, no electricity, no running water and no rubbish collection. Now that high grass has blocked access to the water, there is no work either. The people of Ago Egun Bariga have made a living from fishing ever since their families first settled on the edge of the lagoon more than 50 years ago. At the time, local chief Agemo Akapo's grandfather lived comfortably surrounded by the tropical vegetation. But as urbanisation gathered pace at breakneck speed, Lagos' population mushroomed from 300,000 people in 1950 to some 20 million today -- and the trees disappeared. Lagos' population has muchroomed, as have the shanty towns In their place are makeshift shanties as far as the eye can see. "We would like to have electricity, schools, hospitals, running water," said Agemo Akapo. "But this is not our number one priority. They need to open access to the sea again, so that we can go to work, buy food and feed our children." He added: "We live like doves in a cage." The Lagos state government has filled in vast stretches of the water with sand to build much-needed homes, contributing to major changes to the local ecosystem. As a result, the fishing boats of Ago Egun have lain idle in the mud for the last two years among the detritus of daily life. The fishermen can no longer put to sea. Their wives can no longer sell the catch at market. There is no money to send children to school. "If my children can eat once a day, we can thank our god," said Abiodun Kakini, who used to earn about 3,000 naira (about $8, 7 euros) a day selling fish her husband caught. She now earns a little money smoking and selling large tilapia imported from the Netherlands. "I have to buy a carton of imported fish on credit. So, I have almost nothing left at the end of the day. I need to pay back my debts," she told AFP. In just a few years, the people of Ago Egun Bariga have gone from poverty to extreme poverty. - World record - Oxfam this week published a sobering report that suggested the world's 26 richest billionaires owned more wealth than the poorest half of the planet combined. Overall, the World Bank has said the number people living on the less than $1.9 a day -- the benchmark of extreme poverty -- has fallen overall. But rates were rising in sub-Saharan Africa. Nigeria overtook India as the country with the most number of people living in extreme poverty last year, with 87 million people in dire financial hardship -- or nearly half the country's population. The World Poverty Clock estimated that six Nigerians slip into extreme poverty every minute. Between now and 2030, it said 45.5 percent of the population or 120 million people will be living in extreme poverty. In Ago Egun Bariga, the statistics have faces. Five-year-old children carry heavy jerrycans of water on their heads, scale tilapia in brackish water or sell dried fish even before they have learned to read. Nigerians vote for a new president and parliament on February 16. Two weeks later, there are elections for new state governors and state assemblies. Places like Ago Egun Bariga give an indication of the task facing the country's new political leaders. Local chief Akapo said he had attended a political meeting the day before. "They told us to stick these posters on our walls. But once we vote for them, they disappear," he said, gesturing to adverts for the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC). - Theft and corruption - For Emmanuel Onwubiko, the head of a local human rights association, both leading candidates for the upcoming polls have largely ignored the needs of those being economically left behind. 'Politicians are busy playing politics and patronage strategies instead of implementing programmes to take people out of poverty' "In Nigeria, politicians are busy playing politics and patronage strategies instead of implementing programmes to take people out of poverty," he said. President Muhammadu Buhari is proposing social assistance and micro-finance for the poorest. His main challenger Atiku Abubakar, a wealthy businessman and former vice-president from the Peoples Democratic Party, is more market-driven. Onwubiko complained there was no formal means of ensuring that politicians followed through on their promises once they get into power. Lagos: Nigeria's commercial capital "The military government looted public funds for decades but the politicians who have been elected since 1999 have also failed to solve this issue," he added. In theory, OPEC-member Nigeria, Africa's leading oil producer which churns out some two million barrels of crude every day, should not be in this position. "Between 1960 and 2005 about $20 trillion was stolen from the treasury by public office holders," said Oxfam. "The combined wealth of Nigeria's five richest men ($29.9 billion) could end extreme poverty at a national level," it assessed. "Oil is not a curse," said Onwubiko. "What we have is a political curse." Mohammed al-Nabaheen, 24, was killed by tank fire while four other people were hurt, a Gaza health ministry spokesman said. A relative is shown here grieving at a hospital in Deir al-Balah in central Gaza Strip Israel struck a Hamas site in the Gaza Strip late Tuesday after a day of border unrest that left a Palestinian militant dead and an Israeli soldier wounded, while also further delaying an aid transfer. The incidents signalled a rise in tensions after weeks of relative calm thanks to an informal truce between Israel and Islamist movement Hamas, which runs the Gaza Strip. An Israeli official said a transfer of cash from Qatar to Gaza via Israel as part of the truce would not occur on Wednesday because of the violence. In the first exchange of fire, an Israeli tank hit two Hamas observation points in the northern Gaza Strip after shots were fired at its soldiers near the border fence, Israeli and Hamas officials said. No one was injured. Later in the day, Israeli tank shelling killed a Hamas militant along the border in central Gaza as Israel responded to gunfire that wounded one of its soldiers, officials said. Mahmoud al-Nabaheen, 24, was killed by tank fire while four other people were hurt, a Gaza health ministry spokesman said. Hamas confirmed he was a member of its armed wing, the Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades. The Israeli army said a soldier was lightly wounded when a bullet struck his helmet, prompting its response. In a statement, it said an initial investigation found "an assailant fired at troops" during a riot that included rock-hurling. A picture published by the army on social media showed the soldier's damaged helmet. Later Tuesday, Israeli warplanes carried out a strike on a Hamas military camp in the northern Gaza Strip, the army said. There were no reports of injuries. There had been warnings of another escalation in recent days since Israel, citing border unrest, is holding up the latest cash transfer from Qatar to Gaza under the agreement. - Protests since March - The payments are controversial in Israel, where they have sparked opposition from right-wing activists and politicians. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is campaigning for re-election in April 9 polls, and widely shared images of suitcases of cash being sent into Gaza through Israel have generated criticism of the truce. Palestinian protesters ran through tear gas fumes during clashes with Israeli forces following a demonstration along the border with Israel east of Gaza City on January 11 Qatar's ambassador to Gaza said Monday that the $15 million (13 million euros) in cash to pay salaries of Hamas civil servants in the enclave was expected to be delivered this week, possibly Wednesday. But after the latest violence, an Israeli official said on condition of anonymity that Netanyahu had decided not to allow the transfer on Wednesday. Israel's permission is required since the cash must be delivered via its territory. Hamas is labelled a terrorist organisation by the United States and the European Union, and banks are hesitant to make the transfer. The payment would be the third of six planned tranches, totalling $90 million, in connection with the truce. - Qatar fuel aid allowed - Israel has also allowed deliveries of Qatari-financed fuel to the blockaded enclave to help ease a severe electricity shortage. Mass protests and clashes erupted on the Gaza-Israel border in March last year. The weekly protests have been calling for Palestinian refugees in Gaza to be able to return to their former homes now inside Israel. Israel accuses Hamas of using the protests as cover to carry out violence. At least 244 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli fire since March, the majority during protests and clashes. Others have died in airstrikes or shelling. Two Israeli soldiers have been killed over the same period, one by a Palestinian sniper and another during a botched special forces operation inside Gaza. Israel and Hamas have fought three wars since 2008. Russian President Vladimir Putin and Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe tried to settle the Kuril Islands dispute personally The leaders of Russia and Japan fell short of agreement on Tuesday over a disputed island chain that has long prevented the two countries from signing a peace treaty to formally end World War II. Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's visit to Moscow marked the 25th time he and Russian President Vladimir Putin have met since 2013, a reflection of their efforts to build cooperation despite the territorial disagreement. The Soviet army seized the four Kuril islands, between the Sea of Okhotsk and the Pacific Ocean, in the last days of World War II. Tokyo's refusal to recognise Moscow's sovereignty there has been a barrier to peace for more than seven decades. Putin told journalists following the talks that there remained "detailed work" ahead for the two parties before any agreement, but hailed the summit as "useful and substantial." He confirmed Moscow is still interested in building the negotiating process on a 1956 Soviet-Japanese declaration "which stipulates first and foremost the signing of a peace accord," Putin said. The declaration mooted giving Japan two of the smaller islands after a peace deal, which fell through due to Tokyo's claim over all four and its eventual military alliance with Washington. Abe said at the joint briefing that the leaders "discussed the peace agreement without hiding anything from one another" and "agreed to continue energetic work," in comments translated from Japanese. The two leaders held a "tete-a-tete meeting for about 50 minutes," Takeshi Osuga, the Japanese foreign ministry's press secretary, told a briefing in Moscow following the talks. - No 'shift' in trade - Earlier this month Moscow responded furiously to a New Year's message from Abe in which the Japanese premier said Russians living on the islands should be helped to accept that the "sovereignty of their homes will change". Map showing the Kuril islands disputed by Japan and Russia. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Tokyo needed to recognise Russia's sovereignty over the Kurils. "Why is Japan the only country in the world that cannot accept the results of World War II in their entirety?" he asked. Moscow has also lamented Japan's hesitating to invest in Russian projects, including on the Kuril islands themselves. On Tuesday, Putin said that no "qualitative shift" has happened in the realm of economic cooperation, hoping that bilateral trade would grow to $30 billion from about $18 billion in 2017. His spokesman Dmitry Peskov indicated that Moscow would be keen to see some investment to get the peace talks rolling. "Trade and economic ties must be developed, and that will allow other issues to be resolved." Abe's Moscow visit is the first leg of a trip to Europe, which will also include a speech at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, on Wednesday. - 'Powerful public opinion' - Recent reports have indicated that Abe may be leaning toward a framework that would see Japan claiming two of the smaller islands, Shikotan and Habomai, which are actually a group of uninhabited islets. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has maintained a tough line on the Kuril Islands dispute But it is not clear whether the Kremlin would be willing to transfer sovereignty over any territory. The chain ensures Russia's strategic control of the Sea of Okhotsk, and some southern islands in the chain are less than 10 kilometres (six miles) from Japan's Hokkaido island. Giving away even uninhabited islands would be poorly received in Russia, where World War II is hugely symbolic and post-war territorial gains are seen as non-negotiable. On Tuesday morning, a small group of protesters holding leftist red flags gathered near the Japanese embassy in Moscow. Leftist politician Sergei Udaltsov wrote on Facebook that 11 people were detained by police. An opinion poll by independent Russian pollster Levada Centre last month suggested that 74 percent of Russians would not support exchanging some of the islands for a peace deal, while only 17 percent said they would. To make a deal work "a vast majority of the public in Russia and Japan must support the agreement," Dmitry Trenin, who heads the Carnegie Moscow Centre, wrote in the Vedomosti newspaper. Russian state television has been unenthusiastic about the summit. Top news presenter Dmitry Kiselyov disputed the very notion that Japan could be a "friend" of Russia as long as it opposed Moscow's policies and had US military "occupying" its territory. As for the Kurils, Kiselyov said on his popular "News of the Week" show that 90 percent of Russians were against giving any of them back to Tokyo. "Would Putin want to ignore this powerful public opinion?" he asked. "Impossible." France used an EU rule for the first time France's data watchdog on Monday announced a fine of 50 million euros ($57 million) for US search giant Google, using the EU's strict General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) for the first time. Google was handed the record fine from the CNIL regulator for failing to provide transparent and easily accessible information on its data consent policies, a statement said. The CNIL said Google made it too difficult for users to understand and manage preferences on how their personal information is used, in particular with regards to targeted advertising. "People expect high standards of transparency and control from us. We're deeply committed to meeting those expectations and the consent requirements of the GDPR," a Google spokesperson said in a statement. "We're studying the decision to determine our next steps." The ruling follows complaints lodged by two advocacy groups last May, shortly after the landmark GDPR directive came into effect. One was filed on behalf of some 10,000 signatories by France's Quadrature du Net group, while the other was by None Of Your Business, created by the Austrian privacy activist Max Schrems. Schrems had accused Google of securing "forced consent" via its Android mobile operating software through the use of pop-up boxes online or on its apps which imply that its services will not be available unless the conditions of use are accepted. "Also, the information provided is not sufficiently clear for the user to understand that the legal basis for targeted advertising is consent, and not Google's legitimate business interests," the CNIL said. "We have found that large corporations such as Google simply 'interpret the law differently' and have often only superficially adapted their products," Schrems said in a statement after the ruling. "It is important that the authorities make it clear that simply claiming to be compliant is not enough." - 'Special responsibility' - The GDPR is widely considered the biggest shake-up to data privacy regulations since the advent of the web. Even companies which are not based in Europe must follow the tough new rules if they want their sites and services to be available to European users. The CNIL found that despite changes implemented by Google since last year, it was still failing to respect the spirit of the new rules. It noted for example that specifics on how long a person's data is kept and what it is used for are spread across several different web pages. Modifying a user's data preferences also requires clicking through a variety of pages such as "More Options", and often the choices to accept Google's terms are pre-checked by default. "This type of procedure leads the user to give global consent... but the consent is not 'specific' as the GDPR requires," the regulator said. It said the record 50-million-euro fine reflected the seriousness of the failings as well as Google's dominant market position in France via Android. "Each day thousands of French users create a Google account on their smartphones," the CNIL said. "As a result the company has a special responsibility when it comes to respecting their obligations in this domain," it said. It is not the first time the regulator has taken Google to task over its policies. In 2014 it fined the company 150,000 euros -- the maximum possible at the time -- for failing to comply with its privacy guidelines for personal data. And in 2016 it imposed a 100,000-euro penalty over non-compliance with the EU's "right to be forgotten" rule, allowing people to request having references to them removed from search results. Goole has contested the decision, saying it should apply only to its European sites, such as Google.fr, and not the global Google.com domain. Earlier this month the advocate general for the European Court of Justice in Luxembourg sided with Google in the case, though a final ruling has not yet been announced. Angelo Agrizzi, former COO of Bosasa, a company that had contracts with government institutions, testifies at the Commission of Inquiry into State Capture investigating alleged corruption under ex-president Jacob Zuma A South African former executive on Monday told a corruption probe that his old company had paid monthly bribes for 14 years to a minister who served scandal-tainted ex-president Jacob Zuma. Angelo Agrizzi, ex-chief operating officer of the Bosasa contracting company, has given days of damning testimony to the judicial commission, which is looking into allegations of government corruption under Zuma. Agrizzi said he was responsible for counting and packing 50,000 rand ($3,600) in cash each month to be delivered to Nomvula Mokonyane from 2002 until 2016 when Agrizzi left the company. "We knew she was close to former president Zuma," Agrizzi, dressed in a dark grey pin-stripped suit, told the inquiry. "She was going to speak to him (Zuma) and another person to have any charges against Bosasa dropped, if there were any." "She was the link person for us. We knew that if we had any issues, we could go to her and they would be sorted." Mokonyane, who is currently environmental affairs minister, served as Zuma's minister of water and sanitation between 2014 and 2018, and was earlier a provincial minister. Bosasa earned huge profits from contracts with government departments and state-owned companies. It has been under investigation over alleged graft since 2007 but has never been charged with any crime. Agrizzi described how Bosasa paid for funerals for Mokonyane's deceased family members, rented cars for her daughter for months at a time and organised large rallies for the ruling African National Congress (ANC) party. "I was personally involved. I would have to authorise," he said. Cyril Ramaphosa, who came to power when Zuma was ousted as president last February, has vowed to root out corruption in the government and the party as the country heads for elections in May. Ramaphosa appointed Mokonyane as communications minister and then environment minister. Agrizzi said he had even designed Zuma's 72nd birthday cake as one of the favours the company did to gain lucrative contracts from the state. Last week Agrizzi told the inquiry that the firm would spend between four and six million rand a month on bribes. Zuma has denied any wrongdoing, and Mokonyane has also reportedly said she was innocent. Bosasa was renamed African Global Operations in 2017. Israel inaugurated a new international airport on January 21, 2019 in its desert south meant to boost tourism to the nearby Red Sea Jordan on Monday hit out at Israel's move to open a new international airport along their shared border close to the Red Sea, saying it would threaten the kingdom's airspace. "Jordan rejects the establishment of the Israeli airport in its current location," head of Jordan's Civil Aviation Regulatory Commission Haitham Misto said, according to state media. Misto said the airport violated "international standards regarding respect for the sovereignty of airspace and territory of other countries". Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu attended the opening ceremony earlier in the day of the Ramon Airport, meant to boost tourism in the Jewish state and serve as an emergency alternative to Tel Aviv's Ben-Gurion airport. Initially, the sleek new terminal will handle only domestic flights operated by Israeli carriers. A date has not yet been set for the start of international flights. Jordan first voiced its objection to the new Israeli airport when construction began in 2013. The airport sits just across the border from Jordan's King Hussein International Airport in the Red Sea city of Aqaba. Misto said Jordan had notified the International Civil Aviation Organization of "the kingdom's strong objection". The kingdom, he said, had called on the ICAO to "take all necessary measures to ensure that Israel complies with international standards". Misto said the committee had been in touch with Israel's civil aviation authority, and "informed them that the decision to operate the airport should not be taken unilaterally until all outstanding matters are resolved". Jordan "reserves all options to ensure the defence of the kingdom's interests and protection", he added. Mehdi Nemmouche, the alleged jihadist gunman, faces life in prison if convicted of the charges of the four murders Victims of the Jewish museum attack in Brussels were shot with "surgical" precision, first responders said Monday at the trial of French national Mehdi Nemmouche. Nemmouche, 33, the alleged jihadist gunman, faces life in prison if convicted of the charges of murdering four people during the anti-Semitic attack on May 24, 2014. Paramedics who attended the scene told the Brussels criminal court they first found a man and woman dead in the museum's entrance hall. Each had been shot in the head at point blank range. Inside the museum reception they then found a third victim who was "unconscious and shaking violently" before sedating him in order to provide first aid. The victim was a young man with "a bullet in the middle of the head", first responder Benoit Claessens said, pointing to the space between both eyes. "This precision was surgical," Claessens told the court, as he struggled to maintain his composure. Charlyne Lietard, a nurse in the same rescue team, echoed his comments. "These are people who appear to have been executed, given the precision of the shots," Lietard told the court. Both emergency workers described entering a "shocking" scene where it was stressful to work because they did not know whether the gunman was still present. It was only later that witnesses said the gunman had fled, disappearing into the crowd outside, carrying the two dark bags he had arrived with. The two bodies in the entrance hall were identified as Emmanuel Riva and his wife Miriam. The third victim was Alexandre Strens, 26, who died in hospital two weeks later. Emergency workers later found a fourth body, that of French museum volunteer Dominique Sabrier, 60. Nacer Bendrer, a 30-year-old fellow Frenchman who allegedly supplied Nemmouche with the weapons, also faces life in prison if convicted of the same charge of terrorist murder. Investigators said Nemmouche attacked the museum shortly after returning from Syria, where he had allegedly fought on behalf of jihadist groups. Six days after the attack, Nemmouche was arrested in the southern French port city of Marseille. Bendrer was arrested in Marseille in December 2014. The trial is due to last until the end of February or early March. Both defendants were present in court on Monday, as they have been since the trial started on January 10. He Jiankui shocked the scientific community last year after announcing he had successfully altered the genes of twin girls to prevent them from contracting HIV A researcher who claimed to have created the world's first genetically-edited babies will face a Chinese police investigation, state media said Monday, as authorities confirmed that a second woman fell pregnant during the experiment. He Jiankui shocked the scientific community last year after announcing he had successfully altered the genes of twin girls born in November to prevent them from contracting HIV. He had told a human genome forum in Hong Kong that there had been "another potential pregnancy" involving a second couple. A provincial government investigation has since confirmed the existence of the second mother and that the woman was still pregnant, the official Xinhua news agency reported. The expectant mother and the twin girls from the first pregnancy will be put under medical observation, an investigator told Xinhua. The provincial government probe found He had "forged ethical review papers" and "deliberately evaded supervision," according to Xinhua. He had "privately" organised a project team that included foreign staff and used "technology of uncertain safety and effectiveness" for illegal human embryo gene-editing, it said. Investigators told Xinhua that the scientist was "pursuing personal fame" and used "self-raised funds" for the controversial experiment. Eight volunteer couples -- HIV-positive fathers and HIV-negative mothers -- signed up to He's trial, investigators found, with one couple later dropping out. - Immediate backlash - The origins of the CRISPR genome editing technique Details of the experiment -- which has not been independently verified -- triggered an immediate backlash from the global scientific community and the Chinese government ordered a halt to He's research work days after it was publicly announced. Speaking at the genome summit in Hong Kong in November, He said he was "proud" of altering the genes of the babies, given the stigma affecting AIDS patients in the country. But such gene-editing work is banned in most countries, including China. He will be "dealt with seriously according to the law," and his case will be "handed over to public security organs for handling," Xinhua said. The scientist was educated at Stanford University in the US and recruited back to China as part of Beijing's "Thousand Talents Plan" to reverse brain drain, according to a copy of He's resume published on the website of the Southern University of Science and Technology (SUSTech) in Shenzhen. SUSTech said in a statement Monday it had terminated the researcher's employment after earlier saying He's work had "seriously violated academic ethics". He said the twins' DNA was modified using CRISPR, a technique which allows scientists to remove and replace a strand with pinpoint precision. Experts worry meddling with the genome of an embryo could cause harm not only to the individual but also future generations that inherit these same changes. Experts behind the pill testing trial in the ACT are set to demonstrate the service to interested NSW MPs but Premier Gladys Berejiklian will not be among them. The demonstration and explanation of testing equipment is to be held in Sydney's east on Tuesday at the Ted Noffs Foundation, which handles the treatment of young Australians experiencing drug and alcohol problems. The foundation's chief executive, Matt Noffs, first called for the pill testing service after the ecstasy overdose death of Georgina Bartter at Sydney's Harbourlife music festival in 2014. He was also involved in the Australian-first trial conducted at Groovin' the Moo festival in Canberra in April 2018. Opposition health spokesman Walt Secord has accepted the invite "as part of an ongoing education process". "We owe it to the families of the young people who have died to listen and examine the evidence from the experts," he said in a statement to AAP. "It is disappointing to see the premier refuse to even listen." He said his attendance is not an endorsement of pill testing and NSW Labor's policy is to examine the service within the context of their proposed formal drug summit this year. A spokeswoman for Ms Berejiklian told AAP on Monday night the premier would not be attending the event. The demonstration comes one day after NSW Greens MP Cate Faehrmann admitted she has taken MDMA occasionally since her 20s, prompting criticism from the state's health minister Brad Hazzard. Mr Hazzard revealed the drug itself was linked to the majority of the deaths at NSW festivals since September. "I've had advice from NSW Health that four of the five young people who passed away died because of a direct link with MDMA being in their body," he said. Mr Hazzard said there is "early clinical evidence" the remaining death was also linked to MDMA. Meanwhile, a directions hearing is listed at Glebe Coroners Court on Tuesday into the five music festival deaths. Prime Minister Scott Morrison has promised a mixture of youth and experience in Liberal ranks as the coalition hunts an unlikely come-from-behind election victory. Victorian Liberal premier Jeff Kennett called for federal MPs Julie Bishop and Kevin Andrews to follow Industrial Relations Minister Kelly O'Dwyer out the door at the federal poll, due by May. But Mr Morrison dead-batted those calls, pointing to Ms Bishop's statement that she intends to contest the next election. "You need youth, you need talent but you also need experience," Mr Morrison told 2GB. "Everyone's got a role to play. It doesn't matter whether you're older or you're younger or you're male or you're female - all this identity politics is frankly getting a bit tiring." As the Liberals look for a candidate to replace Ms O'Dwyer in her Melbourne seat of Higgins, Treasurer Josh Frydenberg admitted the party needed more females in parliament. "We've got runs on the board, but of course we need to get more women in our parliamentary ranks and that's what we'll do," he told Sky News. Labor leader Bill Shorten is using Ms O'Dwyer's shock resignation for family reasons to highlight the lack of women in the Liberal Party. "My party has significantly outperformed the Liberal Party in recent years about the selection and promotion of women, not just in marginal seats, but in safe seats," he said. Both party leaders will continue on the quasi-campaign trail in Queensland on Tuesday. Mr Morrison will be in Cooktown where he's due to attend a community barbecue hosted by traditional owners and the local council. Mr Shorten's Bill Bus - dubbed the "Tax Bus" by the prime minister - continues on its nine-day odyssey across the Sunshine State. And with four days until Australia Day, debate about the national holiday is likely to continue after the prime minister's new citizenship ceremony dress code stoked the annual discussion. Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, January 23) For one House leader, experts who have come out to oppose the measure decreasing the minimum age of criminal responsibility (MACR) are not basing their criticisms on reality. "I see what is real evidence as distinguished from theoretical assumption or theoretical conclusion," House Majority Leader Fredenil Castro told CNN Philippines' The Source on Wednesday. "I suspect they (psychologists) do not see what is around." Castro said that even if a lot of experts have told him that they are against the measure, these could not substitute the "real experience" that he sees everyday on the streets. "I see a lot of children in the street even in the tunnel, Ayala tunnel, you will see a lot of children in the morning. And in the news, mayroong rape doon, mayroong robbery doon. [there's rape there, there's robbery there.] How could there be more probative than what you see as distinguished as the science as basis?" he said. He added that while he respects the expertise of psychologists, this does not prevent him from bringing up what he sees in real life. The Psychological Association of the Philippines (PAP) has reiterated that it is against House Bill No. 8858 which lowers the MACR from 15 years old to nine, saying that the "developmental immaturity" of children and adolescents mitigates their criminal liability. "Although they may be able to discern right from wrong actions, it is their capability to act in ways consistent with that discernment that is undermined," the PAP said, citing scientific research. The PAP said children and adolescents are still developing their decision-making capacity and that they are vulnerable to coercion, and that children in conflict with the law are victimized and disadvantaged. "To place such a young person, already victimized, into the hands of the criminal justice system further curtails his or her future prospects, and pushes them further towards a negative life trajectory," it said. Meanwhile, the Philippine Pediatric Society reiterated its "strong opposition" to lowering the MACR, also citing the "scientific and medical" basis for maintaining the MACR at 15 years old. Even if psychologists and pediatricians, backed by scientific data, are opposing the measure, Castro remains adamant that the MACR should be restored as it was before the enactment of the Juvenile Justice and Welfare Act. Under the Revised Penal Code, enacted in 1930, children aged nine to 15 years old are not exempt from criminal liability provided that they acted with discernment. The Juvenile Justice and Welfare Act increased the MACR to 15. Castro said that if the law was effective before, it should be more necessary now as technology has advanced. "Before there was no cell phone. But now we have cell phone. You can find all the good and bad information in the cell phone. In 1935 there was none. You travel all the streets in Metro Manila and you will find nothing you see now in the cell phone. Two, the environment now is more adverse because of the technology we have," he said. But technology would also prove to be detrimental to children who run in conflict with the law, should the measure be passed, child development specialist Prof. Nina Era told CNN Philippines' Newsroom Ngayon. "Siyempre, forever nang naka-tag 'yung label (children in conflict with the law) sa kanilang ganun lalo na ngayon 'yung social media ay napaka-powerful na pwedeng ilagay ang kanilang mukha, ilalagay 'yung kanilang pangalan, masasabi na ito 'yung ginawa nilang masama. At habang-buhay bitbit na nila 'yun, kahit siguro minsan gugustuhin na nilang mag-bagong buhay," Era said. [Translation: Of course, the label that they are children in conflict with the law would forever be tagged on them, especially now that social media is so powerful that their identities can be posted and they can be identified with the crimes they committed. And they would forever carry that label, even if they would want to change for the better.] HB 8858 is under period of interpellations at the House, while two similar measures in the Senate are pending in its Justice committee. President Rodrigo Duterte has long been pushing for the lowering of the MACR, having repeatedly assailed the Juvenile Justice and Welfare Act for increasing it to 15 years old. As her family prepare to take her home, a public vigil will be held for Aiia Maasarwe near where her body was found in suburban Melbourne. Mourners are invited to pay their respects at the corner of Plenty Road and Main Drive, near the Polaris Shopping Centre at 6.30pm on Tuesday. Organiser Kelsey Wilson said visitors will be able to pay their respects and there will be a short reading. It comes a day after Ms Maasarwe's alleged murder faced court for the second time. Aspiring rapper Codey Herrmann, 20, appeared in Melbourne Magistrates Court on Monday charged with Ms Maasarwe's rape and murder. Ms Maasarwe's father travelled to Melbourne last week, meeting with police and attending a vigil for his daughter. Ruba Maasarwe, who was on a video call with her sister when she was attacked, is also in Melbourne but other members of her family remain in Israel. Preparations are being made to repatriate her body to Baka al Gharbiyye after it was released by the Victorian coroner on Monday. She is a successful TV presenter known for her stylish fashion choices. And Maya Jama sizzled as she headed to a dinner to celebrate her collaboration with PrettyLittleThing in London on Thursday. The brunette beauty, 24, slipped her toned frame into electric blue PVC co-ords as she made an entrance. Toned: Maya Jama sizzled as she headed to a dinner to celebrate her collaboration with PrettyLittleThing in London on Thursday The star teased her toned midriff in a sporty and very shiny cropped jacket, which also revealed her tiny waist. Maya paired this with a clinging matching skirt which drew the eye to her lithe legs. She boosted her height with black strappy stiletto sandals. Leggy: The brunette beauty, 24, slipped her toned frame into electric blue PVC co-ords as she made an entrance Kiss: The star teased her toned midriff in a sporty and very shiny cropped jacket, which also revealed her tiny waist Glee: Maya seemed VERY excited to be attending the dinner Smile: The star posed up with AJ Odudu and Felicity Hayward Glamour: Munroe Bergdorf brought the glamour in a silver furry gilet and busty dress Her raven tresses were styled in soft waves while a rich palette of make-up accentuated her pretty features. She joined a host of celebrities including Melanie Sykes and model Felicity Hayward at the dinner. The outing comes as Maya, who is dating rapper Stormzy, was spotted for a pre-Christmas getaway to Barbados last month where she showcased her svelte figure to perfection. She flaunted her pert posterior in tiny pink thong bikini bottoms while staying at Elegant Hotels for the launch of Virgin Holidays Departure Beach. Laugh out loud: Maya laughed as she looked at her phone with AJ Chic: Melanie Sykes looked gorgeous in a white blouse, blazer and leather leggings Radiant: The presenter looked sensational as she made her way into the venue She teamed the skimpy item of swimwear with a plunging white halterneck top for her visit to the beach. The model's broadcasting career has been going from strength-to-strength in recent months after she landed a new weekend show on BBC Radio 1. While Maya has added another string to her bow as she launches her new collaboration with PrettyLittleThing. 'PLT has been one of my go-to brands and Ive loved watching the brand grow over the years,' she revealed. She's been displaying her flair for style at glitzy events during Paris Haute Couture Fashion Week. And Monica Bellucci maintained her chic ways as she attended the 17th Diner De La Mode in France on Thursday evening. The Spectre actress, 54, caught the eye as she highlighted her slender frame in a sophisticated black maxi coat, embellished with intricate gold embroidery throughout. Turning heads: Monica Bellucci maintained her chic ways as she attended the 17th Diner De La Mode during Paris Haute Couture Fashion Week in France on Thursday evening Upping the style ante, the screen star boosted her frame in a pair of suede stiletto boots by Christian Louboutin for her appearance. The Passion of the Christ actress kept things equally stylish in the accessory department with a chunky gold necklace and a designer quilted handbag. With her chocolate-brown tresses styled into loose waves, Monica opted for her signature fierce make-up look, featuring heavily-applied eyeliner, light strokes of blush and nude lipgloss. Radiant: The Spectre actress, 54, caught the eye as she highlighted her slender frame in a sophisticated black maxi coat, embellished with intricate gold embroidery throughout Effortlessly chic: Upping the style ante, the screen star boosted her frame in a pair of suede stiletto boots by Christian Louboutin for her appearance A few weeks prior, Monica was in Marrakech, Morocco, for the 17th annual Film Festival. Monica has been in blockbuster hits such as The Passion of the Christ and The Matrix Reloaded, as well as TV series such as Mozart in the Jungle and the Twin Peaks revival And at the age of 51 she became the oldest Bond girl in the 007 franchise when she starred in 2015's Spectre. But despite her looking decades younger than her years, the brunette beauty has been vocal about how little effort she puts into staying in shape. Look at her glow: Monica opted for her signature fierce make-up look, featuring heavily-applied eyeliner, light strokes of blush and nude lipgloss Impressive: At the age of 51 she became the oldest Bond girl in the 007 franchise when she starred in 2015's Spectre The screen siren has been busy having presented her latest project, On the Milky Road at the annual Virna Lisi Awards in Rome last week. She told Extra at the award ceremony: 'I shot this movie for three years... in Serbia,' the Citta di Castello, Italy native said. 'It's a beautiful love story between two adult people who have nothing left to lose. 'They're not young anymore, but the moment they meet something magical happens and the film proves that love and sensuality is a matter of energy, not age - so, its a beautiful message, I think.' The long-awaited Breaking Bad movie adaptation has yet to be confirmed. And amid swirling rumours about the film, a full cast list is said to have been revealed, which will see Bryan Cranston and Aaron Paul reunite alongside a host of returning characters. According to Revenge Of The Fans, Breaking Bad creator Vince Gilligan is a developing a two hour movie code-named Greenbrier which will take place in the Breaking Bad world and 'follow a kidnapped man who escapes and searches for freedom.' One to watch: Bryan Cranston and Aaron Paul will reportedly reunite alongside a host of returning characters in the Breaking Bad movie The site have now released what is believed to be the full cast list, citing: Bryan Cranston (Walter), Aaron Paul (Jesse), Jonathan Banks (Mike), Jesse Plemons (Todd), Charles Baker (Skinny Pete), Matt Jones (Badger), Robert Forster (Ed, aka The Disappearer), Tess Harper (Mrs. Pinkman), Krysten Ritter (Jane) and Kevin Rankin (Kenny). The line-up may surprise fans as both Krysten, who played Jane, and Bryan, who played lead role Walter, died in the show. It is not yet clear when the movie will take place, so it is not apparent whether they will appear in flashbacks or whether the film is set prior to their deaths in the series. Iconic: According to Revenge Of The Fans , Breaking Bad creator Vince Gilligan is a developing a two hour movie code-named Greenbrier which will take place in the Breaking Bad world and 'follow a kidnapped man who escapes and searches for freedom' Much missed: The line-up may surprise fans as both Krysten, who played Jane, and Bryan, who played lead role Walter, died in the show MailOnline has contacted representatives for Bryan Cranston and Aaron Paul for comment. Meanwhile, Bryan, 62, addressed the possibility of a movie in jest during an appearance on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon. However, Walter White devotees shouldn't break out their Heisenberg hats just yet. List: The site have now released what is believed to be the full cast list, including Bryan Cranston (Walter), Aaron Paul (Jesse), Jonathan Banks (Mike), Jesse Plemons (Todd) Rumor has it: The reports come after Bryan addressed rumors of a Breaking Bad movie in the works during a visit to The Tonight Show With Jimmy Fallon 'I heard a rumor that there might be a Breaking Bad movie,' Jimmy asked the Emmy winner. 'Let's put it to rest,' Bryan began. 'I can say and announce tonight in front of your audience exclusive announcement - that I can confirm there is a Breaking Bad movie rumor that is making its way.' The actor appeared to get a kick out of tormenting the audience with the big lead up to the joke as he laughed with the late night host. Ultimately the star was mum on the prospect of returning to his famed character of a chemistry teacher turn drug lord. 'I can say and announce tonight in front of your audience exclusive announcement - that I can confirm there is a Breaking Bad movie rumor that is making its way.' In November, EW confirmed through sources that series creator Vince Gilligan was working on a 'two-hour movie based on his beloved Emmy-winning AMC drama.' The outlet reported that it wasn't clear if the project would be for film or television. According to the Albuquerque Journal, production was scheduled to start at the end of 2018 in New Mexico under the title Greenbrier. Reboot? In November, EW confirmed through sources that series creator Vince Gilligan was working on a 'two-hour movie based on his beloved Emmy-winning AMC drama.' Tv royalty: Breaking Bad aired on AMC for five seasons from 2008-2013 '[Greenbriar will] follow the escape of a kidnapped man and his quest for freedom' suggesting it might focus on Jesse Pinkman (Paul) following the events in the Breaking Bad series finale, which aired in 2013,' the Journal reported last year. Adding: 'How Cranston's meth king character Walter White would factor into such a story is unclear (as White died in the finale).' Breaking Bad aired on AMC for five seasons from 2008-2013. The series boasts 16 Prime Time Emmy wins and 58 nominations as well as two Peabody Awards. Accolades: Bryan Cranston took home the Emmy for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series four times For his role, Bryan Cranston took home the Emmy for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series four times and co-star Aaron Paul earned three Emmy's for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series. Cranston was on The Tonight Show promoting The Upside, which he has taken criticism for due to playing a disabled character. 'We live in the world of criticism,' the said in response to critics during a news conference, Sky News reported. Promotions: Cranston was on The Tonight Show promoting The Upside, which he has taken criticism for due to playing a disabled character 'If we're willing to get up and try something, we have to also be willing to take criticism. We're very aware of the need to expand the opportunities for people with disabilities.' The Oscar-nominated performer said that 'being cast in this role as a quadriplegic really came down to a business decision.' During Cranston's segment on Fallon, he performed in a skit as a nerdy high school student with the host and To All The Boys I've Loved Before breakout star Lana Condor. She admitted she'd love to have a wine date with UFC's Henry Cejudo, six months on from breaking up with her fiance John Cena. Yet Nikki Bella showed no signs of heartache when she promoted the latest series of Total Bellas with her twin Brie at the Build Studios, in New York City on Thursday. The reality star, 35, went braless in a deeply plunging jumpsuit and she hung a golden pendant around her neck. Breast attraction! Nikki Bella put on a very busty display in a very sexy jumpsuit as she posed with twin Brie on Thursday after she revealed plans to date UFC's Henry Cejudo Through the worst of her heartache, Nikki flashed her pearly white teeth for the cameras after she discussed moving on from her ex. The Total Bellas star added a subtle splash of colour with her trendy tasseled earrings and glossy heels in a matching shade of burgundy. Stylishly in sync with her sister, Brie dressed head-to-toe in burgundy as the twins complemented each other's fashionable looks. Twinning! Stylishly in sync with her sister, Brie dressed head-to-toe in burgundy as the twins complemented each other's fashionable looks No pain, no gain! Through the worst of her heartache, Nikki flashed her pearly white teeth for the cameras after she discussed moving on from her ex Total Bellas is an American reality television series which follows the twins, who courted attention for romancing WWE champions John Cena and Daniel Bryan. While Nikki split from John last year, Brie has been close to her love since they were married four years ago. It's been nearly six months since Nikki had her heart ripped from her chest when she split from her fiance John Cena in late July last year. Brightening up her look: The Total Bellas star added a subtle splash of colour with her trendy tasseled earrings and glossy heels in a matching shade of burgundy Their sudden break up came just two weeks shy of their sixth year anniversary last year and Nikki is yet to be seen with a new man. She told E! News in a statement at the time: 'After much time and soul-searching alone and together, we have decided to officially part ways.' Henry Cejudo wasn't shy in coming forward with his advances as he confessed he had a crush on the WWE superstar. Flattered Nikki coyly suggested she would be down for having a wine date with the UFC star Henry. Love life: While Nikki split from John last year, Brie has been close to her love since they were married four years ago Fashion fail: Brie got the bottoms of her trouser suit wet when she braved the rainy streets of the Big Apple She told TMZ: 'I said I'd send him some Belle Radici wine. Maybe I'll have some wine with him one day or I don't know. We'll see!' Meanwhile, Brie has been happily married to her husband Daniel Bryan whom she tied the knot with in 2014. The married couple also raise their two-year-old daughter Birdie Joe who was brought into the world in May 2017. She has made her life in Los Angeles since finding fame with Slumdog Billionaire. But it was off to rainy London on Thursday for Freida Pinto, who was promoting the Indian movie Love Sonia with her co-stars Richa Chadha and Mrunal Thakur. The trip visited the AOL Build TV studios to promote the 2018 film, in aid of a good cause, promoting awareness of human trafficking. Making her point: Freida Pinto looks smart in baby blue wrap coat in London on Thursday as she talks about human trafficking after exposing the practice in her film Love Sonia Should have worn her wellies! Freida wore sandals as she posed with her co-star Richa Chadha For her promotional visit Freida wrapped up in a baby blue coat, over her striped dress, dodging the puddles in pretty black sandals. Her co-star Richa wore a punk jacket, as the two posed arm in arm for the cameras. Love Sonia came out in the US last year, but the actresses were talking about the issues raised by their movie on Thursday ahead of the UK release on January 25. In the film Preeti, played by Riya Sisodia, is sold to human traffickers by her debt-ridden father. Her sister, Sonia, played by Mrunal Thakur, sets out to find her, but finds herself embroiled in the sex trade. Important: In the film Preeti, played by Riya Sisodia, is sold to human traffickers by her debt-ridden father; her sister, Sonia, played by Mrunal Thakur, sets out to find her, but finds herself embroiled in the sex trade Frieda plays a sex worker in the harrowing movie. Meanwhile, busy Freida is currently working on the John Ridley sci-fi movie Needle in a Timestack, along with voicing a character in a new Disney show. She is set to voice the part of Queen Shanti in Disney's first all-Indian TV series Mira, Royal Detective. She largely stays out of the public eye after a successful stint as a child actor. And Mary-Kate Olsen seemed to be having a great time with friends as she stepped out for sushi on Wednesday night in New York City. The 32-year-old fashion designer wore a gorgeous black leather coat to take a quick smoke break before catching a cab with husband Olivier Sarkozy. Smile! Mary-Kate Olsen seemed to be having a great time with friends as she stepped out for sushi on Wednesday night in New York City Mary-Kate kept warm in the chilly winter weather wearing a long black leather coat with a furry neckline. She stuck with her monochrome theme in a pair of loose black trousers and matching booties. The former Full House actress appeared to be makeup-free as she puffed away on a cigarette with a pal. Good times: The 32-year-old fashion designer wore a gorgeous black leather coat to take a quick smoke break before catching a cab with husband Olivier Sarkozy Break: The former Full House actress appeared to be makeup-free as she puffed away on a cigarette with a pal Sarkozy also bundled up as the group left high-end Kappo Masa on the Upper East Side of Manhattan. Mary-Kate and her twin sister Ashley spoke to WSJ Magazine about growing up underneath the spotlights in Hollywood. 'I don't know if it's because of the way we grew up we just don't like talking about ourselves or talking about what we're doing It's not really our approach,' the twins said. Double trouble: Mary-Kate and her twin sister Ashley spoke to WSJ Magazine about growing up underneath the spotlights in Hollywood; seen in 2009 The former child stars discussed their close relationship, likening it to a marriage and a partnership, as they said: 'It's been 32 years of learning how to communicate.' The business moguls rose to fame when they were just babies starring as Michelle Tanner in the '90s hit sitcom Full House. As children, the actresses starred in dozens of projects together from films to television, and even product lines, through their production company DualStar. Kate Beckinsale ventures to the Congo in the first images of her new role in the action-packed series, The Widow. The Underworld star, 45, is the leading lady in the eight part series that will air on ITV in the spring. She stars as Georgia Wells, a woman whose life is turned upside down when she receives a phone call in the middle of the night informing her her husband Will has been reported dead after a plane crash in the Congolese jungle. First look: , Kate Beckinsale, 45, is the leading lady in the eight part series that will air on ITV in the spring. Three years later, Georgia has moved on from her old life when she sees her supposedly deceased husband on the news. The discovery take her to Kinshasa in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, looking to uncover the truth about his disappearance. Oblivious to the extent of the danger she faces, Georgia sets out across the country in pursuit of Will while Martin Benson (Charles Dance), the closest person to family she has, searches for answers elsewhere. In the images, Kate can be seen in a variety of situations in the Congo. Story: She stars as Georgia Wells, a woman whose life is turned upside down when she receives a phone call in the middle of the night informing her her husband Will has been reported dead In one scene, she appears to be in a cabin with a camera around her neck, while in another she sits with Martin Benson's character, reading through letters. Some of the action to come is also hinted at as in another scene she can be seen with her hands in the air while a gun is pointed at her. The series, created by Harry and Jack Williams, will also be streamed by Amazon Studios. Shock: Three years later, Georgia has moved on from her old life when she sees her supposedly deceased husband on the news Investigation: The discovery take her to Kinshasa in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, looking to uncover the truth about his disappearance Friend: Georgia sets out across the country in pursuit of Will while Martin Benson (Charles Dance), the closest person to family she has, searches for answers elsewhere Upcoming: The series, created by Harry and Jack Williams, will also be streamed by Amazon Studios Brad Beale, vice president, worldwide TV content acquisition at Amazon Prime Video, said in a statement: 'We are thrilled to continue our existing relationship with Kate Beckinsale on the heels of her incredible performances in Amazon Studios critically acclaimed films. 'Harry and Jack Williams have created a powerful story, which will be brought to life by one of the worlds most talented actresses, and we are excited to bring this thrilling series to Prime members around the world.' Kate is also in post production on El Tonto, about a deaf mute who becomes a celebrity, which has yet to set a release date. She's showing her little girl the world one day at a time. And Khloe Kardashian shared an adorable photo of baby True in front of a classic Airstream trailer parked on the Malibu Pier on Thursday morning. The 34-year-old entrepreneur cooed over her daughter after the little one enjoyed learning Spanish with her cousins Stormi, Chicago and Dream. Family fun: Khloe Kardashian shared an adorable photo of baby True in front of a classic Airstream trailer parked on the Malibu Pier on Thursday morning True relaxed on a wooden rocking chair outside of the vintage aluminum trailers positioned on the famed Malibu Pier. She captioned the photo, 'Lets go camping Baby True.' On Wednesday night, the little girl laughed and played with her cousins during a fun-filled mommy group. Fun! The 34-year-old entrepreneur cooed over her daughter after the little one enjoyed learning Spanish with her cousins Stormi, Chicago and Dream Babies! The girls appeared to have a great time at 'Baby Class' Adorable: True looked ever so cute dressed in a royal blue ensemble with a sky blue wrap around her head True looked cozy wearing a royal blue onesie with a sky blue baby turban covering her dark hair. In between Spanish songs, she laughed and played with her friends wearing a little elephant hat. She captioned one Instagram story 'The Triplets' as the little girls played with drums during one song. Khloe watched on with a big smile stretched across her face and her blonde tresses pulled into a loose bun. Family: She captioned one Instagram story 'The Triplets' as the little girls played with drums during one song All smiles: The little one was certainly excited about play time as she bounced around the room with other babies Nice hat: At one point she wore an extra adorable elephant hat on her head So quick: The Good American jeans co-founder welcomed daughter True Thompson on April 12, 2018 in Cleveland, Ohio with Tristan, 27 True seemed to know her music as she danced along to Wheels on the Bus while her mother played along. The Good American jeans co-founder welcomed daughter True Thompson on April 12, 2018 in Cleveland, Ohio with Tristan, 27. She reportedly wants a second child with Tristan because daughter True 'changed her life,' a source told People magazine. Looking back: Two days prior to Khloe giving birth, Tristan's cheating scandal came to light, exclusively revealed by Dailymail.com With her breakthrough role as Wonder Woman she established herself as a female icon. And off the big screen, Israeli actress Gal Gadot values her female companions, surrounding herself with a supportive band of girlfriends. The 33-year-old was seen heading out for sushi on Wednesday night, surrounded by her pals. Girl's night: Gal Gadot enjoys a night out at sushi bar in Los Angeles on Wednesday after taking her daughter on a hike with friend Casual outing: Gal wore skinny grey jeans and a black jacket, tying her hair in a top knot Gal wore skinny grey jeans and a black jacket for her outing, tying her hair in a top knot. The Israeli star - who oddly dumped her veteran manager after landing Wonder Woman - has a close group of female friends, spending time on a short beach break with them earlier this month. Sharing pictures of the group doing yoga beside the ocean, and stretching out in their bikinis, she wrote on Instagram: 'What a magical vacation with inspiring women that I'm lucky to have in my life. 'So many laughs and funny moments, deep conversations about life in the most beautiful set up of our beautiful nature. Couldn't be more grateful.' Good conversation: Gal values her female friendships And Gal is evidently teaching her daughters the value of strong female friendships, sharing images of seven-year-old Alma Versano on a school trip. She wrote this week: 'Now that the rain is gone.. such a great morning for a hike with my little one and her class.' The former Miss Israel also has daughter Maya, one, with husband Yaron Varsano. Girl's trip: Gal just returned from a vacation with her friends Close: Sharing pictures of them doing yoga beside the ocean, and stretching out in their bikinis, she wrote on Instagram: 'What a magical vacation with inspiring women that I'm lucky to have in my life' Last October, it was revealed that her husband Joe Giudice will be deported to Italy after his 41-month prison sentence is completed. And Teresa Giudice may not join him in his native country. The 46-year-old Real Housewives Of New Jersey reportedly said 'we'd go our separate ways' if he was deported while at the show's season nine taping earlier this month with Andy Cohen, according to People. Interesting: Teresa Giudice reportedly said 'we'd go our separate ways' if husband Joe Giudice was deported while at the show's season nine taping earlier this month with Andy Cohen, according to People; pictured November 6, 2018 in NYC The magazine's insider said: 'Teresa told Andy that if Joe gets deported, she's not going.' The source added: 'She said that she and Joe had talked about it over the phone, and that he understood.' Teresa and Joe, who wed in 1999, are parents to four children: Gia, 18; Gabriella, 15; Milania, 14; and Audriana, 10. People's insider claims that Andy 'pressed' Teresa about what would happen to her marriage to Joe and she then said they'd 'split.' The way they were: The magazine's insider said: 'Teresa told Andy that if Joe gets deported, she's not going;' pictured September 9, 2013 She reportedly told him that she will focus on their daughters. Teresa 'didn't really express any sadness about it,' another source for the magazine revealed. The reality star however said in January 2018 that she 'wouldn't mind' living in Italy, according to People. Teresa said: 'I mean, Italy's a beautiful place to live. I wouldn't mind, you know, I'm just saying. Listen, whatever God has planned for me, that's what's going to happen. I will embrace it the best I can.' She served 11 months in prison and was released December 23, 2015. Joe and Teresa were sentenced to prison time for mail, wire and bankruptcy fraud; the sentencing occurred in October 2014. Moving forward: Teresa 'didn't really express any sadness about it,' another source for the magazine revealed; pictured December 8, 2018 in NYC In October 2018, a judge ruled that once he is released, he would be deported to Italy. He was born in Italy but moved with his parents to the United States at age one; he never obtained an American citizenship. People reported that if a person is convicted of an 'aggravated felony' or 'a crime of moral turpitude,' an immigrant can be deported from the US. Joe began his prison sentence on March 23, 2016; he will be released March 2019. She gave birth to a baby girl on Nov. 4. And Kenya Moore looked better than ever in a bikini shot shared to her Instagram account on Thursday morning. The Real Housewives of Atlanta star rocked a tiny white two-piece on the beach and held daughter Brooklyn in her arms to celebrate her 48th birthday. Mom! Kenya Moore looked better than ever in a bikini shot shared to her Instagram account on Thursday morning All joy: The TV siren seemed to be very content as she held her pride-and-joy Kenya looked absolutely incredible in the daring swimsuit as she walked along the beach sporting a massive smile. Her ample assets were contained in a triangle top with cheeky white bottoms hugging her hips. She wore a silver necklace with the letter B dangling across her decolletage to match small hoop earring. Beach babe: The Real Housewives of Atlanta star rocked a tiny white two-piece on the beach to celebrate her 48th birthday Brushed! Though Kenya managed to find time for an extended birthday celebration, it wasn't that long ago that she was feeling frazzled from taking care of her baby Though Kenya managed to find time for an extended birthday celebration, it wasn't that long ago that she was feeling frazzled from taking care of her baby. On Jan. 8, the Detroit-native shared a photo of herself with an unruly mess of hair, and wrote, 'When youre a new mom and dont have time to do your hair!' Brooklyn was the first baby for Kenya and her husband, 45-year-old Brooklyn-based restaurateur Marc Daly, whom she married in 2017. Cutie: Brooklyn was the first baby for Kenya and her husband, 45-year-old Brooklyn-based restaurateur Marc Daly, whom she married in 2017; seen on Instagram The pregnancy was extremely difficult for the TV star, who was diagnosed with pre-eclampsia, a pregnancy-related condition marked by high blood pressure and possible damage to various organs. Her three-hour C-section was complicated by uterine fibroids, which required doctors to cut both horizontally and vertically. Despite all the complications and her advanced age, Kenya told People she's still hoping for another child. 'I don't know if my body can do it,' she admitted. 'But we would love to have one more.' She enjoyed a belated honeymoon in the Maldives and Oman with her husband Hugo Taylor earlier this month. And Millie Mackintosh is already wishing she was back on her luxurious getaway as she took to Instagram on Thursday to share a throwback snap of their trip. The bikini-clad beauty, 29, uploaded a picture of the loved-up couple having fun on a beach, captioning the snap: 'Missing this. #throwbackthursday'. Missing the sun: Millie Mackintosh, 29, shared a throwback snap on Thursday of her and husband Hugo Taylor, 32, on their belated honeymoon The star showed off her stunning figure in a cream and black striped bikini, featuring a high waistline which accentuated her slender pins. She completed her stylish outfit with an open white shirt and shielded her eyes with a pair of dark sunglasses. Millie left her brunette tresses hanging loosely on her shoulders as she snuggled up to her beau in the snap. Strike a pose: The Made In Chelsea beauty was seen posing up a storm in an emerald green two-piece as she balanced on a paddle-board Loved up: Millie and her husband cosied up as they posed in front of a scenic background following their wedding last year Meanwhile, Hugo, 32, looked effortlessly cool as he posed away wearing a white shirt and black and white printed shorts. Her throwback snap comes just days after the couple enjoyed a fun-filled trip to the Six Senses Zighy Bay which is in the Musandam Peninsula, located just two hours from Dubai. They also headed to The Maldives, with the couple sharing numerous enviable snaps of their romantic holiday. Effortlessly chic: Amid the couple photos were a plethora of glamorous shots featuring Millie posing up a storm in numerous stunning locations Fun in the sun: Displaying her incredible fashion sense, Millie looked like she was having the time of her life as she took centre stage during the trip In one snap, Millie showed off her incredible physique as she perched atop a paddle-board in the middle of a lake. Looking chic in an emerald green two-piece, the reality star pouted away to the camera as she kept her balance. Another snap showed the couple in front of a scenic backdrop, with Millie looking gorgeous in a long, green dress and flip-flops. Amid the couple photos were a plethora of glamorous shots featuring Millie posing up a storm in numerous stunning locations. Displaying her incredible fashion sense, Millie looked like she was having the time of her life as she took centre stage during the trip. Millie and Hugo first dated whilst starring on Made In Chelsea in 2011, with the pair rekindling their romance in May 2016. The couple announced their engagement in July 2017 following a holiday in Greece, before tying the knot a year later in a romantic Sussex wedding. Sarah Paulson has admitted her girlfriend Holland Taylor 'slid into her DMs' on Twitter. The 44-year-old Glass actress' partner might be 32 years older than her, but that doesn't mean she doesn't know how modern dating works. When Sarah was asked how she met the 76-year-old Hollywood legend on Watch What Happens Live With Andy Cohen on Wednesday, she revealed they started following each other on Twitter - while she was seeing someone else. Flirtatious: Sarah Paulson, 44, has admitted her girlfriend Holland Taylor. 76, 'slid into her DMs' on Twitter The pair met a decade ago at a dinner party, and Sarah confessed it was Holland who first reached out to her on the social networking site. They eventually got together in 2015 and have been blissfully happy ever since. She recalled: 'It's a long story. We met a very, very long time ago. I was with someone else. 'We were doing a thing at [actress] Martha Plimpton's house. It was for an organisation that she was working with and we were both doing a little PSA for it. Soulmates: The pair met a decade ago at a dinner party before finally getting together in 2015 'We sort of breezed by each other and started following each other on Twitter.' Her American Horror Story co-star Billy Eichner then asked Sarah: 'Holland Taylor slid into your DMs?' Laughing, she replied: 'She actually did!' Sarah previously defended the age gap between them after receiving negative comments from some fans. True love: Sarah previously defended the age gap between them after receiving negative comments from some fans She told Modern Luxury: 'If anyone wants to spend any time thinking I'm strange for loving the most spectacular person on the planet, then that's their problem. I'm doing just fine.' The Ocean's 8 star believes she shares the same 'soul' as her girlfriend and said there is something 'brave' about their relationship. 'I do want to live responsibly and truthfully without hiding... Our relationship represents a certain amount of hope and risk. Maybe there's something brave in it', she said in an interview with Town And Country magazine. 'Maybe it encourages others to make brave choices. What else can I say? We love each other.' Nick Knowles has put a recent stay in the Australian rainforest to good use by auctioning off the notorious red trunks he wore during his appearance on Im A Celebrity Get Me Out Of Here! The presenter, 56, frequently wore the snug fitting budgie smugglers while competing on the 18th series of the show, which is filmed in remote New South Wales, in December. Knowles, who finished in 6th place, is now auctioning the hopefully washed underwear in order to raise money for Swindon based teenager Luca Railton and has already claimed an impressive 1,000. Kind-hearted: Nick Knowles has put a recent stay in the Australian rainforest to good use by auctioning off the notorious red pants her wore during his appearance on Im A Celebrity Get Me Out Of Here! Taking to Instagram on Thursday, the DIY SOS star admitted he was stunned by the generosity of fans as he endeavours to help Luca, 15, raise the 120,000 he needs for an operation to help him walk independently. Sharing a shot of the red pants, he wrote: Amazing that the latest bid for the infamous red Im a Celebrity trunks is 1,000 all proceeds go to help a young lad called Luca get the operation he needs to walk. The trunks are expected to be handed over to their new owner at a fundraising event organised on behalf of Luca in Pewsey, Wiltshire, on February 9. Humbled: Taking to Instagram on Thursday, the DIY SOS star admitted he was stunned by the generosity of fans as he endeavours to help Luca, 15, raise the 120,000 he needs for an operation to help him walk independently Referencing the 1,000 donation, a post on Twitter account HelpLucaWalk - set up to raise awareness of the teenager's plight, read: 'Wow! Top bid for the @MrNickKnowles jungle python pants up to 1000!! 'Thanks so much to the bidder (she wishes to remain anonymous for entirely understandable reasons). 'You have till 9th Feb if you want to top that. This is going well - thanks all for the amazing support.' Nick added: 'Wow! Thats a really generous bid - thank you - still a couple of weeks to go!' Rare condition: Luca, a family friend of the presenter, was born with no knee bone or tibia in his right leg due to a condition called tibial hemimelia For a good cause: Knowles, who finished in 6th place on I'm A Celeb, is now auctioning the hopefully washed underwear in order to raise money for the Swindon based teenager Luca, a family friend of the presenter, was born with no knee bone or tibia in his right leg due to a condition called tibial hemimelia. He has since endured more than 90-hours of surgery over a 13-year period, starting when he was just two, with his next operation scheduled to take place in the United States in July. Referring to the sale of Nick's trunks, the teenager's mother Teresa told The Sun: 'As Luca grows he needs further tweaking to improve his mobility. Last October, it was confirmed he needed further surgery. 'A lot of people were talking about them on I'm a Celebrity... We're hoping they will raise thousands of pounds.' Hollyoaks fans were shocked when the Gloved Hand Killer made a shock return on Wednesday night's episode. And viewers took to Twitter in their droves to express their amusement that there are now two serial killers on the loose in Chester, joking the village has 'had more serial killers than the whole of the UK'. Last night, viewers saw the mysterious Gloved Hand Killer searching through the remains of murdered Louis Loveday's belongings after Breda McQueen set fire to them following her kill. Twice the thrills: Hollyoaks fans were shocked when the Gloved Hand Killer made a return on Wednesday night's episode - while serial killer Breda McQueen (pictured) is still on the loose The sinister figure clearly knows what fellow killer Breda has been up to since they retrieved the SIM card out of Louis' phone, obtaining proof of Breda's activities. Hollyoaks viewers have seen Breda bump off a total of four characters - and she is expected to kill again. In 2016, the gloved-hand killer was unmasked as Lindsay Roscoe, but she was then murdered by fellow serial killer Silas Blissett. It seems someone else is now taking inspiration from her methods to terrorise Hollyoaks residents. Surprise! The sinister figure clearly knows what fellow killer Breda has been up to since they retrieved the SIM card out of Louis' phone - which contains proof of her activities Evil: Hollyoaks viewers have seen Breda bump off a total of four characters - and she is expected to kill again A Hollyoaks source said: 'In the next few weeks the person who has been watching Breda will be revealed. It is someone living in the village who knows her secret' A soap source told MailOnline: 'In the next few weeks the person who has been watching Breda will be revealed. It is someone living in the village who knows her secret.' One viewer tweeted: 'There seems to be a few to many serial killers in chester and I live there so I'm scared @hollyoaks'. Another commented, 'What is #Hollyoaks obsession with serial killers, gets a bit boring one after the other', while a third shared, 'hollyoaks has had more serial killers than the whole of the uk'. Fan reaction: Viewers took to Twitter in their droves to express their amusement that there are now two serial killers on the loose in Chester, joking that the village has 'had more serial killers than the whole of the UK' Another blamed the recent spate of murders on why Hollyoaks has never won a National Television Award for best Serial Drama. They posted: 'Hollyoaks do have some brilliant storylines, all these serial killers are annoying and why they arent taken as serious as the other soaps. Emmerdale is the best soap for the last few years and Ive always been a massive Hollyoaks fan actually *super fan'. MailOnline has contacted a Hollyoaks spokesperson for comment. She was left heartbroken following her split from fiance John Noble late last year. But Vicky Pattison's fans are trying to play match-maker by urging her to get together with TOWIE star Pete Wicks after the close friends posed for a sweet 'couple' snap at the National Television Awards at London's The O2 on Tuesday. The former Geordie Shore star, 31, sent her Instagram followers wild after she shared a snap of her posing with the TOWIE hunk, 30, following the star-studded showbiz soiree. Perfect couple? Fans have begged Vicky Pattison, 31, to date her close friend Pete Wicks, 30, after the pair looked great as they posed together after Tuesday night's NTAs Full of joy: The pair couldn't keep the smiles off their faces as they snuggled up on the NTAs red carpet and fans seem to have noticed their chemistry Vicky looked stunning in a plunging scarlett gown by designer Suzanne Neville which flattered her figure perfectly. The reality star's brunette tresses were left tumbling down her shoulders in soft waves. Allowing her gorgeous dress to do the talking, Vicky's accessories were kept to a minimum, while her make-up accentuated her features. New couple alert? Fans are convinced Vicky and Pete should date after the brunette beauty shared a cute snap of them together Meanwhile, Pete looked handsome in a dark green blazer paired with a black shirt, tie, trousers and shoes. Famed for his luscious main, he left his long tresses loose for the occasion. The pair have been good friends for years, after meeting on the reality show circuit. Scarlett fever: Vicky looked stunning in a plunging red gown by designer Suzanne Neville as she left the star-studded event at London's 02 Arena Looking cosy: The handsome pair looked close as they exited the glitzy bash together Caught out: Vicky and Pete looked worse for wear as they hopped into a car following the NTAs after-party The sultry picture attracted legions of comments, with many calling for the genetically blessed pair to become a couple. One fan commented: 'You guys would make the cutest couple.' A second shared: 'Perfect couple right there', while a third added: 'You and Pete should most definitely get together.' The calls for them to hook up comes just months after Vicky split from fiance John in November 2018 after he was caught getting a little close to a series of girls while on holiday in Dubai. The Ex files: Vicky split from fiance John Noble in November last year after he was caught getting close to other women while on a lads' holiday Vicky called off their romance after declaring she was 'heartbroken and humiliated' and is about to release a reality show on how she dealt with the break-up. Meanwhile, Pete broke up with ex girlfriend and co-star Shelby Tribble, 26, in September last year after less than a year of dating. Pete was previously in an on-off relationship with ex TOWIE favourite Megan McKenna before the pair called it quits for good in 2017. No going back: Pete was formerly in an on-off relationship with former co-star Megan McKenna, with the pair calling it quits for good in 2017 They announced their engagement in December 2017, three years after he broke things off with his then-fiancee Kate Hudson. And Matt Bellamy and his fiancee Elle Evans looked more loved-up than ever as they enjoyed a date night watching Elton John perform in Los Angeles on Wednesday. The Muse frontman, 40, and actress, 29, appeared in good spirits as they left the concert giggling and smiling. Happy: Matt Bellamy and his fiancee Elle Evans looked more loved-up than ever as they enjoyed a date night watching Elton John perform in Los Angeles on Wednesday Matt looked stylish in a pair of dark faded jeans and a black V-neck t-shirt, he layered the ensemble with a blue silk bomber jacket with embroidered gold detailing. Meanwhile, Elle cut a casual figure in a pair of burgundy ripped leggings, which she teamed with a white jumper with an embroidered mountain scene and sky. The model completed her look with a pair of brown suede boots with fur and chain detailing to keep her feet cosy at the gig. Date night: The Muse frontman, 40, and actress, 29, appeared in good spirits as they left the concert giggling and smiling Stylish: Matt looked stylish in a pair of dark faded jeans and a black V-neck t-shirt, he layered the ensemble with a blue silk bomber jacket with embroidered gold detailing Elle accessorised her ensemble with a brown wooden and beaded necklace, as well as a teal quilted handbag. The actress styled her peroxide blonde locks into a sleek curly blow-dried hairdo, she added a slick of make-up which included a pink sparkly eyeshadow. Matt proposed to Elle during a holiday to Fiji in December 2017, and the model revealed the good news on Instagram, she wrote: 'Was going to surprise everyone on Christmas, but just can't wait any longer...We are so happy to announce to the world that we are engaged! Legend: The couple went to see Elton John (pictured) on his Farewell Yellow Brick Road tour 'Just a few days after my birthday, on the most romantic holiday of our lives, the man of my dreams asked me to marry him!' Elle added that 'after tears of joy, gasps of shock, and a split second of disbelief, of course - I said YES!' I can't imagine our lives apart. 'What I can imagine is a bright future full of love & light, family & friends, moments that turn into cherished memories, and a lifetime of pure bliss.' Matt was previously engaged to Italian psychologist Gaia Polloni for nine years ending before things in 2009, he then dated Kate Hudson from Spring 2010. In April 2011 Matt and Kate announced their engagement, before welcoming their son Bingham Hawn 'Bing' Bellamy into the world in July of the same year. The pair revealed they had amicably split in December 2014, and have co-parented their child since parting ways. Love Island star Malin Andersson shared a touching poem about baby loss after her baby Consy, passed away, aged just four weeks old. The 45-year-old posted the sweet words, written by Amy Farquhar on her Instagram stories on Wednesday evening as she paid tribute to her little girl. The lovely words included: 'I know how much that I am wanted/I feel so very blessed /Of all the mummy's in all the world/I got the very best!' Tragedy: Love Island star Malin Andersson shared a sweet poem on Instagram on Wednesday after her daughter Consy passed away aged four weeks old the day before Sweet: Malin shared these poignant words, originally written by Amy Farquhar Earlier in the day, Malin revealed the sad news about her daughter on Instagram. She had been hospitalised since her premature birth last month and passed away on Tuesday. The baby, who she shares with boyfriend Tom Kemp, had been treated at Great Ormond Street Hospital after suffering 'complications'. Heartbroken: Love Island star Malin sadly revealed her one-month-old daughter had passed away after being in intensive care since birth Malin wrote today: 'Completely in love with you.. and my Mum just wanted you to be with her. Your time wasnt ready yet. Mummy loves you. I stayed with you each day... 'You opened your eyes one last time for me and I saw those beautiful big brown eyes. Im so sorry I couldnt do anymore. Go be with grandma Consy. My angel. Rest in peace CONSY GLORIA EMMA ANDERSSON-KEMP 23/12/18-22/01/19.' After sharing the message on Instagram, she then shared the same image on Twitter with the simple message: 'RIP my angel', alongside a sad face Emoji. Heartache: She had been keeping her followers up to speed with her daughter's progress A host of reality stars responded to her on Twitter, with Love Island series one winner Jess Hayes writing: 'Im so sorry for your loss Malin my heart is broken for you I cant even begin to imagine what your going through sending love and prayers x'. The Valleys star Lateysha Grace wrote: 'Malin. My heart is broken for you. Im so so so sorry. Sending prayers and love to you and your family. Stay strong', as Nadia Essex penned: 'Omg darling my heart breaks for you!! I am sending you all the love!!'. Pain: Malin revealed in a tweet earlier this month that she was yet to hold her beloved daughter, as she wrote: '3 weeks and I still havent held her.. keep praying for my girl' She revealed in a tweet earlier this month that she was yet to hold her beloved daughter, as she wrote: '3 weeks and I still havent held her.. keep praying for my girl'. Malin, who appeared on series two of the reality show in 2016, gave birth seven weeks early on December 23, breaking the news to her fans on New Year's Day as she revealed the infant was being cared for at Great Ormond Street hospital. Saying the couple are 'totally in love' with their daughter, Malin also confirmed their name choice - Consy, after her late mother. She penned in the accompanying caption in her original announcement: 'Happy New Year.. Tom and I are so happy to let you all know that our baby girl CONSY arrived in this world 23rd December 2018, seven weeks early... Sharing her pain: A host of fellow reality stars shared tributes and sent compassionate notes to the heartbroken Love Island star Heartache: Malin is pictured with Consy's father Tom Kemp 'She is so beautiful, we are totally in love with her and feel so blessed that she is here but unfortunately due to complications, she is currently being cared for at Great Ormond Street... 'we have received a number of messages over the past week and there has been a lot of speculation and so we wanted to share our news with you so you could hear from us first hand.' Two weeks ago, Malin shared an image of the tot's hand with a caption reading: 'All your prayers, messages, healing.. it means the world to us. Baby Consy is still in intensive care, and fighting each day... Beloved: Consy's name is a tribute to Malin's mother with the name, following her sad passing in November 2017. The reality star's mum battled breast cancer twice since 2001 before the cancer spread for a third time 'This has been the most difficult time I have ever gone through. I just want to hold her.. Its different to my mum last year. My mum was ready to go.. my little girl isnt. She has given me the ultimate purpose in my life and Im not prepared to let her go.' Consy's name is a tribute to Malin's mother following her sad passing in November 2017. The reality star's mum battled breast cancer twice since 2001 before the cancer spread for a third time. Tragically, Malin's father died from skin cancer after battling the disease twice. Sharing a moving tribute to her mother at the time, wrote: '2am last night Heaven took you.. You didn't deserve the pain you were in, cancer 3 times.. It wasn't fair on you. I watched you take your final breath... Agony: Sharing a moving tribute to her mother at the time, wrote: '2am last night Heaven took you.. You didn't deserve the pain you were in, cancer 3 times.. It wasn't fair on you. I watched you take your final breath' 'I stayed with you right until the very end and you looked so peaceful. You're with Dad now.. just know I love you unconditionally. RIP.' Fans soon flooded her post announcing Consy's passing, users penned: 'Heartbreaking. I cant imagine what you are going through. I am so sorry for your loss... 'Xx RIP with Grandma Consy xx... im sorry to hear your devastating news, i cant imagine what your going through right now. sending my thoughts to you and your partner, rest in perfect peace precious girl... 'I am so sorry love to you and your family xx... So so so sorry to hear that Sending my love and prayers your way. Rest In Paradise Baby Consy... So sorry for your loss..cant even imagine what you are going thru right now!! Sending lots of love... Heartache: Malin documented her mother's painful cancer battle and subsequent passing on social media, and even chopped off her hair in solidarity of her battle EXPLAINED: PREMATURE BIRTH AND ITS RISKS TO BABIES Around 10 per cent of all pregnancies worldwide result in premature labour - defined as a delivery before 37 weeks. When this happens, not all of the baby's organs, including the heart and lungs, will have developed. They can also be underweight and smaller. Tommy's, a charity in the UK, says this can mean preemies 'are not ready for life outside the womb'. Premature birth is the largest cause of neonatal mortality in the US and the UK, according to figures. Babies born early account for around 1,500 deaths each year in the UK. In the US, premature birth and its complications account for 17 per cent of infant deaths. Babies born prematurely are often whisked away to neonatal intensive care units, where they are looked after around-the-clock. What are the chances of survival? Less than 22 weeks is close to zero chance of survival 22 weeks is around 10% 24 weeks is around 60% 27 weeks is around 89% 31 weeks is around 95% 34 weeks is equivalent to a baby born at full term Advertisement 'Im sooo sorry for your loss. Shes such an angel thinking of u... Rest in peace she will be watching over u everyday xx... I'm so sorry for your loss. I can't even begin to imagine how you must be feeling. Life can be so cruel... My heart is broken for u'. Malin has been a staunch campaigner for mental health awareness and uses her Twitter account to discuss grief and urge others to do the same. In June last year, Malin's Love Island co-star Sophie Gradon was found dead in her home, after which then-pregnant Malin took to Twitter to honour her while also discussing mental health awareness and the post-show assistance given to stars. Following the announcement of Sophie's death, social media was swarmed with messages raising awareness for mental health issues - leading to Malin's observation about the impact of appearing on a reality show. Heartbreak: Fans soon flooded her post with support, as users penned: 'Heartbreaking. I cant imagine what you are going through. I am so sorry for your loss' Following the news, a spokesman for ITV said: 'The whole ITV2 and Love Island team are profoundly saddened to hear the news about Sophie, and our deepest sympathies and thoughts go to her family and friends.' After remaining relatively removed from the spotlight, Sophie candidly discussed her mental health issues in September 2017, when she told her Twitter followers: 'Hi guys, no not dead just battling a little bit of depression. I'll come back I promise x'. After her death, Malin voiced concern over the aftercare provided to the stars of the show as she mentioned the impact of reality TV on mental health. In the midst of a string of Twitter messages, Malin beseeched bosses to pull the latest episode from schedules, as she honoured her friend by penning: NOT ENOUGH AFTERCARE TONIGHT SHOULD NOT AIR'. Further heartache: In June last year, Malin's Love Island co-star Sophie Gradon was found dead in her home, after which then-pregnant Malin took to Twitter to honour her while also discussing mental health awareness and the post-show assistance given to stars Malin posted an image of the pair together with the added caption: 'My beautiful girl. Rest in Heaven now. Nothing has sunk in, and I have no words to say Im speechless. 'I met you on Love Island and you brought such laughter into my life, up until now. Your smile is one of a kind and you have always been a beautiful soul inside and out. All I know is that youre an Angel up there and in a better place. 'This world is cruel. MENTAL HEALTH IS SERIOUS. TROLLING IS SERIOUS, DEPRESSION IS SERIOUS. THINK WHAT YOU SAY BEFORE YOU SAY IT. YOU DONT KNOW WHAT ANYONE IS BATTLING.' For support with child bereavement, contact The Lullaby Trust charity on 0808 802 6868, or email support@lullabytrust.org.uk For support with premature birth, contact Little Miracles charity on 01733 262226 An old interview Ajay Rochester resurfaced this week, where the I'm A Celebrity... Get Me Out Of Here star insisted all women secretly enjoy one particular sex act. And on Thursday, Sophie Monk weighed in on the former Biggest Loser host's remarks, after she claimed all women like 'anal sex'. Speaking exclusively to Daily Mail Australia, Sophie said she thought women didn't necessarily all share the same desires and joked that her own bedroom antics weren't as racy as her fans might assume. Scroll down for video EXCLUSIVE: Speaking to Daily Mail Australia on Thursday, Sophie Monk (pictured) weighed in on Ajay Rochester's claims that all women like one thing in the bedroom as she jokes her own X-rated antics aren't as racy as fans would expect 'Everyone is different is all I would say,' Sophie said, before adding, 'I don't think all women like anything in particular.' Despite her sizzling blonde bombshell image, Sophie joked that her racy on-screen image didn't translate to her behaviour between the sheets in real life. 'I'm very heavily missionary. So you might be asking the wrong person,' she laughed. Sophie went on to recount how an ex-lover proposed the couple change it up and shared her hilarious reaction. 'I said, "Do you want to go to the spare bedroom?"' Sophie joked. 'I don't think all women like anything in particular': Sophie said she thought women didn't necessarily all share the same desires in the bedroom The down-to-earth Love Island host also laughed off her reputation as a sexpot, claiming that she has 'no sex appeal whatsoever.' Sophie's remarks come after Daily Mail Australia discovered a forgotten interview from 2015 in which Ajay, 49, discussed her sex life with surprising candour. 'Every girl likes [anal sex]! They just won't tell you,' she told British actor Andy Newton-Lee during a podcast chat. Funny side: The blonde bombshell laughed off her reputation as a sexpot, joking that an ex lover once offered to 'change it up', which she thought meant 'going to the spare room' 'It not like I make a habit of it, but I do know that there's that thing up there,' she explained with a wry smile. The racy comments prompted Sophie's own friend of 20 years, Jackie 'O' Henderson, to weigh in on her KIIS FM radio show on Thursday morning. Speaking on The Kyle and Jackie O Show, the 43-year-old single mother said she believes a lot of women aren't actually 'fans' of anal sex. Not convinced: KIIS FM host Jackie 'O' Henderson (pictured right, with Sophie) also weighed in on the comments on Thursday, saying: 'I know a lot of girls who are not fans of that and have never done it' 'I'd say that she's wrong about that!' Jackie said, after her co-host Kyle Sandilands asked for her opinion on Ajay's bold claim. 'I know a lot of girls who are not fans of that and have never done it,' she added. When Kyle pressed for her to confirm if she's ever had anal sex herself, Jackie awkwardly began to answer before trailing off. Keeping silent: 'You've done it? But you're not a fan of it?' Kyle asked again, but Jackie O [pictured] refused to provide a definite answer on the show 'Well yeah, it doesn't really... I don't, er...' Jackie said, sounding a little uncomfortable. 'You've done it? But you're not a fan of it?' Kyle asked again, but his colleague refused to provide a definite answer. Jackie then diverted attention away from herself by asking the show's executive producer, Sonia 'Palestine' Jahshan, for her thoughts on the topic. Kourtney Kardashian was spotted this Wednesday enjoying a Los Angeles stroll with her two sons - Mason, nine, and Reign, four. The 39-year-old reality star was simply stylish in a black hoodie, monochrome sweats and a casual pair of shoes. Accentuating her screen siren features with elegantly minimal makeup, she wore her wavy dark hair down over her shoulders. Family time: Kourtney Kardashian was spotted this Wednesday enjoying a Los Angeles stroll with her two sons - Mason, nine, and Reign, four She recently took a holiday trip to the posh ski town Aspen, Colorado with her family - as well as her 21-year-old rumored boyfriend Luka Sabbat. Kourtney shares three children with her on-off ex Scott Disick - as well as Mason and Reign, the dynamic duo share six-year-old daughter Penelope. Like Kourtney, Scott is also dating somebody dramatically younger - he has been running around for over a year with Lionel Richie's 20-year-old daughter Sofia. Casually elegant: The 39-year-old reality star was simply stylish in a black hoodie, monochrome sweats and a casual pair of shoes Famous faces who have headed out to Aspen over the holidays include Paris Hilton, Kyle Richards, Melanie Griffith and Mariah Carey. Kourtney's sister Kim and Kim's husband Kanye West threw a star-studded Christmas party for the family, drawing such names as Paris, Sofia Richie and Jennifer Lopez. When he was asked about the talk regarding him and Kourtney in October, Luka responded vaguely about being a public figure. Proud parents: Kourtney shares three children with her on-off ex Scott Disick (middle) - as well as Mason and Reign, they share six-year-old daughter Penelope (right) 'Its all public. It doesnt even matter. Theres no such thing as privacy in 2018,' explained the young man, according to a report in Us Weekly. Prodded further about his romantic situation, he refused to give any more details than: 'I dont even know. Its my life. People read stuff.' It has recently been reported that Kim and Kanye are now expecting their fourth child, who will be their second baby born via surrogacy. Natasha Lyonne was supported by her BFF Chloe Sevigny and her Orange Is The New Black co-stars at the premiere of her Netflix series Russian Doll. The 39-year-old, who played Nicky Nichols in OITNB, was joined by Dascha Polanco, (Dayanara "Daya" Diaz), Taylor Schilling, (Piper Chapman) and Laura Prepon, (Alex Vause) at the event, held at Metrograph in NYC on Wednesday. Natasha co-created and stars in the series about a woman gets caught in a mysterious loop, repeatedly attending the same party and dying at the end of the night, only to awake the next day unharmed. Besties: On Wednesday, Natasha Lyonne (R) was supported by Chloe Sevigny at the Manhattan premiere of her new Netflix series, Russian Doll on Wednesday, held at Metrograph Familiar faces: Natasha was supported by her OITNB co-stars including Taylor Schilling (left) and Laura Prepon, (right), who played Piper Chapman and Alex Vause in the hit show Another co-star: Dascha Polanco - who plays Daya in OITNB - showcased her 5ft5in, curvaceous hour-glass figure in a LBD featuring cascading fabric and T-strap Louboutins Chloe, who previously enlisted Lyonne to pen a touching introduction to her 2015 coffee table book, stood with her arms around her good friend. The eccentric Oscar nominee kept her make-up very minimal, with only a hint of mascara and red lipstick to glam up her middle-parted blonde locks. Sevigny looked leggy in a black leather belted blouse featuring a side bow - which she paired with matching shorts, knee-high socks, and peep-toe platforms selected by stylist Haley Wollens. Natural blonde: Chloe kept her make-up very minimal, with only a hint of mascara and red lipstick to glam up her middle-parted flaxen locks Starts streaming February 1! Chloe 'makes a small but pivotal appearance' wearing a bright red frizzy wig in Russian Doll Arm-in-arm: The native New Yorker (R) beamed as she posed with the 44-year-old New Englander (L), who enlisted Lyonne to pen an introduction to her 2015 coffee table book Pals: Natasha wrote on Instagram in November: 'Ride or die since 1996 with no risk of slowing down #SisterWifeForLife' when she shared a picture of them both Leggy lady: Sevigny donned a black leather belted blouse featuring a side bow - which she paired with matching shorts, knee-high socks, and peep-toe platforms Chloe 'makes a small but pivotal appearance' wearing a dodgy wig in Russian Doll, which starts streaming February 1 on Netflix. Natasha impressively wrote, produced, directed, and stars as Nadia in the Groundhog Day-style dramedy series about a New Yorker reliving her birthday party over and over again. One inside Metrograph, the Emmy nominee made a speech to the gathered audience before screening the first episode of the death-filled show. Deja vu: Natasha impressively wrote, produced, directed, and stars as Nadia in the Groundhog Day-style dramedy series about a New Yorker reliving her birthday party over and over again Petite: The Show Dogs actress dressed her 5ft1in figure in a navy-blue tuxedo blazer over a matching turtleneck, bedazzled chiffon skirt, and pumps Voluminous: Hairstylist Marcia Lee tousled Lyonne's signature blondette wavy mane SNL alum: The NYU Tisch drop-out also looked affectionate with her boyfriend since 2014 - Portlandia creator/star Fred Armisen - who's 13 years older than her The Show Dogs actress dressed her petite 5ft1in figure in a navy-blue tuxedo blazer over a matching turtleneck, bedazzled chiffon skirt, and pumps selected by stylist Cristina Ehrlich. Hairstylist Marcia Lee tousled Lyonne's signature blondette wavy mane. And make-up artist Kabuki made sure Natasha's smoky eye popped for her big night. The NYU Tisch drop-out also looked affectionate with her boyfriend since 2014 - Portlandia creator/star Fred Armisen - who's 13 years older than her. Coy glance: Taylor - who plays Piper in OITNB - rocked a white Bella Freud T-shirt, matching pumps, cat eye-liner, and bedhead locks So nice she wore it twice! Stylist Penny Lovell recycled the same black-beaded Thakoon custom pantsuit the Boston-born 34-year-old donned at the 74th Golden Globe Awards in 2016 Newlyweds! It was date night for Schilling's onscreen love interest Laura Prepon, who proudly posed with her husband of seven months, Galveston actor Ben Foster Speaking of which: Natasha got to reunite with her Orange Is the New Black castmates Dascha (2-L), Uzo (3-L), Taylor (2-R), and Laura (R) at the event Natasha seemed especially tight with the 47-year-old SNL alum as the two funny ladies shared a private joke on the black carpet. Meanwhile, Natasha appeared thrilled to be reuniting with her former OITNB castmates. Taylor, wore a white Bella Freud T-shirt under a suit, matching pumps, cat eye-liner, and bedhead locks. Hey girl! Yael Stone (L) - who plays Lorna in OITNB - goofed around with Lyonne's place card, and fans of the prison dramedy will be pleased to hear she's directing an upcoming episode Made it in! The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story star portrays an elegant mystery character in Russian Doll Taystee and Cindy! Danielle Brooks (L) stood out with her colorful headscarf while Adrienne C. Moore (R) rocked black leather pants It was date night for Schilling's onscreen love interest Laura Prepon, who proudly posed with her husband of seven months, Galveston actor Ben Foster. 36-year-old Dascha - who plays Daya in OITNB - showcased her 5ft5in, curvaceous hour-glass figure in a LBD featuring cascading fabric and T-strap Louboutins. Yael Stone - who plays Lorna in OITNB - goofed around with Lyonne's place card, and fans of the prison dramedy will be pleased to hear she's directing an episode of the seventh and final season. Danielle Brooks stood out with her colorful headscarf while Adrienne C. Moore rocked black leather pants. The talented twosome play Litchfield inmates Taystee and Cindy, respectively. Uzo Aduba, who plays Suzanne 'Crazy Eyes' Warren looked incredible in a teal coloured shirt dress. HBIC: Lyonne looked fully in command while posing beside her Russian Doll co-creators, Amy Poehler (L) and Leslye Headland (R) Hilarious! Natasha seemed especially tight with the 47-year-old SNL alum as the two funny ladies shared a private joke on the black carpet Big Apple duo: Wishing the two-time SAG Award winner good luck on her new show was newly-hired SMILF star, Rosie O'Donnell Netflix family: The Slums of Beverly Hills alum was also congratulated by Stranger Things star David Harbour Wishing the two-time SAG Award winner good luck on her new show was newly-hired SMILF star, Rosie O'Donnell. The Slums of Beverly Hills alum was also congratulated by Stranger Things star David Harbour, who is apart of the larger Netflix family. Speaking of the not-ready-for-primetime players, former SNL writer John Mulaney also mingled at the Natasha lovefest. Twin Peaks alum Alicia Witt wowed in a cranberry-colored pencil dress and beige booties selected by stylist Cat Pope. The indelible Sikh designer Waris Ahluwalia matched his turban to his sweater and leather pants. Russian Doll's Jocelyn Bioh donned a plunging black gown as pregnant Greta Lee - who plays Maxine - covered her burgeoning bump with a pink floral mini-dress and thigh-high Louboutins. Puppy accessory: The Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt funnywoman Carol Kane stowed a furry friend, her pet dog, inside her purse Twinning! SNL star Aidy Bryant (L) and former SNL castmember Vanessa Bayer (R) donned not-so-basic black for their reunion Proudly presents: Speaking of the not-ready-for-primetime players, former SNL writer John Mulaney also mingled at the Natasha lovefest Redhead alert! Twin Peaks alum Alicia Witt wowed in a cranberry-colored pencil dress and beige booties selected by stylist Cat Pope Styling: The indelible Sikh designer Waris Ahluwalia matched his turban to his sweater and leather pants Golden Globe-nominated acting legend Elizabeth Ashley - who plays Ruth - donned a red furry coat over a sheer black top and PVC pants. Charlie Barnett (who plays Alan) opted for green plaid as his castmate Ritesh Rajan looked dapper in a floral top and plum suit. Rebecca Henderson - who plays Lizzy - puckered up with her wife, Russian Doll co-creator Leslye Headland, on the black carpet. Also celebrating all things Russian Doll was Netflix's Vice President of Original Content Cindy Holland wearing a purple top and navy pantsuit. Russian Doll duo: Jocelyn Bioh (L) donned a plunging black gown as pregnant Greta Lee (R) covered her burgeoning bump with a pink floral mini-dress Acting legend! Golden Globe nominee Elizabeth Ashley - who plays Ruth - donned a red furry coat over a sheer black top and PVC pants Dapper dudes: Charlie Barnett (L, who plays Alan) opted for green plaid as his castmate Ritesh Rajan (R) looked dapper in a floral top and plum suit PDA pair: Rebecca Henderson (R) - who plays Lizzy - puckered up with her wife, Russian Doll co-creator Leslye Headland (L), on the black carpet She is no stranger to ups and down or sharing her private life with the public. And Khloe Kardashian seemed like she might be going through dark times on Wednesday as she shared a few cryptic quotes to her Instagram Stories. The 34-year-old reality television personality posted about deserving a 'nervous breakdown' and two other bleak statements, before turning things bright again and sharing clips of her playing with her nine-month-old daughter True Thompson. Dark: Khloe Kardashian seemed like she might be going through dark times on Wednesday as she shared a few cryptic quotes to her Instagram Stories; (pictured November) 'There will be some things you won't get over,' began the Keeping up with the Kardashians personality in her first quote, which came from writer R. M. Drake. 'Some things that will sting you so hard they will set you back to where you started. And you will hurt and hurt and hurt, but you will also rise from it. 'You will learn from the past. You will adapt and survive no matter how hard it gets. 'You will shape your own reality and accept how you should never settle for anything less than you deserve.' Remember: 'There will be some things you won't get over,' began the Keeping up with the Kardashians personality in her first quote, which came from writer R. M. Drake Sharing: 'Sending love to everyone who's trying their best to heal from things that they don't discuss,' she shared next For good measure: Last she posted, 'I wish I had the time for the nervous breakdown I deserve' 'Sending love to everyone who's trying their best to heal from things that they don't discuss,' she shared next. Last she posted, 'I wish I had the time for the nervous breakdown I deserve.' Things brightened up a bit after that, however, as the mother-of-one shared images from her and True at 'Baby Class.' Precious: Things brightened up a bit after that, however, as the mother-of-one shared images from her and True at 'Baby Class.' Adorable: True looked ever so cute dressed in a royal blue ensemble with a sky blue wrap around her head True looked ever so cute dressed in a royal blue ensemble with a sky blue wrap around her head. At one point she wore an extra adorable elephant hat on her head. The little one was certainly excited about play time as she bounced around the room with other babies. Khloe watched on with a big smile stretched across her face and her blonde tresses pulled into a loose bun. All smiles: The little one was certainly excited about play time as she bounced around the room with other babies Nice hat: At one point she wore an extra adorable elephant hat on her head So quick: The Good American jeans co-founder welcomed daughter True Thompson on April 12, 2018 in Cleveland, Ohio with Tristan, 27 The Good American jeans co-founder welcomed daughter True Thompson on April 12, 2018 in Cleveland, Ohio with Tristan, 27. Two days prior to Khloe giving birth, Tristan's cheating scandal came to light, exclusively revealed by Dailymail.com. He was seen kissing strip club worker Lani Blair before heading to a hotel with her in New York City. Despite the scandal, Khloe and Tristan remained a couple; they spent Halloween, Thanksgiving and New Year's Eve together. She reportedly wants a second child with Tristan because daughter True 'changed her life,' a source told People magazine. Looking back: Two days prior to Khloe giving birth, Tristan's cheating scandal came to light, exclusively revealed by Dailymail.com The Fyre Festival was marketed as the experience of a lifetime: a three-day music event attended by some of the world's most famous models and influencers. But after paying up to $12,000 for tickets, guests were greeted with substandard accommodation, soggy food and poor security - before the entire festival was cancelled before it even began. As Fyre's organisers face a $100million class action lawsuit, Australian Instagram stars Pia Muehlenbeck and Kane Vato revealed this week how they found themselves caught up in the scandal. 'All hell broke loose': Insta-famous couple Pia Muehlenbeck (right) and Kane Vato (left) have revealed the moment they learned Fyre Festival was a SCAM - after being lured with the promise of a private jet and luxury accommodation Speaking with Metro on Tuesday, Kane revealed how he and his now-wife Pia were almost lured into attending Fyre Festival in April 2017. 'Pia received a message from Fyre's Instagram page directly offering VIP tickets for two people, private jet flights and luxury villa accommodation,' he explained. 'There was also a promise of $1million [AU$1.4million] buried somewhere on the island. I guess he [organiser Billy McFarland] was trying to create the world's biggest treasure hunt.' Instagram vs reality! After paying up to $12,000 for tickets, Fyre Festival's guests were greeted with substandard accommodation, soggy food and poor security - before the entire event was cancelled before it even began Would you pay $12,000 for this? Guests were promised luxury food, but instead were given flaccid cheese sandwiches Not fit for an Instagram influencer! Portable toilets are pictured strewn by the side of the road at the ill-fated Fyre Festival However, Pia and Kane realised the event was too good to be true when they were asked to load thousands of dollars onto Fyre Festival 'payment wristbands'. 'A week out we were told it was a cashless event and they asked us to pre-load each of our wristbands, which we hadn't received at this point,' he said. 'This is where we got suspicious. It was supposedly an all-inclusive weekend festival, why did I need to pre-load money on to a wristband?' Kane and Pia then spoke with some of their influencer friends who also had doubts about the Fyre Festival. Narrow escape: Kane and Pia were on the verge of flying to event, which was scheduled to take place in the Bahamas, when they received a text from a friend who had already arrived The couple were on the verge of flying to event, which was scheduled to take place in the Bahamas, when they received a text message from a friend who had already arrived. 'He messaged us on arrival telling us that all hell had broken loose, so we immediately decided to bail... We dodged a bullet!' Kane said. He added that he was travelling with expensive audio visual equipment, while Pia was laden down with expensive jewellery, which all could have been stolen amid the chaos at Fyre Festival. Kane concluded that skipping the disastrous event was 'the best decision ever'. Justice: Fyre Festival founder Billy McFarland (not pictured) is now serving six years in prison for wire fraud in relation to the ill-fated event Fyre's organiser Billy McFarland is now serving six years in prison for wire fraud in relation to the ill-fated event. The disastrous festival is now the subject of two popular documentaries, released earlier this month on international streaming platforms. Netflix has released Fyre: The Greatest Festival That Never Happened, while Hulu is currently streaming Fyre Fraud. She is a former Made In Chelsea star who is known for her chic style. And Ashley James exuded elegance as she headed to the Channel 5 studios in London on Wednesday. The blonde beauty, 31, was feeling the pink vibe as she headed in a pastel pink sweater, which she teamed with raspberry-hued high-waisted culottes. Strut: Ashley James exuded elegance as she headed to the Channel 5 studios in London on Wednesday She boosted her height with ivory ankle boots. Wrapping up in the wintry weather, the star slipped on a furry candyfloss pink coat and accessorised with a patterned clutch. Her blonde tresses were styled in soft waves while a rich palette of make-up enhanced her radiant features. Think pink: The blonde beauty, 31, was feeling the pink vibe as she headed in a pastel pink sweater, which she teamed with raspberry-hued high-waisted culottes The star recently enjoyed a trip to Tanzania with her BFF Charlotte de Carle. The pair were treated to first class travelling experience after securing an upgrade on the way back to London. This came just days after Ashley took to social media to rubbish conventional notions of what it means to be 'beach body ready' in her latest candid post, shared on Saturday. While many believe the term implies having to work hard to obtain a toned figure when they don their swimsuit, Ashley shared her thoughts on the term with an Instagram post in a bikini while on vacation in Tanzania. She wrote: 'How to be beach body ready: have a body, put on a bikini, go to the beach.' The Made In Chelsea star sported an orange bikini in the snap and showed off the sun-kissed glow she has developed while on holiday. Sitting comfortable, Ashley seemed determined to show her natural side rather than the pinched and preened looks often displayed on social media. Oscar winner Natalie Portman brought her small daughter Amalia along with her to grocery shop in Los Angeles on Wednesday. The 37-year-old Harvard grad and her choreographer husband Benjamin Millepied will celebrate their little princess' second birthday next month. The Vox Lux actress and the 41-year-old Frenchman - who also have a seven-year-old son Aleph - originally met when he crafted the ballet in Darren Aronofsky's 2010 thriller Black Swan. Mother-daughter outing: Oscar winner Natalie Portman brought her small daughter Amalia along with her to grocery shop in Los Angeles on Wednesday Weee! The 37-year-old Harvard grad and her choreographer husband Benjamin Millepied will celebrate their little princess' second birthday next month Natalie (born Neta-Lee Hershlag) did her domestic duties while wearing a long brown jacket over white baggy jeans, a matching T-shirt, and brown vegan booties. The Dior brand ambassador toted a Dior cross-body bag, rocked a mirrored pair of Ray-Ban sunglasses, and she wore her signature brunette locks down for her errands. Portman's street sighting came five days after disgraced ABC sitcom star Roseanne Barr called her 'repulsive' in an interview with Israel Hayom. Family-of-four: Missing from the Vox Lux actress' side were the 41-year-old Frenchman and their seven-year-old son Aleph Casually clad: Natalie did her domestic duties while wearing a long brown jacket over white baggy jeans, a matching T-shirt, and brown vegan booties Represent! The Dior brand ambassador toted a Dior cross-body bag, rocked a mirrored pair of Ray-Ban sunglasses, and she wore her signature brunette locks down for her errands Out and about: Portman's street sighting came five days after disgraced ABC sitcom star Roseanne Barr called her 'repulsive' in an interview with Israel Hayom The 66-year-old Golden Globe winner was outraged over the Israeli-born, Long Island-raised star skipping the Genesis Prize Laureate ceremony because she didn't want to 'endorse' Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. 'It was really sickening, I find her repulsive,' Roseanne snapped. 'She was raised in incredible privilege of safety in the Jewish state and knows nothing about anti-Semitism. She's the darling of the left here, the Jewish left in Hollywood.' 'It was really sickening': The 66-year-old Golden Globe winner was outraged over the Israeli-born, Long Island-raised star skipping the Genesis Prize Laureate ceremony last April because she didn't want to 'endorse' Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu Roseanne said: 'She was raised in incredible privilege of safety in the Jewish state and knows nothing about anti-Semitism. She's the darling of the left here, the Jewish left in Hollywood' (pictured January 16) Jerusalem bound: Barr - who appeared on Mike Tyson Hotboxin' podcast on Wednesday - will speak at the Israeli Knesset at the end of January alongside her pal Rabbi Shmuley Boteach The Donald Trump supporter continued: 'She is a complete hypocrite who grew up in safety and privilege, like I said before, and knows nothing about what she speaks of.' Barr - who appeared on Mike Tyson Hotboxin' podcast on Wednesday - is scheduled to speak at the Israeli Knesset at the end of January alongside her pal Rabbi Shmuley Boteach. Meanwhile, the Star Wars alum will next portray astronaut Lucy Cola in Noah Hawley's sci-fi flick Lucy In The Sky alongside Ellen Burstyn, Jon Hamm, Zazie Beetz, Dan Stevens, and Tig Notaro. Jackie Evancho posted a revealing Facebook message on Wednesday. The 18-year-old star opened up about finding fame on America's Got Talent after being named runner-up in season 5 when she was only 10. 'Throughout my childhood I was also facing another reality that there were men out there who wanted to hurt me,' she revealed. Child star: Jackie Evancho, 18, opened up about finding fame on America's Got Talent after being named runner-up in season 5 when she was only 10 via Facebook on Wednesday; (pictured 2017) 'Some even went to the extreme of claiming they were priests and other disarming occupations to gain trust and easy access backstage, but clearly their intentions werent so pure,' she continued. Evancho said she felt the need to share the hardships she endured during the almost ten years after finding overnight success because she wanted a fresh start. 'With the onset of a New Year and me entering adulthood as a 18 year old moving to New York, I felt the need to put this out into the universe as a way of continuing the healing process Im on,' she began her personal message. 'I no longer have the fear to stay silent. People often still think of me as a child star, and that isnt easy to shake off. Bad intentions: 'Throughout my childhood I was also facing another reality that there were men out there who wanted to hurt me,' she revealed; (pictured on AGT in 2010) 'I just performed on NBCs AGTs The Champions and it allowed me to reflect on my journey the reason I wanted to do the show was to walk onto that stage as a young woman and show the world I am no longer a child,' she explained. And Evancho understands there were both negatives and positives to becoming a public figure, especially one so young. 'Ill admit that there are a lot of aspects that arent so glamorous about being a child in the music industry but theres a lot that Im thankful for and would never change. I am glad that I am a performer and that thats how I make my living, but growing up that way wasnt easy,' she continued. Keeping positive: 'Ill admit that there are a lot of aspects that arent so glamorous about being a child in the music industry but theres a lot that Im thankful for and would never change'; (pictured with AGT winner Michael Grim and host Nick Cannon in 2010) Hardships: 'Through the years I have developed some flaws and battled some demons, from being sheltered from aspects of a normal childs life. I am extremely awkward and shy around those my age'; (pictured July) 'Through the years I have developed some flaws and battled some demons, from being sheltered from aspects of a normal childs life. I am extremely awkward and shy around those my age,' she added. Despite the hardships she faced growing up in the limelight as a child, she is grateful for the chance to make a living as a performer. 'All these things were terrible as a child and yet Im still here performing and loving it. A lot of people may ask Why? and I say its my path, my dream, and my passion, with a fire inside of me when I perform. Ive learned that there is a lot about the world that is sad. Thats just life, but there are also many beautiful parts of life that I cherish and focus on,' she wrote on Facebook. And Evancho is looking ahead for even better things to come in the future. 'Ive learned and been through so much, but this is my journey and I look forward to a bright future for the next phase of my life.' Ronan Keating gave a moving speech when he played the final Belfast gig alongside Keith Duffy, Mikey Graham and Shane Lynch on Wednesday. Hearts ached as Boyzone paid tribute to their late fifth bandmate Stephen Gately, who died in 2009, with a sweet video aired on the screens. Confessing he didn't think they had the mileage, the 41-year-old frontman praised Boyzone for its long-running success. One hell of a ride! Ronan Keating gave a moving speech when he played the final gig alongside Keith Duffy, Mikey Graham and Shane Lynch in Belfast on Wednesday Ronan told fans: 'Who would have thought 25 years ago, we certainly didn't. 'To have had the career that we had, the amount of albums that we sold, the journeys that we were on as individuals and collectively, it's been one hell of a ride. 'And you have been there every step of the way.' Chart-topping: Confessing he didn't think they had the mileage, the 41-year-old frontman praised Boyzone for its long-running success According to the Irish Examiner, he added: 'We have got a room full of mixed people, we have got people who have been with us for 25 years, we have got a lot of new faces and new ears in the room who have joined us in the last five or six years, thank you very much.' Emotions were running high and the band played a tribute film to the late bandmate Stephen which revealed he never stopped singing. In 2009, Stephen died at his home in Majorca from an undiagnosed heart condition. So sad: Hearts ached as Boyzone paid tribute to their late fifth bandmate Stephen Gately, who died in 2009, with a sweet video Boyzone broke the hearts of the nation when they temporarily parted ways in 1999; it didn't last long as they were reunited in the late 2000s. Yet after six albums and sky-rocketing success, the boyband announced 2019 was the end of the road for their musical career. Making their last performances count, the four-piece will storm the stage at the 3Arena in Dublin on Thursday. Their final album Thank You & Goodnight and their last tour marks the milestone of their 25th anniversary. The statement confirming the split on the official website read: 'When we started out as five young Dublin Northsiders, eager to face the world, we never imagined that we'd still have an army of fans some twenty-five years later. 'What followed was the stuff of dreams. We've played stadiums and arenas all over the world, released six albums, and had almost two-dozen hits.' Their romance was rocked last year when she had an illicit kiss with Strictly dance partner Seann Walsh. But Katya and Neil Jones looked closer than ever as they attended Notre Dame de Paris at the London Coliseum on Wednesday. The professional ballroom dancers cosied up and cracked identical radiant smiles as they put on a united front for their theatre date. Smitten: Katya and Neil Jones looked closer than ever as they attended Notre Dame de Paris at the London Coliseum on Wednesday, as they continue to move on from her kiss with Seann Walsh Brunette beauty Katya, 29, looked chic in a tartan dress, with a dove grey duster coat cinching in at her toned waist. She completed her ensemble with black tights and leather boots, and wore a slate grey Baker Boy cap. Katya's caramel flecked brunette tresses were styled in soft waves while her pretty features were enhanced with a radiant dusting of make-up. PDA: The professional ballroom dancers cosied up and cracked identical radiant smiles as they put on a united front for their theatre date Chic: Brunette beauty Katya, 29, looked chic in a tartan dress, with a dove grey duster coat cinching in at her toned waist Neil, 36, put on a dapper display in a navy tee paired with slate grey jeans and a checked blazer. Like his glamorous wife, he completed his look with leather ankle boots. Neil and Katya have been happier than ever in recent week following their return from a trip to Cambodia. It was reported by The Sun that the holiday was 'make or break' from the couple, after weeks of putting on a united front in the wake of Katya's kiss with comedian Seann - which led him to be dumped by his girlfriend at the time. A source said: 'Those close to Neil and Katya have been saying this was a make-or-break holiday. Smitten: She completed her ensemble with black tights and leather boots, and wore a slate grey Baker Boy cap Shimmer: Katya's caramel flecked brunette tresses were styled in soft waves while her pretty features were enhanced with a radiant dusting of make-up 'Neil really felt like the trust had gone and he wasnt quite sure he knew who Katya was any more. They decided to go away for some time out of the spotlight so they could have some very frank conversations. 'Katya begged for forgiveness and promised it would never happen again while Neil agreed to move towards getting the trust back and putting it both behind them.' The insider also added that while the pair's main priority is to save their marriage, they also want to 'rebuild their public image'. MailOnline contacted Neil and Katya's representatives for comment at the time. Happy couple: Neil and Katya have been happier than ever in recent weeks following their return from a trip to Cambodia Rose McGowan shared powerful images on social media this week as it was claimed that two of her former lawyers have joined Harvey Weinstein's defense team. The 45-year-old actress looked strong and confident in the new snaps which were shared with her followers. McGowan criticized her former lawyers Jose Baez and Ron Sullivan on Wednesday for agreeing to represent disgraced Hollywood mogul Weinstein against sexual assault charges. Standing tall: Rose McGowan has some some powerful images amid reports 'two of her former lawyers have joined Harvey Weinstein's defense team' Hitting back: McGowan criticized her former lawyers Jose Baez and Ron Sullivan on Wednesday for agreeing to represent disgraced Weinstein against sexual assault charges She hired Baez and Sullivan last year after being charged with drug possession two years ago when cocaine was found in a wallet she left behind at an airport. 'This is a major conflict of interest but I knew there was shadiness going on behind the scenes,' she told The Daily Beast after they were hired to defend Weinstein against rape and sexual assault accusations. McGowan claimed in court documents that the two bags of cocaine were planted in her wallet by someone working for Weinstein, who she accused of rape in 2017. She hired Baez and Sullivan last year after being charged with drug possession two years ago when cocaine was found in a wallet she left behind at an airport Speaking to the Daily Beast after news of Baez's hire, McGowan said: 'This is why my case didn't go to trial - my instinct was my lawyers had been bought off.' 'I thought Harvey would get to them behind the scenes and I wouldn't have fair representation,' she added. McGowan appeared in Virginia court earlier this month to plead no contest and was ordered to pay a $2,500 fine. Words: 'This is a major conflict of interest but I knew there was shadiness going on behind the scenes,' she told The Daily Beast after they were hired to defend Weinstein against rape and sexual assault accusations (pictured on Wednesday) Shady: McGowan claimed in court documents that the two bags of cocaine were planted in her wallet by someone working for Weinstein, who she accused of rape in 2017 'I asked Jose Baez directly if he would ever work with Harvey and I told him it was my fear that he would be bought off while representing me,' McGowan said. 'He responded by saying, ''I don't like to lose.''' Baez and Sullivan often work together on cases and in 2017 notably won the acquittal for Aaron Hernandez, the late New England Patriot playing accused of a double homicide. The attorneys told The Daily Beast in a statement: 'We were pleased to represent our former client, Ms Rose McGowan, in a matter unrelated to Mr Weinstein's current charges. 'After consultation with ethics counsel, we are certain no conflict of interest exists. We wish Ms McGowan well with all her future endeavors.' Baez himself has also led a number of high-profile cases, including the 2011 acquittal for Casey Anthony, the mother who was charged with murdering her two-year-old daughter Caylee. 'I can confirm that I along with Harvard Law Professor Ronald S Sullivan have been retained by Harvey Weinstein,' Baez said Wednesday in a statement to Deadline. 'Mr Weinstein steadfastly maintains his innocence in this matter and we are looking forward to assisting Mr Weinstein in his defense,' the Florida-based lawyer added. The trial for Weinstein is expected to begin on May 7 on charges that he raped a lover in 2013 and forcibly performed oral sex on a production assistant in 2006. Weinstein also has bolstered his defense team with the hiring of Pam Mackey, the only female lawyer on his team. Mackey represented Los Angeles Lakers player Kobe Bryant when he was accused of raping a 19-year-old woman in 2003. The case was dropped after the victim stopped cooperating and Bryant has always maintained that it was consensual. Nicholas Hoult has admitted ex-girlfriend Jennifer Lawrence is like 'family,' as they reunite for their latest X-Men film. The British actor told the Evening Standard Magazine that he's still close to the Hollywood star as they 'grew up together,' ahead of the much anticipated Dark Phoenix this summer. Nicholas, 29, also touched on the recent arrival of his child with partner Bryana Holly in April, saying that he wanted to keep the little one's gender 'precious' for as long as he could. Candid: Nicholas Hoult has admitted he still views ex-girlfriend Jennifer Lawrence as 'family' as he appeared on the cover of this week's Evening Standard Magazine Nicholas and Jennifer dated after first meeting on the set of X-Men: First Class in 2010, and were together for around four years before splitting in 2014 - after they wrapped filming for sequel Days Of Future Past. Despite their romance ending the star admitted they remain on good terms, adding: 'It's pretty similar to Skins, we're a big family, we've been doing those movies since we were 20 years old. 'As much as the Skins crowd grew up together, the X-Men crowd really grew up together. It's been a good eight, nine years making those movies. We've all got to get along, we've all got to have fun. Close: The British actor dated Jennifer Lawrence from 2010 to 2014, and are about to appear together in Dark Phoenix this summer Done: Nicholas said that he still views the star as 'family' as they 'grew up' on the film series, after they split in 2014 'The really beautiful thing about this last film is that [writer and director] Kim Berger has given me somewhere nice and new to experiment and go with the character. Which is cool.' Nicholas and Jennifer have also played lovebirds on-screen in the X-Men series, appearing as Hank McCoy/Beast and Raven Darkholme/Mystique respectively. Along with numerous other roles, the actor also welcomed his first child with model partner Bryana in April. Chatting about fatherhood he said: ' And having a baby puts you in this place where you go, oh, okay, this human is going to change a lot. 'It makes you value time differently, which is why I talk very quickly in interviews now, because I need to get home to them.' Open: The star also spoke openly about becoming a father late last year, saying he wants to keep his child's gender a secret as it is 'precious' Nicholas' use of the pronoun 'them' was specific as he and Bryana are yet to publicly reveal their child's gender and the star went on to justify his decision by saying: 'Someone will find out soon enough and that's fine, no big deal, but for now it's my own precious little thing and I'm keeping it.' During the candid shoot - when he posed sporting an eclectic array of hats - Nicholas also spoke on getting in touch with his feminine side. The Favourite star added: 'What does that mean? Hopefully being in touch with your feminine side makes you more understanding of what it's like to be female. 'I think we could all try and have a little more empathy now and then.' The full interview appears in this weeks edition of ES Magazine, on sale Thursday 24th January 2019. Vinny Guadagnino has called upon Kim Kardashian to help with a difficult situation. The Staten Island, New York native on TMZ Tuesday directly pitched Kim Kardashian to lend her influence to help his Jersey Shore co-star Mike 'The Situation' Sorrentino get an early prison release after her help freeing a woman from custody last year. Guadagnino, 31, said that Sorrentino, who began his eight-month sentence for his tax evasion conviction January 15, 'is an amazing person' worthy of going to bat for. Looking out for his friend: Vinny Guadagnino, 31, has called upon Kim Kardashian to help his Jersey Shore co-star Mike 'The Situation' Sorrentino get an early prison release after her help freeing a woman from custody last year. He was snapped in NYC this month 'To me he's completely reformed he's like a great member of society,' he said. 'he preaches to kids that have addictions, he's a big advocate and evangelist for recovery, he'd be better off out here, helping people - Kim, get on that!' Following Sorrentino's sentencing last fall, Richard E. Zuckerman of the United States Department of Justice said that the reality star and his brother Marc, who was convicted on related charges, 'chose to use Michaels fame to benefit themselves at the expense of the American taxpayer, and with the help of our federal partners, they were held accountable. 'Lying to and defrauding the federal government is a very serious crime, regardless of a defendants celebrity status.' Guadagnino said that Sorrentino, who shot to fame flashing his abs on the MTV hit, has been 'doing great' while serving his sentence. Moving forward: Sorrentino and his wife Lauren were snapped last fall leaving court in New Jersey Powerful: Kim successfully lobbied President Donald Trump last year to commute the sentence of Alice Johnson, who spent 21 years in a penitentiary for a first-time, non-violent drug offense 'I knew he was gonna do good and he was never really nervous about it so I was praying like, "Oh God I hope once he's in there I hope he's OK,"' he said, noting that his friend is mentally tough after previously overcoming an addiction to pain medication. Guadagnino sought out Kardashian, 38, after she successfully lobbied the White House last year to commute the sentence of Alice Johnson, who spent 21 years in a penitentiary for a first-time, non-violent drug offense. Kim thanked President Donald Trump and his son-in-law Jared Kushner for their efforts in the matter, saying on Twitter that Johnson's release from custody was 'inspirational & gives hope to so many others who are also deserving of a second chance.' Kim has since turned her attention to help a Tennessee prisoner named Chris Young, a nonviolent drug offender who is serving a life sentence. Her husband Kanye West, during his October 11 meeting with Trump in the Oval Office, lobbied the president to free convicted murderer Larry Hoover, founder of Chicago's Gangster Disciples street gang, 'because he started doing positive for the community' in the Windy City. 'Its very important for me to get Hoover out because in an alternate universe, I am him and I have to go and get him free,' Kanye added. Joel Kinnaman and Cleo Wattenstrom have allegedly broken up. The 39-year-old actor and his 26-year-old tattoo artist wife are said to have amicably separated in 2018, insiders revealed to Us Weekly. They were equally private about their wedding, which Joel only made public on The Talk in 2016, a year after the ceremony had taken place. As seen in 2017: Joel Kinnaman, 39, and Cleo Wattenstrom, 26, are said to have amicably separated in 2018, insiders revealed to Us Weekly When The Talk co-hostess Aisha Tyler referred to Cleo as Joel's girlfriend, he politely corrected her: 'My wife,' breaking the news to his fans. In August of 2016, he appeared on The Late Late Show With James Corden and revealed that his nuptials had actually taken place 'like a year and a half ago.' He and Cleo sloped off at a Los Angeles establishment 'called Same Day Marriage' where 'this little Russian lady sitting inside there' charged $435 to wed them. Still pals: Their most recent appearances on each other's Instagram profiles was last month - they posted the same selfie from a UFC match they attended with buddies A 'Dracula-looking creature' with 'two upside-down Vs painted over her eyes' instead of brows directed them into a chapel that resembled 'a torture contraption.' Their officiant asked both of them: 'Marriage, rest of your life, you say yes?' and when they both answered as she asked, she said festively: 'Marriage!' Joel, who hails from Stockholm, previously dated Olivia Munn and is known in the US for his work on such projects as House Of Cards and Suicide Squad. Throwback to 2013: Joel, who hails from Stockholm, has previously dated Olivia Munn (right) and is known in the US for his work on such projects as House Of Cards and Suicide Squad He and Cleo have kept their relationship warm on social media - she shared an Instagram album of them to wish him a happy birthday on November 25. Cleo, a Belgium-born body artist whose business is based out of Venice, California, still has 'Kinnaman' as her surname on her Instagram page. Their most recent appearances on each other's Instagram profiles was last month - they posted the same selfie from a UFC match they attended with pals. She insisted she entered the new year 'happy, confident and with self-worth' following her bitter split from ex boyfriend, Lee Wilkinson. And Scarlett Moffatt has revealed she's ready for love again after finally embracing her figure. Speaking at the National Television Awards on Tuesday, the former Gogglebox star, 28, told The Sun: 'I'm looking for a new man, but I haven't found one yet. I'm working on it.' On the quest for love: Scarlett Moffatt has revealed she's ready for love again after finally embracing her figure, following on from her bitter split from ex boyfriend, Lee Wilkinson Touching on her newfound confidence, the I'm A Celeb star added: 'I've learned to embrace my curves, this is me. I was going to hide away under a suit and I thought, no, why should I, so I wore this dress instead that shows off everything. 'I've accepted my body and I'm happy with curves, and I love my boobs. I'm representing the curvy girls and that's great.' Opting for a vampy look at the ceremony, the I'm A Celeb star accentuated her killer curves in semi-sheer black feathered gown. Scarlett's interview proves the TV personality has come a long way with her body confidence, after admitting she hated being thin after losing three stone last year. New year, new me: The former Gogglebox star, 28, told The Sun : 'I'm looking for a new man, but I haven't found one yet. I'm working on it.'(pictured with ex Lee ) 'This is me': Touching on her newfound confidence, the I'm A Celeb star insisted she's learnt to embrace her curves Speaking at the Glamour Beauty Festival in March, the brunette shared: 'When I first came out of the [I'm A Celebrity] jungle I went through a stage where I felt like I had to try and look a certain way. 'I wanted to try and get out of the stereotypical Geordie girl so I stopped wearing fake tan and wore WAG dresses.' Scarlett - who was interviewed by sister Ava, 11 - said she didn't want to conform to how she though she should look. 'I was really miserable,' she continued. 'I like being orange and having eyelashes that go up to my forehead.' Sparkling: Opting for a vampy look at the NTAs ceremony, the reality star accentuated her killer curves in semi-sheer black feathered gown Candid: Scarlett's interview proves the TV personality has come a long way with her body confidence, after admitting she hated being thin after losing three stone last year Earlier this month, Scarlett took inspiration from Ariana Grande as she thanked her ex-boyfriend Lee as she summarisied her 2018. The former Queen Of The Jungle took to Instagram to reveal that she is going into 2019 happy, confident and with self-worth. In the lengthy caption, she penned: 'Ladies if you do one thing in 2019 be kind & forgiving to yourself. Give yourself as much love & attention as you give other people. Ive learnt so much in 2018. 'That I dont have time to hate people who hate me, because Im too busy loving those who love me. 'That trolls opinions are genuinely irrelevant to my life. 3. Ive learnt to be as kind to myself as I am to other people. 'And that sometimes by removing people from your life you actually gain so much self worth. 'Ive never felt as happy & confident in my life as I have the last 4 month & Im gonna continue that in 2019. 'Starting the new year off in Hong Kong with my besties I feel on top of the world (oh and in the words of Ariana Grande Im so **in thankful for my ex, thank you next) #newyear #love #friends #family #hongkong #2019.' Thank U, Next: Earlier this month, Scarlett took inspiration from Ariana Grande as she thanked her ex-boyfriend Lee as she summarisied her 2018 On-off: The TV star split from Lee for the first time in April last year after a whirlwind romance, she took to social media to hit out at the 'cheating pathological liar' The TV star split from Lee for the first time in April after a whirlwind romance, she took to social media to hit out at the 'cheating pathological liar' and posted a cryptic message referencing Henry VIII - who had six wives. The I'm a Celebrity champ had only just made her relationship public, after he joined her in Florida for Saturday Night Takeaway. Yet after parting ways for the first time in April, Scarlett sparked claims of a reconciliation the next month when she hid her Facebook relationship status, after changing it to 'single' following her split from Lee. However, the two soon split again after she is reported to have dumped Lee when his ex-girlfriend of two years, Sam Irving, claimed he had sent her pleading messages while he was still with Scarlett. Lee denies that there was any crossover between the two relationships, but Scarlett branded her ex a 'cheating pathological liar' and ended things. Australian conservationist Steve Irwin was killed by a stingray barb September 2006 while filming a wildlife documentary in Batt Reef, Queensland. But Steve's widow Terri Irwin, 54, has admitted she's not worried about their 15-year-old son Robert suffering the same fate as he follows in his father's footsteps. She told The Australian Women's Weekly on Thursday that she is 'more worried' about Robert drowning than being injured by a sea creature. Scroll down for video Admission: Terri Irwin has said she is 'more worried about her son Robert, 15, drowning' than being injured by manta rays - after her husband Steve was tragically killed by a stingray barb Robert is a keen conservationist just like his late father, and is also a talented photographer who documents underwater wildlife. And while some would expect Terri to be concerned about her son's hobby, she said that it's not the potentially dangerous animals that concern her. 'I am more worried about him drowning than encountering a shark or a Manta ray in the water,' she told the magazine. Following in his footsteps: Robert (left) is a keen conservationist just like his late father, and is also a talented photographer who documents underwater wildlife. Pictured with his sister Bindi (centre) and mother Terri (right) Despite allowing Robert the freedom to follow his own path as a nature photographer, Terri did confess to sometimes being overly protective of her children. 'When you lose someone who is the strongest member of your family, you think that those who are still here must be more vulnerable in some way, that you have to be extra careful,' she said. 'I spend a lot of time looking after myself, I run and exercise, because I don't want to leave my kids.' While some would expect Terri to be concerned about her son's hobby, she said that it's not the potentially dangerous animals that concern her. 'I am more worried about him drowning than encountering a shark or a Manta ray in the water,' she told The Australian Women's Weekly Meanwhile, it seems there is no slowing down for the Irwin family, who are busy keeping Steve's legacy alive. In October, Terri and her children - including 20-year-old daughter Bindi - launched their new television series, Crikey! It's The Irwins. The show premiered on American TV channel Animal Planet and documents their day-to-day lives at Queensland's Australia Zoo. A mother's instinct: Despite allowing Robert the freedom to follow his own path as a nature photographer, Terri did confess to sometimes being overly protective of her children Confession: 'When you lose someone who is the strongest member of your family, you think that those who are still here must be more vulnerable in some way, that you have to be extra careful,' Terri said. Pictured with her children on September 24, 2018 in New York City Bindi told Reuters at the time: 'We are continuing on in dad's footsteps and everything that we do today at Australia Zoo and with our Wildlife Warriors work is exactly what he started. 'In the show we'll have some amazing moments of reflecting on what he used to do, from feeding crocodiles to cuddling koalas. 'Then you'll see us doing the exact same things making sure that everything he loved the most carries on into the future.' The first photo of Jon Cryer as Superman's arch-nemesis, Lux Luthor, has been released. The Emmy Award-winning actor, 53, has a recurring role playing the iconic DC villain in the fourth season of Supergirl, which stars Melissa Benoist as the superheroine. In the promo pic, Cryer's bald Luthor stares straight into the camera with an intimidating look on his face from inside a maximum-security prison cell. Sneak peek: The first photo of Jon Cryer as Superman's arch-nemesis, Lux Luthor, has been released; the actor has a recurring role in the fourth season of Supergirl His beard and crossed arms help give off a sense of impending drama when he makes his debut in the 15th episode of the show's current fourth season. In the episode entitled - O Brother, Where Art Thou? - Luthor reaches out from prison to enlist Lena (Katie McGrath) into one of his plans and will stop at nothing to get her on board, even if that means leveraging the life of one of her friends. Originally introduced as a mad scientist, Alexander Joseph 'Lex' Luthor, first appeared in action comics #23, and has persisted as Superman's arch rival ever since. Lex has been portrayed as a wealthy, power-mad American business magnate, engineer and philanthropist to the city of Metropolis, as well as one of the most intelligent people in the world. Superhero: Melissa Benoist has starred as the superheroine, Supergirl, since 2015 Coming soon: Jon Cryer makes his debut as Lex Luthor in episode 15 of the current season of Supergirl, which airs March 17, on The CW Traditionally, the character doesn't have any superpowers, or alter-identity, and typically appears with a bald head. This isn't Cryer's first foray into the DC Universe; he played Lenny, Lex's nephew, in the 1987 film Superman IV: The Quest for Peace, alongside Gene Hackman. 'We are enormous fans of Jon Cryer, and he was instantly our dream actor to play the iconic role of Lex Luthor,' said executive producers Robert Rovner and Jessica Queller. 'Jon is a super-talent, and the fact that he played Lenny Luthor in Superman IV brings an added layer of legacy to his casting. We're beyond thrilled to welcome Jon to the Supergirl family.' The actor is best known to fans as Alan Harper on the hugely successful sitcom Two and a Half Men, which aired from 2003-2015 and landed him two Emmy Awards. Jon Cryer makes his debut as Lex Luthor in Supergirl, March 17, on The CW. Karl Stefanovic is getting a taste of his own medicine. After leaving his first wife Cassandra Thorburn 'blindsided' when he walked out on their marriage in mid-2016, now he's the one who has been caught unawares. During an interview with Hit105's Stav, Abby & Matt on Thursday, Cassandra hinted that she didn't tell her ex-husband she would be appearing on Dancing with the Stars. 'We're leading very separate lives': During an interview with Hit105's Stav, Abby & Matt on Thursday, Cassandra Thorburn hinted she didn't tell her ex-husband Karl Stefanovic she would be appearing on Dancing with the Stars. Pictured on September 5, 2018 in Sydney While she didn't spell it out, the 47-year-old strongly suggested that the sacked Today host learned about her new TV role when the rest of Australia did. 'We only found out today that you were going [on DWTS]. Is he finding out today? Or did you guys have a chat saying this is coming out on Thursday,' asked radio host Matt Acton. Cassandra burst into laughter before responding: 'No, no. I mean, we're leading very separate lives. Which is all good, we're leading separate lives. 'I'm looking forward to this year and to dancing. It's really so much fun, you will not believe how much fun.' Revenge is sweet! After leaving his ex-wife 'blindsided' when he walked out on their marriage in mid-2016, now it seems Karl Stefanovic (pictured) is the one who has been caught unawares After months of rumours, it was confirmed on Thursday that Cassandra had joined the cast of Channel 10's Dancing with the Stars. The former ABC journalist told the Herald Sun that she decided to sign up after an emotional chat with her late father Max Thorburn. 'It was one of the last conversations I had with my dad before he passed away,' she said. '[He told me], "If you said no you will regret it one day".' Max, who was also a journalist, died in October last year after a battle with cancer. That's cheeky! The 47-year-old former journalist strongly suggested that Karl learned about her new TV role when the rest of Australia did. Pictured during a recent Studio 10 appearance In recent months, Cassandra has developed a friendly relationship with Channel 10, even appearing as a panellist on Studio 10. Her ex-husband, who remarried shoe designer Jasmine Yarbrough in December, was sacked as host of Channel Nine's Today show late last year. One reason for his decline in popularity was his marriage split with Cassandra, which apparently caused a backlash from female viewers. She has been in Florida since Tuesday for a work-related trip. And on Wednesday, Alessandra Ambrosio stepped out for a photo shoot in Little Havana, a neighborhood in Miami. The beauty amped up her energy for the fun-filled ELLE Italia shoot, which saw her model several different denim looks. Work fun: On Wednesday, Alessandra Ambrosio stepped out for a photo shoot in Little Havana, a neighborhood in Miami, Florida For one look, the Brazilian beauty layered a solid white T-shirt underneath a leather jacket-inspired blazer. Alessandra's ensemble was accessorized with layered belts and a bandanna. Her outfit was complete with a set of light wash jeans and chunky, beige boots. The supermodel was also styled in a grey, grunge look. The Victoria's Secret stunner paired an oversize denim jacket with matching denim shorts and buckled black boots. Biker: For one look, the Brazilian beauty layered a solid white T-shirt underneath a leather jacket-inspired blazer Her style: Alessandra's ensemble was accessorized with layered belts and a bandanna. Her outfit was complete with a set of light wash jeans and chunky, beige boots Straight outta the streets:The mother-of-two looked to have loads of fun as she brought out her inner gangster Pucker up: She also pursed her lips for selfies, presumably as part of her shoot With her remaining looks, the beauty was seen in a biker jacket, a red snakeskin skirt, layered belts and black buckle boots. She was also seen in a black shirt paired with a denim jacket and shorts and the same footwear. As part of her shoot, Alessandra knocked out both her classic, fierce looks with an out-of-the-box, playful touch. The mother-of-two looked to have loads of fun as she brought out her inner gangster. She also pursed her lips for selfies, presumably as part of her shoot. '80s-inspired: The supermodel was also styled in a grey, grunge look. The Victoria's Secret stunner paired an oversize denim jacket with matching denim shorts and buckled black boots Mix and match: She was also seen in a black shirt paired with a denim jacket and shorts and the same footwear True supermodel: Alessandra gave off her signature fierce expression for one of her poses Effortless: At one point, the beauty threw her hair in a topknot When she's not gracing the covers of magazine or walking runways, she's a devoted mother to her two children. Alessandra shares daughter Anja, 10, and Noah, six, with ex-fiance of 10 years, Jamie Mazur. The couple split in March of last year. Alessandra has since moved on with Italian fashion designer, Nicolo Oddi. Edgy: Alessandra wore a biker jacket, red snakeskin skirt, layered belts and black buckle boots Doing his job: A hairstylist looked to pin the star's tresses up Her look: In another look, the star was styled in a denim top, bikini bottoms, striped socks and chucky boots Gorgeous: The beauty showed off her flawless face with minimal make-up Perfect: The stunner shared a beautiful smile Sharing an adorable throwback photo of himself as a toddler on Monday, this comedian started his career on community TV as a charismatic young student. In 1999, he landed his very own live variety show on the Nine Network but the series was short-lived. In 2000, the show moved to Channel Ten, and the rest was history, with the funnyman becoming a household name. 'This little fella turned 45 today!' He's the TV host who became a household name before heading off to Hollywood to helm his own talk show. But can YOU guess who this cheerful toddler is? In the 2009 he left his popular program and by 2011, was hosting a star-studded program in Los Angeles. After working steadily in America for a few years, the star made a return to Australian TV screens as host of a popular movie show. Have you worked out who the smiling little boy in the photo is? Guess who! It's none other than host of Rove Live, Rove McManus. Pictured in 2018 It's none other than host of Rove Live, Rove McManus. The star took to Instagram on Monday to share the adorable throwback photo to celebrate his 45th birthday. Rove captioned the photograph: 'This little fella turned 45 today. Well done, me' and added the hashatag #HappyBirthdayToMe. Star: In 2000, Rove Live began on Channel Ten, and the rest was history, with the funnyman becoming a household name. Pictured in 2006 Back in town! After working steadily in America for a few years, the star made a return to Australian TV. Pictured in 2016 In the photo, Rove looks to be just one or two years old, wearing dark blue overalls and a long-sleeved shirt covered in bright cartoon characters. While his childhood blonde hair is now brown, the cheeky smile is unmistakably that of the beloved TV personality who hasn't changed all that much. Rove is currently the host of new panel show, Show Me the Movie! having returned home after hosting Rove LA in Hollywood. Advertisement Disney announced that it was building a Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge attraction in Disneyland, California, back in August 2015 - and fans have been champing at the bit for it to open ever since. When it finally does open, in June, it surely will have been worth the wait - because according to one claim, one of the star attractions of the themed land will be almost half an hour long. The ride, called Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance, will see guests thrust into the middle of an epic battle between the Resistance and the First Order. Scroll down for video Rise of the Resistance is one of the new attractions set to open at Disney's Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge land. There are claims the ride could last 28 minutes. Pictured is a scene from the attraction's trailer Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance will see guests thrust into the middle of an epic battle between the Resistance and the First Order Speaking on her Theme Park Stop podcast, blogger Alicia Stella revealed how she heard that the attraction will last for up to 28 minutes. She also described how she understands that it will include '300 animatronic figures' and will be the 'biggest indoor ride Disney has ever built'. The theme park enthusiast, who writes for Disney and More, added that she understands that the attraction will see guests invited on to the Star Destroyer before they are taken prisoner by the First Order. Then, members of the Resistance come to save them, as they ride through the Star Wars universe. MailOnline Travel has contacted Disney for further information. The claims in the podcast come after Walt Disney Imagineering executive Scott Trowbridge, who is overseeing the project, described Rise of the Resistance in a teaser video released on Christmas Day. The other attraction planned for Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge is Millennium Falcon: Smuggler's Run, where Disney guests will be able to go behind the controls of the most famous ship in the movie franchise in one of three unique flight crew roles He said: 'This attraction invites you to be recruited to the Resistance and stand up against the First Order. And you even come face-to-face with Kylo Ren. 'You make it through that, you get back to the planet, youll be a hero of the Resistance and be celebrated throughout the land.' The other attraction planned for Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge is Millennium Falcon: Smuggler's Run, where Disney guests will be able to go behind the controls of the most famous ship in the movie franchise in one of three unique flight crew roles. Mr Trowbridge added: 'Our intent is to make it feel as if you just walked into one of the movies. 'Bringing to life in the physical world gives us the opportunity to play with a whole bunch of things we've never done before... to really engage all of the senses.' Sweeping drone footage showing construction of the new Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge was released by Disney in November Composer John Williams has created brand new music for the attractions, which is performed by the London Symphony Orchestra. A Star Wars: Galaxy Edge land will also open at Disney Hollywood Studios at Walt Disney World in Florida in the late autumn. The ambitious new attractions are part of a $2billion (1.43billion) investment by Disney in its theme parks. Once completed, it will include approximately 10,000 tons of structural steel and 200,000 square feet of hand-carved rock work. Italian Dino Sagani is one of the stars of the new series of The Cruise on ITV The ITV documentary series that reveals what life is like on board a huge cruise ship is back and this time the star is the Majestic Princess and its crew. Italian Dino Sagani, 48, is at the helm and he took time out of his busy schedule on the high seas to reveal to MailOnline Travel what life is like on board the 3,560-guest, 143,000-tonne vessel for him. He discusses parking difficulties and why people who think cruise ships are floating petri dishes should book a holiday on one. And much more Whats the biggest wave youve ever safely tackled in a cruise ship? When we were sailing from the Falkland Islands towards Argentina on the original Royal Princess many years ago with a swell averaging 10m (32ft). Of course nowadays with all the different tools we have available, it's a lot easier to avoid heavy seas. Whats the storm force limit for Majestic Princess? Majestic Princess has been specifically designed adhering to new rules in terms of strength and stability which make her the strongest and safest cruise ship I have ever commanded. She can go through a storm without any problems as long as we take the sea from the right direction and adjust the speed of the ship accordingly. Of course we'd prefer to avoid any storms... for our guests and for those very expensive bottles of champagne which aren't secured down. Do you have any gadgets on the bridge you particularly love? On the bridge we have the bell of the ship which I love because it is like the heart of the ship. I like to ring it sometimes and think back to when the old captains like my great grandfather used the bell of the ship to communicate time and orders to their crew and passengers. Do you actually steer the ship? Yes in several instances - I drive the ship in and out of port either steering by giving orders to the quartermaster or I steer myself using the 'mini-wheel' as I call it, which directly controls our two huge rudders at the stern. Sagani is the captain of the Majestic Princess, pictured, which has capacity for 3,560 guests Would you go down with the ship? It would be very unlikely the ship could suffer such damage that would sink her, but in any case as it is required by maritime law I will certainly be the last to leave the ship. Describe a typical day on board for you... Well I find there is no such thing as a typical day on the ship. If we are cruising to a port and the drive-in is very long - like when we have to go up river in Shanghai - I'll have to drive the ship all night in order to be ready at the berth for the guests to disembark. If we are at sea, it tends to be a normal wake-up call in the morning. After checking the ship's progress and the latest forecasts I like to walk around the different decks to check how the ship looks and of course to meet some of the guests on board. I always try to walk all the way from the upper guests' decks down to the engine and laundry room, mainly because the crew love to see the captain in their working areas. In the afternoon if we are at sea, I will have some function with our guests, such as a welcome or farewell party, or perhaps a special event we host for our loyalty guests. Dinner is usually in my suite unless of course I'm hosting some guests in one of our restaurants. If time allows, I do like to have a least an hour in the gym to take the stress off my shoulders and to keep fit. Being Italian I tend to live by the Latin phrase "mens sana in corpore sano", which means healthy mind in a healthy body. Do you have lavish captains quarters? I have a suite with a lovely large balcony so I'm not complaining! The best part is the captains pantry where I have a fantastic coffee machine. Useful for those early starts. Sagani said: 'Majestic Princess has been specifically designed adhering to new rules in terms of strength and stability which make her the strongest and safest cruise ship I have ever commanded' How long does it take to train as a captain? It took me 22 years at sea. I moved up the ranks fast, becoming one of the youngest captains ever to be promoted and that was almost 12 years ago! Could you describe some of the trickier waters you have to negotiate on Majestic Princess and why they need to be tackled with care? The crossing of the Tasman Sea between Australia and New Zealand requires great care and attention when navigating the ship because the low pressure can develop and build heavy seas. On my last cruise before getting off the ship in December, I had to go full speed ahead in order to pass in front of a storm which in the end created swells of over 10m (32ft). My plan worked very well and we had a beautiful passage but I had to use up a lot of extra fuel. That said, our priority is always the safety and the comfort of our guests. Do people shout captain on the bridge! when you enter the bridge? No sadly there is not such an official welcome anymore but when I do get to the bridge and take charge after a formal handover, in that moment the officer will loudly state 'captain has the charge'. What are the most challenging aspects to the job? Driving such a large ship in very small ports is definitely the largest challenge especially when the wind starts to get strong. I have two main propellers and six side propellers (thrusters) to use when I manoeuvre the ship. In some ports it's kind of like trying to do the most perfect parallel parking in a Ferrari with the end goal the same - not to scratch her! What are the most rewarding parts of the job? Almost every cruise I receive a lot of notes from the guests who tell me they've had the time of their lives on the ship and cannot wait to be back on board. That's the most rewarding part of my job and thinking that I can bring happiness to peoples lives is an amazing feeling. I guess I'm lucky to be able to create, share and receive all this positive energy. Are there so many crew members that some dont recognise you onboard? I make the point on every cruise of personally welcoming any new crew members as I think it's important for them to see me and to welcome them into the "Majestic family". Sagani is pictured here being filmed for The Cruise Do you have any funny filming anecdotes from The Cruise? I had a lot of fun filming The Cruise. I loved pulling the leg of the camera crew that were following me around every day. When one of the young lads was filming me in the gym I told him at his age he should be exercising. So that evening he went to the gym for a workout. The next day he'd obviously gone very heavy in the gym the night before because he was in so much pain that he was struggling to hold the camera, even just for a little bit. I guess lifting weights is not the same as lifting a heavy camera... Some people dismiss cruise ships as floating petri dishes how would you persuade them to try it? The one reoccurring phrase I get from passengers who have never cruised before is that they regret they didn't try it sooner. Across our fleet we offer a premium service at sea that would rival most luxury hotels and restaurants ashore, and at a competitive price. Previously, if guests went to a particular place for a holiday and they were disappointed, then they'd still have to spend the remainder of their holiday in the same place. However on a cruise ship we travel to several destinations, so after exploring all day guests can come back on board, relax in their comfortable floating hotel room and get excited about waking up in a new place. Captain Sagani can be seen on ITVs The Cruise on Thursdays at 8.30pm. Holidaymakers due to visit Greece are being urged to monitor news reports and follow advice issued by the local authorities or their accommodation providers, after wildfires ripped through tourist resorts leaving 74 dead. Hundreds of tourists have been evacuated from beaches while three woman and a child drowned in the sea while trying to escape flames rampaging through woodland either side of the capital, Athens. The blazes centre around the coastal town of Mati to the east of Athens while authorities are co-ordinating to rescue tourists who fled to the harbour in Rafina - one of the worst hit areas. Holidaymakers due to visit Greece are being urged to monitor news reports and follow advice issued by the local authorities or their accommodation providers, after wildfires ripped through tourist resorts leaving 74 dead. Pictured are damaged beach facilities at Kineta Greece welcomes 27million holidaymakers each year, and is especially popular with Brits who mainly head to the islands of Corfu, Crete, Rhodes and Mykonos. But the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) says that most visitors to Greece, including Athens, will be unaffected by the fires. In a statement, it said: 'There have been wildfires in a number of areas in southern Greece, including close to Athens; they have been confined to limited areas, but within those the impact has been high, with significant loss of life. 'Most visits to Greece, including to Athens, are unaffected, you should keep up to date with local media reports and follow the advice of the Greek authorities in affected areas. 'If you've been affected by the wildfires and need consular assistance, you can call the British Embassy in Athens on +30 210 7272 600; if you're in the UK and worried about a British national in Greece, call the FCO on 020 7008 1500.' Pictures have emerged of scorched sunloungers and sun shades on beaches, houses burnt to the ground and people running through thick smoke and waiting in the sea to be rescued Travel industry body Abta also reiterated to MailOnline Travel that most people going to Greece on holiday will avoid the fires. A spokesperson said: 'The wildfires in Greece are northeast of Athens in the Penteli area and 50km west of Athens. 'This area isn't a main destination for UK tourists. People on holiday in the region are advised to monitor news reports and follow any advice or instructions issued by the local authorities, their travel company or their accommodation providers. The fires broke out either side of Athens with Mati and Rafina the worst hit areas. The death toll is expected to climb today 'Anyone due to travel imminently to the areas affected should speak to their travel company or accommodation provider. 'Abta is in contact with the authorities in Greece and we are monitoring the situation.' Meanwhile holiday comparison site TravelSupermarket also told holidaymakers that they should monitor the FCO website for any advice as any warning not to travel could affect travel insurance claims. Spokesperson Emma Grimster explained: 'With events such as wild fires, advice is, on the whole, led by the Foreign and Commonwealth office (FCO). Greece welcomes 27million holidaymakers each year, and is especially popular with Brits who mainly head to the islands of Corfu, Crete, Rhodes and Mykonos. Pictured is a house burning amid wildfire in the town of Kineta near Athens 'Holidaymakers due to travel to Greece need to keep a close eye on the FCO advice for the most up-to-date information on travelling to the country, and also keep in close contact with their travel provider to find out about any changes or delays to their travel arrangements. 'They should also check the terms and conditions of their travel insurance policy. While they won't be covered for simply deciding not to travel, if the FCO issues advice to avoid certain effected areas, travel insurance companies will tend to offer cover to travellers. Again, it is worth giving your insurer a call to find out the latest. 'If you're in the UK and worried about a British national in Greece, call the FCO on 020 7008 1500.' Ryanair, easyJet and British Airways confirmed their flights are running as usual to Athens. A spokesperson for easyJet said: 'Flights to and from Athens are currently operating as normal, however, we continue to closely monitor the situation and the advice provided by the relevant authorities.' But if you would prefer to change your travel plans, you do have options. The spokesperson added: 'Any customers who are booked to travel to Athens in the next seven days can transfer for free to another date or another route within the next three months, or alternatively can request a flight voucher to the value of their unused flights. 'Passengers wishing to do so are advised to call the easyJet Customer Services team on 0330 365 5000.' A spokesperson for British Airways said: 'Following the tragic wildfires in Greece, we are offering a flexible re-booking policy for customers wanting to return home early. 'Our flights are operating as planned, however we would encourage any customers with concerns about their bookings to contact us or their travel agent.' Athens Airport confirmed on Twitter that, although there had been some cancellations, diversions and delays on Monday, flights are now running as normal. A huge volcanic eruption in Scotland on the same scale as the infamous Krakatoa blat may have wiped out hundreds of species 56 million years ago. A new study suggests a major explosive eruption from the Red Hills on the Isle of Skye may have been a contributing factor to prehistoric global warming. Researchers from across Scotland and Sweden teamed up to examine volcanic rocks called pitchstones recovered from two sites - Sgurr of Eigg and Oigh-sgeir. Using multiple different methods of analysis, including isotope geochemistry, scientists were able to geochemically identify the Red Hills as the most likely vent area of the eruption. Large explosive volcanic eruptions can have lasting effects on climate and have been held responsible for severe climate effects in Earth's history. Scroll down for video A massive volcanic eruption in Scotland on the same scale as the infamous Krakatoa blast may have contributed to prehistoric global warming One blast 56 million years ago raised global temperatures by up to 14.4F. The event has been named the Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum (PETM). The hot period was typically associated with volcanic activity in the North Atlantic region, in particular Greenland, the British Isles and what is now the North Sea area. But is has not been known until now that a large-scale explosion took place in present-day Scotland. Researchers from St Andrews University, Durham University, Uppsala University in Sweden and the Scottish Environmental Research Centre in Glasgow have found 'plausible' evidence of an eruption on the Isle of Skye millions of years ago. The scientists had looked at volcanic rocks called pitchstones from islands more than 18 miles apart in the Inner Hebrides off the west coast of Scotland and found huge volcanic deposits from an eruption. The findings have been published in the Scientific Reports journal. Scientists say that global temperatures spiked around 56 million years ago. A new study suggests that a major explosive eruption from the Red Hills on the Isle of Skye may have been a contributing factor to the massive climate disturbance Dr Valentin Troll, of Uppsala University, said: 'Samples from the two pitchstone outcrops display identical textures and compositions in all analyses, confirming that the two outcrops represent deposits of a single, massive and explosive volcanic eruption.' The researchers' geochemical data identify the Red Hills on Skye, around 25 miles to the North, as the most likely vent area for the eruption. Dr Troll said: 'Using this vent location, a reconstruction estimates the eruption to have been similar in magnitude to the infamous Krakatoa eruption of 1883, one of the deadliest and most destructive volcanic events in recorded history.' He added: 'Earth scientists have long thought that the Scottish sector of the North Atlantic Volcanic province did not see any large explosive eruptions at the time of the PETM.' He said that notion is now contradicted by the findings of the study. Dr Troll added: 'Large explosive volcanic events in the Scottish sector of the North Atlantic Volcanic Province were likely a major contributing factor to the climate disturbance of the PETM.' The warm period was associated with volcanic activity in the North Atlantic region, especially in Greenland, the British Isles and the present day North Sea region. This image shows the region where the stones were found Extreme weather conditions could benefit companies like Apple by boosting its sales as the threat of the effects of global warming become more apparent. Apple will be able to cash in because devices like the iPhone and iWatch could be useful during a natural disaster, the firm believes. Google's parent company Alphabet also touted benefits of climate change because of the Google Earth to 'examine physical changes to natural resources and climate'. Both companies thoughts on climate change were published by the Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP), a British non-profit organisation. Scroll down for video Extreme weather conditions could benefit companies like Apple by boosting its sales as the threat of the effects of global warming increases. As consumers become more socially conscious they may value firms like Apple because of their reliable devices (stock) The CDP says its aim is to drive disclosure, insight and action towards a sustainable economy and report on environmental risk management for major corporations. Apple details that people's concerns about preparations for severe weather events could make its products more appealing. 'As severe weather events become more frequent, consumers may come to value more highly the immediate and ubiquitous availability of reliable mobile computing devices,' it said in the report. The consumer may also favour companies like Apple that power all operations from renewable energy; for example, they publish an Environmental responsibility report. The 'increased customer loyalty and demand for our products' could add $920 million (700 million) to its 'brand value'. Apple's market valuation surpassed $1 trillion in August. Apple cited various functionalities like the 'SOS feature', the flashlight, 'find friends,' and other benefits of an iPhone or Apple Watch to use during weather disasters. Apple details that people's concerns about preparations for severe weather events could make its products more appealing. Apple cited functionalities like the 'SOS feature', the flashlight, 'find friends,' and other benefits of an iPhone or Apple Watch for use during disasters The tech giant told The Times that the opportunity it mentioned in its submission was on a 'long-term horizon' and was 'about as likely as not' to occur. More than 7,000 companies submitted reports for last year, 1,800 from the US and 511 from Britain. Google's parent company Alphabet also said: 'If customers value Google Earth as a tool to examine the physical changes to the Earth's natural resources and climate, this could result in increased customer loyalty or brand value. 'This opportunity driver could have a positive impact on our brands.' Changes in habitat distributions, devastating forest fires, severe floods, strong earthquakes and damaging landslides occur in a matter of hours. The Google Earth engine covers climate patterns, and assesses damage during floods and tsunamis. The 2018 wildfire season was the deadliest and most destructive wildfire season on record in California, with a total of 8,527 fires burning an area of 1,893,913 acres. Fires are natural in the state but global warming is said to be making them bigger The report also highlighted the risks of the harmful impacts of climate change. Apple said that extreme weather could disrupt its supply chain and logistics. 'Effects from severe weather events could cause a temporary disruption in production or the availability of component parts or finished products, in the availability of a data center, or in the availability or productivity of our workforce,' it said. Sainsbury's said that a number of its stores would be subject to flooding, costing up to 3 million to refurbish each of them and Walt Disney wrote of its concern that theme parks would get too hot for tourists to visit. Tesco put it in its report, 'if climate change leads to a contraction this will have an impact on us.' But it appears even if the economy does shrink due to climate change, the brands still have plans to survive. Scientists prepared Thursday to embark on an unprecedented, years-long mission to explore the Indian Ocean and document changes taking place beneath the waves that could affect billions of people in the surrounding region over the coming decades. The ambitious expedition will delve into one of the last major unexplored frontiers on the planet, a vast body of water that's already feeling the effects of global warming. Understanding the Indian Ocean's ecosystem is important not just for the species that live in it, but also for an estimated 2.5 billion people at home in the region - from East Africa, the Arabian peninsula, South and Southeast Asia. Final preparations were being made Thursday for the start of an unprecedented, years-long mission to explore the Indian Ocean, during which scientists hope to document changes taking place beneath the waves that could affect billions of people in the surrounding region The Nekton Mission, supported by over 40 organizations, will conduct further dives in other parts of the Indian Ocean over three years. The research will contribute to a summit on the state of the Indian Ocean planned for late 2021. The Ocean Zephyr is preparing to leave Bremerhaven, Germany, on the first leg of trip. Researchers will spend seven weeks surveying underwater life, map the sea floor and drop sensors to depths of up to 2,000 meters (6,560 feet) in the seas around the Seychelles. Little is known about the watery world below depths of 30 meters (100 feet), which scientists from Britain and the Seychelles will be exploring with two crewed submarines and a remotely operated submersible in March and April. Above, people stand on the helipad of Ocean Zephyr in the docks in Bremerhaven, Germany. The Britain-based Nekton Mission will use submarines to go 300 meters below the surface and sonar equipment to survey depths of up to 2,000 meters Ronny Jumeau, the Seychelles' ambassador to the United Nations, said such research is vital to helping the island nation understand its vast ocean territory. While the country's 115 islands together add up to just 455 square kilometers (176 sq. miles) of land - about the same as San Antonio, Texas - its exclusive economic zone stretches to 1.4 million square kilometers (540 million square miles) of sea, an area almost the size of Alaska. Oliver Steeds, head of the Nekton Mission is interviewed in front of the Ocean Zephyr in the docks in Bremerhaven, Germany Jumeau said the Seychelles aims to become a leader in the development of a 'blue economy' that draws on the resources of the ocean. The archipelago relies on fishing and tourism, but has lately also been exploring the possibility of extracting oil and gas from beneath the sea floor. 'Key to this is knowing not only what you have in the ocean around you, but where it is and what is its value,' he said. 'It is only when you know this that you can properly decide what to exploit and what to protect and leave untouched.' 'Research expeditions such as the Nekton Mission are therefore vital to help us fill those gaps and better know our ocean space and marine resources to make wise decisions in planning the future of our blue economy,' Jumeau added. The island nation of fewer than 100,000 people is already feeling the effects of climate change, with rising water temperatures bleaching its coral reefs. The Nekton Mission, supported by over 40 organizations, will conduct further dives in other parts of the Indian Ocean over three years. The research will contribute to a summit on the state of the Indian Ocean planned for late 2021 Researchers will spend seven weeks surveying underwater life, map the sea floor and drop sensors to depths of up to 2,000 meters (6,560 feet) in the seas around the Seychelles 'Our ocean is undergoing rapid ecological transformation by human activities,' said Callum Roberts, a marine conservation biologist at the University of York, England, who is a trustee of the mission. 'Seychelles are a critical beacon and bellwether for marine conservation in the Indian Ocean and globally,' he said. SEA LEVELS COULD RISE BY UP TO 4 FEET BY THE YEAR 2300 Global sea levels could rise as much as 1.2 metres (4 feet) by 2300 even if we meet the 2015 Paris climate goals, scientists have warned. The long-term change will be driven by a thaw of ice from Greenland to Antarctica that is set to re-draw global coastlines. Sea level rise threatens cities from Shanghai to London, to low-lying swathes of Florida or Bangladesh, and to entire nations such as the Maldives. It is vital that we curb emissions as soon as possible to avoid an even greater rise, a German-led team of researchers said in a new report. By 2300, the report projected that sea levels would gain by 0.7-1.2 metres, even if almost 200 nations fully meet goals under the 2015 Paris Agreement. Targets set by the accords include cutting greenhouse gas emissions to net zero in the second half of this century. Ocean levels will rise inexorably because heat-trapping industrial gases already emitted will linger in the atmosphere, melting more ice, it said. In addition, water naturally expands as it warms above four degrees Celsius (39.2F). Every five years of delay beyond 2020 in peaking global emissions would mean an extra 20 centimetres (8 inches) of sea level rise by 2300. 'Sea level is often communicated as a really slow process that you can't do much about ... but the next 30 years really matter,' lead author Dr Matthias Mengel, of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research, in Potsdam, Germany, told Reuters. None of the nearly 200 governments to sign the Paris Accords are on track to meet its pledges. Advertisement The mission's principal scientist, Lucy Woodall of Oxford University, said the researchers expect to discover dozens of new species, from corals and sponges to larger creatures like types of dog-sharks. The Associated Press is accompanying the expedition and will provide live underwater video from the dives, using new optical transmission technology to send footage from the submarines to the ship and from there, by satellite, to the world The key to the perfect relationship could be as simple as having had close friends at school. If someone was good at making friends as a teenager, they are more likely to have a happy romantic life as an adult, a study suggests. Researchers followed people from age 13 to 30, finding those satisfied in their adult relationships usually had better same-sex friendships at school. They were more likely to have held on to the same best friend from 16 to 18 and to have been good at forming friendships aged 15 to 16. Making friends in childhood appears to be better for building relationship skills than any number of 'turbulent' teenage relationships. The effort of maintaining friendships at school may share some qualities with holding down a relationship as an adult. Scroll down for video The key to the perfect relationship could be as simple as having had close friends at school. If someone was good at making friends as a teenager, they are more likely to have a happy romantic life as an adult, a study suggests (stock image) Professor Joseph Allen, who led the study from the University of Virginia, said: 'In spite of the emphasis teens put on adolescent romantic relationships, they turn out not to be the most important predictor of future romantic success. 'Instead it's the skills learned in friendships with peers of the same gender - skills such as stability, assertiveness, intimacy, and social competence -that correspond most closely to the skills needed for success in adult romantic relationships.' The study looked at same-sex friendships of 165 children as they went through school, then questioned them on their relationships in later life. Aged 13, study participants were assessed on how positively they viewed their peers and if they would challenge them on bad behaviour like truanting or shoplifting. At age 15 they were asked how competent they felt in forming and keeping friendships with others. From 16 to 18, researchers asked teenagers to name their best friend, to see if it would be the same person over two years. That friend rated the closeness of the friendship on a scale of one to five. People who scored well on all these friendship measures were far more likely to be in happy relationships in their late twenties. Researchers followed people from age 13 to 30, finding those satisfied in their adult relationships usually had better same-sex friendships at school. They were more likely to have held on to the same best friend from 16 to 18 and to have been good at forming friendships aged 15 to 16 (stock image) Good friendship skills in school could explain 25 per cent of the difference in people's happiness levels within relationships. This was more important than whether teenagers had a romantic relationship in school. The study, published in the journal Child Development, states: 'In contrast to often turbulent early and mid-adolescent romantic relationships, in which stability is often atypical, non-romantic friendships provide a context in which establishing closeness and stability is a normative and feasible developmental task. Rachel Narr, a co-author of the study from the University of Virginia, said: 'Romantic relationships in adolescence are much more likely to be fleeting, and as such, they don't appear to be the main way teens learn skills needed for the future.' Egypt says archaeologists have uncovered ancient tombs dating back to the Second Intermediate Period, 1782-1570 B.C., in the Nile Delta. The Antiquities Ministry said Wednesday that archaeologists also found 20 burial sites dating back to the Predynastic Period in Kom al-Kholgan archaeological site, about 140 kilometers (87 miles) north of Cairo. Most of those buried are in a squatting position, archaeologists found. This undated handout photo provided by the Egyptian Antiquities Authority, shows a skeleton, at the Kom al-Kholgan archaeological site, about 140 kilometers (87 miles) north of Cairo, Egypt. The Antiquities Ministry said Wednesday, Jan. 23, 2019 that archaeologists have uncovered ancient tombs dating back to the Second Intermediate Period, 1782-1570 B.C., in the Nile Delta. Mostafa Waziri, secretary general of the Supreme Council of Antiquities, says the tombs contain ancient animal remains, stone artifacts and pottery fragments with drawings. Rarely seen black pottery was among the objects The ministry says the remains were not well-preserved. In recent years, Egypt has heavily promoted new archaeological finds to international media and diplomats in the hope of attracting more visitors to the country. The vital tourism sector has suffered from years of political turmoil since the 2011 uprising. The Google Doodle for Thursday, August 2, 2018 celebrates Mount Olympus and the three climbers who scaled its summit 105 years ago. In 1913, Daniel Baud-Bovy and his photographer friend Frederic Boissonnas decided to ascend the 9,753-foot peak along with Greek hunter Christos Kakkalos, who knew the terrain exceptionally well. On July 29, 1913, the trio began the ascent, reaching the Agios Dionysios monastery at 820m the same day. They then continued north and set up camp in Petrostrouga at nearly 2000m. While the two Swiss men had some experience in mountaineering, Boissonnas had to carry the very heavy photographic equipment, so as a safety precaution, he and Baud-Dovy were tied together with rope. In the summer of 1913, three men decided to scale the Greek mountain's highest peak, Mytikas Meanwhile Kakkalos knew the terrain so well that he reportedly climbed its sharpest inclines barefoot. The weather turned, bringing with it severe fog. The climbers nevertheless persisted ascending a slender peak, which, thinking it was the highest peak of Mount Olympus, they named Victory Top. However, once the fog cleared, the three climbers saw a more impressive peak before them, and without hesitation decided to scale it. On August 2, 1913 at 10.25am, they climbed Mytikaswhich means nose in Greekthe highest peak on Mount Olympus at 2,918 metres or 9,573ft. Boissonnas later wrote that during their final climb, he was fuelled by the fire of the Titan Prometheus, who stole fire from the gods and gifted it to humans. Kakkalos later became an official guide for the mountain, last scaling the mountain in 1972, when he was 91-years-old. Where is Mount Olympus? Mount Olympus is a mountain in Greece that has the highest point in the country and the second highest peak in the Balkans, as well as one of the highest in Europe. Today marks the 105th anniversary of the first ascent of Mount Olympus, known as 'the home of the gods', in Greece. #Onthisday in 1913, two Swiss friends and a local guide reached the 9,573 foot summit. Mount Olympus in the Distance, Edward Lear, 1872. pic.twitter.com/msPLJDVSvl Ashmolean Museum (@AshmoleanMuseum) August 2, 2018 The mountain actually has 52 peaks in total and is located on the border of Macedonia and Thessaly. Olympus covers roughly 500-square-kilometres and was declared a biosphere reserve by Unesco in 1981. Around 10,000 people climb the mountain every year, although most only reach the Skolio summit at 2,912 metres. Mount Olympus in Greek mythology In Greek Mythology, Mount Olympus was home to the ancient powerful Olympian gods. A total of 12 gods resided on Mount Olympus: the god of gods and the sky Zeus; his wife Hera the goddess of marriage; Poseidon, god of the sea; Demeter, the goddess of harvest and fertility; Athena, the goddess of wisdom, Apollo god of the sun; Artemis, goddess of hunting; Ares, the god of war; Hephaesteus, god of the forge; Hermes, messenger of the gods; Hestia, the goddess of hearth; and Dionysus the god of wine. Thousands of people make the journey to Mount Olympus #onthisday each year to mark the anniversary of the first time it was successfully climbed in 1913. It's a real place, but this painting shows the Mount Olympus of Greek mythology. https://t.co/81uUC2XEE7 @NorthamptonShoe pic.twitter.com/8uJvFGGHH0 Art UK (@artukdotorg) August 2, 2018 What is a Google Doodle? Mount Olympus and the first people to climb it have been honoured in the Google Doodle for August 2, 2018, on the 105th anniversary of the day they reached the mountain's highest peak, Mytikas. It says: 'Todays Doodle celebrates their accomplishment and the fire that inspired them.' Google Doodles are small illustrations or animations that appear in the Google logo on the search engine's homepage. The first time a Google Doodle was used was in 1998, when Google founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin visited the 1998 Burning Man Festival. To commemorate their trip, the founders drew a stick-man standing behind the second o in the Google logo. Recent Google Doodles include Gerda Taro, Meena Kumari and Maria Rebecca Latigo de Hernandez. They are certainly cheap - but are they cheerful? The 20 lowest-priced homes in Britain have been revealed, with the most affordable costing just 4,000. And the three properties with the lowest asking prices can all be found in the same area of Scotland's Inverclyde, according to property website HouseSimple, who did their research on Zoopla. They could all in theory be bought with finance costing less than 15 a month, although, in reality most lenders require a much higher minimum borrowing level of around 25,000. Perhaps unsurprisingly, none of the properties are in the southern half of England. The cheapest homes have been revealed, however none are in the southern half of England Port Glasgow, 4,000: The cheapest property for sale is this one-bedroom flat on Bruce Street in Scotland. The home is within the Clune Park Estate which is undergoing regeneration Port Glasgow, 5,500: Another Inverclyde property on the list is this one-bedroom flat on Robert Street which is close to supermarkets and a train station Port Glasgow, 6,000: The third one-bedroom property in the same area of Scotland to top the cheapest list of UK properties is this one bed on Maxwell Street The cheapest property of all is a one-bedroom flat in Port Glasgow, Inverclyde (half an hour along the coast from Glasgow) and is on the market for 4,000. It is followed by two more properties in the same town, which have asking prices of 5,500 and 6,000 respectively. The average estimated value of a flat in the same PA14 postcode area of the three cheapest homes last year was 95,691, according to Zoopla. However in the last 12 months the average sale price was 43,000 and 13 properties were sold. The cheapest Port Glasgow flat is within the Clune Park Estate, an area that Inverclyde Council has identified as 'its highest priority for investment.' In England, the lowest asking price is on a studio flat in Bradford, West Yorkshire, which is on the market at 13,000. Here the average sale price for a similar property was 57,846 last year, meaning the property is well under the expected price for the same postcode. The cheapest house - as opposed to flat - on the market is a two-bed terrace in Bishop Auckland, County Durham, which has an asking price of 15,000. Scotland, 10,500: This one-bedroom flat in a blonde sandstone building on Hay Street in Greenock has an asking price of 10,500. The home sold for 50,000 in 2007 Bradford, 13,000: This studio flat on Sunbridge Road in West Yorkshire is on the top floor of this city centre building County Durham, 15,000: Some refurbishment would be needed on this two-bedroom terrace on Spencer Street in Bishop Auckland but it has a low asking price In the last 12 months the average sale price of a home in the same postcode was 67,174 and 206 properties were sold. The area also had a reasonably priced rental income where tenants were charged around 373 a month for a two bedroom house. Buying agent Henry Pryor suggested why the properties were so cheap, saying: 'Every week Phil and Kirstie remind us that when it comes to property it's all about "Location, location, location". These cheap properties aren't mis-priced, they are mis-placed. 'Suitable for someone on the run, perhaps these are homes that no-one wants to buy, some you would struggle to give away,' he added. 'At a time when we are begging the Government to build more homes you might think that every existing home was valuable, but these are the properties even estate agents would be embarrassed to try to sell.' Cumbria, 15,000: This flat on Steamer Street in Barrow In Furness has gas central heating and is close to local shops and schools Hartlepool, 15,000: Although requiring some work this two-bedroom home on Middle Street in Blackhall Colliery has a yard and on street parking Bradford, 17,000: This studio apartment on Salem Street comes fully furnished and with a fitted kitchen. The listing also says it's only a ten minute walk to the University A common factor they all share is that they could theoretically be bought using a 10 per cent deposit of less than 2,000. And in the case of the property with an asking price of 4,000, a 10 per cent deposit would equate to a mere 400. This would leave the remaining 3,600 that could be funded with a home loan, which would cost 15 a month. This is based on a market-leading two-year fixed-rate mortgage for those with a 10 per cent deposit, which offers a rate of 1.96 per cent. However, in reality, most lenders stipulating that the minimum amount they will lend is around 25,000, buyers may struggle to finance such a purchase. Buying all of the cheapest 20 properties together would cost 303,900, the equivalent price of just one four-bedroom detached house in Kent. And the cheapest three properties together would cost 15,500, according to estate agent Housesimple.com. County Durham, 17,000: This home on Eleventh Street in Horden has two bedrooms and is partially double glazed County Durham, 17,500: This ground floor one-bedroom flat on North Road West in Wingate has a rear yard and described as a 'good investment opportunity' Port Glasgow, 18,000: Another property in this area of Scotland on the list is this two-bedroom ground floor flat on Robert Street which is 0.6 miles from the train station This is cheaper than the cost of a new car, with the cheapest Ford Focus costing 18,300. Sam Mitchell, chief executive of estate agents Housesimple.com, admitted: 'These particular properties won't appeal to the majority of buyers.' But he said they could allow people to step onto the property ladder if you're not afraid to purchase something that needs work. He said: 'Sellers in this market need to price sensibly - if you price it right, there's a buyer out there.' Earlier this month it was revealed that just one in four average earners aged between 25 and 34 now owns a home, according to the Institute of Fiscal Studies. In 1995, two-thirds did. The 20th property on the list is priced at 19,950 and is on Ninth Street in Horden, County Durham. The two-bedroom terraced house comes in at just under half of the average sale price for the area with is 46,427, according to Zoopla. Two primary schools are close to the property which also has a lounge and dining room however the home does need some redecorating work. County Durham, 18,000: Also on sale is this two-bedroom terraced property on Seventh Street in Horden, Peterlee. The average house in this postcode area sells for 62,780 Lancashire, 18,000: This one-bedroom house on Ashford Street in Nelson is listed as an 'ideal investment property' with a price of under 20,000 County Durham, 18,000: Another two-bed house on the list is this one on Eighth Street in Horden, Peterlee. It has a modern kitchen and bathroom but does require some work doing The average British property's value increased by 2,860 in 2018, according to property website Zoopla, a rise of just 1.02 per cent. In Scotland, property values rose by 6.43 per cent, while in Wales they climbed 3.98 per cent, but in England gains were a marginal 0.58 per cent. The property market is expected to follow a similar trend in 2019 - although it could be all change depending on the outcome of Brexit on March 29 and the impact this has on people's ability to afford to buy a new home. Halifax forecasts a 2 to 4 per cent increase in house prices for 2019. Halifax's Russell Galley said: 'Aside from the obvious political and economic uncertainty, the biggest issue for the housing market in 2019 will be the degree to which mortgage payment affordability changes.' He went on to say: 'Average pay growth is likely to gather pace but, with a further interest rate increase also predicted, house prices are unlikely to be pushed significantly in either direction.' Scotland, 18,000: This ground floor flat on West Main Street in Darvel, East Ayrshire, has an asking price of 18,000. The main entrance is at the rear and the building shares a hallway Scotland, 19,000: This one-bed flat in on Main Street in Newmilns, East Ayrshire, is around twenty-five miles southwest of Glasgow and there's on-street parking Scotland, 19,500: This one-bedroom flat on Annsfield Road in Hamilton, South Lanarkshire, and is close to shops and amenities Scotland, 19,950: This flat in Maybole comes with a shared back garden and just sneaks onto the cheapest 20 properties list 1835: Washington establishes diplomatic relations with Venezuela, after the South American country gains independence from Spain. U.S. policy in Latin America is grounded in the Monroe Doctrine of opposing European intervention in the region. 1902: President Theodore Roosevelt defuses a crisis in Venezuela after European nations including Britain and Germany imposed a blockade over unpaid debts. His idea of an 'international police power' becomes known as the 'Roosevelt Corollary' to the Monroe Doctrine. 1914: Venezuela opens its first major oilfield, giving it crucial strategic value to the United States. Further oil sources are discovered during the course of World War I. By the late 1920s it was one of the world's leading oil exporters. 1942: The country is granted $4million of military equipment under Lend-Lease during World War II. It is one of more than 40 nations offered aid in the scheme, which began before the U.S. entered the war. 1950: A U.S. State Department paper says: 'All policies toward Venezuela are affected in greater or less degree by the objective of assuring an adequate supply of petroleum for the U.S.'. The document also lists Venezuelan iron ore deposits as being of strategic interest to Washington. 1959: Democratically-elected leader Romulo Betancourt takes power in Venezuela after the fall of a military dictatorship, and is, regarded by the U.S. as an anti-Communist ally during the Cold War. The countries remain broadly aligned until 1999. 1973: U.S. backing for a military coup in Chile - in which army chief Augusto Pinochet overthrows democratically-elected socialist Salvador Allende - becomes a symbol of Washington's interventionism in Latin America. 1974: Venezuela restores diplomatic relations with Washington's Cold War enemy, Cuba. They had earlier been cut off under Betancourt's doctrine of denying recognition to undemocratic regimes. 1997: Bill Clinton's White House describes Venezuela as a 'close' partner thanks to their oil trade, with a 'strong mutual commitment to democracy'. For a time in the 1990s Venezuela is the largest oil exporter to the United States. It marks the last high point of Washington's relationship with Caracas. 1999: Venezuela lurches to the left as anti-American socialist Hugo Chavez - who had attempted a coup in 1992 - becomes President. It is the start of two decades of worsening relations with Washington. Hugo Chavez at the UN in 2006 where he called Bush 'the devil' 2002: Chavez is briefly toppled by a coup before returning to power. He accuses the United States of involvement in the attempted overthrow, claiming the CIA knew about it in advance. Loyalists in the military return Chavez to power after interim president Pedro Carmona dissolved the constitution. 2003: The Venezuelan leader opposes the American-led invasion of Iraq, saying in November that year it had led to 'terrible destablization' and violence'. The war escalates tensions between Chavez and George W. Bush. 2006: President Chavez calls George W. Bush 'the devil' during a speech at the United Nations in New York, saying the podium still 'smelled of sulphur' after the 43rd U.S. President had spoken there the day before. 2009: Barack Obama meets Chavez in Trinidad and Tobago in a bid to improve relations. Obama, who had recently been sworn in, defends his 'polite conversation' with the Venezuelan leader but he is slammed by U.S. Republicans for bolstering 'enemies of America'. 2013: Hugo Chavez dies on March 5, aged 58, just months after winning re-election to another term, defeating centrist candidate Henrique Capriles. Nicolas Maduro, running to continue his mentor's policies, wins the resulting presidential election by less than two per cent. In his inaugural speech he attacks Washington's 'imperialism'. 2015: Obama declares Venezuela a security threat, accusing the country's government of persecuting opponents, arbitrary detentions, violating human rights and 'significant public corruption'. The U.S. Treasury Department also orders sanctions on seven named Venezuelan officials. 2017: Maduro forms a new Constituent Assembly to rewrite Venezuela's constitution, seen as an effort to target and imprison opposition leaders. Opponents said the electoral system was rigged in favour of the government. The U.S. government does not recognise the assembly. 2019: Donald Trump recognises opposition leader Juan Guaido after he declared himself interim President. It comes amid nationwide protests after Maduro was sworn in for a second term following a disputed election victory in May 2018, which opponents said was achieved by vote-rigging. Maduro vows to fight on and is backed by the country's military chiefs. He once famously described the Chinese leadership as 'appalling old waxworks'. Now Prince Charles risks incurring the wrath of the country's elite once more after his charity the Prince's Trust refused to accept any new donations from Chinese technology giant Huawei. The move follows growing security concerns engulfing the firm. The Prince's Trust is the latest to suspend payments from the company. The charity, which was founded by Prince Charles in 1976 to help disadvantaged young people in Britain, said it had received 490,000 from Huawei since 2007. The Prince's Trust, founded by Prince Charles, said it had received 490,000 from Huawei since 2007 A spokesman for the trust says: 'At present, we are not accepting new donations from Huawei in light of public concerns. 'Future donations will continue to be reviewed by our ethical fundraising committee.' Huawei is a major supplier of broadband products and mobile networks in Britain. But it has come under scrutiny in recent weeks amid warnings that its technology poses spying risks. Meng Wanzhou, Huawei's finance boss and daughter of its founder, was arrested in Canada before Christmas at the U.S.'s request over alleged violations of sanctions on Iran. Defence Secretary Gavin Williamson last month said he had 'very deep concerns' over Huawei's involvement in the UK's rollout of a 5G telecom network. A spokesman for Huawei says 'We were disappointed to hear this news from the trust, as we have the greatest respect for the excellent work it does with young people. 'We are proud of our ten-year partnership and of course hope we can work together again in the future.' The Royal Family is not afraid to offend Chinese sensibilities. The Duke of Edinburgh has called Beijing 'ghastly' and, while on an official visit to China, once told a group of British exchange students: 'If you stay here much longer, you'll all be slitty-eyed.' The Chinese mobile phone manufacturer is currently under fire for allegedly using devices to spy on US companies Who was the noisy so-and-so at Cate's play? The director! Forget about mobile phones going off and disrupting theatre performances. Audience members at Cate Blanchett's new play this week at the National Theatre demanded their money back after a woman in the auditorium sat through the entire preview tapping away on her laptop and continued despite being asked to desist. It transpired the offender was none other than the play's director Katie Mitchell and the NT promptly offered complainants refunds. The play, When We Have Sufficiently Tortured Each Other, marks Blanchett's return to the West End stage in a controversial drama which involves cross-dressing and simulated sex. Audience members at Cate Blanchett's new play this week at the National Theatre demanded their money back after a woman in the auditorium sat through the entire preview tapping away on her laptop and continued despite being asked to desist But it was Mitchell's antics that upstaged the Hollywood actress. 'My whole row was disturbed and kept getting me to ask her to stop,' fumes theatregoer Karen Mount, who paid 40 for her ticket. 'How can the audience be asked to turn off their mobiles when the so-called 'creatives' don't give a damn?' A spokesman for the National tells me: 'The director was in the audience to note the show during previews, as all theatre productions are worked on during preview performances in the lead up to the opening night.' Donald Trump may be too busy for Davos but he apparently has time to meet Alexander de Cadenet, artist brother of TV presenter Amanda. The purpose is to discuss de Cadenet's life-size sculpture of the American president which features Trump riding a bullock on top of a giant burger. 'I'm going to Mar-a-Lago to meet with Donald Trump in March,' de Cadenet tells me. 'The idea is to discuss with Donald some ingredients for his burger statue. It's a public commission for the UK.' De Cadenet declines to name the British city where the work will be unveiled until planning consent has been secured. Dame Kristin is all bright on the night Four Weddings And A Funeral star Dame Kristin Scott Thomas nearly eclipsed the catwalk models at a fashion show in Paris this week. The 58-year-old, who splits her time between London and the French capital, arrived in a Valentino scarlet coat teamed with multi-coloured trousers and red heels. The bold sartorial choice comes not long after she complained about feeling invisible. 'I can turn it on and off, but if I'm not paying attention, if I haven't decided to turn it on, then I just disappear,' she said. No risk of going unnoticed on this occasion. Kristin Scott Thomas is seen arriving at Valentino fashion show during Paris Fashion Week Haute Couture Spring Summer 2020 on Wednesday night Dire Straits frontman Mark Knopfler is not sentimental about the OBE he was awarded. Where does he keep the honour? 'In a drawer somewhere. Or it could be in a box in storage. I've got an awful lot of baubles and they're useful as doorstops.' Knopfler turned down a 100 m offer to reform the band, which he started with younger brother David. 'I think he did all right. I think he has plenty of dough.' As Ed Miliband continues on his journey into political irrelevance on the Labour backbenches, his wife Justine Thornton is swiftly climbing up the judicial pole. She has been appointed a High Court judge, two years after being made a QC. Sadly, it means she will have even less time to spend in her two kitchens. In 2015, then Labour leader Ed was mocked after he admitted he had two kitchens in his North London mansion, but said he and his wife chose to use the smaller one upstairs. Academy Awards organisers have been accused of sexism even before the ceremony has taken place. After the nominations were announced, Poldark star Heida Reed quickly pointed out that all five of the candidates for the Best Director Oscar are men. This week she posted online: 'It seems the studios don't support female directors and artists. 'It's a shame there's a lot of talent out there being ignored and stopped from gaining publicity and recognition.' The world's 'most beautiful royal' Lady Amelia Windsor is trying to become the most eco-conscious. The Duke of Kent's granddaughter has pledged to try to pick up a piece of litter a day and buy only sustainable fish and organic chicken twice a week. 'Be more courageous,' the 23-year-old says, 'and try and encourage others and appreciate the beauty of our planet every day.' Carley Ingram, pictured, was evicted from her two-bedroom home after she accused her landlord Fergus Wilson of sexual assault. Wilson, who was arrested and questioned but never charged with any offence, later tried to Ms Ingram for harassment, seeking 10,000 in damages from the mother-of-two Tears filled Carley Ingrams eyes as she told a police officer how her landlord, Fergus Wilson, had abused her trust. Reporting what she believed to have been a sexual assault was traumatic, but her burning sense of injustice overrode any feelings of fear. She was relieved when Wilson was arrested over her allegations. But, four months later, the investigation was closed. The police said there wasnt any evidence, says Carley, 39, who was evicted from her two-bedroom home the week after Mr Wilsons arrest. Mr Wilson has not been charged with any offence and must be treated as innocent of these allegations. However, Carley assumed that she would at least finally be able to put the landlord out of her mind. She assumed wrong. In January 2015, eight months after Carley made the allegation against Mr Wilson, she received a letter from the 70-year-old, who along with wife Judith, 68, has been labelled Britains biggest and most disliked buy-to-let landlord, announcing he was going to sue her. The Wilsons who at one stage owned around 1,000 properties in Kent and have amassed an estimated 225m fortune were suing Carley, a single, cash-strapped mother of two small children, for 10,000 for harassment because, Mr Wilson claimed her allegation was malicious. The action by the Wilsons, who have just announced plans to sell their remaining 300 properties, crashing local house prices and potentially leaving scores of tenants homeless, almost destroyed Carley. And her sad story is just one of the many that a Daily Mail investigation into Mr Wilsons business practices has uncovered. I was physically sick when I got that letter, she says. I only did what I thought was right. After two-and-a-half years of vicious claim and counter-claim, a judge at Maidstone County Court ruled in August 2017 that Mr Wilson had no grounds to sue. As Carleys lawyer put it to the Mail this week: You cannot sue someone for harassment for making a complaint to the police. The impact on Carley cannot be overstated. I have had counselling, suffered PTSD and been on antidepressants. Ive called the Samaritans and woken up screaming, she says. Wilson ruined my life. Fergus Wilson, pictured with his wife Judith, outside one of their buy-to-let properties in Ashford, Kent, said the allegations were totally 'unfounded'. He said: 'Judith knows full well that I dont like big fat ladies. Basically she wasnt a very attractive lady. Certainly she would not interest me Ask Mr Wilson, on the other hand, what it was like being wrongly accused of sexual assault surely among the most devastating allegations a man could face and he sounds cross, but far from crushed. Talking to me on the phone this week, he said Carley made a totally unfounded allegation because she was behind on her rent and angry at being made to leave her home something his former tenant firmly denies. And then he digresses, at pains to stress that Carley is not his cup of tea anyway, which is why, apparently, his wife of 50 years was untroubled by the allegations: Judith knows full well that I dont like big fat ladies. Basically she wasnt a very attractive lady. Certainly she would not interest me. By his own admission a colossus of a man who steamrollers over conversation and appears capable of causing offence every time he opens his mouth, he is, nonetheless, apparently eager to exercise his own form of diplomacy. Many of your readers will be ladies who are perhaps overweight and Im not trying to upset anybody. Basically, my preference is for nice thin ladies. And then he asks me: Are you a nice slim lady, or a big lady, dear? In the context of a conversation about an alleged sexual assault, his remarks seem inappropriate. But they are perhaps unsurprising. Atilla Lant, 45, from Ashford, Kent, was sued by the Wilsons who claimed he caused 4,000 in damage to their property. The damage was caused by a faulty boiler which the Wilsons refused to fix. They later lost in court and were ordered to pay 2,500 in compensation to Mr Lant This is the man, after all, who in 2014 hit an estate agent over the head in an argument over a boiler. In 2017, a leaked email to a letting agency revealed that he had a policy of not permitting coloured people to rent his properties because they made houses smell like curry a ban later overturned by the Equality and Human Rights Commission. This week he told me: No coloured persons seem to have taken offence that Im aware of. Theyre saying its sound advice. If youre in Ashford trying to sell your Asian-occupied house to a white person, for goodness sake get rid of the curry smell first. Although he denies being racist, he remains staunchly unrepentant as to his appalling remarks on people of different races. Instead, he says he takes more than his fair share of Ashfords black families and we have to accept curry is difficult to get out of the wallpaper. The same year, leaked letting criteria also reportedly revealed he had banned single mothers, abused women, those earning under 30,000 a year and plumbers most of whom he suggested he either considered troublesome, likely to lead to damaged properties or prone to falling behind on rent. Last month Judith in whose name most of the Ashford properties are believed to be registered was ordered to pay 25,000 in fines and legal costs for failing to supply hot water to a disabled tenant. The defeat prompted a petulant outburst from Mr Wilson, who said: Following my wifes conviction for not restoring hot water, she immediately withdrew from letting further houses in Ashford and has greatly accelerated the disposal of her portfolio. This will result in a flooded market in Ashford and a drop in house prices by 50,000 to 100,000. Yet, not so long ago, the Wilsons were widely respected as aspirational entrepreneurs in Ashford. Both former maths teachers, the couple, who have two middle-aged daughters, acquired their first buy-to-let property in 1986, subsequently acquiring a massive portfolio of starter homes in the sought-after commuter town. By the early Noughties, they had monopolised the area, at one stage purchasing a house a day, their wealth increasing by some 70,000 between breakfast and dinner as property prices soared. The broken boiler caused considerable damage in the house Mr Lant had rented Neither Fergus Wilson, one of nine siblings and the working-class son of a Ford car plant foundry worker, nor Judith, whose father ran a nursery business, flaunted their burgeoning bank balance. They drove second-hand cars, shunned holidays and endearingly insisted their wealth didnt really mean anything. But Mr Wilsons recent disparaging comments mean respect for the couple has been replaced with revulsion. The couple live in a relatively modest 1.25 m home on the outskirts of Maidstone, surrounded by four Dobermanns and a sign outside the front gate reading Smile, youre on CCTV . And sadly for poor Carley they still have her in their sights. All Wilson does is belittle and insult, says Carley, whose sons were aged six and ten at the time she reported Mr Wilson to the police. She recalls how happy she was to move into Mr Wilsons two-bedroom property in 2013, paying 800 a month in rent: It was near the childrens school and my best friend lived down the road, she recalls. Mr Wilson met Carley on the morning of May 7, 2014 to investigate a window broken during a previous tenancy. Mr Wilson says that during this time Carley ended up telling me all the problems in the world before he left at the appropriate time. Wilson has claimed he is suing Kent Police for 1m over their handling of the investigation into Ms Ingram's allegations Of course, Carleys account differs, but because the police found no evidence to corroborate her claims, the Mail cannot repeat her allegations. It appears she was more affected as a result than Mr Wilson, who, when I ask if he was upset about being arrested, says, only for a relatively short period of that day because it took so much time up, time, he says, when I could have been earning money. When, the following January, Carley learned she was being sued for 10,000 (the maximum Mr Wilson could sue her for), her distress intensified. With only around 200 spare after paying her rent each month, she says she couldnt begin to prepare for the potential pay-out if she lost. Every time I got letters my stomach would flip. Even though Mr Wilson now cant sue Carley, he has no intention of laying the matter to rest. He says he is suing Kent Police for 1 m for their handling of the case a claim for compensation police say they are unable to comment on and intends to use his considerable fortune to take out a private prosecution against Carley for perverting the course of justice. Surely hes not still after her money? She doesnt have any money, he says. Instead, he intends to land her in prison. If shes convicted shell get a custodial sentence. Its a principle. You cannot have people like this lady carrying on. Strangely, however, Wilson insists he isnt bothered by other smears against him, dismissing many as fake news. The Wilsons business has also, he says, been impacted by a lack of workmen willing to repair his properties in this Brexit era, leading to an influx of tenant complaints. We were so reliant on European workers whove returned home. Can you find me some Eastern Europeans? he asks. Emma Beaney, 26, was forced to move from one of the Wilsons houses last April after three years. During her tenancy, Emma, a hairdresser, married to Shane, 27, a factory worker, says the bathroom flooded three times and pipework under the sink broke. On one occasion, we waited two weeks for the bathroom to be fixed. He never fixed the pipes under the sink we had to throw the water from our washing up bowl away outside, until my parents neighbour fixed it. There were so many leaks that didnt dry out and the house was always damp and cold. Shane and I ended up arguing. It was so stressful. Last January, Emma says Shane kept getting electric shocks from the sockets: Then one day the wall got wet from where, we realised, the boiler had been leaking. Buckets we put underneath it overfilled every night. The front of the house was flooded. After Emma messaged Mr Wilson on a Tuesday, he sent someone to investigate that Thursday before 3pm although she had explained she would be at work and they would be unable to enter. Emma then told him she was legally entitled to request 24 hours notice of a landlord visit. That obviously annoyed him, she recalls. He told me I was overflowing the bath and didnt know what a leak was. Then he said he wanted my husband and me to find somewhere else to live. The upset and angry couple moved out two months later. Its disgusting he doesnt feel responsibility towards his tenants, says Emma. He makes my blood boil. Fergus Wilson issued a controversial list of requirements to letting agents about the people who he wanted to move into his homes Mr Wilson says he doesnt recognise Emmas name, but that her story sounds symptomatic of the fact there are no workmen. He adds that the 24 hours notice requirement does not apply to a flood situation and that it sounds like I didnt want her as a tenant because of the difficulty getting into her property. Attila Lant, 45, a mobile phone technician, was sued for 4,000 by the Wilsons for damage to their rented home that Mr Lant says was caused by a faulty water tank his landlords failed to fix for two months. Attila, who lived in the Ashford property with partner Eva, 46, a cleaner, and their five-year-old son, believes the Wilsons dont care about money: They just want to crush people. In May 2015, he noticed a wet patch on the carpet that got bigger every day. We found it coming out of the boiler and reported it to the Wilsons on a Thursday or Friday. They sent me a message the next Tuesday saying they had sent a maintenance worker round but there was nobody at home, says Mr Lant who insists, however, that there was no sign of anyone visiting to repair the boiler as days passed. We had to move to a different bedroom because we couldnt bear the smell. The whole ceiling above the fridge collapsed and the lights went out. A week after Mr Lant reported the leak, he says he and his family were told they had to leave: Wilson said he didnt have to give a reason. I couldnt believe it was happening. We never missed payments or complained about little things. He says that by the time the family left that July, the leak still hadnt been fixed, and, shortly afterwards, he was astounded to learn he was being sued by the Wilsons for 4,000 for the damage the leak had done to the property. Aghast, Mr Lant enlisted the help of Kent Law Clinic at the University of Kent, which has offered free legal advice to Wilsons tenants. His solicitor, Vivien Gambling, brought a counter claim against Judith Wilson whose name the property was in for failing to repair the leaking hot water cylinder. The judge found she was in breach of her obligation and awarded Mr Lant damages of 2,500. The judge said he could not understand why it wasnt fixed and that the case could easily have been sorted out, says Gambling. When giving his judgment he said: Mr Wilson can let his defensive instincts get the better of him and say unpleasant things. Mr Wilson, for his part, describes Mr Lant as a man with lots of problems whose partner refused to let him into the house to fix the water tank, claiming all three attempts Mr Wilson made were inconvenient. It was fixed as soon as we had access. I did not evict him. I was prepared to put him back in a comparable house. He left before we had the possession order, he says. The total damage he caused was extensive. Whether it was his fault or not, we couldnt get in because they were too busy doing other things. Perhaps unsurprisingly, Mr Wilson insists he has no regrets. If you dont like me, find another landlord. As our conversation ends, I ask him how much he is worth as he winds down his property empire. 100m? Im worth more than 100m, thank you, he says, adding that the value of houses goes up by the minute so he cant reveal his precise wealth. More than a little sickening, no doubt, for those hard-up tenants hes turfed out and sued for every last penny. In the seven days after I interview Mr Wilson, he sends Mail reporter Stephanie and me around 15 emails. They contain details of a legal case he has won, and correspondence between former tenants he claims proves he is a good landlord. He sends us a source folder he has compiled for his work in taking battered wives it contains 107 pictures of horrifically beaten women. He forwards me a warning he has issued to a charity worker who has written a blog about him he doesnt like, and a disdainful email he has sent to the representative of an unhappy tenant. Some emails are innocuous; others feel threatening. He says he doesnt seek to influence any article but that Antonia would do well to look before she leaps and that, I do hope, for Antonias sake, she gets it right. He signs off one email with my regards to [your husband] and the kids!, referring to my husband by name. I havent told him I am married, my husbands name, or that I have children. Were it not for the knowledge that the Mail will protect me, I would feel intimidated. I realise how afraid his unhappy tenants who have no representation must feel. A Louisiana man has pleaded guilty to murdering his ex-girlfriend while she was livestreaming on Facebook. Johnathan Robinson, 37, pleaded guilty on Thursday to avoid the death penalty for shooting dead 27-year-old Rannita Williams in April last year. The plea agreement means he cannot be sentenced to death and must be sentenced to life in prison without parole. Prosecutors said Robinson will also get a concurrent 100-year sentence for shooting at police during an 80-minute standoff with eight officers. Johnathan Robinson, 37, pleaded guilty on Thursday to avoid the death penalty for shooting dead 27-year-old Rannita Williams in her Louisiana home in April last year When Robinson left the courtroom on Thursday, he asked to speak to his ex-girlfriend's mother. He apologized to Anita Williams, who was fighting back tears, and she told him she forgave him. Robinson also apologized for shooting at police, which resulted in one officer being hit in the wrist. The victim had started a Facebook Live video on her phone during an altercation with Robinson in her home. She filmed him forcing her to apologize for something as he paced behind her and threatened her life. Robinson could be heard saying in the video saying: 'B**** wanna be famous?' Williams (left) had started a Facebook Live video on her phone during an altercation with Robinson in her home. She could be heard screaming 'stop Johnathan' as he opened fire on her before the shadow of a rifle (right) appeared on camera Williams was rushed to the hospital, but she died of her gunshot wounds. Her family said she previously dated Robinson on and off for years but they broke it off permanently two years ago He was heard muttering: 'Everybody wanna be famous, let's be famous today.' Williams was still filming when Robinson fired six shots and she was shown collapsing to the ground. The terrified woman could be heard screaming 'stop Johnathan' as he opened fire on her and the phone crashed to the ground. At the end of the video, a shadow of the rifle could be seen in view of the camera as Robinson stood over the victim. He was caught on camera saying: 'Now b****, game over. Game over b****.' Dozens of officers rushed to the scene after the shots were fired. When they arrived, officers exchanged gunfire with Robinson for nearly 90 minutes before they could arrest him. Williams was rushed to the hospital, but she died of her gunshot wounds. Her family said that she previously dated Robinson off and on for years, but the pair broke it off permanently about two years ago. A former researcher for Tory Minister Chris Skidmore denied sexually assaulting a woman at the Houses of Parliament today. Callum Warren, 26, is said to have carried out the attack at the The Grade I listed Norman Shaw North building - the original New Scotland Yard - now part of the Parliamentary Estate. Callum Warren, 26, is said to have carried out the attack at the The Grade I listed Norman Shaw North building - the original New Scotland Yard - now part of the Parliamentary Estate Warren appeared in Southwark Crown Court today (thurs) supported by his friends and family. Wearing a black suit with a checked tie he denied one count of assault by penetration last July. Warren, of Chipping Sodbury, Bristol, was granted bail on condition he did not contact the complainant directly or indirectly ahead of his trial on October 28. Mr Skidmore, represents the constituency of Kingswood, South Gloucestershire and was recently appointed Minister of State for Universities, Science, Research and Innovation. The Bahamian woman who used her personal savings to pay staff after the Fyre Fest fiasco has said thank you after the GoFundMe fundraiser to help her smashed its target and raised more than $180,000. Maryann Rolle, owner of the Exuma Point Bar and Grille, launched the crowdfunding campaign after her life was 'forever changed' by the disastrous 2017 festival. A target of $123,000 was set to help her after her 'credit was ruined by Fyre Fest'. But as of Thursday evening $186,435 had been raised and Maryann posed for a picture reading 'thank you go fund me' with a heart. The picture was captioned: 'LOVE WINS WHEN AWESOME HUMANS UNITE.' Netflix - who screened the documentary highlighting her plight - also posted a thank on Instagram, writing: 'Honestly, you guys are the real' followed by two fire emojis. It comes just days after organizer Ja Rule finally issued an apology to Maryann for his part in the Fyre Festival debacle. Ja wrote: 'My heart goes out to this lovely lady... MaryAnne Rolle we've never met but I'm devastated that something that was meant to be amazing, turn out to be such a disaster and hurt so many ppl... SORRY to anyone who has been negatively effected by the festival... Rule'. Scroll down for videos Maryann Rolle, owner of the Exuma Point Bar and Grille, has said thank you after the fundraising effort smashed its target Netflix, who aired Fyre: The Greatest Party That Never Happened, also paid thanks to those who had helped Maryann Rolle As of Thursday evening $186,435 had been raised and Maryann posed for a picture reading 'thank you go fund me' with a heart Maryann Rolle said her life was forever changed by the disastrous 2017 festival The Bahamian restaurant owner who was forced to pay staff out of her own pocket after Fyre Fest organizers failed to pay her, launched the GoFundMe hoping to 'appeal for help' after she was left in a 'big hole.' 'It has been an unforgettable experience catering to the organizers of Fyre Festival,' she said on the post. 'Back in April 2017 I pushed myself to the limits catering no less than a 1000 meals per day. Rolle shared that during the hectic festivities, her team delivered various meals throughout the day from Exuma Point to Coco Plum Beach and Roker's Point. She also detailed how the organizers of the festival also stayed at the rooms at Exuma Point and enjoyed multiple meals there, as well. Rolle shared that during the hectic festivities, her team delivered various meals throughout the day from Exuma Point (pictured) to Coco Plum Beach and Roker's Point The woman claimed to have used $50,000 of her personal savings to pay her staff after Billy McFarland and Fyre Fest organizers failed to pay her She continued: 'As I make this plea it's hard to believe and embarrassing to admit that I was not paidI was left in a big hole! My life was changed forever, and my credit was ruined by Fyre Fest. Rolle's heartbreaking story was highlighted in Netflix's Fyre: The Greatest Party That Never Happened 'My only resource today is to appeal for help. 'There is an old saying that goes 'bad publicity is better than no publicity' and I pray that whoever reads this plea is able to assist.' Rolle's heartbreaking story was highlighted in Netflix's Fyre: The Greatest Party That Never Happened. Both the documentary and Hulu's Fyre Fraud mention that Billy McFarland's careless actions and dealings surrounding the festival had tremendous impact on the people on the island and their economy. In the documentary, Rolle said: 'I had ten people working with me directly. They were just preparing food all day and all night, 24 hours. 'I had to pay all those people. I went through about $50,000 of my savings that I could have had. They just wiped it out, and never looked back.' Both the documentary and Hulu's Fyre Fraud mention that Billy McFarland's careless actions and dealings surrounding the festival had tremendous impact on the people on the island and their economy. McFarland pictured with Ja Rule Many people sympathized with Rolle's story and wanted to know how they could help the woman. Gabrielle Bluestone, an EP for the Netflix documentary, shared the GoFundMe on her Twitter. 'For those of you asking how to help Maryann Rolle, the Bahamian woman who spent $50,000 of her savings to feed the local laborers who worked on the Fyre Festival, she has an official gofundme page,' said Bluestone. A federal judge sentenced the creator of the highly publicized, failed Fyre Festival in the Bahamas to a six-year prison term in October 2018. Gabrielle Bluestone, an EP for the Netflix documentary, shared the GoFundMe on her Twitter McFarland, 27, pleaded guilty earlier last year to charges related to swindling investors in the 2017 Fyre Festival in the Bahamas out of $26 million, in addition to cheating customers out of over $100,000 in a ticket scam. McFarland's sentence was imposed collectively for all of the following, according to a statement released by the US Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York: One count of wire fraud in connection with a scheme to defraud investors in Fyre Festival; one count of wire fraud in connection with a scheme to defraud a ticket vendor for the Fyre Festival; one count of wire fraud, in connection with his operation of a separate sham ticket scheme in which he purported to sell tickets to exclusive events; one count of bank fraud for writing a check with the name and account number of one of his employees without authorization; and one count of making false statements to a federal law enforcement agent in which McFarland, among other things, falsely denied the wire fraud and bank fraud conduct to which he pled guilty. The Fyre Festival was a concert that was heavily promoted by McFarland as scheduled to take place over two weekends in April and May of 2017, but hopeful concert-goers arrived to no such event. Following his guilty plea for the Fyre fraud scheme in March, McFarland pleaded guilty to additional fraud crimes in July, including a $100,000 scheme where he sold fake tickets to the Met Gala, Emmy Awards and a Cleveland Cavaliers game that included a lunch with Lebron James A federal judge sentenced the creator of the highly publicized, failed Fyre Festival in the Bahamas to a six-year prison term in October 2018 Jack Shepherds stepmother last night blamed his victim for her own death. Shepherd had used a self-serving TV interview to claim it was an established fact that Charlotte Brown was at the wheel when his faulty speedboat capsized. There is no evidence to support Shepherds comments, which Charlottes family have denounced. Despite this, Shepherds stepmother Hannelore, 78, waded into the row tonight. Speaking at the home she shares in Torquay, Devon, with Shepherds 71-year-old father Richard, she said: I heard Jack had handed himself in. I will probably get my head bitten off for saying this, but I am not happy about this at all. Shepherd used a self-serving TV interview to claim it was an established fact that Charlotte Brown was at the wheel when his faulty speedboat capsized (shown talking to media on Wednesday night). His stepmother has agreed with him Struggled to cope: Graham Brown with his daughter Charlotte, who was killed on Jack Shepherd's speedboat She hit a log and they are blaming him for everything. So I am not very happy about it at all. But I do feel very sorry for her parents for what happened. Shepherd had also claimed he had been unfairly persecuted because his victims father Graham was a civil servant of some influence. In addition, the killer alleged that Mr Brown rejected his apology in a phone call and threatened him, saying he would not have a very nice time in prison. Last night Mr Brown, 55, dismissed the claims as lies, saying Shepherd had never spoken to him, let alone apologised. He added that, far from being an influential Establishment figure, he is just a bloke from Sidcup trying to cope with losing my daughter. The Crown Prosecution Service denied Mr Brown had exerted any leverage to ensure they prosecuted his daughters killer for manslaughter. An Old Bailey jury convicted Shepherd after hearing that, as master of the unsafe speedboat, the crash was his responsibility even if he had let her take control. May praise for Daily Mail's campaign Theresa May hailed the Daily Mails campaign to bring Jack Shepherd to justice yesterday and pledged to press for his speedy return to Britain. The Prime Minister called for the speedboat killer to hand himself in earlier this month and yesterday welcomed the news that he is now in custody. Mrs Mays spokesman said: The Prime Minister commends the Daily Mail for its work to highlight this case. It is now essential the judicial process is completed in the UK as soon as possible. The PMs backing comes after two of her Cabinet Ministers also voiced their support for the Mails campaign. Home Secretary Sajid Javid said: I fully welcome the news Jack Shepherd is in police custody and would like to thank the Daily Mail for their efforts in publicising this case. Housing Secretary James Brokenshire, the MP for Miss Browns father Graham, added: The family and I are hugely appreciative of the support the Daily Mail has given. The concerted pressure has made the difference and ensured that no one can stick two fingers up at justice and get away with it. A series of Mail front-page articles and in-depth investigations prompted dozens of possible sightings of Shepherd and galvanised the police investigation. The disclosure that he had been granted an appeal while still on the run caused widespread disgust and prompted the Mail to offer a 25,000 reward for information leading to his arrest. Advertisement Mr Brown, a semi-retired former prison officer, said he is now a low-level, part-time data analyst for the Prison Service with no influence at all. Speaking from his 550,000 semi-detached house in Sidcup, Kent, he said Shepherd was lying when he claimed to have apologised to him and been threatened in return. What Shepherd has said in Georgia, with not a shadow of truth in it, is that he spoke to me on the phone, that he apologised to me, and that I responded by threatening him, he said. It is complete rubbish, an utter fabrication and a lie. I have never exchanged one word with Jack Shepherd. He didnt apologise, and weve never had any empathy or conversation from him. If Id got a phone call from him Id have reported it to the police. And I have never said anything to him about my connections in the prison service. He must have worked out my prison connections from my Facebook page. Shepherd claimed in his Georgian TV interview that the police only decided to prosecute him after significant pressure from Charlottes father. He added: He works in the prison system, I believe as a civil servant of some influence, and this has been apparent throughout the whole process. Mr Brown said it was utterly preposterous for Shepherd to claim he was an influential figure who used his connections first to ensure he was prosecuted for manslaughter, then to gain the personal support of Home Secretary Sajid Javid to step up the global manhunt for the fugitive. Mr Brown said: Im not a powerful figure in the Establishment - Im just a bloke from Sidcup trying to cope with losing my daughter. I started my career as a prison officer ... my highest rank was the equivalent to a sergeant in the police. After my daughter died on a date with Shepherd in a boat that was his responsibility I was so traumatised that at first I had a lot of time off sick, then just couldnt cope with full time work. So I took semi-retirement and they moved me to a new part-time role with less responsibility. Im at the equivalent level to a police constable, doing a low-level admin job collating prison statistics. Of Shepherds claim it was established fact that Charlotte was at the wheel when the speedboat capsized, he said: We only have his word for that and hes a known liar. There were no witnesses or CCTV. And in any case, the jury clearly believed that, even if she was at the wheel, it was confirmation of his recklessness and gross negligence if he let her take control, completely untrained, of his dangerous boat. Mr Brown is divorced from Charlottes mother, Roz Wickens, with whom he has two surviving daughters, Victoria, 31, and Katie, 30. Katie, a teacher, said yesterday that Shepherd had given himself up for purely selfish reasons, adding All hes thinking about is himself and his feelings. She went on to say that she had increasing feelings of anger seeing him stroll into the police station smiling and waving ... [his arrogance] was unbelievable. Miss Brown added: He has caused the loss of my sisters life and, while hes been off in Georgia, he claims that he went to see friends and he has always wanted to see the scenery there almost like it was a holiday. He said he has been out socialising, going to nightclubs while he has been doing that, we have had the agony of the trial and been left to pick up the pieces. Natasha Ednan-Laperouse died from an allergic reaction after eating a Pret sandwich Food retailers will have to list all the ingredients in their products, or use allergy warnings, under plans announced today to close a deadly labelling loophole. Environment Secretary Michael Gove will unveil the proposals, which aim to ensure that sandwiches and other products are clearly marked for those with life-threatening allergies. The plans are a response to the death of 15-year-old Natasha Ednan-Laperouse, who went into fatal shock on a flight after eating a Pret A Manger baguette containing sesame seeds. It later emerged that the food retailer had exploited a gap in the law which means producers do not have to put ingredient or allergen labels on food they make on-site. In the wake of Natasha's death, her parents, Tanya and Nadim, campaigned for a 'Natasha's Law' to close this loophole and ensure all food carries warning labels. Last night, they welcomed the plans, which will be subject to consultation, and praised Mr Gove's 'personal support' for their cause. Others, however, fear the move could hit poorly-staffed small outlets. Nadim and Tanya Ednan-Laperouse, meeting Environment Secretary Michael Gove - who will announce plans for Natasha's Law imminently 'We welcome the consultation into allergen labelling and would like to thank Michael Gove for his personal support, and for moving so swiftly towards new rules for the food industry', her family said. 'For too long, food producers and retailers have been playing Russian Roulette with people's lives. If you sell allergens, which to many people can be poisons, you should have a public, moral and legal duty to inform customers. There must be no backsliding where profits are put before safety. It shouldn't be too much to ask so that other families don't have to go through the unbearable grief that we will always endure.' As the law stands, food produced off site and brought into a shop has to carry a label showing the full ingredients. But retailers who prepare food on site, such as Pret A Manger, are exempt. As a result, customers often rely on generalised warning labels on display cabinets, or ask staff. As the law stands, food produced off site and brought into a shop has to carry a label showing the full ingredients Today's document sets out options to toughen the law and help protect the UK's two million allergy sufferers. Depending on which is chosen, it could mean all food products are labelled with their full ingredients, or just warning labels on specific allergens, or labels saying 'ask the staff'. Q&A How does law work now? Under current legislation, there are different rules for pre-packaged foods depending on whether they are produced on the premises or elsewhere. Sandwiches and salads packaged off-site and transported to shops need to carry ingredients labels. But food packed by staff on the same premises as they are sold are not required to carry labels. Instead, it relies on customers asking staff for information about allergens and being told what is in them a glaring loophole. What is Mr Gove proposing? The plans published today by Environment Secretary Michael Gove offer several options to address the issue. Shops could be required to list the full ingredients on the label or just allergens contained in the product. Both the family of Natasha Ednan-Laperouse and Mr Gove are thought to back the more rigorous full-ingredients option. What does the industry say? Many food companies already publish allergen information on their food. Pret a Manger announced after the inquest into Natasha's death that it would move to 'full-ingredient labelling', meaning that all ingredients, including allergens, appear on products. But not all firms follow the same standards. The family's lawyers argue that 'voluntary measures' in the industry have not worked and so a change to the law is essential. But a move to listing full ingredients could face resistance from the industry, particularly from smaller outlets. What happens next? The consultation will last for nine weeks, during which allergen charities, food producers and the wider public can have their say. Once it has concluded and the responses have been considered, the law can be changed. Mr Gove has privately indicated he wants the new rules to come into force by the summer. Advertisement Mr and Mrs Ednan-Laperouse argue for the most rigorous option that all ingredients must be shown. But they fear that move could face objections from the food industry on cost grounds. They said only 'full and transparent labelling' will give people the information they need to stay safe. 'Anything less cannot be a law in Natasha's name,' they said. Last night Mr Gove, who is understood to back the full-ingredient labelling option, said: 'Natasha's parents have suffered a terrible loss, and I want to pay tribute to Nadim and Tanya for their inspirational work to deliver Natasha's law. 'We want to ensure that labels are clearer and that the rules for businesses are more consistent so that allergy sufferers in this country can have confidence in the safety of their food.' Schoolgirl Natasha had suffered an allergy to sesame seeds since the age of two. The inquest into her death heard both she and her father checked the Pret baguette but were 'reassured' by the lack of any allergy warnings on the pack. Pret part-bakes its baguettes and sends them to high street shops where they are baked. The coroner concluded stickers on its food display units were 'inadequate'. The inquest heard there had been nine sesame-related allergy incidents in the year before she died. Natasha was travelling to Nice for a break with her father and best friend in July 2016 when she bought the baguette at Heathrow Terminal 5. After eating it, she collapsed, begging her father: 'Daddy, help me. I can't breathe,' the inquest heard. She used two epipens but suffered a cardiac arrest and died at a French hospital. Pret later apologised over her death. Michelle Victor, a partner at Leigh Day which represents the family, said: 'The law should compel companies to tell people what they are eating, unfortunately voluntary measures in the industry have not worked and the tragic consequences of a loophole in the law led to death of Natasha, when a simple label could have saved her life.' President Donald Trump has called CNN's Jim Acosta 'fake news' and Kellyanne Conway has termed him a 'smart ass' but now that he has inked a major book deal they will be able to call him rich. The network's White House correspondent, who has experienced a series of high-profile televised confrontations with the president, is writing a book for HarperCollins. The book incorporates the president's attack on Acosta and disfavored members of the media in its title: 'The Enemy of the People: A Dangerous Time to Tell the Truth in America.' I COULD WRITE A BOOK: CNN correspondent Jim Acosta is penning a memoir about his time covering the Trump White House. Here President Donald Trump spars with Acosta during a press conference after the November elections It promises 'never-before-revealed stories of this White House's rejection of truth, while laying out the stakes for how Trump's hostility toward facts poses an unprecedented threat to our democracy' from Acosta, according to the publisher. The correspondent has achieved a national profile through his televised jousting with the Trump White House. 'Simply put, I am writing this book to share what I've experienced covering President Trump during his first two years in office,' Acosta said in a statement Thursday. 'This sobering, bewildering and sometimes frightening experience has made it absolutely clear that this is a dangerous time to tell the truth in America. The president and his team, not to mention some of his supporters, have attempted to silence the press in ways we have never seen before.' 'As just about everybody has seen, I have witnessed this firsthand.' DROP MIC: Acosta's book is titled 'The Enemy of the People: A Dangerous Time to Tell the Truth in America,' and references Trump's attacks on the press Although he didn't spell out the 'dangerous' part of the job, Acosta has experienced taunts and chants while covering Trump rallies. Although his payday wasn't revealed, Acosta was represented by lawyer Robert Barnett, who helped negotiate book deals for President Obama and others. The book is to be published in June. President Trump scolded Acosta when he questioned the president about immigration after the mid-term elections. 'CNN should be ashamed of itself having you work for them. You are a rude terrible person. You shouldn't be working for CNN,' the president told him during a televised press conference in the East Room of the White House. 'When you report fake news, which CNN does a lot, you are the enemy of the people,' Trump said. Acosta was subsequently banned from the White House after his credentials were yanked, although the White House later backed down after a federal district court in Washington ruled against it. During the confrontation, Acosta not only questioned the president, but pushed back at him for calling a caravan of immigrants an 'invasion.' 'As you know Mr. President, it's not an invasion. It's a group of migrants moving toward the border,' he told the president. 'Acosta, a veteran of reporting on four administrations, presents a damning vision of bureaucratic dysfunction, deception and danger,' HarperCollins said, 'offering a fly on the wall view of the White House communications during one of the most dramatic and contentious, but consequential, times in the country's history.' Florida Secretary of State Michael Ertel submitted his resignation on Thursday after photos emerged of the politician in blackface at a 2005 Halloween party. A spokesperson for Governor Ron DeSantis said that the newly elected Republican leader had 'accepted Secretary Ertel's resignation' on Thursday afternoon, hours after his office was shown the photos obtained by the Tallahassee Democrat. In the pictures, Ertel, 49, is dressed like the highly-offensive mammie character in blackface, red lipstick and a New Orleans Saints bandanna. The Republican politician then finished it off with falsies and a shirt that read 'Katrina victim,' clearly meant to mock the victims of the disaster just two months after the storm devastated the Louisiana coast. Ertel is now the second high-profile Caucasian to lose their job in the past few months over their belief that blackface is acceptable at Halloween. Out: Florida Secretary of State Michael Ertel has resigned after photos emerged that show him in blackface at a 2005 Halloween party (Ertel above in the Tallahassee Democrat story) Ertel had only been on the job for just a few weeks, having been appointed by Gov. DeSantis to his new position on December 28. He was previously the Seminole County supervisor of elections, a post he was appointed to by Jeb Bush in 2005 before winning reelection four times. The photos that have emerged were taken just eight months after Bush selected Ertel to replace Dennis Joyner, who stepped down from the post citing poor health. Ertel had been going about the task of implementing the recently passed Amendment 4 in his first few weeks in office, which restored voting rights to 1.4 million Floridians with felony convictions. He had worked to expand voting rights in his previous position as well, so much so that in 2012 the city of Longwood awarded him the Martin Luther King Jr. award. When asked to comment on the photo by the Democrat, Ertel said: 'There's nothing I can say.' He resigned shortly after giving a morning presentation, before the Democrat published its story. It was a swift decision by Ertel, who prior to his time in Florida politics did public relations for the US Army, spending eight years crafting the media response to major events including the LA riots and the three-year armed conflict in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Furious Tories turned on Emmanuel Macron today after he launched an all-out attack on Brexit saying 'it can't be delivered' and had 'torn society apart'. Eurosceptics demanded the French president apologise over his extraordinary rant at an event last night - urging him to focus on his own domestic woes. MPs pointed out that the referendum was a 'democratic decision' and unlike France, the UK was not suffering any 'rioting on the streets'. The rebuke came after Mr Macron - one of the biggest Brexit hawks among EU leaders - rubbished the result of the national vote in June 2016, saying it showed how the public could be manipulated. 'Be aware of people who sell you dreams, that tell you all your anger can be solved by a referendum. I'm scared of people who manipulate you with miracle ideas,' he said. Mr Macron was speaking to an audience in Bourg-de-Peage, south of Lyon, in a 'people's debate'. Some were so-called Yellow Vest anti-government campaigners who themselves want France to leave the EU. Rubbishing the June 2016 referendum in which a majority of the British voted to exit the EU, Emmanuel Macron said: 'Be aware of people who sell you dreams, that tell you all your anger can be solved by a referendum. I'm scared of people who manipulate you with miracle ideas' But Mr Macron told them: 'Take the British. They voted for Brexit. There were people who, in good faith, were sometimes as angry as you are, and they said that the source of all their ills was Europe. It's rubbish!' Attacking Brexit poster campaigns that in 2016 promised more money for the NHS and other good causes, Mr Macron said: 'There were lots of buses passing by reading that you were going to save something like 36 billion pounds if you get out of Europe. Who are the Yellow Vest protesters in France? The Yellow Vest, or 'gilet jaunes', movement in France grew out of a campaign against fuel tax hikes in November. But it has since expanded to cover a bewildering range of grievances, from high immigration to university entrance rules. Named after the hi-visibility jackets that must be law be carried in vehicles, the protests have threatened to bring parts of the country to a standstill. Paris saw the most serious clashes on the streets since 1968, as extremist groups jumped on the bandwagon. The core group is often regarded as disaffected rural French nationalists, unhappy with the way the country is changing. Many of them regard Emmanuel Macron as a symbol of French elitism, dismissive of the struggles faced by ordinary people. The French president was forced to abandon the planned fuel tax rise last month, as he struggled to contain the chaos. Advertisement 'And it will be done in 15 days, and then people voted. There were people who voted for Brexit, who did it in good faith, they were angry, and they thought their situation was impossible, because the system was unjust. In a clear reference to former Conservative politicians including Prime Minister David Cameron, who resigned after losing the Brexit referendum, Mr Macron whistled as he mocked their departures. 'The result is, it's in fact been going on for two years now and those who promised a Brexit literally left within two weeks. They didn't even want to govern! 'People are starting to realise that all the figures they were given are entirely false, and what they were told could be done overnight in fact can't be delivered. 'And in the end it's going to cost them. In this context do you think that the referendum was a good thing? 'No, because it didn't allow for an informed, transparent and calm debate. It's torn a society apart, and it's left it open to disinformation coming from abroad, or terrible manipulation.' Tory MP Nadine Dorries told MailOnline: 'I think Macron should apologise. He should be looking to his own problems.' Fellow backbencher Peter Bone said he is not sure the French people would back Mr Macron in a referendum. 'The first thing the president ought to consider is this was a democratic decision reached by the British people,' he said. 'There was a massive debate and we had a massive turnout. We don't have rioting on the streets. We don't have people in yellow jackets.' Earlier this week Mr Macron said Britain leaving the EU without a deal would be a disaster for everyone, and especially the British. Instead, he believes the UK will now ask for more time to negotiate a new trade deal. Speaking more widely about the issue of referendums, Mr Macron said they were a poor form of democracy, that could be manipulated by fake news, and that parliamentary government should be respected at all times. Mr Macron added: 'Take the British. They voted for Brexit. There were people who, in good faith, were sometimes as angry as you are, and they said that the source of all their ills was Europe. It's rubbish!' After praising the head of the European Council Donald Tusk and the EU's Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier, Mr Macron said he expected Britain to eventually ask for more time to renegotiate a deal. At present, Britain is due to leave the EU at the end of March, but Mr Macron believes the British government will wait until European Parliament elections be held on May 23 to 26. A total of 751 MEPs currently represent some 500 million people from 28 member states, but in February 2018 the European Parliament voted to decrease the number of MEPS to 705, in line with the UK leaving. Mr Macron, who was elected in President of France in May 2017, originally displayed a hard line against Brexit, at one stage before his win calling it 'a crime'. But until tonight he had toned down his attacks on the British leave vote while in office, saying he was leaving negotiations to senior EU representatives. Jurors have been shown photos of the bathtub where a high-flying New York financier was found dead as her estranged husband is accused of murdering her in a bid to get her $5 million fortune. Backgammon buff Rod Covlin, 45, is accused of strangling his then 47-year-old wife Shele Danishefsky in her Upper West Side apartment back in 2009. Shele was found dead in her bathtub on New Year's Eve - just one day before prosecutors say she had planned to write her estranged husband out of her will and $5 million fortune. Covlin's defense attorneys showed the jury photos of the bathtub on Thursday in Manhattan Supreme Court. Scroll down for video Jurors were shown photos of the bathtub where Shele Danishefsky was found dead in her New York apartment on New Year's Eve in 2009. Her husband Rod Covlin is accused of breaking her neck and leaving her in the tub to be found by their nine-year-old daughter It was initially believed that Shele slipped and fell in the bathtub after her estranged husband told police he thought she had ripped the cabinet (pictured) in a bid to stop herself from falling UBS executive Shele Danishefsky (pictured) was in the midst of divorcing her much younger husband Covlin when she was killed on New Year's Eve in 2009 The photos, which were taken by Shele's family two weeks after she was found dead, show the deep bathtub and a cabinet above it that had been partially torn from its hinges. There is no blood present in the bathtub in the photos. It was initially believed that Shele slipped and fell in the bathtub after her estranged husband told police he thought she had ripped the cabinet in a bid to stop herself from falling. Prosecutors have previously told the jury that Covlin broke Shele's neck and left her bloodied body in the bathtub. The couple's nine-year-old daughter was the one to find her body. Covlin had been living across the hall at the time as their divorce unfolded. Shele's sister Eve Karstaedt testified on Thursday as the defense presented the series of photos and a video of the interior of the apartment. Backgammon buff Rod Covlin, 45, is accused of strangling his then 47-year-old wife Shele Danishefsky in her Upper West Side apartment back in 2009. He is pictured in Manhattan Supreme Court on Wednesday Karstaedt told the jury of six women and six men that she and other family members had gone to the apartment to pick up clothes for the two Covlin children and to search for Shele's iPhone, which had not been recovered after her death. The family was accompanied by their lawyers, the children's law guardian, a police officer and a family-hired private detective, Karstaedt said. At the time of her death, Rod was 36 and Shele, a UBS executive from a wealthy background, was 47. She was the sole breadwinner and he was pursuing his backgammon passion She said the family was free to move throughout the apartment and that they were free to touch items within the flat. 'Nobody said you couldn't touch anything,' she said. 'No one said that.' Karstaedt became emotional when she described the Orthodox Jewish family's decision to waive an autopsy on Shele's body. An autopsy would have revealed as a later one showed that Shele had a fractured hyoid bone, a signature of strangulation that called into question the initial assumption Shele had slipped in the tub and drowned. Karstaedt said her brother had already signed a waiver of the autopsy before the family met to discuss whether to do so. 'I was thought 100 percent it was not an accident,' she said. 'It was foul play.' She stayed silent about her misgivings, she said, because of the 'laws of Judaism and respecting my father.' Covlin's defense attorneys showed the jury photos of the bathtub on Thursday in Manhattan Supreme Court The photos, which were taken by Shele's family two weeks after she was found dead, show the deep bathtub and a cabinet above it that had been partially torn from its hinges The couple were in the midst of a bitter divorce battle and Shele was trying to write her husband out of her will. They were living in separate apartments on the same floor of this Upper West Side apartment building On re-direct examination, she also dismissed an earlier defense question about whether she had, during the Covlins' marital flare-ups, spoken to her brother-in-law about his side of the story. 'I'm not going to ask him why he threw Shele to the floor,' she said, adding later, 'I don't need to hear his side of the story. My sister is not a liar.' The court heard earlier this week that Shele was in the midst of divorcing her much younger husband when she was killed. Prosecutors claimed the backgammon player killed his wife out of 'pure unadulterated greed' to get access to her $5 million fortune. Meanwhile, the court also heard on Thursday that Covlin had called his estranged wife's boss prior to her murder to say that she was on drugs. Covlin also told Shele's boss John Alex at financial powerhouse UBS that his employee was draining the family bank account. Shele's boss at UBS, John Alex, testified at Manhattan Supreme Court on Thursday saying Covlin had called him prior to the murder to claim that she was on drugs Shele's sister Eve Karstaedt testified against Rod Covlin today at Manhattan Supreme Court on Thursday Alex testified that Shele 'basically collapsed' in the office when he called her to his office and informed her of her husband's allegations. 'She became very emotional, she started to cry,' Alex said. 'She basically collapsed.' But, Alex said, it was Covlin who was draining the account, his withdrawals far outstripping those of recent UBS hire Shele. Alex said during May 2009, seven months before her death, Covlin withdrew more than $7,200 from the couple's brokerage account in 13 transactions on six separate days while Shele withdrew a mere $800 in a single transaction. 'Shele Covlin was not draining the account of money I determined Roderick Covlin was taking out $8 for ever $1 Shele took out.' Shele had been tested for drugs when she was hired a few months earlier and had come back clean, Alex said. An employee inside the Florida bank where a 21-year-old gunman killed five woman execution-style was able to escape out a back door, police said. The lone survivor, whose name has not been released, was in the break room inside SunTrust Bank in Sebring when Zephen Xaver stormed inside on Wednesday. Authorities initially said that Xaver killed everyone inside the bank. But the employee managed to escape out of a back door after they heard gunshots ring out. An employee inside SunTrust Bank in Sebring, Florida, where a 21-year-old gunman killed five woman execution style, was able to escape out a back door and call 911 during the shooting The lone survivor, whose name has not been released, was in the break room inside SunTrust Bank when Zephen Xaver (pictured) stormed inside on Wednesday The employee ran to safety outside and immediately called 911, according to WKMG. Highlands County Sheriff's Office said no details about the employee will be released. Xaver allegedly opened fire on SunTrust Bank around 12.30pm on Wednesday. Six minutes later, he called 911 and said 'I have shot five people'. Authorities said Xaver, who was wearing a bulletproof vest, made all five of his victims lie down on the lobby floor before shooting them in the back of their heads. Xaver refused to surrender when police descended on the scene of the mass shooting with hostage negotiators, still hoping that people were alive inside. They then discovered that the doors of the bank were locked. After more than an hour, Sebring Police Chief Karl Hoglund Hoglund ordered a SWAT team into the building. The employee managed to escape out of a back door after they heard gunshots ring out. Marisol Lopez (pictured) has been named as one of the five women who were killed at the bank Cynthia Watson, 65, was also killed during the horrific mass shooting on Wednesday afternoon They had to use an armored vehicle to break through the front doors. By then, all the victims were already dead. Xaver, who was also wearing a beige was T-shirt depicting the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, surrendered and was placed under arrest. On Thursday morning he was charged with five counts of premeditated murder and is being held without bond. Hoglund identified two of the victims as Marisol Lopez, 55, and 65-year-old Cynthia Watson. The families of the three other victims have asked that their names not be released to the public. 'Zephen Xaver knowingly and intentionally took the lives of our sisters, our mothers, our daughters, and our co-workers,' Hoglund said during a press conference on Thursday morning. A witness said authorities drove a SWAT machine right through the door of the bank after the shooting. The extent of the damage to the bank can be seen here on Thursday morning 'Perhaps most unfortunate is that now we refer to them as victims of a senseless crime.' Watson was a customer at the bank. Lopez and the three other women were all employees at SunTrust. Hoglund said investigators have found no connection to the suspect and any of the five victims. Authorities believe it was a random act and that no one was specifically targeted. It remains unclear if Xaver chose the SunTrust Bank 'for any particular reason' but police said there is no evidence he was trying to rob it. Shell casings from Xaver's 9mm handgun were scattered on the floor. It remains unclear if the firearm was obtained legally. 'We now begin the healing process,' Hoglund said. 'We attempt to make sense of a senseless act. We mourn the loss of our peers, our mothers, and our daughters.' After a standoff with officers, Xaver eventually surrendered to SWAT members and was placed under arrest Alex Gerlach, who dated Xaver on and off for three years, said she has long tried to warn people about the ex-boyfriend who she said 'wanted everyone to die' Hoglund said authorities will seek the 'highest penalty possible to hold him accountable for his actions'. Details regarding the victims came as Xaver's ex-girlfriend revealed he had always been fascinated with death. Alex Gerlach, who dated Xaver on and off for three years, said she has long tried to warn people about the ex-boyfriend who she said 'wanted everyone to die'. 'He always hated people,' Gerlach told WSBTV. 'He got kicked out of school for having a dream that he killed everybody in his class.' Gerlach said her ex-boyfriend had been 'threatening this for so long', but that people ignored her warnings. Law enforcement officials continued to investigate the crime scene well into the night on Wednesday and Thursday morning 'His mother just completely denies everything and I've been scared for years and every single person I've told has not taken it seriously and it's very unfortunate that it had to come to this,' she added. Gerlach said she first met Xaver at a psychiatric hospital in Plymouth, Indiana - where he grew up and attended high school - in 2013. 'Since the time we met, he had this fascination with death,' she told the Washington Post. 'It got worse as we broke up. We got back together on and off for awhile. Then I decided it was too much for my mental health.' But Gerlach would check in with her ex-boyfriend every few months. Just last week, he told her he had purchased a gun and showed her a picture of the firearm. Gerlach said 'no one thought anything of it' because Xaver had always liked guns. During his time on the run Jack Shepherd took to the skip slopes of Georgia, taking lessons at one of the former Soviet republics most exclusive reports. Since leaving the UK, Jack has been learning to ski, said a confidante. Georgia has some fantastic ski slopes and he has been making the most of them. Shepherd, 31, is understood to have gone to Gudauri, a resort north of the capital Tbilisi. Jack Shepherd took to the skip slopes of Georgia, taking lessons at one of the former Soviet republics most exclusive reports during his time on the run Glitzy nightlife: Restaurants and bars in the centre of the Georgian capital where Jack Shepherd had made his home as he fled the British police While his victims family waited for justice, the married father-of-one appears to have treated his time on the run as the holiday of a lifetime and hes also wasted no time in dating women in Georgia. He married just two months after the speedboat death of Charlotte Brown in December 2015. He fled to Georgia in March 2018, after his wife threw him out after discovering he had cheated on her by dating Miss Brown. Living in the Tbilisi suburb of Bagebi, he rented a flat in a high-rise block in a relatively cheap neighbourhood. He was seen dining with a blonde English woman at a local restaurant in Bagebi twice, two months ago. The waiter who served them said: They took a booth and spent an hour here. They were speaking in English. He would often visit the restaurant where he drank Georgian beer for 3GEL (about 1). Seeing the sights: The convicted killer has visited the ski resort of Gudauri The waiter added: He would usually come alone but twice came with a woman. He would come once a week and stop for an hour and eat Georgian food. Shepherd would stay for hours as he pondered how to handle the rest of his life after fleeing British justice. He always drank draught Georgian beer, said barman Mikhael Gabrichidze. He was in here many, many times and sat in the corner over by the window. Another local said: He would also sometimes have something to eat and usually it was a kebab with his beer. He would usually have two or three pints. The Gudauri ski resort lies 75 miles from Tbilisi in the Caucasus mountain range. It boasts more than 40 miles of ski runs. One tourist website calls it a must for adrenaline seekers. In Tbilisi, Shepherd, who is known to have taken out 50,000 worth of loans before going on the run, shopped in the citys H&M store and staff recall seeing him as recently as three weeks ago. Shepherd was also spotted enjoying some of Tbilisis most popular nightclubs and bars. One of his favourite haunts was Bassiani, a controversial techno club populated by young men dressed head to toe in latex. He is also said to have enjoyed the delights of Fabrika a former Soviet sewing factory which is now a popular haunt for international travellers and contains cafes, bars, a hostel and a yoga studio. He also partied into the early hours of the morning at the techno nightclub Bassiani in Tbilisi However, he may not want to stay if there is a chance he will end up in one of Georgias jails. They have a notorious reputation for degrading conditions, beatings, torture and severe overcrowding. In 2013 a study found 75 per cent of inmates claimed they had been tortured physically. A similar number claimed they had developed health problems behind bars. It is thought there has been some improvement since a change of government that year. But Nick Vamos, of law firm Peters & Peters, and a former head of extradition at the Crown Prosecution Service, said Shepherd might decide not to fight extradition. He told BBC Radio 5 Live: What normally works on the mind of people in his position are the conditions in which they are detained while they are awaiting extradition. Im reasonably sure the conditions in Georgian prisons will be horrendous. In fact, thats a reason we have refused to extradite people to Georgia in the past, because we think their prisons breach human rights. The case against Jack Marrion, 33, pictured embracing his girlfriend Emanuela outside court today, has been abandoned after it was blown apart by US anti-drug agents A British aristocrat accused of smuggling 4.5million of cocaine into Kenya is about to be cleared more than two years after his arrest. Prosecutors have abandoned their case against Jack Marrian, the grandson of the late Earl of Cawdor, after it was blown apart by US anti-drug agents. They have made clear he knew nothing about the cocaine which arrived in a shipping container addressed to his sugar-trading company. In a letter obtained by the Daily Mail through Americas Freedom of Information laws, the US Drug Enforcement Administration declared: It is clear from intelligence that the load was placed in the container unbeknownst to the owner of the sugar. This is a common occurrence used by traffickers in South America. The DEA would like to stress there was no indication the cocaine was to be received by anyone in Kenya or Uganda and that the company owning the consignment had no knowledge that the cocaine was secreted inside their shipment of sugar. Mr Marrian, 33, whose ancestral home is 14th century Cawdor Castle in the Scottish Highlands, has been fighting his case through the Nairobi courts since his arrest in a night-time raid on his home in Kenya in July 2016. He faced a possible prison sentence of 30 years if convicted. After the latest hearing yesterday he said: Im extremely relieved but after all Ive been through I wont celebrate until the magistrate makes his formal ruling next week. Magistrate Derrick Koto will give his ruling on the prosecutions request that Mr Marrian be acquitted at a court session next Thursday. Mr Marrian, pictured with Emanuela today, was arrested in Kenya in July 2016. After spending two weeks in police cells he was released on a 500,000 bail. He faced a possible prison sentence of 30 years if convicted His mother Lady Emma Campbell said: Were so proud of Jack. He has been brave and calm and very respectful in court throughout this when he could have got so angry. Hes been living his life in this dark shadow for more than two years. Today is a huge relief. The businessmans family and girlfriend accompanied him to court yesterday where they heard prosecutor Jacob Ondari admit new information had come to light. Mr Ondari said: International drugs enforcement teams have helped to provide information that clears Marrian, tracing his consignment of sugar back through Spain to Brazil and have uncovered the real criminal source. His acquittal should be just a formality now. Mr Marrian beamed broadly outside court yesterday, hugging supporters and his Italian girlfriend Emanuela after the hearing. US drug agents, who knew the real culprits Brazilian gangsters had pleaded on Mr Marrians behalf last September. However, he was stunned when the court insisted it had a prima facie case against him and he should prepare his defence. As the chief executive of the trading company Mshala Commodities his name had been on the lading bill for 22 shipping containers carrying brown sugar from Brazil via Valencia in Spain in June 2016. Four of them became separated from the main cargo in Valencia and loaded on to a different ship. Kenyan port police found 99.9kg of cocaine in plastic sacks hidden in the sugar on a shipping container addressed to his sugar-trading company in 2016. Pictured is Mr Marrion, left, with his father David, centre, and brother Hunter, right, outside the Kibera Magistrates Court Tipped off by US drugs enforcement agents, Kenyan port police opened one of the containers on its arrival at Mombasa docks and found 99.9kg of cocaine in plastic sacks hidden in the sugar. The anti-narcotics squad in Nairobi announced a triumph in having intercepted a record amount of cocaine, and immediately arrested and charged Mr Marrian and his companys handling agent Roy Mwanthi. The letter that saved him Extracts from the DEAs letter to Nairobi police about the Mombasa drug seizure: It is clear from the intelligence that the load was placed inside the container unbeknownst of the owner of the sugar. This is a common occurrence used by drug traffickers. The DEA would like to stress that the company owning the consignment had no knowledge that the cocaine was secreted inside their shipment of sugar. Advertisement Mr Marrian spent two weeks in police cells while bail of 500,000 Kenyas largest was posted. He has described how he found himself in a cell packed with drunks at 3am. There were ten people in there, most of them completely unconscious, which was actually a relief, he said. There was nowhere to lie down, I just found a space and sat down on the concrete floor. They moved me from cell to cell while we waited for my holding company to post the huge bail. Each time I was worried about violence. I was shocked at the conditions and the food. Then I heard the prosecution wanted to keep me there, opposing my bail. I was in despair and my family was terrified for me. I tried to be friendly and helpful with the police, thinking that would go well for me. This was my first brush with law in my life. Ive never had so much as a speeding ticket. Until this happened I had no concept of how legitimate international trade was vulnerable to criminal activity, he said. DEA agent Wim Brown said: 'We knew before it landed this cargo was never intended for Jack Marrian or any company in Kenya. Pictured is Mr Marrian with prosecutors and the cocaine I had zero understanding of how drug gangs operate. Mr Marrians parents have lived in Kenya since he was five. He attended an international school with Tour de France winner Chris Froome. Later he boarded at Marlborough public school, where the then Kate Middleton was also a pupil. After Bristol University he worked for three years in London for sugar traders EDF Man, hoping that the business would eventually lead to him living in East Africa again. For the past seven years he has run their subsidiary Mshala Commodities, living in Kenya near to his parents and four siblings. US Drug Enforcement Administration agents were waiting in Valencia in summer 2016 for a known gang to access the drugs in one of the shipping containers but there had been an underworld tip-off and the smugglers kept away. The container carrying the cocaine was separated along with three others and loaded on to the HMS Positano headed for Oman and Mombasa. Mr Marrian's ancestral home is 14th century Cawdor Castle in the Scottish Highlands DEA agent Wim Brown, based in Nairobi, told how the gangs place illicit drugs into companies cargo without their knowledge, and arrange for others to break into the containers through corrupt handlers in a foreign port where they remove the drugs and fit a new seal on the cargo. It then reaches its destination without arousing suspicion. Mr Brown explained: We knew before it landed that this cargo was never intended for Jack Marrian or any company in Kenya. During one of more than a dozen hearings, the chief investigation officer, Police Corporal Sheila Kipsoi, broke down in the witness box when confronted with the letter obtained by the Mail that exonerated Mr Marrian and Mr Mwanthi. Melvin Patterson, the DEAs spokesman in Washington, said this letter should be produced in court to establish Jack Marrians innocence. Yesterday, in a packed courtroom alongside handcuffed robbery and murder suspects, Mr Marrian fought back tears as he heard the prosecutor apply for his acquittal and announce that the director of public prosecutions accepted there was no case to answer. He has been reporting weekly in person to the anti-narcotics squad in Nairobi as part of his bail conditions. That could all be behind me now, he said. My greatest wish is to be able to Google my own name without seeing pictures of myself in handcuffs or sitting in a courtroom. Mr Marrian is the son of Lady Emma and artist David Marrian. He is the grandson of the 6th Earl of Cawdor Hugh Campbell. Cawdor Castle, long associated with Shakespeares Macbeth even though it was built centuries after the plays setting, is now a tourist attraction. A truck driver who claims he had a frightening encounter with a Yowie said he was worried his wife wouldn't believe him and would think he was insane. The unnamed 53-year-old believes he saw a massive hairy creature on Beechmont Road in the Gold Coast hinterland on November 13 about 10am. He has since been having nightmares about the sighting, and kept details of the encounter to himself in the belief he would be ridiculed. The claimed sighting happened on Beechmont Road, in the Gold Coast hinterland, on November 13 (stock image) He claims that it was instead a beast and described it as 10 ft tall, almost as big as the truck, and very hairy (pictured is the truckie's sketch of his encounter) 'It was the worst thing that has ever happened to me,' the driver told The Gold Coast Bulletin. He tried forgetting about the horrific encounter but started having trouble sleeping at night and waited over a month to tell his wife. 'When I told my wife I was worried she would think I was losing it,' he said. To the truck driver's relief, his wife believed him and that's when the couple decided to pursue the matter further. 'I figure it is a one in an million thing. I have seen it once now and that is the end of it, lightening doesn't strike twice,' he said. As the unnamed truck driver was driving around a bend, he saw something fall out of the corner of his eye and thought it was a rock. The unnamed truck driver said he thought it was a rock and instantly hit the breaks to avoid hitting it (pictured is the man's truck) 'I've hit the brakes to stop so I didn't hit this rock, and it stood up. It wasn't a rock at all,' he wrote on cryptozoologist and yowie hunter Dean Harrison's Australian Yowie Research website. He claims that it was instead a beast and described it as 10ft tall, almost as big as the truck, and very hairy. 'It was hairy, I could see through its hair. I could see its navel. It had hair all over it about two inches long. From its lips to its eyebrows, it had no hair. It had a round face, a bit like a chimpanzee. 'The eyes were dark it was dark around the eyes and had black eyes but with a hazel colour around the pupil. It had a flat nose like it was a boxer. Mr Harrison (pictured) has been studying the mythical creatures for 20 years and claims to have had many encounters with the hairy beasts The eyes were dark it was dark around the eyes and had black eyes but with a hazel colour around the pupil. It had a flat nose like it was a boxer (stock image) 'I could see its ears, it didn't have any hair on its ears. Its head looked too small for its body. The head seemed to look pushed forward like it was growing off the tops of its chest, rather than off the top of its shoulders.' The driver claimed that the Yowie had 'very human' features but was more animal than human. 'It seemed shocked and then looked embarrassed before it became angry.' Mr Harrison has been studying the mythical creatures for 20 years and claims to have had many encounters with the elusive beasts. Mr Harrison, who claims to have been attacked on two occasions by the creature said his claims have been backed up by military personnel and rangers. A man is to be charged with the murder of his blind cheerleader girlfriend, who died after she was allegedly thrown from a high-rise balcony. Breeana Robinson, 21, fell 11 storeys from the balcony of boyfriend Dan Shearin's luxury apartment at Southport, on the Gold Coast, in January 2013. Shearin, 45, was arrested on Friday and will appear in Southport Magistrates court facing charges of murder, fraud, and damaging evidence with intent. Scroll down for video Breeana Robinson, 21, (pictured) fell 11 storeys from the balcony of boyfriend Dan Shearin's luxury apartment at Southport, on the Gold Coast, in January 2013 Shearin, 45, was arrested on Friday and will appear in Southport Magistrates court facing charges of murder, fraud, and damaging evidence with intent Ms Robinson, who was legally blind, was allegedly thrown from the balcony of the H20 Broadwater complex at 10.35pm on January 29, 2013, after returning from cheerleading practice Shearin, who now goes by the name Jayden Moorea, spent 10 days after in jail after pleading guilty to harassing Ms Robinson during their relationship. He bombarded her with 1,439 text messages in the month before she died. He was later given a good behaviour bond. Ms Robinson, who was legally blind, was allegedly thrown from the balcony of the H20 Broadwater complex at 10.35pm on January 29, 2013, after returning from cheerleading practice. Just ten minutes earlier she had received her final text message from Shearin, who she'd been dating for only 38 days. The court heard evidence that the text message sent to Ms Robinson before she died read: 'You're more interested in TV, food and everything else but your partner. That's why everything's ruined. Your priorities are f***ed up'. The former Gold Coast Titans cheerleader's death was subject to a coronial inquest in 2017. Police reopened the case in late 2017, almost three years after Sheain was jailed for harassing her prior to the tragedy Shearin, who now goes by the name Jayden Moorea, spent 10 days after in jail after pleading guilty to harassing Ms Robinson during their relationship Ms Robinson, who was legally blind, was allegedly thrown from the balcony of the H20 Broadwater complex (pictured) at 10.35pm on January 29, 2013, after returning from cheerleading practice The inquest was set to look at the 'specific circumstances surrounding Breeana's death, particularly how she came to fall to her death and whether any recommendations could be made to prevent deaths from occurring in similar circumstances'. Police reopened the case in late 2017, almost three years after Sheain was jailed for harassing her prior to the tragedy, at the coroners request. Relatives of Ms Robinson supported the decision to reopen the investigation, and said at the time they 'were anxiously awaiting the outcome'. Detective Inspector Brendan Smith said the arrest on Friday was the culmination of years of hard work by detectives. 'The investigative team has left no stone unturned in identifying the circumstances of Breeana's death demonstrating the passage of time is no escape for offenders,' he said. 'Whilst investigations are ongoing, it is hoped Breeana's family get some small comfort in seeing someone been brought to account for her death.' Ms Robinson's mother, Elaine Robinson, and aunt, Janine Mackney, spoke with A Current Affair following Breeana's death, but say they were paid 'not one cent' Austin Keever- Nyberg, 21, was arrested Wednesday on suspicion of attempted first-degree assault Police have arrested the man they believe is the hit-and-run driver who tried to mow down a group of teenagers with his pickup truck earlier this month. Austin Keever- Nyberg, 21, was arrested Wednesday on suspicion of attempted first-degree assault while at the Clackamas County Courthouse in Oregon City on an unrelated matter, according to Portland Police. Shocking video from January 10 showed a group of teenagers fleeing what's believed to be Keever-Nyberg's truck after chasing them onto a sidewalk. The Toyota pickup was found two days later, police said. Authorities said Keever-Nyberg was identified as the driver through an investigation, but have yet to release details on how the truck was located. It's also not clear why the 21-year-old charged at the men with his vehicle. In the video, his truck hit one of the boys as the rest scattered and managed to escape. He's believed to be the driver of the truck that chased three teens in Portland The truck drove onto the sidewalk before hitting one of the young men The video shows the man bounce off the side of the truck and fly into the air The driver pulled a U-turn in the park at the end of the street and drove off. The incident happened in north east Portland and was captured by a homeowner's security camera. Amazingly, the teen who was knocked down is able to stand up after the incident and was ran off unaided. One of his friends then ran into a park bench and also fell over, before running off. Local resident Javier Gonzales recorded the incident and passed the footage over to police. He told Koin.com: ' I looked at it, I rewinded it a few times just out of shock. I mean I've seen a lot of trucks like that. They are super common. 'It really seems like the cameras are the only thing that caught this and the people that actually got hit and the person in the truck. It's horrible thing that happened but the timing was actually pretty good just that we didn't have any kids out here.' Police told DailyMail.com they are aware of the video and investigating the incident although none of the victims have reported a crime. Witnesses at El Chapo's Brooklyn trial told on Thursday how one of his victims was once buried alive after being shot while other pieces of evidence laid bare private conversations he had with his wife about their two daughters. Drug dealer Isaias Valdez Rios testified Thursday at a New York trial that he witnessed the drug king pin, whose real name is, Joaquin Guzman order his men to dig a hole before he shot the victim. He said the man was still gasping for air when he was dropped in the hole and buried. Valdez also claims Guzman executed two other kidnapping victims whose bodies were incinerated. He says the three killings occurred around 2006. The grisly testimony was the most detailed account to date of the cartel boss personally engaging in violence against enemies. In a court sketch from Thursday's proceedings, El Chapo listens as Assistant US Attorney Amanda Liskamm questions witness Damaso Lopez Nunez Guzman faces life in prison if convicted of drug-trafficking charges. His lawyers say he's being framed by government cooperators. Elsewhere, witnesses described how he started his day while in hiding from police by waking up at noon and taking phone calls while he strolled beneath trees. Other pieces of evidence included text messages he exchanged with his wife about their two daughters including one where he joked about giving one of the girls an assault rifle. 'Our Kiki is fearless,' he said of one of his daughters to wife Emma Coronel Aispuro, who has attended his trial throughout to support him. 'I'm going to give her an AK-47 so she can hang with me,' he added of the child. Other women came to visit him while he was in hiding, according to his associates, and some facilitated drug deals. One was Lucero Sanchez Lopez, a former Mexican lawmaker. She told jurors she once had a romantic relationship with Guzman, who sent her to buy and ship marijuana. In another sketch, El Chapo's wife, Emma Coronel Aispuro, is shown sitting behind him as John Paul Osborne is questioned on the stand Emma Coronel Aispuro, the wife of Joaquin Guzman, the Mexican drug lord known as "El Chapo", was pictured leaving the Brooklyn Federal Courthouse on Thursday El Chapo's former beauty queen wife left the courthouse on Thursday after hearing testimony at her husband's trial 'I didn't want for him to mistrust me because I thought he could also hurt me. 'I was confused about my own feelings over him. Sometimes I loved him and sometimes I didn't,' she said. In other messages to his wife, he told her to 'live a normal life' when she felt as though she was in danger. On Wednesday, it was claimed that his sons murdered a journalist well known for his coverage of drug cartels. Damaso Lopez Nunez, a former top lieutenant to Guzman, made the accusation in Brooklyn federal court under cross examination by one of Guzman's lawyers. The lawyer, Eduardo Balarezo, had asked Lopez whether his own son, Damaso Lopez Serrano, might have been involved in the May 2017 murder of Javier Valdez. Valdez, known for his signature straw hat, was the founder of the RioDoce online newspaper and author of the book Narcoreporting about the dangers faced by journalists covering Mexico's drug war. His murder provoked public outcry about cartel violence. RioDoce reported last year that Lopez Serrano was likely behind the killing. Lopez said neither he nor his son had anything to do with Valdez's murder. He testified that Guzman's sons killed Valdez for publishing an article about drug cartel infighting against their wishes. El Chapo's wife is shown leaving his trial on Wednesday, January 23. She has been accused of helping him escape from prison in Mexico Guzman, 61, was extradited to the United States in 2017 and has been on trial since November on charges of trafficking cocaine, heroin and other drugs into the country as leader of the Sinaloa Cartel. His lawyers have claimed he was framed by another powerful drug trafficker, Ismael El Mayo Zambada. Acccording to media reports, Guzman has fathered as many as 15 children. Lopez did not say which sons murdered Valdez, but he previously testified that four - Ivan, Alfredo, Ovidio and Joaquin - were involved in the cartel. Lopez, 52, is serving a life sentence in U.S. prison for drug trafficking and has said he is cooperating with prosecutors in the hope of getting the sentence reduced. He has testified that he began working for Guzman in 2001 and is godfather to one of his former boss' twin daughters. Mexican journalist Javier Valdez was an AFP stringer and co-founder of the weekly Riodoce de Sinaloa. Witnesses say El Chapo's sons killed him Earlier on Wednesday, Lopez testified that Guzman's wife, Emma Coronel, played a key role in plotting her husband's 2015 escape from a Mexican prison and tried to help him escape again after he was recaptured the following year. Lopez told jurors that while Guzman was held in Mexico's Altiplano prison in 2014 and 2015, he plotted his boss' escape with Coronel and Guzman's sons, with Coronel passing messages to and from Guzman. Lopez said the sons bought a plot of land near the prison from which to tunnel into Guzman's cell. Guzman escaped through the finished tunnel in 2015. Guzman was recaptured in January 2016. Lopez said Coronel told him the following month that Guzman, then at Altiplano, wanted to duplicate his earlier escape. That plan was thwarted when Guzman was moved to another prison in Ciudad Juarez, Lopez said, and a $2 million bribe to a national prison official to get him moved back was unsuccessful. Lopez did not identify the bribed official. Coronel has never been charged with a crime. When Lopez first stepped up to the witness stand on Tuesday, he looked at Guzman and bumped his fist to his chest. Asked by one of Guzman's lawyers on cross-examination Wednesday why he made the gesture, Lopez answered, 'Because I love him.' Nonetheless, Lopez said, 'the circumstances' compelled him to testify. I chose to think about my family,' he said. Guzman's lawyers say he is the victim of a set up and that he is being framed by the cartel's true leader. Nathan Sutherland, 36, faced court on Wednesday after being charged with raping the 29-year-old woman at Hacienda Healthcare Skilled Nursing Facility in Phoenix The families of other patients at the Arizona care facility where a mentally disabled quadriplegic woman gave birth after being raped while she was in a coma say the nurse who is accused of assaulting her 'fooled' them all and was the last staff member they suspected of carrying out the attack. Nathan Sutherland was arrested on Wednesday for allegedly raping the woman, who has not been named, after police matched his DNA to that of the baby. His lawyer insisted there is 'no proof' that he committed the attack despite the police's claim to have DNA evidence. The Phoenix Police Department would not confirm on Thursday if the test they carried out was a paternity test or what the percentage likelihood was that he and the child are related. They are now appealing for information from the families of other patients amid fears others who were in Sutherland's care at the Hacienda HealthCare may have been victimized by him. On Thursday, those relatives told of their shock after learning that Sutherland - a Christian rapper who was once in a band - was the suspect. 'He was very loving, very compassionate. Or he pretended to be. And I really trusted him. Angela Gomez, whose 27-year-old son is looked after in the home, said she suspected other nurses but not Sutherland 'I suspected others, but I was wrong, and he fooled everybody,' Angela Gomez, the mother of another patient in the facility, told local outlet 3TV. 'Never in my wildest dreams would I think that he would be the suspect,' she added. 'I was in shock. Complete shock because I trusted this man. 'I have even told him, "I'm glad you're working with my son tonight, it gives me a good feeling when I go home."' Sutherland works the night shift which means there was not as many other members of staff around as during the day. Since his arrest, Hacienda sent a letter to the relatives of other patients telling them they were entitled to free STD checks or pregnancy tests. Defense attorney David Gregan described his client as a family man with young children who has lived in Arizona since 1993. He said there was 'no direct evidence' that Sutherland committed the rape, but did acknowledge the DNA Gomez said her 27-year-old son underwent an STD check and she is waiting for the results. She fears that he may be the 'monster' that her son referred to sometimes when she visited. Police started investigating after the severely disabled woman, who they say was not in a position to give consent, unexpectedly gave birth on December 29. The shock birth prompted authorities to test the DNA of all the men who worked at the care facility. Sutherland, a devout Christian and father-of-four, was forced to submit his DNA sample under court order on Tuesday and the results showed he was a match to the baby. He declined to speak with police and invoked his Fifth Amendment rights. He did not enter a plea when he faced court on Wednesday. Defense attorney David Gregan described his client as a family man with young children who has lived in Arizona since 1993. 'There's no direct evidence that Mr Sutherland has committed these acts,' Gregan said. 'I know at this point there's DNA. But he will have a right to his own DNA expert.' The 36-year-old is a devout Christian who tours local churches in Phoenix with his sister (right) under the group name, 'SLEEPLESSSOLJAZ' The defense attorney had asked for a lower bond on the grounds that Sutherland didn't have a criminal record. A Maricopa County Superior Court commissioner set a $500,000 cash-only bond. If Sutherland posts bond, he would need to wear an electronic monitoring device. He is charged with one count of sexual assault and one count of vulnerable adult abuse. Police said Sutherland had been a licensed practical nurse since 2011 and was directly responsible for caring for the victim at the facility. Investigators believe Sutherland raped the patient sometime between February and April. Officials at the facility said Sutherland went through an 'extensive background check' before he was hired. They said he was terminated 'the moment our leadership team learned of his arrest'. 'Every member of the Hacienda organization is troubled beyond words to think that a licensed practical nurse could be capable of seriously harming a patient,' a statement from the facility said. 'Once again, we offer an apology and send our deepest sympathies to the client and her family, to the community and to our agency partners at every level.' He had worked at Hacienda for eight years. Sutherland and his wife Bridget divorced last year. The motion was ordered on December 28 - just 24 hours before the victim gave birth. Sutherland divorced from his wife last Bridgett last year (left). The pair lived with their four-children in their Phoenix home, a neighbor revealed. Bridgett owns a catering company which Sutherland has worked for (seen right) According to court documents, the motion of divorce was ordered on December 28, 24 hours before the birth of the victim's child (pictured: Sutherland sings at Bridgett's birthday in October, 2016) State records show he was first became a clinical nursing assistant in 2005, before becoming an licensed practitioner nurse. The 36-year-old is a Haitian orphan and devout Christian who regularly tours local churches to perform Christian rap songs in the group 'SLEEPLESSOULJAZ' alongside his sister. 'My parent's split up in Haiti and I remember my mom couldn't take care of us, so she took us to an orphanage', Sutherland said in 2011. 'Even though it was an orphanage you were blessed if you had one cup or bowl of rice or something a day.' A former neighbor of the nurse has described him as a 'quiet family man'. Esella Burr said on Wednesday that Sutherland was her neighbor for more than five years until he sold his Phoenix-area home in October. Burr says he shared the home with his wife and four children, and she saw the couple leave for church every Sunday. She says Sutherland would sometimes wave or start a conversation with her and had mentioned that he enjoyed his job as a nurse. Sutherland (left) is a Haitian orphan who was adopted to the United States when he was a child Sutherland (right) has worked at Hacienda since 2011. He has been a nurse since 2005, according to state documents Hacienda HealthCare in Phoenix where a 29-year-old woman gave birth despite being incapacitated for more than a decade The 29-year-old victim has been in long-term care since she was three years old. She gave birth at the facility as staff frantically called 911 for assistance, telling the operator that they had not known the 112-pound patient was pregnant. The baby has since been released from the hospital and the victim's family have said they will take care of the boy. 'We owed this arrest to the victim. We owed this arrest to the newest member of our community - that innocent baby,' Phoenix police Sergeant Tommy Thomson said. 'The baby I am told is doing good. 'We can't always choose how we come into this life, but we can choose as a community how we will love this child - and that's what we need to do.' According to the victim's family, their daughter's condition includes severe brain damage, seizure disorder, and psycho-motor retardation. Initially she was described as being in a coma. 'She does not speak but has some ability to move her limbs, head and neck,' the family's attorney said in a statement. 'The important thing here is that contrary to what's been reported, she is a person, albeit with significant intellectual disabilities. 'She has feelings, likes to be read to, enjoys soft music and is capable of responding to people she is familiar with, especially family. The case has prompted the departure or discipline of key figures at Hacienda HealthCare, including the CEO William Timmons. Timmons resigned on December 31 as the provider announced new safety measures, including more than one staff member being present during patient interactions and more scrutiny of visitors. Phoenix police officers are pictured here visiting residents of the home around the time of the holidays in 2014 Members of the Phoenix police department would regularly visit the home during the holidays Hacienda HealthCare CEO Bill Timmons stepped down last month in light of the scandal On Monday, the hospital confirmed that two doctors responsible for overseeing the victim's care would no longer be practicing at the facility. Dr. Nguyen (left) was suspended on January 15. Dr. Gear (right) has resigned, a statement said The provider says one doctor who had cared for the woman resigned and another had been suspended. Dr. Thanh Nguyen has been revealed as the victim's primary care doctor in a suspension letter obtained by CBS News. Issued on January 15 - 10 days after the story first broke - the letter, addressed to Nguyen, states he placed 'one or more' of his patients' heath and welfare 'in danger'. Nguyen has been suspended without pay until a full internal investigation is carried out by the Arizona Health Care Cost Containment System (AHCCCS). The second physician is believed to be Dr. Phillip Gear, a veteran pediatrician in Phoenix, who has previously been reprimanded by the Arizona Medical board after the death of an infant under his care. Practicing for more than 30 years, court records show Dr. Gear last checked the victim in April 2018 and noted no major changes in her health or condition. Both of the woman's caregivers claimed to be unaware she was pregnant, but the time of Dr. Gear's last interaction with the victim would suggest she had been a few weeks pregnant at the time of the examination. This isn't the first time Dr. Gear has been involved in an instance of negligence in relation to his care of a patient. In 2001, Gear was reproached by the Arizona Medical Board for failing to perform a rectal exam on a toddler under his care, who later died. The board concluded Gear's actions constituted negligence resulting in the child's death. President Trump climbed down from his $5.7 billion demand for a border wall on Thursday as his proposal to reopen the government failed in the U.S. Senate. The president claimed that he technically 'won' the vote that failed in Cabinet Room remarks. It didn't hit a 60-vote threshold necessary to overcome a filibuster. Trump now says he would take a 'pro-rated down payment' on his border wall. The president personally spoke to lawmakers about a potential agreement. A deal did not immediately emerge, but White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders said that one was under negotiation. 'Leader Mitch McConnell and Senator Chuck Schumer are meeting now to see whether or not they can work out of the deadlock. As was made clear to Senator Lindsay Graham, the 3 week CR would only work if there is a large down payment on the wall,' she said. Responding immediately, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi rejected the 'down payment' on the House floor, saying, 'That is not a reasonable agreement.' It was not clear on Thursday night how much money that Trump was asking for as part of the down payment. Senior adviser Kellyanne Conway insisted that he still wanted the $5.7 billion for the wall that he's been asking for. President Trump also issued a vaguely-worded threat about next steps. He said cryptically, 'I have other alternatives, if I have to. And I will use those alternatives, if I have to.' CNN reported that the president was preparing to issue a proclamation declaring a national emergency. Conway told DailyMail.com that Trump has the 'option' of issuing such a proclamation but he has not 'executed on that option' to this point. President Trump climbed down from his $5.7 billion demand for a border wall on Thursday as his proposal to reopen the government failed in the U.S. Senate 'The president has always said he has that as an option. He has not executed on that option, because he would like to work through the legislative process,' she said. 'That's why his team was up there again for hours today. That's why he was working the phones just a little while ago. I was in there when he was speaking with senators who had cast a vote.' His acting chief of staff Mick Mulvaney told DailyMail.com on Saturday that it is the White House's belief that the president has that power but Trump didn't want to. 'I absolutely still believe that the national emergency is still a tool that's available to the president. He's just been very candid, very public in saying it's not his preferred course of action,' Mulvaney said during a roundtable with reporters. He said, 'The best way to fix this is through legislation, which is why our team has been spending so much time trying to come up with legislation. That's the sum of which you saw you tonight at the speech. The White House did not respond to a formal request for comment from DailyMail.com on whether Trump was planning to declare a national emergency next. Conway suggested after a television pre-tape at the White House that Trump could issue one, even though he hasn't yet. 'The president has made clear from the beginning, he has the absolute right to do that,' she said. 'He has conferred with his legal team as to the absolute legal right to do that, and he has always kept it in reserve. 'But he would like Congress to do its job, and its jobs is to actually help secure the border. This was meant to be legislative as a solution.' As she answered questions from assembled reporters, she also slapped back at Pelosi, saying, 'I know some people call her "Fancy Nancy." I actually think these days she's worthy of the title Dr. No.' 'No is not a negotiation. No is not a serious counter offer,' she told the press. Both President Trump's and House Democrats' plans to reopen the government failed Thursday as the back-to-back votes went down in flames in the Senate, leaving no end to the government shutdown in sight. Leader Mitch McConnell and Senator Chuck Schumer held hours of meetings that stretched into the evening to see whether or not they could work out of the deadlock. Senator Lindsay Graham reiterated the White House's stance that a three-week continuing resolution to temporarily reopen the government would only work if there is also a large down payment on the wall. The lack of support for the separate bills was predicted yet it played out against high-drama that began with a Saturday afternoon address at the White House by President Trump. About two dozen House Democrats, including rising star Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and civil rights legend John Lewis, marched across the Capitol and into the Senate chamber to watch the vote while Pence huddled with Republican lawmakers in a room across the hall. Trump's plan to reopen the government failed 50-47 and the Democrats' proposal failed 52-44, more 'yes' votes that the president's bill netted. Six Republicans crossed over to support the Democrats: Lamar Alexander of Tennessee, Susan Collins of Maine, Cory Gardner of Colorado, Johnny Isakson of Georgia, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska and Mitt Romney of Utah. Each plan needed 60 votes to advance in the legislative process. Trump repeatedly claimed as he spoke to reporters later that he 'won' the vote, even though it fell short of the 60 that were needed to advance. 'It's 50-47; we won. But we need 60 votes because of the 60-vote rule,' he contended. Vice President Mike Pence was on Capitol Hill to talk with Republican senators before President Trump's proposal failed in the Senate House Democrats marched across the Capitol and into the Senate Chamber to watch the vote Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez walks to the Senate side of the U.S. Capitol to watch the vote House Democrats were expected to drop another plan in the coming hours: one that would offer around $5 billion in border security measures but zero dollars for Trump's wall. Pence gave senators no indication of what the president would accept to reopen the government when he met with them. 'He did not,' Republican Sen. John Kennedy told reporters after the meeting. Graham took to the Senate floor after the vote to say he had just spoke with Trump and discussions were underway about a three-week continuing resolution to reopen the government. 'Just got off the phone with the president. I told him we're talking about a three-week CR and all of us believe if we had three weeks with the government open That we could find a way forward to produce a bill that he could sign and that would be good for everyone in the country but we need that opportunity. 'He gave me some indications of what he wants in a three-week CR that would be good faith, moving forward, that I thought were imminently feasible,' he said. McConnell and Schumer were meeting in McConnell's office to discuss the offer, which Graham said includes money for Trump's border wall, on Thursday night. The Democratic plan to end the government shutdown got two more votes than Trump's proposal Sen. Lindsey Graham said he talked to President Trump about a three-week plan Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer (left) and Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (right) were meeting in McConnell's office to discuss the three-week offer 'To my Democratic friends, money for a barrier is required to get this done. It will not be a concrete wall and the money will be a program to a [Department of Homeland Security] plan that all of you know about and have been briefed on and should approve. You're not giving President Trump a bunch of money to do anyway he wants to with. He's got to spend it on a plan the professionals have come up with,' Graham explained. 'I want to let the public know I have never been more optimistic than I am now that we can open up the government for three weeks,' he added. Earlier Thursday Trump once again insisted on a border wall as his price for reopening the government and vowed he will not 'cave' to Democrats amid reports they are preparing to offer more money for security but no funds for his wall. Trump fired off his latest defense of his wall in a tweet sent as Pelosi took questions from reporters on Capitol Hill and said without a border wall 'it doesn't work.' 'Nancy just said she "just doesn't understand why?" Very simply, without a Wall it all doesn't work. Our Country has a chance to greatly reduce Crime, Human Trafficking, Gangs and Drugs. Should have been done for decades. We will not Cave!,' he tweeted. He acknowledged on Thursday afternoon that he had not spoken to Pelosi since he walked out of a meeting with her in early January at the White House. President Trump said on Thursday he will not cave to Democrats when it comes to his border wall Speaker Nancy Pelosi urged the Senate to pass a Democratic bill reopening the government Trump vowed he 'will not cave' on the wall Trump's line in the sand came before the Senate held the votes holds on the two separate legislative packages: One includes Trump's proposal for protection from deportation for Dreams and the $5.7 billion for his border wall; the other on Democrats' plan to reopen the government that does not fund the wall. Pelosi, before the Senate votes, said House Democrats had a plan of their own. 'Within our $49 billion homeland security bill there will be some provisions,' Pelosi said Thursday morning but declined to get into specific details. She said work was still being done on the legislation. House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer said Democrats are prepared to offer significant new spending on border measures but he, too, declined specifics. 'We are prepared to spend a very substantial sum of money because we share the view that the border needs to be secure,' he said. Pelosi criticized Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross for saying he didn't understand why furloughed workers had to go to food banks The Democratic version of the bill to fund the Department of Homeland Security could include at least $5 billion for border protection efforts like new technology and more law enforcement agents - but nothing for Trump's border wall. Amid those reports Trump took to twitter to attack Pelosi and vow not to cave in on his border wall. But he misquoted Pelosi when he wrote: 'Nancy just said she "just doesn't understand why?" The speaker was actually quoting the president's Commerce secretary when she said that. Wilbur Ross said on CNBC Thursday morning he didn't understand why furloughed federal workers had to go to food banks and suggested they borrow from banks to make ends meet until they get a paycheck. 'I know they are, and I don't really quite understand why,' Ross said. 'Because, as I mentioned before, the obligations that they would undertake, say borrowing from a bank or a credit union are in effect federally guaranteed.' Pelosi was criticizing his 'let them eat cake' attitude with her remark. The longest government shutdown in U.S. history is expected to continue its painful stretch as the Senate takes up bills that would end the shutdown, but neither is expected to get the needed 60 votes President Donald Trump tweeted again about the border wall Thursday 'They have Wilbur Ross saying he just doesn't understand why when he was asked about people going into food lines and pantries and the rest, he said he doesn't understand why they have to do that. I don't know is this the let them eat cake kind of attitude or call your father money or this is character building for you, it's all going to end up very well,' she said. The latest salvos, a month into the shutdown, came hours after Trump relented on the State of the Union address after essentially being disinvited by Pelosi to give his speech until after the shutdown is ended. Pelosi acknowledged that retreat in her remarks Thursday. She called the speech 'so unimportant to the American people,' who she said should be 'hostages to the president's applause line in a campaign speech.' 'Thank goodness we have put that matter to rest and we can get on to the subject at hand, open up government so we can negotiate how best to protect our borders,' she noted. Speaker Nancy Pelosi withdrew her invitation to President Trump to deliver his state of the union address until after the shutdown A federal worker stands with a placard reading 'Will Work For Pay' as other federal employees stage a rally to call for a vote on the shutdown on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC, on January 23, 2019 Trump hauled reporters into a meeting on Wednesday just so he could blast her and claim he'd give his speech anyway in an alternative format. Yet on Thursday afternoon, he said: 'Well, it's really her choice. I mean, I would have done it in a different location, but I think that would be very disrespectful to the State of the Union -- to pick some other place. 'I could have done it. I could have gone to a big auditorium and gotten 25,000 people in one day -- and you've been there many times -- but I think that would be very disrespectful to the State of the Union. So what she said, I thought, was actually reasonable: We'll have the State of the Union when the shutdown is over,' he claimed. Amid the lack of an immediate legislative solution to the shutdown, Trump is continuing to insist on a border wall, tweeting Thursday that without a wall 'there cannot be safety and security at the Border or for the U.S.A.' 'BUILD THE WALL AND CRIME WILL FALL!' Trump wrote, continuing to link immigration and crime. After the failed votes, he said later on Thursday in the Cabinet Room, 'You need the wall. In fact, I see a lot of the Democrats are all -- almost all of them are breaking and saying, "Look, walls are good. Walls are good." ' 'We have to have a wall in order to have border security,' he insisted. 'You cannot have border security without a wall. I mean, we can play games, and we can talk about technology.' A Michigan felon's mugshot was seemingly a sore reminder that karma goes around after he pose with his head bandaged because an officer shot him in the face on Tuesday. Joshua M. Rosebush, 29, was injured when a Shiawassee County Sheriff attempted to make an arrest around 1pm, just 11 hours after the suspect is believed to have gunned down Officer Jeff Koenig, 48, before fleeing the scene. The Saginaw Township man might have wished he had complied to both the initial stop concerning lights and in the follow-up, because in a twist of fate he too was shot, according to a report. Joshua Rosebush (pictured), 29, was reportedly shot in the face Tuesday afternoon by a Michigan cop. He could be charged with attempted murder and weapons offenses for earlier shooting police Rosebush was believed to have stolen two cars after shooting Koenig in the jaw but was caught by another officer, who is believed to have shot Rosebush Michigan Department of Corrections spokesman Chris Gautz, told MLive he heard Rosebush who is now locked up at Charles Egeler Reception & Guidance Center took a bullet to the face, but said he wasn't able to confirm it. A policeman has now been placed on administrative leave while an investigation occurs. The officer is said to have fired because the suspect pointed a handgun at him during a traffic stop on suspicion of stealing two cars in the hours since Koenig was injured. It's unclear whether he fired the second time around. However, his mug shot shows significant injury with a bruised eye and swollen right side of the face. With his red hair showing through the white medical dress, it made a big difference to his last mug shot. Rosebush's injury didn't appear to be major though as he was back in jail the following day. Meanwhile Koenig underwent surgery Wednesday after being shot in the face and shoulder this week. Rosebush shot Jeff Koenig, 48, in the face and shoulder Tuesday. Koenig underwent surgery on Wednesday. By Thursday a Facebook page had raised $163,233 of a $250,000 goal Rosebush was on the run after removing an electronic tether that was part of his parole. However Koenig stopped him regarding his lights Tuesday 2am and the suspect shot him 'Surgeons cleaned the wound, however, were not able to begin reconstructive surgery due to swelling that has developed,' Saginaw Township Police Chief Donald F. Pussehl Jr. told MLive. 'Once the swelling subsides, additional surgeries will take place. Officer Koenig will continue to rest while awaiting further surgeries.' He was on the run after removing an electronic tether that was part of his parole By Thursday afternoon a Facebook page had raised $163,233 of a $250,000 goal for medical expenses in just three days for the 16-year veteran. Rosebush, who has been to prison 10 times, may have more to add to his 13 convictions soon. Saginaw County Chief Assistant Prosecutor Mark J. Gaertner said he could be charged with attempted murder and weapons offenses. In March 2016 he was sentenced to two-to-15 years, to be served in three concurrent terms, but he absconded when he removed his electronic tether while on parole January 3. A contestant on SAS: Who Dares Wins has revealed his wife who was 'perfect in every single way' killed herself less than a year ago. The heartbreaking revelation is set to be shared by Mark Peart, who is taking part in the Channel 4 series, to be aired on Sunday. After struggling in one of the tasks the 32-year-old is brought in to face special forces soldiers Ant Middleton and Jason Fox in an interview- where he tells them the tragic story of his wife Chelsey's death, as reported by The Mirror. Mark Peart pictured with his wife Chelsey. On the show, to be broadcast on Sunday, he says: 'I lost my wife six months ago. She committed suicide. She was perfect in every single way' Mark Peart opens up about his bereavement on the next episode of SAS: Who Dares Wins on Channel 4 Mark, 32, says: 'I lost my wife six months ago. She committed suicide. 'She was perfect in every single way. She was beautiful, she was funny, happy, honestly like the fairytale. But she just had these things that ate away on her - low self-esteem and anxieties. 'I'm still feeling lost with it and don't fully understand. I don't think I ever will.' At the inquest, the coroner heard Mrs Peart was found hanging by her husband Mark at their home in Rotherham, South Yorkshire, on April 11. In a statement which was read at Doncaster Coroner's Court by coroner's officer David Copley, Mr Peart said he was working a day shift at Manvers Fire Station on April 11. He said: 'I arrived home at about 7.05pm and the house was in darkness. I discovered Chelsey.' Mr Peart, a firefighter, attempted CPR until paramedics arrived but Chelsey was pronounced dead at the couple's home. Mrs Peart, lived in Rotherham with her husband Mark, and taught at Rawmarsh Community School and also ran a textiles business Mrs Peart, taught at Rawmarsh Community School and also ran a textiles business, was signed off work by her GP Dr Biing Hen on a number of occasions dating back to November 2017. Helen O'Brien, headteacher at Rawmarsh Community School, described Mrs Peart as a 'positive role model for students' and a 'very, very talented textiles teacher'. It is not the first time the popular show has revealed the tragic backstory of a contestant. In the last series Danny Cross revealed his wife Nicola was killed as she tried to protect her children when a man broke into their Hertfordshire home in 2015. The 40-year-old was forced off the show with a knee injury, but paid tribute to his children for helping him get through the tragedy. He told the show's instructors at the time: 'I could have crumbled in that situation. I just had to keep going for the kids. I think that without them I would be in a very different place, I'm sure of it. 'Even though they miss mummy, they are happy kids. 'It gives you an inner power to know that you can cope and you can deal with things. Not a lot fazes me now.' Adelaide's record-breaking heatwave has left the city's streets deserted, as South Australians stay away from the CBD in droves during the sweltering conditions. The state capital recorded its highest-ever temperature of 46.6C on Thursday, breaking a record that had stood for almost a century. Streets were almost completely empty as people sought the relief of air-conditioned buildings or relaxing at the beach rather than exposing themselves to the sweltering heat. Scroll down for video Adelaide's record-breaking heatwave has left the city's streets deserted, as South Australians stay away from the CBD in droves during the sweltering conditions The state capital recorded its highest-ever temperature of 46.6C on Thursday, breaking a record that had stood for almost a century. (Pictured: Rundle Mall) Streets were empty as people sought the relief of air-conditioned buildings or relaxing at the beach rather than exposing themselves to the sweltering conditions. Pictured: Rundle Mall West Terrace in the city centre broke the record high of 46.1C recorded in 1939. Temperatures in South Australia a sweltering 22C higher than average in some parts of the state. Port Augusta was the hottest town with the mercury hitting 49.5C. Yesterday was the fourth-hottest day ever in South Australia. Some Adelaide residents noticed there were fewer people making their way towards the city on Thursday. 'I could see why there's less people in the train going to work. It's unfair to work on a 43-45 degree weather in Adelaide,' one person tweeted. While a much-needed cool change had swept through Adelaide, resulting in milder temperatures on Friday, the heatwave made its way across Australia and was set to bake Victoria and New South Wales. Melbourne's forecast high temperature for Friday was 44C; the hottest since the devastating Black Saturday bushfires of 2009. Temperatures in South Australia were as much as 22C higher than average in some parts of the state Adelaide sweltered through a record-high temperature on Thursday during a scorching heatwave The heat has strained Victoria's energy supplies, leaving about 8000 people without power. Victorian Energy Minister Lily D'Ambrosio said people should monitor their non-essential use of electricity. Dishwashers, kitchen appliances, washing machines and pool pumps should all be turned off, she said. A state-wide fire ban remained in place for Victoria on Friday. People have been advised to limit their electricity use as the heat puts a strain on power supplies Adelaide streets were mostly deserted during Thursday's roasting-hot weather The heatwave will make its way to Sydney this weekend, with temperatures of more than 40C forecast for Australia Day on Saturday. In the city's west, Penrith will have a high of 42C, while the NSW Riverina region will hit a scorching 48C on Friday. The high temperatures will be caused by hot air making its way across Australia from the northern part of the country. The heatwave is set to make its way across Victoria and New South Wales during Australia Day weekend The heatwave will make its way to Sydney this weekend, with temperatures of more than 40C forecast for Australia Day on Saturday In the city's west, Penrith will have a high of 42C, while the NSW Riverina region will hit a scorching 48C on Friday Meanwhile in Queensland, a tropical low over the state's far north is expected to intensify into a cyclone and head south. The strengthening weather system is sitting over Cape York Peninsula and is forecast develop throughout Friday, the Bureau of Meteorology says. The system was about 125km west of Weipa in the Gulf of Carpentaria and extends north across the peninsula. The heatwave has been caused by hot air making its way across Australia from the northern part of the country The heat has strained Victoria's energy supplies, leaving about 8000 people without power The low has a greater than 50 per cent chance of becoming a cyclone by Saturday, with far northern communities warned to expect heavy rain that could cause flash flooding during Friday. Wind gusts of 90km/h are possible. Communities from just north of Cairns to Pormpuraaw and further north, on the Gulf of Carpentaria, were under a severe weather warning, along with the Torres Strait. A flood watch was in place for major catchments in the region, with 6-hour rainfall totals in excess of 150mm possible. Manafort was once a dapper defendant, but one of his booking photos from a Virginia jail showed him without hair dye, unshaven, and looking comparatively gaunt; he's asking permission to come to court Friday in a business suit, not a prison jumpsuit Paul Manafort was given permission Thursday to wear one of his notoriously-expensive suits in a federal court appearance Friday. He is due to appear in a federal courtroom in Washington D.C. amid a dispute over whether he lied to Robert Mueller's investigators after agreeing to co-operate in a plea bargain to prevent a second criminal trial. Anticipating a Friday hearing, the jailed former jet-setting lobbyist asked federal judge Amy Berman Jackson for permission to stay in his jail cell. Hearing that she had refused, he filed a second request: an 'order permitting him to wear a suit for the hearing ... and at all subsequent court appearances.' Similar requests have been met with denials in the past. Manafort made a dramatic transformation from $5,000 suits to green, canvas jail coveralls last year, after a Virginia judge revoked his bail during the final stages of a trial in which a jury convicted him of eight federal crimes. Investigators accused him of witness-tampering while he was on home confinement, wearing an ankle bracelet instead of prison shower-shoes. Former Donald Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort insisted in a legal filing on Wednesday that he never lied to Special Counsel Robert Mueller's investigators, pushing back against arguments that he violated a plea agreement that it his most likely chance to ever see the outside of a prison cell Special Counsel Robert Mueller has accused Manafort of breaching his plea agreement Judge Amy Berman Jackson holds Manafort's immediate fate, and his wardrobe options, in her hands Separately, he entered guilty pleas to conspiracy charges in a Washington, D.C. federal courtroom in September. That deal required him to cooperate with prosecutors and tell the truth about what he knew. Months later, prosecutors accused him of repeatedly lying to them. His lawyers said Wednesday that he never 'intentionally provided false information,' and that any misstatements reflected 'a lack of consistency in Mr. Manaforts recollection of certain facts and events,' and not an intentional effort to mislead prosecutors. 'Indeed, many of these events occurred years ago, or during a high-pressure U.S. presidential campaign he managed when his time was extraordinarily limited,' the defense lawyers wrote, 'or during the difficult time that followed his departure from the 2016 presidential campaign because of the allegations leveled at him and the investigations that followed.' Among the allegations is that Manafort lied when he denied having shared polling data from the 2016 campaign with Konstantin Kilimnik, a business associate who the U.S. has said has ties to Russian intelligence. Wednesday's filing was a swiss-cheese mashup of redacted pages that left observers with little real information about the nature of manafort's arguments Manafort wants to show up in court on Friday wearing a business suit, not common coveralls Judge Jackson had decided Wednesday that Manafort has to show in up person to answer Mueller's allegations that he liedto investigators. She cited 'the number of court appearances defendant has been permitted to waive' and 'the significance of the issues at stake.' Jackson also concluded that Manafort's lawyers might give her answers that he would ask them to change later if he weren't in the courtroom. Manafort has yet to be sentenced for the eight financial crimes he was convicted of last year in Virginia. That is scheduled to take place in February. White children are the least likely of all ethnic groups to make good progress during secondary school, new official statistics suggest. Data from this summers GCSE results shows white pupils made on average less headway between the ages of 11 and 16 than any other group. Chinese pupils were way ahead of their peers on this measure, followed by Asian, then black, then mixed-race youngsters. The data, published yesterday by the Department for Education (DfE), adds weight to arguments that people with migrant heritage are more likely to drive themselves forward. Data from this summers GCSE results shows white pupils made on average less headway between the ages of 11 and 16 than any other group Some experts believe many ethnic minority families are more aspirational and have a better attitude to work than those in poor, white communities. Alan Smithers, of the University of Buckingham, said: Some people from migrant backgrounds work very hard in education, because they know how important it is to their future. They make full use of the excellent state education provided in this country because it may be substantially better than that provided in the country they or their ancestors came from. In contrast, their peers may have become complacent and do not necessarily see education as being the key to the future in the same way. Another factor contributing to the good progress of ethnic minority groups is that first-generation migrants may not have the best grasp of English when they begin school. As they become more fluent, their grades rapidly improve. The data shows scores in the Progress 8 accountability measure, which aims to capture the progress a state school pupil makes from the end of primary school to the end of secondary school. The country-wide average progress score is zero, so a positive score means pupils are making above average progress and a negative score means below average. This year, the average Progress 8 score for white children was the lowest at -0.10, compared to -0.02 for mixed race, 0.12 for black, 0.45 for Asian and 1.03 for Chinese pupils. When it came to attainment scores, black children had the lowest, with white children having the second lowest. Chinese pupils had the highest, followed by Asian children and mixed race. Some experts believe many ethnic minority families are more aspirational and have a better attitude to work than those in poor, white communities Both this year and last, children with English as a second language had a higher score for attainment and made better progress on average than native speakers. Yesterdays data also revealed more than a quarter-of-a-million children are still being taught at under-performing secondary schools. It showed that 11.6 per cent of state-funded mainstream schools, 346 in total, fell below the governments minimum standards in 2018. It means 282,603 schoolchildren are now being taught at under-performing secondaries - about 9.3 per cent. Schools fall below the governments performance threshold if pupils fail to make enough progress across eight subjects, with particular weight given to English and maths. The government said the data showed positive progress because the proportion of pupils achieving at least a grade 5 - the new pass - at GCSE in both English and maths has increased year on year, from 42.6 per cent to 43.3 per cent. School standards minister Nick Gibb said: Making sure that all pupils, regardless of their background, are able to fulfil their potential is one of this governments key priorities and these results show that more pupils across the country are doing just that. Its been clear for some time that standards are rising in our schools and todays data underlines the role academies and free schools are playing in that improvement, with progress above the national average and impressive outcomes for disadvantaged pupils. A Norwegian tycoon worth 150 million whose wife was allegedly kidnapped has received a message from someone claiming to have her under their control. Anne-Elisabeth Falkevik Hagen, married to businessman Tom Hagen, disappeared on October 31 last year from her home in Lorenskog, east of the capital Oslo. The lawyer for one of Norway's richest men today said they have received a message believed to come from those 'in control of' her. Today police were pictured cutting ice on a small lake near the billionaire's home in Fjellhamar searching for the missing woman. A Norwegian tycoon worth 150 million whose wife was allegedly kidnapped has received a message from someone claiming to have her under their control. Police were pictured cutting ice on a small lake near the billionaire's home in Fjellhamar searching for the missing woman Anne-Elisabeth Falkevik Hagen, married to businessman Tom Hagen, disappeared on October 31 last year from her home in Lorenskog, east of the capital Oslo. The lawyer for one of Norway's richest men today said they have received a message believed to come from those 'in control of' her He explained that the format the message was recieved in does not allow for a reply, explaining why the family chose to arrange a hasty press conference to reply in public. He declined to give further details, including whether there had been further contact, and police declined to comment. 'The family is now strengthened in their hope that Anne-Elisabeth is alive and wants to do what we can to make her come home safely,' Divers from Oslo Fire Brigade take part in search under the ice on a small lake near the home of Norwegian billionaire Tom Hagen in Fjellhamar The lawyer for one of Norway's richest men whose missing wife was allegedly abducted said Thursday they have received a message believed to come from those 'in control of' her Holden told a news conference. 'We want to establish better contact with those who have Anne-Elisabeth.' A note was found in the couple's house, east of Oslo, describing what would happen to the 68-year-old if a demanded ransom wasn't paid by husband Tom Hagen. Norwegian media have said the ransom was 9 million euros - 8.1 million - and was to be paid in cryptocurrency. Police have remained tight-lipped about the case. Officers have known about the disappearance since Halloween but did not speak publicly about the incident until earlier this month Officers have known about the disappearance since Halloween but did not speak publicly about the incident until earlier this month. They released two surveillance videos taken outside the businessman's office on the day his wife disappeared and want three people seen in the footage to get in touch. Chief police investigator Tommy Broeske said one of the men was seen walking on a road before turning around and going back down the road immediately. Police wanted to speak to the man, as well as another person walking on the same road and a passing cyclist. Police have received 'more than 100 tips,' Broeske said, adding 'several seems to be interesting' without elaborating. 'We still have no suspects,' he said. Norwegian police probing the kidnap of millionaire Tom Hagen's wife have released CCTV of a man (pictured) seen walking outside his office on the day his partner disappeared Officers have released two surveillance videos taken outside businessman Tom Hagen's office on the day his wife, Anne-Elisabeth Falkevik Hagen, disappeared and want three people seen in the October 31 footage to get in touch. One of the clips shows a man walking on a road before turning around and going back down the road immediately Anne-Elisabeth Falkevik Hagen disappeared in Lorenskog on October 31 after being snatched from the bathroom of her home A 9 million (8.1 million) ransom in cryptocurrency has been demanded by the kidnappers who grabbed Mrs Falkevik Hagen from her home Hagen is number 172 on a list of Norway's wealthiest people published by the financial magazine Kapital, with a fortune estimated to be nearly 1.7 billion kroner (156million) in 2018. Falkevik Hagen was said to have been attacked when raiders snatched her from the couple's bathroom at their house which is surrounded by woodland. It has also been reported that there had been limited contact between police and the suspects with the only communication sent through encrypted digital platforms. Family lawyer, Svein Holden, told reporters: 'The family sees this as a cruel and inhumane act. The family decided to follow the police advice.' Mr Hagen, who is Norway's 172nd richest man and made his fortune in real estate and the energy sector. Anne-Elisabeth Falkevik Hagen is married to businessman Tom Hagen (pictured) According to the magazine Kapital, the 68-year-old has an estimated fortune of 1.7 billion kroner (174 million euros, 156m). He owns 70 per cent of electricity company Elkraft which he co-founded in 1992, Norwegian media reported. Norwegian police confirmed that 'a woman in her late 60s is believed to have been kidnapped from her home in Lorenskog', around 12 miles from Oslo and 31 miles from the Swedish border, but did not disclose her identity. Broske at the Eastern Police District said the way Mrs Falkevik Hagen was abducted suggested 'that these are professional offenders'. Police added that officers do not know if she is being held in the same place since her kidnap or has been taken outside of Norway. The kidnappers are said to have asked for the ransom to be paid in cryptocurrency Monero, which can be sent and received anonymously. Many Norwegian media outlets knew of Mrs Falkevik Hagen's disappearance but did not publish any details after the police warned against publicising the kidnap over fears the attackers would harm the victim. Police said a note found in the couple's house, east of Oslo not far om the Swedish border, described what would happen to her if the demanded ransom was not paid Members of the media outside the house of the Hagen family after a news blackout had previously been in place over fears for the victim's family Police outside the house of Anne-Elisabeth Falkevik Hagen, who is the wife of real estate investor Tom Hagen, and was kidnapped over ten weeks ago There is no evidence Mrs Falkevik Hagen has been harmed since she disappeared, but officers have also not received any 'proof of life', police said. Broske added during an appeal for help to the public: 'A ransom demand and serious threats have been issued. We have not known anything comparable in this country. 'Our main theory is that the victim was kidnapped by unidentified perpetrators at her home. We need information, and that is why we now go out into the media. 'As the case now stands, police have advised the family not to settle the claim. We have no suspects in this case.' Broske declined to comment further, other than to add that 'the threats [in the note] were of a very serious character'. Tommy Broske, head of the investigations unit, at a press conference in Lillestrom yesterday where he made a public appeal for information Norwegian broadcaster NRK says the couple live a 'secluded lifestyle' and asked the public to get in contact if any suspicious activity was seen in woodland that surround the family home. Europol and Interpol have been connected, Norwegian police said at a press conference yesterday. Events like this are extremely rare in the wealthy Scandinavian country, which enjoys a generally low crime rate. A man was shot in the stomach during a street argument leading attackers to flee - but they return moments later to drive the injured victim to hospital. In the clip, caught on CCTV, three men, including one brandishing a firearm, are seen getting out of their silver saloon car to argue with two others in the quiet street in Bursa province, Turkey. The trio return to their car but one of the two men - later identified as Hasan Sahin - continues the row through the open window of the driver's door. In the clip, three men are seen getting out of their car before arguing with two others in the street in Bursa province, Turkey The men walk away, but Hasan Sahin continues the argument through the car window and is shot in the stomach before falling to the ground Suddenly, a shot rings out, and Mr Sahin falls to the floor clutching his stomach, before the car drives off. Moments later, the car returns to the scene as Mr Sahin's friend runs away, fearing further violence. The car pulls up next to the injured man, who pulls himself to his feet and then bizarrely gets into the back seat, before the car speeds off again. It was later discovered the three attackers had taken their victim, a renovation industry worker, to a local hospital where he was treated for his wounds. His condition is described as 'stable'. Police, called to the scene by locals, found trails of blood and empty bullet cases. They have since detained one man and are looking for two others in connection with the incident. Local media said the argument was over money but it remains a mystery why the attackers returned to transport their victim to hospital. The car speeds off, leaving the victim on the ground. It is believed the argument was over money A Detroit family was kicked off an American Airlines flight after passengers complained about their body odor. Yossi Adler, his wife Jennie, and their 19-month-old daughter were flying back home after a vacation in Miami on Wednesday night. But just before the plane took off, they were escorted off the aircraft and back to the gate at Miami International Airport. Scroll down for video Yossi Adler, his wife Jennie, and their 19-month-old daughter were kicked off an American Airlines flight after passengers complained about their body odor 'All of a suddenly, as soon as they took us off, they closed the gate and said "Sorry sir, some people complained you had body odor and we're not letting you back on,"' Adler told Local 10. 'There's no body odor that we have. There's nothing wrong with us.' Adler used his cell phone to film video of himself talking with staff after they were taken off the flight. 'We don't have odor, okay?' he can be heard telling one man. 'Nobody here has odor.' American Airlines confirmed that Adler and his family were removed from the flight after 'several passengers' complained about their body odor. American Airlines confirmed that Adler and his family were removed from the flight after 'several passengers' complained about their body odor The airline said the family was given a hotel room and meal vouchers for the night and booked onto a new flight for Thursday morning. Adler said the airline had promised to take their luggage - including their car seat and stroller - off the plane but it instead went to Detroit without them. The couple were reunited with their luggage in Detroit. Jennie said the couple stopped several people in the airport to ask if they smelled. Adler believes there was a different reason as to why he and his family got kicked off the plane, although he did not elaborate The couple said the airline promised to take their bags off the plane but did not do so, leaving them with just the clothes off their backs for the night before a new flight in the morning 'It's embarrassing but we asked them, "Do you think we smell? Because we just got kicked off a plane for smelling,'" she recalled. 'And they were like, "Oh my god, we're so embarrassed for you that someone would do such a thing, no!"' Adler believes there was a different reason as to why he and his family got kicked off the plane, although he did not elaborate. 'I want them to own up to what really happened and to tell me the truth,' he said. 'What was it?' The mother of a California college student who has been jailed in Japan for nearly nine months for breaking a lamp at a bar, is pleading for his release. Leah Smith said her son, Julian Adame, was traveling abroad when he was arrested and jailed in Toyko in May 2018. The University of Redlands student had been bar-hopping with two people he had met at his hostel. According to a GoFundMe account created by Smith, the college senior fell asleep at one of the bars. California college student, Julian Adame (pictured), was traveling abroad when he was arrested and jailed in Tokyo, Japan, for breaking a lamp His mom, Leah Smith (left), is still pleading for his release. 'I'm losing it now at this point too,' Smith said. 'I just want him home. This is ridiculous, he's not a criminal' 'He woke to a policeman informing him he had broken a lamp and must pay 100,000 yen for it, roughly $900,' the account reads. Adame's mother said her son had been warned about Japanese gang members disguising themselves as officers to rob tourists. Fearing the officers were gang members, Adame refused to let them see his passport. He then 'called 911 thirteen times' as he was being transported to a community police box. 'Once at the hostel, an officer attempted to handcuff Julian. Startled, he resisted arrest. The police charged him with the Obstruction of the Performance of Official Duties, a minor, nonviolent, nondrug offense,' his mother said. Since Adame's arrest, his mother has hired a translator to help negotiate the cost of the lamp's replacement and figure out how much his fine will be. Since Adame's arrest, his mother has hired a translator to help negotiate the cost of the lamp's replacement and figure out how much his fine will be 'I'm losing it now at this point too,' Smith told Fox 40. 'I just want him home. This is ridiculous, he's not a criminal.' According to Smith, her son's lawyer said the lamp will cost around $850, but that price is being negotiated. The lawyer also told the worried mother that Adame's fine can reach $5,000 max for the offense. Adame's most recent hearing was scheduled for December 12, but the trial was postponed until mid-February. Smith told Fox 40 that the US embassy in Tokyo is forwarding her letters from her son. One letter says, 'I love you so much' while another reads: 'I'm scared and want to come home.' Smith said she is still fighting to bring her son home and started the GoFundMe to help raise funds to continue to pay for a translator and eventually her son's flight home. On the 34th day of a partial U.S. government shutdown, President Donald Trump and congressional Democrats remain at odds over his demand for funding for a wall on the border with Mexico. Trump has refused to sign any legislation to fund an array of government agencies, including the departments of agriculture, commerce, justice, interior and homeland security, unless it includes $5.7 billion for his long-promised wall. The Democrats, who control the House of Representatives, have rejected the wall as ineffective and immoral and want the government to be reopened before any further talks about border security. As long as the stalemate continues, 800,000 federal employees are on furlough or working without pay. Deal time: Mitch McConnell allowed two votes to fail on the Senate floor, one Donald Trump's proposal, the other Nancy Pelosi's, opening the way for compromise Moment of truth? Two bills failing on the Senate floor could end the deadlock Get past this wall: Trump tweeted 'we will not cave' as Nancy Pelosi spoke Thursday morning The following are some possible ways the standoff might end: GLIMMERS OF COMPROMISE The Senate voted on two measures on Thursday: Trump's proposal to fund government agencies through Sept. 30 while paying for a wall and also providing some temporary protections for some undocumented immigrants ('Dreamers'), and a Democratic plan to reopen the government through Feb. 8 while border security negotiations continue. Both measures were defeated. The Democratic plan attracted six rebel Republicans, suggesting that support for Trump's hardline could crumble further. That could clear the way for a new round of negotiations between Congress and Trump. The fact that Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell is willing to allow the votes suggests he may be trying to persuade lawmakers of both parties to compromise. The speaker of the House, Democrat Nancy Pelosi, told reporters on Thursday that she was willing to meet face-to-face with Trump. POSSIBLE WAYS TO BREAK THE IMPASSE Congress and Trump find a way to temporarily re-open the government under a promise of serious border security negotiations over the next month or so. Democrats agree to more than the $1.3 billion in border security funding they have been backing, but less than the $5.7 billion Trump wants. If Trump faces a public opinion backlash or there are signs Republican lawmakers may be abandoning him, he might have to settle for less. End this? TSA staff are among 800,000 federal workers who have not been for two paychecks Democrats and Republicans agree on $5.7 billion in border security funding this year, but the language allows both sides to claim victory by including different ways of securing the border. Democrats insist the money will not be used to build a wall; Trump and his fellow Republicans tout the money that will include funding for various types of barriers and other tools to discourage illegal immigration and drugs. A 'grand bargain' emerges that reopens the government, bolsters border security and also provides protections from deportation for 'Dreamers,' who were brought to the United States illegally by their parents. Other changes to immigration law also could be included. Such a deal would fund federal programs through Sept. 30, the end of the fiscal year, add funds for an array of border security tools without imposing tough new constraints on immigration that Trump has previously attempted. TRUMP DECLARES 'NATIONAL EMERGENCY' While the possibility that this might happen has faded recently, Trump could revive his threat to declare a national emergency at any time. His rationale would be that illegal immigration jeopardizes U.S. security and he is empowered to act by redirecting existing federal funds to build the wall. Defense Department accounts could be targeted for use on the border. Under the Constitution, Congress holds the power to make decisions about spending U.S. taxpayers' money and using presidential powers to move funding around is almost certain to face legal challenges. Taking this step would probably lead to prompt enactment of legislation reopening the government under the belief that Trump would sign it into law, without the $5.7 billion. A Border Patrol agent who hasn't been paid since the partial government shutdown began 34 days ago, has been praised by a local politician for saving the life of a suicidal man in Michigan. Brian Maitland pulled to safety a 64-year-old male on CN Railroad Bridge, Newport who wanted to take his own life earlier this month. He teamed up with a colleague County Deputy Brian Sroka to get to a point where he could drag him away from the edge. County Deputy Brian Sroka spoke to a 64-year-old suicidal man and Border Patrol agent Brain Maitland, 49, pulled him to safety off CN Railroad Bridge in Michigan earlier this month While Sroka spoke to the man, Maitland, 49, moved behind him and his half-emptied bottle of bourbon. He then pulled his body despite there being a rope around his neck that was attached to a beam on the bridge. The rope was then removed. Democratic US Senator Debbie Stabenow, of Lansing, called both men 'true heroes' The man had a suicide note in his back pocket. Democratic US Senator Debbie Stabenow, of Lansing, called both men 'true heroes' but Maitland believes he was simply doing his job. 'Anybody in law enforcement or fire or EMS would have done the same thing,' Maitland told Detroit News. The father of three daughters, who has eight grandchildren, added that helping people is just human nature. He put himself at risk but made the correct decision according to the president of the American Federation of Government Employees/National Border Patrol Council, Local 2499, Jason Anderson. Maitland's work as part of the four crews that were sent to the scene near Swan Creek Road in Newport went under as he's one of the 800,000 furloughed since December 22. But he didn't reveal how he felt about President Donald Trump's decision to shut down the government as he demands $5.7billion for a Mexican border wall. The family man simply said 'we're doing okay'. Corey Aris Davis (pictured), 30, who was serving life in prison on human-trafficking charges escaped from a maximum-security prison in Alabama, officials said Thursday A man serving life in prison on human-trafficking charges escaped from a maximum-security prison in north Alabama, officials said Thursday. Corey Aris Davis, 30, was discovered missing from his cell at the St Clair Correctional Facility during a security check about 8pm Wednesday, the Department of Corrections said in a statement. Davis was assigned to a work detail inside the prison and other inmates and prison workers saw him during the day, the statement said. Investigators are at the prison trying to determine how he got out. The inmate was sentenced to life in prison in 2017 for two charges of human trafficking in Lauderdale County, records show. Authorities were searching for Davis in the Tennessee Valley county following a possible sighting. He is described as being 5' 6'' and weighing 150lbs. He has blond hair and blue eyes and was wearing his inmate state whites when he escaped. A court document shows prosecutors dismissed charges including sexual torture, rape, sodomy, kidnapping and burglary as Davis pleaded guilty. Davis (pictured) was discovered missing from his cell at the St Clair Correctional Facility during a security check about 8pm Wednesday, the Department of Corrections said in a statement Investigators are at the prison trying to determine how he got out. The St Clair Correctional Facility (pictured) is also one of Alabama's deadliest prisons Davis previously served time on charges that included theft, arson, burglary and breaking and entering a vehicle. State officials sought a life sentence under Alabama's habitual offender law. One of Alabama's larger prisons, the lockup in St Clair County has beds for 1,075 inmates, according to a statistical report from October. Inmate advocates have complained about problems at the prison including violence and security lapses. This isn't the first time an inmate has escaped the prison. Authorities reported in December 2017 that 27-year-old Antwone Wilson had escaped from St Clair Correctional Facility. He was eventually apprehended in Florida. The St Clair Correctional Facility is also one of Alabama's deadliest prisons. In February 2018, 25-year-old Travis Wilson was stabbed to death at the St Clair Correctional Facility. Davis (pictured) was assigned to a work detail inside the prison and other inmates and prison workers saw him during the day A few months later in September 2018, Terry Terrell Pettiway was found unresponsive and suffering from a stab wound. Pettiway was taken by ambulance to a local hospital where he died from his injuries. In October 2016, five inmates were hospitalized following a prison fight. A total of 18 were killed by other inmates at prisons in Alabama between October 2016 and December 2018, according to statistics and news releases from the state Department of Corrections. The Montgomery-based nonprofit organization Equal Justice Initiative released a report in December 2018 that found that Alabama's prisons are the most lethal in the nation. According to the Alabama Department of Corrections, 16 inmates died in homicides in 2017 and 2018. In 2014, the Equal Justice Initiative filed a class-action lawsuit against the state Department of Corrections in connection with the homicides and assaults at St Clair. The majority of the homicides, sexual assaults, stabbings, and robberies that occur at the facility involve inmates in unauthorized areas. Authorities are asking the public to report any sightings or information they may have to ADOC at (800) 831-8825. The Montgomery-based nonprofit organization Equal Justice Initiative released a report in December 2018 that found that Alabama's prisons are the most lethal in the nation. Pictured are prisoners inside St Clair The Queen and Prince Philip have their seat belt alarms disabled by Land Rover to make it easier to drive without one, it has been claimed. Philip, 97, was spotted driving without his belt fastened on Saturday, just 48 hours after his horror crash and the Queen was pictured not wearing one today. A source told The Sun that Jaguar Land Rover was instructed to disable the alarms for the Queen and Prince Philip that indicate when you haven't put on your seat belt. They said: 'It's so that the driver doesn't have the continuous warning beeps if they don't wear a seatbelt.' Prince Philip has been pictured today wearing a seat belt in the passenger seat after being given an official police warning last week for not wearing one. On the same day the Queen was snapped being driven to a Sandringham Women's Institute Meeting not wearing a seat belt. Prince Philip pictured today being driven in London and wearing his seatbelt. Last week he was given a police warning after driving his new car along a country lane without a seat belt, just 48 hours after he was involved in a horror smash On the same day the Queen is pictured being driven to a Sandringham Women's Institute Meeting- not wearing a seat belt The Duke of Edinburgh was pictured wearing his seat belt, a legal requirement in the UK, in London, in a green Range Rover at 3pm this afternoon. The passenger Prince was being driven by what is thought to be his security detail, with another member sitting in the back seat, as the car crawled along at a slow pace in heavy traffic on Park Lane. Joshua Harris, director at road safety charity Brake, said: 'Not wearing a seatbelt flies in the face of decades of evidence and puts your life at risk. 'Seatbelt reminders are vital to get people to remember to buckle up and keep themselves safe and within the law - we would never recommend disabling these devices, unless related to a valid exemption. 'Simply put, seatbelts save lives, are required to be worn by law and you can face a hefty fine if you're caught not wearing one.' Prince Philip was seen breaking the law on Saturday while driving his new car along a country lane a mile from the scene of last Thursday's collision, which left him shell-shocked and bloodied. Prince Philip (pictured) was spotted behind the wheel of his brand new Land Rover on Saturday just two days after flipping his car in a horror crash An example of the no seat belt sign seen in most modern cars, adapted for the Royals The accident happened as Philip pulled out of a side road on to the 60mph limit A149 road. His Land Rover collided with a Kia car, sending his vehicle tumbling across the road where it ended up on its side. The 28-year-old woman driver of the Kia suffered a knee injury and her 45-year-old woman passenger sustained a broken wrist. A nine-month-old boy strapped into the back seat escaped serious injury. Philip told people at the scene that the crash happened after he was dazzled by the low sun. Prince Philip's Land Rover collided with a Kia car, sending his vehicle tumbling across the road where it ended up on its side on Thursday last week Despite Prince Philip passing an eye test in the wake of the crash passenger in the Kia which crashed with the Duke, Emma Fairweather, 46, said he should not be behind the wheel. She told the Sunday Mirror: 'I respect that he's entitled to his life but he has other options to use other than driving. 'I very much hope he'll consider stopping. There's no reason why he ought to be driving at almost 100 years old. 'I understand why he would want to keep driving as long as he can and the law allows that. 'It doesn't matter if we're talking about the Queen, Prince Philip or my next door neighbour.' Emma Fairweather, 45, was a passenger in the Kia involved in the collision between a Kia and Prince Philip on Thursday The Duke's cavalier approach to safety was branded 'reckless' and 'crazy' by Princess Diana's former Royal protection officer, Ken Wharfe. Mr Wharfe told The Mail on Sunday: 'The senior officers in charge of his protection have serious questions to answer because someone needs to be able to stand up to him and put a stop to this now before there is another incident.' It is still unclear whether police have interviewed the Duke over last Thursday's crash near the Queen's Sandringham Estate, which left him trapped in his overturned Land Rover. Depending on the outcome of a police probe, the Duke could be forced to surrender his licence. The rich are getting younger, a Bloomberg study has found. A survey of US investors with at least $25 million at their disposal showed the average age among the demographic had dropped by 11 years since 2014, from 58 down to 47. The numbers among this lavishly wealthy demographic have more than doubled since 2008's recession, and they're significantly younger than other millionaires in less wealthy brackets. In contrast, those with a reserve of at least $1 million average at 62-years-old - and that number hasn't moved in several years. President of the Spectrem Group - who conducted the study - George Walper Jr believes this is a 'vast generational transfer or wealth' that is only just getting started. Households with more than $25 million at their disposal have nearly doubled since 2008 (as shown in this Bloomberg graph) The sample size of the study may have been small with just 185 Americans surveyed, but Walper Jr says its consistent with other research of the US' top 0.1 percent. The over-65 remain the country's wealthiest stronghold, retaining a third of the US' wealth. But the number hasn't risen as quickly as the number of elderly Americans among the population, according to academics Emmanuel Saez and Gabriel Zucman. The very wealthiest group is 'actually getting younger' according to the pair. And the Silicone Valley tech-boom is certainly responsible for the embarrassment of riches some young people now have at their disposal. In fact, nearly 3% of America's richest - or those with fortunes more than $2 billion - are under 37. The severe drop in average average ages has been attributed to the Silicone Valley tech-boom, spearheaded by the likes of Mark Zuckerberg (left). However, social influencers like Kylie Jenner (right) also play a significant part Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg became a billionaire at aged 23. Now 34, he is worth $55 billion. But it isn't just social media CEO's at the top of the chain - it's the rise of social influencers too. Through her utilization of Snapchat and Instagram, 21-year-old Kylie Jenner has amassed a net worth of over $900 million. 'There may be more Mark Zuckerbergs at the top of the wealth distribution than in the 1960's, but also more Paris Hiltons,' Saez and Zucman said in their 2016 study. 172,000 US households have net worth of $25 million or more, compared to 84,000 in 2008. Nine out of 10 of the investors surveyed in the study attributed their wealth to 'inheritance' and 'family connection', but also said 'hard work' and 'running my own business' played a part. 70 percent of the richest investors say they're still working full-time. However though more young people have entered the top 0.1 percent frame, most of their Millennial or Generation X peers were struggling. Americans over 75 are the only demographic to see their net worth rise between 2007 and 2016, according to the Federal Reserve Survey in July 2018. Rich kids! Three per cent of America's richest are comprised of people under 37 who have networths of $2 billion or more affording them a life of luxury (file pic) With their assets heavily invested in housing, Americans between 35 to 54 saw their wealth plunge by 41 percent. In contrast, the wealthiest Americans are employing complex estate planning techniques to transfer their wealth to their children, un-abetted by hefty inheritance tax. 91 percent of the investors with a $25 million-or-more threshold keep assets in a trust - half of which have three or more trusts. Interestingly, Spectrum also found the typical rich person is now less generous than before, donating less to charity. Just 15% of earners over $25 million give away $100,000 or more each year. Rescuers are using explosives to help them reach the space where it is believed a two-year-old boy who fell down a narrow well in Malaga is trapped. Julen Rosello fell into the borehole after he walked away from his family on a private estate in Totalan, southern Spain on January 13. Rescue experts have now resorted to using explosives to break through the 10ft wall of hard rock separating rescuers from the narrow shaft where it is thought the toddler is trapped. Rescuers searching for a two-year-old boy who fell down a narrow well in Malaga are using explosives to reach the space where he's thought to be stuck (pictured, the rescue site today) There have been no signs of life since Julen fell into the well aside from a few strands of his hair and the bag of sweets he was carrying More than 100 workers spent 11 days sinking a 300ft relief shaft beside the original well after the toddler disappeared 12 days ago. Rescue experts, lowered into the new shaft in a capsule, yesterday completed the first 3ft of a horizontal tunnel as they looked to bridge the 13ft gap. The government's office in the southern province of Malaga said today it had taken around 16 hours to dig through the first half. There have been no signs of life since Julen fell into the well aside from a few strands of his hair and the bag of sweets he was carrying. Officials have refused to comment on whether or not the toddler could have survived for this long. So far, the rescue bid has cost 500,000, but authorities are determined to find the boy and bring him back to the surface in a rescue mission that has gripped Spain. Julen Rosello, pictured, fell into the bore hole while out with his family near Totalan The rescuers are being lowered to the bottom of the shaft in this cage before beginning the delicate task of tunnelling into the borehole and hopefully finding Julen Alfonso Celis, regional government representative, said on Wednesday: 'Members of the Mines Rescue Brigade sent from Asturias (region) have just accessed the vertical well to start excavation in the search for Julen.' Miners working in rotating shifts will dig a four-metre passage with picks, pneumatic hammers and explosives from the bottom of the shaft towards the borehole, which is 300ft deep and just 10ins wide. Teams equipped with oxygen masks will work for 40 minutes each in conditions so tight they can only dig kneeling or lying down. The process of crossing the divide between the two shafts could take up to 24 hours, emergency services chief, Angel Garcia Vidal, has said. Meanwhile children and families have been holding candlelight vigils across Spain in support of the missing boy and of the massive rescue operation, even as hopes of finding him alive have faded with each passing day. Julen's parents, Jose Rosello (in the grey coat) and Vicky Garcia (wearing a yellow scarf), pictured, have been keeping a vigil awaiting news of their missing son Rescuers have spent 11 days sinking a 300-ft shaft beside a bore hole where 2-year-old Julen fell on January 13. It is understood the rescuers are going to use a capsule in the rescue attempt The baby fell into this 15-inch wide borehole on the estate on the outskirts of Malaga Teams of two rescuers are currently trying to dig a 13ft tunnel between the relief shaft and the borehole in the hope of rescuing Julen Rosello Julen's mother and father, both 29, held each other tightly as they attended a vigil a few minutes from the scene last night. According to Bild, some 300 people also gathered there. One of those present, Juan Jose Cortes, was heard praying 'for God to do this miracle and give power to the miners, Julen and his parents.' Cortes' own five-year-old daughter was found murdered ten years ago after weeks of searching and he has been supporting Julen's family. Engineers and miners have worked for ten days in a row but have run into various technical problems while drilling a shaft parallel to the well. Juan Lopez Escobar, one of the engineers in charge of the rescue operation said: 'No miner is left in a mine, and Julen is now considered a miner. Whatever may have happened, a miner is always pulled out.' He told reporters earlier that digging the horizontal passage would be the most dangerous part of the effort. Julen's parents suffered another tragedy in 2017 when their three-year-old son died suddenly after suffering a cardiac arrest while walking along a beach. Members of the public have been holding vigils across Spain praying for Julen Dozens of people have worked in shifts around the clock to rescue Julen from the shaft A Volkswagen that was crushed by a train after it got trapped on a level crossing in Switzerland was empty, police have revealed. Footage of the terrifying incident shows a train ploughing into the stationary car after desperately whistling to signal its approach in Davos. The blue car is then thrown to the side of the tracks as the locomotive stops beside it. Swiss Police have now confirmed no one was in the vehicle at the time of the crash despite claims by a British news agency that three terrified businessmen were unable to escape the car. Swiss Police have confirmed no one was in a car when it was trapped on a level crossing and crushed by a passing train in the Swiss town of Davos These claims were reported by various British news organisations, including MailOnline. Authorities have also confirmed they are questioning the motorist who abandoned the vehicle on the tracks in Davos, the Swiss town hosting the World Economic Forum. A spokeswoman from Graubunden Police said: 'Reports that people were in the vehicle are not correct. No one was in the car when the train collided with it. 'There is an investigation into the incident so we cannot give further details. The driver will of course be questioned, as will witnesses. 'It is an offence to leave a vehicle on a crossing.' Authorities have also confirmed they are questioning the motorist who abandoned the vehicle on the tracks in Davos, the Swiss town hosting the World Economic Forum It was previously reported that the car got caught between two barriers due to traffic build up around the tiny Swiss town on January 22. It was believed two of the men climbed out of the vehicle after the crash, but had to help the third out after he was trapped in the backseat by a child lock. A police spokesperson at the time confirmed no one was injured. A statement added: 'If you are in such a situation, leave the car as soon as possible and call emergency the number'. Those involved were reported to be three British businessmen attending the World Economic Forum. This year, the world-renowned event was attended by the likes of Angela Merkel and Prince William. MI6 aims to enlist more black and ethnic minority spies with a new recruitment video set in a barbershop. Britain's foreign intelligence agency wants to change the macho image of their intelligence officers and reach candidates who would not normally apply. The short TV advert attempts to debunk the James Bond image by telling potential recruits it is not about killing their enemies with car ejector seats. The clip, which will be shown on YouTube for the first time, starts with what appears to be a nail-biting scene from a 007 movie. The clip, which will be shown on YouTube for the first time, starts with what appears to be a nail-biting scene from a 007 movie The short TV advert attempts to debunk the James Bond image by telling potential recruits it is not about killing their enemies with car ejector seats It shows a man sweating, looking terrified, and gripping arm rests as a man approaches him in the background in what appears to be an interrogation scene. Following the menacing music playing in the background, a voice then says: 'We are intelligence officers, but we don't do what you think. 'It's not about finding the secret button for your ejector seat. 'It's finding common ground with a stranger, anywhere. And gaining their trust. 'Taking an interest in the world, learning more.' It quickly emerges that it is actually just a moment from ordinary daily life and a man from an ethnic minority is receiving a shave in a barbershop. Reaching to ordinary ethnic minority and black Britons, it adds: 'If this sounds familiar, it's because you do it every day. 'MI6, secretly we're just like you.' In a further advert posted on their website, the agency said 'there's no such thing as a 'type' of SIS officer'. It added that 'while we have always attracted talent, in order to remain one of the best intelligence services in the world, we need to harness talent from the widest possible range of backgrounds and experiences. That could include you.' Following the menacing music playing in the background, a voice then says: 'We are intelligence officers, but we don't do what you think' The agency said there were many 'misconceptions' about what it is like to work for them and people assume they have to be from privileged backgrounds and have no family or social life. 'In fact we are more like you than you think. Many officers balance fulfilling careers with caring commitments, have active social lives and come from a range of educational backgrounds', it added. The advert follows MI6's first ever TV recruitment bid last year, which started with a shark in the tank. MI6, also known as the Secret Intelligence Service, said the advert increased applications from ethnic minority groups but it still wanted more diverse candidates. The agency is expanding by 25 per cent to take on soaring global threats, from resurgent Russia and China to terror groups Islamic State and al Qaeda. It also announced last year that it was relaxing its recruitment rules to encourage more children of migrants to sign up. In an attempt to boost ethnic minority recruitment, it dropped a century-long requirement to have a British-born parent or 'substantial ties' to the UK. The rule change was part of a major push to increase MI6's headcount by 800 to 3,400 by 2021. The British military is also attempting to recruit from sections of society who would not traditionally sign up to the armed forces. On the recruitment website, The Chief of SIS, Alex Younger, said: 'I want this opportunity to dispel the myths that still too often see potential candidates rule themselves out. 'The Service I am proud to lead is global, modern, and most capable with a deserved reputation of being one of the best intelligence agencies in the world. 'MI6 makes a unique contribution to protecting Britain's security and prosperity. 'My message remains simple: there is no 'standard' MI6 officer: if you have what it takes, then apply to join us. 'Our work is exciting, intellectually challenging and it matters. 'Regardless of background, if you have the skills we need and share our values, I want you to consider a career in intelligence, in a service that reflects today's UK society. 'MI6 needs the best people that this country has to offer and there really is a place for you.' The search for a missing 3-year-old boy has enered is third day in North Carolina as the 911 call placed by the great-grandmother of the child reveals new details about the event leading up to the disappearance. 'We lost my two-year-old grandson. He was walking in the woods back there and we can't find him. 3-year-old grandson,' says the panicked great-grandmother in the audio, which was obtained by DailyMail.com. She then notes that Casey was playing with his sister and a cousin, stating: 'The other ones come through the house but left him there and he walked off somewhere and we can't find him.' That call was placed after a 45 minute search of the woods turned up no sign of the boy. It has now been over 48 hours since Casey disappeared into the woods wearing just a coat and sweatpants. Scroll down for video Gone: The 911 call made by the great-grandmother of Casey Hathaway after the boy went missing on Tuesday has been released Scene: The woman reveals that the boy disappeared into the woods while playing with his sister and a cousin, and that a 45 minute search turned up no signs of him (search scene on Thursday morning above) Police and the FBI were back on the ground searching Thursday, but had to turn members of the public away from the scene. 'The search for 3-year-old Casey Hathaway continues Thursday morning, despite challenging weather conditions,' stated the Craven County Sheriff's Office on Thursday morning. 'At this time, only professional searchers are being used because of safety concerns. When it is safe to welcome our volunteers back, we will announce it here. Thank you for understanding.' Locals had been working side-by-side with law enforcement prior to Thursday, with hundreds turning out despite the inclement weather and ready to head back out on Thursday. They are currently being held at a nearby church until it is safe for them to join the crews in the woods. There has been no mention of foul play or that the boy was kidnapped at this time. Dense area: Residents have turned up by the hundreds to help search, but on Thursday rain and wind was so bad they were ordered to wait for conditions to improve (search party on Tuesday) House: Anyone who has seen Casey or has information on his whereabouts should call the tip line at 252-636-6703 or the Craven County SO at 252-633-0498 (the home wheeCasey was last seen above) Divers have joined the search to help look in ponds and sinkholes spread throughput the dense woods where the boy was last seen. Marines also joined the search, with the United States Marine Corps lending some of their servicemen, who are trained to operate in difficult conditions. Casey was last seen just before 2pm on Tuesday. He is a white male with blonde hair and brown eyes. He weighs 25 pounds and is 28 inches tall. If you see Casey or have information on his whereabouts, call the tip line at 252-636-6703 or the Craven County SO at 252-633-0498. A woman was arrested after exposing herself and licking an employee's face at a Waffle House in Florida. Freedom Ryder Zobrist, 38, was detained Monday outside the restaurant on Pensacola Boulevard after the manager reported her for inappropriate behavior. The manager told Escambia County Sheriffs Office deputies that Zobrist arrived early that morning and because of her actions, he asked her to leave. Freedom Ryder Zobrist was arrested at a Waffle House restaurant after taking her pants off exposing herself and licking a manager's face She left but returned around noon cursing and threatening to get a gun. She claimed she would shoot the manager and everyone in the restaurant. Zobrist then walked outside and 'pulled down her pants, exposed her sexual organs and started dancing around the parking lot,' according to a report seen by WEARTV. Zobrist (pictured) threatened to return to the restaurant and shoot the manager and patrons The manager said she then approached him and tried to grab his genitals. He then tried to block her and she licked him on 'both sides of his face.' Zobrist was asked again to leave the premises, says the report but instead poked the employee in his chest with her finger. Witnesses at the scene claim they were blocked in and couldn't leave because of her dancing and that she was being very loud and causing a disturbance. The incident took place at Waffle House located at 6913 Pensacola Boulevard A witness also stated in the report, while he was in his vehicle trying to leave the parking lot, Zobrist blocked him in and started dancing naked in front of his vehicle. Zobrist is charged with lewd and indecent exposure, disorderly conduct, battery and assault. Deputies arrested Zobrist for lewd and indecent exposure of sexual organs two counts with a bond of $1,000 per count. She was also charged with lewd conduct with a bond of $ 1,000, battery with a bond of $ 1,000 and assault with a bond of $1,000. She is scheduled to appear in court on February 11. A brave young woman is ready to wear her beauty pageant gown just one month after she was sexually assaulted by a convict rapist. Florencia Vera, 22, was on her cell phone to her boyfriend while jogging along a dirt road the night of December 17, 2018 when Juan Gustavo Mercado Correa, 35, knocked her to the ground with a blow to the head. Mercado Correa, who had just been released a month earlier after serving seven years of a 10-year sexual assault sentence, pinned the Argentine beauty to the ground. He beat a defenseless Vera and dragged her by the hair before he covered her mouth with dirt and sexually abused her on a grass field in Chivilcoy, a neighborhood in the municipality of San Martin. Florencia Vera is ready for her special night this Saturday as she will participate in beauty pageant just a month after she was beaten and raped while jogging on a dirt road in Argentina The 22-year-old was talking to her boyfriend when a convicted rapist delivered a blow to her head, which knocked her to the ground before he sexually attacked her Aware of Vera's plight, the beauty pageant organizers in the district of Montecaseros decided to postponed the event, which was originally scheduled to be held last month, according to Argentine news outlet Los Andes. On Saturday night, Vera will be representing Lambare, the neighborhood where she was born and raised, and finally live her dream of standing alongside the other three beauty hopefuls. 'I already feel entirely like a queen,' Vera wrote on her Facebook account Monday as she thanked her community for the show of support they extended following her frightful experience. 'I am very grateful to each person and to all Mendoza for all they have done for me! It's not about winning or losing, it's about living the moment and enjoying this beautiful experience that is only once in a lifetime. I am very grateful to each person and to all Mendoza for all they have done for me! I will give the best of me.' The beauty pageant participant is not worried about the end results of this weekend's contest: 'It's not about winning or losing, it's about living the moment and enjoying this beautiful experience that is only once in a lifetime' Following her brutal December 17, 2018 attack, organizers of the beauty pageant decided to postpone the event in hopes Vera would be ready to participate in the near future Florencia Vera is one of four young ladies which will participate in Saturday's beauty queen pageant Law enforcement officials and local politicians in the province of Mendoza even proposed to help cover the expenses for her attire this weekend. But Vera politely declined their offers. The pageant originally counted with five contestants before one of the young women abruptly dropped out of the field, sensing that Vera would be at the receiving end of preferential treatment. But it's been totally the opposite, according to Alejandra Ferrando, who heads the local cultural department in San Martin. Juan Gustavo Mercado Correa is charged with assaulting and sexually abusing Florencia Vera just a month after he had been released early from jail after he completed seven of the 10 years he had been sentenced for a sexual assault case 'From the beginning, Flor showed a beautiful humility and predisposition, both for the celebration of the party and for her companions, Ferrando said. 'She shows at all times that they do not want us to give her special treatment, and we avoid it all the time,' she added. 'The commission of Montecaseros has organized tea afternoons with the candidates so they can get to know each other and share their stories. They have all been very supportive of Florencia.' New mothers returning to work after maternity leave could receive greater protection against being made redundant. Theresa May said last night she wanted to see current rules that safeguard women's jobs during their baby's first year extended for six months after they go back. The change is designed to end the perceived default situation that when a business has to make staff cutbacks, the new mother is usually one of the first to be offered redundancy. The Prime Minister said: 'It's unacceptable that too many parents still encounter difficulties when returning to work.' Government figures suggest that every year more than 50,000 women lose their job unfairly as a result of becoming pregnant or spending up to a year on maternity leave. The Prime Minister said Brexit was an opportunity to overhaul the rules out paternity leave as she scrambles to shore up support for her Brexit deal (stock image) According to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, one in nine women said they had been fired or made redundant when they returned to work after having a child, or were treated so badly they felt forced out of their job. One in five mothers reported other financial losses, which included failing to gain a promotion, salary reduction, a lower pay rise or bonus and demotion. At present, employers who want to make a new mother redundant have to prove the reason is unconnected with her pregnancy or maternity leave. The Prime Minister's proposal would see this extended for six months after their return. Business minister Kelly Tolhurst said: 'Pregnancy and maternity discrimination is illegal. But some new mothers still find unacceptable attitudes on their return to work which effectively forces them out of their jobs. That's why we are looking at ways to further protect new parents by giving them time to re-establish themselves in the workplace and show the value they bring to employers.' Mrs May added: 'People in this country already benefit from some of the most rigorous workplace standards in the world, including parental leave and pay entitlements, but we are determined to do even more as we leave the EU. 'Today's proposals are set to provide greater protection for new parents in the workplace, and put their minds at ease at this important time.' Theresa May (pictured in the Commons yesterday) promised stronger rights for pregnant women in work and parents returning to their jobs tonight The move which goes further than current EU requirements would give women priority in retaining their jobs over other employees who are also at risk of redundancy. The consultation by the Business Department will also seek views on affording the same protection to parents returning from adoption leave or shared parental leave. The proposal was welcomed by Justine Roberts, founder of social media network Mumsnet. She said: 'Mumsnet users talk a lot about pregnancy and maternity discrimination, and last year, 96 per cent of women we surveyed said having children affected mothers' careers for the worse. 'It's a multifaceted problem requiring a change in attitude and culture as well as legislation, but stronger legal protection is a very welcome first step.' Jane van Zyl, of the work-life balance charity Working Families, said: 'We hear from women struggling with pregnancy and maternity discrimination every single day on our helpline. But it isn't just bad news for families, it's also bad news for the economy. 'While many companies understand the business benefits of family-friendly workplaces, some don't. 'Proposals to extend protection from redundancy to new mothers and parents returning to work should go a long way toward protecting their jobs, and to reducing the shocking number of women who lose their jobs due to pregnancy and maternity discrimination.' A Romanian man who burgled two houses within a week of his arrival in Britain had a string of criminal convictions and was a member of a gang, a court has heard. Constantin Ciobanica, who has served prison sentences for theft, blackmail and being a member of a criminal organisation, left his homeland after securing work in the UK through an agency. Newcastle Crown Court heard, just days after his arrival last August, the 37-year-old left a mother 'shocked and sickened' when he broke into her home as she slept and searched rooms. Constantin Ciobanica, 37, left, was jailed for two years and four months for his role in the burglaries. His accomplice Daniel Pandel, 27, received an 18-month sentence Newcastle Crown Court, pictured, heard Ciobanica had only been in the UK for a week when he broke into the first house and acted as a look out during the second raid Ciobanica took cash the victim had saved for a holiday, a coin jar, a Vivienne Westwood necklace, a laptop and a fitbit. The court heard Ciobanica acted as 'look out' when a second house, also in High Heaton, Newcastle, was targeted by his friend Daniel Pandel. Pandel, 27, had reached into a bedroom through an open window and took a coin jar. The pair left the house after they were 'disturbed by a car.' Ciobanica, of no fixed address, admitted two offences of burglary. Judge Penny Moreland sentenced him to two years and four months behind bars. Judge Moreland told him: 'I am told you had been in the UK for only a week when you committed these offences.' Paul Caulfield, defending, said Ciobanica and come to Britain for 'a better life'. Mr Caulfield added: 'He had been in this country for only a week. 'He came for a lawful purpose, to work and seek a better life. 'My instructions are he came here with work pre-arranged, through an agency based in Romania.' Mr Caulfield said Ciobanica became ill when he arrived and found out his mother, who died while he was on remand, had been diagnosed with leukaemia. He added: 'He is extremely anxious to return to his homeland as quickly as possible to commence the grieving process.' Pandel, of no fixed address, admitted one charge of burglary and has been jailed for 18 months. Angus Taylor, defending, said Pandel had also been recruited through an agency, to work at the same UK firm, but added: 'The job didn't turn out to be as had been promised. 'He sought to get back to Romania by any means he could.' A frail pensioner who died after he was arrested by police for malicious communication was said to send 'nasty letters', his neighbours say. Officers went to a home in Gibraltar Walk, Bethnal Green, east London, at around 11am on Monday and detained the man who his neighbours say is called Peter Monroe. After being handcuffed, he fell ill and was taken to hospital where he died just after 1pm, the Independent Office for Police Conduct said. Up to nine police officers lined the concrete balcony outside his flat, as paramedics 'tried to resuscitate Peter on the floor' at around midday on Monday, according to locals. His neighbours say he had a 'do not snitch' poster and 'no one likes a rat' sign in his window. Police arrested a man in Gibraltar Walk, Bethnal Green at 11am today. The man in his 70s and named by residents as Peter Monroe, fell ill and was taken to hospital where he died One resident told how Peter used to write 'nasty letters' to people he would post through their letterboxes. The man, who lives on the second floor, said: 'Pete used to write nasty letter and post them through people's doors. 'He never wrote one to me and I didn't think anyone really thought anything of it - that was just Pete. 'We would like to know what happened because it doesn't take three police cars, a police van and two paramedics to arrest one elderly man who can hardly walk - Pete wasn't a well man.' His neighbours say he had a 'do not snitch' poster and 'no one likes a rat' sign in the front window of his home (pictured) Peter Monroe lived in this block of flats in Gibraltar Walk, Bethnal Green But other neighbours were 'shocked' to hear of the reason behind his arrest. Zia Islam, 28, said: 'I would be shocked to think Peter had written nasty letters. 'My nan has lived in this building for 15 years and we've never known him to do anything like that. 'Many residents are scared to leave their apartments here because of antisocial behaviour and Peter was one of them - I used to have to buy him milk sometimes because he was scared to go out.' The three storey council building provides housing for the over 50s. The dad-of-two, from nearby Stepney Green, said the block was 'rife' with antisocial behaviour. He added the stairwell and balcony in front of number six, where Peter lived, was filled with police when he went to visit his grandmother who lives on the floor above. He said: 'I saw Peter's body just laying cold on the floor and police were using a defibrillator to try to save him. 'There were officers everywhere and I heard one officer in a stab proof vest telling the paramedics off when they arrived and asking why they took so long to get there.' Another resident and friend of Peter said the pensioner lived alone and didn't think he had any friends or family because he never had a single visit. He said: 'In the ten years I've known him, he didn't ever see a single person visit his flat. 'I was so shocked when I heard, it's so sad - I just can't believe it. 'I saw him at about 9.15am and he was fine but when I walked towards his block at about midday, I saw police and paramedics everywhere. 'There were about eight or nine officers all lined up standing outside his door and they all looked miserable. 'Pete's door was open and paramedics were working on him on the floor - it looked like they were trying to resuscitate him, he was in a bad way. 'I think what just have happened is they sent police to arrest him and he has panicked or had a heart attack. 'Why they needed to send so many police officers to arrested an old man living alone, I don't know - in the ten years I've known him I've never known him to cause trouble.' An 80-year-old woman, who lives on the same floor as Peter, said she had never heard her neighbour utter a bad word. She said: 'He was not a very well man - I'd always see him with his walking stick plodding along. 'He lived down from me at number six and this block is only for the over 50s. 'I didn't know him very well but I'm very surprised to hear he was sending nasty letters - he seemed harmless. 'He lived alone and the gate in front of his door was always locked - he was the type of person to keep a look out for what was going on in the block.' A note said to be written by Pete remains sellotaped to the brown wooden door of his flat behind a locked cast iron gate. The Independent Office for Police Conduct is investigating the death of a man in Bethnal Green today who was arrested at his home on suspicion of malicious communications It reads: 'Dont knock unless you have an appointment. 'No appointment no answer except Royal Mail and EDF Energy. 'Don't waste your time waiting.' It is the only flat above the ground floor to still have the heavy iron bars on the door and windows. A 'do not snitch' poster displayed in Pete's window says 'no one likes a rat' and 'remember the police are not your friend.' Other signs in the window include a self made ad for a book shop on nearby Brick Lane, a picture of Labour MP Rushanara Ali and a 'no place for hate' posters with a number to report hate crime. The flat is accessed by a wide concrete communal balcony looked onto a quiet residential courtyard and is one of only four flats on one side of the stairwell. There is a lift in the red brick building said to consist of only one bedroom apartments for the elderly. The watchdog is examining body-worn video and initial statements from the officers involved. IOPC regional director for London Jonathan Green said: 'Our thoughts go out to the man's family and friends at this difficult time as well as those affected by the incident. 'Our investigation is at a very early stage and as part of our thorough and independent investigation, we will be carefully reviewing all body-worn video footage and speaking to witnesses to establish exactly what happened.' The Archbishop of Canterbury has apologised for 'mistakes' in how the Church of England handled initial allegations against Bishop George Bell. Justin Welby, the Archbishop of Canterbury, said he 'apologised unreservedly' and that he 'took responsibility' for the church's failures in relation to the Bell case. It comes after the Church's national safeguarding team published findings of an inquiry which found the latest allegations against the late former bishop of Chichester were 'unfounded'. In January last year, the Church of England handed 'fresh information' to Sussex Police about Bishop Bell, who died in 1958. The Archbishop of Canterbury has apologised for 'mistakes' in how the Church of England handled allegations against the late Bishop George Bell (pictured) This followed news a woman, only known as Carol, who claimed she was abused by Bell in the 1950s when she was aged between five and eight, was paid 15,000 in compensation and received an apology from the church. The latest inquiry was commissioned by the Church and carried out by senior ecclesiastical lawyer Timothy Briden, the vicar general of Canterbury. In the report, he said his finding 'excludes any reconsideration of the validity' of original allegations made against Bell and instead focuses only on the fresh information handed to police last year. He concluded: 'Concentrating exclusively upon the allegations remitted to me, I have decided that they are unfounded.' Most Rev Welby said Bishop Bell was a 'remarkable role model', adding: 'I apologise unreservedly for the mistakes made in the process surrounding the handling of the original allegation against Bishop George Bell. 'I recognise this has been an extremely difficult period for all concerned and I apologise equally to all those who have come forward and shared stories of abuse where we have not responded well.' His said at the end of 2017 'several people' came forward with 'further, fresh information' and after a 'thorough, independent investigation, nothing of substance has been added to what has previously been alleged'. The information was received after the conclusion of Lord Carlile of Berriew's independent review in December 2017 into how it handled allegations made against the late bishop. The Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, described Bishop Bell as a 'remarkable role model' and apologised for the handling of the original allegation In this report, the Church was criticised for 'rushing to judgment' of one of its most respected bishops some 60 years after his death. The Church's inquiry into the allegations was criticised for failing to adequately investigate the victim's claims or seek witnesses who had known or worked for Bishop Bell during his tenure as Bishop of Chichester between 1929 and 1958. It led to a statue planned for Canterbury Cathedral to celebrate his work in helping rescue Jewish children from Germany during the Second World War being scrapped. His name was removed from a room at the University of Chichester and another building in the town renamed. The Church of England commissioned the review of the original investigation after Bishop Bell's supporters said not enough was done to substantiate the complainant's allegations. Lord Carlile said his review was not to establish the truth of Carol's claims, but to investigate the Church's handling of the case and establish best practice for handling future complaints. He said when a settlement was reached without admission of liability, the identity of the alleged abuser should be confidential. But Most Rev Welby disagreed and said the Church was 'committed to 'transparency'. In his latest statement, Justin Welby said: 'The Church's dilemma has been to weigh up the reputation of a highly esteemed bishop who died over 60 years ago alongside a serious allegation. 'We did not manage our response to the original allegation with the consistency, clarity or accountability that meets the high standards rightly demanded of us.' He said he apologised 'profoundly and unconditionally' for hurt caused by the 'failures in parts of the process', and said he took 'responsibility for this failure'. But he added: 'It is still the case that there is a woman who came forward with a serious allegation relating to an historic case of abuse and this cannot be ignored or swept under the carpet. 'We need to care for her and listen to her voice.' He said this was a 'difficult issue' which leaves the church with an 'impossible dilemma', but added Bishop Bell was 'one of the most important figures in the history of the Church of England in the 20th century and his legacy is undoubted and must be upheld.' The Bishop of Chichester Martin Warner said: 'We recognise how damaging and painful this has been. We have all been diminished by this case. 'The legitimate quest for certainty has been defeated by the nature of the case and the passage of time. 'Bishop Bell cannot be proven guilty, nor can it be safely claimed that the original complainant has been discredited. 'There is an uncertainty which cannot be resolved.' Terence Cole, 61, said he was trying to pay off a 2,000 gambling debt when he demanded cash from banks in Allerton, Wavertree, Huyton, Liverpool city centre and Prescot in Merseyside A man dubbed 'Britain's worst robber' who was told to 'sod off' by a grumpy bookie during a series of bungled raids was spared a life sentence by a judge because he was so useless. Terence Cole, 61, said he was trying to pay off a 2,000 gambling debt when he demanded cash from banks in Allerton, Wavertree, Huyton, Liverpool city centre and Prescot in Merseyside. He tried to rob six banks and a bookmaker's in a two-week crime spree. Liverpool Crown Court heard he brandished a grey handbrush wrapped with tape and claimed to have a gun - but left empty-handed on all but one occasion. Cole had a scarf over his mouth, but it made his voice so muffled that bank staff couldn't hear him asking for money. Some workers realised his weapon was a fake and flatly refused to hand over any cash, while one brave woman even told him to 'sod off'. The bungling robber managed to flee with 380 from the Royal Bank of Scotland in Prescot, on November 23, leaving a bank clerk 'shaking and crying hysterically'. But he didn't even realise he had stolen the cash until he got to a train station and noticed it in his bag. Cole, of Kensington, Liverpool, was arrested on December 7 after a police appeal and admitted robbery. Passing sentence for the offence, the Honorary Recorder of Liverpool, Judge Clement Goldstone, QC, told Cole, who has a string of robbery convictions from the last 40 years: 'Fortunately, you are not very good at it.' Mike Stephenson, prosecuting, said: 'He confirmed that he used a small grey brush from his own flat, which he wrapped around the end of, to make it look like a firearm, stating that 'I wanted them to think I had a gun'. 'He obtained 380 from the robbery at the RBS in Prescot, but only realised that he had been successful when he was on the platform at Prescot train station and noticed the cash in his carrier bag. Liverpool Crown Court heard he brandished a grey handbrush wrapped with tape and claimed to have a gun - but left empty-handed on all but one occasion. Cole had a scarf over his mouth, but it made his voice so muffled that bank staff couldn't hear him asking for money 'He at that point counted out the cash. He paid 360 of this money to a male who he owed cash to and kept 20 for himself.' Cole told police he would have continued in his robbery attempts until he had paid off his debts, telling them: 'I would have gone to St Helens next'. He was 'apologetic' for his actions, saying he was sorry if he had caused distress to staff. The court heard Cole had been sentenced to a total of 41 years in the past for robbery and associated offences. He was first jailed for robbery at Bristol Crown Court in 1977, aged just 19. Ian Morris, defending, said: 'The greatest mitigation is the remorse he has demonstrated.' Judge Goldstone sentenced Cole to an extended sentence of 12 years - meaning he will be in jail for eight years then released on licence for four years. Judge Goldstone sentenced Cole to an extended sentence of 12 years - meaning he will be in jail for eight years then released on licence for four years But he said if Cole had been good at robbing banks he would have faced a life sentence. He told Cole, who appeared via video link from HMP Liverpool: 'The object of the exercise was to get money in order to pay off a gambling debt of in excess of 2,000. 'During the course of this campaign, you were described as Liverpool's worst bank robber. 'You are 61 years of age and although for some activities you might be described as being in the prime of life or not far beyond it, robbery is not the activity that a man of your age should be devoting your attention to.' He said there was 'absolutely no doubt' that Cole posed a significant risk to the public - whether physically or psychologically - if he committed further robberies. The judge said: 'I make it quite clear that if you had been more successful in your attempted robberies to the extent that more than one had been successful, you would have been facing today a discretionary life sentence.' Wilbur Martinez-Guzman, 19, was arrested on Saturday in Carson City, Nevada, on suspicion of murdering and robbing four people An illegal immigrant accused of murdering four people in their homes in a Nevada crime spree was caught when he tried to pawn his victims' jewelry. Wilbur Martinez-Guzman, 19, is accused of murdering Connie Koontz, 56, Sophia Renken, 74, and Gerald and Shanon David. According to police, he stole his victims' jewelry after killing them then pawned it locally. Among the items was an Elks ring with a blue stone that was engraved with Shanon David's s initials and two gold diamond rings, 16 silver rings, toe rings and turquoise rings, all of which belonged to Koontz. It was this move which led to his arrest. The teenager is originally from El Salvador and has been living in the US illegally for at least a year, according to officials. He is due in court on Thursday to face four first degree murder charges. He has also been charged for burglary. The case shot to national prominence on Monday after President Donald Trump tweeted about the killings to support his case for the proposed border wall with Mexico. On January 10, Connie Koontz, 56, (left) was murdered in her home in Gardnerville Ranchos. Three days later, Sophia Renken, 74, (right) was found dead in her home a mile away On the night of January 10, Connie Koontz, 56, was murdered in her home in Gardnerville Ranchos, about 15 miles south of Carson City. Her aging mother, who lived in the home, found her body the next morning. Three days later, 74-year-old Sophia Renken was found dead in her home about a mile from where Koontz lived. Police immediately suspected the two murders were committed by the same suspect due to similarities in the cases. Douglas County Sheriff Dan Coverley said that it was possible that the suspect targeted the women because of their age, gender and the fact that they appeared to live alone. Then on January 16, the bodies of 81-year-old Gerald David, and his 80-year-old wife, Sharon, were found in their home on the southern edge of Reno, about 20 miles north of Carson City. On January 16, the bodies of 81-year-old Gerald David, and his 80-year-old wife, Sharon (together above in a family photo), were found in their home on the southern edge of Reno The couple were remembered as longstanding members of Reno's equestrian and rodeo scene. Former Reno Rodeo Association president Tom Cates says he met Gerald and Sharon three decades ago and spent 'many miles and many hours together' on horseback with them. Cates says Gerald David was previously the association's president and promoted a breast cancer awareness campaign by getting cowboys to show they were 'tough enough to wear pink shirts.' Cates also was a member of the local Elks Lodge when David was the group's leader. He says Sharon David was 'exuberant, bubbly, loved animals to the hills.' Cates says the two were also members of a horseback social organization called the Nevada White Hats. Martinez-Guzman has been jailed in Carson City since Saturday on possession of stolen property, burglary and immigration charges. News reports listed his age as both 19 and 20, but court records show that he will turn 20 on February 2. Carson City Sheriff Ken Furlong said at a Sunday news conference that federal immigration authorities told his office Martinez-Guzman had lived in Carson City for about a year and was in the country illegally. Trump mentioned the killings on Monday in a tweet calling for his long-promised border wall. Four people in Nevada viciously robbed and killed by an illegal immigrant who should not have been in our Country. 26 people killed on the Border in a drug and gang related fight,' Trump wrote. He continued: Two large Caravans from Honduras broke into Mexico and are headed our way. We need a powerful Wall! Iran arrested more than 7,000 people in 2018 after launching a wide-scale crackdown on protests during what is being called 'a year of shame' for the country. Students, journalists, environmental activists, factory workers, lawyers, womens rights activists, minority rights activists and trade unionists were all cuffed during the campaign of repression, according to Amnesty International. The human rights group has published new figures revealing the scale of Irans repressive measures during an outbreak of protests against poverty, corruption and authoritarianism. Women in Iran protesting against wearing the obligatory Islamic headscarf by taking theirs off and waving them on sticks Nationwide protests against the government broke out throughout 2018 over the dramatic drop of the country's currency and other economic problems Hundreds were sentenced to prison terms or flogging - beaten with a whip - and at least 26 protesters were killed. Nine people arrested in connection with protests died in custody under suspicious circumstances, Amnesty claims. '2018 will go down in history as a'year of shame for Iran. Throughout the year Iran's authorities sought to stifle any sign of dissent by stepping up their crackdown on the rights to freedom of expression, association and peaceful assembly, and carrying out mass arrests of protesters,' said Philip Luther, Amnesty International's Middle East and North Africa director. At least 112 women human rights defenders were arrested or remained in detention in 2018. Here, a woman protests the hijab by flying hers on a stick 'The staggering scale of arrests, imprisonments and flogging sentences reveal the extreme lengths the authorities have gone to in order to suppress peaceful dissent.' In addition, at least 112 women human rights defenders were arrested or remained in detention in Iran during 2018. Women ran a campaign for equal rights in which they took off their headscarves - they're required by law to wear - and posting pictures on social media. Activist Shaparak Shajarizadeh was sentenced to 20 years in prison, 18 of which were suspended, for her peaceful protest against forced hijab. She fled Iran after she was released on bail and has since described in media interviews how she was subjected to torture and other ill-treatment in solitary confinement and denied access to her lawyer. 'Throughout 2018, the Iranian authorities waged a particularly sinister crackdown against women's rights defenders. Instead of cruelly punishing women for demanding their rights, the authorities should put an end to the rampant and entrenched discrimination and violence they face,' said Mr Luther. A woman peacefully protesting against forced hijab in the city of Karaj, Alborz Province Also targeted in the crackdown were the managers of channels on the popular mobile messaging application Telegram, which was used to disseminate news about protests and to mobilize demonstrators. One journalist, Mohammad Hossein Sodagar, from the Azerbaijani Turkic ethnic minority, was flogged 74 times in the city of Khoy in West Azerbaijan province after being convicted of 'spreading lies'. Another media worker, Mostafa Abdi, who is an administrator of the Majzooban-e-Noor website, which reports on human rights abuses against the Gonabadi Dervish religious minority, was sentenced to 26 years and three months in prison, 148 lashes, and other punishments. The nationwide protests began as the country plunged into a financial crisis, triggering numerous strikes by workers unions. The Iranian authorities arrested at least 467 workers, including teachers, truck drivers and factory workers. Dozens were sentenced to prison terms. Iranian courts also handed down flogging sentences amounting to a total of nearly 3,000 lashes against 38 workers. As unrest spread, Iran also began cracking down on religious and ethnic minorities, arresting and imprisoning hundreds and blocking their access to education and jobs. The Senate Intelligence Committee has subpoenaed longtime Donald Trump lawyer Michael Cohen, it was revealed Thursday hours after he postponed a scheduled public appearance to testify before a House panel. The Senate panel is ordering Cohen to appear in mid-February, CNN reported, citing a source close to Cohen. His testimony would presumably be conducted in private. The Intelligence committee for more than a year has been conducting a bipartisan Russia probe, interviewing witnesses in private as it probes Russian election hacking and Trump campaign contacts with Russians in 2016. Cohen is heading to prison in March, after pleading guilty to campaign finance violations related to payments to two women who claim they had affairs with Trump. Cohen also has admitted to lying to Congress about a proposed Trump tower project in Moscow. He made false statements to the Intelligence Committee the panel that subpoenaed him by saying discussions of the tower project ended in January 2016, when they in fact continued for months afterward, he admitted in his guilty plea last November. SUBPOENAED: Michael Cohen has been subpoenaed to appear before the Senate Intelligence Committee, according to a report. Cohen says he will not testify before a House committee as scheduled on February 7, claiming that President Trump and the president's lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, have made 'threats' against his family He is scheduled to appear in the Senate Feb. 12, according to the Wall Street Journal. Cohen's lawyer, Lanny Davis, told 'Good Morning America' Thursday before news broke of the subpoena that Cohen hadn't determined whether he'd comply with a subpoena from from Congress, if one is sent, because he has to consider the special counsel investigation and other legal obligations. He said Cohen was postponing his House testimony, scheduled for Feb. 7th before the Government Oversight Committee, due to 'threats against his family' by Trump and his lawyer, Rudy Giuliani. That panel's chairman, Rep. Elijah Cummings, vowed that his panel would hear from Cohen. 'We will get the testimony. As sure as night becomes day, and day becomes night,' he said. As far as the calendar, including Cohen's upcoming stint in a federal penitentiary, Cummings said the panel 'can always bring him in even if he's in prison.' Trump on Thursday once again went after Cohen, his longtime fixer, after Cohen attorney Lanny Davis said Cohen would speak out in some manner, if not at a Capitol Hill hearing that had been scheduled for February. The Senate Intelligence committee, chaired by Richard Burr of North Carolina, for more than a year has been conducting a bipartisan Russia probe, interviewing witnesses in private as it probes Russian election hacking and Trump campaign contacts with Russians in 2016 'We will get the testimony. As sure as night becomes day, and day becomes night,' vowed House Oversight chairman Rep. Elijah Cummings of Maryland after Cohen postponed his testimony 'Make no mistake. Michael Cohen will speak. They will not thwart this truth coming out,' Davis said told ABC News, as he addressed his client's claims that Trump is trying to intimidate him. The president, an hour later in a tweet, brought up Davis' former client, Hillary Clinton. 'So interesting that bad lawyer Michael Cohen, who sadly will not be testifying before Congress, is using the lawyer of Crooked Hillary Clinton to represent him - Gee, how did that happen? Remember July 4th weekend when Crooked went before FBI & wasn't sworn in, no tape, nothing?' he said. President Trump assaulted his former attorney, Michael Cohen, on Thursday morning after his ex-fixer's lawyer addressed his decision to bail on a Capitol Hill hearing that had been scheduled for February Davis said that Cohen hadn't determined whether he'd comply with a subpoena from from Congress, if one is sent, because he has to consider the special counsel investigation and other legal obligations The president, an hour later, said in a tweet, brought up Davis' former client, Hillary Clinton Trump's tweet was a reference to the email that Clinton sent from a private server and email address while she was secretary of state. The FBI probed the matter, and the Department of Justice ultimately decided against criminal charges. Davis represents Cohen now, and the two men have been lobbying grenades in the president's direction. They say that he directed Cohen to commit numerous crimes and misdeeds and contend that Trump and Giuliani are trying to silence them. Cohen said Wednesday, through Davis, that he would not appear before the House Oversight and Reform Committee on February 7 as previously planned at least not voluntarily citing 'ongoing threats against his family' from the president and the president's lawyer. President Trump fired back during a White House meeting for which he unexpectedly brought in reporters that Cohen has 'always been threatened by the truth' and 'doesn't want to tell the truth for me or other of his clients.' A miscommunication between Cohen and the Democrats running the Oversight Committee appeared to have taken place. Davis said last week that his client was 'not 100% there yet' on testifying, despite the committee's Democratic chairman, Maryland Rep. Elijah Cummings, announcing a hearing. That changed Wednesday. 'Due to ongoing threats against his family from President Trump and Mr. Giuliani, as recently as this weekend, as well as Mr. Cohen's continued cooperation with ongoing investigations, by advice of counsel, Mr. Cohen's appearance will be postponed to a later date,' Davis said in a statement. The decision is creating new uncertainties about whether Democrats will be able to grill Cohen at all before he becomes a federal inmate. They're responding with talk about a subpoena. Cohen has been ordered to report to prison on March 6 to start serving a three-year sentence for bank and tax fraud and campaign finance violations. Trump's lawyer, Rudy Giuliani (right) went to bat for the president on Sunday in a CNN interview, saying that he's only protecting himsef by throwing hardballs at Cohen Virginia Democratic Rep. Gerry Connolly told reporters that 'we are under a time crunch,' and 'I would support a subpoena' to compel Cohen to appear. Cummings and California Dem. Rep, Adam Schiff, who chairs the House Intelligence Committee, said in a joint statement that '[n]ot appearing before Congress was never an option.' 'We will not let the president's tactics prevent Congress from fulfilling our constitutionally mandated oversight responsibilities. This will not stop us from getting the truth. We expected Mr. Cohen to appear before both Committees and we remain engaged with his counsel about upcoming appearances.' Cummings told reporters later: 'I have not decided what I'm going to do.' Davis had played cat-and-mouse with Cummings, saying that Cohen 'wishes to thank Chairman Cummings for allowing him to appear before the House Oversight Committee and looks forward to testifying at the appropriate time.' 'This is a time where Mr. Cohen had to put his family and their safety first,' Davis added. Trump suggested in a Fox News Channel interview via telephone on January 12 that investigators have ignored a rich vein of criminal activity in Cohen's father-in-law, whom he didn't name. 'He should give information maybe on his father-in-law, because that's the one that people want to look at,' Trump told host Jeanine Pirro. 'Because where does that money? That's the money in the family. And I guess he didn't want to talk about his father [-in-law]. He's trying to get his sentence reduced.' He targeted Cohen's father-in-law again in a tweet after Buzzfeed News reported that that special counsel's office had evidence that Trump directed his former fixer to lie to Congress. That report has since been called into question. Democratic Rep. Elijah Cummings of Maryland (left) chairs the House Oversight Committee and California Democratic Rep. Adam Schiff (right) leads the House Intelligence Committee; they are both mulling subpoenas for Cohen's testimony Trump's jab about Cohen protecting his 'other clients' is curious: Cohen's only other known clients are Fox News Channel host Sean Hannity and former Republican National Committee fundraiser Elliott Broidy Cohen was not expected to be able to testify about his election-year hush money payoff to porn actress Stormy Daniels (pictured) on Trump's behalf Trump's lawyer, Giuliani, said Sunday on CNN's 'State of the Union' program that focusing attention on Cohen's family is just Trump 'defending yourself,' especially 'if the father-in-law is a criminal in the Southern District of New York. He may have ties to something called organized crime.' Cohen's father-in-law Fima Shusterman pleaded guilty to federal income tax fraud in 1993. The charge stemmed from his taxicab business in New York. Shusterman's more recent business ventures are linked to taxi companies in Chicago. The New York Times has reported that Shusterman introduced Cohen to the industry. Cohen had already limited the scope of what he would be willing to discuss with members of Congress, ruling out anything currently 'under investigation.' That would preclude him from talking about the Trump Tower Moscow project, his payoff to porn star Stormy Daniels, or his business dealings with the president. Cohen has been cooperating with the special counsel's probe of Russia's role in the 2016 election. The U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York was the lead federal prosecutor earlier this year when Cohen pled guilty to eight counts, including tax fraud and campaign finance violations. He also has pleaded guilty to lying to Congress about the timeline of conversations he had with Russian officials about building a Trump Tower Moscow as part of separate investigation by Mueller's team. He was sentenced to three years in prison and is free on bail until that time. Cohen's attorney had already said he would not talk about his cooperation with special counsel Robert Mueller (above) during any congressional hearing Cohen's guilty pleas included a charge of lying to Congress about a Trump Organization real estate project that was slated for Moscow, Russia and discussed through the fall of 2016 while the president was running for office. He testified in a closed congressional interview that the project he pursued on Trump's behalf was abandoned by the time of the Iowa Caucuses in January 2016; that would be consistent with Trump's 'political messaging.' Mueller later filed documents revealing Cohen said he discussed the proposal with Trump on multiple occasions and with members of the president's family, later in the year even after Trump became the Republican nominee for president. Cohen said he lied out of loyalty to Trump. 'I made these misstatements to be consistent with Individual 1's political messaging and out of loyalty to Individual 1,' Cohen said at his plea hearing late last year. 'Individual 1' is Mueller's name for Trump in the investigation. Discussions about a planned construction project were ultimately abandoned and no contract was signed. Cohen was also the central figure in a plot to buy the silence of pornographic actress Stormy Daniels, who claimed that she had an affair with Trump in 2006. Daniels signed a nondisclosure agreement in exchange for $130,000 from Cohen, a transaction that he admitted was a violation of campaign finance laws since it amounted to an illegally large contribution benefiting Trump's White House hopes. He said in court that Trump directed him to make the payment, suggesting the president was guilty of a crime. In August he pleaded guilty to eight separate charges related to tax dodges, falsifying bank documents and the campaign finance violations involving Daniels and another woman, former Playboy magazine model Karen McDougal. Cohen claims that at Trump's request, he arranged for the publisher of The National Enquirer to pay McDougal another self-described past Trump paramour for the exclusive rights to her life story. The magazine never published anything, engaging in a practice known as 'catch and kill' in order to help Trump avoid new scandals in the final weeks of the 2016 campaign. Trump has denied ever having a sexual relationship with either Daniels or McDougal. Mother Nature is once again flaunting its icy talents, this time on a freezing cold Michigan river, where a spinning ice disk has formed. The mesmerizing rotating disk was spotted on the Cedar River, in Gladwin, on Monday. It isn't yet known how big the Michigan disk is. Mary Juneac, who captured the spinning disk on her phone, said her husband was out on a walk when he spotted the disk and went to tell her. Meanwhile Maine's giant spinning ice disk is still going strong after appearing last week. It increased in size after the weekend, thanks to a return of colder air. The Portland Press Herald reports the disk has enjoyed increased notoriety, due to its unusually large size - about 100 yards across. Mary Juneac, who captured the Michigan spinning disk on her phone, said her husband (pictured above) was out on a walk when he spotted it and went to tell her The size of the Michigan rotating ice disk on the Cedar River in Gladwin is unknown The formation in the Presumpscot River, Maine, was widely shared on social media and has drawn comparisons to an alien spacecraft, a carousel and the moon In this Monday, January 14, photo aerial image is taken from a drone video and provided by the City of Westbrook, Maine HOW DO ICE DISKS OCCUR? Ice disks, also known as ice circles, have been known to appear in the Arctic, Scandinavia and Canada. They occur at bends in the river where the accelerating water creates a force called 'rotational shear', which breaks off a chunk of ice and twists it around. As the disc rotates, it grinds against surrounding ice - smoothing into a perfect circle. Advertisement The Maine disk, on the Presumpscot River near Westbrook, has its own webcam, requested by Brown University. The images are hosted on MooseheadWebcams.com. Its accessibility in downtown Westbrook led someone to plant a small American flag in the center and a rainbow flag near the edge. City officials, however, have discouraged people from walking onto the ice disk, or disturbing it otherwise. The Maine formation was widely shared on social media since last week and has drawn comparisons to an alien spacecraft, a carousel and the moon. Both disks are believed to have formed naturally in a part of the river where there's a circular current that creates a whirlpool effect. All five victims who were killed in a Florida bank on Wednesday afternoon were women, police have revealed. Zephen Xaver, 21, has been charged with five counts of premeditated murder after he allegedly stormed into SunTrust Bank in Sebring and murdered everyone inside. Xaver, who was wearing a bulletproof vest, made all five women lie down on the lobby floor before shooting them in the backs of their heads, according to an affidavit. Sebring Police Chief Karl Hoglund identified three of the women as Marisol Lopez, 55, 65-year-old Cynthia Watson, and Ana Pinon-Williams, age 38. The families of the two other victims, ages 31 and 54, have asked that their names not be released to the public. Marisol Lopez (left) and Ana Pinon-Williams (right) have been named as two of the five women who were killed at SunTrust Bank in Sebring, Florida on Wednesday afternoon Cynthia Watson, 65, was also killed during the horrific mass shooting on Wednesday afternoon Zephen Xaver, 21, was charged with five counts of premeditated murder after he allegedly stormed into the bank and murdered everyone inside. The two remaining victims have not been named publicly 'Zephen Xaver knowingly and intentionally took the lives of our sisters, our mothers, our daughters, and our co-workers,' Hoglund said during a press conference on Thursday morning. 'Perhaps most unfortunate is that now we refer to them as victims of a senseless crime.' Watson was a customer at the bank. Lopez, Pinon-Williams, and the two other women were all employees at SunTrust. Hoglund said investigators have found no connection to the suspect and any of the five victims. Authorities believe it was a random act and that no one was specifically targeted. It remains unclear if Xaver chose the SunTrust Bank 'for any particular reason' but police said there is no evidence he was trying to rob it. Shell casings from Xaver's 9mm handgun were scattered on the floor. It remains unclear if the firearm was obtained legally. 'We now begin the healing process,' Hoglund said. 'We attempt to make sense of a senseless act. We mourn the loss of our peers, our mothers, and our daughters.' Hoglund said investigators have found no connection to the suspect and any of the five victims. Marisol is pictured here with her husband Marisol was an employee at SunTrust bank, as were three other victims. One was a customer Cynthia is pictured here with her husband Tony. Cynthia was a customer at SunTrust Bank at the time of the shooting A witness said authorities drove a SWAT machine right through the door of the bank after the shooting. The extent of the damage to the bank can be seen here on Thursday morning Tributes began pouring in for the victims on Thursday. Pinon-Williams loved her work at the bank, and her co-workers, her brother-in-law told Click Orlando. 'Ana was a wife to my brother, mother to seven children, daughter, sister and family to everyone she knew,' Tim Williams said. Shelley Speight Lopez had interviewed Marisol for her first job at a SunTrust Bank in Lake Placid in 1998. 'It only took about five minutes for me to know that she had the job,' Lopez recalled. 'What always stood out about Marisol was her kindness, her giving heart, her sweet spirit, and her willingness to help everyone. She never complained, never lost her temper, and had a work ethic second to none!' 'Yesterday, the world lost this amazing lady in a senseless tragedy. I am deeply saddened by the loss of Marisol and her co-workers. But I am forever grateful to have known her. She was a special person who will never be forgotten.' Sebring Police Chief Karl Hoglund was emotional as he spoke of the five victims on Thursday Details regarding the victims came as Xaver's ex-girlfriend revealed he had always been fascinated with death. Alex Gerlach, who dated Xaver on and off for three years, said she has long tried to warn people about the ex-boyfriend who she said 'wanted everyone to die'. 'He always hated people,' Gerlach told WSBTV. 'He got kicked out of school for having a dream that he killed everybody in his class.' Xaver was charged with five counts of premeditated murder and was ordered held without bond after appearing in court on Thursday morning. Hoglund said authorities will seek the 'highest penalty possible to hold him accountable for his actions'. Alex Gerlach, who dated Xaver on and off for three years, said she has long tried to warn people about the ex-boyfriend who she said 'wanted everyone to die' Gerlach, who said she met Xaver (far right) in a psychiatric hospital in Indiana in 2013, said he had been 'threatening this for so long' and that no one took her warnings seriously Gerlach said her ex-boyfriend had been 'threatening this for so long', but that people ignored her warnings. 'His mother just completely denies everything and I've been scared for years and every single person I've told has not taken it seriously and it's very unfortunate that it had to come to this,' she added. Gerlach said she first met Xaver at a psychiatric hospital in Plymouth, Indiana - where he grew up and attended high school - in 2013. 'Since the time we met, he had this fascination with death,' she told the Washington Post. 'It got worse as we broke up. We got back together on and off for awhile. Then I decided it was too much for my mental health.' But Gerlach would check in with her ex-boyfriend every few months. Just last week, he told her he had purchased a gun and showed her a picture of the firearm. Authorities have been baffled as to why the former corrections officer allegedly walked into the bank on Wednesday and killed everyone inside. He is seen here being taken into custody Xaver allegedly opened fire on SunTrust Bank around 12.30pm on Wednesday before he called 911 and said 'I have shot five people' Gerlach said 'no one thought anything of it' because Xaver had always liked guns. Another friend, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said Xaver once told her he wanted to join the military 'because he wanted to kill people'. Xaver sent that same friend a message around 11pm on Tuesday, mere hours before the shooting at SunTrust Bank. The message simply said 'Hey..', but now the friend is left wondering if Xaver was trying to reach out for help. 'I'm just sad that he didn't get the help he needed because this could have been prevented,' she said. 'I'm even more upset that he messaged me and I didn't say anything, because I didn't want to speak to him out of respect for my best friend. Now I wish I would have.' 'I feel like I could have said something if I would have known. But I know you never truly know what someone really has planned.' After a standoff with officers, Xaver eventually surrendered to SWAT members and was placed under arrest Meanwhile, Josh Xaver said reports that it was his own son who was behind the mass shooting came as a 'total shock'. 'I'm heartbroken for my son,' he told CNN. 'I'm heartbroken for the victims.' 'He wasn't raised to be like this. He's always been a good kid. He's had his troubles, but he has never hurt anyone ever before.' Josh Xaver did not elaborate on what exactly those past 'troubles' were. Xaver allegedly opened fire on SunTrust Bank around 12.30pm on Wednesday. Six minutes later, he called 911 and said 'I have shot five people'. But Xaver refused to surrender when police descended on the scene of the mass shooting with hostage negotiators, still hoping that people were alive inside. The doors of the bank were locked. After more than an hour, Hoglund ordered a SWAT team into the building. They had to use an armored vehicle to break through the front doors. By then, all the victims were already dead. Xaver, who was wearing a beige was T-shirt depicting the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, surrendered and was placed under arrest. Police have not yet determined a motive in the 'senseless murders', but Florida Governor Ron DeSantis promised swift justice for the victims, whose names are being withheld pending family notification. Law enforcement officials continued to investigate the crime scene well into the night on Wednesday and Thursday morning The FBI has since joined the investigation and were seen at the scene of the horrific shooting But Xaver allegedly killed everyone inside after he stormed SunTrust on Wednesday afternoon Authorities say Xaver was a correctional officer trainee hired by the Avon Park Correctional Institution in November, but he resigned on January 9 without an explanation. 'He had no discipline while employed with the department,' said Florida Corrections Department spokesman Patrick Manderfield. Sebring Police Chief Karl Hoglund called the shooting a 'tragic day' for the community. 'We are sorry to learn that we have at least five victims, people who were senselessly murdered as a result of his act in this bank,' he said during a press conference on Wednesday night. 'We've suffered a significant loss at the hands of a senseless criminal doing a senseless crime.' Sebring Police Chief Karl Hoglund called the mass shooting a 'tragic day' for the community DeSantis also spoke during the press conference, saying: 'The people of Florida stand with the community here in light of this tragic circumstance.' 'I've asked [Florida Department of Law Enforcement] to provide whatever resources we can at the state level to assist with the investigation.' 'Obviously this is an individual that needs to face very swift and exacting justice.' This was Florida's seventh mass shooting in less than three years. Xaver's motive has not yet been determined. He is seen above in a Facebook photo Highlands County Sheriff Paul Blackman said the shooting was the worst thing he had seen during his long career. 'I am heartbroken that this horrendous incident has occurred in our county,' Blackman said. 'This tragedy will have a lasting impact on Highlands County and likely this community will never be the same.' 'While we still dont know what drove the suspect to commit this heinous act, there is no excuse that can justify the cold-blooded murder of multiple victims.' SunTrust CEO Bill Rogers said the bank is working with law enforcement and 'dedicating ourselves to supporting the people and families impacted by this horrible and senseless tragedy'. 'Our entire team mourns this terrible loss,' he added. Social media pages believed to belong to the suspect are sparse, bearing only a few photos of Xaver himself along with some of the Grim Reaper, a symbol of death. Xaver moved to Sebring from Bremen, Indiana with his mother in the fall. Sebring Police Chief Karl Hoglund hangs his head with sadness during the news conference. 'We ask that you please keep them in your prayers, keep them in your thoughts,' Chief Hoglund said of the victims' families. 'Help Sebring and our community stay strong' Police tape marks the scene where five people were killed at a SunTrust Bank branch Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, January 23) Newly-elected House Majority Leader Fredenil Castro said he is willing to compromise on the proposal to lower the minimum age of criminal responsibility (MACR) and follow the lead of some senators to make it 12 years old instead of nine. "We could always compromise. If we believe that the version of the Senate, on the matter of age, is more acceptable and it will jive with 'my personal experience in life,' then who am I not to compromise," Castro told CNN Philippines' The Source on Wednesday. The House justice committee passed Friday House Bill No. 8858 restoring the MACR which was increased to 15 under the Juvenile Justice and Welfare Act to the age of nine. The measure is now being tackled on the lower chamber's floor. Many senators, including Senate President Tito Sotto, oppose the House's version of the measure, with him and Senate Justice committee chair Dick Gordon pushing to decrease the MACR only to 12 years old. Experts have raised concerns that nine-year-old children are too young be held responsible for crimes as they are still developing psychological and intellectual maturity. "The developmental immaturity of young people mitigates their criminal culpability. Although they may be able to discern right from wrong actions, it is their capability to act in ways consistent with that discernment that is undermined," the Psychological Association of the Philippines said in a statement. READ: House leader casts doubts on experts vs lowering age of criminal responsibility Commission on Human Rights Commissioner Gwendolyn Pimentel-Gana also said the lowering of the MACR to nine or 12 years old "is a simplistic response that disregards the complexity of juvenile delinquency." Child development specialist Prof. Nina Era told CNN Philippines' Newsroom Ngayon that children as young as 12 years old are still too young to be held responsibile for crimes. "Ang 12 years old ay isang napakabatang edad pa rin, still in the formative years. Parang ang nasa isip ko nga lang, mayroon tayong age of 18 years old para makaboto ang isang bata dahil siguro ang thinking ng tao, kaya dapat 18 years old para makapag-decide kung sino dapat iboto. Paano 'yung 12 years old din? Lalong mahirap 'yung kanilang posisyon na at 12 years old makakapag-decide sila," Era said. [Translation: 12 years old is still a very young age, still in the formative years. In my mind, we require voters to be at least 18 years old, perhaps because people think they are old enough to decide who to vote. What more for 12 year-olds? It would be more difficult for them to decide.] But Castro maintained that the bill would be rehabilitative in nature, assuring that children who run in conflict with the law would not be put in jail, but would be placed in agricultural training centers. The Malacanang, in reacting to a statement by UN Special Rapporteur Agnes Callamard against the measure, said critics of the bill "simply have not read the provisions of the bill hence their opposition is based either on blissful ignorance or pretended misinformation." READ: Duterte: Young children are being used by drug syndicates Castro also said that the bill pending in the House drops mentions of "criminal responsibility" from the law on dealing with children who commit offenses. He eyes changing it further to "social responsibility." "I do not call it as criminal responsibility because it's penal in nature if you call it that way. But if you call it social responsibility, it's more social," he said. Under HB 8858, children convicted of crimes would be made to serve their sentences in confinement in an agricultural camp or training facility. The Social Welfare department, in coordination with the Bureau of Corrections and the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority, would be tasked to build at least two of these facilities each in Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao. The proposed law also says that children who run in conflict of the law would be placed in a 24-hour child-caring institution called the "Bahay Pag-asa" or House of Hope which the Social Welfare department would be managing instead of local government units (LGUs). However, Atty. Tricia Oco, executive director of the Juvenile Justice and Welfare Council, said during a Senate hearing on the proposals to lower the MACR that most Bahay Pag-asas are worse than jail cells, lacking beds and rehabilitation programs, leading some children to self-harm. House justice committee chair Oriental Mindoro 1st District Rep. Doy Leachon also admitted during debates on the measure on the floor that the country does not have enough facilities for child offenders. Castro blamed this problem on some LGUs lacking funding to build Bahay Pag-asas. He said this would be solved by the House's proposal, where the construction, funding and management of these facilities would be transferred to the Social Welfare department. "If you want to establish a more habitable Bahay Pag-asa, more Bahay Pag-asa that will serve a purpose, [give] better care, it is necessary that it should be joined by the national government," he said. HB 8858 is under period of interpellations at the House, while two similar measures in the Senate are pending in its Justice committee. President Rodrigo Duterte has long been pushing for the lowering of the MACR, having repeatedly assailed the Juvenile Justice and Welfare Act for increasing it to 15 years old. "To the mind of the President, the current law has laid the foundation for the emergence of a new generation of criminals. When minors are released in as many times as they are arrested, criminality becomes a part of their lives and thereby evolving into being full blown criminals," Presidential Spokesperson Salvador Panelo said. CNN Philippines Senior Correspondent Ina Andolong contributed to this report. South Africa: Rural communities go digital Communities in rural areas in Limpopo are being brought into the digital society fold with the unveiling of various services at public facilities in Vhembe District. Communications Deputy Minister Pinky Kekana on Wednesday visited Musina, where broadband services were rolled out at Eric Louw High School, Bonwa-Udi Primary School and Musina Gateway Clinic. The connectivity will assist the schools and the clinic to digitize their services and provide e-education and e-health services. The facilities are the first in the province to benefit from the programme. State-owned entity Broadband Infraco (BBI) is responsible for the infrastructure project. During her visit to the schools, Kekana handed over ICT equipment to schools, including laptops and tablets donated by MTN. She also used the event to promote a comprehensive cybersecurity outreach program. Kekana said that they started the roll-out in Vhembe, where 1 200 sites, including health and education in the district, would benefit from the broadband services. The Deputy Minister said the multibillion Musina-Makhado Special Economic Zone (SEZ) -- which focuses on energy, metallurgical processing, agro-processing, petrochemicals and logistics -- can help the region to develop into a smart city. The potential for Musina to become a smart city is [great] but it will depend on the leadership of Musina... We want to improve productivity in schools, we want learners to be better and become future innovators, Kekana said. Kekana urged learners to be responsible and use the broadband services for education programmes and research to help improve their performance. BBI CEO Andrew Matseke said the company wants to assist learners to get ready for the future. [We want learners] to go school, get the skills and start their own businesses. As we move towards the fourth industrial revolution, we are determined to make sure that the provinces with [large] rural areas are not left behind, Matseke said. Bonwa-Udi Primary School Principal Dr Lyneth Maila expressed her appreciation for the roll-out of the programme, assuring Kekana that the equipment will be kept safe. We truly appreciate this and to us, it is a very big thing. We know that through this, we will be going to another level. We take this with both hands and promise that we are not going to disappoint (sic), Maila said. Limpopo Health MEC Dr Phophi Ramathuba said the province is excited about the efforts to build a digital society. This is the most relevant place for you to start this [digitisation] initiative because the challenges we face, especially in this area that is close to the border, include a high work load as people often cross the border to seek medical attention in the facilities. We need e-health services. Many lives that are lost could be saved [through e-health]... Indeed, we are in the new dawn, said Ramathuba. Kekana will on Thursday roll-out broadband services at Louis Trichardt Secondary School. SAnews.gov.za This story has been published on: 2019-01-24. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article. St Louis Police Officer Katlyn Alix, 24, was killed in the shooting early on Thursday A female police officer in St Louis has been killed in a shooting at the home of a fellow cop, in an incident currently being investigated as accidental. Family members identified 24-year-old Katlyn Alix, an Army veteran, as the police officer who was shot in the torso while off duty shortly before 1am on Thursday. The incident unfolded when two 29-year-old male police officers stopped by the home of one of the officers while they were both on duty, St Louis Metro Police Chief John Hayden said at a press conference. Alix, who was off duty at the time, also arrived at the home. The reason that the three officers were gathered at the home has not been made public. One of the male officers 'mishandled a firearm and shot (Alix) in the chest,' police said in a written statement. Family members identified 24-year-old Katlyn Alix, an Army veteran, as the police officer who was shot in the torso while off duty shortly before 1am on Thursday Police tape remains at the scene of a shooting in St. Louis on Thursday. Authorities say a St. Louis police officer was accidentally shot and killed another officer at the home The weapon involved was a revolver and not a police service weapon, a source told the St Louis Post Dispatch. The two male officers sent a message over police radio at 12.56am that Alix had been shot, and rushed her to an area hospital, where she was pronounced dead. Outside of the hospital, an SUV was seen with a shattered window, but police would not reveal whether it was connected to the incident. Chief Hayden said that the shooting is currently being investigated as accidental, but that an investigation is currently ongoing. Alix (left and right) served as a military police officer in the Army. It has not been revealed why she was at the home with the other two metro police officers when she was killed Flags fly at half-staff in front of the St. Louis Police Officers Association on Thursday following the shooting death of a police officer The two male officers have not been publicly named yet. All three officers have been on the force for about two years. In a statement, the St. Louis Police Officers Association said that the female officer who died was also a military veteran. 'We know that the press and the public want to understand what happened. So do we. But for now, we wait; we wonder; and we weep,' the statement said. 'We ask that the media and the public respect the privacy of this young officer's family, friends and co-workers as they mourn.' He was shot by a bow and arrow, according to police, and local fisherman saw his body being dragged around The latest case comes two months after American missionary John Allen Chau, 27, was killed by a tribe on North Sentinel Island Campbell and wife Robin are missionaries with Greene Baptist Church in Maine He claimed to have entered the area by mistake, while teaching Jamamadi natives how to use a a GPS device Campbell has been living among the neighboring Jamamadi tribe for years, but received no authorization to do so He allegedly entered an area occupied by the Hi-Merima tribe last month An American missionary has been accused of exposing an isolated indigenous tribe in Brazil to potentially fatal diseases. Steve Campbell, a missionary linked to a Baptist Church in Maine, is being investigated by officials from FUNAI, the Brazilian governments Indigenous Affairs Department, amid reports that he could be tried for genocide. He allegedly entered an area occupied by the Hi-Merima tribe last month while carrying out missionary work with natives from a neighboring tribe. Steve Campbell, seen here with wife Robin, both carry out missionary work in the state of Amazonas Campbell, seen with wife Robin, are pictured center with indigenous people from the Jamamadi tribe on an unknown date The latest case comes just two months after another American missionary, John Chau, 27, was killed on North Sentinel island where native people have lived for 30,000 years. The Hi-Merima is one of a few dozen isolated communities in Brazil that have had almost no contact with the outside world. Natives there have previously rejected attempts at contact. It is unclear what penalties Campbell may face, with federal prosecutors or police officials yet to be notified of his actions. However, Survival International, an organization advocating for tribal peoples' rights, has reported that Campbell could even be tried for 'genocide'. 'Its a case of rights violation and exposure to risk of death to isolated indigenous population,' a FUNAI spokesman said in statement to Reuters. 'Even if direct contact has not occurred, the probability of transmission of diseases to the isolated is high.' According to reports from Brazilian newspaper Folha de Sao Paulo, Campbell claimed to have entered the area by mistake, while teaching Indians from the neighboring Jamamadi tribe to use a GPS device. Members of an uncontacted Amazon Basin tribe and their dwellings are seen during a flight over the Brazilian state of Acre along the border with Peru He is a missionary with the Greene Baptist Church in Maine, which is known to carry out missionary work in the Brazilian state of Amazonas. Campbell's wife Robin also works as a missionary in the area. 'Their work is to help with medical, mechanical and countless other ministry opportunites with the indians and missionary families. 'This frees up Jon so he can focus on translating God's word into their language,' the church's website states. According to Survival International, contact has resulted in disaster for Brazils uncontacted tribes 'time and time again.' Attempts to reach Campbell were unsuccessful. Little is known about the Hi-Merima, who live in the state of Amazonas. They became known for rejecting contact with the outside world and maintaining hostile relations even with other indigenous communities. The tribe lives along Piranhas River, between the Jurua and Purus Rivers, in the state of Amazonas. Their numbers are unclear, but in the forties it was estimated to consist of 1,000 people. Survival International estimates there are are a few dozen isolated communities in Brazil that have had almost no contact with the outside world The Hi-Merima tribe are located in the state of Amazonas and little is known about them The latest case comes just two months after merican missionary, John Chau, 27, was killed on North Sentinel island where native people have lived for 30,000 years. In letters to his family members, he asked loved ones not to 'blame the natives if I am killed.' Responding to reports of Campbell's arrest, Stephen Corry, the director of Survival International, said: 'Fundamentalist Christian Americans must be stopped from this primitive urge to contact previously uncontacted tribes. 'It may lead to the martyrdom they seek, but always ends up killing tribespeople,' he said. Under new far-right President Jair Bolsonaro, the threat to indigenous land is only expected to grow. John Allen Chau, 26, was shot dead with arrows in November by tribesman when he arrived at North Sentinel Island - one of the world's most isolated regions in India's Andaman islands Brazil's new leader has to open up protected land for economic exploitation and refusing to dedicate even 'one centimeter' to indigenous groups or quilombolas, the descendants of runaway slaves. Environmental groups and other stakeholders claim many indigenous tribes in the Brazilian Amazon have already seen their homes destroyed by colonialism, logging and mining operations and foreign diseases. The development comes two months after another American missionary John Allen Chau was killed by members of the Sentinelese tribe after landing on their Indian Ocean island. Chau, 27, had repeatedly tried to make contact with the residents of the North Sentinel Island before his death, despite knowing the tribe had previously shunned all contact with the outside world. Local fisherman reported seeing the tribe drag his body days after Chau paid them to take him as close as they would to the island before he kayaked over to it. The Sentinelese attracted international attention in the wake of the 2004 Asian tsunami, when a member of the tribe was photographed on a beach, firing arrows at a helicopter (pictured) Chau took a boat ride with the fishermen before venturing alone in a canoe to North Sentinel Island Shortly after his death in November, his parents John and Lynda Chau, who live in Washington State, revealed they had forgiven the tribe and urged Indian authorities to release the local men who Chau paid to take him close to the island. 'He loved God, life, help those in need, and had nothing but love for the Sentinelese people. 'We forgive those reportedly responsible for his death. We also ask for the release of those friends he had in the Andaman Islands. 'He ventured out on his own free will and his local contacts need not be persecuted for his own actions,' the family said in their Instagram statement. John Chau's mother Lynda (left) claimed she had forgiven the tribe and urged Indian authorities to release the local men who Chau paid to take him close to the island The Andaman and Nicobar Police Department later arrested seven people including five fishermen and two of Chau's friends, alleging that they helped him get to the island despite it being illegal for anyone to go there. It still remains unclear if the police department has merely opened a murder investigation for the purposes of thoroughness or if they intend to level charges against the group which would pose a labyrinth of logistical and ethical challenges given its status as a protected tribe. Chau had written a letter to his parents before he kayaked to the island. In it, he told them not to hold the tribe responsible for his death if he did not come back alive. Before he was killed, he tried to approach the island at least one other time and was shot at. He described how an arrow pierced his bible as he approached them. 'I hollered, "My name is John, I love you and Jesus loves you,"' he wrote in his diary. He went on to say: 'You guys might think Im crazy in all this but I think its worthwhile to declare Jesus to these people. 'God, I don't want to die.' One of Chau's friends revealed to DailyMail.com that he was 'committed' to travelling to the remote island, deep in the Indian Ocean, to preach Christianity to the tribesmen and had been planning the trip for at least three years. Neil MacLeod, of Stornaway, Scotland, said he met Chau on a flight from London to Phoenix, Arizona, in October 2015. 'I saw him reading some Christian literature and I'm a Christian and we started talking,' he said. A pensioner has been handed a life sentence with a minimum term of 15 years for murdering his estranged wife. David Thomas, 74, lay in wait and stabbed 69-year-old Sheila Thomas with a kitchen knife and bludgeoned her with a lump of wood at the family home in Herne Hill, south London. The killing, on July 24 last year, came a month after Mrs Thomas, a mother of five, left her husband of 50 years for a man she had known as a teenager. A jury convicted Thomas of murder after rejecting his claim he lost control after his wife told him two of their children were not his. David Thomas, 74, was handed a life sentence for murdering his 69-year-old wife Sheila Jailing him for life with a minimum term of 15 years today, Judge Richard Marks QC told him: 'This has been a truly tragic case for the entirety of your family.' He said the impact on them was 'heart-rending in the extreme' and led to 'divided loyalties'. 'I'm sure in your over-wrought state you lost your temper and took that knife to the bedroom where you used it to stab her a number of times, including twice to the chest and to the head and struck her with a stick with sufficient force to break it.' Victor Cassar leaving the courts. Mrs Thomas was dating Mr Cassar at the time of the murder The court heard during the trial how Mrs Thomas had a fling with Victor Cassar in 1975 and they got together again after he sought her out on social media. When the defendant found out, he insisted his wife should move out of the family home in June 2018. She returned to pick up belongings, believing Thomas would be out, the Old Bailey was told. About a week before the murder, the defendant had asked a friend whether he could get a gun for him, the court heard. But the judge said he could not be sure the defendant wanted to shoot his wife, saying it was possible he was thinking of suicide. On the day of the killing, a neighbour heard a male voice coming from the address angrily shouting 'tell me where you live'. A woman's voice responded 'let me go, let go of me'. The neighbour then heard the man threaten to break her neck. Mrs Thomas was killed when attempting to collect her belongings from the family home When police arrived at the scene, Thomas opened the door wearing a blood-soaked T-shirt and shorts, the court heard. Giving evidence, Thomas told the court: 'She said 'I don't love you, I don't know why you are worried about me, I have never loved you.' She told him she 'detested' having sex with him and that she should have left him years ago, the court heard. 'She said "I will tell you something now you don't want to know... you are not the father to two of your daughters,"' Thomas said. Members of the Thomas family wept in court as he was sent down. Saudi Arabia could have built its first ballistic missile factory, after new satellite images of what appears of a rocket building plant emerged. The pictures show what could be a rocket engine testing area and weapons building sites for solid fuel, experts say. Military analysts say the images suggest the kingdom could have constructed its first known ballistic missile factory. If operational, the suspected factory at a missile base in al-Watah, 125 miles southwest of the capital Riyadh, would allow Saudi Arabia to manufacture its own ballistic missiles. It is feared the development could be a sign of a growing arms race with Saudi's regional rival, Iran. Satellite images of the Saudi military base in al-Watah appears to show engine testing ground and rocket production facilities Saudi Arabia does not have nuclear weapons, so missiles currently produced at the factory would likely be armed with standard bombs. But if the kingdom did develop nuclear capability any factory of this kind would form part of the construction of its delivery method. Crown Prince, Mohammad bin Salman, has been defence minister since 2015 and warned last March that his country would quickly obtain a nuclear bomb if arch rival Iran successfully develops its own nuclear weapon. Two missile experts, Michael Elleman of the International Institute for Strategic Studies and Joseph S. Bermudez Jr of the Center for Strategic and International Studies, reviewed the satellite images. The both told the Washington Post that the high-resolution photographs of the site appear to show a rocket engine production and test facility, probably using solid fuel. If operational the suspected factory would allow Saudi Arabia to manufacture its own ballistic missiles, experts warned It is not known from the images if the facility has been finished or if it is capable of manufacturing viable missiles. A rocket base at al-Watah first became public in 2013 after Jane's Defense Weekly published satellite images of the military facility, suspected of housing Chinese ballistic missiles. Analysts said the base has a launchpad, underground tunnels and administrative buildings, but across the road an entirely new facility had emerged, which resembled a rocket engine factory designed to make ballistic missiles. The area that appears to be a rocket engine test stand concerned the experts the most as it suggests the facility was probably designed to produce solid-fuel rockets rather than liquid-fuel ones. These tare usually more sought after because they can be hidden easily and launched quicker than conventional rockets. Jeffrey Lewis, a nuclear weapons expert at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey, discovered the factory with his team when looking at satellite images of the area around the base. Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia Mohammad bin Salman al-Saud shares a laugh with Russian President Vladimir Putin at the G20 Leaders' Summit in November 2018 He told the Washington Post: 'The possibility that Saudi Arabia is going to build longer-range missiles and seek nuclear weapons - we imagine that they can't. But we are maybe underestimating their desire and their capabilities.' Iran and Saudi Arabia have been locked in a conflict that many view as a proxy war in Yemen between the regional rivals. Earlier this month a UN report said fuel is being shipped illegally from Iran to Houthi Shiite rebels in Yemen to finance their war against the government. It added that both sides are violating international law with their military campaigns and arbitrary detention of rivals. In an interview with CBS 60 Minutes last March Bin Salman claimed Iran's leader, Hassan Rouhani, is behaving like Adolf Hitler during the rise of Nazi Germany. The lavish lifestyle of an on-the-run Novichok conman can be revealed for the first time as he is convicted in his absence of dealing drugs worth 60,000 - as police launch a manhunt to track him down. Alex King, 42, wrongly claimed he and his Russian-born partner, escort Anna Shapiro, had been poisoned with the deadly nerve agent while eating at Prezzo in Salisbury last September. It came just six months after Sergei Skripal and his daughter, Yulia, were poisoned with the nerve agent in a genuine attack in the city last March. King is now a wanted man after he was convicted in his absence of supplying drugs including cocaine and ecstasy at Southwark Crown Court - as police release images showing the extent of his criminal activities. Alex King, 42, is now a wanted man after he was convicted in his absence of supplying drugs including cocaine and ecstasy at Southwark Crown Court. Police release this image of the drug dealer following his conviction today King, 42, wrongly claimed he and his Russian-born partner, escort Anna Shapiro (left and right), had been poisoned with the deadly nerve agent while eating at Prezzo in Salisbury last September. There is no suggestion Ms Shapiro was involved in any illegal activity King was convicted in his absence of two charges of conspiracy to supply class A drugs, one charge of conspiracy to supply class B drugs and one charge of conspiracy to supply class C drugs Judge Nicholas Loraine-Smith will sentence both pair King (right) and Baljit Gill (left), 38, tomorrow after both were convicted of being involved in a drug supply operation Jurors were told King had attempted to avoid standing trial by dodging legal hearings and coming up with various excuses - but he was convicted in his absence of drug dealing A warrant has now been issued for King's arrest after repeatedly failed to show up for legal hearings in relation to his drug dealing offences Police also found a block of compressed, high quality cocaine when they raided King's home in Fitzrovia, London on June 29, 2016 His partner in crime, Baljit Gill, 38, is now facing jail after he was convicted of running the drug supply operation by a jury today after three hours deliberating. During his evidence, Gill denied dealing drugs with King but claimed the playboy knew celebrities including supermodel Naomi Campbel, actor Tom Hardy and boxer Anthony Joshua. Jurors were told King had attempted to avoid standing trial by dodging legal hearings and coming up with various excuses. He was eventually convicted of supplying drugs in his absence and a warrant has been issued for his arrest. Judge Nicholas Loraine-Smith, who will sentence the pair tomorrow told jurors: 'Well, you want to know where he is, well I am afraid I do not know. King is currently wanted by police and anyone with information about his current location is asked to call police on 101 or Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111 'He could not have tried harder to avoid trial. 'He was in a restaurant in Salisbury when he claimed to be ill. That may cause some recollection of the news reports last year.' Sebastian Gardiner, defending, told jurors that King is 'something of a playboy', attending high-end sex parties and rubbing shoulders with various VIPs. 'He is someone that appears to revel in the lifestyle,' said Mr Gardiner, showing the jury pictures of King next to flash cars and celebrities. Mr Gardiner said King was released on bail following the raid in June 2016, but has twice breached conditions to spend each night at his home in London. 'On one occasion he had to be rescued from the sea off the coast of Holyhead by the RNLI with Anna Shapiro, in the hours of darkness. 'Possibly he was trying to escape the jurisdiction, who knows,' added Mr Gardiner. Emergency services outside the Prezzo restaurant in Salisbury on Sunday, where police have closed streets as a 'precautionary measure' The barrister said the couple visited Salisbury last September, causing a major alert by claiming that he had been poisoned. 'Ms Shapiro claimed she was being hunted by the Russian secret service and they had been poisoned and he was on death's door. 'He hadn't been poisoned, and he was discharged from hospital two days later,' he said. Earlier David Matthews, prosecuting, said police raided King's home in Fitzrovia on June 29, 2016. 'Baljit Gill ran a drug supply business in central London and he did that with Alex King, they supplied cocaine. 'They were doing business on phones and delivering directly to customers, whether at customers' homes or elsewhere. One of the places they used was a central London flat. King (pictured), sparked a major alert in Salisbury last year by claiming that he had been poisoned alongside his partner Anna Shapiro 'It was a ground floor flat and that is where Alex King lived with his girlfriend, a Russian woman called Anna Shapiro. 'Police went to the flat at about quarter to 8am with a search warrant and they found Alex King and Anna Shapiro asleep in bed.' After police burst through the front door and stormed the flat, they found two safes hidden in one of the kitchen cupboards. Inside the first safe, which was opened for them by King, they found a number of prepared drug wraps. 'The second safe was opened at the police station by a locksmith,' said the prosecutor. 'On this occasion it was being used largely for cocaine, a little bit of ketamine and some MDMA in crystal form.' Police also found a block of compressed, high quality cocaine: 'In broad terms, what is there is a good quantity of cocaine. It is just under 60 grams in total and its of a reasonable purity. 'You will hear a suggestion that that might have cost, if you were buying in bulk, something like 18,000. Drugs are very market sensitive, if you buy in bulk you get a discount. 'If it was sold on, you will hear a suggestion that that might reach or fetch 60,000.' Mr Matthews said there were also 193 ecstasy pills, with a wholesale value of around 500 and a street value of just shy of 2,000, alongside 21g of crystal MDMA. Stashed away in the flat was also 25 grams of ketamine, with a street value of over 500 and around 100 tablets of diazepam, worth around 100. 'There are also some electronic scales for weighing out relatively small amounts of drugs. There are small bags of cocaine in there too.' Investigators found various varieties of cocaine, which included 'Peruvian Flake', 'Bolivian Mist', 'Colombian Flake' and 'Colombian Gold.' 'This is obviously five different types of connoisseurs' cocaine.' Police also recovered a white Samsung phone that was on King's bedside table, which had texts between an individual called Tyson or Buddy Boy New. Police were able to trace this contact back to Gill who was pursued by police in his black Ford Focus until he was boxed in by specialist units, the court heard. 'They found in his right hand pocket an MDMA tablet with the sign 'Just Eat..' 'There was an iPhone on him, which he refused to give the pin to.' Gill (pictured), of Welling, southeast London, denied but was convicted of conspiracy to supply cocaine and ecstasy and cleared on conspiring to supply ketamine and diazepam Ms Shapiro claimed she was being hunted by the Russian secret service when she and her partner King claimed to need hospital treatment Police also found 165 in his pocket and a further 2,500 stashed away in the car. When asked if it was his, Gill claimed he had won it at the casino. He said he told King that he was looking for a job and he offered to make Gill his driver. Jurors were shown a video filmed by King showing the pair driving around in a 250,000 Aston Martin, which King claims is: 'The same car they used in a James Bond film.' King claims the car is a gift to Gill, telling the camera: 'We work hard, we've got to spend our money on something and enjoy life. There are a lot of jealous people out there, a lot of haters, but that's life I guess.' Gill is heard saying: 'Alex King, top boy in London. He's a king.' But during the trial, Gill told the jury: 'He was trying to pretend that he had just bought me a 200,000 car, which he obviously didn't.' Gill, of Welling, southeast London, denied but was convicted of conspiracy to supply cocaine and ecstasy and cleared on conspiring to supply ketamine and diazepam. King, of Weymouth Street, Fitzrovia, was convicted in his absence of conspiring to supply cocaine, ecstasy and diazepam. The pair will be sentenced tomorrow at 2pm. Paul Broadie II, president of Housatonic Community College in Bridgeport, announced the firing of Charles Meyrick A community college fired a business professor Thursday accused of comparing education officials to Nazis by shouting in German and giving a Nazi salute for more than 10 minutes at a faculty and administrators' meeting. Paul Broadie II, president of Housatonic Community College in Bridgeport, announced the firing of Charles Meyrick, saying a school investigation determined the assistant professor committed 'serious misconduct.' Officials said the Nov. 2 disruptions at Manchester Community College, where faculty and administrators of the Connecticut State Colleges and Universities system were meeting about school consolidation, was part of 'increasingly alarming behavior' by Meyrick, including his being disruptive at prior meetings. 'Mr. Meyrick's actions took place just days after the mass shooting at the Tree of Life Synagogue in Pittsburgh, and triggered several participants to exit the facility out of fear for their safety,' said Mark Ojakian, president of the colleges and universities system. 'Our state colleges and universities aim to foster a welcoming learning environment, and these threatening actions go far beyond acceptable discourse.' Meyrick began teaching at the community college in 2009 after working in finance for IBM for 34 years, according to his biography on the school's website Messages seeking comment were left for Meyrick on Thursday. According to the school investigation report , Meyrick acknowledged he shouted 'sieg heil,' a German phrase for 'hail victory' noted for its use at Nazi rallies, and gave a Nazi salute from his seat in the crowd in the auditorium, as a way to show the meeting's leaders that their effort to silence his dissent was 'tyrannical and wrong.' Meyrick and a college system official got into an argument about consolidating curriculum, and the official asked Meyrick to leave because of his disruptive behavior including his calling the official a liar, the report said. Meyrick saw the request to leave as officials trying to stop him from expressing his opinion, the report said. Police said they were called to the auditorium and after the meeting asked Meyrick to leave campus. Meyrick responded by asking 'What if I don't,' and a lieutenant told him he'd be arrested, police said. Two officers then escorted him from campus without incident. Investigators said Meyrick told them he characterized the salute and Nazi statement as 'miscalculations.' Asked why he kept his hand up so long, Meyrick said he began questioning his own behavior and needed time to contemplate how to get out of the situation. He put his hand down when the official he had argued with asked him if he had a question, the report said. Meyrick began teaching at the community college in 2009 after working in finance for IBM for 34 years, according to his biography on the school's website. A toy company faces severe backlash after a customer visiting a supermarket in South America noticed that a white baby doll was priced higher than the same black doll. A shocked Argentine client proceeded immediately to his social media account this week and made note of what he considered to be a racial motive. The shopper posted a picture on his Twitter account of both 'Tu Bebe' ['Your Baby'] dolls that were hanging side-by-side on a shelf at Atomo, a supermarket in Godoy Cruz, a city in the western central province of Mendoza. A concerned shopper in Argentina posted a picture on his Twitter account of two dolls whose only difference was the skin tone color. However, each was priced slightly differentl Atomo is a supermarket chain with 116 locales throughout Argentina. A worker said the prices were already affixed on the packaging when the dolls were placed on the shelves The white doll, which comes in a clear plastic packaging, sold for $499 Argentine pesos, or the equivalent of $13 in the United States. The black baby doll had a slightly reduced selling price of $399, about $10. The signage label for each doll, which was stapled over the plastic packaging, featured the image of a smiling white baby boy. A toy maker charges $499 Argentine pesos or about $13 for a white baby doll. The same toy, but black, is being sold for $399 Argentine pesos, roughly about $10 A store employee, who wished not to be named, said that her Atomo's locale, one of 116 in all of Argentina, received the merchandise with the price already attached to the packaging label. Daniel Di Giuseppe, a representative for the National Institute against Discrimination, Xenophobia and Racism [INADI] said the agency could look into whether there was an intentional 'act of xenophobia or discrimination' by the toy maker. 'As there is no particular victim to be compensated financially, the economic fine, in such case, would be for the company if any fault is proven.' Advertisement This is the first picture of the vandal who splashed white paint on memorials to Britain's war dead and a tribute to murdered policewoman Yvonne Fletcher. The suspect, wearing ski goggles and a mask, was caught on camera desecrating the Bomber Command Memorial in Green Park, built to remember the 55,000 airmen killed during the Second World War. The wanted man appears to have been acting alone and went on a one-man crime spree where he then threw paint on the nearby Canada Memorial, the 'Allies Statue' of Winston Churchill and Franklin D Roosevelt in New Bond Street, The Royal Marine Memorial in The Mall and finally the Yvonne Fletcher memorial in St James's Square. Scotland Yard released the image four days after the 12-hour vandalism spree infuriated veterans and upset relatives of the dead. Officers are appealing to the public to help find him and believe someone will know the man, or would have spotted him, as he would have been covered in white paint. Detective Inspector Dave Watkinson, said: 'I am hopeful that due to this person's odd appearance, someone may remember seeing them making their way to or from the statues. As a result of the damage caused, the suspect would have left the scenes covered in white paint. This is the first picture of the vandal wanted for desecrating war memorials all over central London in a 12-hour spree Specialist clean-up workers use high pressure steam to clean the paint vandals squirted over the Bomber Command Memorial in Green Park 'This wanton vandalism continues to illicit a strong response from the community. We have carried out an extensive review of local CCTV and are now satisfied that the person in the images released today is responsible for the damage. We are appealing for the media and public's help to identify this person. 'While it is not possible to identify the person's face, someone may recognise their clothing. 'The route we believe they took is usually very busy - especially Trafalgar Square - and they are likely to have been seen by a number of people. Did you see this person walking between statues? Were you travelling on public transport and remember seeing someone with white paint on their clothes? 'I would urge anyone with information to come forward and speak with us.' Three war memorials and a statue in West London were splattered and smeared with white paint in what some believe was a co-ordinated 'peace' protest. The memorial to PC Yvonne Fletcher, who was killed outside in the Libyan embassy in 1984, was covered in paint, in St James Park, in central London. Cleaners have begun power-washing war memorials and statues that were covered in paint by the 'mindless' vandals. The worst effected was the Royal Air Force bombers command memorial in Green Park, West London, which was targeted by the individuals who hurled a large amount of white gloss paint over the historic statue on Sunday night. The shrine in memory of PC Yvonne Fletcher, who was murdered outside the Libyan Embassy in 1984, is thought to be the latest memorial to be targeted by vandals with white paint. Pictured: Stock image of the memorial in St James Square in central London The memorial features seven air crew and was built to commemorate the sacrifice of 55,573 airmen who lost their lives serving in Bomber Command during the Second World War A similar vandalism also occurred over the weekend to The Allies Statue of Winston Churchill in Franklin D. Roosevelt on close by New Bond Street White paint has been hurled across the Canada Memorial, which commemorates all Canadians killed during the First and Second World Wars The Graspan Royal Marines Memorial in The Mall, erected in memory of all the troops who have died in conflict, was also daubed with white paint last night Resolute RAF members have vowed not to put a protective fence around the memorial, insisting it will remain a monument 'for the people'. David Murray, Air Vice-Marshal at the Royal Air Force Benevolent fund, who maintain the monument said: 'I wasn't so much angry but disappointed at the distress that's been caused to the veterans, their families and the wider British public. 'We've got people in this country who think it's clever to wonder round in the early hours of this morning throwing paint around. It's not about the monument itself it's about what it represents. 'It represents 55,000 men who died to give us freedom and if that's the way that some people think we should treat them then there's something wrong. 'We know it happened overnight or early morning, it would have been dark. It's the fourth time it's happened in six years. On at least two occasions previously the culprit was taken to court and punished. 'We don't know timings yet but what we're focusing on at the moment is getting the specialist cleaning team in to get the mural sorted out. 'We look after 55,000 veterans a year from the RAF family. 'I've been hearing from gentlemen this morning who are in their nineties and were in bomber command. They remember their mates who died and the freedom they gave us. 'They are devastated by this - it's a complete lack of respect.' The 7million war memorial has been targeted by vandals four times since it was unveiled by the Queen in June 2012. David Murray, Air Vice-Marshal at the Royal Air Force Benevolent fund, who maintain the monument said: 'I wasn't so much angry but disappointed at the distress that's been caused to the veterans and their families' White paint thrown over the Bomber Command War Memorial in Green Park, London But the RAF has vowed not to let vandals ruin the statue for others. Mr Murray said: 'We will not be putting up a fence, no way. This was built for the people by the people and will remain that way. It's a lot worse than the other times, it's a lot of paint that's been thrown around. 'Previously there were words written and so on, this is just wanton vandalism. The clean-up will be in the thousands this time, we spend about 40,000 a year maintaining the monument. 'We are a charity and have to raise the money to maintain it but this is about respect. We don't know if it is related to the other two statues that have been vandalised this weekend. 'Others can make their mind up about that, one for the police to sort out.' Police are investigating CCTV from the memorial and surrounding area. A similar vandalism also occurred over the weekend to The Allies Statue of Winston Churchill in Franklin D. Roosevelt on close by New Bond Street, and they are also set to be cleaned today. Canada Memorial in Green Park, which remembers the Canadian Forces who died in the first and second world wars was also damaged with paint over the weekend. The Royal Marines Memorial in The Mall was left with a smear of white paint over the names of the dead. President Donald Trump's decision to tap son-in-law Jared Kushner as a negotiator in talks over the government shutdown is drawing both ridicule and praise as the standoff continued for its 34th day. Kushner has been among the most visible senior White House figures meeting with allies and opponents in hopes of finding a solution to the partial government shutdown over Trump's border wall. He has met with congressional leaders in both parties as well as Democrats the White House believes can be coaxed into splitting with their party and agreeing to a compromise that includes Trump's border wall. 'He is totally a nonentity,' one senior Democratic aide told the Washington Post, which examined his role . President Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner has been meeting with lawmakers as a senior negotiator to try to end the government shutdown Kushner helped instigate Trump's proposal to combine the president's proposed $5.7 billion border wall with temporary relief from so-called 'dreamers' as well as changes in the nation's asylum laws. But it is unclear whether his desire for a more global agreement can work. Democrats have so far held firm on their insistence that Republicans first reopen government, then negotiate over border security. The proposal was set for a Senate floor vote Thursday, when it was expected to fail, as was a separate Democratic proposal to reopen the government. However the votes could serve to pave the way for further talks. President Donald Trump's Senior Adviser Jared Kushner, left, walks with Vice President Mike Pence as they leave the office of Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., amid the partial government shutdown, in Washington, Thursday, Jan. 17, 2019. Pence, the former governor of Indiana, also served in the House Republican leadership. Kushner, who previously helped run a family real estate empire, joined the White House staff after becoming a trusted advisor to Trump during his campaign President Donald Trump (R) delivers remarks at the beginning of a meeting with his son-in-law and Senior Advisor Jared Kushner and government cyber security experts in the Roosevelt Room at the White House January 31, 2017 in Washington, DC LET'S MAKE A DEAL: Kuhsner has been identified with a push to work with Democrats on a possible compromise to go with Trump's border wall Kushner's role is also drawing praise and skepticism from inside the White House. One senior White House official called his posture 'delusional,' according to the Post. President Trump has repeatedly praised his son-in-law for helping negotiate a trade deal with Mexico, among other projects. But according to the Post, Trump also ribbed Kushner in a recent Oval Office meeting. 'Apparently, Jared has become an expert on immigration in the last 48 hours,' the president said, according to the account. Kushner is leaning in part on his role in helping to push through bipartisan criminal justice reform, and hoping to help forge a way out of the 34-day old shutdown crisis. White House Press Secretary praised Kushner for his negotiating acumen, citing his work on criminal justice and trade, telling the paper 'it's no wonder the President asked him to join the negotiating team to work on a deal to open the government and secure our border.' Identified early in the Trump administration as part of a faction pushing for moderation along with wife Ivanka Trump, Kushner won plaudits from Trump-backing conservative Rep. Matt Gaetz of Florida. 'I love the Cush,' he told the Post. 'I'll tell you what, he's turned out to be a master negotiator and a competent force on the Hill. Jared has really deployed private-sector dealmaking to this process and brought that to Trump world.' Kushner took part in an on-record briefing with reporters Saturday, but it was was Vice President Mike Pence who fielded most of the questions. 'Look, what I've been trying to is do a lot of listening to a lot of folks -- folks on the right, folks on the [left],' Kushner said. 'A lot of the people who I talk to ... and come up with a set of options for the President to accomplish his objectives, which are to make sure that he's securing the border and to make sure that he's figuring out a way forward on immigration reform,' Kushner said. 'I think that there is a lot that can be done on this topic. I understand there's a lot of strong opinions in different places. I feel like there's not a lot of trust between sides on this issue based on what's gone down over the years. But I do think that there's a lot more that people agree on on this issue than what they disagree on on this issue. And I think that most Americans -- and I think most people in Congress -- want to see a secure border and they want to see our immigration system reformed in a way that can accomplish a lot of objectives that most people agree on,' he said. Kushner also expressed a hope before Trump's latest proposal went down to defeat that it could lead to broader immigration reform. 'The hope is, is that as we get through this situation where there is a step on border security and a step on the DREAMers, that this could be a step toward broader immigration reform because there is a lot of security issues and a lot of humanitarian issues that -- and economic issues that are impacted by the way that our immigration system is currently structured,' Kushner said. Speedboat killer Jack Shepherd has hired a former model who once appeared on the Georgian version of Strictly Come Dancing as his defence lawyer, it has emerged. Shepherd, 31, who handed himself in at a police station in the nation's capital of Tbilisi last night, has secured the services of Mariam Kublashvili, considered a tabloid icon in Georgia. Ms Kublashvili, believed to be in her 30s, was hired privately by Shepherd, who was apprehended six months after being convicted of killing 24-year-old Charlotte Brown during a speedboat date on the Thames. On Georgia TV tonight she told how she may block Shepherd's extradition back to the UK to face justice. She said: 'We may request not to extradite Jack Shepherd. We do not have the right documentation yet so we are not quite ready to speak about whether we will or not.' The lawyer, who once starred in Georgian dance show 'The Stars Are Dancing' and appeared in a Martini Royale casting video, has insisted she is not being paid with British legal aid cash. He has, however, qualified for this in the UK with the taxpayer taking care of his appeal costs. Speedboat killer Jack Shepherd has hired former model Mariam Kublashvili (pictured) who once appeared on the Georgian version of Strictly Come Dancing as his defence lawyer, it has emerged Shepherd, 31, who handed himself in at a police station in the nation's capital of Tbilisi last night, has secured the services of Mariam Kublashvili (pictured), considered a tabloid icon in Georgia Jack Shepherd (pictured above) surrendered at a police station in Georgia on Wednesday Ms Kublashvili, who runs her own law firm, lost her father at the age of five and had a tough life raised by strict mountain traditions, say reports A local source said Ms Kublashvili thrives on high profile cases, adding: 'I believe she had a huge interest in taking Shepherd's case because it is an opportunity for publicity.' Ms Kublashvili's most famous case is defending Temirlan Machalikashvili's family, a man allegedly linked to ISIS and killed by Georgian law enforcement. Temirlan is from Pankisi Gorge, a place that Ms Kublashvili is connected to as she is ethnically Kist - a Chechen ethnic group in Georgia - from her mother's side. The Home Office and Sajid Javid are under pressure to secure Shepherd's extradition 'swiftly' after the 31-year-old handed himself in. He is due to appear in court either this afternoon or tomorrow and if everything goes smoothly the extradition is likely to take around two months, meaning he would finally be back behind bars in Britain by April. Ms Kublashvili, who runs her own law firm, lost her father at the age of five and had a tough life raised by strict mountain traditions, say reports. She was said to be very young when her first husband ran away to America and started a new life with another woman, say reports. Then she started her own law company, and won several tough cases. She is now married to actor Levan Khurtsia and the couple have a son. Ms Kublashvili once appeared in a Martini Royale casting video in Ibiza introducing herself as a 27-year-old lawyer. 'I am lawyer by profession. Established my own company with a big staff which is very successful and I do women's rights. 'I want to show the whole world the real way to success, hard work, the value of time. 'I think that success and luck can be achieved by the person who seeks for necessary possibilities and opportunities. For example, if I don't find them I create them myself. Luck is not coming from the sky.' Jack Shepherd (right) was convicted of killing 24-year-old Charlotte Brown (left) during a speedboat date on the Thames Ms Kublashvili (pictured), who once starred in Georgian dance show 'The Stars Are Dancing' and is married to an actor, has insisted she is not being paid with British legal aid cash Mariam Kublashvili is pictured with another of Shepherd's lawyers, Tariel Kakabadze News of the appointment comes as a top barrister warned Shepherd may never return to Britain if Georgia wants to 'stand up' to the UK by declining an extradition request. George Hepburne Scott, a leading British barrister in the extradition field, warned that Shepherd may stay in Georgia 'indefinitely' if the country refuses a request from the UK Government to bring him home. Mr Scott said Georgia could easily decline the bid and may want to be seen to be 'standing up' to the UK. A timeline of the speedboat killer December 8 2015: Jack Shepherd and Charlotte Brown meet for a date where he takes her to the Shard for dinner, before taking a taxi back to Shepherd's home, a houseboat in Hammersmith, where they took champagne on board his speedboat for their ride past parliament. March 2018: Shepherd was charged with GBH following an incident in which he allegedly knocked a barman unconscious with a vodka bottle in a pub while 'blind drunk'. He then failed to appear at a hearing for that case at the Old Bailey regarding Miss Brown's manslaughter. July 2018: An international arrest warrant is issued for Shepherd July 26 2018: Shepherd, despite being absent from court was found guilty of manslaughter by gross negligence July 27 2018: Shepherd is sentenced to six years' imprisonment Shepherd's wife is then said to have told police that the 33-year-old had travelled to Georgia. January 22 2019: Family of Charlotte meet with Savid Javid before making a television appeal for Shepherd to 'do the right thing' January 23 2019: Shepherd hands himself in to police in Georgia Advertisement This morning Miss Brown's grieving sister Kate Brown slammed Shepherd for his 'unbelievable arrogance', while her father broke down in tears as he admitted there was 'overwhelming relief' as the family got a step closer to getting justice for their 'beautiful' daughter. On Wednesday night the Crown Prosecution Service was preparing an extradition request to be lodged with Georgian legal authorities. However one of Shepherd's lawyers has said it could be 'months' before he returns to the UK, despite experts suggesting the UK authorities would want to 'urgently extradite him'. It is said that Shepherd, from Exeter, could appear in court on either Thursday or Friday, but it is not clear how long the extradition process could take from there. The length of the process will depend on both the Georgian authorities and on whether or not Shepherd consents to his return, if he does it could be a matter of weeks. If he refuses to return to the UK, extradition could take a 'considerable amount of time'. Meanwhile, leading barrister Mr Hepburne Scott said: 'The National Crime Agency will have to make a request of the Georgian State through the extradition treaty between the UK and Georgia. 'In reality it will be highly political. There have been no extradition requests from Georgia to the UK in the past 10 years, so the UK has nothing Georgia wants in return. 'Georgia may want to be seen as standing up to the UK and not bowing down to requests from the West. Mr Shepherd has also indicated he would fight extradition, so even if Georgia accepts the request to extradite him and a judge grants it, he can appeal that decision. This could take months and months. 'Mr Shepherd is also saying that he's an innocent man who was wrongly convicted. 'If he's claiming he has suffered a miscarriage of justice, a Georgian judge could refuse to extradite him on those grounds and he could remain in Georgia indefinitely. 'But he would likely be confined to the state or other countries who are less UK-friendly such as Russia. He would not be able to live anywhere in the EU or America.' Ms Kublashvili once appeared in a Martini Royale casting video in Ibiza (right) introducing herself as a 27-year-old lawyer Jack Shepherd looks a different man having grown a thick beard during his time on the run. He is pictured at the Old Bailey in 2016 The speedboat (pictured above) owned by Jack Sheperd, who was found guilty of killing Charlotte Brown This is while Home Secretary Sajid Javid said it is 'vital Charlotte Brown's family see justice done' and UK law enforcement will 'seek to swiftly extradite him to Britain'. The web designer was found guilty of manslaughter by gross negligence and sentenced to six years in prison in his absence, although he was controversially granted leave to appeal in December. He is said to have fled to Georgia because he has friends there and had stated that 'there's a lot going for Georgia'. When arriving at the station in Georgia, he was seen laughing and joking with officers who then had to Google his name, before understanding that he was a man on the run, ITV News said. Ms Brown's family said they were overwhelmed with emotion after it emerged Shepherd had surrendered and her father said it was time for him to 'atone' for his actions. However, speaking to the Press Association, another of Shepherd's lawyers, Tariel Kakabadze, said he may go before a court in Tbilisi on Thursday or Friday, but suggested it may be 'some time' before he returns to the UK. 'Extradition doesn't happen in one or two days. All the documents will need to be translated, many things will need to be made ready,' he said. 'Depending on what evidence they show us... it might be very soon or it might be several months.' Charlotte's sister Kate (right with Charlotte) has slammed Shepherd for his behavior A spokesman for the Extradition Lawyers Association said: 'I would imagine it will take an age. Unless he consents to extradition, it will largely depend on political will. 'There is very little extradition to or from Georgia. It happens very, very seldom and I can't think of a single case. In terms of how long it would take, I would say it would be a very lengthy process unless the defendant consents to be extradited or he is deported as a result of his visa being revoked.' Scotland Yard, the force leading the investigation, have now been updated by the National Crime Agency on the development and are awaiting confirmation of Shepherd's identity and once his identity is secured, the Metropolitan Police have said proceedings 'will begin immediately' to extradite Shepherd, who has been the subject of an international arrest warrant. Under Georgian law, prosecutors are required to apply for restriction measures for a person wanted in another country within 48 hours of them being arrested. A cat amazed its owner by climbing up a wall to chase a laser light at a home in northern China. The video, filmed in Changchun City in Jilin Province on January 18, shows a Persian cat climbing up to the top of a wall when it is chasing a laser light spot. The owner said the cat was born with this climbing ability and that the skills amaze her. In the video, the cat seems to effortlessly scale the tiled wall. It seems to use its claws to cling to the space between the tiles, showing its adept climbing skills. The cat is following the trail of a laser being shot at the wall by its owner. There are reams of cat videos online showing our feline friends chasing lasers and the reasons why they like to do so may be down to their hunting instinct. The cat is following the trail of a laser being shot at the wall by its owner in Changchun City To a certain point, cats and humans have the same functions in the eye in response to light. The retina is the structure at the back of the eye that converts light energy into nerve impulses that are sent to the brain to be turned into images of what we see. The difference in us and cats is that whilst the human eye is more adept at picking up colour, they are more reactive and attracted to sharp movements. This may well be the reason that cats like to chase around a laser light, and go to great lengths in the hope of catching it. In the video, the cat seems to effortlessly scale the wall, clawing between the tiles Some cat experts argue that the laser pen game is unhealthy for cats as - along with possible damage to their eyes - they never have the satisfaction of having what they think is prey, under their paws. A blog post on catster.com pointed out: 'People typically play with laser pointers for cats in a way that frustrates and teases cats. Laser players usually point and dance the beams randomly on the floors and walls for their cats to chase. 'Certain of a successful catch, they pounce only to find there is nothing under their paws. The bright red dot disappears, or it lingers on the wall or settles for an instant on a paw. 'Cats are left frustrated, without the opportunity to feel the tactile sensation of their hard-earned prey.' But the specialist does point out that exercise for cats is critical and so, if a laser is used, there should be some 'catch' at the end of the elusive beam as a reward. An Oregon man has been sentenced to nearly two years in prison and ordered to register as a sex offender for raping a horse last year. Kenneth Duyck, 21, pleaded guilty on Friday to charges of sexual assault of an animal, burglary and unlawful use of a motor vehicle. Duyck was arrested in April, after a homeowner near Hillsboro, Oregon, discovered that her stables had been broken into and found her black mare named Ellie tied up in an unusual way. Kenneth Duyck, 21 (left and right), was sentenced Friday to 20 months in prison for sexually assaulting a horse in Oregon last year A black mare named Ellie was found with foreign bodily fluid inside her in a rural home's barn on this street near Hill, Oregon, last April The homeowner said that she took a photo of Ellie and sent it to her daughter, a veterinarian, who said that it appeared as though someone had engaged in sexual contact with the horse, according to court documents obtained by Fox 12. Authorities examined Ellie and collected DNA evidence from her. The day before discovering the sexual assault of her horse, the homeowner told deputies that a man had called her and asked for permission to sleep on her property, but she turned him away. After the call, the homeowner said that she saw a 'homeless-looking' man, who identified himself as being Duyck, talking with her neighbors. Duyck was arrested on April 24 after deputies found him sleeping in his car in the parking lot of the Walmart Supercenter in nearby Cornelius. Following his arrest, authorities collected Duyck's DNA, which was a match to the fluid found inside Ellie the horse. Deputies said that Duyck claimed to have broken into the stable to groom the horse, but later admitted to ejaculating on the horse's tail. He also claimed it was the first and only time he had sexually assaulted a horse. The probable cause affidavit revealed that Duyck stated that he believed he made a 'bad decision' because he had not been taking his medications for autism spectrum disorder and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder for more than a month. Duyck admitted he made a 'bad decision' to have sexual contact with the horse because he had not been taking his medications for autism spectrum disorder and ADHD Following his conviction Friday, a Washington County Circuit Court judge sentenced Duyck to 20 months in prison and barred him from owning a horse or any domestic animal for the next 15 years, reported The Oregonian. The 21-year-old man is also required to complete sex offender and mental health treatment programs. Court records show that Duyck had been convicted of burglary and theft charges in 2017, after breaking into his uncle's home and stealing a handgun in 2015. Duyck was found unfit to stand trial at first and received several months of treatment at the Oregon State Hospital in Salem, Oregon, before he was deemed able to aid his own defense. At the time of his arrest last April, Duyck was on probation for the 2017 conviction. A search is underway for a crew member who went overboard on a Royal Caribbean cruise ship. The Coast Guard is searching for the 26-year-old crew member of Royal Caribbean Majest of the Seas who went overboard on the 14-deck ship early Thursday in the Atlantic Ocean off Florida. Cruise line spokesman Owen Torres said in that other crew members saw the employee go overboard around 2.30am. A 26-year-old crew member was seen going overboard early Thursday from Royal Caribbean Majesty of the Seas The ship, that holds up to 2,744 passengers with about 900 crew members, was sailing to Port Everglades at the end of a six-day cruise to the Bahamas. Torres says the captain immediately stopped the ship to begin rescue efforts for about four hours. The cruise continued its journey around 6.45am once the Coast Guard took control of the search. 'Our Care Team is providing support to the crew member's family and friends, and our thoughts and prayers are with them,' Torres said. Amber Rudd warned the Prime Minister she could quit the Cabinet to back a plan to block no deal. The Work and Pensions Secretary said she would 'wait and see' what the orders to Tory MPs were on Tuesday night - insisting she wanted a free vote. Tuesday sees the next stage of the Brexit drama come to a head as MPs vote on Theresa May's Plan B and a raft of amendments on what to do next. One of the rival plans is from senior Labour MP Yvette Cooper and would upend Commons rules to try and change the law to block a no deal exit on March 29. Ms Rudd - a May loyalist who returned to the Cabinet just two months ago - wants to vote in favour of the plan despite it undermining Government policy. Her warning to Newsnight comes after Chancellor Philip Hammond warned a no deal Brexit would be a 'betrayal'. As the new Cabinet revolt unfolded today, a junior business minister Richard Harrington challenged the PM to sack him over claiming no deal would be a 'disaster'. In a Newsnight interview Work and Pensions Secretary Amber Rudd said she would 'wait and see' what her marching orders from the PM were Speaking to veteran BBC interviewer Kirsty Wark (left) Ms Rudd (right) said: 'At this stage I'm going to stick to trying to persuade government to allow it to be a free vote. We'll have to wait and see' Amber Rudd (pictured in Downing Street on Tuesday) warned the Prime Minister she could quit the Cabinet to back a plan to block no deal tonight Who will back Business minister Richard Harrington (left) hailed a bloodcurdling threat from Airbus that it could pull out of Britain if there is no agreement with Brussels. Chancellor Philip Hammond (right) warned that the economic damage from no-deal Brexit meant it would be as much of a 'betrayal' of the referendum as staying in the EU Ms Rudd told tonight's Newsnight: 'At this stage I'm going to stick to trying to persuade the government to allow it to be a free vote. We'll have to wait and see' She added: 'There is no doubt that No Deal would be bad for prosperity and bad for our security. 'But at the same time, I want to make sure that people realise that the best way for us to avoid No Deal is to vote for the deal.' Mr Harrington said he was 'delighted' by the intervention - which was apparently encouraged by the government - and would be 'very happy' to resign if the PM objected to him saying so publicly. Airbus brands Brexit chaos 'disgraceful' and says it could leave Britain there is no deal Airbus boss Tom Enders (file) today condemned the 'disgraceful' chaos surrounding Brexit and warned it could leave Britain if a no deal threatened its international competitiveness Airbus today condemned the 'disgraceful' chaos surrounding Brexit and warned it could leave Britain if a no deal threatened its international competitiveness. The aerospace giant, which employs 14,000 people in Britain, warned it could have to make 'potentially very harmful decisions' about its UK operations in a no deal. It warned there were 'plenty of countries' that would welcome the firm with open arms if Britain became inhospitable to international companies. Airbus's move came as the Dutch government revealed it was in talks with 250 UK firms about luring them to the Netherlands. Fears are rising about the future of British manufacturing amid wobbles in the car industry and after Dyson announced it was relocating its headquarters to Singapore. Advertisement The aerospace giant, which employs 14,000 people in Britain, declared it could have to make 'potentially very harmful decisions' about its UK operations in a no deal. It warned there were 'plenty of countries' that would welcome the firm with open arms if Britain became inhospitable to international companies. CEO Tom Enders urged Britons not to listen to 'Brexiteers' madness' that the company was too established in the UK to leave. Downing Street insisted it was pursuing a Brexit deal precisely to avoid the challenges of no deal - but insisted Britain would thrive whatever happens. Challenged about Mr Hammond's words, the PM's official spokeswoman said: 'I think you are putting a particular interpretation on his words there and I would encourage you to talk to the Chancellor and his team about what he actually meant. 'What's important is delivering the verdict of the British people and leaving the European Union.' Asked if the PM's thinks a no deal would be a disaster, she added: 'They are not words the Prime Minister has ever used. 'She has said that there will be disruption and we are working incredibly hard to minimise that.' Remainers and Labour are trying to tie the PM's hands in a series of crunch votes on Tuesday. Jeremy Corbyn looks near-certain to back an amendment proposed by Yvette Cooper that would pave the way for the UK's departure date to be delayed beyond March. Mrs May's allies have conceded she will be forced to try to extend Article 50 if the Houses passes the mechanism. However, there have been some glimmers of hope for Mrs May amid evidence that Eurosceptics and the DUP are looking for a way of climbing down and supporting her plan. Tory loyalist Simon Hoare told MailOnline the 'penny appears to be dropping' among hardline colleagues that the 'prize' of Brexit might be lost unless they compromise. Theresa May (pictured right) is looking for a way to break the bitter deadlock in Parliament, with signs that Brexiteers such as Jacob Rees-Mogg (right) are looking for a way to climb down Jeremy Corbyn (pictured on a visit near Milton Keynes today) looks near-certain to back an amendment that would pave the way for delaying the UK's departure date beyond March Speaking at Davos this afternoon, Mr Not leaving the EU 'would be seen as a betrayal... 'But leaving without a deal would undermine our future and would equally represent a betrayal of the promises made.' Mr Harrington was also blunt, saying no deal would be a 'disaster' for Britain and praising Airbus for 'telling it like it is'. 'I really don't believe in this idea. I am very happy to be public about it and very happy if the prime minister decides I am not the right person to do the business industry job,' he said. Red Len in No 10! Union chief McCluskey makes his first ever visit to May's Downing Street as the PM tries to win the support of workers' groups for her deal Len McCluskey made his first visit to Theresa May's Downing Street today as he took part in the Prime Minister's desperate scramble to salvage her divorce deal. The powerful Unite leader backed Jeremy Corbyn's handling of Brexit and joined other union chiefs in demanding Mrs May protect workers' rights. TUC chief Frances O'Grady was the first of the union barons to emerge from Downing Street today, while GMB's General Secretary Tim Roach and Unison's Dave Prentis also saw the PM today. Downing Street refused to reveal the detail of what was discussed at the meetings - which took place over tea and coffee - which are part of a wider effort to find a way through the Brexit impasse. Unite boss 'Red Len' McCluskey appeared at the door to No 10 today (pictured) as union leaders accepted a rare invite to Theresa May's Downing Street to discuss Brexit TUC chief Frances O'Grady was the first of the union barons to emerge from Downing Street today (pictured), warning the PM had to give ground Remainer MPs DROP bid to force a 'People's Vote' and blame Corbyn for killing chances Remainer MPs today dropped their bid to force a parliamentary vote demanding a second referendum - admitting they do not have enough support to back it (pictured, left to right, Luciana Berger,Sarah Wollaston and Chuka Umunna) Remainer MPs today dropped their bid to force a parliamentary vote demanding a second referendum - admitting they do not have enough support to back it. The gang of Labour and Tory MPs who were backing a so-called People's Vote blasted Jeremy Corbyn for killing off their chances of winning. Tory MP Dr Sarah Wollaston had planned to table the 'doctor's amendment' to next Tuesday's crunch Brexit motion to demand a second referendum. But stood outside Parliament this morning flanked by pro-EU Labour MPs Luciana Berger and Chuka Umunna, she announced a U-turn. The shock moves comes after a massive row among Remainer MPs over when to finally show their hand a call a Commons vote on another referendum. Advertisement Mr McCluskey said he hoped his first ever meeting with Theresa May was not a 'PR stunt'. He stressed that a no-deal Brexit would be 'disastrous' and urged the Prime Minister to extend Article 50 beyond March 29 for three months. Mr McCluskey said Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn was right to refuse to meet the Prime Minister unless she ruled out a no-deal Brexit. The Unite leader said companies were now putting investment decisions on hold because of the ongoing uncertainty. He added: 'I cannot conceive any prime minister taking us out of Europe with a no deal - it would be catastrophic.' Ms O'Grady said workers are worried about their jobs and need reassurance about their future after the UK leaves the EU. 'The Prime Minister should do the right thing and take a no-deal off the table so that genuine dialogue can take place,' she said. Ms O'Grady added: 'I was looking for guarantees on workers' rights now and into the future. 'We have a Prime Minister on a temporary contract- she cannot bind the hands of a future prime minister. 'People wanting her job are on record as saying Brexit is an opportunity to reduce workers' rights. 'The Prime Minister should stop listening to the bad boys at the back of the class. More time is needed for genuine talks.' Nicola Stocker (pictured) lost the libel case in 2016 and is now challenging the ruling at the Supreme Court A woman who lost a libel case after saying on Facebook that her husband tried to strangle her says she's appealing the ruling to 'help others in the same situation'. Nicola Stocker, 51, said businessman Ronald Stocker, 68, had 'tried to strangle' her, during an online exchange with his new partner, Deborah Bligh, in December 2012. The 2016 case heard that Mr Stocker reached for his wife's throat, and grabbed her around the neck during a row in 2003. Mr Stocker denied the allegation and said he had put a hand to his wife's mouth while they were arguing to 'stop the noise' waking their child - and may have inadvertently touched her neck Using the Oxford English Dictionary definition of the word 'strangle', Mr Justice Mitting found Mrs Stocker's post was defamatory as it suggested Mr Stocker had tried to kill her. But Mrs Stocker, of Longwick, Buckinghamshire, is now challenging that London High Court ruling. Outlining the case to a panel of five justices on Thursday, her barrister, David Price QC, said at the Supreme Court that the appeal raises issues of general importance for defamation claims. 'The appellant is an individual with no interest in the law of defamation other than the ultimate outcome of this claim and the hope that it might assist others who find themselves in a similar position,' he said. Mr Price added: 'The phrase "tried to strangle" is a common way of describing an assault involving a constriction of the neck or throat where the victim is alive. Ronald Stocker (left) won the libel case over remarks made to Deborah Bligh (right), which he argued made it sound like he'd tried to kill his ex 'The phrase does not convey an intent to kill in ordinary language or in relevant criminal offences.' He said the 'last thing' any ordinary Facebook friend of Ms Bligh who came across the discussion would do would be to 'reach for a dictionary and engage in the over-elaborate analysis carried out by the judge'. Lawyers for Mr Stocker, of Aston Clinton, Buckinghamshire, contend that Mr Justice Mitting reached the right conclusion and urged the judges to dismiss the appeal. Manuel Barca QC, for Mr Stocker, said: 'The judge was perfectly entitled to refer to... the dictionary definition of "strangle" as a check on the view of meaning he had formed as a matter of impression.' During the High Court trial in 2016, the court heard that the allegations were published to 21 individuals who had authorised access to the page. They were also visible to 110 of Ms Bligh's 'friends' and to their Facebook 'friends'. Ruling in favour of Mr Stocker, Mr Justice Mitting said a comment on Facebook was the same as a comment posted on an office noticeboard and Mrs Stocker had no right to assume it was private. The judge found that Mr Stocker did 'in temper' attempt to silence his ex-wife, but was not satisfied he had threatened to kill her and therefore her comments had a defamatory meaning. He said the libel was 'not trivial', and assessed the appropriate compensation at 5,000 - though Mr Stocker did not want any money. Mrs Stocker previously challenged the judge's ruling at the Court of Appeal. But she was left facing a hefty legal bill after her case was rejected by three senior judges in February last year. The Supreme Court justices are expected to reserve their decision on the case. An Army veteran has been left stunned after the owner of a gym told him not to wear a shirt supporting President Donald Trump while working out. Jake Talbot, who served as a staff sergeant in the Army, posted a brief Facebook video describing the surreal encounter after leaving CDY Fitness in Troy, Missouri on Sunday. 'The owner, Liz, came up to me and said my Trump shirt I had on was offensive and that I'd need to remove it in order to work out there, and it's linked to racism,' he said. 'I freakin' hate that word, whenever it's used way too loosely. It's 2019, get the hell over it, it's not racism,' he continued. Jake Talbot was wearing a shirt that read 'Trump for President 2016' when the owner of a gym in Troy, Missouri told him he couldn't work out in it because it is 'racist' and 'offensive' Gym owner Liz Drew (left and right) says that she carefully considered her request that Talbot not wear the Trump shirt after several other gym members complained about it Gym owner Liz Drew substantially confirmed Talbot's description of events but defended her stance in a statement on Facebook that has since been deleted. 'Allow me to clarify. I don't believe our gym should be a political forum for anyone. I want everyone to feel safe and comfortable there. We are all trying to improve ourselves and work hard to change,' the statement said. Drew continued: 'I am deeply saddened by the amount of hate this event has garnered. I will personally and publicly continue to defend my stance for tolerance and against hate no matter the financial consequence.' The gym owner told the St Louis Post-Dispatch that other gym members, including black and Hispanic members, had complained to her about Talbot's shirt, which read 'Trump for President 2016.' 'I said, 'Jake, we're friends and I love you, but I'd appreciate it if you didn't wear that shirt in the future,'' said Drew. Talbot (left and right) served in the Army as a staff sergeant. He rejects the notion that his T-shirt supporting Trump has any connection to racism Talbot's video, which has been viewed over 27,000 times, drew furious online backlash, with his supporters berating the gym on Facebook and Yelp, leading Drew to delete the business' Facebook page. 'This was about protecting the comfort level of all members and keeping politics out of my gym. Sadly, it has done just the opposite,' Drew told the Post-Dispatch. Attorney Lynette Petruska told KMOV-TV that the gym's owner was well within her rights to ask Talbot not to wear the shirt, adding that 'the business owner really didn't violate any First Amendment or anti-discrimination law.' Petruska said that only clothing restrictions that violated racial or religious discrimination laws would be legally questionable. Talbot told the station that he has cancelled his membership with the gym, and was offered a free one-year membership by another in the area after his story spread. Trump handily won Missouri in 2016 with 57 per cent of the vote, and won Lincoln County, where CDY Fitness is located, by an even larger margin with 73 per cent of the vote. The Pope has warned that the illusion of community online risks turning young people into 'hermits', and that narcissism and societal divisions fueled by social media are creating 'spirals of hatred'. In his World Day of Social Communications message released on Thursday, Pope Francis said that online discussion is 'too often based on opposition to the other, the person outside the group: we define ourselves starting with what divides us rather than with what unites us'. This 'unbridled individualism' found on social media 'sometimes ends up fomenting spirals of hatred', the Pope said, and giving rise to 'every kind of prejudice'. Pope Francis waves to the crowd from the popemobile, after landing in Panama on January 23. He has used his World Day of Social Communications message to warn about the dangers of social media turning young people into 'hermits' He also warned that while the internet provides an opportunity to connect with other people, young people might find themselves tricked into thinking that the web can completely satisfy all their relational needs. 'There is the dangerous phenomenon of young people becoming 'social hermits' who risk alienating themselves completely from society,' the 82-year-old said. The Pope is currently on an official visit to Panama for the global World Youth Day gathering, and also took the opportunity to draw attention to the fact that one in four young people are involved in cyberbullying. He said that people should no longer need an adversary to define themselves, because 'as Christians, we all recognize ourselves as members of the one body whose head is Christ. Pope Francis said narcissism and societal divisions fueled by social media are creating 'spirals of hatred' 'This helps us not to see people as potential competitors, but to consider even our enemies as persons.' Releasing the message on the feast day of St. Francis de Sales, patron saint of journalists, the Pope also touched on the topics of fake news and misinformation propagated online. The internet brings with it 'risks that threaten the search for, and sharing of, authentic information on a global scale,' he said. 'If the Internet represents an extraordinary possibility of access to knowledge, it is also true that it has proven to be one of the areas most exposed to disinformation and to the conscious and targeted distortion of facts and interpersonal relationships'. In a similar vein, the pope warned people about social networks profiting off people's personal data and perhaps manipulating it for 'political or economic advantages, without due respect for the person and his or her rights'. The Pope did, however, explain that ultimately the Catholic Church believes the internet is a tool that can be harnessed for good, if only people would begin to use it for 'dialogue, for encounter, for "smiles" and expressions of tenderness...' Comparing the internet to the Church, the Pope concluded by saying that the former should become more like the latter - 'a network woven together by Eucharistic communion, where unity is based not on likes, but on the truth, on the Amen, by which each one clings to the Body of Christ, and welcomes others.' Police are investigating whether there are any more victims at an Arizona care home where a quadriplegic patient gave birth after being raped. Officers said investigations are ongoing at the Hacienda Healthcare center in Phoenix despite the arrest of 36-year-old nurse Nathan Sutherland on Wednesday. Sutherland has been charged with rape after a severely disabled 29-year-old woman, who has been at the center since 1992, gave birth last month. Detectives said a DNA sample taken from Sutherland on Tuesday linked him to the baby boy, and he was subsequently arrested. Police are still investigating Hacienda Healthcare in Phoenix amid fears there could be more sex victims after a male nurse was arrested for raping a quadriplegic woman Nathan Sutherland, 36, appeared in court yesterday charged with raping a 29-year-old patient after she gave birth last month and DNA linked him to the child Hacienda has also launched an investigation, which is still ongoing. The company said it fired Sutherland as soon as it learned of his arrest, and has introduced new safety measures in the wake of the scandal. A statement from the company said: 'We will do everything in our power to ensure justice in this case. 'In the past two weeks, the Hacienda team has increased security measures to ensure the safety of all our patients. We will continue to do so. 'We also will continue to review and improve what is already an in-depth vetting process for caregivers at Hacienda. 'We will not tolerate any mistreatment of a Hacienda patient, nor will we stop until every Hacienda patient is as safe as we can make them.' The case has prompted the departure or discipline of key figures at Hacienda HealthCare, including the CEO William Timmons. Sutherland pleaded the fifth while speaking with police and refused to enter a plea in court, but his lawyer denied there was any evidence linking him to the crime Timmons resigned on December 31 as the provider announced new safety measures, including more than one staff member being present during patient interactions and more scrutiny of visitors. Dr. Thanh Nguyen has been revealed as the victim's primary care doctor in a suspension letter obtained by CBS News . Issued on January 15 - 10 days after the story first broke - the letter, addressed to Nguyen, states he placed 'one or more' of his patients' heath and welfare 'in danger'. Nguyen has been suspended without pay until a full internal investigation is carried out by the Arizona Health Care Cost Containment System (AHCCCS). The second physician is believed to be Dr. Phillip Gear, a veteran pediatrician in Phoenix, who has previously been reprimanded by the Arizona Medical board after the death of an infant under his care. Practicing for more than 30 years, court records show Dr. Gear last checked the victim in April 2018 and noted no major changes in her health or condition. Both of the woman's caregivers claimed to be unaware she was pregnant, but the time of Dr. Gear's last interaction with the victim would suggest she had been a few weeks pregnant at the time of the examination. Sutherland pleaded the Fifth when questioned by police and did not enter a plea when he appeared in court on Wednesday. But his lawyer subsequently said there was no evidence linking the devout Christian father-of-four directly to the crime. 'There's no direct evidence that Mr Sutherland has committed these acts,' Gregan said. 'I know at this point there's DNA. But he will have a right to his own DNA expert.' The defense attorney had asked for a lower bond on the grounds that Sutherland didn't have a criminal record. A Maricopa County Superior Court commissioner set a $500,000 cash-only bond. If Sutherland posts bond, he would need to wear an electronic monitoring device. Hacienda has launched its own investigation into the scandal, while CEO Bill Timmons stepped down last month in light of the scandal Dr. Nguyen (left), the woman's primary care physician, was suspended on January 15 while Dr. Gear (right) has resigned in the wake of the scandal He is charged with one count of sexual assault and one count of vulnerable adult abuse. Police said Sutherland had been a licensed practical nurse since 2011 and was directly responsible for caring for the victim at the facility. Investigators believe Sutherland raped the patient sometime between February and April. Officials at the facility said Sutherland went through an 'extensive background check' before he was hired. He had worked at Hacienda for eight years. The victims' family also issued a statement clarifying her condition amid earlier reports that she was in a vegetative state or a coma. They said that while the woman is severely mentally disabled and requires feeding and breathing tubes, she is conscious and can respond to the world around her. 'She has feelings, likes to be read to, enjoys soft music and is capable of responding to people she is familiar with, especially family', the relatives said. Her condition is the result of seizures in early childhood, they added. She has been at the care center since she was three years old. Anthony 'The Mooch' Scaramucci has put his Hamptons mansion on sale once again for nearly $10million. The short-lived White House communications director bought the brand new, 8,300-sq-ft home for him and his wife Deidre Ball in 2017 for a cool $7.49million and first listed the property in May last year. Mr Scaramucci will be parting with his larger eight-bedroom home while keeping his smaller Southampton beach house, reportedly in the hopes of keeping his wife happy. Former White House communications director Anthony 'The Mooch' Scaramucci is selling the Hamptons love nest he bought to share with wife Deidre Ball for nearly $10million A source told the New York Post: Deidre really loves this beach house in Southampton and doesnt want to part with it, so they have decided to sell the other. The abode at 30 Lawrence Court is hidden away in the ritzy Long Island neighborhood of Water Mill, bordering a wildlife reserve near the home of actor Alan Alda. The house, which was first put on the market in last year, is being offered fully furnished this time around, with designs by Mitchell Gold, and has been listed with Brown Harris Stevens for a whopping $9.75million. It was designed by celebrity developer Joe Farrell who has worked on the homes of clients including Madonna, Kelsey Grammer, Rudy Giuliani and Woody Johnson. The home - by celebrity developer Joe Farrell - was brand new when Mr Scaramucci bought it The home at 30 Lawrence Court is hidden away in Long Island's ritzy neighborhood Water Mill Mr Scaramucci bought the East End home to share with Ball shortly after the two reconciled in 2017. Ball had filed for divorce in early July after the 55-year-old financier announced he was going to work for President Donald Trump. His stint as communications director only lasted 10 days, and during that time Mr Scaramucci managed to miss the birth of the couple's second son James in late July because he accompanied Trump to a Boy Scouts jamboree in West Virginia. He reportedly sent Ball a text saying: 'Congratulations. I'll pray for our child,' and then failed to visit the baby. Mr Scaramucci paid the home's full asking price, $7.49m and tacked on several pricey add-ons Months later in November Ball removed the divorce filing and the couple told friends they were trying to work things out. Mr Scaramuccis gaffe-ridden 10-day tenure as communications chief was the shortest in American history. And earlier this week The Mooch confirmed he had left Celebrity Big Brother after just six days on the show. Mr Scaramucci was speaking at a Skybridge business conference on Wednesday in Switzerland when he confirmed the exit but refused to say why he had left the CBS reality series. Speculation had been mounting that Mr Scaramucci had been ousted by the other contestants after live-feed watchers noticed that he was missing from the house on Tuesday night. David Allen Boileau (above), 58, was arrested on Tuesday A Florida man accused of breaking into his Iraqi neighbor's home and terrorizing the family with racially charged threats could face hate crime charges, police have said. When David Allen Boileau, 58, was arrested by Pasco County Police on January 22, he allegedly told responding officers if he couldn't get rid of his middle-eastern neighbors then 'Trump [would] handle it'. According to a police report, Boileau admitted to breaking and entering the Al Hakeem home on Tuesday where a number of items were reported missing by the family, including a purse, credit cards and an identification card. He also claimed to find 'immigration papers' inside the Holiday, Florida property, according to officers. In a Pasco County Police report, an attending officer detailed Boileau's tirade of racial abuse and prejudice. He repeatedly told officers the Hakeem family 'don't belong here', as well as saying 'Trump [will] handle it.' Boileau was spotted walking out of the Hakeem home on Pinehurst Drive, in Holiday, Florida (pictured) Boileau was spotted exiting the home by a neighbor, Lonny Cox, just 24 hours after he reportedly threw nails underneath the Al Hakeem family car, in the hope of damaging it or bursting the tires. As he threw the nails, witnesses have told police the defendant yelled: 'We'll get rid of them one way or another.' Upon his arrest on Tuesday, Boileau's racial tirade continued as he allegedly told police: 'They don't belong here...the US needs to get rid of them all.' 'If [I don't] get rid of them, Trump will handle it.' Mother-of-four, Mrs Al Hakeem said Boileau thinks they're 'bad people', in an interview with ABC News. 'I know there's some bad people from the Middle East, that's why we're here.' 24 hours before his arrest, neighbors detailed how the defendant had thrown nails at the Hakeem family car, in a bid to damage it or burst their tires The sister of the victim revealed the family moved to the country legally after she served as an interpreter for the US Army in Iraq for two years. 'That's why we came here because our life was in danger,' Hakeem added. Pasco Sherrif Chris Nocco announced the arrest on Wednesday to reiterate the county's zero-tolerance police on crimes driven by racism or prejudice. He described the actions of Boileau as 'horrific'. 'We have to send a clear message out there,' Nocco said. 'And that message is it doesn't matter your race, color, creed, gender, sexual orientation, the Pasco County Sherrif's Office is going to uphold laws and make sure everyone is safe. 'This is one of those things that's absolutely disgusting. It's absolutely horrific. And everyone should feel welcomed.' Pasco Sherrif Chris Nocco denounced Boileau's alleged actions and branded them 'horrific'. He announced the arrest on Wednesday to reiterate the county's zero tolerance police on hate crimes Boileau recently moved three doors down from the Al Hakeem family in Pinehurst Drive. The family have reportedly lived at the address for three years without previous incident. 'He said he doesn't like them. 'He wished they weren't in the community - which is ironic, because he's the one who moved into our community.' Boileau has been charged with burglary, and the case will now be referred to the FBI to investigate the incident as potential hate crime. On January 27, 2017 President Trump signed an executive order banning travel from several Middle-Eastern countries to the US. The order followed his 2015 calls for a 'total ban' on Muslims entering the country Two years ago, President Trump signed an executive order which he claimed was going to '[Protect] the Nation From Foreign Terrorist Entry Into the United States.' Quickly becoming known as the Travel Ban, it blocked entry to the US from seven countries, including several from the Middle-East. The order was widely criticized as being Islamophobic by Democrats and Republicans. In 2015, Trump called for 'a total and complete shutdown of Muslims entering the United States'. Do you know this man? Email nic.white@mailonline.com He will not be charged with a crime or banned from flying on other airlines Passengers say the man was 'way too drunk' before the flight Pilot turned around and landed in Sydney 'burly blokes' restrained the man Man could be seen in a punch-up with others on the Scoot Flight TR7 A drunk passenger who started a mid-air brawl that forced a plane to make an emergency landing will not be banned from flying. Scoot Flight TR7 was just over an hour into its eight-hour journey from the Gold Coast to Singapore on Monday morning when a fight broke out. The passenger had to be tackled by several 'burly blokes' and restrained with cable ties supplied by crew while the plane made an emergency landing in Sydney. However, despite being filmed punching fellow passengers in the face and disrupting the trip, he will not be placed on a no-fly list. The shocking moment a drunk passenger on a Scoot flight became embroiled in a violent altercation has been caught on camera Neither will he be prosecuted with a crime as the Australian Federal Police declined to charge him. The man, whose identity is unknown, will likely be banned from Scoot and its parent company Singapore Airlines over his antics. However, his details will not be shared with other airlines because of privacy restrictions, leaving him free to fly with any other company. No charges were laid because he may have mental health issues that meant he would be difficult to prosecute, according to The Australian. The International Civil Aviation Organisation recommends each state have a procedure for fining passengers for mid-air incidents to discourage others. The commotion on the Gold Coast flight bound for Singapore forced the plane to cut its journey short The rowdy man had begun drinking heavily after he discovered the flight was delayed, one witness claimed in a clip posted to Facebook Airlines have imposed their own fines on passengers before, such as demanding $18,000 from a woman on a plane from Melbourne to Wellington in 2012. FIFO worker Luke Macdonald Taylor, 39, was in 2017 fined $26,000 for threatening Qantas crew members and trying to bite a federal officer. The AFP charged him with two counts of assaulting, threatening with violence or intimidating aircraft crew, and one count of obstructing, hindering or resisting a police officer. Witnesses claimed Monday's Scoot passenger was knocking back beers in the terminal and should never have been allowed on board. Tattoo artist Rico Garilli, who filmed the fight, said the man was 'way too drunk' before the flight and should never have been allowed on the plane. He told Sunrise: 'We were sitting next to him at the bar while the flight was delayed and he was putting them down. 'Before we'd even taken off he was standing up and staff couldn't control him. We probably shouldn't have taken off in the first place. The man partially stripped off his clothes before eventually being tackled to the ground (pictured) Billy Skinner (right) part of a group who assisted in holding the passenger down and restraining him with cable ties 'He was prety incoherent - he was slurring his words. It was so surprising they let him on the flight - from the get-go you could tell he was just way too drunk.' Mr Garilli, who was travelling via Singapore to Thailand with his fiancee for their wedding, said there was no real cause of the fight. 'He was just out for a fight really... just provoking people for no reason.' Passengers tied up the man with cable ties He said the crew didn't know what to do because the man was too big to be restrained but said: 'Thankfully we did have the bigger blokes on the plane who were able to take him down rather successfully'. Mr Garilli said at one point the man calmed down and other passengers let him go. But then he suddenly pushed one of the crew, took his shirt off and 'went for a run until he got taken down again'. 'He was held down by the passengers for three hours - all the crew could do was provide cable ties,' Mr Garilli said. 'Some of the passengers showed amazing resilience, hats off to them.' The rowdy man had begun drinking heavily after he discovered the flight was delayed, one witness claimed in a clip posted to Facebook. Another passenger, only named as Billy, helped restrain the man. He told Kiss FM: 'I woke up and saw a big crowd of people so I got up walked down the back of the plane. 'The man was punching everyone and pushing people - he elbowed some young kid in the head. Rico Garilli (pictured with his fiancee), who filmed the fight, said the man was 'way too drunk' before the flight and should never have been allowed on the plane 'I jumped on him, we held him down, he was going crazy.' Billy added: 'The airline just didn't care - they were serving food while we were holding him down and zip-tying him. 'I gave him a tickle when he was hog-tied. He was wriggling like a worm - it took five of us to hold him down. We held him until the feds came along.' Footage from the flight shows the moment the fight broke out as passengers watched in horror. The man partially stripped off his clothes before being tackled to the floor after a series of punches were thrown. Scoot Flight TR7 was just over an hour into its eight-hour journey when the out-of-control passenger became involved in a violent mid-air incident According to the passenger on Facebook, the man's attitude turned aggressive roughly 20 minutes into the flight. He was restrained by passengers and staff as the plane made its descent. The plane was diverted to Sydney, where the man was met by the Australian Federal Police and paramedics. The other passengers were transferred to other flights to Singapore. A spokeswoman for the airline said the plane was diverted to Sydney for the safety and convenience of those on board. 'It's a bigger airport, they have bigger handling facilities because they were trying to get everyone off the plane quickly,' she told the Gold Coast Bulletin. 'They were sent to Sydney just to make everything faster for the passengers.' Sophie Reeder went missing from Fort Lauderdale two years ago after police believe she met a people trafficker online A fresh appeal has been launched to find a Florida schoolgirl who vanished two years ago after police suspect she was lured away by a trafficker. Sophie Reeder, who would now be 17, was last seen on CCTV May 20, 2017, walking down the street with headphones on. No trace has been found of her since. But interest in her case has been rekindled after it featured on In Pursuit with John Walsh in the hopes of turning up fresh leads. The show featured age-progression photos and descriptions of what Reeder might look like now, in the hopes someone would recognize her. 'If at least one child comes home and one homicide is solved, we will have done our job,' Walsh said on the show, which aired on Investigation Discovery. Reeder, a troubled teenager who had run away from home at least once before, was living with her father in Fort Lauderdale when she went missing. The 15-year-old had been attending a virtual school from her bedroom at the time and spending a lot of time on her computer. Police say searches of her internet history lead them to believe she was led away by a people trafficker. Father Patrick revealed that she had been diagnosed with depression shortly before she vanished and was vulnerable. He said the last time he saw her was on May 19, the day before she was caught on CCTV, when he went to check she was awake at 12.30pm. 'She was up, he said. 'Then that was the last time I saw her.' Reeder, who was suffering from depression and anxiety when she vanished, was last seen on CCTV walking down the street while wearing headphones Meanwhile mother Nicole Twist told of her anguish two months after the disappearance, saying: 'It's been very, very stressful. I don't sleep very well. I just feel so guilty.' John Walsh became involved with missing persons cases after his own son Adam, aged six, was abducted in 1981 after his wife briefly left him unattended on a shopping trip. His head was later discovered in a canal, and the murder attributed to drifter Ottis Toole who died in prison, convicted of other crimes, in 1996. The murder prompted Walsh to launch America's Most Wanted in 1988, before moving on to In Pursuit. He also works alongside another of his sons, Callahan, who works at the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children. Callahan also appears on the show as a roving reporter, looking for clues at the scene of various disappearances. Anyone with information on Sophie's whereabouts is asked to call 833-3-PURSUE or submit a tip at www.InPursuitTips.com Donald Trump said that he has done more to contain the threat of a nuclear North Korea than any previous president and he deserves more public credit for the advancements. Trump said in tweets that while complete denuclearizaton has not occurred, he has had a single meeting with North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un, and since then, the rogue nation has not conducted any rocket or missile tests. This is more than has ever been accomplished with North Korea, and the Fake News knows it,' he said. 'I expect another good meeting soon, much potential!' Donald Trump said that he has done more to contain the threat of a nuclear North Korea than any previous president and he deserves more public credit for the advancements Trump said in tweets that while complete denuclearizaton has not occurred, he has had a single meeting with North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un Since then, the rogue nation has not conducted any rocket or missile tests President Trump will hold a second summit with Kim in February at a location that has yet to be determined. The White House made the announcement last week after the president met with Kim Yong Chol, the North Korean envoy to the U.S., behind closed doors for an hour-and-a-half on Friday. Kim was in Washington to meet with Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. He made an unannounced visit to the White House to hand-deliver a letter from the North Korean leader to the American president at the conclusion of their conversation. The meeting with Trump resulted in a declaration that a second summit would take place next month. 'President Donald J. Trump met with Kim Yong Chol for an hour and half, to discuss denuclearization and a second summit, which will take place near the end of February,' White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders said. 'The President looks forward to meeting with Chairman Kim at a place to be announced at a later date.' President Trump will hold a second summit with Kim Jong-un in February at a location that has yet to be determined Kim's trip to Washington was a sign that the two countries considered themselves to be making enough progress on a nuclear deal, following Trump and Kim's first meeting in in June in Singapore, to have another face-to-face conversation. North Korea recently warned the United States that it could restart nuclear and missile tests if the United States sticks with its 'one-sided demands.' The nation's 35-year-old dictator suggested that he could lean on Beijing harder. He said in a New Year's address that he would have 'no choice but to defend our countrys sovereignty and supreme interest, and find a new way to settle peace on our peninsula' without additional action from the United States. That same week, Trump cryptically left a poster on the table at a Cabinet meeting that cautioned 'sanctions are coming' that was not addressed to any country in particular. Several days later the president told reporters as he left for Camp David that he'd be discussing the North Korean nuclear threat with his team over the weekend. 'North Korea, we're doing very well. And again, no rockets. There's no rockets. There's no anything. We're doing very well,' he said. 'I've indirectly spoken to Chairman Kim. And when I came here, this country was headed to war with North Korea. And now we have a very good dialogue going.' Trump said he didn't want to disclose any additional details about the conversations he's having with Kim through private correspondence. 'I'm just going to say it's very special. And anybody else but me, you'd be in war right now,' he said. 'And I can tell you, the previous administration would have been in war right now if that was extended.' The sitting U.S. president credits his overtures to Kim with preventing a third World War that would have killed millions, especially in the Pacific theater. 'You would, right now, be in a nice, big, fat war in Asia with North Korea if I wasn't elected president,' he claimed earlier this month. Trump told reporters then that the U.S. and North Korea were 'negotiating a location' for another grand summit that was likely to take place soon. 'They have made it very clear, in fact, they've actually said to the media that they would like to meet. And they do want to meet, and we want to meet, and we'll see what happens,' Trump added. 'But the sanctions remain in full force, in effect.' Kim Yong Chol arrived in the United States a week ago on Thursday, after President Trump rolled out his Missile Defense Review in a speech at the United States Pentagon. He stayed overnight in advance of his Friday meeting in Washington with Pompeo. It was the first time in decades that a North Korean official had overnighted in the United States. President Trump's schedule on Friday did not include a meeting with Kim. But the two men met up in the Oval Office, the president's spokeswoman said in a statement to reporters. 'President Donald J. Trump will meet with Kim Yong Chol, Vice Chairman of the Workers Party of Korea and Chairman of the Korea Asia Pacific Peace Committee, today at 12:15pm in the Oval Office. They will discuss relations between the two countries and continued progress on North Koreas final, fully verified denuclearization,' she said. Sanders said in a readout after the fact that a second summit is on the books for February, with a time and place to be announced at a later date. 'We continue to make progress, we continue to have conversations, the United States is going to continue to keep the pressure and the sanctions on North Korea,' Sanders told reporters a few minutes later, defending the second summit. North Korean official Kim Yong Chol is hidden by umbrellas as he arrives at Beijing airport on his way to Washington U.S. President Donald Trump gestures to the cameras as he meets North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in their landmark June 2018 summit in Singapore US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo says goodbye to top North Korean official Kim Yong Chol after July 2018 talks in Pyongyang Trump's critics have complained that the U.S. has received nothing in exchange for the talks that have left North Korea less isolated. The president says the United States, which has kept crippling sanctions on the rogue nation, has given up nothing. He'll be under more pressure his second go-around with Kim to deliver a firm commitment to denuclearize, after their first conversation ended with a soft agreement to work toward that end. A location for their next summit has not been announced, but AFP reported that Vietnam was ready to host the two nations. A government source told the publication that 'logistical preparations' are taking place and a summit could occur in Hanoi, the capital in the north, or Da Nang, a coastal city in the south. 'We don't know the final decision. However, if it happens here we will do our best to facilitate the meeting,' Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc told Bloomberg TV. Trump traveled to both cities at the end of 2017 during a five-nation tour of Asia. An eight-year-old girl has been rushed to hospital after she was attacked by a goanna at a popular holiday destination. The youngster was walking through a beach side camp ground when she was bitten at South Stradbroke Island, north of the Gold Coast, on Thursday. The metre-long reptile latched onto the girl's foot during the attack, resulting in serious injuries and hospitalisation. Scroll down for video An eight-year-old girl has been hospitalised after she was attacked by a goanna at a popular holiday destination Queensland Ambulance's Jayney Shearman told reporters that the girl was 'quite distressed' following the attack. '(It) was quite difficult to get the goanna off the child and it needed a couple of people to get involved,' she said. 'Whilst walking through a camping ground (the child) was attacked by a goanna that made quite a nasty laceration.' The child now has a deep wound at the top of her foot. The goanna was eventually captured by reptile catcher Tony Harrison (pictured) before it was released in bushland near inland Jimboomba 'She was quite distressed any wildlife is notoriously unpredictable, so on this occasion, it was a nasty and savage attack,' Ms Shearman said. The goanna was eventually captured by reptile catcher Tony Harrison before it was released in bushland near inland Jimboomba. Experts say goanna bites can be dangerous as the carnivores feed on carrion and toxic bacteria in their mouths which can cause pain, swelling and prolonged bleeding. Police in central China have arrested a man for abducting a four-year-old boy in a park in broad daylight. Chilling surveillance footage of the incident shows the 52-year-old man carrying the little boy in his arms and hurrying away from the park in Dengzhou, Henan province on Wednesday at about 12:30pm. The man, surnamed Ye, later told police that he had two daughters and wanted to 'abduct a boy and raise him as his own'. Chilling surveillance footage of the incident shows the 52-year-old man carrying the little boy in his arms and hurrying away from the park in Dengzhou, Henan province on Wednesday Dengzhou police immediately issued a missing person's notice and launched an investigation The boy's grandfather said he momentarily took his eyes off his grandson to tend to their personal belongings and called the police after he couldn't find him anywhere. Dengzhou police immediately issued a missing person's notice and launched an investigation. Based on surveillance footage, officers saw the man leaving the park in a red tricycle and sent out search teams to track down the pair. Officers finally located the boy around seven hours later in Pingdingshan city, more than 200km (124 miles) away. Based on surveillance footage, officers saw the man and the boy (pictured left) leaving the park in a red tricycle (right) and sent out search teams to track down the pair The man later told authorities that he was desperate for a son and thought he could abduct a boy in a different city and bring him back home in Lushan county Officers finally located the boy around seven hours later in Pingdingshan city, 124 miles The boy was not hurt and has been returned to his worried parents, according to Dengzhou police in a statement. The man later told authorities that he had two daughters and was desperate for a son. He then decided to take the extreme measure of abducting a boy in a different city and bring him back home. Ye has been detained by police amid ongoing investigations. Just last week, police in the same city of Pingdingshan arrested a human trafficker after she was caught abducting a three-year-old girl on the street. The woman, who turned out to be a deaf-mute, later told authorities through a sign language interpreter that someone had paid her 10,000 yuan (1,135) to abduct children. A police officer who allegedly demanded oral sex from a woman in exchange for not hauling her off to jail has been arrested after her husband complained in Arizona. Richard Daniel, 33, was dispatched to an altercation at a 7-Eleven on East 29th Street in Tucson where a suspect was in a dispute with a store clerk on January 13. Daniel allegedly spotted the woman walking home as he rolled up in his squad car. He learned that the woman also had an outstanding arrest warrant and as she pleaded with him not to haul her in, records say he propositioned her. Richard Daniel, 33, had served as an officer with Tucson Police Department before he was arrested on January 20 for unlawful sexual conduct and tampering with evidence Daniel first offered full sexual intercourse in exchange for not taking action, court documents obtained by Arizona Republic state, but she lied about being pregnant to avoid this. Daniel is then alleged to have said he would let her off if she provided him with oral sex and suggested a location. She was nervous about where Daniel might take her so she suggested her own apartment but said she would need permission from her husband, court records say. When they walked into the apartment her husband, who recognized the cop from a previous visit, told police he was totally shocked by the perverted offer. Daniel reportedly shrugged his shoulders and so the husband went out to the 7-Eleven to do his own investigating. The woman, who said she was scared, performed the sex act and Daniel left after cleaning up with tissues, court documents say. The 7-Eleven on East 29th Street where the woman was intercepted after a dispute with a store clerk on January 13 Her husband called the police a few days later and police investigated Daniel's police locker where they found condoms and tissues, the Arizona Daily Star reported. Daniel has three years of experience in the police force, this being his first disciplinary incident. Daniel was arrested for one count of unlawful sexual conduct and one count of tampering with evidence, both felony offences, and booked into the Pima County Jail. He will next appear in court on February 11. President Trump verbally assaulted his former attorney, Michael Cohen, on Thursday morning after his ex-fixer's lawyer, Lanny Davis, said that Cohen would speak out in some manner, if not at a Capitol Hill hearing that had been scheduled for February. Davis on 'Good Morning America' said that Cohen hadn't determined whether he'd comply with a subpoena from from Congress, if one is sent, because he has to consider the special counsel investigation and other legal obligations. 'Make no mistake. Michael Cohen will speak. They will not thwart this truth coming out,' Davis said told ABC News, as he addressed his client's claims that Trump is trying to intimidate him. The president, an hour later in a tweet, brought up Davis' former client, Hillary Clinton. 'So interesting that bad lawyer Michael Cohen, who sadly will not be testifying before Congress, is using the lawyer of Crooked Hillary Clinton to represent him - Gee, how did that happen? Remember July 4th weekend when Crooked went before FBI & wasnt sworn in, no tape, nothing?' he said. President Trump assaulted his former attorney, Michael Cohen, on Thursday morning after his ex-fixer's lawyer addressed his decision to bail on a Capitol Hill hearing that had been scheduled for February Davis said that Cohen hadn't determined whether he'd comply with a subpoena from from Congress, if one is sent, because he has to consider the special counsel investigation and other legal obligations The president, an hour later, said in a tweet, brought up Davis' former client, Hillary Clinton Trump's tweet was a reference to the email that Clinton sent from a private server and email address while she was secretary of state. The FBI probed the matter, and the Department of Justice ultimately decided against criminal charges. Davis represents Cohen now, and the two men have been lobbying grenades in the president's direction. They say that he directed Cohen to commit numerous crimes and misdeeds and contend that Trump and Giuliani are trying to silence them. Cohen said Wednesday, through Davis, that he would not appear before the House Oversight and Reform Committee on February 7 as previously planned at least not voluntarily citing 'ongoing threats against his family' from the president and the president's lawyer. President Trump fired back during a White House meeting for which he unexpectedly brought in reporters that Cohen has 'always been threatened by the truth' and 'doesnt want to tell the truth for me or other of his clients.' A miscommunication between Cohen and the Democrats running the Oversight Committee appeared to have taken place. Davis said last week that his client was 'not 100% there yet' on testifying, despite the committee's Democratic chairman, Maryland Rep. Elijah Cummings, announcing a hearing. That changed Wednesday. 'Due to ongoing threats against his family from President Trump and Mr. Giuliani, as recently as this weekend, as well as Mr. Cohen's continued cooperation with ongoing investigations, by advice of counsel, Mr. Cohen's appearance will be postponed to a later date,' Davis said in a statement. The decision is creating new uncertainties about whether Democrats will be able to grill Cohen at all before he becomes a federal inmate. They're responding with talk about a subpoena. Cohen has been ordered to report to prison on March 6 to start serving a three-year sentence for bank and tax fraud and campaign finance violations. Michael Cohen says he will not testify before a congressional committee on February 7, claiming that President Trump and the president's lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, have made unspecified 'threats' against his family Trump's lawyer, Rudy Giuliani (right) went to bat for the president on Sunday in a CNN interview, saying that he's only protecting himsef by throwing hardballs at Cohen Virginia Democratic Rep. Gerry Connolly told reporters that 'we are under a time crunch,' and 'I would support a subpoena' to compel Cohen to appear. Cummings and California Dem. Rep, Adam Schiff, who chairs the House Intelligence Committee, said in a joint statement that '[n]ot appearing before Congress was never an option.' 'We will not let the president's tactics prevent Congress from fulfilling our constitutionally mandated oversight responsibilities. This will not stop us from getting the truth. We expected Mr. Cohen to appear before both Committees and we remain engaged with his counsel about upcoming appearances.' Cummings told reporters later: 'I have not decided what Im going to do.' Davis had played cat-and-mouse with Cummings, saying that Cohen 'wishes to thank Chairman Cummings for allowing him to appear before the House Oversight Committee and looks forward to testifying at the appropriate time.' 'This is a time where Mr. Cohen had to put his family and their safety first,' Davis added. Trump suggested in a Fox News Channel interview via telephone on January 12 that investigators have ignored a rich vein of criminal activity in Cohen's father-in-law, whom he didn't name. 'He should give information maybe on his father-in-law, because that's the one that people want to look at,' Trump told host Jeanine Pirro. 'Because where does that money? That's the money in the family. And I guess he didn't want to talk about his father [-in-law]. He's trying to get his sentence reduced.' He targeted Cohen's father-in-law again in a tweet after Buzzfeed News reported that that special counsel's office had evidence that Trump directed his former fixer to lie to Congress. That report has since been called into question. Democratic Rep. Elijah Cummings of Maryland (left) chairs the House Oversight Committee and California Democratic Rep. Adam Schiff (right) leads the House Intelligence Committee; they are both mulling subpoenas for Cohen's testimony Trump's jab about Cohen protecting his 'other clients' is curious: Cohen's only other known clients are Fox News Channel host Sean Hannity and former Republican National Committee fundraiser Elliott Broidy Cohen was not expected to be able to testify about his election-year hush money payoff to porn actress Stormy Daniels (pictured) on Trump's behalf Trump's lawyer, Giuliani, said Sunday on CNN's 'State of the Union' program that focusing attention on Cohen's family is just Trump 'defending yourself,' especially 'if the father-in-law is a criminal in the Southern District of New York. He may have ties to something called organized crime.' Cohen's father-in-law Fima Shusterman pleaded guilty to federal income tax fraud in 1993. The charge stemmed from his taxicab business in New York. Shusterman's more recent business ventures are linked to taxi companies in Chicago. The New York Times has reported that Shusterman introduced Cohen to the industry. Cohen had already limited the scope of what he would be willing to discuss with members of Congress, ruling out anything currently 'under investigation.' That would preclude him from talking about the Trump Tower Moscow project, his payoff to porn star Stormy Daniels, or his business dealings with the president. Cohen has been cooperating with the special counsel's probe of Russia's role in the 2016 election. The U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York was the lead federal prosecutor earlier this year when Cohen pled guilty to eight counts, including tax fraud and campaign finance violations. He also has pleaded guilty to lying to Congress about the timeline of conversations he had with Russian officials about building a Trump Tower Moscow as part of separate investigation by Mueller's team. He was sentenced to three years in prison and is free on bail until that time. Cohen's attorney had already said he would not talk about his cooperation with special counsel Robert Mueller (above) during any congressional hearing Cohen's guilty pleas included a charge of lying to Congress about a Trump Organization real estate project that was slated for Moscow, Russia and discussed through the fall of 2016 while the president was running for office. He testified in a closed congressional interview that the project he pursued on Trump's behalf was abandoned by the time of the Iowa Caucuses in January 2016; that would be consistent with Trump's 'political messaging.' Mueller later filed documents revealing Cohen said he discussed the proposal with Trump on multiple occasions and with members of the president's family, later in the year even after Trump became the Republican nominee for president. Cohen said he lied out of loyalty to Trump. 'I made these misstatements to be consistent with Individual 1's political messaging and out of loyalty to Individual 1,' Cohen said at his plea hearing late last year. 'Individual 1' is Mueller's name for Trump in the investigation. Discussions about a planned construction project were ultimately abandoned and no contract was signed. Cohen was also the central figure in a plot to buy the silence of pornographic actress Stormy Daniels, who claimed that she had an affair with Trump in 2006. Daniels signed a nondisclosure agreement in exchange for $130,000 from Cohen, a transaction that he admitted was a violation of campaign finance laws since it amounted to an illegally large contribution benefiting Trump's White House hopes. He said in court that Trump directed him to make the payment, suggesting the president was guilty of a crime. In August he pleaded guilty to eight separate charges related to tax dodges, falsifying bank documents and the campaign finance violations involving Daniels and another woman, former Playboy magazine model Karen McDougal. Cohen claims that at Trump's request, he arranged for the publisher of The National Enquirer to pay McDougal another self-described past Trump paramour for the exclusive rights to her life story. The magazine never published anything, engaging in a practice known as 'catch and kill' in order to help Trump avoid new scandals in the final weeks of the 2016 campaign. Trump has denied ever having a sexual relationship with either Daniels or McDougal. Ted Bundy claimed his desire to murder came from wanting 'possess his victims' who he would then visit after burying them in shallow graves. He also heard a secret voice called 'the entity' that would speak to him about committing violence against women which grew 'louder and louder' throughout the years. Filmmaker Joe Berlinger has given chilling insights into the mind of the notorious serial killer ahead of his new series 'Conversations with a Killer: The Ted Bundy tapes.' Season one of the four-part show drops Thursday, which is the 30th anniversary of Bundy's execution in Florida in 1989. Scroll down for video Filmaker Joe Berlinger (left) spoke about the personality of Ted Bundy (right) ahead of a new Netflix documentary on the serial killer which premieres Thursday Ted Bundy was said to desire a 'lifeless female form' and he would visit several victims he had buried in shallow graves The film shows how, during the final hours of his life, Bundy tearfully blamed his addiction to pornography for fueling his killing spree. In the documentary, Bundy is heard speaking about what drove him to kill and his pornography addiction. He claims: 'Like most other kinds of addiction, I would keep looking for more potent, more explicit, more graphic kinds of material. 'Like an addiction, you keep craving something which is harder, harder, something which gives you a greater sense of excitement.' Berlinger told Fox News: 'There was a voice that he called the entity that would speak to him about committing violence to women. And that voice grew louder and louder. 'The tension would be too great and the demands and expectations of this entity would reach a point where they just could not be controlled,' Bundy himself described. A book based on the series was co-written by Stephen G. Michaud (right) and Hugh Aynesworth (left) Michaud (left) and Aynesworth (right), who feature in the Netflix documentary, interviewed Bundy and offer revealing insights into the mind of the serial killer Over 100 hours of never before heard audio recorded of Bundy during death row will be incorporated into the series, giving true crime enthusiasts unbelievable access to the inner workings of the killer's mind. The series is based off of a book by the same name, written by Stephen G. Michaud and Hugh Aynesworth, who interviewed the notoriously handsome and charismatic murderer who is believed to have killed dozens of women. Michaud said Bundy admitted to police detectives that several of his victims were buried in shallow woodland graves where he would sometimes revisit them. One of the victims found frozen in the mountains of Utah 'appeared to have received a post-mortem shampoo'. Another received 'a fresh application of makeup.' Bundy also photographed his victims and kept a stash of their skulls in his apartment. The documentary features interviews with detectives and a survivor called Carol DaRonch who was abducted in Utah and almost killed by Ted Bundy in 1974 DaRonch (pictured) claimed her life flashed before her eyes when Bundy handcuffed her in his car when she was just 18 Berlinger explained: 'Many serial killers love to revisit, relive their crimes. 'Because he was given the opportunity to talk in the third person and speculate about these crimes, 'I think it tapped into his narcissism and it allowed him to talk freely. I think speaking in the third person opened up the floodgates.' The documentary features never-before-heard conversations with Bundy, as well as recollections from those directly connected to the case, including prosecutors, defense attorneys, detectives and a surviving victim. Berlinger said that some of the detail Bundy gave on the tapes was horrifying. 'He had everything going for him and yet he had this compulsive need to kill. Ted Bundy is believed to have killed dozens of women, including (top row, left to right) Kimberly Leach, Caryn Campbell , Margaret Bowman , Debbie Kent, (second row, left to right) Laura Aime, Roberta Parks, Georgann Hawkins , Donna Manson, (third row, left to right) Lynda Healy, Janice Ott, Denise Naslund, Susan Rancourt, (fourth row, left to right) Katherine Devine, Melissa Smith, Brenda Ball, and Lisa Levy 'During the six years that he was doing this killing spree, he was a wonderful boyfriend whos a surrogate father. 'By all accounts, he was a good guy. But the tapes were so chilling to me because he was so clinical in his descriptions. 'He, of course, talked in the third person and it allowed him the freedom to get into certain, specific details.' Bundy confessed to killing 30 women in seven states, including Washington state, Idaho, Utah and Colorado, before he was executed by electric chair on January 24, 1989 in Florida for the murder of 12-year-old Kimberly Leach, who he killed one month after slaying Lisa Levy and Margaret Bowman at Florida State University. As the chilling words infiltrate the viewer's ears, evidence from Bundy's crime scenes flash across the screen, including ski masks, gloves, rope, hand cuffs, a sharp object and a flashlight He escaped custody twice, eventually fleeing to Florida where he murdered Levy and Bowman, the two Chi Omega sorority sisters on January 15, 1978, and Leach, one month later, before being brought back in. The bloody scene of a Bundy murder is shown Berlinger claimed he didn't believe Bundy showed any remorse for his crimes and his admissions could have been a ploy to stall his death He added: 'Most serial killers when theyre caught just spill the beans. Its almost believed they want to be caught. 'But Bundy denied up until a few days before he died. I think it was a calculated attempt to be useful to the religious right. Bundy confessed to killing 30 women in seven states, including Washington state, Idaho, Utah and Colorado, before he was executed by electric chair on January 24, 1989 in Florida for the murder of 12-year-old Kimberly Leach (pictured 'And he didnt really talk about pornography or feeling remorse in his interviews over the years.' Viewers will learn how growing up, Bundy was an awkward child who struggled to interact with girls and primarily kept to himself, He would later become a handsome, charismatic law student who was passionate about pursuing a political career for the Republican Party. A teaser for the documentary starts with Bundy's chilling voice infiltrating viewer's ears, evidence from Bundy's crime scenes flash across the screen. Beautiful women, ski masks, gloves, rope, hand cuffs, a sharp object, a flashlight... and then a badly decomposed skull lying in a wooded area were shown. 'Murder, leaving a person of this type hungry... unfulfilled... would also leave him with the obviously irrational belief that the next time he did it, he would be fulfilled,' a man's voice says. 'And the next time he did it, he would be fulfilled. Or the next time he did it, he would be fulfilled.' Traveling across state lines, he was known to prefer female victims with long, dark hair, parted down the middle. He was known as a charming man, who earned the trust of his victims before luring them to a secluded place to murder them. He would also enter the rooms of sleeping college students and bludgeon them to death. At the height of his murder spree, female college students disappeared at a rate of one per month. He was first arrested in Utah, and imprisoned there for kidnapping and assault, before being transferred to custody in Colorado to face murder charges. 'Conversations with a Killer: The Ted Bundy Tapes' is based on a book by the same name He escaped custody twice, eventually fleeing to Florida where he murdered Levy and Bowman, the two Chi Omega sorority sisters on January 15, 1978, and Leach, one month later, before being brought back in. The trailer features audio from news coverage of the Florida trials, which was the first ever to be televised in the United States. 'Bundy is acting as his own lawyer,' a reporter says, over video of Bundy carrying a box of papers and giving a thumbs up to cameras in the courtroom. 'What is unusual to see is that many of the onlookers are women,' the reporter says, panning across faces of ladies filling the benches of the gallery during Bundy's trial. One of his attorneys, John Henry Browne from Seattle, who wrote a memoir in 2012 based on his interactions with Bundy, said, '[Bundy] told me he killed more than 100 people, and not only women.' The five Italian hotel workers accused of gang-raping a British woman on holiday after her drink was spiked have been pictured today. The 50-year-old victim claims her drink was spiked on the last night of their holiday in the Italian seaside resort of Meta di Sorrento, south of Naples, and that a group of men who worked at the hotel brutally raped her. Antonino Miniero, Gennaro Davide Gargiulo, Raffaele Regio, Francesco Ciro D'Antonio and Fabio De Virgilio, identified in photos published in Italian media, all deny rape, claiming the sex was consensual. The victim and her 26-year-old daughter had travelled from Kent, southern England, to Sorrento in Italy in October 2016, in the wake of the recent death of the former's husband. Antonino Miniero (right) and Raffaele Regio (left) have been charged with rape at the Italian seaside resort of Meta di Sorrento, south of Naples Fabio De Virgilio (left) and Davide Gennaro Gargiulo (right) have been accused of raping a 50-year-old British woman at hotel where they worked with their co-accused Prosecutors say the victim was taken to a room close to the swimming pool where she was raped several times by the men before stumbling back to her room at the Hotel Alimuri. Her 26-year-old daughter, who cannot be named for legal reasons, said she felt unwell after the pair were given drinks by the accused after eating in the hotel restaurant, and went to the toilet to throw up, but when she returned, her mother had vanished. Francesco Ciro D'Antonio is one of the five men accused of rape at the Hotel Alimuri She described the lead-up and aftermath of the brutal attack as the trial of the men opened in Italy yesterday. The court heard today how the workers, aged between 18 and 21, were caught by cops after sharing sick videos of the attack on an online chat group called 'bad habits'. Speaking in court today, the victim's daughter broke down in tears as she revealed she believed her drink too was spiked. She said: 'My mum seemed distant and far away. She broke down in tears at the airport as we were leaving and told me everything that happened. '[The night of the attack] We had dinner at the hotel restaurant and shared a bottle of wine. We were with another couple of holidaymakers. 'The staff at the restaurant were very polite. Then one of the barmen offered my mother and I drink in some shot glasses. 'One of them had a tattoo on his neck. They invited us to the bar for a drink after we finished our dinner. 'I remember having a drink and then almost immediately feeling sick. I went to the toilet and threw up. I was there for a while and when I came back my mum had disappeared.' A British tourist has described how she was gang-raped after her drink was spiked during a break in Sorrento (pictured) Italy The 50-year-old, from Kent, was on holiday at a seaside hotel in Sorrento, southwestern Italy in October 2016 when she was subjected to the sex attack The alleged victim said was so shocked she did not tell police what happened until she returned home to Kent. The woman reported the attack, and DNA samples and drug tests were sent to Italian investigators. They revealed a high level of the sedative benzodiazepines but lawyers for the five defendants claim the victim was on tranquillisers following the death of her husband. But her daughter told the court: 'My mum has never taken any medicine like that.' Police were led to the suspects using a photograph of the bartenders taken by the woman and the crown tattoo which she remembered seeing on one of their necks. Sorrento is a popular tourist destination in the south of Italy for its views of the Bay of Naples and access to the Amalfi Coast and island of Capri. The trial continues. The 21-year-old man accused of killing five people inside a Florida bank had always been fascinated with death, his ex-girlfriend said. Authorities have been baffled as to why former corrections officer Zephen Xaver allegedly walked into SunTrust Bank in Sebring and murdered everyone inside. But Alex Gerlach, who dated Xaver on and off for three years, said she has long tried to warn people about the ex-boyfriend who she said 'wanted everyone to die'. 'He always hated people,' Gerlach told WSBTV. 'He got kicked out of school for having a dream that he killed everybody in his class.' Xaver was charged with five counts of premeditated murder and was ordered held without bond after appearing in court on Thursday morning. Zephen Xaver, the 21-year-old accused of killing five people at SunTrust Bank in Sebring on Wednesday, is seen here in a new mugshot Alex Gerlach, who dated Xaver on and off for three years, said she has long tried to warn people about the ex-boyfriend who she said 'wanted everyone to die' Gerlach, who said she met Xaver (far right) in a psychiatric hospital in Indiana in 2013, said he had been 'threatening this for so long' and that no one took her warnings seriously Gerlach said her ex-boyfriend had been 'threatening this for so long', but that people ignored her warnings. 'His mother just completely denies everything and I've been scared for years and every single person I've told has not taken it seriously and it's very unfortunate that it had to come to this,' she added. Gerlach said she first met Xaver at a psychiatric hospital in Plymouth, Indiana - where he grew up and attended high school - in 2013. 'Since the time we met, he had this fascination with death,' she told the Washington Post. 'It got worse as we broke up. We got back together on and off for awhile. Then I decided it was too much for my mental health.' But Gerlach would check in with her ex-boyfriend every few months. Just last week, he told her he had purchased a gun and showed her a picture of the firearm. Xaver was charged with five counts of premeditated murder after appearing in court (pictured) on Thursday morning A judge ordered that Xaver be held without bond. Authorities said they will seek the highest penalty possible to hold him accountable for actions Authorities have been baffled as to why the former corrections officer allegedly walked into the bank on Wednesday and killed everyone inside. He is seen here being taken into custody A witness said authorities drove a SWAT machine right through the door of the bank after the shooting. The extent of the damage to the bank can be seen here on Thursday morning Xaver allegedly opened fire on SunTrust Bank around 12.30pm on Wednesday before he called 911 and said 'I have shot five people' Gerlach said 'no one thought anything of it' because Xaver had always liked guns. Another friend, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said Xaver once told her he wanted to join the military 'because he wanted to kill people'. Xaver sent that same friend a message around 11pm on Tuesday, mere hours before the shooting at SunTrust Bank. The message simply said 'Hey..', but now the friend is left wondering if Xaver was trying to reach out for help. 'I'm just sad that he didn't get the help he needed because this could have been prevented,' she said. 'I'm even more upset that he messaged me and I didn't say anything, because I didn't want to speak to him out of respect for my best friend. Now I wish I would have.' 'I feel like I could have said something if I would have known. But I know you never truly know what someone really has planned.' After a standoff with officers, Xaver eventually surrendered to SWAT members and was placed under arrest Blurry video showed Xaver being perp-walked through the parking lot after he surrendered Meanwhile, Josh Xaver said reports that it was his own son who was behind the mass shooting came as a 'total shock'. 'I'm heartbroken for my son,' he told CNN. 'I'm heartbroken for the victims.' 'He wasn't raised to be like this. He's always been a good kid. He's had his troubles, but he has never hurt anyone ever before.' Josh Xaver did not elaborate on what exactly those past 'troubles' were. Xaver allegedly opened fire on SunTrust Bank around 12.30pm on Wednesday before he called 911 and said 'I have shot five people'. After a standoff with officers, Xaver eventually surrendered to SWAT members and was placed under arrest. Police have not yet determined a motive in the 'senseless murders', but Florida Governor Ron DeSantis promised swift justice for the victims, whose names are being withheld pending family notification. Law enforcement officials continued to investigate the crime scene well into the night on Wednesday and Thursday morning The FBI has since joined the investigation and were seen at the scene of the horrific shooting Authorities say Xaver was a correctional officer trainee hired by the Avon Park Correctional Institution in November, but he resigned on January 9 without an explanation. 'He had no discipline while employed with the department,' said Florida Corrections Department spokesman Patrick Manderfield. While Xaver's ex-girlfriend was worried about him for years, others said he was 'very normal'. 'He's definitely a normal person. I would have never in a million years thought anything like this would have ever happened,' family friend Sharon Spillane told WFLA. 'I am friends with his parents. We've had barbeques together. My nine-year-old goes down with me. We've cooked together. We've watched movies. They are a very normal family.' Officials initially flocked to the scene with hostage negotiators, thinking people were still alive in the bank But Xaver allegedly killed everyone inside after he stormed SunTrust on Wednesday afternoon Sebring Police Chief Karl Hoglund called the shooting a 'tragic day' for the community. 'We are sorry to learn that we have at least five victims, people who were senselessly murdered as a result of his act in this bank,' he said during a press conference on Wednesday night. 'We've suffered a significant loss at the hands of a senseless criminal doing a senseless crime.' DeSantis also spoke during the press conference, saying: 'The people of Florida stand with the community here in light of this tragic circumstance.' Sebring Police Chief Karl Hoglund called the mass shooting a 'tragic day' for the community 'I've asked [Florida Department of Law Enforcement] to provide whatever resources we can at the state level to assist with the investigation.' 'Obviously this is an individual that needs to face very swift and exacting justice.' This was Florida's seventh mass shooting in less than three years. Highlands County Sheriff Paul Blackman said the shooting was the worst thing he had seen during his long career. Xaver's motive has not yet been determined. He is seen above in a Facebook photo 'I am heartbroken that this horrendous incident has occurred in our county,' Blackman said. 'This tragedy will have a lasting impact on Highlands County and likely this community will never be the same.' 'While we still dont know what drove the suspect to commit this heinous act, there is no excuse that can justify the cold-blooded murder of multiple victims.' SunTrust CEO Bill Rogers said the bank is working with law enforcement and 'dedicating ourselves to supporting the people and families impacted by this horrible and senseless tragedy'. 'Our entire team mourns this terrible loss,' he added. Dozens of law enforcement and media vehicles flocked to the scene as a standoff unfolded during lunchtime on Wednesday. 'After negotiations to try to get the barricaded subject to exit the bank were not successful, the HCSO SWAT team entered the bank and continued the negotiations,' the Sebring police said. Florida Gov Ron DeSantis (center) spoke alongside Sebring law enforcement at a press conference on Wednesday night. He said of Xaver: 'Obviously this is an individual that needs to face very swift and exacting justice' Sebring Police Chief Karl Hoglund hangs his head with sadness during the news conference. 'We ask that you please keep them in your prayers, keep them in your thoughts,' Chief Hoglund said of the victims' families. 'Help Sebring and our community stay strong' WHO IS FLORIDA SHOOTING SUSPECT ZEPHEN XAVER? Zephen Xaver, originally of Plymouth, Indiana, is suspected of opening fire at the SunTrust Bank in Florida, Wednesday, killing five people. Friends were stunned by the news that the 'normal' 21-year-old was capable of such a horrific crime. But his former employers paint a more complex picture, of an undisciplined young man who quit his stable job without explanation. Xaver's social media pages, removed shortly after the shooting, reveal something of a macabre fascination with death. Sprinkled among his few sparse selfies, appeared photos of the Grim Reaper, a symbol of death. One Reaper meme read: God is busy right nowmay I help you? Even his booking photo shows obsession with death, and appears to show the four horsemen of the apocalypse. His social media also reveals an admiration of the alt-right, and Xaver had 'liked' far-right activist Milo Yiannopoulos, and memes about rightwing conspiracy theorist Alex Jones. Yet a friend of Xaver's family described the 21-year-old as 'very normal'. Zephen Xaver, 21, originally of Bremen, Indiana, is suspected of opening fire at the SunTrust Bank in Florida, Wednesday, killing five people 'He's definitely a normal person. I would have never in a million years thought anything like this would have ever happened,' Sharon Spillane told WFLA. Originally of Plymouth, Indiana, he also lived with his father in Bremen, Indiana, according to his social media pages. He later moved in with his mother and stepfather in Sebring, Florida, according to WESH. He also has two younger brothers. Neighbors described them as a 'sweet family' and Xaver as 'quiet, responsible, and polite.' Xavers ex-girlfriend confirmed on Facebook page that her ex was the suspect. Xaver wrote that he had attended Bremen Senior High School and Plymouth High School in Indiana, where he was on the wrestling team. After his move to Florida, he started work as a correctional officer trainee at the Avon Park Correctional Institution, near the Avon Park Air Force Range, in November. But officials say he resigned on January 9 without an explanation. Agency spokesperson Patrick Manderfield said the 21-year-old had no discipline during the six weeks he was employed by the department. Avon Park Correctional is a state-run institution and thus its workers would not have been affected by the government shutdown. Advertisement 'The suspect eventually surrendered to the HCSO SWAT team.' A witness on the scene, Stefan Roehrig, told WFLA: 'At first [SWAT] hooked some cables up to it [bank door], tried to rip the doors off. The door handles came right off. Then they just drove the SWAT machine right through the door.' Roehrig, who said police 'slammed [the suspect] pretty good' before escorting him outside the bank, recorded cellphone video of Xaver being taken into custody. 'He was young, very young,' Roehrig added. Social media pages believed to belong to the suspect are sparse, bearing only a few photos of Xaver himself along with some of the Grim Reaper, a symbol of death. Xaver had moved to Sebring from Bremen, Indiana with his mother in the fall. They lived in a home four miles away from the bank. A five-year-old boy was left on a school bus for seven hours after the driver allegedly ignored warnings from other students that he was still on board. Ibn Polk fell asleep on the bus while on the way to Linden Hill Elementary in Pike Creek, Delaware, on Wednesday. As other students got off the bus, Ibn was still sound asleep. Five-year-old Ibn Polk (pictured) was left on a school bus for seven hours after the driver allegedly ignored warnings from other students that he was still on board Ibn fell asleep on the bus while on the way to Linden Hill Elementary in Pike Creek, Delaware, on Wednesday Security footage shows the students trying to warn the bus driver about Ibn sleeping in one of the seats. But she allegedly ignored the children and drove the bus to the school bus yard. Pictured is Linden Hill Elementary School According to ABC Action News, security footage shows the students trying to warn the bus driver about Ibn sleeping in one of the seats. But she allegedly ignored the children and drove the bus to the school bus yard. Authorities said the woman exited the bus, but the child remained on board for about seven hours, eventually waking up scared and alone. Ibn wasn't discovered until the driver returned for her afternoon shift. The child's parents (pictured) said they want answers as to why the bus driver allegedly ignored the children's warnings Ibn told ABC that he no longer wants to ride the bus because he's 'scared'. The child's parents said they want answers as to why the bus driver allegedly ignored the children's warnings about their son. 'It seem like she didn't really care,' Ibn's father, Abdul Polk, told the station. The boy's mother, Ivana Dennis, said she was immediately notified about Ibn's absence with an automatic call. 'I didn't really know what was going on because I know I dropped my baby off at the bus stop and he was on the bus,' Dennis told ABC. Representatives from the Red Clay School District said there were procedures the bus driver did not properly follow. The driver, who had 20 years of experience, was subsequently fired by the school district. There was also a child reminder alarm system on the bus that was apparently not working. A student at an Arkansas high school has been suspended for refusing to remove a Confederate flag-themed shirt and face paint, claiming that he was just showing 'Southern pride'. Several students showed up to Fayetteville High School wearing apparel and face paint that was themed toward the Confederacy and in support of pro-flag movement #HistoryNotHate. But when administrators instructed the students to remove the problematic paraphernalia, student Jagger Starnes refused and was subsequently suspended. Fayetteville High School students wore Confederate flag paraphernalia in support of #HistoryNotHate When administrators instructed the students to remove the clothes, student Jagger Starnes refused and was subsequently suspended 'I told him I wasn't going to take it off. So then I went to the office, had a discussion, and then the head principal ended up calling me racist,' he explained to the KNWA. Multiple students took part in the 'action', including some black students. They claim to be in support of #HistoryNotHate, a social media driven campaign that aims to support the rights of Americans donning the Confederate flag. 'I just put Confederate flags all over their hands, on their face, wherever they wanted it. During lunch they had the police, the principal, vice principal Mr. Smith, all of the deans, and they were all telling us we either had to wash it off or go home,' described student Morrigan White. Multiple students took part in the 'action,' including some black students But Principal Dr Jay Dostal asserted that by wearing the Confederate flag, students were going against the school's policy to keep a safe and undisrupted environment. Policy states that 'attire that disrupts the educational process or otherwise interferes with the rights or opportunities of others to learn or teach [is considered improper and unacceptable].' Dostal added: 'We're not trying to trample on their First Amendment rights we're just trying to have a safe and orderly school environment. Students also painted their faces with Confederate flags 'We have validated that the Confederate flag in our building can cause a substantially disruptive environment for some of our students, and because of that we're going to take measure to make sure that all of our kids remain safe.' But White asserted that the Confederate flag isn't the only flag with a problematic history. 'The American flag was raised for slavery, too, but I mean all the flags were trying to say is, "we don't want to be in your nation we want to be ourselves we don't want to be part of this,"' added the student. 'To me it's southern pride, it's our heritage,' said Starnes. Some of the students plan on continuing the protest. 'They're both going to keep wearing their jackets and if I have makeup I'm going to put hashtag history not hate on my hands, I'll still keep putting the flag on my face," White stated. 'None of us are racist, none of us are doing it for hate it's southern pride and we're not going to take it off for anyone, it's our flag, it's Arkansas. This is the South,' said Starnes. The students claim to be in support of #HistoryNotHate, a social media driven campaign that aims to support the rights of Americans donning the Confederate flag (Starnes pictured left) Talks surrounding the Confederacy are often skewered, with many attempting to separate the connection to slavery by maintaining that secession was solely about state's rights. Many defenders neglect that the right that was being defended was the keeping of slaves. William Tappan Thompson, the man who designed the first flag, said in an 1862 editorial that he made the original flag because 'as a people, we are fighting to maintain the heaven ordained supremacy of the white man over the inferior or colored race: a white flag would thus be emblematical of our cause.' When the Confederate Senate adopted the flag but made revisions, the editor of the Savannah Morning News wrote an April 1863 piece that added: 'Such a flag would be a suitable emblem of our young confederacy, and sustained by the brave hearts and strong arms of the south, it would soon take rank among the proudest ensigns of the nations, and be hailed by the civilized world as THE WHITE MAN'S FLAG.' While Arkansas was apprehensive in joining the other Southern states in secession, it ultimately did as a means to preserve its booming cotton industry that was directly linked to the plantation system and the mainstay of slavery. According to the Butler Center, there were 110,000 slaves in Arkansas just a year before the Civil War started and one in five white citizens owned slaves. Hot felon turned catwalk model Jeremy Meeks has hit back at detractors who claim he is only with billionaire heiress 'fiancee' Chloe Green for money. Meeks, who famously made the transition from convict to runway model after his 'hot' mugshot went viral in 2014, generated even more media attention when he was reported to be dating the daughter of British billionaire businessman Sir Philip Green in 2017. Since then, the pair had their first son, seven-month-old son Jayden, and are rumored to be engaged. But Meeks, 34, insists he's deeply in love with the British socialite and reality star, and it has nothing to do with her vast wealth. Hot felon Jeremy Meeks spoke candidly about his relationship with rumored 'fiancee' Chloe Green(pictured right while pregnant) at the launch of Criss Angel's MINDFREAK in Las Vegas on Saturday (left). The ex-con shut down rumors he is with Green for her wealth Meeks told DailyMailTV he 'had never found the right one until Chloe.' The 27-year-old heiress sparked rumors they were engaged after she was seen flashing a ring last summer. She gave birth to their first son in 2018 Speaking to DailyMailTV at the launch of Criss Angel's MINDFREAK at the Planet Hollywood Resort & Casino in Las Vegas on Saturday, he said: 'Honestly I don't care what people say about me because they will never know what is really going on. 'When you find the right one you will know. I had never found the right one until Chloe. I am so in love.' Green, however, did not appear alongside her beau on Saturday night. The 27-year-old has been sporting a ring for the last few weeks sparking engagement rumors, but Meeks appeared to skirt around suggestions he has popped the question. He revealed he feels no pressure on finding the right way to propose, given Green's wealthy status. 'Money is no factor in any decision that I make or we make. We don't care about the money - we are just in love,' he said. He added that the couple will get married, 'in the future', but refused to elaborate. The fashion model also gushed about becoming a dad to second son Jayden - his first son with Green. He admitted that having their son was 'such a blessing' and 'amazing' to have a brother for 'nine-year-old Jeremy Junior' - his son with ex-wife Melissa. Wearing a grey sweatshirt with thick gold chains draped around his neck, he beamed about Jayden: 'The baby is just an angel, such an angel. It changed my life.' Asked about how the couple were together for just a few months before Green's pregnancy, Meeks reacted: 'It was incredible. Life is good. God is good. I am blessed. I cannot ask for anything else.' Meeks joked he has to pinch himself 'all the time' when he reflects on being behind bars to now being in front of the world's media. Convict to runway model: Meeks was thrown into the limelight after his prison mug shot - which saw him labeled 'hot felon' - earned him a lucrative modeling deal. Above he is pictured walking for Philipp Plein in 2017 Meeks's rise to fame also led to his divorce from wife Melissa (pictured left) with who he has son, Jeremy Jr (pictured right) 'Oh man, what haven't I learned. I have learned about myself and making choices and decisions,' he explained. 'And to do right is a choice that you really have to make. And it has been made. I am just living and very blessed.' 'It is night and day. How I can go from this to this. Anything can happen,' he said. Meeks has barely spoken about girlfriend Green publicly, since they first were spotted together aboard a yacht during a vacation in Turkey in June 2017, weeks after his release from prison. He has not stopping making headlines since his prison mug shot - which saw him labeled 'hot felon' - earned him a lucrative modeling deal. Meeks was imprisoned after being convicted of federal charges of being a felon in possession of a firearm and grand theft. Upon his release from Mendota Federal Correctional Institution, California in March 2016, Meeks began a modeling career. He was still married to his now-ex-wife, Melissa Meeks, when he vacationed with Green. He filed for legal separation from Melissa, 38, the following month before submitting divorce papers that October. The former couple finalized their divorce last June. They agreed to share joint legal custody of their nine-year-old son, Jeremy Jr., with Melissa having primary physical custody. A woman's trip to a food court is gaining attention for all the wrong reasons after a video showed her angrily confronting staff at a Charleys Philly Steaks branch in Texas, allegedly because her card was declined. It's not clear what happened before an onlooker's camera started rolling but when the clip shared by TexasBarber on Instagram and Twitter begins, it shows a group of women already riled up. It's enough for a man standing nearby the person filming to predict what's about to occur as he says: 'Here we go.' Houston Galleria with the ratchetness pic.twitter.com/SBrNptHebK Texasbarber (@texasbarber) January 21, 2019 Video shows two women angrily confronting staff at Charleys Philly Steaks in The Galleria mall Houston, Texas on Sunday. One is seen throwing items before a metal item is hurled from the employee side of the counter A woman wearing a cap that matches her jeans and black T-shirt, appears to toss items across the counter with some falling onto the floor, screaming as her body flails in front of the concession at The Galleria mall in Houston. Shocked shoppers - including young children look on and some seem to be amused. As another lady encourages her to step back and calm down, a second female shows her frustration by throwing straws in front of her to litter the floor further. The assistant manager said it happened after her card payment was declined however it's not clear what went on between the two sides before filming began A second woman mounts the counter to confront a man who seemingly threw the metal item in her direction. A staff member can be seen recording the incident on his cellphone But the altercation got worse when from what appears to be the employee side of the counter, a metal object is hurled in the direction of the second woman who who is wearing jeans, a yellow top and knee-high boots. As the item just misses her head and it can be heard clanking on the floor of the food court, the woman climbs on the left side of the counter to follow and confront the man who seemed to have launched it in her direction. However his co-workers appear shield him as he heads in the opposite direction and one of his colleagues makes an effort to show her he could be recording the incident by holding his phone near her face. The woman is then dragged off the counter by her jacket and taken away from the Charleys concession by another person. As the first woman returns to scatter more utensils in the direction of the employee filming on his cellphone, he appears to be pointing someone approaching the scene to the offending women. When the camera pans around, it's clear many other spectators enjoying food that day filmed the incident, so more details of the story could emerge. As the woman is dragged away from the trouble, the first female returns to create more mess Onlookers, including some with children, stopped to film the food court altercation Throughout the time of the altercation, a bystander is seen cleaning up around the women and shaking his head. But on Monday an assistant manager working for the Charleys told ABC13 that the 'very upsetting very disturbing situation' occurred after a woman's card payment declined. The staff member said law enforcement arrived when those involved had already left the premises. Charley's Philly Steak told DailyMail.com: 'As the safety of our employees and customers is our top priority, we were disappointed to learn of the incident that occurred on January 20 at our Houston Galleria Mall location. 'At this time, we are further reviewing the situation and working closely with the franchise owner and team to gather additional information. ' Campus police are hunting for a man who was filmed wearing blackface and walking around campus at the University of Oklahoma. Students were notified of the incident on Wednesday, a day after around 1,000 students and faculty members gathered for a 'Rally to Stop Racism' event on campus. 'An individual has been observed walking on and near campus in blackface. The individual has not been located by OUPD and we have no information on whether he is a student. OUPD is working to ensure all on campus are safe,' university officials tweeted. The man was filmed wearing blackface and wearing an 'anti-PC' shirt as he walked around the campus on Wednesday Several videos were posted to social media showing the man wearing black paint on his face and an OU hat walking near campus. On Twitter, users tweeted out clips and photos of the man. He is wearing a white shirt with the letters 'PC' within a red circle and a line through the middle. The shirt features the slogan, 'Tommy Mr. King of Controversy Sotomayor The Anti-PC Tour.' Students took to Twitter to post about the incident, expressing horror and outrage Both women involved in the Snapchat video, Frances Ford and Olivia Urban, (pictured above) have voluntarily withdrawn from the university and apologized for their actions The search for the man, who hasn't been identified, comes days after a Snapchat video surfaced in which a white student at the university wore blackface and used a racial slur, saying: 'I'm a n****r' as another white student laughed. Both women involved in that video, Frances Ford and Olivia Urban, have voluntarily withdrawn from the university and sent written letters condemning their actions in the video, saying they never intended to hurt anyone. Ford called the clip 'insensitive and irresponsible', adding: 'I am truly heartbroken over this mistake and deeply regret any adverse reactions.' Urban said it was 'the most regrettable decision of my life'. 'My heart hurts to see the traumatic impact my words and actions have had on those who have been hurt of my behalf,' Urban said. 'There is no excuse for this behavior, in private or in public.' On Tuesday, University President James Gallogly attended an anti-racism rally where he vowed to take action to target racism on campus. Students and university officials took their turn at the microphone with many saying they need to see more from campus leadership. Students were notified of the incident Wednesday, a day after around 1,000 students and faculty members gathered for a Rally to Stop Racism event on campus. University President James Gallogly (pictured above) attended an anti-racism rally, where he vowed to take action to target racism on campus Suzette Grillot, the former dean of OU's College of International Studies who was fired from her post last week, asked Gallogly to resign. She held up a sign that read 'Resign now' and dropped it in Gallogly's lap, prompting cheers from many of the students at the rally. Gallogly said afterward that he had no plans to resign and was working to accomplish many of the goals outlined by OU's Black Student Association, including adding a zero-tolerance policy on hate speech to the student code of conduct and hiring more African-American faculty and staff. Aviation union leaders issued a dire warning yesterday, urging the government to end the now 34-day shutdown immediately as they claim air-travel safety is 'deteriorating by the day'. In a joint statement, Paul Rinaldi, the National Air Traffic Controllers Association (NATCA) president - along with Air Line Pilots Association president Joe DePete, and Sara Nelson of the Association of Flight Attendants-CWA - expressed a 'growing concern for the safety and security of our members, airlines and the traveling public due to the shutdown.' The three union bodies, who help to represent more than 130,000 aviation workers, said major airports were already seeing security checkpoints closing - with more expected in the coming days. Safety inspector numbers at the airports have also dwindled in the midst of the shut down, leaving analyst's abilities to identify potential dangers significantly weakened. 'We cannot even calculate the level of risk currently at play, nor predict the point at which the entire system will break,' the letter continued. 'It is unprecedented.' Union leaders have warned that air safety is 'deteriorating by the day' as the government shutdown enters a record 34th day 420,000 federal workers are said to be left without pay - 50,000 of which are TSA employees. Staffing at airports has now hit a 30-year low, a statement revealed According to their claims, staffing at the airports has now reached a '30-year low', as the number of employees not showing up for work continues to rise - with a call-out rate currently of around one in 10. The Federal Aviation Administration has implemented a recruitment freeze in the shutdown's wake, meaning they are unable to meet conventional staffing requirements. With depleted ranks and an ever increasing risk of danger, the Union leaders say air traffic controllers are now having to work 10-hour days, six-days a week to help stem the chaos. In addition to their overtime, controllers are said to be taking side-jobs as Uber drivers and waiters to help pay their bills, which Rinaldi says is causing dangers in and of itself. 'This is adding risk into the system,' he said, in an interview with the Washington Post. Insisting airport staff are now at breaking point, Rinaldi added: 'I dont know when a system gets to that critical mass, but when you take away equipment that helps us see that a plane is on the appropriate runway, thats risk in the system. 'When some of our radars are down, and were not able to tell the pilot that theres dangerous weather ahead until we get a pilot report of it, thats risk in the system.' The Union leaders claim that air traffic controllers are now having to worked 10-hour days, six-days a week in a bid to stem the chaos Major airports have been forced to close a number of security terminals, leading to lengthy waiting times for passengers. The shutdown is said to have lost airports up to $100 million in the last 34 days Meanwhile, the workers who are carrying on with business as usual are doing so without a pay check in sight. 420,000 federal employees are thought to be working with out pay in the US - 50,000 of which are TSA workers. The Union representatives also warned that 20 percent of certified air traffic controllers were eligible for retirement, and if they chose to suddenly do so the National Airspace system would be left completely crippled. 'As union leaders, we find it unconscionable that aviation professionals are being asked to work without pay and in an air safety environment that is deteriorating by the day,' the statement said. 'To avoid disruption to our aviation system, we urge Congress and the White House to take all necessary steps to end this shutdown immediately.' Leaders of the aviation unions say it's 'unconscionable' that federal employees are being forced to work without pay. They want the shutdown to end immediately President Donald Trump (left) initiated the shutdown until congress acquiesces to his $5.7 billion border security plan. Democratic speaker Nancy Pelosi (right) insists there are more effective border security measures than a physical concrete wall Entering it's 34th day, the government shutdown has placed an immense strain on the aviation industry, with airports being projected to have lost more than $100 million in revenue last month. Initiated on December 22, it's the longest government shutdown in American history - but there's no end in sight as President Trump continues to lock heads with congress over the funding of a border wall between the US and Mexico. The Senate will vote on two proposals on Thursday - one in support of Trump's $5.7 billion wall fund, and one to extend funding for agencies closed by the impasse - to potentially end the shutdown. But experts say a resolution isn't likely. An Air New Zealand flight was rocked by turbulence so strong 'almost a quarter' of passengers on board started throwing up. The internal flight was travelling from Christchurch to Invercargill, on New Zealand's South Island, on Wednesday, when the journey took a turbulent turn for the worse. During the 60 minute flight, passengers were subjected to a sudden bout of choppy winds, which lasted around ten minutes, and were so severe many started vomiting. (File picture) A recent Air New Zealand flight experienced turbulence so severe 'almost quarter' of passengers started throwing up Emergency services were called in, so medical staffers could be on hand to treat unwell passengers once the plane landed. Air New Zealand, the flagship airline for the country, have since offered a refund to all travellers - as way of an apology for the hellish journey. Owen Scott, who was on board the flight, said the unsteadiness of the aircraft was so bad around '20 per cent' of passengers started throwing up. But Mr Scott, from Invercargill, didn't hold back in heaping praise on the pilot, who is thought to have steered the flight through 180kmh cross winds. 'I would say he had his work cut out, he would have been busy up there. I think Air New Zealand did a great job, I think the pilot deserves a medal,' he told Stuff.co.nz. (File picture) Air New Zealand have since offered a refund to all travellers as way of an apology Despite admitting it was the worst flight he had ever experienced, Mr Scott said he couldn't fault the airline staff for the level of care they showed customers. Once all passengers were safely back on the ground the emergency services saw to the unwell, while the pilot gave passengers an insight into the procedures he and the crew had followed to make sure the plane landed safely. In a statement a spokesperson for Air New Zealand said it 'offered customers travelling on the flight a full refund in recognition of their experience'. (File picture) Owen Scott, who was on board the flight, praised the pilot and the crew for the care they showed passengers 'Air New Zealand flight NZ5715 from Christchurch to Invercargill last night experienced strong turbulence during the descent,' it read. 'The flight made a normal landing in Invercargill, however, emergency services were on hand to provide assistance to some customers who were feeling unwell,' the statement concluded. The statement also said that one passenger had already been in touch to decline the offer of a refund stating that while it was appreciated it wasn't necessary. Daily Mail Australia has contacted Air New Zealand for comment. War veteran John Catt (pictured above) had regularly attended public demonstrations A 94-year-old peaceful protester with no criminal record has won an eight-year battle to wipe his political activities from the police 'extremism' database. John Catt has no criminal record and had attended court to get his personal details and information about his attendance at various protests removed from police records, which included the brands of clothing he was wearing and whether or not he was clean-shaven. The European Court of Human Rights handed down the ruling in the case of Mr Catt v the United Kingdom earlier today. The war veteran and political campaigner from Brighton, East Sussex, first took legal action after the Association of Chief Police Officers (Acpo) refused his request to permanently delete all the data about him. Some of the entries to the database recorded his habit of taking out his sketch pad and drawing the scene at demonstrations. Other entries included notes on his appearance and his behavior. The pensioner had previously revealed to The Guardian some of the notes which had been taken. At a protest against Guantanamo Bay organised by Sussex Action for Peace on 25 September 2005, police noted: 'John CATT was seen wearing a Free Omar T-shirt, he was clean shaven John CATT was very quiet and was holding a board with orange people on it.' Other information included notes where he had been logged as as having 'sat on a folding chair and appeared to be sketching' at a demonstration Mr Catt was born in January 1925 and has been a peaceful activist since 1948, regularly attending public demonstrations. He became involved with campaign group Smash EDO - which aimed to shut down the US-owned company's weapons factory in Brighton. He carried out his first protest when he was just 14 and working as a labourer on a Sussex farm at the start of the Second World War. His boss delayed paying him so he led a protest and successfully demanded the money. Over the years he has also taken part in various protests and demonstrations such as the use of nuclear weapons, the Vietnam war, alleged racism by the Metropolitan Police in the 1980s and the increase in tuition fees. The European Court of Human Rights (pictured above) handed down the ruling in the case of Mr Catt v the United Kingdom earlier today Mr Catt was twice arrested at demonstrations for obstructing a public highway but never convicted of any offence, the hearing heard. The database is maintained by the National Public Order Intelligence Unit, originally under the supervision of Acpo, and now under the Metropolitan Police Commissioner. After the ruling was handed down, his lawyer Shamik Dutta told the Press Association: 'This ruling sets an important precedent that it is unlawful for governments across Europe to label citizens engaged in peaceful protest domestic extremists and put them on a searchable database for a potentially indefinite period.' On Twitter he also described the judgment as a 'timely reminder of the importance of the European Convention on Human Rights in protecting privacy and the right to protest in the UK and across Europe.' The judgment said: 'The quality of the relevant legal framework was not adequate in a context such as the present one, and therefore the interference was not 'in accordance with the law' within the meaning of Article 8. In March 2013, he won his case at the Court of Appeal (pictured above) after a defeat at the High Court the previous year John Catt's protests John Catt's carried out his first protest when he was just 14 and working as a labourer on a Sussex farm at the start of the Second World War. His boss delayed paying him so he led a protest and successfully demanded the money. When he was enlisted into the RAF during WW2, he protested against the dirty conditions of sick bay at his base in Tangmere, Chichester. 1982: He joined a picket outside Hackney police station in London He has held a number of demos outside the Brighton-based military manufacturer, EDO MBM He has also taken part in demonstrations, over the years, on: Nuclear weapons The Vietnam war Alleged racism by the Metropolitan Police in the 1980s Poll tax Wars in Iraq and Afghanistan The increase in tuition fees Advertisement 'This finding is sufficient to conclude that there has been a violation of Article 8.' A spokesperson for the National Police Chiefs' Council said: 'Law enforcement and others will now be studying the outcome of this case, and its implications on policing as a whole.' Mr Catt vowed to take his battle to Europe after Supreme Court justices overturned an earlier ruling in his favour. Rebecca Hilsenrath, Chief Executive at the Equality and Human Rights Commission, which intervened in the case in support of Mr Catt, said: 'If you express a view in a legal and peaceful way, you shouldn't end up as a criminal on police records. If we want a healthy democracy then we need to ensure that everyone has the right to participate fully in political life. We made clear in our evidence to the court that the National Domestic Extremism Database does not sufficiently protect individuals' personal information and risks having a chilling effect on legitimate political protests. We welcome today's judgment which upholds the importance of free speech and the right to privacy'. In March 2010 he made a subject access request to the police under section 7 of the Data Protection Act 1998 to find what information was being held about him. He discovered 66 entries which mentioned him between March 2005 and October 2009 held on an 'extremism database'. He asked the Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO) to delete the entries but this was refused and no reasons were given. They recorded his attendance at Smash EDO demonstrations, attending a Trades Union Congress conference in Brighton in 2006, a Labour conference in Bournemouth in 2007, a pro-Gaza demonstration in Brighton in 2009 and at a demonstration against 'New Labour' organised by a number of trade unions later that year 2009. Police recorded his name, date of birth, address and presence at the events. Descriptions of him were noted and a picture of him stored. In January 2012 the HM Inspectorate of Constabulary published a report on undercover police operations designed to obtain intelligence about protest movements. The report concluded Catt's information was being unnecessarily retained in police records. Mr Catt previously described how his fight was 'for the sake of other innocent people whose lawful political activities are being monitored by the state' and he would not give up In March 2013, he won his case at the Court of Appeal after a defeat at the High Court the previous year. Court of Appeal judges said the information about Mr Catt was at first retained lawfully, but ruled it was held for a 'disproportionate' length of time, violating Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights. But then the UK's highest court found in favour of police lawyers who said continuing to keep the details was still lawful. Mr Catt previously described how his fight was 'for the sake of other innocent people whose lawful political activities are being monitored by the state' and he would not give up. He said: 'This is an example of the erosion of freedom and a violation of private life. It is abusive collecting data and it is data control. I will not give up.' In 2015, in response to a second subject access request, police told Mr Catt the records were held to 'help UK policing manage a future risk of crime - of which [you] could be the victim. The records themselves should not and will not be disclosed [to you] for what are obvious reasons. 'An intelligence database loses all efficacy if it is not kept confidential.' The ECHR judgment said: 'The Government stated that the police could not provide any explanation of why the reports were not disclosed previously. However, they were investigating the matter.' This is the moment locals were sent into a looting frenzy after 80,000 cans of beer were spilled from an over-turned lorry. Driver Somporn Primjarus, 58, was delivering the boxes to a warehouse when he lost control on a corner and toppled over on January 11 in Phuket, southern Thailand. The cans of fresh Leo beer were sent sprawling onto the road - causing hundreds of residents to descend on the scene and loot the alcohol after the crash at sunrise. Driver Somporn said: 'I was only one kilometre away from the logistics centre which was waiting for the beer. 'I went round the corner and could not keep control of the truck. I don't know how it happened. I think the road was slippy or because it was dark.' Several street food stalls, cars, and shop fronts were damaged also damaged, causing more chaos in the area. A passing driver filmed the manic scene that showed dozens of people looting the beer People scramble to get their hands on some of the reported 80,000 tins that spilled out Incident occurred outside a 7-Eleven store, a kilometre from the depot driver was headed to Locas rushed to the area to collect the beer - prompting police to warn that they could be arrested for theft. Four residents were indeed later arrested for theft. Lieutenant Colonel Sompong Thip-aphakun from Phuket City Police said that the investigation would look at the causes of the crash and the subsequent thefts. He said: 'In the case of an accident, the traffic officer must investigate the truck driver due to the damage to the properties. Another part is the group of people who went to collect cans. They can be charged for theft. The cans of fresh Leo beer were sent sprawling onto the road and the area outside the store Dozens of people looted bags of beer with other people grabbing as much as they could with their bare hands 'The logistics company who owns the beer trailer has reported the thefts. Officers will proceed the investigation which is not difficult since there are clips and pictures posted in the social media.' Following the police warning, several locals returned the stolen beer to the scene of the accident then quickly disappeared before they could be caught. Lieutenant Colonel Sompong Thip-aphakun said that four people had been arrested and fined over the incident. Advertisement These dramatic images show two kings of the jungle locked in an explosive battle for dominance over their pride. The two male lions were seen lashing out at one another in a brutal encounter in Sabi Sand Reserve, in the south western section of Kruger National Park, South Africa. The fearsome predators landed powerful blows as they clashed over leadership - before one eventually submitted by falling onto its back. Battle for supremacy: Dramatic images show an explosive battle for supremacy as two kings of the jungle fought for dominance over their pride in South Africa The two male lions were seen lashing out at one another in a brutal encounter in Sabi Sand Reserve, in the south western section of Kruger National Park, South Africa The fearsome predators landed powerful blows as they clashed over leadership of their pride - before one eventually submitted by falling onto its back South African-born sales manager Corlette Wessels, 46, captured these dramatic pictures of the intense fight while on a safari tour South African-born sales manager Corlette Wessels, 46, captured these dramatic pictures of the intense fight while on a safari tour. She said: 'One of the males arrived much later to the pride than the other, and with the females with cubs present, I think there was some tension between them. 'They both stood up without warning and just lashed out at one another. You could just see the power of their paws as they hit each other.' Lashing out: One of the lions could be seen landing a powerful blow on its rival as they clashed in a brutal battle for supremacy Lion hearts: Despite lashing out at one another, both of the fearsome predators walked away from the encounter unscathed Falling down: The lions - who together are known as the 'Charleston Boys' - fought an intense battle that lasted just 20 seconds before one relented and lay down on its back Ms Wessels said both lions, known as the 'Charleston Boys', clashed for about 20 seconds. Whilst the fight was in motion, the females and cubs nervously settled some distance away from the commotion. She said she witnessed the animals squaring off and that it seemed as if they were showing each other respect. Both lions walked away without injury. Ms Wessels added: 'I've always wanted to see two males fight, and was extremely lucky to have been able to experience this.' The photographer said there was clearly tension between the two males before they came to blows in South Africa's Sabi Sand Reserve The powerful rivals (pictured) took swipes at one another as they clashed in a brutal fight for leadership over the pride Ms Wessels said she had wanted to see two males lions fight and was 'extremely lucky to have been able to experience this' Travellers on a China Southern Airlines flight recently welcomed an unusual passenger in the cabin. A large brown Alaskan Malamute was filmed sitting quietly in its own seat after being allowed to travel on the flight with its disabled owner, who was said to be an emotionally vulnerable flyer. A China Southern Airlines spokesperson told Southern Metropolis Daily that the service dog was qualified as an emotional support animal and has been approved by medical professionals with the relevant certifications. A large Alaskan Malamute was filmed sitting quietly in its own seat after being allowed to travel on the China Southern Airlines flight with its disabled owner, an emotionally vulnerable flyer An airlines spokesperson said the service dog was qualified as an emotional support animal Amusing video footage shows the leashed dog's large head sticking out amid the rows of passengers in the plane cabin. The video, posted on Chinese microblogging site Weibo on Wednesday, went viral instantly, with many net users saying they wouldn't mind sitting next to the well-behaved dog. 'Compared with annoying kids who keeps kicking other people's seats or old people who talk loudly, I'd rather sit with a service dog!' one user commented. 'Such a well-behaved and cute dog. I wouldn't mind sitting next to it!' another user commented. Amusing video footage shows the leashed dog's large head sticking out amid the rows of passengers in the plane cabin. The dog was allowed to fly in the cabin without charge The video, posted on Chinese microblogging site Weibo on Wednesday, went viral instantly, with many net users saying they wouldn't mind sitting next to the well-behaved dog The trained dog, which would provide support and companionship for its owner, was permitted to fly without charge, the report added. Airlines allow service animals such as guide dogs to travel in cabins with their owners, but the animals need official identification papers and a valid health certificate. In the US, the owners of emotional support animals must provide airlines with medical proof of their disability. Last February, China Southern Airlines permitted an emotional support dog named Bruce to accompany her owner on a four-hour flight from Shenyang, Liaoning Province to Shenzhen in Guangdong. 'To take a service dog on a flight, passengers need to submit medical proof, after which the ground staff will help the passengers and their dogs check in, pass through security and board the flight,' said Shi Jun of China Southern Airlines in a previous Xinhua report. A jobless man has appeared in court today charged with killing an off-duty PCSO in a horror crash following a police chase. Holly Burke, 28, died after a speeding Renault Scenic smashed into her Ford Fiesta as it was being pursued by police on Tuesday night. Despite the best efforts of paramedics and police officer colleagues she was pronounced dead at the scene in the Bearwood area of Birmingham. Holly Burke (pictured in undated photos) died yesterday after a car chased by police for 15 minutes ploughed into her in Birmingham Darren Ogom was arrested and charged with causing death by dangerous driving, driving without a licence or insurance and failing to stop for a police officer. Today the 42-year-old appeared at Birmingham Magistrates Court. Unshaven Ogom, of Kings Norton, Birmingham, dressed in a grey t-shirt and tracksuit bottoms, showed no emotion during the minute-long hearing. He entered the dock handcuffed to a security guard and spoke only to confirm his name, date of birth, address and British nationality. District Judge Timothy Gascoyne remanded Ogom in custody and adjourned the case until February 21 when he will appear before Birmingham Crown Court. Steven Jonas, defending, said: 'It is his intention to plead guilty and he knows he going to receive a lengthy prison sentence - there will be no application for bail.' West Midlands Police said the crash happened after officers had been following the car for 15 minutes after it was spotted speeding in the Erdington area of the city. Police deployed a stinger device on Bearwood Road before the smash occurred seconds later at the junction of Hagley Road. Pictured: The scene in Birmingham, West Midlands, last night where Ms Burke was killed in a car crash Following her death, tributes poured in for the popular police community support officer, who had worked for West Midlands Police for 14 months. Chief Superintendent Kenny Bell, commander at Birmingham East neighbourhood policing unit, said: 'This is a desperately sad time for everyone who knew Holly and our thoughts and condolences are with Holly's mum and dad, family, friends and colleagues. 'There is no doubt that this tragic event will have an impact on those officers who responded and those who worked alongside her. 'Holly has been taken from us too soon and as a police family we are feeling this.' Police and Crime Commissioner David Jamieson said: 'The loss of PCSO Holly Burke is truly tragic. 'She was greatly valued by West Midlands Police and the communities which she served. 'My thoughts are with Holly's family, friends and colleagues at this very difficult time.' Police are pictured at the scene in Birmingham yesterday where Holly Burke was killed in a car chase The incident is being investigated by the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC). IOPC Regional Director Derrick Campbell said: 'Our sympathies are with the family of the woman who sadly died in this tragic incident and everyone else affected. 'We have a duty to independently investigate in these circumstances and we will be examining the events prior to the collision to determine if appropriate policies and procedures were followed. 'We will be contacting the family of the woman who died to more fully explain our role and will keep them and the force regularly updated on our investigation.' Pupils at an expensive international school in Shanghai have been taught to describe a woman's pubic hair as 'a washcloth' in English in a racy homework task. The assignment teaches the 'new word' to the pupils through a story called 'Mommy's Washcloth' in which a little boy is told by his mother that the hair between her legs is called 'a washcloth'. The boy then catches his father cheating with a maid and her 'washcloth'. The Chinese pupils are then asked to write down their thoughts after reading and understanding the story. Parents in Shanghai are shocked to see the 'dirty joke' (pictured) in their children's homework The controversial text has reportedly appeared among the English homework assigned to grade-eight students who are about 14 years old for their winter holiday. The work book (pictured) is part of the pupils' homework during winter holiday. The book costs 2.6 and is widely available on e-commerce sites, such as Taobao.com The work book is widely available on Chinese e-commerce sites, such as Taobao.com, at a price of 23 yuan (2.6). The assignment was handed to students at the SMIC Private School in Shanghai and was recently discovered by a parent who was shocked after reading the 'dirty joke', according to Chinese news site Sina.com. The parent complained about the homework to the school's management on January 16. The school has ordered the work books, a total of 48, to be retrieved from the teenage pupils. Founded in 2001, SMIC is one of the largest private schools in Shanghai and is said to charge up to (13,550) a year in tuition fees. It aims to provide 'high-quality education' and its graduates have enrolled into top-notch universities such as Yale and Princeton in the United States, according to the school's website. The school has around 2,700 students from grade one to grade 12. The assignment was given by teachers at the SMIC Private School (pictured), which is a high-end international school charging up to 13,550 a year in the Pudong New District of Shanghai Chinese public are stunned - and at the same time amused - by the news. Many have flocked to the social media to provide translation to the joke. One person on China's Twitter-like platform Weibo wondered if the publisher had just found the paragraphs on the Internet and printed them for the pupils; another was amazed at the level of English grade-eight pupils in Shanghai have achieved. A third user joked that the story could be a good way to give Chinese pupils their much-needed sex education. The joke has reportedly appeared among the English homework assigned to grade-eight students at the SMIC Private School in Shanghai who are about 14 years old (file photo) In a statement yesterday, the school apologised to the pupils and their parents for their oversight in controlling the quality of their textbooks and work books, according to Jiefang Daily. The school said it would punish the teacher who was in charge of purchasing books and improve its management in the future. It also condemned the book's publisher and said it might take the publisher to court. The Shanghai Pudong New District Education Bureau which oversees the SMIC has ordered the school to launch a thorough investigation into the matter. But the authority pointed out that the publisher was to blame. The publisher, also based in Shanghai, claimed that the work books in question were pirated editions. Mixed martial arts fighter Erika Vorobjova, 27, pictured outside the Old Bailey in London yesterday, was given a suspended sentence A Lithuanian mixed martial arts fighter who took part in a sham marriage scam which saw couples use Google Translate to communicate during wedding services has avoided jail. Erika Vorobjova, 27, of Walworth, South East London, admitted taking part in a marriage of convenience with Pakistani national Uzair Ahmed in October 2013. The bogus bride was the last gang member to be sentenced after admitting assisting unlawful immigration three days into her trial - but only received a suspended jail term at the Old Bailey. The matchmakers arranged for Asian men to meet Eastern European brides who could rarely speak to each other - and during the nuptials they used the app before exchanging their vows. The gang was led by Sainsbury's staff Ayaz Khan, 33, and wife Jurgita Pavlovskyte, 26, who used their links to Pakistan and Lithuania respectively - arranging at least 13 fake weddings and making at least 500,000 from them. They used photographs of the 'happy couples' with forged job offers to convince officials to grant residency to grooms from Pakistan, India and Bangladesh. Employment at Sainsbury's was said to have been a 'common theme', with Khan and four other grooms having worked for the supermaket. Khan, from Pakistan, ran the groom side of the business, while his Lithuanian wife found the brides. Vorobjova's barrister said the promising fighter pleaded guilty very late on 'because she was petrified of the consequences' after moving to the UK five years ago speaking no English The grooms - 11 from Pakistan, one from India and one from Bangladesh - were all 'desperate' to stay in the UK after their student visas expired. Khan was jailed for six years in April last year while Pavlovskyte, who was then 37 weeks pregnant, was given five years. John Dye, defending Vorobjova, said the promising fighter pleaded guilty very late on 'because she was petrified of the consequences' after moving to the UK five years ago speaking no English. Handing Vorobjova a suspended prison sentence Judge Mark Lucraft, QC, said: 'In April 2018 Judge (Rebecca) Poulet QC sentenced Ayaz Khan, Jurgita Pavlovskyte and several others who between 2011 and 2015 operated a conspiracy to assist in the unlawful immigration of non-EU nationals in the UK for profit. 'The system involved the pairing of male Pakistani nationals to female Lithuanian females for the purpose of what is called a sham marriage or a marriage of convenience. 'As Judge Poulet noted, I note too, a genuine marriage to an EU national who is living in the UK can confer permanent residence on the non-EU national spouse. 'These marriages therefore ostensibly permitted the male non-EU national to apply for a residence card in the UK by reason of their marriage to an EU national. 'This process involves satisfying the Home Office that the EU national is exercising their treaty rights. The gang, led by Ayaz Khan (left), 33, and wife Jurgita Pavlovskyte (right, both pictured last February outside the Old Bailey), 26, arranged at least 13 fake weddings and made at least 500,000 from them. They were jailed for six years and five years respectively last April 'If the application is granted the residence card gives the successful applicant the right to live and work in the UK.' Earlier this week fake husbands Zia Uddin, 34, and Ameen Ul Haq, 31, were jailed for 18 months and two-and-a-half-years respectively. Uddin was convicted of seeking to secure the avoidance of an enforcement action following a separate trial this month. Fake husband Zia Uddin (pictured outside the Old Bailey last February), 34, of Ilford, East London, was jailed at the court for 18 months Ul Haq failed to attend the trial and was convicted in his absence of an identical offence in addition to obtaining leave by deception. His current whereabouts are unknown. Both are expected to be deported as a result of their sentences. The court heard that the applications by the grooms were almost always successful, if not in the first instance then on subsequent appeal. Khan and Pavlovskyte facilitated the commission of a series of at least 12 breaches over a period of nearly four years. Many of the 'desperate' Pakistani grooms were Sainsbury's co-workers of his and subject to severely time-limited visas or were already over stayers. Khan assisted with the wedding arrangements, preparing the brides for interviews at the registry office and supporting documents for any subsequent applications. He and Pavlovskyte, herself a Lithuanian national, 'provided a full service to those who wished to obtain residence in the UK which would in turn entitle them to the opportunity to work and live in the UK and claim benefits if necessary', the judge said. Both 'regarded this as a business and referred to it as such'. 'In each case the offences were motivated commercially and not by humanitarian considerations,' Judge Lucraft said. 'The two of them received payment transfers into their accounts from the grooms and then took out at least 330,000 in cash from their accounts. Who's been sentenced over sham marriages? Gang leaders: Ayaz Khan , 33, of Ilford, originally from Pakistan, jailed for six years , 33, of Ilford, originally from Pakistan, jailed for six years Jurgita Pavlovskyte , 26, of Barking, his wife, originally from Lithuania, jailed for five years Fake wives: Erika Vorobjova , 27, of Walworth, suspended sentence , 27, of Walworth, suspended sentence Diana Stankevic , of Hounslow, jailed for three years , of Hounslow, jailed for three years Tatjana Rolic , 30, of Ilford, suspended sentence , 30, of Ilford, suspended sentence Valerija Brockley , 25, of Brockley, suspended sentence Fake husbands: Zia Udd i n , 34, of Ilford, jailed for 18 months , 34, of Ilford, jailed for 18 months Ameen Ul Haq , 31, of Dagenham jailed for 30 months in his abscence , 31, of Dagenham jailed for 30 months in his abscence Muhammad Saqlain , of Slough, jailed for three years and three years , of Slough, jailed for three years and three years Imran Farooq , of Hounslow, jailed for 18 months , of Hounslow, jailed for 18 months Sheikh Ahmad , of Brockley, jailed for 18 months Advertisement 'On the figures they netted at least 500,000 in a three-and-a-half-year period and probably a great deal more. It is clear the brides received money for their compliance.' Many of the bank transfers from grooms were given the references 'wife' or 'wedding'. The 13 sham marriages included those between Imran Farooq and Diana Stankevic and Muhammad Saqlain and Tatjana Rolic, 30. Stankevic flew home to Lithuania the day after her marriage to Farooq, having already signed his application for UK residence. She returned to the UK three months after he sent it in to the Home Office. Saqlain, who came to the UK in 2009 to study for an MBA, married Rolic on February 9, 2013 - nine days before his visa was due to expire. His flatmate, Bangladeshi Mohammed Faisal, married Rolic's sister Aliona Ovcankova. Both women had flown from Lithuania to the UK on the same day. The gang insisted the marriages were all genuine and denied knowledge of plot to get around immigration rules. Uddin, of Ilford, was jailed for 18 months. Ul Haq, of Dagenham, was jailed for two-and-a-half-years in his absence. Vorobjova admitted assisting unlawful immigration and was given a 16-month custodial sentence suspended for two years. Khan, of Ilford, was convicted of conspiring to assist unlawful immigration and jailed for six years in April last year. Pavlovskyte, of Barking, was jailed for five years while Stankevic, of Hounslow, and Saqlain, of Slough, Berkshire, were both jailed for three years for the same offence. Khan and Pavlovskyte were also found guilty of acquiring and converting criminal property relating to payments made for organising the sham weddings. Farooq, also of Hounslow, was cleared of playing any part in the conspiracy but convicted of a lesser alternative of deceitfully applying for a residence card and jailed for 18 months. Saqlain and Sheikh Ahmad, of Brockley, were convicted of securing or seeking to secure the avoidance of enforcement action by acting as grooms in the weddings and jailed for 18 months. Fake brides Rolic, of Ilford and Bartosevic, of Brockley were each handed 18-month prison terms suspended for two years. A school superintendent has been charged with insurance fraud and identity deception after she sought medical treatment for a student using her sons name. Casey Smitherman, who manages Elwood Community Schools in Elwood, Indiana, used her health insurance to get treatment for the 15-year-old who was suffering from strep throat. Smitherman visited the teenager at his home after he failed to attend school on January 9, and upon finding out he had a sore throat, the educator took him to a medical center where he was refused treatment. Casey Smitherman (pictured) faces charges of insurance fraud, identity deception, and official misconduct after she used her son's name to get medical help for a student Knowing the youngster didnt have his own insurance, Smitherman then revealed in a statement that she took him to a different clinic and told them he was her son. A prescription for Amoxicillin was filled out under her childs name, which was valued at $233. According to court documents, the youngster ripped the name off the medication label as he knew it was wrong and to have a prescription in his possession with a different name is bad. Smitherman now faces charges of insurance fraud, identity deception and official misconduct after Elwood police received a tip about the situation and followed it up with the teenagers guardian. Following this, Smitherman admitted to officers that she did use her sons name to get the prescription, revealing she also often bought clothes for the student. When asked why she didnt contact the Department of Child Services, she allegedly said it was because she feared the teen would be placed in foster care, reported Fox 59. She is superintendent for Elwood Community Schools (pictured) in Elwood, Indiana Smitherman was booked on January 23 before later being released on bail. I am committed to this community and our students, and I regret if this action has undermined your trust in me, Smitherman said in a statement published by the publication. From the beginning, my ultimate goal has been to provide the best environment for Elwood students growth physically, mentally and academically, and I remain focused on that purpose. Madison County Prosecutor Rodney Cummings said: I understand it was her desire to help a young man that was in bad shape but probably not the best example to set for young people to assume other identities and make false statements. Smitherman said she plans to enter a diversion program, which would result in the dismissal of the charges if she avoids further arrests in the coming year. Police have contacted the Department of Child Services to advice them that financial help may be needed for the unidentified student. The Elwood school board said: Dr. Smitherman has tirelessly worked for the best interests of all students in Elwood Community Schools since she was hired. She made an unfortunate mistake, but we understand that it was out of concern for this childs welfare. We know she understands what she did was wrong, but she continues to have our support. It is our understanding that the prosecutor has agreed to a diversion program and that will be finalized this afternoon. European judges have awarded Amanda Knox 15,660 ($20,000) in damages, after finding that Italian authorities 'violated her human rights' during the investigation into the murder of British student Meredith Kercher in 2007. The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) ruled that Italian police failed to provide legal help and a translator when questioning Knox after Ms Kercher's murder. American Ms Knox was convicted, but later cleared, of the murder of her British roommate, following years of legal battles in Perugia, Italy. Ms Knox and her then boyfriend, Raffaele Sollecito, spent four years in an Italian prison and eight years on trial before finally being exonerated by the Italian Supreme Court in 2015. Amanda Knox was convicted, but later cleared, of British student Meredith Kercher's murder following years of legal battles in Perugia, Italy Knox (pictured in custody in 2011, left) was twice convicted and twice acquitted of murdering English student Meredith Kercher (right) in Italy The ECHR said today that there had been breaches of Ms Knox's rights leading up to a related conviction for malicious accusation - the only charge which she was never acquitted of. The European Human Rights Court in Strasbourg, France, today ruled that Italy must pay Knox 10,400 damages plus 8,000 for costs and expenses, which comes to around 15,660, or $20,000. Ms Knox, from Seattle, Washington, said in her complaint that the failure to provide her with a lawyer or interpreter during a long night of questioning on November 6 violated her rights. The court said in its ruling that Italy hadn't succeeded in proving that 'the restriction of Ms Knox's access to a lawyer... had not irreparably undermined the fairness of the proceedings as a whole.' Italian police alleged Ms Knox made false accusations against Congolese bar owner Diya 'Patrick' Lumumba, knowing him to be innocent and in order to distract investigators away from her own responsibility. She also said she was not assisted by an independent and professional interpreter, but only a police employee who acted instead as a 'mediator' who encouraged her to 'imagine hypothetical scenarios'. Ms Knox's defence had long claimed that the accusation was coerced and the recent court ruling noted she quickly and repeatedly retracted the statement, citing a hand-written statement. Accused: Ms Kercher's American roommate Amanda Knox was found guilty of her murder in 2009, and spent more than four years in jail before finally being officially exonerated in 2015 Murder scene: The house is pictured in November, 2007, shortly after Ms Kercher's body was found in her bedroom But Ms Knox, now 31 years old, appealed on the grounds she was denied access to a lawyer and an independent interpreter, was slapped on the head and subjected to psychological pressure by Italian police. The ECHR ruled that there had been a violation of Ms Knox's rights when her claims of ill-treatment in police custody were not investigated. But the judges said the court did not have any evidence that Ms Knox was subjected to the 'inhuman or degrading treatment' she complained about. They also said that the Italian government had failed to show that Ms Knox's restricted access to a lawyer at police interview had not 'irreparably undermined the fairness of the proceedings as a whole'. Judges further found that authorities had failed to assess the conduct of the interpreter assigned to Ms Knox and whether this had affected criminal proceedings against her. The Italian government was ordered to pay Ms Knox 10,400 (9,000) in damages and 8,000 (7,000) for costs and expenses - a lot less than the 2.7 million she had sought. Knox and her boyfriend at the time, Raffaele Sollecito (right), were accused of murdering Kercher during a sex-game-gone-wrong Ms Knox posted images on Instagram last November announcing her engagement to her novelist fiance, Christopher Robinson Her defense attorney, Carlo Dalla Vedova, said the decision 'is not a big surprise for me because the supreme court already said there were many mistakes. That is one of the reasons that invited us to tell Amanda to go to Strasbourg.' He said: 'For me this is a certification of a mistake, probably the biggest legal mistake in the last years in Italy, also because the attention that this case has had.' Dalla Vedova added he was considering whether to challenge the standing conviction for malicious false accusations. 'It is impossible to compensate Amanda for four years in prison for a mistake. There will be no amount. We are not looking for compensation of damages. We are doing this on principal,' he said. Ms Kercher was found semi-naked with her throat cut in the house where she had been renting a room. The body of Ms Kercher, a 21-year-old exchange student, was found by police in the flat she shared with Ms Knox and three other girls on November 2, 2007. Officers discovered her throat was slashed and she had been sexually assaulted. Ms Knox and Mr Sollecito were arrested, accused of killing Ms Kercher in a sex-game-gone wrong and later convicted of murder and sexual assault in 2009. The couple maintained their innocence, insisting that they had spent the evening together at Mr Sollecito's home watching a film, smoking marijuana and being intimate. Two years later, the Perugia Court of Appeal acquitted the pair of the more serious charges, but upheld Ms Knox's conviction for malicious accusation. After three years in custody, Ms Knox was released and left Italy for the United States. Rudy Guede leaving with penitentiary police after a court hearing in Perugia in September 2008. He is serving a 16-year sentence for Ms Kercher's murder Ms Knox challenged the malicious conviction, but the Court of Cassation quashed her acquittal in 2013 and referred the case back to the Assize Court of Appeal. That court re-sentenced her to more than 28 years in prison for complicity in sexual assault and murder, and three years for malicious accusation. Ms Knox launched another appeal, and in 2015 she and Mr Sollecito were acquitted of sexual assault and murder by Italy's highest court, but Ms Knox was not cleared of the malicious accusation charge. Rudy Hermann Guede, an Ivorian, is serving a 16-year sentence for Ms Kercher's murder. Guede was tried separately in a fast-track procedure and in October 2008 was found guilty of the sexual assault and murder of Kercher. Len McCluskey made his first visit to Theresa May's Downing Street today as he took part in the Prime Minister's desperate scramble to salvage her divorce deal. The powerful Unite leader backed Jeremy Corbyn's handling of Brexit and joined other union chiefs in demanding Mrs May protect workers' rights. TUC chief Frances O'Grady was the first of the union barons to emerge from Downing Street today, while GMB's General Secretary Tim Roach and Unison's Dave Prentis also saw the PM today. Downing Street refused to reveal the detail of what was discussed at the meetings - which took place over tea and coffee - which are part of a wider effort to find a way through the Brexit impasse. Unite boss 'Red Len' McCluskey appeared at the door to No 10 today (pictured) as union leaders accepted a rare invite to Theresa May's Downing Street to discuss Brexit TUC chief Frances O'Grady was the first of the union barons to emerge from Downing Street today (pictured), warning the PM had to give ground Downing Street refused to reveal the detail of what was discussed by Theresa May (pictured yesterday in the Commons) at the meetings, which are part of a wider effort to find a way through the Brexit impasse Mr McCluskey said he hoped his first ever meeting with Theresa May was not a 'PR stunt'. He stressed that a no-deal Brexit would be 'disastrous' and urged the Prime Minister to extend Article 50 beyond March 29 for three months. Mr McCluskey said Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn was right to refuse to meet the Prime Minister unless she ruled out a no-deal Brexit. The Unite leader said companies were now putting investment decisions on hold because of the ongoing uncertainty. He added: 'I cannot conceive any prime minister taking us out of Europe with a no deal - it would be catastrophic.' Ms O'Grady said workers are worried about their jobs and need reassurance about their future after the UK leaves the EU. 'The Prime Minister should do the right thing and take a no-deal off the table so that genuine dialogue can take place,' she said. Ms O'Grady added: 'I was looking for guarantees on workers' rights now and into the future. 'We have a Prime Minister on a temporary contract- she cannot bind the hands of a future prime minister. 'People wanting her job are on record as saying Brexit is an opportunity to reduce workers' rights. 'The Prime Minister should stop listening to the bad boys at the back of the class. More time is needed for genuine talks.' The PM is laying on the trade union charm offensive after her Brexit plan was rejected by 432 to 202 votes - the biggest defeat ever inflicted on a British PM. Mrs May held calls with the union chiefs less than a fortnight ago - the first time she has ever picked up the phone to them. Unite boss Len McCluskey (pictured left) and GMB General Secretary Tim Roach (pictured right) have been invited to Brexit talks at No10 later today The high-stakes wrangling comes as Mrs May desperately scrambles to fend off efforts by Remainers and Labour to tie her hands in a series of crunch votes on Tuesday. What is Tuesday's Plan B vote and what will it mean? What is happening? Because Theresa May's Brexit deal was defeated, the law says she must tell Parliament what her Plan B is. This has to be done in a motion to the Commons, which will be voted on by MPs next Tuesday night. That motion can be re-written by MPs if they table amendments and win a vote in favour of them. Some amendments have already been tabled and MPs can keep producing them until Monday night. What does May's plan say? It promises more cross-party working, renews commitments to protecting workers' rights after Brexit and says the PM will ask Brussels for more concessions on the backstop. It it based on the current deal that was crushed by 230 votes last week. What do the main amendments say? Jeremy Corbyn's amendment says Parliament should vote on 'options' including a renegotiation of the deal to get a permanent customs union and for a second referendum. A cross party amendment from Yvette Cooper and Nicky Morgan seeks to block no deal by giving time to a draft law that would require the Government to delay Brexit if a deal has not been agreed by February 26. It upturns normal convention by putting a backbench MP's Bill ahead of Government plans. An amendment from Tory rebel Dominic Grieve seeks to set up weekly debates that would mean regular votes on what to do in the absence a deal. His amendments sets aside six named days for the debates - including as late as March 26. What would the vote do? Legally nothing - but if the Commons votes in favour of a clear way forward by a majority it will be a major political signal of what might happen. Is it a new 'meaningful vote' that can approve May's deal? No. At some point, the PM will have to stage a repeat of last week's vote to get explicit approval from MPs to go ahead with her deal if she wants it to survive. Advertisement Allies of the premier have conceded she will be forced to try to delay the UK's departure date beyond March if the Houses passes a mechanism proposed by Yvette Cooper and pro-EU MPs next week. There have been glimmers of hope for Mrs May amid evidence that Eurosceptics and the DUP are looking for a way of climbing down and supporting her plan. Tory loyalist Simon Hoare told MailOnline today that he believed the 'penny appears to be dropping' among hardline colleagues that the 'prize' of Brexit might be lost unless they compromise. But backbencher Johnny Mercer was praised by Eurosceptic MPs this morning after he demanded that Parliament stops 'cowering from no deal'. 'Are we brave enough to face down the prospect of leaving the European Union without a deal if that's what it takes to keep the promise that has been made to the British people?' he said. On Monday she signalled that she is would be prepared to give union chiefs a say in the next stage of Brexit talks as she desperately scrambles to try to win more support. Addressing MPs on her so-called Brexit Plan B, Mrs May said: 'We will reach out beyond this House and engage more deeply with businesses, civil society and trade unions.' On Tuesday she held calls with business groups including the CBI, the Federation of Small Businesses, and the Institute of Directors. After suffering a humiliating defeat on her Brexit deal, the PM is desperately trying to garner more support for her Brexit plans. But she was mocked by Labour and Remainer MPs on Monday night after she unveiled her Brexit Plan B - and it looked remarkably similar to her Plan A. She again vowed to oppose a second referendum or any delay to Brexit, and instead pledged to go back to Brussels and try to get fresh concessions on the hated Irish backstop. Her words won plaudits from the DUP and Brexiteers, but Tory Remainers and Labour accused her of running out of ideas. The scale of the opposition to the PM's plans was laid bare today as Remain plotter MPs finally unveiled their bid to water-down and or block Brexit altogether A French EasyJet flight was forced to make an emergency landing after a bomb hoax was called in by a student to stop his parents from visiting him. The 23-year-old student made the anonymous threat against the EasyJet flight travelling from Lyon to Rennes last Friday. Flight EZY4319 was reportedly carrying 159 passengers, but was forced to turn around and return to Lyon shortly after take-off just before 3pm. Police later arrested the man who confessed to creating 'false news compromising the safety of an aircraft in flight', airlive.net reports. The easyJet flight from Lyon to Rennes was forced to turn back shortly after take off after a bomb hoax was made to authorities Flight EZY4319 was reportedly carrying 159 passengers, but was forced to turn around and return to Lyon shortly after take-off just before 3pm His parents were travelling on board the aircraft and he did not want to see them - so much so that called in the hoax, according to prosecutors. The public prosecutor of Rennes in a statement: 'The author of the facts has been identified. 'It is a student Rennes of 23 years old who did not wish that his parents, who had taken place on board this plane, join him in Rennes.' The flight was operated by a replacement aircraft and crew from London Luton. The unnamed man faces up to five years in prison and a 75,000 euro (65,300) fine. The anonymous hoax call was made about the easyJet flight, forcing it to turn back and return to Lyon airport A spokesman for easyJet said: 'EasyJet can confirm that flight EZY4319 from Lyon to Rennes on January 18 returned to Lyon as a result of security related issue. 'The captain took the decision as a precaution only. 'The aircraft landed safely and was met by the fire brigade and the police in line with procedures. 'Passengers disembarked normally and were provided with information and refreshments. 'The safety and wellbeing of our passengers and crew is easyJet's highest priority.' The suspect is currently in custody and will appear in court in May. Three revellers have been rushed to hospital with severe injuries after an unmanned truck came crashing into a campground at Rainbow Serpent Festival. The horrific incident unfolded when a truck rolled on top of the trio's tent at a campsite near Jack Smiths Lane, in Lexton, western Victoria, on Thursday afternoon. A 39-year-old man has been airlifted to The Alfred Hospital, in Melbourne, after he became trapped under the truck. One man was airlifted to The Alfred Hospital, in Melbourne, by helicopter (pictured) in critical condition He is thought to have been in critical condition at the time he was taken to hospital. His current condition is unknown. Two woman who also suffered severe injuries have been transported to Ballarat Hospital. A woman in her twenties suffered serious injuries to her back and abdomen, but is now in a stable condition. A 30-year-old woman was taken to hospital in a stable condition, although she suffered injuries to her back and hip. Its believed that the truck was unmanned at the time, and proceeded to roll 20m into the campsite, according to reports. Rainbow Serpent Festival (pictured hails itself as a weekend of dance, colour and expression, according to its website However the exact circumstances surrounding the incident has yet to be confirmed. In a statement released by Rainbow Serpent Festival, festival spokesperson, Tim Harvey, said the staff were horrified to hear of the incident. Our thoughts are with the injured and their families. We know the entire Rainbow community will be thinking of them all weekend but it would inappropriate for us to comment further at this stage, Mr Harvey said. Matthew Wood, the event emergency response coordinator, said staff members reacted to the incident immediately. We have all emergency services on site, including medical and ambulance and run training exercises to prepare for responding to any serious incident. Police and the Victorian WorkCover Authority are continuing to investigate the incident. Adolf Hitler wanted the vicious hand of the Third Reich to extend into the homes of Jews in North America A book which belonged to Adolf Hitler has been uncovered in Ottawa mapping the Third Reich's sinister intentions for a 'final solution' for Jews across North America. From remote towns with populations of just 52 Jews, to large metropolitan hubs like Toronto with tens of thousands of potential victims - the Nazis wanted their murderous purge of the Jews to extend across the Atlantic. The book, 'Statistics, Press, and Organizations of Jewry in the United States and Canada', is a grim analysis of the Jewish populations of North America. It details Jewish demographics and distributions across the US and Canada, as well as important Jewish organizations and the Jewish press. Hitler planned to keep the United States out of the war and Nazi propaganda, prior to President Franklin D. Roosevelt's declaration, had courted the American media. 'Statistics, Press, and Organizations of Jewry in the United States and Canada' was written by Heinz Kloss, a German academic dispatched to carry out research in North America prior to WWII Hitler sitting on the edge of a desk at his Bavarian alpine headquarters at Berghof in around 1940 But in reality Hitler held American society - aside from its German descendants - in contempt, remarking 'it's half Judaised, and the other half negrified.' The book was written by Heinz Kloss, a German linguist who traveled to the United States prior to WWII and who was in contact with anti-Semites there. The front page of the book has a box plate with the Nazi eagle above a swastika symbol, titled 'Ex Libris Adolf Hitler,' indicating it came from Hitler's personal library. Hitler was an avid reader and book collector estimated to have had up to 16,000 books in his collection. Canadian experts believe the book was probably brought to the United States as a war souvenir by an American soldier after the ransacking Hitler's Bavarian alpine retreat at Berghof in the spring of 1945. Library and Archives Canada acquired the book from a collector who had obtained it from a Holocaust survivor. Other libraries in North America with books once owned by Hitler include the Library of Congress and Brown University Library. The front page of the book, published in Stuttgart in 1944, reveals Hitler's plans for a 'final solution' to extend across the Atlantic The book will be preserved in the Jacob M. Lowy Collection in the Canadian capital where archivists hold other works important to Holocaust remembrance. 'It allows us to educate and to advocate for the most complete historical record possible.' Library archivist Guy Berthiaume said. 'The truth of history is woven from many sources, and it is only when history is presented in its entirety that it can support the free exchange of ideas that lies at the heart of a democratic society.' Yellow Vest protesters responsible for weeks of civil unrest including rioting in France are to stand for the European Parliament. Organisers of the movement on Thursday put forward ten men and women who will wear their trademark high visibility motoring jackets when they contest elections in May. All have been illegally blockading roundabouts across the country, while others have taken part in demonstrations that have descended into serious violence in cities such as Paris and Bordeaux. Despite their decision to stand for the EU Parliament, a huge number of Yellow Vest protesters are anti-EU and want France to leave the bloc ('Frexit') Ingrid Levavasseur, (centre) talks to residents and protesters as she waits for French President Emmanuel Macron's visit in Bourgtheroulde, Normandy, Tuesday, January 15 Despite their decision to stand for the EU Parliament, a huge number of them are fiercely anti-EU, and want a Brexit-style 'Frexit' that would see France leave the bloc. Ingrid Levavasseur, a care worker aged 31 and one of the candidates, said: 'This is about people who have mobilised from the beginning.' Other would-be Yellow Vest MEPs include a 46-year-old housewife and a 53-year-old company director. Care worker Ingrid Levavasseur, 31, one of the leading figures of France's Yellow Vests protests, will stand in the elections in May The movement started on November 17 as a social media campaign against the escalating price of fuel, and quickly spread. Soon after its first riots in early December, President Emmanuel Macron cancelled green taxes on petrol and diesel, and increased the minimum wage by seven per cent. This boosted support for the Yellow Vests, leading to them taking to the streets in huge numbers and demanding even more concessions. A massive riot in Paris on December 1 led to million of pounds worth of damage being caused, including to the Arc de Triomphe itself. Since then, anti-government Yellow Vests have rallied in other EU countries, including Britain. French ruling party member of the National Assembly Jean-Luc Fugit takes part in a 'citizen assembly' called by the Yellow Vest movement on the merge of the 'great national debate' on January 22 in Ternay, near Lyon The French version hopes to put forward as many as 79 candidates for the European Parliament elections, which will be held between May 23 and 26. They will campaign on a Citizens' Charter calling for Brexit-style referendums on almost every issue. There are currently 751 MEPs representing 500 million EU citizens, but this number is set to go down because Britain is set to leave the EU in late March, so losing all its MEPs. Russian investigators are examining whether a 14-year-old old girl who took her own life is the latest victim of a sinister online 'death group' preying on children. The teenager - who used the name Angelina Bessmertnaya on the internet - fell from the eighth floor of an apartment block in Nizhny Novgorod, western Russia. Her body was found in snow at around 8am on Tuesday morning, as locals went to work. The schoolgirl did not live in the apartment block from which she fell, and detectives are investigating whether she was alone or with someone when she fell to her death. A friend of Angelina said the 14-year-old had been part of so-called 'death groups', in which young people are reportedly 'brainwashed' by online 'mentors' to complete self harm steps which culminate in suicide Angelina Bessmertnaya, 14, is pictured walking into the apartment block in Russia before falling eight floors to her death. She is thought to be the latest victim of online suicide game Blue Whale Her online history is to be examined to see if she was a victim of the notorious Blue Whale or similar 'game' which is feared to have led to the deaths of dozens of young people in Russia and other countries. The Russian Investigative Committee has launched a preliminary check into the girl's death. Concerns were raised by a girl named Alina, according to newspaper Komsomolskaya Pravda. The Russian Investigative Committee has launched a preliminary probe into the Angelina's death, after concerns were raised that she was part of 'brainwashing' groups online 'I was friends with her throughout last year,' she was quoted as saying. 'We went for walks a lot in summer. 'But she had been playing Blue Whale for a while, and was in "death groups".' On the day she fell new graffiti appeared on a nearby wall saying: 'I value you more than life, but you don't.' Alina also said that the girl had 'very strong feelings' for a boy who lived in the Russian Arctic. 'She was suffering a lot because of him,' she said. She recently posted she was in love with a local boy, said the friend. So-called 'death groups' include Blue Whale in which young people are reportedly 'brainwashed' by sick online mentors to complete 50 steps - involving exhaustion and self harm - which culminates in suicide. Angelina's body was found in snow at around 8am as locals went to work in Nizhny Novgorod city in western Russia On the day Angelina fell new graffiti appeared on a nearby wall saying: 'I value you more than life, but you don't' The mentors are often teenagers or young adults. Investigative newspaper Novaya Gazeta alleged that of 130 suicides of children in Russia between November 2015 and April 2016 almost all were 'members of one group or other on the internet'. Major-General Alexey Moshkov, head of anti-computer crime K department in the Russian Interior Ministry, has warned that in 2017 a total of 1,339 online suicide groups were uncovered, with an audience of more than 12,000 users and over 200,000 posts. He revealed 230 criminal cases had been opened and 19 masterminds - called 'curators' or 'administrators' - were detained. For confidential support call the Samaritans on 116123 or visit a local Samaritans branch, see www.samaritans.org for details. As UK weather takes a turn for the worse and sub-zero temperatures bring with it further snow, many people are asking at what point does it become too cold to go to work or send their kids to school. The Met Office has issued snow warnings around the country and London has experiences its coldest day of the year with highs of just 2.6C. Meanwhile in Scotland, the first heavy snowfall caused at least 125 crashes in one day and cars in South Wales slid off the roads due to ice. What with all the weather warnings and ice hazards, here is all you need to know about your employee rights when it comes to not going to work and how cold does it have to be for school to get cancelled. Parts of England have seen temperatures drop to as low as -10C, while there were 125 car crashes in one day in Scotland due to the heavy snowfall How cold does it have to be to not go to work? According to the Health, Safety and Welfare Regulations 1992 there are no minimum or maximum temperatures for work. They just have to be reasonable and safe for people to carry on with their normal responsibilities. Employers are expected to provide reasonable temperatures in the workplace. The Health and Safety Executive recommendations expand on that and recommend that office temperatures should not drop lower than 16C. ACAS recommends employers relax the dress codes in bad weather and allow employees to wear warmer clothes and take extra breaks, as well as consume hot drinks. Can I not go in to work due to bad weather? The first place to check your employee rights is the company handbook. This will set out the rules and protocols that are in place when the weather takes a turn. If it is safe and reasonable to travel, your employer may well expect to see you at your desk come 9am. However, ACAS tells bosses to adopt a flexible approach and allow employees to work from home, come in earlier or later to avoid rush-hour related delays and chaos or simply to work more flexible hours or swap shifts. The exception to this is if the company already provides transportation for its employees and it is subsequently cancelled. If you cannot get in to work, you should let your boss know as soon as possible. Government guidelines says that in cases where employers give proper notice, they can ask the workers to take a paid holiday. It specifies that proper notice is twice the length of time bosses want the workers to take i.e. if to request an employee take one day off, they must be given two days notice. Will I get paid when I dont go to work? It is important to remember that, as ACAS points out, employees do not automatically get paid for the working time they missed due to bad weather conditions. However, it works both ways and if the company closes and the employees dont usually work remotely, employers cant usually deduct pay, according to the governments website. However, it does add that employers may ask workers to go to another workplace or indeed work from home. There are some exceptions, however. ACAS says that in scenarios that involve a dependent, employees can take unpaid time off. Dependents include everyone from children (when school closes) or when caring arrangements for disabled relatives are cancelled or when a partner has been seriously injured due to the bad weather. How cold does it have to be for school to be cancelled? Like offices, schools follow the same guidelines, which say that there no official minimum or maximum temperature levels. According to the National Union of Teachers suggests anything between 16C and 24C is the range in which people work best at. According to ATL, the union for educational professionals, areas of normal physical activity such as classrooms and libraries should not be colder than 18C as kids are less able to withstand low temperatures than adults. If temperatures fall below these standards, it is recommended that heaters are brought in. If these fail and there is no way of warming the rooms to reasonable standards, the children could be sent home. Shocking pictures have emerged of an 'illegal slaughterhouse' where pigs and sheep live alongside animal carcasses and are surrounded by pools of blood. The unsettling images were released by Dyfed-Powys Police in south west Wales earlier this week and purportedly show the slaughterhouse in Pembrokeshire. They show carcasses strung up with blood collecting on the floor underneath, while others show sheep penned off next to the dead animals. One of the images released by the rural crime team at Dyfed-Powys Police in south west Wales show animals strung up above pools of blood Police described the discovery as 'horrific' and highlighted the importance of community intelligence in exposing the slaughterhouse. It tweeted: 'Rural Crime team attended a call with multiple agencies to a report of an illegal slaughterhouse in west Wales. Live animals found among carcasses. 'Yesterdays horrific job [showed ] the importance of community intelligence, communication and our vital relationships with our partner agencies [to] such illegal practices.' The investigation was led by Pembrokeshire Council, which has yet to disclose the precise location of the alleged illegal slaughterhouse - but told MailOnline it was somewhere in the Pembroke area. A spokeswoman said: 'Pembrokeshire County Council can confirm that two arrests were made on Monday at an address in the Pembroke area in relation to an investigation into the illegal slaughter of animals and the production of smokies. 'The individuals arrested have been released pending ongoing enquiries. Investigations are underway relating to a range of potential offences under food safety, animal by-products, and animal welfare legislation. 'Approximately 15 sheep (including sheep carcasses) were found at the address.' Another of the images released by police show live sheep (left) kept in a pen next to several animal carcasses (pictured right) Smokies are a processed sheep product which are considered to be a delicacy by some ethnic (West African) communities. They cannot be legally produced and the sheep tend to be slaughtered, processed, distributed and sold illegally on the black market. It is not clear how many animals were killed at the alleged illegal slaughterhouse since it began operation. A spokesman for the council had earlier said: 'We can confirm that Pembrokeshire County Council Environmental Health officers together with representatives from other agencies, including the police, are investigating a potential illegal slaughterhouse operating at an undisclosed location in the county. 'As the investigation is still ongoing, no further information is available at present.' Two men have been arrested and released under investigation. Police say the investigation into the discovery is continuing. Airbus today condemned the 'disgraceful' chaos surrounding Brexit and warned it could leave Britain if a no deal threatened its international competitiveness. The aerospace giant, which employs 14,000 people in Britain, warned it could have to make 'potentially very harmful decisions' about its UK operations in a no deal. It warned there were 'plenty of countries' that would welcome the firm with open arms if Britain became inhospitable to international companies. CEO Tom Enders urged Britons not to listen to 'Brexiteers' madness' that the company was too established in the UK to leave. Airbus's move came as the Dutch government revealed it was in talks with 250 UK firms about luring them to the Netherlands. Fears are rising about the future of British manufacturing amid wobbles in the car industry and after Dyson announced it was relocating its headquarters to Singapore. Mr Enders was defended this afternoon by Katherine Bennett (pictured today on the BBC), the senior vice president at Airbus UK. However controversy hit the announcement by Airbus this afternoon as a company executive admitted the Government had asked it to 'make clear the potential impact of no deal' after the firm's CEO issued a blood curdling warning. Asked if ministers had 'put you up to this', Katherine Bennett, the senior vice president at Airbus UK told Sky News 'No' before adding: 'We've given them lots of information about the potential impacts of no deal. 'But they did say ''could you make clear the potential impact of a no deal'' and we're happy to do that because no deal is potentially going to be catastrophic for us.' Asked about the claim, the PM's official spokeswoman said: 'There was no knowledge in Number Ten of that.' Downing Street earlier insisted it was pursuing a Brexit deal precisely to avoid the challenges of no deal - but insisted Britain would thrive whatever happens. But in a remarkable break from No10, Business Minister Richard Harrington was less diplomatic, warning no deal would be a 'disaster' for Britain and praising Airbus for 'telling it like it is'. Theresa May's spokeswoman said the PM still has 'full confidence' in Mr Harrington - despite his repeated and outspoken interventions on no deal Brexit. Airbus's move came as the Dutch government revealed it was in talks with 250 UK firms about luring them to the Netherlands. 'It is a DISGRACE': The Airbus attack on no deal Tom Enders, chief executive of Airbus, Lashed no deal today. He said: 'It is a disgrace that, more than two years after the result of the 2016 referendum, businesses are still unable to plan properly for the future.' 'Brexit is threatening to destroy a century of development based on education, research and human capital. If there's a no-deal Brexit, we at Airbus will have to make potentially very harmful decisions for the UK.' 'Please don't listen to the Brexiteers' madness which asserts that ''because we have huge plants here we will not move and we will always be here''. They are wrong.' 'Make no mistake, there are plenty of countries out there who would love to build the wings for Airbus aircraft.' Advertisement Fears are rising about the future of British manufacturing amid wobbles in the car industry and after Dyson announced it was relocating its headquarters to Singapore. In a video today, Mr Enders, chief executive of Airbus, said: 'In a global economy the UK no longer has the capability to go it alone. 'Major aerospace projects are multinational affairs. 'It is a disgrace that, more than two years after the result of the 2016 referendum, businesses are still unable to plan properly for the future. 'We, along with many of our peers, have repeatedly called for clarity, but we still have no idea what is really going on here. Mrs May's official spokesman said: 'Airbus said in their statement that the delivery of a pragmatic Withdrawal Agreement that allows for an orderly Brexit is best for Britain. 'That is exactly why the Prime Minister has been working so hard to deliver a deal that gives businesses certainty, with an implementation period and an orderly exit.' Chancellor Philip Hammond is preparing to tell leaders at the World Economic Forum in Davos later that post-Brexit Britain will still be a 'great place to do business'. However, Mr Enders said Britain's multibillion-pound aerospace sector, a world-leader for a century, is 'standing at a precipice'. Dyson lashed for moving his firm to Singapore Billionaire Brexit-backing tycoon Sir James Dyson faces a growing backlash over his move out of Britain today. Sir James sparked widespread fury after announcing that he is shifting his head office out of the UK post Brexit - despite being one of the leading supporters of the campaign to quite Brussels. Ministers lashed the move saying it looked 'terrible' while MPs queued up to accuse the vacuum cleaner tycoon of 'rank hypocrisy' and said he was taking advantage of EU trade deals. Business Minister Claire Perry told the BBC's Politics Live: 'I think the optics are terrible. This was one of the great poster children the Brexiteers trot out.' Lib Dem MP Layla Moran blasted the move, saying: 'James Dyson can say whatever he wants but he is ditching Britain. 'This can only be seen is a vote of no confidence in the idea of Brexit Britain.' Advertisement 'Brexit is threatening to destroy a century of development based on education, research and human capital,' he said. 'If there's a no-deal Brexit, we at Airbus will have to make potentially very harmful decisions for the UK.' Airbus's UK operations generate around 6 billion of turnover annually, making it the country's largest aerospace company. At its 25 sites it builds components for a broad spectrum of products from planes to helicopters and satellites. 'Please don't listen to the Brexiteers' madness which asserts that ''because we have huge plants here we will not move and we will always be here''. 'They are wrong,' Mr Enders said. 'Of course it is not possible to pick up and move our large UK factories to other parts of the world immediately. 'However, aerospace is a long-term business and we could be forced to redirect future investments in the event of a no-deal Brexit. 'And, make no mistake, there are plenty of countries out there who would love to build the wings for Airbus aircraft.' The chief executive of aerospace trade body ADS, Paul Everitt, told BBC Radio 4's Today programme that Mr Enders's message was being 'repeated consistently by the overwhelming majority of businesses in our sector and others up and down the country'. Mr Everitt warned: 'The introduction of any kind of customs activity or delays at the borders fundamentally undermines our competitiveness and adds cost. 'Added to that, we all operate in a consistent regulatory environment. Significant changes or differences in that regulatory environment drive cost and disruption through our businesses.' Airbus's facilities in Broughton and Filton were 'a core part of our industry and what has been driving growth in our industry consistently over the last couple of decades', helping make the UK aerospace sector the largest in Europe, he said. 'It's not a question that Tom and Airbus are going to pull up their plant next week, but the reality is that future investment in that plant depends on us being globally competitive,' said Mr Everitt. 'When you introduce a new product, there are a list of countries out there who are actively bidding for that work. Our issues and concerns are that cost implications in the short term will drive the long-term conditions that will undermine our competitiveness.' Michiel Bakhuizen, spokesman for the Netherlands Foreign Investment Agency, said: 'Every new arrival of a business, big or small, is a success. The number of businesses we are in contact with for a possible arrival is growing. 'At the start of 2017 it was 80, at the start of 2018 150, and now it's more than 250. 'This increase will continue and it's not strange, because there is great uncertainty at the moment in Britain. And if there is one thing that's bad for business, it's uncertainty.' Angola has decriminalized a colonial-era ban on same-sex activity and outlawed discrimination based on sexual orientation. The southern African nation also explicitly outlawed discrimination based on sexual orientation, which includes refusing to employ or provide services to anyone on those grounds. Anyone found in violation of the anti-discrimination law could face up to two years in prison. Angola has become the first country in 2019 to decriminalise homosexuality after scrapping its 'vices against nature' provision and outlawing sexual orientation-based discrimination Members of the LGBT lobbying group Iris Angola had said they were subject to discrimination in health care and education It is the latest reform ushered in by the administration of President Joao Lourenco, a former defense minister who took office in 2017 after the 38-year rule of Jose Eduardo dos Santos. The new penal code - the new first penal code since independence from Portugal in 1975 - scraps the 'vices against nature' provision from 1886, which was in practice a de facto ban on homosexuality. While the state had long since stopped using the former law to prosecute LGBT people, it implicitly provided a means by which they could face discrimination or intrusive scrutiny into their private lives. Angola has also gone a step further than Mozambique, another former Portuguese colony that decriminalized homosexuality in 2015, by granting legal status to its only gay rights lobbying organization - Iris Angola. Angolan President Joao Lourenco has ushered in a spate of reforms since taking office in 2017 Mozambique declined to register its own leading LGBT group, Lambda, so while it operates freely, it is still not technically legal. Iris Angola called its acquisition of legal status last year after five years of operation a 'historic moment'. The group had previously said that its members were subject to discrimination in health care and education. Same-sex conduct is still criminalized in 69 countries. According to the rights monitoring website Equaldex, Angola joins 22 African nations where homosexuality is legal, versus 35 where it is illegal. While some countries, including India and the Republic of the Congo, have legalised homosexuality since 2017, in that year alone Tuvalu, Kiribati, Saint Lucia and Saint Kitts and Nevis all made male homosexuality illegal and the Maldives made same-sex relations punishable by a prison term. 'In casting aside this archaic and insidious relic of the colonial past, Angola has eschewed discrimination and embraced equality,' wrote Graeme Reid, the director of HRW's LGBT Rights Programme. 'The 69 other countries around the world that still criminalise consensual same-sex conduct should follow its lead.' A one-year-old girl in central China has escaped death after falling from her mother's scooter and being dragged under the wheel for more than 10 metres (33 feet). The toddler was sitting in front of her mother when she lost control of the vehicle at a busy traffic junction in Nanyang, Henan province on Wednesday, causing the girl to tumble from her seat and become trapped under the front wheel. Fortunately she was saved by a quick-thinking traffic police officer and was not injured thanks to layers of thick clothing. A one-year-old girl (circled) in central China's Henan province has escaped death after falling from her mother's scooter and being dragged under the wheel for more than 33 feet A black mark on the girl's hat after she was dragged on the ground. The accident on Wednesday was likely caused by a wind-shielding blanket attached to the electric scooter Video footage shows the woman swerving dangerously into the opposite lane and across the zebra crossing at the junction while dragging her baby under the wheel. The electric scooter finally stopped at the side of the road and traffic police officer Wang Yameng immediately rushed to her aid, Xixia county police said in a statement. Officer Wang pulled the toddler from under the wheel and alerted an ambulance to take her to hospital. She was unhurt in the accident. The electric scooter finally stopped at the side of the road and traffic police officer Wang Yameng immediately rushed to her aid, Xixia county police said in a statement Officer Wang pulled the girl from under the wheel and alerted an ambulance right away Thanks to her thick layers of clothing, the one-year-old girl was unhurt in the accident The accident was likely caused by the wind protection modifications added to the scooter, including a large blanket used as a windshield to cover the rider's hands and knees. The blanket most likely got caught in the front wheel and the woman couldn't brake in time, police said. The authorities warned people against adding such modifications and to use gloves and protective knee pads instead so as not to restrict their movements. Killings rose by 14 per cent to 739 last year, and increase of 90 homicides recorded in England and Wales than in the previous 12 months. Knife crime rose by 12 per cent as nearly 40,000 were reported to police according to shocking new crime statistics released by the Office for National Statistics today. That brings the average daily total to more than 100. Rape increased by 16 per cent to 56,698 offences and other sex offences rose 13 per cent to 101,464. About 20 per cent of those were against children. As crime statistics reveal an increase in homicides in the capital, 54 of last year's victims of London murders are pictured above This graph shows how homicides increased not just last year, but have been increasing over the last four Knife crime hit nearly 40,000 incidents in shocking new crime statistics released by the Office for National Statistics today Knife crime was on the up in the year to September 2018, according to the the figures released by the ONS today Police found an eight per cent rise in offences with knives or other sharp instruments. Paedophiles using the web to groom children Paedophiles are increasingly exploiting the web, with 9,543 crimes recorded in the last year. Rape, sexual assault and grooming are included in the crimes committed after child abusers contacted their victim online. Cyber-related crimes made up 16 per cent of the total number of child sexual offences recorded by police in the year to September 2018. The NSPCC says this may not reveal the true extent of the problem due to wide variation and under-recording of the role of online in these crimes. A 10-year-old girl told the charity that a man claiming to be 21 convinced her to send naked pictures of herself online. At the age of 12 she met him in person and he was in his late 30s. What began as online grooming morphed into physical, sexual abuse. She said: 'I couldn't get away from him. I didn't want to be involved with him anymore but he would always blackmail me. 'He would make it seem like I was the one doing something wrong. The sexual abuse lasted three years. It impacts everything in your life.' Advertisement Robbery is up by 17 per cent and there has also been a 24 per cent climb in public order offences, with a total of 427,134 recorded. There was a three per cent rise in vehicle offences to 457,433, largely due to a 10 per cent jump in 'theft or unauthorised taking of a motor vehicle'. More than 20 per cent of the population fell victim to crime, according to the survey. The homicide figures do not include victims of terror attacks. Statisticians said this continues an upward trend since March 2014, indicating a change to the long-term decrease over the previous decade. The data show that overall crime rose by seven per cent, with a total of 5,723,182 offences recorded. This is the highest number in a 12-month period since the year ending March 2004, when there were 6.01 million offences recorded. Crimes involving violence against the person are up by 19 per cent, which includes a 41 per cent increase in stalking and harassment offences. Figures released by the British Transport Police (BTP) this week suggest knife crime on Britain's rail network has more than tripled in the last three years. Many of the higher-harm types of violence are concentrated in London and other metropolitan areas, 128 homicides in the capital last year - the highest level in a calendar year this decade. Prime Minister Theresa May's official spokesman said: 'These statistics show that your chance of being a victim of crime remains low, but we recognise that certain crimes - particularly violent crime - have increased, and we are taking action to address this. 'The Offensive Weapons Bill will give police extra powers to tackle knife crime and to get weapons off the street. The serious violence strategy puts a greater focus on early intervention and stopping young people from being drawn into crime in the first place. 'We have also put forward the biggest increase in police funding since 2010. It's encouraging to see the first signs of police officer numbers rising in the statistics today.' Commenting on the figures, Helen Ross, from the ONS Centre for Crime and Justice, said: 'In recent decades we've seen the overall level of crime falling, but in the last year, it remained level. 'There are variations within this overall figure, depending on the type of crime. 'Burglary, shoplifting and computer misuse are decreasing but others, such as vehicle offences and robbery are rising. 'We have also seen increases in some types of 'lower-volume, high-harm' violence including offences involving knives or sharp instruments.' Alex Mayes, policy and public affairs adviser at charity Victim Support, said: 'These figures starkly highlight the devastating human cost of the recent rises in serious violence that we've seen across the country. 'Working with bereaved families through our national homicide service we know just how destructive these shocking crimes are.' Speedboat killer Jack Shepherd may never return to Britain if Georgia wants to 'stand up' to the UK by declining an extradition request, a top barrister warned today. The Home Office and Sajid Javid are under pressure to secure his extradition 'swiftly' after the 31-year-old handed himself in at a police station in the nation's capital of Tbilisi last night. Shepherd will appear at Tbilisi City Court at 1pm local time (9am GMT) tomorrow (Friday) and if everything goes smoothly the extradition is likely to take around two months, meaning he would finally be back behind bars in Britain by March. But if he fights extradition, as his lawyer hinted he might, the process could take many months - and possibly until the end of 2019 - to complete. Worse still, George Hepburne Scott, a leading British barrister in the extradition field, warned that Shepherd may stay in Georgia 'indefinitely' if the country refuses a request from the UK Government to bring him home. Mr Scott said Georgia could easily decline the bid and may want to be seen to be 'standing up' to the UK. Newly-bearded Shepherd was caught on camera smirking when he handed himself in to Georgian police - and later laughed and joked with them as they were forced to Google who he was and why he was on the run. He was apprehended six months after being convicted of killing 24-year-old Charlotte Brown during a speedboat date on the Thames. Jack Shepherd (pictured above) surrendered at a police station in Georgia on Wednesday This morning Miss Brown's grieving sister Kate Brown slammed Shepherd for his 'unbelievable arrogance', while her father broke down in tears as he admitted there was 'overwhelming relief' as the family got a step closer to getting justice for their 'beautiful' daughter. A spokesperson for the CPS said: 'It is not accurate that we ever made a decision not to charge Mr Shepherd. As with all our cases, we review all available evidence once it has been submitted by the police and make decisions in line with CPS guidelines. 'In particularly complex cases, it is not unusual to instruct Queen's Counsel to provide advice. 'It was never our case that Mr Shepherd was driving the boat at the time of the collision but witness evidence confirmed it was being driven with speed. 'We are consulting with the authorities in Georgia to progress our extradition request.' Jack Shepherd (right) was convicted of killing 24-year-old Charlotte Brown (left) during a speedboat date on the Thames On Wednesday night the Crown Prosecution Service was preparing an extradition request to be lodged with Georgian legal authorities. However Shepherd's lawyer has said it could be 'months' before he returns to the UK, despite experts suggesting the UK authorities would want to 'urgently extradite him'. It is said that Shepherd could appear in court on either Thursday or Friday, but it is not clear how long the extradition process could take from there. The length of the process will depend on both the Georgian authorities and on whether or not Shepherd consents to his return, if he does it could be a matter of weeks. How will Britain get speedboat killer back? UK doesn't have a specific extradition treaty with Georgia but there are diplomatic agreements it can use Britain does not have a specific extradition treaty with Georgia. Instead, the process will rely on the 1957 European Convention on Extradition, amended to include Georgia in 2002. The Home Office's international criminality unit will forward a request to Georgia through UK diplomats in the capital Tbilisi. If local authorities agree, British police will travel to collect Shepherd and bring him back. Georgia extradition process states that a person 'shall be extradited to a foreign state for such crimes that both under the legislation of Georgia and that of the foreign state concerned are punishable by at least imprisonment for one year or by a stricter punishment'. A Home Office source suggested Shepherd could be back in the UK in weeks but admitted it could take longer. 'It all depends on whether he agrees to extradition or not, in terms of how quickly it takes,' the source said. Advertisement If he refuses to return to the UK, extradition could take a 'considerable amount of time'. The extradition case for Shepherd could be similar to that of Stephen Lawrence murder suspect Jamie Acourt, who accepted his extradition from Spain after he was arrested over alleged drug offences. It took just one month for Acourt to be extradited, however the process fell under European law, which Georgia's process does not. Meanwhile, leading barrister Mr Hepburne Scott said: 'The National Crime Agency will have to make a request of the Georgian State through the extradition treaty between the UK and Georgia. 'In reality it will be highly political. There have been no extradition requests from Georgia to the UK in the past 10 years, so the UK has nothing Georgia wants in return. 'Georgia may want to be seen as standing up to the UK and not bowing down to requests from the West. Mr Shepherd has also indicated he would fight extradition, so even if Georgia accepts the request to extradite him and a judge grants it, he can appeal that decision. This could take months and months. 'Mr Shepherd is also saying that he's an innocent man who was wrongly convicted. 'If he's claiming he has suffered a miscarriage of justice, a Georgian judge could refuse to extradite him on those grounds and he could remain in Georgia indefinitely. 'But he would likely be confined to the state or other countries who are less UK-friendly such as Russia. He would not be able to live anywhere in the EU or America.' This is while Home Secretary Sajid Javid said it is 'vital Charlotte Brown's family see justice done' and UK law enforcement will 'seek to swiftly extradite him to Britain'. Charlotte's sister Kate (right with Charlotte) has slammed Shepherd for his behavior The web designer was found guilty of manslaughter by gross negligence and sentenced to six years in prison in his absence, although he was controversially granted leave to appeal in December. He is said to have fled to Georgia as he has friends there and had stated that 'there's a lot going for Georgia'. When arriving at the station in Georgia, he was seen laughing and joking with officers who then had to Google his name, before understanding that he was a man on the run, ITV News said. Ms Brown's family said they were overwhelmed with emotion after it emerged Shepherd had surrendered and her father said it was time for him to 'atone' for his actions. Jack Shepherd looks a different man having grown a thick beard during his time on the run. He is pictured at the Old Bailey in 2016 The speedboat (pictured above) owned by Jack Sheperd, who was found guilty of killing Charlotte Brown However, speaking to the Press Association, Shepherd's lawyer, Tariel Kakabadze, said he may go before a court in Tbilisi on Thursday or Friday, but suggested it may be 'some time' before he returns to the UK. 'Extradition doesn't happen in one or two days. All the documents will need to be translated, many things will need to be made ready,' he said. A timeline of the speedboat killer December 8 2015: Jack Shepherd and Charlotte Brown meet for a date where he takes her to the Shard for dinner, before taking a taxi back to Shepherd's home, a houseboat in Hammersmith, where they took champagne on board his speedboat for their ride past parliament. March 2018: Shepherd was charged with GBH following an incident in which he allegedly knocked a barman unconscious with a vodka bottle in a pub while 'blind drunk'. He then failed to appear at a hearing for that case at the Old Bailey regarding Miss Brown's manslaughter. July 2018: An international arrest warrant is issued for Shepherd July 26 2018: Shepherd, despite being absent from court was found guilty of manslaughter by gross negligence July 27 2018: Shepherd is sentenced to six years' imprisonment Shepherd's wife is then said to have told police that the 33-year-old had travelled to Georgia. January 22 2019: Family of Charlotte meet with Savid Javid before making a television appeal for Shepherd to 'do the right thing' January 23 2019: Shepherd hands himself in to police in Georgia Advertisement 'Depending on what evidence they show us... it might be very soon or it might be several months.' A spokesman for the Extradition Lawyers Association said: 'I would imagine it will take an age. Unless he consents to extradition, it will largely depend on political will. 'There is very little extradition to or from Georgia. It happens very, very seldom and I can't think of a single case. In terms of how long it would take, I would say it would be a very lengthy process unless the defendant consents to be extradited or he is deported as a result of his visa being revoked.' Scotland Yard, the force leading the investigation, have now been updated by the National Crime Agency on the development and are awaiting confirmation of Shepherd's identity and once his identity is secured, the Metropolitan Police have said proceedings 'will begin immediately' to extradite Shepherd, who has been the subject of an international arrest warrant. Under Georgian law, prosecutors are required to apply for restriction measures for a person wanted in another country within 48 hours of them being arrested. Ms Brown's family had reiterated their calls for the 31-year-old to hand himself in after he fled justice ahead of his trial at the Old Bailey. Now the family has slammed the 31-year-old and his 'unbelievable arrogance', following watching his police interview where he boasted of partying in Georgia. Ms Brown's sister Kate said she thinks Shepherd went to the police station for 'purely selfish reasons' because he wants his appeal to be successful and that she believes he thinks he will not serve his sentence. Speaking on the case, extradition lawyer Thomas Garner from Gherson solicitors said due to the nature of the case the UK would be 'urgently seeking' Shepherd's extradition. After handing himself in to police Shepherd (pictured above centre) was led away in handcuffs by Georgian police 'Following Jack Shepherd's surrender to the Georgian authorities it is anticipated that the UK will be seeking his urgent extradition back to the UK. Extradition between Georgia and the UK is governed by the 1957 European Convention on Extradition. It is too early to say how long this process will take. 'Were he to consent to his return he could be back in the UK in a matter of weeks but in the event that he contests his extradition the matter could take a considerable period of time. 'It would naturally be wrong to comment on the specifics of any possible bars to extradition he might raise and it is important that the Georgian process is allowed to take its course. However, given the high profile nature of the case and the direct involvement of the Home Secretary himself, it is clear that the UK authorities will be putting all their resources and energy in securing a speedy resolution to the matter.' Speaking to journalists Shepherd (pictured above) said he was involved in a tragic accident... 'in which a lady called Charlotte Brown tragically died' Speaking of the next steps for Shepherd he added: I'f he consents to extradition or if he fights the case and loses the UK authorities will liaise with their Georgian counterpart to collect him from Georgia (once any appeals have been exhausted). He would then be transported to the UK and must be brought before the court that issued the original warrant for his arrest as soon as possible. How speedboat killer laughed and joked with police in Georgia who had to GOOGLE him because they didn't know who he was when he handed himself in Jack Sheperd handed himself in to police in Georgia on Wednesday but officer have said they had to Google to fugitive to learn of his identity. A police source admitted officers didn't know who Shepherd was when he first arrived at the station, and resorted to Googling his name to find out more, ITV News reported. After handing himself in and being processed by Georgian officials, Shepherd was said to be laughing and joking with officers at the station. Advertisement 'He will be held in custody and is unlikely to be granted bail. The court will need to consider the next steps - alongside the sentence that has been imposed he is likely to be dealt with for the failure to attend court when required. 'It remains to be seen how long the process will take and also what the interaction will be with the timetable of any proceedings in the court of appeal On Wednesday a heavily-bearded Shepherd smiled as he walked into the station some 2,000 miles away while flanked by lawyers.' He vowed to local reporters he would clear his name over the 'tragic accident'. Ms Brown's father, Graham Brown, celebrated the 'overwhelming' development, writing on Facebook: 'Justice for Charlotte is close!' 'My opinions towards Jack Shepherd is that he's a very crass, reckless man, who managed to abscond and stick two fingers up at the judiciary,' Mr Brown told BBC Radio 5 Live. 'He's got to come back to atone for all that and I think that he's done the right thing and thank goodness he's realised that now and handed himself in.' Ms Brown, from Clacton-on-Sea, Essex, died in December 2015 when Shepherd's boat flipped into the wintry waters of the River Thames in London after they shared a Champagne-fuelled first date. The family of Ms Brown, known to loved ones as Charli, ramped up pressure in recent weeks and renewed their calls for Shepherd to surrender after they met with Home Secretary Sajid Javid on Tuesday. A day later Shepherd - wearing a long coat, jeans and a checked scarf - waved and smiled as he walked into the station from a black car, footage on Georgian television station Rustavi2 showed. Speaking to journalists, he said: 'Yes, my name is Jack Shepherd. I was involved in a tragic accident... in which a lady called Charlotte Brown tragically died.' Billed by the network as an 'exclusive interview', Shepherd added he hopes 'justice will be done' with his pending appeal against the conviction. He continued to say he hopes 'I can just', before pausing to correct himself and add, 'everybody can move forward with their lives'. Javid said he wanted the extradition process to be swift. He was pictured today with French Interior Minister thrashing out a new plan to tackle the Channel migrant crisis The family's MP, James Brokenshire, said Shepherd's 'wanton and selfish actions' had heaped further strain on the family 'at a time of unimaginable grief'. While Shepherd was on the run, his lawyers have been working to appeal against the conviction. Shepherd's UK solicitor Richard Egan said: 'In the light of today's developments I don't think it would be appropriate to comment further until Mr Shepherd is back in the jurisdiction.' MailOnline has contacted Richard Egan and Tuckers Solicitors for further comments on how Shepherd intends to proceed once he returns to the UK. 'Unbelievable arrogance!': Sister's fury as smiling speed boat killer strolls into police station in Georgia boasting of partying in nightclubs while family of victim were left in 'agony' in Britain Appearing on BBC Breakfast, Charlotte Brown's sister Katie said when the family heard Jack Shepherd had handed himself in they were all 'very shocked and relieved'. 'Last night as we saw his TV interview, we had increasing feelings of anger. To see him just stroll into the police station smiling and waving it was unbelievable - his arrogance over everything.' As she sat next to a framed photo of her sister, she said she thinks Shepherd went to the police station for 'purely selfish reasons' because he wants his appeal to be successful and that she believes he thinks he will not serve his sentence. Charlotte's sister Katie (pictured above) said Jack Shepherd's arrogance was unbelievable Asked how she feels about the comments Shepherd made to reporters in Georgia, where he said he was frightened about what might happen and how he hopes justice will prevail, she said: 'He seems to be concerned about his own feelings and how he's felt throughout the whole thing, and has had no empathy or remorse for his reckless actions. 'He has caused the loss of my sister's life and whilst he's been off in Georgia, he claims that he went to see friends and he has always wanted to see the scenery there - almost like he was claiming it was a holiday. 'He said that he has been out socialising, going to nightclubs, so whilst he has been doing that we have been back here, had the agony of the trial, left to pick up the pieces. 'He is not thinking about Charlie, us, respect for the legal system, all he is thinking about is himself and his feelings.' PICTURE EXCLUSIVE: Swaggering in cuffs, the shameless speedboat killer smirks to our camera after finally surrendering - and blames his victim for her OWN death, accusing her grieving father of 'vendetta' against him By Sam Greenhill and Inderdeep Bains and Arthur Martin and Emine Sinmaz for the Daily Mail The fugitive dubbed the 'speedboat killer' was in handcuffs last night having been detained by police in Georgia after nearly ten months on the run. Jack Shepherd, 31, was found guilty of manslaughter and sentenced to six years in prison over the death of his date Charlotte Brown, 24, on a drunken boat ride on the Thames in December 2015. He was convicted in his absence having fled the UK in March last year before his trial. The Mail has been campaigning for months for British authorities to do more to help bring him to justice, and offered a 25,000 reward for information leading to his capture. Sporting a thick beard in the Georgian capital of Tblisi last night Shepherd looked almost unrecognisable compared with pictures of the then-fresh-faced web designer taken before his appearance at the Old Bailey prior to his escape. Shepherd smiled for the camera today. Ignoring the jury's verdict that he was responsible for the safety of the boat and those on board, he said: 'It's very upsetting to read these lies in the newspaper' Last night Charlotte Brown's family condemned her killer after he blamed her for the tragedy and then accused her grieving father of waging a vendetta against him. Shepherd complained of feeling 'upset' at reading about himself in the Daily Mail and suggested it was his victim's own fault that she died because she was driving the speedboat. Ignoring the jury's verdict that he as master of the defective boat was responsible for its safety, Shepherd declared: 'It's very upsetting to read these lies in the newspaper.' Last night Miss Brown's father, Graham, 55, said: 'I've always thought Jack Shepherd has acted in very crass, reckless manner and seeing him on screen now has just confirmed it. 'He's a man who can't accept responsibility for anything. He certainly shows no remorse.' Miss Brown's sister Katie told the BBC: 'I feel very surprised at how smug he looks to be honest. It just shows a very arrogant man. 'I don't understand how someone can go on the run for two crimes and be found guilty and still then just walk straight in with a very smug look on his face and claim innocence. It's unbelievable. 'Someone who's run away from this doesn't scream an innocent man's actions to me. Why did he run away if he's claiming innocence?' Shepherd said he said he had chosen 'wonderful' Georgia to flee to because 'it was affordable, had generous visa regime and mountains, sea, and it was a country I'd always wanted to visit and I think the culture is very wonderful'. Shepherd's lawyer, Marianne Kublashvili, spoke to the press after his arrest in Tbilisi, Georgia Glossing over the fact he went on the run hours after allegedly glassing a hotel barman, he said: 'It was quite a rushed decision but there was a lot going for Georgia.' In an interview with Georgian TV station Rustavi-2 before he handed himself in to police, Shepherd said: 'Just to clarify something which has been printed in a lot of newspapers such as the Daily Mail, it's an established fact that Charlotte was driving at the time of the accident. 'Unfortunately some journalists in the UK have forgotten this and printed that I was driving. 'Something else they've printed which is very hurtful is that I let her drown, and I was just crying 'help me, help me' and didn't tell anyone she was there. 'He has shown no compassion to us' Katie Brown, Charlotte's sister, said: 'Based on Shepherd's TV interview I've seen so far I cannot believe that he continues to be so arrogant and in complete denial about the responsibility of his actions in December 2015. 'He has shown no compassion towards our family and his TV interview is full of contradictions to what was heard in court. 'We want to see Shepherd extradited to the UK to serve his sentence as soon as possible. 'We would like to thank the police and public in their continued support.' Advertisement It couldn't be further from the truth. My main concern was her. I was clinging to the boat saying, 'leave me in the water and help her, please' as soon as rescuers arrived. 'It's very upsetting to read these lies in the newspaper.' Speaking about the December speedboat tragedy, Shepherd said: 'I was involved in a tragic accident in 2015 in which a lady called Charlotte Brown tragically died. 'After a long period where the police rightly treated it as an accident, after significant pressure from her father, the police decided to prosecute me for manslaughter. 'The court accepted she was driving at the time of the accident. The thing they say I did wrong was to let her drive my boat. They say that was negligent and that I owed her a duty of care. 'Although I had had something to drink, I was not tested or anything. Charlotte was tested and was just above the drink-drive limit. 'It was unwise to go out on the water but not mad.' Despite being found guilty by a jury of killing Miss Brown, Shepherd insisted that her father, a civil servant, was to blame for him being convicted. He said: 'Charlotte Brown's father works in the prison system of the UK, he's a civil servant of some influence. The CPS [Crown Prosecution Service] decided not to prosecute me but he appealed this. He was able to leverage his power in the system to get a QC appointed to oversee the case, which was very unusual.' Charlotte Brown, who died aged 24, on a date on a speedboat with Jack Shepherd on the Thames in 2015 Revealing how closely he has been following the Mail's campaign, he said: 'The father met with the Home Secretary in the UK and this is testament to the fact he has some kind of leverage within the system. 'It's also why there has been so much press coverage in the UK. I've only spoken to him once but he took the opportunity to tell me I would have a very bad time in prison. 'I said, 'I'm so sorry Graham' but he didn't want to hear it and hung up. I feel at risk from him and his power in the prison system, and that's the reason I ran away. I blamed myself at the time and said I was very drunk and driving too fast, but an assessment of the facts shows we were actually going below the speed limit. I'm very, very frightened about what might happen, but it seemed like this is the right thing to do. I hope justice will prevail and my appeal will be successful.' At his home in Sidcup, Kent, Mr Brown thanked the Daily Mail for its help in offering a 25,000 reward to catch his daughter's killer. He said: 'It made me cry. That was my emotion. It's been a long journey. Relieved is a better word it's difficult to say I'm delighted when I've lost a daughter. 'Hopefully Shepherd will come back voluntarily and won't put any legal obstacles in the way. If he does, more fool him. 'Shepherd is acting the victim he certainly claims he's an innocent man. But the jury didn't find him so. If he was so sure of his innocence he should have stayed and faced his trial.' Mr Brown added: 'Not one member of his family has sent any condolences or any expression of remorse.' Additional reporting: Neil Sears An Indonesian teenager narrowly escaped a horrific sexual assault after a colony of ants started biting her attacker. The 16-year-old, identified by her initials A.S., had been approached by Toni Irawan, 29, who asked her to go for a drive around Sukamaju, South Sulawesi province. Irawan allegedly asked the 16-year-old for sex, and when she refused, he dragged her into some nearby bushes intending to rape her, where a colony of black ants attacked the pair. The suspect Toni Irawan (centre) is accused of trying to rape a 16-year-old girl, who managed to escape after ants began biting him According to local media, Irawan had repeatedly asked the teenager to have sex with him during their drive, but she said no and tried to run away when they stopped in a village. He caught up with her and dragged her back into the vehicle, before taking her to another village to 'wash the car'. This time he forced himself on the girl, dragging her into some nearby bushes and throwing her to the ground. The incident took place in Sukamaju in the central Indonesian province of South Sulawesi on January 19 Reports said that just as he was about to rape the girl, they were both suddenly bitten by a colony of black ants. In the confusion, the teenager managed to get up and run to nearby houses to call for help. Sukamaju police chief Iptu Alimin Pammu told local media that Irawan has since been arrested and is currently on remand as the investigation continues. If found guilty, he faces between three and 15 years in prison. Advertisement Ex-Scottish first minister Alex Salmond appeared in court today after being charged with 14 offences including attempted rape. The 64-year-old former Scottish National Party leader, who lives in Fraserburgh, Aberdeenshire, appeared at Edinburgh Sheriff Court this afternoon after being arrested and charged by police. He has been charged with nine counts of sexual assault, two counts of indecent assault, two counts of attempted rape and one count of breach of the peace. Photographers take pictures of the former Scottish first minister arriving at the court today Salmond had been under investigation by Police Scotland following sexual harassment claims. He strenuously denies the allegations, and it is not known if today's case is linked to them. Speaking outside the court today, Salmond stressed that he was 'innocent' and told reporters he had attended a police station with his solicitor yesterday, before being released on condition that he went to court today. The 14 criminal charges against Alex Salmond Breach of the Peace Indecent Assault Sexual Offences (Scotland) Act 2009 S3 (Sexual Assault) Indecent Assault Sexual Offences (Scotland) Act 2009 S3 (Sexual Assault) Sexual Offences (Scotland) Act 2009 S3 (Sexual Assault) Sexual Offences (Scotland) Act 2009 S3 (Sexual Assault) Sexual Offences (Scotland) Act 2009 S3 (Sexual Assault) Sexual Offences (Scotland) Act 2009 S3 (Sexual Assault) Sexual Offences (Scotland) Act 2009 S1 (Attempted Rape) Sexual Offences (Scotland) Act 2009 S3 (Sexual Assault) Sexual Offences (Scotland) Act 2009 S1 (Attempted Rape) Sexual Offences (Scotland) Act 2009 S3 (Sexual Assault) Sexual Offences (Scotland) Act 2009 S3 (Sexual Assault) Advertisement He said: 'Let me say at the outset, I am innocent of any criminality whatsoever. 'As you'll remember in the long process of judicial review, I made it clear in order to respect the court, that I would make no comment until proceedings had concluded. 'That I did in the statement I made on the steps of the Court of Session two weeks ago. 'Now that these criminal proceedings are live, it is even more important to respect the court and, therefore, the only thing I can say is that I refute absolutely these allegations of criminality and I'll defend myself to the utmost in court. 'I've got great faith in the court system of Scotland. I've got recent cause to have great faith in the court system of Scotland. 'That is where I'll state my case. Now, I'm informed court rules are that your questions and my answers might well breach court rules. 'You know me well enough to know that I'd love to say a great deal more but I've got to observe the rules of the court, and in court is where I'll state my case. 'And therefore, if you'll forgive me, I'll go back in to consult my legal team.' Salmond made no formal plea in court during the petition hearing, which was held in private, and was released on bail pending further examination. Salmond arrived at the court today after he was arrested and charged by Police Scotland It has not yet been revealed what charges Salmond (pictured at court this afternoon) is facing 'I'll defend myself to the utmost': Alex Salmond speaks outside court Speaking outside Edinburgh Sheriff Court today, Alex Salmond told reporters: 'Yesterday with my solicitor Callum Anderson, I attended a police station in central Scotland. 'I was released on condition I came to the court today to face the charges against me. That I have now done. So let me say at the outset, I am innocent of any criminality whatsoever. 'As you'll remember in the long process of judicial review, I made it clear in order to respect the court, that I would make no comment until proceedings had concluded. That I did in the statement I made on the steps of the Court of Session two weeks ago. 'Now that these criminal proceedings are live, it is even more important to respect the court and, therefore, the only thing I can say is that I refute absolutely these allegations of criminality and I'll defend myself to the utmost in court. 'I've got great faith in the court system of Scotland. I've got recent cause to have great faith in the court system of Scotland. That is where I'll state my case. Now, I'm informed court rules are that your questions and my answers might well breach court rules. 'You know me well enough to know that I'd love to say a great deal more but I've got to observe the rules of the court, and in court is where I'll state my case. And therefore, if you'll forgive me, I'll go back in to consult my legal team. Thank you very much indeed.' Advertisement Earlier, he walked through crowds of press and public and flanked by two men for the hearing. Dressed in a dark overcoat and blue shirt, Salmond shook hands with people waiting outside the court. A Police Scotland spokesman said: 'We can confirm that a 64-year-old man has been arrested and charged and a report will be sent to the procurator fiscal. 'Proceedings are now live under the contempt of court act.' STV News had reported that he was not believed to be in custody. The procurator fiscal office, Salmond's spokesman and his lawyer have all not yet commented. It comes a fortnight after Salmond, from Linlithgow, West Lothian, won a legal battle with the Scottish government over its handling of sex allegations against him. Scotland's highest court said on January 8 the government inquiry into harassment claims against the former SNP leader was unlawful and 'tainted with apparent bias'. The Scottish government began investigating complaints by two women last January, dating back to 2013 when Salmond was first minister. Salmond, who was first minister between 2007 and 2014, last August, claiming the investigation was unfair. The Court of Session then ruled in his favour after hearing that the government's investigator spoke to the women weeks before they formally complained. After the finding, Salmond called on Scotland's top civil servant to quit her post after accusing her of 'wasting' hundreds of thousands of pounds of public money defending the administration's 'unlawful' handling of allegations against him. Police will send a report to the procurator fiscal on the case involving Salmond (above, today) Salmond (centre) arrives with solicitors David Mckie (left), Beverley Atkinson (right) and adviser Campbell Gunn (second right) at the Court of Session in Edinburgh on January 8 Timeline: Alex Salmond harassment allegations May 2007: Alex Salmond becomes Scottish first minister December 2013: When Salmond is alleged to have carried out sexual misconduct November 2014: Salmond leaves his post as first minister January 2018: Two women lodge complaints against Salmond in relation to the allegations dating back to 2013 March 2018: Salmond is told about the complaints made against him April 2018: Salmond contacts his successor Nicola Sturgeon to tell her he is under investigation August 2018: The Scottish government's investigation concludes, but Salmond begins legal action amid claims it was unlawful November 2018: Salmond's lawyer questions the Scottish government's complaints procedure at the Court of Session January 8, 2019: Salmond wins his legal battle against the Scottish government as the Court of Session rules the inquiry was 'tainted with apparent bias' Today: Police Scotland reveal Salmond has been arrested and charged but does not give details of the charge Advertisement The allegations against Salmond first came to light at a time when a number of politicians in Westminster faced allegations of inappropriate conduct. Today, Scottish Parliament Presiding Officer Ken Macintosh told MSPs prior to First Minister's Questions: 'Members will be aware of reports in the media this morning that the former first minister Alex Salmond has been arrested. 'As I hope members will also be aware, and as applies with all such matters, that means that parliamentary rules on sub-judice apply as this case is now active.' Salmond's successor Nicola Sturgeon learned of the arrest from media reports this morning, sources said. It is understood she has not spoken to the former first minister since July 2018. Salmond resigned his membership of the SNP in August 2018. He guided the party to a narrow Scottish election win in 2007 and then led a minority government as he became Scotland's first SNP First Minister. In the 2011 election, he led the party to an unprecedented victory with a majority win, meaning the SNP's manifesto pledge to hold an independence referendum could be delivered. But the result of the 2014 referendum - a 55 per cent to 45 per cent vote to stay in the UK - led to him stepping down as first minister and SNP leader Boris Johnson was given a 10,000 donation by the chairman of JCB just days before he gave a major speech at the digger firm's factory. JCB billionaire Lord Bamford - a major supporter of Brexit and a Tory donor - gave the cash to the ex Foreign Secretary. While David Davis has been given a lucrative new post as an adviser to JCB, which will mean he rakes in 60,000 for 20 hours work. The huge sum works out at 3,000 for every hour worked, or 50 a minute. Mr Davis said he had complied with the rules concerning former ministers' employment. Boris Johnson (pictured at the JCB HQ in Staffordshire last week) was given a 10,000 donation by the chairman of JCB just days before he gave a major speech at the digger firm's factory Lord Bamford is a strong supporter of Brexit and helped fund the Vote Leave campaign during the EU referendum campaign. He has insisted that there is nothing to fear from a no deal Brexit. He and his family topped the list of Tory donors in 2017 by giving 2.5million to the party personally and through their firms. Mr Johnson last week travelled to JCB's headquarters in Staffordshire last week to rail against the PM's Brexit plan while standing in front of one of the company's diggers. He used the speech, which came days after the PM's Brexit deal was defeated in the Commons, to spell out his Brexit vision in a thinly veiled leadership bid. While David Davis (pictured earlier this month in Westminster) has been given a lucrative new post as an adviser to JCB, which will mean he rakes in 60,000 for 20 hours work He declared that a Tory government should cut taxes and limit immigration. Mr Johnson insisted delaying Britain's exit from the EU would further 'erode trust' in politics and fuel suspicion of an 'elite conspiracy to thwart Brexit'. He is seen by many as a front runner for the Tory crown - but is also loathed by many Tory MPs who dismissed his pitch for unity today. He said: 'I believe that there is a very good chance, indeed overwhelmingly likely, that we will leave with a deal we just wont leave with this deal.' He added: 'If we mean it, if we are determined, and if we make it clear that this is our best and final offer, I would be utterly amazed if we cannot get agreement on these terms.' Insisting Britain would succeed under no deal, he said: 'I dont want to pretend there will be no challenges and no changes to cope with. 'Of course there will be. But I say to all those who believe in the democratic freedoms of this country 'We are more than up to it. We have got so far, we are almost there, let us not give up now.' Kim Jong-un has expressed great satisfaction after receiving another good personal letter from President Donald Trump ahead of their second summit. The North Korean leader is said to be making good technical preparations for the meeting scheduled in February, Pyongyangs state media reported. A number of letters have been exchanged between the pair since their historic meeting in Singapore last June. The latest note was hand-delivered to Kim by North Koreas top nuclear negotiator and former spy chief Kim Yong Chol, who met with Trump and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo last week. Kim Jong-un has praised another 'personal letter' from President Donald Trump (pictured with the North Korean leader at their landmark June 2018 summit in Singapore) [Kim] spoke highly of President Trump for expressing his unusual determination and will for the settlement of the issue with a great interest in the second DPRK-US summit, the Korean Central News Agency, the country's state media, said. Kim continued that North Korea would believe in the positive way of thinking of President Trump (and) wait with patience and in good faith, the agency added. Trump previously said of the letters that they had resulted in the pair falling in love. Speaking at a political rally in West Virginia in September, the President said: He wrote me beautiful letters and theyre great letters. We fell in love. The letter was handed to Kim by North Koreas top negotiator Kim Yong Chol, who met with the President and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo (pictured together) last week Nuclear negotiations have been stuck since Kim and Trump met in Singapore last June for their first summit, which ended with Kim's vague denuclearization pledge that his government had previously used when it called for the withdrawal of the 28,500 U.S. troops in South Korea. A summit accord also stated that the United States and North Korea will commit to establishing new relations and join efforts to build a lasting and stable peace on the Korean Peninsula. North Korea observers say Vietnam is likely to be chosen as a venue for a second summit but there has been no official confirmation. Kim has also ordered staff to start good technical preparations for the second summit scheduled in February, Pyongyangs state media reported The White House made the announcement on Friday, as Press Secretary Sarah Sanders said: 'President Donald J. Trump met with Kim Yong Chol for an hour and half, to discuss denuclearization and a second summit, which will take place near the end of February. 'The President looks forward to meeting with Chairman Kim at a place to be announced at a later date.' North Korea recently warned the Trump administration that it could restart nuclear and missile tests if the United States sticks with its 'one-sided demands.' The nation's 35-year-old dictator suggested that he could lean on Beijing harder. The pair have exchanged letters since their first meeting in June, with Trump previously revealing the notes had resulted in the both of them falling in love He said in a New Year's day address that he would have 'no choice but to defend our countrys sovereignty and supreme interest, and find a new way to settle peace on our peninsula' without additional action from the United States. That same week, Trump cryptically left a poster on the table at a Cabinet meeting that cautioned 'sanctions are coming' that was not addressed to any country in particular. Several days later the president told reporters as he left for Camp David that he'd be discussing the North Korean nuclear threat with his team over the weekend. 'North Korea, we're doing very well. And again, no rockets. There's no rockets. There's no anything. We're doing very well,' he said. 'I've indirectly spoken to Chairman Kim. And when I came here, this country was headed to war with North Korea. And now we have a very good dialogue going.' A UK production of Harper Lee's novel To Kill a Mockingbird has been cancelled after a threat of legal action by producers of a Broadway version of the play. Christopher Sergel's adaptation of the 1960 Pulitzer Prize-winning novel was slated to be shown at 15 regional venues - including Birmingham, Aberdeen and Newcastle - across the country this year, beginning with Leicester's Curve Theatre on February 7. However, the tour has been stopped in its tracks following a dispute with Hollywood and Broadway producer Scott Rudin. Christopher Sergel's adaptation of the 1960 Pulitzer Prize-winning novel was slated to be shown at 15 regional venues. It was cancelled less than two weeks before opening night Mr Rudin is the founder of the Atticus Limited Liability Company, which has claimed worldwide exclusivity in professional stage rights to To Kill a Mockingbird. The company is responsible for a current Broadway adaption of the novel, written by West Wing screenwriter Aaron Sorkin and starring Jeff Daniels. Jonathan Church Productions, the Curve Theatre and Regent's Park Theatre received a call from Atticus Limited Liability Company's lawyers just days ago, threatening legal action if the UK tour went ahead. The theatre company said it was 'deeply saddened' by the forced cancellation. Jeff Daniels (pictured) is starring as Atticus Finch in a current Broadway adaptation of To Kill a Mockingbird. Producers of the performance say they have exclusive worldwide stage rights to the novel Christopher Sergen's adaptation was previously performed at Barbican Theatre in 2015 (pictured) 'We are truly sorry for the inconvenience this cancellation will cause and ask that ticket holders contact their original sales point to arrange full refunds.' Gregory Peck (pictured) starred as defence lawyer Atticus Finch in the 1962 film To Kill a Mockingbird The Jonathan Church Productions tour would have involved 40 stage and crew members and was aimed toward a younger audience. One of the people involved in the performance told The Times that child actors from the play were left 'crying, upset [and] distraught' by the cancellation. 'Getting young people encouraged in theatre is difficult enough in this day and age,' she said. 'Yet here we are with nine enthusiastic youngsters who won the audition process with optimism and hope at having such a special story to retell and then they have the rug pulled from underneath them.' Another highlighted that the play was never intended to be a lucrative West End production. 'Ours was more about bringing the book alive for young children or people studying it for GCSE,' she said. 'It is more about that human desire to pass on a story. ' To Kill a Mockingbird is about the trial of a black man falsely accused of raping a white woman in Alabama. It was famously made into a 1962 film starring Gregory Peck. Advertisement Pictures of Dyson's plush new 330million global headquarters in Singapore have been revealed - as the billionaire Brexit-backing tycoon faces a growing backlash over the move out of Britain. Sir James Dyson, 71, sparked widespread fury after announcing he is shifting his head office out of the UK post Brexit - despite being one of the leading supporters of the campaign to quit Brussels. Ministers lashed the move saying it looked 'terrible' while MPs queued up to accuse the vacuum cleaner tycoon, who owns a home in Singapore, of 'rank hypocrisy' and said he was taking advantage of EU trade deals. And the news was followed today by the boss of Airbus branding the Brexit chaos 'disgraceful' and Eurosceptic hardliners 'mad' as he warned the firm, which employs 14,000 people in Britain, could leave the UK. MailOnline can reveal the luxury office in Singapore where Sir James - who is worth 9.5billion and owns homes around the world - will shift his top executives to. Sir James has a property portfolio which includes a 20m London town house, a 3m chateau in Provence with its own vineyard, a 50million penthouse apartment in New York, and a 51-bedroom stately home in Gloucestershire boasting orangeries, lakes and a 300-acre park designed by Capability Brown. Pictures have emerged showing the interior of Dyson's 330million global headquarters in Singapore where the firm will relocate after deserting Britain. A small sign (right) by the reception indicates the company's presence in the building The 'Dyson Singapore Technology Centre' was officially opened in February 2017, with bosses claiming that it would concentrate on robotic engineering and artificial intelligence. This picture shares the reception area of the centre, which is shared with other firms including Johnson and Johnson Images show some of the work spaces in the building, which was unveiled in 2017. Despite relocating offices to Singapore, Dyson has insisted it will continue to invest in Britain Dyson currently shares the Singapore Science Park with a host of other companies such as Johnson and Johnson, top international pharmaceutical companies and a trendy co-working space called The Bridge (pictured) The complex, in Singapore Science Park (pictured), is set to become the head office for the company with its current 1,100-strong workforce now set to double Hypocrite? James Dyson has rejected the accusation, following his decision to relocate the Dyson head office from the UK to Singapore The 'Dyson Singapore Technology Centre' was officially opened in February 2017, with bosses claiming that it would concentrate on robotic engineering and artificial intelligence. But the complex, in Singapore Science Park, is now set to become the head office for the company. The tech firm has already told British staff that it intends to double its 1,100-strong workforce in Singapore. Photos inside the headquarters reveal a luxury reception area shared with other firms and a trendy co-working space in the building, while artfully-placed pink flowers overflow from a table and modern art lines the walls. Defiant Tory rebels vow to fight on insisting the Irish border backstop must go Defiant Eurosceptics vowed to fight on against Theresa May's deal today despite the mounting threat that she will be forced to delay Brexit unless rebels get behind her. Tory MPs insisted they would 'stare down' growing pressure to back the PM's package unless there are significant concessions from the EU. The high-stakes wrangling comes as Mrs May desperately scrambles to fend off efforts by Remainers and Labour to tie her hands in a series of crunch votes on Tuesday. Allies of the premier have conceded she will be forced to try to delay the UK's departure date beyond March if the Houses passes a mechanism proposed by Yvette Cooper and pro-EU MPs next week. There have been glimmers of hope for Mrs May amid evidence that Eurosceptics and the DUP are looking for a way of climbing down and supporting her plan. Tory loyalist Simon Hoare told MailOnline today that he believed the 'penny appears to be dropping' among hardline colleagues that the 'prize' of Brexit might be lost unless they compromise. But backbencher Johnny Mercer was praised by Eurosceptic MPs this morning after he demanded that Parliament stops 'cowering from no deal'. 'Are we brave enough to face down the prospect of leaving the European Union without a deal if that's what it takes to keep the promise that has been made to the British people?' he said. Advertisement Dyson have furiously hit back at claims that Sir James is a hypocrite whose company is deserting Britain just as Brexit is getting tough. They insist the firm is shifting operations to Singapore so they can be nearer to the expanding Asian markets. Sir James has claimed his critics have 'missed the point entirely' and that he would continue to invest in Britain. 'These are not the actions of a hypocrite, but someone wanting to invest more the UK post-Brexit, not less,' he told The Telegraph. Despite the firm's insistence the relocation is not to do with Brexit, it is acutely embarrassing to Leave supporters and to the government. Sir James was one of the loudest business supporters of Brexit at the 2016 referendum and when the talks stagnated in 2017 he urged Mrs May to 'walk away' and embrace leaving Europe. But the company has now joined a growing list of businesses who have announced plans to shift operations elsewhere post Brexit. Sony announced it is moving its HQ out of the UK and P&O ferries re-registering ships under the Cyprus flag so it avoids being slapped with extra checks post Brexit. There is mounting concern that a no deal Brexit could be disastrous for British manufacturing - particularly in the motor industry. And the CEO of Airbus today condemned the 'disgraceful' chaos surrounding Brexit and warned it could leave Britain if a no deal threatened its international competitiveness. The aerospace giant said it could have to make 'potentially very harmful decisions' about its UK operations in a no deal. It warned there were 'plenty of countries' that would welcome the firm with open arms if Britain became inhospitable to international companies. CEO Tom Enders urged Britons not to listen to 'Brexiteers' madness' that the company was too established in the UK to leave. Airbus's move came as the Dutch government revealed it was in talks with 250 UK firms about luring them to the Netherlands. Mr Enders, chief executive of Airbus, said: 'In a global economy the UK no longer has the capability to go it alone. Major aerospace projects are multinational affairs. 'It is a disgrace that, more than two years after the result of the 2016 referendum, businesses are still unable to plan properly for the future. 'We, along with many of our peers, have repeatedly called for clarity, but we still have no idea what is really going on here.' Chancellor Philip Hammond is preparing to tell leaders at the World Economic Forum in Davos later that post-Brexit Britain will still be a 'great place to do business'. However, Mr Enders said Britain's multibillion-pound aerospace sector, a world-leader for a century, is 'standing at a precipice'. Business Minister Richard Harrington today told German industrialists no deal Brexit 'is a disaster'. He added: 'I was delighted to read Airbus's comments this morning because it is telling it like it is' With just 64 days to go until Brexit, MPs remain in a bitter deadlock over what Britain's future with the EU should look like. Remainer MPs drop bid to force a 'People's Vote' and blame Corbyn for killing chances Remainer MPs today dropped their bid to force a parliamentary vote demanding a second referendum - admitting they do not have enough support to back it (pictured, left to right, Luciana Berger,Sarah Wollaston and Chuka Umunna) Remainer MPs today dropped their bid to force a parliamentary vote demanding a second referendum - admitting they do not have enough support to back it. The gang of Labour and Tory MPs who were backing a so-called People's Vote blasted Jeremy Corbyn for killing off their chances of winning. Tory MP Dr Sarah Wollaston had planned to table the 'doctor's amendment' to next Tuesday's crunch Brexit motion to demand a second referendum. But stood outside Parliament this morning flanked by pro-EU Labour MPs Luciana Berger and Chuka Umunna, she announced a U-turn. The shock moves comes after a massive row among Remainer MPs over when to finally show their hand a call a Commons vote on another referendum. Advertisement Defiant Eurosceptics vowed to fight on against Theresa May's deal today - despite the mounting threat that she will be forced to delay Brexit unless rebels get behind her. Tory MPs insisted they would 'stare down' growing pressure to back the PM's package unless there are significant concessions from the EU. The high-stakes wrangling comes as Mrs May desperately scrambles to fend off efforts by Remainers and Labour to tie her hands in a series of crunch votes on Tuesday. Allies of the premier have conceded she will be forced to try to delay the UK's departure date beyond March 29 if the Houses passes a mechanism proposed by Yvette Cooper and pro-EU MPs next week. There have been glimmers of hope for Mrs May amid evidence that Eurosceptics and the DUP are looking for a way of climbing down and supporting her plan. Tory loyalist Simon Hoare told MailOnline today that he believed the 'penny appears to be dropping' among hardline colleagues that the 'prize' of Brexit might be lost unless they compromise. But backbencher Johnny Mercer was praised by Eurosceptic MPs this morning after he demanded that Parliament stops 'cowering from no deal'. 'Are we brave enough to face down the prospect of leaving the European Union without a deal if that's what it takes to keep the promise that has been made to the British people?' he said. Remainer MPs have tabled a string of amendments to next week's Commons vote to try to seize control of the parliamentary agenda and water down - or stop - Brexit. They includes bids to extend Article 50 - the two year timer on Brexit talks which runs out on March 29 - and keep the UK tied to the EU customs union. Although, Remainer MPs today dropped their cross-party bid to force a parliamentary vote demanding a second referendum - admitting they do not have enough support to back it. The gang of Labour and Tory MPs who were backing a so-called People's Vote blasted Jeremy Corbyn for killing off their chances of winning. Tory MP Dr Sarah Wollaston had planned to table the 'doctor's amendment' to next Tuesday's crunch Brexit motion to demand a second referendum. But stood outside Parliament this morning flanked by pro-EU Labour MPs Luciana Berger and Chuka Umunna, she announced a U-turn. The shock moves comes after a massive row among Remainer MPs over when to finally show their hand a call a Commons vote on another referendum. Airbus slams 'disgraceful' Brexit chaos and threatens to leave Britain with the loss of 14,000 jobs if there is no deal Airbus today condemned the 'disgraceful' chaos surrounding Brexit and warned it could leave Britain if a no deal threatened its international competitiveness. The aerospace giant, which employs 14,000 people in Britain, warned it could have to make 'potentially very harmful decisions' about its UK operations in a no deal. It warned there were 'plenty of countries' that would welcome the firm with open arms if Britain became inhospitable to international companies. CEO Tom Enders urged Britons not to listen to 'Brexiteers' madness' that the company was too established in the UK to leave. Airbus's move came as the Dutch government revealed it was in talks with 250 UK firms about luring them to the Netherlands. Fears are rising about the future of British manufacturing amid wobbles in the car industry and after Dyson announced it was relocating its headquarters to Singapore. Advertisement Although Tony Blair - an arch Remainer - today said there is a more than 50 per cent chance that another referendum could be held. Speaking at a hastily arranged press conference on the steps of the Palace of Westminster, Dr Wollaston said: 'It is with great regret we will not be laying that amendment, because at this stage and until we have the leader of the Opposition's backing, it would not pass.' Ms Berger blasted her party leader for refusing to back another referendum - and accused him of ignoring the overwhelming wishes of his own members. She said: 'As things stand we have just 30 sitting days of Parliament until we are due to exit the European Union. 'There is no consensus across the House of Commons, and there is an urgent need for leadership. 'We have seen he worst parliamentary defeat of any government, but the Prime Minister insists on pursuing a dud deal which cannot command the majority support of MPs in the House of Commons.' Lashing Mr Corbyn, she said: 'Regrettably, the Labour leadership won't commit to an achievable policy, and yet we know that the majority of Labour voters, supporters and members, want a final say on any Brexit deal. 'And yet, at a time when Labour should be championing a Peoples' Vote, the leadership avoids answering that call.' Dyson currently shares the Singapore Science Park with a host of other companies such as Johnson and Johnson, top international pharmaceutical companies and a co-working space called The Bridge. While other firms are plastered over the hi-tech building, Dyson appears to have a lower profile with just a small sign by the reception indicating the company's presence there. Operations at the site have remained largely under the radar with the research and development centre plotting to maintain its position as the most innovative in the technology industry - not just in vacuum cleaners, but now electric cars. A manufacturing electric car plant is currently being built in Singapore, opening next year. Dyson said at the centre launch that he wanted to concentrate on 'intelligent technology', adding: 'The software is propelling hardware companies at a faster rate than software is propelling software companies. The power comes from the two working together. Engineers reportedly outnumber 'normal' employees in finance, HR or sales, by four to one, with a series of laboratories testing every part from robotics to air flow. Pictures show the building's interior Brexit-backing Sir James Dyson today rejected allegations he is a hypocrite following his decision to relocate offices to the South East Asian state. A small sign behind security gates and next to a bank of elevators shows the firm's presence in the building A sign outside the science park shows companies that operate at the site - apart from Dyson. The 'Dyson Singapore Technology Centre' was officially opened in February 2017 Situated opposite the National University Hospital, one of Singapore's largest, workers are spoilt for choice at lunchtimes with bars, restaurants and cafes all situated within the complex Some of the employees at the centre choose to ride in on motorised scooters - one of the top commuting choices in Singapore. Pictures show a makeshift scooter park at the site 'Dyson is focusing on developing intelligent technology and making products which know and anticipate what you want before you do. Machine learning gives our products the intelligence to understand and react to the environment.' Prince Charles (right) met Dyson's Director of Global Engineering Scott Maguire (left) when he toured the company's Singapore Technology Centre in 2017 The next time media was given a glimpse of the technology being developed at the centre was during Prince Charles' visit in November 2017. It is understood that staff are not assigned a desk, not even top executives, and lighting is powered by the Dyson Cu-Beam LED lamp, which was designed by Jake Dyson, his son. There are soundproof acoustic rooms to test products' noise levels, which cost 10 million. Engineers reportedly outnumber 'normal' employees in finance, HR or sales, by four to one, with a series of laboratories testing every part from robotics to air flow. Situated opposite the National University Hospital, one of Singapore's largest, workers are spoilt for choice at lunchtimes with bars, restaurants and cafes all situated within the complex. Sir James said the HQ move will help the company become more competitive in the lucrative electric car market, and highlighted investment at the company's research facilities in Wiltshire where engineers are working on the project. He added: 'Every pound of investment and employment we spend employment we spend in Britain is a vote of confidence in Britain. 'We have built from scratch the Dyson Institute of Engineering and Technology, a university where undergraduates are paid. 'It is nurturing the engineers who will form a vital part of our long-term future in the UK.' Pictures show the secure entrance for Dyson staff leading to a bank of elevators at the company's Singapore Technology Centre Remain supporters lashed out at the 71-year-old for his 'staggering hypocrisy' over his decision to relocate the head offices to Singapore. A road sign points the way to the firm's headquarters It is the second blow Dyson has dealt to Brexit Britain after last year's announcement that it will manufacturer its new electric cars in Singapore, rather than the UK. In justifying the move, chief executive Jim Rowan dismissed the idea of Brexit and lower taxes being a motivation. 'The move is nothing to do with Brexit or tax, it's about making sure we are future proofed. There are huge revenue opportunities in Singapore, China is the poster child of that,' he said. 'The tax difference is negligible for us, we are taxed all over the world and we will continue to pay tax in the UK. We will continue to invest in the UK, in Malmesbury, in Bristol and London.' Mr Rowan confirmed that Sir James was integral to the decision to ditch Britain. Around 3,500 people work for Dyson in the UK, part of a workforce of around 12,000 worldwide. Relocating the HQ will not cut staffing, the firm insisted. A spokesman for Sir James said: 'James Dyson has homes all over the world as you would expect from someone who leads a global business. James owns property in Singapore. 'You may have picked up that he has also purchased a house in New York recently.' Sir James Dyson has insisted that his decision to move his top executives from his British headquarters (pictured) to Singapore is nothing to do with Brexit The Dyson London HQ (pictured) has been a symbol of British entrepreneurialism - but that has been dealt a blow by the latest decision Why is Sir James Dyson deserting Britain? With a mind boggling 9.5billion fortune and fabulous multi-million pound homes, until yesterday not a penny he made was begrudged... but then he bailed on his nation By Guy Adams Sir James Dyson, pictured with his wife Lady Deidre, is transferring his corporate HQ from Britain to the tax haven of Singapore Gags were bouncing around cyberspace yesterday amid news that Sir James Dyson is transferring his corporate HQ from Britain to the morally-wonky tax haven of Singapore. Need a moral vacuum? read one. Get a Dyson! Whether this grandstanding Brexiteer minds being accused of staggering hypocrisy, as one MP put it, is anyones guess. For, at 71, having built a self-made family fortune estimated at 9.5 billion, he can certainly afford to insulate himself from the slings and arrows of public opprobrium. With a global portfolio of homes including a 20 million London town house, a 3 m chateau in Provence with its own vineyard, a 50million penthouse apartment in New York, and a 51-bedroom stately home in Gloucestershire boasting orangeries, lakes and a 300-acre park designed by Capability Brown, Sir James is well able to ride out any economic turmoil that Britains current political paralysis may spawn. Critics will doubtless carp about the trappings of his wealth, arguing that they have divorced this headline-prone Knight of the Realm from the realities faced daily by our nations hard-pressed workers. Certainly, a man who has a helipad in his landscaped garden, a 40 m Gulfstream jet in his personal hangar, and a vast yacht called the Nahlin makes an easy target for those seeking to smear leading Brexiteers as self-interested elitists. (The yacht, incidentally, was built in 1930, had once scandalously transported Edward VIII and his married lover Wallis Simpson around the Adriatic, and was restored by Sir James at a cost of 25 m). But that is, of course, what makes Dysons recent manoeuvres so very maddening. On paper, this successful captain of industry should be a walking advertisement for independent Britains ability to prosper on the global stage. A buccaneering entrepreneur, Sir James has leveraged a handful of ingenious ideas and plenty of single-minded determination to create a multi-national corporation that employs more than 9,000 people, turns over 3.5 billion a year and makes products used in households across the world. Hes also tirelessly beaten the drum for British manufacturing and engineering, putting his money where his mouth is by hiring thousands of young graduates and building an institute of engineering and technology on a disused airfield near his former company HQ, in Malmesbury, Wiltshire, where thousands more will hopefully be trained. This successful captain of industry should be a walking advertisement for independent Britains ability to prosper on the global stage. Pictured: building containing his 50m apartment in NYC Yet, with one ill-judged, and appallingly timed, act of corporate desertion, that noble legacy now looks hopelessly tarnished. To a degree, weve been here before. Back in 2002, for example, Sir James announced he was moving production of his vacuum cleaners to Malaysia, making 800 loyal members of staff redundant in the process. The following year, he and Deirdre, his wife of more than 50 years, decided to pocket some 17m in dividends from the firm. The cash helped them buy magnificent Dodington Park in Gloucestershire the following year. But with its 51 bedrooms, 40 bathrooms and ten reception rooms, the stunning pile with a Grecian portico and ten Corinthian columns on its facade must have come across as a vast stately V-sign to the recently-sacked workers, many of whom lived nearby. Sir James seemed unfazed, though. Asked how he and Deirdre managed to track each other down, given the buildings sheer size, he told an interviewer: It is a real problem. We have to go looking for one another! In the aftermath of the Brexit vote, meanwhile, Sir James was at the centre of another awkward PR kerfuffle, after Greenpeace revealed that hed just netted some 1.6 m in EU farming subsidies in a single year. The cash was paid to Beeswax Dyson Farming Corporation, a firm hed set up to manage the swathes of farmland hes acquired. With around 25,000 acres under the organisations control, primarily in Lincolnshire, Gloucestershire and Oxfordshire, hes now believed to be Englands biggest private landowner, with more rolling acres than even the Queen. Aside from the inevitable allegations of hypocrisy for taking EU cash, not to mention the harrumphing of Left-wing critics who believe very wealthy plutocrats ought to be denied public subsidies on principal, this particular affair also raised the tricky issue of tax avoidance. For cynics were quick to point out that, unlike other property holdings, farmland makes a cute investment for wealthy men of a certain vintage, since it happens to be exempt from inheritance tax. Like many canny businessmen, Sir James has long demonstrated a willingness to minimise his personal tax liabilities via creative but perfectly legal means. Given his political profile, this, too, has spawned controversy. In 2015, the Guardian revealed that various parts of his business empire were registered in the tax haven of Luxembourg. And last October, it emerged that hed invested in three different film finance schemes via firms embroiled in tax avoidance planning. A Sunday newspaper reported that Sir James is a member of Tamar Films, Tyne Films and Future Screen Partners, allowing him to keep down his tax bills. Tamar and Tyne are run by Ingenious, a now notorious accountancy firm involved in a long-running dispute with HMRC over movie schemes, which such luminaries as David Beckham, Gary Lineker and Andrew Lloyd Webber joined in an effort to keep their hard-earned cash from the Exchequer. Back in 2009, meanwhile, Sir James gave his three children Emily, Jake and Sam a total of 45 m, shortly before the capital gains tax from such transactions increased from 10 to 18 per cent. Dysons response to criticisms of his tax affairs was to point out (rightly) that hes broken no laws, and that his group (which is almost entirely controlled by his family) still pays vast amounts of UK tax some 1.5 billion over the past five years. At 71, Sir James has built self-made family fortune estimated at 9.5 billion. He owns this vast yacht, called the Nahlin (pictured) which was built in 1930 and once scandalously transported King Edward VIII and his married lover Wallis Simpson around the Adriatic It is, of course, a very good point. For however this weeks decision to relocate to Singapore plays out, Sir James has over the years made huge contributions to UK Plc. His life and times are, in anyones book, inspiring. The son of a classics teacher from Greshams a minor public school in Norfolk Dyson like many highly driven people lost his father in childhood, in his case at the age of nine. He never went to university, but instead studied at the Byam Shaw School of Art in London where he met Deirdre, a painter before transferring to the furniture and interior design course at the Royal College of Art. It was there that he encountered a then-famous inventor called Jeremy Fry, who took Dyson under his wing developing boats at his engineering firm Rotork. At weekends, James Dyson and Deirdre spent their time renovating a 300-year-old farmhouse near Bath. Hauling cement inspired his first successful invention, the Ballbarrow: a plastic wheelbarrow with a big orange ball instead of a front wheel which distributed the weight more evenly, so didnt get stuck in mud. The product, launched in 1974, was a moderate success, winning the British Building Design Innovation Award. But within a few years, Dyson had managed to fall out with his business partners, one of whom was married to his sister Alexandra. He and Alexandra didnt speak for a decade afterwards. Next, Sir James turned his attention to the invention that made him famous. Renovating his farmhouse had also seen him become frustrated with the way the vacuum cleaner he was using quickly lost suction because its bag frequently got clogged. Between 1978 and 1983, he therefore devoted himself to designing a bag-less alternative, creating and testing an incredible 5,127 prototypes. Certainly a man who has a helipad in his landscaped garden, a 40m gulfstream jet in his personal aircraft hangar is an easy target for those seeking to smear leading Brexiteers as self-interested elitists When completed, his Dyson vacuum cleaner was so powerful that it could pull cigarette smoke from the air. But major manufacturers (to whom he initially tried to sell the design) were unimpressed, pointing out that selling replacement bags was a highly profitable part of their business. Things didnt begin to take off until 1986, when he signed a licensing agreement with a small Japanese firm called Apex, which sold a pink, bagless vacuum cleaner via mail order catalogues. At the time, Dyson was virtually penniless, and Deirdre kept the family afloat by selling illustrations to British Vogue and teaching still-life classes. It would be another five years before he was in a position to start his own company and make the product in the UK. But after that, things began to move quickly. John Lewis started selling Dyson vacuums in 1994, and within two years they were the bestselling brand in Britain. Today, Dysons company which employs his 46-year-old son Jake as its research and development director makes around 1 bn a year and gets around 70pc of its sales from vacuum cleaners, many of which are now lightweight, handheld and battery-operated. The firm also sells 300 supersonic hairdryers, hand dryers, and bladeless air purifying fans. Each is developed by armies of mostly young engineers, who build thousands of prototypes. Perhaps as a result, almost every product Dyson has released has been a commercial success, aside from a washing machine called the Contrarotator which was released in the early 2000s. He has a global portfolio of homes, including a 51-bedroom stately home in Gloucestershire boasting orangeries, lakes, and 300-acre park designed by Capability Brown (pictured) A Bell helicopter sits in the car park outside the Dyson campus Malmesbury - where the electronics firms boomed and became one of the UK's best known companies The device, costing 1,200, was designed to mimic hand washing by using two drums. But consumers werent convinced. In 2001, it was the subject of a famous legal battle, after Dyson attempted to sue Which? magazine at the High Court for claiming it was poor value for money. Humiliatingly, he lost. That wasnt his only brush with litigation. At one point, Dyson was reported to be spending around 4 m a year to protect patents, launching cases against such firms as Samsung, Bosch, and Vax, with varying degrees of success. Hoover was perhaps the most famous victim, forced to pay a then record 4 m in damages after being found guilty of copying patented technology in its Triple Vortex bagless vacuum cleaner. To men as wealthy as Sir James, such trifling sums are perhaps chump change. His next great venture will be electric car production, an industry which has turned another controversial entrepreneur, Elon Musk, into one of the worlds wealthiest men. Sadly, the degree to which post-Brexit Britain will benefit from this venture is anyones guess. For the brand new production facility where Dysons state-of-the-art vehicles are to be built is currently under construction in the tax haven of Singapore. A British tourist has revealed how she was nearly crushed to death by an obese woman crashing into her on a water slide while on holiday in Turkey. Jemma Joslyn, 32, had just arrived at a hotel in Faralya Mah, southwest Turkey, and had gone straight to the resort's waterpark with her two children. Seconds after coming off one of the waterslides, she was hit by a large woman hurtling down it behind her, knocking her over. Ms Joslyn, from Seaford, East Sussex, was left fighting for her life after suffering five broken ribs and serious damage to her liver and other internal organs in the incident. Jemma Joslyn (right in hospital and left now) was left fighting for her life after another holidaymaker slammed into her on a water slide in Faralya Mah, Turkey Barely started: Ms Joslyn had just arrived at a hotel in Faralya Mah, southwest Turkey, when the incident took place Ms Joslyn's scar after the incident in Turkey in September last year when she needed emergency surgery and spent eight days recovering in hospital She was rushed to Esnaf Hospital in nearby Fethiye, suffering from a split liver, internal bleeding and severe kidney damage, and underwent lifesaving surgery. Ms Joslyn, has been left with a huge scar down her stomach and says she still suffers from the consequences of her kidney damage. Ms Joslyn had paid 2,700 for an all-inclusive two-week holiday at Liberty Lykia Hotel in Turkey last September with her two children. She is now taking legal action against Thomas Cook after claiming that there were no safety precautions in place at the hotel to monitor who was coming down the slide and that her aftercare was 'appalling'. The health care assistant, said: 'This holiday was my first in four years with my two girls and it was a big treat. 'I'd only been in Turkey for 14 hours when we decided to go to the water park at the hotel. 'There was no staff to direct anyone on the slides but I'd told my two young children to wait ten seconds between each other so they could get out of the way. 'My daughter was supposed to follow me down afterwards but instead a overweight woman came down the slide just moments after me. The slide that Jemma Joslyn, 32, from Seaford, East Sussex, was coming down on when the incident happened She has been left with a huge scar down her stomach and still suffers from the after effects of her kidney damage as she only has one left after donating the other to her mother 'I had reached the bottom of the slide but all I saw was these two feet coming towards me - I knew there was no way I could move in time. 'I was thrown backwards in the water, and my eyes were rolling back into my head. I was coming in and out of conscious as the pain was so severe. 'It was horrific - an English translator told me after an emergency CT scan, my only option was emergency surgery. 'I'd split my liver and severely damaged by kidney which was terrifying as I'd donated my other one for my mum in May 2015. 'Thomas Cook weren't helpful at all - they didn't bother to find out where I was, where my kids were and I was left to sort out my own care. ' Ms Joslyn claims she was then told her insurance didn't cover the hospital care as she had been taken to a private hospital. The mother-of-two had barely started her all-inclusive two-week holiday at Liberty Lykia Hotel, Turkey, when the incident happened She added: 'I had only taken 150 with me as we were all inclusive, but now I needed 5,000 to have lifesaving surgery. 'My friend who was on holiday with me thankfully was able to pay for it, as I couldn't have it until it was paid. 'If my friends hadn't been there, I would be dead and my children would have been in Turkey alone.' After the near-fatal incident - which resulted in a three day stay in an intensive care unit in Turkey, followed by a further five days on a ward - Ms Joslyn claims that Thomas Cook did nothing to help. Ms Joslyn added: 'My children were hit with a vomiting bug that had swept through the hotel soon after my accident. 'No extra support was offered and my 59-year-old mum had to plead with Thomas Cook to get both herself and my dad, who is 76, to Turkey. Ms Joslyn said she and her family had only been in the country 14 hours when the accident happened, adding no staff at the hotel were around at the time 'But they weren't warned about the contagious bug and were taken to the hotel. 'When my mum rang the 24 hour emergency line, the staff didn't know anything and had no idea where my children were. 'At one point, Natasha had five kids sleeping in only three beds as that was all she had.' A spokesman for Thomas Cook said: 'Both our UK-based welfare team and our in-resort team have been in touch with Ms Joslyn on several occasions following this accident. 'We also arranged for her parents to fly to Turkey to be with their daughter. Solicitor Magdalena Knez, from Slater and Gordon, who is representing Jemma's legal case, said: 'Thomas Cook have confirmed they have received our correspondence and are looking into the case. 'We are waiting on a further response and are hopeful we will have a successful outcome for Jemma who has been through a very traumatic experience.' A rejected Iraqi asylum-seeker has today been charged with child rape and murder over attacks on two schoolgirls aged 11 and 14 in western Germany. Ali Bashar fled Germany after beating, raping and and strangling Susanna Maria Feldman, 14, in a wooded area near his refugee shelter in the city of Wiesbaden last May, prosecutors say. The 21-year-old had also allegedly twice raped an 11-year-old girl - once in April 2018 after locking her in his room, and again near a supermarket car park the following month. Bashar went back to northern Iraq but following a public outcry, German federal police hauled him back from Arbil, where he had been arrested by local Kurdish security forces. Ali Bashar is accused of beating, raping and then strangling to death Susanna Maria Feldman, 14, in a wooded area near his refugee shelter in the city of Wiesbaden Police officers of a special unit escorting Iraqi asylum seeker Ali Bashar in June last year, who is suspected of having killed a German teenage girl Despite the absence of a formal extradition treaty between Iraq and Germany, Bashar was put on a flight to Germany, with pictures of him disembarking under heavy police guard making front pages. Prosecutors today also laid charges against an Afghan youth who was living in the same refugee shelter, Mansoor Q, who was believed to be aged at least 14 at the time, for also raping the same 11-year-old girl. Bashar's younger brother - who is believed to be in Iraq, according to media reports - had also taken part in a violent sexual assault against the younger girl, prosecutors say. Bashar had first arrived in Germany in 2015 along with his parents and five siblings. He faced deportation after his request for asylum was rejected in December 2016, but he obtained a temporary residence permit pending his appeal. Susanna Maria Feldman, 14, from Mainz was missing for over 10 days sparking a widespread search operation Police at the scene of where Susanna Feldman's body was discovered on the outskirts of Wiesbaden During this time, he got into trouble with police on several occasions, including for fights, alleged robbery and possession of an illegal switchblade. In his upcoming trial he also faces charges for a park robbery in which he beat, strangled and threatened with a knife a man to steal his watch, bag, phone and bank card. The 'Susanna case' as it became known in Germany prompted politicians, including Chancellor Angela Merkel, to urge the speeding up of deportations of asylum-seekers who have broken the law in Germany. Investigators say they have no idea why a former corrections officer walked into a Florida bank and shot five people dead - though cannot rule out that it was a robbery gone wrong. Zephen Xaver, 21, is accused of murdering five people inside the SunTrust bank in Sebring around 12.30pm on Wednesday before calling police to report himself. As officers hunted through the bank for clues, Sebring Police Chief Karl Hoglund described the shooting as 'a senseless criminal doing a senseless crime' and hoped to give more information at a press conference Thursday morning. Meanwhile neighbors of Xaver's mother, who he moved o Sebring with shortly before the shooting, told of their shock at the news while describing him as a 'quiet', 'well mannered' and 'well spoken' boy. Scroll down for video Sebring Police Chief Karl Hoglund has admitted he has no idea why five people were shot dead in a bank in his city on Wednesday, but could not rule out it was a robbery gone wrong Zephen Xaver, 21, was arrested inside the bank after calling police to report that he had opened fire on people inside Officers were scouring the bank yesterday for any clues to solving the 'senseless' crime Police were due to give an update on Thursday morning after spending Wednesday night scouring the crime scene Investigators have not yet named any of the five people who were shot dead inside the bank, saying their families needed to be informed first FBI agents were among dozens of law enforcement officials at the bank on Wednesday Sharon Spillane, who spoke to Fox 13, said: 'I would have never in a million years seen this coming at all. 'Weve cooked together, Ive been in their house, weve watched movies. Theyre a very normal family. 'He had a job and he was very quiet and very well-mannered. Anytime that I saw him, he was very well-mannered, always good posture and well-spoken.' She said officers spent the evening searching the Xaver family home - a simple one-story structure on the city's west side, around four miles from the bank. Xaver was arrested inside that bank on Wednesday after a standoff with police in which they tried to negotiate with him. But after negotiations failed SWAT officers stormed in, prompting Xaver to surrender. It was then that the bodies were discovered. Police have not yet named the victims, though relatives could be seen gathering at a nearby hotel on Wednesday afternoon to comfort one-another. Authorities say Xaver was a correctional officer trainee hired by the Avon Park Correctional Institution in November, but he resigned on January 9 without an explanation. No disciplinary issues were reported. Xaver had previously lived in Indiana and arrived in Sebring with his mother last fall, when they moved into their current property. The Xavers' house was surrounded by crime scene tape for most of the day on Wednesday, according to local media. Sharon Spillane, a friend of Xaver's parents, said she was shocked at the news and described the 21-year-old as a 'quiet', 'well-mannered' and 'well-spoken' boy Officers responded to the SunTrust Bank branch in Sebring around 12.36pm after the suspected gunman allegedly called 911 and reported that he had fired shots inside the bank, according to the Sebring Police Department Blurry video showed Xaver being perp-walked through the parking lot after he surrendered 'We are sorry to learn that we have at least five victims, people who were senselessly murdered as a result of his act in this bank,' Sebring Police Chief Karl Hoglund said at a press conference Wednesday evening. 'This has been a tragic day for our community. Weve suffered a significant loss at the hands of a senseless criminal doing a senseless crime. 'We ask that you please keep them in your prayers, keep them in your thoughts,' he said if the victims' loved ones. 'Help Sebring and our community stay strong.' The sheriff's office asked co-workers and family members of anyone who was inside the bank during the shooting should gather at the Inn on the Lakes on Gulfview Road. Hoglund declined to answer questions from reporters but promised to brief the media on emerging details Thursday morning. An FBI mobile unit has joined the investigation. Xaver's motive has not yet been determined. He is seen above in a Facebook photo Gov Ron DeSantis also spoke during the press conference, saying: 'The people of Florida stand with the community here in light of this tragic circumstance. 'Ive asked [Florida Department of Law Enforcement] to provide whatever resources we can at the state level to assist with the investigation. 'Obviously this is an individual that needs to face very swift and exacting justice,' he said of Xaver. This was Florida's seventh mass shooting in less than three years. Highlands County Sheriff Paul Blackman said: 'I am heartbroken that this horrendous incident has occurred in our county. I pray for the victims, their families and our community. This tragedy will have a lasting impact on Highlands County and likely this community will never be the same. 'I have been in law enforcement all of my adult life and this horrific incident shocks and angers me more than anything I have encountered in my career. 'While we still dont know what drove the suspect to commit this heinous act, there is no excuse that can justify the cold-blooded murder of multiple victims.' SunTrust CEO and Chairman Bill Rogers said in a statement: 'We are deeply saddened by the tragic shooting at our Sebring, Florida branch this afternoon. We are working with law enforcement officials and dedicating ourselves to supporting the people and families impacted by this horrible and senseless tragedy. Our entire team mourns this terrible loss.' Florida Gov Ron DeSantis (center) spoke alongside Sebring law enforcement at a press conference on Wednesday night. He said of Xaver: 'Obviously this is an individual that needs to face very swift and exacting justice' SunTrust Bank suspect walked out in handcuffs SUSPECT WALKED OUT | Video shows Zephen Xaver, 21, being walked out in handcuffs following a standoff at a SunTrust Bank in Sebring that left at least five dead. What we know >> http://bit.ly/2Duitj7 Posted by ABC Action News - WFTS - Tampa Bay on Wednesday, 23 January 2019 WHO IS FLORIDA SHOOTING SUSPECT ZEPHEN XAVER? Zephen Xaver, originally of Plymouth, Indiana, is suspected of opening fire at the SunTrust Bank in Florida, Wednesday, killing five people. Friends were stunned by the news that the 'normal' 21-year-old was capable of such a horrific crime. But his former employers paint a more complex picture, of an undisciplined young man who quit his stable job without explanation. Xaver's social media pages, removed shortly after the shooting, reveal something of a macabre fascination with death. Sprinkled among his few sparse selfies, appeared photos of the Grim Reaper, a symbol of death. One Reaper meme read: God is busy right nowmay I help you? Even his booking photo shows obsession with death, and appears to show the four horsemen of the apocalypse. His social media also reveals an admiration of the alt-right, and Xaver had 'liked' far-right activist Milo Yiannopoulos, and memes about rightwing conspiracy theorist Alex Jones. Yet a friend of Xaver's family described the 21-year-old as 'very normal'. Zephen Xaver, 21, originally of Bremen, Indiana, is suspected of opening fire at the SunTrust Bank in Florida, Wednesday, killing five people 'He's definitely a normal person. I would have never in a million years thought anything like this would have ever happened,' Sharon Spillane told WFLA. Originally of Plymouth, Indiana, he also lived with his father in Bremen, Indiana, according to his social media pages. He later moved in with his mother and stepfather in Sebring, Florida, according to WESH. He also has two younger brothers. Neighbors described them as a 'sweet family' and Xaver as 'quiet, responsible, and polite.' Xavers ex-girlfriend confirmed on Facebook page that her ex was the suspect. Xaver wrote that he had attended Bremen Senior High School and Plymouth High School in Indiana, where he was on the wrestling team. After his move to Florida, he started work as a correctional officer trainee at the Avon Park Correctional Institution, near the Avon Park Air Force Range, in November. But officials say he resigned on January 9 without an explanation. Agency spokesperson Patrick Manderfield said the 21-year-old had no discipline during the six weeks he was employed by the department. Avon Park Correctional is a state-run institution and thus its workers would not have been affected by the government shutdown. Advertisement Dozens of law enforcement and media vehicles flocked to the scene as a standoff unfolded during lunchtime on Wednesday. 'After negotiations to try to get the barricaded subject to exit the bank were not successful, the HCSO SWAT team entered the bank and continued the negotiations,' the Sebring police said. 'The suspect eventually surrendered to the HCSO SWAT team.' A witness on the scene, Stefan Roehrig, told WFLA: 'At first [SWAT] hooked some cables up to it [bank door], tried to rip the doors off. The door handles came right off. Then they just drove the SWAT machine right through the door.' Roehrig, who said police 'slammed [the suspect] pretty good' before escorting him outside the bank, recorded cellphone video of Xaver being taken into custody. 'He was young, very young,' Roehrig said. According to state officials, Xaver began working at Avon Park Correctional Institution near the Avon Park Air Force Range on November 28. Agency spokesperson Patrick Manderfield said the 21-year-old had no discipline during the six weeks he was employed by the department. Manderfield said no explanation was given for his resignation. Avon Park Correctional is a state-run institution and thus its workers would not have been affected by the government shutdown. Social media pages believed to belong to the suspect are sparse bearing only a couple photos of Xaver himself along with a few of the Grim Reaper, a symbol of death. According to one of his pages, Xaver had recently moved to Sebring from Bremen, Indiana. His ex-girlfriend from Indiana wrote on Facebook: 'If anyone has seen the news about my ex killing 5 people. Please do not ask me to talk to you about it. I am devastated. Ive been crying so much.' Xaver's LinkedIn page indicates that he is a student at Stevens-Henager College, which is based in Utah but offers online classes. Officials confirmed that there were multiple injuries, but it's unclear how man people were shot in the incident. Police didn't release information regarding the conditions of those injured Authorities said the suspect had called dispatch to report that he had fired shots inside the bank This is the amazing moment an Uber driver went the extra mile to get a five-star review by performing a series of press-ups and even using a scooter to entertain his stunned passenger. Jeff Moratuwage, 27, an entrepreneur from the south of France, ordered an Uber to travel from Kensington to Vauxhall in London. He said that he and the driver, 57, struck up a conversation during the journey, both sharing their love of Instagram. The chat went so well that, shortly after reaching his destination, the driver performed for Jeff, before joking: 'The things I do for my five stars'. Jeff said it made his morning and added: 'London is a city full of surprises! The driver takes me to my destination and ask me if I have 30 seconds spare of my time. 'I said yes real quick, he opens his trunk and takes off his scooter and he tells me to take a video and then this happened. 'He was quite a character! I gave him five stars and a tip. 'He is the man.' Jeff added that the driver was very kind and funny, offering him sweets and drinks during the ride. He even had wi-fi in his car and followed Jeff on Instagram - with the new friends exchanging messages yesterday. The driver, 57, incredibly pulled out a scooter from his car and told passenger Jeff Moratuwage, 27, to film him After riding the scooter, he got down and started performing a series of novelty push-ups in front of his stunned customer Dressed sharply in a waistcoat and tie, the driver finished his routine and said: 'The things I do for five stars' Jeff was late for a meeting at his company the Green Zest, but showed his colleagues the video he recorded. They were also shocked by the talents of the Uber driver. Jeff added: 'I was curious when he mentioned being on Instagram so I asked him if he was an Instagram star or something and he told me he liked to do videos. 'He said one of them even went viral and we had a good conversation for the rest of the journey. 'I had no idea what he was going to do when he told me to record him. It's amazing that he's 57, I'm 27 and I can't even do that.' You can find Jeff's company on YouTube, Instagram and Facebook @thegreenzest. Thomas Keane (pictured) quizzed colleagues about cash-in-transit deliveries to help plot the bank robberies A security guard who helped armed robbers steal almost 170,000 in three bank raids has been convicted of conspiracy to rob. Thomas Keane, from Leigh, acted as an inside man at G4S, targeting cash-in-transit deliveries at two Santanders and a Natwest. The 52-year-old helped plan the robberies, which were then executed by masked thieves wielding a machete, shotgun and chainsaw to get away with 165,000. Keane denied involvement but was convicted at Manchester Crown Court after being caught on CCTV quizzing a colleague at his Prestwich depot about delivery details on April 3 last year. The father-of-two passed the details on to criminal Jack Pennington in a phone call made to the criminal just one minute after leaving work that day. Three hours later an armed gang struck at Santander Bank in Ramsbottom, Greater Manchester, snatching 40,000. But their bungled attempt to get away in a stolen Ford Focus was their downfall - and Keane's - when it smashed into a Range Rover. The raiders were filmed fleeing the scene on a witness's mobile phone. The masked gang are pictured wielding a machete after raiding Santander in Ramsbottom, Greater Manchester Pennington then drove to pick two of the robbers up in a van that was registered to his father. In all three raids, the gang cornered guards before using tools including a chainsaw to break into ATMs inside the bank. Jack Pennington, 28, Lucas Dodd, 19, David Oxton, 34, and Scott Holmes, all from Little Hulton, and Neil Callaghan, of no fixed abode had all previously pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit robbery. Detective Sergeant Rick Castley, of Greater Manchester Police's Serious Organised Crime Group, said: 'That is quite an unusual MO for us. Because G4S put so many security measures in place you would need someone on the inside to assist you. ' Keane was central to the gang's first strike in the early hours of September 7, 2017. He was one of two guards delivering to the Santander bank in the Ellesmere Centre in Walkden, Salford. He had walked to and from his vehicle several times before a red Mini Cooper drove down the road and robbers apparently ambushed Keane. The moment that three masked men pounced was caught on CCTV, with one tailgating Keane into the bank at 1.20am. Scott Holmes, left, and David Oxton, right, previously admitted conspiracy to rob after using Thomas Keane as an inside man at G4S Lucas Dodd, left, and Jack Pennington, right, also admitted conspiracy to rob following the armed raids Det Sgt Castley said: 'He must have been aware they were there because he has already planned it with them. He has slowed down a little bit as they have grabbed him - a bit of theatre to make it look like he is not involved and the victim.' The next raid was on March 25, 2018, at 8.10am at the NatWest in Moss Side. It went wrong and was aborted. Det Sgt Castley said: 'They may have tried to get Keane a little bit to early. In the time that they have gone to get him he may have got too close to the van - he can't stand there and wait - he has to show some degree of authenticity.' The third raid was in Ramsbottom, a week later on April 3. Keane was not one of the guards but had provided the intelligence earlier in the day of where and when the robbers should hit. The gang were caught on film on the mobile phone of a customer of a nearby tea room, leaving the bank at 7.50pm armed with a machete and and angle grinder, and all wearing black balaclavas. But when four offenders fled from the crash that followed, they left crucial clues to their identity. Detective Sergeant Castley said: 'We had a number of members of the public who witnessed the four dispersing, without whom we would not have solved this job. 'One witness rang up to say he saw two people hiding under a car. They then saw a Europa van turn up to collect them - that was Jack Pennington arriving in the van.' This is the terrifying moment that the gang piled into the getaway vehicle following their robbery of Santander in Ramsbottom Teenager Lucas Dodd and David Oxton left fingerprints on the car they were hiding under and the van Pennington arrived in was easily traced. Another of the gang, Neil Callaghan, had a distinctive tattoo on the back of his neck bearing a name and date of birth, which was seen by a witness as he fled through a park. Further forensic evidence to link him was gleaned from a coat which he threw away. Operation Riptide, set up to investigate the robbery spree, identified phone numbers for some of the gang and established a link between Pennington and Keane. Detective Sergeant Castley said that Keane was given a prepaid, secret phone to use - but left a trail when he used his own instead. 'At one stage Jack Pennington has provided Thomas Keane with a mobile phone to use,' he said. 'From cell site (phone reception tracking) we believe Keane has visited Pennington at home and vice versa. 'Keane was given a 'dirty phone', but used his own to call Pennington on the day of the Ramsbottom job.' 'Jack Pennington is an organiser of the team and a type of recruiter. The evidence was that he worked with Thomas Keane by getting information about deliveries. Pennington then recruited others to commit the armed robberies. 'We don't think Pennington was a robber - he was above it. We don't know how Pennington recruited Keane. Keane went no comment on interview, as did Pennington. They have not enlightened us as to how that relationship developed.' Keane was found guilty of conspiracy to rob after the jury considered the evidence for just over two hours. An employee of G4S since 2008, he earned around 32,000 a year at the time of the offences. In terms of his financial situation he said: 'I was managing. I was skint but I wasn't not paying anything, any bills or anything like that.' He also denied having 'expensive tastes' such as foreign holidays. Instead he said his contact with Pennington was a result of his decision to smart smoking cannabis. He said the hours he was working and that he was doing lots of different shifts had meant he was 'stressed out' and was 'constantly in a mood' and he thought it might help him relax. He told the jury he met Pennington at a friends 60th birthday party in May 2017 and that it was made clear 'that if I wanted anything he could get it'. Asked to clarify is this meant drugs he said yes. The father-of-two, who lived his teenage son and daughter and his wife, says he began buying around 20 worth of the drug every five days. He said he would burn it on a piece of cardboard with a hole in and catch the smoke in a glass when his wife and kids were out, rather than smoking it conventionally, which he said explained the lack of drugs paraphernalia at his home when police raided it after his arrest. Police believe, several other men, as yet unidentified, were involved in the Walkden raid. After Keane was found guilty on Wednesday, Susan Taylor from the CPS pointed out that there was not mention of cannabis in his phone records. Chris Taylor, G4S Area Risk Consultant said: 'We have thousands of dedicated and trustworthy employees working up and down the country every day. 'Thomas Keane was in a position of trust, and selfishly put his colleagues at risk for his own gain. Today's judgement sends a clear message that those who break the law will be caught and will be prosecuted. We would like to thank the police for helping to bring him to justice.' The grieving sister of a woman who was killed after going on a date with a man in his speed boat has slammed her killer for 'unbelievable arrogance'. Appearing on BBC Breakfast, Charlotte Brown's sister Katie said when the family heard Jack Shepherd had handed himself in they were all 'very shocked and relieved'. 'Last night as we saw his TV interview, we had increasing feelings of anger. To see him just stroll into the police station smiling and waving it was unbelievable - his arrogance over everything.' As she sat next to a framed photo of her sister, she said she thinks Shepherd went to the police station for 'purely selfish reasons' because he wants his appeal to be successful and that she believes he thinks he will not serve his sentence. Jack Shepherd (left) was led away by police in handcuffs for the murder of Charlotte Brown (right) Charlotte's sister Katie (pictured above) said Jack Shepherd's arrogance was unbelievable Asked how she feels about the comments Shepherd made to reporters in Georgia, where he said he was frightened about what might happen and how he hopes justice will prevail, she said: 'He seems to be concerned about his own feelings and how he's felt throughout the whole thing, and has had no empathy or remorse for his reckless actions. 'He has caused the loss of my sister's life and whilst he's been off in Georgia, he claims that he went to see friends and he has always wanted to see the scenery there - almost like he was claiming it was a holiday. 'He said that he has been out socialising, going to nightclubs, so whilst he has been doing that we have been back here, had the agony of the trial, left to pick up the pieces. The speedboat owned by Web designer Jack Shepherd who was found guilty of killing his date, Charlotte Brown, in an accident on the Thames 'He is not thinking about Charlie, us, respect for the legal system, all he is thinking about is himself and his feelings.' Charlotte Brown (left) with her sister Katie (right), who has said her killer Jack Shepherd has had no remorse for his reckless actions On why Shepherd has surrendered himself now and whether there is a reason, she speculated that it was possibly as a result of the increased media attention and after the family had a meeting with the Home Secretary. 'I can only imagine it almost forced him to have to give himself in because he probably knew that it was either that or he'd be found sooner rather than later,' she added. With suggestions it could be some time before Shepherd returns to the UK and whether that is frustrating, she said it is but the family are relieved he is in police custody and it is a 'step in the right direction'. 'The bottom line is that Charlie lost her life from this, from his actions. It never goes away and Charlie was a special person,' she said of the impact. 'We hope some good can come from this and tightening of the laws on waterways will be Charlie's legacy.' This is while Charlotte's father Graham O'Brown, appeared on ITV's Good Morning Britain, who said it's been a 'three year rollercoaster' for the family. I got the phone call yesterday at around 4pm and it was very emotional. It's been a three-year rollercoaster. 'The overwhelming relief and, at last, we are getting closer to justice for our daughter. 'Jack Shepherd wasn't at his trial, he was guilty and then absconded, so it left a gap. 'So for our family to see an end is such a sense of release. It was very unexpected. 'As you are aware we saw the Home Secretary and he gave his personal assurance that he would oversee [the operation to find him].' He also praised the UK's justice system and said that the fact Shepherd hadn't attended his trail was 'bizarre'. 'He didn't attend his trial which I found bizarre, he would have had every opportunity to defend himself. 'We weren't given any opportunity to hear his version of what happened. That hasn't been tested as he wasn't there. 'Irrespective of that the jury found him guilty and the judge gave him a six-year sentence. I'm a bit confused why he thinks he isn't safe. 'It's been absolutely devastating. Charlotte was the most beautiful daughter. 'This is always the hardest bit. She was a beautiful soul and a beautiful daughter. Everyone who knew her knew that.' Defiant Eurosceptics vowed to fight on against Theresa May's deal today despite the mounting threat that she will be forced to delay Brexit unless rebels get behind her. Tory MPs insisted they would 'stare down' growing pressure to back the PM's package unless there are significant concessions from the EU. The high-stakes wrangling comes as Mrs May desperately scrambles to fend off efforts by Remainers and Labour to tie her hands in a series of crunch votes on Tuesday. Jeremy Corbyn looks near-certain to back an amendment proposed by Yvette Cooper that would pave the way for the UK's departure date to be delayed beyond March. Allies of the premier have conceded she will be forced to try to extend Article 50 if the Houses passes the mechanism. There have been glimmers of hope for Mrs May amid evidence that Eurosceptics and the DUP are looking for a way of climbing down and supporting her plan. Tory loyalist Simon Hoare told MailOnline today the 'penny appears to be dropping' among hardline colleagues that the 'prize' of Brexit might be lost unless they compromise. But backbencher Johnny Mercer was praised by Eurosceptic MPs this morning after he demanded that Parliament stops 'cowering from no deal'. 'Are we brave enough to face down the prospect of leaving the European Union without a deal if that's what it takes to keep the promise that has been made to the British people?' he said. Theresa May (pictured right) is looking for a way to break the bitter deadlock in Parliament, with signs that Brexiteers such as Jacob Rees-Mogg (right) are looking for a way to climb down Jeremy Corbyn (pictured on a visit near Milton Keynes today) looks near-certain to back an amendment that would pave the way for delaying the UK's departure date beyond March Chief whip Julian Smith (left) was seen dashing in and out of Downing Street today as Mrs May pressed ahead with efforts to forge Brexit a consensus, meeting union leaders including Unite's Len McCluskey (pictured right) The PM has been presented with nine options for breaking the bitter deadlock in Parliament, including securing a unilateral get-out clause or time limit on the Irish border backstop. On Tuesday Mrs May will ask Parliament to endorse her 'Plan B' for finding a way through the Brexit impasse - which involves tweaking the deal that was humiliatingly rejected last week, and bringing it back for another dramatic showdown. But an amendment tabled by Yvette Cooper would effectively turn the constitution on its head by seizing control of Parliamentary business from the government - allowing backbench MPs to put forward legislation demanding an extension to the Article 50 process. Remainer MPs DROP bid to force a 'People's Vote' and blame Corbyn for killing chances Remainer MPs today dropped their bid to force a parliamentary vote demanding a second referendum - admitting they do not have enough support to back it (pictured, left to right, Luciana Berger,Sarah Wollaston and Chuka Umunna) Remainer MPs today dropped their bid to force a parliamentary vote demanding a second referendum - admitting they do not have enough support to back it. The gang of Labour and Tory MPs who were backing a so-called People's Vote blasted Jeremy Corbyn for killing off their chances of winning. Tory MP Dr Sarah Wollaston had planned to table the 'doctor's amendment' to next Tuesday's crunch Brexit motion to demand a second referendum. But stood outside Parliament this morning flanked by pro-EU Labour MPs Luciana Berger and Chuka Umunna, she announced a U-turn. The shock moves comes after a massive row among Remainer MPs over when to finally show their hand a call a Commons vote on another referendum. Advertisement Labour has signalled it will back the plan to stop the UK crashing out of the EU, along with more than a dozen Tory rebels, giving it a real chance of success. If the amendment is passed, the Bill will come before Parliament on February 5, and if it becomes law Mrs May will have to ask for an extension by February 26. Mrs May has also vowed to try and defeat amendments calling for a permanent customs union, and a further series of indicative votes on what should happen next. If she succeeds the House will give tacit approval to her strategy of tweaking her Brexit deal and bringing it back for another dramatic vote. However, the Government also appears to be encouraging MPs to back an amendment from Tory MP Andrew Murrison that would effectively set a time limit on the backstop of December 31, 2021. Some ministers hope that if the Murrison amendment is passed it will pile pressure on the EU to concede an expiry date on the backstop - which Brexiteers fear the UK will be stuck in forever, and the DUP believes risks splitting the union. Writing in the Telegraph today, Mr Mercer - a former army officer - complained that the government did not appear to have the 'minerals for the fight'. 'I think it's genuinely dangerous - both blundering into being a junior partner in an international relationship we cannot unilaterally leave - and going against what you have said previously,' he said. 'No British PM could ever do, and treat Northern Ireland differently to the rest of the UK. Trust, leadership, values - we must uphold them to the British people. The deal did not.' The intervention was praised by a series of Tory Eurosceptics on Twitter. Meanwhile, other hardliners raged at the chief of Airbus for pushing 'super Project Fear' after he warned the company could quit the UK if there is no deal Brexit. Conservative MEP David Campbell Bannerman said on Twitter: 'Here we have a German CEO putting EU interests first before his own employees. A disgrace.' Tory MP Mr Hoare said he still detected signs that opinion was shifting towards Mrs May. 'I am surprised it has taken so long for the penny to drop, but the penny does appear to be dropping. 'There is no appetite in Parliament to leave with no deal. Airbus brands Brexit chaos 'disgraceful' and says it could leave Britain there is no deal Airbus boss Tom Enders (file) today condemned the 'disgraceful' chaos surrounding Brexit and warned it could leave Britain if a no deal threatened its international competitiveness Airbus today condemned the 'disgraceful' chaos surrounding Brexit and warned it could leave Britain if a no deal threatened its international competitiveness. The aerospace giant, which employs 14,000 people in Britain, warned it could have to make 'potentially very harmful decisions' about its UK operations in a no deal. It warned there were 'plenty of countries' that would welcome the firm with open arms if Britain became inhospitable to international companies. Airbus's move came as the Dutch government revealed it was in talks with 250 UK firms about luring them to the Netherlands. Fears are rising about the future of British manufacturing amid wobbles in the car industry and after Dyson announced it was relocating its headquarters to Singapore. Advertisement 'They (Brexiteers) are now understanding that there has got to be a compromise and then the PM's deal can be supported - or the prize is going to be dashed from their lips at the 11th hour.' Jeremy Corbyn said today that Labour will not make a final decision on whether to back the Brexit delaying amendment until the day of the vote. Speaking during a visit to Wolverton, near Milton Keynes, he said he had met with Mrs Cooper, he added: 'We will decide at the time whether we fully support it or not. 'I had a very good meeting, a very useful meeting, with Yvette Cooper yesterday. I understand what she is saying, there is a lot of merit in it. We, as a party, will make a decision.' Mr Corbyn reiterated his call for Mrs May to remove the threat of a no-deal Brexit, adding: 'We are not calling for an extension of Article 50 but quite clearly if Theresa May runs the clock all the way down MPs are going to recognise the dangers of leaving with no deal.' In a much-needed piece of good news for Mrs May, Remainer MPs have dropped their bid to force a parliamentary vote demanding a second referendum - admitting they do not have enough support to get it passed. The gang of Labour and Tory MPs who were backing a so-called People's Vote blasted Jeremy Corbyn for killing off their chances of winning. Instead Labour has merely proposed a wording that would leave open the option of a referendum after a Brexit deal is passed by the Commons. The Lib Dems still have an amendment tabled that would endorse another national vote on Brexit, but it might not be selected by the Speaker as there is limited cross-party support. Mrs May was reportedly presented with nine 'scenarios' for breaking the Parliamentary deadlock by her chief Brexit adviser Oliver Robbins. They included getting a unilateral exit mechanism from the backstop, including an end date on it, or the whole UK being in 'regulatory alignment' with the EU rather than just Northern Ireland. The idea of withholding some of the 39billion divorce bill until the UK has signed permanent trade terms with the EU has also reportedly been mooted. However, at least three of the options involve reopening the Withdrawal Agreement - something the government and Brussels have previously insisted is not possible. No10 sources played down the option, insisting the PM 'gets hundreds of bits of advice every week'. The EU's chief negotiator Michel Barnier repeated that the divorce package could not be changed yesterday - and also warned that the bloc's leaders will not sign off an Article 50 extension unless there is a clear majority in Parliament for a way of delivering Brexit. Conservative former Cabinet minister Sir Oliver Letwin, who is backing moves to delay Brexit, accepted there was 'an open question' over whether the other 27 EU member states would agree to grant the UK an extension, but said there had been 'strong signals' that they would be ready to do so. He told BBC Radio 4's Today programme it was 'possible but unlikely' that the EU27 would say: 'We're not going to give you any more time to do that, you can just jump out of the plane without a parachute and leave without a deal.' Sir Oliver dismissed as 'fanciful' Brexiteers' suggestions that the Government could prevent an extension of Article 50 by using a procedure known as 'prorogation' to shut down Parliament or asking the Queen to withhold royal assent from backbenchers' bills. 'These tactics take us back several hundred years to conditions in which the British constitution was originally developed,' he said. 'The British constitution is pretty clear. It's Parliament that is elected to pass laws, and when they are passed they need to be enacted and followed by Government, and Parliament has to be allowed to do that. I don't think any of these are serious possibilities.' He said next week's vote on the Cooper amendment would be 'tight' and its success was not guaranteed even if the Labour frontbench offered its support. What is Tuesday's Plan B vote and what will it mean? What is happening? Because Theresa May's Brexit deal was defeated, the law says she must tell Parliament what her Plan B is. This has to be done in a motion to the Commons, which will be voted on by MPs next Tuesday night. That motion can be re-written by MPs if they table amendments and win a vote in favour of them. Some amendments have already been tabled and MPs can keep producing them until Monday night. What does May's plan say? It promises more cross-party working, renews commitments to protecting workers' rights after Brexit and says the PM will ask Brussels for more concessions on the backstop. It it based on the current deal that was crushed by 230 votes last week. What do the main amendments say? Jeremy Corbyn's amendment says Parliament should vote on 'options' including a renegotiation of the deal to get a permanent customs union and for a second referendum. A cross party amendment from Yvette Cooper and Nicky Morgan seeks to block no deal by giving time to a draft law that would require the Government to delay Brexit if a deal has not been agreed by February 26. It upturns normal convention by putting a backbench MP's Bill ahead of Government plans. An amendment from Tory rebel Dominic Grieve seeks to set up weekly debates that would mean regular votes on what to do in the absence a deal. His amendments sets aside six named days for the debates - including as late as March 26. What would the vote do? Legally nothing - but if the Commons votes in favour of a clear way forward by a majority it will be a major political signal of what might happen. Is it a new 'meaningful vote' that can approve May's deal? No. At some point, the PM will have to stage a repeat of last week's vote to get explicit approval from MPs to go ahead with her deal if she wants it to survive. Advertisement The ex-minister said he would continue to vote for Theresa May's deal if it was brought back to Parliament. The requirement for an extension of the Article 50 negotiation process beyond the current Brexit date of March 29 would only kick in if no agreement was reached in the Commons by February 26. Mrs May pressed ahead with efforts to forge a consensus today, meeting union leaders including Unite's Len McCluskey in Downing Street. But she has still not held discussions with Jeremy Corbyn, who is refusing to meet her until she rules out leaving the EU with no deal. Airbus today condemned the 'disgraceful' chaos surrounding Brexit and warned it could leave Britain if a no deal threatened its international competitiveness. The aerospace giant, which employs 14,000 people in Britain, warned it could have to make 'potentially very harmful decisions' about its UK operations in a no deal. It warned there were 'plenty of countries' that would welcome the firm with open arms if Britain became inhospitable to international companies. Airbus's move came as the Dutch government revealed it was in talks with 250 UK firms about luring them to the Netherlands. Fears are rising about the future of British manufacturing amid wobbles in the car industry and after Dyson announced it was relocating its headquarters to Singapore. Tory MP Dr Sarah Wollaston had planned to table the 'doctor's amendment' to next Tuesday's crunch Brexit motion to demand a second referendum. But stood outside Parliament this morning flanked by pro-EU Labour MPs Luciana Berger and Chuka Umunna, she announced a U-turn. The shock move comes after a massive row among Remainer MPs over when to finally show their hand a call a Commons vote on another referendum. As fears over an accidental no deal continued to rise despite the Remainer revolt in Parliament, Taoiseach Leo Varadkar has suggested the EU could treat the UK and Ireland as 'one block' to avoid a hard borded. That could mean customs checks in Calais and other continental ports on goods to the British Isles. In effect, Ireland would be treated as if it were a non-EU country outside the single market and customs union. His comments are further signs of concerns in Dublin over a No Deal Brexit. Throughout the negotiations, Dublin and the EU have stuck rigidly to the line that a backstop was needed to prevent a hard border. But recently there have been signs their alliance is fracturing with Brexit day looming and no sign of MPs in the UK backing the withdrawal agreement. It is thought Mr Varadkar is coming under pressure from other EU states to give way on the backstop to get a workable deal through. Yesterday EU negotiator Michel Barnier said technology might be used to avoid the hard border something Brussels has always ruled out. Drought-stricken farmers are allegedly being forced to pay for donated bales of hay by people linked to drought relief charities amid the worst dry spell in 40 years. Queensland and New South Wales farmers claim the hay they're forced to fork out money for have already been paid for by millions of dollars in drought funds from Australians. 'There is always people out there [during] bad times making money,' one farmer who asked to remain anonymous told 9News. More than $50 million has been raised for affected farmers with 36 per cent of New South Wales in drought and more than 15 per cent in intense drought. The farmer said he and 50 others paid $600 each for donated hay, claiming individuals who delivered it charged delivery and loading costs for every order. Scroll down for video Queensland and and New South Wales farmers claim the hay they're forced to buy have already been paid for by millions of dollars in drought funds from Australians (stock) Low quality bales which are either rotten or plagued with mould are are being sent to farmers in crisis Low quality bales which are either rotten or plagued with mould are are being sent to farmers in crisis. Farmers allege the premium donated bales are failing to be delivered to allocated places such as a local showground and are vanishing off road-trains. Cathy Truss, who lives in the south west of Queensland said she received 15 bales of hay covered in mould after it was offered via a phone call. Her kangaroos have instead eaten cardboard boxes but won't eat the hay, which has remained untouched on their paddock in the past two months. Rural Aid told 9News a replacement load was delivered to the property six days later. 'Rural Aid does not support the practice of organisations charging for charitable services such as delivery charges,' a spokesman said. The Australian Charities and Non-for-profits Commission (ACNC) is investigating the practices of a number of farming charities. One farmer claimed he and 50 other farmers have been forced to pay $600 each for donated hay The Australian Charities and Non-for-profits Commission (ACNC) is investigating the practices of farming charities New South Wales farmer Laura Jones has began to question the agenda of some charities after she appealed for help as one of the farmers who were on the brink of shooting dead 1,200 of their starving sheep. 'I never would have questioned any of the charities and their donations over the last six months ... but was the money they collected, is it worth what the farmers have been given?' she said. Ms Jones added Aussie Helpers did send a crew of 17 workers to her farm to fix fencing which would have cost her thousands of dollars. A pensioner in a mobility scooter has been named as the third woman to die during a police chase within 12 hours. On Tuesday night a driver being chased by police hit and killed a PCSO in Birmingham, and moments later officers responding to a 999 call in London killed a pedestrian. The third incident happened at midday yesterday when pensioner Jessie Whitehead, who was riding a mobility scooter, was knocked down in Bedworth near Coventry. She was taken to hospital by air ambulance but later died of her injuries. Officers in the police car which hit and killed the 74-year-old were responding to an emergency call about a 'reported road safety hazard' in the area. The police watchdog, the IOPC, has opened an investigation and asked witnesses to come forward. It comes after the death at 11.45pm on Tuesday night, of 26-year-old Eritrean refugee Luam Gebremariam, who died when she was hit be a police car on an emergency call as she walked next to a main road in Walthamstow, East London. Just fifteen minutes before that crash, PSCO Holly Burke, 28, was killed when a Renault Scenic, being pursued by police, smashed into her Ford Fiesta in Birmingham. Scroll down for videos. Jessie Whitehead, 74, was riding her mobility scooter when she was hit and killed by a squad car responding to a 'reported road safety hazard' in Warwickshire on Wednesday lunchtime Bedworth, midday yesterday: A female pensioner in a mobility scooter was knocked down on Coventry Road. She was taken to hospital by air ambulance but later died Wednesday's incident in Bedworth has been referred to the Independent Office for Police Conduct The latest tragedy, on Coventry Road in Bedworth in Warwickshire, has been referred to the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC). It is not known how fast the police car was going when it hit the pensioner. Assistant Chief Constable of Warwickshire Police, Alex Franklin-Smith, said: 'Our thoughts are with the woman's family at this very difficult time. We are co-operating fully with the IOPC's investigation. Anyone with information can call 101, quoting incident number 154.' That was less than 12 hours after 26-year-old Eritrean refugee Luam Gebremariam died in Walthamstow, East London. The car stopped at the scene and the officers gave the woman first aid before paramedics from London Ambulance Service and Air Ambulance arrived. On Wednesday a picture of Ms Gebremariam was left at the crash site, along with touching tributes from staff at the YMCA where she was staying. A 50-year-old woman, who lives just yards from the scene, said she knew the victim, who had been staying at the YMCA for about 18 months. Eritrean refugee Luam Gebremariam (seen in an undated photo) died after being hit by a Met Police car in Walthamstow on Tuesday night 'The girl was crossing outside my door,' she said. 'She lived in the YMCA. The car had a huge dent in and her body was thrown all the way down the road, you can see it must have been going very fast.' Scotland Yard detectives were working to trace her next of kin, 'who are believed to be outside the UK'. Forest Road, where the incident happened, has been closed. One witness tweeted this morning that he had seen least five police cars and a forensic van at a junction by The Bell pub. The woman said that she heard a banging at the door - it was her 18-year-old son, sobbing and shouting. 'My son saw it all,' she said. 'He was coming back from being out with his friend and he came running and knocked on the door. 'He was crossing the road at the same time as her, he said the policeman killed the girl. 'I asked how he knew she was dead and he said 'mummy, anyone hit at that speed and thrown that far would be dead'.' Walthamstow, Tuesday night: Yesterday a picture of the victim was left at the crash site, (seen yesterday) along with touching tributes from staff at the YMCA where she was staying Moments before that, on Tuesday night at 11.30pm, PSCO Holly Burke, 28, was killed when a Renault Scenic smashed into her Ford Fiesta in Birmingham. Ms Burke had been a PCSO with West Midlands Police for 14 months. The speeding car was being chased by police after it failed to stop in the Erdington area of the city. The crash happened in Lordswood Road, Harborne, after officers deployed a stinger device. Darren Ogom, of Kings Norton, has been charged with causing death by dangerous driving, driving without a licence, driving with no insurance and failing to stop for a police officer. The unemployed 42-year-old has been remanded into custody and is due to appear at Birmingham magistrates' court this morning. Chief Superintendent Kenny Bell, commander at Birmingham East neighbourhood policing unit, said: 'This is a desperately sad time for everyone who knew Holly and our thoughts and condolences are with Holly's mum and dad, family, friends and colleagues. 'There is no doubt that this tragic event will have an impact on those officers who responded and those who worked alongside her. Holly has been taken from us too soon and as a police family we are feeling this.' Birmingham, Tuesday night: PSCO Holly Burke (pictured) died after a car chased by police for 15 minutes ploughed into her in Birmingham. Images undated An Australian author detained by China's secret police has been charged with espionage, his lawyer says. Yang Hengjun, a former Chinese diplomat, was grabbed by 10 security agents minutes after stepping off a plane with his wife and stepdaughter. They pounced after he cleared customs at Guangzhou Airport on January 19, witnesses claimed, and whisked him away to Beijing. Australian author Yang Hengjun (pictured) has been detained by China's secret police minutes after stepping off a plane with his wife and stepdaughter Mr Yang's friend, University of Technology Sydney associate professor Feng Chongyi, said Mr Yang has since been charged. He said the Australian citizen hired Chinese lawyer Mo Shaoping, who told Mr Feng the State Security Bureau of Beijing was holding him. Mr Yang was detained in 'residential surveillance at a designated location', which means he was locked up at an unknown location. He is suspected of activities which 'endanger state security' and faces execution if convicted of espionage or similar charges. Chinese officials earlier claimed to have no knowledge of his whereabouts, but late on Wednesday night belatedly notified Australian authorities after formal requests. 'We will continue to make representations to China to ensure that this matter is dealt with transparently and fairly,' Foreign Minister Marise Payne said. Mr Yang (pictured), an Australian citizen, had been living in the U.S. but flew back to China from New York despite friends telling him it was not safe He and his wife Yuan Rui Juan were stopped from boarding their connecting flight to Shanghai and interrogated at the airport for 12 hours, friends said 'Our Embassy in Beijing will meet with Chinese authorities this morning to seek further clarification of the nature of this detention and to arrange consular access at the earliest possible opportunity, in accordance with the bilateral consular agreement.' Mr Yang had been living in the U.S. but flew back to China from New York, despite friends telling him it was not safe. He and his wife Yuan Rui Juan were stopped from boarding their connecting flight to Shanghai and interrogated at the airport for 12 hours, friends said. The novelist and commentator was then taken to Beijing, and nothing has been heard from him since as friends fear the worst. Mr Feng said his wife was allowed to drop off their daughter with family in Shanghai before following him to Beijing. Ms Yuan has since been released and returned to Shaghai, but has not been allowed to speak with her husband. Along with writing spy novels, Mr Yang (pictured) has been a vocal critic of Chinese policy and proponent of democracy, and gained Australian citizenship in 2002 Along with writing spy novels, Mr Yang has been a vocal critic of Chinese policy and proponent of democracy, and gained Australian citizenship in 2002. However, he was not considered to feature much on China's radar and had not said anything to raise the ruling party's ire in a few years. Qiao Mu, a Chinese academic who now lives in the U.S., said Mr Yang likely would not be held prisoner for very long. 'Yang is a soft critic accepted by both Chinese authorities and netizens. The detention may be a short period like Feng Chongyi encountered,' he told The Australian. Professor Feng was detained in China in 2017 near the end of a three-week trip during which he was researching human rights lawyers. He was questioned by security services for several days before he was allowed to return to Australia, where he said he couldn't talk about what happened. Professor Feng was concerned Mr Yang may be caught up in a diplomatic stoush after Canada's arrest of Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou (pictured) at the request of the U.S China a month ago detained two Canadians, entrepreneur Michael Spavor (left) and former diplomat Michael Kovrig (right), in what was widely seen as retaliation Professor Feng was concerned Mr Yang may be caught up in a diplomatic stoush between China and Canada. China a month ago detained two Canadians, entrepreneur Michael Spavor and former diplomat Michael Kovrig, in what was widely seen as retaliation for Canada's arrest of Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou at the request of the U.S. Australian has been supportive of Canada's arrest, which Professor Feng worried was being taken out on his friend. 'I see his arrest as the extension of Chinese hostage diplomacy to take him as a hostage to press the Australian government and the Canadian government, American government,' he told the ABC. Mr Pyne said the Australia-China defense relationship was a key component of the broader bilateral relationship. 'The government is committed to maintaining a long-term constructive relationship with China, founded on shared interests and mutual respect China and Australia's success will go hand-in-hand,' he said. Police investigating the disappearance of a Kentucky mother have searched the home of one of two men who she was last spotted with three weeks ago. Savannah Spurlock, 22, vanished after leaving The Other Bar in Lexington with the two men on January 4 just days after she gave birth to twins. The two men were questioned by police at the time but they were not charged in connection with her disappearance. Spurlock's ex-boyfriend and the father of two of her children, Shaquille Smith, said he believes the men know where she is. 'I do think the guys she was with that night know exactly where she is,' Smith told Fox News. 'I do think she is out there somewhere worried and thinking about her kids, family and friends.' Mother of four Savannah Spurlock, 22, vanished after leaving The Other Bar in Lexington, Kentucky with the two men on January 4 just days after she gave birth to twins She was last seen on surveillance video leaving The Other Bar in Lexington, Kentucky with two men. They were questioned by police at the time but they were not charged in connection with her disappearance Shaquille Smith, Spurlock's ex-boyfriend and the father of two of her children, said he believes the men know where she is Spurlock's mother, Ellen Spurlock, said she didn't recognize the men in the footage. 'I don't sleep at night. It's a nightmare,' she said. 'I'm just trying to get information out to the public in the hopes and prayers that somebody is going to come forward that will lead to her.' 'It gets harder and harder with each day that passes,' Ellen told WKYT. 'I just want to know so bad where Savannah is and that she is OK.' Police searched the home of one of the men on Tuesday and seized a car. Ellen said that the police have not been able to share details of the case with her 'because it is so active', but she added that she understands. Spurlock, who gave birth to twins in December, last spoke to her mother at 2.30am the night she went missing to tell her she was leaving the bar and would be home 'in a few hours'. Her aunt Elaine Moore said the young woman had always been good about letting her parents know if she was staying out late. The family is desperately pleading for any help in locating Savannah as the search enters its third week. 'She's a very sweet, kind-hearted young lady and would do anything to help anybody,' Moore said. 'You hate to think about this for anybody. This is just your worst nightmare.' The two men, along with a third, were located and questioned but not charged. One of the men drove away in a pick up truck (pictured) The mother-of-four gave birth to twins last month and has two sons aged two and four Another one of Savannah's aunts Lisa Thoma shared an emotional video on Facebook last week pleading for help to find Savannah and also thanking those who have prayed for her niece's return. 'The family is having a hard time, but we're leaning into each other, we're leaning into God,' Thoma said in the video posted to the Facebook group Missing Savannah. 'If you know anything, we beg you, come forward and call the Richmond, Kentucky police department.' Savannah's mother told WKYT that her disappearance has been especially hard on her toddler children, aged two and four. '(Her son) doesn't know what's going on, but my fear is how long can that take place, you know? Mommy is not here for 11 days, each day is another day,' she said. 'The twins are too young, but the two-year-old, he misses his mommy. He saw her on TV one night and said 'Mommy'. He misses her.' 'I cope with it by praying and believing that she is still out there.' Spurlock is 5ft tall and weighs about 140lbs. She has shoulder-length brown and blond hair and several tattoos, including one on the right side of her torso that reads, 'I can do all things through Christ which strengthens me,' and another on her back that reads, 'I'm her daughter'. Ellen has pleaded: 'Please come forward and share this. Please. I'm begging you. 'We miss Savannah. She lived with me. I see reminders of her every day in this house. I can't even explain the nightmare this is for us.' Anyone with information about her whereabouts is urged to contact Lt. Col. Rodney Richardson with Richmond police at 859-624-4776. This is the bizarre moment a woman wearing white face paint and sunglasses was arrested LAX airport after reportedly shouting obscenities in the terminal. The suspect could be seen handcuffed sitting on the floor after being surrounded by armed police. In images exclusively obtained by the DailyMail.com the woman can be seen with what appears to be face paint and sunglasses on. Wearing a grey jumper, leggings and sneakers the woman sits down on the ground as at least five cops surround her. Scroll down for video The woman wearing white face paint and sunglasses is arrested and surrounded by police She is pinned to the ground and surrounded by her belongings, carried in plastic bags The woman is said to have started shouting in the terminal forecourt just outside Bvlgari It is unknown if or how she passed through security or if she was due to board a flight She was pinned down by officers at the inside the Tom Bradley International terminal in LA Wednesday morning, according to eyewitnesses. The woman allegedly started shouting in the terminal forecourt just outside the Bvlgari outlet before police rushed in. She is said to have been handcuffed by officers as her belongings, which appeared to include some medication and cigarette lighters, were searched. Female officers were then called in to search her and checked her boarding pass. Her belongings were being carried in two large shopping bags. Wearing a grey jumper, leggings and sneakers the woman was led away by officers, left. Police were seen searching her belongings, right, carried in two large shopping bags It is unknown if or how she passed through security or if she was due to board a flight at the airport. Airlines that fly from the Tom Bradley International terminal include Aeroflot, Air Berlin, Air China, Air France, Air New Zealand and Air Tahiti Nui. DailyMail.com has contacted The Los Angeles Airport Police Division for comment. Cruel school bullies were filmed forcing a girl with ADHD to lick one of their shoes or otherwise have her 'arm broken or nose snapped in half'. The sickening footage, shot while the group were heading home from school in Nottingham, shows a girl shouting at the 13-year-old that she had to perform the demeaning act or face a beating. The girl taunts: 'I'll punch her if she doesn't lick my shoe. You are going to get a punch, a puffy eye, or I might just break your arm for the fun of it or snap your nose in half. You will have a massive scar and you will be bullied even more - or you lick my shoe.' Taryn Lavell, 43, (left) spoke out about her daughter Holly's ordeal and urged her school to take action. They are seen in an undated photo at their home in Nottingham The victim is then forced to bend down while the girl says: 'Lick it. Lick it now.' She does and the girl and her friends walk away laughing. Taryn Lavell, 43, of Broxtowe, said her daughter Holly has been bullied for more than a year at Nottingham University Samworth Academy (NUSA) in Bilborough. Mrs Lavell, who works at Asda, said her next door neighbour showed her the video on Saturday, which had been shared across Facebook. She claims pupils from the school have picked on her daughter due to her ADHD and have previously punched her in the face, burnt her tie and told her she has rabies. The mother has now contacted police over the video and started a petition calling on the school to take action. NUSA said it has a 'zero tolerance' approach to bullying. Mrs Lavell said: 'It has been awful. Holly seems okay but I know she's not. She has not left my side since and I want the school to do something about bullying. 'I have been to the school 20 to 30 times about her being bullied and nothing has happened. She wakes up in the night and does not want to go to school. 'She has come home with bruises where kids have kicked her, she has had her hair pulled and they used to say she had rabies.' The sickening footage, shot while the group were heading home from school in Nottingham, shows a girl (right) shouting at Holly to lick her shoe The victim is then forced to bend down while the girl says: 'Lick it. Lick it now.' She does and the girl and her friends walk away laughing The mother believes the bullies targeted her daughter because she is seen as an 'easy target'. She said: 'I could not watch the video. Kids end up killing themselves over things like this. I have taken her out of the school now and I am not sending my daughter back there.' Mrs Lavell said she is having a meeting with the school this week as well as Nottinghamshire Police to show them the video. She has also set up an online petition, which will be sent to Ofsted, calling for the Government body to intervene. It has already obtained more than 600 signatures. A spokesman for Nottingham University Samworth Academy said: 'Whilst we are unable to comment on specific incidents, the welfare of NUSA students is our number one priority and as such, NUSA has a zero tolerance approach to bullying of any sort.' More than 100 migrants have been taken into custody after being caught on camera scaling a border wall in Arizona - one week after 376 others had dug their way in near the same location. 'On Monday #CBP #YumaSector Border Patrol agents apprehended a group of 110+ Central Americans who illegally scaled the wall with the assistance of a smuggler with a ladder,' read a tweet from the agency's verified Twitter account, posted on Wednesday afternoon. Video shows person after person hopping down to US soil after coming over the the top of the wall from the Mexico side. On January 14, officials said 376 Central Americans migrants entered the US illegally through holes below the structure at the Arizona border. US Customs and Border Protection officials based in Arizona announced on Wednesday that over 100 migrants had been taken into custody after being caught on camera (shown) scaling a border wall in Arizona, one week after 376 others had dug their way in near the same location Donald Trump, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer remain at odds over Trump's requested $5.7 billion to fund a border wall, which has delayed the passing of a spending bill that would reopen government, which has been partially shut down for over one month. US Border Patrol agents are some of the country's federal employees who are working without pay, or who have been furloughed, while the stalemate continues. Near the end of the video clip posted by CBP, the individuals on the US side of the border could be seen departing from the area immediately surrounding the wall. On the Mexico side, the silhouette of a person was recorded running further into Mexico, and appeared to be carrying a ladder. Members of the group did not try to avoid law enforcement, and were arrested after entry to the US on January 21, Border Patrol officials said. 'On Monday #CBP #YumaSector Border Patrol agents apprehended a group of 110+ Central Americans who illegally scaled the wall with the assistance of a smuggler with a ladder,' read a tweet from the agency's verified Twitter account, posted on Wednesday afternoon Near the end of the video clip posted by CBP of the 110+ Central American migrants recorded entering the US illegally on Mondya, the individuals on the US side of the border could be seen departing from the area immediately surrounding the wall (shown). Members of the group did not try to avoid law enforcement, and were arrested after entry to the US on January 21 On the Mexico side, the silhouette of a person was recorded running further into Mexico, and appeared to be carrying a ladder The video was released one week after footage of another group of Central Americans, this time numbering 376, entering the US at the Arizona border through holes created beneath the structure, according to Border Patrol officials The video was released one week after footage of another group of Central Americans, this time numbering 376, entering the US at the Arizona border through holes created beneath the structure, according to Border Patrol officials. 'Almost all were families or unaccompanied juveniles,' CBP Arizona said on January 18, of the January 14 incident. The bio for the CBP Arizona Twitter account currently reads, 'This account will not be actively managed during the lapse in federal funding.' But someone is maintaining it without being paid to do so for now, otherwise the video could not have been posted on Wednesday. Commissioner of US Customs and Border Protection Kevin McAleenan tweeted on Tuesday: 'CBP workforce: Thank you for all your continued patience, professionalism and resilience as we work to end the shutdown. You continue to work selflessly to protect others. The entire leadership team is working to find a solution that meets our critical mission requirements.' On Wednesday, US Border Patrol Chief Carla Provost quote-tweeted McAleenan's sentiments, adding: 'Im humbled by the selfless dedication I see displayed by the men and women of the Border Patrol each and every day. Please accept my sincere gratitude as we work toward a resolution. #HonorFirst' 'Almost all were families or unaccompanied juveniles,' CBP Arizona said on January 18, of the January 14 incident The bio for the CBP Arizona Twitter account currently reads, 'This account will not be actively managed during the lapse in federal funding.' But someone is maintaining it without being paid to do so for now, otherwise the video could not have been posted on Wednesday Border Patrol agents are among those currently affected by the shutdown, and working without pay. US Border Patrol Chief Carla Provost and Commissioner of US Customs and Border Protection Kevin McAleenan thanks them for doing so, in separate tweets Border Patrol agents are among those currently affected by the shutdown. The complete list includes the Environmental Protection Agency, the IRS, and the departments of State, Housing and Urban Development; Treasury; Agriculture; Commerce; Interior; Justice; and Homeland Security, and funding for food stamps will run out in March. For now, the military (aside from the US Coast Guard) and the departments of Veterans Affairs; Labor; Education; and Health and Human Services are not impacted, as they are being funded by a spending bill that doesn't expire until September 30. Democrats say they will discuss border security once the government has reopened, but Pelosi is refusing money for the wall that Democrats view as ineffective and immoral. The federal government has been partially shut down since December 22, making Thursday the 34th day that approximately 800,000 federal employees have been either required to work without pay for the time being, or have been furloughed. Congress has already passed a bill that guarantees that federal workers who are still showing up to their jobs without pay will be paid for their work once the shutdown ends. The previous longest-lasting government shutdown in history happened at the end of 1995 and beginning of 1996, lasting 21 days under President Bill Clinton. President Donald Trump once again insisted on Thursday a border wall as his price for reopening the government and vowed he will not 'cave' to Democrats amid reports they are preparing to offer more money for security but no funds for his wall. Trump fired off his latest defense of his wall in a tweet sent as Speaker Nancy Pelosi took questions from reporters on Capitol Hill and said without a border wall 'it doesn't work.' 'Nancy just said she just doesnt understand why? Very simply, without a Wall it all doesnt work. Our Country has a chance to greatly reduce Crime, Human Trafficking, Gangs and Drugs. Should have been done for decades. We will not Cave!,' he tweeted. President Trump said on Thursday he will not cave to Democrats when it comes to his border wall Speaker Nancy Pelosi urged the Senate to pass a Democratic bill reopening the government Trump vowed he 'will not cave' on the wall The longest government shutdown in U.S. history is expected to continue its painful stretch, as the Senate holds votes Thursday on two separate legislative packages, neither of which is expected to pass or end the standoff. One includes Trump's proposal for protection from deportation for Dreams and the $5.7 billion for his border wall; the other is on Democrats' plan to reopen the government that does not fund the wall. Neither vote is expected to get the 60 votes necessary to advance in the legislative process. Meanwhile, House Democratic leaders are considering a plan to reopen the government that would include increased funding for security measures at the border but not for the wall Trump is demanding. 'Within our $49 billion homeland security bill there will be some provisions,' Pelosi said Thursday morning but declined to get into specific details. She said work was still being done on the legislation. House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer said Democrats are prepared to offer significant new spending on border measures but he, too, declined specifics. "We are prepared to spend a very substantial sum of money because we share the view that the border needs to be secure," he said. Pelosi criticized Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross for saying he didn't understand why furloughed workers had to go to food banks The Democratic version of the bill to fund the Department of Homeland Security could include at least $5 billion for border protection efforts like new technology and more law enforcement agents - but nothing for Trump's border wall. Amid those reports Trump took to twitter to attack Pelosi and vow not to cave in on his border wall. But he misquoted Pelosi when he wrote: 'Nancy just said she just doesnt understand why?' The speaker was actually quoting the president's Commerce Secretary when she said that. Wilbur Ross said on CNBC Thursday morning he didn't understand why furloughed federal workers had to go to food banks and suggested they borrow from banks to make ends meet until they get a paycheck. 'I know they are, and I don't really quite understand why,' Ross said. 'Because, as I mentioned before, the obligations that they would undertake, say borrowing from a bank or a credit union are in effect federally guaranteed.' Pelosi was criticizing his 'let them eat cake' attitude with her remark. The longest government shutdown in U.S. history is expected to continue its painful stretch as the Senate takes up bills that would end the shutdown, but neither is expected to get the needed 60 votes President Donald Trump tweeted again about the border wall Thursday 'They have Wilbur Ross saying he just doesn't understand why when he was asked about people going into food lines and pantries and the rest, he said he doesn't understand why they have to do that. I don't know is this the let them eat cake kind of attitude or call your father money or this is character building for you, it's all going to end up very well,' she said. The latest salvos - on Day 24 of the shutdown - came hours after Trump relented on the State of the Union address after essentially being disinvited by Pelosi to give his speech until after the shutdown is ended. Pelosi acknowledged that retreat in her remarks Thursday. She called the speech 'so unimportant to the American people,' who she said should be 'hostages to the presidents applause line in a campaign speech.' 'Thank goodness we have put that matter to rest and we can get on to the subject at hand, open up government so we can negotiate how best to protect our borders,' she noted. Speaker Nancy Pelosi withdrew her invitation to President Trump to deliver his state of the union address until after the shutdown A federal worker stands with a placard reading "Will Work For Pay" as other federal employees stage a rally to call for a vote on the shutdown on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC, on January 23, 2019 Democrats could formally make their new offer to Trump with its additional border security funding but zero for his wall after Thursday's votes in the Senate fail. 'If his $5.7 billion is about border security, then we see ourselves fulfilling that request, only doing it with what I like to call using a smart wall,' Democratic leader Jim Clyburn told the Associated Press. But amid the lack of an immediate legislative solution Trump is continuing to insist on a border wall, tweeting Thursday that without a wall 'there cannot be safety and security at the Border or for the U.S.A.' 'BUILD THE WALL AND CRIME WILL FALL!' Trump wrote, continuing to link immigration and crime. There were not talks set between Trump and congressional leaders on ending the shutdown hours after Trump blinked and said he would not deliver a scheduled State of the Union Address in the House chamber after Speaker Nancy Pelosi withdrew his invitation until the government was reopened. The House is scheduled to leave town Thursday afternoon - in a sign leaders don't believe the Senate will send them any legislation to vote on - but Hoyer warned members Thursday morning they could be brought back anytime - including on Saturday or Sunday - if there is a deal to vote on. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has refused to take up individual spending bills that would reopen the government if Trump will not promise to sign them. A poll by The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research released Wednesday showed 60 percent of Americans blamed the president for the shutdown about double the number of people who blamed Democrats. Nearly 600 volunteers joined the FBI, state officials, and U.S. marines in the frantic search for a three-year-old boy who vanished in North Carolina earlier this week. Three-year-old Casey Lynn Hathaway went missing around 1pm on Tuesday in the backyard of his grandmother's house in Ernul, a rural community ringed by forests and swamps. By Wednesday nearly 600 volunteers and trained professionals joined the massive search effort to find him and authorities called in divers to search surrounding ponds and lakes. Casey Lynn Hathaway, three, disappeared around 1pm on Tuesday from the backyard of his grandmother's house in Ernul, North Carolina By Wednesday a massive nearly 600-person search was launched with help from the FBI, state officials and U.S. marines Hundreds of volunteers joined the search for three-year-old Casey Lynn Hathaway in the residential area near Cayton, North Carolina on Wednesday Search teams pictured above looking for the toddler near the wooded area not far from the backyard where he went missing Casey was last seen playing with two other children and his grandmother realized he was missing when the two kids returned inside the house without him on Tuesday. The grandmother then called 911 after searching for him with other family members but failed to find any trace of the toddler after 45 minutes. Craven County Sheriff's Deputies responded within minutes and the search has only grown since then. The FBI and U.S. Marine Corps from nearby bases at Camp Lejeune and Cherry Point joined the search effort on Wednesday, Craven County Sheriff Chip Hughs announced the second day of the search. The search effort stretched through Wednesday starting at 7.30am with around 400 to 500 volunteers until it was called off 9.30pm, according to WCTI. 'The terrain was woods. It was thick in places. Some places it wasn't that thick, but we took our time and you see the next person, and you look and you look and you look,' volunteer Max Dudley said to ABC. The FBI and U.S. Marine Corps from nearby bases at Camp Lejeune and Cherry Point joined the search effort on Wednesday, Craven County Sheriff Chip Hughs announced the second day of the search. Ernul where he was last seen is shown above Casey was last seen playing with two other children and his grandmother realized he was missing when the two kids returned inside without him on Tuesday The search was led by the Craven County Sheriff's Office. By Wednesday divers were brought in to search nearby ponds Searchers pictured combing through a rural wooded area on the border of Craven and Pamlico counties on Wednesday The sheriff said the extremely cold temperatures were a concern in the search for the missing boy as temperatures dipped into the freezing low 30s on Tuesday and Wednesday evening Joe Monette of the North Carolina Forest Service pictured above coordinating volunteers and search teams at a church in Ernul, North Carolina 'You have so many people volunteering from our community and surrounding areas because they were putting themselves in the shoes of the family. What would happen if that was one of their children? It's just amazing to see everyone come together to help,' youth pastor Jonathan Ipock said. 'As it got darker, it was scary out there. I just can't imagine a 3-year-old being out there,' volunteer mother-of-three Donna Harris said. The Sheriff expressed concern over sinkholes and deep water ditches in the area, which were being assessed by divers. 'Today, hundreds of professional searchers and volunteers walked through rough terrain around the home to try and locate Casey. Volunteers were sent home for the night due to safety concerns. Professionally trained searchers will continue to work overnight,' the Craven County Sheriff's Office posted late Wednesday evening. 'Additional search assets will return in the morning. Volunteers should meet at the staging area at 8.00 tomorrow morning at New Haven Church located at 2755 Aurora Road, Ernul, North Carolina,' the office added. Temperatures dropped to the freezing low 30s in North Carolina Wednesday evening and Sheriff Hughs said the child wasn't adequately dressed for the weather. Sheriff Hughes said they will not stop until Casey Hathaway is found. The sheriff's office urged residents to check storage sheds, vehicles and their property for the child. Casey (left and right) was playing outside with other children when he failed to return The FBI, State Bureau of Investigation and the NC Highway Patrol were also called in to assist in the search on Wednesday. Volunteers spent the entire day combing through the heavily wooded area. Sheriff Hughs said they were conducting a missing child investigation and would not say if they believed anything more sinister might have happened. 'The family have been extremely cooperative and we just want to bring their son home to them,' Sheriff Hughes said. Casey is described as a white male with blond hair and brown eyes. He is 28 inches tall and weighing 25 pounds. Anyone with information about Casey's whereabouts is urged to contact the Craven County Sheriff's Office immediately at 252-636-6620. Local and state police joined with the FBI in the search, setting up a command center near the grandmother's home (above) a Searchers raced against daylight on Tuesday but did not find young Casey before the sun set Searchers comb the woods near the home in a desperate hunt to find the missing child Tuesday An Australian music festival has banned Wicked camper vans from its event due to its 'unfunny and misogynistic' slogans. Wollombi Music Festival, which will be held in September in northern New South Wales, has taken the tough stance after 'years of concern' over the vans. Wicked Campers is known for its range of bright vehicles that feature often provocative slogans and images. A music festival has banned Wicked camper vans from its event due to its 'unfunny and misogynistic' slogans Wollombi Music Festival, which will be held in September in northern New South Wales, has taken the tough stance of the controversial company after 'years of concern' Wicked Campers is known for its range of bright vehicles that feature provocative slogans and images (pictured: Wollombi Music Festival) There have been a number of complaints made against the vehicles in both Australia and New Zealand. The Advertising Standards Authority has been flooded with complaints over about the messages on at least 70 vehicles, with people deeming the slogans offensive to women and the LGBT community. Wollombi Music Festival promoter Adrian Buckley told ABC this year they have decided to ban the vehicles completely. There have been a number of complaints made against the vehicles in both Australia and New Zealand 'For years we've had concerns about any Wicked Campers turning up at the festival with some of their pathetically unfunny and misogynistic slogans splattered across its panels. 'We've actively discouraged people from hiring them and encouraged patrons to look elsewhere, but this year we've decided to ban them full-stop. Not just if a van has a demeaning slogan. If any Wicked Camper turns up at the fest they won't be welcome.' Daily Mail Australia has approached Wicked Camper for comment. A packed Qantas flight headed from Perth to London grounded passengers on the runway for two hours because the pilot wasn't given a flight plan in time. The 17-hour direct flight was scheduled to take off on Wednesday at 7.40pm. But after two hours inside the 787-9 Dreamliner, passengers were taken back off the plane and given a letter explaining they wouldn't be leaving until Thursday morning. A passenger called Andy told Radio 6PR his wife was travelling to the UK for urgent family reasons and was caught in the delay. The 17-hour direct flight from Perth to London was delayed because the pilot was not given a flight plan in time Passengers were grounded for two hours on Wednesday night before being told they couldn't fly out out of Perth until Thursday morning (stock image) 'They were given a taxi voucher to Metro Hotel,' Andy said. 'My wife is frustrated, she thought she'd be half way to England by this morning,' he said. Western Australia member for Moore Shane Love, who was booked on board the flight, tweeted: 'The captain has said he will not be able to fly in the 20 hours allowed and cancelled the flight!' The delay in providing a flight plan meant the crew would exceed their allowable working hours, a Qantas spokeswoman told the Sydney Morning Herald. The same QF9 flight was cancelled earlier in the month on January 17 due to an 'engineering issue' after it was due to depart at 5.05pm. 'The flight was cancelled due an engineering issue which required parts to be sent across to Perth from Melbourne,' a Qantas spokesman told Daily Mail Australia. 'Passengers were provided accommodation and all customers were accommodated on flights within the next 24 hours'. The direct flight - which is the longest in the world at 17 hours in the air - has been operating since March 2018 using the 787-9 Dreamliner. A man who stabbed a teenager to death and raped a woman in a bookshop only days later argued he was insane in a bid to reduce his sentence. Convicted killer Sean Christian Price, 34, represented himself via video link in the Court of Appeal in Melbourne to appeal his two sentences, The Australian reported. 'I admit Im guilty, not of the rape, but of the murder of Masa Vukotic,' he said. 'But in future I want to argue I was mentally impaired.' Price copped a 41-year prison sentence for the stabbing murder of Masa Vukotic, 17, in a Doncaster park March 2015 and the rape of a woman in a Christian bookshop only days later. Convicted killer Sean Christian Price, 34 (pictured), represented himself via video link in the Court of Appeal in Melbourne to appeal his two sentences Price copped a 41-year prison sentence for the stabbing murder of Masa Vukotic, 17 (pictured), in a Doncaster park March 2015 and the rape of a woman in a Christian bookshop only days later Justice Lex Lasry gave Price the prospect of parole only because of his guilty plea. Justices Simon Whelan, Stephen McLeish and Terry Forrest listened to Price as he tried to convince them of his insanity. Not only did he say judge Lex Lasry 'erred' in the sentencing decision, but that defence lawyers and prosecution were in collusion. 'When the public anger calms down, they can see I wasnt given a fair trial.' A psychiatric report at the time found he was mentally ill and had a personality disorder, but was not mentally impaired. Price said he intended to appeal his conviction and that he would've withdrawn his guilty plea before sentencing. Though he found himself to be inadequately represented when his lawyers failed to show up at the time. According to Price, his lawyers were under the direction of Public Prosecutions director Kerri Judd QC. What's more, he claimed he was beaten while on remand and was only treated days later - yet another reason as to why he pleaded guilty at the time. Price made a rude gesture as three Court of Appeal judges on Friday told him there was little prosect his appeal against his sentence would succeed, or that the minimum 38-year term would be reduced. 'I admit Im guilty, not of the rape, but of the murder of Masa Vukotic (pictured),' Sean Christian Price said Justices Whelan, McLeish and Forrest raised questions about a sentence handed down a year later by Justice Meryl Sexton in connection with the bookshop rape. The rape breached a 10-year supervision order after Price, then 19, carried out a series of sexual attacks in suburban Melbourne in 2003, attacking three women on the street and another in front of her children after following her home. Justice Whelan said they were considering the possibility Price was double sentenced for the rape, given Justice Sexton's breach sentence appeared to quote verbatim from the rape sentence. Prosecutor Diana Piekusis SC and Price have been given a week to make formal submissions. If he is found to have been double sentenced, Price could have that four-year-and-nine-month sentence, or the additional three years tacked onto his non-parole period, reduced. He is currently not eligible for parole until he's 72. President Donald Trump has admitted defeat in his fight with Nancy Pelosi over the State of the Union. He said in a tweet that he will not deliver the address until the government shutdown is over. Trump was forced to concede Wednesday night that there is 'no venue that can compete with the history, tradition and importance of the House Chamber' and he is not looking for an alternate site for his remarks. Pelosi replied, asking him to 'support the House-passed package' that would put a pause on the showdown. It will come before the Senate on Thursday afternoon. She had served notice earlier on Wednesday that he wouldn't be allowed to deliver his State of the Union address to a joint session of Congress next week. Trump promised to come up with some sort of alternative event, and The White House scrambled to find a site matching the gravitas of the traditional address. But he wrote on Twitter on Wednesday evening: 'As the Shutdown was going on, Nancy Pelosi asked me to give the State of the Union Address. I agreed. She then changed her mind because of the Shutdown, suggesting a later date. This is her prerogative - I will do the Address when the Shutdown is over. 'I am not looking for an alternative venue for the SOTU Address because there is no venue that can compete with the history, tradition and importance of the House Chamber. I look forward to giving a 'great' State of the Union Address in the near future!' Pelosi later responded on Twitter, writing: 'Mr. President, I hope by saying 'near future' you mean you will support the House-passed package to #EndTheShutdown that the Senate will vote on tomorrow. Please accept this proposal so we can re-open government, repay our federal workers and then negotiate our differences.' President Donald Trump accused Nancy Pelosi of 'canceling' his State of the Union address on Wednesday after a fiery exchange of letters in which she told the president he would only be welcome in Congress when the government shutdown is over The president had told Pelosi that it would be 'so very sad' if his speech weren't 'delivered on time, on schedule, and very importantly, on location!' She told Trump that he is welcome to address Congress after the government shutdown has ended And Wednesday President Donald Trump confirmed he is postponing his State of the Union address until the partial government shutdown ends Trump conceded that 'no venue that can compete with the history, tradition and importance of the House Chamber' and that he was not looking for an alternate option Pelosi replied to his tweet and called for Trump to accept House-passed package Trump had accused Nancy Pelosi of 'canceling' his State of the Union address, because 'she afraid of the truth,' after a fiery exchange earlier on Wednesday between the two leaders in letters. She said the president would only be welcome in Congress when the government shutdown is over. He admitted shortly after that he would not be delivering the speech as planned on Jan. 29 to a Joint Session of Congress. 'The State of the Union speech has been canceled by Nancy Pelosi, because she doesn't want to hear the truth. She doesn't want the American public to hear what's going on. And she's afraid of the truth,' he stated. 'The American people want to hear the truth. They have to hear the truth.' He exploded on her in Cabinet Room remarks in which he said it's a 'disgrace' that she's interfering in the speech that has been an annual tradition since 1913. 'It's a sad thing for our country. We'll do something in the alternative,' Trump had proclaimed. He earlier told reporters that the details of his new event would come at a later date. But Pelosi slapped down an assertion from Trump that he would be delivering his State of the Union address in the House of Representatives next Tuesday in a letter on Wednesday afternoon. TRUMP OFFERED 'SMART WALL' BY DEMOCRATS Donald Trump has been offered '21st century border security' instead of a physical wall by House Democrats, according to reports. In an attempt to end the government shutdown the proposal would see money for scanning devices and other technological tools for improving security at ports of entry and along the boundary. Chairman of the House Democratic caucus Hakeem Jeffries said his party colleagues 'support 21st century border security' but oppose 'a medieval border wall', The New York Post reports. House majority whip Rep. James Clyburn added that the Democrats would back a plan for a 'smart wall'. The Senate will vote Thursday on rival plans for reopening federal agencies and paying 800,000 federal workers who are days from missing yet another paycheck. Republicans would couple ending the shutdown with financing Trump's wall and revamping immigration laws. Democrats would reopen agency doors through Feb. 8 while bargainers seek an accord. Both faced likely defeat, but that might spur the two sides into a more serious effort to strike a compromise when each saw it lacked the votes to prevail. Both proposals would need 60 votes to pass in a chamber with 53-47 Republican control. Advertisement President Trump prompted the rebuff from Pelosi, the House speaker, with a letter telling her he'd be making remarks to a Joint Session of Congress, in spite of her request that he delay his speech until the end of the partial government shutdown that is nearing the end of its fifth week. Pelosi told him in a response letter that he would not be giving the remarks in the House he does not have the necessary permission from Congress. Congress must first pass a concurrent resolution granting him the authority to address a Joint Session, and she said she would not be bringing one to the floor. 'I am writing to inform you that the House of Representatives will not consider a concurrent resolution authorizing the President's State of the Union address in the House Chamber until government has opened,' she said. 'Again, I look forward to welcoming you to the House on a mutually agreeable date for this address when government has been opened.' Trump had conveniently hauled reporters into the Oval Office immediately before Pelosi published the letter. Asked about her rebuff as it was breaking, he said: 'I'm not surprised. It's really a shame what's happening with the Democrats. They've become radicalized. They don't want to see crime stopped....And it really is a shame what's happening with the Democrats. 'This will go on for a while. Ultimately the American people will have their way because they want to see no crime,' he said. 'We're all working very hard. We'll have to respond to it. We'll respond to it in a timely manner.' Trump soon conceded that his address was being 'canceled,' and he pinned the blame on Pelosi personally in a second, unscheduled appearance before the press. 'So Nancy Pelosi, knowing these facts and knowing it's something that she can't win, that she just went out and said, 'Let's cancel, for the first time in the history of our country, let's cancel the State of the Union address.' And it's a disgrace,' he said. Trump noted that Pelosi invited him to make the address while the shutdown was underway. 'So the shutdown was going on. Now she's blaming the shutdown. So if it was because of the shutdown, why do you ask that the address be made?' he said. 'She also knew, because she went to our people and she asked, 'Would it be a security problem?' She knew it wasn't a security problem. She blamed security, but she knew it wasn't a security problem. And she knew that loud and clear.' The president said that he went to Iraq during the shutdown and 'felt very safe,' because he had adequate security. 'If we can handle Iraq, we can handle the middle of Washington and a very, very spectacular building and a beautiful room that we should be in, and that's where it's been for a very long time,' he contended. He went on to call the Democratic Party not just 'radicalized' but a 'dangerous' political movement that's ran by Pelosi and not 'puppet' Sen. Chuck Schumer. 'I think they've become a very dangerous, a very, very dangerous party for this country. I think that Chuck Schumer, sadly, is dominated by the radical left and he's dominated by Nancy Pelosi. Very strongly dominated. He can't move. He's a puppet,' Trump claimed. Pelosi maintained after she sent her letter to Trump that he is welcome to address Congress after the government shutdown has ended. 'We have said very clearly from the start when I wrote to him the second time let's work together on a mutual agreeable date we can welcome you to the Capitol to give the State of the Union address,' she told reporters. 'The government is still shutdown. I still make the offer of a mutually agreeable date as the original date was mutually agreeable.' Sen. Lindsey Graham, an ally of Trump's, clobbered Pelosi in tweets. 'Speaker Pelosi's decision to ignore this long-standing American tradition is absurd, petty, and shameful. The judgement of history will NOT be kind,' he said. Pelosi spokesman Drew Hammill contended that the address is not being canceled, because Trump is being invited to give it when the shutdown is over. 'January 29th is not set by statute. It is not a sacred date. It is not the President's birthday. President Trump can easily give a SOTU address when government has re-opened,' he said in an online response to Graham. The House speaker invited Trump January 3 to deliver the address to Congress on January 29. But she later backtracked, claiming security in the House chamber would be subpar during a government shutdown a claim that the Department of Homeland Security disputed. Trump insisted Wednesday that Pelosi's objections were misplaced, writing that 'there are no security concerns,' according to both DHS and the Secret Service. 'It would be so very sad for our Country if the State of the Union weren't delivered on time, on schedule, and very importantly, on location!' he wrote in the letter informing her he'd be taking the floor on Jan. 29 based on her initial invitation. Pelosi had signaled to members during a Wednesday caucus meeting that she did not expect the speech to take place, CNN reported only to have the president publicly defy her in a letter the White House released publicly. Pelosi raised the stakes hours later in the letter telling Trump that he is not welcome in the House. South Carolina Congressman Ralph Norman had said in an interview on CNN that 'the address will go on' and that 'it will be in another venue' that the president will select. Perhaps, he said, in the U.S. Senate. Presidential counselor Kellyanne Conway ruled out a rally earlier in the day, in response to a question from DailyMail.com. 'Why does the president need a rally, when he can, this is the State of the Union, why have a rally when he can go and address the entire country,' she said. She asked what Democrats are 'afraid' of the president saying in the address 'that you would deny the country the ability to hear its president.' 'I think Nancy Pelosi is worried that some of her chamber won't show up. That's not an embarrassment to the president, that's an embarrassment to her. They should be there,' she said on the White House driveway after a TV appearance. 'If they don't want to applaud, they don't want to stand, they don't want to smile, they want to wear a certain color, yay, but show the dignity, and serve the people who elected you in your state, in your district and show up.' She told a Fox News Channel audience that it would be 'remarkably petty of the speaker to disinvite the President of the United States.' She added that Pelosi is 'going to have some explaining to do' if she disinvites first lady Melania Trump and her guests. 'The president intends to go to the chamber on Tuesday night to address our great nation and give them an update on the state of our union. It would be, I think, remarkably petty of the speaker to disinvite the President of the United States to address the nation that they both serve at the highest level,' she said earlier. Trump had been thought to be considering a rally on Tuesday in Texas but then swatted back at Pelosi with his letter saying he will give the address in the House, as scheduled. The president has the right to enter the House of Representatives at any time, but authority to speak is granted by lawmakers. And they have not passed a resolution granting it to him. It comes in the form of a concurrent resolution that's normally a formality. Why President Trump can't address Congress President Trump could come to Congress on Jan. 29, if he wants. But it's up to lawmakers, namely House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, to determine whether or not he gets to speak. The House and Senate must pass a concurrent resolution giving him the authority to address a Joint Session of Congress. Usually, permission to deliver the State of the Union address is a formality. But this year, as the battle intensifies between the president and Democrats in Congress, it became complicated. Neither chamber passed a resolution that Pelosi holds the power to bring to the floor giving the president permission to speak to the legislative body. Pelosi said Wednesday that she won't do it, and Trump must wait until the shutdown is over to deliver remarks. Even if the resolution were passed, it would have been up to Pelosi to determine whether the House would be in session at the time of Trump's remarks. Advertisement At the White House, speaking to reporters after her Fox appearance, Conway directed reporters to the president's letter informing Pelosi that he would be delivering remarks to Joint Session of Congress on Jan. 29. 'Why did she do that? Why did she issue an invitation, why did she lie about security concerns,' Conway asked. 'I mean honestly the secret service has referred to the president, even before he asked, that there are no security concerns.' It remained the White House's hope that the government would be reopened by next week anyhow, as the Senate will vote Thursday on two separate bills that would immediately end the government shutdown: one of which would fully fund Trump's border wall and another that will fund the closed agencies through February 8. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and top Senate Democrat Schumer announced the votes on the floor on Tuesday. But neither bill is seen as having a strong chance of passing, increasing the odds that the government shutdown will continue into next week. Trump's proposal may not making it over a 60-vote hump in the Senate, and the White House said Wednesday afternoon that the president would veto the Senate Democrats' resolution to reopen the government. White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders told Fox News that she 'certainly hopes' that Trump's plan will pass on Thursday. President Trump gave Senate Republicans a slogan on Wednesday in an attempt to boil his argument for a border barrier down to its essence as they prepare for the showdown votes. 'BUILD A WALL & CRIME WILL FALL!' the president tweeted. 'This is the new theme, for two years until the Wall is finished (under construction now), of the Republican Party. Use it and pray!' Trump's framing of his new project-branding campaign as a two-year effort suggests he intends it to be a 2020 slogan, which suggests he expects the battle over his signature campaign promise to be a long one. He has been relentless in pushin his long-promised U.S.-Mexico wall as a tool for stopping drug trafficking and a string of high-profile murders linked to illegal immigrants. He tweeted Wednesday that there is '[g]reat unity in the Republican Party,' and declared that GOp senators '[w]ant to, once and for all, put an end to stoppable crime and drugs! Border Security and Wall. No doubt!' 'Build the wall & crime will fall,' Trump tweeted on Wednesday as the U.S. Senate gears up for a pair of test votes Thursday on reopening the government Senate GOP leader Mitch McConnell announced a plan to vote on bills to end the shutdown He and Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer made a joint appearance on the Senate floor to announce Thursday's vote on a pair of competing bills The offer to hold votes on competing bills shows the pressure lawmakers are feeling the heat to reopen the federal government. As it stands, the Senate will vote at 2:30 p.m. Thursday on back-to-back measures: the first vote will be on Trump's proposal that includes temporary protection to DACA recipients and gives him the $5.7 billion he needs to build his border wall. A second vote on House Democrats' bill to temporarily re-open the government until February 8 to allow paychecks to go out while legislators negotiate a resolution on border security funding. It does not include the funding for the president's wall. Each leader praised his respective party's plan in floor remarks. 'To reject this proposal, Democrats would have to prioritize political combat with the president ahead of federal workers, ahead of DACA recipients, ahead of border security, and ahead of stable and predictable government funding. Is that really a price that Democrats want to pay to prolong this episode, which they say they want to be over and done with?' McConnell said of the president's proposal. Schumer said his party's plan will allow the debate to continue 'without hostage taking, without temper tantrum, without anything' for two weeks of negotiations. 'So if you're looking for a way to open up the government, this is the way,' Schumer said of the second vote on the Democratic proposal,' he argued. Both measures will need 60 votes to advance in the legislative process an uphill battle that will be hard for the bills to beat. If Democrats withhold their support from the motion to proceed to Trump's plan, which comes to the floor first, and Republicans do not lend their support to the second measure, the shutdown will continue with no conceivable way forward. Trump outlined his plan to end the government shutdown in a Saturday address, offering congressional Democrats three years of legislative relief for 700,000 DACA recipients including protection from deportation and an extension of legal residence for people living in the country under 'Temporary Protective Status' designations. DACA refers to the Obama-era Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, which offered a no-deportation guarantee to hundreds of thousands of illegal immigrants whose parents brought them into the U.S. as minors. TPS is a Justice Department program that grants residency and work permits to people from 10 countries affected by natural disasters or brutal armed conflicts. They include El Salvador, Haiti, Honduras, Nepal, Nicaragua, Somalia, Syria, Sudan, South Sudan and Yemen. When the measure was formally unveiled Monday night it also included several changes to asylum law that would make it more difficult for people to seek refuge from persecution in their home countries, though. Democratic congressional leaders, who had already rejected the president's offer, were outraged. Schumer called the changes to asylum law a 'poison pen' that will keep the bill that would fund the federal government through the end of the fiscal year from being passed. One measure would fully fund President Trump's border wall For 33 days, the partial government shutdown has put federal agencies on shoestring operations, as most federal workers in the Departments of Transportation, State, Justice and even the White House endure severe furloughs. Friday is pay day for federal workers whose agencies were funded through a separate agreement last year. For workers and shuttered departments, however, it will second pay cycle in which they are not paid. After an appearance on CBNC, which he did from the White House press briefing room on Tuesday , the president's chief economic adviser, Larry Kudlow, said the administration understands the 'hardship' that federal workers are facing and has been working diligently to reopen the government. 'I don't want to belittle it. No one likes the hardship that people are having to shoulder. I understand that, including myself. I have young people on my staff who are concerned, I get that,' he said. The senior White House official who is also working without pay said, 'The president made a very strong statement on Saturday, and we're waiting, for Democrats to come to the table, and show their share of the negotiations. Ok? We're waiting for them,' he said. 'We have to solve this. Literally, the fate of the nation hinges on this.' A 65-year-old man who was involved in a siege at a semi-rural property before his wife allegedly killed herself has been charged with three offences. Rodney Croft was on Monday involved in a five-hour siege at his property at Martin, southeast of Perth, which resulted in the death of his 64-year-old wife, Janice. He has been charged with aggravated possession of a firearm, threats to harm or endanger and possessing a firearm/ammunition without a licence. Scroll down for video Rodney Croft (pictured), who was involved in a five-hour siege at his semi-rural property in Perth has been charged with three offences Rodney Croft (pictured left) was on Monday involved in a siege at his property at Martin, southeast of Perth, which resulted in the death of his 64-year-old wife, Janice (pictured right) Police were called to the Croft's property after they received reports of the man and his wife allegedly threatening sheriff officers and a locksmith. The grandparents allegedly threatened to harm officers and themselves after the sheriff and locksmith arrived at their home in the city's outer suburbs. According to police, the locksmith and Sheriff's Office representative had arrived to repossess the couple's home of 20 years, which then sparked the siege. The five-hours ordeal only ended when police fired a non-lethal 'beanbag' round at the 65-year-old man, while his wife died later in hospital. Paramedics rushed Mrs Croft to Royal Perth Hospital, where she died later that night - but she allegedly took her own life within seconds of the non-lethal round being fired. The man's arrest comes after it was revealed crippling debts and legal troubles may have triggered the dramatic five-hour siege that resulted in his wife's death. The siege ended at 3pm on Monday when police fired a non-lethal round. Mrs Croft went into cardiac arrest and was rushed to the nearby Royal Perth Hospital where she later died A police spokeswoman said on Tuesday officers were treating her death as non-suspicious. Mr Croft, who suffers from an auto-immune disease, only learned his wife had taken her life later in the day while recovering in hospital, 7 News reported. According to the publication, things turned deadly after the couple saw the locksmith arrive. Tragically Mr Croft, who suffers from an auto-immune disease, wasn't made aware of his wife's death until later in the day while he was in hospital Tactical police were called to the scene and as they approached it's alleged Mrs Croft climbed onto a nearby tractor brandishing a firearm. The repossession was allegedly a result of years of bitter legal disputes and a series of debts reportedly worth upwards of $1million. Police arrived at the home about 9am on Monday before the five-hour siege began. Mr Croft, a former deputy mayor of Gosnells, remains under police guard at hospital. If you are concerned about the mental health of yourself or a loved one, seek support and information by calling Lifeline on 13 11 14 or Beyond Blue on 1300 224 636. A vigilante 'paedophile hunter' who confronted alleged child molesters has been convicted for his actions - despite the fact he helped police catch a sex offender. Adelaide man Richard Paul Warner, 43, set up a YouTube channel and posted videos of confrontations with men he had lured while posing as an underage boy. Magistrate Paul Foley said on Thursday Warner had been 'reckless as to the risks associated', despite his actions having led to the conviction of a sex offender. A vigilante 'paedophile hunter' who confronted alleged child molesters and posted videos of confrontations with men he lured on his YouTube channel (pictured) has been convicted for his actions - despite the fact he helped police convict a sex offender On that occasion, Warner had posed as a 14-year-old and messaged the man online. It was agreed the pair would meet at the man's house to have sex, but Warner arrived with a video camera and taped the subsequent confrontation. He alerted police and uploaded identification details of the man, including his address, images of his home and car registration details. 'What followed was people, having viewed your YouTube channel, damaging the other person's property and behaving offensively including defecating in his letterbox,' Mr Foley said. 'The court should be seen to discourage conduct such as yours which provokes a vigilante response by others,' Warner, a former church minister, was initially charged with assault but brokered a deal and pleaded guilty only to using the internet to harass another person. Adelaide man Richard Paul Warner, 43, (pictured) set up a YouTube channel and posted videos of confrontations with men he had lured while posing as an underage boy Outside court, he said it would be 'for the public to decide' whether his actions were justified. 'Every citizen can be a normal citizen, or they can be a good citizen - the difference is someone who acts on their conscience or by the law,' he said. 'When the law is wrong, I think the right thing is to do by their conscience. 'I believe acting by your conscience is being a good citizen.' Mr Foley recorded a conviction but spared Warner jail, instead placing him on a 12-month, $200 good behaviour bond. Mr Foley said Warner's decision to post information online clearly identifying a person's residence was reckless. 'I accept that your personal trauma as a child and your goal in catching paedophiles gives an explanation as to why you embarked on this conduct,' Mr Foley said ABC News reported. 'But it does not amount to extenuating circumstances for using a carriage service to publish information - which clearly led to the identification of the other person and his residence.' The house of the sex offender who was charged as a result of one of Warner's videos was later vandalised by people unconnected with him, Adelaide Now reported. The house of the sex offender who was charged as a result of one of Warner's (pictured) videos was later vandalised by people unconnected with him Speaking outside court on Thursday, Warner said it was up to the public to decide whether what he did was worth the cost. 'Every citizen can be a normal citizen or they can be a good citizen, the difference is somebody who acts upon their conscience or by the law,' the father added. South Australian law bans the publication of the identity of people charged with a sexual offence until they plead guilty or are committed to stand trial. A United passenger has accused the airline of covering up a 'terrifying' and 'near death' incident that he claims could have ended with the pilots being 'sucked out of the plane'. The passenger, Theodore Liaw, filed a lawsuit on Wednesday regarding United Flight 931 from Chicago to London on October 27 last year. The plane had to make an emergency landing about three hours into the flight in Goose Bay, Canada after the windshield shattered at 40,000 feet. United said at the time that the incident had occurred due to a bird strike, according to the suit. A United passenger has filed a lawsuit claiming he is suffering from mental injuries after Flight 931 from Chicago to London was forced to make an emergency landing in Canada in October when the windscreen shattered (pictured above) But the passenger claims in the lawsuit that it was a cover up and that he allegedly learned the real story from the pilots of the plane. He alleges that the pilots told him there was 'nothing alive at 40,000 feet'. The passengers on board the flight were forced to remain on the plane for eight hours until a replacement aircraft was available. Liaw said during that time he went to speak to the pilots to thank them for landing the plane safely. He said the pilots pointed to the shattered cockpit window and explained that two of the three layers of the window and been completely compromised. 'The co-pilot's quick thinking (and extraordinary bravery) had saved everyone by keeping the third layer intact long enough for the plane to land,' the lawsuit states. 'The pilots grimly mentioned that everyone came close to dying many times over from the pilots being sucked out of the window, to the fact that had the plane been further out on its journey, the pilots would have had no choice but to risk an almost certainly fatal water landing in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean.' The passenger has accused United of trying to cover up the 'terrifying' and 'near death' incident that he claims could have ended with the pilots being 'sucked out of the plane' The passenger said he asked if it was likely that they had hit something, but the pilots laughed and said it was impossible because birds wouldn't survive at that altitude. 'The pilots said that this was likely the cause of a human mechanical error,' the lawsuit states. He claims United instructed customer service to explain to passengers that a 'bird hit the windshield'. The passenger claims the incident has left him with a fear of flying. He said on two recent short-haul flights he experienced nausea, anxiety, dizziness and sleepiness. The lawsuit says he is treating his condition with therapy but fears his entire career might be in jeopardy if it can't be fixed. He says his mental injuries have only be exacerbated by the discovery that United 'has been lying to everyone about what happened on Flight 931'. All passengers on board the flight were given a $500 credit, according to the lawsuit. Liaw has argued that he should be entitled to fair compensation from United from his 'close brush with death'. In a statement, the airline said: 'At United, safety is our top priority and we diverted the aircraft due to an issue with the cockpit window. 'The aircraft landed safely, and we are continuing to investigate this matter. Due to the pending litigation, we're unable to comment further.' An intersex councillor has claimed hospitals are performing traumatising involuntary procedures on intersex children to force them to be male or female. Hobsons Bay councillor Tony Briffa is furious the Royal Children's Hospital (RCH) will be walking in Melbourne's Pride March despite performing the surgeries. Intersex people are born with multiple variations in sex characteristics, including chromosomes, sex hormones or genitals that don't fit binary definitions of male and female bodies. Cr Briffa said the RCH has recognised transgender and gender diverse people but fails to give the same recognition to intersex people The former mayor is calling for the hospital to pull out of the march (pictured) as it engages in 'conversion therapies against intersex children' The procedures are routinely conducted around Australia without personal informed consent and are usually irreversible. There are up to 40 different types of intersex variations and 1.7 per cent of Australia's population are born with one or more, the Star Observer reported. Cr Briffa said the interventions aren't medically necessary and surgeons never get consent from the children involved. 'Current interventions by the RCH include surgically reducing the size of clitorises in baby girls who have clitorises deemed too big by doctors, forced testosterone injections given to baby boys with certain intersex variations, and the surgical removal of healthy gonads in some intersex children to remove any possible intersex trait,' Cr Briffa said. While some intersex traits are visible when a child is born, sometimes they aren't clear until puberty. The surgery can cause permanent infertility, pain, loss of sexual sensation and can cause psychological trauma. Cr Briffa said the RCH has recognised transgender and gender diverse people but fails to give the same recognition to intersex people. 'The same hospital and many of the same doctors that [perform medical interventions] on intersex children also treat trans and gender diverse children, but their bodily integrity and right to self determination are recognised,' the councillor said. Intersex councillor Tony Briffa claims hospitals are performing traumatising involuntary procedures on intersex children to force them to adhere to 'heteronormative stereotypes' Cr Briffa said all transgender operations are always conducted with the consent of the child involved. 'This is in complete contrast to intersex children so why is the RCH marching in Pride March?' Cr Briffa asked. The former mayor is calling for the hospital to pull out of the march as it engages in 'conversion therapies against intersex children'. RCH told Daily Mail Australia they preferred not to comment on Cr Briffa's claims. Cr Briffa was born intersex but raised as a female, undergoing multiple surgeries over his lifetime. His gonads were removed when he was seven-years-old, after his mother's request for his castration was approved. Cr Briffa, who prefers to be referred to as neither male nor female, now advocates for children not to have the surgery at such a young age. When he was 30-years-old, he went onto testosterone tablets and had his birth certificate changed from male to female. He also changed his name from Antoinette to Anthony. Cr Briffa then went on to become the 'world's first intersex mayor' actively campaigning for human rights. Nathan Sutherland, 36, faced court on Wednesday after being charged with raping the 29-year-old woman at Hacienda Healthcare Skilled Nursing Facility in Phoenix A lawyer for an Arizona male nurse charged with raping a quadriplegic woman at a long-term care facility says there is no proof he committed the act - even though police say his DNA linked him to the case after she gave birth to a baby boy. Nathan Sutherland, 36, faced court on Wednesday after being charged with raping the 29-year-old woman at Hacienda Healthcare Skilled Nursing Facility in Phoenix. Police started investigating after the severely disabled woman, who they say was not in a position to give consent, unexpectedly gave birth on December 29. The shock birth prompted authorities to test the DNA of all the men who worked at the care facility. Sutherland, a devout Christian and father-of-four, was forced to submit his DNA sample under court order on Tuesday and the results showed he was a match to the baby. He declined to speak with police and invoked his Fifth Amendment rights. He did not enter a plea when he faced court on Wednesday. Defense attorney David Gregan described his client as a family man with young children who has lived in Arizona since 1993. 'There's no direct evidence that Mr Sutherland has committed these acts,' Gregan said. 'I know at this point there's DNA. But he will have a right to his own DNA expert.' Scroll down for video Defense attorney David Gregan described his client as a family man with young children who has lived in Arizona since 1993. He said there was 'no direct evidence' that Sutherland committed the rape, but did acknowledge the DNA The 36-year-old is a devout Christian who tours local churches in Phoenix with his sister (right) under the group name, 'SLEEPLESSSOLJAZ' The defense attorney had asked for a lower bond on the grounds that Sutherland didn't have a criminal record. A Maricopa County Superior Court commissioner set a $500,000 cash-only bond. If Sutherland posts bond, he would need to wear an electronic monitoring device. He is charged with one count of sexual assault and one count of vulnerable adult abuse. Police said Sutherland had been a licensed practical nurse since 2011 and was directly responsible for caring for the victim at the facility. Investigators believe Sutherland raped the patient sometime between February and April. Officials at the facility said Sutherland went through an 'extensive background check' before he was hired. They said he was terminated 'the moment our leadership team learned of his arrest'. 'Every member of the Hacienda organization is troubled beyond words to think that a licensed practical nurse could be capable of seriously harming a patient,' a statement from the facility said. 'Once again, we offer an apology and send our deepest sympathies to the client and her family, to the community and to our agency partners at every level.' He had worked at Hacienda for eight years. Sutherland and his wife Bridget divorced last year. The motion was ordered on December 28 - just 24 hours before the victim gave birth. Sutherland divorced from his wife last Bridgett last year (left). The pair lived with their four-children in their Phoenix home, a neighbor revealed. Bridgett owns a catering company which Sutherland has worked for (seen right) According to court documents, the motion of divorce was ordered on December 28, 24 hours before the birth of the victim's child (pictured: Sutherland sings at Bridgett's birthday in October, 2016) State records show he was first became a clinical nursing assistant in 2005, before becoming an licensed practitioner nurse. The 36-year-old is a Haitian orphan and devout Christian who regularly tours local churches to perform Christian rap songs in the group 'SLEEPLESSOULJAZ' alongside his sister. 'My parent's split up in Haiti and I remember my mom couldn't take care of us, so she took us to an orphanage', Sutherland said in 2011. 'Even though it was an orphanage you were blessed if you had one cup or bowl of rice or something a day.' A former neighbor of the nurse has described him as a 'quiet family man'. Esella Burr said on Wednesday that Sutherland was her neighbor for more than five years until he sold his Phoenix-area home in October. Burr says he shared the home with his wife and four children, and she saw the couple leave for church every Sunday. She says Sutherland would sometimes wave or start a conversation with her and had mentioned that he enjoyed his job as a nurse. Sutherland (left) is a Haitian orphan who was adopted to the United States when he was a child Sutherland (right) has worked at Hacienda since 2011. He has been a nurse since 2005, according to state documents Hacienda HealthCare in Phoenix where a 29-year-old woman gave birth despite being incapacitated for more than a decade The 29-year-old victim has been in long-term care since she was three years old. She gave birth at the facility as staff frantically called 911 for assistance, telling the operator that they had not known the 112-pound patient was pregnant. The baby has since been released from the hospital and the victim's family have said they will take care of the boy. 'We owed this arrest to the victim. We owed this arrest to the newest member of our community - that innocent baby,' Phoenix police Sergeant Tommy Thomson said. 'The baby I am told is doing good. 'We can't always choose how we come into this life, but we can choose as a community how we will love this child - and that's what we need to do.' According to the victim's family, their daughter's condition includes severe brain damage, seizure disorder, and psycho-motor retardation. Initially she was described as being in a coma. 'She does not speak but has some ability to move her limbs, head and neck,' the family's attorney said in a statement. 'The important thing here is that contrary to what's been reported, she is a person, albeit with significant intellectual disabilities. 'She has feelings, likes to be read to, enjoys soft music and is capable of responding to people she is familiar with, especially family. The case has prompted the departure or discipline of key figures at Hacienda HealthCare, including the CEO William Timmons. Timmons resigned on December 31 as the provider announced new safety measures, including more than one staff member being present during patient interactions and more scrutiny of visitors. Phoenix police officers are pictured here visiting residents of the home around the time of the holidays in 2014 Members of the Phoenix police department would regularly visit the home during the holidays Hacienda HealthCare CEO Bill Timmons stepped down last month in light of the scandal On Monday, the hospital confirmed that two doctors responsible for overseeing the victim's care would no longer be practicing at the facility. Dr. Nguyen (left) was suspended on January 15. Dr. Gear (right) has resigned, a statement said The provider says one doctor who had cared for the woman resigned and another had been suspended. Dr. Thanh Nguyen has been revealed as the victim's primary care doctor in a suspension letter obtained by CBS News. Issued on January 15 - 10 days after the story first broke - the letter, addressed to Nguyen, states he placed 'one or more' of his patients' heath and welfare 'in danger'. Nguyen has been suspended without pay until a full internal investigation is carried out by the Arizona Health Care Cost Containment System (AHCCCS). The second physician is believed to be Dr. Phillip Gear, a veteran pediatrician in Phoenix, who has previously been reprimanded by the Arizona Medical board after the death of an infant under his care. Practicing for more than 30 years, court records show Dr. Gear last checked the victim in April 2018 and noted no major changes in her health or condition. Both of the woman's caregivers claimed to be unaware she was pregnant, but the time of Dr. Gear's last interaction with the victim would suggest she had been a few weeks pregnant at the time of the examination. This isn't the first time Dr. Gear has been involved in an instance of negligence in relation to his care of a patient. In 2001, Gear was reproached by the Arizona Medical Board for failing to perform a rectal exam on a toddler under his care, who later died. The board concluded Gear's actions constituted negligence resulting in the child's death. It is a dream job that pays an impressive $200,000 a year - and does not require any work experience. But now we know why. It turns out the test to become an air traffic controller - advertised by Air Services Australia this month - is ludicrously difficult, with only three in 100 managing to pass Candidates are given a series of online tests, which they cannot study for in advance, where they are tasked with completing a logical sequence of symbols . Applicants are shown a logical sequence of five symbols and are tasked with deciding which symbol completes the sequence. See answers below Did you pass? See the answers above. Question 1, E. Question 2, D. Question 3, D. Question 4, B The shape-based questions are meant to measure an applicant's ability to problem-solve and think analytically. The company said they were struggling to find suitable candidates after only 30 of 1180 who applied for the 2017 program were accepted. An Airservices Australia spokesman told news.com.au they were working to get replacement staff to cover 'unexpected staff absences'. Passengers at Sydney Airport faced extensive domestic flight delays due to a lack of air traffic control staff last week. But Charles Robinson, services training manager for Airservices Australia, previously warned the job isn't for everyone. 'If you like doing the same thing repetitively, this is not for you,' he told The Sydney Morning Herald last year. Data released by the Australian Taxation Office showed air traffic controllers are among Australia's top ten earners, with $141,795 average yearly salaries. The starting salaries for graduates roles begin at $99,898. The company said they were struggling to find suitable candidates after only 30 of 1180 who applied for the 2017 program were accepted (stock image) There is no degree or experience required to apply for air traffic control jobs in Australia or New Zealand (stock image) New Zealand's Airway traffic services manager Tim Boyle said their company was also struggling to find suitable candidates for their traffic control position. The lack of applicants has forced some airports to ask staff to work on scheduled days off, sparking flight delays and the fatigue of controllers, the New Zealand Air Line Pilots' Association said. 'We are currently recruiting and would love to hear from anyone who think they might have what it takes,' New Zealand's Airways traffic services general manager Tim Boyle told Stuff. 'A lot of different people will have the capabilities, we just don't see enough of them.' If successful, they will undertake an air traffic control training course before 12 months of on-the-job training. A serial rapist's disgusting taunts have been revealed in court after he is jailed for ten years. Callum Joseph Haggerty pleaded guilty to five counts of rape, two counts of fraud and two counts of common assault last year in the District Court in Brisbane, ABC News reported. The court heard that the 28-year-old had consensual sex with his first victim but raped her after she refused to have sex again. 'He failed to listen to her saying 'stop' and 'no', Prosecutor Matthew Hynes told the court 'He failed to listen to her saying 'stop' and 'no', Prosecutor Matthew Hynes told the court. They also heard that Haggerty raped another woman on three separate occasions, telling her to 'suck it up'. 'She tried to make him stop but that left him tightening his grip,' Mr Hynes said. On another occasion, Haggerty was arrested while on bail after he raped a sex worker he met online for consensual sex but refused to use a condom. Mr Hynes told the court that the victim was crying throughout the horrific ordeal and was trying to push him off her. 'He said, 'did you enjoy that?' Judge Julie Ryrie sentenced Haggerty to 10 years' jail and will be eligible for parole after serving eight years Haggerty is also accused of catfishing multiple women online and duping them of $50,000, and was abusing alcohol, gambling and suffered with muscular dystrophy at the time of the attacks. His defence barrister said his client was 'extremely remorseful' for what he did. Judge Julie Ryrie sentenced Haggerty to 10 years' jail and will be eligible for parole after serving eight years. A woman celebrating her birthday at a popular Atlanta club was allegedly sexually assaulted as she was streaming on Facebook Live from the dance floor. The alleged victim was live-streaming herself dancing at popular night club Opera Atlanta on Saturday when the assault took place. The woman, who is not being named as she is a victim of sexual assault, posted several videos throughout the night dancing with a man behind her. At one point in the video she says she's celebrating her birthday and later in a disturbing live clip cries 'Help me!' and 'Stop!' as a man stands behind her. A woman partying at nightclub Opera Atlanta in Georgia on Saturday was allegedly sexually assaulted while she was live-streaming on Facebook from the dance floor A woman watching the livestream alerted the cops who arrived to the scene early Sunday morning but couldn't find the victim. They were later able to get in contact with her and with her suspected assaulter A woman watching the video online immediately called police after seeing the man allegedly sexually assault her while in a crowd of people early Sunday morning, according to the Atlanta Police Department. The concerned caller said she saw on Facebook Live a black female being groped on her chest and possibly being raped from behind while she was screaming "No, stop"', the police report said according to People Magazine. 'In the video, you can clearly hear the female saying "Stop, please somebody help me,"' an officer said in the incident report after seeing the clip. Cops responded to the scene and met with club security but were unable to find the alleged victim. The video was recorded about an hour before the officers arrived to Opera Atlanta, cops later learned. A cop noted in the incident report that the alleged victim did not seek any help from authorities after the assault. The harrowing video went viral and has since been deleted. The woman told police she believes her drink was spiked with a drug and then the man became sexually aggressive with her, according to CBS. The club shared this notice after the attack saying they were cooperating with police She was put in contact with the Special Victims Unit investigators following the incident and she has since left Georgia but is cooperating with police. Since the assault, cops have identified the male in the video, but are not releasing his name. 'Investigators have also identified the male we believe is seen in the video with her and have been in contact with him, as well,' Atlanta Police said in a statement to People. The alleged victim posted on Facebook on Monday saying she was okay and thanking people who helped her. 'We found him. All I want is justice. That's it,' she said. Following the alleged assault the club shared a Facebook statement saying they were actively working with police to resolve the matter. 'At this time we have met with the Atlanta Police Department and have provided them everything they have requested. We will continue to aid and support their investigation in any way we can,' the club said. Following the incident EDM artist Zedd canceled his February 1st performance at the club. Local promoter subtle has also relocated an event scheduled for January 25 to another location. Lara Trump (above) has received backlash after she told federal employees who are about to see their second empty paycheck due to the government shutdown that their sacrifice is 'for the future of the country' Lara Trump has urged federal employees who are about to see their second empty paycheck due to the government shutdown to 'stay strong' because they are sacrificing 'for the future of the country'. The comments by the president's daughter-in-law and wife to Eric Trump were condemned by critics as tone-deaf and insensitive to the nearly 800,000 federal workers struggling to put food on the table as the shutdown drags on. Trump responded to the criticism by saying that the mainstream media had twisted her words to detract from her message of encouragement. In an interview with Bold TV on Monday, Trump insisted that the president is fighting for 'what he knows is the right thing to do', telling federal workers: 'It's not fair to you, and we all get that, but this is so much bigger than any one person. 'It is a little bit of pain but it's going to be for the future of our country, and their children and their grandchildren and generations after them will thank them for their sacrifice right now.' Scroll down for video Trump defended the shutdown during an interview with Bold TV on Monday, saying: 'It is a little bit of pain but it's going to be for the future of our country, and [federal workers'] children and their grandchildren and generations after them will thank them for their sacrifice' Many government employees are continuing to work without pay, and some are not allowed to work during the #governmentshutdown. @LaraLeaTrump wants these citizens to know that their sacrifice is not in vain. pic.twitter.com/royaX1Roy0 Bold (@BoldTV) January 21, 2019 Trump, whose husband is worth an estimated $300million, continued: 'I know it's hard. I know people have families, they have bills to pay, they have mortgages, they have rents that are due. 'But the president is trying every single day to come up with a good solution here and, the reality is, it's been something that's gone on for too long and been unaddressed - our immigration problem. 'If we do nothing right now, it's never going to get fixed. This is our one opportunity.' Social media was quick to call Trump out for characterizing the missed paychecks as 'a little bit of pain'. CNN legal analyst Renato Mariotti summarized the public sentiment by tweeting: 'Do you have any idea what its like to get bills in the mail that you cant pay? Do you know what its like not to visit the doctor because you cant afford the deductible? The amount of stress that puts on a family is huge. Its a lot more than "a bit of a pain."' Journalist Bradford Pearson tweeted: 'If Lara Trump would like to pay my furloughed wifes $600/month law school loans, our $2,100/month rent, or our $1,350/month day care bill, my email address is in my bio.' Twitter user @Kimma_S wrote: 'Hey federal workers not being paid - #LaraTrump says its unfair but its bigger than any 1 person. Or apparently 800K people. I'm sure she's suffering right along with you in her multi million dollar home with staff cooking her dinner.' Twitter was quick to criticize Trump for calling the missed paychecks 'a little bit of pain' Trump was also criticized by the hosts of The View during Wednesday morning's show. 'If you are a millionaire's wife, you may not understand that there are families that can't afford to feed their children,' Sunny Hostin said. 'It's just such a bad look,' co-host Meghan McCain added. Joy Behar quipped: 'But she's married to [Eric Trump] - she knows pain.' Trump responded to the criticism with a statement on Twitter that said: '#FakeNews is rampant these days. Don't believe the #MSM who overreact without research and didn't bother to watch my whole interview. 'They're completely misrepresenting my words and my support for furloughed workers. My heart goes out to all of the federal workers affected by the shutdown, and we're fighting every day to end this impasse. 'BTW, if the Democrats really cared about these employees, many of who support the President's fight for border security, they'd meet with @realDonaldTrump now!' After receiving criticism on social media and in the news, posted a tweet accusing the mainstream media of twisting her words to detract from her message of encouragement Wednesday marked the 33rd day of the partial government shutdown as the president and Democratic lawmakers remain locked in a stalemate over Trump's demand for a $5.7billion border wall. Lara Trump said her father-in-law is standing his ground because without the shutdown as leverage, the president has 'no hand to play'. She told federal employees: 'We appreciate everything that you're sacrificing. We are behind you, and we're going do everything we can. I know the president is doing everything he can to resolve this quickly.' Trump (above in the Oval Office with her son) insisted that the president is acting in America's best interest, saying: 'I know the president is doing everything he can to resolve this quickly' This is the terrifying moment a huge 52 car freight train derailed in front of shocked drivers on a crossing in Canada. Shocking dashcam footage shows the carriages, carrying grain, beginning to fall from the tracks as cars wait for it to pass. Miraculously no one was injured in the incident after it was filmed in Saskatoon, Canada. The footage begins with cars pulling up to stop as the CN train comes into view and passes across the road. A number of the carriages travel on without trouble but towards the middle of the train they begin to wobble and dust is thrown up from the ground. The locomotive then begins to derail and carriages pile up on top of one another as the nearby vehicles back up to safety surrounded by black clouds. Dashcam footage captured the moment a 52 car freight train derailed in Saskatoon, Canada The clip shows the carriages beginning to wobble as they pass the cars waiting on the crossing After one carriage falls the rest quickly follow and dust is thrown up from the ground The car backs away to safety after the driver witnessed the carriages carrying grain fall An aerial shot shows the 30 carriages piled up following the terrifying crash earlier in the week Eyewitness Rachel Baird said: 'It was kicking up some snow and I thought, 'Gosh, this thing is going to tip. And then sure enough it slowly tips over. 'Of course next one, the next one, three or four just tip over but then they're piling into each other just like a movie. It was pretty wild.' Fire crews were called to the incident near Warman on Tuesday morning. They say 30 cars were derailed in the incident and that a fire broke out. The woman who shot the footage said she felt the crash in her car and that the sound was louder than her microphone picked up. Saskatoon Fire Department Assistant Fire Chief Wayne Roger told CTV Saskatoon during the incident: 'We have a fire that's flowing. The liquid fuel, the diesel, is actually flowing and igniting at the same time so it provides some additional challenge to control that.' He added: 'All I'm aware of is that there was 30 that left the track. And they were pretty much kind of accordioned side by side all across the roadway.' No one was injured in the incident after the emergency services raced to the scene Saskatoon Fire Department confirmed the train caught alight following the crash Fire crews were called to the incident near Warman on Tuesday morning Saskatoon Fire Department Assistant Fire Chief Wayne Roger confirmed 30 cars left the track Mayor of nearby Warman Sheryl Spence told CBC: 'We need to be thankful and grateful that there was no injuries and that it's being cleaned up so quickly.' By Wednesday all the derailed cars had been taken away and a clean-up operation was in place to repair the track. A CN spokesperson said: 'CN apologizes for any inconvenience caused by this incident.' Transportation Safety Board investigators are now working to find the cause of the accident. Footage of police searching an Indigenous Australian stripped down to his underwear on a busy road has sparked public outrage. Plain-clothed officers stopped the 50-year-old man at Glebe Point Road in Glebe, an inner Sydney suburb, at about 2.50pm on January 8. A police spokesman said officers intended to do a general search because of the man's allegedly 'suspicious behaviour'. 'When the man became hostile towards officers he was handcuffed due to safety reasons,' NSW Police said in a statement. Police say the man became agitated soon afterwards and took off his clothing of his own accord. Scroll down for video Footage of police searching an Indigenous Australian stripped down to his underwear on a busy road has sparked public outrage (pictured, plain-clothed officer holding detained man against the wall) 'When the man calmed down police released him and issued him with a move-on direction,' NSW Police said. What was supposed to be a seemingly routine check has quickly sparked public outrage, after footage of the search circulated on social media. Videos posted to Facebook have been viewed close to 200,000 times with many users condemning the incident. A plain-clothed police officer was seen pushing the handcuffed and almost naked Indigenous Australian up against a shop wall. The officer is seen pulling at the indigenous elder's underwear to search him. The handcuffed man then tried to resist the police officer as the officer tried to take his legs out from under him and drop him to the ground. As an officer kept the now-seated man on the ground, the other one looked through the shoes and clothes of the detained man. Eventually the man was sent on his way, though not before he spoke his mind. 'This is the way youve treated black fellas for hundreds of years,' he said. 'For years, youve been treating my people like this.' Sydney Criminal Lawyer's Paul Gregoire slammed the ordeal. 'The officer retrieved a box of syringes from the gutter and held them up, as he asked the man why he had them in his possession,' he said. 'The individual filming can be heard to say that the syringes in question can be obtained from the hospital for free. 'Indeed, there are literally hundreds of needle and syringe program outlets across the state, which are sponsored by the NSW government.' The rowdy British travellers causing havoc across New Zealand have crashed and abandoned their car in Auckland. Joe Doran said his father crashed the seven-seat Honda Odyssey because he was distracted by people calling them 'gypsy scum' while reversing in Mangere. The car hit a curb with such force that the front airbags popped and two tyres burst. The family were seen leaving the car and arguing while walking away with their belongings including a child's car seat. The car was left abandoned on a street near Auckland Airport, where somebody daubed an offensive word on the back windscreen The family (pictured on Thursday) were seen leaving the car and arguing while walking away with their belongings including a child's car seat 'People were shouting at us and I look back and hit a curb,' the father told the New Zealand Herald. 'I punctured the wheel of the car.' Joe Doran added: 'People were calling me gypsy scum and my father crashed the motor over people calling me gypsy scum.' However, witness Nellie Harris, 25, said this was untrue as there was no one out on the road and no one shouting. 'The car came round the corner and hit a kerb that sticks out from the pavement,' she told MailOnline. 'It was a huge bang and we saw the air bags had popped and the car grind to a halt.' Ms Harris, who was waiting to have her own car repaired at a garage next to the crash site, then watched in amazement as the Doran clan piled out of the car in which they toured the length of New Zealand's north island. Write-off: The car hit a curb with such force that the front airbags popped and two tyres burst Joe Doran said his father crashed the seven-seat Honda Odyssey because he was distracted by people calling them 'gypsy scum' while reversing 'The guy with dyed blonde hair had been driving and it looked his parents and his wife and I think two children, one in a pram,' she said. 'The driver's wife was absolutely furious, screaming at the driver. She was telling him, 'you don't know how to drive!' over and over in his face. 'The car was pouring black smoke but they just grabbed all their stuff and ran off down the road, as fast as they could.' A neighbour, who asked not to be named, said: 'It could have been really serious. My friend went up to the older woman and asked if they were alright and if she could help and the woman just told her to eff off and get effed. The abandoned car containing rubbish from British Consulate was found on the side of the road not far from Auckland Airport after hitting a barrier 'She was ranting and raving. The whole lot of them took off down the road.' The car, littered with food scraps, Red Bull cans, children's toys and an advice leaflet from the British consulate, was still at the scene on Wednesday night. The four adult Dorans, all served with 28-day deportation liability notices by New Zealands immigration service, are understood to be ready to leave the country on Friday, and head home with their young children. They are holed up in a hotel room eating pizza on what may be their last night in the country that has come to despise them for their antics. The British family were spotted leaving the rubbish-strewn car with some of their belongings The manager, who asked MailOnline not to reveal the location, said: Were not happy theyre here but they are and for now theres been no issue. But another member of the extended family is spending the night in police custody after being charged with reckless driving and assault of the young woman whose video of the Dorans filthy beach picnic began the saga. The 26-year-old man, whose name has not been released, is accused of using the car 'as a weapon' by driving towards her on Auckland's Takapuna Beach. A conviction for assault using a car carries a maximum sentence of five years, while reckless driving carries three months in prison and a fine up to 2,330. The man appeared in Auckland District Court on Thursday and will appear again on Friday when he is expected to apply for bail. One of the British 'gyspies' causing havoc across New Zealand has been charged with assault and reckless driving. Pictured: Members of the family are questioned by police The alleged assault took place on Sunday 13 January, the day a group of British travellers was filmed leaving beer bottles and piles of rubbish on the city's Takapuna beach. Witness Krista Curnow alleged the group of about 12 tourists turned violent when she asked them to clean their mess as they left the beach. She said a young boy threatened to 'knock the brains out' of locals who confronted them and that the driver of the car tried to take her mobile phone. The British family has been causing trouble in New Zealand since arriving before Christmas. They have been accused of trashing an apartment, leaving restaurants without paying and stealing from shops. One woman, Tinamarie Cash, 26, pleaded guilty in court to stealing Red Bull, rope and sunglasses from a service station. Five members of the 12-strong group have been slapped with deportation orders on January 16 after causing a ruckus at Hamilton Burger King, where they were seen speaking to police. The deportation orders mean they have 28 days to leave the country. The alleged assault took place on Sunday 13 January, the day a group of British travellers was filmed leaving beer bottles and piles of rubbish (pictured) on the city's Takapuna beach Police said in a statement on Thursday: 'Police investigating an alleged incident involving a vehicle at Takapuna Beach on 13 January have arrested a 26-year-old British national. 'He has been charged with assault with a weapon and reckless driving. 'The man is due to appear in the Auckland District Court today. 'As this matter is now before the courts, police are unable to comment further.' Auckland Mayor Phil Goff previously called them 'a*******s' and 'trash' in interview on a local radio station. Schoolchildren have been left traumatised after animal activists pretended to barbecue a fake dog in the middle of one of Australia's busiest thoroughfares. The stunt was carried out by the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) at Pitt Street Mall in the centre of Sydney on Thursday. PETA were protesting the eating of meat, asking the public: 'If you wouldn't eat a dog, why eat a lamb?' 'Go vegan!' a sign on the barbecue read. Scroll down for video Schoolchildren have been left traumatised after animal activists pretended to barbecue a lifelike-looking dog in the middle of one of Australia's busiest thoroughfares The stunt was carried out by the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) at Pitt Street Mall in Sydney's CBD on Thursday PETA were protesting the eating of meat, asking the public: 'If you wouldn't eat a dog, why eat a lamb?' The prop dog was seen lying on the barbecue seemingly being grilled alongside corn, onions and mushrooms. 'The idea of barbecuing dogs rightly causes outrage amongst Australians. Meanwhile, millions of other equally sensitive and intelligent animals are forced to endure horrific suffering when they're bred, raised and killed for the meat industry,' the organisation said in a statement. 'Anyone who's repulsed by the prospect of chowing down on dog meat should question the incongruity of their compassion towards other animals. 'As humans, we instinctively feel compassion and empathy for animals, but we're taught that it's OK to enslave and eat some of them, without a second thought as to who they are as individuals.' PETA suggested choosing animal-free options for barbecues during Australia Day on Saturday The stunt reportedly upset youngsters who were in the city on Thursday PETA suggested choosing animal-free options for barbecues during Australia Day on Saturday. The stunt reportedly upset youngsters who were in the city on Thursday. 'PETA stopping (sic) to new lows with their stunt in Martin Place today - terrifying children on school holiday outings by barbecuing (a very lifelike) dog. I saw some visibly upset kids,' one person tweeted. An Ohio sixth-grader has taken his own life after his parents say the school refused to intervene when he was being bullied. Aaron Fuller, 13, was found with a belt around his neck in his bedroom in the Northwood neighborhood of Toledo on January 11, his family said. School bullies had told him to kill himself online, his father, Steven Fuller, told the Toledo Blade. '[The bullying] has to stop. People have to learn,' Steven said. 'These kids arent just getting bullied, but they know if they go say something to a teacher or someone else, theyre the next one who is going to get picked on or beat up.' Ohio sixth-grader Aaron Fuller, 13 (pictured), has taken his own life after his parents say the Lake School District in Toledo refused to intervene when he was being bullied on social media Steven said he's still in disbelief over losing his youngest son, Aaron, who loved music, drawing, swimming, and playing video games. 'Every night when I go upstairs, his room is right across from ours, and I look in there and I still cant believe it, I still say goodnight to him and tell him that I love him,' Steven said. 'I cant say it hasnt sunk in that hes gone, but I dont want to believe it. I just cant believe it right now.' The teen had a passion for animals, sharing his home with his bunny "Bob" and his dogs, his obituary read. 'Aaron spent time with his Grandma Kathy and grew a love for antiquing. Most of his time was spent outdoors enjoying dirt bikes and four-wheelers with his Brother Joseph. 'Mom loved to call him her pumpkin and they enjoyed shopping trips together. He grew a love for cooking with his Step-Mom and learning how to plow with Dad. He visited Milan Drag Way with his Step-Dad catching T-Shirts during the races.' School bullies had told Aaron (right) to kill himself online, his father, Steven Fuller (left) said Steven said that Aaron (pictured) had been repeatedly bullied at Lake Middle School, and used to defend himself, but that classmates said recently he had stopped sticking up for himself while he was attacked and teased over things like forgetting money and not packing a lunch, and the clothes that he wore On the night Aaron died, Steven and Aaron's stepmother, Tami, had left him home alone with his older brother, Joseph, for about 45 minutes while they went to pick up dinner, they said. When they returned, the found him dead. Joseph, 15, is the one who found him, after going upstairs to get him when Aaron didn't come downstairs when he was called to come eat. 'The first words out of [Josephs] mouth were, "Aaron, no, what did you do? I cant do this without you,"' Steven said. 'Theres nothing I wont miss about him... from having to yell at him to being able to hug him, just seeing him sit across the table, smiling.' Tami, who is a nurse, and Steven said they performed CPR on Aaron, together, for about 30 minutes until emergency responders arrived, but Aaron was already gone. Steven said that Aaron had been repeatedly bullied at Lake Middle School, and used to defend himself, but that classmates said recently he had stopped sticking up for himself. Instead, Aaron had taken to sitting quietly in the cafeteria while he was attacked, and teased over things like forgetting money and not packing a lunch, and the clothes that he wore, his family said. Eventually, Steven said, Aaron would storm out of the lunchroom to avoid the abuse. Just hours before his death, Steven had grounded Aaron for taking $135 that was supposed to have been used to pay for a school camping trip to deposit money on his school lunch account. Once the bullying escalated to social media comments urging Aaron to kill himself, Steven went to the school. According to the Fullers, the school district told them there was nothing that could be done because Aaron had participated in the online exchange. Once the bullying escalated to social media comments urging Aaron to kill himself, Steven went to the school. According to the Steve (right) and his wife Tami (left), who was Aaron's stepmom, the school district told them there was nothing that could be done because Aaron had participated in the online exchange It's not clear when the online bullying escalated, but Steven said in September, he found Aaron lying in a pool of his own vomit after drinking a bottle of rum that Steven and Tami had received as a wedding gift, four years prior. Steven said his son told him he wasn't trying to kill himself, but that he did it to make the bullying and pain stop Lake Local Schools superintendent Jim Witt emailed a statement to the Toledo Blade, which read: 'Our school family is heartbroken over the death of our student, Aaron Fuller. Our prayers go out to Aarons family and friends during this most difficult time. All of us who knew Aaron are grieving and will miss him very much. At this time, due to an ongoing police investigation and potential litigation, the district will have no further comments regarding this matter.' Witt added in a phone interview: 'We continue to grieve with the family. We are praying for them, and we hope that they are able to find some peace and solace.' It's not clear when the online bullying escalated, but Steven said in September, he found Aaron lying in a pool of his own vomit after drinking a bottle of rum that Steven and Tami had received as a wedding gift, four years prior. Steven said his son told him he wasn't trying to kill himself, but that he did it to make the bullying and pain stop. That's when he started seeing a counselor, and things seemed to be improving, but apparently that wasn't entirely true. Now, the family is dealing with the lasting impacts of a life gone, too soon. Joseph has been pulled out of school, with Steven homeschooling him for now. The father said the boy swere best friends, and he's worried for his older son. 'Thats something thats going to be with [Joseph] for the rest of his life,' Steven said.'The bully didnt only do this to Aaron, its affecting our whole family.' Steven also has an older daughter, Sarah, age 19, who he's said he's concerned for. As for Aaron's mother, Cris Fuller, Steven said she has been so deeply devastated by the lose of their son that she's not able to drive. The Fullers said they hope sharing this story can shine light on the issue of bullying, and prevent a similar tragedy for other families. 'If your kids being bullied, stay on them. Stay on the school, just stay on it,' Aaron's stepmother, Tami, said. Steven added: 'Dont assume you know everything thats going on, because you dont.' For confidential support in the US, call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-8255 or click here. For confidential support on suicide matters in the UK, call the Samaritans on 08457 90 90 90, visit a local Samaritans branch or click here. For confidential support in Australia, please call Lifeline on 13 11 14 or click here. Manila (CNN Philippines Life) This weekend, attend zine markets and art popups, grab Eraserheads merch, visit an exhibition that pays tribute to female Southeast Asian artists, join indie band Pastilan Dong! as they launch their third album, discuss modern love and dating at a free-for-all talk, and watch your favorite bands perform at Shirebound and Buskings new single launch. Munzinelupa This Saturday, head down to Picked Cafe & Gallery in Muntinlupa for an art market packed with zines up for grabs, live music, short films, and talks. Expect zines from Asshulz, Chemical Comics, Magpies, Komiks Sundays, The Cabinet, Zeempleng Tao, Manila Artpost, music from artists like by Bedspacer, Youngsleepyboi, Teenage Granny, Meh Shua, and French Exit, food, drinks, and more. The event is from 1 p.m. to 7 p.m. Entrance is free. Picked Cafe & Gallery is located at The Place Bldg., National Highway, Brgy. Tunasan, Muntinlupa City. For more information, visit the Facebook event page. Pagbati sa Hari: Komiks Pop-Up and Talks Continue spending your Saturday with art and komiks at the Ayala Museum as they hold a day-long event in celebration of 100 years of Filipino illustrator F.V. Coching, who is regarded as one of the pillars of Philippine Komiks. Attendees can enjoy pop-ups with komiks artists, merch, talks, and activities at the event, which is happening from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Admission to the Komiks at Kultura exhibit is also free on the day. Ayala Museum is located at Makati Ave. cor. De La Rosa St., Makati City. For more information, visit the Facebook event page. Ultraelectromagneticpop! 25th Anniversary Merch Launch Eraserheads beloved debut album, Ultraelectromagneticpop!, was released 25 years ago. To celebrate this milestone, visit Saguijo in Makati this Saturday for the merch launch, and catch performances by local acts One Click Straight, Pinkmen, ena mori, Hilera, Jun Lopito, and Nobodys Home. The event starts at 8 p.m. Entrance is 250. Saguijo is located at 7612 Guijo St., San Antonio Village, Makati City. For more information, visit the Facebook event page. Gendered Bodies in Southeast Asia Make your way to the Metropolitan Museum of Manila for an exhibition that pays tribute to female artists from Southeast Asia, recognizing them as pioneers in advancing art's transformative role in contemporary societies, and as educators of artistic communities. The exhibition is curated by Filipino curator Tessa Maria Guazon and Taiwanese curator Fang-Tze Hsu. This Saturday, there will be a conversation with the artists and curators at 2 p.m., followed by the opening reception at 4 p.m. and a performance by Amanda Heng at 5 p.m. The Metropolitan Museum of Manila is located at Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas Complex, Roxas Blvd., Malate, Manila. For more information, visit the Facebook event page. Pastilan Dong! Album Launch Take a trip back to the 90s this Saturday at at the launch of Pastilan Dong!s third album, Gadilaab, at Mows Bar in Quezon City. Their third album which means burning in Bisaya will be released on red cassette tapes, with a limited quantity to be sold at the album launch for 400. With Kaloy Olavides on vocals and guitar, Rio Vargas on bass, and Vin Zafra on the drums, the bands music can be described as shoegaze, noise, and psychedelic. Other bands performing on Saturday are Ourselves the Elves, Public Places, The Rave Tapes, and Stellar Spectre. The event starts at 8 p.m. Door charge is 200 inclusive of one free drink. Mows is located at Kowloon House Basement, 20 Matalino St., Quezon City. For more information, visit the Facebook event page. Lets Talk: Modern Love In a fast-paced, ever shifting society, how does the modern millennial date? On Friday, join womens group Grrrl Gang Manila on a discussion of modern love and relationships. The event starts at 5 p.m. Admission is free. The event is happening at WeWork, 9th Flr., Uptown Place, 11th Ave., BGC, Taguig. For more information, visit the Facebook event page. Aninipot: Single Launch Shirebound and Busking is a solo folk project by Iego Tan. On Saturday, head to Route 196 in Katipunan for the launch of his new single, Aninipot. Other musical acts playing at the event include Ang Bandang Shirley, Nights of Rizal, Leanne and Naara, and Bea Lorenzo. The event starts at 9 p.m. Tickets are sold at 250 if you arrive before 9 p.m. and 300 if you arrive 9 p.m. onwards. The ticket comes with one free beer. Route 196 is located at Katipunan Ave., Quezon City. For more information, visit the Facebook event page. Hyprocrite? James Dyson has rejected the accusation, it follows his decision to relocate the Dyson head office from the UK to Singapore Brexit-backing businessman Sir James Dyson has rejected allegations he is a hypocrite, following his decision to relocate the Dyson head office from the UK to Singapore. Billionaire Sir James was one of the loudest business supporters of Brexit at the 2016 referendum and when the talks stagnated in 2017 he urged Mrs May to 'walk away' and embrace leaving Europe. Remain supporters lashed out at the 71-year-old for his 'staggering hypocrisy.' Sir James has claimed his critics have 'missed the point entirely' and that he would continue to invest in Britain. He said: 'These are not the actions of a hypocrite, but someone wanting to invest more the UK post-Brexit, not less,' he told The Telegraph. Despite the firm's insistence the relocation is not to do with Brexit, it is acutely embarrassing to Leave supporters and to the government. It comes amid mounting concern that a no deal Brexit could be disastrous for British manufacturing - particularly in the motor industry. Sir James said the HQ move will help the company become more competitive in the lucrative electric car market, and highlighted investment at the company's research facilities in Wiltshire where engineers are working on the project. The Queen presents James Dyson with the insignia of members of the Order of Merit, during a private audience at Buckingham Palace in London on July 19, 2016 Reflective glass buildings sit on the Dyson campus in Malmesbury, Wiltshire, in October 2016 He added: 'Every pound of investment and employment we spend employment we spend in Britain is a vote of confidence in Britain. 'We have built from scratch the Dyson Institute of Engineering and Technology, a university where undergraduates are paid. 'It is nurturing the engineers who will form a vital part of our long-term future in the UK.' It is the second blow Dyson has dealt to Brexit Britain after last year's announcement that it will manufacturer its new electric cars in Singapore, rather than the UK. In justifying the move, chief executive Jim Rowan dismissed the idea of Brexit and lower taxes being a motivation. 'The move is nothing to do with Brexit or tax, it's about making sure we are future proofed. There are huge revenue opportunities in Singapore, China is the poster child of that,' he said. 'The tax difference is negligible for us, we are taxed all over the world and we will continue to pay tax in the UK. We will continue to invest in the UK, in Malmesbury, in Bristol and London.' Mr Rowan confirmed that Sir James was integral to the decision to ditch Britain. The decision comes just weeks after Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt visited Singapore as he talked up Britain strengthening ties with the country. Theresa May was warned today the Dyson move was 'damning for the Government' amid mounting concern about the future of British industry Two of Dyson's senior executives will move to Singapore initially, with the head count to grow over the coming years. Around 3,500 people work for Dyson in the UK, part of a workforce of around 12,000 worldwide. Relocating the HQ will not cut staffing, the firm insisted. The company, best known for its vacuum cleaners and other domestic appliances, is working on developing an electric vehicle in the Asian nation. Ireland admits that no-deal Brexit will be 'very difficult' and pleads for a customs deal Leo Varadkar today said Ireland and the UK will have to strike a customs deal to keep the Irish border open if there is a no deal Brexit. The Irish PM said a new backstop will have to be agreed to honour the Good Friday peace agreement - despite spending two years blocking Britain's bid for a deal. The comments came after the EU Commission today warned that a no deal Brexit will mean a hard border between Northern Ireland and the Irish Republic. Mr Varadkar told the Irish parliament: 'Both the UK and Ireland will have an obligation to honour the Good Friday Agreement, protect the peace process and honour our commitment to the people of Ireland and Northern Ireland, that there won't be a hard border. 'We would have to negotiate an agreement on customs and regulations that meant full alignment so there will be no hard border.' Irish foreign minister Simon Coveney said also warmed that the Irish government 'would not support' the emergence of a hard border. Just hours earlier the EU commission gave the clearest indication yet that it will insist on physical checks if the UK crashes out of the bloc. Advertisement The firm said in a statement earlier this week: 'An increasing majority of Dyson's customers and all of our manufacturing operations are now in Asia; this shift has been occurring for some time and will quicken as Dyson brings its electric vehicle to market. 'We are now at a point where Dyson's corporate head office will relocate there to reflect the increasing importance of Asia to Dyson's business.' But having one of Britain's most successful manufacturers quit the UK comes at a sensitive time, with several car makers including Nissan, Ford and Toyota warning about the rising prospects of a no-deal Brexit, which would jeopardise their operations in the country. Liberal Democrat Layla Moran, a supporter of the Best for Britain anti-Brexit campaign, said: 'This is staggering hypocrisy for Brexit-backing businessman James Dyson. 'It is utterly unbelievable that the business face of Brexit is moving yet another part of his business out of the UK. 'James Dyson can say whatever he wants but he is ditching Britain. This can only be seen is a vote of no confidence in the idea of Brexit Britain. 'Rather than fleeing can I suggest he maybe donates to the final say campaign to mop up some of the disaster he helped create. This is a damning for the government.' Labour MP Jo Stevens, who wants a 'People's Vote' on Brexit, said: 'Many leading Brexiters trumpeted Dyson as a model for how businesses in post-Brexit Britain could thrive, but the reality of Brexit is jobs being outsourced, companies leaving and investment drying up. 'What's is clear is that the Brexit proposed looks nothing like the one that was promised to people in 2016. That's why a People's Vote is the only way forward, so that the public can have the final say.' Remain supporter Layla Moran (file) lashed Sir James for 'staggering hypocrisy' and warned it was 'damning for the Government' MPs Dominic Grieve (pictured left) and Yvette Cooper (pictured right) have revealed their plot to water down Brexit by tabling amendments which overturn over 100 years of Commons procedure to try to hijack the debate Dyson was keen to stress its commitment to Britain, pointing out that it is investing 200 million in new buildings and testing facilities at its campus at Hullavington Airfield. What is Tuesday's Plan B vote and what will it mean? What is happening? Because Theresa May's Brexit deal was defeated, the law says she must tell Parliament what her Plan B is. This has to be done in a motion to the Commons, which will be voted on by MPs next Tuesday night. That motion can be re-written by MPs if they table amendments and win a vote in favour of them. Some amendments have already been tabled and MPs can keep producing them until Monday night. What does May's plan say? It promises more cross-party working, renews commitments to protecting workers' rights after Brexit and says the PM will ask Brussels for more concessions on the backstop. It it based on the current deal that was crushed by 230 votes last week. What do the main amendments say? Jeremy Corbyn's amendment says Parliament should vote on 'options' including a renegotiation of the deal to get a permanent customs union and for a second referendum. A cross party amendment from Yvette Cooper and Nicky Morgan seeks to block no deal by giving time to a draft law that would require the Government to delay Brexit if a deal has not been agreed by February 26. It upturns normal convention by putting a backbench MP's Bill ahead of Government plans. An amendment from Tory rebel Dominic Grieve seeks to set up weekly debates that would mean regular votes on what to do in the absence a deal. His amendments sets aside six named days for the debates - including as late as March 26. What would the vote do? Legally nothing - but if the Commons votes in favour of a clear way forward by a majority it will be a major political signal of what might happen. Is it a new 'meaningful vote' that can approve May's deal? No. At some point, the PM will have to stage a repeat of last week's vote to get explicit approval from MPs to go ahead with her deal if she wants it to survive. Advertisement The company bought the disused airfield two years ago and has already renovated two hangars at the 517-acre site. The announcement was made alongside Dyson's full year results for 2018, when profits topped 1 billion for the first time. Turnover rocketed 28 per cent to 4.4 billion and profits jump 33% to 1.1 billion, with Mr Rowan pointing to the success of products such as its Supersonic hairdryer. In 2014, when Dyson promised 1.5bn of invest in the UK, then prime minister David Cameron said: 'Dyson is a great British success story and the expansion of the Malmesbury campus will create thousands of new jobs, providing a real boost to the local economy and financial security for more hardworking families. 'Investment on this scale shows confidence in our long-term economic plan to back business, create more jobs and secure a brighter future for Britain. 'Dyson is a company looking to the future, and its continued investment in developing technology will help to cement its leading role on the global stage.' The row comes in another day of twists and turns in the Brexit row rocking Parliament. Remainer MPs revealed their plots to delay, water-down and even block Brexit as they tabled amendments to the PM's Brexit statement, which will be voted on next Tuesday. No10 is on high alert for a fresh wave of ministerial resignations after sources confirmed that they will order their MPs to vote against a Bill tabled by Yvette Cooper to delay Brexit for nine months. Cabinet Remainer minister Amber Rudd warned up to 40 ministers could quit in fury if the PM blocks the free vote. Tory MP Dominic Grieve and Labour's Yvette Cooper have tabled Brexit amendments which will be voted on in a crunch Commons showdown next Tuesday. Ms Cooper's amendment would suspend parliamentary rules to allow Bills tabled by backbench MPs to have priority over government business. This would pave the way for her Bill to delay Brexit by extending Article 50 by another nine months to be debated. Mrs May gathered her Cabinet at No10 this morning where Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt urged her to press ahead with her plan to secure fresh concessions from the EU on the hated Irish backstop. A series of amendment have been tabled ahead of the next round of showdown votes in the Commons as Parliament wrestles with the Government for control of Brexit A judge is set to rule whether the future of a 19-year-old with learning difficulties will be decided in the UK or U.S. following a trans-Atlantic battle for custody between his separated parents. Hearings have so far been overseen by judges based in the Family Division of the High Court, and the Court of Protection, in London. But lawyers representing the teenager, who is living with his Moroccan father in Houston, say the case has reached a stage where hearings should be staged in a Texas court. A High Court judge is set to rule whether the future of a 19-year-old with learning difficulties will be decided in the UK or U.S. following a trans-Atlantic battle for custody between his separated parents A High Court judge based in London has heard competing legal argument, over whether to retain control or hand the case to a Texan judge, at a two-day hearing in London. Ms Justice Russell is expected to announce her decision in the near future. She heard the teenager, who was born in America, had been taken from his home in England in late 2016 by his father. Another judge had concluded the teenager was habitually resident in England at the time and had been 'wrongfully removed' against the wishes of his French mother, who lives in London. The teenager is represented by staff from the office of the Official Solicitor, who provide help to vulnerable people caught up in litigation. Barrister Zimran Samuel, who has been instructed by the Official Solicitor's staff, told Ms Justice Russell on Wednesday that a British judge could not make effective decisions when the teenager had been living in Texas for more than two years. He said it is time for a judge in Texas to take charge of the case. The teenager's mother disagrees. Barrister Alistair Perkins, who leads the woman's legal team, said Ms Justice Russell should stay in control. The teenager's father spoke to the judge via a telephone link from Houston. He said the teenager is an American citizen and is better off in America. Ms Justice Russell said the teenager could not be identified in media reports. She heard the teenager's parents had been embroiled in litigation for more than a decade. The death of a man, who witnesses say was assaulted by police as he was arrested, has been ruled a homicide by coroners. George Robinson, 61, died on January 13 from a bleed on the brain caused by a blunt-force trauma to the head, Hinds County Coroner Sharon Grisham-Stewart confirmed. Information as to what caused the injury hasn't been released yet, but the fatal blow was said to be sustained during the arrest in West Jackson, Mississippi. Neighbor Connie Bolton says she saw officers strike Robinson in the head with a flashlight and body-slam him to the ground, before stamping several times on his chest and stomach. George Robinson (shown), 61, died on January 13 - two days after officers arrested him outside his home She described Robinson as resembling a 'rag-doll' when officers lifted his limp body from the ground, in an interview with Mississippi Today. Another neighbor, James Taylor, witnessed officers approach Robinson in his car, asking him to get out. Having recently suffered a stroke, Taylor says Robinson suffers mobility issues and was moving slower than the officers wanted, so 'they just snatched him.' 'They were brutal,' he added. Robinson was taken to hospital after his encounter with police and died two-days later. Robinson (left) was reportedly assaulted by officers and struck on the head with a flashlight, before being thrown to the ground, according to witnesses. He was described as a 'source of happiness' by some residents The altercation happened on Jones Avenue, West Jackson, Mississippi on January 11. The coroners have not released specific details behind the injuries but have said the fatal blow occurred during the arrest After the autopsy results were published on Wednesday, Mayor Chokwe Antar Lumumba announced that three officers involved in the arrest had been placed 'immediately on administrative leave'. The officers haven't been named, but the Mayor said that grand jurors will consider criminal charges. Jackson Police Chief James Davis revealed to reporters last week that officers from the K-9 unit approached Robinson as part of an investigation into the murder of Reverend Anthony Longino. Officers arrested Robinson on misdemeanor charges of failing to obey a police officer and resisting arrest and then released him, telling him to show up to court later. Two men have since been charged with the murder of Longino. Robinson died from a blunt-force trauma to his head. One witness said he was struck with a flashlight before officers stamped on him repeatedly. He had recently suffered a stroke Jackson Police Chief James Davis said officers had approached the victim in relation to an on-going murder investigation. Three officers involved in the arrest have been suspended while an investigation is carried out On Monday, friends and family of Robinson held a march in protest against police brutality and his death, holding signs and wearing T-shirts saying '#JusticeForGeorge'. Residents of Jones Avenue described Robinson as an easy-going 'source of happiness' at the march, citing his several acts of kindness and the general selflessness he showed to those around him. 'It seems unreal,' said Roshunda Butler to the Clarion Ledger. 'He was just here. He helped everybody out when we need it.' Relatives and friends of Robinson held a protest against his death on Monday. 'We want justice', was their war-cry Spokesman for the police department, Sgt. Roderick Holmes said Robinson's family have filed a complaint against the officers. 'You cannot come in and take over a neighborhood and brutalize when you are trying to do justice for another family,' Robinson's sister, Bettersten Wade, told WAPT-TV . 'If you did justice for them, then I should have justice for my family, too.' The crowd demanded an end to police brutality against innocent members of the community Last May, two Mississippi police officers were fired in Laurel for brutality after unleashing a vicious assault on unarmed African American, James Barnett. After a brief chase, police told Barnett to get on the ground. When he did they began stamping on him, on the ground. James Barnett (above) was assaulted by two police officers last May. They were both fired after stamping on him during the arrest An investigation by Vox last year found that US Police kill African Americans at a disproportionate rate to other races. In 2012, though black people made up for just 13% of the population, they accounted for 31% of people killed by police. In a more recent study, the Guardian found that in 2015, racial minorities - who accounted for 37% of the population - made up for 62.7% of unarmed victims shot-dead by police. Of that percentage, African-Americans were found to have died at the hands of police at a rate of 7.2 per million, while whites are killed at a rate of 2.9 per million 'We have to find ways of de-escalating police response to black people,' said Dr. Atheendar S. Venkataramani, an author of an investigation into the psychological affects of police brutality. 'It has to become policy. It has to become part of how its implemented from the top down. We have to have trauma-informed practices everywhere: in the schools, in families, in workplaces.' Ocasio-Cortez campaigned on abolishing the Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agency, which is tasked with deporting undocumented migrants She wrote: 'We didn't vote with the party because one of the spending bills included ICE funding and our community felt strongly about not funding that' Ocasio-Cortez was the only one of 224 House Democrats to vote against the bill Rep Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez was the only House Democrat to vote against a bill that would end the government shutdown on Wednesday (above). The freshman lawmaker said she voted against the bill because it included funding for the Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agency Freshman Rep Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez was the only House Democrat to vote against a bill to end the longest government shutdown in US history on Wednesday. The liberal lawmaker said she deviated from her party because she didn't want to allocate any funding for the Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agency (ICE), which she called to eliminate during her campaign. In a since-deleted Instagram story, Ocasio-Cortez wrote: 'Most of our votes are pretty straightforward, but today was a tough/nuanced call. 'We didn't vote with the party because one of the spending bills included ICE funding, and our community felt strongly about not funding that.' The bill ultimately passed 229 to 184, with only six Republicans voting in favor. If passed by the Republican-held Senate, the bill would fund the federal government through February 28. Wednesday marked the 33rd day of the partial government shutdown as the president and Democratic lawmakers remain locked in a battle over Trump's demand for a $5.7billion border wall. Meanwhile, the 800,000 federal employees who have gone without pay during the shutdown will see their second missed paycheck on Friday. In a since-deleted Instagram story (above), Ocasio-Cortez wrote: 'Most of our votes are pretty straightforward, but today was a tough/nuanced call. We didn't vote with the party because one of the spending bills included ICE funding, and our community felt strongly about not funding that.' The bill ultimately passed 229 to 184, with only six Republicans voting in favor Conservative media seized on Ocasio-Cortez' decision to vote against the bill and reminded that she had voted in support of another bill earlier this month that included funding for ICE. At the time, right-wing pundits called the Bronx progressive a hypocrite for calling to abolish ICE, the agency tasked with arresting and deporting undocumented immigrants, while voting to fund it. Trump rejected that bill because it didn't meet his demand for border wall funding. Ocasio-Cortez has been a powerful voice on the congressional floor in her first month in office. She's taught a seminar to her fellow House Democrats on how to utilize social media, she led a march of freshman lawmakers to Senate GOP Leader Mitch McConnell's office to demand an end to the government shutdown. The Democratic socialist stunned the country last summer when she beat sitting Rep Joe Crowley in the Democratic primary. Her meteoric rise on the political scene took place on the backdrop of the Trump administration's widely-criticized zero-tolerance immigration policy, and thus her desire to de-fund ICE was at the core of her campaign. However, Ocasio-Cortez has hardly spoken on the issue since becoming a sitting member of Congress. Singaporean actor Aloysius Pang has died in New Zealand during military training. The 28-year-old actor suffered serious injuries to his chest and abdomen on Saturday while he was repairing the insides of a Singaporean self-propelled howitzer, which is a piece of artillery that looks similar to a small tank. 'Despite surgical attempts to repair damaged organs and putting him on artificial life support, CFC (NS) Pang succumbed to the injuries and passed away,' the Singapore Ministry of Defence said in an official statement. His death is being investigated by the coroner. Singaporean actor Aloysius Pang has died in New Zealand during military training Pang's family released a heartbreaking statement on his Instagram page shortly before he died Pang's family released a heartbreaking statement on his Instagram page shortly before he died. 'Throughout the past few days in the hospital, it has been a difficult time for us,' they said. 'Every news that were brought upon us since his last op was devastating with little signs of hope on his recovery. 'We all broke down when the medical team spoke to us that his condition is worsening and we should be prepared for the worst. 'We're going to lose a brother. And my parents are going to lose their precious son whom is only 28.' In a previous statement, the ministry revealed that the actor, also known as Pang Wei Chong, was participating in Exercise Thunder Warrior at the Waiouru training area, south of Taupo. Pang was rushed to Waikato Hospital on Saturday and underwent several hours of abdominal surgery. On Monday, he underwent a follow-up surgery but his condition deteriorated. Pang's family flew to be at his bedside on Monday and were with him when he died. On Wednesday, the medical team at Waikato Hospital announced that Pang's condition worsened and once again required additional surgery. The ministry described Pang as an 'Operationally Ready National Serviceman' indicating that he had completed his full-time service. He is described as an armament technician and his rank is corporal first class. Singapore's defence ministry said it was investigating the incident to determine the cause. Pang was rushed to Waikato Hospital and underwent several hours of abdominal surgery the same evening. Pictured is a stock image of a tank similar to the one Pang was cleaning Britain will pay France 6m on equipment to increase their surveillance of North France in a bid to prevent migrants crossing the Channel, it was reported last night. Sajid Javid, the Home Secretary, will reveal the plans today after a meeting with French interior minister Christophe Castaner in London. Drones, CCTV cameras and night-vision equipment are included in the extra measures to pre-vent migrants crossing at any given time, the Daily Telegraph reported. Sajid Javid, the Home Secretary, will reveal the plans today after a meeting with French interior minister Christophe Castaner in London. Drones, CCTV cameras and night-vision equipment are included in the extra measures to pre-vent migrants crossing at any given time They will also discuss increasing patrols by Border Force and French boats to ensure keys areas of the Channel are being watched all the time. This comes after concerns from MPs that the current measures have so far failed to deter migrants continuing their attempts to cross to the UK. Thirty-nine more suspected migrants crossed the Channel this week and more than 200 have made the crossing in the last two months of 2018. A French Government source told the Telegraph: Its in the interests of both countries. Britain doesnt want an influx of migrants and France doesnt want the northern French coast to become a magnet for migrants who see that its possible to cross the Channel successfully. France is paying for policing of the coast, which costs millions and constitutes the majority of expenditure on preventing the crossings, which is why Britain is paying for the equipment. France pays for manpower and the UK for hardware. A joint publicity campaign will be launched to warn migrants that they are risking their lives at-tempting to cross the Channel. Dover MP Charlie Elphicke said the introduction of aerial surveillance is a step in the right direc-tion. He said: I have consistently called for 24/7 aerial surveillance of the English Channel to ensure any migrants leaving the coast of France should be intercepted and helped safely back to the French coast. The introduction of aerial surveillance is the right step to take and I hope the Home Secretary and his opposite number will put it in place as swiftly as possible. There are two British Border Force cutters patrolling the Channel backed by a Royal Navy patrol vessel with two extra cutters not to be deployed until next month. Under the agreement to be signed off today, the UK will pay just over 6m (7m), including nearly 3m (3.4m) already committed under the Sandhurst Agreement signed last year to boost border security, plus another 3,100 (3.6m). Since 2014 Britain has paid 148m on security installations in the Calais area. This has included fencing around the Eurotunnel, lighting on motorways, CCTV and private security guards. A judge in 2016 said Nicola Stocker (pictured), 51, defamed her husband by claiming he'd tried to strangle her - because he wasn't trying to kill her A woman facing a 200,000 legal bill for claiming on Facebook that her ex-husband tried to strangle her is today fighting a judge's ruling that she defamed him because 'he wasn't trying to kill her'. Nicola Stocker, 51, said millionaire businessman Ronald Stocker, 68, strangled her during an online spat with his new partner Deborah Bligh in December 2012. She will argue that she used common language to describe the attack when she goes before the Supreme Court today. Mr Stocker - who lives in a 2.5million detached home in Aston Clinton, Buckinghamshire - won a libel case against his ex-wife in 2016 at a High Court trial when the judge used the Oxford English Dictionary to define strangling. Mr Justice Mitting decided Mr Stocker did 'in temper' attempt to silence his ex-wife, but was not satisfied he had threatened to kill her and therefore her comments had a defamatory meaning. The Oxford English Dictionary defines 'strangle' in two senses. 1: 'To kill by external compression of the throat.' 2: 'To constrict painfully (of the neck or throat).' The judge said Ms Stocker had meant the first definition when she made her accusation on Facebook. Addressing a public meeting organised by the Centre for Women's Justice ahead of the case, Ms Stocker told The Telegraph: 'I find it incredibly sad that a legal system I held in such high regard in its current format enables men, and I am sure women, with enough wealth behind them to do that. 'I hope that Parliament will sit up and listen and one day make the changes so clearly needed.' The couple split after 13 years of marriage in 2012. In December of that year she got into a Facebook spat in the comments section of a post by Deborah Bligh, Mr Stocker's new girlfriend. Ms Stocker, 51, said millionaire businessman Ronald Stocker (left), 68, strangled her during an online spat with his new partner Deborah Bligh (right) On the public post where all of their 'friends' could see, she claimed her ex-husband 'tried to strangle' her in 2003. Following the original trial in 2016 Mr Justice Mitting noted that Mr Stocker had committed common assault - but had not tried to kill her. He said 'each brought the worst out of each other' and they 'behaved to each other in a manner which does not credit either of them' on that night. She will fight the 2016 ruling today in the Supreme Court, where it will be decided whether the 'judge erred in determining the meaning of the words complained of '. A man with a heavily tattooed face is being mocked online over his mugshot as police hunt him down over assault charges. Police are seeking information and help from the public for wanted man Timothy Baugley from Newcastle in the north of New South Wales. The 38-year-old is known to frequent the area and is wanted on an arrest warrant issued by the local court. Newcastle City Police north of New South Wales are seeking information and help from the public for wanted person Timothy Baugley The Facebook post also asked users to not make any offensive or prejudicial comments on their posts. However, social media users ignored that request and instead mocked his appearance. 'Has he got any birthmarks or distinguishing features that would make him easier for the public to identify??' one commented. 'Looks like he lost a fight with the ink jet printer,' another wrote. 'Looks like he just went 12 rounds with Mr Squiggle,' someone commented. Social media users have ignored that request and instead shared hilarious comments about Baugley 'NSW police- "please dont post any negative or offensive comments". You're kidding, right? I bet you guys secretly love this stuff, and sit there pissing yourselves laughing at what happens,' another commented. 'Get an arrest warrant out for the tattoo artist whilst youre at it,' someone suggested. 'Looks like a school desk when your (sic) on detention,' another joked. 'How will we know it's him?' someone asked. Anyone with information about Baugley is asked to contact Waratah Police on 4926 6599 or Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000. A prominent American-born anchorwoman on Iranian state television who was jailed in the US has been released after being detained for more than 10 days. Marzieh Hashemi, 59, works for the Press TV network's English-language service and lives in Tehran, was released from jail in Washington on Wednesday evening. A Facebook page called Free Marzieh Hashemi issued a statement saying America needs to 'start talking about the harassment of the Muslim community', adding they 'want answers'. She had been detained by federal agents Jan. 13 in St. Louis, Missouri, where she had filmed a Black Lives Matter documentary after visiting relatives in the New Orleans area, according to her son. Hossein Hashemi said his mother would have been willing to cooperate with the FBI and did not need to be jailed as a material witness. Hashemi, born Melanie Franklin, was held as a material witness, though it's unclear for which case and she had appeared twice before a U.S. District Court judge. American-born news anchor Marzieh Hashemi has been released from a U.S. jail Hashemi, pictured in her news anchor role, had fulfilled her obligation as a material witness and was released, according to a source A Facebook page called Free Marzieh Hashemi issued this statement following her release and said they 'want answers' Supporters of Marzieh Hashemi, an American-born anchor for Iran's state television broadcaster, demonstrate outside the Federal Courthouse Wednesday Court papers had said she would be released immediately after her testimony before a grand jury but did not include details on the criminal case in which she was named a witness. Federal law allows judges to order witnesses to be detained if the government can prove that their testimony has extraordinary value for a criminal case and that they would be a flight risk and unlikely to respond to a subpoena. The statute generally requires those witnesses to be promptly released once they are deposed. A source said Hashemi had fulfilled her obligation as a material witness and was released. Her detention comes amid heightened tensions between Iran and the U.S. after President Donald Trump withdrew the United States from a nuclear deal. Iran also faces increasing criticism of its own arrests of dual citizens and other people with Western ties. Earlier Wednesday, dozens of activists protested outside the federal courthouse in Washington, where Hashemi was scheduled to appear before the grand jury. They held signs and chanted, 'Free, free, Marzieh!' and 'Shame, shame, USA!' Court papers didnt include details about the criminal case in which she was named a witness. Hashemi was detained by feds last week in St. Louis and transported to Washington Hossein Hashemi, from Denver, son of American-born news anchor Marzieh Hashemi, speaks during an interview. Her family have tonight issued a statement on her detention Hashemi appeared before a U.S. grand jury Wednesday in Washington. She is in custody as a material witness. (AP Photo/Cliff Owen) The American-born anchor for Iran's state television broadcaster has now been released Hashemi is a U.S. citizen and was born Melanie Franklin. She lives in Tehran and comes back to the United States about once a year to see her family, usually scheduling documentary work in the U.S., her son said. Asked whether his mother had been involved in any criminal activity or knew anyone who might be implicated in a crime, Hossein Hashemi said, 'We don't have any information along those lines.' He didn't immediately respond to a call seeking comment on Wednesday. Marzieh Hashemi's detention comes amid heightened tensions between Iran and the U.S. after President Donald Trump withdrew the United States from a nuclear deal. Iran also faces increasing criticism of its own arrests of dual citizens and other people with Western ties. Earlier Wednesday, dozens of activists protested outside the federal courthouse in Washington, where Hashemi was scheduled to appear before the grand jury. They held signs and chanted, 'Free, free, Marzieh!' and 'Shame, shame, USA!' She had been detained by federal agents Jan. 13 in St. Louis, Missouri, where she had filmed a Black Lives Matter documentary Hashemi, born Melanie Franklin, was held as a material witness, though it's unclear for which case and she had appeared twice before a U.S. District Court judge One of the British 'gyspies' causing havoc across New Zealand has been charged with assault and reckless driving. The 26-year-old man, whose name has not been released, will appear in Auckland District Court later today. The alleged assault took place on Sunday 13 January, the day a group of British travellers was filmed leaving beer bottles and piles of rubbish on the city's Takapuna beach. One of the British 'gyspies' causing havoc across New Zealand has been charged with assault and reckless driving. Pictured: Members of the family are questioned by police Witness Krista Curnow alleged the group of about 12 tourists turned violent when she asked them to clean their mess as they left the beach. She said a young boy threatened to 'knock the brains out' of locals who confronted them. The British family has been causing trouble in New Zealand since arriving before Christmas. They have been accused of trashing an apartment, leaving restaurants without paying and stealing from shops. One woman pleaded guilty in court to stealing Red Bull from a service station. The alleged assault took place on Sunday 13 January, the day a group of British travellers was filmed leaving beer bottles and piles of rubbish (pictured) on the city's Takapuna beach Police said in a statement on Thursday: 'Police investigating an alleged incident involving a vehicle at Takapuna Beach on 13 January have arrested a 26-year-old British national. 'He has been charged with assault with a weapon and reckless driving. 'The man is due to appear in the Auckland District Court today. 'As this matter is now before the courts, police are unable to comment further.' Tradespeople and construction workers have detailed the intense conditions they are forced to endure during severe heatwaves - including temperatures of up to more than 60C in some cases. Unions recommend workers stop and leave sites when the mercury reaches 35C as that is the temperature where the environment creates a 'serious risk to health and safety'. Despite the stop work temperature being written into Construction, Forestry, Maritime. Mining and Energy Union contracts, some workers revealed they are still required to put up with fierce heat, needing more than 12 litres of water each day just to survive. Unions claim protections that should apply to all workers are not in place on every worksite. Tradespeople and construction workers have detailed the intense conditions they are forced to endure during severe heatwaves An airport worker shared his experience putting up with unbearable temperatures (stock image) Australian Council of Trade Unions assistant secretary Liam O'Brien said many workers are 'regularly forced to work in extreme heat'. 'This is completely unacceptable and extremely dangerous,' he said. 'Any time the heat in your workplace gets above 35 degrees, you should be able to stop work until conditions improve. 'If your employer is not letting you stop work due to the heat, call your union and get help. 'You never have to put your body on the line for the sake of corporate profit. Workers' rights and health always comes first. 'Your employer has an obligation to provide a workplace free from physical and psychological harm. This includes managing extreme weather conditions including heat.' An airport worker shared his experience putting up with unbearable temperatures. 'Try and work on the tarmac at the airport with heat from the ground and engines can get to 60 plus degrees in direct sunlight,' the man posted to Facebook. The man claimed his employer did not take any action to minimise the effects of his harsh working conditions. 'The airlines don't care, they just want their planes loaded and [taking off] on time,' he said. Another airport worker detailed the incredible lengths employees were forced to go to in order to keep themselves safe at work. 'I've worked in conditions so hot a pilot refused to start up his engines. And we just kept running around with that waterfall of sweat running down the spine,' she said. 'Need at least 12 plus litres of water a day to survive.' Daily Mail Australia is not suggesting any individual airlines force their employees to work through temperatures above 35C. Another airport worker detailed the incredible lengths employees were forced to go to in order to keep themselves safe at work (stock image) Another worker said he had to put up with scorching conditions in northern Australia. '35 plus degree heat in the tropics with 95 per cent humidity and working with asphalt,' he said. 'We have had tins of spotmarking paint exploding due to the heat. No stopping.' The CFMEU's bargaining agreements state workers will down tools when the temperature reaches 35C. 'Serious risks could include: radiant heat from particular surfaces, sun glare [and] the type of work being performed,' a CFMEU guide for its 100,000-plus members states. 'Employers must provide: sun screen, cool clear drinking water, air-conditioned site sheds, hard hat brims [and] sunglasses where required.' 'Once the temperature reaches 35C or a humidity level above 75 per cent, there will be an orderly cessation of work and preparations for safe completions of critical tasks currently underway,' a guide produced by the union reads. The CFMEU's bargaining agreements state workers will down tools when the temperature reaches 35C 'Work should be programmed in such a way as to reduce the risk of heat stress. 'Sufficient numbers of workers should be engaged to allow rotation of workers in periods of heat.' An OHS Reps guide to working in the heat advises workers that employers are 'expected to prevent your workplace being uncomfortably hot'. 'Your employer has a duty of care under the Victorian Occupational Health and Safety Act (2004) to provide a healthy and safe workplace,' the guide reads. '35C to 40C is considered to be the 'limit of high temperature tolerance' for most people.' Billy McFarland managed to scam over $26 million from deep-pocketed moneymen and image-obsessed millennials in the lead-up to his disastrous Fyre Festival. Few were hit harder however than those who had invested in Fyre, with one man in his 50s stating last year at McFarlands sentencing that he and his wife could no longer retire after the felon managed to con them out of their life savings. He did this with the help of multiple forged documents which have now been obtained by DailyMail.com. In 2016 and 2017, McFarland raised approximately $7.9 million from at least 43 investors in the Fyre Media offerings and approximately $16.5 million from at least 59 investors in the Fyre Festival offerings, read a 2018 SEC filing against McFarland. McFarland did this by committing a number of crimes, with charging docs stating he: made false statements concerning key Fyre Media and Fyre Festival financial metrics and assets; falsified financial data; made false claims of affiliations with talent; created a fraudulent brokerage statement in order to suggest to investors and banks that McFarland personally possessed collateral sufficient to securitize investments; made false statements and created a fake document concerning purported bank loans and a purported significant pending investment in Fyre Media. Scroll down for video Felon: Billy McFarland (above in March after entering a guilty plea in is first case) conned investors prior to scamming hundreds of Fyre Festival attendees by providing them with forged financial documents Numbers: One chart (right) claimed Fyre had $4.5 million in cash; $18 million in accounts receivable; and owned an island in the Bahamas that was worth $8.4 million Money flow: McFarland showed Fyre growing exponentially in a projected income statement (above) He also showed one investor a Scottrade balance sheet for his Facebook stock that shows he owns 18,000 shares at a price of $142.05 for a grand total of $2.565 million. In reality, his shares were worth less than $1500 at the time. He used that sheet to insure a return on investment to one man who shelled out $700,000 to McFarland in the three months prior to Fyre Festival. The other individual mentioned in court documents had given McFarland $500,000, thinking this was sound investment based on the records he was shown McFarland showed investors a chart claiming that Fyre Media had $4.5 million in cash and cash equivalents; $18 million in accounts receivable; and owned an island in the Bahamas that was worth $8.4 million. At that time, Fyre Media had made less than $40,000 and owned no island. Investors claim they received a projection sheet showing that total revenue for the company would be just shy of $1 billion by the end of 2017. That was backed up by the artists Fyre Media claimed to be working with including Drake, Kendrick Lamar and Chance the Rapper, who in one sheet are listed with their net revenue projections. Jenny: There were also million dollar purported 'accepted' offers from A-list artists such as Jennifer Lopez (abov) the Foo Fighters and Selena Gomez Breakdown: McFarland said his app would make $8.1 million from booking Drake in 2017 and $2.835 million from private Kendrick Lamar concerts McFarland said his company would be getting 10 percent of the money earned for private events booked through the Fyre app, including the $81.1 million Drake pulled in, the $28.35 million Lamar grossed and Chances $17.28 million A desperate text for money from McFarland prompted the terms detailed above Those SEC documents reveal those three were in good company, stating: McFarland also sent an report that showed 15 accepted Fyre Media offers totaling $5.4 million, an average of $360,000 per offer. 'This offer report included million dollar purported accepted offers from A-list artists such as Jennifer Lopez ($1.75 million), the Foo Fighters ($1.5 million), and Selena Gomez ($1 million). McFarland was not just targeting individual investors either in the months before Fyre Festival. In early 2017, in an effort to keep the struggling Fyre Festival afloat, McFarland sought millions of dollars in personal loans from two well-established banks. 'To attempt to induce the banks to grant him loans, McFarland provided false information in his loan applications, including representations inflating his net worth and reiterating the false claim that he owned $2.56 million worth of Facebook stock, reads the filing. McFarland also provided one of the banks with a copy of the fake brokerage statement, as well as a fraudulent Fyre Media income statement, which grossly inflated the companys revenue and income. Say at: Artists like Gomez (above) and Lopez had never even heard of the Fyre app at the time that McFarland said they were making millions Coverage: In a rush to get funds in the weeks before the Fyre Festival, McFarland also forged a statement showing he had $2.5 million in Facebook stock (above) McFarland said he was supplementing those millions with money from investors, who he appeared to be offering a seemingly lucrative deal. In reality, he was quickly turned down by the banks. Text messages with one investor show that McFarland promised a 120 percent return just four months after receiving $200,000 in a wire transfer in a rush to secure funds before his disastrous festival. In a bid to add even more legitimacy, he got lawyers and began creating fictitious indivudaks he claimed worked for the company. To imbue this scheme with a gloss of legitimacy, McFarland engaged two large and reputable law firms to prepare transactional documents to unwittingly paper the fictitious business, wrote the SEC. McFarland also created a fake employment retainer agreement between himself and Saddleback Media. This agreement bears the electronic signature of Saddlebacks purported President, a certain G. Smythe, an individual whoon information and beliefdoes not exist. It is unclear where all this money went, but it was definitely not to the 'bug-infested tents' and 'blood-soaked mattresses' at Fyre Festival Workers could be missing out on much needed breaks, and worse still higher rates of pay because of it. The Fair Work Ombudsman says workers across most industries are entitled to a minimum break-time between shifts. If bosses don't respect the entitlement, they could have to fork out more pay for your time. 'Awards, enterprise agreements and other registered agreements have rules about how an employee's hours of work should be set, including providing for paid and unpaid rest breaks and meal breaks,' a Fair Work Ombudsman spokesperson said. Workers could be missing out on much needed breaks, and worse still higher rates of pay because of it (stock picture) The Fair Work Ombudsman indicated workers across the major industries are entitled to a minimum break-time between shifts (stock picture) Under the 2010 award, building and construction workers are entitled to a minimum 10-hour break between shifts and shift workers eight-hours. Workers who put in overtime and lose part of their entitled break must be paid double-time. If they start the next shift without having taken the full-length of the break, they must be paid overtime. The bonus stays in place until they finally take the full 10-hour break. Even then, when they are on break they are still paid ordinary rates for any hours they miss on their usual roster. What's more, if a worker powers through their meal break they must be paid double time for that period. Either that, or the worker can clock off earlier. Hospitality workers are entitled to an eight-hour break between shifts. Working overtime, their boss must pay them the relevant overtime pay rate. Also, if they miss the start of their meal break they must be paid time-and-a-half until they finally go on one. Bosses also can't force their workers to take an unpaid break an hour into the shift. Retail workers who miss out on their entitled 12-hour break between shifts must be fairly compensated as well. Bosses must pay hard workers double time for the hours they work until they go onto their 12-hour break. On top of that, they must also be paid regular rates for any rostered hours they miss out on because of the break overlap. Bosses can't tell their workers to take a rest or meal break one hour into the shift or to take a rest break and meal break at the same time. Healthcare workers who skip the 10 hour break between shifts under the direction of bosses are also compensated. They must be paid double time for any hours they work until they take their full break between shifts. Hospitality workers are entitled to an eight-hour break between shifts (stock picture) Retail workers who miss out on their entitled 12-hour break between shifts must be fairly compensated as well (stock picture) Healthcare workers who skip the 10 hour break between shifts under the direction of bosses are also compensated (stock picture) Again, any scheduled hours they miss because of the break overlap must be accordingly accounted for with ordinary pay. Australian Council of Trade Unions assistant secretary Liam O'Brien also pointed out workers had every right to call it a day in the case of 'extreme weather conditions'. 'Any time the heat in your workplace gets above 35 degrees, you should be able to stop work until conditions improve. 'If your employer is not letting you stop work due to the heat, call your union and get help. 'Your employer has an obligation to provide a workplace free from physical and psychological harm. This includes managing extreme weather conditions including heat.' The Fair Work Ombudsman spokesperson advised workers to check the organisation's website to get a clearer idea of what rights they're entitled to as an employee. 'The Award or agreement will generally specify the length of the breaks, when they need to be taken, and the rules about payment. 'The Award or agreement may also provide for a minimum amount of time off between the end of one shift and the start of another.' An Australian woman who was lured to Pakistan by the false promise of a lavish life with the man of her dreams was instead locked up, beaten and used as a sex slave for months. Lara Hall, 30, became the victim of a predatory online groomer who raped her repeatedly over several months and kept her locked up in squalor. When she managed to contact the Australian commission in Pakistan she claimed she was met with a 'lacklustre' response and offered only limited advice. Describing her 'living nightmare' to Daily Mail Australia, Ms Hall said she was groomed by a man called Sajjad, who promised her a lavish life in a Spanish-style villa in Lahore. Lara Hall (pictured) 30, travelled to Pakistan to meet the man of her dreams... only for him to force her into Islam and treat her as a sex slave Her nightmarish experiences started from a chance meeting in 2013. Ms Hall, having completed a law degree at the University of Notre Dame and working in a prestigious position, struck up a friendship on a train with a Pakistani woman called Rhianna in 2013. Ms Hall offered to teach her English and over time she became an honorary member of the woman's family who told her how much they adored her and often brought her little gifts. 'I didn't come from a functional family, so it was everything I was craving,' Ms Hall said. Ms Hall thought Sajjad (pictured together in their home in 2018) was the man of her dreams Ms Hall (pictured left during her uni days) completed a law degree at the University of Notre Dame and started working in a prestigious position before a chance meeting changed her life One night Ms Hall was on a Skype call to Rhianna's family in Pakistan, and made her first contact with Sajjad, who was a relative. The pair connected on Facebook and talked intermittently over the next few years. Sajjad claimed he was also a lawyer and always appeared interested in her life and was eager to make her happy. Sajjad's friendship came at a challenging time for Ms Hall, who had battled obsessive compulsive disorder and still felt the legacy of a difficult childhood. Despite her burgeoning legal career and strong professional prospects, her troubles mounted to the point where she suffered a breakdown. One night Ms Hall was on a Skype call to Rhianna's family in Pakistan, and made her first contact with Sajjad, who was a relative 'Sajjad came into my life at just the right time, when I was completely vulnerable,' Ms Hall said. 'He promised a grand, amazing and happy life if I would ever consider him. 'He said he had five houses and showed a purchase contract for a Spanish house he said we could live in and that I could decorate however I wanted - he even sent me pictures of the house. 'I remember asking him if he would ever lie to me and he said "no" - he was very attractive and seductive. 'I was seduced by the promise of this amazing life with him. My life in Sydney was so s**t at the time, so I thought maybe I would give it a go. 'He would always say "I'll fill all your blank spaces". It was one of his favourite sayings. And I'd known his family here for a long time.' Sajjad sent Ms Hall images of the Spanish Vila (pictured) that he said he had brought He promised Ms Hall that she could decorate their new luxurious home in any way she wanted He even showed Ms Hall a purchase contract for the Spanish house which he had doctored Ms Hall was seduced by the promises Sajjad made and the idea of a wonderful life together Sajjad was also in contact with Ms Hall's family. Over Facebook he struck up a friendship with her twin, Amy. He also sent her grandmother emails promising he would keep her safe. He offered protection and comfort - the security Ms Hall had always craved. Amy was over the moon for her sister. 'He was very compassionate, empathetic, always there to listen, issuing grandiose promises -like a friend, a very trustworthy person,' Amy said. In early 2018 Sajjad invited Ms Hall to his brother's wedding in Pakistan. She saw it as the perfect chance to see if their online romance could turn into real-life love. Intoxicated by the promise of a beautiful life and seduced by the man of her dreams, Ms Hall took the plunge and on April 23 last year she flew 18 hours to Lahore. In early 2018 Sajjad (pictured) invited Ms Hall to his brother's wedding in Pakistan 'The house was certainly not like anything in the pictures, I was taken back when I arrived,' Ms Hall said. 'There were twenty people living in five bedrooms. He said they were just there for the wedding. It was filthy. 'But he was being so nice, I still thought he was a dream come true.' Over the next few weeks Sajjad admitted that he had fabricated the Spanish villa and that he was not the man he had claimed to be. 'All feelings of love died. Then the abuse started,' she said. 'Sajjad raped me and his brother attempted to rape me on multiple occasions. I was a kept woman, I was denied feminine hygiene products and had to bleed freely, I was starved over long periods of time - on one occasion up to 14 hours.' Ms Hall says she was shocked when she got top the house (pictured) as it was nothing like what was promised Ms Hall said that 20 people were living in five rooms and the house (pictured) was in squalor Ms Hall said that the property was 'filthy'with open plumbing and trash everywhere (pictured is the house she lived in in Pakistan) The house (pictured) also had broken tiles and rubbish was strewn everywhere There were piles of rubbish throughout the rooms which were never cleaned up Ms Hall continuously refused Sajjad's marriage proposals, and her refusal to convert to Islam only enraged him further. 'I was made to present myself naked after a shower. One time I had a bit of shampoo still in my hair after showering and Sajjad grabbed me, telling me I was an idiot and slammed my head into the basin. 'I was once made to lay naked in the bed with my legs open. 'One time I was ill he thought it was "hilarious" - as I was vomiting - to come up and try to rape me while I was hurling. 'I had come all the way to Pakistan to be a prisoner.' Ms Hall's 30-day visa had expired, and Sajjad claimed he had contacts working on a renewal but told her in the meantime she couldn't leave the house or she risked arrest. After Ms Hall's visa expired Sajjad promised her he would renew it - while also claiming that she had to stay inside the house She managed to contact the Australian consulate and High Commission, thinking her reports of sexual assault would trigger an urgent response. She was disappointed by their 'lacklustre' attitude, saying she was told to seek safety, but she was scared to go to the police due to her visa overstay and for speaking out against a local man. A Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade spokesperson confirmed to Daily Mail Australia that it provided consular assistance to an Australian woman last year but would not divulge details due to 'privacy obligations'. So Ms Hall planned her own escape. She reached out to Dr Kaiser Rafiq, chief executive of the elite AFOHS club, a prestigious members-only club for armed forces officers, diplomats and prominent business personalities. Ms Hall reached out to Dr Kaiser Rafiq, chief executive of the elite AFOHS club, a prestigious members-only club for armed forces officers, diplomats and prominent business personalities 'She approached me via Facebook and these social media channels are usually not real, so after doing some due diligence that she was a girl in need of help, I realised the situation that she was staying at a house somewhat against her will,' Dr Rafiq told Daily Mail Australia. One night after Sajjad threatened to 'delete' her, Ms Hall barricaded herself in a bedroom and worked up the courage to call the police. When they arrived on the doorstep Sajjad begged her to tell them she was fine but Dr Rafiq got on the line and she was escorted to the local station. She was released into the care of Dr Rafiq and spent two weeks at the AFOHS club with Pakistani's elite military and government community. Dr Rafiq said he offered to help partly because he did not want Ms Hall leaving with a completely bad image of Pakistan's people. One night after Sajjad (pictured here in their home) threatened to 'delete' her, Ms Hall barricaded herself in a bedroom and worked up the courage to call police Ms Hall with Wilson Chowdry, the head of the British Pakistani Christian Association charity 'I find her extremely genius and positive person,' he said. 'But I was disappointed and somewhat angry at her for coming to a totally strange country and strange people whom she met only through internet. 'Our youth must learn that the internet is not a safe place and we must not believe fantasies which someone portrays on internet.' After two weeks Ms Hall moved out to stay with another friend she had made online, Rafi, who offered her safe housing. Concerned about how she overstayed her visa, Ms Hall and Rafi flew to Islamabad where the Ministry of Interior has its headquarters. At first she was threatened with detention for overstaying her visa but after some pleading she was given a $US400 fine and instructed to leave within 10 days. After two weeks at the compound Ms Hall (pictured here during her time at university) moved out to stay with another friend she had made online, Rafi, who offered her safe housing With not enough money to feed herself, let alone purchase an international flight, Ms Hall says she again tried to reach out to the Australia embassy. 'I begged the embassy and asked if I could take safe harbour and they said no. I said "I'm a victim of abuse" but I was just met again with lacklustre replies.' With nowhere else to turn, Ms Hall set up a GoFundMe and reached out to the British Pakistani Christian Association. Wilson Chowdry, the head of the organisation, answered her pleas. The organisation paid her fines and organised safe passage out of the country and back home to Australia, while criticising the Australian government for its feeble response. 'The Australian Consulate and High Commission failed to provide any assistance and seemed not to take her plight seriously and this often placed Lara in a further set of difficult and dangerous circumstances,' Mr Chowdry said. With nowhere else to turn, Ms Hall set up a GoFundMe and reached out to the British Pakistani Christian Association charity (pictured with her twin sister, Amy) Ms Hall and her twin sister Amy, at home in Australia when they were young 'Consular officials seem incapable of understanding her mental condition and may even have misinterpreted her OCD and assumed she was a prank caller, despite her frequent explanations and pleas. Worse still their offered advice was wholly inadequate and caused Lara grievous despair.' Ms Hall said Mr Chowdry was the man who got her home, and was now working with the BPCA on cases similar to her own. 'I'm not a Christian, I'm an agnostic. But Wilson helped me get out of the country. He was a big part in me getting out.' Ms Hall was glad to have emerged from her nightmare experience in Pakistan but remained troubled by the Australian government's relative inaction. 'Why did the Government let me down? I'm speaking out because no other Australian should be left behind.' To sign Ms Hall's petition, click here. A disgraced former commander in the New York Police Department's gun licensing bureau claimed in a court filing Wednesday that President Donald Trump and his eldest son were among celebrities and donors who got licenses without proper credentials. The court papers were filed by a lawyer for former Lieutenant Paul Dean, who seeks leniency after pleading guilty in August to conspiracy to bribe licensing officers. The charge related to plans by Dean to retire from the police department to start a business to help individuals get the coveted permits. Dean is scheduled to be sentenced on January 31 for bribery. Lieutenant Paul Dean claimed in a court filing Wednesday that President Donald Trump and his eldest son were among celebrities and donors who got licenses without proper credentials In a court filing Wednesday, attorney Abe George said the bureau had a history of giving star treatment to certain applicants. He cited several powerful people who allegedly received licenses without normal vetting, including Trump, his former lawyer Michael Cohen and Donald Trump Jr. Others accused of benefiting from the scheme include business chief executives, Fox News Channel's Sean Hannity, comedian Tracy Morgan, actor Tom Selleck and the owner of a Manhattan nightclub who is accused of gifting members of the police department free lap dances. The list, also includes ex-mayoral candidate John Catsimatidis, ex-Morgan Stanley CEO John Mack, and late Fox News head Roger Ailes. The former NYPD commander, in the New York Police Department's gun licensing bureau, claimed Donald Trump Jr. (pictured above) also received 'star treatment' The filing did not suggest the Trumps, Cohen (pictured above) or the others did anything wrong or were aware of bribes The filing did not suggest the Trumps, Cohen or the others did anything wrong or were aware of bribes. Representatives of Trump and his son did not immediately comment. In a statement, the police department said the information provided by Dean after his arrest on corruption charges was part of a thorough investigation by the NYPD Internal Affairs Bureau, the FBI's Public Corruption Unit and overseen by federal prosecutors. Those authorities, the statement said, 'found no basis to charge any other individual.' In a statement, Sean Hannity, (pictured above) said he 'followed every legal and proper procedure for his original application and numerous subsequent renewals' Comedian Tracy Morgan (pictured above) was another celebrity mentioned who allegedly received a license without normal vetting In a statement Sean Hannity delivered through a spokesperson, the television personality said he has had his permit for most of his working years at Fox News, which he joined in 1996. 'He has followed every legal and proper procedure for his original application and numerous subsequent renewals,' the statement said. It also said he has no relationship with police officials Dean alleged were part of the scheme or with anyone else at the licensing department. Emails requesting comment from representatives for Morgan and Selleck were not immediately returned Wednesday. Actor Tom Selleck (pictured above) is also listed as one of the celebrities to benefit Dean, signed a plea agreement with prosecutors that recommends a sentence of between 18 and 24 months in prison. Prosecutors have not yet filed their pre-sentence submission. Dean's lawyer describes his client's 22-year police department career as 'unblemished' prior to his 2017 arrest. His filing notes he was among the first responders to the September 11 terrorist attacks and remained there for months afterward. It said the leniency was earned in part through 'Dean's willingness to break the 'Blue Wall of Silence' and provide truthful information on three separate occasions to the government.' The prosecution alleged corrupt police officers in the licensing division accepted bribes to help expedite over 150 applications for gun licenses from a civilian who received as much as $18,000 per license. Dean maintained it was long an open secret that gun licenses were for sale as licensing officers accepted alcohol, meals, jewelry and cash. An accomplice described how his roommate killed their childhood friend in a half-hour strangling ordeal for her $100,000 inheritance in New Jersey. Liam McAtasney, 21, is accused of killing Sarah Stern, from Neptune City then robbing her of around $8,000 in December 2016. Prosecutors say Stern's former prom date, Preston Taylor, 21, helped dump her body off the 50-foot Route 35 bridge and into the Shark River below. They left her car running up above to stage a suicide. She was last seen on December 2, 2016 and her body has never been recovered. Preston Taylor pictured above testifying before the prosecution during McAtasney's murder trial at the Monmouth County courthouse in Freehold, New Jersey on Wednesday. He said McAtasney plotted to rob and murder Stern for the $100,000 sum her late mother left her The trial of Liam McAtasney, the 21-year-old man accused of killing New Jersey girl Sarah Stern in 2016, began Wednesday The murder trial of Liam McAtasney, 21, (left) began on Wednesday with his alleged former roommate and accomplice Preston Taylor, 21, (right) taking the stand. Taylor said McAtasney learned of Stern's money and said 'it's the type of money somebody would kill for' Monmouth County Assistant Prosecutor Christopher Decker, presents a wad of cash during the murder trial of Liam McAtasney Taylor - who has pleaded guilty - testified on Wednesday that McAtasney described how he strangled Stern in gruesome detail. 'Said that he strangled her. That it took quite a while for her to actually stop breathing - about a half-hour.' Taylor told jurors, according to News 12. 'And in the process, she peed herself, she vomited. When she started throwing up he stuffed a scarf down her throat. She said his name a couple times.' Taylor says McAtasney went after Stern over a wad of cash she had found in a shoe box, along with a note from her late mother, who had died when she was in high school. McAtasney said there was around $100,000 there, Taylor claimed, but it turned out there was just $8,000. Taylor said McAtasney told him Stern was in possession of the 'type of money somebody would kill for' and he hatched a plan to get her drunk then take the money. Taylor said he was promised a 30 percent cut of the cash but never saw any of it. Monmouth County Assistant Prosecutor Christopher Decker, left, presents evidence, a box that was buried, to Taylor during the murder trial of McAtasney Taylor testifies for the prosecution during the murder trial of Liam McAtasney at the Monmouth County courthouse 'The idea to rob her came about...Over time, the conversations progressed to killing her,' Taylor said during his testimony. Taylor claimed that on one occasion McAtasney tried to carry out the plan and failed. He went to Stern's house with a six pack of Mike's Hard lemonade to get her drunk. then called Taylor via walkie-talkie to come over and grab the cash but their plan was botched when McAtasney learned Stern put the money in a safe-deposit box at a bank. McAtasney offered the idea they all take a trip to Canada and she take the money out for the trip. But he eventually decided to strangle her, Taylor stated. 'Specifically decided that Liam would strangle her. Any other way, any type of weapon, would have been too messy, would have left a whole lot of evidence,' Taylor said in his testimony, according to ABC. 'And then as far as what to do with her after she was dead, we talked about a couple plans. Bury her down at the campsite that Liam's dad owns, leaving her at the house, and then ultimately, we decided that the best way to go about it would be to make it look like a suicide,' he added. On December 2, 2016, McAtasney contacted Taylor via Snapchat saying he was at the bank with Stern, a cue for them to execute their plan. McAtasney later came to the home where he and Taylor lived together and said he killed Stern, according to Taylor. Despite Taylor's claims, McAtasney says he is innocent. McAtasney pictured seated far right on Wednesday during the opening statements of his murder trial McAtasney pictured listening to the opening statements at his murder trial on Wednesday Assistant Prosecutor Meghan Doyle pointed towards McAtasney and said: 'Sarah Stern will not be walking through that door. She will never hug her father again' Taylor also disputed McAtasney's claims that Stern was suicidal and took her own life due to her rocky relationship with her dad. Taylor said she was not suicidal and had not harmed herself. Taylor previously told police that McAtasney had planned Stern's murder for six months, according to NBC. He has pleaded guilty to seven charges back in 2017 including first-degree robbery, second-degree conspiracy to commit robbery, second-degree disturbing or desecrating human remains, two counts of third-degree hindering apprehension and fourth-degree tampering with physical evidence. In the guilty plea deal he'll get 10 to 20 years behind bars and he will have to serve 85 per cent of that time before being eligible for parole. 'Sarah Stern will not be walking through that door. She will never hug her father again,' Assistant Prosecutor Meghan Doyle told jurors on Wednesday. 'The defendant murdered her and made sure the body will never be found. Strangled the life out of her...dumped her like garbage,' she added. Despite his account, McAtasney has denied any role in Stern's death. McAtasney pictured during a detention hearing in February 2017 Taylor pictured above in February 2017. In 2017 he pleaded guilty to seven charges in connection to her robbery and death and faces a 10 to 20 year sentence in jail Preston Taylor and Sarah Stern pictured in 2014 as prom dates together McAtasney has been indicted on seven counts including first-degree murder, according to the prosecutor's office. His defense attorney Carlos Diaz-Cabo focused the defense on the fact that Stern's body was never found. He also mentioned Stern's allegedly 'strained' relationship with her father. He asserted Stern had talked about going to Canada before she disappeared. 'The entire trial, you will be asking, "Somethings not right. Something is missing,"' he said on Wednesday. He added that McAtasney participated in a search for Stern after she was reported missing. The attorney said jurors will hear from a witness who will testify on seeing Stern on the 50ft bridge the day she disappeared. McAtasney and Taylor dumped her body off the Route 35 bridge over the Shark River after killing her and allegedly staged her car there to make it look like she took her own life. Stern's car pictured above being examined by police on December 3, 2016 'He saw a person on that bridge, that he saw Sarah Stern walking away from that vehicle,' Diaz-Cobo said. If McAtasney's found guilty he'll face life in prison without the possibility of parole. The pair allegedly robbed Stern of the $8,000 which was later found buried in a safe at a park in Neptune. Some of Stern's clothing was also found in another safe on Sandy Hook. An angry husband has called the police on his own wife after they shared a meal together and she refused to split the bill. The man called triple zero from a Chinese seafood restaurant on Railway Street, Chatswood, on Sydney's north shore, just before midday on Tuesday. He complained that his wife expected him to cover the entire bill, and said she was unwilling to pay for her part of the meal. A man called the police on his wife after they shared a meal together in Sydney's north shore and she refused to pay for her part (stock image) Officers arrived and told the man triple zero is strictly for emergency situations where lives are in danger or a crime is taking place. 'Police are unsure of who eventually paid for the remainder of the succulent Chinese meal,' North Shore Police Area Command said in a statement. The 'succulent' statement was a reference to the viral video of infamous 'restaurant runner', Paul Charles Dozsa, who was arrested after doing a runner at dozens of Sydney restaurants in the 1980s. Police posted the statement on Thursday alongside an image from that video. 'Gentlemen, this is democracy manifest,' Mr Dozsa famously said as police held him in a headlock. 'What is the charge? Eating a meal? A succulent Chinese meal?' The man called triple zero from a Chinese seafood restaurant on Railway Street, Chatswood (pictured) on Sydney's north shore, just before midday on Tuesday This is the frightening moment residents stealing gasoline were caught on fire when a pipeline exploded in Mexico. Scores of people, including minors, were spotted on a video frantically running for help as their bodies were completely engulfed in flames in an alfalfa field in the central state of Hidalgo last Friday. The explosion occurred after hundreds of people people crowded in to collect gasoline gushing from a pipeline that had been ruptured by suspected fuel thieves. As of Wednesday, Mexican newspaper El Universal reported 98 deaths due to the horrific accident. WARNING GRAPHIC IMAGES Residents illegally seeking gasoline were set on fire following a pipeline explosion in Hidalgo, Mexico, last Friday which has left over 90 dead People prepare to bury a person who died in the gas pipeline explosion, in the village of Tlahuelilpan. However, the town mayor had to enter into land swap deal with the owner of a tulips field after the local cemetery reached its capacity Health Secretary Jorge Alcocer said Wednesday that 44 victims who were severely burned were still in hospitals, two of them in Galveston, Texas. Some are in very poor condition. According to Mexican news outlet El Independiente de Hidalgo, two people passed away Wednesday and two others on Tuesday. A hospital in nearby Pachucha received two patients this week, including a 17-year-old boy. Dr. Francisco Chong Barreiro believes more victims could be receiving treatment but many are not coming forward due to fears of legal actions from the law enforcement authorities. 'The burns are the most complex to treat. Organs and tissues are adversely affected. Even the smoke they breathed,' said Chong Barreiro, while adding that those in poor conditions have been transferred to the National Burn Center unit. 'They have been sedated, intubated. Since they arrived they were taken to the operating room to wash their wounds and apply special ointments.' The victims were gathering gasoline from a pipeline tap when the gas ignited, littering the field with charred bodies. Many people suffered severe burns. About one-third of those who initially survived have since died of their injuries. Residents have gathered in groups to search for the remains of their missing loved ones A woman cries during the funeral of a person who died when a gas pipeline exploded in the village of Tlahuelilpan The town certainly has been unprepared to deal with such a high death toll after its local cemetery ran out of space to bury the victims. Mayor Juan Pedro Cruz was able to reach an agreement with the owner of a tulips field in a land swap. A total of 14,894 illegal taps were found throughout Mexico in 2018. A Labour MP was threatened with being 'gunned down' on the day a top Metropolitan Police officer warned about a 'creeping rise' in far-right extremism as a result of Brexit. Melanie Onn, MP for Great Grimsby, shared on Twitter the message she received from a member of the public, who had given the name Helen. It read: 'You are a f****** traitor you silly f****** bitch. We will remember your actions you spineless s***. Watch your back or you will not be forgiven. TRAITOR.'' Melanie Onn, MP for Great Grimsby, shared on Twitter the message she received from a member of the public, who had given the name Helen This was followed up by another sickening message that advocated violence against her The MP said the same person sent a follow-up email including the message: 'The likes of you should be f****** gunned down.' Ms Onn, who came out against a second referendum earlier this week, added: 'Everyone in Grimsby knows I've never backed down from a debate, even when I've had unpopular POV (including in referendum), but we must be allowed to have an opinion without this nonsense.' It comes shortly after Tory MP Anna Soubry was called a 'Nazi' by thugs outside Parliament and one MP took to wearing a body camera to record abuse. Jo Cox, who was Labour MP for Batley and Spen, was killed after being repeatedly shot and stabbed in Birstall in June 2016. Her killer, Thomas Mair, gave his name as 'death to traitors, freedom for Britain' at his first court appearance. Ms Onn's comments came as Assistant Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police, Neil Basu, expressed his concerns that Brexit could lead to a 'creeping rise' in far-right extremism. Ms Onn (seen speaking on August 15, 2015) received many messages of support from other Twitter users Mr Basu said: 'What's most concerning me about Brexit is the potential to divide communities and set communities against each other.' He told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: 'We have seen some of the behaviour from very, very small groups. 'If you think about what happened outside Parliament just before Christmas and just after Christmas, we had months of very peaceful, very lawful, no problems protest outside Parliament. 'Then a very small group of people managed to turn that atmosphere and that cannot be right. We must make absolutely sure that doesn't happen.' Ms Onn's comments came as Assistant Commissioner of the Met, Neil Basu, (seen on August 14 last year) expressed his concerns Brexit could lead to a 'creeping rise' in far-right extremism Ms Onn, who campaigned to remain during the referendum, said words such as 'traitor' were not helpful in the debate on Britain's' future. She wants MPs to work to find a Brexit deal that can gather a 'coalition' of support. 'We must be free to speak according to our own circumstances,' she said. 'Our constituencies around the country will all have very different views and we must be free, without fear of being shouted down, including in this place, or accused somehow of being an enabler, a traitor or whatever it is. Those terms and choices have to be changed.' Humber neighbour Diana Johnson, Labour MP for Hull North, said Ms Onn was 'standing up for her constituents and doing her job'. Jo Cox, who was Labour MP for Batley and Spen, was killed after being repeatedly shot and stabbed in Birstall in June 2016. She is seen in an undated file photo She said: 'Abuse in any job is just not acceptable we wouldn't tolerate this hatred against teachers or doctors. 'Melanie Onn is a brilliant MP standing up for her constituents and doing her job. Proud to call her a colleague and friend.' Labour whip Thangam Debbonaire said the language of the email was 'dangerous'. The Bristol MP tweeted: 'Disgraceful and threatening. 'An example of how dangerous this polarised attitude to the next Brexit steps has become. Solidarity and love to you Mel.' Pro-second referendum supporter Stella Creasy, Labour MP for Walthamstow in London, branded the remarks 'horrific'. A number of cross-party MPs have reported experiencing abuse in recent weeks. Among them was pro-EU Conservative MP Anna Soubry, who was called a 'Nazi' by pro-Brexit protesters as she was interviewed outside Parliament earlier this month. Nick Boles, MP for Grantham, received a death threat via his website, declaring: 'Your days are f****** numbered, traitor. Prepare to die.' Mr Boles called the sender 'inadequate' and added 'if [they] knew anything about me he would realise I need no reminding that my days are numbered!' Labour MP Stephen Doughty has called for 'proper action' to be taken against those responsible for abuse outside Parliament, and organised a letter to Met Commissioner, Cressida Dick, signed by 55 MPs and criticising what they called 'a lack of co-ordination in the response from the police and appropriate authorities.' Meanwhile, Monmouth Conservative MP David Davies has taken to wearing a body camera after numerous incidents of abuse. He has threatened to put The Australian Instagram model found hanged off the back of a billionaire's super yacht had called her family in tears just before she died, it was revealed today. Sinead McNamara, 20, rang mum Kylie to tell her about an incident with another crew member on board the $190million Mayan Queen IV, which was docked in Argostoli on the Greek island of Kefalonia. She also spoke to her brother Jake during her last anguished phone call in the early hours of last Friday, the family's lawyer Charalampos Triantafyllopoulos revealed. It follows reports the model was struggling with a bad breakup, as officers review photographs and messages on her phone to piece together her final hours alive. Instagram model Sinead McNamara rang her mother in tears before taking her own life, according to the family's Greek lawyer The 20-year-old rang mum Kylie to tell her about an incident with another crew member on board the $190million Mayan Queen IV The young Instagram model was found hanged off the back of the Mayan Queen IV (pictured), an AUD$190million superyacht docked at the Greek port Argostoli owned by a billionaire Prior to that, the family claim Ms McNamara had been happy and enjoying her work as a stewardess on the six-storey yacht, which is owned by Mexican billionaire Alberto Bailleres. Her mother and sister, Lauren Carr, were on route to Kefalonia from their home in Australia when she died. They had been due to meet her the following day and are believed to have been informed of the news while in transit. The family are now demanding answers as to why there was an apparent delay in airlifting her to a hospital in Athens. A doctor on board the yacht is understood to have tried to resuscitate her before she was taken to a hospital in Argostoli. She was there for several hours, Mr Triantafyllopoulos told Greek media, until a helicopter could transfer her to a private clinic in Athens. The family are now demanding answers as to why there was an apparent delay in airlifting Ms McNamara (pictured) to a hospital in Athens The luxury yacht is owned by Mexican businessman Alberto Bailleres (pictured) who is worth an estimated $9.6billion The coroner who carried out the autopsy on Ms McNamara told Daily Mail Australia he advised her family against going to visit her body at the morgue, saying it was in 'such a bad state' In a statement, he said: 'The family expects the Greek authorities to respond to the causes and circumstances of her death and incidents that occurred just prior. 'The deceased had telephoned her mother and brother shortly before the unfortunate incident under investigation. 'She was crying and referred to an incident that took place on the yacht with another crew member. 'The family state that Sinead was not having any problems, she often communicated with them and she was happy. In two days she will return to her family and her friends in Australia. 'The parents believe it crucial to thoroughly investigate both the events and incidents that preceded the death of their 20-year-old daughter died. 'In addition, they are looking for the reasons for the long delay between the time of the unfortunate incident and Sinead's transfer to an Athens hospital. 'She had been unconscious for several hours in a comatose condition and every minute was critical to her life. 'Expressing their trust in the Greek authorities, they hope that the critical issues above will be thoroughly explored and that they will receive appropriate answers for the sudden and unexpected death of their daughter, ' The Instagram influencer was not having any problems and was in high spirits before her suspected suicide, her family's lawyer said. She was found tangled in rope on the back of Mayan Queen IV (pictured) Ms McNamara's mother and sister were on their way to Greece to holiday with her when crew on-board the Mayan Queen IV made the grim discovery Greek authorities have seized CCTV footage from the cameras on the yacht but at this stage believe her death to be suicide. The MailOnline revealed how just 24-hours before she died, Ms McNamara had enjoyed a 'happy' night out dancing and drinking with friends. She visited the Baroque bar in Argostoli on Wednesday night and drank two vodka-based cocktails - one called Dragon's Breath and another called Mango Mangave. Later in the evening she was seen dancing on a chair. Bar manager Makais Chaliodis said: 'I saw the news and recognised her picture. 'She had come to the bar with five of her friends on the Wednesday about 5.30pm. 'She sat on one of the stools by the bar with two male friends and had two cocktails and a club sandwich. Ms McNamara was reportedly being consoled by a colleague just 15 minutes before her death Ms McNamara penned a cryptic Instagram post (pictured) just two weeks before her death 'One of her companions also bought a round of Tequilas but I don't know if she had one. 'They all seemed to be in high spirits and were happy. They were having a good time. 'They left at 7.30pm but some of them, including the girl who died, came back at 1am. 'The last time I saw her she had got up on one of the chairs and was dancing. 'She must have only been here for no more than 30 minutes the second time and then she left.' Back on board the Mayan Queen, she was seen talking to a security guard about 15-minutes before she was found dead. The Argentinian police officer who breastfed a 'malnourished and dirty' baby that was brought into a hospital where she was stationed received a promotion for her selfless action. Celeste Ayala was working at the Sor Maria Ludovica children's hospital in Buenos Aires, Argentina when the baby was brought in crying desperately. The hospital staff called the baby 'dirty,' but the kind mother-of-three didn't care and instead put the baby's needs first. Ayala was promoted from officer to sergeant for her heroic, love filled gesture. Cristian Ritondo, Buenos Aires provincial security minister took to Twitter to share the announcement, along with a photo of himself with a warmly smiling Ayala. Police Officer Celeste Ayala (pictured) breastfed a malnourished baby who hospital staff described as 'dirty' that was brought into a hospital where she was on guard duty The officer was promoted to sergeant for her selfless and loving gesture towards the baby 'We wanted to thank you in person for that gesture of spontaneous love that managed to calm the baby's cry. That's the type of police we're proud of, the police we want,' he said. When the baby was first brought into the hospital, the officer asked the doctors for permission to cuddle and feed him because she could see the baby was hungry and hospital staff were overloaded with work. Ayala told local media: 'I noticed that he was hungry, as he was putting his hand into his mouth, so I asked to hug him and breastfeed him. 'It was a sad moment, it broke my soul seeing him like this, society should be sensitive to the issues affecting children, it cannot keep happening.' Permission was given and Ayala held the baby and started to breastfeed him, after which he stopped crying immediately. A friend of the police officer, Marcos Heredia, took a picture of her breastfeeding the hungry baby and shared it online. He said: 'I want to make public this great gesture of love you made today for this little baby who you did not know, but for who you did not hesitate to act like a mother. You did not care if he was dirty, which is what the hospital staff called him. Good job mate.' The photo received more than 68,000 likes, 94,000 shares and almost 300 admiring comments. The busy mother-of -three was also commended by the fire brigade she volunteers with A friend of the police officer, Marcos Heredia, says that the hospital staff called the baby 'dirty', but that Ayala (left) was not concerned According to local media, the baby is the younger brother of six siblings from a single mother who is in a dire situation. The fire brigade where the busy mother volunteers for in her spare time also paid tribute to the heroic gesture on social media, sharing the picture on their official social media page and writing: 'We want to congratulate the voluntary firefighting cadet Celeste Ayala who yesterday in her job as police officer whilst she was on guard duty at the hospital, breastfed a young child who arrived crying. 'Actions like these fill us with pride and obligate us to redouble the effort, the work and the solidarity with our community.' A friend Antonella Romano commented: 'I didn't expect any less from you! You are not just a great woman, but a great mother. What pride, those who know you, know that everything you do is with.' The relatives of two people killed in last week's wildfires near Athens are suing Greek authorities and the emergency services over their deaths. Mathematics teacher Vassilis Katsargyris, 70, and his neighbour Maria Pagomenou, 73, died while trying to escape the deadly flames in Mati, east of the Greek capital. The families' lawsuit state that Greek authorities could be liable for criminal charges such as involuntary manslaughter, bodily harm, exposure that led to death and arson in the 'biblical catastrophe' blaze. Victims: Teacher Vassilis Katsargyris, 70, and his neighbour Maria Pagomenou, 73, died trying to escape last week's wildfires in Mati, east of Athens, pictured Separately, a Greek prosecutor is investigating the cause of the wildfire and the role of authorities in responding to the blaze that killed at least 91 people in the seaside town of Mati and nearby areas. 'I believe that those who are responsible for protecting people, for putting out the fire and taking any precaution measures to prevent it, will be convicted,' the relatives' lawyer, Antonis Foussas, told Reuters. Heartbreaking: Teacher Vassilis Katsargyris, 70, died just a few days after the wedding of his daughter Yola Katsargyri, pictured Mr Katsargyris had ended up trapped in the garage, as his wife and friends of the family visiting from the United States struggled to reach the nearest beach. His wife returned to try to rescue him and Ms Pagomenou, but failed, and they were later found dead about 400 yards from their homes, the lawsuit said. Mr Katsargyris has today been remembered as a 'prominent member of the mathematical family'. The teacher had authored several school books in his field and was an 'active member of the Hellenic Mathematical Society', local news reports. Two days before the disaster Mr Katsargyris and the family had been celebrating the wedding of his daughter, who lives in California, U.S. Yola Katsargyri has a PhD from the prestigious Massachusetts Institute of Technology, while her Greek now-husband is an assistant professor at University of Southern California. Authorities and experts have blamed the loss of life and extensive damage to property on strong winds and the chaotic urban planning in the pine forest area. They say that many of the victims were trapped by the flames as they tried to reach the beaches because of a lack of evacuation routes and no access to the sea. Aftermath: A woman walks past the burnt cars after wildfires hit the village of Mati near Athens, Greece Memorial: People gathered outside the Hellenic Parliament, in Athens in memory of the 91 victims of the deadly wildfires However, many people have criticised the government for an allegedly slow and poor response to the catastrophe, as well as lack of emergency plans. The relatives of Ms Pagomenou and Mr Katsargyris said that neither before nor during the blaze did authorities tell them how to act or how to escape to a secure place. Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras said he assumed 'political responsibility' for the tragedy but rejected accusations of a botched response. The government has also announced a package of support measures for victims, including compensation and help with tax and banking amounting to 40 million euros. What is left behind: An aerial view of Mati, east of Athens shows the devastation left in the wake of the wildfires that killed more than 90 people Greek ministers have said there are indications that the cause of the fire was arson, and one person has so far been detained and questioned over the case, police officials said. On Wednesday, ten days after the wildfires ravaged Athens, the government announced it would speed up the destruction of 3,000 illegal constructions around the Greek capital as well as 'reorganising' civil defence and 'improving protection'. Environment minister Georges Stathakis said a string of legal and financial measures would 'accelerate' the destruction of around 2,500 illegal constructions in forests and around 700 on the coast as the government tries to manage opposition criticism and the anger of victims. Meanwhile, authorities will 'develop the prevention of forest fires', and 'strengthen the controls' against walls and barriers that illegally block access to the seaside, said Socratis Famellos, Stathakis's deputy. And interior minister Panis Skourletis announced a 'reorganisation of the civil defence service', which has faced criticism from experts and the media. The general in charge of Iran's elite paramilitary Quds Forces warned Donald Trump on Thursday that war with the Islamist country would eliminate his entire net worth, suggesting terrorists aided by Iran's military are prepared to strike his real estate properties. 'You know that this war will destroy everything you own,' Major General Qassem Soleimani said during a speech in the central Iranian city of Hamedan. He also said the Red Sea is not secure while U.S. troops are deployed in the area: 'Trump should know that we are nation of martyrdom and that we await him.' 'We are near you, where you can't even imagine ... Come. We are ready. If you begin the war, we will end the war,' he boasted. Iranian Quds Forces commander Major General Qassem Soleimani warned Trump in a speech that a war with Iran would 'destroy everything you own' Trump had already softened his tone toward Iran this week and said he might be ready for a new nuclear deal The latest Iranian boast may be a suggestion that terrorists aided by Tehran's military are prepared to strike the president's real estate properties 'You have to be careful about insulting the Iranian people and the president of our Republic.' Soleimani warned of Iran's 'power in the region and our capabilities in asymmetric war' a reference to the Quds Forces' history of funding and training terrorists who embrace tactics normally shunned in the West. Iran this week dismissed a warning from Trump that Tehran risked dire consequences if it made threats against the United States. Trump softened his threatening tone on Tuesday, just two days after he blasted an allcaps warning about 'consequences' for Tehran's anti-U.S. rhetoric. Addressing the national convention of the Veterans of Foreign Wars, Trump took credit for pulling the U.S. out of the Obama-era Iran nuclear accord, but said his administration stands ready for Iran to come back to the negotiating table. Trump's Mar-a-Lago estate would be an appetizing target for America's enemies The president warned Iran's president Sunday night not to provoke him 'We're ready to make a real deal, not the deal that was done by the previous administration, which was a disaster,' he said. Late Sunday night he tweeted to Rouhani: 'NEVER, EVER THREATEN THE UNITED STATES AGAIN OR YOU WILL SUFFER CONSEQUENCES THE LIKES OF WHICH FEW THROUGHOUT HISTORY HAVE EVER SUFFERED BEFORE.' Rouhani had claimed that 'Iran is the mother of all peace' before warning Trump that 'war with Iran is the mother of all wars.' 'Don't play with fire, or you will regret [it],' the Iranian leader continued. 'Iranian people are the master and they will never bow to anyone.' Soleimani, who as Quds Force commander is in charge of the Revolutionary Guards' overseas operations, put his disdain for Trump in more personal terms. 'Trump's language is still the ethics of nightclubs and gambling halls,' he said Thursday. His threat directed at U.S. troops in the Red Sea area came as Saudi Arabia said it was temporarily halting all oil shipments through the strategic shipping lane of Bab al-Mandeb, following an attack on two oil tankers by Yemen's Iran-aligned Houthi movement. Yemen, where a U.S-backed, Saudi-led coalition has been battling the Houthis for three years, lies beside the southern mouth of the Red Sea, one of the most important trade routes in the world for oil tankers. Four people have been arrested for looting homes abandoned in the Greek 'mega-fires' amid claims arsonists were trying to 'destabilise the country'. The suspects, aged between 22 and 26, were held by the Greek police amid claims they broke in to empty homes in the district of Neos Voutzas as fired rage in nearby Mati. Many fled from their homes as flames closed in on the coastal resort overnight on Monday. But the disaster claimed at least 80 lives when terrified locals and tourists were trapped by the inferno. Officials suggested early on that arson may have been to blame for the deadly infernos as it emerged 15 fires started simultaneously in the Athens area as part of moves to 'destabilise the country'. But others have dismissed the theory amid claims sparks from pylons caused the disaster. Four people have been arrested for looting homes abandoned in the Greek 'mega-fires' amid claims arsonists were trying to 'destabilise the country'. Pictures show how homes were left in ruins after the fire struck in Mati, 25 miles from Athens Shell-shocked authorities have also been accused of a slow response to the gale-driven fires, which laid waste to an entire village in a matter of minutes. The majority of the dead were found in the resort of Mati, 25 miles east of the capital, where horrified rescuers found the burnt remains of families huddled together near a cliff. Others died trying the escape in their cars or having failed to leave their homes in time with many reportedly drowned after leaping into the sea. Emergency crews were stretched to the limit overnight with some 200 firefighters tackling a second forest fire west of Athens, where local authorities pre-emptively evacuated three nearby communities. The death toll has now surpassed the 77 killed in 2007 on the southern island of Evia. The government has not yet said how many people are still missing from the fires, which broke out on Monday, as firefighters continue to battle blazes in some areas. Miltiades Milonas, vice president of the Greek ambulance service, said: 'Unfortunately, at this stage we do not expect to find more people injured, only more dead.' Many fled from their homes as flames closed in on the coastal resort overnight on Monday The suspects, aged between 22 and 26, were held by the Greek police amid claims they broke in to empty homes in the district of Neos Voutzas as fired rage in nearby Mati Officials raised the possibility the blazes could have been started deliberately by criminals out to ransack abandoned homes. 'I am really concerned by the parallel outbreak of these fires,' Tsipras said as supreme court prosecutors announced they had opened an investigation into the causes of the fire. Government officials claimed this may have been part of moves to destabilise the country. But some say an absence of an emergency evacuation plan and an unprepared state mechanism were the main culprits behind the tragedy. A 'seasoned firefighter' told Kathimerini that the Fire Service, the Attica Regional Authority and the General Secretariat for Civil Protection were to blame for a slow response to the 'mega fire' - despite the highest Level 4 fire risk warning being issued over the weekend in the Attica region. Sources told the website that the Kineta blaze, west of Athens, was started by sparks seen coming from power pylons. Australians are turning their noses up at thousands of vacant, well-paying jobs. The mining industry in Western Australia is desperate to fill more than 1,000 positions in almost every industry, from engineers to tradesmen. The number of mining jobs advertised online soared by 32 per cent in the past year, according to SEEK, with jobseekers needing little to no experience to earn big bucks. The mining industry in Western Australia is desperate to fill more than 1,000 positions in almost every industry, from engineers to tradesman (stock photo) Heavy duty diesel fitters and mechanics are needed in Perth for jobs paying up to $190,000 a year - workers simply require appropriate certifications and three years trade experience. People who don't mind working long hours on a 'fly in fly out' roster in remote areas like Port Hedland, Karratha and Pilbara can also earn up to $50 an hour in a 'service person' role. Workers are required for positions out of Perth including boilermakers, crane operators and riggers, dump truck and dozer operators, as well as general laborers. Several shutdown jobs are also on offer, with roles like advanced scaffolders, scaffold supervisors, mechanical supervisors, mechanical fitters, electricians/supervisors, advanced riggers, boilermakers, labourers and trade assistants needing to be filled. The number of mining jobs advertised online soared by 32 per cent in the past year, according to SEEK, with jobseekers needing little to no experience to earn big bucks (stock photo) Such roles pay upwards of $43 an hour and require applicants to have recognised trade qualifications, high risk work cards and to be comfortable working at heights. Cleaning and housekeeping positions also need filling in North West mine sites, with minimal experience and qualifications requirements making them viable options to just about anyone who can work long hours in warm conditions. Chamber of Minerals and Energy called for skilled migrants to fill the jobs Australians didn't want. Paul Everingham, the body's CEO, said there were currently more than 1,000 vacancies in the Kalgoorlie mining sector alone. While Mr Everingham said companies prioritised Australian applicants, he said employers were desperate to hire anyone skilled to do the job, turning to qualified migrants instead Chamber of Minerals and Energy CEO Paul Everingham (pictured) said there were currently more than 1,000 vacancies in the Kalgoorlie mining sector alone 'You can't sugar coat that they're available now and they're not being filled,' he told the ABC. While Mr Everingham said companies prioritised Australian applicants, he said employers were desperate to hire anyone skilled to do the job. 'All Australian companies want to employ Australians first, but if there aren't enough Australians,' he said. Kalgoorlie Mayor John Bowler described the job shortage in the mining sector as a 'crisis' and urged the federal government to send skilled migrants as soon as possible 'So if we have to set up special immigration or work zones, our members would definitely welcome the ability to get access to skilled workers immediately.' Kalgoorlie Mayor John Bowler described the job shortage in the mining sector as a 'crisis' and urged the federal government to send skilled migrants as soon as possible. 'We've got almost a crisis on our hands, and I suppose that might be a bit dramatic, but there's a lot of businesses out there that say they would employ a lot more people if they could get them,' he told the publication. Far-right congressman Jair Bolsonaro formally announced his candidacy for Brazil's presidential election on Sunday. The 63-year-old joins a race in which he is currently polling second after jailed ex-President Luis Inacio Lula da Silva, who will likely be barred from running. The former army captain, who has been likened to Donald Trump, made his announcement to an elated crowd in Rio de Janeiro on Sunday. Centrist parties have thrown their support behind centrist rival Geraldo Alckmin for the election in October. Bolsonaro has made headlines with provocative comments against minorities, saying he could not love a gay son and telling a congresswoman she did not deserve to be raped. He has also come under fire for praising Brazil's former military dictatorship and only has the backing of a minor party. Far-right congressman Jair Bolsonaro formally announced his candidacy for Brazil's presidential election on Sunday But he shifted to a more inclusive tone on Sunday, saying: 'We are going to unite this people. We will unite whites and blacks, homosexuals and heterosexuals ... We will unite bosses and employees, and we won't plant the seed of discord between them.' Some 3,000 supporters, including one Trump impersonator, gathered in Rio de Janeiro to welcome his candidacy, chanting Bolsonaro slogans and making pistol gestures with their hands in tribute to him. His anti-corruption message and vows to loosen gun controls to fight crime resonate deeply in the city, where a crime wave has prompted the federal government to intervene in the state's security. A massive graft scandal at Petrobras that has saddled the state-controlled oil giant with billions in debt has also weighed on the city. Leaders of the centrist parties backing Geraldo Alckmin are under investigation for payments in the sprawling Petrobras bribes and kickbacks scandal. 'He's our hope. The Brazilian people are discouraged by all the corruption,' said Gilcemar Jasset, a 35-year-old Rio de Janeiro bus driver who arrived at the event dressed as Bolsonaro complete with a presidential sash. Bolsonaro has not been able to forge alliances with other parties, who view him as too controversial. Despite his popularity, he only has the backing of a small fringe party, which means he is only allowed 10 seconds of free television time. Jair Bolsonaro is surrounded by supporters as he launches his campaign in Rio de Janeiro A late June poll placed Bolsonaro on top with 17 percent of intended votes in the first round, in the absence of former leftist leader Lula, who has been in prison on a corruption conviction since April and whose candidacy will likely be blocked. Ecologist Marina Silva polled second place at 13 percent, in a field where Brazil's more than 30 parties have until mid-August to name candidates. The seven-term congressman has been vague about specific policy plans involving the economy, which he professed to know little about in an interview with Brazil's O Globo newspaper on Saturday. On Sunday, Bolsonaro said he supported the privatization of some parts of Petrobras without going into detail, and declined to weigh in on recently announced plans by Boeing to buy a majority stake in Brazilian planemaker Embraer's commercial arm. At the rally he spoke about helping police to crack down on crime, filling his Cabinet with military officers and taking Brazil out of the Paris climate accord. He also said he would support a reduction in the number of government ministries. The candidate has not nominated a vice president to run with him yet. A Muslim man who left his wife to die for five days after he said he found her tied up and badly injured in their home has been jailed for at least eight years. Mohamed Naddaf pleaded guilty to the criminally negligent manslaughter of Ashlee Brown, 25, who died in their 'unkempt and dirty' Craigieburn home in Melbourne's north in November 2016. Justice John Champion said Ms Brown was found in the passenger seat of the couple's car after having been subjected to a 'deliberate and frenzied assault' and tied up with clothesline wire. The mother of three children under five had been bashed, stabbed, gagged and had her long strawberry blonde hair cut off. Mohamed Naddaf is escorted from a prison van to the Victorian Supreme Court on Friday ahead of his sentencing over the manslaughter of his 25-year-old wife Ashlee Brown in 2016 Siobhann Brown waves an Australian flag at a protest organised by the Australian Liberty Alliance ahead of the sentencing of Mohamed Naddaf over Ms Brown's daughter's death Ashlee Brown suffered more than 100 blunt and sharp force injuries. The mother of three children under five had been bound, gagged and had her long strawberry blonde hair cut off Siobhann Brown, whose daughter Ashlee was found dead in the home she shared with her husband Mohamed Naddaf, told Daily Mail Australia she believed Islam killed her daughter Naddaf helped Ms Brown to the bathroom, putting her down on a flannelette sheet on the floor, and fed her water through a syringe for five days. He finally called triple zero on November 6 after Ms Brown died from complications arising from more than 100 injuries including internal and external bleeding. Right-wing activist group, the Australian Liberty Alliance, staged a protest outside the Victorian Supreme Court, condemning what Ms Brown's mother Siobhann believed was an 'Islamic honour killing'. Justice Champion said he did not accept Naddaf's claim that Ashlee asked him not to call for help in case their three children were taken by authorities. 'All that was required was a phone call,' Justice Champion said. 'Her death was slow, avoidable and miserable.' Justice Champion said Naddaf's motivation was unclear. The court heard Naddaf had a significant criminal history and was a long-term drug user, taking heroin, marijuana and ice. 'The Crown is not in a position to prove who inflicted the injuries upon Ms Brown,' Justice Champion said. Ashlee Brown and Mohamed Naddaf (both pictured) lived together in Melbourne's northern suburbs. Ashlee was 25 when she was found dead on the bathroom floor of the couple's home Five years after Ashlee Brown told her mother she was marrying Mohamed Naddaf (pictured) she was found dead in the couple's marital home. Naddaf pleaded guilty to manslaughter Siobhann Brown protests outside the court before Mohamed Naddaf is jailed for eight years 'It is not possible to say exactly when Ms Brown died but... she suffered to a considerable degree.' Siobhan Brown told reporters after the sentencing she believed Naddaf should have instead faced a murder trial for the death of her daughter, who had converted to Islam and had not spoken to her for five years. 'I am here today to raise awareness to the horrific, torturous death that Ashlee endured,' Ms Brown said outside court. 'My daughter's injuries and circumstances surrounding her death had all the hallmarks of an Islamic honour killing.' Naddaf was sentenced to 11 years' imprisonment and must serve at least eight years before being eligible for parole. He has already served 621 days in pre-sentence detention. Ms Brown told Daily Mail Australia last week she had had not heard from her eldest daughter since a phone call five years before she died. Her daughter told her she was marrying a Muslim man and was three months pregnant with her first child. Ms Brown had met Naddaf when Ashlee visited the family's home in country Victoria when she was about 18. Siobhann Brown wipes away a tear as she prepares to witness the sentencing of Mohamed Naddaf, who pleaded guilty to the manslaughter of her 25-year-old daughter Ashlee Ashlee was a fun-loving girl,' Siobhann Brown told Daily Mail Australia. 'She was giving. She was loving. She loved the sun, the beach. She loved singing, dancing, having fun' 'She introduced him as "Macca",' Ms Brown said. 'It was very brief. 'He seemed like a nice, very polite, young man. It pains me to say that. I didn't see him again after that.' HOW DID ASHLEE BROWN DIE? Ashlee Brown was found dead on her bathroom floor at Craigieburn, in Melbourne's north, on November 6, 2016. Her husband Mohamed Naddaf, 37, told police he had found Ashlee bloodied and beaten in their garage four or five days earlier. Naddaf said he had 'cared' for Ashlee instead of calling an ambulance because she had asked him not to. A post-mortem examination found Ashlee had suffered more than 100 injuries to her head, torso, buttocks and limbs. She had been stabbed in the thighs and had bruising to her right side, including her breast. Naddaf was originally charged with assault and false imprisonment. He was later charged with killing his wife but pleaded guilty to manslaughter based on negligence. Naddaf is not accused of causing any physical harm to Ashlee. Advertisement There was no communication for some time before a phone call came 'out of the blue' that would mean the end of all contact between Ms Brown and her daughter. When Ashlee was about 20 she rang to say she was pregnant and wanted her mother's blessing to convert to Islam and marry Naddaf. 'She said to me, "Mum, I need your blessing to become Muslim". She said "I'm three months' pregnant and I'm engaged to Mohamed. I would really like to marry him, mum, and settle down and have a baby". 'I said to her, "Darling, I don't know anything about the Muslim religion. As long as you know what you're doing". 'I said, "Do you have to wear one of those burqas or hijabs?" I didn't know what they were called. 'She said, "No mum, only when I go into the mosque because it's disrespectful for a woman to show her face before God". 'I said to Ashlee, "As long as you're making a fully informed decision and it's what you really want".' Ashlee said that it was. 'There was a pause after that,' Ms Brown said. 'She said. "Thank you, mum". And then her voice seemed to change and she said, "It's Islam". That didn't mean anything to me at the time. 'We said goodbye to each other and we hung up and I didn't hear from Ashlee again.' Siobhann Brown holds a placard with her daughter Dakota-Lee outside the Victorian Supreme Court where Mohamed Naddaf was sentenced to a minimum eight years in prison on Friday Ms Brown said she was convinced the lack of subsequent contact with Ashlee was solely down to her religious conversion and Naddaf controlling his wife. 'I believe Islam killed my daughter,' the 46-year-old said. 'If I could have taken that phone call back I would have not have given her my blessing. I would have said "No, sorry love". 'I'm not against Muslims. That's not what it's about. 'I'm not telling Ashlee's story to make friends. I don't want to tell lies, I'm not going to sugar coat it. I'm telling Ashlee's story for it to be known.' Ms Brown could not believe her daughter would willingly cease all contact with her mother and three siblings who are now aged 11 to 22. Ms Brown also believed the legal system let her down. 'It was explained to me that they didn't have enough evidence to successfully convict him of murder,' she said of Naddaf's manslaughter plea. 'I feel let down. I feel there should have been a trial. Where was our fight? We didn't have one. 'The offence of murder needs to be redefined.' Celebrity surgeon 'Dr BumBum' has been arrested after fleeing from police following the death of one of his patients. The surgeon, who's real name is Dr. Denis Furtado, was pictured being led away by cops in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, after the death of Lilian Calixto, 46, on Saturday. Earlier this week arrest warrants for homicide were issued for Denis Furtado and his mother, Maria Barros, over Ms Calixto's death. And police in Brazil had been frantically trying to search for the doctor who went into hiding shortly after her tragic death. Dr Furtardo (centre) was pictured being led away by police in front of baying journalists on Thursday after his capture The surgeon is famous within Brazil under the name 'Dr BumBum' and has more than 600,000 Instagram followers They eventually tracked both him and his mother down and they were pictured in handcuffs as they were led away for questioning. HSBC bank manager Ms Calixto travelled to Rio de Janeiro to undergo the procedure at the home of renowned surgeon to the stars Dr Furtado. Furtado is a regular on Brazilian TV and has more than 647,000 followers on Instagram. He boasts of performing more than 8,000 butt enlargement surgeries, with the rich and famous among his clients. Married mother-of-two Ms Calixto, from Cuiaba, central Brazil, reportedly arrived at Furtado's apartment in the upmarket Barra da Tijuca district of Rio on Saturday night. It is believed she had booked to have PMMA acrylic fillers injected to increase the size of her buttocks, as well as a hormone implant to treat symptoms of the menopause. Warrants had been issued for his arrest and and his mother, Maria de Fatima's (left) as both are believed to have been involved in the death Lilian Calixto (right) travelled to Rio de Janeiro to undergo the procedure at the home of renowned surgeon to the stars Dr Denis Furtado (left) Soon after receiving the injections at 10pm, she reportedly fell ill and started gasping for air, and her condition quickly deteriorated. Furtado and his mother reportedly took her to the local Barra D'Or hospital, where she was admitted at 11pm in an 'extremely severe condition, unresponsive to manoeuvres'. Despite the efforts of hospital staff, she died at 1am the next morning. According to a source at the hospital, the surgeon inadvertently injected the product into one of Ms Calixto's arteries, resulting in the formation of a clot that would have ruptured in her heart. Police have arrested the nurse who assisted in the procedure, as well as Furtado's girlfriend. Furtado is considered a fugitive of justice after officers were unable to locate him after a judge issued an arrest warrant for the surgeon. Married mother-of-two Ms Calixto, from Cuiaba, central Brazil, reportedly arrived at Furtado's apartment in the upmarket Barra da Tijuca district of Rio on Saturday night The surgeon inadvertently injected the product into one of Ms Calixto's (left and far right) arteries, resulting in the formation of a clot that would have ruptured in her heart, a hospital source said On his Instagram page, Furtado has posted dozens of 'before and after' photos of bottoms of women on whom he has performed butt lift surgery. A recent video shows him with Flavia Tamario, a contestant on last year's popular Miss Bumbum competition. He kisses Flavia and calls her his 'most grateful patient' after she says: 'I'm here with Dr Bumbum. I'll be this Wednesday on the Superpop channel, realising my dream'. Rio de Janeiro's Regional Medical Council (Cremerj) said they had opened an investigation into the incident on Tuesday. An investigation is also underway by the city's 16th civil police division. A Malaysia Airlines plane made an emergency landing at Brisbane airport after a speed instruments failure. The plane left Brisbane at 11.20pm and was bound for Kuala Lumpur when it was found that the aircraft still had a cover on its air speed indicator. This means that the pilots had no idea how fast they were going during the flight. The plane left Brisbane at 11.20pm and was bound for Kuala Lumpur when it was found that the aircraft still had a cover on its air speed indicator, which called for an emergency landing They turned back to Brisbane and made a 'hard, fast' landing at the airport, which left the aircraft's nose wheel damaged, according to 7 News Brisbane. The plane was stuck in the runway after it made its emergency landing, which caused several delays in Brisbane airport. It was not until later that the aircraft was finally towed away. Covers are reportedly placed over instruments to prevent wasps and other insects from getting inside and building nests. Malaysia Airlines has not yet released a statement regarding the incident. Just last January, Malaysia airlines flight MH122 also made an emergency landing at Alice Springs after it was found to be 'violently shaking' 10,000 feet above the ground. The plane, which left Sydney and was bound for Kuala Lumpur, reportedly lost engine power, which caused the aircraft to shake. One passenger recounted that the engine 'completely stopped on the left-hand side'. The terrified passengers were in the Northern Territory for almost a day before they were able to board their replacement flight. This is not the first time that Malaysia Airlines has made headlines, given the tragic plane crashes of MH370 and MH17 in 2014 (stock image) This is not the first time that the airline has made headlines. In March 2014, Malaysia airlines flight MH370 disappeared while flying from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing. Exploration company Ocean Infinity is still on the lookout for this aircraft, which has a finder's fee of more than $90 million. Malaysia airlines flight MH17, which was flying from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur, also disappeared in July 2014. It was reportedly hit by a Russian-made Buk missile over Ukraine. A 'justice search' is also ongoing for the victims of the MH17 plane crash. A plastic surgeon known as Dr Bumbum is on the run in Brazil after a woman died hours after receiving injections to enlarge her bottom. HSBC bank manager Lilian Calixto, 46, travelled to Rio de Janeiro to undergo the procedure at the home of renowned surgeon to the stars Dr Denis Furtado. Dubbed Dr Bumbum, Furtado is a regular on Brazilian TV and has more than 647,000 followers on Instagram. He boasts of performing more than 8,000 butt enlargement surgeries, with the rich and famous among his clients. Lilian Calixto (right) travelled to Rio de Janeiro to undergo the procedure at the home of renowned surgeon to the stars Dr Denis Furtado (left) Married mother-of-two Ms Calixto, from Cuiaba, central Brazil, reportedly arrived at Furtado's apartment in the upmarket Barra da Tijuca district of Rio on Saturday night. It is believed she had booked to have PMMA acrylic fillers injected to increase the size of her buttocks, as well as a hormone implant to treat symptoms of the menopause. Soon after receiving the injections at 10pm, she reportedly fell ill and started gasping for air, and her condition quickly deteriorated. Furtado took her to the local Barra D'Or hospital, where she was admitted at 11pm in an 'extremely severe condition, unresponsive to manoeuvres'. Despite the efforts of hospital staff, she died at 1am the next morning. According to a source at the hospital, the surgeon inadvertently injected the product into one of Ms Calixto's arteries, resulting in the formation of a clot that would have ruptured in her heart. Police have arrested the nurse who assisted in the procedure, as well as Furtado's girlfriend. Married mother-of-two Ms Calixto, from Cuiaba, central Brazil, reportedly arrived at Furtado's apartment in the upmarket Barra da Tijuca district of Rio on Saturday night Furtado is considered a fugitive of justice after officers were unable to locate him after a judge issued an arrest warrant for the surgeon. On his Instagram page, Furtado has posted dozens of 'before and after' photos of bottoms of women on whom he has performed butt lift surgery. A recent video shows him with Flavia Tamario, a contestant on last year's popular Miss Bumbum competition. He kisses Flavia and calls her his 'most grateful patient' after she says: 'I'm here with Dr Bumbum. I'll be this Wednesday on the Superpop channel, realising my dream'. And on his Facebook page, Furtado boasts: 'I have gained my different nicknames and the most recent is DR BUMBUM and that makes me very proud.' Ms Calixto's husband, Osmar Jamberci, told Brazil's Extra newspaper that she had told family and friends she was going to Rio to have the hormone implant, but didn't mention the butt enlargement procedure. Dubbed Dr Bumbum, Furtado is a regular on Brazilian TV and has more than 647,000 followers on Instagram The couple, who had been married for 20 years, have a 13-year-old daughter. Ms Calixto also had a 23-year-old son from a previous relationship. He said: 'She went on Saturday night and was due to return that night, it was going to be a quick thing. 'She told the family that she was going to have an implant because of the menopause. 'At 8.30am on Sunday, this doctor called me telling me there had been a complication and that they needed someone to release her body. 'It was the only time I spoke to him, and after that he disappeared.' Ms Calixto's stepdaughter, Alessandro Jambert, told Brazil's Extra newspaper she was the only one who knew about the buttom surgery and said she had chose to have the procedure with Furtado 'on the recommendation of others'. She said: 'Her friends did it, liked it and recommended him. He is a really famous doctor, and she was going to have it done in his own apartment.' The surgeon inadvertently injected the product into one of Ms Calixto's (left and far right) arteries, resulting in the formation of a clot that would have ruptured in her heart, a hospital source said A friend, who asked not to be named, said that Ms Calixto 'was very meticulous, very careful, really organised. She didn't do things any which way. We believe that somehow she was tricked.' And last night Ms Calixto's sister-in-law Shirlei Jamberce posted on Facebook: 'To my friends who knew her.. my sister-in-law Lilian Calixto was a victim of this inhuman person today fugitive from the police and my brother and my niece suffering the pain of this great loss. 'My heart is broken, and filled with hate for the people responsible, this supposed doctor and his two assistants (arrested this morning). 'This person DR DENIS FURTADO has already blocked all his accounts, because certainly his vanity would be able to cope with one negative comment, as he has more than 670,000 followers. Share to at least arrive at one more 'possible patient', so there isn't one more victim.' Rio de Janeiro's Regional Medical Council (Cremerj) said they had opened an investigation into the incident on Tuesday. An investigation is also underway by the city's 16th civil police division. Tourists have been banned from a popular attraction after a video of women dancing provocatively in front of it went viral. The Masjid Bandaraya in Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia, closed its doors to visitors after a clip showing two foreign women wearing shorts and crop tops sparked outrage. Mosque chairman Jamal Sakaran said he was disappointed in the behaviour of some visitors to the popular destination in Sabah on the island of Borneo. Scroll down for video Tourists have been banned from a popular attraction after a video of women dancing provocatively in front of it went viral (pictured) The Masjid Bandaraya (pictured) in Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia, closed its doors to visitors after a clip showing two foreign women wearing shorts and crop tops sparked outrage 'We opened our doors to visitors because we want to introduce and let the people know the beauty of Islam, but such action has tarnished the image of our religion,' Mr Sakaran said, The Star reported. 'Our immediate action is to close the mosque to visitors. 'All express buses, Grab cars and taxis are not allowed to bring tourists into the compound or park their vehicles in the area.' The ten-second clip shows two women wearing shorts and tops exposing their midriffs doing a synchronised dance on a wall while another woman films them. Mosque chairman Jamal Sakaran said he was disappointed in the behaviour of some visitors to the popular destination in Sabah on the island of Borneo (pictured are the tourists dancing) Tourism authorities considered taking legal action against the tourists - believed to be foreigners - in the video, but eventually decided against it. State Tourism, Culture and Environment Minister Christina Liew said they hoped to find and identify the women and their tour operator. 'We want to remind and warn all tour operators to inform their customers to refrain from acting disrespectfully at holy sites, all places of worships and areas of sensitivity in Sabah,' Liew said. Almost exactly three years ago four tourists from the UK, Canada and the Netherlands were sentenced for posing naked on Mount Kinabalu. The Westerners were jailed for three days and ordered to pay fines of 5,000 ringgit ($1,700) before being deported. Shocking footage shows the panicked seconds after a newborn baby plunged from a third-floor window after supposedly being thrown out by its mother. Witnesses claim the child landed on awning before bouncing onto the ground near a pile of rubbish in the city of Kajang in Malaysia. Horrified bystanders rushed to see if the baby was alive as one pedestrian cradled it in his arms. The tiny newborn survived the potentially fatal fall because the awning cushioned its landing. Restaurant owner Thayalan Paliandy, 33, said he heard a loud thud then one of his employees screaming. He said: 'I didn't know what was going on and I ran out the back of the restaurant where I saw a baby boy lying motionless on the ground. 'The baby's body had turned blue and there was blood coming from injuries on his head and from his nose. I thought he was dead but then I saw his hand move.' Mr Paliandy said that he picked up the tiny baby and flagged down a van. He then persuaded the driver to take the child to a nearby clinic. The baby being put into a van which then drove it to a nearby clinic in the Malaysian city of Kajang (left). A passer-by (right) picked up the newborn after it plunged three stories He added: 'My whole body was shaking. 'I could see that the little baby was having difficulty breathing and I worried that he wasn't even going to make it there.' The baby was transferred from the clinic to a hospital where it is in a critical condition in intensive care. Police are searching for the baby's mother and one person has been remanded in custody on suspicion of child abandonment. Britain is in the grip of a violent crime wave as thugs run riot on mopeds and motorbikes. Shocking figures released yesterday show the armed thieves are striking more than 60 times every day. In a chilling illustration of the crisis, a young woman was fighting for her life last night after her mobile was snatched by moped-riding thieves. And a motorcycle gang targeted yet another luxury store in London yesterday. Campaigners and politicians warned the attacks were matched by disturbing rises in stabbings, drug crime and gang violence. London now has a higher murder rate than New York, with more than 70 killings so far this year. Knife crime has also led to the deaths of a 17-year-old boy in Ipswich and of 15-year-olds in Sheffield and Wolverhampton. Britain is in the grip of a violent crime wave as thugs run riot on mopeds and motorbikes. Pictured: Scene of thugs breaking into a jewellers in central London on Tuesday As an MP said parts of the country were becoming 'like the Wild West': Scotland Yard has logged 22,025 motorcycle muggings in 12 months a rise of 50 per cent; Officers revealed that city gangs had set up 650 'county line' networks to sell drugs in towns and villages; Police were hunting moped robbers who targeted comedian Michael McIntyre; A rank-and-file police leader said officers were wary of chasing them for fear of possible disciplinary action; A think-tank said shop theft cost 6.3billion last year or 270 for every household. Violent crime soared by 21 per cent last year, with 1.3million offences recorded by police. The figure was the highest since records began in their current form 15 years ago. Knife crime rose by 22 per cent, robberies by a third and sex attacks were up by a quarter as police recorded 5.4million offences, 13 per cent up on the previous year. 'It is alarming that violent crime in England is rising so fast,' said Ed Davey, the Liberal Democrat home affairs spokesman. 'People are telling me they no longer feel safe in their own communities. 'For some areas it's fast becoming like the Wild West with criminals no longer afraid of getting caught. The blame rests squarely at the feet of this Government. Theresa May was responsible for slashing police budgets and even now she appears to be resisting calls for extra spending on police.' The robbers used hammers to destroy the driver's window and demanded his silver watch, worth around 15,000 David Green, of the Civitas think-tank, said: 'A fall in police numbers combined with increasingly violent drug gangs has meant some parts of our cities resemble TV's The Wire. Violent crime is rising and knife crime is rising as gangs fight over drug territories.' Experts believe a booming illicit drugs market notably in crack cocaine is fuelling much of the violence. They have also highlighted the middle-class appetite for regular cocaine. The Metropolitan Police figures showed that crimes committed using mopeds, scooters and motorcycles soared by 50 per cent in the year to May, to 22,025. The 24-year-old who is fighting for her life was attacked by two thugs on a moped in Edgware, north London, just after 9pm on Monday. She suffered a head injury and was found unconscious on the ground. McIntyre was also targeted in north London, while picking his son up from school on Monday. The moped muggers made off with his watch and are thought to have been watching his movements. Horrifying footage has captured the moment a masked thug wielding a machete (pictured) tried to smash a motorist's window in Birmingham A silver BMW repeatedly collides with the car and rams it into a parked vehicle in the congested residential street in Handsworth, Birmingham Rory Geoghegan, of the Centre for Social Justice, called on frontline police to get a grip. The think-tank published a report today highlighting how heroin, crack cocaine and synthetic drugs drive shop thefts. 'Our criminal justice system is in desperate need of a fix,' he said. The Police Federation called for the bringing forward of legislation to protect police from claims if they pursue crooks. Sergeant Tim Rogers said many officers still feared being charged with careless or reckless driving. Central London: Moped robbers in raid on West End watch shop Shoppers wrestled a knife-wielding moped robber to the ground during a ram raid at a luxury jeweller yesterday. The masked thug was pinned to the ground until police arrived at Watches of Switzerland in the West End of London. CCTV footage shows the gang wielding knives and hammers as they attempt to fend off members of the public. Three thugs could be seen running out of the watch shop and jumping on to mopeds as another fled on foot and the fifth was caught. A sledgehammer is shown lodged in the glass of a Rolex display cabinet at Watches of Switzerland on Regent Street A large knife is seen lying on the pavement outside Watches of Switzerland in Regent Street, London following today's raid They are believed to have made off with watches worth tens of thousands of pounds. They left a sledgehammer embedded in a Rolex display cabinet. A red scooter was abandoned inside the doors to the store and a second motorcycle was left in the street. Both are thought to have been stolen. A short distance away a large knife and a glove were left on the pavement. It was the third attack on the firm's central London stores in just three months. One witness said: 'Staff on the doors of shops very swiftly got people in from the street. Some of the public managed to wrestle the guys to the ground.' Police said one suspect was in custody. North London: Were bike muggers waiting to target McIntyre? Michael McIntyre may have been watched by the motorcycle thieves who stole his Rolex in a hammer attack. Police suspect the masked attackers may have followed the comedian after he left his 5.7million home in Hampstead, north London. They believe the offenders are a 'cut above' the smash-and-grab moped gangs causing misery across the capital. Pictures taken shortly after the attack show the driver's side window smashed and damage to Mr McIntyre's door Pictures show stunned comic Michael McIntyre speaking with police moments after he was robbed by a moped gang Investigators are trying to piece together witness accounts, CCTV footage and other clues in a bid to identify the culprits. McIntyre, 42, was the victim of a 30-second attack in which the men smashed the windows of his Range Rover and stole his watch. He had just picked up his ten-year-old son Oscar from school when the attackers struck on Monday afternoon. Photographs showed him comforting the child as onlookers gathered around to check they were not injured. Last night, the multi-millionaire insisted he was 'fine' and would still take the stage in Dublin tomorrow night as part of his Big World Tour. A serious looking Kitty McIntyre, wife of Michael McIntyre, was photographed leaving the family home in North London this morning and said her husband is 'fine' Speaking outside his home, McIntyre said: 'I can't really say what's happening, we're in the process of sorting this out. There's been an incident and we're dealing with it. I need to find out the best thing to do here, I can't say anything. This is not a wind up, it's ongoing and I can't share the details.' Earlier, his wife Kitty, also 42, an aromatherapist, said: 'He is fine.' Asked if the couple were concerned about the family's safety, she replied: 'No.' More than 24 hours after the attack, more details emerged of how McIntyre fell out of his car as he tried to fight off the robbers. It appears he was targeted while he waited outside the school for second son Lucas, 13. One witness said: 'The guy at the front of the moped started to hit the driver's window about ten to 15 times and it eventually cracked. He opens the door and gets Michael out of the car. He fell but he was still trying to put up a fight. 'And then within seconds they were gone down the hill. It was all so quick the whole thing must have taken 30 seconds.' Another resident added: 'It seemed as if Michael was their target - there are a lot of celebrities in this area and the parents of the schools have been targeted in the past.' Birmingham: Masked gang in attack on car This horrifying footage shows the moment a masked gang rammed a car in broad daylight before smashing the driver's window with a machete and hammer. A balaclava-clad male is seen repeatedly attacking the Toyota Yaris which has been blocked in by a BMW on a residential street. Another man then appears to launch a hammer (pictured) at the car windscreen before fleeing with his accomplice The silver BMW then repeatedly smashes into the Toyota, pushing it back into parked cars with its rear wheels off the ground, as a second masked and armed man runs up from behind. He throws a hammer at the windscreen and appears to ready himself to strike at the Toyota with the machete in his left hand. But the 20-second clip then shows him stop and run away with the other assailant. The shocking attack happened on Saturday evening in Handsworth, Birmingham. It was captured on the dashcam of another motorist. The clip has been viewed more than 20,000 times on social media. It is not known what lay behind the attack. Foreign Minister Julie Bishop has demanded Moscow compensate the relatives of victims murdered when Russian military shot down Malaysia Airlines flight MH17. MH17 was flying from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia when it was shot down by a BUK missile over eastern Ukraine on July 17, 2014. In a statement released on Friday, Ms Bishop and Attorney General Christian Porter notified the Russian Federation that Australia holds them responsible for the shooting of the plane and they should be held to account. Scroll down for video Emma Bell (left), originally of Lithgow in NSW, was a passionate teacher who was returning from a trip to Europe to start the new school term in Arnhem Land, Northern Territory. Jack O'Brien (right) of Sydney, was 25. His family said he was 'loved so much' Foreign Minister Julie Bishop has demanded Moscow compensate the relatives of victims murdered when Russian military shot down Malaysia Airline MH17 'The Joint Investigation Team (JIT) yesterday (Thursday) released significant findings that the BUK missile system used to down MH17 belonged to the 53rd Brigade of the Russian army,' they said in a statement. 'These findings are built on earlier findings that the BUK missile system was taken from Russia to eastern Ukraine and back, immediately after the downing of Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17 on 17 July 2014. 'Based on these findings, the only conclusion we can reasonably now draw is that Russia was directly involved in the downing of MH17. 'This evening Australia and the Netherlands notified the Russian Federation that we hold it responsible for its role in the downing. We have requested negotiations to open dialogue around the circumstances leading to the tragic loss of innocent lives. Downed: The reconstructed wreckage of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 which was shot down by a Russian missile over eastern Ukraine in July 2014 is seen in The Netherlands Horror: Debris from Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 is shown smouldering in a field on July 17, 2014 in Grabovo, Ukraine near the Russian border 'The Russian Federation must be held to account for its conduct in the downing of MH17 over eastern Ukraine, which resulted in the tragic deaths of 298 passengers and crew, including 38 people who called Australia home. 'Holding the Russian Federation responsible under international law is separate, but complementary to, the prosecution of the individual suspects, which is taking place under the Dutch national system.' Dutch investigator Wilbert Paulissen said on Thursday the missile was fired by a Russian anti-aircraft missile brigade based in the city of Kursk, near the Ukrainian border. However, in March, the Russian Ambassador in Australia, Grigory Logvinov, said there was no evidence connecting Russia with the deadly attack, Daily Telegraph reported. Last shot: This photo shows Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 leaving Schiphol Airport in Amsterdam on July 17, 2014 Russian Ambassador in Australia, Grigory Logvinov (pictured) said in March there was no evidence connecting Russia with the deadly attack Wilbert Paulissen said in the press conference on Thursday: 'The Joint Investigation Team has come to the conclusion that the BUK-TELAR that shot down MH17 came from 53rd Anti-aircraft Missile Brigade based in Kursk in Russia. 'All the vehicles in a convoy carrying the missile were part of the Russian armed forces.' The investigators had previously concluded that the plane was brought down by a BUK missile fired from territory in Ukraine held by Moscow-backed rebels, but had stopped short of directly saying who pulled the trigger. Now the team has painstaking recreated the route taken by the missile convoy from Kursk across the border into Ukraine using videos and photos. Paulissen added the team had 'ascertained that the BUK-TELAR has a number of unique characteristics. These characteristics as such served as a type of fingerprint for the missile.' The probe being led by The Netherlands is focusing on some 100 people suspected of having played an 'active role' in the incident, but investigators have not yet publicly named any suspects. Evidence: Russian writing can be seen on the side of the damaged missile put on display Russian projectile: The damaged Russian missile that shot down flight MH17, killing all 298 people on board, is put on display in Bunnik, Netherlands, today Chief investigator Fred Westerbeke said Thursday the probe was now in its 'last phase' but added there was 'still work to be done'. Over the past years 'we've gained a lot of proof and evidence but we are not ready yet' to move towards bringing charges, he told the press conference. Dutch officials have announced that the trial of any suspects arrested in the shooting down of flight MH17 will be held in the Netherlands under an agreement reached with the countries leading the joint probe. BUK are a series of surface-to-air missile systems developed by Soviet and subsequently Russia, who has always denied involvement in the downing of the jet. MH17 crashed in Grabovo, Ukraine an area near the Russian border which at the time was under the control of pro-Russian militias. The plane was shot down in the early stages of the Ukraine War, which began with the Russian annexation of Crimea - a military muscle-flexing exercise by President Vladimir Putin attempting to show off his strength to the West. This and the anti-government 'revolution' that had shaken the capital Kiev for months, sparked protests by pro-Russian groups in the Donbass region in the east. This escalated into a full-blown armed conflict between pro-Russian separatists, backed by Moscow, and the Ukrainian government which is still ongoing. All 298 passengers and crew, which included mainly Dutch citizens but also Brits, Malysians and Australians, were killed in the disaster. Here Daily Mail Australia pictures the Australian citizens and residents who never made it home. Dutch language teacher Dafne Nieveen (left) was killed while flying home to Perth. Melbourne-based IT security consultant Marco Grippeling (right) is one of 10 Victorian residents killed in the MH17 flight disaster Dutchman Itamar Avnon (left) was on a trip to Israel for a wedding and stopped over in Amsterdam to visit friends before boarding MH17 Flight. He was studying Australia. Emiel Mahler and girlfriend Elaine Teoh (right), both 27, were on their way to a wedding in Malaysia but lived in Melbourne Liliane Derden (left) was a public servant from Canberra whose two daughters changed their Facebook profile pictures to photos of their mother in a touching tribute. Gary Lee, a retiree, ran a Chinese restaurant while his wife Mona (right) was a schoolteacher Retired Wollongong couple Michael and Carol Clancy (left), in their 60s, were on a three-week European holiday. Gerry Menke and his wife Mary (right) owned an abalone pearl company in Mallacoota. Their business recently won a prize at the East Gippsland Business Awards Shaliza Dewal (left), 45, and her Dutch husband Hans Van Den Hende (centre) were travelling from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur with their three children, Piers, 15, (top right) and Marnix, 12, (top back) and daughter Margaux, 8, (top centre) Left: Edel Mahady was returning to Perth for the start of the school term at Good Shepherd Catholic Primary School, Kelmscott. Right: Helena Sidelik was travelling home from a friend's wedding in Europe, back to the Gold Coast where she lived Recently retired couple Wayne and Theresa Baker had two sons, aged in their 20s. The Bakers were based in Buddina on the Sunshine Coast but also lived in Darwin Left: Nick Norris was travelling with his three grandchildren. Centre: Victorian real estate agent, Albert Rizk. Right: Marie Rizk was travelling with her husband on board MH17 Children Mo, Otis and Evie Maslin from Perth, who perished in the terrorist attack on MH17, were travelling home with their grandfather, Nick Norris, after a family holiday Arjen Ryder and wife Yvonne from Albany, Queensland, were travelling together. Right: Victor Oreshkin was a religious man who was involved in church ministry NSW resident Sister Philomene Tiernan (left), and Frankie Davison and her husband, Liam (right), were on the plane Recently retired pathologist Roger Guard (left) and his wife Jill (right) from Toowoomba in Queensland, have also been identified from the MH17 flight Mr Horder and his wife Susan, both 63, of Albany Creek, were among the Queenslanders aboard flight MH17 when it was shot down Investigators today revealed the evidence they believe proves Russia was responsible for downing Flight MH17, killing 298 people, including 80 children. The Malaysia Airlines jet was on its way from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur when it was shot down by a Russian BUK missile over eastern Ukraine on July 17, 2014. The international team of investigators have now been able to link the missile found in the wreckage of the downed jet to a Russian military unit which was operating within Ukraine at the time. Scroll down for video Russian projectile: The damaged Russian missile that shot down flight MH17, killing all 298 people on board, is put on display in Bunnik, Netherlands, today A serial number on a part of the BUK-TELAR rocket that was fired on the MH17 flight is show during the persconference of the Joint Investigation Team (JIT), in Bunnik It is the clearest link yet published by the team to the involvement of the Russian military in the deadly missile strike. Parts of the missile had been seen before, but today investigators displayed parts of the engine casing and exhaust system of the missile, including the unique serial number and Russian writing. The missile's serial number and Cyrillic writing - 'Opera Izdelia' and 'Data Sborki 15:13:86' which means 'Device support, Assembly date 15:13:86' - had given the team a 'fingerprint' identifying it and where it was made. While investigators had known that the missile was Russian made, they had previously not been able to determine if it had been fired by Moscow forces. Prosecutors showed photos and videos of a truck convoy carrying the system as it crossed the border from Russia to Ukraine. It crossed back several days later with one missile missing. The vehicles had serial numbers and other markings that were unique to the 53rd brigade, an anti-aircraft unit based in the western Russian city of Kursk, they said. They were able to link the missile found in the wreckage with the missile launch system. 'The Buk that was used came from the Russian army, the 53rd brigade,' Chief Dutch Prosecutor Fred Westerbeke said. 'We know that was used, but the people in charge of this Buk, we don't know.' Investigators appealed to the public to come forward and help identify members of the crew who operated the missile and determine how high up the chain of command the order originated. Evidence: Russian writing can be seen on the side of the damaged missile put on display Found it: Investigators analysed video and photos from social media tracing the journey of the Russian missile convoy, pictured, into Ukraine which identified the missile launcher system Vladimir Putin speaks with French President Emmanuel Macron and his wife Brigitte during a meeting in St. Petersburg, today as the Russian defense ministry issued a statement saying their military is innocent Prosecutors said they have presented their findings to Moscow and are seeking answers, but so far have not received a response. Instead, the Russian defence ministry chose to release a statement on Thursday afternoon, rejecting the findings publicly. 'Not a single anti-aircraft missile system from the Russian Federation has ever crossed the Russia-Ukraine border,' the defence ministry said in a statement carried by local news agencies. Later, Moscow said the findings were an attempt to discredit the nation. 'It is clear that these gratuitous accusations are an attempt to discredit our nation in the eyes of the international community,' the Russian foreign ministry said. The ministry accused Ukraine of being behind the disaster in which 298 people died, saying it had presented evidence that 'showed the involvement of Ukrainian units using (Soviet-designed) BUK missiles'. Speaking at today's press conference, Dutch investigator Wilbert Paulissen said the Joint Investigation Team had 'come to the conclusion that the BUK-TELAR that shot down MH17 came from 53rd Anti-aircraft Missile Brigade based in Kursk in Russia. 'All the vehicles in a convoy carrying the missile were part of the Russian armed forces,' Mr Paulissen told a press conference in Bunnik, Netherlands, today. The investigators had previously concluded that the plane was brought down by a BUK missile fired from territory in Ukraine held by Moscow-backed rebels, but had stopped short of directly saying who pulled the trigger. The probe being led by The Netherlands is focusing on some 100 people suspected of having played an 'active role' in the incident, but investigators have not yet publicly named any suspects. Chief investigator Fred Westerbeke said Thursday the probe was now in its 'last phase' but added there was 'still work to be done'. Horror: Debris from Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 is shown smouldering in a field on July 17, 2014 in Grabovo, Ukraine near the Russian border Hit: This graphic shows how the BUK missile hit the passenger jet over Ukraine Over the past years 'we've gained a lot of proof and evidence but we are not ready yet' to move towards bringing charges, he told the press conference. Dutch officials have announced that the trial of any suspects arrested in the shooting down of flight MH17 will be held in the Netherlands under an agreement reached with the countries leading the joint probe. BUK are a series of surface-to-air missile systems developed by the Soviet Union and subsequently Russia. The missile was made by the Dolgoprudny Research and Manufacturing Enterprise in Moscow in 1986. The JIT has established that this involves a missile of the 9M38 Buk-series, which are fired by BUK-TELAR launchers. The Joint Investigation Team analysed the missile and the military convoy it previously claimed was responsible. It said the convoy contained six BUK-TELAR missile launchers, which it said combined with characters on the missile produced a number of characteristics so unique it could be considered as a fingerprint. Some of the characters were stamped while others were hand-written or hand-engraved. It reported: 'This fingerprint has been compared with numerous images of BUK-TELARS, both Ukrainian and Russian ones. The only BUK-TELAR on which this combination of characteristics also was found, is a BUK-TELAR that was recorded several times when it joined a convoy of the 53rd brigade on 23 25 June 2014. 'Consequently, the JIT presumes that within the 53rd brigade and within the circle around it, people have knowledge about the operation in which that particular BUK-TELAR was deployed and about the persons that were involved in it. Therefore, the JIT calls on insiders and eyewitnesses to share their information with the investigation team. Also information about the instruction of the BUK-TELAR's crew matters greatly for the criminal investigation.' MH17 crashed in Grabovo, Ukraine an area near the Russian border which at the time was under the control of pro-Russian militias. The plane was shot down in the early stages of the Ukraine War, which began with the Russian annexation of Crimea - a military muscle-flexing exercise by President Vladimir Putin attempting to show off his strength to the West. This and the anti-government 'revolution' that had shaken the capital Kiev for months, sparked protests by pro-Russian groups in the Donbass region in the east. Last shot: This photo shows Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 leaving Schiphol Airport in Amsterdam on July 17, 2014 Downed: The reconstructed wreckage of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 which was shot down by a Russian missile over eastern Ukraine in July 2014 is seen in The Netherlands Downed: The jet crashed near the Russian border, in southeastern Ukraine This escalated into a full-blown armed conflict between pro-Russian separatists, backed by Moscow, and the Ukrainian government which is still ongoing. Ukraine and its Western allies have long accused Russia of funnelling troops and arms across the border to fan the flames of the conflict. Moscow has denied the allegations despite overwhelming evidence that it has been involved in the fighting and its explicit political support for the rebels. It came just a few months after another Malaysia Airlines disaster: the disappearance of Flight MH370. The Malaysia Airlines jet disappeared in March 2014, with 239 mostly Chinese people onboard while en route from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing. Yesterday, the Malaysian government announced that the search for the plane will end on Tuesday, and there will be no more extensions. A U.S. firm had been hired by the government on a 'no find, no fee' basis in January to carry on the fruitless search for the wreckage. A joint hunt by Australia, China and Malaysia across a 46,332 square miles area in the Indian Ocean ended last year. Malaysian police have confiscated a haul of luxury goods during a corruption and money laundering investigation into the country's former Prime Minister. Officers seized 284 designer handbags and 72 suitcases containing cash, jewelry and other valuables on Friday during the probe into Najib Razak's business affairs. Commercial crime chief Amar Singh said the valuables were found during a search of apartments linked to Najib at an upscale condo in Kuala Lumpur. Police load confiscated items into a truck in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. They included 72 suitcases containing cash, jewelry and other valuables Police prepare to load confiscated items into a truck in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, which included orange boxes full of designer handbags Singh said the seizure was part of investigations into a corruption scandal at the 1MDB state fund, which is also being probed by the U.S. and other countries. U.S. investigators say Najib's associates stole and laundered $4.5billion from the fund. Some of the money allegedly landed in Najib's bank account and $23million was used to buy a pink diamond necklace for his wife, it is claimed. Najib, whose coalition was ousted in a stunning election defeat last week, denies any wrongdoing. Television networks showed police carting away orange boxes containing handbags and luggage of various sizes from the condominium. Each orange box has a label and a picture of the bag. The labels on some of the boxes describe the bags as a 'navy blue crocodile skin with diamond,' a 'blue with diamonte' crocodile skin Hermes and a gray crocodile skin Hermes. Malaysia's former Prime Minister Najib Razak leaves after performing Friday prayers in Kuala Lumpur on May 18 Najib Razak is met by a supporter who gives him a warm embrace Najib Razak and his wife Rosmah Mansor arrive in Tokyo on May 24, 2015. He is said to have bought her a $23million pink diamond necklace with laundered money All appeared to be new and were bought abroad, including in Paris and Switzerland in 2013 and 2015. Singh said the seizure included Birkin Hermes bags, cash in various currencies, watches and a 'big amount' of jewelry. Najib's wife, Rosmah Mansor, is known in Malaysia for her love for Birkin bags, which luxury publications say cost from $12,000 to more than $200,000. Singh declined to say who the apartments belonged. He said the 'search was conducted in relevance to our 1MDB investigations.' Police conducted simultaneous raids at several other locations including Najib's family house, his former office as prime minister and an official residence. Boxes containing confiscated items are put inside a police truck in Kuala Lumpur Police prepare to load confiscated items into a truck in Kuala Lumpur. A label showing a luxury handbag can be seen printed on two of the orange boxes Police prepare to load confiscated items into a truck in Kuala Lumpur. A label showing a luxury handbag can be seen printed on one of the orange boxes Documents related to 1MDB were taken from the office and police are still trying to crack open a safe in Najib's house, he said. He declined to say if the haul would lead to an indictment for Najib. The search for evidence continues, he said. New Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad, who led an opposition alliance to victory in May 9 polls that ended the 60-year rule of Najib's coalition, has reopened the probe into 1MDB. Mahathir, 92, has said an initial investigation showed the scale of wrongdoing by Najib's administration was more serious than thought. He has said that arrests will be made when there is evidence, and there would be 'no deal' with Najib. Mahathir was premier for 22 years until 2003 but made a political comeback amid anger over the 1MDB scandal. Police spent 20 hours beginning late Wednesday searching Najib's house, and his lawyer said items such as handbags and clothing were taken away. Several police cars arrived at Najib's house Friday morning, fueling speculation his arrest may be imminent. Najib and his wife have been barred from traveling overseas. Mahathir has said the government will seek to retrieve billions of dollars laundered from 1MDB to repay government debts that have piled up over the years. A car (center) believed to be carrying former Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak leaves his private residence in Kuala Lumpur The government has also told the current attorney general, who cleared Najib of wrongdoing in 2016, to go on leave. It has relieved the country's treasury chief, who is also the 1MDB chairman. The government has set up a five-member committee to handle the 1MDB case. It includes a former attorney general and an adviser to Indonesia's Financial Services Authority. Australian authorities would be 'complicit in mass murder' if they ignored evidence that the MH370 pilot deliberately crashed the plane, an expert claims. Mike Keane, a former easyJet chief pilot and Royal Air Force intelligence officer, said the ATSB should change its 'ghost flight' theory of what happened to the missing jet. Captain Keane believes MH370 was hijacked by pilot Zaharie Ahmad Shah and intentionally flown outside the search area. If the Australian Transport Safety Bureau deliberately ignored evidence contradicting its MH370 (pictured) theory it would be complicit in mass murder, a pilot has claimed Mike Keane, a former easyJet chief pilot and Royal Air Force intelligence officer, said the ATSB (pictured examining MH370 debris) should change its 'ghost flight' theory of what happened to the missing jet Captain Keane's comments come after the launch of a book by Larry Vance (pictured), a Canadian air crash investigator with a similar theory on the crash His theory conflicts with the 'ghost flight' theory, which maintains the pilots lost consciousness and the plane flew on autopilot until running out of fuel. 'You may recall my observation of 'complicity to a crime' if the ATSB cling to their version of events when they have knowledge to the contrary,' he told The Australian. 'Put bluntly, the MH370 'crash' is undoubtedly a crime of the unlawful killing of 238 innocent people. 'The Australian government has also been remiss, they should have put pressure on the ATSB to listen, and act, on professional advice from the aviation community.' Captain Keane's comments came after several other experts determined that Zaharie downed the plane on purpose, and the chance of an accident was 'one in a trillion'. One of them, Senior Boeing 777 pilot and instructor Simon Hardy, said the pilot flew over his hometown of Penang, Malaysia, for an 'emotional goodbye' on the way. The MH370 pilot captain made an unexplained and strange turn to fly over his hometown of Penang He said the plane 'dipping its wing' over Penag was explained by Zaharie wanting to look out the window at the city one last time. Mr Hardy also said Zaharie avoided detection by floying along the border between Malaysia and Thailand, crossing in and out of each other's airspace. 'So both of the controllers aren't bothered about this mysterious aircraft. Cause it's 'oh, it's gone. It's not in our space anymore',' he told Australia's 60 Minutes. The transponder also went off in that time, and the plane turned sharply and headed south for the next six hours. Larry Vance, a Canadian air crash investigator, said Zaharie was killing himself and took the plane to where it would 'disappear' to cover that up. 'I think the general public can take comfort in the fact that there is a growing consensus on the plane's final moments,' he said on 60 Minutes. 'Unfortunately, he was [also] killing everybody else on board, and he did it deliberately,' he said. Captain Keane believes MH370 was hijacked by pilot Zaharie Ahmad Shah (pictured) and intentionally flown outside the search area Authorities combing through the Indian Ocean for remains of missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 have discovered two huge structures (pictured) on the sea floor 'He was taking it to a predestination, some place that he had planned to take it, and he flew that six hours to get it there.' Mr Vance believed the plane was on the bottom of the ocean in just a few pieces with the fuselage in one piece with the left wing still on. The investigator published the book MH370: Mystery Solved that puts forward a his theory on the crash in more detail. Mr Vance wrote the discovery of the right-wing flaperon from MH370 on Reunion Island proves the impact could not have occurred at high speed. Accusing the ATSB of incompetence, Mr Vance said if the evidence was suppressed it would amount to 'intentional deception'. Mr Vance's book outlines his forensic examination of the crash, which he believes proves the plane was ditched in a controlled manner. The Seabed Constructor (pictured), a vessel leased by US underwater survey group Ocean Infinity, is still searching for the wreckage of the missing plane In its October 2017 report, the ATSB wrote: 'The reasons for the loss of MH370 cannot be established with certainty until the aircraft is found. 'It is almost inconceivable ... for a large commercial aircraft to be missing and for the world not to know with certainty what became of the aircraft and those on board.' Flight MH370, a Boeing 777 flying from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing, vanished in March 2014 with 227 passengers, including six Australians, on board. The Seabed Constructor, a vessel leased by US underwater survey group Ocean Infinity, is still searching for the wreckage of the missing plane. Australian officials were quick to shutdown sensational claims by an Australian engineer that he had found the doomed flight MH370. Peter McMahon, a mechanical engineer said he believed he had found the flight using Google Earth and NASA images and that it was riddled with bullet holes. A spokesperson for the Joint Agency Coordination Center (JACC) told Fox News that while Mr McMahon did send them his find, at no point did they imply that it could be the missing flight. An Australian mechanical engineer claims to have found doomed Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 using Google Earth, the first picture (above) shows what looks like a plane The JACC also said Mr McMahon's claims were plainly false. '[And] must be particularly upsetting for the family and friends of those lost on Malaysia Airlines flight MH370,' the spokesperson said. Mr McMahon, who has a background in crash investigations, said he used Google Earth to locate the wreckage of the flight which went missing in 2014, The Daily Star reported. According to Mr McMahon's claims, the wreckage of the flight is located 16km south of Round Island, which is 22.5km north of Mauritius, in an area of the ocean that has not been searched before. The second picture shows what looks to be the front end of a plane and the cabin just below the water's surface He took his claims one step further by saying he also believed US officials were refusing to search the area. Four American investigators had been sent to Australia to work on the MH370 case but he believes they are keeping crucial information hidden. 'They have made sure that all information received has been hidden from the public, even our government, but why,' he said. According to Mr McMahon the wreckage of the flight is located 16km south of Round Island (pictured) which is 22.5km North of Mauritius, an area that has not been searched before '...(they) do not want it found as its full of bullet holes, finding it will only open another inquiry.' Mr McMahon also made the sensational claim that the wreckage of the plane is full of bullet holes. In one of the two images what looks to be the outline of an aircraft can be seen just below the water's surface while the second picture shows what looks to be the front end of a plane. The prevailing theory on the whereabouts of the plane (pictured) is that it crash landed in the Indian Ocean about six hours after take off Mr McMahon said he sent the information to the Australian Transport and Safety Bureau (ATSB) and they where unable to rule out completely that it wasn't the missing plane. The prevailing theory on the whereabouts of the plane is that it crash landed in the Indian Ocean about six hours after take off. Radar imaging at the time showed the flight taking a sharp change in course less than 60 minutes after take off before vanishing form radar completely. The flight had 239 passengers on board plus the flight crew. Police are hunting a woman who is wanted on an outstanding warrant for concealing a serious indictable offence. A public appeal has now been launched to track down 30-year-old Kyrran Aileen Ellen Daley who has 'No comment' tattooed across her arm. Police say she is known to spend time in towns along the New South Wales far north coast, including Ballina and Evans Head. Kyrran Aileen Ellen Daley, 30, (pictured) is wanted by New South Wales police on an outstanding warrant Daley is described by police as being of Aboriginal/Torres Strait Islander appearance and between 180cm to 185cm in height. They say she is of a medium build, about 70kg to 75kg, with black hair. Anyone with information about Daley's whereabouts is urged to contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000. The surgery is widely debated due to the child's age and the fact it's A five-year-old child who was born a boy will undergo intersex surgery after the Family Court agreed to a request by the parents to remove the child's gonads. The child known as Carla, was thought to be female when she was born, because she had ambiguous genitalia, The Australian reports. But when her mother noticed swelling around the vulva, she underwent tests and it was revealed she had male and not female reproductive organs. The child known as Carla, was thought to be female when she was born, because she had ambiguous genitalia - and was subsequently raised as a girl Her male gonads were simply tucked inside her body, making her genital area appear similar to that of a typical female's. Once referred to as hermaphrodites, babies born similar to Carla were often assigned a gender at birth. With the help of sugery, babies had their sex decided for them. This practice has now been widely condemned by the intersex community who argue the surgery is 'medically unnecessary'. Without the young child's input, it is argued the wrong gender could be assigned entirely. Intersex activist Morgan Carpenter told The Australian on Wednesday it was appropriate to assign a gender to an intersex child at birth, but not enforce it with irreversible surgery. Carla's male gonads were simply tucked up inside her body, making her genital area appear similar to that of a typical female's - she was raised female, enjoying stereotypical female toys Intersex activist Morgan Carpenter (pictured) said it was important not to enforce an intersex child's sex with irreversible surgery 'The child will need to decide their identity for themselves, when they are older, and that's difficult when surgery has been enforced on them as children,' he said. Five-year-old Carla's intersex surgery was approved in January by Family Court judge Colin Forrest who ruled the parents were making the right decision by Carla. Carla's parents enhanced the appearance of their daughter's outwardly appearing female genitalia when she was a baby, but this did not impact her ability to make a more permanent decision later in life. The court heard the little girl exhibited stereotypical female behaviours since she was born. '(She) enjoys toys and colours that are stereotypically female, for example, having pink curtains, a Barbie bedspread and campervan, necklaces, lip gloss and 'fairy stations' the court heard '(She) enjoys toys and colours that are stereotypically female, for example, having pink curtains, a Barbie bedspread and campervan, necklaces, lip gloss and 'fairy stations'. 'She never tries to stand while urinating, never wants to be called by or referred to in the male pronoun.' Carla also has long blonde hair which she enjoys wearing in braids, the court heard. While Carla is due to undergo the surgery now, she may need further surgery when she is older so she has the capacity to have sexual intercourse. The plight of Carla and intersex children alike have been at the centre of a 2013 Senate enquiry. Parents of intersex children and their rights have also been at the centre of debate. Councillor Tony Briffa had his gonads removed when he was seven-years-old, but cautions intersex children and their parents away from surgery at a young age A local councillor in Hobsons Bay, Melbourne, used his experience as an intersex person as warning for others not to make any rash decisions. Councillor Tony Briffa was born intersex, but raised as female. His gonads were removed when he was seven-years-old, after his mother's request for his castration was approved in a similar case to Carla's. Fever-Tree sales soared thanks to demand for gin and other spirits. Revenues at the mixer maker rose 39 per cent to 236m in 2018 as gin and tonic and other mixed drinks proved a popular alternative to beer and wine. Shares in Fever-Tree jumped 13.5 per centc, or 350p, to 2948p as it said full-year profits are likely to be higher than previously thought. The rise in the share price added 39m to the value of stock held by founders Tim Warrillow and Charles Rolls. Chief executive Warrillow has a 158m stake in the firm, while deputy chairman Rolls has a 237m holding even though both have sold millions of pounds of shares over the past three years. The pair founded Fever-Tree in 2005 after a trip to eastern Congo in search of quinine, a primary ingredient in tonic water. The firm enjoyed a stellar performance in the UK last year, with sales up 52 per cent, while revenues grew 21 per cent in the US and by 24 per cent in Continental Europe. Warrillow said: Drinking habits are changing. Fever-Tree is at the forefront of this trend. Vodafone shares slipped towards a nine-year low, as poor figures from its South African division spooked investors the day before its latest trading update. Vodacom, which is Vodafone's South African subsidiary, said a slower-than-expected economic recovery in the country was to blame for the decline in sales. Amid political pressure to cut prices on its data packages, Vodacom's revenue slipped 1.3 per cent in South Africa over the last three months of 2018 to around 960m. Chief executive Shameel Joosub said that though the business had introduced a number of promotional deals, fewer customers than hoped had taken them up. The results came at an awkward time for Vodacom's London-listed parent company Vodafone, which is set to release its own update today on trading over the last three months of 2018. Shares slid 3.5 per cent, or 5.22p, to 144p, and renewed fears surfaced over whether Vodafone might have to cut its popular dividend. Jordan Hiscott, chief trader at Ayondo Markets, said: 'The jewel in the crown for Vodafone is its dividend, currently a generous 9 per cent a figure many investors will look on with delight.' But this may always be cut, he reminded investors. Hiscott added: 'With the FTSE heavyweight down an astounding 31 per cent on a 52-week basis, clearly the company finds itself in an embattled position, having taken on huge amounts of debt.' Vodafone's sinking shares pulled the FTSE 100 down 0.35 per cent, or 23.93 points, to 6818.95. A strong set of numbers from wealth manager St James's Place helped to mitigate losses on the blue-chip index. Choppy markets, prompted by investors' concerns over Brexit and the global economy, have knocked several similar firms in recent weeks, pushing down the value of the money they hold for clients as investments have under-performed. But St James's managed to hold steady, seeing its funds under management climb 5 per cent to 95.6bn over 2018. Clients invested 10.3 billion more than they withdrew over the year, up 8 per cent from the year before. Shares climbed 2.2 per cent, or 20.6p, to 962p. Investment firm Brooks Macdonald had less success, as it revealed its own funds under management had slumped 4.5 per cent over the last six months of 2018 to 11.9 billion. Shares edged down 3.5 per cent, or 60p, to 1670p. But the same market volatility worked to CMC Markets' favour. The online trading firm said the three months to December 31 had been much better than the previous three months, as its clients increased their activity as they attempted to make money from the fluctuating markets. As its peer IG Group conceded on Wednesday, new European rules designed to protect inexperienced traders would push down revenue for the year. But shares still climbed 2.8 per cent, or 3.2p, to 117.6p. Brownfield housebuilder Inland Homes slipped 3 per cent, or 1.7p, to 54.8p as it agreed to increase its lending. It has taken out a 65m debt facility with HSBC, to replace the 20m it previously had with Barclays. It also said that numbers of houses sold would be lower than the previous year, due to the timing of occupations on large apartment complexes. Larger peer Countryside Properties also dipped, despite announcing sales were up 18 per cent to 1094 homes in the three months to December. The average number of people making a reservation per building development each week a key metric for the industry dipped as Countryside warned of an uncertain political backdrop. Shares fell 2.8 per cent, or 9p, to 318p. A second profit warning in three months caused private jet servicing company Gama Aviation to plummet 22.6 per cent, or 26p, to 89p. The boss of Barclays has hit back against a New York-based corporate raider bidding to overhaul the British bank. Chief executive Jes Staley accused Ed Bramson of failing to reveal his strategy for Barclays to the bank's directors, despite demanding a seat on its board. Investors also claimed Bramson has not discussed his plans with them. Battling: Chief executive Jes Staley (right) accused Ed Bramson of failing to reveal his strategy for Barclays to the bank's directors, despite demanding a seat on its board One leading shareholder added: 'He's identified a number of problems with Barclays but hasn't come up with any solutions.' But sources warned that Barclays shareholders could split over Bramson's plans to win a seat on the board and overhaul the bank with US investors backing his move while those in the UK swing behind Staley. Speaking at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, Staley accused Bramson of failing to lay out his vision for the bank despite agitating for change. In an interview with CNBC, Staley said: 'We've had a reasonable engagement with Bramson over the last year, we'll see him again in March. He really hasn't laid out his strategy to us, you know. We read the press, and see what they say.' Bramson claims that his expertise can transform Barclays' fortunes after years of consternation over its share price. The activist controls 5.51 per cent of Barclays stock through his fund Sherborne Investors. He plans to call a vote of other investors at the bank's annual meeting in a bid to win a board seat. But several large UK firms are sceptical. One shareholder who owns stock in both Sherborne and Barclays said they have never even discussed the proposals with Bramson. The investor said they were surprised at the activist's decision to target Barclays and he may have overplayed his hand. City insiders believe that most of Barclays' London-based backers will vote against Bramson's plans. But it is thought he may be more popular with US investors closer to his New York base. Six of Barclays' top ten shareholders are US firms, according to data from Reuters, and American companies in its top 30 control more than 32 per cent of the stock. However, this includes huge tracker funds run by the likes of BlackRock and Vanguard, where the normal policy is to support a company's existing management in controversial votes. If Bramson does force a vote at the Barclays meeting, Sherborne investors who also own Barclays stock will be closely watched. Most of the firms which include Aviva Investors, Schroders and Standard Life Aberdeen have said nothing publicly about whether they back his demand for a boardroom seat. But if he does not get a majority of them onside, it could raise serious questions about governance at his own fund. Richard Buxton, the boss of Merian Global Investors and backer of both Sherborne and Barclays, said last year Bramson's timing was bizarre. Staley is said to have told friends he would quit if ordered to shrink Barclays' investment bank. And the row could even draw in the Bank of England, which is likely to be deeply concerned about major disruption at Barclays because it is a globally important lender. Vue International is making its first foray into Saudi Arabia just months after a 35-year ban on commercial cinemas was lifted. The firm has paired with Abdulmohsin Al Hokair Holding Group which operates a raft of leisure and hospitality centres to launch 30 cinemas over the next three years. International outlook: The firm has paired with Abdulmohsin Al Hokair Holding Group to launch 30 cinemas over the next three years The joint venture will see Vue establish cinemas in some of Al Hokairs existing sites as well as new developments, with the first cinema expected to open its doors later this year. The Saudi government said it expected 300 cinemas to be open by 2030. Star fund manager Terry Smith's latest letter to investors looked at why they shouldn't worry about crashes The stock market chart looks like a roller coaster that has just passed the peak of the ride. 'Surely you would be stupid if you invested now no matter how good the strategy is. Better to wait until the market has a proper fall. To many investors concerned that the worlds worries might spill over into a proper stock market slump, such thinking may seem perfectly sensible. Yet, those words dont come from an ordinary investor justifying holding back, but from star fund manager Terry Smiths explanation of why they shouldnt. In his latest annual letter to Fundsmith shareholders, he tackled investors perennial worry about it being a bad time to invest. He writes: Imagine a fund manager approached you with an offer for you to invest in a portfolio of high quality companies. You may quite like the strategy but you are worried about whether or not this is a good time to invest in the stock market. Smith then produces a chart (the one mentioned in the opening lines of this column and featured below) showing a market some way into a steep rise, which has now hit a peak and started to tail off. Terry Smith's undated US S&P 500 stock market chart is meant to make investors think that it shows now - in fact it shows the 37 years to 1965 This is deliberately left undated, however, to make the reader think when weighing up the question that the chart is now and the investment portfolio offered is Fundsmith. Except its not. The trick up Smiths sleeve is that it shows the 37 years to June 1965, when Warren Buffett took control of Berkshire Hathaway, which became his investment vehicle. Smith points out those who decided to time the market then would have missed out on buying shares in an investment company that has delivered annual average of 20.9 per cent growth. Of course, since then the stock market and Berkshire Hathaways shares have had plenty of ups and downs; most of the time Buffett beat the market, but sometimes he didnt. Yet, Smith argues not investing because you fear a fall is an attempt to time the market that rarely pays off - and risks investors missing out on gains while they wait patiently for the magical day when they feel happy to buy in. This chart from Terry Smith's letter to investors shows the S&P 500's performance since 1965 The obvious statement here is that you would expect the manager of a 16billion investment fund to talk up why you should invest. However, Smith has a decent point: there will always be a reason not to invest. At the moment it is because stock markets have been rising for a long time since the financial crisis crash and worries range from President Trumps trade war, to Chinese growth, Eurozone banks and, yes, Brexit. But when Fundsmith launched in 2010, I can distinctly remember a fear of investing as people worried the financial crisis recovery would soon implode. By the end of 2018, for a UK-based investor the global MSCI World index was up 128% on that date, while Fundsmith was up 270%. Pick any point in time since then and it wouldnt take much to find sufficient cause not to invest. There were lots of good reasons to hold back, five years ago, three years ago and even a year ago. In 2018, Fundsmith had its weakest calendar year on record, delivering a total return of just 2.2 per cent, meanwhile, many other global funds fell into negative territory. But investing is a lifetime game not a one or two-year one and investors must accept that the down years will come. This is not to say the market wont crash. Inevitably at some point it will, but predicting when is notoriously difficult - and we may have either already seen the start of a big slump, or have a few more years of gains before it hits. Terry Smith on timing the market Smith wrote: 'Are you really smart enough to not only a) predict a market fall but also; b) figure out how this translates into individual stock movements; c) get your timing sufficiently correct that you do not either forgo gains which far outweigh any losses you protect against or suffer some of the downturn; d) have sufficient mental agility and nerve to start buying when your prediction of a market fall has become reality; and e) get the timing roughly right on that side of the trade so that you dont end up catching the proverbial falling knife or missing some or all of the recovery? If so, I doubt you will be reading this letter on your private island. But above all, I doubt you exist. When those big hits come it is very painful. The last three have been the Black Monday crash of the late 1980s, the dot com bust of the early 2000s, and the financial crisis nosedive of 2008 and 2009. The average peak to trough decline across that trio was just over 40 per cent. If you are the unlucky person who gets caught out investing a big lump sum at the peak then such a slump is financially disastrous. However, as I said above, investing is a lifetime game and not only would you be statistically very unlucky to catch the peak in such a way, but its also unlikely all your invested wealth would go in at that time. Smith's point is that by holding off, you risk missing out on the gains that help buffer you against the inevitable losses one day. It's also worth noting that one of the reasons to be greedy when others are fearful, as Buffett famously suggested, is that by that point the market is likely to have already taken a decent tumble. In late December, the UK stock market was down 13 per cent on its peak; even if we were on the way to one of those big 40 per cent falls then at least almost a third of it had passed. Obviously, it would be better to dodge the next two-thirds of the slump, but is your crystal ball really that good? Britain's star fund manager thinks not. So what is Smiths forecast for shares? He says: I always respond to questions about this by saying I havent got a clue, and neither has anyone else. BOOK OF THE WEEK HITLER'S SCAPEGOAT: THE BOY ASSASSIN AND THE HOLOCAUST by Stephen Koch (Amberley 20, 280 pp) On the morning of November 7, 1938, a moody-looking teenager walked into the German Embassy in Paris, which was proudly flying its swastika flag. In the boys pocket was a small pistol hed bought earlier. He asked to speak to an official and was sent in to talk to a young lawyer called Ernst vom Rath. Seated behind his desk, vom Rath greeted the boy politely. The boy sat down awkwardly and then, shouting out that he was acting on behalf of the persecuted Jews, he pulled out the gun and fired. His aim was atrocious, as is usual among those not used to guns. Three of his five bullets missed vom Rath entirely, one passed through him and did no harm, but the other damaged his spleen, pancreas and stomach. Vom Rath was doomed: he took two days to die from his terrible wounds. Herschel Grynszpan (pictured after his arrest) made history as the first Jew to take up arms against the Nazi regime, a new book recounts his life Stephen Kochs gripping book tells the whole story of the 17-year-old boy, Herschel Grynszpan, who made history by being the first Jew to take up arms against the Nazi regime. Yet the assassination and its tragic aftermath are full of bitter ironies. For one thing, poor Ernst vom Rath was, in fact, no Nazi, but rather a vociferous critic of the government he served: Grynszpan very likely shot the one man in the embassy who secretly agreed with him. Its seductive to imagine Herschel Grynszpans act as one of supreme defiance on behalf of his people as a heroic, youthful stand against Fascism, while dithering politicians were kowtowing, appeasing and making peace at any price. But the immediate and devastating effect of the shooting was an even more terrible persecution of the Jews. For the Nazis used it as an excuse to unleash Kristallnacht, the pogrom that many consider to be an initiating event of the Holocaust. Just hours after the death of vom Rath was announced, synagogues across Germany were burned to the ground, Jewish shops and businesses were looted and destroyed and some 30,000 Jewish men were arrested, stripped of their property and sent to Dachau, Buchenwald and Sachsenhausen prison camps, not yet death camps. Elsewhere on that dreadful night, more than 100 Jews were killed by knifing, burning or brutal beating. Herschel Grynszpan, pacing in his French prison cell, was in agony on hearing the news. At night, he wrote to a friend, I dream about the ghetto, about Jewish women and children running away . . . God, oh my God! I didnt want that. The funeral of vom Rath was an absurdly grandiose affair, staged in a huge hall in Dusseldorf. The dead man was hailed as the first martyr to fall for the Third Reich and his coffin was illuminated by huge spotlights a la 20th Century Fox. Joseph Goebbels, the Nazis evil genius of propaganda, broadcast the partys official interpretation of the assassination: The Jew Grynszpan represents world Jewry. He added: The shooting in Paris was world Jewrys attempt to shoot down the German People. Any reprisals were therefore justified. Herschel received a distressing postcard from this sister which triggered him to go to the German Embassy in Paris where he killed Ernst vom Rath (Pictured: Auschwitz survivors) Indeed, in the world view of the Nazis, the Jews and the Bolsheviks more or less the same thing, as they saw it were committed to a war of genocide against the Aryan/Germanic people, who must therefore fight a titanic, apocalyptic war of self-defence to save themselves. Herschel, a Polish Jew by origin, was born and raised in Hanover. He was a clever, somewhat sickly boy, standing barely 5ft, dark-eyed and given to silent brooding. When he was 15, he was sent to Paris to live with his aunt and uncle, while his family remained in Germany. Despite increasing persecution, they trusted that Germany was still a nation of laws. On October 27, 1938, there came a knock on their door and the Grynszpan family were told to report to the police station a mere formality. Taking only their coats and passports, they complied. They never saw their home of more than 20 years again. Along with some 18,000 other Polish Jews from all over Germany, the family were marched to the train station. Once on a train, the Gestapo moved down the crowded carriages, confiscating everything of value from the helpless passengers. Two kilometres short of the Polish border, they were herded off the train and marched through the driving rain. The sick and elderly who couldnt walk were beaten bloody. They shouted, Run! Run! recalled Herschels father, Sendel, in later years. Herschel's trial failed to happen due to complex legal wranglings and as at one point he claimed to have shot vom Rath because they were lovers (Pictured: Hitler in Germany during the height of his power) Finally, they were shoved across the border and abandoned without money, food, clothes or shelter. On November 3, in Paris, Herschel received a distressing postcard from his sister the final straw that triggered the murder of Ernst vom Rath. On it, Berta wrote about their great misfortune, saying the family had no money. She begged for him to send some. But her brother had no money to send. They were living in an army barracks, sleeping on sacks stuffed with straw, eating gruel and snatching at bread tossed into the starving throng from trucks . . . In 11 days, nobody had been able to change clothes. Later, Berta would be just one more victim who vanished in the Holocaust, although we do not know the details. Miraculously, the rest of Herschels family survived and finally made it to Israel after the war. When France fell in June 1940, some 19 months after the killing of vom Rath, young Herschel was handed over by French authorities to the Gestapo, who planned to use him for a show trial to prove that it was the Jews who started it. But the trial never happened. HITLER'S SCAPEGOAT: THE BOY ASSASSIN AND THE HOLOCAUST by Stephen Koch (Amberley 20, 280 pp) Complex legal wranglings ensued, in which, the author suggests, Herschel himself played a cunning role even at one time claiming that the real reason he had shot vom Rath was because they were homosexual lovers. It was a lie, but a clever lie, embarrassing the Nazis and making it impossible for them to use the case as evidence of a widespread Jewish conspiracy. Herschels dignified words are also on record: It is not, after all, a crime to be Jewish . . . My people have a right to exist on this Earth. His final fate, like that of so many in this most terrible of all wars, is unknown, but he certainly died before its end. Despite the uncertainty, Koch writes him the most handsome of epitaphs: He had been historys pawn, a brave and foolish boy . . . he died for his people, forgotten and alone. A third person has contracted a penicillin-resistant infection after drinking raw milk from Pennsylvania. The unidentified New Yorker fell ill after buying the milk from Millers Biodiversity Farm in Quarryville, Pennsylvania, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said in a statement released on Wednesday. They were diagnosed with brucellosis, caused by bacteria that is found in cattle and can be pass into milk if it is not pasteurized. The two other people infected since September 2017 from last year are from Texas and a second New Yorker. Health officials are now warning residents of New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania not to consume any unpasteurized dairy products from the Miller farm. A New Yorker is the third person has contracted a penicillin-resistant infection after drinking raw milk from Pennsylvania (file image) Brucellosis is a disease caused by brucella abortis, which is contracted after coming into contact with infected animals or consuming infected animal products. It's most commonly passed through unpasteurized milk, cheese and other dairy products. Symptoms include fever, sweats, chills, headache, joint pain, loss of appetite and fatigue. It's possible for the disease to disappear for weeks or even months before returning, according to the Mayo Clinic. In some cases, brucellosis can become chronic and can cause spondylitis, an inflammatory arthritis affecting the spine and large joints. Patients who are pregnant may suffer a miscarriage if infected with brucellosis, according to the CDC. The agency advises infected persons to go on a 21-day course of doxycycline and trimethoprim/sulfamethoxazole, two antibioitcs that treat infections. The strain that the New Yorker contracted from the Miller farm is Brucella RB51, which is resistant to several common antibiotics - most notably penicillin. This is the third person in the US to get sick from brucellosis after drinking raw milk in the US since August 2017. The first case was a Texas resident who fell ill after consuming unpasteurized milk from K-Bar Dairy in Paradise, Texas. Then, last November, a New York state resident was diagnosed with the infection from a strain traced to the Miller farm. On the dairy farm's website, it claims to be a 'private food club' in which members have to pay a fee in order to buy products. The CDC says the number of infected people may increase due to exposure identified in 19 states: Alabama, California, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Iowa, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina and Virginia. Raw milk has been championed by several celebrities, perhaps more so by no other than Gwyneth Paltrow. The actress, who does not hold a medical degree, told Women's Health in a interview that drinking nothing but raw goat's milk for eight days clears the body of parasites. However, there is no evidence to support her claims and - in fact - a 1984 case report discussed three people from the same family who developed a parasitic infection from unpasteurized goat's milk. The CDC reports that between 1993 and 2012, there have been nearly 2,000 illnesses and 144 hospitalization associated with raw milk or raw milk products including ice cream, cheese or yogurt. Men who are diagnosed with prostate cancer early can expect to live for longer than those without the disease, new figures show. Those diagnosed at stage one had survival rates that were 0.5 per cent higher than those of the general population. Women diagnosed with breast cancer and all adults with skin cancer have the same chance of being alive a year later if the disease is caught at the earliest opportunity, the data shows. Melanoma and prostate cancer have the best one- and five-year survival rates among men, with more than 90 per cent of men surviving either for a year or more, while cancer of the pancreas Among women, melanoma skin cancer and breast cancer have the highest survival rates, with the vast majority surviving either for five years or more, while pancreatic, liver and brain tumours are the deadliest Experts suggest that early diagnoses which are easiest to treat can also prompt people to adopt healthier lifestyles. The Office for National Statistics (ONS) figures are the first detailed estimates to show how the survival rates for a number of cancers vary, depending on the stage it is diagnosed. Official data shows that of the 200,000 men diagnosed with prostate cancer between 2012-2016, 30 per cent were diagnosed at stage one, compared to 19 per cent at stage two and around 18 per cent at stages three and four. Survival rates for the stages one and two a year later were more than 100 per cent, meaning that fewer men with prostate cancer died than expected when compared with the general population. Even 5-year survival estimates were over 100 per cent for stages 1 and 2, with good survival at stage 3 at 96.5 per cent and a larger drop at stage 4 to 47.7 per cent, highlighting the importance of early diagnosis. Earlier diagnosis for prostate cancer and breakthroughs in treatment for advanced disease have seen overall survival across all stages of the disease rise from 80.2 per cent in 2006 to 87.1 per cent. Karen Stalbow, of Prostate Cancer UK, said: The fact that the survival chances for men diagnosed with localised prostate cancer appear to be even higher than men without a diagnosis is certainly positive, and may also indicate that a diagnosis can lead to increased personal health monitoring and healthier behaviours post diagnosis. Nearly 40 per cent of cases of the disease are still only caught at a late stage when the chances of living for five or ten-years are greatly reduced. Overall, we need to find better diagnostic tools to catch more prostate cancers early, and determine which cancers are aggressive and which are not. Cancer survival rates show 'little evidence of improvement' as the number dying from bladder and colon tumours is rising But survival rates for other types of cancer England are slow to improve and in some cases getting worse, statistics revealed. Deaths rates rose for bladder, colon and late stage breast cancers between 2015 and 2016. CANCER WAITING TIME TARGET MISSED FOR 35 MONTHS The NHS's target of diagnosing and treating 85 per cent of cancer patients within 62 days of their GP referral has not been met for the 35th month in a row. The target was only met for 79 per cent of patients in England in November, meaning one in five had to wait more than two months after being told they may have cancer. The 62-day target has now been breached for 35 months in a row. Since it was first breached in January 2014, more than 125,000 people have waited more than two months to begin potentially life-saving therapy. More than three in five NHS hospital trusts in England (62 per cent) missed the target in November 2018. Dr Fran Woodard, an executive director at Macmillan Cancer Support said: 'Behind these figures are people waiting anxiously for a diagnosis and treatment. 'If the NHS is to deliver on its ambitious aim of earlier diagnosis and person-centred care for everyone living with cancer, we need a fully costed plan for the workforce to build on the measures in NHS Englands long-term plan.' Patricia Marquis, director of the Royal College of Nursing in England added: 'Todays figures show the NHS in England is headed for its worst year in a decade for the number of patients waiting more than two weeks between seeing a GP and their first consultant appointment after an urgent cancer referral. 'The data reveals a 60 per cent increase in patients waiting too long in 2018/19, compared to the same months of the previous year. 'The overall number of patients being referred has increased by 15 per cent year on year, but the sharp increase in breaches of the two-week target is very worrying. 'Tens of thousands of patients and their families are enduring agonising waits, all too aware that a small delay could have a serious impact.' Advertisement Not enough is being done to protect people from common cancers, campaigners warn, saying the diseases are only seeing slow improvements. The most deadly cancers are those of the pancreas, liver, brain and lungs, with nine out of 10 women dying within five years of being diagnosed with a pancreatic tumour. And for men a tumour on the pancreas proves fatal within five years in 93.6 per cent of cases. Macmillan Cancer Support, one of the UK's biggest cancer charities, raised concerns about improvements in the figures for common cancers being slow. Five-year survival for breast cancer at 85.3 per cent has risen by 0.3 per cent on the previous year but is still lower than it was in 2013, when it was 85.6 per cent. The one-year survival rate for bladder cancer also dropped from 75 per cent to 74.8 per cent. 'It's concerning to see that five-year survival rates for some of the most common cancers show little evidence of improvement in recent years,' said Dr Fran Woodward, Macmillan's executive director of policy and impact. 'We were encouraged to see the emphasis on improvements in cancer care in the recent Long-Term Plan for the NHS in England. 'And todays news shows the scale of the challenge and the urgent need for a fully funded workforce strategy to meet the ambition of getting cancer outcomes here to be the best in the world.' Cancer survival rates in the UK are among the worst in Europe something which has been blamed partly on delays to diagnosis. But survival rates for women diagnosed with late-stage breast cancer have dropped, provoking reaction from the charity Breast Cancer Now. Policy manager Sally Greenbrook said: 'These figures show just how important early detection is in giving breast cancer patients the best chance of survival. 'But the sharp decline in survival outcomes when breast cancer is diagnosed later is extremely worrying and shows just how much more there is to do on metastatic breast cancer. 'If we are to finally stop more women dying from breast cancer, we urgently need to find ways to stop the disease spreading, and to treat it effectively when it does. Dozens of victims of the fertility clinic blunder that destroyed 4,000 eggs and embryos are suing the center as they still wait for compensation a year later. More than 950 families were left distraught after a storage tank failure at University Hospitals in Cleveland, Ohio, allowed their eggs and embryos to thaw in March 2017. The center first apologized to patients and conceded that they couldn't bring back what was lost. But weeks later, they filed appeals to dismiss patients' lawsuits asking for damages, and began a tussle with the tank manufacturer over who was to blame for the alarm system, which should spot such issues, turning off. Now, two of the couples filing lawsuits are speaking out, saying the dragged-out ordeal has prevented them from healing, and they are calling on the center to put their woes first. One victim Emily Petite told a press conference that, when she and her husband Matt got the news that their embryos were lost, 'we thought, OK, we've hit rock bottom from here we will come together as a family.' 'But University Hospitals has shown us time and time again that the worst is always yet to come.' Another couple, Kim and Joe Bucar, echoed their words. 'To have this go on as long as it has has been very difficult. It continues to bring up emotions time and time again,' Kim said. 'It's gone on for so long the healing process isn't possible at this point and it's difficult.' Emily Petite (left) and Kim Bucar (right) were two of the women who lost their embryos in University Hospital's blunder that destroyed 4,000 frozen eggs and embryos Emily and Matt Petite (left), who conceived their son Mason through IVF after thinking they would never be able to conceive, said they had decided to wait until they next. Kim and Joe Bucar (right), who conceived their first daughter via IUI and their second daughter via IVF, said they had always dreamed of having another These couples are two of hundreds being represented by Ohio-area firms filing new lawsuits against the top brass of UH. Emily and Matt Petite, who conceived their son Mason through IVF after thinking they would never be able to conceive, said they had decided to wait until they next. They had four embryos in storage, and never thought they needed to be concerned. 'We did some things before we were ready to grow our family some more. We took our son to Disney Land. And we had a plan, we just thought we had time,' Matt said in the press conference, streamed live by WKYC. Emily said: 'When all of this happened just about a year ago, it was the most devastating loss that we have ever felt. It was felt throughout our entire family. Our son who will never have a sibling. Our parents who will never be grandparents again. 'We have been unable to heal as a family because of University Hospitals.' She teared up as she remembered UH's apology last year, saying they had failed the families who'd lost their embryos and eggs. 'No,' she said: 'You continue to fail us.' Bigger than us: Emily and Matt say the loss of their four frozen embryos affected their entire families Kim and Joe, who conceived their first daughter via IUI and their second daughter via IVF, said they had always dreamed of having another, and maybe that it would be a boy - the first in Kim's family for years. They had 10 embryos on ice at UH. 'You put all this faith into a hospital system in hope that they are going to protect any possibility that you have of growing your family,' Kim said. 'And that decision was taken away from us.' She added: 'It didn't just affect Joe and I, it affected my sisters, my parents, our girls - they all suffer as we do. I come from a family of all girls there was always potential for having a boy in the family.' All four said they have been asked if they would go through it again. They say IVF is a 'miracle' that allowed them to conceive against the odds. But the thought of enduring the process again is staggering. 'I would never ask her to go through that again,' Joe said, referring to Kim. 'The amount of chemicals and things that go on. We had 10 embryos, we shouldn't have to.' Joe said he would never ask Kim to go through the arduous ordeal of IVF again, and 'we shouldn't have to' Matt said: 'I would recommend [IVF] to anyone, it gave us our son, something we never thought we could have had.' But, he added: 'We shouldn't have to go through it again. We had four embryos.' The Bucar and the Petites are just two of hundreds of families who received notices that they'd lost their eggs and embryos last year - and not just in Ohio. In a shocking coincidence, San Francisco's Pacific Fertility Center suffered a near-identical blunder just weeks later. Experts and families say the events should not deter families from IVF. The first IVF baby was born exactly 40 years ago, but the last decade in particular has seen huge advances in fertility technology. These days, cryogenics (freezing) is even more ubiquitous than before; even couples undergoing IVF typically freeze their embryos before their transfer (instead of transferring 'fresh' straight away) to give the woman's body time to wind down from the hormone high needed for the extraction. 'Don't lose hope in the industry, hold the hospitals accountable,' Emily told the press conference today. A mother-of-five who had her face rebuilt from scratch following a drunken car crash 20 years ago finally has the straight nose she always wanted. Andrea, whose surname and age are not known, decided to get behind the wheel while intoxicated. No-one expected her to survive when she was thrown 20ft from the wreck. The devastating collision left her looking like 'someone got a hammer and hit the centre of her face'. Although four reconstructive surgeons managed to rebuild Andrea's face, she was never happy with her nose, thinking it was 'too wide, leaned over to the right and didn't have a bridge'. But after visiting celebrity surgeons Dr Terry Dubrow and Dr Paul Nassif - stars of the hit E! reality show Botched - Andrea is finally happy with what she sees in the mirror. Andrea - whose surname is unknown - had her nose rebuilt after a drunken car crash 20 years ago left her with one that was 'too wide, leaned over to the right and didn't have a bridge' After spending the past two decades being reminded of the crash every time she looked in the mirror, Andrea is thrilled with the results of her surgery and can even breathe easier Andrea's horrific car crash caused the vehicle to flip over two-to-three times. By the time an ambulance arrived, Andrea was covered in blood. Speaking of the ordeal, she tearfully recalled: 'I did this to me, the wreck was my fault.' 'You could see straight down my throat. It was like someone got a hammer and hit the centre of my face until my skull was gone. 'No one expected me to live.' Andrea tearfully recalled the night of the crash, where she was thrown 20ft from her car after it flipped over two-to-three times. She claims 'you could see straight down her throat' Pictured after the crash, surgeons rebuilt her face but she was never happy with her nose Defying the odds, Andrea pulled through but was never satisfied with how she looked, particularly her nose. 'It's too wide, it's kind of leaned over to the right and I don't have a bridge,' she explained. 'I want that nose I lost 20 years ago.' Her off-centre nose also meant Andrea struggled to breathe comfortably. After warning her it would not be easy, Dr Nassif managed to give Andrea the straight nose she desperately wanted, including a sturdy bridge and clearer airways. He even called her 'extremely lucky' for surviving the ordeal, adding she could have 'easily have been in a coma or died'. Months on, Andrea is thrilled with the results and is finally ready to put the past behind her. 'The daily reminders of my car wreck are less and less,' she said. 'I look in the mirror now and I like what I see.' Pictured after going under the knife again, Andrea smiled through her recovery The fun-loving mother-of-five blames herself for her injuries after she drove while intoxicated. Pictured after the crash, she said her face looked like it had been hit with a hammer Dr Paul Nassif is pictured operating on Andrea and said she was 'lucky' not to have died A mother has revealed how her toddler began clawing at her own skin and cowering from an 'evil monster' due to a rare disease that attacks the brain. Erin Smolinski, 38, and her husband Larry, 37, were left terrified when their three-year-old daughter, Grace, began hallucinating a sinister figure and panicking. She had been suffering seizures for a few weeks, and was in hospital at the time of the incident, which her parents described as 'the worst experience' of their lives. Grace had slowly lost the ability to walk and her speech deteriorated from whole sentences to uttering single syllables. Neurologists diagnosed her with autoimmune encephalitis, a potentially deadly condition which causes the body's immune system to attack healthy brain cells. Grace is still receiving treatment now, after she was left suddenly fighting for her life before going home. Grace, pictured before she became ill, suffered from seizures for a few weeks when her family returned from a holiday in Florida The three-year-old, from Chicago, was hospitalised due to the rare condition encephalitis which causes the body's immune system to attack healthy brain cells Grace began clawing at her own skin and cowering from an 'evil monster' as her autoimmune disorder made her hallucinate Erin Smolinski, 38, and husband Larry, 37, described Grace's time in hospital as 'the worst experience' of their lives. Pictured with their children Elizabeth, five, and Eddie, 18-months Mother-of-three Mrs Smolinksi said: 'She seemed to think there was someone else in the room, and she seemed scared of that person. It was terrifying. 'I wondered what she was seeing. The nurses told me she was likely having hallucinations.' Grace had been experiencing seizures over a number of weeks after the family returned from a vacation in Florida. Mrs Smolinksi said: 'One night she had a really long one, which lasted seven minutes and our neurologist told us to seek the help of a specialist.' Grace was rushed to Lurie Children's Hospital, where her speech began to decline within hours. Mrs Smolinski said: 'She was a very vocal child and was capable of telling full stories, using full sentences. 'She went from that to only being able to say syllables. She went from singing whole songs from the movie Moana - to hardly being able to say "Moana". 'We were about to be discharged when we asked if we could see the neurologist one more time. 'She came to look at Grace and went through the videos I had of her talking on our vacation, to now when she couldn't even string a sentence together.' She added: 'Grace was losing her ability to walk and she started having these fits which we thought might have just been tantrums because she was in the hospital. 'She would try and climb out of her bed screaming and rip out her IV. We couldn't console her. 'It was very out of character, she wasn't the type of child to throw tantrums. She suddenly became really afraid all of the time.' Neurologists began to treat her for autoimmune encephalitis immediately due to its seriousness. Information on the prevalence of autoimmune encephalitis is lacking, but one paper, published in European Neurological Review, states an annual incidence of one in every 50,000 in northern Europe. Grace, pictured in hospital, slowly lost her ability to walk and her speech deteriorated Grace had to go on a low dose of a chemotherapy medicine for six months to fight the illness Grace, pictured before she was in hospital, was thought to be having 'tantrums', ripping out her IV and being unable to console, when she was in fact having hallucinations WHAT IS AUTOIMMUNE ENCEPHALITIS? Autoimmune encephalitis is a serious medical condition in which the immune system attacks the brain, impairing function. It caused by a problem with the immune system (the body's natural defence against infection). The immune system mistakes healthy tissue in the brain as a threat and attacks it, causing the brain to become inflamed and swell. The body produces antibodies which attack the NMDA receptors in the brain, which are proteins that cause electrical impulses. Their functioning is necessary for judgement, perception of reality, human interaction, memory, and the control of unconscious activities such as breathing and swallowing. It's not always clear why the immune system malfunctions in this way. Some cases of autoimmune encephalitis are caused by the immune system reacting to the presence of a tumour (an abnormal growth) inside the body. The main symptoms are flu like, but people also develop memory loss, difficulty sleeping, and may become unable to communicate or speak coherently. They might become confused, have hallucinations or exhibit strange behaviour. Other symptoms include seizures, loss of consciousness and movement disorders. Source: The Anti-NMDA Receptor Encephalitis Foundation Advertisement She was treated with steroids and immunoglobulin and began to improve. But then, just as she was ready to be discharged, Grace went into cardiac arrest and was rushed to the hospital's paediatric ICU. Mrs Smolinski said: 'We were looking forward to going home when Grace had a massive seizure and she coded. 'I just broke down as I watched what felt like 20 people work on her. She was intubated and it was an image I will never forget. 'In those frightening circumstances all you can do it flash forward to the future and will your child be there.' Thankfully Grace recovered and was released after two weeks in hospital. She then began a monthly regime of a chemotherapy drug, to help prevent a relapse. Lower doses of chemotherapy drugs can help to control certain diseases caused by an overactive immune system. Mr and Mrs Smolinski, who are also parents to Elizabeth, five, and Eddie, 18-months, credit the doctors who took the initiative to treat Grace before an official diagnosis, which saved her life. Mrs Smolinski said: 'I'm very lucky that the doctors at Lurie took the initiative. She would have just continued to rapidly deteriorate.' Grace needed a lot of help at home as her balance was unsteady and her speech had deteriorated, but has now returned to preschool. 'Luckily we had a baby boy learning to walk and a daughter who pushed Grace to use full sentences, so I think that really helped her,' Mrs Smolinski said. 'She recovered quite quickly. She returned to preschool a few weeks later, which amazed doctors. There is a chance of relapse and that terrifies me. 'Although she is off her anti seizure medication, she still gets IV and IVIG once a month. This will go on until the second anniversary of her illness in April. 'We haven't noticed that Grace has been impacted cognitively, we will have to wait until she goes to school. Right now she's doing great. 'Grace is a normal three-year-old who loves her baby dolls and her scooter. We feel lucky every day.' Grace, on her third birthday, has recovered but is on a monthly regime of chemotherapy Encouraging doctors to compete to refer more patients for cancer testing could save lives, according to experts. A study suggests 2,500 extra cancers could be spotted earlier each year if GPs with low referral rates were sent letters telling them others are referring more patients. Cancer survival is believed to be held back in the UK in comparison to other Western nations because we are not as quick to diagnose the diseases. But a healthy rivalry between doctors could spur them on to boost the number of patients they refer for hospital tests by up to 20 per cent, experts say. Doctors are likely to send more patients for cancer testing if they are sent a letter telling them other surgeries nearby have higher referral rates, a study by the Government's Behavioural Insights Team discovered in a survey of 244 surgeries in Manchester (stock image) Research carried out by the Government's Behavioural Insights Team tested the theory by sending letters to GP surgeries in Manchester. It targeted 244 surgeries with cancer test referral rates which were below average, The Times reports. In the letters, the surgeries were told their referrals were below average and that other clinics nearby were sending more patients for tests. As a result, those sending the fewest patients upped their game by as much as 20 per cent, compared with surgeries which weren't sent letters. GPS BLOCKED FROM SENDING PATIENTS FOR CANCER TESTS Half of GPs have been blocked from sending patients for urgent cancer scans, a survey found last year. Family doctors are meant to refer any patient suspected of having cancer for a hospital test within two weeks. But 46 per cent of GPs said at least one of their referrals had been blocked or downgraded by cost-cutting staff in 2017-18. This leads to patients waiting longer to be diagnosed with cancer and offered life-saving treatment. One GP said he had repeatedly tried to refer a child for urgent hospital tests for blood cancer, but was turned down by hospital doctors. Eventually the tests were carried out and the child was diagnosed with advanced lymphoma - blood cancer. The survey involved 507 GPs and was carried out by GP Online, a website for family doctors. The results showed a rise from 31 per cent of doctors giving the same answers in the previous year. Advertisement The team said doctors may be more likely to respond to peer pressure than being told off by authority figures. 'Just browbeating people or just giving information, thats not effective in changing behaviour [but] social norms are a very, very powerful factor,' the Behavioural Insights Team's Felicity Algate told The Times. But she added there still needed to be measures to avoid sending too many patients for unnecessary testing. 'There are conflicting messages because there is quite strong pressure not to refer too many people,' Ms Algate added. Health chiefs are reportedly considering implementing the letter-sending policy in the NHS. Last year, an official report produced by former National Cancer Director, Sir Mike Richards said GPs sending too few patients for tests was one explanation for late diagnosis rates in the UK. Referral rates rose by 10 per cent on average among the 30 per cent of surgeries with the lowest number of patients being sent for tests. But the Royal College of GPs which represents NHS and private doctors around the UK had concerns about piling pressure on doctors to send people to hospital. 'When some cancers are in the early stages they display similar symptoms to many much more common illnesses that must first be ruled out,' said RCGP chair Helen Stokes-Lampard. 'The real problem lies with the lack of resources, including diagnostic tests in the community.' Developing severe migraines in middle age is a major warning sign of stroke risk, experts have warned. Over-50s who start suffering aura migraines - a common type involving distorted vision and flashing lights - have double the risk of suffering a stroke in the next 20 years, a study concluded. Those who suffer migraines from a younger age were at no increased risk, the researchers found. Experts led by the University of South Carolina tracked 11,600 people for two decades. They found those who developed aura migraines after the age of 50 had an 8.3 per cent chance of suffering a stroke - 2.17 times the risk of those who did not suffer migraines. University of South Carolina experts analysed medical information from 11,600 people over two decades to discover those who began having aura migraines in their 50s or older had a stroke risk 2.17 times higher than people who had them at a younger age (stock image) Those who suffered migraines without aura had no increased risk, irrespective of the age of onset. Study leader Dr Xiao Michelle Androulakis, chief of neurology at WJB Dorn VA Medical Centre in South Carolina, said: I think clinically this is very meaningful, as many individuals with a long history of migraine are concerned about their stroke risk, especially when they get older and when they have other cardiovascular disease risks. Cumulative effects of migraine alone - with onset of migraine before age of 50 - did not increase stroke risk in late life in this study cohort. On the contrary, the recent onset of migraine at or after age 50 is associated with increased stroke risk in late life. Her team, writing in the Headache medical journal, said: To our knowledge, it is the first, large prospective study evaluating the relationship between years of exposure to migraine and ischemic stroke. WHAT HELPS TO PREVENT MIGRAINES? Being open to new experiences reduces people's risk of migraines, research suggested in June 2017. A preference for variation over routine prevents crippling headaches among depression sufferers, a study found. Yet, neuroticism - a personality trait associated with nervousness and irritability - increases migraine's risk, the research adds. Study author Dr Mate Magyar from Semmelweis University in Budapest, said: 'An open character appears to offer protection from [migraine]. 'Our study results could help to provide a better understanding of the biopsychosocial background of migraine, and help to find novel strategies in the prevention of and interventions for [migraine].' The researchers analysed the relationship between personality traits, depression and migraines in more than 3,000 sufferers of the mental-health condition. Depression is associated with an increased risk of migraines. The participants were ranked according to their openness, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness and neuroticism. Advertisement Around eight million Britons - three quarters of them women - suffer migraine attacks, which involve dizziness, nausea and crippling pain. Figures suggest there are 38million sufferers in the US. Up to a third suffer aura migraines. Previous research has linked migraines to strokes, but few studies have so far detailed exactly which groups are at risk. Experts believe migraines occur for different reasons at different stages of life. They believe it may be that migraines which start in middle age are caused by the same underlying biological problems that cause all endovascular issues - those that effect the inside of the blood vessels. While the vast majority of people who have migraines will never suffer a stroke, doctors think that it should start to be treated as a red flag especially if the headaches are regular and severe. Experts in the past have called for people who suffer the most severe migraines automatically to be given cholesterol-reducing statins, simply as a precaution to reduce their heart risk. A stroke occurs when a blood clot blocks an artery or there is major bleed in the head, reducing blood flow to the brain. Roughly 57,000 people in England have a stroke each year, of whom 32,000 are killed. Of those who survive, 65 per cent leave hospital with a disability. Some 25 per cent of survivors have a second stroke within five years. Dr David Kernick, a GP at the St Thomas Health Centre in Exeter, wrote in the British Journal of General Practice in 2015 that anyone who suffers an aura migraine - which involves flashing lights or confusing thoughts - should be considered for statins. He said a pragmatic approach should be taken to calculating the risk of heart disease or stroke in these patients. Doctors are being ordered to cut antibiotic use by 15 per cent in five years and drug firms are being offered millions to help in the war on superbugs. Health officials will monitor how often GPs prescribe antibiotics and issue a warning if the level is too high. Under a new NHS strategy, drug companies will also be paid millions to develop antibiotics that will be rarely used, to combat deadly superbugs that have grown resistant to existing drugs. Under a new NHS strategy, drug companies will also be paid millions to develop antibiotics that will be rarely used, to combat deadly superbugs that have grown resistant to existing drugs (file image) No new antibiotic classes have been developed since 1980 and research is declining because it is not profitable. The plans will be unveiled by Health Secretary Matt Hancock at the World Economic Forum in Davos today. He will say: 'Imagine a world without antibiotics. Where treatable infections become untreatable, where routine surgery like a hip operation becomes too risky to carry out, and where every wound is potentially life-threatening. 'What would go through your mind if your child cut their finger and you knew there was no antibiotic left that could treat an infection? 'This was the human condition until almost a century ago. I don't want it to be the future for my children yet it may be unless we act.' Officials estimate that resistance to antibiotics contributes to more than 2,000 deaths a year and costs the NHS 88million a year. Since 2014 the UK has reduced use of the drugs by seven per cent, with a 40 per cent fall in the dosing of farm animals. But the number of drug-resistant bloodstream infections has risen by 35 per cent from 2013 to 2017. Since 2014 the UK has reduced use of the drugs by 7 per cent, with a 40 per cent fall in the dosing of farm animals. But the number of drug-resistant bloodstream infections has risen by 35 per cent from 2013 to 2017 (file image) Under the strategy GPs' use of the drugs will be audited against national guidelines, with the growth of electronic prescribing making it easier to spot where the wrong decisions are made. Mr Hancock will also announce a 'subscription model' to encourage the development of new medicines to fight the superbug threat. The NHS will pay the firms up front if they produce a drug that effectively combats superbugs. Professor Dame Sally Davies, chief medical officer, welcomed the plans, saying: 'Too many people are already dying as a result of drug-resistant infections around the world, while many still do not have access to the antibiotics they need. This is not just a health issue, it is a social and economic one. 'The fate of modern medicine rests on strong leadership, bold action and collaboration across nations, sectors and borders and I am pleased to see that this strategy has this sentiment at its heart.' Democratic Republic of the Congo recorded its largest one-day increase of Ebola cases yesterday, as the country's deadly outbreak shows no signs of slowing. A further 14 cases of the virus were confirmed yesterday, taking the total to 713 cases since the epidemic was declared in August. Nine of the new cases were in Katwa, a city of a several hundred thousand people just outside Butembo. Several other zones in this district have been hit already, and fears are growing that the disease could spread into Uganda and Rwanda. Democratic Republic of Congo recorded the largest one-day increase of Ebola cases on Wednesday. Experts fear Ebola is spreading south from the smaller cities of Beni and Butembo, where most of the outbreak has taken place so far, to Goma, close to the border with Rwanda The virus has already taken the lives of 439 people, making it the second worst outbreak in history, after the 2013-2016 outbreak in West Africa The virus has already taken the lives of 439 people, making it the second worst outbreak in history, after the 2013-2016 outbreak in West Africa. The health ministry said in a daily bulletin that the area near the Ugandan border has emerged as the outbreak's new epicentre. The ministry also announced six new deaths of confirmed cases as well as the recovery of one patient. It comes just days after health officials expressed concern about Ebola travelling south and reaching the city Goma, which sits on the border with Rwanda. Goma has almost double the population of Butembo, meaning there is a much higher potential for the virus to spread quickly. If Ebola does make it to the major city of Goma then 'all bets are off' for the bid to control the outbreak, one health official said earlier this week. In preparation, the WHO and DRC's health ministry have already sent rapid response and vaccination teams to Kayina, and set up a lab in Goma as a precaution. More than 60,000 people have been vaccinated against the virus already, in an outbreak which is the second worst in world history. But even with vaccinations and diagnostics and knowledge from the worst ever outbreak in 2014 - which killed 11,300 - the DRC is still struggling. Health officials have described the DRC as 'one of the most complex settings possible', largely been due to widespread militia violence in eastern Congo, which experts say has hampered the response from aid workers. Health workers have been kidnapped, had to dodge bullets, been confronted by armed groups and seen treatment centres ransacked. Mistrust among the locals to comply with health officials has been challenging. Experts have said people's unwillingness to come forward and be screened leads them to believe the number of cases could be even higher. Laurie Garrett, former senior fellow of global health at think-tank Council on Foreign Relations, said cases keep 'popping up unexpectedly out of thin air' in a piece for Foreign Policy. The outbreak, which is the second worst in history after the 2013-2016 outbreak in West Africa, was declared in August. Pictured, the funeral of a child in North Kivu Widespread militia violence in eastern Congo has hampered the response from aid workers, experts have said. Pictured, a worker being decontaminated Ebola can be transmitted between humans through blood, secretions and other bodily fluids of people - and surfaces - that have been infected. With women at the forefront of care in communities in the DRC, gender disparities have meant two-thirds of Ebola patients have been women. The country is predicted to have months more of suffering in store - at least six- before the outbreak comes to an end. But if the disease spreads out of the north-east region, where it has so far been contained, it could rage on for even longer. A breast-cancer survivor who found out the disease had returned while 20-weeks pregnant chose to risk her life rather than have an abortion. The woman - known only as Kate - faced the heartbreaking decision of whether to terminate her pregnancy and receive the most effective cancer treatment or have less efficacious therapy but save her baby. Refusing to lose her little one, Kate decided to fight the disease while expecting. In a moving NHS documentary, medics at Liverpool Women's Hospital can be seen trying to balance the amount of radiotherapy Kate needs while keeping her baby safe. The woman - known only as Kate - faced the heartbreaking decision of whether to terminate her pregnancy and receive the most effective cancer treatment or have less efficacious therapy but save her baby Refusing to lose her little one, Kate decided to fight the disease while expecting Kate previously fought cancer after she found a lump in her breast ten years ago. Still in her twenties, she endured a double mastectomy to rid herself of the disease. Despite being desperate to be parents, Kate and her husband Glen put off starting a family until she finished a five-year course of drugs to prevent the cancer returning. Doctors warned the couple the medication could harm a developing child. After welcoming a daughter two years ago, Kate is pregnant again, however, the cancer has returned and is now in her bones - including her spine. Breast cancer affects one in eight women at some point in their lives in the UK and US. It is unclear how many of these tumours spread, however, most that do go to the bones. Secondary breast cancer in the bones is often incurable, with treatment focusing on slowing the growth of the tumours, relieving symptoms and maintaining quality of life. In a moving NHS documentary, medics at Liverpool Women's Hospital can be seen trying to balance the amount of radiotherapy Kate needs while keeping her baby safe Despite being desperate to be parents, Kate and her husband Glen put off starting a family until she finished a five-year course of drugs to prevent the cancer returning After welcoming a daughter two years ago, Kate is pregnant again, however, the cancer has returned and is now in her bones - including her spine The latest episode of BBC2 documentary Hospital, which airs tomorrow night, also shows baby Violet at just 33 hours old. The newborn travelled from Worcester to Liverpool Women's neo-natal department where she was diagnosed with a life-threatening bowel problem. With no neo-natal surgical facilities on site, Violet was rushed for an emergency operation at Liverpools Alder Hey Childrens Hospital. And 19-year-old pharmacy student Lili is also among those who sought treatment after she developed recurring painful swelling in her abdomen. A consultant at the hospital was concerned the continued build-up of fluid build may indicate cancer. Although tests revealed Lili did not have cancer, they did show a ovarian cyst weighing just over 2.2lbs (1kg). Forced to remove the growth, the medics then faced the difficult challenge off how to save the teen's fertility. Filmed between October and December last year, Hospital tracks the day-to-day goings on of six NHS trusts across Liverpool. With a catchment area that strecthes to North Wales, Cheshire and the Isle of Man, the trusts serve more than 2.5million people. The documentary shows how Liverpool Women's Hospital is struggling with the NHS' recruitment crisis - with gynaecological oncology missing a third of its consultants. Rebekah - a 64-year-old patient - is among those who is feeling the effects of the hospital being short staffed. Due to a lack of specialist surgeons, she has been forced to wait almost four months for an operation to remove an endometrial tumour. And she has no idea whether the cancer has spread. Hospital airs Thursday January 24 on BBC Two at 9pm. An oncologist is urging for ultra-low risk cancers to be renamed 'indolent' to reduce anxiety for patients told they have the disease. The medic - from the Carol Franc Buck Breast Care Center in San Francisco - warns the C-word creates 'universal fear' that causes 'unnecessary psychological trauma' when the patient may have a slow-growing tumour with a very low risk of death. But another doctor argues downplaying a cancer diagnosis runs the risk of sufferers being under-treated, adding it is 'impossible' to predict exactly how a tumour will turn out. An oncologist is urging for ultra-low risk cancers to be renamed 'indolent' (stock) Writing in the BMJ, Dr Laura Esserman - from the Carol Franc department of surgery and radiology - said: 'No medical diagnosis evokes as much universal fear as one with the word "cancer".' The diagnosis covers everything from tumours with less than a five per cent risk of spreading over the next 20 years to a deadly disease that could take over the body in just 12 months. 'Clearly, a condition that is indolent or rarely metastasises is not a cancer as clinically defined,' Dr Esserman said. Although past cancer diagnosis tests were not always accurate enough to determine which tumours were most likely to spread, the technology has come a long way. But 'we have yet to use them to change how we define cancer', Dr Esserman said. She points to 'ultralow risk prostate cancer', where 98 per cent of patients live a decade post-diagnosis if their tumour does not spread. Dr Esserman also argues improved cancer screening means more early-stage tumours are being identified than ever before. Ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS) - cancerous cells in the lining of breast ducts - makes up 25 per cent of all tumours detected via screening but 'is rarely, if ever, lethal'. But patients 'are being rushed to the operating room, precipitating a lifetime of anxiety'. 'Low and intermediate grade DCIS could be reclassified as indolent lesions of epithelial origin, without the word carcinoma,' Dr Esserman said. Dr Esserman argues re-labelling ultra-low risk tumours will spare patients the 'unnecessary physical and psychological trauma of a cancer diagnosis, and the fears of recurrence or side effects of treatment'. Rather than immediately opting for treatment, she believes patients should be encouraged to take up 'active surveillance' to monitor tumours that have not spread. Active surveillance may particularly benefits prostate-cancer sufferers, whose tumours often grow slowly and do not always spread. Many prefer to leave the cancer rather than suffer the erectile dysfunction and urinary incontinence side effects of treatment. But Dr Esserman adds 'it is difficult to encourage patients to wait and watch once they have been told they have cancer'. Despite Dr Esserman's points, Dr Murali Varma - a consultant histopathologist at Cardiff University - argues 'removing the cancer label' runs the risk growths will be under-treated. And he adds biopsies provide information on a 'tiny fraction of the tumour sampled'. Renaming cancers may also cause worse patient anxiety than leaving the diagnosis as it is. 'It has been recommended that some low risk thyroid carcinomas should be recategorised as tumours of uncertain malignant potential", he said. 'However, such a term could be misinterpreted as indicating the pathologist is uncertain whether the tumour is benign or lethal.' And, he adds, active surveillance still requires patients have regular check-ups, which are nerve-racking in themselves. Dr Varma is calling for greater public awareness of what different cancer diagnoses mean. 'If the public were educated that benign signifies very low risk rather than no risk at all, then anxiety inducing labels could be avoided,' he said. Social media is putting millions of children's lives at risk by spreading anti-vaccination myths, experts have warned. Sites like Facebook and Twitter have become a 'breeding ground for misleading information' about vaccinations, the Royal Society for Public Health (RSPH) warned. Half of parents with children under-two reported being exposed to negative messages about immunisations on social media, the report found. Experts said it was vital social media stepped up efforts to stop the spread of misinformation and could even be harnessed to improve uptake by alerting people with timely pop-ups. Sites like Facebook and Twitter have become a 'breeding ground for misleading information' about vaccinations, the Royal Society for Public Health (RSPH) warned While the UK remains a world leader in vaccine coverage, rates have declined in nine of 12 vaccinations given routinely to children in England, latest figures show. Public concern over side effects of vaccination continues to be a barrier to uptake, the report found, with 'fake news' on social media influential in spreading these concerns. RSPH Shirley Cramer chief executive said: 'History has taught us that fear and misinformation about vaccines can cause substantial damage to even the strongest vaccination programmes. 'With the rise of social media, we must guard against the spread of "fake news" about vaccinations. 'We have found worrying levels of exposure to negative messages about vaccinations on social media, and the spread of misinformation - if it impacts uptake of vaccines - could severely damage the public's health.' The society conducted surveys of more than 2,000 adults, including parents and healthcare professionals. Although nine in ten parents agreed vaccinations were important to their children's health, fear of side effects were a key barrier, alongside difficulties in accessing appointments. More than one in four people wrongly believed you could have too many vaccinations. The report suggested offering vaccinations in a more diverse range of locations, including at high-street pop-ups, gyms and workplaces, to improve access. The report comes after the Government's chief medical officer urged parents to ignore 'social media fake news' about the MMR vaccine. Professor Dame Sally Davies previously said discredited research linking the MMR jab to autism was being spread via campaigners on social media. Scepticism over the MMR jab originated in 1998 when London doctor Andrew Wakefield published a paper linked MMR to autism. Uptake of the MMR vaccine dropped from more than 90 per cent to less than 80 within a few years - and in some areas as few as 65 per cent of children had the jab, causing measles cases to rise sharply. Dr Wakefield was later discredited and struck off as a doctor, but the damage was done. Academics last year warned that fake online accounts run by Russian computer hackers were being used to whip up the anti-vaccination debate. Scientific analysis by experts in the US revealed countless social media accounts had been set up to bombard parents with orchestrated anti-vaccination messages. They said these included setting up internet robots - or 'bots' - to engage the public in a debate about the safety of vaccines. Helen Donovan, of the Royal College of Nursing, said: 'Challenging misinformation is vital to reverse the decline in vaccination uptake and ensure people recognise the protection it offers. 'In 2017 Britain was declared free of endemic measles, with just 259 lab confirmed cases. 'But last year saw 913 confirmed cases of this potentially fatal yet entirely preventable disease - a three-fold increase. This has been exacerbated by myths propagated largely online.' Women who do shift work during their pregnancies are at greater risk of having an underweight baby, a new study suggests. Shift work that requires people to alternately work days and nights disrupts their body's internal clock, which in turn throws off sleep schedules and metabolism. That's crucially important for pregnant women, whose blood sugar levels need to be stable in order for their developing babies to get adequate nutrition to grow to healthy sizes. When researchers the University of Adelaide and South Australian Health and Medical Research Institute put pregnant sheep on the same waking and sleep schedule shift-working women might keep, they had smaller lambs. One in five Americans works shift work including nights and alternating schedules, but this may disrupt Circadian rhythms and metabolism, leading to smaller babies for pregnant women Except, that is, when they were carrying twins. In this case they had longer pregnancies. The reasons and implications of that particular connection are unclear, but experts warn a consistent change in outcome shows shift work has a clear impact on pregnancy. Shift work, it seems, is particularly stacked against women. About one in five American employees work shifts, which could mean night shifts, rotating shifts or evening ones. Even if you always work nights - rather than more irregular non-standard hours - this still keeps you from sleeping when the human body is meant to sleep. Getting too little or poor quality sleep raises the risks of just about everything (including death) for just about everyone. But women have it particularly bad. Compared to women working odd shift, women are more likely to develop cancer. Plus, they face double the risks of breast cancer that other women do. Everything that happens to a woman's body during pregnancy has the potential to affect the fetus growing in her womb, too - including keeping odd hours. Yet, in the US, there is on law requiring employers to make any accommodations for pregnant women. To work out what effects continuing shift work might have on pregnant women, the Australian research team used sheep as a model, because the pregnant animals have similar blood system structures and nutrient exchange between mother and fetus to humans. The scientists saw that sheep who were made to sleep and eat on a 'shift-work' schedule made pregnant sheep - like humans - more intolerant to gluten, a risk factor for diabetes and obesity later in life. But not being able to properly process glucose may also prevent the essential blood sugars from being transferred to her fetus, resulting in a lower birth weight, they found. Most previous work has looked at the effects of sleep quality during the later stages of pregnancy on a child's obesity risks later in life. In the new research, published in the Journal of Physiology, the researchers found that even if a sheep was taken off the 'shift' schedule after her first trimester, her offspring were still more likely to be relatively small. 'The effects of shift work on pregnancy are not well understood. We found that exposure to rotating night and day shifts, even if only in pregnancy, altered both maternal metabolic and pregnancy outcomes,' said lead study author Dr Kathy Gatford, a reproductive health professor at the University of Adelaide. Next, they will look into more specific concerns and for further down the line for both mothers and babies. 'We are now assessing whether maternal shift work affects the health of their children by looking at circadian rhythms, cardiometabolic health and body composition in the progeny in this study.' A blogger who went viral for showing off her large baby bump while pregnant with triplets has detailed her post-partum experience by sharing more pictures of her changing body. Maria Nord Jrstad, who is originally from Norway but lives in Denmark, has welcomed followers into her world of taking care of her adorable triplets - Iben, Filip and Agnes - on her Instagram account, Triplets of Copenhagen. The mother-of-four has used the account to speak about women's bodies post-pregnancy and why it shouldn't be a 'taboo' topic. Change: Maria Nord Jrstad, who lives in Copenhagen, shared pictures after having triplets in 2018. Pictured right is her four weeks post-partum and left is 12 weeks post-partum Difficult: She created an Instagram page to help other women by being candid about her post-partum experience, including the difficulties of pumping and breastfeeding Adorable: The mother-of-four had her triplets - Iben, Filip and Agnes - in 2018 and has charted the journey before and after pregnancy on Instagram Family: The 36-year-old, pictured with her family, hopes to help tackle the taboo around post-baby bodies Recent pictures of Maria show how her body has changed after pregnancy and what it is like to mother three newborns, including the challenges of breastfeeding and pumping. When asked about why she wanted to document her journey online, Maria previously told DailyMail.com: 'I think I had it in the back of my mind [to continue taking pictures after giving birth], I thought it would be interesting to show the other side of it as well, because there aren't many people who share that. '[My stomach] is still showing, I was kind of surprised that it was still so big. I didn't know that it takes such a long time to shrink. 'I found it kind of interesting, this is the reality for many women and you never see pictures like that.' Maria, whose follower count shot up from 4,000 to more than 200,000 in just a week after sharing a video of her bump at 34 weeks last year, has been widely praised by mothers for her pictures. The account now has more than 250,000 followers. A recent photograph of her body four weeks after giving birth has racked up nearly 25,000 likes and hundreds of comments praising her honesty. One user said: 'Thanks for sharing "real" photos. Hope you are doing well with the triplets!!' Reality: Maria, pictured while 35 weeks pregnant, said: 'This is the reality for many women and you never see pictures like that' Important: The mother-of-four is keen to speak about the 'taboo' topic of how a woman's body changes after pregnancy Cuties: Maria, pictured with her triplets Iben, Filip and Agnes, went viral in 2018 after sharing a video showcasing her huge baby bump while 34 weeks pregnant Incredible: The Instagram blogger has been sharing pictures of her body every step of the way and has continued to do so even after giving birth Thankful The mother-of-four has been praised across the globe for her posts, with many thanking her for sharing real photos and talking about her post-partum body Another added: 'I'm so glad you posted this picture because it is horrible [that we] live in a fake world... Not every woman have beautiful body after pregnancy...' One Instagram follower wrote: 'Thank you for being so honest and brave! Lots of Love and Respect from Germany!' Maria decided to start her Instagram account because she had never met anyone with triplets before and she wanted to document the very special experience. Less than 10 women in Denmark have triplets every year, but through her account, Maria has found a network of other mothers with triplets. Now the mother, who works as a producer on documentaries, is hoping her story will inspire others to share their own and be honest about their bodies after giving birth. Family time: Maria still uses her account to share advice and her experience, but now it is focused on the woes of breastfeeding and taking care of triplets Community: Less than 30 women in Denmark have triplets every year, but through her account, Maria has found a network of other mothers with triplets She believes that the world is going through a big change and more women are feeling comfortable about sharing their real stories - especially in the post-Me Too era. The 36 year old added: 'I think that there has been a small revolution during the last few years - with the Me Too and Time's up movements in front line - where women have started speaking up about female issues that until now has been kind of taboo. Not spoken about. 'And social media has been the biggest platform to share these personal stories, like how you look and feel like after giving birth.' She plans to continue sharing her post-partum body and her eagerness to get her body back to normal. Maria added: 'I compared it with my first pregnancy where I got back to shape really quickly. I just want my body back and to wear normal clothes again, I'm still having to wear pregnancy trousers and pants and it's so heavy to carry around.' CVS Pharmacy has announced major progress toward its goal of full transparency with its 'Beauty Mark', as it was revealed that almost 70 per cent of nationwide in-store beauty imagery will be flagged as 'beauty unaltered' or 'digitally altered'. Plus-size model and Revlon brand ambassador Ashley Graham, 31, was among the beauty ambassadors whose photo was unveiled untouched as the initiative, that aims to have 100 per cent transparency by 2020, takes off. Neutrogena brand ambassador Kerry Washington and CoverGirl's Ayesha Curry are also among those who posed for untouched photos as the first of the pharmacy's updated beauty aisles were unveiled for the first time on Thursday. Gorgeous! Revlon brand ambassador Ashley Graham posed for a 'beauty unaltered' photo as CVS announces its plan to have full transparency in beauty imagery by end of 2020 Au natural! 41-year-old Scandal star Kerry Washington looked fresh-faced and glowing as she posed for a photo for a new Neutrogena campaign, for which she is an ambassador Beautiful: CoverGirl brand ambassador Ayesha Curry, 29, posed for a photo, that was unedited after it was taken, as part of the brand's latest campaign The ambassadors bared their flaws for the CVS initiative - the overall aim of which is to warn customers when an image has been edited and when it has been left untouched. The plan was first announced in January 2018, when the pharmacy announced that they planned to end touch ups of its beauty images in its marketing campaigns by the end of 2020. CVS began by stopping digitally altering photos relating to their own skincare and makeup products, as well as placing signs on packaging of products to show customers that photos of those modelling the products haven't been altered. Making a change: The watermark is used to show when an image has not been altered Just one year later, it has already made significant progress with its plan, as the chain revealed that nearly 70 per cent of beauty imagery in CVS Pharmacy locations nationwide will be flagged as 'beauty unaltered' or 'digitally altered'. Neutrogena, CoverGirl, and Revlon are among the 13 total brands who are working with the pharmacy on the transparency policy, which was announced for the first time last year. Revlon brand ambassador and plus-size model Ashley Graham's photo was unveiled as the initiative kicked off, as she posed for an unedited photo wearing a dark, smokey eye and a light pink lip color. Celebrity chef and actor and CoverGirl's Ayesha Curry's, 29, photo was also unveiled on Thursday, as she posed wearing the brand's Outlast Lipstick. Similarly, a photo of Neutrogena's brand ambassador Kerry Washington was revealed, as the American actress posed looking au-natural. The Scandal star later shared the photo to Instagram, where she accompanied it with a caption that read: 'As a #ProudCreativeConsultant I am thrilled to share that our @Neutrogena fam has joined forces with @CVS_Beauty on its mission to bring greater transparency to the beauty industry!!!!! 'Listen, you all know Ive never been afraid to call out overly retouched, digitally altered images of myself. I am not a fan of putting pictures out in the world that contribute to our feelings of self doubt and inadequacy because they are unnatural images that have been altered by computers. 'And that is why Im beyond proud to be one of the first unaltered images featured in-store,' she said. In the flesh! Ayesha Curry, 29, appeared at the CVS event where its new beauty aisles were unveiled, as she posed beside her photo (left) and participated in a panel discussion (right) A positive movement! CVS's idea of placing the 'Beauty Mark' on unedited photos on in-store beauty imagery was first announced in January 2018 Kerry added that she 'didn't wake up like that', and that a combination of lighting and talented makeup artists help make her look camera-ready in the photograph. However, the 41-year-old said they didn't make any additional changes digitally. 'We proudly let the beauty products speak for themselves. This isnt about shaming the beauty world! Not at all. Its about representing and celebrating truth and authenticity. Its about keeping it real.' New look! CVS unveiled its new beauty aisles on Thursday at a Pharmacy in Times Square Other brands involved in the initiative include Olay, Almay, Aveeno, Rimmel, JOAH, LOreal, Maybelline, Unilever, Burts Bees and Physicians Formula. An event held in New York City's Times Square on Thursday saw the first of CVS's updated beauty aisles being unveiled. In addition to the beauty imagery in CVS Pharmacy locations, all beauty imagery, including brand partner imagery, used on the pharmacy's website, and in all marketing to customers, including on social media and for external advertising and promotions, reflects the CVS Beauty Mark commitment. In addition, the pharmacy has instituted a contractual requirement for all of its beauty influencer partners to create and share only imagery that has not been digitally altered and does not use social filters on the likes of Instagram and Twitter. Speaking about the initiative, president of CVS Pharmacy Kevin Hourican, said: 'As a purpose-led health care company as well as the second largest beauty retailer in the country, we want the millions of customers that visit CVS Pharmacy locations each day to see a more authentic and diverse representation of beauty. Spot the difference: One year later, CVS revealed that almost 70 per cent of beauty imagery in locations nationwide will be flagged as 'beauty unaltered' (left) or 'digitally altered' (right) Au natural: CVS has also made it a requirement for all its beauty influencer partners to only share photos that have not been digitally altered (left) on social media 'We applaud the brand partners that truly embraced this initiative and helped us in taking significant steps forward in our effort to change an industry standard that has an impact on the health and self-esteem of our mutual customers,' he added. Dr. Tochi Iroku-Malize, a practicing family physician in Bay Shore, New York, and member of the American Academy of Family Physicians Board of Directors, stressed the fact that young women are heavily influenced by edited images they see. Good cause: CVS partnered up with lifestyle experts Sara and Erin Foster and made limited edition t-shirts that celebrate unaltered imagery and the 'Beauty Mark' She said: 'From TV to social media to walking retail aisles searching for a beauty product, Americans, particularly young women, are influenced by media portraying an unrealistic representation of beauty, leading to negative feelings about their own appearance. 'Research shows that exposure to altered media is linked to poor self-image, and that dissatisfaction can lead to critical health concerns. 'Working to reduce altered imagery from beauty campaigns and addressing this issue at the point of purchase is a great first step to improve how young people feel about their appearance,' she added. The pharmacy chain also partnered with lifestyle experts Sara and Erin Foster to create a limited-edition t-shirt that celebrates unaltered imagery and the CVS Beauty Mark. The Sara & Erin x CVS 'Sans Retouching' t-shirt is available for purchase on the pharmacy's website - with 100 per cent of the proceeds supporting Girls Inc. - a nonprofit organization that encourages all girls to be 'Strong, Smart, and Bold' through direct service and advocacy. Curvy model Charli Howard has landed herself in a image-positive lingerie campaign ahead of Valentine's Day which included a love letter she wrote to her body promising to 'love you, flaws and all,' The London-born model, 27, stunned in the Agent Provocateur campaign while lounging among pink and red backdrops in lingerie that shows off her curves. This year's campaign from the lingerie brand twisted the idea of Valentine's Day from being about love between lovers to instead embracing loving oneself. Stunning: Curvy model Charli Howard, 27, appeared in the new Agent Provocateur lingerie campaign to promote self-love ahead of Valentine's Day Positive: The London-born model gained notoriety in 2015 after she left a modeling agency due to the unreasonable body expectations she experienced Self-love: The idea behind the new lingerie campaign was to promote self-acceptance for Valentine's Day instead of love with a lover Proud: Charli now uses her platform to promote body positivity and women with curves 'I hope this proves to all you women out there that you that you dont have to be rail thin to feel sexy in lingerie, or even to become a model if thats your goal,' Charli wrote in an Instagram post while sharing images from the new campaign. The New York City-based model first shot to fame in 2015 when she was famously fired by an unnamed modeling agency over 'unobtainable beauty standards'. At the time, she shared her upset and anger with her Facebook followers, writing: 'Here's a big F**K YOU to my (now ex) model agency for saying that at 5ft 8in tall and a UK size 6-8, I'm "too big" and 'out of shape' to work in the fashion industry.' Unsurprisingly the post quickly went viral, and since then Charli has been an outspoken advocate for body positivity, while speaking out against the pressures that are placed on young people working in the fashion industry. Charli now uses her platform online to celebrate and embrace women's natural bodies, flaws and all, and in her love letter to her own body, she describes the journey she took in order to reach a place where she feels happy in her own skin. Own it: The new campaign for Valentine's Day celebrates self-love and acceptance Happy: 'I hope this proves to all you women out there that you that you dont have to be rail thin to feel sexy in lingerie, or even to become a model if thats your goal,' Charli wrote in a post Gorgeous: Included in the campaign was a love letter Charli wrote to her body Moving forward: In the letter, she admitted to previously not loving her body because of its curves and stretch marks 'This Valentines Day, were encouraging you to write a love letter to yourself & celebrate the things that make you "you",' Charli wrote. 'Show yourself some love & wear lingerie that makes you feel sexy and empowered, regardless of whether youve got a partner or not. After all, loving yourself starts from within.' In a love letter to herself as part of the campaign, Charli admitted to previously hating her body and thinking her 'curves were shameful.' She wrote: 'Our relationship in the past has been complicated. I spent years comparing you to numerous women I will never be, and against bodies I will never have. I based my values on what other people thought of me or saw in me, seeking their approval before I sought my own.' The model went on to describe her disdain for her curves and her stretch marks, which led her to never thinking she would be enough, writing: 'My curves were shameful; my stretch marks hideous.' In her memoir, Misfit, which was published last year, Charli opened up about the eating disorders that she suffered for twenty years - and the often-crippling anxiety that went with them. She reveals that nobody was aware that she was throwing up her meals, and in the book she refers to her OCD, depression, anxiety and eating disorders as 'sexy illnesses' because their outcomes are displayed in glossy magazines. Strike a pose: Charli has long been an outspoken advocate for body positivity online Letting it out there: She regularly encourages her followers on Instagram to embrace their bodies, and learn to love themselves After all those years in the modeling industry however, Charli finally learned to embrace her natural body and proudly flaunt the curves - and now that she has reached this stage, she is determined to give her body the same love that it gave her through all those years. 'You never gave up on me throughout all the times I was ready to give up on you.,' she wrote. 'So this is a promise a promise to love you, flaws and all, and make up for the years I didn't realize your worth. 'And while my skin might not be the smoothest, or my hips the smallest, you've taught me what I needed to know. I am enough.' As the face of the Agent Provocateur campaign, Charli emanated confidence and self-love for her body that she wanted to spread to other women. 'For me, Valentines Day is a time to champion who you are as a woman and show yourself some love as well as wearing gorgeous lingerie that makes you feel sexy from the inside out,' Charli said. 'Agent Provocateur has always celebrated women and their sexuality and this campaign is merely a reminder to celebrate your body every day.' The Queen has joined members of her local Women's Institute to hear a talk from guest speaker Alexander Armstrong, host of the BBC game show Pointless. Each year the Queen visits WI members at West Newton village hall as part of her winter stay on her Sandringham estate in Norfolk. Wearing a blue coat and carrying her black Launer handbag, she arrived in a Range Rover and was greeted by Yvonne Browne, vice-president of the Sandringham WI. Armstrong, this year's guest speaker, told reporters ahead of Thursday's meeting that he was 'very, very honoured' to have been invited. The Queen attended a meeting at the Women's Institute in Sandringham, of which she is a member, on Thursday Wearing a blue coat and carrying her black Launer handbag the Queen arrived for the annual meet up where they welcome a new guest speaker every year 'It's a bit like a dream come true,' he said. 'I think everyone I've ever spoken to has said they've had a dream where they had tea with the Queen - I'm going to get to do that.' Armstrong claimed in a 2017 interview with the Radio Times that the Queen is a fan of Pointless, explaining that 'a Palace insider told us that she watches it'. Asked what he would talk about at the WI meeting, he said: 'It's going to be fairly informal. 'I will ramble around, this and that, and if I see anyone stifling a yawn I'll think it's probably time to bring things to a close.' The Queen arrives at the WE meeting on Thursday. The Queen joined the Sandringham branch of the WI in 1943 when she was still Princess Elizabeth, and attends each year VIP visitor: Wearing a blue coat and carrying her black Launer handbag, the Queen arrived in a Range Rover and was met by Yvonne Browne, vice-president of the Sandringham WI The Queen is handed a gift as she leaves the village hall. Each year the Queen visits WI members at West Newton village hall as part of her winter stay on her Sandringham estate The monarch is presented with a pot plant as she leaves the Women's Institute (WI) meeting at West Newton Village Hall, Norfolk on Thursday The Queen leaves the WI meeting in Sandringham on Thursday. The Queen is now in the final weeks of her time in Norfolk, expected to return to Buckingham Palace in February A curtsy for the Queen! A formal goodbye for the monarch as she leaves West Newton Women's Institute on Thursday following her annual visit to the Sandringham branch The Queen joined the Sandringham branch of the WI in 1943 when she was still Princess Elizabeth, and attends each year. Members welcome a different guest speaker each year, and enjoy tea and cakes. The monarch was last spotted on Tuesday driving alone with no security near her Sandringham Estate. The Queen is thought to have been visiting her stables, which are a short drive from her home. Her journey came a week after Prince Philip was invovled in a car crash in the area. Police have spoken to the Duke after he was pictured driving a new Land Rover alone and without a belt just 48 hours after his crash. Alexander Armstrong (pictured at the event in Sandringham on Thursday) is this year's speaker and the Pointless host described it as a 'dream come true' West Newton Village Hall was surrounded by police shortly before the Queen's arrival today A Norfolk Constabulary spokeswoman said the force was aware of the pictures of Philip driving and that 'suitable words of advice have been given to the driver'. The Queen is now in the final weeks of her time in Norfolk, expected to return to Buckingham Palace in the first week of February. She will mark the 67th anniversary of her accession to the throne on February 6, normally done privately on her Norfolk estate. The longest-reigning sovereign in British history became queen on February 6 1952 on the death of her father King George VI. The Duke and Duchess of Sussex are not planning to hire a nanny, it is reported. The couple, who are expecting their first baby together this spring, will instead rely on Meghan's mother, Doria Ragland, for childcare, according to Vanity Fair. The majority of royal couples, including the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, choose to hire a professional nanny to help look after their children. The Duke and Duchess of Sussex, are reportedly not planning to hire a nanny and will instead rely on Meghan's mother, Doria Ragland (pictured with her daughter last May), for childcare Indeed Prince Harry, 34, still enjoys a close relationship with his childhood nanny, Tiggy Legge-Bourke, and even invited her to the royal wedding in May last year. It was previously reported that Harry and Meghan, 37, would employ 'Hollywood super-nanny' and lifestyle guru Connie Simpson, of Mobile, Alabama, who helped to raise George and Amal Clooney's twins. She has worked with A-listers including Justin Timberlake and Jessica Biel, and has helped to raise more than 250 babies over a 30 year career. The majority of royal couples, including the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, choose to hire a professional nanny to help look after their children. Pictured, the Cambridges' nanny, Maria Teresa Turrion Borrallo, with the Queen and Prince George and Charlotte's 2015 Christening There is also understood to be room for a nanny in the Sussexes' new home, Frogmore Cottage, on the Windsor estate, although this has not been confirmed. Sources close to Harry and Meghan told Vanity Fair the couple will not 'initially' hire a nanny, suggesting they might still employ one further in the future. There has been speculation over whether Doria will relocate to the UK from Los Angeles full-time, or will split her time between the two to help raise her grandchild. Carole Middleton, the Duchess of Cambridge's mother, plays a hands-on role in the lives of her grandchildren, Prince George, five, Princess Charlotte, three, and Prince Louis, nine months. It was previously reported that Harry and Meghan, 37, would employ 'Hollywood super-nanny' but it now appears they will rely on Doria for support. Pictured, pregnant Meghan last week However William, 36, and Kate, 37, also employ full-time nanny Maria Teresa Turrion Borrallo. Maria was hired in 2014, following Prince George's birth the previous year. Ms Borrallo trained at the prestigious Norland College which has been producing childminders for the rich and famous since 1892. The institution's students are known for their distinctive uniforms and are schooled in all aspects of looking after youngsters during their three-year degree course. Princess Eugenie shared a touching tribute to husband Jack Brooksbank as the couple celebrated the anniversary of their engagement announcement. The royal, 28, posted a previously unseen photograph of herself and Jack from their official engagement shoot, taken to mark the occasion in January last year. Jack proposed to Eugenie on holiday on New Year's Day but they waited a few weeks before sharing it with the world. The couple tied the knot in a star-studded service at Windsor Castle in October last year. Princess Eugenie shared a touching tribute to husband Jack Brooksbank as the couple celebrated the anniversary of their engagement announcement. The royal, 28, shared a previously unseen photo (above) with a caption saying how 'excited' she is for 2019 Reflecting on the last 12 months, Eugenie wrote on Instagram: '#tbt to exactly this day last year - Jack and I announced our engagement. What a year its been since then and how exciting for 2019.' The post was met with excited comments from followers, who shared in her joy. One posted: 'You're so gorgeous. Wish you all happiness you deserve because you're so pure, humble and down to earth.' Another wrote: 'Congratulations again. Thank you for sharing your wedding with the rest of us.' Princess Eugenie and Jack Brooksbank tied the knot in a star-studded service at Windsor Castle in October last year, pictured A third added: 'Thank you for sharing the best day with us. You looked so beautiful in your dress and the tiara. It was a perfect day.' Many royal fans also shared their excitement at the thought that Eugenie and Jack might soon think about starting a family. Eugenie has previously revealed that she cried and was 'over the moon' when Mr Brooksbank got down on one knee to pop the question as they watched the sun set over a volcano in Nicaragua on New Year's Day 2018. The post was met with excited comments from followers, who shared in her joy The Queen's granddaughter described the proposal at a 'complete surprise', even though the couple have been together for 'several years'. She revealed that the Queen was among the first people to know about the engagement, adding that her 'Granny was very happy'. After the engagement news was revealed to the world by her thrilled parents , official portraits of the happy couple were released to mark the occasion - and offer that all-important first glimpse of the bride-to-be's ring. Mr Brooksbank popped the question earlier this month with the unusual ring; a padparadscha sapphire surrounded by diamonds. The Duchess of Cornwall has spent today at a library where she read to a group of school children as part of her work as a patron of the National Literacy Trust. Camilla, 71, was all smiles during her visit to North Swindon Library, where she learned about the Trust's Swindon Hub and met children involved in the Lost Words project. She wore a raspberry pink coat over a patterned dress, with a four-string pearl necklace and matching pearl earrings bringing a touch of glamour to the outfit. Camilla was all smiles during her visit to North Swindon Library, where she learned about the Trust's Swindon Hub and met children involved in the Lost Words project The Duchess applauds as a schoolgirl reads to the group at North Swindon Library today Her hair was neatly styled into her trademark blonde curls and she sported light but flattering makeup which made her skin glow. The Duchess put on her glasses to read aloud to the group of children who sat on the floor to listen to her. The National Literacy Trust is an independent charity dedicated to giving disadvantaged children the literacy skills they need to succeed. Camilla became a patron of the charity in November 2010 and has a long standing interest in literacy and reading. The Duchess put on her glasses to read aloud to the group of children who sat on the floor She wore a raspberry pink coat over a patterned dress, with a four-string pearl necklace and matching pear earrings bringing a touch of glamour to the outfit A spokesman said: 'The Duchess valuable support helps us to ensure children and adults across the UK have the literacy skills they need for a happier, healthier and more prosperous life.' As well as visiting the charity's programmes, the Duchess has held several literacy receptions at Clarence House to honour those who make a valuable contribution to literacy in the UK. The Lost Words is a unique collaborative project between award-winning author Robert Macfarlane, and acclaimed artist and author Jackie Morris, in response to their belief that nature is in retreat from our childrens stories and imaginations. The Duchess listens intently as one of the school children reads aloud to the large group On tour from Compton Verney, the exhibition presents a new series of poems and accompanying illustrations that conjure the beauty of nature, for visitors of all ages. In 2002 the results of a Cambridge University survey found that British schoolchildren were able to identify Pokemon far more accurately than species of common UK wildlife. In a 2008 study only a third of primary age children could identify a magpie, though nine out of ten could name a Dalek. The Duchess helps a young pupil with one of the nature-based projects at the library Dr Pimple Popper is used to dealing with gruesome conditions, but in tonight's episode of her new series, she's left shocked by an army veteran who suffers with severe scaly skin that leaves him looking like a 'rhinoceros'. Dr Sandra Lee visits Louis, 70, from the US, who served his country in both the Vietnam War and Operation Desert Storm in Kuwait. He suffers with severely dry skin all over his body that gives him an almost reptilian appearance. Louis' feet are so bad that he has difficulty walking and has to be cared for by his son, Jacob. 'Sure, Ive seen this in textbooks, but Ive never seen this in person. Louis has the most extreme case of scaly skin Ive ever seen,' she says in the TLC show. Despite the severity of his condition, her solution turns out to be quite simple and she instructs Jacob to coat his father's foot in Vaseline, cover it in a damp sock to lock in moisture and wrap it in plastic to keep it in place. Incredibly, when he returns to the Upland, California clinic just two weeks later, Louis has already seen a huge improvement. Louis, 70, from the US, suffers from from severely dry, scaly skin all over his body that gives him an almost reptilian appearance In stomach-churning scenes, Dr Pimple Popper describes how Louis' toenails are half an inch thick. The dermatologist says: 'Ive seen this in textbooks but Ive never seen this in person' Dr Sandra Lee aka Dr Pimple Popper, pictured, is used to dealing with gruesome conditions, but is left shocked by Louis and his scaly skin condition in tonight's episode of her show 'I have a lot of pain with it, because it scales up,' he reveals on Thursday night's episode, which airs at 9pm on TLC. 'I have open splits and it's a constant pain that I just sort of learn to live with. The arms and my legs and my feet are the worst. On a scale of one to ten, the pain on my feet is a nine or ten. It impairs me from being able to do just normal things.' Louis hopes that a visit to Dr. Lee will provide him with some answers and the relief he needs to have a 'better quality of life' so that he can walk his grandchildren in the park without being in pain. In one emotional scene, Louis' son Jacob, who cares for his father by rubbing in daily lotion to try and help ease the agony admits he struggles taking care of him: 'When I put that lotion on my father's feet it literally makes me sick. It's not because of how it looks. It looks horrible but it makes me sick to know he's in that much pain. I just want him to have a purpose again,' he says. Above, the war veteran demonstrates how easy it is for him to peel back layer upon layer of dry, scaly skin - which Dr Lee then describes as being like 'writing paper' Louis' skin causes him ten out of ten pain. Shocked by his 'mystery' condition, Dr Pimple Popper says: 'Louis has the most extreme case of scaly skin Ive ever seen' The US war veteran visits the clinic tonight keen for a new lease of life. His emotional son Jacob helps his father with his skin condition every day and massages in a moisturising lotion - but it has no affect In an emotional scene, Jacob explains how he just wants his father to get better so he can live the normal life of a seventy-year-old. He says: 'I just want him to have a purpose again' He adds: 'I couldn't imagine the pain he has to endure. He keeps his chin up and continues best he can.' After analysing the 'rhinoceros-type skin' which she refers to as a 'mystery', the professional pimple popper then offers her expert opinion. This is way beyond athletes foot or regular dry skin,' says Dr Sandra Lee. 'This is scale upon scale upon scale. He has toenails that are half an inch thick. After peeling back a bit of skin, which she claims could 'be used as writing paper,' she advises Louis' condition is something called 'Ichthyosis' - which is skin that has a fish-like scale on it. Stumped by his skin condition, Dr Lee advises Louis to follow a strict skin regime which consists of coating his foot in Vaseline, covering it in a damp sock to lock in the moisture and then wrapping it in clingfilm to keep it in place After following a regimented routine, Louis is delighted with the results and to show his appreciation, even offers Dr Pimple Popper one of his precious veteran caps which mean 'an awful lot' to him Instructing Jacob to help his father follow a regimented skin-care routine to help get moisture back in his skin, Dr Sandra Lee demonstrates how he should coat his foot in Vaseline, cover it in a damp sock to lock in the moisture and then wrap it in clingfilm to keep it in place. And incredibly, when he returns to the clinic a couple of weeks later, visible differences can be seen in his 'spectacular' new skin. 'You gave me a new life,' he says to the dermatologist on tonight's show. 'Your treatment has taken away so much pain and now I feel like somebody all because of Dr Lee.' Dr Pimple Popper airs on Thursday nights at 9pm exclusively on TLC You may have a Huawei phone in your bag or a Bosch dishwasher in your kitchen, but do you know how to pronounce the brand names correctly? In her latest video, blogger and teacher Lucy Earl, who runs YouTube channel English with Lucy, revealed the household brand names she believes many people are probably getting wrong. On her channel, which has had over 60 million views, the pronunciation expert started with Chinese brand Huawei, explaining that she's heard lots of 'different pronunciations', but reveals the proper way to say the brand is 'Huah-wey'. In the video that's had nearly 100,000k views she said that many Brits also get the name of Swiss furniture giant IKEA wrong too - pronouncing it 'Eye-kee-ah' instead of the correct version 'Ee-kay-uh'. Here we look through the other pronunciations of brands that we probably get wrong.... Lucy starts with Chinese brand Huawei, explaining that she's heard lots of 'different pronunciations', but reveals the proper way to say the brand is 'Huah-wey'. Have you been saying the name for software company Adobe all wrong? Despite beginning with an A, the software brand actually starts with an 'uh' sound and has a silent 'e' on the end. In the video that's had nearly 100,000k views she says that the name is pronounced 'uh-doh-be' and not 'Ad-o-bee'. The pronunciation of Swedish brand IKEA often trips people up, but it's Ee-kay-uh rather than Eye-kee-ah. Lucy, who has had 60 million views on her video channel says that Brits always get the pronunciation wrong. Another hard one to pronounce is Miele - Lucy has heard 'lots of different pronunciations' for the German brand but the correct way to say is is Mee-l(uh), not 'Me-la'. But she admitted to previously saying it wrong herself, pronouncing it 'meer-lay'. If you're lucky enough to own a Tag Heuer watch, then you want to be sure that you're saying the name of your expensive time piece correctly . She said the Swiss watch company is actually pronounced 'tag haw-yuh'. It's Bosch with a silent 'ch'. According to Lucy many of us are guilty of pronouncing brand names in a foreign language exactly as they're spelled. Lucy said that the home appliances company is merely just 'bosh'. The pronunciation expert, who started her channel in 2016, went on to reveal the proper way to pronounce Sega. Lucy said: 'I have very happy memories of playing these games as a kid. It's a Japanese brand and its should be 'seh-gah' - I always thought it was 'sega' - wrong.' The computer brand Asus is one of the more confusing brand names for people to get the hang of. Lucy admitted she herself was shocked to find out the right way to say it. 'It's actually pronounced "ei-zooss" not "a-sus",' she said. Some of us probably own a Samsung laptop of mobile phone - but are you pronouncing it right? Lucy revealed that another one that that Brits get wrong is Samsung, which is actually pronounced "Sam-song", despite having a 'u' in the spelling. Another watch brand we may be saying wrong - even though she said most of us pronounce Casio just likes its written she said the Japanese electronics company is actually said 'Kash-ee-oh'. Embarrassing mishaps happen to the best of us and our furry friends are just as prone to them, as this series of photographs show. Captured by eagle-eyed photographers from around the world, they show all sorts of creatures from birds to bears and monkeys caught in a whole host of - often hilarious - situations. There's a dog who managed to get its head stuck after biting through an entire door and a cute fox that found itself in a sticky situation between two rocks. Meanwhile, a puppy couldn't hide its sinking feeling after becoming trapped in a basin and a curious monkey can be seen popping his head inside a camera. Happily, all animals featured in the gallery suffered no ill effects from their adventures and made a full recovery, but they certainly make for some entertaining viewing. The series of hilarious photographs depict cute animals getting themselves stuck in some sticky situations. Pictured: Cheyenne the dog, with a cat kennel stuck around her head in Bay Roberts, Newfoundland, Canada Everything but the kitchen sink! Tyson the dog is seen with his head stuck with vet nurse Faye Martin Thought you were having a bad day! A fox lands head first into the snow at Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming Are you alright there, mate? A British seagull is caught on camera struggling with bread over its face before gobbling up the whole slice An adventurous beaver gets itself in a pickle after becoming trapped between the two bars of a fence in Hamilton, Ontario Slapped with a wet fish! A bear has a misfortunate time whilst trying to catch dinner, when it slaps him in the face at Brooks Falls - part of the Katmai National Park & Preserve in Alaska How did you get u p there? The fire service can be seen rescuing Millie the dog after she gets herself stuck in the gutter high up on a roof in Birmingham He just wanted a selfie! A Golden Lion Tamarin is snapped sticking its head in photographer Miles Herbert's camera at Marwell Zoo in Hampshire Mind how you go! It's not just fluffy creatures that have been spotted slipping up - this duck takes a fall as it glides along the water Pet dog Nala, seven, can be seen being rescued from a roof by fireman and her owner Mark Quinn at their home in Birmingham in July 2017 Theo, a mischievious German Shepherd cross, caused hundreds worth of damage when he ate his way through a door before getting his head stuck as he attempted to squeeze through the hole A fox got itself in a spot of trouble after becoming sandwiched between two headstones in a UK cemetery An unlucky camel has rescuers to thank after finding itself stuck in mud near the village of Nimrivand in Western India Daisy the horse also needed help from strong rescuers who embarked on a successful mission to release her from an unmarked well Even wild lions can have accidents, as this photo of one falling from the branch of a tree demonstrates Out for a drive! It's unclear how Chips the pet cat found itself stuck in a car in Pentwyn, Cardiff Italian fashion house Prada has been slammed online for selling a plain white t-shirt for 270. The new season white top, named the 'logo pique T-shirt', is for sale on the luxury London-based fashion retail website, Farfetch. The description states: 'Founded in 1913 by Mario Prada, the brand is known for producing timeless items with traditional Milanese craftsmanship. This white logo pique T-shirt is crafted from cotton and features a round neck, short sleeves, a relaxed fit, a straight hem, a slim fit and a logo chest patch.' Italian fashion house Prada has been slammed online for selling a plain white t-shirt for 270 But the designer label has been called 'filth' by people on Facebook for the outrageous pricing of the simple cotton tee. One shopper found the overpriced t-shirt online and posted it to a Facebook group with the caption: 'Ok.' Kevin Flett said: 'Scum. Just wrong in every way. Do I sound bitter. Damn right.' Sian Canning said: 'Filth. Anyone who buys this might wish to buy a suitable applicator to insert t-shirt into the same crevice where their personality resides. Just sayin'. Asda's clothing brand George sells a very similar t-shirt for just 3.50 - rather than 270 Alice Philippia added: 'Bought by people who know the price of everything but the value of nothing.' While Prada are selling their 100% cotton t-shirts for nearly 300, other low-cost brands are selling near identical tops for 100 times less. Asda George is selling a very similar version of the prada t-shirt for 3.50. Next is selling theirs for 6 while Sainbury's own brand label Tu are selling similar tees for 4. The designer label has been called 'filth' by people on Facebook for the outrageous pricing The only difference is the Prada t-shirt has a white logo on it that from a distance can't even be seen. While the white tees on the website are on sale for nearly 300, coloured versions are sold for a staggering 540. This isn't the first time a luxury label has been criticised for charging a large amount for a basic tee. Gucci came under fire in August last year after pricing a shirt with a Paramount logo for 480.64. One fashion blog called the design either a 'marketing stunt or a bizarre misstep to make a new trend.' Prada has been contacted for comment. Lots of mothers-to-be are excited to show off their blooming baby bumps, and the Duchess of Sussex would appear to be no exception. Video of her recent public engagements shows how Meghan, 37, who is six months pregnant, uses a combination of clever wardrobe choices and 'deliberate baby-bump-featuring behavior' to ensure all eyes remain on her blossoming tummy. Stylist Lucas Armitage noted the royal has largely eschewed maternity brands in favour of pieces from designer labels that fit snugly around her bump. She has also plumped for contrasting coat and dress combinations that highlight her blossoming tummy. 'She is enjoying being pregnant and knows that that is what people want to see when she is at public engagements,' Lucas explained. Meanwhile body language expert and author Judi James pointed out Meghan frequently 'flicks' her coat away from her bump to ensure it is fully visible - just one example of the behaviour she consciously adopts to draw attention to herself. The Duchess of Sussex, pictured at Mayhew Animal Home in London last week, uses a string of styling tricks and wardrobe choices to accentuate her blooming baby bump on public engagements, according to experts. Body language expert Judi James noted Meghan leaves her coat open and 'flicks' it away from her bump (as seen above) to ensure it remains in view While the Duchess of Sussex has been seen in a handful of maternity pieces by the likes of H&M and Asos, she is largely following the lead of sister-in-law Kate, 37, who managed to keep wearing her favourite brands well into her most recent pregnancy with Prince Louis. As a result, Meghan's dresses often fit snugly across her figure, as they are not cut with the extra room needed for pregnancy. Lucas pointed out the Duchess appears to be taking a similar approach when it comes to her winter outerwear. Last week, Meghan was seen in a bespoke cream coat which she previously wore on a visit to Sussex in October, when she was in the early stages of pregnancy. Stylist Lucas Armitage said the royal also appears to direct attention towards her bump by opting for coats that contrast with the dress underneath, ensuring the shape of her bump isn't lost in a block colour. The clearest example of this has been Meghan's outing to Merseyside last week (pictured) where she was once again seen brushing her coat from her bump Meghan wore a grey coat over her 834 dress by LA label Brock Collection for a visit to the Royal Variety's Brinsworth House last month, pictured. Body language expert Judi James said the exchange pictured above was the most 'telling' example of Meghan's bump focused behaviour as she flicked the coat away from her bump twice while being greeted Days earlier she made a statement in a vibrant 1,085 red coat from Canadian label Sentaler, which once again does not specialise in clothes for mothers-to-be. The regular fit means Meghan often has to tie her coats loosely with a belt or leave them open entirely in order to accommodate her bump. How Meghan's style accentuates her bump Stylist Lucas Armitage noted: The Duchess of Sussex opts for coats that contrast with her dresses, ensuring the shape of her bump isn't lost in a block colour The royal continues to wear non-maternity labels, meaning her clothes often fit snugly around her bump Meghan often leaves her coats untied, allowing her bump to remain visible Body language expert Judi James added: Meghan 'flicks' her coat away from her bump to keep it in full view She deliberately exhibits 'baby-bump-featuring behavior', including cradling, touching and revealing her bump The Duchess chooses figure-hugging pieces over looser garments that would 'veil' her form Advertisement Lucas said: 'I think as a lover of designer brands Meghan is struggling to find coats she likes that would work over a bump so instead is wearing standard coats and leaving them undone. 'She is also obviously happy to show off her bump as she's wearing fitted dresses under the coats. So it may be that she's intentionally opting for coats that she can't do up.' Judi James agreed: 'While many UK royals have often kept their bumps hidden under tent dresses or discreetly "veiled" by coats Meghans obvious pride and excitement at being a mum reflects in the way she just cant stop touching, cradling and revealing her bump to share her good news with the public at every opportunity. 'Her most telling gesture in terms of her glorious bump-behaviour being totally conscious came on her recent trip to Birkenhead. 'Stepping out of and around her car it looked for one minute as though her open coat might mask the bump from the royal fans as she had to stop cradling the bump to shake hands with her hosts, but quickly and very deftly her left hand came up to flick the coat away to reveal all and she repeated this gesture more than once. 'The cream H&M dress she wore [to Mayhew animal home in London last week] also made an emphatic feature of her bump and you can see her pushing the coat aside with two hands to ensure it does.' The Duchess, who is six months pregnant, has largely eschewed more generous maternity labels in favour of flattering pieces from designer labels that hug her pregnant figure. Pictured, in a glittering gown by designer Roland Mouret at the Royal Albert Hall last week. Judi said the approach contrasts from other pregnant royals who have 'veiled' their bumps Lucas also highlighted the way Meghan uses colour to keep her baby bump as the focus of attention. 'For example with the red and purple [which Meghan wore on a visit to Merseyside last week], the colour clash really draws attention to the bump. 'But if she picked one uniform colour for a whole look the bump would blend in more. 'Someone like Kate would probably have worn the same colour under the coat not a clashing colour.' On Wednesday a Kim Kardashian fan, who spent over $170,000 (130,000) on surgery and rocketed to notoriety when his botched lip job left him with leaky fillers, returned to E! reality series Botched for a second time. Birmingham-born Jordan James Parke, 27, dubbed the 'British Lip King', visited the doctors on the surgery show to persuade them to perform liposuction and a fourth nose job on him. And doctors Paul Nassif and Terry Dubrow, who were thrilled to welcome a familiar face back to their office, were left stunned by his transformation. After getting briefly reacquainted with Jordan, a Manchester-based aesthetician and return patient from 2015, the doctors were quick to note his obvious physical transformation since their last meeting- but refused him further surgery. Birmingham-born Jordan James Parke, 27, dubbed the 'British Lip King', visited the doctors on the surgery show to persuade them to perform liposuction and a fourth nose job on him The doctors were quick to note his obvious physical transformation since their last meeting- but refused him further surgery- including a fourth nose job to help him breathe properly 'Your face looks completely different,' Dr Nassif pointed out after remembering him as the guy who wanted to look like Kim Kardashian and had a leaky lip filler. 'I was once a lip disaster, but now I'm known in England as the Lip King,' he said before thanking Drs. Nassif and Dubrow for convincing him to finally ease up on the injections these last few years. But what Jordan gave up in lip filler he made up for in other cosmetic procedures, including four nose jobs, upper eyelid surgery, a lip lift, a chin implant and several rounds of liposuction. The Botched doctors never operated on Jordan back in 2015. But some new post-op complications were enough to encourage a second visit After getting briefly reacquainted with Jordan, a Manchester-based aesthetician and return patient from 2015 - the doctors were quick to note his obvious physical transformation since their last meeting (seen previously before 2015) 'Plastic surgery is 100 percent like sex. You can't have it once. You have to have it over and over and over,' he admitted. 'And if the surgeon's good, you keep having it with the same guy.' The Botched doctors never operated on Jordan back in 2015. But some new post-op complications were enough to encourage a second visit. 'Hopefully they can help me with my nose, make my nose a tiny bit smaller and help my breathing a bit more,' Jordan said, acknowledging that those four nose jobs might've had something to do with the onset of respiratory issues. Doctors Paul Nassif and Terry Dubrow, who were thrilled to welcome a familiar face back to their office, were left stunned by his transformation Despite Jordan's enthusiasm, Drs. Nassif and Dubrow ultimately declined to operate and advised against any future plastic surgeries And that wasn't the last of his surgical wish list. 'I want more liposuction to fix all the lumpy lipo,' Jordan told the doctors, referencing the consequences of a liposuction procedure that left his abdomen in worse shape than before. Despite Jordan's enthusiasm, Drs. Nassif and Dubrow ultimately declined to operate and advised against any future plastic surgeries. Dr Dubrow revealed further liposuction would make his stomach looser, and he would end up in a 'viscous cycle'. Meanwhile Dr Nassif explained that to improve his breathing he would have to make his nose wider, much to Jordan's horror. 'Surgery would involve taking a piece of rib, and inserting it to open up your nose and make your nose fatter.' 'Bigger? Wider? No.' Jordan screeched in horror. In 2016, ahead of his third nose job, Jordan appeared on This morning revealing he had spent over $170,000 (130,000) on 50 cosmetic procedures over six years. What Jordan gave up in lip filler he made up for in other cosmetic procedures, including four nose jobs, upper eyelid surgery, a lip lift, a chin implant and several rounds of liposuction 'I want more liposuction to fix all the lumpy lipo,' Jordan told the doctors, referencing the consequences of a liposuction procedure that left his abdomen in worse shape than before Despite his obsession with Kim Kardashian he said he has never tried to look like her Jordan previously revealed his massive lips had started leaking on an episode of US series Botched Talking about how his obsession began, he said: 'It started when I was 19'. 'This was before government cuts - so I had lots of student loans,' he said. He added: 'Since a young age I've been obsessed with celebrity plastic surgery.' But despite his obsession with Kim Kardashian he said he has never tried to look like her. 'People will shout at me in the street, Theres the Kim Kardashian". But if Id be paid to look like her, if that was the case, I'd be getting my money back. 'I was once a lip disaster, but now I'm known in England as the Lip King,' he said before thanking Drs. Nassif and Dubrow for convincing him to finally ease up on the injections these last few years 'Your face looks completely different,' Dr Nassif pointed out after remembering him as the guy who wanted to look like Kim Kardashian and had a leaky lip filler 'Hopefully they can help me with my nose, make my nose a tiny bit smaller and help my breathing a bit more,' Jordan said, acknowledging that those four nose jobs might've had something to do with the onset of respiratory issues Describing his motivation he said: I never hated myself. I never looked in the mirror and thought I hated myself. Its a hobby for me.' Jordan previously revealed his massive lips had started leaking on an episode of US series Botched. At the time he admitted he 'couldn't really move' his face following nearly 50 plastic surgery procedures. Jordan explained on the programme: 'Sometimes filler can leak out of the sides. It's quite scary. They need fixing. I'm worried if they keep leaking I'm going to end up with small lips again, and that wouldn't be me. 'My lips have really changed me as a person and I'd be so normal and boring without them.' The Kim Kardashian fan who rocketed to notoriety after his botched lip job left him with leaky fillers returned to E! reality series Botched for a second time Jordan previously admitted he 'couldn't really move' his face following nearly 50 plastic surgery procedures The Duchess of Sussex is a style inspiration for woman everywhere - and it appears the Duchess of Cornwall is no exception. Camilla, 71, wore a handbag previously seen on mother-to-be Meghan, 37, when she stepped out for an appearance in London yesterday. Meghan, who is six months pregnant, first sported the 295 forest green accessory when she joined Prince Harry in Cardiff in January last year. The Duchess of Cornwall, 71, wore a 295 handbag also seen on mother-to-be Meghan, 37, when she stepped out for an appearance in London yesterday, pictured Meghan, who is six months pregnant, first sported the 295 forest green accessory when she joined Prince Harry in Cardiff in January last year The 'Mini Venice' by UK-based label DeMellier comes in an array of colours and can be worn in several different ways, although both Meghan and Camilla chose to carry the bag with the small loop handle. Camilla teamed the handbag with a dress of the same colour as she visited the Jewish Care's Brenner Centre in Stepney, East London, for an event to mark its 80th anniversary. DeMellier was founded by Mireia Llusia-Lindh with the goal of being 'functional and attainable, as well as socially conscious'. Camilla teamed the handbag with a dress of the same colour as she visited the Jewish Care's Brenner Centre in Stepney, East London, for an event to mark its 80th anniversary, pictured The Duchess of Sussex took a different approach to styling the piece, wearing it with a 1,350 black coat from Stella McCartney, pictured The brand funds a set of lifesaving vaccines and treatments aimed to save the life of a child in need through its charity A Bag, A Life for every bag sold. Royal style commentators noted the relatively unknown brand marked a departure for the Duchess, who typically favours more traditional labels. Some speculated this means it is more likely Camilla borrowed the accessory than bought her own. The 'Mini Venice' by UK-based label DeMellier, pictured, comes in an array of colours and can be carried in several different ways The Duchess of Sussex took a different approach to styling the piece, wearing it with a 1,350 black coat from Stella McCartney. She chose a pair of black skinny jeans from Welsh brand Hiut Denim, which provided the perfect touch of diplomatic dressing. Speaking at the time, the brand said it was a 'slight shock' to see the Duchess with one of their designs and that it is believed she purchased the piece herself. Next week, 350 Australian pupils will step through the doors of a new type of school - a school that doesn't have classrooms, exams or levels. Lindfield Learning Village located in Sydney's North Shore is the first of it's kind in Australia and this year the new facility, which cost the NSW Government $40million to build, is offering places to kids from kindergarten age through to Year 10. The 'school of the future' teaches children through project-based activities and aims to give them the skills to solve 'real world problems' This means instead of learning subjects in a single fashion, a child will learn in a collaborative way about multiple disciplines. Scroll down for video Lindfield Learning Village (pictured) located on Sydney's Upper North Shore is the first of it's kind in Australia Although there will be teachers, children will be also be mentored by others who are older than them as well as learn from mixed aged peers. There aren't assessments either - at least not in a formal sense. Principal Stephanie McConnell told the ABC pupils will be evaluated 'but perhaps not in the way we understand assessment in a traditional environment'. 'A student might choose a particular point in time when they feel they can demonstrate the learning required to meet a particular learning outcome.' Teaching at the new educational facility will happen around 'waterholes', 'campfires' and 'caves' The sprawling campus, set on the site old University of Technology site at Ku-ring-gai, has also gone without classrooms. Rather, teaching will happen around 'waterholes' which are spaces dedicated to big groups, 'campfires' - spaces for small groups working with a teacher and 'caves' - spaces for children who want to work on their own. While there is capacity for up to 2000 students, this year, only 350 students were eligible to enrol. One parent, Mario Trinco, who is sending his three daughters to the school, told the ABC the school's progressive approach is in step with technological advancements. 'Things have changed so much in the last 20 years, with social media [and] the internet - and the education system hasn't kept up.' While the ABC clip about the school and its opening was viewed by more than 32,000 people on Facebook, those leaving comments said they weren't convinced this type of educational system was a solution to current learning problems. One woman Ashleigh wrote: 'I sort of cringed while watching this. I think giving kids real life problem solving skills is great but there's so many aspects of this model that are unrealistic. 'Wouldn't this model be better if it was paired with traditional learning, particularly English and maths so they actually have the foundational knowledge to be able to solve the problems?' Children attending the school won't learn subjects in a single fashion, instead multiple disciplines will be taught in collaborative settings (stock image) Another, Kylie, questioned the school's model of progressing children by ability rather than by age and assessment. She said while this might give brighter kids a confidence boost because they'd get a chance to work on advanced projects with older kids, she wanted to know how other children might feel having to work on simpler tasks with those below their age level. 'The problem with these educational fads is that they think they have to abandon everything that is 'old' when in reality the answer is somewhere in the middle.' Assessments will also be a thing of the past at the new learning centre, although children will be evaluated under rigorous, albeit non-traditional, methods (stock image) A third, Melinda, said she thought the idea behind the school was great. However, she noted only time would tell whether the system would work well for the majority. 'I taught in a school with a similar approach/philosophy. It was beneficial for some students, but for many, it failed the students, which is why I had to leave after 2 years. 'Let's hope this new school has done their research. I hope it works well and is a great success because our current education system needs an overhaul.' A woman has opened up about how she found love on a radio matchmaking segment after years of being relentlessly bullied over her rare facial condition. Christine Brown, from New Zealand, was diagnosed with neurofibromatosis type 1 (NF1) after noticeable spots began to appear on her face at the age of five. Growing up, she was teased for her 'ugly' face, had sticks and stones thrown at her and was taunted by her kids who feared they would catch the genetic condition. But she defied her tormentors after she married the love of her life Lee, 56, and they now share three children - Janina, 31, Cohen 25, and Farrin, 18. Speaking to That's Life magazine, the mother-of-three revealed she met her husband at the age of 21 after a radio station set them up on a blind date. Christine Brown, 56, has opened up about how she found love after meeting her now husband off 33 years Lee following years of being relentlessly bullied over her rare facial condition The mother recalled being teased for her 'ugly' face, had sticks and stones thrown at her and was taunted by her classmates who feared of catching the genetic condition A young Mrs Brown was listening to the radio with her friends when they encouraged her to make the phone call during the matchmaking segment. Despite feeling insecure, Mrs Brown decided to take the plunge and told listeners over the phone about her 'facial difference' and that she enjoyed cooking. Much to her surprise, two potential dates responded. 'My first date admitted he wanted a visa marriage. But the second date, at an ice rink, became the love of my life,' she said. 'I don't care what you look like... You're beautiful to me,' Mrs Brown recalled what her now-husband of 33 years said to her when they first met. The couple tied the knot in 1992, and went on to have their three children. Her son Cohen has inherited the condition. After giving birth to her third child - daughter Farrin, Mrs Brown received a rude remark by another shopper at the supermarket. 'Are you sure you've got the right baby? She's too beautiful,' the stranger said to Mrs Brown, who fired back: 'I had an ugly one but I swapped her at the hospital.' The mother-of-three has undergone multiple surgeries to reconstruct her face over the years When she was diagnosed with the condition, Mrs Brown said the tumours started to drag down the right side of her face, eye and ear What is neurofibromatosis? Neurofibromatosis type 1 is a very common genetic condition. It affects about one in 3,000 to 5,000 people. It's caused by a genetic mutation that affects nerve tissue growth. Around half of cases are inherited from a parent and the other half occur spontaneously. It is also associated with mild learning difficulties, although most people with NF1 are otherwise healthy and live to a normal life expectancy. There is no cure, however, surgery can be performed to remove the benign growths. Advertisement The mother has undergone multiple surgeries to reconstruct her face. She had her first procedure at the age of seven, and she was undergoing an operation once a year until she was the age of 13, when the surgeries became more frequent. When she was diagnosed with the condition, Mrs Brown said the tumours started to drag down the right side of her face, eye and ear. 'I didn't know or understand the full impact of bullying until I got to school. From the age of five I was bullied right through school and it continued even after that,' she said. 'I was called names like; fat face, rock muncher, rocky, freak, ugly. I was beaten with sticks and stones were thrown at me. 'I was pushed, kicked, pinched, had poo thrown at me and I was also locked in a cupboard at school by kids and vomited on.' She added: 'I wanted to fit in, I wanted my kids to fit in, but society didn't understand. 'They never asked or were afraid to talk to me in case they "caught" what I had.' When you have a growing family to feed, the cost of groceries can be expensive. But a group of savvy Australian mothers have found a thrifty way to cut down the cost of their weekly shop by visiting their local outlet stores. Factory outlets are run by the manufacturers, who sell their products directly to the public at low prices. And families are saving thousands of dollars on their groceries every year by bulk buying items for a fraction of supermarket prices. Taking to a popular consumer Facebook group, a Queensland mother-of-four revealed she managed to buy snacks for her children, which will last them an entire school term. Showing off her massive food haul, the woman said she purchased $149.50 worth of snacks, which included milk poppers, Areoplane jelly, noodles and tinned spaghetti. Scroll down for video A group of savvy Australian mothers have found a thrifty way to cut down the cost of their weekly shop by visiting their local outlet stores A Queensland mother-of-four revealed she managed to buy $150 worth of snacks for her children, which will last them an entire school term How much did the mother save? Factory outlet prices Golden Circle poppers 24 pack - $5 Up and Go poppers 24 pack - $6 Aeroplane Jelly 24 pack - $7 Sunbites crackers 10 pack - $5 Fantastic Delites - $1 each Fortune Cup noodles 12 pack - $9 Mamee noodle snacks - $3 pack Nobby's Peanuts - $2 each Heinz Spaghetti 3 pack - $2.50 Deli Rock chips 12 pack - $7.50 Supermarket prices Golden Circle poppers 24 pack - $12.90 Up and Go poppers 12 pack - $14.60 Areoplane Jelly one pack - $1.15 Sunbites one pack - $3.50 Fantastic Delites - $2 each Maggie Cup noodles - $1.80 each Mamee Noodle Snacks - $3.15 pack Nobby's Peanuts - $3.35 each Heinz Spaghetti 3 pack - $4 Deli Rock chips - $4.49 each Advertisement The mother said she did her big shop at the Golden Circle Outlet in Queensland. 'School snacks sorted for term one. Today was the closest I've gotten to $150. I always spend less than that. All this plus more that's already down four tiny tummies came to $149.50. Please save your nutritious stories for somebody else,' she said. 'Prices change almost everyday unless it's on the fortnightly catalogue.' Besides snacks, another shopper purchased 28 kilos of meat for just $94. Another woman purchased 28 kilos of meat for just $94 - which includes chicken breasts and thighs and turkey steaks Another shopper also visited her local Golden Circle factory outlet - where she scored 30 boxes of fruit juices for just $90, which totals to just $3 per 24-pack Showing off her massive food haul, the woman said she purchased $149.50 worth of snacks, which included milk poppers, Areoplane jelly, noodles and tinned spaghetti Her shop included 12 kilos of chicken breasts, eight kilos of chicken thighs and eight kilos of turkey steaks at the Ingham's factory outlet in Brisbane. 'There is a new Ingham's factory outlet that opened a few weeks ago near me, so I decided to have a look. Well I was so shocked,' she said. '12kgs diced chicken breast, 8kgs of chicken thighs and 8kgs of turkey steaks - all for $94. If you plan to go crazy, you will have to take someone with you as you buy it by the carton and only allowed five cartons per person.' Another shopper also visited her local Golden Circle factory outlet - where she scored 30 boxes of fruit juices for just $90, which totals to just $3 per 24-pack. '30 slabs of pineapple juice (shared between 3 families) $90 the lot Golden Circle factory outlet has them at $3 a slap,' she revealed. Rachael Casella has been through more than her fair share of heartbreak. The 34-year-old from Sydney lost her first baby last year at just seven months old after she was diagnosed with Spinal Muscular Atrophy (SMA) Type 1; a devastating terminal neuromuscular disorder, at just ten weeks old. The policewoman found out before Christmas she was pregnant again - only to this week be told her unborn child will have the same fatal condition and she will have to 'medically interrupt' the pregnancy. 'I don't understand this world,' Rachael said of her heartbreaking circumstances. 'All I want to do is go to bed and not wake up until the world treats us fairly. 'Until I am pregnant with a baby I can keep. I am so sick of sharing pain, I want to share happiness and love.' Policewoman Rachael Casella (pictured) lost her seven-month-old daughter Mackenzie (pictured) to Spinal Muscular Atrophy last year Before Christmas, Rachael found out she was pregnant again - only to this week be told that her unborn child will have the same fatal condition as her sister (pictured: Mackenzie) 'I don't understand this world,' Rachael said of her circumstances. 'All I want to do is go to bed and not wake up until the world treats us fairly,' Rachael said (pictured: her scan) While there was a 75 per cent chance the Casella family would have a healthy baby girl, Rachael (pictured pregnant) was devastated to find she and Jonny fell into the 25 per cent While there was a 75 per cent chance the Casella family would have a healthy baby girl, Rachael was devastated to find she and her husband Jonny fell in to the '25 per cent chance of being affected'. 'We have a second baby girl with SMA. How?,' Rachael asked. The couple had been undergoing five separate and 'gruelling' rounds of IVF in an 'attempt to continue' their family. But they were delighted to find out in November that they were pregnant. The couple had been undergoing five separate and 'gruelling' rounds of IVF in an 'attempt to continue' their family (pictured: Mackenzie) The family found out that they were set to have another 'beautiful little girl' - who, 'like Mackenzie has SMA' (pictured: Rachael, Jonny and Mackenzie) WHAT IS SMA? * Spinal Muscular Atrophy is a rare inherited genetic muscle wasting disease that is characterised by a loss of nerve cells called motor neurons. * The affected muscles not only include the muscles you see like your arms and legs, but all your internal muscles like breathing, coughing and swallowing. * The loss of motor neurons leads to the progressive muscle weakness and wasting. * Spinal Muscular Atrophy is passed on by what is known as autosomal recessive inheritance and for an individual to be affected with SMA; they need to have inherited an altered gene from their parents. * One person in thirty-five unknowingly carries this gene. Source: SMA Australia. Advertisement 'Whilst excited, we were also terrified,' Rachael recalled. 'Given it was a natural pregnancy we knew that we would spend the first three months unsure whether we would get to keep our baby or whether they would have the same genetic condition we lost Kenzie to, Spinal Muscular Atrophy (SMA). 'We kept the pregnancy quiet as we had to process this ourselves and wait for answers. It was so hard lying...'. Last week, at 12 weeks and four days pregnant, the 34-year-old said she went to the hospital to have a CVS, which involves a needle going through a pregnant woman's stomach to obtain a sample of the placenta to test. 'Yesterday we got the results. The baby is a beautiful little girl, who like Mackenzie has SMA,' she said. 'We now face having to medically interrupt the pregnancy this week. I have to spend the next few days carrying her around knowing she will soon be gone. I don't know how to say goodbye to our baby.' 'We now face having to medically interrupt the pregnancy this week. I have to spend the next few days carrying her around knowing she will soon be gone. I don't know how to say goodbye to our baby' Rachael said (pictured: baby Mackenzie) Rachael and Jonathan said goodbye to baby Mackenzie last October, at seven months old - but not before they made a series of memories, celebrating each and every one of her seven 'monthdays' in places like the snow (pictured) On Wednesday night, Rachael experienced her last night of being pregnant 'for now'. 'Will it be the same baby in a healthier body?,' she asked. 'Will I get to meet this little one some day? Maybe our afterlife (whatever that is) will be Jonny and I surrounded by our many children.' She thanked her followers online for their love and support. 'Each month would follow a similar cycle,' Rachael previously recalled to FEMAIL (pictured while pregnant) 'We would have an appointment with her neurologist to see how she was doing, and then we'd go on a trip somewhere for a week' (pictured: Mackenzie on her seven month-day) WHAT ARE THE DIFFERENT TYPES OF SMA? * There are four types of SMA, categorised by the disease's severity and the age at which symptoms begin. * Type I, sometimes called Werdnig-Hoffmann disease, begins to affect infants from birth up to 6 months of age, with most babies showing signs of the disease by 3 months. Some develop the disorder before birth. This is the most severe form of SMA. * Type II, also called chronic infantile SMA, begins to affect children between 6 and 18 months old. This form can be moderate to more severe. * Type III, also called Kugelberg-Welander disease or juvenile spinal muscular atrophy, begins to affect kids as early as 18 months of age or as late as adolescence. This is the mildest form of SMA in children. * Type IV, is the adult form of the disorder. Most people affected by this type start having symptoms after age 35, and these symptoms slowly get worse over time. Because it develops slowly, many people with Type IV SMA don't know that they have it until years after symptoms begin. Source: Kids Health Advertisement Rachael and Jonathan said goodbye to baby Mackenzie last October, at seven months old - but not before they made a series of memories, celebrating each and every one of her seven 'monthdays' in different locations around Australia. 'Each month would follow a similar cycle,' Rachael previously recalled to FEMAIL. 'We would have an appointment with her neurologist to see how she was doing, and then we'd go on a trip somewhere for a week, before coming back to Sydney to try and live as normal a life as possible for the rest of the month.' At different points, the family of three visited Broome in Western Australia, Perisher, Tasmania, Cairns and Perth. 'We travelled to the snow and we have beautiful memories of her standing in amazement at the snow in Perisher,' Rachael said. 'She saw the snow and caught snowflakes with her tongue. It was so cute, she was trying to figure out what it was.' The proud parents also took Mackenzie to Broome where she had her first and only trip in a helicopter: 'She was so funny in the helicopter. I had her strapped to me and I just remember she looked so confused,' Rachael said. Rachael and Jonny took Mackenzie (pictured) visited Broome in Western Australia, Perisher, Tasmania, Cairns and Perth Since their little girl's heartbreaking death on October 20, after four days at the hospital in Sydney, the young couple have worked tirelessly to raise awareness of SMA and to spare other families from the agony they have endured (pictured: Mackenzie in hospital) 'We just want to raise awareness as the statistics are so scary. All people are carriers for genetic disorders, but genetic testing is only carried out on couples that have a family history of such disorders' Rachael (pictured with Mackenzie and Jonny) said SMA IN THE MEDICAL SPOTLIGHT * While there is no cure for SMA, there is a drug which helps to increase motor function. * Developed internationally, a new treatment called nusinersen is producing promising results, with 40 per cent of babies in a recent blind trial of various SMA types reaching milestones such as sitting, crawling and walking. * The drug has been trialled and is now registered and available with reimbursement provided by the Australian government. * However, the drug costs USD $125,000. Source: ABC Advertisement Since their little girl's heartbreaking death on October 20, after four days at the hospital in Sydney, the couple has worked tirelessly to raise awareness of SMA and to spare other families from the agony they have endured. 'It's strange, but campaigning for me has been hugely cathartic,' Rachael said. 'We just want to raise awareness as the statistics are so scary. All people are carriers for genetic disorders, but genetic testing is only carried out on couples that have a family history of such disorders. 'Four our of five children born with a genetic disorder have no family history at all.' Rachael highlighted Prepair's screening test as something for would-be parents to find out whether their child might be in possession of CF, FXS or SMA. Ash Treseder chose the hashtag 'happiness' to describe his perfectly executed dive off a pier in April 2018, uploading the footage to Instagram. Shortly afterward the 30-year-old posted a photo of himself and fiancee Maddi Magennis atop Tomaree Mountain near Newcastle and captioned it: 'Everyday I count my lucky stars'. Less than a year after those memories were made, Ash was flown from that very spot to Sydney's Royal North Shore hospital for emergency surgery - and told he may never walk again. 'Everyday I count my lucky stars' the 30-year-old then captioned a photo of himself and fiancee Maddi Magennis standing atop Tomaree Mountain - the same area on the NSW north coast the pier can be found The summer heat had settled into the Australian east coast on January 3, 2018 when the newly-engaged couple decided to soak up some sunshine in Shoal Bay. With Maddi, 23, relaxing on the sand, Ash made the fateful decision to swim out to the pier he had jumped off at least 20 times prior without incident. This day would be different, and with the tide lower than he'd thought, he hit the sea floor and broke his neck on impact. With Maddi, 23, (pictured) relaxing on the sand, Ash made the fateful decision to swim out to a pier he had jumped off at least 20 times prior, with no incident (pictured in New Caledonia) After some kind beachgoers helped Ash to the shoreline and dialled for emergency services, Maddi thought her husband-to-be might be concussed. But she soon learned he was paralysed 'I could hear all the kids, people swimming and laughing, and everyone on the pier,' he told The Herald. 'And all I could think was, "S***, I can't move. I can't swim. I am going to drown."' Some kind beachgoers helped Ash to the shore and rang emergency services. Maddi thought her husband-to-be might be concussed but soon learned he was paralysed. 'Ash was airlifted to Sydney, where he received emergency surgery with the aim to realign his spine,' she wrote on his Gofundme page. 'Although the surgery went well, this experience has left Ash without feeling or movement below his chest. 'Only four days since the accident Ash is breathing on his own and has gained sensation and some movement in his arms. Ash Treseder chose the hashtag 'happiness' to describe his perfectly executed dive off a beachside pier in April 2018, uploading the footage to Instagram (pictured) 'The doctors have expressed their concerns that these injuries may be permanent but with Ash's determination and his family's love we are very hopeful.' Ash, who is a disability support worker, is determined to stand at his wedding in the Hunter Valley on November 16. Despite his grim prognosis, the charismatic Newcastle man has already regained some movement in his hands, wrists and upper arms. His spine still needs another 12 weeks to settle from the shock of the accident before doctors will know what further care Ash will require - but for now the pair are preparing for a lengthy hospital stint. His spine still needs another 12 weeks to settle before doctors will know what further care Ash will require - but for now the pair are settling into a lengthy hospital stint Ash is optimistic about the remainder of the year and Maddi isn't going anywhere. 'He is one of the most kind, generous young men in this world. The love of my life,' she told the publication. 'This accident, with all of its incredible deep heartache, has given us a second chance to look at life and really truly LIVE it,' she also wrote in an Instagram caption. 'I always thought I'd feel immense pride at some stage in my life. I thought it may have been when I got my first professional contract, or actually graduating the HSC. But I never really did, until now. They are sharing their story on Gofundme as a way of raising much-needed funds for Ash's care, and later, rehab and physio So far an incredible $74,000 has been collected, with $200,000 set as the goal 'Watching us fight the roller coaster life has thrown us on makes me indescribably proud. Keep fighting. Keep hashtagging "quadriwhat". Keep loving, and being kind. 'I am so incredibly proud of you, how far we have come and how far we will go. I love you darling. Your strength is mine. This is only the beginning.' They are sharing their story on Gofundme as a way of raising much-needed funds for Ash's care, and later, rehab and physio. So far, $74,000 has been collected, with $200,000 set as the goal. 'Ash may never walk again, but not even this has managed to dampen his spirits. There are still many unknowns about Ash's road ahead,' the Gofundme reads 'It is now a painstaking waiting game to see how he fares over the coming weeks and months as he recovers from this traumatic incident,' the page reads. 'Ash may never walk again, but not even this has managed to dampen his spirits. There are still many unknowns about Ash's road ahead. 'The average first year expense for a spinal cord injury is estimated to be $500,000 and upwards of $2 million across a lifetime. 'Funds raised will be directly used for Ash's ongoing medical expenses, necessary equipment (i.e. wheelchair, electric beds, other in-home aids), home and vehicle modifications.' To support his recovery, visit Move Mountains for Ash. Beauty blogger Huda Kattan has detailed her horror experiences with lip filler as she admits to finally dissolving most of it took look more 'natural'. The 35-year-old makeup guru has amassed a fortune with her YouTube tutorials and beauty company, Huda Beauty. Since first hitting the beauty scene, Huda has been outspoken about her plastic surgery and filler. And now in a recent YouTube video, she details her experience with lip fillers and why she would not recommend the procedure. Revealed: Huda Kattan, 35, opened up to viewers on her YouTube channel about her fillers Power of makeup: After having fillers since 2009, Huda has dissolved everything in her top lip and most of what is in her bottom lip. Pictured right is the beauty blogger without lipstick Throwback: Huda, pictured prior to the procedure, got fillers in 2009 because she was insecure about the size of her lips 'The first time I ever got lip filers was in 2009, and it really wasnt popular then,' Huda, who has her own phenomenally successful beauty brand, Huda Beauty, said. Change: Huda told followers she thought altering the lips was better done with makeup, not with needles 'My curiosity about it was definitely there and I was wondering if I would look more attractive if I got lip fillers. I was feeling a bit insecure about that and I wanted to just fill them.' Huda found a doctor in Dubai to perform the procedure, but she admitted she should've done more research about it first. The doctor injected her lips four times and it resulted in large 'bulges' making her lips look asymmetrical. There was also so much filler in the lips that she was unable to press her mouth together. 'They looked really bad,' the beauty blogger admitted. 'I noticed kissing felt different.' Six months later, she visited a different doctor in an attempt to fix the botched lip job. But this just led her down a long road of trying different fillers until she ultimately discovered the procedure was ruining her lips. 'I actually think from my personal experience, lip fillers actually ruined my lips,' she said. Focused: Huda now overlines her lips instead of relying on the filler that she had for years Glow up: In the YouTube video, Huda admitted using lip filler can become 'addicting'. Pictured is Huda on her wedding day (left) and last year (right) The lip filler gave Huda's lips plumpness she didn't want. Instead, she was looking to increase the height of the lips. Longevity of the procedure is one reason Huda would not recommend others to fill their lips with hyaluronic acid or collagen. Most fillers last around six months and will then start to dissolve or move upwards. 'I personally dont know anybody thats had lip filler and kept it in their lips that it continues to look good over time,' she said. Huda decided to dissolve all of the filler in her top lip and a majority of what was in her bottom lip. This decision came about after a doctor in New York City told her the fillers were making her look 'fake' and 'older'. She now focuses on lining her lips with makeup to achieve the desired look. 'Ive noticed since I started lining my lips Im so happy with it,' she said. 'Theyre not as plumb but they look big....The reality is bigger lips do sometimes make you look more feminine and softer. 'But it doesnt necessarily mean that if you fill your lips youre going to have that appearance,' she continued. Stunning: 'I think its really important to mess around with makeup before you mess around with needles because reversing that can be really challenging,' Huda said 'It actually can be the opposite [and] make you look harsher and faker and older. So its not necessarily the right way to get bigger lips.' She advises for her followers that 'less is more' in terms of filler because of how 'addicting' the procedure can be. 'I think its really important to mess around with makeup before you mess around with needles because reversing that can be really challenging,' Huda said. It's been a busy few weeks for Huda; the beauty mogul's candid video confession came just days after she revealed that she is launching her first Huda Beauty collaboration - a range of false lashes created with Bollywood star Jacqueline Fernandez. 'OMG I am SUPER excited to announce our first EVER product collab!' she wrote on Instagram, while sharing a teaser video for the collection. 'Its with the stunning @jacquelinef143!!! How gorgeous is she?!! 'Heres a little sneak peek of our Jacqueline Lash, inspired by the beautiful Bollywood QUEEN. Jacqueline is a classic beauty, super glamorous but also so natural & we wanted to bring this to life in these lashes! Launching 29 January. Whos excited!' A personal trainer almost cut her breast implants out after they made her severely ill and contemplated suicide when doctors tried to condemned her to a mental institution because they refused to believe she was sick. Melissa George from the Gold Coast, in Queensland, is challenging many people's misconception that breast implant illness (BII) isn't a legitimate illness. The 28-year-old struggled with crippling side effects from her implants for three years, only to be laughed at by doctors. Ms George said she underwent breast augmentation due to the pressures of looking fit and beautiful as she felt validated by her looks. Personal trainer Melissa George (pictured), 28, from Gold Coast, Australia, is challenging many people's misconception that breast implant illness (BII) isn't a legitimate illness 'I felt happy and content with my body but also desired to be like other bikini models with larger breasts,' Ms George said. 'It was something I didn't hesitate to do as the sport was all about appearance on stage and I felt bigger boobs would help me. 'I was so into natural health and implants were the only toxic things I allowed into my body.' She says she struggled with crippling side effects from her implants for three years, only to be laughed at by doctors Ms George had surgery in February 2015 to have 450CC implants put in which took her from a 32A to a 32DD. Within months she became constantly fatigued, regardless of how much she slept. She also became intolerant to many foods and she was taken to hospital on several occasions complaining she couldn't breathe. Ms George suffered other symptoms which are frequently associated with BII such as body aches, inability to focus, memory loss and hair loss. However, every test came back normal, much to her dismay. She spent almost $10,000 on specialists to work out what was wrong but they only prescribed her medication to numb the effects without finding the source. With the fitness world being such an important part of Ms George's life a breast augmentation felt necessary as she was validated for her looks Within months of having the implants she became constantly fatigued regardless of how much she slept Ms George had her implants removed on December 4, 2018, and immediately felt healthier While having implants, Ms George endured vivid dreams that she was dying and would wake up in tears. Despite no tests offering an explanation, Ms George was adamant that something was taking over her body. She was hospitalised for severe anxiety five times and even almost sectioned because doctors refused to believe she was sick. Ms George said about three months after her breast augmentation she noticed nerve damage and that her breasts were the wrong size. 'I noticed health symptoms around seven months after the operation. A major symptom being the fatigue and crippling anxiety,' she said. 'My anxiety led to panic attacks. No matter what I did and how much I slept, I was always tired. Despite no tests offering an explanation Ms George was adamant that something was taking over her body 'I never felt refreshed after sleeping. I was sensitive to so many more foods than before my implants. 'I couldn't eat any form of gluten without extreme pain and bloating. 'By the third year of implants, I was in the hospital more times than I can count, unable to breathe and needing to be given oxygen. 'Every scan and test came back normal though. 'In 2018 I was diagnosed with bowel polyps which needed to be removed, and stomach ulcers which needed treating. She was hospitalised for severe anxiety five times and even almost sectioned because doctors refused to believe she was sick 'Other symptoms were constant body aches, mood swings, muscle pain and soreness which lasted for weeks after training. 'I couldn't focus, I'd lose interest quickly and forget things. I had no appetite, hair loss and brain fog.' Ms George said people would ask her why she was sick again but she said that was how she work up each morning and learned to live with it. 'Everyone would ask me why I was sick again, but that was just how I woke up each morning and to me it was normal, so I learned to live with it,' she said. 'The hardest symptom was the anxiety and depression which ruined my life. I was contemplating suicide, and as hard as that is to admit, it's the harsh truth of the illness. She said about three months after her breast augmentation she said she noticed nerve damage and that the breasts were the wrong size 'I reached a point of total psychosis and I was going insane. I felt like my body was shutting down as the weeks went by and I thought that if no one would do it for me, I would just cut them out myself. 'I had such vivid dreams that I was dying, and I would wake up crying at the thought. My brain and body were taken over by my toxic implants. 'I became scared and before I knew it, I was hospitalised with severe anxiety.' Ms George came across a Facebook group in 2018 which shared details of BII and allowed women to share their personal experiences with the debilitating illness. She immediately contacted her surgeon to find out if she could go through with an explant. Ms George had her implants removed on December 4, 2018, and immediately felt healthier. She was able to breathe clearer than she had for almost four years, and her anxiety was gone. 'Medical professionals laughed at me and told me it couldn't be my implants. I stand firm that it most definitely was and I'm living proof,' she said. 'I noticed health symptoms around seven months after the operation. A major symptom being the fatigue and crippling anxiety. My anxiety led to panic attacks,' she said 'I first considered explanting after seeing a Facebook group. I read through every woman's post and my life changed because I found hope that I could get better. 'I was fortunate that my surgeon believes in BII and he listened to my every concern. The hospital staff were amazing after my surgery, but what I did find interesting was that a lot of hospital staff had no idea what the illness was, and I was educating them on the issue. 'Some of the effects happened immediately when I woke up from surgery. I could take a deep breath again and my eyes weren't swollen or yellow in colour. 'I cried from happiness when I saw the instant changes in my face.' In 2018 Ms George came across a Facebook group which shared details of BII and allowed women to share their personal experiences with the debilitating illness Ms George immediately contacted her surgeon to find out if she could go through with an explant She said her anxiety was 'completely gone' and she is no longer had panic attacks, as was able to eat right. 'Looking back gives me goose bumps at how horrific I was feeling and how out of touch with my body I felt,' she said. 'I have always been so strong but suddenly this pain became so crippling that it led to suicidal thoughts. 'While I had implants, I became such a cold and bitter person who turned nasty. It was hard to admit that mentally I wasn't okay. 'I wasn't in control of my emotions or actions a lot of the time. I lost jobs, friends and opportunities due to my lack of interest in anything. She said her anxiety is 'completely gone' and she is no longer having panic attacks, as well as being able to eat Ms George said she wanted to raise awareness so women suffering from similar symptoms would seek help. 'Sharing my story on Instagram has helped me to feel confident and happy in my choice and within myself,' she said. 'I'm so humbled to be told I've helped girls not to make the mistake of getting implants. 'I believe all of us women who had explants are the future for this to be a medically recognised illness. 'The human body rejects anything foreign as it's the natural response but so many of us women suffer in silence because we're told it's not our implants making us sick. 'Breast size doesn't make you a better person or more of a woman. It means absolutely nothing but sadly we live in a world of vanity. 'This experience made me love myself more and my blog is there to educate others on breast implant illness.' To see more of Ms George's recovery, check out her Instagram. Shoppers have been left baffled by a pair of barely-there jeans that have appeared on fashion website Asos. The retail giant is selling a pair of black high-waisted jeggings with 'cage suspender' detail for the reduced price of 10, down from 35. While the majority of the garment resembles a simple black pair of jeans, they are cut out in the thigh, with an unusual suspender detail leaving the skin completely bare. And the bizarre design hasn't gone unnoticed by customers, with one describing them as 'the worst thing on the internet'. London blogger Abby Woolf shared an image of the jeans, and wrote: 'For anyone else playing the "worst thing on ASOS" game - put down your phones, I just won.' Blogger Abby Woolf shared an image of the 60 per cent off jeans, and wrote: 'For anyone else playing the "worst thing on ASOS" game - put down your phones, I just won'. The jeans are advertised online as 10, down from 25 Abby also shared a snap of 11 'mom jeans' with several cut outs in the leg. Asking if they were even worse than the first pair she shared. The blogger and mother-of-two added that she 'loved Asos' but the jeans were a 'no' after receiving replies for the tweets She later shared a picture of another pair of jeans, questioning if they were worse than the first. The picture showed a pair of 11 high waist slim mom jeans with several cut-outs in each leg, showing a lot of skin; Abby added that she 'loves ASOS' but hated the jeans. It comes just weeks after another customer shared pictures of the retailer's odd denim designs. Cat Mitchell from Derby shared a montage of pictures writing: 'If unnecessary holes being cut into womens clothing stresses you out (which is certainly does me), the ASOS jeans section might not be for you...' She then posted a montage of pictures of peculiar jeans from the retailer, including some with rips under the buttocks. Abby's tweets come after Cat Mitchell from Derby shared a montage of pictures saying the retailer's odd designs 'stress her out' Cat, who works in publishing, added she understands the 'ripped jeans look' but not 'under butt and thigh holes' In a second tweet she added: 'And more. I sort of get the ripped jeans look but thigh and under-butt holes? No thanks.' Reacting to the daring new trend, one Twitter user joked: 'Perfect for the school run!' Another questioned: 'Do 19 year olds actually buy this tat though? I've seen kids in all the holey jeans but jeezo,' while a third commented: 'Shivering just looking at these.' Other users said they felt 'terribly old fashioned' and that they 'couldn't cope with the drafts'. The petite bradley skinny jeans, which cost 35 (left) and the 80 per cent off extreme leg cut out jeans (right) have both been called out by shoppers The website also features several pairs of jeans with rips under the buttocks - which Cat said 'stressed her out' These black jeans were also shared by Cat, with Twitter users replying to her to joke they wouldn't be able to cope with the drafts Plus size blogger Georgina Grogan took to Twitter to accuse online retailer ASOS of using padding to advertise their curve range The unusual fashion choices comes after the retailer came under fire after a blogger pointed out that one of its 'plus size' models appeared to be wearing padding on the site. Georgina Grogan from Sheffield took to Twitter where she boasts almost 22,000 followers, to share the apparently incriminating photo, which seemed to show padding poking out from a lingerie model's briefs. Although ASOS tweeted a response to clarify the model pictured wearing their 'Ann Summers Curve Adorn lace and satin knicker' wasn't padded and stated the photo shows the model's natural body, a stream of social media users remain divided. Many Twitter users have still tweeted the online retailer asking why they didn't hire a plus size model. Every week, we send a couple out on a blind date and report back. This time, Malcolm Grenney, 75, had lunch at the Hartnoll Hotel in Bolham, near Tiverton, Devon, with Janet Hiscock, 70. Malcolm, a retired businessman, is divorced and lives in Barnstaple, Devon. Janet, a widow, lives in Sidmouth, which is also in Devon. JANET, 70, SAYS: Janet Hiscock, 70, (pictured) is a widow from Sidmouth in Devon Ive been a widow for eight years and have been on every single dating site going. Ive mostly found that men my age are not really up to much and are a bit staid. Im fit and feel young for my age, dress fashionably and live an active life. Im young at heart and most of my friends are ten years younger so I did worry about Malcolms age, but, as soon as I saw him, I knew we would have a great time. Malcolms really attractive he doesnt look 75 at all and was dressed in a really lovely jacket with a red trim. When I complimented him on it, he opened it to show the bright lining. And hed bought new shoes especially for the date, which I thought was sweet. His reaction to me was also encouraging. As soon as he saw me, he said: Wow, Ive hit the jackpot. He told he hed been expecting a little old lady with a perm and said I looked 58, not 70! So I think we both exceeded each others expectations. The date went from good to even better. First, we went to the bar for a drink and, from the word go, we belly-laughed and chatted about everything. We have the same starsign Leo and had so much more in common, too. Malcolm has had such an interesting career, but he also asked me about my life. We both have busy families. I have two daughters, a stepson and six grandchildren. Malcolm has three daughters, eight grandchildren and three great-grandchildren. It felt as if wed known each other for ever Were so alike. He would say something and Id have said the same thing and, at several points, we were laughing so hard all the other diners were looking at us! The restaurant was lovely and the staff were fantastic, too. During the date, Malcolm ended up taking my hand across the table and we stayed like that for the rest of our time together. There was definitely flirting, with lots of eye contact and smiling, and it felt as if we had known each other for ever. In fact, we didnt want to leave and weve already agreed to meet again. Neither of us wants to live with someone again or get married we just want a relationship that adds value to our existing lives. Is it too late to spark chemistry? It is never too late for fireworks to spark, says our Dating Doctor ALANA KIRK . . . Chemistry doesnt have an expiry date. A connection can happen when you least expect it and there may be poor dates before you hit the jackpot. Work out how you want a relationship to fit into your life so that you can be honest and clear from the outset. Advertisement For example, were both sun-worshippers and Malcolm often goes to France to stay with friends, so I told him Id go with him next time. We swapped phone numbers and he walked me to my car we both have white ones and gave me a kiss on the lips. I drove off with a massive smile on my face. When I got home, I phoned him to say thank you and weve been texting ever since. The date was fantastic. Im really looking forward to seeing him again. LIKED? Everything! Hes very attractive and he treated me like a lady. REGRETS? None. COFFEE OR CAB? Coffee. VERDICT: 9/10 MALCOLM, 75, SAYS: Malcolm Grenney, 75, (pictured) is a retired businessman from Barnstaple, Devon When Janet walked through the door, I thought: This cant be her, she looks far too young! She is a lovely looking woman and I was really taken aback and thrilled to discover it was her. We decided to have a glass of wine and a chat before the meal and never stopped talking from then on. We hit it off immediately and things only got better. We talked about ourselves, our history, what we like and what we dislike. It might sound like Im being over the top, but with every topic we tackled, we discovered we had something in common. It just felt so good. We didnt stop laughing and enjoying ourselves. In fact, we were talking so much during the meal, I ended up not eating much and had to make sure the waiter knew I had loved the food really. After the meal, we went and sat in the lounge to have more coffee. By this stage, we were holding hands. We certainly will see each other again. Janet made me laugh by telling me shed come to France with me. She loves antiques and boot sales and so do I, and, in France, where I lived for a few years, every town has at least one a month they are amazing. So she immediately asked: Right, when are we going? While chatting in the lounge, I suddenly looked up and saw it was dark it was 5.30pm! We walked out to the car park holding hands and had a lovely goodbye kiss. We got home almost at the same time and she called me and we carried on chatting. What a marvellous date! I had nearly written off meeting someone again. I was married for 48 years and got divorced nine years ago. Ive had one other relationship since then, but have been on my own for about two years. I tried online dating but, to be frank, I found it really difficult and only lasted about a month. Either the women my age were looking for younger men or the ones I did meet were not how they had portrayed themselves. Janet lives two hours from me and Ill happily drive over to her, or we can meet in Exeter. Ive travelled a lot with my various careers. I spent 12 years in the Royal Navy and worked as a Russian linguist on submarines in the Cold War. Then I did ten years in the police before working as a chemical sales director. After running my own business, I sold up and moved to France for seven years. We had a lovely goodbye kiss Now, I have a busy retirement and just want to meet an attractive, educated, amusing lady with whom to share the good things in life. I believe Im caring, charismatic, easy-going and sensual, though sometimes obstinate, and I act and look younger than my age but I had reached an acceptance that the romantic side of my life was over. So I am over the moon to have met Janet. I know it is very early days, but the date was more than I thought was possible. The Daily Mail did us proud. likeD? Shes beautiful, friendly and warm, with a great sense of humour. An instant hit. REGRETS? That we didnt have another two hours together. COFFEE OR CAB? Coffee. VERDICT: 11/10 If flights are cheaper, they travel Thursday night and work from hotel on Friday They have been to everywhere from Spain, Switzerland and Germany to Bali A husband and wife who have nine-to-five jobs in IT have travelled to over 40 countries in two years - and insist their jet-setting lifestyle is achievable for anyone. Sangam Bhandari and his wife Shikha Neupane, both 28, from Dartford, Kent each earn around 50K a year and have a mortgage to pay, but jet off to another country almost every single weekend at a cost of 1,500 a month. Shikha who works for Transport For London, and Sangam who has a job at an IT consultancy company, have explored over 40 countries in the past two years alone, and say you can do the same too - even if you're on a budget. Sangam says the key to enjoying frequent travel is to plan ahead to get the best deals; cut back on luxuries such as the latest phones, and keep an eye on what you're spending during the working week. 'Add the cost of breakfast, coffee, snacks, some after-work dinner and drinks, it can quickly add up,' he said. He added that if you count the cost of what you'd spend on food and socialising on a typical weekend at home, it's not that different to what you'd spend abroad. 'If you plan well in advance some of the European destinations can be explored for a weekend for less than 200 for two,' he said. The IT professionals, work 9am-5pm during weekdays but sometimes jet off on a Thursday evening to take advantage of cheaper flights and then work remotely from their hotel room on the Friday. Sangam Bhandari, who works for Transport For London and Shikha Neupane, who has a job at an IT consultancy company, have been to over 40 countries in just two years. They visited Lago di Braies in Italy (above) on 28th August 2017 With every new place the adventurous duo visit, they share a powerful post to their 40000 Instagram followers. Above, the pair pose in Hallstatt, Austria on 31st March 2018 The married couple, who are originally from Nepal, have even been named as one of the top five Asian couple travel bloggers. They visited the Rila Monastery, Bulgaria in December 2018 'While travelling is certainly not cheap, there are tricks and trips for reducing the cost,' said Sangam. 'A big part of it is planning and organisation. 'Another important consideration is living like a local and avoiding expensive tourist traps. Using cards with no foreign exchange fee on purchase and withdrawals certainly helps.' One of the cheapest weekends they've had to date was a trip to Barcelona - which cost 100 for the flights, hotel and food. But the pair, who each earn a salary of around 50K, typically spend 300 on weekends away, a total of 1,200 to 1500 a month, plus more for long-haul trips during the year. 'Weekend destinations are cheapest,' explained Sangam. 'The key is booking in advance. Shikha has booked all of our trips up until June 2019. We haven't got any weekends free at all.' The pair, who both work in IT, say one of the best things about their job is the flexible working. Sangam said: 'If you've got a laptop and internet connection you can work from anywhere in the world.' Above, in North Slovakia on 3rd April 2018 Sangam advises that European breaks are cheapest. The married couple once went to Barcelona for a weekend for just 100 each. Above, pictured in Paris, France on 10th December 2017 They also manage to save money on flights by occasionally jetting off on a Thursday after work, as they're lucky enough to have flexibility in their jobs. 'If there's a cheaper flight or hotel we will travel on Thursdays and then work from our hotel,' Sangam said. 'That's one of the greatest things about being in a flexible workplace. If you've got a laptop and internet connection you can work from anywhere in the world.' But for those whose careers don't offer such luxuries as flexible working, the keen traveller insists not all is lost. Sangam and Shikha's 40 countries in two years 1 Destinations around the UK 2 Andorra 3 Austria 4 Belgium 5 Bulgaria 6 Croatia 7 Cyprus 8 Czech Republic 9 Denmark 10 France 11 Germany 12 Greece 13 Hungary 14 Iceland 15 Italy 16 Liechtenstein 17 Luxembourg 18 Malta 19 Monaco 20 Netherlands 21 Norway 22 Poland 23 Portugal 24 Romania 25 San Marino 26 Slovakia 27 Slovenia 28 Spain 29 Sweden 30 Switzerland 31 Vatican City 32 India 33 Indonesia 34 Malaysia 35 Nepal 36 Singapore 37 Thailand 38 Vietnam 39 USA 40 Australia Advertisement 'For 90 percent of our trips, we fly Friday evening after work from a London airport,' explained Sangam. 'Then we come back Sunday evening or even Monday morning and go directly to work. 'It can definitely be done. It's not easy and you get tired, but if that passion keeps fuelling you, anything is possible.' The travel bloggers, who are originally from Nepal, started sharing their adventures on their Instagram accounts @fourhappyfeet back in December 2016 and since then they have amassed almost 40,000 followers. They have even been named among the top five Asian couple travel bloggers in 2018. The couple, who have been together for nine years, often fly on a Friday and return Sunday evening or early Monday morning - and then head straight to work. Above, Sangam posed in Puglia, Italy on 3rd August 2018 Up until two years ago, Sangam had only been to Australia once. He said: 'Being from Nepal and not coming from an affluent family, my parents didn't have the resources to take me on holidays.' Above, pictured in Grindelwald and Lauterbrunnen Switzerland on 20th August 2017 But travelling hasn't always been a normal way of life for the pair who have been together for nine years. 'Being from Nepal and not coming from an affluent family, my parents didn't have the resources to take me on holidays,' explained Sangam. How to plan your travels Plan ahead to get the best deals and book in advance for cheap flights Use loyalty points for discounts on hotels and flights Ask if you can 'work from home' on a Friday to take advantage of cheaper Thursday flights Fly back early Monday morning before work, as opposed to a more expensive Sunday flight Cut out spending on eating out and luxuries like the latest phone Use your usual weekend budget for socialising to pay for meals out when you're abroad Advertisement 'I'd only been to Australia once and hadn't travelled anywhere else at all. Our first trip together was two years ago to the Czech Republic in Prague and it was amazing.' The keen Instagrammers emphasise the importance of managing your finances - and say that some sacrifices need to be paid if you wish to replicate a lifestyle like theirs. 'We're fortunate we have jobs that pay us sort of well,' said the experienced traveller. 'But you must prioritise. We don't go to fancy restaurants or on dinner dates very often, as we do that when we travel. 'We like to see new things and that's our dinner date. We have cut out a few things like technology and the need to have the latest Iphone.' He added: 'We also pay for some of the hotels we stay in using our credit card points. Planning in advance can save you a lot of money. It can be cheaper than your commute to work.' In addition to their weekends away, they also take several long-haul holidays each year. 'We go on three of four long-haul holidays but most of them are us utilising the holidays we get from work. We also centre it around bank holidays to make it longer,' explained Sangam. 'In February we're going to the Philippines and the Maldives, which have been the top destinations on our bucket list for a long time. We're really excited.' Sangam felt on top of the world as he visit one of the canary Island's Gran Canaria on 28th January 2017 with his wife Instead of spending money on going to fancy restaurants, the couple class their weekend breaks as their 'dinner dates.' Above, pictured in Berlin, Germany on 22nd September 2018 The keen Instagrammers emphasise the importance of managing your finances - and say that some sacrifices need to be paid if you wish to replicate a lifestyle like theirs. They visited Switzerland (above) in January 19th 2019 He added: 'We're also planning to go back to Nepal in October as my parents are still back home, and Shikha really wants to go to Bora Bora. Tanzania and Japan are also on my bucket list.' The couple are so passionate about travelling they spend hours replying to the hundreds of messages they receive on their Instagram account - with the majority of people keen to know how they can live a similar lifestyle. 'Our advice to anyone is follow your dreams and passions,' said Sangam. 'It's not an easy lifestyle. We spend hours planning and organising things on social media responding to comments and messages, but it just makes us really happy.' The most memorable place the duo have ever been to is Indonesia and Bali, but they also loved the time they spent in Stockholm, Sweden on 15th September 2018 Sangam and Shikha braved the weather conditions in Iceland back on 24th December 2018 and had a memorable weekend trip away A prize-winning Parisian-based author is set to cause shockwaves on a global scale as her racy first novel - about a sexually insatiable journalist - hits UK shelves for the first time. Leila Slimani, 37, shot to global fame with her chilling 2016 psychological thriller Lullaby - loosely based on the 2012 Krim murders in New York - but her latest tome to land in Britain is set to leave readers reeling with its x-rated clandestine affairs. In Adele, the central protagonist is a successful journalist in Paris living with her surgeon husband and their young son. Bored by the mundanities of family life she gives in to her all-consuming sexual desires stating that she wants to be 'devoured, sucked, swallowed whole'. Set to cause shockwaves: A debut novel, Adele, by French-Moroccan literary darling Leila Slimani (pictured the 44th Deauville US Film Festival in France, September 2018) contains graphic depictions of sex and masturbation Author Slimani (pictured in Paris in 2018) shot to global fame with her chilling 2016 book Lullaby - loosely based on the 2012 murders of the Krim siblings in New York. Latest book, Adele, sees her insatiable central character pursuing a string of clandestine affairs The book has finally been unleashed across the Channel, with Slimani summing it up as challenging the idea that women are sluts and men are conquistadors Slimani is a French-Moroccan publishing sensation - dubbed a 'literary celebrity' by fashion bible Vogue but her 2014 work is likely to leave those who read it with their eyes wide open. There are intensely graphic scenes that depict her frequent masturbation and how she searches for seemingly short-lived fulfillment via a string of lovers. Explaining the premise of Adele this week, former journalist Slimani told The Times: 'For a lot of people, a man who has lots of sexual partners is a hunter, a conquistador, like a man is supposed to be. 'For a woman, it's different she is considered a slut, or weak. I wanted to challenge that idea.' The book that made her a household name, Lullaby, sold 600,000 copies in France in its first year alone, and has subsequently been translated into 40 languages. It saw her crowned the most read author in France in 2016, scooping the prestigious Prix Goncourt literary prize - only the 12th woman to be awarded the accolade in 113 years - and allowing her banker husband, Antoine, to become a stay-at-home father. Her second book, Sex and Lies, aimed to unveil the sexual desires of Islamic women who have a 'thirst' to speak out about their sexuality. Drawing on her experience of Islam as well as the stories of other Arab women, Slimani - who grew up in Rabat in the heart of the deeply religious Morocco - claimed that millions of Arabs are living in 'sexual misery'. In her role a representative for French-speaking nations, Leila Slimani has worked alongside current French president Mr Macron Glitterati: Slimani (pictured at the Elysee in November 2017) was the most read author in France in 2016, scooping the prestigious Prix Goncourt literary prize that year Mother-of-two Leila Slimani pictured at the Cesar Film Awards in Paris, March 2018 (left) and at a film festival in August 2018 (right). Her second book, Sex and Lies, aimed to unveil the sexual desires of Islamic women who have a 'thirst' to speak out about their sexuality Slimani at the Cesar Film Awards in Paris, February 2017. The book that made her a household name, Lullaby, sold 600,000 copies in France in its first year alone Friends in high places: Leila Slimani in November 2017, after being appointed as President Macron's Francophone affairs representative. The married mother-of-two famously rejected Macron's offer of becoming his culture minister, dismissing the role as 'boring' Leila Slimani (at Le Drouant restaurant in Paris after winning France's Goncourt literary prize Goncourt literary prize in Paris, November 2016). Her newfound fame regularly sees her being begged for selfies in the supermarket, she told British Vogue this week Author Leila Slimani (pictured in Paris, March 2017) regularly rubs shoulders with the Macrons, and remains the toast of the literary world having appeared on the cover of glossy magazines The book, which is accompanied by a graphic novel exploring an Arab woman's sexual awakening, explores her native country's ban on abortion, homosexuality and sex before marriage. The married mother-of-two famously rejected President Macron's offer of becoming his culture minister - a post she has dismissed as 'boring' - but instead acts as his Francophone affairs representative. As well as regularly rubbing shoulders with the Macrons, she remains the toast of the literary world and has appeared on the covers of glossy magazines including ELLE. Speaking about her newfound fame which regularly sees her being begged for selfies, she told British Vogue: 'At the beginning it was very weird, but people are very nice. 'Sometimes you're in the supermarket and you don't want to speak about Islam or feminism, you just want to buy the diapers for the baby and go home.' A new BBC3 documentary aims to show the realities of life in Saudi Arabia for young women. The show's female reporter, who aimed to investigate whether the country was becoming increasingly liberal actually found herself forced to stay indoors after she flouted local laws. Fashion stylist Basma Khalifa, 29, was born in Saudi Arabia but raised in Northern Ireland and now lives and works in London. The film, Inside the Real Saudi Arabia, Why I had to Leave, sees Basma, who was born to Sudanese parents, travelling to Jeddah, dubbed Saudi Arabia's most 'liberal' city to stay with three of her aunts as she's determined to experience life in the country she left as a young child. The country has undergone increasing social change in recent years under reforms brought in by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman which includes a new right for women to drive cars, better divorce rights for females and a more relaxed approach to entertainment including an increasing number of music and film venues. Other recent reforms in the kingdom include women being allowed to attend football matches and work in jobs traditionally reserved for men. Scroll down for video Fashion stylist Basma Khalifa, 29, was born in Saudi Arabia but raised in Northern Ireland and now lives and works in London. For BBC3 documentary Inside the Real Saudi Arabia, Why I had to Leave, Basma returns to Jeddah to stay with her three aunts...but quickly finds herself flauting the strict laws A photo of Basima with her mother during her brief time in Saudi as a child; she wonders whether she might one day return to the country for good but after her time in Jeddah, she says 'I just want to go home' to England However, the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi has put Saudi's dubious record on human rights back in the spotlight. Turkish officials suspect Saudi security agents killed Khashoggi, 59, inside the consulate and dismembered his body on October 2nd last year. Basma's visit to the country coincides with Khashoggi's murder making headlines across the globe but she arrives in Jeddah to find no mention of the story and her family unaware of it. Upon touching down in the city, Basma has an emotional reunion with her family members and admits that she had worried that she would feel unsafe but says 'so far I feel nothing but safe here'. Her time in the country sees her partying til the early hours at a secret bash, praying to Mecca and even looking for potential boyfriends on 'Jeddah Tinder'. The tension for Basima begins when she visits a shopping centre without an abaya headscarf. Her aunt tells her the city is increasingly liberal she finds herself chastised by the fixer who is helping her make the programme He tells them that while their are other women in the shopping cente with their heads bare, they should have been more respectful of the country's cultural traditions Who knew? Basima finds herself invited to a party where she stays until the early hours However, despite immersing herself in local culture, living in her birth place proves difficult as she struggles to conform with the country's strict laws - and eventually inflames authorities so much she's asked to stay indoors for the remainder of her trip. The problems begin when she takes off her abaya headscarf in a shopping mall after seeing other women walking around with their heads bare. However, her decision makes her aunt uncomfortable and her fears are confounded when the documentary's 'fixers' tell Basma and her director, Jess, to cover up, forcing Basma to spend 50 on an abaya. After purchasing an abaya for 50, her aunt ties it around her head. During filming she notices that any women they see try and protect themselves from being filmed, although many admit to frequently showing their faces on social media, because their families won't see it Basmia even considers sampling Jeddah Tinder after scrolling through profiles of local men on her Google Pixel 3 she could arrange to meet in the city Joining her aunt to pray to Mecca, Basima admits that she wouldn't take time away from her job at home in the UK to pray There are surprises though, Basima finds herself invited to a party where she stays until the early hours although she admits that most of the women stay covered up with some wearing skimpy clothing over their floor length garments. Her stay becomes less fun when she decides to hire a car - women have been allowed to drive in Saudi since June 2018. Fear: After mentioning the name of a prominent female activist who fought for the right of women to drive, Basima's experience turns sour and she's asked not to go out of her aunt's house for the rest of her trip The 29-year-old is told in no uncertain terms that she's offended authorities by mentioning sensitive issues including the murder of Jamal Khashoggi in Turkey After mentioning one of the key activists who fought for a women's right to get behind the wheel, Loujain Al-Hathloul, she is told off by her government fixer, who demands that she should stay indoors at her aunt's house for the rest of her trip. Basma is overheard talking about Loujain Al-Hathloul, one of nine women held after a brutal crackdown on activism in the country last May - a month before the driving ban for women was lifted. At the time of her arrest, Al-Hathloul and her fellow campaigners were bidding to use the lifting of the driving ban as a springboard for further reforms such as ending Saudi Arabia's restrictive male guardianship system and allowing more freedom of speech. After a tense conversation with a government fixer, Basma is told that she shouldn't be mentioning such 'sensitive' issues while in Jeddah and her trip ends with her effectively incarcerated in her aunts' house. The quest for women's rights in the country has garnered increasing global attention in recent years. Last week, Saudi teenager Rahaf Mohammed al-Qunun, 18, found herself in the media spotlight after she refused to return home from Thailand to Saudi Arabia after fleeing her family. Granted asylum in Canada, the teenager has been posting regular updates of her new life there on social media. Gemma Free has spoken out against Huggies nappies after she claimed her daughter was left with third-degree chemical burns (pictured) A mother-of-two claims her daughter suffered third-degree chemical burns after wearing a Huggies nappy. Gemma Free, from Barnsley in the UK, said she put her daughter, Sophia, in a fresh Huggies DryNites pull-up nappy at 10.30pm on a night in January, 2018. When she went to get Sophia, then three, ready for kindergarten eight hours later, Ms Free said her daughter's skin where the nappy had been was red and got 'worse by the minute'. Ms Free is speaking out after a 23-month-old toddler from Randwick in Sydney was left in severe pain earlier this month after his Huggies nappy exploded over night leaving dangerous gelatine crystals on his chest. Huggies has denied any fault in their products and said they were safe after a 'comprehensive investigation'. The 32-year-old from Barnsley in the UK, said she put her daughter Sophia in a fresh Huggies DryNites pull-up nappy at 10.30pm Ms Free rushed her daughter to the doctor that morning and was told Sophia had suffered from third-degree chemical burns. She alleges 'from where the marks were, as you can see from the photos, they were most likely from the pull-up'. 'Sophia was in a lot of pain as her skin was falling off. She had to have four days off of nursery as she had to be naked because she couldn't bear the touch of anything on her skin,' the 32-year-old told Daily Mail Australia. Sophia, now four, has been left with faint scarring from the incident. Ms Free had used Huggies nappies on both of her children for three months without issue before the burns incident occurred. 'We had to stop using pull-ups or any sort of nappy all together as I wouldn't trust putting one on her again and she wouldn't let me near her with one,' she said. When she went to get her child ready for nursery more than eight hours later Ms Free said where the nappy had been was red and just got 'worse by the minute'. Pictured Ms Free and Sophia Ms Free said her daughter had to immediately learn how to be dry throughout the night. 'The horror of seeing my little girl suffer like she did will be with me forever,' she said. Ms Free said she contacted Huggies after the incident but was left less than impressed with their response. 'We got in touch with Huggies who offered us vouchers and basically fobbed us off time and time again,' she said, adding they 'won't take any responsibility for it'. Ms Free and her husband have set up a support group on Facebook for people who have seen their child suffer through something similar. They rushed her to the doctors that morning, where they told her that Sophia had suffered from third-degree chemical burns. Ms Free alleges 'from where the marks were as you can see from the photos most likely from the pull-up' 'It's alarming how many children have suffered due to there products,' she said. 'I just want more people aware of what can happen with these products, they should have been removed from the shelves.' However Kimberley-Clark, Huggies' parent company, said they are satisfied that their DryNites did not cause Sophia's chemical burns. 'Taking any concerns around product safety extremely seriously, we conducted a comprehensive investigation into this UK case when it was brought to our attention in January 2018,' a spokesperson said. 'This investigation found no evidence of any issues with the DryNites pants, from manufacture to delivery.' The company's investigation into what happened included pinpointing when the nappy was made to ensure that the operation was running to specification at that time. They also hired an independent laboratory which found that solvent that can be found in household toiletries leaked over and into this particular packaging. They hired a dermatologist to analyse the child and they allegedly concluded it was highly unlikely that a 'normal nappy' caused this. 'As a responsible manufacturer, we have taken all the necessary measures to fully investigate this claim and are satisfied that the DryNites pants themselves did not cause this reaction,' the spokesperson said. It's a question that has been hotly debated and contested for years - who should pay on the first date? Though it was traditionally considered right for the man to pay up when he took a lady out, nowadays, many women expect to pay their fair share. But some still see the first date as a chance to be wooed by a man, and that was no different for one half of a First Dates couple in the show's Valentine's special. At the end of what had been a pleasant date, the pair look at the bill while waitress Laura waits with the card machine After Steve admits that the bill is too much for him to pay alone, she looks down, wondering what he is going to ask her Laura is left standing by as she waits for Elaine's response to his statement about the bill, but then scoots off to leave them to it Elaine looks less than impressed by Steve's confession that he won't be paying all the bill alone Elaine and Steve were matched by Cupid's arrow for an extra romantic episode of the Channel 4 dating show. The night was going fairly well, until it came to paying for the meal. Steve checked out the bill while Laura waited with the card machine, but as he realised the courses had racked up more than he had, he asked her to come back while he chatted it over with Elaine. Laura rushes over to colleague Cici and declares the incident 'awk-ward' which many on social media agreed with Steve braves the awkward tensions and says 'are we going Dutch', which shocks Elaine Eventually she digs out her purse and passes him some cash, but when she checks if it's enough, he asks her to 'stick another ten quid in' Steve shows her the bill and says: 'I don't have that.' As Laura leaves, he asks his date: 'So, we going Dutch?' Elaine was unable to hide the shock at his question, but digs out her purse and offers him some cash. She asks: 'Is that enough or do you want more?' Steve tots up what she's given him as she shakes her head, and then says: 'Put another ten quid in.' Many viewers of the dating show thought Steve's request for an extra 10 was the 'rude' or strange part of the bill discussion Rachel said it was romantic for one person to pay all the bill on a first date, and splitting it made her sad Steve complained that he had been on several dates where the woman didn't even buy a drink all evening People were incredibly divided on the matter, with some saying the nature of the first date and the Valentine's special should have meant he paid up But some thought Elaine was cocky to assume she wouldn't have to put anything towards the bill for the night While Laura found the situation 'awk-ward', viewers were divided about who was right and who was wrong. For some, it was clear Elaine should not have expected to have been paid for, but others thought it was ungentlemanly for Steve not to cover the whole bill. Commenting on Facebook, Katie Piper said: 'I'm sorry but why on earth is it awkward? She should have offered to pay her half! We are equals, Men do not have to pay our way! That's got nothing to do with manners!' Donna thought it was only right for the woman to pay half, and said it was what she would do on a first date too Charlotte agreed, and said she couldn't believe someone would decide whether or not to go out on a second date based on splitting the bill Lisa Yates-Laughton said: 'I wouldn't mind going half on a first date...it's the awkward way he went about it that was off putting!' James Robertshaw said: 'Why is splitting the bill so bad? It's a first date, they may never see each other again.' Ali Moore pointed out that Steve had told Elaine he was still working in the music industry, and as she was retired, might have assumed he had more money to pay the bill at the end of the night. On Twitter, viewers were split as well, with some like Donna and Charlotte keen to embrace the modern way of splitting the bill. But Rachel disagreed, and even said splitting the bill made her sad, because it was unromantic. One thing is decided though - there will not be a second date for these singletons. As March 29 looms ever closer, here in Germany, rabid, anti-British sentiment is part of the daily discourse. The chattering classes politicians and pundits alike are urging our Chancellor, Angela Merkel, to harden her line towards the United Kingdom after suggestions that she was prepared to throw Theresa May a lifeline. Indeed last week, Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer, Merkels successor-in-waiting, led calls for Britain to scrap Brexit completely. Germans are far from alone in this attitude. In the wake of the momentous Commons defeat for your Prime Ministers Brexit strategy, the European Commission twisted the thumbscrews still further. In the wake of the momentous Commons defeat for your Prime Ministers Brexit strategy, the European Commission twisted the thumbscrews still further. Michel Barnier, the EUs chief Brexit negotiator, suggested it was time for the UK to abandon its red lines over ending freedom of movement and the jurisdiction of the European Court of Justice Michel Barnier, the EUs chief Brexit negotiator, suggested it was time for the UK to abandon its red lines over ending freedom of movement and the jurisdiction of the European Court of Justice. Yet these issues have been unshakable stipulations for the British since the beginning of talks. To casually propose dumping them in this way was insulting to your country. The French president, Emmanuel Macron, was, regrettably, similarly dismissive when he said that Brexit was a British problem and one it would have to solve on its own. Such blinkered and sour responses are, in my view, wrong-headed. They ignore the great debt that Germany, and the whole Continent, owes our friends across the Channel. The French president, Emmanuel Macron, was, regrettably, similarly dismissive when he said that Brexit was a British problem and one it would have to solve on its own However much we in Europe regret your decision to leave our Community, we must always remember that, throughout your history, independence and sovereignty have been paramount. Germany in particular should tread lightly when it comes to dealing with your proud nation. It was Great Britain that first stood up to Hitler in 1939. And it was Britain that opened its doors to the thousands of Jewish refugees fleeing certain death during the Holocaust. Put simply, there would be no free Europe without you and the bloody sacrifice you made to rescue the Continent. This plain fact has not always been a popular one, of course. The truth is that there has been a long tradition of policies aimed at excluding the British Isles from Europe, most notably those of French president, Charles De Gaulle. owever much we in Europe regret your decision to leave our Community, we must always remember that, throughout your history, independence and sovereignty have been paramount. Germany in particular should tread lightly when it comes to dealing with your proud nation After the war, inspired by dreams of the medieval empire that stretched across the Continent under Charlemagne, De Gaulle poured his energy into setting up the European Economic Community the forerunner of the EU. But when Britain inquired about membership in the early Sixties, his answer was an emphatic Non! Thanks to De Gaulles opposition, it took more than a decade for the UK to be accepted. And the driving force for unity, for welcoming British membership with open arms, was the German chancellor of the Sixties, Konrad Adenauer. For that, ultimately, we can thank the Queen. As has happened so often during more than six decades on the throne, Elizabeth IIs diplomatic skills and remarkable personality swung the course of world politics. As has happened so often during more than six decades on the throne, Elizabeth IIs diplomatic skills and remarkable personality swung the course of world politics In 1965, she and Prince Philip made a whirlwind tour through Germany, captivating my country. There were endless days of balls and sightseeing, and a boat trip on the Rhine. Adenauer was swept off his feet. Though he was, like De Gaulle, a staunch Catholic who had initially shared the Frenchmans grand vision, he quickly came to realise that Europe needed Britain precisely because we are all so different. Europe has never been a bland, homogenous entity a United States of Euroland. On the contrary, it is a thrilling patchwork made up of vibrantly different nations with all kinds of funny quirks. We needed Britain 80 years ago and we need you now. And because we should honour the result of your referendum, we must be happy to take you on your own terms. If that means a form of semi-membership with full sovereignty, so be it. Instead of torturing the worlds oldest democracy with unacceptable demands, our Chancellor Frau Merkel and the European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker should unite in calling for new talks, renegotiating face to face if need be There has been much talk of the problem of the Irish backstop but for Europe, Britain is the real backstop. Without you, power in Europe will tend to gravitate ever more to the centre which will ultimately risk implosion. European politics today seems to be full of De Gaulles, shaking their fists at Britain as you try to leave the EU. What is needed is another statesman such as Adenauer a man or woman to stand up to the bureaucratic machine of Brussels, who will take on the Barniers, the Junckers and the Tusks. We need someone who can remind us of our bounden duty and enable the UK to leave without punishing it. A real statesman would rekindle Adenauers historic vision of the EU, as a federation of states and not some kind of bloated super-state a confederation, that does not neglect the historic peculiarities of its members. None of this is impossible. Even the staunchest Brexiteers, such as Boris Johnson, realise the value of keeping one foot in the strong economic zone that the Continent represents. If only European leaders would take a step back and acquiesce to London on this smallest of adjustments over the Irish backstop, it would take the wind out of the hardline Brexiteers sails and enable a stable cross-Channel relationship for the future. In many ways the problem is one of historical ignorance. What we Germans and especially EU bureaucrats dont appreciate is the delicate political situation in Northern Ireland, and the sensitivities involved on both sides. We know little of the tragic legacy of The Troubles, the deaths of so many, including British soldiers, and the hard won peace after 30 years. More people in the British Isles were killed by the IRA than by Isis and Al-Qaeda combined. That statistic ought to make all of us in Europe rethink our position on the question of the Irish backstop. We have to be more flexible, more forgiving. Instead of torturing the worlds oldest democracy with unacceptable demands, our Chancellor Frau Merkel and the European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker should unite in calling for new talks, renegotiating face to face if need be. Theresa May has been gravely weakened but it is unconscionable for European leaders to use this as a stick to beat her with. They should remember the great German strategist Otto von Bismarck who, in the 19th century, insisted that one should always win but never humiliate ones opponents. The best victory is the magnanimous one. Another adage worth recalling now is that of the German philosopher Theodor Adorno who remarked that while the British epitomise style, the Germans represent substance. Style and substance ... theres much truth in that metaphor. Seen from that perspective, its imperative that Brexit is achieved with a degree of aplomb and decorum. At this crucial moment, Europe must concede enough to let the UK leave with head held high and do it in style. If, instead, our leaders continue to treat the British people with contempt, we will wreck those great ties between our countries that have been painstakingly created over many generations. Our societies have always thrived on mutual respect and admiration. We are brothers and sisters ... and this family squabble has gone too far. It is time for Chancellor Merkel to show other European leaders the way and for them all to start treating your country as it deserves with our respect and gratitude. The number of trips is expected to increase by 0.6 per cent. Lunar New Year sees the biggest mass exodus in the world. This year, facial recognition technology will be in place for the first time. Beijing (AsiaNews/Agencies) In what is the largest mass migration in the world, hundreds of millions of Chinese will travel on trains, planes, cars, and even on foot to mark the Lunar New Year under the sign of the Pig. This years celebration will last approximately 40 days, from 21 January to 1 March. As people travel to their native towns and villages to celebrate the New Year with friends and relatives, many will encounter problems, from crowded trains and buses to delays in buying tickets online. Officially Chinese New Year begins on 5 February. Some 2.99 billion trips are expected over this period, up 0.6 per cent from 2018. On the railway network, 4,787 train trips are expected before the festival and 4,860 after 5.4 per cent and 5.2 per cent more than last year, respectively. The Civil Aviation Administration of China has scheduled 532,000 flights during those 40 days, 10 per cent more than the previous Lunar New Year rush. A total of 73 million plane trips are expected to be taken in the period, up 12 per cent from 2018. This year travelling will be different. For one, during this Spring Festival travel season, several high-speed railway routes will be put to the test for the first time. These include the Jiangzhan Railway and the Kunchu Railway, which opened in July 2018, and the Guangzhou-Shenzhen-Hong Kong high-speed service and the Hajia Railway, which opened in September 2018. This will also be the first Lunar New Year period since China began applying its social credit system to flights and trains. Since 1 May, the authorities have been using hi-tech systems such as robot guides, facial recognition and virtual reality navigation to monitor travellers. In his first meeting in Panama, Francis said that the presence of so many young people who came to celebrate World Youth Day will make Panama a place of hope and commitment to a more humane world. Politicians should lead a life consonant with the dignity and authority that they possess and that has been entrusted to them. Panama (AsiaNews) Pope Francis made his first speech in Panama, in Panama Citys Bolivar Palace, before the countrys authorities, members of civil society groups and the diplomatic corps. In his address, he noted that the presence of so many young people who came to celebrate the 34th World Youth Day will make the country a place of hope and commitment to build a more humane world, capable of overcoming the belief that the future is based on competitiveness, greed, speculation, and the law of the strongest. The Holy Father, who arrived in late afternoon yesterday, began his visit to the country with a formal tete-a-tete with the Panamanian President, Juan Carlos Varela Rodriguez (pictured). The private talk between Francis and Mr Varela was preceded by greeting by both men from the balcony of the presidential palace. This was followed by a meeting with the presidents family and the exchange of gifts. The Pope, accompanied by the President and his wife, travelled by car to the Bolivar Palace to meet with the authorities. Here, addressing the approximately 700 people present, Francis said, I begin my pilgrimage in this historical precinct where Simon Bolivar, who stated that if the world had to choose its capital, the Isthmus of Panama would be marked out for this great destiny, convoked the leaders of his time to forge the dream of the unification of the Great Fatherland. A convocation that helps us realize that our peoples are able to create, to forge and, above all, to dream of a great fatherland that can include, respect and embrace the multicultural richness of each people and culture. Taking up this inspiration, we can look upon Panama as a land of convocation and of dreams. Describing Panama as A bridge between oceans and a natural land of encounter, and the narrowest country of the entire American continent, the pope called it the symbol of the sustainability born of the ability to create bonds and alliances. This capacity shapes the heart of the Panamanian people. Addressing all those who exercise roles of leadership in public life, Francis urged them to lead a life consonant with the dignity and authority that they possess and that has been entrusted to them. They call upon them to live in simplicity and transparency, with a clear sense of responsibility for others and for our world. To lead a life that demonstrates that public service is a synonym of honesty and justice, and opposed to all forms of corruption. Young people demand a commitment in which all beginning with those of us who call ourselves Christians have the audacity to build an authentically human politics (Gaudium et Spes, 73) that makes the person the centre and heart of everything. A politics that works to build a culture of greater transparency between governments, the private sector and the entire population. Another world is possible! We know this and young people urge us to take our part in building it, so that our dreams do not remain ephemeral or ethereal, but can promote a social contract in which everyone has the chance to dream of a tomorrow. The right to the future is also a human right. Todays schedule includes a meeting with Central American bishops, and the Welcome ceremony and opening of WYD at Campo Santa Maria la Antigua Cinta Costera at 5.30 pm local time (10.30 pm GMT). Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, January 24) After failing to appear in previous congressional hearings, Davao-based businessman Dennis Uy finally made it to the third public hearing on the country's third telecommunications player. Uy is president of Udenna Corporation, one of the firms in the Mislatel Consortium (Mislatel) which was named the country's third telco player in November 2018. Uy assured lawmakers and the public that Mislatel did not violate any laws in the transaction. "We want to assure the committee and the public na walang nilabag na anong rules ang Mislatel, at gagawin namin ang lahat para protektahan ang interes at seguridad ng Pilipinas," he said. [Translation: We want to assure the committee and the public that Mislatel did not violate any rules and we will do everything to protect national interest and security.] General Rodolfo Santiago, head of Mislatel's technical team, added that the firm was in close coordination with the Department of Information and Communications Technology and the Armed Forces to address national security concerns over the inclusion of China Telecommunications Corporation (China Telecom), which is state-owned, in Mislatel Consortium. The two other firms in the group are Chelsea Logistics Holdings, and the Mindanao Islamic Telephone Company. "I fully complied with the PSE (Philippine Stock Exchange's) very stringent standards on public disclosure. My companies operate under the highest standards of accountability," Uy said. The businessman also assured that he understood why the deal was being placed under close scrutiny. "Matagal na tayong naghintay para sa isang world-class at affordable telecommunications provider. Kung kaya't lubos naming nauunawaan kung bakit ito ay sinusuri nang mabuti," he said. [Translation: We have long waited for a world-class and affordable telecommunications provider. That's why we understand why it is being scrutinized.] The news was released today by the Supreme Court. The judges responsible for assessing the petition are the same as those who considered the Christian woman "innocent". Asia is located in Islamabad, in a place of maximum security. Islamabad (AsiaNews / Agencies) - The Pakistani Supreme Court has set a hearing date for the petition to review the acquittal of Asia Bibi, reports the national newspaper Dawn. The case of the Christian mother, condemned to death for blasphemy in 2009, acquitted at the end of October but without the possibility of leaving Pakistan, occupied the headlines for weeks. So many ordinary people, activists and international political leaders came to her defense. Recently, even 500 Islamic imams have signed a declaration stating that the Asia Bibi case must be resolved with the utmost urgency. The court also announced the composition of the court charged with assessing the petition presented by Qari Muhammad Salaam. President Asif Saeed Khosa will preside over a jury composed of him, Qazi Faez Isa and Mazhar Alam Khan Miankhel. These are the same three judges who have already considered Asia Bibi "not guilty". Asia Bibi was sentenced to death on 7 November 2010 by a Punjab court. She had been arrested for contempt of the Prophet Muhammad in June of the previous year, after an argument with some of her colleagues in which she defended her religion. She was tortured, abused and suffers from senile dementia because of her years on death row in the Multan penitentiary, despite being just 48 years old. In October 2018 the supreme court judges exonerated her of the charges against her, and have since faced death threats. In the following days the Islamic radicals of the Tehreek-i-Labbaik Pakistan (Tlp) party set the country on fire and contested her acquittal. To prevent the escalation of violence, the government of Imran Khan came to terms with the demonstrators and granted the revision of the verdict of the supreme judges. In October, the Christian woman was released but cannot leave the country on the basis of an agreement with Islamic radicals. From that moment she lives in Islamabad in a place of maximum security, escorted and protected. Of her family, only her husband could re-embrace her, unlike her four daughters. Anyone in the past who has shown solidarity and closeness to the Pakistani woman has been persecuted by death threats or killed by the radicals. Among the best-known examples of those threatened, Asia Bibi's lawyer who found refuge in the Netherlands; in the second group, that of those who were murdered, the former Muslim governor of the Punjab Salman Taseer and the former Catholic minister for minorities Shahbaz Bhatti. Sign up for the new Go Outdoors PA newsletter nletter The shipment of 200,000 doses of anti-flu drug has been held up. Since last September, US humanitarian workers are not allowed to treat North Korean patients. For Fr Gerard Hammond, "The situation is sad and disappointing. The missionary now has hopes for the second Kim-Trump summit. Seoul (AsiaNews) The meticulous application of sanctions against North Korea is causing delays in inter-Korean humanitarian exchanges. This includes South Koreas plan to send anti-flu medicine Tamiflu across the border. A shipment has been held up for weeks reportedly because of concern that the means of delivery, the cargo trucks, might be subject to sanctions. In December, South Korea announced a plan to ship 200,000 doses of Tamiflu to North Korea, but the delivery (initially scheduled for 11 January) has been put off for unclear reasons. South Koreas Unification Ministry, which said it needed more time to prepare, has not explained what is hindering the delivery. Local media report that Seoul and Washington are discussing how to proceed, even though the vehicles are supposed to return to South Korea after unloading the drugs. "The situation is sad and disappointing," said Fr Gerard Hammond (pictured), regional superior of the Maryknoll missionaries in Korea, speaking to AsiaNews. The 85-year-old priest is a member of the Eugene Bell Foundation (EBF), a Christian NGO that has been involved for years in helping some 2,000 tuberculosis patients in North Korea. "Maryknoll missionaries arrived in Korea in 1923 and our bond with this land is very strong Fr Hammond explained. For the past 20 years, I have travelled to the North more than 50 times. At the moment we feel powerless because these people are so close but we cannot help them." "Since I have a US passport, I still dont know whether I will be able to join the EBF delegation, which will visit North Korea between late April and early May. "Because of last Septembers sanctions, the US State Department has not yet issued a second passport to any US citizen. This seriously affects our work: we can send medicines but we cannot take care of new patients. "Only a small group of workers, not from the United States, can take care of the sick. People with multiple-drug resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB) need 18 months and three visits to treat the disease. "Hopefully, after the second summit between Kim Jong-un and Donald J. Trump, the situation may change. Seoul continues to play the role of mediator between the two parties and has shown great overture to the North. Peace, reconciliation and dialogue are essential to create an atmosphere of trust in the Korean peninsula." STORY LINK Pound US Dollar (GBP/USD) Exchange Rate Slips as Pressure Mounts on Brexit ?Plan B? Ahead of Vote GBP/USD Exchange Rate Drops as Brexit Tensions Mount on Plan B after Barnier Warning US Dollar (USD) Pound Exchange Rate Rises despite Pelosi Cancelling Trumps Address during Shutdown GBP/USD Outlook: Brexit and US Government Shutdown in Spotlight Like this piece? Please share with your friends and colleagues: The Pound US Dollar (GBP/USD) exchange rate is down today and is currently trading around $1.3046 on the inter-bank market.The Pound (GBP) failed to make any gains on the US Dollar (USD) with the absence of any notable UK data releases to provide uplift for Sterling amid continuing Brexit volatility.Increasing pressure on Prime Minister Theresa May over her Plan B and the House of Commons has come from Michel Barnier, the Chief Brexit Negotiator for the EU, who said that the two Brexit options were Mays deal or a no-deal dampening some traders appetite for Sterling.The Pound was also left unmoved by comments from Conservative Brexiteer Jacob Rees-Mogg who said he would support Theresa Mays deal.Rees-Mogg said:I think there is hope that there could be reformation of this deal to make it more acceptable.The US Dollar, meanwhile, has gained on the Pound today despite the on-going partial government shutdown nearing the end of its fifth week.Tensions between the House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and President Donald Trump are increasing, as Pelosi denied Trumps use of the House Chamber for his State of the Union speech yesterday, lowering USD sentiment.Trump tweeted:As the Shutdown was going on, Nancy Pelosi asked me to give the State of the Union Address. I agreed. She then changed her mind because of the Shutdown, suggesting a later date. This is her prerogative - I will do the Address when the Shutdown is over.Today will see the publication of a raft of US data stats, with the most significant being the US PMI figures for January which are expected to decrease, potentially limiting some of the Greenbacks gains on the Pound.The US continuing jobless claims figures for January are expected to decrease, which could provide some support.A US Senate vote on the continuing government shutdown is due to take place today, although hopes are slim that they will end the impasse leaving many US investors remaining cautious.Sterling investors will be paying close attention to Brexit developments this week, and with no significant UK data releases to lend support to the Pound for the rest of the week, any signs of Theresa Mays Plan B struggling to gain Parliamentary approval ahead of next weeks vote could see the Pound slide further against the Greenback.USD investors will also be focusing on any signs of an end to the US government shutdown this week, and although a compromise is seemingly increasingly unlikely, any further signs of a concession between the White House and the House of Representatives could ease some pressure on the Greenback.Friday, meanwhile, will see the publication of the UK BBA mortgage approvals figures for December, with any signs of an increase potentially offering a little support for GBP.The GBP/USD exchange rate will more likely be driven by political forces this week, with the US government shutdown and the on-going Brexit uncertainty dominating both currencies, however with any signs of the Brexit deadlock coming to an end ahead of next week, this could provide the Pound with some additional support. International Money Transfer? Ask our resident FX expert a money transfer question or try John's new, free, no-obligation personal service! ,where he helps every step of the way, ensuring you get the best exchange rates on your currency requirements. TAGS: Currency Predictions Daily Currency Updates Buddhist sect Jingak Order has become embroiled in a sexual misconduct allegation, amid the #MeToo campaign, which swept the nation around this time last year, showing signs of rekindling after some athletes broke their silence. According to a local media report, two women who have been working with a social welfare foundation run by the Buddhist sect claimed they had been sexually harassed by the eldest son of the Jingak Order leader Chong-in. They filed a complaint against the man known only by his surname Kim, 40, in December, according to Hankyoreh daily newspaper. The investigation into the case is underway. Kim took the helm as marketing manager of Jingak Social Welfare Foundation in August 2013, which made him the second-highest position of the sect. One of the victims claimed Kim groped her twice at a karaoke bar in fall in 2015 after the entire staff of Jingak Social Welfare Foundation had dinner. He touched and groped the woman and his first attempt to sexually harass her was brief as one of the coworkers intervened and stopped him. But Kim tried it again and touched her bum and thigh. According to the victim Kim was not drunk at that time. His sexual harassment recurred in 2017 again and this time it was more explicit. The other victim claimed Kim touched her cheek and hugged her against her will in winter in 2017. Kim denied the allegations. In an interview with Hankyoreh, Kim said he didn't know the victims and had never sexually harassed them. Due to his high-profile father who is the leader of the Buddhist sect, he said he had paid extra attention not to cause any trouble and always tried to keep a low profile. Jingak Order is the nation's third largest Buddhist order, following Jogye and Chuntae Orders. Unlike other Buddhist sects, monks of Jingak are allowed to marry and have children. Monks are also allowed to grow their hair. The sect has an estimated 700,000 believers nationwide. Inside the Buddhist sect, Kim had been called "Jingak Prince" for his family bond. He is known to have exerted a great deal of influence inside the order. The sexual harassment allegations had not affected his position inside the sect. According to the victims, no internal investigation had been made despite the allegations. The Buddhist sect has been mired in a sexual harassment case about a year after the #MeToo movement spread to religious groups around this time last year. A Catholic priest, who then belonged to Catholic Diocese of Suwon, faced allegations that he had attempted sexual assaults in 2010 when he was serving in South Sudan. The Suwon Diocese made public apology after the case was made public. A former pastor was sentenced to a six-year jail term for sexually assaulting children. A Buddhist monk was also accused of having sexually assaulting women at a temple in South Gyeongsang Province. According to a media report, some 680 religious leaders were involved in sexual misconduct for the past six years. Those who are familiar with the survey said the actual figure could be much higher than that. FLDS leader served with lawsuit papers in Minnesota Fox News/January 22, 2019 By Ben Winslow A leader in the Utah-based Fundamentalist LDS Church has been served with papers as part of a high-profile sex abuse lawsuit. Cell phone video provided to FOX 13 on Monday shows Seth Jeffs being served with papers by Alan Mortensen, an attorney who represents a woman named R.H. Shes filed a lawsuit against Jeffs, his brother, imprisoned FLDS Church leader Warren Jeffs, and the church itself, among others, alleging ritualistic sex abuse. It clearly appears that theyve gone from a centralized location to having smaller groups in various locations across South Dakota, North Dakota, Colorado and Minnesota and who knows where else, Mortensen said. As FOX 13 first reported in 2017, R.H. alleges that as an 8-year-old girl, she was repeatedly taken from her home with a bag over her head, driven to an unknown location and then sexually abused. Warren Jeffs is currently serving a life sentence in Texas for child sex abuse related to underage marriages. Mortensen said Seth Jeffs had purchased a property in Minnesota recently, which could be subject to a judgment in another lawsuit he has against the FLDS Church. Elissa Wall, a former child bride, won a $16 million judgment in her lawsuit over her marriage at age 14 to her cousin. (Warren Jeffs was convicted of rape as an accomplice in that case, but the Utah Supreme Court later overturned it.) Seth Jeffs was found in default in the R.H. lawsuit after he failed to respond to the litigation, but Mortensen said it wasnt so easy to collect there. We dont have a liquidated judgment for R.H., he said. We will take steps to find other properties. As a result of litigation and court-ordered reforms in the polygamous border towns of Hildale, Utah, and Colorado City, Ariz., the FLDS Church has scattered itself across the United States. The faiths first-ever temple site in Eldorado, Texas, was later seized by the state after a series of sex abuse prosecutions. To see more documents/articles regarding this group/organization/subject click here. Frances data privacy regulator, The National Data Protection Commission, fined U.S. tech giant Google 50 million ($57 million), the initial CNIL penalty under the EUs General Data Protection Regulation. CNIL said it fined Google for lack of transparency, inadequate information and lack of valid consent regarding advertising personalization for users. Its one of the heftiest enforcement actions since the GDPR came into play in May 2018. The GDPR rules are aimed at protecting the harvesting of personal data by companies, which must use plain language to explain their actions. The regulatory body claims that Google failed to obey GDPR when new Android users set up a new phone and followed Androids onboarding process. The commission responding to complaints by two data protection advocacy groups, None of Your Business and La Quadrature du Net, filed immediately after GDPR took effect. In the two complaints, the associations censured Google for not having a valid legal basis to process the personal data of the its users, particularly for ads personalization purposes. by Mathias Hariyadi Basuki Tjahaja Purnama granted early release of three months and 15 days. On May 9, 2017, he was sentenced to two years in prison at the end of a controversial trial. For the moment "will avoid public exposure". Jakarta (AsiaNews) - Former governor of Jakarta, Chinese ethnic Christian Basuki "Ahok" Tjahaja Purnama, is free again after serving almost two years for blasphemy in the national police prison at Kelapa Dua, Depok regency (West Java) Waiting for him outside the prison walls this morning was his eldest son Nicholas Sean, while supporters and sympathizers welcomed the progressive politician's invitation to keep a low profile. Basuki Tjahaja Purnama, who in recent days has expressed a desire to no longer be called with the Chinese nickname that accompanied him throughout his political career, has received a reduced sentence of three months and 15 days. Commenting on his upcoming release, President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo yesterday stated that "from now on, it will be up to him to reorganize his future life". Widodo was a political ally of Purnama, his deputy during his tenure as governor of the capital that preceded the presidency of the Republic. Purnama was the first Protestant Christian to play the strategic role of governor of Jakarta, following in the footsteps of Catholic Henk Ngantung, governor in 1964-1965. In the eyes of his supporters, he is not only a "fighter for democracy", but also a reference model for every public official serving the population. In his two years as governor, he brought about radical changes that improved the quality of life in the Indonesian capital: new bus systems, river cleaning, fight against corruption and green areas. On 9 May 2017, Ahok was found guilty and sentenced to two years in prison for defaming Islam at the end of a controversial trial. His trial profoundly rocked civil society, feeding divisions in the public opinion of the most populous Islamic country in the world. According to his son, Purnama for the moment "will avoid public exposure". Its representatives state that the former governor is considering launching a talk show and managing family interests in the energy sector. STAMFORD - The citys report card for the last fiscal year is in. There is much to applaud. Stamfords economy grew along with the nations, and faster than the economies of other Connecticut cities, according to the 2018 Comprehensive Annual Financial Report. Municipalities must publish the state-mandated, audited financial statements within six months of the June 30 end of each fiscal year. During fiscal 2017-18, Stamfords unemployment rate was 3.4 percent markedly lower than the states 4.5 percent and the nations 4.2 percent, the report states. The city has a large labor force, estimated at 70,341 workers, which was 594 more than the previous year. This outpaces the growth seen in other major cities such as Hartford, New Haven and Bridgeport, which have experienced a decline in their respective labor forces over the same period of time, the report states. Despite an uneven retail economy nationwide, the vacancy rate for retail space in Stamford was low - an estimated 5 percent to 7 percent, according to the report. The Grand List, the value of all taxable property in the city, was about $19.7 billion, or nearly 0.9 percent more than the previous year, and the city collected 99 percent of all taxes owed. Stamford is the largest international trade center between New York and Boston, the report says, and Connecticuts largest business center. It is home to leading employers in industries that include banking, insurance, reinsurance, office equipment, pharmaceuticals, consumer products, digital media, information technology, and retail. The city has a thriving restaurant scene, with more than 300 counted in the report. In the South End, where the 82-acre Harbor Point development is under construction, more than 2,600 apartments have been built or approved, according to the report, with 1,400 more units planned. Standard & Poors rated the citys debt level low, and Fitch Ratings considered it manageable, according to the report. Since the report was filed, however, mold was discovered in multiple school buildings. Officials now estimate that removing the mold and repairing the buildings to prevent water intrusion will require doubling the citys debt limit for the coming fiscal year, and probably for the one after that. Early estimates peg the cost at more than $60 million. The report shows that last years hotel vacancy rate, 72 percent, was about on par with the industry. The most troubling statistic is the citys vacancy rate for office buildings, explained in a line from the report: The high market costs of commercial real estate in Manhattan and nearby Greenwich, and the overall cost of doing business in metropolitan New York, are making relocation of businesses to Stamford comparatively more affordable and appealing. Despite that, the office space vacancy rate in Stamford is currently approximately 28.4 percent. Its likely closer to 30 percent, said Jim Fagan, senior managing director with Cushman & Wakefield, a commercial real estate services provider with a Stamford office. Its the highest in the country, Fagan said. Its worrisome to a point where the best buildings are doing just OK, and the worst buildings have a real problem. There are several reasons for it, he said. One is technology. Stamford used to be a market of financial traders, Fagan said. The big trading floors at what used to be UBS and RBS have been transformed into little black boxes in somebodys server room computers doing what is called algorithmic trading. Commercial vacancy rates have everything to do with jobs, he said. It takes five people to fill 1,000 square feet of office space, so if a building has 100,000 square feet, thats 500 jobs, Fagan said. There are about 7 million square feet of office space in Stamfords central business district so, using the 28 percent vacancy rate, about 2 million square feet are vacant. It would take 10,000 employees to fill all that space. You would need 10,000 jobs, Fagan said. So you need companies making big moves here. Stamford, and Connecticut, are good places to do business, he said, but, I think the state has to do more to turn itself into a place where CEOs believe they can attract and retain talent. The hottest business destinations in the country are those with colleges and universities, Fagan said. Austin, Texas, has the University of Texas. Palo Alto, California, has Stanford University. Boston and New York have universities that attract people interested in TAMI technology, advertising, media, and information, he said. The University of Connecticuts downtown Stamford campus is fine, Fagan said. But its a fraction of the size it should be. We have to multiply that UConn presence by 10. All the new apartment units in Stamford are a boon to business, he said. CEOs will say you have to have something that will get the best and the brightest to come to a place. Thats why the apartments are so vital, Fagan said. Without them, Stamford would be in sad shape. Apartments are why Stamford is on pace to become the second-most populous city in the state, after Bridgeport. The report says the city at last count had 130,824 residents, up 10,800 from nine years ago. The median age is holding steady at 38. The report contains other noteworthy city facts. The median household income last year was $87, 316, the same as the previous year, but a little less than it was in 2016. Stamfords biggest employer is Stamford. The city and school system last year employed 3,292 full-timers. That was 92 more than the second-place Stamford Hospital and its affiliates. The Stamford Town Center mall was third with 1,850 employees, followed by Gartner Group with 1,250 workers, and Charter Communications with 1,000. Last year, the Stamford Police Department answered 133,627 calls, or 366 a day. Officers issued 6,307 traffic citations, or 17 a day, and 389 of them were for speeding. It means about one motorist a day was cited for speeding. The fire department answered 5,427 fire calls, about 15 a day, but handled more rescues - 5,889. The citys biggest taxpayer, by far, is developer Building & Land Technology, followed by RFR Properties, which handles office buildings, and GAIA Acquisitions, which handles apartments. To read the full 2018 Comprehensive Annual Financial Report, visit www.stamfordct.gov, place the cursor over Our City and click on Annual Reports & Budgets. acarella@stamfordadvocate.com; 203-964-2296. BRIDGEPORT A popular city restaurant is accused of contributing to a veteran Bridgeport cop allegedly driving drunk and crashing head-on into a young Monroe woman. Employees of Vazzys Pasta & Pizza, of Broadridge Avenue, continued to serve alcohol to Officer John Carrano even though he was visibly intoxicated, according to a lawsuit filed in Superior Court on behalf of the injured woman, Elizabeth Bucci. The suit is filed under the states Dram Shop Act, which states that a bar or restaurant that sells or gives alcohol to an intoxicated person may be held liable if the intoxicated person then causes injury to another. (Vazzys) disregarded their own policies and procedures regarding service of alcohol to intoxicated persons by serving John Carrano when he displayed obvious signs and symptoms of intoxication, the lawsuit states. Buccis lawyer did not return calls for comment. Vazzys lawyer, Kelly Petter, said she couldnt comment on pending litigation. On the evening of Dec. 22, 2017, Carrano, a member of the departments SWAT team, was attending a holiday party of city police officers at Vazzys. Shortly after midnight, the 34-year-old Carrano, contending that he was fine to drive home, got into his car, according to Stratford police. Police said another city officer, apparently concerned about Carranos driving ability, agreed to follow Carrano home in his own car. Police said Carrano drove onto Broadridge Avenue into Stratford going the wrong way and crashed head-on into a car driven by the 19-year-old Bucci. Both drivers had to be extricated from their cars. Bucci, the granddaughter of former mayor Thomas Bucci, suffered a broken right wrist and fractures of her right ankle that required surgery, as well as knee and shoulder injuries, police said. Carrano suffered only minor injuries. The plaintiff sustained considerable pain and suffering, which injuries may be permanent in nature, the suit states. Stratford police said Carrano denied drinking and even being in a crash. However, police said he had a blood/alcohol level of .25 more than three times the legal limit. Carrano, who is currently on administrative duty, was charged with second-degree assault with a motor vehicle, operating under the influence, driving the wrong way and failure to drive right. His case is pending in Superior Court in Milford. His lawyer, James Ruane, declined comment on the lawsuit. Would you like a faster ride on Metro-North? Who wouldnt? How about a 30-minute ride from Hartford to New Haven, from New Haven to Stamford or from Stamford to Grand Central? Thats the vision announced by Gov. Ned Lamont in his inaugural address. Its known as the 30-30-30 plan and sounds good compared to current running times (52 minutes, 55 minutes and 48 minutes, respectively). But how can such vast improvements be done? Ask Joe McGee, vice president of the Fairfield Business Council whos been pitching this idea for years. McGee was so confident of this concept that his council recently paid $400,000 to Ty Lin Consulting of San Francisco to study it. And which railroad expert did Ty Lin hire to spearhead the study? Joseph Giulietti, former president of Metro-North who was recently named Connecticuts new transportation commissioner. Although Ty Lins study has not been released, McGee admits the 30-30-30 idea is more of a goal than a possibility. Yet, for as little as $75 million to $95 million, Ty Lin thinks significant improvements can be made to speed up service by accelerating Metro-Norths return to a state of good repair. While president of Metro-North, Giulietti said it would take five years to get the railroad back in shape after years of neglect. Metro-North now says a more realistic time frame is 10 years. McGee claims service will improve quickly shaving 24 minutes off the current 103-minute ride from New Haven to Grand Central by fixing rail ties and overhead power lines to improve speeds on curves, restoring the fourth track east of Milford and adding express trains (at a premium fare). That would make it a 79-minute run, but not 60. But wait. If this was Giuliettis idea as a consultant, why didnt he make it happen when he was running Metro-North? Or how will he now, as commissioner of the state DOT, get his old railroad to adopt Ty Lins ideas? I asked, but he isnt saying. Seasoned professionals at the DOT have told me the Ty Lin ideas will cost billions of dollars and take a decade. In other words, theres no quick, cheap fix. Meantime, Metro-North is planning to add six to 10 minutes of running time to all New Haven line trains for the spring timetable to better reflect the reality of delays due to work. For 2018, the railroad had an on-time performance of just 88 percent. By extending the train schedule on paper, OTP will go up and riders will have a more dependable, albeit slower, ride. Lengthening running times, even on paper, is not acceptable, said McGee, who hopes to release his Ty Lin study in about two weeks. He fully expects significant pushback from the railroad and East Coast consultants beholden to the MTA. But its really the Federal Railroad Administration that has been the biggest hurdle to speeding up the trains. The FRA has required slower speeds after the 2013 Bridgeport and Spuyten Duyvil derailments. Those limits will not be increased until the FRA is convinced the railroad is safe. So let the debate begin: Is 30-30-30 possible or just a fantasy? Did Giulietti create his own nightmare by proposing as a consultant what he may not be able to deliver as DOT commissioner? Jim Cameron is a longtime Connecticut commuter advocate. Contact him at CommuterAction Group@gmail.com MONROE The wooden play structure at Wolfe Park doesnt come with instructions. There are no rules, other than those governing safety. There is no right or wrong way to enjoy it. It doesnt tell you how to play with it, said Dan Keene, chairman of the Monroe Playground Foundation. Its a playground, but it could be anything. It could be a boat or rocket ship. It can be whatever you want it to be. The playground, called Kids Kreation, was built in 1992. It was completely funded by community fundraising and built by community members. Now, more than 25 years after it was built, the playground is showing signs of wear. Its still safe to play on, Keene said, but it is clearly on its way out. The big thing is the boards and the nails (used to build the structure) are no longer up to snuff, he said. Though improvements have been made to the playground, Keene said constant updates over time would add up financially and, eventually, it was considered more economically feasible to tear down the whole thing and rebuild it. Enter the Monroe Playground Foundation, a not-for-profit organization formed last year by Monroe residents interested in taking down most of the existing structure and putting up a new one. Its something that kids still enjoy, but not something we felt was worthy of the kids any more, said Mike Ganino, treasurer of the Monroe Playground Foundation. Keene said the new playground would be made from a kind of manufactured wood, which has a lifespan of 50 to 60 years. The only piece of the current play structure that would remain is a wooden pirate ship near the rear of the playground, dubbed the S.S. Pulliam, in honor of Alice Pulliam, who helped spearhead the original Kids Kreation. The plan is to move the ship to a place of honor near the entrance of the new playground. In November, the town hosted a Design Day, during which the lead designer from Leather and Associates, the design firm the playground foundation hired, met with students at the towns three elementary schools to seek ideas for the new playground. The planned new playground will include a lot of the elements of the current one, including slides, swings and the like, but there will be an increased emphasis on accessibility, said Theresa Oleyar, co-chairwoman of the Monroe Playground Foundation. For instance, the new playground would include a wheelchair-accessible merry-go-round and an obstacle course geared toward children who might have sensory issues, as well as other inclusive features. Our design aims to be accessible to people of all abilities, Oleyar said. As with the current playground, the rebuild would be paid for via fundraising and the new structure would be made by community volunteers. The project is estimated to cost between $350,000 and $400,000. So far, about $50,000 has been raised, through such efforts as a Snowball Gala, which took place in December at The Waterview in Monroe. Now that a design concept is in place, the next step is to create a components list of whats needed for the project, and to step up fundraising efforts. Ganino said the target date to complete the project is spring of 2020. Creating a new, better playground is crucial, because the Kids Kreation means a lot to so many people. Its a major focal point in Wolfe Park, Keene said. Oleyar agreed. She said one of the reasons she moved to Monroe in 2005 is the playground, which is and will continue to be open to all families, even those who dont live in Monroe. We used to come to the playground before we even moved to Monroe, she said. I think this is a very special part of the community. Those who are interested in donating to the Kids Kreation rebuild project, or wish to volunteer to help rebuild it can visit the Monroe Playground Foundation web site, https://www.monroeplaygroundfoundation.org. Members of the youth wing of the Shiv Sena attacked the Holy Cross High School for girls in Kolhapur, vandalising classes and offices in front of pupils and teachers. The police arrested two people, whilst the school was closed. For John Dayal, the incident is part of the run up to the general elections. Kolhapur (AsiaNews) Members of the Yuva Sena, the youth wing of the Shiv Sena, a hard-line Hindu party, vandalised a Catholic school in Kolhapur, Maharashtra. The Holy Cross High School for girls, in Nagala Park, is run by Holy Cross Sisters. The school principal reports that the pupils who, along with the teachers were witnesses to the attack, are in a state of shock. The vandalism is shocking in itself but is also indicative of the more strident confrontation that fundamentalist groups plan for religious minorities in the run up to the general elections, said John Dayal, general secretary of the All India Christian Council. The attack by the youth wing of the Shiv Sena, which is an ally of the ruling BJP, is a matter of grave concern, he told AsiaNews. The incident took place on Tuesday around 1.30 pm (local time), during class time. School principal Sr Bharati told Indian Catholic Matters that about 20 activists forced their way into the school shouting slogans against the school management. They ransacked the office, breaking windows and damaging religious items, including the cross and the statue of Our Lady. "They complained about the fees and started abusing me and the staff, Sr Bharati said. When I asked them to stay calm and offered to discuss the issue peacefully, they started breaking the office furniture and the glass windows." In the evening a complaint was filed with the police. Kolhapur Superintendent of Police Abhinav Deshmukh said that two people were arrested whilst another 18 are on the run. The police also deployed some agents to protect the school, which is closed for now. Ours is a school for girls, Sr Bharati explained. The attack was so sudden and heinous, that the students from the lower classes were trembling with fear and are still in the state of shock. It was a traumatic situation and we could do nothing except watch the act of vandalism. The girls parents issued a statement condemning the attack and defending the nuns. Mgr Thomas Dabre, archbishop of Pune, did the same. I am sorry and saddened to learn about the attack, he said. We are always open for discussion on any matters and issues; therefore, there was no need for such an aggressive reaction on the part of the assailants. This is not the way to settle the issues in a civilised society. Church-run institutions are intended to serve people, especially the poor and marginalised. The Holy Cross High School is not the first Catholic educational facility to end up in the crosshairs of Hindu radicals. With a nationalist government ruling the country, several Christian schools have been attacked in recent years. The most striking case occurred in January 2018 at the Catholic college in Vidisha, Madhya Pradesh, where extremists tried to forcibly celebrate a Hindu ritual in honour of "Mother India". Dayal notes that There is an incident a day, on an average, across India against clergy, institutions or churches of the Christian community, apart from the continuing targeting of Muslims, the largest pf the countrys religious minorities. For the Catholic activist, This is part of the design to polarise the people, and to whip up passions which these groups hope will get votes for the ruling political coalitions. Unfortunately, The studied silence of state governments, the impunity shown by the police and civil authorities and the impunity enjoyed by these groups create a vicious environment. This certainly is not good for the health of democracy in India. Facebook / Contributed photo Dont expect comedian Bob Marley to get into politics in his set, or mean-spirited and angry material either when he performs at Foxwoods Fox Theater Friday and Saturday, Feb. 1 and 2. Instead, the veteran comic takes a much lighter approach to getting laughs. Im dry, sarcastic, Irish Catholic. I talk about my family and living in New England, Marley recently told rutlandherald.com. Thats kind of the wheelhouse Im in. Mean stuff doesnt work for me. As an Iowa judge strikes down a law banning abortions after a fetal heartbeat can be detected, Ohios new governor shares that he will absolutely sign a similar bill into effect in his state. Reportedly, a fetal heartbeat can be detected as early as six weeks into a pregnancy, so, when the law was passed last year in Iowa, Planned Parenthood and the Emma Goldman Clinic challenged the abortion restriction, preventing it from taking effect last July. Upon review, Iowa Judge Michael Huppert shot down the law claiming that it violates the states constitution. Fox News reports that Huppert said, that the law worked contrary to both the due process and equal protection provisions of the Iowa Constitution as not being narrowly tailored to serve the compelling state interest of promoting potential life." Meanwhile, in Ohio, Governor Mike DeWine, who recently made headlines for being sworn into office with his hand laying atop nine family Bibles, announced that he would absolutely sign the heartbeat bill into effect. According to Fox News, DeWine, who took office last week, told radio host Hugh Hewitt that despite the former pro-life governor John Kasichs decision to veto the law, if it passed again, he would not hesitate to sign it. Still, DeWine noted that even if it did pass there would still be a fight. He told the conservative radio host, Ultimately, Hugh, you and I both know that this thing once its passed in Ohio, once we sign it, once it becomes law, Planned Parenthood is going to be in the next day, or that day, filing a lawsuit. He added, But ultimately, this will work its way up to the United States Supreme Court. And theyll make that decision. If Ohio passes the fetal heartbeat law, it would be the most restrictive abortion law in the United States. Photo courtesy: Getty Images/Justin Merriam Yang, a former Chinese diplomat, is a dual Chinese-Australian national. For China he represents a national security risk. Canberra urged China to handle the matter "transparently and fairly". Beijing (AsiaNews/Agencies) Chinese authorities have detained writer and blogger Yang Hengjun, a former Chinese diplomat who holds Australian citizenship, on national security grounds. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying confirmed that Beijing had officially notified Australia that Yang had been placed under "coercive measures, adding that his rights and interests would be protected in accordance with the law. For her part, Australian Foreign Minister Marise Payne urged China to handle the matter "transparently and fairly". She added that embassy officials would meet with the Chinese side on Thursday to "arrange consular access at the earliest possible opportunity". Based in New York, Yang is a visiting scholar at Columbia University and a popular blogger with a great following. "He is one of the most influential bloggers on political issues in China, where he's earned the nickname of 'Democracy Peddler' through talking about democracy and human rights," said his friend Feng Chongyi, an academic at University of Technology Sydney. His detention comes in the wake of that of two Canadian citizens. More than a hundred diplomats and academics wrote to President Xi Jinping demanding their release. To enjoy our website, you'll need to enable JavaScript in your web browser. Please click here to learn how. The results of an investigation shows for the first time proven links between extreme phenomena and mass displacements. Data on asylum applications were analyzed in 157 countries between 2006 and 2015. The correlation in Syria, Yemen, Libya and Tunisia is particularly evident. It is necessary to help people to mitigate and manage the effects of changes. Beirut (AsiaNews) - The serious episodes of drought recorded in recent years, probably worsened by global warming, have sharpened the conflicts in the countries of the early Arab Spring, forcing people to flee. These are the results that emerge from an investigation published yesterday, which speaks of "clear evidence" of links between extreme phenomena at the climatic level and mass migrations. The study used data on asylum applications in 157 countries in the world, in the period between 2006 and 2015. The latter were associated with a drought measuring index and another relating to deaths in situations of war, to fully assess the links between climate change, conflict and migration. The results of the research, published by the journal Global Environmental Change, show a particular correlation between extreme weather events and conflicts in different parts of the Middle East and North Africa, particularly in the period between 2010 and 2012. In this period of time , many countries in the area have undergone profound internal changes at the political, institutional and social levels in the context of the Arab Spring uprisings. Among the countries in which the correlation is most evident we have Syria, Yemen, Tunisia and Libya. With the exception of Tunisia, the other three nations are still the scene of conflicts, civil wars or bloody infighting. The researchers also underline a climate bond with the conflicts that then triggered migrations in sub-Saharan Africa in the same three-year period examined; this link no longer emerged in other periods of time. "Climate change" in itself is not enough to "trigger a conflict" and to provoke "waves of migration" underlines Jesus Crespo Cuaresma, a researcher at the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis and a professor at the Faculty of Economics at the University of Vienna. However, adds the co-author of the investigation, in a particular "context" of "inadequate governance and the average level of democracy", a serious climatic phenomenon can "provoke conflicts due to scarcity of resources". Raya Muttarak, a member of the research team and a professor at the University of East Anglia's School of International Development, explains that the study highlights a link between droughts and asylum seekers. In these conditions, in fact, the data jumps from 95% to 146% compared to situations in which the climatic conditions are normal. Among the reasons that led the research, the peak of migrants to Europe recorded in 2015 with the arrival of over one million refugees. Hence the need for better management of basic resources such as water, to manage migratory pressures. Furthermore, adds Muttarak, it is necessary to prevent "exploitation" on "ethnic basis". Analyzing the African reality in depth, the president of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) emphasizes that it is necessary "to help people to improve their capacity to manage the effects of climate change and violence". This combination, he adds, risks becoming "an explosive mix that will not end in the short term". Local solutions include greater use of solar energy and small dams to collect water, along with a strengthening of education, training and work to find new resources in a fragile environment. LOreal has named Nathalie Gerschtein president, consumer products division, LOreal USA, effective March 1, 2019. Gerschtein joined LOreal USA in June 2018as president of Maybelline New York, Garnier and Essieand has been with the LOreal Group for 17 years. Commencing her career in France with LOreal Paris, her previous positions include brand marketing, European zone for Garnier; general manager, LOreal Paris and Garnier in India; and head of consumer products and country manager, respectively, in Thailand. Nathalies business acumen and vast experience within the consumer products division will be a critical asset in driving strong acceleration of our omni-channel strategy, said Frederic Roze, president and CEO of LOreal USA and executive vice president of the Americas zone. Her expertise in eCommerce, her vision to reinvent the in-store environment and her deep knowledge of the very strategic skincare category make Nathalie the perfect candidate to realize the modern, strategic direction of the consumer products division in the U.S. In her new position she will oversee brands including LOreal Paris, Maybelline, Garnier, Essie and Nyx. Gerschtein succeeds Michel Brousset, who decided to pursue personal entrepreneurial endeavors outside of the LOreal group. Alanna McDonald, currently president of the consumer products division, LOreal Canada, will succeed Gerschtein as president, Maybelline New York, Garnier and Essie. In this role, she will be tasked with accelerating growth in the U.S. market and overseeing all aspects of business leadership. Related: L'Oreals Last 9 Months, By the Numbers CORNWALL, Ontario Cornwall firefighters were called to action on the St. Lawrence River at 7:40 p.m. on Saturday, Jan. 19 when a male was reportedly stuck in his boat. Platoon Chief Jody Dewar explained that the male was crossing the St. Lawrence River from his home on Pilon Island when the wind pushed him off course. The male was unable to walk on the ice safely and became stranded approximately 150 ft. from shore. Our guys went out and brought him back in, said Chief Dewar. A full platoon of firefighters assisted with the water rescue. Police and paramedic personnel were also on the scene. The male was reportedly feeling cold but suffered no health effects. Chief Dewar explained that a rescue event like this has not occurred locally in quite some time. In the past, firefighters have rescued individuals who have fallen in the water in freezing temperatures. Chief Pierre Voisine announced on Twitter that he was extremely proud of the firefighters in their rescue mission. Chief Dewar was also feeling fortunate for the safe operation. The male is reportedly staying with a relative until it is safe for him to cross to his home again. At the time of rescue, Environment Canada reported that the temperature in Cornwall was -23 Celsius with a wind chill of -33 Celsius. An extreme cold warning and winter storm warning have been in effect since Friday, Jan. 18. We are analyzing the site. Please wait a few seconds.. However, Mr Sharifs cardiologist Adnan Khan termed his condition as very serious and said he should be shifted to hospital without any delay. Lahore: Pakistans jailed former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharifs condition is very serious after heart complications and he should be shifted to hospital without any delay, his doctor said on Wednesday. Mr Sharif, 69, who is serving a seven-year imprisonment in a Lahore jail, was rushed to a hospital from Kot Lakhpat jail on Tuesday after he complained of heart related complications. He was later discharged from hospital and taken back to jail following medical tests. Doctors of the Punjab Institute of Cardiology Lahore, where his medical tests were conducted, said Mr Sharifs condition was not very serious, but suggested aggressive medication and regular medical follow-ups to avoid cardiac complications. However, Mr Sharifs cardiologist Adnan Khan termed his condition as very serious and said he should be shifted to hospital without any delay. Nawaz Sharifs treatment at jail is not possible because of his heart complications. He should be shifted to hospital forthwith so that he is properly taken care of, Dr Khan said. Even a special medical board that earlier examined Mr Sharif had suggested shifting him to hospital for treatment but the government did not heed to the suggestion, he said. Mr Sharifs stress thalium test a nuclear imaging test that shows how well blood flows into ones heart suggests post stress LV pump/contraction 56 per cent which is almost normal, according to his medical reports. The report says that the left ventricle, the main pumping chamber of the heart, is damaged on the lower left wall, it said. Expressing concern about Mr Sharifs health, his daughter Maryam tweeted: My only source of information on what is happening to my father is the media only. Mr Sharifs brother Shahbaz Sharif asked the government to provide best healthcare facilities to the three-time Prime Minister. A special medical board that examined Mr Sharif in jail last week observed he is not completely well as more investigations (tests) are required before suggesting treatment for him. According to the report of the special medical board, Patient Muhammad Nawaz Sharif, 69, examined by the special medical board is a known case of diabetes Mellitus and hypertension for the last 10 years. He is also known case of Ischemic heart disease since 2001. Mr Sharif underwent Coronary Angioplasty (PCI) twice in 2001 and 2017. He also had open heart surgery twice in 2011 and 2016 (no medical record/documents are available for these above said procedures at the time of examination), it says. The board says after evaluating these test reports and availability of previous cardiac medical record further management plan will be proceeded. Mr Sharif was shifted to the Kot Lakhpat jail on December 25, a day after he was sentenced by the accountability court in Islamabad to seven years imprisonment in the Al-Azizia Steel Mills case. A disqualification of 10 years from holding any public office is part of the sentences awarded to the three times prime minister of the country. Salmond arrested as SNP saga takes latest extraordinary turn Alex Salmond has been arrested by Police Scotland and is due in court this afternoon, the Scotsman reports. It is not yet known what he has been charged with. This is the latest twist in the extraordinary saga gripping the SNP, which I provided an overview of in this column last week. A grievous split has emerged between Salmond and his successor, Nicola Sturgeon, over the handling of allegations of sexual misconduct against the former First Minister. He sued the Scottish Government and won over claims that its internal inquiry was biased by the fact that the civil servant put in change of the investigation had previous contact with the complainants. There are now several concurrent inquiries into what went on, including those being conducted by the Scottish Parliament and the Information Commissioners Office, who are pursuing another Salmond allegation: that the details of the inquiry into his conduct were deliberately leaked. Seemingly on the front foot, earlier this week he offered to end the Nationalists uncivil war whilst urging the First Minister to start pushing hard for a second referendum. This reflects a longer-standing split within the SNP between gradualists and fundies Salmond has gradually become the de facto leader of the latter group since losing office in 2014. Whilst Sturgeon does appear to have been pushed into playing the indyref card in a bid to distract from her partys internal divisions, a bullish British Government doesnt appear inclined to grant her one. Theresa May reportedly issued her most strident rejection yet of any such demand, whilst the Times reports that ministers are going to be playing hardball with the Scottish Government henceforth. There is going to be a newfound hardness to negotiations with the Nats from now on, according to one of their sources. Moreover Alyn Smith, a Nationalist MEP, has said on the record that the party is not yet ready for a new referendum. Not only has it not yet properly addressed the issues which bedevilled its 2014 campaign a much-vaunted Growth Commission has sunk without trace but Brexit also throws up new challenges, such as the prospect of a hard Anglo-Scottish border. This latter fact is why, as we noted in 2017, some in the SNP believe that a soft Brexit is absolutely essential to keep independence on the table. Londonderry attacks spark allegations of Brexit violence The spectre of dissident Republican terrorism re-emerged in Northern Ireland this week after a car bomb was detonated outside a courthouse in Londonderry. Two vans were subsequently hijacked by masked men shortly afterwards, leading to concerns about the possibility of a sustained campaign. Although Karen Bradley urged people to refrain from drawing casual links to Brexit, Lord Adonis was swift to blame the Government for being too distracted by it to give Northern Irish issues the attention they needed. The Financial Times reports that the attacks are being blamed on the New IRA, which formed in 2012 and has already killed a couple of prison officers. Apparently the police received a ten-minute warning about Saturdays bomb. Politicians from the Democratic Unionist Party have also urged Bradley to clarify comments she made suggesting that the defeat of Mays Withdrawal Agreement would threaten the legal basis of peace funding to the Province. In other Ulster news, Margaret Ritchie has said that she doesnt expect any significant exodus of members from the Social Democratic & Labour Party (SDLP) when it formally announces plans to merge with Fianna Fail, a major party in the Republic. According to the Irish Independent the new partnership will reportedly involve FF canvassing for the SDLP whilst it continues to compete under its own name. The two parties will also collaborate more closely on policy. Damian Hinds is Education Secretary and MP for East Hampshire. Trust. In the education world it has two distinct, yet related, meanings. One is the trust we place in head teachers, school leaders, and teachers to run schools and teach our children effectively. The other is in terms of Academy Trusts: charitable organisations given the freedom to improve standards in the most appropriate way for that school environment. Together they form the academies programme, which hands power back to schools and school leaders to make the right decisions for their pupils and communities, while providing teachers with mentoring, training, and the opportunity to share good practices. I believe the programme is working: secondary school data out today show that converter academies achieve results well above the national average, and research out yesterday showed that standards are rising faster in the majority of sponsored academies than in similar council run schools. This is great news for pupils, as figures out this week show more than 50 per cent of children in state-funded schools in England are now studying at one of the countrys 8,000 academies or free schools. At this key milestone, we can be proud that generations of children stand a better chance of receiving a high-quality education that meets their needs, interests and abilities. When the Conservatives came to government in 2010, the academies programme had already been around for a decade, with the aim of improving pupil performance and breaking the cycle of low expectations. The first academy opened in 2002 and 203 schools, mostly in inner cities, had been opened by the time Labour left office. Labour MPs were praising their results from the rooftops. Then the Conservatives came to power, with the inimitable Michael Gove as Education Secretary, and rocket boosters were put under the Academies programme, with more than 1,000 academies converting by August 2011. The idea behind academies is simple really: teachers and school leaders know best how to run schools. This is backed up by research from the OECD. It found the creation of more autonomous schools improves outcomes, as school leaders have the freedom to innovate in curriculum, instruction, and governance. We now have a system where a school can convert to be an academy taking advantage of the autonomy and freedom that brings. Or a failing school is issued an academy order and brokered into an Academy Trust, to get the help and support it needs to improve a so called sponsored academy. Hillcrest Academy primary in the Chapeltown area of Leeds one of the most deprived areas of the country, with historically poor outcomes for pupils has seen a huge turnaround thanks to academisation. Hillcrest had 14 head teachers in 20 years, and had declined from a good school in 2007, to requires improvement in 2010, to inadequate in 2013. In the space of two and a half years, after joining the GORSE Academies Trust, it received an outstanding rating from Ofsted, and hit has above-average reading, writing and maths skills and below-average pupil absence. Converting into an academy also works for schools who are already doing well, but want to take advantage of the greater responsibility that comes with academisation. The Bicknell School, a special school in Bournemouth that had been rated good in two inspections, became Tregonwell Academy in 2011. In its first inspection it was judged outstanding in all areas, and has benefited ever since from putting teachers in the driving seat. It was inspected again in January 2018 and has retained its outstanding judgement. Despite the positive trend for academies, Angela Rayner, Labours Shadow Education Secretary, wants to end the academies programme and bring all schools back under local authority control. This would see a Labour-led National Education Service, with the government defining the curriculum for all schools and freedoms for heads stripped away. I wrote about this on ConHome when she first made the announcement, but to remind readers exactly what she said: Well start by immediately ending the Tories academy and free schools programmes. They neither improve standards nor empower staff or parents we will use our time in government to bring all publicly funded schools back into the mainstream public sector, with a common rulebook and under local democratic control. Not even wanting to get into what a common rule book written by Jeremy Corbyn would look like, in turning their back on academies Labour are turning their back on the freedom and innovation that have seen standards in our schools rise putting ideology before what is right for our children. Not only are academies and free schools some of the best-performing in the country, they can completely overturn expectations for entire communities where low achievement and stifled hope and opportunity had been the norm. The Conservatives trust in educators to have the freedom to run schools in a way that best suits their local needs has paid dividends. I firmly believe in the academies programme, and that is why I will continue to advocate for the opportunities that becoming an academy can bring. Chris White was Special Adviser to Patrick McLoughlin, when the latter served as Chief Whip, as well as to Andrew Lansley and William Hague when each served as Leader of the House. He is now Managing Director of Newington Communications. Last week the Commons voted that it had confidence in the May Government, yet on Tuesday it will seek to wrest control from the executive, and let the Commons take charge. This has the potential to test the UK constitution to destruction The Commons attempt to seize control Almost a dozen amendments have been tabled to the Governments neutral terms motion due for debate next week. Several of these seek to provide for a series of indicative votes essentially a non-binding, advisory series of votes on a range of options that include Norway plus, Canada, No Deal, the current Government deal and so on. Others seek to reject leaving the EU without a deal, or insist on an expiry date being added to the backstop. Some of these may not be selected for debate, or are likely to lose narrowly. Most opposition and rebel Conservative MPs are coalescing around a combined amendment and Private Members Bill designed to remove the threat of No Deal. The European Union Withdrawal (no.3) Bill (The Cooper Bill) would mandate the Prime Minister to put a motion before the Commons on 26th February to seek to extend Article 50. If that vote was passed, the Prime Minister would be legally obliged to seek the extension from the EU27, although the EU would still have to agree for that to happen. However for any Private Members Bill to pass, it must be given time and Grieve, Cooper, Boles et al have given themselves a self-imposed deadline of 25th of February to pass a Bill through both the Commons and the Lords. To do that requires the overturning of Standing Order 14 (1), which provides that Government business shall have precedence at every sitting (with certain exceptions like Opposition day debates). The Cooper amendment now simply states that a Business of the House motion relating to the Cooper Bill shall stand as the first item of business on 5th February as long as ten MPs, elected to the House as members of four different parties (i.e. not currently those who hold the whip but who were elected as a Conservative MP in 2017) and two backers of the Bill, sign the motion. This removes the loophole in the first draft, leaked over the weekend, which meant that the Conservative Party could have stymied the bill by withdrawing the whip from any MP who supported it. Does it stand a chance of succeeding? For the Cooper amendment to change standing orders to succeed, it requires a majority of the House to support it, and then to continue supporting it on 5th February when the backers intend for the Commons to pass all stages in a day. Looking at the numbers in more detail, the Government won the recent no-confidence vote by 325-306. Breaking this down, there were 635 MPs present (voted or were tellers) out of 639 eligible MPs. Those who were not present to vote included the independent MPs Ivan Lewis, John Woodcock, Paul Flynn, and Fiona Onasanya. The amendment tabled by Cooper, has been signed by eight Conservative MPs (Morgan, Boles, Grieve, Bebb, Letwin, Lee, Djanogly, Vaizey) and also supported publicly by Anna Soubry and Sarah Wollaston, whilst Heidi Allen has also indicated her support through retweets of the draft of the Cooper Bill, meaning 11 publicly confirmed rebels (possibly as many as 18 if others such as Clarke, Greening, Neill and others join in). If the four independents dont vote again, then the Government will lose by at least three votes, possibly more: Can the Bill be stopped? The key to the Cooper Bill succeeding is if its coalition can stick together. Boles, Cooper and Grieve have worked hard to remove the issues with the original draft. By capturing time, and ensuring they push this through in a day, it means keeping the coalition together for just a single day. The Bill would also have to be approved by the House of Lords, which would need to telescope its usual minimum intervals between each legislative stage, but given the pro-EU sentiment in the Lords, I doubt this would be a problem. Observers have discussed two main areas which relate to Crown powers money resolutions and Royal Assent that might be used to stop the Bill. With regard to money resolutions, one is only required if a Bill proposes spending public money on something that hasnt previously been authorised by an Act of Parliament. Looking at the Cooper Bill, it is arguable that a money resolution is not needed to delay Article 50 it merely requires the Prime Minister to apply to the EU27 for an extension to the deadline. In any case, the House could resolve to amend Standing Orders 48 and 49 relating to money resolutions such a step would be extraordinary, and Grieve himself has said that this would be a constitutional step too far. The question of withholding Royal Assent the Queens approval for a Bill passed by both Houses is a more challenging topic. Sir Stephen Laws, former First Parliamentary Counsel until 2012 (the most senior constitutional and Parliamentary civil servant in Government) has argued that it is possible, whilst Nick Barber, Fellow of Trinity College Oxford and a Lecturer in Constitutional Law, has said that it is not. This is a subject to which I intent to return to here should the Cooper amendment pass next week. Ultimately though, the Cooper Bill could well pass. Constitutional crisis? I can barely believe that I am typing the words constitutional crisis at all. Yet the fact is that Parliament is about to remove executive power from the Government, to which it has only just confirmed that it has confidence in, and MPs and Government are seriously considering using prerogative powers to overturn majority decisions in the Commons. MPs are clearly astonished at the Governments delays and unwillingness to deviate from Plan A, or even hold a series of indicative votes. Yet the Prime Minister continues on, trying to attach a limit to the backstop that we know the EU27 are against. I can understand the frustration of MPs, yet we are about to test the UK constitution to destruction. Reportedly, Labour is concerned about the Cooper Bill and has described it as constitutional arson. Everything that the Cooper amendment is seeking to do is undeniably within the Commons rule book. However, I fervently hope that it does not come to pass, and that Cooper, Boles, Grieve and the Government can return to the negotiating table or agree to hold indicative votes, because the next two weeks could change the dynamic of our constitution in a way that cannot be unpicked. Microsoft is ramping up efforts to appeal to the education market, with updates to its Teams group messaging app that supports collaboration between students, teachers and staff members. Among the features announced at the Bett 2019 education technology conference in London this week: integration with student information systems and the ability for teachers to grade school work on mobile devices. Microsoft also unveiled several low-budget Windows 10-based laptops and two-in-ones to take on Google Chromebooks, which have proved popular in schools. Two months after the launch of Teams in 2017, Microsoft began to tailor the collaboration app for use in the education sector, making it available as part of Office 365 Education subscriptions. For education, Microsoft sees three core scenarios for collaboration in Teams. One is the interaction between teachers and students, who can use Teams to share course materials, as well as distribute, collect and grade assignments. Another is between teachers staff members, such as a school district head communicating with multiple school principles. The third is among teachers themselves, which relates to the idea of collective teacher efficacy," said Justin Chando, principal product manager for education at Microsoft. The theory is that by working together teachers can more effectively impact student achievement outcomes even when comparing other factors such as socio-economic background or parental involvement. He said a key aim of Teams in education is to provide teachers with tools to communicate and identify best practices, as well as share resources and lesson plans. We have found from talking to lots of educators that what is missing [in their jobs] is teacher-to-teacher collaboration, said Chando, who was hired by Microsoft from collaborative learning platform, Chalkup, last year. Microsoft Teams upgrades Among the various features added to Teams is integration with student information systems; Chando likens that to an ERP system for schools, with a variety of data about everything from enrollment and finance to student grades. With Grade Sync, teachers can automatically send grades from the Teams assignments feature to a student information system, which Chando said would avoid duplication of effort. Anything that streamlines processes and saves time to teachers is a great feature, said Carolina Milanesi, principal analyst at consulting firm Creative Strategies. "From student information to grading work, teachers are looking at ways to work smarter so that they avoid duplicating work there are still many analog processes in schools. The issue with integrating with student information systems, she added, is that there are many tools available, so Microsoft, like any company who is trying to roll these solutions out, will need to partner with those that will allow it to reach critical mass. On launch, Grade Sync will be available with PowerSchool, Infinite Campus, Capita SIMS, according to Microsoft. Another feature is mobile grading, which now allows teachers to grade Teams assignments directly from smartphones and tablets using the mobile app. Microsoft has also included a new integration with a plagiarism detection tool TurnItIn. With 30 million users worldwide, TurnItIn scans a document and checks for similarities with text from sources such as Wikipedia. The Teams integration means teachers can check results from Word, Excel and PowerPoint documents without leaving the Microsoft app. An overhauled assignments feature will also be available soon; that, Microsoft said, will simplify the user experience. Windows 10 hardware Microsoft also rolled seven new Windows 10 devices aimed at use in schools: the Lenovo 100e; Lenovo 300e (a 2-in-1); Lenovo 14w; Acer TravelMate B1 (B118-M); Acer TravelMate Spin B1 (B118-R/RN); Acer TravelMate B1-141; and the Dell Latitude 3300 for Education All of the devices have prices that start at between $189 and $300. Also announced was the Microsoft Classroom Pen, a more durable stylus for Microsoft Surface hardware. Microsoft has faced a growing challenge from Google and its low-cost Chromebook laptops in recent years; Chromebooks have proved popular in the classroom due to their simplicity and low cost. The proliferation of ChromeOS devices also provides an entire into Googles software ecosystem, in particular its G Suite productivity tools, the main competitor to Microsofts Office 365. While there are numerous Windows 10 devices available at low prices suitable for schools, Microsoft faces other challenges in dislodging Chromebooks in education, said Milanese. Microsoft has addressed price as well as manageability of these devices and the biggest hurdle they are left with is switching people away from Google, she said. It is hard for schools to switch environment mostly because of the investment they need to make in training teachers on the new tools. This, I believe, is what Microsoft will have to address. Making it as simple as painless as possible to switch. Huawei announced the 5G modem Balong 5000, which is described as the most powerful modem in the world. The head of Huaweis consumer business group, Richard Yu, said it was the worlds first 5G modem that fully supports both Non-Standalone (NSA) and Standalone (SA) 5G network architectures. Chinas Huawei Technologies Co Ltd on Thursday unveiled its 5G modem Balong 5000, which it described as the most powerful 5G modem in the world. The head of Huaweis consumer business group, Richard Yu, said it was the worlds first 5G modem that fully supports both Non-Standalone (NSA) and Standalone (SA) 5G network architectures. Columbia, MO (65201) Today Intervals of clouds and sunshine. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. High around 95F. Winds SW at 10 to 15 mph.. Tonight Partly cloudy skies during the evening will give way to cloudy skies overnight. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. Low 74F. Winds S at 5 to 10 mph. After Priyanka Gandhis entry into politics, however, it is difficult to envisage an Opposition alliance minus the Congress. The question regarding the most anticipated entry into Indian politics has been answered. Whenever it was made, there would have been assumptions over the timing. With this decision, the Congress Party, till now facing the prospect of getting stuck to the starting blocks despite its victories in three state Assembly elections last December, has suddenly overshadowed its adversaries and friendly contestants insofar as social media trends and the public conversation is concerned. From political pundits to the proverbial paanwala and his customer, there is unanimity that regardless of the outcome of the 2019 parliamentary elections, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra has ensured that the battleground has become a lot keener. It is not just the Bharatiya Janata Party and Prime Minister Narendra Modi who would have rushed into parleys with colleagues, but even other Opposition parties, especially the Mayawati-Akhilesh Yadav combine, would no longer be as certain about the decision to keep the Congress out of their alliance. Over the next couple of weeks, several decisions are certain to be either put on hold or abandoned, and some may even be reversed. More immediately, that political parties that were beginning to consider following the Bahujan Samaj Party-Samajwadi Party combine into cold-shouldering the Congress will re-evaluate their plans. It must be factored in that a couple of days after the United India Rally at Kolkatas Brigade Parade Ground, there were reports of the Rashtriya Janata Dal too dragging its feet on sealing the pact in Bihar with the Grand Old Party. After Priyanka Gandhis entry into politics, however, it is difficult to envisage an Opposition alliance minus the Congress. Although she has been officially designated AICC general secretary for eastern Uttar Pradesh, she will have an impact and role much beyond that region. Hereafter, keeping the Congress completely out of an anti-BJP front even in states where it is no longer the force it once was, may make the electoral terrain extremely fragmented and increase uncertainty even in the settled constituencies. The idea of omitting the Congress in Bihar was attributed to Tejashwi Yadav and it was speculated that just as the Mayawati-Akhilesh Yadav combine had overlooked Rahul Gandhi and his party, he too could do try convincing Lalu Prasad Yadav to follow suit. His decision was in sync with the stance adopted by West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee, while inviting leaders and parties for her United India Rally last week. While she extended an invitation to the Congress and the party responded by delegating Mallikarjun Kharge to attend Mamata Banerjee did not personally invite Rahul Gandhi and Sonia Gandhi. This decision stemmed from the fact that despite the setback in 2014 and public ridiculing of the Congress president for much of the past five years, both he and his mother remain bigger draws at public meetings when compared to regional leaders, although during polls their party repeatedly falls by the wayside in most states. Implausible as it may seem, given the woeful performance of 44 seats in the last general election and the consistent castigation of the Nehru-Gandhi family by Prime Minister Modi over the past several years, the Gandhi name still retains its charismatic appeal. It is this that the Congress president has sought to tap. After all, he would be aware that for long there have been demands and a strong view that Priyanka was a more natural politician than the relatively distanced Rahul Gandhi. But, beyond the optics, the obvious social media trending and dominance in day-to-day conversations, how does Priyanka Gandhi Vadras decision to formally become part of the political process impact her partys prospects, both long-term and in the short-run? Firstly, her entry, even before the din of the elections has become remotely strong, does enough to rattle the Mayawati-Akhilesh Yadav duo. Significantly, the day her entry was announced, Rahul Gandhi declared that that he was still open to an alliance with the SP and BSP. What went unstated was that now the negotiations would no longer be undertaken on the terms set by the two parties, and instead the three parties would meet on common ground where respect and dignity would be paramount. The two former chief ministers of the state would be aware that the Congress, with Priyanka Gandhi as its chief driver, will become a more resurgent force than in the past. In the changed scenario, it is even possible that the SP-BSP go back on their decision for the sake of Opposition unity and accommodate the Congress honourably. As this would reduce the work burden of Priyanka Gandhi, the Congress would not contest each seat in UP if a Bihar-style Mahagathbandhan is eventually forged, and she would become free to campaign in other states. There is a strong chance of the Congress presidents sister becoming a more popular draw at election rallies than both he and his mother. As has been shown over previous elections, whenever any leader or party gathers initial momentum, the tide turns in his or her favour significantly. There is thus the possibility of this much-delayed entry eventually becoming a game-changer for both 2019 and the beginning of the process of the Congress return as the countrys principal political party. The party leadership would be only too aware that its position would never become truly legitimate unless it becomes a key political force in UP. The party last polled over 30 per cent of the vote in the state in 1989, when it won 15 seats, and thereafter it has been a slide down. Barring 2009, when it partnered other parties, the Congress voteshare has remained less than 10 per cent. With Priyanka Gandhis entry into politics, the party has put its best foot forward in the state and beyond. The race for 2019 has become more intense, and the process of revival of the Congress Party has received a new momentum. It remains to be seen if the brother-sister duo, with the mothers guidance, can convert this potential into reality. SHOWS February 22, 2021 10.00 am Bazaar Corporate Radar Bazaar Corporate Radar is your window into the minds of top CEOs, Boardrooms, global economists, fund managers and sector analysts. If it?s making news, you?ll find it on Bazaar Corporate Radar. 'A reality check' "Let's do a reality check for our billionaire friends," suggests Bach. He's stunned and angered by Ross's response, he says, and "sickened by what is happening to so many hard working Americans." The Federal Reserve finds almost half of Americans can't get their hands on $400 in case of emergency, he points out, while four out of five Americans live paycheck to paycheck. "Many of these 800,000 hardworking Americans are now trying to figure out how to eat," Bach says. "They are trying to figure out how to not lose their homes, cars and apartments." In this type of situation, he says, "it's quite possible they haven't had the time to look into who will loan them money to survive. It's quite possible they are so stressed out they can't sleep. It's quite possible they are out looking for a new job to put food on the table for their children to survive." Getting a personal loan isn't always easy What to do if you can't get a loan DAVOS, Switzerland You probably wouldn't notice if you weren't really looking for it, but the World Economic Forum at Davos has at least one bar that's giving away small samples of cannabis. A simple grey door and a single banner mark the establishment on Promenade, a short walk south of the iconic Belvedere Hotel. It has all the normal bar fare several beers and other drinks are in the offing. But a closer inspection will reveal chocolates and small oil bottles on the counter. They're giving the samples away. And they contain cannabis. A lot of people come in, take a sample and leave. Others stay to listen to representatives from the cannabis industry, who are making good use of the place, explaining industry trends to potential investors. It's a place for people who want to invest or who are looking to raise capital which makes it just like many of the other side events at Davos. The cannabis industry has seen growing investor interest over the last few years on the back of further legalization. In particular, the legalization of marijuana for recreational use in Canada, last June, has driven up interest. In the United States, there's growing discussion about whether cannabis use should be legalized at the federal level. Some U.S. states have approved its use for medical or recreational use, but it's still illegal at the national level. Some industry experts argue that it is a question of when, not if, the United States will pass legislation nationally. Illegal in Switzerland sort of Meanwhile in Davos, Switzerland, the consumption of cannabis can be illegal, depending on quantities involved. Across the country, shops are selling an increasing number of cannabis products. According to the Swiss Authorities online portal, it's illegal to possess or consume marijuana and hashish. But there are various forms of the cannabis plant containing different active substances. Those include tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), which has a psychoactive effect and cannabidiol (CBD), which doesn't. The Election Commission of India denied the charge and asked the Delhi police to lodge a FIR against the expert. MUMBAI: A detailed probe will be carried out into the death of former Union minister Gopinath Munde after the NCP and allies form the next government, the partys Maharashtra unit chief Jayant Patil said Thursday. Mr Patils remark comes a few days after a cyber expert claimed that senior BJP leader Munde was killed as the latter was aware of the alleged hacking of electronic voting machines (EVMs) in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections. The polls had been won by the BJP-led ND at the time. The cyber expert, identified as Syed Shuja, who is seeking political asylum in the US, last Monday claimed that the 2014 polls were "rigged" through EVMs, which he said, could be hacked. The Election Commission of India denied the charge and asked the Delhi police to lodge a FIR against the expert. Shuja did not provide any proof to back his claims made at a press conference in London which he addressed via Skype. Munde died in a road accident in New Delhi in 2014, a week after taking over as the rural development minister in the Narendra Modi cabinet. The responsibility of tracing who is responsible for Munde's death is with us. How he was killed has to be probed. Hence, a detailed probe will be carried out when our government is formed in the near future," said Mr Patil at a rally at Vasmat in Hingoli district. The rally was organised as part of the third leg of the NCP's Parivartan Yatra, a public outreach programme. Mr Patil said that it did not augur well if a leader like Munde died allegedly in connection with an EVM-related matter. The former Maharashtra minister also hit out at Prime Minister Narendra Modi and chief minister Devendra Fadn-avis on issues such as the farm loan waiver and Dha-ngar quota, respectively. [The stream is slated to start at 8:30 a.m. ET. Please refresh the page if you do not see a player above at that time.] In a rare joint appearance, the chief executives of the world's largest beverage companies discuss their efforts to reduce plastic use. PepsiCo CEO Ramon Laguarta and Coca-Cola CEO James Quincey are joined by the CEO of plastic-maker Dow Chemical, Jim Fitterling, at the World Economic Forum panel about transforming the plastics economy. Both Coke and Pepsi have been working to reduce their plastic waste. Coca-Cola is working toward recovering and recycling the equivalent of 75 percent of the bottles it introduces in developed countries by 2020. Last month, the company announced two investments in recycling technologies that will allow Coke to use recycled plastics for its bottles more efficiently. Pepsi is aiming for all of its packaging to be recyclable, compostable or biodegradable by 2025. Most recently, the food and beverage giant has been testing compostable bags for chips in Chile, India and the U.S. Subscribe to CNBC on YouTube. Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro talks to the media during a news conference at Miraflores Palace in Caracas, Venezuela October 17, 2017. Carlos Garcia Rawlins | Reuters Venezuela's embattled socialist dictator Nicolas Maduro on Thursday secured the backing of two key allies: his nation's defense minister and Russia. Defense Minister Vladimir Padrino Lopez on Thursday called Maduro the nation's "legitimate" president, one day after opposition leader Juan Guaido claimed the title of interim president of the Bolivarian Republic. The military chief said Guaido's move amounted to an attempted coup. The endorsement is a blow to the United States and a number other nations backing Guaido, the leader of Venezuela's National Assembly. The loss of military backing would have made it far more difficult for Maduro to cling to power. Russian President Vladimir Putin also threw his support behind Maduro on Thursday. A briefing on Putin's telephone conversation with Maduro claimed "the worsening of the internal political crisis" is being "provoked from outside the country." Putin "emphasised that destructive external interference is a gross violation of the fundamental norms of international law," according to the Kremlin. The statement appeared to reference the coalition of nations backing Guaido. In addition to the United States, his supporters include Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Colombia and several other Central and South American nations. The competing endorsements are creating a complicated picture in Caracas and raise the prospect of an international standoff over the fate of Venezuela's presidency. European Union foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini has called for elections in Venezuela, while European Council President Donald Tusk said he hopes Europe will united behind democratic forces in Venezuela. "Unlike Maduro, the parliamentary assembly, including Juan Guaido have a democratic mandate from Venezuelan citizens," he said in a tweet on Wednesday. Venezuelan soldiers take part in a ceremony with Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro (not pictured), after his swearing-in for a second presidential term, at Fuerte Tiuna military base in Caracas, Venezuela January 10, 2019. Adriana Loureiro | Reuters Venezuela is on the brink of a lasting change, according to Latin American leaders gathered at the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos. The South American country is embroiled in fast-moving political crisis, after an opposition leader stood in the streets of Caracas on Wednesday and declared himself as the rightful interim president. A flurry of world powers, including the U.S., immediately backed Juan Guaido, prompting a furious response from President Nicolas Maduro. The socialist leader broke diplomatic ties with President Donald Trump's administration on Wednesday, ordering all U.S. diplomatic personnel to leave the country within 72 hours. There is no doubt that the behavior of guys with guns will define much of what will happen in the coming days and shape politics in Venezuela. Moises Naim Former Venezuelan minister Maduro also dismissed Guaido's claim to the presidency, saying it was part of an American-led conspiracy to orchestrate a coup from afar. "There is no doubt that the behavior of guys with guns will define much of what will happen in the coming days and shape politics in Venezuela," Moises Naim, a former Venezuelan minister now at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, said during a WEF panel session on Thursday. Naim described Venezuela as a "criminalized country," rife with local and transnational gangs "maybe even more lethal and more dangerous" than the military. 'It feels different this time' Guaido's declaration takes Venezuela into uncharted territory, with the possibility of the opposition now running a parallel government recognized abroad as legitimate but without control over state functions. Growing unrest in Venezuela follows years of economic mismanagement, repression and corruption. As a result, millions of people have been driven out of the country amid hyperinflation, power cuts and severe shortages of basic items such as food and medicine. Juan Guaido, President of Venezuela's National Assembly, reacts during a rally against Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro's government and to commemorate the 61st anniversary of the end of the dictatorship of Marcos Perez Jimenez in Caracas, Venezuela January 23, 2019. Carlos Garcia Rawlins | Reuters What happens next in Venezuela appears to hinge on the actions of the country's military. For now, high-ranking officials remain supportive of Maduro's government. Guaido, who is calling for free and fair elections to be held in Venezuela as soon as possible, urged the military to disobey the government. Political analysts told CNBC on Thursday it was certainly possible that escalating pressure from the international community could encourage lower-ranking officials to turn against Maduro's government. "One month ago, I would have said this was not possible. But it feels different this time," Gabriele Saade, a research and project coordinator with La Mejor Venezuela Foro, a political think-tank based in Caracas, said Thursday. "I think the costs of supporting the government are higher and higher every day," she added. Military intervention At the start of the month, Maduro was sworn in for a second term. The election, which was boycotted by the opposition amid claims of vote-rigging, prompted a fresh wave of protests. Since the start of last year, 14 people have died as result of the demonstrations against the government, according to the Venezuelan Observatory of Social Conflicts rights group. Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro Marco Bello | Reuters The United States will legalize marijuana at a federal level in 2019, according to the chief executive of a leading company in the industry. Kevin Murphy, of U.S.-based cannabis firm Acreage Holdings, said Thursday he believes that a key bill aimed at recognizing legalization of cannabis will be passed this year. The STATES Act, a piece of bipartisan legislation proposed by Senators Cory Gardner and Elizabeth Warren, would allow businesses like Murphy's to operate legitimately, giving them access to bank accounts and letting them list on U.S. stock exchanges. "I believe 2019 is going to be the year" of weed legalization in the U.S., Murphy told CNBC's Karen Tso at the World Economic Forum in Davos. "I believe that it's going to take place through the STATES Act." "From our vantage point its very straightforward and we couldn't be more pleased to be leading as the largest player in the United States," he added. U.S. President Donald Trump meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un is shown on television screens at an electronics retail store on June 12, 2018 in Seoul, South Korea. North Korean leader Kim Jong Un spoke highly of U.S. President Donald Trump, state media said on Thursday, and expressed satisfaction over the results of talks between officials from both countries about a second summit between Kim and Trump. Kim said he would trust Trump's approach, the North's official KCNA news agency said, weeks after Kim warned North Korea could seek a "new path" if U.S. sanctions and pressure continued. That suggested Kim was focused on the next meeting with Trump to produce results. "Kim Jong Un said that we will believe in President Trump's positive way of thinking, wait with patience and in good faith and, together with the U.S., advance step by step toward the goal to be reached by the two countries," KCNA said. It said Kim expressed "large satisfaction" at receiving a "great" letter from Trump and a briefing about the results of the negotiations from the North Korean delegation that visited Washington last week but did not elaborate. Kim ordered working-level preparations for the second North Korea-U.S. summit to be done well, KCNA said. The White House said last week a second Trump-Kim summit would be held in late February but did not say where. That follows their landmark first summit in Singapore last June, which produced a promise to work towards the complete denuclearization of the Korean peninsula. Progress since then has been patchy. Kim has indicated to South Korean President Moon Jae-in he would undertake a "groundbreaking" denuclearization measure, South Korean newspaper DongA Ilbo reported on Thursday. The newspaper, citing an unidentified source with direct knowledge of the U.S.-North Korea situation, said the same had been made clear to Trump during senior North Korean official Kim Yong Chol's Washington visit last week. North Korea has hinted, for example, at the possibility of agreeing to the U.S. demand for verification of denuclearization efforts before it discards its Yongbyon nuclear facilities. In turn, the United States has mentioned potential measures such as easing limits on oil imports, a conditional restart of the Kaesong industrial zone in North Korea, and opening a liaison office in Pyongyang, DongA reported. Government workers protest the government shutdown during a demonstration in the Federal Building Plaza on Jan. 10, 2019 in Chicago, Illinois. J.P. Morgan economists said the government shutdown is beginning to take a bigger toll on the U.S. economy, and growth is now below 2 percent, despite resilience in the private sector. The economists slashed their first quarter growth estimate to 1.75 percent from 2 percent, citing the shutdown. This is their second quarter point cut to the growth forecast in two weeks. In general, economists have said that the economy is probably growing at the slowest pace this quarter, since President Donald Trump entered the White House in the first quarter of 2017. The government shutdown is exacerbating the already weaker growth pace, which is also impacted by an end of stimulus and trade wars. The J.P. Morgan economists also raised second quarter growth to 2.25 percent from 2 percent, to account for a bounce back in that quarter once the government reopens. The economists say 0.1 to 0.2 percentage points is subtracted from growth for each week the government is shut, but that is not the entire impact. "That estimate solely accounts for the reduction in government sector output and does not incorporate any potential spillover effects into private economic activity. Fortunately, so far those spillovers look contained," they said in a note. They noted that weekly jobless claims data "is a comforting signal of the broader health of the economy, even after accounting for the usual noisiness of this indicator." Claims for the week ended Jan. 19 were just 199,000, the first reading below 200,000 since 1969. "States that have a larger federal presence have also had a larger increase in jobless claims over the past four weeks. That suggests that if the shutdown ends soon there is scope for further improvement in the claims data." Economists have said they can not get a true handle on how the economy is doing because of the key government data, which is unavailable due to the shutdown. For instance, monthly retail sales and durable goods data are not being released. Meanwhile, government workers head for a second pay period without a check Friday, the 35th day of the shutdown. The U.S. economy is still getting a lift from fiscal tailwinds, such as the corporate tax cuts delivered by President Donald Trump and Republicans on Capitol Hill, but the "politics of chaos" are sending mixed messages to investors, Jim Coulter, the billionaire co-founder of private investment giant TPG, told CNBC on Thursday. "The economy was like a fraternity party. It was 2 a.m. [last year] and had been going well and monetary policy had been driving it; suddenly somebody came in with a new keg called fiscal policy," said Coulter in a "Squawk Box" interview from the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. But Coulter, keeping the metaphor going, argued that now it's closer to 4 a.m. "Late in a party people start doing strange things, volatility in the marketplace, chaos in Washington. It doesn't necessarily mean you leave the party. But it certainly moderates your behavior." The chaos in Washington is certainly apparent as the federal government remained on partial shutdown for the 34th day on Thursday, and the U.S. was still racing against a March 2 deadline to reach a trade deal with China under a tariff ceasefire negotiated last month by Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping. "One of my favorite terms of the week was the politics of chaos. So around the world we traditionally looked for politics to provide structure, and as businessmen we're seeing politics actually adding chaos to the equation," Coulter explained. However, chaos can create opportunities, Coulter said. "As a short-term investor confusion is a bad thing. As a long term investor, I always say, 'That when it feels bad, it's good.' So when everyone has exactly the same view, it's hard to differentiate yourself." At TPG, with more than $100 billion in assets under management, Coulter said he tries to find companies in industries that will overcome the overall economic picture. "So the dynamics of Uber and Airbnb, what's happening and the change in society and the change in their usage will overwhelm what's going to happen in the economy. And those are the type of investments we're looking for today, whether public or private." TPG is an investor in both Uber and Airbnb. A worker inspect facilities on an upstream oil drilling platform at the Total oil platform at Amenem, 35 kilometers away from Port Harcourt in the Niger Delta in 2009. Pius Utomi Ekpei | AFP | Getty Images Global oil markets are facing an uncertain year with slowing global growth driving less global demand for oil while the supply picture looks unclear with production cuts by OPEC and Russia potentially counteracted by the growth in U.S. shale oil output. But it's not supply, demand, sanctions on Iran's oil industry or political upheaval in oil producer Venezuela that the chief executive of Total is worried about. "The main risk for the oil market is the situation in the Middle East because this is the big area of production, not only in Saudi Arabia but in the UAE and Kuwait. There's Iraq and Iran and this region is connected," Total's Patrick Pouyanne told CNBC at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland on Thursday. "And it's clear that the events of the last quarter of the year around Saudi Arabia and Iran which are the two big blocs there, have worried a lot of people so there is purely a premium risk. Having said that, we shouldn't overestimate it, there is also the supply and demand (factor)," he said. "Yes, demand is strong but supply is also going very strong with U.S. shale." Oil markets have seen renewed volatility in the last 12 months amid economic uncertainty and a shifting output and demand picture. In recent weeks, investors have been treading cautiously amid concerns of a slowing global economy, particularly concerns over a China slowdown. Slower growth correlates with a decline in demand for oil. The supply of global oil is also being closely watched by oil market analysts with the growth in production of U.S. shale oil also a pressure on prices. A growth in oil supply and falling demand causes prices to slump. To mitigate falling prices, OPEC and non-OPEC producers including Russia announced in December that they would be scaling back production. Prices remain subdued, however, with benchmark Brent crude oil futures trading around $60.79 a barrel Thursday morning and West Texas Intermediate (WTI) at $52.33 a barrel. Political risks have been sharply in focus for oil markets although much-discussed U.S. sanctions on Iran, imposed last November, failed to have that much of an effect on global supply as a handful of waivers were granted to oil importing countries, like Japan and India, allowing them to continue to buy oil from Iran. Ironically, the smaller-than-expected impact from Iran, coupled with an increase in output from other OPEC nations and Russia aimed at mitigating the expected shortfall in Iranian supply, contributed to concerns of a glut in supply and hence prompted a decline in oil prices since the end of October. An image of Mickey Mouse, the official mascot of The Walt Disney Company, is displayed outside the Disney Store in Times Square in New York City. With the new theme park Star Wars Land opening this year and the Fox acquisition nearing the finishing line, Disney is setting itself up for a transformation, according to Morgan Stanley. The bank sees "a big year ahead" for Disney, reiterating its overweight rating for the media company in a note on Thursday. Its 12-month price target of $135 would translate into a 23 percent gain based on Disney's Thursday trading level. "2019 is likely a transformational year for Disney," the bank's analyst Benjamin Swinburne said. "Stepping back from the complexity, it will exit the year in a different place than it begins. Significant investments in content, theme parks, and M&A weigh on near-term earnings, but should set up the business for long-term growth." It has not been easy for Disney trying to compete with streaming giants like Netflix.The media company recently revealed in a filing that its investment in Hulu was the primary contributor to a $580 million loss in equity investments. It also lost $469 million in its direct-to consumer-segment, largely from its streaming service BAMtech. But the tides are starting to turn as Disney is poised to benefit from its acquisition of Fox, which Morgan Stanley predicts will lead to share repurchases of $5 billion in 2020. And its own streaming service Disney+, which is slated to debut this year, will drive subscription for ESPN and other cable nets, the bank said. "We believe Disney can continue to deliver solid margin expansion at Parks and healthy growth in Studio OI, particularly with a strong content slate and continued ability to monetize on successful franchises," Swinburne said. Morgan Stanley said Disney's cable affiliate revenues will grow 5 percent in 2019 and its theme parks will deliver 1 percent of annual margin expansion. He also said that the Lok Sabha and state Assembly elections would be conducted separately. Mumbai: Senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader and revenue minister Chandrakant Dada Patil Wednesday said that if the BJP and Shiv Sena didnt forge an alliance for the upcoming election, the Congress-Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) combine would come to power in the state. He also said that the Lok Sabha and state Assembly elections would be conducted separately. Mr Patil told reporters at Mantralaya Wednesday that the alliance between both parties was very strong and had thus survived the numerous tremors in the past four years. He also said that if the Congress and the NCP were fighting separately, there was no harm in them contesting separately as well. However, even the Sena knew that in the current scenario, if they fought separately, the Congress-NCP combine would come to power. Mr Patil further clarified that his party would not be affected and would come to power at the Centre and in 20 states. He also predicted that the BJP would win 100 to 110 seats, while the Sena would win 40 to 50 seats in the Assembly election and the people would ultimately suffer. None of the political parties would be affected. Responding to a question, the BJP leader said that elections to the Lok Sabha and state Assembly would be held separately without a single iota of doubt. When asked about the recent earthquakes in the Palghar district, Mr Patil, who also holds the department of relief and rehabilitation, said that seismologists and experts from IIT Bombay were studying the recent incidents. Mr Patil said that incidents of earthquakes were limited to two villages in Palghar. The collector had been asked to make alternate arrangements. They would see if they were to be shifted to some other place or be given new homes. Daniel Richard stands in a 250-acre field, surveying the ruins of his hard work: Rotting soybeans as far as the eye can see. "We're in unchartered waters," says the fourth-generation Louisiana grain farmer. "We've been through tough times, but definitely nothing of this magnitude." This is just one field Richard had to leave unharvested. In total, about 800 acres, 40 percent of his crop, sit dried out and useless. "We lost the demand in the market with the tariffs. There were no exports. They weren't shipping out. China wasn't buying, of course China buys about, a little over 50 percent of our crop." Richard's family has been farming this land for 110 years. His son is the fifth generation working the farm. They have about 3,000 acres from Arnaudville to Port Barre. About 80 percent is soybeans. The rest is rice. "A normal year, you know we're probably a million- to a million-and-a-half-dollar operation, and we always harvest all of our crop every year, which didn't happen this past year," Richard says. The rotted beans are worth about $400,000. An equal amount of good, harvested crop is sitting in his full grain bins, with no one to buy them. But it's not just farmers feeling the pain. Tariffs have hit the trade-sensitive state of Louisiana particularly hard overall. Businesses here paid $19 million in tariffs in October alone, more than eight times the duties paid on the same products one year earlier, according to Tariffs Hurt the Heartland, a bipartisan anti-tariff lobbying group, and economic consulting firm The Trade Partnership. Check out the companies making headlines after the bell Thursday: Shares of Intel dropped 7 percent following mixed earnings and weak first-quarter guidance. The semiconductor-maker reported $18.66 billion in revenue, compared to the $19.01 billion estimated by analysts. Earnings per share were $1.28, slightly higher than the $1.22 estimated on the Street. The company issued mixed 2019 guidance. The report follows one of the best days in a decade for chip stocks. The Semiconductor ETF surged almost 6 percent, led by Xilinix, Teradyne, Lam Research and Texas Instruments, who all beat earnings expectations on Wednesday. Shares of Starbucks jumped 2 percent after reporting strong fourth-quarter earnings. Quarterly sales were $6.63 billion vs. the $6.49 billion expected by analysts. On an adjusted basis, earnings per share were 68 cents, better than the 65 cents expected by analysts. Same-store sales increased by 4 percent, which beat the 2.8 percent Refinitiv estimate. Starbucks updated its international growth plans at its investor day in December, which has prompted analysts to be cautious amid the current U.S.-China trade war. The stock is up over 13 percent in the past three months. Shares of Alaska Air slipped 3 percent despite beating on their bottom line. The airline's quarterly revenue was $2.06 billion, which matched expectations. Earnings per share were 75 cents, beating estimates by 4 cents. Alaska increased its quarterly dividend by 9 percent to 35 cents. Southwest, American, and JetBlue airlines reported earnings earlier in the day, all beating on the bottom line. Alaska is up more than 8 percent year to date. Shares of Discover Financial Services dropped more than 2 percent following disappointing earnings. The company posted $2.81 billion in quarterly revenue, right in line with Wall Street's estimates. The company earned $2.03 per share, which missed estimates of $2.06. Shares of E-Trade fell more than 4 percent after the bell Thursday. The company's quarterly revenue was $735 million, which missed estimates of $746 million. Earnings per share were $1.03, which matched analysts estimates. Shares of Western Digital fell as much as 4 percent after the company reported a 20.7 percent decline in revenue to $4.23 billion, from $5.34 billion. The stock has since recovered some of those losses, but was still trading 2 percent below its closing price. WATCH: How Starbucks went from one coffee bean store to an $80B business Despite growing concern about the slowing growth of the Chinese economy, Starbucks is holding onto optimism about its second-largest market. "We continue to play the long game in China," CEO Kevin Johnson told analysts on the company's quarterly conference call. Earlier this month, Goldman Sachs predicted that Starbucks would be the next company to warn about weak Chinese sales. Apple and McDonald's have already warned investors about softening China sales as a result of the country's slowing economy. But Thursday, Starbucks said it remains confident that it can navigate those macroeconomic conditions. John Culver, president of international, channel development and global coffee & tea, said that the coffee giant has proven that it can handle a changing consumer and different economic conditions. This month marks its 20th anniversary in the country. China, which is also the company's fastest growing market, saw same-store sales increase by 1 percent during the first quarter. Transactions, however, dropped by 2 percent. Almost three quarters (72.6 percent) of internet users will access the web solely via their smartphones by 2025, equivalent to nearly 3.7 billion people. Just over 1.3 billion are forecast to access the internet via smartphone and PC by 2025, according to a report published Thursday by the World Advertising Research Center (WARC), using data from mobile trade body GSMA. Sixty-nine million will access the internet via PC only. WARC estimates that around 2 billion people currently access the internet via only their smartphone, which equates to 51 percent of the global base of 3.9 mobile users. Most of the growth in smartphone use will come from China, India, Indonesia, Nigeria and Pakistan, but there will still be 2.4 billion people who do not own a mobile phone by 2025, the report said. These figures present huge opportunities for businesses to sell products via the mobile internet already, $101 billion was spent via mobile apps alone in 2018, according to a report by App Annie. China accounted for almost 40 percent of that spend, which included paid downloads, in-app purchases and subscription fees, with most of the money spent on gaming. Fifth-generation technology, or 5G, which will start to be rolled out this year, will improve download speeds, meaning that videos will be easier to watch via smartphone. "Advertisers will be able to reach this audience with high-quality advertising across a near-constant connection," WARC's report states. At the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas earlier this month, mobile companies promoted their 5G networks, which Verizon CEO Hans Vestberg has called a "quantum leap" compared to 4G capabilities. Last week, IBM and Vodafone announced a partnership aiming to help Europe catch up with China and the U.S. in terms of 5G services. Mobile vs. TV Companies are forecast to spend more on advertising their products via smartphone than they do on TV by the end of 2019 if current growth rates are maintained in 12 countries including the U.S., U.K. and China, according to WARC data. In 2018, businesses spent $137.9 billion on advertising via smartphone, which is equivalent to $35.36 per user. Advertising via social media on smartphones is the most popular way to reach consumers in the EMEA and APAC regions that WARC surveyed in March 2018, with video ads coming second, followed by mobile search. The Senate blocked dueling bills to fund the government on Thursday, leaving no clear path to ending the longest government shutdown ever. Both a Republican-backed proposal and a measure supported by Democrats did not get the 60 votes needed to pass. The Democratic plan to reopen the government without funding for President Donald Trump's border wall which Trump has explicitly threatened to veto earned more votes in the GOP-held chamber. The failure to find a resolution comes as 800,000 federal workers already stretched for cash start to miss a second paycheck on Friday and some government services suffer. Neither the president nor Democratic leaders have shown any willingness to back down even in the 34th day of the partial shutdown. Some bipartisan senators mounted calls for a bill to fund the government for three weeks while they find a larger immigration agreement. In a statement, White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said a three-week continuing resolution "would only work if there is a large down payment on the wall." She did not mention a total. Trump later said he would support a Senate deal if it is a "reasonable agreement." A GOP-backed measure to fund Trump's border wall and offer limited legal protections for some immigrants failed in a 50-47 vote. Three senators Democrat Joe Manchin of West Virginia and Republicans Tom Cotton of Arkansas and Mike Lee of Utah broke with their parties. A plan supported by Democrats fared better, but still fell short in a 52-44 vote. Six Republican senators supported it: Lamar Alexander of Tennessee, Susan Collins of Maine, Cory Gardner of Colorado, Johnny Isakson of Georgia, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska and Mitt Romney of Utah. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY). Joshua Roberts | Reuters Democrats and some Republicans in the Senate have urged Trump to temporarily reopen the government while the White House and Congress negotiate a broader immigration deal. Trump has insisted on securing financing for the wall before he agrees to fund the government. After the votes failed, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell asked him to meet in the Republican's office. Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., said he spoke to Trump and told him senators were discussing a three-week continuing resolution to fund the government. Graham believes "we could find a way forward to produce a bill that he would sign that would be good for everybody in the country." He called Trump's requests "imminently reasonable" and said McConnell and Schumer would be discussing them. A group of bipartisan senators including Murkowski, Collins, Democrats Ben Cardin of Maryland, Mark Warner of Virginia and Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona, also called to temporarily reopen nine departments while the border security debate proceeds. "It's so important that we're coming together now to offer some glimmer of hope," Murkowski said. McConnell has repeatedly said he will not back a deal Trump does not support even though the Senate voted unanimously before the shutdown started to keep the government running without funding for the barrier. The Democratic-held House has repeatedly voted to fund the closed quarter of the government, or individual departments, without putting money toward the wall. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has urged McConnell to pass the measures. "Let's have that discussion [about border security] after we open up government," she told reporters Thursday. The Senate votes Thursday come as the financial pain felt by 800,000 federal employees is about to sharpen. On Friday, those workers will start losing their second paychecks since the partial closure started on Dec. 22. Thousands of government employees have scrambled to pay for meals and cover their bills. The shutdown has affected various services from airports to FBI investigations and food safety inspections. As hundreds of thousands of workers face furloughs or work without pay, the shutdown is expected to reduce gross domestic product growth for the first quarter. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell plans a vote on a Democratic proposal to fund the government for three weeks but does not include the wall funding that Trump wants. The longest such shutdown in U.S. history has left 800,000 federal workers without pay and struggling to make ends meet. Republican President Donald Trump triggered the shutdown, now in its 34th day, by demanding $5.7 billion for a U.S. - Mexico border wall, opposed by Democrats, as part of any legislation to fund about a quarter of the government. The Republican-led U.S. Senate planned votes for Thursday on competing proposals, one broadly backed by Democrats and the other by Republicans, to end the partial government shutdown, both of which seemed unlikely to resolve the month-long impasse. Demonstrators rally against a partial government shutdown at a protest hosted by the National Air Traffic Controllers Association (NATCA) on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., U.S., on Thursday, Jan. 10, 2019. Its prospects looked dim. The Democratic-controlled U.S. House of Representatives has passed similar bills but Trump has rejected legislation that does not include the wall funding. The mere fact that McConnell, who previously said he would not consider legislation that Trump did not support, is willing to allow for a vote suggests he may be trying to persuade lawmakers of both parties to compromise. He also planned to hold a vote on a bill including wall funding and a temporary extension of protections for "Dreamers," hundreds of thousands of people brought to the United States illegally as children, an offer Trump made on Saturday. Democrats have dismissed Trump's offer, saying they would not negotiate on border security before reopening the government and would not trade a temporary extension of the immigrants' protections in return for a permanent border wall they have called ineffective, costly and immoral. McConnell's calculation may be that if both bills fail, that might help convince Republicans and Democrats to look for a compromise. One possibility emerged on Wednesday when House Democratic leaders floated the idea of giving Trump most or all of the money he seeks for security along the Mexican border but that could not be used to build a wall. Representative James Clyburn, the No. 3 House Democrat, said Democrats could fulfill Trump's request for $5.7 billion for border security with technological tools such as drones, X-rays and sensors, as well as more border patrol agents. On Wednesday, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, the top U.S. Democrat, essentially disinvited Trump from delivering the annual State of the Union address in the House chamber until the government is fully open. Trump called her move "a disgrace." A Reuters/Ipsos poll last week found more than half of Americans blamed Trump for the shutdown even as he has sought to shift blame to Democrats after saying last month he would be "proud" to close the government for border security. Rahul Sinha accused the district authorities of hatching a conspiracy so that Ms Irani is unable to attend the rally at Suri in Birbhum. Jhargram: Union minister Smriti Irani on Wednesday took a dig at Opposition parties over their Kolkata rally and said those leaders who opposed each other all their lives have now come together to serve their own personal interests and out of fear of Narendra Modi. West Bengal witnessed a peculiar situation where people (Opposition leaders) came together on a political platform. They have nothing to do with the development of the people, she told BJPs Ganatantra Bachao rally here. They (Opposition leaders) came together out of fear of Narendra Modi. They came together to serve their personal interests. They have opposed each other all their lives but have come together in order to stop the developmental process initiated by Narendra Modi, she said. Ms Irani mocked West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee for sharing the stage at the rally and trying to forge an alliance with the Congress, who, she claimed, had once tortured her during her days in that party. Several BJP workers have been tortured and killed by Trinamul Congress in Bengal but still the party is fighting against the misrule of TMC, she said. We should take a vow that in 2019 we will bring in a new wave of development in Bengal under the leadership of Narendra Modi. In 2019, Narendra Modi will again form the government at the Centre and we will oust TMC from Bengal, she said. Ms Irani couldnt attend her second rally of the day, scheduled to be held at Suri in Birbhum district, as the authorities denied permission to her chopper to land at Jhargram. BJP national secretary Rahul Sinha accused the district authorities of hatching a conspiracy so that Ms Irani is unable to attend the rally at Suri in Birbhum. The district authorities, he said, had given BJP permission for the Jhargram rally but declined to allow landing of the chopper near the venue. So we had to land Smriti Iranis chopper at Kalaikunda Air Force Base and then travel by car to Jhargram (40.2 km). She had to take the same route back to Kalaikunda to catch her chopper. This delayed the entire schedule and as a chopper cannot land or fly after sundown, she couldnt attend the Suri rally, Mr Sinha said. This is a conspiracy to stop Smriti Irani from attending the Suri rally, BJP state president Dilip Ghosh said. The TMC leadership termed the allegations as baseless. The district administration must have taken the decision of not allowing the chopper to land at Jhargram after looking into the security aspect, said TMC Birbhum district unit president Anubrata Mandal. The BJP had alleged on Monday that the West Bengal government has denied permission for landing the helicopter carrying party national president Amit Shah at an airstrip in Malda on Tuesday. Palestinian Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah called out the international community and President Donald Trump for its weakened engagement with Palestine while at the World Economic Forum in Davos on Wednesday. Speaking to CNBC's Hadley Gamble, the leader described recent U.S. policy on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict as "not encouraging." Hamdallah pointed to Jerusalem as what he saw as a key example of the U.S. reneging on its commitments to pursuing a peace deal between Israel and Palestine. The Trump administration had pledged to accomplish a peace agreement under the leadership of Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner. "Jerusalem was one final settlement issue, all of a sudden Mr. Trump has removed the embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem," the prime minister said, referencing the holy city over which both Israelis and Palestinians assert claims, and whose control and administration was meant to be negotiated as part of a "final settlement" deal. In December of 2017, Trump announced he would move the U.S. embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, breaking with decades of U.S. policy and officially recognizing the city as the Israeli capital, a move met by swift criticism from the international community. The embassy's inauguration in May saw violent clashes between Palestinian protesters and Israeli troops, with more than 50 Palestinians killed. In addition to the controversial embassy move, Hamdallah cited the cut in support to aid programs for Palestinians. "He (Trump) stopped funding UNRWA, which was established through the UN mandate," he noted, referencing the administration's announcement last August to end funding for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees, which provides social, healthcare, and educational services for more than 5 million people. Emerging markets are on fire. Over the past three months, the EEM emerging markets ETF has rallied 4 percent and shrugged off the extreme volatility and sell-offs that plagued U.S. markets through the end of last year. The EEM, the best-known emerging markets exchange-traded fund, might not be the optimal way to play the space, though. "The EEM is the biggest, that and the VWO, but that's arguably 65 percent, almost 70 percent, Asia or implicit Asia. The top five stocks in there are mega-cap Chinese or South Korean names," Tim Seymour, chief investment officer at Seymour Asset Management, told CNBC's "ETF Edge" on Wednesday. Hong Kong, Taiwan, mainland China and South Korea make up 55 percent of the EEM. The three largest companies in the ETF Tencent, Samsung, Alibaba have a 13 percent weighting. "Therefore, the cyclicality at a time like this when you're looking at global trade fears means this is really exaggerated. Emerging markets as an asset class tends to get lumped together," said Seymour. "Where you've been able to outperform is by looking below the surface." One way to play the emerging markets is through Direxion's relative-weight ETFs, says Andrew McOrmond, managing director of WallachBeth Capital. The RWED Emerging Over Developed Markets ETF is 150 percent long emerging markets and 50 percent short the MSCI Europe, Australasia and Far East ETF. "The long portion is funded by the short and it's inside of this vehicle," McOrmond said on "ETF Edge" on Wednesday. "Advanced institutions and clients I've always put on relative weight trades. It just hasn't been available and now it is." For the investor looking to go even more granular, Seymour says some individual-country ETFs offer more concentrated opportunities in emerging markets. "I know this sounds somewhat contrary to the political chaos we've seen over the years, but frankly Brazil, Mexico, South Africa and Turkey while hardly bastions of political serenity on a relative basis to what's already rerated especially those currencies look very interesting to me," he said. "That part of the emerging world, so EM ex-Asia has drastically outperformed in the last 12 months." The EWZ Brazil ETF has rallied 13 percent this year, the EWW Mexico ETF and EZA South Africa ETF are up 8 percent, and the TUR Turkey ETF has added 11 percent. The U.S. looks set to quit a missile treaty with Russia after the latter failed to agree to destroy a nuclear-capable missile which is said to be banned under a decades-old agreement. A meeting of the NATO-Russia Council in Brussels on Friday broke up without agreement between Moscow and NATO's 29 member countries. Russia has said it will not comply with a February 2 deadline to destroy the missile, which is called the SSC-8 by NATO. The missile is thought to be able to carry nuclear weapons at medium range and with short notice, thereby threatening European cities. At Davos on Thursday, the secretary general of NATO warned that the new missile from Russia not only breaks a treaty with the U.S. but also lowers the bar for the use of nuclear weapons. In October, President Donald Trump announced the U.S. will end its 1987 Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty with Russia, accusing Moscow of violating its terms by developing the missile that contravenes the agreement. At the World Economic Forum in Davos on Thursday, Jens Stoltenberg agreed: "Russia is in violation of that treaty. They have developed and deployed new missiles which are mobile, hard to detect, have a short warning time and they are therefore reducing the threshold for the use of any nuclear weapons," he said. The INF Treaty between the U.S. and Russia sought to eliminate nuclear and conventional missiles, as well as their launchers, with short ranges (310620 miles) and intermediate ranges (6203,420 miles). Stoltenberg said NATO would do what it could to help preserve the INF treaty but his military commanders were already looking into the consequences of Russia's new weapon and how it would need to be opposed. "This is really serious and we have to do this in a measured and responsible way." he said. NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg addresses a news conference at the Alliance headquarters in Brussels, Belgium, March 15, 2018. Yves Herman | Reuters US commitment to NATO Morgan Stanley CEO James Gorman said Thursday he's worried about the U.S. government shutdown continuing. "I personally feel it's extremely negative if this shutdown goes on much longer," Gorman told CNBC's "Squawk Box" at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. "At a human level, you've got 800,000 families affected by this. This is not the way the U.S. should be working." "If it goes on through months of this year, it's going to have an extremely damaging effect" on the U.S. economy, he said. The shutdown is in its 34th day as the Trump administration and Democratic leadership remain in a stalemate over funding for a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border. Kevin Hassett, chairman of President Donald Trump's Council of Economic Advisers, said Wednesday the U.S. economy may not grow at all in the first quarter if the government stays closed. "I truly hope the leadership of both sides come to some way of resolving what seems to be a relatively straight-forward problem," Gorman added. "I recognize we have a wall. It's 500 miles long. We've had it for a long time, and it's been sponsored by Democrats and Republicans for a long time. If there are some sensible additions to be made to the wall to improve border security, let's make them." Gorman also said accommodations are needed for children affected by the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program. It allows certain migrants who were brought to the U.S. illegally as children to receive permits to work in the country and avoid deportation. Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella smiles at a meeting of the Economic Club of Washington in Washington, D.C., on Oct. 4, 2017. Microsoft on Thursday said that it's acquiring Citus Data, a start-up that has commercialized open-source database software called PostgreSQL. Terms of the deal weren't disclosed. The deal could help Microsoft make its argument that it supports open-source technologies, particularly in the cloud, while continuing to make money from popular proprietary software like Windows and Office. In the cloud business, Microsoft wants to use openness as a way to pick up business amid competition from Google, market leader Amazon and others. Microsoft has also sought to bolster its reputation in the open-source world by making its products work better with the Linux operating system, which is widely used to run applications in public clouds. It also acquired GitHub last year in a $7.5 billion deal. GitHub is a place where developers collaborate on, explore and access open-source projects. Currently, Citus Data's website advertises a version of its database software that's hosted on Amazon Web Services. Microsoft's blog post announcing the acquisition mentions the competing Azure cloud 10 times. "Working together, we will accelerate the delivery of key, enterprise-ready features from Azure to PostgreSQL and enable critical PostgreSQL workloads to run on Azure with confidence," Rohan Kumar, corporate vice president for Azure data at Microsoft, wrote in the blog post. Microsoft doesn't have plans to change Citus Data's business at this time, a spokesman told CNBC in an email. Microsoft did not immediately respond to a request for comment about whether Microsoft will continue to offer the Citus Cloud offering on AWS. The start-up was founded in 2011 and had offices in San Francisco and Turkey, with 40 employees, according to LinkedIn data. Citus Data's investors include Silicon Valley accelerator Y Combinator, Data Collective and Khosla Ventures. WATCH: Microsoft CEO: We welcome every cloud provider The Senate Intelligence Committee on Thursday subpoenaed Michael Cohen, President Donald Trump's former personal lawyer, to testify. The hearing before the committee is scheduled for Feb. 12, said a source with direct knowledge of the matter close to Cohen. The subpoena was revealed a day after Cohen postponed his voluntary testimony, which had been set for Feb. 7, before the House Oversight and Reform Committee, citing ongoing "threats" against his family allegedly made by Trump and his current lawyer, former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani. It is not clear if Cohen's testimony before the GOP-run Senate Intelligence Committee will be public or in a closed session. Cohen, 52, is due to surrender to a federal prison in early March to begin serving a three-year sentence for crimes that include some related to Trump. CNN first reported the subpoena. Cohen's legal advisor, Lanny Davis, later confirmed the subpoena to CNBC. U.S. Marshals served the subpoena on Cohen at his residence in New York on Thursday morning, Davis told CNBC. A spokeswoman for the committee's ranking Democrat, Sen. Mark Warner of Virginia, declined to comment. "Of course he will honor the subpoena," Davis said later on MSNBC. "But what he will do as a result of the subpoena is a legal issue that would come down to reasonable discussions, certainly with the Senate Intelligence Committee with the great leadership that is a bipartisan committee with Senator Burr and Senator Warner." Davis also said Cohen will say nothing to "compromise" ongoing investigations in which he has been involved that are helmed by federal prosecutors in the Southern District of New York as well as special counsel Robert Mueller. Mueller is probing Russia's interference in the 2016 election, as well as possible Kremlin collusion with the Trump campaign. Earlier Thursday, Davis called for Trump to be censured by the House of Representatives for "witness tampering," as well as calling for a criminal probe of Giuliani. "Today I am calling for an immediate House resolution against Trump for congressional witness tampering and obstruction due horrible multiple threats to Michael's family, and an immediate criminal investigation and possible indictment of Giuliani for the same conduct, since he does not have likely presidential immunity," Davis said in a statement to CNBC. On Twitter and in interviews since Cohen's sentencing in December, Trump has made comments about Cohen's father-in-law, Fima Shusterman. Trump tweet watch father-in-law Shusterman was placed on probation in the mid-1990s after pleading guilty in a case in which he was charged with conspiring to defraud the IRS. Shusterman has not been charged by authorities with any organized crime activity or for any crime involving Cohen. Days before Cohen was scheduled to be sentenced in federal court in Manhattan, Trump referenced Shusterman and Cohen's wife, Laura, while raging against his former fixer in a pair of tweets. Trump tweet 1 Trump tweet 2 In January, Trump took another shot at Cohen's father-in-law during an interview with Jeanine Pirro on Fox News. Cohen "should give information maybe on his father-in-law, because that's the one that people want to look at," Trump said, "because where does that money that's the money in the family." In a statement Wednesday, Davis said that "due to ongoing threats against his family from President Trump and Mr. Giuliani, as recently as this weekend, as well as Mr. Cohen's continued cooperation with ongoing investigations, by advice of counsel, Mr. Cohen's appearance will be postponed to a later date." But House Oversight Committee Chairman Elijah Cummings, D-Md., and House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff, D-Calif., said later that day that "not appearing before Congress was never an option." "We will not let the President's tactics prevent Congress from fulfilling our constitutionally mandated oversight responsibilities. This will not stop us from getting to the truth," Cummings and Schiff said in a joint statement. "We expect Mr. Cohen to appear before both Committees, and we remain engaged with his counsel about his upcoming appearances." Trump, when asked about the claim he and Giuliani had threatened Cohen's family, told reporters: "I would say he's been threatened by the truth." "He's only been threatened by the truth, and he doesn't want to do that probably for me or other of his clients," Trump added. "He has other clients also, I assume, and he doesn't want to tell the truth for me or other of his clients." Cohen, who for years had been Trump's personal counsel and a high-ranking member of the Trump Organization, pleaded guilty to financial crimes, campaign finance violations and to lying to Congress. He admitted facilitating hush-money payments to two women who claimed they had affairs with Trump weeks before the 2016 presidential election. The president has denied having the affairs. Cohen also confessed to misleading Congress in 2017 about when an aborted plan to build a Trump Tower in Moscow actually ended, and about the extent of Trump's involvement in that project. CNBC's Tucker Higgins contributed to this report. This is breaking news. Please check back for updates. Michael Cohen's legal advisor on Thursday called for President Donald Trump to be censured by Congress for "witness tampering" one day after Trump's ex-lawyer postponed his congressional testimony due to "threats" against his family by the president. Cohen advisor Lanny Davis also asked for a criminal probe of Trump's current personal lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, for similar alleged threatening remarks. He said comments by Trump and Giuliani have left Cohen in fear for the safety of his family. "Today I am calling for an immediate House resolution against Trump for congressional witness tampering and obstruction due horrible multiple threats to Michael's family, and an immediate criminal investigation and possible indictment of Giuliani for the same conduct, since he does not have likely presidential immunity," Davis said in a statement to CNBC. Davis first made his requests public earlier Thursday on ABC's "Good Morning America." "Let's call this what it is, a petty partisan move from a partisan attorney to his fellow partisans in the House of Representatives and the American people see right through it," Hogan Gidley, White House deputy press secretary, told CNBC. Also Thursday, Trump in a tweet blasted his former attorney and longtime fixer Cohen as a "bad lawyer." The president also referenced Davis in the tweet, calling him "the lawyer for Crooked Hillary Clinton." Davis is a long-time friend and advisor to former President Bill Clinton and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, whom Trump defeated in the 2016 presidential election. Tweet Cohen, 52, had been scheduled to testify before the House Oversight Committee on Feb. 7, a month before he begins serving a three-year prison terms of multiple crimes. Those felonies included ones related to hush-money payments that Cohen facilitated to two women, porn star Stormy Daniels and Playboy model Karen McDougal, shortly before the 2016 presidential election to keep them quiet about alleged affairs with Trump. The president has denied having sex with either woman. Cohen also admitted to the crime of lying to Congress by making misleading statements about the duration of an aborted effort to build a Trump Tower in Moscow, and about the extent of Trump's involvement in the project. Cohen, who has been cooperating with special counsel Robert Mueller's probe of Trump and possible coordination by members of Trump's campaign with Russian interference in the 2016 election, was expected to talk at length about the president during his planned congressional appearance. Davis announced Wednesday that Cohen was indefinitely postponing that appearance, citing "ongoing threats against his family from President Trump and Mr. Giuliani." On Thursday morning, Cohen was subpoenaed by the Senate Intelligence Committee to testify at a hearing reportedly set for Feb. 12. Trump repeatedly has made public mention of Cohen's father-in-law, Fima Shusterman, who was placed on probation in the mid-1990s after pleading guilty in a case in which he was charged with conspiring to defraud the IRS. Tweet Giuliani, in an appearance Sunday on CNN, claimed Cohen had lied lying about Trump, suggested that Shusterman had organized crime connections, and alleged that Shusterman was involved in criminal activity with Cohen. Despite those claims by Giuliani, a former New York mayor and federal prosecutor, Shusterman and Cohen have not been charged with any crimes related to each other, and Shusterman has not be charged with any organized crime activity. Trump on Wednesday was dismissive of Davis' claims that he had threatened Cohen. "I would say he's been threatened by the truth," Trump said. "He has other clients also, I assume, and he doesn't want to tell the truth for me or other of his clients." The president has denied any wrongdoing by himself or by his campaign. He has repeatedly claimed there was "no collusion" with Russia to help get him elected. Trump and Giuliani had made complimentary comments about Cohen on the heels of an April 2018 raid by the FBI on Cohen's office and residences in New York. But their tone changed after Cohen appeared to break with the president, a move that was underscored by his retention of the Clinton confidante Davis, a harsh critic of Trump. House Oversight Committee Chairman Elijah Cummings, D-Md., and Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff, D-Calif., said Wednesday that Cohen's concern for the safety of his family was "legitimate," but added that they expected him to testify before their committees at some point. Cummings and Schiff also blasted Trump's comments. "As we stated previously with our colleague, Chairman Jerry Nadler of the Judiciary Committee, efforts to intimidate witnesses, scare their family members, or prevent them from testifying before Congress are textbook mob tactics that we condemn in the strongest terms," Cummings and Schiff said in a joint statement. "Our nation's laws prohibit efforts to discourage, intimidate, or otherwise pressure a witness not to provide testimony to Congress. The President should make no statement or take any action to obstruct Congress' independent oversight and investigative efforts, including by seeking to discourage any witness from testifying in response to a duly authorized request from Congress." The chief executive of Lloyds Banking Group told CNBC Thursday that he cannot rule out job losses as the bank updates its tech platforms and reviews how it communicates with customers. In recent years the retail and commercial bank has shed more than 30,000 jobs and speaking at the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, Lloyds Banking Group CEO Antonio Horta-Osorio, told CNBC that further headcount reductions were possible. "I'm not ruling out. It will depend on customer behavior. We have to serve our customers and depend on the way they want to interact with us. We will need more or less people," he said. Horta-Osorio said his message to staff is that many of the jobs of the future, require skills that don't exist today and the bank would continue to invest in its staff. The CEO said the bank provided 600,000 hours of training last year, a 60 percent increase on 2017. Founded in 1765, Lloyds Bank is a British retail and commercial bank with branches across England and Wales. Much of its business is in domestic mortgages and Horta-Osorio admitted there had been a shift in strategy as the London market slowed. "While in London prices have been going down significantly in the last 12 to 18 months, in the rest of the U.K. people are asking for mortgages and we are continuing to lend," he said. The CEO said Lloyds currently had a 21 percent market share in UK mortgages but only 16 percent in London with around 23 percent for the rest of the country. Follow CNBC International on Twitter and Facebook. Wani, 38, who hailed from Cheki Ashmuji in Kulgam district, died on November 25 during a fierce gunfight with six terrorists. New Delhi: Lance Naik Nazir Ahmad Wani, a militant-turned-soldier who laid down his life during an anti-terror operation at Shopian in Kashmir in November last year, has been awarded the Ashok Chakra, Indias highest peacetime gallantry award. President Ram Nath Kovind will present the award to the gallant soldiers wife, Mahajabeen, on the Republic Day, officials said Thursday. Wani, 38, who hailed from Cheki Ashmuji in Kulgam district, died on November 25 during a fierce gunfight with six terrorists. Under intense hail of bullets, he eliminated the district commander of the Lashkar-e-Tayyaba (LeT) and one foreign terrorist in a daring display of courage. He was a militant but later joined the mainstream. He joined the Armys 162 Infantry Battalion (Territorial Army) Jammu and Kashmir Light Infantry in 2004. Wani was a recipient of the Sena Medal for gallantry twice in 2007 and 2018. Demonstrators shout slogans while a barricades seen burning in the background during a demonstration against Nicolas Maduro policies. Rally against the government of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and also to commemorate the 61st anniversary of the end of Marcos Perez Jimenez's dictatorship in Caracas. Russia accused the United States of trying to usurp power in Venezuela and warned against U.S. military intervention there, putting it at odds with Washington and the EU which backed protests against one of Moscow's closest allies. Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido declared himself interim leader on Wednesday, winning the support of Washington and parts of Latin America and prompting Socialist President Nicolas Maduro, who has led the oil-rich nation since 2013, to sever diplomatic ties with the United States. The prospect of Maduro being ousted is a geopolitical and economic headache for Moscow which, alongside China, has become a creditor of last resort for Caracas, lending it billions of dollars as its economy implodes. Moscow has also provided support for its military and oil industry. Russia on Thursday accused Washington of stoking street protests and of trying to undermine Maduro, whom it called the country's legitimate president. "We consider the attempt to usurp sovereign authority in Venezuela to contradict and violate the basis and principles of international law," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said. He said Russia had not received a Venezuelan request for military help and declined to say how it would respond if it did. Maduro, who met President Vladimir Putin in Moscow in December, was the legitimate president, said Peskov. The Russian Foreign Ministry weighed in too, complaining that Washington was seeking to determine the fate of other nations by using a well-tried strategy of trying to depose an undesirable government. It told Washington not to intervene militarily, warning outside interference was the path to bloodshed. "We warn against such adventurism which is fraught with catastrophic consequences," it said. Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan offered support for Maduro too. "My brother Maduro! Stand tall, we stand by you!" presidential spokesman Ibrahim Kalin, writing on Twitter, quoted Erdogan as saying. China, a major lender to Caracas, also voiced its support for Maduro, saying it opposed outside interference in Venezuela and supported efforts to protect its independence and stability. Jamie Dimon, chairman and chief executive officer of JPMorgan Chase & Co., listens during a Business Roundtable CEO Innovation Summit discussion in Washington, D.C., Dec. 6, 2018. The CEOs would be testifying in front of Rep. Maxine Waters, D-Calif., who became the committee's chair earlier this month. Waters recently met with Solomon and Dimon in private , people with direct knowledge of the matter have told CNBC. J.P Morgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon, Goldman Sachs' David Solomon and Wells Fargo's Tim Sloan are among the bank executives expected to testify, the sources said. Bank of America's Brian Moynihan and Morgan Stanley's James Gorman are also expected to testify. The chief executives from some of the biggest U.S. banks are expected to testify before the House Financial Services committee in March, two sources told CNBC. One of the bank executives expected at the hearing told CNBC that Waters said "she wanted to get all the CEOs in to talk about how they could better support the economy." One source told CNBC the testimony would likely be confrontational. Waters has been a critic of the big banks throughout her career. Last year, she pledged to roll back deregulation efforts on the financial industry that were pushed through by the Trump administration and the Republican party. She has also repeatedly sought documents from Deutsche Bank about Trump's finances and its role in a 2011 Russian money-laundering scheme. She went so far as to call for a subpoena of those documents, but Republicans in charge of the committee ignored her efforts. The bank told Congress that privacy laws prevented it from handing over such information. The executives will also be testifying before Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y. Recently, Ocasio-Cortez proposed a 70 percent tax rate on earnings above $10 million. Correction: Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez recently proposed a 70 percent tax rate on earnings above $10 million. An earlier version misstated the figure. Reuters, and CNBC's John Harwood contributed to this report. Brian Schwartz J.P. Morgan CEO Jamie Dimon and Goldman Sachs CEO David Solomon have recently met in private with leading Wall Street critic Rep. Maxine Waters, who leads the powerful House banking panel, CNBC has learned. Dimon and Solomon gave Waters their perspectives on a wide range of topics, including where they stand on the economy, and left the door open to a continued dialogue, these people said on the condition of anonymity. It was unclear what specific concerns and ideas the CEOs expressed to Waters, who has vowed sharp scrutiny of Wall Street and its practices. DAVOS, Switzerland J.P. Morgan CEO Jamie Dimon and Goldman SachsCEO David Solomon recently met in private with leading Wall Street critic Rep. Maxine Waters, who leads the powerful House banking panel, people with direct knowledge of the matter told CNBC. Dimon and Solomon visited Washington to give Waters their perspectives on a wide range of topics, including where they stand on the economy, and left the door open to a continued dialogue with her, these people said on the condition of anonymity. It was unclear what specific ideas and concerns the CEOs expressed to Waters, a California Democrat who has vowed sharp scrutiny of Wall Street and its practices. Dimon and Solomon met separately with Waters in Washington as the California Democrat was preparing to become chairwoman of the House Financial Services Committee after her party swept back into power during November's midterm elections. Dimon and Waters had their meeting in December, while the lawmaker and Solomon met earlier this month. A spokesman for Goldman, Jake Siewert, confirmed on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Davos on Thursday that Solomon had a sit down with Waters in early January. A spokesman for J.P. Morgan declined to comment. In a statement to CNBC, Waters did not specifically mention Dimon and Solomon, but did not deny that she met with the two CEOs. "I have an open door policy, in order to hear a wide range of perspectives and concerns regarding the complex issues under the Financial Services Committee's jurisdiction," Waters said. "As such, I frequently meet with advocates for consumers, investors and vulnerable families, representatives of large banks, regional banks, community banks, and credit unions, and other stakeholders. They are all welcome in my office to share their concerns." It was not clear whether Waters also met with the CEOs of other major American banks. The revelation that two of the most powerful banking executives in the world each met with Waters, a staunch critic of the financial industry, comes as it looks like Wall Street and the newly Democratic-led House Financial Services Committee are on a collision course. Waters officially became chairwoman of the committee this month, adding several left-wing freshman lawmakers to her ranks, including Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York, Rashida Tlaib of Michigan and Ayanna Pressley of Massachusetts. All three lawmakers have been harshly critical of Wall Street and billionaires. Ocasio-Cortez has proposed a 70 percent marginal income tax rate on income above $10 million. Executives attending the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland have said they're scared of the idea and argue that the tax could hurt the economy. She also has questioned the U.S. economy and argued that it benefits the rich. "I do think a system that allows billionaires to exist when there are parts of Alabama where people are still getting ringworm because they don't have access to public health is wrong," she said at a New York event on Martin Luther King Day. In her first policy speech as the committee's leader, Waters took aim at Wall Street, vowing that her panel will be keeping a keen eye on the financial industry and whether the Trump administration is working to weaken regulations. "The Committee will be paying close attention to whether financial regulators try to weaken these important reforms, and keeping an eye on the big banks and their activities, including by holding many hearing," the California firebrand said in mid-January. Dimon and Waters have had their public spats. During a House Financial Services hearing in 2012 on J.P. Morgan's estimated $2 billion trading loss, Waters questioned the bank's lobbying practices. "Lobbying is a constitutional right and we have the right to have our voice heard," Dimon said in response to Waters' round of questioning. "Well, I'm not questioning your right to lobby. I'm questioning what's in the best interest of the American public," Waters fired back. 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For more information about NBCUniversal, please visit http://www.NBCUniversal.com. J.P. Morgan Asset & Wealth Management Chief Executive Mary Callahan Erdoes warned that U.S. CEO confidence will soon start to dip if the warring factions in Washington cannot resolve the latest government shutdown. President Donald Trump and Congress are locked in a showdown over funding for Trump's proposed wall along the nation's southern border with Mexico. Trump has refused to sign any bill that doesn't include money for the barrier and the partial shutdown entered its 34th day Thursday. Speaking on a CNBC-hosted panel at the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, Erdoes said the shutdown was currently costing the U.S. about $1.5 billion a week in gross domestic product (GDP). She added that CEOs would soon start to cancel investments that had already been postponed. "A lot of these just get delayed. Some won't happen after a series of time and, for sure, CEO confidence of 'am I going to build that new plant or am I going to think about that capital expenditure,' those are going to start to weigh heavily on their minds," she said. DAVOS, Switzerland J.P. Morgan CEO Jamie Dimon and Goldman Sachs CEO David Solomon recently met in private with leading Wall Street critic Rep. Maxine Waters, who leads the powerful House banking panel, people with direct knowledge of the matter told CNBC. Dimon and Solomon visited Washington to give Waters their perspectives on a wide range of topics, including where they stand on the economy, and left the door open to a continued dialogue with her, these people said on the condition of anonymity. It was unclear what specific ideas and concerns they expressed to Waters, a California Democrat who has vowed sharp scrutiny of Wall Street and its practices. The two CEOs met separately with Waters in Washington as the California Democrat was preparing to become chairwoman of the House Financial Services Committee after her party swept back into power during November's midterm elections. Dimon and Waters had their meeting in December, while the lawmaker and Solomon met earlier this month. A spokesman for Goldman, Jake Siewert, confirmed on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, on Thursday that Solomon had a sit-down with Waters in early January. A spokesman for J.P. Morgan declined to comment. Later Thursday, in an interview with CNBC's John Harwood, Waters confirmed that she met with Dimon and other bank CEOs. She did not name the other bank executives. In an earlier statement to CNBC, Waters did not specifically mention Dimon and Solomon, but did not deny that she met with the two CEOs. "I have an open door policy, in order to hear a wide range of perspectives and concerns regarding the complex issues under the Financial Services Committee's jurisdiction," Waters said. "As such, I frequently meet with advocates for consumers, investors and vulnerable families, representatives of large banks, regional banks, community banks, and credit unions, and other stakeholders. They are all welcome in my office to share their concerns." The revelation that two of the most powerful banking executives in the world each met with Waters, a staunch critic of the financial industry, comes as it looks like Wall Street and the newly Democratic-led House Financial Services Committee are on a collision course. Waters officially became chairwoman of the committee this month, adding several left-wing freshman lawmakers to her ranks, including Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York, Rashida Tlaib of Michigan and Ayanna Pressley of Massachusetts. All three lawmakers have been harshly critical of Wall Street and billionaires. Ocasio-Cortez has proposed a 70 percent marginal income tax rate on income above $10 million. Executives attending the World Economic Forum have said they're scared of the idea and argue that the tax could hurt the economy. She also has questioned the U.S. economy and argued that it benefits the rich. "I do think a system that allows billionaires to exist when there are parts of Alabama where people are still getting ringworm because they don't have access to public health is wrong," she said at an event in New York on Martin Luther King Day. In her first policy speech as the committee's leader, Waters took aim at Wall Street, vowing that her panel will be keeping a keen eye on the financial industry and whether the Trump administration is working to weaken regulations. "The Committee will be paying close attention to whether financial regulators try to weaken these important reforms, and keeping an eye on the big banks and their activities, including by holding many hearings," the California firebrand said in mid-January. Dimon and Waters have had their public spats. During a House Financial Services hearing in 2012 on J.P. Morgan's estimated $2 billion trading loss, Waters questioned the bank's lobbying practices. "Lobbying is a constitutional right and we have the right to have our voice heard," Dimon said in response to Waters' round of questioning. "Well, I'm not questioning your right to lobby. I'm questioning what's in the best interest of the American public," Waters fired back. Despite intense international scrutiny of its technology, Huawei's senior executives projected confidence at a Thursday event launching some of its 5G products. At a research center in Beijing, the Chinese technology giant unveiled its first 5G chip for base stations the Tiangang as well as a 5G modem called the Balong 5000 and the CPE Pro router. The launch was a sneak peek of a full range of Huawei's 5G line up set to be unveiled at the Mobile World Congress next month. Consumer products chief Richard Yu said that upcoming unveiling will include a foldable phone, which will be commercially available in June. The Thursday event comes at a challenging time for Huawei. The company is facing an international pushback due to concerns about the security of its technology. On top of that, CFO Meng Wanzhou is being closely monitored after her detention in Canada on charges of banking fraud related to business in Iran. Max Baucus Cameron Costa | CNBC A former U.S. ambassador to China says that linking the trade dispute to national security issues will only make things more complicated for American authorities preparing a formal request to extradite a senior Huawei executive. Huawei CFO Meng Wanzhou was arrested in Canada on Dec. 1, at the request of U.S. authorities who say her company violated U.S. sanctions on Iran and may have made illegal transactions with HSBC. She is currently on bail but the U.S. has until the end of January to file an extradition request. "I think it's always a mistake to try to link trade issues with national security issues," Max Baucus, a former U.S. ambassador to China, told CNBC's "Squawk Box" on Thursday. "They should not be mixed together generally and, unfortunately, as (Canada's) Ambassador McCallum said, President (Donald) Trump has suggested linkage that he may not seek extradition of Meng in exchange for China behaving, in Trump's view, on trade. That's a big mistake," Baucus said. Whenever a chief executive starts to voice his or her thoughts on the case, that's a huge additional complication for the prosecution. Max Baucus former U.S. ambassador to China Baucus was referring to comments by John McCallum, Canada's ambassador to China, who told Chinese-language media that Meng had strong arguments against her extradition to the U.S. partly due to Trump's politicization of the case. He said, however, that it was likely Huawei, and other companies, broke American law by sending materials to Iran in violation of U.S. sanctions agreements. 'Further complicates' case Trump told Reuters in December that he would intervene in the Justice Department's case against Huawei. "If I think it's good for what will be certainly the largest trade deal ever made which is a very important thing what's good for national security I would certainly intervene if I thought it was necessary," he told the news agency. "Frankly, I think it further complicates the ability of a Canadian judge to extradite Meng to (the) United States," Baucus told CNBC. According to Reuters, once a formal request is received, a Canadian court must decide within 30 days if there's enough evidence to support extradition, and Canada's Minister of Justice must give a formal order. Goldman Sachs has spotted what it thinks are the most worrisome stocks this earnings season. Based on movements in the options market, software company Symantec, pharmaceutical company Mallinckrodt and LED light maker Cree are among the names that traders are most bearish on ahead of earnings, according to the bank's analyst Katherine Fogertey. "We look for footprints left in the options market from large trades done ahead of earnings to gain insight on sentiment and positioning ahead of reports. In materials, tech and energy sectors, option investors are pricing in very high fear levels for a number of stocks," Fogertey said in a note to investors on Thursday. Goldman Sachs looked at stocks where options imply that a bigger move is expected than their average historical reaction to earnings. They looked for options moves showing that investors are hedging against a violent move lower on results for those names. Earnings, now in full swing, have been upbeat so far. Some big names including United Technologies and IBM also recently provided reassuring guidance for 2019. Fourth-quarter earnings are expected to be strong, with the Wall Street consensus seeing 14.7 percent growth. However, slower profit growth is on the horizon as the first-quarter earnings are expected to be up just 3.9 percent, according to Refinitiv. The bearish positioning of the stocks in the options market also validates Goldman Sachs' fundamental views on the companies. The bank cited its low confidence in Mallinckrodt's near-term pipeline and Cree's risk from its end market exposure to Chinese telecommunications equipment maker Huawei. The sentiment for the overall market remains positive as the hedges are targeted on individual companies, the bank said. The S&P 500 is up more than 5 percent in the new year on strong earnings and the developments on the China trade negotiations, recovering from its worst December since the Great Depression. "Option investors are pricing in higher fears for many single stocks ahead of earnings, but less so for the S&P 500," Fogertey pointed out. Germany's Economy Minister Peter Altmaier underlined the risks to his country's own economy if a trade conflict between the U.S. and China is left unresolved. Speaking at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Altmaier noted a recent slip in German growth but insisted the country was in a "solid, sound condition." Nonetheless he noted that the "looming conflicts" between China and the U.S. could be damaging for his country and the wider European Union (EU). "To be frank and honest even a trade conflict between China and the U.S. would harm the European economy because there are a number of European and German companies vested in China producing for the American market, or vested in the U.S. producing German cars ... exporting to the Chinese market," he told CNBC Wednesday evening. "And all of this is at stake if we cannot find a good solution." Members of the media look at General Motors 2020 Cadillac XT6 SUV after it was revealed on the eve of press days of the North American International Auto show in Detroit, Michigan, January 13, 2019. General Motors said Thursday it will invest $22 million in its Spring Hill manufacturing complex in Tennessee to build high-tech, fuel-saving V-8 engines. The announcement follows a $300 million investment at Spring Hill to make the Cadillac XT6, a three-row sport utility vehicle unveiled at the Detroit auto show in mid-January. The automaker said it has sunk $2 billion into the plant since 2010. It also comes months after the largest U.S. automaker said it will cut up to 14,000 jobs in North America as it realigns its product portfolio away from slow-selling sedans. No new jobs at Spring Hill will be added as a result of the engine investment, said GM spokesman Dan Flores, but the XT6 project will add more than 200 jobs there. The engines make their way into a variety of full-size vehicles GM makes, notably the GMC Sierra 1500 pickup and the Chevrolet Silverado 1500 pickup truck. They are equipped with a technology that turns different cylinders on and off in the engine depending on the driver's needs. The engine can run all eight cylinders when power is needed for acceleration or towing, but can reduce the number of cylinders operating when not needed to save on fuel. The engines can be operated the eight cylinders in an array of 17 different patterns, depending on what is needed. Spring Hill currently builds both four- and eight-cylinder engines and assembles an array of vehicles. In addition to the XT6, GM also makes GMC Acadia SUV, the Cadillac XT5 mid-size SUV and the Holden Acadia, an SUV made for export. The plant employs about 3,800 total workers. "We in the UAW will continue to encourage and support GM investing in their U.S.A. plants like Spring Hill, Tennessee and around the country," said Terry Dittes, United Auto Workers union Vice President and Director of the GM Department, in a statement. "Building product where you sell is good for our members, their families, the communities and all of America". WATCH: How automakers sell a $71,000 version of a $27,000 car The SP and the BSP recently forged an alliance for UP for the coming Lok Sabha polls, keeping the Congress out of the pact. Amethi: Signalling a long-term focus on regaining power in BJP-ruled Uttar Pradesh, Congress president Rahul Gandhi on Thursday said he has given his sister Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, newly-appointed party general secretary entrusted with charge for eastern Uttar Pradesh, the target of ensuring that the party ousts chief minister Yogi Adityanath and forms the next government in the state. The Congress will also fight the coming Lok Sabha polls with full strength, he said at a public meeting in his constituency while wrapping up his two-day tour. Ms Vadra has been given the responsibility of Uttar Pradesh east, while Jyotiraditya Scindia holds charge of UP west. The Congress president said, Priyanka and Scindia have been given a target. That is to form a Congress government in Uttar Pradesh in the next election by defeating and wiping out the BJP. Unlike PM Modi, I do not talk of a BJP-mukt Bharat but speak with respect, Mr Gandhi said, referring to Prime Minister Modis call to free India of the Congress. Whether it is Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh or Tamil Nadu, everywhere the Congress will fight with full might on the front foot, and you will see that after the Vidhan Sabha elections there will be a Congress government in the state, he said. The Congress has decided to go solo in West Bengal as well, sources said. On Wednesday, the Congress broke ties with the TDP, with which it fought the recent Assembly polls in Telangana, and announced its decision to contest the 25 Lok Sabha seats in Andhra Pradesh on its own. The start of Mr Gandhis two-day visit to Amethi, on Wednesday coincided with the formal entry of Ms Vadra in politics, after years of speculation on whether she would take the plunge. However, it is still not clear whether she herself will contest the parliamentary elections. Mr Gandhi criticised the Central government over the Rafale aircraft deal and accused the Prime Minister of waiving industrialists loans, charges countered earlier by the government. The watchman proved to be a thief, he said, and repeated the slogan, Gali gali mein shor hai, chowkidar chor hai. The Congress president said that the Prime Minister had not kept his poll promise on creating jobs, and suggested that the BJP government had slowed development in his constituency. You will get your food park back, not 99 per cent but 101 per cent. All development projects that have been stalled by Narendra Modi and Yogiji to hurt you will be back, he said, assuring voters in his constituency of restoring some of the stalled projects. Earlier in the morning, Mr Gandhi visited a local Shiva temple after meeting party workers at a guesthouse. Addressing a public meeting in Salon area, he termed himself, his sister and mother Sonia Gandhi as soldiers for the people of the constituency. While Mr Gandhi won the 2014 parliamentary elections from Amethi, Sonia Gandhi is an MP from adjacent Rae Bareli. Both fall under the eastern UP turf carved out by the Congress for Ms Vadra. Prime Ministers Varanasi constituency and UP chief minister Yogi Adityanaths bastion Gorakhpur are also in eastern UP. Mr Gandhi reiterated that he has full respect for leaders like Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) president Mayawati and Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav and his father Mulayam Singh Yadav. The SP and the BSP recently forged an alliance for UP for the coming Lok Sabha polls, keeping the Congress out of the pact. Attacking the BJP, Mr Gandhi said, The BJP people are spreading hatred in the name of religion, caste and region. They get people of UP and Bihar thrown out of Gujarat, get Hindus and Muslims fight each other. Narendra Modi means hatred, he is the symbol of hatred. We will remove Modi in 2019 and no one can stop this, he said. Former Scottish First Minister Alex Salmond denied committing any crime after he appeared in court on Thursday, charged with multiple sex offences including attempted rape. Scottish prosecutors said Salmond, 64, who said he had voluntarily gone to police on Wednesday after becoming aware of the investigation, had been charged with nine counts of sexual assault, two counts of attempted rape, two counts of indecent assault and breach of the peace. "I am innocent of any criminality whatsoever," Salmond told reporters outside Edinburgh Sheriff Court following the brief hearing which media and public were not allowed to attend. "I refute absolutely these allegations of criminality and I will defend myself to the utmost in court," he added. "I would love to say a great deal more but I've got to observe the rules of the court and in court is where I will state my case." Salmond, who did not enter a plea, was released on bail with his next court date yet to be fixed. The combative politician, nicknamed "Wee Eck" (little Alex), led the devolved Scottish government for seven years until 2014. As leader of the Scottish National Party (SNP), he helped to push support for Scottish independence to a record level but Scotland ultimately voted to stay part of the United Kingdom in a 2014 referendum. Last year, Salmond took legal action against the Scottish devolved government now led by his successor Nicola Sturgeon over how it handled a complaints process against him in a harassment case. Salmond, who denied any wrongdoing, won a judicial review earlier this month on how that case was handled by the Scottish government when it conceded it had acted unlawfully in probing the harassment claims. The case pitted the two most popular figures in the Scottish independence movement against one another, and some commentators believe it could weaken Sturgeon's leadership just as she seeks to start a new drive for secession amid the chaos of Britain's exit from the European Union. A dispute has continued to simmer between two factions in the SNP around what Sturgeon knew about the case and when, and an inquiry by the Scottish parliament is under way to discover more. In addition to hampering decision-making, though, the situation also may help the central bank. "So while the Fed is not driving completely blind, the windshield is mucked up," Ellen Zentner, chief U.S. economist at Morgan Stanley, told clients in an audio note. "Now when the shutdown ends the data will come flooding in and only then will the Fed be able to decide on its next move." With central bank policymakers less than a week away from their next meeting, the ongoing partial government shutdown is denying them some of the metrics on which they rely to make decisions. Key measures such as GDP, retail sales and housing are missing from the arsenal as the departments handling that information remain closed, even while those that handle employment and other surveys are open. The Federal Reserve faces a quandary in its near-term decision-making: It's hard to be "data-dependent," as officials say they are, without the data. Not having the proper level of information gives officials an easy out from big decision-making at a time when the market remains frightened that Chairman Jerome Powell and his cohorts will make a policy mistake. "It actually works out well for them," said Joe LaVorgna, chief economist for the Americas at Natixis. "If you're of the view that the Fed is not supposed to do anything, the shutdown actually plays into that story. Without having data, you're not forced into making any decisions. The default option is dovishness." That was probably the option anyway, given that the market doesn't expect the Federal Open Market Committee to approve any rate hikes this year. However, committee members in their December projections indicated two increases are likely, so there remains doubt over when they might be. There's also the open question of whether the Fed will slow down the pace at which it's reducing the bond portfolio on its balance sheet. "They would like to do a few hikes, at least two if not more. For them to get over that hurdle it's going to have to look like things are booming," LaVorgna said. "That doesn't seem to be very likely." With the FOMC unlikely to hike next week, investors will be watching every word of the post-meeting statement for clues about the future direction of policy. They'll also get to hear from Powell himself in a news conference afterward as he begins a new policy of meeting with the press after every meeting and not just quarterly as had been the case. What Powell will say is unknown, but it's unlikely the statement will even make any mention of the government impasse. During the shutdown of October 2013, then-Fed Governor Powell agreed with a push to omit its mention at that month's FOMC meeting, according to a transcript. Minutes that will be released three weeks after the upcoming meeting will provide a better window into how much the shutdown was on officials' minds, but by then the government closure, which is already the longest in history, likely will have ended. But that may not stop the Fed from using the lack of clear data as one justification in not approving a March increase. "Data is vital for business decision-making, for household decision-making, and of course for policymakers," Fed Governor Lael Brainard said in remarks last week to Marketplace. "So we certainly rely on it." At the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, on Thursday, Weinberger told "Squawk Box" anchor Becky Quick that he's "not someone who believes it has a huge effect on GDP. It has a very humanitarian effect. I mean, I see it; my neighbors aren't getting paychecks. And we do a lot of filings with the SEC and it is slowing down IPOs, it is slowing down tax refunds. There's a real effect, but as far as reducing the GDP over the long term, I think there are much bigger issues out there." Yet EY's Global Chairman and CEO Mark Weinberger does not believe the government shutdown will have a long-term effect on GDP. The bigger issue, he says, is America's rising doubt the government will work together to pass any legislation over the next two years. It's day 34 of the government shutdown, and both sides are standing their ground. Business leaders are warning that the longer the shutdown goes on, the bigger the economic pain on the country. This is affecting CEO and consumer optimism. Among them: trade. There would be a lot more money going back into Capex and a lot more supply-chain changes if it wasn't for all the uncertainty around the trade issues. Decision-making is slower. I think businesses have slowed down in moving forward with things that they otherwise would have," said Weinberger. But, he added, "I don't see people stopping investment or stopping hiring because of these geopolitical issues." Yet the government shutdown has had an effect on the confidence of the American people: "The real thing I think it does is undermine the confidence ... the people have in the government working together over the next two years." If the government came to a compromise, he says the issues they should be working on are deregulation, infrastructure and appointing a number of senate seats. But, he says, "I'm not real optimistic a lot of legislation is going to get done in the next two years." From an economic perspective, Weinberger says CEOs are less optimistic this year than last. But he is still seeing very strong fundamentals. "Businesses are still investing. It's the fifth quarter in a row of double-digit profit growth. It was up 11 instead of 17 percent. Capex is still up; hiring is obviously still up; wages are rising; net wealth for individuals is at an all-time high." He added: "I mean, if you're pessimistic now, you're probably going to be looking for a problem. Obviously, there's more risk to the downside than we've had in a long time with all the geopolitical issues, but the underlying factors if you're looking as a business and investing are still very strong." The odds are stacked against billionaire investor Eddie Lampert and his $5 billion-plus effort to resurrect Sears from bankruptcy, former Sears Chairman and CEO Alan Lacy told CNBC Thursday. "Obviously, many people have said it, it's doubtful and unlikely that a retailer that goes into a Chapter 11 process comes out of it and stays out of it," he said on "Squawk on the Street." "It's rare that that's happened in retail bankruptcy history." Once the largest retailer in the country, Sears has bled revenue and mounted debt for years, eventually running out of enough steam to cover a $134 million payment. Sears filed for bankruptcy last October after years of store closures. It's by far the largest of dozens of retailers to file bankruptcy since 2017, including liquidation of the iconic Toys R Us chain and department store Bon-Ton. Lampert, who was once dubbed the "next Warren Buffett," stepped down as CEO of Sears Holdings Corp., the company behind the Sears and Kmart brands, after the bankruptcy. But he remained chairman. Earlier this month, Lampert and his hedge fund won a $5.2 billion bid to buy the historic brand out of bankruptcy. Unsecured creditors are objecting to the deal and placing blame on Lampert, the hedge fund, and others for misconduct that they think played a large role in the chain's downfall. A U.S. bankruptcy judge is scheduled to consider ESL Investments' deal on Feb. 1 and, if approved, could save 400 stores and 45,000 jobs. Lacy criticized the Sears stock buyback strategy before and during the 2008 financial crisis. From 2005 to 2011, the retailer spend about $6 billion to repurchase shares. He said the money should have been put back into the business. However, Lacy said it was the Great Recession that really put the "nail in the coffin for this opportunity and that's obviously largely unrelated to Eddie's management style or anything." He added, "That was just a hugely impactful negative event, particularly for the Sears franchise which is much more correlated to housing turnover than anything else in the economy." Yet, there is some hope that the 125-year-old department store chain could adapt to the retail landscape. But the company has a long ways to catch up as its hard to invest in online shopping since it hasn't turned a profit since 2010. "It's possible, in my view, that [Sears] winds up with a going concern that's basically based online" because more stores could close post-bankruptcy, Lacy said. "[Online] seems to be one area that Eddie has paid a lot of attention to, invested behind ... and stores that are left probably do have some retail value." Entrepreneur Gregg Miller is fed up with the government shutdown, so he is sending every Republican senator and the vice president a pair of testicular canine implants. Yes, fake dog balls. And he swears it's not a stunt. "As God is my witness on my mother's grave, so help me almighty God, it has nothing to do with being a publicity stunt," Miller said. His protest is just one example of how businesses big and small are trying to get in the shutdown fray. Shutdown-themed merchandise has flooded online stores like Cafe Press, while corporations such as Kraft Heinz have sought to leverage their brands to help struggling government workers. About 800,000 federal employees are going without pay as the shutdown drags on. Miller is the founder of Neuticles, which is based in Oak Grove, Missouri, and sells testicular implants for neutered dogs. He has sold over a half million pairs or one million balls over the past 25 years. Miller invented the product after his bloodhound, Buck, was neutered. He wanted Buck to maintain his "God-given look," and Miller believed more people would be willing to neuter their pets if they had a product to make their pets look whole. He was right. Neuticles has made him a millionaire. Now, the businessman has angrily turned his attention to Washington, D.C, where lawmakers and President Donald Trump are at odds over whether to fund the construction of a wall on the southern border. Trump has refused to sign any bill that lacks wall funding, while Democrats, led by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, have said they won't approve a measure with money for a barrier. Miller admits he does not like Trump, even calling him a "madman." As the shutdown has dragged on it entered its 34th day Thursday he is preparing to send his product to all 53 Senate Republicans, plus Vice President Mike Pence, with the message: 'We are demanding that you gain testicular fortitude and have enclosed a pair of Neuticles to help achieve the necessity to stand up against the sole interests of this rogue president." "My intention and actions on this isn't necessarily based on the shutdown that Trump created," Miller said, "but I'm looking ahead because impeachment is imminent." (Any impeachment trial to remove Trump from office would happen in the Senate, but there are no signs, in fact, that impeachment is imminent.) Other businesses are getting mixed up in shutdown politics, too. Shutdown merchandise is hitting the online market, although it's not clear how well it is selling. Cafe Press provided a list of new designs to CNBC, but it did not release sales figures. "I survived the Trump shutdown and all I got was a crappy t-shirt," reads one design. Another says: "Bros before furloughs." CNBC reached out to a website called UncleSamShirt about a shutdown tee it's selling which caricatures the president's hairstyle. "Not sell much," was the reply. President Donald Trump has found support from an unlikely source in Europe Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte who told CNBC that the president could be a catalyst for much-needed reforms. "The U.S. has voted and Trump is the president and maybe he will be re-elected ... So we have to work with him, and I think he is an opportunity," Rutte told CNBC's Geoff Cutmore at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. "He is an opportunity to make changes to some of those multilateral institutions that we hold dearly, like the World Trade Organization (WTO) which is not functioning very well. Or take the United Nations or European Union there are many issues to solve," he added. "So my point would be instead of thinking 'oh we would have liked Hillary Clinton to win,' or 'I wish (former President Barack) Obama was still there,' but guys Trump is president, make use of his presidency and his critique of those international institutions is sometimes very valid." Trump has made himself unpopular in most European circles for his criticism of hallowed, well-established institutions such as the NATO and the WTO (Trump threatened to pull the U.S. out of both) and the European Union (which Trump said was formed in order to take advantage of the U.S. in terms of trade). He has also threatened to impose tariffs on European goods and cars; hardly the policies that would make most liberal politicians, like Mark Rutte, warm to Trump. Billionaire investor and liberal political activist George Soros launched a blistering attack on Chinese President Xi Jinping on Thursday, describing him as the "most dangerous" opponent to those who believe in open society. Speaking at the World Economic Forum during a private dinner event in Davos, Switzerland, Soros lambasted Xi's proposed social credit rating system. His comments come as the Chinese state continues to set up a broad ranking system to monitor its citizens, giving them a social credit score. "I want to call attention to the mortal danger facing open societies from the instruments of control that machine learning and artificial intelligence can put in the hands of repressive regimes," Soros said. "The social credit system is not yet fully operational, but it's clear where it's heading. It will subordinate the fate of the individual to the interests of the one-party state in ways unprecedented in history." First announced in 2014, the government-run system will track elements of individual people's behavior and determine some personal privileges for them based on a score. China is piloting the system in various locations, and it is not clear how it will work after it fully rolls out nationally. So, for example, if a person were to get a traffic violation or criticize the government, their personal score may decline. People with lower scores may face penalties, such as being banned from traveling on certain train lines or getting their children into prestigious schools. The system, which is due to be fully operational in 2020, is expected to be mandatory. The head of Soros Fund Management and the Open Society Foundations said the system was "frightening" and "abhorrent." Satya Nadella, chief executive of Microsoft, speaks during a panel session on day three of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. Microsoft Chief Executive Satya Nadella on Thursday welcomed regulation of facial recognition technology, as concerns about its ability to be used for surveillance and intrusions of privacy grow. Nadella suggested that, as facial recognition becomes increasingly prevalent, self-regulation among tech companies might not be enough to deal with the societal challenges it represents. "One of the things that I feel today is, in the marketplace, there's competition; there's no discrimination between the right use and the wrong use of facial recognition," Nadella told an audience at the World Economic Forum in Davos. He said that, while self-regulation is important to ensure use of facial recognition is "fair and robust," government rules may be needed to prevent harmful consequences. "At the same time we also welcome any regulation that helps the marketplace not be a race to the bottom," Nadella said. Such a "race to the bottom" could in fact lead to "even more heavy-handed regulatory regimes," he added. The software giant has been at the forefront of raising concerns about the potential misuse of facial recognition. It has been increasingly calling for rules to be established to prevent human rights violations and discrimination. The technology is included in many new smartphones including Apple's new iPhone models and Samsung's latest Galaxy phones. A primary purpose of facial recognition so far has been to identify users with biometric authentication to bolster the security of devices. But growing worries over the ability of countries like China to use it to spy on citizens have led to increasing calls for regulatory oversight. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross said Thursday the U.S. is still "miles and miles" from a trade deal with China. "Frankly, that shouldn't be too surprising," Ross said in a "Squawk Box" interview. The U.S. and China have "lots and lots of issues," he continued, and the Trump administration will need to create "structural reforms" and "penalties" in order to resume normal trade relations with Beijing. "We would like to make a deal but it has to be a deal that will work for both parties," he said. "We're miles and miles from getting a resolution." Ross listed the sticking points, starting with what he calls America's "intolerably big trade deficit" with China. That deficit ballooned to $323.3 billion in 2018, according to Chinese government figures released earlier this month. It's the worst imbalance on record dating to 2006. "The other problem is the future. That's the 2025 plan that they have to try to dominate world high tech industries. We have to protect that," Ross added. "The third area is American companies doing business in China should have market access, should have a level playing field, should not be subject to disrespect for their intellectual property rights." Ross joined CNBC from Washington as China and the U.S. try to resolve their trade disputes under a tariff cease-fire that ends March 2. President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping last month agreed to halt any new levies to give diplomacy a chance. When asked whether the U.S. would change its March deadline, Ross said, "it's difficult to prejudge where we'll be in that point in time. But as that date approaches, the president and those of us who are dealing with the trade issues will get together and have a very serious discussion on where we stand at that point." Trump has said he will reinforce punitive tariffs on roughly half of all Chinese exports to the U.S. should the two parties fail to agree on a permanent solution. In the latest tariff moves, the U.S. levied 10 percent duties on $200 billion worth of goods from China, prompting Beijing to put tariffs on $60 billion worth of U.S. goods. Trump has also threatened to put tariffs are all Chinese imports if a trade deal can't be reached. According to recent reports China has offered to buy more U.S. products in the coming years to reduce the imbalance in goods. Under the offer, China would increase its annual import of U.S. goods by a combined value of over $1 trillion over six years, the officials told Bloomberg, which was first to report on the import boost overture last week. Hundreds of thousands of federal government workers, from the Coast Guard to the National Weather Service, face another payday with out pay Friday, and Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross suggests they get a loan to cover it. Thursday on CNBC's "Squawk Box," Ross acknowledged that he had heard that some federal workers affected by the prolonged shutdown have been going to shelters for food, but said he didn't understand why. "I know they are [going to homeless shelters] and I don't really quite understand why because as I mentioned before, the obligations that they would undertake say borrowing from a bank or credit union are in effect federally guaranteed," said Ross. "So the 30 days of pay that people will be out there's no real reason why they shouldn't be able to get a loan against it and we've seen a number of ads from the financial institutions doing that." Banks and credit unions are offering affected workers interest-free loans to cover part or all of their paychecks, he said. "When you think about it, these are basically government-guaranteed loans because the government has committed, these folks will get back pay once this whole thing gets settled down," Ross said. "So there really is not a good excuse why there should be a liquidity crisis. Now true, the people might have to pay a little bit of interest but the idea that it's paycheck or zero is not a really valid idea." But workers will have to shop around. Three of the largest banks, J.P. Morgan Chase, Bank of America and Wells Fargo, are not offering loans, but are waiving fees and providing other assistance. Navy Federal Credit Union is offering loans, but they are only available to some of its 8.1 million members. And some others, like the Department of the Interior's credit union, say they are having delays making shutdown loans due to the high volume of requests. With loan amounts of many farmers more than what his government was currently waiving off, their plight continued to be acute, said Capt. Singh. Chandigarh: Punjab CM Amarinder Singh on Thursday lashed out at the BJP-led Central government for failing to come to the rescue of the beleaguered farmers and said that farmer suicides will continue in Punjab and other states if Centre does not give up its apathy to the farming community. He lambastedthe Centre over its continued indifference to the woes of the farmers. The states cannot do everything on their own, without the Central governments help, he said, acknowledging that the loan waiver scheme announced by his government was not enough to alleviate all the sufferings of the farmers in the state. With loan amounts of many farmers more than what his government was currently waiving off, their plight continued to be acute, said Capt. Singh. Pointing out that his government had inherited a huge Rs 2.08 lakh crore debt, the chief minister said the loan waiver scheme was the best he could have done in the circumstances. Even the prime minister and thefinance minister, whom he had personally met to seek help for the farmersseveral times, had failed to realise the criticality of the situation and hadimplemented only a small part of the Swaminathan report, he said, demanding intoto implementation of the recommendations of the committee. His governments loanwaiver scheme was only a temporary solution to the problems of the distressedfarmers and the Centre had to step in if a permanent solution had to be found,Captain Amarinder Singh asserted. Meanwhile, however, he said the stategovernment would continue to find ways of helping the farmers, includingdiversification initiatives. His government would also soon come out with a loanwaiver scheme for the landless labourers, who were also reeling under huge debtburdens, the Chief Minister announced. Captain Amarinder Singh also hit out at the Centre for failing to provide compensation to farmersagainst stubble burning, which was one of the causes for air pollution in thestate. He, however, categorically denied Punjabs responsibility for pollutionin Delhi, which he attributed to local reasons in the national capital. Following are excerpts from a CNBC interview with NATO Secretary General, Jens Stoltenberg, and CNBC's Steve Sedgwick. SS: Jens, really nice to see you again. Look, one of the most extraordinary things I've seen in the last year was your breakfast meeting with Mr Trump, and I have to say, the way he ambushed you was quite extraordinary. And-, and what I thought was also quite ironic is I think you actually probably agree with most of the sentiments from the President of the United States, that actually, Europe does need to do a lot more to defend itself, especially in the current situation. JS: So I agree, but not only I agree, but all allies agree that we need fair burden sharing within NATO. And that's the reason why we have been so focused on how can we make those allies, who are spending less than they should, to invest more? And the good news is that, since 2016, NATO allies in Europe and Canada, have added 41 billion extra for defence spending, and by next year, they will add 100 billion extra for defence spending, so European allies and Canada are really stepping up, so the strong message from the US, from President Trump, has-, is having an impact. SS: It is, but it's at a snail's pace, and Russia isn't mobilising at a snail's pace, and therein lies the issue, if the Germans are only going to get to 1.5% by 2024, what hope is there for the poorer countries? JS: Well, this is the biggest reinforcement of NATO since the end of the Cold War-, SS: Mm. JS: For the first time in many years, we see a significant increase in defence budget, 100 billion, over four years, 2016 to 2020. SS: Mm. JS: Second, we have increased the readiness of forces, for the first time in our history, we have combat-ready troops, in the eastern part of the alliance, and we have totally modernised our command structure. So, things are really happening in NATO, reflecting the fact that we live in a more dangerous world. SS: Yeah. Are we in an arms race? When I see that you're concerned, and NATO's concerned, about SSC-8 cruise missiles on the continent of Europe, as well, I wonder whether, despite everything you've said, we're actually in an arms race, and perhaps most of us don't even know it. JS: So, we do what we can, to preserve the INF treaty. This treaty has banned a whole category of weapons, intermediate range weapons. Russia is in violation of that treaty, they have developed and deployed new missiles which are mobile, hard-to-detect, short warning time, and-, and they are therefore reducing the threshold for any use of nuclear weapons. So we call on Russia to come back in to verifiable, transparent compliance with that treaty, because this is really important for all of us. SS: Secretary General, I believe you said NATO will respond. Can you just give us some of the options you have, and how you will respond, if Russia continues to manufacture, test and deploy these class of missiles? JS: As we have-, we have asked our military authorities, our military commanders, to look in to the consequences, we will go through many different options, but I will not speculate now, because this is really serious, and we do have to do this in a measured-, SS: Mm. JS: And responsible way. We continue to work for Russia coming back in to compliance, tomorrow, there will be a meeting in Brussels, in the NATO-Russia Council, where we will-, where we will meet Russia, and, once again, call on them to come back in to compliance. SS: I'll come back to that extraordinary breakfast, again, I-, I don't even know how you knew-, you knew-, well, could respond to when the President of America is lambasting you about German energy policy, it was the most extraordinary thing, as well, but-, but he had a point, we are taking a vast amount of our energy from our potential enemy, as well. He had a point about the contradiction, didn't he? JS: Well, on energy, and on this pipeline from Russia, there are different views, uh, between allies, and I think you just have to accept that, when we are 29 allies, from both sides of the Atlantic, with different history, different political parties in government-, SS: Sure. JS: There are differences. So, there is no way to hide that. But the strength of NATO is that, despite those differences, we have had them for many years, uh, the Iraq War, or the Suez Crisis-, SS: Mm. JS: In the 50s, or whatever, um-, uh, despite these kind of differences, we have always been able to unite, in NATO, around our core task-, SS: Yeah. JS: That we protect and defend each other. This is good for Europe, but it's also very good for the United States, they have 28 allies, friends, Russia doesn't have that, China doesn't have that, so this is a great advantage, for the United States, to have allies and friends. SS: Does Brexit represent a potential issue for you? We know that the British have been a huge part of NATO, they have very large defence spending, as well. When I hear the rancour, on both sides, of the EU and the United Kingdom, I hear about-, uh-, uh, the Europeans talking about an EU army, or-, or some kind of parallel force to NATO, as well. Would that diminish NATO? JS: First, Brexit will change UK's relationship to the European Union, but Brexit will not change the UK's relationship to NATO, on the contrary, I think it makes NATO even more important, as a platform for bringing European allies and North America together. Second, we welcome EU efforts on defence-, SS: Mm. JS: But not as an alternative to NATO, but something that can complement and strengthen the European pillar within NATO. After Brexit, 80% of NATO's defence expenditure will come from non-EU allies, there is no way the EU can replace NATO. SS: Final question for you, Jens, I want to draw on your experience. The first time I met you, as the Norwegian Prime Minister, as well, on many occasions, as well, do the British-, should the British go down a Norwegian route? I mean, give us some help here on this one, as well, you-, you can give us comment, where a lot of EU leaders can't. JS: No, I think it would be very wrong, if I start to give advice to, uh-, to-, SS: You don't think we need it? JS: Uh-, SS: [Laughs]. JS: I think the best thing, now, is that, uh, British politicians, and the people, solve that issue themselves-, SS: Mm. JS: Instead of NATO trying to give advice, uh, on an area which is actually not our mandate. SS: Nice to see you, sir. Thank you very much for your time. Good to see you again. JS: Thank you. SS: So diplomatic. ENDS Following are excerpts from a CNBC interview with Hendrik du Toit, Investec Group's Joint CEO, and CNBC's Geoff Cutmore and Steve Sedgwick. SS: Well, from Robert Shiller to Hendrik du Toit, who is the joint CEO of Investec Group, Hendrik, really nice to see you, thank you very much indeed for, I might just say it again, for being 42 degrees colder than Cape Town, at the moment, just to rub it in. HT: [Laughs]. SS: Same question as we just asked Robert Shiller, really, do you see a risk of a full-blown bear market, and-, and let me accompany that with the question, accompanied by a recession? HT: There's always-, towards the end of a-, or a mature end of a bull market, the risk increases, it's obvious. We don't see it right now, for the simple reason that there's a-, the wall of worry is still being climbed. I have never seen people as depressed in Davos as this year, they're probably depressed by broader issues, but, you know, Davos is a very good contrary indicator, and, if we look at our earnings results that came out recently, yes, they may be revised downwards next round, but companies are doing pretty well. SS: But Hendrik, I-, I totally agree with you, that-, and-, and I think the point you're making is that the ebullience around Davos has been way higher-, HT: Yeah. SS: Than it should've been in previous years-, HT: Yes, yes. SS: Rather than thinking it's a counter indicator this year, I was hoping that, actually, the Davos man and woman has finally got it, but you're saying it's still a contrary indicator? HT: I think markets remain markets, and to us, the wall of worry is the issue, uh, the GDP growth-, if you talk to businesses, the underlying demand is there, the global consumer is active, and I think it's all about the Fed, it's all about Jay Powell, and all about the trade negotiations. Now, the big uncertainty is the-, the US/China trade negotiation, which is not really about trade, it's about a new world order, and if we get a dysfunctional world order, having come from a space which was very, very good for business, over the last 20, 30 years, since communism fell, then, yeah, there may be-, there may be some big-, big hits along the way, and there may be some big challenges. GC: And that sounds like a difficult environment to chase risk assets. HT: Yes. The other side, though, is the opportunity. If you look at the correction, we've had a very substantial correction in the emerging market equities, also emerging market debt, both areas we're active in. Everyone thinks there's this disaster going on, yet local currencies in emerging markets have recovered really well over the last few months, and there are opportunities to lock in yields, to make money, in what still is a low yield, low-, should be a low return world, but actually has been a reasonable return world. So-, GC: Now-, HT: I think if you pick, and therefore the world is going towards active, rather than just simply exposing yourself to risk assets in aggregate. GC: Can we talk a little bit about the business? HT: Yes. GC: As we read it, in the pink paper, there's a huge row going on, among vested interests over the splitting off of the asset management business. Could you just clarify for us? Is there a-, is there a difficult discussion taking place, among shareholders, about what happens next with the-, with the business? HT: No, I think, in Investec, we've had a business which was trading significantly below its-, uh, its-, its sum of the parts value. As incoming management, the incoming leadership, with the outgoing leadership, we've agreed that, firstly, we have to simplify the business. When you simplify, you typically look at the demerger options. The easiest and simplest option is to-, to, in our case, put the asset management on one side, list it off, and leave the bank and wealth, which operates in two jurisdictions, asset management and global, and we're going through the process with regulators, which is going well, we also now need shareholder support, we'll see, we-, we have been consulting shareholders, I think the only slight question mark was, you know, once I-, once I've-, I've dealt myself out of a job, which is absolutely right, and therefore I've got all the activists on my side, or on our side, is-, is the specific role, at the moment, it's scheduled to be Executive Chairman of the asset management business, which is perfectly functional, works perfectly well in the US, and every other market-, SS: Yeah. HT: UK governance is different, and I think we've got to respect-, SS: Yeah. HT: And listen SS: Look, we can talk about governance until we're blue in the teeth, but I want to talk about the asset management industry, as well. Geoff's got-, have you got Mr Ermotti on your panel, later on, as well? GC: Yes, I have. Yeah. SS: And they had a horrible week of outflows, on their asset management-, HT: Mm. SS: Business, as well, I spoke to Martin Gilbert earlier in the week, as well, they've had a really tough time with outflows, as well. You-, I have to take your word, because I haven't checked the numbers, you tell me you've got inflows, at the moment, in the asset management business-, HT: Up to the-, SS: I just want to know why you're seeing inflows-, HT: Now-, SS: When they're seeing outflows. HT: We're a mid-sized business, to the-, the half-, our half-year in September last year, we'll-, we'll report new numbers, you know, in due course-, SS: Yeah. HT: But since the-, since the crisis, more-, almost half of what we run has been raised in net new inflows, we only had one year of outflow. I think it's about performance, but it's also about appropriate and relevant offering, and about not disrupting your business with too much corporate activity, because remember, in-, SS: mm-hm. HT: In our game, you get put on hold. I think UBS is different, UBS is all about risk perceptions of ultra-wealthy people. We're not in that business, we're largely in the institutional, and in the wealth market, but not the ultra-wealth market, and they're different. SS: Yeah. HT: Ultra-rich people normally have businesses producing cash, and they can afford, with their investment side, to have stay-rich portfolios, rather than return-seeking portfolios. SS: Fabulous. GC: Hendrik, real pleasure, thanks so much-, HT: Thank you-, GC: For joining us, and love to catch up, when you've resolved some of these issues around what's going on with the business. HT: Thank you, gentlemen. GC: Nice to see you. HT: Bye bye. GC: Hendrik du Toit, Joint CEO of Investec Group. ENDS Following are excerpts from a CNBC interview with Mark Rutte, Prime Minister of the Netherlands, and CNBC's Geoff Cutmore. GC: I'm delighted to say, we have Mark Rutte with us, the Prime Minister of the Netherlands, good to see you, sir-, MR: Good to-, GC: Thank you so much-, MR: Good to be back on the programme. GC: For-, for coming to see us. I just want to pick up off the IMF downgrade, 0.2%, okay, it's not huge, but it does indicate a rate of change in the wrong direction, and the problem seems to be primarily with the advanced economies. MR: Mm-hm. GC: How concerned are you, in particular, with the performance of the Eurozone? MR: Well, it's a-, the picture is quite different, from one country to another, the Netherlands is still growing at a healthy growth rate, we are still growing at about [inaudible] the rate of our surrounding, competing economies, like Germany, or Belgium, or France, so that is going well. We are also coming down a little bit, but in itself, that is good, we have now the third lowest unemployment rate in all of the European Union, and we have a budget surplus, so I'm-, I'm cautiously, um-, I'm worried, of course, about what is happening, and particularly, we have to watch, of course, the German car industry, and what impact that will have on the German economy. GC: Are you worried about contagion of protesting spilling over from France? I mean, we've seen this yellow jacket protest. Growth is not a disaster, as you point out, for the Eurozone, and yet there are legacy issues-, MR: Mm-hm. GC: Related to the bailout, I think, and the way economies evolving here, that have made people very angry in Europe. MR: Well, it's very difficult to find exactly what is behind the yellow coats, also there, we see many streams of people, from one side to the other. People can be angry about pensions, they can be angry about fiscal contraction in the past, they can be angry about the unemployment. And generally, of course, people-, now, when the economy is doing better, they want to experience themselves, in their personal life, by lowering the tax burden, if possible, by investing more money, in education, in defence, in, of course, safety on our streets, in healthcare, that people, also, themselves, experience that things are better. That is the main aim of my government, now that we are out of the crisis, that people really start to sense, in their personal lives, that things are a bit better, whilst, at the same time, trying to close the gap between those who already think that the politicians are there for them, and those who feel that the political class has left them to the side. We have to close that gap, that's the second main task we have as a government. GC: Is there a political class in Europe that just doesn't seem to understand, that most people in the economy are not worried about the French/German project to Europeanise us all in the Eurozone, they're actually more concerned about their take-home pay, their household income, and whether they'll have a job, going forward, and that the institutions in Europe just don't seem to be prepared for that? MR: Well, you need both. On the one side, we don't like a Eurozone which is trying to find new tasks for itself. What we have agreed, in December, at the European Council, was very good, we agreed that, in the Eurozone, we need to be more competitive, we need to create more jobs, and we need to put measures in place, which will assure us, not that countries who are not actually implementing what we agreed together, that we will help them, they have to help themselves, but that collectively, we will do more to get competitiveness in the Eurozone. That's crucial. And, at the same time, of course, all of us, in our day-to-day life, we can worry about our pension, about our job security, will our children have a job, when they have from school, is that schooling still relevant to, uh, our-, uh, to our labour market, and-, and the needs of the labour market of the future? These are the worries people have, and we, as politicians, are there to provide two things. One, safety, and secondly, make sure there is an economy which creates enough jobs. GC: Are you concerned that we might see a dramatic swing to the right, in the May European elections? I know you've had your challenges, fighting the far right in the Netherlands, are you concerned that that may be the outcome of the results in May, if people don't feel that the European Commission, and the EU, is in touch with their lives? MR: The problem with the European elections is that the turnout is low, so it will be difficult to use that as a measurement of the popularity of the extreme left or the extreme-, or-, or the extreme right, the populist, the wrong type of populist parties. It's difficult to use it, you can better measure that at a national level, and, luckily, in the Netherlands, and France, and Germany, we were able to beat that wrong type of, uh-, of populism. I think we will, across the board, see some gains being made, by the more populist parties, but I still think, and I have tremendous trust in-, in the judgement of the voters, and the people in Europe, that most people will still vote for parties who are really trying to explain that it is all about trade-offs, and that you cannot do everything, you cannot have lower prices and higher wages, you have to do everything at the same time, in a measured way. GC: A lot of people in Europe look at President Trump's attacks on the WTO-, MR: Mm-hm. GC: On the OECD, on the organisation of NATO, on the Commission, and they're angry about that-, MR: Mm-hm. GC: But as I read you on this-, MR: [Laughs]. GC: You said, Dutch white wine-sipping elite, who have criticised US President Donald Trump, should recognise that there are actually some errors in the number of international organisations, and the way they-, MR: Mm. GC: Operate. That's quite a swipe, at a constituency in Europe that maybe doesn't agree with that perspective. MR: We have-, we don't vote in US elections. The United States has voted, and Trump is the President, and maybe he will be re-elected, so that is the-, the given, so we have to work with him, and I think he is also an opportunity, an opportunity to make changes to some of those multilateral organisations, whom we hold dearly, like the WTO, but it's not functioning very well. Take the UN. Many issues to solve. Take the European Union. Many issues to solve. So, my point would be, instead of thinking, 'Oh, we would have liked Hillary Clinton to win,' or, 'If Obama was still there,' well, guys, Trump is President. Make use of his Presidency, and his critique of those international organisations is sometimes very valid. Make use of that, get him on your side, so that collectively, with Trump, we can change those organisations. GC: Which ones, in particular, do you not think are working? MR: Now, the crucial one is, of course, the WTO. The WTO is, at this moment, in a difficult spot. The whole conflict resolution mechanism, the way it is dealing with trade disputes, of course, the US, itself, has some responsibility for that, they have to appoint certain people in certain bodies, so there is a lot we need to do, and if we could get Donald Trump on board, in saying, 'Hey, we are not fighting you on multilateralism,' let's forget that debate, whether you are pro or anti multilateralism, I mean, it is a given, that we are interconnected in this world. Let's make sure that these organisations deliver for the people. GC: I've got to wrap up with a final question on Brexit, and I expect you anticipated this-, MR: [Laughs]. GC: I-, I've just done a panel with Governor Mark Carney, he says that the banking system in the UK, the financial architecture, is robust enough-, MR: Mm-hm. GC: To deal with a no Brexit outcome, but he did have some concerns about the logistics businesses, the-, the-, the companies that are currently having-, MR: Right. GC: To operate with supply chains across borders. Do you still share some concerns, about how business in your country, and in the UK, is going to manage that potential scenario? MR: Yes, I do, you have to prepare for the worst and hope for the best, and preparing for the worst means we, as a government, we are putting in place many new people, to deal with customs, to deal with logistics, but also our companies have to prepare. Many are doing that, but not everyone, and I am also worried about the UK side, whether the government, and companies, are doing enough to prepare for a no deal scenario, and at the same time, I work very hard to prevent a no deal scenario, because it would be an awful outcome, even if we were able to deal with the logistics. GC: In particular, I know I've seen numbers suggesting that there would be a hit to growth in the-, in the Netherlands, the number I saw was 4.25% knocked off Dutch GDP, that's a number from October 2017. Have you done your own work-, MR: Yes, well-, GC: On that, and does that number add up? MR: It is not that dramatic, and it will take place over many years, but still, it will have a big effect, also on Belgium, on the west coast of France, on Poland, on Denmark, on Ireland, but particularly on the UK. I have said before, to BBC, I hate Brexit from every angle, because it is bad news for the United Kingdom, first of all, it will be a smaller, less relevant country, after Brexit than before, and, of course, their economy will get a huge hit, if there is talk of a no deal Brexit. If there is a negotiated Brexit, we might be able to contain the damage. GC: Alright, Mark Rutte, it's been a real pleasure catching up with you-, MR: Absolutely. GC: Thanks so much-, MR: Thank you. GC: Coming to see us here. MR: Good to be here. GC: Mark Rutte, the Prime Minister of the Netherlands. ENDS Following are excerpts from a CNBC interview with Jes Staley, CEO of Barclays, and CNBC's Geoff Cutmore and Steve Sedgwick. GC: We're very pleased to have with us, Jes Staley, who is the CEO of Barclays, good morning, Jes, nice to see you-, JS: Morning, Geoff. How you doing? GC: Well, it didn't quite spell out the story there, in that lead in, so let's-, let's just build on that, and let's just deal with it, for a moment here. You do have an activist shareholder, who's got, what, nearly 6% of the stock, who is continuing to insist that you should be divesting the investment bank. How are you going to deal with this chap? JS: Well-, GC: Mr Bramson. JS: [Laughs]. Mr Bramson. So, we've had a-, you know, a reasonable engagement with Bramson, over the last year, we'll see him again in-, in March. He really hasn't laid out his strategy to us, you know, we-, we read the press, and see what they say. We want to engage with all of our shareholders, and we do, but we had a great year last year, you know, we more than doubled our profitability, through the first nine months of 2018, from, sort of, 7% RoTE in '17 to over 11, uh, in '18. We more than tripled the amount of capital that we returned to our stakeholders last year, so we are very comfortable with the trajectory of the bank, we think we've got, you know, the-, the support of our shareholders, and we'll engage with-, with Bramson, when he wants to, and-, and exchange ideas, but for now, the bank, I think, is in a pretty good place, and the shareholders are-, are pushing us forward. GC: You-, you always give a-, a very good and reasoned read on what is going on with capital markets. Timing is difficult here, isn't it? Because he's suggesting that you step away from these markets, at a time when, actually, these markets look troubled, by concerns about growth, and the possibility of recession. Are you worried about the volatility this year, for markets generally, and what that might mean for trading and investment banking business? JS: No, I think-, I think vol-, you know, actually, lack of volatility is what puts pressure, I think, on those that are intermediaries in the-, in the capital markets. What you want is you want volatility, and you want liquidity, and you want activity by-, by the buy side. I think, this year, we will see a return to more normal levels of volatility, you know, 2017 was the lowest level of volatility in the history of the financial markets, 2018 had a couple of pops, very much towards the end of the year. I think we're going to have a more normalised level of volatility, in fact that's a positive thing for the intermediaries of the world's capital markets. SS: Let's go back to, not so much the Bramson point, but your share price performance, because I-, I look at the stock, and I've got it in front of me now, and in 2017, 2.40, 2019, we got down to, at a low just below 1.50, as well. I take what you're saying about the RoTE, I take what you're saying about a whole host of measures, where Barclays looks good, and I-, I will give one of my own, I think your net interest margin, above 3%, is-, JS: That's right. SS: Wipes the floor with the likes of Royal Bank of Scotland. Why does the market think your company is only worth 0.6, 0.7 price to book? JS: I mean, you know, one of our challenges is we are a European bank, uh, and in fact, if you look at how the sector has traded, whether it's a bank in Switzerland, or France, or-, or the UK, there has been a trade-off against the European banking sector of extraordinary proportions over the last 12 months. And we are not immune to that. What we have to focus on, as a management team, is what we can control. The capital level of the bank, the profitability of the bank, the strategy of the bank, and the prospects of the bank, and I feel comfortable where we are. You know, we can't fight the tape, when the tape is as strong as it is. I think the question, for all of us, is why is the market so negative on the banking industry, and particularly so negative on the banking industry across Europe, and that's the question that I think we all need to face. SS: Can I give you an answer? Because-, JS: Sure. SS: They see the levels of debt building up globally, we had Tim Adams from the IIF in recently, uh, let me pick a number, non-financial corporate debt has gone up from, uh, $27 trillion less, ten years ago, than it is now, $72 trillion, and-, which equals 92% of global GDP. That's why, because people are worried about the underlying business. JS: I-, and I think those risks are very relevant, are very real, and the issue is, how is a bank like Barclays positioned to take on this sort of risk? We have had a very conservative credit profile on our balance sheet, post the referendum vote over two years ago. We are very comfortable that we are positioned for that sort of movement in the overall credit markets, if it comes. We are an intermediary. We are-, you know, it's not like in 2007, where we would take these lever loan positions and leave them on the bank's balance sheets. They're not on our balance sheets, they are placed with the capital markets, and what we want to be is a provider of liquidity, when you have the disruptions, because there are some stress levels in the overall levels of debt, in Triple-B, that sort of space that you've talked about, but we're very comfortable that Barclays is positioned for this [inaudible]. And in one sense, you know, to-, to ultimately prove the strategy of the bank that we started in March of 2016, you know, a recession might actually give the underlying evidence for why this is the right-, to have a diversified model, where we're diversified by client, by geography, by business, that's what you want to be, if-, if, in fact, we are going in to tough waters. GC: Can I offer you an alternative suggestion, and one I think that, you know, may rankle a little bit, but let's put it out there, it's a trust deficit. You know, we're ten years on from the financial crisis, you have some legal issues, personally, and with the bank, that are ongoing, at this point, Deutsche Bank has some legal issues, that are ongoing, and relevant to what happens to Deutsche Bank, at this point. The punter looks at this sector, and says, 'I just don't know where the next bat to the forehead comes from-,' JS: Right. GC: 'For these businesses.' You know. Peter Altmaier, I couldn't get him to tell me whether he believed that a cross-border merger would be the appropriate way for Deutsche Bank to go, at this point, but it's a mess. It's Germany's, you know, most prominent-, JS: Yeah, but-, GC: Public bank, and it's a mess-, JS: Yeah, Geoff-, GC: And-, and that's-, that's my problem-, JS: Yeah, so-, GC: You know, for the audience watching, they'll be like, 'Yes, we've still got a trust deficit.' JS: In this time last year, when you and I were talking, we were being prosecuted by the Department of Justice, in the United States. We were being criminally prosecuted, the bank, by the British government, and-, and the CEO was under investigation. We fast forward to today-, GC: Mm. JS: And we've got to regain credibility, I have no doubt about that, but we've settled with the Department of Justice, the best settlement of any European or American bank, around mortgage-backed securities. We had two judges dismiss the British case against the bank, we have no more liability in the Qatari case, at all, and the investigation is done. And so-, and-, and-, and we're here. So I'd actually say, now is a time, given that we have clean air in front of us, we don't have litigation, there's no more LIBOR issue-, GC: Yeah. JS: Foreign exchange issue, now-, and now that we have a profitable bank, that's well-capitalised, now is the time that we need to incrementally gain trust, and that is gonna be-, take time, and we are methodically gonna regain that trust. GC: Just-, just give us a line on Deutsche. What should happen to this bank? JS: You know, ah-, you know, I know Christian, I-, I think he's doing the right things, I think he's a very talented executive, I think they've recapitalised the bank, they are moving the bank towards-, towards profitability, and-, and-, and as Christian has said, you know, let's get Deutsche organised, and in the right place, and then let's think about what other options there might be. SS: Completely different question, two of my local Barclays have closed, there's a big change going on, it's a-, a big cost savings exercise, in many ways, customers aren't using the branches anymore. Why are fintech players still making such ground, when you have such low-hanging fruit on the costs, to-, to-, to still go forward, i.e. you-, Santander have been cutting branches, Barclays, everyone has, as well. This should be great for profitability. Why do I still have this nagging feeling that fintech is still making the ground on attracting new customers, and actually really pushing ahead with the products people want in the 21st Century? JS: There is no institution that has moved more of its client base to banking on a mobile device than Barclays. We have more people banking on Barclays mobile app than all the fintech companies in the UK combined. So we're-, so-, SS: But there's things I can do with fintech that I can't do at HSBC, Santander, Barclays, Lloyds. Why is that? Why have you guys not spotted their business model and say, 'We can do that. We've got scale'? JS: One of the challenges is-, is-, is we have an obligation, given our size, to make sure that our systems, and our-, and our digital offering, is safe, secure, protects our clients against fraud, doesn't crash, etc., and we work collaboratively, with the British government, with the FCA, to do as well as we can, to make sure it's a safe technology evolution for our customers and clients. Fintech doesn't have to, so I can give you the latest whistle, and not worry about its stability, not worry about how it might be used by fraud. It's a very different game, that they are playing in, than that the major banks are, but ultimately I think, to secure the trust of our clients, we need to have a safe, reliant, stable technology platform for our clients to engage in, and we're gonna stay that course. GC: You've been here, what, the week, I guess, and you've been talking to your contacts globally. How many times is Brexit coming up in the conversation-, [Laughter] GC: As an-, as an issue that-, SS: Once this morning, it sounds like. [Laughter] GC: As an issue that they're worried about, and how are you answering, given that we still seem to be in this purdah, waiting for Parliament to come up with some rational direction of travel? JS: Well, you know, Brexit is a topic almost-, almost everywhere, as we've said before, you know, on the weekend after the referendum vote, at Barclays, we got the whole management team together, and said, 'We need to be prepared for whatever happens, including a hard Brexit,' and-, and we have done that. You've got a very difficult political challenge in the UK, where you have roughly a third, I think, of parliament that wants to, you know, roll back Brexit, a third that wants to have, sort of, a soft landing, and a third that wants to keep all of the optionality open to-, open to the British government. We'll leave it to the political body, to figure this out-, GC: Mm. JS: We have always said-, the nature of politics is, this will not be resolved until the very end. GC: Mm. JS: Nothing is agreed until everything is agreed, and that means we're going to the 28th or-, or the 29th, and we have to deal with that uncertainty, we're dealing it with-, GC: Mm. JS: Uh-, uh, with our stock price, but our obligation is to be committed to the UK, and to do everything we can to help our customers and clients, irrespective of what the outcome is. SS: Jes, real pleasure seeing you, all I can say is, I was out last night, I saw two cabinet ministers, and a leading Brexiteer, and they looked very relaxed. [Laughter] SS: I can say no more. GC: Were they-, SS: Jes Staley-, JS: Thanks, Steve. Yeah. SS: Were they? GC: Were they-, were they chemically assisted, in that, um, sense of-, SS: Jes Staley, thank you very much-, GC; Sense of peace? SS: Indeed for that-, JS: [Laughs] I'll leave that one. SS: CEO of Barclays. ENDS Following are excerpts from a CNBC interview with Lloyds Banking Group CEO, Antonio Horta-Osorio, and CNBC's Nancy Hungerford. NH: And I'm pleased to say we're about to get a view from another UK bank, joining me now is Antonio Horta-Osorio, the CEO of Lloyds Banking Group. Sir, it's a pleasure to have you on CNBC-, AH: Good morning. NH: Good morning to you. Well, we just heard from several European banking CEOs, and as you are domestically focused in the UK market, perhaps the biggest risk beyond your control, you might say, at the moment, is Brexit. I had the chance to speak to UK Secretary Liam Fox, Trade Secretary, that is, and he told me he's optimistic there is a deal, but when I asked him to put the odds of a deal being reached, he said it's similar to predicting the lottery. Does that worry you? AH: Well, we are really the largest retail and commercial bank in the UK, as you said, the economy is performing in a very resilient manner, growing around 1.5%, and, of course, ahead of us, we have this uncertainty, with the 29th of March. I would share that opinion, that I think the most likely and desirable event is a sort of agreement, that avoids a cliff event on the 29th of March. That's what businesses, in general, want. NH: And ever since we saw Theresa May's plan being voted down in parliament, we have seen investors buying up UK assets, even your share price has had an uptick, as well, it seems that investors think there will be a softer Brexit, they think that no deal is off the table. But do you think there is still significant Brexit discount in your share price? AH: So, we have to bear in mind that no deal is still the legal default option-, NH: Right. AH: I.e., if nothing happens, on the 29th of March, the UK leaves the European Union. I think you are right that there is a strong majority, as has been seen in parliament, against a no deal Brexit-, NH: Mm. AH: That majority has not yet tested what alternative they want, but it is clear that there is this very strong majority to avoiding a no deal Brexit, which is really important, I repeat, for UK businesses, and for the UK economy. NH: Very important, but how much upside would you actually see in your share price, do you think, if that softer scenario is achieved? AH: Well, that's really up to investors to judge-, NH: Yes. AH: What I can tell you is that the UK economy has been progressing well, in a very resilient way, growing 1.5%, with low impairments throughout the country. We just saw the latest numbers this week, employment in the UK is at the highest level ever-, NH: Right. AH: With 140,000 more people working up to November, unemployment close to historical lows, GDP growing, so a good scenario, with a significant uncertainty ahead, and, as you saw, over the last 12 months-, NH: Yes. AH: All UK domestic stocks have been hammered, people have avoided UK domestic stocks as an asset class, and, of course, if this uncertainty is lifted, it's logical that investors will make up their minds, and they will go back, and invest back in to UK stocks, so that should be the case, if we have a deal before the 29th of March. NH: What are you seeing in your mortgage business? Because a lot of attention, at the moment, is to what's happening with the UK housing market, in light of this uncertainty, and-, AH: Mm-hm. NH: Just how bad things could get. AH: Right. Well, we have, like, two mortgage markets in the-, in the UK, you have the London market, which is mostly cash transactions, high-value properties, and the rest of the country. And while in London, prices have been going down, and I would say significantly, over the last 12 to 18 months, in the rest of the country, house prices continue to rise at modest paces, and people are asking for mortgages, and we are doing more lending. So we have been shifting our strategy to support the remaining mortgages out of the UK, our mission and purpose, as a company, is to help Britain prosper, we have a 21% market share of overall mortgages in the UK, but that market share is only 16% in the London area, while it is around 23% in the rest of the country. NH: Governor Mark Carney has said that if there is a no deal Brexit, a crash out scenario, that he may not be able to help, with the way of rates, in fact, he may have to actually hike rates. I mean, how damaging would that be? AH: Yeah, Governor Carney said that, and he also said that he thought UK banks were extremely well prepared for a no deal possibility, and the stress test that was recently done on UK banks just show that. NH: Mm. AH: Of course, if you have a discontinuity, rates might have to go up, as you mentioned, and it will depend on the intensity, too, I think it's too-, too early to assess, also because I think that the most likely scenario, as I told you, is a sort of agreement, with a transition towards Brexit. NH: When you talk about your mission to service UK customers, I mean, it does seem as though you are still, in some ways, paying for what happened in the financial crisis era. I mean, there's still a trust deficit, it seems, people concerned about overdraft fees, also even a call from an MP about your own resignation, related to a whistleblower scandal at the bank. What's your response to that, specifically? AH: Well, I think it is correct that all banks have legacy issues of the past, we have a few related to the acquisition of HBOS, which was in 2008, so-, NH: Right. AH: More than ten years ago. Our purpose, as Lloyds, and having acquired HBOS, of course, we take responsibility-, NH: Mm. AH: Is to put things right, redress customers, where they should be redressed, and continue to work to get people's trust. This is our motto. It's to help Britain prosper. If you look, for example, and you are mentioning small businesses-, NH: Right. AH: Over the last eight years, according to Bank of England numbers, the sector, the lending to SME sector, has shrunk by 22 billion in the UK, and Lloyds alone has increased the lending to SMEs net by 8 million. Our market share, as a consequence, went from 13% to 19% of small businesses, and small businesses are the lifeblood of any economy, they make most of the employment, most of the exports, they-, they are the lifeblood of the economy, and that is one of our main priorities, as the largest retail and commercial bank in the country. NH: Another legacy of the financial crisis, too, has been the greater scrutiny, as mentioned, coming from regulatory bodies, and when you look at the recent stress tests, Lloyds did rank among the three worst performers here, obviously still passing, but have you taken steps to address some of those concerns in those stress tests? AH: Well, it was the-, it was the most severe stress test, over the last few years, and, as you said, absolutely concentrated on the UK, because the Bank of England, and rightly so-, NH: Mm. AH: Wanted to test banks for Brexit, and we are absolutely concentrated on the UK economy, that's why, as I told you, our motto is to help Britain prosper. So, we passed, under draconian assumptions-, NH: [Laughs]. AH: Of the Bank of England, and that's why Governor Carney said that banks are all very well prepared, should the no deal Brexit alternative-, NH: Mm. AH: Come to be a reality. NH: And when it comes to helping Britain prosper, I mean, we think about the employment outlook in the country, too, I mean, you're among banks who are digitalising, changing, making enormous changes, due to the technological factors in the industry, it does seem as though, on the employment level, you're talking about net adds, so far, as part of this transition, but these are jobs that are going away, not necessarily transitioning. What is-, AH: Mm-hm. NH: Your message to employees out there, who are nervous that they might become obsolete? AH: Well, Nancy, that is a really important point. We have announced a major investment, as part of our new three-year strategic plan, we have announced a 3 billion investment on technology and digital alone-, NH: Mm. AH: This is not including any other type of IT maintenance or regulatory investment, it's a 40% increase over the previous plan, and within that increase, we are increasing 50% the number of training hours on our own staff-, NH: Mm. AH: And the message to our staff is, as you said, many of the jobs of the future don't exist today, and they require skills that people don't have today, so we are massively investing in the training of our own people, so-, so that they have those jobs in the future, either inside the bank, or outside the bank. We are giving them the skills, for them to continue to be useful-, NH: Mm. AH: And have value added in this fourth digital revolution, which is increasing at a really, really fast pace. NH: As part of that reskilling, though, can you rule out additional job cuts in the foreseeable future? AH: I'm not ruling out-, NH: Mm. AH: It will depend on customer behaviour-, NH: Right. AH: We have to serve our customers, and depending on the way they want to interact with us, we will need more or less people-, NH: Sure. AH: But we are, as I told you, to give you numbers, we have increased 600,000 hours of training last year, a 60% increase on the previous year, just on training our people-, NH: Mm. AH: To prepare them for the jobs of today, and especially for the skills they need for the jobs of the future. NH: Mm. It certainly is a changing environment. Sir, thank you, it's been a real pleasure having you on CNBC, I appreciate your time this morning. AH: Thank you. NH: That is Antonio Horta-Osorio, the CEO of Lloyds Banking Group, with us. ENDS Lora Kolodny, Christina Farr, Paul A. Eisenstein Apple has cut over 200 employees from Project Titan, its stealthy autonomous vehicle initiative, people familiar with the group tell CNBC. A former Apple and Tesla executive, Doug Field, returned to Apple in August to work on Project Titan, alongside Bob Mansfield. The Project Titan layoffs were billed internally as a restructuring under the relatively new leadership. Apple dismissed just over 200 employees this week from Project Titan, its stealthy autonomous vehicle group, people familiar with the matter told CNBC. An Apple spokesperson acknowledged the layoffs and said the company still sees opportunity in the space: "We have an incredibly talented team working on autonomous systems and associated technologies at Apple. As the team focuses their work on several key areas for 2019, some groups are being moved to projects in other parts of the company, where they will support machine learning and other initiatives, across all of Apple," the spokesperson said. "We continue to believe there is a huge opportunity with autonomous systems, that Apple has unique capabilities to contribute, and that this is the most ambitious machine learning project ever." In August, Apple enlisted a Tesla engineering vice president and Apple veteran, Doug Field, to lead the Titan team alongside Bob Mansfield. This week's dismissals from the group were seen internally as anticipated restructuring under the relatively new leadership. Other employees who were impacted by the restructuring of Project Titan are staying at Apple, but moving to different parts of the company. CEO Tim Cook has been touting Apple's initiatives in health as the key to its future. "I believe, if you zoom out into the future, and you look back, and you ask the question, 'What was Apple's greatest contribution to mankind?' it will be about health," Cook told CNBC's Jim Cramer. Apple executives have been mum in recent months about the company's car prospects, which appear to have been scaled back from the initial rumored vehicle to a focus on software. In 2016, Apple laid off employees from the same group, shifting its strategy. Fully self-driving cars remain experimental, even for major players in the field such as Waymo, Cruise and Tesla. Venture and strategic investors from the traditional automotive world have poured billions into start-ups developing self-driving vehicles including Zoox, Pony.AI, Aurora, May Mobility and Embark. CNBC's Jordan Novet contributed to this report. About CNBC: With CNBC in the U.S., CNBC in Asia Pacific, CNBC in Europe, Middle East and Africa, and CNBC World, CNBC is the recognized world leader in business news and provides real-time financial market coverage and business information 410 million homes worldwide, including more than 90 million households in the United States and Canada. CNBC also provides daily business updates to 400 million households across China. The network's 15 live hours a day of business programming in North America (weekdays from 4:00 a.m. - 7:00 p.m. ET) is produced at CNBC's global headquarters in Englewood Cliffs, N.J., and includes reports from CNBC News bureaus worldwide. CNBC at night features a mix of new reality programming, CNBC's highly successful series produced exclusively for CNBC and a number of distinctive in-house documentaries. CNBC Digital delivers more than 52 million multi-platform unique visitors each month. CNBC.com provides real-time financial market news and information to CNBC's investor audience. CNBC Make It is a digital destination focused on making you smarter about how you earn, save and spend your money by zeroing in on careers, leadership, entrepreneurship and personal finance. CNBC has a vast portfolio of digital products, offering CNBC content to a variety of platforms such as: CNBC.com; CNBC PRO, a premium service that provides in-depth access to Wall Street; a suite of CNBC mobile apps for iOS and Android devices; Amazon Alexa, Google Assistant and Apple Siri voice interfaces; and streaming services including Apple TV, Roku, Amazon Fire TV, Android TV and Samsung Smart TVs. To learn more, visit https://www.cnbc.com/digital-products/. Members of the media can receive more information about CNBC and its programming on the NBCUniversal Media Village Web site at http://www.nbcumv.com/programming/cnbc. For more information about NBCUniversal, please visit http://www.NBCUniversal.com. With British lawmakers still not agreeing on how the U.K. will leave the European Union, the chief executive of Barclays predicted there will not be much clarity on the outcome until right before the March deadline for leaving the EU. U.K. Prime Minister Theresa May's initial Brexit deal was rejected by a majority of the British parliament last week. An alternate plan which some say is not sufficiently different from the original deal is expected to be put up for a vote in parliament on Jan. 29. But, the different divisions within the British parliament have remained at loggerheads. So, uncertainties remain and Barclays is getting prepared for all possible outcomes, the bank's CEO Jes Staley told CNBC's "Squawk Box" on Thursday. "The nature of politics is this will not resolve until the very end. Nothing is agreed until everything is agreed and that means we're going to the 28th or the 29th," Staley said at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. He was referring to the March 29 deadline for the U.K. to leave the EU. The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note fell to 2.709 percent at 9:44 a.m. ET, while the yield on the 30-year Treasury bond dropped to 3.032 percent. Bond yields move inversely to prices. The bleak outlook on the U.S.-China deliberations from Secretary Wilbur Ross added to growing concerns about a slowdown in global economic growth and spurred modest buying in the Treasury market. U.S. government debt yields slipped on Thursday after the U.S. Commerce Secretary said that Washington and Beijing are "miles and miles" away from a permanent trade agreement. The European Central Bank took no action Thursday and left its benchmark interest rates unchanged. However, ECB President Mario Draghi downgraded the bank's growth risk assessment due to multiple headwinds globally. The central bank's leader said that risks to the growth are now tilted to the downside. "The risks surrounding the euro area growth outlook have moved to the downside on account of the persistence of uncertainties related to geopolitical factors and the threat of protectionism, vulnerabilities in emerging markets and financial market volatility," Draghi said. The ECB meeting comes less than a week before the U.S. Federal Reserve will host its two-day monetary policy meeting. No speeches are scheduled for Thursday. The number of people seeking jobless benefits dropped last week to the lowest level since November 1969, the Labor Department reported Thursday. The government said that weekly applications for unemployment aid declined 13,000 to a seasonally adjusted 199,000. The four-week average, a less volatile figure, dropped 5,500 to 215,000. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said on Wednesday that Democrats would block President Donald Trump from delivering his State of the Union address until the government reopened an announcement that Trump complied with. Recent surveys have also indicated that voters want the shutdown to end, with new polls suggesting that many believe Trump should compromise to end the partial closure. [The stream is slated to start at 5:00 a.m. ET. Please refresh the page if you do not see a player above at that time.] Bank of England Governor Mark Carney, IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde, and German Deputy Finance Minister Joerg Kukies are joined by top business leaders to discuss the ways in which the global financial sector needs to adapt for the future. Subscribe to CNBC on YouTube. If you think technology has rapidly changed the workplace, you haven't seen anything yet, according to data analytics expert Aneel Bhusri, Workday co-founder and CEO. The advent of artificial intelligence and machine learning is creating a paradigm shift that will affect workers in every sector. Speaking with CNBC's Squawk Box at the World Economic Forum in Davos on Thursday, Bhusri had a powerful message for employers everywhere: "The genie is out of the bottle. AI technology is in play and companies are going to use it, or else they won't remain competitive. But it's going to create a skills gap. Companies need to be prepared for the massive retraining that lies ahead." He compares the trend to what happened when America's agrarian economy radically shifted during the Industrial Revolution. "During that period it didn't go well for a generation of farmers, nor unskilled workers." JP Nadda said the development is the first official declaration from the Congress that it has no trust in Mr Gandhis leadership. New Delhi: Taking a dig at the Congress over Priyanka Gandhi Vadras formal entry into the partys hierarchy, the BJP on Wednesday said the Opposition partys president Rahul Gandhi opted for a family alliance after getting rejected from other parties for the proposed grand alliance. The BJP claimed that the development is an admission of Mr Gandhis failed leadership and mocked at Congress Priyanka card, saying it will flop once again like all earlier occasions. Union minister and BJPs incharge for Uttar Pradesh in the coming Lok Sabha polls, J.P. Nadda, said the development is the first official declaration from the Congress that it has no trust in Mr Gandhis leadership. Priyanka Gandhi furthers the legacy of Gandhi Congress Pvt Limited and officially becomes the general secretary of @INCIndia. It is also the first official declaration from the Congress that they do not have trust in Rahul Gandhis leadership. #ParivarKiCongress, tweeted Mr Nadda. BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra told reporters, The Congress has basically publicly announced that Rahul Gandhi has failed and needs crutches from within the family. Because of his rejection by grand alliance parties, he has opted for a family alliance. BJPs UP unit chief Mahendra Nath Pandey claimed that the appointment of Ms Vadra does not pose even a one per cent challenge, and asserted that it is a reflection of the Congress dependence on a single family. Reacting on the issue, BJPs Rajya Sabha MP and national spokesperson G.V.L. Narasimha Rao tweeted, Priyanka Vadra (Gandhi) as @INCIndia Gen Secy for UP East is the most un-eventful news of 2019. Yet, for sychofants this is big; earthshaking, groundbreaking. Priyanka card was played before every election. It flopped each time. Perils of parivar politics: Fail & thrive. Pity! Noting that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has projected the Lok Sabha elections as a battle between naamdar (dynasts) and kaamdar (those who have worked), Mr Patra said the New India wants to know who is the Congress next leader, as he referred to its succession line from Jawaharlal Nehru to Indira Gandhi followed by Rajiv Gandhi, Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi. All appointments are from one family. And this is the fundamental difference between the Congress and the BJP. In the Congress, the family is party. In the BJP, the party is family, Mr Patra said. The man in charge of attracting foreign investment into Bahrain is not worried about one of the key issues associated with economic stability in the Middle East: political risk. This is something the region has dealt with for a long time, Khalid al-Rumaihi, the chief executive of the Bahrain Economic Development Board, told CNBC Thursday. But he believes that the rewards outweigh the risks taken by investors. "We have to be careful not to have a broad-brush when talking about the Middle East," Al-Rumaihi told CNBC's Hadley Gamble during the World Economic Forum in Davos, when asked about security concerns in the region. "You have to look at what are the dynamics of each of those regions." "Politics and political risk has been a part of that region for years, it's nothing new and investors do a risk-reward trade-off," he said. "For the Gulf people have seen not just a region that is exporting oil but is transforming its economy. Vision 2030 in Saudi Arabia is a great example of that, and the opportunities that that will bring in terms of value chains that can be localized in the country. So I think it opens up huge opportunities in the country and the risk is not outweighing reward." The GCC's smallest economy is looking to grow its technology, manufacturing and financial services sectors in particular, in a push to diversify its economy away from oil dependence. Its foreign investment inflows have shot up sharply in recent years, jumping by 114 percent between 2017 and 2018, according to the UN Conference on Trade and Development. Al-Rumaihi singled out major projects by Amazon Web Services, which is launching three new data centers in the country this year. But Bahrain hasn't seen the same success as some of its neighbors in developing into a financial hub at the scale of Abu Dhabi or Dubai. It recently averted a debt crisis with the help of a $10 billion bailout from its Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) neighbors, and has introduced reforms aimed at reducing public spending and government inefficiency. Its debt is currently a whopping 89 percent of its gross domestic product (GDP). DAVOS, Switzerland Apple CEO Tim Cook is on his first trip ever to the World Economic Forum, meeting high profile world leaders, amid mounting troubles for the technology giant. Details of what he did and whom he met have not been made public but pictures have surfaced on social media of some of his meetings. Cook's attendance at Davos comes after Apple recently slashed first-quarter revenue guidance and as it faces problems in China. An Apple spokesperson has not responded to a request for comment from CNBC. Here's what we know Cook did at Davos. Amid a lack of tangible progress in trade talks between the U.S. and China, growing tensions around the world, as well as slowing economies, some on Wall Street are sounding the alarm that major international brands could soon fall out of favor. And signs are mounting that Canada Goose, the Toronto-based maker of luxury outdoor apparel, could be one of the first to suffer. The company's stock was downgraded on Thursday to "market perform" from "outperform" at Wells Fargo, which cited valuation concerns, recent weak consumer engagement trends, and significant pressures facing multi-national brands. Wells Fargo also lowered its price target on the stock from $80 to $68. "The recent performance of multi-national brands has been lackluster over the past several months, leading to revisions across the space," Wells Fargo senior analyst Ike Boruchow wrote in a note to clients. "We believe the primary drivers for this weakness include...tourism going from good to bad, Europe becoming very problematic, and fears around an eventual slowdown in China." Shares of Canada Goose fell more than 7 percent on Thursday, the stock's worst day of trading in more than a month. The parka maker's stock has plunged more than 20 percent from its recent high in mid-November. Wells Fargo added that slowdowns in Google searches and Instagram engagement over the holiday season have sparked further concerns that customers could be pulling back. Since the company's IPO in early 2017, Google search trends for "Canada Goose" had been increasing at a double-digit rate each quarter but started to decelerate both in Canada and globally late last year. "[This is] somewhat concerning for a stock that currently relies heavily on momentum and robust growth to keep their premium valuation justified," Boruchow said in the note. "December is the peak holiday month and the most likely time of year consumers would search for the brand on Google when shopping." Despite the headwinds, Wells Fargo noted that Canada Goose's stock trades at a premium to a cohort of global luxury retailers like Burberry, Ferragamo, Moncler, Prada and Tiffany's. And, shares are still trading more than 160 percent above the IPO price. To compete with other international brands, Canada Goose has been aggressively pushing into China, where the population accounts for one-third of the world's luxury consumption, according to analyst estimates. The company debuted highly anticipated locations in Hong Kong and Beijing last year, which will compete with local stores featuring knockoff brands. But the apparel maker's push into China has faced challenges. Canada Goose came under pressure last month as economic and political tensions escalated between China and Western countries. In early December, Canada arrested Meng Wanzhou, the chief financial officer of Chinese tech giant Huawei. Over the following week, Canada Goose's stock dropped 17 percent after reports surfaced that Chinese consumers were boycotting the brand. Wells Fargo joins a chorus of business leaders that have warned these ongoing geopolitical tensions could hurt notable North American brands. In early November, Procter & Gamble CEO David Taylor told CNBC that he was especially concerned about the long-term damage the trade war could have on consumer behavior and spending. "What I worry most about with the trade war is it destroys consumers' confidence in American brands," Taylor said at the time. In its latest earnings report on Thursday, Starbucks said that stores in China operating for at least one year increased sales by 1 percent this past quarter. But the coffee giant saw transactions there drop by 2 percent, and some analysts worry the company could see a further slowdown if trade disputes aren't resolved quickly. The U.S. has set a March 2 deadline for negotiators to reach a deal; if no deal is reached, tariffs are set to increase on $200 billion in Chinese goods. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross said earlier on Thursday that China and the U.S. were not close to striking a trade deal. Ross told CNBC's "Squawk Box " that the U.S. is "miles and miles " from a trade deal with China, noting the two countries have "lots and lots of issues." Health care giant UnitedHealth Group is suing one of its former executives for stealing trade secrets and taking them to a firm they consider a direct competitor Amazon's new health venture with Berkshire Hathaway and J.P. Morgan Chase. United's Optum unit is suing former information technology executive David Smith for breach of contract in Massachusetts District court. In the 18 months leading up to his resignation, Smith played a key role in reviewing Optum's strategy, and was "on of fewer than 50 people at the company" who had access to Optum's detailed profit and loss statements for the entire company. The lawsuit, which was filed last week and first reported by Stat, maintains that Smith's new position with the new venture "poses a direct threat to Optum's trade secrets and other confidential information." According to the lawsuit, while Smith was interviewing for the new venture nicknamed ABC for the three firms' initials, he attended strategy meetings at United and sought out confidential information from employees who did not directly work for his unit. "On the same day that he talked with ABC, and just one minute before printing his resume, Smith printed an Optum document marked 'Confidential' that contains, among other things, Optum's highly confidential information including an in-depth market analysis of the healthcare industry," according the complaint, and that he continued to print confidential documents through his last days at the company. Optum attorneys spent the last month in talks with counsel for the Amazon-Berkshire-JP Morgan venture to delay Smith's start with the firm, and filed for an injunction last week after those efforts stalled. Attorneys for Smith filed a response to the suit Tuesday, arguing that Smith is not working in a competitive role, adding "ABC offers no products or services to the general market, is not profit-seeking, and does not compete for any business with Optum. The crux of a non-compete restriction is actual competition. Here, there is none." They say that Smith had contacted the new venture's CEO Atul Gawande via email last summer about working for the new venture, and began interviewing with the firm in October. When he was offered a position last month, he expected to finish out at Optum until the end of the year. Smith's attorneys maintain that the company is trying to paint him as a "bad actor," but they say two days after he told his supervisors at Optum that he had accepted another offer, he was escorted from his office and "left all Optum property behind." Smith's lawyers argue that the new ABC venture is not a direct competitor to the insurance and health services giant. They say the real reason Optum is suing their client, is because of its fear of Amazon, saying "Optum had mistakenly confused Amazon initiatives that are not strategies or initiatives of ABC, which is a completely separate entity, and had feared that those initiatives were competitive with Optum." In its lawsuit UnitedHealth clearly paints a potential threat from the new non-profit venture, at a time when large employers, government plans and consumers are looking for newer cost-cutting alternatives in health care. The executive who interviewed Smith for the ABC job was chief operating officer Jack Stoddard, a former general manger for digital health for CNBC parent company Comcast and prior to that had served as an executive at Optum before it was acquired by UnitedHealth A spokesperson for the still unnamed Amazon-Berkshire-Chase health venture declined to comment about the lawsuit. A spokesperson for UnitedHealth said the firm would not comment on specific personnel matters, but added that company was committed to protecting its intellectual property. "UnitedHealth Group is a leader in health care because our people have spent decades developing custom products and services we are committed to protecting the hard work of our colleagues," said Matthew Stearns. By Bertha Coombs. Follow her on Twitter: @coombscnbc Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella. Daniel Berman | Bloomberg | Getty Images Microsoft's cloud business is taking full advantage of the growing fear of Amazon, announcing on Thursday its latest deal with a big retailer. Microsoft said it signed a three-year agreement with Albertsons, the supermarket chain and parent of Safeway and Vons, to make Microsoft Azure the grocer's preferred public cloud. The partnership comes a little over a week after Microsoft disclosed a seven-year deal with Walgreens. While Azure is a distant second to Amazon Web Services, it's winning large retail customers who are seeing Amazon's dominance in commerce expand by the day. In addition to Whole Foods, which Amazon acquired for $13.7 billion in 2017, the e-retailer has been opening up Amazon Go convenience stores, which promote cashierless technology, and has launched its own brands of over-the-counter health products and groceries. Anuj Dhanda, chief information officer of Albertsons, said Amazon's expansion has hastened his company's efforts to modernize its infrastructure and in-store experiences. Other than deploying on Azure and signing up employees with the Microsoft 365 bundle, Albertsons plans to use Microsoft's artificial-intelligence technology, and the two companies could team up on cashierless systems, which Albertsons has already been testing. "We wouldn't want to develop the technology as much as Amazon would do, but we would say, 'How do we deploy the technology, how do we leverage it?'" Dhanda said. Albertsons chose Azure to be its primary cloud because of its experience with big companies, history with large retailers and strong technical capabilities, and because it isn't a competitor, Dhanda said. Microsoft has picked up recent business from retailers like Gap, Walmart and Kroger. AWS, meanwhile, is still quite competitive in retail, providing its technology to companies including Brooks Brothers and Under Armour. A woman pushes a cart of groceries to her car outside an Albertson's store in Denver, Colorado. Matthew Staver | Bloomberg | Getty Images Amit Paka, second from left, and Krishna Gade, center, are the co-founders of Fiddler Labs, a Mountain View, California, startup that is building an explainable AI engine. These days, nearly every company is using artificial intelligence and machine learning to help make critical business decisions. But few companies have an idea how the systems they employ actually work. As an engineering manager working on Facebook's News Feed for nearly two years, Krishna Gade got a firsthand look at how difficult it can be for companies to understand their own machine learning models. "It became very difficult for even people within Facebook to be able to reason about 'Hey, how is News Feed working?' because there is an ensemble of machine learning models at play," Gade told CNBC. "We needed to build tools and platforms to unlock this thing and provide those insights to an engineer all the way to an executive within Facebook." Amit Paka, a former colleague and classmate of Gade's, had a similar experience when he was with Samsung, where he worked on the company's shopping apps. The apps relied on machine learning models to recommend products to users. "Some of the challenges there were measuring the return on investment," Paka said. "How do you compare performance of an old model with a new model?" After working on these problems, Gade and Paka realized companies might want tools to help understand their artificial intelligence technology. In October, the pair quit their companies and co-founded Fiddler Labs, a Mountain View, California, start-up that is building an explainable AI engine. "When you build models you don't know really intrinsically what features are impacting the models. It's pretty much a black box," said Gade, Fiddler Labs' CEO. "What we're providing is a model that unlocks the black box." Fiddler Labs' arrival comes at a crossroads for the world of AI. In the past two years, numerous research papers have been published about how to build AI models that can be explained. The company is using methods outlined in that research to build its products. At the same, the demand for explainable AI is on the rise. Last year, the European Union implemented the General Data Protection Regulation. Article 22 of GDPR states that Europeans have the right to obtain an explanation for how automated decisions that have a significant impact on their lives are reached. "Models increasingly are going to be important in the way we make a bunch of decisions, so asking for some level of accountability just makes a lot of sense," said James Cham, a partner at Bloomberg Beta, which has invested in the company. "I don't think GDPR is a one-off thing, but rather part of a larger trend as countries all over the world try to figure this out." To kick off, Fiddler Labs has raised $3 million in a seed round led by Lightspeed Venture Partners with participation by Bloomberg Beta and Haystack, and it plans to launch its explainable AI engine in mid-2019, Gade and Paka said. For now, the company is focused on hiring and expanding its team. It is also amassing a pool of design partners who can test their product and provide feedback. The idea is Fiddler Labs' explainable AI engine will allow companies to analyze, manage and deploy their machine learning models at scale. The goal is for these tools to provide simplicity so that anyone from a data scientist to a company executive can understand their AI technology. "The long-term vision is to help enterprises build trustworthy AI experiences for their customers," Paka said. WATCH: A.I., data economy the start of a 'revolution,' says Blackstone CEO Last week, CNBC's Jim Cramer said that Apple should consider buying electronic health records manager Epic Systems, and the internet exploded. "Turns out that story was a lot more provocative than I actually anticipated," Cramer said Wednesday. "It's kind of exactly what I was going for, though. The whole point was to start a discussion, to figure out how Apple's stock can get its mojo back and possibly put its technology to work to revolutionize and innovate the health-care industry on behalf of you, the customer." The feedback to Cramer's suggestion ranged from supportive: Tweet 1 To downright negative: Epic not for sale tweet But with Apple clearly making moves into health care as demonstrated by its talks with Medicare, its research collaboration with Johnson & Johnson and CEO Tim Cook's goals for the company Cramer thought the topic was well worth revisiting. One of the main arguments against an Apple-Epic tie-up was that Apple's not as trustworthy as it seems. Consumers balked at the thought of sharing their information with the tech giant, but Cramer didn't exactly share their worries. "I get where this is coming from, but I think this criticism is way off-base," he said. "Sooner or later, some gigantic tech company will make itself into a repository for medical records that's compatible with the many different software systems used by doctors and hospitals. [...] Apple seems like the obvious and logical choice." The "Mad Money" host pointed out that most Apple customers already trust the company with their credit card information, photos and other identifying data, adding that "Apple's not a Facebook in disguise" and doesn't sell user data. Others wondered why Apple would even want to break into the fragmented electronic health records business. But if it has an enterprise software platform like Epic's (or competitor Cerner's) under its belt, it could reshape the space, Cramer argued. "Right now, this industry is a mess because the companies involved have no incentive to cooperate, so your hospital's system may not be able to communicate with the system at your doctor's office," he explained. "[It's] wasteful. It's inefficient. There's a huge unmet need for an outside player to come in and create a universal repository for your health-care records, like, say, the iPhone or the Apple Watch that's the opportunity." He added that integrating Epic another sore point among the Twitterati would be easier for Apple than people expect given its resources, including its $123 billion cash hoard. He estimated that folding Epic in would cost roughly $20 billion. But the most common feedback by far was that Epic Systems' founder, CEO and controlling shareholder, Judy Faulkner, would never sell her company. She has reportedly created a foundation to eventually inherit nearly all of her Epic stock. Cramer's riposte? "Let's not miss the forest for the trees here. Epic doesn't want to sell? OK, fine. Then Apple should go buy their biggest competitor, Cerner, a publicly traded company worth $17 billion. The point is that they could revolutionize the electronic medical records space and give their own service business a major boost." But his favorite response came from health-care blogging guru John Lynn, who wrote an entire piece in response to Cramer's call. In it, he wrote: "If Judy was to sell, Apple is an interesting acquirer. Apple has created more trust in how it handles data than most technology companies and that's something that would be valued by Judy and Epic. Is it enough? Probably not today. I think Judy still trusts herself and Epic to protect their clients' data 1000 times more than she would trust Apple to do so." Still, for Cramer, that doesn't strike Apple off the list of "ideal" partners for these digital health-care record-keepers. At the end of the day, their business doesn't work the way it's supposed to, and Apple's trust with consumers and wide array of resources could fix that, he said. "One way or another, Apple is uniquely positioned to revolutionize the electronic health records business. They could make an acquisition like Epic yes, if Judy would sell or Cerner, they could build out their own system, they could focus purely on the iPhone as a repository of data," he said. "There are a lot of ways to approach this, and I think any of them would be a win for both patients and for Apple's shareholders, and it's a huge cudgel against those who claim that Apple no longer innovates. That's hogwash. If coming up with a brand new device that can save millions of lives isn't innovation, what the heck is?" Pakistani army on Thursday violated ceasefire at four locations along the Line of Control (LoC). According to sources, the Indian Army is retaliating strongly and effectively. (Representational Image) Poonch: Pakistani army on Thursday violated ceasefire at four locations along the Line of Control (LoC) in Poonch and Rajouri sectors of Jammu and Kashmir. No casualties have been reported so far. According to sources, the Indian Army is retaliating strongly and effectively. This comes a day after Pakistani troops pounded Indian positions along with the LoC in Mendhar Sector of Jammu and Kashmir with mortar and small arms fire. Since the beginning of the year, Pakistani troops have been targeting Poonch district of Jammu and Kashmir along the LoC. Last week, India had summoned Pakistan High Commission official and lodged a strong protest at the unprovoked ceasefire violations in the Valley. The bench led by Justice Sikri listed CBI interim director matter for hearing on Friday before a different bench. New Delhi: The Supreme Court judge Justice A K Sikri on Thursday recused himself from hearing a plea challenging the appointment of M Nageswara Rao as CBI interim director. The bench led by Justice Sikri listed CBI interim director matter for hearing on Friday before a different bench. Justice Sikri was part of the high powered panel which had removed CBI Director Alok Verma. As soon as the matter came up for hearing, Justice Sikri told senior advocate Dushyant Dave, appearing for petitioner NGO Common Cause, that he would not like to hear the matter and was recusing himself. "You understand my position. I can't hear this matter," Justice Sikri said. To this Dave said, "It is becoming very frustrating and it is giving the impression that your Lordship does not want to hear this matter. Earlier also the CJI had recused when the matter was listed for hearing. Now your lordship (Justice Sikri) is also recusing from the matter". To this Justice Sikri said, he is recusing from the matter and can't say anything. Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi had on Monday recused himself from hearing the plea challenging the appointment of Rao as interim CBI director, saying he would be part of the selection committee to choose the agency's new chief. The petition has sought specific mechanisms to ensure transparency in the process of appointing the CBI director. It alleged that Rao's appointment was not made on the basis of recommendations of the high-powered selection committee. The plea has claimed that lack of transparency in the appointment prevents any public scrutiny of the process and allows the "government to exercise undue influence" in the appointment process especially at the stage of short-listing of candidates. (With PTI inputs) Priyanka was a star campaigner in 2014 in her mothers and brothers constituencies Rae Bareli and Amethi. New Delhi: Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, for long considered the Congress trump card, finally made her formal entry into politics on Wednesday from Uttar Pradesh, sending a strong signal that the party will leave no stone unturned in its fight against the ruling Bharatiya Janta Party in 2019 general elections. Ms Vadras appointment as general secretary for Uttar Pradesh east, along with that of Jyotiradiya Scindia as general secretary UP west is being seen as a political masterstroke with the message that Congress president Rahul Gandhi means business. Uttar Pradesh sends the largest MPs (80) to Lok Sabha and is considered crucial to coming to power at the Centre. On the back foot after the SP-BSP formed a pre-poll alliance in UP excluding his party, the Congress president had promised a surprise in UP, and with the formal appointment of Ms Vadra, Mr Gandhi has shot the Brahmastra from the partys quiver. It was, however, unclear whether the latest Gandhi family scion to enter politics will contest the Lok Sabha polls. Speculation is rife that she might take the plunge from her mother Sonia Gandhis Rae Bareli constituency. Commenting on her appointment, Mr Gandhi, who is in Amethi, said, I am very happy that my sister Priyanka will assist me in UP in the Lok Sabha polls. She is very capable. Ms Vadra is New York and is expected to return to India on February 1. The bold organisational shake-up also saw Mr Gandhi anointing Mr Scindia as the general secretary in-charge for Uttar Pradesh west and the partys Karnataka in-charge K.C. Venugopal as the general secretary in-charge of organisation, replacing Ashok Gehlot who has taken over as the chief minister of Rajasthan. The earlier general secretary in-charge of UP, Ghulam Nabi Azad, has been given the charge of Haryana. The other bold message in Ms Vadras appointment as in-charge of Uttar Pradesh east is that she will be taking on Prime Minister Narendra Modi, an MP from Varanasi, and UP chief minister Yogi Adityanath, an ex-MP from Gorakhpur, in their turf and Mr Gandhi indicated as much when he said the Congress wont play on the backfoot anywhere. We didnt do it in Gujarat or anywhere else and we wont do it here in UP, he said. I am not sending Priyanka and Jyotiraditya for just two months, but have given a mission to take ahead the true ideology of the Congress to take the poor and deprived sections of society along, he said, adding, I feel that this step will usher in a new kind of thinking and bring a positive change in Uttar Pradesh politics. The Congress president, however, remained soft on the SP and BSP saying the two parties have formed an alliance in Uttar Pradesh to defeat the BJP. I have no animosity against them. I have to take forward Congress ideology and make place for Congress philosophy in Uttar Pradesh. The appointment of Ms Vadra and Mr Scindia also gives credence to the theory that the Congress will be largely targeting upper caste votes in Uttar Pradesh to cut into the BJP base. Though Ms Vadras entry has given an immediate shot in the arm to the Congress workers, it is also true that she has been active in Amethi, Rae Bareli for years, including during the 2017 Assembly polls in UP, and has not made much difference. It remains to be seen whether the Congress bold gambit will pay off in the toughest electoral battle the party is facing in its history. This development comes hours after three terrorists were killed in an encounter with security forces in the region on Tuesday. Baramulla has become the first district of Kashmir with no surviving militant as on date. Jammu and Kashmir Police extends its thanks to the local population for all their support in providing a better security environment in the district, Director General of Police (DGP) Dilbag Singh said. (Photo: Representational/PTI) Baramulla (Jammu and Kashmir): Baramulla, located in the north of Jammu and Kashmir on Wednesday became the first district in the state to have eliminated all surviving terrorists, according to police. The largest of the 10 districts in the Valley has been one of the hotbeds of terrorism as it adjoins Pakistan occupied Kashmir (PoK) and thus offers a strategic location for terrorists to infiltrate into India. Terror attacks and encounter operations by police and security forces were a regular feature here with terror-related incidents being reported from the district nearly on a weekly basis. "Baramulla has become the first district of Kashmir with no surviving militant as on date. Jammu and Kashmir Police extends its thanks to the local population for all their support in providing a better security environment in the district," Director General of Police (DGP) Dilbag Singh said. This development comes hours after three terrorists were killed in an encounter with security forces in the region on Tuesday. The terrorists have been identified as Suhaib Farooq Akhoon resident of Baramulla, Mohsin Mushtaq Bhat, a resident of Baramulla and Nasir Ahmad Darzi, from Sopore. Arms and ammunition including three AK 47 rifles were recovered from the site of encounter and police has initiated an investigation. All three slain terrorists have believed to be affiliated to Lashkar-e-Tayyeba (LeT) were wanted in terror crimes including an attack on security establishments and civilian atrocities. A 26-year-old Chinese woman who was born without uterus now has successfully given birth to a baby boy after the woman's mother donated her uterus to the daughter. This is reportedly the first case in China, and only the 14th in the world, where a baby has been born from a transplanted uterus. File photo shows China's first baby born to a mother with a transplanted uterus. [Photo: peopleapp.com] In 2015, the then 22-year-old visited the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at Xijing Hospital in the city of Xi'an in Shaanxi Province. She was worried about never having a period. After an ultrasound, she was shocked to be told that she was born without a uterus. Her mother was determined to see her daughter have an opportunity to have children of her own, and decided to donate her uterus to her. The transplant surgery was successfully completed at the hospital in November 2015. The new mother gave birth to a healthy two-kilogram baby boy on Sunday after a 39-week pregnancy. The event marks a breakthrough by China's doctors in the treatment of infertility. Among women of childbearing age in China, around 1 million experience uterine infertility, according to Professor Chen Biliang, the head of the Gynecology and Obstetrics at Xijing Hospital. COLUMBUS, Ohio--The Ohio Bureau of Workers Compensation on Thursday is considering a 20-percent reduction in the average premium rate it charges private employers, which would be its largest rate cut in nearly six decades. The BWCs actuarial staff and a consultant proposed the rate cuts, which would save 242,000 employers in the state a combined $244 million in the next fiscal year, according to BWC spokeswoman Melissa Vince. If the BWC board (as expected) approves the idea during its Feb. 22 meeting, the rate cut would take effect July 1. While the average rate cut would be 20 percent, the actual savings would vary by company based on factors such as how many workers comp claims the company filed in recent years and their participation in various rebate programs. BWC Administrator/CEO Stephanie McCloud said in a statement that the cuts were proposed because of fewer workplace injuries and falling estimates of future medical costs. Since 2010, workers comp claims have dropped 18 percent to 85,136 in 2018, according to a BWC release. Were pleased Ohio employers recognize that workplace safety is vital to the health of their workforce, their businesses and our states economy, said McCloud. Their efforts to promote safe and healthy workplaces are clearly paying off, and theyre making it easier for us to maintain low and stable workers compensation rates now and into the future. If approved, it would be the ninth time the BWC has slashed rates since 2008. Overall, average rate levels for private employers are already at their lowest in at least 40 years, the release stated. Premiums paid to the BWC cover health care and wages for injured workers, as well as a state program to improve workplace safety. Gov. Mike DeWine, in a statement, praised the proposed rate cuts. Ohio is a place of opportunity for businesses, and this rate cut would give private businesses a considerable opportunity to further invest in themselves and their workforce, DeWine said. The Ohio Bureau of Workers Compensation is practicing sound fiscal stewardship by recommending this large rate reduction, while still maintaining a stable compensation fund for injured workers. Rotunda Rumblings Parole issues: Ex-lawmaker Shirley Smith, who stepped down from the Ohio Parole Board last month, is now making a number of allegations about unethical and unprofessional activity on the board including biased decision-making, board members who are too busy eating to pay attention during hearings, and a lack of professional or racial diversity. Cleveland.coms Jeremy Pelzer has more. No alternative: A federal magistrate has ruled that Ohios lethal-injection cocktail is likely unconstitutionally cruel and unusual punishment, comparing its effects to that of waterboarding. But as Pelzer reports, the magistrate waved forward the Feb. 13 execution of killer Warren Henness because he didnt back the condemned mans proposed alternatives, which included drinking apple juice mixed with death drugs. Shutdown side effect: The ongoing federal government shutdown isnt just hurting federal employees who arent being paid it also may mean layoffs and reduced hours for government contractors, such as engineers at Clevelands NASA Glenn Research Center. As cleveland.coms Sabrina Eaton explains, more of them are furloughing workers and halting operations as they await a deal to reopen the government. Due Friday: Gov. Mike DeWine said Wednesday that his cabinet member nominees are each supposed to turn in an assessment by the end of the week describing how the federal government shutdown is affecting the work of state agencies. DeWine didnt have much to add Wednesday about how he would respond, saying he was waiting for the information. Road map: DeWine also described to reporters how he will decide whether a higher state gas tax is needed. He asked the Ohio Department of Transportation director to give him an assessment of Ohio roads and bridges, since money from the Ohio Turnpike bonds have run out and a coalition is calling for a fuel tax increase. DeWine said hell announce a working group probably Monday that will look at options for highway funding. Our hope is we have a discussion over the next few weeks about exactly where Ohio is, he said. New Hampshire bound: U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown is adding New Hampshire to his travel itinerary of early-primary/caucus states as he considers a 2020 presidential run. As cleveland.coms Seth Richardson reports, Brown also made his first staff hire in the Granite State. East Coast swing: Brown embarked on a media blitz in New York, with appearances on MSNBCs Rachel Maddow Tuesday night, MSNBCs Morning Joe on Wednesday morning, NBCs Late Night with Seth Meyers on Wednesday night, and CNNs The Van Jones show to air Sunday, according to the Columbus Dispatchs Jessica Wehrman. He has a Big Apple fundraiser planned as well. Checkbook checkup: New state Treasurer Robert Sprague is continuing OhioCheckbook.com, the government transparency initiative launched by his predecessor, Josh Mandel. On Wednesday, Spragues office announced that Euclid, the Cleveland suburb, had agreed to list their finances on the website. A treasurers office news release said Sprague recognizes the value in continuing the legacy of the program. House Dems pick new leaders: As expected, Ohio House Democrats voted in new leadership on Wednesday. State Rep. Emilia Sykes of Akron is the House Dems new minority leader, state Rep. Kristin Boggs of Columbus is assistant minority leader, state Rep. Kent Smith of Euclid is minority whip, and state Rep. Paula Hicks-Hudson is assistant whip. The change in leadership occurred after the previous minority leader, state Rep. Fred Strahorn of Dayton, tried unsuccessfully to get his caucus to back Ryan Smith over Larry Householder for House speaker. The full House is scheduled to formally vote in the new Democratic leaders on Feb. 6. Bail review: Ohio Supreme Court Chief Justice Maureen OConnor on Wednesday convened a task force to review the states bail system, which OConnor and civil-rights groups have criticized for keeping tens of thousands of people in jail who are too poor to pay bail. The 24-member task force, whose meetings will be open to the public, is scheduled to make recommendations to OConnor and her fellow justices by April, according to a Supreme Court release. Full Disclosure Five things we learned from the April 9, 2018 financial disclosure statement of state Rep. Kent Smith, a Euclid Democrat elected minority whip on Wednesday: 1. Smiths only reported income in 2017 was his legislative salary of $65,193.93. 2. His only investments are in two state-run retirement funds: the School Employees Retirement System of Ohio and the Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio. 3. At some point in 2017, he owed at least $1,000 to Capital One and Ally Bank. 4. He was reimbursed a significant amount of travel expenses in 2017, including $7,903 in mileage reimbursement from the Ohio House, $1,642 from Ohio Jewish Communities, Inc. (as part of a trip he and other lawmakers took to Israel), $600 from the National Caucus of Environmental Legislators, $459 from the Council of State Governments (which gave him a fellowship), $404 from the left-leaning Public Leadership Institute, and $276 from the Ohio Chamber of Commerce for lodging at a conference. 5. He reported owning no real estate besides his home, nor did he list any creditors who owed him more than $1,000 at any point in 2017. On The Move Thomas Wetmore has been hired as the Ohio Municipal Leagues newest legislative lobbyist. Wetmore previously worked at the Ohio Department of Education and as state Sen. Randy Gardners legislative aide. Birthdays Tim Barhorst, 2018 Republican nominee for House District 19 Andrew Tobias, cleveland.com politics reporter Straight From The Source You can spend a lot of energy kind of rearranging government -- how it structurally functions -- sometimes you can get into that and you burn up a lot of energy and political capital in getting it done. My inclination generally is to take government as I find it. - Gov. Mike DeWine, speaking to reporters Wednesday. DeWine was asked if he would like to merge the departments of education and higher education, as his predecessor John Kasich and legislative leaders unsuccessfully attempted last year. DeWine said he wouldnt rule anything out but generally was uninterested in these types of mergers. WASHINGTON, D.C. In addition to some 800,000 federal employees who havent been paid during the nations longest government shutdown, workers for government contracting firms are facing layoffs and reduced hours without the likelihood of pay reimbursement when the standoff ends. Hundreds of thousands of workers support the government through contracts for services like engineering work at Clevelands NASA Glenn Research Center. As the partial shutdown drags into a second month and contractors spend down money they were issued before the standoff began, more of them are furloughing workers and halting operations as they await a deal to reopen the government. Obviously, our concern keeps increasing, says Carlos Grodsinsky, who chairs the Ohio Aerospace and Aviation Council industry group for contractors at facilities including NASA Glenn. Grodsinsky says some of his members are trying to figure whether theyll have to shut their doors without a cash influx. It puts people more at risk for going out of business, says Grodsinsky. If you cant make it work with your bank, you obviously have to shut your doors and lay people off. Vantage Partners LLC program manager Joe Ogonek says his company is gradually furloughing workers from its NASA Glenn engineering and research contract, and around 250 will eventually be idled if the standoff persists. Even though the federal government has authorized money to do some of the work, Ogonek said it cant be completed without access to NASA Glenn equipment thats not available during the shutdown. The impact worsens each day, said Ogonek. The sooner this is over, the better. NASA Glenn employs roughly 1,500 contractors, in addition to 1,500 people who work directly for NASA. But it rankles furloughed contractor employees to know that contractors generally dont receive back pay when a shutdown is over, unlike federal workers who were reimbursed for lost wages when past shutdowns ended. The Great Lakes Science Center will host an event from 10 a.m. to noon on Thursday, January 24 to help NASA Glenn government and contractor employees obtain assistance in dealing with shutdown-related difficulties. Trade groups that represent contractors like the Virginia-based Professional Services Council have asked President Donald Trump and congressional leaders to end the shutdown as soon as possible and reimburse contract employees for the losses they incurred. If this continues a lot longer, we will see a lot of companies that will have to shut their doors because their line of credit will have been reached and they wont have any available funding to continue paying people, especially if theres no government revenue, the organizations CEO, David J. Berteau, recently told reporters. Ohio Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown has introduced legislation that would provide back pay to low-wage employees of federal contractors, like janitors, food service and security workers, who are idled by the shutdown and otherwise wouldnt be reimbursed. He says that a furloughed Smithsonian cafeteria worker he met who works for a government contractor told him I have to pay rent, I have other bills, I have a college student in his second semester and he needs help with his books. Working people cant just send a letter to creditors, saying please excuse me from paying rent or paying my mortgage or paying for my medication this month, said a statement from Brown. And you cant buy groceries or put gas in the car with an I-owe-you. To end the shutdown, Brown says the Senate needs to vote again on a funding measure it passed without controversy in December and send it to Trump. He says that if Congress gives Trump the $5 billion hes requested for a wall Trump initially said Mexico would pay for, we know six months from now hell shut the government down again to get the next $5 billion. We cant run the country like that, Brown continued. If a kid throws a tantrum and you give him a cookie so theyll stop, theyre going to throw a tantrum to get another cookie. Ohio Republican Sen. Rob Portman says that he, too, is hearing numerous complaints about the shutdown from government contractors and federal workers throughout Ohio. He notes that in addition to the direct pain the shutdown causes those who arent being paid, it cuts economic growth by 0.13 percent during each week it persists, according to White House Council of Economic Advisors estimates. I am frustrated, Portman said. Shutdowns make no sense. I dont think it is leverage for the president. I think it is sad what is going on for families. I dont think it is good for taxpayers. Portman says Republicans and Democrats arent really far apart on what must be done to secure the border, but are talking past each other. He says hes meeting with Republicans and Democrats alike in hopes of reaching a bipartisan compromise. Portman has introduced a bill that would end government shutdowns by not allowing funding for government agencies to lapse if Congress can[t agree on a spending bill to fund them. Instead it would gradually reduce funding for affected government agencies until an appropriations bill passes. I think we should defuse the situation by having everyone take a step back and look at where we have a common goal on border security and figure out how to get to yes and get the government reopened, said Portman. If you care about border security, you want to get this resolved. Cleveland.com reporter Seth Richardson contributed to this story. COLUMBUS, Ohio - Ohio Supreme Court Justice Maureen OConnor has brought together a task force to review the way bail is determined in Ohio. The task force will review Ohio law and "make recommendations that will ensure public safety and the accuseds appearance at future court hearings, while protecting the presumption of innocence, according to the task force guidelines. John J. Russo, administrative judge for the Cuyahoga County Court of Common Pleas, is among the 24 members named to the task force. The groups first meeting was Wednesday. The task force is expected to make a report in April. Cleveland.com has been advocating for bail reform in Ohio for more than a year as part of its Justice For All series. Russo established a committee to research possible bail reform in Cuyahoga County shortly after the launch of the series. Among the duties of the Supreme Courts task force will be to study bail practices in other states, including the use of pretrial services, and to review legal challenges to the elimination of bail. Also on the agenda will be an examination of risk assessments used to assist with bail decisions. In Northeast Ohio, Cleveland Municipal Court has adopted the Arnold Foundation public safety assessment to help determine whether crime suspects are a risk of not coming back to court or committing a crime if released while awaiting trial. And Russos newly formed Criminal Justice Coalition is considering a variety of issues related to bail reform, including the expansion of pretrial services. Polls in Ohio have shown residents have a strong interest in bail reform. State legislators in the previous session of the General Assembly were pushing for a law that called for widespread use of risk assessments and less reliance on bail. But the measure met with stiff opposition from bonding companies and failed to move out of the House of Representatives. CLEVELAND, Ohio An 21-year-old man is the second person charged in connection with deadly shooting that led to another shooting that sent FBI agents and Cleveland police officers diving for cover. Terrance Bradley of Cleveland is charged with aggravated murder in April death of Benny Cromity. He is not in police custody and a warrant was issued Wednesday for his arrest. Another man, Kevin Bradley Jr., 24, is charged also charged with aggravated murder in the death. He has pleaded not guilty to the charge and his trial is set for March 18. The duo is accused of shooting the 22-year-old Cromity on Holyrood Avenue near Rosalind Avenue in the citys Hough neighborhood. Cromity was with a 19-year-old man when a minivan pulled up next to them, police said. Three people got out of the van and all five people got out of the car. The three men opened fire on the others, shooting Cromity in the chest and the 19-year-old in the leg, police said. The shooters hopped back into the van and drove away. Cromity died the next morning at Cleveland Clinic. A homicide detective and an FBI agent were in an open field near Holyrood Avenue investigating Cromity's death at about noon the next day when they saw three men shooting into Kevin Bradley's apartment building, a Cleveland police report says. Kevin Bradley returned fire, but no one was hurt in the exchange, police said. The detective and agent called dispatchers to let them know about the shooting, then chased after the gunmen on foot, the report says. The shooters ran through a parking lot and between apartments before slipping away, the report says. Several people, including a 3-year-old girl and 5-year-old boy, were inside the apartment at the time of the shooting, the report says. Kevin Bradleys sister told police that she received messages on Facebook from people who said they planned to shoot up her apartment in order to get back at her brother, the report says. CLEVELAND, Ohio The National Weather Service has issued flood warnings for areas along several rivers and streams in Northeast Ohio. Warnings were in effect Wednesday for the Cuyahoga River in Independence, Black River in Elyria, the Grand River in Painesville, the Huron River near Milan and the Scioto River near Larue. As of 10:15 p.m., the Black River was at 9.6 feet, just over the flood stage of 9.5 feet. The river is expected to rise to 11.9 feet overnight before receding in the morning. The Weather Service warns flooding is likely along along Woodside Drive in Carlisle Township and along the East Branch of the Black River on Foster Road in Penfield Township. Wednesday night the Cuyahoga River was at 15.8 feet, below the flood stage of 17 feet. The river is expected to peak at 17.6 feet Thursday morning, likely causing minor flooding at Sagamore Run, Tinkers Creek and Mill Creek because of backup the river. Parts of Canal Road likely will be covered. The water should receded by Thursday afternoon. In Painesville, the Grand River was just over flood stage of 8 feet late Wednesday night and was expected to reach 8.6 feet by Thursday morning. The river might not recede until Friday morning. Flooding wont be the only trouble Thursday morning. Temperatures are falling and could result in freezing rain in the morning. Temperatures will be in the upper 20s by 4 a.m. and could lead to wet roads becoming frozen and slick. CLEVELAND HEIGHTS, Ohio -- Police are investigating after a woman was found dead under suspicious circumstances Tuesday in her Cleveland Heights home. Crystal Smith, 33, was found in her bed at an apartment on the 2500 block Noble Road just before noon Tuesday by her 14-year-old son who called 911, according to police. In the 911 call, Smiths son reported that she was not breathing, her arm was stiff, she had blood on her face and was covered in bruises. The boys younger siblings are heard crying in the background. The Cuyahoga County Medical Examiners Office has not yet determined a cause of death, according to CCMEO spokesman Christopher Harris. Preliminary investigation suggests there are suspicious circumstances surrounding the death of Ms. Smith but no signs of trauma, Chief Annette Mecklenburg said in a news release. The investigation is ongoing. To comment on this story, visit Wednesdays crime and courts comment section. Sushant Singh Rajput had earlier undergone training at NASA for another project. King Khan Shah Rukh Khans decision to play astronaut Rakesh Sharma in latters biopic made headlines. And, while there were reports of the film going on the floors this February, three months earlier than the schedule, there came a twist in the tale. Apparently, Shah Rukh Khan is not doing the project for reasons best known to him and the makers are in talks with other actors. While an official announcement from the makers is yet to come, we hear that the film has now gone to Sushant Singh Rajput. Sushant has been approached for this project and he is yet to give his nod. Sushant who had earlier begun his prep work for Chanda Mama Door Ke has a wide knowledge of science and technology and space, says a source close to the team. Whether the actor will come on board for this project continues to remain a question. Former Indian Air Force pilot Rakesh Sharma was the first Indian citizen to travel in space. His biopic will be helmed by Mahesh Mathai, a well-known ad filmmaker who has also made films like Bhopal Express and Broken Threads. The film has not got an official title yet. Before Shah Rukh, actor Aamir Khan was cast as the lead in Rakesh Sharmas biopic but he later backed out of the project. CLEVELAND, Ohio -- FirstEnergy Solutions announced today that it has reached a restructuring support agreement with its creditors, and assuming the deal wins federal bankruptcy court approval, the company plans to emerge from bankruptcy protection in September or October. But its new life as a debt-free power generating company would be short, FES said, unless it wins sufficient legislative support and meaningful market reforms to support its nuclear and coal-burning power plants. FES wants state lawmakers to create a customer-paid subsidy for its nuclear power plants and several months ago hired a lobbying team to convince Ohio lawmakers that the Perry and Davis-Besse nuclear plants are essential to the states economy and are grid critical" for the region. Previously, parent company FirstEnergy tried and failed to convince lawmakers to create customer fees to support the companys nuclear plants. And regional wholesale grid manager PJM Interconnection said the companys nuclear plants were not critically needed. New gas turbine power plants and wind farms are adding generation capacity to the grid. Still, a state bailout might be more feasible this year. Following his election as Speaker of the Ohio House earlier this month, Perry County Republican Larry Householder said he would create a standing legislative subcommittee on energy generation. Previously, proposed bills to support FEs reactors never got out of committees in either the House or Senate. Whatever Householder decides to do, a legislative effort to help FES will be resisted by the companys many opponents, starting with the Ohio Consumerss Counsel. FirstEnergy Solutions wants a law to take your (consumer) money for a legislative bail-out of its uncompetitive old power plants. That bail-out would be in addition to the billions of dollars in subsidies that FirstEnergy utilities have charged consumers since 1999, said OCC spokesman J.P. Blackwood. "Ohios competitive power plant market should be allowed to work for bringing lower electric prices to consumers, and FirstEnergy should not be given another penny for a bail-out. FES also has previously appealed directly to the Trump administration for an order declaring that its nuclear fleet, as well as reactors owned by other companies, are essential for national security. National environmental and consumer groups vowed to challenge such an order in federal court. Approval of the restructuring agreement by the bankruptcy court hinges on the companys success at persuading the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to transfer the nuclear operating licenses from the FirstEnergy Nuclear Operating Co., or FENOC, which is also in bankruptcy, to the new FES, or whatever it will call itself. The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission must also approve the transfer of the FES power plants to the new company. Use of the FES name has become an issue before the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio. The OCC, the Northeast Ohio Public Energy Council (NOPEC) and a number of independent power companies have already objected to the use of FirstEnergy in the name of the restructured company. An independent auditor recommended that the PUCO remove FirstEnergy from the name of FirstEnergy Solutions to eliminate affiliate bias. Chuck Keiper, executive director of NOPEC, agreed and said his organization would continue to urge the PUCO to rule that use of the FES name is already a violation of the PUCOs utility code of conduct. It will be especially important for a new operating company coming out of the bankruptcy reorganization, not owned by First Energy, to avoid any such brand confusion among consumers. In its announcement of a tentative agreement with creditors, FES also noted that it had ended its deal to sell its retail customer accounts to Constellation New Energy, a subsidiary of the Exelon Corp., for $140 million. FES will pay Constellation a $4.2 million termination fee and provide up to $1.4 million in expenses reimbursement. The restructuring support agreement, filed with the court Wednesday, includes a provision that creditors with unsecured claims will have a choice between receiving cash or newly issued equity (stock) in the re-organized company. The cash options for some of the unsecured creditor classes were listed at well below 10 percent. The agreement also declares that the new FES will in no event assume the contract FES has had with the states other utilities to operate and subsidize two old coal-burning Ohio River plants built in the 1950s to supply power for a uranium enrichment plant. FES won bankruptcy court approval to walk away from that decades-long contract. The Ohio Valley Electric Corp., or OVEC, has appealed that ruling to the U.S. Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals. Seven weeks after a massive earthquake rocked Alaska, aftershocks are still shattering 7-year-old Connor Cartwrights sense of safety. They shake the earth far less than the 7.0 magnitude quake that sent a mirror, TV and dishes crashing to the ground in the Anchorage home where Connor lives with his mother, father and 11-year-old brother. But the seemingly never-ending aftershocks deepen quake anxiety for the second-grader and many other Alaska residents in the wide swath of the state shaken by the Nov. 30 quake. When the big aftershocks hit, Connor fears his home will collapse. I feel like the house wont hold up, he said. Many of the aftershocks are so small that people dont notice them, like a recent one that Connor didnt feel at school _ but his teacher made all the students dive under their desks to be safe. The latest big aftershock happened last Sunday a magnitude 5.0 jolt that flared already frayed nerves and prompted panicky posts on social media. That one reminded people again that its not over yet, said seismologist Natalia Rupert at the Alaska Earthquake Center. There have been more than 7,800 aftershocks since the main earthquake struck 7 miles (11 kilometers) north of Anchorage, the states most populous city. Most were too small to feel, but 20 have had magnitudes of 4.5 or greater. Rupert expects the temblors to continue for months, although the frequency has lessened, from about 200 daily to a couple dozen a day. With no end to the seismic action in sight, Laura Dykes said her upcoming vacation trip to Las Vegas will be a huge relief from the stress she now experiences. The Anchorage law firm worker still has vivid memories of her basement office in a building swaying back and forth during the November earthquake. It was built on rollers to protect it from seismic events. I cant get out of here fast enough, Dykes said. Itll be five days I can get sleep. The earthquake buckled roads and some homes and buildings sustained heavy damage, with initial estimates to repair damage and other costs at about $100 million. But most parts of Anchorage and other areas escaped the type of widespread catastrophic damage that happened in a devastating 1964 earthquake because of strict building codes that were put in place after that quake, which had a magnitude of 9.2 and was the second most powerful quake recorded on the planet. No deaths or serious injuries were reported after the quake seven weeks ago, but federal officials soon declared a public health emergency and mental health aid was made available for people traumatized by the event. School counselors were swamped and crisis counselors were brought in from Oregon to help at several Anchorage-area schools. Therapists and other professionals struggled to meet demand from a nervous public. Mental health providers say the rush of new patients has slowed, but they still treat clients rattled by the aftershocks, which strike without warning or any apparent pattern. Its overwhelming for people, and they feel emotionally out of control, said Deborah Gonzales, a licensed clinical social worker in Anchorage. Gonzales said people tell her they cant stand the shaking and dont feel safe anywhere. Some are considering moving out of state while others say they feel crazy feelings Gonzales called 100 percent normal. For Connor, every noticeable shake triggers feelings of vulnerability, said his mother, Tamra Cartwright, adding that many of her friends children also struggle with quake-related fears. Tamra Cartwright said her husband was at work when the main quake struck, but she and her sons ran out of the house and hugged each other as they huddled together outside. Along with broken family items, the only damage to their home was an existing hairline wall crack that was made wider. But Connor couldnt sleep in his own bed for weeks and only just returned to it. His mother said she totally hates the aftershocks, but tries to be strong for my kids. Lifelong Alaskan Robert Bell was 12 during the 1964 earthquake and remembers it as a rolling action while the recent quake was more of a back-and-forth movement that felt more violent even though it wasnt as powerful. The recent quake and its aftershocks have been like reliving that youthful experience over and over, Bell said. Bell, who worked in construction for years, built his own home and says its safe and solid. But his heart races when the aftershocks hit. You dont know when the next ones going to hit thats been unnerving, he said. Theyre also unsettling for Ethel Sechlera. But the Anchorage supermarket cashier considers them a way for the ground to let out seismic pressures. Id rather have the little aftershocks to keep from having the big one hit, she said. Others shrug off the aftershocks as part of daily life in the most seismically active region of the U.S. I guess Im a special kind of case because I dont really mind it so much, said Isaiah Sagayo. I just continue on. Copyright 2021 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Almedina Suljic of Johnston, Iowa, was charged with one count of Insurance Fraud Presenting False Information (Class D Felony) following an investigation by the Iowa Insurance Divisions Fraud Bureau. The charges against Suljic stem from an investigation that began in September 2018. It is alleged that Suljic submitted a fraudulent insurance claim to her insurance company seeking reimbursement through her insurance policy following storms that caused extensive flash flooding in the Des Moines metro area this past summer. On December 27, 2018, a Polk County warrant was issued for the Suljics arrest. On January 3, 2019, Suljic turned herself into Polk County authorities. She posted a $5,000 bond and was released. Trial will be set at a future date. No additional information will be provided at this time. Former N.J. Police Officer Sentenced to Prison for Sandy Fraud A former police officer has been sentenced to prison for his role in stealing $187,000 in federal Superstorm Sandy relief funds to repair a vacation home on the New Jersey shore. The Asbury Park Press reports 45-year-old Nikola Lulaj was sentenced to five years in prison Monday after his conviction in October on conspiracy, theft by deception and unsworn falsification charges. Officials say the former Hoboken officer and his wife, Majlinda, falsely claimed their Seaside Heights home was their primary residence when the storm hit in October 2012. Prosecutors say the couple lived in Dumont at the time and later moved to the Seaside Heights home. Majlinda Lulaj will avoid prison time and serve three years of probation after completing 50 hours of community service. Alabama-Based Chiropractor Gets 3 Years in Fraud Case An Alabama-based chiropractor, who was accused in a scheme to conduct fraudulent physical examinations on prospective long haul truckers and submit false documents to federal transportation regulators, has been sentenced to more than three years in prison. The Ledger-Enquirer reports Chief U.S. District Judge W. Keith Watkins of the Middle District of Alabama sentenced Dr. Kenneth G. Edwards, of Columbus, Georgia, to 37 months on Thursday. Watkins says the 65-year-old physician, who practiced in Phenix City, had abused the trust placed in him by the U.S. Department of Transportation. The offense netted Edwards about $224,000. U.S. Attorney Louis V. Franklin Sr. says the doctor was willing to risk putting physically unqualified individuals behind the wheels of large commercial vehicles to make a few easy bucks. Houston Company to Pay $250K to Settle Workers Comp Fraud Case A Houston company pleaded guilty to workers compensation premium fraud in a case that spanned four years. Alpha Mar, which makes custom parts for various industries, entered the plea in a Travis County District Court. The company was ordered to pay $250,000 to Texas Mutual Insurance Company, the workers compensation carrier. The Texas Department of Insurance, Division of Workers Compensations (DWC) prosecution unit obtained the conviction. The DWC prosecution unit is embedded in the Travis County District Attorneys Office. From 2008 to 2012, John Stergion of Alpha Mar concealed payroll and misrepresented the number of employees the company had. This resulted in a lower workers compensation policy premium. Copyright 2021 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. More than three months after 20 people died in a stretch limousine crash in rural upstate New York, federal safety investigators have yet to get their hands on the most crucial piece of evidence: the wrecked vehicle itself. The National Transportation Safety Board says it has been blocked from getting within 15 feet (4.5 meters) of the limo involved in the nations deadliest transportation accident in nearly a decade because local prosecutors say they have priority as part of their criminal case against the limo companys operator. Most major NTSB probes would have produced a preliminary report by this point, potentially resulting in key safety recommendations. But for now, the battered white limo involved in the Oct. 6 crash in Schoharie County sits beneath a state police tent near Albany while the NTSB seeks a judges intervention to gain access. In increasingly exasperated exchanges, NTSB lawyer Kathleen Silbaugh complained that the local prosecutor has refused to even discuss the federal boards jurisdiction in this matter and even hung up on a recent phone call when the issue came up. Silbaugh also expressed concern that the prolonged delay may have already caused safety-critical evidence to be lost. The NTSB said in a statement that if a deal can be worked out, it will immediately send two investigators for a limited time to do targeted work permissible under the partial government shutdown. Its unfortunate, said Peter Goelz, a former NTSB managing director who now works for a Washington, D.C., consulting firm. They might have made a recommendation, like replace the braking systems in vehicles that have been modified in this manner because theyre not robust enough to stop the vehicle fully loaded. The 2001 Ford Excursion that was modified into a stretch limo blew through a stop sign at a T-intersection and crashed beside a country store, killing the driver, 17 passengers on a birthday outing, and two pedestrians. The vehicle had failed a state inspection that examined such things as the chassis, suspension and brakes. Prosecutors allege the limousine companys operator, Nauman Hussain, allowed an improperly licensed driver to operate an unserviceable vehicle and have charged him with criminally negligent homicide. He has pleaded not guilty to the charge and remains free on bail. His lawyer has said investigators rushed to judgment . Silbaugh wrote in a letter to Schoharie County District Attorney Susan Mallery in December that because of the delay federal investigators may no longer be able to evaluate corrosion, which is critical when looking at the brakes, or the status of the vehicles electrical system at the time of the crash. Mallery, who has declined numerous requests for comment, told Silbaugh in a Dec. 19 letter that your investigators have been given at least three lengthy opportunities to view the limousine. She said state police and her office were obliged to maintain the chain of custody and the integrity of evidence. In a Jan. 7 letter requesting the intervention of Schoharie County Judge George Bartlett III, Silbaugh said federal inspectors had been allowed to view the vehicle from no closer than 15 feet (4.5 meters). She urged the judge to deny Mallerys request for a supplemental search warrant allowing removal of the vehicles transmission and torque converter, saying to do so before the NTSB completes its initial inspection will impact our ability to determine the vehicles role in the probable cause of the crash and to propose safety recommendations. On Jan. 9, Bartlett wrote that NTSBs work doesnt require court permission on a search warrant and that until the recent kerfuffle, this court had no reason to believe that the NTSB was not given the access necessary to fulfill its obligations. To break the impasse, he suggested NTSB propose language to be added to the search warrant, and gave defense counsel and the district attorney until Wednesday to submit any opposition. Such friction between a criminal prosecutor and federal safety investigators is unusual, said Jim Hall, who was NTSB chairman under during the Clinton administration. While the criminal investigation does have precedence, he said, its in the public interest that the federal safety investigation move forward without delay. There are a number of these specially modified vehicles operating. Having an opportunity to have a national focus on this accident is extremely important, Hall said. On Tuesday, Gov. Andrew Cuomo proposed banning vehicles remanufactured into stretch limousines from operating in New York state. The Democrat also proposed reforms, including prohibiting U-turns for larger vehicles and eliminating the seatbelt exemption for limos, buses and taxis. Copyright 2021 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Luka Chuppi, the fastest film shot in a period of 45 days, will see Kriti Sanon essaying a local girl who has gone to study in Delhi. Actress Kriti Sanon will be performing 90s song Ye Khabar Chapwado Akhbar Mein alongside Actress Kriti Sanon who has four films releasing this year will be performing a 90s song for the first time alongside Kartik Aaryan in her upcoming romantic-comedy Luka Chuppi. Delhi girl Kriti, who grew up in 90s is really excited to perform the iconic number from 1997 release Aflatoon starring Akshay Kumar and Urmila Matondkar. And, what doubles her excitement is the fact that she also has Housefull 4 releasing this year which will see him alongside the said actor. The diva is eagerly waiting to watch Akshays reaction to her performance on the song. Ye Khabar Chapwado Akhbar Mein is my most favourite song from the movie Aflatoon. I never thought that I would be dancing to it on the big screen. I was so excited when I got to know that we were recreating the song for one of my films. I had a blast shooting it, she says and adds, Whats also amazing is that I am in the midst of shooting another film with Akshay sir, Housefull 4. I cant wait to see Akshay sirs reaction to the song when he sees it. Luka Chuppi, the fastest film shot in a period of 45 days, will see Kriti Sanon essaying a local girl who has gone to study in Delhi. The film has been extensively shot in Mathura and Gwalior but the songs will show the glimpses of Mumbai. It releases on March 1, 2019. Besides Luka Chuppi, Kriti will be seen in four other films this year namely Arjun Patiala, Panipat, Housefull 4 and a song in Kalank. When Aubrey Belford started work as a special correspondent for Reuters in Southeast Asia, his new colleagues in the Bangkok bureau were working on a series of articles that would earn them a 2014 Pulitzer Prize. One piece exposed how certain members of the Thai navy and police were involved in the trafficking of Rohingya migrants from Myanmar into the seafood industry. This, along with another Pulitzer-winning series by the Associated Press, helped put pressure on Thailands leaders to do more to tackle trafficking. In November, Belford came across another article on Reuterss website about seafood slavery in the country. This one struck a different tone; paid for by Thailands military junta, it touted a sea change in ethical marine commerce brought about by reforms that included stringent measures to protect the rights of workers. ICYMI: BuzzFeed grilled over email sent ahead of TrumpCohen bombshell Belford is firmly against the use of native advertisingpaid stories that look and feel like a publications own journalismbut this piece was especially egregious, he felt, because it gave space to a government to whitewash abuses on one of the same platforms on which they were exposed. This is wrong no matter who the client is, Belford, who left Reuters in 2016, tells CJR. Corporations and democratic governments are also the subjects of Reuters coverage, and any native advertising in their favor would similarly muddy independent news reporting. But its even worse when the advertiser is a government that has credibly been tied to abuses. In a statement to CJR, Reuters says that the department behind the ad, Reuters Plus, operates independently of its journalists. All Reuters Plus content on Reuters.com is clearly labeled to differentiate it from editorial content, the statement says. (Stephen Adler, Reuterss editor in chief, is chairman of the advisory board of CJR.) Sign up for CJR 's daily email The piece is marked sponsored at the top, followed by a line identifying the content as provided by Thailands foreign ministry. A line at the end in smaller, fainter font states that the article was not produced by Reuters journalists. Reuters has a section on the homepage dedicated to sponsored content, and stories sponsored by the Thai government are mingled with news stories in Google search results about the topic. But research suggests that many are either oblivious to these disclaimers or do not know what they mean. Its not very likely that the typical reader would understand that this is a sponsored story, Bartosz Wojdynski, director of the Digital Media Attention and Cognition Lab at the University of Georgia, says. Typically somewhere between a tenth and a quarter of readers get that what they read was actually an advertisement. Most of the time, readers skip over the page furniture at the head of an article and start reading from the first paragraph, he says. When you strip away all the pretense, Belford adds, the reason these advertorials exist is to fool at least some readers into thinking they are legitimate editorial content, or at least imbued with the rigor of Reuters reporting. Concerns about ethics have done little to curtail the rapid growth of native advertising in recent years. News providers got 20 percent of their ad revenues from native content in 2017, according to a global study of 148 publishers by the Native Advertising Institute and the World Association of Newspapers and News Publishers. By 2021 executives expect that to increase to 36 percent. The reason these advertorials exist is to fool at least some readers into thinking they are legitimate editorial content, or at least imbued with the rigor of Reuters reporting. Aubrey Belford But the Thai seafood ad stands out from others, because it is a response to a PR crisis, and because Reuterss own reporting played a role in causing that crisis. One potential benefit of publishing a counter message on the same platform where the bad publicity originated, Wojdynski says, is having positive content appear alongside negative stories in search results. For Wojdynski, the fact that Reuters itself has covered this issue makes the ad even more noteworthy than other paid stories. He notes that early last year the agencys charitable arm, the Thomson Reuters Foundation, published pieces pointing out that traffickers were still forcing people into the seafood industry despite reforms. Publishing this sponsored content without the conflicting context provided by Reuterss own reporting on this issue seems pretty unethical to me, he says. After Belford and other journalists criticized the article on Twitter in early December, it disappeared from Reuters website. But then it went back up again, without explanation, later that week. Reuterss statement does not say why the article went offline. Not everyone was put off by the piece. Andy Hall, a British migrant rights campaigner who has run afoul of powerful interests in Thailand, says if the government wants to counter bad publicity by highlighting positive news, thats fair game. Its not a problem for me, he says. The commotion over the sponsored piece raises questions not just about the ethics of native advertising, but about news providers broader relationships with governments. Where and how should publications draw the line when taking money from governments? Should certain clients be completely off limits, and if so how does one decide which ones? Erin Schauster, assistant professor at CU Boulders College of Media, Communication and Information, tells CJR that when it comes to advertising contracts, the focus should be less on the the type of client than the content of the message. Much like advertising certain products is considered harmful, such as tobacco in the US, so too is advertising certain messages and agendas, she says. But deciding which messages are harmful requires making political and moral judgements, even if theyre unacknowledged. Are US military recruitment ads harmful? A left-leaning outlet might think so, while an establishment newspaper might not, even if it had published stories detailing alleged crimes by that military. Belford echoes Schausters point that running the wrong kind of ad can be worse than dealing with the wrong type of client: Its an unfortunate reality that media outlets need money to operate. But there is a world of difference between running a clearly labeled advertisement and this kind of misleading native content. ICYMI: A problematic USA Today scoop about people in prison amid government shutdown Has America ever needed a media watchdog more than now? Help us by joining CJR today Joshua Carroll is a freelance reporter based in Myanmar. Follow him on Twitter @jershcarroll. Forty years ago, David Halberstam wrote The Powers That Be, a snapshot of imperial journalism at its height. The book followed the paths of four news companiesThe Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, CBS News, and Time Inc.charting their rise and looking into what at the time seemed a limitless future. To say journalism feels different in 2019 would be a hilarious understatement. Of the four companies charted by Halberstam, only one, the Post, is anything like what it was, and thats only because it was rescued by Jeff Bezos. All of the others have been seriously hobbled. Jill Abramson, in Merchants of Truth, her book about the news business, out February 5 from Simon & Schuster, has taken Halberstam as an inspiration, similarly structuring hers around four iconic news outlets Vice, BuzzFeed, The New York Times, and The Washington Post. But instead of sketching a portrait of an industry on the rise, hers is a look at a business in existential crisis. RELATED: The perils of publishing without a fact-checking net The book has already been hit with a swarm of commentary and pushback, mostly on social media, and mostly vindicating Abramsons view, outlined in the book, about how social media has changed the nature of journalism, and not always for the better. The fact that the book has given her an opportunity to have the last word on the people who fired her as executive editor of the Times has made it a source of irresistible media-industry gossip. Abramson spoke with Kyle Pope, CJR editor and publisher, by phone in New York. Her comments, which you can also hear on The Kicker, our podcast, have been edited for length and clarity. Sign up for CJR 's daily email KP: Welcome, Jill. The book is titled Merchants of Truth: The Business of News and the Fight for Facts. So are the facts winning or not? JA: I think the facts will always win. Everything has become polarized and politicized and it presents journalism with a big dilemma. None of us are comfortable being advocates. You and I both know the founders thought that journalists were a crucial bulwark against excessive government power and that the Fourth Estate was incredibly important and had to function successfully. We cant just be passive bystanders because if we do, the core of the First Amendment could be weakened terribly, and that cant happen on our watch. KP: You write a lot in this book about the culture and the kind of mechanisms for high levels of journalism, especially at the Post and the Times. Lets talk about BuzzFeed, especially about this recent story of theirs having to do with whether Trump instructed his lawyer to lie about a Trump Tower in Moscow. Do you think thats an example of how a true embrace of rigor and fact checking still isnt quite there for them? JA: I think its premature to come to a judgment on their story. Ive talked and interviewed some of the journalists who were involved in the Michael Cohen/Trump story. Theres somewhat of a rush to make this a case study in bad journalistic practice and Im not not sure it is. Im obviously not sure either that the story is solid. BuzzFeed was transparent that it had two sources involved in the investigation of Trump Tower Moscow. You know they had documents described to them. Obviously you know the special counsel poured ice water on it not only cold water which is practically unprecedented. I think what the story is is an example of how news goes viral. KP: Now were all living in Jonah Perettis world now. JA: Yeah, and that can be cautionary. You know certainly if something is false and goes viral, but you know it can be great, too, because it can bring a huge audience to a particular story that should get more attention. KP: But there is a predictable cycle to this, which is somebody writes a potentially explosive story. A certain group of sort of pundits jumps on it and says this is huge. Then theres this predictable backlash. The pendulum swings all the way to the other side. It just doesnt seem like a healthy way to digest and talk about news. JA: No it isnt. You know when I started my career as an investigative reporter at The Wall Street Journal in the relative stone age, our culture and our rhythms were completely governed by the printing press. KP: I sort of wonder what what we did with all of our time. JA: Well I know what I did. I was out reporting and hunting for documents and meeting face to face with nervous sources and attending hearings on issues. That to me is that the biggest worry. The atrophying of local journalism and reporting and the disappearance of so many local newspapers means thats the news thats closest to people and knows the people, the news organizations that know the people in the community the best, are gone. I dont think that thats incidental to why the news media by and large missed the huge anger bubbling up in the middle of the country. KP: So lets talk about how the news cycle works. I was fascinated to see that play out in response to this book. Were you surprised? JA: I wasnt surprised. KP: What happened, for everybody who hasnt been following this closely, was that Howard Kurtz at Fox wrote a piece that I think mischaracterized your take on the Times, and other people focused on factual errors in the galleys, which youve corrected, yes? JA: Yes. KP: So you werent surprised either of those things happened before the book was even released? JA: I wasnt but I dont really want to talk in detail about why. I mean I was well aware that some of the people I wrote about were angry about the book and had contested some of the facts in the book. I wasnt surprised. Everything happens instantly. I was surprised that the galley had been out there you know for way over a month that it took that long. I want to say seriously that it pains me that there were any mistakes. In a 500-page book I fear its inevitable that there are going to be some and the most important thing you can do as a good journalist is correct them ASAP. KP: You hired a fact checker for the book? JA: I did. KP: How much fact checking did the publisher do, or did they leave that all to your person? JA: Publishers, I think by and large, dont fact check anymore. They copy edit. KP: The stuff that I found most interesting about the Times was the sort of continuing, ongoing tension around the business sides effort to find other sources of revenue. They sort of saw news as a potential area to exploit. JA: Well I think exploit is too strong a word but The New York Times is a for-profit company. I had grown up in a newspaper culture where there was an extremely bright line between the newsroom and the business side. What I experienced was that the business leaders of the Times wanted less of a separation and believed that the journalists in the newsroom had to be heavily involved. I did not want the journalists in the newsroom to be preoccupied with revenue-producing proposals on how to save the Times. I mean no one wanted to save the Times more than me. Its an irreplaceable institution in America. But it worried me. KP: You write about how near the end of his tenure Bill Keller (the former executive editor) looked aged and exhausted and sort of like, Enough. I dont think those of us on the outside appreciated what was going on inside. JA: Well thats probably true. I had given speeches saying how terrible I thought brand advertising and native advertising were because I thought it could sow confusion in readers minds. I was told by the new CEO of the Times that the Times just absolutely needed to do native advertising and set up a native advertising studio and that I couldnt stand in the way. KP: Do you think its gone too far? JA: Well I certainly dont know of any breach where the Times ran a native ad that did confuse large numbers of readers. But Im not sure that readers understand. The other day there was a very big native ad that ran almost all the way across the homepage and in small letters it says paid post. But Im not sure readers know what a paid post is. KP: I heard you talk recently at a kickoff breakfast for your book. Somebody asked you whether you were bitter. You said that chapters behind you. JA: How can you not forgive people like Dean Baquet who has turned out to be a great executive editor and a steady guide of the Times through this period of constant White House attacks? Or Arthur Sulzberger Jr., who was publisher when I was executive editor and was the man who fired me? But you know he is I think one of the great heroes of journalism because in the worst of times, sure we had some job reductions in the newsroom, but not of the severity of our competitors. KP: I hear what youre saying, although reading the book I thought the portrayal of Sulzberger was pretty unflattering. Thats my read. JA: OK. I think its mixed, but the portrait of many key characters in the book is mixed. Im not bitter. I was very sad after I was fired. But Ive built a new career for myself which is centered around journalism still. KP: I thought the book was brave in the sense of your willingness to call it as you saw it. Im sure everybodys reading this differently. Im sure you have friends at the Times who thought you were too soft and others who thought you were too hard. People read into it what they will. JA: That is true. KP: I wish it had a cleaner ending. JA: Could you write one? I cant see it in terms of what the future holds. KP: I couldnt. Has America ever needed a media watchdog more than now? Help us by joining CJR today Kyle Pope is the editor in chief and publisher of the Columbia Journalism Review. Four trends emerged in 2018 in digital investments by third-party service providers, which I believe will affect enterprise spending decisions in 2019. Trend #1: Automation in BPO/BPS New digital models and Robotic Process Automation (RPA) are changing the outsourcing services landscape. This is especially evident in voice-based business process services (BPS). Digital technologies are revitalizing mature services, such as voice/call center services. Somewhat counterintuitively, the voice services segment is moving from a commodity to a differentiated offering as it embraces digital technologies, analytics and Artificial Intelligence (AI). Digital models and technologies require new skills, causing service providers to upskill their talent pools, adding analytics and domain skills. Labor pool talent in the voice area needs the capability to handle more sophisticated inquiries and take more independent actions based on a customer request. Analytics, chat bots and AI deliver these capabilities. These changes are just starting to take effect, but the direction is clear. Indian service providers, historically disadvantaged in many BPS areas because of voice quality issues and proximity to clients, now look to have a bright future in BPS. Their voice quality and proximity challenges are somewhat offset by technological prowess, and there is a need for tech-savvy talent in the new digital models and technologies. Digital is providing growth opportunities for the sophisticated call center service providers, and smaller providers are consolidating to meet the more sophisticated needs in digital and capture significant new addressable market spaces. Moreover, this pattern seems to be repeating itself in almost all the high-value business processes, such as F&A and purchasing, where services providers can apply digital technologies. In fact, the BPS segments growth rate now looks to outperform the IT services segment for the foreseeable future. Trend #2: Innovation ecosystems As the services industry changes from favoring labor arbitrage to now meeting clients demands for disruptive digital technologies that create new value, they face a significant threat from start-up firms. As Ive blogged previously, firms in 2018 showed a strong preference to engage with start-ups as their go-to partner for digital transformation, rather than incumbent service providers. They view start-ups as the source of technology innovation for creating new value that can reshape their competitive positioning. This shift in relevance is a potential existential threat to the incumbent service provider, which are desperately trying to become the go-to-partner for digital transformation. They at first attempted to fight the start-ups but increasingly recognized they were losing that battle and now choose to join them and leverage start-ups strengths instead. Infosys, TCS, Tech Mahindra, Wipro and others are now creating innovation ecosystems that invest in start-ups and bring their services and products to the incumbents clients. This is a good strategy that benefits clients too. Digital start-ups tend to focus on building and selling technology but lack adequate implementation resources. Additionally, it is very difficult for well-established incumbent service companies to incubate disruptive technology and build a new software business model inside of a successful services company. For every dollar a client company spends on new digital technology, it spends $10-$20 implementing it and changing its operating model. Incumbent service providers want to participate in the $10-$20 part of the spend by being good implementation and ecosystem partners with the start-ups. Incumbent service providers also hope their investments in start-ups will position them well for (a) buying the start-up if successful together, (b) influence the start-up to select the incumbent as a privileged partner or (c) at the very least, make money if they are successful as partners. The strategy to join start-ups rather than fight them and create innovation ecosystems appears to be working well for the Indian firms as the strategy is a significant factor in their accelerating growth in the digital markets. It also works well for clients, which benefit from the partnering approach to digital transformation to get the best of both worlds. Trend #3: Communications sector growth Thanks to digital technologies, the communications services segment is poised for strong growth over the next few years. I believe it will likely emerge as a strategic segment for third-party service providers. At the heart of this growth are several mega trends: Huge wave of work necessitated by 5G technologies initially in implementation services but, over the long term, in strategic importance such as in Internet of Things programs and self-driving cars. Convergence of media and telecom, moving these client businesses into a richer service model for their customers, which requires significant third-party assistance. Emergence of digital marketing, a high-impact area for all companies, and its growing links to communications firms. As a result of the potential high-value, strategic business in the communications segment, some service providers are restructuring this business segment to provide better customer relationships, sales investment and management oversight. Infosys, for example, recently carved out Communication, Telecom OEM and Media as part of its Energy and Utilities segment and created it as a separate business segment. By breaking it out, Infosys can better monitor results and make more focused investments in this critical segment. it is no surprise to see Infosys and other services firms prioritizing the communications segment, especially to better compete with Accenture and others that already have a strong base of business in this space. I believe market leadership in services for communications clients will necessitate also building out skills in IoT, media and digital marketing. Trend #4: Increased pricing pressure Finally, firms demand for digital technologies and business models is increasing the pricing wars already affecting the services industry. As companies implement digital platforms, the total cost to operate (TCO) comes down significantly because the technology eliminates 30-40% of the people previously doing the work. In most cases, TCO drops by between 30-40% and, in some cases, by over 80%. Firms are becoming aware of this change in TCO and are becoming more aggressive in using benchmarking and recompetes to capture this gain for themselves. Some clients do not want to go through the pain and expense of changing service providers, so I believe the potential of lower TCO will drive many clients in 2019 to a big recompete to put pressure on incumbent providers to lower their margins and increase automation. India Ratings and Research (Ind-Ra) has maintained a negative outlook on the telecommunications services sector for FY20. The ratings agency said that the pricing recovery in FY20 is unlikely to be sufficient to compensate for the revenue loss witnessed in the preceding two years. New Delhi: The telecom sector is unlikely to witness any meaningful recover in FY20, said India Ratings and Research (Ind-Ra) on Thursday. India Ratings and Research (Ind-Ra) has maintained a negative outlook on the telecommunications services sector for FY20. The ratings agency said that the pricing recovery in FY20 is unlikely to be sufficient to compensate for the revenue loss witnessed in the preceding two years. The EBITDA for the top two private telcos will improve but not to the extent that it would lead to any meaningful recovery in their standalone credit profiles, it said. It expects Reliance Jio Infocomms (RJio) dominance to increase as it would continue to seize market share in terms of both subscribers and revenue from Bharti Airtel and Vodafone-Idea in FY20 and could eventually emerge as the largest telecom player in the country. Given the continued capex commitments, refinancing requirements would remain high for all the players. As a result, free cash flows would remain negative in FY20. The aggregate net debt of Bharti, Vodafone-Idea and RJio at end-FY19 is estimated to be around `3 lakh crore, implying net leverage of over 6x for the sector. Telecom companies will continue to require equity infusion and asset monetisation to deleverage, the ratings agency said. Post consolidation, there are three private and two public sector players (BSNL and MTNL) in the telecom industry, said Ind-Ra. Calling withdrawing from Syria a mistake and sharply questioning whether trades talks with China would have any lasting impact, former National Security Adviser H.R. McMaster cast doubt on the direction of the Trump administration foreign policy Wednesday in Houston and reaffirmed his view that Russia played a role in the 2016 presidential elections. McMaster a decorated military veteran who resigned from the top security post last April after an acrimonious year under President Donald Trump said the United States could lose what little traction it has gained in Syria as it starts pulling out troops from the war-torn country before ensuring an enduring defeat of ISIS. Its a big mistake, McMaster said in Houston at an energy industry conference hosted by the analyst firm Argus Media. By leaving the northeastern part of the country, you're leaving 60 percent of the oil reserves, which is a lot of leverage, especially leverage over Russia who doesn't have the money to reconstruct Syria. Leaving Syria, added McMaster, would reduce that influence that United States could have on the political outcome of the years-long civil war. McMaster, a retired general, told the story of his swift his appointment to national security post in February 2017 when he got a seemingly unexpected call from the White House asking him to fly to Trump's Florida estate Mar-a-Lago the next day for an interview with the president. A few days later, he replaced Lt General Michael Flynn, who was ousted for misleading White House officials about his contacts with a Russian ambassador and pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI. A military scholar who Time magazine once praised as possibly "the 21st Century Army's pre-eminent warrior-thinker", McMaster was often seen as the adult in the room who could help modulate the erratic whims of Trumps foreign policy with his decades of strategic and military experience. But McMasters and Trumps personalities and approaches clashed from the beginning over key policy decisions such as escalating the war in Afghanistan. The president publicly blasted McMaster last February for saying that there was incontrovertible evidence that Russia played a role in the 2016 presidential elections. McMaster, whom Trump replaced with the hawkish neocon John Bolton, maintained his view on Russians influence on U.S. politics. We're learning more every day about (how) Russia organized their campaign of influence against the United States, centered around the on the 2016 election, McMaster said, and actually intensifying after that election to polarize us. McMaster, 56, now works as a fellow and lecturer at Stanford University in California. He painted a dire picture of geopolitical threats from Russias dangerous and sustained campaign to destabilize NATO and the economic aggression from China, including trade wars and clashes with American companies intellectual property rights. McMaster cast doubt on whether trade talks with China would amount to anything meaningful. If no deal is reached by March, the United States is set to increase tariffs on $200 billion in Chinese goods. I am very skeptical of those trade talks delivering any kind of enduring agreement that would address the fundamental structural issues associated with Chinese trade and economic practices, McMaster said. Those structural issues include President Xi Jinpings desire to meet his peoples expectations of an ever-expanding economy and the Communist Partys fear of losing influence and power to free market forces, he added. Chinas One Belt, One Road initiative to finance road, rail, ports and other public works around Asia, Europe and Africa will only consolidate its power in the region as it seeks to control natural resources and energy for its own industrial growth, McMaster said. China continues to one of the worlds biggest importers of crude oil, and last year surpassed the United States as a net importer of crude. As U.S. petroleum exports grow globally, McMaster said the energy industry could be a strong counterweight against Chinese and Russian influence globally. Liquefied natural gas and emerging U.S. exports can have a huge impact on breaking some of these dependencies and, breaking kind of the coercive effect that Russia in particular has over (some European countries, he said. Many countries in Europe depend on natural gas from Russia. McMaster also advocated for the industrys continued technological improvements to cut greenhouse gas emissions. Although he criticized Trump for pulling out of the Paris Climate Accord, he said China and other major polluters needed to be held more accountable for their emissions. marissa.luck@chron.com twitter.com/marissaluck7 As politicians in Washington dithered and grandstanded, Gary Kleppel decided to take action. A few days ago, concerned about the plight of Transportation Security Administration employees working without pay during the federal government shutdown, Kleppel began calling around to farmers he knows to ask if they could donate food. On Wednesday afternoon, the 33rd day of the shutdown, Kleppel and his wife Pam made a delivery. The couple from Knox, in rural Albany County, pulled two carts loaded with food into Albany International Airport. The haul included 65 loaves of bread baked at the Kleppel's home, 200 pounds of potatoes, 13 dozen eggs and assorted other items including high-quality steaks from locally raised cattle. "I see people who stand between me and very bad actors every time I get on a plane, and it drives me crazy that they're struggling to pay their bills," Kleppel told me, explaining why he'd taken action. "I can't solve all the world's problems, but I can contribute to the solution for some." MORE ON POLITICS: Lawyer says Senate panel subpoenaed Michael Cohen Kleppel, 67, paused. "It's being a human being," he said. Being human, in the grander, graceful and humane sense of the word, is a diminishing quality. Or so it seems if you turn to Twitter or cable news, where the world in recent days has devoted inexhaustible energy to litigating what teenage boys from Kentucky may have done at the Lincoln Memorial. Just the latest partisan fight, with many more sure to come, it was an ugly rush to judgment. It was outrage motivated by prejudiced presumptions that proved inaccurate. Certainly, with prominent people calling for violence against a teenage boy, nothing about the fracas was humane. Nor is the ongoing stalemate between President Trump and Congress over the president's mercurial, fear-mongering demand for billions of dollars to complete a towering and unnecessary wall on the southern border. It's a standoff with little regard for what will actually benefit the country or for the cost borne by the 800,000 federal workers who are not receiving their paychecks. "We're just really frustrated," said Anne Donnelly, 54, an Internal Revenue Service agent who lives in Troy and heads Chapter 61 of the National Treasury Employees Union. "Our bills aren't shut down. Only our paychecks are shut down." IRS workers do a difficult and thankless job, and you can believe Donnelly knows they aren't beloved. But their unpopularity doesn't mean IRS workers don't have families to feed, don't live paycheck-to-paycheck like most other Americans, don't have to pay for gas, day care, tuition or heat. FROM HOUSTONCHRONICLE.COM: Former Trump adviser questions China talks, calls Syria decision 'a mistake' Some of the 100 workers Donnelly represents, from Plattsburgh to Poughkeepsie and places in between, are furloughed. Others are working full time, without pay. A few are working just a few hours a week, also without pay. Like the other federal workers, they are pawns in a high-stakes game. "I don't know how many people out there could survive a month without pay," Donnelly said. "We're not any different than anyone else." Donnelly, noting the varied political beliefs of IRS workers, carefully avoided taking a stand on the shutdown. It doesn't matter which side wins, she said. Just get us back to work. Back at the airport, TSA employees are working, but without pay, of course. And so Kleppel's donation gathered from his own farm; the Barcomb Farm, also in Knox; and Schoharie Valley Farms in Schoharie was a welcome sight. It was hardly the first generosity to come the workers' way; somebody ordered pizza for them on Wednesday, and there have been other acts of kindness. Kleppel's donation, though, was the first of food intended for the workers to take home. As Kleppel's carts rolled across the terminal, the smell of freshly baked bread lingered behind. "This keeps their spirits up," Tim Fischer, a TSA explosion specialist at the airport, said of the donations. "After a month of no paycheck, it does start to wear you down." Kleppel isn't done. He expects to keep gathering food from farmers to bring to TSA workers, so long as the senseless shutdown continues. But his example can endure past its end. It is one of grace and beauty, kindness and compassion. It's about overcoming divisions in a time of walls and mass shootings and ceaseless anger. It's about sacrifice and tangible good in an age of keyboard warriors and virtual viciousness. It's a lesson about what it should mean to be human. cchurchill@timesunion.com 518-454-5442 @chris_churchill Uvalde police arrested a 12-year-old boy Thursday morning on suspicion of capital murder in connection with a fatal home invasion. The suspect allegedly broke into a home in Uvalde Wednesday evening and fatally shot a 24-year-old boxer, John Duane VanMeter. VanMeter's girlfriend called police at about 7:55 p.m. to report someone had broken into her home in the 600 block of Boone Street and shot her boyfriend. FIND OUT FIRST: Get San Antonio breaking news directly to your inbox When Uvalde police officers arrived, they found VanMeter lying in the living room, suffering from a gunshot wound to the head, authorities said. Paramedics took him to Uvalde Memorial Hospital, where he was pronounced dead at 8:43 p.m. VanMeter was remembered as a man with a "heart of gold and an amazing spirit" by his trainer, David Hernandez, who runs Tree City Boxing Club in Uvalde. "We often spent hours upon hours of training, traveling and just building a relationship," he said. "He spent many days and nights together with my own children, and they looked up to him as a brother, and I looked to him as one of my own." Hernandez said VanMeter left a positive legacy in the boxing community. "It was through his own hard work, dedication and love for the sport that got him to where he was in his boxing career," he said in an email. "The only thing John love more than boxing was his family! "It is a very sad time for our community and our boxing club," Hernandez said. "His loss has definitely devastated both. We will always carry John's memory in our hearts and thank him for opening doors for the younger boxers of Uvalde and surrounding areas." RELATED: SAPD: Driver flees after running over woman on SW side On Wednesday night, multiple witnesses told investigators they saw a man in all black clothing with a black bandanna across his face flee from the residence, police said. Detectives quickly identified a person of interest in the shooting, but it's unclear if that person was the boy they arrested Thursday morning. The juvenile suspect was taken to the Jourdanton Juvenile Detention Center as Uvalde police and the Texas Rangers continued to investigate. Under Texas law, children under the age of 14 cannot be tried as adults for first-degree felonies so the suspect would be charged as a juvenile and face a maximum penalty of 40 years in prison. VanMeter's girlfriend, Sammy Chapa said she and VanMeter took the suspect into their home two months ago for about a week. Read more about the boy's relationship with the boxer on the Express-News. Text "NEWS" to 77453 for breaking news alerts from mySA.com Caleb Downs covers crime in San Antonio and Bexar County. Read him on our breaking news site, mySA.com, and on our subscriber site, ExpressNews.com | cdowns@mysa.com | @calebjdowns A former member of the Bandidos who helped bring down the outlaw motorcycle clubs national leaders got a huge break in a San Antonio courtroom Wednesday when he walked out with probation instead of the 14 to 17 years in prison he faced for a drug-trafficking conviction. Senior U.S. District Judge David Ezra granted a request from federal prosecutors to cut Raul K-Oz Puente a break for his assistance in the Bandidos racketeering case. At Wednesdays hearing, everyone was careful not to mention what Puente did for the feds or to speak of the Bandidos by name as Ezra departed from the recommended sentencing guideline range of 168 months to 210 months in prison, without parole, and instead sentenced Puente to five years of probation. Puente pleaded guilty three years ago to conspiracy to distribute methamphetamines. On ExpressNews.com: Jurors find Bandidos leaders guilty Ezra cautioned that he would not normally, if ever, consider a probated sentence as requested by the government for someone who faced such a high sentence for a drug offense. Every so often, and not that frequently, there are circumstances where the government has justified the request, Ezra said. Sadly, this is one of those situations where it requires that (the motion for downward departure) remain sealed, pursuant to law. It might seem to public that the court is not being as stern as it should be in terms of drug cases, the judge continued. Nothing could be further from the truth. I wish I can go into detail of why Im imposing the sentence I am, but I cant. If I did, it would endanger individuals. Ezra added that Puentes sentence reduction was not as drastic as that of Sammy the Bull Gravano, the infamous mafia underboss who killed 19 people but avoided life in prison, or the death penalty, because he got government-sanctioned breaks for helping convict mob boss John Gotti. In Gravanos case, the government (and the judge who approved Gravanos pass) looked at the bigger picture: Taking down the head of a mafia organization was more important then imposing a hefty sentence against one individual, Ezra said. Related: Bandidos upset Cossacks patch was bigger than ours According to court records, Puente went from being president of the Northeast San Antonio chapter of the Bandidos Motorcycle Club to something that put him in danger he flipped. During a trial last year, testimony surfaced that Puente cooperated and agreed to wear a wire and record phone calls with other Bandidos, following his 2015 drug indictment. That helped the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, the FBI and Texas Department of Public Safety identify the Bandidos drug-trafficking, and to solve other crimes that were also rolled into a racketeering indictment against the organizations national leadership. Puentes cooperation helped the government flip other high-ranking members of the Bandidos and to convict its top two leaders, former national president Jeffrey Fay Pike of Conroe and then-national vice president John Xavier Portillo of San Antonio. The pair were sentenced to life in prison after being convicted in a three-month trial in 2018 of leading the Bandidos racketeering conspiracy that included drug-trafficking, assaults on rivals and murder. I tried to balance everything out, the good (and) the bad, Puente told the judge Wednesday. Theres no excuse for the situation I was put in. I could have gone left and I went right. Ive done my best to rectify and correct and fix and prevent. Related: Fight at strip club leads to drug arrest For several years before 2015, Puente was in all things Bandido. He drew headlines for a bloody fight over turf with a member of another gang, the Texas Syndicate, at a local strip club in 2009. He was caught on a wiretap during a drug-dealing investigation of Johnny Romo, a national sergeant-at-arms of the Bandidos who later turned states evidence himself and testified against Portillo and Pike. In one of those intercepted calls, Puente warned another Bandidos member that it appeared the call was being monitored by law enforcement. Puentes lawyer, Tony Jimenez, said after Wednesdays hearing that his client is no longer in the Bandidos. Its a very difficult situation, Jimenez said. Hes just wanting to move on and put this behind him. Puente, knowing hes at risk, told the judge it wont be easy to forge ahead. Even after this, I dont know what tomorrow brings, Puente said. Its just something that Im going to have to look over my shoulder (for) the rest of my life. Its going to be what its going to be. I apologize to my family and everybody in general. Guillermo Contreras covers federal court and immigration news in the San Antonio and Bexar County area. Read him on our free site, mySA.com, and on our subscriber site, ExpressNews.com. | gcontreras@express-news.net | Twitter: @gmaninfedland A woman was reportedly shot at a west Houston gas station Thursday. The shooting happened around 11 a.m. in the 10400 block of Richmond Avenue, according to Houston police. Officials say officers received reports that a woman had been shot. Paramedics with the Houston Fire Department rushed to the scene to help the woman. MORE ON CRIME: 9 arrested in I-45 shutdown, cops issue harsh warning on future stunts Her condition was not immediately clear. A potential suspect fled the scene in a blue Honda vehicle, according to Houston police. No other information was available. Check back for updates as they come in. Jay R. Jordan covers breaking news in the Houston area. Read him on our breaking news site, Chron.com, and our subscriber site, HoustonChronicle.com | Follow him on Twitter at @JayRJordan | Email him at jay.jordan@chron.com | Text CHRON to 77453 to receive breaking news alerts by text message A man has been arrested days after allegedly fatally shooting his friend in south Houston, police said. Jalin Damone Charles, 18, is accused of killing 19-year-old Charles Robinson, Jr. following a fight about Robinson's girlfriend. Five years after a group of death row defense lawyers sued the Texas prison system for refusing to release the name of the states lethal injection supplier, the drawn-out legal wrangling finally ended up in the Texas Supreme Court where the two sides squared off Wednesday with 20 minutes each of arguments. On one side, an attorney for the trio of defense lawyers pushed for releasing the information, arguing that the state couldnt prove naming the supplier would create any physical risk to the pharmacies and that it could help reveal safety and purity problems. On the other side, an attorney for the state fought to keep secret the name, arguing that the release could prompt businesses to stop supplying execution drugs and put the companies at risk. Its unclear when the justices might release their decision. But, whatever opinion the court issues on the matter, it might have a limited impact thanks to a 2015 secrecy law that shields the release of lethal injection suppliers names. The current lawsuit was filed the year before the secrecy law passed. Though the ongoing case could if the high court sides with the death row lawyers lead to the release of the 2014 suppliers name, the identity of the states current suppliers would still be secret. Legal fight The legal sparring began when the prison system refused to name its drug supplier in response to a public records request from attorney Maurie Levin and two other death penalty lawyers. The attorney general sided with prison officials in withholding the information, so Levin and her colleagues filed suit. In 2017, an Austin-based court of appeals sided with the death row lawyers, so the state appealed the case up to the Texas Supreme Court. In June, that court let the lower courts decision stand. But days later, the state filed a motion for a rehearing, arguing that the suit was an attack on the death penalty that would have potentially devastating consequences for public safety. The pharmacy chimed in with an affidavit saying theyd no longer do business with the prison system if the companys identity were disclosed. The state went on to argue that there could be grave consequences for the pharmacy, which is a soft target in an urban area, whose only defense is its anonymity. Afterward, the high court reconsidered and set the matter for oral arguments. Justice questions argument Much of the back-and-forth between attorneys and the justices on Wednesday in Austin centered on whether the state could show it was more likely than not that releasing the suppliers name would result in physical harm. Under the open records law, the government generally has to release information thats not subject to an exception and the probable threat of physical harm is one of those exceptions. That harm has to be more likely than not to occur, according to the standard set in a previous court case in which two newspaper companies, including Hearst, which owns the Houston Chronicle, sued over access to records. Arguing for the state, Ari Cuenin called it intuitive that some might want to harm the entities responsible for providing the states lethal drugs, but he conceded that it would be difficult to make claims about the likelihood of a hypothetical future attack. Its hard to imagine that an unknown future attacker would be more likely than not to attack, he said. But, he said, the threat of such danger, along with the possibility of protesters, has been enough to dissuade companies in the past from continuing to sell drugs. And, he added, if a company were identified and continued selling the drugs, then there would be a real risk of violence. Chief Justice Nathan Hecht said he had trouble with that argument. Every one of these suppliers is going to quit but then if they dont quit which theyre not going to do then there might be a threat of physical violence, he said, pointing out that saying theres an economic incentive to stop supplying the drugs would undercut the threat of violence. Dispute over likelihood of attacks In his response on behalf of the death penalty lawyers, attorney Philip Durst brought up the possibility that the drug suppliers name may already be public and pointed out that there havent been any serious consequences. Late last year, BuzzFeed News published a report allegedly identifying one of the states death drug suppliers. Citing unidentified federal documents, reporter Chris McDaniel named a small gift shop in southwest Houston as one of two compounding pharmacies allegedly providing drugs to the state. Following the report, a small group of activists gathered to protest, as the Houston Chronicle reported at the time. Theyve already had 45 minutes of peaceful protest from a crowd that the paper described as well-behaved, Durst argued, pointing out that by definition there cant be a threat of physical violence if the pharmacy in question is the one already identified. And, he added, the vague possibility of risk is not enough to warrant an exemption. Cuenin accused Durst of using a one-note approach to the case, saying the death row lawyers never addressed the possible magnitude of an attack or the vulnerability of the target in question. A 10 percent chance of rain is going to prompt different concerns, he said, than a 10 percent chance of nuclear Armageddon. keri.blakinger@chron.com Houston Police arrested 48 drivers on felony alcohol charges during the month of December, according to records obtained by Chron.com. Some were charged with driving while intoxicated with a child in the vehicle, and many were charged with their third DWI. While a new cultural arts district was approved by The Woodlands Township last month, the townships Economic Development Committee resumed planning for the new district during a meeting on Wednesday, approving decorative banners for the area. Where we left this off was for me to do some research on where we could designate signs, Nick Wolda, president of Visit The Woodlands, said as the committee began to discuss next steps for The Waterway Arts District. The boundary for the district focuses on The Woodlands Waterway and includes Glade Cultural Center, Market Street, Town Green Park, Hughes Landing and the Cynthia Woods Mitchell pavilion. It also extends to the lake. Related: Art season is on the way in The Woodlands Wolda presented photos of three different kinds of light poles within the districts boundaries that the committee could hang banner signs on. My thought process is that we consider putting banners in and around Town Green park, the Waterway and Waterway Square to get started with our new logo, Wolda said. The final logo for the district has a distinctive W, highlighted on one side with a brushstroke effect, and underscored by an image of water. The color scheme includes dark blue, matte gold, maroon, black and white. Wolda also shared with the committee that he has a meeting scheduled with Howard Hughes officials in a few weeks to discuss an overall signage update in The Woodlands, which could include incorporating more permanent wayfinding signage for the district. The committee motioned to approve Wolda to work on this, as well as the authority to move forward with creating the banners. They are to discuss future steps at the next committee meeting set for Feb. 21 at 4:30 p.m. Theres a new face in the group, too. Township Director Bruce Rieser was moved onto the committee, taking Director John McMullans place. Directors Carol Stromatt and Ann Snyder remained, and Snyder will continue as the committees chair. jane.stueckemann@chron.com Concern over the numbers of accidents at numerous intersections in and around The Woodlands has been on the minds of elected officials and law enforcement officials for year, however recent accidents along the Research Forest Drive corridor have led to more scrutiny of the issue over the past four months. On Wednesday, Jan. 23, The Woodlands Township Board of Directors received an update on accidents along the Research Forest Drove corridor, focused on the Crownridge Drive intersection, where there were 17 collisions from Jan. 1, 2018, through Dec. 26, 2018 prompting township director to ask for an update on the issue from local law enforcement officials. Montgomery County Sheriffs Office Capt. Tim Holifield did a presentation to the board during Wednesdays meeting, stating that the accidents at the intersection, like many around the township and surrouding region, are often caused by a combination of factors, including inattentive drivers on cell phones, speeding and in general, drivers just not paying attention to their environment or other traffic. The information in this report is to address accidents as a whole in the township, but with a focus on the accidents at Crownridge and Research Forest. We took a lot of time to pull the reports, Holifield said. In every incident, at least one party failed to yield the right of way. ON HOUSTONCHRONICLE.COM: How Houston became the most deadly major metro area in the nation for drivers and pedestrians After consulting with traffic signal officials with Montgomery County Precinct 3 Commissioner James Noacks office and other law enforcement officials, Holifield said the issue was mere All of the timings are correct, he added of the Crownridge Drive intersection. They validated and verified the signal timings are correct. The presentation included detailed data on accidents and collisions through out the township, with the intersection of Texas 242 and Interstate 45, with 91 collisions. The intersection of Grogans Mill Road and Research Forest Drive was also on the list. Many of the 1,397 collisions in 2018, more than 700 happened within an intersection, Holifield added. We have a number of hot spots for collision, and a lot of those places, we just need to remind people, put down their cell phone and focus on driving, Holifield added. Distracted driving seems to be on the increase. Holifield said drivers can put down cell phones, use the Safe to Save app and pay attention to driving, not other in-car distractions. Township Director Bruce Rieser said more attention needs to be devoted to preventing accidents. (Texas) 242 is the worst in the county, but speed enforcement (on Research Forest Drive) would be good, Rieser said. Township Board Chairman Gordy Bunch also said township officials will consult with Noacks office to examine whether there are sight-line issues at the Crownridge Drive intersection with Research Forest Drive, and if trees and shrubs needed to be trimmed. jeff.forward@chron.com The Fort Bend County Sheriffs Office and Crime Stoppers are seeking the publics help for more information about a felony theft in Pleak, a village of about 1,000 people south of Rosenberg. Information which leads to the identity and arrest of the suspects could result in a $5,000 cash reward. These guys brazenly stole property in broad daylight, said Sheriff Troy Nehls. Help us catch them and also earn some money the right way! According to the Sheriffs Office, at 3:30 p.m. Monday, Jan. 21, deputies were called to the 6900 block of State Highway 36 S in Pleak. Surveillance footage showed a 2008 to 2013 black Chevrolet 1500 Z-71 drive onto the property and back up to a trailer. Two suspects get out of the truck, hook up to the trailer, and drive away, the Sheriffs Office reported. The truck leaves north on SH 36 (toward) Rosenberg. The stolen trailer is a 2015 Loadtrail 14-foot dump trailer with Texas license plate No. 35l-7930. The Sheriffs Office described the suspects as Hispanic males with heavy builds and appear to be in their mid- to late-30s. Investigators believe that both suspects are in the construction business and are possibly from the Rosenberg or Richmond area. Anyone who has information on this crime is asked to call Fort Bend County Crime Stoppers, Inc. Call (281) 342-TIPS (8477) Submit Online at www.fortbend.crimestoppersweb.com. Information, which leads to the apprehension and filing of charges on the suspect(s) involved, could result in a $5,000 cash reward. All calls to Crime Stoppers are anonymous. For more information, visit www.facebook.com/fortbendcountycrimestoppers . rkent@hcnonline.com Warren Wilson, executive vice president of CDC Houston, said hes noticed an increase in businesses gravitating toward northwest Harris County, and hes delighted. CDC Houston is the master developer of Springwoods Village, a 2,000-acre master-planned mix-use development at I-45 and the Grand Parkway in Spring. Background Springwoods Village opened in 2014 and continues growing steadily in both on the residential and commercial sectors. ExxonMobil became a community anchor when it brought a campus to Springwoods Village. ExxonMobil was followed by Southwestern Energy, as well as CHI St. Lukes Hospital, which brought a medical presence to the development. Recent and upcoming business growth Springwoods Village announced their most recent deal in fall 2018 a 568,000-square-foot Hewlett Packard Enterprise campus scheduled to begin construction in late 2019. The campus will be located in the 60-acre CityPlace development, which a Springwoods Village press release describes as the urban center of Springwoods Village. Theyre joining American Bureau of Shipping, the full-service Marriott Hotel, the Kroger, the select service hotels and the Hewlett Packard Enterprise campus and facilities will relocate from the (TX) 249 corridor, as the Hewlett Packard Inc. facilities two different companies, obviously similar name Inc. had relocated from that same area on (TX) 249, so we think the Grand Parkway has done a lot for the overall (northwest Harris County) sector and weve been a very fortunate beneficiary of it, Wilson said. Currently, he said, Springwoods Village is working to lease more tenants at CityPlace. The inline retailer weve announced is the Island Grill, but we do have our cinema grill under construction and the 24 Hour Fitness is now under construction, Wilson said. The Market at Springwoods Village consists of retail space anchored by Kroger, which arrived in the community in 2017. The Market continues getting new tenants as well. Springwoods Village plans to celebrate the grand opening of several new businesses in 2019. A few of the businesses announced so far include: Cherry Blow Dry Bar (The Market at Springwoods Village) February 2019 Regions Bank (The Market at Springwoods Village) April 2019 Star Cinema Grill/mix-use facility in CityPlace Summer 2019 Island Grill (CityPlace 2 building) Mid-2019 24 Hour Fitness in CityPlace November 2019 Wilson said the Springwoods Village development aims to be active in all sectors, balancing residential and the commercial aspects, including office space, retail, dining and hospitality. He pointed to the diversity not only across the different commercial sectors, but also within the office sector specifically. Weve been very pleased that not only do we have energy obviously ExxonMobile, Southwestern Energy but weve also got international shipping with ABS, and now we have technology in a big way with the Hewlett Packard campus and we have medical, Wilson said. Indicators and drivers of growth Wilson attributes the continued growth of Springwoods Village development to timing and location. I think the two main catalysts, obviously we had I-45 and we had the Hardy (Toll Road) terminating into I-45 at approximately Spring, but the Grand Parkway really made the Spring area, Id say, certainly the most accessible in north Houston and one of the most accessible throughout the metropolitan area, Wilson said. The Hardy Toll Road does provide relief to I-45 and then the Grand Parkway provided that east-west access that the outer northern suburbs never had. Wilson said the crossroads that now exist in the northern greater Houston region bode well for Spring as far as future development. He projects that within a few years, after HPE is open and operational, Springwoods Village businesses will employ approximately 20,000 workers in total. Those workers are obviously going to be wanting to live nearby and do shopping nearby, whether its as simple as buying lunch or coffee or gasoline for their commute, Wilson said. None of us can predict what happens in the national or world economy, but assuming a stable, or growing economy, I think it bodes very well for Spring. Wilson sees the addition of Spring ISD schools in the area as another indicator of growth in Spring. Springwoods Village Middle School is scheduled to open in 2019. What to expect As a master-planned community, Springwoods Village developers follow cycles based on timing and market forces as far as bringing residential and different commercial sector products online, explained Wilson. When we masterplan a community, we always strive for the complete community so that thered be everything from recreation to hospitality, Wilson said. So, the masterplan has room for all the uses so that we do become complete. For example, with the developments third hotel the CityPlace Marriott which came online Oct. 1, 2018, Wilson said that Springwoods Village does not plan on adding another hotel in the next year or two. Its unlikely that well be building a hotel in the near-term until we get these properties that we have stabilized and embedded in the market, Wilson said. But, thats just a timing matter. Its not that there wont be additional hospitality, hotels. Additionally, considering Krogers presence as the anchor of The Market at Springwoods Village, Wilson does not anticipate another supermarket rushing to build there in the near future. Where, with office that is fully leased to a user like Hewlett Packard, or American Bureau of Shipping, obviously we start those at any time, Wilson said. Currently, Springwoods Village partners are working on other corporate office deals, residential deals, and are leasing retail space that is under construction, he said. Therell be numerous other retail announcements and there could be another corporate announcement, but nothing we can speculate about right now, Wilson said. For more information, visit www.springwoodsvillage.com. Laura Rosales is excited for the future. The 30-year-old Houston architect is originally from Maracaibo, a coastal city in Venezuela. But as the South American country fell into chaos, Rosales said she had to "practically run away." On Wednesday, Rosales joined her boyfriend and hundreds more in a parking lot near Uptown Houston to celebrate what demonstrators called the beginning of a return of democracy to Venezuela. "We know it's a slow process," Rosales said. But "we're really excited." The demonstration one of at least 160 worldwide, according to organizers was a response to events in the United States and abroad. Juan Guaido, a Venezuelan politician and president of the National Assembly, earlier in the day had declared himself the legitimate leader of the troubled country. Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro dismissed the move, citing a history of "gringo interventions and coup d'etats." But President Donald Trump accepted Guaido's claim, announcing on Twitter that he now views Guaido as the new president of the South American nation. For the elated crowd standing in the cold and wind along Westheimer, it was clear whose side they were on. "Houston presents Juan Guaido as president," they chanted at one point, in Spanish. Waving Venezuelan flags and wearing the red, yellow and blue colors of their country, the crowd had come to show support for Guaido and defiance to Maduro. They'd come, said Dennis Peterson Mejia, 22, a native of Venezuela, because they were tired of Maduro allegedly "killing with hunger, lack of medicine and lack of security." "The dictatorship is already down," added Mejia, who was demonstrating with his mother. "We don't want any more murder from the dictatorship of Maduro." Jorge Marquez, originally from Venezuela's Anzoategui State, had helped organize the Houston demonstration through the group Unidad Houston. On Instagram and other social media platforms, Marquez helped spread the word about the gathering. Marquez told people to come at 3 p.m. but, when he arrived at 2 o'clock, hundreds already had turned out, he said. At its peak, roughly 2000 people were demonstrating, according to estimates by police. "We're more than happy," Marquez said. "We're convening to recover freedom." The demonstration snarled traffic on Westheimer at rush hour. Car after car let out short, supportive honks as it drove by. One woman leaned out her car, holding a Venezuelan flag. "Venezuela libre!" she shouted. The crowd cheered. Houston Police Sergeant Tim Zaragoza, who was helping to keep order, described the crowd as "well-behaved" and "cooperative." At around 5 p.m., another officer, Al Olvera, drove his police cruiser to move demonstrators off the lot. Through a loudspeaker, he told them in Spanish that "they're welcome to stay but not on the property," as he later translated. The crowd started to oblige, moving out to the sidewalk, posing for pictures with officers. But Olvera had one more thing to say. "Viva Venezuela," he added. The crowd cheered. The protest in Houston had both historic and geographic significance. January 23 was a special day in Venezuela, several demonstrators said, because it marked the fall of dictator Marcos Perez Jimenez, in 1958. Besides, this parking lot was just down the street from the Consulate General of Venezuela a symbol to many demonstrators of the collapsing Maduro government. The consulate could not be reached for comment , and its voicemail was full and could not accept new messages. The Conroe City Council got the details on a potential partnership that would help develop an $86 million hotel and conference center in Grand Central Park. Officials with Garfield Public/Private LLC presented the information Wednesday during a special joint meeting of the city council and the Conroe Industrial Development Corp. with members asking few questions. No action was taken on the project or partnership. In July 2017, the CIDC entered into a pre-development agreement with the Garfield Public/Private for the planning, design and construction of a hotel and conference center. According to information provided by Greg Garfield with Garfield Public/Private the project would be a full-service upscale hotel and convention center that would include 250 guestrooms and suites, 31,000 square feet of ballroom and meeting space and other traditional services like a restaurant, bar, lounge, club lounge, business center, fitness center and swimming pool. We produced a complete development budget that includes the direct and indirect construction costs, professional fees, furniture and fixtures, operating supplies and equipment, Garfield said. We put together a capital and financial plan for the citys consideration. SEEING RED: Woodlands board approves purchase of new fire truck Garfield said his company is in discussions with Marriott International, Hilton Worldwide Holdings and Hyatt Hotels Corporation. He added because the hotel is less than 300 rooms, it would be managed by a third party through a franchise agreement. The intended hotel operator, he said, would be Interstate Hotels. They would like to be the operator of the hotel for the brand that is selected with approval of the city, Garfield said. As far as a timeline, Garfield said his company would enter into an agreement with the city and the hotel owner in March 2019 with construction beginning in November 2019. Completion is expected by April 2021. Under the agreement, the hotel owner would finance the hotel with the city of Conroe owning the land and leasing to the hotel owner for a 30 to 32-year period. The city would own and finance the conference center and would contract with the hotel operator to operate the center. Additionally, the city would own and finance the site improvements and parking. MONEY PROBLEMS: Lone Star College plans incremental tuition hikes over 5-year period Revenue bond would fund about $56 million of the project, Garfield said, with the city funding about $29 million of the entire project. The cost break down would be about $59 million for construction cost, $14 million in soft costs and about $12 million for furniture, fixtures, operating supplies and expenditures. Its a good first step, said CICD Board Member Chip Van Steenburg. Other council and board members agree. There will be a lot more information coming forward, said Chief Financial Officer and Assistant City Manager Steve Williams. We have a lot of work to do from now until (March 2019). cdominguez@hcnonline.com This week I would like to share information about the Cultural Arts and the Greater Conroe Arts Alliance upcoming week of activities in March to plan your calendars! The Greater Conroe Arts Alliance (GCAA) is comprised of 17 member nonprofit organizations in the Greater Conroe area: Christian Youth Theatre, Conroe Art League, Conroe Live, Conroe Symphony Orchestra, Crighton Theatre Foundation, Friends of the Flag Foundation, Heritage Museum of Montgomery County, Jazz Connection, Montgomery County Genealogical and Historical Society, Montgomery County Literary Arts Council, Montgomery County Historical Commission, Montgomery County Performing Arts Society, Players Theatre Company, Sounds of Texas, Stage Right, The Woodlands Show Chorus, and the Young Texas Artists Music Competition. The Rising Stars and Legends of Texas annual event allows GCAA arts organizations the opportunity to perform or present their celebrated uniquely Texan fine art, playwright, songwriter, composer, poet, author, or theatrical presentation to the public in one week. The 3rd Annual Rising Stars and Texas Legends week long events will begin March 9 with the Young Texas Artists Music Competition at the Crighton Theatre on March 9, preceded by the Bach, Beethovan, and Barbeque gala fundraiser at Marins Hall. Look for the large white tent in the street on Simonton in front of Martins Hall! Tickets available for both events at YTAMC.com The Rising Stars and Legends of Texas will continue the events with the Conroe Art League hosting a National Invitational all week ending with a judged show at the First Baptist Church on Saturday. The Montgomery County Choral Society will host a Gospel Night on Wednesday, March 13, followed by activities Thursday through Saturday with an ending performance by Pam Tillis at the Crighton Theatre sponsored by The Sounds of Texas. Activities include an encore performance of Driving Miss Daisy, a Poetry Slam, a performance by the Conroe Symphony Orchestra, opening weekend of Godspell, interactive presentations by the Montgomery County Heritage Museum and the Friends of the Flag, performances by The Jazz Connection, fun Chalk Art with Chalk Up Conroe! All activities will be in Downtown Conroe. Details are fluid currently and additional information may be found on www.GreaterConroeArtsAlliance.com or their Facebook page: Greater Conroe Arts Alliance. Dont forget to go to The Conroe Art Leagues 2019 12 x 12 Gala auction to vote ONLINE through Feb. 20 the raise funds to support the Conroe Art League Student Show on May 4. www.32auctions.com/ConroeArtLeague12X12Gala Next Market Days is Thursday, Feb 7, starting at 4 p.m. at Founders Plaza Park. Additional events posted to Facebook at ExperienceDowntownConroe. - Margie Taylor Send me an email with information to share at Margie@TaylorizedPR.com . Authorities seized nearly a dozen firearms and a plethora of drugs after a raid in a southwest Houston home, police said. Members of the Fort Bend County Narcotics Task Force started an investigation into a massive illegal drug operation Townewest subdivision near Alief in early January. The Year of the Pig will be celebrated by billions of people in China and across the U.S. for the Lunar New Year on Feb. 5. The Lunar New Year festival at the Chinese Community Center on Feb. 9 will hold one of the city's biggest events, with activities like cultural performances including lion and dragon dances, food, cultural exhibits, vendor booths and games and Asian cultural workshops like lantern making and face painting. Two workers are recovering from serious burns suffered during a fire at an industrial facility in Conroe on Thursday. Around noon, emergency crews responded to a fire at Aegion Coating Services, at 10655 Jefferson Chemical Road, which is located southeast of the city of Conroe. Two workers were transported to the (Texas) Medical Center with burn injuries, but were reported to be in stable condition, the Montgomery County Fire Marshals Office stated in a release. MCFMO said the fire was quickly contained and there were no reported hazardous releases and no evacuations needed. The Montgomery County Fire Marshals Office and the Montgomery County Sheriffs Office are on scene securing the area and the public is advised to avoid the area, MCFMO stated. Fire and Explosion Investigators from the Fire Marshals Office will be leading the investigation into the cause of the fire and further details will be released as the investigation proceeds. DO YOU KNOW HER? New photos released on ID theft suspect in Spring Employees on the scene were unable to comment, however a restoration company who responded reported the fire and Hazmat crews responded to a scene with heavy smoke and contained the fire in the west wing of an industrial building located at the back of the company. Resident Phil Adams, who lives across the street, was returning to his house where his relatives were staying when he noticed the emergency vehicles. There was an explosion and a fire, Adams said. According to the Aegion Coating Services website, the company is a part of Aegions Corrosion Protection platform, and is headquartered in Conroe. It serves the United States, Canada, the Middle East, South Africa and South America. Aegion Coating Services combines a variety of pipeline coating and rehab technologies for both onshore and offshore installations. No further information was available. mellsworth@hcnonline.com It was an emotional first two days of testimony this week in the trial where Spring resident Rafael Leos-Trejo stands accused of murder in the Feb. 16 shooting death of his wife Jessica Torres Leos. The courtrooms mood was at its most somber Tuesday as the prosecution played audio recording of the 911 call made by Leos-Trejo, 33, the night he argues he shot Torres Leos, 28, in the face with his AR-15 by accident. In the audio, Leos-Trejo can be heard speaking to a dispatcher with his then 11-year-old step-daughter in close proximity crying. Leos-Trejo repeatedly tells the dispatcher and the girl it was an accident about a minute before explaining he shot his wife. We were drinking here and I was cleaning my shotgun and it fired up, Leos-Trejo says. I hit my wife in the head. LEOS-TREJO TRIAL: Attorney for Spring man on trial for murder argues shooting of wife was accidental The dispatcher is unclear what he meant by hit and Leos-Trejo raises his voice and responds, Shes shot in the head. As Torres Leos daughter cried, the dispatcher comforts her, telling her they will try and help her mom. The dispatcher then asks Leos-Trejo to do chest compressions and mouth-to-mouth resuscitation, which he objects to. Shes completely dead., Leos-Trejo calmly responds. Two men in the jury appeared moved by the audio. One removed his glasses as he cast his face down and another strongly winced throughout. Leos-Trejo quietly choked up as the recording played. Most audibly, Torres youngest sister, Janet Torres, seated in one of the front row pews, began sobbing. This apparently lead defense attorney George Jacobs to request he approach presiding Judge Patty Maginnis bench. Immediately after conferring with counsel, Maginnis asked those attending the trial on behalf of the defendant and the shooting victim Torres Leos leave the courtroom if they feel they need to. LEOS-TREJO: Judge sets $500,000 bail for man accused of fatally shooting wife in Spring Jurors also saw autopsy photos of Torres Leos. Forensic pathologist Dr. Alex John of the Montgomery County Forensic Services described as huge, a bullets exit wound in the back of Torres Leos head. On Tuesday and Wednesday, a Montgomery County Constables deputy who responded to the couples home the night of the slaying, a crime scene investigator who inspected the kitchen where the shooting death took place, a ballistics expert and a domestic violence expert all spoke during the trial taking place in the 435th district court. This murder is an act of domestic violence, the cases chief prosecutor Shanna Redwine said during court proceedings Wednesday. After the trial day ended Wednesday afternoon, Montgomery County District Attorney Brett Ligon said he expects testimony to conclude either Friday or Monday. The trials start date was pushed back in observation of Martin Luther King Jr. Day. Thursdays trial day will start at 9 a.m. and run through 6 p.m. Testimony will begin with one of Torres Leos younger sisters. jose.gonzalez@chron.com twitter.com/jrgzztx A string of bank robberies has the FBI Violent Crime Task Force seeking the public's help in identifying and locating a suspect. The Task Force, who dubbed the alleged robber the "Hairy Heister," reports that the woman wore wigs while robbing six Houston-area banks since Friday, Jan. 18. Crime Stoppers of Houston is offering a reward of up to $5,000 for information that leads to the identification and arrest of the bank robber. According to a news release, the first robbery happened about 1:38 p.m. Friday, Jan. 18, at the Chase Bank located at 1337 Gessner Road just north of Memorial City Mall. The suspect reportedly approached a teller, "displayed a note taped to her purse saying that she was armed with a gun and demanded cash. The teller, in fear for her life, gave the suspect an undisclosed amount of money." The suspect left the bank and fled the bank in a white Chevrolet Malibu with a missing right rear hubcap. She was seen traveling southbound on Gessner. Also on Friday, about 3:48 p.m., the suspect allegedly robbed the Chase Bank at 10420 Westheimer Road, near the intersection of Westheimer and Beltway 8. On Saturday, Jan. 19, about 9:30 a.m., the same suspect is believed to have robbed the BBVA Compass Bank at 1218 Spencer Highway in South Houston. Two hours later, it is believed that she robbed the Capital One Bank at 11408 Gulf Freeway. Then on Tuesday, Jan. 22, about 11:27 a.m., the suspect reportedly entered the Bank of America at 1127 Edgebrook in southeast Houston. At 12:10 p.m. she is believed to have robbed the Comerica Bank at 9100 Airport Blvd. The Task Forced described the bank robber as an "African-American female in her 20s or early 30s, approximately (5 feet 2 inches to 5 feet 6 inches) tall, medium to heavy-set, wearing a blonde or red-orange wig, large black sunglasses, and a black fedora or a green scarf tied over her head." If you have any information, call the Crime Stoppers tip line at 713-222-TIPS (8477) or the FBI Houston Field Office at (713) 693-5000. Text TIP610 plus your tip to CRIMES (274637) or visit www.crime-stoppers.org. Tips may also be submitted to Crime Stoppers through the Crime Stoppers of Houston app which can be downloaded at the app store for both iPhone and Android devices. All tipsters remain anonymous. rkent@hcnonline.com At one point in the gorgeously fatalistic love story Cold War, pianist and composer Wiktor and vocalist Zula are alone in a 1957 Paris nightclub, dancing to the old Louis Jordan tune Is You Is or Is You Aint My Baby. That very question hangs over these two Polish exiles long after the music stops. Their ill-starred affair spans 15 years and several countries across postwar Europe, and Cold War originally scheduled to open Friday in Houston and now set for Feb. 1 is fueled by their connection as well as by all the missed connections snaking through their shared history. ON HOUSTONCHRONICLE.COM: Behind the scenes of 'Cold War,' the year's other talked-about foreign film The movie's also fueled by the easy, charismatic chemistry of its stars: lanky Tomasz Kot (who is 6 feet, 6 inches tall and smiles like the Cheshire cat) and especially Joanna Kulig, photographed here like an smoky amalgam of Old Hollywood icons of glamour. Kulig comes with everything the role of this sullen, reckless siren demands, and then some. The writer-director is Polish filmmaker Pawel Pawlikowski, born in Warsaw under Communist rule. His parents careened in and out of each others lives for decades, while their budding-artist son was raised in London and elsewhere. His early films, including My Summer of Love with Emily Blunt, were made in England and France. In a recent interview, Pawlikowski said he wanted Cold War to depict a beautiful disaster, in honor of his parents own on-again, off-again story. The result is a worthy follow-up to the Oscar-winning Ida (2013). Ida took the director back to his native Poland for a spare, lean black-and-white evocation of his homelands recent past. The look, brevity and shrewdly ironic detachment of Cold War hews closely to that of Ida. It runs a mere 77 minutes, excluding the opening and closing credits. Its as verbally spare as it is visually spellbinding. In 1949 rural Poland, a musicology project is underway. Wiktor and his colleague and lover (Agata Kulesza) bounce along in a truck with their sound equipment and their officious, party-line fellow worker (Borys Szyc). Theyre auditioning the locals and gathering folk songs and peasant dances in one remote village after another. Wiktor hears, and sees, something in a particular young woman. Zula, he learns, can sing. She comes with baggage, and a rap sheet, acquired when she attempted to murder her sexually predatory father. Zula sees the tour as a way out, even if she doesnt know where out will take her. The affair with Wiktor begins not long after a private tutoring session. Cold War Rated R: for some sexual content, nudity, strong language Running time: 88 minutes In Polish, French, German, Croatian, Italian, and Russian with English subtitles **** (out of five) See More Collapse ON HOUSTONCHRONICLE.COM: New Films - 'The Kid Who Would Be King," "Stan & Ollie" From there, "Cold War" jumps to 1951 Warsaw, where the tour begins, and where Wiktor and company learn that the song-and-dance extravaganza is about to become heavily politicized. Wiktor and Zula continue their affair, though Zula seems perpetually on edge. The men in her life see her as a useful tool of sexuality. Wiktor, meanwhile, is planning a defection to the West. Come with me, he says. We'll go to Paris. But if that happens, Zula wonders, "Who will I be?" It's the eternal lament of the exile in flux. Punctuated by brief blackouts, "Cold War" follows these two to Yugoslavia, to France and back to Poland. Cinematographer Lukasz Zal's lighting is extraordinary, creating black-and-white snapshots of a vanished time with the same panache Alfonso Cuaron brings to his Mexico City reverie, "Roma." Catholic community members came together to learn how they can aid their underserved community members on Monday, Jan. 24. Several local nonprofit organizations showed a room of attendees how to serve their underprivileged community using faith and social activism during the latest Cafe Catholica-North 2019 event at Sts. Simon and Judge Catholic Church in the Woodlands. Amistad-Houston, and organization aiming to keep immigrants safe from the threat of human trafficking, educated the crowd about preventing human trafficking. The Catholic Charities Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston spoke on how to serve within the Catholic community. Amistad-Houston representatives said Houston is a hub for human trafficking, while CCAG-H aimed to educate on the struggles of immigrants and how to help. Maria Mitchell, lawyer and representative with CCAG-H, said the organization aims to help underserved communities with a faith-based perspective, using the stories of Joseph and Marys escape to Egypt and the book of Exodus as a comparison to current refugee and immigrant struggles. CCAG-H has aided the local northwest Houston community with shelter and support for 75 years, she said. There are three principles of Catholic social teaching for immigration including the right for others to migrate, the right for a country to regulate its borders and the right for countries to regulate their borders with justice and mercy, Mitchell said. Mitchell said there is much work to be done with immigration laws in the country overall. She advocated for contacting local representatives in northwest Houston and to create, provide and advocate for immigrants in need. Theres no denying that our immigration laws need attention, Mitchell said. We need to reform them, we need to change them. Obviously its not right. Thousands and millions of people are waiting for a visa. So what do we need to do? We need to act. Wendy Millhouse, volunteer with Amistad-Houston educated the crowd on human trafficking in Houston and how to prevent subtle or blatant abduction and manipulation attempts. Millhouse said the community has a responsibility to be aware of local human trafficking and preventing it in any way possible. Tips include looking for signs of fraud, like the promise of vague employment for a better life, threats of harm and coercion to a potential victim. She said that speaking about human trafficking openly is an important step in the right direction for preventing human trafficking. Weve got to shift the culture and the only way to shift the culture is to constantly educate, she said. To shift the culture, we have to understand what it is, know that its around us and act. At the end of the presentation, panel members were asked questions, including how they would respond to people who believe refugees should not be served by the United States and instead by their original government. Mitchell said the key is compassion and helping them see the refugees situation. We have to remember, as Catholics, that we were all created in the image and likeness of God, she said. We have to respond. Were not going to ship them back and tell their government that is not accountable for them to take care of them. Mitchell said if the United States government will not respond to local citizens, referring to her own attempts of challenging a local representative to donate their salary to the unpaid Coast Guard during the government shut down, then the government for the immigrants is even less likely to help. Tell me, how many of your representatives will respond to you? Im still waiting for mine to respond to me, Mitchell said. I challenged him two weeks ago. chevall.pryce@chron.com Executives with Houston oil company Apache Corp. will be in Austin on Thursday morning to present a $1 million check to the Texas Parks & Wildlife Department that will be used to repair the Balmorhea State Park Pool. The popular and spring-fed West Texas swimming hole was closed in May 2018 after park staff performing an annual cleaning noticed damage to the concrete apron under the diving board. The concrete apron is used to stabilize the walls of the pool against erosion. Houston oil company Apache Corp. has doubled a gift to help save a revered West Texas swimming hole. In addition to donating $1 million to repair the shuttered Balmorhea State Park Pool, the company has donated an additional $1 million to create an endowment to preserve and support the iconic West Texas state park. Apache Corp. CEO John Christmann made the announcement during the Thursday morning meeting of the Texas Parks & Wildlife Commission in Austin. "Balmorhea State Park is a natural treasure and an icon of West Texas, and it's also a critical part of the local economy," Christmann said. "But most importantly, it's a special place to the residents of the entire West Texas region, many of whom are Apache employees and partners. It wasn't a matter of if but a matter of how we would help." West Texas: Apache to fund Balmorhea State Park repairs The popular and spring-fed West Texas swimming hole was closed in May 2018 after park staff performing an annual cleaning noticed damage to the concrete apron under the diving board. The concrete apron is used to stabilize the walls of the pool against erosion. Park officials drained and closed the pool while the Texas Parks & Wildlife Foundation, a non-profit organization to support the state agency, launched a $2 million fundraising campaign. Apache, the largest oil company in the area, pledged to match all donations dollar-for-dollar up to $1 million. The foundation reached its $1 million goal on Jan. 17 after receiving 575 donations "from Amarillo to Brownsville to Dallas." "That means a total of $2 million will go towards repairing the pool, ensuring that much needed resources are not diverted from other parks statewide," Christmann said. Pardon Our Dust: Balmorhea State Park begins pool repairs Christmann said the company's additional donation of $1 million will be used to create a permanent endowment within the Texas Parks & Wildlife Foundation to support Balmorhea State Park. "That will provide incremental support to assist the park in fulfilling its mission of enhancing visitor experiences and conserving a truly unique resource," Christmann said. Harris County Precinct 2 Commissioner Adrian Garcia and the Houston Food Bank are teaming up to help those impacted by the partial government shutdown. Garcia and the nonprofit, at 10 a.m. Friday, will kick off the first round of food and resource fairs called Precinct 2 Cares. The event will be on a first-come, first-serve basis. Rumor has it Chuck Norris holds every world record and those listed Guinness Book of World Records are simply the closest anyone else has ever gotten. This May, Norris is hoping to break one of those secondary records anyway. Naturally, he's turning to Texans for help. Retail electricity providers have introduced a bevy of perks to encourage customers to sign up for power contracts. Some throw in a smart thermostat, others promise a smart home organizer. The latest? Just Energy, the Canadian company that also owns Amigo Energy and Tara Energy, announced it will give customers who sign up for either a two-year or three-year Just Energy contract $50 in Lyft credit, the ride sharing service. Southwest Airlines will stop flying to Mexico City on March 30, the company said during its fourth-quarter earnings call. Southwest began flying to Mexico City from Hobby Airport in 2015 when it opened its international concourse. Madison Realty Capital Madison Realty Capital, a real estate private equity firm based in New York, has funded a $28 million first mortgage secured by the St. Joseph Medical Center building in the Heights neighborhood, the company announced. A joint venture of Houston-based AMD Global and Medical Center Developments acquired the 191,676-square-foot medical office building in 2017. The building, at 1917 Ashland, is 95 percent leased to medical tenants, including St. Joseph Medical Center and CuraHealth. The Labor Department said it will count federal employees who are currently furloughed as employed in its upcoming U.S. jobs report. The partial federal shutdown - in its 33rd day - has affected some 800,000 federal workers. Some economists have fretted that the furloughed workers would not be counted in Labor Departments survey of payroll employment, potentially ending the nations streak of 99 consecutive months of job growth. The Labor Department said in an update on the website of its statistical agency that federal government employees who are working, but who will not be paid until funding is available, are included in employment counts. The employment report is a key measure of the growth of the economy. The next report, which will disclose the number Americans employed for the month of January, is scheduled to be released on Feb. 1. Because these employees will receive pay for the reference period, they will be counted as employed, BLS explained. Earlier this month, Congress passed and President Donald Trump signed legislation that requires federal employees who are furloughed or required to work without pay since the governments partial shutdown began on Dec. 22 to compensated for the period of the lapse. The Labor Department, however, said it would not include federal contractors affected by the shutdown in its employment counts. Unlike furloughed government workers, an unknown number of federal contractors whose jobs are not being funded have no guarantee they will be paid retroactively. Many contractors in the Houston region work for small businesses that survive on contracts with NASA. Many of these businesses are not getting paid by the space agency due to the shutdown. In turn, they are struggling to keep up with their bills and payrolls. There are 204,000 federal workers in Texas and of those, 30,000 work in Greater Houston. An unknown number - estimated statewide in the tens of thousands - of those federal workers are furloughed or working without pay. The Labor Department reported earlier this month that U.S. employers added 312,000 jobs in December, greatly exceeding analysts expectations. The nation added 2.6 million jobs in 2018, the most since the 2.7 million gained in 2015. john.roper@chron.com (Bloomberg) -- Michael Cohen, President Donald Trumps former lawyer and fixer, received a subpoena Thursday to appear before the Senate Intelligence Committee, according to his lawyer Lanny Davis, one day after Cohen postponed his testimony to a separate House panel citing fears for his safety. The Senate panel, which is conducing a bipartisan probe into Russian election meddling, has made clear it wants to hear more from Cohen, who admitted that he lied to Congress. His appearance would probably be held behind closed doors, which is how the committee has done most of its work. The hearing is scheduled for Feb. 12, according to the Wall Street Journal. Cohen was scheduled to testify publicly on Feb. 7 before the House Oversight Committee, but asked for it be postponed after Trump and his lawyer Rudy Giuliani began implying Cohens father-in-law should be investigated, Davis, Cohens lawyer and spokesman, said in an interview Wednesday. House Oversight Chairman Elijah Cummings told reporters Wednesday that the committee hadnt decided yet if it would issue a subpoena, but that the panel "will get the testimony as sure as night becomes day and day becomes night. Trump, who has called Cohen a liar and rat, said in a tweet on Jan. 18 that Cohen is Lying to reduce his jail time! Watch father-in-law!" In a Fox News interview last month, Trump said Cohens father-in-law is a very rich guy, I hear. Referring to Cohen, the president asked, Did he make a deal to keep his father-in-law out? Did he make a deal to keep his wife, who supposedly, maybe Im wrong, but you can check it, did he make keep -- make a deal to keep his wife out of trouble?" Cohen has pleaded guilty to nine felonies and is due to turn himself in on March 6 to begin serving a three-year prison sentence. Cummings said Congress can get Cohen from prison to testify, if need be. Cohen has said Trump directed him to break campaign finance laws by paying hush-money payoffs to two women and and that he lied to Congress to hide that negotiations to build a Trump tower in Moscow continued well into the 2016 presidential campaign. To contact the reporter on this story: Shannon Pettypiece in Washington at spettypiece@bloomberg.net To contact the editors responsible for this story: Kevin Whitelaw at kwhitelaw@bloomberg.net, Larry Liebert 2019 Bloomberg L.P. 10 things to know about Pierre-Auguste Renoir A guide to the artist who was one of the founding fathers of Impressionism, and is famed today for his lush depictions of female sensuality featuring works offered at Christies 1 Renoirs early life was shaped by poverty Pierre-Auguste Renoir was born in 1841 in Limoges in south-west France. His father was a tailor and his mother was a dressmaker, which is perhaps significant given that he would go on to become fascinated by fashion. In his early life he was appreciated more for his singing than for his drawing. He took music lessons until his family encountered financial difficulties, which forced him to leave school and begin work as a painter in a porcelain factory. As a young man Renoir moved to Paris, entered the Ecole des Beaux-Arts and later joined the studio of Charles Gleyre (1806-1874). Although he sometimes didnt have enough money to buy paint, he lived close to the Louvre, where he enjoyed studying the works of the Old Masters. 2 He was one of the main founders of Impressionism In 1869 Renoir began sketching beside the water at La Grenouillere, outside Paris, with Claude Monet. This was a seminal moment in the history of art as the two men simultaneously developed several of the theories, techniques and practices that would give rise to Impressionism, including using loose brushstrokes to capture the effects of light and movement on the trees and water at various times of day. Pierre-Auguste Renoir (1841-1919), Sentier dans le bois, 1874-77. Oil on canvas, 25 x 21 in (65.5 x 54 cm). Sold for 12,691,250 on 27 February 2019 at Christies in London Renoirs sun-dappled Sentier dans le bois, painted in 1874, is quintessentially Impressionist, focussing on the artists fleeting sensations before nature. The vibrating tissue of broken brushstrokes, a revolutionary departure from Salon norms, evokes the flickering play of sunlight as well as the gentle rustling of the breeze. Pierre-Auguste Renoir (1841-1919), Lombrelle, painted in 1878. 24 x 20 in (61.9 x 50.8 cm). Sold for 9,673,250 on 6 February 2013 at Christies in London In Lombrelle, painted in 1878, Renoir depicts the quintessential Impressionist subject of the fashionably attired Parisienne within a scene of abundantly flowering nature. The painting exemplifies the artists ideal of harmoniously integrating a figure into an outdoor setting, and of capturing the effects of light and shade in a range of dazzling colours. 3 Renoirs Impressionist work was rejected by the Salon On occasion during the 1860s, Renoir submitted paintings that were accepted into the famous Salon exhibitions, as did Monet. But as their painterly experiments gathered pace in the 1870s, both artists found their works were repeatedly rejected. Eventually, they ceased submitting pictures for consideration and when Monet started his own independent artists society, which became known as the Impressionists, Renoir was one of the first to join. He displayed six paintings in the First Impressionist Exhibition in April 1874. Pierre-Auguste Renoir (1841-1919), Au Theatre, la loge, painted in 1894. 18 x 22 in (46 x 55.8 cm). Sold for $6,089,000 on 6 May 2008 at Christies in New York Renoir painted figures in fashionable dress, positioning his models in modern settings: crowded boulevards, cafes, theatres, sun-dappled parks, and elegantly appointed domestic interiors. Even when the setting is little more than a curtain of greenery, the play of light across figure and ground alike suggests a specific, fleeting moment. Some of his most famous works from this period include Dance at the Moulin de la Galette (Musee dOrsay, Paris) and La Loge (Courtauld Gallery, London). Pierre-Auguste Renoir (1841-1919), Femme demi-nue (Portrait de Jeanne Samary), executed circa 1879-1880. 24 x 18 in (61.6 x 47.2 cm). Jeanne Samary (above) was one of the most celebrated actresses in Paris when she first sat for Renoir in 1877. Between 1877 and 1880, Renoir depicted Samary in no fewer than eight oils and four pastels, more than any other single sitter. 4 Renoir mixed with the Parisian elite, from writers to restaurateurs to bankers Renoirs ability to capture the crowd garnered the attention of the Parisian elite. Soon his list of patrons included such notable figures as patissier, restaurateur and collector Eugene Murer, and Madame Georges Charpentier, whose salons were attended by the likes of Flaubert, Zola and Manet. In 1878, at Charpentiers home, Renoir met banker Paul Berard. Renoir regularly visited Berards country house in Wargemont where he experimented with seascapes and still lifes, as well as painting portraits of Berards children. 5 His 1881-1882 trip abroad was a watershed moment During the 1870s Renoir had painted several ambitious Orientalist scenes, including a somewhat risque transposition of Delacroixs masterpiece, Les femmes dAlger. In 1881 he followed in the footsteps of Delacroix by travelling to Algeria, becoming the only one of the Impressionists ever to experience the region first-hand. From Algeria he travelled to Madrid to study the paintings of Velazquez, before heading to Italy where he realised a long-held ambition by viewing masterpieces by Raphael, Titian and and other Renaissance masters. He also studied the ancient frescoes of Pompeii, and travelled to Sicily, where he visited Richard Wagner, and painted the composers portrait in just 35 minutes. It was on this trip that he began to seek what he recalled as broad harmonies without any longer preoccupying myself with the small details which dim the sunlight. Renoir returned to France a changed man, adopting a linear classical style influenced by the work of Ingres and Boucher, working more in a studio than in the open air, and increasingly focusing on mythology and the female form. Pierre-Auguste Renoir (1841-1919), Jeunes filles jouant au volant, painted circa 1887. 21 x 25 in (54.6 x 65.2 cm). Sold for $11,365,000 on 6 May 2014 at Christies in New York 6 Renoir turned away from Impressionism, but the critical reaction was lukewarm I had wrung Impressionism dry, Renoir told Ambroise Vollard late in his life. I finally came to the conclusion that I knew neither how to paint nor draw. This realisation sparked a three-year period of intense questioning and experimentation, during which Renoir reintroduced traditional notions of draughtsmanship into his art. He abandoned scenes of modern life, accepted only a very few portrait commissions, and left many smaller figure studies unfinished. Although he continued to produce landscapes and still-lifes, his attention was focused on a series of major figure paintings, in which he consolidated his new, linear style By the opening weeks of 1887, the artist had put the finishing touches on Les grandes baigneuses, the culmination of his series of sculptural nudes in impressionistically rendered landscapes. He had high hopes for the monumental painting, which he had worked on for three years, and told Berard that his goal was to beat Raphael. When the painting was exhibited in May at the Galerie Georges Petit, however, critical response was mixed. 7 Renoir had three sons, including the film-maker Jean Renoir By early 1888, Renoir had changed direction yet again, pronouncing to his dealer, Paul Durand-Ruel, that I have taken up again, never to abandon it, my old style, soft and light of touch. From the 1890s, there was a fresh emphasis on colour and sensuality in his paintings of female bathers, domestic scenes and the carefree, idyllic lives of pretty bourgeois girls. In 1890, Renoir married Aline Victorine Charigot, a model for one of the figures in Luncheon of the Boating Party (1880-81). She was 20 years his junior and bore him three sons Pierre (1885-1952), who became an actor; Jean (1894-1979), who would become one of Frances greatest film-makers; and Claude (1901-1969), who also worked in the film industry before becoming a ceramic artist. Jean and Claude were used by their father as models from a young age, with the younger boy sitting for 90 works. Pierre-Auguste Renoir (1841-1919), Les deux soeurs, painted circa 1890-1895. 21 x 18 in (55.2 x 46.2 cm). Sold for $8,005,000 on 6 May 2014 at Christies in New York 8 Gabrielle Renard, nanny to Renoir's youngest child, became his muse and studio assistant Gabrielle Renard, a distant cousin of Renoirs wife, joined the household in 1894 as governess to the couples infant son, Jean. She quickly became an indispensable member of the family, as well as the artists favourite model. Pierre-Auguste Renoir (1841-1919), Femme nue couchee, Gabrielle, painted in 1903. 25 x 61 in (65.3 x 155.3 cm). Sold for $10,162,500 on 4 May 2010 at Christies in New York Over two decades Renoir depicted Renard reading, sewing, or caring for children, as a washerwoman in the French countryside, and as a goddess in The Judgment of Paris. She was frequently portrayed as an object of erotic desire. Latterly, as Renoir worked in the studio, Renard acted as his assistant. Pierre-Auguste Renoir (1841-1919), Gabrielle au miroir, painted circa 1910. 31 x 25 in (81.1 x 64.7 cm). Sold for $9,087,500 on 8 May 2018 at Christies in New York Between 1907 and 1911, Renoir painted several canvases of Renard loosely clad in a semi-transparent white chemise that falls open to reveal her ample form. Gabrielle au miroir (above), painted circa 1910, once hung in the living room of Peggy and David Rockefellers New York home. 9 Henri Matisse visited Renoir often From 1907 Renoir, who was suffering from rheumatoid athritis, spent his winters in Cagnes-sur-Mer on the French Riviera, and his summers in a village in the Champagne region. He first met Henri Matisse in late 1917, and the younger man became a frequent visitor to Cagnes until Renoirs death two years later. Matisse described Les baigneuses, painted 1918-19 (Musee dOrsay, Paris), as the loveliest nudes ever painted, and was greatly influenced by Renoirs studio masquerades, which in turn drew from Delacroix and Orientalism. When Matisse began his own series of odalisques in 1919, he followed Renoirs example by posing his favourite models in the intimate surroundings of his studio, with no pretence at a plausible ethnography of costume or setting. Sign up today Christie's Online Magazine delivers our best features, videos, and auction news to your inbox every week Subscribe 10 Renoir lived to see his work hang in the Louvre Over the course of his life Renoir painted several thousand paintings. Although he quickly found commercial success, he seemed to be driven primarily by his enjoyment of the act of painting. He once remarked to his teacher, Gleyre, If painting were not a pleasure to me I should certainly not do it'. What's wrong with Jordan Peterson? 12 Rules for Life, and why they aren't My introduction to Canadian philosopher-psychologist Jordan Peterson came via a Channel 4 interview by Cathy Newman, one of its star presenters, a year ago. It was lots of fun. Newman's approach was hostile, extremely so. She zeroed in on what she assumed were his views on men and women, attempting serial paraphrases of what she thought he meant: 'So what you're saying is...' 'No, that's not what I'm saying at all,' was his serial reply, with Newman at one point reduced to an awkward silence. The general consensus was that she had been comprehensively trounced, though Channel 4 sportingly put the whole interview on YouTube so viewers could make their own minds up. I admit it: I enjoyed it, and when it was over I watched it again, like Father Ted with Bishop Brennan's dodgy holiday video. But Peterson, I discovered, was as polarising as Marmite. Precise, intense and rather menacing, he came to prominence in 2016 when he released a series of videos critiquing the Canadian government's Bill C-16, which added gender identity as a prohibited ground of discrimination. Since then he's become a YouTube star with 1,795,000 subscribers to his channel. He's in demand as a conference speaker, interviewee and debater. Generally speaking, he is loathed by liberals and loved by conservatives including and especially Christian conservatives. Partly this is because, as a disciple of Jung, he takes religion seriously, with intense and thoughtful readings of Old Testament Scripture passages. Partly it's because of what propelled him to prominence, always a hot-button issue with this demographic Peterson argued it was wrong to compel him to use the 'preferred gender pronouns' of transexual people and that it was 'Marxist' to try to make him (he is a serious student of authoritarian regimes and their philosophies). His popularity with conservatives is also because of his views on gender relations he believes there is a 'crisis of masculinity' and questions concepts such as 'patriarchy'. He's also a trenchant critic of postmodernism and 'identity politics'; academic disciplines like women's studies and sociology have been corrupted by Neo-Marxist ideology, he thinks. Hostile reaction tends to be at a visceral level, with Peterson accused of being a transphobic, chauvinist Nazi apologist in terms unsuitable for a family website. He is indeed beloved by the alt-right, who are attracted by his rebel persona, though he has no particular sympathy for them. There's another reason for his identification with the right, which we'll come to. Though he has written dozens of academic papers in his field of clinical psychology, he's only written two books. Maps of Meaning in 1999 explored how people construct their beliefs. 12 Rules for Life: An Antidote to Chaos (2018) is a more popular book originating in his contributions to the Quora website. The advantage of 12 Rules is that it provides readers with Peterson in one place. So what does it say? Is he really the right-wing Christian misogynist his enemies and indeed, some of his friends like to claim? And if he's ideologically dangerous, where exactly does that danger lie? 12 Rules reads, on the face of it, like any self-help guide. 'Stand up straight with your shoulders back', 'Compare yourself to who you were yesterday, not to who someone else is today', 'Set your house in perfect order before you criticize the world' they all sound pretty uncontroversial. Where Peterson scores, however, is in adding layers of philosophy, science and expertise in psychology to those bits of folksy wisdom. As a result, reading him and even more, listening to him can make you feel that you're actually learning something though that feeling starts to wear off when you start to think about what he actually says. And this is where lobsters come in. Lobsters are like us, he says. They are motivated by the same desires for safety, territory and sexual success. They fight, and a beaten lobster is truly beaten: 'A vanquished competitor loses confidence, sometimes for days.' Even worse: 'If a dominant lobster is badly defeated, its brain basically dissolves. Then it grows a new, subordinate's brain one more appropriate to is new, lowly position.' So, 'Stand up straight with your shoulders back': heirarchies matter, and if you're at the bottom of the pile you will be sad, unhealthy, have less sex and die sooner. 12 Rules is quite a rich and thoughtful book, but this is the thread that runs through it: that we are shaped, spiritually, emotionally and psychologically, by forces beyond us, and as far as possible which may not be very far we need to take control of them. In the chapter 'Treat yourself like someone you are responsible for helping' it's the ancient clash between order and chaos which he badges, in terms that have infuriated feminists, as masculine and feminine. In 'Make friends with people who want the best for you' it's the damaging effects of people whose lives are chaotic, who drag us down when we try to lift them up. In 'Compare yourself to who you were yesterday, not to who someone else is today' it's the destructive inevitability of competition to be dealt with by choosing a different ladder to climb ('there is not just one game at which to succeed or fail') and so on. Peterson's adherence to evolutionary psychology as an explanatory mechanism for human behaviour informs his controversial views on gender, too. Boys and girls are different. 'Boys are suffering in the modern world,' he says. 'Boys' interests tilt towards things; girls interests tilt towards people.' It's because of assertions like this that Peterson has been pilloried by liberals (Cathy Newman, for instance). While he is adamant that he believes in equality of opportunity for men and women, he believes equally firmly that equality of outcome where men and women are equally represented in engineering and nursing, scaffolding and primary teaching isn't a desirable goal. 'Strikingly, these differences, strongly influenced by biological factors, are most pronounced in the Scandinavian societies where gender-equality has been pushed hardest: this is the opposite of what would be expected by those who insist, ever more loudly, that gender is a social construct. It isn't. This isn't a debate. The data are in.' In other words, left to themselves, men and women will naturally drift in different directions. (There's more on this here.) For his critics, this is all very irritating. His Scandinavia example notwithstanding, they argue that social conditioning has a far larger part to play in establishing gender roles than he admits. Furthermore, for many in the increasingly moralised world of identity politics, merely arguing that men and woman are different and that behavioural outcomes are different puts him in the wrong because all it does is reinforce stereotypes. But to be fair, Peterson has given them plenty of ammunition, and not just in 12 Rules. He rejects the idea that women are globally disadvantaged by 'patriarchy', for instance, on the grounds that men do more dangerous jobs and fight more in wars. He's a climate change sceptic, saying we don't know enough about it and don't know what do to about it anyway. And while that order/chaos dichotomy is ancient, it's hard to think of a particular reason for it to be male/female other than its shock value. He takes a dark delight in playing with interviewers, especially those he thinks don't get him. Interviewed by Vice, he says sexual harassment in the workplace won't stop because 'we don't know what the rules are'. 'Here's a rule,' he says. 'What about "no make-up in the workplace"?' Cue bewilderment from the journalist. But: 'Why should you wear makeup in the workplace? Isn't that sexually provocative?' And after Vice's incoherent splutter: 'Why do you make your lips red? Because they turn red during sexual arousal, that's why. Why do you put rouge on your cheeks? Same reason. How about high heels? What are they for? They're there to exaggerate sexual attractiveness.' None of this is original, of course. But a less hapless interviewer raises the same question at Madrid's Universidad Francisco de Vitoria, and frames the issue correctly. Peterson, she says, is 'defending nature, and the impact of biology on human conduct, on human interests, on human choices, against that big movement which we call social constructionism' the idea that societies, rather than biology, create values, meanings and identities. And here we get to the root of the Peterson problem and yes, there is a problem. His defence of 'nature' is part of his appeal to conservatives. All that about transgender and gender roles is catnip; here's a real psychologist who backs up the Council for Biblical Manhood and Womanhood. And if he isn't exactly a Christian, he takes the Bible seriously, in his own way, and he who isn't against us is for us. If Peterson appeals as he does disproportionately to aimless young men who are attracted to his bracing advice about cleaning their rooms, taking responsibility and making something of their lives, we might wonder why. And here's where things get complicated. Because he's right: gaming, smoking weed and staying in bed all morning instead of studying and exercising aren't good for you, either in body, mind or spirit. A Peterson disciple has got that much going for him, and is probably higher up the heirarchy because of it. But and this is what makes his popularity among Christians so baffling the rationale for all this, in Christian terms, is profoundly flawed. For Peterson, the millions of years of human evolution that lie behind us shape our behaviour today at a fundamental level. Integral to that is the urge to dominate, to control and to succeed at the expense of others. Now, it is ridiculous to accuse him as some have done of sympathy for totalitarianism and fascism; he's profoundly aware of their dangers. Neither does he follow the logic of his position to its bitter end: he is personally strongly motivated by altruism (the sections of 12 Rules where he describes the neglected child of another psychologist, and where he writes of his daughter's rheumatoid arthritis, are truly moving). But he attracts a particular kind of follower because he validates their desire to dominate women, to be respected, to be powerful and to win. Peterson has staked out a space in one corner of the triangle identified by Terry Eagleton, of Marx, Freud and Darwin. Marx taught the world we are influenced by vast economic forces. Freud taught us that we're motivated by the unconscious workings of our deep minds. Darwin taught us that we're the animal products of millions of years of learned behaviour. And this is where Peterson is so profoundly anti-Christian, because he argues that we should go with the grain of our instincts. (It shouldn't need saying that he doesn't therefore say that 'might is right', though it probably does.) But Christianity contradicts his entire philosophy, because it challenges and promises liberation from all the forces that keep us captive. That's not to say they don't exist, of course; but they don't have to control us. In fact, of course, Marx, Freud and Darwin all have their critics. Peterson's own angle, the Darwinian one, can be nuanced by a greater understanding of the role of society in mitigating the chimpanzee tendency (graphically and horrifyingly expounded in 12 Rules). One study claims to show that hunter-gatherer societies the earliest in human development, and just yesterday in evolutionary terms - are egalitarian rather than patriarchal in form, arguing torpedoing one of Peterson's ideas. But it would be foolish to argue that our evolutionary history has simply nothing to do with how we are made today. That is not, however, the point: for Christians liberation from 'sin', whatever its origins, is what we're about. And when Jesus said, 'whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first among you must be your slave' (Matthew 20: 26-17), and 'since I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you ought to wash each other's feet', he was upending the idea of heirarchy altogether. (To show how profoundly rooted in the earliest Christian community this idea was, consider Paul's fury at the Corinthians over their abuse of the Lord's Supper in 1 Corinthians 11). Peterson's take on 'Do unto others'? 'If I am someone's friend, family member or lover, then I am morally obliged to bargain as hard on my own behalf as they are on theirs...it is much better for any relationship when both partners are strong.' As a clinical psychologist who's seen what happens when people are bullied and traumatised, yes: as a general guide to life? Christians would probably prefer, 'Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love' (Ephesians 4:2). And this is where Jordan Peterson is in fundamental conflict with Christianity, which makes his appeal to some Christians the more surprising. But perhaps not: living as a Christian always involves a continuing struggle to separate the wheat of the gospel from the chaff of the culture, and we don't always do it very well. Today's church is bedevilled by various temptations. One is the cult of 'leadership', where churches look for the 'strong man' to tell them what to do; it's usually men, but women can be 'leaders' too, if they do it like men. When we fetishise leadership we buy into Peterson-style heirarchical thinking. Another is complementarianism, which baptises men's primitive instincts to dominate and oppress; though Peterson does believe in equality of opportunity. Another bedevillment, particularly in evangelical circles, is a failure to think deeply and clearly about scripture and human nature. There is nothing particularly new or startling about Peterson's treatment of Genesis if you've read good commentaries, but his reflections on these Old Testament stories enthral far more people than ever hear a decent sermon on them. Is it time for evangelical preachers to up their game? Jordan Peterson will, no doubt, continue to divide not just the chatterati, but the church. We should not dismiss him out of hand, but neither should we celebrate him. He's not on our side. Mark Woods is the author of Does the Bible really say that? Challenging our assumptions in the light of Scripture (Lion, 8.99). Follow him on Twitter: @RevMarkWoods Venezuela's Christians urge prayer as crisis mounts Venezuela's churches have called for prayer amid the country's crisis as pressure mounts on President Maduro to step down from his position. Mass demonstrations against the economic mismanagement that has seen the country plunged into poverty have been taking place. According to Evangelical Focus, Pastor Samuel Olson, president of the Evangelical Council of Venezuela, invited the nation to pray 'together as a family, asking God that through His Holy Spirit cares, directs and blesses our nation in this critical hour of its history'. Evangelical Focus also cites the Confederation Union of Christian Churches of Venezuela as backing opposition leader Juan Guaido as the man 'called to conduct the nation in this period of transition'. The group also called for 'an end to the usurpation of the Presidency of the Republic', and asked for 'an urgent government of transition and free elections in the context of a big national agreement'. Latin American nations have called on Maduro to resign and have recognised Guaido as interim president, with longstanding leftist allies Bolivia and Cuba the only countries in the region to voice explicit support for Maduro. The United States and Canada also recognized Guaido the 35-year-old leader of Venezuela's opposition-dominated National Assembly as Venezuela's legitimate ruler. However, Mexico once a vocal member of the Lima Group regional bloc created to pressure Maduro to enact democratic reforms struck a discordant note under new leftist President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, saying it would not take sides and branding support for Guaido a violation of sovereignty. Additional reporting by Reuters. Pope, on trip to Panama, says fear of migrants makes people crazy Pope Francis wasted no time wading in on the standoff over funding for a US Mexico border wall on Wednesday as he started his trip to Panama, saying on the plane from Rome that hostility to immigrants was driven by irrational fear. In a brief conversation between the pope and journalists on the flight, one reporter described the barrier that juts out into the Pacific Ocean between the two countries in San Diego, California, as a 'folly'. Francis, who has made defence of migrants a key part of his papacy, responded: 'Fear makes us crazy.' President Donald Trump, with whom the pope has sparred before on immigration, has triggered a US government shutdown over demands for $5.7 billion in funding for a wall along the United States' southern border. Immigration is expected to be one of the main themes of Francis's six-day trip. The pope met eight refugees in Rome before heading to the airport for his 13-hour flight to Panama for World Youth Day. Since mid-October, thousands of Central Americans, mostly from Honduras, have travelled north to the United States through Mexico in caravans, some walking much of the way. Many are seeking asylum, saying they suffer from rampant crime and bleak opportunities in their native countries. 'Nobody wants to leave their country but young Salvadorans are doing it searching for opportunities, employment, security,' said Edwin Valiente, a 28-year-old architecture student who came to Panama from El Salvador for Francis' visit. Francis, on his first trip to Panama and the first by a pope since 1983, was greeted at the airport by President Juan Carlos Varela and thousands of cheering children. World Youth Day has been dubbed the 'Catholic Woodstock', a jamboree where young people celebrate their faith and discuss social issues. It is held in a different city every three years. About 150,000 have registered for this year's event, being held in Latin America for only the third time since Pope John Paul instituted it in 1985. Several hundred thousand people are expected at the final Mass at a park on Sunday that will be open to all visitors and citizens of the country of 4 million people, which is about 89 per cent Catholic. Indonesia frees Christian politician Ahok, jailed for blasphemy The Christian former governor of Jakarta in Indonesia, Basuki Tjahaya Purnama known as Ahok has been released from prison after serving time for insulting the Quran. Ahok was jailed in May 2017 following his comment that political rivals were deceiving people by using a verse in the Quran to say Muslims should not be led by a non-Muslim. Later, an incorrectly subtitled video of the comments went viral, eventually leading to his defeat at the polls and his imprisonment on charges of blasphemy. Hundreds of thousands of Muslim protesters took to the streets, led by hardline Islamist groups. One protester died and police officers were injured. In a letter to his supporters this week, Ahok asked people not to hold a parade to welcome him for the sake of public order, or to camp out in front of the prison. He said: 'I am very thankful to God for allowing me to spend time in prison.' He also urged his supporters not to give up on politics, saying of the forthcoming April elections: 'I strongly urge all my fans not to abstain from voting.' Many fear the elections may also be tainted by the religious and racial tension that marred the Jakarta governor race two years ago. Ahok is widely popular among progressive Indonesians, who fear his trial and sentence indicates growing intolerance in the country. In 2017, when Ahok was imprisoned, Indonesia was number 46 on the Open Doors World Watch List. It now sits at number 30. Although Indonesia's constitution promotes religious freedom, Islamic extremist groups are becoming more influential. Some regions of Indonesia already operate under Islamic Sharia law. According to Open Doors, believers from Muslim backgrounds often face persecution from their families and communities and are put under pressure to renounce their faith. In 2018, 18 Christians were killed and many more wounded in a co-ordinated suicide bomb attack on three churches in the city of Surabaya. An ethnic Chinese Christian, Basuki Tjahaja Purnama, 52, lost a 2017 bid to be re-elected governor over charges of insulting the Quran that brought hundreds of thousands of Muslim protesters to the streets, led by hardline Islamist groups. 'My dad's a free man! Thank you everyone for the support,' his son, Nicholas Sean, said on social media app Instagram, alongside a selfie with his father. Months of protests and a polarising election preceded Purnama's jailing in May 2017, raising concerns over the erosion of Indonesia's long-held reputation for pluralism and tolerance, and the creeping influence of Islam in politics. '(Purnama's) prosecution showed non-Muslims and many Muslims that the freedoms of expression and religion in Indonesia are tenuous,' New York-based Human Rights Watch said. Purnama's troubles started with comments that political rivals were deceiving people by using a verse in the Quran to say Muslims should not be led by a non-Muslim. Later, an incorrectly subtitled video of the comments went viral, eventually leading to his defeat at the polls and his imprisonment on charges of blasphemy. As a figure with a no-nonsense reputation for cutting through red tape while in office, he remains popular with progressive Indonesians. 'We support him, not because of his religion or beliefs, but because of his good work,' said one of this Muslim supporters, Siti Afifah, who had waited outside the prison for his release. But Ahok, as he is popularly known in Indonesia, is unlikely to re-enter politics any time soon, media say. His representatives say he is considering launching a talk show and running his family's oil trading business. Last week, in a letter from behind bars, Purnama said he now wanted to be known by his initials 'BTP', and apologised to those hurt by his remarks when in office. He also urged supporters to exercise their right to vote in April's presidential election, which many fear may also be tainted by the religious and racial tension that marred the Jakarta governor race two years ago. President Joko Widodo once a steadfast ally of Purnama's is running for re-election against retired general Prabowo Subianto. Prabowo endorsed the massive protests against Purnama two years ago and backed the winning ticket in that election. Additional reporting by Reuters. California State senator replaces male and female gender pronouns with 'they' California State senator Hannah-Beth Jackson has replaced traditional male and female gender pronouns during judicial committee hearings with 'they'. The first order of business at last Thursday's hearing was to announce the change, during which the Democrat senator said the 'gender neutral' designation 'they' would be replacing the traditional pronouns of 'he' or 'she', the Daily Wire reports. 'I'd like to note in respecting the fact that we are now a state recognizing the non-binary designation as a gender he and she, we are now merging them so we are using what my grammar teacher would have had a heart attack over: we are using the phrase 'they' and replacing other designations so it's a gender neutral designation: "they",' she said. 'In the spirit of gender neutrality for the rules of this committee, we now designate the chair as "they",' she continued before adding that the 'world is in a different place' now from the days of her grammar teacher. Despite having just set out the new useage of gender neutral pronouns, Jackson slipped up several times during the hearing, referring to her former grammar teacher in the female. Joking that her grammar teacher was 'long gone and we won't be hearing from her', she quickly corrected herself after someone in the chamber pointed out the mistake. 'From them! From they!' she said. In a statement, Jackson's office denied that the traditional male and female pronouns were banned: 'I announced some modifications to the language of our committee's internal rules which act as bylaws to the committee. 'Some people have taken these very minor changes out of context and misinterpreted them as a banning of the use of he/she language in our regular legislative business or in California's laws. 'It does not ban the use of gendered pronouns in any way. It simply makes our bylaws clearer and more consistent going forward.' At the start of the year, California introduced a third 'X' gender category on state identification cards and driver's licenses. The 'X' marker can be used by California state residents who do not identify as male or female. Oregon, New York and Washington state also offer the 'X' marker on official IDs. In Scotland, a congregation parts ways with the increasingly liberal Episcopal Church A congregation in north-east Scotland is splitting with the Scottish Episcopal Church over its "continued liberal trajectory" Email Print Img No-img Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment In the U.S., the Episcopal Church has long pursued a liberal path, with gay bishops and marriage blessings, much to the chagrin of conservatives, but elsewhere, tremors are being felt over the same issues. Last week, a congregation in north-east Scotland voted overwhelmingly to leave the Scottish Episcopal Church citing concerns over its theological direction. In total, 83 percent of the members at Westhill Community Church in Aberdeen voted to leave the SEC because of its "continued liberal trajectory." That trajectory was cemented in 2017 when the SECs governing body voted to allow gay marriage ceremonies in its churches. Only one diocese opposed the move - Aberdeen and Orkney. Westhill isnt the first congregation to leave the SEC following the change. St. Thomas church in the Scottish capital, Edinburgh, left the Church last year with the Rev. David McCarthy saying their departure was made out of tragic necessity." "But it is the Episcopal Church who are leaving us. They are leaving orthodoxy, he told The Sunday Telegraph at the time. Its unclear whether other churches in Aberdeen and Orkney will follow Westhill Community Church out of the SEC but rector Canon Ian Ferguson said he was one of a group of conservative evangelical rectors in the SEC who were on a journey going back years with bishops over its liberal theology. For Westhill, the direction of the SEC is one it could not accept any more and it has now begun the process to leave. Canon Ferguson told the Anglican Communion News Service: Our church was not able to feel they could go on the trajectory that the SEC are going and they wanted to maintain their sense of biblical authority and their fellowship with the wider Anglican Communion which is being torn apart by decisions of some provinces. He added: For all of us involved this has been a very painful time and a very difficult decision to make but we have been put in that position by the decisions of the SEC. What is next for Westhill is uncertain at this stage. Canon Ferguson said the congregation would be taking time to think about its future but hes sure we will remain Anglican. Its possible the congregation will look beyond Scotlands shores as Canon Ferguson says they have received some amazing support from the Archbishops of Nigeria, Uganda, and Sydney who have been very supportive and welcoming to us. These Archbishops are all entrenched in the Global Anglican Future Conference (GAFCON) - a worldwide fellowship of orthodox Anglicans waging their own war against the liberalisation of parts of the Anglican Communion. With the Lambeth Conference just around the corner in 2020, the Archbishop of Uganda has pledged not to participate until "godly order is restored" to the Communion. Back in Scotland, the Primus of Scotland, Bishop Mark Strange, expressed his sadness at the departure of Westhill, saying he was praying that, painful though this process will be for the Church and for the local diocese and wider community, we will all remember that we are all striving to serve as disciples of Christ. Despite many provinces, particularly those in the Global South, decrying the actions of the SEC, Bishop Strange isn't changing the Church's current stance but says he is praying for unity in the Communion. Being a member of the Anglican Communion is important to the Scottish Episcopal Church and we are working hard to strengthen our role in it, he continued in his statement on Westhills exit. Our bishops are preparing to attend the Lambeth Conference in 2020 and have begun inviting bishops from around the Communion to join us in Scotland for pre-conference hospitality. We will continue to pray for unity and understanding as we strive to further the mission of God to our nation and around the world. Christians from India, Nigeria and Iraq detail the persecution their communities face Email Print Img No-img Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment WASHINGTON At the rollout of Open Doors USAs annual top-50 list of countries where Christians are most persecuted, Christians from Africa, Asia and the Middle East shared how persecution has affected their families and communities. Last week, the nondenominational ministry that monitors persecution in more than 70 countries, released its 2019 World Watch List at an event held at a Heritage Foundation office in Capitol Hill. As was the case in past years, Open Doors invited Christians from different countries to share their own stories of persecution. The Christian Post spoke with believers from India, Iraq, Nigeria and one undisclosed South Asian country about the violence they and their communities have faced. Email Whatsapp Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment Does Planned Parenthood target blacks? That is what Dr. Martin Luther Kings niece thinks. Recently, I spoke on my radio show with Evangelist Alveda King, the niece of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. She is the Director of Civil Rights for the Unborn with the organization Priests for Life. The focus was on Planned Parenthood and the African-American community. Her comments are relevant all year round, especially around this time of MLK day and the anniversary of the Supreme Court decision favoring abortion, Roe v. Wade (January 22, 1973). Dr. Alveda King told me, The leading cause of death in the African-American community is not gang-violence, gun violence, heart attack, stroke, HIV, high blood pressure, diabetes. People will name all these. No, its abortion. And the reason we have come to that conclusion, statistically, youve got 60 million plus abortions legal in America since 1973. About a third of those occur in the African-American community. That means dead babies. And, with us being 13 percent or less of Americas population, that means we are having more abortions. She asked, Now does it mean that African-Americans are more immoral or dont care? Absolutely not. We are just regular, everyday people like everyone else. But Planned Parenthood moved into our community with the abortion killing centers and said, Were here to help you. Lets kill your baby, so you can have a better life. Well, killing our babies doesnt give us a better life. I have had my own abortions in the 1970s. They were secret then, and after I became born again in 1983 and became a pro-life voice, I began to talk about how those abortions hurt me and my family. In 1921, Margaret Sanger founded the Birth Control League, which later changed its name to Planned Parenthood. Dr. Paul Kengor, author of Takedown, writes about when Sanger spoke to the Ku Klux Klan in Silver Lake, New Jersey in May 1926: The Planned Parenthood founders KKK talk was a smash hit. Not only did it go very late, after a very long wait, but she received numerous invitations to speak to other groups like the Klan. Why would the KKK be so interested in Ms. Sanger? The reasons are obvious, a natural fit. It was because Sanger was a passionate racial eugenicist with grandiose dreams of race improvement. Alveda King told our listeners: Margaret Sanger, the founder of the Birth Control League [later, Planned Parenthood], said, that colored people are like weeds, and they need to be eliminated. They need to be exterminated. We dont want the word to get out, so lets not package it that way. So thats why they began to make a lot of propaganda and marketing materials, saying that abortion is a womans right. It will help her to finish college, get a job, do this or do that. Christian author and educator Dr. George Grant points out that it was not just the African-American community Sanger targeted for population control: Now for Margaret Sanger and her followers, those undesirable aspects of humanity were largely ethnic minorities: blacks, Jews, oftentimes Slavic peoples from Eastern Europe. These were considered undesirables, imbeciles she called them, human weeds she called them; and so Planned Parenthood was originally designed to limit the populations of those peoples and to increase the population of what she felt were the desirable races. So right at the heart of the philosophy of Planned Parenthood is this ideological and scientific commitment to a kind of racism. Sanger did not want it known that she believed blacks should be targeted for a significant reduction in their population. She wrote, We dont want the word to go out that we want to exterminate the Negro population. (Margaret Sanger, Letter to Dr. Clarence J. Gamble, December 10, 1939.) Alveda notes that Planned Parenthood said in effect, We dont want the word to get out, so lets get a slick marketing plan. That plan included such things as handing out awards (such as to her uncle---a few years before Planned Parenthood began to do abortions, beginning in 1970) and scholarships. She said, So many people rose to success on the backs and bucks of Planned Parenthood---the rabid, feminist movement, for example---a lot of people who have been electedthe Congressional black caucus---many of them were put in office and are still in office because of dollars from eugenicists, such as Planned Parenthood. To see for yourself the ongoing racism of Planned Parenthood in action, notice how often their clinics are still in very poor neighborhoods. Alveda notes some of those Planned Parenthood neighborhoods have streets nearby named after her uncle. Alveda King concludes, Thats a baby in the womb, who should have human rights, and I believe if my uncle were here today, he would have to agree that abortion is a crime against humanity. Email Whatsapp Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment If I asked you what the leading cause of death in the world is, I imagine the first answer to pop into your mind would be a disease such as cancer. It wouldnt be a bad guess cancer kills more than 8 million people every year. But its not the right answer. You might then consider AIDS or smoking or alcohol-related deaths or perhaps even traffic accidents? Combined, the four are responsible for the deaths of over 11 million people around the world. But the leading cause of death in the world is none of the above. In fact, it kills more people than all of them combined. In 2018, 41.9 million pregnancies were prematurely terminated, making abortion the no. 1 cause of death in the world. The staggering figure was tallied by Worldometers, a site which aggregates statistical data from sources such as the World Health Organization (WHO). Yet unlike most of the other leading causes of death in the world, abortion is almost 100 percent preventable. Case in point: in the U.S., 9 out of 10 abortions are elective. That is to say they are performed not due to medical reasons but because the baby is not wanted. I wonder what would happen if we viewed abortion the same way we view smoking or cancer. Would it remain the leading cause of death in the world if we ran public service campaigns to dissuade women from seeking abortions, as we do for smoking? Or if we spent billions of dollars on research to save lives, as we do with cancer? The sad truth is our culture doesnt discourage abortion; on the contrary, we champion and celebrate it. One pro-choice group took it to the next level when it recently released a video of its founder talking with children about why abortion is good. They just suck the pregnancy out. It was like a really crappy dentist appointment or something like a body thing thats kind of uncomfortable, she explains to two pre-teen girls in the video. Notice the choice of words: They suck the pregnancy out. An abortion does not suck a pregnancy out; it forcefully removes, often through suction and cutting, a fetus or in other words, a baby from the womb. Thats the message our culture is communicating to our children today a baby is only valuable when it doesnt interfere with your life and your happiness. Believe it or not, as outrageous as this may sound, many of our elected officials believe it. On its very first day in session, the 116th Congress hailed for having a record number of women voted on a spending bill. But beyond providing funds for the federal government, the bill would also restore funding to organizations that provide abortions overseas, which stands in direct contravention to the many recent decisions that have prevented taxpayers money from financing abortions. January 22 is the National Sanctity of Human Life Day. On this date, 46 years ago, the Supreme Court legalized abortion across all 50 states. That one fateful decision has led to the deaths of over 61 million babies in America. Thats roughly the combined populations of California and Florida. There is nothing in this world more valuable than a human life. The Bible tells us God made us in his image and likeness. This means that, regardless of race, gender, age, place of birth or socioeconomic status, every human life has intrinsic, unalienable value. From the womb, all the way to the tomb, life is precious. I pray America will choose life. Originally posted at ronniefloyd.com ORU partners with G12 ministry to bring Bible education to Christians worldwide Email Print Img No-img Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment Oral Roberts University is launching a new partnership with an internationally popular charismatic church movement to make the Oklahoma colleges theological education more accessible and affordable worldwide. This month, the Tulsa-based university began partnering with Mision Carismatica Internacionals G12 Vision movement to offer undergraduate and graduate coursework as well as ORUs Bible certificate program to thousands of students affiliated with the cell-church discipleship ministry. The ministry, founded in 1991 by Pastor Cesar Castellanos in Bogota, Colombia, has grown to be hundreds of thousands strong as churches in places like the Philippines, China, Canada and Singapore have adopted the G12 strategy. The strategy is based on the need to be involved in discipleship groups of 12. In the strategy, a pastor trains 12 people to be cell leaders. In turn, those 12 are then supposed to disciple 12 others in their own cells group. Under the articulation agreement with the Charismatic liberal arts college, leaders affiliated with the G12 movement will be eligible to receive discounted rates toward online classes for bachelors, master's or doctoral degrees from ORU. They will be promoting ORU at G12 meetings around the world at their larger conference that will happen this month in Bogota and we feel like it is a really good partnership that is helping them with their small groups in Bible study and will help us to have students that we can raise up into leaders and impact the world with, ORU President William Wilson told The Christian Post. G12 has some amazing leaders and some of the largest churches in the world are part of their network. Commenting on G12s unique discipleship strategy, Wilson said that the strategy is really meant for multiplication and discipleship. It has worked better in some parts of the world than others, Wilson said. But in many places around the world, it has really exploded into some of the largest churches on the planet. G12 has faced its share of critics over the years with some accusing it of having an abusive culture and a pyramid-style leadership structure. Critics have also claimed that G12 is a "cult." However, Wilson assured that what he has seen firsthand out of the ministry has not been cultlike. There has been some controversy around G12, Wilson admitted. We are aware of that over the years. We have been very forthright with Pastor Castellanos about it. I think some of that has cooled over time. Wilson added that he believes the G12 movement has proven themselves. I have been at their church about four times now in Colombia. They have 70,000 people of small groups across Bogota, Wilson said. I found them to be very solid Christian believers. Wilson explained that when you have a ministry with so many discipleship groups and leaders, a lot is determined by who leads the group and how restrictive or legalistic or overbearing they may be. I think G12 has tried to ameliorate the problems over the years and I think it has done a good job, Wilson said. I am very pleased at this point with what I see in the G12 movement. I think it is a solid Christian group. It is not cultlike from what I can tell in any shape or form but loves Jesus and is prolific in its evangelism. Thousands and thousands of people coming to Jesus, it is a little hard to argue against that. Wilson said that ORU has an immediate goal to see about 2,500 students worldwide studying in the Bible training certificate curriculum. There are over 1,000 already enrolled in ORUs Bible certification program. Wilson said the program is growing rapidly since the curriculum was translated into Spanish a couple of years ago. This is our first big foray down to Bogota using this finished curriculum and we feel like the future is great, Wilson said. Some students affiliated with the G12 Network will enroll as full-time students and attend classes in Tulsa as the program allows them to also seek one of ORUs bachelors or masters degree in theology, business or education. They can also seek a doctoral degree in theology or education. ORU has about 2,800 undergraduates who attend its campus in Tulsa, and has around 30 articulation agreements with various other ministries across the globe. This one is a little bit unusual because of G12s global footprint and the number of churches involved, Wilson said. But it will form a model that we feel can be translated and used in other networks around the world as well. DC restaurant fined $7,000 for throwing out man who entered women's bathroom Email Print Img No-img Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment A restaurant in the nations capital has agreed to pay $7,000 as part of a legal settlement involving a trans-identified activist who was confronted by restaurant employees for using the womens bathroom. Cuba Libre, a Cuban restaurant and bar on 9th street in downtown Washington, D.C., has agreed to a settlement with the D.C. attorney general's office after employees kicked Human Rights Campaign trans activist Charlotte Clymer (formerly known as Charles) out of the restaurant last June for using the womens bathroom. On June 22, Clymer went to use the bathroom and was followed by an employee. While coming out of the bathroom, Clymer was asked by the restaurant's manager to show identification. Clymer, a former "male feminist" who works for one of the most prominent LGBT advocacy groups in the country, was eventually told to leave the restaurant after arguing with employees about the legality of him using the womens bathroom. A District law prohibits discrimination on the basis of gender identity or gender expression in places of public accommodation. As the D.C. Human Rights Act is one of the oldest laws in the nation protecting individuals on the basis of gender identity, the city investigated the restaurant's handling of the situation with Clymer. The attorney generals office accused the restaurant of discriminating against the transgender resident. The city argued that the restaurant did not have a company policy that prevented discrimination in bathrooms and also failed to train its employees on civil rights compliance. Under the legal settlement with the attorney generals office, Cuba Libre has agreed to stop discriminating against transgender residents. In other words, the restaurant has agreed to let trans-identified individuals use the bathrooms that correspond with their gender identity. Additionally, the restaurant must institute policies and employee training to ensure compliance with the Districts non-discrimination laws. The restaurant must also pay the city a $7,000 fine and legal costs. Additionally, Cuba Libre must post signs that clearly state that all individuals are allowed to use the restroom that corresponds to their gender identity or expression. In his announcement of the settlement, Attorney General Karl A. Racine also announced that he introduced the Attorney General Civil Rights Enforcement Clarification Amendment Act. The bill is an attempt to clarify that the D.C. attorney generals office has the authority to sue violators of the citys non-discrimination laws. The Districts laws reflect one of our residents most deeply-held values: that all people should be treated equally, Racine said in a statement. With this settlement, Cuba Libre is required to maintain policies that will ensure this type of discrimination does not happen again. According to the attorney generals office, Cuba Libre has fired the employees who were involved in the June 2018 incident with Clymer. The restaurant also reached a legal settlement with Clymer last year. Cuba Libre's co-owner Barry Gutin said in a statement that the restaurant has posted the signs and its employees have completed the training requirements listed in the settlement, according to The Washington Post. Gutin added that Cuba Libre will offer training for all restaurant employees in the D.C. area. Our focus now is to help ensure safety for D.C.s transgender community at all area restaurants, the statement reads. While there seems to be more and more civil rights laws protecting on the basis of gender identity being enacted throughout the country, Christians in more conservative cities have pushed back against such laws. Many believe that laws allowing men to access womens locker rooms, showers and bathrooms on the basis of gender identity or expression could be abused by perverts and endanger women and girls. In 2015, voters in Houston, Texas, successfully overturned a city civil rights ordinance that allowed transgender individuals to access bathrooms in accordance with their gender identity. Was Trump's rise driven by church decline? Email Print Img No-img Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment The decline of Christianity in the U.S. helped President Donald Trump secure the Republican nomination, an analysis argues. "The best way to describe Trumps support in the Republican primaries when he was running against the likes of Jeb Bush, Ted Cruz, Marco Rubio, John Kasich would be: white evangelicals who do not go to church," Timothy Carney wrote Jan. 17 for The American Conservative. Using Voter Study Group data, Carney found that Trump did best among Republican primary voters who seldom or never attend religious services. Carney, opinion editor for The Washington Examiner and a visiting fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, also writes about this topic in the forthcoming Alienated America: Why Some Places Thrive While Others Collapse, which will be published Feb. 19. Carney doesn't place the blame on working-class whites who stopped going to church, but sees it as a complicated story of economic decline contributing to church closures. "Economic collapse goes hand in hand with the desiccation of religious institutions," Carney wrote. "When factories or coal mines close, some portion of the population flees. Still others stop going to church .... "Absent strong job prospects, fewer adults form families. When people have fewer weddings and christenings, and fewer kids to educate on right and wrong, they go to church less. Of course then, this becomes a vicious circle: in communities less anchored in church, theres less family formation. A place with fewer families is a place less attractive to employers thus this social and moral collapse is both a consequence and a cause of economic collapse. "The 'economic anxiety' is inextricably tied with the collapse of church and family. The latter is the more dangerous problem." Carney concluded by noting the "bitter irony" of church decline leading to Trump, for those on the secular Left who believe a less religious nation is a better nation. Others have also argued that the rise of Trump is a symptom of the decline of religion in America. In a Dec. 7 column for New York magazine, columnist Andrew Sullivan wrote that the void left by religion is being filled by both Trump and illiberal social justice warriors. We have the cult of Trump on the right, a demigod who, among his worshipers, can do no wrong. And we have the cult of social justice on the left, a religion whose followers show the same zeal as any born-again evangelical. They are filling the void that Christianity once owned, without any of the wisdom and culture and restraint that Christianity once provided, Sullivan said. Others have similarly argued that Trump's strongest support doesn't come from his most religious voters. Carney cited Notre Dame professor Geoffrey Layman, who made this argument in a Washington Post op-ed, "Where is Trumps evangelical base? Not in church," during the 2016 nomination contests. Some reacted to Carney's column by pointing out that even if dispossessed Christians fueled Trump's rise, devout white evangelicals were still responsible for getting him over the finish line. Plus, some of Trump's strongest supporters continue to be evangelical leaders, such as Pastor Robert Jeffress, the Rev. Franklin Graham, and Liberty University President Jerry Fallwell Jr. In response to Carney's argument, Eastern Illinois University political scientist Ryan Burge wrote for Religion in Public that Republican voters who went to church the most often mostly supported Texas Sen. Ted Cruz. They only represented 20 percent of the sample, however, and every other church attendance category mostly backed Trump. Burge also found that Cruz supporters were the most conservative on Christian Right issues, such as religious freedom, abortion and homosexuality. But beyond those issues, Cruz voters looked similar to Trump voters. In a Tuesday column for Religion & Politics, Janelle Wong, professor of American studies and Asian American studies at the University of Maryland, wrote that evangelical support for Trump is more driven by race than religion. Noting data first reported in her book, Immigrants, Evangelicals, and Politics in an Era of Demographic Change (2018), Wong wrote that Trump had higher support from nonevangelical whites than evangelical non-whites, suggesting that white evangelical Trump supporters are more driven by their whiteness than their evangelicalism. Carney and Wong both agree that economics alone doesn't fully explain the source of Trump's strongest supporters. "Its pretty clear at this point that economic disenfranchisement is not the driving force behind white evangelicals conservative politics. Rather, the primary driver in my view is a sense of 'racial embattlement,'" Wong concluded. More evidence for this was in a September 2018 report by Emily Ekins for The Cato Institute (using the same dataset Carney used), which found that nonreligious Trump voters showed more racist attitudes than religious Trump voters. In explaining Trumpism, Carney points to a loss of religious instruction and Wong points to racist sentiments. But these theories can be complementary if racism thrives where religious instruction dwindles. A recent book by political scientists Ruth Melkonian-Hoover and Lyman Kellstedt found that white evangelicals who are theologically conservative and are active in their church are more likely to disagree with Trump on immigration issues, which suggests that a combination of participation and belief, church attendance and instruction can influence political views, and not always in the popularly expected direction. Pakistan's top court to decide Asia Bibi's fate as Muslim extremists demand her death Email Print Img No-img Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment Pakistan's top court will decide next week whether a challenge against the acquittal of Christian mother Asia Bibi can proceed as radical Islamists continue to call for her execution. Bibis lawyer, Saiful Malook, revealed that on Jan. 29 Pakistans Supreme Court will review a petition launched by Islamists calling for her blasphemy conviction to be overturned, the Pakistani news outlet Dawn reports. If the court rejects the petition, Bibi will finally be free to leave Pakistan. The 47-year-old mother-of-five, who was on death row for eight years, was accused by Muslim farm laborers of having insulted the Islamic prophet Muhammad, which is an offense punishable by death in Pakistan. She was convicted despite denying the charges, and in October the Supreme Court overturned the guilty verdict. The decision sparked nationwide protests by Muslim hardliners, prompting authorities to take Bibi into hiding. Since her acquittal, she has since been living at a secret location, under guard. Muslim extremists have threatened to kill anyone who supports Bibi, and in efforts to end the violence, authorities struck a deal with protesters. As part of the agreement, the Pakistani government pledged she would remain in the country until the Supreme Court reviews the petition against her acquittal. A three-member bench will hear the review petition, which claims that the Supreme Court's acquittal of Bibi did not meet the standards of jurisprudence as well as Islamic provisions. Ghulam Mustafa Chaudhry, the lawyer who filed the petition seeking an appeal, told AFP the court is expected to decide the same day if the appeal is admitted or not. In December, he told the BBC he gets "a lot of peace" from prosecuting alleged blasphemers like Bibi and "will be rewarded for it in the hereafter. "For us the most sacred thing is [Islamic] prophet Muhammad. Everything we do is for him," he said, insisting that no Muslim would ever falsely accuse a non-Muslim of committing blasphemy. Despite her release from prison, Bibi continues to live in fear of being killed and is guarded by security forces who've barred her from even opening a window, an unidentified friend revealed earlier this month. Shes also undergoing treatment for various illnesses she suffered while in prison. Bibis children have been taken to Canada for their safety, and while various western countries have been mentioned as possible destinations that could grant the Christian woman asylum, her fate remains uncertain. Pakistans notorious blasphemy laws prescribe a death sentence for anyone convicted of insulting Islam or the Muhammad. Approximately 40 people are believed to be on death row or serving a life sentence for blasphemy, according to a 2018 report by the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom. While no one convicted of blasphemy has ever been legally executed in Pakistan, at least 70 people have reportedly been killed since 1990 in attacks by lynch mobs. Rights groups say the law is frequently misused, often to settle personal vendettas and property disputes and religious minorities are disproportionately affected by such accusations. Those who call for changes to the countrys blasphemy law also risk death: In 2011, Salmaan Taseer, the governor of Punjab Province who had campaigned for Bibis release and changes in the laws, was shot and killed by his police bodyguard. Two months later, Shahbaz Bhatti, the minister of minorities and the only Christian cabinet minister in the Pakistani government, was also killed after he also calling for changes to the blasphemy law. Pakistan ranks as the fifth worst country in the world when it comes to Christian persecution, according to Open Doors USAs World Watch List. NY Times says robot marriage becoming mainstream; pastor believes church partly to blame Email Print Img No-img Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment The nation's most prominent newspaper is asserting marriage to robots is becoming mainstream, as is what is now called "digisexuality." In a Saturday New York Times article titled "Do you take this robot..." with the subtitle "Today we fall in love through our phones. Maybe your phone itself could be just as satisfying?" the newspaper noted that artificial intelligence-driven sex robots are becoming more mainstream. In an age of sexting and dating apps like Tinder, it is fair to ask whether everyone might be a "closet digisexual," the article said. "The idea that flesh-and-blood humans may actually forge fulfilling emotional, or even sexual, relationships with digital devices is no longer confined to dystopian science fiction movies," the newspaper declared on its Twitter feed. Interviewed in the piece was Neil McArthur, an associate professor who specializes in philosophy and sexuality at the University of Manitoba, who notes that alarmism always precedes every advance in cybersex but such things eventually become normalized. It happened first with porn, then with Internet dating, then with Snapchat sexting. One by one these technologies come along and theres this wave of panic. But as people start to use these technologies, they become part of our lives, he told the newspaper. As the use of artificial intelligence spreads, the lines will be blurred between real sex and cybersex, particularly what constitutes sexual "consent." And those blurred lines "do not have to be a bad thing," The New York Times asserts, and might be inevitable. Featured prominently in the article is Akihiko Kondo, a 35-year-old Japanese man who "married" a female-looking hologram in November. Kondo called his wedding "a triumph of true love after years of feeling ostracized by real-life women for being an anime otaku, or geek" and considers himself a "sexual minority" who faces discrimination. Its simply not right, Kondo said in comments to The Japan Times. Its as if you were trying to talk a gay man into dating a woman, or a lesbian into a relationship with a man. Christopher Benek, a Presbyterian pastor and CEO of a science and tech ministry called CoCreators, believes Kondo's situation illustrates why Christian leaders need to be educated about emerging technological developments. "When dealing with the increasing pace of theological change, people fail to create a consistent and systemic ethic. This usually isnt because of ill intent or malice by the person but it is usually more so the case because they havent had a proper opportunity to explore and discern why they may be experiencing what they are feeling," he explained in a Thursday interview with The Christian Post. "If we are going to presently acknowledge robots' rights as equal to humans, then companies that make sex robots should genuinely be regarded as sex traffickers." When it comes to marriage, Christian pastors are culpable for these types of issues, like Mr. Kondos, taking place in culture, Benek went on to say. "Many pastors largely minimize pre-marital counseling or forgo it altogether using their ecclesiastical status as simply an agent of the state and not as a representative of the love and care of God in Christian community. When I served as a pastor at a church located in a destination location, I knew many pastors that would simply marry tourists to make a few extra bucks." "Personally, I feel like such behavior, done without proper care, doesnt honor the institution of marriage or Christ." The pastor contended that all matter in the cosmos is Gods technology and, as such, "humans are Gods AI," and that ethical considerations surrounding robotics will only grow. "Since we are made in the image of a Creator God, we too will one day be creating autonomous AI that, much like sci-fi cylons, may be virtually indistinguishable from present-day humans. I think what we are experiencing now is our initial exploration into that space. In the future, we will see more and more cyborg humans that will complicate the issue even further," Benek explained. "As such we need to be in careful prayer and discernment to know how to proceed and act ethically in relationship to God, one another and our technological creations." The Times featured another article on robots Saturday, seeking to answer the question "Why do we hurt robots?" with the subtitle "They are like us, but unlike us, and both fearsome and easy to bully." In 2017, Saudi Arabia, infamous for its suppression of women's rights, granted official citizenship to a robot. That same year, while not recognized by authorities, Chinese artificial intelligence engineer Zheng Jiajia made headlines when he married the robot he built in 2016, having given up on finding a human spouse. Speculations have emerged in recent months that by the year 2045, robots will be accorded civil rights protections. Matt Chandler: Being Reformed and Charismatic Feels Like Being an 'Orphan,' We Need Both Email Print Img No-img Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment Being both Reformed and charismatic is like being a "theological orphan," says The Village Church's Matt Chandler, and he implores both camps to quit tearing each other down. The two groups, he says, are acting like "divorced parents" and he wants to see them remarried. In a Nov. 12 sermon on spiritual gifts, Chandler explained why The Village Church is a "continuous" congregation, one that believes that the gifts of the Holy Spirit the Apostle Paul speaks of in 1 Corinthians 12 and 14 are for today. The opposing view, known as cessationism, teaches that those gifts ceased with the death with the Apostles, and that perspective is held by many Reformed Christians. "My whole life in Christ, I have felt like a theological orphan," he said. "To be Reformed and charismatic that's a theological muck. I have felt like the child of divorced parents who badmouth one another every time I'm at their house for the weekend." Chandler illustrated that when he goes to his proverbial Reformed dad's house, dad says: "Your mom's such a loon. I swear, here, give her this book to read. ... I just don't understand, does she know that she's deceived, she's probably letting demons in the house. She might even been getting demons on you. You just need to be careful." When he visits his proverbial charismatic mom's house, she says: "Your dad knows the Bible so well, why does he seem so angry all the time? What is he upset about? Why does he constantly feel like he has to defend God as though God were helpless and unable to defend himself?" In these situations he urges his charismatic mom to frame her beliefs in the Word of God because they are biblical. It's just that the language is so often confused and dad really just loves the Bible, and Scripture does prescribe boundaries regarding the administration of these gifts. Likewise, he tells Reformed dad that the Bible should not make him angry, but free: "If the Word of God is making you crusty, I think you're missing something out of the Word of God." "So I just felt stuck between these two worlds," Chandler continued, "and I'm longing at the Village Church to be a church that sees mom and dad remarried, the convergence of Spirit and truth, Word and wonder." Chandler emphasized that he appreciates his cessationist friends, referencing the work of pastor and author Tom Pennington, a cessationist, whom he admires greatly but disagrees with on the gifts of the Spirit. What further compounds the misunderstanding between these camps are the stereotypes associated with each group, he went on to say. Chandler recounted that when he received Christ just days before his 18th birthday he was the lone Baptist kid and that his Christian friends were mostly in two camps: the Church of Christ and Assembly of God. His Assembly of God friends' parents had told them that Baptists were "closed and crusty" and were not open to the things of the Spirit, "yet I was just zealous for Jesus Christ," Chandler said, noting the cognitive dissonance he had upon hearing this. Yet as a Baptist he had been told that his Pentecostal friends spurned the Word of God and were "loonies" who trusted what they thought more than the Bible. But it was those Pentecostal friends, who he affectionately described as "Holy Ghost-filled crazy weirdoes," who softened his heart. Chandler added that as he has been in ministry God has providentially sent him "really strange" charismatic believers who stretch his paradigms. The way he is bent theologically he has witnessed some powerful prayer times in ministry settings that he was intrigued by but did not want to participate in fully. Even as he was unsure of what to do during these instances, he would later realize that as weird as it seemed, God was indeed in it and used it. While a sophomore in college in Abilene, Texas, he was teaching in a park to a student ministry there and after he finished a colleague of his began leading worship. Shortly thereafter a very tan and bald man walked up to Chandler, grabbed the sides of his head and blew in his face. "You probably think I'm insane," the man said to a stunned Chandler, "but I am here, I have been sent here, I think, for you, and God has asked me to come here and blow on you and maybe that will make sense to you one day, and maybe it won't. That's all." The man then vanished. Chandler said that he is not sure if he would recognize this man if he saw him today, calling the experience "crazy" and that The Village Church would not be starting a "Holy Ghost blowage" ministry. "But here's what I will tell you: From that day [when the bald man blew on him] forward the effectiveness of my ministry, the power of my preaching, and the response to my preaching increased in a way that is hard to communicate," Chandler said. "Look, I don't know what that was; I don't have a category for that. I'm certainly not asking you to run around downtown and blow on people's faces," he said to laughter. Yet according to the exhortation in 1 Thessalonians 5: 1921, which instructs Christians to not quench the Spirit or treat prophecies with contempt but test everything and hold on to what is good, he knew he was to test this particularly weird experience "upon the fruit of what the Spirit does." "And what does the Spirit do?" Chandler stressed, "It makes much of Jesus." "Not much of gifts, not much of men, but much of Jesus," he reiterated, "and I can look at my life and say God did something that day through that weirdo guywho I wouldn't even know what to talk about if I ever saw him again." Christians-only foster care agency gets waiver from Trump admin. Email Print Img No-img Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment South Carolina's largest foster care agency, which only places children with Christian families, received a waiver from the Trump administration to continue operating as long as it refers non-Christian parents to other agencies. Recently, South Carolina requested an exemption to a federal Health and Human Services Department anti-discrimination rule implemented during the Obama administration for Miracle Hill Ministries, which only places children with Christian households. HHS Administration for Children and Families sent a letter to South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster Wednesday granting the request by stating that they believed compelling Miracle Hill to follow the anti-discrimination policy would violate the Religious Freedom Restoration Act. Miracle Hills sincere religious exercise would be substantially burdened by application of the religious nondiscrimination requirement, read the letter in part. subjecting Miracle Hill to that requirement, by denying South Carolinas exception request, is not the least restrictive means of advancing a compelling government interest on the part of HHS. The waiver was granted on the condition that Miracle Hill must refer foster parents who do not share their religious beliefs to another entity within the states foster care program. The ACF letter concluded by noting that the granted exception does not relieve the SC Foster Care Program of its obligation to comply with any other requirements. Terry Schilling, executive director at the socially conservative American Principles Project, released a statement on Wednesday celebrating the decision. HHS took an important first step toward reversing that shameful policy by providing the state of South Carolina with an official exception to the regulation, allowing these charities the ability to continue serving poor children who desperately need homes without having to violate key tenets of their faith, said Schilling. We applaud HHS for their effort to protect faith-based foster care providers, and we urge HHS and the Trump administration to continue their efforts to undo this discriminatory regulation in order to preserve the freedom of these providers to continue their important work. Rachel Laser, president and CEO of the socially liberal Americans United for Separation of Church and State, blasted the administrations decision to grant the exception. This is yet another example of the Trump administration using religion to advance a regressive political agenda that harms others, said Laser in a statement released Wednesday. While this waiver is specific to South Carolina, it sets a dangerous nationwide precedent that elevates the beliefs of government-funded programs over the best interests of the children in their care. Charismatic and liturgical Christians need each other: 'Spirit and Sacrament' author Email Print Img No-img Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment For far too long, charismatic and liturgical, sacramental Christianity have been divorced, and one British pastor thinks it's high time for a remarriage. "I have seen and lived through the separation of a charismatic or Pentecostal, very experiential, emotionally engaged, lively, passionate, what you might call 'experimental' Christianity and a very traditional, rooted, rich, historically grounded, catholic with a small c, habit-forming, poetic-artistic tradition," Andrew Wilson explained in a recent interview with The Christian Post. "There's beautiful poetry and prose in one of them and an awful lot of vibrancy and bounce in the other one," he says. Wilson is a teaching pastor at Kings Church-London, a charismatic congregation that meets in several locations across the city, and the author of the soon-to-be-released book Spirit and Sacrament: An Invitation to Eucharismatic Worship. That invitation to "eucharismatic" worship, a phrase he coined blending "Eucharistic," referring to the celebration of the Eucharist (Communion), and "charismatic," which is, as he describes in the book, "a bucket term for any contemporary church that emphasizes the reality of supernatural experiences and the availability of the New Testament gifts of the Holy Spirit to ordinary believers today," aims to bring these seemingly opposite things together. However different they might appear, these expressions of faith are not and never were mutually exclusive. Eucharismatic is aspirational, not descriptive, Wilson explains, and there is no formulaic prescription for every church aiming for such unity. "To be Eucharismatic is to have our minds persuaded, and our hearts captivated, by this biblical and historical reality: the Triune God has showered this church with gifts, and every one of them is good. And we will maximize our joy (chara) and our appreciation of His grace (charis) as we receive and treasure all of them. "It may sound like a tall order. But if the Apostle Paul could envisage the Corinthians, with all their problems, holding fast to the traditions they received, sharing in the Lord's body and blood when they came together and lacking in no spiritual gifts as they waited for Jesus to return, then it should be possible for anyone," he writes in the book. Spirit and Sacrament casts a vision for what these two vital streams of the church might look like were they to form a single river. Wilson argues that they should have never been split in the first place. The book was in part born out of Wilson's growing conviction that this significant chasm within the church is neither biblical nor historically defensible. Throughout the book he shares both his heart for what this togetherness might look like in addition to making en exegetical-historical case for their reunification. "We need both of them. Both the liturgical-sacramental tradition and the charismatic-Pentecostal tradition are ways of receiving and capitalizing on gifts that God has given," Wilson said. Yet the desire to reunite these two camps cannot come without facing thorny theological conflicts that have plagued Christianity, particularly evangelical Protestantism in the last century. What is known as cessationism, the belief that the gifts of the Holy Spirit especially the distinctly supernatural ones like prophecy, the working of miracles, speaking in tongues and their interpretation died off with the death of the last Apostle, is still held by many influential evangelical theologians in North America and Western Europe. Yet others believe such gifts remain in operation today known as continuationism but have lacked a model with which to minister those gifts during public worship, winding up as what some have referred to as "functional cessationists." In November, at the annual meeting of the Evangelical Theological Society, the theme of which was "The Holy Spirit," Wilson gave a presentation arguing for continuationism, a presentation theologian and Boyce College professor Denny Burk, who is a self-described "convinced cessationist," called "compelling." Wilson is optimistic that as those like Burk and other cessationists he has debated on the issue watch those who practice the gifts with wisdom will begin to be persuaded that indeed such things are biblical. For many the concern remains that charismatic Christianity will inevitably devolve into heresy or excess, having witnessed years of the gifts being abused and misused alongside a low view of the sacraments and doctrinal shallowness. But the solution for abuse and misuse is proper use, not disuse, Wilson maintains. He recounted to CP that Reformed theologian Ligon Duncan, also a cessationist, told both him and Reformed charismatic pastor Sam Storms: "If every charismatic practiced the gifts the way you guys are, I don't think I'd have a problem." "And to me, that is huge progress," Wilson said. "Now there are still some, no matter how you practice them, [who say] this is hooey." But the theological conversation at present is much more balanced and measured, he insists, and it is possible and necessary to address and correct bad practices. Meanwhile, Pentecostalism in the West is yet a young movement and many are realizing that their dispensing of the historical, liturgical, and sacramental elements as dry and dusty relics of the past was an unwise move, Wilson says. "The church often doesn't shift by people saying 'we were wrong.' Debates often shift by people saying 'I can see that, that's got a bit more merit than I thought. I would be more open to that being done that way.'" "And I'm not expecting John MacArthur to say, 'I was totally wrong, the fire is not strange, it's marvelous,'" he said, referencing the ultra-Reformed theologian's 2013 conference called "Strange Fire" in which MacArthur blasted Pentecostals and charismatics, accusing them of blaspheming the Spirit and offering God "unacceptable worship." "I don't think that will happen, but I'm OK if that's true, because I think this kind of thing might take decades of gradual rapprochement and greater understanding, and I hope to contribute to that," Wilson said. Transitioning into this vision will take time and requires patience, he noted, when asked how pastors and lay leaders might begin bringing what Wilson is talking about into being. "You have to do a lot of work, theologically, historically, and practically; you have to alleviate fears," he said. You have to understand why people have concerns, and why they might be right to have those concerns, recognizing what people will hear you saying rather than what you are saying," he said, noting that these theological conversations are often fraught with denominational baggage and loaded terms and lingo not necessarily understood by fellow believers. "But most people aren't concerned about praying for the sick," he noted. "You've got people concerned about praying for the sick in a particular way, with all the shouting and fireworks. But you can pray in a dialed-down way and not worry people. And then what happens is as you do that, you win people's trust that it's not innate to this practice that it's got to be crazy," he said. He also hopes to persuade, even as it's not lost on him that the entire concept of "Eucharismatic" may sound strange to some, reminding readers that God is fundamentally good. For more traditional, sacramental Christians embracing the prophetic utterances and healing prayer might prove uncomfortable but they are God's gifts to His people. Likewise, charismatic and Pentecostal believers might have a hard time adjusting to liturgy and sacraments; but these gifts, too, are gifts from God to be cherished, Wilson stresses. Most Christians have some of both in their heritage, the author told CP. "Receiving some of these gifts will be more comfortable than others. Some of them will be a familiar part of our tradition, and some of them won't," Wilson writes. "But if they are given by the Father of lights, from whom every good and perfect gift comes, with whom there is no shadow or variation due to change, then although we need wisdom, we need not fear." 5 facts on Covington Catholic School boys, Nathan Phillips and Hebrew Israelites Email Print Img No-img Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment A fake news story about a group of Christian students instigating a confrontation with young black students and a Native American elder at the Lincoln Memorial last Friday was reported worldwide and continues to roil the nation. The mainstream media pushed the story of a video that purported to show a group of Trump-supporting teenagers from Covington Catholic High School wearing "Make America Great Again" hats harassing black students who were just "preaching the Bible," CNN reported, and a Native American Vietnam veteran all of which turned out to be false. The teens had traveled from Kentucky to the nation's capital to participate in the 46th annual March for Life along with hundreds of thousands of other Americans. The media was quick to accuse the MAGA hat-wearing teens of tormenting Native American Nathan Phillips on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial. Phillips wrongly accused the teens of chanting the phrase "build the wall" over and over, and making him fear that they were going to "rip him apart" because of their hatred. Reporters from The New York Times, CNN, and other left-leaning news outlets and celebrities called for the students to be "punched in the face" and doxed, in which their private information would we widely distributed over the internet. Subsequently, the students received death threats, their school was forced to close this week amid safety concerns, and the Diocese of Covington was evacuated Wednesday night after receiving a suspicious package. Here's a list of five facts that have emerged this week. Hillsong Channel launches new series featuring celebrities talking about their faith Email Print Img No-img Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment Hillsong Channel is gearing up to release a six-part series titled Now With Natalie hosted by wardrobe stylist Natalie Manuel Lee, who talks with Christian celebrities about their faith and purpose in life. On Sunday, Hillsong announced that the new series was coming soon. Lee, who's a member of Hillsong church and sister of popular fashion and sneaker designer Jerry Lorenzo, also promoted the series on her Instagram account in a video that explained the premise behind the program. The purpose of this show is to nullify, dismantle, and pull back the veil to the counterfeits of identity and purpose being sold and consumed through popular culture, Lee wrote. As seen in the series trailer, Lee will sit down with Hailey Bieber, Tyson Chandler, Kelly Rowland, Jerry Lorenzo, and Elaine Welteroth, among others. Our worth and value is not in things or our job title," said Lee. "Its in who we are at our core. We are redeemed. We are accepted. We are complete in Christ. We are chosen. We are more than ENOUGH. We are FREE in Him. Thats OUR IDENTITY. "As a generation, we tend to focus on these things and accolades that we miss why we are here. We glorify the POSITION more than the PURPOSE of the position, she added. Her She went on to say in the pos that post that the series will peel back the facade of happiness that fame and success falsely show. Her celebrity friends will share candidly about what really makes them authentic. Come along with me on this JOURNEY to discovering TRUE IDENTITY AND TRUE PUR[P]OSE. I grabbed a few of my friends and unpacked these topics, she added. In the video promo, supermodel and longtime Hillsong attendee Hallie Bieber says, Its a photograph, its hair and makeup, its a team of people, its lighting, its all fabricated. Lee and Bieber have been friends for some time and in November she took to social media to share of Biebers Christian faith. She is BOLD, COURAGEOUS and CONFIDENT because she knows who she is in Christ. She stands tall in the midst of a sea of people...Not because of her height.. but because of the CHRIST within her, Lee said of Justin Biebers new bride. NBA star Tyson Chandler will also be a guest on Now With Natalie, and in the clip he says, People dont understand that you could really lose yourself in fame. He also goes to Hillsong and once allowed Pastor Carl Lentz to use his bathtub to baptize Justin Bieber. Also featured on the series is former editor-in-chief of the controversial magazine Teen Vogue, Elaine Welteroth, who was the youngest person and the second African-American to hold an editor-in-chief title at Conde Nast. I am in this world but I am not of this world, Welteroth says in the preview. The magazine came under heavy criticism from parents and women's rights advocates for publishing an anal sex guide aimed at young teens. Lees brother, the Fear of God designer, adds, I think that its easy to come here (the industry) and get caught up. I like clothes buts its really empty if that's what I came here to do. Kelly Rowland, who rose to fame in the late 1990s as a member of Destiny's Child will also be a guest on the Hillsong original to share about her fame. An official release date has not been set, but for more information on Now With Natalie visit the Hillsong Channel. Agnostic Chicago Tribune reporter has his own 'God Friended Me' moment Email Print Img No-img Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment Chicago Tribune columnist Jerry Davich, a self-described agnostic, says he experienced his own God Friended Me moment when his phone randomly texted the word God during a moment of frustration. Davich has made a career out of shining a light on societys darkest corners while offering a voice to the voiceless, his bio says. Hes written thousands of articles and witnessed many things, but no experience up to this point has led him to seek God, he said. While standing over a sink in a hospital restroom, my iPhone slipped out of my hands and onto the floor, Davich wrote in his latest column for the Chicago Tribune with the headline, God' text befuddles this agnostic. I had just sent an update to my fiancee on a loved ones emergency surgery. After drying my hands, and cursing about my feebleness, I leaned down and picked up my phone, hoping its screen didnt crack, he said. I quickly glanced at my phone and one word God. appeared out of nowhere on my end of our text exchange. I didnt type it and I didnt say it using my audio texting tool. It just popped up. The writer said he looked at his phone and the mirror in bewilderment. He looked around but didn't see anyone else in the room. I was alone. Or was I? Davich questioned. God? Of all the words that could have popped up out of the blue, it was God. Really? I dont know how it got there. I dont know why. And Im not quite sure how to explain it. Davich, 56, says he was a cynical atheist in his teenage years but now considers himself to be a reborn agnostic. What he was most perplexed by was that he thought these sorts of God winks only happened to people who looked for them. He decided to document the account on his social media page and instantly people began to compare his experience to the premise of the new CBS series God Friended Me. "God Friended Me," which drew 10.45 million viewers in its debut episode last year, tells the story of an atheist who receives a friend request from God. The show is based around an outspoken atheist and his quest to find the person behind the "God account" on Facebook who continues to send him on missions to help various people around New York City. The Christian Post reached out to Davich to ask whether the mysterious text has changed his mind about God's existence. "Ive been open to the possibility of Gods existence since my teenage years. Still waiting for a credible sign, though every Christian I know keeps telling me Ive been receiving signs for decades(!!). (My closest friends are pastors and believers, and a Catholic bishop.) They also keep telling me that I am a Christian in the closet," the Metro columnist said. In his post, he noted that he appreciated the moment of comfort during such a tense moment at the hospital. I sincerely enjoyed the experience. Regardless of the how and why aspects, I sincerely appreciated when and where it happened, and also who may or may not have appeared on my phone, he said. "It is through our weakness that we are able to experience Gods strength more fully." Image: via Templeton Press/Canva I am glad to welcome disaster psychologist and disaster ministry expert Dr. Jamie Aten to The Exchange to talk about his new book A Walking Disaster: What Surviving Katrina and Cancer Taught Me About Faith and Resilience . Jamie is the Founder and Executive Director of the Humanitarian Disaster Institute and Blanchard Chair of Humanitarian & Disaster Leadership at Wheaton College. In 2016 Jamie received a national award from FEMA at the White House. Ed: How did you first get involved in doing disaster work? Jamie: I didnt set out to do disaster work. While I was studying to be a psychologist, I had planned on studying rural mental health disparities. I took a job at the University of Southern Mississippi right out of graduate school in hopes of getting to help churches in underserved areas address mental health gaps. Then, just six days after my family and I moved into South Mississippi, Hurricane Katrina struck our community. I witnessed first-hand the important role that faith and churches play in times of disaster. Within weeks I was studying faith and disaster resilience and supporting church recovery efforts. Ed: In your book, you write about your personal disaster experience with cancer. Can you share some about that? Jamie: At the age of 35 I was diagnosed with stage IV colon cancer. I was completely caught off guard. About a year before my diagnosis, I had seen a specialist about my symptoms but was misdiagnosed. Then, about a year later, the symptoms returned along with shooting pain in my legs and lower back. The doctors discovered I had tumor in my colon and that it had spread to a mass sitting on a nerve bundle that was causing a lot of the discomfort. Learning I had cancer turned my world upside down. I was devastated. When Katrina threatened, my family and I were able to evacuate. But what was so scary about cancer was that there was no way to evacuate. This time the disaster was happening inside me. By all accounts, I was a walking disaster. I ended up going through a year-long period of cancer treatments that included radiation, multiple rounds of chemotherapy, and surgery. Ed: One of the unique aspects of your book is how you weave together insights not just from your cancer experience, but also your disaster work. Can you tell me more about what sort of disaster work you have been involved in that the book draws on? Jamie: I spent several years researching and helping after Hurricane Katrina in South Mississippi and New Orleans. Since that time, Ive helped research, train, and mobilize church leaders through disasters in 11 different countries. In 2010, I was fortunate enough to join the faculty at Wheaton College. Shortly after I got to Wheaton, I founded the Humanitarian Disaster Institute, the countrys first faith-based academic disaster research center. Our mission is to equip the church to prepare and care in a disaster-filled world. Our team doesnt just study natural disasters. Were also active in helping the church care for refugees. For example, my colleague Kent Annan just published a great new book on the topic titled You Welcomed Me: Loving Refugees and Immigrants Because God First Loved Us. Some of our work has involved studying international civil conflicts. Over the last five years we have been engaged in studying and resourcing communities affected by mass shootings. We are also involved in raising awareness about human trafficking amidst disasters. More recently, HDI launched a new M.A. in Humanitarian & Disaster Leadership at Wheaton College to prepare the next generation of humanitarian and disaster professionals to lead with faith and humility, utilize evidence-based practice, and serve the most vulnerable and the church globally. Ed: How is your health now? Jamie: Im so grateful to be able to share that its been 4 years with no evidence of disease. I feel so thankful for each day Ive had since ending my treatments. Yet, the road to recovery has been long and challenging. I still struggle with some chronic side effects from my treatments. Ive also had other complications that have arisen that has led to one or two hospitalizations a year since finishing treatments. Ive also had multiple follow-up surgeries over this time to address issues that have emerged from my previous treatments. But the good has outweighed the challenges. I am blessed to have more time with my family and continue the work to which Ive been called. Ed: What did battling cancer teach you about faith and resilience? Jamie: This personal tragedy taught me more about suffering and adversity than I liked. However, this painful experience taught me spiritual and psychological lessons I dont think I would have ever been able to learn from just my research. My disaster work had taught me a lot about faith and resilience. But going through cancer helped me more deeply understand what I had been studying in disaster zones around the globe. Going through cancer, I experienced Gods love and grace in a whole new way. I experienced Gods nearness and presence more deeply. I was regularly reminded that Christ understood my suffering at times when I felt alone. I was also encouraged by how God ministered to me through my family, friends, colleagues, healthcare professionals, and sometimes even strangers. A lot of what I learned from cancer challenged the way I previously thought about resilience. Some of the counterintuitive lessons I learned include the importance of finding hope, to be cautious of optimism, when you want help the least is when you need it most, that spiritual surrender, rather than a passive act, is instead a willful act of trust, and what we need is spiritual fortitude, not just resilience. Another major lesson I learned was that we can either let pain divide us or unite us. I remember reading some others books when I was going through treatments where the authors seemed to have it all together. This just furthered my sense of isolation. I try to be vulnerable and share not just what went well, but also where I struggled, faltered, and made mistakes. I want to remind others that they are responding normally to an abnormal situation. Struggling is part of the journey and is not something to be ashamed of or romanticized. And it is through our weakness that we are able to experience Gods strength more fully. Ed: What do you hope people will take away from reading your book? Jamie: Im prayerful that A Walking Disasterwill provide others facing hardships with biblical and scientific insights for enduring and navigating lifes disasters. I also want this book to help those walking alongside loved ones who are suffering. Throughout, I share examples from my personal experience, from disaster research, and biblical examples of how to care for those in need. Overall, my hope is that others will be reminded that even in our suffering God is faithfuland will redeem our pain and hurtsbe it this life or the next. Colorado Aint Getting Jack: Pushing Too Far Share Tweet On my New Years Day BreakPoint, I said that among the most important stories to watch this year is the ongoing conflict between religious freedom and LGBT rights. I quoted Chai Feldblum, a former Georgetown Law School professor and a member of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, who said years ago she couldnt think of a single instance in which gay rights shouldnt take precedence over religious freedom. Well, not all legal scholars suffer from such a lack of imagination. Even some progressive ones. Writing at Slate, a publication both liberal and pro-LGBT, Eric Segall of Georgia State University urged Colorado to cease its persecution of Masterpiece Cake Shop owner Jack Phillips. Segalls commentary was in response to a federal courts refusal to dismiss a lawsuit for damages filed against the Civil Rights Commission by the Alliance Defending Freedom. To be clear, Segall thinks Phillips shouldve baked the cake. In fact, he called Jacks refusal intolerance and bigotry. Even so, he concluded that Colorado should announce that vendors cannot be forced under state law to create expressive items and that custom wedding and birthday cakes are such items. Why? It certainly wasnt out of any sympathy for Phillips or his legal claims. It was because, as Segall wrote, the state will lose [Phillips case] if it reaches the United States Supreme Court again. This, in turn, will make matters much worse for gays, lesbians, and other minorities. Ive no idea what Segall means by other minorities. I dont know of any expressive item denied to someone on account of their race or ethnicity for religious reasons. But whats really important in this article is why Segall thinks Colorado will lose. In last years Masterpiece Cake Shop decision, Segall writes, Justices Samuel Alito, Clarence Thomas, and Neil Gorsuch made it clear they wanted to rule for Phillips on the merits. Now that Justice Kennedy has been replaced by Brett Kavanaugh, Segall thinks that Phillips merits now has four votes. And, Segall continues, Chief Justice Roberts would make it five votes. Remember, his dissent in Obergefell was arguably the angriest of his career. Even more interesting is that Segall makes some of the same arguments that Jacks supporters have made all along. (G)ays, lesbians, and transgender folks have access to bakeries in Colorado, including Masterpiece Cake Shop, that are more than willing to serve them. That reality, he adds distinguishes this case, in the eyes of some, from racial segregation in the South in the 1960s, when many black Americans could not travel because there were few if any restaurants or hotels that would serve them. Exactly. I couldnt have said it better. Thats why Segall wants the Civil Rights Commission to settle with Phillips out of fear that the Supreme Court would issue a potentially far-reaching decision in his favor. Given everything Phillips and his family have endured, I hope the Civil Rights Commission take Segalls advice. Given the current state of Colorado politics, I doubt they will. So, if you are a resident of Colorado, call your state representative and tell them to support the Justice for Jack legislation recently proposed by representative Dave Williams. Come to BreakPoint.org, to read it and learn more about how to support it. As for the rest of us, Segalls article should teach us not to compromise when it comes to religious freedom. The eagerness that too many show to mitigate the damage by compromising proceeds from an overly pessimistic view about the current state of things in our country. There may come a time when we should settle for minimal protections but, as Segall inadvertently shows us, that time is not now. We have a decent shot at enshrining the principle that state nondiscrimination laws cannot, or at least should not, be used by the government to coerce artists to express messages they disagree with into law. We owe it to our brothers and sisters to take that shot. We owe it to Jack Phillips. Hes done his part. Our part remains undone. If you live in Colorado, you can support Jack Phillips by clicking here to compose a message for your representative and senator. BreakPoint is a Christian worldview ministry that seeks to build and resource a movement of Christians committed to living and defending Christian worldview in all areas of life. Begun by Chuck Colson in 1991 as a daily radio broadcast, BreakPoint provides a Christian perspective on todays news and trends via radio, interactive media, and print. Today BreakPoint commentaries, co-hosted by Eric Metaxas and John Stonestreet, air daily on more than 1,200 outlets with an estimated weekly listening audience of eight million people. Feel free to contact us at BreakPoint.org where you can read and search answers to common questions. John Stonestreet, the host of The Point, a daily national radio program, provides thought-provoking commentaries on current events and life issues from a biblical worldview. John holds degrees from Trinity Evangelical Divinity School (IL) and Bryan College (TN) and is the co-author of Making Sense of Your World: A Biblical Worldview. Publication date: January 24, 2019 Photo courtesy: Pixabay Israel Launches Iron Dome Missile System to Tel Aviv Share Tweet Israel launched the Iron Dome missile system to Tel Aviv on Thursday as conflict rose between Syria and Hamas in Gaza. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke at an army base in southern Israel Wednesday, saying he was "confident of our ability to defeat the enemy. Iran has declared its intention to destroy us with nuclear weapons, weapons we must interdict. But they are also building up forces in our region, a forward base in Lebanon, with the help of Hezbollah, and a southern front, supported by Hamas and Islamic Jihad. Now they want to set up another front, on the Golan, right on our border. We must fight all these things," Netanyahu added. Most recently, fighting broke out Wednesday when unknown assailants opened fire on Israeli soldiers along the Syrian border. No injuries or deaths were reported. IDF says it is "determined to defend the citizens of the State of Israel." However, Tuesday, Syrias envoy to the United Nations said Damascus could attack Ben Gurion International Airport outside Tel Aviv if the United Nations did not stop Israeli attacks. Earlier this week, there were two other border fights with Hamas where one IDF soldier was injured. Israel retaliated by destroying terror targets in the Gaza Strip. Also this week, the IDF released a video of its Iron Dome defense system intercepting a rocket over a ski resort in the Israeli-occupies area of the Golan Heights. The IDF said the rocket was fired by Iranian forces in Syria, but the IDFs Iron Dome defense system intercepted the attack. Israels Iron Dome system has been in operation since 2011, according to Business Insider. Photo courtesy: Shai Pal/Unsplash Planned Parenthood and the African-American community Christian Post Op-Ed Contributor | 24 January, 2019 by Jerry Newcombe Does Planned Parenthood target blacks? That is what Dr. Martin Luther King's niece thinks. Recently, I spoke on my radio show with Evangelist Alveda King, the niece of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. She is the Director of Civil Rights for the Unborn with the organization Priests for Life. The focus was on Planned Parenthood and the African-American community. Her comments are relevant all year round, especially around this time of MLK day and the anniversary of the Supreme Court decision favoring abortion, Roe v. Wade (January 22, 1973). Dr. Alveda King told me, "The leading cause of death in the African-American community is not gang-violence, gun violence, heart attack, stroke, HIV, high blood pressure, diabetes. People will name all these. No, it's abortion. And the reason we have come to that conclusion, statistically, you've got 60 million plus abortions legal in America since 1973. About a third of those occur in the African-American community. That means dead babies. And, with us being 13 percent or less of America's population, that means we are having more abortions." She asked, "Now does it mean that African-Americans are more immoral or don't care? Absolutely not. We are just regular, everyday people like everyone else. But Planned Parenthood moved into our community with the abortion killing centers and said, 'We're here to help you. Let's kill your baby, so you can have a better life.' Well, killing our babies doesn't give us a better life. I have had my own abortions in the 1970s. They were secret then, and after I became born again in 1983 and became a pro-life voice, I began to talk about how those abortions hurt me and my family." In 1921, Margaret Sanger founded the Birth Control League, which later changed its name to Planned Parenthood. Dr. Paul Kengor, author of Takedown, writes about when Sanger spoke to the Ku Klux Klan in Silver Lake, New Jersey in May 1926: "The Planned Parenthood founder's KKK talk was a smash hit. Not only did it go very late, after a very long wait, but she received numerous invitations to speak to other groups like the Klan. Why would the KKK be so interested in Ms. Sanger? The reasons are obvious, a natural fit. It was because Sanger was a passionate racial eugenicist with grandiose dreams of 'race improvement.'" Alveda King told our listeners: "Margaret Sanger, the founder of the Birth Control League [later, Planned Parenthood], said, that 'colored people are like weeds,' and they need to be eliminated. They need to be exterminated. We don't want the word to get out, so let's not package it that way. So that's why they began to make a lot of propaganda and marketing materials, saying that abortion is a woman's right. It will help her to finish college, get a job, do this or do that." Christian author and educator Dr. George Grant points out that it was not just the African-American community Sanger targeted for population control: "Now for Margaret Sanger and her followers, those undesirable aspects of humanity were largely ethnic minorities: blacks, Jews, oftentimes Slavic peoples from Eastern Europe. These were considered undesirables, 'imbeciles' she called them, 'human weeds' she called them; and so Planned Parenthood was originally designed to limit the populations of those peoples and to increase the population of what she felt were the desirable races. So right at the heart of the philosophy of Planned Parenthood is this ideological and scientific commitment to a kind of racism." Sanger did not want it known that she believed blacks should be targeted for a significant reduction in their population. She wrote, "We don't want the word to go out that we want to exterminate the Negro population." (Margaret Sanger, Letter to Dr. Clarence J. Gamble, December 10, 1939.) Alveda notes that Planned Parenthood said in effect, "We don't want the word to get out, so let's get a slick marketing plan." That plan included such things as handing out awards (such as to her uncle---a few years before Planned Parenthood began to do abortions, beginning in 1970) and scholarships. She said, "So many people rose to success on the backs and bucks of Planned Parenthood---the rabid, feminist movement, for example---a lot of people who have been elected...the Congressional black caucus---many of them were put in office and are still in office because of dollars from eugenicists, such as Planned Parenthood." Read more from "Planned Parenthood and the African-American community" on The Christian Post. A new rulebook is reportedly coming into force at Facebook to govern the way workers at the company can discuss religion and politics. Business Insider said the details of the policy were contained in a leaked memo from the social media platform's chief technology officer Mike Schroepfer. The new rules apparently forbid employees from trying to change other workers' religious or political beliefs, use harassing speech or bully others. Mr Schroepfer is reported to have said in the internal memo, sent on Monday, that 'a set of ground rules for open and respectful communication at work, and a central moderation model' had been developed by the company. The rules largely regulate how staff at the company can use Workplace, Facebook's app for employees to connect, collaborate on projects and keep up to date with company goings-on. 'We're keeping it simple with three main guidelines: Don't insult, bully, or antagonize others,' he is claimed to have said. 'Don't try to change someone's politics or religion. Don't break our rules about harassing speech and expression.' Facebook spokesman Anthony Harrison insisted in a statement to Business Insider that the rules were not intended to stifle 'openness' or creativity within the company but rather to ensure that internal communication is 'respectful'. Reported posts will be looked at by a trained moderator, Mr Schroepfer added in the memo, although he did not disclose details of what actions would be taken if a post was determined to have been disrespectful. 'These guidelines apply to all work communications including Workplace, email, chat, tasks, posters, whiteboards, chalkboards, and face-to-face,' Mr Schroepfer wrote. 'Since Workplace is where most of these discussions happen, we are investing engineering resources there. 'We are making it easier to report posts and comments, and those reports will go straight to a trained moderator who'll moderate as needed. We're also developing more tools to help proactively.' Facebook's workplace culture came under the spotlight last year when one of its former engineers, Brian Amerige, started an internal message group called FB'ers for Political Diversity. Amerige, a conservative who later left the company, complained of a 'political monoculture that's intolerant of different views'. According to the Independent, over a hundred employees joined the group. Courtesy of Christian Today WASHINGTON a At the rollout of Open Doors USA's annual top-50 list of countries where Christians are most persecuted, Christians from Africa, Asia and the Middle East shared how persecution has affected their families and communities. Last week, the nondenominational ministry that monitors persecution in more than 70 countries, released its 2019 World Watch List at an event held at a Heritage Foundation office in Capitol Hill. As was the case in past years, Open Doors invited Christians from different countries to share their own stories of persecution. The Christian Post spoke with believers from India, Iraq, Nigeria and one undisclosed South Asian country about the violence they and their communities have faced. Rev. Dogo: Nigeria Rev. Dogo is a church leader from the Yobe state of Nigeria, which is located in the northeastern part of the nation. Dogo explained how the Islamic militant group Boko Haram has attacked communities and how his own congregation has dramatically decreased in the last eight years because of various types of violence against the Christian community. Dogo said that the most severe persecution the Christian community in Yobe faced came during the post-election riots in 2011. In 2011, Goodluck Jonathan a a Christian from the south a defeated Muhammadu Buhari a a Muslim from the north a in the presidential election. Hundreds were killed and thousands were displaced as a result of 2011 post-election riots. "Goodluck Jonathan won the election and that post-election riots led to the burning of not less than 50 churches in Yobe," Dogo explained. "From there, immediately after that post-election riot, then the [persecution] of Boko Haram began in 2012 and it is a common thing that is on and on and on moving up to today." Based in northeast Nigeria, Boko Haram is regarded as one of the world's deadliest terrorist groups and is responsible for thousands of deaths and kidnappings. In 2014, Boko Haram reportedly killed more people than the Islamic State did in Iraq or Syria. "So what they do is attack people, kill, bomb and destroy houses or communities or businesses," Dogo said. Since the 2011 post-election, Dogo said that the Christian community in Yobe has dropped nearly in half as many Christians have fled to other states. "The church that I was pastoring as of then that used to have not less than 700 people is reduced to 100 or even less 100 every Sunday," Dogo said. "They just run and left the state. They fled to Plateau and some other middle part of the country." Dogo is calling on Christians around the world to pray that the Christians will return to Yobe state. "We depend on the prayer of fellow believers to pray to bring peace so that people will come back to their native land," he said. "In Nigeria, your citizenship stems from the place of your birth. If you leave that area, you don't have any part of Nigeria that is designated for you to call your own." Another presidential election will take place in Nigeria in February. "Whoever [wins], it may come with persecution after the election," Dogo stressed. "I want [the U.S.] to help in ensuring that a very good credible election is carried out." Nigeria ranks as the 12th worst country in the world when it comes to Christian persecution, according to the World Watch List. Fr. Daniel: Iraq Growing up in a suburb of Baghdad, Daniel knew from an early age what it meant to live as a Christian in Iraq. He told CP about the time when he was 7 years old and the first friend he made at school began ignoring him. The reason? Because his Muslim father told him never to speak to Christians. But the persecution that Daniel and his family experienced escalated in 2003 when President Saddam Hussein was taken out of power thanks to the U.S. invasion. From that point on, Daniel said, terrorist groups like al-Qaeda stepped up their targeting of Iraqi Christians. On his 16th birthday, Daniel and his family received a death threat and were given just 24 hours to leave town. "They threatened and blackmailed Christians and kidnapped some," Daniel recalled. "My family was one of the families that received the kill threat from al-Qaeda. We needed to leave in 24 hours or else we were going to be killed. Instead of spending time with cake and a gift, I was crying while looking for a safe place for my family." Fast forward to today, Daniel now serves as a priest with the Ancient Church of the East in Erbil and Kirkuk. His church was responsible for housing 1,600 Christians who fled the Nineveh Plains of Iraq in 2014 due to the invasion by the Islamic State. "They didn't have any place to go so they stayed in my church for more than two to three years," Daniel explained. "After the liberation of Mosul, they had the chance to go back. But their houses were burnt and their churches were destroyed. So they didn't have any place to go. The church started the process of rebuilding the house and the churches." The work to restore the damage caused by IS is a tall task. According to Daniel, there were over 313,000 houses in need of repair following the liberation of the region in 2017. So far, over 5,000 homes have been repaired. However, much of the utilities still need to be restored. "The central government is not really serious about rebuilding these cities and towns," Daniel said of the Christian communities. "We do have questions for the government. What are they waiting on? If they really want the Christians to stay, they need to really take some actions to empower the existence of Christianity in Iraq and take care of them." Daniel said that over 120,000 Christians fled from the Nineveh Plains in 2014. So far, just 45 percent have returned. Many of those who haven't returned are thinking about migrating from the region. "They are thinking they are not welcome or that they do not have any rights," Daniel said. "They think that if they leave, they will have a chance to be educated. They may have a good opportunity to work. But in their own country, they don't have these things. They feel like their country doesn't want them anymore. There are big fears that Iraq is going to be without the Christians one day." Iraq ranks as the 13th worst country in the world for Christian persecution, according to Open Doors. South Asia: Hannah Much like Father Daniel, Hannah also faced a social stigma for her family's faith in Christ at a young age. "Persecution starts on the very first day that you go to school and you are known to be Christian. Nobody wants to share space with you," the young lady explained. "You become aware as a 4-year old of what you say and who you say it to and who you sit with and who you are going to trust." The persecution Hannah faced as a female Christian continued all through primary school, secondary school and eventually into university and the workplace. "I have been ridiculed many times and questioned and put into a position where you are forced to say something that could be considered as blasphemy," she explained. "You have an answer but if you say it that equals an insult to the majority faith. So you are then insulted for being stupid for not having answers. You have to pick the battles that you fight." Hannah said she has had her books stolen, her uniform trashed and her homework destroyed. "That is the story of millions of Christian children in countries like Pakistan, Afghanistan or Iran," she said. Hannah said that her family members live in a place where if anyone were to find out that they were meeting for worship or to pray, they would be flogged or thrown out of their towns. "There is a wide spectrum of persecution. It goes from school even to when you go to get jobs for employment," she said. "The reason behind persecution is the same. They say: 'We don't want Christians in South Asia.' It is that narrative that the Islamic State and Taliban are propagating that: 'This is an Islamic territory and we will claim it for Islam.'" Hannah and her family have seen all types of persecution. She said that some have even "practiced witchcraft and the occult" against her family because of their Christian faith. "In the midst of this, our prayer is that God will keep our hearts tender so that we can learn to forgive every single day," she said. India: Samuel and Alisha Christian ministry leaders Samuel and Alisha told CP about how the system of government has changed for the worst in the last five years due to the rise to power of the Bharatiya Janata Party. "Because of the Hindunization and the ideology has come into the very mind of the people and the Hindus, they started thinking that the country belongs to the Hindus only," Samuel explained. "The country has not been declared as a Hindu nation but in the mindset of the people, the country has already become a Hindu nation." Samuel said that "the poison has been spread in the minds of people." "That kind of mindset will not change so easily," Samuel stated. India ranked at No. 10 on the 2019 World Watch List. Persecution against Christian communities has increased since the BJP government came to power in 2014. The rise of the BJP has led Hindu radicals to believe that they can attack Christians and their churches with "no consequences," according to Open Doors. Between April and May, India will hold another presidential election. "We are praying that the government may be formed [to allow] the church to grow and flourish," Samuel said. "We hope there will be some change. There is no clear opposition to the BJP. Most of those government agencies is in their hands. It is very likely that even if they don't have the majority, they will have a good stronghold." Despite the persecution, Alisha assured that churches are creating more awareness of the religious freedom issues they face. "Churches and leaders are coming up together," she said. "It is a great thing and the revival is there in the presence of God because they are coming together. The public is understanding now what is right and what is wrong. As leaders and people come together, there may be some change at that level." Samuel said that there is a "sense of urgency" because the "church is being attacked and isolated and cornered." "The church is growing very fast in India," Samuel said. "The opposition, they know that. That is why they have a strategy now that they don't want the Christians to meet together because they know that if they meet, something will happen. That is why they attack the church on a Sunday morning." Courtesy of The Christian Post Lin-Manuel Miranda is a multi-threat artist of unrivaled genius. In addition to his fruitful Broadway pursuits, Miranda is a notable soundtrack musician, scriptwriter, on-screen actor, and producer. He is very near the epitome of a one-man show, and has won numerous awards for his artistic endeavors, although it was the musical Hamilton that finally thrust him into the public eye. Miranda was born on January 16, 1980 in Upper Manhattan, New York City, New York to two Puerto-Rican born parents. During his childhood, he remembers going to stay with his grandparents in Puerto Rico for a month each summer. From an early age, Lin-Manuel Miranda showed a great interest (and talent) for the arts. What is Lin-Manuel Mirandas net worth? Lin-Manual Miranda is worth approximately $10 million to date, and the continued success of Hamilton is sure to help him increase his worth in coming years. Over $6 million of his total worth has come from Hamilton, and Miranda will continue earning 7% of the shows profits as its creator. This means that he was earning about $105,000 every week the show performed during 2016. The rest of his net worth is the accumulation of his other endeavors, from composing on-screen movie soundtracks, additional Broadway plays, scriptwriting, and acting roles in on-screen movies. Hamilton Hamilton is now a Broadway play of critical acclaim, but Miranda was not so certain it would turn out that way thanks largely to the fact that nothing quite like it had been done today. The play is a hip-hop musical rendition about Alexander Hamilton and the founding of America. Hamilton has won numerous awards since its debut. This includes an incredible 11 Tony Awards, as well as a Grammy, and the 2016 Pulitzer prize for drama. It has toured in London, as well as American, and was well-received in both. What else is Miranda known for? Although he is best known for the creation and portrayal of Hamilton, Lin-Manuel Miranda has numerous other artistic pursuits to his name. As an on-screen actor, Miranda is best known for his role as Jack in Mary Poppins Returns. He has also appeared in DuckTales, Modern Family, and House. Miranda is responsible for the soundtracks for both Mary Poppins Returns and Moana. Yes, the brilliant composer is the mind behind the catchy Youre Welcome tune that The Rock sang as Mauii. Miranda also contribute the song How Far Ill Go to Ralph Breaks the Internet. What is he working on now? Currently, Miranda is working on the soundtrack for the film adaptation of In The Heights. The story was originally a play about a young Bodega owner who is unsure of how he feels about retiring to the Dominican Republic after inheriting his grandmothers fortune. From what is known, the soundtrack will include both English and Spanish titles. Currently in pre-production, In The Heights is set to debut sometime in 2020. Is Miranda married or have children? In his personal life, Lin-Manuel Miranda is happily married to Vanessa Nadal, who is an overachiever in her own right. Nadal is a practicing lawyer who also possess a bachelors degree in chemical engineering. The two married in 2010, and true to his nature, Miranda performed Fiddler on the Roof for his beloved at their wedding. Miranda and Nadal have two sons together. Their eldest son, Sebastian, was born in November 2014. The couples youngest son, Francisco, was born in February of 2018. The family resides together in Washington Heights. With the 2018 Tennessee black bear hunting season in the books, hunters harvested a record 759 black bears last year breaking the previous record of 589 set in 2011. TWRA Black Bear Program Leader Dan Gibbs points towards a growing black bear population, a sparse acorn crop and good weather to account for the record setting season. An increasing harvest trend over the last three decades indicates the bear population is growing. In 1988, hunters harvested a total of 76 black bears. That number soared to 370 in 1997 due to a sparse hard mast crop sending bears on the move making them susceptible to hunters. When 589 bears were taken in 2011, there was a mast failure of acorns in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park forcing bears onto national forests and private lands where they could be hunted. Last years sparse acorn crop sent bears moving again resulting in a new record harvest. Monroe Co. hunters led the state taking 131 bears in 2018, followed by Cocke (123), Blount (93), Sevier (70) and Carter (52) rounding out the top five. Other signs of an increasing black bear population are evident through re-colonization into their former range, including the Cumberland Plateau. As a result, TWRA created a new Bear Hunting Zone in several Cumberland Plateau counties and has seen an increase in harvest since the first archery-only season opened in 2014. In fact, archery hunters in Fentress Co. took 50 black bears with archery equipment this year alone. More evidence of an increasing bear population is from the high volume of bear calls TWRA receives and responds to. Last year, TWRA wildlife officers in east Tennessee investigated over 1,000 incidents involving black bears. These incidents were widely varied - from general sightings and nuisance complaints - to aggressive behavior, property damage, intentional feeding, orphaned cubs and bears being struck by vehicles. While it is hard to put an exact number on Tennessees total bear population, it is estimated at about 7,000 animals. TWRA is conducting a black bear population study with the states of Georgia, Kentucky, North Carolina and South Carolina to get a better estimate of bear numbers across the southern Appalachians. "We are basically utilizing a mark/recapture method to identify and estimate black bear densities," said Mr. Gibbs. The study, which should be completed by next summer, involves DNA analysis of bear hair collected from study sites. Mr. Gibbs said that while 2018s record harvest may stabilize bear numbers in certain areas, it will not stabilize the population as a whole and it will continue to grow, just at a slower rate. Taking 759 bears out of a population of about 7,000 animals equates to approximately 11% of the total population, he said. It would take a harvest of about 20% to stabilize the population at its current level. The Beecher Wallace Homestead in the Dog Cove area near Fall Creek Falls State Park has been added to Tennessees public lands, announced Thursday by the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation (TDEC) and The Land Trust for Tennessee. The historic homestead, which lies approximately 20 miles north of Fall Creek Falls State Park, will be managed by park staff and open to the public. The 4.8-acre homestead will serve as a connection point for visitors to the Cumberland Plateau, which features nearby recreational areas including Lost Creek and Virgin Falls State Natural Areas. This will be a valuable addition that has natural and historical value, said Brock Hill, deputy commissioner for the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation. Were glad to have yet another aspect of this area for our visitors to enjoy. The homestead addition is located on the southern end of Dog Cove and features a barn, sheds and a farmhouse originally constructed in the late 1800s. Tennessee State Parks will protect the integrity of the home to help interpret the areas history to visitors. Here youll find caves, sinks, seeps, creeks and bluffs that all provide tremendous scenic and biological diversity, said Tennessee State Parks Stuart Carroll, a park manager who oversees Lost Creek and Virgin Falls State Natural Areas in addition to Dog Cove. This homestead will also give visitors a glimpse into the pioneer life of the late 1800s. The property adjoins 750 acres acquired by the state in recent years with the assistance of The Land Trust, Open Space Institute and Tennessee Parks and Greenways Foundation. Dog Cove is a magical place, said Liz McLaurin, president and CEO of The Land Trust. The conservation of this swath of land is an example of the way, over time, land trusts and partners can build relationships that stitch together special places for the enjoyment of Tennesseans and visitors now and forever. Dog Cove is a day-use area with eight miles of trails known for its creeks. A large portion of Dog Cove was privately owned by descendants of the Wallace family for more than 100 years. Members of the family worked with the state and The Land Trust to make the land accessible to the public and bring it under state protection. This place has meant a lot to my family for generations, said former landowner Tom Lee. We are grateful to know others will have the opportunity to enjoy it and that it will always be cared for. This conservation success is now part of a network of protected lands across the Plateau, including Fall Creek Falls State Park, Lost Creek State Natural Area, Virgin Falls State Natural Area, Bledsoe State Forest, and Bridgestone-Firestone Centennial Wilderness Wildlife Management Area. Adjoining those are the Bridgestone Nature Reserve at Chestnut Mountain and Latimer High Adventure Reservation. All together this corridor accounts for roughly 60,000 contiguous acres of significant protected forested habitat. Leadership Tennessee, leadership education organization, on Thursday announced the first class of Leadership Tennessee NEXT, its program offering early-to-mid career professionals in-depth personal and career development while fostering a better understanding of Tennessee. Officials said Leadership Tennessee NEXT is the states only statewide leadership program focusing on Tennessees existing and emerging leaders and spanning geographic and industry boundaries. The first class has 25 members representing Tennessees diversity across the three Grand Divisions of Tennessee. The class will meet three times across the state in Memphis, Nashville and Greeneville. Each session will feature engagement with Leadership Tennessee Signature Program members, highlight issues and opportunities specific to Tennessee, and promote personal skill development. At Leadership Tennessee we want to build a network of problem solvers and engaged citizens to come together on issues of statewide importance, and Leadership Tennessee NEXT is the first step in extending that network to the states emerging leaders, Leadership Tennessee Executive Director Cathy Cate said. Cohort members will be educated, engaged, and inspired to make Tennessee a better place while expanding their personal, professional, and community networks, and we are very excited about the high-level experience this first class brings to the table as they come together over the course of the next three months. The first cohort of Leadership Tennessee NEXT includes: EAST Jamie Ballinger, attorney, Baker Donelson Moise Mo Baptiste, executive director of experimental education and social impact, University of Tennessee, Chattanooga Brandon Bruce, COO and co-founder, Cirrus Insight Jonathan Butler, manager of neighborhood services and development, City of Chattanooga, Department of Economic and Community Development Dana Glenn, director of marketing and business development, NETWORKS Sullivan Partnership Hannah Hopper, chief of staff, Emerald Youth Foundation Micah Johnson, COO and senior vice president, Bridge Public Affairs Jonathan Sexton, COO, Knoxville Entrepreneur Center Bo Wilkes III, vice president of corporate administration and governance, Ballad Health MIDDLE LaToya Anderson, literacy teacher development specialist, Metro Nashville Public Schools Lindsey Cox, director of operations, government relations and 36|86, Launch Tennessee Mary Darby, external relations director, ThinkTennessee Kate Derrick, director of leadership communications, Vanderbilt University Corinne Gould, assistant commissioner for public affairs, Tennessee Department of Agriculture Troy Grant, associate executive director for college access, Tennessee Higher Education Commission Tim Hughes, HELP4TN program manager and staff attorney, Tennessee Alliance for Legal Services Jeremy Jennings, area coordinator, YMCA of Middle Tennessee Janalee Miller, agency relations manager, Second Harvest Food Bank of Middle Tennessee Alexandra Sollberger, principal, Stones River Group Graham Thomas, deputy director of outreach, tnAchieves Marieta Velikova, associate professor of economics, Belmont University WEST The Chattanooga Fire Department responded at approximately 6:45 p.m. on Wednesday to a reported structure fire at 514 Biltmore Drive. It took five fire companies (Engine 15, Squad 13, Quint 13, Engine 5 and Engine 4) about five minutes to get the fire under control. Captain Chris Fryar the Incident Commander said the firefighters located the fire in the bedroom and were able to contain the fire damage to that room. The rest of the house had smoke damage. No injuries were reported. The fire displaces one adult and one child. Volunteers with the American Red Cross were called in to provide assistance to the residents. The cause of the fire is under investigation. Chattanooga Police and Hamilton County EMS also provided valuable assistance on the scene. Cleveland community leader Beverly Phillips Johnson will serve as community chair for Great Strides 2019, according to campaign officials at Lee University. The 19th annual Great Strides Walk and 17th annual 65 Roses 5K, which raises funds and awareness for the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, will be held on Saturday, March 30. No one in Cleveland and Bradley County has earned a greater reputation for civic leadership than Beverly Johnson, said Lees president Dr. Paul Conn. We are so thrilled that she has accepted the challenge to lead the community effort in Lees Great Strides program. She is a person of such energy, ability, and a radiant spirit she is a perfect fit for this wonderful event which brings the university and the community together for a great cause. Since 1996, Ms. Johnson has served as the personal representative and trustee for the George R. Johnson Estate and George R. Johnson Family Foundation, respectively. As a trustee, she sits on a board that distributes monies to non-profit charities in East Tennessee and North Georgia where her husband and his sister own and operate Hardee's Restaurants. Prior to this, Ms. Johnson served as vice president of First American National Bank (1986-1992) and SunTrust Bank (1992-2000). Ms. Johnson has served the Cleveland community in roles such as president of the Cleveland Civitan Club and the Cleveland Family YMCA. She has also sat on the board of Chattanooga Metro YMCA, Cleveland/Bradley Chamber of Commerce, MainStreet Cleveland, United Way of Bradley County, and served as PTO president and board member of George R. Stuart Elementary School. In 1998, Ms. Johnson received the C.L. Hardwick Volunteer Award from the Cleveland Family YMCA. In 2014, she received an Empowering Women of the Year award from the Boys and Girls Club. The next year she was a recipient of the Chattanooga Women of Distinction award. Ms. Johnson received her Bachelor of Science in accounting from Lee University and graduated from the Graduate School of Banking at Louisiana State University. She and her husband, Mark, are members of First United Methodist Church. They have two daughters, Maggie and Laura. As a community member and an alumna of Lee, I am pleased to support this event that brings together the Cleveland community and the university in partnership for a common cause, said Ms. Johnson. I have not been familiar with cystic fibrosis and the great progress being made to cure this terrible disease, but after learning from Vanessa Hammond about her sons experience and the life-changing benefit the CF Foundation brings to people like him in our community, Im eager to put on my walking shoes and do what I can to help! The Great Strides event consistently rallies hundreds of community participants and Lee University students to raise money for the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation. Last year, the event drew over 1,000 total walkers, runners, and volunteers, who were a part of the Great Strides group that reached over $1 million raised for CF research since the local events founding in 2001. Dr. Mike Hayes, vice president for student development at Lee, and Vanessa Hammond, CF parent and director of the office of grants at Lee, will serve alongside Johnson. Dr. Bill Estes, dean of Lees Helen DeVos College of Education, will direct the 65 Roses 5K road race. The universitys Student Leadership Council will provide volunteer support. The route for the 2019 walk and 5K run (3.1 miles) will begin and end on the Lee campus and travel throughout Clevelands historic downtown area. The walk and road race, in partnership with Terra Running Company, will begin at 9 a.m. Great Strides is the Cystic Fibrosis Foundations largest national fundraiser, raising more than $42 million with over 125,000 participants at events all across the nation. The Cystic Fibrosis Foundation is a nonprofit donor-supported organization dedicated to attacking cystic fibrosis from every angle. Its focus is to support the development of new drugs to fight the disease, improve the quality of life for those with CF, and ultimately find a cure. In the last 30 years, the life expectancy of a child with CF has doubled, and research is happening daily to find a cure and perfect drugs available to those living with CF. For more information about the Cleveland Great Strides or to register, visit http://webpages.leeu.edu/cf/. For more information about the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, visit https://www.cff.org/. Four Pilot Travel Center employees involved in a massive fraud against trucking companies were granted probation at Federal Court in Chattanooga on Wednesday afternoon. They included Katy Bibee, who found she had cancer two weeks after the FBI came calling on her front porch, and Kevin Clark, who lost a son to cancer last March. The government had classified the foursome as the least culpable in the scheme. They will be on probation for three years. Ms. Bibee, Chris Andrews and Michael Scott Fenwick must perform 200 hours of community service and Clark perform 150 hours. Fenwick was ordered to pay a $4,000 fine and Clark $3,000. At the start of the hearing, before credits were given, Andrews and Ms. Bibee were facing 24-30 months, Fenwick 18-24 months and Clark 12-18 months. Judge Curtis Collier noted that the four defendants had cooperated with the government early and all but Fenwick testified at the trial of Pilot president Mark Hazelwood and three others. The attorney for Fenwick said he had been in Salt Lake City ready to go, but never got the call. Judge Collier said the case was "a remarkable story - it ought to be put in a book or perhaps a movie to make our citizens aware of the importance of making right decisions." He said, "There were massive losses in the tens of millions." Ms. Bibee said, "I'm sorry for the customers I lied to. I've learned a hard lesson." She said she was on Cloud 9 when at a young age she joined "the most revered company in Knoxville." She said, "That it operated at a fast pace was quickly revealed to me. Every email was marked Urgent or ASAP." Ms. Bibee said the message was "never stop adding travel centers and giving back to the community. It seemed like enough was never enough." She told the judge, "It often felt like we were playing with Monopoly money. At times I felt uneasy and I rationalized. Then it snowballed." She said she still asks herself, "Why did I not speak up?" She stated, "Now I know that I have three beautiful children and a husband and all we need are each other." She said she now concentrates on "living a life of honesty and standing up for what is right - even if it is hard." Her attorney said Ms. Bibee spends much of her time with PTA work and with mentoring young women who also get cancer diagnoses. A number of those she has helped were in the packed courtroom. All of the defendants expressed remorse, saying they were especially ashamed of cheating their customers. The attorney for Andrews said he had tried to get a job in the corporate world, but he was never hired because of his involvement in the Pilot case. Andrews said he and his second wife had twin daughters and had started their own murder mystery dinner theater business. It has grown to six theaters. Andrews said, "I lied and cheated and caused real harm. I am so ashamed." Fenwick told of "the sorrow and shame I have felt for the past five years." He said, Now you can trust me to do the right thing each and every day." Clark told the judge, "I am truly sorry for the harm I caused - especially to my customers." He said he and his wife have started a pet fencing business. My family, friends, and clients hear me talk about leaning in a lot. When we lean in, we give everything weve got to something were passionate about. It becomes part of our story. The National Association of Realtors (NAR) has chosen Own Your Story as their theme for 2019. As our local Associations president, this year Im asking the Greater Chattanooga Realtors to lean in to their story, and so Ill start with my mine: Ive held many different jobs over the years. Ive worked as an X-Ray technician. Ive sold advertising, worked in customer service, and was even a bookkeeper. As different as these jobs sound from one another, they had a common thread; these were positions where I dealt directly with the public. I wanted to serve those around me. I worked with a young woman who had a wonderfully sweet five-year-old daughter who had special needs. This young mother was also a war widow. Her husband had been killed in Afghanistan while she was pregnant. Her daughter had learning difficulties and needed to be in a certain school that had the right programs to help her. It was difficult at times, but we worked together and found a place that met all of her needs. That was a number of years ago, and we still talk. Her daughter is thriving, and she thanks me for my help in her time of extraordinary need. That is one chapter in my story. Thats why I am a proud Greater Chattanooga Realtor. Every day more than 2,000 Realtors in Greater Chattanooga get the honor of serving our communitys property needs, whether its buying or listing a house or commercial property. We are here to help guide our clients through a major point in their life. Were proud of our story, where weve been and where were going. As you work with your Realtor, help him or her best serve you by sharing your story what are your goals as related to buying, selling or investing? Contact a REALTOR today to start writing your next chapter. Greater Chattanooga Realtors is The Voice of Real Estate in Greater Chattanooga. A regional organization with more than 2,000 members, Greater Chattanooga Realtors is one of some 1,300 local boards and associations of Realtors nationwide that comprise the National Association of Realtors. Greater Chattanooga Realtors service Hamilton and Sequatchie counties in southeast Tennessee, and Catoosa, Dade, and Walker counties in northwest Georgia. For more information, visit www.gcar.net or call 423.698.8001. Primerica announced the promotion of Gregory Highwood to Regional Vice President. In making the announcement, Glenn J. Williams, chief executive officer of the company, said, I am pleased to announce that Gregory Highwood has joined this exceptional group of leaders. His success is a barometer of the number of people that Primerica has helped prepare for a more secure financial future and thats what were all about. Thanks to dedicated leaders like Gregory, Primerica is an industry leader, providing real financial solutions to millions of clients. In response to the news, Mr. Highwood said, Im very gratified by this promotion -- it means that a lot of long hours and hard work have begun to pay off. But the most satisfying aspect of being a Primerica representative is knowing that you are helping other people take control of their personal finances. I look forward to expanding our business in order to serve even more people in the community. Primerica, Inc., headquartered in Duluth, Ga., provides financial services to middle income households in North America. Primerica representatives educate their clients about how to better prepare for a more secure financial future by assessing their needs and providing appropriate solutions through term life insurance, which the Company underwrites, and mutual funds, annuities and other financial products, which are distributed primarily on behalf of third parties. Mr. Highwood may be reached in Ooltewah at 423 802-2652. The Lantern at Morning Pointe Alzheimer's Center of Excellence, Chattanooga continued its Caregiver Cafe speaker series in the new year, focusing on emergency preparedness. Professionals, caregiver staff, and families gathered to learn about emergency preparedness for individuals with cognitive and functional disabilities. The Hamilton County Health Department led the informative session. Additional Caregiver Cafes will take place quarterly at Morning Pointe Senior Living communities throughout the Chattanooga area, along with regular support groups. These educational programs are part of the mission of the Morning Pointe Foundation as it works to provide caregiver support and nursing scholarships across the Southeast. Cement demand in Vietnam slips 1% YoY ICR Newsroom By 24 January 2019 Total cement demand in Vietnam fell to 5.828Mt in December 2018, down by one per cent YoY, but up three per cent when compared with November 2018, according to the latest data by the Vietnam National Cement Association (VNCA). Of this total, VICEM Group companies accounted for 1.96Mt with an additional 1.618Mt sold by VICEMs joint ventures, representing YoY changes in sales volumes of -4 and +3 per cent, respectively. Other cement producers sold 2.25Mt in December 2018, resulting in stable sales YoY. Total exports from Vietnam reached 2.614Mt in December 2018, down 10 per cent YoY and six per cent MoM. Cement exports doubled to 892,055t YoY, but clinker exports fell 30 per cent to 1.722Mt YoY. Most cement exports were supplied to customers in the Philippines with smaller but significant quantities delivered to China, Malaysia, Papua New Guinea and Laos. China was the largest country in terms of clinker exports, importing over 0.9Mt, followed by Bangladesh (~0.65Mt). Smaller volumes where exported to the Philippines, Taiwan, Papua New Guinea and Malaysia. In terms of the full-year 2018, VNCA expects the domestic industry to sell 59.098Mt of cement, including 19.77Mt by VICEM group companies and a further 17.259Mt by its joint ventures. Other cement producers are predicted to sell 22.07Mt. Published under Gambia raises tax on Senegalese imports 24 January 2019 Gambia has imposed a new import tax regulation on cement being imported from Senegal that has exacerbated the shortage of cement and increased prices in the country. Both the Commissioner General of GRA, Yankuba Darboe, and the Permanent Secretary at the Ministry of Finance, Mod Secka, confirmed that a cabinet decision was reached on the increment of excise duty on cement, imported from neighbouring Senegal. A five per cent excise tax was put on the CIF import value from 1 January 2019. The move was desigend to boost the local cement industry. The tax has created a queue of cement trucks at the border post. Mr Darboe claims the directive to charge cement coming into the country is being carried out. "We are directed to charge one dalasi (GMD1) per bag of cement. Local cement dealers who import from Senegal were aware of the new tax regulation before it was effected against them," Mr Darboe said. However, truck drivers stuck at the border are being charged GMD 80/bag (US$1.61), according to local news service Foroyaa. Cement prices are quickly rising. Hamidou Jah, a manager at the Jah Cement Factory said they are selling wholesale for GMDD245 (US$4.9) and GMD255 for retailers. Meanwhile information from Salam Cement factory indicated that they sell for GMD260 as wholesale price. Published under FLSmidth signs contract for 5000tpd Ethiopian plant 24 January 2019 FLSmidth has signed a contract with Abay Industrial Development SC for a greenfield cement plant near Dejen, Ethiopia. The order is valued at around EUR100m and includes the delivery of design and engineering, full equipment supply, automation systems, installation and commissioning, as well as training and extended supervision. The project is expected to be completed in the second quarter of 2022 and, once fully operational, will have a capacity of 5000tpd. "This greenfield plant will be utilising the most modern and energy-efficient equipment with the lowest possible environmental impact. I am also very pleased that with training and supervision included in the contract, we will help create 300 jobs in this region as well as a source of cement for continuing regional development. This contract once again underlines our position as the preferred supplier of sustainable and productivity-enhancing solutions to the global cement industry," said Jan Kjaersgaard, president of the cement segment, FLSmidth. The contract is subject to FLSmidth receiving the agreed down payment among other conditions. Until all these have been met and the contract becomes effective, it will not be recognised in the order intake, according to a press release. Published under Yemen: '15,000 prisoners to be exchanged in 2 weeks', media Between Iran-backed Houthis and Saudi-backed loyalists (ANSAmed) - BEIRUT, JANUARY 24 - The planned exchange of 15,000 prisoners in Yemen between Houthi militias close to Iran and Saudi-backed loyalist forces will take place within the next two weeks, Saudi pan Arab daily al Hayat reported on Thursday. The report quoted Yemeni diplomatic sources and operators with the International Committee of the Red Cross. A 48-hour-long closed-door meeting was recently held in Amman, Jordan, between Houthi and loyalist delegations to discuss details of the swap. A generic agreement was reached last December during UN-mediated peace talks in Sweden. The exchange of some 15,000 prisoners should set the ground for further reciprocal concessions between the warring sides in Yemen. Meanwhile last night UN envoy Martin Griffiths and the commander of the UN observers' mission, retired Dutch General Patrick Cammaert, left Sanaa, the Yemeni capital held by the Houthis. The UN Security Council recently approved a resolution to dispatch 75 observers to the port city of Hudayda on the Red Sea through which an estimated 80% of humanitarian aid for Yemen flows. Many of these cases were known by the holders to be "abusive to determine, ignorance of their functions, forms representing... Photo: USGS A 6.7-magnitude earthquake shook cities and towns on Chile's northern coast late Saturday, but there were no immediate reports of damages. The U.S. Geological Survey said the quake's epicenter was 15.6 kilometres south-southwest of Coquimbo, and it had a depth of 53 km. It struck at 10:32 p.m. local time. Chile's National Emergency Office preventatively ordered the evacuation of a stretch of coast near the city of Coquimbo but later called it off. Authorities said the quake didn't have the characteristics that would generate a tsunami. The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center also discarded a tsunami threat. The quake was felt strongly in northern Chile where buildings swayed, according to social media and press reports. Chile's seismological service put the strength of the quake at magnitude 6.8. Chile is located in the so-called "Ring of Fire," which makes it one of the most seismic countries in the world. An 8.8-magnitude earthquake and ensuing tsunami in 2010 killed 525 people and left 26 missing. FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Soyia Ellison, soyia.ellison@cartercenter.org En espanol ATLANTA The Carter Center expresses deep concern about the unfolding crisis in Venezuela and calls on all Venezuelans to work urgently toward a peaceful political solution with a clear road map to restore legitimate democratic governance. Citizens should have the freedom to express their differences peacefully, and security forces must exercise restraint. Violence is unacceptable and will not resolve the conflict. The crisis can only be resolved through the leadership and courage of Venezuelans themselves. The peaceful demonstrations throughout the country on Jan. 23 confirmed the will of the Venezuelan people to freely determine their destiny and to restore legitimate democratic institutions. During this time of tension and uncertainty, the Center urges Nicolas Maduro to respect the democratic and participatory values and clauses protected in the Venezuelan constitution and calls on all Venezuelan leaders, including the democratically elected National Assembly, to find a consensual path to credible and transparent elections and the restoration of constitutional order and rule of law. Translations El Centro Carter exhorta a los venezolanos a restaurar la gobernabilidad democratica legitima ### "Waging Peace. Fighting Disease. Building Hope." A not-for-profit, nongovernmental organization, The Carter Center has helped to improve life for people in over 80 countries by resolving conflicts; advancing democracy, human rights, and economic opportunity; preventing diseases; and improving mental health care. The Carter Center was founded in 1982 by former U.S. President Jimmy Carter and former First Lady Rosalynn Carter, in partnership with Emory University, to advance peace and health worldwide. Qatar Re said that CEO and Executive Director Gunther Saacke would be stepping down from both roles in March, at the companys next board meeting. Hell stay on for the transition and depart later in 2019, the Bermuda-based reinsurer said. I believe that this is an appropriate time for [Qatar Re] to benefit from the perspectives of a new leader, Saacke said in prepared remarks. While the market conditions remain challenging, I am confident that our talented, highly dedicated people, our promising pipeline and strong underwriting management will deliver significant value in the years ahead. In the interim, Michael van der Straaten, Qatar Res chief underwriting officer for long tail and specialty classes, will serve as acting chief executive officer. Khalifa Al Subbay, group CEO and president of corporate parent Qatar Insurance Company, said Saacke made lasting contributions to Qatar Re. Under his strong strategic and operational leadership, Qatar Re has developed into a formidable franchise, placed among the global top 30, and is recognized as a modern and reliable reinsurer around the world, Al Subbay said in prepared remarks. In the challenging environment of recent years, [Saacke] has brought to bear his tremendous following in the market, [and] he has been instrumental in building and inspiring our teams. Qatar Re, licensed as a Class 4 insurer by the Bermuda Monetary Authority, is a global multiline reinsurer writing all major property, casualty and specialty lines of business. Source: Qatar Re Anbang Insurance Group Co., the acquisitive Chinese insurer thats scaling back its global empire, is nearing its first major domestic divestment since the government seized control last year, people with knowledge of the matter said. Anbang is in advanced talks to sell its health-insurance arm to Fujia Group, a petrochemicals-to-finance conglomerate in northeastern Chinas Liaoning province, according to the people. Fujia has been negotiating final details of an agreement to buy Hexie Health Insurance Co., though the potential deal could still fall apart, one of the people said, asking not to be identified because the information is private. A sale of Hexie Health would be the first major local asset sale for Beijing-based Anbang since the government temporarily took over the insurers operations and prosecuted its founder with fraud. After gaining renown for a global acquisition spree that included New Yorks Waldorf Astoria hotel, the Chinese firm said last year it was reviewing all of its overseas assets. A representative for Anbang declined to comment, while a representative for Dalian-based Fujia said he couldnt comment. The China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission, which leads the government team overseeing Anbang, didnt immediately respond to a request for comment. Fujia Group was Liaoning provinces biggest private business taxpayer for nine years, according to its website. It operates in retail, real estate, hospitality, petrochemicals and finance. The conglomerate provides financial services through Fubang Capital Holding Co. Hexie Health provides services ranging from disease management, medical care, disability care, health care and accident insurance in the worlds most populous country. The companys net income jumped more than fivefold to 2.7 billion yuan ($398 million) in 2016 from the previous year, after revenue from premiums more than tripled, its latest annual report shows. In addition to a portfolio of luxury hotels, Anbang owns Antwerp-based insurer Fidea, Dutch insurer Vivat and Belgian lender Nagelmackers. Bloomberg News reported in October that Cerberus Capital Management LP, Swiss Re AG and Temasek Holdings Pte were among parties that have held preliminary discussions about buying a stake in Anbang. Copyright 2021 Bloomberg. Education is the most powerful force in our hands to tackle global issues such as poverty, health, and economic growth and to build more resilient and sustainable societies. It is a human right and a public responsibility. To make the right to education more effective, the United Nations General Assembly passed a resolution proclaiming January 24 as International Day of Education. International Day Of Education Background On December 3, 2018, the United Nations General Assembly with a lot of consensuses had passed a resolution proclaiming January 24 as International Day of Education. The decision came after the world education community gathering in Brussels for the Global Education Meeting where the UN General Assembly raised their voice regarding education for peace and development. The adoption of "International Day of Education" resolution, co-authored by Nigeria and 58 other member states, demonstrated the unwavering political will to support transformative actions for inclusive, equitable and quality education for all. 5 Facts Why We Should Celebrate International Day of Education The United Nations General Assembly adopted January 24 as International Day of Education to celebrate the role of education for peace and development. This day will make the world education community more dedicated to the right to education, which is enshrined in article 26 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The day will focus on higher education accessible to everyone across the world. A dedicated day for education also works to achieve Sustainable Development Goal 4, which aims to ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all by 2030. Around 265 million children and adolescents around the world are not able to get an education. This special day will ring the bells to make higher education stand tall. First International Day of Education In 2019 After proclaiming the International Day of Education, the United Nations member states recognised the importance of education and learning at all levels. People can access the learning opportunities and acquire knowledge and skills that can show the positive result to sustainable development. On the occasion of first International Day of Education, Audrey Azoulay, Director-General of UNESCO said, "Today marks the first International Day of Education, as proclaimed by the United Nations General Assembly last December. This significant decision recognizes the capital role of education in 'Transforming our world: the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.'" Ms Marie Paule Roudil, Director of UNESCO New York Office said, "Education is not only a key goal on its own in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development but the one goal that gives people the means to realize it. Gaining the knowledge, skills, values and attitudes to out sustainable development into practice and craft innovate solutions is crucial for global goals.". Education is the only weapon to eradicate many social issues. It is a part of everyone and it's our responsibility to contribute and act together to achieve the perfect score in education. Also Read: Advantages Of Demonetisation In The Education Sector Turkey: sharp growth of asylum applications in Germany In 2018 up 25% from 2017 (ANSAmed) - ISTANBUL, JANUARY 24 - The number of asylum applications filed by Turkish citizens in Germany has gone up 25% in 2018 compared to the previous year for a total of 10,655 requests, the Turkish edition of Deutsche Welle reported on Thursday. The report quoted data released by the German interior ministry. Turkey is the sixth country for the number of applications. The growth went against the overall negative trend last year, when 16% less asylum requests were filed in Germany. Since a failed coup in 2016, a growing number of Turkish nationals have left the country. A record 250,000 people left Turkey in 2017, up 42% on an annual basis, with many young university graduates choosing to leave. Ankara has accused Berlin and other European capitals of welcoming people suspected of involvement in the coup, which authorities have blamed on the alleged network of exiled cleric Fethullah Gulen, and Kurdish PKK sympathizers. remaining of Thank you for reading! This is your last free article before you will be asked to subscribe. Already have a paid subscription? Sign in (ANSA) - Rome, January 24 - The economy ministry said on Thursday that it has prepared the necessary measures to ensure the 'full continuity of the markets' in the case of a no-deal Brexit. The measures will only be adopted, probably via a decree, if Britain effectively crashes out of the EU without a deal, making it a third country on March 30. A statement said the measures were agreed with the regulatory authorities and sector associations affected. The Italian government has already pledged to take action to ensure the British nationals resident in Italy do not become illegal migrants if there is a no-deal Brexit. news, latest-news The Chinese-Christian former governor of Jakarta, Basuki Tjahaja Purnama, has been quietly sneaked out of prison nearly two years after being jailed for blasphemy. His release took place away from the glare of a huge media scrum and a small band of loyal supporters who had gathered outside the Mako Brimob prison with the man widely known by his Chinese Hakka name of Ahok walking free at 7.30am on Thursday morning. Ahoks personal secretary told Deteik.com that he had been picked up by his eldest son Nicholas Sean and a member of his staff. He is expected to see his family and then meet supporters later on Thursday. The jailing of the then-governor of Jakarta in May 2017 for blasphemy was hugely controversial and the repercussions are still being felt in the worlds largest majority-Muslim nation. His case is one of many recent ones that highlight the growing influence of conservative Islam in a country that has traditionally practiced a tolerant and pluralist version of Islam. Outside the jail, Nuri one of Ahoks supporters said she and fellow Ahok supporters had been gathering near the prison for several days prior to his release. "We are a bit upset we didnt get to see him walk free after days of waiting. But we are happy he is free, she said. "He was jailed fairly, he did make a mistake, he was talking about something he didn't have a full knowledge of. But his case was for sure politicised. There were other, stronger cases [of blasphemy] than his." "We hope he will return to politics, but in a greater position. He needs to reach out to more than Jakarta, such as the head of the KPK [the national anti-corruption commission], he can get all of those who are corrupt." Marijan Muhammad, another supporter of Ahok who waited patiently in his wheelchair for the former governor, said he had been unfairly jailed. "That's what we hope, yes [that he returns to politics]. But he needs to change his attitude a bit. He was arrogant, I am hearing he's changed now. That's good." The claim that Ahok had committed blasphemy was made in September 2016 after he said in a speech that the Koran did not state that Muslims should not be led by a non-Muslim. The comment triggered huge protests by conservative Muslims, months of disruption in Jakarta and led to the charge of blasphemy. Ahok had served as Joko Widodos deputy governor but when Widodo won the presidential election in 2014, Ahok was elevated to the governors job. Days ahead of his release, Ahok hinted at an eventual return to politics in a lengthy, hand-written note on Instagram. He also said that he was grateful to God that he had gone to prison and lost his 2017 bid for re-election as governor, as if he had won he would have become more arrogant. Ahok has also asked supporters to no longer refer to him as Ahok, but rather as BTP. Local media have reported that he will marry for a second time on February 15 to a policewoman, Puput Nastiti Devi. There have also been reports that he could convert to Islam, or that she could convert to Christianity, to help ensure the marriage can take place in a country where interreligious marriage is difficult. In a twist, Widodos now-vice presidential running mate, the cleric Maruf Amin, testified against Widodos former political ally Ahok during the 2017 trial. /images/transform/v1/crop/frm/silverstone-ct-migration/1534b155-46b0-48cb-82d0-b363def7ed0f/r0_150_5440_3224_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg news, latest-news Exemption from the 33 per cent luxury car tax has put German car makers BMW and Mercedes-Benz in the driver's seat to win a multi-million dollar contract to replace the Commonwealth's ageing fleet of Holden Caprice luxury cars. Bulletproof, armoured V12 BMW 7-Series luxury sedans are already being used for C-1, the Prime Minister's dedicated vehicle, and for the Governor-General's primary security vehicle. The long wheelbase Caprice had previously been the first choice for Comcar's "driver-with-vehicle" service provided across all the national capital cities. However, when Holden ended its Australian vehicle production last year, the Commonwealth no longer had a source of locally-made cars which fit the criteria. Comcar's current chauffeur fleet of 159 vehicles across Australia, all painted white and carrying the familiar Z number plate prefix, will be progressively replaced from this year in a contract estimated, once service costs are included, at well over $10 million. BMW is seen as the front-runner because of its familiarity with the procurement process and its established relationship with the Department of Finance, which has narrowed the original field of 18 potential candidate cars down to a final seven. The big benefit for the chances of the German brands is that the successful vehicle would be exempt from the federal government's luxury car tax (LCT). LCT adds a 33 per cent tax to all cars above the $66,031 threshold. The combination of fleet discounts and tax exemptions would cut as much as $30,000 off the list price paid by government for the Mercedes 220d (which retails for $96,000) and the BMW 520d (which retails for $94,900). Judged on safety, value, fit for purpose, protocol and environmental consideration are cars from BMW, Mercedes-Benz, Toyota, and Hyundai's luxury car brand Genesis. The seven contenders are: The final seven all fit the government criteria for five-star safety and fit for purpose, but the value for money criteria creates a complex discussion between the initial savings of purchase cost balanced against whole-of-life ownership costs and resale value. The Toyota and the Hyundai Genesis offer the cheapest initial purchase price but the German brands will be making much of their whole-of-life costs, which include low running costs and high resale value. The potentially high resale value of the two German cars three or four years into their service life becomes a significant value-for-money consideration in the procurement process. BMW has become fiercely aggressive in chasing fleet car business since the closure of Australia's car industry released state and federal governments from their requirement to favour locally-made cars for fleet use. Last year after a lengthy assessment process, the BMW 5-Series turbo-diesel with a factory-produced "authority pack" was one of two car selected by NSW Police Highway Patrol to replace its fleet of Falcon and Commodore V8s. NSW Police assessed 17 cars before selecting the BMW 530d and the Chrysler SRT8. Comcar's current fleet of Holden Caprices will be "managed" and their service life extended to fit in with the replacement vehicle selection process and the time needed to get new white cars ordered and delivered. /images/transform/v1/crop/frm/silverstone-ct-migration/e810f398-0647-46a1-b4c3-43858306abc4/r0_1311_3024_3020_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg news, latest-news The ACT government has begun work on three new wetlands in the Fyshwick catchment area with the aim to eventually see Canberrans return to regular swimming in Lake Burley Griffin. The three new sites, to be constructed alongside the Jerrabomberra Creek in Narrabundah, Fyshwick and Kingston, will cost $4.6 million, $1.5 million, and $2.5 million respectively. This represents a fraction of the total $93 million that has been designated for the ACT Healthy Waterways program - up to $85 million of which was invested by the federal government. "It's a great opportunity to look at a different way of treating our waterways to ensure we have the best outcomes for Canberrans," Minister for the Environment Mick Gentleman said. "What we'll see is much better habitat for our wildlife in the ACT and, of course, much cleaner water going into our lakes and tributaries." The wetlands would help reduce the amount of sediment and pollution flowing in stormwater into the Jerrabomberra Creek and from there into Lake Burley Griffin. The Fyshwick catchment was a "priority" waterway for the ACT government to address, as it also received agricultural and industrial run-off. "Some of the catchment area comes from the urban side here at Narrabundah but of course the other parts come from a rural catchment in the creek, and also some of our industrial areas around Fyshwick," Mr Gentleman said. The three new wetland sites, along with an additional nine other sites still under construction across the ACT, are scheduled for completion in June this year. This will mean a total of 20 wetland sites across the territory, with more funding anticipated in the future. "I remember as a kid ... regularly swimming in Lake Burley Griffin. That used to be a regular recreational activity and it seems that happens a lot less these days in a number of lakes and waterways," Senator Zed Seselja said. "I envisage, and I'm sure [Mr Gentleman] would agree with this, that over time we would see a lot of people using the lake and a lot more people wanting to swim in the lake again. And [then we're] looking at all the flow on benefits when you attract people to a body of water like that." Once the wetlands are completed, it will take an additional two years for plants at the new wetlands sites to grow tall enough for effective filtration. The full benefits of the wetlands will likely not be felt in Lake Burley Griffin, and downstream in the Murrumbidgee River system - which has a blue-green algae bloom - until mid-2021, a project manager said. Until then, Mr Seselja urged Canberrans to err on the side of caution when it came to swimming in local waterways. "If you look at Lake Burley Griffin, it has been getting better ... but I don't think anyone would say it's exactly where it needs to be," he said. Swimming in the wetlands is not encouraged. Mr Gentleman said the wetlands would also help filter water downstream in the Murray-Darling Basin, in which thousands of cod recently died. "Weve been meeting with our Murray Darling Basin ministers on the efficiencies that ACT can produce and weve been patted on the back for the work that were doing here in the territory," Mr Gentleman said. "Ive also had a chat to David Littleproud, whos the federal minister at the Murray-Darling Basin meetings, and indicated that we would like to do some more work if we can provide some better efficiencies from the ACT into the catchment. So there could be some more funding coming later on." The three new wetlands will be constructed between Matina Street and the Monaro Highway in Narrabundah, between Eyre Street and the Jerrabomberra Wetlands in Kingston, and on Jerrabomberra Creek off Dairy Road in Fyshwick. /images/transform/v1/crop/frm/silverstone-ct-migration/ba8f512e-9cb8-4152-8d52-24d9698c92f1/r0_404_3992_2659_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg news, crime A Canberra-based former pastor whose social media profiles say he has a passion for childrens ministry has been accused of using a mobile app to groom a 14-year-old girl. Brian Champness, 41, appeared in the ACT Magistrates Court on Thursday when he entered a plea of not guilty to the charge of using a carriage service to groom the child. Police will allege Mr Champness was acting in his capacity as a member of the clergy when he groomed the girl between May and October last year. Mr Champness was most recently a senior pastor at St Pauls Ginninderra Anglican Church, according to his LinkedIn profile. The same profile says that Mr Champness has been involved in children's ministry for more than 20 years, including in England and Goulburn, NSW. In a statement published online, the Anglican Diocese of Canberra and Goulburn said it immediately suspended Mr Champness when it became aware of a breach of its code of practice on October 29. Mr Champness has subsequently resigned from his position. "We informed the police straight away, and have been actively cooperating with them and assisting in the investigation of this matter," the statement said. "We have also been intentionally caring for the [alleged] victim and all those affected right from the beginning. "We continue to pray for healing and justice for all in the process now before the court." Police said members of the sexual assault and child abuse team had arrested the Evatt man and released him on police bail to be summonsed to court on Thursday. The investigation began last year, following a referral from NSW Police. The case returns to court for a pre hearing mention on April 4. /images/transform/v1/crop/frm/silverstone-ct-migration/618cd91c-6de2-455d-b4b5-5f51d24f2745/r0_124_2000_1254_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg news, latest-news Big ideas for democratic reform and the demands of electoral politics in an election year sit uneasily. There is usually a huge disconnect. Political leaders who try to link the two are brave, some would say crazy brave. There have been two quite separate conversations going on over the summer. One is the usual jockeying and positioning by the Prime Minister and the Leader of the Opposition as the next federal election looms, while the other is about major democratic reforms of an institutional kind which frequently come from outside the establishment. To be fair the major political parties do discuss institutional reforms and sometimes promote them, as Labor is doing with republican constitutional reform and political donations, but they usually have to be pushed from outside the system. If there is any parliamentary connection between the two conversations it often comes through Senate and House of Representatives independents whose presence is one direct outcome of the perceived failure of the status quo. The major parties are already very much in election mode and that means not just increasingly frantic activity by party leaders but also that behind the scenes attention has turned to building campaign teams. It has been reported that the campaign preparations and team building on both sides combined add up to 300 individuals, including national secretariats, advertising agencies and consultants of various types. They will become increasingly influential. It is possible that big democratic ideas to do with executive government, the Parliament or the Constitution will make a late run onto the election agenda but the conventional wisdom suggests that largely they must be already embedded within party thinking to feature at the 2019 election. Despite this there is a plethora of ideas circulating. Former federal departmental heads, Michael Keating and John Menadue, are among those who have led the way in promoting ideas for democratic renewal through Menadues blog, Pearls and Irritations. Menadue has argued that The major party that is credible on democratic reform will reap a large electoral dividend. nfortunately, it is likely that the major parties are mostly seeking such large electoral dividends elsewhere, including through keeping their heads down, short-term vote-buying and/or scare tactics. They remain to be convinced of Menadues general proposition, probably viewing big democratic reforms as marginal at best and risky at worst. Keating has despaired about the future of democracy, lack of leadership and the inability of governments to deliver necessary political changes. His suggestions include improved methods for consultation and collaboration as well as enhanced parliamentary committees. Menadue adds proposals such as drastic lobbying reform, serious Senate electoral reform and expansion of freedom of information as well as campaign donation reform and a federal anti-corruption commission. But his boldest idea is a national political summit of community leaders to chart a new course for democratic renewal. His model is the National Economic Summit called by Bob Hawke in 1983 after his election victory, which Menadue claims led to remarkable economic and social reform. Menadue and Keating are not the only players in the big-ideas field. They have been driven by a longer- term conviction of widespread democratic malaise in Australia but others are sparked by particular problems which emerge on a daily basis. Hamish McDonald, reflecting on the way that Indigenous constitutional reform has become tragically bogged down since the Turnbull governments rejection of the Uluru Declarations idea of an Indigenous Voice to sit alongside the two houses of Parliament, has tried to resurrect the old idea of dedicated Indigenous seats in Parliament. Tony Abbott was one earlier advocate and McDonald floats the bold idea of twelve Indigenous senators. The Coalitions woman problem has led to many calls for party pre-selection reform through establishing quotas for women as Labor has successfully done. The Nationals and the Liberals must go way beyond piecemeal responses. It is not enough just to push for women to replace Andrew Broad and Kelly ODwyer. ODwyers resignation at the age of 41 for family reasons has led WA Liberal Senator Linda Reynolds to raise again the need for a more woman friendly, or is it a more human friendly, parliamentary workplace? Such calls, including experimenting with part-time work and increased use of technology to enable MPs to work from home, have so far come to nothing. Reynolds is now advocating changes to parliamentary practice and to the parliamentary time-table as a way to make parliamentary life more sustainable for both men and women to serve in our nations Parliament. If these big ideas, including substantial institutional and organisational renewal, are to make any immediate headway three opportunities for action must be taken. The first concerns legislation during the remaining parliamentary weeks before the election. Among the issues to be resolved is the Federal Corruption Commission. The initiative taken by the Greens, Kerryn Phelps and other Independents must be embraced by the major parties, especially the Morrison government, to the extent that a new strong, independent and transparent commission receives enthusiastic parliamentary backing. The second concerns the election policies of the major parties. Both sides must recognise widespread community alienation and fully embrace substantial institutional reforms, including of donations and lobbying. The third involves the honeymoon period of the new government, which looks like being Labor but could still be the return of the Coalition. The government will only have a short time to show that it has turned over a new leaf and will make a bold effort to address deep community despair about the future direction of our democracy. Business as usual is not nearly good enough. John Warhurst is an Emeritus Professor of Political Science at the Australian National University /images/transform/v1/crop/frm/silverstone-ct-migration/db1876b1-b47d-44fa-8383-959517e1ea57/r7_0_3065_1728_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg (ANSA) - Strasbourg, January 24 - The European Court of Human Rights said Thursday that it has ruled that Italy violated the right to defence of Amanda Knox when she was questioned in November 2007 in relation to the murder in Perugia of her British flat mate Meredith Kercher. It ordered the Italian State to pay a total of over 18,000 euros in damages and legal costs. The court also ruled, however, that it did not have any evidence to show that Knox had been subjected to the mistreatment she had complained about. "The Court took the view that the Italian Government had not succeeded in showing that the restriction of Ms Knox's access to a lawyer, at the police interview of 6 November 2007 at 5.45 a.m. - when there was a criminal charge against her - had not irreparably undermined the fairness of the proceedings as a whole," a statement read. January 23, 2019 Ottawa, Ontario - Global Affairs Canada The Honourable Chrystia Freeland, Minister of Foreign Affairs, today issued the following statement on Venezuela: Canada recognizes Juan Guaido, President of the National Assembly, as the interim President of Venezuela. We support his commitment to lead Venezuela to free and fair presidential elections. As stated in the January 4 Lima Group Declaration, Canada rejects the Maduro regimes illegitimate claim to power and has called upon Nicolas Maduro to cede power to the democratically elected National Assembly. We reiterate that a resolution of the crisis in Venezuela can only be achieved through the leadership and courage of Venezuelans themselves. We remain committed to working with our partners, particularly through the Lima Group of countries, and with Venezuelas democratic opposition. Canadians stand with the people of Venezuela and their desire to restore constitutional democracy and human rights in Venezuela. Quick facts Canada has imposed targeted sanctions against 70 Maduro regime officials and, in collaboration with five other countries in the Americas, referred the situation in Venezuela to the International Criminal Court. Canada has also taken steps to downgrade diplomatic relations and restrict engagement with Venezuela. On January 15, 2019, the National Assembly declared that Nicolas Maduro had taken the presidency illegally and therefore left the office vacant. Today, Juan Guaido, the President of the National Assembly, assumed the role of interim President. Associated Links (ANSA) - Catania, January 24 - An attorney who features as a TV judge on the popular Mediaset programme Forum was suspended from the show "temporarily and as a precaution" by its producers on Thursday. An investigating judge said the attorney, Francesco Foti, was recorded in a wiretapped phone conversation with an attorney who was arrested last week in connection with a bankruptcy probe by the Catania prosecutor's office. The attorney was speaking about how to set up a company in Croatia for the purposes of tax evasion and Foti allegedly said he would put the attorney in contact with a client of his. Foti denied the depiction of the wiretapped conversation and said he was "talking about a case that I was working on". (ANSA) - Paris, January 24 - French Justice Ministry spokesman Youssef Badr told ANSA Thursday: "As of today we have not received any new official extradition request from Italian authorities". He said "informal contacts are scheduled for the next few weeks (a working meeting in February) between the competent services of the justice ministries to update the old requests". Italy has said it has made fresh extradition requests. Deputy Premier and Interior Minister Matteo Salvini on Wednesday called on French President Emmanuel Macron to take action to hand over Italian fugitives living in France. The government has said it is out to bring more terrorists to justice after the recent return from South America of Cesare Battisti, a former leftwing terrorist who is now serving a life sentence for four murders after 37 years as a fugitive. There are reportedly 14 fugitives accused of crimes from Italy's 'years of lead' of political violence in the 1970s and 80s who have been tracked down to France. The justice ministry said Wednesday extradition requests had been sent to France for all those fugitives, contradicting French Justice Minister Nicole Belloubet who had said earlier in the day that no such requests had yet been made. Commodities broker Marex Spectron said on Wednesday it has agreed to acquire Dublin-based Energy BrokingIreland Ltd (EBI), in a deal expected to be completed in February. EBI will add to Marex Spectron's existing energy business and teams based in London, New York, Houston, Connecticut, Calgary and Singapore, Marex said in a statement, without disclosing how much it will pay. Upon completion, EBI will be part of Marex Spectron's new Dublin entity, Marex Spectron Europe Limited. Earlier this week, Marex announced its purchase of London-based trading firm CSC Commodities from BGC European Holdings, again without disclosing how much it paid. Reuters reported in September that privately held Marex was itself the target of a takeover from Chinese conglomerate Fosun International. (Reuters) Source: www.businessworld.ie Britain's impending departure from the European Union is not just about trade for Ireland but is an existential issue for its nearest neighbor, Taoiseach Leo Varadkar told Reuters on Thursday. The future of the border between EU-member Ireland and Northern Ireland, which will be the United Kingdom's only land frontier with the bloc after its departure, is proving the major hurdle in the ratification of the Brexit divorce deal in London. Police on both sides of the currently seamless stretch have warned that customs posts could be a target for the small number of militant groups still active in Northern Ireland after a 1998 peace deal ended three decades of violence in the province. Speaking at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Varadkar highlighted those concerns to demonstrate his resolve in standing firm on the withdrawal agreement Britain agreed with EU leaders but is struggling to pass in its own parliament. "Often when I talk about Brexit outside of Ireland, people talk about it as if it's a trade deal, as if it's about trade and jobs and the economy and migration," Varadkar said in an interview . "All those things are important but this is different for Ireland, this is existential. We've had 20 years of peace in Ireland, increased North-South co-operation, and the foundation for all of that was the European Union. That's why for us this is a very different question. This is at a different level for us." After the "backstop" insurance policy designed to keep the border open after Brexit was met with particular opposition in the British parliament, Varadkar said any alternative solution from London would have to achieve the same outcome - providing a legal guarantee and a workable mechanism to avoid a hard border. With Ireland refusing to even countenance contingency plans for how the border would be managed in a no deal scenario, Varadkar said he believed all sides would cobble together a similar arrangement to the "backstop" given their need to abide by global trade rules and the terms of the 1998 peace deal. "I think we'd be in a position where Ireland, the UK and the European Union would have to sit down again and come up with an agreement to avoid a hard border and the only way to do that is through alignment in customs and regulations," he said "So we'd probably end up after a difficult period of, I don't like to say chaos, but certainly a difficult period of no deal with some sort of agreement that is very close to what has been rejected by the House of Commons." (Reuters) Source: www.businessworld.ie Irish nutrition company Glanbia has begun stockpiling products in Britain as it works on the assumption that Britain will leave the European Union without a withdrawal agreement, its chief executive said. Ireland's large agri-food sector exports over 50 percent of its cheese to the United Kingdom, although Glanbia, the largest manufacturer of cheddar cheese in the world, booked just 3 percent of its 2.3 billion euros of revenue in the UK in 2017. "We have stocks in the UK, more than we would normally have," Siobhan Talbot said in a podcast interview posted by the Irish Times Newspaper on its website, adding that the company had taken more warehousing capacity in the UK. "We are very much planning for a no deal at this stage, we have all the supply chain alternatives, all those pieces that one would expect but that does not mean that that would be easy and that does not mean that that wouldn't be without its implications." A leading supplier of protein supplements for gym goers, Glanbia operates in 32 countries and distributes products to four times that amount. It has nevertheless sought to cut the reliance of its Irish arm on the UK market, announcing plans in recent months to open a 130 million euro mozzarella cheese facility and a 140 million euro continental cheese manufacturing factory to serve other European markets fromIreland. (Reuters) Source: www.businessworld.ie Former RBI governor Raghuram Rajan said there was a possibility that the Indian economy might slow down if a coalition government came to power after the 2019 Lok Sabha election. In an exclusive interview to India Today at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Rajan spoke on several issues that affected the Indian economy. Rajan said India had serious problems such as serious agricultural distress and jobs creation. "We have had a reasonable growth rate in the past five years. More jobs need to be created," Rajan said. Rajan also said the pace of industrial growth was not creating jobs. On GST and demonetisation Even though Rajan welcomed Modi government's policies such as GST and Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, he was critical of the government's decision to scrap Rs 1,000 and Rs 500 currency. He said demonetisation was a "setback" to the economy. On RBI's independence Rajan also spoke about the ties between the Reserve Bank of India and the central government. Rajan said the resignation of former RBI Governor Urjit Patel was a matter of "concern" and emphasised on the need for the central bank to remain autonomous. "RBI's operational autonomy needs to be protected," he said. Rajan, however, said he had a "fulfilling" experience as RBI governor and declined that the RBI has offered him any fresh contract. Also read: Chinese ecomm giant Alibaba posts sales of over $30 billion during 24-hour retail frenzy On challenges before Indian economy The former RBI governor said the country needs to create conducive environment for industries. "We need to create appropriate framework for development and re-energise private investment," Rajan said. "The best minister in the government should be given the responsibility of the human resource development ministry," he added. "We need to improve the quality of our schooling. We are building generations who will not be able to compete. Education will create some of human capital that would populate services," Rajan said suggesting a solution to the problem of job creation in Indian economy. "Infrastructure roll-out and land acquisition are major issues which the Indian economy is facing. Education and labour laws also need reforms," Rajan said. Rajan also emphasised on creating healthy environment and framework for infrastructure in order to create jobs. On NPAs and banking reforms The former RBI governor also spoke about mounting non-performing assets (NPA) of various public sector banks. He said the problem of NPAs was hanging over the banking system. "We need to clean up NPAs and recapitalise them. Lending to bad business to keep them alive in the past was an issue." Rajan said governance reforms were needed and that the banking reforms in the country were "hijacked" by the bureaucracy. "Public sector banks need to be less politicised," Rajan said. Also read: Niti Aayog's to-do list for 2019: Support economic growth, implement crucial govt reforms On possibly joining politics Rajan said he was not a politician but speaks to politicians from all sides. Rajan dismissed the possibility of being India's finance minister if the Congress was voted to power in 2019. "I am not a politician. These are just speculations," he said. Edited by Aseem Thapliyal Yes Bank announced that it has received approval from the Reserve Bank of India to appoint Ravneet Singh as the next Managing Director and CEO of the bank. The annoucement was made after the bank's board meeting on Thursday. Gill will replace founder Rana Kapoor for the top job at the private lender. Gill presently heads Deutsche Bank India. "The Bank has received RBI approval for its new MD & CEO, Mr. Ravneet Singh Gill for him to join on or before March 1, 2019," Yes Bank said in a regulatory filing. Back in September last year, the RBI had denied Kapoor another extension for the position of Yes Bank CEO. He was given till the end of this month to leave the office. Yes Bank was asked to find a replacement before February 1. After the RBI's refusal to extend his term, the Yes Bank board made second request to the RBI to extend his term to March 2020. But that was also rejected by the monetary authority leading the appointment of a search panel. The RBI had not given clear reasons for its reservations against sanctioning another three-year term for Kapoor. This action by RBI had been, however, attributed to Axis Bank under-reporting its bad loans for two years with Kapoor's in-charge. ALSO READ:Yes Bank net profit falls 7% to Rs 1,002 crore in Q3 Yes Bank, along with its larger rival Axis Bank, were found to have under-reported its stock of non-performing assets by a cumulative Rs 10,000 crore each for two consecutive fiscals. The RBI drove a management change at Axis Bank as well and Shikha Sharma had left the bank by the end of last month. After RBI's refused a second time, Yes Bank had appointed a committee under former IRDAI chairman TS Vijayan to look for a successor to Kapoor, who is one of the promoters of the bank along with his sister-in-law Bindu Kapur. Even the CEO search panel saw some abrupt resignations including former bureaucrat and the bank's non-executive chairman Ashok Chawla. He left his post promptly after being named in a graft case by the Central Bureau of Investigation. Former SBI chairman OP Bhatt had also left the search panel mid-way. The Yes Bank stock closed 8.39% or 16 points higher at 213.85 compared to the previous close of 197.30 on the BSE after the RBI approvement Gill's appointment as the new CEO. ALSO READ:YES Bank stock closes higher after lender names Ravneet Singh Gill as next CEO The fourth largest private Bank - YES Bank - has got a new MD & CEO Ravneet Singh Gill from the Deutsche Bank. The bank had to search for a new CEO after the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) ended the tenure of founder and CEO Rana Kapoor midway. In the shortest possible time, YES Bank, a greenfield bank, has scaled up its business in terms of assets, revenues, and profits. The rise has been spectacular. But of late this first generation private bank has been hogging the limelight for all the wrong reasons. So what are the challenges new MD & CEO Gill faces: i) Transition from founder professional to pure professional The big change after Gill takes over is the transition of power and control from the founder professional to pure professional. The bank's co-founder Ashok Kapur died some years ago in a terrorist attack. Later, Rana Kapoor singlehandedly scaled up the bank's business. Today, the families of Rana Kapoor and Ashok Kapur are the promoters and largest shareholders in the bank. The market has seen how difficult it is to detach the founders from the company. Infosys is a recent example. A foreign banker Gill has to manage the expectations of promoters, regulators and the investors. ii) Build a new team Whenever a new CEO comes, he tries to build his own team. The new MD will surely build a team to scale up the retail and other business. There are already reports of retail head Pralay Mondal leaving the bank to join Axis Bank. iii) Asset Quality deviation YES bank faced huge deviation in the NPAs reported by it and the NPAs as per the RBI's assessment. Gill has to see whether adequate provisions have been made in case of stressed loans to bring the clear picture. iv) Scaling up retail assets and liabilities The bank is already focused on increasing the retail assets as well as liabilities. The retail advances are around 15.2 per cent, while CASA is about 33.3 per cent. For instance, Kotak Bank has a retail portfolio of over 40 per cent with CASA of 50.8 per cent. Retail loans are more stable with low NPAs. Every bank today is focused on expanding the retail banking. v) Raising capital The bank will have to raise equity capital to support the future growth. While the overall capital is quite comfortable, the bank has to raise equity capital very soon. The stock price has already taken a beating in the market post the asset quality deviation and the exit of Rana Kapoor. Gill's top priority will be to stabilise the bank, prove his mantle and then raise the capital once the share price moves up. ALSO READ:YES Bank stock closes higher after lender names Ravneet Singh Gill as next CEO ALSO READ:IndiGo appoints Ronojoy Dutta as new CEO India's economy is growing and with it, is growing the need to provide housing for the vast population of this country. Housing remains the top priority for every Indian regardless of their income levels, education or any other possible factor. Unlike before, when the demand in real-estate was driven by investors majorly, now it's the 'end users' who are re-shaping the demand in the housing sector. A steep rise in migration to cities/towns, rural-urbanization and nuclearisation of families are the top reasons for this increased demand. Through reforms like PMAY, CLSS, RERA and granting infrastructure industry status to affordable housing, the government has certainly given the much-required momentum to housing, but there is still a shortage of 2 crore housing units and an expected requirement of almost 6 crore units by 2022 coming mainly from LIG/MIG segment. In spite of these developments, real-estate is still struggling with some challenges like raising funds as investors are keen for commercial projects rather than residential projects due to the expectations of higher returns. Another major setback for the developers is that the end-users search for finished inventory as they don't want their investment to get stuck, resulting in the slow velocity of sales. Budget 2019 would play a pivotal role in the grand dream of 'Housing for all by 2022'. Some expected reforms like easing ECB norm on lenders vintage, introduction of REITs & AIFs to build a finance environment, introduction of government initiated housing bonds to provide low rate funds to housing finance companies (HFCs). Allocating separate industry status to HFCs in the bank exposure will ease liquidity scenario. Steps like extension of Sec80-IBA until FY22 to promote affordable projects, tax-sops on green housing projects, housing corridors development akin & adjacent to industrial corridors, increased allocation of funds for infra development push in Tier-3 and smart cities, increased allocation to Amrut-Saubhgya-Ujjwala Yojna etc will certainly ensure the right push in the supply side of real-estate. While on the demand side, steps like increasing overall limit of tax deduction on housing loans, reduction of GST to 5 per cent, MIG 1-2 CLSS extension to FY22, incremental sops on priority sector lending housing loans in Sec 24 & 80C, rationalisation of high registration cost, standardisation of property registration cost and process across India, introduction of tax-sops on an eco-friendly property purchase and its loan for green projects push are some of the measures which will help the consumer and the housing sector. The writer is the CEO and MD, ART Housing Finance Also read: Budget 2019: Will your salary structure change once again? By Chris Thomas and Abhirup Roy(Reuters) - Yes Bank has hired the head of Deutsche Bank India Ravneet Gill as its new chief executive after the Reserve Bank of India demanded Rana Kapoor was replaced, lifting its shares.Yes Bank's stock had been dragged down by a long tussle with the central bank over Kapoor's future, which had also led to several board departures.Gill would join by March 1, Yes Bank said in a statement, adding that its board will meet on Jan. 29 to finalise who would lead the bank in the transition period.The RBI had denied Kapoor an extension to his term twice last year ... (Reuters) - India's Yes Bank said it won central bank approval to appoint Deutsche Bank India head Ravneet Singh Gill as the successor to controversial incumbent chief executive Rana Kapoor, sending the private sector lender's shares up sharply.The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) approved Gill for joining Yes Bank by March 1, the lender said in a statement, adding that the Board will meet on Jan. 29 to finalise the interim transition.The announcement follows a months-long tussle with the central bank over Kapoor's tenure at the firm that has triggered a plunge in Yes Bank's stock and caused ... By Esha Vaish and Edward TaylorFRANKFURT/STOCKHOLM (Reuters) - Volvo Cars, owned by China's Geely, could in future seek external investors for its Polestar performance electric car brand and list the unit on the stock market but has no immediate plans to do so, the company said on Thursday.Germany's Capital magazine had earlier quoted Volvo Chief Executive Hakan Samuelsson as saying that Polestar could tap financial investors to help stem the costs of developing new electric powertrains as a precursor to listing.However, a spokesman for the Swedish carmaker said that while Samuelsson had ... (ANSA) - Strasbourg, January 24 - The European Court of Human Rights said Thursday that it has ruled that Italy violated the right to defence of Amanda Knox when she was questioned in November 2007 in relation to the murder in Perugia of her British flat mate Meredith Kercher. It ordered the Italian State to pay a total of over 18,000 euros in damages and legal costs. The court also ruled, however, that it did not have any evidence to show that Knox had been subjected to the mistreatment she had complained about. "The Court took the view that the Italian Government had not succeeded in showing that the restriction of Ms Knox's access to a lawyer, at the police interview of 6 November 2007 at 5.45 a.m. - when there was a criminal charge against her - had not irreparably undermined the fairness of the proceedings as a whole," a statement read. Knox said she hoped the ruling "will be the last legal affair linked to this story". The American former exchange student in Perugia was informed of the decision by her lawyer via Skype to her home in Seattle, where she almost broke into tears at the verdict. Lawyer Carlo della Vedova said Knox's conviction and eventual acquittal in the death of her housemate was "the biggest mistake in Italian judicial history in 50 years, also considering the media clamour aroused by the affair". "Huge damage was done to this girl," he said. In a long post on her website, Knox repeated that she had been questioned for 53 years without a lawyer or interpreter, and had been slapped on the head while police shouted "Remember!" at her. She said she and former Italian boyfriend Raffaele Sollecito, who was also convicted and later cleared, had been subjected to "psychological torture and abuse". While finding that her defence rights were violated, the ECHR found that "it did not have any evidence to show that Ms Knox had been subjected to the inhuman or degrading treatment of which she had complained". It did not deal with Knox's complaint against a conviction for allegedly smearing an innocent man, Perugia bar manager Patrick Lumumba, for the crime. Knox has always said her pointing the finger at Lumumba was a result of her allegedly violent and exhausting questioning by police. Lumumba spent two weeks in jail before being released. By Stephanie KellyNEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. oil prices rose by 1 percent on Thursday, boosted by the U.S. threat of sanctions on Venezuela, but gains were capped by record high gasoline inventories and an unexpected big build in crude stocks in the United States.U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures rose 51 cents to settle at $53.13 a barrel, a 0.97 percent gain. Brent crude futures fell 5 cents to settle at $61.09 a barrel. Washington signaled it could impose sanctions on Venezuela's crude exports as Caracas descends further into political and economic turmoil. The threat to ... By Doina ChiacuWASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States and China are "miles and miles" from resolving trade issues but there is a fair chance the two countries will get a deal, U.S. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross said on Thursday.A 30-member Chinese delegation plans to come to Washington next week for talks, he said, as the world's two largest economies try to meet a March 1 deadline to resolve their trade disputes, but Ross tried to tamp down expectations for the high-level talks."There is a very large group coming. There's been a lot of anticipatory work done but we're miles and miles from ... The United States and China are "miles and miles" from resolving trade issues but there is a fair chance the two countries will get a deal, US Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross said on Thursday. A 30-member Chinese delegation plans to come to Washington next week for a round of trade talks next week, he said, as the world's two largest economies try to meet a March 1 deadline to resolve their trade disputes. Ross tried to tamp down expectations for the high-level talks. "There is a very large group coming. There's been a lot of anticipatory ... MOSCOW (Reuters) - There have been no proposals to convene an emergency meeting of the OPEC and non-OPEC monitoring committee because of the political turmoil in OPEC member Venezuela, Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak said on Thursday.Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido declared himself interim president on Wednesday, winning the backing of Washington and prompting socialist incumbent Nicolas Maduro, who has led the oil-rich nation since 2013, to sever diplomatic relations with the United States. (Reporting by Anastasia Lyrchikova; writing by Tom Balmforth; editing by Maria ... Renault's board was meeting on Thursday to appoint new leadership, after Chairman and Chief Executive Carlos Ghosn resigned in the wake of a financial scandal that has rocked the French carmaker and its alliance with Japan's Nissan. The French government, Renault's biggest shareholder, confirmed the board was being asked to name outgoing Michelin boss Jean-Dominique Senard as chairman and Ghosn's deputy Thierry Bollore as chief executive. Senard and Bollore "will be presented this morning to the board of directors", government spokesman Benjamin ... By Amanda CooperLONDON (Reuters) - Oil prices were steady on Thursday as renewed concerns about the global economic outlook offset support from a U.S. threat of sanctions on OPEC member Venezuela.Brent crude was down 10 cents or 0.2 percent at $61.04 a barrel by 1435 GMT, while U.S. crude rose 15 cents or 0.3 percent to $52.77.Concerns about an unexpected rise in U.S. crude inventories reported on Wednesday countered gains driven by the possibility of U.S. sanctions on Venezuela's oil industry.Investors perceive oil supply to be fairly tightly balanced against demand, but concern about the ... Oil rose on Thursday, shaking off persistent concern about the outlook for demand after the US government said it could impose sanctions on Opec member Venezuela's crude exports. Venezuela's opposition leader Juan Guaido declared himself interim president on Wednesday, winning backing from Washington and parts of Latin America and prompting socialist Nicolas Maduro, the country's leader since 2013, to break relations with the United States. Economic crisis under Maduro has decimated Venezuela's oil industry, cutting its crude output to near 70-year lows ... STUTTGART (Reuters) - Daimler will deepen partnerships with Chinese suppliers in the area of electric and connected cars, Wilko Stark, board member for procurement at Mercedes-Benz said on Thursday. Stark, who is currently head of Procurement and Supplier Quality at Mercedes-Benz said the shift toward electric and connected cars has made Mercedes-Benz more dependent on battery cell chemistry and connected vehicles expertise from outside."China will dramatically increase in importance," Stark said at a news conference in Stuttgart discussing the German carmaker's procurement strategy. "China ... By Yoshiyuki OsadaTOKYO (Reuters) - Japanese shares linked to the city of Nagasaki got an unlikely boost on Thursday after Pope Francis unveiled a plan to visit Japan, with media reporting Nagasaki, for centuries a centre of Christianity in Japan, would be on his itinerary.Stock traders said the first Papal visit to Japan in almost four decades would be a big publicity boost and help attract tourists to the city, associated in the minds of many foreigners with a second U.S. atomic bomb attack in 1945.The Pope told reporters on Wednesday he would visit Japan in November. While his travel plan ... By David LjunggrenOTTAWA (Reuters) - A top executive from Huawei Technologies Co Ltd being held in Canada can make "strong arguments" against extradition to the United States, in part due to President Donald Trump's politicization of the case, Canada's ambassador to China said.Canadian envoy John McCallum's comments to Chinese-language media, which were broadcast on Wednesday, are the most explicit sign yet from a Canadian official that Meng Wanzhou, Huawei's chief financial officer, may not be sent to the United States.Meng was detained on Dec. 1 in Vancouver at the request of the United ... (ANSA) - Strasbourg, January 24 - The European Committee of Social Rights of the Council of Europe on Thursday said there was "disparity of access" to abortion in Italy. Many Italian doctors refuse to perform abortions, saying they are conscientious objectors. "Although the situation appears to have improved, there is still considerable disparity in access to abortion at the local level", said the committee. The body was briefing on progress in Italy to deal with violations of the European Social Charter verified in 2016 following a class action filed by Italian labor union CGIL over the implementation of Italy's 194 law regulating abortion. "Italy did not provide information on the measures undertaken to prevent acts of abuse against doctors who are not conscientious objectors (against abortion)," the committee also said. Alphabet Inc's Google on Thursday asked the U.S. Supreme Court to reverse a ruling that resurrected a billion-dollar copyright case brought by Oracle Corp that dates to 2010. Google urged the high court to rule its copying of Oracle's Java programming language to create the Android operating system was permissible under US copyright law. A jury cleared Google in 2016, but the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit reversed that verdict in March 2018 and set the stage for a jury trial to determine monetary damages. Google said the Federal Circuit's ruling in ... DAVOS, Switzerland (Reuters) - Microsoft Chief Executive Satya Nadella said on Thursday that with the growth of facial recognition technology, he would "welcome regulation that will help the marketplace not be a race to the bottom." Nadella said there is no discrimination now between right and wrong use of the technology, which has drawn concern from civil liberties groups about surveillance and violation of privacy.Microsoft has "principles to build it and make sure (there are) fair and robust uses of the technology," Nadella said at the World Economic Forum in Davos. (Reporting by Jessica ... By Promit Mukherjee and Abhirup RoyMUMBAI (Reuters) - India's federal investigating agency has filed a case of criminal conspiracy and fraud against the former ICICI Bank CEO Chanda Kochhar and her husband Deepak Kochhar, a statement from the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) showed on Thursday.The CBI case is the latest twist in a saga that has dogged ICICI and its former chief executive for months and was instrumental in her decision to step down at the Indian bank last October.The agency alleges that ICICI Bank, under Kochhar, sanctioned "high value" loans to Videocon Industries, ... Indian government ministers facing an election in coming months launched a social media campaign on Thursday trumpeting successes in creating jobs just weeks after a leading think tank reported 11 million jobs were lost in the country last year. The independent Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE) had estimated that 83 per cent of the job losses occurred in rural areas, where two-thirds of the population lives, and its study put unemployment at a 15-month high in December. The dismal findings would be damaging for Prime Minister Narendra Modi, whose Hindu nationalist ... By Kirstin Ridley and Lawrence WhiteLONDON (Reuters) - Richard Boath, an ex-Barclays boss on trial on fraud allegations, said the bank would be "basically dead" without a Qatari cash injection in 2008, a prosecutor said on Thursday.The Serious Fraud Office prosecutor told the trial of Barclays' ex-chief executive John Varley and three former senior executives that Qatar had played hardball as the British bank struggled to shore up its balance sheet during the financial crisis."Without 1 bln (pounds), at the very least, from Q (Qatar) we are basically dead," Boath told his Barclays line ... By Tim HepherPARIS (Reuters) - Airbus warned on Thursday it could shift future wing-building out of Britain in the absence of a smooth exit from the European Union, predicting "potentially very harmful decisions" for its British operations in the event of a 'no-deal' Brexit.In a direct appeal to Britain's divided parliament to avoid a disorderly divorce, Chief Executive Tom Enders issued his sharpest warning yet that future jobs are at risk and branded the lack of clarity for businesses as a "disgrace"."The UK's aerospace sector now stands at the precipice," Enders said in a video released on ... The multilateral trading systems and the WTO are headed for the "dark ages" unless they urgently evolve to respond to a fast-changing world, the global trade organisation's chief Roberto Azevedo warned Thursday. Speaking here at the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting, he also said the world needs a global multilateral agreement for e-commerce. The world leaders have been debating the changing global order and the emerging threats to international trade systems amid a growing clamour in several countries for inward-looking policies. The IMF has also said the ongoing trade war between the US and China is hurting global growth. Besides, China's economy grew at its slowest pace since 1990 in the last quarter of 2018. At a session on where global trade was headed, Cecilia Malmstrom, Commissioner for Trade at the European Commission, said there are two major trends. Firstly -- risks like increased protectionism, trade wars and countries acting on their own are undermining the global trading system. There is also a profound crisis with the WTO, she said. Contrary to that, a lot of countries are saying trade is good, trade wars are bad and good trade can be mutually beneficial, she added. Azevedo said challenges are bigger than ever before. "The multilateral trading system created after the Second World War has never seen challenges this big," he emphasised. He, however, argued that the multilateral trading system is viable. "We are working to make it even more viable. I don't think a stagnant multilateral system is viable, it has to evolve and respond to the global reality and a world that is changing faster than it ever has before," he said. The WTO chief said this has not been happening so far. "It's unacceptable that an organisation like the WTO in 2018 was not talking about e-commerce or the digital economy. It's the core of the global evolution today. That's when the reform conversation began. "The system needs to be updated, modernized, and that's the challenges that we have now. Either the system is updated, or it will lose relevance and disappear. It will be supplanted by other mechanisms. This is a challenge for the global community, not the WTO," he said. He warned that the WTO and the global trading system are heading for the dark ages if urgent steps are not taken. "It's not acceptable to cross your fingers and hope for the best," he added. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Women and Child Development Ministry looks after 70 per cent of the population of the country and is not a "soft ministry", Union minister Maneka Gandhi said on Thursday. At a function organised to celebrate National Girl Child Day, Maneka said it is the hardest ministry which looks after 70 per cent of the country's pollution as against the general perception of it being a "soft ministry". The programme was organised to celebrate the fourth anniversary of the Beti Bachao Beti Padhao (BBBP) scheme. The theme of NGCD this year was 'Empowering Girls for a Brighter Tomorrow'. Three local champions selected under the BBBP also shared their experiences at the event. Nandini Nagaraji, 15, said she called up the authorities on the eve of her marriage and informed the district collector that she was being forced to marry to a man double her age. The Child Welfare Committee along with the district authorities visited the area and rescued her from a temple. Since then, she has been staying at children's home. "I want to become an IAS officer and want to fight the menace of child marriage," she said. A booklet on 'Innovations under BBBP' was also released on the occasion. The ministry has listed 38 "innovative activities" being undertaken by several districts across the country to set an example for the others. These interventions have been categorised under five themes -- survival, protection, education, participation and valuing girls. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A Delhi court Thursday allowed former Air Chief S P Tyagi, accused in the AgustaWestland VVIP chopper case, to visit his family abroad in March and April. Special Judge Arvind Kumar allowed Tyagi to travel to Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, France, Germany, the US and Canada. The court dismissed the CBI's contention that the accused may misuse the liberty to visit Italy and Switzerland and destroy the evidence and influence the witnesses who are yet to be examined. The CBI opposed Tyagi's application saying he may visit Italy and Switzerland using Schengen visa, which he will procure to visit other European countries. "There is every possibility for the applicant/accused to manage/manipulate/destroy the evidence yet to be collected and influence the witnesses yet to be examined," the CBI said. The court, however, noted that in a similar application filed in a separate case relating to the same issue, the accused did not seek permission to visit Italy and Switzerland. "There is no basis for the CBI's apprehension," the court said. The CBI on September 1, 2017 had filed a charge sheet in the case in which Tyagi and British national Christian Michel were named among the accused. Nine others were also named in the charge sheet in connection with a bribery case in the VVIP chopper deal. Tyagi (73) is the first chief of the Indian Air Force to be charge sheeted in a corruption or a criminal case by the CBI. However, he has denied all charges against him. The CBI has alleged there was an estimated loss of Euro 398.21 million (about Rs 2,666 crore) to the exchequer in the deal that was signed on February 8, 2010 for the supply of VVIP choppers worth Euro 556.262 million. The ED, in its charge sheet filed against Michel in June 2016, had alleged that he received EUR 30 million (about Rs 225 crore) from AgustaWestland. On January 1, 2014, India scrapped the contract with Italy-based Finmeccanica's British subsidiary AgustaWestland for supplying 12 AW-101 VVIP choppers to the IAF over alleged breach of contractual obligations and charges of paying kickbacks to the tune of Rs 423 crore by it for securing the deal. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A 50-year-old villager hacked a woman to death suspecting her to be a witch in Odisha's Mayurbhanj district, police said Thursday. The accused, who suspected that she made his son ill by performing black magic on him, surrendered before the police Thursday and confessed to have killed Suni Singh (55). The incident took place on at Bhumija Sahi village under Moroda police station limit in the tribal dominated district on Wednesday night. Moroda police station inspector-in-charge Yogendra Mallik said the accused has been arrested and body sent for postmortem. "I suspected her to be a witch as my son continued to remain ill. She might be performing black magic on my son," the accused said in his statement to the police. He was arrested and sent to jail in 2013 for misbehaving with the victim for the same reason. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A village secretary and two others were arrested on Thursday for allegedly accepting a bribe of Rs 25,000 for clearing a Rs 10 lakh bill for the construction of a yoga hall, Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) officials said. The accused include village secretary Ashok Sain -- who holds extra charge of Kherabad gram panchyat here, the son of the sarpanch Rakesh Bairwa (36) and munshi of the office Mahesh Saini, they said. Sain and Bairwa had demanded a bribe of Rs 58,000 from a contractor for sanctioning a bill of Rs 10 lakh for the construction of a yoga bhavan in the village, said Prerna Shekhawat, additional superintendent of police, ACB special unit, Kota. The contractor lodged a complaint in this regard with the ACB on Monday, she said. A trap was laid to arrest the accused persons. Sain and Bairwa accepted the bribe and handed the cash to Saini for counting, the ASP said. They began tearing up the notes when they realised that they had been caught, Shekhawat said. Cash worth Rs 77,000 was recovered from Sain's house in a raid, she added. Shekhawat said the accused persons would be produced before the ACB court here later on Thursday and the agency would recommend a disproportionate assets case against Sain. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The US may offer Pakistan a free trade agreement (FTA) in return for its assistance in ending the Afghan war, a media report said on Thursday. Dawn reported from Washington that official sources said that US Senator Lindsey Graham, who visited Islamabad this week, is believed to have discussed this idea with Pakistani leaders. Graham first proposed offering an FTA to Pakistan, after a recent visit to Afghanistan. "If we can go to Pakistan and put a free trade agreement on the table to get the Pakistanis to push the Taliban to the peace table, and you can end the Afghan war," he said. Graham, a Republican member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, is considered President Trump's closest ally in Congress and the US media say that the president often uses him to float ideas that he wants debated publicly. Before leaving for Islamabad last week, Senator Graham is believed to have said in close official circles that he would discuss his FTA proposal with Pakistani leaders and also explore the possibility of arranging the Pakistani prime minister's visit to Washington. Graham indicated that this was not just his proposal as people in the White House also wanted to explore both possibilities. The US has long complained Pakistan provides sanctuaries to the leadership of the Afghan Taliban. It has also long claimed Islamabad could do more to bring the Taliban to the table for negotiations. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The United States has freed a journalist working for Iran's English-language television station Press TV after 10 days in detention, the channel has announced. US-born Marzieh Hashemi was arrested on arrival at St Louis Lambert International Airport on January 13. A Muslim convert who changed her name from Melanie Franklin, she had reportedly been visiting her ill brother and other family members. Press TV reported her release late on Wednesday. "The US government has released without charge Press TV anchor Marzieh Hashemi after 10 days of illegal detention," said the report published on its website. The site carried an audio message from Hashemi in which she confirmed her release and thanked her family and friends for their support. "Finally, I've been released from jail," she said. "I have a lot to say about what I've been through. We will talk about it later, God willing," she added, apparently in a reference to reports she had been forced to remove her headscarf worn as required under Islamic law. A US court said on Friday that Hashemi had been arrested but that she would be freed after giving testimony over an unspecified case. It is not yet clear if she had given evidence before being released. The detention had caused an uproar in Iran with many conservatives pointing to it as an example of US hypocrisy over human rights and freedom of speech. Iran's Foreign Minister Javad Zarif on January 17 described the detention as a "political action" by the United States that "tramples on freedom of speech" and demanded she be released. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Union Science and Technology and Minister Harsh Vardhan Thursday said the 'Green Good Deeds' movement should be launched here in a big way. The movement aims at protecting the and promoting good living in the country. He suggested that the union territory starts the movement while inaugurating the 'Puducherry Beach Restoration Project' implemented by the Ministry of Earth Sciences and the National Institute of Ocean Technology (NIOT) in collaboration with the Puducherry government at a cost of Rs 25 crore. The central minister said the movement of Green Good Deeds had been accepted by the United Nations and also by BRICS. He said it is the social responsibility of everyone to protect the and also to protect and preserve the rights of the unborn children. To achieve this, the green good deeds movement would be of great help. The restoration of the beach now dedicated to the people has come about owing to the study done by scientists of the Ministry of Earth Sciences and the NIOT. ''They (scientists) took the initiative for successful restoration of the beach by implementing the submerged wedge- shaped reef in the north,'' he said. The Minister appreciated the work done in weather and cyclone forecasting by the scientists and said the country had notched the first rank in the world in providing early tsunami warning. ''Not only do we give the warning to Indians but to all countries across the oceans,'' he said. Territorial Chief Minister V Narayanasamy said the Centre should support Puducherry by sanctioning adequate funds as it was developing in all sectors. Lieutenant Governor Kiran Bedi, Welfare Minister M Kandasamy, director of NIOT Athmanand and chief secretary Ashwarni Kumar were among those who spoke. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The second edition of the India Heritage Walk Festival (IHWF) will be held across 37 cities in February, with the UNESCO joining hands with Sahapedia this year, organisers said Thursday. The festival will be held from February 2-28, with a focus on heritage education and walks for people with special needs, festival director Vaibhav Chauhan told reporters here. "We have added more tier-II and tier-III cities after getting a very good response last year. So, cities like Allahabad, Lucknow and Patna will feature in this edition," he said. The IHWF, which received the PATA Gold Award 2018 for its maiden pan-India event, will kick-start with a heritage walk in Ahmedabad on February 2, focusing on the religious history and co-existence of multiple faiths in that city. The inaugural day will also have parallel heritage walks in other cities, including Mumbai, Delhi, Varanasi, Guwahati, Pune, Udaipur, Kolkata, Puducherry and Chennai. "This year, UNESCO has partnered with us for the festival and we are very fortunate, as this will help in expanding our reach to people on raising awareness on heritage preservation," he added. For the second edition of IHWF, Sahapedia has collaborated with about 40 local-level partners to conduct its pan-India heritage walk festival. Some of the notable names include Kerala History Museum, the Kochi Heritage Project, INTACH Srinagar Chapter, Art Deco Mumbai, Maharana of Mewar Charitable Foundation and Oxford Bookstore. Additionally, the festival bookings are powered by an online travel firm that connects tourists to certified guides in India, he said. A primary objective of the festival, which will conclude with simultaneous walks in multiple cities, is to widen access to various aspects of India's tangible and intangible heritage, organisers said. "Through 87 heritage walks and over 100 outreach events, which have been planned across the country, the event will explore the cultural fabric of India, focusing on museums, historically significant monuments and markets, natural landscapes, areas known for rich cuisine, and locations that are rooted in women-oriented narratives," Chauhan said. "We want to democratise access to local history and culture. One might be living in the same neighbourhood for years, but there is a big chance that an important landmark, tucked away in a back alley, has been missed and forgotten. The IHWF is that opportunity to discover the hidden gems linked to the history of a place, town or city," he added. Sahapedia is an open on line resource on the arts, cultures and heritage of India. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Umesh Yadav destroyed Kerala with a fiery spell, picking up seven wickets as Vidarbha took control on the opening day of the Ranji Trophy semifinal at the Krishnagiri stadium here Thursday. The defending champion reached 171 for 5 in 45 overs after winning the toss and bundling out Kerala for 105 in the first innings. Yadav, who was part of the India team that won the Test series in Australia recently, ran through the host batting line-up, took a personal best 7 for 48 as the host folded for 105 in just 28.4 overs with just three players reaching double figures. Vishnu Vinod, captain Sachin Baby and Basil Thampi were the only Kerala batsmen to make double digit scores. On a pitch which was on the bouncier side, the burly pacemen posed the Kerala batsmen a lot of trouble and was ably assisted by Rajneesh Gurbani (3 for 38), the star of Vidarbha's maiden Ranji triumph last season. Yadav also reached the 100-wicket milestone in Ranji Trophy during his brilliant spell. His first victim was opener Mohammed Azharudeen caught by Y R Thakur for 8. He then had Sijomon Joseph taken by R Sanjay for a duck. When Gurbani sent opener P Rahul for 9, Kerala looked in a spot of bother at 27 for 3. There was no respite as Yadav kept up the pressure by bowling with fire and discipline. Loss of wickets at regular intervals left the host in deep trouble and there was a danger of being shot out for a sub-100 first innings total. The usually reliable Jalan Saxena, who came up with a crucial knock in the second innings of the Quarterfinals against Gujarat, fell for a single digit score. Vishnu Vinod, the top scorer with 37 (50 balls) went for his shots and added 25 runs with no.11 M D Nidheesh (7) to take Kerala past 100 before Gurbani dismissed the latter. In reply, skipper Faiz Fazal (75) and Sanjay (19) provided Vidarbha a solid start before the latter was castled by Nidheesh. Veteran Wasim Jaffer, who joined Fazal, helped the reigning champions consolidate with a superb 80-run stand. The two played some delightful strokes on both sides of the wicket and showed how to bat on what was not an easy track. The stylish Jaffer breached the1,000- runs mark for a second time in his Ranji Trophy career. Hebecame the first batsman in Ranji history to achieve this landmark on two separate occasions. During the 2008-09 season, he had aggregated 1,260 runs for Mumbai. Jaffer (34) departed to a catch by K B Arun Karthick off Nidheesh's bowling. Fazal, who led from the front with a fine knock, added57 runs for the fourth wicket with Atharva Taide (24). Fazal's exit, to Sandeep Warrier for a well compiled 75, sparked a mini collapse as Vidarbha lost three wickets for one run to end the day at 171 for 5, a lead of 66 runs. Brief scores: Kerala 105 all out (Umesh Yadav 7 for 48) vsVidarbha 171 for 5 in 45 overs (Faiz Fazal 75, Wasim Jaffer 34). (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Ugandan police on Thursday announced the expulsion of another foreigner working for telecom giant MTN, following the deportation earlier this week of two of the company's expatriate staff. MTN Uganda's general manager Elsa Mussolini, an Italian citizen, was forced out of the country on Wednesday, police spokesman Fred Enanga told AFP. "A decision was taken that Elsa Mussolini be deported and she left the country," he said. "She was questioned on incitement to violence while she worked at MTN, which is a serious matter," he added without giving further details. In a message to her staff published in local media and confirmed by MTN, Mussolini said she was deported following accusations that she gave opposition figure Bobi Wine money during his campaign last year against a proposed social media tax. Mussolini is the third expatriate employee of the South Africa-based corporation to be thrown out of Uganda this week. She follows the expulsion on Tuesday of marketing chief Olivier Prentout, a French national, and Annie Bilenge-Tabura, a Rwandan who was head of sales and distribution. Ugandan authorities accused both of using their positions to "compromise national security", without giving further details. Separately, Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni said on Twitter he had met MTN's chief executive Rob Shuter on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Davos on Thursday. The pair discussed "an array of issues", Museveni wrote, without mentioning the deportations of staff. MTN has complained in recent months of ill-treatment by Ugandan authorities. Last July, MTN said armed men claiming to be from Uganda's Internal Security Organisation "kidnapped" two of its contractors and forced them to open up the company's main data centre, where they made an unsuccessful attempt to access servers. MTN Uganda said at the time that it took the "criminal incident" seriously and had reported it to the authorities, while adding it didn't believe it was under investigation. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Two labourers were killed and five others feared trapped under the rubble of a four-storey under-construction building which collapsed Thursday in a village here, officials said. The Gurgaon Fire Department control room received a call at 5.15 am from a local resident about the building collapse in Ullawas village. Hours later, rescue workers pulled out two bodies from the rubble. National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) said the two victims confirmed dead are male. Three NDRF teams two from Ghaziabad and another from New Delhi were summoned to the village near Gurgaon's sector 65. The local police and the fire department were also involved in the rescue operation. "Rescue teams are facing difficulty as they are removing concrete, iron grills and debris. There could be seven people, all labourers, feared trapped," fire officer Isham Singh told PTI during the early hours of the operation. The building collapsed when the labourers were laying the roof the building's fourth floor, officials said. The police are on the lookout for the building owner, a resident of Ullawas village. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Two Indian nationals were arrested in Nepal on Thursday for operating illegal international calls that caused million of rupees loss to the Himalayan nation's telecom department, police said. Acting on a tip off, a special police team raided a hideout in Samakhusi area in the national capital and arrested Sunil Kumar and Ram Karan Jat (both from Rajasthan). "They were found to be operating illegal international call bypass from a rented room in Kathmandu that has caused millions of rupees loss to the Nepal Telecom," the police said. During the raid, police confiscated a 128 port VOIP gate way, 32 antenna, one laptop and 36 SIM cards. An optical box, three mobile phones and photocopies of passport issued by government of India were also recovered from them, police said. An investigation into the matter has been launched. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Two men were suffocated to death in Delhi's Civil Lines area after they slept with a clay oven, which had been left burning, in a closed room, police said Thursday. The deceased were identified as Ranjeet (45) and Chandan (25), natives of Uttarakhand. They were employed as domestic helps at the residence of a hotelier for the past eight to ten years, they said. On Thursday, the hotelier became suspicious when Ranjeet and Chandan did not come out of their room and he informed police at around 9 am, the police said. Police, along with fire officials, reached the spot. Fire officials broke open the door and found the two men lying unconscious inside, they said. They were rushed to Aruna Asaf Ali Government Hospital where doctors declared them brought dead, a senior police official said. Police suspect that Ranjeet and Chandan left the oven burning as it was a cold night. They closed the window in the room as well. They died due to inhaling excessive carbon monoxide, he said. The post mortem of the bodies will be conducted on Friday, the police said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Police Thursday arrested two aides of Gujarat BJP leader and former MLA Chhabil Patel in connection with the killing of ex-party legislator Jayanti Bhanushali, who was shot dead in a moving train. Chhabil Patel fled to Muscat a week before the murder. His two aides -- Nitin Patel and Rahul Patel -- were arrested by the Gujarat CID, which is probing the case, the police said. Both played a "key role" in taking care of two "sharp shooters" brought from Maharashtra by Chhabil Patel and a woman suspect, Manisha Goswami, to execute the crime, said Additional Director General of Police, CID-Crime, Ajay Tomar. Bhanushali, who once represented Abdasa in Kutch district in the assembly, was shot dead in a moving train on January 8. The incident took place when the train was between Bhachau and Samkhiyali stations in Kutch, the police had said. Investigations till now have revealed that both Chhabil Patel and Manisha Goswami harboured a grudge against Bhanushali and decided to join hands to eliminate their common rival, Tomar told reporters in Gandhinagar. The sharp-shooters allegedly hired by Chhabil Patel and Manisha Goswami were identified as Shahshikant Kamble and Ashraf Shaikh, both dreaded criminals from Pune, he said. "Both Chhabil and Manisha had a grudge against Bhanushali over some issues, including financial dealings. Last year, Manisha was arrested by the Ahmedabad police for blackmailing Bhanushali's nephew, Sunil. "She remained behind bars for around two months in that case," Tomar said. "At that time, Chhabil Patel helped Manisha to come out of jail. Both of them had then decided to eliminate their common enemy Bhanushali. "To do that, they hired two sharp shooters from Pune and kept them at Chhabil Patel's farmhouse in Kutch in December last year," the officer said. It is alleged that Nitin Patel and Rahul Patel took care of these sharpshooters at Chhabil Patel's farmhouse, located in Reldi village near Bhuj town of Kutch district. A meeting between Chhabil Patel, Manisha Goswami and other conspirators was held at the farmhouse on December 31. After finalising the plan, Chhabil Patel fled to Muscat on January 2, a week before the murder, said Tomar. Bhanushali (53) was attacked when he was travelling in an air-conditioned coupe on the Bhuj-Dadar Express while returning to Ahmedabad from Bhuj. Chhabil Patel, his son Siddharth Patel and Manisha Goswami were named as "suspects" in an FIR lodged by the Gandhidham railway police on January 9. As planned by Patel, Goswami and others, the two sharp shooters boarded the train from Bhachau and allegedly shot Bhanushali in the early hours of January 8, said Tomar. "The sharp shooters fired two rounds on Bhanushali as soon as he opened the door of his coupe upon hearing knocks. Kamble and Shaikh fled from the compartment after pulling the chain near Samakhiyali station. "They then fled to Pune via Radhanpur in a vehicle provided by their aides," said Tomar. The police were yet to establish the whereabouts of Goswami, who was in Kutch till January 6 to provide support to the shooters in carrying out the murder plan, he said. Meanwhile, Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani said the police were taking all necessary action in the case and the "guilty will not be spared". Bhanushali represented the Abdasa assembly seat from 2007 to 2012. Chhabil Patel, as the Congress candidate, had defeated him from Abdasa in the 2012 assembly elections. Within two years, Chhabil Patel switched sides and joined the BJP, but lost the bypoll for the seat in 2014. In the 2017 polls, the BJP chose Chhabil Patel over Bhanushali for the Abdasa seat, but he lost to the Congress candidate. In his complaint to the Gandhidham railway police, Bhanushali's nephew Sunil Bhanushali had alleged Chhabil Patel held his uncle responsible for his defeat in 2014 and 2017 and held a grudge against him. In the complaint, Sunil Bhanushali had also alleged that to end Jayanti Bhanushali's political career, Chhabil Patel and others made a CD which showed his uncle in a compromising position with a woman. When Bhanushali refused to retire from politics as allegedly demanded by Chhabil Patel, the latter hatched the murder plan, the complaint said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Turkey's foreign minister says the time has come for an international investigation into the killing of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi. Mevlut Cavusoglu told A Haber television on Thursday that the issue would be taken up with U.N. Special Rapporteur on Extrajudicial, Summary or Arbitrary Execution, Agnes Callamard, during her visit next week. The minister also suggested that many countries were trying to "efface" the killing to shield Saudi Arabia. The Washington Post columnist, who wrote critically about the Saudi crown prince, was killed inside the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul in October. Riyadh has indicted 11 people over the killing and is seeking the death penalty against five of them. Critics see the move as an effort to distance the crown prince from the killing. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The government is eyeing investments worth $15 billion in the and defence sectors in the next 15 years to make the state a preferred hub for the two industries. This was revealed in the ambitious and defence policy unveiled by on the inaugural day of the second edition of the Global Investors Meet in Chennai Wednesday. The objective of the policy is to make the preferred hub for and defence industries in in the areas of engineering, design, and allied activities. Sitharaman had on January 20 inaugurated the Defence Industrial Corridor in Tiruchirappalli, about 300 km from Chennai. Investments worth over Rs 3,038 crore in this defence corridor were announced with majority of them from public sector undertakings. The Aerospace and Defence Policy aims to attract an estimated investment of about $5 billion in a five-year period and another $10 billion in 10 years in the aerospace and defence sector. The government also eyes job creation for about one lakh people in 10 years in the aerospace and defence industries. Besides boosting the aerospace and defence industries, the policy would also harness Tamil Nadu's strengths in the automotive sector. Tamil Nadu is also home to several auto majors which have set up base in the State including Hyundai Motor India, Ford, and Yamaha Motors. The government would also look at establishing Centre of Excellence, and skill development institutions in the State by attracting global OEMs (original equipment manufacturers) and major Indian companies in Tamil Nadu. Some of the advantages Tamil Nadu has in boosting the sector as revealed in the policy was that the state ranks first in terms of number of factories and industrial workers. The Gross State Domestic Product of Tamil Nadu grew at a compounded annual growth rate of about nine per cent between 2004-05 and 2016-17 higher than the national average of about 7.5 per cent. The state is also the third largest manufacturer of electronic hardware in the country and the electronic hardware industry in the State has grown at a compounded annual growth rate of 30 per cent from 2008. "Some of the Fortune 500 companies which have set up facilities in the state include Motorola, Dell Computers, Samsung, Foxconn, Sanmina-SCI, Flextronics...," it said. For developing the aerospace and defence industry ecosystem in the State, the government would undertake a "cluster development" approach in building the aerospace and by creating the required infrastructure. Through government agencies like Tamil Nadu Industrial Government Corporation and SIPCOT (State Industries Promotion Corporation of Tamil Nadu Ltd), "aerospace and defence parks" based on requirement with adequate infrastructure would be established in the State. The government would also develop a single window clearance facility through the Tamil Nadu Industrial Guidance Bureau that would be available for entire aerospace and defence-related manufacturing and infrastructure projects "irrespective of the size" of the investment, it added. The aerospace and defence policy was formally released by Sitharaman and the first copy was received by Chief Minister K Palaniswami. The ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC) Thursday criticised the arrest of film producer and distributor Shrikant Mohta by the CBI in the Rose Valley chit fund case and said "no one is being spared in the Narendra Modi regime". The opposition Congress, CPI(M) and BJP demanded an explanation from the TMC regarding Mohta's arrest as the film distributor is considered to be close to the ruling party. "They are arresting and are trying to intimidate everybody. Be it a writer, an actor, a film personality.... They don't want to spare anyone. The people will give them a befitting reply," TMC secretary general Partha Chatterjee said. The BJP has turned the CBI into their extended party office, Chatterjee claimed. Senior TMC leaders who did not want to be quoted alleged that the BJP is trying to pursue its vendetta through these arrests. "The CBI should have arrested him earlier. The CBI is doing its work. But whenever it makes any arrest, the TMC raises baseless allegations of vendetta politics," state BJP president Dilip Ghosh said. State Congress president Somen Mitra demanded an explanation from the TMC over the Mohta's arrest as he is considered close to various top leaders of the ruling party. "Mohta used to boast about his connections with top TMC leaders. He was close to various top TMC leaders in the state," Mitra said. Senior CPI(M) leader Sujan Chakraborty said several TMC leaders were arrested earlier for their alleged involvement in the scam and now those who are considered close to the party are being arrested. "What more can we say? These arrests only proves the kind of company the TMC leaders keep," Chakraborty said. CPI(M) state secretary Surya Kanta Mishra wondered what took so long for CBI to arrest Mohta. The CBI on Thursday arrested Mohta in connection with the Rose Valley ponzi scam. He allegedly duped the Rose Valley ponzi firm of Rs 25 crore, CBI sources said. The agency is probing both the Saradha and Rose Valley multi-crore scams. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Pakistan said on Thursday that the ongoing peace talks between the Taliban and the US representative were being facilitated by Islamabad. Foreign Office spokesman Mohammad Faisal said that Pakistan repeatedly and consistently asserted that a political solution of the Afghan issue through dialogue should be the way forward. "The ongoing peace talks in Qatar have been facilitated by Pakistan," he told the media here. The Taliban and US officials are negotiating in Qatar this week. To a question about participation of Pakistan in the ongoing negotiations in Qatar, he said, "yes, Pakistan is present in Qatar". Faisal said Pakistan, as a part of the shared responsibility, is facilitating the ongoing round of talks between the US and the Taliban in Doha, Qatar. "Negotiations are between the two parties for which Pakistan and Qatar are providing the necessary support and facilitating the talks," he said. Faisal also said that the US side expressed interest for a meeting of Prime Minister Imran Khan with President Donald Trump. "Senator Graham reiterated this interest during the visit. There are no dates, as of now, for this meeting. A lot of preparation and homework is required before such high-level engagements are materialized," he said. Responding to a question, Faisal said there was no organised presence of Daesh (ISIS) in Pakistan. On question about Israel, he said "our position on Israel remains unchanged", which meant that Islamabad was not ready to recognise the Jewish state. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Bombay High Court Thursday said the Election Commission had a constitutional obligation to hold fair elections and hence should take steps to prohibit advertisements or paid political content on social media. A division bench of Chief Justice N H Patil and Justice N M Jamdar was hearing a petition filed by lawyer Sagar Suryavanshi, seeking directions to the Commission to prohibit all persons, whether politicians or private individuals, from posting advertisements related to or elections, or paid political content on social media platforms such as YouTube, Facebook, and Twitter, 48 hours before the election day. Advocate Pradeep Rajgopal, appearing for the Commission, told the court that the poll panel has recommended amendment section 126 (b) of the Representation of Peoples Act, which prohibits public meetings, processions, campaigns, etc 48 hours before polling. "By way of amendment, we propose to include the term electronic media in the provision," he said. The bench then noted that amendments to the Act would take a lot of time. "Till the amendment is brought, what does the Election Commission propose to do about the issues raised in the petition? Elections are coming up. The commission should have some answers," Chief Justice Patil said. The court suggested the Commission to pass orders before the upcoming elections. "The Election Commissioner can issue orders. You (EC) are not helpless. In order to conduct and hold fair elections the commission can issue orders. It is your constitutional obligation," the chief justice said. The bench has also directed a senior officer of the Commission to remain present before it next week for further hearing on the plea. The petitioner's lawyer Abhinav Chandrachud told the bench that social networking sites, such as Facebook, had advertising policies in the UK and the US, where all advertisements and paid content were subjected to strict verification process. He argued that a similar policy must be implemented in India too. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The sit-in by a section of students of Presidency University was withdrawn Thursday evening after the authorities revoked suspension order of three students, issued for locking the main gate of the institute on September 10. The indefinite hunger strike by six students, including the three suspended ones, was also called off, one of the agitating students said. The fast had began on the evening of January 19. The governing body has withdrawn the suspension of three students with immediate effect after series of talks with student representatives and considering all aspects, Presidency University Vice-Chancellor Anuradha Lohia told PTI. Lohia finally left the campus around 7.30 pm Thursday, more than 31 hours after she came to the campus on Wednesday noon and sat inside her chamber along with the registrar and senior officials as the students launched an indefinite sit-in outside her office. To a question, Lohia said the three students have "expressed regret" for their conduct on September 10 to the authorities and promised that this will not be repeated. "We had never come in the way of democratic movement of students which had taken place at Presidency several times. But we had taken exception to the act of preventing teachers and other staff from entering the institution they are so proud of and disrupting academic activities on a whole working day. I think now they have understood their mistake," the VC said. Subho Biswas, one of the agitating students, said, "The authorities have assured us that the three students will get written communication about revocation of the suspension order next Monday," when the institute will reopen. The VC stated earlier in the day that the inquiry committee had recommended action against 21 students for the September 10 incident. "I had waived the suspension order for 18 students and instead issued them a note of caution. The suspension period of three students was also reduced from one year to six months," she said. Presidency has unions of Students' Federation of India (SFI) and Independent Consolidation (IC). (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Sushil Kumar Modi launched a vitriolic attack on Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Thursday, a day after she entered active politics, saying the Congress was feeling happy "over the induction of a woman with a tainted life partner". In a tweet, the senior BJP leader also scoffed at Priyanka Gandhi's resemblance with her grandmother and former prime minister Indira Gandhi. "If a person could become as capable as someone else merely by resembling him or her, by now we would have had many more Virat Kohlis and Amitabh Bachchans. Duplicates do not work in Priyanka might resemble Indira, but there is a big difference," Modi said. He also compared Priyanka Gandhi's husband and businessman Robert Vadra with Indira Gandhi's spouse Firoz Gandhi. The deputy chief minister said Firoz Gandhi was a good orator and an upright parliamentarian "who had the guts to speak against his powerful father-in-law", Jawaharlal Nehru. "Priyanka's businessman husband's irregular land transactions are spread across two states and he is facing probes. If the Congress wants to exult over the induction of a woman with a tainted life partner, it is most welcome to do so," Modi said. Earlier, talking to reporters here on the sidelines of a function, he had claimed that Priyanka Gandhi's induction into the Congress was aimed at "threatening the SP-BSP alliance". Priyanka Gandhi formally entered on Wednesday with her brother and Congress president Rahul Gandhi appointing her as general secretary for Uttar Pradesh East. Modi said her appointment would bring the alleged corruption scandals against Robert Vadra onto the "centre-stage", which would benefit the NDA. "The BJP is not at all worried. Why should it be when her entry is only going to help us. The Congress has brought in Priyanka with a view to threaten the SP-BSP alliance, with the possibility of a split in their votes. It is a desperate attempt to make Akhilesh Yadav and Mayawati rethink their strategy," he said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Chairman Sunil Bharti joined hands Thursday with several other global business leaders to pledge support to a 'Digital Declaration" at the WEF Annual Meeting here, committing to act ethically and responsibly in the digital age. The declaration was launched by GSMA, an industry body of mobile operators worldwide which unites more than 750 operators and over 350 companies in the broader mobile ecosystem including handset and device makers and software firms. The declaration calls for acting ethically in the digital era, helping companies deliver what matters most to digital citizens, industry and governments. The 40 business leaders who have committed to the declaration span several industry sectors and include representatives from: Bharti Airtel, China Mobile, China Telecom, Deutsche Telekom, Ericsson, IBM, KDDI, KT, LG Electronics, Mobile World Capital Barcelona, Nokia, NTT DOCOMO, Orange, Samsung Electronics, Sharp, SK Telecom, Sony Corporation, STC Group, Telefnica, Turkcell, Verizon, and It is expected that by 2022, 60 per cent of GDP will be digitised. The imminent arrival of 5G networks will further accelerate this change, the GSMA said adding that the Digital Declaration is a cross-industry movement of CEOs confronting these shared challenges. Its principles call on businesses to respect the privacy of digital citizens; handle personal data securely and transparently; take meaningful steps to mitigate cyber threats; and ensure everyone can participate in the digital as it develops whilst combatting "A positive and enabling digital future is integral to a truly empowered and inclusive society," said Mittal, who was first business leader to sign the Digital Declaration. "It is imperative for industry to make the required investments to build a sustainable digital ecosystem and maintain citizen's trust through transparent and responsible conduct with regard to privacy and data," he said. "Backing The Digital Declaration, fits into our vision to enable a progressive, free and enlightened society," said Stphane Richard, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Orange, and Chair of the GSMA. Mobile is one of the most widely deployed technology platforms ever with more than 5 billion unique mobile subscribers worldwide, representing approximately two-thirds of the world's population forecast to grow to almost 6 billion (71 per cent) by 2025. As we move into an era of Intelligent Connectivity, the combination of endless connectivity enabled through 5G and the Internet of Things, with the powerful intelligence delivered by big data and will further transform entire industries, the GSMA said. The GSMA invited business leaders from all sectors to join the Digital Declaration and ask themselves what role they can play in creating a better digital society. Singapore heartthrob Aloysius Pang has died after sustaining serious injuries during an artillery gun accident in a military training exercise in New Zealand. Pang, 28, succumbed to injuries after a series of stomach operations at the Waikato Hospital in Hamilton, where he was receiving treatment, the Defence Ministry said in a statement on Wednesday night. He had been carrying out repair works inside a Singapore Self-Propelled Howitzer -- an artillery gun mounted on an armoured chassis -- with two other SAF personnel when the accident happened at the Waiouru Training area last Saturday. "Unfortunately, Corporal First Class (National Service) Pang sustained injuries when the gun barrel was lowered," said the ministry. He was on reservist duty as part of young Singaporeans commitment to be battle ready to serve in the armed forces under the compulsory National Service. Pang was evacuated to Waikato Hospital, a regional trauma centre, where he underwent a number of operations, it said. Tan Tock Seng Hospital's chief of trauma and acute care surgery Dr Teo Li Tserng was flown in from Singapore to assist the New Zealand medical team attending Pang. "Despite surgical attempts to repair damaged organs and putting him on artificial life support, CFC (NS) Pang succumbed to injuries and passed away," said the ministry. The actor grew up with local television media group, Mediacorp, starting his career as a child actor in television dramas in 1999. Pang was named one of the "8 Dukes of Caldecott Hill (the venue of television stations)" in 2014, awarded Best Newcomer at the Star Awards 2015 and became one of the Top 10 Most Popular Male Artistes at the Star Awards 2016. Over the years, he matured as an actor and was recently cast in the lead role of future Channel 8 drama My One in a Million. The role will be recast, said Mediacorp. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Elaborate traffic arrangements and restrictions have been put in place in Delhi for the Republic Day parade between Vijay Chowk and Red Fort grounds, police said Thursday. According to an advisory released by Delhi Police, the Republic Day parade will start at 9.50 am from Vijay Chowk and proceed towards the Red Fort grounds through the Rajpath, India Gate, Tilak Marg, Bahadur Shah Zafar Marg and Netaji Subhash Marg. The function at India Gate will begin at 9 AM, Joint Commissioner of Police (Traffic), Alok Kumar, said. In order to facilitate smooth passage of the parade, no traffic will be allowed on Rajpath from Vijay Chowk to India Gate from 6 pm on January 25 till the parade is over, the officer said. Cross traffic on Rajpath from 11 pm on January 25 at Rafi Marg, Janpath, Man Singh Road will not be allowed till the parade is over. 'C'-Hexagon-India Gate will be closed for traffic from 2 am on January 26 till the parade crosses Tilak Marg, Kumar said. From 10 am on January 26, traffic on Tilak Marg, Bahadur Shah Zafar Marg and Subhash Marg will not be allowed on both flanks. Cross traffic will only be allowed depending upon the movement of the parade, he added. Commuters are requested to plan their journey in advance accordingly and avoid the route of parade, from 2 am to 12.30 pm, for their own convenience, he said. Movement of buses will be curtailed at Park Street/Udyan Marg, Aram Bagh Road (Pahar Ganj), Kamla Market, Delhi Secretariat (IG Stadium), Pragati Maidan (Bhairon Road), Hanuman Mandir (Yamuna Bazar), Mori Gate, Tiz Hazari, Kashmiri Gate ISBT and Sarai Kale Khan ISBT, police said. Buses from Ghaziabad bound for Shivaji Stadium shall take NH-24, Ring Road and terminate at Bhairon Road. Buses coming from NH-24 shall take right turn on Road No. 56 and terminate at ISBT Anand Vihar. Buses coming from Ghaziabad will be diverted at Mohan Nagar towards Bhopra Chungi for Wazirabad Bridge. All inter-state buses coming from Dhaula Kuan side shall terminate at Dhaula Kuan, the advisory stated. Metro service shall remain available at all stations during the Republic Day parade. However, boarding and de-boarding will not be allowed at Central Secretariat and Udyog Bhawan from 5 am till 12 pm, Lok Kalyan Marg (Race Course) and Patel Chowk from 8.45 am to 12 pm, Kumar said. No heavy vehicles will be allowed to enter Delhi from 10 pm on January 25 till the parade is over, and their entry from Sarai Kale Khan will be banned on January 26 from 7.30 am till 12.30 pm, the officer said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Alexander Dinelaris, the Oscar-winning screenwriter of "Birdman", lamented the treatment meted out to writers in Indian film industry and wondered why they are considered the lower rung on the ladder. Dinelaris is in the city to attend the launch of actor Boman Irani's production banner, Irani MovieTone. He will also conduct a day-long screenwriting workshop for budding writers, directors and students of cinema. "I am unfamiliar (with Indian cinema) and I am just learning. I have seen handful of films and I have seen Boman's work. I am opening myself to find a bridge. Hopefully I will be well versed when we meet next," the writer told reporters Thursday. "My education (on Indian cinema) began with Boman. I did not know who he was and I had not seen his films. And at the same time I had not won anything or was not paid attention to either," he added. The 50-year-old scribe also said that he felt a connection with Irani's script. "We just connected on the story that he was writing. Here, the screenwriters are a little bit in lower packing order. That is just the way it is and I don't know why. I fell in love with his story and we just clicked immediately," Dinelaris said. The duo met when Irani visited New York and they know each other for over six and a half years. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) : Schwing Stetter India, a 100 per cent subsidiary of German concrete machinery manufacturer SCHWING GmBH, has proposed to set up a new manufacturing plant in Cheyyar in Tiruvannamalai district of Tamil Nadu, with an investment of Rs 350 crore over a period of four years. The company Thursday signed a memorandum of understanding with its subsidiary during the second edition of the Global Investors Meet underway here. The plant would create 200 new jobs, a press release from the company said. "Schwing Stetter has committed itself to an immediate investment of Rs 237 crore in new plant in Cheyyar on SIPCOT (State Industries Promotion Corporation of Tamil Nadu) land and will be scaling up the investments to Rs 350 crore over a period of four years," the release said. The facility to be spread across 53 acres would be used for producing truck-mounted concrete boom pumps, self-loading mixers, among others, it said. The unit marks the commitment of the German company to the Indian market and focusses on the emerging infrastructure boom besides tapping the export potential of Asia and Africa. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Centre's decision to grant more power and funds to 10 autonomous councils in the Northeastern region failed to satisfy political parties of Tripura, except the ruling BJP. Even the Indigenous People's front of Tripura (IPFT), the sole ally of the saffron party in the state, said the Centre's move would not be able to fulfil the aspiration of the tribal people of the state. Aiming to woo the tribal population in the Northeast ahead of the Lok Sabha polls, the Union Cabinet Wednesday approved constitutional amendments to increase the powers of the autonomous councils in the Sixth Schedule areas of the Northeast. While the BJP termed the decision 'historic', the main opposition CPI(M) said there is nothing new in the proposed amendment. "We have long been demanding a separate Twipraland for the tribals. We think a separate state by carving out the Tripura Tribal Areas Autonomous District Council can only solve our problems," IPFT spokesperson Mangal Debbarma said. Rampada Jamatia, Tripura BJP tribal wing president, said this "historic decision" will be able to bring a lot of funds for development of tribal areas. "We had demanded that the Tripura Tribal Areas Autonomous District Council (TTAADC) be made a state council. They made it a Territorial council. But we have no problem with it," Jamatia said. The amendments propose to rename the TTAADC as the Tripura Tribal Area Autonomous Territorial Council as the present jurisdiction of these councils extend to more than one districts. In a statement, the CPI(M) said there is nothing new in the proposed amendments to empower the tribal councils of the region. The party demanded that monetary assistance to the council be continued from the tribal sub-plan and other sectors and the sanctions should not be stopped in the name of enhancing grants from the Finance Commission. The amendment proposed 30 per cent reservation of seats in village councils and urban civil bodies in the Sixth Schedule areas, but did not make any proposal for reservation of seats in the Tribal council, it said. The CPI(M) also demanded inclusion of the tribal language Kokbarak in the Eighth Schedule of the Constitution. The Indigenous National Party of Twipra (INPT) stated that the proposed amendment would not be beneficial for the tribal council in the state. INPT president Bijoy Kumar Hrangkhawl said, "When the amendment proposed increasing the number of seats in the councils in other states of the region, TTAADC is not there in the list. It is discrimination. We demand that the number of seats for TTAADC be raised." The party also demanded that the central government convene a meeting of the tribal leaders of the region before placing it as a Bill in Parliament. The state Congress is yet to comment on the issue. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Russia on Thursday slammed what it called foreign interference in Venezuela and denounced the opposition's "usurpation of power", calling President Nicolas Maduro the crisis-hit country's legitimate leader. In a strongly-worded statement backing Moscow ally Maduro, the Russian foreign ministry warned that international support for opposition leader Juan Guaido, who declared himself interim president Wednesday, was a "direct path to lawlessness and bloodshed". "Only Venezuelans have the right to determine their future. Destructive outside interference, especially in the current extremely tense situation, is unacceptable," it said. In a separate statement to reporters, Russian President Vladimir Putin's spokesman slammed attempts by the opposition to usurp power. "We consider the attempted usurpation of power in Venezuela as... a breach of the foundations of international law," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters during a conference call. "Maduro is the legitimate head of state," he added. On Wednesday, the United States and major South American nations recognised Venezuelan Guaido as interim leader, while the UN urged dialogue in Caracas to avoid "disaster", leaving Maduro increasingly isolated. The Kremlin has backed Maduro who has been hit by US and EU sanctions, and ostracised as a dictator by Western powers for his brutal suppression of the opposition. Moscow warned Washington against any attempts to militarily intervene in Venezuela. "We caution against any such reckless steps fraught with catastrophic consequences," the foreign ministry said. Moscow said Washington's "cavalier" actions in the country showed that the United States ignored norms of international law, claiming it wanted to push through a change of power in Venezuela. Russia has extensive economic interests in Venezuela and invested billions of dollars in its energy sector. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Royal Enfield will invest an additional Rs 500 crore by 2021 to expand its three manufacturing facilities in Tamil Nadu under a pact with the state government to receive fiscal and monetary incentives. According to the memorandum of understanding (MoU) inked between the two parties, the state government will extend fiscal and monetary incentives to the company, subject to it investing Rs 1,500 crore over a period of five years beginning May 2016, Royal Enfield, two-wheeler arm of Eicher Motors, said in a regulatory filing. Out of Rs 1,500 crore, Royal Enfield has already invested over Rs 1,000 crore. The company is planning to put in the rest of the capital towards capacity expansion at its three existing manufacturing facilities in and around Chennai at Thiruvottiyur, Oragadam and Vallam Vadagal that are producing motorcycles for India and international markets. The company is also planning to invest for setting up the technology centre along the Old Mahabalipuram Road (OMR) in Chennai. The MoU is subject to ratification by the Board of Eicher Motors, the company said. Royal Enfield had signed a similar MoU in May 2012 with the Tamil Nadu government for setting up its new manufacturing unit at Oragadam with an investment commitment of Rs 350 crore. The time frame for the investment was from 2011 to 2016. The committed investments were completed before investment period, the company said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The iconic Flora Fountain in South Mumbai was unveiled Thursday after completion of the restoration work. The unveiling was done by Mumbai mayor Vishwanath Mahadeshwar and Shiv Sena leader Aaditya Thackeray. "Happy to have unveiled the Flora Fountain, iconic as ever along with the mayor of Mumbai and other dignitaries," Aaditya Thackeray tweeted. He said he had visited the monument while it was being worked upon. "To what it from inside is also something that makes you speechless. The plan now is to bring alive the heritage precinct to its real glory with small interventions that add t it. Such plazas are needed," he said. Meanwhile, civic officials have said the work of giving a face-lift to the area around the heritage structure and landscaping will take another few months to complete. "The restoration of Flora Fountain, named after Flora, the mythological Roman goddess of flowers, has been completed and it would be formally thrown open for public viewing on Thursday," the officials said. Noted architect Vikas Dilawari, who is overseeing the project on behalf of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), said the restoration work was divided into two parts. "The first part of the restoration work of the main monument is now complete. It will be opened for public viewing tomorrow. The second part of the restoration work involves upgradation of the surrounding and landscaping, which will take another few months," he said. The work to renovate the 153-year-old Gothic Revival architecture was given to the Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage (INTACH) by the BMC in September 2016. However, the organisation had stopped the work towards the end of 2017 due to paucity of funds. The restoration work resumed in March 2018. Flora Fountain is an ornamentally and exquisitely sculpted architectural heritage monument located in the Fort business district in the heart of the southern part of Mumbai. Built in 1864, the decorated structure is a fusion of water, architecture and sculpture depicting the Roman goddess Flora. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Oil-to-telecom conglomerate is evolving from an integrated energy company into a consumer giant like China's and potentially could rival likes of Amazon and Walmart, says a report on Thursday. India's No1 oil refining and petrochemical company plans to roll out its online shopping platform that will combine its retail arm's nearly 10,000 stores in over 6,500 towns as well as neighbourhood retailers with its fast expanding mobile phone network that already has 280 million subscribers. "Our analysis suggests RIL can become a market leader in telecom and media, while gaining significant share in retail/e-commerce. Its success could be built on an ecosystem or bundling strategy, and a home-court advantage, similar to Alibaba's success in China, beyond explicit or implicit policy support," brokerage firm UBS said. While Amazon's strong 'Prime' membership growth has been a key pillar of its business, Reliance has similarly built a strong telecom subscriber base. The company has already surprised investors by reaching a market-leading position in telecom within a short span of two-and-a-half years. Its edge in fixed broadband (FTTH) derives from low penetration, high capital intensity, a fibre roll-out lead, and content tie-ups. "In retail/e-commerce, despite competition from well-funded global companies, RIL's wide footprint of physical stores along with its omnichannel focus, subscriber reach and regulations governing foreign e-commerce entities could help it gain a 300 basis point market share in high-growth, modern retail," it said. The company's traditional energy businesses have funded the consumer segment and remain key to its market-leading position. RIL, it said, can potentially become a unique quadruple play by bundling connectivity, carriage, content and commerce to gain higher share of consumers' wallet. Listing some comparables between and Reliance, it said pursuing an ecosystem or a bundling strategy in a high-growth fragmented retail sector with lower online penetration and home-turf advantage are common to both. Amazon's core value proposition to customers is its 'Prime' subscription, which offers free shipping and video and music content. "Our assessment of the capital framework, regulations, business positioning and emerging trends in each of its consumer-facing business indicates RIL can lead in telecom and media and gain significant share in retail/e-commerce," it said. "Can RIL evolve into India's Amazon/Alibaba/ ," UBS asked and answered it with a "Yes." Currently, the company's energy business contributes 75 per cent of its Ebitda (Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortisation). Consumer business accounts for the remaining 25 per cent. "We think there are many similarities between the India of today and the China of 10 years ago. India's retail landscape is fragmented, and there are significant demographic and socioeconomic differences from top to low-tier cities. "Online penetration is low in India, with e-commerce accounting for 2.3 per cent of retail sales in 2018; in comparison, China's e-commerce penetration is over 20 per cent currently. This means India is still not at the sweet spot for e-commerce adoption, where mainstream adopters shift rapidly to online spending and platforms experience hyper-growth," UBS said. Reliance also has a 'home court' advantage. "There are now more supportive policies in India. India's e-commerce law should be supportive of domestic companies, including RIL. In China, was also able to overtake a dominant eBay in the early days because it invested more both to sign up merchants and to acquire customers." "Beyond any explicit or implicit policy support, we believe this home court advantage is important. that have to justify years of heavy investments in a foreign market often at times will be less aggressive than a domestic one that has nowhere to go if it fails to gain traction," it added. : Holding that the use of plastics posed several challenges to the environment, Vice-President M Venkaiah Naidu Thursday said, "reduce, reuse and recycle" should be the mantra for minimising the deleterious impact of plastics on Participating in the golden jubilee celebrations of the Central Institute of Plastics Engineering and Technology (CIPET) here, Naidu said, India should adopt better waste management technologies whereby used plastic becomes feedstock rather than a waste. "Plastic sector will account for 20 per cent of total oil consumption and 15 per cent of the global annual carbon budget by 2050. At the end of the day, it might not be possible to avoid the use of plastics. While there are a number of positive aspects of plastics, they pose several challenges to our environment," he said. Elaborating, he said, "convenience items that are intended for single use are being continually discarded to the landfills, littering our landscapes thereby creating threats for aquatic and marine life". Naidu called for steps to replace conventional plastics with biodegradable polymers and the focus of CIPET should be in that direction. He advised CIPET to take up awareness campaign on the need to recycle, re-purpose and reuse plastic items. "I would also like CIPET to make sustainability a guiding principle in all its endeavours. Reduce, reuse and recycle should be the mantra for minimising the deleterious impact of plastic on environment," he said. While harnessing the benefits of plastics, there is a need to ensure that they do not end up in oceans, he said. "There is no other alternative if we have to handover a safer, cleaner and a healthier planer to posterity. Economics is fine, but what about This should be the uppermost thought in the minds of those dealing with plastics," he said. Improper littering habits and lack of awareness among the public on plastic waste management resulted in many hazards, he said adding it has to be ensured that the plastics are used "responsibly" and "recycled properly". While looking at the development of the petrochemical sector the usage of plastics has increased 20 fold in the past half-century and it was expected to double in the next 20 years, he said. "We should adopt better waste management technologies, involving a circular economy approach, where used plastic becomes a feedstock rather than a waste," he said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Railway hospitals across the country will soon provide treatment to eligible families under the Centre's ambitious Ayushman Bharat scheme, an official statement said Thursday. In addition, eligible families will soon be able to get benefits under the scheme at hospitals under the New Delhi Municipal Council and the North Delhi Municipal Corporation, a statement by the National Health Authority, the apex body implementing the insurance programme, said. The NHA Thursday signed an MoU with the Ministry of Railways in this regard. The Union government on September 23 had launched the Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana, which aims to provide a cover of Rs 5 lakh per family per year and is likely to benefit more than 10 crore poor families across the country. As per the MoU, identified medical establishments having inpatient hospitalisations under the Ministry's Railway Health Services department across its 16 zones will be empanelled with the PMJAY to implement the scheme. It will provide secondary and tertiary care to eligible individuals. "The government is committed to developing a strategic partnership with providers to strengthen service delivery under the scheme so that the vision of AB PM-JAY becomes a reality. Empanelment of health care providers and institutions is a key aspect of this partnership," Dr Indu Bhushan, the NHA CEO, said. Speaking about the collaboration, he said, "I am confident that our partnership with the Railways, the NDMC and the North Delhi Municipal Corporation will go a long way in ensuring access to quality healthcare to the poor in the country through Ayushman Bharat PM-JAY scheme". This will also help strengthen and expand the existing infrastructure and quality of services of these public hospitals, he said. "We are happy to partner with the NHA to implement Ayushman Bharat. This collaboration will help the beneficiaries get access to quality healthcare even in the remotest parts of the country through our network of railway hospitals," Dr Gajendra Kumar, the principal executive director of Health in the Ministry of Railways, said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Congress president Rahul Gandhi is set to kickstart the party's poll campaign in Odisha on Friday at a rally near here, the party said Thursday. Gandhi's visit comes close on the heels of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's back-to-back visits to the state. The visit is crucial for uniting the party cadre in the state where several senior leaders including two MLAs quit the party recently, a party leader said. Assembly election would be held along with Lok Sabha polls in Odisha soon. Besides addressing the rally, christened as 'Parivartan Sankalp Samavesh' at Tamando Stadium on the outskirts of Bhubaneswar, the Congress chief is slated to meet intellectuals during his day-long visit here, party sources said. He will also meet employees of the Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) and the Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL). "There is a lot of enthusiasm among party workers ahead of Rahulji's visit to the state. His visit will certainly motivate them ahead of the elections," Congress' Odisha in-charge Jitendra Singh told reporters here. Singh, who along with Odisha Pradesh Congress Committee (OPCC) president Niranjan Patnaik, inspected the venue of Gandhi's public meeting, said the AICC chief will visit Odisha every month till the elections. Gandhi's tour follows Modi's three visits to the state since December, the latest being on January 15 to the western Odisha town of Balangir. Modi's high-profile tours will be followed by Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) president Amit Shah's tour on January 29 and February 3, a senior party leader said. Shah's scheduled visit to the state on January 18 was cancelled because of his illness. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday called his Venezuelan counterpart Nicolas Maduro and expressed support, after several other nations recognised self-declared Venezuelan leader Juan Guaido, the Kremlin said. "The President of Russia expressed support for the legitimate authorities of Venezuela in the context of a domestic political crisis that has been provoked from the outside," it said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Congress president Rahul Gandhi Thursday said he has given his sister Priyanka Gandhi, newly entrusted with eastern Uttar Pradesh, the target of ensuring that the party forms the next government in the state. The Congress will also fight the coming Lok Sabha polls with full strength, he said at a public meeting in his constituency. His two-day visit to Amethi had coincided Wednesday with the formal entry of Priyanka Gandhi in politics, after years of speculation on whether she would take the plunge. She has been appointed general secretary for Uttar Pradesh East, while Jyotiraditya Scindia holds charge of UP West. "Priyanka and Scindia have been given a target. That is to form a Congress government in Uttar Pradesh in the next election by defeating and wiping out the BJP, the Congress president said. Unlike PM Modi, I do not talk of a 'BJP-mukt Bharat' but speak with respect," Gandhi said, referring to Narendra Modi's call to free India of the Congress. Whether it is Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh or Tamil Nadu, everywhere the Congress will fight with full might on the front foot, and you will see that after the Vidhan Sabha elections there will be a Congress government in the state, he said. In the Lok Sabha polls, we will contest with full strength, without taking a backward step," he said, referring to the election just months away. He criticised the Centre government over the Rafale aircraft deal and accused the prime minister of waiving industrialists' loans, charges countered earlier by the government. The watchman proved to be a thief," he said, and repeated the slogan, "Gali gali mein shor hai, chowkidar chor hai." Earlier in the morning, Gandhi visited a local Shiva temple after meeting party workers at a guesthouse. Addressing a public meeting in Salon area, he termed himself, his sister and mother Sonia Gandhi as soldiers for the people of the constituency. While Rahul Gandhi won the 2014 parliamentary elections from Amethi, Sonia Gandhi is an MP from adjacent Rae Bareli. Both fall under the turf carved out for Priyanka Gandhi. Narendra Modi's Varanasi constituency and Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath's bastion Gorakhpur are also in eastern UP. Rahul Gandhi reiterated he has full respect for leaders like Bahujan Samaj Party president Mayawati and Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav and his father Mulayam Singh Yadav. The SP and the BSP recently forged an alliance for UP in the coming Lok Sabha polls, keeping the Congress out of the pact. The Congress president said the prime minister had not kept his poll promise on creating jobs, and suggested that the Bharatiya Janata Party government had slowed development in his constituency. "You will get your food park back, not 99 per cent but 101 per cent. All development projects that have been stalled by Narendra Modi and Yogiji to hurt you will be back," he said. "The BJP people are spreading hatred in the name of religion, caste and region. They get people of UP and Bihar thrown out of Gujarat, get Hindus and Muslims fight each other,' he charged. Narendra Modi means hatred, he is the symbol of hatred, he said. We will remove Modi in 2019 and no one can stop this. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Rajasthan Deputy Chief Minister Sachin Pilot said Thursday Priyanka Gandhi Vadra's formal entry in active will turn out to be a game changer in the next three months. He was speaking at a session titled 'Democracy, Freedom and the Political Process: Looking to the Future' on the first day of the Jaipur Literature Festival here. Pilot said Priyanka Gandhi has been working for long in Amethi and Raebareli, constituencies represented by Congress chief Rahul Gandhi and UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi. After years of speculation on whether she would take the plunge, Priyanka Gandhi was Wednesday appointed general secretary for Uttar Pradesh East. "The move is going to be a game changer in the next three months," Pilot said. He said people should not prejudge her qualities and abilities. "Everyone in the Congress works as a team and as far as Priyanka is concerned, she has been handling the party's war room for long and hence we should not prejudge her qualities and ability," he said. When asked about his equation with Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot, Pilot said it was going "fantastically well". Gehlot and Pilot had lobbied for the CM post when the Congress won the Rajasthan Assembly elections in December. Targeting the NDA, Pilot said it was losing its alliance partners and the "ship" was going to sink soon. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Asserting that Priyanka Gandhi Vadra's formal entry in active will have no impact on Lok Sabha polls, the BJP on Thursday said her appointment as Congress general secretary of Uttar Pradesh-East may have generated a buzz in Delhi but it has drawn no response from the region of which she has been made in-charge by her party. Union Minister Manoj Sinha,who is Lok Sabha MP from Ghazipur in eastern UP, said Piyanka's appointment is an attempt by the Congress to gain some importance in the state as it was left in a "bad shape" after being left out of the SP-BSP alliance. At a BJP press conference, he also played down ally Shiv Sena's praise for Priyanka, saying it is the party's "personal opinion". "Priyanka Gandhi Vadra was made a general secretary in Delhi and you people have been discussing it here. But it seems that people of the region of which she has been made in-charge are not noticing it," Sinha said, adding her presence would have no impact on the general election. He said that Lok Sabha election will be fought on a "different plane", stressing that the Modi government has "changed the lives of 22 crore families with its development policies". He also lashed out at Congress president Rahul Gandhi over his use of "impolite" words against Prime Minister Narendra Modi during his visit to Amethi,saying such language is "not used even in panchayat politics". Sinha said Rahul Gandhi's remarks were condemnable. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Priyanka Gandhi's entry into active is full of possibilities and bound to pave the way for UPA's return to power at the Centre, former Uttarakhand Chief Minister Harish Rawat Thursday said. He congratulated Rahul Gandhi for taking up the challenge head on in the changing of Uttar Pradesh and also Priyanka for accepting the challenging post of party general secretary in charge of eastern UP. "Priyanka Gandhi's entry into active is full of possibilities.I am sure it will revive the party in UP with people from all sections rallying behind the Congress the way they did in 2009 at the call of Rahul Gandhi paving the way for UPA-II," the AICC general secretary in-charge of Assam said. "We will script history once again under the leadership of Rahul Gandhi and bring about a major political transformation," he said in a statement. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A section of students of Presidency University on Thursday continued with their sit-in outside the vice-chancellor's office demanding that the authorities revoke the suspension of three students for locking the varsity's main gate on September 10. The Vice-Chancellor Anuradha Lohia said the three students should first offer unconditional apology for their conduct. The agitating students, six of whom were also on an indefinite fast since January 19 are demanding that the varsity authorities immediately revoke the suspension order or share the findings of the inquiry committee, which had recommended the suspension order. The students are holding the sit-in outside the VC's office since Wednesday afternoon. The VC told a press meet in her office on Thursday, the inquiry committee had found the three students took the most active role in bolting the main gate and preventing the faculty and non-teaching staff to enter the campus which led to severe disruption of functioning of the institute on September 10. "These three should first apologise to us for their conduct on that day," she said. "The agitating students are claiming that if disciplinary action has to be taken, it has to be initiated against all the 400 students who were present at the campus on that day and not just against three. ... our enquiry report points out these three took the initiative in locking the gate ...," she said. Stating the varsity had not taken action against students for several disruptive agitations at the campus in past, Lohia said, "We had not taken any action at that time. But locking the gate of an institute on a working day and preventing their own teachers and staff from entering is unethical, unacceptable." The VC said while the inquiry committee had recommended action against 21 students for the September 10 incident, "I had waived the suspension order for 18 students and instead only issued them a note of caution while the suspension period of three students was reduced from one year to six months." She said while the agitating students were claiming they will not prevent her or any other official of the varsity from leaving, "they are on a sit-in before my office since Wednesday afternoon and lying on the floors. It is not possible to leave by jumping over them. We will prefer to be in campus as long as they want."An agitating student Sayan Chakraborty criticised the VC for terming the indefinite fast by six students as blackmail and asked "if fast is not part and weapon in a democratic movement."Another agitator Ujan demanded immediate withdrawal of suspension notice or sharing contents of the enquiry committee report with the students. He said while seven students had initially started the fast, one had become seriously ill and had to be hospitalised and another joined the fast after hospitalisation for a brief period. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Secretary of State Mike Pompeo acknowledged Wednesday that he had been approached to run for Senate next year but said he was focused for now on being America's top diplomat. He said that Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, the top Senate Republican, asked him to consider the race in Kansas, where Pompeo served three terms in the House of Representatives until he joined President Donald Trump's administration. "I spoke to Senator McConnell once. He asked me if I'd think about it, and I told him I appreciated the phone call," Pompeo told Fox Pompeo declined to respond if he was interested, saying that answering might violate a US law against federal employees engaging in political activity. "Lots of folks have reached out to me and suggested I ought to do that. I have suggested to them that I have a very full plate as secretary of state, and I intend to keep doing this so long as President Trump will commit to it," Pompeo said. The Republicans are bracing for a potentially tough vote in November 2020, when Trump is up for re-election and the party is defending almost twice as many Senate seats as the Democrats. Kansas has not elected a Democrat to the Senate since 1932, the longest streak in which either of the two major US parties has held a lock on both seats in a state. But the Midwestern state in November elected a Democrat as governor and Senator Pat Roberts, a popular 82-year-old Republican, has said he will not run again next year. Pompeo would enjoy instant name recognition if he ran for Senate. He keeps a presence in Kansas through regular local media interviews and is popular with conservative Christians, speaking often about his faith. Secretary of state is generally considered the most prestigious cabinet position, with Hillary Clinton and John Kerry both leaving the Senate to take the job. But the Senate would ensure Pompeo a prominent position in Washington for at least six years, regardless of the outcome of the next presidential election. Trump has been quick to turn on his cabinet members although Pompeo, who was first tapped to run the CIA, has by all accounts been among the president's favorites. Pompeo last year replaced Rex Tillerson, a former chief executive of oil giant ExxonMobil, whom Trump later derided on Twitter as "dumb as a rock. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A petition challenging the Centre's power to notify a community as minority under the law was filed in the Supreme Court on Thursday. The plea, filed by BJP leader and lawyer Ashwini Upadhyay, has sought declaration of Section 2 (c) of the National Commission for Minorities Act as "inoperative" for being "arbitrary, unreasonable and in violation of the Constitution". The provision gives the central government the right to declare a community minority allowing it to avail benefits of government schemes meant for its members. The petition, filed through advocate R D Upadhyay and which may come up up for hearing next week, has challenged the Centre's notification dated October 23, 1993, which notified only five communities Muslims, Christians, Sikhs, Buddhists and Parsis as 'minority'. It sought to declare states as the unit of determination when it comes to defining "minorities" and also demanded laying down of guidelines for their identification, to ensure that only those religious and linguistic groups, which are socially, economically and politically non-dominant and numerically inferior, may enjoy rights and protection guaranteed under Articles 29 and 30 of the Constitution. "Only those religious and linguistic groups of Indian citizens, which are socially economically and politically non-dominant and numerically not more than 1 per cent of the total population of that respective state, may enjoy rights and protection guaranteed under Articles 29 and 30 of the Constitution," the petition said. Article 29 deals with protection of interests of minorities whereas Article 30 deals with their rights to establish and administer educational institutions. The petition said the benefits given to minorities in the name of Articles 29, 30, are similar to the benefits given to SC/STs under Articles 15, 16, which establishes that the government intends to manage favour than following the concept of "welfare state". It said Muslims, who are a majority in Lakshadweep and Jammu and Kashmir and have a significant population in Assam, West Bengal, Kerala, Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, have been conferred the 'minority' status and the communities which are really fewer in number haven't been given legitimate share because of non-identification at the state level. Similarly, Christians are a majority in Mizoram, Meghalaya and Nagaland and have a significant presence in Arunachal Pradesh, Goa, Kerala, Manipur, Tamil Nadu and West Bengal but are treated as minority, the petition said. Sikhs, who are the dominant community in Punjab and have a significant population in Delhi, Chandigarh and Haryana, are also considered minority, the plea said. It also said that Hindus are a minority in eight states, Lakshadweep, Mizoram, Nagaland, Meghalaya, Jammu and Kashmir, Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur and Punjab but their "minority rights are being siphoned off illegally and arbitrarily to majority population because Central government has not notified them as minority under Section 2 (c) of the NCM Act". "There has been no application of mind by the Central government in identifying the minority. The power endowed by Section 2(c) of the NCM Act is therefore entirely unbridled and gives untrammelled power to the Central government, hence it is manifestly arbitrary and offends Article 14 of the Constitution," the petition said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Philippines welcomed a record 7.1 million tourists to its beaches and dive spots in 2018, despite its most famous resort Boracay being shut half the year to recover, authorities said Thursday. The archipelago nation of over 7,000 islands saw the number of visitors jump by nearly eight per cent over the previous year, with South Koreans leading the way as its top tourists. This growth came without much help from Boracay, which was closed for clean up from April to October after President Rodrigo Duterte branded it a "cesspool" fouled by reckless development. Before the closure, the tiny island's white sand beaches and turquoise waters were seeing some two million sun worshippers a year. "The challenging act of closing down Boracay... the country's top sun-and-beach destination has evidently become a blessing in disguise," said Philippine tourism secretary Bernadette Romulo-Puyat. Other spots like natural paradise Palawan and beach destination Siargao island saw a jump in foreign tourists during the closure. While South Korean led the pack with 1.6 million tourists, Chinese arrivals jumped by nearly 30 per cent over 2017 to hit 1.3 million, the department of tourism said. Americans visitors to the former US colony were at one million. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) : The second phase of the panchayat polls in Telangana will be held Friday amid tight security, the state election commission (SEC) said Thursday. Polling would begin at 7 am and end at 1 pm even as counting would be taken up from 2 pm, the SEC said. As many as 10,668 candidates are contesting for sarpanch posts in 3,342 panchayats while 63,480 candidates are in the fray for 26,191 wards, an official communication from the SEC said. About 50,000 security personnel would be deployed to ensure peaceful polling, a police official Jitender told PTI. The first phase was held on January 21 and third phase would be held on January 30. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Afghanistan President Mohammad Ashraf Ghani Thursday said peace is imperative for his war-torn country but there is no breakthrough yet with respect to Taliban and withdrawal of US troops. He also lashed out at Pakistan for supporting terror activities in Afghanistan and for failing to deliver on its promises. He added that Pakistan would continue to remain "a poor country" if it continues in the current form. Speaking at the World Economic Forum (WEF) annual summit here, Ghani said Pakistan should come out of its trauma of birth as that would be good for the entire South Asian region, including Pakistan, India and Afghanistan. While stressing that it is imperative that the war that has gone on for so many years must come to an end, he said that given the complexities it is difficult to arrive at a date when the conflict would end. The Afghan President was responding to reports that some deal has been reached with Taliban for withdrawal of the US troops from the country. He said there is a timeline in place for a breakthrough eventually and Afghanistan has to keep in mind its national, neighbourhood and regional dimensions as well as its cluster of relationships including with the US, Russia and India. According to him, Taliban has had so many relationships under the surface, including with terrorists and non-terrorist groups, such as criminal drug mafia and some kind of relationship with Pakistan where they have had sanctuary. Asserting that there is a need to stabilise Afghanistan, Ghani said the US is committed to see a timeline to the engagements, but to think a relationship has been arrived at is exaggerated. "How do we deal with these relationships, we have a roadmap," he said. The President said the US is entitled to leave but we need to get the departure right. "Are the fundamental reasons that brought the US to Afghanistan, are they completed?" he wondered. "We completely agree that the cost should come down. Second the number of troops, we are engaged in a discussion to ensure the number matches the needs. On making it more efficient, this is crucial," Ghani noted. When asked whether he gets worried that he would get a phone call saying Donald Trump has tweeted that the US was leaving tomorrow, Ghani said he has good relations with the US President. "He says Afghanistan has changed its security branches root, stock and branch... now, the world's most powerful sovereign state has the right to disengage but we don't think it will. We've had this dialogue. The public panics when it thinks a scenario is a reality," Ghani said. Asked about his expectations from the Imran Khan government in Pakistan, Ghani said, "We have talked over phone, but not met in person. We have got so many promises, but there have been cases that within days conflict has taken place... We want a relationship with Pakistan". Noting that the proof is in the pudding, the Afghan President said, "We need to engage with Pakistan on the issue of terrorism." "The Pakistan leadership needs to understand that their conduct has alienated them. If they continue in the current form, they will remain a very poor country but if they deliver and improve they can grow and move up the ladder," he said. On Trump taking a strong position against Pakistan and whether he sees anything concrete happening because of that, Ghani said, "I do... this is pressure not for the pressure's sake but for the sake of engagement. "I hope Pakistan realises it's good for the entire region (to disengage from terror groups). It would be good for everyone, good for Pakistan, good for India and good for us." "Pakistan is a pivotal state in the region. We hope that Pakistani leadership would come out of the scars of its creation. Partition was painful. But for South Asia to become whole, they need to get over the trauma of the birth... We think the advantages of cooperation for Pakistan are immense."On what was key to him having a good relationship with Trump, Ghani remarked that he does not talk much. "One cannot dismiss the fundamental questions of a world leader. You need to be able to represent your country with dignity. You need to show that you care a lot more about your country than your foreign friends and partners. "We have a very large range of American diplomats who I have got to know. As part of this modern leadership for one of the poorest countries on earth, we have to know the context," he said. To a question on when the US looks back on its engagement in Afghanistan, can they take pride in it, Ghani said, "Of course. Firstly, there has been no repeat of 9/11. Democracy is not an overnight dose that you inject. Democracy building requires patience. I hope with this election it can show the investment made in us was worth it." When asked whether the ISIS remains a real terrorist threat to the West, the president said it does. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Passengers blocked rail traffic at Dasnagar station Thursday after an EMU local was put on the through line, instead of the designated platform inconveniencing the passengers, a South Eastern Railway (SER) spokesman said. "Through line" is a track reserved for passing galopping trains with no platforms at its sides. At least 18 EMU locals and three express trains were delayed owing to the blockade at Dasnagar in the Howrah- Kharagpur section of the SER, spokesman Sanjay Ghosh said. The local train was inadvertantly guided to the through line by the Dasnagar station master assuming it to be a galloping train, while actually the train was scheduled to stop there, Ghosh said. The EMU stopped there, but since there were no platforms on either side the track, the passengers who were to alight at Dasnagar had to jump on the ground from compartments. The incident led to a protest by passengers who blocked the tracks for two and half hours from 8.25 am, he said. The blockade was lifted at 10.58 am following talks with the agitators, he said. An inquiry has been initiated into the matter, Ghosh said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Congress on Thursday said there is panic and confusion within the BJP ever since Priyanka Gandhi Vadra was appointed as a general secretary for Uttar Pradesh. Congress leaders asserted that Priyanka's entry in active will provide the "much-needed morale boost" to its workers in the politically crucial state especially after it was left out by regional players Samajwadi Party and Bahujan Samaj Party while forging their alliance. Many in the party have already started comparing Priyanka to Indira Gandhi and posters have been put up at various places in Uttar Pradesh welcoming her appointment. A former Congress legislator from Varanasi has gone to the extent of suggesting that she contest from Varanasi against Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Lok Sabha polls. Congress leaders feel that being general secretary of the party, her entry in the highest decision making body of the party, CWC, will help bring in more coordination at the highest level and will help Rahul Gandhi in "good decision making". "Congress workers are now banking on Priyanka's charm offensive and hope she draws huge crowds that get translated into votes," said a senior Congress leader while hoping that her entry would help the party bag more seats. Another young leader termed it "a right step" that could prove a "turning point" for the party's electoral fortunes. "Ever since Priyanka Gandhi Vadra has been appointed as the general secretary of the Congress party, BJP is in panic, confusion and desperation," Congress spokesperson Manish Tewari said Thursday reacting tersely to Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan's remarks that Priyanka's entry into shows that Congress chief Rahul Gandhi "cannot handle alone and needs his sister's help". "We would politely urge the Lok Sabha Speaker to focus her attention on the internal matters of the BJP. As far as Congress party is concerned, it is functioning well without her advice and will continue to do well," he told reporters. Mahajan, when asked about Priyanka's entry, said in Indore, "Priyanka is a good woman. But her appointment also shows Rahul has understood that he cannot do politics alone, so he asked his sister Priyanka to help him." "I don't want to get into the family politics of the Congress, it's their own matter. But I would definitely say that a person, who has leadership capabilities, should be given an opportunity to come forward," she said. The BJP has also asserted that Priyanka's formal entry in active politics will have no impact on Lok Sabha polls. Union Minister and BJP leader Manoj Sinha said Priyanka's appointment may have generated a buzz in the media but it has drawn no response from the region of which she has been made in-charge by her party. Piyanka's appointment is an attempt by the Congress to gain some importance in the state as it was in a "bad shape" after being left out of the SP-BSP alliance, he said. Party workers feel that Priyanka's personality would woo voters, especially the youth, as she has been a crowd puller while campaigning in Rae Bareli and Amethi. At the same time many from the old guard are hoping that the Gandhi scion will help revive the emotional connect of voters with the party as she appears in many ways similar to her grandmother and former prime minister Indira Gandhi. However, sceptics consider it a "gamble" by Rahul Gandhi and say only time will tell if it has paid off. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Pakistan's Supreme Court will decide on January 29 whether to allow an appeal against its acquittal of a Christian woman who was on death row for eight years for blasphemy. The Supreme Court's decision in October last year to overturn the conviction of Asia Bibi sparked nationwide protests and death threats from hardline groups. Chief Justice Asif Saeed Khosa will head the three-member bench that will hear the review petition, filed by the complainant in the case Qari Muhammad Salaam, next week on Tuesday, the Dawn reported. Aasia, a 47-year-old mother of four, who is now in protective custody, was convicted in 2010 after being accused of insulting Islam in a row with her neighbours. She always maintained her innocence, but spent most of the past eight years in solitary confinement. The apex court's decision to acquit her had sparked three-day-long mass protests led by the Tehreek-i-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP). The protests were called off after the religio-political party reached an agreement with the government, the foremost condition of which was the placement of Aasia's name on the Exit Control List. The government, however, had only agreed to "initiate the legal process" to place her name on the list, while also agreeing that it would not oppose any review petitions being filed against the court judgement. After her release from Multan's women prison on November 7, Aasia was flown to Islamabad onboard a special aircraft. She was then taken to an undisclosed place amid tight security. Authorities have remained tightlipped about her movement and whereabouts for security reasons. Qari filed the review petition in the case on November 1, 2018 at the Lahore registry of the apex court, urging the Supreme Court to reconsider its decision. The petitioner had also sought the placement of Aasia's name on the Exit Control List (ECL) till the judgement is reviewed. In the petition, it has been argued that the Supreme Court's acquittal of Aasia did not meet the standards of jurisprudence as well as Islamic provisions and the "normal principle of justice with reference to application in blasphemy laws". It has also asked that a member of the Appellate Shariat Court be included in the bench that reviews the judgement "because this matter needs detailed in-depth consideration and due to the peculiar circumstances of the case as well as Application of Section 295-C in its time letter and spirit". It has also challenged the Supreme Court's dismissal of the alleged "confession" that Aasia was forced to make by the people of her village and argued that the Supreme Court should have applied the Law of Evidence differently in this case. Her case has been deeply divisive in Pakistan where there is strong support for the controversial blasphemy laws. The blasphemy laws were promulgated by former military dictator Ziaul Haq in 1980s. A person convicted under these laws is given death sentence. Aasia was accused of committing blasphemy in 2009. She was convicted in 2010 by the trial court and her death sentence was maintained by the Lahore High Court in 2014. Her case gained prominence when former governor of Pakistan's Punjab province Salman Taseer was killed in 2011 for supporting her and criticising the blasphemy laws. A month after Taseer was killed, Pakistan's religious minorities minister Shahbaz Bhatti, a Christian who spoke out against the blasphemy law, was shot dead in Islamabad. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Oxxy, India's largest healthcare network, Thursday announced a partnership with travel aggregator Global Panorama Showcase (GPS) to provide health support to tourists. Oxxy said the tie-up will help provide health support on the go for the first time in the country. "All the tickets issued through the (GPS) network will have full health support powered by Oxxy Healthcare. From ambulance to discounts for all tests, treatments, and surgeries to medicines to every healthcare need, Oxxy will take care of all the travellers during and after the journey," it said. Oxxy is now valued at over USD 3.6 billion and is the country's largest healthcare network that connects over 2 lakh hospitals, diagnostics, and pathology lab and provides 360-degree health solution, the statement said. GPS is a travel aggregator with over 35,000 travel agents under its network. "With the support of Oxxy, GPS can penetrate deeper into the Indian and international markets, as Oxxy is present in 1,500 cities," it said. Through Oxxy, GPS is now empowered to ferry patients from across the globe to all the Indian cities. "This will lead to a boom in medical tourism as patients travelling to India, who were clueless earlier about the rates and other treatments, will get this facility and comfort," it said. Pankaj Gupta, founder, Oxxy, said: "Affordable healthcare is a right which should be enjoyed by everyone and the company is doing everything it can to penetrate deeper in the country." Commenting on the partnership, GPS founder Harmandeep said research has indicated that customers are looking for healthcare securities while travelling and there could not be a better option than Oxxy which has an extensive network and is spread across the country. "This partnership will deliver the most meaningful and distinctive value proposition to all our customers making it the most rewarding way to travel," he said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Taking exception to a cartoon made by the Congress featuring him, AIMIM president Asaduddin Owaisi on Thursday asked how would the Congress leaders in Telangana feel if a cartoon with the party's top leaders was made. "...And you have put the pictures of me and KCR, the chief minister (of Telangana). I would like to ask the Congress people, if a cartoon of Sonia Gandhi, Priyanka Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi was made, how would they feel?.... I will not do so. I respect (UPA chairperson) Sonia Gandhi a lot," he told reporters here. The Lok Sabha MP from Hyderabad said the Congress leaders in Telangana, who were handed out a humiliating defeat in the recent Assembly polls, should remain within the ambit of manners and respect. The Congress held a protest here on Thursday against the alleged failures of the Election Commission to ensure a free-and-fair poll in the state. During the stir, a cartoon was put up, depicting democracy being hurt in Telangana and drawing an analogy with Draupadi's "vastraharan" in the Mahabharata. Asked about the "chowkidar chor hai" (the watchman is the thief) slogan against the BJP, Owaisi said all the "watchmen" were responsible for problems like illiteracy, unemployment and backwardness of Muslims in the country. "My take as an Indian is that all the 'chowkidars' have not done justice to the marginalised communities like the Dalits, the Adivasis and the Muslims. All the 'chowkidars' have been 'chors'." "Had they done justice, India would not have been in this state. What we see is malnutrition, a stunted growth in children.... Which 'chowkidar' is responsible (for the same)?," he asked. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Over a dozen persons, including policeman, were injured on Thursday when a group of lawyers clashed with the police here, officials said. The incident took place on Lucknow-Faizabad National Highway after a group of lawyers blocked traffic near Civil Lines Police Station, demanding lodging of an FIR against policemen, who allegedly misbehaved with their colleague on Wednesday night. When police personnel reached the spot, the lawyers started brick-batting, injuring over 12 people including policemen and damaging a number of vehicles, officials said. On Wednesday night, Manoj Srivastav and his brother-in-law Ashish Srivastava, both lawyers, were brought to Civil Lines Police Station in Barabanki city along with a roadways bus driver who had allegedly hit their car, Superintendent of Police (SP) Satish Kumar said. He said both Ashish and Manoj were in an inebriated state when they were detained. In the morning, a group of lawyers reached the police station and demanded registration of FIR against two policemen for misbehavior, the SP added. On their demand, an FIR was registered against the alleged policemen, the SP further said. A magisterial probe has been recommended in the matter, he added. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) "Detainment", a short film based on the murder of British toddler James Bulger, has come under fire after it received an Academy Award nomination. Denise Fergus, mother of Bulger, who was mercilessly killed by two 10-year-old boys -- Jon Venables and Robert Thompson -- in 1993, blasted the film, which she said, was made without their permission. Fergus demanded that its Oscar nomination should be rescinded. The film is nominated in the Best Live Action Short Film category at the Academy Awards 2019. "I cannot express how disgusted and upset I am at this so-called film that has been made and now nominated for an Oscar," she said in a statement posted on Twitter. "It's one thing making a film like this without contacting or getting permission from James' family but another to have a child re-enact the final hours of James's life before he was brutally murdered and making myself and my family have to relive this all over again! (sic)" she added. According to The Guardian, an online petition seeking its removal was started last December after the film made into the top nine Oscar shortlist. It has since gained over 98,000 signatures. "After everything I have said about this so-called film and asking it to be removed, it's still been nominated for for an Oscar even though 90,000 people have signed a petition which has now been ignored just like my feelings by the Academy. "I'm so angry and upset at this present time... I just hope the film doesn't win its category in the Oscars," she said. The director, Vincent Lambe, had previously defended the film but apologised for not consulting Bulger's family. "Detainment" relies on transcripts of interviews with the killers to re-enact the events. "I have enormous sympathy for the Bulger family and I am extremely sorry for any upset the film may have caused them," he said. Bulger was killed by Venables and Thompson on February 12, 1993. Fergus took her son with her to a shopping centre near Liverpool, and when she went to pay at the counter, the two convicts took the two-year-old and left the market. The duo had brutally murdered the boy and then left his body on nearby train tracks. They were charged with abduction and murder. They were sentenced for eight years in prison. Venables and Thompson released in 2001 and given new identities. "Detainment" will compete with "Skin", "Marguerite", "Fauve" and "Mother". (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) An openly gay congressman who frequently clashed with Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro has said he was leaving his job and the country because of mounting death threats. In an interview published by daily Folha de S. Paulo, Congressman Jean Wyllys said Thursday he was currently outside of Brazil and had no plans to return. Instead, he said he would work in academia but did not say where. Wyllys, who was re-elected in October and set to begin a third term in February, said death threats against him had increased significantly since Rio de Janeiro councilwoman Marielle Franco was shot and killed along with her driver in March. Franco was a friend and ally of Wyllys. Many in Latin America's largest nation saw Franco, who was black, lesbian and hailed from one of Rio de Janeiro's most violent slums, as a symbol of hope for her strong advocacy for LGBT rights and outspoken criticism of police brutality in poor neighbourhoods. Her death led to large protests in Brazil and in several countries. Ten months later, no one has been arrested for her murder. Since then, Wyllys, who represents Rio de Janeiro, has used a security detail. "How is it that I'm going to live four years of my life inside an armoured car and with bodyguards?" he said. "Four years of my life not being able to go to the places I usually go to?" In a tweet that posted a link to the Folha de S. Paulo article, Wyllys said: "Preserving a threatened life is also a strategy to fight for better days." Contacted by The Associated Press, an aide said Wyllys would not be making any further comment and declined to disclose the congressman's location. In Congress, Wyllys was frequently at odds with Bolsonaro, a congressman for 28 years with a long history of homophobic, racist and sexist comments. In arguably their most public clash, Wyllys spit on Bolsonaro on the floor of the lower House of Deputies during the 2016 impeachment process of then-President Dilma Rousseff. Bolsonaro, a former army captain, voted for Rousseff's impeachment while giving tribute to a former colonel who tortured Rousseff when she was jailed as a guerrilla fighter during the dictatorship. In the interview, Wyllys said his decision to leave wasn't because of Bolsonaro's rise, but rather the climate of heated rhetoric and intensifying violence toward members of the LGBT community in the wake of last year's heated campaigns. Wyllys said former Uruguayan President Jose Mujica, learning of the death threats, told him: "Be careful, man. Martyrs are not heroes." "It's exactly that," said Wyllys. "I don't want to sacrifice myself."Wyllys' post could be filled by David Miranda, a Rio de Janeiro councilman from the same leftist Socialism and Liberty Party. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A security agent from Sudan's intelligence service has been killed in skirmishes with a group of soldiers in the Red Sea town of Port Sudan, police said Thursday. The fighting between members of the country's powerful National Intelligence and Security Service and a group of soldiers erupted late on Wednesday, Port Sudan police chief Mohamed Musa Omer said in a statement. "There were skirmishes yesterday evening at 8:00 pm (1800 GMT) between members of Sudanese armed forces and members of NISS," Omer said. "One member of NISS was killed, while there are several others from both sides who are wounded." Residents of Port Sudan told AFP that the fighting was close to the coast, forcing nearby cafes and restaurants to shut. Omer said the commanders of both the groups later stopped the fighting and the "situation is now under control across the Red Sea state". Members of NISS are leading a sweeping crackdown on anti-government protests that have rocked Sudan for more than a month now, with protesters staging rallies even in Port Sudan. On Thursday, protesters are planning to march on the presidential palace in Khartoum as organisers called for new nationwide rallies. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) How do soldiers survive at minus 50 degrees Celsius in Siachen and glacier captains carry out evacuation flying over relentless ice-fields in the world's highest battlefield? These and few other lesser-known stories of the Indian Air Force's operations in the toughest climatic conditions in the country will be unveiled through a special documentary that premiers Friday on National Geographic channel to mark the 70th Republic Day. Titled 'Extreme Flight : Indian Air Force', the 44-minute film with its stunning visuals, captures the story of selfless service rendered by personnel of the Army who guard the nation at high-altitude border posts, and men and women of the IAF who rush relief material and succour to soldiers in helicopters flown in very harsh weather conditions. Narrated by actor Kabir Bedi, the Republic Day special documentary in English, will also be broadcast on the channel on January 26 at 12 noon and 8 pm and available on Hotstar. Shruti Takulia, Creative Director and Vice President, India productions at the National Geographic, says, the project had many challenges, but the IAF provided valuable guidance and technical and logistic support to help tell the untold or lesser-known stories to people, while ensuring the safety of the crew. Siachen Glacier is a place where wind speed could reach 160 kmph, temperature sometimes falls below minus 50 degrees Celsius and has low oxygen level, and at such high-altitude areas mere survival itself is a challenge. Soldiers face several risks, including suffering frost bite, depression, sleep loss, diminished appetite, hypoxia or even memory loss, the film says. "As with all our projects, idea was to tell these lesser-known stories and IAF's partnership made the film so powerful in capturing the various narratives, whether it is challenges faced by the first woman glacier captain of the Air Force, Sq Ldr Khusboo Gupta, at the Leh Air Base, to the risk involved in flying a helicopter in extreme weather conditions," Takulia told PTI in an exclusive interview. Gupta is part of the Siachen Pioneers, a helicopter unit assigned to support the glacier's least-accessible posts. Takulia said the idea for the film first germinated in 2016 and "then we took it further and then officials from the IAF also offered a lot of suggestions. Then the research phase began for which we consulted various defence and medical experts". "The actual shoot began last year in February and the final shoot ended in May. From Jammu and Kashmir to Northeast, we have showcased the amazing stories of survival that not many know about. In the film, we can see defence personnel in deep snow, sometimes three feet-deep or pilots and others wearing battery-heated boots to ward off frostbite. We tried to capture these microscopic details to show how difficult the survival is there," she said. According to the documentary, Siachen has the world's highest battlefield and the film also captures the Leh Air Base located in picturesque Leh town with largely Buddhist population. At 10,682 ft, it is a crucial base for high-altitude air maintenance on Siachen. In Northeast, Ziro Advanced Landing Ground in Arunachal Pradesh at 5,121 ft has been featured, where from Mi-17 carries out evacuation sorties and other operations, often affected by mist and rains. The Chabua Air Force Base in Assam also has been filmed, and breathtaking mid-air shots of Sukhoi Su-30 aircraft will delight the viewers. Takulia said the IAF had specified norms for filming and the crew members were provided safety harness during the shoot which took place under the scrutiny of the IAF officials. "For several sequences where we did not have the crew, we requested the IAF and its pilots flying the planes to take shots for us during operations. It was a great team work between the IAF and National Geographic," she said. But it was not just one story of survival, as for the crew filming the documentary, it too was a survival test against the odds. "We had chosen a very tight team and fitness was a major factor in including them in the project. They underwent some health regimen before leaving for Leh and also spent two-three days in Leh before the actual shoot to acclimatise themselves with the extreme weather conditions," Takulia said. The creative director of the project, who made a few trips to oversee shooting, said many crew members had suffered injury during the filming. "I once received a report from the crew which read like -- one torn ligament, one sprained ankle, one tetanus shot, one hand with rusted barbed wire in it, two crew members who collapsed due to a lack of oxygen, clothing blown away by the downwash or blast of an aircraft engine three times, four instances of crew member who fell sick, five instances of oxygen deprived and very cold crew members at 18,000 ft and multiple instances of ego bruised from falls in the snow," she said. They were injured but their sense of humour was intact and the enthusiasm of the crew was still very high till the end of the shoot that tested their limits, physical and mental, Takulia added. The film also captures a 'stranded pilot's struggle for survival' as part of a course of the Jungle and Snow Survival School of the Air Force in Pir Panjal range (4600-13,500 ft) of the Himalayas. Flt Lt Anirudh Grover, whose preparations to earn the coveted badge of Glacier Captain has been captured in the film, says, "The look one gets from a jawan after delivering ration or a letter to him from home that is utterly satisfying and that is what keeps me going. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Biju Janata Dal president and Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik Thursday said the state would no more tolerate "Central negligence". "We will no more tolerate the Central negligence towards Odisha and its development," Patnaik said, addressing a public meeting at Amalipalli ground in Jharsuguda where Prime Minister Narendra Modi on September 22 attended a BJP rally. Patnaik has planned to follow Modi's trail and address public meetings where the opposition BJP held congregations during the past few months, according to a BJD official. Assembly elections in Odisha are due along with the Lok Sabha election. The chief minister also accused the Centre of "failing" to give justice to Odisha over Mahanadi river water row with Chhattisgarh and said the state had to move the court because of BJP-led government's "apathy". He said a new airport was inaugurated at Jharsuguda with much fanfare in September, but it is non-functional now. "There is no flight operation at the airport. I have told them (Centre) that Odisha will provide required funds for flight operation, but there has been no progress," Patnaik said. The chief minister said he has demanded the introduction of a Shatabdi Express train from Bhubaneswar to Rourkela via Jharsuguda. "Let us see whether the Centre make any arrangement for train operation," he said. Noting that Jharsuguda area is home to a number of coal mines, Patnaik came down heavily on the Centre accusing it of not revising the coal royalty. "The coal royalty revision is pending since 2015. But, the Centre is not concerned over this. As a result, the state is losing thousands of crores of revenue," he said. Patnaik said, "We will face pollution due to the coal mines, but not the benefit. You people should consider this issue." Naba Kishore Das, the Jharsuguda Congress MLA, who had resigned from the party on January 16, Thursday joined the BJD along with eight other Congress leaders, including the chairman of Jharsuguda Zilla Parishad and the chairpersons of five blocks, in the presence of Patnaik. "I welcome Naba Das and his associates to the party. This will further strengthen BJD in Jharsuguda district," Patnaik said. During his one-day visit to Jharsuguda, Patnaik laid foundation stones and inaugurated projects worth Rs 618.66 crore which included the starting of construction of a cancer care hospital. The cancer hospital will be constructed at a cost of Rs 145 crore. This apart, Patnaik inaugurated six lift irrigation projects built at a cost of Rs 32 lakh and two grid stations worth Rs 13 crore. Patnaik laid foundation stones for four mega water supply projects at a cost of Rs 388 crore, a railway overbridge at an estimated cost of Rs 35.62 crore, a Nidan Kendra worth Rs 15 crore and irrigation project to be built at an estimated cost of Rs 18.22 crore. Patnaik also distributed Rs 1 crore digital empowerment incentive among 3,489 women self-help groups (SHGs), social security benefits to 30 beneficiaries, assistance to 1,422 Nirman Shramiks and land pattas to 1,002 landless persons. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) China's Foreign Ministry said on Thursday that it was not aware about any plans of President Xi Jinping's visit to India in the next two months for the second informal summit with Prime Minister Narendra Modi as reported by a Japanese publication. Japanese publication Nikkei Asian Review on Tuesday carried a report titled "Xi plans India visit, as diplomatic chess with US intensifies". The story said, "Xi intends to visit India as early as February in a move seen at countering Washington's increasingly antagonistic trade policy and aggressive Indo-Pacific diplomacy." When asked about the report, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying said, "You said this was reported by Japanese media. So it is quite interesting. I am not aware of what you said." Hua said China and India are friendly neighbours. "We attach importance to maintain high level exchanges. And the leader of the both the countries also maintain friendly communication and exchange," she said. When pointed out that the Russian media also carried a similar report, Hua said, "Chinese media hasn't reported it and I am not aware of the information you mentioned". "But we attach importance to our relations with India and we stand to maintain close communication at various levels," she said. Officials sources here on Wednesday told PTI here that there was no proposal for Xi to visit India for the second informal summit Prime Minister Modi. Wuhan summit was the first such high-level meeting ever between Indian and Chinese leaders. It was conceived by both the sides following the 2017 military standoff at Doklam which ratcheted up tensions between the two countries. The two-day summit at Wuhan during which the two leaders closely interacted for hours on bilateral and international issues has paved the way for the two countries to normalise relations on all fronts putting behind the Doklam standoff. Since then the two countries steadily normalised relations with intensified dialogue on various fronts, including the military and trade fronts. Commerce Secretary Anup Wadhawan has concluded his two-day visit to China on Tuesday after talks with Chinese Vice Minister of Commerce Wang Shouwen and Zhang Jiwen, Chinese Vice Minister of General Administration of Customs of China (GACC), to enhance Indian exports to China to reduce the trade deficit of over USD 57 billion. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has ordered preparations for a second summit with President Donald Trump, saying he'll "wait with patience and in good faith" to work toward a common goal, the North's state media reported Thursday. Despite Kim's determination for another meeting with Trump, the two remain at odds over fundamental issues. Experts say a major sticking point is what denuclearization steps Kim should take to move forward stalled nuclear diplomacy and what rewards Trump should provide to push Kim to take those measures. The Korean Central Agency said Kim received a letter from Trump from a North Korean envoy who met the U.S. president in Washington last week. After meeting with Kim's envoy, top lieutenant Kim Yong Chol, Trump said that he and Kim Jong Un will probably meet around the end of February but did not say exactly when and where the summit would take place. Thursday's report said Kim expressed satisfaction over his envoy's meeting with Trump and spoke highly of the U.S. president for "expressing his unusual determination and will for the settlement of the issue with a great interest in the second summit." "We will wait with patience and in good faith and, together with the US, advance step by step toward the goal to be reached by the two countries," Kim was quoted as saying. Kim also "set forth tasks and orientation for making good technical preparations for the second (North Korea)-US summit high on the agenda," according to KCNA. Nuclear diplomacy has been stuck since Kim and Trump met in Singapore last June for their first summit, which ended with a vague denuclearization pledge by Kim that his government had previously used when it called for the withdrawal of the 28,500 US troops in South Korea. A summit accord also stated that the United States and North Korea will commit to establishing new relations and join their efforts to build a lasting and stable peace regime on the Korean Peninsula. The strongest step Kim could promise to take for a second summit may be abandoning his long-range missile program targeting the US mainland. That step, if realized, would trigger a strong backlash from many in South Korea and Japan, which are still placed in the striking distance of North Korea's short- and medium-range missiles. In return, Kim is seeking to get UN sanctions on his government lifted and better relations with the United States to try to revive his country's moribund economy to pave the way for a prolonged rule by his family, experts say. North Korea observers say Vietnam is likely a venue for a second summit but there has been no official confirmation. The nuclear diplomacy has replaced fears of war caused by Kim's series of high-profile nuclear and missile tests in 2017 that were followed by his exchanges of crude insults and threats of total destruction with Trump. Kim has so far suspended nuclear and missile tests, dismantled North Korea's nuclear testing site and parts of its rocket engine test facility and took conciliatory measures like releasing American detainees. The North now says it's time for the U.S. to come up with reciprocal measures. But satellite footage indicate North Korea is still running its main nuclear complex, raising a question on why it's producing nuclear materials if it is truly committed to denuclearization. US officials want North Korea to take more significant steps such as a declared accounting of its nuclear weapons program for future inspections. The North has rejected that, saying such a declaration would be like providing coordinates for U.S. military strikes on its nuclear facilities. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A senior Pakistani diplomat on Thursday put up a staunch defence of the controversial education camps in China's volatile Xinjiang province where thousands of Uyghur Muslims have been reportedly detained, saying there is no forced labour or cultural and religious repression in the region. China recently took diplomats from 12 countries with large Muslim populations, including India and Pakistan, to its Xinjiang province where tens of thousands of members of the minority Uyghur Muslims have been interned in education camps. "During this visit, I did not find any instance of forced labour or cultural and religious repression," Mumtaz Zahra Baloch, the Charge d'affaires, Pakistan's Embassy in China, told the state-run Global Times on Thursday. "The imams we met at the mosques and the students and teachers at the Xinjiang Islamic Institute told us that they enjoy freedom in practicing Islam and that the Chinese government extends support for maintenance of mosques all over Xinjiang," said Baloch, who visited Xinjiang as part of delegation of diplomats. "Similarly, I did not see any sign of cultural repression. The Uyghur culture as demonstrated by their language, music and dance is very much part of the life of the people of Xinjiang," she said. Asked about the security situation in Xinjiang, which has been "beset by terrorism", Baloch said, "we learned that the recent measures have resulted in improvement of the security situation in Xinjiang and there have been no incidents of terrorism in recent months." "The counter-terrorism measures being taken are multidimensional and do not simply focus on law enforcement aspects. Education, poverty alleviation and development are key to the counter-terrorism strategy of the Chinese government," she said. Xinjiang's regional government invited diplomatic envoys as well as representatives from Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, India, Pakistan, Indonesia, Malaysia, Afghanistan, Thailand, and Kuwait following reports about detention of thousands of Uygur and other Muslims in massive education camps. The UN's Geneva-based Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination last year said that it was alarmed by "numerous reports of ethnic Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities" being detained in Xinjiang region and called for their immediate release. Estimates about them "range from tens of thousands to upwards of a million," it had said. China defended the camps, saying they are re-education camps aimed at de-radicalising sections of the Uyghur population from extremism and separatism. The US and several other countries besides UN officials have expressed concern over the camps. China has been carrying out massive crackdown on the East Turkistan Islamic Movement (ETIM) in Xinjiang province, where Uyghurs who formed majority in the region were restive over the increasing settlements of Han community. Pakistan and several other Muslim countries faced criticism about their silence over China's crackdown on Muslims in Xinjiang. China has about 20 million Muslims who are mostly Uyghurs, an ethnic group of Turkic origin, and Hui Muslims, who are of the Chinese ethnic origin. While Uyghurs lived in Xinjiang, bordering Pakistan-occupied Kashmir, Hui Muslims resided in Ningxia province. A recent report in the Global Times said China passed a five-year plan to 'sinicize Islam' in a bid to make it compatible with its version of socialism. "This is China's important act to explore ways of governing religion in modern countries," the report said. Baloch said the delegation was given full and open access to the three centres that they visited in Kashgar and Hotan. "The training program includes teaching of national common language (Chinese), law and constitution and vocational skills. The students also participate in recreational activities like sports, music and dance. We witnessed several skill classes being offered in these centres," she said. "During the visits to these centres, we had the opportunity to interact with both the management and the students. We observed the students to be in good physical health. The living facilities are fairly modern and comfortable with separate dormitories for men and women. They are being served halal food," she said. She said the Uyghur language is being used in official establishments, airports, subway stations, police stations or hotels. "Even the copies of the Koran that we saw in the mosques and the Islamic centre were translated into the Uyghur language. The most visible sign of protection of Uyghur culture by the government is the government-run bilingual kindergarten schools where children learn Putonghua as well as Uyghur language and culture from a very young age," she said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Cutting across party lines, political leaders of Bihar on Thursday paid tributes to former state Chief Minister Karpoori Thakur, an OBC stalwart and champion of social justice, on the occasion of his birth anniversary. Chief Minister and JD(U) president Nitish Kumar, senior RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav, Left leader Dipankar Bhattacharya and others attended programmes held on the occasion. Speaking at a programme organised by JD(U)'s extremely backward classes cell, Kumar spoke on the need for implementing the "Karpoori formula" which envisaged a sub- quota for the relatively worse off within the quota for OBCs, at the national level. Pointing out that his government had implemented the formula after coming to power in 2005, Kumar urged the Centre to follow suit so that reservations to the OBCs provided as per the Mandal Commission report benefit those most needy. He also underscored the need for a comprehensive caste census in view of the perceived rise in population of SCs, STs and OBCs and mocked at the "socio-economic profiling" done during the 2011 census conducted while the Congress-led UPA was in office. "What was the need for such an exercise if the report cannot be made public," he asked. At a function organised by the opposition RJD, party supremo Lalu Prasad's sons Tej Pratap Yadav and Tejashwi Yadav sought to discount reports of fierce sibling rivalry as they waved at the party supporters holding hands. Addressing the gathering, Tej Pratap the maverick elder son took the help of the Mahabharata to explain their positions. Describing his younger brother as 'Arjuna', he said he would play the role of 'Krishna' who had steered the warrior prince's chariot to victory in the battle of Kurukshetra. Tejashwi, who has emerged as the party's de facto leader in the absence of Lalu Prasad, lambasted the Narendra Modi government at the Centre for introducing 10 per cent quota for the economically backward among the unreserved classes. "The exercise was conducted without any survey and proper study. It would fail in its stated objective just as demonetisation did. "The Nagpuriyas (RSS and its supporters) are always for perpetuating the social inequality that resulted from the Varna system. They have been opposed to the demand for raising the 50 per cent limit on reservations for the socially backward. This new 10 per cent quota is the beginning of their assault on the social justice mechanism that has been in place," he alleged. At a press conference, CPI-ML (Liberation) General Secretary Dipankar Bhattacharya termed Thakur as "our source of inspiration" and vowed to dislodge the "anti-constitution and anti-reservation" Narendra Modi government from power. The ultra-Left party which owes its origins to the Naxalite movement of the 1970s has historically been contemptuous of the socialists and their insistence on caste- based action, holding that it diluted class struggle. The party is likely to have an electoral understanding with the Grand Alliance comprising Congress, RJD, RLSP and other smaller parties in the upcoming Lok Sabha polls. At a function held to mark Thakurs birth anniversary by the Aam Aadmi Party, Rajya Sabha MP and in-charge for Bihar Sanjay Singh compared the Modi government to the British Raj. It had adopted the policy of divide and rule and called for seeking inspiration from the socialist leader who had spent 26 months in jail during the Quit India movement, Singh said. A function to pay tributes to Thakur was also held by the Rashtriya Lok Samata Party founded and headed by former Union minister Upendra Kushwaha. Another programme was held at the residence of former Chief Minister Jitan Ram Manjhi where his Hindustani Awam Morcha passed a resolution demanding Bharat Ratna award for Thakur who was chief minister of the state in the 1970s. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The National Green Tribunal has slapped an interim penalty of Rs 10 lakh on Lucknow-based King George's Medical University (KGMU) for failing to ensure proper disposal of medical waste and other environmental norms. A bench headed by NGT Chairperson Justice Adarsh Kumar Goel passed the order after perusing a report submitted by the UP Solid Waste Management Monitoring Committee. The green panel directed the medical body to deposit the amount with the Uttar Pradesh Pollution Control Board (UPPCB). "The UPPCB may exercise of powers inter-alia under Rule 16 of the SWM Rules, 2016, the Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act,1974 and the Air (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1981 and apart from other steps, determine and recover the amount of damage after following due procedure," it said. "Pending such consideration, we direct King George Medical University to deposit interim compensation of Rs 10 lakhs with the UPPCB," the tribunal said. The NGT said the UPPCB may spend the amount for restoration of the and to help the victims of diseases, wherever necessary, and also conduct appropriate health impact study. The bench, also comprising justices S P Wangdi and K Ramakrishnan, directed the UPPCB to furnish an action taken report to the tribunal within one month by email. The waste management monitoring committee had recommended that KGMU be saddled with compensatory cost of Rs 10 lakh which may be deposited in Ayushman Yojana fund, ear-marked for BPL citizens to provide them free treatment. The committee had also said that the KGMU be directed to strictly comply with the "BMW Rules-2016 and the biomedical wastes categories, their segregation, collection, treatment, processing and disposal options be done as per Schedule I of the BMW Rules 2016 and accordingly take appropriate actions within a period of three months". The tribunal was hearing a petition seeking compliance of the Solid Waste Management Rules, 2016. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Green Tribunal has slammed authorities for failing to act on reducing and asked chief secretaries of all states and Union territories to appear before it from March 1 with status reports of their actions and immediate future plans. It asked the chief secretaries to review their solid actions within a month. The tribunal directed them to remain present with their reports on different dates, starting from March 1 at 2pm when Jammu & Kashmir chief secretary has been asked to appear. It noted that India generates over 1,50,000 tonnes of municipal per day, with Mumbai being the world's fifth most waste generating city. "Yet, only 83 per cent of waste is collected and less than 30 per cent is treated. According to the World Bank, India's daily waste generations will reach 3,77,000 tonnes by 2025. Unless the problem is tackled, its impact on health and lives of citizens can be devastating. It is high time stern measures are taken not only by those in-charge of administering law themselves but also by educating and involving the public at large," a bench headed by Chairperson Justice Adarsh Kumar Goel said. The made it clear that chief secretaries will not delegate their appearance to anyone else. However, it will be open to change the date of their appearance if it is notified in advance. It asked all states to display on their websites and portals of their pollution control boards the progress made in complying with Solid Rules, 2016, Plastic Rules, 2016 and Bio-Medical Waste management Rules, 2016. "Ministry of Environment and Forests may coordinate with concerned organisations/ association of industries to indicate a programme to reduce the quantum of waste by appropriate strategies including use of less packaging material keeping in mind such initiatives elsewhere," the tribunal said in its January 16 order which was uploaded on its website Wednesday. It directed the chief secretaries to ensure that all drains are tapped with wire nets etc and no municipal solid and plastic waste is allowed to reach rivers, lakes and other water bodies. The said reducing management is of paramount importance to protect the environment. It also directed states and UTs to constitute in every district a special task force having three members one each nominated by the district magistrate, the superintendent of police, and the regional officer of the state pollution control. Boards and one person to be nominated by the Chairman of the District Legal Services Authority for awareness about the SWM rules by involving educational, religious and social organisations. "It has been repeatedly laid down by the Supreme Court that public education Information Education and Communication (IEC) programmes can go a long way for protection of the environment. Such programs can be successful if network of Legal Services Authorities and Educational Institutions at every level is involved. This is possible only if such instructions are issued on the administrative side by the Legal Services Authority and concerned Education Departments of the States," the NGT said. The matter is listed for further consideration on July 10. The tribunal was hearing a petition seeking compliance of the Solid Waste Management Rules, 2016. chief Thursday said there is a need for principles that can govern artificial intelligence, and pitched for being taken as a human right going ahead. Speaking here at the Annual Meeting, the Indian origin global leader said "tough discussions" are needed on global norms amid a 'techlash' being faced by the leaders. "The world is a tech sector. Every company, every health company will have to think of data. We should think of as a human right," he said. "We have to start from the core principle that the user is the owner of their data, and the whole economy, not just the tech sector, must get to grips with this," said Nadella who is also one of the co-chairs of the WEF Annual Meeting 2019. On facial recognition, he said, "I can come up with 10 uses that are virtuous and will improve life, and 10 that would be worrying." "That's why is putting together principles on the fair use of the But self regulation only goes so far. We would welcome regulation that stops it being a race to the bottom," he said. On General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), he said, "my own point of view is it's a fantastic start in treating as a human right, I hope that in the we do something similar, and that the world converges on a common standard." On algorithms and machine learning, Nadella said, "as creators of (AI) we need some principles that govern AI."At Microsoft, we had to build software that was safe by design. The same now applies to AI, he said. "The trouble was the "black box". AI is largely data driven today. But new breakthroughs will help us explain the black box so that ethically and in terms of regulation we can control it," he said. As AI algorithms get smarter, they also become more incomprehensible and humans cannot always understand how a given algorithm makes decisions. This opaque process is referred as 'black box'. Nadella further said, "we need a thriving society to have a thriving economy." "What is Today any team at Microsoft, whether Cloud or Xbox, will have the following composition: designers, data scientists, product managers, software engineers, hardware engineers. Every product requires the social sciences and the STEM sciences to come together to create the modern society." Asked his predictions for future, Nadella said, "we don't have to have industrial country against country competition...In the future there would be more cooperation, less talk of regions, he predicted. "If we're sitting here (in 100 years) we'll have more superpowers and I hope that one of the things that we'll have is more capacity for empathy. I hope that's the future as opposed to us being replaced as robots. A Naxal couple wanted in several Maoist-related incidents and carrying cash reward on their heads, were arrested on Thursday from Rajnandgaon district in Chhattisgarh, police said. Acting on a specific input, the cadres identified as Letru alias Pawan (33) and his wife Shyama Korram alias Manki (30), were apprehended by a joint team of security forces from Madanwada police station area, a senior police official told PTI. The combined squad of Indo Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) and local police was dispatched to the interior villages of Madanwada, located around 150 km away from capital Raipur, after getting information about the arrival of the Maoist couple there, he said. During the preliminary interrogation, Letru informed that he had brought his wife, who had been unwell since the past couple of weeks, for treatment in Madanwada from neighbouring Kanker district, he said. Letru, presently active as a member of East Bastar Division Committee, has been associated with the outlawed CPI (Maoist) since 2006-07. "As many as 50 cases of Naxal incidents, including attacks on police teams, murder, attempt to murder, kidnapping and torching vehicles were registered against him in the police stations of Kondagaon and Bastar districts," the officer said adding the cadre was carrying a reward of Rs 8 lakh on his head. Similarly, his wife Shayama, a member of Bhanpuri LOS (local organisation squad) of Maoists, was also wanted in at least 10 incidents of attacks on police squads, triggering bomb blasts and murder, he said. She was carrying a reward of Rs 1 lakh on her head, he added. The duo thought that they will not be identified in Madanwada area of Rajnandgaon as they were active in east Bastar and therefore, they decided to visit a hospital there by hiding their identity, but got caught, he added. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Pakistan's jailed former prime minister Nawaz Sharif used prominent Urdu poet Mirza Ghalib's poetry to explain his condition when the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz leaders visited him in the Kot Lakhpat jail in Lahore on Thursday. Sharif, 69, who is serving a seven-year imprisonment in Lahore's Kot Lakhpat jail, was rushed to a hospital Tuesday after he complained of heart related complications. He was later discharged from the hospital and taken back to jail following the medical tests. The Jail administration has fixed Thursday as meeting day for visitors. When the visitors asked him about his heath, the incarcerated PML-N supreme leader said, "Un ke dekhey se jo ajati hai munh par rounaq, Woh samajhtey hain ke beemar ka haal achcha hai," Geo reported. Sharif said he is not shown any list of visitors by jail administration. "I welcome anyone who comes here," he was quoted by Geo as saying. During his conversation with the PMLN leaders, Sharif said he took measures for economic development and betterment of the country but the current situation saddens him. The three-time former prime minister said he left no stone unturned for China-Pakistan Economic Corridor for Pakistan's prosperity, adding that it would be great loss to the country if the CPEC is halted. TV reports said Sharif's mother and daughter Maryam Nawaz also visited him in the prison. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Promoting itself as "India's emerging economic tiger", Madhya Pradesh government Thursday invited global investors to the country's biggest state with promise of all necessary infrastructure and a favourable business ecosystem. Chief Minister Kamal Nath said Madhya Pradesh is not a fully urbanised state and it was largely rural-focussed mainly on agriculture. Terming job creation and agriculture as his main focus areas, the senior Congress leader said he wants to ensure that agriculture is linked to the industrial growth in the state and the new industries that come up create employment in a big way. He said there is a deep-rooted frustration over jobs, not just in Madhya Pradesh but in the entire country, and this can create a big social problem if not tackled immediately. He was addressing investors at a session here on the sidelines of the WEF annual meeting. The 'Invest Madhya Pradesh' session was organised by the Madhya Pradesh government and leading industry chamber CII to promote the state as "India's emerging economic tiger'. Nath has been a regular at Davos as a union minister in the past, but has come for the first time as chief minister this time. He urged investors to look at his state differently than they did earlier, saying he was doing his best and the investors should also do their best now. Nath said several states have set up pavilions here, but he has none as he wants the investors to talk about the business opportunities available in in the state. Madhya Pradesh's Chief Secretary S R Mohanty said, "apart from being biggest state, it has been blessed with a whole lot of minerals, is a power surplus state and has a huge road network and even the Narmada water is reserved for the industry there." He also promised a round the clock single-window business facilitation service for the industry and investors. He said the state intends to do much better in terms of ease of doing business (it is ranked seventh right now) and the Kamal Nath government is committed to resolve whatever issues are there coming in way of industrial growth of the state. Mohanty further noted that airlines have increased their flights to the state soon after Kamal Nath became the new chief minister and intend to further increase their connectivity in the coming weeks and months. In what he described as a unique benefit available to the investors, he said Madhya Pradesh is the only state in the country with a 'tax-delinked policy'. The main focus industries include agriculture, automobile, textiles etc and now the state wants to focus on next generation technologies such as nano technology and artificial intelligence to make up for the state having lagged behind some others in the area of software and technology businesses. The chief minister is committed in creating an extensive skill development framework in the state, the senior official said. Our basic focus is on job creation while embarking on an industrial development path, he said. He promised land at competitive rates for the industries and all necessary steps to improve business ecosystem in the state. The session was also addressed by CII Director General Chandrajit Banerjee and representatives of companies that already have a presence in Madhya Pradesh. It was also attended by those having made commitments to invest in the state. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Union minister Smriti Irani Thursday said the Narendra Modi-led government at the Centre gave more funds to West Bengal than the previous Congress regime. Speaking at a rally in South 24 Paraganas district, Irani said the UPA government gave Rs 1 lakh crore to the state, while the Modi government gave Rs 2.80 lakh crore under the 14th Finance Commission. The senior BJP leader also hit out at Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee for spurning the Centre's heathcare scheme Ayushman Bharat. "Ask Mamata Banerjee why she is averse to Ayushman Bharat health scheme under which poor people of the state can avail of Rs 5 lakh per family for treatment purposes," she said. Stating that 2.26 lakh people in the state have benefitted from the Jan Dhan Yojana apart from other Central schemes, Irani slammed Banerjee for being "most ungrateful" to the Centre. She also took a dig at the Trinamool Congress chief for trying to form alliance parties, which she said did not cooperate with her for coming to power. "Now you (Mamata) are dreaming of creating an alliance with the Congress," she said. Irani said the BJP workers tolerated the torture of Congress, TMC and CPI(M) in the state and called upon people to elect the Prime Minister Narendra Modi once again. "Ar ekbar Modi sarkar (Modi government once again)," she said. Speaking at the rally, state BJP president Dilip Ghosh slammed the state government and accused Banerjee of wilfully stopping the party's programmes ahead of the Lok Sabha elections. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Congress MLA J N Ganesh, facing an attempt to murder case after allegedly assaulting his lawmaker colleague Anand Singh, Thursday purportedly came out with his account, blaming the latter for the turn of events. Ganesh, in a post in the facebook page titled "Kampli Congress" addressed to the people of his Kampli constituency, accused Singh of trying to finish him off politically besides threatening his family. The absconding MLA claimed it was Singh who first attacked him and also passed derogatory remarks against his family members and also his caste. Ganesh said he later retaliated and that three other party MLAs were witness to the incidents. I had no intention to hit Anand Singh who spoke ill about my cast. If I had to do that I could have done it when I was with him in the room for two to three hours. There was no such intention, Ganesh said in the post that bares his photo in the profile of the page. All these are known to all party leaders. The leaders said there was mistake on both our part and both of us have embarrassed the party and called doctors for give me first aid, he added. Singh and Ganesh, both from Ballari district, had a heated argument and came to blows at the resort where the Congress MLAs were herded together amid alleged poaching attempt by the BJP. Police have registered an FIR charging Ganesh with attempt to murder on a complaint by Singh, who is convalescing in a hospital here. A red-faced Congress on Monday suspended Ganesh, who claimed he was also injured in the incident. Karnataka Congress President Dinesh Gundu Rao Thursday asked Ganesh to surrender and face the law. One has to surrender and face law, nothing should be done illegally, and there is no question of Congress interfering. No one is above law; every one should function under law, he told reporters. Meanwhile, a group of supporters of Kampli MLA met Roa and requested him to revoke Ganesh's suspension from party. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Indian Navy and the NDRF Thursday retrieved the body of one of the 15 miners trapped since December 13 inside a 370-foot deep coal mine in Meghalaya's East Jaintia Hills district, officials said. They said that a search operation for the other missing miners continued using an underwater robotic vehicle. Fifteen diggers had got trapped inside the flooded mine on December 13. The incident had caught the nation's attention to illegal coal mining in the northeastern state of Meghalaya at the cost of human lives despite a ban imposed by the National Green Tribunal. The body of the miner was detected by an unmanned remotely controlled vehicle (ROV) on January 16 during a routine search mission inside the 370-foot deep shaft of the mine. "The Indian Navy jointly in collaboration with the NDRF today retrieved the body of the dead miner from the main shaft in an operation between 9 am and 3 pm," operations spokesperson R Susngi said. According to the district officials, an inquiry was conducted by a magistrate in the presence of Deputy Commissioner F M Dopth. The district medical head Dr Mitul Sangma conducted a post-mortem and the body will be taken to the Khliehriat Community Health Centre, 36 km from the mine at Khlooryngksan, officials said. The body will be kept in cold storage to allow the relatives to come and identify, Susngi said. According to a statement issued by the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), "After all the hardship and our dedicated efforts, a body was recovered from the main shaft." NDRF personnel from Guwahati led by its Assistant Commandant Santosh Kumar Singh has been involved in the search and rescue operation in the coal mine since the day of tragedy. Meanwhile, the Indian Navy continued with their search operation using the unmanned ROV for the 14 other miners who are still trapped inside, Susngi said. The other agencies involved in dewatering the nearby abandoned mines on Thursday pumped out over 64.74 lakh litres of water in the past 24 hours, according to the spokesperson. Pumps from Coal India Ltd, KSB and Odhisa Fire Service have been put into service, he said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Lance Naik Nazir Ahmad Wani, a militant-turned-soldier who laid down his life during an anti-terror operation at Shopian in Kashmir in November last year, has been awarded the Ashoka Chakra, India's highest peacetime gallantry award. President Ram Nath Kovind will present the award to the gallant soldier's wife Mahajabeen on the Republic Day, officials said Thursday. On November 25, 38-year-old Wani, hailing from Cheki Ashmuji in Kulgmam district of Jammu and Kashmir, lost his life in a counter-terror operation against six terrorists in Hirapur village near Batgund, in Shopian. Under intense hail of bullets from the terrorists, he eliminated the 'district commander' of the Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) and one foreign terrorist in a daring display of raw courage, officials said. In the ensuing gunfight, he was hit multiple times including on his head. He also injured another terrorist before succumbing to his grievous wounds, they said. Apart from his wife, he is survived by two sons Athar (20) and Shaid (18). Mahajabeen, a teacher, said she has been trying to show the "right path" to young minds, drawing inspiration from her late husband. Lance Naik Wani joined the Army's 162 Infantry Battalion (Territorial Army) Jammu and Kashmir Light Infantry in 2004. "He was a brave soldier and a hero right from the beginning. He always served for peace in his home state of Jammu and Kashmir," said a senior Army official. Wani was a recipient of the Sena Medal for gallantry twice in 2007 and 2018. "He always had the interests of the nation in his heart. He operated with Rashtriya Rifles units in Kashmir. Throughout his active life he always willingly faced grave potential threats and was a source of inspiration for others," said one of his colleagues. He said Wani was from a humble background and used to work for the benefit of the underprivileged sections of society in his locality. "A very genial man, he was very mindful of the problems of his village and surrounding area. Wani also had many acts of selfless service to his credit in the area he belonged to," he said. Wani was awarded Sena Medal for his indomitable spirit in fighting terrorists. Ashoka Chakra is the highest peacetime military decoration for valour, courageous action or self-sacrifice away from the battlefield. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Maruti India Thursday signed a pact with the government for setting up a Japan-India Institute for Manufacturing (JIM) to train over 500 youth annually. The company will make an initial investment of Rs 7 crore to establish the model industrial training institute (ITI) at Uncha Majra village in Gurugram district, Maruti India (MSI) said in a statement. "While the state government has provided land and building, Maruti will offer latest equipment and tools, employ industry experts as trainers and ensure students are trained in quality, safety, discipline, kaizen and other Japanese practices so that they are employable and have a sound long-term career," MSI Executive Director (Corporate Planning) A K Tomer said. JIM Uncha Majra, which will be the first in Haryana, is expected to start its first session by August 2019. "Nearly 500 youth will be trained at this state-of-the-art model ITI," the company added. The institute will be located near the automobile hub of Manesar, Gurugram, Faridabad and Bhiwadi and will provide the youth with the skills to benefit from this economic opportunity. JIM is born out of a collaboration between Japanese and Indian governments to create a pool of skilled manpower for manufacturing in India. The first-ever JIM by was set up at Mehsana, Gujarat, in 2017. Manipur Chief Minister N Biren Singh has called a meeting of all political parties in the state on January 29 to discuss the Citizenship Amendment Bill even as protests against the Bill continue in the state. The chief minister's media advisor, Irengbam Arun Thursday said the CM has called the meeting at his official residence here on January 29 morning to discuss the Bill. The BJP is heading a coalition government in the state with the National People's Party, Naga People's Front and the Lok Janshakti Party. Meanwhile, protests against the Citizenship Amendment Bill (CAB) are continuing in the state with people taking out processions and holding sit-ins in various districts demanding that the Bill be withdrawn. Manipur People's Party (MPP), many students' organisations and civil society players in the state are against the CAB. MPP president O Jugindro had earlier said his party would oppose the Bill tooth and nail. He said the Bill, if passed in the Rajya Sabha, would reduce the population of indigenous people of the northeastern states, including Manipur, to "microscopic minority". Six students' organisation of the state along with the women organisation 'Meira Paibi' have also announced that they would launch agitation against CAB at New Delhi when the Bill would be introduced in the Rajya Sabha. The chief minister has earlier said the Bill will have no effect on the state. The Manipur Cabinet in its January 10 meeting chaired by the chief minister had urged the Centre to exempt the state from the jurisdiction of the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill. The state cabinet in the same meeting also decided to urge the Centre and authorities concerned to give assent to the Manipur Peoples' (Protection) Bill, 2018 passed by the state assembly. The Manipur Peoples' (Protection) Bill, 2018 defines Manipuris and non-Manipuris and seeks to protect the interests and identity of the indigenous people. The Citizenship Amendment Bill was passed by the Lok Sabha on January 8. The Bill seeks to grant Indian citizenship to non-Muslims who fled religious persecution from Bangladesh, Pakistan and Afghanistan, and entered India before December 31, 2014. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) President Donald Trump's former campaign chairman on Wednesday denied allegations he lied to investigators after he began cooperating with them. Lawyers for Paul Manafort submitted a heavily redacted 10-page filing aimed at knocking down claims by special counsel Robert Mueller's office that he intentionally lied and breached his plea agreement. Manafort's guilty plea to conspiracy charges in September required him to cooperate with prosecutors and tell the truth about what he knew. Months later, prosecutors accused him of repeatedly lying to them. The lawyers said Wednesday that any misstatements by Manafort reflected an inconsistent recollection of facts and events rather than an intentional effort to mislead. "Indeed, many of these events occurred years ago, or during a high-pressure US presidential campaign he managed when his time was extraordinarily limited," the defense lawyers said, "or during the difficult time that followed his departure from the 2016 presidential campaign because of the allegations leveled at him and the investigations that followed." Among the allegations is that Manafort lied when he denied having shared polling data from the 2016 campaign with Konstantin Kilimnik, a business associate who the US has said has ties to Russian intelligence. A hearing is set for Friday. Manafort, who is currently jailed in Virginia, asked for permission to skip it. But US District Judge Amy Berman Jackson denied the request, citing among other reasons "the number of court appearances defendant has been permitted to waive" and "the significance of the issues at stake." The September guilty plea resolved allegations in the District of Columbia. He was found guilty of eight financial crimes last year in a separate case in Virginia and is to be sentenced there next month. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A Bangalore-bound passenger has been apprehended at the Delhi airport for allegedly carrying eight live bullet rounds in his baggage, an official said Thursday. A Central Industrial Security Force officer, deputed at the Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGIA) to scan the baggage of commuters, detected bullet-like objects on the X-ray monitor, while checking the bag of passenger P K Sharma, he said. "Eight live bullet rounds of .32 calibre were recovered from the passenger who was supposed to take a flight to Bangalore," the official said. Sharma was not allowed to take the flight and was handed over to police as he could not produce any documents for carrying the ammunition, the official said, adding that the man was later booked under sections of the Arms Act. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A POCSO court sentenced a 25-year-old man to seven years of imprisonment on Thursday for raping a minor girl here in 2016. The convict, Amit Kamble, was found guilty of offences under provisions of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act as well as sections 376(2)(I) (rape), 363 (kidnapping) and other relevant provisions of the Indian Penal Code by special judge S P Kale. The judge sentenced Kamble to seven years of rigorous imprisonment and also slapped a fine of Rs 60,000 on him. Of the fine amount, Rs 50,000 would be given to the victim as compensation, the judge said. According to the prosecution, the victim was acquainted with Kamble since school days and both stayed in the same locality in suburban Bhandup. On June 6, 2016, the convict called the 15-year-old girl to a building at Ramabhai Nagar in Bhandup on the pretext that he had photographs of her talking to a boy, the prosecution said. After the victim went there in the evening, the convict took her to an isolated place near a jungle and raped her, it said. He also assaulted her before fleeing the spot, the prosecution said. The next day, the girl lodged a complaint at the Bhandup police station. The prosecution had examined 10 witnesses, including the victim, during the trial, special public prosecutor Rakesh Tiwari said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A man was arrested on Thursday for allegedly raping a woman in Jammu and Kashmir's Reasi district last year, police said. The accused was identified as Mukesh Gupta, they said. A case was registered after a 45-year-old woman alleged that Gupta had raped her in October last at a hotel in Katra when she had come on a pilgrimage, the police said. A police team arrested the accused from New Delhi, they said, adding that further investigation was underway. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) In view of the severe drought conditions prevalent in several parts of the state, the Maharashtra government Thursday announced disbursement of Rs 2,900 crore for relief measures in the affected areas. Minister for Relief and Rehabilitation Chandrakant Patil, speaking to reporters at Mantralaya after chairing a meeting on drought relief measures, said the government has directed the district collectors to start one or more fodder camps at 'mandal' levels. Each camp will house around 300-500 animals, he said. "Those 'gau rakshan' institutions, that have been provided government aid, had been already asked to start fodder camps in their premises. "In accordance with it, five fodder camps have already been started in drought hit regions," he said. Patil said the state government had already sent a proposal to the Centre, demanding Rs 7,900 crore for drought relief measures. However, considering the gravity of the situation, the state government will distribute Rs 2,900 crore from its own treasury for relief measures in the affected areas. Meanwhile, the state government will hold a Disaster Management Conference at the IIT Bombay, in which over 1000 people from 56 nations are expected to participate. Patil said the 4-day conference will start on January 29 and will deliberate on 'Building the Future We Want: Bridging Gaps between promises and Action'. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) President Nicolas Maduro announced on Thursday the closure of Venezuela's embassy and consulates in the United States having broken off diplomatic ties with President Donald Trump's government the day before. Maduro made the call during a special session at the Supreme Court in which he accused the US of pushing opposition leader Juan Guaido, who declared himself Venezuela's acting president on Wednesday, into attempting a coup d'etat. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A court here Thursday directed two accused in the Kodanad heist and murder case to appear before it on January 29 on a plea by the police to cancel their bail. When the petition by the investigating officer came up for hearing before district Judge P Vadamalai, the government pleader argued that the accused, Sayan and Manoj were hampering the probe by giving statements on the case. As the counsel for the accused sought time to present their counter, the judge declined to cancel the bail and ordered the two accused to appear before it on January 29. The Tamil Nadu government had last week moved the court to cancel the bail granted to the duo in connection with the case. Samuel Mathew, former Tehelka managing editor had on January 11 released a 16-minute video in which the two accused in the case, had allegedly linked Chief Minsiter K Palaniswami to the case. On April 23, 2017, the security guard of the Kodanad estate, the late chief minister J Jayalalithaa's retreat home in Nilgiris district, was murdered in a robbery attempt by a 10-member gang. It emerged during the probe that Jayalalithaa's former driver C Kanagaraj and Sayan had allegedly plotted the crime. A total of 10 people were arrested in the case and a charge sheet was also filed. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) North Korea's Kim Jong Un has expressed "great satisfaction" after receiving a letter from US President Donald Trump ahead of a second summit between the two leaders, Pyongyang's state media reported Thursday. Kim is making "good technical preparations" for the meeting, the official KCNA agency said, in the isolated nation's first comments on the talks scheduled for next month. The letter was handed to Kim by one of his right-hand men vice Chairman Kim Yong Chol, who met with Trump at the White House last week, as the two countries seek a denuclearisation accord that could ease decades of hostility. "(Kim) spoke highly of President Trump for expressing his unusual determination and will for the settlement of the issue with a great interest in the second DPRK-US summit," KCNA said, using the initials of the North's official name. The pair first met in June in Singapore, where they signed a vaguely worded document in which Kim pledged to work toward the "denuclearisation of the Korean peninsula." On Saturday, Trump said a location for the summit has been decided without giving more details, with the White House confirming it would go ahead in February. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) First Indian-origin Senator Kamala Harris, who recently announced her presidential bid for 2020, has sought an end to the 34-day long unprecedented government shutdown and asked for earliest reopening of the federal government. The Democratic Party leader from California said that the senate will vote on a clean bill Thursday to fund the government. "It's been 34 days since the government shut down. The Senate will vote on a clean bill today to fund the government that we unanimously approved one month ago. Let's get this done. 800,000 federal workers are counting on us," Harris said in a tweet. Trump wants to build a US-Mexico border wall and is seeking USD 5.7 billion in funding for the physical barrier which according to him is a must to prevent flow of illegal immigrants into the US. The Democrats assert that such a move is a "waste" of taxpayers money. The partial shutdown has impacted the country hard with more than 800,000 federal government workers out of work across the key departments. Three days after announcing her presidential bid, Harris, 54, said that there are FBI employees currently furloughed. "There are DHS employees working unpaid & stretching their hours. It's the height of hypocrisy to suggest that a border wall is about securing our nation. If you want our nation secure, you'd pay the folks whose job it is to do that," she asserted. Harris officially launched her campaign for the US presidential election in 2020 to take on President Donald Trump on Monday, saying she was "honoured" to announce her bid on a day when Americans celebrated Martin Luther King Jr who sought inspiration from Mahatma Gandhi. The first of the straw poll that that came after she announced her candidature, Harris has emerged on top of the list of nearly 10 current or prospective Democratic presidential candidates. According to a report in the Washington Post published Thursday, she was the most searched candidate on the internet after she went public with her bid. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The prosecution sanction of the Delhi government for the JNU sedition case has come across a roadblock with Law Minister Kailash Gahlot issuing a notice to the principal secretary (law) for sending the ministry's opinion directly to the home department, without placing the related file before him. In the show-cause notice to Principal Secretary (Law) AK Mendiratta dated January 21, the minister cited rules, saying no decision could be made and no opinion could be communicated to any other department without his prior approval. Sources said the notice was replied to by the principal secretary (law), but the minister was "not happy" with it. "The minister is likely to communicate to the principal secretary (law) that a file for prosecution sanction was presented before him last year and ask him why the file in the present case was not shown to him," they claimed. Commenting on the matter, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said the Delhi government's law department was examining the granting of sanction for prosecution of former Jawaharlal Nehru University Students' Union (JNUSU) president Kanhaiya Kumar in a sedition case. He also accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the Centre of committing "sedition" by creating hurdles in the works of the Delhi government. "I do not know whether Kanhaiya has committed sedition or not, which is being examined by the law department. "On the other hand, Modi ji has stalled (works on) schools for children, hospitals, installation of CCTV cameras, setting up of mohalla clinics in Delhi--- is this not sedition?," Kejriwal said in a tweet in Hindi. Gahlot said sending the file directly to the principal secretary (home) by Mendiratta was "not only an act of insubordination, but it appears to have been done intentionally so that the views of the law minister are not recorded on the file". The Delhi Police, on January 14, filed a chargesheet in a city court against Kumar and others in connection with an incident, in which anti-national slogans were allegedly raised on the university campus during an event marking the hanging of Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru in February, 2016. The police had told the court that the sanction for prosecution in the case was sought from the Delhi government. The concerned file submitted by the police to the home department of the Delhi government was sent to the law ministry for opinion. The principal secretary (law) sent it back with the opinion on January 18. "The file is currently with Home Minister Satyendar Jain, who will take the final call on the prosecution sanction. It is not clear whether it will be sent back to Gahlot for his approval," the sources said. The court had refused to take cognisance of the police chargesheet, saying the prosecution sanction was not taken from the authority concerned. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Two alleged Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) members have been arrested on charges of planning to carry out terror strikes in the national capital during Republic Day celebrations, Delhi Police officials said on Thursday. They were identified as Abdul Latif Ganaie (29), alias Umair alias Dilawar, and Hilal Ahmad Bhat (26) residents of Jammu and Kashmir's Wakura and Batapora areas respectively. Dilawar was arrested on the intervening night of January 20-21 after police got a tip off from military intelligence that a house in Laxmi Nagar was frequented by suspicious persons, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Special Cell P S Kushwah said. Police learnt that Dilawar would come near Rajghat to meet someone and accordingly a team was deployed there. Subsequently, he was arrested with incriminating material, he said. A .32 bore pistol and 26 live cartridges were recovered from him. Three rubber stamps of JeM commanders and other material was also recovered from his possession, he added. It took the Delhi Police a few months to identify Dilawar, the DCP said. A team was rushed to Jammu and Kashmir to nab his other associates. Two hand grenades were recovered from his house there, Kushwah said. Bhat, who had carried out the recce of various places for terrorist strikes in Delhi, was also arrested from Bandipora, he said. During interrogation, they revealed that they were JeM members and that Dilawar is the terror outfit's Ganderbal district commander, Kushwah said. Dilawar told police that he was in touch with his Pakistan-based handler Abu Mauz through Telegram and WhatsApp, he said. He further revealed that Mauz had given him more than a dozen hand grenades, a pistol and 30 live cartridges through an Aaqib, the DCP said. Dilawar was asked to use those grenades on the armed and police forces in Jammu and Kashmir and in parts of Delhi to disrupt Republic Day celebrations, Kushwah said. He told police that he had given two grenades to one Abid in Jammu and Kashmir and he used them to attack Army personnel of 5 RR in Sumbal, Bandipora on January 4, the officer said. Dilawar also gave some grenades to one Shahbaz in Srinagar and to Bhat, Kushwah said. Jammu and Kashmir police was informed about this network, following which Shahbaz was arrested on Tuesday, he said. Dilawar came in contact with radical elements during a four-year course at a madrasa in sopore. He started chatting with these fringe elements on various social platforms, the DCP said. Impressed by Dilawar's posts, Mauz communicated with him and radicalised him by sending various audio and video clips of JeM chief Maulana Azhar Masood, Kushwah said. He said Mauz also instructed Dilawar to go to Delhi to conduct a recce of VIP areas, places of heavy footfalls in posh markets, vital places and gas pipeline to identify blast targets. Dilawar was previously arrested in two cases of stone pelting in 2016 in the area of Sadar Ganderbal police station, he said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Eighteen years after the 'honour killing' of Canada-born Jaswinder Kaur Sidhu, her mother and uncle, accused of the murder, have been extradited to India by Canadian authorities, police said Thursday. A team of Punjab Police has been dispatched to Delhi to bring the duo to the state for presenting them in a court in Sangrur, they said. Jaswinder's mother Malkit Sidhu and uncle Surjit Badesha had been charged with the murder. A case in this regard had been registered at Amargarh police station in Sangrur. "They will be handed over to our team (Punjab Police) at the Delhi airport today," Sangrur Senior Superintendent of Police Sandeep Garg told PTI over phone. "They will be brought to Sangrur and then presented in a court," he said. A Canadian court had in 2016 stopped the extradition of Malkit and Surjit to India to face trial for the honour killing of Malkit's daughter over concerns that they may not get justice in the country. However, the Supreme Court of Canada ordered the extradition of the duo in 2017, but the decision was later stayed after the accused sought judicial review of the decision. Their plea for staying the extradition proceedings was rejected by a court in Canada in December 2018, finally paving the way for their extradition to India. Jaswinder, better known as Jassi, had fallen in love with Sukhwinder Singh Mithu, an autorickshaw driver, after she visited Punjab. She was the resident of Maple Ridge,British Columbia. Both got married against the wishes of Jassi's affluent family in 1999. Jassi, 25 at that time, and Mithu were reportedly attacked by contract killers on June 8, 2000 at village Narike of Malerkotla in Sangrur. The police had said that the contract killers were hired by Jassi's mother and uncle. Jassi's body was dumped in a drain with her throat slit, while Mithu was severely attacked and left to die. He, however, survived. The Punjab Police registered a case in this connection in July 2000 and named Malkit and Surjit in the FIR for allegedly conspiring to kill Jassi. In May 2002, the police contacted Canadian authorities for the extradition of Malkit and Badesha. On the extradition of his wife's alleged killers, Mithu said he was very happy and demanded strict punishment for them. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Jakarta's former governor has been released from prison, his assistant said Thursday, nearly two years after his blasphemy conviction fanned fears over religious intolerance in the world's biggest Muslim-majority nation. Basuki Tjahaja Purnama -- the Indonesian capital's first non-Muslim governor in half a century and its first ethnic Chinese leader -- left Mako Brimob prison in Depok, outside Jakarta, at around 7:30 am local time, Ima Mahdiah told AFP. Supporters of the former governor, who is popularly known as Ahok, gathered outside the prison, chanting and cheering his new-found freedom. The release ends one of the most tumultuous chapters in Indonesian politics in recent memory. Purnama had been a popular politician who won praise for trying to clean up the traffic-clogged megacity and clamp down on corruption before his imprisonment. But his downfall came quickly after comments he made on the campaign trail during a re-election bid saw him accused of insulting Islam. The filmed remarks, which went viral online, sparked mass protests in Jakarta, spearheaded by radical groups opposed to a non-Muslim leader and encouraged by his political rivals. He lost the election to a Muslim challenger and was then sentenced to two years' jail in May 2017. It was an unusually harsh sentence -- prosecutors had only recommended probation for the now 52-year-old. "He was picked up by his son Nicholas Sean Purnama" after being released, his assistant Mahdiah said. "He will spend time with his family first, resting." Purnama's case drew international headlines and a wave of criticism, including from the United Nations, which urged the country of 260 million to revise its decades-old blasphemy law. The charge against him centred on a remark he made to voters about his Muslim rivals using a Koranic verse to trick people into voting against him, which judges ruled amounted to blasphemy against Islam. The huge demonstrations calling for Purnama's jailing fuelled concerns about the growing influence of religious hardliners and that the Southeast Asian country's much-vaunted tolerant brand of Islam was under threat. Indonesia's blasphemy law states that anyone found guilty of "expressing feelings of hostility" towards religion can be jailed for up to five years. It applies to any of the six officially recognised religions, including Christianity, Buddhism and Hinduism, but most prosecutions are brought against people accused of blaspheming Islam, which is followed by nearly 90 percent of the population. Among them was an ethnic Chinese Buddhist woman found guilty in August of insulting Islam for asking her neighbourhood mosque to lower the volume on its sound system. She was sentenced to 18 months in jail. The woman's comments about the mosque noise triggered riots in 2016 that saw angry Muslim mobs ransack Buddhist temples. Some ethnic Chinese in the area fled in fear. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Jabalpur Collector Chhavi Bharadwaj appeared in person before the Madhya Pradesh High Court on Thursday to file an affidavit over action taken to remove stray animals from the streets here. A division bench of justices P K Jaiswal and Anjali Palo had summoned the bureaucrat after finding out that no affidavit was filed in compliance with a previous court order, the district collector's counsel, Samdarshi Tiwari, said. The collector appeared before the court and filed the affidavit, Tiwari added. Over the delay in filing the affidavit, Tiwari said this was on account of the collector being away from Jabalpur. In the affidavit, Bharadwaj said a decision was taken by the authorities concerned to take action under CrPC section 144 (related to prohibitory orders) against persons who set animals free on streets, the counsel said. The district administration and the police had extended all possible support to the Jabalpur Municipal Corporation (JMC) to take action in this regard, he added. The court was informed by the JMC that there was a shortage of land to keep the stray animals and the process was on to earmark more land, the counsel said. The court gave a fortnight's time to officials to identify the land and create a new space to keep the stray animals, Tiwari said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Senior officials of the Indian Coast Guard met Maldivian Defence Minister Mariya Ahmed Didi Thursday and discussed ways to boost cooperation in the area. The Indian side was led by V S R Murthy, Additional Director General, Coast Guard. "Additional Director General V S R Murthy, ADG @IndiaCoastGuard Called on Hon'ble Defence Minister of Maldives Ms. Uza Maria Ahmed Didi today and discussed bilateral #CoastGuard cooperation and capacity building issues. Senior officers of MNDF were also present @DefenceMinIndia," the Coast Guard tweeted. India and Maldives share robust defence ties. Last week, the Indian Coast Guard replaced an Advanced Light Helicopter at the Gan Addu Atoll of Maldives. Maldivian President Mohamed Solih had visited India last month during which the two countries resolved to deepen their maritime cooperation. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Indian-American Democratic Congressman Ro Khanna has been appointed to several key Congressional committees, reflecting his growing stature within his party and the Congress. In the current 116th Congress, Khanna has joined three influential committees -- Oversight and Reform, Armed Services and Budget. The 42-year-old Congressman, who represents Silicon valley, has also joined the House Armed Services subcommittees on Intelligence and Emerging Threats, and Strategic Forces, as well as the Oversight subcommittees of Government Operations and Economic Policy. "I'm honoured to have the confidence of Speaker Pelosi to serve on these committees at such a critical time in our nation's history," Khanna said. He further said: "I look forward to using these assignments to spark discussions around how we are going to grow the digital economy, forge a progressive foreign policy, hold the administration accountable and modernise government technologies". The committee on Oversight and Reform serves as the primary investigative body for the US House of Representatives and plays a crucial role in holding the Trump Administration accountable for many of the outstanding questions over potential campaign, ethics and constitutional violations. One of the first such investigations will focus on the ongoing issues of security clearance at the White House, a statement issued by the office of Khanna said. The committee also has sweeping jurisdiction in many policy areas, allowing Khanna and his colleagues to conduct oversight over "any matter" it believes would serve the American people, it said. Some of the first hearings will look at rising drug prices, campaign finance and lobbying reform. The committee on the Budget drafts the annual budget resolution that sets the levels of revenue and spending expected each fiscal year. Pelosi has already committed to holding hearings before the Budget committee on Medicare for all, where Khanna plans to continue his fight for universal health care in the country. Khanna has been a leading advocate in the movement for universal health coverage and for lowering prescription drug costs. With Senator Brown, he introduced the Grow American Incomes Now Act (GAIN) that expands the earned income tax credit by USD 1.4 trillion and will continue to fight for this policy on the committee. As a member of the committee on Armed Services' subcommittees on Intelligence and Emerging Threats and Strategic Forces, Khanna will continue to provide a much-needed voice of restraint in our nation's foreign policy, his office said. Khanna is leading the effort in the house to end US involvement in the Yemen civil war, cautions against a new nuclear arms race with Russia, and supports bringing technologies from Silicon Valley to the Defence Department, it said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Stepping up cooperation in the area of defence and developing a road map to enhance strategic partnership would be some of the key agendas during South African President Cyril Ramaphosa's visit to India, a top official in the Ministry of External Affairs said on Thursday. Ramaphosa, who will be the chief guest at the Republic Day parade in the national capital on January 26, will be the second South African president to be invited to the event as the chief guest. Former South African president Nelson Mandela was the chief guest at the Republic Day parade in 1995, T S Tirumurti, Secretary (Economic Relations), said. "During this visit, we hope to agree on a road map for taking our strategic partnership forward. Defence and security will continue to be an area of close bilateral cooperation," he told reporters. "South African defence industries are looking at our 'Make in India' initiative with renewed interest. India and South Africa have a strong interest in maritime security in the Indian Ocean region. India has also extended training slots for South African defence personnel. We share common concerns in the areas of terrorism, FATF, cyber security," Tirumurti said. He added that there would be one significant agreement that the two countries would be concluding during Ramaphosa's visit. "This will be a road map for our strategic partnership and a programme of action over three years for our strategic partnership. It will be significant in the sense that it will capture all the areas where we feel we should take it forward in a time-bound manner," Tirumurti said. The areas of focus would include defence, security, political relations, trade and investment, blue economy, tourism, science and technology, IT and agriculture, he added. Noting that the economic relations between the two country had also been "very robust", Tirumurti said this would be Ramaphosa's first visit to India after assuming office as the country's president. Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the South African president had previously met on three occasions, he added. "The three occasions were the CHOGM (Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting) in London in April 2018, the BRICS meeting in July 2018 in Johannesburg and later at the G-20 meet in Buenos Aires," Tirumurti said. Ramaphosa would be accompanied by the First Lady and nine senior ministers of his cabinet, in addition to senior officials and a 50-member business delegation, he said. The South African president will be given a ceremonial welcome at the Rashtrapati Bhawan on January 25. He will then pay his respects to Mahatma Gandhi at Rajghat. Modi will hold delegation-level talks with Ramaphosa and his delegation at the Hyderabad House. Their discussions are expected to cover a wide range of areas of bilateral and regional importance and global issues of mutual interest. The prime minister will host a lunch in the honour of the visiting dignitary at the Hyderabad house. In the afternoon of January 25, President Ramaphosa will deliver the Gandhi-Mandela Freedom Lecture organised by the Indian Council of World Affairs under the IBSA (India, Brazil, South Africa) framework. On January 26, the South African president will attend India's 70th Republic Day parade, join the at-home reception at the Rashtrapati Bhawan and depart for South Africa later in the evening. Ramaphosa's visit is preceded by a joint working groups meeting on agriculture, trade and investment. The visit was significant both from the point of view of bilateral strategic partnership with South Africa and in the overall context of enhanced engagement with Africa, Tirumurti said. "In the overall context, our relations with South Africa are at an all-time high. We have, in the last four years, had an unprecedented 29 visits at the level of the president, the vice president and the prime minister to African countries. "Our overall relations with South Africa in defence and security, economic, trade and investment relations, developing partnership and capacity building are at an all-time high," he added. "We are confident that the state visit of the South African president will provide an opportunity to re-energise the mutually beneficial strategic partnership in a focussed manner," Tirumurti said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Pakistan on Thursday described India's response to its proposal to finalise an agreement on the opening of the Kartarpur corridor as "childish", saying that Islamabad's reply will be "mature". Foreign Office Spokesperson Muhammad Faisal said that Pakistan shared a detailed proposal along with a draft agreement with the Indian authorities and invited an Indian delegation to Pakistan to discuss and finalise modalities for the agreement. Instead of responding to Pakistan's initiative, India asked a Pakistani delegation to visit New Delhi and suggested two possible dates - February 26 and March 7 - for the meeting, Faisal told the media here. "Pakistan, unlike India, would come out with a very mature and well considered response on this highly important matter and respond to the Indian move very soon," he said. The much-awaited corridor will connect Darbar Sahib in Pakistan's Kartarpur -- the final resting place of Sikh faith's founder Guru Nanak Dev-- with Dera Baba Nanak shrine in India's Gurdaspur district. It will enable Sikh devotees to offer prayers at the historic shrine where Guru Nanak had spent his last 18 years. Faisal alleged that India committed 2,300 ceasefire violations last year and these violations are still on the surge. Pakistan is responding in a befitting manner to the "unprovoked Indian firing" on the Line of Control, he said, adding that Pakistan would respond to India in the same coin. "If it (India) speaks the language of peace, we will respond peacefully and if it speaks the language of bullet, we will respond with the bullet," he said. Faisal also rejected the Indian claim about sinking of their fishing boat in Pakistani waters on 17th of this month. He, however, alleged that poaching in Pakistani exclusive economic zones is a frequent activity by the Indian fishing boats. He said Pakistan Maritime Security Agency (PMSA) conducts anti-poaching operations as per the laws and international regulations and the relevant UN convention. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The tariff war between the US and China is benefitting India as its exports to the neighbouring country have increased by about 32 per cent to USD 8.46 billion during the June-November 2018 period, exporters body FIEO said Thursday. Exports to China had stood at USD 6.37 billion in June-November 2017. In June and September 2018, the US announced high customs duties on several Chinese goods. In retaliation, China also raised levies on American goods. Federation of Indian Export Organisations (FIEO) President Ganesh Kumar Gupta also said that during the period, India's exports to the US grew by 12 per cent. "Exports to China jumped from USD 6.37 billion in June-November 2017 to USD 8.46 billion in June-November 2018," Gupta said in a statement. He said commodities that have exhibited high growth during the period to China include petroleum products, chemicals, cotton yarn, plastic raw material, and marine products. "While tariff war is not good for the global trade, the same has come as an opportunity for other countries including India. Our exports to China in June-November 2018 went up by 32 per cent and to US by 12 per cent in the same period," Gupta said. If the tariff escalation continues, India has to increase production capabilities to meet the growing demand in both the markets, he added. Growth in exports to China is beneficial for India as it has huge trade deficit with the neighbouring country. Trade deficit with China increased to USD 63.12 billion in 2017-18 from USD 51.11 billion in 2016-17. India is taking several steps to promote shipments to China. Recently it has managed to export agricultural goods such as non-basmati rice to China. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The tariff war between the US and China is benefitting India as its exports to the neighbouring country have increased by about 25 per cent during the June-November 2018 period to $8.46 billion, apex exporters body FIEO said on Thursday. Exports to China had stood at $6.37 billion in June-November 2017. In June and September 2018, the US announced high customs duties on several Chinese goods. In retaliation, China also raised levies on American goods. "US-China tariff war is benefiting India. Exports to China jumped from $6.37 billion in June-November 2017 to $8.46 billion in June-November 2018," Federation of Indian Export Organisations (FIEO) President Ganesh Kumar Gupta said in a statement. He said commodities that have exhibited high growth during the period to China include petroleum products, chemicals, cotton yarn, plastic raw material, and marine products. Growth in exports to China is beneficial for India as it has a huge trade deficit with the neighbouring country. Trade deficit with China increased to $63.12 billion in 2017-18 from $51.11 billion in 2016-17. India is taking several steps to promote shipments to China. Recently, it has managed to export agricultural goods such as non-basmati rice to China. India and Maldives on Thursday resolved to deepen their maritime security cooperation and give a new momentum to overall military ties during talks between Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and her Maldivian counterpart Mariya Ahmed Didi, officials said. In a statement, the defence ministry described the talks as "substantive" and said that the two countries will continue their counter-terror cooperation. "India and Maldives held substantive discussions on further strengthening bilateral defence cooperation here today. Both side agreed that the two countries would continue their traditionally close cooperation on issues of maritime security, counter-terrorism," it said. In the talks, Sitharaman reiterated India's commitment to contribute towards capacity building and training requirements of the Maldives national defence forces, the officials said. The issue of maritime security cooperation figured prominently during Prime Minister Narendra Modi's talks with Maldivian President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih here last month. The two countries had agreed to remain mindful of each other's concerns and aspirations for the stability of the Indian Ocean region and not allow their respective territories to be used for any activity inimical to their interests. India is concerned over China's efforts to expand influence over Maldives. Chief of Army Staff General Bipin Rawat, Chief of the Air Staff Air Chief Marshal B S Dhanoa and Vice Chief of the Naval Staff Vice Admiral Ajit Kumar P called on the Maldivian defence minister. It is Didi's first visit to India after becoming defence minister around four months back. The second round of the India-Maldives Defence Cooperation Dialogue was also held on Thursday. The Indian delegation was headed by Defence Secretary Shri Sanjay Mitra and Maldivian side was led by Chief of Defence Forces of Maldives Major General Abdulla Shamaal. Didi will witness the 70th Republic Day Parade at Rajpath as well as visit various Indian defence institutions such as the Indian Maritime Analysis Centre in Gurugram and Army Training Command in Shimla. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) India successfully launched Microsat-R, a military satellite onboard its Polar rocket PSLV C44, from the spaceport here on Thursday, in the first mission for the ISRO in 2019. The Indian Space Research Organisation's (ISRO) workhorse Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) blasted off from the first launchpad of the Satish Dhawan Space Centre at 11.37 pm at the end of a 28-hour countdown. In a textbook launch, the 44-metre tall, four-stage PSLV-C44 soared into the clear and starry night sky majestically and injected the 740-kg Microsat-R into orbit precisely 13 minutes and 30 seconds later. ISRO scientists broke into celebration at the mission control centre here, about 130 km from Chennai, as the Microsat-R was released in a 274-km polar sun synchronous orbit, marking another success story for the space agency. Former ISRO chairmen Krishnaswamy Kasturirangan and AS Kiran Kumar were among those who witnessed the launch. The fourth stage of the rocket with co-passenger Kalamsat, a students' payload, would now be moved to a higher circular orbit, around 450 kms from earth, so as to establish an orbital platform for carrying out experiments. The ISRO said it would take about 90 minutes for the fourth stage to reach the desired orbit. Microsat-R, an imaging satellite, is meant for military purposes, but the ISRO did not give any details about it. Built at a cost of around Rs 12 lakh, the Kalamsat is an experimental satellite for studying the communication system of nano satellites, which can be useful in many fields, predominantly disaster management. The PSLV C44 is the first launch for the country's space agency in 2019. The PSLV-C44, assembled in 30 days, was the first mission of a new variant of the PSLV, called the PSLV-DL, as it was equipped with two strap-on configurations, the ISRO said. Usually, PSLVs were launched without any strap-ons (boosters) or were equipped with six strap-ons fixed around the rocket, but the ISRO, for the first time, used only two boosters for the mission, an official of the space agency said. He added that for the first time, the ISRO placed a satellite -- Microsat-R -- in a lower orbit, at around 274 kms from earth. Contributed by college students and the members of a Chennai-based organisation -- Space Kidz India -- Kalamsat is the first to use PS4 (the fourth stage of the vehicle) as a platform to orbit around the earth. "We have been working on the project for over six years now. These students are from various backgrounds and the youngest one is studying B.Sc Physics," Space Kidz India CEO Srimathy Kesan told PTI. Kesan said Kalamsat was the lightest ever satellite to be launched by India. Space Kidz India aims to nurture young scientists. With this, the PSLV, basically a four-stage vehicle with alternating solid and liquid stages, has launched 54 Indian and 269 satellites of international customers. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Indian envoy to China, Vikram Misri, called on Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Kong Xuanyou and they took stock of "positive developments" since the 2018 Wuhan summit between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Xi Jinping, the Indian Embassy said here Thursday. Misri, who took charge early this month, called on Kong on Tuesday. The meeting between Misri and Kong was termed as a "courtesy call" by the Indian officials here. "They took stock of positive developments since Wuhan Informal Summit and also exchanged views on further strengthening of India-China relations," the Embassy tweeted. Modi and Xi met at Wuhan in April last year in the first informal summit between the two leaders. It was conceived by both sides following the 2017 military standoff at Doklam which ratchet up tensions between the two countries. Since the summit, the two countries steadily normalised relations with intensified dialogue on various fronts including the military and trade. India's Commerce Secretary Anup Wadhawan also concluded his two-day tour to China on Tuesday. He held talks with Chinese Vice Minister of Commerce Wang Shouwen and Zhang Jiwen, Chinese Vice Minister of General Administration of Customs of China (GACC) to enhance Indian exports to China to reduce over USD 57 billion trade deficit. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) India has tremendous potential to turn challenges like desertification and droughts into opportunities through improved land use and management, and provide the leadership the world needs to take bold actions, according to the UN Convention to Combat Desertification. Remarks by Monique Barbut, the Executive Secretary of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD), came as he announced that India would host the next global Conference on desertification, land degradation and drought. The conference would be held from October 7 to 18 at the Vigyan Bhavan in New Delhi. Participants from 197 Parties to the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) will have access, for the first time, to a wealth of vital new scientific data. They will have access to Earth Observation data on the trends in land degradation dating from 2000, gathered from 120 of the 169 countries affected by desertification. They will also receive the first report on desertification and climate change prepared by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), the global authority on climate change. "India is one of the countries affected by desertification, and is facing new challenges, among which are recurrent droughts and dust and sand storms. The country has tremendous potential to turn these challenges into opportunities through improved land use and management, and to provide the leadership the world needs to take bold actions," said Barbut. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The prosecution sanction of Delhi government for the JNU sedition case has met a roadblock with Law Minister Kailash Gahlot issuing a notice to principal secretary (law) for sending opinion of the department directly to home department without putting the related file before him. In the showcause notice to Principal Secretary (Law) AK Mendiratta, dated January 21, the minister cited rules, saying no decisions can be made or any opinion be communicated to any other department without his prior approval. Gahlot said sending the file directly to the principal secretary (home) by Mendiratta was "not only an act of insubordination but it appears to have been done intentionally so that the views of the Law minister are not recorded on the file". The Delhi Police on January 14 filed a charge sheet in a city court against former JNU Students' Union president Kanhaiya Kumar and others in connection with an incident where anti-national slogans were allegedly raised on the university campus in an event marking hanging of Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru, in February 2016. Police told the court that sanction for prosecution in the case was sought from Delhi government. The concerned file submitted by police with home department of Delhi government was sent to its law department for opinion. The principal secretary (law) sent it back with the opinion on January 18. "The file is currently with Home Minister Satyendar Jain who will take the final call on prosecution sanction. Its not clear whether it will be sent back to Gahlot for his approval," sources said. The court had refused to take cognisance of the police charge sheet saying prosecution sanction was not taken from the concerned authority. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Justifying its decision to allocate Rs 100 crore for the proposed Bal Thackeray memorial, the Maharashtra government Thursday told the Bombay High Court it was within its discretion to allot land or money for a monument for a prominent person and it cannot be questioned in court. The government made the submission before a division bench of Chief Justice N H Patil and Justice N M Jamdar which was hearing two petitions challenging the state's decision to convert the mayor's bungalow in central Mumbai into a memorial for Shiv Sena founder Bal Thackeray. The petitions were filed by activist Bhagwanji Rayani and NGO Jan Mukti Morcha in April 2017 when the government had proposed to set up the memorial. When the petitions came up for hearing Thursday, petitioners' advocates Pradeep Havnur and Uday Warunjikar sought to amend the pleas so as to also challenge the decision of the BJP-led government to allocate Rs 100 crore for the memorial. The decision was taken earlier this week. Havnur argued that the amount could be used for other important issues facing the state, while Warunjikar claimed the entire machinery was being mobilised for a private individual. Senior counsel Milind Sathe, appearing for the government, opposed the petitions, saying it was the state's discretion how much land or money should be allotted for a memorial. "Whether a person deserves a memorial or statue is up to the state government. Such state actions cannot be questioned in a court of law," Sathe maintained. The bench, while agreeing to this, however, said the court could question the manner in which a decision has been taken. It allowed the petitioners to amend their pleas to challenge the Rs 100-crore allocation and directed the government and Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) to file their affidavits by February 12. The court also issued a notice to a government trust, 'Balasaheb Thackeray Rashtriya Smarak Samiti', set up in September 2016 to carry out work for the memorial, seeking its reply on the issue. The petitioners also raised objections to the setting up of the trust and said of its 11 members, six are private persons. "The six permanent members include Uddhav Thackeray (Shiv Sena chief) and (his son) Aaditya Thackeray. If it is a government trust, how can private persons be made permanent members?" Warunjikar asked. The petitions also challenged a recent amendment to a provision in the Mumbai Municipal Corporation Act by which the civic body chief was permitted to lease any immovable property, owned by the BMC, to any person at a nominal rate of Re 1 per year. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A detailed probe will be carried out into the death of former Union minister Gopinath Munde after the NCP and allies will form the next government, the party's Maharashtra unit chief Jayant Patil said Thursday. Patil's remark comes a few days after a "cyber expert" claimed senior BJP leader Munde was "killed" as the latter was aware of alleged hacking of electronic voting machines (EVMs) in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections. The BJP-led NDA had won the polls. The cyber expert, identified as Syed Shuja who is seeking political asylum in the US, had last Monday claimed the 2014 polls were "rigged" through the EVMs, which he had said, could be hacked. The Election Commission of India had denied the charge and asked the Delhi Police to lodge an FIR against the self- proclaimed cyber expert. Shuja did not provide any proof to back his claims made at a press conference in London he addressed via Skype. Munde died in a road accident in New Delhi in 2014, a week after taking over as Rural Development Minister in the Narendra Modi Cabinet. "The responsibility of tracing who is responsible for Munde's death is on us. How he was killed has to be probed. "Hence, a detailed probe will be carried out when our government is formed in the near future," Patil said at a rally in Vasmat in Hingoli district. The rally was organised as part of the third leg of the NCP's 'Parivartan Yatra', a public outreach programme the party has undertaken ahead of the upcoming Lok Sabha polls. Patil said "it did not augur well" if a leader like Munde died allegedly in connection with an EVM-related matter. The former Maharashtra minister also hit out at Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on the issues of farm loan waiver and Dhangar quota, respectively. "Both of them (Modi and Fadnavis) have forgotten (to keep promises made on the issues). Hence, there is no trust left in them," he added. He hailed NCP chief Sharad Pawar for giving "historic farm loan waiver" to farmers (in 2009) when the latter was the Union Agriculture Minister. "But this government has not given a single penny," Patil alleged. Another NCP leader Chhagan Bhujbal also addressed the rally and attacked the Shiv Sena for continuing to be part of the governments at the Centre and in the state despite the Uddhav Thackeray-led party's constant criticism of the BJP-led regimes. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Maharashtra minister Chandrakant Patil Thursday said if the BJP and the Shiv Sena don't forge an alliance for the upcoming elections, the Congress-NCP combine will come to power in the state. Speaking to reporters here, he said Lok Sabha and state assembly elections will be held separately. The revenue minister said since the alliance between both the parties is very strong, it has withstood numerous "quakes" in the last four years. "Had the Congress and the NCP decided to fight the polls separately, then there was no harm in our going solo. However, even the Sena knows that in the present scenario, if we fight separately, the Congress-NCP combine will come to power," the minister said. The BJP will not be affected in case it loses, as the party will come to power at the Centre. The party is already in power in 20 states, he said. "While the BJP will win 100-110 seats and Sena 40-50 seats, it is the people who will suffer. None of the political parties will be affected," Patil said. Replying to a query, the minister said elections to the Lok Sabha and state Assembly will be held separately "without any doubt". When asked about the tremors felt in Palghar district, Patil,who also holds the relief and rehabilitation portfolio, said seismologists and experts from IIT Bombay were studying the recent incidents. "The earthquake incidents are limited to two villages in Palghar. The collector has been asked to make alternate arrangements for them to stay. We will see if they should be shifted to some other place altogether or be given new homes," Patil said. Mild tremors were felt in and around Dahanu in Palghar district on Sunday and Thursday, officials said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Indian Air Force Thursday started its normal operation at Vijaynagar Advance Landing Ground (ALG) in Changlang district of Arunachal Pradesh after its helicopter was prevented by local residents from landing Wednesday at the ALG. The local residents had spread across the ALG runway of Vijaynagar Wednesday to prevent landing of the helicopter to protest the IAF chopper not carrying cardamom produced by them to Miao. Shillong-based defence spokesman Wing Commander Ratnakar Singh said in a statement that IAF has always been supporting the locals around all ALGs and border areas. However, because of some miscommunication, the official request for carriage of civilians and the load was not available on Wednesday. The normal operation with IAF load to build up Vijaynagar ALG has been restored on Thursday and based on requisition by state authority, carrying of civilian load and passengers has commenced, Singh said. IAF is committed to revive the Vijaynagar ALG for fixed wing aircraft operation which will bring great support to locals of the region, Singh added. The renovated Vijaynagar ALG, located on the tri-junction of India-China-Tibet, since its inauguration by the then Arunachal Pradesh Governor Gen (Retd) J J Singh on November 18, 2011 after landing of an IAFs AN-32 transport carrier, had turned a boon for the needy and poor people of the valley. It was one of the eight ALGs, renovated by the defence ministry under 2008 Prime Ministers package. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) After working in Bollywood for over two decades, Boman Irani is ready to shift gears as the actor now plans to produce and direct films. The 59-year-old actor on Thursday launched his production banner "Irani MovieTone" but he contends that at heart, he still remains an actor. "I will always be an actor. It is just that I have found a new craft, writing. Ever since I was a kid I used to write but was writing badly," Irani told reporters. The actor has invited Alexander Dinelaris, the Oscar-winning screenwriter of Alejandro G Inarritu's "Birdman", for a day-long screenwriting workshop, to be held on Thursday. "Over the years, I decided to learn the craft by reading books and I met Alex in New York. He is like my brother. We discussed my script and he encouraged me. "When I met Alex and his friends, I learnt so much. It is important that we share someone of his craft, intelligence and simplicity here. I am glad he agreed to come here," the actor-turned-producer said. Megastar Amitabh Bachchan flagged off the event. Irani also revealed that he has written a script, which will hopefully go on floors soon. "At the moment, we are putting our name out there. We have Alex to help young writers. The first production hopefully is the one that I have written but if something else comes, then (we'll focus on) that. "The idea is to develop good stories and if they are on the page, we will have good cinema on screen," he said. Irani has frequently collaborated with filmmaker Rajkumar Hirani, having starred in his films like "Munna Bhai" series, "3 Idiots", "PK" and most recently in "Sanju". The actor considers Hirani to be a "great influence" on his growth as an actor. He, however, steered clear of commenting on the allegation of sexual misconduct against Hirani. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) It was love at first sight for Mahajabeen, wife of Lance Naik Nazir Ahmad Wani, when the two met at a school in South Kashmir around 15 years back. Nearly one-and-half months after Wani's death in an anti-terror operation in Shopian, Mahajabeen, a teacher and mother of two, says his immense love for her and fearless persona are a source of motivation for her to encourage youngsters to become good citizens. "I did not cry when I was told he is no more. There was an inner resolve which did not allow me to cry," she said, on a day the government announced the Ashoka Chakra, India's highest peacetime gallantry award, for Wani who hailed from Cheki Ashmuji in Kulgam district of Jammu and Kashmir. Wani, a militant-turned-soldier who had joined the Army's 162 Infantry Battalion (Territorial Army) Jammu and Kashmir Light Infantry in 2004, will be conferred the award posthumously on Saturday by President Ram Nath Kovind. "He loved me so much. For me, he was my guiding light. He always encouraged all of us to make people around us happy, to resolve people's problems. "As a teacher, I am dedicating myself to creating good citizens for my state. Leading the young minds in the right direction is my resolve and I am drawing inspiration for it from my beloved husband -- the best in the world," said Mahajabeen. Refusing to share much details about their school and college days, Mahajabeen said,"We met at school. It was love at the first sight. He was a great husband, always fiercely protecting us." Recalling the fateful day of November 25, Mahajabeen said she was at her parents' house when the shocking came. "He had telephoned me the previous evening and enquired about our well-being. I had told him to take care of himself. But destiny had something else for him," said Mahajabeen in an interview to PTI. "He always wanted to make his 162/TA Jammu and Kashmir Light Infantry batellion proud. For him, duty was supreme. He was a source of inspiration for people in our area and community," said Mahajabeen, who is in her late 30s. On November 25, 38-year-old Wani lost his life in a counter-terror operation against six terrorists in Hirapur village near Batgund, in Shopian. Under intense hail of bullets from the terrorists, he eliminated the 'district commander' of the Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) and one foreign terrorist in a daring display of raw courage, officials said. In the ensuing gunfight, he was hit multiple times including on his head. He also injured another terrorist before succumbing to his grievous wounds, they said. Apart from his wife, he is survived by two sons Athar (20) and Shaid (18). "He was a brave soldier and a hero right from the beginning. He always served for peace in his home state of Jammu and Kashmir," said a senior Army official. Wani was a recipient of the Sena Medal for gallantry twice in 2007 and 2018. "He always had the interest of the nation in his heart. He operated with Rashtriya Rifles units in Kashmir. Throughout his active life he always willingly faced grave potential threats and was a source of inspiration for others," said one of his colleagues. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Hitachi's frozen nuclear power project in Britain can only be revived if it is nationalised, Nikkei agency reported the company's chairman as saying on Wednesday. "Nationalisation is the only path," Hiroaki Nakanishi was quoted as saying at the World Economic Forum in Davos. But he added that legal changes would be required for the British government to take a majority stake in the business to fill a funding gap left by the private sector. The chairman said private investors had little appetite to support the power plant after seeing similar projects around the world stall, Nikkei reported. Hitachi last week froze construction of the Wylfa Newydd plant in Wales owing to financing difficulties. It had launched the project after acquiring British-based Horizon Nuclear Power in 2012. The UK government had agreed to take a one-third equity stake in the project, alongside investment from Hitachi, Japanese government agencies and other strategic partners. Fund-raising efforts subsequently fell short, however. Britain has put nuclear power at the heart of its low-carbon energy policy, in stark contrast to Europe's biggest economy Germany, which is phasing it out in the wake of Japan's 2011 Fukushima nuclear disaster. Last year, Hitachi's Japanese rival Toshiba also pulled the plug on a nuclear power plant project in northwest England. The Franco-Chinese project Hinkley Point C -- Britain's first new nuclear power station in a generation -- is still under construction meanwhile. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Delhi High Court has upheld the life term awarded to a man by a trial court for the murder of his daughter-in-law and newborn granddaughter, saying he had killed the woman as she had resisted his "lustful overtures" and did not even spare the baby in his rage. A bench of justices Hima Kohli and Manoj Kumar Ohri however set aside the lower court's order that the convict, Arshad Ali, be not released on remission till he completes 28 years of actual incarceration and said that such a direction can be issued by the high court or the Supreme Court. The bench modified the trial court's decision by directing that Ali will not be released till he completes 25 years of incarceration and disposed of his appeal challenging his conviction and sentence. The high court upheld his conviction relying on witness statements, including that of his then eight-year-old son who had seen him strangulating the woman and the baby, and the forensic evidence placed on record by the prosecution. The bench said that based on statements of the witnesses, including the convict's wife and neighbours, he "comes out as a licentious character, who lusted for his own daughter-in-law and desired to establish a physical relationship with her". This was apparently resisted by the young hapless girl (daughter-in-law) aged 22-23 years, who had delivered a girl child barely 20-22 days before the incident, while her husband was still in jail, it said. "This had apparently enraged the appellant (convict) to the point that he strangulated his daughter-in-law within the four walls of her matrimonial home. The appellant did not even spare the tiny baby and strangulated her too in a cold blooded manner," the court noted in its verdict. The bench said the facts and circumstances, proved that he had sufficient motive to commit the crime "which has been amply proved by the prosecution on the basis of the testimonies of independent witnesses and the circumstantial evidence brought on record". It said that simply because "there was no eye witness to the lustful overtures made by the appellant towards his daughter-in-law is not reason enough for this Court to disbelieve the said evidence, which when taken together, clearly establishes that the appellant had resented Nagma for not submitting to his sexual desire which had provoked him to commit such a heinous offence". The bench also said that the convict had given contradictory versions of the incident at different points in time, "each one more implausible than the other", and therefore, his defence "did not ring true and the same is unbelievable". Ali had on different occasions shifted the blame of the crime on to his estranged wife and his other sons, including the victim's husband who was in jail. Rejecting his defence, the high court said, "It has been successfully established by the prosecution that he was disreputable and had an evil eye on his own daughter-in-law, a young girl of 22-23 years. "Prior to the date of the incident, the appellant had made sexual overtures towards her. All this had happened within the four walls of the appellant's own home and that too in the absence of his son, husband of the victim, who was incarcerated at that time." The bench further observed that when the woman "resisted the depraved acts of the appellant, he had strangulated her and did not stop at that. He also proceeded to strangulate his 22 days old granddaughter, without any remorse." The high court noted that Ali had also threatened to kill his then eight-year-old son, who witnessed the incident, if he told anyone the truth. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Bombay High Court Thursday refused to give relief to a lawyer seeking a stay on the release of film "Manikarnika - The Queen of Jhansi" on the ground that it wrongly depicted historical facts. Advocate Vivek Tambe, who claims to be a fifth generation descendant of the family of Rani Lakshmibai, the Queen of Jhansi, had moved the high court earlier this week claiming that the Kangana Ranuat-starrer had got several historical facts wrong. According to the petitioner, the film shows the birth year of the queen of Jhansi as 1828. However, her birth year was actually 1835, his plea said. It further claimed that there are certain scenes which show that the queen suffered a miscarriage, which is not correct. The producers of the film opposed the plea, saying the birth year was provided by historians and that there is no scene in the movie showing a miscarriage. Central Board for Film Certification (CBFC) counsel Advait Sethna told a division bench of Chief Justice N H Patil and Justice N M Jamdar Thursday that its examining committee has given due consideration before certifying the movie. "A disclaimer has also been included in the movie saying certain elements have been dramatised and fictionalised and that it does not intend to hurt any person's sentiments," Sethna said. The bench, after hearing the arguments, said it was not inclined to grant interim relief by way of staying the release of the film. The court directed the producer to file their affidavit responding to the petition in two weeks. The movie is slated for release Friday. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Madras High Court Thursday dismissed a plea for discharge by one of the 17 accused in the gang rape of an 11-year-old hearing impaired girl here last year, terming it an "audacious move". Noting that the case shocked the moral conscience of the society at large, Justice V Parthiban rejected the revision petition by Deena Dayalan, challenging the trial court order declining his discharge. "It is indeed an audacious move to file the present revision petition against the order passed by the trial court dismissing the discharge petition, when, prima facie, there exist materials to proceed against him by the prosecution," Parthiban said. The matter relates to the rape of a minor girl by a group of 17 people, mostly plumbers, housekeepers, security guards and lift operators, working at an apartment complex in Ayanavaram locality here. The girl was allegedly sexually assaulted several times by the accused over seven months. The matter came to light after the victim, a class 7 student, narrated her ordeal to her elder sister who then informed their parents following which the girl's father lodged a police complaint on July 15, 2018. Out of the 17 accused in the case, Dayalan was arrayed as 12th accused. The Mahila court had dismissed the discharge petition filed by him on December 12, 2018 against which he preferred the revision petition in the High Court. "Instead of facing the trial to prove his innocence, the petitioner has approached the trial court to discharge him from the offences charged against him, expecting the trial court to pronounce his innocence at the very threshold," the judge said. "His involvement in the incident, which gave rise to the charge of his and others, was not the run off the mill criminal case of sexual assault, which normally comes up for scrutiny before the criminal Court," he observed. The judge also noted that it was the case, which shocked the moral conscience of the society at large when 17 perpetrators had committed an act of abominable sexual assault on the disabled girl who was below 12 years. The way, in which the crime was reported to have been committed by the perpetrators, prima facie, appears to be a despicable act of giving vent to their carnal desire leading to commit horrendous sexual assault on the hapless victim girl, he said. "The alleged act of perpetrators, to put it appropriately, is outrageously inhuman,wickedly laced with unalloyed perversion of the inconceivable kind," the court said, dismissing the petition. "Such crimes in society need to be viewed strictly to save the children from the predatory sexual instinct of such men in the society. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Gaza's Islamist rulers Hamas said Thursday they would not accept a fresh tranche of Qatari funds, accusing Israel of imposing new conditions on the money entering the blockaded Palestinian territory. The rejection of the expected USD 15 million raised fears of fresh tensions along the Gaza-Israel border, ahead of weekly protests on Friday. "We refuse to receive the third Qatari grant in response to the (Israeli) occupation's behaviour and attempts to evade the agreement," Khalil al-Hayya, Hamas's deputy head in Gaza, told journalists. Al-Hayya did not name specific conditions that were changed, but said Israel was playing with the funds ahead of upcoming elections. Under an informal agreement struck in November, Gulf state Qatar has sent USD 15 million a month into the strip. The funds to pay salaries of Hamas employees and support impoverished Gazans are in exchange for relative calm along the border, where often violent protests have taken place since March 2018. The money has been transferred via Israel. The third tranche had been expected to enter this week but Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu blocked it Tuesday after two shooting incidents along the Gaza border, including one in which a soldier was lightly injured. Mohammed al-Emadi, ambassador of the Gulf state to Gaza, met Thursday in the enclave with Hamas officials, including leader Ismail Haniya. Israeli media reported Thursday that the country's security cabinet had still approved the funds. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu Thursday said the country's Goods and Services Tax would usher in long term gains despite initial problems and claimed that the world would take a cue from the GST experiment. "GST is the biggest transformation of the world, I can tell you. Because it is going to bring a sea-change. There were problems intially. (In) any reforms for that matter, there will be initial problems... temporary pains for long term gains, that is the experience," Naidu said. Doing business in India has now become much cheaper and faster through GST and other tax reforms and digital processing single interface and single window system, he said, even as he pointed out at India gaining places on the ease of doing business index. "You will see in the coming days the entire world is going to take a cue from the GST expriment so that there is no pilferage, no leakage and there is no waiting," he said in his valedictory address at the Tamil Nadu Global Investors Meet (GIM) 2019 here. Lot of people have come under the tax net to pay the tax and everything is going to be made online so that one need not stand in a line, the vice president said. The Centre's aim was to see to it that everything went digital, thus eliminating corruption, he indicated. Hailing India's "captivating growth story", he said the country was being lauded by international organisations like the World Bank and the IMF. "India of today is a land of infinite possibilities and tremendous opportunities. The liberalisation of the Indian economy started in the early 90s under the regime of the then Prime Minister, the late PV Narasimha Rao and assisted by Dr Manmohan Singh. They may belong to different party (Congress) but reforms started at that time," he said. The liberalisation process picked up further momentum under the Prime Ministership of the late Atal Bihari Vajpayee who ushered in a new 'connectivity revolution' in different sectors like telecom, rural roads, air, rail and port connectivity, he said. "He even brought political connectivity," Naidu said in an apparent lighter vein. He said incumbent Prime Minister Narendra Modi through various measures and reforms has ensured that the fundamentals of the Indian economy were strong as it continues on the growth trajectory. "The reforms taken by the government in the past few years has made India the top destination for investments in the world," he added. While 2018 was 'replete' with external vulnerabilities, increasing oil prices, economies 'veering' towards protection and trade wars 'brewing' between major global trading partners, India still managed to maintain its steady course, he said. One of the reasons for this was the robustness of its institutions, Naidu said. He said though the agriculture sector "is facing some problems" the union government, states and all political parties were focusing on it. "We want to make it a viable, sustainable profession," he said. Naidu cautioned against rising inequality across the world and urged that all forms of inequality must be brought down. "The Indian government, Indian states are moving in that direction," he said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) General line teachers in Jammu and Kashmir, who are awaiting their salaries for the past six months, have urged Governor Satya Pal Malik to intervene in the matter. There are over 15,000 such teachers awaiting their wages for the past six months. "We are awaiting salaries for the past six months. We urge the governor to intervene into the matter and decide out fate," a general line teacher of a primary school in Ramban, Mohmmad Younis Katoch, told reporters here. Katoch said the teachers will demonstrate a protest if there demands were not fulfilled. "My wife is in a hospital in Jammu. I have to feed three children and educate them. How can I feed them without my salary," Katoch said. An association of these teachers have already met the governor and apprised him of the situation. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) : City-based water technology major EKKI group has proposed to set up a manufacturing facility here through a joint venture with German pump company Homa group. The companies announced the signing of memorandum of understanding in the presence of Tamil Nadu Chief Minister K Palaniswami during the second edition of the Global Investors Meet which began in Chennai Wednesday. Under the pact which was inked in May last, Homa would have 50 per cent stake in the joint venture. The German firm would be investing nearly Rs 150 crore as part of its expansion plans globally and a part of the amount would be invested in the unit, a press release said. The new factory would create employment opportunities for nearly 100 people, the release said. EKKI group is engaged in the manufacture of pump systems under the EKKI and DECCAN brands, which are sold in more than 20 countries. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot on Thursday said appointment of Priyanka Gandhi as Congress general secretary of Uttar Pradesh-East "was the right decision taken at the right time" by Congress president Rahul Gandhi. "Rahul has taken this right decision at the right time. It has importance in The decision has conveyed a good message among the youths and women. The BJP is afraid and therefore their party leaders are making illogical comments," Gehlot told reporters at the PCC here. When asked if the party would like Rahul or Priyanka to contest Lok Sabha elections from Rajasthan, Gehlot said it is for the party high command to decide but Rajasthan will welcome Rahul and Priyanka if they contest from here. Saying that the victory of Congress in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh assembly elections and performance in Gujarat elections had changed the people's perception about Rahul Gandhi Gehlot said the people now feel that only the Gandhi scion can challenge Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Attacking Modi, Gehlot said the prime minister did not give other BJP ministers the opportunity to establish themselves. "Modi's approach is autocratic. He takes his ministers as subordinates, instead of considering them as cabinet colleagues. Modi did not give chance to other ministers for creating their identity," he said. On 10 per cent reservation to economically weaker sections in general category, Gehlot said Rajasthan was the first state government which had passed a resolution for 14 per cent reservation for economically backward class (EBC) in 2002 and forwarded the proposal to the then central government led by Atal Bihari Vajpayee for Constitution amendment. On the appointment of K C Venugopal as AICC general secretary (organisation) which was held by him, Gehlot said the development was natural because he was working is Rajasthan. "Decisions are taken in the interest of the party. It is not a hard and fast rule that one cannot hold two posts, but the decision about me was natural. We had already made this decision, only the announcement was made yesterday. I am working in Rajasthan, how can I sit in AICC? It was natural," he said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Four policemen in civil clothes gave protection to two women of menstrual age and accompanied them when they entered the Lord Ayyappa temple in Sabarimala on January 2, making history, the Kerala High Court was informed on Thursday by a senior police official. In view of security reasons, the two women -- Bindu and Kanakadurga -- were ushered into the temple through the gate meant for the staff of the Travancore Devaswom Board (TDB), which administered the famous hills shrine, and VIPs, Pathnamthitta Superintendent of Police (SP) T Narayanan told the court. The policemen, who were on duty at Pamba, the foothills of Sabarimala, had accompanied the two women to the "Sannidhanam" (temple complex) on their request and they had entered the sanctum sanctorum through the temple door behind the "Kodimaram" (flag pole), he said. The submissions were made in an affidavit filed in response to a report by the court-appointed high-powered committee on Sabarimala. The police took the women through that gate as they wanted to avoid any commotion at the holy eighteen steps, leading to the shrine, in the light of protests, if any, by devotees and activists, the affidavit said. The two women were "wrongly restrained" by the protesters belonging to right-wing outfits -- the Sabarimala Karma Samithi, the Achara Samrakshana Samithi -- and a prominent political party when they attempted to trek the hill shrine on December 24 last year, it stated. "In the said circumstances, it was obligatory on the part of the police to protect the life and liberty of these two women in their attempt to trek Sabarimala on January 2, which right was conferred on them by the judgment of the honourable Supreme Court," the affidavit added. On December 24 last year, when the two women were restrained by the protesters at Apachimedu and then at a hospital near the Sannidhanam, the police exercised their operational freedom and decided not to proceed with them further, it was stated. On January 2, the police assessed the security situation at Sabarimala, decided that it was "conducive" for the women's trek to the shrine and accorded protection to the two. "The police also decided to provide them cover in civil dress so as to avoid the attention of the protesters, if any, at Sabarimala. The entry of these two women to the Sabarimala temple was legal and proper and the same was in accordance with the dictum laid down by the honourable apex court," the affidavit stated. The police were constitutionally obligated and statutorily bound to accord protection to the lives and liberties of the two women and they had acted accordingly, the SP said. Giving a detailed account, he said on January 2, a total of 93,120 devotees had come to Sabarimala. The two women, accompanied by the policemen, trekked to Sabarimala and reached the Sannidhanam at 3.52 am on that day. They had a peaceful "darshan" and none of the devotees, who were at Sabarimala at that point, had any difficulty with the two women having a "darshan" and there were no protests either, the affidavit said. The entry of the two women devotees into the Sabarimala temple by itself did not create any problem either at Sabarimala or anywhere else in the state of Kerala, it added. But attempts were made by certain right-wing outfits and a prominent political party to breach the peaceful atmosphere that had prevailed in Sabarimala and in the state under the guise of protesting against the alleged and purported breach of custom on account of the entry of the two women into the temple, the affidavit stated. Troubles were fomented purposefully by right-wing elements for their political ends, it alleged. The SP also stated that he was unable to be present before the high court-appointed high-powered committee on January 11 as he had to oversee the security arrangements for the "Thiruvabharnam" procession of Lord Ayyappa. Kerala had witnessed violent protests in the aftermath of the women's entry into the temple with houses and offices of BJP-RSS and CPI(M) workers and leaders being attacked in some parts of the state. After video clips of the women entering the temple surfaced, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan had confirmed that they had offered prayers at the shrine. On January 8, the high court had expressed concern over the then situation in Sabarimala and said the government should identify those who had an agenda to spoil the peaceful atmosphere at the shrine. It had also wanted to know whether the two women, who had entered the temple on January 2, had any agenda. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Jharkhand High Court granted bail to former state HRD minister Bandhu Tirkey in connection with a disproportionate assets case on Thursday. Tirkey's advocate A K Kashyap argued that the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) had filed a closure report in the case as it did not get any evidence of disproportionate assets held by his client during its probe. The investigating agency had also not filed a chargesheet in the case, he said. Tirkey had filed the bail petition after the CBI had arrested him in the case on December 12 from his residence at Banhora in Ranchi district and he was sent to judicial custody by a CBI court, which had not agreed with the closure report and had issued summons to him. Justice A B Singh granted bail to the former minister. Tirkey, who is presently the general secretary of the Babulal Marandi-led Jharkhand Vikas Morcha (Prajatantrik) party, was a minister in the Madhu Koda government between 2006 and 2008. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Following a massive protest rally in Navsari district over the survey of agricultural land for a highway project under the Centre's Bharatmala project, Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani Thursday ordered a halt to the survey work till the issue is resolved. Notably, Prime Minister Narendra Modi is scheduled to visit Navsari district next week for the inauguration of the National Salt Satyagraha Memorial at Dandi village. Angry farmers from over 50 villages of tribal- dominated Navsari district Thursday converged at Chikhli town to register their protest against the Bharatmala project, as one of the roads connecting Surat with Nashik and Ahmednagar (in Maharashtra) would pass through Navsari district. Asked about the ongoing protest against the proposed land acquisition in the region for the project, Rupani told reporters in the neighboring Dang district that the work for the project has been halted. "We have halted the ongoing project work(survey). Nothing is going on right now. We will take an appropriate decision to make sure that people do not face any problems," Rupani said Thursday. "As of now, the ongoing work has been stopped. We will make sure that injustice is not done in land acquisition process for the project," the CM added. The protest rally by local farmers and tribals in Chikhli was led by Congress MLA Anant Patel, who represents Vansada seat of Navsari district. According to the legislator, the survey was being carried out without the knowledge of farmers or even local revenue officials. "The survey was being carried out for a highway connecting Surat with Nashik and Ahmednagar of Maharashtra under Bharatmala project. This project would affect over 60 villages, mostly of Vansada and Chikhli talukas," Patel told PTI. "We have organised this massive rally to give a message that tribals will not give their land for any such projects. We will not give up our land at any cost. "We have also warned the authorities to stop the survey work," said Patel. He welcomed Rupani's announcement suspending the ongoing work. Bharatmala is one of the biggest highway construction projects in India. It was cleared by the Union Cabinet in 2017. Under the project, major commercial hubs of the country would be connected with a web of highways and connecting roads. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) In a strong message to the world economies, IMF chief Christine Lagarde said on Thursday they should fix the roofs when sun was still shining. Explaining the recent lowering of IMF growth forecast for the global economy, she said the forecast for two major economies have not been revised as yet. "Sun is still shining, so please fix the roofs. This is the message we are giving with our modest downward revision to global economic growth," Lagarde said here at a session of the World Economic Forum. "We have not revised our forecast for US and China as they have take certain steps that would keep them growing," the IMF Managing Director said. While noting that there are some major risks that could precipitate, Lagarde said if Chinese economy slows down a bit, that would be fine but if they fall faster then that could be a problem. On Monday, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) cut its global growth projections for 2019 and 2020 to 3.5 per cent and 3.6 per cent respectively, citing slowdown in several advanced economies around the world more rapidly than previously anticipated. The revised global growth rates are 0.2 and 0.1 percentage point below its previous projections made three months ago. Lagarde said the US-China trade war was the biggest risk to the global economy, while Brexit uncertainty was the second biggest risk. The trade tension with the US is the major risk we are seeing that could precipitate a slowdown of the Chinese economy, she said. That it is slowing down is fine if it is under control. But if the slowdown was excessively fast, that would be a real issue. For the US, the growth forecast has been left unchanged. The American economy is expected to decline to 2.5 per cent in 2019 and soften further to 1.8 per cent in 2020 with the unwinding of fiscal stimulus and as the federal funds rate temporarily overshoots the neutral rate of interest, as per the IMF. Similarly, the IMF has projected a growth rate of 6.2 per cent for Chinese economy in 2019 as well as 2020. The forecast is unchanged from that made in October 2018. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) President Donald Trump's former lawyer, Michael Cohen, will not testify before a House committee next month as scheduled, his adviser said Wednesday, depriving Democrats for now of a prime opportunity to scrutinize Trump, his links to Russia and payments to buy the silence of a porn star. Cohen indefinitely delayed his Feb 7 appearance before the House Oversight and Reform Committee. He blamed threats from Trump and the president's attorney-spokesman, Rudy Giuliani, and cited his own ongoing cooperation in special counsel Robert Mueller's Russia investigation. Cohen adviser Lanny Davis said the decision was made on advice of Cohen's lawyers. "This is a time where Mr. Cohen had to put his family and their safety first," Davis said in a statement. The statement did not detail the threats. But Trump and Giuliani have publicly urged the Justice Department to investigate Cohen's father-in-law, insinuating he was part of some unspecific criminal activity. Trump, for example, told Fox this month that Cohen "should give information maybe on his father-in-law, because that's the one that people want to look at." Asked about the claim of a threat, Trump accused Cohen of lying. "He's only been threatened by the truth, and he doesn't want to do that, probably for me or other of his clients," Trump said at the White House. "He has other clients also, I assume, and he doesn't want to tell the truth for me or other of his clients." Trump's fixer-turned-foe is a central figure in Mueller's investigation into possible coordination between Russia and Trump's campaign. Cohen also played a pivotal role in buying the silence of a porn actress and a former Playboy Playmate who both alleged they had sex with Trump. The president has denied their claims. Cohen pleaded guilty last year to campaign finance violations and other offenses connected to the payments. Federal prosecutors have said Trump directed Cohen to make the payments during the campaign. Newly empowered Democrats wanted to make Cohen the first high-profile witness since they regained control of the House and have promised an aggressive effort to investigate the president. They have pledged to limit their questioning to avoid interfering with any investigations. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Delhi University Teachers' Association (DUTA) has written to HRD Minister Prakash Javadekar demanding an ordinance on reservation roster for teaching positions in higher institutions (HEIs). The University Grants Commission (UGC) had announced in March last that an individual department should be considered as the base unit to calculate the number of teaching posts to be reserved for Scheduled Caste (SC) and Scheduled Tribe (ST) candidates following an order by the Allahabad High Court in April 2017. The HRD Ministry had filed a special leave petition against the court order which was rejected by the Supreme Court order. The DUTA wrote a letter to Javadekar, urging him to bring a bill or ordinance to restore the 200-point reservation roster on the basis of college or university as a unit. "You have reiterated on more than one occasion the intention of the Union government to promulgate an ordinance to restore the college or university wise reservation roster. Recent disturbing developments and their far-reaching implications require immediate steps for bringing such a bill or ordinance," the DUTA said. The department-wise roster will result in a massive reduction of teaching posts for aspirants from ST, SC and OBC backgrounds, thereby drastically reducing their representation and participation in higher education, the teachers' body said in the letter. "It will push out from universities a large number of teachers from ST, SC and OBC backgrounds who have been working on ad hoc or temporary basis with a hope of getting permanent jobs," the DUTA said. Additionally, in the colleges of Delhi University, an unforgivable chaotic situation is going to arise unless the government moves immediately, it added. "For past several years, over 4,000 teachers in Delhi University and its colleges have been working on ad hoc basis. Since 2013, they have been employed as per 200-point roster treating college as a unit," the DUTA said. They are subjected to enforced breaks after every four months and reappointed thereafter. Any change from the college or university-wise roster will change the nature of the posts against which they are working, it said. "Change in the nature of teaching posts will affect teachers from all categories. Mass displacement of teachers will also result in loss of livelihood for many," the letter said. The DUTA has already made representations for putting in place a UGC regulation for one-time absorption of these teachers given the fact that the process of permanent appointment in the DU. Teachers protested on Thursday in the varsity campus against the Supreme Court decision of rejecting the ministry's special leave petition. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The shooting of "Doctor Who" season 12 is underway. The official Twitter handle of the BBC show released the first-look photo from the sets of the show on Tuesday. "#DoctorWho is back in production!" read the caption of the photo, which showed lead Jodie Whittaker with castmates Bradley Walsh, Tosin Cole and Mandip Gill in good spirits. The cast is currently filming in South Africa. Walsh's co-stars from his other show, "The Chase" revealed the location while accepting a National Television Award on Tuesday. Led by Whittaker's first female Time Lord, installment 11 ended last year and returned for a glimpse on a New Year's Day special. The next season of the show will not air until 2020, showrunner Chris Chibnall had confirmed earlier. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) With approval from the Defence Minister, it has been decided that disability or war injury pension for armed forces personnel shall be minimum Rs 18,000 per month, the ministry said Thursday. "With approval from Smt @nsitharaman, it has been decided that the disability/war injury pension, special family pension and liberalised family pension shall be minimum Rs 18,000 per month for Defence Forces pensioners/family pensioners, with effect from 1/1/2016," the said in a tweet. The last July had said armed forces personnel would continue to get based on percentage system till the Anomaly Committee came out with a report on the issue. ALSO READ: Nirmala Sitharaman urges defence industry to create more patents There was widespread criticism from opposition parties and the military establishment over a letter issued prior to that which had introduced a slab-based system, as recommended by the 7th Pay Commission, for determining the for defence forces. Following this, the ministry had referred the matter to the Anomaly Committee. However, there was confusion as to what system would be used to determine Till the committee comes out with a report, existing percentage system will be used to determine disability pension, defence sources said. Amrita Rao is returning to films with "Thackeray" and the actor believes with changing dynamics in showbiz, she is ready to experiment. The actor became the epitome of 'the girl-next-door' in early 2000s with films such as "Ishq Vishq", "Main Hoon Na" and "Vivah". Her last cinematic outing was 2013's "Satyagraha" and she did musical drama "Meri Awaaz Hi Pehchaan Hai" for the small screen three years later. Rao said she turned down many big Bollywood projects as they did not meet her selection criteria. "It has been a journey of sacrificing big films because I was not comfortable with the on-screen requirements. Trends change, on-screen demand of actresses change. Cinema is a slice of reality. You have school and college kids being intimate and marriage is not even in question and that is what they show in cinema. "That kind of requirement of the character did not suit me. So I had to let go of those big offers with a heavy heart. The directors respected me and understood that I had certain restrictions which were sacred to me," she told PTI in an interview. The actor plays Meena Thackeray, wife to late Shiv Sena founder Bal Thackeray (portrayed by Nawazuddin Siddiqui) in the film. She said the makers approached her to play the role as they believed that both the women have a "pure" image. "I have earned that image in the industry. Playing a mature role was challenging for me. I have played the girl-next-door and then to portray this part, where my character spans from a 28-year-old to a 60-year-old, was not easy," she said. And now Rao wants to be part of something edgy. "Discussions are on. I want to do something that I have not done before like a thriller, murder mystery or suspense film. I would love to play a negative role... "Due to digitalisation, work opportunities and avenues have changed so much. Directors typecasting actors is passe," she said. In 2016, the actor tied the knot with radio jockey Anmol and focused on her personal life. Rao said she had hinted at the hiatus before implementing it. "I was not making presence anywhere... There are some actors who surrender themselves to the industry. I have always been a family person," she added. In a comment on India's #MeToo tsunami that has crossed the boundaries of the film industry since last September, the actor said influential people would try to get their way, but "accepting it or not" will always be a choice. "It is unfortunate when I hear about the #MeToo cases. There are girls and guys here who are ready to grab opportunities at any cost. People should respect themselves and their values," she said. Rao said she was "blessed" to never experience harassment. She believes it was because she became a star early on in her career despite being an outsider. "I had a wonderful entry into films without being a star kid. And you can't plan such things. My journey has been different. I arrived and I became a star so everybody was on their best behaviour with me. I have stuck to my personality, I have not done anything that is out of my personal zone," she said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Delhi Minorities Commission has directed the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) administration to conduct an inquiry into the allegations levelled by the JNUSU secretary against a woman professor for making religious comments. Aejaz Ahmed Rather, the JNU Students' Union (JNUSU) secretary, had complained to the commission against Professor Amita Singh of the Centre for the Study of Law and Governance, alleging that she had told him he looked like "a terrorist who has triggered 10 bomb blasts" on December 26. Singh had filed a police complaint against JNU Teachers' Association president Atul Sood and the JNUSU secretary for allegedly circulating fake and trying to disturb peace, communal harmony and inciting violence and divisiveness on the campus. Following Rather's complaint, the Delhi Minorities Commission directed the JNU administration to conduct an enquiry against Singh, the commission said. In a letter addressed to the JNU registrar, the commission has directed the university administration to conduct an inquiry on the complaint filed by Rather by January 28 and submit its report. Further, the commission has stated that if the university fails to conduct a timely inquiry, it will take action. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Delhi government Thursday requested the Supreme Court for early pronouncement of judgement on the pleas against the notifications on control over services, setting up of Commission of Inquiry and power of Anti-corruption Bureau in the ongoing tussle between Delhi and the Centre. A bench of Justices A K Sikri, S Abdul Nazeer and M R Shah was told by senior advocate Indira Jaising that several administrative issues were arising in the governance of Delhi, therefore judgement reserved on November 1 last year, should be delivered at the earliest. Justice Sikri, who headed the two-judge bench which reserved the order, said the judgement will be delivered "very soon". Justice Ashok Bhushan was the other member of the bench. On November 1, the apex court had reserved its verdict on the plea against notifications related to control over services, setting up of Commission of Inquiry and power of Anti-corruption Bureau in Delhi. During the earlier hearing of the pleas, the Centre had told the court that the Lieutenant Governor (LG) has the power to regulate services in Delhi. The powers were delegated to the administrator of Delhi and the services can be administered through him, it had said. The Centre also said that unless the President of India expressly directs, the LG, who is the administrator of Delhi, cannot consult the Chief Minister or the Council of Ministers. The Delhi government had earlier told the top court that it wanted to know where it stands with regard to the administration in view of the Constitution bench verdict of apex court on July 4, last year. The five-judge bench had laid down broad parameters for governance of the national capital, which has witnessed a power struggle between the Centre and the Delhi government since the Aam Aadmi Party came to power in 2014. In the landmark verdict, it had unanimously held that Delhi cannot be accorded the status of a state but clipped the powers of the Lieutenant Governor (LG), saying he has no "independent decision making power" and has to act on the aid and advice of the elected government. "Delhi has an extraordinary position as it is the capital of the country," it said. It said that the national capital houses several institutions of vital importance like Parliament, the Supreme Court and foreign diplomats also resides here. The Aam Aadmi Party government has told the apex court that its functioning was "completely paralysed" and it cannot order transfer or posting of officers despite the constitution bench verdict on the national capital's administration. Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal had been at loggerheads with incumbent LG Anil Baijal and his predecessor Najeeb Jung. Kejriwal had accused both of them of preventing the functioning of his government at the behest of the Centre. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) In a punitive action, the Defence Ministry has sent five officers of the Military Engineering Services (MES) on compulsory retirement on the grounds of poor performance, official sources said Thursday. They said the orders for their removal were issued on Tuesday following approval by Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman. The sources said performance of the officers was found "poor" in an internal performance audit. The officers were serving in the rank of assistant engineers and they are being given three months' salaray and post retirement benefits as per laid down guidelines. The officials had either crossed 55 years of age or completed 30 years of service. Performance of around 500 officers was analysed by an internal committee and the action was taken based on its report. In August 2017, the ministry had sacked 13 officers of the Ordnance Factory Board for poor performance following a review of the employees' performance. The MES is a premier construction agency which provides engineering and infrastructure support to the Indian Army. It is one of largest construction and maintenance agencies in India with a total annual budget to the tune of approx Rs 13,000 crores. The sources said government may continue to crack down on those showing "unsatisfactory performance". (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A defamation complaint has been filed against senior advocate and BJD's Lok Sabha member Pinaki Misra by another lawyer in a court here for allegedly making objectionable remarks in an interview to a newspaper in August last year. Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Samar Vishal took cognisance of the complaint and posted the matter for February 2 for examination of the complainant. In his complaint, advocate Siddhartha Singh has sought Misra's prosecution under sections 499 and 500 of the Indian Penal Code for alleged defamatory remarks against him in an interview to the newspaper, saying they "diminished the public image of the complainant and severally affected professional life also". Singh claimed that Misra made the remarks after he had filed a complaint before Bar Council of Delhi against him over "unprofessional" conduct for representing discoms before the National Green Tribunal. He submitted that Misra was the chairperson of a parliamentary standing committee set up in relation to violation of e-waste management rules by the discom companies and the committee submitted a report claiming that power companies were at fault and had violated e-waste management rules. The committee report had recommended punitive actions against those companies, the complaint said. However, Misra started representing the same power companies before NGT against whom the report had recommended punitive actions, it claimed. Singh had filed a petition before the NGT on behalf of a Delhi resident against power companies in relation to alleged violation of e-waste management rules, whereas Misra started appearing as advocate to defend the discom companies. Singh, thereafter, filed the complaint before Bar Council of Delhi accusing Misra of "severe misconduct", following which the alleged defamatory remarks were made, the complaint said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Ryan Reynolds has said that "Deadpool" threequel will go in a "completely different direction". The actor, who plays the title role of Merc With a Mouth in the Marvel film franchise, said the writers are looking to shake things up with the potential sequel. "(They are) looking to go in a completely different direction" with the third installment," Reynolds told Variety. "Often, they reboot or change a character maybe like four movies too late," he added. Reynolds co-wrote "Deadpool" with Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick. The actor is currently promoting the film in China. A re-cut, PG-13 version of the 2018 film would hit Chinese screens Friday. This was the first time the franchise has passed the country's stringent censorship rules. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Emphasising that cybersecurity is crucial to keep the world safe, global leaders have urged India and the US to join an international coalition against cyber threats. "The world's biggest democracy needs to stand with the world's other great democratic nations. The world needs India," Microsoft's President and Chief Legal Officer Bradford L Smith said here at the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting 2019. Participating in a panel discussion on 'A new architecture for cyber cooperation', he said, "It is really about keeping the world safe." The world depends on digital infrastructure, it depends on our devices, and they're under attack every single day, he said. During the discussion, Smith and other experts hoped that democracies which have not signed the Paris Call of November 12, 2018 for Trust and Security in Cyberspace, including India and the US, will join the multi-stakeholder initiative. The called for a "coalition of the willing" to embrace the Paris Call, a multi-stakeholder declaration that favours the development of common principles for securing cyberspace. The Paris Call has been signed by 64 states, more than 300 private-sector companies and over 150 NGOs and other civil society organisations. It offers a framework for multilateral action on addressing the critical issue of cybersecurity in a time of increasingly prolific and sophisticated attacks by criminal organisations as well as nation states. While noting that the Paris Call has been signed by all 28 members of the European Union and by all but one member of NATO, as well as other democratic states, including Australia, Japan, New Zealand, Singapore and South Korea, Smith singled out two holdouts -- India and the US. Smith attributed the US reluctance to sign to the current American administration's aversion to multilateralism, but warned, "Some of the most serious attacks are those against democracy itself. The most significant threat is to voting systems." He acknowledged the difficulty of assessing the actual impact of interference operations on the outcome of the 2016 US election, but said, "Let's focus on what we do know.""We do know that 30 million Americans have read intentional disinformation by governments, and they shared it, they liked it, and they believed it. It was done with the goal of disrupting democracy. It was not limited to the United States alone Every single candidate running for the French presidency was attacked in some way. It is a problem, a threat to democracy, and needs to be addressed," he said. Smith and other cybersecurity experts emphasized the importance of attribution but said that itself is not enough. "I don't think one can expect governments to change what they're doing if there aren't consequences, he said. Smith also said that the responsibility for security begins with the tech companies themselves. "People can't trust tech unless they have confidence in the companies that create the technology," he said, noting that the Cambridge Analytica incident -- in which Facebook user data was acquired illicitly by a now-defunct political data analytics company -- was a turning point in public distrust of tech companies. "Tech companies and the sector as a whole need to address this, and they must start with acknowledging the scepticism," he said. Action needs to be taken, he added. "The public has developed a keen ability to differentiate between words and deeds." He, however, said that "we shouldn't look to the private sector alone to respond to what are essentially military grade cyber attacks. The private sector has not saved the nation from military attacks before." Troels Oerting Jorgensen, Head of Centre for Cybersecurity at the WEF, said we are in uncharted waters but lacking the correct global architecture to navigate. "We must not sell fear but protect hope to make sure the good side of the internet is always in focus," he added. Alison Martin, group chief risk officer at Zurich Insurance Company, said cyber is the number one risk of doing business in many parts of the world. "If you drive badly, then we charge you a bit more. But if you have bad digital hygiene, you risk infecting everyone, so charging more isn't the answer," Martin said. Tzipi Livni, Head of the Hatnuah Party in Israel, said she believes that cyber attacks are affecting the nature of democracy itself. Catherine de Bolle, Executive Director of Europol, talked about the worrying rise in the live-streaming of online child abuse. She also stressed on the need for better exchange of data to counter financial crimes in cyber space, saying we need to move from a compliance-led to a more intelligence-led exchange of information. As per latest research, more than half of cyber attacks result in financial losses of more than USD 500,000. Besides, economic loss due to cyber crime is predicted to reach USS 3 trillion by 2020, and 74 per cent of the world's businesses can expect to be hacked in the coming year, another research has showed. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Madhya Pradesh High Court here has granted bail to an old man, charged with sexually assaulting a minor girl, on medical grounds that he was devoid of penile erection and other facts. A single bench of Justice MF Anwar on Tuesday observed, "Looking at the facts and circumstances of the case, the age of Dhaniram (68) and the period of detention, I am inclined to enlarge the applicant on bail. "As per medical evidence observation, the applicant's penile erection was missing and he was not capable for semen slide," his counsels Vasant Daniel and Vishal Daniel told the court. Dhaniram, who had been in judicial custody since November 6 last, was suffering from various diseases related to heart and prostates, they contended. The applicant had served in the Navy and after retirement, worked as a teacher in the government school, the lawyers said. The Navy and the principal of the school had issued certificates to the effect that he held a good moral character, they added. The counsels claimed that the petitioner was falsely implicated by the father of the minor, while the prosecution opposed the bail application. After hearing both sides, the court granted bail to the accused. The accused was arrested under sections 363, 366-A, 376(A)(B), 376(2)(j)(k)(i) of the IPC and sections 3-A, 4, 5m, 6 of the POCSO Act. The case was registered at the Mungwani police station in Madhya Pradesh's Narsinghpur district. The allegation against the accused was that at around 8 pm on November 4 last year, he had lured the minor girl and took her to his house on the pretext of showing her sparkling lights and sexually assaulted her. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Coming to the aid of septuagenarian woman suffering from Parkinson's disease, a Delhi court has appointed her son as legal guardian to enable him to deal with her financial matters to meet medical treatment cost. District Judge A S Jayachandra has appointed the 76-year-old woman's son as her guardian who will also manage her property and bank account. "The petition stands allowed. The petitioner (elderly's son) is hereby appointed as the manager/guardian of the mentally ill-person in respect of her share in the property and her bank account," the court said. The man said after his father's death, he, his sister and ailing mother inherited the property. The plea further said that his mother, who is a retired government teacher, was receiving her retirement benefits and other income in her bank account which she was unable to operate due to her neurological condition. "In order to raise funds for further treatment of his mother, the petitioner is left with no option but to develop the property inherited by them with the help of a developer. The petitioner and his sister have incurred huge amounts on the treatment of their mother. To meet out further expenses, they need to utilise the funds deposited in their mother's bank account," the plea said. The court asked the man to furnish a copy of the bank transactions annually for a period of two years to the sub-divisional magistrate of Vivek Vihar in east Delhi, with a copy to the court regarding the condition of his mother. The court also ordered that he should not alienate any immovable property without its permission. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Wrapping up his two-day Amethi tour, Congress president Rahul Gandhi Thursday said his party will contest the Lok Sabha polls with full strength. He also exuded confidence that it will win the next UP Assembly polls. "We will contest the Lok Sabha polls with full strength and will win the next UP Assembly polls," he said. The Congress chief was addressing a public meeting here before returning to Delhi at the end of his two-day visit to his Lok Sabha constituency. Slamming Prime Minister Narendra Modi, he said Modi has waived only industrialists' loans. "The chowkidar proved to be a thief," he said, and remarked, "Gali gali mein shor hai, chowkidar chor hai." Rahul charged Modi swears by God and then speaks lies. "Where are the 'achchey din' promised?" he posed. At the same time, Rahul said, "We have delivered the promise of loan waiver." The Congress leader also questioned the "hurry" in removing the CBI chief. He described note ban as the biggest scam. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Jharkhand Chief Minister Raghubar Das Thursday attacked the Congress for indulging in of regionalism and casteism over the issue of development during the 60-year of its rule. Whereas Prime Minister Narendra Modi was engaged in achieving all round development and improving connectivity of people and infrastructure, Das said. Das was speaking after he along with Union Minister of State for Civil Aviation Jayant Sinha performed the ground breaking ceremony of a proposed airport in Dhalbhumgarh, about65 kms from here,under Ghatsila sub-division of East Singhbhum district. He said the government has also launched "Mukhya Mantri Sukanya Yojana" on the National Girlchild day Thursday at Chaibasa, West Singhbhum district, he said. Referring the growth of aviation sector in the state, the chief minister said only 1500 passengers used to travel by air per day in the state with only eight passenger aircrafts in operation before December 28, 2014, when he came to power.. However, the figure has jumped to 60,000 passengers were travelling by air per day during the last four and half year tenure of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, he said. He said that around 25.50 lakhs passenger travelled by air in 2018, which was indicative of increased purchase capacity of the masses. The Chief Minister assured to start a Boeing Bus in the second phase of the Dhalabhumgarh Airjport but the government needed 550 acres of land for expansion. He urged the local masses to part away their land for the purpose and assured to rehabilitate first before displacing them. We will compensate as per the Land Acquisition Act, 2013, paying four times of market price of the land, if they would prefer to part it for the development project, he said. Rehabilitation will be done as the government did in Deoghar district, where people were rehabilitated first and compensated as per the act for giving their land for the development of an airport, he added. The development of an airport will not only improve air-connectivity but increase the economic growth rate as well as generate employment opportunities, he said assuring the local masses to give preference in employment in the proposed airport after providing them skill training. Das also cautioned the local masses to be aware of greedy political parties, who wanted to grab power with false assurances. Accusing Congress and Jharkhand-based political parties for pushing the state to backwardness, he said "as the election approaching, the chor (thieves) and looters were getting united again to loot the state". The four-and-half year of Modi regime was committed for the development of poor section of the society, he said. Reminding the people of 14-year political instability in the state, he said if the Mahagatbandhan (Grand alliance of opposition parties) would form a government, the state will witness political instability again. Das claimed that the state has witnessed growth in sector across whether it was aviation or agriculture, which achieved a growth of 14 per cent against 4 per cent before 2014. Addressing the gathering, Sinha said the long-standing demand of an airport at Dhalbhumgarh has fulfilled with the signing of an MOU between the Jharkhand Government and Airport Authority of India Thursday. Eversince the Modi-headed government came to power, he said the country has witnessed a revolution in air, road and rail connectivity. Before 2014, Sinha said only 67 airport were functional in the country where the 35 new airports were added during the last four and half year tenure of the present dispensation, he said. Stating that the air freight has now become cheaper than an autorickshaw per kilomer, the minister said the number of passengers were doubled during the period from 6.5 crores to 13/13.5 crores now. Altogether 700 passenger aircrafts have been operation in the country but in the last one year, an order for 1000 new aircraft was placed, he said. The air fair in the country was cheapest in the world and increasing passengers has led Jharkhand government to develop airports in Dumka, Bokaro, Hazaribagh, Daltongunj and Deoghar. Hitting out at the opposition with naming them, Sinha said. "Unlike the speed of Haathi (party symbol of Mayawati-headed BSP) and Cycle (party symbol of Samajwadi Party), our speed of development was like a bullet train, we have electrified the villages with electricity and not Lantern (party symbol of RJD), he said without naming any party. Later, a MOU was signed between Jharkhand Government and Airport Authority of India in regard with the proposed airport at Dhalbhumgarh. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The commerce and industry ministry is not in favour of extending the deadline of February 1 for implementing the revised guidelines for e-commerce companies having foreign direct investment, sources said. Both Amazon and Walmart-owned Flipkart have sought an extension of the February 1 deadline for complying with the revised norms, stating that they need more time to understand the details of the framework. While Amazon has asked for time until June 1 this year, Flipkart has asked for six months. On December 26, 2018, the government tightened norms for e-commerce firms and barred online retailers like Flipkart and Amazon from selling products of the companies in which they have stakes. The government also prohibited e-commerce companies from entering into an agreement for exclusive sale of products. As per the revised guidelines, a vendor cannot procure more than 25 per cent of products from group companies of the same marketplace where they intend to sell them. "The ministry has received representations from Amazon and Flipkart for more time. Internal discussions are on. But the ministry is not in favour of extending the deadline," sources in the know of the matter said. Domestic traders body Confederation of All Indian Traders (CAIT) has asked the ministry not to extend the deadline for implementation of the changes. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Protests against the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill continued in Assam on Thursday with the Asom Gana Parishad (AGP) holding a 10-hour hunger strike, while the Congress organised a 5-hour sit-in demonstration in all districts of the state. Both the Congress and AGP, which recently snapped its ties with ruling BJP, said their protest will continue till the Bill is completely scrapped. Extending his support to AGP's agitation, Krishak Mukti Sangram Samiti (KMSS) Adviser Akhil Gogoi said different movements across the state against the Citizenship Bill should unite to have the maximum impact on the government. All the AGP MLAs and other senior leaders took part in the party's hunger strike in the state capital. "The community is in danger and that is why we all have come out. The government should understand the public sentiment. If they do not understand, then they will be responsible for any untoward situation in North East," former chief minister Prafulla Kumar Mahanta said while taking part in the protest. Referring to BJP President Amit Shah's statement at a rally in Malda of West Bengal on Tuesday that all Bengali Hindu refugees will get citizenship once the Bill is passed, the senior AGP leader said such an announcement cannot be made "without government approval." "So if this the thing, then we will continue to oppose till the Bill is completely scrapped. We have been opposing it since the beginning," Mahanta said. Eminent intellectual Hiren Gohain and RTI activist Akhil Gogoi, against whom sedition case was filed along with journalist Manjit Mahanta for their speeches against the Bill at a public function, visited the agitation spot and extended their support to AGP's strike. Gohain said it is a good for Assamese people that AGP broke its alliance with the ruling BJP and now all MLAs together are having hunger strike to save the community. "We all are united in our views on the Bill. The need of the hour is to unite all the movements now. I appeal to AASU and their allied 30 groups to come on board and be a part of the combined effort to scuttle the government's move to pass the Bill," Gogoi said. The principal opposition Congress held a five-hour sit-in protest across all district and sub-division headquarters in the state. Taking part in the demonstration in Guwahati, Assam Pradesh Congress Committee President Ripun Bora said: "Our party has strongly opposed it. Because of our strategies, the Bill was not introduced in Rajya Sabha in last session. So, we got temporary relief." He said "They (the government) plans to introduce it in Rajya Sabha during this Budget Session. Our national leaders are discussing how to oppose it. We will stop it at any cost."The Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, which was passed by the Lok Sabha on January 8, seeks to provide Indian citizenship to persecuted minorities -- Hindus, Sikhs, Jains, Buddhists and Christians -- from Bangladesh, Pakistan and Afghanistan after six years of residence in India, instead of 12 years -- the current criteria, even if they do not possess any document.This is applicable to those who came to India before December 31, 2014. Massive protests broke out across the state and other parts of North East after Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced in Silchar on January 4 that the Citizenship Bill would be passed as soon as possible in Parliament. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) China said Thursday that Chinese-Australian author and democracy advocate Yang Hengjun was detained on national security grounds, becoming the latest Western citizen to face such accusations from Beijing. Yang's detention comes at a moment of heightened tension between Western countries and an increasingly muscular Beijing, prompting fears that he may be the victim of a dragnet by Chinese security services targeting foreigners. Yang -- a novelist, democracy advocate and former Chinese diplomat -- was detained shortly after he made a rare return to China from the United States last week. "Beijing state security took compulsory measures against" Yang Hengjun and are "investigating because he is suspected of engaging in criminal activities that endanger China's national security," said Chinese foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying. Such accusations in China often imply espionage allegations. Similar allegations were made against two Canadians who were detained in December. Australian Defence Minister Christopher Pyne, on an official visit to Beijing, told reporters he would be raising the issue with his Chinese counterpart later on Thursday. "As Mr Yang doesn't have a residence in Beijing, I believe he would be held in a... situation which we would describe as home detention," he said. Australian Foreign Minister Marise Payne said earlier that diplomats met with Chinese officials in Beijing to discuss the matter and were seeking "further clarification". "We will continue to make representations to China to make sure this is dealt with transparently and fairly," she said. Once described as China's "most influential political blogger", Yang became an Australian citizen in 2000, but is currently based at New York's Columbia University. His criticism of the Chinese government and support for democracy has in the past made him a target of Beijing's state security apparatus. He went missing during a 2011 trip to China, but resurfaced days later, describing his disappearance as a "misunderstanding". (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) China on Thursday issued a comprehensive plan to establish a long-term mechanism for the conservation of the Great Wall, official media reported. The plan was jointly publicised by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism and the State Administration of Cultural Heritage (SACH), state-run Xinhua agency reported. "The government's role in protecting the Great Wall should be strengthened," Liu Yuzhu, head of SACH, was quoted as saying in the report. Built from the third century BC to the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644), the Great Wall stretches over 21,000-km. "Sections of the Great Wall built during the Qin (221 BC to 206 BC), Han (202 BC to 220 AD) and Ming (1368 AD to 1644 AD) dynasties were the key areas to be conserved," Liu said. He also urged individuals and relevant social organisations to provide not-for-provide service for the Great Wall. The Great Wall was listed as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1987. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Centre on Thursday reconstituted a tribunal to adjudicate matters related to extension of ban imposed on eight insurgent groups in Manipur for five more years over continued involvement in unlawful and violent activities. In a notification, the Home Ministry said the tribunal has been set up under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967 and will be headed by Delhi High Court judge Justice G S Sistani. The tribunal will adjudicate whether or not there is sufficient cause for declaring the Meitei extremist organisations of Manipur as "Unlawful Associations", the notification said. On December 12, 2018, the central government had constituted the tribunal headed by Delhi High Court judge Justice Sangita Dhingra Sehgal. However, due to certain reasons, Justice Sehgal could not continue with the tribunal and hence the tribunal has been reconstituted with Justice Sistani. The organisations which were banned in November 2018 include Peoples' Liberation Army generally known as PLA and its political wing, Revolutionary Peoples' Front (RPF), United National Liberation Front (UNLF) and its armed wing Manipur Peoples' Army (MPA), Peoples' Revolutionary Party of Kangleipak (PREPAK) and its armed wing 'Red Army'. The others are Kangleipak Communist Party (KCP) and its armed wing, also called Red Army; Kanglei Yaol Kanba Lup (KYKL); the Coordination Committee (CorCom) and Alliance for Socialist Unity Kangleipak (ASUK). The home ministry said the eight Meitei extremist organisations of Manipur were involved in 756 violent incidents in the past five years from January 1, 2013 to July 31, 2018 during which they killed 86 people, including 35 security personnel. The groups have been indulging in acts of intimidation, extortion and looting of civilian population for collection of funds, making contacts with sources abroad for influencing public opinion and securing assistance by way of arms and training for the purpose of achieving their secessionist objective, the ministry said. They are also indulging in such activities for maintaining camps in neighbouring countries for the purpose of sanctuaries, training and clandestine procurement of arms and ammunition, it had said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Peace talks to end chronic violence in the Central African Republic began in Khartoum on Thursday, attended by representatives of the government and 14 armed groups, the UN peacekeeping mission in the CAR said. The meeting, brokered by the African Union after 18 months of exploratory work, will be the eighth bid in almost six years to forge peace. Since 2013, thousands have been killed and a quarter of the population of 4.5 million have fled their homes. Warlords will dialogue directly with high-ranking emissaries of the Bangui government, including ministers and President Faustin-Archange Touadera's chief of staff. The talks, aimed at reaching an accord and setting up a follow-up committee, could last up to three weeks, according to Sudanese authorities. Touadera controls only a fraction of the state, despite the support of more than 13,000 troops and police in the UN's MINUSCA peacekeeping mission. The rest is held by militias, who typically portray themselves as defenders of a community or religious group but often fight over mineral wealth -- a hoard that includes gold, uranium and diamonds -- or livestock. The conflict began in 2013, when a mainly Muslim rebel movement called the Seleka overthrew president Francois Bozize, a Christian -- a move that triggered the rise of a predominantly Christian militia called the anti-Balaka. Fearing a Rwandan-style genocide, the former colonial ruler France intervened militarily under a UN mandate. The Seleka were forced from power and Touadera was elected president in February 2016. Over the years, seven peace agreements between the government and armed groups have been signed, but none has lasted. The last attempt, in 2017, was forged with the help of the Catholic Church, but fighting resumed within a day, leaving 100 dead. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Thursday arrested renowned Bengali film producer Shrikant Mohta in connection with the Rose Valley chit fund scam, sources said. Mohta allegedly duped the Rose Valley of Rs 25 crore, sources said. Mohta was served a notice by the investigating agency regarding "acceptance of money from Rose Valley" and sleuths questioned him in his office at a shopping mall in south Kolkata. Later they took him to the CBI office at CGO Complex in Salt Lake for further interrogation and he was arrested there. The agency is probing both the Saradha and Rose Valley multi-crore scams. is also probing the Rose Valley chairman Gautam Kundu is currently in jail in money laundering case. Mohta's company Shree Venkatesh Films has produced many award-winning films like Chokher Bali, Memories In March, Autograph, Raincoat and Iti Mrinalini. The firm also distributes most Bollywood and Hollywood movies in eastern India. Some of Indian film industry's top actors and directors have worked with him. The CBI arrested renowned Bengali film producer Shrikant Mohta on Thursday in connection with the Rose Valley chit fund scam, sources said. Mohta, considered close to the ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC) in West Bengal, allegedly duped Rose Valley of Rs 25 crore. While the TMC criticised the arrest, saying "no one is being spared in the Narendra Modi regime", opposition parties demanded an explanation from the ruling party for the arrest. Mohta's company denied the accusations against him. Mohta was served a notice by the investigating agency regarding "acceptance of money from Rose Valley" and CBI sleuths questioned him in his office at a shopping mall in south Kolkata. Later, they took him to the CBI office at the CGO Complex in Salt Lake for further interrogation, where he was placed under arrest. The agency is probing both the Saradha and Rose Valley multi-crore-rupee scams. The Enforcement Directorate is also probing the Rose Valley scam. Rose Valley chairman Gautam Kundu is currently in jail in a money-laundering case. Mohta's company, the SVF (previously known as Sri Venkatesh Films), has produced many award-winning films like "Chokher Bali", "Memories In March", "Autograph", "Raincoat" and "Iti Mrinalini". The firm also distributes most Bollywood and Hollywood movies in eastern India. Some of the top actors and directors in the Indian film industry have worked with Mohta. In a statement issued in the evening, the SVF denied the allegations raised against Mohta and said the company's co-owner offered his full cooperation to the CBI. "We have full faith in the judiciary and it remains our endeavour to support and cooperate with the enforcement agencies in the course of their investigation," the SVF said. The statement said the CBI, in the last few months, had called Mohta for investigation in the Rose Valley chit fund case as a witness owing to past business transactions between the SVF and Brand Value, a Rose Valley Group company. Regarding the past cases on the matter, the statement claimed that the Calcutta High Court had quashed all charges against Mohta and the same was affirmed by the Supreme Court. On account of personal reasons, he was not able to appear before the CBI in the month of January and it was communicated to the agency with a request to grant him 15 days' time, it said, adding that some CBI officials came to the SVF office "unannounced" to interrogate Mohta on the same matter. "With an intention to cooperate, Mohta went along with them to their office," the statement said. Mohta's arrest triggered a war of words between the TMC and other parties. "They are arresting and trying to intimidate everybody. Be it a writer, an actor, a film personality.... They do not want to spare anyone. People will give them a befitting reply," TMC secretary general Partha Chatterjee said. The BJP had turned the CBI into their extended party office, he claimed. Senior TMC leaders, who did not want to be quoted, alleged that the BJP was trying to pursue its vendetta politics through these arrests. "The CBI should have arrested him earlier. The CBI is doing its work. But whenever it makes an arrest, the TMC raises baseless allegations of vendetta politics," state BJP president Dilip Ghosh said. State Congress president Somen Mitra said, "Mohta used to boast about his connections with top TMC leaders. He was close to various top TMC leaders in the state." Senior CPI(M) leader Sujan Chakraborty said several TMC leaders were arrested earlier for their alleged involvement in the scam and now, those considered close to the party were being arrested. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar warned Thursday that a no-deal Brexit would lead to "chaos" but ultimately could bring about the same divorce deal rejected by the British parliament. Veradkar gave his warning at the World Economic Forum in Davos where the deadlocked divorce has been a recurrent topic, with just weeks to go before Britain is meant to quit the European Union on March 29. The fate of the Irish border is the biggest stumbling block in the exit talks, with opposition in London over a so-called "backstop" in the deal binding Britain into an EU customs union until new trading ties are agreed. The premier said Ireland would have a "major dilemma" in the case of no deal, with Dublin then under EU obligation to treat its border with Northern Ireland as an international frontier. But he told reporters that both Britain and Ireland "would have responsibilities to abide by the Good Friday Agreement and the peace process" for Northern Ireland, which rules out imposing a hard border. Given the predicament, Varadkar said "we would end up in a situation whereby the EU, Ireland and the UK would have to come together in order to honour our commitment to the people of (all of) Ireland". "So after a period of chaos we would perhaps end up where we are now with a very similar deal." Asked about the vexed border isssue, Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte also ruled out a hard border, raising the spectre of violence not seen since Northern Ireland's "Troubles" ended in the 1990s. "What does a hard border mean? The end of the Good Friday Agreement ... potentially back to the Troubles we have seen in Ireland. Nobody wants that," he said. Turning to the economy, Varadkar said Ireland would be on a better footing than Britain if the latter crashes out of the EU with no deal. "We know what our position is in the world. We're staying at the heart of the European Union," he said. Britain "will face enormous difficulties in a no deal scenario", while Ireland "will still be in the single market and will still be part of all those trade deals that come with being part of Europe," he said. His comments came a day after British International Trade Secretary Liam Fox told AFP in Davos that Britain remained open for business no matter the outcome of Brexit. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Congress Thursday formed a panel led by deputy chief minister Dr G Parameshwara to inquire into the incident at Eagleton Resort where Kampli MLA J N Ganesh allegedly attacked Hosapete MLA Anand Singh on January 20. "Police are searching for Ganesh to arrest him. Already he has been suspended from the party. Further, a committee headed by me has been formed to inquire into the matter and furnish a report to the party high command," Parameshwara said. He was talking to reporters after meeting Infosys founder N R Narayana Murthy at the BDA head office. Murthy had called on Parameshwara to chalk out plans to improve his 'alma mater'--National Institute of Engineering at Mysuru. He also gave some suggestions on improving the city. Ganesh and Anand Singh had reportedly entered into a brawl at Eagleton Resorts on the city outskirts where the Congress MLAs were herded together amid allegations of BJP's attempts to poach Congress MLAs. Anand Singh, who suffered two fractured ribs and a fracture in the bone below the right eye in the fracas, is presently undergoing treatment at the Apollo Hospital in the city. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Sushil Kumar Modi on Thursday said that the BJP would "gain" in Uttar Pradesh from the entry of Priyanka Gandhi Vadra into active politics, claiming that the move was aimed at "threatening the SP-BSP alliance" with the spectre of a split in votes. Priyanka Gandhi formally entered on Wednesday with her brother and Congress president Rahul Gandhi appointing her as general secretary for Uttar Pradesh East. Sushil Modi also sarcastically said that her appointment would bring the alleged corruption scandals against her husband Robert Vadra onto "centre-stage", which would be to the NDA's benefit. "The BJP is not at all worried. Why should it be when her entry is only going to help us. The Congress has brought in Priyanka with a view to threaten the SP-BSP alliance, with the possibility of a split in their votes. It is a desperate attempt to make Akhilesh Yadav and Mayawati do a rethink on their strategy," Sushil Modi told reporters. As per the seat-sharing formula, the SP and the BSP would contest 37 seats each in UP, which has a total number of 80 constituencies. Out of the six that remain, only the Congress citadels of Amethi and Raebareli have been left for the party, while four have been assigned to Ajit Singh's Rashtriya Lok Dal. "If there is a split in anti-BJP votes, who else is going to gain except the BJP. Moreover, Priyanka would be seen as a representative of her husband Robert Vadra, whose name has cropped up in a number of massive scams. With her entry, the corruption cases against Robert Vadra will once again occupy the centre-stage," the deputy CM remarked. The younger sister of the Congress chief had until now confined herself to electioneering in the constituencies of her brother and mother Sonia Gandhi. With her appointment as general secretary for the politically-crucial eastern Uttar Pradesh, speculations are rife that the Congress has adopted an aggressive strategy to confront the BJP. Eastern UP includes Varanasi, the parliamentary constituency of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, besides other BJP pocket boroughs like Gorakhpur - a seat won by the party seven times on the trotk, until it was lost last year in a by-poll. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Goa Forward Party, an ally of the BJP in the Manohar Parrikar government, Thursday ruled out the possibility of early dissolution of the state assembly, stating "nobody can afford election at this time". GFP president and Minister Vijai Sardesai, talking to reporters from a state Cabinet meeting, dismissed claims by the opposition Congress that the assembly would be dissolved soon. The BJP dubbed the Congress claims as a "futile attempt to create confusion" amongst the people of the state and asserted the BJP-led coalition government will complete its full five-year term. "Nobody can afford to have election in the state at this time, not even BJP. I go by logic and facts that BJP cannot afford election. "So why would CM afford election? And the situation in which he is in, why would he afford election?," he asked, apparently referring to the ill-health of Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar. Sardesai, however, said during the Cabinet meeting on Thursday, he asked the CM to make a senior BJP functionary clarify that there will be no dissolution of the House. Leader of Opposition Chandrakant Kavlekar, after chairing a Congress Legislature Party meeting Wednesday, had claimed the ruling coalition will go for dissolution of the House after the three-day assembly session beginning here from January 29. "Dissolution is something which is contemplated when things are unmanageable from the point of political stability. When the government is there at the Centre and same government in the state, there is no reason for dissolution," Sardesai said. "We had formed this government (in 2017) to ensure the drive of development which is going on should not be stopped, and we have seen money is coming from the CDentre for the developmental projects," the minister said. "Finally it is what suits the ruling coalition. In this situation, they may be not in a position to want the election," he said. "But finally two plus two is not four in So that slight doubt that exists because of the statement by Leader of Opposition, the benefit of the doubt has to be given and it should be clarified," Sardesai said. "The main opposition has made a major charge. The charge is aimed at instilling a sense of instability over the government," the minister added. Sardesai clarified the CM has been negating the possibility of dissolution. "Why the Congress made the statement? Don't know but the Congress wants dissolution. The Congress party is led by people who are unelectable," the GFP leader said. "MLAs don't want dissolution. Everybody gets elected for a particular term and they set targets," Sardesai said. Meanwhile, the BJP, too, rubbished Congress claims. "The statement by some of the Congress leaders that Goa is heading for mid-term polls is nothing but a futile attempt to create confusion amongst the people," BJPs South Goa Member of Parliament Narendra Sawaikar said in a statement. "The clueless Goa Congress is baffled by the development agenda and its effective implementation by the Manohar Parrikar-led government," he said. "The Congress is scared at its imminent defeat in both the (assembly) bypolls as well as in the Lok Sabha polls," Sawaikar said. "The BJP-led coalition government will not only complete its five-year term, but also give a smooth, development-centric governance to the state," he added. "The Goa BJP reassures the people that neither the Goa assembly will be dissolved nor there will be any mid-term polls in the state," Sawaikar said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Two robbers Thursday waylaid a collection agent carrying bank cash and looted Rs 2 lakh at a knifepoint here in Madhya Pradesh, police said. Kotwali Police Station in-charge K S Tripathi said the incident occurred near LIC Colony when collection agent of Bandhan Bank, identified as Sandip Mewara (20), was returning on his bike at around 12.30 pm from Gerkhedi village after collecting loan dues from self-help groups. Mewara was stopped by two persons near LIC Colony and they asked him they wanted to take a loan from the bank for their self-help group. When Mewara told them to come to the bank, they brandished a knife and looted Rs 2 lakh from him, Tripathi said. According to the complainant, the robbers also snatched his motorcycle, mobile phone and fled the spot, he said. Tripathi said the police have launched a search for the robbers and also looking for CCTV footage from the area to get leads on the duo. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The traffic police authorities in this city of Pakistan Thursday apologised to the Sikh community after a Sikh motorcyclist was "mistakenly" issued a challan for not wearing a helmet. A traffic warden had on Tuesday issued the challan to the Sikh youth riding the motorcycle for non use of the helmet. A spokesman of the traffic police said the youth was "mistakenly" challaned by the warden. He said the authorities have tendered an apology to a delegation of the Sikh community, who brought the issue to their notice. Sikhs are exempted from use of helmet while riding motorcycles, the spokesman said. The provincial legislature in northwest Pakistan is likely to debate the issue. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Arunachal Pradesh government will reconstruct and refurbish school, hospital and government office buildings in the state that were constructed during the union territory (UT) days, Chief Minister Pema Khandu has said. All old Assam type buildings constructed during UT days that has outlived its usefulness would be reconstructed in a phase-wise manner across the state, Khandu informed during a review meeting at Daporijo in Upper Subansiri district on Wednesday. Khandu said this while holding a meeting with the heads of the departments, government officers and officials to review the implementation of important flagships programmes of the state and the Centre, a CMO release said here on Thursday. Arunachal Pradesh became a full-fledged state in 1987. "However, challenging the task may be but the mission to phase out all such buildings will be completed," Khandu said. The chief minister appealed to government officers to start taking corrective steps for better Arunachal saying that otherwise the state would not be able to come out from the rule of muscle power and money power. "Todays youth are frustrated with the ways things are in the government and seeks to see change and desires the government to cleanse the system," Khandu said adding, the onus lay on people who are in the position today to bring change and to give back to the society. Khandu said politicians are only policymakers but real ground level implementations of government programmes and policies has to be executed by government officers. The chief minister said he is in constant touch with the public through social media, SMS and WhatsApp and received information through them about the lack of sincerity on the part of government officers and their regular absentee from office. He appealed to government officers to be sincere in their duty as their insincerity will affect the development of the state saying that times have changed and things are not like as it used to be earlier. "We cannot sit idle as the state government has to submit its performance report every two months to the PMO," Khandu said adding, the PMO is constantly monitoring the performance of the state and sends back their remarks on area where the state is lagging for improvement. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) An army porter was injured Thursday when Pakistani troops fired heavy mortar shells and small arms targeting forwards posts and civilian areas along the Line of Control (LoC) Jammu and Kashmir's in Rajouri district, officials said. A defence spokesperson said the Pakistan Army fired small arms and mortar shells in Sunderbani Sector starting 09:15 am. In the breach of truce, one army porter was injured in Nowshera sector this evening. He was shifted to the hospital, the official said. The spokesperson said the Indian Army was retaliating strongly and effectively. The Pakistani troops have targeted civilian areas close to the International Border and the LoC on 17 days this month. They had fired mortar bombs and small arms at forwards posts and civilian areas along the LoC in Poonch district on Wednesday. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) After stunning the world by becoming the single largest shareholder in one of the world's best-known mining groups mining mogul Anil Agarwal, is keen to bring South Africa-based Anglo American to India for prospecting of coal, iron ore, copper and other minerals. Agarwal recently spent USD 2.4 billion to buy close to 22 per cent in Anglo, which owns 85 per cent of De Beers, the world's leading diamond company. "Anglo is already in India mostly because of the De Beers diamonds they sell. But I want to involve them more," said Agarwal, who is part of a business delegation accompanying South African President Cyril Ramaphosa to India. "We would be talking to them how we can involve them more (in India). They have huge branding and technology, be it diamonds, platinum, copper, iron ore and manganese, and coal," he said. "I have no doubt that they will come at some point of time to make an investment in India." He, however, hastened to add that there was no concrete investment proposal at this point of time. Agarwal, whose Vedanta Group produces oil, gas, zinc, aluminum and copper within India, wants Anglo to prospect for coal in the country. Anglo is the world's third largest exporter of metallurgical coal, operating in Australia, Colombia, and South Africa. "If Anglo comes (in India) and coal mining is opened up (to foreign companies), it will be great," he said. India, he said, has tremendous potential to prospect diamond, gold, platinum, copper and iron ore and is a big market no one can ignore. "This is the market nobody can ignore. They will be successful here," he said. Agarwal, 63, made it clear that was "very comfortable" with the current management of Anglo and is not seeking a say in the board. "They are doing extremely good. I support them fully," he said. "We have a good consultancy with them. We are happy for now." His firm Vedanta Resources is the largest investor in South Africa and is committing to invest another USD 1.6 billion in the African nation in production of zinc. "South Africa has a huge mining culture. India does not have. We are trying to marry the two," he said. At Gamsberg, Vedanta Zinc International has already invested USD 400 million (Rs 3,000 crore) since it bought the zinc mining project from Anglo American in 2011. The company now plans to make an additional investment to build a greenfield smelter and refinery, he said. Ramaphosa will be the chief guest at India's 70th Republic Day celebrations this weekend. Agarwal said to commemorate this historic occasion, Vedanta has committed to invest an additional Rs 11,500 crore (USD 1.6 billion) in the land of Nelson Mandela. The company's cumulative investment in the African continent stands at nearly Rs 30,000 crore (USD 4 billion). Vedanta Resources CEO Srinivasan Venkatakrishnan, Vedanta Zinc International CEO Deshnee Naidoo are also the part of the high-level business delegation to India. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) An Algerian television producer died from severe burns Thursday more than two weeks after setting himself on fire over unpaid wages, his son told AFP. Youcef Goucem, 61, doused himself in flammable liquid and lit it in the offices of private channel Dzair TV on January 7 after claiming he had not been paid for work on a soap opera in 2017. His desperate act stirred emotions in Algeria, with a hundred professionals working in television and cinema decrying the "anxiety" they face on the job. Dzeir TV said it regretted "a commercial dispute that had unfortunately turned into a drama" in a statement after Goucem set himself ablaze. The channel said Goucem had been reassured by the outlet's new boss that his claim was being processed. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Actor Alec Baldwin has pleaded guilty to second-degree harassment in a case related to a fight over a parking spot. The 60-year-old actor appeared in court and was sentenced to a conditional discharge on Wednesday. He has agreed to take a short-term anger management class. He will also pay a fine of USD 120. The actor initially faced a misdemeanour assault charge, which he denied in court and pleaded guilty to the lesser charge of harassment in the second degree (a violation), Variety reported. The incident occurred in the West Village area of Manhattan in last November. The police said the two men were arguing and pushing each other, before Baldwin allegedly punched the 49-year-old man. The "SNL" star was subsequently placed under arrest, while the complainant was taken to a local hospital. It is not the first time Baldwin has run into trouble with the law. He was charged with battery in a case involving a photographer in the 1990s and was later acquitted. The actor was arrested for disorderly conduct in 2014. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Citing "doubts and controversy" surrounding EVM machines, Samajwadi Party supremo Akhilesh Yadav has requested Election Commission to conduct next polls through ballot papers. "The SP has asked the EC to conduct next elections through ballot papers. There are doubts and controversy related to EVMs that have raised question mark on entire democratic exercise of polls," Akhilesh said in a statement issued here Wednesday. "Technology is being misused for political purposes and there is no doubt regarding this. Technological literate society should also raise their voice against misuses of EVMs. Use of ballot papers in elections strengthens relations between the state and common man. The trust is basis of democracy and it is necessary for the country", he said. He said in past elections too, a number of complaints related to faulty EVMs had come. People used to stand in queues for a long time for their turn to vote due to this. Is it technical or failure of election management or conspiracy to devoid people from their voting rights?" he questioned. On the claims of self-styled cyber expert from London that EVMs could be tampered with, Akhilesh said, "There should be an unbiased probe into it. This is a serious matter and an attempt to grab power with money." During a press conference in London on Monday, Syed Shuja had claimed that the EVMs can be hacked, and the 2014 Lok Sabha elections were rigged. The Delhi Police has registered a case based on a complaint filed by the Election Commission regarding Shuza's allegations. In its complaint, the poll panel had asked police to investigate the matter "promptly" for violation of certain IPC sections dealing with spreading rumour to "create fear" in the minds of people. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Air India Express will launch its first direct flight service from Surat to Sharjah on February 16 and will also expand services from Gulf to Kannur in Kerala. The carrier, the international budget arm of Air India, will deploy Boeing 737-800 NG aircraft on this route. The flight will depart from Sharjah at 7:35 PM and arrive in Surat at 11:45 PM on Mondays and Saturdays, the airline announced in a statement. From Surat, the flight will depart at 12:30 AM with arrival into Sharjah at 02:15 AM on Tuesdays and Sundays. This service will be upgraded to four flights a week in the summer schedule. Surat-Sharjah will be the 47th non-stop direct connection of Air India Express between destinations in India and the Gulf region. Air India Express is set to further expand its operations in its summer schedule 2019, which shall commence on March 31, 2019. Operating with a fleet of 25 Boeing 737-800 NG aircraft, the airline will have 653 weekly departures in the new schedule, as against 621 departures per week currently. The increase in operations will be achieved through capacity addition and by increasing aircraft utilisation, which is poised to go up from about 13.3 hours currently to 13.4 hours per day per aircraft in the summer schedule, the airline said. "Summer 2019 will witness additional capacity being deployed to strengthen the network between Gulf and Kerala. There will be two more flights on Mondays and Fridays, bringing the total flights on Kannur Abu Dhabi sector to five flights per week Launch of thrice weekly flights from Kannur to Muscat," the statement said. According to the statement, the airline has applied for necessary slot approvals for all the above mentioned new operations and enhancements planned from Kannur. The airline will operate five flights on the Kozhikode -Riyadh sector in the Summer Schedule'19 instead of the present four services per week. The additional flight will operate on Fridays at the existing timings. The year 2018 witnessed addition of two more aircraft, bringing the total fleet strength of the Airline to 25Boeing 737-800 NG aircraft. The Airline has plans to further expand its fleet for which necessary approvals are in the process of being obtained. The Airline expects its turnover to cross the Rs 4000 crore mark in FY 2018-19. Despite the challenges posed by high fuel cost in the first eight months of the year, the Airline expects to generate net profit in the region of Rs 250 crores, it said. The airline has been reporting net profit consecutively during the last three financial years. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) An airstrike on a home in southern Afghanistan killed 16 civilians from the same extended family, an Afghan official said Thursday. Attaullah Afghan, head of the Helmand provincial council, said the airstrike was launched Wednesday in the Sangin district during heavy fighting between Afghan forces and the Taliban. Most of those killed were women and children, he said. Omar Zwak, a spokesman for the provincial governor, said an investigation has been launched. It was not immediately clear if the airstrike was launched by Afghan forces or NATO, which often provides air support to Afghan ground troops. "A large Afghan-led, multi-day operation in Sangin, Helmand has been supported by US advisors and coalition air strikes," NATO said in a statement. "Due to the ongoing operation and the number of units involved, we are still looking into the claim of non-combatant casualties." Afghan forces have struggled to contain a resurgent Taliban that now effectively controls nearly half the country. The insurgents killed dozens of Afghan forces in a complex attack launched on a military base run by the country's intelligence agency in eastern Afghanistan earlier this week. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) in Maharashtra made a U-turn and Thursday announced it would contest both the Lok Sabha and state Assembly polls. The party has decided to field candidates in constituencies where it feels it is strong. Maharashtra has 48 Lok Sabha seats, the second highest after Uttar Pradesh (80), and a 288-member assembly. Assembly polls in Maharashtra are due in the second half of 2019. AAP leader Brigadier (retd) Sudhir Sawant, speaking to reporters, said, "The AAP Maharashtra will contest both Lok Sabha and Assembly elections. Wherever a possibility appears of defeating the BJP, the party would contest the polls." Earlier this week, the Arvind Kejriwal-led party had said it has decided not to contest elections in Maharashtra. AAP's national spokesperson Preeti Sharma Menon had said the party will fight Lok Sabha polls in four states Delhi, Punjab, Haryana and Goa, but not in Maharashtra. Sawant, however, claimed people are tired of the BJP's "fake" promises and are looking for an alternative. "The 2019 Lok Sabha election will be a battle between not only political coalitions but also personalities. Tired of BJP's fake announcements, people are looking for an alternative. "It was evident from the manner in which the BJP was defeated in the five states which went to polls in November and December," he said. According to AAP sources, the state executive committee, in its meeting on January 19, decided that ticket aspirants should submit their applications by January 30. After the perusal and review of applications, the final names of candidates will be declared. "Efforts are also on to forge an alliance of anti-BJP parties for the polls. The decision about this will be taken on February 5," said a party insider. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Six labourers were killed when a four-storey under-construction building collapsed Thursday at a village here, officials said. Three National Disaster Response Force teams, with about 35 personnel each, were deployed and it is suspected that one or two more people could still be trapped at the site in Ullawas village near sector 65 of Gurgaon. "Six bodies have been retrieved from the accident site so far. The rescue teams are still on job," an NDRF spokesperson said. The official said two teams from its base in Ghaziabad and one from its regional base in Dwarka were rushed to the accident site in the morning. The Gurgaon Fire Department control room received a call at 5.15 am from a local about the building collapse. The police and the fire department were also involved in the rescue operation. "Rescue teams are facing difficulty as they are removing concrete, iron grills and debris. There could be seven people, all labourers, feared trapped," fire officer Isham Singh told PTI during the early hours of the operation. The building collapsed when the labourers were laying the roof the structure's fourth floor, officials said. The police are on the lookout for the building's owner, a resident of the said village. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Five persons were injured Thursday after a gas cylinder allegedly exploded at a shanty in Model Town area of northwest Delhi, police said. A call was received at 7.25 am and two fire tenders were rushed to the spot. The situation was brought under control by 7.40 am, Delhi fire service said. The incident took place due to leakage in the gas cylinder. Five persons were rushed to Babu Jagjivan Ram Memorial Hospital where they are undergoing treatment, a senior police officer said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Centre has decided to renovate and develop around 400 abandoned airstrips across the country to strengthen air-connectivity, a senior official said Thursday. Like the proposed Dhalbhumgarh airstrip that had been developed by Britishers during the World War II in Ghatsila sub-division of East Singhbhum district, Secretary of Union Civil Aviation department R N Choubey said there were 400 such airstrips lying abandoned across the country. "The air strips were all our assets and we are willing to renovate them... develop those strips as modern airports with the respective state governments to improve air connectivity," Choubey said. He was addressing a gathering after Union Minister of State for Civil Aviation Jayant Sinha and Jharkhand Chief Minister Raghubar Das performed the ground breaking ceremony for a proposed airport in Dhalbhumgarh, about 65 km from here, under Ghatsila sub-division of East Singhbhum district. Choubey said Das and Sinha have asked the ministry to make all possible efforts to set up an airport at Jamshedpur, considered the industrial capital of Jharkhand. On the directive of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, a drive has been launched to renovate and develop abandoned airstrips to improve air connectivity, he said. Accordingly, the Airports Authority of India prepared a Memorandum of Understanding in this regard and sent it to all the 29 states and seven Union Territories expressing its willingness to develop those air strips along with the respective state governments, he said. Jharkhand was the first state in the country where an MOU was signed to develop one such air strip at Dhalbhumgarh, he said. Choubey said a modern airport at an initial investment of Rs 100 crore would be developed at Dhalbhumgarh, about 65 kms from here, and the first phase of the airport would be completed in 18 months. The airport will benefit adjoining states like West Bengal and Odisha and help push up economic growth as well as generate employment opportunity, he said. An MoU was signed by P R Berulia, Director of Ranchi Airport, on behalf of the AAI and Capt S P Sinha, Director of transport and civil aviation, on behalf of the Jharkhand Government for the proposed airport at Dhalbhumgarh. Referring to the growth in the aviation sector in the state, the chief minister said only 1,500 passengers used to travel by air per day in the state with only eight passenger aircrafts in operation before December 28, 2014, when he came to power. However, the figure has jumped to 60,000 passengers travelling by air per day during the last four and half year tenure of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, he said. He said around 25.50 lakh passenger travelled by air in 2018, which was indicative of increased purchase capacity of the people. The chief minister said the government needed 550 acre for expansion of the airport and urged the locals to part with their land for the purpose, assuring them to rehabilitate them first before displacing them. Addressing the gathering, Sinha said the long-standing demand of an airport at Dhalbhumgarh has been fulfilled with the signing of an MoU between the Jharkhand Government and Airport Authority of India. Ever since the Modi-headed government came to power, he said the country has witnessed a revolution in air, road and rail connectivity. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Three teachers of Chandra Kamal Bezbaruah College of Jorhat district were killed and another suffered serious injuries when their car collided with an oil tanker in neighbouring Golaghat district, police said Thursday. The four lecturers were returning towards Jorhat from Dibrugarh University Youth Festival at Sarupathar in Golaghat district. The vehicle rammed into a parked tanker on NH-37 at Balijan under Dergaon police station area around 11.20 pm, Additional Superintendent of Police Imdad Ali said. They were returning towards Jorhat from Dibrugarh University Youth Festival at Sarupathar under Golaghat district when the accident took place, Ali said. The three were identified as Dr Ranjit Ranjan Saikia, Keshav Hazarika and Jintumoni Phukan. Their colleague Naren Saikia, who suffered serious injuries in the accident, is now hospitalised. Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal has condoled the death of the three lecturers killed in the road accident. In a statement Sonowal said, "I am deeply saddened by the tragic death of three lecturers of CKB College in a road accident. I extend my heartfelt condolences to the bereaved family members and pray for eternal peace of the departed souls". The chief minister also prayed for early recovery of Saikia. Thousands of students of the college bid farewell to their beloved teachers whose last rites were performed today. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The upcoming general election will be a "battle for India's soul", Congress leader Shashi Tharoor said Thursday and alleged that a fundamentally different idea of India was being advocated by those close to the ruling party. Tharoor said the idea that religion should be a determinant of nationhood was the idea of Pakistan and claimed that a determined effort was being made to smuggle this idea into India. The idea that religion should be a determinant of nationhood is the idea of Pakistan. The idea of India is that it will be a nation for everyone and religion will not be its basis. We now see a determined effort to smuggle the idea of Pakistan into India, he said at the Jaipur Literature Festival. The forthcoming elections is a battle for India's soul because we have seen a fundamentally different idea of India being advocated by those close to the ruling party, he said. Tharoor also took a dig at Prime Minister Narendra Modi, saying he has failed to live up to his promises and the liberal pronouncements that he often makes. There is a central contradiction to Modi. He makes all these liberal pronouncements, but for his own political support and electoral viability across the country, he rests on the most illiberal elements of society, the Congress leader said. Tharoor said Modi talked about "maximum governance and minimum government", but the minimum government that the country has got is that of the Prime Minister and the PMO and everything else has become irrelevant. Drawing an analogy between American and India politics, Tharoor said the Republicans campaign on guns, God and gays through cultural nationalists and speak of their real agenda which is economics only when they come to power, whereas it is the opposite in case of India. Modi campaigns on economics, talks about development and when he comes to power, the only people who have the authority are cultural nationalists, cow vigilantes and love jihadis. They are given a free hand, he said. Talking about the Sabarimala controversy, Tharoor said the over the issue is truly inexplicable. The current communist government gleefully sees the Supreme Court judgement on the Sabarimala issue through a simple political objective. Their political strategy is to provoke enough BJP-Sangh Parivar backlash to take away Congress, Hindu votes to such an extent that the Left can gain in a big way. The Left has shown no zeal in any other Supreme Court judgement. There is a case involving Orthodox Church also, the communists are not even touching it, he said. Unprecedented protests were witnessed over the entry of women of menstruating age in the Lord Ayyappa temple in Sabarimala which recently closed marking the culmination of the over two-month-long stormy annual pilgrimage season. Kerala witnessed unprecedented violence over the issue, with houses of both CPI(M) and the BJP leaders being attacked. All major political parties in the state including the CPI(M), the Congress and the BJP have indicated that they will try to cash in on the Sabarimala issue in the general elections. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Sixteen people were killed in an accident at a gold mining site in northern Ghana, a local official said on Thursday, prompting the authorities to launch an investigation. The accident happened in the Talensi area of the Upper East region early on Wednesday near a site operated by China's Shaanxi Mining Company Limited. The exact circumstances were not immediately clear. "The death toll is 16," local government leader Christopher Boatbil told AFP, adding that management of a local mining firm had also been arrested. "The regional security council has come to join the district security council and we are going to the community to interact with the people and get a lot of information. A Shaanxi spokesman, Maxwell Wooma, said the victims were all illegal miners and that none of its staff was involved. Ghana is Africa's second-largest gold producer and exports of the yellow metal, along with other minerals and oil, drive the country's economy. The industry involves a number of major global players but small-scale, illegal mining known locally as "galamsey", which has been a persistent problem, causing frequent accidents. In April last year, six miners were killed and two injured when the roof of a tunnel collapsed at a gold mining site operated by US-based Newmont in Ghana's southern region. In July 2017, at least 22 people were killed after an illegal goldmine collapsed in western Ghana. In April 2015, three people died and 14 others required medical treatment after inhaling toxic fumes at the Shaanxi mine. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) This refers to "Good on paper" (January 24). Direct credit of income support to farmers abolishing the present system of indirect subsidies may result in misutilisation of the assistance by the farmers since they are always in need of money. Again, if subsidies on fertiliser, electricity etc is abolished, there will be a hue and cry by farmers and political parties. It will be difficult to implement but if the economy can sustain it, direct credit can be given since farmers get less subsidy than other sectors in comparison to their contribution to the economy. As far as ... There is trouble in paradise. The government's drastic intervention in e-commerce at the behest of vested domestic interests and the powerful traders lobby has created consternation in the bulge bracket world of e-commerce in India. With the big players having reached out to the Government to give them breathing space on the new compliance measures beyond the January 31 deadline, the Industry ministry has not responded, leading to panic attacks across the board. Powerful stakeholders led by Walmart and Amazon from the e-commerce eco system have sought a six-month extension since lakhs of sellers - small and medium-sized - in the market place need to be educated, IT-enabled and connected to meet the statutory audit requirements. Moreover, contracts have to be re-negotiated so that the compliance measures remain ongoing with time being of the essence. It is believed that the DIPP or Industry Secretary Ramesh Abhishek, who was earlier encouraging the major players to ramp up their investments in India, has not responded to their pleas and petitions. The situation has become precarious primarily because the clarification to press note 2 was even more confusing. On a granular level, the market place cannot have any equity in the seller. Hence, Amazon which has five percent equity in Shoppers Stop has to comply with the new standards. The new government directive does not allow private labels, nor does it allow big brands to have commercial tie-ups with the market place. Basically, the rules of engagement have been turned on their head. Bain Capital reckons that the heavy lifting e-com players have generated three lakh jobs in India. Over and above this, there are lakhs of vendors. Further, the eco system has multiple spin-offs like advertisements, courier companies, logistics companies, supports innumerable manufacturing operations and caters to large scale supply chains. Flipkart has 80,000 employees, 80 fulfilment centres (warehouses), nearly one lakh plus sellers and artisans of all hues across the land. Ditto for Amazon, which has similar numbers across its business spectrum. Walmart paid $14 billion for Flipkart stock with a promise of an additional $2 billion in physical structure investment. So, there is a lot riding on these heavy lifters for both know that this is the last frontier in terms of a consumption market, since India consumes 67 per cent of its own $2.6 trillion GDP. Interestingly, Walmart runs Flipkart as a stand-alone entity. For Walmart this is a priority market and it is keen that the January 31 compliance window deadline is extended. Its commitment to the Indian market can be gauged from the fact that it recently got 100 acres in Bengal for warehousing as a pivot to the northeast market. Hence the size of the commitment is seeing enlargement almost daily. It is on the verge of closing another 100 acre fulfilment centre in Telengana to service the southern market. Remarkably, the Indian retail market is estimated to be $650 billion, of which 90 percent is the kirana stores while nearly eight per cent is made up of Indian retail players and only two percent is e-commerce. However, since the biggies in e-com are global behemoths, impediments are being placed in their path. At the kernel of the government notification and clarificatory statement is the targeting of e-commerce giants who are quick to retort that they helping small sellers with a channel that is tech-enabled to put their products on the marketplace. At the time same time, even as they try and get the government to listen to their litany of woes on immediate compliance, the process of evaluation of sellers will continue and remain ongoing so that they are effectively compliant every single day. The government's intervention is perceived to be through a non-consultative process and the global giants want more time for compliance and enhanced level of dialogue. The audit requirement on the sellers by opening their books to the marketplace in such a short time is reminiscent of the haste in the launch of GST, which threw small businesses out of gear. Many of the sellers will now have design IT systems and the marketplace cannot be liable for this. In parallel, there is no clarification on how to conduct the private label business. --IANS vsc/vm (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Regional commanders of Venezuela's armed forces appeared on state television Thursday to express their support for President Nicolas Maduro a day after National Assembly speaker Juan Guaido proclaimed himself acting head of state. "We are a democratic country where the president is elected only by the people, and the people is the sovereign making decisions on our homeland's destiny," Maj. Gen. Manuel Bernal Martinez, head of the Andean military district, said, reports Efe. "The people of Venezuela, through their exercise of the free and secret ballot, elected citizen Nicolas Maduro Moros as president," he said, accompanied in the video clip by other officers. Similar messages were conveyed in subsequent clips featuring Gen. Victor Palacio Garcia, commander of the Los Llanos defence region, and Gen. Domingo Hernandez Lares, commander of the Central region. "We recognise and ratify only our absolute loyalty to the constitutional president of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, commander-in-chief of the National Bolivarian Armed Forces (FANB), Nicolas Maduro Moros, elected by the people for the 2019-2025 term," Palacio said. "Loyal forever, traitors never! Chavez lives!," he added in a reference to late President Hugo Chavez, leader of the Bolivarian Revolution and Maduro's mentor. Hernandez proclaimed "loyalty and absolute subordination to citizen Nicolas Maduro Moros, constitutional president and FANB commander-in-chief, elected by the people and, as such, the only person with direct and supreme command over the FANB." Defence Minister Vladimir Padrino, who on Wednesday expressed support for Maduro in a Twitter message, has not commented publicaly since then. "Desperation and intolerance threaten the nation's peace," Padrino said. "The military does not accept a president imposed under the shadow of dark interests and self-appointed outside the law. The FANB defends our Constitution and guarantees our national sovereignty." --IANS vc (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Key allies of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro led by Russia and China, on Thursday warned Washington not to stage an "external intervention" in support of opposition leader Juan Guaido's attempt to lead the country, a day after US President Donald Trump recognized him as the South American nation's legitimate President. Trump's Wednesday move recognizing Guaido as the new head of state forced Venezuela's incumbent leader Maduro to cut "remaining" political and diplomatic ties with Washington. Maduro also asked American diplomats in Venezuela to leave within 72 hours. "The imperial government of the US is leading a coup attempt against us in order to install a puppet presidency that they can control in Venezuela," he added. The US and other regional countries including Argentina, Canada, Brazil, Colombia, Panama, Peru, Ecuador, Costa Rica, Guatemala and Paraguay expressed support for Guaido, while Russia, China, Mexico, Bolivia, Cuba, Nicaragua, Turkey, support Maduro, the BBC reported. French President Emmanuel Macron stopped short of recognition, calling for democratic elections. Russia, an important provider of financial aid to the Venezuelan government, issued a strong declaration of support for Maduro's government on Thursday, saying that the US military intervention in Venezuela would be "catastrophic". It said that the recognition of Guaido by Washington and some regional countries was aimed at aggravating the split in the Venezuelan society and escalating the conflict. "We warn against that," said Russia's Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov in remarks published by a ministry publication. "We believe it would be a catastrophic scenario to shake the foundation of the development model we have been observing in the region of Latin America." China also expressed its support for the Venezuelan government and criticized "the US interference in its domestic affairs", Xinhua news agency reported. "China supports the Venezuelan government's efforts to uphold its sovereignty, independence and stability," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying said. Venezuela has been one of Beijing's closest allies in Latin America and the largest recipient of Chinese financing, taking as much as 38 billion pounds in loans by 2017. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan phoned Maduro and offered his support, his spokesman said. Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu issued a warning about Guaido's declaration. UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres said talks in Venezuela were needed to avoid the political crisis spiralling out of control. European Council President Donald Tusk expressed support and called on other European countries to join him. Trump had on Wednesday said that the US would continue to use economic and diplomatic power to press for "the restoration of Venezuelan democracy". In a statement, the US President described Maduro's leadership as "illegitimate", adding: "The people of Venezuela have courageously spoken out against Maduro and his regime and demanded freedom and the rule of law." It warned Maduro tougher sanctions could be imposed. --IANS soni/bg (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Thursday said it has registered two more cases of money laundering in its ongoing probe into the illegal sand mining cases in Uttar Pradesh's Kaushambi and Shamli districts. The cases were registered under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) against several officials and private persons, a senior ED official told IANS. The development comes a week after the financial probe agency filed a case based on a First Information Report (FIR) by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) into the role of bureaucrats and politicians in Hamirpur district. In the Hamirpur case, the ED had named then District Magistrate IAS officer B. Chandrakala and 10 others. On January 18, the ED had summoned Chandrakala for questioning on January 24 at its Lucknow office at 11 a.m. "But Chandrakala has not joined the probe yet," an ED official said. The CBI had registered separate cases into the alleged irregularities in granting of licences between 2012 and 2016, in violation of the Allahabad High Court order which had ratified an e-tender policy in Kaushambi and Shamli districts in 2018. The then Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav had granted the mine's leases to 14 people in 2013 in Hamirpur district against the High Court's order. --IANS aks/mag/in/bg (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Ahead of India's 70th Republic Day on January 26 and Lok Sabha elections in April-May, TV actors like Mohit Malik, Rohitashv Gour and Sara Khan have pinned hopes on the new government to fight corruption and crimes against women. "I hope to see better infrastructure and employment for the under-privileged and more opportunities for everyone. I would love to have different coastal ports for internal travel. For example, ferries from Versova to Bandra to cut traffic. I love this city (Mumbai), but the traffic is the only thing that is not in our control and I know it will keep increasing. "So maybe, using another mode of transport like water can help," "Kullfi Kumarr Bajewala" actor Mohit Malik told IANS. Actress Sara Khan feels that election is the most important time for citizens in a country and its politicians. "We vote for someone with a lot of hope and expectations. I understand that there is a need for time and process to settle down everything. We citizens need to have passion," she said. She sees a connection between education and respect for women. Sara of "Sapna Babul Ka...Bidaai" fame also wants action to be taken against the "ongoing violence against women". Actor Rohitashv Gour, currently seen as Manmohan Tiwariji in the show "Bhabhi Ji Ghar Par Hai", believes that although the "nation's judicial system has evolved over the years, we have somewhere failed to provide justice to women in general". "The one alteration to an Indian law that could change the way India sees its women is extreme penalty against minors held for a rape case. If we believe in taking stringent action against those who are responsible for victimising women, the age of the man should not determine the level of action to be taken against him." Talking about women's empowerment, actress Ashnoor Kaur said: "In the show 'Patiala Babes', we talk a lot about women's empowerment, and the government is undoubtedly working on it, but I feel they should put in more effort." She also wants the new government to work on traffic problems, condition of roads and noise pollution. On this Republic Day, "Main Bhi Ardhangini" actor Avinash Sachdev prays for a better India where "human beings and moral rights will not just be a part of the constitution, but also a part of every Indian's right". (Natalia Ningthoujam can be contacted at natalia.n@ians.in) --IANS nn/rb/vm/mr (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) After Speaker Nancy Pelosi firmly slammed the door on Trump delivering his State of the Union address in the House chamber of Congress, President Donald Trump blinked and agreed to postpone the annual agenda-setting speech, a delay he had defiantly opposed. His late night tweet on Wednesday acceding to her marked a turning point in the government shutdown that entered its 34th day on Thursday and offered a glimmer of hope that a deal on the budget could be worked out as the weight of the stress was beginning to show on federal operations, including law enforcement. Trump's back-down came amid reports that Democrats were working on a compromise that would increase the budget allocation for border control up to almost $5.7 billion, with the condition that it could not be spent on a wall or barrier along the Mexican border. Trump had demanded that the budget include $5.7 billion for building the barrier to deter smuggling and illegal immigration, but the Democrats who control the House and crucial votes in the Republican-majority Senate refused to vote for it. Without a budget as both sides hold firm, there is no money to run all but the most essential government services or pay the workers, both those still working and those temporarily laid off. The border wall was Trump's election promise and he has held fast to the demand for financing it, while the Democrats have opposed it for the same reason -- to hurt his standing with his base. Under their proposal, the increased border security allocation would be used to bring in new technologies and add personnel, while depriving him of the symbolism of the wall but meeting a big portion - if not all - of his budget demand. Trump himself had offered some concessions - instead of a concrete wall, it will be a metal fence, he said. Several news outlets reported that a new concessions that he may now offer was giving permanent residency to those who came in illegally as children to the US and were referred to as Dreamers, instead of a three-year reprieve he had offered on Saturday. Estimates of Indians covered by Trump's offer vary between 5,000 and 7,500. As their feud heightened, Trump wrote to Pelosi on Wednesday to demand to speak from the House chamber to a joint session of Congress next Tuesday, but she replied that the House will not consider a resolution to invite him unless he ended the government shutdown. Trump cannot deliver his annual address from the House chamber without an invitation or he would be sparking a constitutional crisis. A petulant Trump told reporters: "The State of the Union speech has been cancelled by Nancy Pelosi because she doesn't want to hear the truth." He could have spoken from another place in the Congress building as it was reported he was considering, but it would have lacked the pomp and show that Trump is fond of. After hours of defiance, Trump finally said that Pelosi had invited him on January 3, but "she then changed her mind because of the shutdown, suggesting a later date. This is her prerogative - I will do the address when the shutdown is over." He added that he looked forward to it "in the near future!" Pelosi tweetd back: "Mr. President, I hope by saying 'near future', you mean you will support the House-passed package to #EndTheShutdown that the Senate will vote on tomorrow." The Senate was expected to vote on two competing resolutions on Thursday. One was a the Democratic resolution that Pelosi referred to, demanding a temporary reopening of the government till February 8 so they can negotiate a more permanent solution and the other was a competing Republican resolution approving the border wall funding and the competing Neither resolution was likely to have enough votes to pass. The State of the Union address is the equivalent of the Indian President's address to the joint session of Parliament at the start of the session and has a ceremonial air that Trump is fond of. Earlier in retaliation, Trump had banned Pelosi from using military planes to visit US troops in Afghanistan. The effects of the shutdown were beginning to show. About 800,000 employees will be missing their second fortnightly paycheck on Friday and were facing financial hardships. Thousands of government employees held a protest outside the Senate offices by holding up empty paper plates, signifying that they were unable to feed their families. Admiral Karl Schultz, the commandant of the Coast Guard, took the bold step of tweeting a video message that it was "unacceptable for his personnel to rely on charity without their paychecks". The Federal Bureau of Investigation Agents Association issued a report detailing how the shutdown was undermining the nation's security as the agency was running out of funds for its operations. "The fear is our enemies know they can run freely," an officer was quoted in the report. Trump has been portraying Pelosi as a hostage of the radical left in the party, some of whom like Indian-American Representative Pramila Jayapal want to abolish the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency that acts against smugglers and illegal immigrants within the US. "They've become radicalized," he said on Wednesday. But Trump has his own set of extremists in his base that he has to contend with and they have already voiced opposition to his offers on extending temporary legal status to the two categories of illegal immigrants. They will oppose any compromise without the wall. They will oppose any compromise without the wall, just as the Democrats will oppose increased border security funding. Meanwhile, he moderates on both sides are becoming uneasy with the prolonged shutdown. Some Democrats who won the November elections from traditionally Republican constituencies that backed Trump fear being cast as radicals, while Republican moderates were worried about the rising public disapproval rate for Trump's handling of the crisis in many opinion polls. (Arul Louis can be reached at arul.l@ians.in and followed on Twitter @arulouis) --IANS al/soni/ (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A bill backed by US President Donald Trump that will fund a border wall failed to pass the Senate on Thursday. The bill, which needs 60 yes-votes to move forward, was supported by 51, and opposed by 47, Xinhua news agency reported. Two Republican senators, Tom Cotton of Arkansas and Mike Lee of Utah voted no on the bill, while Democratic senator Joe Manchin of West Virginia voted yes. The Senate will proceed to vote on a bill produced by Democrats which calls for a temporary reopening of the US government without funding for a border wall, it will also need 60 votes to move forward. The votes are a major showdown between the two parties 34 days into the unprecedented government shutdown, while neither are expected to pass. Analysts believe the votes will be an indicator of the mood among lawmakers and provide a clearer direction for negotiators in the coming days. --IANS vc (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Tamil Nadu Chief Minister K. Palaniswami on Thursday said the two day Global Investors Meet 2019 (GIM 2019) has attracted investment proposals worth over Rs. 300,000 crore. Delivering the valedictory address at GIM 2019 Palaniswami said the state has signed 304 Memoranda of Understanding (MoUs) during the investors meet involving an investment of Rs. 300,431 crore. The investment proposals have the potential to provide job opportunities for 10.50 lakh persons, Palaniswami said. According to him, the major investment proposals are: Rs. 27,400 crore for a petroleum refinery by Chennai Petroleum Corporation in Nagapattinam; Rs. 7,000 crore expansion plan and start of electric car manufacturing by car maker Hyundai Motor India; Rs. 3,100 crore by tyre maker MRF Ltd; Rs. 10,000 crore by Adani group for expanding its Kattupalli port here; Rs. 1,250 crore by PSA France to make Peugeot cars; and Rs. 1,500 crore expansion by two wheeler maker Eicher Motors. Palaniswami also said Foxconn will soon commence the manufacturing of premium brand smartphones in Tamil Nadu with an investment of Rs. 2,500 crore. According to him, the MoUs include investment commitments from reputed foreign companies from Japan, Korea, Taiwan, Germany, France, Finland, USA and China. "TPI Composites of USA will commence windmill blade manufacturing in Tamil Nadu. Salcomp from Finland and Luxshare from China will invest in electronics hardware manufacturing," Palaniswami added. --IANS vj/oeb/bg (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Harsh Vardhan, Union Minister for Science and Technology, Earth Sciences and Environment, Forests and Climate Change will launch three technology mission centres at IIT Madras on Friday to address various issues around solar energy and water treatment, a government statement said on Thursday. "All the three centres will be set up by the Department of Science and Technology (DST)," Vardhan's office said in a release. The first, it said, is the DST-IIT Madras Solar Energy Harnessing Centre. "The centre will focus on a wide range of research and technology development activities such as silicon solar cells that promise high efficiency and are suited for Indian conditions. It is likely to be a true change agent in the energy landscape of India. The consortium will be duly poised to address the sustainability requirements in the spirit of Make in India," the release said. Scientists from IIT Madras, IIT Guwahati, Anna University, ICT-Mumbai, Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL) and KGDS Renewable Energy Private Limited will be engaged in the activities of the centre. Second in line is the DST-IIT Madras Water Innovation Centre for sustainable treatment, reuse and management which has been established with the aim to undertake synchronized research and training programmes on various issues related to wastewater management, water treatment, sensor development, stormwater management and distribution and collection systems. "This multi-institutional virtual centre will be looking into a sustainable approach for water resources protection and augmentation through wastewater treatment and reuse and stormwater management. "The centre will provide a unique opportunity for the various groups in different premier organizations working in the area of wastewater management, water treatment, sensor development and stormwater management to collaborate and work in synergized manner to ensure adequate and safe sources of drinking water for rural and urban India and process water for highly polluting industries, through research, technology development and capacity building," the Science and Technology Ministry said. The third one would be the test bed on solar thermal desalination solutions which are being established by IIT Madras and KGDS as solution providers in Naripaaiyur, Ramanathapuram district, Tamil Nadu with the aim to deliver customized technological solutions to address prevalent water challenges in the arid coastal villages located on the shores of the Bay of Bengal. --IANS sd/oeb/bg (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Germaine Greer, the author of the seminal text of second wave feminism, "The Female Eunuch", faced a volley of questions from British journalist Bee Rowlatt as well as the audience at a heated session on the opening day of the Jaipur Literature Festival (JLF) here on Thursday. Rowlatt described the feminist icon as "a tornado of provocation", before asking her to share her views on the trans community and the #MeToo movement. Greer said she had imagined such upheaval by this time - it has been almost half a century since "The Female Eunuch" was released. She also referred to the work of black radical Eldridge Cleaver, and his book, "Soul on Ice", in which he mentions the spiritual castration of black men -- a concept she found an interesting analogy for women: "A girl is born with energy, creativity and a voice. How does she become silenced," she asked. Greer said she wrote the book so that women could read it and kept in mind that most women have no time for leisure, and would have to juggle reading with their work. "It was the women who made 'The Female Eunuch'", she said. "It's not a very good book. It's the way they read it that made it important." Other parts of the discussion were less unanimously agreed upon. Greer's views on the trans community, and indeed, being trans, did not seem to be in sync with the consensus of the audience. She acknowledged the existence of a third gender, but beyond that, her ideas of biological sex, gender and sexuality seemed to be interchangeable in terms in her parlance. In contemporary understanding, transness is neither a "costume" nor is it the peculiar phenomenon of "men being better at being women than women are", both of which Greer associated with being trans. Greer's views on the idea of #NotAllMen is one commonly heard amongst third wave feminists, and one she argues is a necessary counterpart to the #MeToo movement: "Not that all men hate all women all the time, but that women don't know when they're in danger from the men they're with." However, more contentious was her take on the #MeToo movement itself, which she seemed to dismiss as publicity seeking by those victims who reported the incident years after signing non-disclosure agreements about workplace harassment, as a way to extort money from the accused. This idea was, in particular, strongly resisted by the audience, which made for a lively QandA session during which many members vocally disagreed with Greer. Other aspects of Greer's long career, such as her environmental activism and her exploration of women poets from the 16th and 17th century, provided a sense of balance to the discussion. The session closed with a comment that seemed to echo throughout the Front Lawn: "Many women, I suppose, feel betrayed by your stand. I suppose they feel that you were a voice for the powerless and now you're a voice for the powerful," Rowlatt, whose current book "In Search of Mary" is inspired by the life of Mary Wollstonecraft (1759- 1797), one of the world's earliest advocates of women's rights, said to thundering applause from the audience that marked the end of the heated session. --IANS ss/vm (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Shut out of the House of Representatives by Speaker Nancy Pelosi from delivering his State of the Union address with pomp and show, US President Donald Trump is left looking for another venue as the government shutdown entered its 34th day on Thursday. As their feud heightened, Trump wrote to her on Wednesday demanding to speak from the House chamber to a joint session of Congress on January 29, but Pelosi replied that the House will not consider a resolution to invite him unless he ended the government shutdown. Earlier in retaliation, Trump had banned Pelosi from using military planes to visit US troops in Afghanistan. Trump cannot deliver his annual address from the House chamber without an invitation or he would be sparking a constitutional crisis. A petulant Trump told reporters: "The State of the Union speech has been cancelled by Nancy Pelosi because she doesn't want to hear the truth." He could speak from another place in the Congress building or even from the Senate, which seems unlikely - even though the Republicans have the votes to invite him - as it would upend tradition. The State of the Union address is the equivalent of the Indian President's address to the joint session of Parliament at the start of the session and has a ceremonial air that Trump is fond of. Trump has demanded that the budget include $5.7 billion for building a wall or a barrier along the Mexican border to deter illegal immigration and smuggling, but the Democrats, who control the House and crucial votes in the Republican-majority Senate, have refused to vote for it. Without a budget as both sides hold firm, there is no money to run all but the most essential government services or pay the workers, both those still working and those temporarily laid off. The effects of the shutdown are beginning to show. About 800,000 employees will be missing their second fortnightly paycheck on Friday and are facing financial hardships, some to the extent of being broke and relying on charity for food handouts. Holding up empty paper plates signifying that they are unable to feed their families, thousands of government employees held a protest outside the Senate offices. Admiral Karl Schultz, the commandant of the Coast Guard, took the bold step of tweeting a video message that it was "unacceptable" for his personnel to rely on charity without their paychecks. The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Agents Association issued a report detailing how the shutdown is undermining the nation's security as the agency is running out of funds for its operations. "The fear is our enemies know they can run freely," an officer was quoted in the report. Meanwhile, the Senate is expected to fire two blanks in the war of the budgets later Thursday. Votes are scheduled on a Republican resolution approving the border wall funding and the competing Democratic resolution demanding a temporary reopening of the government till February 8 so they can negotiate a more permanent solution. Neither resolution is likely to have enough votes to pass. Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner has, meanwhile, emerged as a key figure meeting and contacting members of the Congress to find a solution. It was reported by several news outlets that one of the concessions that Trump may offer is giving permanent residency to those who came in illegally as children to the US and are referred to as Dreamers, instead of a three-year reprieve he had offered. Civil rights groups estimates that Indians covered by Trump's offer vary between 5,000 and 7,500. Democrats had offered $1.7 billion billion towards enhancing border security under the condition that it cannot be used for the wall. Now they were reported to be considering raising that amount to almost what he demanded, again on the condition that it cannot be used for a border barrier and if only he re-opened the government. Trump has been portraying Pelosi as a hostage of the radical left in the party, some of whom like Indian-American Representative Pramila Jayapal want to abolish the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency that acts against smugglers and illegal immigrants within the US. "They've become radicalised," he said Wednesday. The moderates on both sides are becoming uneasy with the prolonged shutdown. Some Democrats who won the November midterm elections from traditionally Republican constituencies that backed Trump fear being cast as radicals, while Republican moderates are worried about the public disapproval rate for Trump's handling of the crisi rising in many opinion polls. (Arul Louis can be reached at arul.l@ians.in and followed on Twitter @arulouis) --IANS al/ksk (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A lawsuit filed against Barcelona star Lionel Messi for allegedly breaking a contract agreement that sought to regularize his father's stay in Spain has been dismissed, the top regional court of Catalonia announced on Thursday. In 2004, Messi, who turned 17 that year, allegedly signed a contract in which he promised to pay a Spanish construction company a part of his yearly earnings in exchange for the construction company helping Messi's father, Jorge Messi of Argentina, reside in Spain. The case against the 31-year-old forward, who chose not to attend the trial, was dismissed since Messi was a minor in 2004, reports Efe news. The required payment was two percent of Messi's revenues between the 2009 and 2013 seasons and was set to rise to three percent in 2019-20. The judge forced the unnamed real estate entrepreneur, who brought the case against the famed Argentina forward, to cover the legal expenses. According to Spanish law, the verdict could be appealed at a court in the Catalan province of Girona within 20 days. In 2016, Lionel Messi and Jorge Messi were convicted of defrauding Spain of 4.1 million euros ($4.6 million) in taxes during the years 2007 and 2009. In July 2017, a 21-month prison sentence given to the five-time Ballon d'Or winner was substituted with a fine in which the Barcelona court imposed a penalty of 252,000 euros ($287,575) on Messi. The decision replaced each of the 630 days of imprisonment with 400 euros. Spain's Supreme Court upheld in May the 21-month prison sentence handed to Messi for three tax crimes, but reduced his father's sentence to 15 months in jail. --IANS kk/bg (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Further strengthening the strategic partnership India and South Africa share will be the focus of South African President Cyril Ramaphosa's visit to India on January 25-26 during which he will be the chief guest at the Republic Day parade, a senior official said on Thursday. Briefing the media here, T.S. Tirumurti, Secretary (Economic Relations) in the Ministry of External Affairs, said an agreement will be signed to take forward the strategic partnership signed between then Prime Minister H.D. Deva Gowda and then South African President Nelson Mandela during the latter's visit to India in 1997. "It will be a programme of action over three years for our strategic partnership," Tirumurti said. "This will be significant in the sense that it will capture all the areas where we feel we should take it forward in a time-bound manner." Tirumurti said that with India and South Africa having signed agreements on practically all areas, what both sides really needed was a road map "because in some areas we felt that we can definitely move faster. "It is going to be three-year type of programme and in each of these aspects, we are going to have specific action plans. "That is why it is going to be one agreement where we have tried to put all these thoughts together and have a comprehensive one. "I think this will be an important document that will be a catch-all document." Tirumurti said that ties in defence and security, trade and investment, development aid and capacity building were among a number of areas that were at an all time high. India and South Africa cooperate closely on maritime security in the Indian Ocean region. "South Africa is keen to attract investments and has set a target of $100 billion in the next three years," the official said. Around 150 Indian companies now operate in South Africa. Bilateral trade between India and South Africa stood at $10.7 billion in 2017-18. Ramaphosa will be accompanied by a high-level delegation during his visit, including a 50-member business team. This is the first visit to India by Ramaphosa as head of state. He is the second President of South Africa after Mandela to be the chief guest at the Republic Day celebrations. Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Ramaphosa will have a bilateral meeting and hold delegation-level talks on bilateral, regional and global issues of mutual interest on January 25. They will also address the India-South Africa Business Forum on January 25 with the objective to grow business ties between the two countries. Ramaphosa will deliver the Gandhi-Mandela Freedom Lecture organised by the Indian Council of World Affairs the same day under the IBSA (India, Brazil, South Africa) framework as part of the 15th anniversary celebrations of IBSA. --IANS ab/mr (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Beyond the realm of art -- where all that matters is the beauty of text and the originality of idea -- the world of literature is ultimately a business, and a Jaipur BookMark session here on Thursday saw some of the world's leading publishers discuss the present and future of the business of books. Session moderator Manasi Subramaniam, Senior Commissioning Editor at Penguin Random House India, opened the discussion by asking the panel of seasoned publishing experts how they view the business to which they have devoted themselves. Writer and publisher Urvashi Butalia, who opened India's first feminist publishing house Zubaan, quipped that publishing was "the love of my life". Naveen Kishore, Founder of Seagull Books, regards publishing as his "life's work, so I treat it with passion and commitment". Apart from, or perhaps due to, old cliches of the struggling artist, the romanticization of books, and the passion-led nature of the publishing industry, innovative approaches are often required to make it work as a business. Butalia said: "If you are excited to be in the presence of new thinking, new writing every day, it's hard not to love it." g Publisher and founder of the Jan Michalski Foundation, Vera Michalski-Hoffmann opined: "The book trade is in a more optimistic place than where it was a couple of years ago". The panel agreed that reports of the demise of the book have been "greatly exaggerated". Subramaniam highlighted that publishing is "not competing with other publishers" but rather it is "competing with coffee shops, Netflix, YouTube and social media". The panel acknowledged that navigating this brave new world is "a tricky affair". Michalski-Hoffmann stated: "When people complain about how expensive books are, it's still one of the cheapest ways to acquire knowledge." Kishore's approach involves "opening up many fronts to confuse the enemy. The enemy is the marketplace, which you cannot claim to know or understand". Butalia confirmed the suspicions of most writers by declaring that "many of my authors drive me up the wall", before advocating that the "hostility between authors and publishers" needs to end as they are both in the same business. Butalia also expressed her annoyance with "deeply patriarchal men" who think that women with years, if not decades, of experience in the publishing business might not be aware of subjects that they deem too technical. Kishore felt that there was "not enough community across publishing, despite the fact that it is not a cut-throat industry compared to other businesses". --IANS ss/mr (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Alex Salmond, the former First Minister of Scotland who had been under investigation over allegations of sexually harassing two women, was arrested on Thursday. Salmond, 64, a major figure in the political landscape of his country as First Minister of Scotland between 2007 and 2014 and also leader of the Scottish National Party (SNP) for two decades, was expected to appear in court later in the day, the Guardian reported. The Scottish government sent their final report to the police in August 2018 about the allegations made by the two women who had worked with him in Bute House, the First Minister's official residence in Edinburgh. "We can confirm a 64-year-old man has been arrested and charged and a report has been sent to the procurator," said a Police Scotland spokesman. Salmond stood down as First Minister and SNP leader following defeat in the November 2014 referendum on Scottish independence, which he had long championed. He was replaced by current First Minister Nicola Sturgeon. He has strongly denied involvement in any criminal actions. He sued the Scottish government over its handling of the allegations and the country's highest civil court ruled in his favour earlier this month, finding that the claims had been unlawfully handled, giving Salmond a significant legal victory, according to Efe news. The court findings revealed that one of the senior experts in the investigation, Judith MacKinnon, had been involved in giving advice and support to the two complainants before they turned their grievances into official complaints. The Scottish government said there had been a breach of its own rules as well as unlawful handling of the case that gave the appearance of bias. Despite leaving the Scottish Parliament, Salmond has remained a prominent figure in both Scottish and British politics, working as a commentator and hosting a show on Russian state broadcaster RT. --IANS soni/mr (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Online refurbished products' store Rocking Deals has tied up with technology products retailer Spice Hotspot Retail, making its way into the offline retail business. Delhi-based Rocking Deals currently sells through e-commerce majors such as Amazon India and US, Snapdeal, ShopClues, Quikr, 2GUD among other e-commerce portals. With the latest tie-up, the company is now looking to sell products worth Rs two lakh per day from each store, the company said in a statement. Commenting on the development, Yuvraj Aman Singh, Founder and CEO of Rocking Deals said: "Now, out of our 18 categories of refurbished goods, we have placed mobile accessories, computer peripherals and accessories, networking devices, wireless speakers and headphones, printers, speakers from over 12 brands at Spice Hotspot outlets." --IANS rrb/mag/vm (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Actor Riteish Deshmukh, the son of late Maharashtra Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh, has congratulated Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on her appointment as Congress General Secretary in-charge of eastern Uttar Pradesh. Riteish on Thursday shared a photograph of Priyanka and wrote that his mother is thrilled with the news about her new role. "Had the pleasure of meeting her many years ago, will always remember her for her grace and warmth. Many congratulations Priyanka Gandhiji on being appointed as the General Secretary. People across are thrilled with this news, my mother being one of them. Best wishes," the actor wrote. Congress President Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday named his sister Priyanka Gandhi the party General Secretary in-charge of eastern Uttar Pradesh. Her appointment, a gamble by Rahul Gandhi throwing her into full-fledged politics, is aimed at galvanising Congress cadres in the state, where the party has been marginalised over the years and where the BJP won a whopping 71 of the 80 seats Lok Sabha seats in 2014. --IANS dc/vm (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday met and interacted with the winners of the "Pradhan Mantri Rashtriya Bal Puraskar 2019" and said that the children are an inspiration for others. "The Prime Minister appreciated and congratulated the award winners for their achievements. He said that these awards offer an opportunity for recognition of talented children, and serve as inspiration for others like them," it said in a statement. Women and Child Development Minister Maneka Gandhi, along with the Minister of State Virendra Singh, were also present with the Prime Minister, who urged the extra-ordinarily gifted children to stay connected with the nature. "The children explained in detail their special achievements and shared their inspirational stories. Modi also shared some light and informal moments with the children who also requested him for autographs," it added. The Rashtriya Bal Puraskar awards were given away on Tuesday by President Ram Nath Kovind at Rashtrapati Bhawan. Organised by the WCD Ministry, the awards were given in two categories: Bal Shakti Puraskar to individuals, which also included Bravery awards, and Bal Kalyan Puraskar to institutions/ individuals working for children. --IANS som/nir (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The life and times in the 21st century comes down to 'convergence', or the coming together of people, ideas and markets. The literary world is no exception to this phenomenon as the lines between languages, markets and readers continue to blur, a power-packed panel of expert publishers highlighted at a Jaipur BookMark (JBM) session here on Thursday. Industry veterans discussed and deliberated upon this change and its implications, where they took on the art and business of translation. One of the first questions that comes up when literary translation is talked about is that of deciding whether a book warrants translation. Udaya Mitra, Literary Publisher at HarperCollins India, cited some of the questions he asks himself in such situations. "How will the work travel when you translate it into English? Will it have readership in English? Will it have significant readership," he asked the audience. These questions, however, don't just refer to publishing translations of bestsellers. Ravi Singh, who co-founded Speaking Tiger Books, pointed out that numbers aren't the only deciding factor. He emphasised the importance of keeping diversity in mind while curating a publishing roster, highlighting his personal mantra: "Not only a profitable list, can we build a respectable list?" The panel unanimously agreed on two other factors that go into determining whether a book calls for a translation: the quality of the original work and that of the translation. Deliberating upon what makes a good translation, Kannada writer, poet, and lyricist Jayant Kaikini said: "Translation is always safe in the hands of a poet, because a poet is always connected with the unsaid." Manasi Subramaniam of Penguin India offered a different take: "A translation can either be faithful or beautiful, never both," she said, eliciting a chuckle from the audience. From the art of translation to the business side, the panelists talked about what it would take to boost sales of translated works. Subramaniam credited the recent upsurge in the number of authors that are turning into translators as a key factor in legitimising translated works as books in their own right. This sentiment was also echoed by Kaikini, who brought the writer's perspective to the discussion. Looking beyond just fiction and poetry, boosting public-private partnerships and translating between Indian languages were among the potential solutions put forth by the industry veterans. As for how profitable is profitable enough when it comes to translations, Singh said: "I think a little profitable is enough." --IANS ss/vm (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Shortly after the Congress party announced that Priyanka Vadra would be the new general secretary of the Grand Old Party holding charge of eastern Uttar Pradesh, it put out a photograph of Indira Gandhi playing with a young Priyanka. The caption below it read: "Strong women raise strong women...#ThrowbackThursday #TBT #LikeGrandmotherLikeGranddaughter#Family#Love#womenempowerment". The Congress is not holding back on the central theme behind formally pitching Priyanka Gandhi Vadra into the hurly burly of -- that she is in the image of her grandmother and that this is about women's empowerment. Typically, this is a setting where myth and reality merge effortlessly. Overnight, despite her limited political responsibilities earlier, she has been accorded a larger-than-life persona. She would fight the might of the Bharatiya Janata Party in the part of Uttar Pradesh where it believes it is strongest: the part that comprises Prime Minister Narendra Modi's constituency, the pocket borough of state chief minister Yogi Adityanath and Ayodhya. It also merges with similar stories elsewhere, in the US for instance, where women with an Indian connection are making waves. Tulsi Gabbard and Kamala Harris have announced they will contest the US presidential elections in 2020. Like Priyanka Vadra here, these two women have made out a case for women's empowerment and are making waves while also attracting money for their campaigns. In a sense, Priyanka Vadra will be fulfilling a long-cherished wish of Congress workers and injecting new enthusiasm into the party's preparations for the coming Lok Sabha elections. Her appointment as general secretary has taken political circles by surprise and made her the reference point in for the moment. The BJP wasted little time in targeting the Congress over dynastic but some others were less caustic. The Shiv Sena said her appointment as general secretary would bring "achhe din" to the Congress. A BJP ally said her likeness to Indira Gandhi would be an advantage. She is recognised for being a natural leader -- charismatic, poised, sharp, intelligent, combative, communicative, quick-witted and one who easily connects with people. But, there is also an intensely private world which she inhabits. A mother of two, Priyanka Vadra, 47, rarely ever misses a parents-teachers meeting at The Shri Ram School in Gurgaon. Parents, who attended PTAs with her, say she is very protective of her children and a family person. She is known to be uncomfortable with the trappings of power, like the security of the Special Protection Group. When she attends school meetings, the commandos wait at the gate while she meets teachers. Her private world includes Vipassana and Buddhism. She is an ardent practitioner of Vipassana and believes it keeps her calm even as she takes part in politics. She has a Master's degree in Buddhist philosophy but her connection with Buddhism goes beyond the academic. She attends exclusive audiences with the Dalai Lama, a manifestation of her deep connection with Buddhism. In an interview to NDTV, she once described herself as "almost a recluse" and said she did not want to be in politics. "I'm very happy living my life the way I am. I think there are certain aspects of politics which I'm just not suited to," she had said. Priyanka Gandhi had also said that she sees herself more like her father, Rajiv Gandhi, than her grandmother and had expressed an abiding admiration for her Italian-born mother for the way she steered the party through difficult times. "If there's one woman I admire in the world, it's my mother," she had said. The first indications that she would take an active political role came in 2017 when she was involved in the backroom discussions to thrash out an alliance with the Samajwadi Party during the assembly polls in Uttar Pradesh. The party rank and file see her as the "brahmastra" that would bring the downfall of the BJP. In her new role, Priyanka Vadra is expected to energise the party's campaign and queer the pitch for Modi, who is the MP from Varanasi. Congress president Rahul Gandhi said she has been given the task of bringing the Congress back to power in Uttar Pradesh. Congress workers have an abiding faith in her ability to deliver at the grassroots. Posters of "Priyanka lao" have often appeared outside the Congress central office after the party's defeats over the last four-and-a-half years. Gandhi has also given her some leeway, saying that she alone will decide whether she wants to contest the Lok Sabha polls. After its debacle in 2014 Lok Sabha polls, it has lost several elections and has been all but wiped off from Uttar Pradesh where it once held sway. --IANS ps/vsc/vm/am/prs (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Priyanka Gandhi's formal debut in has re-ignited a fierce debate on political dynasties and opinion is sharply divided if family lineage is a slur or works as a spur in public life. Going by the success rate of leaders with family roots, it seems that political upbringing does help in para-drop launches of electoral careers, proving that dynasties have paradoxical existence in democracies. The newest member of the Gandhi family has walked onto the political turf carrying a legacy of five generations but no political party except perhaps the Communist bloc can claim to be dynasty-free. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, whose ordinary tea-seller image had a mojo effect in last elections, has often mocked political families. But he has not been able to get rid of what is often considered to be a menace in his own party even though ordinary backgrounds of their leaders are routinely projected as a unique selling proposition of the ruling brigade. Even a cursory look at the composition of the current Lok Sabha gives away the family roots of many politicians who are popular faces. Among the second generation leaders include newly appointed interim Finance Minister Piyush Goyal, the son of the late BJP Treasurer Ved Prakash Goyal. In fact, there are many young BJP MPs who have taken over the baton from their fathers. Anurag Thakur from Himachal Pradesh is the son of former state Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal. Poonam Mahajan, the MP from Mumbai North Central, carries forward the legacy of her late father Pramod Mahajan, who was one of the most influential Ministers in the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government. Union Minister Maneka Gandhi and her son Varun Gandhi, though extension of the Gandhi lineage, hold the BJP flag in Parliament. Minister of State for Home Kiran Rijiju is the son of Rinchin Kharu, who was the first pro-tem speak of Arunachal Pradesh. The problem in Congress is at another level. Under the umbrella Gandhi dynasty, there are several sub-families. Jyotiraditya Scindia from Madhya Pradesh is the son of late Madhavrao Scindia, Sachin Pilot is the son of late Rajesh Pilot and Sushmita Dev is the daughter of late Santosh Mohan Dev. Apart from the two principal parties, dynasty is the basic foundation of most of the regional players who run their organisations as fiefdom. The Samajwadi Party in Uttar Pradesh represents Mulayam Singh Yadav's clan. The Badals in Punjab drive Shiromani Akali Dal (Badal) and Shiv Sena is synonymous with the Thackeray family. Abdullahs are leading the National Conference while the PDP is led by the Mufti clan in Jammu and Kashmir. The late M. Karunanidhi's son M.K Stalin spearheads the DMK. Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik is the son of the legendary Biju Patnaik. The clan culture prevails across the board, covering the entire Indian political spectrum. --IANS gd/vsc/mr (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A day after she was named the Congress general secretary in-charge of eastern Uttar Pradesh, several posters cropped up in Varanasi, demanding that Priyanka Gandhi Vadra contest the upcoming Lok Sabha elections against incumbent MP and Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Overzealous workers carrying posters of Vadra strutted on the streets of Kashi, calling her the next Indira Gandhi and urging her to pay heed to their request. Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, sister of Congress president Rahul Gandhi, has been given the charge of eastern Uttar Pradesh, also known as Poorvanchal, under which Varanasi comes. While some locals here were enthused at the prospect of her accepting the candidature, others feel that this would not only be a "wasted exercise but also harakiri for the debutant Congress general secretary". Bharatiya Janata Party MP from neighbouring Bhadohi Virendra Singh Mast said had changed a lot since the heydays of the Gandhis. He said the captive mindset of the voters had changed, and that rather than dynastic politics, they were favouring development-oriented, casteless "This 'remove Modi' campaign will not yield results and we will again win in the Lok Sabha elections" he said. Senior BJP leader Vijay Sonkar, who has represented Varanasi in the past, admitted that Priyanka Gandhi as a big name that carried the "weight of the Indira Gandhi legacy." He said the maximum that Priyanka Gandhi can do is pull crowds. --IANS md/prs (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The High Court, England, on Thursday dismissed a $45 million fraud claim by the UK subsidiary of Punjab National Bank (PNB) against seven individuals and two companies based in India and the US. Zaiwalla & Co, the London-based international law firm representing eight of the defendants, argued that the bank had not made out an arguable case in deceit, that England was not the appropriate forum for the claim, that the Bank misled the court on a number of key issues, and that the Bank failed to properly effect service of the claim which was agreed to by the court. The claim made by PNB against the nine defendants concerned loans made by the bank totalling $45 million for oil re-refining and wind energy generating projects in the US. The Bank had claimed that it had been misled and defrauded by the actions of the defendants following the grant of loans amounting to $45 million to companies in the US and India controlled by the individual defendants. It also alleged that money had been siphoned off and payments due had not been made under the loan facilities and guarantees. The eight defendants were Ravi Srinivasan, Trishe Resources INC (USA), Vathsala Ranganathan, Pesco Beam Environmental Solutions INC (USA), Pesco Beam Environmental Solutions Pvt Ltd, Anantharaman Shankar, Luke Staengl and Anantharam Subramamium. All the individual defendants (some of whom have guaranteed loans) are resident in India with the exception of the 8th defendant who is resident in the US. The bank had lent the money from England and operated the loan accounts from London. The bank, at an ex-parte hearing, obtained permission to serve the proceedings commenced before the English Court and served the proceedings by email on various defendants in India and the US. In his judgment, Chief Master Marsh commented that "the core components of a claim in deceit are absent" and that "the claims in deceit and misrepresentation do not demonstrate a serious issue to be tried". "The failure to draw to the attention of the court the existence of the foreign claims was a serious breach of the claimant's duty to the court. The proceedings were highly material to the exercise of the court's jurisdiction to give permission to serve out of the jurisdiction" and that "the failures are such that the court should set those orders aside. I do not consider they are failure which can be overlooked," Chief Master Marsh observed. The court criticized the bank's lawyers for serving substantial amended proceedings which were not approved by the court. The court decided that the bank has not been able to demonstrate that the English Court is the most appropriate forum for the claims by stating that that there was no good reason why these defendants should be sued in England as well as the US and India. Reacting to the judgment, Zaiwalla & Co, which represented eight of the nine defendants, commented "The matter raises serious questions about the way bank's claim has been put before the court and served. English Civil Procedure Rules are very strict in practice. "It is very important that attention is paid and care is taken when claims are prepared to ensure that the rules are fully complied with. The decision serves as a reminder that serious allegations of fraud have to be supported by cogent facts and evidence: speculative claims will not be permitted to proceed to trial. the decision of the court has saved everyone concerned a great deal of time and money by being dismissed at an early stage, although the bank will still face claims for substantial costs as well as having to pay its own costs." --IANS qn/vsc/mr (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and opposition leader Tejashwi Yadav on Thursday raised the reservation issue in a different way to mark the birth anniversary of veteran socialist leader and former chief minister Karpoori Thakur. Nitish Kumar reiterated his demand for a caste-based census in 2021 and supported reservation in government jobs and educational institutions according to caste population. "Caste-based census is necessary to know the real population of various castes, particularly OBCs and Dalits. Such a census would also help in providing proportionate reservation in government jobs and educational institutions," said Nitish Kumar at a function of his party JD-U in the presence of senior BJP leader and Deputy Chief Minister Sushil Kumar Modi. Nitish Kumar said last such census was conducted in 1931. On the other hand, RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav warned that reservation for Dalits and OBCs was in danger of being eliminated. He said the RSS-controlled BJP-led Central government is hellbent on diluting and, even ending, the quota system. "RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat had during 2015 Bihar assembly polls suggested a review of reservation provisions on economic criteria. After that RJD chief Lalu Prasad had challenged him to keep his hands off reservation. Now RSS and BJP are busy with their own agenda," said Tejashwi in his address at an RJD function in the state capital. Some leaders from JD-U and RJD repeated their demand for Bharat Ratna, the country's highest civilian award, for Karpoori Thakur. Popularly known as 'Jan Nayak' (people's leader), Thakur was one of the socialist leaders close to Jayaprakash Narayan who spearheaded the movement for 'total revolution' as well as protests against the Emergency (1975-77). Belonging to the extremely backward castes (EBC), he emerged as an important icon for consolidating EBC votes in caste-ridden Bihar. The EBCs are a cluster of over 100 castes accounting for around 32 per cent of the electorate. Regarded as an honest and hard working leader, Karpoori Thakur was Bihar's chief minister from December 1970 to June 1971 and from December 1977 to April 1979. Thakur passed away in 1988. --IANS ik/prs (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Thursday said it has arrested one of the men involved in the 2006 Kerala twin blaste from the airport here. Mohammad Ashar, who had since been absconding, was arrested on Wednesday from the Indira Gandhi International (IGI) Airport here after he arrived from Saudi Arabia, an NIA spokesperson told IANS. Ashar had escaped to the Middle East nation in 2007. He would be produced later in the day before an NIA Special Court in the national capital to obtain a transit remand to take him to Kochi for his production before the Special Court in Ernakulam. The twin blasts near the Kerala State Road Transport Corporation and Mofussil bus stands had rocked Kozhikode on March 3, 2006, and left two persons injured and a few properties damaged. The counter-terror agency had taken over the case from the Kerala Police in 2009 and filed the charge-sheet against eight accused in August 2010 under several sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), Arms Act and Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act. The NIA official said that thier probe revealed that besides Ashar, another absconder P.P. Yusuf, was involved in the conspiracy hatched by prime accused T. Naseer and others to carry out the IED blasts after bail was denied to the accused involved in the Marad communal riots of 2003 in Kozhikode district. Ashar and Yusuf had assisted Naseer in preparing the Improvised Explosive Devices and planting them. --IANS aks/in/vm (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) US streaming giant Netflix Inc. said on Thursday that it aims to create more original content targeting global audiences regardless of their nationality or language. Netflix, which started as a video rental firm in 1997, currently has over 189 million paid memberships in over 190 countries enjoying both original and licensed TV series, documentaries and feature films across a wide variety of genres and languages, Yonhap news agency reported. "We spent $8 billion last year to create original content," Andy Law, director of product design, told the media here, adding that Netflix is committed to providing more original shows. He did not disclose the budget allocated for this endeavour. Netflix said it will produce more programs in languages other than English as part of efforts to fund high-quality foreign-language content and provide them to audiences around the world. "We want to create content that can be intuitionally understood by the global audience, beyond language barriers," Kim Min-young, a Netflix representative, said. "Kingdom", Netflix's first original Korean drama, to be streamed from Friday, will have subtitles in 27 languages and be dubbed into 12 languages, with more to be added. The six-episode zombie mystery thriller is set in the era of Korea's last Joseon (1392-1897) dynasty, and has been written by famed Korean screenwriter Kim Eun-hee, the author of the popular 2016 TV series "Signal". "Netflix's content crosses borders, showing our positive side," Kim said, citing other licensed foreign-language programs such as "Elite" from Spain and the British series "Bodyguard". Kim said storytelling is important to reach global a audiences and that Netflix plans to create more quality local content on the back of "hallyu" or the Korean Wave. Netflix earlier announced that its international streaming revenues exceeded domestic streaming revenues for the first time last year. "Sixty per cent (of our membership) is from outside of the US," said Nigel Baptiste, director of partner engagement at Netflix, adding that Asia, and South Korea in particular, is a very important market. He also said that the company is currently engaged in various partnerships, working with tech giants such as Samsung Electronics Co. to improve technology and convenience. A Netflix button is available on smart TVs to improve accessibility for consumers so they can quickly find their favourite shows. Andy Law said Netflix will continue ramping up various efforts to reach its audience through so-called "deep personalisation". --IANS ksc/ksk/vm (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A Navy team on Thursday pulled out a body from a 370-ft deep flooded coal mine in Meghalaya's East Jaintia Hills district where no official is willing to confirm the fate of the remaining 14 miners, trappped since December 13. A 15-member Naval team from Visakhapatnam will continue to search for the remaining 14 miners trapped inside the "rat-hole" coal mine with the help of the underwater remotely operated vehicle (UROV), a senior rescue official said. The highly decomposed body of an unidentified miner was pulled to the water surface by an UROV and then taken out by a bucket crane. The body was retrieved 42 days after the miners were trapped inside the mines which are on the lateral side of the 370-ft main shaft. Soon after the body was brought to the top, a magistrate conducted an inquest and medical official conducted the autopsy at the spot in the presence of Deputy Commissioner F.M. Dopth and District Health and Medical Officer, Dr. Mitul Sangma, Rescue Operation spokesperson Reginald Susngi said. He said the body is now preserved in the Community Health Centre at Khliehriat, the district headquarters of East JaiAtia Hills. Khloo Ryngksan, known as Ksan village, is about 130 km from Meghalaya's capital Shillong. With none of the relatives of the trapped miners being present at the tragedy site, Additional Chief Secretary Peter Ingty said he has instructed Deputy Commissioner Dopth to inform the families of the miners about the recovery of the body so that they can come and identify the remains. "The search operation for the other 14 trapped miners will continue and the Navy have lowered their UROV to locate them (miners)," Ingty told IANS. The families of the trapped miners had said they want the "dead bodies" of the miners to be taken out as per the Supreme Court order. The apex court, monitoring the rescue operations, has directed the government that the trapped miners have to be taken out of the coal mine "dead or alive". Chief Minister Conrad Sangma said there were no immediate plans to call off the rescue operations. Meghalaya police have arrested the owner of the mine owner, identified as Jrin Chullet alias Krip Chullet, on December 14. Sylvester Nongtnger, the district police chief, told IANS said the police have launched a manhunt to arrest Mohesh and James Sukhlain who are the managers of the mine. Nongtnger said Sukhlain facilitates mine operations, while Mohesh is the person responsible for bringing labourers from Garo Hills and Assam. The police have registered cases against the mine owner. --IANS rrk/prs (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Second seed Rafael Nadal demolished Greek youngster Stefanos Tsitsipas in straight sets on Thursday to advance to the Australian Open final. This is the fifth time Nadal has reached the final of the first Grand Slam of the year, after his victory in 2009 and his losing appearances in 2012, 2014 and 2017, reports Efe news. The 20-year-old Greek player tested Nadal in the opening games of the first set as he continued with the form that saw him secure stunning victories over Switzerland's third seed Roger Federer and Spain's Roberto Bautista in the Round of 16 and quarterfinal respectively. Nadal managed to break the Greek's serve soon after that promising opening and soon imposed his will on proceedings. Tsitsipas never looked likely to add another upset to his impressive results over the past fortnight in Melbourne. Both players had to contend with the searing heat at Melbourne Park on Thursday with temperatures rising to 39 degrees during the first half of the match. The Spaniard moves on to the final without having dropped a set in any of his previous matches at the tournament so far. "That week in Brisbane of practice worked very well for me, then I arrived here and had another good week of work and then since the tournament started I felt really, really well so just can say thank you very much everybody for the support. Thanks to my team for being there all the time," Nadal said on court after the match. Nadal will face the winner of the other semi-final between world No. 1 Novak Djokovic and France's 28th seed Lucas Pouille. Djokovic had defeated Nadal in the 2012 Australian Open final in a match lasting 5 hours 53 minutes, the longest Grand Slam final in history. --IANS kk/mr (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Davos, Jan 24 (IANS/AKI) Italy and Brazil share "many convergences", populist premier Giuseppe Conte said on Wednesday after meeting Brazil's new far-right president Jair Bolsonaro at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. "It was a pleasure to meet Jair Bolsonaro here in Davos. I thanked him again for the help in the Battisti case," Conte tweeted. Former far-left militant and convicted murderer Cesare Battisti was extradited to Italy last week and taken to jail. He went to live in Brazil over a decade ago after he escaped from prison in Italy and fled to France in 1981. "We discussed various topics and there were many convergences between our two countries, especially in the economic and judicial areas," Conte's tweet went on. "See you again soon president," added the tweet which included a photo of Conte and Bolsanaro's meeting. --IANS/AKI vc (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) In the wake of around 25,000 cases of irregularities surfacing in Madhya Pradesh's "Jai Kisan Fasal Rinn Mafi Yojana" (loan waiver scheme for farmers), the government on Thursday decided to take strict action against those who have taken money in the name of farmers by forging documents. The government has also annouced to set up control rooms in the areas concerned for faster action in the matter. A loan waiver scheme for the farmers is being run by the Congress government under which growers are entitled to get relief of up to Rs 2 lakh each on their debts. The irregularities came to fore after different panchayats put up the list of beneficiaries. Many farmers from Umaria, Shahdol, Agar-Malwa and other places have complained that they have been named as debtors in the list of beneficiaries even though they did not take any loan. A farmer, Mukundi, 65, of Sagar district died due to heart attack after he came to know that Rs 5-lakh loan had been showed against his name and that he would have to repay a loan he never took. Similar irregularities have also been reported from some other districts, forcing the government to take steps for a swift action. State Co-operative Minister Dr. Govind Singh has already issued an order for probe into the matters related to loan forgery. The Department of Farmer Welfare and Agriculture was the next to spring in action. "Applications have been invited from the farmers who have not taken loan but have been listed under the 'Jai Kisan Fasal Rinn Mafi Yojana' as loanee," the department said in a statement here on Thursday. "A list will be prepared after February 5 and people who have taken loan in farmers' names will have to face probe. Culprits will also face penal action for the crime," the statement added. The government is getting filled up three types of forms -- green, white and pink -- under the scheme. Those who have Aadhaar card would fill the green form; someone not having Aadhaar but is a certified farmer would fill the white form; while those who don't fall in either category would be filling the pink form. Once the form-filling process is over, a list would be issued to check acceptance and objections by the farmers. Thereafter, eligible farmers will get loan waiver and the corrupts will have to face legal action, said an official. -- IANS Hindi-rs/nir (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Film: "Manikarnika: The Queen of Jhansi"; Directors: Kangana Ranaut and Radha Krishna Jagarlamudi; Cast: Kangana Ranaut, Ankita Lokhande, Atul Kulkarni, Danny Denzonpa, Suresh Oberoi, Jishu Sengupta, Vikram Kochhar, Prajakta Mali, Mohammed Zeeshan Ayub, Kulbushan Kharbanda; Rating: **1/2 Here is an opportunity for those who have not heard of the legendary Rani Laxmibai, the warrior queen of Jhansi, who gallantly battled against the British with her infant son tied to her back during the Indian revolution. With a tale spanning from 1828 to 1858, the film, "Manikarnika: The Queen of Jhansi" gives you a fair picture about her life and times. It tells us how Manikarnika born in Varanasi, marries Raja Gangadhar Rao Newalkar of Jhansi and is named Laxmibai in honour of the goddess Lakshmi and according to the traditions. The gloomy turn of events is perfunctorily handled and while the film captures the piece of history, the disclaimer at the very beginning of this period drama clearly lays the foundation for its faltering reproduction. Actress Kangana Ranaut who has helmed this film along with Krish Jagarlamudi, plays the eponymous role with all sincerity. Her craft-fuelled intoxication is both naive and endearing. She breathes life into the feisty Manikarnika, but, just like the eye lashes she flaunts in the film, there is something innately false in the story telling; the writing and direction. The scenes crafted like a tableau are slow paced with over dramatic gestures. The visuals with low angle shots, focus more on the grandeur of the palaces and poise of the actors and thus the film fails to hook you emotionally. Prasoon Joshi's dialogues have a few gems strewn sporadically. The patriotic fervour it whips to such an extreme outcome in the end, that you inevitably start raising your eyebrows at the contrived narrative. Supporting Kangana in her endeavour are; Kulbushan Karbanda as the chief advisor of Jhansi, Jishu Sengupta as Maharajah Gangadhar Rao, Atul Kulkarni as Manikarna's ally Tatya Tope, Suresh Oberoi as Peshwa Baji Rao II, Mohammed Zeeshan Ayub as Raja Gangadhar Rao's cousin Sadashiv, Ankita Lokhande and Prajakta Mali as Jhalkari Bai and Kashi Bai citizens of Jhansi. On the acting front, every actor appears sincere, but none stand out for their performance. Visually the film is a treat. The war scenes with astutely choreographed action sequences are imposing. Mounted on a magnificent scale of an epic with excellent production values, the elaborate production designs of the sets along with the costumes are impressive. They are painstakingly captured by Cinematographer Kiran Deohans' lens. The VFX and the live action sequences are seamlessly layered by Film Editor Rameshwar S. Bhagat. Overall, this film is awe inspiring due to its grandeur but fails to touch the emotional chord in your heart. --IANS troy/vc (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Sabarimala controversy was fanned by the Left to cut the Congress pparty's Hindu votes so that they can reap the political benefits, Congress MP Shashi Tharoor said on Thursday. While the Supreme Court had given many major decisions earlier too, no government had shown such eagerness to implement them, he said, referring to the apex court ruling of September permitting women of all ages to enter the famed shrine. However, on this issue, the Kerala government showed promptness in implementing the court order, Tharoor told a literary session here. He said: "Religion is an unconventional thing which deals with fundamental doubts, fears, hopes and faith. It is susceptible to reasoning and debate. There were over 100 religious places with gender inequality but they never became an issue. In Kanyakumari temple, there was a sanctum sanctorum where men are not allowed. Many Catholic Churches don't appoint women priests, he said. Also, in many Sunni mosques, women were not allowed to pray with men, he added. But the Sabarimala court order was picked up by the Left to create an issue, he said. Tharoor accused the Communists of provoking the Sangh Parivar, which was opposed to the apex court ruling on Sabarimala. --IANS arc/mr (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) North Korean top leader Kim Jong-un has expressed "great satisfaction" after receiving a letter from US President Donald Trump that expressed his "unusual determination and will" towards a second summit between the two, the North's state media said. His comments came after he met with one of his top aides who went to Washington last week, the BBC quoted the KCNA as saying on Thursday. "Kim Jong-un said that we will believe in President Trump's positive way of thinking, wait with patience and in good faith and, together with the US, advance step by step toward the goal to be reached by the two countries," North Korean state run news agency KCNA said. The report also said Kim "spoke highly of President Trump for expressing his unusual determination and will" towards a second US-North Korea summit. The conciliatory tone comes after the North Korean leader in his New Year speech warned his country might change course if the US continued its sanctions. The two sides have been planning the second summit by the end of February, according to the White House. No venue has been announced for the new talks but observers say Vietnam could be a potential location, the BBC reported. Kim also visited China for talks with President Xi Jinping, as he did before the Singapore summit, while his top negotiator Kim Yong-chol met Trump at the White House. Last year's rapprochement and the Singapore summit came after a turbulent 2017 marked by North Korea testing missiles that could reach the US mainland and an escalation in rhetoric with both sides trading insults and threats of nuclear destruction. The first summit ended with a general agreement towards denuclearisation but little has been achieved since. US sanctions remain in place and the North has not provided a detailed account of its nuclear facilities. --IANS in (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) To be a premier investment destination, the Karnataka government began identifying farmlands in rural areas to set up industrial units, Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy said on Thursday. "To make Karnataka a premier investment destination, our government has begun the process of identifying large acres of farmlands in rural areas to set up industrial units," Kumaraswamy said at a trade event here. Unveiling the Indian machine tool manufacturers expo (Imtex) at the Bengaluru International Exhibition Centre, the Chief Minister said his government would soon set up an integrated facility for machine tool industry to create an ecosystem and make it competitive. "As a joint initiative of the state and central governments, the Tumakuru Machine Tool Park will be set up in about 500 acres of land at Vasantha Narasapura industrial area in the district," Kumaraswamy told the gathering. Tumakuru is about 70 km northwest of Bengaluru. For ease of doing business, the government has initiated a host of new programmes and events like Imtex and Tooltex to hasten industry-led growth. "Our state's technology engagement has attracted investments from the across the country and abroad, making Karnataka a favourite for investing in disruptive technologies like Artificial Intelligence, Automation, Data Analytics, Machine Learning, 3D Printing and Robatics," said Kumaraswamy. As a pioneer in industrial development, Karnataka has been following a new industrial policy since 2014 for enabling the manufacturing sector grow at 12 per cent and attract Rs 5 lakh crore investments and create 15-lakh jobs. "Karnataka has recently been ranked by the central government as one among the country's top three states for highest employment generation," said Kumaraswamy. The eight-month-old Janata Dal-Secular-Congress coalition government has also identified nine districts across the state to set up industrial clusters for fostering innovation and product diversification. "We have identified Ballari, Bidar, Chikkaballapura, Chitradurga, Hassan, Kalaburgi, Kolar, Koppal and Mysuru for the clusters. We intend to expand our state network to tap the huge talent available in tier-2 and tier-3 cities," said Kumaraswamy. Industries Minister K.J. George, Revenue Minister R.V. Despande, Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) Vice President Vikram Kirloskar and leading industrialist Jamshyd N. Goderej were present on the occasion. Leading Indian and overseas machine tool makers are showcasing their technologies and products at the 5-day expo-cum-summit. --IANS fb/rs/mr (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Jaipur Literature Festival entered its 12th edition with its characteristic fervour, with the loud beating of drums and rhythms of traditional Rajasthani musical instruments reverberating in the premises of Diggi Palace here on Thursday while the Rajasthan Police beefed up security to avoid any untoward incident. Personnel have been deployed both inside and outside the festival venue and all visitors are required to pass through metal detectors, followed by physical frisking. Over 40 CCTV cameras have also been put in place to keep a close vigil on the premises. Early risers flocked to grab seats at the Front Lawn and catch their favourite speakers and musicians who have gathered here from all quarters of the world. Having braved the chilly Jaipur morning, they were welcomed by the melodious voice of Shruthi Vishwanath. The Pune-based musician and composer, who has a background in the Carnatic and Hindustani traditions of music, was accompanied by musicians Yuji Nakagawa on the sarangi and Shruteendra Katagadeon the tabla. Vishwanath had the attention of the audience with her very first note. She opened with a musical rendition of the verses of 17th century spiritual poet Tukaram. Vishwanath continued to sing songs and devotional poetry in four languages, ranging from Brajbhasha to Tamil and Marathi to Bengali. Exploring the intersection of folk and classical, she mesmerised the listeners with recitals of the works of Kabir and other mystic poets. To mark the end of a stellar performance, she sang "Vaishnava Jana To". Several thousand book lovers descended on the venue for the inauguration function in which festival producer Sanjoy Roy, co-director Namita Gokhale and with Rajasthan Minister for Art and Culture B.D. Kalla, shared their thoughts. "Each year, we gather here to celebrate, talk, debate, discus, and most importantly create a space for dissent. There is very little space for those who have a dissenting point of view in today's world," Roy said, before highlighting the role writers have played over centuries in guiding mankind. He also recalled that the festival began on a humble note with just about 170 visitors in the first edition and has now grown immensely, welcoming over 500,000 book lovers every year. "In the hurly burly of our everyday life, we forget what the arts represent. There is a world beyond the usual canvas and it is through arts and literature that we are able to understand 'the other'", he said. Noted Indian writer Gokhale, who is largely responsible for the representation of writers from the Indian languages, began her speech in Hindi and invoked Hindu god Shiva. "Satyam Shivam Sundaram," Gokhale said, represents the true essence of this festival, describing the annual gathering as the Maha Kumbh of literature that brings together a diverse, multilingual and inclusive community of writers every year to the Pink City. "We are each other's stories. The human race has progressed through our shared knowledge," she noted. Gokhale also read out a message from her counterpart and noted writer-historian William Dalrymple, who is not attending the 2019 edition of the festival following the death of his father, in which she highlighted that writers from Egypt to Mexico and from New Zealand to Zimbabwe have gathered here. Kalla said that the festival has transformed the cultural landscape of the state, and highlighted that more and more writers, many of them very young, have been inspired by the festival. The five-day annual event is often described as "the greatest literary show on earth". The festival officially kicked-off with an inaugural address by Nobel Prize winner Venki Ramakrishnan, in which he talked about the role of science in the contemporary world. Science and mathematics are as much a triumph of human achievement and part of our culture as history, literature, art and music, and therefore all of us should enjoy them, he said. The inauguration is followed by over 350 sessions over the next five days, on themes ranging from current socio-political scenario to history, mythology and science. The Jaipur Literature Festival is produced by Teamwork Arts, with Roy as the producer and writers Gokhale and Dalrymple as its co-directors. --IANS ss/vm (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Opposition parties have agreed to form a 'grand alliance' against the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party in Jharkhand, but seat-sharing seems to be a tricky task given the backdrop of talks among anti-BJP parties in recent days, political observers said. Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) Executive President and former Chief Minister Hemant Soren had called a meeting of opposition parties on January 17 which was attended by the Congress, Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), Left parties, Jharkhand Vikas Morcha-Prajatantrik (JVM-P) and others. The meeting decided that each party would consult its leaders about the choice of seats for the upcoming Lok Sabha polls and that the list will be finalised by January 30. On Thursday, a senior Congress leader told IANS on condition of anonymity that three of the demands of the JMM are not easy to accept. "The demands include declaring Hemant Soren as the leader of opposition parties for the Assembly polls. Second, JMM wants to fight on 40 of the 81 Assembly seats and third, finalise the Lok Sabha and Assembly seats simultaneously. For any political party these demands are not easy to accept." The Congress wants Assembly seats to be decided after the Lok Sabha polls in May, considering the performance of the parties in the state Assembly polls slated for November. The Congress leader revealed that the party is in favour of cementing alliance with a BJP partner, All Jharkhand Students Union (AJSU). Central and state Congress leaders are in touch over the alliance issue. The party is mulling forming an alliance with JVM-P, AJSU and RJD, but the AJSU has said it will fight the Assembly polls alone. The state Congress is enthused by the Kolibera Assembly bypoll outcome in which the party won despite JMM supporting another candidate. "The AJSU will be comfortable with Congress and minus JMM opposition alliance," said the Congress leader. On some Assembly seats, JMM and AJSU are in direct confrontation. Congress sources said the party wants to fight on eight of the 14 Lok Sabha seats. The JMM wants to fight on at least six Lok Sabha seats, RJD on two, JVM-P on two and left parties on two. There are some seats where there is contention between parties, like, both the JMM and the Congress have claimed Chaibasa seat and JVM-P and Congress have claimed the Godda Lok Sabha seat. "The alliance talks are in progress. The seat-sharing issue will be finalised by central Congress leaders in Delhi. The party's agenda is the people's welfare and it wants the BJP government to go," Kishore Sahdeo, Jharkhand Congress General Secretary, told IANS. The JMM leaders have said that seat sharing will not come in the way of the alliance. --IANS ns/mag/prs (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Japan has agreed to provide loans to construct Bangladesh's first underground railroad, the media reported on Thursday. A stretch of the 26.6 km rail line will be constructed in Dhaka in two phases under the Mass Rapid Transit (MRT-1) project, said Project Director Md Saidul Haque, adding the design was being prepared. "Japan has agreed to finance the project," he told bdnews24. Bangladesh is likely to finalise the 40th loan package with the Japan International Cooperation Agency in June, said Shahidul Islam, Additional Secretary of the Economic Relations Division. According to the contract, Bangladesh will get $2.5 billion, which will be spent on five projects including the MRT-1. This financial assistance of Japan will be more than what it gave in previous fiscal years. The first part of the MRT-1 project will be the airport route and it will be 16.4 km-long. The second part of will cover 10.2 km. --IANS ksk/mr (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Tripura Chief Minister Biplab Kumar Deb said on Thursday that Indian and Bangladesh officials will finalise various aspects of a proposed waterway between the two countries. "Union Shipping Ministry officials have informed that senior authorities from both the countries, including from the Inland Waterways Authority of India (IWAI), will visit Tripura on January 28-29. The officials would finalise different issues of the proposed waterway between the two countries involving Tripura," Deb told IANS. He said that construction works to develop the 35 km waterway between Tripura's Gomati river and Meghna river in Bangladesh is slated to begin next month. "The project works were delayed due to the parliamentary elections in Bangladesh," said Deb. "After the development of the new waterway, movement of vessels and cruises would be possible to ferry people and goods. It would promote trade, tourism and people to people contact." A four-member IWAI team visited Tripura's Sonamura last month to select the site for a terminal building (jetty). The famous Akhaura canal, built by the erstwhile kings of the princely Tripura, was earlier used to ferry goods to-and-from Bangladesh by boats and small vessels. "After the partition of India, the transportation through the Akhaura canal was stopped," Salil Debbarma, a veteran writer, told IANS. The Indian Oil Corporation in 2016 had ferried diesel and cooking gas to Tripura from Assam via Bangladesh. The Food Corporation of India (FCI) had transported 23,000 tonnes of rice in three phases since 2014 from Kolkata to Tripura via Bangladesh using Dhaka's Ashuganj River Port, which is about 50 km from Tripura. In 2012, Bangladesh had allowed state-owned Oil and Natural Gas Corporation to ferry heavy machinery, turbines and over-dimensional cargoes through Ashuganj port for the 726 MW Palatana Mega Power Project in southern Tripura. According to the Union Shipping Ministry, out of the 111 National Waterways, 20 are in land-locked northeastern region, mostly in Assam. There are 54 rivers flowing between India and Bangladesh. --IANS sc/ksk/vm (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Tired of seeing black flags during functions and public rallies, the BJP in Assam has decided to hoist white flags on the venue the very next day wherever and whenever the party leaders were shown black flags by people agitating against Citizenship (Amendment) Bill 2016. Assam Finance minister and convener of the BJP-led North East Democratic Alliance (NEDA) said this on Thursday while addressing a meeting of the BJP workers at the Sarusojai stadium in Guwahati. "Wherever the agitators show black flags to our party leaders, our members should hoist white flags 100 times more than those black flags at the same venue the next day," said Sarma while appealing to party workers to be courageous enough to support the Bill openly. He also termed the move to show black flags to BJP leaders as a gimmick to attract media attention. "I was told that they (agitators) do not show black flags. These agitators wait till the arrival of media persons and run with the black flags to grab media attention," said Sarma. "Do not fear anyone. Tell everyone openly that Our Prime Minister Narendra Modi has brought the Bill and that you support the Bill," said Sarma, adding Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal and each BJP worker will turn into a Maha Nayak (super hero) if the Bill is implemented in the state. Dozens of organizations and individuals have been opposing the contentious Bill ever since it was passed by the Lok Sabha on January 8. While there have been protests on the streets across the state in last few days, some organizations, including the Krishak Mukti Sangram Samiti (KMSS), have also started showing black flags to BJP leaders wherever they go in the state. --IANS ah/prs (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Co-working space provider iKeva on Thursday announced that it has raised an undisclosed amount from Meenakshi Group to set up 15 new centres in the next 12 months and strengthen its robust back-end processes and technology. Monika Misra, Co-founder and General Manager, iKeva, said the fresh infusion of funds would help them speed up business expansion this year and foray into new fast growing cities. iKeva has eight centres across five major metro cities - Bengaluru, Chennai, Gurgaon, Hyderabad and Mumbai. Two new centres are set to open in Hyderabad in the next three months, according to a statement by the company. According to CBRE, the co-working/shared office industry in India has shown a yearly growth of 23 per cent since 2013. By 2025, 40 per cent of the overall workforce is predicted to work from co-working spaces. iKeva's revenues recorded an increase of 40 per cent in the last fiscal and the target is to double this growth. "As a strategic investor, iKeva's business model and the sustained growth achieved over the years, combined with a focus to tap into lucrative millennial-driven sharing economy hold great promise," said Mahesh Katragadda, Director of Meenakshi Group. Meenakshi Group is one of India's leading IT Park developers and has an impressive presence in real estate, power, highway projects and property management verticals. Its real estate portfolio includes over 12 million square feet delivered space, about 6 million sq ft under delivery and another 6 million in the pipeline. Meenakshi Group has a venture funding initiative with $10 million commitment meant to encourage new-age enterprises, innovative processes, and promising businesses. iKeva's co-working spaces range from 10,000-15,000 sq ft, and offer a bevy of services and amenities including flexible fully furnished workspaces, high- speed internet, professional team, reprographics and high end IT. --IANS ms/oeb/mr (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Filmmaker Meghna Gulzar, daughter of renowned lyricist and poet Gulzar and actress Rakhee, says she is a gender neutral person. "I am a very gender neutral person. I don't see things with the lens of genders," Meghna said here at a press conference on Thursday on the sidelines of the Jaipur Literature Festival. Her advice for upcoming directors -- male or female -- is to remain prepared for rejection, have a stomach for failure and to work hard and stay true to your heart. When asked if there are any rules to success in Bollywood, the "Raazi" director said: "There are no rules in the Indian film industry as to when you can get success. While some people get lucky in the first year, some get lucky in 15 years, like me," she said, adding that this is the beauty and danger of the film industry. One can rise from anonymity to super stardom in some time and vice-versa. --IANS arc/rb/vm (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The high-level Selection Committee meeting at the residence of Prime MInister Narendra Modi to choose a new CBI Director to replace ousted chief Alok Verma remained inconclusive on Thursday. Modi, Supreme Court Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi and leader of the largest opposition party in the Lok Sabha, Congress's Mallikarjun Kharge attended the meeting in which the names of 60-70 candidates were discussed. "The meeting was inconclusive. We have asked for the details relating to seniority and batch of all the candidates in a combined list. The Prime MInister will convene the next meeting in a week to take a final decision," Kharge told reporters. Sources said that in Thursday's meeting only the date of appointment and retirement of the officers was mentioned. The meeting comes days after the high-level committee removed Verma as CBI chief by making him the Director General, Fire Services, Civil Services and Home Guard which he refused to accept. The last meeting of the Committee was attended by Modi, CJI nominated Justice A.K. Sikri and Kharge. A day after the high-level meeting, Verma resigned from the government job. Verma and Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) Special Director Rakesh Asthana were sent on forced leave on October 23 after their fight became public. Both the officials had levelled allegations and counter allegations of bribery against each other. --IANS rak-aks/vsc/bg (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Carlos Ghosn, the ousted Nissan Motor chairman who is currently in a Tokyo jail for alleged financial misconduct, on Thursday resigned as President and CEO of Renault, hours before the company was slated to dismiss him. Ghosn's resignation announcement was made by the French Minister of Economy and Finance Bruno Le Maire, who is currently at the World Economic Forum in Davos, cabinet sources told Efe news. Le Maire confirmed the resignation - which was expected since early this week - shortly before the Renault Board of Directors held a meeting at its headquarters on the outskirts of Paris to decide on the new team. The first challenge of the new Renault team will be to restore confidence with Nissan owing to the crisis generated by Ghosn's arrest in Tokyo on November 19 which has highlighted the friction in the alliance that also includes Mitsubishi. Nissan is in a difficult situation because Renault holds a 43 per cent stake in it but the Japanese company only owns 15 per cent of the French company's stock with no voting rights. Discontent in the alliance was further exacerbated by the fact that the main shareholder of Renault is the French government which has 15.01 per cent of the shares and 22 per cent of the voting rights. --IANS ksk/mr (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Former Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh Babulal Gaur on Thursday disclosed that he has received an offer from the Congress to contest the upcoming Lok Sabha election as its candidate. Speaking to the media, Gaur said senior Congress leader Digvijaya Singh had joined him on dinner on Wednesday at his residence. During the meet, Singh offered him to contest the Lok Sabha election from Bhopal constituency on a Congress ticket. "On Singh's offer (for Congress ticket), I replied I have no such intention for now," said Gaur, adding that Singh then asked him to think over the proposal. It may be noted that before the Assembly elections, many leaders of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) had headed to other parties or contested the polls as Independent candidates after their own party refused to give them ticket. Now that the party is out of power, once again the Congress is approaching some BJP leaders, especially the rebels. --IANS Hindi-rs/nir (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) US President Donald Trump's former lawyer Michael Cohen said that he was postponing his public congressional testimony scheduled for next month, citing "ongoing threats against his family" from the President and his attorney Rudy Giuliani. "Due to ongoing threats against his family from President Trump and Giuliani, as recently as this weekend, as well as Cohen's continued cooperation with ongoing investigations, by advice of counsel, Cohen's appearance will be postponed to a later date," CNN quoted Cohen's attorney Lanny Davis as saying on Wednesday. "Cohen wishes to thank Chairman Cummings for allowing him to appear before the House Oversight Committee and looks forward to testifying at the appropriate time. "This is a time where Cohen had to put his family and their safety first," Davis added. Earlier this month, Cohen had agreed to testify before the House Oversight Committee as a "commitment to cooperate and provide the American people with answers". A source told CNN on Wednesday that Cohen's wife and father-in-law feel threatened by comments by the President and Giuliani. It has been Cohen's intention to testify, but he has had reservations - and vacillated - because of concerns for his family given the Trump and Giuliani statements, the source said. Cohen's decision raises questions about whether he will ultimately testify publicly. He reports to prison for a three-year sentence on March 6. Asked on Wednesday about Cohen citing the threats, Trump said: "Well I would say he's been threatened by the truth. He's only been threatened by the truth." After Cohen's public testimony was announced on January 10, the President attacked him in a Fox News interview, suggesting without evidence that he was aware of damaging information about Cohen's family. Then on Twitter, the President added: "Lying to reduce his jail time! Watch father-in-law!" G iuliani appeared on news shows over the weekend where he called Cohen "a serial liar". --IANS ksk (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) In a breakthrough, Chinese researchers have cloned five monkeys from a gene-edited macaque that had circadian rhythm disorders associated with depression, diabetic, cancer and Alzheimer's disease. It is the first time multiple monkeys have been cloned from a gene-edited monkey for biomedical research, Xinhua news agency reported on Thursday. The cloned monkeys, closer to humans in terms of activity routines, brain structure and metabolic rate, make better models for research on disease pathogenesis and potential therapeutic treatments, said the team from Institute of Neuroscience of Chinese Academy of Sciences in Shanghai. To create an ideal donor monkey, the researchers knocked out BMAL1, a core circadian regulatory transcription factor, using gene editing at the embryo stage. They selected one of the gene-edited monkeys with the most severe disease phenotypes as the donor. The fibroblasts of the donor were then used to clone five monkeys by somatic cell nuclear transfer, the same method used to generate Zhong Zhong and Hua Hua, the first cloned monkeys born in China at the end of 2017, revealed the report published in the National Science Review journal. Different from Zhong Zhong and Hua Hua, generated by using fibroblasts from an aborted foetus, the new clones were made using a gene-edited young adult male monkey. "It shows that besides using foetus, batch cloning of gene-edited male monkeys with diseases is also feasible," Qiang Sun from the institute, was quoted as saying. Sun stated the research programme was reviewed and supervised by the institute's ethic committee in accordance with international ethical standards of animal research. In the future, the team plans would focus on cloning monkey models with different brain diseases Besides being used to study human brain diseases, the models will be used to test medicine effectiveness, which can help reduce the number of animal models used in experiments and lower the cost of medicine development, the report said. --IANS rt/in/vm (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) China on Thursday said it has detained Chinese-Australian writer Yang Hengjun on charges of involvement in "criminal activities endangering China's national security". The confirmation came after Australian diplomats met their Chinese counterparts here and called on China to treat Yang fairly and transparently, the Australian newspaper reported. Yang, a former employee of China's Foreign Affairs Ministry who later gained Australian citizenship and became a prominent writer and outspoken online political commentator, had not been heard from since travelling from New York to Guangzhou last week. The Australian government on Wednesday said that it was investigating reports about Yang's disappearance, prompting concerns that he might have been detained in his native country. Chinese Foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said that Yang, a visiting scholar at Columbia University in New York, was currently held under "coercive measures" in Beijing by the Ministry of State Security. "According to our understanding, the Australian national Yang Hengjun was suspected of engaging in criminal activities endangering China's national security," Hua said. Yang has a sizeable following online and has been critical of China's Communist Party. He immigrated to Australia in the 1990s and was previously detained by state security agents in Guangzhou in 2011. In the years since, he has been briefly interrogated during trips to China but never held for long, friends say. Earlier on Thursday, Australian Defence Minister Christopher Pyne told reporters during his visit to Beijing that Yang was being detained in "residential surveillance at a designated location", a form of detention where Chinese authorities can interrogate suspects for up to six months at secret locations without access to lawyers or family. Two Canadians, Michael Spavor and Michael Kovrig, are currently being held under similar conditions - and on similar national security grounds. Canada and the US have called those two cases a "political retribution" for Ottawa's arrest of Huawei Technologies executive Meng Wanzhou, which infuriated China. Australia has publicly sided with Canada and the US, which requested Meng's arrest. Australian Foreign Minister Marisa Payne downplayed the possibility that Yang was the latest to become ensnared in the row between Beijing and Western countries. "At this stage there is no evidence of such a connection" between Yang's detention and Australia's criticism of China's detention of the Canadians, Payne said. --IANS soni/bg (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Calling the Centre's announcement of employing over four lakh people in Railways "another jumla", former Finance Minister P. Chidambaram on Thursday said the Railway Ministry has "suddenly" woken up to posts lying vacant for nearly five years. "Railways leave 2,82,976 posts vacant for nearly five years and suddenly wake up to say we will fill them in three months! Another jumla!" the Congress leader said in a tweet. "The story is the same across many departments of the government. Vacant posts on one side, unemployed youth on the other," he added. Railway Minister Piyush Goyal had on Wednesday said that the Railways would employ over four lakh people by 2021. He also said that recruitment for 2.3 lakh vacant posts will be completed in the next two years. --IANS vv/in (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Loud beating of drums and rhythms of traditional Rajasthani musical instruments reverberated in the premises of Diggi Palace here on Thursday, marking the inauguration of the 12th edition of the Jaipur Literature Festival. Several thousand book lovers descended on the venue for the inauguration function in which festival producer Sanjoy Roy, co-director Namita Gokhale and with Rajasthan Minister for Art and Culture B.D. Kalla, shared their thoughts. "Each year, we gather here to celebrate, talk, debate, discus, and most importantly create a space for dissent. There is very little space for those who have a dissenting point of view in today's world," Roy said, before highlighting the role writers have played over centuries in guiding mankind. He also recalled that the festival began on a humble note with just about 170 visitors in the first edition and has now grown immensely, welcoming over 500,000 book lovers every year. "In the hurly burly of our everyday life, we forget what the arts represent. There is a world beyond the usual canvas and it is through arts and literature that we are able to understand 'the other'", he said. Noted Indian writer Gokhale, who is largely responsible for the representation of writers from the Indian languages, began her speech in Hindi and invoked Hindu god Shiva. "Satyam Shivam Sundaram," Gokhale said, represents the true essence of this festival, describing the annual gathering as the Maha Kumbh of literature that brings together a diverse, multilingual and inclusive community of writers every year to the Pink City. "We are each other's stories. The human race has progressed through our shared knowledge," she noted. Gokhale also read out a message from her counterpart and noted writer-historian William Dalrymple, who is not attending the 2019 edition of the festival following the death of his father, in which she highlighted that writers from Egypt to Mexico and from New Zealand to Zimbabwe have gathered here. Kalla said that the festival has transformed the cultural landscape of the state, and highlighted that more and more writers, many of them very young, have been inspired by the festival. The five-day annual event is often described as "the greatest literary show on earth". The festival officially kicked-off with an inaugural address by Nobel Prize winner Venki Ramakrishnan, in which he talked about the role of science in the contemporary world. The inauguration is followed by over 350 sessions over the next five days, on themes ranging from current socio-political scenario to history, mythology and science. The Jaipur Literature Festival is produced by Teamwork Arts, with Roy as the producer and writers Gokhale and Dalrymple as its co-directors. --IANS ss/in/vm (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Silvio Berlusconi, an Italian politician who has made comebacks from political, legal, personal and even health woes, is to relaunch his career by running as a candidate in the forthcoming European Parliament election, his party said on Thursday. The four-times Prime Minister of Italy and leader of centre-right populist Forza Italia which belongs to the European People's Party (EPP) had informed them in October that he planned to put himself forward for the polls, to be held between May 23-26, the group told Efe news. "Personal opinions aside and without considering events that have taken place in recent years, we are talking about someone who has governed on three occasions and who can recover centre-right votes in Italy," said EPP Secretary General Antonio Lopez Isturiz. "At the moment those in power are the far right and far left. Let's hope Berlusconi and the Christian-Democrats can reverse the situation and restore Italian for Europe, which is currently in the hands of Salvini (leader of the Northern League) and Luigi di Maio (head of the Five Star Movement)," he said. Berlusconi was rated as Italy's fifth-richest businessman, according to Forbes magazine. Party sources suggested that the media mogul's campaign would no doubt be peppered with controversy and would draw a lot of media attention. Antonio Tajani, the European Parliament President and deputy President of Forza Italia, congratulated Berlusconi on Twitter: "Excellent news on the candidacy of Berlusconi the European! I was sure that he would be on the field once again to defend the freedom and the right of the citizens to have a job and not to be harassed by unfair taxes!" Berlusconi has kept a low profile over the last few months but has posted on Twitter several times to outline his agenda for Europe which would involve reinforcing economic and fiscal cohesion within the bloc, pushing for a banking union as well as harmonizing foreign policy and building an European Army and common defence policy. Berlusconi, considered by many as a controversial heavyweight on Italy's political scene, was a member of the European Parliament between 1999-2001. He was Italian Prime Minister for nine years during which he was convicted of tax fraud and handed a four-year prison sentence, three of which were pardoned immediately. He was barred from public office for two years. At the time of his conviction in August 2013, he was over 70, so instead of going to prison he was forced to do community work for a year. Berlusconi was also involved in a sex scandal for his infamous "bunga bunga" parties that led to him being charged with using underage sex workers, although he was later found not guilty on appeal. --IANS soni/bg (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The ongoing agitation over the Citizenship Amendment Bill 2016 is affecting the economy of Assam, said President of the Assam unit of BJP Ranjit Kumar Das on Thursday while addressing a rally of party workers. He said while some of the investors have expressed their scepticism due to the agitation, thousands of tourists have also cancelled bookings in the wake of the ongoing agitation. "Some of the investors who had expressed their interest in investing in Assam have now expressed their scepticism. Similarly thousands of tourists have cancelled bookings," said Dass while addressing the rally. Dass said there is a misinformation campaign going on in Assam over the Bill. "The BJP was seen attacked over the Bill. Our members are verbally attacked at different places. However, our party is gaining confidence of the people of the state," he said while referring to the recent panchayat polls in Assam. "We have only a day back won the Dima Hasao Autonomous council polls. A day after the win in Dima Hasao, five Independents and one AGP councilors have also joined our party today," said Dass while adding that the party is going to win 11 of the total 14 Lok Sabha polls in Assam. --IANS ah/prs (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Pictures of social media activist Abhishek Mishra, who was arrested in Bhopal over complaints of hurting religious sentiments, emerged on Thursday suggesting links with Congress leaders even as the party denied any association with him. Abhishek, a famous YouTuber who is believed to be associated with the Congress IT cell, was arrested by the Delhi Police late night on Tuesday. Till Wednesday, he was believed to have been abducted and his father Ashok Mishra had also filed a complaint with the police. After his arrest, several pictures are circulating on the social media where he could be seen with Congress President Rahul Gandhi, and party leaders Digvijay Singh and Priyanka Chaturvedi. Some posts of him making unrestrained comments against the BJP, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and some senior leaders also surfaced on the social media. According to sources, Abhishek has been arrested by the Delhi Police for making personal comments against a Union Minister. Meanwhile, the Congress denied reports that he was a party worker. Amit Tiwari, the head of the Congress IT cell's state unit, said Abhishek had no connection with the party even though he regularly wrote on social media in favour of the Congress and against Modi and the BJP. Meanwhile, the Madhya Pradesh government has taken strong exception to his arrest alleging that the Delhi Police did not inform the local police about it. News of Mishra's arrest came after his father, Ashok Mishra said that his son had been picked up by unidentified men from his residence located in Bhopal. --IANS hindi-vv/vsc/bg (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Picking an honest officer as the chief of CBI isn't a panacea to rid India's top investigation agency of all ills, especially when its lower rung officers are shoddy, corrupt and prone to political manipulation, according to retired Rear Admiral B.R. Menon, whose book on his legal battle with the CBI was released recently. Speaking to reporters here, Menon, who is promoting his book in Goa, also "hoped" that the Rafale deal, which the opposition has claimed is linked to the removal of Central Bureau of Investigation Director Alok Varma, "is a correct deal" and that the Indian Air Force gets its fighter jets at the right time and the right price. "The CBI head himself being non-corrupt is not enough. Even the people down below in the CBI, the Joint Directors, Directors, Additional Directors, Superintendents of Police should be non-corrupt," Menon said. "So, if the top man himself is very good and non-corrupt, every officer in line must be selected in the same manner and trained properly. I think the CBI younger lot are so illiterate that when they come in a court of law, the case fails and that is a loss of face for the CBI. I would recommend training of CBI officers, which is a very important thing," he added. Menon claims his trials and tribulations began during his last official stint as the Chairman and Managing Director of the Defence Ministry-operated Goa Shipyard Ltd in the mid-2000s when he was raided by the CBI and his bank accounts were frozen. While he continued as the CMD of the Goa-based shipyard for a year despite the raid, his book "Honesty victimised, CBI politicised" is an account of a 13-year-old struggle to exonerate himself from the CBI chargesheet and the trial which ensued. Menon claims that the CBI is used by politicians from the states as well as the Centre and that values which a common man ought to attribute to an elite national agency do not exist any more. He added that in his case the CBI did not have the courage to withstand political pressure, which forced it to prosecute him. "I could not agree to many small requests which came from very big Ministers. Those are the reasons why it all added up to a situation like this," Menon said. The CBI, he said, has a shortage of officers and the agency should use its resources to target the "big fish". --IANS maya/oeb/mr (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) In a veiled attack on the Congress party over Priyanka Gandhis appointment as partys General Secretary in-charge of eastern Uttar Pradesh, Union Minister of State for Communications Manoj Sinha on Thursday said that anybody becoming the "AICC General Secretary or in-charge will not matter in the polls". He said that people in Uttar Pradesh have not even taken notice of the development. "The discussion about Priyanka Gandhi being made the General Secretary is mostly in Delhi and among you people (media). People in the region of which she has been made in-charge have not even taken notice of this," Sinha said. "If someone is made the General Secretary or in-charge, I think it is not going to make any difference to the elections," Sinha, who is a Lok Sabha member from Ghazipur in eastern Uttar Pradesh, said. Sinha said he has since Wednesday "spoken with 1,000 to 2,000 people" from eastern Uttar Pradesh. He also condemned the language used by Congress President Rahul Gandhi at his public meetings in Raebareli and Amethi earlier in the day. He said that the promise of farmer loan waiver made by Rahul Gandhi was a hogwash and actually no loans are being waived. "They (Congress) must first fulfil the promises they made to farmers in Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan and then we will see. The fact is that the Congress party's promise of loan waiver was a fraud," he said. Sinha added that farmers who are unable to repay their loans are being arrested in Karnataka, while farmers are continuing to commit suicide in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh. He ruled out the possibility of Uttar Pradesh government planning any loan waiver for farmers ahead of polls. "We are in principle not for waiving farm loans. We want to help farmers by reducing input cost and giving good price for their produce so that they can make more meaningful contribution to the economy and become self-reliant," he said. --IANS mak/nir (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Ace designer Anita Dongre, who was a part of the World Economic Forum in Davos, says as part of the next step towards the women empowerment initiative under her Foundation, she will inaugurate Phase II of the Community Tailoring (Training and Production) Centre at Dhanevari village in Palghar district of Maharashtra on Republic Day. "Being at the Davos summit gave me an opportunity to engage with like-minded leaders and share our concerns and solutions towards sustainability and women empowerment," Dongre told IANS. "The Anita Dongre Foundation will continue to work towards its goal and as our next step under the women empowerment initiative, on the 70th Republic Day of the country, we will be inaugurating Phase II of Community Tailoring (Training and Production) Centre at Village Dhanevari in Palghar District of Maharashtra," she added. According to the designer, the centre will enable more than 50 local tribal women to be professionally trained in garment stitching and provide them with gainful, sustained livelihood opportunities in their own village. One of the most prestigious forums held annually in the Swiss Alps, the World Economic Forum saw notable individuals from around the world discussing matters developing in the current political, economic and environmental scenario. In recognition of her initiatives towards sustainability, Dongre was invited to be a part of '3 Trillion Reasons to Help the World Spend Better agenda' panel discussion on January 22 and 'The Fashion CEO agenda Roundtable' that was held under the patronage of the Crown Princess of Denmark on January 23. --IANS nv/rb/bg (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Bihar police suspended nine police officials including three clerks in connection with financial irregularities of Rs. 66 lakh, officials said. Patna range DIG Rajesh Kumar told the media here on Thursday that action against the police officials was taken after it was found that Rs. 66 lakh was paid twice by Patna Police to three private firms engaged during the Prakash Parv celebrations. "The police officials have been suspended for their involvement in financial irregularities," he said. --IANS ik/oeb/bg (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) All the 54 tourists, mostly trekkers from Mumbai, who were stranded in the high altitudes of Rudraprayag district in Uttarakhand have been rescued and sent back to their homes, top officials said on Thursday. The state disaster response force (SDRF) and police had launched a rescue operation at Chobata, Baniyakund and other high altitude areas in the district after reports that many people were stranded in the heavy snowfall since Tuesday. Rudraprayag has experienced the heaviest snowfall in 25 years during the past two days. "Since most of the roads were covered with heavy snow, we pressed snow cutters to rescue these people," said Mangesh Ghildiyal, District Magistrate Rudraprayag. The SDRF and police personnel trekked miles together to provide help to the stranded people. He said as many as 36 people mostly students from Mumbai, who had come for trekking in the area were rescued on Thursday in the day long operation. Nearly 18 people were rescued on Wednesday, he said. Some of the tourists who were stranded in the area had come from Delhi and Rajasthan areas. Meanwhile, the district authorities in the hilly areas have closed most of the trekking areas for tourists and trekkers. "Till the situation improves, tourists will not be allowed to go there," said a government official. Two foreign tourists who were on the way to Doditaal area in Uttarkashi district for trekking were asked to come back on Thursday as the inclement conditions coupled with snowfall continued to play spoilsport. "We have closed the Doditaal trek for tourists," said a top official of Uttarkashi district. Meanwhile, the district authorities claimed that most of the link roads have been opened on Thursday. "I think only road to Chobata is closed now," said Ghildiyal. --IANS str/vsc/bg (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Sensex and the Nifty pared gains and were trading near flat line in mid-morning trade. At 11:20 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was up 57.64 points or 0.16% at 36,166.11. The Nifty 50 index was up 7.45 points or 0.07% at 10,838.95. Firmness in Reliance Industries, ITC and HDFC Bank supported the indices. Indices kicked off trading on a negative note due to mixed cues from other Asian stocks. Benchmarks bounced back from early lows and hit fresh intraday high in morning trade, tracking recovery in Asian shares. Broader market lagged. Among secondary barometers, the BSE Mid-Cap index was up 0.07%. The BSE Small-Cap index was down 0.26%. The market breadth, indicating the overall health of the market, was negative. On BSE, 870 shares rose and 1124 shares fell. A total of 128 shares were unchanged. Among index pivotals, Reliance Industries (up 1.56%), ITC (up 0.9%) and HDFC Bank (up 0.56%), edged higher. Maruti Suzuki India (MSIL) was up 0.30%. MSIL announced during trading hours today, 24 January 2019, that it has signed a Memorandum of Agreement (MoA) with Government of Haryana to set up Japan-India Institute for Manufacturing (JIM), a model ITI, at Uncha Majra village in Gurugram district. JIM Uncha Majra will be equipped with modern classrooms and latest training tools and equipment, including mini vehicle assembly line. Industry experts will impart training in eight trades related to automobile manufacturing, maintenance and service. Besides the core curriculum prescribed by NCVT, JIM will groom students in values of safety, quality, discipline, punctuality, Kaizen and other Japanese shop floor practices. Japan-India Institute for Manufacturing (JIM) is born out of a collaboration between the Governments of Japan and India to create a pool of skilled manpower for manufacturing in India. Realty shares advanced. Oberoi Realty (up 4.72%), Godrej Properties (up 3.40%), Mahindra Lifespace Developers (up 3.34%), Sunteck Realty (up 2.56%), Phoenix Mills (up 2.20%), DLF (up 1.98%), Prestige Estates Projects (up 1.94%), Indiabulls Real Estate (up 1.80%), Housing Development and Infrastructure (HDIL) (up 1.49%), Sobha (up 1.31%), D B Realty (up 1.12%), Peninsula Land (up 0.89%) and Anant Raj (up 0.44%), edged higher. Omaxe (down 0.05%), Parsvnath Developers (down 1.01%) and Unitech (down 3.78%), edged lower. Most auto shares declined. Tata Motors (down 2.55%), TVS Motor Company (down 1.59%), Ashok Leyland (down 1.12%), Bajaj Auto (down 0.75%), Escorts (down 0.73%) and Mahindra & Mahindra (down 0.69%), edged lower. Maruti Suzuki India (up 0.42%), Hero MotoCorp (up 0.53%) and Eicher Motors (up 0.76%), edged higher. Vodafone Idea was down 1.33%. The company announced at the fag end of the trading session yesterday, 23 January 2019, that its board approved issuing fully paid-up/partly-paid up equity shares of the company and/or other securities convertible into equity shares of the company, including but not limited to, compulsorily convertible debentures, for an amount aggregating up to Rs 25,000 crore, by way of a rights issue to existing eligible equity shareholders of the company as at the record date. The promoter shareholders (Vodafone Group and Aditya Birla Group), have re-iterated to the board that they intend to contribute up to Rs 11,000 crore and up to Rs 7,250 crore respectively as part of such rights issue. Further, the promoter shareholders have indicated that in case the rights Issue is undersubscribed, each of the promoter shareholders reserves the right to subscribe to part or whole amount of the unsubscribed portion, subject to applicable law. Meanwhile, the President of India, as advised by the Prime Minister, hereby directed that during the period of indisposition of Arun Jaitley, minister; the portfolios of Minister of Finance and Minister of Corporate Affairs held by him, be temporarily assigned to Piyush Goyal, in addition to his existing portfolios. Further, as advised by the Prime Minister, Arun Jaitley be designated as minister without portfolio during the period of his indisposition or till such time he is able to resume his work as Minister of Finance and Minister of Corporate Affairs, President's Secretariat said in a press communiqu Media reports suggested that Goyal, who already holds the charge of the Ministry of Railways, is now expected to present the last budget of his government's five-year tenure. The budget, likely to be presented on 1 February 2019, will be an interim one as elections are due later this year. Overseas, Asia shares were trading higher on Thursday amid uncertainties surrounding the global economic outlook as well as the ongoing US-China trade fight. US stocks closed higher on Wednesday as upbeat earnings from corporate heavyweights helped to assuage lingering worries over global growth and US-China trade tensions. Meanwhile, the Senate was poised to vote Thursday on dueling proposals to reopen the government. A partial shutdown entered its 33rd day on Wednesday. Powered by Capital Market - Live News (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Maruti Suzuki India has signed a Memorandum of Agreement (MoA) with Government of Haryana to set up Japan-India Institute for Manufacturing (JIM), a model ITI, at Uncha Majra village in Gurugram district. JIM Uncha Majra will be equipped with modern classrooms and latest training tools and equipment, including mini vehicle assembly line. Industry experts will impart training in eight trades related to automobile manufacturing, maintenance and service. Besides the core curriculum prescribed by NCVT, JIM will groom students in values of safety, quality, discipline, punctuality, Kaizen and other Japanese shop floor practices. Government of Haryana has provided land and building for the JIM at Uncha Majra. Maruti Suzuki will provide equipment, training modules and trained teachers, and will manage the institute. Powered by Capital Market - Live News (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Senior Republican Senator Lindsey Graham has proposed a Free Trade Agreement with Pakistan if Islamabad agrees to assist Washington in ending the Afghan war. The Republican Senator has also urged United States President Donald Trump to meet Prime Minister Imran Khan in order to change US's relationship with Pakistan from tactical to strategic, reported the Dawn. "If we can go to Pakistan and put a free trade agreement on the table to get the Pakistanis to push the Taliban to the peace table, and you can end the Afghan war," said Graham a week before heading to Islamabad. In order to end Afghan war, Special Representative for Afghanistan Reconciliation Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad led an interagency delegation to India, China, Afghanistan, and Pakistan from January 8 to 21 and met Afghan government officials and other interested parties to support and facilitate an inclusive peace process in Afghanistan, empowering the Afghan people to chart a shared course for their nation's future. Last month, the US-based Global Security Review accused Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence of backing terrorist organisation influencing the peace process in Afghanistan. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Supreme Court on Thursday refused to stay Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe (Prevention of Atrocities) Amendment Act, 2018 that rule out any provision for anticipatory bail for a person accused of atrocities against SC/STs. A bench headed by Justice AK Sikri said the petitions against the amendment and review pleas against the March 20 judgement on automatic arrests and anticipatory bail, should be heard together. Refusing to stay the amended Act passed by Parliament, the bench said: "No interim order can be passed in these matters". Attorney General KK Venugopal, appearing for the Centre, said the court should first decide the review petition, filed against the March 2018 judgement, and then fresh petitions against the amendments could be heard. Appearing for the petitioners against the amendments, senior advocate Vikas Singh questioned the central government on bringing new law when its review petition was already pending before the top court. The bench now posted before Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi to decide whether the review petition and petitions against amendments should be heard together or not. On March 20 last year, the apex court had passed the judgement that there will be no automatic arrest on a complaint filed under the Act. It had also introduced anticipatory bail provision under the Act. However, the Centre had made amendments in the Act to overcome the top court's order diluting the provision of arrest under the law. The two-judge bench of the Supreme Court had passed a slew of directions and said a public servant could be arrested in cases lodged under the SC/ST Act only after prior approval by the competent authority. The amendments provide that no preliminary inquiry would be required for registering a criminal case and an arrest under this law would not be subject to any approval. The top court is seized of a bunch of pleas opposing amendments to the SC/ST Act. The pleas alleged that Parliament had "arbitrarily" decided to amend the law. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) New Delhi, January 24 (ANI) The government has decided to honour Army Chief Gen Bipin Rawat with the Param Vishisht Sewa Medal (PVSM) for his distinguished services. The military award will be conferred on the General on the Republic Day. The Army Chief has been involved in the rightsizing of the Indian Army and played a major role in tackling counter-terrorist operations against Pakistan and has also been deeply involved in the efforts to maintain peace and tranquillity on the China border. For leading the Army into one of the most successful operations against terrorists, Lt Gen Bhatt will also receive Ati Vishisht Sewa Medal this year. A number of Navy and Indian Air Force personnel are also slated to receive the gallantry awards for saving lives of civilians during the floods in Kerala in August last year. Lance Naik Nazir Wani has already received the highest gallantry award Ashok Chakra for his bravery in operations in Shopian in Kashmir. Kashmiri militant-turned-soldier Lance Naik Nazir Wani laid down his life while killing six terrorists in an operation in the Valley Wani was a highly-decorated soldier and had already received the Sena Medal for gallantry twice. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Pakistan's Punjab government has decided against reviving Basant, a kite-flying festival that marks the beginning of the spring season, media reports said. Taking back its earlier decision to lift the 12-year ban on the festival, the Punjab government said it would require four to six more months to ensure a safe festival for all. The Punjab government last month announced that it had decided in principle to revive the cultural festival of Basant. The celebration was banned by the previous Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz government after many deaths were caused by glass-coated kite string. Punjab Senior Minister Aleem Khan said on Wednesday: "We require four to six months of preparation to make Basant safe. If institutions fulfil their responsibilities such festivals can take place." The festival was banned in 2005 after several incidents of the razor-sharp glass and chemical coated kite string slitting throats of people, including children. Several deaths were also caused due to celebratory firing and fatal falls from rooftops while chasing kites, Geo reported. The Pakistan Supreme Court in 2007 ruled on a public interest petition and banned kite flying. It remained outlawed during both the tenures of PML-N President Shahbaz Sharif's provincial government in Punjab. The ban left the kite and string making industry in Punjab in disarray, and destroyed related commercial activity, including food and hotel occupancy worth billions. In December, Punjab Information Minister Fayyaz ul Hassan Chohan announced that Basant would be revived in the province in February. The Minister said the festival would promote tourism and boost economic activity. The decision was challenged in the Lahore High Court on a plea contending it might cause loss of more lives. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Moushumi Chatterjee, a veteran actor who recently joined BJP, faced a backlash from media after she told the anchor at an event not to wear jeans. While interacting with media, Chatterjee said that there is a need to tell the next generation what to wear for their own good. She further stated that she gave her opinion to the girl as a mother, and an Indian woman. "You need to understand what to wear. You can't wear jeans to the temple because it is uncomfortable. Wear salwar kameez or saree. This is our legacy," Chatterjee said. When quizzed about her decision to join BJP, Chatterjee who was at an event in Surat along with other party leaders said: "Joining BJP is not my proof of patriotism. I am doing my bit for the nation." Chatterjee contested 2004 Lok Sabha seat on Congress ticket and lost. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MLA Dalbir Singh on Thursday expressed disappointment over the show-cause notice issued by Aligarh Muslim University to his grandson and others for taking out a Tiranga Yatra on campus recently. "Unfortunate that my grandson and his nephew Ajay were issued a notice by AMU administration. Don't think they did anything wrong. Daily some rally or the other is organised on various issues, one was even in support of Afzal Guru, so what is wrong in a Tiranga yatra?" "It is not a crime. Everyone should be patriotic and by flagging a march is a good start," he added. The University administration on Wednesday issued a notice to two students for holding a Tiranga Yatra. The students had held a bike rally chanting 'Vande Mataram' from the Department to the Baba Syed Gate, in remembrance of the sacrifice made by freedom fighters. The varsity administration alleged that it had not given permission to carry out the Yatra. The notice issued by the proctor sought a reply within 24 hours, failing which ex-parte action would be taken against the student leaders. Omar Saleem Peerzada, Public Relation Officer (PRO) of AMU said the students violated the code of conduct and varsity rules and regulations. "There was no permission and their step was illegal. On 26 January and 15 August every year University holds one week programme, the students should participate in that. Show-Cause notices have been issued and action would be taken against them as per the university rules," he added. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Prayagraj (Uttar Pradesh) [India], Jan 24 (ANI): MoS MEA VK Singh on Thursday donned the role of a tour guide for 'Pravasis' during a bus ride to the Triveni Sangam, the point of confluence of the Rivers Ganga, Yamuna and the mythical Saraswati, during the ongoing Kumbh Mela in Uttar Pradesh's Prayagraj. The retired four-star general welcomed the 'Pravasis' or NRIs from Mauritius to the festival and briefed them about the importance of Kumbh. "I welcome you to the Kumbh Mela, I wanted to see how the government and the administration are managing devotees who have come from across the world. Crores of devotees have come to Prayagraj for a holy dip at the Sangam and the River Ganga," he said. So far, more than 3 crore devotees have participated in the two 'snans' in this year's 'Ardh Kumbh', held every six years. VK Singh said that Kumbh is a festival for every Indian, regardless of them being based in India or abroad. Following his remarks, one of the 'Pravasis' expressed his delight on being part of the festival. "We are very pleased and feel very proud that the Indian Government has welcomed us in such a friendly manner," he said. The 55-day mega event commenced on 15 January and will end on 4 March. The Kumbh Mela is the largest human congregation in the world, with over 130 million pilgrims expected to participate in the festival with the belief that taking a dip in the holy water of river Ganga will pave the way for their salvation and would rid them of their sins. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Mauritius Prime Minister Pravind Jugnauth was among the Pravasi Bhartiya delegation which on Thursday visited the Triveni Sangam at Prayagraj that is hosting the mega Kumbh Mela. Minister of State of External Affairs V K Singh along with other union and state ministers received the Mauritius Prime Minister at Bamrauli Airport. Jugnauth addressing the media, thanked the Indian Government and Prime Minister Narendra Modi for inviting him. "The excellent arrangement has been made to welcome me and my wife. It is a unique experience for us," he said "I wish my visit will further consolidate the already strong bond that exists between India and Mauritius," he added. Besides visiting the Sangam, Jugnauth will also visit the Saraswati Kup, Hanuman Temple, Akshaya Vat. Speaking to ANI, Uttar Pradesh Tourism Minister Rita Bhauguna Joshi said, "Pravasi Bhartiya Divas (PBD) provides people living outside India an opportunity to come and feel the essence of India. Their visit gives us happiness." Joshi lauded UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath for creating such a "grand" platform for the diaspora. Welcoming the delegation, V.K Singh said the motive for creating such a platform was to make India more inclusive. "We have lined up various other programmes for the NRI visitors. We will take them to Saraswati Kund next," he said. Singh even played the part of a tourist guide, using a microphone to brief for visiting delegation about the importance of the Kumbh. "We welcome you at Kumbh Mela from my heart. I wanted you to see how the government and local administration is managing the crores of devotees who arrive here in Prayagraj from across the world for a holy dip at the Sangam and Ganga." The three-day Pravasi Bharatiya Divas convention that concluded on January 23 saw a record number of registrations with visitors planning to visit the ongoing Kumbh Mela and the upcoming Republic Day celebrations on January 26 at Rajpath in New Delhi. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Upholding its decision to recognise opposition leader Juan Guaido as the interim President of Venezuela, the United States of America stated that beleaguered President Nicolas Maduro did not have the "legal authority to break diplomatic relations" with the US or declare its diplomats "persona non grata". "The United States maintains diplomatic relations with Venezuela and will conduct our relations with Venezuela through the government of interim President Guaido, who has invited our mission to remain in Venezuela," a statement issued by Secretary of State Michael Pompeo on Wednesday read. "The United States does not recognize the Maduro regime as the government of Venezuela. Accordingly, the United States does not consider former president Nicolas Maduro to have the legal authority to break diplomatic relations with the United States or to declare our diplomats persona non grata," Pompeo further stated. The United States also outlined that it would support Guaido "as he establishes a transitional government and carries out his constitutional duties as interim President, including determining the status of diplomatic representatives in the United States and other countries." The country also warned that it will take "appropriate actions" to hold accountable "anyone who endangers the safety and security" of the US mission and its personnel in Venezuela, urging "all parties" to refrain from "measures that are inconsistent with the privileges and immunities enjoyed by members of the diplomatic community". Adding to this, the United States also sounded a security alert for all American citizens in Venezuela, adding that the US Embassy would be maintaining "normal business hours". The US also asked all its government officials to keep all their "preschool and school-aged children home" on January 24 and restricted them from visiting certain neighbourhoods in Caracas. This comes after Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro broke all ties with the United States and gave 72 hours to American diplomats to leave the nation. Massive protests took place all of Wednesday throughout Venezuela, where Guaido swore himself in as the President of Venezuela to cheering crowds. Parallel protests near the Miraflores, in support of Maduro, also took place on the same day. "Before the people and nations of the world, and as constitutional President...I've decided to break diplomatic and political relations with US. Get out! Leave Venezuela. We have (our) dignity dammit!" Maduro told a crowd of red-shirted supporters gathered at the Presidential palace on Wednesday. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Contending that killing terrorists is not a solution to the problems of Jammu and Kashmir, the state's Governor Satya Pal Malik on Thursday said he feels "bad" even when a terrorist is killed. He said all terrorists should return to the mainstream and "a good rehabilitation offer" will be made for their settlement. "Terrorism is not in the gun but in the head," Malik said at an event here. "I feel bad if there is loss of even one life, even if that is of a terrorist. I feel sad about the fact that they (terrorists) could not be brought back to the mainstream," he added. The Governor's comments came on a day when the state police declared Baramulla as the first district of Kashmir valley where no militant is alive. The declaration was made a day after security forces gunned down three militants in the district. Lauding the police and security forces, Malik said several terrorists have been neutralised but that is the achievement of the security forces. The security forces are neutralising terrorists with an increased frequency. In 2018, the security forces gunned down as many as 200 terrorists in the state. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) (Natural News) Keep your heart healthy by taking roselle every day. A study published in the Journal of Complementary and Integrative Medicine has found that roselle (Hibiscus sabdariffa L.) contains powerful antihypertensive effects, such as lowering systolic blood pressure and reducing serum triglyceride levels. A team of researchers at Isfahan University of Medical Sciences in Isfahan, Iran examined the effects of roselle calyces on the serum levels of lipids and insulin, inflammation, and oxidative stress in patients with metabolic syndrome. Metabolic syndrome is a serious medical condition that occurs when a person has three or more of the following conditions: increased blood pressure, high blood sugar, excess body fat around the waist, and abnormal cholesterol, or triglyceride levels. It increases the risk of cardiovascular disease, diabetes, stroke, and diseases associated with fatty buildups in artery walls. They enrolled 40 adult participants with metabolic syndrome and divided them into two groups: a treatment group and a placebo group. The treatment group received 500 mg of roselle calyx powder once a day for four weeks. On the other hand, the placebo group received placebo once daily for four weeks. Before the treatment period, the research team measured the participants systolic and diastolic blood pressures and body mass index (BMI), as well as their fasting serum levels of glucose, insulin, lipoproteins, triglycerides, high-sensitivity C-reactive protein, and malondialdehyde (MDA). They measured these variables again after the final treatment and compared the measurements to determine if there were significant changes. The power of the elements: Discover Colloidal Silver Mouthwash with quality, natural ingredients like Sangre de Drago sap, black walnut hulls, menthol crystals and more. Zero artificial sweeteners, colors or alcohol. Learn more at the Health Ranger Store and help support this news site. The results of the study revealed that participants who took roselle daily experienced reductions in serum triglyceride levels and systolic blood pressure. However, roselle treatment did not have a significant effect on all other variables. These results suggested that roselle has antihypertensive effects. Based on these findings, the researchers concluded that taking 500 mg of roselle calyx powder every day can lead to lowered systolic blood pressure and reduced serum triglyceride levels in people with metabolic syndrome. More on roselle and its other health benefits Roselle, also known as Florida cranberry, red sorrel, or Jamaica sorrel, is related to hibiscus and okra. It is native to Central and West Africa but is now grown in different parts of the world. The edible parts of the plant are the calyxes of the roselle flower which can be used to make jams, sauces, and teas. Roselle is also used for medicinal purposes for it is rich in nutrients, vitamins, and minerals. (Related: Hibiscus extracts can be used to provide natural food coloring WITH health benefits.) Consuming 57 grams of roselle provides 123 mg of calcium, 0.84 mg of iron, 6.9 mg if vitamin C, 29 mg of magnesium, 6.45 g of carbohydrates, 21 mg of phosphorus, 119 mg of potassium, 0.016 mg of vitamin B2, and 8 mcg of vitamin A. Listed below are the health benefits roselle offers: Former Supreme Court judge Justice Madan Lokur has expressed disappointment over the Supreme Court not publically notifying the decision of the collegium recommending the elevation of two High court judges to the apex court and not uploading it on the website. "There was a meeting on December 12 and certain decisions were taken. What happened between December 12 and January 10, I don't know. It does disappoint me that it was not put up on the website. But it is not my job to seek an explanation from the Chief Justice. We take a certain decision and it has to be uploaded," he said in an interactive session here on Wednesday. Justices Dinesh Maheshwari and Sanjiv Khanna were elevated as top court judges earlier this month, after which a number of former apex court judges and members of the judiciary alleged that the duo were elevated by superseding senior judges at an all-India level. Lokur said: "I don't know what the additional material was (because of which Justice Pradeep Nandrajog's name was withdrawn for the elevation of SC judge) which led to the collegium decision on January 10. However, I don't think nepotism runs in the collegium. There is no 'sifarish' (recommendation) in the collegium system." The former apex court judge, who retired on December 30, 2018, said there was a need to tweak the way the collegium functions. "I feel there is a need to bring about a change. Certain things in the system may need tweaking, but it's certainly not a failure. Everybody knows the government has been sitting on some files. Files have been pending for months. There has to be some mechanism by which timelines which are laid down must be adhered to. Nobody can sit on files, whether it's government or judiciary," he said. Lokur further said some amount of openness has been observed in the functioning of the judiciary after the joint press conference held by four top court judges - J Chelameshwar, Ranjan Gogoi, Kurien Joseph and himself- last year. "The press conference by four judges has brought openness. Truth is a good defence, if you have any name who is corrupt then tell us," he added. Lokur said he would not take up any post-retirement assignments. "I think the judiciary has to stay away from political things. Judges have to stay away from political things. Judges are not politicians. There are occasions when judges have gone beyond what is required and on that they have to step back. Executives sometimes overstep, Parliament sometimes overstep. I am not going to work on government assignments after retirement," he said. However, when asked, Lokur said if offered to head a tribunal to resolve issues of prisoners between India and Pakistan, he would accept the responsibility. "Yes, I will. It would help the country," he said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Delhi law minister Kailash Gehlot on Thursday sent a show-cause notice to the principal law secretary for clearing without his approval the sanction to prosecute former Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) students in a case of sedition. The sedition case related to anti- slogans allegedly raised during a February 2016 event on the campus of JNU has been filed against former JNU Students' Union (JNUSU) president Kanhaiya Kumar among others. Gehlot has sought an explanation from the law secretary A K Mendiratta for sending the file directly to the prinicipal home secretary stating that law secretary deliberately to bypass him. "It appears to have been done intentionally so that views of the minister aren't recorded," he said in the show-cause notice. This development has come in the backdrop of the Delhi government seeking legal advice with regard to granting sanction for prosecution in the JNU sedition case On Saturday, the Delhi government along with the Delhi Police levelled allegations against each other after the judicature questioned the department for filing a chargesheet in the matter against Kanhaiya Kumar and nine others without procuring the required sanction from the authorities. On January 14, the Delhi Police had filed the chargesheet in the court stating the sanction for prosecution was pending before the government. Under the Criminal Procedure Code, the court cannot take cognisance of the police chargesheet without sanction from the home department of the state concerned. As per 112-page charge sheet, Kumar was leading a procession and supported seditious slogans raised on the JNU campus during an event held in February 2016. Police also charged former JNU students Umar Khalid and Anirban Bhattacharya for allegedly shouting anti- slogans during the event to mark the hanging of Parliament attack mastermind Afzal Guru. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Hollywood actor Alec Baldwin pleaded guilty to a harassment charge which stemmed from an altercation over a parking spot, where he punched a man, in New York last year. The 'BlacKkKlansman' actor, who appeared in court on Wednesday, was sentenced to a conditional discharge and was ordered to attend a short anger management programme as part of his plea, reported Fox News. The actor was charged with attempted assault in the third degree and harassment in the second degree and is due in court again on March 27. In November, Baldwin landed himself in trouble after he punched a man over a parking space. While the individual was taken to a local hospital, the actor was immediately taken into police custody. Shortly after the media reported the incident, Baldwin denied that he hit anyone. In now deleted tweets, the actor wrote, "The press reported that I punched someone. That is untrue, and that is a serious charge. A man was punched in NY recently and died. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Just before midnight on Thursday, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) will launch its 46th flight of Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV-C44), to put into space Microsat-R, an imaging satellite and Kalamsat, a communication satellite developed by students, from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota. The launch at 11:37 pm is said to be unique as PSLV-C44 fourth stage will be re-used automatically to launch Kalamsat payload and Microsat-R satellite into space from the First Launch Pad (FLP). PSLV is a four-stage launch vehicle with alternating solid and liquid stages. The PSLV with two strap-on configuration has been identified for this mission and the configuration is designated as PSLV-DL. PSLV-C44 is the first mission of PSLV-DL and is a new variant of PSLV. In PSLV-C44, the fourth stage (PS4) of the vehicle will be moved to a higher circular orbit so as to establish an orbital platform for carrying out experiments. Kalamsat, a student payload, will be the first to use PS4 as orbital platform. PSLV-C44 will also carry Microsat-R, an imaging satellite. Earlier, ISRO Chairman K. Sivan said India's second lunar mission, Chandrayaan-2, which was scheduled to be launched in late 2018, is now expected to be launched between March 25 and end of April this year. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Ending speculations of any alliance in Andhra Pradesh, Congress Party announced that it will contest all 175 Assembly and 25 Lok Sabha constituencies in the state on its own in the upcoming elections in the state. "There will be no alliance with any party for the forthcoming elections and Congress will contest on all 175 assembly constituencies and 25 Lok Sabha seats alone in Andhra Pradesh," Pradesh Congress Committee president Raghuveera Reddy told reporters on Wednesday. Both the state assembly and Lok Sabha elections are scheduled to be held in the state this year. The Congress leadership said the decision to go solo was taken based on feedback from the party and the people of the state people. "The people of Andhra believe that the promises made under the AP State Reorganisation Act 2014 will be fulfilled only after Rahul Gandhi becomes the prime minister" Reddy said. The announcement follows efforts by Telugu Desam Party (TDP) president and Andhra Pradesh chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu to build a front of regional parties headed by the Congress against the BJP-led NDA for the 2019 general elections. On the speculated tie-up between Congress and TDP, Telangana caretaker Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao, earlier said that the Congress should be ashamed of entering into an alliance with Telugu Desam Party (TDP) along with other regional parties, ahead of the assembly elections. "Congress party had filed 196 cases on the Kaleshwaram project which is useful for the public. The Congress party should be ashamed of themselves for entering an alliance with the TDP, which is not a good sign for the state," he said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Bing, the last major foreign search operating engine in China, has been blocked following an order from President Xi Jinping. "We have confirmed that Bing is currently inaccessible in China and are engaged to determine next steps," CNN quoted a Microsoft spokesman as saying. Late Wednesday, Chinese users started complaining that they are not able to access the Microsoft's search engine as the phrase "Can't access Bing" start popping up on social media. However, even after repeated queries, China's internet regulator did not respond. From the last few years, China has been facing flak internationally for its extreme censorship laws. The government has forced the American internet platforms to enact the Chinese government censorship and surveillance or leave China. Most of the media platforms and news websites like Facebook, YouTube, The New York Times are completely inaccessible in China. Yahoo was banned last year. While most of the platforms did not turn back to China, Google, who faced official cut off in 2010, is reportedly developing a search engine that complies with China's censorship law. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leader Raghuvar Rai, who was shot at by unidentified assailants early Thursday morning, succumbed to injuries here. Rai, who was shot at outside his residence in Kalyanpur area died at a private hospital in Dargbhanga, where he was rushed to after the attack, officials said. The RJD leader earlier served as the president of the district council. Further details are awaited. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Australian government on Thursday confirmed that a well-known writer and former Chinese official with Australian citizenship has been detained in his native country. Yang Hengjun, a former Chinese diplomat turned democracy activist and novelist, was detained by security agents at the airport in the Chinese southern city of Guangzhou last Friday. He was travelling with his wife and stepdaughter from New York. The family was set to catch a connecting flight to Shanghai. In a statement issued Thursday, Australian Foreign Minister Marise Payne called on Beijing to treat Yang's case "transparently and fairly." She said embassy officials will meet with Chinese authorities there "to seek further clarification" on Yang's case and arrange consular access with him as soon as possible, VOA News reported. Australian diplomatic officials released a statement on Thursday morning saying: "Chinese authorities informed the Australian Embassy in Beijing that they have detained Mr Yang Hengjun." The news of his detention comes as Australian Defence Minister Christopher Pyne begins an official visit to Beijing on Thursday. Yang is a visiting scholar at Columbia University in New York. His detention in China comes in the aftermath of the detention of two Canadian nationals in China in apparent retaliation for the arrest of a senior Huawei executive in Canada. Meng Wanzhou, the chief financial officer for Chinese telecom giant Huawei, was arrested in Vancouver on December 1 on behalf of the United States, over alleged violations of U.S. trade sanctions on Iran. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) While Darshan Patel's has quickly scaled to the top of the pecking order in deodorants, - Raymond Group company JK Helene Curtis' brand - has scaled up and stayed put in the second spot. Hindustan Unilever's Axe, that had led the category for a while (men's deos have a larger market) has yet been unable to stem its slide. Helene Curtis has a perceptively different media presence. The category, valued between Rs 2,300-2,000 crore according to sources, is not only crowded with 600 brands, but is characterised by heavy spends from pan-India players that have deep pockets. Besides HUL's Axe, has been pushing its range, Engage (has 5.9 per cent share), while ex-Paras owner, Patel, and now the owner of Vini Cosmetics, has kept pace with The ads notching up those spends compete to be racier than the other. The takes a different tack. "Research into usage and attitude of consumers has shown that in a category that is very flirtatious, they tend to stick with us. One of our strengths is that we are not into the seduction space. We extend the brand positioning of celebrating the man, and ensuring he looks good," says Anil Kulkarni, business director, J K Helene Curtis. Saying something new A different positioning is paramount in a noisy space (heavy advertising in mainstream media). Vini Cosmetic's 18 +, the other deo brand that Patel had floated, has not done so well. Patel says, "It is about connecting with the consumer with an answer to their needs. did it with its 'no-gas' (more deodorant liquid for use) proposition and now we see a lot of other players claiming the same. With 18+, we were unable to offer such a sharp differentiation. There were 100 other more popular alternatives." One of the latest deodorant brands, Rover, by VEMB Retail (which had bought discount chain, Promart from Provogue), too wants to beat the stereotype by focusing on the moods of a multifaceted man and the identity to bind them all. Brand consultant, Alok Nanda, the MD of Alok Nanda & Company, says, "The boy-gets-girl theme has become generic with the category. Even then, many of the players treat the theme with an Indian flavour. Axe has been missing the connect with the audience because it has a cliched theme that has a predominantly international stance." While Patel has kept his spends high with Fogg, Park Avenue has not spent as much as competition, including Axe and Engage. "Park Avenue has done this (gain market share) without spending as much money as most of the others," says Kulkarni. Though, Park Avenue's spends are being increased by 30 per cent according to Kulkarni. After all, the other players are not letting up on their offensive. Patel says, "We will continue to invest for another year or two with high media spends. My share of voice has to be more than competition." recently ran its high-intensity campaign around the Axe boat party, and a veteran but smaller player, Nivea, has launched a new campaign with actor Arjun Rampal. Rover, is spending Rs 30 crore in its launch year, when it is not taking the bigwigs head-on, according to Punit Agarwal, MD, VEMB Retail. While Park Avenue has been addressing the working man since launch, Kulkarni says that one thing that a deodorant brand can not afford is lose relevance. Hence, the range undergoes a packaging refresh every two-three years and has atleast one new variant every year. The latest refresh has been to look contemporary and be "livelier, look younger", says Kulkarni. "In a lifestyle category, taste changes, the look and feel of the brand has to change too. The consumer wants to look good," says Kulkarni. A livelier packaging would help increase the deo brand's appeal for the first-jobber, who has graduated from college to looking sharp on the job. Nanda says, "It helps that Park Avenue talks to first-jobbers who has more disposable income than teenagers and hence, spell out consistent growth for the brand they buy into." Park Avenue's value market share has also been helped by the premium it retails at - Rs 10-20 to the existing brands, including Axe. It is now hedging its bet with two more packs, a bigger one for economy of use and a small, pocket one for those who are aspiring to try the brand but don't want to shell out as much. The brand reaches over 2.5 lakh outlets, and shares about 600-700 Park Avenue and Raymond apparel stores. Nanda says, "Park Avenue as a brand is becoming more interesting as it moves away from a hitherto dull image to introduce products like beer shampoos. The deo range has gained from it." The brand is also being diverisified into men's facewash with ingredients such as tomato and coffee. While the urban deo market was at Rs 2,077 crore in 2013-14, the overall market was worth Rs 2,320 core. Juan Guaido says he is president of Venezuela. So too, of course, does Nicolas Maduro, the authoritarian leader who has ruled the crisis-ravaged country since the death of his mentor Hugo Chavez six years ago. Guaido has the backing of the people, thousands of whom took to the streets Wednesday, along with a host of foreign governments, led by the US, Canada and Brazil, that recognised the congressman as the rightful head of state. But Maduro has control of the security forces, the military, the courts, the treasury coffers and the state oil giant. This makes Guaidos ... Potential U.S. sanctions on Venezuela's crude oil exports would cut off the nation from Gulf Coast refiners that are among its biggest customers, likely forcing it to send more crude to China, India or other Asian countries, traders said on Wednesday. U.S. refineries that depend on Venezuela's heavy crude would have even more trouble securing supplies as Canadian and Mexican crudes are often not as discounted and are limited in availability. The United States is considering moves to cripple Venezuela's oil shipments, which account for nearly all of the country's ... Leaders of Japan, South Africa, China and Germany issued a series of calls for global oversight of the tech sector, in a clear signal of growing international interest in seizing greater regulatory supervision of an industry led by the United States. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe of Japan said his country would use its chairmanship of the Group of 20 nations this year to push forward a new international system for the oversight of how data is used. Data governance will be the theme when the groups presidents and prime ministers gather in June in Osaka for their annual summit ... A top executive from Huawei Technologies Co Ltd being held in Canada can make "strong arguments" against extradition to the United States, in part due to President Donald Trump's politicisation of the case, Canada's ambassador to China said. Canadian envoy John McCallum's comments to Chinese-language media, which were broadcast on Wednesday, are the most explicit sign yet from a Canadian official that Meng Wanzhou, Huawei's chief financial officer, may not be sent to the United States. Meng was detained on Dec. 1 in Vancouver at the request of the United ... Airbus SE said it might be forced to move future investments out of the UK in the event of a no-deal divorce from the European Union, slamming the madness of Brexit supporters who assume the planemaker wont abandon Britain. If there is a no-deal Brexit, we at Airbus will have to make potentially very harmful decisions for the UK, said Chief Executive Officer Tom Enders, who has been among the most outspoken business leaders on the topic. Please dont listen to the Brexiteers madness which asserts that, because we have huge ... Dear Reader, Business Standard has always strived hard to provide up-to-date information and commentary on developments that are of interest to you and have wider political and economic implications for the country and the world. Your encouragement and constant feedback on how to improve our offering have only made our resolve and commitment to these ideals stronger. Even during these difficult times arising out of Covid-19, we continue to remain committed to keeping you informed and updated with credible news, authoritative views and incisive commentary on topical issues of relevance. We, however, have a request. As we battle the economic impact of the pandemic, we need your support even more, so that we can continue to offer you more quality content. Our subscription model has seen an encouraging response from many of you, who have subscribed to our online content. More subscription to our online content can only help us achieve the goals of offering you even better and more relevant content. We believe in free, fair and credible journalism. Your support through more subscriptions can help us practise the journalism to which we are committed. Support quality journalism and subscribe to Business Standard. Digital Editor The United States government is concerned about India's revised e-commerce regulations and has told officials in New Delhi the policy will hinder the Indian investment plans of Amazon.com and Walmart Inc, three sources familiar with the talks told Reuters. The tussle marks the latest in a number of US protests over Indian government policies which impact American companies and comes at a time when the two countries are trying to iron out other trade irritants. In 2017, the US lodged a written protest against India's decision to cap medical device prices, which upset American ... Jan 24, 2019 | By Cameron The Swiss Guard has provided security to the papacy since 1506 when they traveled to Rome to protect Pope Julius II. And for those five centuries, theyve worn the same metal helmets. But on Tuesday, the 513th anniversary of the Guards foundation, the Vatican showed off 98 of its modern 3D printed helmets. The new helmets that bear the coat of arms of Pope Julius II were 3D printed in PVC and then painted black at 3d-prototyp GmbH in Switzerland. Theyre significantly lighter than the original, which was 3D scanned to create the plastic version, at only 570g (1.25lb), compared with 2kg (4.4lb) for the metal helmet. Theyre also much cooler than the metal helmets, which would get so hot in Roman summers that theyd blister the ears of the guards. And to top it all off, the 3D printed helmets cost half as much as their heavy, blistering predecessors at around $1,000. "We have to move with the times," stated Guard commander Christoph Graf. The Vatican has ordered 22 more of the helmets to accommodate the 110 member Swiss Guard. Though these are for show and to be worn only during ceremonial events, it is likely the Guard will wear functional 3D printed armor in the future. Posted in 3D Printing Application Maybe you also like: Therese Warmus wrote at 2/16/2019 4:59:55 PM:Those "plonkers" wear flowing uniforms that conceal an impressive array of weaponry, including Glock pistols and submachine guns.The truth will out wrote at 1/26/2019 3:25:42 PM:"We have to move with the times" and yet you dress like absolute plonkers. The Ministry of Electronics and Technology is pushing to table the Personal Data Protection Bill in the upcoming Budget Session of the Parliament, two top officials have told Business Standard. "There is very little work left to be done. The Law Ministry has gone through it the last couple of weeks and they will be giving it a final okay in a day or two post which we will take it to the Cabinet. Once the Cabinet approves it, the Bill will be taken to the Parliament," said a government official on condition of anonymity. Another senior official also confirmed that the ... Vedanta Resources will invest up to Rs 60,000 crore ($8.42 billion) in India in the next three years, Chairman Anil Agarwal told TV channel ET Now. Vedanta, which is looking to expand its zinc business in India and Africa, is targeting a total annual global production of the metal of 2 million tonnes, Agarwal told ET Now. The oil-to-metals conglomerate, which operates in India through its unit Vedanta Ltd, plans to invest $3 billion in oil and gas, he said. The company is also looking to produce 1,400 tonnes of silver in India, he said, adding that he is also looking to set ... Renault's board will meet on Thursday to replace Chairman and Chief Executive Carlos Ghosn, in a move that could help ease tensions with alliance partner Nissan following Ghosn's arrest in Japan for alleged financial misconduct. The meeting will start at 0900 GMT and consider the proposed appointment of outgoing Michelin boss Jean-Dominique Senard as chairman and the promotion of Ghosn's deputy Thierry Bollore to CEO, three sources familiar with the matter have told Reuters. The French carmaker has confirmed an emergency board meeting is planned for Thursday, but ... Jan 24, 2019 | By Thomas Desktop Metal, a maker of 3D metal printing systems for commercial and industrial use, has raised $160 million in new funding led by Koch Disruptive Technologies (KDT), to advance the global commercialization of its metal 3D printing technology. Combined funding since its 2015 inception, now at $438 million, marks the largest total funding of any private 3D printing company to date. KDT is a subsidiary of Koch Industries, one of the largest privately-held companies in America with over $110 billion in annual revenues and an investor of more than $17 billion into technology companies in the last six years. KDT led the latest round, which also included participation from GV (formerly Google Ventures), Panasonic, and Techtronic Industries. Desktop Metals 3D printing solutions can redefine prototyping and mass production of metal products, which has profound disruptive implications for manufacturers like Koch Industries, said Chase Koch, president of Koch Disruptive Technologies. We are very bullish about the prospects of Desktop Metal, not just as an investor, but also as a customer and partner. Founded in 2015 by Ric Fulop, CEO, the Massachusetts startup Desktop Metal focused on 3D printing metal. Desktop Metals Studio System, marketed as the first office-friendly metal 3D printing system for rapid prototyping, is reportedly 10 times cheaper than existing technologies (it starts at $49,900). The Studio System comprises a metal 3D printer and a microwave-enhanced sintering furnace. Early customers of the Studio System include: Ford, Stanley Black and Decker, Goodyear, 3M, Googles ATAP, BMW, ProtoLabs, Owens Corning, L3, TerraPower, Medtronic, Continental AG, Applied Materials, TECT Aerospace, US Department of Defense, Department of Homeland Security, MITRE and leading educational institutions such as MIT, University of Texas, Texas A&M and Diman Regional Vocational Technical High School, the nations first high school to install a metal 3D printer. This fuel atomizer was created for John Zink Hamworthy Combustion, a Koch company, by Desktop Metal's 3D printing process. It is used in liquid natural gas transport to help propel ships. The higher-end Production System, for its part, is touted as the only 3D printing system for mass production of high resolution metal parts. This system, based off of Desktop Metals patented Single Pass Jetting (SJP) technology, is said to be 100 times faster than existing laser-based metal 3D printers. These systems are designed to print a broad range of alloys, including reactive metals such as titanium and aluminum. The technology is being adopted by major Fortune 500 companies and initial systems will begin shipping commercially in Q1 2019. We are at a critical juncture in the advancement of metal 3D printing and additive manufacturing, said Fulop. This new funding will fuel the continued development of our metal 3D printing technology and rich product roadmap, the scaling of operations to meet a growing demand of orders, and the financing of major new research and development initiatives. Combined, this will set us on a trajectory to become a global leader in metal 3D printing, a key pillar of Industry 4.0. Posted in 3D Printer Company Maybe you also like: UPDATED After several years of controversy and backlash, student state test scores could soon no longer be a mandatory part of teacher evaluations in New York. The state legislature passed a bill on Wednesday that would make the use of state test scores in these evaluations optional, leaving the decision about what assessments to use up to districts and making it subject to collective bargaining. The bill now heads to Gov. Andrew Cuomos desk. If passed, this law would be the final step in a yearslong process of walking back the mandate for state test-based teacher evaluations. The Empire state isnt alone in its recent resistance to test-driven measures of teacher effectiveness. Over the past few years, a small group of states have been stepping away from this particular metric . Alaska, Arkansas, Kansas, Kentucky, North Carolina, and Oklahoma have all reversed rules that required student-growth measures to be included in the evaluation process. In New York, though, assessments wont be removed from the performance review process entirelyabout 40-50 percent of evaluations are tied to student growth measures, which include other tests. In 2015, Governor Cuomo approved a budget deal that required the state to create a new teacher-evaluation system one that had to include students state test scores, as well as teacher observations. The unions responded with fierce pushback, and many parents decided to opt-out their children from the test that spring. (New York was one of many states that had been implementing these test data-driven evaluations at the time, in response to the Obama administrations Race to the Top program. The competitive program, which began in 2009, offered incentives to states that included student-performance data in their teacher-assessment systems.) Later that year, the New York Board of Regents, which oversees education in the state and presides over the education department, voted to delay the implementation of the new evaluation system . A panel created by the governor to advise New Yorks adoption of the Common Core State Standards had suggested the waiting period. Until the state had fully phased in the new standards, the panel argued , teachers shouldnt face consequences for students scores. As a result, the state placed a moratorium on including these test scores in teacher evaluations until the 2019-20 school year. Districts had some flexibility in designing evaluation systems, which could include local assessments. Because teachers in New York had been working under the Board of Regents moratorium through the end of this past school year, the bill likely wont bring about dramatic changes to their assessment processes. And before this legislation passed the state Senate and Assembly, the Board of Regents had been planning on extending the suspension period for another year, Chalkbeat reported . The extra time would have allowed the board to revise the teacher-evaluation system, T. Andrew Brown, a vice chancellor of the Board of Regents, told Chalkbeat. In passing the bill, the legislature headed off any decision by the board. While we applaud the Regents for hearing the voices of teachers and parents, and we look forward to working with them, as legislators, today we are doing what we are charged to do to make the necessary changes in state law that are long overdue, Sen. Shelley Mayer, a Democrat and the chair of the New York State Senate Committee on Education, said on Wednesday. With this bill, we finally begin to acknowledge that children and the learning process cannot be captured in a single test and that the results of those tests were not and could not be accurate measures of a teachers performance, she said. The New York state teachers union applauded the bill. Now, we have consensus on the need to fix this system, said New York State United Teachers President Andy Pallotta, in a statement Wednesday. We look forward to making sure this bill is signed into law immediately, and we will continue to advocate for a meaningful assessment system for New York students that will measure student progress more accurately and address the concerns raised by teachers and parents alike. But critics of the bill have said that it doesnt go far enough to eliminate testing from evaluations. Some measure of student performance will still be used as part of teacher assessment, and districts could choose to use state tests. This absolutely doesnt remove standardized testing from the evaluation system, Jeanette Deutermann, the chief organizer of Long Island Opt Out, a parent and educator network, told Newsday . Clarification: This post has been updated to clarify what components are required in New York teacher evaluations. Image: Getty Pharmaceuticals has received a tentative nod from the US health regulator for Topiramate extended release capsules, used to treat certain types of seizures. The approved product is a generic version of Upsher-Smith Laboratories, LLC's QUDEXY XR extended release capsules. Pharmaceuticals Inc USA has been granted tentative approval by the Food and Drug Administration for Topiramate extended release capsules in the strength of 25 mg, 50 mg, 100 mg, 150 mg and 200 mg, the company said in a BSE filing on Thursday. Quoting IQVIA sales data for the 12-month period ended November 2018, Pharmaceuticals said, QUDEXY XR extended release capsules market achieved annual sales of approximately $84 million. The company's current portfolio consists of 148 products authorised for distribution in the US market and 54 abbreviated new drug applications (ANDAs) pending approval with the Shares of were trading 1.02 per cent higher at Rs 656.10 apiece on the BSE. Dear Reader, Business Standard has always strived hard to provide up-to-date information and commentary on developments that are of interest to you and have wider political and economic implications for the country and the world. Your encouragement and constant feedback on how to improve our offering have only made our resolve and commitment to these ideals stronger. Even during these difficult times arising out of Covid-19, we continue to remain committed to keeping you informed and updated with credible news, authoritative views and incisive commentary on topical issues of relevance. We, however, have a request. As we battle the economic impact of the pandemic, we need your support even more, so that we can continue to offer you more quality content. Our subscription model has seen an encouraging response from many of you, who have subscribed to our online content. More subscription to our online content can only help us achieve the goals of offering you even better and more relevant content. We believe in free, fair and credible journalism. Your support through more subscriptions can help us practise the journalism to which we are committed. Support quality journalism and subscribe to Business Standard. Digital Editor Where we dined this week... Chopsuey PS.Cafe's Chopsuey's touted for the Westerner's intepretation of Chinese cuisine, which can mean very little to the majority of Asians in our city who grew up on our mothers' home cooking. But before you proceed to write off the charming restaurant in Dempsey, know this they do a mean Chinese New Year feast. And apart from its colonial-meets-modern radiance, Chopsuey could very well be a Chinese establishment. A yusheng platter here isn't any different from what we have been accustomed to; just embellished with superfoods like kale, blueberries, wild rice and a refreshing calamansi dressing spiked with Japanese vinegar. Those who love their ribs, their white pepper espresso rendition will not disappoint. While it was slightly too deep-fried for our liking, the piquant rub on the meat made up for it. For real sustenance, order their claypot fried rice and you'll be happily sated. The real hero came in the form of a fresh atlantic halibut, adorned with chives while revealing a bed of greens glazed with the wok-hei effect. Hands down, the winning dish on the table. We're even sure this one would get Mum's stamp of approval. And if that doesn't do the trick, the heartening bowl of ginger root tea and black sesame rice balls will definitely do. JS Block 10, Dempsey Road, #01-23, Tel: 9224 6611 Opening hours: (Mon-Fri) 11.30am-11pm, (Sat-Sun) 10.30am-11pm Folklore It's always feels like home at Folklore and I'm not even Peranakan. With unfailing consistency of bringing the most piquant flavours together, chef Damian D'Silva celebrates Chinese New Year just like how he was trained to as a kid. Cue an amazing feast. This year, he ropes in an uncommon vegetable into a dish Sayur Beremi where the Indonesian-grown plant comes together with a cold savoury broth stemming from prawn stock, chillies, tamarind and local spices. For those who are familiar with the Drumstick (which unlike its moniker, isn't actually poultry but a gourd), Chef Damian cooks it to its best potential alongside pork ribs in a thickened coconut milk gravy. Sparking a poetic notion to foster togetherness, a build-your-own popiah set is available at your family's disposal. In this set, you'll find hand-shredded turnip (more plump than the usual), bamboo shoots, pork belly and other essential condiments. The skins are also handmade and to our delight, eggy in flavour. Of course, you can't leave without the Peranakan mee siam. In this bowl, the heady paste makes up most of the dish credited to the wonders of onions, chillies, shallots and candlenuts; alongside vermicelli, that's first fried with the thick mixture then forming a tantalising broth. Sweet, spicy, tangy and so much more definitely get tissues on standby. JS 700 Beach Rd, Level 2 Destination Singapore Opening hours: 12pm-2.30pm, 6pm-9.30pm Yan Ting Here's a place your in-laws would be chuffed with. Yan Ting at St Regis Singapore presents a bountiful spread, obviously beginning from the yusheng platter. This plate is decked with Norwegian salmon, pomelo, winter melon, peach, dried mandarin orange, yam; and doused with a sweet, yet balanced dressing. A big fan of pen cai? The version at Yan Ting features a huge pot of exquisite delicacies from fa cai (black moss) to sea cucumber. Definitely a good option for huge families. Everything is done in good traditional fashion here with creations like fish maw soup serving up a good bowl of comfort. With that, include a generous pour of black vinegar and your stomach will thank you. Their ee-fu noodles get a luxe upgrade, from the usual suspects of bite-sized crabmeat and chicken strips to the surprise element of a huge lobster pincer. Hands down, our favourite dish from the menu. We also renewed our love vows with their pan-fried nian gao, accompanied with a bowl of almond tea and a supposed Asian secret to good luminous skin peach gum. In that case, more servings please. JS 29 Tanglin Road, The St. Regis Singapore, Level 1U Opening hours: 12pm-2.30pm, 6.30pm-10.30pm Ding Dong If there is one thing to look forward to in the Year of the Pig, it is every restaurant's obsession with the animal. Ding Dong is no exception with a Chinese New Year menu aptly called 'Piggin' Out' featuring a full set of pork dishes with familiar Asian flavors that are particularly close to home. Head chef Miller Mai's well-loved Thai grilled pork collar from the main menu made an encore appearance on the CNY menu, and it was an instant show-stopper. We loved the tender pieces of meat with charred bits, while paired with a sweet-spicy dipping sauce that elevated the dish. Another menu to look out for is the 'Not So Lonely Planet' series where classic dishes of Southeast Asia (namely Malaysia, Thailand and Myanmar) are reinvented under chef Mai's midas touch. Standouts include the Burmese tomato fish curry from Myanmar which unveiled a flaky cod fillet doused in deftly cooked gravy. The take on Malaysia's otah was also divine; a blend of seafood custard topped with crispy fish skin and kaffir lime. It brought back blurry flashbacks of a fan-holding uncle watching over the charcoal fire. Instead of the usual cocktail pairing, chef Miller introduces Asian mocktails such as the Chesube a refreshing drink concocted with elderflower cordial, lemongrass and honey. If you love Thai milk tea, order the Siam Dreams in our opinion, a close match to your favourite matcha latte but made lighter and more aromatic with the addition of earl grey and coconut juice. CC 115 Amoy St, Tel: 6557 0189 Opening hours: (Mon-Sat) 12pm-3pm, 6pm-12am, Closed on Sundays table65 Filling the empty void of Joel Robuchon's 3-Michelin restaurant, Richard van Oostenbrugge's table65 presents a far more casual mien losing the hermetic opulent interior for a stainless steel open kitchen surrounded with front-facing high chairs. You won't find an impressive line-up of cutlery according to height here, they're all cleverly hidden in your own drawer. Plot twist: a homogenous set of fork, knives and spoons just so you wouldn't need to overthink which size to decide on for each altering course. The dining experience does get a touch of drama with visual light projections on selected courses. Let's just say illustrious content for your Instagram Stories. The amuse bouche, was underwhelming at best. That we'll skip, and proceed to the myriad of bluefin plates that followed after. Cold plates of tomato consomme jelly and marinated sardines, cured mackerel with a tart vinaigrette and lastly a smoked horsemackerel with passionfruit ceviche, coconut cream and calamansi emulsion. All three dishes had the salty sea brine coupled with sour bold flavours, and only the last one stood out with the piquant use of coconut. Winning dish? Well, Toh Thye San duck that saved the day; a charming cut of the juicy protein (with just enough fat-skin ratio) paired with a nutty sauce of mole madre and blueberry aigre-doux. JS 8 Sentosa Gateway, Hotel Michael, Level 1 (Opposite Lake of Dreams), Tel: 6577 7939 Opening hours: 6.30pm-10.30pm, closed on Tues and Wed What's new in Singapore... Chi Kinjo You can get the authentic local Japanese Izakaya exeprience in Telok Ayer all thanks to Chi Kinjo that serves up creative offerings exploring the boundaries between traditional and modern concepts. Have your sushi with a sip of cocktail or two did we mention about the wall of extensive Japanese alcohol on display in their highball den? 29 Stanley St, Tel: 6221 3665 Opening hours: 5pm-12am, closed on Sundays Pacifica by Junior Pocket bar Junior has redecorated, yet again. This time, with a newly launched concept named Pacifica. Inspired by authentic Tiki traditions, the bar menu rolls out drinks like the Zombie, a potent mix of aged demerara, rich venezuela and overproof rums. Let's just say, we're eager to sit in one of the ten seats in this little bar. 43 Tanjong Pagar Rd, Tel: 8121 1462 Opening hours: 6pm-12am, closed on Sundays Jan 24, 2019 | By Cameron Materials with dichroic properties go back at least as far back as the 4th century when the Lycurgus Cup was (likely accidentally) made, a glass vessel that appears opaque green when lit from the front and translucent red when lit from behind. The effect is caused by elongated gold and silver nanoparticles that reflect some wavelengths of light while transmitting others, though the maker of the Lycurgus Cup probably didnt know that and was merely adding the metallic powders to make the glass extra shiny. But Vittorio Saggiomo and colleagues from Wageningen University in the Netherlands did understand the cause of the optical effect when they developed a method of 3D printing with gold nanoparticles to create objects with dichroic properties. The researchers started with creating a dichroic solution using a modified version of the Turkevich method that reduces gold ions to gold nanoparticles using a citrate. The solution undergoes multiple temporary color changes, initially from yellow to blue, and then after a couple minutes, it shifts to a dark black before finally settling on the dichroic opaque brown/transparent purple. The paper states: The time-dependent study shows the formation of small gold nuclei that in time cluster together forming nanowire-like structures concomitant to the first-color change. The second change of color, from ink-black to purple, is accompanied by an enhancement of the scattering, giving the purple solution a brown reflection. While boiling, the gold nanowires fragment, creating nanoparticles with a large head and a slim and long tail, comparable to a tadpole. Over time the tail starts to shrink. They then infused the dichroic gold nanoparticle solution into polyvinyl alcohol (PVA), a plastic commonly used for producing supports on 3D prints as it dissolves in water. That plastic was extruded into filament that can be used on any standard FDM 3D printer (in this case an Ultimaker 2). Parts 3D printed in the material look brown with light shining on the front, but put a light behind it and it goes to a transparent purple. The effect imbued by the Turkevich method is a well-studied phenomenon. Its one of those lovely occurrences that happens where physics and chemistry meet. Joining the light-bending effect with 3D printing will certainly bring some new attention to the old trick, especially since only a tiny amount of gold nanoparticles is necessary to achieve the result. Besides finding appeal among artists, dichroic plastics could be used to 3D print optics and sensors. They wouldnt be the first 3D printed lenses. Posted in 3D Printing Application Maybe you also like: Larry wrote at 1/24/2019 6:55:45 PM:This is super interesting, but have you heard of a guy named Bill Masters? I recently read an article on OZY about how Masters developed the first 3D printing patent - then lost it. Anyone know anything about this? Here it is for reference: https://www.ozy.com/flashback/and-he-could-have-been-the-father-of-3d-printing/81198#.WeXu6REalHI.twitter Since the desire is for Svetochka and I to travel to China and some other exciting spots around the world, is nearby. I had to renew my passport. When you travel to other countries, you must have enough time left on your passport and enough pages to get stamps as you cross borders. China asks and demands at least 6 months of time left before expiration of your passport and Russia the same. So It was time to step onto little America I will post about all this experience later after I get my new passport. It has already been interesting and the process in the US Russian consulate has changed a whole bunch. The last time I traipsed the door steps of the US Consulate in Moscow, Russia was many years ago and this experience was not the same Therefore, Svetochka and I wondered into the heart of Moscow. Here are some images of our trip It was fun, but nice to get home to our flat Moscow has Too Many Bears on Unicycles WtR Sign up for our PoliticsNY newsletter for the latest coverage and to stay informed about the 2021 elections in your district and across NYC 72nd Precinct Sunset ParkWindsor Terrace Deaf blow Cops are hunting the three goons who beat and robbed a hearing-impaired man on 62nd Street on Jan. 13. The victim told police the crooks jumped him near Seventh Avenue at 9:30 pm, one of them grabbing him in a chokehold, while his buddies grabbed $190 from his pockets, before leaping into a waiting car and peeling off. The victims hearing aid fell from his ear at some point during the assault, and he wasnt able to recover it, cops said. Lucky break Gunmen robbed two women doped up on ketamine at a 58th Street gambling den on Jan. 14. The victims told police they were both on the drug at the illegal house of chance near Seventh Avenue at 12:55 am, when the pair of gun-toting bandits burst into a back room demanding cash. The crooks nabbed $280, along with an iPhone 7, a Galaxy Samsung 3, and a Canada Goose jacket, before hopping into a white car parked outside and speeding off, according to police The victims, who police described as highly uncooperative, were unable to provide a good description of the robbers, cops said. Mini crime A burglar ransacked a Sixth Avenue mini mart on Jan. 21, taking pre-paid phone cards and the cash register. The victim told police the crooks smashed a window leading into the market between 56th and 57th streets at 2:30 am, before nabbing their cash and valuables, and fleeing. Nice kicks! Three crooks nabbed shoes and a cellphone off a man inside a Fourth Avenue apartment building on Jan. 20. The victim told police he went to meet one of the thieves inside the building between 63rd and 64th streets at 9:35 pm, when the scoundrel and his two buddies held him at knifepoint, before grabbing his stuff. Run down Cops arrested two men for allegedly beating and robbing a 31-year-old man on Sixth Avenue on Jan. 20. The victim told police one of the suspects cold-cocked him on 53rd Street at 12:20 am, before grabbing his hat and headphones, and taking off down Sixth Avenue. The man gave chase, following them into a nearby building and cornering them in an apartment, where police found and arrested them on a felony robbery charge. Colin Mixson Sign up for our PoliticsNY newsletter for the latest coverage and to stay informed about the 2021 elections in your district and across NYC 78th Precinct Park Slope Brutal assault Police arrested a Department of Education employee for allegedly assaulting his girlfriend inside her Eighth Avenue home in Park Slope on Jan. 7. The victim, 32, told police her boyfriend, who works at a school in Manhattan, was trying to look at her cellphone, when he cornered her in the bathroom of her apartment between 12th and 13th streets at 9:55 pm, before cursing at her, slapping the phone from her hand, and then elbowing her in the face. Cops arrested the suspect that night, charging him with misdemeanor assault, according to police. City education officials immediately suspended the suspect without pay upon receiving notice of the allegations, according to spokesman Doug Cohen. The victim suffered bruising and swelling as a result of the attack, cops said. Have a glass! Cops cuffed a 34-year-old woman for allegedly breaking a glass cup over a mans head inside a Fifth Avenue diner on Jan. 10. The victim told police the woman attacked him inside the eatery between Union and President streets at 9:10 pm, when the suspect broke the cup over his head and then slashed him with a piece of glass. Police arrested the suspect on a felony assault charge that day, cops said. Paramedics rushed the victim to Methodist Hospital, where he was treated for multiple lacerations, according to police. Hit and run Some jerk rear-ended a womans car parked on Flatbush Avenue on Jan. 5, before fleeing the scene. The victim told police she left her 2005 Infiniti G between St. Marks Avenue and Prospect Place at 8 pm, and returned the next morning to find the rear end of her car crumpled. Shopping spree Police arrested a 47-year-old man for allegedly stealing an estimated $600 worth of merchandise from a Flatbush Avenue chain store on Jan. 7. An employee told police he spotted the suspect attempting to slink past the register with a small fortunes worth of stuff from the store near Atlantic Avenue at 10:30 pm. Cops cuffed the man that day on petty larceny charges, according to police. Colin Mixson Sign up for our PoliticsNY newsletter for the latest coverage and to stay informed about the 2021 elections in your district and across NYC Theyre keeping his dream alive. Brooklynites packed a Fort Greene theater to honor the late civil-rights leader Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., on his eponymous federal holiday. The trailblazing activist who fought to make the country more equitable for all its residents is often remembered for his peaceful, courageous acts but those are only part of Kings legacy, according to Mayor DeBlasio, who noted his efforts constantly forced him to confront the worst in society in order to make it better. I would argue you see a very different vision of what Dr. King was about than the actual one. You see, what I might call, a sanitized vision, Hizzoner said during the Monday ceremony inside Brooklyn Academy of Musics Howard Gilman Opera House. Dr. King was not just about Kumbaya and everyone get along. Sure, he believed that equality was how we learned to get along, and how we had a platform to get along, but it was not just everyone love each other, were okay, leave the status quo the way it is. He was quite clear that the entire status quo was unacceptable. Other speakers at the 33rd-annual tribute to King included the founder of the Me Too movement against sexual harassment and assault, Tarana Burke, the citys First Lady Chirlane McCray, Rep. Hakeem Jeffries (DFort Greene), District Attorney Eric Gonzalez, and Councilwoman Laurie Cumbo (DFort Greene), who noted that Kings ideology resonates as strongly in todays charged political climate as it did when he started preaching it more than 50 years ago, before he was shot and killed while rallying to support Tennessee sanitation workers in 1968. His teachings are as relevant today, as they were years ago, said Cumbo. Few have done what he has done to foster equality in our country. Sign up for our PoliticsNY newsletter for the latest coverage and to stay informed about the 2021 elections in your district and across NYC Jesse was 18-years-old when he first overdosed on heroin at a friends apartment. I remember waking up with paramedics around me. I remember my throw-up on his glass table, and his mom screaming, wondering what was going on. For some reason, I was not scared. I didnt think I had died, I thought it was just part of the high, said the now 23-year-old, who requested his last name be withheld so he could speak freely about his addiction and its aftermath. Jesse found out later that paramedics who rushed to the scene gave him the life-saving narcotic Narcan, a brand of Naloxone, which is usually administered as a nasal spray and quickly counteracts opioid overdoses. It was the first time he had ever taken heroin, a highly addictive opioid, but not his first experience with the class of drug abused by so many people that the federal government in 2017 declared the issue a public-health emergency. Three years earlier, at 15-years-old, Jesse got hooked on the prescription painkiller Oxycontin while still in high school. His near-death experience didnt keep him off heroin for long, however, and he quickly returned to chasing the high, he said. That same night, I ended up doing heroin again, within maybe an hour of getting Narcanned, Jesse said. This is something that felt right to me and took me to a place that I never wanted to leave. The young man who is now off opioids and more than two years into an addiction-recovery program turned to drugs in his early teens, after he, his mother, and his sister moved to Sheepshead Bay to escape his abusive father, he said. Following his familys move, Jesse fell in with what he called the wrong crowd, whose many older members introduced him to marijuana, booze, and Xanax, he said. But he didnt think twice of the company he kept at the time, assuming his new groups live-fast lifestyle was just a part of being a teenager. At 13, for some reason I thought it was normal to be going out every weekend, not going to school, getting high on a daily basis. It was fun for me and it was something I thought was normal and seemed right, he said. Two years later, his friends introduced him to another group of people who got him into prescription opioids and sent his already tumultuous life careening off track. Thats when my whole world collapsed. I stopped going to school and dropped out. I started finding more ways to get the drugs I wanted. It was an adventure, it wasnt even an addiction, it was something I was constantly chasing, I was constantly chasing the same thing that I got the first time, and I never seemed to get it, he said. Jesses downward spiral continued until he got busted on a couple of burglary charges and landed in jail, where he met the friend and fellow addict who introduced him to heroin whose house he would later almost die in on the night of his first overdose. Hes not alone Stories like Jesses have become all too familiar in the borough and across New York City over the last decade. In 2017, 1,487 city residents died from unintentional drug overdoses 62 more than in 2016, marking the seventh year in a row that overdose deaths increased citywide, according to the Department of Healths most recent annual statistics. More than eight out of every ten of those deaths involved an opioid, with the synthetic pharmaceutical opioid Fentanyl which the agency says is 50 to 100 times stronger than morphine, and often mixed with other drugs such as cocaine accounting for 842 overdose deaths that year, followed by heroin and cocaine, the data shows. Some 359 of those who died by overdoses were from Brooklyn, which counted the second-highest number of such deaths in 2017, with only the Bronx home to more. Together, Coney Island, Brighton Beach, Manhattan Beach, and Jesses home of Sheepshead Bay racked up higher-than-average overdose deaths that year, with an average of 22.3 fatal incidents occurring among every 100,000 residents of those neighborhoods, compared to an average of 21.2 deaths among every 100,000 residents of other neighborhoods citywide, the statistics show. Other neighborhoods with above-average overdose death rates include Williamsburg, Bushwick, and East New York. The Health Departments provisional figures for the first half of 2018 show that overdose-death rates are similar to those in 2017, but the number is likely to increase due to standard delays in determining some causes of deaths, according to a researcher with the agency. Theres always a lag because of toxicology, they need to confirm if it was an opioid overdose or not, said Denise Paone, the director of research and development in the agencys Bureau of Alcohol and Drug Use. Reclaiming his life Following his burglary bust, Jesse faced more time in jail because drug tests he took on visits with his parole officer kept coming back positive. But his lawyer offered him a way out, he said, by suggesting he enter rehab. He said, Listen youre facing a lot of time in jail, but knowing that you keep coming up dirty at your probation officer, you obviously need help and guidance, you need an opportunity, Jesse said. The attorney advised his client to enroll in a rehab program with Dynamic Youth Community, which helps 16- to 25-year-olds recover from alcohol and substance addiction through group and family therapy, counseling, and vocational and educational training at facilities in Sheepshead Bay and upstate. Jesse ultimately left Brooklyn to spend a year at the organizations upstate facility a crucial move, according to Dynamic Youth Communitys intake director, who said getting people in recovery out of their traditional environments for an extended period of time is critical to breaking their addictions. Getting clean is one challenge, staying clean is really another. And we have a way to get people out of the city, said Marina Nakhla. He followed his time upstate with three local six-month outpatient-aftercare programs the first of which required him to visit Dynamic Youth Communitys Sheepshead Bay center on Coney Island Avenue five days a week, with the second requiring thrice-weekly visits, and the third, which he is currently finishing up, requiring once-weekly visits. During his time in rehab, Jesse attended counseling sessions with his peers and his family, while helping out with jobs at both the local and upstate centers, where he also spent time studying to get his General Education Development diploma. He received his fair share of support from fellow addicts, according to Nakhla, who said program participants can forge deep connections over their often shared experiences. Theyre able to relate with and support each other as theyre coming into treatment, they really understand each other, she said. And Jesse credited that support with helping him overcome insecurities and fears related to his treatment. All the guidance and help that I got through my peers, knowing that I have help, through my family, and everybody thats been there for me. I would be there and wake up every day with a purpose, whether its going to work, going to Dynamic, I feel like I have a purpose, he said. A battle not yet won The citys response to the opioid crisis has focused primarily on harm-reduction measures, including efforts to substitute more addictive strains of the drug with less harmful opioids such as Buprenorphine or Methadone, abstinence-based rehabilitation, referrals to clean needle-exchange programs, and Naloxone trainings which leaders of the local public-hospital system and Borough President Adams have hosted across the borough. And last May, Mayor DeBlasio announced his intention to open one of the countrys first government-sanctioned safe-injection facilities where addicts can shoot up under the supervision of professionals in Boerum Hill. But the scheme, which also calls for opening similar facilities in the Bronx and Manhattan, hit a standstill shortly after he revealed it, because it requires a green light from Gov. Cuomo, who has shown no signs of issuing his approval. Jesse, meanwhile, now works a full-time job while finishing up the last of his six-month outpatient programs with Dynamic Youth Community, which will wrap in early summer. And he plans to go to college after completing rehab, with the goal of becoming a teacher something he would never have aspired to were it not for his grueling addiction experience and subsequent rehabilitation, he said. Every day I think that Im not dead and life is just great, he said. And theres not one day that I would want to go back to the way things were. If you or someone you know suffers from opioid addiction, contact the Department of Health by phone at (888) NYCWELL, via text by messaging WELL to 65173, or online at nycwell.cityofnewyork.us, to find a treatment provider near you. Reach reporter Kevin Duggan at (718) 2602511 or by e-mail at kdugg an@sc hneps media.com . Follow him on Twitter @kduggan16. Under Maduro, however, Venezuela - once the wealthiest country per capita in South America - has slipped toward the status of a failed state, sending millions of starving citizens pouring out of the country in search of food, medicines and jobs. In a tweet sent Thursday, the United States requested a meeting of the UN Security Council for Saturday to discuss the Venezuelan crisis. A woman walks past graffiti that says in Spanish: "Get out Maduro. Usurper," referring to President Nicolas Maduro in Caracas. Credit:AP It also appeared likely Thursday that much of the US staff would be withdrawn from the country amid the escalating tensions. "It is almost certain that ordered departure instructions will be issued today, to allow the beginning of movement of non-essential personnel and dependents," said John Feeley, a prominent US expert on Latin American and ex-ambassador to Panama, who currently serves as a Univision political consultant. The US Embassy is already working with a relatively small staff, since the Venezuelan government has not approved visas for additional diplomats for some time, officials said. The scene outside US Embassy in Caracas, normally abuzz with visa applicants, was eerily quiet, with embassy guards firmly preventing most access. The embassy issued a bulletin calling on staff to keep their children home from school, confine themselves to two suburbs in the capital and avoid any public demonstrations. Anti-government protesters show a sign that reads in Spanish "Guaido President of Venezuela" after a rally demanding the resignation of President Nicolas Maduro in Caracas, Venezuela. Credit:AP The embassy said it would remain open for US citizens needing "emergency services," but cancelled most visa appointments for Venezuelans. People leaving the embassy early Thursday said the situation inside appeared normal. Yet the Trump administration's decision to keep the embassy open in defiance of Maduro amounted a risky gambit, effectively turning them into pawns in what is now an unpredictable international crisis. Some US officials expressed concern that by ignoring Maduro's demand that all US personnel vacate Venezuela in 72 hours, Pompeo was putting the lives and wellbeing of US officials in jeopardy. "It's a volatile situation with a desperate man trying to cling to power. No one can presume to know how this will play out," said a State Department official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorised to speak to the press. Juan Guaido has claimed the presidency of Venezuela. Credit:Bloomberg The State Department did not respond to a request for comment. Experts said Pompeo's refusal to comply with Maduro's order is unique in State Department history. Loading "I can't ever remember diplomats refusing an order to leave by the host government, which is sovereign," said Ronald Neumann, the president of the American Academy of Diplomacy. "Security is supposed to be the responsibility of the host government, and that's generally who embassies rely on for security." One official at the embassy, Scott Smith, posted publicly on Facebook that concern should be focused on the Venezuelan people, who are facing a severe humanitarian crisis as food and medicines have grown scarce and repression has increased. "Until the moment they force me to leave this beautiful place, I will do whatever I can - even if it's the smallest of acts - to support these brave people and help them regain their voices," Smith said in his Facebook post. "No one deserves what has been rained down upon them and I for one am proud to say that I will stand beside them - defiantly - until the end." Yet collective pressure from the United States and a host of regional nations including Brazil, Argentina and Colombia to force Maduro out has given new lift to the opposition, which brought hundreds of thousands of protesters into the streets this week. The domestic and international campaigns have severely weakened Maduro, presenting him with the most serious challenge to his rule since he took office in 2013 following the death of his mentor, leftist firebrand Hugo Chavez. Guaido, the new leader of the opposition-controlled National Assembly, is challenging the government's deadly security forces by declaring himself interim president. "This highlights the enormous risks of having parallel governments," said Michael Shifter, president of the Inter-American Dialogue, a Washington-based think tank. "The situation has put the US and the embassy staff in a very difficult position. If the diplomats do not leave, they could face considerable danger. Yes, it could get ugly. And yet, if they do leave, that would deflate Guaido." Venezuelans went through a tense night as spontaneous protests erupted throughout slums in the central, eastern and western sectors of the capital. The nonprofit Venezuelan Observatory of Social Conflict registered protests in 70 suburbs, all of which were met with tear gas and rubber bullets. One death overnight was added to the toll of 11 protesters killed on Wednesday. All of the victims were hit by gunshots. "Normally in poor sectors there are protests asking for basic services like water or gas, but what we're seeing now is that they're coming out to back the opposition's agenda and urge Maduro to resign," said Marco Antonio Ponce, head of the observatory. "The escalation of violence and the military and police presence across Caracas and interior cities is evident." Dozens of injured people flooded Caracas hospitals, and in many areas, people looted supermarkets, bakeries and liquor stores. In some districts, confrontations between armed civilians and security forces were reported. Grenade explosions could be heard in the city centre and the eastern slum of Petare, as security forces sought to contain protests and targeted protesters' homes. Yet there were signs Thursday that Maduro's inner circle may feel restrained from unleashing the full force of the nation's security apparatus against the opposition. In comments to the press in Caracas, Maduro's defence minister, Vladimir Padrino Lopez, denounced Guaido as "dangerous" and said a coup was being launched to unseat the "legitimate" ruler, Maduro. But he also avoided bellicose statements against the opposition and called for a national dialogue. "I appreciate as a soldier that all governments should seek balance, rationality, and encourage dialogue," he said. "That's what we support. We do not support war." Pompeo on Thursday urged the Organization of American States to replace Maduro's representatives with ones named by Guaido, and to officially recognise him as the interim president. The crisis has erupted with a speed that has shocked many observers, who saw Maduro as likely to cling to power following elections last year that were internationally condemned as a fraudulent power grab. But his swearing-in on January 10 brought a firmer response from the Trump administration, which has thrown its backing behind Guaido's surprisingly formidable bid to unseat Maduro. Venezuela's strategic importance as a nation harbouring the world's largest oil reserves and as a socialist ally of Russia, China and Cuba gave the crisis here an immediate global dynamic. Russia, the source of billions of dollars in loans to Venezuela, insisted that Maduro remains the legitimate president and slammed the US approach. Russian officials and pro-Kremlin lawmakers said that Venezuela - after Iraq, Libya, Ukraine and Syria - was becoming the latest victim of global US efforts to foment regime change in violation of international norms. U.S. recognition of Guaido was aimed at "deepening the split in Venezuelan society, increasing conflict in the streets, and fundamentally destabilising the domestic political situation and further escalating the conflict," the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement. A spokesman for Russian President Vladimir Putin said that "attempts to usurp the power in Venezuela are illegitimate and contradict international law." But some of Putin's domestic critics, who have long seen Russia's engagement in Venezuela as an example of Kremlin overreach abroad, welcomed US support for Guaido. Opposition leader Alexei Navalny on Twitter praised Trump's recognition of the National Assembly leader and predicted that Maduro would soon move into a lavish villa in an elite district in Moscow The Chinese, who have also propped up Maduro, appeared to offer more tepid backing. Hua Chunying, a Foreign Ministry spokeswoman, said that "external sanctions and interference often complicate the situation." Asked repeatedly whether China recognises Maduro, she simply stated that "on January 10 this year, President Maduro opened a new term, and many countries and international organisations including China attended the inauguration ceremony." She added that China hopes that the Venezuelan sides could resolve "political differences through dialogue and consultation." Kushner, who referred a request for comment to the White House, has told Trump advisers that he has solid relationships with several Democrats, such as Senate Minority Whip Richard Durbin of Illinois, and that he can sell a compromise to moderate Democrats and Republicans with whom he built a rapport while working on the criminal-justice bill. But a number of key Senate Democrats, including Senator Joe Manchin of West Virginia, haven't heard from Kushner in weeks, aides say. And aides to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer, say he has played no role in their discussions to reopen the government. Loading Replay Replay video Play video Play video "He is totally a nonentity," one senior Democratic aide said. White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said Kushner "has already successfully helped negotiate deals" such as the trade agreement with Mexico and Canada and criminal justice reform, "so it's no wonder the President asked him to join the negotiating team to work on a deal to open the government and secure our border". Trump's offer in a speech last weekend - to trade temporary protections for young undocumented immigrants and others for $US5.7 billion for border wall funding - had Kushner's imprint, White House officials said, reflecting his push for a "big deal" to end the shutdown. The proposal is expected to fail in a Senate vote on Thursday. Lawmakers in both parties have been careful to avoid directly criticising Kushner. But they have also been blunt about the real estate heir's limited sway in crafting an accord among seasoned lawmakers as hundreds of thousands of federal workers go without pay cheques. Republican Senator Lisa Murkowski, a key moderate who has called for the government to reopen, said on Wednesday that Kushner "doesn't have the experience" of Pence, a former House member, and others involved in the discussions. Power couple: Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump. Credit:Bloomberg "That does doesn't mean he's not helpful or he's not effective, but there is a difference there," Murkowski said, adding, "It's really hard to understand the dynamics unless you've really been immersed in this." Lawmaker Hakeem Jeffries from New York, the chairman of the House Democratic Caucus, said Kushner's contributions to criminal-justice discussions were constructive but that the shutdown was a far more "difficult situation" for him. "To the extent he can build upon that, perhaps he can be helpful," Jeffries said. "But he's going to have to move off the notion that Democrats are going to pay a $US5.7 billion ransom note." Yet Trump, who often tires of advisers, has continued to give a great deal of control to Kushner, a senior White House official said. Kushner has been a constant at the Capitol, ducking into meetings with party leaders and attempting to shepherd talks. He has mostly avoided speaking publicly, instead working from his sparsely decorated West Wing office where Reese's candy is on the table, a Kanye West poster is above the door and photos of his wife, Ivanka Trump, are on his desk. Kushner speaks frequently to Republican leaders, such as Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky and House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy of California along with some rank-and-file lawmakers, officials said. Last week, Kushner told several moderates who were considering sending Trump a letter calling for the government to reopen that they should hold off on doing so because a bipartisan pact was still possible. Kushner's message was to "save the postage" because Trump would not support a short-term plan, Republican and White House officials said - and the letter went unsent. Loading Replay Replay video Play video Play video In meetings, Kushner has cast Washington as broken and cast himself as a businessman who can cut a deal that others cannot. But Kushner's pitch has rattled some Republicans who have worked with him, calling it confusing and distracting, Republican and White House officials said. Kushner has also been willing to consider a number of suggestions from Democrats that others in the White House have blanched at considering, adding to conservative anxiety. Former House speaker Newt Gingrich, a Trump and Kushner ally who presided over an unpopular shutdown during the Clinton administration, said there was "tension between what Jared is trying to accomplish and what some people in the White House are trying to block". "For Jared to succeed, he's going to have to get control to make sure the legislative language of what comes out from the White House reflects the commitments that are being made," Gingrich said. Loading A person familiar with Kushner's strategy said he had been focused on targeting Democrats who may want to break from leadership and has had positive conversations with many of them. The person declined to say to whom Kushner had spoken, citing the sensitivity of the negotiations. Democrats have shown scepticism about Kushner in the past. When members of Congress visited Tel Aviv last April, some chuckled aloud when the US ambassador talked about Kushner's extensive progress on Middle East peace, according to a person present for the meeting. Trump, at the start of his presidency, put Kushner in charge of drafting a peace proposal, yet to be proposed, for Israel and the Palestinians. Kushner, aware of the suspicions in some Republican quarters, has reached out to conservatives and assured them that his commitment to a border wall is as strong as Trump's and that he wants to make sure they support a bipartisan deal if one emerges. "I love the Kush," Matt Gaetz, a conservative Trump ally, said. "I'll tell you what, he's turned out to be a master negotiator and a competent force on the Hill. Jared has really deployed private-sector dealmaking to this process and brought that to Trump world." Ken Kurson, a long-time friend of Kushner, said he "could teach a master class in getting to yes". "When he first began serving in the Trump administration, many Twitter tough guys took shots at his lack of experience," Kurson said. "Now that he's helped the President put together a series of wins that many of those same pundits said were impossible ... I think everyone in America, on all political sides, is glad Jared Kushner is in the room." Over the past year, Kushner has had a dramatic stretch of highs and lows, including scrutiny from the ongoing special counsel's Russia probe and for his work to build a relationship with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, whom intelligence officials have connected to the murder of Jamal Khashoggi, a Saudi journalist who had been living in the US and wrote columns for The Washington Post. The grumbles inside the White House have continued, with some aides and officials saying that he is trying to act as an equal in negotiations to Pence and acting chief of staff Mick Mulvaney - but that he fundamentally misunderstands the Democrats' leverage and pressure points. Loading "They can't jam Pelosi. They never will. They think Nancy Pelosi will have to eat something. She's not going to have to eat anything," said one senior administration official who requested anonymity because they are not authorised to speak publicly. Kushner has also kept others out of the deliberations, determined to avoid leaks to the news media, White House officials said. A person close to Kushner said he doesn't trust many of his colleagues in the White House. Shahira Knight, legislative affairs director at the National Economic Council, has expressed unease with the White House's operation during the shutdown. Another senior White House official called Kushner's positioning "delusional". At a meeting last Thursday, Kushner spoke at length about why his proposed compromise could work. McConnell offered his reservations but said he was willing to support it to jump-start negotiations, according to people familiar with the matter. Others present said Kushner was the main speaker from the White House, even though Pence and Mulvaney were present. After Trump spoke over the weekend, conservatives aligned with Trump's immigration stance, from lawmaker Steve King, to commentator Ann Coulter, denounced the new proposal as "amnesty" and a political mistake. Democrats, meanwhile, rejected the offer before it was announced. As the shutdown enters its second month, there is little confidence among White House aides that a deal is near. Morale has plummeted, according to five White House officials. Many desks in the building sit idle due to the shutdown. But Kushner has told others in the White House that Democrats are coming along - and that a deal will be done. For his part, Trump has told advisers he could still declare a national emergency, a route Kushner has cautioned against. Trump's patience with Kushner's involvement could become strained if Democrats continue to wave off Trump's offer and hold firm, officials said. In this Jan. 18, 2019 image made from video provided by the Survival Media Agency, a teenager wearing a "Make America Great Again" hat, center left, stands in front of an elderly Native American singing and playing a drum in Washington. Videos of the incident initially sparked controversy and condemnation of the teens from Kentucky, but further review of videos show a third group of religious radicals was also in the area, and the Native Americans and students from Covington Catholic High School may have misinterpreted each other's motives. The teen wearing the cap was later identified as Nick Sandmann. (Survival Media Agency via AP) PHOTO:Survival Media Agency via AP White House Reaches Out to Covington Students By The Associated Press COVINGTON - Press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders says the White House has reached out to students at a Kentucky high school who became embroiled in an encounter with a Native American activist and a black religious sect that was captured on video. Videos posted of the confrontation drew wide criticism on social media, but it's not entirely clear what happened. The various sides say they were misunderstood. Sanders says, "we've reached out and voiced our support." She says no one understands better than President Donald Trump when the media jumps to conclusions and "attacks you for something you may or may not have done." She says if the president does invite the students from Covington Catholic High School to the White House, it will be sometime after the government shutdown has concluded. The school was closed Tuesday as a security precaution. Milan: Europe's human rights court on Thursday ordered Italy to pay Amanda Knox financial damages for police failure to provide legal assistance and an independent interpreter during a long night of questioning following the November 1, 2007 murder of her British roommate. However, the court said there was insufficient evidence to support claims of psychological and physical mistreatment. The European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg, France, said in its ruling that Italy hadn't succeeded in proving that "the restriction of Ms Knox's access to a lawyer ... had not irreparably undermined the fairness of the proceedings as a whole". It said Italy must pay Knox 18,400 euros ($29,400) in damages, costs and expenses. "Ms Knox had been particularly vulnerable, being a foreign young woman, 20 at the time, not having been in Italy for very long and not being fluent in Italian," the court noted. Beijing: Australian blogger Yang Hengjun was running a China-linked business out of his New York home, and had no sense he would face trouble in China, his landlord says. Yang's New York landlord Yi Gai said that he dined with Yang on January 17. Yang Hengjun's Weibo post on December 18, 2017 showing him with shopping bags. We saw him off at JFK Airport and he took the flight back to China on the morning of the 18th via China Southern Airlines," Yi told the Sydney Morning Herald and The Age. We had concerns about his safety and freedom in China. He believes that he has been moderate and the Chinese government will not trouble him, and planned to return to the United States in early April. As Victoria struggled to ensure it had enough power to keep the lights on it was still exporting energy to New South Wales. Victoria faced a heatwave on Thursday that pushed its electricity grid to its limits as demand for power rose to try and beat the heat. Even as the Australian Energy Market Operator was calling on businesses to power down to ensure there was enough electricity to meet growing demand, Victoria was exporting energy to NSW. Victoria was exporting energy to NSW despite facing potential power shortages itself. Credit:AEMO Grattan Institute energy director Tony Wood said for most of the day the power flowed from NSW into Victoria but a problem with the interconnector, which exchanges energy between NSW and Victoria, may have restricted this flow. The woman he attacked was in court for the hearing. Price appeared in the Court of Appeal on Thursday via video link from prison and urged three judges to give him more time to lodge a challenge against his jail term. Price was jailed for life in 2016 after stabbing to death 17-year-old Masa Vukotic in a Doncaster park, then days later raping a woman who worked in a book store. Murderer and rapist Sean Price could have time shaved off his jail sentence. Price represented himself and at times ranted for minutes on end while complaining he had not been able to appeal earlier because no lawyer wanted to represent him. He claimed lawyers had agreed to act for him but dropped his case, and that some lawyers had conspired against him and laughed at him. He said he had been regularly bashed in prison "lots of split skulls and busted eyes" before he was sentenced for the March 2015 murder and rape. Price, 34, was initially sentenced to serve 38 years before becoming eligible for parole. But in 2017 he was jailed for a further four years and 11 months by County Court judge Meryl Sexton, because the rape constituted a breach of a supervision order. This raised Price's non-parole sentence to 41 years, meaning the earliest he can be released is 2056, when he will be in his 70s. It is one of Brisbane's best restaurants, but you have probably never heard of it before. Hosting everything from cafeteria meals for MPs, journalists and staff during sitting weeks, to high tea, wine events, three-course lunches and intimate degustations open to everyone in non-sitting weeks, the almost-151-year-old heritage Queensland Parliament is serving up tantalising options for those in the know. Queensland Parliament is due to host its first Chef's Table for 2019 on February 22. Chef's Table is a 10-seat dining experience, with foodies invited into the Parliament's kitchen to enjoy a seasonal degustation menu featuring Queensland-sourced fare paired with wine. The gastronomic experience can include everything from Hervey Bay scallops, Coolmunda black olives, Darling Downs wagyu and organic carrots from Mount Sylvia. Warren Mundine's first wife Jennifer has claimed the aspiring Liberal MP was physically violent after the couple's marriage broke down in the 1980s, accusing him of hitting her on one occasion. Mr Mundine strenuously denied the "totally bizarre" allegations, and suggested the claims had come to light as a first strike in the political campaign against him after he was announced as the Liberal candidate for Gilmore on Wednesday. Warren Mundine said the allegations made by his first ex-wife were "totally false". Credit:Louise Kennerley Mrs Mundine - who kept her marital name after the divorce - claimed her former husband hit her once at their home in the presence of their two children Warren Junior and Nicole. "It was only after we split up that things got nasty," she said. Public servants who wish to give evidence to the national workplace sexual harassment inquiry are faced with an extra barrier imposed by the Secretaries Board, against the advice of the Sex Discrimination Commissioner. The board has released a statement saying current or former federal public servants who have signed a non-disclosure agreement over a workplace sexual harassment matter must apply for a waiver of that agreement in order to give evidence. Sex Discrimination Commissioner Kate Jenkins says forcing employees to seek consent for waivers to non-disclosure agreements risks retraumatising them. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen Instead of applying directly to the agency involved, public servants must contact the Australian Public Service Commission's Ethics Advisory Service, which will then contact the agency on their behalf and seek a limited waiver of the non-disclosure agreement. Sex Discrimination Commissioner Kate Jenkins says the process risks retraumatising victims of sexual harassment and compromises confidentiality. A former president of the Labor Party and a former ALP candidate, Mundine resigned from the party in 2012 saying it had left him. As recently as October last year he was being sounded out to represent the Liberal Democrats as a Senate candidate. Illustration: Simon Letch Credit: A shift in political beliefs over time is not uncommon, but a swing from the ALP to the Liberal Democrats and back to the Liberal Party would have confounded the first great party-hopper, Billy Hughes. It's not just his politics that have changed. Born in NSW's northern rivers area and educated in Sydney, he was elected to the Dubbo council in NSW's hot central-west in the mid-1990s. Loading He now resides in the Sydney north shore suburb of Roseville. Not surprisingly, local Liberals in Gilmore think of the 62-year-old Mundine as a "blow-in" for a seat that already had a local candidate with a far stronger party pedigree. Alby Shultz was never one to let you die wondering about his views. His son is no different, with Grant Schultz immediately resigning from the party, vowing to run as an independent and then firing a rocket up both the Liberal Party and the PM. "The Prime Minister has stated that he believes in a fair go. He has not given me that," he said. Local state Liberal MP and Speaker of the NSW lower house Shelley Hancock said Morrison had all but guaranteed Labor would claim Gilmore on election night. It's not a lone view among Liberals along the south coast. The political calculation for Morrison is perhaps the most important element. Does bringing in Mundine improve the government's chances in an election that is set to be held in May? The Liberal Party has gone backwards in Gilmore at the past two elections, including a 2.7 per cent swing against it at the 2013 poll when the Coalition's vote improved by 3.2 per cent across NSW. At the 2016 election, the swing against Sudmalis seat-wide was a touch over 3 per cent and in line with what transpired for the Liberals across the state. Loading But within Gilmore there were some much larger swings. In its largest population centre, Nowra, there was an 8 per cent swing across seven separate booths. A smaller booth near Jervis Bay recorded a near 15 per cent swing towards Labor's Fiona Phillips, a fifth-generation local who is recontesting this time. Sudmalis would have been defeated if not for her vote holding up in the more southern parts of the electorate around Batemans Bay and Moruya. The seat is home to a large number of retirees with the government signalling very quickly it will hammer Labor over its policies around negative gearing and franking credits. Morrison has talked up Mundine as a tremendous candidate. But outside internal Labor politics or people who catch Sky News on Sunday afternoons, Mundine will be an unknown quantity for most Gilmore voters. Someone thought of as a "star" candidate in Canberra can be just another potential politician on the hustings, while the damage done to the local party can run deep. Already some Liberals in Gilmore are vowing to either resign or head to a neighbouring seat to help during the campaign rather than stand by Mundine. The Liberal Party cannot really know how Mundine the political insider (it's hard to call yourself an outsider after being the president of the Labor Party) will fare when dealing with voters and their concerns. In that way it is a tremendous risk taken by Morrison, especially with the anger he has created among local Liberals. An allegation of one incident of domestic violence raised by Mundine's first wife - and categorically denied by him - will make the campaign more difficult. The Labor Party, which has had a long and troubled history with "star" candidates, moved quickly to define Mundine by running out an advertisement that referenced his support for nuclear power. It noted that despite Mundine's claims of long-standing links to the area, he still resides more than two hours to the north in suburban Sydney. The same advertisement also signalled an element of Labor's broader federal election message - disunity within the Liberal Party. Big businesses caught putting unfair terms into contracts with suppliers would face fines of up to $10 million under a Labor plan it says will help smaller firms break into concentrated markets. The ALP will announce on Friday its plan to make it illegal to insert unfair terms into contracts while introducing heavy fines for those caught breaching the new laws. It follows ongoing concern from the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission about unfair terms deliberately inserted into contracts and lack of financial penalties for those firms caught carrying out the practice. Opposition competition spokesman Andrew Leigh says planned penalties for unfair contract terms will help small firms compete against larger ones Credit:Elesa Kurtz Courts and tribunals can currently find a standard-form contract to be unfair, with the clause voided which enables the affected business to ignore it. But there are no penalties for the firms that imposed the unfair element. Ninety labour hire workers will next month start work at Centrelink's debt management branch, just four months after about 80 public service employees in the same area were told their contracts wouldn't be renewed. At the same time, an FAQ document about Human Services' "blended workforce", seen by The Canberra Times, says it is "possible" a position previously held by an APS staff member could be filled using labour hire. Debt management will have an extra 90 labour hire workers next month. Credit:Marina Neil "Yes this is possible," the document says, in answer to the question "will a position previously held by an APS staff member be filled using labour hire?". "It will be determined by business need, whether the role requires an APS staff member to perform it, and the governments ASL cap requirement," it continues. Commission Rejects Motion to Repeal Resolution By Mike Cooper, West Kentucky Star Staff PADUCAH - The Paducah City Commission rejected a motion by Mayor Pro-Tem Richard Abraham to repeal the Veterans Day Parade resolution of May 16, 2017.The resolution deals with what flags can be flown in the parade. Mayor Pro-Tem Abraham was concerned that the resolution is a violation of the first amendment. However, legal opinions obtained by the commission indicate that the resolution does not violate the first amendment.Before making the motion, more than a dozen people addressed the Board in support of keeping the resolution intact. Upon a call for a vote, the motion to repeal the resolution failed on a 1-3 vote. Mayor Pro-Tem Abraham was the only member of the Board who voted to repeal the resolution.Mayor Pro-Tem Abraham thanked all that spoke to the commission and said he is thankful to God that we live in a country where opinions can be shared like this, about things that one feels passionate about.In other business, the commission approved a change order with A&K Construction that reduces the cost of the City Hall renovation by $156,998.They approved four municipal orders and introduced two ordinances. The ordinances will be voted on at the February 12th meeting, and deal with closing the unnamed right-of-way between Buckner Lane and Exall Lane, and executing the final plat of subdivision and the escrow agreement for Townhomes of LaBarri Farms Subdivision, located at 1720 and 1740 New Holt Road.They also heard an overview of the Citys Comprehensive Annual Financial Report which includes the City audit, given by Finance Director Jonathan Perkins and David Hampton of Kemper CPA Group, LLP.Three new police officers were sworn in, Logan Barrow, Pedro Loredo, and Jeremy Teague. Former Paducah Police Chief Brandon Barnhill was presented with a Duke of Paducah award, and Mayor Pro-Tem Abraham presented a proclamation to students and representatives of the St. Mary School System, proclaiming January 27th through February 2nd as Catholic Schools Week.The next regularly scheduled commission meeting will be on February 12th, at 5:30 pm. "The music festivals that Ive been to no longer exist, but widespread drug use at music festivals continues, and thats why we need to look at new ways to reduce harm like pill testing," Mr Steel said. He said he'd also tried marijuana, but it wasn't for him. The Greens' Caroline Le Couteur called herself an "ageing hippie" and said she'd smoked and grown cannabis in her youth. Credit:Jay Cronan Greens crossbencher Caroline Le Couteur said she'd both smoked and grown cannabis when she was younger, and had also tried acid. "As Ive said before, Im an ageing hippie from Nimbin," Ms Le Couteur said. Labor backbencher Bec Cody said the only drug she'd ever done was alcohol and "maybe one puff on a joint about ten years ago". "I had three coffees last year which was a lot for me," Ms Cody said. "I think drug prohibition and the war on drugs is a failure [though]. It seems to me that the criminalisation of some drugs causes more harm than the drugs themselves. Liberal Giulia Jones said she'd never done drugs but had smoked a rolled up newspaper when she was younger. Credit:Canberra times Labor's Suzanne Orr also said she'd tried cannabis when she was younger, but was thankful that since then harm-minimisation programs like pill testing "have helped young people make better decisions about their health and wellbeing". The Liberals' police spokeswoman Giulia Jones said she'd never tried drugs, although she "smoked a rolled up newspaper in high school". "I had a pretty quiet upbringing Id say," Mrs Jones said. The Liberals' legal affairs spokesman Jeremy Hanson said he'd never done drugs either, as he'd joined the army when he was 18 and spent the next 22 years in the military. ACT shadow attorney-general Jeremy Hanson said he spent his youth in the army so didn't take drugs. Credit:Dion Georgopoulos Alistair Coe, James Milligan and Mark Parton also said they'd never done drugs, although Mr Parton said he was severely addicted to caffeine. However Health Minister Meegan Fitzharris said her colleagues' personal experiences with illicit drugs did not matter, and had no bearing on the pill testing debate. "We make our harm-minimisation policies based on evidence, not the personal experiences of ministers," Ms Fitzharris said. "The ACT government supports trialling pill testing because the evidence and expert advice tells us that it can help young people make better and more informed decisions at music festivals." Liberal senator Zed Seselja said he'd never tried drugs, but was worried about the message that admissions from politicians could send to young people. "I wouldn't want to see a message going out from any of our leaders to suggest that, yes, because they tried drugs when they were young that somehow that makes drug use safe," Senator Seselja said. Mr Hanson also played down the importance of past experience with drugs to today's debate. "[Mr Rattenbury] said he took one tablet in his 20s. I don't think that is of consequence to the current debate about drug policy to be honest. Hes done something he regrets when he was younger, Im more focused on what we can do to make young people safe at festivals and elsewhere," Mr Hanson said. "I do understand drugs are prevalent in society, young people will try them, I don't have my head buried in the sand here. Regardless whether Mr Rattenbury took a drug in his 20s and I didnt, the debate is here and now about what we do to keep young people safe and my view is pill testing will do more harm than good." However Ms Le Couteur said it was "very helpful in terms of the debate to know where politicians life experience is". "Politicians, we're meant to be representative of the community and its fair enough that the community has an idea of what our relevant experiences are," Ms Le Couteur said. Mr Rattenbury said his drug-taking experience had helped to shape his views on the issue of pill testing, combined with evidence from the Canberra trial and overseas. However Greens leader Shane Rattenbury and Greens crossbencher Caroline Le Couteur said there was still a lot of negotiating to do before then. Ms Le Couteur said the government was yet to table its formal response to the CTP inquiry. She said the Greens weren't wedded to particular changes like introducing narrative tests; rather they wanted to ensure people weren't made worse off by the new scheme. The non-negotiable is that we want to see the scheme work well for people injured in [motor vehicle] accidents in the ACT and we don't want to see the insurance companies have excessive power. The negotiable is the best way of implementing that and that's what were talking to [the] government about," Ms Le Couteur said. Mr Rattenbury said he believed there was room to move on the issue of caps on profits for insurers, and that a review three years in did not address his concerns. "We have seen in other examples where this is rolled out, [and] in the first few years in particular our information is that insurers have made what might be described as 'super profits', so I think if anything the first few years is a more critical phase than after that," Mr Rattenbury said. Loading One of the Greens' concerns is that misinformation or a poor understanding of the new CTP scheme may lead to people underclaiming for the first couple of years, leading to an unexpected windfall for insurers. "We want to see the insurers having to provide good financial information to the government from day one and for the government to regulate from day one to ensure there arent super profits," Ms Le Couteur said. The Greens have also called for more flexibility to be built into the bill, to stop perverse outcomes such as a child with ongoing injuries being unable to access treatment for injuries related to their accident that may develop later on. They also want there to be flexibility in cases where someone may not meet the 10 per cent whole-person-impairment threshold, but their occupation is affected by their injuries. This is similar to a recommendation from the Cody-Pettersson report, which asked for exemptions to be built into the legislation so that person could make a common law claim. The Greens also want a provision that would reduce payments for unrelated traffic offences, including speeding, drink driving and not wearing a bike helmet, to be axed. The Cody-Pettersson report asked the government to reconsider only the bike helmet clause. Both the Greens and the Cody-Pettersson report said the time for claimants to choose between CTP or worker's compensation should be extended. They also agreed that much of the regulation that will govern the scheme - which is yet to be released publicly - should be put forward before the Assembly is asked to vote on the bill. Loading The Greens' demands go further than the Cody-Pettersson report though, in that they believe there needs to be enforceable obligations on insurers to provide information and support to claimants. They also want support and advocacy services to be provided by community legal centres and groups like the Health Care Consumers Association, and for the period in which people can claim defined benefits to be extended. Ms Le Couteur said the Greens supported the citizen's jury and just wanted a model that best reflected the principles that jurors endorsed. "All of these things we think are entirely consistent with what the citizens jury talked about and were just negotiating with the government to make the scheme better and close to what the citizens jury was talking about," she said. The union representing ACT police officers has hit out at the territory government's failure to find funding for more officers on the front line, after the government announced millions for more ambulance officers. Australian Federal Police Association president Angela Smith says a five-year-long decline in police numbers and concurrent fall in funding for policing in the territory has left officers feeling exhausted, while also feeling they cannot take a break. ACT police officers outside the Legislative Assembly in December last year. Credit:Karleen Minney Her comments follow the release of a Productivity Commission report revealing the ACT now has the lowest proportion of operational police officers by population of any jurisdiction in the country. Former ACT Chief Police Officer Justine Saunders last year cited the lack of staff as having led to "significant fatigue issues" in the workforce, writing in emails to national colleagues that existing recruitment was failing to backfill positions. With festivals like the Big Day Out and Future Music pulling up stumps, its been a while since Brit rave-rock outfit The Prodigy have graced Australian shores. But that doesnt mean the trio have been resting on their laurels. The Prodigy: MC Maxim, Liam Howlett, Keith Flint. Credit:Andy Cotterill In fact, as Liam Howlett, Keith Flint and MC Maxim were headlining 2015s Future Music on the back of that years LP The Day Is My Enemy, the seeds that would eventually grow to their latest offering, No Tourists, had already been sown. Speaking to WAtoday ahead of the start of their national tour which kicks off at RAC Arena on Thursday night Howlett says down time between albums wasnt an option. Shortly before 9pm, Powercor and Citipower reported more than 2000 power outages in houses across the state, including outages in more than 200 homes in Ardeer in the city's west, 61 in Hawthorn and 170 in Melton South. Loading Replay Replay video Play video Play video Heat weary Melburnians were earlier dealt another blow with temperature surpassing 40 degrees across the city, four degrees higher than the experts predicted. Fire authorities remain on red alert as they brace for the hottest day in Melbourne this summer on Friday, with the mercury expected to soar to 44 degrees. The city is set to toss and turn through the hottest night in a year with an overnight low of 29, which won't be reached until 3am, predicted as the mercury begins its climb into the 40s across much of the state. A statewide total fire ban has been declared for Friday. The temperature peaked at 40.8 degrees just after 5.30pm on Thursday, four degrees higher than the maximum 36 degrees predicted. It comes as Victorians have been reassured of sufficient energy reserves despite warnings of power cuts across the state. Thousands of homes were left without power in north central Victoria on Thursday as the mercury soared above 35 degrees in some towns. More than 1250 properties in Nagambie, north of Melbourne, as well as hundreds more in nearby towns including Avenel, were without power for much of Thursday. A fault was detected in an underground cable beneath the Hume Freeway and repair crews worked through the searing heat to repair it. Power across the region was expected to be fully restored by early Thursday evening. Country Fire Authority chief officer Steve Warrington warned Friday would mark the "first real day" of bushfire risk for the whole of the state this summer. "It is time for all Victorians to be aware for the next four, six and up to eight weeks," he said. A very high fire warning remains in place for the Wimmera, South West, Northern Country, North Central, Central and North East districts. Victorian Bureau of Meteorology senior forecaster Richard Carlyon said a strong offshore wind had caused the temperature to unexpectedly soar in Melbourne late on Thursday afternoon. "It's been a tricky day with the sea breeze and offshore wind battling it out," he said. "The offshore wind has won because it has kept the sea breeze out of the city and allowed the temperature to climb to four degrees higher than forecast." "Because it's reached a higher than expected temperature in Melbourne the temperature is going to fall very slowly tonight," Mr Carlyon said. "It's going to be in the 30s for most of the night before it's looking like it will drop down to about 29 at 3am on Friday." Parts of the city sweltered on Thursday with Viewbank hitting 41 degrees and Essendon Airport reaching 41.8 degrees. The Murray River city of Mildura reached 45 degrees and is expected to hit a stifling 47 degrees on Friday, while the mercury Warrnambool in the south-western coast of Victoria, hovered at 44 degrees at 4.30pm on Thursday. On Friday, the mercury is expected to hit 40 degrees in Melbourne before 11am. "It will warm up very quickly," Mr Carlyon said. The extreme heat wave comes as residents are urged to monitor their power consumption by limiting their use of appliances. A pool closed in Avenel on Thursday. The extreme weather also prompted Melbourne bus operator TransdevTransdev to cancel some services. Yarra Trams also ran services to an "extreme weather timetable", with some trams, including those on Route 30, not running on Thursday. The Australian Energy Market Operator is warning the electricity supply and demand balance is "very tight" in Victoria and is urging consumers to monitor their energy use. At 7am on Friday, the mercury at Elwood beach had already hit 34 degrees. Credit:Melissa Singer Brace yourself, Melburnians: the hottest day since Black Saturday is coming our way after heat records were smashed across the state overnight. While temperatures in the Victorian capital dropped to 25.7 degrees at 4.24am on Friday, some Melbourne suburbs didn't dip below a record-breaking 30 degrees. In Essendon, it reached 31 degrees in the early hours of Friday, before the mercury began to climb again. The previous overnight record was 28.8 degrees. In northern Victoria, Shepparton dropped to just 30.2 degrees, toppling the previous record of 29.1 degrees. The Bureau of Meteorology will confirm official overnight temperatures later on Friday morning. Flammable cladding will be stripped from 13 government schools in Victoria after being found in a statewide building audit spurred by a major fire at a Docklands tower in 2014. Twelve schools in metropolitan Melbourne and one in Wodonga are on the list, although the Andrews government would not reveal which schools are affected. Combustible cladding like that which ignited at the Lacrosse building in Docklands has been found in 13 state schools. Credit:BADROCK, Gregory Sixteen school buildings, each at least two storeys high, were found to have been built with combustible cladding. Work to remove the cladding is scheduled to take place between May and September this year. A Queensland man with muscular dystrophy who posed as a wealthy businessman online to attract women has been sentenced to a decade behind bars for raping three. He met two of his victims on dating site Oasis Active between 2015 and 2016. "You thought this was your only way to meet girls," Justice Julie Ryrie said while sentencing Callum Joseph Haggerty in the District Court in Brisbane on Thursday. The 28-year-old raped a third woman while out on bail for crimes against the first two and put her at risk of pregnancy and disease. He was ordered to 10 years behind bars for five counts of rape against the women. A prestigious NSW boarding school wracked by abuse claims is again at the centre of a police investigation into sexual assaults. Detectives are looking into allegations of historical sexual abuse perpetrated by two teachers against students during the 1960s at The Armidale School (TAS) in northern NSW. Police are investigating claims of historic sexual abuse at The Armidale School. Credit:Steve Green Armidale Detective Senior Constable Travis Murdock said police were pursuing claims against a maths teacher known on school records as L.A. Gardiner, who worked at the New England private school between 1964 and 1967. He said the allegation, which surfaced through the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Abuse in 2013, related to the sexual assault of a male student on school grounds. Senior NSW Labor politicians will meet the mother of a man who died at a Victorian music festival to receive a petition containing more than 100,000 signatures in favour of pill testing. Adriana Buccianti came out in support of the controversial harm minimisation measure after her son Daniel, 34, died of a drug overdose at Rainbow Serpent music festival in western Victoria in 2012. Adriana Buccianti with photos of her late son Daniel. Credit:Kate Healy/Ballarat Courier As the annual dance music event kicks off again on Friday, Ms Buccianti is set to urge Labor to commit to pill testing in the lead-up to the state election. "My world fell apart when police arrived at my door to tell me my boy had died at a festival. There's no other word to describe it but horror. What devastates me further is knowing we have a way to help stop this madness," the grieving mother said in a statement issued by Change.org, the organisation behind the petition calling on Australian governments to introduce pill testing. Abraham Explains Vote to Repeal Parade Resolution By West Kentucky Star Staff PADUCAH - Paducah City Commissioner Richard Abraham has released a statement regarding his recent vote in favor of repealing a resolution that bars groups from flying the Confederate flag at the city's Veterans Day parade.In the statement released Wednesday afternoon Abraham explains why he voted for the motion, and talks about some of the topics discussed at Tuesday's meeting. Commissioners voted 3-1 against repealing the resolution.Here is Abraham's statement: Save Log in , register or subscribe to save articles for later. Normal text size Larger text size Very large text size Australias national day means something different to everyone. For some, its a day to celebrate the place they call home, a sense of belonging and mateship. For others, its a marker of the end of summer holidays and an imminent return to work or school. And for some its a reminder of Australias colonial history. Four Australians share what the day means to them and how they spend it. A place to call home Therese Elias migrated to Australia in 1983, fleeing the Lebanese civil war. She was just 20 years old when she arrived alone and frightened. She didnt speak any English. Its a day Mrs Elias will never forget. When I first came to Australia it felt strange. I missed my parents, my friends and my home, she said. But, day by day, I felt more comfortable here and more confident - now its my home.'' Therese Elias will celebrate her adopted home tomorrow, having fled war in Lebanon in 1983. Credit:Jessica Hromas Mrs Elias met her husband at a party soon after. The two started talking and it went from there. They married in 1986 and shes now the proud mother of four children, and grandmother to an eight-month-old, who makes us all crazy because we love her so much. Advertisement I have spent more time here than in Lebanon. I am so comfortable here." While Mrs Elias would like the date changed to one marked by less controversy, the day is still a stark reminder of the country she now calls home, saying she is 100 per cent Australian. Mrs Elias marks the day by inviting family, friends and neighbours over for a feast fusing Middle Eastern and western cuisine, including tabouli, baba ganoush and a barbecue. We base everything around food, everyone is drinking and there is a lot of conversation, Mrs Elias said. Its a special day for us, its the day we celebrate coming to Australia. A day marked by sadness Chika Isaac, owner of Salon De African Pride, said Australia is his "second home". Credit: James Brickwood Chika Isaac likes to spend Australia Day with his wife and five children, but its not a day he wants to commemorate. Advertisement I dont want to celebrate something that is related to the sadness, tears and sorrows of other people, said the owner of Salon De African Pride, a hairdressing studio in Newtown. Mr Isaac moved to Australia in 2002 from Nigeria, "a country that was invaded many years ago, he said. I know the consequences of invasion so Australia Day is not something I would consider celebrating. For him, Australia is his second home. I am happy to celebrate every other thing about Australia,'' Mr Isaac said. ''I enjoy seeing the beautiful animals and the beautiful countryside and trees, the water is great and the weather is great. If we could celebrate on a day thats not based on invasion day, but a day for Australians to celebrate the love and unity of the country I would celebrate it. I love this country and I believe so many other people love it as I do. We didnt get to choose where we were born Advertisement Young surfer Riley Henson says January 26 is a day to celebrate "how great Australia is". Credit:John Veage While Australia Day may be a day surrounded by controversy, it is also a day to celebrate what a great country Australia is, said Riley Henson. For Mr Henson, January 26 is a day to show how Australian you can be and show everyone what were about. The 19-year-old said hell spend the day celebrating with friends, soaking up the sun, before having a massive feed. In the evening, hell head to south Cronulla to watch the fireworks. We didnt get to choose where we were born but it doesnt get better than being born by the ocean in Australia, Mr Henson said. Celebrating Australian values' Like most Australians, Lillian Lin spends the day with friends. Their plans vary year to year but they enjoy camping or a nice barbecue because who doesnt love a good old sausage sizzle, she said. Advertisement A man found dead in a vacant lot in Sydney's south-west was the victim of a "cowardly" attack, police say. The body of Jamie Phillips, 46, was found dumped on a vacant piece of land at Rosemeadow in October. Jamie Phillips, 46, pictured with his daughter, was found dead in Sydney's south west. Credit:NSW Police "Jamie suffered multiple serious injuries and we believe that more than one offender was involved," Detective Inspector Greg Inger said. Police are calling for the public's assistance after releasing images from CCTV of Mr Phillips which shows him in the hours prior to his murder. University of Canberra water ecologist Ross Thompson is hoping there's a simple explanation for Lake Tuggeranong's constant toxic blue-green algae outbreaks. "It wouldn't be impossible that when the suburb was built there was a cross-plumbing issue; a sewer has been plumbed into a storm water drain," Mr Thompson says. Ross Thompson, a University of Canberra researcher, is conducting ACT government-backed research at Lake Tuggeranong to determine why it gets frequent algae outbreaks. He is pictured here with his son Zac. Credit:Sitthixay Ditthavong But Mr Thompson isn't holding his breath as he works to determine how to rid Lake Tuggeranong of the nutrients that fuel the constant outbreaks. While it's always been known Lake Tuggeranong has an excess nutrient problem, it's never been determined how. The ACT's record-breaking construction boom is set to continue, though it will occur at a slower pace this year, with a new forecast estimating at least $1 billion of building work in Canberra annually for the next three years. The forecast, made by the Master Builders Association and based on ABS data, reiterates the ACT's strong economic position on the back of recent economic indicators, including unemployment in the territory at 3.7 per cent and population growth at 2.2 per cent. Construction will slow in Canberra this year, though forecasts still show over $1 billion of work in the pipeline. Credit:Dominic K Lorrimer It comes despite increased warnings of an imminent national economic downturn, with house prices in most major cities falling quickly. The situation has begun to affect Canberra, with house prices stagnating for the first time in years. While the MBA report acknowledges those headwinds, it also paints a more optimistic picture of the future of the ACT economy over the next few years, based on data showing $1.6 billion worth of construction happened in the city in 2017-18. In Australia last year, 69 women were killed by violence, with data from the Australian Institute of Criminology suggesting around three percent of them were likely to have been killed by strangers. This is compared to 291 women who died on our country's roads. So, if you are a woman in Australia, that makes it around 140 times more likely that you may die in road accident than be killed by a man you dont know; yet we rarely fear getting into a car. Vigil at Melbourne's Parliament House for murdered student Aiia Massarwe. Credit:Justin McManus Some of us may have had bad road scares, even serious accidents, but we still dont fear cars the way we fear strangers when were out in public at night. Part of the reason for this is the deliberateness of stranger-murder. Road deaths usually happen because someone made a fatal mistake or stupidly decided to drive drunk. Its not the same horror as the deliberate choice to rape and murder a woman because the attacker as rare as he may be is angry with women, which research has shown is the most common reason for rape-driven murders by strangers. Spike Lee watched the Oscar nominations Tuesday morning on television from his bed, with his wife, Tonya, his two grown children, Satchel and Jackson, and their dog, Ginger. Screaming ensued. Lee landed his first directing Academy Award nomination for "BlacKkKlansman," his comic and furious send-up of white supremacism. The film, about a black detective (John David Washington) who leads an undercover investigation of the Klu Klux Klan, won six nominations altogether, including best picture and best adapted screenplay, a nod Lee shared with Charlie Wachtel, David Rabinowitz and Kevin Willmott. But the most long-in-coming nomination was Lee's first nod for best director, something many thought should have happened numerous times before, starting with 1989's "Do the Right Thing." Lee was nominated then for best screenplay for that film, but the lack of more Oscar attention for "Do the Right Thing" was lamented even then by Oscar presenter Kim Basinger . WAs ability to power the world will be bolstered over the coming years as several vanadium projects whir to life and thousands of jobs are created on the back of booming prices. Vanadium is shaping up to be critical component in future energy storage but currently 90 per cent of the metal dug up is used to strengthen steel bars for construction. Australian Vanadium managing director Vincent Algar. The price for vanadium pentoxide exploded in China in 2018 to nearly US$35 a pound on the back of new Chinese construction regulations aimed at stamping out inferior steel. It has since stabilised at US$16.10 a pound, well above the decade average. US president Donald Trump will postpone his State of the Union address until the partial government shutdown ends. Following a high-stakes game of dare and double-dare with speaker Nancy Pelosi, Mr Trump conceded that "no venue that can compete with the history, tradition and importance of the House Chamber" and that he was not looking for an alternate option. It came after Ms Pelosi served notice earlier on Wednesday that Mr Trump will not be allowed to deliver the address to a joint session of Congress next week. She had taken the step after Mr Trump said he planned to show up in spite of Democratic objections to the speech taking place with large swaths of the government shut down. Denied that grand venue, Mr Trump promised to come up with some sort of alternative event. The White House scrambled to find a site matching the gravitas of the traditional address from the rostrum of the House to lawmakers from both parties, Supreme Court justices, invited guests and a television audience of millions. "As the Shutdown was going on, Nancy Pelosi asked me to give the State of the Union Address. I agreed," Mr Trump tweeted. "She then changed her mind because of the Shutdown, suggesting a later date. This is her prerogative - I will do the Address when the Shutdown is over." It was the latest round of brinkmanship between the president and Ms Pelosi as they remain locked in an increasingly personal standoff over Mr Trump's demand for border wall money that has forced a partial government shutdown, now in its second month. Ms Pelosi asked Mr Trump last week to make other plans but stopped short of denying him the chamber for his address. She issued that denial on Wednesday after Mr Trump told her he wanted to go ahead with it, in essence, calling her bluff. In a letter to Ms Pelosi earlier on Wednesday, Mr Trump dismissed her previous suggestion that the speech be postponed or delivered in writing due to security issues related to the partial government shutdown. Declaring there are "no security concerns", Mr Trump said he planned to fulfil his "Constitutional duty" to report to Congress on the state of the union. "It would be so very sad for our Country if the State of the Union were not delivered on time, on schedule, and very importantly, on location," Mr Trump's letter said. China's largest retailer and the world's third largest internet internet company, JD.com, announced the completion of Indonesias first government approved drone flight. The road conditions in the village make delivery by traditional trucks challenging and slow, and the company has said that technology such as this could also narrow the distance for goods to travel across Indonesia's 17,000 islands. The Culture Minister Josepha Madigan has expressed disappointment after pro-life protesters forced the relocation of a talk she was due to give to a Catholic group. The event, organised by We Are Church, was due to take place at the Mercy International Centre in Dublin next month. However, the centre cancelled the booking when it received dozens of calls threatening to hold a major protest. The Mercy International Centre said it risked "grave reputational damage" if the meeting went ahead. It claimed the representations ranged from vigorous to vitriolic, and at least one staff member was intimidated. The venue for the meeting has now been moved to a south Dublin hotel. Minister Madigan, meanwhile, said: It is truly disappointing that Mercy International Centre has been targeted in this way when the subject matter of the evening is in relation to the role of women in ministries in the Catholic Church, an issue entirely separate to my role as campaign coordinator in repealing the eighth amendment." We Are Church spokesperson Colm Holmes said the protesters were angry about Ms Madigan's role in the campaign to repeal the 8th Amendment. Mr Holmes said: "We think it's disappointing the way they are victimising the Minister for what she did, because she is, in fact, a practising Catholic and a very committed Catholic in her own right. "If she were not, I think they'd be less interested in her, but they are focusing on her and making her the target of their ire that the referendum was lost. "They're right-wing supporters of a very traditionalist Catholic Church, we have seen a lot of online comments about that, but we can't say for certain who the people are who wage this campaign." We Are Church is a group that says it is working towards the 'renewal' of the Catholic Church, with aims including "full participation of women in all aspects of church life, including priesthood". Last year, Minister Madigan made headlines when she and other parishioners stepped in to perform the majority of a mass in Dublin after a priest failed to show. There are calls for an increase in Government funding for schools to allow for greater supports for pupils. The Irish Primary Principals' Network (IPPN) says that some schools often struggle to get the equipment and provisions they need to support students. A businesswoman who is spearheading a group for insurance reform has warned that play centres in Ireland will all be closed in 12 months because of fraudulent and exaggerated claims. Linda Murray has vowed to go down fighting after failing to get insurance renewed on her own play centre in Co. Meath, where premiums have spiralled from 2,500 to 16,500 in just five years. With two claims pending, she has been refused cover renewal and may now have to close Huckleberry's Den in Navan, with the loss of 12 jobs. She says she has been told by insurance companies that play centres in Ireland are loss-making. Linda Murray. Linda sits on the national board of directors of Alliance for Insurance Reform where she is the spokesperson for some 60 play centres around the country - three of which, she says, have already closed in the last six months. She is now calling on the Government to fast-track solutions to the insurance crisis, including a new investigative forum, before its too late for the leisure industry here. "There will be no play centres in Ireland in 12 months because they will be unable to get insurance and it's that simple," she said. "Actually any business that caters for children of a certain age will be obsolete. "One large Irish insurance firm told me that they will no longer insure dance classes or outdoor playgrounds and are considering not insuring sports." "When I opened up my business six years ago, my premium was 2,500. Then it rose to 16,500 which I managed to pay through a loan and taking a cut in wages but now I can't get a quote because of the way the insurance companies deem the market to be here in Ireland. "I'm one of many centres that have been refused insurance and now play centres are looking at ways of self-insuring to stay in business. The current system is simply unfair and highly destructive to business. The only winners in this whole game are claimants and the legal teams." She said that up to 20,000 children used her centre without incident last year. She said: "I pay for an external review of my equipment, health and safety and separate maintenance each year. "I run a great centre with amazing staff and customers. Like other centres Ive had kids that have fell, bumped heads or come off slides awkwardly but the majority of parents know kids are kids and these things happen, especially as they see our business isnt negligent - but it only takes one questionable claim to put everything at risk "I would like to plead with people: Do not claim off a business unless they have been truly negligent. "Let kids be kids and have fun and let's not wrap them up in cotton wool." "My childhood was full of scrapes, bruises and a broken elbow but the last thing my parents would have done was firstly blame someone else and try and get money for it! "I'm a mum of two small children so if I am negligible in any way, of course, people have a right of recourse if anyone gets injured but dont claim from a business because your child was there having fun and tripped or fell which can happen anywhere. "The leisure insurer in the UK has pulled two-thirds of its brokers out of Ireland in the last two months because of losses. We are now one of the most litigious countries in Europe. "The play centres in our group forked out over 1.5m in premiums last year which would be a hefty market to tap into for a new insurer. I know play centres that are playing 50,000 a year and one in a city that pay 135,000 for the year." Linda, who is a member of the Insurance Reform Committee to have lobbied the Government, says that although changes have started, they are not happening fast enough to make a difference. Linda's daughter Elle-J playing at Huckleberry's Den. Pic: Seamus Farrelly. "As part of the Alliance for Insurance Reform we have 10 Asks which we believe will make a big difference to the current situation of hefty insurance hikes. "A new act to come into force on January 28th asks a plaintiff to let the business know within a month of their personal injuries action. Judges are now obliged to take failure to inform in that time period into account. "This is now in line with the data protection legislation which allows general CCTV footage to be retained for one month. "It's a first step, but things need to start happening faster. We need to set up the garda insurance fraud unit as a matter of urgency and reduce the huge awards for minor, fully recovered soft tissue injuries from 20,000 currently. "Even though innocence may be recorded on CCTV, I believe insurance companies often settle out of court to avoid hefty legal fees and so that footage is never shown in a court. In fact 6% of all claims only make it to court. "In a country where obesity in children is a problem, we are stopping them from running about and playing in case they hurt themselves and a claim is lodged. "Kids like running, kids fall and accidents happen." Linda has vowed, however, to keep looking for some way to keep her business open and avoid any job losses. "All of my staff rely on their jobs to pay their mortgages, rent and college fees. "I would plead with any parent whose child is hurt through play in any centre or playground to think about the effect that claiming on a business has. "You may think a company has insurance but every claim sends premiums rocketing, small businesses plummeting and prices sky-rocketing," she concluded. More children under five years are suffering from flu while there has been a decrease in all other age groups. The number of people who have died from the flu since October last year has risen to 21 according to the HSE's Health Protection Surveillance Centre. There were an additional 12 deaths reported to the HPSC last week. The number of people hospitalised with the flu has fallen from 254 to 215 over the last two weeks. There were 767 confirmed flu hospitalised cases during the current flu season and 55 admissions to critical care. HSE director of public health, Dr John Cuddihy, said those hospitalised with flu were mainly children under five years and those aged over 65. The highest rate of hospital admission is in the one to four-year-olds and the next highest, under one. Children still have relatively high admission rates, compared to other age groups, he said. Of those admitted to critical care, the highest rates are in those aged 45 years and older. There have been 35 respiratory disease outbreaks in healthcare settings, and 13 were due to flu. Dr Cuddihy said most of the hospitalised cases were due to influenza A (H1N1). All indicators suggest that the flu peaked during the second week of January this year. If there was a continued decrease in these indicators in next week's data that would confirm that in week two influenza had peaked, he said. Dr Cuddihy warned that flu will continue to circulate in the community for another four to five weeks, albeit at a decreased rate. HSE national director of services, Joe Ryan, said there has been an 8.8% increase in the number of people attending hospital emergency departments so far this month, compared to the same time last year. Admissions from EDs are almost 11% higher than the same period last year, with many suffering from respiratory conditions as well as flu. The number of 75-year-olds being admitted is just 3.5% higher than last year. Despite a higher level of activity in EDs, the total number of people on trolleys this month to date is 14.1% lower than last year. A Co Wexford man has pleaded guilty to assaulting two Dublin Airport workers who tackled him running after a plane on the tarmac at Dublin Airport's Terminal 1 after he missed his flight. Ryanair staff and airport police stopped Patrick Kehoe, who was drunk, after he stormed onto the apron in a bid to flag down a plane to Amsterdam. He will be sentenced in April. The passenger was late for his flight but got through the boarding gate and a door leading to the tarmac, close to the Ryanair plane at about 7am on September 27 last. Kehoe was restrained and held until gardai arrived and brought him under arrest to Ballymun station. Patrick Kehoe, 24, from Raheenaskeagh, Oulart, Co Wexford was originally charged with criminal damage to a magnetic door lock at Gate 106 at Dublin Airport. However, that charge was withdrawn today when he faced his fourth hearing at Dublin District Court. It was replaced with two counts of assaulting the Airport Police Service (APS) woman and a male aircraft ground handler who intervened as he ran after his flight which was getting ready to take off. 'He had a few pints before the flight' Defence solicitor Peter Connolly told Judge Dermot Simms his client, who did not address the court, was pleading guilty. Kehoe made no reply when the new charges were put to him, said Garda David Cahill. Kehoe, who previously worked as a carpenters assistant, was at the airport with his girlfriend to go on holiday to Amsterdam, the court heard. Garda Cahill said when Kehoe got to his boarding gate it was closed but he proceeded out onto the apron of the airport and chased the aircraft. Grounder handlers were marshalling the plane which was taxiing onto the runway. The court heard he attacked one of them by pushing him and tripping him back onto the ground. The APS woman went to stop him but he kicked her causing he to suffer a swollen knee. The court heard he had one prior conviction for assault for which he was placed on probation for 12 months in 2013. Garda Cahill agreed with the defence solicitor that Kehoe was a little bit intoxicated at the time of the incident. By his own admission, he had a few pints before the flight and that may have something to do with missing the boarding call, he told the court. Mr Connolly said his client was going to Amsterdam with his partner and he had not been out of the country for many years. Kehoe acted stupidly and impulsively, and did not have a bad record, his solicitor said in pleas for leniency. He had pleaded guilty without seeking disclosure of evidence, the court heard. The garda agreed the door Kehoe got out was normally secure and he had been apprehended in seconds. Mr Connolly submitted that the plane and its passengers were not delayed by Kehoes foolishness, however, the garda countered, I believe there was a knock-on effect. The accused sobered up after the incident and the garda conceded that Kehoe was not a problem when he dealt with him. However, he added, that there had been a significant amount of confrontation during the incident. Mr Connolly said his client had been Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder and was taking medication. He was unemployed but had previously worked with a carpenter. Kehoe, who remains on bail, was apologetic, Mr Connolly said. The solicitor explained his client had been drinking in a bar at the airport but on looking at his watch he realised he was late and went to the boarding gate. He overreacted and managed get out a door that would not necessarily have normally been available to him and got onto the apron, Mr Connolly said. He very much regretted the incident and was willing to offer compensation to the victims. His partner had been supportive. Mr Connolly asked the court to give Kehoe credit for his guilty pleas and that he had met the case as best he could. Judge Simms remarked that the case involved airport security but held that it was appropriate to adjourn sentencing to allow the defendant time to complete a restorative justice services programme. The case resumes on April 25 next. Kehoe, dressed in cream hooded jacket, grey tracksuit bottoms and runners, stood silently throughout the hearing and did not have to give evidence. Legal aid was granted. The government has published a bill containing all the emergency measures that will be needed if there is a no-deal Brexit. There are 17 parts to the bill which the government has said is part of its Brexit contingency action plan. It contains measures to allow buses and trains to still travel between the Republic and Northern Ireland. There are amendments to make sure Irish students studying in the UK can still access their SUSI grants and the continuation of certain social welfare payments for Irish citizens in Britain. There are updates to criminal law to make sure people can still be extradited and that the gardai and the police force can share documents electronically, as well as measures for the exchange of immigration data. The bill deals with healthcare arrangements, the single electricity market, taxation and insurance issues. The government said it does not want to have to pass this legislation, as Ministers are still holding out hope that a deal can be reached before the March deadline. The bill will not be published in its entirety until February 22 and will go to the Oireachtas three days later. Gardai investigating the murder of Mikolaj Wilk in Cork have released the third man who was arrested this week. The three Eastern European men were detained on Tuesday morning in Ballincollig following a series of searches. Two of the men were released on Tuesday while the third has been released today and a file is being prepared for the DPP. The 35-year-old was killed last June in a brutal attack at his home, his wife also received injuries. While the main suspects for the horror killing fled to Eastern Europe within hours of the murder, locally-based Eastern Europeans are believed to have aided them in logistics including transport. Gardai are hoping to be able to trace the actual killers and prosecute them for the murder. The man in custody up until yesterday was Polish. The two others who were released without charge on Tuesday evening are from Poland and Latvia. Gardai said investigations are ongoing. Mr Wilk received horrific injuries when he was attacked by a gang of up to four men armed with machetes, in his home at Maglin, Ballincollig on June 10. He died in Cork University Hospital a short time after the attack. His wife received serious injuries to her hand but has since returned home to Poland with the couple's children. Nine vehicles were seized by gardai shortly after the killing. A large team has gone through forensics, documents, and witness statements taken in the early stages of the investigation, leading them to Tuesday's arrests. CCTV footage has also been analysed. The Garda Commissioner Drew Harris has said that reports of 600 officers will be moved to the border are "entirely incorrect". It follows the announcement yesterday that officials from the Association of Garda Sergeants and Inspectors (AGSI) and senior Garda commissioners are to meet next week on the back of a car bombing and linked hijackings in Derry, which have been blamed on republican dissidents. An expert on dementia reviewed medical and other reports on a farmer, whose will is being contested, and found he had capacity to make a will, the High Court has heard. Prof Peter Passmore, a geriatrician and head of the ageing and dementia research centre in Queens University Belfast, said Michael Buckley was not in a fit state to make a will eight days before he died in hospital as he had just had a major operation the day before. However, he was a "very different man" five days before he died and had improved such that he did have capacity to make the will then, he said. Prof Passmore was giving evidence on the second day of an action by four of Mr Buckley's siblings against a nephew to who the deceased left his entire 54-acre farm and estate in a will made in his Waterford Regional Hospital bed five days before he died. Joseph, William and Elizabeth Buckley and Teresa Doyle say the will made in favour of Richard Cooper junior, a son of a fifth Buckley sibling, Sheila Cooper, was made under undue influence and when he did not have capacity to make it because he was dying. They want the will condemned. Mr Cooper jnr, a machinery hire contractor, opposes their action and denies the claims. Mr Buckley died on March 20, 2011, aged 76, from cancer. He was a bachelor and had no children. He had been sick for several months and underwent a major operation on March 11 which did not improve his condition, the court heard. He was mostly receiving palliative care from then on. Sheila Cooper asked a local solicitor to go to the hospital on March 12 but that solicitor found he was not in a fit state to make a will and left. On March 15, her husband, Dick Cooper, asked another local firm to send a solicitor to take the will and it was taken. The second solicitor, Jason Dunne, said Mr Buckley was lucid, chatty and a very different man from the one seen by the first solicitor. Mr Dunne was quite satisfied he had capacity to make the will. Prof Passmore told the court, from his review of medical notes on Mr Buckley and reports by the solicitors who met him in March, he was satisfied that, on balance, the patient had capacity to make the will when he did. He agreed, under cross-examination, the "golden rule" of good practice is that a healthcare professional should be involved in taking account of a patient's mental and cognitive state in such situations. However, this was ideally the situation and as a matter of practicality, on the wards of a hospital, it is not always possible. Dr Derek Forde, a GP and associate professor of general practice in UCD, told the court he also carried out a review of the medical and other material and it was his impression Mr Buckley was "up against it" and had no more than months to live at the time of the will taking. Had Mr Buckley been his patient, he would not have allowed anyone near him at the time, even his family. "This man was too ill and too sick in my opinion", he said. The case continues before Mr Justice Charles Meenan. Regular overcrowding at the new Cork prison has been blamed on the ongoing construction work at Limerick prison. A spokesperson for the Irish Prison Service says that the works at Limerick prison have restricted the ability to transfer prisoners between the two facilities and, as such, has resulted in regular overcrowding in Cork. It is also causing capacity issues at the men's and women's prisons in Limerick. The new Cork Prison opened in early 2016. The 42 million state-of-the-art facility replaced the old Cork Prison, which was located on the Rathmore Road just a few hundred metres from the new building. The old prison dated from the 1820s and had suffered from frequent overcrowding. However, figures issued by the Irish Prison Service indicate that there are still issues at the new facility. The Prison Service published daily prison population figures. Since January 10, Cork Prison has been at 98% or higher every day. This week, that figure has not dropped below 100%. On Tuesday, there were 300 prisoners in the 296-capacity prison, while yesterday that figure stood at 297. Last Thursday, there were 304 at the prison. The trend follows similar issues last year. There were two occasions in December where eight inmates slept on mattresses due to capacity issues, while last July, this number hit 21 on two occasions. There are also concerns about Limerick men's and women's prisons. The men's prison has been at 97% or higher capacity every day this year, while the 28 capacity women's facility has not dropped below 136% capacity. Yesterday, there were 44 inmates at the women's prison. The matter has been raised in the Dail by Fianna Fail leader Micheal Martin, such is the frequency of the issue. A spokesperson for the Irish Prison Service said that there are a number of factors contributing to the issue: "It has to be acknowledged that the Irish Prison Service does not have the option of refusing committals and must accept all prisoners committed by the Courts regardless of available spaces." "Where the number of prisoners exceeds the maximum capacity in any prison, officials make every effort to deal with this through a combination of inter-prison transfers and structured temporary release. "This level of occupancy, for various reasons, is not equally spread among all the prisons. For example, the excess capacity in the open prisons cannot be used for prisoners who can only be appropriately accommodated in closed prisons or for female prisoners. Equally, it may not be possible for prisoners from one part of the country to be transferred away from their social and family networks to other parts of the country where there may be additional capacity. The Irish Prison Service makes every effort to keep prisoners as close to their family as possible, where appropriate, to assist in their rehabilitation and reintegration." In Munster, the issues are being exacerbated by ongoing construction works at Limerick prison. The spokesperson said: "The construction of the new accommodation in Limerick prison is adding to the pressure being experienced in that prison, but is also having a knock-on effect in Cork Prison as it is restricting the ability to transfer prisons between these prisons. Once the new build in Limerick prison is complete, it will increase daily capacity by 105 males. The female unit there, when completed, will consist of 42 rooms and eight independent living units. This is a significant increase on the current capacity of 28 in Limerick female prison." Safety planning by the HSE and the nurses' unions will continue right up to next Wednesday's 24-hour strike by nurses and midwives. HSE national director of acute operations, Liam Woods, said discussions on contingency plans with the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation and the Psychiatric Nurses Organisations began two weeks ago. His comments came ahead of a third day of talks aimed at averting the strike between the HSE and nursing unions which will get underway tomorrow afternoon at the Workplace Relations Commission. The second day of talks adjourned this evening. On the discussions on contingency plans, Mr Woods said they would continue until next Wednesday when nurses are due to hold their first 24-hour stoppage. We are at a more advanced stage in terms of understanding what the strike impact would be and how we handle that, said Mr Woods. Hospital groups and community healthcare organisations across the country have assessed what the likely impact would be. They have already communicated at some level with GPs and with individual hospital sites, he said. If the strike went ahead as planned next Wednesday there would be no outpatient services on the day. Mr Woods said about 15,000 people would normally attend out-patient departments over a day so it was the biggest single number impacted by the industrial dispute. Mr Woods said there were over 3.3m out-patient appointments per year. If you did the math on that you would see that it is about 15,000 a day, he said. Elective surgery was also cancelled on the day of action. Mr Woods said they had sought a derogation in cases where there was any risk to life or very urgent care needed. We are still negotiating with the INMO on precisely what that means but the broad direction is that only life-saving or very serious surgery would proceed. Mr Woods said hospitals did not book as much elective surgery in January as they would at other times of the year. At this time of year, hospitals are under significant pressure from more urgent admissions. The INMO says it expects that members who are agency nurses or midwives will not be available for work in services that are in dispute. Services for older people will not be involved in the dispute on Wednesday but will be involved in further action next month. Nurses who are members of the PNA will not be available to work overtime next Wednesday. Cities risk electing "celebrity-style mayors" who have no real understanding of the powers and functions of the role unless the Government ensures there is a genuine public debate on its plan for directly elected mayors. Labour TD Jan O'Sullivan warned "the wrong people" could be elected to the key roles unless the reason for the position is clearly set just months before an expected plebiscite on the issue this summer. During a Dail debate, Minister of State John Paul Phelan said he will explain what powers the potential new mayors system will have in three weeks' time. Ms O'Sullivan said the onus is on the Government to instigate a real public debate. She said unless the proposed new powers and functions are fully explained there is a risk cities like Cork, Limerick, Dublin and Galway will elect people who are not suitable for the role. "We do need the conversation. The Minister of State needs to find a way, be it through town hall-style meetings or otherwise, to have a general debate so people will understand what the matter is about. "I said in the debate before Christmas that we do not know what the functions will be. "If we only get the information out on what the functions and powers are close to the vote, there will not be time for a public debate. This is a big decision for local people. If somewhere ends up with a celebrity-style mayor because there has not been a proper debate on what mayors actually do, it will have the wrong kind of person. "We need somebody who can take the responsibility. It is not just about powers; it is about responsibility," she said. The potential decision to allow cities to directly elect their mayors is designed to give the public more control over who represents their areas, with Taoiseach Leo Varadkar confirming last September a plebiscite is likely in May. A High Court action taken by a woman with cervical cancer who died last week has been settled. The family of 54-year-old Orla Church were in the High Court today as Mr Justice Kevin Cross was told the case of Ms Church who passed away five days ago was settled. Ms Church (aged 54), who died on January 19, was the 21st woman to die arising out of the CervicalCheck smear tests controversy. Orla Church's funeral. Pic: Collins Richard Kean SC told the court Ms Churchs father, Charles Church, along with the deceased womans sister were in court. Counsel said it had not been possible to proceed with mediation in the case as had been indicated to the court when it was last mentioned before the judge just days before Ms Church died. Mr Kean said it had been possible to take instructions to a settlement of Ms Churchs case. Counsel said the Church family wanted to thank the court and court registrar Grainne OLoughlin for expediting the matter. Noting the settlement, Mr Justice Cross offered his sympathy to Mr Church and his family on their loss. The judge also congratulated the legal teams on all sides for reaching a settlement. He said if anybody had delayed it, it would never have been settled. Ms Church had sued over the alleged misinterpretation of her CervicalCheck smears. Orla Church, Elm Mount Avenue, Beaumont, Dublin had sued the HSE and US laboratory Quest Diagnositcs Incorporated of Delaware which provided cervical cytopathology laboratories and services to the HSE as part of the ChervicalCheck screening programme for Irish women. It was claimed Ms Church had a smear test in September 2011 which was sent to a laboratory operated by Quest Diagnositcs. The report back from the laboratory after testing the sample said no abnormality was detected and recommended routine screening. In September 2014, Ms Church had another smear test as part of her routine screening and the laboratory report this time showed no abnormalities and advised normal recall. Ms Church, it was claimed, was referred to hospital in December 2015 with pelvic pain and was later diagnosed with cervical cancer with a tumour of over 4cms showing up in a scan. Ms Church's two smear tests were reviewed, it was claimed, and it was alleged the results were amended in both cases. It was claimed that on review no change was made to the reporting of the 2011 smear test, but a change was made to the 2014 smear test result. It was further claimed that following a review by an independent external pathologist in March 2017, both smear test results were changed from the original negative category. Ms Church alleged the reporting by the Quest Diagnostics laboratory allegedly led to a false negative result both in September 2011 and in September 2014. She contended there was no intervention in her condition until after May 2016 when she underwent treatment. In September 2017, she suffered a deterioration on her health and was advised in May 2018 that there was a recurrence of her cancer with secondary tumours in her kidneys. It was claimed there was an alleged failure to diagnose and an alleged failure to refer her to the proper and appropriate specialists for the purpose of the prompt investigation, monitoring or early diagnosis. It was claimed upon discovering she was suffering from cervical cancer Ms Church suffered profound shock, distress and upset. All claims were denied by the defendants. Dublin criminal Brian Rattigan, who admitted killing his former friend and wrote a letter of apology to his mother asking for forgiveness, has been jailed for nine years at the Central Criminal Court for manslaughter. Rattigan (38), formerly of Cooley Road, in Drimnagh has been in prison for most of his adult life and pleaded guilty last October to killing 21-year-old Declan Gavin. Speaking outside court today, Chief Superintendent Brian Sutton said this was "the first time" Rattigan had "put his hand up" for the killing of Mr Gavin. Passing sentence earlier, Mr Justice Michael White said it has been over seventeen years since Mr Gavin's death and his family had waited a very long time for closure and for Rattigan to say he was responsible for the victim's death. The Gavin family had felt the letter of apology from Rattigan was "too little too late", said the judge, but the court hoped they will now have some respite and be comforted in their fond memories of him. Mr Gavin was stabbed to death outside an Abrakebabra fast-food restaurant on Crumlin Road in Dublin in the early hours of August 25, 2001. He received two knife wounds, one to the hand but a fatal one to the heart. Rattigan went on trial for his murder twice in 2009. The first jury could not reach a verdict but a second jury convicted him. However, that conviction was successfully appealed in 2017. The former gangland figure was due to go on trial for the crime again this month, but the State accepted his plea to manslaughter when he entered it on arraignment on October 22 last. The convicted criminal also said on the same occasion that he was sorry to the victims family and anyone else he had hurt through his actions. Before delivering the sentence this morning, Mr Justice White said this was an involuntary manslaughter case where the death of another results from an unlawful and dangerous act. Aggravating factors in the case included Rattigan bringing an offensive weapon to a group of youths when he was high on drugs and alcohol as well as the tragic loss of Mr Gavin and the impact this loss had on his family. Mitigating factors in sentencing, Mr Justice White said, were the guilty plea and the length of time it has taken to prosecute the crime. "The accused caused the delay but he always denied murder," he indicated. The judge noted that another mitigating factor was Rattigan's attendance at and completion of significant drug and alcohol awareness courses in prison which hopefully indicated "a substantial departure" from the defendant's previous criminal behaviour. Another possible mitigating factor was a letter written by Rattigan to the Gavin family expressing his remorse but the judge said this was "much too late" to be considered as such. Mr Justice White said the court did not intend to impose a consecutive sentence and Rattigan had not served any time for this offence. Referring to the defendant, the judge said he was entitled to have the sentence imposed from the date he entered the plea and it was not appropriate to backdate it any further considering the seriousness of the offence. The headline sentence for the offence was 13 years imprisonment, the judge said, but the appropriate sentence to hand down was nine years. Mr Justice White sentenced Rattigan to nine years imprisonment, backdated to October 1, 2018. Dressed in a blue jacket and a navy tie, Rattigan wore a neatly trimmed beard and glasses for today's sentence hearing. He did not react when the sentence was revealed. Prosecuting counsel Pauline Walley SC said at the sentence hearing last December that the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) had accepted a plea to manslaughter from Rattigan as the cases frailties were likely to render the success of another murder trial questionable. This is the first time he (Rattigan) put his hand up for the killing of Declan Gavin. Rattigan had already served a sentence for two counts of assault causing harm before killing Mr Gavin and Chief Supt Sutton outlined the other convictions that have kept him behind bars since 2003 at his sentence hearing last month. These included a firearms offence, assault and violent disorder. Rattigan is currently serving a 17-year sentence imposed in 2013 for controlling the possession of drugs for sale or supply from within the prison walls. This was backdated to 2008 and the expiration date was May 2025 but allowing for remission, Rattigan was due for release in November 2019. Speaking outside the Criminal Courts of Justice today, Chief Supt Sutton said: On behalf of An Garda Siochana our thoughts are with the Gavin family today. Since 2001 this has been hanging over them, the killing of their brother Declan, their son Declan. They have been through several court proceedings and appeal proceedings and we are hopeful today for a bit of closure for the family and the extended Gavin family." "This was a difficult investigation. I want to pay compliment to the initial investigators and the people that followed up on it which resulted in a lengthy sentence for Brian Rattigan today. "He was serving sentences in other matters even though he was charged. The charge was thrown out for lack of service of the book of evidence and then he was re-charged in 2005 and as a result of that charge it led to this sentence today. The scope of the investigation was difficult at the outset because we had an amount of reluctant witnesses and also when it came to trial some of the witnesses, even after being served witness orders, had to be arrested and brought to before the court, so there were several difficulties that it posed, he said. We dealt with it in our own organisation by arresting our own witnesses and bringing them to court to give evidence, he added. The Gavin family are happy, not only for the sentence, but the fact that there is closure and they are happy to move on with their lives. This is the first time he (Rattigan) put his hand up for the killing of Declan Gavin, concluded Chief Supt Sutton. Not guilty to murder but guilty to manslaughter At last months sentence hearing on December 20, prosecuting counsel Pauline Walley SC reminded Mr Justice Michael White that Rattigan had pleaded not guilty to murder but guilty to manslaughter. The prosecution indicated that, given the exceptional features now associated with this case, the director would accept this plea to manslaughter because of those features, she said. I wont admit. Yous prove it. That's your job. Chief Superintendent Brian Sutton summarised the facts of the case during the sentence hearing and agreed with Ms Walley that the case had a complex litigation history. Various judicial reviews had been taken from 2005 to 2008 before the two trials got underway in 2009. Rattigan had made an unsuccessful appeal to the Court of Criminal Appeal in 2013 before his successful appeal to the Supreme Court in 2017. Chief Supt Sutton told Ms Walley that a man in a balaclava was witnessed stabbing Mr Gavin, who retreated into the safety of Abrakebabra. The evidence against Rattigan included his prints being found next to Mr Gavins blood on the restaurants door, he said, through which the defendant had tried to chase his victim. Chief Superintendent Brian Sutton pictured today. Picture: Collins Chief Supt Sutton said that over 300 witness statements were taken as part of the investigation. However, it was a difficult investigation, he said. Over 22 people were arrested for withholding information, he explained. Rattigan had denied involvement, insisting that he hadnt been to the scene in months. I wont admit. Yous prove it. That's your job, he had said. Struck out The court heard that Rattigan was eventually charged in 2003, but this was struck out of the District Court later that year for failure to serve the book of evidence. It was a complex investigation and took a while to get the book of evidence together, explained Chief Supt Sutton, adding that there was a large number of very reluctant witnesses. He was re-charged in 2005 but took judicial review proceedings seeking an order of prohibition. Rattigan argued that there had been both an unacceptable delay and prejudicial pre-trial publicity, which would prevent a fair trial. He lost his case the following year but appealed to the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court agreed that there was a delay but found that the forensic evidence of blood and prints were extraordinary, exceptional and unexplained, and cried out to be examined. The court also took the view that there would be a media fade factor by the time his case came to court and that this would allow him a fair trial. It ruled in 2008 that the trial could proceed. Chief Supt Sutton said that a feature of both trials was that some key witnesses professed to no-longer remember what theyd stated to gardai. Some did not make themselves available and had to be arrested. Others left the jurisdiction. Some were charged with contempt and their statements had to be read to the court, using special legal provisions. One of these statements was described as a key piece of evidence and was made by a friend of both men, David Byrne. He was subsequently murdered in the Regency shooting, said Chief Supt Sutton. Niall Hannigan, another key witness in both trials, is also deceased. Such witnesses had described Mr Gavin being in good form before the attack. He had been going to leave in a taxi with some girls, but the car was full. Professor John Harbison, who had carried out the autopsy, was unavailable for the trials due to medical reasons. That was overcome at the time, but was likely to have been a greater problem if the trial had proceeded in January of this year. Despite the difficulties, a jury found Rattigan guilty in 2009. He was the last person to be convicted of murder in the Four Courts. However, he appealed this conviction and the Supreme Court eventually quashed it. A retrial was ordered in 2018. It would have begun earlier this month and lasted six weeks, but Rattigan decided to offer a plea to manslaughter. Chief Supt Sutton agreed that all the frailties mentioned and the passage of time were likely to render the success of the trial questionable. The DPP, therefore, decided to accept the plea. He agreed that, although this was painful for the Gavin family, it was bringing them closure. Apology letter 'a little bit late' and 'a little too convenient' Chief Supt Sutton agreed with Brendan Grehan SC, defending, that Rattigan had recently written a letter of apology to Mr Gavins widowed mother. However, Pauline Gavin had declined to read the letter when she received it the week before the sentence hearing, feeling that it was a little bit late. Mr Justice Michael White asked the witness if Rattigan had ever been in custody only in relation to Mr Gavins death. He replied that he had not. A 'soul-destroying' effect on victim's mother Mr Gavins sister, Tara Gavin, delivered a victim impact statement at the sentence hearing in which she said that the loss and sadness had not disappeared over the past 17 years. Declan was my little brother and, even after all these years, I cant begin to describe how close we were, she said. He made me laugh. She said that his amazing sense of humour was what she had missed most of all. She said that happiness had been taken from their home and replaced with a sense darkness. My world turned upside down, she said. She explained that she had gone from someone concentrating on finishing college and looking forward to travelling to someone, who couldnt comprehend what she was going to do next. She said that watching the effect it was having on her mother was soul-destroying. She said that the manner in which her brother had died and the events that followed were things she couldnt bear to think about. It was an extremely hard time to live through, she said. We acknowledge the short letter of apology, she continued. After so many years of listening to: I didnt kill Declan, it seems the timing of this apology is a little too convenient. She said that the family had waited nearly 18 years to hear what theyd known after 24 hours: that Brian Rattigan was responsible for her brothers death. She finished by thanking her mother for doing everything possible to encourage her to live her life. Mr Grehan read out his clients letter to Mrs Pauline Gavin. Im very sorry for taking your sons life, he wrote. Ive regretted that night in silence ever since. As I get older, it doesnt get any easier. He said that he hoped she could find peace and closure now. May Declan rest in peace and may God protect him, he concluded. Mr Grehan asked the judge to take this and a number of testimonials into account. He also outlined his achievements while in prison, which included playing the lead or a supporting part in a production of Cinderella. He had also obtained a diploma and certificates in various subjects. The board of French carmaker Renault has named two new leaders to replace industry veteran Carlos Ghosn, who resigned after weeks of detention in Japan. The board chose Jean-Dominique Senard, of Michelin, to be chairman and Renault executive Thierry Bollore as chief executive. Ghosn previously held both posts. In a statement, the board expressed "its confidence in the new leadership" and wished it "every success in its mission". France's finance minister Bruno le Maire had confirmed earlier that Ghosn formally handed in his resignation from his roles at Renault on Wednesday evening. Ghosn has been detained for more than two months in Japan, keeping him from fulfilling his duties at Renault. The French government owns about 15% of Renault SA, making it an influential voice in its handling. And while Renault initially stood by Ghosn after his November 19 arrest, the French government has pressed for him to be replaced. Mr Le Maire said: "Our goal from the beginning of this case has always been to preserve Renault's interests and consolidate the alliance between Renault and Nissan" "The necessary decisions have been made." Mr Le Maire said Renault's new chairman will work to consolidate the Renault-Nissan alliance, which had long been driven by Ghosn and now faces questions over its future. Mr Senard had been at the helm of French tyre giant Michelin for almost seven years. He was recently described by Mr Le Maire as "a great industrialist" with a "social vision" of business. Mr Bollore, who joined Renault in 2012, was appointed deputy chief executive officer of the group last November as part of the transitional leadership after Ghosn's arrest in Japan. Renault's Board of Directors met today and decided to provide #Renault with a new governance structure: Jean-Dominique Senard is elected new Director & Chairman and Thierry Bollore is appointed Chief Executive Officer. Read full press release https://t.co/9ihG0JEKZJ pic.twitter.com/MkWjsaP47Q Renault Group (@renaultgroup) January 24, 2019 Mr Senard said he had two major priorities: to "propose new governance for the group" in the coming weeks and to ensure that the link between Renault, Nissan and Mitsubishi "remains strong". Ghosn denies Japanese allegations that he under-reported income as chairman of Nissan and falsified financial reports. The 64-year-old star executive led Nissan for two decades and was simultaneously chairman and chief executive of Renault since 2009. Nissan's chief executive Hiroto Saikawa welcomed Renault's new leadership. He told reporters at Nissan's headquarters in Yokohama, south west of Tokyo: "This is a first step as we turn a page in the alliance." Mr Saikawa said Nissan plans an extraordinary general shareholders' meeting, likely to be some time in mid-April, to dismiss Ghosn and director Greg Kelly as board members. The company will also be taking steps in April and May to beef up governance at Nissan, he said. Mr Saikawa has denounced Ghosn as behind various financial wrongdoing and using company assets and money for personal gain, and has said governance must be fixed. -Press Association The oil market is gradually returning to balance as the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec) reins in output and the US shale boom slows, according to executives gathered at Davos. Yet the risk of stalling growth in China continues to cloud the outlook. The supply and demand looks balanced for 2019, BP chief executive Bob Dudley said in an interview in the Swiss resort. Opec has started to cut production in the first quarter, but they cannot balance overnight, he said. Crude has got off to its best start to a year since 2001 on hopes that Opec and its allies will cut enough output to eliminate a glut. However, forecasts for slower economic growth, particularly in China, are threatening that rally, with demand concerns overshadowing tighter supply. Theres still so much uncertainty about whats going to happen with the world economy, Occidental Petroleum CEO Vicki Hollub said at Davos. The volatility is going to be worse over the next couple of months before Brent crude settles in a $60 to $70-a-barrel range, she said. Benchmark Brent has rallied 15% this year as the Opec cuts kick in, but remains almost 30% below the four-year peak reached in October. Crudes volatility has unnerved the investment community, which is much more cautious now than it was previously, according to Hollub. Not as much money is going to be pouring into the Permian basin, she said, adding that theres going to be more discipline around how the Permian reacts to pricing. Thats a sentiment shared by Hess CEO John Hess, who said that investors want shale producers to grow at a more moderate rate so that youre free-cash-flow-generative in a low-price environment. Burgeoning shale output has pushed US oil production to a record 11.9 million barrels a day. Yet the number of rigs drilling for crude has recently dropped, and the Energy Information Administration predicts shale growth is set to slow. That outlook is one of the main drivers of the oil market, according to IHS Markit vice chairman Daniel Yergin, who said the other is China. They are the two biggest kind of factors now that are interacting and shaping the price, Yergin said in Davos. The IMF has cut its world growth forecast while China said its economy last year expanded at the weakest annual rate since 1990. Faltering manufacturing and slumping exports have stirred doubts over the countrys expansion, while a trade battle with the US continues to weigh on markets. - Bloomberg Carlos Ghosns arrest is triggering a reckoning at the Japanese carmaker he once saved from near bankruptcy, with Nissan reviewing its global operations and relationships with key dealers as part of an expanding investigation into the car titans alleged misdeeds. Hundreds of people including regional and legal compliance teams as well as outside law firms are participating in the probe into business practices under Mr Ghosn, according to sources. Hiroto Saikawa The scandal encompassing Mr Ghosn, the carmaker, and its alliance with Frances Renault and Mitsubishi Motors, is now in its third month. He denies wrongdoing. Chief executive Hiroto Saikawa, 65, is trying to move beyond the era of Mr Ghosn and rebuild Nissan as a company that doesnt rely on the relationships and practices spawned during the former CEOs two-decade reign. He wants to convince investors hes addressing corporate-governance shortcomings exposed by the scandal in which Nissan itself also has been indicted by prosecutors and he also wants to reassure employees that Nissans place in the worlds largest auto partnership remains unshaken. The companys internal investigation has already uncovered substantial and convincing evidence of misconduct, resulting in a unanimous board vote to dismiss Ghosn as representative director, Nicholas Maxfield, a spokesman for Nissan, said. While the investigation is ongoing, and its scope continues to broaden, we cannot share details regarding its areas of focus or recent findings, he said. Mr Ghosn, 64, was indicted for allegedly understating his income at Nissan by tens of millions of dollars and for allegedly transferring personal trading losses to the carmaker. Nissan, Japans second-largest automaker by vehicle sales, also claims he misused company funds and awarded contracts on questionable merits. He has been in prison in Tokyo since his arrest in November, with his trial still months away. Courts rejected several of his bail applications, including one in which he offered to wear an electronic tracker. Shares of Nissan have fallen about 10% in Tokyo trading since his arrest. Separately, Renault is negotiating with Mr Ghosn over the terms of his departure as its chairman and CEO, and he is ready to resign under the right conditions, a source said. The French companys board will meet later today and is expected to appoint Michelin chief Jean-Dominique Senard as chairman and to make interim chief executive Thierry Bollores role permanent. Mr Ghosns ties with business partners have emerged as a focus in Nissans internal investigation. - Bloomberg Deutsche Bank has said it had received requests for information from regulators and law enforcement agencies around the world that are investigating a money laundering scheme involving Danske Bank. The statement came in response to a Bloomberg report that said the US Federal Reserve was investigating Deutsche Banks role in the Danske scandal. Deutsche Bank said, in a statement, that there were no probes. But we received several requests for information from regulators and law enforcement agencies around the world. The bank also said it continued to provide information to, and cooperate with, the investigating agencies. It is not surprising at all that the investigating authorities, and banks themselves, have an interest in the Danske case and the lessons to be learned from it, Deutsche Bank said. The Feds probe is at an early stage, Bloomberg said. The US central bank is investigating whether Deutsche Bank, in New York, properly monitored the transfer of funds it performed on behalf of Danske from its Estonia branch, the report added. Deutsche chief executive, Christian Sewing, said, last week, that the bank was investigating the Danske case internally and that it had no indications of any misconduct on the banks part. Danske is under investigation for suspicious payments totalling 200bn, from 2007 until 2015. Deutsche Bank has said that it acted as a correspondent bank for Danske Bank in Estonia. A Deutsche Bank executive director has said the German bank played only a secondary role as a correspondent bank to Danske Bank, limiting what it needed to know about the people behind the transactions. In 2017, the Fed was among regulators that fined Deutsche Bank nearly $700m (616m) for weak controls that allowed money laundering from Russia. In November, police searched the offices of all the members of Deutsche Banks board, as part of a two-day raid and investigation into money laundering allegations linked to the Panama Papers. Deutsche has said that it had no indications of misconduct in this case. - Reuters A computer scientist who helped develop the internet has said social media giants are engaged in "surveillance capitalism" and are "merely paying lip service" to combating the rise of disinformation, data misuse, and online abuse. Paul Vixie said that social media firms were not doing enough to combat the spread of bad information and the use of private data by people with bad intentions. "They are merely paying lip service to it, delaying and deceiving and misdirecting as a way to continue growing revenue and their share price," he said. Mr Vixie -- whose pioneering work on the Domain Name System (DNS), the so-called phonebook of the internet, helped pave the way to his being inducted into the Internet Hall of Fame -- was speaking ahead of International Data Protection Day on Monday. However, he said there were signs that other prominent historical technology and business leaders who were aware of their legacy could turn the tide. "I dont have a lot of hope for the leaders of the current crop in the short-term, but I do have some hope that some of Americas billionaires, as they reach their golden years, are ending up realising they have been slashing and burning, and that they now need to replant what they have taken. "We are seeing some good results from the Bill Gates Foundation, and Warren Buffett is no longer interested in winner-take-all gains as he once was. I dont think we can wait for Facebook's Sheryl Sandberg and the others to reach their golden years before we can hope for change," he said. Those abusing the internet to influence political matters were currently winning the war being waged online, he said. However, Mr Vixie said he was hopeful that the innovators like World Wide Web founder Tim Berners-Lee and others motivated by social and community progress would eventually win out. Mr Berners-Lee is working on something, that if successful, will allow a kind of overlay on top of the internet that will allow a little more privacy and security. "You cant build a utopia in one step but you can take a series of small steps towards it. He wants a set of norms that will allow you to keep your data, in something like a set-top box in your house. You own it and control it, and your permission must be sought to use it. "We must not let it just be the big tech companies that decide humanitys future. There are enough people with good intentions out there. A lot of what has been done to make the internet grow so spectacularly was not commercial in nature. There are a lot of open source programmers who want to give something to the world for free, for good. "Im not expecting internet billionaires of the current generation to have a change of heart soon, but I am expecting innovation to outfox them incrementally, one small step at a time. It may be faint cause for hope, but it is hope nonetheless. "As a concept, the internet is permanent. We are always going to have one. As to what it is, how it got that way, and what it can be next, is still in our hands," Mr Vixie said. Coca Cola is to outsource some of the work at its Drogheda plant. The soft drinks manufacturer is believed to have briefed staff yesterday and a company statement said it is looking at "using third-party providers to provide managed services". It said the company "is evolving as a total beverage company" and is changing the way it works to increase "speed and agility". Around 200 people are employed there. Around half work in the division to be impacted by the outsourcing, but not all of them will be affected. LMFM News understands that staff in Drogheda were informed of redundancies yesterday afternoon and that some of the processes may be outsourced to an Indian company. Local Fine Gael deputy Fergus ODowd said, any job losses are hugely disappointing and it is hugely distressing for the people concerned. Drogheda has been a very important base for Coca-Cola and hopefully it will continue to be. He is asking the Government to make every effort possible to ensure job losses are minimised, and, to attract new industry into Drogheda. Labour Senator Ged Nash said, There need not be job losses at the Drogheda operation and I am calling on the government and the IDA not to abandon the Coke staff in Drogheda but to fight tooth and nail to retain these valued positions and Coca-Colas footprint in Drogheda. Apple has revealed that it believes climate change will boost iPhone sales. The company said that more consumers will want their devices in order to help them survive severe extreme weather events. It made the revelations in a submission to the Carbon Disclosure Project, a British group that asks corporations to report how they are tackling climate change. The Times Ireland Edition reports that Apple believe the increased demand would add more than 800m to their value. MONTREAL - Canada's border protection agency has charged a woman in connection with organizing illegal entries into Canada through a popular rural crossing in southern Quebec. Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 23/1/2019 (877 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. A Royal Canadian Mounted Police officer informs a migrant couple of the location of a legal border station, shortly before they illegally crossed from Champlain, N.Y., to Saint-Bernard-de-Lacolle, Quebec, using Roxham Road on August 7, 2017. Canada's border protection agency has charged a woman in connection with organizing illegal entries into Canada through a popular rural crossing in southern Quebec. A charge was laid against Olayinka Celestina Opaleye Wednesday at the courthouse in Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu, south of Montreal. THE CANADIAN PRESS/AP, Charles Krupa MONTREAL - Canada's border protection agency has charged a woman in connection with organizing illegal entries into Canada through a popular rural crossing in southern Quebec. A charge was laid against Olayinka Celestina Opaleye Wednesday at the courthouse in Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu, south of Montreal. She is charged under the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act for facilitating the entry of asylum seekers into Canada through Roxham Road in exchange for compensation. The charges were laid following an investigation carried out by Canada Border Services Agency. The agency alleges that in the summer of 2017, Opaleye arranged for the entry of "several individuals" into Canada, acting as part of a network of smugglers who organized their travel. According to Canadian government figures, there were 19,419 irregular crossings in Canada in 2018, more than 18,500 of them through the Quebec crossing at Roxham Road. That figure was slightly down from 2017, when there were 20,593 crossings, including a notable spike beginning in July of that year. Dominique McNeely, an agency spokesman, said the woman was charged under a section of the law that covers human trafficking of a group of 10 or more. A conviction under the section can result in a fine of up to $1 million or life imprisonment. McNeely said it is not the first time charges have been pursued against alleged human traffickers at the popular Quebec-New York border crossing. No further information was available on the case Wednesday. It returns to court Mar. 27. QUISPAMSIS, N.B. - Prime Minister Justin Trudeau flew across the country to briefly boost a New Brunswick MP at a rally Wednesday evening in a battleground riding where the Liberals managed a narrow 2015 victory in a traditionally Tory area. Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 23/1/2019 (877 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau arrives with Fundy Royal MP Alaina Lockhart at her nomination event in Quispamsis, N.B., on Wednesday, Jan. 23, 2019. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Andrew Vaughan QUISPAMSIS, N.B. - Prime Minister Justin Trudeau flew across the country to briefly boost a New Brunswick MP at a rally Wednesday evening in a battleground riding where the Liberals managed a narrow 2015 victory in a traditionally Tory area. Trudeau spoke for just four minutes, taking swipes at the economic records of former Conservative prime ministers, including his predecessor Stephen Harper, and R.B. Bennett, who was born in the province and led the country amidst the worst years of the Great Depression. But Trudeau's main focus was on the Liberal MP for Fundy Royal, businesswoman Alaina Lockhart. "I don't think I know anyone in caucus who works harder, is more connected to her community, who is a strong voice for rural issues, small businesses, tourism, and passionate about her community and all that it stands for," he said. "I need you to make sure you send her back to Ottawa." The Liberals hold all 10 seats in the province, but Lockhart's victory margin of 3.8 per cent over Harper-era cabinet minister Rob Moore was among the narrower of the wins in the last campaign, and she faces a tough race in the 2019 federal campaign. After his brief comments, Trudeau handed the microphone to Lockhart, who spoke for the remaining time during the rally. She proceeded to list off various investments in the riding in southwestern New Brunswick, emphasizing a coastal highway funded through a federal-provincial agreement that is projected to increase tourism in the region. Trudeau, looking slightly weary, had flown from from Saskatchewan for his evening visit to the riding, his fourth since 2014. His welcome at the Quispamsis gathering wasn't entirely friendly. A group of disgruntled postal workers turned their backs on Trudeau during his brief comments. The workers say they are bitter over the fact the federal government ended their strike in December by legislating them back to work. "We just wanted to show the Liberals our disapproval with the events that took place when we were on strike and were illegally legislated back to work," said Dave Dudley, second vice president of the Fundy local of CUPW. "Under the Canadian Charter, as a unionized workforce we have the right to negotiate a fair contract, and that right was illegally taken away from us," he said. The group did not get a chance to speak with the prime minister or Lockhart. Lockhart later said she understands the position of the postal workers. "I appreciate that the postal workers are in a tough time right now and there's nothing I want more than for them to get a deal and continue to have a good career with Canada Post. In the meantime I have to balance my decision with what I was hearing from the rest of my constituents as well," she said. Lockhart said she heard from a lot of seniors who were worried they would not receive their mail and their bills. She said she hopes there will be an opportunity to sit down with the union and resolve the issues. Trudeau is scheduled to make a number of stops in southern New Brunswick Thursday morning before heading to the north of the province for a town hall style meeting in Miramichi Thursday evening. MIRAMICHI, N.B. - Justin Trudeau is warning voters to be wary of fear-mongering about immigration, suggesting the issue will be a hot-button topic during the federal election campaign this fall. Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 24/1/2019 (876 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau arrives with Fundy Royal MP Alaina Lockhart at her nomination event in Quispamsis, N.B., on Wednesday, Jan. 23, 2019. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Andrew Vaughan MIRAMICHI, N.B. - Justin Trudeau is warning voters to be wary of fear-mongering about immigration, suggesting the issue will be a hot-button topic during the federal election campaign this fall. The prime minister made the prediction Thursday during a town hall meeting in northern New Brunswick, where a young Syrian refugee thanked him for allowing her family to come to Canada. "I came all the way from Syria, and I came here to thank you," Tasmeen Ali told the prime minister in a soft voice, her words met with warm applause from the 250 people gathered inside a high school in Miramichi. Trudeau reminded the crowd it was his Liberal government that granted asylum to 40,000 Syrian refugees in 2015-16. He said his government was glad to help, but he stressed it was Canadians those in church and community groups, neighbourhoods and families who made the integration of Syrians a success. "Welcoming people who are trying to build a better life is what built this country," he said. But Trudeau's upbeat tone changed when he suggested the world has become increasingly fearful, insular and anxious about immigration. "When we're faced with anxieties, it's very easy to have those fears drummed up and exacerbated getting people to point fingers and lay blame," he said. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau visits Origins Natural Learning Childcare Center in Quispamsis, N.B. on Thursday, Jan. 24, 2019. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Andrew Vaughan There are people trying to create fear, intolerance and misinformation about immigration across Canada, he said, though he did not name any individuals or groups. "But the kind of fear-mongering, the kind of intolerance, the kind of misinformation going on across the country and around the world is something all of us have a responsibility to engage with a positive and a thoughtful way." Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer recently accused Trudeau of being most divisive prime minister, saying he and his Liberal party routinely dismisses anyone who raises questions about Canada's immigration system. Last month, Scheer said Trudeau's approach has been to label people with legitimate concerns as un-Canadian. Scheer's accusations came after Trudeau told The Canadian Press that Scheer and the Conservatives were playing a dangerous game by lying to Canadians to drum up fear over immigration. Scheer's stance against the recent United Nations Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration was one of the things that provoked anger in Trudeau, who said the Tories were lying when they said the agreement overrides Canada's sovereignty. Last Friday, Trudeau repeated that assertion during a lively town hall meeting in Saint-Hyacinthe, Que., where was cheered and occasionally heckled. When a woman wanted to know why Trudeau's government had signed the UN compact without consulting Canadians, the prime minister said the agreement would allow Canada to co-operate with other countries on immigration matters. Trudeau had to raise his voice to be heard above shouts and booing as he blamed the criticism of the pact on the "politics of division." The public meeting in New Brunswick was part of a cross-Canada swing aimed at boosting the fortunes of Liberal candidates in an election year. In the 2015 general election, Liberal candidates won every one of the 32 ridings in Atlantic Canada. As expected, the crowd at James M. Hill High School in Miramichi was more than kind to the prime minister. There were a few other thank-yous, a few requests for photos during the question-and-answer session and no heated exchanges. For more than 90 minutes, a seemingly relaxed Trudeau fielded 16 questions, which included queries about abortion, radon gas, rural development, seasonal employment, Indigenous rights, cannabis, pharmacare and Lyme disease. Earlier in the day, Trudeau said his government wouldn't spend more money on the troubled 2021 Francophonie Games in New Brunswick unless the provincial government agreed to pay more. Last month, New Brunswick's Progressive Conservative government announced the Games could prove too expensive for the province, as cost estimates ballooned to $130 million a sevenfold increase. While visiting a child-care centre in Quispamsis, Trudeau said Ottawa would only match provincial spending dollar-for-dollar. "Obviously the Francophonie Games are deeply important to me," Trudeau said. "We think it's extremely important to move forward on the Francophonie Games, but ... we have a framework for large sporting events." Premier Blaine Higgs has said the province will stick with its original commitment to spend $10 million, insisting his government won't spend another penny. The ninth Games of La Francophonie are scheduled to be held in the Moncton and Dieppe area in the summer of 2021, attracting 3,000 athletes and artists from more than 50 member states that have French as a common language. With files from Michael MacDonald in Halifax. OTTAWA - Canada's ambassador to China admitted to an ill-timed and politically explosive slip of the tongue when he suggested detained Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou had a strong case to avoid extradition to the United States. Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 24/1/2019 (876 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau addresses the crowd as he attends Fundy Royal MP Alaina LockhartAos nomination event in Quispamsis, N.B., on Wednesday, Jan. 23, 2019. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Andrew Vaughan OTTAWA - Canada's ambassador to China admitted to an ill-timed and politically explosive slip of the tongue when he suggested detained Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou had a strong case to avoid extradition to the United States. John McCallum's surprise mea-culpa on Thursday was the latest head-snapping development in the saga of Canada's fallout with China over Meng's arrest. It came just hours after Prime Minister Justin Trudeau publicly defended him in the face of Conservatives demands to fire him. "I regret that my comments with respect to the legal proceedings of Ms. Meng have created confusion. I misspoke," McCallum, a former Liberal cabinet minister, said in a statement. "These comments do not accurately represent my position on this issue. As the government has consistently made clear, there has been no political involvement in this process." McCallum's candid comments about Meng's legal case, made Tuesday to Chinese-language journalists in the Toronto area, raised eyebrows and fuelled speculation they were a political ploy to end Ottawa's deepening diplomatic crisis with China. McCallum not only said he thought Meng had strong legal arguments that could help her avoid extradition, he listed several arguments he thought could help her with her case. But by Thursday afternoon he was walking back those comments. "As Canadas Ambassador to China, I play no role in assessing any arguments or making any determinations in the extradition process," McCallum said Thursday. "The Canadian government's priority and my priority is securing the release of the two Canadians arbitrarily detained in China and ensuring that the rights of all of our citizens are protected." Canada's ambassador to China, John McCallum, arrives to brief members of the Foreign Affairs committee regarding China in Ottawa on Friday, Jan. 18, 2019. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick In the days that followed Meng's Dec. 1 arrest, China detained Michael Kovrig, a Canadian diplomat on leave, and Michael Spavor, an entrepreneur, on allegations of endangering China's national security. They remain in Chinese custody. Trudeau has called their detentions arbitrary and Western analysts believe their cases are part of an attempt by Beijing to pressure Canada into releasing Meng, whose arrest has angered the Chinese government. Earlier Thursday, Trudeau dismissed calls to remove McCallum from his post. He said his government's focus is on getting detained Canadians Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor home safely from China and ensuring their rights are respected and recalling McCallum wouldn't achieve that. "Making a change would not help release those Canadians a day sooner," Trudeau said. A day earlier, Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer called on Trudeau to fire McCallum for the remarks, which he said raised grave concerns about the politicization of the Meng case. China's foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said her government "noted the relevant remarks by Ambassador McCallum" and reiterated its demand that Meng be released from her unjust detention, which she blamed on Canada and the United States. "We have made our stern position clear," Hua said Thursday, in translated remarks from her ministry's website. "In order to change the current situation, the Canadian side needs to face up to the issue squarely, take China's solemn concerns seriously, and take measures to correct its mistakes." She noted Canada was acting on an extradition request from the U.S. "We hope that the Canadian side will make the right choice instead of risking endangering itself for other's gains," Hua said. At the top of McCallum's list of Meng's legal options was a possible defence on the grounds of political interference following comments by U.S. President Donald Trump last month that he might intervene in Meng's case if it would help him nail down a trade deal with China. McCallum also said Meng can argue against the extra-territorial aspect to her case and the fact the fraud allegations U.S. officials made against her are related to Iran sanctions that Canada did not sign onto. Experts said that while McCallum's remarks might have been controversial on the surface, the substance of his legal analysis was not far off the mark. "In general, his comments in that respect were not out line with what some experts were saying," said Paul Evans, a China expert at the University of British Columbia. "What was significant was he said it to basically a Chinese media audience." Henry Chang, a Toronto immigration lawyer, said McCallum was advancing some "potentially viable arguments here ... However, I don't think he should be speaking so confidently since these issues will ultimately be decided by the courts." Trudeau stressed Thursday that Canada is following the law. "We will always stay grounded in defence of the rule of law and the integrity of our justice system, which of course includes the capacity for people to defend themselves enthusiastically which will be fully afforded to Ms. Meng and in her rights within the Canadian justice system," Trudeau said. Following Meng's arrest, China also sentenced another Canadian, Robert Lloyd Schellenberg, to death in a sudden retrial of his drug-smuggling case. Schellenberg had initially been sentenced in 2016 to 15 years behind bars. Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland has asked for clemency for Schellenberg and has called his death penalty "inhumane." OTTAWA - The federal government will announce up to $40 million for Finnish telecom giant Nokia on Thursday to conduct research on 5G wireless technology in Canada. Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 24/1/2019 (876 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. Nokia's Chairman Risto Siilasmaa speaks during the company's shareholder's meeting in Helsinki, Finland, Wednesday, May 30, 2018. The federal government will announce up to $40 million in new funding today for telecom giant Nokia to conduct research on 5G wireless technology in Canada, The Canadian Press has learned.THE CANADIAN PRESS/AP-Antii Aimo-Koivisto/Lehtikuva via AP OTTAWA - The federal government will announce up to $40 million for Finnish telecom giant Nokia on Thursday to conduct research on 5G wireless technology in Canada. The funding comes as Ottawa is in the middle of a comprehensive national-security review of the potential involvement of Nokia's Chinese rival, Huawei, in Canada's eventual fifth generation mobile network. Ottawa is also locked in a diplomatic dispute with Beijing following Canada's Dec. 1 arrest of Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou at the request of the United States. Huawei, Nokia and Sweden's Ericsson are among the top contenders to help Canada's telecom companies, including BCE and Telus, build the country's 5G mobile networks. Three of Canada's partners in the Five Eyes intelligence-sharing group the United States, Australia and New Zealand have banned the use of Huawei products in 5G network development based on fears the company could spy on behalf of China. Federal Innovation Minister Navdeep Bains, who along with Public Safety Minister Ralph Goodale is responsible for overseeing the 5G security review, has said the analysis is not just about Huawei and is designed to assess how best to protect Canadians. Bains finalized the Nokia deal Thursday in Davos, Switzerland, where he's participating in the World Economic Forum. Canada's ongoing scrutiny of Huawei has created concerns within the Chinese government. Lu Shaye, China's envoy to Ottawa, warned Canada last week of possible repercussions if the government ultimately decides to bar Huawei from building the country's 5G networks. A Chinese foreign-ministry spokeswoman later tried to play down Lu's remarks, by saying the ambassador didn't mean that China intended to interfere in Ottawa's decision-making process. Hua Chunying also told journalists in Beijing on Monday that losses would be inevitable since Huawei is a leading supplier of 5G technology, according to a transcript on the foreign ministry's website. Later the same day, Bains and Goodale told reporters that Huawei isn't the only company that can build 5G in Canada. When asked about options, Bains mentioned Ericsson as an example. Few details are available about Canada's 5G security review but a well-placed source has said a decision is still months away. The development of 5G or fifth-generation mobile networks will give users much faster connections and provide powerful data capacity to meet heavy demand from new applications, such as self-driving cars and virtual reality. The federal funding will back Nokia's research work in Canada to help telecom networks meet the needs of 5G technology. The company is also developing cybersecurity tools to protect telecom networks. The government is expected to sell the deal as a way to support more than 2,000 of Nokia's jobs already in Canada and to create 237 new positions. Nokia Canada's projects, valued at over $214 million, are based in Mississauga, Ont., and the Ottawa suburb of Kanata. Last year, Ottawa announced other 5G investments in support of the private sector as part of a joint, $400-million project with the provinces of Ontario and Quebec. Each government contributed $66.7 million amounts that were to be matched by the private sector towards a partnership involving Ericsson, Ciena Canada, Thales Canada, IBM Canada and CGI. This week, Ottawa will also announce an investment of up to $35.7 million towards a $92.7-million partnership between the Siemens Canada engineering company and Atlantic Canada utilities Nova Scotia Power and New Brunswick Power. The deal calls for Siemens Canada to conduct research and development on smart-grid technology for power systems in the provinces. The government's Siemens and Nokia commitments will be made through a federal program known as the strategic innovation fund. The issue of whether Huawei is allowed to build the country's 5G networks has connections to a diplomatic crisis over Canada's recent arrest of Meng, the company's chief financial officer and daughter of its founder. Canadian police arrested Meng at Vancouver's airport at the request of American authorities, who are seeking her extradition on fraud allegations. Her arrest has angered Beijing and the case is at the heart of tensions between Canada and China. The Chinese government says Meng has done nothing wrong and has demanded her release, warning Canada of severe consequences if it doesn't free her. After her arrest, China detained two Canadians. Michael Kovrig, a Canadian diplomat on leave, and Michael Spavor, an entrepreneur, were taken in on allegations of engaging in activities that have endangered China's national security. In recent weeks, China also sentenced another Canadian, Robert Lloyd Schellenberg, to death in a sudden retrial of his drug-smuggling case. He was originally handed a 15-year jail term in 2016, but the court gave him the death penalty after revisiting his case. More large cities are taking the lead when it comes to providing pre-K programs, but a new study finds that less than half of the 40 largest cities in the country meet a research organizations quality benchmarks for these programs. And, only 60 percent offer a pre-K program that reaches more than 30 percent of the 4-year-old population. The Pre-K in American Cities study was conducted by CityHealth , an initiative of the de Beaumont Foundation and Kaiser Permanente that provides city leaders with policy solutions to improve health, and the National Institute for Early Education Research , or NIEER, which is based at Rutgers University. Everyone gets how important pre-K is as that critical building block for setting up kids to be successful in life, said Shelley Hearne, the president of CityHealth. Its an important and expensive investment, and its an investment that has an extraordinary return on education outcomes, health outcomes, [and] society benefits. CityHealth and NIEER have worked together for the past two years to evaluate access to high-quality pre-K programs in large cities around the country. CityHealth then awards the cities a gold, silver, or bronze medal on pre-K depending on how many of the 10 NIEER quality benchmarks the city meets and whether the city enrolls at least 30 percent of 4-year-olds. The NIEER benchmarks include things such as a bachelors degree requirement for head teachers, a 1:10 or better teacher-child ratio, and the inclusion of health screenings. Gold, Silver, and Bronze Rankings This year CityHealth awarded gold medals to Boston; Charlotte, N.C.; Nashville, Tenn.; New York City and San Antonio, Texas, for the quality and accessibility of their pre-K programs. Eight cities, including Chicago and Detroit, earned silver medals for programs that mandate quality. Twenty cities, including Atlanta and Austin, Texas, received bronze medals for meeting CityHealths access criteria. The remaining seven cities, including Columbus, Ohio, and Las Vegas, were not awarded a medal. The study found that only 24 of the 40 largest cities offered a pre-K program that reached more than 30 percent of the 4-year-old population. Ellen Frede, the senior co-director of NIEER and co-leader of the team behind the study, calls a lack of access to pre-K programs a critical problem and says evidence shows this could cause the positive effects of pre-K to diminish over time. Having a critical mass of children who have attended a high-quality pre-K program in your kindergarten and in your 1stgrade requires the schools to change practices, but when you only have a handful of children who went to a high-quality pre-K you tend to focus your resources on the children who didnt, so we dont end up building on the promise of the pre-K, said Frede. Low Pay, Little Training When it comes to teacher pay and training, the study found that city programs still have a ways to go to meet NIEER benchmarks. Only 63 percent require lead teachers to have a bachelors degree with specialized training in teaching young children, and only 15 percent require that all teaching staff receive ongoing professional development. NIEER benchmarks also call for early-childhood educators to be paid comparably to K-12 teachers, and only 38 percent of the rated city programs met that requirement. Frede argues that a big difference in pay among early-childhood teachers and their K-12 counterparts doesnt make sense when you look at the content theyre teaching. Its the pedagogy, and its the understanding of how children learn and develop, and how that that varies across children and what is the best pedagogy to use for different children, said Frede. Those are the kinds of things that a teacher whether theyre a 3rdgrade teacher or a teacher of 3 year olds needs to know and understand, and thats why having good preparation is important and continued professional development is important. When it comes to supporting students healthy development, the study finds most city-based pre-K programs are not meeting the mark. Only 9 of 40 provide vision, hearing, health and developmental screenings and referrals. What we do know in medicine, so many of the illnesses or conditions that a child could face, the earlier you catch it the better chances you have to correct, prevent and let them have that thriving, productive life that we hope for all of our kids, said Hearne. Image by Getty CORRECTION: An earlier version of this article incorrectly spelled the name of Ellen Frede, the senior co-director of NIEER. South Africa: SA commits to assist Colombia peace process The South African government has affirmed its commitment to assist Colombia in achieving lasting peace after years of conflict. This commitment was made by Ambassador Jerry Matjila, South Africas permanent representative to the United Nations, during the Security Council meeting on Colombia on Wednesday. The meeting was also attended by Colombia and Indonesia Foreign Affairs Ministers Carlos Holmes Trujillo and Retno Marsudi. In addressing these challenges, Matjila said, South Africa would emphasise, based on experience, the importance of working to expand the States presence throughout its territory. This is particularly necessary in areas that have been affected by conflict and vacated by former combatants. This will also help to resolve the sensitive land question and restoration of much needed basic services to all, including surrendered combatants and their family, said Matjila. He said South Africa also expresses its full support for Colombias Commission on Truth, Coexistence and Non-repetition (Truth Commission). In South Africa, our very own Truth and Reconciliation Commission, as painful and imperfect as it may have ultimately been, was invaluable in allowing our people to confront our painful history, and to heal the deep wounds that had divided us, he said. Therefore, in order to foster healing, it is important that Colombias justice process, embodied in its Special Jurisdiction for Peace, receive the full support and cooperation of all parties involved. Its independence, autonomy, as well as the judgments it arrives at, also need to be fully respected. Matjila said it is critical that the reintegration process in Colombia should involve efforts to empower local communities, in close collaboration with the private sector, universities and other stakeholders such as civil society organisations, women, victims of violence and ethnic peoples. On this point, it is important to recognise the important, pioneering efforts and achievements of the United Nations Verification Mission in Colombia in working specifically to address youth in the peace process. As the countrys future leaders, its youth and their futures are critical to the success of the peace process. This pioneering work should serve as an important example for other peace missions, he said. As always, Matjila added, South Africa remains ready and willing to share the experiences and lessons learned through these difficult processes, in the hope that Colombia and its people might find lasting peace and prosperity. He said South Africa acknowledges the role of Cuba and Norway as the guarantors and facilitators of the Colombian peace process. Matjila also expressed condolences to the government of Colombia and its people following the attack that claimed 20 lives in Bogota last week. We condemn, in the strongest terms possible, this senseless violence which must not be allowed to threaten the hard-won and significant achievements of the peace process in Colombia, Matjila said. He welcomed the Report of the Secretary-General on the situation in Colombia, which conveys a generally positive review of progress in achieving lasting peace in that country. It also, however, notes the killing of social leaders and human rights defenders, which is major concern and presents an ongoing challenge, he said. SAnews.gov.za This story has been published on: 2019-01-24. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article. OTTAWA - Canada's top sailor says he is currently "comfortable" with having only one temporary support ship in the water, as the Trudeau government faces pressure from Quebec and opposition parties to lease a second one. Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 24/1/2019 (876 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. Vice-Admiral Ron Lloyd, commander of the Royal Canadian Navy, addresses the crowd at a Change of Command Ceremony for Maritime Forces Atlantic and Joint Task Force Atlantic in Halifax on Sept. 1, 2017. The commander of the Royal Canadian Navy says he is "comfortable" having only one temporary support ship given the current timeline for the permanent vessels to start arriving. The federal government is facing calls and pressure from Quebec and opposition parties to lease a second temporary support vessel from Davie Shipbuilding pending the completion of new ships to replace the ones that were retired in 2015. However Vice-Admiral Ron Lloyd tells The Canadian Press the first ship is meeting the navy's requirements and that his focus is on the two permanent support ships currently being built in Vancouver. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Andrew Vaughan OTTAWA - Canada's top sailor says he is currently "comfortable" with having only one temporary support ship in the water, as the Trudeau government faces pressure from Quebec and opposition parties to lease a second one. The federal government awarded Quebec-based Davie Shipbuilding a $700-million contract to convert a civilian container ship into a temporary supply vessel and lease it to the navy for at least five years. The deal, negotiated by the Harper Conservatives and finalized by the Trudeau Liberals, was intended to address a serious gap in the navy's ability to conduct overseas missions after retiring its previous two support ships in 2015. Davie delivered the MV Asterix to the navy last year; the vessel recently returned from a six-month deployment around Asia and the Pacific and is currently docked near Victoria in preparation for a second tour. The Quebec government, Davie and federal opposition parties have since stepped up pressure on Ottawa to move ahead on a contract for a second temporary ship to address the navy's needs and support local workers. But in an interview, Royal Canadian Navy commander Vice-Admiral Ron Lloyd indicated that he did not currently believe the MV Obelix, which Davie is offering to convert and lease for $500 million, is needed. "If you're asking me in terms of where we find ourselves as a navy, am I comfortable with one interim (support ship)?" Lloyd said. "I'm comfortable." That comfort, he said, is based on when officials expect to receive two permanent support ships that are being built in Vancouver. The latest schedule calls for the first joint support ship, as the permanent vessels are known, to be delivered in 2022-23. "Right now, the Asterix is delivering on our requirement predicated on the timelines for the joint support ship." The Trudeau government last year approved a plan to start cutting some steel on the joint support ships ahead of schedule as Seaspan's Vancouver Shipyards waited for the Canadian Coast Guard to finish design work on a science vessel. The Defence Department's procurement chief, Patrick Finn, said in a separate interview that things have progressed further than anticipated as the front half of the first joint support ship is nearing completion. That, combined with many of the lessons learned over the past number of years, have led officials to have a high degree of confidence that the first vessel will be ready by summer 2023, Finn said. Lloyd would not speculate on whether his view would change if the schedule for the joint support ships slipped again, saying it is "not helpful" to talk in theoreticals. Finn's confidence wasn't shared Thursday by Davie and the union representing its workers, however, both of which noted that the joint support ships have experienced numerous delays over the years. Construction on the first ship was supposed to start in 2016, with delivery this year, but that schedule has changed several times even as the cost for the project has grown to $3.4 billion from an initial budget of $2.3 billion. "The track record of the (national shipbuilding) strategy is abysmal," said Davie spokesman Frederik Boisvert. "It's failure after failure after failure. Nobody right now can guarantee the timeline." Boisvert went on to reference a Senate report released in 2017, in which members of the red chamber wrote that "military commanders should not serve as cheerleaders for the government." The federal government agreed last year to purchase three second-hand icebreakers from Davie for the coast guard and has tapped it to do maintenance work on three of the navy's frigates starting in 2021. But Boisvert said the shipyard is nonetheless down to roughly 200 workers from a high of more than 1,000 when Asterix was being converted, and that the Obelix contract would support hundreds more jobs. Davie isn't the only one to have raised the issue; one of the Quebec legislature's last acts before rising for Christmas was the unanimous adoption of a resolution asking Ottawa to award a contract for the Obelix. In the meantime, Ann Gingras, regional president for the union representing Davie workers, says while some of her members are being recruited by other shipyards, many are without work as they wait for Ottawa to act. Asked whether the federal Liberals could pay a price in Quebec if more work doesn't head Davie's way, Gingras said: "I have no idea. But I know that the people are greatly disappointed because they had high expectations of the Liberal government." Follow @leeberthiaume on Twitter. TORONTO - A Toronto doctor has had her licence revoked after an intimate relationship with her cancer patient that included having sex while he was receiving treatment in hospital. Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 24/1/2019 (876 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. TORONTO - A Toronto doctor has had her licence revoked after an intimate relationship with her cancer patient that included having sex while he was receiving treatment in hospital. Theepa Sundaralingam, an oncologist, pleaded no contest to sexual abuse and disgraceful, dishonourable or unprofessional conduct at a disciplinary hearing at the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario this week. The relationship began when Sundaralingam diagnosed the man, who cannot be named due to a publication ban, with cancer in January 2015, according to an uncontested statement of facts. The affair began with flirtatious texts. "Have u ever been to a porn and cheese party?" Sundaralingam wrote in one of the texts to the patient at 11:26 p.m. on March 3, 2015. "Oh wait, I don't think that's a normal activity my bad." Those texts escalated to sex and masturbation in a hospital where he was receiving treatment for cancer, including one night where she slept in the patient's bed. Sundaralingam, 37, also asked the patient to alter hospital documents to hide the affair, the statement of facts said. "Almost instantly after diagnosing Patient A with a life-altering diagnosis, Dr. Sundaralingam began to breach well established boundaries between physicians and patients," Amy Block, the college's prosecutor, said at the doctor's disciplinary hearing. "This was all with the knowledge that what she was doing was wrong. The evidence makes clear that she asked Patient A to falsify hospital documents in order to conceal her abuse. Only revocation can maintain confidence in the medical profession's ability to regulate itself." Sundaralingam would often stay with the patient for hours while he was at the hospital for chemotherapy, the disciplinary hearing was told. She performed blood transfusions on him and the pair also touched each other sexually, the statement of facts said. In one visit after she examined the patient, Sundaralingam asked the patient to examine her, according to the statement of facts. He complied. They had sex in the hospital on two occasions and also engaged in sexual activities when she visited him at his family home for treatment. In September 2016, after having sex at the patient's home, Sundaralingam told him she was in love with a colleague, the disciplinary panel heard. Their sexual relationship ended, documents say. By November 2015 she refused to see him. The development was "devastating" for the patient, he wrote in a victim impact statement. "Dr. Sundaralingam was the person who both managed my health and provided me with emotional support during cancer treatment," he wrote. "She was the same person who abandoned me at my most vulnerable point. I was physically emaciated and emotionally exposed and the loss of a critical relationship defeated me." The patient said he didn't understand the ramifications of the relationship with his doctor, nor did he understand his vulnerability. "There was an imbalance of power in the relationship because of my dependence on her for both medical care and emotional and sexual intimacy," he wrote. The patient also said he has seen a psychologist for treatment. Sundaralingam was ordered to pay $16,000 towards the patient's therapy and $6,000 in costs to the college. WASHINGTON - One of the hard-bargain drivers from the American side of the NAFTA negotiating table is bringing his powers of persuasion to bear on the next challenge facing the new North American trade pact: the U.S. Congress. Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 24/1/2019 (876 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. WASHINGTON - One of the hard-bargain drivers from the American side of the NAFTA negotiating table is bringing his powers of persuasion to bear on the next challenge facing the new North American trade pact: the U.S. Congress. Deputy U.S. Trade Representative C. J. Mahoney, a fixture of the 14-month negotiation process that culminated last October in the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement, urged a gathering of American mayors Wednesday to lobby Capitol Hill lawmakers to ratify the deal. "All Congress has to do is pass it, and that is where I hope you all can help us," Mahoney told a panel discussion during the winter meeting of the United States Conference of Mayors in Washington. "We need your help." Ratification in both Mexico and Canada has largely been seen as inevitable; Martha Barcena Coqui, Mexico's ambassador to the U.S., told the panel she expects the agreement to come to a vote in the next session of her country's Congress, which gets underway next month and which doesn't require a separate implementation bill. In Canada, the majority Liberal government makes a Yes vote all but a foregone conclusion. But amid political turmoil in Washington where the White House is at war with Democrats over President Donald Trump's border wall plans and a partial government shutdown has entered its second month nothing these days is a given. Canada's ambassador to the U.S., David MacNaughton, who joined the panel after Mahoney had left, raised one particular sticking point: the fact that the Trump administration has not yet made good on its commitment to lift its punishing national-security tariffs on steel and aluminum exports. "This is causing distortions in the marketplace, it is causing all three countries to lose opportunities, it is increasing costs for consumers," said MacNaughton, who closed by quoting the president's own tweet from March 2018 committing to lifting the tariffs once a new trade agreement was in place. "He has now said this is a fair deal, a good deal, the best deal that's ever been done," MacNaughton said of the president. A number of U.S. manufacturing groups reiterated that message Thursday as they described the lingering pain that the Trump administration's protectionist strategies have wrought, in particular the metals tariffs 25 per cent on steel and 10 per cent on aluminum. "The continued imposition of steel and aluminum tariffs, particularly on Canada and Mexico, are extremely harmful to our industry and risk undermining all of the potential benefits of the USMCA," said Matt Blunt, a former Missouri governor who's now the president of the American Automotive Policy Council. It currently costs $464 more per vehicle to build a passenger car in the U.S., with between $275 and $300 of that cost a direct result of the steel and aluminum tariffs, Blunt said a significant burden in an already low-margin business. "We think it's imperative that the tariffs on Mexico and Canada be removed." A number of prominent Democrats notably House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, currently the most painful congressional thorn in Trump's side have complained that the USMCA lacks meaningful mechanisms to enforce new labour and environmental standards. And relations between Capitol Hill and the White House are at such a low ebb that some fear the president's enemies are determined to deny him any political wins. "If members of Congress can put politics aside and focus on the substance, I have no doubt that this will pass overwhelmingly in both houses," Mahoney told the mayors, describing the deal as the most bipartisan U.S. trade deal ever negotiated, thanks to the political foresight of his boss, U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer. "Throughout the negotiations well before the results of the midterm elections were known we worked very closely with Democrats to ensure that the final agreement reflected their priorities," he said, citing the labour and environmental clauses in particular. Paul Dyster, the mayor of Niagara Falls, N.Y., told Mahoney the often-acrimonious negotiating process has had a negative impact on his community's economic prospects, given how closely integrated it is with Canadian interests. "The rhetoric that was used in this negotiation was shocking, when you hear it used in reference to the leaders of countries that have been your strongest allies and trade partners for a long time," Dyster said. "For those of us on the border, whose economies are very fully integrated with the Canadian economy, that use of old-fashioned protectionism to try to advance the interests of the United States to take a shot at Canada it kind of hit us in the foot." OTTAWA - Canada plans to soon host a meeting of countries from the Americas determined to steer troubled Venezuela back on a path to democracy. Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 24/1/2019 (876 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. Juan Guaido, head of Venezuela's opposition-run congress, declares himself interim president of Venezuela, during a rally demanding President Nicolas Maduro's resignation in Caracas, Venezuela, Wednesday, Jan. 23, 2019. (AP Photo/Fernando Llano) OTTAWA - Canada plans to soon host a meeting of countries from the Americas determined to steer troubled Venezuela back on a path to democracy. The gathering of the Lima Group of nations is likely to take place in Canada some time this winter, sources tell The Canadian Press. Word of the plan comes a day after the group expressed full support for Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido amid mounting political turmoil in the South American country. As large crowds filled the streets, Guaido declared himself interim president just two weeks after Nicolas Maduro was sworn in for a contested second term. Canada has accused Maduro of seizing power through fraudulent, anti-democratic elections in May of last year. More than three million Venezuelans have fled in the last few years in search of basics such as food and health care. Global Affairs Canada is advising people to avoid non-essential travel to Venezuela due to the high level of violent crime, the unstable political and economic situations, and shortages of medication, food and water. Canada closed its embassy in Caracas for the day Thursday and will assess whether to open it day-to-day based on the degree of upheaval. The Lima Group was established in August 2017, in Lima, Peru, to co-ordinate participating countries' efforts and apply international pressure on Venezuela until democracy is restored. The group's meetings have included representatives from Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Guyana, Honduras, Jamaica, Mexico, Panama, Paraguay, Peru and Saint Lucia. Like Ottawa, Washington backs Guaido and is calling for Maduro to step aside. Canada, which has imposed three rounds of sanctions against Maduro's government, emphasizes the value of playing a leading role in the Lima Group. Canada has "perhaps less of the baggage than the U.S. brings" to dealing with Latin American politics, said one senior official, who spoke on condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the situation in Venezuela. "It's particularly important for this not to be seen as just a Venezuela-specific issue," said another source. "This is a global issue in terms of democratic rights and freedoms. It's a humanitarian issue, a financial issue." Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland has been clear that Canada will stand up for human rights and democratic ideals, the source said. "The Lima Group has proven to be a very strong force for that." Canada has worked on the ground in Venezuela with Chile, Peru, Colombia and Brazil. Ottawa anticipated Guaido's emergence through "pretty close contact" with him in recent months, said one official. "It only made sense for us to recognize him once he declared himself interim president of the country." Thousands of people arrive in Colombia each day from Venezuela, many of them women and girls in particular need of protection from physical threats and assault, said a report released Thursday by the World Refugee Council, a global body composed of nearly two dozen political leaders, policy advisers and academic experts. Fen Osler Hampson, the council's executive director, said Canada's efforts on the political front in Venezuela are "enormously important." But he urged Ottawa to push to have a portion of the frozen foreign assets of Maduro and his associates go toward helping the refugees. The Opposition Conservatives issued a statement this week condemning Maduro's "illegitimate rule over Venezuela." The New Democrats, however, were less definitive. NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh called the events in Venezuela a humanitarian crisis and condemned military action against protesters. But he added Thursday that Canada should not "simply follow the U.S.'s foreign policy, particularly given its history of self-interested interference in the region." The question of who leads Venezuela should be in the hands of the people, Singh said. "All countries should be free to make their own democratic decisions through free and fair elections, independent of authoritative pressure or foreign interference." New Democrat MP Niki Ashton was more blunt, tweeting that Prime Minister Justin Trudeau had sided with U.S. President Donald Trump's "regime change agenda and Brazil's fascist president. Follow @JimBronskill on Twitter BANFF, Alta. - An internationally known ski resort in Banff National Park has signed a new lease that includes a plan for future growth despite having grave concerns with it. Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 24/1/2019 (876 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. Banff Sunshine Village ski resort is seen in this undated handout photo. An internationally known ski resort in Banff National Park has signed a new lease that includes a plan for future growth -- despite having grave concerns with it. In a letter sent this week to Banff's acting superintendent, Sunshine Village president and chief executive officer Ralph Scurfield says they are disappointed by how the plan might affect its operations in the future. But he says they had no choice but to accept the site guidelines that provide a framework for future use, growth and development. THE CANADIAN PRESS/HO, Banff Sunshine Village *MANDATORY CREDIT* BANFF, Alta. - An internationally known ski resort in Banff National Park has signed a new lease that includes a plan for future growth despite having grave concerns with it. In a letter sent this week to Banff park's acting superintendent, Sunshine Village president Ralph Scurfield said the ski resort is disappointed by how the plan might affect its operations. The new site guidelines for Sunshine Village provide a framework for future use, growth and development at the resort until 2060. "We accepted the site guidelines because we had no other option," Sunshine's Kendra Scurfield said in an interview Thursday. "It was accept or don't have a business." A letter from Michael Nadler, Parks Canada's acting chief executive, had informed the resort it could either agree to the guidelines or decide not to renew its lease. Sunshine Village was the last ski area in the mountain parks without guidelines that allow for managed growth while protecting the environment. The guidelines, which were released online by Sunshine, would establish permanent limits to growth. They would allow the resort to have up to 8,500 visitors at a time up from 6,500 and build an additional 3,650 square metres of commercial space, add up to eight new ski lifts and develop up to 80 hectares of new ski terrain. The guidelines remove 61 hectares with high ecological value from the lease. Parks Canada rejected Sunshine's parking proposal, which included a 750-space satellite parking lot along the resort's access road, but the guidelines would allow for more transportation and parking through a combination of transit and a parking structure of "no pre-determined size" at the base of the resort. Kendra Scurfield said they are disappointed in Parks Canada's decision-making process. "We went into the public process when they got feedback over the summer," she said. "Over 4,000 Canadians wrote and gave feedback. "Much of the comments we saw were in favour of the changes we suggested yet none of that input made it into the site guidelines." Officials with Parks Canada said they considered all of the public input. "People strongly wanted Sunshine to be able to grow in future, have more opportunities to develop some commercial facilities, more lifts and runs," said Sheila Luey, acting superintendent for Banff National Park. "The site guidelines reflect that." She said they also reflect environmental concerns related to the ski resort's location in a national park. "They wanted to see any current problems addressed before there is any future growth," she said, noting parking is one of those problems. Luey said the guidelines have been approved and will be official Friday when they are released publicly. "From Parks Canada's perspective, doing business in a national park is a privilege," she said. "It comes with special obligations and exceptional opportunities." She added that it's normal in the last couple years of a lease to check in with the operator, but said no one is ever forced or expected to enter into a new lease. "The time frame in which this lease expires has been known for a long time, it hasn't changed since the lease was issued 42 years ago," she said. "Sunshine is well aware we were working toward that time frame." By Colette Derworiz in Edmonton. Follow @cderworiz on Twitter. OTTAWA - "Their front-end loading plan is a recipe to bankrupt housing providers right across the country." Liberal MP Adam Vaughan Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 24/1/2019 (876 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. OTTAWA - "Their front-end loading plan is a recipe to bankrupt housing providers right across the country." Liberal MP Adam Vaughan Toronto Liberal MP and long-time social housing advocate Adam Vaughan was blunt in his assessment this week of the federal New Democratic Party's latest proposal for affordable housing. Adam Vaughan rises during Question Period in the House of Commons on Parliament Hill in Ottawa on Friday, March 24, 2017. Toronto Liberal MP and long-time social housing advocate Vaughan was blunt in his assessment this week of the federal New Democratic Party's latest proposal for affordable housing.THE CANADIAN PRESS/Justin Tang Even before listening to the formal announcement Monday from Jagmeet Singh, where the NDP leader called for the creation of half-a-million affordable housing units if elected prime minister, Vaughan dismissed the opposition party's plans as unrealistic. Did he go too far in suggesting that a plan to speed up the construction of more affordable homes would be destructive for the housing development sector? Spoiler alert: The Canadian Press Baloney Meter is a dispassionate examination of political statements culminating in a ranking of accuracy on a scale of "no baloney" to "full of baloney" (complete methodology below). This one earns a rating of "some baloney." Here's why. The Facts On Monday, the NDP announced what Singh called the first part of his plan to build 500,000 affordable housing units across the country over the next decade. Singh said affordable housing development could be spurred by removing the GST, or the federal portion of the HST, from the cost of building new, affordable units. He also challenged Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to use the upcoming federal budget to provide "immediate relief" to low-income renters. And he demanded the Trudeau Liberals "fast-track" direct investment into cooperative and non-market housing before the next election, which is scheduled to take place October 21. It is that fast-track approach where Vaughan took issue, warning that the NDP's "front-end loading plan is a recipe to bankrupt housing providers right across the country." Housing is considered "affordable" in Canada if it costs less than 30 per cent of a household's before-tax income, according to the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation. It's not just a term for homes subsidized by the government. It can include everything from private to public to non-profit housing that can be occupied in all forms, be it rental, owned, temporary or permanent housing units. Nearly 1.7 million Canadian households were considered to be in "core housing need" in 2016, according to Statistics Canada. The prime minister announced a housing strategy in November 2017 that included plans to spend $40 billion over a 10-year term to create up to 60,000 new affordable units, make repairs to 240,000 existing units, create a new housing benefit for low-income tenants and reduce overall homelessness. The Liberals promised during the 2015 election campaign to remove all GST on new capital investments in affordable rental housing. However, a government website dedicated to tracking various commitments made by the party said the proposal is "not being pursued." The Experts Jeff Morrison, executive director with the Canadian Housing and Renewal Association, said there's a little baloney being served up on both sides of the latest pre-election affordable housing debate. For a start, Singh has accused the Liberals of effectively sitting on their hands and doing little to combat Canada's housing crisis, despite the government's announced housing strategy. While it's true that a lot of money earmarked for housing would ultimately be spent after the next election it is, after all, a 10-year plan some of the major components of the Liberal strategy are already in play, said Morrison. "Applications are being accepted now for things like new construction and renovation projects," Morrison said. But Morrison said he was puzzled by Vaughan's comment about bankrupting housing builders or providers if money rolled out sooner to project developers. "I'm not sure what he means by bankrupted," he said. "I've never known anyone to go bankrupt from getting money." Greg Suttor, senior researcher at the Toronto-based Wellesley Institute, was also scratching his head over Vaughan's use of the term "bankrupt." But Suttor said he understands Vaughan's point that ramping up affordable housing construction the way the NDP is proposing without knowing exact details on how it could be done would be difficult for the housing sector to absorb. The simple math of breaking down a promise of 500,000 affordable housing units over a 10-year period would mean creating 50,000 units annually, he calculated. "That's an awful lot," Suttor said. "That is more or less equivalent to a quarter of total production of housing by the private sector in Canada." Home builders have been producing roughly 200,000 or more homes, nationwide, annually in recent years, Suttor noted, with current social housing units constructed at a rate of 5,000 to 10,000 each year. Building 50,000 units every year would be double what Canada used to see constructed in what Suttor called the "heyday of the 1970s and 80s" when roughly 20,000 to 25,000 affordable rental units were created annually. Given the scale of those numbers, Alina Turner, a fellow at the University of Calgary's school of public policy, said she can see some truth in Vaughan's concerns about putting too much pressure on Canada's social housing sector. How the sector would be impacted would depend a lot on how new affordable housing is financed, she said. Designating new housing investment as grants would be easier, and less risky, than loans, said Turner. Canada's non-profit housing sector, which would face much of the pressure to spend money allocated by the federal government, isn't prepared with new projects ready to go at the signing of a cheque, she said. "They don't necessarily have the capacity to spend the money," Turner noted. "There is often times this expectation that if (government) puts the money out, it'll naturally just get eaten up, but that is not actually the case." Rather than bankrupting the sector, she said, a sudden influx of cash for housing above normal levels may be "detrimental" to the ability of non-profit agencies to execute additional housing projects. The Verdict Experts largely agree that ramping up spending on building affordable housing units too quickly would likely cause problems for those managing the projects, particularly non-profits, if they are not prepared for the sudden infusion of cash. Like with most political pledges, they say, the devil is in the details, especially when it comes to how the NDP proposes to pay for the new construction. But experts question Vaughan's suggestion that housing providers would go belly up in the process of creating additional housing units. For those reasons, the Liberal MPs comments are deemed to contain "some baloney." His statement is partly accurate but Vaughan went over the top by warning that the NDP's affordable housing proposal would cause bankruptcies across the country. Methodology The Baloney Meter is a project of The Canadian Press that examines the level of accuracy in statements made by politicians. Each claim is researched and assigned a rating based on the following scale: No baloney - the statement is completely accurate A little baloney- the statement is mostly accurate but more information is required Some baloney - the statement is partly accurate but important details are missing A lot of baloney - the statement is mostly inaccurate but contains elements of truth Full of baloney - the statement is completely inaccurate The provinces police watchdog opened an investigation into injuries sustained by a man arrested by Brandon police before Christmas. Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 23/1/2019 (877 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. Advertisement Advertise With Us The provinces police watchdog opened an investigation into injuries sustained by a man arrested by Brandon police before Christmas. The man suffered a fractured rib among other injuries, the Independent Investigations Unit said in a statement Wednesday. The incident occurred Dec. 19 in Brandon and the man, a 49-year-old, contacted the agency, with the allegation police assaulted him. The agency contacted the Brandon Police Service to make inquiries and after confirming the injuries occurred during the arrest, they opened a file. A fractured rib is a serious injury under provincial regulations that govern the agency. The IIU is asking witnesses or anyone with video footage of the arrest to contact them. An American journalist for Irans Press TV Marzieh Hashemi was freed in Washington by federal law enforcement officials, her son said, ending a detention that began on January 13. Hashemi had been ordered to appear before a grand jury in Washington but was not charged with a crime. Her family and Iranian leaders accused American officials of disrespecting her Muslim faith while she was under arrest, forcing her to remove her hijab, or head scarf, and offering her only non-halal food. The F.B.I. has declined to talk about Ms. Hashemi or the grand jury case in which she had been required to testify, the New York Times reported. Hashemi was arrested in St. Louis while on a trip to the United States to visit relatives, and was transferred by the F.B.I. to Washington. Officials later disclosed she was a material witness in an unspecified criminal case. Hashemi, who was born Melanie Franklin in Louisiana, moved to Iran more than a decade ago, but she has periodically returned to visit family. She is well known in Iran as an anchorwoman on Press TVs English service. The escalation of geopolitical tensions in the world continues, which means that the trend for sanctions, including those against Russia, will continue, head of Sberbank German Gref told reporters on Thursday at the Davos Economic Forum, TASS reported. "As for sanctions, we see so far that the geopolitical escalation continues, so we will still see this trend. But I really want to see it end, of course," said Gref. According to Gref, sanctions are a trend indicative of de-globalization. "And I dont think that we can see the positive consequences of these sanctions. What has changed? The introduction of these sanctions, especially against large countries, leads to the fact that these problems become chronic, and the country against which sanctions were imposed simply cannot give way. This becomes not a matter of rational behavior, but a matter of dignity," Gref explained. According to him, to solve current geopolitical conflicts, it is necessary to "have patience and more emotional intelligence." According to Gref, there is a problem of training leaders; their ability to speak in plain language today is the number one problem. At the same time, he chose not to comment on the events in Venezuela, where protests against President Nicolas Maduro are taking place, and their influence on the country's economy: "I dont like to evaluate political processes, I am an entrepreneur," he said. The next summit between Russia, Turkey and Iran on Syria will be held soon, Russian President Vladimir Putin said after talks with his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan. "Russian-Turkish-Iranian summits in the framework of the Astana process are very helpful as they focused on settlement in Syria," TASS cited Putin as saying. "We agreed to organized another summit like this in Russia soon. Together with Mr President, we have already agreed on the place and tentative date. We will also need to coordinate it with our Iranian partners," the Russian leader added. Instant Payment System (IPS) is to be launched in Russia on January 28, 2019, Director of the National Payment System Department of the Bank of Russia Alla Bakina said at the system's presentation. Bakina noted that before February 28, the banks will work with a limited number of clients, after which the full range of operations will be available for all clients of the banks, which joined the system. The test mode will be provided for 12 banks starting from January 24: Gazprombank, VTB, Alfa-Bank, Promsvyazbank, AK BARS, Raiffeisen, Tinkoff Bank, SKB-Bank, QIWI Bank, Rosbank, Sovcombank, Platezhny Tsentr. The head of the department of stock markets and financial engineering of the Faculty of Finance and the Banking Business of RANEPA, former deputy chairman of the Central Bank of Russia Konstantin Korischenko, speaking with Vestnik Kavkaza, noted that the IPS is designed to significantly simplify payments for individuals. "As far as I understand, the IPS is somewhat similar to SEPA, which provides the possibility of making payments between individuals under a simplified procedure," he said. Risks will be excluded from the new payment system. "This is the Central Bank's payment system, so there are no risks. It can be compared with a speed dial. The IPS is a technological simplification, which, among other things, has serious practical implications in terms of convenience for citizens, Konstantin Korishchenko stressed. Professor of the RANEPA faculty of Finance, Money Circulation and Credit, Yuri Yudenkov, agreed with Korischenko. "The IPS is beneficial for everyone, because this system allows citizens to make payments in real time," the economist said. "Of course, payment systems always have risks, for example, a system failure due to some kind of accident is possible - but this is highly unlikely. In this case, since everything will be done using a single information system, the Central Bank will be able to minimize risks. In fact, the big data system comes into life, which can only be welcomed," Yuri Yudenkov concluded. Borsa Italiana non ha responsabilita per il contenuto del sito a cui sta per accedere e non ha responsabilita per le informazioni contenute. Accedendo a questo link, Borsa Italiana non intende sollecitare acquisti o offerte in alcun paese da parte di nessuno. Sarai automaticamente diretto al link in cinque secondi. Canada NewsWire VANCOUVER, Jan. 23, 2019 VANCOUVER, Jan. 23, 2019 /CNW/ - TSX VENTURE COMPANIES AUREX ENERGY CORP. ("AURX")[formerly CANADIAN PLATINUM CORP. ("CPC")]BULLETIN TYPE: Name Change and ConsolidationBULLETIN DATE: January 23, 2019TSX Venture Tier 2 Company Pursuant to a resolution passed by shareholders May 31, 2018, the Company has consolidated its capital on a (26) twenty six old for (1) one new basis. The name of the Company has also been changed as follows. Effective at the opening January 25, 2019, the common shares of Aurex Energy Corp. will commence trading on TSX Venture Exchange, and the common shares of Canadian Platinum Corp. will be delisted. The Company is classified as a 'Mining' Company. Post - Consolidation Capitalization: Unlimited shares with no par value of which 9,279,109 shares are issued and outstanding Escrow: Nil shares are subject to escrow Transfer Agent: Computershare Trust Company of Canada Trading Symbol: AURX (new) CUSIP Number: 05155D103 (new) ________________________________________ DANACORE INDUSTRIES INC. ("DANA.P")BULLETIN TYPE: Resume TradingBULLETIN DATE: January 23, 2019TSX Venture Tier 2 Company Further to TSX Venture Exchange bulletin dated January 21, 2019 effective at open of market Friday January 25, 2019 shares of the company will resume trading. ________________________________________ NEXUS REAL ESTATE INVESTMENT TRUST ("NXR.UN")BULLETIN TYPE: Declaration of DividendBULLETIN DATE: January 23, 2019TSX Venture Tier 1 Company The Issuer has declared the following dividend(s): Distribution per Unit: $0.01333 Payable Date: February 15, 2019 Record Date: January 31, 2019 Ex-distribution Date: January 30, 2019 ________________________________________ NEXUS REAL ESTATE INVESTMENT TRUST ("NXR.UN")BULLETIN TYPE: Declaration of DividendBULLETIN DATE: January 23, 2019TSX Venture Tier 1 Company The Issuer has declared the following dividend(s): Distribution per Unit: $0.01333 Payable Date: March 15, 2019 Record Date: February 28, 2019 Ex-distribution Date: February 27, 2019 ________________________________________ PINE TRAIL REAL ESTATE INVESTMENT TRUST ("PT")BULLETIN TYPE: Declaration of DividendBULLETIN DATE: January 23, 2019TSX Venture Tier 2 Company The Issuer has declared the following dividend(s): Dividend per common share: $0.00060 Payable Date: February 15, 2019 Record Date: January 31, 2019 Ex-dividend Date: January 30, 2019 ________________________________________ PRO REAL ESTATE INVESTMENT TRUST ("PRV.UN")BULLETIN TYPE: Declaration of DividendBULLETIN DATE: January 23, 2019TSX Venture Tier 1 Company The Issuer has declared the following dividend(s): Distribution per Unit: $0.0175 Payable Date: February 15, 2019 Record Date: January 31, 2019 Ex-distribution Date: January 30, 2019 ________________________________________ PURE MULTI-FAMILY REIT LP ("RUF.U") ("RUF.UN")BULLETIN TYPE: Notice of DistributionBULLETIN DATE: January 23, 2019TSX Venture Tier 1 Company The Issuer has declared the following distribution(s): Distribution per US Class Unit: US$0.03125 (Estimated: US$0.01875 as Dividend Income & US$0.0125 as Return of Caiptal) Distribution per CDN Class Unit: US$0.03125 Payable Date: February 15, 2019 Record Date: January 31, 2019 Ex-distribution Date: January 30, 2019 ________________________________________ 19/01/23 - TSX Venture Exchange Bulletins TSX VENTURE COMPANIES AZIMUT EXPLORATION INC. ("AZM")BULLETIN TYPE: Private Placement non-brokeredBULLETIN DATE: January 23, 2019TSX Venture Tier 2 Company TSX Venture Exchange has accepted for filing documentation with respect to a Brokered Private Placement: Number of Securities: 4,421,153 common shares Purchase Price: $0.26 per common share Warrants: 2,210,576 warrants to purchase 2,210,576 common shares Warrant Exercise Price: $0.35 for a period of 18 months following the closing of the private placement Number of Placees: 5 Placees Insider / Pro Group Participation: None Finder's Fee: None The Company has confirmed the closing of the Private Placement in a news release dated December 21, 2018. EXPLORATION AZIMUT INC. ("AZM")TYPE DE BULLETIN : Placement prive sans l'entremise d'un courtierDATE DU BULLETIN : Le 23 janvier 2019Societe du groupe 2 de TSX Croissance Bourse de croissance TSX a accepte le depot de la documentation en vertu d'un placement prive sans l'entremise d'un courtier : Nombre d'actions : 4 421 153 actions ordinaires Prix : 0,26 $ par action ordinaire Bons de souscription : 2 210 576 bons de souscription permettant de souscrire a 2 210 576 d'actions ordinaires Prix d'exercice des bons : 0,35 $ pour une periode de 18 mois suivant la cloture du placement prive Nombre de souscripteurs : 5 souscripteurs Participation des inities / Groupe Pro : Aucun Honoraire d'intermediation : Aucun La societe a confirme la cloture du placement prive dans un communique de presse date du 21 decembre 2018. ____________________________________ COBALT 27 CAPITAL CORP. ("KBLT")BULLETIN TYPE: Property-Asset or Share Purchase AgreementBULLETIN DATE: January 23, 2019TSX Venture Tier 1 Company TSX Venture Exchange has accepted for filing Royalties Purchase Agreement dated June 28, 2018 between Cobalt 27 Capital Corp. (the "Company") and Jervois Mining Limited ("JRV"), whereby the Company is to acquire a 1.5% gross revenue royalty on the Flemington Cobalt-Scandium-Nickel project and a 1.7% gross revenue royalty on the Nyngan Scandium project in Australia owned by JRV. In consideration, the Company will pay US$1,500,000 in cash and issue 422,856 shares to JRV. ________________________________________ CUDA OIL AND GAS INC. ("CUDA")BULLETIN TYPE: Private Placement - BrokeredBULLETIN DATE: January 23, 2019TSX Venture Tier 1 Company TSX Venture Exchange has accepted for filing documentation with respect to a Brokered Private Placement has announced on October 17, 2018, November 2, 2018, November 19, 2018 and January 21, 2019: Number of Shares: 2,981,212 common shares Purchase Price: $2.40 per common share Number of Placees: 25 Placees Insider / Pro Group Participation: Name Insider=Y / ProGroup=P # of shares Fontaine Chin Y 12,700 Glenn Dawson Y 22,900 Hirst Family Trust (Edward Hirst) Y 31,250 Chad Gutor Y 41,600 Tim Bushell Y 21,000 Paul Craig Jackson Y 41,667 Jeremie Lavoie Y 9,170 Mathieu Lavoie Y 10,400 Alan Scott Dawson Y 7,625 Aggregated ProGroup P 364,400 Finder's Fee: An aggregate amount of 6% of the gross proceed of the private placement has been paid to arm's length agents KES 7 Capital Inc., Eight Capital and Cormark Securities Inc The Company has confirmed the closing of the Private Placement in news releases dated November 9, 2018 and December 19, 2018. CUDA OIL AND GAS INC. ("CUDA")TYPE DE BULLETIN : Placement prive avec l'entremise d'un courtierDATE DU BULLETIN : Le 23 janvier 2019Societe du groupe 1 de TSX Croissance Bourse de croissance TSX a accepte le depot de la documentation en vertu d'un placement prive avec l'entremise d'un courtier tel qu'annonce les 17 octobre 2018, 2 novembre 2018, 19 novembre 2018 et 21 Janvier 2019: Nombre d'actions : 2 981 212 actions ordinaires Prix : 2,40 $ par action ordinaire Nombre de souscripteurs : 25 souscripteurs Participation des inities / Groupe Pro : Nom Initie=Y / Groupe Pro=P # d'actions Fontaine Chin Y 12 700 Glenn Dawson Y 22 900 Hirst Family Trust (Edward Hirst) Y 31 250 Chad Gutor Y 41 600 Tim Bushell Y 21 000 Paul Craig Jackson Y 41 667 Jeremie Lavoie Y 9 170 Mathieu Lavoie Y 10 400 Alan Scott Dawson Y 7 625 Total du Groupe Pro P 364 400 Honoraire d'intermediation : Un montant total equivalent a 6% des sommes leve dans le cadre du placement prive a ete paye a des agents sans lien de dependance KES 7 Capital Inc., Eight Capital et Cormark Securities Inc La societe a confirme la cloture du placement prive dans des communiques de presse dates du 9 novembre 2018 et du 19 decembre 2018. ____________________________________ DANACORE INDUSTRIES INC. ("DANA.P")BULLETIN TYPE: HaltBULLETIN DATE: January 23, 2019TSX Venture Tier 2 Company Effective at 5:00 a.m. PST, January 23, 2019, trading in the shares of the Company was halted at the request of the Company, pending Closing; this regulatory halt is imposed by Investment Industry Regulatory Organization of Canada, the Market Regulator of the Exchange pursuant to the provisions of Section 10.9(1) of the Universal Market Integrity Rules. ____________________________________ DECISIVE DIVIDEND CORPORATION ("DE")BULLETIN TYPE: Prospectus-Share OfferingBULLETIN DATE: January 23, 2019 TSX Venture Tier 2 Company Effective June 19, 2018, the Company's Prospectus dated June 19, 2018 was filed with and accepted by TSX Venture Exchange, and filed with and receipted by the British Columbia and Ontario Securities Commissions. The Prospectus has been filed under Multilateral Instrument 11-102 Passport System in Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, Newfoundland and Labrador. A receipt for the prospectus is deemed to be issued by the regulator in each of those jurisdictions, if the conditions of the Instrument have been satisfied. TSX Venture Exchange has been advised that the first closing occurred on June 28, 2018, for aggregate gross proceeds of $12,792,580, and the second and final closing occurred on July 19, 2018 for aggregate gross proceeds of $2,157,420. Agents: Industrial Alliance Securities Inc Offering: 3,737,500 shares Share Price: $4.00 per share ________________________________________ ELCORA ADVANCED MATERIALS CORP. ("ERA")BULLETIN TYPE: Private Placement-Non-Brokered, CorrectionBULLETIN DATE: January 23, 2019TSX Venture Tier 2 Company Further to the TSX Venture Exchange Bulletin dated February 13, 2017, the Bulletin should have read that the 9,326,093 warrants to purchase 9,326,093 common shares have an expiry date of February 2, 2019 and the news release confirming the closing of that Private Placement was issued by the Company on February 2, 2017. There is no other change to the Bulletin of February 13, 2017. _______________________________________ ELEMENT LIFESTYLE RETIREMENT INC. ("ELM")BULLETIN TYPE: Property-Asset or Share Disposition AgreementBULLETIN DATE: January 23, 2019TSX Venture Tier 2 Company TSX Venture Exchange has accepted for filing documentation relating to the sale of a property located at 90 Saghalie Road in Victoria, BC (the "Property") to Aquara Limited Partnership (the "Purchaser"). Consideration for the Property was comprised of $3,755,753 in cash, a demand secured promissory note for $704,247 and assumption of an existing mortgage of approximately $3.5M. The transaction was non-arm's length in nature due to common directors of the Company and the general partner of the Purchaser. No finder's fee was payable. Please refer to the Company's news releases of April 24, 2018, September 28, 2018 and January 21, 2019 for further details. ________________________________________ EVERTON RESOURCES INC. ("EVR")BULLETIN TYPE: Warrant Term ExtensionBULLETIN DATE: January 23, 2019TSX Venture Tier 2 Company TSX Venture Exchange (the "Exchange") has consented to the extension in the expiry date of the following warrants: Number of Warrants: 4,997,500 Original Expiry Date of Warrants: February 6, 2019 New Expiry Date of Warrants: February 6, 2021 Exercise Price of Warrants: $0.07 These warrants were issued pursuant to a private placement including a total of 9,995,000 common shares and 4,997,500 warrants, which was accepted for filing by the Exchange, effective on February 27, 2017. The Exchange has equally consented to the extension in the expiry date of the following warrants: Number of Warrants: 6,035,000 Original Expiry Date of Warrants: February 21, 2019 New Expiry Date of Warrants: February 21, 2021 Exercise Price of Warrants: $0.07 These warrants were issued pursuant to a private placement including a total of 12,070,000 common shares and 6,035,000 warrants, which was accepted for filing by the Exchange, effective on February 27, 2017. RESSOURCES EVERTON INC. (" EVR ")TYPE DE BULLETIN : Prolongation de bons de souscriptionDATE DU BULLETIN : Le 23 janvier 2019Societe du groupe 2 de TSX Croissance Bourse de croissance TSX (la Bourse ) a accepte la prolongation des bons de souscription suivants : Nombre de bons : 4 997 500 Date d'echeance initiale des bons : Le 6 fevrier 2019 Nouvelle date d'echeance des bons : Le 6 fevrier 2021 Prix d'exercice des bons : 0,07 $ Ces bons ont ete emis en vertu d'un placement prive comprenant 9 995 000 actions ordinaires et 4 997 500 bons de souscription, tel qu'accepte par la Bourse le 27 fevrier 2017. La Bourse a egalement accepte la prolongation des bons de souscription suivants : Nombre de bons : 6 035 000 Date d'echeance initiale des bons : Le 21 fevrier 2019 Nouvelle date d'echeance des bons : Le 21 fevrier 2021 Prix d'exercice des bons : 0,07 $ Ces bons ont ete emis en vertu d'un placement prive comprenant 12 070 000 actions ordinaires et 6 035 000 bons de souscription, tel qu'accepte par la Bourse le 27 fevrier 2017. ________________________________________ GIGA METALS CORPORATION ("GIGA")BULLETIN TYPE: HaltBULLETIN DATE: January 23, 2019TSX Venture Tier 2 Company Effective at 6:45 a.m. PST, January 23, 2019, trading in the shares of the Company was halted at the request of the Company, pending news; this regulatory halt is imposed by Investment Industry Regulatory Organization of Canada, the Market Regulator of the Exchange pursuant to the provisions of Section 10.9(1) of the Universal Market Integrity Rules. ________________________________________ GIGA METALS CORPORATION ("GIGA")BULLETIN TYPE: Resume TradingBULLETIN DATE: January 23, 2019TSX Venture Tier 2 Company Effective at 7:45 a.m., PST, January 23, 2019, shares of the Company resumed trading, an announcement having been made. ________________________________________ GOLDSTAR MINERALS INC. ("GDM")BULLETIN TYPE: Private Placement non-brokeredBULLETIN DATE: January 23, 2019TSX Venture Tier 2 Company TSX Venture Exchange has accepted for filing documentation with respect to a Brokered Private Placement: Number of Securities: 2,800,000 common shares Purchase Price: $0.05 per common share Warrants: 2,800,000 warrants to purchase 2,800,000 common shares Warrant Exercise Price: $0.05 for a period of 18 months following the closing of the private placement Number of Placees: 4 Placees Insider / Pro Group Participation: Insider=Y / ProGroup=P Name # of shares Francois Perron Y 500,000 David Crevier Y 200,000 Finder's Fee: None The Company has confirmed the closing of the Private Placement in a news release dated January 21, 2019. GOLDSTAR MINERALS INC. ("GDM")TYPE DE BULLETIN : Placement prive sans l'entremise d'un courtierDATE DU BULLETIN : Le 23 janvier 2019Societe du groupe 2 de TSX Croissance Bourse de croissance TSX a accepte le depot de la documentation en vertu d'un placement prive sans l'entremise d'un courtier : Nombre d'actions : 2 800 000 actions ordinaires Prix : 0,05 $ par action ordinaire Bons de souscription : 2 800 000 bons de souscription permettant de souscrire a 2 800 000 d'actions ordinaires Prix d'exercice des bons : 0,05 $ pour une periode de 18 mois suivant la cloture du placement prive Nombre de souscripteurs : 4 souscripteurs Participation des inities / Groupe Pro : Nom Initie=Y / Groupe Pro=P # d'actions Francois Perron Y 500 000 David Crevier Y 200 000 Honoraire d'intermediation : Aucun La societe a confirme la cloture du placement prive dans un communique de presse date du 21 janvier 2019. ____________________________________ HTC PURENERGY INC. ("HTC")BULLETIN TYPE: Private Placement-Non-BrokeredBULLETIN DATE: January 23, 2019TSX Venture Tier 1 Company TSX Venture Exchange has accepted for filing documentation with respect to a Non-Brokered Private Placement announced December 18, 2018: Number of Shares: 6,250,000 shares Purchase Price: $0.08 per share Warrants: 6,250,000 share purchase warrants to purchase 6,250,000 shares Warrant Price: $0.11 for a 5-year period Number of Placees: 4 Placees Insider / Pro Group Participation: Insider=Y / ProGroup=P Name # of Shares Jeffrey Allison Y 1,250,000 shares Lionel Kambeitz Y 800,000 shares KF Kambeitz Land Corp Y 2,100,000 shares ("Gailene Kambeitz") Pursuant to Corporate Finance Policy 4.1, Section 1.11(d), the Company must issue a news release announcing the closing of the private placement and setting out the expiry dates of the hold period(s). The Company must also issue a news release if the private placement does not close promptly. ________________________________________ MIDLAND EXPLORATION INC. ("MD")BULLETIN TYPE: Private Placement non-brokeredBULLETIN DATE: January 23, 2019TSX Venture Tier 2 Company TSX Venture Exchange has accepted for filing documentation with respect to a Brokered Private Placement: Number of Securities: 1,333,333 common shares Purchase Price: $0.90 per common share Warrants: 666,666 warrants to purchase 666,666 common shares Warrant Exercise Price: $1.25 for a period of 24 months following the closing of the private placement Number of Placees: 3 Placees Insider / Pro Group Participation: Insider=Y / ProGroup=P Name # of shares CDPQ Sodemex Y 1,111,111 Finder's Fee: None The Company has confirmed the closing of the Private Placement in news releases dated December 21, 2018 and January 18, 2019. MIDLAND EXPLORATION INC. ("MD")TYPE DE BULLETIN : Placement prive sans l'entremise d'un courtierDATE DU BULLETIN : Le 23 janvier 2019Societe du groupe 2 de TSX Croissance Bourse de croissance TSX a accepte le depot de la documentation en vertu d'un placement prive sans l'entremise d'un courtier : Nombre d'actions : 1 333 333 actions ordinaires Prix : 0,90 $ par action ordinaire Bons de souscription : 666 666 bons de souscription permettant de souscrire a 666 666 d'actions ordinaires Prix d'exercice des bons : 1,25 $ pour une periode de 24 mois suivant la cloture du placement prive Nombre de souscripteurs : 3 souscripteurs Participation des inities / Groupe Pro : Initie=Y / Nom Groupe Pro=P # d'actions CDPQ Sodemex Y 1 111 111 Honoraire d'intermediation : Aucun La societe a confirme la cloture du placement prive dans des communiques de presse dates du 21 decembre 2018 et du 18 Janvier, 2019. ____________________________________ NAIKUN WIND ENERGY GROUP INC. ("NKW")BULLETIN TYPE: Shares for ServicesBULLETIN DATE: January 23, 2019TSX Venture Tier 2 Company TSX Venture Exchange has accepted for filing the Company's proposal to issue 134,766 shares at a deemed price of $0.08 in consideration of certain services provided to the Company pursuant to agreements dated November 16, 2011 and October 1, 2017, for the quarter ending December 31, 2018. Insider / Pro Group Participation: Insider=Y / Progroup=P Amount Owing Deemed Price per Share # of Shares Creditor Joe Houssian Y $1,718.72 $0.08 21,484 Philip Hughes Y $5,000.00 $0.08 62,500 Arthur Willms Y $2,031.28 $0.08 25,391 David Rehn Y $2,031.25 $0.08 21,391 The Company shall issue a news release when the shares are issued. ________________________________________ PURE ENERGY MINERALS LIMITED ("PE")BULLETIN TYPE: Shares for DebtBULLETIN DATE: January 23, 2019TSX Venture Tier 2 Company TSX Venture Exchange has accepted for filing the Company's proposal to issue 262,530 shares at a deemed price of $0.13 per share to settle outstanding debt for $34,456.46 (US$26,456.46). Number of Creditors: 1 Creditor The Company shall issue a news release when the shares are issued and the debt extinguished. ________________________________________ ROMIOS GOLD RESOURCES INC. ("RG")BULLETIN TYPE: Property-Asset or Share Disposition AgreementBULLETIN DATE: January 23, 2019TSX Venture Tier 2 Company TSX Venture Exchange has accepted for filing documentation relating to an Agreement (the "Agreement") dated September 19, 2018 between Crystal Lake Mining Corp. (TSXV:CLM) ("CLM") and Romios Gold Resources Inc. (the "Company"). Pursuant to the Agreement, the Company shall grant an option to CLM to earn a 100% working interest in its Newmont Lake Property, located in the Golden Triangle area of northern British Columbia. As consideration, CLM will pay an aggregate of $2,000,000, issue 8,000,000 common shares to the Company, and incur exploration expenditures of $8,000,000 over a three year period. For more information, refer to the Company's news release dated September 24, 2018. ________________________________________ SATURN OIL & GAS INC. ("SOIL")BULLETIN TYPE: Private Placement-BrokeredBULLETIN DATE: January 23, 2019TSX Venture Tier 2 Company TSX Venture Exchange has accepted for filing documentation with respect to a Brokered Private Placement announced Oct 24, 2018: Flow-Through Shares: Number of FT Shares: 8,333,333 flow through shares Purchase Price: $0.24 per flow through share Non Flow-Through Shares: Number of Non-FT Shares: 8,333,333 non flow through shares Purchase Price: $0.24 per non flow through share Warrants: 4,166,666 share purchase warrants to purchase 4,166,666 shares Warrant Initial Exercise Price: $0.30 Warrant Term to Expiry: 2 Years. Accelerated expiry if the closing price of issuer's common shares on the TSXV exceeds $0.60 for any 10 consecutive trading days, in which event the holder will be given notice that the Warrants will expire 30 days following the date of such notice. Number of Placees: 78 Placees Insider / Pro Group Participation: Name Insider=Y / Pro-Group=P # of Shares Ivan Bergerman Y 41,667 Geoffrey Jones Y 11,125 Justin Kaufmann Y 42,000 Scott Newman Y 40,000 John Jeffrey Y 80,000 Aggregate Pro-Group Involvement [7 Placees] P 1,313,752 Agent's Fee: Canaccord Genuity Corp $290,080.02 cash; 833,334 shares; 416,667 warrants; Agent also granted 1,216,666 Agent Unit Options exercisable into Units at $0.24 per Unit for a period of 24 months after closing. Units are identical to the Units Under the Offering Agent Warrant Initial Exercise Price: $0.24 Agent Warrant Term to Expiry: same terms and offering Units Note that in certain circumstances the Exchange may later extend the expiry date of the warrants, if they are less than the maximum permitted term. The above information is a summary only. Neither TMX Group Limited nor any of its affiliated companies guarantee the accuracy or completeness of the information contained in this document. Readers should consult the issuer's continuous disclosure record for complete details of the transaction. ________________________________________ SPRUCE RIDGE RESOURCES LTD. ("SHL")BULLETIN TYPE: HaltBULLETIN DATE: January 23, 2019TSX Venture Tier 2 Company Effective at 5:43 a.m. PST, January 23, 2019, trading in the shares of the Company was halted at the request of the Company, pending news; this regulatory halt is imposed by Investment Industry Regulatory Organization of Canada, the Market Regulator of the Exchange pursuant to the provisions of Section 10.9(1) of the Universal Market Integrity Rules. ________________________________________ SPRUCE RIDGE RESOURCES LTD. ("SHL")BULLETIN TYPE: Resume TradingBULLETIN DATE: January 23, 2019TSX Venture Tier 2 Company Effective at 9:45 a.m., PST, January 23, 2019, shares of the Company resumed trading, an announcement having been made. ________________________________________ THUNDERSTRUCK RESOURCES LTD. ("AWE")BULLETIN TYPE: Warrant Term ExtensionBULLETIN DATE: January 23, 2019TSX Venture Tier 2 Company TSX Venture Exchange has consented to the extension in the expiry date of the following warrants: Private Placement: # of Warrants: 2,000,000 Original Expiry Date of Warrants: February 28, 2019 New Expiry Date of Warrants: February 28, 2021 Exercise Price of Warrants: $0.10 These warrants were issued pursuant to a private placement of 2,000,000 shares with 2,000,000 share purchase warrants attached, which were issued announced by the Company on February 26, 2016. ________________________________________ TITANSTAR PROPERTIES INC. ("TSP")BULLETIN TYPE: Regional Office ChangeBULLETIN DATE: January 23, 2018TSX Venture Tier 2 Company Pursuant to Policy 1.2, TSX Venture Exchange has been advised of and accepted the change of the Filing and Regional Office from Vancouver to Toronto. ________________________________________ VIRIDIUM PACIFIC GROUP LTD. ("VIR")BULLETIN TYPE: Remain HaltedBULLETIN DATE: January 23, 2019TSX Venture Tier 2 Company Further to the TSX Venture Exchange ('TSXV') Bulletin dated January 7, 2019, trading in the shares of the Company will remain halted Pending Receipt and review of acceptable documentation regarding the Fundamental Acquisition pursuant to Listings Policy5.6(d) of Exchange Policy 5.3. ________________________________________ VISCOUNT MINING CORP. ("VML")BULLETIN TYPE: Private Placement-Non-BrokeredBULLETIN DATE: January 23, 2019TSX Venture Tier 2 Company TSX Venture Exchange has accepted for filing documentation with respect to a Non-Brokered Private Placement announced Jan 22, 2019: Number of Shares: 5,012,500 shares Purchase Price: $0.20 per share Warrants: 5,012,500 share purchase warrants to purchase 5,012,500 shares Warrant Initial Exercise Price: $0.35 Warrant Term to Expiry: 2 Years Number of Placees: 16 Placees Insider / Pro Group Participation: Name Insider=Y / Pro-Group=P # of Shares Kaare Foy Y 225,000 James Mackenzie Y 75,000 Andrew Gertler Y 100,000 Finder's Fee: Leede Jones Gable Inc $19,600.00 cash; 73,500 warrants Finder Warrant Initial Exercise Price: $0.35 Finder Warrant Term to Expiry: Exercisable for 24 months Note that in certain circumstances the Exchange may later extend the expiry date of the warrants, if they are less than the maximum permitted term. The above information is a summary only. Neither TMX Group Limited nor any of its affiliated companies guarantee the accuracy or completeness of the information contained in this document. Readers should consult the issuer's continuous disclosure record for complete details of the transaction. ________________________________________ WALKER RIVER RESOURCES CORP. ("WRR")BULLETIN TYPE: Private Placement-Non-BrokeredBULLETIN DATE: January 23, 2019TSX Venture Tier 2 Company TSX Venture Exchange has accepted for filing documentation with respect to a Non-Brokered Private Placement announced January 18, 2019: Number of Shares: 4,400,000 shares Purchase Price: $0.05 per share Warrants: 4,400,000 share purchase warrants to purchase 4,400,000 shares Warrant Exercise Price: $0.10 for a two year period Number of Placees: 7 Placees Insider / Pro Group Participation: Insider=Y / ProGroup=P Name # of Shares Christopher Hobbs Y 400,000 ________________________________________ NEX COMPANIES MADEIRA MINERALS LTD. ("MDE.H")BULLETIN TYPE: Shares for Debt, ReplacementBULLETIN DATE: January 23, 2019NEX Company Further to the TSX Venture Exchange Bulletin dated November 27, 2018, TSX Venture Exchange has accepted additional documentation with respect to the Shares for Debt transaction. The bulletin should now read as follows: TSX Venture Exchange has accepted for filing the Company's proposal to issue 6,807,220 shares at a deemed price of $0.05 per share to settle outstanding debt for $340,361. Number of Creditors: 3 Creditors Insider / Pro Group Participation: Creditor Insider=Y / Progroup=P AmountOwing Deemed Priceper Share # of Shares Larmag Holding BV (Lars Erik Magnusson) Y $275,690 $0.05 5,513,800 Warrants: None The Company shall issue a news release when the shares are issued and the debt extinguished. ________________________________________ SOURCE TSX Venture Exchange PR Newswire GRAND FORKS, N.D., Jan. 23, 2019 GRAND FORKS, N.D., Jan. 23, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Theodore T. Sandberg is recognized by Continental Who's Who as a Pinnacle Top Attorney of the Year in the field of Criminal Defense Law due to his role as a Litigation Attorney at Olson, Juntunen, & Sandberg Ltd. Licensed to practice law in North Dakota and Michigan, Olson, Juntunen, & Sandberg LTD provides a variety services including, but not limited to, veterans benefits, agriculture, livestock, criminal, family and divorce law. The firm has upheld itself to the same values and traditions of the Grand Forks and Red River Valley communities to which it serves. During an illustrious career spanning 21 years, Mr. Sandberg has honed his craft to pinpoint the aspects of law in which he thrives. This primary field of practice in which Mr. Sandberg excels is in litigation. Specializing in Civil Litigation, Criminal Law - Defense, Juvenile Law, and Personal Injury, Mr. Sandberg has taken on the responsibilities of many different roles a lawyer can take. Not only has he served as a prosecutor defending the state and its constituents, but he has also worked as both a Federal and State level judicial law clerk overseeing the daily operations of a courtroom. Before following his calling into the courtroom, Mr. Sandberg graduated with his Bachelors of Arts degree from Wayne State University in 1994. After his undergraduate studies, Mr. Sandberg earned his Juris Doctor from the University of North Dakota School of Law in 1997. And finally, Mr. Sandberg was admitted to the Michigan Bar in 1997 and then admitted to the North Dakota Bar in 2009. Furthering his professional development, Mr. Sandberg is active in the North Dakota Bar Association and is a past officer in the Grand Forks Bar Association. He is also a member of the North Dakota Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers and the United States Courts of Criminal Justice Act-Member Attorney. Having proudly served his country, Mr. Sandberg is a past member of the United States Navy and is a current member of the Navy League of the United States - North Dakota Proper Chapter. In recognition of Mr. Sandberg's performance in the legal realm, he was named a National Trial Lawyer Top 100 Attorney by The National Trial Lawyers for the years 2015, 2016 and 2017. In 2016, Mr. Sandberg received the Client Satisfaction Award issued by the American Institute of Criminal Law Attorneys. For more information, visit www.olsonjuntunenandsandbergltd.com Contact: Katherine Green, 516-825-5634, [email protected] View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/theodore-t-sandberg-is-recognized-by-continental-whos-who-300783264.html SOURCE Continental Who's Who PR Newswire WARRENDALE, Pa., Jan. 24, 2019 WARRENDALE, Pa., Jan. 24, 2019 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- Arconic Foundation has selected SAE's A World In Motion (AWIM) program to receive a $10,000 grant as a winner of its 2018 Month of Recognition Contest and a recipient of a $29,000 major gift. The Arconic Foundation grants recognize the successful partnership between the two organizations that melds the AWIM curriculum and Arconic volunteers into a STEM enrichment force serving Cleveland area classrooms. The grants will be awarded at 9:45 am on Jan. 24 at Newton D. Baker School of Arts, 3690 West 159th St., Cleveland, OH 44111. Throughout the year, Arconic employee volunteer teams receive recognition by company leaders and through employee media channels and social media. This recognition culminates each October when Arconic holds a company-wide Month of Recognition. Arconic Foundation sponsors a contest that awards the best volunteer initiatives with a trophy for volunteers and a $10,000 grant to the associated nonprofit organizations. "SAE is honored to receive this recognition of AWIM from Arconic Foundation," said Chris Ciuca, Director of Pre-Professional Education at SAE. "The success of this program in Cleveland would not be possible without the incredible dedication of Arconic volunteers. They go above and beyond to help inspire young people in STEM." Arconic Foundation has supported AWIM for the past 11 years with both financial and volunteer support and has encouraged more than 8,000 students to think STEM when choosing a career. "As a growing, innovative company enabling aerospace and transportation industries to create tomorrow's mobility systems, it is important for us to engage and commit to help prepare young people for the manufacturing jobs of the future. Our Arconic Foundation supported partnership with SAE, now in its 11th year, has enabled 5th, 6th and 7th grade students to experience science and engage in conversations with our employees about the exciting opportunities in manufacturing," said Eric Simeonoglou, Arconic Project Lead, Technology. AWIM provides students with the skills needed to succeed in real-world work environments and helps connect their classroom learning with real-life application. During the program, students engage in the Engineering Design Experience, which includes setting goals, building knowledge, designing, building, testing and presenting their findings to an audience of peers and/or teachers. AWIM also provides professional development opportunities for teachers. This initiative includes providing teachers with the training they need to effectively teach the curriculum, supplying all program materials and supplies to each participating classroom and giving each teacher the opportunity to have a STEM industry volunteer participate in the program. About SAE International SAE International is a global association committed to being the ultimate knowledge source for the engineering profession. By engaging nearly 200,000 engineers, technical experts and volunteers, 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. About Arconic Foundation Arconic Foundation supports programs that help prepare the 21st Century engineering and advanced manufacturing workforce. Arconic Foundation is an independently endowed foundation with assets of approximately $320 million and is the charitable arm of Arconic Inc. which works in close partnership with customers to solve complex engineering challenges to transform the way we fly, drive, build and power. Through collaboration with our nonprofit partners, our initiatives make quality STEM education opportunities available to students; support engineering and technical skills training through community colleges, technical schools and universities around the world; and help to create access for underrepresented individuals to the STEM fields. The work of Arconic Foundation is further enhanced by the thousands of Arconic employee volunteers who share their talents and time to make a difference in their communities. Established in 2016, Arconic Foundation is active in 26 countries. SOURCE Sae International PR Newswire NEW YORK, Jan. 24, 2019 NEW YORK, Jan. 24, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Julius Berman, President of the Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany (Claims Conference), and Naomi Azrieli, CEO and Chair of the Azrieli Foundation, jointly announced the release of a comprehensive Holocaust Knowledge and Awareness Survey of adults in Canada done in partnership with the Azrieli Foundation. Similar to the April 2018 survey in the United States, the Canadian study found critical gaps both regarding awareness of historical basic facts and detailed knowledge of the Holocaust. For example, 54 percent of those surveyed did not know that six million Jews were killed during the Holocaust. And, while a significant majority of Canadian adults believe that fewer people care about the Holocaust today than they used to, there was a broad-based consensus for providing comprehensive Holocaust education in schools across the country. Canadian perceptions of the neo-Nazi movement in the United States are quite disturbing. 47 percent of the Canadian respondents say there are a "great deal" or "many" neo-Nazis in the U.S. compared to only 17 percent who say there are a "great deal" or "many" neo-Nazis in Canada. Major findings from the survey include: A task force, which was comprised of Holocaust survivors, as well as representatives from Holocaust museums, educational institutions, and leading nonprofits in the field of Holocaust education helped develop the survey questions. Participants in the task force included: the Azrieli Foundation, Yad Vashem, the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, and the Claims Conference. Naomi Azrieli says, "When we heard about the first Claims Conference study by Schoen in the U.S., we were keen to know how we were doing in Canada. I was shocked and disappointed to see the Canadian results. Clearly there are holes in our education system that must be filled, because as it stands now, we are not preparing the next generation to learn from the past." Additional significant gaps in knowledge about the Holocaust that are revealed by the survey include: Julius Berman, Claims Conference President, noted, "Here we have yet another study showing that Holocaust education falls woefully short, and we must work together to correct this global issue. As International Holocaust Remembrance Day approaches, we are reminded of how important education is if we are to ensure that the atrocities of the Holocaust will never happen again." "The results of this study should cause great concern about Holocaust education and the gaps we have again uncovered," commented Greg Schneider, Executive Vice President of the Claims Conference. "We must do all we can to educate about the horrors of the Holocaust; it is incumbent on us to ensure that those who suffered so greatly are remembered, while their stories are told and taught by future generations." Survey Methodology and SampleThe Holocaust Knowledge and Awareness Study was commissioned by the Azrieli Foundation in partnership with the Claims Conference. Data was collected in French and English and analyzed by Schoen Consulting with a representative sample of 1100 Canadian adults via landline, cell phone, and online interviews. Respondents were selected at random and constituted a demographically representative sample of the adult population in Canada. For more information, please visit: www.claimscon.org About the Azrieli Foundation For 30 years, the Azrieli Foundation has funded institutions as well as operated programs in Canada and in Israel. It supports eight priority areas, with the common thread of education running throughout its funding. Having published the stories of nearly ninety Canadian Holocaust survivors, the Azrieli Foundation has become a world leader in the publication and distribution of Holocaust memoirs in English and in French. The Azrieli Holocaust Survivor Memoirs Program connects educators and students across Canada to these first-hand accounts. The program is guided by the certainty that these stories cultivate empathy and compassion and inspire action against hatred. In addition to providing Holocaust education, the Azrieli Foundation generously supports scientific and medical research, higher education, youth empowerment and school perseverance, music and the arts, architecture and quality of life initiatives for people with developmental disabilities. About the Claims Conference: The Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany (Claims Conference) a nonprofit organization with offices in New York, Tel Aviv and Frankfurt, secures material compensation for Holocaust survivors around the world. Founded in 1951 by representatives of 23 major international Jewish organizations, the Claims Conference negotiates for and disburses funds to individuals and organizations, and seeks the return of Jewish property stolen during the Holocaust. As a result of negotiations with the Claims Conference since 1952, the German government has paid more than $80 billion in indemnification to individuals for suffering and losses resulting from persecution by the Nazis. In 2019, the Claims Conference will distribute approximately $350 million in direct compensation to over 60,000 survivors in 83 countries and will allocate approximately $550 million in grants to over 200 social service agencies worldwide that provide vital services for Holocaust survivors such as homecare, food and medicine. View original content:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/new-survey-by-the-azrieli-foundation-and-the-claims-conference-finds-critical-gaps-in-holocaust-knowledge-300783360.html SOURCE Claims Conference PR Newswire HARWELL, England, January 24, 2019 HARWELL, England, January 24, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- - Campus cohort includes The Faraday Institution, Siemens, EDF Energy, Ricardo Energy & Environment, and fast-growing start-ups Zap&Go and MIRICO Harwell Campus, the UK's science and innovation hub, today announced the impressive progress of its EnergyTec Cluster since its launch in May 2018. The Cluster has grown 17 percent and now includes 35 industry, academic and public organisations working on the Campus, collectively employing ~900 people. A further 26 companies, which started off in Harwell's Space or HealthTec Clusters, now also focus on the energy sector as a major market for their innovative technologies. With a focus on energy storage, battery technologies and carbon neutral alternatives to fossil fuels, the technologies emerging from these 61 organisations will influence every aspect of life across work, travel and recreation, improving the environment and developing sustainable alternatives for the future. The announcement was made at today's Clean Energy conference taking place at Harwell. UK's energy experts met to understand the opportunities for the Energy sector arising from the Government's 170million investment from the Industrial Clusters mission. Through the Industrial Strategy Challenge Fund, the Government is aiming to attract innovators, investors and problem solvers to create low-carbon exemplars that others in the UK can learn from and replicate. The capability, technology and expertise that Harwell's EnergyTec Cluster can offer puts the UK in a strong position to reach the UK's ambitious objective of establishing a net-zero carbon industrial cluster by 2040. Harwell Campus, which in total has 200 organisations employing 5,500 people focuses on successfully commercialising scientific research and new technologies through clusters in the major markets of Space, Health and Energy. The EnergyTec Cluster counts multinational organisations including Siemens and EDF Energy among its cohort, consultants such as Ricardo Energy & Environment, and fast-growing start-ups such as Zap&Go and M IRICO. The Faraday Institution, which has received a 74m investment from the UK Government to accelerate battery technology in the UK, sits at the heart of the Cluster alongside open access facilities, the Diamond Lightsource and ISIS Neutron & Muon Source. Interdisciplinary collaboration between the clusters is driving growth. "Harwell Campus's uniqueness lies in its cross-industry collaboration. The 26 organisations from the Space and Health Clusters that now have technologies or applications being used in the energy sector are testament to the powerful advantage of working in close proximity with organisations that have nothing to do with your original market," explains Dr Barbara Ghinelli, Cluster and Campus Business Development Director at Harwell Campus for the UKRI Science and Technology Facilities Council, "but through shared learning and collaboration new business opportunities are identified and innovative solutions to long standing problems are created." One company that has benefitted from collaboration at Harwell is spin-out, MIRICO. Its laser gas sensing technology, originally designed to measure atmospheric constituents in space, has been found to have commercial ground-based applications. MIRICO's technology can more accurately measure atmospheric pollutants for a variety of environmental and industrial applications including energy companies, helping them to determine where to focus their efforts in improving mitigating fugitive emissions, reducing carbon footprint and lost product, and improving the safety of operations. The technology has already been deployed in trials by major energy companies and is scheduled for full commercial launch in 2019. "Harwell Campus' combination of state-of-the-art research facilities and access to organisations that we can collaborate with makes it the ideal environment to develop a product and grow a company," said Mohammed Belal, Founder and Business Development Director, at MIRICO. "At Harwell, our technology has gone from the STFC lab to deployments within major organisations, which couldn't have been achieved anywhere near as quickly without the ability to share resources, knowledge and even contacts with other companies operating in this unique environment." Angus Horner, Harwell Campus Partner and Director concluded: "Harwell Campus is an energy powerhouse with all the components available in one place to fast-track a company's R&D and commercial growth, to meet the ambitious targets set forward in the Industrial Challenge Strategy. We will continue to grow the EnergyTec Cluster, attracting companies of all sizes and scales to the Campus and continuing our collaborations across the UK and the rest of the world." PR Newswire SCOTTSDALE, Ariz., Jan. 23, 2019 SCOTTSDALE, Ariz., Jan. 23, 2019 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- Dr. Parsa Mohebi, the founder of Parsa Mohebi Hair Restoration based in Los Angeles and Beverly Hills, has announced the first stop of his 2019 hair restoration seminar series. Dr. Mohebi will travel to Scottsdale, Arizona on February 23rd to "share the latest information and techniques available in the field of hair transplant surgery. Many patients are curious about the results that can be gained through hair restoration but they are not sure how to start the process. My 'Modern Hair Restoration Seminar Series' is designed to take the mystery out of hair transplants for patients." According to Dr. Mohebi, the seminar series will include "local hair restoration surgeons that will participate in roundtable discussions that provide a comprehensive overview of the hair restoration process. The best patients are those that go into a surgical procedure with realistic expectations and are armed with necessary knowledge about the results that can be accomplished by the surgery. We will walk everyone though the initial consultation appointment with the doctor and then all the way through the procedure and the recovery period after the surgery has been performed." In addition to the roundtable discussion, everyone attending the seminar will have the opportunity to meet one-on-one with Dr. Mohebi. The doctor noted these face to face meetings allow people attending the seminar to "ask questions they might have been afraid to ask in front of others. They might want more information but are not confident enough to speak up in public or they might feel their question is so obvious that everyone else knows the answer. The intimate meetings with patients help them relax and address any concerns they might have about undergoing a transplant. Dr. Mohebi says the seminars will take place every three months and the second event is already planned for June in San Francisco. "If patients ask for the seminars to take place on a more frequent basis, I will hold more events in cities across the country. Hair restoration can provide life changing results for patients and I look forward to sharing the natural looking results that can be achieved through modern hair restoration techniques." About Dr. Parsa Mohebi: As the first chairman of the FUE Research Committee of the International Society of Hair Restoration and creator of several methods and techniques in modern hair restoration, Dr. Mohebi, along with his staff, provides his patients with the most advanced hair restoration techniques currently available. Dr. Mohebi has been in the forefront of new research and developing the latest technology to advance the field of hair restoration. Dr. Mohebi is a Diplomat of the American Board of Hair Restoration and a fellow of the International Society of Hair Restoration. SOURCE Parsa Mohebi Hair Restoration 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 Russian President Vladimir Putin has called the improvement of Russian-Turkish relations as Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogans personal achievement. The Russian leader recalled that the practice of their regular meetings has yielded positive results. In particular, bilateral trade increased more over ten months of 2018 compared to the twelve months of 2017. "Last year, the number of Russian tourists visiting Turkey grew by 30% to set a record of six million people. It shows how our countries citizens perceive a change in the Russian-Turkish relations and their quality," Putin said. "Mr. President, dear friend, it is largely your personal merit, your personal achievement, as you spend too much of your time on it.," TASS cited Putin as saying. The Russian president added that Moscow and Ankara look for solutions to regional security issues, cooperating closely on resolution of the Syria crisis. Erdogan stressed that relations between Russia and Turkey have a favorable effect on security in the Middle East. "In many spheres, including military, cultural and commercial the relations between our countries are developing. This certainly has a very positive effect on regional security," TASS cited Erdogan as saying. Canada NewsWire OTTAWA, Jan. 24, 2019 OTTAWA, Jan. 24, 2019 /CNW/ - IssueHealth Canada is advising Canadians that Panasilver, a product distributed by Activation Products Canada Inc., in Cobourg, Ontario, is not authorized for sale and may pose serious health risks. Panasilver contains colloidal silver. Consuming products that contain colloidal silver may lead to the accumulation of silver in the body, which can cause a condition called generalized argyria. Generalized argyria is the permanent bluish-gray discolouration of the skin, eyes and nails. Children and pregnant women are particularly at risk. Colloidal silver can cross the placenta and could lead to problems with a developing fetus. Despite a lower dosage indicated for children, children are more susceptible than adults to serious health risks. Panasilver is labelled for use as a "daily immune system support" for adults and children. This product was sold online and may have been sold at retail stores. At Health Canada's request, Activation Products Canada Inc. has stopped sales and is recalling the product. In addition to selling a product not authorized for sale in Canada, Activation Products Canada Inc. was also found to be operating without a Health Canada site or establishment licence, despite informing the Department that they had previously stopped all licensable activities. This is a serious safety concern. A site or establishment licence indicates that a company has processes and procedures in place that meet Health Canada's requirements to track and recall health products. The licence also indicates that the company is manufacturing, packaging and labelling products in accordance with good manufacturing practices (a standard that helps to ensure the quality of health products sold to Canadians). Health Canada inspectors seized equipment and products at the site. Health Canada is considering further actions to address this issue and will inform Canadians as needed should any new health risks be identified. Who is affected Affected products What consumers should do What Health Canada is doingHealth Canada has seized products and equipment from Activation Products Canada Inc., located at 74 Willmott Street, Cobourg, Ontario. The Department has requested that the company recall and stop further sales of the product. Should additional safety concerns be identified related to this issue, Health Canada will take appropriate action and inform Canadians as necessary. Egalement disponible en francais SOURCE Health Canada SIGN UP TO GET BLACKLISTED NEWS DELIVERED RIGHT TO YOUR INBOX Enter your email address: NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg stressed the importance of strong transatlantic cooperation and institutions at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland on Thursday (24 January 2019), NATO's official website reported. The Secretary General took part in a panel session on the Future of the Transatlantic Alliance, together with German Defence Minister Ursula von der Leyen, Polish Foreign Minister Jacek Czaputowicz, former US Secretary of State John Kerry and Professor Kishore Mahbubani of the National University of Singapore. Mr. Stoltenberg stressed that Europe and North America have stood shoulder-to-shoulder in NATO for over 70 years, protecting common interests and values. The Secretary General noted that Europe and North America are doing more together modernising the NATO Command Structure, strengthening NATOs cyber defences and investing more in collective defence. "As a young, Black female, I believe it's not only important to service clients but also to open up the digital floor to much needed conversations so that the campaigns we work on bring about real change," says Nombulelo Malinga, founder and director of Zizi Digital, which specialises in social media marketing and offers 360 digital consulting service. Mitchells Plain community radio station Yoh Radio will make its final terrestrial broadcast on the frequency 90.7fm on 24 January 2019, as its temporary events broadcasting licence expires.The station has reapplied for the frequency with the goal of supporting voter education in the run-up to the national elections in May. This process could take up to six weeks. Yoh Radio will continue to stream online here It is also asking for help to get back on the airwaves from the communities it serves. This can be done by signing its petition or writing a letter of support, which will be sent along with the application to the Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (Icasa). Why you need to be a shapeshifter to get ahead in your career You don't have to be a Star Trek fan to understand the merits of being a shapeshifter - essentially, someone who can assume whatever shape is conducive to success in a work environment. Being able to adapt and take on roles that require you to wear many hats is a skill that will see you through some of the toughest modern-day career challenges that employees face, and that they will likely face in years to come. The listeriosis outbreak in South Africa. Weaponisation of social media to spread fake news. Implication of many leading South African politicians and companies in state capture. Various data breaches around the world. Looking back on 2018, we can agree that it was a turbulent year on the business, political and social fronts, from Donald Trumps divisive presidency in the US to populism in Europe to the ongoing Brexit saga to the trade row between the US and China. Stories that dominated local and international headlines spoke of failures of trust and transparency on the part of major brands and institutions:Governments, corporations, the media, social media platform companies like Facebook, even the essential nature of democracy and capitalism are all under scrutiny. In this environment especially in emerging markets where trust in government is low brands have the opportunity to show social leadership. Whats more, consumers demand it from the companies they deal with.Our GfK surveys in developed markets like the US and UK show that consumers, especially Generations Y and Z, prefer to purchase goods and services from trusted brands. They also expect brands to step up to the plate when it comes to social concerns, and to do the right thing when it comes to the causes and issues they care about. In other words, the crisis of trust in traditional institutions is creating new opportunities for purpose-driven brands.This is even more the case in South Africa. Among South African consumers, 46% will select a brand if it supports a cause; among Generation Z, this rises to 54%, highlighting how this trend will only grow in importance in the years to come. The most successful brands of the future in South Africa will thus be those that have a perspective and purpose that looks beyond quarterly and annual earnings - they will be profitable by creating win-wins with consumers and communities.The idea isnt entirely new, since consumer trust has always been one of the defining qualities of a healthy brand. But in an era where the internet and social platforms have given consumers more access to information, trust has taken on even more importance. To earn trust, companies must have a vision that resonates with consumers, and show that they are working for the greater good.The new brand mandate is to stand for something and to bring about good for a community beyond shareholders. Brands that align themselves with a purpose can build enduring relationships with consumers in a world where so many products and services are so similar and so commoditised. But they will find themselves under fire if their positioning is not authentic.We have seen many brands that embody such ideas come to the fore in recent years. One example is Airbnb, which articulated its vision as helping people to Belong Anywhere. Thus, the brand is not just about earning commissions on accommodation bookings, but also about building human connections between the hosts and guests that comprise its community.Simply paying lip service to the notion of social good through CSR activities on Mandela Day or fulfilling the requirements of the black economic empowerment codes and charters is not enough. The brands purpose and values must be embedded in every aspect of its operationsfrom the supply chain to manufacturing to terms of employment to consumer service.In South Africa, many brands are already filling gaps in government service provision, such as the Outsurance traffic wardens who have been serving Johannesburg for years. Expect more of this to come down the line as brands try to tune into the social conscience of their younger customers and to find ways to differentiate themselves from the pack. The facility is equipped with Agilents new products, software, and chemistries providing a wide range of application support to life science and applied markets. Agilent Technologies Inc. has announced the opening of a new facility in Mumbai, India, dedicated to developing integrated, end-to-end workflow solutions for supporting diversified end markets---including pharma, biopharma, and food testing. The Agilent CoE in Mumbai is a state-of-the-art laboratory established with the purpose of meeting the increasing demand for next generation lean laboratories, delivering higher productivity, more efficiency, and providing higher-quality data. This new CoE will also enable a strong, local touch point for Agilent customers in the region to interact with well-qualified subject matter experts, representing Agilents entire portfolio range. The facility is equipped with Agilents new products, software, and chemistries providing a wide range of application support to life science and applied markets. Agilent has strong focus on skills development activities, this CoE will offer customers comprehensive training and hands-on experience of instruments, lab informatics, good laboratory practices, and advanced analytical workflows. Agilent continues to strengthen its portfolio through R&D investments and M&As, incorporating new capabilities and highly differentiated products. The western region of India has strong potential and is an area of focus for Agilent. This CoE investment is strategically intended to build a conducive environment where R&D expertise can be applied and developed. Furthermore, the scientific community will have the opportunity for collaboration to potentially achieve extraordinary scientific outcomes. The new laboratory will also support a platform for customer training on new applications, as well as solutions development. This new CoE at Mumbai is creatively-designed with the latest technology offerings, integrated software, and related services to ensure we can deliver trusted answers to our customers, said Bharat Bhardwaj, country manager for Agilent India. The Agilent CoE at Mumbai is the third CoE lab in India, adding to two already established in Manesar and Bangalore respectively. Agilent Indias core strength lies in its Applications Solutions Organization which includes more than 35 technical experts across India, and a dedicated team based out of Mumbai, for catering to our customers requirements in the western region of India, added Bhardwaj. The Mumbai CoE will enable Agilent to collaborate with customers, as well as academic, regulatory bodies, and industry partners, to create holistic, yet highly-specialized workflowsfrom sample preparation, to smart and fast results reporting. The aim of this CoE is to optimize laboratory processes and introduce transformative ways to advance analytical research and boosting productivity. The smart lab is equipped with digital technology to enable virtual sessions and interactions. The company recently completed a 24,000 sq. ft., purpose-built, state-of-the-art cultivation facility in Nova Scotia that's capable of producing more than 4,000 kilograms of cannabis per year CFN Media Group the leading agency and financial media network dedicated to the North American cannabis industry, announces publication of an article discussing Creso Pharma Ltd. and its unique position with near-term production, existing supply agreements, and an established European cannabidiol (CBD) line of products. With its international presence and clean balance sheet, investors may want to keep a close eye on the stock over the coming months. Canada's cannabis industry is projected to reach C$22.6 billion over the coming years, according to Deloitte analysts, driven by the legalization of adult-use cannabis in October of last year. While many licensed producers have been scaling up their production, the market continues to experience a shortfall in supply that has created an opportunity for investors in companies with near-term production coming online. Canada's Supply Shortage Canada legalized adult-use cannabis late last year, but many consumers haven't been able to partake. With persistent supply shortages, the government has been forced to shut down or delay the opening of many retail locations. Quebec's government-owned stores have been closed three days per week; Alberta has stopped issuing new retail licenses; and, Ontario will initially open just 25 stores in the country's most populated region. Many cannabis executives believe that these supply shortages will persist. Auxly Cannabis Group Inc. CEO Chuck Rifici predicted that it could be at least three years before the market hits equilibrium. These sentiments were echoed by Organigram Holdings Inc. CEO Greg Engel and Valens GroWorks Corp. EVP Everett Knight, who both believe the supply shortage will last a couple of years or more. These supply shortages are largely due to over optimistic projections from many licensed producers. In addition to failing to deliver, these rosy forecasts have caused a decline in the price of many LP stocks. Investors are concerned that LPs that have over promised on production could fail to meet their production, revenue, and profitability goals, while potentially compromising their relationships with the retail side of the industry. TerrAscend Agreement Creso Pharma is uniquely positioned to capitalize on these developments with its near-term production capacity. While many licensed producers have overcommitted, the company has strategically focused on building a diverse global enterprise with a commercial presence in both Canada and around the world. The company is one of just a handful of cannabis companies with existing commercial operations in Europe. In January, the company signed a three-year supply agreement with TerrAscend Corp. to provide premium cannabis product to help meet the significant consumer demand following legalization in October. Creso Pharma committed to selling 100 kilograms of cannabis flower per month to TerrAscend. The company recently completed a 24,000 sq. ft., purpose-built, state-of-the-art cultivation facility in Nova Scotia that's capable of producing more than 4,000 kilograms of cannabis per year. In addition to the new supply agreement, the company is in talks with the Nova Scotia Liquor Corp. to receive preferred placement at the government-run store due to its standing as one of just a handful of local producers. The forum has participation of key public and private sector stakeholders The World Integrated Medicine Forum on the regulation of Homoeopathic Medicinal Products with the theme Advancing Global Collaboration was inaugurated recently by Shripad Naik, Union Minister of State (I/C), Ministry of AYUSH. The three-day forum is being organised by Central Council for Research in Homeopathy (CCRH), with the support of Ministry of AYUSH, Homoeopathic Pharmacopoeia Convention of the United States (HPCUS) and European Coalition on Homeopathic & Anthroposophic Medicinal Products (ECHAMP), Pharmacopoeia Commission of Indian Medicine and Homoeopathy and Central Drugs Standard Control Organization (CDSCO). The forum has participation of key public and private sector stakeholders, such as representatives from World Health Organisation (WHO) and drug regulatory authorities, as well as pharmacopoeia experts and industrialists from countries like Germany, USA, France, UK, Brazil, Belgium, South Africa, Argentina, Russia, Greece, Austria, Cuba, Qatar, Croatia, Malaysia, Japan, Hongkong and Sri Lanka. Among the delegates are also present veterinary experts, as well as the regulators and drug controllers of various states of India. The Forum will be serving as the global platform in which the public and private sector can meet and exchange ideas on how to ensure and increase the availability of safe and effective homeopathic medicines worldwide, now for the second time. The first forum on similar lines was organised by CCRH in 2017. It is with the aim of brining the homoeopathic industry and regulatory sector on a common platform for strategic discussion that this World Integrated Medicine Forum on the Regulation of Homeopathic Medicinal Products was initially conceived jointly by Central Council for Research in Homoeopathy, Ministry of AYUSH, Govt. of India and by World Integrated Medicine Forum (WIMF), an international firm that organises, and provides consultation for arranging such fora. Forum discussions will primarily explore the commonalities as well as differences in regulatory affairs among various countries, discuss strategic regulatory and industry perspectives and possible scenarios in advancing international collaboration, ways to further enhance pharmaceutical quality standards, deliberate on integrating Traditional Medicine systems in primary healthcare and public health, bring forth the perspectives on setting appropriate requirements on various dimensions of drug approvals including veterinary medicine. While appreciating the efforts for organising this forum, Shirpad Naik in his inaugural address remarked that, India is the fifth largest investor in scientific research in Homoeopathy in the world. With the institutional support of more than 200 homoeopathic colleges and an autonomous Research Council having 26 research centres, Homoeopathic Pharmacopoeia Laboratory and a work force of about 250 thousand homoeopathic clinicians, India can contribute in various aspects of mainstream healthcare. He called upon the industry as well as homoeopathic medical colleges to invest certain percentage of institutional and industrial revenues in research and collaborate with CCRH for undertaking high quality, cutting edge research projects. The western medicine is today facing a huge challenge of management of non-communicable diseases which can be tackled by means of safer medicines. Excessive use of anti-biotics, pain-killers, anti-depressants, anti-hypertensive, statins, etc. are causing much harm to the society. Homoeopathy, with its safe dosage can prove to be an effective alternative in such situations. It has the potential to address non-communicable diseases by appropriately treating patients holistically in the initial stages and can also reduce the usage of these drugs, he added. Union Minister further apprised, The audience of the recent amendments in the Drugs & Cosmetics Rules 1945, which included freedom from requisition of separate license for a homoeopathy retailer for exhibiting the Homoeopathic Drugs for promotional activities in any fair, exhibitions etc. This would promote awareness and usefulness of homoeopathic medicines at wider public platforms. Another amendment that he informed the delegates about is the provision of sale of homoeopathic medicine from an allopathic counter. A licensee of allopathic drugs sales can sell homoeopathic medicines without any need of a separate license. This will make homoeopathic medicines more widely and easily available in India. Minister further complimented the actions taken by the Joint Working Group comprising of Homoeopathic Pharmacopoeia Convention of the United States (HPCUS), Pharmacopoeia Commission for Indian Medicine & Homoeopathy (PCIM&H) and CCRH based on the tripartite MoU signed by these bodies in the last forum, the most eminent one being successful harmonisation of 50 drugs in the American and Indian Homoeopathic Pharmacopeia. He hoped the successful outcomes of this agreement can be a benchmark for many more agreements to follow with the aim to develop and harmonise homoeopathic pharmacopoeias and to strengthen and enable regulatory provisions for homoeopathy worldwide. In his address, Roshan Jaggi, Joint Secretary, Ministry of AYUSH, complimented the theme of the forum, Advancing Global Collaborations, which, he said, was multidimensional and needed tremendous joint efforts. He said that, Ministry of AYUSH welcomed all efforts for collaborations with the governments and other institutes of the world at various levels. The main components of the International Collaboration scheme of Ministry of AYUSH, which included providing incentive to drug manufacturers, entrepreneurs, AYUSH institutions etc. for registration of AYUSH products (Market Authorisation) at regulatory bodies of different countries such as USFDA/EMEA/UK-MHRA/ NHPD/ TGA etc. for exports. He further informed that, The Ministry also encourages international propagation of AYUSH by participating in international exhibitions, trade fairs, road shows etc. and support other international market development and AYUSH promotion-related activities. CCRH for actively collaborating internationally for various joint projects for research and cooperation in the field of Homoeopathy. In a brief talk, Dr Helene Renoux from France, President of the European Committee for Homeopathy, presented her views on the Homoeopathy Professions expectations from regulators and industry. She informed that there is a strong demand from patients for homeopathy from all over Europe, with 74% patients not only supporting the use of Homoeopathy, but also in favour of it continuing to be covered under social healthcare. She further said that, The EU model of regulation of homeopathic medicinal products is actually a defence barrier, and its enforcement needs to be enhanced. She also looked at the efforts for harmonisation of pharmacopoeias as a positive move, which would help including remedies from each others pharmacopoeias. Dr. Robbert van Haselen, Director, World Integrated Medicine Forum (WIMF), in his keynote address, mentioned that, AIMF aimed to further develop evidence-based Traditional, Complementary and Integrated systems of Medicine (TCIM) by promoting public-private co-operation, where the public and private sectors are the actors, while patients and health care providers are the drivers. The legitimate and increasing demand/need for homeopathic products by patients and health care providers worldwide needs to be balanced by appropriate regulatory framework which proportionally addresses quality, safety, effectiveness and availability of medicines. To achieve this, the role of regulators, industry and respective countries are intertwined. He said that India is the rightful host to such a forum, given its openness to medical pluralism, both politically and culturally, he added. Dr. Raj K. Manchanda, Director General, CCRH in his welcome address, expressed his gratitude to the Minister of AYUSH for his support and presence, welcomed all international and national guests and delegates to the forum, and also shared the outcomes of the last forum. He added that, The core aim of the forum is to sensitise more and more stakeholders to the needs and challenges of regulating HMPs, by providing an appropriate stage to discuss such issues, and not to enforce or impose what is deliberated. He said that since each country is unique, accordingly, its regulatory designs for HMPs can best be decided by the direct stakeholders. More than a billion patients worldwide are demanding safe and effective medicines for their healthcare. As a result, the demand for Homoeopathy is growing. There is still a highly disparate situation among countries with regard to the regulations of homeopathic medicines and this directly affects the availability of these medicines. Apart from illustrating how homeopathy can be further regulated and integrated into the healthcare system in countries that have adopted the use of Homoeopathy since long, this Forum will also bring countries to the table where homeopathy has only been recently introduced. Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev has called for imagining a situation where the US president might facing regime change like the one that is now unfolding in Venezuela. On his Facebook page, Medvedev pondered what the American people might think of such a scenario on their own soil, TASS reported. "Just imagine for a moment how the American people would react to the news the budget crisis (shutdown) has produced a situation in which, say, the speaker of the House of Representatives has declared himself a new president," he speculated. "And how would the existing US president react?" "When such things happen in other countries, though, they are not seen as something extraordinary. Nobody cares about the rules of decency, international law, others sovereignty and, what is still more important, about peoples lives," Medvedev said. Kane has taken a number of measures to accelerate the development and commercialization of the DispersinB technology including, the creation of a Scientific Advisory Board and the appointment of Dr. Gordon Guay as Chief Scientific Officer. Kane Biotech has announced the kick-off of their new human health strategy. Efforts will be focused on development of a wound care hydrogel containing Kanes patented enzyme DispersinB. Marc Edwards, Chief Executive Officer of Kane Biotech, stated, I believe DispersinB could be a technology platform with a variety of applications in various fields. With DispersinB hydrogel, our aim is to not replace existing wound care treatments, but to greatly improve their activity and efficacy through the removal of bacteria biofilm. This first product, due to its unique impact on biofilms, has the potential to be the missing link in wound care. This strategy is further fortified by the Corporations renewal of its exclusive worldwide license agreement with the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey, now part of Rutgers University, for all human, animal and industrial applications of the DispersinB enzyme. The discovery of DispersinB was made by Dr. Jeffrey Kaplan, Assistant Professor in the Department of Oral Biology at UMDNJ, who was able to show that the novel enzyme is responsible for the dispersal of bacterial biofilms. Kane Biotech is delighted to be able to count on Dr. Kaplans continued support in the development of the DispersinB technology platform. Kane has taken a number of measures to accelerate the development and commercialization of the DispersinB technology including, the creation of a Scientific Advisory Board (S.A.B.) and the appointment of Dr. Gordon Guay as Chief Scientific Officer. Following a full technology review by their S.A.B., Kane Biotech identified DispersinB as the companys key area of focus moving forward in human health. DispersinB is a unique enzyme that is capable of greatly enhancing the efficacy of available wound care treatments by dissolving bacterial biofilm, which could significantly improve patient outcome and timelines, added Dr. Gordon Guay, Chief Scientific Officer of Kane Biotech. Kane has also retained the services of the international regulatory consultant Amarex Clinical Research, a CRO with extensive experience in FDA submissions. With their help, Kane Biotech plans to conduct additional clinical studies and seek regulatory approval moving forward in 2019. Furthermore, Kane Biotech recently submitted a proposal under the Military Infectious Diseases Research Program (MIDRP) with Medical Technology Enterprise Consortium (MTEC) open concepts request for project information. MTECs mission is to assist the U.S. Army Medical Research and Materiel Command (USAMRMC) by providing cutting-edge technologies and supporting effective life cycle management to transition medical solutions to industry that protect, treat, and optimize Warfighters health and performance across the full spectrum of military operations. MTEC has already given first stage approval to this project. Our team worked very hard to put the proposal together and we are excited that it was well received, we are looking forward to further interactions with the U.S. Department of Defense, stated Marc Edwards Chief Executive Officer of Kane Biotech. Wound care is currently the most expensive area of care with multiple complex solutions. Chronic wounds present a significant financial burden to the U.S. healthcare system. A 2018 study of Medicare data estimated the cost to treat these wounds at between $28 billion and $32 billion. The treatment of chronic wounds is a major challenge for health care providers, with a high failure rate leading to amputation, sepsis and deathi. One of the major reasons for this failure is the formation of bacterial biofilms, which are present in 60% of chronic wounds. Biofilm formation can make bacteria up to 1000 times more resistant to antibiotics, antimicrobial agents, disinfectants and the host immune system. Ultimately, anti-biofilm therapies have the potential to significantly increase the ability of healthcare providers to effectively treat wound infections. For Immediate Release, January 24, 2019 Contact: Kieran Suckling, (520) 275-5960, ksuckling@biologicaldiversity.org New Nevada Court Action Would End Bundy Effort to Seize Public Lands LAS VEGAS The Center for Biological Diversity filed a new motion today to dismiss Nevada rancher Cliven Bundys lawsuit, which aims to have all federal public land in Nevada more than 58 million acres turned over to the state. The Centers motion, filed in the 8th Judicial District Court in Las Vegas, says courts have rejected Bundys claims numerous times and this latest lawsuit is no different. In December the court granted the Centers motion to intervene in the case. Bundys incomprehensible legal filings are laughable, but hes dead serious about wanting to seize public lands, said Kieran Suckling, the Centers executive director. Hes been trying to intimidate federal agencies and public lands lovers for years. Its outrageous, and he needs to be shut down once and for all. Bundy and his sympathizers believe the federal government lacks constitutional authority to own and manage federal public lands. His claims have been rejected by numerous federal courts, including rulings issued in response to filings by Bundy himself. Federal courts ruled in 1998 and in 2013 that Bundy or the Bureau of Land Management must round up hundreds of livestock illegally roaming 750,000 acres near the Nevada-Arizona line. Much of the land Bundy illegally grazes on is now protected as Gold Butte National Monument. Bundy owes more than $1 million in grazing fees and penalties, according to federal officials. Bundys decades of illegal livestock grazing led to a dangerous standoff in 2014. When federal authorities attempted to remove his cows, Bundy and his sons organized armed militia members and intimidated the government into halting the operation. In January 2018 a federal judge dismissed all charges against Bundy and his sons related to the Bunkerville standoff. In Bundys latest suit, he seeks to have public lands, including national parks and monuments, transferred to the state of Nevada. Bundy and his fanatical followers have shown that theyre willing to commandeer public lands that belong to everyone, said Suckling. Bundys been flouting the law for years, and he ought to pay what he owes to the American people rather than ginning up more ridiculous lawsuits. Plus, Bill's Message of the Day, will the Catholic Church stand up to Bill O'Reilly? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices A fugitive who was convicted of killing a woman in a speedboat crash on the Thames has been arrested in Georgia. Jack Shepherd, 31, was sentenced in his absence to a six-year jail term for the manslaughter by gross negligence of 24-year-old Charlotte Brown. Police issued an arrest warrant after he failed to attend his trial at the Old Bailey in July. Georgias embassy in London said he surrendered himself to police, after Ms Browns family increased their calls for him to return to face justice. Shepherd and Ms Brown met on the dating website OkCupid and were on their first date when they were involved in a speedboat crash on 8 December 2015. Shepherd had taken her for a meal at the Shard before suggesting they take a late-night boat ride past the Houses of Parliament, the Guardian reported. The boat hit a submerged log near Wandsworth Bridge and capsized, flinging Ms Brown into the river. Shepherd was rescued after being found clinging to the upturned hull. Ms Brown was found unconscious and unresponsive. A postmortem found she died from cold water immersion. The government shutdown is dramatically impacting the worlds cybersecurity. No doubt there are major corporate and government breaches taking place now which could have been prevented if things were operating normally. Here are the top problems the shutdown is causing for the cybersecurity industry: 85 percent of the National Institute of Standards and Technologys staff members are furloughed during the shutdown, a terrifying number given the central importance of NIST security and privacy standards for not just government agencies but also many private companies. Here is the scary message at the top of their site (see graphic above): Due to a lapse in government funding, the majority of this website is not being updated until further notice. Learn more. NIST websites for programs using non-appropriated funds (NVLAP and PSCR) or those that are excepted from the shutdown (such as NVD) will continue to be available and updated. Hackers and especially those with significant resources such as nation-states like Russia China, Iran and North Korea know their time is now. With the government running on fewer cylinders with about half its cybersecurity workers, they realize they may never have the U.S. as vulnerable as they are right now. Poaching is a major problem for all organizations but with the shutdown in place IT workers are increasingly being targeted by companies and especially big tech such as Google, Amazon and Facebook. It is tough to say no to a new job when you have a mortgage to pay and are furloughed or if you see your coworkers not getting paid. Hackers can use fake TLS certificates to intercept connections to government sites. As a resulut of the shutdown, over 80 government sites did not get their certificates renewed. With a significant reduction in IT staff, many computers and servers needing software updates may not get them, leaving them vulnerable to an array of attacks from hackers scanning government networks looking for weak points. The impossibility of dealing with the huge backlog of log files in anything near a timely manner. Hackers could be roaming government networks right now and no one may ever realize it because even when the government opens, IT workers may not have the time and resources to catch up. When the government opens, we can expect a flood of requests for password resets as users may forget them after not logging in for so long. IT workers will be under the gun to keep up with it all and could relax password policies. More importantly, as many workers use the same or similar passwords for work and personal use, the recent news of 21 million new leaked passwords should push all organizations to change vulnerable passwords. With government running on short staff, it is difficult to see how this is being done properly across all agencies. Insider threats are very real and less likely to be detected without a full IT and cybersecurity staff. Just recently, Baltimore experienced an insider threat and had to fire an IT worker as a result. The shutdown is hampering the FBIs ability to investigate and prosecute cyber criminals and to combat digital national security threats, current and former agents said Tuesday. In one case, an FBI cyber agent didnt have money to pay two confidential informants who provide intelligence about cyber assaults by U.S. adversaries, according to a report released Tuesday by the FBI Agents Association. The U.S. is falling behind its allies who are taking a more hawkish stance on cybersecurity and warning hostile actors. Yesterday, Frances defence secretary Florence Parly declared: Cyber war has begun.And she said the Euro nations military will use its cyber arms as all other traditional weapons to respond and attack, as well as setting up a military bug bounty program. Parly made her pledges during a speech to the Forum International de Cybersecurite (FIC) in the northern French town of Lille. Her speech was on a topic that most Western countries shy away from addressing directly in public. The cyber weapon is not only for our enemies, said Frances defence secretary this afternoon, speaking through a translator. No. Its also, in France, a tool to defend ourselves. To respond and attack. With less help from the U.S. government, in order to stay secure, companies must ensure they vet vendors carefully, run security audits on their networks, encrypt data at rest, perform penetration testing, run phishing simulation and training on their employees, educate line managers on security issues to be aware of and instill a cybersecurity culture in their organization. This is a starting point. Bring in cybersecurity experts to assist. There are many companies out there with the knowledge to ensure your organization is secure. Check references. Meet the management see who they are and what their backgrounds are. Cybersecurity is not a commoditized market yet companies often hire an MSP or MSSP like they buy paper cups. The difference is, substandard IT support and cybersecurity can destroy the reputation of an organization and this and lawsuits can put it out of business. You can always return cups or buy new ones. If you leak customer data or get breached, you may never be able to recover and if you do, your cyberinsurance rates could skyrocket. Cybersecurity is one area to not skimp. Former Intel CEO Andy Grove famously wrote Only the Paranoid Survive and in the world of cybersecurity, this is more true than ever See Also: Top 10 Cybersecurity Risks of the Government Shutdown Infographic (Pinterest) A military truck travels through an abandoned section of Marawi as the country marked the first year anniversary of the siege that destroyed the city, May 23, 2018. Three soldiers were wounded Thursday during a clash with a Muslim rebel faction led by a militant who helped carry out attacks in the southern Philippine city of Marawi in 2017, the military said. Members of the 55th Infantry Battalion ran into a group of about 30 militants in the hinterlands of Sultan Dumalondong town in Lanao del Sur province, triggering the clashes, local army commander Col. Romeo Brawner said. The armed group is led by Abu Dar, Brawner told BenarNews. He said an intermittent firefight continued Thursday evening and intelligence gathered on the ground indicated at least three militants were killed. Humam Abdul Najib (alias Abu Dar) is a senior militant who helped plan and carry out the takeover of Marawi, a lakeshore Islamic city reduced to rubble. The five-month siege that ended in October 2017 left an estimated 1,200 people dead, many of them militants. Dar, is believed to be a cousin of the Maute brothers, who plotted the siege with Islamic State (IS) regional leader Isnilon Hapilon. The Maute brothers and Hapilon were among the militants killed in Marawi while Dar managed to escape. Military intelligence reported Dar, the highest ranking Filipino leader of Marawi militants, and others slipped out of the city in the final days of the fighting, taking stolen cash and valuables they are using to fund their terror campaign. He and his group are believed hiding in the hinterlands and jungle areas between the remote towns of Pagayawan, Pualas and Tubaran. Casualties There were alleged reported initial casualties and wounded from the enemy side, Brawner said. The firefight is still going on and hopefully this time we will be able to get Abu Dar and his armed men. Brawner said the three soldiers wounded in the firefight had been taken to a hospital for treatment. We are calling on the public not to panic and not to evacuate because we have everything under control, he said. The regional army chief said troops have sought out Abu Dar. The armed encounter is the result of our relentless campaign against Maute-ISIS remnants and Abu Dars group, Maj. Gen. Roseller Murillo said using another acronym for IS. History Dar studied in an Islamic school in the mountain resort city of Baguio in the north, where he was radicalized. In 2005, he went for jihad training in Afghanistan where he became an expert bomb-maker, according to officials. He also was an arms instructor with the Bangsamoro Islamic Armed Forces, the armed unit of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF). He left the MILF ranks when the group dropped its bid for full independence in the south and eventually signed a peace deal with Manila in 2014, officials said. The attack occurred amid heightened security in the south where days earlier residents voted to determine which areas would be included in a MILF-led autonomous area. The autonomous area is the centerpiece of legislation signed by President Rodrigo Duterte last year. Many militant groups opposed the deal. A breakaway faction from the MILF, the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters have rejected the deal and continue fighting for an independent Islamic state. The group threatened violence in the south to thwart the vote. Meanwhile, Dars group and others are consolidating forces and recruiting more fighters, the military has said. Froilan Gallardo in Cagayan de Oro, Philippines, contributed to this report. Sultan Abdullah Sultan Ahmad Shah of Pahang (center), leaves a meeting at the National Palace in Kuala Lumpur where he was named Malaysias new king, Jan. 24, 2019. The sultan of Pahang state was named Malaysias new king on Thursday following the unprecedented abdication of his predecessor earlier this month, the government announced. Sultan Abdullah Sultan Ahmad Shah was selected as king by the Conference of Rulers, made up of nine sultans of Malaysian states and governors of five other states that do not have rulers, officials said. [The] Conference of Rulers in its 251st meeting held at the National Palace, on Thursday, Jan.24, 2019, has agreed to declare that His Highness Al-Sultan Abdullah Riayatuddin Al-Mustafa Billah Shah has been chosen as the Yang di-Pertuan Agong XVI for a period of five years from Jan.31, 2019, said Syed Danial, the Keeper of the Rulers Seal, in a statement, referring to the king by his full title in Malay. The keeper is a government official charged with the custody and use of the symbol of the Conference of Rulers, the traditional Malaysian authority whose members select a king to a five-year term on a rotating basis. The Conference of Rulers has decided to continue with the rotational system and not seniority and it is why [the sultan of] Pahang was elected as the new king because he was the next in line after [the sultan of] Kelantan, Shamrahayu A. Aziz, a constitutional expert, told BenarNews, saying the decision was not a surprise. Sultan Abdullah, 59, who recently succeeded his ailing father, Sultan Ahmad Shah as sultan of Pahang, is to be sworn in next week. He is succeeding Sultan Muhammad V, who abdicated earlier this month amid media reports that he had married a Russian woman and taken a two-month vacation for a medical leave late last year. Duties The Malaysian constitution declares that the king is the supreme head of the federation and supreme commander of its armed forces. Under Article 153, the king must safeguard the special position of ethnic Malays and the indigenous people of Sabah and Sarawak, as well as the legitimate interests of other communities. In addition, the king presides over the opening of parliamentary sessions and has the power to swear in members of the cabinet, as well as grant royal pardons. Sultan Muhammad V granted a pardon that allowed Anwar Ibrahim, a senior opposition leader who was imprisoned by the previous government on a sodomy charge, to be freed from custody and re-enter politics. Following the May 2018 general election that saw the Pakatan Harapan coalition take power, the Associated Press reported that Sultan Muhammad V had offered the prime ministers position to another candidate before swearing in Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad. In forming a coalition to defeat a coalition led by Prime Minister Najib Razak, Mahathir and Anwar agreed that Mahathir would assume power following the election while Anwar, who needed a royal pardon to be freed from prison and return to politics, would succeed him in a couple of years. Earlier this month, Mahathirs government announced plans to adopt a Malaysian version of Thailands anti-royal defamation Lese Majeste law, setting harsh penalties for those who criticize the monarchy. The announcement on Jan. 10 followed the arrests of three people under the Sedition Act who had allegedly insulted Sultan Muhammad V on social media after his abdication was announced, Human Rights Watch (HRW) reported. The rights watchdog denounced the government for restoring use of the Sedition Act and looking to establish its own royal defamation law. Malaysias government is not only delaying revoking abusive laws, but is even considering enacting new laws that curtail human rights, said Phil Robertson, HRWs deputy Asia director. The proposed law on the monarchy would add to the laws already restricting free expression in Malaysia. Indonesian Siti Aisyah (left), is escorted by police as she leaves a court hearing in Putrajaya, Malaysia, Jan. 24, 2019. An Indonesian defendant in the Kim Jong Nam murder case won an appeal to obtain statements from seven witnesses, but prosecutors said Thursday they would ask a higher court to overturn the ruling potentially delaying the trials resumption. A three-judge Appeals Court panel ordered prosecutors to turn over the witness statements, but stayed their order to allow an appeal to the federal court. Indonesian citizen Siti Aisyah and co-defendant Doan Thi Huong of Vietnam have been standing trial for the February 2017 assassination of Kim Jong Nam, the estranged half brother of North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un during a chemical attack at a Kuala Lumpur area airport. When I was a trial judge, I would direct the prosecution to supply witness statements to the defense after the prosecutions case was concluded, Justice Harmindar Singh Dhaliwal told the prosecution team. Attorney Gooi Soon Seng, who is leading the legal team representing Siti, said the statements were crucial for her defense, adding that the trial scheduled to resume on Jan. 28 likely would be delayed again by the appeal. Doan was not in court, because she was not a party to the appeal. If we are allowed to see the statements, then we will get a fairer trial. ... If we do not get a fair trial, where do we get justice? Gooi said, according to the Associated Press. Why must truth be shrouded by the policy of privilege? Siti and Doan are charged with the murder of Kim, who died after being exposed to the toxic VX nerve agent at Kuala Lumpur International Airport 2 on Feb. 13, 2017. They could face the death penalty, if convicted. Prosecutors argued that their refusal to turn over the statements from the seven, including a Japanese friend of Kim and the mans chauffeur who transported Kim around Kuala Lumpur, was based on national security grounds. Two other witnesses were Indonesian roommates of Siti. Dhaliwal, who serves on the panel with presiding Justice Umi Kalthum and Justice Rhodzariah Bujang, challenged the prosecutions concern. It was also a policy for the defense to get a fair trial, he said. The ruling ordering lawyers to turn over the statements was unprecedented, prosecutor Iskandar Ahmad told BenarNews. That is why we are pushing this to the federal court, this is a matter of principle, and could set a new precedence in future cases, he said. Withholding the statements was a policy issue, according to prosecutor Dusuki Mokhtar. For example, information could create an impact on national security and interests of justice. This information could be used by the defense to discredit the administration of justice and police, he said. Since the trial began in October 2017, defense attorneys maintained that the two women were duped by suspected North Korean agents into believing they were being paid to perform a video prank at the airport. Four North Korean men, whom Malaysian police linked to the assassination, fled Malaysia hours after the attack. Prosecutors rested their case in June 2018. On Aug. 16, presiding Judge Azmi Ariffin ruled that there was enough evidence against both women to carry on with the trial and allow them to present their defense. He ordered the trial to resume in November. But he later allowed a delay until this month because Gooi, one of the defense attorneys, was recovering from surgery. At least three civilians were killed and scores injured on Thursday from a string of bombs hidden in motorbikes in Syrian towns controlled by Turkey-backed rebels, a resident and witnesses said, The Jerusalem Post reported. They said a woman, a child and a young man were killed and at least eight others injured when one exploded near a public park in the heart of the city of al-Bab, north of Aleppo. "There were a lot of injuries.. it was a motorcycle (that exploded) near a main roundabout..," said Ibrahim Sabra, a trader in the vicinity of the blast. A local police source in the town said they had staged a controlled detonation of another motorbike in the town of al-Rai, north of al-Bab, and arrested a suspect. In a similar incident, three people were injured in the nearby towns of Qabasin and al-Ghandura by blasts also caused by explosives planted in motorcycles parked in public places. Famous filmmaker Steven Spielberg has finally finished casting the main roles for his version of West Side Story. The leads will be filled by Broadway veterans Ariana DeBose and David Alvarez as Anita and Bernardo, theater performer Josh Andres Rivera as Chino and a 17 year old New Jersey High School Student named Rachel Zegler. Zegler will be making her film debut when she plays the role of Maria alongside Spielbergs Tony, played by Ansel Elgort. Zegler saw a notice on Twitter in January 2018 calling for Latino actors and actresses to audition for parts in the play. She submitted a video of herself singing Tonight and Me Siento Hermosa. Finding out that she would be playing Maria was overwhelming. I am so thrilled to be playing the iconic role of Maria alongside this amazing cast, said Zegler. West Side Story was the first musical I encountered with a Latina lead character. As a Colombian-American, I am humbled by the opportunity to play a role that means so much to the Hispanic community. Spielberg has been insistent that the central roles of the play be filled by members of the Latino community. When we began this process a year ago, we announced that we would cast the roles of Maria, Anita, Bernardo, Chino and the Sharks with Latina and Latino actors. Im so happy that weve assembled a cast that reflects the astonishing depth of talent in Americas multifaceted Hispanic community, said Spielberg. I am in awe of the sheer force of the talent of these young performers, and I believe theyll bring a new and electrifying energy to a magnificent musical thats more relevant than ever. The script for West Side Story will be written by Oscar nominated screenwriter and Pulitzer Prize winning playwright Tony Kushner, and the film will be adapted for the screen from the original 1957 Broadway musical. The film will then be produced and directed by Spielberg. Filming is slated to start in the summer of 2019, and fans are no doubt eagerly waiting to see such a classic show migrate from the stage to the silver screen. 'It is one of the fundamental planks of the criminal justice system that legal aid is there to fund all or part of the defence bill for people without the money to pay their own way' (stock photo) Local man William McFall, by any definition, is a vicious double killer. In May 1996 he callously beat pensioner Martha Gilmore to death with a hammer when she disturbed him breaking into her Greenisland home. Jailed for life, he was released in 2010. Just seven years later he killed Vietnamese mother-of-two Quyen Ngoc Nguyen in England. She was raped by his accomplice Stephen Unwin, tortured to disclose her bank PIN numbers, robbed, beaten and dumped in her car, which was set alight while she was still alive. Read More Unwin is also a double killer. They met in prison while serving sentences for their original murders. The pair have been told that they will never be released, but many people will wonder, given the horrific nature of their first slayings, how they got out after 13 years only to kill again. And what will cause even more outrage among the public is the fact that the total legal aid bill for both is likely to approach 250,000. It is one of the fundamental planks of the criminal justice system that legal aid is there to fund all or part of the defence bill for people without the money to pay their own way. Of course, it is right that anyone facing charges which could result in them losing their liberty should be defended by legal experts, including senior counsel, depending on the gravity and complexity of the case. Yet, from reports, this appeared to be a fairly straightforward case, and some people may wonder if in such circumstances there are not ways to make savings by ensuring that representation is always appropriate to the needs of those in the dock. They will point out that those bereaved by the Omagh bombing, for example, were only able to get legal aid to be represented at an inquest into the deaths through an exceptional intervention by the Lord Chancellor. And, as Sir Jeffrey Donaldson points out today, the families of four soldiers killed in London's Hyde Park by an IRA bomb had to campaign to get legal aid to bring a civil case against one of the alleged bombers. Many will sympathise with his call for a review of the legal aid system. Can it be made fairer in allowing victims or their families access to legal representation at all stages of the justice system, and not simply be an open purse for those who commit the most heinous of crimes? House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has served notice that President Donald Trump will not be allowed to deliver his State Of The Union address to a joint session of Congress on Tuesday after the president said he was aiming to show up even though he was not welcome. Ms Pelosi told Mr Trump on Wednesday that the House will not approve a resolution allowing him to come until the government reopens. Thats a great blotch on the incredible country that we all love, Mr Trump shot back, calling it a very, very negative part of history. It would be so very sad for our Country if the State of the Union were not delivered on time, on schedule, and very importantly, on location! President @realDonaldTrump's letter to Speaker Pelosi: https://t.co/ojdoOmchid The White House 45 Archived (@WhiteHouse45) January 23, 2019 Ms Pelosis snub confronted Mr Trump with the need to find another way to put his views to the nation, one lacking the spectacle and history afforded by a State of the Union speech in the House chamber, the traditional venue. Well do something in the alternative, he said, while branding Democrats radicalised. It was the latest round of brinkmanship between the president and Ms Pelosi as they remain locked in an increasingly personal standoff over Mr Trumps demand for border wall money that has forced a partial government shutdown, now in its second month. Ms Pelosi asked Mr Trump last week to make other plans but stopped short of denying him the chamber for his address. Expand Close House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (Carolyn Kaster/AP) AP/PA Images / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (Carolyn Kaster/AP) She issued that denial Wednesday after Mr Trump told her he wanted to go ahead with it, in essence, calling her bluff. In a letter to Ms Pelosi earlier Wednesday, Trump dismissed her previous suggestion that the speech be postponed or delivered in writing due to security issues related to the partial government shutdown. Declaring there are no security concerns, Mr Trump said he planned to fulfil his Constitutional duty to report to Congress on the state of the union. It would be so very sad for our Country if the State of the Union were not delivered on time, on schedule, and very importantly, on location, Mr Trumps letter said. Expand Close A portion of a letter sent to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi from President Donald Trump (Wayne Partlow/AP) AP/PA Images / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp A portion of a letter sent to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi from President Donald Trump (Wayne Partlow/AP) But Ms Pelosi made her decision final not long after. She told him the House will not consider a concurrent resolution authorising the Presidents State of the Union address in the House Chamber until government has opened. The president cannot speak in front of a joint session of Congress without both chambers explicit permission. A resolution needs to be approved by both chambers specifying the date and time for receiving an address from the president. White House officials have been working on a backup plan to have him give the speech somewhere else if Democrats blocked access to the House chamber. Trump aide Kellyanne Conway said before Ms Pelosis letter was released that it would be remarkably petty for the speaker to deny Trump the location. Each side has been accusing the other of pettiness since Ms Pelosi raised doubts about the speech and Mr Trump followed up by revoking her use of a military aircraft, thereby cancelling a congressional delegation visit to Afghanistan. Expand Close A portion of a letter sent to President Donald Trump from House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (Wayne Partlow/AP) AP/PA Images / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp A portion of a letter sent to President Donald Trump from House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (Wayne Partlow/AP) Mr Trump said the Homeland Security Department and the Secret Service assured him there would be absolutely no problem regarding security for the State of the Union and they have since confirmed this publicly. Officials have been considering alternative venues for the speech, including a rally-style event, an Oval Office address, a speech in the Senate chamber, and even a visit to the Mexican border. Multiple versions of the speech were being drafted to suit the final venue. The Constitution states only that the president shall from time to time give to the Congress Information of the State Of The Union, meaning the president can speak anywhere he chooses or give his update in writing. But a joint address in the House chamber, in front of politicians from both parties, the Supreme Court justices and invited guests, provides the kind of grand backdrop that is hard to mimic and that this president, especially, enjoys. Still, North Carolinas House speaker, Tim Moore, invited Mr Trump to deliver the speech in the North Carolina House chamber. Michigan House Speaker Lee Chatfield has offered his state capitol. Mr Trump spoke with both of them this week, according to Mr Moores office and a tweet from Mr Chatfield. A splintered US Senate knocked down competing Democratic and Republican plans for ending the 34-day partial government shutdown, leaving President Donald Trump and Congress with no obvious formula for halting the longest-ever closure of federal agencies and the damage it is inflicting around the country. In an embarrassment to Mr Trump that could weaken his position whenever negotiations get serious, the Democratic proposal got one more vote than the Republican plan. There were six Republican defectors, including Senator Mitt Romney who has clashed periodically with the president. There were faint signs that politicians on both sides were looking for ways to resolve their vitriolic stalemate. But Thursday was mostly a day for both parties, in conflicting ways, to show sympathy for unpaid federal workers while yielding no ground in their fight over Mr Trumps demand to build a border wall with Mexico. The Senate first rejected a Republican plan reopening government through September and giving Mr Trump the 5.7 billion US dollars hes demanded for building segments of that wall, a project that he had long promised Mexico would finance. The 51-47 vote for the measure fell nine shy of the 60 votes needed to succeed. Minutes later, senators voted 52-44 for a Democratic alternative that sought to open padlocked agencies through February 8 with no wall money. That was eight votes short. Expand Close President Donald Trump (Jacquelyn Martin/AP) AP/PA Images / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp President Donald Trump (Jacquelyn Martin/AP) It was aimed at giving bargainers time to seek an accord while getting pay cheques to 800,000 beleaguered government workers who are a day from going unpaid for a second consecutive pay period. Flustered politicians said the results could be a reality check that would prod the start of talks. Throughout, the two sides have issued mutually exclusive demands that have blocked negotiations from even starting. Mr Trump has refused to reopen government until Congress gives him the wall money, and congressional Democrats have rejected bargaining until he reopens government. Thursdays votes could teach us that the leaders are going to have to get together and figure out how to resolve this, said Senator John Thune, a Republican. Expand Close A portion of a letter sent to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi by President Donald Trump (Wayne Partlow/AP) AP/PA Images / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp A portion of a letter sent to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi by President Donald Trump (Wayne Partlow/AP) He added: One way or another weve got to get out of this. This is no win for anybody. For now, partisan potshots flowed freely. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi accused Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross of a let them eat cake kind of attitude after he said on television that he didnt understand why unpaid civil servants were resorting to homeless shelters for food. Even as Ms Pelosi offered to meet the president anytime, Mr Trump stood firm, tweeting, Without a Wall it all doesnt work. We will not Cave! and no meetings were scheduled. Vice President Mike Pence attended a lunch with GOP senators before the vote and heard from politicians eager for the standoff to end, participants said. Ms Pelosi has refused Mr Trump permission to give his State Of The Union speech in the House of Representatives until the impasse is resolved. Pope Francis, right, and Panama Archbishop Jose Domingo Ulloa smile during a meeting with bishops (Alessandra Tarantino/AP) Pope Francis urged public officials to live simply, honestly and transparently as he opened a visit to a Central American region that has been rife with corruption scandals and is now coping with political upheaval in nearby Venezuela. Francis did not mention the Venezuela crisis during his first remarks in Panama after a meeting with President Juan Carlos Varela at the presidential palace. But his spokesman said he was following the situation closely, was praying for the Venezuelan people and supported all efforts that help save the population from further suffering. Expand Close People take a photo of Pope Francis in Panama City (Rebecca Blackwell/AP) AP/PA Images / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp People take a photo of Pope Francis in Panama City (Rebecca Blackwell/AP) Francis stuck to his script in Panama, celebrating the countrys place as a bridge between oceans and cultures and holding up the regions newest saint, slain Salvadoran Archbishop Oscar Romero, as a model for a humble church that accompanies the poor. He thanked the Panamanian government for opening the doors of your home to young pilgrims who have flocked here for World Youth Day, the Catholic Churchs big youth rally and the reason for his visit. But he warned that those same young people are increasingly demanding that public officials live lives that are coherent with the jobs entrusted to them, and build a culture of greater transparency between the public and private sectors. They call upon them to live in simplicity and transparency, with a clear sense of responsibility for others and for our world, Francis said. Expand Close People react as Pope Francis rides past (Rebecca Blackwell/PA) AP/PA Images / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp People react as Pope Francis rides past (Rebecca Blackwell/PA) To lead a life that demonstrates that public service is a synonym of honesty and justice, and opposed to all forms of corruption. Transparency International estimates that as much as 1% of Panamas GDP, approximately 600 million US dollars, may have been lost to various corruption schemes during the presidency of Ricardo Martinelli, who governed Panama from 2009 to 2014. Mr Martinelli was extradited to Panama last year from the United States to face political espionage and embezzlement charges. Francis visit is taking place against the backdrop of both the turmoil in Venezuela and the ongoing migrant stand-off in the United States, where the government is partly shut down over President Donald Trumps demand for congressional funding for a wall at the US-Mexico border. Historys first Latin American pope, who was born to Italian immigrants to Argentina, has made the plight of migrants a cornerstone of his papacy and denounced how fear of migrants was driving populist and nationalist sentiment across the globe. Expand Close Faithful strike a pose holding a poster of the late Archbishop Oscar Romero (Alessandra Tarantino/AP) AP/PA Images / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Faithful strike a pose holding a poster of the late Archbishop Oscar Romero (Alessandra Tarantino/AP) Speaking Thursday to Central American bishops, Francis urged church institutions from dioceses down to individual parishes to welcome and integrate migrants and serve as models for the rest of society to overcome fears of foreigners. And he urged them to look to Romero as inspiration for being a humble church that listens to the poor and accompanies them as a father accompanies his children. Francis said that young people today have few opportunities and face dangerous, difficult challenges, citing domestic violence, the killing of women, our continent is experiencing a plague in this regard, armed gangs and criminals, drug trafficking, the sexual exploitation of minors and young people, and so on. Francis has frequently urged young people to resist easy temptations of drug dealing and gang membership, and to especially avoid the lure of corruption. It is a message that will likely resonate with the youth of the region. Transparency Internationals latest index of perceived corruption ranks the entire Central American region poorly, with the exception of Costa Rica. Panama ranked 96 out of 180 countries surveyed globally in 2017, better than many in the region including Nicaragua, El Salvador, Honduras and Guatemala, but still far from clean. Highlands County Sheriff Paul Blackman speaks to the media about a fatal shooting in Florida (Chris OMeara/AP) A gunman who overtook a bank branch in Florida apparently made the five women inside lie down on the lobby floor before shooting them in the backs of their heads, police said. There is no indication Zephen Xaver intended to rob the SunTrust Bank, and no apparent connection among him, the bank or the victims, Sebring police chief Karl Hoglund said. Xaver, 21, has been charged with five counts of premeditated murder in the shooting deaths of the four bank employees and a customer. He overtook the bank by force. He then shot everyone in the bank, Mr Hoglund said. After shooting them, he called 911 and told dispatchers that hed killed everyone in the bank. Expand Close Zephen Xaver (Highlands County Sheriffs Office via AP) AP/PA Images / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Zephen Xaver (Highlands County Sheriffs Office via AP) According to an affidavit, all the victims were found in the banks lobby, lying face down with gunshots to the backs of their heads. Shell casings from Xavers 9mm handgun were scattered on the floor. After calling 911, Xaver refused to surrender and would not allow officers to reach the victims, the chief said. After more than an hour of negotiations, the chief ordered a Swat team in; they had to use an armoured vehicle to break through the front doors. Xaver was found in an office in the rear. By then, all the victims were already dead, the chief said. Mr Hoglund identified two of the victims: customer Cynthia Watson and bank employee Marisol Lopez. Citing Floridas version of a victims rights law, he said three of the families do not want the names released. The community is mourning the loss of our sisters, our mothers, our daughters and our co-workers, Mr Hoglund said. Authorities ended their news conference after only a few questions and did not respond when asked how Xaver obtained the gun. Xaver wore a black-and-white striped prison uniform in a brief court appearance on Thursday morning as he was appointed a public defender and ordered held without bail. His father said he is heartbroken for the victims and that his son wasnt raised to be like this. Expand Close The SunTrust Bank branch in Sebring, Florida (Chris OMeara/AP) AP/PA Images / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp The SunTrust Bank branch in Sebring, Florida (Chris OMeara/AP) Hes always been a good kid. Hes had his troubles, but he has never hurt anyone ever before. This is a total shock, Josh Xaver told CNN. It was not a shock to Alex Gerlach, who identified herself as Xavers former girlfriend. She said he has long been fascinated with the idea of killing, but no-one took her warnings seriously. For some reason, he always hated people and wanted everybody to die, Ms Gerlach told WSBT-TV in South Bend, Indiana. He got kicked out of school for having a dream that he killed everybody in his class, and hes been threatening this for so long, and hes been having dreams about it and everything, she said. Every single person Ive told has not taken it seriously, and its very unfortunate that it had to come to this. Ms Gerlach told The Washington Post that Xaver said he purchased a gun last week and no-one thought anything of it because he had always liked guns. Two school districts in northern Indiana said Xaver attended high school for several years but did not graduate. Xaver was also briefly an online student of Salt Lake City-based Stevens-Henager College. A spokeswoman for the college, Sherrie Martin, confirmed that Xaver was enrolled from September 2018 until December, when he withdrew. In Florida, he tried to be a prison guard: Florida Department of Corrections records show he was hired as a trainee at Avon Park Correctional Institution on November 2 and resigned on January 9. No disciplinary issues were reported. Public records and neighbours say Xaver and his mother moved to Sebring in the autumn from Plymouth, Indiana, a small city south of South Bend. They lived in a nondescript pre-fabricated home about four miles from the bank. John Larose, who lives next door, said Xaver kept to himself but he could hear him playing and shouting at video games in the middle of the night. This was at least the fourth mass shooting in Florida with five or more dead in the last three years. A gunman killed 49 at an Orlando nightclub in 2016, five died at the Fort Lauderdale airport in 2017, and 17 died in February at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in a Fort Lauderdale suburb. President Donald Trump speaks about the partial government shutdown, immigration and border security in the Diplomatic Reception Room of the White House (Alex Brandon/AP) Donald Trump has urged people to use the phrase Build a wall and crime will fall with regards to his proposed wall between the US and Mexico. Mr Trump has struggled to find a way out of a four-week partial government shutdown, unable so far to reach an agreement with Democrats over funding for a border wall. The president tweeted: Build a wall & crime will fall! This is the new theme, for two years until the Wall is finished (under construction now), of the Republican Party. Use it and pray! Mr Trump then tweeted the slogan on its own two minutes later. As is often the case the presidents tweet caused a stir, with tens of thousands of retweets as well as plenty responding to the slogan with their own rhymes. His rapper name is the Notorious B.I.G.O.T wrote one Twitter user, while another replied: Impeach this guy & let him cry! His rapper name is the Notorious B.I.G.O.T. The Volatile Mermaid (@OhNoSheTwitnt) January 23, 2019 IMPEACH THIS GUY & LET HIM CRY! Tony Posnanski (@tonyposnanski) January 23, 2019 Writer Emma Kennedy meanwhile took a different approach. And others decided to write their own policy in rhyming form. American producer and actor Drew Carey wrote: Libraries instead of liquor stores for all & crime will fall! LIBRARIES INSTEAD OF LIQUOR STORES FOR ALL & CRIME WILL FALL! https://t.co/MWu76wrxPX (@DrewFromTV) January 23, 2019 The partial government shutdown is now in its second month. The TUCs Frances OGrady leaves 10 Downing Street following talks with the Government over Brexit (Stefan Rousseau/PA) Prime Minister Theresa May has been pressed by union leaders to guarantee jobs and workers rights after Brexit during a series of face-to-face meetings in Downing Street. TUC general secretary Frances OGrady said she did not receive the guarantees she was seeking. Workers are worried about their jobs and need reassurance about their future after the UK leaves the EU, she said. The Prime Minister should do the right thing and take a no-deal off the table so that genuine dialogue can take placeTUC general secretary Frances O'Grady The Prime Minister should do the right thing and take a no-deal off the table so that genuine dialogue can take place, she said. Ms OGrady added: I was looking for guarantees on workers rights now and into the future. We have a Prime Minister on a temporary contract- she cannot bind the hands of a future prime minister. People wanting her job are on record as saying Brexit is an opportunity to reduce workers rights. The Prime Minister should stop listening to the bad boys at the back of the class. More time is needed for genuine talks. Len McCluskey, general secretary of Unite, said he hoped his first ever meeting with Theresa May was not a PR stunt. He stressed that a no-deal Brexit would be disastrous and urged the Prime Minister to extend Article 50 beyond March 29 for three months. Mr McCluskey said Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn was right to refuse to meet the Prime Minister unless she ruled out a no-deal Brexit. The Unite leader said companies were now putting investment decisions on hold because of the ongoing uncertainty. He added: I cannot conceive any prime minister taking us out of Europe with a no deal it would be catastrophic. Dave Prentis, general secretary of Unison, said: A no-deal Brexit must be avoided at all costs, and the Prime Minister needs to rule this out immediately. Crashing out of Europe would be catastrophic for the economy, public services and everyone who works in our schools, hospitals, town halls and police forces. However people voted in June 2016, no-one especially those who are just about managing was choosing to be worse off. The country is desperate for politicians to find a solution to the deadlock paralysing the country. The Prime Minister should be looking to build consensus and putting the interests of the country first, not simply trying to please those who wont suffer the consequences of a no-deal. A customs union would solve the issues with Northern Ireland, protect the Good Friday Agreement and allow the UK to keep close links to its biggest trading partner. Employment rights must be protected and keep pace with any developments in Europe. But with precious little time on the clock, an extension of Article 50 is essential to bring the country back from the brink and the calamity of a no-deal. The TUCs Frances OGrady leaves 10 Downing Streetl, London, following talks with the Government over Brexit. (Stefan Rousseau/PA) TUC general secretary Frances OGrady has repeated her call for Theresa May to take a no-deal Brexit off the table, as she emerged from Downing Street saying she had not received the guarantees unions are seeking on jobs and workers rights. The Prime Minister was meeting union bosses as one of Britains largest manufacturers, Airbus, issued a stark warning of the potential damage to jobs from a no-deal departure. The aerospace giants chief executive, Tom Enders, branded the Governments handling of EU withdrawal a disgrace and warned the company could pull out of the UK if Brexit undermines its ability to compete. Chancellor Philip Hammond was preparing to tell leaders at the World Economic Forum in Davos that post-Brexit Britain will still be a great place to do business. But Mr Enders said the UKs multi-billion pound aerospace sector was standing at a precipice. Brexit is threatening to destroy a century of development based on education, research and human capital, he said. If theres a no-deal Brexit, we at Airbus will have to make potentially very harmful decisions for the UK. Speaking after talks in Downing Street, Ms OGrady said: The Prime Minister should do the right thing and take a no deal off the table so that genuine dialogue can take place. Also taking part in discussions with the Prime Minister and her team were Len McCluskey of Unite, Dave Prentis of Unison and Tim Roache of the GMB. Expand Close (PA Graphics) Press Association Images / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp (PA Graphics) The discussions are part of Mrs Mays bid to try and get widespread political backing in finding a Brexit agenda that would command a majority in the Commons after her plans were heavily rejected by MPs. With 64 days to go until the scheduled date of Britains EU withdrawal on March 29, House of Commons Brexit Committee chairman Hilary Benn demanded that the Government rule out no-deal to stop the slow haemorrhage of business from the UK. Mr Benn told the House of Commons: In a week in which P&O has announced its re-flagging its entire cross-channel fleet in Cyprus, Sony is following Panasonic in moving its European headquarters from the UK to the Netherlands and Airbus has warned of potentially very harmful decisions if the UK crashes out without a deal, including future investment going elsewhere. I would definitely describe that as sub-optimal. When is the Government going to make its own announcement that under no circumstances it will allow the UK to leave without a deal so we can stop this slow and damaging haemorrhage? Brexit Minister Chris Heaton-Harris replied: It does beg the reply that why on earth is he not then backing the deal that delivers the certainty all of those businesses he named have asked for? I think he needs to look at the deal once again, to deliver the certainty that businesses across the UK require. The developments came amid growing support in Labour ranks for a parliamentary bid by former minister Yvette Cooper to extend Article 50, which would keep the UK in the EU longer, unless a deal is reached by the end of February. Leading Brexiteers have attacked such initiatives, saying they would take control of events from the Government. In another sign of opposition to the Prime Ministers stance, 19 ministers, including Cabinet members, have been meeting to discuss preventing a no-deal Brexit, according to the Daily Telegraph. I think it would be better if it was a binary choiceSir Keir Starmer on a possible new Brexit referendum One member of the ministerial group dubbed it the hair-shirt club, the newspaper reported. Unions have been warning of the impact on jobs of a no-deal Brexit and have been pressing for assurances about employment rights after the UK leaves the EU. Some have also argued in favour of a second referendum. Expand Close Nigel Farage (Kirsty OConnor/PA) PA Wire/PA Images / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Nigel Farage (Kirsty OConnor/PA) On the issue of a new national poll on EU withdrawal, shadow Brexit secretary Sir Keir Starmer said any referendum should have just two options. He told ITVs Peston: I think there should definitely be Remain. And there should be a genuine Leave option. I think it would be better if it was a binary choice. Former Ukip leader Nigel Farage insisted Mrs Mays withdrawal plans should be opposed, even if that risked a new referendum. He told ITVs Peston: Personally, my view at the moment is better to vote down this dreadful deal and take the risk of a second referendum. Ms Coopers Article 50 bid, which has cross-party backing including from Conservative Nick Boles, is one of a number of amendments that could be voted on next Tuesday if selected by Commons Speaker John Bercow. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said at the talks with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin that it is important to prevent a power vacuum after the process of the U.S. withdrawal from Syria. "It is of critical importance that a power vacuum that can be abused by terror groups does not emerge during the process of the U.S. withdrawal,"Erdogan noted. Putin emphasized Moscows readiness to respect Turkeys interests, but encouraged it to talk to the Syrian government to help stabilize the border areas, the AP reported. The Russian president added that Moscow and Ankara also plan to continue joint anti-terrorism fight in the Syrian de-escalation zone in Idlib. John Catt arriving at the Supreme Court in London for a hearing into the campaigners fight to have his details about his attendance at various protests removed from a police database (Philip Toscano/PA) John Catt was born in January 1925 and has been a peaceful activist since 1948, regularly attending public demonstrations. He became involved with campaign group Smash EDO which aimed to shut down the US-owned companys weapons factory in Brighton. Mr Catt was twice arrested at demonstrations for obstructing a public highway but never convicted of any offence, the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) ruling said. In March 2010 he made a subject access request to the police under section 7 of the Data Protection Act 1998 to find what information was being held about him. He discovered 66 entries which mentioned him between March 2005 and October 2009 held on an extremism database. He asked the Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO) to delete the entries but this was refused and no reasons were given. They recorded his attendance at Smash EDO demonstrations, attending a Trades Union Congress conference in Brighton in 2006, a Labour conference in Bournemouth in 2007, a pro-Gaza demonstration in Brighton in 2009 and at a demonstration against New Labour organised by a number of trade unions later that year 2009. Police recorded his name, date of birth, address and presence at the events. Descriptions of him were noted and a picture of him stored. In January 2012 the HM Inspectorate of Constabulary published a report on undercover police operations designed to obtain intelligence about protest movements. The report concluded Catts information was being unnecessarily retained in police records. After this, the number of records mentioning Mr Catt was apparently reduced to two but during later court proceedings the Government revealed it had found a further four records still held on him, the ruling said. In 2015, in response to a second subject access request, police told Mr Catt the records were held to help UK policing manage a future risk of crime of which [you] could be the victim. The records themselves should not and will not be disclosed [to you] for what are obvious reasons. An intelligence database loses all efficacy if it is not kept confidential. The ECHR judgment said: The Government stated that the police could not provide any explanation of why the reports were not disclosed previously. However, they were investigating the matter. Recording its findings after deliberations held in private, president of the chamber Linos-Alexandre Sicilianos, sitting with some six judges and a registrar, said in the ruling: The applicant, who had never been charged with any crime, nor accused of any violence, nor suspected of being directly involved in criminal activities undertaken by the group Smash EDO, and who had been assessed as not being a threat ended up having personal data relating to his participation in demonstrations and trade union events, and thus to his peaceful exercise of the rights protected under Articles 10-11 of the Convention, kept on police records in a searchable database for an indefinite period. Even the existence of the database in question was not clearly acknowledged until the domestic proceedings in this case. A subsequent review of matters relating to undercover police operations, prompted by allegations made by whistleblowers, also led to a review of the database on overtly obtained intelligence, resulting in the deletion of part of the data originally retained concerning the applicant. As pointed out by the applicant in his submissions, a system that must rely on whistleblowers, litigation and press disclosure to ensure proper conduct is not adequate in terms of protections against abuse or arbitrariness. Theresa May is facing intense pressure to rule out a no-deal Brexit (PA) Theresa May has come under increased pressure to rule out a no-deal Brexit, as manufacturing giant Airbus warned it could lead to very harmful consequences for the UK. A string of union bosses who visited Downing Street for talks on Mrs Mays Plan B for EU withdrawal urged the Prime Minister to take no-deal off the table or ask for an extension of the two-year Article 50 negotiation period. And business minister Richard Harrington declared he is happy to be sacked by the PM if she objects to him speaking out about the dangers of leaving without an agreement on March 29. Meanwhile, Chancellor Philip Hammond told a business audience at the World Economic Forum in Davos that a no-deal Brexit would be a betrayal of the promises that were made to voters in the 2016 referendum. In one of the starkest business warnings to date, Airbus chief executive Tom Enders branded the Governments handling of EU withdrawal a disgrace and said the company could pull out of the UK if Brexit undermines its ability to compete. Mr Enders said the UKs multibillion-pound aerospace sector is standing at a precipice. He said: Brexit is threatening to destroy a century of development based on education, research and human capital. Expand Close Airbus chief executive Tom Enders issued a stark warning on Brexit in a video message released by the company (Airbus/PA) PA Wire/PA Images / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Airbus chief executive Tom Enders issued a stark warning on Brexit in a video message released by the company (Airbus/PA) If theres a no-deal Brexit, we at Airbus will have to make potentially very harmful decisions for the UK. Airbus senior vice president Katherine Bennett later said the Government had asked the company to make clear the potential impact of a no deal. But a Downing Street spokeswoman later insisted there was no knowledge in Number 10 of any request. Mr Harrington said he was delighted Mr Enders is telling it like it is. The minister told an audience of German industrialists that crashing out without a deal would be a disaster for business, adding: I really dont believe in this idea. I am very happy to be public about it and very happy if the Prime Minister decides I am not the right person to do the business industry job. The Number 10 spokeswoman said Mrs May continued to have full confidence in Mr Harrington, adding: The Prime Minister expects ministers to be focused on getting the Governments deal through. Expand Close (PA Graphics) Press Association Images / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp (PA Graphics) Addressing a CBI lunch in Davos, Switzerland, Mr Hammond said the only credible and sustainable solution for the Government is to deliver EU withdrawal in a way which protects the economy. The Chancellor said: In the 2016 referendum a promise was made to the majority who voted for Brexit that they were voting for a more prosperous future. Not leaving would be seen as a betrayal of that referendum decision. But leaving without a deal would undermine our future prosperity, and would equally represent a betrayal of the promises that were made. Emerging from Downing Street after talks with Mrs May, TUC general secretary Frances OGrady said she had not received the guarantees unions are seeking on jobs and workers rights. The Prime Minister should do the right thing and take no-deal off the table so that genuine dialogue can take place, said the TUC boss. Mrs May should stop listening to the bad boys at the back of the class who play down the risks of departure without agreement, she said. Expand Close The TUCs Frances OGrady said Theresa May should stop listening to the bad boys on Brexit (Stefan Rousseau/PA) PA Wire/PA Images / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp The TUCs Frances OGrady said Theresa May should stop listening to the bad boys on Brexit (Stefan Rousseau/PA) The PM invited a string of union leaders to Number 10 as part of her bid to get widespread political backing for a Brexit plan that could command a majority in the Commons after her deal was overwhelmingly rejected by MPs last week. Unite leader Len McCluskey said he told her companies are putting investment on hold because of uncertainty over the outcome. Urging Mrs May to extend Article 50 by three months, Mr McCluskey said: I cannot conceive any prime minister taking us out of Europe with a no-deal. It would be catastrophic. Unisons Dave Prentis said a no-deal Brexit must be avoided at all costs, while GMB general secretary Tim Roache said: We cant carry on like this. As this crisis worsens, pretending nothing has changed is simply not good enough. Expand Close (PA Graphics) Press Association Images / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp (PA Graphics) With 64 days to go until the scheduled date of Britains EU withdrawal on March 29, House of Commons Brexit Committee chairman Hilary Benn warned of a slow haemorrhage of business from the UK. The Airbus comments came after P&Os reflagging of its fleet of ships to Cyprus and Sonys announcement it is moving its European HQ to the Netherlands, said Mr Benn. When is the Government going to make its own announcement that under no circumstances it will allow the UK to leave without a deal so we can stop this slow and damaging haemorrhage? he asked. Brexit Minister Chris Heaton-Harris said: It does beg the reply that why on earth is he not then backing the deal that delivers the certainty all of those businesses he named have asked for? I think he needs to look at the deal once again, to deliver the certainty that businesses across the UK require. The developments came as Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn hinted his party might back a parliamentary bid by former minister Yvette Cooper to extend Article 50 unless a deal is reached by the end of February. While insisting Labour would not decide whether to back the move until closer to a Commons vote next Tuesday, Mr Corbyn said he had met with Ms Cooper and her plan had a lot of merit. Expand Close Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn met police during a visit to Wolverton, Milton Keynes (Aaron Chown/PA) PA Wire/PA Images / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn met police during a visit to Wolverton, Milton Keynes (Aaron Chown/PA) Supporters of a second EU referendum pulled a proposed parliamentary amendment to trigger a so-called Peoples Vote, saying it could not win the support of the Commons without the unequivocal backing of the Labour leadership. Labours Luciana Berger, said it is time for Mr Corbyn to throw his partys weight behind the campaign for a public vote. The clock is ticking and at this late stage, we appeal to Jeremy Corbyn to do the right thing by the majority of our voters, supporters and members and back a Peoples Vote, she said. The time for action is now. One of the amendments Tory backers, chair of the influential Commons Liaison Committee Sarah Wollaston, said she expects Mr Corbyn eventually to offer his backing to a Peoples Vote. But she added: Unfortunately we are rolling ever closer to the edge of a cliff. The time for constructive ambiguity is over. Liberal Democrats tabled their own amendment calling for a second referendum with the option to Remain in the EU on the ballot paper. Meanwhile, former prime minister Tony Blair said he now believes the chances of a second referendum are greater than 50%. The Princes Trust announced it was not accepting new donations from Huawei (Chris Jackson/PA) The Princes Trust has announced it will no longer accept donations from Huawei amid mounting security concerns about the Chinese firms technology. The charity, founded by Prince Charles in 1976 to help vulnerable young people, said it had made the decision in light of public concerns. In a statement, the Princes Trust said: At present, we are not accepting new donations from Huawei in light of public concerns. Future donations will continue to be reviewed by our Ethical Fundraising Committee. (Huawei) will remain a patron until all current commitments have been deliveredPrince's Trust Since 2007, the Princes Trust has received 490,000 in donations from Huawei, the charity confirmed. The company, which supported the Princes Trusts Winter Concert for the ninth year in 2018, was made a patron in 2016. They will remain a patron until all current commitments have been delivered and this is reflective of the support they have provided to help young people, the charity added. In response, Huawei said it regretted the charitys decision. Expand Close (Steve Parsons/PA) PA Wire/PA Images / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp (Steve Parsons/PA) We were disappointed to hear this news from the trust, as we have the greatest respect for the excellent work it does with young people, a Huawei spokeswoman said. We are proud of our 10-year partnership and of course hope we can work together again in the future. We regret that decisions of this sort are being taken as a result of ill-informed and unfounded discourse about Huawei. The move comes a week after Oxford University became the first notable UK institution to pull the plug on funding from the worlds second biggest smartphone maker. Existing research contracts already received or committed with Huawei will go ahead, but the university will not pursue new funding opportunities with the company. Huaweis latest setback follows comments by Defence Secretary Gavin Williamson, who previously raised very deep concerns about the Chinese companys involvement in the UKs rollout of 5G. In December, the head of MI6, Alex Younger, said the UK would have to make some decisions about such firms after other governments had taken steps to block Huawei. Huawei was founded by Ren Zhengfei, a former officer in the Peoples Liberation Army, leading to questions about possible improper links to the Chinese state, something Huawei has always denied. Mr Zhengfei carried out a rare interview earlier this week in which he was quoted as saying he had never been asked to share improper information. Police have released video footage of a despicable attack on two officers which resulted in one of them being fly-kicked in the head. The Met said the two police constables had stopped a vehicle in Kingswood Road, Merton, south-west London when the three occupants ran off. It said the PCs managed to detain Martin Payne before Kursan Euell and another person returned and attacked them. Body-worn camera footage shows the officers managing to get one of the men to the ground when he calls for the others not to leave him. It then shows another attacker running towards a female officer before appearing to leap. She then falls to the ground with a cry of pain. The force said the officer was left with head injuries and narrowly missed being hit by a double-decker bus while her colleague was left with cuts and both needed hospital treatment. Expand Close Martin Payne, 20, of South Croydon, pleaded guilty to one count of actual bodily harm (Metropolitan Police/PA) Press Association Images / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Martin Payne, 20, of South Croydon, pleaded guilty to one count of actual bodily harm (Metropolitan Police/PA) Payne admitted one count of actual bodily harm at Kingston Crown Court on Friday, December 14. The 20-year-old of Brighton Road, South Croydon, also admitted driving without insurance and driving other than in accordance with a licence. Euell, 20 of Penerley Road, Catford, admitted two counts of actual bodily harm. Payne was jailed for two years and nine months and Euell for three-and-a-half years at the same court on Monday, for the attack which took place in November last year. Expand Close Kursan Euell, 20, of Catford, pleaded guilty to two counts of actual bodily harm (Metropolitan Police/PA) Press Association Images / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Kursan Euell, 20, of Catford, pleaded guilty to two counts of actual bodily harm (Metropolitan Police/PA) In a joint statement Chief Superintendent Colin Wingrove, commander for roads and transport policing, and Chief Superintendent Sally Benatar, south west commander said the jail terms showed how seriously the courts take assaults on police officers. They added: Anyone who thinks it is acceptable to attack an officer should expect to face the consequences of their actions. Chief Supt @MPSRTPC "Whilst police officers are rightly expected to handle difficult & hostile situations on a regular basis, we do not accept that assaults are part of the job, and we feel that our officers deserve the protection of the law in order to do their jobs effectively" pic.twitter.com/G7ogCmYwfo Metropolitan Police (@metpoliceuk) January 24, 2019 The impact of this despicable assault has been considerable, not only on the two officers involved but on their families, friends and colleagues. Whilst police officers are rightly expected to handle difficult and hostile situations on a regular basis, we do not accept that assaults are part of the job, and we feel that our officers deserve the protection of the law in order to do their jobs effectively. Theresa May was holding a series of face-to-face meetings with union leaders in Downing Street (Aaron Chown/PA) Prime Minister Theresa May was accused of failing to guarantee jobs and workers rights when the UK leaves the EU after she held a series of face-to-face meetings with union leaders in Downing Street. Theresa May was urged to delay Brexit until the summer, take a no-deal off the table and tackle the genuine concerns of workers over their jobs and rights. The rare meetings lasted over four hours, giving union leaders the chance to lay out their priorities on behalf of millions of workers. TUC general secretary Frances OGrady said she did not receive the guarantees she was seeking. Expand Close Frances OGrady said she was looking for guarantees on workers rights (Stefan Rousseau/PA) PA Wire/PA Images / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Frances OGrady said she was looking for guarantees on workers rights (Stefan Rousseau/PA) Workers are worried about their jobs and need reassurance about their future after the UK leaves the EU, she said. The Prime Minister should do the right thing and take a no-deal off the table so that genuine dialogue can take place, she said. Ms OGrady added: I was looking for guarantees on workers rights now and into the future. We have a Prime Minister on a temporary contract, she cannot bind the hands of a future prime minister. People wanting her job are on record as saying Brexit is an opportunity to reduce workers rights. The Prime Minister should stop listening to the bad boys at the back of the class. More time is needed for genuine talks. Len McCluskey, general secretary of Unite, said he hoped his first ever meeting with Theresa May was not a PR stunt. Expand Close Len McCluskey urged the Prime Minister to extend Article 50 (Stefan Rousseau/PA) PA Wire/PA Images / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Len McCluskey urged the Prime Minister to extend Article 50 (Stefan Rousseau/PA) He stressed that a no-deal Brexit would be disastrous and urged the Prime Minister to extend Article 50 beyond March 29 for three months. Mr McCluskey said Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn was right to refuse to meet the Prime Minister unless she ruled out a no-deal Brexit. The Unite leader said companies were now putting investment decisions on hold because of the ongoing uncertainty. He added: I cannot conceive any prime minister taking us out of Europe with a no-deal, it would be catastrophic. Dave Prentis, general secretary of Unison, said: A no-deal Brexit must be avoided at all costs, and the Prime Minister needs to rule this out immediately. Expand Close Dave Prentis, right, arriving for talks with the Government over Brexit (Stefan Rousseau/PA) / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Dave Prentis, right, arriving for talks with the Government over Brexit (Stefan Rousseau/PA) Crashing out of Europe would be catastrophic for the economy, public services and everyone who works in our schools, hospitals, town halls and police forces. However people voted in June 2016, no-one especially those who are just about managing was choosing to be worse off. With precious little time on the clock, an extension of Article 50 is essential to bring the country back from the brink and the calamity of a no-deal. Expand Close Tim Roache of the GMB at 10 Downing Street (Stefan Rousseau/PA) PA Wire/PA Images / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Tim Roache of the GMB at 10 Downing Street (Stefan Rousseau/PA) Tim Roache, general secretary of the GMB, said: Im afraid to say the Prime Minister failed to give us the guarantees we need over protecting jobs and rights at work. The concerns from members and their employers are mounting by the day as the clock runs down, and yet the Prime Minister is still refusing to take her threat of no deal off the table. As this crisis worsens, pretending nothing has changed is simply not good enough. Nicola Sturgeon leaving Downing Street after accusing the PM of running scared of a second Scottish independence vote (Stefan Rousseau/PA) People in Scotland have the right to consider independence as an alternative to Prime Minister Theresa Mays worsening Brexit crisis, a senior member of Nicola Sturgeons Cabinet has said. Mike Russell, the Scottish Constitutional Relations Secretary, added that, while everybody will have an opinion on the timing of another Scottish referendum, he trusts the First Minister on the issue. He spoke out after the SNP leader accused Mrs May of running scared of a second vote on independence. Speaking after talks with the PM in Downing Street on Wednesday, Ms Sturgeon said: I think the Prime Minister fears that she would lose another Scottish independence referendum so shes running scared of the verdict of the people. Its probably the reason she doesnt want another EU referendum, because she thinks she might lose that. People that are confident in their arguments dont run away from the verdict of the people. Expand Close Constitutional Relations Secretary Mike Russell (Jane Barlow/PA) PA Archive/PA Images / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Constitutional Relations Secretary Mike Russell (Jane Barlow/PA) But Mrs May insisted it is the SNP that is out of touch with the people of Scotland, who she said do not want another divisive Scottish independence referendum. The two leaders clashed at the same time as Ms Sturgeon faced growing calls within her own party to call for a fresh vote on Scotlands future place within the UK. Former first minister Alex Salmond has argued that there is not likely to be a better time to force the issue following the PMs Brexit deal defeat. Similarly, SNP Western Isles MP Angus MacNeil has argued that it is time for calls for a fresh independence vote to come to fore, urging Ms Sturgeon to prioritise this over demands for a second European referendum. However, SNP MEP Alyn Smith said supporters of holding another independence vote in the near future should cacanny as uncertainty over what will happen with Brexit means practical questions over independence remain unanswered. Mr Russell told BBC Radio Scotlands Good Morning Scotland programme that everybody will have an opinion about the timing of a possible second referendum. He added: There are clearly many interests to be taken into account and I absolutely trust the First Ministers judgment on these things. Ms Sturgeon has already pledged to set out her views on this in a matter of weeks. But with the UK facing a Brexit crisis which he said was getting considerably worse, Mr Russell said Scots should look to ourselves and our own future. He stated: It is absolutely the right moment to say that these are very, very serious concerns we are facing and the people of Scotland have the right to say Do we have to go through this? It is something that we did not vote for. That is the truth at the heart of this. Scotland did not vote for Brexit, weve spent two-and-a-half years trying to negotiate the best possible outcome of this, compromising all the way, and we are incredibly within weeks of the supposed end date without anything firm in place. Now the people of Scotland have the right to say That is unacceptable, that is damaging and we must look to ourselves and our own future. Expand Close Prime Minister Theresa May (House of Commons/PA) PA Wire/PA Images / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Prime Minister Theresa May (House of Commons/PA) Following Wednesdays meeting between the First Minister and Mrs May, Downing Street revealed that both Ms Sturgeon and her Welsh counterpart, Carwyn Jones, had been invited to sit on a new Cabinet sub-committee which will work on preparations for the UKs exit from the EU, spanning both deal and no-deal outcomes But Mr Russell said he had previously found promises of more involvement and consultation from the UK Government to be hollow. Efforts to swiftly extradite fugitive Jack Shepherd are under way after he finally handed himself in to police in Georgia. The 31-year-old surrendered at a police station in the nations capital of Tbilisi on Wednesday six months after he was convicted of killing 24-year-old Charlotte Brown during a speedboat date on the Thames. The web designer was found guilty of manslaughter by gross negligence and sentenced to six years in prison in his absence, although he was controversially granted leave to appeal in December. Ms Browns family said they were overwhelmed with emotion after it emerged that Shepherd had surrendered and her father said it was time for him to atone for his actions. On Wednesday night the Crown Prosecution Service was preparing an extradition request to be lodged with Georgian legal authorities. Home Secretary Sajid Javid said it is vital Charlotte Browns family see justice done and UK law enforcement will seek to swiftly extradite him to Britain. Expand Close Charlotte Browns father Graham Brown (left) sister Katie (2nd left) and mother Roz Wickens (right) (Yui Mok/PA) PA Wire/PA Images / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Charlotte Browns father Graham Brown (left) sister Katie (2nd left) and mother Roz Wickens (right) (Yui Mok/PA) Scotland Yard, the force leading the investigation, said officers had been updated by the National Crime Agency on the development and are awaiting confirmation of Shepherds identity. The Metropolitan Police added that once identity was secured extradition proceedings will begin immediately against Shepherd, originally from Exeter, who was the subject of an international arrest warrant. Under Georgian law, prosecutors are required to apply for restriction measures for a person wanted in another country within 48 hours of them being arrested. Depending on what evidence they show us ... it might be very soon or it might be several monthsTariel Kakabadze, Jack Shepherd's Georgian lawyer Speaking to the Press Association, Shepherds lawyer, Tariel Kakabadze, said he may go before a court in Tbilisi on Thursday or Friday, but suggested it may be some time before he returns to the UK. Extradition doesnt happen in one or two days. All the documents will need to be translated, many things will need to be made ready, he said. Depending on what evidence they show us it might be very soon or it might be several months. Ms Browns family had reiterated their calls for the 31-year-old to hand himself in after he fled justice ahead of his trial at the Old Bailey. Expand Close Jack Shepherd speaks to the media at the police station in Tbilisi , Georgia (Rustavi2/AP AP / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Jack Shepherd speaks to the media at the police station in Tbilisi , Georgia (Rustavi2/AP On Wednesday a heavily-bearded Shepherd smiled as he walked into the station some 2,000 miles away while flanked by lawyers. He vowed to local reporters he would clear his name over the tragic accident. Ms Browns father, Graham Brown, celebrated the overwhelming development, writing on Facebook: Justice for Charlotte is close! My opinions towards Jack Shepherd is that hes a very crass, reckless man, who managed to abscond and stick two fingers up at the judiciary, Mr Brown told BBC Radio 5 Live. Hes got to come back to atone for all that and I think that hes done the right thing and thank goodness hes realised that now and handed himself in. Ms Brown, from Clacton-on-Sea, Essex, died in December 2015 when Shepherds boat flipped into the wintry waters of the River Thames in London after they shared a Champagne-fuelled first date. Expand Close Charlotte Brown died during a speedboat date on the Thames(Metropolitan Police/PA) Press Association Images / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Charlotte Brown died during a speedboat date on the Thames(Metropolitan Police/PA) The family of Ms Brown, known to loved ones as Charli, ramped up pressure in recent weeks and renewed their calls for Shepherd to surrender after they met with Home Secretary Sajid Javid on Tuesday. A day later Shepherd wearing a long coat, jeans and a checked scarf waved and smiled as he walked into the station from a black car, footage on Georgian television station Rustavi2 showed. Speaking to journalists, he said: Yes, my name is Jack Shepherd. I was involved in a tragic accident in which a lady called Charlotte Brown tragically died. Billed by the network as an exclusive interview, Shepherd added he hopes justice will be done with his pending appeal against the conviction. He continued to say he hopes I can just, before pausing to correct himself and add, everybody can move forward with their lives. The familys MP, James Brokenshire, said Shepherds wanton and selfish actions had heaped further strain on the family at a time of unimaginable grief. While Shepherd was on the run, his lawyers have been working to appeal against the conviction. Shepherds UK solicitor Richard Egan said: In the light of todays developments I dont think it would be appropriate to comment further until Mr Shepherd is back in the jurisdiction. Work and Pensions Secretary Amber Rudd has warned against no deal (Stefan Rousseau/PA) Pressure has mounted on the Prime Minister to rule out a no-deal Brexit after Amber Rudd repeatedly refused to say if she would resign from Government to stop the UK crashing out of the EU without an agreement. The Work and Pensions Secretary said she was going to wait and see if Theresa May allows a free vote on a series of amendments to her Brexit Plan B on Tuesday. During an interview on BBC Twos Newsnight, Ms Rudd, a Remain supporter, was asked three times whether she would quit the Cabinet to back a bid by Labours Yvette Cooper to extend Article 50 unless a deal is reached by the end of February, and she refused to rule it out. Expand Close Amber Rudd said a no-deal Brexit would be the worst possible outcome (PA) PA Wire/PA Images / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Amber Rudd said a no-deal Brexit would be the worst possible outcome (PA) She said: At this stage Im going to stick to trying to persuade the Government to allow it to be a free vote. There is a lot taking place and there are a lot of new amendments. Well have to wait and see. Ms Rudd told the programme she is committed to making sure we avoid no-deal, which she described as the worst possible outcome. It came after a string of union bosses visiting Downing Street for talks on Mrs Mays Plan B urged the Prime Minister to take no-deal off the table or ask for an extension of the two-year Article 50 negotiation period. Business Minister Richard Harrington declared he is happy to be sacked by the PM if she objects to him speaking out about the dangers of leaving without an agreement on March 29. Meanwhile, Chancellor Philip Hammond told a business audience at the World Economic Forum in Davos that a no-deal Brexit would be a betrayal of the promises that were made to voters in the 2016 referendum. And in one of the starkest business warnings to date, Airbus chief executive Tom Enders branded the Governments handling of EU withdrawal a disgrace and said the company could pull out of the UK if Brexit undermines its ability to compete. Mr Enders said the UKs multibillion-pound aerospace sector is standing at a precipice. He said: Brexit is threatening to destroy a century of development based on education, research and human capital. If theres a no-deal Brexit, we at Airbus will have to make potentially very harmful decisions for the UK. If theres a no-deal Brexit, we at Airbus will have to make potentially very harmful decisions for the UK. Airbus senior vice-president Katherine Bennett later said the Government had asked the company to make clear the potential impact of a no-deal. But a Downing Street spokeswoman insisted there is no knowledge in Number 10 of any request. Mr Harrington said he was delighted Mr Enders is telling it like it is on Brexit. The minister told an audience of German industrialists that crashing out without a deal would be a disaster for business, adding: I really dont believe in this idea. I am very happy to be public about it and very happy if the Prime Minister decides I am not the right person to do the business industry job. The Number 10 spokeswoman said Mrs May continues to have full confidence in Mr Harrington, adding: The Prime Minister expects ministers to be focused on getting the Governments deal through. Addressing a CBI lunch in Davos, Switzerland, Mr Hammond said the only credible and sustainable solution for the Government is to deliver EU withdrawal in a way which protects the economy. Expand Close The TUCs Frances OGrady said Theresa May should stop listening to the bad boys on Brexit (Stefan Rousseau/PA) PA Wire/PA Images / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp The TUCs Frances OGrady said Theresa May should stop listening to the bad boys on Brexit (Stefan Rousseau/PA) The Chancellor said: In the 2016 referendum a promise was made to the majority who voted for Brexit that they were voting for a more prosperous future. Not leaving would be seen as a betrayal of that referendum decision. But leaving without a deal would undermine our future prosperity, and would equally represent a betrayal of the promises that were made. Emerging from Downing Street after talks with Mrs May, TUC general secretary Frances OGrady said she had not received the guarantees unions are seeking on jobs and workers rights. The Prime Minister should do the right thing and take no-deal off the table so that genuine dialogue can take place, said the TUC boss. Mrs May should stop listening to the bad boys at the back of the class who play down the risks of departure without agreement, she said. Expand Close (PA Graphics) Press Association Images / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp (PA Graphics) The PM invited a string of union leaders to Number 10 as part of her bid to get widespread political backing for a Brexit plan that could command a majority in the Commons after her deal was overwhelmingly rejected by MPs last week. Unite leader Len McCluskey said he told her companies are putting investment on hold because of uncertainty over the outcome. Urging Mrs May to extend Article 50 by three months, Mr McCluskey said: I cannot conceive any prime minister taking us out of Europe with a no-deal. It would be catastrophic. Unisons Dave Prentis said a no-deal Brexit must be avoided at all costs, while GMB general secretary Tim Roache said: We cant carry on like this. As this crisis worsens, pretending nothing has changed is simply not good enough. Alex Salmond has been arrested by Police Scotland (Jane Barlow/PA) Former Scottish first minister Alex Salmond has been arrested and charged by police. No further details of the charge against the 64-year-old have been released. A Police Scotland spokeswoman said: We can confirm that a 64-year-old man has been arrested and charged, and a report will be sent to the procurator fiscal. Proceedings are now live under the contempt of court act. Mr Salmond, from Linlithgow, West Lothian, was Scotlands first minister from 2007 to 2014. He resigned his membership of the SNP in August 2018. Mr Salmond guided the party to a narrow Scottish election win in 2007 and then led a minority government as he became Scotlands first SNP First Minister. In the 2011 election, he led the party to an unprecedented victory with a majority win, meaning the SNPs manifesto pledge to hold an independence referendum could be delivered. But the result of the 2014 referendum a 55% to 45% vote to stay in the UK led to him stepping down as first minister and SNP leader. The head of Airbus has torn into the Governments handling of Brexit, branding it a disgrace and warning that the company could pull out of the UK if its ability to compete on the global stage is harmed by a no-deal departure. Tom Enders, chief executive of the aerospace giant, said a no-deal Brexit could force Airbus, which employs more than 14,000 people in the UK with around 110,000 more jobs connected in supply chains, to make potentially very harmful decisions about its UK operations. Urging Britons not to listen to Brexiteers madness that the company was too established in the UK to leave, the business leader warned there are plenty of countries that would love to build its plane parts. In a global economy the UK no longer has the capability to go it alone. Major aerospace projects are multinational affairs, Mr Enders said in a video message. It is a disgrace that, more than two years after the result of the 2016 referendum, businesses are still unable to plan properly for the future. We, along with many of our peers, have repeatedly called for clarity, but we still have no idea what is really going on here. Brexit is threatening to destroy a century of development based on education, research and human capital.Tom Enders Chancellor Philip Hammond is preparing to tell leaders at the World Economic Forum in Davos on Thursday that post-Brexit Britain will still be a great place to do business. And Prime Minister Theresa Mays official spokesman said: Airbus said in their statement that the delivery of a pragmatic Withdrawal Agreement that allows for an orderly Brexit is best for Britain. That is exactly why the Prime Minister has been working so hard to deliver a deal that gives businesses certainty, with an implementation period and an orderly exit. However, Mr Enders said Britains multibillion-pound aerospace sector, a world-leader for a century, is standing at a precipice. Brexit is threatening to destroy a century of development based on education, research and human capital, he said. Expand Close Former PM David Cameron (left ) and Tom Enders chat at the 2014 Farnborough Airshow in Hampshire (Andrew Matthews/PA) PA Archive/PA Images / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Former PM David Cameron (left ) and Tom Enders chat at the 2014 Farnborough Airshow in Hampshire (Andrew Matthews/PA) If theres a no-deal Brexit, we at Airbus will have to make potentially very harmful decisions for the UK. Airbuss UK operations generate around 6 billion of turnover annually, making it the countrys largest aerospace company. At its 25 sites it builds components for a broad spectrum of products from planes to helicopters and satellites. According to its website, the company employs 14,000 people in the UK and has trained more than 4,000 apprentices in the last 10 years. It spends in excess of 5 billion per year with UK suppliers, such as Rolls-Royce, and is the biggest supplier of large aircraft to the Royal Air Force. At its largest site in Broughton, North Wales, its 6,000 employees assemble wings for Airbus commercial aircraft. Over the last 10 years it has invested more than 2 billion into the site. Filton, a town north of Bristol, houses Airbus UKs second largest UK factory with 3,000 employees. It is also responsible for wing assembly but houses teams working on aerodynamics research. Expand Close An employee at Airbus in Broughton works on the wings for the A380 plane (Peter Byrne/PA) PA Archive/PA Images / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp An employee at Airbus in Broughton works on the wings for the A380 plane (Peter Byrne/PA) Please dont listen to the Brexiteers madness which asserts that because we have huge plants here we will not move and we will always be here. They are wrong, Mr Enders said. Of course it is not possible to pick up and move our large UK factories to other parts of the world immediately. However, aerospace is a long-term business and we could be forced to redirect future investments in the event of a no-deal Brexit. And, make no mistake, there are plenty of countries out there who would love to build the wings for Airbus aircraft. The chief executive of aerospace trade body ADS, Paul Everitt, told BBC Radio 4s Today programme that Mr Enderss message was being repeated consistently by the overwhelming majority of businesses in our sector and others up and down the country. Mr Everitt warned: The introduction of any kind of customs activity or delays at the borders fundamentally undermines our competitiveness and adds cost. Added to that, we all operate in a consistent regulatory environment. Significant changes or differences in that regulatory environment drive cost and disruption through our businesses. Airbuss facilities in Broughton and Filton were a core part of our industry and what has been driving growth in our industry consistently over the last couple of decades, helping make the UK aerospace sector the largest in Europe, he said. Its not a question that Tom and Airbus are going to pull up their plant next week, but the reality is that future investment in that plant depends on us being globally competitive, said Mr Everitt. When you introduce a new product, there are a list of countries out there who are actively bidding for that work. Our issues and concerns are that cost implications in the short term will drive the long-term conditions that will undermine our competitiveness. Expand Close Airbus workers work on a wing for an Airbus A400M at the aerospace facility in Filton, Bristol (Ben Birchall/PA) PA Archive/PA Images / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Airbus workers work on a wing for an Airbus A400M at the aerospace facility in Filton, Bristol (Ben Birchall/PA) Jeremy Corbyn said problems for firms made it important to have a close post-Brexit relationship with the EU. Airbus said as much to me 18 months ago when I had some discussions with them and with many other companies, the Labour leader said. They said unless they could be guaranteed ease of supply, particularly supply chains and the ability to move goods and equipment around very, very quickly, then they would obviously have to think again about being in this country. That is why we made very, very clear that a customs union and market access are absolutely crucial to our future relationship with Europe. Unite union assistant general secretary Steve Turner said: No-deal Brexit fantasists should pay heed to this strongest warning yet from Airbus, a powerhouse of UK manufacturing and a central support to local and regional economies across the UK. The consequences of a no-deal Brexit on the future of the UKs world leading aerospace sector, its integrated supply chain and wider manufacturing would be catastrophic. Labour MP Owen Smith, a supporter of the Best for Britain campaign for a second referendum, said: The damage caused by Brexit wont fly with big businesses like Airbus, and certainly wont fly with the British people. Jobs and livelihoods are at risk. If companies like Airbus, or GE Aviation in my own patch, disinvest in Britain as a consequence of our leaving the EU, the Brexiteers in Parliament should never be forgiven. Leave-backing former Brexit minister David Jones told BBC Radio 4s Today programme: Tom Enders has made threats such as this for some time, but he knows that a large proportion of his very loyal workforce at Broughton actually voted to leave the EU. He is in a unique position to exert influence not only on the UK Government but also on the EU. I very much hope that people in Brussels will be listening to what he says just as closely as I have no doubt the British Government is doing. Mr Jones, whose Clwyd West constituency is near to Airbuss Broughton facility, said that aircraft components were free of tariffs, and that any problems it might experience with border checks can be overcome. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan voiced solidarity with Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro after the U.S. recognized opposition-controlled National Assembly's President Juan Guaido as interim president. "Our president called and extended Turkeys support to Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and said My brother Maduro! Stand tall, we stand by you!," Turkish presidential spokesman Ibrahim Kaln's wrote on Twitter. Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido declared himself interim president on Wednesday, winning the backing of Washington and many Latin American nations and prompting socialist Maduro, who has led the oil-rich nation since 2013, to break relations with the United States, the Tribune reported. Major regional players Brazil, Colombia, Chile, Peru and Argentina all gave their backing to Guaidos self-proclamation as acting president, which he made in front of crowd of tens of thousands of supporters in the capital Caracas. Cuba, however, sprang to the defence of its socialist ally, expressing solidarity with Maduro while Mexico extended lukewarm support to him. Traffic passes close to the border between Northern Ireland and Republic of Ireland just outside Newry Co. Down (Liam McBurney/PA Wire) Revenue has denied it is involved in refurbishing former border posts between Northern Ireland and Ireland, an Irish parliamentary committee has heard. Revenue Commissioners chairman Niall Cody said the state body was not planning for border checks after the UK leaves the European Union. But he refused to rule out the Revenue being part of the border checks in the future. Mr Cody appeared before the finance committee to update TDs and Senators on Brexit preparedness. Committee member Sinn Fein TD Pearse Doherty questioned Mr Cody about former customs facilities. Expand Close Sinn Fein TD Pearse Doherty (Niall Carson/PA) PA Archive/PA Images / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Sinn Fein TD Pearse Doherty (Niall Carson/PA) Mr Doherty said there was a lot of suspicion in his native Donegal over significant works that he said had been carried out in recent months at the three former customs posts of Bridgend, Lifford and Pettigo-Belleek along the border. Pressed over the Revenues involvement, Mr Cody said he was not aware of any works being carried out. I can tell you and your constituents we are not involved in the cleaning up of any facilities for border posts, Mr Cody said. He added: I can assure you because weve been involved heavily in work on the infrastructural arrangements, the physical infrastructure, that are needed in the ports and they are significant. They will involve expenditure..[and] we dont have the facility to have secret funds and secret expenditure. Asked to give assurances that the Revenue would not be participating in border checks regardless of the outcome of negotiations between the UK and the EU, Mr Cody replied: I couldnt come in here and rule out something forever. Its not in my authority. In the event of a no deal, he said the UK would be considered a third-country customs wise and that the state body would assist the Irish government in any way it could with preparations. He said: We are not planning for border posts, but what the government have indicated is that in event of no-deal there will be, I think the phrase that was used [was] difficult conversations with the EU Commission to work out how the north-south process would work while protecting the integrity of the single market and union customs code. Asked by Solidarity-People Before Profit TD Paul Murphy to clarify the Revenues stance in a no-deal scenario, Mr Cody said the Revenues legal obligation would be to implement the EU customs code. He added: Thats what we will have to do, thats what we will do. How its implemented becomes an issue for the national authority. Well have to be able to show were implementing the union customs code and meeting our obligations of the single market. He told the committee that the Revenue was planning for customs checks to be carried out on business premises rather than at the border. Revenues overarching approach is to carry out the required customs controls through a risk based programme of post clearance checks and customs audits which, to the greatest extent possible, will take place at traders premises, away from the point of importation, he said. He told the committee that Brexiteers were wrong if they thought there would not be changes to cross-border trade after March 29. The implications of Brexit itself will lead to significant change in how trade is conducted. The Brexiteers are not right, there will be significant change, he said. He added that businesses would incur significant costs as a result of the changes. It is estimated about 85,000 businesses are engaged in trade with the UK. The Revenue has predicted that post-Brexit, import and export declarations could increase to as many as 20 million per annum. Mr Cody also told TDs and senators that the agency is on track to have over 400 additional staff in place by the end of March to deal with the fallout of Brexit. In preparation for a no-deal Brexit, we have accelerated and expanded our recruitment and training schedules to meet the end of March deadline, he said. He added that the Revenue was working with the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine and others to co-ordinate activities, for optimal trade facilitation at Irelands ports. As well as additional recruitment and plans for the ports and airports Mr Cody said the Revenues IT infrastructure had been scaled up to handle an increase in the number of customs transactions and he was now confident it could withstand a no-deal scenario. The Irish Government is making contingency plans in case of a no-deal Brexit (PA) The Irish Government has published draft legislation for its no-deal Brexit contingency plans. The proposed law is set to be introduced into Parliament ahead of the March 29 deadline for the withdrawal of the UK from the EU. The omnibus Bill, known as the Miscellaneous Provisions (Withdrawal of the United Kingdom from the European Union on 29 March 2019) Bill, is made up of 17 parts and was prepared by nine ministers. The 95-page document is part of the Governments action plan in the event of a no-deal scenario. This is vital in the context of the Good Friday Agreement and the Northern Ireland Peace Process, as well as broader UK-Ireland relations.Department of Foreign Affairs In a statement, the Department of Foreign Affairs said that while the ratification of the Withdrawal Agreement is still the Governments preferred outcome, the publication of the draft Bill is the next step in a series of measures being taken in preparation for the possibility of no-deal. The proposed laws cover a wide range of areas including citizens rights, healthcare, transport, education and energy. Protecting and maintaining the Common Travel Area and the associated rights and privileges it affords is a key part of the Governments plans. This is vital in the context of the Good Friday Agreement and the Northern Ireland Peace Process, as well as broader UK-Ireland relations, the statement read. Both the Irish and British governments have committed to maintaining the Common Travel Area in all circumstances. A number of the measures, in particular in the areas of healthcare, transport, energy and education, aim to support North-South co-operation arrangements. The department said: This co-operation brings tangible benefits to the daily lives of people in the border region and contributes to economic opportunity and development. It is also a very practical outworking of the peace process which allows for the normalisation of relationships between people across the island, to mutual benefit. Expand Close Several measures also aim to support North-South co-operation arrangements (Niall Carson/PA) PA Archive/PA Images / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Several measures also aim to support North-South co-operation arrangements (Niall Carson/PA) A spokesman for the department said the Bill focuses on areas that need to be addressed urgently and immediately through primary legislation. For example on health, the proposed legislation would allow the Health Minister and the HSE, as appropriate, to cover the cost of healthcare provided in the UK under the same conditions as currently. This means that where treatments are not provided under the Irish healthcare system or if an Irish person becomes ill while on a visit to the UK and needs immediate care, they will continue to be looked after. The Bill outlines that EU student grants will continue to be paid to those who are studying in the UK. It also states 21 social protection benefits, including pensions, illness benefits and child benefit, that have a UK element will continue to be paid. On transport, the draft laws would give a statutory basis for cross-border rail and bus services. The Bill ensures extradition arrangements between Ireland the UK are maintained post-Brexit. It also facilitates the ongoing immigration co-operation arrangements that are already in place. The proposals also aim to ensure there is protection in place for consumers who have already bought financial service products before the date of Brexit. On energy, the Bill will allow for the continued operation of the all-island single electricity market in the context of a no-deal Brexit, pending longer term provisions in this area. A Government spokesman said ministers will work closely with opposition parties to ensure necessary legislation is passed through the Oireachtas before the UK leaves the EU at the end of March. This would mean that at committee stage, the proposed legislation could be debated on the floor of the House instead of at committees to help speed up the process of the legislation becoming enacted. Pro-choice and anti-abortion campaigners outside the Royal Courts of Justice, Belfast (Brian Lawless/PA) The House of Commons Women and Equalities Committee visited Northern Ireland on Thursday to speak to campaigners on both sides of the abortion debate. The hearings, which took place in Antrim and Londonderry, heard from activists on the general view of the law and whether MPs in the House of Commons should intervene on womens reproductive health issues in the absence of a working assembly in Stormont. Over the next few days the Women&Equalities Committee will be hearing from activists, experts, medical practitioners&people directly impacted by NI's abortion law. This is part of the ongoing inquiry into abortion law in Northern Ireland. #abortionrightsNIhttps://t.co/LDQVhhli6Y pic.twitter.com/2gGRPaxgFA Alliance For Choice (@All4Choice) January 24, 2019 In Antrims Civic Centre, anti-abortion campaigners Dawn McAvoy, co-founder of Both Lives Matter, Sarah Haire from Stanton Healthcare and Marion Woods, Life NI told MPs it would be irresponsible for Westminster to overrule a devolved issue. This issue is devolved, and its a dangerous precedent to set for devolution, if Westminster would get involved in altering the law, Ms McAvoy said. I think there is this idea that Northern Ireland is The Handmaids Tale, this very religious place, this little bubble where women dont have a voice. We dont have the policies in place to cater for abortion, it would be a huge change in Northern Ireland, it would be reckless to do something without an Assembly to deal with the fall-out. Labour MP Jess Phillips asked the campaigners whether they believed women should be criminalised for having a termination. Ms Woods repeatedly went on to compare criminalisation of women having abortions to someone facing charges for disturbing a badgers set. Noting that a person hypothetically would face charges for disturbing a badgers set but not terminating life. The answer was repeated so often that Chairwoman Maria Miller MP, intervened saying: Please stop talking about badgers. Ms Woods added: There is discretion in the law, there is a process, at the end of the day, the judge doesnt have to give a jail sentence, you can give a fine. We all know that marching has very different connotations here in NI But wow! What an uplifting experience to stand with so many people saying YES to life & NO to death #MarchForLife2019 #ProtectEveryHuman #ProLifeGeneration #BothLivesMatter pic.twitter.com/gr36pbt5rC Both Lives Matter (@BothLivesMatter) January 19, 2019 The anti-abortion group noted that care in Northern Ireland for children with life limiting conditions is patchy and that women should feel empowered to choose life if they know there are appropriate services for them and their child to avail of. They added that some women felt abortion was a solution because they did not feel their child would have adequate medical care or the womens life or career could be limited by lack of childcare options and support in Northern Ireland, and that this issue should be tackled head on. In Derrys Waterside Theatre on Thursday evening, Dr Goretti Horgan, deputy director, ARK, Dr Fiona Bloomer, reproductive Health Law and Policy Advisory Group, Emma Campbell, co-chair, Alliance for Choice and Grainne Teggart, from Amnesty International UK made the case for free, safe and legal abortion. Ms Teggart argued for full decriminalisation of abortion in Northern Ireland. The current law puts womens health at risk, causes unnecessary distress, and undermines the quality of care from service-providers, she said. The practical result of the legal regime is that women who require an abortion have to travel to obtain one, or buy medical abortion pills online, which is illegal and leaves them vulnerable to prosecution. This excludes many people who are unable to travel including, victims of domestic violence, refugees with unconfirmed immigration status, those who are too young to travel alone and those with complex health needs. Travel carries stigma. In Northern Ireland, abortion is only lawful in limited circumstances, where there is a risk to a woman or girls life or the risk of real and serious long-term or permanent damage to her physical or mental health. Department of Health statistics show that just 12 abortions were carried out by the health service in Northern Ireland last year. Amnesty International say over 900 women from Northern Ireland travelled to the UK for terminations during the same period. The committee will hold a final hearing on Friday in Belfast. A picture taken of Marie with her family and grandparents just hours before the tragedy in 1999 A Co Down woman who lost her parents and sister in a devastating house fire is holding a fundraising celebration of their lives to mark the 20th anniversary of the tragedy. Model Marie Boyle's father Brian (50), mother Briege (48), and elder sister Sasha Boyle (28) died in the blaze at the family home on January 7, 1999, hours after the house had been packed with music and dancing to celebrate Marie's 21st birthday. A Christmas candle burning on top of the TV started a fire, and although Marie escaped, her loved ones perished. Now, the 41-year-old Rostrevor woman, who returned home with daughter Erin (7) three years ago after 16 years in England, is organising a fundraising concert for local charity Life and Time in their memory. Expand Close Model Marie Boyle / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Model Marie Boyle Recalling the night when her life changed for ever, Marie told the Belfast Telegraph: "It was my 21st birthday party on January 6, 1999, and that night we threw one of the best parties we had ever had. "All our family and friends turned up. There was lots of singing, dancing and laughter - everybody was saying, 'I love you'. It was really special, such a beautiful night. "Unfortunately, a decorative Christmas candle on top of the TV was left burning. "I don't know what woke me in the end. I remember standing in my room with a taste of smoke and knowing that I had to get out. "I didn't know why (but) some kind of survival instinct took over, or I was guided out. "I held my breath and climbed out the skylight window. That's when I realised the neighbours were outside shouting. They helped me slide down the roof, onto a wheelie bin. "I turned around and there was thick black smoke coming out of my bedroom window. That's when I realised that there was a house fire." Expand Close With daughter Erin / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp With daughter Erin Marie attempted to re-enter the house to help her loved ones, but she was unsuccessful. "I tried to get in the front door, but my poor neighbours were trying to hold me back," she explained. "When I opened the front door, the sitting room window blew and I knew I couldn't get in, so I called for them and I prayed. "There was a skylight in my parents' room too and the neighbours were trying to break their bedroom window, but it didn't work. "I realised they hadn't made it when they were taken out of the house by the fire brigade. "I didn't realise my sister was in the house - she hadn't been able to get a taxi home. "It was horrendous, the absolute stuff of nightmares. "It had been such a beautiful night, full of love and laughter... so to go from that to what happened is just unreal." Marie is eternally grateful to the firefighters who attended the scene of the blaze. She admitted that life had been a "bit of a blur" for some time after for her and her only remaining sibling, Shane (46), who was not living at home at the time of the fire. "I had been the baby in the house," she said. "Shane and I moved in with relatives to begin with and then Shane and I lived together. "I was modelling at that stage and moved away to England for 16 years. "At the beginning I had nightmares. I did get counselling and wonderful healing using emotional freedom techniques, which I am going to train in. "It's just the best thing ever to be back home with Shane and have my little girl, Erin, back in Rostrevor. "It's brilliant to have everybody around and all the love and support that we have had over the years." Marie is sad that Erin and Shane's children Aimee (12) and Sasha (18), who was named after her late aunt, will never meet their relatives. She has written a poem explaining how she and Shane feel on the anniversary. "Twenty years is a huge anniversary," she explained. "It feels like a lifetime since we have seen them, but it has also gone in the blink of an eye. "We miss them so much, like we did the very next morning. "Our hearts are still hurting. My heart is broken and it always will be. "Shane and I were always going to feel this tragedy for a long time and we have had to rebuild our lives. "But we have good times in life - I have a beautiful daughter, Shane has a beautiful wife and two kids and we were brought up in a fun-loving family. "It makes me sad that Erin and Shane's children don't know them, but we talk about them all the time and there are photos and video to bring them to life. "It's hard leading up to my birthday, but everybody makes sure I have a really lovely birthday and keep it separate. "Every year we have an anniversary mass and we go to the grave. "I couldn't have done it without Shane - we are extremely close. Without each other it would have been an impossible journey, but together it has made us stronger." Marie hopes that the money raised at this Saturday's concert in the clubrooms of Rostrevor GAA will be a legacy for her parents and Sasha. "We want to raise as much money as possible for Life and Time, which is a wonderful charity," she said. "Music was a big part of our upbringing, so we thought it would be a wonderful idea to celebrate their lives. "All of the musicians who are performing on Saturday knew my family. They wanted to have a proper celebration - that's what they deserve. "The last time I saw my parents and Sasha, I hugged them and told them I loved them. There was laughing and dancing all evening. There's nothing more I could have done to say goodbye." 20 Years On by Marie Boyle An occasion of joy, love and laughter. No one could've known of the tragedy after. A 21st birthday, a proud mum and dad. How could such happiness turn out so sad? No longer a beautiful family of five. Three would be taken and two would survive. A light was turned out and hearts they were broken. But of good times and great love is all can be spoken. From that very next morning to now 20 years on. Our hearts are still hurting but our love is still strong. 'While inside, Wilson stole clothing and other personal items, including an Amazon Echo audio device' (stock photo) A North Belfast man has been jailed for eight months for raiding a woman's house while she slept on the sofa. Marc Trevor Wilson, who has 20 previous convictions, pleaded guilty to a charge of burglary. Belfast Crown Court heard the 33-year-old, of Henderson Avenue, entered the woman's home on Cedar Avenue, north Belfast, on December 4, 2017. The court was told that Wilson opened the unlocked front door and went into the living room, where the female occupant was "dozing on the sofa''. While inside, Wilson stole clothing and other personal items, including an Amazon Echo audio device. Belfast Recorder Judge David McFarland described the offence as an "opportunistic burglary''. The judge said that although it was Wilson's first conviction for burglary, the defendant had a record for "acquisitive crimes'', including 19 for theft and one for handling stolen goods. The court heard that Wilson was charged earlier this week with a number of theft offences. One related to the alleged theft of clothing from the Next store on Boucher Crescent in south Belfast last October. Prosecution lawyer Kate McKay said that, following the theft from Next store, police searched Wilson's home and allegedly found the clothing "with the Next tags still on them". Affording a 30% discount for his guilty plea, Judge McFarland sentenced Wilson to 16 months - half to be spent in custody and the remaining eight months on supervised licence after his release from jail. A security alert in Ballynahinch,Co Down has been declared a hoax. Army bomb experts and police were called to the scene following the discovery of a suspicious object in the Riverview Heights area at around 8pm on Thursday. A number of homes were evacuated while the object was examined. It was later declared a hoax and the security operation ended at around 10pm. The SDLP and Fianna Fail have announced an "historic partnership" in a bid to to break the "cycle of vacuum and division" in Northern Ireland politics. SDLP leader Colum Eastwood, speaking Artola House in Belfast on Thursday, said the people of Northern Ireland had been failed by politicians since Stormont collapsed more than two years ago. Read More He said: "I hope and believe it [the partnership] marks an important contribution in finally breaking the cycle of vacuum and division which has failed our people over the last two years." The two parties had been in talks for some time and a possibility of a full merger was once on the cards. Mr Eastwood said his discussions with Fianna Fail leader Micheal Martin began as a direct result of the Brexit referendum result and the collapse of Stormont. "Our engagement since then has always been focused on how we collectively respond to the defining change which the politics of these islands are currently experiencing," he said. "As political leaders, we have thought deeply as to how best to respond and act right now- and how best we respond and act for the generations to come." The SDLP leader referenced the recent car bomb in Londonderry, saying it "underlined the fragility with which we are now living". "As we should all know by now, political vacuums never end well in Northern Ireland," he said. "It is a disgrace that our people have been asked to live with it for this long." "Faced with this deepening crisis, our challenge is to think deeper and to look longer. We understand that it will not be enough to just firefight the consequences of Brexit- to do so it too narrow a response to what is too big a moment in our history." Mr Eastwood said the two parties have agreed to work in partnership on an "unprecedented programme" of public engagement in Northern Ireland. The Foyle MLA said the parties will cooperate on building better public services, "uniting Ireland's people" and finding a way to make politics work in Northern Ireland. He said the SDLP membership with have the "final say" on the partnership, but said he was confident the partnership was right for his party and the people it serves. Fianna Fail leader Michael Martin said he was proud the two parties had agreed to work together and they "have shared much and have achieved much over the years". "So it was obvious that we should discuss ways that we might work together at this time of crisis," he added. "The focus of our discussions has, at all stages been on how to develop a new agenda for Northern Ireland and for Ireland as a whole. There is a desperate need to shift the focus away from an obsession with who holds power and onto the much more important issue of what is done with that power. The Fianna Fail leader added: "There is also overwhelming admiration for the SDLP for its bravery, vision and leadership at critical moments for the fact that in the face of dramatic odds it has remained a powerful voice for a nationalist and republican vision of our future. "It is a non-sectarian party which has proven time and again that it puts people before politics. "Its heroes are our heroes. "That is why we are very happy to agree the partnership which is being announced today." The Department of Health has published waiting time figures for December 2018. [Stock pic] The amount of people spending more than 12 hours for treatment in accident and emergency departments in Northern Ireland has increased by a third, newly published figures have revealed. Some 6,102 patients waited more than 12 hours in the three months from October to December 2019, compared to 4,572 during the same period last year, an increase of 33%. Statistics from the Department of Health show that the amount of people attending A&E in the province also increased by 2.3% last month when compared to the same month in 2017. This was 1,515 more than in the same month last year. More than six in ten (62.2%) of patients treated at Type 1 emergency departments during December were treated and discharged, or admitted within four hours of their arrival. This compares to 63% of patients in December 2017. The figure for Type 2 emergency departments was 82.% and 99.9% for Type 3 emergency departments. Government targets state that 95% of patients are to be seen within four hours of their arrival. More than one in six (17.2%) of patients attending A&E were referred by a GP. UUP health spokesman Roy Beggs MLA said that hospital waiting times in Northern Ireland would cause outrage if they occurred in the rest of the UK. With every passing month our waiting times are growing and set a new record for being the worst in history," he said. Last year doctors in England were warning that patients there were dying as a result of slightly deteriorating hospital performance times. Yet latest figures suggest that 79% of patients in England were seen within four hours. It was 89% in Scotland. I shudder to think what those same doctors would say about the fact that Northern Irelands rate fell to just 62% last month. Fortunately we had a very mild December and this winters strain of the flu is not nearly as virulent as last years. That just serves to demonstrate however, that under the surface the situation may be even worse. Time is rapidly running out for the Secretary of State. Health improvements are being delayed because of the lack of political approval by a Minister and Executive. "Unless immediate action is taken to restore a local Health Minister, or Direct Rule is introduced, I am concerned that it is only a matter of time before a dangerous crisis engulfs our local health service. There was 202,618 attendances at A&E departments during the quarter ending December 31, 2018, 2.4% more than the same quarter in 2017. The number of emergency admissions to hospital from emergency departments increased by 0.9% (113) between December 2017 (12,961) and December 2018 (13,074). The Ulster Hospital (8,216) and the Royal Victoria Hospital in Belfast (8,125) were the busiest A&E's during December 2018. The average time spent in a type 1 emergency department by patients who were discharged home was two hours and 47 minutes, three minutes longer than the same period last year. In December 2018 the average waiting time from triage to the start of treatment was 48 minutes, with 95% of patients receiving treatment within four hours and eight minutes. Snow and ice could cause problems The road has been closed. Follow the latest updates from our travel feed below The Dobbin Road in Armagh has been reopend folowing an earlier crash. Diversions are in place and traffic is being diverted onto the Vicarage Road, delays are expected. Our live updates from across Northern Ireland are compiled by @TrafficwatchNI, @BBCNITravel and @PSNITraffic. A leading hotelier has said Northern Ireland has "replaced the men of violence with the women of intransigence". Bill Wolsey said DUP leader Arlene Foster and Sinn Fein's Michelle O'Neill should begin talks to restore the power-sharing Stormont Assembly urgently. He added that "the people did not vote for them not to even sit in the same room together". Mr Wolsey is managing director of the Beannchor Group, owners of the five-star Merchant Hotel, over 40 pubs, the popular Little Wing Pizzeria chain of restaurants and the recently opened Bullitt Hotel. He told the BBC: "We have replaced the men of violence with the women of intransigence." Mr Wolsey said he didn't have a political mandate, but does have a stake in Northern Ireland's future. "I don't live in some bubble," he told the broadcaster. "We employ people from every socio-economic group there is." Responding to the comments, both Sinn Fein and the DUP blamed each other once again for the political impasse. Sinn Fein MLA Caoimhe Archibald also said there was "no place in society for sexist comments". Moscow District Military Court has sentenced 11 Central Asian nationals who are members of the ISIS terrorist organization (outlawed in Russia) to 6 to 18 years of imprisonment. The Center for Public Relations of the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) said that "the specified persons in two terrorist cells were simultaneously detained by FSB employees on November 12, 2016, in Moscow and St. Petersburg." "The terrorists, one of whom came from Syria, planned to carry out terror attacks, as well as mass murders of citizens in crowded places. They were going to capture all attacks on video for further release on Internet resources controlled by them," TASS cited the Center for Public Relations as saying. Simon Zebo has been accused of "ageism" after the Irish rugby player said someone over the age of 40 was "elderly". The winger was criticised by Ulster Unionist MLA Mike Nesbitt over his comments on Twitter. Zebo, who plays for French side Racing 92, made the remarks in an interview about the racist abuse he received from a fan at the Kingspan Stadium in Belfast during a recent European Champions Cup game against Ulster. Following a "robust investigation", Ulster banned the so-called fan for life. Ulster also apologised to Racing and the player. Zebo, who has thanked Ulster Rugby for taking action, described the person responsible as "an elderly man, like 40-plus". Mr Nesbitt then tweeted: "First and foremost Simon Zebo should not have been abused by the Ulster fan who shouted something inappropriate - but Zebo shouldn't describe him as 'an elderly man, like 40-plus'. Ageism, racism, both wrong." Speaking to the Belfast Telegraph after a barrage of criticism over the tweet, Mr Nesbitt said he was not looking to equate the two. The former Ulster Unionist Party leader said he felt Zebo was not being malicious in his comments. But he added: "I just think there was an irony in using the term 'elderly'. It's mildly inappropriate and certainly not something I would use. "Clearly people don't read things on Twitter. "I stated 'first and foremost Simon Zebo should not have been abused'. "But in no way was I trying to equate racism and ageism." Zebo told RugbyPass.com at the weekend: "There was an elderly man, like 40-plus... that's why it annoyed me. "It's water off a duck's back now for me. "I would be quite bullet-proof in terms of that. "I think if I was to say nothing and just accept it, I would not be putting up much of a fight myself," said the Cork man, who has played 35 times for Ireland. Mr Nesbitt said that as a "highly-paid role model", Zebo should have been more respectful. But he added that "there's a crucial difference" between what the fan did and what Simon Zebo said. A keen Ulster supporter, Mr Nesbitt said: "The fan set out to be deliberately abusive whereas Simon used inappropriate language, and I don't think deliberately so. "I would have thought he would have been aware of the respect values of the IRFU, especially given he was an international for Ireland. "It's not a huge thing but it's a term I would not use and I know if - when the committees were up and running at Stormont - you would have got a firm look if you had used the term instead of 'older people'. "When you say 'elderly', for me, you would be considered closer to being infirm or maybe physically incapable." He added: "That's just the impression I have formed over the years." A Lisburn man has been jailed for life after he admitted stabbing a mother to death on Christmas Day. There were emotional scenes at Craigavon Crown Court as 20-year-old Nathan Ward, dressed in a black t-shirt and grey track bottoms, was re-arraigned on all charges and pleaded guilty to the murder of Jayne Toal Reat on 25 December 2017. Her daughter Charlotte Reat, sitting just a few feet away in the public gallery, began sobbing and was comforted by friends as Ward confessed his guilt to killing her mum and trying to kill Charlotte herself. Standing seemingly impassive in the dock, flanked by prison guards Ward, with an address at Mornington Lane in Lisburn, also admitted wounding his own father Joseph Tweedie with intent to inflict grievous bodily harm arising from the same incident. Expand Close With her late mother, Jayne Photopress Belfast / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp With her late mother, Jayne Following the guilty pleas, Judge Patrick Lynch QC jailed the self-confessed killer for life and adjourning for numerous reports from a psychiatrist, probation and victim impact reports, told Ward he would fix the minimum tariff he would spend behind bars in March. Nothing of the surrounding facts have ever been heard in court but 43-Year-old nurse Jayne died in her daughters arms after an incident at the house in Mornington Lane early on 25 December. During the attack her daughter Charlotte sustained a number of knife wounds to her head, neck and face while Ward's father Joseph Tweedie also received knife wounds. Police and ambulance crews were called to the scene at Wards home on Mornington Lane in Lisburn shortly after 6am on Christmas Day. In court, as he was being lead in handcuffs to the cells to begin his life sentence, Miss Reat swore towards her mothers killer. Expand Close Nathan Ward Photopress Belfast / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Nathan Ward A car drives through heavy snowfall on the Glenshane Pass in Co. Londonderry, Northern Ireland as a band of wintry weather brought snow and a risk of ice to large parts of the UK. Motorists, cyclists and pedestrians have been urged to remain cautious after the cold snap brought ice to many parts of the country. An overnight low of minus 9C (15.8F) was recorded in Aboyne, a village on the edge of the Highlands in Aberdeenshire, while Cavendish in Suffolk was hit by temperatures of minus 5C (23F). Becky Mitchell, a Met Office meteorologist, warned that showers in predominately eastern parts of the country, as well as freezing rain in the south east, could bring treacherous travel conditions throughout Thursday. She added that cold temperatures across northern, central and eastern parts had led to a yellow weather warning for ice being put in place across large parts of the nation until 11am on Thursday. Discussing the impact that this could have, Ms Mitchell said: In these sorts of conditions, ice is normally going to form on any unattended roads, pavements and cycle paths. Wed advise motorists, pedestrians and cyclists to take extra care for much of the morning and the day. #DancingOnIce? Let's leave it to the celebrities! Wherever you're going, make sure it's not you that has a spectacular stumble this morning... ai Drive to the conditions, otherwise you might be in-store for a @officialJasonG style judging from one of our officers! a0a pic.twitter.com/ArWXtYdLqT Surrey Police (@SurreyPolice) January 24, 2019 She added that the potential for freezing rain in the south east including in north and east Greater London areas could bring instant ice, creating hazardous travel conditions. Wintry showers, including sleet and hail, are also expected in eastern parts, but Ms Mitchell said that milder temperatures are likely to arrive later on Thursday. However, colder conditions are expected to return later in the week with the potential for snow at the weekend, especially over northern and western areas, as well as heavy winds in many places. WEATHER UPDATE It is now socially acceptable to wear your duvet outside. innocent drinks (@innocent) January 24, 2019 Tricky conditions on Thursday meant that the Driving Standards Agency was forced to cancel many driving tests across the nation. Despite having a good service on most of its network, Merseyrail ran a replacement bus between Hooton and Ellesmere Port due to thick ice on the rails. South Yorkshire Police told how officers came to the aid of a 90-year-old woman, who slipped on the ice and broke her arm. Good morning everyone. A #ThankYouThursday from the daughter of a 90-year-old woman who slipped on ice and suffered a broken arm. We are #proudtoserve and appreciate you taking the time to write in. pic.twitter.com/5kTLIZvdpy South Yorkshire Police (@syptweet) January 24, 2019 The pensioners daughter penned a thank you note to the force, explaining how police carried her wounded mother back into her house. In Darlington, the High Coniscliffe CE Primary School had to close on Thursday after being left without heating and hot water as cold temperatures hit. 'Originally from Belfast, he has fought a long legal battle over his extradition in connection with the murder on the grounds he would be at risk from both loyalist and republican paramilitaries' (stock photo) A 54-year-old man suspected of a murder over 20 years ago has been remanded in custody after being extradited from the Republic on Tuesday. John Knocker was shot dead at the Glengannon Hotel in Dungannon, Co Tyrone, on May 31, 1998. Police did not name the suspect, who has an address in west Dublin. Originally from Belfast, he has fought a long legal battle over his extradition in connection with the murder on the grounds he would be at risk from both loyalist and republican paramilitaries. He was arrested on the foot of a bench warrant following a ruling by the High Court in Dublin on September 4, 2015, to extradite him to Northern Ireland for trial on charges in connection with the murder of Mr Knocker. He appeared before Dungannon Magistrates Court yesterday and was remanded in custody until February 20. Detective Chief Inspector Talbot, from the PSNI's Terrorism Investigation Unit said yesterday: "We are committed to bringing the person responsible for John's murder to justice." A 20-year-old man was jailed for life on Thursday as he was about to go on trial for the June 2017 stabbing of Syrian refugee Hazem Ahmed Ghreir. Belfast Crown Court Judge Patricia Smyth told Callon Wilson "the only sentence I can pass is life imprisonment and that's the sentence that I do pass". Judge Smyth also told the former student of no fixed abode that once she has all the relevant information in his case, she will determine "the minimum term you must serve", of his life sentence before being considered for release. In court for Wilson's guilty plea was 30-year-old Mr Chreir's brother, with whom he had shared a flat in Carrickfergus since fleeing Syria and coming to live in Northern Ireland. Judge Smyth told him that she wished "to convey my sincerest regret regarding the death of your brother and the manner in which he met his death". No details are available surrounding the actual stabbing of Mr Ghreir in Downshire Place in the Dublin Road area of the city shortly before 11pm on June 4, 2017. However, at the time police immediately ruled out racism being behind it. It is understood Wilson stabbed Mr Ghreir once in the chest when confronted by him near the fast-food company where he had worked as a delivery driver. A jury was sworn earlier this week, and had been listed for a possible start on Thursday, when defence QC Patrick Lyttle asked for Wilson to be rearraigned on the first count, that of murder. Wilson, dressed in jeans and a round-neck jumper, watched by his family and friends, including his mother, simply replied "guilty". Two other charges of possessing a knife in a public place and stealing Mr Ghreir's moble phone, were 'left on the books' on application by prosecuting QC Neil Connor. Wilson, aged 18 at the time of the stabbing, and living in sheltered accommodation in north Belfast at the time, has been remanded back into custody, with the case listed for plea and sentence at the beginning of March once probation and other social enquiry reports are completed. A man has appeared at Belfast Magistrates Court charged with controlling prostitution. (PA Archive) A man has appeared at Belfast Magistrates Court charged with controlling prostitution for gain and trafficking within the UK. The 55-year-old was assisted by a translator as two charges relating to alleged offences between 2003 and 2013 were read to the court. He is not being named to protect the identity of the alleged victim, who is his wife. A detective constable indicated that she believed she could connect the man to the charges. The defendant spoke only during the brief hearing to indicate he understood the charges. District Judge Peter King remanded the man in custody. The defendant is due to appear before Belfast Magistrates Court again via video link on February 21. The man was arrested on Monday in London by detectives from the PSNIs Modern Slavery and Human Trafficking Unit. The Flat was gutted in blaze but a man in 60s managed to escape. Credit: Presseye A man has been taken to hospital after a flat fire in Belfast. The Northern Ireland Fire and Rescue Service (NIFRS) attended the fire on Rotterdam Street in the Short Strand area of the city at 11.24am on Thursday. Two appliances from Central Fire Station and one appliance from Knock attended the incident. The fire was said to be "well-developed" in the first floor flat of the two storey block on their arrival. Expand Close The fire happened at a flat in Rotterdam Street in Belfast. Credit: Press Eye. / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp The fire happened at a flat in Rotterdam Street in Belfast. Credit: Press Eye. A man in his 60s was out of the flat prior to the arrival of firefighters. He was treated at the scene for smoke inhalation by paramedics and was taken to hospital by ambulance. A NIFRS spokesperson said: A working smoke alarm alerted the man to the fire. "This incident serves to highlight the importance of a working smoke alarm as they alert you to the earliest stage of a fire and give you vital extra time to escape. "NIFRS is reminding everyone to have a working smoke alarm on every floor of their home and to test it once a week to ensure it is working. The cause of the fire is confirmed as accidental. The incident was dealt with at 12.10pm. Harold Burke was banned from unsupervised contact with anyone under the age of 16. A man accused of sexually explicit online chats with Northern Ireland paedophile hunters posing as children must allow police to search and seize any internet devices from his accommodation, a High Court judge ordered today. Harold Burke, 59, was also banned from unsupervised contact with anyone under the age of 16. The orders formed part of terms under which Burke, of Quilly Road in Coleraine, Co Londonderry, was granted bail. But he will only be released once an approved address is found outside his hometown. Burke faces charges of attempted sexual communication with a child and inciting a person believed to be under 16 to engage in sexual activity. He is further accused of possessing 370 rounds of ammunition in suspicious circumstances. A previous court heard he was arrested after police were contacted in July last year by a group called Decoy Central. Information was supplied about his alleged online conversations with two people portraying themselves as schoolgirls. According to the prosecution, however, they were really adult volunteers acting as decoys. It was claimed they clearly portrayed themselves as being aged 13 during exchanges, making references to their parents and school libraries. The conversations were explicit and included various graphic requests from Burke, a Crown lawyer contended. Burke allegedly exchanged more than 100 messages and offered to meet one of the decoys. When police arrested the accused and carried out searches at his home ammunition was discovered in a utility room safe, the court was told previously. Defence lawyers have stressed he must still be presumed innocent. Barrister Aaron Thompson said: "He lives a fairly solitary life, he's left to plough his own furrow." At the renewed application for release from custody a series of strict conditions were set out. Lord Justice Deeny agreed to grant bail to an address to be approved by police. Prohibiting Burke from entering Coleraine or Limavady, the judge adding that officers are to be allowed to enter any property where he is residing in order to search and seize any internet-enabled device. Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said that Turkey has the capacity to create a safe zone in Syria on its own. At the same time, he stressed that Turkey does not exclude the United States, Russia or others if they want to cooperate. Cavusoglu said that nothing was yet certain about the planned safe zone, but that Ankara and Washingtons views were in line, aside from a couple of points, A Haber reported. "We could establish a safe zone on our own but we will not exclude the U.S., Russia or others if they would like to cooperate, Reuters cited the Turkish minister as saying. After U.S. President Donald Trumps decision to withdraw all 2,000 U.S. troops from Syria, President Tayyip Erdogan said he and Trump had discussed Turkey setting up a 20-mile-deep safe zone in Syria along the border. Ronan Keating of Boyzone on stage at the SSE Arena, Belfast, as part of the band's Thank You & Goodnight farewell tour. Shane Lynch, Mikey Graham, Ronan Keating and Keith Duffy of Boyzone on stage at the SSE Arena, Belfast, as part of the band's Thank You & Goodnight farewell tour. Ronan Keating and Shane Lynch of Boyzone on stage at the SSE Arena, Belfast, as part of the band's Thank You & Goodnight farewell tour. Ronan Keating of Boyzone on stage at the SSE Arena, Belfast, as part of the band's Thank You & Goodnight farewell tour. Keith Duffy, Ronan Keating, Shane Lynch and Mikey Graham of Boyzone on stage at the SSE Arena, Belfast, as part of the band's Thank You & Goodnight farewell tour. Keith Duffy and Ronan Keating of Boyzone on stage at the SSE Arena, Belfast, as part of the band's Thank You & Goodnight farewell tour. Keith Duffy and Shane Lynch of Boyzone on stage at the SSE Arena, Belfast, as part of the band's Thank You & Goodnight farewell tour. Shane Lynch, Mikey Graham, Ronan Keating and Keith Duffy of Boyzone on stage at the SSE Arena, Belfast, as part of the band's Thank You & Goodnight farewell tour. Ronan Keating of Boyzone on stage at the SSE Arena, Belfast, as part of the band's Thank You & Goodnight farewell tour. Keith Duffy and Shane Lynch of Boyzone on stage at the SSE Arena, Belfast, as part of the band's Thank You & Goodnight farewell tour. Keith Duffy, Ronan Keating, Shane Lynch and Mikey Graham of Boyzone on stage at the SSE Arena, Belfast, as part of the band's Thank You & Goodnight farewell tour. In Pictures: Boyzone take to the stage at Belfast's SSE Arena Close Boyzone frontman Ronan Keating thanked fans in Belfast as the band played their final concert in the city. Standing before a packed SSE Arena after receiving a rapturous welcome on to the stage on Wednesday night, Keating said the band had never expected the success they have had. Who would have thought 25 years ago, we certainly didnt, he told fans. Expand Close Ronan Keating thanked fans for all their support throughout the bands career (Niall Carson/PA) PA Wire/PA Images / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Ronan Keating thanked fans for all their support throughout the bands career (Niall Carson/PA) To have had the career that we have had, the amount of albums that we sold, the journeys that we were on as individuals and collectively, its been one hell of a ride. And you have been there every step of the way. Screams erupted around the arena as the lights dimmed just before 9pm, and their volume increased as Keating, Keith Duffy, Mikey Graham and Shane Lynch were lowered on to the stage. Expand Close Ronan Keating, left, and Shane Lynch enjoy the screams from the Belfast audience (Niall Carson/PA) PA Wire/PA Images / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Ronan Keating, left, and Shane Lynch enjoy the screams from the Belfast audience (Niall Carson/PA) It has been a long and glittering path for the band, who as fresh-faced teenagers played pubs in Northern Ireland in the early 1990s before getting their big break when they were signed by Polygram in 1994. There was excitement on social media earlier on Wednesday as Keating was photographed landing at Belfast City Airport. The fans who gathered in Belfast on Wednesday night ranged from the younger ages who would never have seen the band in their chart-topping prime, to the more mature original followers. Keating paid tribute to all the fans. We have got a room full of mixed people, we have got people who have been with us for 25 years, we have got a lot of new faces and new ears in the room who have joined us in the last five or six years, thank-you very much, he said. Sorry we have decided to call it a day but we have got a huge legacy of music that you can listen to and spend time with and enjoy. Expand Close The band have insisted the Thank You and Goodnight tour will be their last (Niall Carson/PA wire) PA Wire/PA Images / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp The band have insisted the Thank You and Goodnight tour will be their last (Niall Carson/PA wire) The gig was tinged with sadness at the absence of the late Stephen Gately. Gately died in 2009 at his home in Majorca from an undiagnosed heart condition. A brief film in tribute to him was played during the concert, recalling how he never stopped singing morning, noon and night, and how full of love and fun he had been. Gatelys familiar voice was heard in Belfast on Wednesday night as one of the bands newest songs, Dream, which features his vocals, was performed. Last November the band, now aged in their 40s, released what they have described as their final album, Thank You & Goodnight, and also announced a final tour to mark their 25th anniversary. They split up to the heartbreak of their fans in 1999 before making a very successful come back in the late 2000s. Now they insist 2019 is the end. Graham told media in Dublin earlier this week that this is definitely the end for Boyzone. The #ThankYouAndGoodNight Tour has arrived in #Belfast! Whoas joining us tonight?? Donat forget a very limited amount of tickets are still available, just hit the link in the bio to join us! #Boyzone pic.twitter.com/JClU1EFuFI Boyzone (@theREALboyzone) January 23, 2019 They will head south for Thursday nights performance at the 3Arena in Dublin before setting off across the United Kingdom. A horse in a snowy field in the Divis Mountain area of Belfast, after temperatures plummeted to below freezing (Niall Carson/PA) Temperatures plunged as low as minus 8.5C (16.7F) overnight as the cold snap brought wintry and potentially-hazardous conditions to many parts of the country. The low was recorded at Altnaharra in Sutherland, while minus 7C (19.4F) was recorded at Aboyne in Aberdeenshire. Good morning UK! After any early patchy rain, sleet or hill snow clears the south, eastern parts will have another bright, cold day with sunny spells. It will become cloudier in the west with some patchy rain edging slowly eastward through the day. More: https://t.co/lvmvtqQWBN pic.twitter.com/m7ATk2WbBt Met Office (@metoffice) January 24, 2019 In Aberdeen itself the mercury dropped to minus 5C (23F), while the same low was recorded as far south as Cavendish in Suffolk. A yellow warning of ice for most of Scotland, all of the North of England and down across to East Anglia is in place until 11am. Met Office meteorologist Ellie Creed said: Its been pretty cold overnight and there have been showers in the last 24 hours, so there could well be some icy stretches around. ai Here is the latest snowdar for the UK. An YELLOW ICE warning is in force with rain, sleet and snow currently falling over East Midlands. Stay #weatheraware #uksnow aiai pic.twitter.com/ED6zfLAJPv Met Office (@metoffice) January 24, 2019 For the rest of Thursday, an area of cloud, rain and hill snow over much of central England will move out towards the south. Areas behind the band of wintry weather, particularly in the North East of England, could see some sunny spells. However, cloud, rain and stronger winds will arrive from Northern Ireland to affect western parts later on although temperatures will be milder with highs around 10C (50F). Power sharing government has not sat at Stormont since January 2017. (Niall Carson/PA) The Government is considering the appointment of an independent facilitator to break the deadlock and restore devolved government to Northern Ireland. Northern Ireland minister Lord Duncan of Springbank said the Government was "actively considering" such a move to "bring about greater communication between the parties" in the province. Read More Faced with pressure to break the logjam, he told peers at question time: "We hope that will lead to the breakthrough that we need." Lord Duncan was replying to Labour's Lord Dubs, who warned there had been no progress in restoring government to Stormont over the last two years. "If the Secretary of State can't bring the parties together, can we have an independent, impartial person to chair such meetings between the parties," Lord Dubs asked. Lord Duncan said restoring devolved government remained a top priority and Northern Ireland Secretary Karen Bradley was continuing to encourage parties to come together to achieve this aim. Former Ulster Unionist leader Lord Empey said that despite statements from the Government there was no process led by ministers to get negotiations going. Expand Close Lord Empey / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Lord Empey "As a consequence, a vacuum has been created," he said. "That vacuum is being filled already, as we saw at the weekend, by the men of violence." Lord Empey urged the Northern Ireland Secretary to "get her skates on and get a process started to get this matter resolved". Lord Duncan said: "I can assure you that she does indeed have her skates on but unfortunately not everyone else is wearing their skates and willing to dance to the same tune. That remains the challenge we face." He said good governance must be the first task of the Government, adding: "We will deliver that by whichever means is required in the time frame we have set out." Labour's leader in the Lords Baroness Smith of Basildon said there was huge frustration in Northern Ireland that nothing had moved forward in two years and there was no end in sight. She said an independent arbitrator could offer a way forward, bring all the parties together and offer a "sense of momentum that something is really going to happen". Lord Duncan said the Government did need to move forward on this matter and a facilitator was an aspect of the Government's consideration. "We are now talking about a matter of weeks to try and achieve this," he said. "We need to have everyone in that room." Geordie Gilmore died from a catastrophic brain injury after he was shot in Carrickfergus in 2017. Judgement has been reserved in the non-jury trial into the murder of Carrickfergus loyalist Geordie Gilmore. Speaking at a hearing at Belfast Crown Court on Thursday, Mr Justice McAlinden said he wanted time to give "careful consideration" to all the evidence presented in the trial and will give his judgement in due course. Mr Gilmore (44) died from a catastrophic brain injury after his Vauxhall Insignia was targeted in a gun attack in the Woodburn area of the Co Antrim town on March 13, 2017. Three men were charged with murdering Mr Gilmore and attempting to murder his two passengers. The trio - who all denied the charges - are David 'Dee Dee' McMaw (30) from Starbog Road in Larne, his brother Darren McMaw (33) from Kilgreel Road in Carrick and 36-year-old Brian 'Scotch Brian' McLean, from Valetta Park in Newtownards. As both the Crown and defence aired their closing submissions, the judge was urged to convict the trio by the Crown, but asked to acquit all three accused by their defence teams. During the trial, several witnesses - including Mr Gilmore's son, and a man who was in the car with Mr Gilmore when the vehicle was raked with gunfire - were called to give evidence at the Diplock hearing. The court heard the fatal gun attack occurred against a background of incidents between two groups of people, and that at the time police attributed this trouble to a UDA feud. In the hours before his murder, Mr Gilmore, his son and several other men had driven from Carrick to Belfast to support a friend who was arrested following a serious assault on the doorman of a local bar. When they returned to Carrick, the Gilmore party stopped at a bakery in the town centre before travelling to the Woodlands estate, where his car was shot at. It is the Crown's case that the gunman who fired at the Insignia was David McMaw while McClean acted as a look-out, and that Darren McMaw involved himself in a "scouting exercise" by following Mr Gilmore in his van prior to the fatal gun attack. All three defendants declined to give evidence during the trial, and have denied all the offences against them. Crown barrister Liam McCollum QC told Mr Justice McAlinden that as he had now heard all the evidence, he should be satisfied of the three men's guilt. Pointing out that witnesses identified David McMaw as the gunman who fired from an alleyway, the prosecutor reminded the Judge "there was a murder, there was a gunman, there were six shots fired." Mr McCollum also told Mr Justice McCollum that all three defendants declined to challenge the evidence given by these witnesses, adding "it should not be too difficult" for David McMaw and McClean "to tell the court where they were, if it was not them identified at the scene of the murder." Regarding Darren McMaw, Mr McCollum said "it would not have been difficult to explain the movements of his van." Barristers for each of the defendants argued in their closing submissions that the Crown had failed to prove, beyond reasonable doubt, the guilt of their clients. Eilis McDermott QC, representing David McMaw, questioned whether the evidence proved her client was the gunman. Ms McDemott noted a video which was played during the trial of a 100-strong crowd gathered outside the Gilmore home in July 2016, and said this indicated there were "an unknown number of people who may have been prepared to kill George Gilmore." Citing the identification of David McMaw as "poor," Ms McDermott spoke of "collusion" between the witnesses who she said were "part of a cohesive group" who had a "purpose of their own to serve." Brendan Kelly QC said his client, McClean, was also identified at the scene by the same "unreliable" witnesses. Telling Mr Justice McAlinden that no evidence was presented which indicated McClean's role in a joint enterprise, or that he was waiting at the scene for the Gilmore party, the barrister described evidence against McClean as "thin on the ground." Darren McMaw's barrister, Gavan Duffy QC, spoke of an "evidential vacuum" against his client, and said the case against him relied on the Crown's assertion that there was a "pre-formed plan for murder or really serious harm to be meted out to the deceased, and that McMaw was involved." Mr Duffy raised concerns about the Crown's case, spoke of a "series of imponderables", and spoke of a lack of evidence to suggest his client offered assistance both before and after the murder. Following Thursday's hearing, Mr Justice McAlinden said: "In the absence of any other submissions, this brings to a close the trial of these three defendants. "I will give careful consideration to all the oral and written evidence that had been provided to the court in this case, and that will take some time." The judge concluded the trial by saying he will give a "detailed written judgement" in due course. A prominent SDLP Assembly member has said a new partnership to be unveiled today between her party and Fianna Fail is not the right move and does not reflect her politics. Claire Hanna MLA was speaking as SDLP party leader Colum Eastwood and Fianna Fail leader Micheal Martin prepared to announce the new arrangement at a joint press conference in Belfast today. Ms Hanna said last night: "It doesn't reflect my politics personally. "It hasn't been explained how it will connect with the electorate or what resources or organisational changes it will bring that we couldn't do ourselves." On her party's new link with Fianna Fail, the South Belfast MLA continued: "I don't think it adds any value to SDLP aims of reconciliation, Irish unity and good governance." The SDLP leadership is presenting the new arrangement as a shared policy platform, not a merger. It is understood that the party will field candidates in May's council election under its own banner. Belfast SDLP councillor Brian Heading said: "I will look forward to reading the detail of any new partnership agreement between the SDLP and Fianna Fail, in particular the guarantees in the agreement to ensure that we in the SDLP retain our principles of social democracy and being an anti-sectarian party." The SDLP and Fianna Fail have been engaged in lengthy talks about finding a way forward together politically. Party sources said that while Mr Eastwood had briefed them on Tuesday night, they had not been shown documents about the partnership. A special party conference is expected to be held on February 9 to vote on the proposed new arrangement. SDLP West Tyrone MLA Daniel McCrossan warmly welcomed a close relationship between his party and Fianna Fail. "Nationalism needs a response to the changing and significant challenges across these islands as a result of Brexit," he said. "It has always been the SDLP vision to unite our people and unite our island (and) with Fianna Fail we can together articulate a peaceful and achievable path forward. "It's about two parties taking a joint approach on key policy issues which affect people right across this island. "It's about a new all-Ireland dimension which will work on a joint programme for government for the North and the South, feeding on the interests of citizens on both sides of the border." Mr McCrossan said Sinn Fein's abstentionist policy from Westminster, combined with the lack of an Assembly, had left nationalists voiceless, but the new SDLP-Fianna Fail partnership aimed to fill that void. "Our businesses, farmers and communities are deeply concerned about what Brexit will bring," he said. "It's not good enough that people have been left voiceless. We know we have to do things differently now. "This is the start of that journey. We are not a new political party but a new political movement." Fianna Fail's parliamentary party "fully endorsed" the plan for a partnership with the SDLP at a private meeting on Tuesday night. Speaking to reporters yesterday, Fianna Fail's foreign affairs and trade spokesman, Niall Collins, said: "You are aware of the discussion we had at the parliamentary party last night. "An announcement will be made tomorrow by our party leader, so I don't want to steal his thunder and indeed the thunder of Colum Eastwood at this point in time. "The talks, as you know, have been going on for a period of time. "We received a briefing on that last night, and the proposal on the table to form a partnership is fully endorsed by the parliamentary party." In October, Mr Martin's party was caught in controversy in Omagh when senior party figures unveiled a Fianna Fail 'candidate' for next year's Northern Ireland local council election without the approval of the leadership. Party colleagues accused Eamon O Cuiv and Mark Daly, who said they were acting as Sorcha McAnespy's campaign managers, of embarking on a "solo run". Mr O Cuiv, who was frontbench spokesman for regional development, rural affairs and the Gaeltacht, was demoted by Mr Martin. The move was announced a day after Senator Mr Daly was stripped of his duties as Fianna Fail deputy leader in the Seanad for his role in the unsanctioned event in Omagh. IRA flags were clearly visible in the crowd during The Wolfe Tones performance. Credit: Feilean Phobail. The Director of the west Belfast Feile an Phobail has defended the decision to book the Wolfe Tones, after their concert descended into pro-IRA chanting last year. Kevin Gamble was speaking after a number of Belfast City councillors expressed concerns about a proposal to award an extra 200k funding to the festival. They have not criticised the money going to the festival, but rather how the council process on awarding the cash. He described the event as about telling the story of the "new Belfast of peace, prosperity and progress," but admitted the rebel band - a "core part of the festival" - may not be "everyone's cup of tea". He also said public money was not used for that event in the festival programme. He said the festival represented the "heartbeat" of the community and was "value for money". "Feile has played a leadership role in bringing this city together," he said. "The Wolfe Tones support peace, all the songs that are sang there, all the people that are presented at that festival are pro-peace." Read More More than 10,000 people gathered in Falls Park for a concert headlined by Irish rebel music band The Wolfe Tones during the festival in August. Expand Close Republican folk band The Wolfe Tones playing at Feile this year / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Republican folk band The Wolfe Tones playing at Feile this year Chants including "Up the Ra" were sung by many in the crowd on the same day as families gathered in Omagh to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the worst atrocity of the Troubles. Tricolours daubed with IRA slogans were also waved. Director of Feile Kevin Gamble addressed the issue when speaking on BBC Radio Ulster's Nolan Show on Thursday. Mr Gamble was on the show to discuss festival funding, after concerns were expressed that other arts groups were losing out due to Feile's "monopoly" on funding. He was asked how having a band that sings "rebel music" at the festival promoted inclusivity. "The Wolfe Tones are one of the biggest and most successful bands to come out of Ireland, they play across the whole world," Mr Gamble replied. "When the Wolfe Tones come to Feile all of sudden people get their backs up, and I can understand to a certain degree. Last year there were a few flags displayed in the audience. "I'm not going to be a hypocrite and apologise for booking the Wolfe Tones. They have been a core part of the festival programme over the last number of years. It's fair to say we are in a time of peace, the Wolfe Tones support peace, all the songs that are sang there, all the people that are presented at that festival are pro-peace. We are happy to provide a platform for groups such as the Wolfe Tones. "If people are singing songs commemorating things that happened in the past, isn't it better the festival provides an outlet for that rather than what was happening before the festival. " Mr Gamble was asked if he was saying that the festival wanted to provide an outlet for people to chant about the IRA. "We are happy to provide a platform for groups such as the Wolfe Tones to come to our festival. I understand it won't be everybody's cup of tea," he replied. He was asked if in trying to host a cross community event, and knowing booking the Wolfe Tones would result in 'IRA' chants, was it more important to have that outlet than to reach out to other people who find it offensive. "None of the money that we receive from any ratepayers goes into booking the Wolfe Tones, it is paid for through money we bring in ourselves," Mr Gamble said. The Feile director also addressed concerns about plans to award the festival extra funding. Mr Gamble said he was stunned at the questions being asked about the "integrity" of the festival. "Everything that Feile an Phobail does is open and transparent, and always are year round for anyone to come and look at, we'll never apologise for doing our job in seeking more funding and more support," he said. "It represents the heart of west Belfast, but also the new Belfast that has been emerging from peace. Feile has played a leadership role in bringing this city together. "This debate seems to trying to push Feile against other arts organisations in this city. We do represent good value for money right across the city." Concerns have been raised about a plan to award additional council funding to festivals - the vast bulk of which will go to Feile an Phobail. Belfast City Council recommended members approve an extra 200,000 for the West Belfast Festival at a meeting earlier this month. Read More But Alliance councillor Sian O'Neill has questioned the move, saying her concerns are not over where the money is going, but rather the process of awarding the cash. She said: "In the interim none of us feel comfortable saying 'just spend that money' without any justification. "I wanted to know where did those figures come from, how much had we given previously, etc to see if there was a pattern." The council is working to develop a new cultural strategy from April 2020, and is putting an interim plan in place for 2019/2010. A report on the progress of the city cultural programme was brought to the council's growth and regeneration committee on January 9. The funding allocation recommendations were made by Festival and Events International (FEI), which was commissioned by the council to examine its festival and events strategy. It identified three festivals - the Maritime Festival, Belfast International Arts Festival and the Feile - and recommended they be awarded funding due to their potential to develop into "key Belfast signature events". At the December meeting of the strategic policy and resources committee members agreed to allocate an additional budget of 320,000 to help develop the events during 2019/20. The funding was allocated from the council's specified reserve in order to help in the development of a long-term cultural programme. An extra 25,000 will be awarded to the Belfast International Arts Festival and an extra 200,000 to Feile, with the remaining 95,000 allocated to support the growth of festivals around the city. Feile will receive another 39,000 from the annual budget, with the Belfast International Arts Festival receiving 39,000. The 240,000 cost of the Maritime Festival will be entirely funded by the annual budget. At this month's meeting of the city growth and regeneration committee councillors decided to defer approving the funding following a motion from councillor O'Neill, with only Sinn Fein voting in favour of going ahead with the plan. Councillors will receive more information at party briefings in the coming weeks, with the funding being raised again at next month's meeting of the committee. Ms O'Neill said she had concerns around the awarding of the funding and the transparency of the application process. She added there were concerns smaller events were losing out when applying for funding. "We are trying to grow grassroots festivals and events within our city and I feel if you have a monopoly at the top, that money isn't going to trickle down and get our other arts organisations to a point where their festivals can grow," she said. "At the minute there's a top down approach and there's very much a monopoly on certain events. I believe that there needs to be a fair, open and transparent way of funding our arts, that's the only way we are going to grow our arts" In its accounts, Feile stated that it received 341,723 from Belfast City Council in 2017/18. The DUP's Ian Paisley has again defended billing a charity almost 6,000 for attending a Good Friday Agreement 20th anniversary event. He also explained his attendance at an event highlighting the persecution of Christians around the world. It was organised by Open Doors which says the levels of persecutions against those of the Christian faith in the Maldives is "very high" and in Sri Lanka is "high". Speaking to The Irish News on Wednesday night, Mr Paisley reiterated to the paper he had to take business class flights to the conference in New York because of the shortness of the trip and all costs were agreed in advance between him and the organisers. Read More He explained he had business in Westminster and a DUP fundraising dinner in Ballymena either side of the event. My engagements at either side in London and my constituency, the shortness of time in New York city explain the costs of a business class flight, he said. Everything was agreed with the organiser in advance and paid directly to the service providers. He also said he was asked to attend after someone else had pulled out. Mr Paisley has said he travelled "at the last minute" although he was listed as attending the event 15 days prior to travelling. He also said a sponsor of the event paid for the travel. The DUP told the Irish News the North Antrim MP attended the conference in a personal capacity and it was not involved in making his arrangements. On attending the Open Doors report launch in Westminster about the persecution of Christians around the world, Mr Paisley added: "It is possible to understand and encourage political and economic developments in foreign countries and at the same time object to the treatment of minority faith groups there. Last year Mr Paisley was suspended from the Commons for 30-sitting days for failing to declare two holidays in Sri Lanka paid for by its government and for lobbying on its behalf. Questions were also raised after a BBC Spotlight investigation into a holiday he and his family took to the Maldives should have been declared. However, Mr Paisley denied he had to declare the trip as it was paid for by himself and a friend who had no ties to his work. 'Mr Kearney told the court his client consumed four units of alcohol before remembering he had left his heart medication at home' (stock photo) A heart transplant recipient who was caught drink-driving on his wedding anniversary last month was sentenced yesterday. Anthony Flanagan, from Crawfordsburn in Maghera, pleaded guilty at Londonderry Magistrates Court to driving with excess alcohol at the Foyle Embankment in the city on December 28. A solicitor for the Public Prosecution Service told District Judge Stephen Keown that the car 56-year-old Flanagan was driving collided with a roundabout. The incident was witnessed by members of a passing police mobile patrol, who stopped the defendant and smelled alcohol on his breath. When officers breathalysed him, he was found to be twice the legal limit. Defence barrister Brendan Kearney said Flanagan came to Derry with his wife to celebrate their wedding anniversary. Mr Kearney told the court his client consumed four units of alcohol before remembering he had left his heart medication at home. The barrister said Flanagan then foolishly decided to drive back to Maghera, accompanied by his wife, to get his medication, which he has to take twice daily. The court was told Flanagan underwent heart transplant surgery in a hospital in Newcastle, England, two years ago. Since the procedure, he has travelled to Newcastle four times a year to undergo follow-up treatment. Mr Kearney told the hearing Flanagan's wife was with him in the car when it was stopped by the police. She had been unable to drive the vehicle because she was only qualified to drive an automatic. The District Judge fined Flanagan 300 and disqualified him from driving for 16 months. The wife of a top Northern Ireland hotelier has hit out after her husband was accused of making "sexist" comments after he referred to the leaders of Sinn Fein and the DUP as "women of intransigence". Bill Wolsey made a plea to Arlene Foster and Michelle O'Neill to resolve their differences and begin talks to return power-sharing in Northern Ireland urgently. "The people did not vote for them not to even sit in the same room together," he told the BBC. "The vast majority of people in this country are fed up with the politicians. We have replaced the men of violence with the women of intransigence. "That's not what we voted for." Both Sinn Fein and the DUP blamed each other once again for the political impasse in response. Sinn Fein said the institutions could only be restored on the basis of equality and power-sharing saying the DUP had walked away from a deal. MLA Caoimhe Archibald added there was "no place in society for sexist comments". "Am I having a moment?" Petra Wolsey, wife of Bill and marketing director of The Beannchor Group hit back. "Did I miss the memo that tells us its sexist to describe female politicians as women? Fess up. What really stings is the truth of how monumentally ineffectual both your parties are for the people of NI," she added tagging in the DUP and Sinn Fein Twitter accounts. Director of the Northern Ireland retail consortium Aodhan Connolly said the Sinn Fein response was predictable. "I saw the interview and I said .... "[bet] you a tenner people skip over the pertinent point and accuse him of sexism!" he tweeted. "I need to do the lotto on Friday." Leading hotelier Bill Wolsey criticises Michelle O'Neill and Arlene Foster for their "intransigence" and says they must start talks again urgently. pic.twitter.com/JUgPCwoA8V BBC News NI (@BBCNewsNI) January 23, 2019 Am I having a moment? Did I miss the memo that tells us itas sexist to describe female politicians as women? aFess up. What really stings is the truth of how monumentally ineffectual both your parties are for the people of NI. a@sinnfeinirelanda a@duponlinea pic.twitter.com/39BgBEB96R Petra Wolsey (@PetraWolsey) January 23, 2019 Mr Wolsey Beannchor Group own the five-star Merchant Hotel, over 40 pubs, the popular Little Wing Pizzeria chain of restaurants and the recently opened Bullitt Hotel. A remain voter in the Brexit referendum he said he supported the Prime Minister's deal on the UK's withdrawal from the EU. While not having a political mandate he said he does have a stake in Northern Ireland's future. "I don't live in some bubble," he told the BBC. "We employ people from every socio-economic group there is... I employ people from all over this city and I have done for the past 40 years." The DUP said it did not collapse the institutions and was ready to restore power sharing immediately saying it had no red lines. "Only one party out of the five is refusing to appoint ministers," the party added. Day two of the World Economic Forum summit in Davos, Switzerland came to an end. Experts were struck by Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev's activity, who held more than a dozen meetings with representatives of the world economic elite in two days, expressing Azerbaijans willingness to cooperate. Analysts interpreted the intensity of discussions as a result of interest in Azerbaijan. At the meeting with President of the World Economic Forum Borge Brende saw the laying of the foundation for cooperation between Baku and the Centre for the Fourth Industrial Revolution of the World Economic Forum. Brende noted that Azerbaijan has taken resolute steps towards the fourth industrial revolution, and that its capital has changed rapidly in the past twenty years to become unrecognizable. Ilham Aliyev, for his part, said that industrial production in the non-oil sector increased 9.1% in Azerbaijan last year and stressed the significance of the implementation of large transport and infrastructure projects, including East-West, North-South transport corridors and energy projects. President of Visa Ryan McInerney did not conceal that the main purpose of his visit to Davos this year was to meet with Ilham Aliyev, because Azerbaijan has made significant strides in terms of the development of digital payments in recent years, pointing out Visas close cooperation with the country's relevant bodies in the implementation of various projects in this area. McInerney said that tax incentives and other initiatives applied in Azerbaijan for the development of cashless payments will be very useful, adding that this is an example to other countries as well. Noting that Visa branded cards are widely used in electronic payments in Azerbaijan, McInerney stressed the companys keenness to expand its activity in the country and its readiness to support the widespread use of non-cash payments in many areas, including in public transport. Ilham Aliyev responded that the development of e-payments has become one of the crucial issues for the country and pointed to the large-scale reforms carried out in this regard, saying these reforms have already yielded results. It has been reflected in international rankings, for example, in the Doing Business 2019 report, in which Azerbaijan climbed 32 spots from 57th to rank 25th. Ilham Aliyev and Chief Executive Officer of BP Robert Dudley hailed the development of cooperation between Azerbaijan and BP during the meeting, as well as discussed the issues of cooperation in the Azeri-Chrag-Gunashli, Shafag, Asiman, Absheron and other oil fields. In addition, Aliyev met in Davos with Executive Vice President and Chief Sales and Marketing Officer at CISCO Gerri Elliott, who noted that "having a capable leader who carries out reforms in Azerbaijan, the existence of specific development plans, realization of these plans and defining responsible bodies for achieving the goals that will ensure the development of the state in this regard as the key factors for the countrys progress." She underlined the close collaboration with the government of Azerbaijan, particularly with the Ministry of Justice towards the integration of courts, and penitentiary institutions, and improvement of the level of electronic services in this area. Chief Executive Officer of SAP SE Bill McDermott said that the reforms and development programs implemented in Azerbaijan in recent years have aroused great interest. SAP SE has already opened its office in Baku, and McDermott expressed his readiness to contribute to the development of digital economy, generally digitalization both in the public and private sectors. According to McDermott, stability of Azerbaijan's economy and the strengthening of the country's financial sustainability create a solid foundation for the development of the digital economy, while digital economy encourages a rapid increase in the number of jobs Chief Executive Officer for the World Bank Kristalina Georgieva congratulated Ilham Aliyev on Azerbaijan's climbing 32 spots to rank 25th in the World Banks Doing Business 2019 report, noting that this is one of the most successful and greatest achievements in the history of the Doing Business rating. In her opinion, the importance of structural and economic reforms in Azerbaijan is increasing against a background of the global economic slowdown in recent years. Georgieva proposed Azerbaijan to consider increasing its shares in the institutions of the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD), and the International Finance Corporation, noting that this can encourage additional support to the future economic development of Azerbaijan by the World Bank. According to her, Azerbaijan's economic transformation has become one of the most successful practices along with China and India, because Azerbaijan, which had received assistance from the World Bank once, turned into a donor country in a short time. At the meeting, the sides also discussed the implementation of new programs by the World Bank in Azerbaijan. Ilham Aliyev lauded the reforms carried out jointly with the World Bank, especially in the field of court. He said that projects on cooperation with the World Bank in the fields of tax, customs and compulsory health insurance have been prepared. The activity of the World Bank in this area could be useful in the expansion of self-employment projects in Azerbaijan, especially the programs aimed at increasing self-employment of internally displaced persons. At Ilham Aliyev's meeting with Chief Executive Officer of French Total company Patrick Pouyanne, they exchanged views on the projects implemented by Total in Azerbaijan, including the successfully realized Absheron project as well as cooperation prospects. Microsoft Vice President, President for Europe, Middle East and Africa Michel van der Bel stressed that Microsoft, the worlds leading technological company, will continue supporting the projects implemented in Azerbaijan. For his part, Ilham Aliyev spoke about the support for the development of information technologies and the expansion of public services, noting that the application of information technologies is expanding in state programs and in all spheres of economic and social life in Azerbaijan. Chief Executive Officer of Signify company (former Philips Lighting) Eric Rondolat spoke about the joint work on the project of Baku lighting system management. President of Europe Selling & Market Operations at Procter & Gamble Loic Tassel noted that the business environment and conditions created for investors in Azerbaijan encourage companies to expand their activities in the country. Being the largest advertiser in Azerbaijans TV space, the company also carries out its social responsibility mission by sponsoring various social projects, sporting competitions and other support measures. Procter & Gamble is keen to expand its activity in the region by taking use of emerging business environment. The current business environment in Azerbaijan has led the company to choose Baku as a regional center. Chief Executive Officer of The Boston Consulting Group (BCG) Rich Lesser expressed support for the reforms carried out in Azerbaijan, as well as business environment, saying that his company has digital solutions that will provide a higher level of governance, both for public and private companies, as well as in healthcare and compulsory health insurance. The application of these solutions in Azerbaijan will lead to the creation of new jobs and make a significant contribution to improving the management systems. Chief Executive Officer of Lazard Freres company Matthieu Pigasse stressed that the company has been providing consulting services in financing various projects and addressing investment issues in Azerbaijan since 2000. Now favorable conditions have been created for conferences and other investment-related events in Azerbaijan. Global companies and investors are interested in holding such big events in Azerbaijan. It is also important for supporting measures to support foreign investors, attract investments and further improve the business environment. Executive Vice-President of SUEZ for International Development Eric Ghebali spoke about the company's activities in water infrastructure development in Azerbaijan. Ilham Aliyev and Chief Executive Officer of Equinor (former Statoil) Eldar Saetre discussed the issues of cooperation between SOCAR and Equinor on Azeri-Chirag-Gunashli oil fields, the promising Garabagh, Ashrafi, Dan ulduzu projects, as well as repair work on Dede Gorgud drilling rig. Naturally, Ilham Aliyev met with Russian partners as well. With President of LUKOIL Vagit Alekperov he discussed the LUKOIL-implemented projects in Azerbaijan, the issues relating to their execution, and the cooperation prospects. At the meeting with President and Chairman of VTB Bank Management Board Andrey Kostin, they discussed Azerbaijans successful cooperation with VTB Bank and the banks fruitful activity in the country. They emphasized the importance of the development of the banking sector in Azerbaijan, the measures taken in this area in order to create a more favorable environment for the private sector, and exchanged views on cooperation prospects. The cast of Derry Girls will be painted onto the side of Badgers Bar in celebration of the show's second series A mural of the Derry Girls cast is to be painted in Londonderry city centre to celebrate the return of the hit comedy series. The main Derry Girls characters - Erin, Orla, Clare, Michelle and James - will be painted onto a side of the Badgers Bar. Non-profit social enterprise group from the city, UV Arts, is teaming up with Channel 4's in-house creative agency to produce the mural, which is part of a wider marketing campaign. Karl Porter at UV Arts said: "The opportunity to immortalise these iconic figures through an amazing new mural can give the city a little hope for the future and spread a little laughter along the way." Derry Mayor John Boyle said fans were looking forward to their return. "There is great anticipation here for the next instalment of the Derry Girls series and this artwork is a real tribute to the cast which will no doubt be really well received by fans," he said. "I am delighted to see the ongoing success of the show, which has shone a spotlight on the city, our culture and our humour." The first series aired in January last year and received an overwhelming positive reaction from viewers from around the UK- particularly from the local community in Derry. It was Channel 4's biggest comedy launch series in 14 years. The funeral of Wayne Boylan in Warrenpoint yesterday. Mr Boylan was shot dead by two gunmen at a house in the town The barbaric shotgun murder of a father-of-two who "loved life" has brought the worst memories of the Troubles flooding back to a Co Down town, mourners have been told. Hundreds gathered in St Peter's Church in Warrenpoint yesterday morning to say their final farewell to Wayne Boylan (37) who was shot in the head on Friday evening in a suspected drugs killing. A woman in the flat where the murder took place, Alice Louise Burns (21), was left fighting for her life following emergency surgery after being hit by shotgun pellets. Her condition has been updated to ill, but stable as she recovers in the Royal Victoria Hospital, Belfast. Canon John Kearney recalled walking home at 3am on Saturday, just hours after two masked gunmen burst into a flat on Lower Dromore Road and opened fire causing Wayne's "cruel and untimely" death. "A young man was sent to an early grave," he said. "Another day, another dawn over this island home of ours where too many people are rising from broken sleep to face a day of emptiness in the wake of this barbarism which has gatecrashed the life of this community." He said the deceased, who lived in the town for most of his life and was a father to Niamh and Henry, will be sadly missed. Fr Kearney told hundreds of mourners who packed into the pews of the church that Wayne struggled with losing his father when he was just a small child. The heartbreak was compounded by the death of his brother Peter when Wayne was a teenager, then the death of a sister and finally the loss of his mother Shirley five years ago. "When you think about it, life was by no means easy for Wayne - all of that is not easy," Fr Kearney said. He condemned the cruel actions of Wayne's killers who "interrupted God's perfect timing to inflict frozen grief" on so many people and have left a shattered family asking why. The parish priest also said the brutal killing has triggered flashbacks of the Seventies and Eighties which brought much pain to the town. "Churches were never built for funerals like this," he said. "Family and neighbours standing around in quiet grief listening to the voice of a priest calling for peace, tolerance and mercy. "Are these voices crying in the wilderness of a land where cruel and distorted violence has robbed a family of a father and a friend and has withered the green shoots of hope?" Fr Kearney warned that violence "grows in our society because we have unwittingly given it fertile soil" and "dulled our ears to the cry for peace". "For too long we've sat around our camp fires trading in myths," he said. "We have told fiction as fact and rumour as truth - we have even enlisted God to shore up our version of orthodoxy." Loved ones prayed that Wayne would find eternal rest in spite of "whatever faults he manifest" in this life and that Ms Burns would make a full recovery. The father of Wayne's partner Saoirse Lambe broke down as he thanked the community for their love and support in recent days. "It's a tribute to Wayne that he won the heart of a lovely girl and brought two beautiful children into the world," he added. "It's also a tribute to Wayne that so many of you are here - he's up there now, in the stars." Wayne's devastated brother Keith and sister Kerry wept as folk song The Parting Glass played while his casket was taken to Warrenpoint Municipal Cemetery. The Central Bank of Ireland does not want companies coming to the country as a last resort due to a hard Brexit (Niall Carson/PA) The Central Bank of Ireland said it has no appetite for international firms setting up in Ireland as a last resort for a hard Brexit. Michael Hodson, the director of asset management and investment banking, issued the stark warning to financial businesses, saying it will not provide an insurance policy to firms for inadequate Brexit planning. Speaking at a Brexit seminar in Dublin, Mr Hodson said that since the referendum in June 2016, there has been an increase in the number of applications from financial businesses who want to set up in Ireland. These include applications from banks, investment firms, electronic money institutions and insurance companies. Michael Hodson, Director of Asset Management @centralbank_ie delivering his keynote address at the seminar "The onus is on Irish firms to register with the FCA for temporary permissions regime to access the UK market before the end of March" #agenda @KPMG_Ireland @UlsterBank pic.twitter.com/9tDoiTf2oJ British Irish Chamber of Commerce (@BrIreCham) January 24, 2019 We will not lower our assessment standards and if you have not delivered on our expectations, we will not authorise you, Mr Hodson said. No firm should expect the Central Bank to provide an insurance policy for inadequate Brexit planning. We have no appetite for firms who have not done the work or for firms who have no real intention of setting up a substantial business in Ireland or rather see their authorisation as a last resort for a hard Brexit. In addition, a number of applicants are bringing new types of businesses to the Irish market and operating complex business models. At this stage, a number of firms have already received approval for authorisation and we expect that a sizeable number will continue to be approved in the coming weeks. He also warned that the risk of a hard Brexit remains. We expect firms to have Brexit contingency plans in place for all Brexit scenarios, he added The stakes for Ireland are so high given our close ties to the UK.Simon Barry The British Irish Chamber of Commerce hosted the Brexit conference with Ulster Bank and KPMG to address the implications surrounding Brexit on the financial services sector. Simon Barry, chief economist at Ulster Bank, said Irish businesses are pursuing alternative sources of market growth outside the UK. He added that Ireland can tap into opportunities as UK firms try to cope and manage Brexit uncertainties. But he said that the bank has started to see the effects of Brexit uncertainty on their customers and businesses, who are triggering contingency plans and scaling back investment proposals for the UK economy. The stakes for Ireland are so high given our close ties to the UK, he continued. The UK political system still hasnt landed on a settled point around where it wants to be and pitch its new future relationship. It really is a remarkable feature of how the way politics has unfolded. If you want full independence from EU institutions, rules and structures, then you are moving further away from access to the Single Market. The more access you have to Single Market, the less damage Brexit will do to your economy. Michael DArcy, Irelands Minister for Financial Services and Insurance, described Brexit as an overarching challenge for Ireland. Britains exit from the EU will be the defining moment between our relationship both with the UK and the rest of the Europe, he added. In light of the ongoing uncertainty in the UK, we continue work to prepare for the UKs exit from EU, and the European Council has asked for this work, at national and EU level, to intensify, taking to account all possible outcomes. A no-deal Brexit is the worst possible outcome for the UK, Ireland and for the EU. Neo-nazi graffiti outside a south Belfast primary school has been branded a "sorry sight". 'C18' was sprayed on a gate near Fane Street Primary School. Combat 18 were a neo-Nazi organisation most active in England in the 1990s. The group was also linked with some loyalist organisations in Northern Ireland. Green Party representative for south Belfast Aine Groogan said the graffiti was a "pathetic attempt to bully and intimidate". She suggested the area may been targeted due to the diversity of people living there. "I slam those who have directed their racism towards local families and children. The diversity of this area of south Belfast is something to celebrate," Ms Groogan said. "The friendships of children at this school cross ethnic and cultural barriers. It's time those responsible for the graffiti to accept that Belfast is more diverse than ever before. "I've reported the graffiti to Belfast City Council for removal and also to the police as a hate crime. I'd ask anyone with information on the matter to contact PSNI on the non-emergency number 101." The scene of the crash on the Moyarget Road in Ballycastle A teenager was knocked out after slipping on ice in Co Armagh yesterday morning. Emergency services, including the air ambulance, were called to William Street in Lurgan just before 8.45am. The 16-year-old boy fell and was rendered temporarily unconscious, the Ambulance Service said. He was taken to Craigavon Area Hospital for treatment. The air ambulance was also in attendance at the scene of an incident at Kilraughts Road in Ballymoney, Co Antrim. The Ambulance Service said it received a 999 call at 12.58pm. "NIAS despatched an emergency crew to the scene," it said. "The Charity Air Ambulance HEMS team was also tasked to the incident. "Following assessment and initial treatment at the scene, the patient was airlifted by the air ambulance to Royal Victoria Hospital, Belfast." No further details on the incident have been released. In another incident in the Ballymoney area, Finvoy Road was closed near the Burnquarter Road junction due to a traffic collision as the icy weather made driving conditions treacherous during the morning rush hour. And in Ballycastle a car ended up on its roof on Moyarget Road at around 9.30am. There were no reports of injuries. Simon Coveney has said the Irish government has no "secret plan" for the Irish border. The Irish Foreign Affairs minister, writing in the Irish Times, said his government is not planning for the reintroduction of a border on the island of Ireland even if the UK leaves the European Union without agreeing a deal. Read More Mr Coveney said: "We have a way to avoid a border in the deal. It has been the result of a painstaking negotiation, framed by UK red lines, which led to compromises on both sides, and which resulted in a withdrawal agreement endorsed by 27 European Union nations and the British cabinet. "That withdrawal agreement is the only deal on offer." Mr Coveney's comments come after Margaritis Schinas, the chief spokesman for the EU Commission, claimed it was "pretty obvious" there would be a hard border in Ireland in the event of a no-deal Brexit. Mr Coveney, addressing Mr Schinas comments, said: "We have heard commentary from some quarters that the EU would not stand by Ireland in reaching a deal with the UK. These predictions have been proven to be false. "The Confederation of British Industry in Northern Ireland has warned that the cost of a no-deal Brexit will be more than 5 billion a year "Similar prophecies of doom are now being bandied about on the basis of one answer from a spokesman who, by his own admission, was speculating. EU clarifications yesterday attracted less coverage." Mr Coveney said the UK government has responsibilities to Northern Ireland and peace on the island of Ireland. He added: "First and foremost among those responsibilities is the need to prevent the re-emergence of a hard border on this island. "To do this without a deal will not be easy." 'Sources have revealed that 600 gardai will be required to man the estimated 300 border crossings along the frontier if the UK crashes out of the EU without a deal' Senior police officers in the Republic are drafting emergency plans to deploy hundreds of uniformed gardai to the border in the event of a no-deal Brexit on March 29. It is understood that the plans were discussed yesterday at a high-level meeting between Garda Commissioner Drew Harris and senior staff at Garda HQ in Dublin. Sources have revealed that 600 gardai will be required to man the estimated 300 border crossings along the frontier if the UK crashes out of the EU without a deal. However, it is feared that the plan could have an impact on the number of gardai on the beat across the Republic. The gardai will work alongside 400 new customs staff who will be in place on Brexit day as part of no deal preparations by the Republic. Garda HQ is expected to issue a directive next week seeking volunteers across five of the country's six garda regions who will then be seconded to the border on tours of duty of between six and 12 months' duration. The extra gardai will bolster the number of officers already stationed in the border region, which has seen a steady decline in personnel over the past decade. It is understood that extra Irish customs officers will also be sent to the border to work alongside the gardai. However, if the requisite number of volunteers are not forthcoming, senior officers will be instructed to mandate individual officers for border duty - something likely to cause friction between management and the representative bodies. As part of the plan, which some sources are describing as "a worst-case scenario" or "doomsday plan", recruits currently in training in the Garda College in Co Tipperary will also be sent to the border to make up the numbers over the coming months. It is also understood that Irish military chiefs are drafting plans for the deployment of extra troops to the border region in support of the gardai. Mr Harris, a former PSNI Deputy Chief Constable, has already pointed out that there is a fear that dissident republicans and criminal gangs already operating with relative impunity in the border area will seek to exploit the post-Brexit arrangements. Meanwhile, the impact of any type of Brexit on tens of thousands of Irish businesses will be spelled out today by Irish Revenue chairman Niall Cody, who will appear before the Dail's Finance Committee to update TDs and Senators on preparedness. He will confirm for the first time that 400 customs staff are expected to be in place at the end of March following an accelerated recruitment process as no-deal contingency plans are put in motion. According to his opening statement to the committee, the administrative burden of fulfilling customs obligations looks set to increase by more than 1,000%. It is estimated that up to 85,000 Irish businesses could be affected, with more than half of those engaging in regular trade with the UK in 2017. Separately, concerns have been raised that a gap in payments for some Irish pensioners in the UK could emerge if the UK crashes out of the EU. A memo brought to the Irish cabinet by Social Protection Minister Regina Doherty warns that while Dublin is well fixed to pass emergency legislation to continue payments, the UK may not be. The Republic and the UK have reciprocal arrangements for a range of social welfare payments, including pensions and child benefit. Both sides have agreed to maintain the status quo regardless of what happens with Brexit - but this will require legislation in the Dail and House of Commons. More than 135,000 people living in the Republic receive the British state pension, while more than 20,000 Irish people in the UK get a pension from the Republic. It is understood London has agreed in principle to continue all payments, although Pensions Secretary Amber Rudd has been unable to guarantee that the necessary legislation will be passed by March 29. WH Smith has cheered a strong performance as its high street stores saw a stable Christmas trading period and sales lifted across its burgeoning travel arm. The retailer, which operates from three locations in Northern Ireland, reported a 2% fall in high street like-for-like sales in the 20 weeks to January 19 - in line with trading in the first eight weeks. However, the company did see a 3% rise in comparable sales across its larger travel division. Overall group like-for-like sales remained flat in the 20-week period. Stephen Clarke, group chief executive of WH Smith, hailed a "strong" trading performance. He said: "The high street delivered a good performance, particularly in stationery, driven by good growth in Christmas cards, wrap, diaries and fashion stationery. "Looking ahead, while there is existing uncertainty in the broader economic environment, the group is well-positioned for the year ahead and beyond." A 16% rise in total travel sales was helped by the purchase of US digital accessories retailer InMotion in November. The firm added it was making "good progress" on savings aims outlined in October, with another 9m earmarked for 2018-19. WH Smith announced a restructure to shut a handful of shops and call time on new initiatives, instead focusing on growth opportunities for its chain of stores based at airports and railway stations. Six stores will close when leases expire and both its 22-strong budget greetings card chain Cardmarket and franchised convenience store arm WH Smith Local will be wound down. The hashtag#10YearChallenge has got us thinking how the world of politics has changed in last ten years. From Obamas vision of Smart Diplomacy, of upholding American ideals, of resuscitating Multilateralism, to Trumpism that is grounded in Impulsive diplomacy, railing against American tradition and mooring impetuous suspicion of International bodies, the last decade has seen stark changes in global political arena. Amongst the wide array of issues where U.S. foreign policy has undergone transformation, Obamas view of Middle East was latest to be censured, Eurasia Review writes in an article "Ten Year Challenge: US Foreign Policy Towards Middle East". On the heels of uncertainty that surrounded Trumps decision to withdraw U.S. troops from Syria, Mike Pompeo sought to draw a vision for Americas foreign policy towards the Middle East. The speech was delivered in Cairo, the same city where Obama spoke ten years ago. The blistering rebuke of Obamas Middle East policy inspired a mix of delight and fear- delight for them who threaten peace and fear among those who seek stability. It also unravels a discrepancy that scholars believe exists between administrations rhetoric to reassert lost American influence in the region and its willingness to commit resources to pursue a strategic shift. In his address, Obama attempted to reconcile Islamic values with Western democracy. He defied the logic- situated in hatred and exclusion that drove American foreign policy since 9/11. Obamas bid to atone for the past troubles, U.S. policies has inflicted upon Middle Eastern region, sent a positive message to the Muslims across the world. He quoted that Islam and American polity are not in a competition and acknowledged how both remain in close connections since the birth of American polity. Obama warned of the consequences if differences werent bridged. He said, So long as our relationship is defined by our differences, we will empower those who sow hatred rather than peace, and who promote conflict rather than the cooperation. Following this, Obama administration embarked on seeking peace and stability in the region by means of cooperation. For this, he embraced multilateral diplomacy to mend ties with Iran and made significant overtures in this regard- offers of unconditional talks and writing letter to Iranian Supreme leader are cases in point. Furthermore, Obamas speech addressed the question of Palestinian struggle and the project of promotion of democracy in the region. He noted that Israelis must acknowledge that just as Israels right to exist cannot be denied, neither can Palestines. The United States does not accept the legitimacy of continued Israeli settlements. This construction violates previous agreements and undermines efforts to achieve peace. It is time for these settlements to stop. It clearly demonstrated the then administrations commitment to the two-state solution and to oppose unbridled Israeli advancements to withhold provision of fundamental rights of the Palestinian population. Besides this, while averting direct criticism over Middle Eastern autocracies, Obama carefully managed to raise the question of inalienable rights of citizens, with particular mention of womens rights. In sum, Obamas vision to redress Americas relations with Middle East was based on the notion of co-existence, pluralism and multilateralism. Contrary to this, Pompeo exhibits a new facet of American foreign policy towards the region that draws its logic from the precedents that bred turmoil in the region. Excessive American intervention in the region has never done any good to the region. In the past, efforts to bring regime change through external support befell misery and turbulence. Be it Mosaddeqs regime in Iran, or Saddam Hussains government in Iraq, attempts to disrupt the natural course of events has hurt peace and security of the region. While berating Obamas decision to withdraw from Iraq, one must not forget Bushs policy of conquering Middle East to reshape its larger political context that engendered chaos and weakened the political order. Undermining whatever progressed Obama administration has made to retrieve American image as the protector of Rule-based order, Pompeo outlined the U.S. strategy which envisaged squeezing Iran from within and supporting Israel and other autocratic regimes at the expense of American tradition. The Palestinian question, central to the regions security, and Khashoggis killing, pivotal to American comportment abroad, couldnt receive the attention of U.S. Secretary of the State. In practice, Obamas foreign policy agenda offered a delicate balance between gestures of Idealism and carefully veiled Realist face of policy. Amidst this struggle, he was keen to revive the multilateral essence of global order. He adamantly rejected the language of hatred, abuse, threat and coercion. All this radically differs how trump views the Middle East. Chastising Ayatollah of Iran, reversing Obamas bid to reshape American perception of Muslim world and eroding the foundations of two-state solution to the Israel-Palestine conflict reflects how Trump has changed U.S Middle East policy. Banking giant Santander is to shut three branches in Northern Ireland as the company launches a restructuring bid, although it is hopeful staff redundancies can be avoided. With around 25 stores across the region, branches in Antrim, Ballymoney and Belfast's Newtownards Road are among a list of 140 earmarked for closure - with the cuts affecting 1,270 employees UK-wide. Read More Some 25 people are employed in the three branches set to close here. The lender said yesterday that it hoped the staff members could be redeployed to the Belfast contact centre, where there are currently 68 vacancies. Last year the bank closed four branches across Belfast, located at Donegall Square East, Shaftesbury Square, Queen's University and Ulster University's Jordanstown campus. The latest additions to the list will close by June 20. The announcement comes just two months after Santander revealed that its pre-tax profits took a 15% hit in 2018, falling to 1.39bn. In a statement yesterday morning, the company said that the closures were in response to how customers were choosing to bank. The number of transactions carried out via Santander branches has fallen by 23% over the past three years, while transactions via digital channels have grown by 99% over the same period. The bank has consulted with trade unions on the closures and will seek to find alternative roles for employees affected wherever possible. It expects to be able to redeploy around a third of all UK staff affected. Despite the closures, Santander said it will invest 55m in 100 branches over the next two years as part of the restructuring plan. The future network of 614 stores will be made up of a combination of larger branches. The lender said it would focus on personal service, convenience and community engagement. All Santander current and business account holders can also bank using one of more than 11,000 Post Office branches across the UK. Susan Allen, head of retail and business banking at Santander, said: "The way our customers are choosing to bank with us has changed dramatically in recent years, with more and more customers using online and mobile channels. "As a result, we have had to take some very difficult decisions over our less visited branches and those where we have other branches in close proximity. "We will support customers of closing branches to find alternative ways to bank with us that best suit their individual needs. "We continue to believe that branches have a vital role to play and we will be refurbishing 100 of our branches over the next two years. "We are confident that, following these changes, we will have the right branch network to serve our customers' changing needs and we expect the size of our network to remain stable for the foreseeable future." Bombardier has said it is "imperative" a solution is found to allow for an "orderly Brexit". It comes after the head of Airbus branded the handling of Brexit as a disgrace, warning his company could pull out of the UK if its ability to compete on the global stage is harmed by a no-deal departure. Read More Airbus last year took out a 50.01% share in the bombardier-built C-Series jet last year which has its wings manufactured in Belfast. It has since rebranded the aircraft as the A220. Bombardier said continued uncertainty around Brexit "did not help business". "Bombardier has been advocating for an orderly Brexit," the company said in a statement. "This continued uncertainty, and the real prospect of leaving the EU with no deal, does not help with business planning. It is imperative that Parliament finds a resolution that works for UK business." Tom Enders, chief executive of aerospace giant Airbus which employs more than 14,000 people in the UK with around 110,000 more jobs connected in supply chains, said crashing out of Europe could force the company to make potentially very harmful decisions about its UK operations. Please dont listen to the Brexiteers madness which asserts that because we have huge plants here we will not move and we will always be here. They are wrong. Tom Enders He said there would be plenty of countries around the world that would love to build parts of his planes. It is a disgrace that, more than two years after the result of the 2016 referendum, businesses are still unable to plan properly for the future," he said. We, along with many of our peers, have repeatedly called for clarity, but we still have no idea what is really going on here. Brexit is threatening to destroy a century of development based on education, research and human capital, he said. If theres a no-deal Brexit, we at Airbus will have to make potentially very harmful decisions for the UK. Expand Close Airbus has launched the C Series jet renaming it the A220. Pic: Ryan McAleer, Belfast Telegraph Business Correspondent, in Toulouse / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Airbus has launched the C Series jet renaming it the A220. Pic: Ryan McAleer, Belfast Telegraph Business Correspondent, in Toulouse Airbuss UK operations generate around 6 billion of turnover annually, making it the countrys largest aerospace company. At its 25 sites it builds components for a broad spectrum of products from planes to helicopters and satellites. Please dont listen to the Brexiteers madness which asserts that because we have huge plants here we will not move and we will always be here. They are wrong, Mr Enders said. Of course it is not possible to pick up and move our large UK factories to other parts of the world immediately. However, aerospace is a long-term business and we could be forced to redirect future investments in the event of a no-deal Brexit. And, make no mistake, there are plenty of countries out there who would love to build the wings for Airbus aircraft. Weeks after a pediatric neurosurgeon and plastic surgeon filed a lawsuit against a Nebraska-based hospital alleging wrongful suspension, the hospital has filed a 16-page complaint disputing the accusations, according to a WOWT report. Four things to know: 1. Pediatric neurosurgeon Mark Puccioni, MD, and plastic surgeon Jason Miller, MD, sued Omaha, Neb.-based Children's Hospital & Medical Center, alleging they were wrongfully suspended after expressing concerns about a colleague whose patient died during surgery. 2. When the lawsuit was filed, Children's Hospital released a statement strongly disagreeing with the allegations, and now it has filed a response that claims the allegations are baseless. 3. In the response, the hospital showed support for its CEO Richard Azizkhan, MD, who is linked to 528 lawsuits related to the time he spent as surgeon-in-chief of Cincinnati Children's Hospital, and Adam Conley, MD, the surgeon that Drs. Puccioni and Miller expressed concerns about. 4. The response states allegations against the hospital are unfounded, although patient confidentiality prevented the hospital from making more information about the patient's death available. Littleton (N.H.) Regional Healthcare plans to launch and expand new programs in 2019, according to the Caledonian Record. The hospital will focus on spine surgery as well as behavioral health. Littleton Regional Healthcare President Bob Nutter highlighted the new spine program during the hospital's annual meeting. In 2015, The Leapfrog Group named Littleton Regional Healthcare among 24 top rural hospitals. Littleton Regional Healthcare is a 25-bed critical care hospital located roughly 70 miles from the Canadian border. Moody's expects trade disputes between the U.S. and China to have a disruptive affect on medical device companies. As stated in its quarterly report: "Rising trade tariffs are already having a negative impact on costs." The report cites BD's estimate that proposed tariffs rising from 10 percent to 25 percent on some products between the two countries could mean an incremental loss of $45 million, representing 1 percent of the BD's EBITDA. "While negative, we believe the cost will be manageable. If tariffs become a permanent part of the trade landscape, we believe medical device companies could adapt their supply chains by shifting production to lower-tariff locations, although that would be a time-consuming process," states the report. However, increased tensions could lead to retaliatory trade restrictions that would ban imports from certain countries or additional rising costs. Several global medical device companies have expressed concern over the escalating tensions between these countries, including Johnson & Johnson, the parent company of DePuy Synthes. In Johnson & Johnson's 2018 earnings report conference call Jan. 22, CEO Alex Gorsky touched on global trade and the relationship between the U.S. and China. "As a global healthcare company, Johnson & Johnson relies on free trade and open markets to bring its products to patients and consumers around the world. We are hopeful that an agreement can be reached with China that addresses concerns and creates a long-term framework for partnership in the future," Mr. Gorsky said, as transcribed by Seeking Alpha. "We'll continue to work with government officials across the globe because fair and equitable trade is in everyone's best interest, not just for the companies, but for the consumer. We will also continue to monitor developments closely on this front as we expect this to be an issue in motion for some time." Medical device companies are also facing a potential reinstatement of the 2.3 percent medical device excise tax, which would be triggered again on Jan. 1, 2020, without intervention from both houses of Congress. Using Medtronic's Bryan cervical disc in cervical disc arthroplasty procedures can preserve and maintain motion longer compared to performing anterior cervical decompression and fusion procedures, according to a study in Spine. Five things to know: 1. The FDA investigation compared cervical disc arthroplasty with ACDF for single-level patients 21 years or older with symptomatic cervical disc disease who had failed conservative care. 2. At the 10-year follow-up, 128 cervical disc arthroplasty and 104 ACDF patients were available for evaluation. Overall, 81.3 percent of patients who received the Bryan cervical disc and 66.3 percent of patients who received ACDF had successful procedures. 3. The rate of second surgeries at adjacent levels was lower for the cervical disc arthroplasty group 9.7 percent versus 15.8 percent for ACDF patients. 4. The average angular motions at index level for the Bryan disc and ACDF were 8.69 degrees and 0.60 degrees, respectively. 5. Cervical disc arthroplasty may have better long-term success compared to fusion, the study authors concluded. Compared to last year, CEOs are more pessimistic about global economic growth in 2019 and are turning inward to focus on immediate business threats and skills gaps, according to PwC's 22nd Annual Global CEO Survey. The survey includes responses from 1,378 CEOs from across the globe. It was conducted in September and October 2018. Three key takeaways: 1. More CEOs are pessimistic about growth this year. While most CEOs expect global economic growth to increase this year, 29 percent of those surveyed said they expect to see a decline marking a 436 percent increase over the 5 percent of chief executives who expected a decline in growth in 2018. Along with that, just 35 percent of CEOs said they are "very confident" in revenue prospects for the next 12 months. PwC notes this is the lowest confidence level since 2009. Comparing past surveys to historical data, PwC notes a strong correlation between CEO expectations for revenue growth and actual global GDP growth. 2. CEOs are concerned the global populist sentiment will hinder business. The chief executives surveyed named over-regulation, policy uncertainty and availability of key skills as their top three threats to business this year. For comparison, CEOs in 2018 said over-regulation, terrorism and geopolitical uncertainty were their top three threats. In North America, concerns vary slightly from the global norm in that cyber threats are the No. 1 concern for CEOs, followed by trade conflicts and protectionism. Amid this sentiment, CEOs plan to turn inward and focus on operational efficiencies, organic growth and new products or services to drive revenue this year. 3. Skills and information gaps persist. Despite investing billions in data analytics, most chief executives still find they do not have the information they need. For example, 94 percent of respondents said data about consumers is important or critical to business, but just 15 percent said the data they have about what consumers want or need is comprehensive. This vast gap in knowledge has not improved over the past 10 years. In 2009, 94 percent of CEOs thought consumer data was important and just 21 percent said they have comprehensive information available. Skills gaps may be partly to blame the No. 1 skills gap CEOs named was the inability to effectively innovate. Chief executives are looking to artificial intelligence as the next big catalyst for change. Notably more CEOs agreed than disagreed that AI would have bigger impact than the internet. Read more here. More articles on strategy: CEOs, are your chief strategy officers set up for success? 4 takeaways 8 groups, 1 voice: Kaiser Permanente rebrands physician group Why Henry Ford Health System is building an 'ArtBlock' People are looking to CEOs to lead change, rather than waiting for the government to require it, according to the 2019 Edelman Trust Barometer, an annual gauge of global opinion. This year marks what Edelman believes is a "profound" change of attitude, as people currently put significantly more trust in their employers than nongovernmental organizations, government, business or media. Employers had a 75 percent trust level, compared to 57 percent for NGOs, 56 percent for business, 48 percent for government and 47 percent for media. "The last decade has seen a loss of faith in traditional authority figures and institutions," Edelman President and CEO Richard Edelman said in a press release. "More recently, people have lost confidence in the social platforms that fostered peer-to-peer trust. These forces have led people to shift their trust to the relationships within their control, most notably their employers." Here are a few takeaways for employers: Most people (67 percent) expect employers to take action on social issues. However, 73 percent of people also believed companies could improve profits while improving socioeconomic conditions, which is up from 64 percent last year. The majority of people believe CEOs can positively affect pay equity, discrimination and job training. Employees who trust their employers are more engaged and more likely to advocate for their organization and remain committed to the job. Find more information here. More articles on strategy: CEOs, are your chief strategy officers set up for success? 4 takeaways 8 groups, 1 voice: Kaiser Permanente rebrands physician group Why Henry Ford Health System is building an 'ArtBlock' Columbus, Ohio-based Mount Carmel Health System executives are apologizing for the system's delayed response after an investigation into a former physician's prescribing practices identified seven additional near-death hospital patients who received excessive doses of painkillers, bringing the number of affected patients to 34, The Columbus Dispatch reports. Three patients received excessive medication doses from William Husel, MD, after the system received its first formal complaint about the physician Oct. 25, said Ed Lamb, Mount Carmel's president and CEO. "We should have begun a more expedited process to investigate and consider immediate removal of Dr. Husel from patient care," Mr. Lamb said in a statement. "We are sorry for this tragedy, and we will continue to investigate how we responded to this report and whether there is any other information that should have led us to investigate sooner into Dr. Husel's practices." Dan Roth, MD, executive vice president and chief clinical officer of Livonia, Mich.-based Trinity Health, Mount Carmel's parent company, said Dr. Husel's intentions are still unclear, but noted it does not seem he administered the high doses through error. Dr. Husel was removed from patient care Nov. 21 after Mount Carmel received two more complaints. The hospital fired him Dec. 5 and placed six pharmacists and 14 nurses on administrative leave during the investigation. All 34 patients died, and Mr. Lamb said the doses given were potentially fatal in 28 of the deaths. As of Jan. 23, four lawsuits have been filed related to the investigation. At least 12 U.S. residents who had surgeries in Tijuana, Mexico, returned with a rare and potentially deadly strain of antibiotic-resistant bacteria, according to The Washington Post. Half of the 12 people who returned from Tijuana with confirmed cases were hospitalized when they came back to Arkansas, Arizona, Oregon, Utah, Texas, Washington and West Virginia, CDC officials said. Most patients had weight-loss surgery. Eight had surgery at Grand View Hospital in Tijuana. The rest of the patients had surgery at other Tijuana clinics the CDC did not name. The federal agency is investigating two more cases. Most patients were women in their 30s and 40s who had surgeries between last August and December. "We pounce when we see them [extremely antibiotic-resistant infections] because we know they can smolder and spread," said Maroya Spalding Walters, PhD, an epidemiologist leading the CDC team investigating the outbreak. "And no one may recognize it until this becomes an out-of-control wildfire." An unidentified Oregon man died in November, and it is unclear whether the infection caused his death since he had other health issues, state and federal health officials said. The Tijuana outbreak prompted the CDC to urge travelers to avoid surgery at Grand View Hospital until Mexican authorities confirm its safety. Hospital officials did not respond tothe Post's request comment. Although Mexican authorities said they temporarily closed the hospital's operating unit in December, the facility has since reopened and resumed surgeries, according to patients posting on its website. More articles on clinical leadership and infection control: Pharmacist follow-up calls help patients after hospital stay, UK study finds Patient safety advocates back laws to improve maternal hospital care Ohio system: 34 patients received excessive pain meds from former physician Parliament members from Ak Zhiol parliamentary faction suggested renaming the Republic of Kazakhstan into the Kazakh Republic. According to them, it will recover justice and a native name of the country. Experts believe the statement is a political message which can lead to ambiguous consequences. On January 23rd, Azat Peruashev, the leader of Ak Zhol in the parliament, addressed Prime Minister of Kazakhstan Bakytzhan Sagintayev to consider renaming the country into the Kazakh Republic. We all know about deep historical roots of independent Kazakhstan, about innovations of our ancestors who influenced the world civilization. Our President wrote about that in his article Seven Edges of the Great Steppe. Due to the Mangilik El idea, the 550th anniversary of the Kazakh Khanate was marked at the top level, his address said. Peruashev points out that in 2020, Kazakhstan will mark the 100th anniversary of establishment of the Kazakh Republic in the USSR. It was a platform for nation-building of future independent Kazakhstan. The Azerbaijani Republic marked its 100th anniversary last year on the same ground. According to an official order of Russian President, the 100th anniversary of Bashkortostan will be marked in 2019. Thus, Ak Zhol Democratic Party suggests paying a special attention to the 100th anniversary of the Kazakh Republic and dignified marking the date, Azat Peruashev said at the parliamentary session. He thinks that giving the republic its native name, Kazakh, will not only recover justice, but also encourage the unity and friendship between our compatriots of all ethnic groups. He also said that in 2014 President Nazarbayev raised the topic of renaming Kazakhstan into the Kazakh Republic Kazak Eli. El means a state, motherland, and birthplace. It means the suggested name is directly translated as the state of Kazakhs. Nazarbayev explained the initiative by promotion of the countrys image. The ending -stan is associated with neighboring countries and Afghanistan in investors and tourists minds. However, according to experts, today the rebranding idea is built on hammering ideology on peoples heads and searching for national identity. The period of renaming cities and towns is almost over in the country. Soon, instead of Pavlodar, we will see Kureku on the map. At the same time, social networks users majorly negatively react at the countrys renaming. Some say that its a diversionary tactic to avoid talking about economic problems in the country. At least, the majority believes life wont be better in the Kazakh Republic. A user nicknamed Aman wrote: Dear parliament members and senators! Please get busy! Nothing will change with a change of our countrys name. Its naive to think that the initiative belongs to one of not very important Kazakh politicians. Azat Peruashev recently met the nations leader. The suggestion is not improvisation. Peruashev is a man of the system. Firstly, he is not risky. Secondly, he attentively listens to the presidents office. We see studying of a public opinion within the framework of the main ideological document Rukhani Zhangyru Looking Forward and President Nazarbayevs article Seven Edges of the Great Steppe, Andrei Grozin, the director of the Middle Asia and Kazakhstan Department of the CIS Institute, told Vestnik Kavkaza. He says that the authorities pull out the agenda of National Patriots. In a major win for generic drugmakers, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld disputed language in a patent law that could make patents easier to cancel, STAT reports. The issue centered on the America Invents Act, which made several changes to U.S. patent law in 2011 that prevent companies from patenting an invention if it was "on sale" for more than a year before filing a patent. The initial case was brought by Swiss drugmaker Helsinn Healthcare over its drug Aloxi, which treats nausea caused by chemotherapy. In 2001, Helsinn entered into agreements with MGI Pharma, giving the Minnesota company the right to distribute, promote and market the drug in the U.S. Two years after that agreement, Helsinn filed a provisional patent application. In 2011, the company began facing generic threat from Teva Pharmaceuticals. To prevent Teva from entering the market with a generic version, Helsinn filed a lawsuit for infringing its patent. Teva fought back, however, using the disputed language in patent law to argue Helsinn's patent was invalid because it was filed two years after the MGI agreement had been reached and that the deal constituted a publicly known sale. The district court initially ruled that the "on sale" provision did not apply because an invention is not "on sale" unless it is made available to the public. This didn't happen with MGI Pharma deal, because the company agreed to keep the deal confidential. The federal court reversed this decision, saying that the details of the sale don't need to be publicly disclosed in order for it to be classified as "on sale" under the America Invents Act. The Supreme Court, in a unanimous decision, ruled that an invention sold to a third party under a confidentiality agreement means that the invention was "on sale." This means any sale or offer, whether public or not, can lead to an invalidated patent. Read the full report here. Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Barker unveiled a plan Jan. 23 to rein in the rising cost of prescription drugs in the state by allowing direct negotiation with drugmakers and increasing state oversight of expensive medications, according to The Boston Globe. The governor is seeking authority to negotiate lower drug prices for MassHealth, the state's Medicaid program. Unless state law is changed, administrators for MassHealth can't require pharmaceutical companies to negotiate. And the proposal goes a step further than permitting direct negotiation. If talks between drugmakers and MassHealth are unsuccessful, the administration wants to refer the expensive medication to the Health Policy Commission for review. Currently, the commission serves as a watchdog for hospital costs. The proposal would grant the panel more oversight of drug prices as well. Under the proposal, the commission could require pharmaceutical companies to justify their prices in documents or public hearings. From there, if the drug price is deemed unreasonable the case could be referred to the attorney general's office for investigation. Baker administration officials said that they could save about $80 million in the next fiscal year if direct negotiations were required. The pharmaceutical industry immediately objected to the proposal, arguing that "dangerous price controls" could limit a patient's access to medications. Passport Health Plan, a health insurance company in Kentucky, may see its reserves fall below state requirements by midyear, CEO Mark Carter said during a meeting with lawmakers Jan. 23, according to local news station WDRB. Passport Health Plan, which manages Medicaid coverage for 300,000 beneficiaries in Kentucky, is disputing reimbursement rates with Republican Gov. Matt Bevin's Medicaid agency. The agency plans to cut reimbursement to managed care plans starting July 1. Passport Health Plan expects to see its payments fall by $60 million in 2018 and $144 million in 2019. During the meeting, Mr. Carter denied that Passport is "on the verge of bankruptcy"; however, he said the cuts may force the health plan into insolvency by the Kentucky Department of Insurance as soon as mid-2019. Republican State Sen. Ralph Alvarado is requesting more information from Passport, including the amount of its cash reserves, according to WDRB. He also said a hearing will be scheduled to address Passport Health Plan's dispute with Kentucky's Medicaid department. More articles on payers: Arizona Medicaid work requirements approved Hackensack Meridian drops ER copays, deductibles for government workers 76% of physicians oppose New York City mayor's healthcare for all plan, poll finds The former director of outreach programs at Larkin Community Hospital in South Miami, Fla., faces up to five years in prison after pleading guilty in Florida federal court Jan. 23 to her role in a $1 billion fraud scheme. Four things to know: 1. Odette Barcha, who pleaded guilty to conspiring to defraud the federal government and paying and receiving healthcare kickbacks, was one of three defendants charged in an indictment unsealed in July 2016. 2. According to the indictment, Philip Esformes operated a network of more than 30 skilled nursing homes and assisted living facilities in Florida. Prosecutors alleged he and his co-conspirators admitted many Medicare and Medicaid beneficiaries to the facilities, even if they did not qualify for skilled nursing home care or for placement in an assisted living facility. Once admitted, the patients received medically unnecessary care that was billed to Medicare and Medicaid. 3. Ms. Barcha allegedly had physicians at Larkin Community Hospital discharge patients to facilities owned by Mr. Esformes, who paid kickbacks for those admissions, according to McKnight's Long-Term Care News. 4. Mr. Esformes is in prison awaiting trial, which is slated to begin Feb. 11. Arnaldo Carmouze, who was charged in the fraud case with Mr. Esformes and Ms. Barcha, pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit healthcare fraud in early January. He faces up to 10 years in prison. More articles on legal and regulatory issues: 10 employees hit NewYork-Presbyterian with $15M discrimination suit Ex-pharmacy owner gets 3 years in prison for healthcare fraud 38 hospitals sue HHS over site-neutral payment policy Milwaukee-based Advocate Aurora Health has signed an agreement to take full ownership over Bay Area Medical Center in Marinette, Wis., which will be renamed Aurora Medical Center - Bay Area. Since 2014 the medical center has operated as a joint venture with Aurora Health Care, which merged with Advocate Health Care last year. The deal is still subject to regulatory approval and is expected to be finalized by midyear. The agreement calls for Advocate Aurora Health to contribute $25 million toward the creation of a foundation that will support health and wellness initiatives in the communities served by Bay Area Medical Center. "A full transition under the Advocate Aurora Health umbrella is a natural evolution given our common vision and values about high quality, patient-centered care," said Ed Harding, president of Bay Area Medical Center. "This move will ensure the strength and stability of the medical center as all providers are navigating through uncertainties in the healthcare industry. The community will benefit from a wide array of coordinated services in the existing Advocate Aurora Health footprint, and patients and families can rest assured they'll continue to receive the highest quality care." JPMorgan Chase Chairman and CEO Jamie Dimon told CNBC the company's joint venture with Amazon and Berkshire Hathaway is focused on building out its team and strategy to tackle skyrocketing healthcare costs. Mr. Dimon spoke with CNBC's "Squawk Box" program while attending the World Economic Forum, which is taking place Jan. 22-25 in Davos, Switzerland. He said that while the U.S. has "the best [healthcare] in the world," Americans also suffer from some of the worst outcomes. "With healthcare, we have the best in the world doctors, hospitals, pharma, you name it but we also have some of the worst outcomes. Obesity, wellness programs that could work better, the opioid problem, 40 million uninsured. So you know, to me, you look at the whole issue and what should we do about it," he said. Mr. Dimon said the company's joint venture is tackling just that, but that its current goal is to build up its team and strategize on how to properly address the issue. He said health spending represents almost 18 percent of the United States' gross domestic product an unsustainable figure. "If you look at it as a competitive issue, that is a huge impediment to American business over the next 50 years," he said, adding that the joint venture is approaching the issue as a long-term goal. "We don't expect any announcement anytime soon. We will share if we come up with anything good, but we want to start small. Test a bunch of different things," Mr. Dimon said. To access the full report, click here. Charles A. Peck, MD, CEO of Piedmont Athens (Ga.) Regional Medical Center, is resigning, according to an Athens Banner-Herald report. Four things to know: 1. Dr. Peck is leaving to once again work at Navigant Consulting. He was previously Navigant's managing director. 2. He became CEO of Piedmont Athens in March 2015. 3. During his tenure, the hospital's quality performance improved, and it exceeded its cost-savings goals. The hospital is currently in the midst of a $171 million expansion and renovation project. 4. Dr. Peck will join Navigant March 1, but will remain as the hospital's interim CEO through May 31. Naples, Fla.-based NCH Healthcare System President and CEO Allen Weiss, MD, resigned Jan. 23, days after staff physicians issued a vote of no confidence against him, according to a Naples Daily News report. Kevin Cooper, the health system's chief of staff, also quit. The board of trustees "voted unanimously to accept the resignations of Dr. Allen Weiss and Kevin Cooper, effective immediately," a spokesperson said in a statement obtained by Naples Daily News. The resignations came just one day after two rallies were held in Naples. One rally was in support of the health system's leadership, while the other protested the executive team and the organization's admissions policy. Physicians voted "no confidence" in Dr. Weiss Jan. 17 due to concerns over a new admissions policy that prevented physicians outside of NCH from writing prescription orders. Staff had also opposed an admissions policy last summer that eliminated admission privileges for independent physicians on three floors at the health system's flagship hospital. The admissions policy is now "being changed to be inclusive of all physicians on the medical staff," the statement obtained by Naples Daily News noted. Dr. Weiss has led the hospital since 2006, prior to which he was president of the health system for six years. He serves on the American Hospital Association board and is a past chair of the Florida Hospital Association. He previously had a solo practice in rheumatology, internal medicine and geriatrics. Mr. Cooper joined the NCH management team in 1995, prior to which he was an attorney with a Fort Myers, Fla.-based law firm. Phil Dutcher, NCH's COO, will take over as interim CEO. The board will begin searching for a permanent leader. President Donald Trump has vowed to end surprise medical bills that leave patients with high, unexpected out-of-pocket costs, according to The Hill. The president spoke on the issue Jan. 23 during a roundtable at the White House, which included patients. "We're here today to discuss how the healthcare system too often harms people with unfair surprises. They have some really surprises in a very negative sense: medical bills and the like," he said. "The pricing is hurting patients, and we've stopped a lot of it, and we're going to stop all of it. It is very important to me." President Trump also talked about the "big [sticker] shock" that comes with surprise medical bills, which may occur when a patient receives care from an out-of-network provider at an in-network facility. He said patients "should know that the real price and what's going on with the real prices of procedures." The president's remarks come amid legislative efforts related to surprise medical bills. In September, a bipartisan group of senators unveiled the Protecting Patients from Surprise Medical Bills Act. Democrat Sen. Maggie Hassan of New Hampshire has also introduced surprise billing legislation. Last month, Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La., said federal lawmakers on both sides of the aisle are moving closer to a deal to address the issue. More articles on healthcare finance: Nevada governor wants state funding to help residents resolve ER billing disputes Washington insurance commissioner proposes legislation to prevent surprise medical bills RCM tip of the day: Regularly compare physician charges, clinical notes UPMC Susquehanna Williamsport (Pa.), formerly Williamsport Regional Medical Center, has ended its legal fight over millions it says it is owed in Medicare reimbursement, according to a PennLive report. The hospital reportedly tried to recover $5 million in Medicare reimbursement from fiscal year 2017. But UPMC Susquehanna spokesperson Tyler Wagner told PennLive the hospital will drop efforts to be reimbursed and won't appeal its case to the U.S. Supreme Court. That decision came after a panel of a Philadelphia federal appeals court determined it lacked jurisdiction to review a Medicare Geographic Classification Review Board decision, according to the report. The CMS' Medicare Geographic Classification Review Board is responsible for determining whether a hospital being paid under the inpatient prospective payment system can reclassify to a higher wage area to increase its reimbursement. The board denied the medical center's request for reclassification from the statewide rural to the Bloomsburg-Berwick wage index, which prompted the hospital to file a lawsuit against HHS, CMS the review board and its representatives. Mr. Wagner told PennLive the hospital received about $5 million less for fiscal year 2017 as a result of the denial. More articles on healthcare finance: Trump pledges to stop surprise medical bills during roundtable RIP Medical Debt founders pen book on US healthcare cost burden, solutions One-third of employees don't understand their medical bills, survey finds Seven national hospital associations released an agenda for healthcare interoperability Jan. 22. America's Essential Hospitals, American Hospital Association, Association of American Medical Colleges, Catholic Health Association of the United States, Children's Hospital Association, Federation of American Hospitals and the National Association for Behavioral Healthcare joined together to urge healthcare stakeholders such as hospitals, clinicians, insurers, EHR vendors and government agencies to work together to overcome challenges to seamless data exchange in the industry. "We see interoperability in action all around us," Rick Pollack, president and CEO of the AHA, said in a news release. "Mobile phones can call each other regardless of make, model or operating system. The hospital field has made good headway, but it's time to complete the job." Six elements the hospital groups said provide the foundation for healthcare interoperability: 1. Security and privacy 2. Efficient, usable solutions 3. Cost effective, enhanced infrastructure 4. Standards that work 5. Connecting beyond EHRs 6. Shared best practices "Hospitals are joining together to support improving interoperability because it is the key to assuring the best for our patients," said Chip Kahn, president and CEO of the Federation of American Hospitals. "Quality care depends on having the right information at the right time, so our patient's records need to be available in the hospital or wherever our patients receive care." To download the "Sharing Data, Saving Lives: The Hospital Agenda for Interoperability" report, click here. HIPAA Journal released its December 2018 healthcare data breach report, which showed December was one of the months with the lowest incidence of breaches. The key details to know: 1. A total of 516,370 records were exposed, stolen or impermissibly disclosed through 23 breaches in December 2018. The number of breaches was down from 34 in November. 2. The largest healthcare breach affected Adams County, Wis., compromising the information of 258,120 individuals. 3. The top causes of breaches included 13 hacking/IT incidents, seven unauthorized access/disclosure incidents and two incidents of theft. 4. Minnesota had more breaches than any other state, with four. Arizona had the second most, with three. A man was arrested late Wednesday after holding his girlfriend at knife-point and barricading himself inside a home in the Memorial area, Houston police said. While barricaded in the home, the man threatened to kill himself with the knife, turned the stereo up to a high volume and, at one point, rode a full-sized motorcycle around his living room, police said. The man, who was not immediately identified in a press briefing at the scene, was arrested on a charge of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. Houston police officers were first called to the home at 7 p.m. in the 800 block of North Wilcrest based on a reported assault. According to Metro Video, the couple got into an argument earlier in the evening because she threw his new gun out the car window. The argument continued at the home, where the man threatened her with a knife, police said. Responding Houston police officers secured the woman on the scene. She suffered a minor cut on her forehead, police said. The suspect, meanwhile, stayed in the house and refused to come outside. He told police he was going to use the knife to kill himself or the officers if they came inside, police said. "He would come to the window, yell at the officers a little bit and then go back inside," Houston Police Lt. Larry Crowson said in a press briefing on the scene. The Houston police SWAT team was called to the home. Before their arrival, the man turned up his stereo and rode his motorcycle in the living room, police said. When SWAT arrived, they set up a perimeter and attempted to negotiate with the man over a loudspeaker. The man eventually stepped out of his back door, and officers deployed bean bag rounds to take him into custody around 11:50 p.m., police said. Julian Gill is a digital reporter in Houston. Read him on our breaking news site, Chron.com, and on our subscriber site, houstonchronicle.com. | julian.gill@chron.com | NEWS WHEN YOU NEED IT: Text CHRON to 77453 to receive breaking news alerts by text message | Sign up for breaking news alerts delivered to your email here. 1. Wild times The Wild & Scenic Film Festival, one of the largest environmental film festivals in the U.S., returns to Houston for its fifth edition Wednesday and Thursday. The 20 short documentaries include: Brothers of Climbing, about a group looking to bring more diversity to the sport; The Bat Rescuer, about Cory Quirk, who runs NorCal Bats; and Where the Wild Things Play, about women in adventure sports. When: 7 p.m. Wednesday and Thursday Where: River Oaks Theatre, 3601 W. Gray Details: $20 general admission; cechouston.org Cary Darling 2. In flight For nearly 30 years, the Bottle Rockets have roared out of little Festus, Mo., with a bracing brand of rootsy rock. But unlike other great bar bands, this one has Brian Henneman at the helm, a guy who writes some of the smartest songs about working-class folks struggling to get along. Things didnt break for the Bottle Rockets the way they did for the Drive-by Truckers, but fans of the latter should absolutely check out the former. Theyre touring behind Bit Logic, another slab of smart songwriting riding on heavy guitar riffs. When: 8 p.m. Tuesday Where: Main Street Crossing, 111 W. Main, Tomball Details: $20; 281-290-0431; mainstreetcrossing.com 3. Night ride The UGK Night Light Ride is pretty much exactly what it says. 3rd Ward Tours has plotted a route through Third Ward for a bicycle tour soundtracked by Port Arthurs legendary Underground Kingz. Also, there will be night lights so nobody gets run over. When: 6 p.m. Saturday Where: 3rd Ward Tours, 2301 Elgin Details: $11-$23.50; eventbrite.com Andrew Dansby 4. Jazz festival A graduate of Houstons High School for the Performing and Visual Arts, Helen Sung was all set up for a life playing classical piano until she got to college and decided she wanted to play jazz. Despite the pivot, she quickly took to the new music and is a bright young star in improvised music. Her new album, Sung With Words, includes music written to accompany text by poet Dana Gioia. Shell headline the Trinity Jazz Festival with her quintet, which includes the great drummer (and fellow HSPVA alum) Kendrick Scott. The event will include an interview with Houston writer Chris Becker, who wrote Freedom of Expression: Interviews With Women in Jazz. When: 6 p.m. Saturday Where: Trinity Church, 1015 Holman Details: $10-$50; 713-528-4100, trinitymidtown.org Andrew Dansby 5. Shook up Sarah Shook and the Disarmers mix raw country music and punk rock, making for barbed songs that make her sound as though she got wise about the world the hard way. Her latest album, Years, was a standout last year. When: 7 p.m. Saturday Where: McGonigels Mucky Duck, 2425 Norfolk Details: $20-$22; 713-528-5999, mcgonigels.com Andrew Dansby 6. Auto tune The Houston Auto Show presented by the Houston Chronicle features more than 800 brand new cars from 30 auto makers. Classic cars are also part of the show. And the Ride & Drive Lounge on the show floor allows ticket-holders to get behind the wheel of their dream car. If youre in the market for a new car, you wont want to miss the show. When: Noon - 9.30 p.m. Wednesday-Friday; 10 a.m.-9.30 p.m. Saturday; 10 a.m.-7 p.m. Sunday. Where: NRG Center, 1 NRG Park, Houston Details: $12 for adults; $5 for children ages 6 to 12. Children under 6 are admitted free when accompanied by an adult. Houstonautoshow.com Melissa Aguilar 6. Going with the Floe The Seldoms, a boldly physical Chicago dance company whose works explore contemporary issues, is in Houston for a few days examining the effects of Hurricane Harvey during the development of Floe, a new dance theater work-in-progress that explores madness, delusion, oil extraction, the vanishing of Arctic ice and rising sea levels. The Rothko Chapel and DiverseWorks present an excerpt, Dancing on Thin Ice. When: 7 p.m. Thursday Where: Rothko Chapel, 1409 Sul Ross Details: $20 suggested donation; rothkochapel.org Molly Glentzer Mavis Pippin, her white hair elegantly coiffed into a delicate updo, spoke of loved ones as she sat in the Lumberton home where she raised her family. Its now home to her grandson, his wife and their six children, the plaque on the edifice declaring House of Pippin established November 2, 1945. As she speaks, she gestures softly, but constantly with her right hand. It seems Pippin is always moving, a feat for someone about to celebrate their 92 birthday. Since breaking a leg three years ago, Pippin has lived in Spring with her daughter Donnie McCoy, but still considers Southeast Texas home. Its where she raised her family, and where she and her progeny will gather to celebrate her birthday in February. I dont really watch much TV, she said. If I have any spare time after the things that I do in the home, I usually do puzzles. I love to work puzzles thinking and doing I think the puzzles help my memory. The things Pippin does in the home range from laundry to mopping and ironing and, of course, her hobby. In her free time Pippin sews dresses and bags for underprivileged children in Haiti. I love it, Pippin said. Its not something that I have to make myself do or go I dont want to do this, or I dont want to do that. An accomplished seamstress, Pippin has being sewing all of her life. She made clothes for her children, even sewing dresses for her own mother in her later years. Over the last two years Pippin has made more than 1,000 dresses. Through Champion Forest Baptist Church in Spring, she is given donated fabric which she then expertly irons and hems. Hers is just one part in an assembly line of sorts, where others finish the dresses she makes by adding the sleeves and a button to the front for flair. Without thimbles, her practiced fingers make quick work, precisely folding and pressing the dress into a crisp, even hem. My daughter tries to give me the measurer and I dont need it, Pippin says, lifting her iron, checking to insure the crease has set. Ive done this enough that I just know. This is her way, her daughters say. The family has been trying to re-create her chicken and dumplings recipe, but Mavis doesnt use measurements. She, like so many others from her generation, know how to make things from practice and intuition, and use terms like a little or a pinch in lieu of teaspoons or ounces. You get a feel for it, She said, pulling perfectly straight lines with her sewing machine. McCoy will switch the thread and bobbin for Pippin as she changes between projects. I always like to match the thread to the fabric, she said. Pippin can make a dress in about ten minutes, and often sews bags as well to send to the children once she has gone through the donations from the church. Her said daughter she has trouble keeping up with Pippin. Theyre my heart, Pippin said, looking at photos of young Haitian girls in her dresses. She calls them her children, and said she is grateful to be able to give them something made with love. I saw a picture on the TV not long ago of one of the little girls, she said. It had been raining in Haiti and the water was over the street and there she was, barefooted walking in the middle of the road with one of my little dresses on. Seeing the child in a dress she had made motivated Pippin to continue her work through the church, and she has no plans to slow down anytime soon. They dont have the same opportunities over there, she said, so I like doing my little part. haley.bruyn@beaumontenterprise.com twitter.com/HaleyWrites_BE OYO Hotels, South Asia's largest and world's fastest growing hospitality chain, has announced its partnership with the Ministry of Hajj and Umrah in Saudi Arabia. As a part of this partnership, OYO will provide the ministry access to its technology suite, which includes OYO OS and Krypton technologies, to enable the ministry to deliver an elevated hospitality experience in the holy cities of Makkah and Madinah. With this initiative, the company has affirmed its commitment to support Saudi Arabias vision in 2030 to increase the number of Hajj and Umrah pilgrims to 30 million annually, and leverage technology to help ensure that thousands of pilgrims have access to quality, affordable accommodations during their visit to the holy shrine. The MoU was signed in the presence of Dr Mohammad Saleh bin Taher Benten, honourable minister of Hajj and Umrah, and Ritesh Agarwal, founder and group CEO, OYO Hotels and Homes. OYOs signature OS technology suite is an operating system that will assist the Ministry in managing inventory, procurement, as well as, provide for express check-ins and check-outs in the accommodations under its purview. The OS further offers apps for housekeeping and audits while introducing solutions for multiple accommodation management aspects like expense management, staff training and engagement along with performance management for the hotel staff. All these facets come together to deliver technology-driven efficiency for living spaces. Krypton is OYOs mobile audit app that enables the timely audit of properties while assuring an excellent guest experience. Under the MoU, OYO will work with the Ministry of Hajj and Umrah in enhancing, implementing and auditing the aspirational standards for affordable and quality accommodations in existing buildings in the holy city of Makkah, through the use of technology and proprietary applications. In the process, OYOs technology suite group aims to create over 3,000 local employment opportunities and upgrade over 15,000 rooms. Commenting on the developments, Agarwal said: We are proud and honoured to have been selected by the Ministry of Hajj and Umrah to provide our best-in-class technology solutions as part of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabias commendable efforts to implement their 2030 vision. By leveraging our hotel operating competencies in support of vision 2030 and harnessing OYOs world-class OS and Krypton systems towards upgrading living spaces for pilgrims, we want to be a key partner to the Ministry in helping welcome 30 million Umrah and Hajj pilgrims to the kingdom and assuring a comfortable and peaceful stay as they journey to the holy cities of Makkah and Madinah. - TradeArabia News Service It could soon be easier for non-mariners to spend the weekend on a boat in Southeast Texas. The Sabine Pass Port Authority is considering allowing marina customers to rent their boats to overnight visitors. Port manager Mic Cowart said a customer who usually lives on her boat asked them to consider the move so she could make extra money when not living on the boat. It seems the market for such services already exists. > > RELATED: SE Texans made $245K last year through Airbnb People who dont usually have time on a boat want to come and live or recreate on a boat for a weekend, he said. The issue is one of many the Port Authority Commissioners are expected to discuss and possibly vote on at their Thursday meeting. However, several details need to be sussed out before any final decisions are made, Cowart said. The 86-boat-slip marina already has provisions that would call for the removal of anyone, including possible future renters, who do not observe marina rules. It also has processes in place that would hold boat owners responsible for any damage caused by renters. Cowart said he doesnt anticipate overnight renters would be allowed to take a boat out of its slip because the port doesnt know the renters skills. > > PHOTOS: Best Airbnb listings across Texas We dont want them to damage our infrastructure or someone elses boat, he said. Well continue to evaluate that. Its unclear how boat owners would be allowed to market the rentals, be it through Airbnb or another rental service. Cowart also wasnt sure how to make sure people renting the boats fit the atmosphere at the marina. Generally, when I have someone who wants to live aboard the vessel, I interview them to make sure theyre compatible, he said. Not having an interview, he added, is a little concerning to us because we have a safe, enjoyable environment. Even with the research and discussion required, he said its important to the port to be open to customers requests and be willing to investigate them and make a decision. The meeting starts at 4 p.m. Thursday at the Sabine Pass Port Authority office, 5960 South First Ave. kaitlin.bain@beaumontenterprise.com As part of The Great Swap program, Beaumont Independent School District and businesses throughout Southeast Texas have teamed up to let employees walk a proverbial mile in educators shoes, and vice-versa. Principals at elementary school campuses around the district traded places with business professionals Wednesday morning to increase awareness and understanding of the strengths and challenges in Beaumont public schools and to form ongoing partnerships. Sue Little of Bingman Head Start tried her hand at serving the community in a different way, swapping places with Chick-fil-As marketing director Kimberla Payton. The preschool principal greeted guests at the Dowlen Road restaurant, giving out plush cows to children and offering dine-in guests cookies for dessert. She tried her hand at the ice cream dispenser. In exchange, Payton had toured Bingman and read a book to students. They have been a great support for our campus, Little said. Not only do they come and work with our parents and show up at our parent nights, but they also occasionally bring us treats and things to build the morale of the campus. So theyve been a great inspiration. Little said her experience with the swap event has impressed upon her the importance of service Chick-fil-A exhibits to its customers. She hopes to bring this lesson to her students. Its so important to all aspects of the community, she said. Payton said giving back to the community was a great experience, and she saw working with the children as a way of paying it forward. She said the restaurant often brings their spotted-cow mascot to school events. Its a remarkable experience, she said. The kids really love it. Chick-fil-A is one of many partners working with BISD year-round. Across town at Charlton-Pollard Elementary, principal Charisma Popillion switched places with ExxonMobils government and public affairs manager, Ashley Alemayehu. What Ill be able to do is learn more about the operations of the ExxonMobil corporation as well as meet a variety of employees and serve with the department of government and public affairs, Popillion said. Ill learn exactly what it is they do to get word out to the community regarding safety and the things that happen in and around the plant. As the leader of an elementary school that is so near ExxonMobils Beaumont location, Popillion is already in frequent contact with Alemayehu. Its critical information for our campus in particular since we are so close to ExxonMobil theyre in our backyard, really so anything that happens at ExxonMobil affects the community and the students which we serve, Popillion said. Its very important, vital, to have this relationship and know what happens at the plant. Popillion and Alemayehu said the school and the refinery communicate at least once a week and usually more often than that. Alemayehu said she admires the enthusiasm and morale that Popillion is able to instill in her campus. I think anyone who pursues a career in public education are doing it out of a true calling, Alemayehu said. To get the opportunity to learn and experience that just helps strengthen the relationship we already have with Charlton-Pallard Elementary School. BISD spokeswoman Nakisha Burns said ExxonMobil has a strong partnership with the entire district, through tutoring programs, a volunteer-assisted reading program and other activities. The company works directly with Amelia Elementary, Martin Luther King Middle and Early College High schools. ExxonMobil hosts multiple weekly tutoring sessions in both literacy and STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) programs at the schools. We also have some opportunities where the engineers from ExxonMobil come out to campuses and do experiments for the students with STEM, Alemayehu said. Popillion said the corporation also donates a $5,000 grant to the schools science program. Companies like Outback Steakhouse, Mannings Office Solutions, H-E-B, Raising Canes and BASF also participated in the event. Principals from BISDs secondary campuses were lined up to switch roles with other community members Thursday. haley.bruyn@beaumontenterprise.com twitter.com/HaleyWrites_BE Texans are leaving a lot of vacation time unused. A survey commissioned by the U.S. Travel Association found that Texans have 67 million unused days of vacation. It is second only to California when it comes to leaving time off on the table. Nearly half of Texans reported leaving vacation time unused, a finding the Travel Association tied to decreased happiness. The travel industry advocate reported finding that "workers who use the majority of their vacation days for travel are significantly happier than those who travel less or not at all." Of course, Texas's size contributes to the sheer number of unused vacation days in Texas. If you look instead at the percentage of vacation days that go unused, Texans are only 10th worst in the nation. Mississippi, Washington, D.C., North Dakota, New Mexico, Tennessee, California, Oklahoma, Maryland and Nevada blow off roughly a third of their paid vacation, while Texas fails to use 29 percent. Even by the mega-standards of industrial expansion projects in Southeast Texas, last weeks announcement by Houston-based American Ethane was big. Were talking a huge upgrade to its Neches River terminal to support an ethane-export facility that will have the capacity to export $72 billion in gas to China. A thousand construction jobs, and 200 permanent high-paying jobs. The concept is even a first for any U.S. company. Any city in the country would kill for something like that. But behind all the smiles at the announcement, there had to be a few nervous stomachs. The whole arrangement is obviously based on long-term exports to China. If it succeeds as planned, American Ethane will make a lot of money and hand out a lot of paychecks. But at the same time this venture was being announced, the U.S. and China are still embroiled in a nasty trade dispute. For the moment, it doesnt involve ethane exports, but down the road, no one can guarantee they wont get swept in. If youre planning to pull the trigger on a major expansion like this, you wonder about that possibility. Late last week, news leaked out about China and the U.S. coming to an agreement that will calm the markets and the stomachs of CEOs on both sides of the Pacific. At first the Dow surged with the news, but it has cooled this week as economists take a second look, and dont like what they see. Essentially China would go on a six-year buying spree to ramp up imports from the U.S. by more than $1 trillion. By doing so, China would reduce its trade surplus with the U.S. to zero by 2024 from $323 billion last year. Its an impressive offer, but U.S. negotiators reportedly wanted the Chinese to do even better, and perhaps eliminate the trade imbalance in two years, not six. That would be a lot to bite off in a short time frame, but if it could be done, American exporters would rack up substantial profits. Politically, it would be a legitimate win for President Donald Trump, helping keep the U.S. economy strong while staving off rumors of a recession in 2020. China already imports lots of U.S. soybeans, airplanes and automobiles. All three of those are big job producers in the U.S. and help sway voters in key electoral states such as Michigan and Ohio. We also export a lot of liquefied natural gas to China, and that could affect Southeast Texas too, because many LNG tankers head south from Sabine Pass. If another big deal or two with China were added to that mix, it would mean even more jobs and tax revenues for this region. Other ports along the Gulf of Mexico are struggling to get their LNG terminals approved or constructed. Were one step ahead of most. But getting this new trade deal signed is not assured. China is loath to undercut domestic production of anything for more imports. Chinese planners want to keep building up their economy to provide jobs for the millions of peasants who have transitioned from farm work to city jobs. The communist government needs to keep those workers employed and satisfied. Unhappy workers start to ask questions and wonder why they face so many political restrictions and internet censorship. Whatever happens in other sectors, China wants to keep selling low-cost consumer goods to the vast U.S. market, which has gobbled them up for years. China knows that other developing countries such as the Philippines or Vietnam could start churning out some of these toys, socks and light bulbs in their own factories. They dont want U.S. buyers finding new sources for these items. So as usual in most trade disputes, both sides need each other. The real danger that we face is generous promises from China that might never live up to expectations. Chinese leaders want their country to become the worlds pre-eminent power, and they know they will need all the money they can corral to achieve that ambitious goal. Perhaps they can finesse this by buying more U.S. products while reducing other imports. Our gain would be someone elses loss, like Brazilian soybean farmers. So well all see how this plays out, for American Ethane and plenty of other U.S. companies. The payoff could be massive here if the political barriers can be cleared. Look for Thomas Taschingers business column every Thursday. ttaschinger@beaumontenterprise.com Oh Happy, Sunny Days: Oregon Coast Warmer Than Portland, Valley Published 01/23/2019 at 3:53 AM PDT By Oregon Coast Beach Connection staff (Portland, Oregon) Great news is in the air quite literally if you love sunny, warm weather on the Oregon coast. The beaches, the inland valley and the Portland area will start to get a run of blue skies that could last a week, but it appears the beaches will be even more spring-like than inland. In fact, the Oregon coast could be looking at record highs, reaching into the 50s or even 60s this week. The National Weather Service (NWS) in Portland is pointing to everything starting on Thursday, while Wednesday will remain cloudy and rainy in all of western Oregon. NWS predictions only go as far as next Tuesday at this point, while Portland media weather pundits are extending their looking glass as far as Thursday next week, pointing to a good seven days of sunny conditions. On the coast, daytime highs linger in the 50s some days but predictions are showing as high as 58 on Saturday, but in the low 60s for the central Oregon coast such as Lincoln City, Newport or Yachats. The NWS said that at least through Tuesday the operational models are showing a large ridge keeping things warm everywhere, although the valley will have morning fog which will keep temps lower than the beaches. The big warming factor is east winds. This will produce a multi-day stretch of dry weather, mild temperatures, and areas of late night and morning valley fog, the NWS said. East winds become increasingly likely late in the weekend into early next week. Saturday sees a turn in direction offshore that will heat things up even further, at select locations along the coast, the Cascade foothills and the Coast Range. Even mid to upper 60s do not appear out of the question, the NWS said late Tuesday night. Willamette Valley temperatures will be a little more tricky given areas of morning fog could hamper temperatures. The NWS said record highs are possible for coastal areas that get downslope winds, referring to winds warmed up by the coast range. Another updated statement from the NWS early Wednesday referred to a modest downslope wind event, which could mean the record-breaking temps possibilities are already fading. Southern Oregon coast forecasts look similar, although slightly warmer. Places like Bandon, Reedsport and Brookings may be one or two degrees higher than the northern half of the shoreline. Meanwhile, offshore conditions may remain a little breezier until the weekend, then they too calm down to what the NWS called a thermal trough developing along the coast in a very similar manner to our typical summer systems. Winds are predicted to be light, which means when youre at the tideline the sun will be reflecting back from the ocean, making it feel much warmer. Dont be surprised for it to feel as much as ten degrees warmer on the beach. The closer you get to the water, the warmer it will be. This dynamic only works if there are little to no winds, however. See more Oregon Coast Weather. Oregon Coast Lodgings for this event - Where to eat - Maps - Virtual Tours 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 Fort Stevens State Park: What's Really Underneath This Oregon Coast Historical Site Updated Periodically By Oregon Coast Beach Connection staff (Warrenton, Oregon) Up on the north Oregon coast, Fort Stevens State Park has more than just the obvious history. Striking, eye-popping and realtime examples of the past are sitting all around you: the wreck of the Peter Iredale, Battery Russell, and several other physical objects and buildings including a whole other military complex only open some parts of the year. Whats behind it and beneath it - geologically - is rather shocking, however. Did you know that parts of Fort Stevens didn't exist before 100 years ago? The building of jetties at the mouth of the Columbia River in the 1890's allowed a mindbogglingly large chunk of land to be created. Many of the ponds and wetlands you see along the road going to the south Jetty weren't there when Lewis & Clark wandered these shores. According to one lidar map from north Oregon coast geologist Tom Horning, something like a half mile of shoreline around the western side of Fort Stevens were not there until after the building of the jetties. They were inadvertantly manmade. Horning said the changes happened quite quickly. Within a few years a lot of sand and land were added to the area. Yet the growth of the shoreline continued, with dunes building westward as much as 20 feet each year since the early days of the Columbia River jetties. This doesnt mean the entire shoreline kept growing that much but its helped. Essentially, according to Horning, whats happened is sand keeps getting shuttled down from the Columbia River. Construction of the jetties really pushed this along, but continuous dredging of the shipping channel also keeps the sediment flowing. This ebbtide delta has served as a large sediment reservoir for longshore currents to transport sand north and south to build coastal beaches, Horning said. Its entirely possible all this shoreline growth along the north Oregon coast and southern Washington coast has ceased and may be degrading now. Climate change and higher storm surges are playing a part, but so is something else manmade. Studies done by Oregon State University geologists have found that while so much has been lobbed onto the area by the changes in sediment and sand distribution, these areas are very vulnerable to erosion. Peter Ruggiero, a geology professor at OSU, wrote a paper several years ago that showed all this newly-created sections of shoreline are still not yet stable. Nature has not figured out if it's halted taking sand away or if it's still depositing more. Beaches to the north and south have been affected to large degrees. Ruggiero has said that parts of the southern Washington coast may be more vulnerable to disappearing than farther south. In explaining this, Horning mentions a littoral cell, which means the space between headlands. In this case, were talking about the 30-plus miles between Cape Disappointment in Washington and Tillamook Head by Seaside. The many dams on the Columbia and its tributaries have created sediment sinks that intercept river sediment, preventing it from reaching the Clatsop beaches, Horning said. This will cause the sediment budget of the littoral cell to reverse itself and begin to obtain sand by eroding beaches and dunes, rather than providing it via ocean currents and winds. This commonly understood hazard will most likely begin to reveal itself in the next 20 to 50 years, mostly during storm surges, when large surf coincides with monthly high tides. Rather than dunes prograding westward, they will eventually begin to retrograde eastward. In other words, like much of the Oregon coast and Washington coast, Fort Stevens too is looking at shrinking. Lodging in Astoria/Seaside - Where to eat - Astoria / Warrenton Maps and Virtual Tours MORE PHOTOS BELOW 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 Big Surf and Lots of Sun This Week on Oregon Coast; Sneaker Wave Advisory Published 01/12/2019 at 6:23 PM PDT By Oregon Coast Beach Connection staff (Oregon Coast) Sun and sneaker waves. Thats the forecast for the next few days on the Oregon coast, as the National Weather Service (NWS) is warning about higher-than-usual waves on Sunday. (Above: sunny and splashy at Fogarty Beach, near Depoe Bay). Its been sunny and warm on the beaches Saturday, and that will continue for a few more days but with some wild surf. A building and powerful swell will provide the potential for dangerous sneaker waves along the Washington and Oregon coasts on Sunday, the NWS said. Water may rise further up on beaches than observed within the previous 30 minutes and easily sweep unsuspecting beach-goers into the frigid water. A number of sneaker wave incidents and fatalities have occurred under similar scenarios in the past. Please use caution if you plan on recreating on area beaches and avoid jetties on Sunday. This is an important time to keep clear of smaller beaches, like those at Oceanside, Gleneden Beach, Nye Beach in Newport and many parts of Lincoln City. Especially dangerous such as those are beaches that arent very broad and that also have a cliff wall behind you. This will not allow escape if a sneaker wave hits. Areas with rocky ledges will put on quite a show, however. Look to Depoe Bay, Oceanside, perhaps Cape Kiwanda and much of the Yachats area. All these have viewing spots where you can stay clear of the melee. The NWS said some offshore gale winds may create more heavy surf later in the week, but that is yet unclear. Forecasts are indicating wave height around 10 to 12 feet this week. Saturday highs on the Oregon coast reached close to 60. Sunday brings more sun to the beaches with a high around 53 and winds about 10 mph. That will keep it rather chilly. Monday clocks in at 51 for a high and still plenty of sun also with similar winds. Tuesday remains sunny but colder at around 48. Wednesday brings in more clouds but still some sun, and Thursday and the rest of the week remain cloudy and at least slightly rainy. More Oregon Coast Weather. Oregon Coast Lodgings for this event - Where to eat - Maps - Virtual Tours 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 The Gulf and Indian Ocean Hotel Investors Summit (GIOHIS) is set to return to Abu Dhabi for its 2019 event, which will take place at the Park Hyatt hotel from February 4-5. The Summit, supported by Abu Dhabi Convention Bureau, which is part of the Department of Culture and Tourism - Abu Dhabi (DCT Abu Dhabi), will gather business leaders, developers and key decision-makers together to discuss the most pressing issues in the hotel industry today. Saif Saeed Ghobash, undersecretary at DCT Abu Dhabi, said: We are delighted and honoured to be the destination and culture partner for the Gulf and Indian Ocean Hotel Investors Summit, as it takes place once again in Abu Dhabi. As worldwide travel and tourism continue to rapidly grow, the hotel industry is continually expanding particularly in countries in the Indian Ocean region. It is imperative that hospitality sectors invest in innovative, proactive strategies to drive sustainable growth in an increasingly competitive market." Organised by HOFTEL, one of the worlds leading hotel property investors associations, GIOHIS is set to bring together more than 250 top hotel owners, developers and operators from the Gulf, East Africa, Indian Ocean islands, Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) region and Australia. Discussions will cover topical issues affecting the industry such as changing investment opportunities, oversupply crunch, franchising and sector-associated economies. There will be a total of 75 speakers taking part in the summit, including Khalid Al Yahmadi, the CEO, Muscat National Development and Investment Company; Simon Allison, chairman and CEO of HOFTEL; Khalid Anib, the CEO of Abu Dhabi National Hotels; and Ludwig Bouldoukian, regional vice president development for Hyatt, amongst many other leading names in the hospitality industry. - TradeArabia News Service When almond trees have to go, it's not as bad as it looks Mexicali West will close by the end of the year as its owners refocus on their downtown location as part of a retirement pullback. An Etihad flight bound to Abu Dhabi from Manchester was forced to make a U-turn shortly after takeoff on January 15 due to technical problems, media reports said. Passengers reportedly heard a 'loud bang' from the back of the plane as it took off, British media confirmed. Flight EY22 returned safely to Manchester and all passengers were evacuated safely. No casualties were reported, it said. In a statement released by Etihad, it "apologised for the delay and inconvenience to passengers," stating that "safety is the airlines number one priority". Saudi Aramcos Aviation Department has introduced a number of Airbus H145 and AugustaWestland (AW) 139 aircraft to its fleet, as part of its effort to maintain and enhance the safety of the companys fleet. The H145 has a larger cabin, compact airframe, and powerful engines, providing the capability and flexibility to perform better in current operations and augment Aviations abilities to take on new missions. Saudi Aramco operates in some of the worlds most remote areas, and the Aviation Department supports and enables the company to reach its strategic goals by operating in these remote areas. To meet the increasing complexity and sophistication of our operations, Aviation has initiated a fleet replacement strategy that oversees the replacement of its helicopters and airbuses with new generation models. As part of the fleet replacement strategy, 16 medium-sized AugustaWestland (AW) 139s have been replaced with a new, second-generation model. The AW139 is an industry leader, helping ensure safety and reliability in challenging, multi-role operations. Complementing and expanding capabilities With its enhanced range, endurance, hover performance, and safety features, the AW139 will complement Saudi Aramcos offshore capabilities. The AW139s also allows Aviation to expand its capability to provide a fully functional search and rescue program, enhancing Saudi Aramcos capabilities to respond to safety and rescue emergencies like never before. One of the many new safety enhancements is Night Vision Technology, which greatly improves flight safety, turning night into virtual day. Also, the helicopter has a large passenger cabin that can accommodate 15 passengers, and can be customized with specialized equipment for executive and VIP transportation. AW139 parts are imported from Italy and the US, but they have been assembled in Saudi Arabia. Many of the new fleet have already entered service for the company. Additionally, five AW109s have been replaced with the newest variant of the Airbus H145 that are the latest 4-ton-class twin-engine helicopters. With a larger cabin, compact airframe, and powerful engines, they have the capability and flexibility to perform better in their current operations, as well as augment Aviations abilities to take on new missions. The new addition will also allow Aviation to meet the predicted future growth of Saudi Aramcos hydrocarbon strategy. Ensuring and enhancing safety At the core of the fleet replacement strategy is Saudi Aramcos priority to ensure and enhance safety. Second, assembling the AW139 and H145 in the Kingdom ensures that Aviation mechanics and engineers remain leaders in the region for servicing all operational needs for Saudi Aramco. Fahd H Cynndy, manager of the Aviation Department, said: Saudi Aramco Aviation has achieved massive strides in becoming the most optimal provider of air transport solutions for the company. As our ambitions have grown in tandem with our capacity to deliver on every challenge that we have faced, we have integrated response agility with the industrys best-in-class efficiency. With that, we now stand tall in our community as we offer the industry an agile and innovative flight service that has become a model for the region to emulate, he added. TradeArabia News Service By Leman Mammadova The beautiful nature of Azerbaijan, hospitality of its people, the country's capital with its super modern and ancient buildings draws the attention of all tourists visiting this South Caucasian country. In 2018, 2,849,600 tourists from 196 countries arrived in Azerbaijan, showing a 5.7 percent increase compared to 2017, Trend reports referring to the State Statistics Committee of Azerbaijan. Looking at the origin countries, Russians make up the largest part of the tourists havin a share of 30.9 percent, while 21.4 percent came from Georgia, 10.2 percent - Turkey, 8.5 percent - Iran, 3.3 percent - the United Arab Emirates, 2.6 percent - Saudi Arabia, 2.4 percent - Iraq, two percent - Ukraine, 1.4 percent - Israel, 17.2 percent - citizens of other countries, 0.1 percent - stateless persons. Men accounted for 66.1 percent of those who arrived in Azerbaijan, while women accounted for only 33.9 percent. Azerbaijan received most tourists in July (11.6 percent), in August (11.3 percent), in March (9.7 percent) and in June (9.5 percent). On the other hand, tourists visited Azerbaijan less in February (5.8 percent), in January (6.5 percent) and in May (7.3 percent). In 2018, the largest increase in the number of incoming tourists was observed among the citizens of the Gulf countries (except for the UAE and Iran). The number of Saudi Arabian citizens increased 2.2 times, Bahrain doubled, Kuwait 1.8 times, Qatar 1.6 times, Iraq 7.9 percent, Oman 7.4 percent compared to 2017. On the other hand, the number of arriving Iranian and Emirati tourists decreased by 33.7 and 8.3 percent, respectively. In general, 554,100 people came from the Gulf countries, and almost one in five who arrived in Azerbaijan was a citizen of these countries. Compared to the previous year, the number of tourists from India increased by 2.7 times, Israel - by 2.6 times, Egypt, Turkmenistan and South Korea - by 1.7 times and from China - by 1.5 times. As for the EU citizens coming to Azerbaijan, in 2018 their number increased by 6.7 percent to 112,500 people, while the number of the citizens of CIS countries went up by 3.8 percent and reached 1,044,200 people. Rail and road transport were used by 57.5 percent of those who arrived in Azerbaijan in 2018, while 41.5 percent opted for air transport and only 1 percent arrived by water transport. In recent years, the creation of a diversified tourism infrastructure in Azerbaijan has increased the interest of foreign tourists to the country. There are many opportunities for tourism in our country, including rural, health, environmental, cultural, social, commercial, sport and etc. Simplification of visa regime also plays a major role in the development of tourism in Azerbaijan. Currently, citizens of a number of countries get visas right at the Azerbaijani airports, while other tourists can visit the country by getting online tourist visas. The mesmerizing mix of East and West, the possibility to have a rest on the Caspian Sea shore and enjoy fresh air and delicious meals have always been attracting tourists to Azerbaijan. Many of them get so much fascinated with the country and its capital Baku that they come back to visit Azerbaijan again after a while. --- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz By Abdul Kerimkhanov Washingtons current position on relations with Armenia, clearly disappoints Yerevan. The United States is unhappy that Armenia maintains a special relationship with Iran despite tough Washington sanctions. American analyst, former diplomat Paul Goble stated Armenia is beyond the interests of the current U.S. administration. He stated that relations with countries such as Armenia are not coordinated at the highest level, since they have few common interests. Goble added the U.S. has much more major geopolitical priorities and objectives, especially now, which should be addressed by top management. Former U.S. diplomat noted that the central problem of Yerevan-Washington bilateral relations is the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict settlement, which is reflected in all public statements by current American officials, including President Donald Trump and adviser John Bolton. Goble stressed that the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict settlement is considered as a process that can contribute to the further expansion of political, economic and sectoral cooperation. Goble considers, if the Armenian side does not offer its clear ideas and agenda, there will be no progress in the U.S.-Armenian relations. He added that there are no prospects for resolving the Karabakh conflict, and there are no other topics for U.S. involvement. As follows from the statements of the former diplomat, Armenia will have to work hard to somehow attract the attention of the Americans. And it is needless to say that the Armenian side needs to work very hard on the content of the Mnatsakanyan-Pompeo meeting. Should such a meeting takes place at all. Most likely, Mnatsakanyan-Pompeo meeting in Yerevan is really thinking and taking some steps in this direction. But, at the same time, try not to advertise their intentions in advance, having a bitter experience. Everyone remembers the shame experienced by the Foreign Ministry and Nikol Pashinyan several months ago, when the media advertised preparations for the meeting of the Armenian Prime Minister with Donald Trump, and as a result Washington refused it. Indeed it was humiliating. Therefore the Foreign Ministry of Armenia is not in a hurry with the statements. Why the Mnatsakanyan-Pompeo meeting most likely will not take place, the former American diplomat has already explained popularly. --- Abdul Kerimkhanov is AzerNews staff journalist, follow him on Twitter: @AbdulKerim94 Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz By Trend The external trade turnover of the Karaganda region of Kazakhstan amounted to $4.27 billion in 2018, which is an increase of 7 percent compared to 2017, the Economy Department of the region told Trend. "In particular, the export of goods amounted to $3.46 billion (1.5 percent up year-on-year), and imports totaled $812.1 million (40 percent up). The balance of external trade turnover was positive $2.65 billion," said the department. According to the preliminary results of 2018, as many as 269 projects in trade, services and tourism were implemented in the Karaganda region last year, 8 billion tenge were invested, and 1,247 jobs were created. In 2019, it is planned to launch 149 projects. To support entrepreneurs, programs such as the state program on support to business development Business Roadmap 2020 and the State Program of Productive Employment and Mass Entrepreneurship are being implemented in the region. The Economy Department of the Karaganda region also noted that the regions budget expenditure amounted to 307.8 billion tenge in 2018. "The regions 2019 budget is 236.4 billion tenge. These expenses are aimed at the development of the social sphere, transport infrastructure, development of the agro-industrial complex, housing and communal services," the Department informed. (378.14 KZT = 1 USD on Jan. 23) --- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz By Trend The relations between Turkey and Russia positively affect the regional security, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said. President Erdogan made the remarks during a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow, Trend reports referring to the Turkish media on Jan. 23. The Turkish president stressed that today one can observe the development of relations between Turkey and Russia in all spheres, including the military and political spheres. Ankara and Moscow are important allies, he said. Today the Turkish president is on a visit to Moscow. The Turkish president is accompanied by the country's Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu, National Defense Minister Hulusi Akar, National Intelligence Organization Head Hakan Fidan, as well as Energy and Natural Resources Minister Fatih Donmez. The settlement of the Syrian crisis will be mainly discussed at today's meeting of the Turkish and Russian presidents. As previously reported, along with the settlement of the Syrian crisis, the situation in the South Caucasus can also be discussed during the meeting. --- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz By Trend Britains first use of an unexplained wealth order in October against Zamira Hajiyeva, the wife of the former head of the International Bank of Azerbaijan Jahangir Hajiyev, revealed that she had arrived in the UK on an investor visa in 2010, Trend reports citing the UK media. And on Jan.23, the European Commission said that programs of some member states to sell passports and visas to wealthy foreigners could help criminal groups infiltrate the bloc and raise the risk of money laundering, corruption, and tax evasion, according to Reuters. Britain issued 1,172 investor visas in 2014, when applicants were subject to no background checks. That number dropped to 192 in the following year, after the introduction of basic screening. And there is anecdotal evidence of golden visa beneficiaries with colourful pasts. Britains first use of an unexplained wealth order in October against Zamira Hajiyeva, the wife of an Azerbaijani banker jailed for corruption, revealed that she had arrived in the UK on an investor visa in 2010, according to the report. Zamira Hajiyeva became the first person to be served a UWO by the National Crime Agency in 2018. The UWO means she has to explain the origin of her fortune. Hajiyeva was demanded to submit a declaration for a villa worth 25 million, but she could not provide information. As a result, the property was confiscated by a court decision. Later it was revealed at Westminster Magistrates Court in London that Hajiyeva was arrested by officers from the Metropolitan Police acting on an extradition request from the authorities in the Azerbaijan capital, Baku. Soon after that she was freed on bail. -- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz By Trend President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev has attended the inauguration of the renovated Research Institute of Vegetable Growing, and Potato and Vegetable Seeds Production complex under the Ministry of Agriculture in Pirshaghi settlement, Sabunchu district, Baku. The head of state cut the ribbon symbolizing the opening of the building. Minister of Agriculture Inam Karimov informed the head of state of the work done. President Ilham Aliyev then met with the agrarian development volunteers and posed for photographs together with them. --- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz By Trend President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev has met with Chief Executive Officer of The Boston Consulting Group (BCG) Rich Lesser in Davos. Rich Lesser described The Boston Consulting Group as one of the global companies specialized in designing of various solutions towards the development of digital economy, and hailed the cooperation with Azerbaijan. He expressed support for the reforms carried out in Azerbaijan, as well as business environment and rapid development in the country. Rich Lesser mentioned that they have digital solutions that will provide a higher level of governance, both for public and private companies, as well as in healthcare, compulsory health insurance and other areas. It was noted that the application of these solutions in Azerbaijan will lead to the creation of new jobs and make a significant contribution to improving the management systems implemented by President Ilham Aliyev. President Ilham Aliyev praised The Boston Consulting Group's activity in Azerbaijan. The head of state noted that Azerbaijan will continue to cooperate with various public and private companies, and support business environment. --- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz By Trend Saudi Arabia strongly condemns Armenias aggressive policy against Azerbaijan and is always close to Azerbaijan in its legitimate cause, newly appointed Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary Ambassador of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia Hamad bin Abdullah bin Saud bin Khudair said. Hamad bin Abdullah bin Saud bin Khudair made the remarks at a meeting with Azerbaijani Defense Minister, Colonel General Zakir Hasanov in Baku on Jan. 23. The minister congratulated the diplomat on his new appointment and emphasized the friendly relations between the heads of state, playing an essential role in expanding ties between Azerbaijan and Saudi Arabia. Hasanov expressed gratitude for Saudi Arabias support for Azerbaijans right and just position in settlement of the Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. As a result of the ensuing war, in 1992 Armenian armed forces occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding districts. The 1994 ceasefire agreement was followed by peace negotiations. Armenia has not yet implemented four UN Security Council resolutions on withdrawal of its armed forces from the Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding districts. Touching upon the current state of military cooperation between Azerbaijan and Saudi Arabia, Hasanov noted the establishment of the Military Attache Apparatus of Azerbaijan in Saudi Arabia, the preparation of an agreement on military cooperation between the two countries, and the planning of the official visit of a high-ranking delegation of the Ministry of Defense of Azerbaijan to Riyadh. In turn, the ambassador noted that Saudi Arabia considers Azerbaijan as a friendly and fraternal country and also attaches great importance to military cooperation between the two countries. The ambassador stressed that over the period of activity in Azerbaijan, he will make every effort to strengthen relations between Azerbaijan and Saudi Arabia. --- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz The Dubai Mall's ART+ Series, an aspirational platform dedicated to showcasing exceptional forms of art, museum-worthy exhibits or one-of-a-kind heritage collections from leading brands, is currently showcasing the Santos de Cartier installation from January 20-26. In a tribute to the historic collaboration between pioneering pilot Alberto Santos-Dumont and Louis Cartier in the early 1900s, the Santos de Cartier exhibit invites guests to explore the worlds of aviation and fine watches through a multi-sensory experience as the Maison relaunches this legendary timepiece collection. At its centrepiece lies a Santos aircraft suspended in a glass cube, allowing guests to hear the roaring of the engine and a feel the subtle sensation of flying. The ART+ Series initiative aims to deliver a continuous programme of outstanding exhibits throughout the year, creating renewed and elevated experiences for guests. Through a continuous showcase of culture, heritage or innovation from The Dubai Malls leading brands, the ART+ Series further reinforces The Dubai Malls status as a hub for the arts. Entry to the exhibition is free for all. - TradeArabia News Service By Trend The meeting between Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Davos may be regarded as the continuation of the informal meetings held earlier in Tajikistans Dushanbe and Russias St. Petersburg, Head of the Foreign Policy Affairs Department of the Azerbaijani Presidential Administration Hikmet Hajiyev told Trend on Jan. 23. "The meeting was held at the initiative of President of the World Economic Forum Borge Brende," he added. "The meeting can be regarded as the continuation of the informal meetings held within the summits of the CIS countries in Dushanbe and St. Petersburg. As you know, the negotiation process is held at the level of the Azerbaijani and Armenian foreign ministers." Hajiyev added that the meetings of the Azerbaijani and Armenian foreign ministers were held on January 16, 2019 in Paris, as well as on December 3, 2018 in Milan. "A meeting of foreign ministers is also planned to be held in the future," he said. "The meetings in full format at the level of the heads of state, as a rule, are organized by the co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group." --- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz By Trend Two officers of the Azerbaijani Army have been sent to South Sudan as observers to participate in a peacekeeping mission conducted under UN mandate, Trend reports referring to the Ministry of Defense. On Nov. 30, 2018, the Parliament of the Republic of Azerbaijan agreed on the deployment of four servicemen of the Azerbaijani Armed Forces in the Republic of South Sudan to participate in the mission held under the command of the United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS). Since 2013, South Sudan has been in a state of civil war. More than two million people have become IDPs in the country. --- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz By Trend Azerbaijan has become one of the most reliable participants in the World Economic Forum held in Davos, Director of the Ziya Bunyadov Institute of Oriental Studies of the Azerbaijan National Academy of Sciences Govhar Bakhshaliyeva told Trend on Jan. 23. "Azerbaijan's traditional participation in this forum is very symbolic," Academician Bakhshaliyeva, who is also an MP, said. "The president's participation in the World Economic Forum not only strengthens Azerbaijan's image on international arena, but also serves to create new opportunities for cooperation, economic development and attracting new investments," she added. She stressed that Azerbaijan's president holds important meetings with the presidents of various countries and heads of big companies as part of the annual forum. "The current forum was not an exception, Bakhshaliyeva added. The meetings with the participation of the president in Davos, where economic cooperation issues are discussed, are successfully held every year. Of course, the meetings with heads of big companies open up new opportunities for the country, attracting these companies to Azerbaijans important projects and allow discussing other important issues," she added. "International media outlets, which cover this forum every year, show more interest in Azerbaijan and they try to get more information about the country, Bakhshaliyeva said. Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev met with President of the World Economic Forum Borge Brende, President of Visa Inc. Ryan M. McInerney, Chief Executive Officer of BP Robert Dudley, Executive Vice President and Chief Sales and Marketing Officer of Cisco Gerri Elliott, Chief Executive Officer of SAP SE Bill McDermott, Chief Executive Officer of the World Bank Kristalina Georgieva, President of Russian company LUKOIL Vahid Alakbarov, Chief Executive Officer of French company Total Patrick Pouyanne and heads of other leading companies in Davos during his visit to Switzerland. The Azerbaijani president also gave interviews to the Russia 1 TV channel and the Chinese CGTN. The president took part in the session titled Advancing the Belt and Road Initiative: Chinas Trillion-Dollar Vision within the World Economic Forum in Davos on January 22. --- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz By Trend The official visit of the President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev to the Swiss Confederation ended on January 23. President Ilham Aliyev attended the Davos World Economic Forum. --- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz This year Azerbaijan has come on stage before the world leading businesses and foreign countries in Davos as a state which managed to rationally use its oil and gas reserves for building a future without dependence on hydrocarbons. The small South-Caucasus state has proved to the world that despite no one believed in Azerbaijans ambitious transport and energy projects, the country was able to achieve the goals set. Azerbaijan, which is still on the way of getting rid of its oil-dependence, has reached significant results for a short period of time. The country is diversifying its economy through the development of the non-oil and transport sectors and aiming to become a gas supplier to European countries. Most of the successes come from the transport sphere, since Azerbaijan today positions itself as a transit country, as a hub which connects East and West, North and South. Davos forum is a perfect platform for establishing contacts with leading businesses and promoting Azerbaijan as a country with favorable investment climate. By tradition, President Ilham Aliyev again participated in the World Economic Forum, held meetings with the representatives of the world political and economic elite, expressing Azerbaijans readiness for cooperation. The holding of numerous fruitful meetings by President Aliyev in Davos is a consequence of interest in Azerbaijan, which is characterized by its stable economy, sustainable development and positive investment climate. Azerbaijan is represented at the forum as a rapidly developing part of the global economy, which testifies to the fact that the country is recognized in the world as a reliable partner. Within the visit, President Aliyev met with President of the World Economic Forum Borge Brende, President of Visa Inc. Ryan M. McInerney, Chief Executive Officer of BP Robert Dudley, Executive Vice President and Chief Sales and Marketing Officer of Cisco Gerri Elliott, Chief Executive Officer of SAP SE Bill McDermott, Chief Executive Officer of the World Bank Kristalina Georgieva, President of Russian company LUKOIL Vahid Alakbarov, Chief Executive Officer of French company Total Patrick Pouyanne and heads of other leading companies in Davos during his visit to Switzerland. International media outlets, which cover this forum every year, show more interest in Azerbaijan and they try to get more information about the country. Thus, it is not surprising that the Azerbaijani president gave interviews to the Russia 1 TV channel and the Chinese CGTN. The Forum sets new directions for the global economy and Azerbaijan is a part of this international elite with which many reckon today. The WEF is also interested in the participation of Azerbaijan as a significant regional and global player. The organization soberly assesses the authority of Azerbaijan as the leader in the South Caucasus and as the country, who achieved significant successes in implementing its large-scale projects affecting the geopolitical situation in the region. The participation in the World Economic Forum not only strengthens Azerbaijan's image on international arena, but also serves to create new opportunities for cooperation, economic development and attracting new investments. By Trend The effectiveness of state supervision in the field of taxes and food security will be increased in Azerbaijan, Trend reports referring to the Azerbaijani Taxes Ministry. This will be possible thanks to the cooperation between the Ministry of Taxes and the Food Safety Agency. A corresponding memorandum was signed on Jan. 23 by Azerbaijan's Minister of Taxes Mikayil Jabbarov and Chairman of the Food Safety Agency Goshgar Tahmazli. The memorandum envisages exchanging information on entities and their facilities operating in the production, processing and turnover of food products, as well as the products subject to phytosanitary and veterinary supervision. The parties will also expand cooperation for taxation of all entities operating in the food industry. The parties will also carry out joint activity to enlighten entrepreneurs. --- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz By Trend The world political and economic elite focuses on Azerbaijan today, editor-in-chief of the Ses newspaper, political expert Bahruz Guliyev told Trend on Jan. 23. Like every year, this year Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev again participates in the World Economic Forum in Davos, holds meetings with the most famous representatives of the world political and economic elite, expressing Azerbaijans readiness for cooperation, he said. "During the visit to Davos, the president has held various meetings and participates in the sessions, he added. The holding of numerous fruitful meetings by President Aliyev in Davos is a consequence of interest in Azerbaijan. The results of the discussions which are being held within the forum once again prove Azerbaijans success and development. Azerbaijan is represented at the forum in Davos at the highest level." The expert stressed that the current forum in Davos will remain in the history by important discussions and decisions from the point of view of Azerbaijans interests. Azerbaijan is represented at the forum and is mentioned as a rapidly developing part of the global economy, which testifies to the fact that Azerbaijan is recognized in the world as an important country, he said. Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev met with President of the World Economic Forum Borge Brende, President of Visa Inc. Ryan M. McInerney, Chief Executive Officer of BP Robert Dudley, Executive Vice President and Chief Sales and Marketing Officer of Cisco Gerri Elliott, Chief Executive Officer of SAP SE Bill McDermott, Chief Executive Officer of the World Bank Kristalina Georgieva, President of Russian company LUKOIL Vahid Alakbarov, Chief Executive Officer of French company Total Patrick Pouyanne and heads of other leading companies in Davos during his visit to Switzerland. The Azerbaijani president also gave interviews to the Russia 1 TV channel and the Chinese CGTN. The president took part in the session titled Advancing the Belt and Road Initiative: Chinas Trillion-Dollar Vision within the World Economic Forum in Davos on January 22. --- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz By Trend Over the past 24 hours, Armenian armed forces have 26 times violated the ceasefire along the line of contact between Azerbaijani and Armenian troops, the Azerbaijani Defense Ministry said Jan. 24, Trend reports. The Armenian armed forces were using heavy machine guns. The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. As a result of the ensuing war, in 1992 Armenian armed forces occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding districts. The 1994 ceasefire agreement was followed by peace negotiations. Armenia has not yet implemented four UN Security Council resolutions on withdrawal of its armed forces from the Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding districts. --- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido declared himself the country's interim president during a massive opposition rally in Caracas Wednesday as tens of thousands of Venezuelans took to the streets to protest the government of President Nicolas Maduro. Driving the news: The move led President Trump to announce that he had officially recognized Guaido as Venezuela's interim leader. National Assembly head Juan Guaido speaks during the opposition rally. Photo: Federico Parra/AFP/Getty Images Juan Guaido declares himself the country's interim president during the opposition rally. Photo: Federico Parra/AFP/Getty Images One Venezuelan soldier fires tear gas at demonstrators while another takes a picture. Photo: Rayner Pena/picture alliance via Getty Images Soldiers stand ready during the protests. Photo: Rayner Pena/picture alliance via Getty Images Venezuelan opposition demonstrators set a van on fire during the protest. Photo: Yuri Cortez/AFP/Getty Images A man walks by a car that was vandalized in Caracas. Photo: Luis Robayo/AFP/Getty Images Go deeper: Trump seizes chance to ratchet up pressure on Venezuela's Maduro Venezuela has entered an uncertain new phase, with President Trump and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau joining 7 South American countries in endorsing regime change vs. Nicolas Maduro. Maduro responded Wednesday by cutting off relations with the U.S. and giving American diplomats 72 hours to leave the country. On Wednesday evening, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo issued a statement saying that the U.S. "does not consider former president Nicolas Maduro to have the legal authority to break diplomatic relations with the United States or to declare our diplomats persona non grata." Flashback: "The regional Organization of American States ... said [earlier this month that] its member nations voted 19-6, with eight abstentions, to not recognize the legitimacy of Maduro's government," per CNN. Maduro's response: I am the only president of Venezuela. ... We do not want to return to the twentieth century of gringo interventions and coups detats." (NYT, citing Venezuelan news outlet Diario La Verdad) More from the White House: A senior administration official told reporters: If Maduro and his cronies choose to respond with violence ... all options are on the table for the U.S. in regard to actions that can be taken, both diplomatic and economic. The big picture: Latin America is shifting to the right, as Axios' Dave Lawler and Jonathan Swan noted earlier today. Brazil, Paraguay, Colombia, Argentina, Peru, Ecuador and Chile have all recognized Guaido as Venezuela's new president. have all recognized Guaido as Venezuela's new president. Right-wing Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro said yesterday at the World Economic Forum in Davos that his election and those of like-minded leaders were a sign that left-wing ideology will not prevail in the region. said yesterday at the World Economic Forum in Davos that his election and those of like-minded leaders were a sign that left-wing ideology will not prevail in the region. Paraguayan President Mario Abdo Benitez was more direct, saying: Anything that will help liberate Venezuela has our support, including recognizing Guaido as president. Between the lines: Markets are loving the news, Axios' Dion Rabouin reports. "The countrys sovereign bond maturing in 2027 rallied to its highest level since June. Thats notable considering that the 2027 bond, and all but one of Venezuelas other bonds, have been in default since November 2017. U.S. economic sanctions make it impermissible for the country to pay or for investors to collect. maturing in 2027 rallied to its highest level since June. Thats notable considering that the 2027 bond, and all but one of Venezuelas other bonds, have been in default since November 2017. U.S. economic sanctions make it impermissible for the country to pay or for investors to collect. Theres a tremendous rally happening with expectation that regime change leads to eventual restructuring of these bonds, said a fund manager from a major firm who asked not to be identified because hes not permitted to discuss Venezuelas debt. happening with expectation that regime change leads to eventual restructuring of these bonds, said a fund manager from a major firm who asked not to be identified because hes not permitted to discuss Venezuelas debt. The market is pricing in Maduros exit as closer than we previously thought. Go deeper: Photos from the scene in Venezuela US-based KBR, a global provider of professional services and technologies, said it has entered into a contract with Wynnewood Refining Company for engineering and design services relating to KBR's Solid Acid Alkylation Technology (K-SAAT). The technology will be used for Wynnewood's refinery located in Wynnewood, Oklahoma, US, said a statement from the company. Under the terms of the contract, KBR will provide basic engineering and design (BED) services for its K-SAAT technology and the opportunity to utilise the technology to revamp the existing hydrofluoric acid (HF) alkylation unit at the Wynnewood Refinery, it said. K-SAAT is a revolutionary technology to produce alkylate, which is an ultra-clean gasoline blendstock. Unlike traditional refinery alkylation technologies that utilize strong acids, K-SAAT produces alkylates by combining light olefins and isobutane using a solid catalyst that provides yield and operating cost benefits by avoiding complex acid handling and cooling cost, it added. John Derbyshire, president, KBR Technology, said: I am delighted to announce that Wynnewood is considering our innovative and groundbreaking K-SAAT technology to revamp the HF Alky unit at Wynnewood. K-SAAT produces an ideal blendstock for increased gasoline octane which is in high demand and does not use corrosive liquid acids. Alkylate octane obtained through the K-SAAT process is higher compared to other liquid and solid acid alkylation processes under a wide range of process conditions, he said. We are honoured to support Wynnewood and to showcase the tremendous potential of K-SAAT for grassroots and revamp projects, he added. Since the first K-SAAT unit was commissioned, early this year in China, the technology has received significant interest from refiners globally. The technology reflects KBR's commitment to provide innovative technologies that give our customers a competitive edge in attractive markets. Global demand for motor fuels continues to rise while stricter environmental standards and oxygenate blend requirements for gasoline place a premium on clean burning fuels and blendstocks such as alkylate. KBR's K-SAAT process is a highly adaptable technology that produces a more cost effective, higher quality alkylate than conventional liquid acid catalysts or other solid acid catalysts. The key to the K-SAAT technology is ExSact, a revolutionary solid acid catalyst engineered to overcome rapid deactivation limitations of solid-acid catalysts and provide superior alkylation performance. K-SAAT offers the capabilities to upgrade olefins ranging from ethylene to amylenes into higher value alkylate. KBR's licensed process technology is found in more than half of the world's FCC units, a majority of residue upgrading units and more than 100 hydroprocessing units. Our emphasis on heavy oil upgrading, improving bottom-of-the-barrel yields, producing clean fuels, increasing chemical yields and providing a wider range of operating flexibility to refiners makes KBR a preferred partner to address any refining challenge, it added. TradeArabia News Service Last May, Chinese solar panel manufacturer LONGi signed an agreement with Saudi trading company El Seif Group to establish large-scale solar manufacturing infrastructure in Saudi Arabia. The deal came several months after the Trump administration's imposition of global tariffs on imports of Chinese solar panels and cells. The big picture: Uneasy about its oil dependence and lack of domestic manufacturing capabilities, Saudi Arabia has long looked to partner with China to develop its burgeoning green industries. But while the U.S.China trade war has given the kingdom a chance to fortify that collaboration, it also puts Riyadh in the tough position of choosing between the world's largest solar manufacturer and its most important geopolitical ally. Background: China laid out its industrial investment policy for the Greater Middle East in a 2016 white paper, highlighting the importance of exporting industrial capacity in nuclear, traditional and renewable energy. Saudi Arabia's goal of developing 60 gigawatts of solar power by 2030, together with its dearth of indigenous competition, makes the country an attractive manufacturing destination for Chinese firms, which have already sought to deepen their cooperation with their Saudi counterparts. Saudi Arabia seems poised to take advantage. The country aims to become a global trade hub as part of its ambitious Vision 2030 plan, and has already taken action in industrial policy to establish local manufacturing centers. In addition to streamlining its once-byzantine trade documentation requirements, the Kingdom has established a special economic zone With the lure of tax incentives, the zone could serve as a hub for assembling solar components and, potentially, a destination for Chinese manufacturers seeking to avoid the 10% U.S. tariff. The potential for domestic job creation might entice Riyadh even further to pursue geopolitically risky economic relations. Yes, but: The Trump administration is unlikely to approve of China's inroads in the Middle East. While Riyadh may be able to strengthen its domestic solar manufacturing industry by cooperating with China, it risks spurring Washington to impose tariffs on Saudi Arabia, as it has done with other allies. The bottom line: Saudi Arabia has the opportunity to capitalize on the trade conflict to further its development goals, but must choose its partners carefully to avoid becoming collateral damage. Juergen Braunstein is a postdoctoral fellow at Harvard Kennedy School's Belfer Center. Oliver McPherson-Smith is a Master's student at Harvard's Center for Middle Eastern Studies. Chinas Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) suffered a major setback this month when the Wall Street Journal reported that Chinese infrastructure projects were inflated to help bail out Malaysias state development fund. The Malaysia affair, in which several big projects were pursued for political rather than economic reasons, is just one of 17 cases cited in a new U.S. Department of Defense report that argues China's BRI "serves a greater strategic purpose" than advertised. The big picture: According to the report, China is using infrastructure and other ostensibly commercial projects through the BRI to help promote Chinese standards in everything from 5G networks to satellite services. As the BRI proceeds, China's partners are taking a closer look at its economic risks, and China's competitors are scrutinizing its strategic implications. History is filled with examples of states using foreign infrastructure to access territory, harvest resources, shape government policy, dominate technology, and undercut their competitors. In many ways, China is merely updating the playbook used by Western powers during the 19th and 20th centuries to expand its influence. Beijing dangles the promise of investment to limit outside criticism, enlist support for its positions at the UN, and gain other political concessions. Chinas expanding network of ports could also allow it to project and sustain military power at greater distances. Indeed, one of Chinas disadvantages is that memories of colonialism still linger in developing and emerging economies like Malaysia, where questionable Chinese projects have run into trouble and sparked a backlash. Be smart: New avenues for influence are opening up as the Internet of Things and related developments incorporate more sophisticated sensing technology into highways, electric grids, and other connected infrastructure. These developments could boost productivity and fuel economic growth, but they might also increase Chinese intelligence capabilities and enable host governments to stifle free speech along Chinas "digital silk road," since "smart" infrastructure is functionally surveillance infrastructure. What to watch: If Chinese technology giants like Huawei continue to get squeezed out of advanced economies, China could double down on the BRI and push deeper into developing economies, where the demand for infrastructure far exceeds the current supply. Jonathan Hillman is director of the Reconnecting Asia Project at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. Go deeper: Influence and Infrastructure at CSIS. Microsoft confirmed Wednesday that its Bing search engine is currently unavailable in China, but declined to say whether technical issues or censorship are to blame. Why it matters: Microsoft makes a modified version of Bing for China and it is normally available, albeit with certain terms censored. "Weve confirmed that Bing is currently inaccessible in China and are engaged to determine next steps," a Microsoft representative told Axios. The Financial Times reported that a government order was behind the outage, noting that Bing is the last major foreign-run search engine operating in the country. Strikingly, Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro has been this year's foremost addition to the World Economic Forum's loftiest circles. The big picture: There has so far been little worry about his fondness for dictatorship, his plans to ravage the environment or threats to jail or exile political adversaries. Why it matters: Davos is a small town, where plutocrats and heads of state eddy around each other, each with their own gravitational attraction. Look to the very center of attention and fascination, and you will very frequently find a strongman president. In prior years, both Russian President Vladimir Putin and President Trump have been feted by WEF head Klaus Schwab. This year belonged to Bolsonaro. Bolsonaro was seated at Schwab's top table on Tuesday, along with Tim Cook and Satya Nadella, the CEOs of two of the most valuable companies on the planet. Bolsonaro's Flickr feed is full of photo-ops with the likes of Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and former U.K. Prime Minister Tony Blair. If Bolsonaro was at all concerned that his far-right rhetoric would make him a persona non grata in Davos, his first day in town will have put all such worries to rest. Bolsonaro also gave a high-profile speech to the Davos crowd. Schwab introduced him by gushing that "Brazil is going, and will go, through a period of decisive transformation under your leadership." The bottom line: The WEF might be a high-minded nonprofit, but it runs on money and power, both of which are fundamentally amoral. After the Davos globalists embraced Trump in 2018, it comes as no surprise to see them doing the same with Bolsonaro. Go deeper: Arrival of Brazil's Bolsonaro draws praise from Trump, fear from critics Israeli officials tell me they have asked the Trump administration to amend a law that would essentially end aid for the Palestinian Authority's security forces, who have a cooperation program with Israel that many believe has provided stability to the West Bank. Why it matters: The law is slated to go into effect Feb. 1, and with the government shutdown continuing with no immediate end in sight, a legislative fix is not expected to be enacted in time. Background: The Anti-Terrorism Clarification Act (ATCA) would force foreign organizations to be subject to the jurisdiction of U.S. courts if they accept certain forms of assistance from the U.S. government. It was signed by Trump last October with the intention of ensuring the Palestinian Authority pays compensation to terror victims who won civil suits against the PLO in U.S. courts. The Palestinian Authority says that accepting the conditions of the ATCA would open them up to billions of dollars in potential liabilities. For that reason, Palestine has asked the U.S. not to provide aid after the law goes into effect. The law was pushed by right-wing nongovernmental organizations in Israel and Republican members of Congress. At the time it was signed, few in the Israeli government, Trump administration or Congress realized its potentially problematic consequences. The big picture: The Trump administration has cut off almost all funding to the Palestinians, with the exception of security aid. The U.S. gives the Palestinian security forces $60 million every year for training and equipment, but no aid will be transferred this year if a solution is not found. Israeli government coordinator for the West Bank Gen. Kamil Abu-Rukun raised his concerns with Lt. Gen. Eric Wendt, the U.S. security coordinator in Jerusalem. Israeli officials tell me Prime Minister Netanyahu's aides and the Israeli ambassador to Washington Ron Dermer have reached out to the White House, State Department and members of Congress asking to find some kind of arrangement to ensure U.S. aid to the Palestinian security forces continues. A senior Israeli official tells me that Israel and the U.S. government agree about the need to maintain the security assistance while respecting the claims of terror victims. The main obstacle at this point is the government shutdown preventing Congress from taking action. The bottom line: An Israeli security official told me: "If the law doesn't change and no solution is found, it could be a deadly blow to the security coordination between Israel and the Palestinians. This will harm a top priority Israeli national security interest." The media industry's current round of cuts and consolidation is accelerating. Sizable layoffs at Buzzfeed, Gannett and Verizon Media (home of AOL, Yahoo, HuffPost and others) were announced Wednesday, totaling over 1,000 jobs cut. Why it matters: If the headlines signal anything, it's that the news media will continue to struggle to find a sustainable business model in an advertising and attention ecosystem dominated by tech companies like Google, Facebook and Netflix. By the numbers: Verizon Media will cut roughly 800 jobs, or 7% of its global workforce across the organization, as well as certain brands and products. Verizon CEO Hans Vestberg told Axios earlier this month that each of the company's three units, including the media business, needed to be able to stand on their own. (A company spokesperson later clarified to Axios that Verizon Media Group will still have access to Verizon customer data when customers opt in to provide such information.) or 7% of its global workforce across the organization, as well as certain brands and products. Verizon CEO Hans Vestberg told Axios earlier this month that each of the company's three units, including the media business, needed to be able to stand on their own. (A company spokesperson later clarified to Axios that Verizon Media Group will still have access to Verizon customer data when customers opt in to provide such information.) Buzzfeed will cut roughly 250 jobs, or roughly 15% of its workforce, including jobs within its news division. or roughly 15% of its workforce, including jobs within its news division. Gannett cut over 20 jobs Wednesday, per Poynter, with more expected as the company tries to shed costs amid buyout talks. The big picture: The struggle to create businesses that can support a healthy news environment is universal across the information ecosystem. It exists at the local, national and global levels, and across digital, print and television operations. Events in the past year that underscore this reality: the cheap sales of websites that had raised tons of money, like Mic.com and Mashable big layoffs at digital properties like Vox and Refinery29 Massive write-downs of media properties owned by bigger companies, like Vice and Verizon Media Be smart: Policymakers around the world want to address the problem, but most are still struggling to find workable solutions. In Europe, lawmakers have proposed a copyright directive that would force tech giants to pay publishers for linking to their content, but the directive experienced a setback five days ago after member states failed to agree on some rules. lawmakers have proposed a copyright directive that would force tech giants to pay publishers for linking to their content, but the directive experienced a setback five days ago after member states failed to agree on some rules. In the U.S., regulators at the FCC has rolled back decades-old broadcast ownership rules to allow local news companies to more easily merger to be better able to scale and potentially compete with some of their tech counterparts. regulators at the FCC has rolled back decades-old broadcast ownership rules to allow local news companies to more easily merger to be better able to scale and potentially compete with some of their tech counterparts. The U.S. newspaper industry is still waiting on Congress for a proposed temporary safe harbor that would allow it to bargain as a group against big tech companies. Bottom line: Many news companies are struggling to find sustainable business models in the digital era. There's no sign it's getting any easier. U.S. companies with significant exposure to China have seen their stocks tumble since President Trump's opening salvo in the trade war. But it wasn't really China or the oft-invoked trade tensions that hurt those companies. The big picture: Chipmakers like Skyworks, Qorvo, Qualcomm and Micron, along with Wynn Resorts, top the list of S&P 500 companies that make their biggest share of revenue in China, according to data compiled by Goldman Sachs. All of those stocks are deeply in the red since Trump took the first steps toward a full-blown trade war on Jan. 22. Yes, but: An Axios analysis shows shareholders weren't punishing these companies because of their exposure to China. Fourteen of the top 20 companies most exposed to China are semiconductors an industry that suffered during this period, thanks to a sector-wide slowdown. Those stocks fared no worse than an exchange-traded fund tracking the industry, which fell 14%. An Axios analysis shows shareholders weren't punishing these companies because of their exposure to China. Fourteen of the top 20 companies most exposed to China are semiconductors an industry that suffered during this period, thanks to a sector-wide slowdown. Those stocks fared no worse than an exchange-traded fund tracking the industry, which fell 14%. Semiconductors were bound to suffer, regardless of a trade war, thanks to slowing demand for memory chips, rising inventory levels and falling prices, Sebastian Hou, an analyst at CLSA, told CNBC last year. More consumer-focused companies like Nike (which nets 12% of of its revenue from Greater China) saw their stock prices increase, in line with the consumer discretionary sector which outperformed the broader market. Rather than a broad-based China slowdown, data shows individual companies saw largely individual results. Shares of Advanced Micro Devices (AMD), which generates about 30% of its sales in China, jumped almost 60% since last year bucking the downtrend of its semiconductor counterparts. Analysts say the rise is largely due to the possibility that AMD was taking market share from longtime players like Intel. (AMD), which generates about 30% of its sales in China, jumped almost 60% since last year bucking the downtrend of its semiconductor counterparts. Analysts say the rise is largely due to the possibility that AMD was taking market share from longtime players like Intel. Qualcomm's stock suffered after its merger with Broadcom was killed by the Trump administration, showing its "aggressive stance on perceived threats from foreign investors and the growing technological might of China," as Axios reported last year. after its merger with Broadcom was killed by the Trump administration, showing its "aggressive stance on perceived threats from foreign investors and the growing technological might of China," as Axios reported last year. Wynn Resorts significantly underperformed other consumer discretionary stocks. But its shares took a major hit earlier last year after longtime CEO Steve Wynn resigned following sexual misconduct allegations. What they're saying: Count executives at Texas Instruments which gets 44% of its revenue from Greater China among those who say the trade war isn't to blame for their struggles. After the company missed third quarter estimates, CFO Rafael Lizardi said the lackluster results were "mostly driven by a slowdown in semiconductors" and smartphone sales, not a macro-driven event, like trade. (Texas Instruments did better in its most recent quarter.) The bottom line: Companies with big exposure to China can point to a wide range of issues, not necessarily the trade war, for the pain in their stocks. China's ambitious Belt and Road Initiative, a program to fuse Asia with Africa and Europe via land and maritime networks, has the potential to forever alter the biodiversity of key habitat on multiple continents, a new study warns. Why it matters: By connecting regions through large infrastructure projects including ports, railways and telecommunications networks scientists fear the project could accelerate the spread of invasive species. Such species, once established in a region, could harm biodiversity in ways that are difficult to impossible to reverse. The backstory: The Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) has been championed by Chinese President Xi Jinping, and is viewed by many as a modern version of the Silk Road that was set up during the Han Dynasty some 2,000 years ago. Details: The new study, published Thursday in Current Biology, uses a comprehensive risk analysis to find the areas most vulnerable to the introduction and spread of 816 different invasive species including amphibians, reptiles, birds and mammals. The researchers, including authors from the state-run Chinese Academy of Sciences, quantified the risks of invasive vertebrates by looking at 2 factors: Risk of transporting a new species: This relies on trade and transport data to determine the risk that an invasive species could hitch a ride to a new location; and This relies on trade and transport data to determine the risk that an invasive species could hitch a ride to a new location; and Whether habitat is suitable for a new species: This is based on a species' known climatic range and other requirements, and describes whether a species could thrive in a particular spot. They combined these to identify 14 invasion hotspots in 68 countries, from the Caribbean to Southeast Asia and Africa. The study found that most of the high-risk areas fell along the 6 corridors that have been proposed for the project, study co-author Yiming Li, a professor of animal ecology and conservation biology at the Chinese Academy of Sciences, said in an email to Axios. Some of the species used in the study include: The African clawed frog, or Xenopus laevis, which is an invasive species that destroys native populations of frogs. European starlings, or Sturnus vulgaris, which can damage crops and compete with native species for food. The ship rat, or Rattus rattus, which, according to Li, has "directly caused the extinction of many species including birds, small mammals, reptiles, invertebrates, and plants, especially on island ecosystem." The authors recommend that a fund be established to help countries monitor for the spread of invasive species and to combat them, Li said. What they're saying: "A major weakness of this approach, which the authors acknowledge, is that it is necessarily based on existing trade and transport data... Since a major aim of the BRI is to boost trade on existing routes and forge new ones, it seems likely that this study significantly underestimates the potential risks." Richard Corlett, research professor at the Chinese Academy of Sciences, who was not involved in the new study "This study reveals a potentially massive hidden cost of the Belt & Roadone thats received almost no attention. In that sense its an unusually valuable analysis." Bill Laurence, a distinguished research professor at James Cook University in Australia, who was not involved in the new study Laurence recommends a bolder approach to combating invasive species along the BRI corridors, noting that invasive species cost trillions in damage worldwide per year. He dismissed the idea of a fund to fight the invasive species, saying it would be "like treating cancer with a band-aid." The better solution, he said, is to limit human access in the first place: "Thats the only thing that really works." Go deeper: BP is investing in PowerShare, a 4-year-old Chinese startup providing a digital platform that "connects [electric vehicle] drivers, charge point operators and power suppliers," BP said today. Why it matters: The funding amount in the Series A round was not disclosed, but it signals the interest in getting a stake in the world's largest market for EVs and its infrastructure. Of note: It's the first direct investment in China by BP Ventures, the company's VC arm. Details: BP's announcement says PowerShare's tech is a way to help manage the growing role of EV's in electricity infrastructure. "PowerShare's cloud-based system also allows power suppliers to optimise their operations by continuously monitoring and balancing the power demand from vehicles with the supply capacity of the grid," it states. Reuters reports, "With China targeting sales of more than 7 million EVs by 2025, the need to manage demand and distribution of power on the grid, particularly at times of peak demand, will be crucial." The big picture: The investment is the latest sign of European-based multinational oil-and-gas giants getting increasingly involved in the EV charging space. Some other examples are... BP's purchase last year of the U.K. charging network Chargemaster and investment in the fast-charging startup StoreDot. Shell's 2017 purchase of the charging company NewMotion. Total's 2018 acquisition of the charging firm G2mobility. But, but, but: Investments in low-carbon and emerging energy tech and companies including renewables and EV infrastructure remains a very small part of oil majors' portfolios. 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. Saudi-based Jamjoom Pharma has signed an agreement with King Abdullah Economic City (KAEC) to build a specialised hospital on a 100,000-sq-m of land within its facility. Initially the hospital comprises 150 beds, expandable to 500 beds upon completion of the remaining development phases, said a statement from KAEC. "We are honoured that our partners Jamjoom Pharma chose to build the hospital in KAEC. Their decision to do so stems from their confidence in the citys status, its ambitious future, and its strategic location which connects it to all western province cities in under an hour," remarked KAEC Group CEO Ahmed Linjawy. "This is in addition to the citys prominent role in realising Vision 2030 through having all the components for an ideal quality of life, as well as the attractive and competitive environment provided by the city for its variety of investors and the ease of conducting business in KAEC," he stated. Mazen Tammar, the chief healthcare and education officer at KAEC, said the new hospital would be a key addition to its healthcare services system currently provided through the Family Medical Centre. "Together they will offer a complete spectrum of healthcare services providing one-of-a-kind medical and rehabilitation services," he noted. Tammar said the healthcare unit of KAEC aims to become one of the leading regional healthcare destinations for specialised treatments, located in a modern residential environment complete with world class social, sports, and educational facilities. "The new hospital will employ the highest international quality standards through being managed by a global operator in order to benefit from international expertise and the transfer of the latest healthcare technologies to Saudi Arabia," he noted. The project is estimated to create 500 jobs during its first few years of operation and more than 800 jobs upon completion of the various development phases, he added.-TradeArabia News Service In an interview with Bloomberg television on Thursday, French finance minister Bruno Le Maire said Carlos Ghosn just resigned last night, referring to the positions of CEO and chairman the Brazilian-born held within Renault.No other details were provided by the French minister, nor any official announcement was made by Renault. A board meeting is scheduled for later on Thursday to decide what comes next.Ever since Ghosns arrest last year, and somewhat opposing the actions of alliance partner Nissan, Renault has stood by its leader, demanding hard evidence about his misconduct. At the time, the French asked Nissan to provide all information in their possession arising from the internal investigations related to Mr. Ghosn.As accusations against Ghosn continued to mount, the French government, which holds a 15 percent stake in the carmaker, stepped in and asked for the removal of the once iconic industry figure.Its unclear what percentage of Ghosns resignation was voluntary, but his departure opens the way for new leadership to be appointed for both Renault and the alliance as a whole.Temporarily, Renault is headed by Thierry Bollore, the companys chief operating officer, while the alliance lacks a de facto leader. Last week, a French delegation visited to Japan to discuss ways to move forward, but no official announcement on the status of the negotiations was made.As for Ghosn, he is still behind bars and is facing a 10-year sentence if found guilty of some of the charges brought against him.Initially, the executive was arrested for underreporting his compensation to the Tokyo Stock Exchange and was subsequently accused of other illegal or immoral acts, including personal use of company, assets, aggravated breach of trust, and misuse of company funds. Ashursts Australia corporate head, Phil Breden says the additions to the team follow recent hires of partners Dan Yang in Sydney and Ratha Nabanidham in Brisbane. The team had its busiest year on record in 2018, advising on landmark transactions such as the Nine/Fairfax merger and Oxford Properties' successful contested takeover of the Investa Office Fund, and we have ambitions to continue to grow the practice in the near future, he said. Kennedys adds insurance litigation team in Southeast Asia Kennedys has hired the former head of insurance litigation at Kelvin Chia Partnership in Singapore to bolster its Southeast Asia operation. Partner Akramjeet Khaira and his team - associate, Nicholas Ng, a paralegal and two support staff join the firm, which operates in Singapore as Kennedys Legal Solutions following the 2015 joint law venture with local firm Legal Solutions. Meanwhile, Kennedys in Bangkok has promoted senior consultant Ian Johnston to partner. Hanley, who has advised on a number of high-profile multi-jurisdiction transactions under English and Australian law, is a specialist in private M&A and restructurings. Prior to Ashurst, he was with Seyfarth Shaw. He was also partner-in-charge of KWM London, and managing partner of MinterEllison London. Greg is an outstanding lawyer with a first-class reputation, whose long history of acting on substantial public M&A transactions perfectly complements our current team. Rob's broad experience, under both English and Australian law transactions, and significant involvement in private M&A and other corporate, commercial and regulatory matters, make him a perfect fit for us and plays to the firm's traditional areas of strength both in Australia and the UK, said Phil Breden, who leads Ashursts corporate group in Australia. Breden said that the appointments actively accelerate the development of the firms Australian corporate practice. The team had its busiest year on record in 2018, advising on landmark transactions such as the Nine/Fairfax merger and Oxford Properties' successful contested takeover of the Investa Office Fund, and we have ambitions to continue to grow the practice in the near future, he said. The appointments follow the arrivals of partners Dan Yang in Sydney and Ratha Nabanidham in Brisbane last year. Emerging technologies are set to transform the facilities management (FM) market in the Middle East region, thus helping customers save costs and drive up sustainability standards across the buildings sector, said leading design and engineering group Khatib & Alami (K&A). An international multidisciplinary consultancy, K&A comprises architects, engineers, planners and other project specialists. It has vast experience in FM consultancy management, sustainability projects and Building Information Modelling (BIM) throughout the Mena region. In Lebanon, for instance, the ABC Verdun Mall project, for which K&A was the local design consultant, became the first project in the country for which the BIM model is being used not only for the construction phase, but also to support mall operations. "Buildings are almost 40 per cent of the energy consumption in almost any economy, and the best energy and water efficiency measures typically reduce energy and water bills by 10 to 30 per cent," remarked senior project engineer Mustafa Herzallah. He is one of the key speakers at FM Expo Saudi, a major industry event which kicks off on Monday (January 28) and runs till January 30 in Riyadh. "In Saudi Arabia, where Vision 2030 is helping to drive improvements in energy and water efficiency, the potential for innovating through the FM market is huge," stated Herzallah. The integration of technologies such as smart meters and energy monitoring and control systems, BIM and geographic information systems (GIS) is equipping facilities management teams with real-time data to optimise levels of performance, he added. K&A has been at the forefront of GIS in the region for more than 30 years through its partnership with international GIS supplier ESRI, while its own smart solutions platform Kapcite is gaining traction in the market through products such as Way+, which incorporates wayfinding technology through the Internet of Things (IoT) to connect people, physical assets and data intelligently. Such technologies, which are fundamental to the creation of smart cities, will play a key role in the growth of the FM market in the GCC over the coming decade. The largest country market for FM services, Saudi Arabia, is alone expected to more than double in size to $50 billion by 2030, compared to $23 billion last year. Conventional FM practice is more reactive, so problems are fixed as they arise. As a pioneer in sustainability and energy management, we challenge the current performance of an asset and aim to improve and optimize that performance, reducing their operational costs and enhancing the overall end-user experience, remarked Herzallah. Through BIM models and FM integrated data, problems can be diagnosed quickly and performance predicted, resulting in fewer equipment and asset failures, he added. K&As Product and Account Manager, Mohammad Hammoud, said: "Creating geographically aware buildings can significantly improve decision-making by generating real-time data which can be analysed quickly and efficiently." "This can help facilities managers to accurately predict behavioural patterns so that, for instance, air conditioning can be managed at the most appropriate levels in specific zones," noted Hammoud, who will be one of the key speakers at the upcoming FM Expo Saudi expo. "It can also support health and safety by informing space and crowd management or emergency response planning," he stated. According to Hammoud, these geospatial solutions offer significant benefits to the FM sector. Anwar Qureshi, a senior consultant in K&As FM department, said greater appreciation of the positive impact that high quality FM can have on businesses will help the market to grow and innovate. "One of the things organizations often get wrong about facilities management is focusing on being reactive, instead of strategic. We recommend that clients implement a robust facilities management program that gives credence to the efficient operation and maintenance of the asset over its entire lifecycle," he added.-TradeArabia News Service Watch Snob on Value and Good Taste Watch Snob: A Classic Is a Classic for a Reason Is Whats Old New Again? What are your thoughts on Omega reintroducing the Caliber 321? How do you think this will impact the vintage Speedmasters containing the original Caliber 321? Obviously we don't know exactly what Omega has in store for us yet, but if they are making this for continuous production, should one wait for a Speedmaster with this movement in lieu of the 1861/861 calibre or is this just another version in the large catalogue of Speedmasters? From everything we have heard, this is not a limited edition reissue, but rather a return of the Caliber 321 to regular production; my expectation is that these will be priced somewhere between $12,000 and $15,000. In other words, a premium-priced product aimed at Speedmaster enthusiasts who are willing and able to pay for a new version of the watch, with a new Caliber 321 movement. RELATED: Last Week Watch Snob at Salon De La Haute Horlogerie 2019 There has been much hand-wringing from the collector community over whether this will devalue vintage Speedmasters, and frankly, I think the concern is unjustified. An original vintage Caliber 321 Speedmaster may share some technical features with a new one, but virtually everything else that makes a vintage watch valuable to collectors will be absent from any new Speedmaster. I dont see the return of the movement to production making the slightest bit of difference. As to whether you should buy a Speedmaster with a caliber 1861 or a new caliber 321, it really depends on your budget, and on how strongly you feel about the movement. Lest we forget, the Speedmaster with caliber 861/1861 is also certified for manned space flight, and is in fact in use currently on the International Space Station where, I read, they are affixed to the cuffs of the Russian-space-agency supplied EVA suits. Thus a caliber 861/1861 Speedmaster actually has more of a direct connection with manned space flight than a Speedmaster with a new caliber 321, at least in a sense. Vintage 321 Speedmasters, current 861/1861 Speedmasters, and new-production 321 Speedmasters are all very different from each other, and are different value propositions. The obvious solution is to own one of each (at least) which would certainly put a smile on Omegas collective face. Well, That Was Easy I wear suits most days of the week and am looking for a timeless dress watch. I've narrowed the terrifyingly large array of quality offerings down to just two: the Tank Louis Cartier Large Rose Gold (manual wind) or the Chopard L.U.C XPS Fairmined. RELATED: Best Watches Under $10,000 The Cartier is the very definition of elegance, but the Chopard has that galvanized dial and the handsome micro-rotor movement. I just worry that the hypnosis of the dial will fade, the spell will break, or the gray on rose gold aesthetic will age poorly. Which of these can I wear with loving pride for decades to come? Do I play it safe with the century-old Tank or dive into the whirlpool of the Chopard, currents be damned? You get the Cartier. This is not a knock on the Chopard. The L.U.C. movements were lauded when they were first released as one of the finest self-winding movements ever to come out of Switzerland, and the praise was deserved. Chopard could have gone on indefinitely minting money in the quartz jewelry watch sector (and indeed, the jewelry sector as well, where they continue to be a red-carpet staple), but instead, they spend millions on developing a genuinely beautiful and impressive movement. Now undoubtedly they were motivated by profit (arent we all), but the project was one they certainly would not have undertaken had the Scheufele family simply wanted to lounge on the Riviera (or wherever they happen to lounge). However, this particular watch is less likely to age better than the Cartier. There is always a temptation when considering such a purchase to go for a so-called interesting alternative, and in the case of the Chopard, I do not mean interesting alternative ironically, but it is nonetheless not quite as successful nor as (I am going to use the word, God help me) iconic as a Tank. It would, however, be a follow-up worth considering if you have a bit of the collector gene in you. RELATED: Best Watches Under $5,000 However, if for the foreseeable future you are going to wear a single dress watch as your daily companion, I must recommend the Tank. It is easy with the Tank to miss at first (or second, or fifth) glance why exactly it has persisted for nearly a century and been prized for just as long, but my experience has been that wearing one will lead you to the understanding that, at least in some cases, classics are classics for a reason. This Candy Went Bad What are your thoughts on Richard Mille's new candy-themed offerings at SIHH 2019? Can the brand yet spin colorful composites into gold, or is it jumping the shark? Do you have any insights on how the brand might retain its position as the avant-garde trendsetter of hyper-exclusive watchmaking? Thank you in advance for your thoughts. I thought they were incredibly entertaining on several levels. First of all, I dont think there is the slightest question as to what their basic purpose is. The tasteless non-cognoscenti with their bottomless bank accounts and desire to broadcast as loudly and as blatantly as possible, that it is not the meek who inherit the Earth, have for many years now taken the place of any real watch connoisseurs who might in his early days have supported Richard Mille. The brand has not represented real design intelligence or technical innovation in many years, but it functions very efficiently as a means of extracting wealth from crass plutocrats with money to burn. Frankly, Im perfectly happy with all of this. It doesnt make a particle of difference to me, nor should it to anyone, what the undiscerning rich spend their money on, and if Richard Milles now giving them something they can gift to their 12-year-olds along with a new Arabian stallion and a chauffeur-driven Flying Spur, God bless him. Someone (I think H. L. Mencken) once said that no one ever went broke underestimating the taste of the American public, and Richard Mille understands to a high degree of precision that no one ever went broke underestimating the taste of the public, period. You Might Also Dig: Amber Rose's 10 Tips for a Better Sex Life Spice Things Up in the Bedroom With Advice from Amber Rose Amber Rose started out as a model and music video actress, but now, shes a champion of womens rights as well as a bonafide sexpert. Not only does she host a podcast focused on sexual topics such as curiosity and empowerment, shes currently the face of LELO, the world's leading brand of luxury intimate accessories. After launching her first sex toy, branded as LELO by Amber Rose, we caught up with Rose to find out exactly how to keep things spicy in the bedroom. Here are her 10 top tips. Related: The Best Sex Positions 1. Discuss What Turns You On We all have different tastes in the bedroom, so its best to make sure youre ordering off the same menu as your partner before you get started. I think the best approach is just to have an honest conversation about it, says Amber Rose. Your partner isn't going to know what turns you on unless you tell them. Being open and honest about what you as a couple are comfortable with and what your limits are is the best way to more pleasure. And if someone is into something you don't like, don't judge them for it. Just say you aren't comfortable. 2. Break Out of the Routine Theres always passion in the bedroom at the beginning, but sometimes, it becomes a repetitive routine. Thats when you have to find ways to keep things exciting. I definitely recommend spicing things up with a sex toy, says Rose. Sometimes you're in a relationship and the sex isn't as exciting as it was when you first starting dating. Introducing products into your relationship can be really fun and something to look forward to. That's why I love the TIANI so much. It's for couples and it makes sex more exciting for you and your man. 3. Try New Positions Trying new positions is the perfect way to switch things up when things are getting a little lackluster, advises Rose. New positions and new angles can provide different sensations for both partners. She notes: It can be as easy as saying, I read about this new position that sounds fun. Let's try it!" 4. Get in Shape for the Bedroom Good sex can take a little bit of stamina in more ways than one. Are you in good shape for good sex? Cardio can help build up stamina and yoga can help with flexibility when getting into some tricky positions, explains Rose. I recommend working on both. GettyImages 5. Learn to Talk Dirty Unfortunately, Rosetta Stone doesnt teach us the language of talking dirty. In order to learn such lustful lingo, Rose suggests listening to the pros. Anything can be learned! Just like porn can give you good ideas for positions, it can also give you ideas for dirty talk, says Rose. It might be awkward at first, but it's fun to get creative in other ways. 6. Use Toys Toys can be intimidating at first, as some people feel like theyre being replaced. A better way to think of it is that theyre performance-enhancing tools, not something that will take over for you. If you are introducing toys to a partner, make sure you have an open conversation about it, saying it's something you want to try and think will be fun for the both of you, says Rose. I would recommend trial and error and find out what turns you on. If you don't like it after trying, then great, at least you know for in the future. Related: How to Talk About Your Unsatisfying Sex Life 7. Dont Be Afraid to Dress Up If youre comfortable with each other, why not try out some role-play? It can be a teacher-student scenario, pretending to be friendly neighbors, or whatever else your creative minds get excited about. I LOVE dressing up, exclaims Rose. Dressing up and role-playing is another fun way to switch things up in the bedroom. Foreplay is obviously a big key to sex. GettyImages 8. Add Fire to the Foreplay Speaking of foreplay, there are several ways to warm things up before you get down to business. While weve covered both dressing up and role-playing, Rose has a few more recommendations. Definitely use sex toys. It opens up a whole new world to exploring each other's bodies and with different sensations, says Rose. Also, porn is awesome both alone and together. It's sexy to watch together and get in the mood. It can inspire you to try things you have never thought of before. 9. Have Sex in Different Settings Just the thought of sex outside of the bedroom can get your blood pumping, but there are things to know before enjoying such a risky escapade. The rush of having sex somewhere you shouldn't be is the fun part. You just have to be ready for a quick entrance/exit and getting around in small spaces, warns Rose. I don't recommend getting totally naked just in case you get caught. 10. Be Comfortable With Who You Are The underlying foundation to good sex is being comfortable with your partner. Unfortunately, that can be easier said than done, especially if youre having sex early on in the relationship. How do we actually get there? I've always encouraged women and men everywhere to be comfortable with who they are, says Rose. It is important to get to know yourself and your body. You learn what pleasures you. I do believe that getting in touch with yourself can help your sexual relationship with your partner. You Might Also Dig People Who Eat Spicy Food Have More Sex Trending News: People Who Love Spicy Food Have More Sex, Survey Says If you like to keep things spicy in the bedroom, chances are youre the kind of person who also pours hot sauce on all your food, too. The 2,000-person poll conducted on by request of El Yucateco hot sauce asked participants a series of questions about their personality, as well as how spicy they like their food on a scale of 1-4, ranging from no spice, mild, medium, or hot. As it turns out, those who like to douse their pad Thai in Sriracha, or double-dip their burrito in Tapatio, have sex 5.3 times per month. On the other hand, if youre someone who flinches at the sight of chili pepper symbols on a menu, results hint at you having sex about 3.2 times per month. El Yucatecos survey also notes that an active sex life isnt all spicy food can do for you. Participants who tend to like their food piquant have more of a sense of adventure, love roller coasters, listen to loud music, and enjoy speeding down windy roads. Theyre also 45 percent more likely than the anti-heat crowd to have traveled out of the country, and six times more likely to have gone bungee jumping. Related: Spice Up Your Bedroom Game With These Sizzling Ideas The research also points at spicy food lovers being happier, more social, and more goal-oriented than those who dont like spicy food. Theyre also healthier, with those who favor spicy food reporting better exercise habits on average than the type of people who prefer their salsa mild. In a press release, a spokesperson for El Yucateco said the hot sauce brand expected these results. Its no surprise to us to see the results from this poll, the statement read. Our interactions with our loyal fan base indicate that they are adventurous, outgoing and live life to its fullest. It's also worth calling attention to a 2015 Harvard School of Public Health study that found eating spicy foods may help you live longer. All the more reason for you to crank up the heat. You Might Also Dig How to Up Your Ramen Game 15 Simple Twists to Take Your Instant Ramen to the Next Level Theres nothing more comforting than a bowl of ramen on a cold or chilly day, but even the best foods can use some easy upgrades now and again, especially if youre working with a package of instant ramen at home. Related: Easy Recipes for People Who Don't Cook We talked to a whole host of noteworthy chefs and ramen experts from around the country who know a thing or two about what some simple twists that will elevate this Japanese classic. Read on for tips from professional chefs working in New York, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, and more! GettyImages Shaun King, who is currently the executive chef at Momofuku Las Vegas, is a fan of adding umami-rich cheese to ramen broth to give it an extra boost of flavor. Kings cheese of choice? Parmesan rinds. GettyImages Vegetables in ramen is nothing new, but King is a fan of tossing interesting veggies in the mix. A few of his favorites include water spinach, charred onions, charred tomatoes, caramelized kimchi, and raw celery root cut like noodles. Joel Gamoran, Sur La Table national chef and host of Scraps, is also a fan of tossing different veggies into your ramen bowl. In fact, hes partial to roasted leek tops, which he calls an amazing scrap to use in your ramen. Adds Gamoran, Everyone throws them away, but these are tender, sweet, and delicious once cooked. GettyImages Eggs in ramen are usually just soft-boiled, but Josh Bonne, the executive chef at Fine China at The Statler in Dallas, likes to take the time to pickle his egg instead of just partially boiling it. I love to add a softly pickled egg to my ramen, he says. I have found it best to soft-boil the eggs for about seven minutes, then shock and peel. Once they are peeled, soak them for at least six hours in a mixture of equal parts sake, soy sauce, and mirin. A tip from Bonne: To avoid boozy eggs, make sure to burn the alcohol off the mirin and sake. While were on the topic of pickled things, Ben Puchowitz, chef and co-owner of Philadelphias Cheu Noodle Bar, Cheu Fishtown, Nunu, and Bing Bing Dim Sum, has been known to toss pickled mustard greens into his miso ramen for some extra flavor. GettyImages Yes, ramen is a Japanese dish, but why not spice it up (literally!) with some flavors from Thailand? Chef Yusuke Kataoka of Tsujita Noodle Production in Los Angeles loves to use Thai chilis in his ramen. Its not a commonly used ingredient in Japan, but we add these to our recipes to give each bowl that extra zip and heat, he explains, noting this trick allows you to make the soup as spicy or as mild as you like. GettyImages Adding meatballs is a great way to upgrade a classic bowl of ramen and create a next-level comfort food dish, says Tomo Takahashi, the CEO and founder of JINYA Ramen Bar in Los Angeles, which serves a spicy meatball ramen. Ground beef is also an easy, affordable way to transform instant ramen into a standalone dinner at home. Because instant ramen doesnt have a lot of flavor, add ground beef that has been cooked with mushrooms, salt, pepper, sake, soy sauce, sugar and Chinese chili beans (simmer until the liquid is absorbed) and you will end up with a rich, delicious ramen. GettyImages Speaking of ethnic additions, Puchowitz is partial to adding a matzo ball to his ramen. The dense Jewish soup dumplings soak up the broth and make the ramen even more filling than it already is. GettyImages Ramen soup is generally made from stock based on chicken or pork, and Gamoran loves to make his stock by roasting chicken, beef, or pork bones. He then adds additional flavor to the stock by tossing in an Italian staple. If you have a little leftover tomato sauce from a pasta or the bottom of the jar, add this to your stock, which will give the whole thing a richer, brown color, he explains. Related: 6 Simple Pasta Sauces GettyImages If a tomato-inspired broth isnt your thing, you could always toss some fat in it. Yes, fat. Add different kinds of fat to the top of the ramen broth, says King, who pointed out that some of his go-to fat sources are bacon fat, schmaltz and ghee. GettyImages Have broccoli stems on hand? Spiralize them and mix them in with your noodles. These give a fresh, crispness that is unexpected, says Gamoran. You can use all sorts of different food scraps to enhance your ramen and other meals Morton Salt has a ton of recipes on their website. GettyImages Veggies arent the only leftovers that can find their way into your ramen Use leftover products from other applications, such as pickling liquid, whey (from making cheese) and tofu water, suggests King. Related: How to Prepare Leftovers That Don't Taste Like Leftovers GettyImages Instead of just using the most common toppings like eggs, mushrooms, green onions, and bean sprouts, add in shaved carrots or ginger to give [your ramen] an extra crunch and kick, says Ce Bian, the corporate executive chef of Roka Akor, a Japanese Robata style restaurant with six locations around the country. Gamoran agrees: To add crunch to your ramen, roast or fry carrot peelings and top your ramen with it! GettyImages For pops of sweetness to cut strong flavor of the broth and tare, I love adding raw or pickled corn, says Bonne. GettyImages You might think the non-dairy milk has no place in ramen, but chef King disagrees. Add soy milk to Tonkatsu ramen, along with lots of black pepper and lemon, and blend egg yolks into the broth, he advises. Doing this reminds me of Avgolemono, a Greek soup that I love. GettyImages Craving ramen in the warmer months? Serve it chilled like Jeff Chanchaleune, chef at Oklahoma Citys Goro Ramen, does. Its refreshing, savory, and filling, Chanchaleune says of the restaurants cold take. Well cook our house noodles just a little longer than normal, then shock them in ice water. You need to cook the noodles longer because the ice water will make the noodles a tad firmer. We toss the noodles in a sesame dressing made from sesame paste, soy sauce, and rice vinegar. Its then topped with shrimp, preserved mustard greens, marinated bamboo, green onions, and fried shallots for texture. GettyImages When your broth is just about good to go, Bonne recommends topping it off with some extra heat. Always finish your ramen with chili paste mayu or rayu, he notes. Mayu is a slowly burnt garlic oil that adds a nice bitterness, while rayu is a chili infused oil that packs heat and flavor. Now that you've got 15 new ways to jazz up that boring package of ramen, go forth and slurp. You Might Also Dig: Despite US forces' expected withdrawal from Syria and reduction of their mission in Afghanistan, Latvia's National Armed Forces will continue its mission in Iraq and Afghanistan where Latvian troops are training local armies, the Defense Ministry told LSM January 22. Latvian special forces hunting "bad guys" in Afghanistan (Picture source: Twitter) Last December, the White House had ordered the Pentagon to withdraw US troops from Syria, where the country has a 2,000-strong mission fighting Daesh (or Islamic State) terrorists. The decision of US president Donald Trump surprised the allies, but the withdrawal was later made conditional. The US also plans to cut its 14,000-soldier mission in Afghanistan by half. The US is part of the NATO training mission Resolute Support and participates in campaigns against Daesh and Al-Qaeda. Currently, 42 Latvian troops are partaking in Resolute Support, stationed in different bases on Afghan soil. The Defense Ministry said that it is currently planning to have troops on the ground at least until December 31, 2020 as per a parliamentary mandate. Latvia is also part of the US-led Inherent Resolve mission in Iraq and Syria. There are six Latvian troops in the mission, and they are part of the Danish contingent on the ground. The current parliamentary mandate allows keeping their presence there until February 2020. Latvia has been part of Resolute Support from 2015 and of Inherent Resolve from 2016. Etihad Airways is hosting a major recruitment drive globally, seeking individuals with outstanding hospitality experience to join the airline. The international recruitment days will take place in 19 different cities across Australia, Europe, the Middle East and Africa including the United Kingdom, France, Slovakia, Tunisia and South Africa. Linda Celestino, Etihad Airways vice president guest service and delivery, said: In each of these cities we will be inviting up to 120 of the strongest candidates with remarkable hospitality skills to join us at the recruitment days to support the operational growth of our airline including the arrival of new, next generation fleet this year. Alongside providing candidates with comprehensive information about living in Abu Dhabi and the dynamics of working with guests at 30,000 feet, the airline will also conduct an in-depth assessment process. On the back of our recently launched Choose Well brand campaign, these open days are more than just a recruitment drive. We hope to attract talented and enthusiastic men and women globally, to inspire and help them kick-start a tremendous career opportunity and life experience in the UAE with us, adds Ms Celestino Successful candidates will undergo a comprehensive training program in Abu Dhabi, which includes all aspects of cabin safety and service delivery. The training will be conducted at Zayed Campus, the airlines training academy. Cabin crew are provided with tax-free income, company medical insurance, concessional travel benefits, transport, uniforms, fully furnished company accommodation in Abu Dhabi, and discounts on food and beverage and leisure activities in the fresh and vibrant surroundings of the capital of the UAE. International cabin crew recruitment days London January Dublin January Bratislava (Slovakia) February Bucharest (Romania) February Belgrade (Serbia) - February Beirut February Athens - March Cairo April Johannesburg April Cape Town May Tunis (Tunisia) May Australia June Milan and Rome June Barcelona and Madrid June Paris July Abu Dhabi September, October, November, December, January 2020 Amman September Amsterdam October Just a few days before the trial against Catalonias independence leaders kicks off, Spains Supreme Court on Wednesday released the details of the 9-N ruling against Artur Mas, Joana Ortega and Irene Rigau. The court, which had previously found Francesc Homs guilty, took the opportunity to lay out the guidelines that could set the tone for the upcoming trial of the independence process, where two of the judges who tried the former Catalan president and his ministers will also be sitting on the bench. GAUTIER, Mississippi -- Mayor Phil Torjusen and other officials remain hopeful a developer will exercise an option to buy the former Singing River Mall property, but Torjusen emphasized "it's still a long way from a done deal." The City entered into an agreement with the property owners which allows the City to market the property to developers under an option to buy which the City can then assign to a developer. "We've assigned the option to a developer and he's in the process of getting his tenants lined up," Torjusen said, declining to identify the developer. "He'll have the option to enter into a purchase agreement or not." He said the developer has until the end of February to exercise the option to buy or negotiate an extension with the property owners. Torjusen said he and other City officials have met with local legislators and are ready to provide incentives to a potential developer in the way of infrastructure improvements and/or tax incentives. "The ball is in his court, really," he said. "We are ready to provide what we need to provide to make the deal happen, upon his exercising the option to purchase." Singing River Mall, located on 53 acres on U.S. 90, closed in October 2013. Demolition began in February 2014, with only the Belk department store remaining and continuing to operate, surrounded by little more than a shell of the old mall. Original plans called for construction of a new 380,000 square-foot, open-air mall, coupled with a 150,000-SF Walmart Supercenter. The project was to be part of a $90 million redevelopment plan dubbed the "Gautier Town Center." In 2011, under Mayor Tommy Fortenberry, Gautier adopted a plan to assist with the financing, which included up to $20 million in Tax Increment Financing Revenue bonds, which would be paid back by sales and property tax revenue generated from the project. But that development never materialized and the property has remained vacant, save for Belk, ever since. The City continues to maintain areas of the property for use during special events such as Cruisin' the Coast and the annual Mullet Fest. Torjusen noted that when the original deal was announced, there were zero leases in place. Once Walmart backed out as the anchor of the development, the entire project died. This time, the City is doing all it can to ensure a development comes to fruition. "The last thing we want is to have a developer come in here and not be successful," he said. "So we're trying to do everything we can to make sure they'll be successful." If the developer currently holding the option to buy doesn't exercise that option, there are no other developers waiting in line, but Torjusen said the City would get back to work aggressively marketing the property. "We think we could be successful finding another developer, if necessary," he said. Torjusen said if the developer does exercise the option to buy, more information would be released publicly. "We want to make sure that when someone does pull the trigger, we have all the good players in place and we can all be successful. That's what we're trying to ensure." Posted on: January 24, 2019 3:23 PM Pakistans Supreme Court will hear an appeal on Tuesday against its own decision to acquit a Christian mother, Asia Bibi, of blasphemy. Bibi was convicted of blasphemy and jailed in June 2009 under a sentence of death after she drank from a water vessel which, it was claimed, was reserved for Muslims. Pakistans Supreme Court heard her appeal in early October last year. On 31 October they acquitted her of all charges, but she remained in prison until 8 November. Her acquittal sparked violent protests across the country which abated after the government allowed an extremist group to appeal the Supreme Court judgment. Chief Justice Asif Saeed Khosa will hear the judicial review, alongside Justice Qazi Faez Isa and Justice Mazhar Alam Khan Miankhel. Clearing Asia Bibi last year, the Supreme Court said that there inconsistencies in the evidence against Asia Bibi, and that the main witnesses were not even present when Bibi was said to have made disparaging remarks against the Muslim prophet Mohammed. Keeping in mind the evidence produced by the prosecution against the alleged blasphemy committed by the appellant, the prosecution has categorically failed to prove its case beyond reasonable doubt, the Supreme Court said. The Government of Pakistan must uphold the rule of law if they desire any respect in the company of other civilised nations, the Chair of the British-Pakistani Christian Association (BPCA), Wilson Chowdhry, who has followed the case closely, said. The harsh and draconian blasphemy laws need to be repealed and done away with. He continued: After the judicial review was approved Asia Bibis husband appealed for asylum to several western countries. BPCA was entrusted with this passionate plea for assistance and I personally uploaded it for the world to see. We are grateful to all the countries that offered asylum and have been glad to be privy to the final destination and plans for the families safety. Now we simply pray for a quick and successful trial and the immediate reunification of this long beleaguered family. Were still about a month away from the Samsung Galaxy S10s arrival, and weve seen a ton of leaks when it comes to the Galaxy S10 series, none of them were as good as this one, though, at least not as the design is concerned. AllAboutSamsung website has just shared some exclusive real-life images of the Galaxy S10 and Galaxy S10+, and they reveal quite a bit of info, and give us all a great look at Samsungs upcoming flagships. All the images that the source shared are included in the gallery down below, and as you can see, the Galaxy S10 and S10+ will look the same, save for one detail, front-facing cameras. The Galaxy S10 will sport a single camera in the top-right corner of its display, while the Galaxy S10+ will include two. These images also confirm that the phones will be made out of metal and glass, and that their displays will be curved, on top of sporting rounded corners. The two devices will also be different in size, but that is a given. Needless to say, bezels on the Galaxy S10 and S10+ will be even thinner than on the Galaxy S9 and S9+, and the bottom bezel will be a bit thicker than the top one, it seems. On the right side of these two phones, you will notice a power / lock key, while the volume up, down, and Bixby buttons are located on the left. This leak also confirms that the two devices will include a 3.5mm headphone jack, and next to that port, which is located on the bottom of the two devices, you will notice a Type-C USB port, and a loudspeaker. Advertisement Now, if we take a look at the back side of the Galaxy S10 and S10, we will notice that they sport curved sides here as well, same as on the front, which was the case with their predecessors as well. Both phones will include three, horizontally-aligned cameras on the back, next to which you will sport an LED flash, and some additional sensors, one of which is probably a heart rate sensor. The two devices will almost certainly include identical camera setups on the back. You will also notice that a fingerprint scanner is nowhere to be found on the outside of these two devices, thats because it sits under the display, both of these phones will ship with an in-display fingerprint scanner. What To Expect In Terms Of Specs The Galaxy S10 and S10+ will both arrive in two SoC variants, both Exynos 9820 and Snapdragon 855 models will launch. The Exynos 9820-powered Galaxy S10 and S10+ will be available in Europe and India, while the Snapdragon 855-powered variants will ship in the US and China. Advertisement The Galaxy S10 is rumored to sport a 6.1-inch QHD+ Super AMOLED display, while the Galaxy S10+ will probably sport a 6.4-inch QHD+ Super AMOLED panel. Both phones will sport at least 6GB of RAM, though its possible that the Galaxy S10+ will include 8GB. Expect both phones to ship in more than one storage variant, and the base models will probably include 128GB of storage. Android 9 PIe will come pre-installed on both of these smartphones, and on top of it, you will be able to find Samsungs brand new Android overlay, One UI. Large batteries are also expected in these phones, while both of them will support wireless charging, and may even ship with reverse wireless charging feature. Release Date & Other Variants Advertisement Todays leak showed off the Galaxy S10 and S10+, but two other models are expected to arrive, the Galaxy S10E aka S10 Lite and S10X aka S10 X. The Galaxy S10E will be the most affordable Galaxy S10 variant, it will still ship with a flagship processor, but it is said to include a flat display, and a side-facing fingerprint scanner, on top of having two cameras on the back. The Galaxy S10X, on the other hand, is rumored to be the companys very first 5G-enabled smartphone. It is also rumored to include a ceramic back cover, a 6.7-inch QHD+, Super AMOLED curved display, and 10GB / 12GB of RAM. That device may not arrive at the same time as the rest of the Galaxy S10 lineup, as it is said to launch at a later date. Speaking of which, the Galaxy S10 series will debut on February 20 in San Francisco, prior to MWC 2019. If theres one thing weve learned over the past year, its that tech companies dont care about its users and their privacy. Whether its Facebook, Amazon, Google, or Ring, none of them seem to really care about our privacy. And that is something that needs to change, and quick. By now, we all know about Facebook and its lack of caring about privacy. With the Cambridge Analytica scandal and many other issues it has had since then. But whats new now is Ring. Earlier this month, it was reported that Ring allowed its R&D team in Ukraine to watch clips that were recorded from its cameras in peoples homes without their consent. And what made it worse was the fact that these clips were shared unencrypted. Ring was reportedly viewing these clips so that it could build its own recognition software, in an effort to make their products better. As being able to recognize someone that lives there versus someone that doesnt, is a big a deal now. Users dont want to get a notification every time they walk in their front door and their doorbell sees them. Advertisement The company decided it was going to build its own recognition software, and viewing clips it already had, was the best way to do so. Except it wasnt. Its a blatant invasion of privacy. According to the report out of The Intercept, Ring employees saw everything, including couples making out right in front of the camera, as well as people watching TV. This is because Ring sells a whole lot more than just doorbells, but also cameras to put in and outside your home. Ring did deny these accusations, that it never has and never will provide its employees with this ability to watch its customers without consent. Though, that does contradict some other reports even before the massive report earlier this month. Dont trust any tech company Advertisement In 2019, your data is the most valuable thing to basically any company. Google is able to provide a lot of its services for free, or at reduced costs, because it offsets the costs by collecting your data and using that to deliver ads to you. Remember, Google makes nearly 95-percent of its revenue from Ads. And collecting data helps it deliver better ads that are more likely to be clicked, and thus making it more money. The same goes for Facebook actually, and seeing as we share just about everything that is going on in the world on Facebook, it has a ton of information about us already possibly more than Google does. Facebook is also an ad company, so it is looking to use that data to help sell better ads to you. This is being amplified now with these digital voice assistants like Amazon Alexa, Apples Siri and Google Assistant. These assistants are always listening for you to say the magic word. But how do we know that it is only listening for that magic word and not hearing everything else you say in your home? Sure, they all have buttons available to turn off the microphone, but again, how do we know that the microphone is legitimately turned off? Advertisement Its nothing new, especially when it comes to Amazon Alexa. In fact, recently, Amazon sent thousands of Alexa recordings to the wrong user. That user was able to hear just about everything that the Alexa user was saying, not only to Alexa, but in general. This happened because the user asked for all the data that Amazon had of him this is part of the rules of GDPR in Europe, companies have to provide that information and Amazon gave him the wrong information. Many of us put so much trust into these tech companies, thinking that they can do no wrong. And that is our mistake, we as consumers should know better. However, all of the services that these companies offer us, usually for free and ad-supported, are just so good that we are reliant on them. YouTube for example, we all spend hours and hours on YouTube each day. But its free, because of the ads that are shown on YouTube (there is YouTube Premium, but that is not required). Given recent events, we really need to think about how much trust we put into these companies. Advertisement With the Internet of Things becoming more mainstream, privacy is being sacrificed To develop a lot of these Internet of Things products, it actually costs a fair bit of money to do so. Not only for the materials involved, but also all of the Research and Development that goes into it. But somehow companies, particularly startups who have virtually no money, are able to keep these products pretty cheap. This is because they are collecting your data to offset the costs. This is particularly true with Amazon Echo and Google Home devices. These devices are already very inexpensive. The Echo Dot and Google Home Mini retail for $50. This is because the two are selling this hardware at cost, or making a tiny bit of profit off of it. This is because the real value is in you using their digital voice assistant. Both companies want you to use that assistant for everything that you do all day long. Advertisement The data that Amazon and Google collect are used to help improve its products, but to also sell you on things. Google uses it to sell you ads online, seeing as your Google account is used for the Assistant, as well as on your smartphone, laptop and everywhere else. Its easy to show you ads based on what you asked the Google Assistant for. When it comes to Alexa, it doesnt really sell you ads (yet). But Alexa is used as a window into the Amazon store. So if you ask Alexa about a certain thing, you may see it show up under the recommended items on Amazons site the next time you log in. Ring was not the first, and likely wont be the last Smart Home company to spy on you Ring was the one that got caught. But with all of these companies offering cloud storage for you to save clips recorded from the cameras in and around your home, dont think that Ring was alone here. Though, Ring is under a bigger microscope now than in the past, since Amazon purchased the company last year. And Amazon isnt exactly known for protecting your privacy. In fact, its quite the opposite. Advertisement What Ring was doing may have been on the up and up, only using the data to build its recognition software, but this is something that needs to be an opt-in feature. Allowing customers to opt-in to allow Ring to use that data, and perhaps even offering a bonus, like free cloud storage for storing their clips from their cameras. Ring did also make a few mistakes along the way because it wanted to save money. Primarily by sharing the video files among members of its R&D team, as unencrypted files. Data like that should always be encrypted, making it tougher for hackers to get a hold of. There are others out there, like Arlo and Nest, that are likely doing the same thing. Since developing your own recognition software isnt easy. So if youre thinking of avoiding Ring now, since they spy on users, you should be avoiding every company that makes security cameras for your home. Particularly WiFi-enabled ones. This is the chance we take when we go all in with the smart home. There is the fear that these products can be hacked as we saw recently with some Nest Cams that told people North Korea had launched missiles, even though it was untrue. But what could be even worse, is people being able to see everything you do in your home. So before you decide to get a security camera to put in your home, youre going to want to do some research, and outside is going to be better than inside. Advertisement Wrap Up Living in 2019 means giving up our privacy, at least until the government buts in and adds some regulation for these companies. Facebook, surprisingly, is asking for regulation on itself, after the pretty terrible year it had in 2018. But across all of tech, there needs to be some regulation. Users should be able to put security cameras in their home to protect their home, without worrying about other people watching everything they do in their home. The Internet of Things and Smart Home world can really reduce a lot of issues these days. Like crime and package theft in neighborhoods. But as always, it means that we are sacrificing our privacy. Thats something we should not have to sacrifice. But that is the age we live in right now. Unless users want to pay more money for these products, then companies are going to continue to collect data on us and use it for different things. And its not just in the IoT and Smart Home space. This is happening in the TV space, social media and just about every other space. Update: Ring has responded to us with their comment regarding the story from a few weeks ago. Their comment is below: We take the privacy and security of our customers personal information extremely seriously. In order to improve our service, we view and annotate certain Ring video recordings. These recordings are sourced exclusively from publicly shared Ring videos from the Neighbors app (in accordance with our terms of service), and from a small fraction of Ring users who have provided their explicit written consent to allow us to access and utilize their videos for such purposes. Ring employees do not have access to livestreams from Ring products. We have strict policies in place for all our team members. We implement systems to restrict and audit access to information. We hold our team members to a high ethical standard and anyone in violation of our policies faces discipline, including termination and potential legal and criminal penalties. In addition, we have zero tolerance for abuse of our systems and if we find bad actors who have engaged in this behavior, we will take swift action against them. 5G is well on its way to becoming a reality for carrier customers and others in a commercial sense, but former FCC chairman Tom Wheeler thinks that the big players in the space are not paying enough attention to security. The nascent technology threatens, even promises, to encroach into every facet of daily life, making its security of the utmost priority. According to Wheeler, current security pushes concerning 5G, including blocking prominent Chinese players from the American scene for security reasons, simply arent enough. This is due, in part, to the very nature of the innovations that 5G is set to enable. Self-driving cars, for instance, are reportedly projected to one day use as much mobile data in a single day of driving as three thousand people would use on current smartphones. Background: Wheeler says that the current internet structure is a one-way street, or a series thereof, and is essentially turn-based. Data is created at one point, brought to another point, and in some cases, more data is generated at the other end and sent back. This may be enough to keep up with human input, game downloads, and the like, but 5G use cases will be vastly different, and thus harder to fully secure. Advertisement 5G will enable hundreds or even thousands of concurrent connections in parallel from the same device in the same use case. Going back to the example of the self-driving car, its a device that has hundreds of sensors that are all talking to both an internal computer and a cloud consciousness of sorts, all at the same time. With many other units connected to the very same session, theres a lot to keep track of. Consequently, there are tons of potential entry points for would-be hackers, and unless somebody creates some kind of blanket security for the entire scheme, each point will need its own security. That stands in stark contrast to current connection schemes, wherein simply encrypting the data going across both channels and making sure there are no leaks or major vulnerabilities is usually good enough. The Trump Administration and its appointed FCC, shorty after taking office, not only wiped out net neutrality rules, but also took a number of protective requirements for the forthcoming 5G standard off the books. This was set to be the first time in history that those creating a new networking standard were compelled to include security in the design. That elimination was made and kept despite the administration being advised that poor cybersecurity was an existential threat to the future of the United States. Advertisement Impact: Wheelers writing may reach somebody in a position of power and make them want to investigate the security of 5G and the implications of leaving things as they are, but thats not entirely likely. Wheeler leaves off with a scathing comment, calling on the recently swung Congress changed in the midterm elections to use its oversight power to explore just why the administration has failed to protect against that risk What Wheeler is pointing out and calling for in this article may well be vital to the safe and effective rollout of 5G and related technologies. Without security built into the standard, its up to network equipment makers, consumer device makers, and the internet service providers who will be bringing those things together to implement adequate security measures. But yesterday, the medical examiner said the two young women committed suicide. Friends say that the sisters said they would kill themselves before returning to Saudi Arabia. In October, the bodies of two Saudi Arabian sisters, Tala Farea, 16, and Rotana Farea, 23, washed up on the New York city waterfront. Authorities feared foul play. CBS: Their fully clothed bodies were discovered Oct. 24 near the river, two months after they were last seen in Fairfax, Virginia, where they had been living in a shelter amid allegations that they were abused at home. Police said the sisters had been in Manhattan since Sept. 1, staying at expensive hotels and ordering in pairs of meals until a credit card they were using maxed out. A jogger said he saw them praying at a playground near the river, sitting about 30 feet apart with their heads in their hands, hours before their bodies were found, police said. The deaths shined a light on the secretive and risky journeys Saudi women take to flee their homes in the kingdom and abroad. Under the kingdom's guardianship system, women must have the approval of a male relative - such as a father, husband, brother, or even a son - to marry, obtain a passport or travel. New York City Police Chief of Detectives Dermot Shea said people who knew the Farea sisters in Virginia told investigators that they made statements within the last year indicating "that they would rather inflict harm on themselves - commit suicide - than return to Saudi Arabia." Recently, another Saudi teen girl, Rahaf Al-Qunun, barricaded herself in her hotel room in Thailand rather than return home. She was granted asylum by Canada. Miss Qunun said she feared her family would kill her for renouncing Islam. The two other teen girls said they were escaping abuse by their family. I'm sure there are loving Muslim families just like there are loving - or abusive - Christian families. But for girls especially, who have access to the internet and see how differently other people live, it must be torture for them to live in such a stifling, degrading society. There are Muslim women who accept their inferiority and are probably perfectly happy. But no country will ever achieve what they are capable of if they refuse to utilize the skills and brainpower of 50% of their population. In fact, they will remain backwaters and hell holes. It is not "culturally insensitive" to point this out. It is a reality lived by tens of millions of women around the world and it's past time for non-Muslims to demand change in the name of our common humanity. Guthrie asked Sandmann: "Do you think if you weren't wearing that hat this might not have happened?" "Do you feel from this experience that you owe anybody an apology? Do you see your own fault in any way?" Savannah Guthrie, of NBC, interviewed Nick Sandmann, the Covington student who was confronted by Nathan Phillips. Her questions clearly show the bias against the students. The premise of Guthrie's questions is that wearing a MAGA hat is wrong and that the confrontation is the fault of those wearing a MAGA hat. The Covington boys should apologize for wearing MAGA hats and standing instead of running away from those who caused the disturbance. We know the true story of the boys from Covington Catholic High School, an all-boys Catholic high school. They attended the March for Life in Washington, D.C. on January 19, 2019, accompanied by chaperones. Many Catholic, as well as Protestant, schools and churches send busloads of people to the annual March for Life each January. This is the anniversary of Roe v. Wade, when Justice Blackmun and others on the Supreme Court discovered penumbras and emanations in our Constitution to justify the killing of unborn children. The boys were waiting for their buses to go home to Covington, Kentucky. While waiting, they were taunted and harassed by a group of that calls itself "Black Hebrew Israelites," a hate group yelling racial, ethnic, and religious insults and obscenities at the boys. The Media refer to such language as hate speech, except when directed at the Covington boys. Then Nathan Phillips, banging a drum, walked into the midst of the boys. The media went into a frenzy, accusing the boys of harassing the drum-banging Phillips, whom the media referred to as a "Vietnam veteran, Native American elder." Phillips lied about serving in Vietnam, and he lied that he went into the group to save and help the Black Israelites. The Hate Trump media ignored the misconduct of the Black Israelite thugs and the lies of Phillips. The McCain branch of the Republican party, represented by Bill Kristol, joined by the usual suspects, immediately attacked the boys. The leftists in the Catholic Church, led by James Martin, S.J., immediately attacked the boys. These boys, at a March for Life rally, were vilified by these Catholic leftists, who are more offended by these boys than by abortion-supporting Catholic Democrats such as Andrew Cuomo, Nancy Pelosi, and Tim Kaine. The usual suspects in the Hate Trump Media, led by the New York Times, immediately attacked the boys and made threats against them. None of these waited for any investigation to see what had really happened. Why did this bunch immediately attack the boys? The boys were attending a March for Life, were from a Catholic school, were mostly Catholic and, horror of horrors, some of the boys were wearing MAGA hats. This was the perfect confluence of everything this bunch hates and fears. This is a defining moment, because it clearly shows the fault lines and divisions in our country. If the Covington boys had been members of a media- and Democratic Party-favored group, such as DACA DREAMers, the confrontation against them by the Black Israelites and Nathan Phillips would be viewed as a hate crime. But these are white, Catholic boys wearing MAGA hats attending a pro-life rally. Their parents have been described by Hillary Clinton as deplorables and by Obama as bitter clingers to God and guns. They are fair game. Image: Gage Skidmore via Flickr. How demented is the American left? Ocasio-Cortez is their Pied Piper To the media and to the left, facts are no longer relevant or remotely important. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez says so; facts have no relation to morality! This woman's muddled thinking could be a danger to us all because, even though she was selected by only 16,000 voters out of 691,000 in her district, the leftist media adore her, and she has become their shooting star. If she were not so ignorant of all things American, historical, and economic, or so lacking in common sense, she could well be dangerous. Despite her many shortcomings, the MSM are intent upon making her the face of the Democratic Party. She is more politically illiterate than almost any other member of Congress, but she and her supporters think she is an oracle of wisdom. She is confident in her ability to take over the House, to rid it of the old people in her party, and in her cosmic right to subpoena her critics! She has not a clue what our Constitution says; it is a safe bet she has never read it, studied it, or taken a class in American history that was not taught by an anti-American Marxist. Her millions of Twitter followers no doubt think she is smart as well. How depressing is that? They love her punish-the-rich-for-being-rich rhetoric. She is advocating confiscating 70% of the income of high earners. She is offended by the very existence of billionaires. She was apparently never taught anything about economics, even though that is the discipline in which she has a degree from Boston U. What she got in university was what nearly all college students get these days: Marxist-socialist, anti-American nonsense that makes fools of them once they venture out into the world (like the feminist who produced that odious man-hating Gillette ad). Bernie Sanders advocated Venezuela's brand of socialism not so long ago, and he was old enough to know better. How has that worked out? Ocasio-Cortez envisions the kind of socialism Sweden enjoys! Sweden has billionaires, she will be surprised to learn. Caricature by Donkey Hotey. Who does Ocasio-Cortez think created the lifestyle Americans enjoy today, the vast choices we have when we walk into any place of business, from grocery and department stores to online shopping? She objects to personally owned helipads (Michael Bloomberg) but seems to have no knowledge of what it takes, whom it takes, to build helicopters and helipads (or yachts, or luxury cars, or mansions, or the designer clothes she loves). Rich people, as Mark Levin has long and regularly reminded us, invent things; they change the world for the better. Most of them have worked hard and earned their wealth. They create millions of jobs. Soros and Steyer are exceptions to that rule: they manipulate currency and use their wealth in an attempt to impose their brand of fascism upon us all. Ocasio-Cortez, like Kirsten Gillibrand of N.Y., speaks with the voice and self-assured knowledge of a nine-year-old child. She is perhaps the best media creation to happen to the Republican Party in ages. If this person does not wake up Americans to the lunacy of the left, we are over as a nation; we cannot be not over. Ocasio-Cortez is a wake-up call if there ever were one. She says that the world is going to end in twelve years because of climate change. Al Gore is a laughingstock for making such dire predictions thirty years ago; none of them has come true. His film, An Inconvenient Truth, has been thoroughly discredited. It's a safe bet that she has never read the volumes of dissenting opinions on climate change. She most likely never took a class in energy production. She is a walking, talking advertisement for the disintegration and the dumbing down of higher education and by extension the Democratic Party as currently constituted. Sane liberals who are aware of Trump's remarkable accomplishments on the economy, bringing manufacturing back the U.S., the lowest unemployment ever for blacks and Hispanics, the revival of small businesses thanks to de-regulation, and making the U.S. the number-one oil producer in the world will not fall for an ill educated lightweight like Ocasio-Cortez. Only those who hate Trump more than they love America will support a moonbat like this woman. She is not so much a shooting star, but a "withering blade of grass." Do read Dov Fischer's column at American Spectator. Nancy Pelosi is doing her best to destroy her party, but Ocasio-Cortez is leading it off the cliff as the Pied Piper did the children of Hamelin. Gavin Newsom, gun grabber California's new governor, Gavin Newsom, is making quite a name for himself, setting out, with neither laws nor the Second Amendment, to grab guns. Here's what the Los Angeles Times is reporting: In his state budget plan released days after he took the oath of office, Newsom proposed adding $5.6 million about 50% more than in Browns budget this year to seize guns from thousands more people who are ineligible to possess firearms because of criminal convictions or mental illness. The governor is also asking lawmakers to beef up a California Department of Justice unit responsible for enforcing laws on gun sales. And his budget proposes more money for the Firearms Violence Research Center at UC Davis. So, what he's doing is enforcing the law to the letter, with big expenditures (he's always got money for big expenditures) on an expansion of the bureaucracy to ensure that every 'i' is dotted and every 't' is crossed. Someone who bought a gun legally one year, and got convicted of a crime five years later but who still had that gun in the cabinet, is priority one, even if the gun wasn't the problem. Well. Far be it for me to oppose the full enforcement of the law as it is written. But what leaps out from this is his double standard for hypocrisy. While he's going for full complete enforcement on gun laws, he's letting voter registration slide into an amazing morass of illegal voting and false registration with no urgency to fix that, given the benefits it may give to his fellow Democrats in the ballot harvesting business. He's also amazingly lax about enforcing immigration laws, looking into new ways to allow foreigners to harvest California's resources over following the letter to the law on that issue. In his case, that means not cooperating with federal immigration authorities on deportation cases, particularly with criminal illegals, and maintaining California as a "sanctuary state" as well as working big on full "free" health care, financed by U.S. citizens, for people who don't observe immigration laws. Funny how rule of law can be so selective. The laws Newsom is all in for are those laws that benefit his political agenda. All the other laws, well, they're unimportant because they have no political uses for him. Somehow, that's not how rule of law was originally intended to work. Image credit: J.D. Lasica, via Flickr // CC BY-SA 2.0 Beware, Cuban dinosaurs A few years ago, our three sons were into the same dinosaur craze, as all the other kids at the time. One day, over dinner, I asked #2 son, in 4th grade, what happened to the dinosaurs. He responded by saying they were hit by meteors and disappeared from history. Right or wrong, it seems to me that the dinosaurs in the Cuban Communist Party should look out the window, because something is falling on their friend Nicolas Maduro in Venezuela. According to news reports, things are not going Maduro's way: Overnight, the smaller-scale protests that began on Monday began to spread, with a throng of demonstrators in Bolivar state setting alight a statue of Hugo Chavez, the leftist firebrand who established Venezuela's socialist state and anointed Maduro as his successor before dying of cancer in 2013. Burning Chavez? My guess is that Hugo is happy that he did not live to see the end. So far, the Trump administration is playing this correctly. It is publicly supporting the opposition and calling for honest elections in Venezuela. V.P. Mike Pence just released a video supporting Juan Guaido, the leader of the legislature and de facto opposition leader. The bad news is that there may be some bloodshed ahead. Maduro's gang will not leave gracefully, because the Chavez regime has been "very good to their wallets," to paraphrase Chico Escuela. The good news is that the public is not afraid to go out and march anymore. Over in Cuba, they have to be watching all of this with concern. Venezuela has been Cuba's "oil sugar daddy" for years but can't fill the regime's tank anymore. Did the meteor kill the dinosaurs? I don't know, but whatever is falling in Venezuela appears to signal the end of the corrupt Chavez-Maduro reign. P.S. You can listen to my show (Canto Talk) and follow me on Twitter. To eradicate the white guy problem in America, Caucasians with XY chromosomes, who self-identify as the sex they were at birth, are being portrayed by the left as misogynist, bigoted, homophobic, violent troublemakers in need of exposure; chastisement; and, in the case of Donald Trump, ousting from power. Just as community organizer Saul Alinsky, in his textbook for Marxist street thugs, Rules for Radicals , advised his minions, constant drumbeats have the potential to wear down resolve and win social and cultural wars. For years now, the object of left-wing pressure has been to undermine the status and reputation of straight white conservative males. Armed with the intent to undermine Trump's influence and to establish the belief that conservative white males are genetically flawed, historical figures are being unfairly held to 21st-century cultural and political standards. Even Confederate General Robert E. Lee, tucked away in a grave since 1870, has not escaped retroactive ridicule from the left for his political identification and pale skin color. Today, even a male Supreme Court justice nominee, if he is Christian, white, and pro-life, can be falsely accused of rape by an unstable female activist, flayed alive, and condemned in the court of public opinion by virtue of race, gender, and ethnic heritage. Unwilling to let a visual opportunity go to waste, the left has somehow managed to influence public opinion concerning the political merits of pink versus red. According to progressives, on the head of a female, a pink p---- hat is a commendable accessory, while on the head of a male, a red MAGA cap is akin to Hester Prynne donning a scarlet letter or analogous to a white hood of the KKK. Remember way back when Columbus Day was a national holiday deserving of a parade, and when it was mandatory that a black woman smear her body with feces or strip at a party for lacrosse players before falsely accusing a white guy of rape? Those days are gone. Nowadays, an indigenous person, named Nathan Phillips, is to a Covington Catholic schoolboy what a black American woman named Tawana Brawley was to four men in Wappingers Falls, N.Y. Speaking of Christopher Columbus, despite having somewhat of a shady past, activist American Indian and Omaha elder Nathan Phillips was recently lauded in the media as a hero for "getting in the face" of white boys whose smile was all the evidence the left needed to condemn the kids for a racial crime. Meanwhile, in Indiana, European elder, exploration activist, and white guy Christopher Columbus was being characterized as "problematic," demoted, and stripped from an American university for the sin of discovering the New World. Rest assured: in keeping with the current nationwide anti-white male mood, after peeling Columbus's image from the wall, Notre Dame would score mega-points with progressives if they covered the European voyager and his Christian symbols with a mural depicting an indigenous American Indian waving around a dream-catcher. Sort of like a womb being shot up with saline and a baby being burnt alive with no way of escape, the left's ire toward white men has gotten so out of hand that, in an effort to advance the progressive agenda, those who support purging the planet of bleached out boys went so far as to suggest locking Caucasian teenagers inside a building and burning them alive. In other words, according to the left, if you're a conservative white man, you are not allowed to smile at an American Indian elder, but if you're a liberal white male, you are allowed to threaten to lock high school boys inside a building before torching it to the ground. Either way, while making heroes of illegals and anti-American agitators, social justice warriors on the left are more emboldened than ever to condemn Caucasian Christian men for things like choice in headgear, respecting the sanctity of life, and supporting a sitting president. On the other hand, male religious racists like Black Hebrew Israelites, Muslim imams, illegal invaders, and indigenous tribal elders pretending to be Vietnam veterans are feted by the left as true champions of American ideals. Even Barack Obama, the self-proclaimed advocate of racial justice, did his part to tamp down the self-esteem of white men while, when still president, he described white cops as men who "acted stupidly"; barricaded mostly white, aged veterans from the visiting the WWII Memorial; and proclaimed teenaged black boys the only "brothers" worthy of being "kept." Saul Alinsky Rule #10 recommends that social justice warriors "maintain a constant pressure upon the opposition." That's why, just prior to pro-life Caucasians males in red MAGA caps being excoriated by the media for daring to respond to racial and religious taunting with nothing more than a smile, the Gillette razor company thought it was as good a time as any to enter the fray by depicting men without color as cave-dwelling bullies. In the end, to advance an agenda, progressives will continue to hammer away at white conservative males both dead and alive as well as attempt to establish a radical vision for our nation by undermining the reputation of any man who longs to see America made great again. Jeannie hosts a blog at www.jeannie-ology.com. The sextoy market is growing quite rapidly in India right now. Although it is not a big trend, it is a hot topic on the internet as it is secretly expanding its market. In this article, we will focus on sextoy and introduce recommended sextoy for Indian beginners of sextoy by gender. India, the birthplace of the Kama Sutra, is very strict about sex. Also, premarital sex is basically not allowed. Therefore, there are many people who are sexually restricted. But what happens when you continue to be sexually restricted? Frustration may build up and you may end up taking your sexual stress out on your partner. If you are able to adopt sextoy in a timely manner, you can get rid of those problems. I want to have more exciting sex than Im having now. I want more variation in masturbation I want to get even stronger pleasure than I do on my own. If you have any of these problems, please stay with me until the end. What is sex toys for Indian? Sextoy, as the name implies, is a toy used during sex and masturbation. It is a generic term for vibrators, Egg-vibrators, Electric massagers, dildo, handcuffs and condoms. They are used to make regular sex more exciting or to make masturbation more pleasurable. Because sextoy is very stimulating, it can help you to get rid of the problems and frustrations of being in a rut of sex with your partner for a long time, or if you are unhappy with the lack of pleasure in sex with your partner. The ability to satisfy your desires with movement, texture, and size, which cannot be done by a normal human being, can help you to be satisfied with sex and, as a result, improve your relationship with your partner. It is also said to help improve sexual dysfunction (inability to get an erection or ejaculate) and difficulty in feeling during sex (insensitivity), which is attracting more attention than in the past. In recent years, the demand for sextoy has increased due to the spread of smartphones and the Internet and the increasing number of people using online shopping. Even those who are concerned about the appearance of sextoy (and find it difficult to purchase) can now easily obtain it by using mail order. In the case of online shopping, most of the stores have taken steps to ensure that the contents of the products delivered to you are not revealed, so you can purchase them without your family members knowing. Until a while ago, you had to go to the store where the adult goods were sold to buy them, so it was quite a hurdle to overcome. Also, many people may have an image that sextoy is somehow embarrassing to own. But nowadays, some of them are so stylish and cute that you cant believe they are sextoy at a glance. More and more people are using them for travel and outdoor use because they are not too bulky and are suitable for carrying around. Sextoy situation in India Before introducing the recommended sextoy for Indians, lets talk about one of the sextoy situations in India in recent years. In India, due to the high concentration of population, the following six cities have particularly high sales of sextoy in India. Mumbai Kolkata Bangalore Delhi Chennai Hyderabad These cities account for roughly 70 percent of sextoy sales in India. In the future, the percentage of sextoy use will gradually increase in other cities in India as well. If you never talk about sextoy publicly, that girl in your neighborhood might be a sextoy user too. If you are interested in sextoy, you dont have to suppress your desire for it. What are Sextoys for beginner? Among all sextoys, sextoy for beginners are vibrators, dildo, masturbators, Sex Lubricants, and condoms. Sex Lubricants and condoms, which are familiar to people who have had sex, are also a great beginners sextoy. I will explain the details of each toy later, but there are many sextoy products that are painful to use and can only be used after some anal expansion. I assume that the Indian readers of this article are people who have not had much experience with sextoy. If such people use professional sextoy suddenly, they are at risk of injury or trauma. Therefore, to introduce sextoy, you need to start with a beginners version and gradually become familiar with it. Advantages of using sextoy for Indians There are three advantages of using sextoy for Indians You can masturbate in a wide variety of ways. Can have stimulating sex Can develop new sexual zones If you try to masturbate with your own fingers or hands, it tends to be a pattern. However, with sextoy, you can easily masturbate in a variety of ways. You will definitely be fascinated by the attraction of new stimulation. Also, your daily sex life will be more exciting than ever. There are many things in sextoy that are visually stimulating and give you a strong and intense feeling of pleasure. This allows you to see your partners promiscuity in a way that you wouldnt normally see it. When you are in a relationship, sex with your partner may become a pattern, but it can also eliminate these problems. It can also lead to the development of new sexual zones (which is the training of sexual stimulation to allow you to feel orgasms). For more information on the development of new sexual zones, see the following articles [Women's Erogenous Zone]How to find and develop, 7 hidden sexual zones !![In India] In this issue, we will dissect the female erogenous zone! ..." Many of you may be like that. Men, in particular, shou... Thus, the use of sextoy can only be a good thing for the men and women of India. Sextoy for beginner men in India So, lets continue with the recommended goods for Indian sextoy beginners. For ease of understanding, we will introduce them by gender. Lets start with the men! The following five goods are recommended for novice Indian sextoy men Masturbator Cock rings Love Doll Sex Lubricants Toys for the prostate Lets check each one in detail. Masturbator The masturbator is a sextoy for men that elaborately reproduces a womans vagina, mouth, and anus, and is one of the most popular sextoy products. It is used by men to masturbate, and it is popular because it provides stronger stimulation and pleasure more easily than using hands. Most are made of good quality silicone, and their softness is something that cannot be achieved with ones own hands. They can provide stronger pleasure than a real womans vagina, so be careful not to overuse them. (You wont be able to have an orgasm in a womans vagina anymore.) Again Male masturbators are a wonderful toy. I do not need any favourite timing, bothersome bargaining. You do not have to worry too much. Revolutionize your masturbation time! ! ! Made in Japan is a wonderful kinky toy.#sextoysindia #SexToyIndia #Japanhttps://t.co/4k70QGzoTP pic.twitter.com/tRVdxTKPpa SEXToys India PR (@SextoysIndia) November 12, 2018 Some of them are disposable, while others can be washed and used over and over again, so its fun to buy a few to use depending on your mood. If you want to know more about masturbator, please click here Really pleasant male masturbation and how to do it Are you in a rut with your daily masturbation routine? I'm going to show you five ways men masturbate that you might ... [For Beginners] How to choose and use a male masturbator without fail Gentlemen.Have you ever used a masturbator? The person who sees this article is probably the one who has not experien... Cock Ring A cock ring is literally a ring-shaped sextoy that is worn on a mans penis. It maintains an erection by binding the penis with a ring of rubber and blocking blood flow. It is sometimes used as an accessory to be worn on the penis, and may be made of metal or plastic as well as rubber. In some cases, cock rings have parts or vibrators attached to them that stimulate the vagina, so they kill two birds with one stone, giving a woman pleasure while maintaining an erection. Cock rings are also sometimes used to treat erectile dysfunction. It can help with erectile dysfunction, where the penis doesnt get hard when you get an erection or doesnt last long when you try to insert it. Men who are prone to breakage or who are unsure of the hardness and size of their erections can use a cock ring to increase the size of their penis and maintain an erection for a longer period of time. Cock rings vary in price from around RS700 to over RS2000 with a vibrator function. Some of them do not fit your penis, so you should check the size of the cock ring before you buy. You should know the size of your partners or your own penis when it is erect. [Penis enlargement] What is a cock ring? Types and usage Cock rings can make your penis bigger and harder. It also makes sex with women more fulfilling and increases your sat... Love Doll Love dolls, also known as Dutchwives, are dolls with the appearance of a woman who can experience simulated sex. There are dolls that look like a woman, but they have no face and only have their breasts and lower torso cut off, and some dolls are so realistic that they can actually be mistaken for real women. Some expensive dolls can cost more than 1 million yen, and the quality of the doll is easily influenced by the price. The higher the price, the higher the quality of the doll will be, the closer it will be to the real woman, and the cheaper the doll will be, the less elaborate it will be, making it look like a real doll! Something is wrong! That is also true. You cant go wrong if you choose a balance between price and taste. There are stores that allow you to make custom-made love dolls, so you can create a girl of your choice. You can make a girl of your choice. You can start with inexpensive love dolls at first, and once you get used to it, you can try custom-made love dolls. If you want to know more about Love doll, please click here Thorough explanation of the charm of sex dolls! Have you ever heard of sex dolls that are used primarily for pseudo-sex purposes? It is a doll that is quite close to... Sex lubricants Sex lubricants are used as a substitute for lubricating fluid during sex or as a lubricant for men to use masturbator rules. It is not uncommon for women to have difficulty getting wet, depending on their physical condition, or to have difficulty getting wet due to their constitution. Forcing the penis into the vagina at such times can cause painful intercourse. There are various types of Sex Lubricants, some with a warming effect, some with a cooling effect, and some with a scent. Changing the Sex Lubricant used during play is recommended as a good sex accent. If you want to learn more about Sex Lubricants, click here. What is sex lubricant?Explain the difference and usage of each ingredient The word "sex toy" may seem like a hurdle to overcome, but lotion is actually one of the most familiar sex toys. Many... Toys for the Prostate Another sextoy for men is prostate toys. The most famous prostate toys include Enemagra, which was originally a prostate massager developed by an American urologist to treat an enlarged prostate line. Modern prostate toys are imitations of Enemagra that have spread as sextoy for men. Many people think of prostate toys as being used by gay men, but in fact they are often used by straight men. What is the prostate? The prostate is an organ found only in men. It is a walnut-sized organ located deep in the pelvis, just below the bladder, and its primary role is to protect and nourish sperm. You cannot touch the prostate gland from outside the body, but you can touch it by inserting a finger or sextoy through the anus. By inserting a finger or sextoy through the anus and touching the prostate and developing it, you can feel intense orgasms. Orgasms felt in the prostate are mainly dry orgasms, which are orgasms that do not involve ejaculation. (You can also feel orgasms with ejaculation through prostate stimulation.) The prostate is called the male G-spot, and dry orgasms can be much more intense than ejaculation. Therefore, men who are able to develop a prostate can become addicted to the pleasure. sextoy for beinner women in India The following are the recommended goods for Indian women who are new to sextoy. The following three are recommended for use by women who are new to sextoy. Vibrator. Dildo Electric Masserger Lets check out what each one is in detail. If you want to check out womens toys, click here. [BEST25]Sex Toys for Women in IndiaThat Can Help You Have an Orgasm There are many women who pretend to feel orgasm during sex. But don't worry, you don't have to pretend to feel orgasm... Vibrators A vibrator is a sextoy that vibrates with an Egg-Vibrator to provide stimulation and is often referred to simply as a vibrator. Some vibrate as well as rotate, and there are many variations of sextoy. It is quite a popular sextoy, and is well recognized by people who do not know much about sextoy. Its usage is similar to that of a massager, but it is more compact and easier to carry than a massager, and many of them look as cute as a lipstick or a macaroon, so they are popular among women. For a while, a famous influencer on twitter said, This is good! You may have heard of the topic of this article by introducing the recommended vibrators. Vibrators are great for women to use on their own, but they are also recommended for men who have difficulty satisfying women with sex. Since it is powered by electricity, it is far less tiring than moving your hands by yourself. This makes it easier to satisfy a woman with sex because you can caress her for longer than usual. Vibrators are mainly used on the female side, but they can also be used on men. When used on men, they are used to attack the nipples and glans, and in both cases it is recommended to wear a condom for hygiene reasons. Introducing how to use the vibrator, its purpose, and how to choose it! Vibrator uses the vibrations caused by the rotation of the motor to provide stimulation. It is one or two of the most... Dildo A dildo is a model sextoy made to mimic a male penis. It can be made of silicone, elastomer (think of it as a material similar to PVC), metal or glass. A dildo can be used by a man for his female partner during sex, or by a woman for masturbation to get pleasure from it. They are mainly inserted into women, but some can be used in the male anus as well. It is sometimes used synonymously with vibrators, but the vibrator is not the same thing as a vibrating device. A model of a penis that does not vibrate is a dildo. Some of them have suction cups that can be attached to the floor or wall so that you can enjoy realistic masturbation without using your hands. For fun, there is a dildo made in the shape of your partners penis. This one is also popular as a gift, and if youve been together for a long time and are having trouble finding a gift for your partner, you might want to pick one. To learn more about dildo, please click here. What is Dildo: Orgasms with Dildos for Men and Women A dildo is a model of a male organ that is used by women for masturbation and by men to stimulate the prostate gland. Th... Electric Masserger A Electric Masserger is a hand-held electric massager, also known as a handheld massager, and can usually be purchased at electronics stores. It was originally designed to relieve stiff shoulders and back pain, so the hurdle of buying one in a physical store is quite low. Many people may have seen or used it in some form or another, as it is often installed in leisure hotels. Such a massager is highly recommended for beginners because it is easy for women to get pleasure from it when they use it during masturbation. It is larger than Egg-Vibrator and vibrations are stronger than those of Egg-Vibrators and vibrators, so even just hitting the clitoris can give you a great deal of pleasure. For those women who have never had an orgasm during sex with their man, the massager may be a good way to get a feel for what it feels like to have an orgasm. It looks and feels like an electric massager, so you wont have to feel awkward if your roommate finds out. If you are in a rut of having sex with your partner, if you want to feel an orgasm through masturbation, or if you are thinking of using a sextoy, why dont you try it from a simple massager? To learn more about Electric Masserger, click here. What is a massager? Introducing types, selection methods, and usage Originally, the Magic-wand vibrator and the massage machine were sold as a home massage machine used for the back and th... How to choose a sextoy for Indian Now that weve covered the different types of sextoy, heres how to choose one. Especially if you are trying sextoy for the first time, pay attention to the following three points: Does the size fit you (the partner)? Does the size fit you (your partner)? Is the environment able to produce sound without problems? Price range First of all, the choice of size is quite important. Most sextoy are used against or inserted into the genitals, but the genitals are very delicate organs for both men and women. For this reason, using an inappropriate size may cause damage. Secondly, the environment should be able to produce sound without problems. Some sextoys not only wear, but also rotate and vibrate. Its easier to get pleasure from something that moves than something that doesnt, but the fact that it moves means that the internal rotors make some noise. If you live in a house with thin walls or if you have roommates, you may not be able to concentrate because of the noise, so it is best to choose one that is silent or has a low noise level. Especially in India, where many people live with their families, it is very important that you dont have to worry about sound when you use it. Finally, there is the price range. The price range of sextoy ranges widely, from around RS500 at the cheapest to RS10,000 or more at the highest. Its good to consider how much money you can afford and how much you want to buy. Do you want your family to not find out about sextoy? I live with my family and want to use sextoy without them finding out! If you are a man, you should buy a camouflage sextoy that does not look like a sextoy at first glance. For men, there are many masturbators that do not look like a sextoy, and for women, there are vibrators that only look like cosmetics. If you choose such a type, youll be safe in case your family members find out. How to buy sextoys in India The best way to purchase sextoy is through online shopping. For more information on how to purchase sextoy, please see the article below. Sextoy is one of them. Therefore, you can easily get sextoy in India by using online shopping. SexToysINDIA is a long established and stable sextoy store and you can have sextoy delivered to any place in India. They also offer cash on delivery, so those who are worried about shopping with a credit card do not have to worry. Of course, the latest security is in place, so your information will not be taken out when you use your credit card. To begin with, many people may be concerned about whether they are legally allowed to purchase sextoy. ikmAs it turns out, its not illegal. Right now, it is not open to the public because the Indian adult market is still in the development stage, but it will gradually spread from now on. Take advantage of sextoy and open the door to new pleasures and culture. Cautions for Indians using sextoy When using sextoy, keep the following three things in mind Keep sex toys clean Watch out for electrical leakage Beware of the heat generated by the body while using a sex toy As I mentioned earlier, many sextoy products are used for the delicate zone. Therefore, it is most important to keep the sextoy itself clean. It is very important to keep the sextoy itself clean, because if a slight scratch is created by friction, bacteria can enter and breed there. It is safe to wear a condom when using the masturbator, just in case. In addition, many sextoy devices are powered by a power source, so if they are not waterproof, there is a possibility of electric shock or malfunction due to wetness. Some may even develop heat during continuous use. If the fever becomes too much, you may get burned, so be careful. If you get a fever during use, stop driving the sextoy immediately and refrain from using it. You will enjoy sex more if you keep it safe and use it correctly. Summary What did you think? In this article, we have introduced the recommended sextoy for the beginners of sextoy in India. The sextoy market is growing rapidly in India and it will continue to grow steadily in the future. As India is a rather closed-minded country, it can be difficult to be open about ones sexual habits and values. However, being faithful to ones desires by properly dissolving ones sexual desire is very effective for ones physical and mental health. If this is your first time to learn about sextoy, or if you are interested in using sextoy, why not give it a try? Indian Sextoys for ur best! will introduce you to sextoy and other trivia about sextoy, sexuality, and sexuality for men and women. I want to read more! If you think its a great idea, please bookmark it. The best bang for your buck! This option enables you to purchase online 24/7 access and receive the Sunday, Tuesday & Thursday print edition at no additional cost * Print edition only available in our carrier delivery area. Allow up to 72 hours for delivery of your print edition to begin. Print edition not available for Day Pass option. As the US frets the guacpocalypse, its delusions about and addiction to undocumented migration remain untreated. As part of a crackdown on corruption and crime, Mexicos new president, Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, has revamped the national fuel distribution system to deter petrol theft a move that has resulted in temporary shortages across various Mexican states. The United States media have turned up to highlight the real takeaway: the shortages may affect the transport of Mexican avocados and the availability of guacamole for the annual massively hyped, televised sporting event known as the Super Bowl to be held this year on February 3. A recent Reuters headline blared: Holy guacamole! Mexican fuel shortage threatens Super Bowl snack. Other outlets followed suit. CNN warned that Super Bowl guac may be off the table if gas shortage sidelines Mexican avocados, Maxim magazine foretold a major guacamole crisis, and the Eater website took the (foot)ball and ran with it: Cue the guacpocalypse. In short, while the avocado dip may be in short supply, the cheesiness definitely isnt. And speaking of cheesy, concerned Super Bowl viewers are reminded that at least theres always queso that staple dish of Texas that often involves cheese that is not actually cheese. Americas addiction While Americans fret over the loss of a favourite snack food, US President Donald Trump, of course, has his own border-related obsessions and is forging ahead with his campaign to erect a bigger and better wall on the US-Mexico frontier. According to Trumpian analysis, the latter nation is primarily composed of drug dealers, criminals, and rapists. To be sure, theres nothing like a good migrant scapegoat to detract public attention from elite pillaging of the country and other unpleasantries. But its not so simple, as it seems that aside from guacamole cravings there are other, much stronger forms of cross-border dependence at play. As a January Washington Post article noted: A wall cant solve Americas addiction to undocumented immigration. The author, Julia G Young, traces the past century of addiction, observing that, although politicians and media have consistently cast undocumented immigration as a national security crisis the demand for undocumented immigrant labor and consumers demand for the low prices that this labor makes possible have continued apace. And a January item on the CBS News website courtesy of Mary Jo Dudley, director of the Cornell Farmworker Programme at Cornell University lists some of the US industries that cant work without illegal immigrants. For example, she writes, the US Department of Agriculture has calculated that about half of the nations farmworkers are unauthorised. Its no secret that undocumented workers often perform jobs that Americans wont do including ones entailing substantial physical risk. They generally work for less pay and no benefits, hence the appeal to profit-driven businesses. US consumers, though perhaps unwittingly, are also addicted to the exploitative system; Dudley brings up a dairy industry study indicating that a total elimination of immigrant labor would increase milk prices by 90 percent. No doubt many Americans would find such prospects considerably more frightening than the potential guacpocalypse. Checking the facts Additional food for thought comes in the form of a November PBS intervention, titled 4 myths about how immigrants affect the US economy, which undertakes to replace Trumps tall tales with such facts as that immigrants contribute more in tax revenue than they take in government benefits. Citing US census data, PBS reports that, as of 2015, immigrants accounted for no less than 24 percent of nursing, psychiatric and home care aides. Then again, everyone knows that the best way to sabotage a nation is by taking care of its inhabitants. A December NBC News fact check on the costs of illegal immigration furthermore references the estimate by the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy that US state and local governments take in $11.74bn a year from undocumented immigrants. The bigger picture Beyond the issue of hypocritical US dependence on so-called illegal immigration, it is worth considering how the great guacamole famine of 2019 stacks up against other border-related catastrophes like the US vilification and exploitation of Mexicans and Central Americans who were forced to migrate northward thanks in large part to US regional machinations in the first place. Indeed, under normal circumstances, those avocados enjoy superior cross-border freedom of movement compared with, say, the seven-year-old girl who recently died in US Border Patrol custody after journeying from her native Guatemala a country the US has devoted much time to screwing over politically and financially. Ditto for migrants from Honduras and other locales where the US habit of backing violent regimes and increasing widespread poverty pardon, capitalism means that daily existence can often constitute an apocalyptic scenario unto itself and has driven entire families in to participate in one of the largest mass migrations in recent history. Anyway, back to serious news and the real existential question: No guac for the Super Bowl?, as USA Today puts it. But whether the guacamole materialises in time or viewers have to make do with gobs of non-cheese cheese, there is plenty about the current spectacle in the US that should make one sick to ones stomach. The views expressed in this article are the authors own and do not necessarily reflect Al Jazeeras editorial stance. The autonomy referendum in restive Mindanao may mark a new beginning for the Philippines and a victory for Duterte. After almost half-a-century of conflict, more than two million Filipinos residing in several Muslim-majority regions of the country cast their votes on the establishment of a new Muslim-dominated entity, known as the Bangsamoro (meaning Moro nation), in the southern island of Mindanao. The crucial referendum comes six years after the historic peace agreement that ended the decades-long war between the Philippine government and Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), and six months after President Rodrigo Duterte signed the Bangsamoro Organic Law. If approved by the majority in the referendum, the proposed political entity will replace the much smaller Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao (ARMM), an earlier experiment at granting political autonomy to limited numbers of Muslim Filipinos, mostly form the Tausug ethnic group. The ARMM has largely been deemed a failure, perennially hobbled by misgovernance and rampant corruption, and leaving several Muslim-majority regions outside its scope. Both the Philippine government and the rebels, however, hope that the proposed new entity will be more inclusive, sustainable and more competently governed than its predecessor. The first phase of the plebiscite was held on January 21, covering the ARMM, the ethnically mixed and prosperous cities of Cotabato and Isabela, where voters were asked whether they approved of or wanted their city to be part of the new Bangsamoro entity. The election went broadly peaceful and was deemed by international observers as credible. The proposition is expected to pass, though partial, unofficial results show, so far, significant opposition to the establishment of the new Bangsamoro entity in places such as Sulu and Isabela City. The second phase will take place on February 6, covering Lanao del Norte, North Cotabato and other regions that petitioned to be part of the Bangsamoro. Man of the hour As the first Filipino president from the island of Mindanao, Duterte made the creation of the Bangsamoro a central theme of his administration. Unlike any of his predecessors and contemporaries, he dedicated both his heart and political capital to ensuring that the Christian-dominated Filipino political elite endorses the Bangsamoro Organic Law (BOL), which was stalled in the Philippine Congress for years. Surveys suggest that while eight out of 10 Muslim Filipinos favour the creation of the autonomous Muslim entity, among the general population only a small minority (about a third) support the plan. 180730144900126 For centuries, Muslim Moros have faced systematic discrimination and marginalisation in the Catholic-majority Philippines, largely as a result of the heavy influence of Imperial Spain, a former coloniser notorious for its anti-Muslim prejudice and policies. They have been portrayed as the ultimate other in the Filipino psyche and were often caricatured as uncivilised and un-Filipino. Proud of their distinct history and cultural traditions, Moros resisted the rule and influence of Christian-majority national government. In an act of political courage, Duterte, a nominal Christian, made peace in Mindanao a central campaign promise: If I become president, if Allah gives his blessing before I die, since I am old, I will leave to you all a Mindanao that is governed in peace. He presented himself as the Moro peoples president, who will do his utmost to correct historical injustices they have been subjected to at the hands of the Filipino government. Winning formula In his second year in office, Duterte convinced the Philippine legislature to pass the Bangsamoro law, which, among other things, granted sociocultural and political autonomy to Muslim-majority provinces in the country, including the establishment of Sharia-based courts. Crucially, he also made sure that enough resources, including a fifth of national internal revenues, are allocated to assist institution building and the process of political transition. Now, if the yes votes win in the ongoing referendum, the Bangsamoro leadership will also enjoy significant fiscal autonomy, having only to remit a quarter (as opposed to 40 percent for other provinces) of its revenues to the national government, which will maintain control over currency and law enforcement. The MILF leadership, meanwhile, has conscientiously embraced modern governance, educating many of its best and brightest in public administration colleges. They hope to avoid the mistakes of their predecessors in the ARMM by building a more ethnically-inclusive, geographically expansive and competently-run Muslim-majority autonomous region. The path forward While it is likely that the majority of the referendums participants are going to approve the proposal for the formation of the new Bangsamoro, Duterte and the future rulers of the Bangsamoro still face an uphill battle. Once the new entity is formed, they will have to tackle deep-rooted and complex problems, including high poverty incidence, reconstruction of heavily devastated cities like Marawi and widespread threat of terrorism by armed groups affiliated to the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL, also known as ISIS). Another area of concern is the fate of minority groups. There has been an influx of ultraconservative Wahabi-Salafist influence in Mindanao in recent years, whether through online indoctrination, Islamic preachers, religious ideologues, or transnational organisations hailing from South Asia and the Middle East. This caused some to fear that the Bangsamoro may adopt an ultraconservative governing model and may even follow the example of Indonesias Banda Aceh, an autonomous region governed by Islamic law since the early 2000s, where increasingly draconian laws have been enforced, most especially at the expense of LGBT groups and religious minorities. There is also the threat of intervention by the Philippine Supreme Court, which declared a previous peace agreement as unconstitutional on the grounds that it violates the countrys territorial integrity and basic democratic principles. And there are doubts as to whether Dutertes successors will build on his efforts and provide necessary support to future leaders of Bangsamoro when push comes to shove. Whats clear, however, is that the Moros have taken a fateful step towards self-determination and, perhaps, even lasting peace and what we are witnessing is a major turning point in the long-tortured history of Mindanao. The views expressed in this article are the authors own and do not necessarily reflect Al Jazeeras editorial stance. State of the City addresses are much like State of the Union or State of the State speeches: A politician looks out into a crowd and talks about the goals for the upcoming year. In Fairhope, Mayor Karin Wilson and her staff are deciding to try something new tonight. Called an all-access expo, this years State of the City address is set up in an almost conference-like setting, allowing residents to visit booths and tables set up by various city departments. A news release says that city employees at each booth will tell the story of the citys successes throughout 2018, and provide important information about city services. Giveaways and a light dinner will be provided. The event runs from 5 to 7 p.m. at the Fairhope Civic Center, and is free for the public to attend. Its a fresh way to bring to our citizens an interactive, hands-on approach to visit the employees in each department who impact your lives, Wilson said in a Facebook video. We want this to be a fun, community event. Wilson will also deliver a traditional State of the City speech, her third as mayor. It will highlight upcoming and recently-finished projects and provide details about the citys financials. Its set up almost like a conference, where you go from table-to-table and ask the departments about what they are doing, said Fairhope City Councilman Jimmy Conyers. Its a unique and different format, but something the general public will like. Birmingham police have identified the North Precinct officer who was critically wounded in the shooting that killed his sergeant. Officer Lucas Allums, 27, has been with the department since 2016. He is currently assigned as a patrol officer. Allums was released from the hospital this week after spending nine days in UAB Hospitals ICU following the Jan. 13 shooting. Sgt. Wytasha Carter, 44, was killed in the incident that happened at 1:59 a.m. that Sunday in the 900 block of Fifth Avenue North. Police were working a special detail targeting car break-ins in downtown Birmingham. Allums spotted at least two suspects who appeared to be trying door handles to see if they were unlocked outside of the 4 Seasons Bar and Grill. The officer called for backup, and the sergeant arrived. Allums and Carter approached two suspects. "What I can tell you is it appears our officers were unable to respond,'' Birmingham police Chief Patrick Smith previously said. They were taken completely by surprise. Another officer returned fire and struck the suspect who was seriously injured. Carter, shot in the head, was pronounced dead at the hospital. The other officer was initially critical. The hospitalized suspect is 31 years old and reportedly paralyzed. Authorities have not officially released his name or condition. The second suspect, an 18-year-old who was handcuffed at the scene, was released from the Jefferson County Jail last week without being charged with any crime. Investigators continue their search for one more possible suspect. The probe is ongoing by the Alabama Law Enforcement Agencys State Bureau of Investigation and any charges brought against a suspect or suspects are expected to be filed by SBI, not Birmingham police. Allums parents released this statement earlier this week: "Thank you to the media for respecting our privacy and allowing us to focus on the health and recovery of our loved one. We have been so overwhelmed with the love, support, and most of all, the prayers for him. We wanted to release this statement to thank those who have played a part in his treatment and recovery thus far. Thank you to his fellow officers on the scene for tending to him; to Birmingham Fire and Rescue for their quick response, treatment, and transport; to the trauma doctors, nurses, and support personnel at UAB Emergency Department for accessing and stabilizing his injuries; to his trauma team and surgeon for his treatment and care; to the nurses and support staff in the TBICU and ATCU for the excellent care he received; to Mayor Randall Woodfin and his staff for their tremendous support; to Chief Patrick Smith and the entire Birmingham Police Department, with a special thanks to Captain James Jackson and the North Precinct, for their outpouring of love, support, and for meeting so many of our needs; to our family, friends, church, and community that have loved and supported us in so many ways during this time; to the hundreds who have prayed for our loved one and this family we have felt the prayers and are genuinely grateful for each and every one of them. And a special thank you to Sergeant Carters family for allowing our loved one the special opportunity to be able to pay his respects and honor Sergeant Carter. Our heartfelt prayers for them continue as they go through this extremely difficult time. We are so thankful that our loved one has been released from the hospital and will continue his recovery at home and through outpatient therapy. We greatly appreciate your continued prayers and respect for our privacy." Determination, imagination, and a dog named Buddy helped Camp Hughes live nearly five years with a fatal disease. Camp was just 5 when he was diagnosed with neuroblastoma in 2014. His family, who lived in Montgomery, traveled to Childrens of Alabama Hospital in Birmingham to pursue treatment. In 2017, Camp was one of a small percentage of patients who developed treatment-induced leukemia. He died from the disease in June 2018. But, this is not a story about a sickness that killed a young child and shook his family to their cores. This is a story about a boy and the dog that saw him through. During his long stays at Childrens, Camp was so sick that he was mostly confined to his bed or room, meaning he couldnt go down to the lobby whenever the therapy dogs from Hand In Paw visited. Hand In Paw is a nonprofit organization that provides animal-assisted therapy to facilities across north central Alabama and Tuscaloosa. While Hand In Paw is mainly known for its therapy dogs, they also have two therapy cats. In the past, they have worked with therapy goats, guinea pigs, and even a rat. Each week, Camps mom Amanda Hughes said, Hand In Paw dogs came to the oncology floor and children lined up in the hallways to get the chance to see one of the furry creatures. Camp usually couldnt do that, either. If he saw the animals, Camp would get upset because he couldnt go see them. He wasnt able to do those things, Amanda said. He was bed bound for a long time but he loved dogs. I just cant tell you the joy it would bring him, and it brought him peace and comfort. Camp met Buddy at the end of his journey, Amanda said, when he was going to the oncology clinic receiving chemotherapy, types of infusions, and blood transfusions. They really bonded. They were buddies from the beginning, she said. Buddy had been visiting Childrens for five years- the same time as Camp had been receiving treatment. The two had never met, primarily because Camps medical condition hindered the involvement he could have through Hand In Paw. The small, white Havanese and Camp were fast friends. Buddy and his owners (and also handlers) started visiting Camp regularly at the clinic, and Buddy would sit in Camps lap when the child was getting treatments. It would instantly bring a smile to Camps face and just light him up, Amanda said. Buddy and Camp were just drawn to each other. It was amazing, she continued. Buddy was one of the therapy dogs who had completed the organizations advanced training program, meaning he was allowed to enter individual patient rooms. Hand In Paw has a weekly schedule with the volunteer therapy teams, where each team of handler and pet signs up to visit certain units on certain days. Buddy was usually on the oncology and hematology floors. Throughout Camps last months, he and Buddy made memories. Amanda still remembers a day where Camp put on sunglasses and Buddy sported a matching pair around the hospital. The dogs each have business cards with their faces pictured on them, and Amanda remembers Camp -- her collector, she called him-- taking 10 or 15 cards from Buddys owners. For months, that's how the relationship continued. Amanda said Camp would simply sit and pet Buddy, and it would calm him down or relax him in the hardest times of the often exhausting journey. Amanda said her son had to have his hand on Buddy all the time. As Camps condition worsened and he was hospitalized, Buddy and Camps relationship became more important. Buddys owners brought Buddy for a visit as often as they could, and let him sit with Camp for hours. Buddy put Camp at ease, Amanda said. Buddy calmed Camp down while Camp was struggling to breathe. He helped the child relax and just chill out, Amanda said. If Camp was having a bad day, just being over all the medical stuff and not wanting to cooperate, Buddy would come and make it fun for Camp. "I can't tell you how therapeutic it was for Camp, and how therapeutic it was for us," Amanda said. "It was amazing. Truly, truly amazing." In his last weeks, Buddy seemed worried about Camp. Amanda said the dog wouldnt shake or pace the room but would look back at his owners apprehensively whenever Camp cried or was hurting. Buddy was really well behaved, Amanda said, and didnt lick patients in accordance with Hand In Paw policies. But shortly before Camp died, Buddy constantly tried to lick Camp-- something his owners tried to stop, but the now 9-year-old embraced. Once, Amanda recalled, Camp was devastated that Buddy was leaving. To comfort him, Buddys owners let Camp keep Buddys collar until the next time he saw the dog. Camp didnt get to return the collar, but Amanda sent back the collar after Camp died. When Buddys owners opened the package and saw what was inside, Buddy went crazy. The week before Camp died, his parents took him out of the hospital. Amanda said the family made a trip to the beach and carried Camp to the sand for half an hour each day. Camp died at his home on June 4, 2018. Amanda described her son as dynamic, silly, smart, whimsical, and beautiful. He was a people magnet and loved Jesus, but had a strong will. And, she said she knows Camps life wouldnt have been the same without Hand In Paw. Hand In Paw is a must-have, Amanda said. "Its just amazing. There are currently 119 therapy teams working with Hand In Paw and 60 visit assistants, but the organization is hoping to grow that number with its new facility that just completed an over $2 million expansion and renovation. There are more requests for Hand In Paw services than there are therapy teams to fulfill at schools, nursing homes, and hospitals, and the group is hoping the new building will allow them to gain more volunteers. The new building, located in Birminghams Forest Park neighborhood, features an in-house training facility and a hospital simulation room donated by Childrens Hospital. Prior to the expansion, Hand In Paw had to rent spaces for all training workshops and events, making it harder to consistently host events or do specific training. Now, therapy teams and volunteers can freely use the space when its convenient for them, and the group can host more events or training for specific skills. People interested in volunteering with Hand In Paw who dont have a pet have several options: They can sign on to be a visit assistant and help therapy teams on-site, or they can volunteer to help with events or other programs. Those with a pet who would like to become a therapy team must pass a test through Hand In Paw to be certified. For dogs, the owner must meet basic age and health requirements and also have completed a group obedience class. If a dog meets those prerequisites, their owner can apply and bring in the dog for specific Hand In Paw training and certification. The buildings new hospital simulation room will allow more dogs to complete advanced training, meaning they can visit a patients individual room like Buddy visited Camp. The hospital simulation room allows dogs to become familiar with things like IV stands, a moving bed, monitors, and various medical equipment. The hospital also donated a disc with recordings of typical hospital sounds, like beeps from monitors and the sound of intercoms, to use in the simulation room. For a family like the Hughes and a kid like Camp, Amanda said Hand In Paw is indispensable. She is excited for the expansion and the goal of growing the organization, because it means more children like Camp can have the same experience. The group hands down, absolutely changed their lives, Amanda said. Our journey wouldnt have been the same without Buddy, Amanda said. It meant knowing Camps final days and hours were spent with his favorite loves, animals and dogs in particular. The state of the union is...tipsy? Amid the standoff between House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and President Trump over Pelosis refusal to allow the president to give his State of the Union address at the Capitol building, Alabama State Auditor Jim Ziegler joked that he has a viable alternative for Trump: the famed Flora-Bama beach bar. I expect that President Trump has a Plan B. He can give the State of the Union from the Oval office, the U.S. Senate, the border, or any location of his choice," Zeigler said in a statement Wednesday. I can make arrangements for the President to speak at the famous FloraBama bar on the Alabama-Florida state line. Reached by AL.com, Zeigler reiterated that his comment was a joke, although he added if somebody in the White House saw that statement, I think they could go get that done." Although Trump is a teetotaler, Zeigler said the venue is appropriate. They have all kinds of events at the Flora-Bama, he said of the beachside bar and lounge straddling the Alabama-Florida border. Its a famous, well-known place. They have worship service on Sunday morning. Pelosi is barring Trump from addressing the nation from the Capitol, arguing that accommodations could not be made because of the ongoing government shutdown. Zeigler said the strongest steps should be taken against the House speaker for her actions, adding in a phone interview that he believes Pelosi should be censured, although he noted a reprimand would be highly unlikely since Democrats control the House. We live in strange times, the auditor said. The speaker of the House withdrawing an invitation to the president of the United States to give the State of the Union speech. That has never happened. If a Republican speaker of the House had done this to President Obama, all hell would be broken loose. Donna Hood served in the U.S. Air Force from 1993 until 2001 while hiding her identity as a transwoman. She was disappointed Tuesday when she read about the U.S. Supreme Court's order allowing Trump's transgender military ban to be effective while it plays out in the lower courts. The policy would ban those with gender dysphoria - a condition in which there is a conflict between a person's physical or assigned gender and the gender in which they identify - and those who are seeking sex reassignment surgery. Hood, who lives in Montgomery, wasn't open about being a transwoman until after she left the military and she didn't start undergoing surgery until 2016. But she believes she suffered from gender dysphoria while serving during a time when the term barely existed and transgender individuals were identified with derogatory terms. In public, Hood, now 48, had to accept the gender identity assigned to her at birth to stay in the military. But whenever she went out of town and would stay in a motel she would bring her stash of makeup and female clothes so she could enjoy her true identity in the privacy of her room. "I had the knowledge and the ability to perform my duties without any issues," Hood said. "I was still this person no matter what. The shell was different from the outside. That's what people are having an issue with. They just can't handle what they see on the outside, but we are the same person you have known all along." The Supreme Court decision reignited a conversation that started in 2017, when Trump proposed on Twitter that the government ban transgender individuals from serving in the military in any capacity. Then-Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis revised the policy to ban those with gender dysphoria, making exceptions for openly transgender individuals who were already serving. Transgender people who didn't have a gender dysphoria diagnosis could still serve, but only under the gender they were assigned at birth. A number of LGBTQ advocacy groups representing transgender military members filed lawsuits against the ban. A few federal judges have issued injunctions to block the ban because they said it violated the Equal Protection Clause in the Constitution. The Supreme Court order lifted two injunctions on Tuesday. But court justices didn't lift an injunction secured during a case filed by the American Civil Liberties Union in Maryland known as Stony v. Trump. Rebecca Seung-Bickley, director of communications for ACLU of Alabama, said the organization doesn't believe the ban will stand in federal court. "This is definely not a total loss given that the ban is based on discrimination and not facts," Seung-Bickley said. "There's plenty of research that says this ban would be ineffective and we would lose a lot of qualified people. But lifting the injunctions I think is demoralizing for the transgender members who are currently serving." Junea Childers, a Walker County transwoman who was an operations specialist in the U.S. Navy's intelligence corps during the 1983 conflict in Beirut, Lebanon, thinks the ban sends the nation back in time. She wasn't open about her gender identity until 2000 -- more than a decade after she left the military in 1984. She didn't start hormone therapy until more than 15 years ago. The military ban reversed a 2016 Obama-era policy that permitted openly transgender men and women to serve and receive medical care for their gender transition during their service. "What (Trump) does and says, it's very backward," Childers said. "It sounds to me like the stuff you heard during the 1940s and 60s. Anybody who is different is not any good." Although she's out of the military, Hood believes the Supreme Court order about the ban will cause a snag in her life. While she was able to get her name and gender marker changed on her driver's license, but she is still working to make those changes on documents concerning her military history. Hood believed the process would take about three years. But with the Supreme Court order, she thinks the process will take longer -- if it ever gets done at all. Hood isn't unemployed, but if she were, she said she could use the documents as proof of military experience. In order to do that now, she would have to explain to the employer that her military documents are under a different name and gender. "I would have to out myself to an employer for a position I'm interviewing for," Hood said. "I feel like that's wrong. I have the right, just like everyone else has the right, to live their life the way they see fit. I served in my country for that." The National Center for Transgender rights listed about 30 different policies and actions conducted by the current administration that the organization considers discriminatory towards the LGBTQ community. Childers still has hope that the lower courts will reject the military ban, which she considers unpatriotic. The United States was born by people who were different and did things their way, she said. I just dont understand. How come Mr. Trump would be against the American way? The actual American way is to be helpful -- to serve your fellow man as God would intend you to and not be hateful. A north Alabama teenager is charged with manslaughter and accused of driving at an excessive speed in a crash that killed three of her schoolmates, court records state. Kathleen Kate Emma Boggus, 17, is indicted on three counts of manslaughter and one count of second-degree assault, records show. She was released Tuesday from the Lauderdale County jail on $20,000 bail. Court records dont list a defense attorney for Boggus. Attempts to reach her for comment werent immediately successful. Boggus was 16 when she and four other Wilson School students were riding in her Toyota Camry on April 26, 2018, authorities said. The vehicle ran off Lauderdale County Road 30 in St. Florian and hit a tree, according to police. Three of the students 17-year-old Braden Turner, and 16-year-olds Coby Hines and Tyler Nelson were killed. Boggus and 16-year-old Kaylee Ann McGee were taken to hospitals for treatment of injuries. Photo: AL.com news partner WHNT News-19 The wreck happened on a cloudy night as the car traveled at excessive speed along the wet, dark two-lane road, records state. Court documents dont list the specific speed at which the car was traveling. Police documents say the car was traveling eastbound when it went over a hill crest and became airborne. When the vehicle came back down onto the pavement, Boggus lost control of the car, records state. Police said the car left the road and hit a sign, fence and gate before colliding with a tree. Boggus is accused of recklessly causing the deaths of Turner, Hines and Nelson, an indictment states. The assault charge stems from serious physical injury suffered by McGee, court records show. Backseat passengers McGee, Nelson and Turner were not wearing seat belts, police records show. Boggus and Hines, a front seat passenger, were wearing seat belts, records state. Its just an extremely sad situation where youve got three young people who lost their lives and another who was seriously injured and will be affected for the rest of her life, said Lauderdale County District Attorney Chris Connolly. Manslaughter is punishable by up to 20 years in prison. The assault charge carries a sentence of up to 10 years in prison. A grand jury issues indictments when it decides prosecutors have enough evidence for probable cause. A trial hasnt yet been scheduled. Authorities are trying to identify a suspect accused of robbing Eva Bank on Clairmont Avenue in Birmingham Wednesday morning. Birmingham police say the robbery happened about 11:35 a.m. at Eva Bank at 2915 Clairmont Ave. Police say the suspect entered the bank and gave a note to the teller demanding money. The suspect left the bank with an undetermined amount of money and started walking toward an apartment complex in the 800 block of 30th Street South, police said. No one was injured in the robbery. Anyone with information on the identity of the suspect should contact the BPD Robbery Detectives at 205-254-1753 or remain anonymous by contacting Crime Stoppers at 205-254-7777. If the tip to Crime Stoppers leads to an arrest, Crime Stoppers will provide a cash reward. President Trump should deliver his State of the Union address near the Mexican border, U.S. Rep. Mo Brooks said in a statement Wednesday. The comment from the Huntsville Republican congressman comes on a day in which Trump accepted an invitation to address a joint session of Congress on Jan. 29 and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., then rescinded the invitation. The speech is traditionally given from the House chamber and Brooks has previously suggested using the Senate as the setting for the address. As an alternative, Brooks suggested Trump head to the border. Should the Senate Chamber be unavailable, Brooks said in the statement, I urge President Trump to deliver his State of the Union address in a state that borders Mexico as that symbolism will help President Trump communicate to the American people about Democrat efforts to protect illegal aliens and promote open borders no matter how many dead Americans result from Democrat obstructionism, and no matter how long the resulting partial government shutdown may last. The squabble between Trump and Pelosi over the State of the Union is a subplot to the partial government shutdown thats now in its 33rd day with no end in sight. The shutdown has left about 800,000 federal workers at home without pay over a funding dispute for a border wall. Trump is seeking $5.7 billion for the wall that was a central part of his 2016 presidential campaign while Democrats, led by Pelosi, have refused to provide any wall money. I most strongly condemn Nancy Pelosis partisan, childish, and radical political stunt and renew my call for President Trump to not let Speaker Pelosis absurd and counter-productive decision keep him from speaking directly to the American people about the state of Americas union, Brooks said in the statement. A collaborative program between the Alabama Department of Agriculture and Industries and the U.S. Department of Agriculture to sample cows that die of unknown causes for bovine spongiform encephalopathy [BSE], also called mad cow disease, has been suspended since the federal government shutdown began in December. The halting of the program will not jeopardize the beef in the food supply, according to Alabama state veterinarian Tony Frazier, who administers the program for the state. Frazier said all cows that were being tested in the program had died under unknown circumstances away from the slaughterhouse and would not have been eligible for food consumption anyway. Those animals are dead on the farm, so they wouldnt be going into the food chain, Frazier said. If they become non-ambulatory, then those animals automatically are disqualified from going into the food chain. Frazier said that if a cow begin showing signs of an actual BSE infection, it would still be tested. Should an animal that has clinical signs [of BSE] present to the state of Alabamas Department of Agricultures diagnostic lab system, we will collect those samples and get them processed through the appropriate testing labs, Frazier said. Under the joint program with USDA, as many as 500 cattle per year were sampled for BSE as a precaution when an obvious cause of death could not be determined. The program focused primarily on older cattle, which are more likely to be at risk for developing BSE. There are two types of BSE that have been identified in cattle, classical and atypical. Classical BSE is usually the result of cows that consume a feed mixture that is contaminated with tissues such as brains, spinal cord or bone meal from infected cattle, as was the case in the outbreaks in the United Kingdom beginning in the late 1980s. Regulations from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration have prohibited the inclusion of mammalian protein in feed for cattle since 1997 and have also prohibited high-risk tissue materials in all animal feed since 2009. Atypical BSE is believed to occur spontaneously at very low rates in older cattle, usually eight years of age or older. An Alabama cow was confirmed to have atypical BSE in 2017 after displaying clinical signs of the disease at a livestock market in Alabama. Frazier said that if a cow presented with possible BSE symptoms, like that one did, it would still be tested regardless of the shutdown. Frazier said the USDA testing program is designed to provide more information to scientists to learn more about the disease and to reassure other countries that our beef is safe. At this point the surveillance is around being sure that we do our due diligence for the beef industry, Frazier said. It also provides intelligence and reconnaissance in the area of research and development. The mad cow screening program is one of several agriculture-related programs to be halted during the government shutdown. In addition to that program, the USDA is not providing its usual guidance for farmers and state agencies about programs in this years Farm Bill. Amy Belcher, communications director for the Alabama Department of Agriculture and Industries, said the state is not being reimbursed by the USDA for meat inspection costs, totaling about $170,000 per month. The state is having to cover those costs until the shutdown ends. This is an opinion column. Choice. We all want it. We vehemently and passionately fight for it. We want to choose where we live and shop. Whether we own a gun. Most women want to choose what they do with their own bodies. Most parents would love to be able to choose how and where their child is educated. Mauri Robinson and Claire Sands, parents of a two-year-old daughter and homeowners in Birminghams Roebuck neighborhood, certainly do. So much so, Robinson says theyll leave Birmingham before their daughter is ready for kindergarten if the citys school dont improve, I dont want to move to Homewood or Hoover and have a higher mortgage payment and be farther from where we work, live and play, Robinson said Wednesday. But if the school system doesnt fix itself in two years were moving. On Thursday, Birminghams Board of Education will decide whether its parents will have a new choice, by voting to either accept or reject the public charter school application of the I3 Academy, which is seeking to launch at K-5 institution in the Woodlawn area in the fall of 2020. Many parents will be watchingparticularly Robinson and Sands. If the vote doesnt pass tomorrow, Robinson told me Wednesday. Im meeting with a realtor. Fix is a pretty ominous word, particularly when were talking about an ocean liner of a district that long listed towards Titanic-like disaster. The ship has certainly steadied under Superintendent Dr. Lisa Herring, who took the helm in May 2017, and a board that, at least thus far, seems less likely to torpedo itself than its predecessors. Its even steered towards the relatively calm waters of progress. Last summer, BCS received full accreditation, without conditions, by AdvancED, five years after the agency placed the district on probation, primarily because of the boards own messiness. Last month, Alabama State Department of Education (ALSDE) revealed that 17 of 22 Birmingham schools that earned Fs for the 2016-17 school year raised their grade to a D or higher in 2017-18. Oh, there are still choppy seas to navigate. Just this week, we learned 20 BCS schools were among 76 schools statewide deemed by the Alabama Department of Education to be failing, meaning theyre among the bottom six percent, as measured by the percentage of students considered proficient on the standardized test taken the previous spring. We acknowledge and recognize that we have much work to do, Herring said. We will use the ranking to continue to strategically improve our work in the areas of math and reading. On Tuesday, at a District 1 town hall meeting, Birmingham Mayor Randall Woodfin told the audience: Bottom line is more work needs to be done in Birmingham to make them choice schools, places where people want to send their children. Robinson and Sands are both proud products of public schools. Hes a Bessemer native who attended Jefferson County Schools; she was born in the Bahamas, grew up in Atlanta. Theyve lived in Roebuck for three years. We are vested in development and growth of the city, Robinson said. Were not some transplants; we have a stake in the city. The only reason were considering moving is that want to make sure our daughter has a quality education. Theyre certainly not an anomaly in potentially choosing to educate their child elsewhere. Over the last decade, BCS has lost 4,972 studentsdown from 27,218 in 2008-09 to 22,246 this year. An average of 588 students left the district annually over the last three school years. Certainly, the reasons for their departure are varied and stemming that trend may be the districts most challenging fix. Charter schools are certainly no quick nor guaranteed fix. And if you want to get a room packed with educators, parents and general know-it-alls stirred up like wet hornets, drop the subject of charter schools into the mix. Martin Nalls, slated to be I3s head of school, says 87 percent of about 250 Woodlawn area parents surveyed said yes to having a choice in where to educate their child. Charter-haters are aplenty, too. On my Facebook page, someone responded to my post asking for views on charters thusly: they will siphon good students creating a death spiral for public schools. Alright then. Im not here to stir the charter/no charter debate. But I am adamantly for choice. The board should vote to accept the application. Birmingham Board of Education, 2019 Doing so will allow the districtone of five in the state that are charter authorizersto retain oversight of the academy, giving it the power to ensure it meets agreed-upon expectations or risk closure. Reject it, and I3 would likely get approval from the Alabama Public School Charter Commission and BCS would have zero say over a school planted in its own front yard. Moreover, accept the application and BCS received three percent of the $10,792 per student allocation I3 would get for the up to 420 students it would host at the First Baptist Church property on 48th Street North. Reject it, and BCS gets zilch. My passion has nothing to do with my daughter, actually, Robinson said. I know shell be okay; we have the means and ability to ensure she is well educated. Everybody does not have that. My passion is for those kids to have options other than is what is presented to them now. Charter schools are not a cure. I cant definitely say [I3] be the fix. Why not give us an option? Give parents this choice and perhaps some of them will choose to stay. Or maybe at least two. Roy S. Johnsons column appears in The Birmingham News, the Huntsville Times, the Mobile Register and AL.com. Hit me up at rjohnson@al.com. Follow me at twitter.com/roysj or on Instagram at instagram.com/roysj/ Federal authorities apparently are investigating Mobile-based shipbuilder Austal USA, though it was not immediately clear Thursday what agencies were involved. Meanwhile, Austals parent company apparently also announced that it was the subject of an investigation by Australian authorities, related to actions affecting the stock market in 2016. Amid reports that investigators had raided company offices, Austal USA issued a brief statement. It said, in its entirety: Austal USA is working with the US Navy on an open investigation. We are unable to provide additional details due to the nature of the investigation. We are continuing business as usual, executing our existing and recently awarded contracts. The statement did not specify that it was a Navy investigation. A representative of the office of the Navy Chief of Information said that inquiries should be directed to the Department of Justice. A public affairs official with the Naval Criminal Investigative Service likewise provided the statement that NCIS does not comment on ongoing investigations. Recommend you reach out to the Department of Justice for queries as they are the lead for this matter. A spokesman from the Department of Defense Office of Inspector General referred questions to the U.S. Attorneys office. James Davis, law enforcement coordinator for the U.S. attorneys office for the Southern District of Alabama, said he could not confirm or deny any activity or information at this time. An inquiry with DOJ officials in Washington was pending as this story was published. In late afternoon a spokesman for U.S. Rep. Bradley Byrne said his office was unaware of and unable to comment on any possible investigation. Byrne has been a major supporter of military shipbuilding contracts for Austal. The story will be updated as additional details emerge. Austal is one of the areas largest employers, with a workforce of about 4,000. It manufactures Littoral Combat Ships and Expeditionary Fast Transports for the Navy, and is competing in a Navy selection process for a series of next-generation frigates. An Australian news outlet, the West Australian, reported Thursday that Austal's parent company had disclosed that it was "assisting an investigation" by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission." That body apparently was interested in market announcements made by Austal "leading up to its warning of a $122 million annual loss in June 2016." According to the West Australian report, that loss was blamed on a blow-out in the cost of completing 11 Littoral combat ships on order from the US Navy and caused a plunge in Austals share price. It wasnt immediately clear whether the U.S. and Australian investigations were related. An Alabama airport is hosting a gift card drive to benefit Transportation Security Administration and Federal Aviation Administration employees who are on the job but not being paid during the government shutdown. HSV Cares is a federal employees donation drive coordinated by the Huntsville International Airport to benefit the some 80 TSA and FAA employees at the facility. These employees have continued to come to work and are the reason that the airport is able to continue to operate during the shutdown, airport officials said. Federal regulations cap the individual gift cards to $20 each and they must be for a specific store or restaurant as opposed to a Visa or Mastercard gift card. Grocery and gas cards are highly requested, airport officials said. Cards can be donated in the airport administration office, located on the upper level across from the hotel check-in desk, Monday through Friday from 8 a.m.-5 p.m. The gift cards will be logged, and provided to the agencies for distribution to employees. Airports across the country have reported delays related to absences from TSA and FAA workers who havent been paid since the government shutdown on Dec. 22, 2018. Wait times at busy airports including Atlanta and Boston are topping 40 minutes, according to the latest TSA figures. TSA experienced a national absentee rate of 7.4 percent yesterday compared to 3.2 percent one year ago on the same day. Many of the employees were reporting they would not be able to work due to financial limitations, the agency said. The case was notorious: On Ash Wednesday 2017 an autistic woman was found naked near Bienville Square, the victim of a rape that occurred after a lapse in supervision left her wandering the streets alone in the final hours of Mardi Gras. Almost two full years later, a lucky break in the case has resulted in a man being charged in a crime that Mobile County District Attorney Ashley Rich has called "a horrible, horrible thing." The details that emerged after the womans family filed a civil lawsuit were disturbing. An attorney said the victim, then 25, suffered Phelan-McDermid Syndrome, was unable to communicate verbally and required one-on-one care. Shed been placed in a group home for full-time care; according to the suit, caregivers took her to a downtown hotel on Mardi Gras day, then left her untended that evening. DNA evidence was collected in a rape kit during her treatment, but her autism made her unable to describe what had happened to her. Her assailant remained unknown. In October, police arrested Cecil Lavon Jackson Jr., 43, on a felony charge of 1st degree sexual abuse and misdemeanor 3rd degree assault, after another man complained Jackson has subjected him "to sexual contact by forcible compulsion." Authorities later decided not to pursue that charge. Lt. Matthew James, head of the Mobile Police Department' Special Victims Unit, said problems with the victim's account undermined it. However, because of the nature of the charge, a DNA sample had been taken from Jackson as he was booked. That was sent off for testing. Jackson remained in jail on the assault charge. Word that the sample matched on file from the 2017 case came back to the lead investigator on that incident, Det. Glenn Barton, in November. Barton had since moved to the homicide unit, but James said he was quick to follow up. "He called me because he'd worked that case from beginning to end," James said. Barton went to the jail to interview Jackson the same day, James said, and on Nov. 30 new charges of 1st degree rape and sodomy were filed. Bond was set at $100,000 on each. The charges were bound over to a grand jury in early January. According to court records, Jackson entered a guilty plea on the October assault charge on Jan. 9 and was sentenced to 120 days in jail, with credit for 85 already served. On Jan. 18 the district attorney's office reported that he had been indicted on both the newer charges. It just goes to show you the importance of DNA in these cases, even when we dont have a victim who can tell us what happened, said James. It's unclear when Jackson will appear in court to respond to the new charges. Meanwhile, the civil suit filed by the victim's family has proceeded, growing increasingly complex. Defendants include Rodney and Shetecia Chastang, operators of the Agape House group home where the victim resided; Volunteers of America Southeast, Inc.; Volunteers of America, Alabama, Inc.; Altapointe Health Systems; and several companies affiliated with the Candlewood Suites Hotel where caregivers had brought the victim. Broadly it alleges that caregivers failed to provide adequate oversight, that others failed to provide help to a person who obviously was unable to care for herself, and that some parties attempted to cover up their role in the breakdown of supervision. It also presents a claim that the Chastangs fraudently transferred property in an attempt to protect assets from a potential verdict. The Chastangs and other defendants have denied wrongdoing. Among other arguments in the Agape House response to the complaint is one that "This Defendant states that the injuries and damages made the basis of this Complaint were caused by an intervening criminal act by a nonparty, and this Defendant is neither responsible for nor had control over the nonparty." Jackson has now been accused of being that nonparty, but faces trial on a timetable that has not yet been determined. A judge ordered parties in the civil suit to go into mediation on Dec. 13; a status review is set for Feb. 1. That hearing may allow for discussion of what impact, if any, the criminal charges may have in the civil suit. Alabama is in the sights of a Texas-based renewables company formed this week. Encina Development Group is forming Encina Renewables to consolidate its activities in the renewables sector, the company said. The new company, headquartered in Houston, Texas, is also looking at project site locations in North Carolina, South Carolina, Mississippi, Georgia, Florida and Texas. Officials said the company will enable Encina Development Group to move closer to becoming a carbon neutral enterprise. The company is expected to focus on development opportunities in the biomass industry, a growing sector of Alabamas economy involving organic matter used to generate power. Alabama Forestry Commission statistics say Alabama has more than 900 million dry tons of woody biomass. We have always strived to seek out technologies which would enable our future operations to be as close to carbon neutral as possible while maintaining our position of being good stewards of the lands and environment in which we are entrusted with," Encina Founder David A. Schwedel said. Encina Development Group is involved in the design, construction, and operation of chemical and renewable facilities. Military and political circles in Ankara say Turkey's navy and air force are planning their largest naval exercise of the past 20 years in early March in the Aegean, eastern Mediterranean and Black seas. According to media reports, the exercise codenamed Blue Homeland will be held between Feb. 27 and March 3 in an area of 462,000 square kilometers (nearly 134,700 square nautical miles). Turkish media say the exercise is actually a message to the Eastern Mediterranean Gas Forum (EMGF), a coalition formed recently by Egypt, Israel, Cyprus, Greece, Italy, Jordan and the Palestinian Authority. The alliance plans to explore energy sources in the eastern Mediterranean Sea, including disputed areas. Despite the media reports, so far sources in Ankara haven't confirmed to Al-Monitor that a final decision has been made on the exercise. Looking at the current regional posture of the Turkish navy, such a massive exercise doesnt seem very likely. But a security source told Al-Monitor that the navys smaller elements could stage smaller-level firing exercises simultaneously in the eastern Mediterranean, Aegean and Black seas at the end of February because Ankara feels a more military robust posture is needed in these naval zones. Naval expert and writer Cem Devrim Yaylali told Al-Monitor that the regular exercises by Turkey's navy are usually held in April and May. He also spoke about a major exercise the navy had held in June 1998, saying, In the Sea Wolf exercise of that year, Turkish naval elements spread over the Mediterranean. One group deployed east of Malta and the other west of Crete before launching a virtual battle with the participation of the Turkish air force. That was the largest exercise ever held by the Turkish navy in the Mediterranean, and was meant as a response to the tension with Greece. In December 2018 construction began on a naval base at Trabzon on the Black Sea coast. That base will be the navy's ninth. Turkey currently has naval bases at Mersin and Iskenderun on the Mediterranean Sea, Aksaz and Foca on the Aegean Sea, Golcuk on the Sea of Marmara, Eregli on the Black Sea, and at Istanbul and Canakkale on the Bosporus and Dardanelles straits. It's important to note that Ankara's move comes after news reports in early December that the United States might send ships to the Black Sea following the Kerch Strait incident between Russia and Ukraine. The Turkish navy, in addition to reconnaissance and patrolling tasks, maintains close cooperation with NATO countries and other states on the Black Sea coast. It will be interesting to see how Moscow reacts to the new Turkish naval base. Retired navy Col. Abdullah Kokturk said it's actually the United States that wants the Trabzon naval base and added, If you really want to establish a naval base in the eastern Black Sea there must be the existence of a threat in that region. Turkey's relations with Georgia, which is one of the nearest countries, in that region are very good. All that remains is Russia. But there seems to be no problem with Russia. When it comes to the S-400 missile contract and to issues such as Syria, Turkey-Russia relations look good. It's known that the United States has wanted a NATO base in the Black Sea for a long time. The United States needs a military base in Trabzon to dominate the Caucasus and Central Asia, to transfer the wealth of this region to the West, to inactivate Turkey, to isolate Iran." If, as Kokturk claims, Turkey becomes a host to NATO navies led by the United States, that will definitely agitate Moscow. Andrei Boldyrev, a senior Turkey researcher at the Center for Middle East Studies, told Sputnik News, Turkey continues to reinforce its positions in the Mediterranean and the Black Sea regions. In August, it decided to build a base in northern Cyprus. Therefore, the base in the Trabzon area is a logical extension of this policy." He added, "Perhaps this was accelerated by NATO's decision to hold a military demonstration in response to the Kerch incident. Turkey was faced with this fact, and the base in the Trabzon area is the answer in the sense that Ankara is strengthening its presence in the Black Sea in the face of the threat of escalation. It's possible that Ankara decided to take advantage of the situation in the Black Sea region and create an additional foothold." Another development that would surely frustrate Moscow is Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenkos recent announcement. On Jan. 12, he declared he had signed an agreement with weapons manufacturer Baykar Makina, owned by the family of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogans son-in-law Selcuk Bayraktar, and Ukraine's Ukrspetsproject Ltd. to buy 12 Turkish Bayraktar Tactical Block 2 (TB2) drones for the Ukrainian army. In the first batch, six TB2s are set to be delivered in a year. "These newest attack drones will aid the army on operational and tactical levels, and besides having high-tech characteristics, can be equipped with additional modern high-accuracy missile systems to destroy armored units or marine targets with fortified positions," Poroshenko added. According to experts, the deal is worth around $80 million. It's obvious Ankara is shifting to a regional naval deployment that will link the eastern Mediterranean, Aegean and Black seas. Turkey, with Russia's cooperation, intends to overcome the EMGF coalition and cope with the pressure it faces in the Black Sea with US and NATO cooperation. This heightened naval posture means new missions, longer sailing and a stepped-up pace for Turkey's navy. TUNIS Tunisias powerful labor union, known as the Tunisian General Labor Union (UGTT), announced Jan. 19 its plan to hold a general strike on Feb. 20-21 if they did not reach an agreement with Prime Minister Youssef Chaheds government on a salary increase for public servants. The UGTTs announcement foretells an escalating crisis with the Tunisian government, especially since a February strike would be the second one to be held by the union since the start of this year. On Jan. 17, more than 670,000 government workers held a nationwide strike in light of the salary crisis. The strike, which was seen as successful, has disrupted the airport, transport sector and other public facilities like schools and banks. Secretary-General of UGTT Nourredine Taboubi had said during the Regional Staff Symposium (a meeting for the UGTT representatives across the countrys governorates) Dec. 27 that the month of January would witness major developments, stressing that the union will carry out its warning of a general strike on Jan. 17. The warning was made on Nov. 24 to demand increases in wages for the public sector employees. Taboubi added during the meeting that the last negotiation session Dec. 25 on the increase in public sector wages between representatives from the government and the UGTT had failed. He said this was due to the lack of seriousness on the part of the government with regard to the proposals. The agenda of the Dec. 25 talks focused on the implementation of a wage increase for public servants that the government has previously vowed to apply by Dec. 15. But so far, the wage increase by 205 to 270 dinars ($73-$97) has yet to take effect. Assistant Secretary-General of the UGTT Sami al-Tahiri told Al-Monitor that the UGTT is sticking to its demand for a raise of no less than the already agreed upon 205 to 270 dinars increase. On the other hand, Minister of Social Affairs Mohamed Trabelsi said in a Dec. 27 statement to the private radio Shems FM that the government has submitted a proposal to increase public service wages by 40 to 80 dinars (about $14-$27). The UGTT had already carried out Nov. 22 a general strike, which saw the participation of thousands. On Dec. 21, Chahed told the private Attessia TV channel, It is not in our intention to defer [the issue of] wage increases. All we are seeking to do is to save public finances in light of the exceptional [economic] circumstances. For its part, the Tunisian Order of Lawyers led a series of protests in Tunis Dec. 20, in a flat refusal of chapter 36 of the new finance law. The new law forces liberal professions, which include lawyers, doctors and notaries, to disclose their salaries as part of the government's efforts to increase tax revenue. Consequently, the Provisional Authority for the Control of the Constitutionality of the Draft Laws (known by its French acronym, IPCCPL) accepted Dec. 26 an appeal against the finance law and referred it to parliament for reconsideration. Meanwhile, the General Syndicate of Secondary Education, which is leading the teachers protests, renewed in a statement Dec. 22 its call to increase the salaries of teachers, reform the educational system, lower the retirement age for teachers and increase bonuses for teachers. The Ministry of Education refuses to raise the wages of teachers under the pretext of the bad economic situation, and it threatened to deduct from the salaries of the teachers who took part in strikes. Students of government educational institutes did not complete their first trimester exams for this academic year as the teachers had boycotted them. The move came in response to the General Syndicate of Secondary Educations call Nov. 5 to boycott the exams that are carried out Nov. 26-Dec. 8. In response to the Education Ministrys threat to deduct salaries of teachers, the syndicate called for strikes in all education centers affiliated with the ministry across the countrys governorates. The syndicate also declared Dec. 12 as a day of wrath and carried out protests across 24 governorates. Another day of wrath was held Dec. 19, when around 50,000 teachers gathered in front of the Ministry of Education and held a sit-in. The syndicate said in a statement Dec. 24 that it will continue to boycott the exams in the second and third trimesters, and they will hold more protests on Jan. 9 and Jan. 23. The statement added that teachers will gather in front of the Ministry of Education on Feb. 6 to continue calling for their demands. Assistant Secretary for the General Syndicate of Secondary Education Najib al-Salami told Al-Monitor that the syndicate will continue to boycott classes until serious talks are carried out that meet the teachers demands. He considered the ministers threats as futile and will only push teachers to further adhere to their demands. For his part, Abdel Jabbar al-Madouri, a political analyst and media figure, told Al-Monitor that Chaheds government is faced with a terrible dilemma. It cannot increase wages given its commitment to the International Monetary Fund to reduce public spending, while it has at some point to yield to the protesters demands. The government will likely collapse under the pressure of the social and union movements and protests, he said. MOSCOW While the much anticipated encounter between the presidents of Russia and Turkey in Moscow on Jan. 23 did not provide answers to all of the imminent questions the two are faced with in Syria, it did provide important clues as to where the respective bilateral disagreements were and how the two may proceed to address them. President Vladmir Putin offered a very warm welcome to his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan, crediting impressive figures in bilateral trade to Erdogans commitment to the relationship. In the first 10 months of 2018, bilateral trade grew more than in the entire previous year. The number of Russian tourists visiting Turkey last year rose by 30% to an all-time high of 6 million. Mr. President, my dear friend, the credit for this largely goes to you personally. It is your personal achievement, because you devote significant attention to this matter, Putin said, demonstrating what he has mastered over recent years in his multiple contacts with Middle Eastern leaders the art of flattery. Undoubtedly, the fact that our relations are expanding is having a ripple effect on regional security. No doubt, our solidarity is making a significant contribution to regional security, Erdogan responded. The two then departed for a one-on-one conversation with members of delegations joining the leaders later on for an overall encounter of three hours. Putin praised the productivity of his talks with Erdogan as well as other summits within the Astana format with Iranian President Hassan Rouhani on the formation of the Constitutional Committee for Syria. "The Astana format currently remains the most effective mechanism of settling the conflict in Syria. Our meetings are always comprehensive and fruitful, without any exaggeration. This provides good results in terms of practical work. In particular, Russian-Turkish-Iranian summits in the framework of the Astana process are very helpful as they focused on settlement in Syria. We agreed to organize another summit like this in Russia soon. Together with Mr. President, we have already agreed on the place and tentative date. We will also need to coordinate it with our Iranian partners," Putin said. Perhaps the most revealing part of the press conference was when Putin spoke of European efforts to undermine the work of the Astana group. Prior to the meeting with Erdogan, Moscow got hold of a letter addressed to UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres that representatives of France, the UK and Germany are said to have written. Putin, citing the letter, said the three had pressed Guterres to demand that Staffan de Mistura, before he left his post as UN Syria envoy, block decisions of the Astana group on the formation of the Constitutional Committee. "Frankly, we were shocked to learn this. But well be patient and continue working with them," Putin said. What probably can be called another deliverable was the agreement to continue a joint anti-terrorism fight in Idlib. Both recognize that the de-escalation zone there has been deteriorating into a Hayat Tahrir al-Sham-controlled gray zone. The idea now is to task the militaries of the two countries to continue the talks on specific actions and measures to be taken in Idlib. It is likely that the details of the plan will be finalized at the coming Astana trio gathering in Moscow. Turkey is doing a lot to try to remedy the situation, but more [bilateral] action is required to liquidate the actions of terrorist groups, Erdogan said. The process has been complicated because of the Kurdish-controlled areas and the Turkish-sponsored idea of a safe zone. Last week Moscow stated its concerns about the zone. "We are convinced that the best and only solution is the transfer of these territories to the control of the Syrian government, and of Syrian security forces and administrative structures," Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said Jan. 16. Following the talks with Putin, Erdogan told a joint press conference that Moscow and Ankara dont have any disagreements about the safe zone in northern Syria. Putin, however, said Russia supports a dialogue between Damascus and representatives of the Kurds. "This dialogue will contribute to consolidation of the Syrian society and national reconciliation, will be useful not only for Syria, but for all neighboring states as well," he stressed. The Russian president also spoke about the possibilities of what might happen in the context of the declared US pullout from Syria. In case those plans are really implemented, it will become a positive step and will help stabilize the situation in that troubled area of the Syrian state which is currently controlled by Kurdish units," Putin said. Until then, the Russian and Turkish militaries will discuss prospects for creation of a buffer zone on the Turkish-Syrian border. Erdogan, in turn, stressed the crucial importance that the planned US withdrawal from Syria not leave room for terrorist groups to roam freely. The day after the presidential meeting in Moscow, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said Turkey has the capacity to create a safe zone in Syria on its own but will not exclude the United States, Russia or others if they want to cooperate. He said that nothing was yet certain about the establishment of the zone, but that Ankara and Washingtons views were in line aside from a couple of points. He said the parties had started discussing the composition of the administration of Syrias Manbij, a town currently controlled by Kurdish militia. Similarly, Cavusoglu argued Ankara and Moscow were on the same page regarding a Syrian political settlement except for the issue of whether President Bashar al-Assad should stay in office. Remarkably, Cavusoglu alluded to ongoing indirect contacts between Turkey and the Syrian government, but fell short of providing details. The remarks are important in light of Putins mention at the press conference of the Adana agreement between Turkey and Syria. Putin argued the agreement, signed between the two countries in October 1998, was still in effect and was meant to guarantee Turkeys border security. Under the agreement, the Syrian party committed to five points, all of which pertain to the activities of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK); Turkey considers the PKK to be a terrorist group with strong links to the People's Protection Units and the Syrian Democratic Forces. Syria, on the basis of the principle of reciprocity, will not permit any activity which emanates from its territory aimed at jeopardizing the security and stability of Turkey. Syria will not allow the supply of weapons, logistic material, financial support to and propaganda activities of the PKK on its territory, the first principle reads. The agreement also envisages close security coordination between Damascus and Ankara on the issue, including a direct phone link between the high level security authorities of the two countries and two special representatives each to their diplomatic missions. Over the more than 20 years since the enactment of the agreement, Syria and Turkey have been on a twisted path in terms of its implementation with regard to PKK cross-border operations. Its also not the first time that Putin has urged Erdogan and Assad to reactivate this agreement. Moscow has been raising this issue in talks with Ankara and Damascus since at least 2016. As Al-Monitor colleague Ruslan Mamedov points out, Putin knows the details of the issue. Back in 1998, when PKK leader Abdullah Ocalan was forced out of Syria and moved to Moscow, Russias Federal Security Agency (FSB) asked him to leave the country as a result of an alleged deal between Moscow and Ankara involving Chechen radicals. Putin took over as the head of the FSB in July 1998, a few months before the events, and even then was most likely well-informed of the complexity of the issue. The concept of launching two parallel reconciliations a political one between Damascus and the Kurds and security coordination between Ankara and Damascus is a creative idea Moscow has brought to the table with an eye toward meeting the very interests of Turkey, Syria and the Kurds. The idea seeks to provide ultimate security for the first; grant control over the safe zone/buffer zone and a prospect for maintaining state integrity for the second; and ensure safety with an eye on the political future in the form of autonomy for the third. Implementing the plan will likely prove far more difficult than mastering the art of flattery. But in the absence of a better alternative to a scenario involving the use of force, this could well worthy of thought during the run-up to the next Astana meeting. GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip The Israeli security Cabinet decided Jan. 23 to allow the transfer of the third tranche of the Qatari grant to the Gaza Strip, after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu froze the transfer twice, on Jan. 7 and Jan. 22, because of the escalating security tension on the border between Gaza and Israel. On Jan. 23, Qatars Ambassador to the Palestinian territories Mohammed al-Emadi held talks with the head of Israels National Security Council, Meir Ben-Shabbat, in Jerusalem to convince Israel to allow the transfer. Following the talks, the Qatari funds entered the Gaza Strip on Jan. 24. Emadi had told Reuters Jan. 20 that Israel freezing the transfer was due to the heightened security tension on the Israel-Gaza border. The agreement [to transfer the funds] is subject to there not being too much violence, Emadi said, adding that he would not carry the money himself to Gaza, like he did previously. There will be a new system that was approved by Israel, but Emadi refused to reveal further details. Hamas threatened Jan. 18 to escalate the situation on the Israeli-Gaza border if Israel keeps violating the cease-fire, including barring the entry of the Qatari funds to the Gaza Strip. Netanyahu is facing sharp criticism for allowing the transfer of the Qatari funds to Hamas, Israeli Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Gadi Eizenkot warned in a press conference held during a tour in the Gaza envelope Jan. 8 against the freezing of the Qatari funds. The situation in the Gaza Strip is difficult and without the Qatari funds the situation is sure to explode. These funds maintain a state of balance and calm in southern Israel, he said. Two transfers worth $30 million have thus far been made to the Gaza Strip to cover the salaries of government employees. An official close to Emadi told Al-Monitor on condition of anonymity, Emadi arrived to Gaza Jan. 23 coming from Israel to meet with Hamas leaders to discuss a new mechanism for the transfer of the Qatari funds and urge the movement to calm the situation on the Israel-Gaza border. The source denied rumors that the mechanism consists of disbursing the Qatari grant as checks to each government employee through the Qatari National Committee for the Reconstruction of Gaza and the Qatar Charity in Gaza. The official noted that allowing the Qatari funds into Gaza requires the approval of the Israeli authorities. These, he said, previously allowed the entry of such funds in order to prevent the deterioration of the humanitarian and economic situation in the Gaza Strip. Since November, Emadi has been introducing $15 million a month to the Gaza Strip as part of a $150 million Qatari grant announced by the emir of Qatar last October, with the approval of the Israeli government. This comes despite the fact that the Palestinian Authority opposes such funds and accuses Qatar of financing Hamas and fueling internal divisions. Of note, $90 million has been allocated to pay the salaries of Gaza employees over the course of six months, i.e., $15 million per month, and $60 million has been allocated to buy fuel for the only power plant in Gaza. The freezing of the Qatari funds will exacerbate the economic situation in the Gaza Strip. These funds were partly filling the liquidity shortage that resulted from the national consensus governments decision to slash 50% of the salaries of its employees in Gaza in March 2018, in a bid to deprive Hamas of that liquidity. The salaries of the national consensus government employees amount to $50 million per month for 50,000 employees. This is the most important source of liquidity in the Gaza Strip, as these funds are usually paid in the form of taxes to the Ministry of Finance, which is run by Hamas employees. The ministry, in turn, would transfer the funds to about 40,000 employees appointed by the Hamas movement in the Gaza Strip. The financial crisis facing the Hamas-run ministries in Gaza has worsened after the formation of the national consensus government in 2014. This government has refused to support the ministries in Gaza under the pretext that Hamas is controlling them. Also, these ministries were banned from collecting the taxes they used to collect through the Gaza crossings, which were handed over to the national consensus government in November 2017, following an agreement between Hamas and Fatah in Cairo. Youssef al-Kayali, undersecretary of Gaza's Finance Ministry, said during a TV interview Jan. 5 that the Qatari grant covers about one-third of the salaries of Gaza employees appointed by Hamas in 2006. Their salaries are estimated at $32 million per month. Mahmoud Mardawi, a Hamas leader in Gaza, told Al-Monitor that the Qatari ambassador has yet to officially inform Hamas about postponing his visit to Gaza. Mardawi explained that unwritten understandings were reached in late October 2018 between Hamas and Israel under the brokerage of Qatar, Egypt and the United Nations special coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process, Nikolay Mladenov. These understandings stipulate Israels introduction of the Qatari funds into Gaza. He warned that breaching such understandings and failing to allow the entry of such funds within the next few days would lead Hamas to withdraw from such understandings. Mardawi added that the protests along the border with Israel winded down not for fear of the Israeli army threats, but to protect the lives of citizens taking part in these protests. He stressed that the protests have been peaceful since they started in March 2018. International mediators arrived in the Gaza Strip on Jan. 9, including Jamie McGoldrick, the humanitarian coordinator for the occupied Palestinian territory and deputy special coordinator for the Middle East peace process, a European diplomatic delegation and an Egyptian delegation. It seems the talks they have been holding with Hamas have resulted in calming the situation on the ground, which paved the way for the entry of the Qatari funds to Gaza. Mustafa al-Sawaf, a political analyst and former editor-in-chief of the local Felesteen newspaper, told Al-Monitor, Israel will continue to delay the entry of the Qatari funds into Gaza in the future so long as Hamas and the Palestinian factions have not placed any pressure on Israel through the popular means that were used before the understandings were reached. In March 2018, the Palestinians started popular demonstrations along the border with Israel. They set tires on fire, fought with Israeli soldiers and launched fire balloons at Israeli fields in the Gaza envelope. This caused major fires and was aimed at pressuring Israel to lift the siege. Talal Awkal, a political analyst and writer for Palestinian daily Al-Ayyam, concurred with Sawaf, telling Al-Monitor, Netanyahu is under considerable internal pressure as a result of those funds. The Israeli electoral race has started and opposition parties hope they would gain credibility by opposing the understandings reached with Hamas in Gaza. Israels latest decision to allow the transfer of the Qatari grant came amid warnings against blowing up the security situation with Hamas in Gaza. Mladenov has warned against the tension Jan. 22, calling on both Hamas and Israel to practice self-restraint. President Reuven Rivlin chaired on Jan. 23 a moving meeting in Paris between leaders of the Jewish and Muslim communities in France. Rabbis and imams sat in a circle and spoke with the Israeli president about dialogue and coexistence between religions and communities in both Europe and the Middle East. While journalists assisted the events, questions were reserved for the participants so they could express themselves freely. In fact, the president did the same. "There is a widespread belief that religion is at the heart of ethnic tension. But this is a mistake. The belief that links Judaism and Islam must be the key to peace, not a justification for violence. Now, when nationalism and religious extremism are rising in the world and in the West, your leadership is vital," said Rivlin. This Paris meeting took place at the request of Rivlin, who has in recent years been leading calls to establish and expand interfaith dialogue in Israel and in the region. For Rivlin, the linkage between the Muslim world opening up to ties with Israel and a positive interfaith dialogue is clear. The visits of Netanyahu to Oman and Chad and the discreet contacts with other Gulf states could catalyze warmer relations between Jews and Muslims elsewhere. Associates of Rivlin explained that the president is generally keen on promoting public dialogues between communities wherever he goes, be it Israel or abroad. When the visit to France was decided, it was obvious that such a meeting would be in the offing. "France is home to the biggest Muslim community in Europe and also to the largest Jewish community in Europe, so the president was very interested in having such a meeting here. Initiatives like this one present concrete steps in the presidents battle against neo-fascist movements, against the rise of anti-Semitism and racism, against extremism and in favor of coexistence. These are all battles that he is truly committed to," said a source close to Rivlin who was speaking on condition of anonymity. Indeed, in recent years Rivlins voiced his convictions on several occasions. In 2014, he was the first sitting Israeli president to participate in the annual memorial ceremony commemorating the 1956 Kafr Kassem massacre, where 43 Israeli-Arabs were killed. His presence there was perceived as a call for Jewish-Arab reconciliation and coexistence. Since then, he has multiplied his calls for mutual respect between all communities and groups composing the Israeli society. Rivlins proactive approach could be explained in part by his upbringing in Jerusalem, which is home to Jews, Arab Muslims, Christians, Armenians and more. "This meeting reminds me of my childhood when I learned that it is possible to find a common language between different peoples and religions. I was brought up to understand the importance of knowing and fully understanding the beliefs of other people," said Rivlin in Paris. There is more. Rivlin often tells about his father, educator and scholar Joseph Joel Rivlin, who translated the Quran in 1936. The descriptions of his Jerusalem childhood and of his father certainly add to the presidents credibility on his campaign for interfaith dialogue. While most Israeli-Arabs probably reject the presidents political right-wing views and his Likud political home, they are not insensitive to his efforts of battling voices of hatred and discrimination. That being said, the political issue was still present at least partially during Rivlins Paris trip. Ever since he took office, Rivlin has been careful over expressing his political beliefs, especially his rejection of dividing the land of Israel. But some of his positive statements also generate question marks. On the backdrop of Israels occupation of the West Bank, his affirmation that Israel offers total freedom of religious practice might sound to some out of place. Rivlin also boasted that Israels democracy offers equal voting right for all its citizens, ignoring Palestinians under occupation deprived of that right. Several Muslim dignitaries showed up for the Paris interfaith meeting, including Imam of Drancy (a suburb of Paris) Hassen Chalghoumi, Imam of Marseille Mohammed Aziziz, Abdelhak Aouinti of the mosque Les Ulys, Mohammed Galmin of the Bobigny mosque and others. All people of good will. Imam Chalghoumi has been championing in recent years Muslim dialogue with Jews and Israel and had visited Israel in the past, heading a group of French and French-speaking imams. Chalghoumi told Al-Monitor the recent visits by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to Oman and Chad and Israels outreached hand to Bahrain and Abu Dhabi contribute greatly to the dialogue between Muslim and Jews, and he feels the Arab world is now open to this kind of public debate while Europe is threatened by growing extremist movements. But for a true interfaith dialogue to be conducted, Rivlin would have to get other people also to the table such as the more senior religious Muslim leaders in Europe, who can really influence public opinion, and people who generally also speak out more strongly against Israels policies. This is still not the case. The elephant in the room, namely Rivlins political positions, might push away some of his potential interlocutors. That being said, Rivlin has shown courage by carrying the banner of dialogue in an era where hatred of Arabs and Muslims is proliferating, both in Europe and inside Israeli society. In a speech he delivered at the state dinner offered to him by French President Emmanuel Macron Jan. 23, Rivlin reminded the audience that "Israels Declaration of Independence proclaims that the State of Israel will be established on the principles of freedom, justice and peace, as preached by the prophets of Israel, and will uphold complete social and political equality for all its citizens." Many European leaders have given up on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, estimating that he is not ready to let go of Israels occupation policies. Macron, for instance, had postponed then canceled a trip to Israel that was scheduled to take place during the Israel-France cross-cultural season that ended November 2018. For Macron and others, Rivlin is perhaps the only voice of sanity within the Israeli right-wing leadership and their only hope that more right-wingers would take a similar, more humanistic path. Those voting for the political center are not stupid, declared veteran advertising executive Udi Pridan, whose agency coined Without unity, your vote is lost, the slogan opening a campaign to encourage a group of seven Israeli public figures to unite under one political umbrella. Unite4Israel, launched Jan. 20, urges them to set aside their egos and join forces to win the war for the state. A poll commissioned by the campaign showed that 79% of the supporters of the seven more than 1 million adult Israelis want them to join forces. Admittedly, most center-left Israelis are not stupid, but they are undoubtedly confused and embarrassed, having lost their way. The deep yearning to unseat Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his associates, among them Culture Minister Miri Regev, appears to have become their be all and end all, blocking the political and moral field of vision of wise and principled people. In other words, the dream of toppling Netanyahu and company in the April 9 elections has distorted the thinking of Israel's best and brightest when it comes to the tremendous diplomatic, political and social challenges facing Israel. This elite political commando unit consists of four men whose most obvious common denominator is the number of stars that adorned their shoulders when they led the Israel Defense Forces. Giant portraits of Lt. Generals Ehud Barak (formerly of the Labor Party), Benny Gantz (head of the newly formed Israel Resilience), Gabi Ashkenazi (unaffiliated) and Moshe Yaalon (Telem) grace billboards and newspapers alongside photos of Yair Lapid (Yesh Atid), Tzipi Livni (Hatenua) and Avi Gabbay (Labor Party). The campaign is being sponsored by the businessman and advertising executive Ilan Shiloah, Maj. Gen. (Res.) Moshe Kaplinsky, Brig. Gen. (Res.) Giora Inbar, social entrepreneur Noa Eliasaf-Shoham and Yonatan Ben-Artzi, grandson of the late Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin. Borrowing from military jargon, this group is calling on the seven to get together under the stretcher; this is our state thats bleeding up there. The answer they propose to the question of who will lead is Fuck it, the state will lead yet another symptom of Israel's stultified public discourse. Truth be told, a state is a group of citizens. It is not a road map, and it does not lead anywhere. Citizens are the ones who must pick a leader whose values and policies are in tune with their views and needs. It seems that over the course of recent years, however, rational consideration has receded from the public arena in Israel, making way for two strong, opposing sentiments hatred and disgust on one side and love and fear on the other. Yaalon regards the establishment of a Palestinian state as an existential threat to Israel, while Livni argues that the status quo is an existential threat to Zionism. What could they possibly have in common? What do Lapid, Gabbay, Barak and Ashkenazi have in common? Does anyone know what Ashkenazi thinks about civil marriage, an anti-clerical position advocated by Lapid? Gantz surged in the polls in recent weeks without revealing a hint of his political identity or a scintilla of the values he holds. The only statement he has issued was a vague promise on Jan. 14 to fix the controversial Nationality Law to grant the Druze minority full equality. On Jan. 20, the eve of the unity campaign's launch, Gantzs party unveiled its slogan: Only the Strong Win. In a series of videos posted to Facebook by Israel Resilience, Gantz boasts of the assassination of Ahmed Jabari, a leader of Hamas' military wing, the bombing of terror-related targets in Gaza and the killing of 1,364 Palestinian terrorists in Operation Protective Edge, the 2014 campaign against Gaza. The clip about the Gaza campaign, during which Gantz served as IDF chief of staff, features photos of bombed out neighborhoods next to a caption that reads, 6,231 targets were destroyed Parts of Gaza have reverted to the Stone Age. In a sop to centrist voters leaning slightly to the left, Gantz mouths a few general words about peace, including, Theres no shame in striving for peace. In a Jan. 21 Haaretz op-ed, the writer Orian Morris revealed that for all his adult life he had voted for the Labor Party but is now planning to vote for Gantz. We are in an unprecedented situation, Morris explained. A criminal movement led by an angel of destruction (as Netanyahu was once dubbed by the last decent leader of the Herut Party, the late Prime Minister Yitzhak Shamir) is demolishing the very institutions of statehood. According to Morris, voting for Gantz is the only way to win, regardless of what he may think about the occupation, the siege of Gaza, the evacuation of settlements and the 2002 Arab Peace Initiative. Morris is guided by only one idea: There is no choice in these elections but to win if you want your sons and grandsons to have a place to live. The public sphere in Israel is being taken over by two rival camps. On one side is the anyone but Netanyahu camp, reflected in the Without unity, your vote is lost, which in Hebrew is a play on words meaning not only that the vote is lost, but all is lost. On the other side are the Likud billboards attacking leading journalists, captioned, They will not decide. You will decide. Only Netanyahu. A million Israelis are willing to gamble on a vague hodgepodge of defense, diplomacy and socioeconomic ideas. These superficially expressed values and principles reflect the distress of the liberal peace camp. A union erected on rocky foundations might be necessary to take up residence on Balfour Street in Jerusalem, but it is unlikely to enable the construction of an effective and stable government. To borrow from a misspoken claim by Regev I was behind some incredible revolutions that even two ministers after me will not be enough to fix Israels next prime minister will have to work hard to fix what Regevs boss has damaged over the past decade. In fact, among the biggest challenges the next Israeli leader faces are bringing principles back to the public discourse and rehabilitating the status of values in the public agenda. The Israeli political system long waited to hear from former military Chief of Staff Benny Gantz. This brand-new Israeli politician who just founded the Israel Resilience Party has appeared in the polls as the greatest threat to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahus long-standing domination of the government. And yet, despite all that, Gantz was politically silent. It was only last week that he made a rare public statement, after Druze activists appeared outside his home to protest the discriminatory Nationality Law. He promised them that he would work to amend it. Then, on Jan. 20, the heads of his campaign released four promotional video clips. His voice came across as so surprisingly powerful (in an aggressive manner) that many of those who thought he was a different kind of politician or that he marked the dawn of a new age walked away feeling disappointed. The first video showed the 2012 killing of Ahmed Jabari, the head of the military wing of Hamas, in an airstrike. Jabari was responsible for the abduction of Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit. After Jabari's car goes up in flames in the video, a slogan appears onscreen, saying, Only the strong will win. The second video opens with a body count. The numbers flash quickly over footage from funerals and the sound of cries in Arabic: 1, 2 11 537. They stop at 1,364, and the words 1,364 terrorists killed appear on screen in big, bold letters, followed by 3.5 years of quiet. The third video is even more disturbing. It opens with aerial footage of Gaza in ruins in 2014 after Operation Protective Edge. Then we hear Gantzs voice boasting that 6,231 targets were destroyed, followed by, Parts of Gaza have been returned to the Stone Age. Some of the footage in this clip also documents the devastation in Gazas Rafah after Black Friday, on which Israeli officer Hadar Goldin was killed and his body was captured. Then-Col. Ofer Winter, who commanded the Givati Brigade, at the time ordered his troops to activate the Hannibal Protocol (a controversial military order that grants troops broad permission to do whatever is necessary to prevent the kidnapping of a fellow soldier) and entire neighborhoods in Rafah were bombed indiscriminately. A report released by Amnesty International one year after the operation determined that Israel had committed war crimes. According to the report, at least 135 Palestinian civilians were killed by Israeli fire on that same Black Friday, and the Abu Yousef al-Najjar Hospital was bombed, forcing patients to flee with their infusions. Furthermore, several 1-ton bombs were dropped on a single-story building, even though there were dozens of civilians nearby. But it wasnt just in Rafah that civilians were killed. According to official figures put out by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), some 2,125 Palestinians were killed during Operation Protective Edge, including 369 children beneath the age of 15 and 284 women. A report by B'Tselem claims that 1,391 of the Palestinian dead were civilians, and says it found that only 765 of those killed actually took part in the fighting. Operation Protective Edge lasted 50 days, making it the longest military operation in the IDFs history. When it was over, Hamas boasted that its fighters had defeated the stronger and better equipped IDF. There can be no doubt that Hamas is also responsible for the bloodbath in Gaza. The movements leaders rejected an Israeli proposal to reach a cease-fire after the seventh day of fighting and before IDF ground forces entered Gaza. Responsibility for the tragedy that Gaza experienced and continues to experience lies with Hamas, whose leaders expelled the Palestinian Authority in a military coup in 2007 and have since made promises to the people of Gaza that they have no way of keeping. Many residents of the Gaza Strip have long grown frustrated by these false promises from Hamas. They no longer believe that the day will come when the Hamas army and all the others aligned in the muqawameh (resistance) will eradicate the State of Israel. Meanwhile, they are groaning under the burden of a war of survival forced on them by the movement. Gantzs political campaign is wrapped in the human tragedy suffered by 2 million Palestinians. He boasts about how he had returned the Gaza Strip to the Stone Age. The Israeli public was eager to hear the ideas of Gantz the politician, but instead received shocking wartime videos from him. By the way, it should be noted that in his fourth clip, Gantz talks about peace. It features archival footage of Prime Minister Menachem Begin with Egyptian President Anwar Sadat, and Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin with Jordans King Hussein. Then Gantz the candidate declares, I am not willing to see another generation living here with no prospects of peace. But Gantzs great hope wound up being concealed by billowing smoke and the sounds of war from his first three video clips. What caused Gantz to launch his election campaign this way? Why did he chase away countless potential voters who thought that this general would bring a message of hope? It seems as if the chief of staff during Operation Protective Edge wanted to respond to his critics. Last week he was attacked by retired Maj. Gen. Yoav Galant, who recently joined the Likud. Galant went so far as to accuse Gantz of failure during Operation Protective Edge. I think that he knows why he is silent. I also know why he is silent, and the thousands of officers who served under him know why he is silent, Galant said Jan. 5. After Gantz announced he planned to form a new party and run in the upcoming election, he was ridiculed and classified as a leftist last month by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. This is the most humiliating term in Netanyahus lexicon. I will not get involved in how the left plans to split up its votes, Netanyahu mocked his political rival, and apparently it worked. To defend himself, Gantz presented his voters an image of Gaza on a silver platter, all covered with blood and dust. What matters most to him, it seems, was that his reputation not be tarnished, and that he not be suspected of belonging to the left. The Palestinians do not consider Gantz to be any different as a leader than the current right-wing leadership. An active member of the political branch of Hamas in the Gaza Strip told Al-Monitor on condition of anonymity that he wonders why Israelis were so surprised by Gantzs video clips. As far as we are concerned, he is responsible for the massacre in Gaza, the Hamas member charged, adding that the people of Gaza and the Palestinian people in general have no expectations from the Israeli leadership. In another conversation with Al-Monitor, a journalist in Gaza who is well-versed in Israeli politics said he is saddened to see that this is how a candidate hopes to win votes. We are suffering from closure, from hunger and from death, which constantly hovers over us, and you are shouting in joy, he said, speaking on condition of anonymity. How is he [Gantz] any different from Netanyahu and [former Defense Minister Avigdor] Liberman? Meanwhile, Knesset member Ahmad Tibi quit the Arab Joint List and announced his plans to run in an independent Taal list. He tweeted: I watched Benny Gantzs videos with the body count, and I felt sick. Anyone who turns killing, destruction and devastation into a political tool is no different from the most aggressive right-wing leaders. That is no way to build an alternative. Israel in Arabic, a Twitter account run by Israel's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, tweeted Jan. 6 that several Iraqi delegations had visited Israel in 2018, meeting with Israeli officials and touring the Yad Vashem Holocaust memorial. The Iraqi Foreign Ministry promptly denied having knowledge of any such visits. Iraq's parliamentary speaker Mohammed al-Halbusi called Jan. 10 for the formation of a committee to investigate Israel's claims. Meanwhile, an Israeli author and commentator, Edy Cohen, claimed to have received a list of those Iraqis who visited Israel. All the Iraqis on this alleged list denied having traveled to Israel. Former member of parliament Ahmed Jarba told the media that the false report that he had visited Israel seeks to tarnish [his] image. Alia Nassif, a member of parliament for the State of Law Coalition, said that the visits did not happen. The news is fake and lacks evidence, she told Al-Monitor. There are political motives behind the news that seek to misrepresent my parliamentary role. She speculated that a Kuwaiti journalist, Fajar Saeed, "who who calls for normalization with Israel, is probably behind mentioning my name, because of my standings toward Kuwaiti ambitions for Iraqi oil and territory. The debate over the tweet has escalated throughout the past several weeks, as Iraq's ties with Israel have been thrown into question. The Iraqi government has not recognized the state of Israel since its establishment in 1948. Yet, during a Jan. 3 press conference, Iraqi Foreign Minister Mohammed Ali al-Hakim stated that Iraq is in favor of the two-state solution to resolve the Palestinian crisis. This remark implied the recognition of the state of Israel, and was behind the State of Law Coalition's Jan. 5 demand to take strict action against him. Khalaf Abdul Samad, the head of the State of Law Coalition in parliament, told the press Jan. 5 that Hakims remarks neither represent the Iraqi people nor the political forces. In parallel, Israeli officials are focusing on Iraq, particularly on Iranian influence in the country. The Israeli minister of interior suggested in October 2018 that "Iraq may serve as an Iranian military base to attack Israel." In May 2018, the Israeli Foreign Ministry launched the Israel in Iraqi Dialect Facebook page. But the rumor of Iraqi delegations visiting Israel has prompted a whole new level of debate. Furat al-Tamimi, a member of the Iraqi parliamentary Foreign Relations Committee, disputed whether the visit actually happened, and said, The news on the visit is a part of a media campaign to normalize [ties] with Tel Aviv." She told Al-Monitor, The objective is to cause division among the political forces, as well as political and social befuddlement. This is because relations with Israel are a very sensitive topic for the Iraqis, particularly for Muslims. Palestinian ambassador to Iraq, Ahmad Aqil, also denied that the visits ever took place, suggesting that an Israeli e-army fabricated [the news] to deepen the rift in the Iraqi community. Atheel Nujaifi, a leader of the Iraqi Decision Alliance, warned that any Israeli interference in the countrys internal affairs would divide [Iraq]. Israels Maariv newspaper reported in September 2008 that Iraqi politician Mithal al-Alusi called for building relations with Israel at the Herzliya Conference. Alusi told Al-Monitor that engaging in "a dialogue with a country that has political and military powers and that exists on the map is what the calls to make contacts with Israel are made for." A dialogue [with Israel] will not cause damage to Iraq," he said. "Rather, it will open the horizon for stability in the Middle East as a whole. The Iraqi people have gotten sick of wars," he continued. "My call seeks to bring about peace. In August 2017, the spokesman for Ninevah's Arab tribes, Muzahim al-Howeit, called for normalization of ties with Tel Aviv, arguing that such a move was in Iraqis' interests. In an email statement, the Iraqi Ministry of Foreign Affairs told Al-Monitor that Iraq supports the return of the Palestinian land that Israel seized. Furthermore, the Iraqi stance regarding recognition of Israel, "is based on the 2002 Arab initiative, which Iraq has espoused since the Saddam Hussein era. So far, said position has remained unchanged. Ali al-Tamimi, a former judge and legal expert, told Al-Monitor, The Iraqi penal code issues the death penalty to whoever promotes Israeli principles or assists [Israel] materially and morally. It also criminalizes whoever visits Israel, [as it is] an act of treason and collaboration. Linda Abdul Aziz Menuhin, a Jewish journalist of Iraqi origin residing in Israel, told Al-Monitor over the phone, The Iraqis with whom I communicate on social media would like to visit Israel. The forces of the Resistance Axis, who have close ties to Iran, such as Asaib Ahl al-Haq, are the most vocal opponents of normalizing ties with Israel. In December 2017, Asaib Ahl al-Haq's secretary-general, Qais al-Khazali, visited with Hezbollah Lebanon's border with Israel. Naim al-Abboudi, a member of parliament for Asaib Ahl al-Haq, told Al-Monitor, The normalization of ties with Israel is a red line. It is absolutely unacceptable for the Iraqi state and people. Nevertheless, the Israelis continue to seek a breakthrough, as happened with Egypt, the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia, where normalization is proceeding and an alliance against Iran is forming. On Jan. 12, Seyed Hasan Aghamirii, a popular Iranian cleric, posted on his Instagram account that he had been sentenced to two years in prison and defrocked. The latter is an unusual and rather modern form of punishment in the world of Shiite Islam that is exclusive to the Islamic Republic of Iran. After 10, 15 years of arrests and taking over my work space and solitary confinement eventually they issued their verdict: two years in prison, which they kindly reduced to a five-year suspended sentence and permanent defrocking, Aghamirii posted on his Instagram account. The case was not handled by a regular court, but by the Special Court of Clergy, a court independent of Irans judiciary, which traces its origins to 1980s post-revolutionary Iran. The founder of the Islamic Republic of Iran and former supreme leader, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, created the inspiration for a special court for clerics during a speech in 1979. Not acting in accordance with Islam and betrayal of Islam from a turbaned person is worse than it being from someone who is not turbaned, Khomeini said. His reasoning was that clerics under the previous government, who were using the clergy for personal power, were destroying the reputation of the clergy. God knows that if there is a special court it is not for [our] defense, he said. It is because a handful of corrupt people want to destroy a respectable people [clerics]. While active before that in various forms, the Special Court of Clergy (SCC) was formally established in 1987. It operates under the powers of the supreme leader, separately from the regular judiciary. The head of the SCC is Mohammad Jafar Montazeri, who also doubles as the prosecutor general of Iran. The head prosecutor of the SCC is Ebrahim Raisi, who is the Custodian of the Astan Quds Razavi, a powerful and wealthy foundation that manages the Imam Reza shrine in the northeastern Iranian city of Mashhad. Raisi is also rumored to be set to replace current head of the judiciary, Ayatollah Sadegh Larijani. The aim of the court, at least originally, in the words of Khomeini, was to weed out corrupt clerics. Yet, in practice, what it has done is far more obscure. Dissident cleric Mohsen Kadivar told Al-Monitor that we dont exactly know what kinds of cases the SCC typically prosecutes. Kadivar, who now teaches at Duke University, has had his own run-ins with the SCC in Iran. The cases are not published. Are they the same [punishment]? We dont know, he said. One thing is certain, according to Kadivar: It is a tool for suppressing political clerics. By political he means those who do not toe the government line a government comprised of clerics who operate under a form of rule called the Guardianship of the Jurist, or velayat-e faqih. It is mistakenly believed that the first person the court prosecuted was Grand Ayatollah Mohammad Kazem Shariatmadari, one of the most popular clerics at the time of the revolution, who afterward clashed with Khomeini due to his opposition to the unchecked authority of velayat-e faqih within the constitution. In an unprecedented move within the world of Shiite Islam, Shariatmadaris status as a marja-e taqlid a top Shiite jurist, literally meaning source of emulation was removed in 1982 by the Society of Seminary Teachers of Qom, which Khomeini founded. There are, however, a number of notable clerics who have faced the courts wrath and in the process been defrocked. Ahmad Montazeri, son of Grand Ayatollah Hussein Ali Montazeri, was defrocked for publishing audiotapes of his fathers opposition to the 1988 mass executions, which implicated SCC head prosecutor Raisi, who was running for president at the time. Other well-known clerics, particularly popular among some Reformists, which the SCC also defrocked are Hasan Yousefi Eshkevari, Hadi Ghabel and Seyyed Hossein Kazemi Boroujerdi. However, Hasan Aghamiriis case is unique. According to Iranian media, Aghamirii faced three charges: insulting the sacred through ridicule; disturbing public opinion, resulting in insecurity in the beliefs of the people; and conducting acts and behavior contrary to that of a cleric. Aghamiriis critics derisively call him an Instagram cleric. He has 1.7 million followers on the platform, a testament to his strong following among the youth. And the news of his defrocking has only made him more popular. Yet the criticism of Aghamirii is not unwarranted. He does not have strong religious credentials, like so many other dissident clerics before him who went face to face with the SCC. Rather, he owes his fame to social media. Instagram clips of his speeches from the pulpit are all professionally produced, with multiple moving camera angles, skillfully edited and overlapped with powerful musical scores that punctuate his unique delivery style. To make his speeches more comprehensible, he uses common language, devoid of the typical fire and brimstone clerical speak that is often intermixed with classical Arabic. But that popularity is what also made him a target of the SCC. If they sense youre not with them, they will confront you, especially if you have social influence, Kadivar said. He was a potential danger. From the pulpit, Aghamiriis topics were certainly different. He often railed against the clergy. The family of the prophet worked, Aghamirii said in one clip, attacking clergy who profit from their work as clerics. But some imagine the family of the prophet would touch the ground and it would turn to gold and that they didnt work, but it was not like this. They all worked. Aghamirii then recounted a time when he asked a group of clerics in Qom if they knew the profession of Abbas ibn Ali, son of Imam Ali. None of them did, of course. He said that those clerics chose not to know that Abbas ibn Ali worked, because knowing would mean that they too would have to work. In a country of high youth unemployment, in which the clerical world is a path toward self-enrichment, its understandable why expressing such a sentiment would make one popular and at the same time attract the attention of the SCC. Aghamirii himself claims that he does not receive money through his work as a cleric but works in the private sector. In a country where religious conviction is on the decline and the mosques are increasingly empty, a popular cleric who attracts the youth would, in most cases, be an asset and for a state that calls itself an Islamic Republic. For the SCC, however, he was a liability. Amidst a backdrop of accusations against Iran of attempting assassinations in Europe, a former Iranian ambassador has caused an uproar by calling those charges hard to deny and suggesting the possibility that they could be at the hands of rogue agents. During a Jan. 22 interview with ISNA, Ali Majedi a former ambassador to Germany recently forced to retire due to an Iranian law barring the employment of those who are technically retired for senior positions was asked whether the accusations of terrorism and plots to assassinate opposition figures in Europe were more political and an excuse for the European Union to delay the creation of a special purpose vehicle (SPV). An SPV is designed to facilitate lawful trade between Iran and the world, bypassing US sanctions for the purpose of keeping the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action alive despite the US exit. I dont believe in this analysis, Majedi said. In regards to the claims they have presented, the Europeans have brought documents that we cannot easily reject, even though they cannot easily prove those documents. Majedi continued, We see that when [President Hassan] Rouhani traveled to Austria, the issue in Germany took place. The issue is a reference to Rouhanis July 2018 trip to Vienna, which was overshadowed by the arrest of Assadollah Assadi in Germany over accusations that he was attempting to blow up a rally by an Iranian opposition group in France. Assadi was a counselor at the Iranian Embassy in Austria at the time of his arrest. On the European claims, Majedi said, They are facing a dual policy from Iran. They have evidence for their claims and this is where I say these actions create trouble for a feeling of trust and security. He added, International relations are not based on feelings [but] on reality, and any mistake, however small, can destroy this sense of security. In his most controversial statement, Majedi said, Domestically, we are faced with such an issue as rogue operations. Can we deny that outside of the country these actions also take place? Operations that damage trust? When asked to clarify if he meant that outside of the country rogue operations are taking place outside of the authority or knowledge of the Foreign Ministry, Majedi said, At the very least, they are being done in Irans name. As a comparison, Majedi said that two strong allies such as the United States and Germany faced a crisis when it was revealed that the United States was spying on Chancellor Angela Merkel. But he said that due to the strong relationship between the two sides, they were able to resolve the matter. However, he said that in the case of Iran where relations are not as strong and multiple problematic instances take place it destroys trust. Majedi said that Iran must have control over its agencies such that it is sure these actions are not taking place and be able to prove it. Unfortunately, some think that with rogue actions they can protect the interests of the country but this is a mistake, he said. The Foreign Ministry was quick to distance itself from Majedi's comments, saying that he was expressing his personal views. Regarding Majedis comments about rogue operations, the statement read that Majedi was simply stating one possibility and was not addressing a specific case. The statement continued that, just as Majedi said, these accusations could have been the result of operations by groups opposed to the Islamic Republic of Iran and that European authorities cannot prove Iran was behind it. To foreign media and Iranians in exile who are opposed to the Islamic Republic, the statement concluded, Do not get overexcited and attribute your previous desires to others. CAIRO A new eastern Mediterranean alliance that includes Israel is moving to take advantage of the energy-rich region, which has natural gas reserves estimated at 122 trillion cubic feet (3.45 trillion cubic meters). Some observers say the coalition also wants to counter any efforts Turkey might make to control energy sources in the region. The Egyptian Ministry of Petroleum announced Jan. 14 that six countries and the Palestinian Authority (PA) had agreed to establish the Eastern Mediterranean Gas Forum (EMGF), with Cairo as its headquarters. The presidents of Egypt, Cyprus and Greece had held a trilateral summit Oct. 10 on the Greek island of Crete during which they agreed to establish the forum. Turkey began its first oil and gas exploration off the coast of Antalya by launching the drilling ship Fatih on Oct. 29. Speaking at the launch ceremony, Turkish Minister of Energy and Natural Resources Fatih Donmez warned, Turkish naval forces will take appropriate measures should the vessel be harassed. He was referring to tensions between Turkey and neighboring Cyprus and Greece over maritime jurisdiction. Meanwhile, Turkey reportedly is planning a massive military exercise in early March in the Aegean, eastern Mediterranean and Black seas. Some media speculate Turkey is staging the exercise as a message to the EMGF that Ankara won't be intimated or deterred from entering disputed areas to conduct its own exploration. The EMGF countries include Egypt, Israel, Cyprus, Greece, Italy and Jordan, along with the PA. They are working to create a regional gas market, rationalize the cost of infrastructure and offer competitive prices. Egyptian Petroleum Ministry spokesman Hamdi Abdelaziz said the forum is part of efforts to transform Cairo into an international energy and business hub, taking advantage of the great volume of natural gas in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Abdelaziz told Al-Monitor in a phone interview that Egypt seeks a greater international role by importing gas and re-exporting it to Europe, which can be done by taking advantage of the infrastructure of networks and liquefied natural gas (LNG) plants. He added that after covering the domestic need for gas, Egypt will export the surplus abroad. Cairo also will benefit from revenues from the transport of natural gas to and from Cairo. Egypt has two liquefaction plants. EDCO, which is owned by Egyptian Liquefied Natural Gas, has two liquefaction units. Another plant, in Damietta, is affiliated with Union Fenosa Gas, a 50/50 joint venture between Italy's Eni and Spain's Naturgy Energy Group, and has one liquefaction unit. Abdelaziz also expects an increase in private-sector investments in LNG in Egypt as a result of cooperation among the forums members, in light of Egypt's 2017 law regulating and liberalizing gas market activities. Egyptian energy expert Ramadan Abu al-Ala said the EMGF is a regional lobby to counter any Turkish attempt to disrupt members' exploration in discovery areas in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Conflicts are growing there as competition increases to capture oil wealth in a region thought to be rich in natural gas. Turkey is mainly opposed to an agreement signed in 2013 between Egypt and Cyprus for the re-demarcation of the maritime border, under which Cairo discovered the Zohr gas field in 2015. This discovery changed the natural gas map in the eastern Mediterranean Sea, in light of the fields gas reserves, which are estimated at more than 30 trillion cubic feet. Egypt rejected Turkeys opposition to the Cyprus demarcation agreement and deemed the deal to be legal. Meanwhile, tension has been escalating between Turkey and Greece over offshore resources in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. On Feb. 11, 2018, the Turkish military obstructed a drilling ship contracted by Eni from approaching an area to explore for natural gas. Turkey claimed the ship was heading to the offshore maritime zone that falls into its jurisdiction or that of Turkish-claimed Northern Cyprus. Gamal al-Qalyubi, a professor of petroleum and energy engineering at the American University of Cairo, said in a televised statement Jan. 15 that the EMGF aims to foil Ankaras dream of becoming a regional energy source, collecting and re-exporting natural gas via the Trans-Anatolian (TANAP) pipeline from Azerbaijan through Anatolia to Europe. This is in addition to the TurkStream pipeline, which will transport Russian gas through Turkey all the way to Europe's eastern and southern regions. The pipeline is due to be completely operational by the end of this year. In the meantime, talks about importing gas to Turkey from Israel have been going on for some time, but are likely to be futile. Israeli Energy Minister Yuval Steinitz said Jan. 14 that Israel will start exporting gas to Egypt within a few months. Reuters quoted Steinitz as saying Israeli gas exports to Egypt are expected to reach 7 billion cubic meters (247 million cubic feet) annually over 10 years. He expects Egypt's domestic market to consume half of the exports, with the other half being re-exported as LNG. Steinitz has noted that Cairo and Tel Aviv are holding talks to build an underwater pipeline to transport gas between the two countries. The construction work is slated to begin next year to move gas from the Leviathan and Tamar fields in Israel to Egypts LNG plants for processing and re-exporting. Israel currently produces 10.5 billion cubic meters of natural gas annually. That figure is expected to more than double in 2020, and reach 27 billion cubic meters in 2021. Egypt also signed an agreement with Cyprus on Sept. 19 to establish a direct maritime pipeline that would transport natural gas from the Cypriot Aphrodite field to Egypts liquefaction plants for re-exportation. By 2022, Cyprus is expected to start pumping 700 million cubic feet to Egypt per year. Qalyubi believes Italy will be the EMGF gate for exporting natural gas, especially for Egypt, since Italy controls the biggest part of the European local network. In another televised statement Jan. 16, he said Italy has a major role to play in the EMGF strategy when it comes to receiving gas, which is to be re-pumped in the European market through its giant network, stretching more than 34,000 kilometers (more than 21,000 miles). Egypt has the geographical location and infrastructure to become an open energy market. It is jammed between the EMGF Mediterranean countries and North Africa, which allows it to open an energy market in those countries with ambitious exploration plans, Qalyubi said. Turkeys President Recep Tayyip Erdogan kept up support for Venezuelas tottering strongman Nicolas Maduro today, saying he was a democratically elected leader and needed to be respected as such. Speaking at a joint news conference in Ankara with visiting Maltese President Marie-Louise Coleira Preca, Erdogan asserted, "If you do not respect election results, then this is not democracy. Erdogan urged Maduro to keep resisting opposition leader Juan Guaidos efforts to topple him. Should Maduro stand tall and continue on the path he believes in, I am certain that the people of Venezuela will stand behind him, Erdogan said. Erdogans comments followed a phone call to the Venezuelan leader in which he pledged support and referred to Maduro as my brother. The Venezuelan president, who is blamed for the economic meltdown that has impoverished millions in the oil-rich Latin American country, is facing the biggest threat to his rule since being re-elected for a second year term last May in polls that were marred by an opposition boycott and widespread allegations of fraud. The United States, Canada, Latin American heavyweight Brazil, Colombia and Peru are among the countries that recognized Guaido as Venezuelas legitimate president. Turkey is in the opposite camp alongside Russia and China, highlighting the NATO members marked drift toward authoritarianism and like-minded regimes. In Maduros case, however, they are bound by more than a shared tendency to stifle dissent. Erdogan faced down a bloody coup attempt in 2016 that he blames on Fethullah Gulen, the Pennsylvania-based cleric who used to be his top ally until they fell out over the spoils of power. And like Maduro, he sees the United States hand in the failed putsch. The pro-government Yeni Safak was quick to finger the CIA, claiming that it was behind a social media campaign to rally anti-Maduro protesters. The CIA intervened and millions [of posts] were shared, the paper charged. Erdogan, an Islamist, and Maduro, a socialist, seem unlikely bedfellows. Yet Turkeys Islamists joined hands with the countrys leftists in catapulting tweets hashtagged WeAreMaduro to the top trending postings. Evren Celik Wiltse, an associate professor of political science at South Dakota State University who studies Turkish and Latin American politics, took to Twitter to comment on the apparent contradiction. I see Turkish Islamists becoming anti-hegemonic warriors for Maduro. This sudden leftist turn, yet they cant even stomach gender equality. United by an unremitting suspicion of the West, Turkey and Venezuela have been growing closer in recent years. Nicholas Danforth, an expert on Turkey and a fellow at the Bipartisan Policy Center, told Al-Monitor, Erdogan sees himself in Maduro a democratically elected leader targeted by US economic warfare now facing a coup attempt because he stood up to the West. Danforth continued, In this case, Erdogans stand resonates with the hostility that many people across Turkeys political spectrum feel towards American interventions real and imagined across the world. This was on full display when Egypt's first democratically elected President Mohammed Morsi, a fellow Islamist, was overthrown by the general-turned-statesman Abdel Fattah al-Sisi. Turkey's relations with Egypt have remained frosty ever since. Maduro visited Turkey four times in two years, attending Erdogans inauguration ceremony in June and returning in September. Erdogan reciprocated in early December. Turkey has become a major importer and refiner of Venezuelan gold, prompting worries that some of it is winding up in Irans coffers. Venezuela exported $900 million worth of gold to Turkey in the first three quarters of 2018, according to an in-depth report by Politico. Turkeys aid agency TIKA provides humanitarian supplies flown in by Turkish Airlines, one of the few Western carriers that continue to operate flights to Caracas. According to Venezuelan media reports, 69% of food in ration boxes distributed to the poor comes from Turkey. Wiltse told Politico, For all the humanitarian aid, [Turkey] is also extending a lifeline to a regime that should have or could have collapsed if it wasnt for that lifeline. Turkeys embrace of the likes of Maduro and Putin, however, also exposes the difficulties facing Erdogans foreign policy going forward. Can Turkey continue to align itself with those who seek to challenge or resist the West while staying on functional terms with Turkeys Western partners? Danforth asked. Can Erdogan resist US hegemony while still benefitting from it? His passionate defense of the embattled Venezuelan leader suggests he may be feeling the heat. After many discussions with the Egyptian government, major German car producer Mercedes-Benz announced Jan. 18 that it will establish a new assembly plant in Egypt. The resumption of operations follows an almost four-year absence from the Egyptian market. Bearing in mind the surge in both local and imported car prices in Egypt over the past few years due to the devaluation of the Egyptian pound, there is a heated debate regarding the impact of the move on the local automotive market as well as the reasons behind the Egyptian government's eagerness to bring back Mercedes-Benz. According to the announcement, the passenger car assembly is to be built by a local business partner in close collaboration with the Egyptian government. Egypt is an attractive and competitive location for production and supporting logistics. With the planned local assembly we are confident to be able to expand our market position, said Markus Schafer, a member of the Divisional Board of Mercedes-Benz Cars, Production and Supply Chain. In 2014, Mercedes-Benz announced its decision to transfer its investments to Algeria to make the best use of the privileges and incentives the Algerian government offered to the automobile industry. In 2015, the company decided to end production in Egypt due to the anticipated decrease in the customs value imposed on imported European cars under the agreement signed between Egypt and the European Union in 2001 and put into force in 2004. Under the agreement, the customs value was to be decreased gradually until reaching zero in January 2019. Although Egypt's Finance Ministry called in October to delay the zero customs implementation for another two years, the EU rejected the request. As a result, the imported European cars became cheaper than the cars being assembled in Egypt. The withdrawal of Mercedes-Benz was highly expected during that period. Such tariff cuts have a negative economic impact on all companies assembling European cars in Egypt like BMW and Opel, said Alaa el-Saba, a member of the automotive division in the Cairo Chamber of Commerce and chairperson of Saba Automotive, one of Egypts major automotive companies. Saba told Al-Monitor that the Egyptian car market was not greatly harmed by the Mercedes-Benz decision. The Egyptians found another alternative, since this move opened the door for BMW to expand in the Egyptian market during the suspension period. It is worth mentioning that Mercedes did not completely suspend its work in Egypt. It just stopped local assembly but the after-sale services and other services were operating normally, Saba said. Since the suspension of the German company's local assembly process, the Egyptian government spared no effort to get the company to resume operations. In 2017, head of the Suez Canal Authority Mohab Mamish announced that Mercedes-Benz would get a 96,000-square-meter piece of land to set up a new factory in the Suez Canals industrial zone. He said the government was working day and night to solve investors' problems. In further efforts, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi met with Schafer Dec. 6 and stressed Egypt's openness to cooperating with Mercedes-Benz in the context of the country's policy toward expansion in the automotive industry. He also expressed Egypt's interest in exploring opportunities for cooperation with the German company in manufacturing electric vehicles. On Jan. 11, Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly also met with Schafer, stressing the country's keenness on providing incentives for foreign direct investment in Egypt. Madbouly pointed out that investment in Egypt provides the advantage of exporting to multiple geographic regions of the world thanks to the free trade agreements that link Egypt with many countries and regions. Two days later, Egypt's Finance Ministry announced that a dispute involving around 700 million Egyptian pounds ($39.2 million) has been settled between the Egyptian Customs Authority and an importer of Mercedes-Benz vehicles. An official at Mercedes-Benz Egypt who declined to give his name told Al-Monitor that the company's return is considered a milestone and reflects the confidence of investors in the Egyptian market. He said, This is the beginning of more positive steps in the car manufacturing sector in Egypt, since the big companies can consider Egypt a manufacturing base from which they can export to neighboring countries such as the Gulf countries, besides the African and European countries with which Egypt has inked trade agreements. Regarding the impact of this move as well as the tariff cuts, Saba said that the car prices already decreased since the beginning of the month, but it is hard to say that Egyptian consumers will benefit from the change. He said, More cars will be affected by the Egypt-EU agreement, including Japanese and Korean cars manufactured in Europe. Nevertheless, it is not possible to exactly predict the changes in prices now since the prices of cars that will be produced in 2019 will be determined by the country of origin. Saba urged the government to offer more incentives to encourage foreign companies to operate in Egypt. The companies that assemble European cars won't operate in Egypt unless it guarantees certain profits, he concluded. Birthday wishes Call 281-422-8302 or email david.bloom@baytownsun.com to wish someone a happy birthday. We will print your birthday wish on Page 2 of The Sun. Happy Birthday Wishes When it comes to furniture, Egypt is rarely seen as an innovator or cutting-edge producer. Even in 2019, the 35,000 registered workshops in the Nile Delta city of Damietta are churning out pieces largely based on models from the 19th century in a style contemporary designers sometimes refer to derisively as Louis Farouk, known for its gilded and ornate features. But a new partnership between the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts in Copenhagen and two Egyptian furniture manufacturers has brought young Danish design students in contact with producers. The partnership is helping to introduce Scandinavian sensibilities to local producers, which, in turn, opens their horizons for new export markets. Today, Egypt makes furniture that is most often inspired by French and Italian designs from the 18th and 19th century, and contemporary Danish minimalism is some distance away from the Louis Philippe style, said Andreas Lund, a professor of furniture design at the Royal Danish Academy. But of course, Egypt has its own impressive history of design, and in the mid-20th century important Danish interior architects took inspiration from pharaonic pieces that came to global attention with the discoveries of Howard Carter in the ancient tombs of Luxor. The iconic Egyptian folding chair is one of the best-known pieces of Ole Wanscher (1903- 1985), a top-tier Danish furniture designer. And Danish Modernist Mogens Lassen (1901-1987) is known for an Egyptian table inspired by folding stands found in Tutankhamun's tomb. Lund told Al-Monitor he hopes his schools field program in Egypt two weeks in November and another 10 days in January, with 19 Danish students collaborating with local university counterparts, manufacturers and retail outlets results in a beneficial exchange of ideas about the design and production of home furnishings. We created this project to re-engage Danes with Egyptian influences, but also to get an audience here inspired by modern design, said Lund. Scandinavian ideas about minimalist design and environmental sustainability are taking hold in the most unlikely of Egyptian settings. In the Nile Valley hamlet of al-Qayat, some 200 kilometers (124 miles) south of Cairo, industrial engineer Omar Moneim, 28, has set up a furniture factory, which since 2011 has turned out tables and chairs made of palm tree midribs. Moneims company, Jereed, received funds from the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency in 2015 to develop a wood substitute from palm tree waste. The Jereed palm midribs have been used for centuries to make the traditional crates that Egyptians used to use as boxes to cart flat bread from bakeries into neighborhoods, Moneim told Al-Monitor. We don't have forests here, but we have more than 100 million palm trees in the Arab world. Collaboration with the Royal Institute of Fine Arts is a pleasure for us as we try to develop new designs for furniture. Danish design students Liv Marie Romer and Astri Reinertsen Sorgard took inspiration from these bread boxes when they built a folding sofa as their project for the Royal Institutes Egypt fieldwork experience. That bread box you see everywhere in Cairo is where the grid structure comes from, Sorgard told Al-Monitor at Pinocchio, an upscale interior design showroom in suburban Maadi, south of Cairo, where the students and their Egyptian partners gathered Jan. 12 for an exhibition of their work. We decided to make a daybed because it was a piece of furniture often seen in ancient Egypt. Pinocchios design and marketing manager, Amr Orensa, worked with staff from the Copenhagen arts academy and the Danish Egyptian Dialogue Institute to ensure the students could produce their schematics within a two-week timeframe. Many furniture companies in Denmark have moved production to China, and that is an issue, as these design students don't have the hands-on opportunities to go to the factories like their Egyptian counterparts do, Orensa told Al-Monitor. I think some of these items designed by the students can be sold in the Egyptian market others might be sold with some little modifications. There is a very big difference between the taste of customers in Denmark and in Egypt. Pinocchio has its own factory in Damietta, the Nile Delta city that accounts for 70% of Egypts exports, according to the Furniture Export Council, a local trade group. For me this has been a good opportunity because now I know what the Danish market needs, said Orensa. Hans-Christian Bach, a 27-year-old design student, is already talking to Orensa about a production run for his minimalist stool, which is based on the form of neck rests found in ancient tombs. I already spoke to Amr to get an estimate of what it would cost to do a production run for my stool, Bach said. Just minutes after uploading pictures of it on social media I had 10 people who said they wanted to buy it. But the young Dane stressed that the value of the encounter with Egypt and the Egyptians transcended commercial viability. Egypt is way closer to Denmark than China is and, in these times, where sustainability and carbon emissions are high on everybody's mind, I think it's a good idea to try and take the whole production facility and move it a bit. Closer to where the product is actually being sold, Bach said. He added, You should have seen the smiles on the faces of the Damietta factory workers when I told them that the form language for my piece is inspired by an ancient Egyptian design. You felt their pride about making something new which is relevant today and yet has roots in the culture of their ancestors. Although Congress has yet to coalesce around a path out of the monthlong government shutdown, it has at least reached a consensus on a Middle East aid package for 2019. The compromise contains good news for several US allies namely Egypt, Morocco and Turkey as it undoes significant setbacks they faced when the House passed a different spending bill earlier this year. But it also contains a significant blow to Saudi Arabia by shutting the kingdom out of a key US military training program. The provisions were all in the Democratic-held Houses spending bill, which passed 234-180 today. The Republican-controlled Senate is set to vote on its own version of the bill on Thursday, but foreign aid provisions are identical to the House bill. The dueling bills differ on immigration and border security, so neither is likely to become law this week as the two chambers remain mired in partisan gridlock. Still, the Middle East aid provisions have already been agreed to in both chambers, indicating that theyll likely become law when the shutdown eventually ends. The agreement comes after the House passed a different spending bill on Jan. 3 that would have cut Egyptian military aid, rebuked Morocco over its occupation of the Western Sahara and banned the transfer of F-35 jets to Turkey. Although that bill originated in the Republican-held Senate last year, the upper chamber did not include President Donald Trumps more recent demand for funding to build a wall along the US-Mexico border. Notably, the House and Senate have agreed to a new provision in todays bill that would cut Saudi Arabia off from the State Department-run International Military Education and Training (IMET) program. While the Saudis only receive a few thousand dollars in IMET assistance every year, participation makes Riyadh eligible for savings on other US training programs needed to operate its US-made military arsenal. Egypt fared better in todays bill. Lawmakers have awarded Egypt with its customary $1.3 billion in annual military aid, as opposed to only $1 billion under the Jan. 3 bill. Some $300 million of that is restricted, contingent on the Donald Trump administration certifying progress on human rights or using a national security waiver. Todays compromise is deeply disappointing, said Seth Binder, an advocacy officer for the Project on Middle East Democracy, which favors using military aid as leverage. It is a missed opportunity for them to send a strong message to the Egyptians. The chairman and top Democrat on the Senate foreign aid panel, Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., and Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., have long pushed to pressure President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi with military aid cuts an idea their House counterparts have resisted. The legislation voted on today is identical to the compromise the two chambers reached last year. Still, House Appropriations Committee Chairwoman Nita Lowey, D-N.Y., joined more than 30 bipartisan lawmakers last year in a letter to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, urging him to secure the release of US citizens detained in Egypt and push back on Cairos crackdown on civil society. In December, Lowey issued a statement welcoming Egypts release of 43 nongovernmental organization workers, but noted outstanding human rights concerns. Binder suggested that the broader fight over the government shutdown may have prompted Lowey to simply revert to last years compromise on Egyptian military aid instead of staking out a new position this year. This is in many ways low on their radar, said Binder. I dont think this is an indication that this is where the House is definitely going to be going forward. But its a missed opportunity for sure. Graham and Leahy have also pushed their House colleagues to take a firmer stand on the disputed Western Sahara. To that end, the Jan. 3 bill would have overhauled a 2014 provision that first authorized US economic assistance in the disputed territory. Although that legislation was mostly symbolic, it served as a rebuke to Moroccos control of the territory despite Rabats multimillion-dollar lobbying efforts. But as with Egypt, House appropriators have been more inclined to take Rabats side in the dispute, and todays bill contains the same compromise language as last year. Finally, todays compromise undoes the Jan. 3 bills sanctions and arms sales ban on Turkey, relegating them instead to reporting requirements. The previous bill would have implemented visa bans on Turkish officials involved in the detention of US citizens while banning the transfer of F-35 aircraft to Ankara if it moves ahead with purchasing the S-400 missile defense system from Russia. Todays bill waters down both provisions. The compromise legislation instead delays the delivery of F-35s until the Trump administration submits a report on possible sanctions resulting from Ankaras pending S-400 purchase. It also contains no visa bans and instead requires the Trump administration to report on Ankaras ongoing detention of US citizens and Turks employed by the State Department. Khalil Agha School, Egypts oldest specialized institute of Arabic calligraphy, is struggling to survive as less and less people take an interest in learning calligraphy. Many calligraphy institutes have already closed their doors. "The numbers are declining every year due to the lack of available job opportunities, the rise of technology and the labor market demand for other languages including English, Hassan Mahmoud, the headmaster of the school, told Al-Monitor. The school was inaugurated Jan. 29, 1928, by King Fouad I of Egypt with the aim of training skillful calligraphers. It used to have professors of both Turkish and Egyptian origins and the education was free, creating a wide demand. Today, there are 70 students and they have to shoulder school fees, as well as the cost of pens, ink and sketchbooks. Located in Bab al-Shariya, Old Cairo, the school building is built in the modern Islamic style, and its collection includes 100-year-old paintings as well as many rare books. Classes are scheduled 4-7 p.m. Sundays through Thursdays. The students receive a diploma in Arabic calligraphy after four years of study. The school accepts students who are at least 15 years old and have obtained a preparatory school diploma, Mahmoud said. Since 1928, Egyptian schools have graduated several prominent and skilled Arabic calligraphers. One of the most popular Arabic calligraphers in Egypt is Khudair al-Borsaidi who founded an academy and a syndicate for Egyptian calligraphers. Borsaidi told Al-Monitor that the number of Arabic calligraphy schools declined dramatically over the past decade, standing now at only 70 schools, compared to 272 schools in 2006. The government has suspended financial support for Arabic calligraphy schools by abolishing free tuition and raising the cost of study to 250 Egyptian pounds [$14] per year for the certificate and 300 pounds [$17] for the year of specialization, he said. According to Borsaidi, the students also pay the costs of the study materials, including colored ink and sketchbooks, prompting many to drop out of school, especially if they have limited financial means. He added that the number of students decreased from 12,000 in 2006 to less than 1,000 currently nationwide. Arabic calligraphy is not only an art that reflects Egyptian culture and identity, but it can also be used to promote tourism and generate revenues for the government, he noted. Kamal Mogheith, a researcher at the National Center for Educational Research, said that Arabic calligraphy was considered more important in the 20th century. The subject of Arabic calligraphy is still taught at Egyptian [elementary] schools, but this subject is being given short shrift and its teachers are not qualified enough, Mogheith told Al-Monitor. But he nevertheless believes that calligraphy will survive. Many young people want to obtain the Arabic calligraphy diploma because they seek other jobs in Gulf countries, including the United Arab Emirates [UAE], Kuwait and Bahrain, Mogheith said. He added that the UAE in particular is still protecting Arabic calligraphy although it has reached high levels of technological progress, because they consider it part of the Arabic culture and identity. Ayman el-Beely, an education expert and head of the Independent Teachers Syndicate in Cairo, said that the Khalil Agha School was established after former Turkish President Mustafa Kemal Ataturk abolished Arabic writing and adopted the Latin alphabet. Egypt established the school to improve and preserve Arabic calligraphy after Turkey abolished it. The school raised many of the pioneers of Arabic calligraphy around the world who wanted to modernize and reinterpret this Islamic art in the 20th century, he told Al-Monitor. He noted that Arabic calligraphy evolved with Islamic civilization and played an important role in it, not only as a means of understanding and transfer of ideas, but as an art with its high aesthetic characteristics and values." Beely added, The Arabic calligraphy appeared in ancient manuscripts, building facades and wood fillings in the Abbasid, Fatimid and Mamluk periods, in Andalusian decoration and in the decoration of the Holy Quran. He said that Arabic calligraphy in Islamic decoration is like the image in Christian art as it has been one of the most important decorative elements used by Muslim artists. There is almost no artistic work or mosque or beacon in Islamic countries around the globe without Arabic calligraphy because of its characteristics that link aesthetic values with ideology, he added. For Mohsen Abdel Wahab learning calligraphy may mean finding work abroad. Working at the Khan el-Khalili Bazaar, Wahab, 45, has been engraving Arabic letters on copper for many years. Studying Arabic calligraphy at a school and obtaining a diploma will be an advantage if I want to work abroad, he told Al-Monitor. He is now in his second year. Nawal Ibrahim, who wants to start learning Arabic calligraphy this year, said that she has been interested in Arabic calligraphy since her childhood. I excelled in Arabic calligraphy in primary school; it was my favorite subject. But then when I got out of elementary school and got married when I was 17, I did not have the time to develop this skill, Ibrahim, 53, told Al-Monitor. Now I hope that I will master Arabic calligraphy and make money out of this skill as well as start to teach other people, she said. For Mahmoud, studying calligraphy is an essential part of the countrys heritage. Arabic calligraphy is part of the Egyptian culture and the government has to take serious action to preserve it because if it doesn't, we would lose our culture and our identity, he said. WASHINGTON An international conference in Poland next month that the Donald Trump administration had intended to showcase global unity and resolve to isolate Iran is instead highlighting wariness among US allies. European allies are scrambling for excuses to send lower-level diplomats instead of their foreign ministers to the Feb. 13-14 Warsaw conference and also are looking for ways to dilute the agenda while not outright snubbing the United States, European sources said. Meanwhile, the US envoy to the UN insisted this week that the Ministerial to Promote Peace and Stability in the Middle East was not intended to be a forum to demonize Iran. The ministerial will serve as a global brainstorming session where we can develop the outline of a stronger security architecture in the region, the acting US Ambassador to the UN Jonathan Cohen told the UN Security Council on Tuesday. It is not a forum to re-litigate the merits of the JCPOA, Cohen continued, using the acronym for the formal name of the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action. While weve made our concerns with the JCPOA clear, we respect other states decisions to support it. It is also not a venue to demonize or attack Iran. But if US envoys were at pains to stress that the Warsaw meeting is not intended to be a forum to bash Iran, European diplomats are unconvinced. Among the reasons for their skepticism is that the meeting is being planned on the US side by Brian Hook, Trumps special envoy on Iran and head of the Iran action group. It is really about Iran for the US, one European diplomat, speaking not for attribution, told Al-Monitor. They dont even mention Poland when they discuss it with us. The State Department is expected to brief invited countries on Thursday on the agenda for the ministerial, diplomats told Al-Monitor. British Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt is also expected to discuss it, along with Yemen, Iran, Syria, cyber security and the future of the UK-US relationship, when he travels to Washington on Thursday for meetings with US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Vice President Mike Pence. To date, Britain had not decided yet whether to send its foreign secretary or other representative to the Warsaw meeting. The State Department said that the agenda for the Warsaw meeting was still being finalized, and that the United States has been in ongoing consultations with other countries about their thoughts on it. The agenda is still being finalized but will address a variety of Middle East issues, a US official told Al-Monitor, adding, There will be more information regarding the ministerial in the coming days. The United States hopes that all the invited countries send high-level representation, the official said. Beyond the usual tensions between the Trump administration and Europe over Trumps decision to withdraw from the Iran nuclear deal and reimpose sanctions, the Warsaw meeting is very poorly timed, as far as Europe is concerned, said Ellie Geranmayeh, deputy head of Middle East programs at the European Council on Foreign Relations. They dont want to completely snub the US on the Poland summit, but find the timing very unhelpful, Geranmayeh told Al-Monitor in an interview. Because the priority for the moment on the European side is to consolidate the JCPOA. Basically for the E3 [Britain, France, and Germany] countries in particular, this has come at a really bad and frustrating time for them, Geranmayeh said. Because on the one hand they are trying to demonstrate sincerity to Iran about their commitment to the nuclear deal. And they are aware that Iran is frustrated by how slow the progress has been on that front. At the same time, they have to consider their special relationship with the United States in the broader context of the trans-Atlantic relationship, she said. And they are all keen to signal to Iran that they want to have a much more frank and meaningful diplomatic process on things that they disagree on, like Syria, Yemen and the missile issue. Everyone is scrambling trying to find an excuse not to send their foreign minister, Geranmayeh added, citing excuses European nations have considered offering Washington for sending lower-ranking diplomats instead, such as Brexit and new parliamentary coalitions being created. I also heard some countries are planning to send lower-ranking civil servants, not even political directors. With talk of Washington circulating agendas with different task forces for the conference, that is something quite worrying to the Europeans, Geranmayeh said. They dont want task forces focused on Iranian missiles, Iranian behavior in Syria, etc. So what the Europeans pushed for is, if this is really about stability in the Middle East, lets have clear guidelines, [and sessions on] Yemen, Syria, humanitarian access. And in that sense, not send our foreign ministers or Iran desk, but our reps for Syria, Yemen, Israel-Palestine. The Europeans are trying to limit the damage that could be done by diluting the Iran element and broadening the agenda, Geranmayeh said. In another sign of European preoccupation with trying to preserve the Iran nuclear deal, France said Wednesday that a European mechanism to facilitate non-dollar trade with Iran permitted under the nuclear deal would be ready imminently. The Special Purpose Vehicle should be implemented in the coming days, French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian told the French parliaments foreign affairs committee today, Reuters reported. The second of six suspects charged in connection to the murder of a 16-year-old Aiken County high school student in 2016 pleaded guilty Wednesday. Reihem Faisson McCorkle, 19, of New Ellenton, pleaded guilty Tuesday to two counts of accessory after the fact to armed robbery and the murder of Jordan Shores, according to court records. Second Judicial Circuit Judge Doyet A. Early III sentenced McCorkle to 15 years in prison on both counts. The sentences will run concurrently. McCorkle's guilty plea comes just shy of two weeks after his 18-year-old brother, Rayquan McCorkle, pleaded guilty on Jan. 10 to murder, first-degree burglary, two counts of attempted murder and armed robbery, according to court records. Rayquan was sentenced to 35 years in prison and must serve day-for-day the entirety of his sentence. Statements made by suspects to investigators show Reihem playing a lesser role in Shores' murder than his brother, solicitor's said. The McCorkle brothers are the first two to be sentenced. Ronquavis James Howard, 19, of Aiken; Undraize Antonio Dixon, 20, of Warrenville; Deonte Raequan Schultz, 19, of Beech Island; and Aikel Leetrez Harrison, 21, of Aiken, are all still facing charges of murder, attempted murder, armed robbery, first-degree burglary, possession of a weapon during a violent crime and discharging a firearm into a dwelling, according to jail records. They all remain in custody at the Aiken County detention center. Shores, a student at Midland Valley High School, was killed Nov. 18, 2016, after police say all six suspects broke into a Clearwater area home, fatally shot Shores and pistol-whipped another 16-year-old boy before fleeing the scene with a PlayStation 4. On Nov. 18, 2016, deputies with the Aiken County Sheriff's Office responded to the Fairview Avenue home early in the morning after a uniformed officer in a shopping center at 4435 Jefferson Davis Highway heard gunshots coming from the area of Fairview Avenue. The vehicle, described as a red sedan traveling at a high rate of speed, fled the scene after the officers attempted to stop the car, Captain Eric Abdullah, with the Sheriff's Office, said. A short while later, police responded to the 1000 block of Fairview Avenue after someone called 911 in reference to a shooting incident. When police arrived, they found Shores in the living room unconscious with a large pool of blood beneath him, according to a police report. Another teenage victim, 16, told police he and Shores had been playing video games when three unknown subjects armed with handguns and wearing masks entered the home through an unlocked front door, the report said. The victim told police one suspect fired his gun several times in their general direction, while another approached the second victim and struck him several times in the face with the blunt end of his firearm, police reported. The suspects left the home with a PlayStation 4 and fled the scene while firing additional rounds into the home, police reported. Shores was rushed to Augusta University Medical Center, but he was pronounced dead at 9:15 a.m. on Nov. 19, 2016, according to Aiken County Coroner Tim Carlton. Days after similar medical marijuana bills were introduced in the S.C. House and Senate, S.C. Attorney General Alan Wilson and South Carolina Law Enforcement Division Chief Mark Keel together announced their opposition to the legalization efforts. "This is a real serious issue, and we need to think long and hard before we go jumping head first into it and join the number of states who have already chosen this course of action," Wilson said Wednesday, referencing the Compassionate Care Act. "I have said numerous times never have I seen a piece of legislation that has the potential to change South Carolina in a negative way as this legislation does," Keel said, flanked by members of the Legislature, the S.C. Medical Association and a statewide sheriff's association. "We are all standing and speaking with one voice, that we need to oppose this legislation," Wilson said. More than 30 states have already legalized medical marijuana; if the Compassionate Care Act was approved, the Palmetto State would join that growing list. Keel, though, said that can't happen. "Medicine is not legislated," the chief said, adding, "South Carolina has always been independent." The Compassionate Care Act lengthily detailed in Senate bill 366 and House bill 3660 would legalize, among other things, the regulated and monitored cultivation, transportation, purchase and consumption of medical marijuana. The state health department would essentially oversee the medical marijuana enterprise, which would also have ties to SLED. Trained physicians could prescribe marijuana to people following an in-person exam and diagnosis; licensed patients would be allowed to have up to 2 ounces of marijuana or marijuana product equivalents foods and tinctures, for example every two weeks. Wilson on Wednesday took issue with that amount. "One ounce of marijuana can produce up to 60 joints. Two ounces, if we do our math, is 120 joints every 14 days," the attorney general said. "That's 240 joints a month. That's an average of eight joints a day." The bills strictly prohibit smoking marijuana and punish the potential offense with a $150 maximum fine. State Rep. Peter McCoy, R-Charleston, led the House version of the medical marijuana bill. State Sen. Tom Davis, R-Beaufort, led the Senate version. State Rep. Bill Taylor, an Aiken Republican, is among the Compassionate Care Act's supporters. "It's personal with me, very personal," Taylor said in an interview last week with the Aiken Standard. Both Davis and Taylor have described the medical marijuana legislation as the "most conservative" in the nation. Individually, Taylor has said the bills were written with South Carolina in mind. Would you like to receive breaking news notifications from The Post and Courier? Sign up to receive news and updates from this site directly to your desktop. Breaking News Columbia Breaking News Greenville Breaking News Myrtle Beach Breaking News Aiken Breaking News Click on the bell icon to manage your notifications at any time. Success! Please click the 'Allow' button in the 'Show Notifcations' alert in your browser if one is available. Thank you for signing up! Please enable notifications in your browser and reload the page. In April 2011, photographer Guy Martin was seriously injured in a mortar attack while covering the conflict in Libya. (Two fellow photographers, Tim Hetherington and Chris Hondros, were killed.) It was a year before Martin could walk again and another six months before he wanted to take pictures again. By the end of 2012 he had moved to Istanbul to start a new photographic project but his experience had changed him, notes the British Journal of Photography. His new book, The Parallel State, examines truth and fantasy in Turkey. Renault, the Number One European brand in India, today announced the commencement of a nationwide Republic Day Celebration Camp for its customers. As part of the national celebration, a three-day long Service Campwould be conducted from Jan 22ndto Jan 25th at all Renault service facilities across India. The objective of organizing the Republic Day Celebration Campis to ensure optimal performance of the cars, which is an imperative during the winter season. Trained and well-qualified service technicians are dedicated to provide the care and expert attention that is needed for the cars. The service camp offers Renault owners a car check-up as per the guidelines stipulated by Renault India enabling a detailed examination of all key functions of the car. Such periodical checks ensure necessary actions for enhanced performance of the car and provide customers a rewarding ownership experience with the brand. As an integral part of Renault Indias commitment to constantly deliver excellence in customer comfort and convenience, the Republic Day Celebration Campis a special initiative to best serve the Indian customers and reinforce the brands bondingwith assurance of utmost care of the customers vehicles. Not only does the customer get a complimentary andcomprehensive service car checkup from Renault Indias team of expert technicians, but they will also get a host of additional benefits. The customers can avail a host of exciting offers includingSpecial price on Renault Assured car insurance renewal, 15% discount on Labour & Value Added Services, 10% discount on select parts and accessories,10% discount on Road Side Assistance (RSA)Enrolment and complimentary car top wash.In addition to these comprehensive car check-up facilities, interesting customer engagement activitieswill be organized at the workshops, making it a delightful experience for customers to cherish for long. Driven by its brand ideology, Passion for Innovation, Renault has undertaken many first-of-its-kind after-sales initiatives to offer a seamless brand ownership experience to its customers. These include - Renault SECURE, Renault ASSURED, Renault ASSIST, Workshop on Wheels (WoW), Passion on Wheels (PoW), new MY Renault app and regular customer service camps. Earlier this year, Renault India introduced a Category First Warranty - 4 years or upto 100,000 KM (whichever is earlier) along with Road side assistance on Renault KWID. While expanding the product portfolio will be pivotal as part of Renaults long-term commitment to India, Renault wants to carve a niche for itself by making after-sales and service experience a key differentiator in the Indian automobile landscape.With substantial efforts and developments on product, network and customer engagement, Renault is gearing up towards making its products and services more accessible to customers across the country. Masterchef Sarah Todd hosted a dessert masterclass at World on a Plate hosted at St. Regis & High Street Phoenix in Mumbai. Sarah taught festival goers a special dessert recipe using Good Day Chunkies as a key ingredient. Mr. Ali Harris Shere, VP, Marketing, Britannia said, World on a Plate is the perfect platform to showcase our gourmet brand, Good Day Chunkies. Made with extra love and loaded with chocochips and chocolate flavor, its sure to bring smiles to all who consume. While the premium cookie can be enjoyed on its own, it can also be easily integrated into a dessert recipe like the Pineapple Mint Granita Sarah Todd is preparing in her Masterclass session. Were thrilled to have the opportunity to work with Sarah on a creative recipe as well as with the festival to bring to life all that Chunkies has to offer. Machine Learning (ML) and artificial intelligence (AI) are set to see heavy adoption and implementation in various media in the near future, as per the DAN Digital Report 2019. In the near future, data-driven decision-making and business strategies will be more transformative and will entail building and merging of different types of business models and its implementation. Artificial Intelligence was a hot topic in 2018 and is likely to become more personalised this year. These new technologies have begun to play an important role in how and where consumers interact with brands. With growing personalisation, AI is poised to redefine brand experiences. While globally, AI implementation by brands are far ahead that the Indian market, brands here are beginning to experiment with AI and machine learning in a more significant way. However, there are some ground realities that need to be examined first. Adgully spoke to Amit Gujral, CMO, LG Electronics; Kalpit Jain, Group CEO, Netcore Solutions; and Rajiv Dingra, Founder & CEO, WATConsult, to have a deeper understanding of how brands can make to most of AI, the red flags to watch out for, the cost implications and more. How brands can make the most of AI Amit Gujral explained that Artificial Intelligence is a new art of technology that is being developed for consumer goods with one single consumer benefit in mind Convenience of Usage. For instance, how comfortable it is in terms of switching-on, switching-off, diagnose automatically in terms of some ill functioning of the product , searching variety relevant content basis the nature of product where AI is implemented, suggesting maintenance timelines automatically, etc. Thus, with such lifestyle enhancing and ease generating technology of AI is certainly the new phenomenon and is going to continuously find its usage more and more for user convenience in consumer goods. He further said, We at LG, in our consistent pursuit of technology excellence to provide not just cutting edge technologies but consumer needs centric technology solutions such as AI, IoT have brought in India almost all our products range in Home Appliances and Home Electronics with AI and IoT solutions. Marketing automation provides ease and efficacy in a marketers day-to-day repetitive marketing tasks, especially campaign execution, performance, and management. Kalpit Jain noted, Data is the backbone of any marketing campaign, and it is derived from customers interaction across various channels (Emails, SMS, push notification, browser push notification) and devices. Marketing automation tools, especially multi-channel marketing automation and actionable analytics suite such as Netcores Smartech, help marketers utilise this data for hyper-personalised targeting of customers, in a way to drive better conversions or sales. Automated campaigns help marketers cater to the ideal of The Segment of One, delivering on 1:1 conversations that engage the Right person at the Right time on the Right channel with the Right message. When Artificial Intelligence is added to the martech stack, it uses large-scale behavioural data to identify patterns which then help marketers draw insights into the customers intent, preferences, and profile. These insights prove critical to the growth of businesses, as they help to improve the understanding of user profile. Marketing automation forms the crucial component of any marketing technology. It helps keep human intervention to a minimum, and helps optimise a marketers bandwidth for higher order tasks. According to Rajiv Dingra, AI today is at a stage where it is centred around marketing gimmicks. He further elaborated on this, When I say marketing gimmicks, it is purely talking about using tools like chat bots in an innovative way for a campaign. He, however, saw a huge opportunity in AI once marketers start to centralise their data. What one needs is one data, one view of the customer across multiple touchpoints. That impacts marketing and the ability to create absolutely diverse, effective, targeted and inspirational campaigns is mind boggling, Dingra added. He further said that AI is beginning to move from the stage of marketing gimmicks with marketers starting to scratch the surface. However, this would require investing in large commemorates to centralise data and create a single view of customers, which is a multiple level challenge. Dingra pointed out, Most retail players now ask your mobile number before you buy anything from them offline. So, they are in the building phase and not the leverage phase. In the next 3-5 years, the impact that AI will have on marketing data automation and marketing data insights is going to be far bigger than its use of chat bots and campaigns. Brands understanding in how AI can help them AI in its all positive consumption is making in-roads not only in various business operations, but also in consumer goods functionality, said LGs Gujral. He added, LG being an industry leader in Home Appliances & Home Electronics business, we have adopted AI and IoT in almost all our product verticals and also in our service operations. Being a multinational company with business spread across the world, various best practices are being shared across countries of operation. Netcores Jain also saw a great deal of interest and growth in the Indian martech scene. This is because businesses have come to realise that the proliferation of digital and Internet-driven technologies requires brands to ensure that they be relevant to an increasingly digital, tech-savvy audience. They are adopting marketing automation, analytics, and AI-based marketing in response to the change in the way that the customer is transacting today. Jain added, The customer expects the best-in-class seamlessly digital experience today irrespective of the size or type of the business. This has seen a large number of martech solutions providers pitch in with advanced tech solutions, including AI & ML. We are doing our bit to spread the word about our clients having experience a great boost in their campaign performance with the help of our AI engine named Raman. Most large Indian companies have plans to adopt AI this year. Globally, we are seeing an AI explosion and these are just early days. Speaking of global scenario, this year will see 100 per cent of IoT initiatives being supported by AI; 20 per cent of business content is already being authored by AI. By next year, 85 per cent of customer interactions will be managed by AI. Needless to say, as with any technology, early adopters stand to gain the most. With the presence of a lot of global brands in the country, Indian brands look to their global counterparts for advice in adoption of newer technologies. Moreover, some brands are controlled by their global headquarters, so they are mature because they are being directed from there. Dingra noted that while some of them are organically mature, a lot of brands also follow where the majority is headed when they see others adopting AI. According to Dingra, brands understanding of AI is average level and diverse to different brand managers and depends on their exposure to international campaigns as well as their exposure to agencies that understand AI well and position it well. AI technically comes from a technology background and the people from that technical background who work on AI do not have an advertising mind to showcase its applicability and sell it; on the other hand, the ones who do have the correct advertising mindset do not understand AI that well. So they miss on this creative technologist in this space. But with younger people joining the advertising industry, this will get fused into a role where you will see AI taking over in a bigger way in India. The red flags to look out for while incorporating AI AI, as we all know, is the most revolutionary advent in technology which is getting enhanced to be as close to the human mind in its working and thus, it poses equal opportunities of its usage of construction and if not planned accidental destruction. Thus, its usage has to be ensured to avoid any possible accidental working for non-desired acts, cautioned Gujral of LG. Netcores Jain pointed out that while a lot was being said about AI taking over the world, it was not true. He emphasised, AI will augment a marketers capabilities by helping them analyse data in real time and drive business insights, but all these results depend on the quality of data available. Also, it is important for marketers to know which questions to ask, what their business priorities and goals are. He further said, Simply incorporating AI is not enough. It has to be a strategic decision, to be applied with great diligence and a sense of commitment. To add to this latter point, AI will at some point in future get a lot more powerful and faster than it is even today, which is pretty fast already, but AI implementation does not guarantee immediate results. Some of our client brands have seen great results almost immediately, but a good AI programme has as its key aim the nurturing of detailed customer journeys by imparting a human touch to the entire process of decision-making. Its a long process and the benefits will be incremental in nature. Dingra saw a dissonance between what the creative and the technology personnel were saying, and to adding to the problem was what the marketer understood from all this. According to him, this was due to the lack of creative technology in place. The technology guys tell one thing; the creative guy packages and sells another thing, and thats where it is all lost, he added. While marketers, especially CMOs, are interested in AI, but maybe due to lack of complete understanding of and in some cases even an aversion to new technology, they look at it from a top service level and not deeper as to what impact it can create. But there are some marketers who read up and enhance their knowledge of AI and question their agencies strongly, Dingra pointed out. Cost implications of adopting AI tech While Dingra stated that the cost depended on what kind of AI one bought, Gujral pointed out that any new technology in its initial phases came at a price. However, with growing adoption it eased up on the pockets. Meanwhile, Jain noted, AI is proving to be so critical to businesses that it is fast becoming a general purpose technology. In 2017, we had some 4 billion AI-powered smart devices being used by customers globally. Most operating systems have already integrated the AI component. AI is, therefore, becoming more and more cost-effective as we speak. AI can help to stop 86 per cent of cyber attacks, and can benefit businesses greatly in strengthening their security systems setup. Given these facts, we should be asking about the cost of not implementing AI. DB Corp Limited (DBCL), home to flagship newspapers Dainik Bhaskar, Divya Bhaskar, Divya Marathi and Saurashtra Samachar, has reported a growth of 13 per cent YOY in its advertising revenues to Rs 4,813 million in the third quarter ending December 31, 2018 from Rs 4,261 million in Q3 FY18. Circulation revenue increased 3 per cent YoY to Rs 1,301 million from Rs 1,262 million. Total revenue grew by 11 per cent to Rs 6,616 million in Q3 FY19 from Rs 5,965 million in the corresponding period of the last fiscal. EBIDTA stood at Rs 1,417 million (margin of 21.4 per cent), against EBIDTA of Rs 1,434 million on the back of strategic cost rationalisation measures and despite high newsprint rates. Profit After Tax (PAT) stood at Rs 756 million (PAT margin 11.4 per cent), against Rs 781 million (PAT margin 13 per cent) in Q3 FY18. The groups radio business reported stellar performance, with advertising revenues expanding by 39 per cent YOY to Rs 465 million in Q3 FY19, against Rs 334 million in Q3 of last fiscal. EBIDTA grew 2x YOY to Rs 202 million (EBIDTA margin of 43 per cent) from Rs 96 million (EBIDTA margin of 29 per cent); margin expansion of 1400 bps. PAT grew by ~3x YOY to Rs 112 million from Rs 42 million last year. The digital business, too, gained traction, turning EBITDA positive on the back of renewed focus on business profitability. Revenue for the quarter stood at Rs 141 million as against Rs 154 million for Q3 FY18. Commenting on the performance for Q3 FY2018-19, Sudhir Agarwal, Managing Director, DB Corp Ltd, said, Our performance this quarter is a culmination of dedicated strategic efforts made across all our businesses spanning print, digital and radio. Over the last few quarters, our focus has been on the execution of our circulation strategy across India supported by strong reader engagement and product enrichment initiatives. We have undertaken several initiatives to unlock their potential that will help us monetise our inherent, strong brand strengths through leveraging our loyal digital user base, our hyper local presence across radio and programming strength through content. The impact of these efforts have already started to emerge and will reflect in the coming months. He further said, At an industry level, the governments ad rate hike is a welcome move for all players and will provide a strong impetus for growth. Structurally, India continues to be one of the worlds fastest growing economies. Decline in crude oil prices and rationalisation of GST rates will help trigger a revival momentum in consumption. Across India, content consumption is growing at a brisk pace across mediums and given our legacy and competitive aggression, we are totally committed to expand our capabilities to deliver growth and shareholder value. Budweiser Experiences launched its first ever streetwear collection in India in collaboration with five leading culture shapers in the country, namely Veg NonVeg, Huemn, Nor Black Nor White, Hanif Kureshi, and Boxout.FM; transcending fashion into the diverse realms of art, music and heritage on 19th January, 2019 at One Style Mile, Delhi. The collection is a dive back into Budweisers archives and iconic styles of the past, giving the pieces a modern-day yet antique feel. The collection also celebrates emerging culture and visionaries who fuel it, and announces Budweisers commitment to continue powering this culture forward. The exclusive launch witnessed stellar performances by BOXOUT.FM, an online community radio station and BUDXSTREET collaborator, who perfectly set the vibe for the evening. This pulsating performance was followed by London DJ and party-starter Shama Anwar, who juggled between both old and new school hip-hop music to get the crowd grooving to her eclectic beats. The evening was taken to the next level by DUB FX, Australian musician and worldwide street performerwho surfed seamlessly between reggae, hip-hop, samba, drum n bass and dubstep. As leading hip hop artist and rapper DIVINE took stage, he had the whole audience enthusiastically grooving to his latest tracks with his stellar live performance. Adding to the vibe, the venue One Style Milehad the perfect ambience to celebrate the launch of this exclusive collection owing to the melange of high street and heritage interiors. The event witnessed the entire cultural community of fashionistas, designers, stylists, artists and musicians come together to be a part of this iconic launch. Commenting on the launch, Kartikeya Sharma, Vice President Marketing South Asia, AB InBev, said, We are ecstatic and overwhelmed to see the response to the collection in its preview stage. It was surreal to watch the entire culturalcommunity come together to revel in the launch of our first collection in India. Working with the collaborators to curate something so unique has been an amazing experience, and we look forward to more exciting partnerships in the future. The collection will be exclusively available on www.budfactory.in. REDDING, Calif. - Following a widespread manhunt, the man suspected of stabbing two people, killing one, has been found dead. According to Redding Police, witnesses on the scene say that Francis Peter Lane stabbed 67-year-old Robert and Minerva Whitman after being invited to a dinner at their house. Witnesses told officers Lane arrived at the Whitmans home around 7:40 p.m. and immediately began stabbing Robert. Those witnesses also say that Minerva attempted to intervene and was told by Lane to stop or he would stab her too. Minerva ignored the threat and continued to try and stop the attack on her husband. In response, Lane attempted to stab Minerva in the neck but missed striking her in the face. When officers arrived on the scene, they say they found Robert inside the home. He was suffering from multiple stab wounds including a life-threatening wound to his neck. Minerva was also found to have suffered a stab wound to her face. Both victims were rushed to the hospital. Robert did not survive. Minerva received treatment, but according to Redding Police, has since been released. A manhunt ensued and ended Thursday, Jan. 24 around 3 a.m. Lane's truck was located on Dream Street in Redding, near the Whitmans home. Lane was found inside his truck. Police say it appears that he used the murder weapon to end his own life. REDDING, Calif - It's been nearly two months since South City Park in Redding was closed off with a temporary fence. Now, organizers are hoping to discuss with the public the park's current condition. In December, Action News Now spoke with residents who said the problems of the park weren't fixed but had just moved right outside the fence. While some were critical of the park, community groups like the Colt 45s and Sons of Italy have been using the newly cleaned park to play Bocce Ball and other sports. Organizers say this is a step in the right direction. If you are concerned with the condition of the park or agree it's much safer you can voice your opinion at the community meeting being held Wednesday, Jan. 23 at 5:30 p.m. in the community room at Redding's City Hall. Action News Now found several documents from the Medical Board of California charging Dr. Larry Pyle with improper physical contact with a patient as well as gross negligence. Pyle is currently facing charges for aiding or abetting in the unlicensed practice of medicine. The Shasta County District Attorney's Office says Pyle provided Susan Tancreto with Botox which she then illegally injected into clients. But according to documents, Pyle has a long history of misconduct. His first misconduct charge dates as far back as 1997. In 2014, his license was revoked for sexual misconduct. But he was allowed to continue practicing medicine as long as he agreed to be on probation for three years and took an ethics course. In 2016, his license was revoked again for gross negligence. But the decision was stayed pending he agreed to go on probation again, this time for seven years. Pyle was also licensed to practice medicine in New York state, but was forced to surrender his license in 2016 after the New York Board for Professional Medical Conduct caught wind of his misconduct in California. You can click here to read all four misconduct complaints against Pyle in their entirety. AUBURN, Calif.- Placer County Sheriffs say that they arrested a man who tried to meet up with who he believed was a fifteen year old girl, to pay her for sex. They say Anthony Guizzetti from Sacramento used his social media account to communicate with the girl planning to meet up on January 10th in Auburn. However, when he showed up detectives and deputies arrested him, booking Guizzetti into the Auburn Jail. According to deputies they later discovered that he was in possession of meth, heroin, and a glass pipe in his motel room. Guizzetti will be facing additional charges of drug possession on top of the sex crime charges. PARADISE, Calif. - FEMA has opened a new Disaster Recovery Center in Paradise to help victims impacted by the Camp Fire. The Oroville and Chico locations will continue to remain open. Michelle Duke lost everything in the Camp Fire. She's now staying with friends whose house is still standing in Paradise. She told Action News Now why it's so convenient to have the center in Paradise. "Well it's so convenient," she said. "It's much easier to come up a couple miles from where I'm staying to this center as opposed to going to Chico and it's smaller so there are less people, you get in faster. It's great, it's just great." FEMA spokesperson Jovanna Garcia said this new location helps bring services closer to Camp Fire survivors. "A lot of people are actually coming back from wherever they were displaced, a lot of people have gone the outskirts of Butte County, a lot of people have actually gone out of state to Oregon and Nevada," she said. "So we want to make sure we actually bring these resources locally to Paradise." She expanded on the services provided at this location. "It's a combination between FEMA and the state along with the Small Business Administration," she said. "We also have here the Department of Motor Vehicles which is coming and also the Department of Housing Development." Garcia said the Mitigation Administration is also in place at this center. "And we also have those at the Lowes and Home Depots that will provide general assistance or info on how to repair and rebuild a stronger home for future disasters," she said. Right-of-Entry forms are due Deb. 28 and can be dropped off at this location during operational hours. The deadline to register with FEMA is Jan. 31. The Disaster Recovery Center is located at the Creative Learning Center in Paradise (1080 Ewald Court, Paradise). .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... PHOENIX The prosecutor who won a guilty verdict against Jodi Arias in the 2008 death of her former boyfriend made mistakes at trial that should be outweighed by overwhelming evidence of her guilt, state lawyers said while urging an appeals court to uphold her conviction. The Arizona Attorney Generals Office acknowledged instances in which Maricopa County prosecutor Juan Martinez was argumentative with two witnesses, responded to a claim that he was uncivil during the trial, and argued that publicity didnt cause any prejudice against Arias. While the prosecutor unsurprisingly made some mistakes during Ariass 69-day trial, those errors did not prejudice the jury in light of the courts curative actions and the overwhelming evidence of Ariass guilt, wrote Terry Crist, an assistant attorney general. ADVERTISEMENTSkip ................................................................ The arguments made this summer in Arias appeal include allegations that Martinez improperly questioned witnesses and courted news coverage. Her lawyers also argued that Judge Sherry Stephens let news organizations turn the trial into a circus-like atmosphere. Arias, 38, is serving a life sentence after her first-degree murder conviction in the death of Travis Alexander at his home in Mesa. Prosecutors said Arias attacked Alexander in a jealous rage after he wanted to end their affair and planned a trip to Mexico with another woman. Arias has acknowledged killing Alexander but claimed it was self-defense after he attacked her. The guilt phase of Arias trial ended in 2013 with jurors convicting her but deadlocking on punishment. A second sentencing trial stretched into early 2015, also resulting in a jury deadlock. That required Stephens to sentence Arias to prison for life. The case turned into a media circus as salacious and violent details about Arias and Alexander were broadcast live around the world. Arias actively courted the spotlight after she was arrested in 2008. She did interviews on TVs 48 Hours and Inside Edition and was on the witness stand for several weeks during the trial. She also did a series of media interviews after her conviction. The Maricopa County Attorneys Office, which prosecuted Arias during the trial, didnt immediately respond Thursday afternoon to a request for comment from Martinez. The Attorney Generals Office said Martinez was argumentative toward Arias and a psychotherapist who testified on her behalf, such as when Arias claimed that she had a memory problem. If it benefits you, you have a memory issue? Martinez responded. Crist said many of the people who testified on Arias behalf were difficult and not adequately responding to questions. The Attorney Generals Office also pointed out that when issues of publicity popped up during the trial, jurors repeatedly said they hadnt seen news coverage of the case and could remain fair and impartial. Crist said Arias generated publicity by giving TV interviews before the trial and spoke on camera to a reporter on the day of her guilty verdict, even though her attorneys didnt want her to do so. Arias attorneys complained that Martinez signed autographs and posed for photos outside the courthouse during the trial, but Crist said the judge found no evidence that autographs and photos would affect the verdict, because no jurors saw those exchanges. Mike Black, a Phoenix defense attorney who isnt involved in the Arias case, said he believes Arias conviction will be upheld. Overturning a case on a publicity argument is an extraordinarily high bar, he said. ___ Follow Jacques Billeaud at twitter.com/jacquesbilleaud. .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... SANTA FE A proposal to legalize, tax and regulate the recreational use of marijuana in New Mexico was introduced in the state House on Thursday the first step in whats expected to be intense debate over one of the most closely watched bills of the session. The proposal, House Bill 356, will have to clear two committees before making it to the House floor. Its been referred to the Health and Human Services Committee, and if passed there, it will go to House Judiciary. Rep. Antonio Moe Maestas, an Albuquerque Democrat and one of several co-sponsors, said the legislation isnt yet in its final form. He said he expects changes as lawmakers wrestle with a variety of policy questions concerning the regulation of cannabis. ADVERTISEMENTSkip ................................................................ The goal, Maestas said, is to learn from laws in other states and craft the best statute in the country. The people of New Mexico realize that prohibition doesnt work, he said. The proposal would prohibit cannabis sales to people under 21 and impose a 9 percent excise tax, with revenue going to a variety of health programs, supporters say. The ultimate fate of the bill is uncertain. Some moderate Democrats in the Senate have expressed opposition to the idea of legalizing recreational cannabis use and have helped block similar proposals in the past. Newly elected Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham, a Democrat, has said she would support legalization under certain circumstances, such as safeguards against use by children and workplace intoxication. Emily Kaltenbach, New Mexico director of the Drug Policy Alliance, said its time to replace a blanket prohibition on recreational marijuana use with a responsible, regulated system that reinvests in our children and communities. Her organization, which supports the bill, said the proposal would automatically and retroactively seal certain cannabis-related criminal records, allow cities and counties to opt out of allowing commercial sales of marijuana, establish a licensing system for business, and raise about $40 million a year in new tax revenue. In addition to Maeastas, the bill is co-sponsored by Democratic Reps. Javier Martinez and Deborah Armstrong of Albuquerque; Daymon Ely of Corrales; and Angelica Rubio of Las Cruces. It hasnt yet been scheduled for its first hearing. .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... Copyright 2019 Albuquerque Journal SANTA FE Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham named Karen Trujillo of Las Cruces as New Mexicos next public education chief, turning to a former classroom teacher and longtime researcher to lead one of the states most prominent agencies. The governors selection, announced Thursday, represents a departure from the education policies of Lujan Grishams predecessor, former Gov. Susana Martinez. Lujan Grisham, a Democrat, has already ordered an end to the states current standardized test system and directed Public Education Department officials to come up with a new test. ADVERTISEMENTSkip ................................................................ Trujillo told reporters at a Capitol news conference the state would no longer be in a time of punitive measures. The idea of accountability is no longer going to be to punish schools, teachers and students, she said. She said she will announce in March her proposed changes to the states plan under the federal Every Student Succeeds Act. The director of the Alliance for the Advancement of Teaching and Learning at New Mexico State University, Trujillo said expanding community schools and educating and recruiting teachers who reflect the states diverse student body will be among her top priorities. These are all our children, and until we embrace that fact, we wont be able to do anything, she said. As PED secretary-designate, Trujillo will have to give up the Dona Ana County Commission seat she won in November. She will also be in charge of leading the Public Education Departments response to a landmark July 2018 court ruling that found New Mexico was not meeting its constitutional requirements to provide an adequate education to all students. Lujan Grisham, who was sworn in to office on Jan. 1, has said her administration will not appeal the ruling. She has also proposed spending an additional $500 million on public schools in the coming budget year. Her plan includes increasing teacher pay, extending the states school year by three days annually and adjusting the states funding formula so that more money flows to schools with high rates of Native American students, English-language learners and students with disabilities. We are motivated to get this right, irrespective of a court decision, Lujan Grisham said. Despite recent improvement in the states high school graduation rate, New Mexico has long ranked at the bottom of many national education rankings. But Lujan Grisham on Thursday set the lofty goal of elevating the state to the top of national lists, saying the state would empower teachers and give schools more flexibility to meet their students needs. She also said her own two grandchildren, 3 years old and 4 months old, will enter public schools in the coming years. Teachers union leaders, who staunchly opposed many of Martinezs education initiatives, praised Lujan Grishams choice to lead the Public Education Department. My feeling is the PED has been retaken by educators, Charles Bowyer, executive director of the National Education Association-New Mexico union, told the Journal. It is a new day, and I think its going to be great. Hope Morales, a former teacher from Roswell who is the state director of Teach Plus NM, a group that offers teacher-support programs aimed at boosting minority student achievement, said she was excited to see a Hispanic woman appointed to the states top education job. It is an example of leadership that students in our state need to see and can achieve, Morales said. Trujillo, whose appointment is subject to Senate confirmation, is expected to start work at her new job immediately. She will make $128,000 a year. Lujan Grisham also announced four other PED deputy secretaries, all of whom have classroom experience and will make $125,000 annual salaries. They are: Native American Community Academy principal and Executive Director Kara Bobroff of Albuquerque. Former Albuquerque Public Schools Chief Academic Officer Katarina Kata Sandoval of Albuquerque. She has also been working at the Native American Community Academy. Former Legislative Education Study Committee Deputy Director Tim Hand of Las Cruces. Los Alamos National Laboratory Foundation K-12 Program Director Gwen Perea Warniment of Santa Fe. In addition, Pedro Noguera, a graduate school professor of education at UCLA, will serve as a special adviser to the new PED secretary. He will work on contract with the department, a Lujan Grisham spokeswoman said. .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. Compact robotic arms could soon automate mundane aerospace manufacturing tasks like sanding or painting through a new Albuquerque-based startup, Kane Robotics. Kane Aerospace, a California firm that provides automated engineering services to aerospace manufacturing companies, is partnering with Build with Robots in Albuquerque to adapt collaborative robots, or cobots, for mundane, repetitive tasks that are generally still done by workers. Unlike the bulky, multi-million dollar machines that today operate 24/7 to automate key factory operations, cobots are compact and adjustable mechanical arms programmed to do simple things alongside workers, such as sanding, drilling or cutting. Most of those simpler tasks are not yet automated in aerospace engineering facilities, offering a market niche for Kane Robotics, said Kane Aerospace CEO John Spruce. Cobots can provide the next evolution for automation on the factory floor, Spruce said. There are many smaller things that companies want to automate, but they dont want to spend millions on robotic systems. Cobots brings the cost way down. Build with Robots is a regional reseller of cobots, made by the Danish firm Universal Robots. The Albuquerque company, housed at Central New Mexico Community Colleges FUSE Makerspace Downtown, helps local innovators and startups use cobot automation to prototype things or to integrate the robotic arms into their operations. Its now working with Kane Robotics to adapt cobots for aerospace-related automation, said Build with Robots managing partner Chris Ziomek. Robotic technology offers significant value, but the aerospace industry is still under-automated, Ziomek said. Well develop technology to plug right into the needs of customers. ADVERTISEMENTSkip ................................................................ Spruce expects to hire about 20 engineers and technicians over the next two years who will work with Build with Robots to program cobots for specific aerospace tasks. Kane Robotics will be headquartered in Albuquerque with sales offices in aerospace hubs around the nation, Spruce said. The partners will develop standardized programs and customized robotic tasks for cobots to perform. It will include software for companies to easily upload computer-aided design to rapidly realign cobots for various tasks. You can program it to do one factory operation on Monday and Tuesday and then reprogram it for something different on Wednesday, Spruce said. Cobots can manage all kinds of repetitive, dirty or even dangerous tasks. Kane Robotics will sell cobot systems or lease them for specific operations. Well have our own fleet of cobots, Spruce said. Well lease, maintain them and update their capabilities for customers. .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... NASCHITTI, N.M. Navajo Nation authorities say one person is dead following a shooting involving police officers but that no officers were injured. The tribal police department said Thursday that the incident occurred in Naschitti, a community located along U.S. 491 between Gallup and Shiprock in northwestern New Mexico. A statement issued by the police department says details on the incident arent immediately available for release but says the incident was localized and there was no immediate threat to the public. According to the department, the incident is being investigated by the Navajo Division of Public Safety and the FBI. FBI spokesman Frank Fisher referred a reporter to the statement already issued by tribal police. Naschitti is 132 miles (180 kilometers) northwest of Albuquerque. ADVERTISEMENTSkip ................................................................ .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... SANTA ANA PUEBLO Gathering in New Mexico, the Republican National Committees governing body will take the unusual step today of voting to declare the partys undivided support for President Donald Trump and his effective presidency. Amid concerns about the political fallout from the government shutdown and what might be ahead in special counsel Robert Muellers investigation, the RNC move appears to an attempt to block another Republican from mounting a primary challenge that, even if unsuccessful, could damage Trump going into the general election. And it cements a merger between the RNC and Trump. President Trump has incredible support amongst Republican voters and the full support of the RNC, said RNC Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel. Our unprecedented relationship with the President and his campaign will be key to his re-election and ensuring we continue this great American comeback. The resolution set to pass this week stems from internal controversy after the GOPs last failed presidential nominee, McDaniels uncle Mitt Romney, lashed out at Trumps character and global leadership in an op-ed earlier this month. The scathing message was widely interpreted as a sign of encouragement for Republicans, including former Ohio Gov. John Kasich and former Arizona Sen. Jeff Flake, to take on Trump. ADVERTISEMENTSkip ................................................................ Ardent pro-Trump members of the committee wanted to respond by explicitly endorsing the president, essentially circumventing the nominating process, in a rebuke of those considering challenging him. The more strident effort failed in an RNC sub-committee meeting, but the sentiment stood. A new poll by The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research shows that Republicans are largely standing by the president, even as his overall approval rating has eroded amid the ongoing government shutdown. About 8 in 10 Republicans approve of the job Trump is doing, which is similar to his level of support among Republicans in AP-NORC polls throughout his presidency. Overall, Trumps approval rating stands at 34 percent, its lowest point in more than a year. Incumbents in either party bring universal name recognition and massive institutional support to their re-election campaigns, and an insurgent effort to deny Trump the nomination would almost certainly fail. But there is still ample room for a potential spoiler to enter the race, and Trump advisers are mindful that the one-term presidents in the modern era were weakened by primary challengers. Trump critics contend that the unusual move to back Trump is tantamount to rigging the 2020 primary season in Trumps favor. While no primary rival has yet emerged, Trump detractors have called for a more traditional Republican to mount a campaign to deny Trump the nomination or at least to weaken his standing. This is an assault on the voice of the people, said former New Hampshire GOP Chairwoman Jennifer Horn. If the president were strong, he wouldnt need them to do this. As the RNC gathered in New Mexico, anti-Trump conservative group Defending Democracy Together announced it was running an ad on Fox News urging the RNC against rigging the 2020 primary in Trumps favor. Trumps 2016 effort was entirely reliant on the RNC in the general election for data, field and rapid response, leaning on the national partys army of staffers in swing states and yearslong technology investments to win. Trumps campaign staff of just over 100 was dwarfed by the RNCs efforts. But still, party leaders were never fully on board with Trump and debated cutting off support for his effort on several occasions, including after the infamous Access Hollywood tape in which he bragged about being able to grope women. Heading into 2020, Trump and the Republican Party are increasingly indistinguishable. In the main hallway of the partys Capitol Hill headquarters, glossy photos of Trump have replaced photos of other GOP presidents. Political director Chris Carr holds the title for both the campaign and the RNC, and the partys regional communications team is being rebranded as strategic communications as it prepares to run the Trump campaigns state-based communications efforts. Carr briefed RNC members on the new division of labor among the committee, the Trump campaign and state parties, according to six RNC members who described the private presentation. They said was a merger between the entities, contending it will eliminate duplication and redundancy in their efforts. But the structure also ensures that the resources of the national party will go to protect the president should any challenger emerge from within the GOP. The RNC has also maintained its joint fundraising agreement with the Trump campaign from 2016 and plans to broaden it to benefit critical swing-state state parties in the coming months. And in a wake-up call to state parties, Carr warned that they would have to meet specific metrics to receive disbursements from the RNC. One campaign official compared the role of the RNC to that of a primary subcontractor coordinating messaging and field on behalf of Trumps operation. .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... AZTEC Two San Juan County high schools will be the first in New Mexico to deploy a new system designed to rapidly report incidents that require immediate 911 assistance using a smartphone app. New Mexico Attorney General Hector Balderas joined local government and education officials, and first responders this morning to announce the Rave Panic Button system will be installed at the Aztec and Bloomfield high school campuses. The announcement was made at the Aztec Municipal School District central office. The Rave Panic Button app can be used to report incidents that require immediate 911 assistance and request the aid of fellow staff members. ADVERTISEMENTSkip ................................................................ When an emergency situation arises, the user can identify the button in the app that represents the nature of their emergency, including options for fire, medical, police and active shooter. The person who activates the active shooter button immediately will be connected to 911, and an emergency alert will be sent to all users at the same time. If a person activates the medical button, key administrators and staff members with medical training will be notified. The threats are evolving, and we should have the best communication tools, the best training and the best technology implemented, Balderas said. The San Juan County Communications Authority is implementing and paying for the system, and it is being offered to schools for free, according to director David Ripley. Balderas introduced three Aztec High School students he said he has gotten to know since the Dec. 7, 2017, shooting in which 17-year-old students Casey Marquez and Francisco Paco Fernandez were killed. Adam Jones, Sara Gifford and Maggie Dimas each spoke about their effort to have the voices of students and parents involved in discussions of school safety. They they supported the new app. We thought it was very important to do what we can and make sure people are hearing our voices, Jones said. Aztec schools Superintendent Kirk Carpenter thanked Balderas and his office for keeping his promise to keep students safe. The legacy of Casey and Paco is in our hands, Carpenter said. Its up to all of us to make change. San Juan County Sheriff Shane Ferrari and Aztec Police Chief Mike Heal stated they were excited to have the app, adding it would save time by allowing them to immediately respond to incidents. Training will take place with staff members before the app is deployed, Carpenter said. The county communications authority hopes to get the Farmington Municipal School District on board with the system and expand to more schools, according to Ripley. Joshua Kellogg covers crime, courts and social issues for The Daily Times. He can be reached at 505-564-4627 or via email at jkellogg@daily-times.com. 2019 The Daily Times (Farmington, N.M.) Visit The Daily Times (Farmington, N.M.) at www.daily-times.com Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC. .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... FARMINGTON Leaders of the Navajo Nation are pleased with the appointment of Lynn Trujillo as secretary for the New Mexico Indian Affairs Department. Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham named Trujillo to lead the department on Tuesday. Trujillo, a member of Sandia Pueblo, served as the Native American coordinator for the U.S. Department of Agricultures rural development program in Albuquerque. She received her law degree from the University of New Mexico and served as general counsel for the pueblo, according to information released by the governors office. ADVERTISEMENTSkip ................................................................ As secretary, she will oversee a department designed to strengthen tribal and state relations and address challenges such as economic development, infrastructure improvement and health care accessibility. Navajo Nation President Jonathan Nez and Vice President Myron Lizer congratulated Trujillo and said they anticipate working with her to advance the tribes priorities. We look to the leadership of Secretary Trujillo to help our nation secure funding for capital outlay projects, TIF (Tribal Infrastructure Fund) dollars and to facilitate any gaming issues that need to be addressed in coordination with other gaming tribes, Lizer said in a press release. Pro Tem Speaker Seth Damon said the Navajo Nation Council looks forward to building a positive working relationship with the department. We are seeking her support to move forward our education and capital outlay initiatives and to cut the red tape to better serve our New Mexico Navajo people, Damon said in a release. Lujan Grisham also appointed Stephanie Schardin Clarke as secretary for the Taxation and Revenue Department on Tuesday. The governor said in a statement that both women bring experience and vision to the administration. Both appointments are subject to confirmation by the state Senate. Noel Lyn Smith covers the Navajo Nation for The Daily Times. She can be reached at 505-564-4636 or by email at nsmith@daily-times.com. 2019 The Daily Times (Farmington, N.M.) Visit The Daily Times (Farmington, N.M.) at www.daily-times.com Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC. .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... Owners of the Tularosa Basin Gallery of Photography in Carrizozo, often called PhotoZozo, announced that for the fourth consecutive year, the gallery will be the exclusive exhibitor of the New Mexico Magazine Photo Contest Winners. A Grand Opening of the exhibition will be staged from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., Saturday, Jan. 26, and from noon to 5 p.m,, Jan. 27. The Gallery will be serving refreshment. This is really a feather in Carrizozos and Lincoln Countys hat and has really contributed in making Carrizozo a go-to destination for art and photography lovers around the state, gallery owner Warren Malkerson said. This years contest, the magazines 18th annual contest, had over 2,200 entries from over 370 different photographers. The six chosen judges awarded prizes to just 26 selected images. All those images can be seen in the magazine or better yet, in person at the PhotoZozo Gallery right here in Carrizozo. ADVERTISEMENTSkip ................................................................ New Mexico Magazine chose the gallery as its exclusive partner, because it is the largest photography gallery in the entire state of New Mexico and because it has the space to really exhibit each and every one of the winning photos, Malkerson said. The gallery will display the winners for the entire year, but Malkerson urged people to stop by as soon as possible to enjoy the spectacular images. The gallery is open six days a week and at 401 12th St., Carrizozo. Hours are 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Wednesday through Saturday and Monday, and noon to 5 p.m., Sunday. The gallery also showcases the work of more than 35 other photographers from around the state and all the images have been taken in The Land of Enchantment. This makes the Gallery, a New Mexico True business, Malkerson pointed out. The Gallery has over 500 images on its walls and panels and all are for sale. The images can be purchased as framed photos, matted photos and some as cards as low as $5 each. The Gallery is also known for having the largest assortment of photos featuring the beautiful White Sands National Monument. More than 2000 people visited the gallery last year, and Trip Advisor has it rated as a 5-plus, Malkerson said. 2019 the Ruidoso News (Ruidoso, N.M.) Visit the Ruidoso News (Ruidoso, N.M.) at www.ruidosonews.com Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC. .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... SUNLAND PARK, N.M. Authorities from the United States and Mexico are investigating after a 17-year-old from Guatemala and his father say they were held against their will in a house in Mexico as part of a human trafficking operation. The teenager, after being apprehended by U.S. Border Patrol agents near Mount Cristo Rey in Sunland Park, told agents he was able to escape the house and run north across the international border, the Las Cruces Sun-News reported on Tuesday. The teens father later was apprehended by agents near where his son had been encountered, according to a release from the Border Patrol. After the man provided the agents with his sons name, the agents realized that he was the father of the teen. The father and son were reunited at the Santa Teresa Border Patrol Station. ADVERTISEMENTSkip ................................................................ An investigation uncovered the location of the stash house where the two males say they were held and extorted for money in Colonia Rancho Anapra south of Sunland Park, according to the Border Patrol. Chihuahua State Police last week searched the property and found a person locked in the house and unable to leave, the release said. The stash house had several mattresses strewn about indicating many people had been staying there, the Border Patrol said. ___ Information from: Las Cruces Sun-News, http://www.lcsun-news.com .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. Ken Starr, the former independent counsel who investigated President Bill Clinton, said the American constitution is a magnificent document that provides checks and balances to hold the president and government accountable to its citizens. The comments came in an interview with the Journal on Wednesday prior to delivering a lecture at the University of New Mexico School of Law to students, the public and Albuquerques legal community titled Investigating the President, Now and Then: Living in a Constitutional Quagmire. Its great to have a constitutional theme that our constitutional system is such a magnificent system, said Starr, who was appointed to serve as independent counsel for five investigations, including Whitewater, from 1994 to 1999. It has all matter of checks and balances and the more I reflect on those the more I admire the genius of the founding fathers. Starr said there are parallels between the investigation of former President Clinton in the 1990s and the current Robert Mueller special counsel investigation of the Russian governments efforts to interfere in the 2016 presidential election. ADVERTISEMENTSkip ................................................................ You have someone from the outside appointed to conduct an investigation, he said. Bob Mueller has the advantage of reporting to the attorney general. I did not report to the attorney general I was an independent counsel, which is what the statute called for. Starrs investigation led to Clintons impeachment by the House. Clinton was acquitted by the Senate. Starr said he believed it was better for the system that the Mueller probe is accountable to Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, whose office manages the Russia investigation and who is planning to leave the Justice Department shortly. Before a major initiative is undertaken, Bob Mueller cant just start something, he said. He must check with the attorney general. Theres much more accountability. There are also huge contrasts between the two investigations, he said. President Trump has I dont think hes done this in the last few days challenged the investigation, condemning it as a witch hunt,' he said. President Clinton was much more restrained in his criticism of the investigation, but criticism of the investigation was unrelenting, which came from surrogates. Another contrast the Mueller probe is all about politics, foreign policy and potential issues of national security. He said, the reason that Bob Mueller was asked to investigate was because of the potential that there was collusion between the Trump campaign and Russian interests. I was asked to look into traditional federal crimes in Arkansas. Asked whether the Mueller probe is a witch hunt as alleged by Trump, Starr gave a definitive no. Im glad to see Attorney General-nominee Bill Barr say its not a witch hunt,' he said, referring to Barrs comments earlier this week during a Senate confirmation hearing. Starr served as president and chancellor of Baylor University and dean of the Pepperdine School of Law. He currently serves as Of Counsel to The Lanier Law Firm in Houston. The UNM lecture was postponed in October. University administrators at the time said timing was the reason for the postponement. .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... Copyright 2019 Albuquerque Journal SANTA FE New Mexico lawmakers have started wading once again into the murky waters of the states tax code, with majority Democrats saying the time is right for sweeping changes. A bill debated Wednesday in a House committee would increase the states gas tax rate by 10 cents a gallon, create new personal income tax brackets for individuals making more than $23,500 annually and eliminate about 30 existing tax breaks. Those changes, along with others included in the bill, would allow for a decrease in the states base gross receipts tax rate and would increase state and local revenue levels by an estimated $333 million by the 2022 budget year. ADVERTISEMENTSkip ................................................................ We need tax reform, and we need stable revenue; we know that much, said Rep. Javier Martinez, D-Albuquerque, after a meeting of the House Taxation and Revenue Committee. But passing drastic changes to the tax code wont be easy. Lobbyists for more than a dozen groups, including airline companies and health insurance providers, showed up Wednesday to voice concerns about the legislations impact. Two top Albuquerque officials also expressed fears about how the changes might affect the citys budget. House Republicans have staunchly opposed the Democratic-backed proposal, saying it would raise taxes on small businesses and many state residents. Its not going to come from the rich its going to come from New Mexico families, Rep. Jason Harper, R-Rio Rancho, told the Journal. Harper unsuccessfully pushed tax overhaul proposals in previous legislative sessions, but his bills were engineered to be revenue-neutral to the state. House Bill 6, the legislation sponsored by Rep. Jim Trujillo, D-Santa Fe, the House tax committees chairman, incorporates some of Harpers ideas. But Trujillo said its also intended to generate more revenue for the state so that teacher salary raises also on the Legislaturess to-do list for this years session can be paid for into the future. If we have a slowdown in the economy, how are we going to cover those commitments we made? Trujillo asked. Gross receipts tax Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle have described the states tax code as resembling Swiss cheese. Thats largely because a proliferation of tax exemptions and deductions have led overall gross receipts tax rates to surpass 8 percent in some cities, including Las Cruces, Santa Fe and Farmington. The states base rate is 5.125 percent. Jon Clark, an economist with the Legislative Finance Committee, said many New Mexico business owners have complained about the rising gross receipts tax rates. He also said the number of existing tax breaks have made the state even more reliant on money from oil and natural gas taxes and royalties, a historically volatile revenue source. We have a tax base that is significantly dependent on one industry, Clark said during Wednesdays meeting of the House tax committee. However, to avoid a drop in incoming revenue, lowering the states base tax rate would require other tax changes, some of which could be politically perilous. One such idea is reinstating the gross receipts tax on grocery items. Lawmakers repealed the food tax in 2004, and the state currently pays a subsidy to city and county governments thats intended to offset the lost revenue. Although the bill debated Wednesday does not include a food tax reinstatement, a similar bill expected to be filed by Sen. Carlos Cisneros, a Questa Democrat, would reinstate the tax. But Trujillo said such a proposal would not have enough support to pass the 70-member House, where Democrats hold a 46-24 majority. Governor open to idea The idea of retooling New Mexicos tax code is supported by the states new governor, with a few conditions. Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham, a Democrat who was sworn into office this month, has indicated she would consider supporting tax overhaul legislation but would closely scrutinize the impact of any such bill on New Mexico families and local governments. Lujan Grishams two predecessors both signed into law bills reducing New Mexico tax rates. Former Gov. Bill Richardson, a Democrat, pushed for a 2003 measure that reduced the states top personal income tax rate, and ex-Gov. Susana Martinez, a Republican, signed off on a 2013 tax package that cut the states corporate income tax rate, among other things. The 2013 tax package also authorized city and county governments to raise their local gross receipts tax rates in exchange for a gradual phaseout of the state subsidy. Those subsidies would be eliminated seven years early in July 2021 under the proposed House tax bill. Although other revenue-generating provisions could make up the difference, New Mexico Municipal League Executive Director Bill Fulginiti said the bills ultimate impact for most cities is unclear. The House Taxation and Revenue Committee is expected to continue debate of the tax overhaul legislation on Friday. A vote on the bill has not been scheduled. .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... Copyright 2019 Albuquerque Journal SANTA FE District Attorney Marco Serna has dropped charges against a Madrid gallery owner accused of repeatedly raping his daughter who died in 2017, saying the case faced insurmountable problems. The defense lawyer for Geoffrey Stewart has argued that the death of his clients daughter, Alicia Stewart, meant he couldnt be afforded his constitutional right to confront his accuser. Serna yielded to that argument in a court filing Wednesday. ADVERTISEMENTSkip ................................................................ Despite the efforts and willingness of many to advocate and testify on behalf of the victim, the State cannot overcome hearsay and Sixth Amendment issues, wrote the dismissal filing by Serna and Martin Maxwell, his senior trial prosecutor. The Sixth Amendment grants defendants in criminal proceedings several rights, including the right to confront witnesses making accusations against them. Alicia Stewart was a burgeoning artist who suffered a fatal epileptic seizure at age 18 during her first year of college. The State does not doubt the credibility of the victims claims, yet prosecutorial ethics require that the State dismiss the case without prejudice when faced with insurmountable evidentiary and constitutional issues, said the district attorneys nolle prosequi document. Dropping the case without prejudice means charges could be refiled. Serna had no additional comment Wednesday. The rapes allegedly took place when Alicia was between 3 and 7 years old. Her father was charged by State Police about a year after she first went to a counselor at the New Mexico School for the Arts in Santa Fe with the accusations in February 2015. Geoffrey Stewart had no comment when contacted by phone Wednesday. His defense attorney, Ray Twohig of Albuquerque, said Stewart has been through an ordeal from which it will take a while to recover and that he has suffered from the loss of his daughter and from the prosecution. A Justice for Alicia Stewart! change.org petition has more than 2,100 signers. A related Facebook page has posted updates and questioned the district attorneys handling of the case. There was a small rally on Alicias behalf outside the courthouse before one of her fathers court hearings last year. Asked what he might say to Alicias supporters, Twohig said, I think all I can say is they obviously didnt have a very good understanding of what had occurred and noted that the charges were for alleged actions from many years ago. I dont know how many people remember what happened to them when they were 5 or 6 or 7 years old, but not too many do, Twohig said. Geoffrey Stewart, about 62 years old, doesnt blame his daughter, Twohig added. In February 2015, Stewart was indicted on five counts of criminal sexual penetration, one count of sexual criminal contact and one count of bribery of a witness. State Police undertook additional investigation after Alicias friends scoured her room in Santa Fe for keepsakes after her death and found an unsigned handwritten confession from someone about assaulting Alicia. State Police subsequently executed a search warrant on Geoffrey Stewarts home and seized some of his own journals, in which he wrote that he was innocent. Among the people who have said that Alicia told them about being assaulted by her father was the mother of one of her friends and Alicias own mother, who filed for divorce on the day Geoffrey Stewart was indicted. However, the divorce petition was subsequently dismissed upon stipulation by both parties. Among evidence Twohig had sought to exclude from the case were everything Alicia may have told investigators, her grand jury testimony, hersafe house interviews and all statements by her to others including recordings, writings and text messages attributed to the deceased alleged victim on the grounds that each of them is hearsay. In August, state District Judge Mary Marlowe Sommer recused herself from the case, citing a poor relationship with prosecutors. The judge had scheduled a contempt of court hearing after a prosecutor showed up late for a previous hearing and blamed it on a case before another judge that didnt start on time. The prosecutor left the DAs office after the incident. Alicia had been an accomplished painter since childhood. Her work often depicted haunting or dramatic images of young women. An initial exhibition of her paintings in Madrid when she was 12 or 13 sold out. .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... A group of 90 clergy and members of religious organizations signed off on a letter supporting womens right to access abortion. That letter was sponsored by the Washington, D.C.-based Catholics for Choice and the New Mexico Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice. It appeared as a full-page advertisement in the Journal on Tuesday the anniversary of the U.S. Supreme Courts 1973 landmark decision in Roe v. Wade. Not surprisingly, the Archdiocese of Santa Fe and the New Mexico Conference of Catholic Bishops said Wednesday that the message contained in the open letter is at odds with church teachings. The pro-choice letter began: We, clergy and religious leaders from across New Mexico, in accordance with our moral convictions and our personal faith, support a womens ability to access a full range of reproductive health services, including abortion. ADVERTISEMENTSkip ................................................................ The letter goes on to say that the decision to have an abortion is deeply personal and should be left to a woman, her family and her doctor, in consultation with her faith, and should not be restricted by elected officials. During the current legislative session, New Mexico lawmakers are expected to vote on a bill to repeal a 1969 state law that makes it a felony for an abortion provider to terminate a pregnancy, with exceptions for rape, birth defects and serious threats to a womans health. The law has been unenforceable since the 1973 U.S. Supreme Court ruling in Roe v. Wade, which affirmed a womans legal right to access a safe and legal abortion, and disallowed many state and federal restrictions on abortions. With the confirmation of conservative justices to that court, many pro-choice people and organizations fear that Roe v. Wade could be overturned, leaving individual states to decide the legality of abortion. Consequently, women in New Mexico would be unable to access an abortion if the state law remains on the books. Any law that criminalizes doctors or patients needs to go and does not reflect the values of the people of New Mexico, said Joan Lamunyon Sanford, executive director of the New Mexico Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice. People of faith have been supporting access to abortion and reproductive health care even before Roe v. Wade, and the conservative evangelical right does not own the moral argument on this issue. Specifically, the issue is about justice, about people getting the healthcare they need and about respecting other peoples decision, however someone might personally feel about abortion, she said. In response to the open letter, Archbishop John C. Wester released a statement saying the three dioceses in New Mexico adamantly uphold the Churchs historical belief in the sanctity of human life from conception to natural death. He also said that the signatories to the pro-choice letter are not in communion with, nor sponsored by, the Archdiocese of Santa Fe or the Roman Catholic Church in New Mexico. He then provided a list of 19 churches and organizations that were not recognized by the Roman Catholic Church, and warned that attending services or receiving sacraments at those churches was not valid in the eyes of the Roman Catholic Church. Allen Sanchez, executive director of the New Mexico Conference of Catholic Bishops said it is the position of the states bishops to leave the state law banning abortion on the books. According to retired Episcopal priest Thomas Lowe, formerly of the Alamogordo parish, and a signatory to the letter, We sadly now exist in an environment where some of the work that has succeeded in allowing women to be more equally involved in things that take place within our society, and to be fully empowered and make decisions that affect their own lives, are being challenged with efforts to reverse those advances. Another letter signatory, Rabbi Harry Rosenfeld of Albuquerques Congregation Albert, said the government has no place telling women how to treat their own bodies. Every faith tradition has differing feelings and thoughts about terminating pregnancies, but government should not be favoring one view over another. In the Jewish tradition, Rosenfeld said, abortion should not be used for birth control, and the life of the mother takes precedence over the life of the fetus. .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... SANTA FE The state House passed a bill 68-0 late Wednesday aimed at allowing teachers to take up to 10 days of sick leave a year without damaging their annual performance evaluations. The proposal was part of the rocket docket of expedited bills that had won overwhelming bipartisan support in previous sessions only to be vetoed by then-Gov. Susana Martinez, a Republican whose term ended Dec. 31. Lawmakers are fast-tracking the bills this year to get them to the new governor, Democrat Michelle Lujan Grisham. House Bill 227, sponsored by Rep. Jason Harper, R-Rio Rancho, is now on its way to the Senate. If approved there, it would go to Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham. The proposal was at the center of an intense struggle between Martinez and the Legislature two years ago. The Senate voted to override her veto, but the override effort failed in the House, as Republicans stuck with Martinez. Harper on Wednesday called it the Teachers Are Human, Too bill because teachers wouldnt have to worry that taking sick leave theyre entitled to would harm them professionally. ADVERTISEMENTSkip ................................................................ .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... Its a time of uncertainty for the Albuquerque Police Departments reform efforts. The federal judge presiding over the process has stepped down from the case and Department of Justice lawyers litigating it are not working because of the government shutdown. U.S. District Judge Robert Brack left the case after having a significant health event late last year. Brack had presided over the case since the Department of Justice filed a complaint against the city of Albuquerque in November 2014. ADVERTISEMENTSkip ................................................................ I enjoyed the time I spent working on the case and would have liked to see it through, so I was disappointed that I wasnt able to, Brack said in an interview. Hopefully, the process will result in a really positive outcome for the city of Albuquerque and the citizens of Albuquerque. Meanwhile, what was almost daily contact between the city of Albuquerque and DOJ attorneys has been greatly diminished because of the government shutdown, said City Attorney Esteban Aguilar Jr. DOJ attorneys both locally and in Washington, D.C., have been furloughed because of the shutdown, said Sean Sullivan, a spokesman for the U.S. Attorneys Office in Albuquerque. Aguilar said the city is still in regular communication with an independent monitoring team that scrutinizes the departments progress with reforms. Just because we dont have a federal judge and just because we have a government shutdown, the (police) department has continued to move forward as if nothing has changed. They are still going through the policy development process and were still interacting with the monitoring team, Aguilar said. We want to continue with a business-as-usual approach. Its not clear when there will be another public hearing on police reforms. One that had been scheduled for December in front of Brack was canceled. Pattern of force The police reform case is the result of a DOJ investigation into Albuquerque police, which found a pattern of excessive force and a culture of aggression. The DOJ found many cases in which officers violated the constitutional rights of people they shot. The reforms, which are outlined in a settlement agreement, require the police department to revamp how they train, supervise and organize officers. Albuquerque is one of about two dozen law enforcement agencies throughout the country that is operating under a settlement agreement or consent decree. During the reform effort, Albuquerque city officials meet regularly to discuss policies and other matters with DOJ officials and members of the independent monitoring group. Disputes between the city, the DOJ and the police union sometimes needed to be resolved by Brack, Aguilar said. Were sort of in this weird holding pattern, but were going to continue plugging forward because there is no reason not to, Aguilar said. If this goes on another month, there may be disputes that not having a judge just delays the resolution. As part of the settlement, the police departments practices are scrutinized by an independent monitoring team, which is headed by James Ginger who writes reports on the polices progress. Ginger in the past four years has written eight reports. His most recent report, which was filed in early November, was his most positive yet in terms of the polices compliance with the settlement. He called their work exceptional. No one from the independent monitoring team could be reached for comment on Wednesday. The case hasnt yet been assigned to another judge. There is a telephone status conference scheduled for Jan. 31 before U.S. District Judge William Chip Johnson, the chief judge of the U.S. District Court for New Mexico. But Aguilar said that it is unlikely that hearing will be held if the shutdown continues. Brack, who is on senior status, still hears a docket of mainly immigration cases in Las Cruces. .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... SANTA FE A package of election proposals in the state House would allow felons to keep their voting rights while in prison and aim to make voter registration for the general public more convenient, or even automatic. And one bill has the potential to change how New Mexico participates in presidential elections. The proposals, all sponsored by Democrats, are starting to move through the House. ADVERTISEMENTSkip ................................................................ The presidential proposal cleared its first committee Wednesday on a party-line vote, with Democrats in the majority. It would sign New Mexico on to a compact pledging the states electoral votes to whichever candidate wins the national popular vote. The goal would be to diminish the influence of the winner-take-all system that dominates the Electoral College, in which candidates tend to focus on a dozen or so battleground states that could be won by either party. Supporters say it would encourage candidates to campaign more broadly throughout the country because a vote in, say, New Mexico would be worth the same as one in Ohio. Every vote should count equally period, said Rep. Daymon Ely, D-Corrales. But Republican lawmakers said the idea wouldnt be good for New Mexico. Less populous states benefit from slightly higher influence under the Electoral College system, they said. It reduces our overall say in the election process, Rep. Bill Rehm, R-Albuquerque, said. House Bill 55, co-sponsored by Ely and four other Democrats, now heads to the House Judiciary Committee, potentially its last stop before the House floor. Under the compact, each state agrees to award its electoral votes to whichever presidential candidate wins the most votes nationwide. It wouldnt go into effect until enough states signed on to ensure they formed a majority of the Electoral College. Heres a look at the other election proposals: House Bill 57, sponsored by Rep. Gail Chasey, D-Albuquerque, would end New Mexicos practice of canceling the voter registration of anyone convicted of a felony. The proposal was discussed in the House state government committee Wednesday, but a final vote was postponed. Chasey and other supporters say it would encourage felons behind bars to maintain connections with their communities, which would aid in their transition upon release. They also said the states current system restoring felons voting rights after they serve their sentences doesnt work, and felons often have trouble getting back on the rolls. But prosecutors and other opponents said people who have committed murder or harmed a child should forfeit their right to vote, at least until theyve paid their debt to society. Two proposals would make it easier to register to vote. Neither has had its first committee hearing. House Bill 84, sponsored by Ely and three other Democrats, would automatically register people to vote when they get their drivers licenses or ID at the Motor Vehicle Division, unless they specifically opt out or are ineligible. House Bill 86, also co-sponsored by Ely, would allow people to register to vote on Election Day or at early voting sites. Under the current system, the registration period closes about a month before Election Day. Nora Sackett, a spokeswoman for Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham, said the governor is still reviewing the proposals but generally is supportive of increased access to voting and less burdensome voter registration. Three first-period goals boost Wings to Game 1 win against Magicians The Wings quickly found their footing and eventually the back of the net in their 5-1 victory over the Minnesota Magicians in Game 1. Alan Alda, star of the hit 70s sitcom M*A*S*H as well as many other small- (The West Wing, Ray Donovan) and big-screen favorites, will add the Screen Actors Guild life achievement award to his considerable collection of accolades (including six Emmys and six Golden Globes). On Jan. 27, the actor, writer, director, science lover and communications guru will be the 55th recipient of the SAG honor for his career and humanitarian accomplishments. Alda, 82, talked to AARP about his four years with Parkinsons disease, his long marriage (61 years!), magical thinking, and his podcast Clear+Vivid. On receiving the SAG award: Its great because its an honor, and recognition of the work Ive done as an actor but also work Ive done outside the field. Ive spent the last 25 years figuring out how to help scientists and physicians communicate better. Teaching scientists: I helped start a center for communicating science at Stony Brook University. Weve trained 12,000 people around the world, using my skills as an actor and some improvisation techniques to help scientists connect with an audience. Weve done an enormous amount of good. Lives are saved when physicians communicate better. Why science? I was interested in science from the time I was a boy. I did a PBS science show for 11 years. It was wonderful: under a mountain in Italy talking about neutrinos; catching a shark off the coast of Hawaii. They put me through strange and dangerous things because I guess they felt they could always find another actor. Living long: Years ago I was asked how long I wanted to live. I said as long as I can still make love 106. The next day my wife opened the paper and the headline was Watch Out, Girls! She looked at me and said, 106! Give me a break! Ive actually believed Ill live to 106 ever since I picked that number. Thats the finest example of magical thinking you can come across. On having Parkinsons: Its not progressing rapidly. At this stage its not so severe that its interfering with my life. I just approach it like an interesting puzzle to solve. I joke about it and it helps me be on top of it. I try a lot of different therapies and activities to see if any will slow the progress more than others. Its hard to tell whether Im slowing the progress, or if its just slow progress. Heeding early warnings: One little-known symptom [of Parkinsons] is acting out your dreams. I realized I might have it when I was having a violent dream and threw a pillow at my wife. I went to a neurologist and he gave me a conventional examination without a scan and said, I dont know why you want a scan. You dont have any symptoms. And I said, Well, I think I might have it so I want to get a scan and make sure. He did the scan and said, Boy, you really have it. The damage in the brain is done before the first symptoms are apparent. New projects: Im still working as an actor, doing some [appearances on] Ray Donovan. My podcast, called Clear+Vivid, is making me very happy. Ive talked with a hostage communicator, Dr. Ruth, Sarah Silverman, Itzhak Perlman, Renee Fleming, Judge Judy people who you dont expect to have something interesting to say about communicating. Im proud of it, and weve had almost 2 million downloads. Marriage advice: My wife has a sure-fire tip. She says the secret to a long marriage is a short memory! The 25th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards will air live on TBS and TNT on Sunday, Jan. 27, 2019, at 8 p.m. ET. New York City has been graced with the art of San Francisco's own Heather Day before; last November, the Dogpatch-based painter executed a large-scale, in situ mural for Google's Hardware Store holiday pop-up in Soho. And since one door often has a way of opening another, Day returns to Manhattan this week for the Thursday opening of her first exhibition in that city, at Chelsea's Joshua Liner Gallery. Titled Pour, the exhibitin collaboration with Toronto-based artist Kathryn Macnaughton, is a "nod to the dynamic, experimental approach Kathryn and I both take when painting," says Day. "We pour and push paint across the canvasit's a physical, almost kinetic process." 'I Read Them All' (Courtesy of Heather Day) On display are new works that Day painted in December 2018 during a residency at the Macedonia Institute in the Hudson Valley. Casual admirers of her abstract pieces will recognize her signature style and color palette, but those closer to the artist and her process will see this show as an evolution for Day, who has only been painting full time since 2015. Where at first the swaths of paint across her canvases were inspired by the outside world, her attentions have recently navigated inward, resulting in paintingsusing pastels, charcoal, spray paint, and graphitethat are animated by feelings, thoughts, and sensations. "Sensory perception is a growing focus in my life and my work because I have synesthesia," she says. Don't know what that means? Day explains: "When I'm experiencing heightened emotion, I see blurs of lush color in my peripheral vision. Basically, my mind interprets emotion as color; it's as if I'm holding a colored filter over part of my vision. Looking straight ahead, my sight is unaffected, but in the peripheries there are rich washes of cyan, burnt orange, phthalo blues, or fuchsia. As soon as I shift my focus towards these mercurial colors, they dissipate. There are a lot of moments like these that happen on the sidelines, in the periphery. When we close our eyes, we still see the color and distorted shapes left over from the light entering our eyes. The periphery is always where the good stuff comes from. That's what I'm drawn to." Looking again at Day's work, this seems to explain everything. Her paintings, which can, at first glance, appear like simple assemblages of colors on canvas, can, on deeper observation, connect to our unconscious mind to that place where the world is understood by waves of sensations. If you happen to be in New York this winter, catch the exhibit at Joshua Liner Gallery (540 W. 28th St.) through February 23rd. Locally, you can see her recent mural installation at Napa Valley's Provenance Vineyards. // heatherday.com Mitch Leslie in Science: Curing the childhood eye cancer retinoblastoma often comes at a cost. The tumor, which sprouts in the retina and primarily occurs in children under the age of 5, is fatal if not treated. Yet chemotherapy can cause permanent vision loss, and patients sometimes need surgery to remove one or both eyes. Now, scientists have found that a cancer-slaying virus seems to combat this cancer in mice without serious side effects. A clinical trial has also shown early signs of promise. Its potentially a game-changer, says ophthalmic oncologist David Abramson of Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York City, who wasnt connected to the study. Researchers have tested cancer-targeting viruses in other types of tumors, but no one had pitted them against retinoblastoma. The tumors grow when there are defects in a molecular pathway that keeps cells from dividing out of control. Oncology researcher Angel Montero Carcaboso of the Sant Joan de Deu Research Institute in Barcelona, Spain, and colleagues used a type of virus known as adenovirus that typically causes only mild respiratory infections in people. It had been genetically modified so it was missing a key gene and could only reproduce inside cells in which the retinoblastoma pathway had malfunctioned. To determine whether such a virus would be safe, the scientists injected it into the eyes of rabbits without the tumor. The virus triggered side effects such as inflammation and fluid buildup in the eyes, but they disappeared within 6 weeks. Moreover, little of the virus escaped from the eyes, and it didnt appear to reproduce elsewhere in the animals bodies, suggesting it wouldnt cause harm in other organs. On the strength of those results, Carcaboso and colleagues have begun a clinical trial to test whether the virus is safe in children with retinoblastomas that havent responded to chemotherapy or radiation treatment. Two patients have received the virus so far. The researchers have noted preliminary signs that the virus is targeting the tumors. More here. Australias New South Wales Minister for the Arts, Don Harwin, has launched the open global search for an outstanding, world class team, with exceptional skills in design and placemaking, for the landmark new Powerhouse Precinct at Parramatta, Sydney. The open two-stage competition will welcome both Australian and international design teams and actively encourages creative and intellectual collaborations between established and emerging talent. The centrepiece of the precinct is a 24-hour museum, a new global cultural icon, that will be built on the banks of the Parramatta River in Sydneys newly designated Central River City, one of the fastest-growing parts of the region. The initiatives centrepiece is the Powerhouse Museum in Parramatta, Western Sydney, Australia. Aerial view of Parramatta looking towards Sydney CBD. Image Mark Merton Photography The new museum is focused on excellence and innovation in the applied arts and sciences. The Powerhouse Precinct encompasses the museum, the public spaces around it and a pedestrian bridge over the Parramatta River. At the geographical heart of Sydney, the Powerhouse museum represents a major investment by the NSW Government. The new museum will house Australias largest and most advanced planetarium with ultra-high-resolution 3D video and multi-channel immersive audio. The museum will deliver Australias first dedicated learning space devoted to STEAM (science, technology, engineering, arts and mathematics). A total of 18,000 sqm of purpose-built exhibition and public spaces will enable the museum which was founded in the late nineteenth century as the Museum of Applied Arts & Sciences (MAAS) and whose major site is currently in Ultimo to embrace a new curatorial strategy of integrated and immersive programs. Aerial view of Parramatta. Image Salty Dingo The competition is being organised by independent specialists Malcolm Reading Consultants (MRC). The deadline for Expressions of Interest is 22:00 AEDT / 11:00 GMT Monday 18 March 2019. Further details, including how to enter, are given on the competition website. "I am delighted to open this competition as we fulfil our promise to the people of Western Sydney to deliver a major cultural institution they can be proud of," said Minister for the Arts, Don Harwin. "This competition is a once-in-a-generation opportunity to create a purpose-built Powerhouse Precinct at Parramatta that will welcome people from across the world and NSW." Mr Harwin encouraged both local and international architects to enter the design competition: "We are looking for the best designers from across NSW, Australia and internationally to create this new cultural landmark in Parramatta." View along Parramatta River towards the site from the west. Image City of Parramatta Council Interested teams will need to demonstrate capability as a lead architect on a built project of comparable complexity and program of at least AUD $200M or, alternatively, provide evidence of their ability to deliver a buildable, memorable facility exemplifying design excellence within the construction budget for the base building, public realm and pedestrian bridge (set at AUD $400M). International teams will need to partner with a registered Australian architect. At least five finalist teams will be selected at stage two and each finalist team will receive an honorarium of AUD $150,000. The designs produced by the shortlisted teams during stage two will be shown to the public in a physical exhibition and online gallery and the project client, Create Infrastructure, will be seeking public feedback on the proposals before the international jury meets. View of the site from the north bank of the Parramatta River (facing south). Image MRC / Dianna Snape The jury will be chaired by Naomi Milgrom AO, who received her Order of Australia (AO) for business and community leadership and philanthropy. The much-admired MPavilion in Melbourne is commissioned by the Naomi Milgrom Foundation, a not-for-profit charitable organisation that exists to initiate and support great public design, architecture and cultural projects. Full details of the jury who will assess the concept design submissions which will also include MAAS CEO Lisa Havilah, Australian architect Wendy Lewin and international architect David Gianotten of OMA will be announced later in the process. The competition process has been endorsed by the Australian Institute of Architects (AIA). The winner announcement is expected in the second half of 2019. Jury Chair and other Jurors are composed of: Naomi Milgrom AO - Australian business leader and philanthropist, David Gianotten - Managing Partner of OMA, Wendy Lewin - Fellow of the Australian Institute of Architects, Lisa Havilah - Chief Executive of the Museum of Applied Arts and Sciences (MAAS), Craig Limkin, Special Adviser to the Jury - influential leader with over 15 years of experience in large scale organisations. Nighttime aerial view of Parramatta. Image Airview Aerial Photography Wrap-up for the competition: Global open two-stage competition calls for creative collaborations for new Sydney icon Twenty-four-hour Powerhouse museum will be home to 18,000 sqm of purpose-built exhibition and public spaces, Australias most advanced planetarium and its first dedicated learning space devoted to STEAM (science, technology, engineering, arts and mathematics) Honorarium for each of (at least) five finalist teams set at AUD $150,000 Deadline for submissions 22:00 AEDT / 11:00 GMT Monday 18 March 2019 Top image: View across the river towards site (facing east). Image MRC / Dianna Snape > via Powerhouse Precinct Competition My 13 year old son Ben got into the Mexican snacks Takis, which are spiced rolled tortilla chips. He and I did a taste test of Takis Fuego a... The March 1, 2019 deadline set by President Trump to come to an agreement with China continues to look bleak. The issues, including the protection of U.S. intellectual properties and market reforms, are so complicated that a reachable agreement could be several months away. If Trump stubbornly holds to the March 1 deadline and follows through with his threat to jack tariffs to 25% on Chinese imports, the U.S. and global equity markets could move back to test their December lows. By James DiGeorgia The prospects of the United States and China settling the Trump initiated trade war worsened today when Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross during an interview on CNBC said Trade is very complicated. There are lots and lots of issues and said, Were miles and miles from getting a resolution. Secretary Ross during the CNBC interview downplayed expectations for an end to the U.S.-China trade war when both sides meet in Washington next week when Chinese Vice Premier Liu He is scheduled to meet with United States Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer. Ross went on to sayPeople shouldnt think that the events of next week are going to be the solution to all of the issues between the United States and China. Its too complicated a topic. Special: Imagine an options trading service that has delivered over 4,872% in winning trade recommendations over 11 years. That's 442% a year in winning trade recommendations. Check it out! Just $49 for the first 60 days! Ross affirmed the good faith of both sides in the ongoing attempt to reach a compromise saying... I believe that China would like to make a deal. I believe that we would like to make a deal. However, it has to be a deal that works for both parties. However, Ross added that he sees a fair chance we do get to a deal eventually. Ross comments, however, come just five weeks from President Trumps March 1, 2019 deadline to reach a deal. Trump has threatened to raise the tariff rate on $200 billion in Chinese goods to 25% from 10% already being charged. If Trump holds to the current deadline while keeping the U.S. government partial closed, while having a series of caustic Congressional investigative hearings underway looking into his many improprieties, we could find the U.S. and Global markets hit by the same or worse volatility we experienced leading up to and during the Christmas holiday. The two critical issues of intellectual-property protections and restricting foreign investment participation to make it easy for foreign companies to invest and profit in China are likely to take another few months to resolve a compromise both parties are willing to accept. Special: No really, 4,872% in winning options trades, 442% a year and you can start to subscribe with a 100% No Bull Guarantee for 60 days -- $49! The International Money Fund (IMF) this week sounded the alarms for a downturn for its global outlook for the second time in three months, warning of mounting risks including an escalation of the trade war and tightening credit. The important question is how President Trump will react to a Chinese request to extend his March deadline. If he holds a hard line and insists on raising the tariff rate on $200 billion in Chinese goods to 25%, the Chinese may walk away from the talks in protest. The reaction in the U.S. and global financial markets would likely result in a dizzying period of volatility. A recent poll reveals a decline in the approval rating of President Donald Trump that has gone down to 34 percent compared to 42 percent last month and is near the lowest mark of his two-year presidency. While his ratings among Republicans are high, the same does not apply for his standing with independents. The poll is an indicator that things are not well. A large section of American feels he should take the blame for the record-breaking government Shutdown. They are not in sync with his arguments for a border wall. Daily Mail UK reports this drop in approval is significant because Donald Trump has been in office for two years and begins the third year of his presidency with the responsibility of the longest government shutdown in the history of the US on his shoulders. He also has some sensitive issues to take care of and will have to tread with caution to ensure an improvement in his approval rating. Approval rating of US Presidents It is difficult to ascertain whether the approval rating of US presidents can be the yardstick to measure the effectiveness of the incumbent. Ever since Donald Trump took over office, his approval rating had been in the range of the mid-30s to the mid-40s. This is a relatively stable scenario but now it has gone down to 34 per cent. The latest poll reveals the mindset of the people. Most of them view the shutdown as a major problem that has left roughly 800,000 government workers in the doldrums. They are going without pay and they blame Trump far more than congressional Democrats for this state of affairs. Incidentally, President Barack Obamas rating never fell below 40 percent in Gallup polls whereas there are instances of the figure touching the 20s for some past presidents. Trump has remained above such lows but he happens to be the only president never to have reached 50 percent in Gallup's polling, according to the Daily Mail UK. Shutdown affects the approval rating According to The Hill, President Donald Trumps approval rating has taken a beating and reached its lowest point in more than a year. This is attributable to the partial government shutdown that enters the fifth week. Congressional Democrats refused to accede to the presidents demand for $5 billion in funds to build his proposed Mexico border wall. Against his demand, Democrats offered $1.3 billion in border security measures. That led to the partial government shutdown and furlough of thousands of federal workers or workers forced to work without pay. In some places, FBI workers had to depend on food banks to survive the government shutdown. In October 2017, Trumps approval rating has plummeted to 32 percent because of his handling of the relief operations in Puerto Rico after Hurricane Maria. Uprooted Palestinians are at the heart of the conflict in the M.E Palestinians uprooted by force of arms. Yet faced immense difficulties have survived, kept alive their history and culture, passed keys of family homes in occupied Palestine from one generation to the next. Speedboat killer Jack Shepherd may fight the extradition process, his lawyer has confirmed, despite handing himself in to police in Georgia. The 31-year-old surrendered at a police station in the capital, Tbilisi, on Wednesday six months after he was convicted of killing 24-year-old Charlotte Brown during a speedboat date on the River Thames in London. The web designer was found guilty of manslaughter by gross negligence and sentenced to six years in prison in his absence, although he was controversially granted leave to appeal in December. Speaking to the Press Association, Shepherds Georgian lawyer, Tariel Kakabadze, confirmed that the process to extradite him back to the UK may be contested. He said: We just need to study the case documents and I need to discuss it with my client before making the final decision about it. As a lawyer I have to agree each step with my client. Jack Shepherd talks to journalists as he hands himself in at a police station in Georgias capital, Tbilisi (Rustavi2/AP) If the extradition happens, it is important to make sure there will not be a danger to him in the UK. If I get assurances that his extradition is not dangerous, we might not disagree with extradition. Each step will be decided after we carefully study all the possibilities and options. On Wednesday night, the Crown Prosecution Service was preparing an extradition request to be lodged with Georgian legal authorities. Shepherd is expected to appear for a short hearing at Tbilisi City Court on Friday. Mr Kakabadze said the prosecutor will demand Shepherds arrest before the extradition and that his arrest has to be confirmed by a judge according to Georgian law. But he has also suggested it may be some time before Shepherd possibly returns to the UK. Ms Browns family said they were overwhelmed with emotion after it emerged that he had surrendered, and her father said it was time for him to atone for his actions. Charlotte Browns father Graham Brown (left) sister Katie (2nd left) and mother Roz Wickens (right) (Yui Mok/PA) Home Secretary Sajid Javid said it is vital Charlotte Browns family see justice done and UK law enforcement will seek to swiftly extradite him to Britain. Story continues And Theresa Mays official spokesman said: The Prime Minister called earlier this month for Jack Shepherd to hand himself in to face justice and she welcomes the news that he is now in custody. Its now essential that the judicial process is completed in the UK as soon as possible. The Government will now work alongside the police and the Crown Prosecution Service to ensure that extradition proceedings are expedited. Scotland Yard, the force leading the investigation, said officers had been updated by the National Crime Agency on the development and are awaiting confirmation of Shepherds identity. The Metropolitan Police added that, once identity was secured, extradition proceedings will begin immediately against Shepherd, originally from Exeter, who was the subject of an international arrest warrant. Under Georgian law, prosecutors are required to apply for restriction measures for a person wanted in another country within 48 hours of them being arrested. On Wednesday, a heavily-bearded Shepherd wearing a long coat, jeans and a check scarf smiled as he walked into the station from a black car while flanked by lawyers. In the footage shown on Georgian television station Rustavi2, he vowed to local reporters that he would clear his name over the tragic accident. Speaking to journalists, he said: Yes, my name is Jack Shepherd. I was involved in a tragic accident in which a lady called Charlotte Brown tragically died. Billed by the network as an exclusive interview, Shepherd added that he hoped justice will be done with his pending appeal against the conviction. Ms Brown, from Clacton-on-Sea, Essex, died in December 2015 when Shepherds boat flipped into the wintry waters of the Thames after they shared a Champagne-fuelled first date. Her family ramped up pressure in recent weeks and renewed their calls for Shepherd to surrender after they met the Home Secretary on Tuesday. Appearing on BBC Breakfast on Thursday morning, Ms Browns sister Katie said that, when the family heard Shepherd had handed himself in, they were all very shocked and relieved. But she said that seeing him stroll into the police station smiling and waving, it was unbelievable his arrogance and everything. Charlotte Brown was killed during a speedboat date on the River Thames with Jack Shepherd (Metropolitan Police/PA) Asked how she felt about the comments Shepherd made to reporters in Georgia, where he said he was frightened about what might happen and how he hoped justice will prevail, she said: He seems to be concerned about his own feelings and how hes felt throughout the whole thing, and has had no empathy or remorse for his reckless actions. He has caused the loss of my sisters life and, whilst hes been off in Georgia, he claims that he went to see friends and he has always wanted to see the scenery there almost like he was claiming it was a holiday. He said that he has been out socialising, going to nightclubs, so, whilst he has been doing that, we have been back here, had the agony of the trial, left to pick up the pieces. He is not thinking about Charli, us, respect for the legal system, all he is thinking about is himself and his feelings. While Shepherd was on the run, his lawyers have been working to appeal against the conviction. Shepherds UK solicitor, Richard Egan, said: In the light of todays developments I dont think it would be appropriate to comment further until Mr Shepherd is back in the jurisdiction. A winter storm sweeping Algeria brought snow to several areas of the country on January 24, according to local news reports. Air Algerie suspended a number of flights due to the heavy snowfall, Radio Algerie reported. This footage shows snow blanketing the northern city of Setif. Credit: Anes_ Se via Storyful Demonstrators protesting against an expected agreement to normalize relations between Greece and Macedonia burned EU, NATO and US flags outside the US embassy in Athens on January 24. The agreement, which lawmakers expect to pass Friday, would require Macedonia to rename itself North Macedonia and eliminate Greeces objection to the nations integration into the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). The anticipated decision, after months of debate, has sparked sharp backlash and triggered protests in the streets of Athens. An estimated 4000 protesters demonstrated outside Greeces Parliament on Thursday night, at times clashing with police. Hooded young men threw flares, rocks, and bottles at security forces. Outside the US Embassy in Athens, others set fire to the American, EU, and NATO flags and chanted in opposition to Western alliances. Credit: @Kleiw_Md via Storyful These striking portraits of members of an isolated tribe in Ethiopia offer a rare glimpse of ancient traditions of body modification. Dale Morris, 46, a professional photographer, managed to gain access to the Omi tribe, who live in the Omo Valley of Southern Ethiopia. Recent plans by the Ethiopian government to build dams in the area are threatening their way of life. The Omi practice some of the world's most radical body modifications, from war paint to lip piercings the size of dinner plates. Dale, who is originally from the United Kingdom but is now living in South Africa, said: "I feel its a privilege to capture moments in peoples lives. "The Omo's culture has remained untouched for hundreds of years, but the modern world is invading, and soon these costumes and body modifications will be a thing of the past. "I feel I am capturing these images on the cusp of change. Soon these people will have changed, and the ancient customs and fashions will disappear." (Caters News) CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) The Latest on the political crisis in Venezuela (all times local): 8:55 p.m. Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido says he would consider granting amnesty to President Nicolas Maduro and his allies if they helped return Venezuela to democracy. Guaido gave his first public comments to Univision on Thursday since declaring himself interim president of Venezuela. Guaido's comments are part of a soon-to-be aired interview that was published on Univision's website. The National Assembly leader says that amnesty is on the table for anybody willing to help return Venezuela to constitutional order. The United States, Canada and more than a dozen Latin American countries have rallied around Guaido. However, Maduro shows no signs of giving up power, maintaining he was democratically elected. The socialist leader blames the United States for backing a coup attempt to oust him, and he cut diplomatic ties with Venezuela's largest trading partner. ___ 6:55 p.m. The State Department is ordering non-essential diplomats and staff at the U.S. Embassy in Venezuela to leave the country. The department says it's taking the step for security reasons and that the embassy in Caracas will stay open. The move follows the Trump administration's rejection of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro's order to break relations with the U.S. and for American diplomats to depart by the weekend. The administration says Maduro's order isn't legal because the U.S. no longer recognizes him as Venezuela's legitimate leader. On Wednesday, President Donald Trump recognized the opposition leader and head of Venezuela's parliament as the interim president. That prompted Maduro to sever relations with Washington. ___ 4:25 p.m. President Nicolas Maduro has ordered all Venezuelan diplomats home from the United States and is closing its embassy despite U.S. refusal to do the same in his country. Maduro said Thursday that if U.S. officials had any sense they would pull out their own diplomats from Caracas rather than defying his order to leave. Story continues The Trump administration says Maduro is not now legally president of Venezuela because of a fraudulent election. It recognizes opposition leader Juan Guaido, who assumed presidential authority and vowed to remove Maduro. The U.S. also had snubbed Maduro's decision to cut diplomatic ties with the United States, saying he doesn't have the authority to expel U.S. diplomats. The two countries haven't exchanged ambassadors in nearly a decade, but they have maintained diplomatic staff. ___ 2:40 p.m. The United States has officially requested an open meeting of the U.N. Security Council on Saturday "to discuss the ongoing crisis in Venezuela." South Africa's U.N. Ambassador Jerry Matjila said earlier that U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo had asked to discuss the political situation with the U.N.'s most powerful body. He said the "consultations" would be behind closed doors not open. The U.S. Mission to the United Nations tweeted Thursday that it requested a meeting Saturday morning. U.S. President Donald Trump on Wednesday recognized National Assembly leader Juan Guaido as Venezuela's interim president, leading President Nicolas Maduro to demand that all U.S. diplomats leave the country in 72 hours. Pompeo told the diplomats to stay because the U.S. doesn't recognize Maduro. Venezuela is not on the Security Council agenda and the U.S. needs the support of at least nine of the 15 council nations to hold a meeting. Diplomats said the council has not yet discussed the U.S. request. Before Matjila spoke, Russia's U.N. Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia told reporters he didn't think a meeting is required. ___ ___ 2:30 p.m. Russian President Vladimir Putin has offered his support to embattled Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro in a phone call. The Kremlin says that Putin "expressed support to the legitimate government of Venezuela amid the acute political crisis that has been provoked from the outside." The Russian leader emphasized that "destructive foreign interference tramples on basic norms of the international law." The Kremlin statement Thursday said Putin called for "overcoming differences in the Venezuelan society through peaceful dialogue." It added that the two leaders underlined a shared intention to "continue the Russian-Venezuelan cooperation in various spheres." Russia had already denounced the U.S. decision to recognize an opposition leader at Venezuela's legitimate president, calling it an attempted coup. Russia has been a key sponsor and ally of Venezuela, and last month it deployed two Tu-160 nuclear-capable bombers to Venezuela for several days. ___ 1:45 P.M. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo says the United States is ready to send Venezuela food and medicine in response to requests from the opposition-controlled congress. Pompeo on Thursday urged other countries to step up and help Venezuelans rebuild a country he says has been destroyed by President Nicolas Maduro's "illegitimate" government. The United States and several other countries have recognized National Assembly leader Juan Guaido as the interim president of Venezuela. Guaido declared presidential powers on Wednesday, vowing to restore democracy. Pompeo says the United States is ready to ship more than $20 million in humanitarian assistance to help Venezuelans suffering dire shortages in a deepening crisis. Maduro's government for years has rejected most foreign assistance, saying it is a cover for foreign powers to launch an invasion. ___ 1:30 p.m. The Vatican says Pope Francis is closely following developments in Venezuela and supports "all efforts that help save the population from further suffering". A statement from Vatican spokesman Alessandro Gisotti on Thursday didn't say if the Holy See recognized opposition leader Juan Guaido's claim to the interim presidency. Francis is nearby on a visit to Panama for World Youth Day. The statement said the pope "is praying for the victims and for all the people of Venezuela." It adds that "the Holy See supports all efforts that help save the population from further suffering". The Vatican has a delicate line to balance in Venezuela. Local bishops vocally oppose the socialist regime of President Nicholas Maduro, but the Holy See has kept up diplomatic relations with the government, to the extent that it sent its interim charge d'affaires to Maduro's inauguration earlier this month. ___ 1 p.m. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan says he's shocked by U.S. President Donald Trump's decision to recognize Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido's claim to the presidency. Speaking at a joint news conference with Malta's president on Thursday, Erdogan reiterated his support for embattled President Nicolas Maduro. Erdogan said he believed Maduro would overcome the crisis and would receive the people's backing "if he continues to stand strong in the path he believes in." Erdogan also said Maduro didn't delay in calling and visiting Turkey to offer his support soon after Turkey thwarted a coup attempt in 2016. ___ 12:45 p.m. South Africa's U.N. ambassador says U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has asked to discuss the political situation in Venezuela with the U.N. Security Council in closed consultations on Saturday morning. Jerry Matjila told reporters at U.N. headquarters in New York on Thursday that the council would discuss whether the situation in Venezuela poses a threat to international peace and security. Venezuela is not on the Security Council agenda and the U.S. needs the support of at least nine of the 15 council nations to hold a meeting. Before Matjila spoke, Russia's U.N. Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia told reporters he didn't think such a meeting was required. U.S. President Donald Trump on Wednesday recognized National Assembly leader Juan Guaido as Venezuela's interim president, leading President Nicolas Maduro to demand that all U.S. diplomats leave the country in 72 hours. Pompeo told the diplomats to stay because the U.S. doesn't recognize Maduro. Matjila said South Africa still recognizes the Maduro government. He called the situation in Venezuela "very delicate," and encouraged Venezuelans "to sit together and discuss among themselves to see what they can do." ___ 12:30 p.m. Britain's foreign secretary says Venezuela opposition leader Juan Guaido is "the right person" to take the troubled country forward. Jeremy Hunt said Thursday during a visit to Washington that the May 20 election in Venezuela was "deeply flawed" and said the regime led by President Nicholas Maduro has done "untold damage to the people of Venezuela." Hunt said it is clear that Maduro is not the "legitimate" leader of Venezuela. But the statement stops short of recognizing Guaido as president. Hunt says he plans to discuss the matter with Vice President Mike Pence and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. ___ 12:20 p.m. The chief of Venezuela's military has reaffirmed his support for President Nicolas Maduro, saying the armed forces will never accept a leader imposed on their country. The televised statement by Defense Minister Vladimir Padrino Lopez on Thursday is part of a show of military support for Maduro in the face of faltering international recognition of his government. Opposition lawmaker Juan Guaido has declared himself Venezuela's interim president, promising to restore democracy to Venezuela. Padrino Lopez said dark interests are working outside Venezuela's constitution, emboldening the opposition's rise. He says his soldiers would be unworthy of their uniform if they fail to defend the constitution. The United States, Canada and some Latin American and European countries have recognized Guaido's claim that the constitution gives him the authority to assume power. ___ 10:05 a.m. Military commanders across Venezuela are taking to the airwaves to vow loyalty to embattled President Nicolas Maduro. Major General Victor Palacio said Thursday he categorically rejected any acts threatening stability in Venezuela. Opposition leader Juan Guaido a day earlier spoke to masses of supporters crowding the streets of Caracas that he's assuming the presidency. He called for new elections to restore democracy and appealed to members of the military to reject what he called Maduro's dictatorship. Palacio is one of several generals who have been appearing on state TV, standing before dozens of soldiers in a show of military support. Major General Manuel Gregorio Bernal also backed Maduro, saying the president represents an independent country in the face of imperialist aggression. ___ 9:25 a.m. Venezuela's closest ally says it backs socialist President Nicolas Maduro against what it calls a "coup d'etat" to impose "a servile government under orders from the United States." Cuba's foreign ministry says Cuba "expresses its unwavering solidarity with the government of the constitutional president Nicolas Maduro Moros." Cuba has sent Venezuela tens of thousands of workers, from doctors to intelligence officials, to support former Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez and Maduro, his successor. In return, the economically struggling island receives tens of thousands of barrels a day in heavily subsidized oil. Anti-Maduro National Assembly President Juan Guaido asserts that he's Venezuela's interim president under the constitution. ___ 9:00 a.m. A Venezuelan monitoring group says at least a dozen people have been killed by gunfire in a wave of anti-government unrest rocking Venezuela, where a young opposition leader and socialist President Nicolas Maduro both claim to be chief of state. . Coordinator Marco Ponce with the non-profit Venezuelan Observatory of Social Conflict gave the death toll and names of those reported slain to the Associated Press on Thursday. Seven deaths had been reported earlier. For a third consecutive night, there were reports of looting in poor neighborhoods in Caracas and clashes between protesters and state security forces. Amnesty International is calling on Maduro to uphold demonstrators' rights and immediately remove any military or police offers involved in repression. The troubled South American nation has plunged into a new chapter of uncertainty following Wednesday's mass protests and competing claims to the presidency. ___ 8:50 a.m. The German government is backing the opposition-led National Assembly in Venezuela, while calling for "free and credible elections" in the country. Government spokesman Steffen Seibert said Thursday on Twitter that "the people of Venezuela are bravely working for a free future for their country." Seibert said "this now requires a political process that results in free and credible elections." He added that "the democratically elected National Assembly should have a special role here." ___ 8:20 a.m. The U.N. chief has called for dialogue and says violence or escalation should be avoided after the United States, many Latin American countries and others recognized Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido as the country's president. United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres was asked to comment about Venezuela at the World Economic Forum after many of its closest neighbors issued the rebuff to Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro a day earlier. Guterres said simply: "It is absolutely essential to have dialogue, to avoid violence and to avoid escalation." He did not elaborate. ___ 7:50 a.m. Spain's Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez is holding talks on Venezuela with Latin American leaders in the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Davos. Sanchez's office also said the leader has scheduled a phone call with Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido. Foreign Minister Josep Borrell, a long-time socialist, says Nicolas Maduro's government is illegitimate but declined to follow other world leaders in endorsing Guaido. "We don't know how, but we are going to procure free and fair elections in Venezuela," Borrell has told reporters on Thursday. Spain was among European countries that until earlier this week was promoting an international mediation between Maduro's administration and the opposition. But Borrell says now that "the situation has changed radically." He also said the government's top priority was to ensure the safety of more than 200,000 Spaniards living in Venezuela. ___ 7:30 a.m. French President Emmanuel Macron says that the May 2018 election of Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro was "illegitimate" and saluted the bravery of Venezuelans who are demanding freedom. In a tweet on Thursday in French and Spanish, Macron added his own voice to the European Union's declared support for the restoration of democracy. Macron said that he "salutes the courage of hundreds of thousands of Venezuelans marching for their liberty." The EU is calling for the launch of a political process in Venezuela that would lead to fresh elections after opposition leader Juan Guaido claimed the presidency amid anti-government protests. ___ 7:20 a.m. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan says Turkey opposes coup attempts wherever they may occur. Erdogan, who did not directly reference Venezuela, made the comments at a military academy Thursday hours after he spoke with Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro. Earlier, Erdogan's spokesman said that the Turkish leader told Maduro in a phone call: "My brother Maduro! Stay strong, we are by your side." Erdogan said: "As a country that believes in democracy, as a president who believes in democracy ... where ever in the world there is a coup attempt, we stand against them all without distinction." He added: "Everyone has to respect the result of the ballot boxes." Erdogan, whom critics accuse of increasingly autocratic tendencies, survived a coup attempt in 2016. ___ 7:10 a.m. Ecuador's foreign minister says his country opposes possible military action in Venezuela against President Nicolas Maduro's government, insisting it would have "mostly negative impacts." Ecuador has joined many fellow Latin American countries, the United States and others that have recognized opposition leader Juan Guaido as Venezuela's president in the face of Venezuela's political and economic crisis under Maduro. Ecuadorian Foreign Minister Jose Valencia told a panel session at the World Economic Forum in Davos that Ecuador would disagree with the military option. Valencia was asked to comment Thursday after U.S. President Donald Trump said "options are on the table" a day earlier in response to a question whether the U.S. was contemplating military action in Venezuela. Valencia said: "I wouldn't think that it would be a way out of the situation. You have to give the Venezuelan people the opportunity to decide by themselves." Ecuador said in October it has granted visas to 90,000 Venezuelans fleeing their country. ___ 7 a.m. Syria has condemned what it describes as "flagrant intervention" by the U.S. in Venezuela's internal affairs. The Foreign Ministry said in a statement on Thursday that the American backing of the opposition's claim to the presidency in Venezuela constitutes a "violation of international laws and norms." The ministry says Damascus renews its "full solidarity with the leadership and people of the Venezuelan Republic in preserving the country's sovereignty and foiling the American administration's hostile plans." Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro is a strong ally of Syrian President Bashar Assad. Maduro visited Syria as foreign minister in 2011, months after the Arab country's conflict began. Assad visited Venezuela in 2010. A large Syrian community lives in Venezuela. ___ 6:50 a.m. The Kremlin has dismissed the political crisis in Venezuela as an attempted coup and expressed concern over suggestions of possible foreign military intervention. Russia is a key ally of Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro, who was sworn in for his second term in office earlier this month. Maduro's rival Juan Gauido on Wednesday declared himself interim president before masses of demonstrators in Caracas. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov on Thursday dismissed Gauido's announcement an "attempt to usurp power" which violates international law. He also said the Kremlin was concerned about statements "from foreign nations" ''which do not rule out foreign intervention." Asked if Russia would be willing to grant asylum to Maduro, Peskov said that Maduro is the legitimate leader. Russia's Foreign Ministry in a statement issued earlier on Thursday said that the crisis in Venezuela "has reached a dangerous point" and called on the international community to mediate between the government and the opposition. ___ 6:45 a.m. Portugal's foreign minister is calling for Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro to "understand that his time has come to an end," after opposition leader Juan Guaido claimed the country's presidency. Augusto Santos Silva told the Portuguese news agency LUSA, in comments published by daily Observador, that Maduro "cannot ignore the will of the people." Portugal has previously taken a careful approach to events in Venezuela, wary of doing anything that might cause problems for the large Portuguese community there. Santos Silva appealed for a peaceful end to the standoff and called for free elections. ___ 6:30 a.m. The European Union is calling for the launch of a political process in Venezuela that would lead to fresh elections after opposition leader Juan Guaido claimed the presidency amid anti-government protests. EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherni said in a statement Thursday that the voice of Venezuelans calling for democracy "cannot be ignored." Mogherini says that "the EU strongly calls for the start of an immediate political process leading to free and credible elections, in conformity with the constitutional order." She says the EU backs Venezuela's national assembly and that its powers should be restored and respected. Mogherini is calling for the safety and rights of lawmakers and Guaido to be protected, and says the 28-nation EU stands ready to help support a return to democracy and the rule of law. ___ 6:05 a.m. China is calling on the United States to stay out of Venezuela's current political crisis and says it opposes all outside intervention in the South American country. Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said Thursday that all parties to the conflict should "remain rational and level-headed and seek a political resolution on the Venezuelan issue through peaceful dialogue within the framework of the Venezuelan Constitution." Hua said China "opposes external intervention in Venezuela. We hope that the international community will jointly create favorable conditions for this." She said: "We hope that Venezuela and the United States can respect and treat each other on an equal footing, and deal with their relations based on non-interference in each other's internal affairs." Over the last decade, China has given Venezuela $65 billion in loans, cash and investment. Venezuela owes more than $20 billion. China's only hope of being repaid appears to lie in Venezuela ramping up oil production, although low petroleum prices and the country's crashing economy appear to bode poorly for such an outcome. ___ 5:35 a.m. Iran has denounced events in Venezuela, saying the opposition's claim there that it holds the presidency is a "coup" and an attempt to take over power unlawfully. In Tehran, Foreign Ministry spokesman Bahram Ghasemi told reporters on Thursday that the "Islamic Republic of Iran supports the government and people of Venezuela against any sort of foreign intervention and any illegitimate and illegal action such as attempt to make a coup d'etat." His remarks were carried by the semi-official ISNA news agency. Ghasemi also condemned what he said is an open and illegal intervention in Venezuela by the U.S. and added hopes that the Venezuelan people will overcome their political rifts and problems through peaceful and legal means. Tehran has long been an ally of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro. ___ 5:10 a.m. Swedish Foreign Minister Margot Wallstrom says "the people's right to peacefully demonstrate and freely choose its leaders must be respected" in Venezuela after sometimes violent rallies in the wake of opposition leader Juan Guaido claiming the presidency. Wallstrom has tweeted that "all violence and the excessive use of force are unacceptable. Democracy must be restored." Her Danish counterpart Anders Samuelsen says Denmark "will always support legitimate elected democratic institutions not least the parliamentary assembly including @jguaido Juan Guaido." The opposition leader had declared himself interim president before a mass of demonstrators in Caracas, saying the "dictatorship" of socialist President Nicolas Maduro should end. Violence flared again Wednesday across Venezuela, and at least seven deaths were reported in the escalating confrontation with Maduro, who has been increasingly criticized by many nations. Russia, Turkey and other nations support Maduro. ___ 4 a.m. Russian officials and senior lawmakers have reacted angrily to opposition protests in Venezuela that support opposition leader Juan Guaido's claim to the presidency. Alexei Pushkov, chairman of the information committee at the Federation Council, on Thursday called Guaido's declaration "an attempted coup" backed by the U.S. Russia has been propping up incumbent President Nicolas Maduro, who took office for a second term earlier this month, with arms deliveries and loans. Maduro visited Moscow in December, seeking Russia's political support and financial support. "It's impossible to imagine that this was spontaneous," Pushkov said on state-owned Rossiya 24 television station, referring to the opposition protests. "That was a pre-planned action, and it was certainly coordinated by the United States." President Donald Trump has promised to use the "full weight" of U.S. economic and diplomatic power to push for the restoration of Venezuela's democracy. Pushkov warned that the showdown between Maduro and Guaido "could lead to a civil conflict, even civil war." Konstantin Kosachev, chairman of the Federation Council's foreign affairs committee, in a Facebook post on Thursday accused the U.S. of "inciting protests" in Venezuela. ___ 3:50 a.m. A senior official says Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has called Venezuela's embattled president, Nicolas Maduro, to voice his support after the leader of a united opposition claimed to hold the interim presidency. Presidential spokesman Ibrahim Kalin tweeted early Thursday that Erdogan told Maduro: "'My brother Maduro! Stay strong, we are by your side.'" Kalin added that Turkey, under Erdogan's leadership, would "maintain its principled stance against coup attempts." Juan Guaido declared himself interim president before a mass of demonstrators in Caracas on Wednesday. The U.S., Canada and another dozen mostly Latin American countries quickly announced that they supported Guaido's claim to the presidency. Turkey has cultivated close economic and political ties with Maduro. During a visit to Venezuela in December, Erdogan criticized U.S. sanctions on the crisis-ridden country. ___ 1 a.m. Australia is considering recognizing the rival claimant to Venezuela's presidency after the United States and many Latin American did so. Congress leader Juan Guaido has declared himself interim president and said it was the only way to end President Nicolas Maduro's "dictatorship." After the U.S. and others announced their support for Guaido, Maduro fired back late Wednesday by breaking relations with the U.S. and ordering its diplomats to leave. Washington says it will ignore the order. Australian Foreign Minister Marise Payne said Thursday that her government is considering recognizing Guaido as president. She told reporters in Sydney that Australia was concerned about what the "clearly deteriorating political, economic and security and humanitarian situation in Venezuela and it is having significant effects across the Latin American region." ___ 12:15 a.m. Venezuelans are heading into uncharted political waters, with the young leader of a newly united and combative opposition claiming the presidency and socialist President Nicolas Maduro digging in for a fight with the Trump administration. Violence flared again Wednesday during big protests across Venezuela, and at least seven deaths were reported in the escalating confrontation with Maduro, who has been increasingly criticized by many nations. Congress leader Juan Guaido turned up the heat by declaring himself interim president before a mass of demonstrators in Caracas. He said it is the only way to end Maduro's "dictatorship." The U.S., Canada and many Latin American countries quickly announced support for Guaido. Maduro fired back by breaking relations with the U.S. and ordering its diplomats out. Washington says it will ignore the order. MOSCOW (Reuters) - The Kremlin said on Thursday that Nicolas Maduro was the legitimate president of Venezuela and that outside attempts to usurp power in the Latin American country flouted international law. Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido declared himself interim president on Wednesday, winning the backing of Washington and prompting socialist incumbent Maduro, who has led the oil-rich nation since 2013, to sever diplomatic relations with the United States. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that outside interference in the country was "unacceptable" and that statements by U.S. officials suggesting the possibility of military intervention there were very dangerous. (Reporting by Tom Balmforth, Maxim Rodionov and Christian Lowe; editing by Christian Lowe) FILE PHOTO: Italian Deputy Prime Minister and right-wing League party leader Matteo Salvini attends a news conference at the Foreign Press Club in Rome FILE PHOTO: Italian Deputy Prime Minister and right-wing League party leader Matteo Salvini attends a news conference at the Foreign Press Club in Rome, Italy December 10, 2018. REUTERS/Tony Gentile/File Photo By Crispian Balmer ROME (Reuters) - Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini, stoking a war of words between Rome and Paris, said on Tuesday that France did not want to bring calm to Libya because its energy interests there clashed with those of Italy. Relations between Italy and France, traditionally close allies, have grown frosty since the far-right League and anti-establishment 5-Star Movement formed a coalition last year and took aim at pro-EU French President Emmanuel Macron. A source in Macron's office dismissed the latest attack as "ludicrous", while Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte sought to ease the escalating tensions, saying relations between the two countries remained strong despite a string of recent rows. On Monday France summoned Italy's ambassador after Salvini's fellow deputy prime minister, Luigi Di Maio, accused Paris of creating poverty in Africa and generating mass migration to Europe. Salvini backed up Di Maio, saying France was looking to extract wealth from Africa rather than helping countries develop their own economies, and pointed particularly to Libya, which has been in turmoil since a NATO-backed uprising in 2011 that overthrew strongman Muammar Gaddafi. "In Libya, France has no interest in stabilising the situation, probably because it has oil interests that are opposed to those of Italy," Salvini told Canale 5 TV station. A French diplomatic source said it was not the first time that Salvini had made such comments and that it was probably because he felt he had been upstaged by Di Maio. The source added that the accusation was baseless and reiterated that French efforts in Libya were aimed at stabilising the country, preventing the spread of terrorism and curbing the migration flows. Italy's Eni and France's Total have separate joint ventures in Libya, but Eni's CEO Claudio Descalzi denied in a newspaper interview last year that there was any conflict between the two firms in the north African state. Story continues DIPLOMATIC RUPTURE Salvini is head of the League, while Di Maio leads 5-Star. Both are campaigning hard for European parliamentary elections in May and are eager to show they have broken with the consensual politics of centre-left and centre-right parties. The two men have repeatedly targeted neighbouring France and accused Macron of doing nothing to help handle the hundreds of thousands of mainly African migrants who have reached Italy from Libya in recent years. Asked about the latest diplomatic spat, Salvini said on Tuesday: "France has no reason to get upset because it pushed away tens of thousands of migrants (at the French border), abandoning them there as though they were beasts. We won't take any lessons on humanity from Macron." A French presidential source said populist forces in Italy and elsewhere were looking to undermine countries like France and Germany which wanted to strengthen the European Union. "The European elections will be the place where we confront those -- as you can see again today with the ludicrous comments from the Italian government -- who seek to destroy the European project and the Franco-German partnership," the source said. Looking to prevent a diplomatic rupture, the Italian prime minister issued a statement praising relations with Paris, saying that Rome merely wanted a debate within Europe on difficult issues such as immigration. "This (row) does not call into question our historic friendship with France, nor with the French people. This relationship remains strong and steady in spite of any political disputes," Conte said in a statement. (Additional reporting by Giuseppe Fonte in Rome, John Irish in Paris and Jean-Baptiste Vey in Aachen, Germany; Editing by Jon Boyle and Gavin Jones) Tanya Foster of SAARC Human Rights Foundation speaks at news conference in Dhaka Tanya Foster, a Canadian citizen who observed elections in Bangladesh as a representative of SAARC Human Rights Foundation, speaks at a news conference organised by the group after the election in Dhaka, Bangladesh, December 31, 2018. Picture taken December 31, 2018. REUTERS/Stringer By Zeba Siddiqui and Ruma Paul DHAKA (Reuters) - A top official at an observer group that monitored Bangladesh's election, as well as one of its foreign volunteers, have said they regret participating in the process, potentially casting doubt on the credibility of a vote won overwhelmingly by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's ruling alliance. The president of the SAARC Human Rights Foundation told Reuters he now believed there should be a fresh vote after hearing first hand accounts from voters and some officials presiding over polling booths that activists from Hasina's Awami League stuffed ballot boxes the night before the poll and intimidated voters. Reuters was not able to independently verify those accounts. "Now I have come to know everything, and can say that the election was not free and fair," said Mohammad Abdus Salam, a 75-year-old former high court division justice. A Canadian observer who was brought in by the foundation has also said she now wishes she had not been involved. After Reuters published this story, the SAARC Human Rights Foundation issued a statement saying Salam had been misquoted. It quoted him as saying he told the reporters that "people in the mosque were saying the elections weren't conducted properly", but that he did not feel able to offer an opinion because he had not been an observer himself. "I have responsibly and judiciously discharged my duties," the statement quoted Salam as saying. "This incorrect news has hurt my prestige and standing, and I am distressed." Contacted again by Reuters, Salam declined to comment further. A Reuters spokesman said: "We stand by our reporting on the views expressed by the election monitors." Several observers fielded by the foundation said they continued to endorse the vote. Gautam Ghosh, a Kolkata, India-based lawyer, and Hakimullah Muslim and Nazir Miya - members of Nepal's ruling Communist Party - said they stood by their initial statements that the polls were fair. Story continues "We heard of incidents of violence but never saw anything with our own eyes. We can't comment on what happened elsewhere," said Miya. Ghosh said he had never seen such a good election. Bangladesh, which is an important supplier of clothing to major Western High Street brands and is the second-biggest garments exporter in the world behind China, had already faced criticism from the European Union, United States, and British officials for irregularities observed during the polling. Transparency International last week said its investigation into the Dec. 30 election found irregularities at 47 of the 50 constituencies surveyed, including fake votes, ballot stuffing, and voters and opposition polling agents barred from entering polling centres. It found the ruling party was alone in actively campaigning at all areas surveyed, sometimes with help from local law enforcement officials and government resources. The government has dismissed the Transparency International investigation as lacking in credibility. Hasina's political adviser H.T. Imam called the group "a puppet" of the opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP). Imam did not respond to calls seeking further comment on Reuters' report about the monitors' misgivings. The BNP-led alliance has rejected the election, calling it rigged, after the Awami League and its allies swept more than 95 percent of the parliamentary seats. The United States, European Union and Britain have since called for allegations of ballot-rigging and intimidation to be investigated. Several U.S. groups, including the Washington-based International Republican Institute (IRI), also monitored the voting but have not made their observations public. Ahead of the election, the U.S. State Department had expressed disappointment that some U.S.-funded observers had been forced to cancel plans to observe the polls as Bangladesh didn't issue visas "within the timeframe necessary". Bangladesh denied delaying visas and said it was following due process. Political experts said observers were key to establishing the credibility of the poll, which was Bangladesh's first fully participatory election in a decade. The BNP had boycotted the last vote in 2014. VICTORY ENDORSED The SAARC Human Rights Foundation brought in observers from Canada, India, Nepal and Sri Lanka, who spoke to the press on election day and the day after, endorsing the fairness of the voting, often in glowing terms. On New Year's Eve, hours after being declared the winner of a contest that brought her a third straight term in power, Hasina sat on a white couch at her residence to address an audience of journalists and election observers. "They voted so enthusiastically, especially women and the young generation," Hasina said. "By coming to my country, you have also given us good opportunity to show how democracy is working." As a microphone was passed around the room, monitors from the SAARC Human Rights Foundation as well as other observers, including those from the Saudi Arabia-based Organisation of Islamic Cooperation - which endorsed the poll as fair - congratulated Hasina on the win. The first to speak was a representative of the foundation, a Canadian woman named Tanya Foster, who called the election "very fair and democratic". "In Canada I feel that it is a similar type of process," Foster said, as Hasina smiled back. Hasina's son, Sajeeb Wazed, who is the government's information and communication technology adviser, repeatedly tweeted out statements made by the foundation's observers calling the election fair and peaceful. Though the initials and logo it uses closely resemble those of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC), an inter-governmental body that is well-known in the region, the Dhaka-based SAARC Human Rights Foundation has no affiliation with that organisation. The foundation's Secretary General Abed Ali told Reuters the group had applied for approval from SAARC and was expecting it soon. A spokesman for the Kathmandu-based SAARC, though, told Reuters it had never heard of Ali or his group. Its advisory committee is chaired by a lawmaker from Hasina's Awami League, and includes a former lawmaker from the Jatiya Party, which has often been allied with the Awami League. A former minister in a previous BNP government is also listed on the panel, but no current opposition members. Ali said those current and former lawmakers "are just supporting our humanitarian activities". "I want to make it clear that we have no affiliation with any political party," he added. Awami League lawmaker Obaidul Muqtadir Chowdhury, who is listed on the foundation's website as chairman of its adviser panel, did not respond to calls seeking comment. Former Jatiya Party lawmaker Mohammad Ruhul Amin, who stood down at this election and is also a member of the adviser panel, did not respond to calls seeking comment. Party Chairman Anwar Hossain Manju said he had not heard of the foundation. The secretary of Bangladesh's Election Commission, Helal Uddin Ahmed, said it had no knowledge of links between the SAARC Human Rights Foundation and any political party. FOREIGN OBSERVERS In his original interview with Reuters Salam, the group's president, said the observers fielded by his organisation had only monitored a few polling stations, so were in no position to make a clear assessment of the election's fairness. He said he was not directly involved in organising the poll observers. He said some presiding officers had told him they had been forced to stuff ballot boxes. "I want to speak the truth," he told Reuters at the headquarters of the foundation, a dusty two-room ground floor apartment in the industrial town of Mirpur on the outskirts of Dhaka. "I am not doing this for any political gain." He did not identify the presiding officers, who he said spoke to him in confidence because they felt guilty at participating. Reuters could not independently verify the accusations. Ali dismissed the president's comments, saying: "Can you write something just based on someone saying something?" Tanya Foster, a policy analyst in the Saskatchewan provincial government, told Reuters she had heard from Bangladeshis in Canada that a group known as the SAARC Human Rights Foundation was looking for foreign election monitors. "I asked about the qualifications because I thought it would be an interesting experience. I applied to SAARC and to the Election Commission and they vetted me and offered me an invitation to be an observer," said Foster, whose daughter Chloe Foster also joined the observer's panel. They had never acted as international observers to a national election before. In hindsight, she said "I don't feel great about it. I feel like I was too naive". "I don't know that our reports are of that much value, considering we only visited nine polling centres and only in Dhaka," she added. "We didn't go to the more hostile areas. We didn't audit the election commission or conduct background checks of the presiding officers or poll agents." Chloe Foster was not available for comment. Ali, the foundation's secretary general, said the women had experience monitoring elections in Canada. He said it was not possible for any group to monitor all polling stations. (Additional reporting by Serajul Quadir in DHAKA and Gopal Sharma in KATHMANDU; Editing by Martin Howell and Alex Richardson) By Colin Packham and Philip Wen BEIJING/SYDNEY (Reuters) - Chinese authorities are holding an Australian writer, who used to be a Chinese citizen, on suspicion of endangering state security, China said on Thursday, and his lawyer said he was suspected of espionage. Australian officials said Yang Hengjun was detained shortly after he flew in to the southern city of Guangzhou from New York last week, but it did not believe his detention was the result of rising tension between China and the West. Chinese foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said that Australia was officially notified after Yang was placed under "coercive measures" - a euphemism for detention - in Beijing. "The Australian citizen Yang Jun, due to being suspected of engaging in criminal acts that endangered China's national security, was recently placed under coercive measures and is being investigated by the Beijing city State Security Bureau," Hua told reporters. Yang's rights and interests were being protected in accordance with the law, she told a regular news briefing in Beijing, using a slightly different name for him. Australian Defence Minister Christopher Pyne, who arrived in Beijing on Thursday for scheduled talks, said Australia would normally expect to be told of such a case within three days under existing diplomatic conventions. Yang went missing on Friday and Australia was not told until four days later. Pyne said the late notification was disappointing and he would be raising it in his talks with Chinese officials. "He's being held in residential surveillance," Pyne told reporters. The Australian government was first alerted that Yang had gone missing after friends said he had been out of contact for several days. Yang's lawyer, Mo Shaoping, told Reuters that his client was suspected of "espionage", and was being held under "residential surveillance at a designated location". The special detention measure allows authorities to interrogate suspects for six months without necessarily granting access to legal representation. Rights groups say that the lack of oversight raises concern about abuse by interrogators. Story continues Mo said he had been retained by Yang's wife but because the case involved state security, he would need approval from the authorities before he would be able to meet Yang. WARNING Tensions have risen in recent weeks between China and some Western countries after two Canadians, a diplomat on unpaid leave and a consultant, were arrested in China on suspicion of endangering state security. Those arrests were widely seen in the West as retaliation by China for Canada's arrest of Meng Wanzhou, a senior Huawei Technologies [HWT.UL] executive, on Dec. 1 at the request of the United States for allegedly violating U.S. sanctions on Iran. Australia joined international condemnation of the arrest of the two Canadians, but Yang has long been in the sights of Chinese authorities. He has criticised what he described as Chinese interference in Australia. Feng Chongyi, an academic at the University of Technology in Sydney, said he asked Yang not to go to China because of the tension. "I didn't think it would be safe for him because of the situation with Huawei but he believed that he would be fine as he had been there so many times," Feng said. Australian Foreign Minister Marise Payne said staff from Australia's embassy met Chinese officials on Thursday and, while details were limited, she said there was no evidence Yang's case was linked to Australia's criticism of the detention of the Canadians. "I'd be concerned if there was an indication of that," Payne told reporters in Sydney. "We are calling on the Chinese authorities to ensure this matter is dealt with transparently and fairly." 'CAN'T HIDE' Yang was also reported missing for several days while in China in 2011. Two sources familiar with the details said he had been detained but agreed to say he had been unwell. However, Yang is not seen as a radical dissident. He became famous in the 2000s for his political essays, which earned him the nickname "democracy peddler". In recent years, he had published little commentary, instead writing more fiction, including a trilogy of spy novels. Deng Yuwen, a Beijing-based political analyst who knows Yang, told Reuters that he did not know the reason for Yang's detention but that his WeChat accounts had been deleted. "He has basically not publicly released any political essays in recent years," Deng said. Chinese President Xi Jinping has presided over a crackdown on dissent since coming to power in 2012, with hundreds of rights lawyers and activists detained. Dozens have been jailed. Relations between Australia and its largest trading partner have been strained in recent years and Pyne's trip was arranged in a bid to repair ties damaged by Australian accusations in 2017 that China was meddling in its affairs. Analysts said Yang's arrest would add to pressure on Australia to take a stand, and it would prolong tension. "Australia can't hide from this. It will need to respectfully protect its citizens," said Rory Medcalf, head of the National Security College at the Australian National University. "This detention marks the new normal in the bilateral tension, which will be constant low-level tension." (This story has been refilled to edit paragraph six) (Reporting by Colin Packham in SYDNEY, and Christian Shepherd and Philip Wen in BEIJING; Writing by Michael Martina; Editing by Paul Tait, Robert Birsel) Alec Baldwin has pleaded guilty to harassment and agreed to take an anger management class following a dispute over a parking space. The Hollywood actor was accused of trying to punch another driver during a row outside his apartment building in Manhattan's Greenwich Village in November. His lawyer had previously said the star would be vindicated by video evidence. However, he pleaded guilty at his court appearance in New York earlier. Baldwin, 60, who starred in sitcom 30 Rock and is also known for his impersonations of Donald Trump on US sketch show Saturday Night Live, only spoke a few words during the hearing. He agreed to complete the one-day anger management class to resolve the criminal case, the court was told. The charge is a violation, the lowest level of offence in the US. If Baldwin completes the class, the case record will be sealed - which means that while the record still exists, evidence can be destroyed or returned. Baldwin did not comment to reporters after the hearing. Suits has been renewed for a ninth and final season of 10 episodes. The series currently stars Gabriel Macht, Rick Hoffman, Sarah Rafferty, Wendell Pierce, Amanda Schull, and Katherine Heigl. Past stars include Patrick J. Adams, Gina Torres, and Meghan Markle. Creator Aaron Korsh said in a statement, Though I know it isnt true, it seems like only yesterday USA Network took a chance on an unestablished writers very first hour long script. These days thats a common thing, but forty seven years ago when I first wrote the Untitled Korsh Project, nobody did it. Nobody except the people at USA and UCP. First and foremost I would like to thank Alex Sepiol and Dennis Kim, without whom Suits would never have gotten made. I also cannot thank Bill McGoldrick, Jeff Wachtel, Bonnie Hammer, Chris McCumber, Ted Chervin, Dave Bartis, Gene Klein, Doug Liman, Dawn Olmstead and everyone at the network and studio enough for their dedication and support throughout the years. And to the exceptional writers, cast and crew thank you for your passion and devotion, without which, Suits would be nothing. And last but never least, to the fans who have stuck with the Suits family through thick and thin, through can-openers and flashbacks thank you for always speaking your mind. Without you, I might start to think Im getting the hang of this writing thing. And once that happens, nobody wins. I look forward to enraging and hopefully sometimes delighting you with the final episodes. Finally, to my wife Kate and my children Cooper and Lucy. Thank you for enduring countless late nights and times away, for me to get to live my dream. I love you. Love, Aaron Gina Torres is also set to star in a spinoff Pearson, revolving around her character, Jessica Pearson, as she makes the move to Chicago. Season 8B returned to Universal channel in Australia last night. Source: Variety Related A Vietnamese woman who was arrested at a French airport last month over alleged drug dealing activities in Belgium shared her side of the story on Facebook, insisting innocence and claiming to be a victim of identity theft. Pham Thi Tuyet Mai, 34, was captured by French border police at Charles de Gaulle Airport in Paris on December 18, 2018 while traveling from Vietnam to Malta with her boyfriend, according to a series of six Facebook updates posted to her account on Sunday and Monday. French authorities told her she was being held as per a European Arrest Warrant ordered by a court in Belgium back in 2014. Though Mai insisted she had never been to Belgium, French police told her she would be held for up to 48 hours while awaiting a court. Mai appeared at a court in Paris the next morning, December 19, where she was released on bail but ordered to hand over all identification documents and barred from leaving mainland France. Mais defense lawyer argued to the court that she was merely a victim of identity theft and her personal information had been used to commit crimes she had no knowledge of. According to Mai, it would be impossible for her to have conducted the crime she was being accused of because she had never been to Belgium. Mai said she had studied and worked in Amsterdam, the Netherlands for five years before returning to Vietnam in March 2010 with her ex-husband, who was her boyfriend at the time. She had only been back to Europe once, in November 2011, for a week-long working trip to Barcelona, Spain. Mai only recently acquired a European visa for her December 2018 trip with her new boyfriend, she claimed. Vietnams response The Vietnamese foreign ministry said in a statement on Wednesday afternoon that the Embassy of Vietnam in France has been informed of the arrest. The embassy has made contact with French authorities and local lawyers' offices in order to be made aware of the standard legal proceedings in such a case. The arrest warrant for Mai seeks to execute a four-year sentence handed to her by a court in Antwerpen, Belgium on May 8, 2013 for drug dealing conducted between October 1, 2010 and May 10, 2011, according to the foreign ministrys statement. The Vietnamese Embassy in France said it is working with Vatier Law Firm in Paris to discuss Mais case and the firm had agreed to defend the Vietnamese national in future court appearances. The embassy has also met with Mai to hear her side of the story, clarify details of her arrest, and proceed with necessary citizen protection protocols. On her request, the embassy has asked the Consular and Immigration Control Departments under the Vietnamese Ministry of Public Security to verify and provide proof of Mais presence in Vietnam during the period when she is accused of drug activities in Belgium to assist her defense in court. A representative of the Embassy of Vietnam in France was also present at Mais second court appearance on January 9, 2019 to make sure her legal rights and interests are best protected, the foreign ministry said in Wednesdays statement. Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam! An unlicensed establishment in central Vietnam has been caught producing vinegar by diluting industrial acid with water as local officials scramble to warn consumers of the health risks. Police raided a family-run facility in Quang Ngai Province on Wednesday afternoon and found its owner Dang Thi Mua mixing acid with water to produce vinegar, the Vietnam News Agency reports. Mua, 55, and her husband were caught red-handed diluting 20 liters of industrial acetic acid, stored in two large plastic containers, with water to produce vinegar for use in cooking. Officers also found over a hundred 1.5-liter plastic bottles containing finished vinegar that the couple had produced and kept in storage, ready to be sold at a local market. At the time of the raid, Mua was unable to produce an operating license or proof of origin for the ingredients used to produce the vinegar, the central news agency reports. According to officials, consumption of vinegar made from industrial acid can damage the digestive system and kill off enzymes, leading to adverse health effects if the acid is not diluted properly. Traditionally, vinegar in Vietnam is made by fermenting the sugars in rice first into alcohol and then into acid. Rice vinegar is less acidic with a delicate, mild and somewhat sweet flavor, and is a common ingredient in Vietnamese cooking. Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam! Read whats in the news today, January 24! Society -- Two Vietnamese officers joining UN peace-keeping missions in Africa were praised by the association for their excellent performance a compliment only two percent of peace-keeping officers can get, colonel Hoang Kim Phuong said Wednesday, adding this was a pride for the country. -- An unidentified person robbed an Agribank bank in the northern province of Thai Binh, running away with around VND200 million ($8,600) after wounding eight people on Wednesday afternoon. -- A woman was found making vinegar from water and industrial-grade acetic acid Wednesday at her home in the central province of Quang Ngai, police said. Vinegar with the acid may harm the stomach, according to the local authorities. -- A firecracker explosion wounded five people, including two young children in Nghe An Province, north-central Vietnam, as the 18-year-old victim was making firecrackers, local police said Wednesday. -- The Ho Chi Minh City government ordered the urgent evacuation of 38 families in a downtown apartment building as a preemptive action against the danger posed by the high rise that was leaning. -- Temperatures dropped to a minimum low of 18 degrees Celsius in southern Vietnam Wednesday, and a cool weather with lots of sunshine is forecast to continue over the next several days, the southern meteorological agency said. -- A passenger boat crashed into a fishing boat near the Ly Son Island off Quang Ngai Provinces coast Wednesday, causing the second to sink but no human fatalities were reported, the sea port and waterway agency the central province said. Business -- Vietnams transport ministry proposed using South Koreas financial aid to build a $227-million two-kilometer-long bridge linking the two southwestern provinces of Tien Giang and Ben Tre. This may mean the bridge require no toll gates. -- The Ho Chi Minh City administration has planned to build smart management center costing an estimated VND30 billion ($1.3 million) for traffic monitoring purposes. Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam! Two trailer truck drivers tested positive for drugs on Wednesday as Ho Chi Minh City police began the second phase of a month-long comprehensive inspection aimed at tackling driving under the influence of drugs and alcohol and ensuring traffic safety. Officers conducted administrative inspections and performed specialized tests on 23 drivers of container trucks at Cat Lai Port in District 2 from 8:30 am to 1:00 pm. Some drivers were more than happy to cooperate, while others were rather upset, saying the inspections were unnecessary. Among them, 31-year-old L.D.P. and 28-year-old N.N.Q. tested positive for drugs, and another truck driver failed to present his license. Both P. and Q., however, denied consuming any stimulant, explaining that they had only taken some cough medicine prior to the tests. An employee of a local medical center carries out tests at Cat Lai Port. Photo: Son Binh / Tuoi Tre According to Lieutenant Colonel Nguyen Van Thuy, deputy chief of the traffic police unit at Cat Lai, the drivers were given clinical urine tests, which were carried out by personnel from a local medical center. The two allegedly drugged drivers were then escorted to the police station for further verification, Lt. Col. Thuy continued. Another team of officers was dispatched to the Vietnam International Container Terminals (VICT) in District 7 on the same day. Upon their inspection, officers found six out of 26 truck drivers not having a legitimate license, while none of them tested positive for drugs. Officers make reports of violations after two drivers tested positive for drugs. Photo: Son Binh / Tuoi Tre The examinations were part of Ho Chi Minh City polices large-scale plan to manage the consumption of alcohol and drugs among car, truck, and bus drivers as well as motorcyclists across the metropolis, which runs for a month ending February 15. The first phase lasted for seven days, from January 15 to 22, during which officers examined drivers along major routes at the citys entrances from 6:00 pm to 2:00 am on a daily basis. About 3,416 drivers underwent quick saliva screening tests and only 291 of them were found driving under the influence of alcohol, while no one tested positive for drugs. During the second phase, the focus is directed on examining drivers at the Mien Tay (Western) Bus Station in Binh Tan District, Mien Dong (Eastern) Bus Station in Binh Thanh District, and Cat Lai Port in District 2 with clinical urine tests. Officers also keep their inspection schedule secret this time. Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam! Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc arrived in Switzerland on Wednesday afternoon to participate in a series of events held within the framework of the World Economic Forum (WEF), according to the Vietnam News Agency. The Vietnamese head of government and a delegation of high-ranking officials landed at Zurich International Airport before traveling to Davos to commence his agenda. His first conference at the event was a discussion with other leaders on taking action to protect the ocean. During the gathering, PM Phuc urged for breakthroughs in marine conservation, including effectively pooling and allocating resources to cope with serious challenges brought about by climate change and rising sea level. He suggested establishing an open public-private partnership forum on climate change response and marine ecological environment protection to facilitate the exchange of experience, technological transfer, and attract contribution from local businesses. A global network on marine and ocean protection should also be formed between the WEF and its partners, Phuc stressed. The Vietnamese premier and WEF Founder and Executive Chairman Klaus Schwab are scheduled to chair a dialogue with leaders of global groups on the Vietnamese economy, focusing on dynamism and innovation in the Fourth Industrial Revolution. On the sidelines of the event, PM Phuc joined talks with Nepals premier K.P. Sharma Oli, during which both sides agreed to facilitate all-level visits as well as create favorable conditions for the two countries enterprises to cooperate in such fields as telecommunications, energy, infrastructure, farm produce, garments, footwear and electronics. They consented to push forward with the signing of an agreement on visa exemptions for diplomatic and official passport holders. During a meeting with Director General of the World Trade Organization (WTO) Roberto Azevedo, PM Phuc affirmed that Vietnam treasures a multilateral trade system based on rules and regulations set forth by the WTO framework, After over a decade of membership in the WTO, Vietnam has upheld the spirit of activeness and high responsibility, he added. During the 2019 WEF, Vietnam and the WEF plan to sign a cooperation agreement on building an Industry 4.0 Center in Vietnam and a letter of intent on collaboration in plastic waste treatment. The WEF was established in 1971 as a not-for-profit foundation and is headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland. Vietnam joined the forum in 1989. Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam! London -- The British government on Wednesday played down concerns that Brexit is scaring away businesses after Sony said it was moving its European headquarters to the Netherlands amid a bitter political stalemate in London. With just over two months to go until the scheduled date of Brexit on March 29, and with no divorce deal in place, Britain faces the prospect of an imminent and chaotic departure from the European Union after 46 years of membership. Interviewed by AFP at the World Economic Forum in Davos, International Trade Secretary Liam Fox said Britain remained "open for business". Britain "is an attractive destination for foreign direct investment -- and that during the time where there's been uncertainty over Brexit," Fox said. Japanese electronics giant Sony said it was moving its headquarters' registration by the end of March to avoid Brexit-related customs issues. Its rival Panasonic last year also moved its European headquarters from Britain to the Netherlands over concerns about potential Brexit-related tax issues. Several other Japanese firms, including megabank MUFG, Nomura Holdings, Daiwa Securities and Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group, have said they are planning to move their main EU bases out of London since the 2016 Brexit vote. France, Germany, Ireland, Luxembourg and the Netherlands have all benefited from companies moving out of London, although the large impact predicted by some on Britain's financial sector has so far failed to materialise. Dutch officials are in contact with more than 250 companies about a possible post-Brexit move, the government there said Wednesday. The Dutch government will announce a final figure in February but "every new arrival of a business, big or small, is a success," Michiel Bakhuizen, a spokesman for the Netherlands Foreign Investment Agency, told AFP. EU 'ready to be more ambitious' Britain has been in a state of political upheaval since last week when parliament rejected the withdrawal deal negotiated by Prime Minister Theresa May with the EU, leaving the UK on course for a no-deal Brexit on March 29. Brussels negotiator Michel Barnier on Wednesday warned the British government would still face a multi-billion euro divorce settlement with the EU under such a scenario. Some anti-EU campaigners, opposed to a negotiated settlement with Brussels, balk at the idea of settling a bill that their own government estimates at A39 billion (44 billion euros) to cover outstanding obligations. But Barnier, in interviews with several European newspapers, said the bill would still be due. "For the EU budget, we've always said one simple thing: the totality of the commitments made by the United Kingdom while still an EU member will be respected," the senior EU official said, according to Le Monde. Separately in the interview, given also to Luxemburger Wort and Poland's Rzeczpospolita, Barnier restated the consensus EU position that the withdrawal deal must stand and that it is up to May's government to find a way to save it. But he suggested that Brussels would be flexible and modify the political declaration on hopes for future ties, agreed alongside the binding withdrawal deal, if Britain were to compromise on May's positions. "We are ready to be more ambitious if the British decide to shift their red lines, for example by remaining in a customs union, or participating in the single market," he said, according to the Luxemburger Wort. "I believe there is a readiness in London for that." Manufacturing sentiment drops The political crisis in London comes against a backdrop of growing economic gloom, with business leaders warning politicians of the effects of Brexit uncertainty. A Confederation of British Industry survey of 326 manufacturing firms on Wednesday found that new orders flattened in the quarter to January and sentiment about both the business situation and export prospects tumbled. Business concerns are particularly high over the prospect of a no-deal Brexit, which could immediately impose high tariffs on key exports such as food and cars. A disruptive Brexit could also have a major impact for transport hubs such as ports and airports. HANOI -- The Vietnamese government has awarded its first trial 5G license to Viettel, the largest telecommunication company in the Southeast Asian nation, the Ministry of Information and Communications said on Wednesday. The license allows the military-run company to launch 5G services in two of Vietnams largest cities - Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City - on a trial basis, the ministry said. The company is not permitted to collect fees from its 5G users during the trial period, which will end on Jan. 21, 2020, according to the statement. The company had earmarked $40 million for the development of its own 5G chipset, but was also considering using technology from Ericsson and Nokia, Viettels President and Chief Executive Officer Le Dang Dung told Reuters in an interview earlier this month. The company, formally known as Viettel Group, has about 60 million subscribers in Vietnam and over 30 million users across 10 other countries - predominantly Asia and Africa. The Redondo Beach lagoon reopened on Friday, June 18, for the first time in more than a year, after the coronavirus pandemic forced it to shutter all last summer. Confession time. Taking a photo that gets thousands of likes and followers is no easy feat. After many efforts to learn to capture a decent image, I now stand at a cul-de-sac. The endeavour to master shutter speeds and ISO has long been relinquished. Now its all left to the automatic settings and luck, the latter being elusive most of the time. Hello, sir, could you please take a picture of me? is a question often popped to strangers. An affirmative, and the camera is handed over and a pose struck while the person behind the lens shifts, changes angle, adjusts the frame and takes a picture. I hear the delightful click (and hope this time Id get a great shot) and smile some more. With rising hope I go back to check the results. But it soon fades as none of the pictures look good. I am the Queen of bad pictures. As a result, I have a huge collection of pictures no one wants to see - including myself. But people like to listen. Hence the focus is now on storytelling, where my real strength lies. Building stories is my forte Fortunately, when sitting around a campfire watching chicken turn crisp, no one wants to see pictures of my travels. They want to hear my stories. And I like to tell them (also glad no one is asking to see photo-mishaps) and as the chicken turns black on the grill, stories get more intense, vivid and even animated. People join in with opinions, suggestions and even good measure awe. This is when all the misgivings vanish and doubles my passion for storytelling. Imagine if I had gorgeous pictures on my camera or phone all wed be doing is huddling over it and ooh-aahing at the scenery without really knowing why that picture made it into the camera in the first place! A journeys soul is in the images that can never be captured through a lens. No moment has left a feeling of sorrow behind at not being caught on camera. Every one of them can be recreated in the mind. For example, I do not have pictures of me at the top of Uhuru Peak the first mountain I climbed in Tanzania. First of all, a trekkers priority is to be alive and stay aware at a height of 5,895 metres amid snow and blizzard. Of course, Id have loved to see a picture of myself at the top but does that take away the thrill of having been up there? No. But do I remember the peak? Yes. Everything from the exhausting crawl through blizzard to absolute loneliness, sickening headache, unusual snow, the eyes of my guide Siraji peering through the balaclava, to the hunger and the huge sense of fulfilment I experienced. I could never really have captured that in a photo-but then I am a terrible photographer anyway. Seasoned photographers may disagree. A picture is worth a thousand words, theyd argue. I concede they would be right. But because I cannot produce a picture thatd tell my story, I say it in a thousand words! I think- it is only fair to maintain the balance between speech and sight! That argument however has its share of incertitude. Storytellers are not born overnight. Its the wealth of their experiences from their past that makes a written word elegant. So lets come clean on this. But, Ill be honest here. The only time I regret not having a good photo is when publishers ask me to substantiate my stories with them. I then embarrassingly produce a weak photo, dreading the look on their faces that reads - but you were there, surely you have better pics? I nod shamefacedly and blush. How about letting readers visualize the setting? Its a great mental exercise? Today, what you see is what sells, baby. I hate that logic. Next time, I promise. How do I explain that I hold thoughts, moments and experiences close to my heart? Because I am busy trying to revel in the experience, I fail to take photos or if I do, they are not nice enough to stand the critical eye. But I have never regretted coming back without one. That does not mean that I never take photos. I do. I capture sights on camera not experience. There is a big difference. During my first visit to Serengeti National Park, Tanzania, I assured myself I was there to witness natures majesty, but deep down I was excited about pictures I could post on Facebook (and in later years Instagram). Fortunately my camera died and because of that I learnt a few valuable lessons on that trip. I learnt to observe. I learned to listen. I learned to feel. My memory of Serengeti is associated with useful info I gathered. Today if I looked at a picture of (even a bad one) a Maasai child, Id easily remember everything else associated with it. And oh, I even got myself a ceremonial Maasai husband, and that is another story which I will tell you one day. These memories dont hinge on pictures. Years of travel later, it is easy for me to look at a photo and tell myself, Congratulations, you done decently well. Maybe itll do great on Instagram because the latest trend seems to be landscapes that give you the understanding of perspective and magnitude. But hey, where is the story? What happened along the way? How did I get there? You see what I mean? Memories are defined by thought I have seen a whole new breed of photographers burst on the scene with fancy cameras snapping pictures of just about everything in sight. My curiosity once led me to ask one (with the fanciest camera) what he did with all the pictures he was shooting of a tree. His answer stunned me He: I take multiple images; you never know which might be 'THE PICTURE'. Me: Do you remember the way you came from? I asked him innocently. He almost swung his camera at me. But that kind of sums up what I am trying to say. A picture is worth a thousand words. A thousand words make a good story. But a thousand pictures cannot tell a story I am still hopeful that one day I will have great picture, like the rest of the world, understand how photo editing software can smoothen my unruly hair, hide scars on my face, help with tummy tucks and such like, but until that happens, I am going to tell a story just by looking at the scars I have acquired through my travels that machete wielding kid in Port Moresby who nicked my arm when trying to cut if off because he wanted my watch that cut on my knee when I rolled down the ski-slope in Davos-Klosters that heart-wrenching pain when a 6 month old HIV-infected baby girl died in my arms in a Kenyan orphanage These are stories waiting to be told and not necessarily around a campfire. If history is a guide, the chances of a breakthrough are poor when Central African Republic's government meets in Khartoum on Thursday with militia groups that control most of the country. The meeting, brokered by the African Union after 18 months of exploratory work, will be the eighth bid in almost six years to forge peace in a country that has become a byword for turmoil and poverty. The talks will bring together a large government delegation and many of the armed groups which have turned swathes of the CAR into brutal battlefields. Since 2013, thousands have been killed and a quarter of the population of 4.5 million have fled their homes. The UN says unrest has driven so many people from their farms that hundreds of thousands are at risk of famine. "Peace is needed and it's needed now. Violence against civilians is increasing, driving even more people from their homes," said Anicet Nemeyimana, director in the CAR for the charity Catholic Relief Services. "At the same time, humanitarian access in certain areas has become completely cut off." "We have to join in a dialogue and save what can still be saved," said former prime minister Martin Ziguele, head of a pro-government party, the Movement for the Liberation of the Central African People (MLPC). According to Sudanese Foreign Minister Al-Dierdiry Ahmed, the parley may last up to three weeks. - Troubling signs - But the mood ahead of the talks has been clouded by suspicion and a fresh round of bloodletting. Thirteen people were killed on Sunday in a village called Zaoro Sangou, in the west of the country, in violence suspected to involve a group called 3R, which claims to represent the Fulani herding people. The meeting "does not inspire trust", a member of the Popular Front for the Rebirth of Central Africa (FPRC) told AFP. The FPRC is one of the biggest militia groups that emerged from a mainly Muslim rebel movement called the Seleka. In 2013, the Seleka overthrew President Francois Bozize, a Christian -- a move that triggered the rise of a predominantly Christian militia called the anti-Balaka. Fearing a Rwandan-style genocide, the former colonial ruler France intervened militarily under a UN mandate. The Seleka were forced from power and in February 2016 and former prime minister Faustin-Archange Touadera was elected president. But Touadera only controls a fraction of the state, despite the support of more than 13,000 troops and police in the UN's MINUSCA mission. The rest is held by militias, who typically portray themselves as defenders of a community or religious group but often fight over mineral wealth -- a hoard that ranges from gold to uranium and diamonds. Over the years, seven peace agreements between the government and armed groups have been signed. None has lasted. The last attempt, in 2017, was forged with the help of the Catholic church, but fighting resumed within a day, leaving a hundred people killed in the central town of Bria. - Amnesty issue - A perpetual sticking point is whether militia chiefs should be amnestied -- a precondition set by all groups for laying down their arms. This has always been ruled out by the government, whose position is that major abuses should be punished. A Special Criminal Court opened in November, tasked with judging violations of human rights or international humanitarian law committed in the country since 2003, including war crimes and genocide. The CAR government "will have a hard time getting concessions" on amnesties, said the FPRC source, whose organisation has been repeatedly cited by the UN for human-rights violations. The Central African Republic gained independence from France in 1960. The country ranks a dismal 188th out of 189 countries in the UN Development Programme's Human Development Index / AFP A Special Criminal Court opened in November, tasked with judging violations of human rights or international humanitarian law committed in the country since 2003, including war crimes and genocide. The talks are further complicated over establishing a mechanism to follow up any peace agreement, given the government's weakness. In contrast with repeated failures to bring peace at national level, local mediation efforts, typically brokered by the church, often bear more fruit, says the International Crisis Group (ICG) think tank. Travelling by foot from as far away as Brussels, thousands of car worshippers are flocking to Luxembourg this weekend for the start of the annual celebration known as the Autofestival. The festival, which is held around this time every year and has its roots in Roman chariot worship, is one of the most important religious observances for the Grande Regions estimated 250,000 devotees. Dillan Huart, a 24-year-old pilgrim from a village in deep Lorraine, departed with two friends more than two weeks ago. By his estimate, this is the sixth time he will have made the journey. We make this walking trek to honour Auto, god of individual mobility, born of Ferro, god of steel and Petrolia, goddess of carbon fuel, he said. Also, Im looking for a good deal on a 2015 Peugeot 206. Using his right hand, he made a pious gear-shifting gesture before chanting vroom vroom and continuing down the well-worn path. Joined by her husband Marcus, Luxembourger Sonia Platz, 39, departed last Friday from their home, just over the border in Konz, Germany. She says that paying respect to Auto is important to show our deep appreciation for cars. In the past, when Auto was displeased, he implored his mother to cause a great petroleum draught in which all the worlds oil wells ran dry, she said. And he begged his father to send the trickster metallurgist Stannum to turn all the steel to tin. Car drivers were forced to ride bicycles or worse use electric scooters. My family is growing, she continued. We have four children, and a baby on the way. It is time for the sacred rite of purchasing a large family vehicle. We seek a used Mercedes Vito that can hold up to seven people. While in recent years some non-believers have dismissed the event as outdated and founded on superstition and myth, believers continue to cite amazing price reductions of up to 30 percent, on all new and used models, as proof of Autos existence and power. Read more at wurst.lu Photo credit: J.P. Gomez On Tuesday, we published details of Eurostat's report suggesting that the working young of Luxembourg is at the second highest risk of poverty, eclipsed only by Romanian young people. On Wednesday, the parliamentary commission on employment also discussed Eurostat's worrying revelation. At the same time, Minister of Labour, Employment, and the Social and Solidarity Economy, Dan Kersch, presented the government programme in terms of employment. Members of the opposition aired a number of issues relating to Kersch's presentation and youth poverty. The Left's Marc Baum complained that the government's programme lacked specific details. Highlighting the introduction of the additional vacation day, Baum explained that there is a lack of specificity in what this will look like, especially in terms of collective agreement. He expressed his disappointment that the status quo would remain for people with more precarious work, such as those in the construction sector. The construction sector collective agreement means that these employees would not benefit from an additional day off. The CSV expressed its support for the Europe Day bank holiday on 9 May but highlighted the need to emphasise European subjects on this day. When asked about the poverty risk amongst young people, Kersch stressed that the minimum wage raise is a concrete measure to try and combat this poverty risk. Those aged 18 and above would be able to benefit from the minimum wage. Baum again praised the minimum wage raise, but believed that 0.9% is a minimal difference. Baum claimed that the amount is so little that it does not count as a structural raise. As for reducing unemployment, Kersch outlined expanding professional development courses. He explained that the working world constantly changes and employees need to be able to adapt. He would hope to introduce a legal framework for this. Youth poverty: Caritas' Robert Urbe reacts In Luxembourg, Eurostat believes those taking home less than 1,800 a month risk living in poverty. As Robert Urbe from Caritas explains, this means effectively living on the edge of society. With 1,800 per month, these young people have less than 60% of what the average Luxembourger takes home. Urbe explained that this causes significant disparities between these young people and the average earner. According to Urbe, it effectively means that these young people cannot afford the same lifestyle, or afford to join the same unions, and generally they will feel excluded by society by their inability to enjoy aspects that others feel are a given. He believes this is the striking aspect rather than whether or not this constitutes 'true' poverty. However, Urbe was unsurprised by the statistics. In fact, Urbe was more surprised that Germany, France, and Belgium all had significantly lower statistics than Luxembourg rather than the fact that the risk of poverty is so high for Luxembourg's working young. Grand Circuit stakes winner Royal Charm recently welcomed the arrival of her first foal, and that foal was also a first of a different sort. Royal Charm, who most notably knocked off some of the top trotting fillies in harness racing with her upset win in the 2016 Elegantimage Final, foaled a filly on Tuesday, January 15, and that foal was also the first foal of 2019 for trotting stallion Father Patrick. Royal Charm and her first foal, a Father Patrick filly Royal Charm and her first foal, a Father Patrick filly Owned by David McDonald of Cornwall, Ont., Shelly MacMillan of Waterloo, Ont., Hudson Standardbred Stable of Hudson, Que., and David K. Reid of Sydenham, Ont., Royal Charm banked $384,182 in her on-track career before retiring to the broodmare ranks. Her next mating comes with another one of harness racing's most sought-after stallions. "She foaled in New Jersey at Fair Winds Farm," MacMillan told Trot Insider. "She's been at Oak Knoll but because she's being bred back to Muscle Hill this year we didn't want to have to ship her and a brand new baby to New Jersey in January. "In late November we made the decision to ship her ahead of the baby and just have her safe." MacMillan looks forward to the future for her newest horse, especially when taking into consideration that a Father Patrick sister to Royal Charm sold this past fall at Harrisburg for $300,000. "I think it's obviously a pretty good cross. We're pretty excited," stated MacMillan. " I said she's already in training to go to Mark Steacy's stable...she's whipping around the paddock already, she knows what she's supposed to do with her legs." We can't seem to find the page you are looking for. You may have typed the address incorrectly or you may have used an outdated link. A plug for an old fave, Bayles' and Orland's Art & Fear. The famous anecdote from Art & Fear about the ceramics class: The ceramics teacher announced on opening day that he was dividing the class into two groups. All those on the left side of the studio, he said, would be graded solely on the quantity of work they produced, all those on the right solely on its quality. His procedure was simple: on the final day of class he would bring in his bathroom scales and weigh the work of the "quantity" group: fifty pound of pots rated an "A," forty pounds a "B," and so on. Those being graded on "quality," however, needed to produce only one potalbeit a perfect oneto get an "A." Well, came grading time and a curious fact emerged: the works of highest quality were all produced by the group being graded for quantity. It seems that while the "quantity" group was busily churning out piles of workand learning from their mistakesthe "quality" group had sat theorizing about perfection, and in the end had little more to show for their efforts than grandiose theories and a pile of dead clay. When I first read this I was almost incredulous, like angels had been culling my life for cautionary tales. When I was in art school, I was required to take a ceramics class, and I really didn't want to. The ceramics teacher was a great guy, a guy named Bob Epstein who was also a photographer. He and I would encounter each other in the Photo Department darkroom sometimes, late at night, as we worked. So, tongue half in cheek, I made a deal with BobI told him I didn't have any time for ceramics and I asked him whether he would give me a passing grade in the class if I managed to make one perfect pot. He said that's not really something you can do, because pottery is a matter of process and progress, of the evolution of your skills and your understanding of the materials, and it's not really static and simple in the way I was conceiving of itwords to that effect. But he knew I was committed to photography and that it was all I was interested in, and that I didn't want to spend any time or effort on ceramics. He could easily have been offended by me and my attitude, and he had the authority to insist that I take his class more seriously. But he stepped aside and got out of my way instead. He knew I spent a lot of time at school, in the darkroom till late at night, so he knew I was focused and worked hard. I did make one mug, working very carefully. He thought it was too regular, bland, with no respect for the clay, and naturally he was right. But when we fired it, the glaze from the upper half of the mug ran down, one color into the other. Bob said that was part of the processfortuitous mistakespart of the elemental aspect of the materials. My one mug might have been a good effort for a maiden try by a rank beginner, but it wasn't perfect by any definition. Bob, being kind, passed me anyway, because he knew my heart was in photography and he didn't want to cause any trouble for me. And then ten years later Art & Fear comes along, and it has this little anecdote that seemed to be a direct admonition for my little display of hubris, of arrogance, my little gambit, with Bob. By that time I had realized, of course, that Bob was just being generous, knowing I wasn't going to learn anything from him or from the clay anyway, because I was close-minded and wasn't going to put any time into it or explore it openly. Clay was not the medium for meI knew that. But perhaps I could have been more mature and more open to what I could have learned from Bob. I was pretty arrogant in those days. I thought I knew everything. Of course after half a lifetime of additional learning I know much, much less nowfortunately for me. Here's the "perfect" mug. It's the physical embodiment, from my very own life, of the little anecdote in Ted and David's book. Another helpful book on some of the same subjects as Art & Fear is Steven Pressfield's The War of Art. The thing in the background in the picture, if you're wondering, is a British officer's sword from the Crimean War. Mike (Thanks to Bob E.) Original contents copyright 2019 by Michael C. Johnston and/or the bylined author. All Rights Reserved. Links in this post may be to our affiliates; sales through affiliate links may benefit this site. Harsh reality (To see all the comments, click on the "Comments" link below.) Featured Comments from: John W: "Ahhh. Well done Mr. J. Two mementos of hubris in the same image." John Camp: "One of the coolest guys I ever met was a potter named Warren MacKenzie, who died earlier this month at 93. He was pretty famous (for a potter) and was much respected in Japan. He started out as a standard art student, in Chicago, I think, but read a book by a guy who was probably the preeminent Western potter of the 20th Century, Bernard Leach of England. MacKenzie apprenticed himself to Leach for three years, and did almost nothing but production pottery (because the pottery studio had to support itself) and in that time really learned how to do the work. Much of the 'art' of pottery comes with the physical act of throwing the clay, and, as with your mug, accident; you get serendipitous beauty. (There's been a tradition in Japan, which is ground zero for the most beautiful pots in the world, of collecting production pots made in Koreathey are made hastily and fairly crudely, but some are stunningly beautiful.) "Anyway, MacKenzie came back to America, slowly became accepted as one of the two or three best potters in the country. He lived not far from me in the St. Croix Valley in Minnesota, and one of the cool things about him was, he had, like, a shed where he'd leave his pots, with a basket to put your money in if you wanted to buy one. Nobody was there to supervise or make sure you paid. You usually never even saw anyone. This continued even for a while after he was becoming a museum-collectible artist, but eventually he had to stop it, I guess, because people would come and take as much as they could, and he learned that they were re-selling it for much more than they paid him. "I bought a half-dozen or so pieces from him over the years, and once confessed that I'd broken one of them, and he laughed and said that he was delighted that we were actually using the pot, which was what it was for. (We kept it full of wooden spoons on the kitchen counter, and I snatched a spoon out of it and managed to pull the pot over on the tile kitchen floor. I almost caught it, but didn't quite.) Anyway, pottery is as engaging as photography, but you can't do everything. "While you might look back on yourself and think what you did was arrogant or smug, I don't think soI think you were choosing your life's work." Blake Andrews: "Art & Fear is an old favorite and it's nice to see it resurface from time to time. Co-author David Bayles lives just up the road from me near Eugene. He keeps a very low profile and is probably better known in distant art circles than locally. But I did seek him out a few years back and then got to know him a bit. He's still making photos, and engaged with the artistic struggle, and also Parkinson's. An amazing man. Thanks for sharing his book." Greg Heins: "When I first encountered Art & Fear, I could only wishpassionatelythat I'd read it about 30 years earlier. But soon I remembered that had I done so, my mind would have been closed to what it was trying to tell me. "It's the first book I recommend to young photographers." Tom: "It was a pottery teacher who taught me how to see light. The regular teacher under whom we studied painting and drawing was away and so the pottery guy stood in. He gathered us round and produced his portfolio from his student years. We spent a couple of hours discussing where the light came from and how it illuminated each subject. It was the single most important art lesson I ever took." Moose: "Re 'A plug for an old fave, Bayles' and Orland's Art & Fear....' Sheesh, forgot to read it last time you recommended it. In my Nook. Now, 'Another helpful book on this subject is Steven Pressfield's The War of Art.' I second that recommendation. I also suggest Austin Kleon's Steal Like an Artist." An artist from Shenzhen is protesting conversion therapy in China, by going to conversion therapy himself. Wu Qiong, 28, organized a series of protests to drive three trucks to hospitals that still offer conversion therapy last weekend, according to South China Morning Post. On the sides, they read, Treating a disease that doesnt exist, Chinese classification of mental disorders still includes sexual orientation disorder, and For 19 years, why? He also has associates in surrounding cities protesting in other ways. One artist, Nut Brother, opened a clinic offering to turn straight people gay. There are more than 100 clinics that claim to convert homosexuals, but not a single one that converts heterosexuals, Brother told South China Morning Post. Both of their demonstrations have received attention online, with the truck protests getting seven million views, and the clinic being searched hundreds of times. A Russian rights group said Chechnya has renewed its crackdown on gay people. So far, officials have killed two and detained 40, according to a report from Russian LGBT Network. Back in 2017, the regions leader Ramzan Kadyrov was under fire for a similar crackdown, and has denied accusations that it happened, saying there are no gay people in Chechnya, according to the New York Times. Now, the rights group has received numerous calls from Russian families asking for help. Amnesty International has backed up their report. News that the authorities have resumed the crackdown is absolutely spine-chilling, Marie Struthers, a regional director at Amnesty, said in the statement, according to the New York Times. With lives in jeopardy, there is an urgent need for an international response. The director of Russian LGBT Network also said the detainees have been tortured and sexually assaulted. Turkey is determined to establish a safe zone in northern Syria, but it has not ruled out cooperation with other countries reports Al-Modon. On Thursday, Turkeys Foreign Minister, Mevlut Cavusoglu, said that his country had the ability to establish a safe zone in Syria on its own, but that it did not rule out cooperating with the United States, Russia, or any other country that wanted to be involved in the matter. He added, speaking to the Al-Khabar television channel, that Turkey and Russia had the same orientation towards reaching a political solution in Syria, but would not move on the issue of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad remaining in his position. He said that Turkey was in indirect contact with the Syrian government, without giving any additional details. On Wednesday, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said that Russia had agreed with his country regarding the safe zone in northern Syria, saying that there were no problems in that regard. Erdogan said in a joint press conference with his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, that Ankara and Moscow had to fight terrorist organizations that were undermining Turkish-Russian cooperation together, and expressed his hope that the American withdrawal from Syria not create a vacuum. Meanwhile, sources in the US Department of Defense said that Washington had sent additional forces to Syria, noting that the reason for that was to secure the withdrawal of American troops from the country, according to the American CNN network. The sources did not reveal the location to which these additional forces were sent or the number that were sent, noting that they were mostly infantry forces and that their mission would be to assist in securing the forces and equipment on the ground during the transport operations. This article was translated and edited by The Syrian Observer. Responsibility for the information and views set out in this article lies entirely with the author. Jordan is the latest Arab state that is set to start the process of normalising relations with the Syrian government reports Human Voice. On Thursday, the Jordanian Al-Ghad newspaper reported that the kingdom had officially invited Syria to participate in the 29th Conference of the Arab Inter-Parliamentary Union to be held in Amman next March. The newspaper quoted parliamentary sources as saying that the invitation was sent by the Speaker of Jordanian Parliament, Atef Tarawneh, to his Syrian counterpart, Hammouda Sabbagh. Syrian participation, if it accepts, will come after years of their absence, caused by the decision to boycott Syria and to freeze its membership to the Arab League. This invitation was made after several indications that the process of normalizing relations between Syria and Jordan has begun, including the recent increase in the level of diplomatic representation for Amman in Damascus, and the visit by a Jordanian parliamentary delegation to Syria, where they met with President Bashar al-Assad in 2018. The kingdom has also called for the restoration of Syrias membership to the Arab League. This has coincided with steps taken by other Arab countries, and the rising voices calling for Syria to be returned to the Arab League. The Syrian government was stripped of its membership in 2011 after the start of the military-political crisis which is still ongoing. The most prominent development was the visit of the first Arab leader to the Syrian capital since 2011, which was carried out by the President of Sudan, Omar al-Bashir, who met with Assad, as well as the announcement by the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain that their embassies would once again start working in Syria. Syrias invitation to participate in the conference also comes amid many questions about the possibility that Damascus will be invited to Marchs Arab summit in Tunisia. During the crisis in Syria, relations between the two countries witnessed a state of political estrangement, the signs of which became clear when the kingdom expelled the regimes ambassador in May 2014. Since the beginning of the crisis in Syria, Jordan decided to remain neutral in its public position about what was occurring, calling on all international forums for a political solution guaranteeing Syrias security and stability. However the Bashar al-Assad regime stuck to a skeptical tone, continuously accusing Amman of supporting terrorist gangs in Syria, which Jordan denied in whole and in part. What is occurring in Syria is, in practical terms, not in Jordans interests, especially economically. Historically, Damascus has been a gateway for a majority of Jordans exports. According to official statistics, the value of Jordanian exports fell to 13.9 million dollars in 2016, which is well down on the 255.5 million dollars of exports that were recorded in 2011. This article was translated and edited by The Syrian Observer. Responsibility for the information and views set out in this article lies entirely with the author. Recep Tayyip Erdogan has cited an agreement signed in 1998 between Turkey and Syria as a backbone for operations against the Kurds in Syria reports Alsouria Net. On Thursday, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan called for the restoration of the secret Adana agreement signed between Turkey and Syria in 1998 in a speech he delivered during his participation in activities for the Turkish Military Academy in the capital Ankara. The agreement, reached 20 years ago, came after tensions that affected the relations between Ankara and Damascus, and its signing was a turning point from the height of the tension towards strategic cooperation, before relations became tense again after the eruption of protests in Syria in 2011 and Turkeys support for the opposition. The Adana agreement stipulated that Syria would cooperate fully with Turkey in fighting terrorism across the border, and that Damascus would end all forms of support for the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), evict its leader Abdullah Ocalan from its soil, close its bases in Syria and Lebanon, and prevent PKK fighters from infiltrating Turkish territory. Entry Onto Syrian Land The agreement also stipulated that Turkey maintained its natural right to self-defense, and in demanding just compensation for lost lives and property, if Syria did not stop its support for the PKK. The agreement also gave Turkey the right to pursue terrorists into Syria up to a depth of five kilometers, and to take the necessary security measures if its national security is endangered. According to the agreement, the border disputes between the two countries ended with the signing of the agreement, with neither having claims or rights due in the others territory. Analysts see the two military operations, which Turkey has carried out in Syria (Olive Branch and Euphrates Shield), as being based on the item that stipulated Turkeys right to pursue terrorists into Syrian territory, as Ankara views the Kurdish Peoples Protection Units (YPG) as an extension of the PKK in Syria. At the end of the 1990s, Ankara expressed major aggravation at the Assad regime for its support of the PKK, and Turkey began beating the drums of war by carrying out exercises with NATO in the region, as well as independent mobilizations on the border with Syria, according to the Washington Institute. The center added that in order to face Ankaras threats, Syria agreed to the Adana protocol in October 1998 and closed the PKK bases on its territory. It arrested hundreds of PKK fighters, in addition to exiling Ocalan from Syria, which led to his arrest in 1999 in Kenya. This article was translated and edited by The Syrian Observer. Responsibility for the information and views set out in this article lies entirely with the author. September's agreement, between Russia and Turkey, was designed to keep regime and oppositions separated, but infractions have been common writes SANA. The Russian Foreign Ministry expressed serious concern over the worsening situation in the de-escalation zone in Idleb province. On Wednesday, Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson, Maria Zakharova, said in a press conference that, The current situation around Idleb is of serious concern. The situation in this de-escalation zone is rapidly deteriorating, adding that the area is under full control of Jabhat al-Nusra terrorists, after the withdrawal of the others terrorist groups from the area. Zakharova indicated that over 1,000 breaches by terrorists have been registered in the area, leaving a number of people killed or injured, adding that these continuous terrorist provocations threaten civilians, Syrian soldiers and the Russian military base at Hemeimeem Airport. On the other hand, Zakharova said that the US have not taken specific measures to withdraw its troops from Syria, adding that the main issue in the current circumstances is not to allow the escalation of tensions in the northeastern region in Syria. Zakharova said that it is clear that the US troops in Syria, which have been working illegally in the country, as well as their allies in the so-called International Coalition, have not been able to prevent the besieged terrorists in the east of Syria from accessing others parts of the country. This article was edited by The Syrian Observer. Responsibility for the information and views set out in this article lies entirely with the author. Maher al-Assad, brother of the regime's president, is being marginalized, by the Russians, as Suhail al-Hassan achieves prominence reports Ana Press. Ana Press has obtained information from a source close to the commander of the Fourth Division, Maher al-Assad. In a private WhatsApp message, which contained secret orders issued by the Hemeimeem base to President Bashar al-Assad, they forbid Mahed al-Assad from carrying out any individual military acts, and to work quickly to dissolve the Fourth Division, while moving Ghassan Bilal (Maher al-Assads right hand) to become head of the southern region staff, which means marginalizing Maher, as the source put it. According to the same source, the information which was made available to him due to his proximity to Maher al-Assad, also revealed that, Russia has taken control over the fronts, and that military power is in their hands, and it is giving power to Brigadier General Suhail al-Hassan, who is an important officer in Syria known for his obedience to Russian orders, and who has had full control of the Abou al-Dahour Airbase after Russia withdrew all forces and handed full power to Hassan. The source said that, The relationship between Suhail al-Hassan and Maher al-Assad has been very tense and strained because Maher al-Assad considers Suhail al-Hassan to be a rebel, under the authority of the Hemeimeem base, while noting that Hassan does not take any orders from the Syrian Defense Minister, and that he resides solely in the Hemeimeem base, and that tanks and forces have been withdrawn from the Fourth Division and sent to the Fifth Division. The source noted that, The dispute has reached the point of fighting between followers of Maher al-Assad and the Fifth Division, which is under Russian control, with the poisoning of 23 fighters from the Fourth Division. Meanwhile, Maher al-Assad has requested a meeting with the Hemeimeem base a number of times, but Moscow has repeatedly refused, intensifying the dispute between them and increasing the conflicts on the ground, which have still not ended. On Wednesday, through its sources, Ana Press monitored heavy clashes between members of the Syrian regime forces, represented by the Fourth Division and members of the Fifth Corps and the Eighth Division in Sahel al-Ghab in Hama, after a dispute about the administration of the area, in which both sides are present. The clashes killed dozens on both sides. This article was translated and edited by The Syrian Observer. Responsibility for the information and views set out in this article lies entirely with the author. As civilians fled al-Baghouz village in cars, the US-led International Coalition attacked, killing a number of them and injuring many others writes SANA. The US-led International Coalition continues to commit massacres against civilians in the Deir ez-Zor countryside. Its warplanes have targeted civilians who were running away from the Islamic State (ISIS) in al-Baghouz village in Deir ez-Zors southeastern countryside. Local sources said that before midnight the Coalitions warplanes targeted cars carrying civilians, who were fleeing from areas under the control of ISIS, claiming the lives of a number of them and injuring others. Sources indicated that most of the cars were destroyed, adding that the number of martyrs is likely to rise due to the critical condition of the injured. The aggression launched by the Coalition comes three days after another massacre in which 20 civilians were killed, including women and children, who were targeted as they tried to flee areas where ISIS terrorists are positioned in al-Baghouz Fouqani village. This article was edited by The Syrian Observer. Responsibility for the information and views set out in this article lies entirely with the author. With 13.1 million people in need of aid in Syria, ensuring that it is delivered is a logistical nightmare and guaranteeing that it gets to the right people is even more difficult writes Al-Araby al-Jadeed. The recent extension in December 2018 of UN Resolution 2165 (now 2249), that covers UN cross border humanitarian assistance to Syria, combined with the growing influence of Damascus around the country in the past year, has once again raised questions about the future of the humanitarian response in Syria. With more than half the original population of the country, over 13.1 million people, currently thought to be in need of humanitarian assistance according to UNOCHA, much emphasis has been placed on the importance of cross border aid from Turkey and Jordan. However, an estimated 60 percent of the humanitarian response is still delivered from within Syrian government controlled territory, under difficult conditions, both practically and ethically. The ethical dilemmas surrounding aid delivery in war zones is not new. In Syria, as in other civil wars, there is not only a state determined to maintain control over the nature and direction of humanitarian assistance, but a regime who is very often the direct beneficiary of this process. The rapid rise in humanitarians exploring registration in Damascus in the past two years suggests that the growth of NGOs wanting to work in government-held areas is far from over, compounding this issue further. But, to start working legally requires successful completion of a complex and idiosyncratic registration process that authorities in Damascus have kept unstandardised and unofficial. Not only does this delay assistance to Syrians who truly need it, but it also continues to politicise the humanitarian response in Syria as well as test its founding principles even before aid delivery has begun. Humanitarian Registration in Syria Since 2011, the registration process for humanitarian organisations wanting to work in government-controlled areas has been firmly under the purview of the Syrian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. In co-ordination with the various Syrian security services, registration involves the investment of significant amounts of time and money by INGOs. Not only do they need to conduct scoping visits to Damascus, liaise with one of only a few potential Syrian partner organisation willing to work with INGOs (particularly the Syrian Arab Red Crescent and Syria Trust, the latter headed by the Presidents wife, Asma al-Assad) but also experience invasive and time consuming background checks into the organisations operations, budget size and staff members. In some cases these checks extend to the activities of employees spouses who are not involved with the humanitarian sector. For example, the Lebanese country director of an INGO that registered in Syria in 2016 had her own family file as well as the family file of her non-NGO Lebanese husband investigated by Syrian authorities. Gaining official registration with Damascus can take anywhere from nine months to two years and even if successful, it is only the beginning of the process. This plea is problematic for the way in which it conflates two issues; humanitarian aid for people in need, and rebuilding. Nobody is begrudging anyone the former, but the latter remains extremely problematic and external funds will only serve to consolidate issues. Visas for international staff need to be subsequently applied for and granted (by no means a quick or guaranteed process even with registration), office space needs to be rented, lawyers with good connections hired, local staff recruited and approved by local partners and security services. Administrative issues such as solving the complex payment and money transfer system for salaries and project costs that runs through only a handful of banks in Damascus need to be worked out, not to mention all of the above needing to be in compliance with international sanctions, anti-terrorism and anti-corruption laws as well as donor regulations. Despite these challenges, in January 2016, around 14 INGOs were officially operating out of Damascus to government controlled areas of the country. By mid-2018, that number had over doubled, to 31. However, only seven of these have managed to work in both opposition and government areas during the conflict. Put another way, over 75 percent (24) of these 31 INGOs have only ever worked in government controlled areas of Syria in the history of their organisation. With at least 36 other INGOs thought to be in the process of registration or exploring operating from Damascus going into 2019, the growth is not yet over. Issues With the Registration Process Three main issues arise regarding the INGO registration process, that all ultimately constrain the response of an organisation before they even begin operations. Firstly, the process of registration and subsequent steps is complex and time-consuming. This consequently delays aid to people who need it. Secondly, the process also appears to currently benefit NGOs who fit the regimes narrative as highlighted by the low number of INGOs who have worked in both opposition and government areas being granted registration (7) as well as the number of INGOs granted registration who have only ever worked in government controlled areas (24). This effectively intensifies and entrenches a polarised, one-sided humanitarian response in Syria. Finally, the registration process (and start up operations) require costly technical expertise and other payments that inevitably help support and sustain the incumbent regime. Such concerns have been raised previously by INGOS in 2016, but these focused on operations and did not extend to the registration process. While there is no doubt that there is urgent humanitarian work to be done in Syria, it is important to stress that the only certain beneficiary of the current registration process is the Syrian government. Effectively, external NGO funding for the INGO registration process and following start up processes only consolidates the Syrian governments existing monopoly over where and to whom aid is allocated, effectively setting conditions before operations begin. As the Brookings Institutes Steven Heydemann recently observed, Anyone who thinks funds provided to the regime will: Be used to support those not deemed loyal; Be used to provide for safe return of refugees; Be used to assist IDPs from opposition areas to return; Be used in ways that are not corrupt, Is naive, a fool, or a loyalist. In all civil wars, by bringing political, economic and social resources to the table, humanitarian organisations can be implicated in either strengthening or undermining existing power systems and structures. Spent first week November in Damascus. The moral hazards for principled NGOs in government-controlled Syria are immense. There is urgent humanitarian work to be done, but lets call the main task what it is: reconstruction of infrastructure that government itself destroyed. choosing where we work using own criteria (# of IDPs served, for example) and tying it to teacher training, curriculum development, and other soft support. In the case of Syria, this has been all the more heightened because of the regimes strangle-hold over humanitarian access, but also can be applied to the time before operations, to the INGO registration process itself. While different approaches have been seen in the past in how NGOs react to government constraints, such as Mercy Corps taking the defiant step of leaving Syria after threats by the government due to their work in opposition areas, Damascus currently holds all the cards in terms of what organisations are granted access and who receives assistance. While some other organisations try to work within the system, such as the Norwegian Refugee Council, who choose light rehabilitation and try to insist upon where and with whom they work, their mere presence in Damascus inevitably means that a certain amount of their budget and resources will be directed to regime interests. In light of this, and the rapid rise in humanitarians exploring registration in Damascus in the past two years, it is imperative that policy makers and humanitarians better understand the implications of the Syrian registration process and how it too contributes to constraining and polarising the humanitarian response, benefiting the regime and testing humanitarian principles. Paul Hastings is the pseudonym of a Middle East based security analyst who has focused on Syria and the region since 2010. His research focuses on humanitarian access, ceasefire and reconciliation agreements, and conflict analysis. Marika Sosnowski is an admitted lawyer and PhD candidate at the University of Melbourne. Her research focuses on ceasefires, statebuilding and governance, with particular interest in the Syrian civil war. Responsibility for the information and views set out in this article lies entirely with the author. The 22-year-old model Chloe Ayling, who became a victim of sexual slavery, now enjoys herself with her friends in Thailand as she posted new photos on Instagram. The model was also accompanied by Natalie Nunn. But the fans were most pleased with the nude photo as models pose absolutely naked. Natalie told Sun Online: Chloe has been under huge stress now it's the second kidnap trial in Italy. Its bringing back all the bad memories - its been really horrible for her. She says shes been so stressed shes put on loads of weight - even though she still looks great. Chloe Ayling was kidnapped and held for six days in sexual slavery in Italy in 2017. Follow NEWS.am STYLE on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram Montreal horseman Marc Camirand went to the yearling auction in Kentucky in 2017 looking to buy one horse and get back in the sport after a couple of years on the sidelines. He came back with a horse and a quarter. The fraction made all the difference. As co-owner of trotter Dream Nation, Camirand had a piece of one of the dominant two-year-olds on the Ontario circuit in 2018, and his first O'Brien Award finalist. "It's fun to have a horse like that. They don't come around every year," said Camirand, 69, who trained top horses including Hambletonian Oaks runner-up Ariane Du Haras and classy pacer Le Courrier during a four-decade career that ended with his retirement in 2011. Another Quebec native, Jacques Dupont, is the trainer of Dream Nation, and Camirand said he deserves the credit for the gelding's impressive campaign. Dupont had the Archangel gelding circled on his sale catalogue at Lexington when Camirand bumped into him about an hour before the horse went through the ring. "I had noticed the horse myself -- he was almost black, a real looker -- but I didn't think he'd go for less than $60,000. I certainly couldn't afford him myself. But I told Jacques that I'd take a share if the price wasn't too high. I was very surprised he went for $42,000. I guess it's because he was an Archangel rather than a Muscle Hill or Chapter Seven. That was our good luck," said Camirand, who has headed the horsemen's association in Quebec for the past eight years. The Quebec-based ownership group of Dream Nation includes Dupont's Ecuries Dorleans of Repentigny, Camirand, Ecurie CSL of Sorel and Gestion C. Levesque 2005 Inc. of St-Hyacinthe. Camirand said he could see early on that Dream Nation had potential. He trained the horse he bought for himself, a still-unraced Donato Hanover colt called Ace Bi, alongside Dream Nation in Florida last winter. "Jacques liked mine at first, but Dream Nation impressed me more. He always looked good. All he did was trot, easily. He's got a big motor. He looked like a Gold horse from the start." The young trotter made an immediate impact at the races, capturing his first three starts in Ontario (including two OSS Golds), then an elimination and the $53,800 final of the Balanced Image at Hanover Raceway. Before the end of his 10-race campaign, he'd added another Gold, in a career best 1:55.3 at Woodbine Mohawk Park, and a runner-up finish in the Champlain. Demonstrating an ability to race in front, at the back or mid-pack, he racked up six wins, two seconds and a third and earnings of $205,290. His only off-the-board finish came in the $225,000 OSS Super Final, when he lagged by as many as 13 lengths and wound up fourth, two lengths behind the other O'Brien finalist Forbidden Trade, after a troubled trip. Camirand said the horse wasn't staked much beyond the OSS as a two-year-old, but that will change in 2019, with the Breeders Crown as one of this year's targets. He's not expecting a victory at the O'Briens, because Forbidden Trade had more late-season momentum, but "I'm not sure that horse is better than ours. I guess we'll see at three." Win or lose, the trotter has undoubtedly rekindled Camirand's racing dreams. From having no horses two years ago, he now has shares of seven. Standardbred Canada will present the 30th edition of the OBrien Awards on Saturday, February 2, 2019 at the Hilton Mississauga/Meadowvale Hotel. Tickets are now on sale and can be purchased until Thursday, January 24 by contacting the Member & Stakeholder Relations Department at 905-858-3060. Tickets are $200 each (includes HST) and include a cocktail reception, gourmet dinner, wine, and complimentary portrait. (A Trot Insider Exclusive by Paul Delean) Maritime legend Wally Hennessey capped a driving grand slam on Wednesday night (Jan. 23) at Pompano Park with a milestone win, teaming up with Amante Standardbred Inc.'s Prince Of Fame ($3.40) to capture the 10,000th driving win of his career. Hennessey, a native of Charlottetown, PEI, floated the Mickey McNichol-trained Prince Of Fame to clear the lead with just over a circuit to go in the evening's finale, a $4,500 conditioned trot. The six-year-old Crazed gelding turned aside mild pressure from My Revenuer (Andy Santeramo) before edging away comfortably in upper stretch to a 1:57.2 win. A winner of over $66 million in purses, Hennessey departed the Maritimes for the Sunshine State in 1986 before going on to enjoy sustained success with trotting dynamo Moni Maker. The 62-year-old reinsman was enshrined into the U.S. Harness Racing Hall of Fame in 2007 and the Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame in 2014. Wally Hennessey was greeted by Racing Secretary Joe Frasure and a large contingency of fans and horsemen upon achieving his 10,000th lifetime win on Wednesday night at Pompano Park Hennesseys 10,000 milestone is a feat that only 16 other drivers have accomplished. He is currently sporting a lofty .550 UDR during the current Pompano meet, is averaging three-plus wins per card, and is showing no signs of slowing down over the sunny south Florida oval. Last season, Hennessey racked up 382 wins, second only to his 1995 total of 419 victories. In reflecting on his milestone achievement, Hennessey, in a post race interview, lamented, "I have been around for many years and am lucky to have stayed competitive all these years. It certainly doesn't get any easier with the talent around these days, but that's why it's necessary to work harder than ever to retain your sharpness." Hennessey fondly remembers the early days on Eustis Street in Charlottetown becoming enamored with the sport that has been his life work. "I have a picture of myself at age 10 holding the head of a horse driven by my dad and it's a constant reminder of what a great influence he was on my career. I have been lucky to have driven some really great horses over the years, including, of course, Moni Maker." Hennessey has won some of the sport's most prestigious races, including the Woodrow Wilson at the Meadowlands Racetrack and countless stakes events here and overseas. When asked about his future goals, Hennessey remarked, "This is a sport that is a one-step-at-a-time sport. Having said that, my next goal is win number 10,001. Then, hopefully, I'll go on from there. Hennessey has enriched the owners of horses he has driven by over $66 million and joins Dave Palone, Tony Morgan, Herve Filion, Cat Manzi, David Miller, Dave Magee, Billy Parker, Walter Case Jr., Aaron Merriman, Tim Tetrick, John Campbell, Mike Lachance, Kevin Wallis, Peter Wrenn, George Brennan and Brian Sears in the exclusive 10,000 win club. "Nothing will change," Hennessey added. "I'll be at the barn early tomorrow morning and close up late at night. Yes, nothing will change!" (With files from Pompano Park) Ex-SIS agent reportedly discussed his steps with Pentas spokesperson The media reports also suggest that Peter Toth monitored SaS chair Richard Sulik. Nearly one year after the murder of investigative reporter Jan Kuciak and his fiancee Martina Kusnirova, new information has emerged describing the monitoring of journalists and the role of Peter Toth, ex-agent of the Slovak Information Service (SIS) intelligence agency. When the media linked the group from Kolarovo (Nitra Region), charged with murdering Kuciak and Kusnirova, with controversial businessman Marian Kocner in early October, Toth inquired about Kocners situation. At the time, he also discussed it with Martin Danko, external relations manager of the Penta financial group, the Sme daily reported, referring to the police sources. At the time, Kocner was already in custody due to the suspicions of falsifying promissory notes concerning the private broadcaster TV Markiza. Read also: Deputy parliamentary speaker sent selfies to Alena Zs. Read more I was taken aback by the information from Toth, in which he described Kocners potential involvement in the murder, Danko told Sme, confirming he was discussing the topic with Toth. He failed to answer the question on his relation to Kocner. SaS chair might have been monitored as well On the very same day, he was exchanging text messages with Danko, Toth testified at the police as a confidential witness. He confirmed that he had been monitoring several journalists for Kocner, including Kuciak. Following the police order, he left his mobile phone behind, from which investigators learnt that he had been communicating with Danko, Sme wrote. When asked about the potential involvement of Penta in monitoring the journalists several weeks later, he denied any such actions. He also told the investigators that he had not received any instructions from Penta on how to testify at the police, according to Sme. Read also: Police wanted to arrest Nitra-based businessman Bodor in connection to Kuciaks murder Read more Toth also said in his testimony that Norbert Bodor, son of Miroslav Bodor, the owner of the Bonul security service company, helped him with monitoring, using his contact at the police. Apart from journalists, they watched the chair of the opposition Freedom and Solidarity (SaS) party, Richard Sulik, in connection to him allegedly taking cocaine. He was surprised after learning the information from Sme. Meanwhile, Toth provided a statement to Sme, claiming that he considers the publication of information about a confidential witness as persecution by an organised group of people. However, Danko confirmed to Sme that Toth informed him about going to testify at the police. During her testimony, Alena Zs., who reportedly paid for murdering Kuciak, also referred to what Toth said in his testimony last November, Sme wrote. A high-positioned police officer might have screened Kuciak The Plus 7 Dni weekly meanwhile reported that several weeks before Kuciaks murder, one high-positioned police officer screened the journalist in the police database, referring to a source from law enforcement bodies. Read also: Not only Peter Toth spied on journalists for Kocner Read more The police officer was reportedly a subordinate of then-police corps president Tibor Gaspar. Gaspar has refused to answer the questions. The information is currently being scrutinised by the team investigating the murder. Disclaimer: The Penta financial group has a minority share in Petit Press, the co-owner of The Slovak Spectator. 24. Jan 2019 at 13:43 | Compiled by Spectator staff Why some foreigners struggle to open bank accounts in Slovakia Sanction lists create problems for some foreign citizens living in Slovakia. Imagine you need to visit the bank in person whenever you need to perform a basic operation, like paying your rent, internet fees, health insurance, or other things that can now be done more conveniently through internet banking. Such is the everyday reality of some foreigners living in Slovakia, namely Iranians and Syrians. The Markiza private TV broadcaster was first to point out the problem. My business couldn't be run properly, and I lost a lot of business regarding this issue, Roofia Jafarian, an Iranian who has been living in Slovakia since October 2016, told The Slovak Spectator. She opened her bank account for business, but it was closed on March 2017. They sent me a letter that I have one month to close my account. Without any explanation, she described, adding that she had no choice but to close it, so she did so at the bank. Since then, she has visited the headquarters of the bank several times, but nobody has given her an explanation on why her account needed to be closed. The Slovak Spectator spoke to nine foreigners from Iran and Syria living in Slovakia, who faced the same problem. 24. Jan 2019 at 17:58 | Nina Hrabovska Francelova New York lawmakers voted to ban conversion therapy and gender identity discrimination, according to the Associated Press. The decision now goes to Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who is expected to sign the bills into law. He praised the bills on Tuesday when they were passed. This is an issue of basic fairness and today marks an historic day for those in the LGBTQ community who fought tirelessly for the passage of this bill, he said in a statement, according to AP. The first bill would stop licensed therapists from attempting to alter a minors sexual orientation or gender identity. The second adds gender identity discrimination under hate crime laws, according to the New York Times. This would make it illegal to deny a person housing, accommodations or education based on gender expression or identity. The gravity of the existential threat we face from Islamic Jihad is truly of epic proportions. It is essentially a battle pitting free-civilized man against a totalitarian barbarian. What is at stake is the struggle for our very soul - namely who we are and what we represent. The lives that were sacrificed for individual rights and freedoms that we've come to cherish are being chiseled away from right under our noses by the stealth jihadists. And many of us are in denial and totally clueless. The left's appeasement and pandering to evil is nothing new. What makes their utopian delusions so infuriating and unpardonable is that it is not only they who will have to pay the consequences, and deservedly, so, they are thwarting and undermining our best efforts at resistance and are thus dragging us down in the process as well. By Peter Lancz,, the head of the Raoul Wallenberg World Campaign Against Racism. An interview with Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey published by Rolling Stone on Wednesday took a darkly comic turn when he was asked about his most memorable interaction with Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg. What was your most memorable encounter with Zuckerberg? Well, there was a year when he was only eating what he was killing. He made goat for me for dinner. He killed the goat. In front of you? No. He killed it before. I guess he kills it. He kills it with a laser gun and then the knife. Then they send it to the butcher. A . . . laser gun? I dont know. A stun gun. They stun it, and then he knifed it. Then they send it to a butcher. Evidently in Palo Alto theres a rule or regulation that you can have six livestock on any lot of land, so he had six goats at the time. I go, Were eating the goat you killed? He said, Yeah. I said, Have you eaten goat before? Hes like, Yeah, I love it. Im like, What else are we having? Salad. I said, Where is the goat? Its in the oven. Then we waited for about 30 minutes. Hes like, I think its done now. We go in the dining room. He puts the goat down. It was cold. That was memorable. I dont know if it went back in the oven. I just ate my salad. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Context is crucial here. Every year, Zuckerberg publicly sets a personal goal. In 2011, it was only to eat animals that he had killed himself. He reportedly got the idea from renowned Silicon Valley chef Jesse Cool, who is known for founding the restaurant Flea St. Cafe. Cool says she advised Zuckerberg when he killed his first goat, chicken, and pig. He cut the throat of the goat with a knife, which is the most kind way to do it, Cool told Fortune at the time. Zuckerberg had portrayed his goal as a way to better understand where his food comes from and the cost of eating meat. I think many people forget that a living being has to die for you to eat meat, so my goal revolves around not letting myself forget that and being thankful for what I have, he told Fortune in a 2011 email. This year Ive basically become a vegetarian since the only meat Im eating is from animals Ive killed myself. Advertisement Zuckerberg eventually returned to eating store-bought meatin 2012, the Today Show even called a butcher shop in Palo Alto to confirm that Zuckerberg had purchased a marinated beef steakbut apparently not before dining with another tech CEO. Advertisement Dorsey generally avoided saying much else about Zuckerberg or Facebook in the rest of the interview, even when asked directly. I see Mark as a very, very smart businessman. He will excel to gain as much market share as possible, the Twitter CEO said, when asked about Facebooks philosophy and purpose. Dorsey also indicated that Twitter and Facebook faced similar problems, without specifying what they were. He further mentioned learning that Facebook is an extremely popular website in Myanmar during a trip there, though did not comment on the sites role in spreading hate speech that fueled a genocide in the country. Facebook, for its part, has not responded to Slates inquiry about the goat slaughter. As violent protests erupted in Venezuela challenging incumbent President Nicolas Maduro, the United States joined several other countries in recognizing opposition leader Juan Guaido as the legitimate head of state. But it wasnt only the traditional superpowers or multinational authorities people looked to for a verdict. The signal also seemed to come from a newer geopolitical player: Instagram. On Wednesday, just as the United States indicated its support for Guaido, several observers noted that the Facebook-owned social networking platform appeared to have revoked Maduros verified status, implicitly rejecting his continued claim to office. Screenshots of Maduros noticeably unverified profile were juxtaposed with Guaidos, which did sport the coveted blue check mark, implying that Instagram had conferred the elevated status on the newly prominent leader. For instance, take this now-deleted tweet: Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement An Instagram spokeswoman later clarified in a statement to Fast Company that Nicolas Maduro was not verified on Instagram, and we did not remove verification from his account, and Guaido had apparently been verified several months before. But some had already latched on to the rumor, pointing to the social platforms apparent move as a notable rebuke of Maduro. Kremlin-backed propaganda network RT used the rumor to further Russias position that Maduro is still the rightful leader of Venezuela, while arguing that U.S. (and U.S.-based social networks apparent) support of Guaido is a clear example of Western extraterritorial interference. Advertisement Advertisement This is far from the first time a tech giant has been accused of taking sides in a geopolitical quarrel. In 2010, Google Maps found itself in the middle of a live border dispute between Costa Rica and Nicaragua. In 2011, Facebook effectively acknowledged sovereignty of Kosovo despite the nations lack of official U.N. recognition. In 2013, Google again caused a minor diplomatic row by appearing to recognize the state of Palestine by changing the label on its localized search page from Google Palestinian Territories to Google Palestine. This isnt even the first time social networks profile verification features have become deeply politicized. Twitter has learned this lesson many times over, its own checkmark verification regime sparking actual diplomatic outcry by the Ukrainian embassy to the U.K. when the platform appeared to legitimize Russian control over Crimea by verifying a Russian diplomatic account in the contested territory. Advertisement We have sent official complaint @TwitterSupport. It's absolutely unacceptable to give so called #Russia's MFA in occupied #Crimea a blue tick! RU illegally annexed Crimea, militarized it & commits gross violations of human rights. Twitter must block that account! #crimeaisukraine pic.twitter.com/CGGQ9RFBem Ukraine's Emb. to UK (@UkrEmbLondon) January 10, 2019 Advertisement Concerns about verified status extend beyond international diplomacy: Twitter was celebrated by some and criticized by others for choosing ideological sides when it revoked the verified statuses of right-wing trolls and white supremacists. The company admitted that while the tool was intended to be a neutral indicator of authenticity, verification has long been perceived as an endorsement. It updated its policy to allow the status to be removed if verified users engage in hate speech and other threatening behaviors that violate the platforms code of conduct. Advertisement Platforms must also sometimes decide whether to consider removing controversial and authoritarian leaders outright. Instagram blocked, unblocked, and then re-blocked Chechen dictator Ramzan Kadyrov after the U.S. Treasury Department sanctioned him under the Magnitsky Act. (As a U.S. company, Facebook explained the move as a legal obligation.) Facebook banned a number of Myanmar military officials after a U.N. report recommended the generals prosecution for war crimes, though media reports and human rights advocacy also reportedly informed the companys decision. But official pronouncements and diplomatic statements are frequently made on social platforms. Deactivating national leaders accounts could interfere with diplomacy or domestic matters. Removing verification, meanwhile, could lead to confusion about the authenticity of these statements, making it exceedingly difficult to spot misinformation that would inevitably come from imposter accounts. Advertisement Advertisement In these sorts of gray areas, tech companies need to weigh their own internal policies against relevant laws, public pressure, and immediate circumstances or threats to make rapid and highly public determinations. The outcomes of these decisions can be inconsistent, and their justifications rarely satisfying. As UCLA law professor Kristen Eichensehr has argued, technology companies prefer to fashion themselves as digital Switzerlands. In international customary law, such a designation might be enough to shield a country from conflict. On the internet, though, the situation is far murkier. Technology companies cannot be Switzerlands. They are now inherently political actors, and their product and policy decisions increasingly have real world effects. Companies need to decide, for instance, whether oppressive countries should have access not only to social platforms but to artificial intelligence tools like facial recognition, and are scrambling to craft principles to guide product and business decisions that have implications for human rights. While Instagrams profile verification policy appears to have been a red herring in the ongoing story of Venezuelas upheaval, the thousands of little blue check marks scattered around the internet should serve as a reminder of the widespread influence technology companies have in shaping public perceptions, and of the potentially serious consequences that a few pixels can have on matters of enormous social significance. Future Tense is a partnership of Slate, New America, and Arizona State University that examines emerging technologies, public policy, and society. Two years ago this week, Donald Trump was sworn into office. His inaugural address on Jan. 21, 2017, painted a picture of America that was darker and more sinister than many of us had imagined. America, according to Trump that day, suffered from seething corruption in government, rampant criminality in the streets, and hopeless mistrust between its citizens. For many of us, his description was an America we didnt really recognize, a cesspool of greed and fear and hate. He also positioned himself as the man who would fix it. Advertisement Two years later, we are padlocked inside the longest shutdown in American history, with 800,000 federal workers who rely upon Trumps government about to miss a second paycheck. Emergency food resources and domestic violence shelters are stretched beyond capacity. Air traffic controllers and pilots warn of horrifying risk for imminent crises. Members of the U.S. Coast Guard are now forced to get food from food pantries. Hundreds of federal workers protested Wednesday in the Senate, culminating in 12 arrests. Considering all of this, I decided to revisit the presidents speech to understand whether were closer or further from the apocalyptic vision he put forth in 2017. Advertisement Advertisement Trump Inaugural 2017: On the work ahead We will face challenges. We will confront hardships. But we will get the job done. Advertisement January 2019: The federal government has been partially shutdown for 34 days because Senate Republicans and Donald Trump will not negotiate its re-opening until he is given $5.7 billion for a border wall. Trump inaugural 2017: On representative democracy What truly matters is not which party controls our government, but whether our government is controlled by the people. January 20th 2017 will be remembered as the day the people became the rulers of this nation again. The forgotten men and women of our country will be forgotten no longer. Everyone is listening to you now. January 2019: On the 34th day of the government shutdown, polling conducted by CBS News, finds that 71 percent of Americans dont think the issue of a border wall is worth a government shutdown, which they say is now having a negative impact on the country. Trump inaugural 2017: On corruption in government Today we are not merely transferring power from one Administration to another, or from one party to anotherbut we are transferring power from Washington, D.C., and giving it back to you, the American People. For too long, a small group in our nations Capital has reaped the rewards of government while the people have borne the cost. Washington flourishedbut the people did not share in its wealth. Politicians prosperedbut the jobs left, and the factories closed. The establishment protected itself, but not the citizens of our country. Their victories have not been your victories; their triumphs have not been your triumphs; and while they celebrated in our nations capital, there was little to celebrate for struggling families all across our land. Advertisement Advertisement January 2019: As the shutdown grinds on, Trumps daughter Ivanka (a senior adviser to the president) has received five new trademarks from the Chinese government for child care centers, sunglasses, and wedding dresses. Meanwhile, President Trump is himself the subject of multiple ethics and corruption probes that focus on his use of his position to enrich himself and his brand, as are multiple current and former members of his administration and his family. Trump inaugural 2017: On government At the center of this movement is a crucial conviction: that a nation exists to serve its citizens. January 2019: Nine out of 15 federal departments are closed, as well as dozens of agencies. The FDA is not doing routine inspections of seafood, fruits, vegetables, and other foods at high risk of contamination. Federal funding for food assistance programs for women, children, and infants, and those living on Native American reservations has been suspended. Workers at the FBI, the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Bureau of Prisons, Customs and Border Protection, the Coast Guard, and the Secret Service are working without pay, while warning of the acute danger of doing so. Advertisement The Violence Against Women Act, which supports resources for survivors of domestic violence expired last month. The 19 Smithsonian museums, and the National Gallery of Art in Washington, are closed and losing $1 million per week. The National Zoo is closed. Some national parks have closed, and some of the parks that remain open have suffered irreparable damage to wildlife and trees. Immigration courts have closed, forcing judges to postpone already backlogged hearings that had been scheduled months in advance. The Environmental Protection Agency has halted inspections of chemical factories, power plants, oil refineries, water treatment plants, and thousands of other industrial sites. Trump inaugural 2017: On empathy This American carnage stops right here and stops right now. We are one nationand their pain is our pain. Their dreams are our dreams; and their success will be our success. We share one heart, one home, and one glorious destiny. Advertisement Advertisement January 2019: Billionaire Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross claims he doesnt understand why furloughed federal workers have to go to food banks to feed their families. Lara Trump says federal workers should tolerate a little bit of pain, but its going to be for the future of our country. White House economic adviser Kevin Hassett said furloughed federal workers who are not getting paid during the partial government shutdown are better off because they didnt have to use up their vacation days. Trump inaugural 2017: On restoring civility At the bedrock of our politics will be a total allegiance to the United States of America, and through our loyalty to our country, we will rediscover our loyalty to each other. When you open your heart to patriotism, there is no room for prejudice. The Bible tells us, How good and pleasant it is when Gods people live together in unity. Advertisement January 2019: Illinois Rep. Adam Kinzinger, a Republican, defended the morality of a border wall by saying, Look, I have four walls around my house and they keep bad people out and critters out. Hate crimes have increased by 17 percent in the past year, and according to the Anti-Defamation Leagues latest Murder and Extremism report right-wing extremist murders in the U.S. hit a record high for the first time since 1995. Over 10,000 immigrant children have been held in custody at shelters across the nation, to deter migrants from entering the country. (Four lawsuits are proceeding against the Trump administration on their behalf.) It was a pretty remarkable speech. But two short years later, Donald Trump hasnt solved Americas problems. Today we live in a country in which government workers are forced to work without pay, then called volunteers, while others are sent home as non-essential. The economy is slowing down as a result of the shutdown, while Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin declines to testify about its economic impact. The government that should be caring for our most vulnerable and protecting us all has been shuttered to punish the opposing party for governance. Hes just made our problems more tangible and real. Late on Wednesday, President Donald Trump announced he would deliver the State of the Union address after the partial government shutdownnow on its 34th dayends. The decision came after more than a week of squabbling between Trump and Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi. The decision, if final, may end the strange, weeklong conflict. How did we get to this point? And why did the president reverse himself on Wednesday? Heres a timeline of events. Wednesday, Jan. 16: Pelosi sends a letter to Trump to suggest the president reschedule the address, originally set for Jan. 29, until after the shutdown, citing the planning and security work needed from federal employees who are not being paid during the shutdown. She also offered him the alternative of submitting the address in writing. A spokesman for Pelosi later clarified that the letter was not a rescinded invitation but instead a simple proposal. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Later in the day, Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen tweeted that the department was prepared to provide security for the speech. Pelosi would later retort that Nielsen should be advocating for her employees to be paid. Thursday, Jan. 17: While not officially responding to Pelosis letter, Trump one-upped Pelosis suggestion with an order. He notified her that her previously undisclosed trip to meet with NATO leaders in Brussels and troops in Afghanistan (which he called a seven-day excursion) would be postponed because of the shutdown. In light of the 800,000 great American workers not receiving pay, I am sure you would agree that postponing this public relations event is totally appropriate, he said in the statement. Trump, as commander in chief, can deny a congresspersons use of military transport, which Pelosi was to have used because of security concerns. Advertisement After criticism over the announcement, the White House canceled Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchins planned trip to Davos, Switzerland, for the World Economic Forum. Melania Trump still went ahead with a trip to Florida on a government jet for a weekend vacation. Friday, Jan. 18: Pelosis office alleged that the speaker would not attempt to fly commercially to Afghanistan because the White House had leaked information about the trip, putting the congressional delegation in danger. The Trump administration called the allegation a flat-out lie. No news outlets appeared to have reported on the plans before Pelosi released her statement decrying the leaks, but Pelosis spokesman told Slate that they had discovered multiple sources from the administration were attempting to leak the news that morning. Advertisement Sunday, Jan. 20: Trump let Pelosi know he hadnt forgotten the matter: Nancy, I am still thinking about the State of the Union speech, there are so many options - including doing it as per your written offer (made during the Shutdown, security is no problem), and my written acceptance. While a contract is a contract, Ill get back to you soon! Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 20, 2019 Advertisement Tuesday, Jan. 22: ABC News reported that Trump was planning two State of the Union speeches: one official one for Congress, which he planned to deliver on the scheduled date in the House chamber or elsewhere in D.C., and one unofficial one at a political rally outside of D.C. White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders told reporters that the White House was moving forward with plans to hold the address in the House. Wednesday, Jan. 23: Trump finally responded to Pelosis earlier suggestion of postponing the State of the Union, dismissing the idea that there would be security risks. Therefore I will be honoring your invitation, and fulfilling my Constitutional duty, to deliver important information to the people and Congress of the United States of America regarding the State of our Union, he said in a letter to Democratic leaders. It would be very sad for our Country if the State of the Union were not delivered on time, on schedule, and very importantly, on location! Advertisement Advertisement Pelosi responded that afternoon, meeting his challenge to disinvite him from giving the address. I am writing to inform you that the House of Representatives will not consider a concurrent resolution authorizing the Presidents State of the Union address in the House Chamber until government has opened, she wrote in a letter. Again, I look forward to welcoming you to the House on a mutually agreeable date for this address when government has been opened. Trump, who called her decision a disgrace and declared that the State of the Union has been canceled by Nancy Pelosi because she doesnt want to hear the truth, said he would look for alternative locations for the speech. Officials in West Virginia, North Carolina, and Michigan invited him to deliver the speech in their states. Some senators encouraged the president to host the address in their chamber. Advertisement Shortly after 11 p.m., Trump appeared to cave, announcing in a tweet that he would deliver the address after the shutdown ends. As the Shutdown was going on, Nancy Pelosi asked me to give the State of the Union Address, he tweeted. I agreed. She then changed her mind because of the Shutdown, suggesting a later date. This is her prerogative - I will do the Address when the Shutdown is over. I am not looking for an alternative venue for the SOTU Address because there is no venue that can compete with the history, tradition and importance of the House Chamber. I look forward to giving a great State of the Union Address in the near future! Advertisement According to the Washington Post, Pelosi is the first House speaker in history to deny the use of the chamber to the president for his State of the Union address (no president has delivered it elsewhere since the capital moved to Washington in 1800). While updating Congress on the state of the union is constitutionally mandated, there is no deadline for it to take place, and it places no limit on the shutdown. This piece was originally published on Just Security, an online forum for analysis of U.S. national security law and policy. President Donald Trumps retaliation against Speaker Nancy Pelosis efforts to postpone the State of the Union invitationdenying Pelosis use of military aircraft to travel to Afghanistanmust be understood in its historical context and for its constitutional significance. While this dispute has largely been covered as another twist in a tit-for-tat cycle of retribution, it represents a far graver abuse of power than a political spat. Trumps interference in congressional travel misused the commander-in-chief power for political purposes, endangered the speakers delegation, and obstructed the exercise of Congress Article I legislative fact-finding responsibilities. Advertisement As a House national security subcommittee staffer, I used to organize and accompany congressional delegations, or CODELs, and staff overseas fact-finding tripsincluding four to Afghanistan during Pelosis previous speakership. Having also served in the White House Counsels Office, I have published on the specific topic of CODELs as an important arena for interbranch relationships. I know from experience. Trips into combat zones are logistically complicated multiagency and interbranch operations with ever-present security concerns. This most recent confrontation exposes long-held executive-legislative tensions. But Trumps acts are wholly unprecedented and dangerous departures from historical practicenot to mention his obligations as the nations chief executive. Advertisement Advertisement On Jan. 16, Pelosi sent a letter to the president citing difficulties in ensuring adequate security for a State of the Union speech before a joint session of Congress due to shutdown strains on federal agencies and employees. Pelosi suggested that Trump instead provide a written submission (as was done in the early days of the republic) or conduct the speech as an Oval Office address. Many accepted Pelosis security rationale, others viewed Pelosis letter as an effort to deny Trump the traditional SOTU megaphone and pageantry. Advertisement Within 24 hours, Trump sent a letter to Pelosi, which White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders tweeted, informing the speaker that the president was withdrawing military aircraft authorization for her CODEL: Due to the Shutdown, I am sorry to inform you that your trip to Brussels, Egypt, and Afghanistan has been postponed. We will reschedule this seven-day excursion when the Shutdown is over. In light of the 800,000 great American workers not receiving pay, I am sure you would agree that postponing this public relations event is totally appropriate. Obviously, if you would like to make your journey, that would certainly be your prerogative. That last line echoed Pelosis comment about the SOTU that He can make it from the Oval Office if he wants. Adding to the insult, the White House reportedly did not inform the members of Congress slated to travel on the CODEL until 30 minutes before they were scheduled to go wheels up. The legislators were sitting on a U.S. Air Force bus when they found out. Advertisement Congressional members and staff have been severely attacked and killed during foreign travel. Afterward, Pelosis chief of staff Drew Hammill tweeted out more details about the canceled trip. After noting there was no Egypt stop planned, Hammill tweeted: The purpose of the trip was to express appreciation & thanks to our men & women in uniform for their service & dedication, & to obtain critical national security & intelligence briefings from those on the front lines. He also noted that the Brussels stop related to mandatory flight crew rest given the distances involved in travel to South Asia (a required stop in Europe or North Africa is consistent with my trip planning experience), and therefore the CODEL was slated to make use of that time on the publics behalf to meet with representatives of NATO allies. Trumps letter was not only unprecedented in its use of commander-in-chief authority to ratchet up a political dispute, but it also revealed itinerary plans that had not been publicly released because of security concerns. Advertisement In the wake of Trumps letter and revelation about trip details, Pelosi accused the president of endangering the travelers to the point the trip could no longer proceed even by commercial air travel. According to Pelosi, the State Departments diplomatic security service informed her office that it was too dangerous to fly to Afghanistan by commercial air after all the publicity. She told reporters: Advertisement We werent going to go because we had a report from Afghanistan that the President outing our trip had made the scene on the ground much more dangerous because its just a signal to the bad actors. You never give advance notice of going into a battle area. You just never do. Perhaps the Presidents inexperience didnt help him understand that protocol. The people around him, though, should have known that, because thats very dangerous. Advertisement These are not idle security concerns. Congressional members and staff have been severely attacked and killed during foreign travel. A few examples: Rep. Lawrence Patton McDonald, D-Georgia, was among those killed when the Soviet military shot down Korean Air Lines Flight 007 on Sept. 1, 1983. Rep. Leo Joseph Ryan, D-California, was gunned down on an airstrip in Guyana by cult members in the Jonestown massacre in 1978. Current Rep. Jackie Speier, D-California, who accompanied Ryan as congressional staff on that trip, was shot five times in the attack. Harold Hal W. Rosenthal, a Senate Foreign Relations Committee staff member, was killed in a 1976 terrorist bombing in Istanbul while he was overseas on a congressional staff trip to Israel. Advertisement Advertisement Security is a paramount concern for the speaker of the House as third in the line of succession to the presidency. The speaker would be a highly valuable target for a terrorist network. She should have travel support resembling the president and vice president in order to accommodate her security detail and communications techniciansespecially when traveling into combat zones. The second half of Hammills statement about the trips purposeto obtain critical national security & intelligence briefings from those on the front linesis of fundamental and, indeed, constitutional importance. Congress was engaging in overseas travel to further its legislative power of inquiry in order to inform policy judgments. In McGrain v. Daugherty, the Supreme Court explained that congressional power to conduct inquiries is implied by the Constitutions grant of legislative power in Article I. The court correctly noted: A legislative body cannot legislate wisely or effectively in the absence of information respecting the conditions which the legislation is intended to affect or change. Whats more, as the court observed in Barenblatt v. United States, the scope of the power of inquiry is as penetrating and far-reaching as the potential power to enact and appropriate under the Constitution. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Far from a mere public relations event, as Trump characterized Pelosis trip, these initiatives provide critical information to senior policymakers responsible for authorizing use of force, appropriating funds, and establishing military regulations. To be sure, congressional travel can be abused by triviality or extravagance. But CODELs to combat zones allow our troops to see policymakers taking the risks and the time to visit them and hear from them. This trip would have also demonstrated American respect forand presented an opportunity to hear fromAfghan partners on the ground. My travel companions and I learned a massive amount of information useful to our investigations and policy mandates on our trips to Afghanistan and other hot spots. For examples of our reports informed by overseas congressional travel, see Warlord, Inc.: Extortion and Corruption along the U.S. Supply Chain in Afghanistan and Mystery at Manas: Strategic Blind Spots in the Department of Defenses Fuel Contracts in Kyrgyzstan. Advertisement Here, the president intentionally interfered with that function in an act of political retaliation. At a minimum, he set back any safe travel to Afghanistan by the speaker for the near future. Even under normal circumstances, congressional travel creates tensions between the branches. Last year I wrote a short law review article for a symposium on congressional oversight that addressed legal and practical challenges facing Congress as it engages in fact-finding overseas. In a section describing some of those practical challenges, I wrote about congressional reliance on the executive branch as an especially important area of concern: Advertisement There are a few other practical challenges to conducting effective oversight beyond U.S. borders that are worthy of brief mention. In many cases, congressional and staff fact-finding trips are essential to conducting penetrating oversight. Depending on the subject matter and location, congressional investigators may require transcription and translation services, embassy workspace, security, and in-country travel support. Congress is reliant on the good offices of the State Department control officers assigned to the delegation, and, in combat zones, the Department of Defense. These personnel deployed overseas have broad important portfolios beyond staffing congressional travel, and legislative travelers should be mindful of their burden on the mission. In addition, there is often an awkward dynamic in which the congressional delegation is conducting oversight over the very departments that are hosting it. At times, the executive branch tries to dictate the legislative branchs trip agenda, which is not the appropriate dynamic. Therefore, there can be seemingly endless negotiations about access to sites, foreign government officials, combat zones, and various services. Advertisement I then encouraged Congress to codify executive branch travel support obligations: Congress should pass legislation that formalizes its expectations of executive branch support for oversight travel. This legislation should not impose too many onerous obligations on Embassy or military staff. However, statutory mandates for facilitation of congressional oversight on transcription, translation, workspace, in-country mobility, and security could clarify interbranch relations and improve efficiency. Moreover, it could present an opportunity for Congress to codify an expression of the importance of its autonomy in setting its oversight agenda when traveling abroad. Advertisement I saw congressional reliance on executive branch travel support as a function of interbranch comity as problematic, because it gave the executive branch too much leverage over the CODEL agenda. My concerns, borne of experience, related to heavy-handed scheduling negotiations with the embassy staff or requests by the military to embed a general officer on the trip as a minder. Advertisement Those concerns seem quaint now. I never contemplated the president of the United States abusing commander-in-chief powers to obstruct congressional travel. It is now clear that Congress will have to codify executive branch travel support obligations and otherwise engage in self-help in order to ensure it can engage in critical fact-finding overseas. But the presidents misconduct transcends interbranch tensions or rank politics. Rather, by engaging in petty political retribution, hes trampled on constitutional obligations in two branches of government. More From Just Security: The Hidden Danger of User-Generated Evidence for International Criminal Justice Pentagons Climate Change Report Lacks Analysis the Law Requires Rudy Giuliani, President Donald Trumps lawyer, keeps getting into trouble. On Monday, for the second time in four days, Giuliani had to issue a statement clarifying remarks he had made about Trumps alleged corrupt acts. Conspiracy theorists think Giuliani spills damaging information about Trump in order to protect the president by muddling bad news. But if thats the plan, Giuliani is botching it. Hes hurting his client and making a fool of himself because, like Trump, hes erratic, delusional, and obtuse. Advertisement Giuliani squanders his credibility on obvious lies: that storm troopers broke into the office of Trumps former attorney, Michael Cohen (wrong); that former FBI Director James Comey said Trump couldnt have obstructed justice (wrong); that the Russia investigation came to the conclusion: no evidence (wrong); and that Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin have met only twice (wrong). Last month, he said prosecutors had nothing to corroborate Cohens claim that Trump coordinated payments to his alleged mistresses. In fact, prosecutors had an audio recording. Advertisement Advertisement Often, Giuliani contradicts himself. On Sunday, CNNs Jake Tapper asked him about former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort, who allegedly shared the campaigns internal poll data with foreign associates. He owed them money, Giuliani explained. Tapper corrected him: I think they owed him money. Giuliani abruptly reversed himself: Oh, Im sorry. Other way around. So he wanted to get paid. On Meet the Press, Giuliani was asked about Cohens 2017 testimony to Congress, in which Cohen falsely downplayed Trumps efforts to build a Trump Tower in Moscow in 2016. Giuliani asserted that when Cohen was planning his testimony, Trumps counsel to Michael Cohen throughout that entire period was, Tell the truth. But in his interview with Tapper, Giuliani claimed that Trump did not have discussions with Cohen about the testimony. Advertisement Giuliani calls the Russia investigation a witch hunt, but he keeps being forced to acknowledge witches. In May, he told Sean Hannity, Russian collusion is a total fake news. That means the whole investigation was totally unnecessary. But last week, after Manaforts transfer of poll data was disclosed, Giuliani changed his story. I never said there was no collusion between the campaign and Russia, the presidents lawyer told CNNs Chris Cuomo. I have no idea, never have, what other people were doing. Advertisement Lately, Giuliani has gotten into a mess on this question: At what point in 2016 did Trump and Cohen end their pursuit of the Moscow tower project? On Sunday, Giuliani told the New York Times that Trump does remember conversations about Moscow. The next day, Giuliani accused the Times of misrepresenting him. I never said he was involved in such conversations, Giuliani told the New Yorkers Isaac Chotiner. Giuliani claimed he had explained to the Times that these conversations didnt take place. But play back Giulianis Sunday TV interviews, and youll see him saying exactly what he told the Times: that Trump had conversations with Cohen about the project throughout 2016. Giuliani uses the word conversation to refer to two different things: talks between Trump and Cohen, and talks between Cohen and contacts in Russia. He confuses everyone else because he confuses himself. Advertisement Giuliani also trips himself up on the word project. On Meet the Press, he referred five times to the Moscow tower project. He quoted Trump as having told him, with regard to Cohen in 2015 and 2016, We talked about the project. But in his interview with the New Yorker, Giuliani tried to withdraw this word, fearing that it would concede Trump had hidden business in Russia during the campaign. The project was over in November, December, January, right into 2016, Giuliani told Chotiner. So there was no project. Advertisement Giuliani says his interviews are misunderstood because hes a sophisticated lawyer who argues in the alternative. By that, he means this kind of argument: My client didnt do whats allegedbut even if he had, it wouldnt have been illegal. But that isnt how Giuliani phrases his arguments. He just blurts out what Trump did. Take, for example, the February 2017 Oval Office meeting in which Trump allegedly asked Comey to give Michael Flynn a pass for lying about his contacts with Russia. In his interview on ABC in July, Giuliani described the meeting this way: What he said to him was can youcan you give him a break. Giuliani later denied that he was conceding what had happened. But on Sunday, he did it again. The president said, Please go easy on Flynn, Giuliani told NBCs Chuck Todd. Advertisement Giuliani keeps slipping into these declarative concessions because he knows theyre true. Then he tries to clean them up by claiming to have spoken hypothetically. In his latest clarification, issued on Monday, Giuliani claimed that statements he had made on Sunday about the Trump-Cohen Moscow tower discussions were hypothetical and not based on conversations I had with the President. Thats preposterous. In his Sunday interviews, Giuliani relayed Trumps answers in the first person: The presidents recollection is, I talked about it with him in 2015, 2016. The talks were going on from the day I announced to the day I won. Those arent hypotheticals. Theyre quotes. Advertisement So far, Giuliani has had to issue at least three formal statements correcting himself. On live TV, he keeps falling on his face. Go back and look at his debut appearance as Trumps lawyer on Hannity. There, Giuliani disclosed for the first time that Trump had reimbursed Cohen for paying off women. Some pundits thought this was a shrewd play by Giuliani to dump bad news on a friendly show. But he was completely unprepared when Hannity asked him to reconcile his new story with Cohens storywhich Trump and Giuliani, at that point, were still defending. Advertisement Giuliani: The president reimbursed that over a period of several months. Hannity: But [Cohen] had said he didnt. I distinctly remember that he [Cohen] did it on his own, without asking. Giuliani: He did? Look, I dont know. I havent investigated that. In Chotiners interview, youll see the same incompetence. Giuliani attacks the recent BuzzFeed story that Trump told Cohen to lie to Congress. Giuliani says he knows personally that the story is false because I have been through all the tapes. Chotiner asks: Wait, what tapes have you gone through? At that point, Giuliani backpedals: I shouldnt have said tapes. No tapes. Well, I have listened to tapes, but none of them concern this. Then Giuliani says the story cant be true because BuzzFeeds sources, two law enforcement officials, would have had to work for Mueller, who has called the story inaccurate. Chotiner points out that the two officials might, more plausibly, work for the Southern District of New York. Giuliani disputes this, but he seems not to have thought of it. Kinda, he tells Chotiner. It could have been. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement If theres a strategy in these interviews, its buried under layers of ineptitude. Giuliani got this job because he knew Trump, because he was willing to work for free, and because he flatters and mirrors his client. He talks too much. He disregards evidence. He hurls wild accusations. He gets lost in his own incoherence. Theres a saying among lawyers that a man who represents himself has a fool for a client. The same is true of a man who chooses to be represented by a friend who shares his defects. Trump has a fool for a lawyer, because Giuliani has a fool for a client. Florida Secretary of State Michael Ertel resigned on Thursday after photos emerged of him posing as a Hurricane Katrina victim in blackface at a 2005 Halloween party. Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis selected Ertel as secretary of state before taking office in January. According to the Tallahassee Democrat, which published the pictures on Thursday, Ertel previously served as supervisor of elections for Seminole County beginning in February 2005meaning the photos were taken during his time in office. Ironically, Ertel reportedly has a commendable record of expanding the franchise: The City of Longwood awarded him the Martin Luther King, Jr. award for registering voters and helped to make voting in Seminole County easier and more secure. He also used his office to help high school students register to vote even as former Gov. Rick Scott tried to restrict student voting. He criticized Scotts notorious voter purges and rejected Donald Trumps claim that millions of people voted illegally in the 2016 election. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement In light of this track record, many Florida Democrats were pleased when DeSantis tapped Ertel as the states chief elections officer. For good reason: The Florida Secretary of State is tasked with enforcing Amendment 4, an initiative that restores voting rights to rehabilitated felons. DeSantis had urged counties not to register former felons until the legislature passed enabling legislation. But Ertel directed his office to accept their applications, noting, correctly, that the amendment is self-executing. The photos that emerged on Thursday, however, are so horrifically racist, so vicious and bigoted, that Ertel likely had no choice but to step down. Ertel told the Tallahassee Democrat that he was, indeed, the individual in the pictures, wearing blackface, red lipstick, earrings, false breasts, a New Orleans Saints bandana, and a t-shirt that read Katrina Victim. (The photos were taken shortly after the hurricane had devastated New Orleans.) DeSantis quickly accepted his resignation. Advertisement Now the governor will appoint a new secretary of state to oversee Amendment 4s execution. With luck, that official will share Ertels support for voting rights but lack his racist baggage. Unfortunately, DeSantis has a sordid history of association with racistsa fact his opponent, Andrew Gillum, highlighted during the campaign. And if Ertels successor shares DeSantis view of voting rights, he or she will work feverishly to suppress the suffrage of racial minorities. In other words, a few weeks into DeSantis tenure, Gillums warning has already proved prescient. Id naively hoped that America would spend the anniversary of Roe v. Wade talking about what the future holds for the tired and embattled women of this country, some of whom have finally won a little political power. Instead (and as usual) the nation spent the day arguing over the inflammatory actions of a bunch of dudes. The inciting incident was a short video of an inconclusive confrontation. It was shotabsurdly, but maybe appropriatelyin front of the Lincoln Memorial. It depicts an adolescent white teenwho subsequently identified himself as Nick Sandmannstaring and either smirking or smiling at a Native American elder now known to be named Nathan Phillips. In the clip, Phillips is playing his drum and singing. Advertisement What the first wave of reactions registered was a spoiled white youth in a MAGA hat, surrounded by his pals from a private all-boys Catholic school, intimidating a Native American elder who was singing a ceremonial chant in front of the Lincoln Memorial. Itd be tough to more neatly distill what many see as the problems of the present down to a purer set of symbols: This was Trumps ethnonationalist idea of America literally blocking the path of a Native American. What the second wave of people saw wasnt the clip but the response: They saw a kid being condemned as an aggressive racist for doing nothing but wearing a MAGA hat and staring. In their eyes, he was being publicly excoriated for the crime of supporting the president. The clip needed context, they argued, and what that context showed was that Phillips approached Sandmann, rather than the other way round. This, they argue, is exactly how young white men in America are persecuted and ruined, particularly if they lean conservative. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Since then, many media figures have apologized for their part in rushing to judgment. There have been many subsequent stages of discovery and response. It was revealed, for instance, that the teens had been loudly insulted by a small group of Black Hebrew Israeliteswho had earlier targeted the Native American group for abuse as well, calling one man an Uncle Tomahawk and accusing them of worshipping buffaloes. Footage surfaced of what looks like a subset of Covington Catholic students harassing women as they walk by. Contrary to early reports, Nathan Phillips is not a Vietnam War vet. Even the media self-flagellations have acquired improbable layers: The PR firm Nick Sandmanns family hired appears to be run by a frequent guest on CNN. It was a perfect storm, in other words, for todays sick political news cycle: an incident that symbolically crystallized the shear and strain of Americas culture warswithout, in itself, meaning anything much at all. Advertisement This is just the latest instance of a phenomenon you could call event politicsthat familiar flurry of knee-jerk responses sparked by a single image or clip that a little too perfectly illustrates one sides worldview. There was the notorious Melania jacket that launched a feverish outrage cycle as soon as she appeared in it. There was the photograph of the little girl crying at the border that went viral and ended up on the cover of Time because it put a face and a feeling to the cruelty of Trumps family separations. The problem: She herself wasnt separated from her mother. When an alt-right troll stole a video taken by Mother Jones reporter Shane Bauer and miscaptioned it as man walking to grocery store in Berkeley mistaken for being a Nazi is beaten into a coma, the clip went viral and was shared byamong othersJonah Goldberg of the National Review and MSNBCs Joe Scarborough. Advertisement Advertisement First of all, it seems pretty obvious that antifas definition of fascist is remarkably elastic, including defenders of free speech and mainstream conservatism, Goldberg wrote in his defense of leaving his tweet promoting the mislabeled video up. I for one refuse to defer to masked vigilantes as the arbiter of who is or is not a fascist, he said, adding that the victim may indeed be a member of the alt-right, or even just a provocative ass. I dont know. Youll probably recognize elements of Goldbergs logic. In short: The details dont matter, and neither does what the guy was doing in Berkeleyor whether he was a Proud Boy or a member of Patriot Prayer. Then things take an odd turn. Unless theres some evidence the victim initiated violence, theres no excuse for antifas behavior in that video, he writes, but then immediately changes his mind: And even if he did initiate violence (theres no evidence he did), trying to stomp a man to death is unjustifiable. Advertisement This is motivated reasoning, the kind everyone uses when an image that seemingly proved somethingwhether its that antifa is a danger to society or that Kavanaugh-lite teens are entitled and racistcollapses into irresolution. To the people circulating it, that the image doesnt portray exactly what they thought it did matters little. They knew the truth it demonstrated before and still know it after the image is debunked. The image was a convenient piece of viscerally persuasive evidence. It was the kind of thing one posts because one understands it, ultimately, as a recruitment tool for others. Advertisement This is where event politics always seem to wind up: A ton of energy gets spent, but theres no cognitively satisfying conclusion. Event politics are in part, I suspect, a response to uncertainty. Were in a moment when so much is truly bananasthe president cant spell hamburgers and was investigated by the FBI for being a possible Russian agent, to pick two examples at randomthat reassuring framings are welcome. An unmoored people likes to be reminded of what the heroes and villains are, and social media allows snippets of events to circulate freely in a contextless vacuum. If we cant know whats going to happen because a changeable clown is in charge, we can at least discuss what individual images mean, with satisfying if deluded definitiveness. And Trump, with his flighty attention span and obsession with sound bites and shorthands, is an ideal emcee for our age of event politics. Imprecision is his default mode; his way of never being wrong is by never being right. Did he say San Antonio was a border town that had a wall, even though it isnt and doesnt? Fine, he meant San Diego. Who cares. He cherishes the spectacle of people who care about these real placeswith real peoplegetting upset, as long as hes at the center. Advertisement Advertisement Similarly, that I really dont care. Do u? jacketworn by Melania on her way to McAllen, Texas, during the family separation crisis her husband created at the borderwas an express invitation to project meaning onto her wardrobe. Of course we obliged. The explanations shes supplied since are ciphers themselves that shred meaning instead of creating it. Its a jacket, her spokesperson said, practically rolling her eyes at the media and the American people for daring to read into a jacket that had words written on it. But later Trump would throw her own spokesperson under the bus. She told ABCs Tom Llamas that the jacket was for the people and for the left-wing media who are criticizing me. And I want to show them that I dont care. What was weird about that revelation was that it settled nothing: The admission that shed lied about her jacket then didnt make it feel like she was telling the truth now. Nobody knows what that jacket was really about. I doubt anyone ever will. Advertisement This is where event politics always seem to wind up: A ton of energy gets spent, but theres no cognitively satisfying conclusionno understanding, resolution, or shared meaning that helps the country progress in its conversations with itself. Its a jacket might be the White House equivalent of the its just a hat defense of the Covington Catholic teens MAGA caps. Its not true, and everyone knows it, but it seems dumb to overlegislate such petty terrain. And yet: Plenty of us have seen enough people in MAGA hats screaming Trumps lock her up and build the wall catchphrases to associate those hats with people who want to imprison their enemies without due process and lock out the tired, the poor, and the huddled masses yearning to breathe free. Neither of these associations is exactly congruent with American idealism or American greatness. The hats text is in a fight with the hats subtext, and a kid smirking under its brim makes that obvious contradiction visible. Of course that image went viral. In a healthier country, that image wouldnt have been so furiously overread because the other side would long ago have easily conceded that yes, there is something wrong and disturbing about Americans screaming lock her up and build the wall. That is not the country we have. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Unsurprising, then, that when an image feels like one of the only weapons people have, they use it. I suspect, though, that event politics are a lot better at preserving power than disrupting it. Its modern-day bread and circusesa way to get the masses worked up, only instead of keeping us happy, it gets us squabbling for meaning when theres none to be made. Remember covfefe? Who can figure out the true meaning of covfefe ??? Enjoy! Trump tweeted after he sent out that tweet by mistake. Amazingly, many of his followers tried. Hed do more or less the same thing with the Clemson hamberders: create a bizarre spectacle, then enjoy the fights people had over what it all meant. Advertisement In a healthier country, that video wouldnt have been so furiously overread. It doesnt mean much of anything. And because it doesnt mean much, the net result, the one thing that definitely happens, is that folks trust those on the other side even less after alls said and donehaving seen them reach hasty or unsupported or convenient conclusions. Humans are weirder than the impoverished vocabularies weve developed for the scenes they create, and Im not at all convinced that even Phillips and Sandmannthe figures at the center of this stormfully understood what was happening between the two of them that day. (In fact, both have admitted as much.) Sites where multiple sides show up to demonstrate are generally ripe for this kind of confusionas Shane Bauer wrote back in 2017 of the protests in Berkeley. If youve attended one, you know that crowds develop currents that arent even legible to the people inside them. What seemed clear watching that clip is that, while many in the Covington Catholic group are moving to the beat of Phillips drum, Sandmann isnt. While many in the crowd make room to let him pass, Sandmann doesnt. Theres an obvious electricity in the moment that scanned, to many, as tension. It does to the teens present too. When the moment stretches out over a long minute, one says: Whats going on? Advertisement Advertisement If we want to try to extract some meaning from all this, it might reside not in the video, but rather in the desperate intensity of our attraction to spectacles like these that throw anecdotal fuel on the fire of our structural convictions. Two male Americans stared at each other, and the country couldnt stop talking about it. Thats absurd and disorienting and made nothing better, but its understandable. Were at symbolic war now, and the jagged and sad irresolution of that encounter feels symbolic, tooof a country with a long racist past that isnt over but which also wont quite sharpen into the satisfying narrative arc we crave. We dont know where were going or what it means. The wrongheaded theory underpinning all this overinterpretive zeal is that Americas problems work just as fractals or microcosms dothe smallest incident will replicate the flawed whole. In many ways, Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen has been the face of family separation. When uproar over the program reached a peak in June, Nielsen took to the White House Briefing Room to defend the administrations zero tolerance policy of prosecuting undocumented parents for illegal entry and taking away their children. One day later she was heckled out of a Mexican restaurant in Washington, D.C. by angry protesters. At the same time, though, Nielsen has remained insistent that the U.S. government had no actual policy of purposefully separating families. Her position has always been that the separations were a side effect of the administration applying previously unenforced criminal immigration law. Advertisement When asked in that press briefing if family separation was intended as a deterrent, Nielsen responded unequivocally: I find that offensive. No, because why would I ever create a policy that ever does that. Advertisement Advertisement Despite the factsthat thousands of children were forcibly taken from their parents at the border and multiple other administration officials praised the policys deterrent valueNielsen has reiterated this position constantly. We do not have a policy of separating families at the border. Period, Nielsen tweeted the day before that White House briefing. In sworn Congressional testimony over the course of the past 10 months, she has been equally adamant that no such policy existed. When we separate, we separate because the law tells us to, and that is in the interest of the child, Nielsen told the House Homeland Security Appropriations Subcommittee in April. Advertisement We do not have a policy to separate children from their parents, Nielsen said one month later in response to questioning from Sen. Kamala Harris before the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee. Finally, in an almost farcical appearance before the House Judiciary Committee just last month, Nielsen repeatedly rejected the premise of Democratic questions about the family separation policy, stating over and over again that there was no such policy. Last week, NBC published further evidence that there was such an official policy and that Nielsen has been lying to Congress. The new proof came in the form of a late 2017 draft memo outlining policy options for responding to undocumented immigration. Those options included a plan to Separate Family Units and another plan to Increase Prosecution of Family Unit Parents and place minors present with them in HHS custody as [unaccompanied alien children], e.g., to separate children from their parents. Advertisement Advertisement Its unclear whether the former plan was ever officially enacted. The latter proposal, though, had been piloted on a limited basis in the El Paso Sector. The next proposed step was for Nielsen to officially sign off on that plan in a further memo, which she appears to have done on April 23, 2018. This newly revealed memo also makes explicitly clear that the purpose of zero tolerance and its subsequent family separations was for the practice to be reported by the media and have a substantial deterrent effect. In her sworn responses to Harris in May, the Homeland Security Secretary specifically said I have not been directed to [separate parents from children] for purposes of deterrence, no. Depending on what she knew about this memo and when she knew it, the substantial deterrent effect line is as close to a smoking gun as possible to demonstrate that Nielsen has been lying to Congress. Advertisement Indeed, Sen. Jeff Merkley, who provided the document to NBC after receiving it from someone he described as a whistleblower, has called on the FBI to investigate [whether Nielsen] committed perjury when she testified before Congress. While the Trump Justice Department is unlikely to prosecute Nielsen, Merkleys allegation is a serious criminal accusation. Given the growing evidence, why would Nielsen have subjected herself to the risk of such a charge by repeatedly misleading Congress about family separation and its intent? Advertisement As I observed in June, Nielsens adamancy appeared rooted in the then-pending litigation against the policy. Defending the practice before a federal judge in early May, a Department of Justice attorney insisted that there was not such a policy of separation of families as a deterrence mechanism and acknowledged that such a practice would be constitutionally dicey. (The judge very much agreed.) Advertisement Nielsen may have had to maintain the fiction that there was no policy while the government was trying to win that court case, and then stand by it even after the government lost. Nielsen might also argue that she couched her statements to Congress in enough caveats for them to be technically true. In December, for example, she told members of the House Judiciary Committee there is no comprehensive policy to separate families. Comprehensive and is might be doing a whole lot of legal work there. Either way, we should soon find out Nielsens defense: Three newly empowered Democratic chairmen of relevant committees responded to the memos release by demanding Nielsen testify about family separation and her inaccurate statements to Congress and the American people. Whatever her explanation is, it better be good. President Donald Trump has formally recognized Juan Guaido, leader of the Venezuelan National Assembly, as interim president of that country, which is mired in a calamity of truly brutal proportions after nearly six years of President Nicolas Maduros disastrous rule. Guaido has questioned the legitimacy of last years elections, which saw Maduro returned to power amid blatantly fraudulent interference and malfeasance. Earlier this month, after Maduro ignored widespread protests to his inauguration for a second term, Guaido, the 35-year-old opposition leader, declared himself Venezuelas rightful transitional president, per the countrys constitution. Advertisement He has since stated his intent to negotiate new elections in a process that would need to begin with Maduros removal. The Maduro administration responded by dismissing Guaidos legal challenge and intimidating him with the same predatory tactics it has used against other rivals, including Leopoldo Lopez, the former mayor turned opposition leader who is a political prisoner to this day. Guaido claims he was himself briefly detained 10 days ago. Still, Guaido hasnt budged, earning a large following and praise from other relevant opposition figures. On Wednesday, millions of people flooded the streets of Venezuela in support of Guaido and the countrys right to free and fair elections. Advertisement Advertisement Trumps decision to recognize Guaido, announced hours after the release of rare video on Twitter by Mike Pence in which the vice president labeled Maduro a dictator and publicly supported Guaido, will have far-reaching consequences. In the first few minutes after the administrations statement, 10 other nations across the Americas followed suit and recognized the young Venezuelan opposition leader as the countrys interim president, among them Brazil, Peru, and Colombia, countries that have been on the frontlines of a crisis that has seen more than 2 million Venezuelans flee their famished country just in the past couple of years. Brazils backing of Guaido under new far-right President Jair Bolsonaro is a significant reversal: Under previous administrations, Venezuelas massive neighbor to the south had mostly resisted condemning either Hugo Chavez or his successor. Maduro reacted furiously to the international backlash and particularly to Trumps gesture, breaking off diplomatic relations with the United States and giving American diplomats three days to leave Venezuela. (Secretary of State Mike Pompeo later denied the administration had any intention of complying with Maduros demands, as the United States no longer identifies him as president of Venezuela.) While Maduro was trying to expel foreign diplomats, Guaido took to Twitter to thank the long list of countries that had recognized his legitimacy as interim president. Advertisement The solution to Venezuelas crisis does not involve saber-rattling of any kind. And yet, the countries that were not on Guaidos list could also reveal something of what lies ahead for Venezuela and the region. While most Latin American governments chose to back Guaido, three countries were glaring exceptions. Both Cuba and Bolivia vehemently supported Maduro. Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel warned of imperialist intentions to destabilize and discredit what Chavez, Venezuelas previous strongman and Maduros political mentor, called the countrys Bolivarian revolution. For good measure, Diaz-Canel added a couple of illuminating hashtags: #WeAreCuba and #WeAreContinuity. Bolivian President Evo Morales also took to Twitter to strike a similar chord, calling his followers attention to the long claws of imperialism that once again try to fatally wound democracy. Mexicos government also chose not to recognize Guaido as interim president. This should come as no surprise. Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, the countrys new president, has long sympathized with the Venezuelan government. He once told me Venezuelan democracy was superior to Mexicos, despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary. In early December, Lopez Obrador invited Maduro to his swearing in. Maduro reciprocated with a warm Que viva Mexico! during his own, controversial inauguration. Advertisement Advertisement Mexicos government has tried to explain its support of Maduro throughout his recent ordeal with a debatable and anachronistic reading of Mexicos noninterventionist tradition of foreign policy. Its a cop-out. Mexicos silencebriefly interrupted by a timid call for negotiationsis not an expression of diplomatic neutrality but rather a shrewd way to validate Maduros antics. Lopez Obradors personal ideological predilections are his to have but are also a rather poor replacement for a coherent or courageous foreign policy, especially when faced with an atrocity such as the current state of Venezuela. The next few weeks will surely bring more uncertainty. Through it all, the Trump administration must tread lightly. Ideally, the solution to Venezuelas crisis should indeed begin with Maduros resignation and proceed toward a new and fair electoral process that could bring about the countrys much needed healing process. What it does not need is saber-rattling of any kind. Any suggestion of U.S. intervention in Latin America will open old wounds that trigger resentment and mistrust, not without merit, one might add. In the case of Venezuela, Trump and his foreign policy team (including Sen. Marco Rubio, who has clearly been one of the strategys masterminds) have shown diplomatic imagination and judiciousness. Their bold support of Juan Guaido has gained the backing of most countries in Latin America, the Organization of American States, and other crucial voices in the region and elsewhere. They should not ruin it by yielding to that old American temptation: military might. Say it aint so, Joe. The New York Times reports that, just three weeks before the 2018 midterms, Joe Biden gave a paid speech to a Republican-friendly crowd in Michigan, where the former vice president praised the work of a GOP congressman who was locked in a tight battle for reelection, calling Rep. Fred Upton one of the finest guys Ive ever worked with. Upton who touted Bidens de facto endorsement at a debate the very next daywent on to defeat his Democratic challenger Matt Longjohn by 4.5 points in the battleground district. Advertisement A few mitigating factors: While the race in Michigans 6th Congressional District was considered competitive, Upton was the clear favorite even before Biden came to town. And while a GOP-friendly group, the Economic Club of Southwestern Michigan, paid the former veep a total of $200,000$150,000 as an appearance fee, plus $50,000 for traveltheres nothing in the Times report to suggest that lauding Upton was an explicit requirement of the deal. As the paper puts it: There is no evidence Mr. Biden was motivated to praise the lawmaker by anything other than sincere admiration, stemming from Mr. Uptons role in crafting the 21st Century Cures Act after the death of Mr. Bidens elder son, Beau, from cancer in 2015. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Thats the relatively good news for Biden. The bad? The Economic Club is partly funded by Uptons family foundation, which Biden knew ahead of time. The speaking contract explicitly stated that the audience would be primarily older, conservative Republicans and local community members, and Biden also met Upton briefly at the venue before the speech. And furthermore, Biden later ignored requests from local Democrats to officially endorse Uptons opponent after the Republicans allies began featuring the finest guys quote in an ad campaign. So, yeah, this one is going to be difficult for Biden to shrug off should he enter the 2020 fray. If you take the money out of it, Biden gave a Republican congressman a push at a time when the Democrats were desperate to retake the House; if you dont, Biden gave a Republican congressman a pushand then went home with a six-figure check for his trouble. (Beto ORourke could face similar criticism, since he passed up the chance to endorse the Democratic challenger to Republican Rep. Will Hurd in Texas last year. Though in that instance, no money was involved.) Advertisement Even the former, generous reading of Bidens speech illustrates one of his major liabilities in 2020, namely his desire to play the role of the elder statesman who can unify the country by reaching across the aisle. Its an understandable impulse, and perhaps even a noble one, but Bidens nostalgia for the bipartisan days of yore will crash headfirst into the hyperpartisan days of the present. Hes already facing criticism for positions he held in the past that are now anathema to many Democratic voters, like his opposition to school integration in the 1970s, his vote for the 1994 crime bill, and his support for the Iraq War. And as Ive noted before, even his Obama cred will have its limits with the left, given where the party has moved in the past two years. He will have to answer for his old bosss use of drones, his role in not prosecuting big banks and other bad actors in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis, and more. Bidens decision to give aide to Upton at a time when control of the House was at stakeand with it, the ability to act as a check on Donald Trumpwill provide his critics with a clear, recent illustration of what Biden is willing to give up in order to extend his hand to Republicans. Advertisement Advertisement Now consider Upton, the man whom Biden felt compelled to praise for his role in securing funding for cancer research. Thats an issue that is near and dear to Bidens heart, but Upton has spent his three decades in the U.S. House working to thwart a host of Democratic goals that Biden also claims to care about. Upton, for instance, was a leader in the GOPs efforts to repeal Obamacare, and is a powerful ally of the fossil fuel industry. Yes, he is on the moderate end of the GOP spectrum, but hes still made it more difficult to expand healthcare and address man-made climate change. If we take Biden at his word, though, thats a price worth paying for bipartisanship. It remains to be seen if Democratic primary voters will agree. Listen to What Next: Get More What Next Slate Plus members get extended, ad-free versions of our podcastsand much more. Sign up today. Join Slate Plus Subscribe to What Next Copy this link and add it in your podcast app. copy link copied! For detailed instructions, see our Slate Plus podcasts page. Listen to What Next via Apple Podcasts, Spotify, TuneIn, Stitcher, Overcast, Google Play, or iHeart. The Senate is readying a vote on two bills to fund the government. The measures arent expected to pass, but they might signal the beginning of the end of the shutdown. Guest: Jim Newell, who covers Congress for Slate. Tell us what you think by leaving a review on Apple Podcasts or sending an email to whatnext@slate.com. Follow us on Instagram for updates on the show. Podcast production by Mary Wilson and Jayson De Leon, with help from Danielle Hewitt. This post is part of Outward, Slates home for coverage of LGBTQ life, thought, and culture. Read more here. The Metropolitan Opera hasnt had a new music directorarguably NYCs most prestigious classical music gigin four decades. Following the sudden departure of conductor James Levine last year under allegations of sexual misconduct, Quebecois conductor Yannick Nezet-Seguin (who had previously been tapped to be Levines replacement in 2020) assumes the podium this month with a production of the Debussy rarity Pelleas et Melisande. But the real news, at least according to a splashy profile in the New York Times, is not the new maestros musicianship; its his sexual orientation. Nezet-Seguin is openly gay. Advertisement Since when does being gay in the arts count as news? Well, according to the Times Zachary Woolfe (who, full disclosure, I have written for in the past), the ability to fiercely work a baton with queer pride has, until only recently, been an elusive pipe dream for those gay men helming the worlds top-tier orchestras. The classical music world may be crawling with queens, Woolfe explains, but its a sign of how outmoded our conception of authority is that remarkably few major performing arts leaders have been openly gay. Even in the cultured and urbane concert halls of Manhattan, it wasnt so long ago that conductors like Leonard Bernstein were actively obscuring their sexual identities to safeguard their careers. And so, to capitalize on Nezet-Seguins willingness to live out loud, the Gray Lady is throwing him a gay cotillion. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Sandwiched between photographs of the conductor with his longtime partner, the Canadian violist Pierre Tourville, we get extended takes on childhood bullying and the pairs first meetup in the mid-90s (theyd been roommates at the Montreal Conservatory; Nezet-Seguin was dating a woman back then!). There are also fawning quotes from both the Mets general manager and the lesbian president and chief executive of the New York Philharmonic about how important it is that Nezet-Seguin is comfortable with himself, alongside a romantic, if somewhat parochial and heteronormative, narrative about how the couple had climbed from relative boho pauperdom (roughing it with noodles on Tuesdays) into top positions at the Rotterdam Philharmonic, the Philadelphia Orchestra, and now, the Met. Gay obscurity no more: Today, we learn, a Zaha Hadid moon sofa graces their Upper West Side apartment. Advertisement Woolfes interview, which took place at an iconic West Village gay bar, does a fine job of presenting the bourgeois and aggressively normal contours of a successful gay partnership. But however well-intentioned its effort to celebrate progress in the classical music industry, his article serves up some whitewashing of its own. In a manner similar to midcentury Hollywoods routine steamrolling of its stars wayward queerness, the mainstream music press has happily worked overtime to sanitize the orientations of its own gay celebsfrom lifelong bachelor Aaron Copland onwardand Woolfes own paper is no exception. Advertisement Leonard Bernstein, whose ongoing bisexual double life was known even to his own wife, often saw his straight relationship idealized in print as a blossoming romance; People magazine characterized their faltering union in the 1970s as storybook. Despite a hyped marriage to a shipping heiress that electrified the press in the late 60s, the brilliant, boyishly handsome Met conductor Thomas Schippers was caught up in a romantic liaison with the composer Gian Carlo Menotti that was so tumultuous and codependent his Times obituary couldnt help but mention itthough in 1977, the reference remained oblique, a footnote couched in professional terms: Advertisement The Menotti connection, which resulted in their founding of the Spoleto Festival in 1958, continued until 1976, when composer and conductor fell out. Mr. Menotti told an Italian newspaper that Mr. Schippers had become too costly a performer for the festival to afford, a Marron glace, rather than a menu staple. Mr. Schippers retorted in another newspaper that big names had become irksome to Mr. Menotti, and that there was nothing more to say but goodbye. Closeting rarely happens in a vacuum; it requires a hostile culture of gay suppression and mechanisms like the popular media to thrive. Rather than simply acting like the secrecy of high-profile gay men in Manhattan was a random phenomenon, a story such as Woolfes could just as well have addressed the music presss past complicity in making homosexuality a secret in the first place. As James Jorden, founder of the LGBTQ opera blog Parterre Box (and occasional editor of mine), recently noted, so long as the Times is identifying James Levine, Nezet-Seguins predecessor at the Met, as an example of closeted conductors, the newspaper might also have come clean about its own participation in promulgating the absurd fiction that Levine had literally no personal life at all. Advertisement Advertisement Of course, with alleged psychosexual indiscretions ultimately ending Levines career, there may be irony in hindsight: Such elisions likely kept us from getting closer to useful truths that could have limited the scope of abuse. And with Nezet-Seguins charming camp-crush on fellow compatriot Celine Dion now taking center focus in a mainstream news item, its clear that queer taste, if reported earlier and more explicitly, could have positively refined our sense of history, and of previous conducting giants. Recast as an apology for past journalistic failings, Woolfes article (with its slanted out with the bad gay, in with the good subtext) would then have delivered an even more powerful statement than it already does: The times have changed, but so has the Times. One winter day in 1987, Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio woke up, turned on her answering machine, and there waiting for her was a message that was just one word long: Yea! And thats how she found out she was nominated for an Oscar that year, for The Color of Money, the Chicago Tribune reported at the time. The next year, a publicist spoke to the Associated Press on behalf of Albert Brooks and Holly Hunter, both nominated for Broadcast News, because the two still were asleep an hour after their nominations were announced. Advertisement Then, in 89, according to the Associated Press, Edward James Olmos found out he was nominated for best actor in Stand and Deliver via the ages most cutting-edge technology: cellular telephone. That was then. If the I didnt even know nominations were today, I slept right through them act were ever believable, it would have been in the more casual 80safter all, consider what people used to wear to the ceremony. As cellular telephones and answering machines have evolved into smartphones and traditional media has begotten social media and live streams, its become increasingly less plausible for stars not to find out about these things the moment they happen. Plus, over the same timeline, awards campaigning has become a more serious affair. As Vulture put it in 2012, virtually everyone with a stake in the awards race spends the winter relentlessly flogging their movies to pundits and voters, touting them on talk shows and at intimate Hollywood parties, and patiently attending every related Q&A they can. Theres reason, in short, to view the old chestnut about not paying attention to the nominations with suspicion. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement So. Not that we would ever dream of questioning the good word of Lady Gaga, but: She told the New York Times on Tuesday that she slept through this years nominations, which are announced during the 5 a.m. hour on the West Coast, and only heard the good news when she called her manager around 8:30. Her handler told her she was up for Best Actress and Best Song, and she just burst into tears, she said. Not even the buzzing of her phone could interrupt her slumber. Coming from anyone else, this would be a bald-faced lie. As it is, its only believable in the sense that one can picture Lady Gaga sleeping upside down in a protective cocoon and bursting into tears whenever the spirit moves her. Advertisement Other nominees who pull the sleeping-beauty routine have less of an excuse. For example, Glenn Close told the Los Angeles Times that, not thinking about the nominations at all, she shut her phone off on Monday night because she thought she might be getting a cold. (Why she cant just continue using her germy phone like a normal person is unclear.) It wasnt until her brother woke her up that she found out. Hmm. Also, earlier this year, Close claimed she thought the news of her Golden Globe nomination was a butt dial. Hmm again. If that sounds overly skeptical, its because Close is a master of this particular subterfuge. In 2012, when Close received a nomination for Albert Nobbs, [s]he had come back to her home from a green tea latte with her husband in New Yorks East Village with the Oscars not even on her mind when her publicist rang with the news, per the Hollywood Reporter. OK, Glenn. Advertisement Its only believable in the sense that one can picture Lady Gaga sleeping upside down in a protective cocoon. Why do stars insist on perpetuating the lie that theyre paying no attention whatsoever to the Oscar announcements? Who do they think theyre fooling? Its a huge event in the career of an entertainer; of course they know when its happening. Then again, its part of their jobs to inhabit the role of movie stars, and one thing movie stars never want is to be seen as trying too hard: That way lies Hathahater-ville. Hence the open secret that all statue-grubbing must be accomplished stealthily. The press, of course, isnt a completely innocent party here either. After nominations come out, its awards writers who are hungry to insta-aggregate star reactions, while fully knowing its unlikely theyll get anything that hasnt been approved in advance by publicists. Why do we bother asking if we know theyre just going to tell us some made-up anecdote?! Maybe because every once in a while, this silly ritual gives us that rare thing, a genuine moment of despair or triumph: Have you seen the video going around of Miyu Sasaki, the little girl from Shoplifters, nominated for Best Foreign Language Film? Advertisement Advertisement That giggle makes it all worth it. Well, almost. And so the cycle lives on for another year. Subscribe to Slates Culture newsletter for the best of movies, TV, books, music, and more, delivered twice a week. Frederick Jackson Turner had an idea that American democracy was forged on the frontier, in harsh conditions that promoted risk-taking, individualism, and a disregard for old customs and hierarchies. Some modern immigration scholars have a related theory, called voluntary settlement hypothesis, which posits that self-selection tends to produce groups of immigrants who are more autonomous, independent, and goal-oriented than their neighbors who stayed behindwhether theyre going to a cabin in the hills or a tenement in the city. Advertisement That would burnish Turners ideas about frontier culture, but it would also suggest that regions that underwent the highest rates of out-migration would be shaped by the opposite effect, having lost their most individualistic members to the lure of a better life. (Kind of like brain drain.) Advertisement Advertisement Of course, measuring this phenomenon in terms of personality is difficult in a world where who gets to migrate is decided by geographic birthright, education, legal wherewithal, and money. Go back to the 19th century, and the playing field was a little more even; the United States didnt pass its first immigration law, the notorious Chinese Exclusion Act, until 1882. European immigrants continued to arrive without restriction for several more decades. From a research perspective, the problem with looking at those people is: How can you reach back in time and get a hold of someones personality? How can history inform us about the kinds of people who leave or stay? Advertisement In a new working paper, the economist Anne Sofie Beck Knudsen took a clever approach: She used uncommon first names as a proxy for individualism. (Yes, there is research that backs that idea upsee her paper for more.) Then, using the extensive migration records kept by Norway, Sweden, and Denmark during the late 19th centurya database of more than 1 million first-time Scandinavian emigrantsshe tried to figure out if Scandinavians heading to America were less likely to have common first names. They were. Advertisement Because migration rates from Scandinavia to the United States were so highthe three countries lost 25 percent of their populations between 1850 and 1920Knudsen thinks this would have substantially changed the makeup of the three countries, lowering the rates of individualists by 3.7 percentage points in Denmark, 9.4 points in Sweden, and 13.6 points in Norway. Wondering why Scandinavians have such high rates of social cooperation today? Maybe its because they sent all their individualists to America 100 years ago. Advertisement Or, at least, people with weird names. Working within the social geography of 19th-century Scandinavia, Knudsen thinks, this method makes more sense than it would today. The countries were pretty homogeneous. Social and physical geography were basically coterminousthe people you lived near were the people you knewand so to pick out what counts as an uncommon name (and infer from it ideas about that household) Knudsen felt comfortable relying on regional naming patterns. Still, she had to control for things. Gender: Boys have more common names. Older children, too. Family structure changes naming dynamics. Biblical names and Scandinavian names, to control for religiosity or nationalist sentiment. Even accounting for all that: Scandinavians who had been raised in individualistic households, as implied by their parents unconventional naming choices, were more likely to migrate. As a bonus, Knudsen used U.S. census data from 1900 and 1910 to see what had become of those people once they crossed the ocean. Sure enough, migrants with uncommon names were more likely to speak English, less likely to have married a compatriot, and less likely to choose a Scandinavian name for their own children. The United States on Wednesday urged Sudan to release activists detained in a wave of protests and to allow peaceful expression, warning that better ties with Washington were on the line. The statement was the first by Washington after a month of mushrooming protests in what is widely seen as the biggest threat to President Omar al-Bashir's 30 years of iron-fisted rule. The United States said it was "concerned about the increasing number of arrests and detentions" and urged the government to free "all journalists, activists and peaceful protesters who have been arbitrarily detained." "We also call on the government to allow for a credible and independent investigation into the deaths and injuries of protesters," State Department spokesman Robert Palladino said in the statement. "Moreover, to address the legitimate grievances of the population, the government must create a safe and secure environment for public expression and dialogue with the opposition and civil society in a more inclusive political process," he said. He said that excessive use of force and intimidation of the press and rights activists would jeopardize ties with the United States. "A new, more positive relationship between the United States and Sudan requires meaningful political reform and clear, sustained progress on respect for human rights," Palladino said. The United States has been slowly mending relations with Sudan after decades of tension, including over Al-Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden's refuge in the country in the 1990s and an anti-rebel campaign in the western region of Darfur that Washington described as genocide. President Donald Trump's administration lifted sanctions on Sudan in 2017 and has said that, in return for further progress, it would remove the country from its list of state sponsors of terrorism -- a designation that has held back foreign investment. Human rights groups say that more than 40 people including several medics have been killed in clashes with security forces since the protests erupted on December 19. The authorities say 26 people have been killed, including at least one doctor, but blame rebel provocateurs they say have infiltrated the ranks of the protesters. Sudan offers a test case for the Trump administration which has criticized former president Barack Obama's response to Arab Spring protests against authoritarian leaders. Trump has been comfortable allying closely with leaders with blemished human rights records, including in Egypt and Saudi Arabia. Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Hua Chunying's Regular Press Conference on January 24, 2019 2019/01/24 Q: We noted that a dialogue session on the Belt and Road Initiative was held during the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting which is now underway in Davos. Many world leaders and officials, including the President of Azerbaijan, the President of Botswana and the Finance Minister of Singapore, spoke highly of the Belt and Road Initiative. Experts at the session also agreed in general that the key word for the dialogue session is "mutual benefit", and China has offered some real help to those countries that have no resources or lack building capacity. What is your comment? A: Indeed, "mutual benefit" is one of the salient features of the Belt and Road Initiative. The Belt and Road Initiative is enjoying so much popularity and support because we are committed to following the principle of extensive consultation, joint contribution and shared benefits, upholding openness, transparency and inclusiveness, pursuing high quality, and valuing rules-abiding. In May 2017, as you may remember, the first Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation was held successfully in Beijing which drew guests from more than 140 countries and over 80 international organizations and had very extensive and positive international influence. The Belt and Road Initiative has become the most popular international public good. I know that on January 22, the Spokesperson for the National Development and Reform Commission made a detailed briefing on the implementation of the outcomes of the first Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation. By the end of 2018, 269 of the 279 outcomes of the first BRF, or 96.4% of the total, have been realized or turned into routine work. The remaining 10 outcomes are being implemented. Facts have proven that the Belt and Road Initiative has brought tangible benefits to the people of all countries along the way. I believe that as the Belt and Road Initiative takes steady steps forward, it will make greater contributions to the cause of global cooperation and common development. Q: During an interview in Davos, Michael Moller, the Director-General of the United Nations Office at Geneva, said that China plays a vital role in supporting multilateralism in an increasingly diverging world. He recalled the Chinese leader's remarks on the country's firm commitment to multilateralism two years ago in the Palace of Nations, Geneva. He added that in the following two years, China demonstrated its commitment with concrete actions. What is your comment? A: I have noted relevant reports, and we appreciate Director-General Moller's positive remarks. China is committed to supporting, upholding and practicing multilateralism. President Xi Jinping's keynote speech at the opening ceremony of the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting at the beginning of 2017 left a deep impression on all of us. In his speech, President Xi Jinping put forth China's proposals on promoting world economic growth and advancing globalization, which was warmly received and echoed by the international community. This year, Vice President Wang Qishan attended the WEF annual meeting in Davos and further elaborated on China's observations and proposals. He pointed out that with more inward-looking policies and spreading unilateralism, protectionism and populism, the multilateral order is faced with severe challenges. Economic globalization is at a juncture where it can only go backward if not forward. Facing these headwinds, China chooses to give full play to its own role. We have been unswervingly promoting all-round opening up, advancing international cooperation on the Belt and Road Initiative and building an open world economy at a higher level. Guided by the principle of consultation and cooperation for shared benefits, China is committed to fostering a new type of international relations featuring mutual respect, fairness, justice and win-win cooperation. Vice President Wang also underscored that we should uphold multilateralism, engage in extensive dialogue and cooperation based on mutual respect and mutual trust, and jointly build a system of rules for technology and a new framework for international cooperation featuring peace, security, democracy, transparency, inclusiveness and win-win outcomes, so that the benefits of technological innovation can be shared by all mankind. In the face of a growing number of uncertainties and instabilities worldwide, members of the international community have ever more needs and common interests in upholding multilateralism. We will work with the international community to adhere to a global governance vision featuring consultation and cooperation for shared benefits, firmly support rules-based multilateralism, build an open world economy and foster a community with a shared future for mankind. Q: The Australian side says that China failed to fulfill its obligation under the China-Australia consular agreement because China did not conduct consular notification to the Australian side about the detention of Yang Jun in a timely manner. What is your comment? A: After checking with the relevant department, Yang Jun, an Australian national, has been taken compulsory measures and is being investigated by Beijing State Security Bureau in accordance with the law on suspicion of engaging in criminal activities that endanger China's national security. This case is still under investigation. All the legal rights of Yang Jun have been fully guaranteed. After taking compulsory measures against Yang Jun, the Chinese side has made official notification to the Australian Embassy in China. Q: According to reports, on January 23, President of Venezuela's National Assembly Juan Guaido was sworn in as the country's "interim president". The US, Brazil and other countries have issued statements to recognize that. Venezuela's Supreme Court reaffirmed that the relevant action of the National Assembly "has violated the Constitution". President Maduro announced his decision to sever diplomatic ties with the United States. What is your comment? A: We have been closely following the current situation in Venezuela and call upon all relevant parties to stay rational and cool-headed and seek a political solution to the issue of Venezuela through peaceful dialogue within the framework of the Venezuelan Constitution. China supports the efforts made by the Venezuelan government to uphold national sovereignty, independence and stability. China always upholds the principle of non-interference in other counties' internal affairs and opposes foreign interference in Venezuela's affairs. We hope that the international community can jointly create favorable conditions for that. Q: The Australian Foreign Minister said that while the Chinese side has informed Australia of the detention of Yang Jun, the Australian side is yet to receive any explanation for the reason for his detention as is required under the consular agreement. Is that the case? When might they get a reason? A: When taking the question raised by the journalist from Bloomberg, I said that after taking compulsory measures against Yang Jun, the Chinese side has made official notification to the Australian Embassy in China. Yang Jun has been taken compulsory measures and is being investigated by Beijing State Security Bureau in accordance with the law on suspicion of engaging in criminal activities that endanger China's national security. Q: Reports say that French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian expressed hope for the early establishment of the Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) aimed at facilitating non-dollar business with Iran and circumventing US sanctions to help Iran benefit from its oil resources and purchase necessary products from its three European partners. What is China's comment? A: I have also taken note of relevant reports. As we all know, the unilateral sanctions the US imposed on Iran outside the framework of the UN Security Council are not in line with international law and have met with universal opposition of the international community. At present, the international community including France and the EU has consensus and common interests in upholding and implementing the JCPOA. We appreciate the efforts made by the European side to maintain normal economic and trade cooperation with Iran and safeguard the JCPOA. China supports the early establishment of this mechanism. Q: US President Donald Trump in a statement said that the US recognizes the leader of the Venezuelan opposition Juan Guaido as the interim president. He added that the US does not rule out the military option. I wonder if China has any comment on that? A: President Maduro started his new presidential term from this January 10. Many countries including China as well as international organizations had sent representatives to attend his inauguration ceremony. China hopes that all relevant parties in Venezuela can bear in mind the fundamental interests of their country and people, resolve political differences through dialogue and consultation on the premise of respecting constitutionalism, avoid violent conflicts and restore normal order. As important countries in the Western Hemisphere, the US and Venezuela have close traditional relations. We hope that the two countries can handle their relations on the basis of treating each other as equals, mutual respect and non-interference in each other's internal affairs as this not only serves the interests of the two countries and two peoples but also can contribute to peace and stability of the Americas. We have noted that all relevant parties are firmly opposed to military interference in Venezuela. I want to stress that external sanctions and interference will only complicate the situation and cannot help resolve the current issue. Venezuela maintaining stability and development serves the interests of all relevant parties. We hope that all relevant parties can contribute more to Venezuela's stability. Q: Russian Foreign Minister said yesterday that Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov and US Under Secretary Andrea Thompson are planning to attend the meeting of five nuclear-weapon countries, which will be held in Beijing next week. Could you confirm this and give us more details? A: I can confirm that there indeed will be such a meeting. As the rotating coordinator of the five nuclear-weapon states mechanism, China will host a formal meeting of the five nuclear-weapon states on January 30th in Beijing. The theme will be strengthening coordination of the five nuclear-weapon states and safeguarding the NPT mechanism. The five countries will have an in-depth exchange of views on nuclear policies and strategies. Issues like nuclear disarmament, nuclear non-proliferation and peaceful uses of nuclear energy will be discussed. China, the US, Russia, the UK and France are the nuclear-weapon states designated by the Treaty on the Non-proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT). The coordinating mechanism of the five nuclear-weapon states gradually took shape during the review process of the NPT. This meeting will be the first formal one in two years for the five states. Recently, all sides have maintained close communication to actively prepare for it. Against the backdrop of increasing instabilities and uncertainties in the current international security landscape, there is greater attention on major country relations and responsibilities for major countries. We believe that it is of great significance for the five nuclear-weapon states to enhance coordination and cooperation, properly manage differences and jointly uphold international peace, security and stability. Q: Canada's Ambassador to China John McCallum said Meng Wanhzou has strong arguments to fight extradition to the United States. He also said her extradition to the US would not be a happy outcome. What is your comment? A: China has stated its solemn position on the Meng Wanzhou case many times. We have pointed out explicitly that this case, from the very beginning, is not an ordinary judicial case. We have noted the relevant remarks by Ambassador McCallum. We believe that anyone with normal judgment could see through the nature of this case. We hope that the Canadian side will make the right choice instead of risking endangering itself for other's gains. Q: A Japanese magazine called Nikkei Asian Review has reported that the Chinese leader might travel to India as early as in February or maybe after the two sessions in March. Can you confirm this? A: Did you say that Japanese media reported that the Chinese leader will visit India? I have not heard of it. China and India are important neighbors to each other. China-India relations enjoy a sound momentum for growth and our leaders maintain good communication and exchanges. Q: The Australian Defense Minister who is visiting China at the moment said today he was disappointed that China had not yet granted consular access to the Australian side as is required under the bilateral consular agreement. Is there a reason why they have not yet been given access and when might that access be granted? A: With regard to the Australian Defense Minister's visit to China, I would refer you to the Defense Ministry. As to the case of Yang Jun, like I said just now, after taking compulsory measures against Yang Jun, the Chinese side has made official notification to the Australian Embassy in China. China and Australia have unimpeded channel for consular communication. China has provided necessary assistance for the Australian side to fulfill consular duties. Q: Recently there was media report that a China-Philippines professional service personnel cooperation center was set up in Guangzhou. The two countries have signed an MOU on lifting restrictions on Filipino workers to China and China is ready to receive 300,000 Filipino workers. Can you confirm this and what is your comment? A: According to my information, China and the Philippines signed an MOU on Filipino English teachers working in China in April 2018. The implementation of this document has already started. Besides, the two sides have not made any arrangement on other areas of labor cooperation. So the report you mentioned is not true. Q: Does China still recognize Nicholas Maduro as the current President of Venezuela? A: Like I said just now, many countries including China as well as international organizations had sent representatives to attend the inauguration ceremony of President Maduro on this January 10. China supports the efforts made by the Venezuelan government to uphold national sovereignty, independence and stability. Q: You are well aware of the worldwide concerns about the trade war between China and the US. We are also aware of the efforts made by the two countries to resolve the differences. Now the Huawei issue came in between. There are wide-spread concerns about the impact it is going to have on the final trade talks that are going to be held on January 30th and 31st between the two countries. What is your view on this? Will China insist on the resolution of this issue before the trade talks? A: First, I'd like to thank you for your attention on the ongoing trade talks between China and the US. It reflects the attention from the international community on this issue. I believe all countries hope these talks can yield positive outcomes, as it is good for China, the US and the world beyond. As far as I know, the working teams from the two sides are following the important consensus reached by the two heads of state to maintain close communication. The Ministry of Commerce has released the information that Vice Premier Liu He will travel to the US for trade talks. On the illegal detention of Huawei's senior executive by Canada at the behest of the US, China has made clear its solemn position many times. It is not an ordinary judicial case but a serious mistake from the very beginning. As I pointed out yesterday, the extradition request the US raised to Canada is essentially related to its unilateral sanctions on Iran. It does not comply with the international law and is not legitimate. I hope Canada and the US can recognize the seriousness of the issue and take measures to correct their mistakes as soon as possible. Q: When you said that we hope the Canadian side will refrain from risking its own interests to serve those of others, do you mean extraditing Meng Wanzhou to the US? A: It is very easy to understand. Canada and the US have abused their bilateral extradition treaty and seriously violated the safety and legitimate and legal rights and interests of the Chinese citizen. We have made our stern position clear. The current state of China-Canada relations did cause a huge impact on bilateral exchanges and cooperation, something we don't want to see and something not of our making. In order to change the current situation, the Canadian side needs to face up to the issue squarely, take China's solemn concerns seriously, and take measures to correct its mistakes. Q: I know this is not a diplomatic question, but other ministries won't respond to it. Whether Microsoft Bing search engine has been blocked in China? A: You know this is not a diplomatic question and yet you still want to try your luck on me? I am afraid you have to ask the competent department because I don't have any information on that. Washington and Beijing are "miles and miles" from resolving their trade war, US Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross said Thursday. A high-level Chinese delegation is due in Washington next week as both sides work to reach a resolution ahead before March 1, when US duty rates on Chinese imports are due to rise sharply. "There's been a lot of anticipatory work done but we're miles and miles from getting a resolution and that shouldn't be too surprising," Ross told CNBC. Wall Street futures suddenly fell during his remarks, which came a day after the White House had moved to rebut media reports that the China trade talks had hit serious obstacles. While much work remained to be done, Ross added there was still "a fair chance" of reaching a deal, while noting that the dispute involved issues that were difficult to address in a short timeframe. "I believe china would like to make a deal. I believe we would like to make a deal but it has to be a deal that works for both parties," he said. "I'm trying to say people shouldn't think the events of next week will be the solution to all of the issues between the United States and China." Washington and Beijing since last year have exchanged tit-for-tat tariffs on more than $360 billion in two-way trade, putting downward pressure on the Chinese economy, where growth is slowing. Washington accuses Beijing of a host of alleged unfair trading practices, including massive state intervention in markets and industry and the theft of American technological know-how. Emergency team members look for a boy fell into the 100-meter-deep waterhole in a mountainous area near the town of Totalan in Malaga, Spain, Monday, Jan. 14, 2019. More than 100 firefighters and emergency workers in southern Spain are searching for a 2-year-old toddler who fell into a narrow and deep well on Sunday. Rescuers believe the boy fell into the 100-meter-deep well after walking away from his parents. (AP Photo/Gregorio Marrero) MADRID (AP) Spanish rescuers working against the clock to find a 2-year-old boy who's been missing for three days say they have found DNA samples of the boy confirming his parents' account that he had fallen into a narrow borehole more than 100 meters (328 feet) deep. The parents of toddler Julen Rosello, who reportedly lost another young son in 2017, have said the family had no doubt that the boy fell into the borehole after walking away from his parents, who were preparing a countryside lunch Sunday near Totalan, a town northeast of Malaga. Adults can't enter the waterhole, which has a diameter narrower than 25 centimeters (10 inches). Emergency teams said the hair samples of the boy, extracted from soil inside the shaft, suggested the toddler may be trapped inside but at a deeper section than machinery and surveillance equipment have so far been able to reach. The government's representative in the Malaga province, Maria Gamez, said the boy's hair samples gave rescuers "scientific evidence that the minor is there." She also said that workers were still flattening areas near the borehole to allow heavy boring machinery to dig a side tunnel to reach the shaft. Emergency workers have been unable to pass through the 73-meter mark of the shaft, blocked by an accumulation of hardened soil and rocks. They expect to be able to reach the deepest part of the shaft from the side tunnel in "24 to 48 hours." Jose Rosello, Julen's father, that he and his wife were "heartbroken" by the long wait. "It feels like we have been waiting for months," he told a scrum of reporters on Wednesday. "We are not going to give up ... We have the hope that an angel is going to show up for my son to come out alive." Spanish media have reported that the couple, who lives in a coastal suburb near Malaga, lost another son in 2017. Julen's elder brother, Oliver, was 3 when he suffered a heart attack during a family walk on their local beach. The estranged brother of Singapore's prime minister on Thursday backed a former ruling party stalwart who is seeking to form a new opposition party, describing him as "the leader Singapore deserves". Lee Hsien Yang has been locked in an acrimonious feud with Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong over the fate of a family house since the death in 2015 of their father, Singapore's founding leader Lee Kuan Yew. Last week Tan Cheng Bock, a former ruling party MP and ex-presidential candidate, announced he was seeking to register a new political party -- a move analysts said could revitalise the country's weak and disunited opposition. Singapore must hold elections by 2021 but speculation is mounting they could come later this year, with the long-ruling People's Action Party (PAP) widely expected to win. In a post on Facebook, Lee Hsien Yang congratulated Tan, who narrowly lost the 2011 presidential election to the ruling party's de facto candidate, and his new group, the Progress Singapore Party. "I have known Cheng Bock for many years and he has consistently put the interests of the people first. We are fortunate that he has stepped forward to serve Singapore," he said. "This is good for the future of Singapore. Cheng Bock is the leader Singapore deserves." Backing from a senior member of the Lee family could provide a boost to Tan. In November, a photo of Lee Hsien Yang having breakfast with Tan went viral and sparked speculation that the pair were planning a political move ahead of the polls. Tan has applied to register his new party, but authorities have not yet announced whether they will approve it. Singapore's opposition has long been fragmented, with several groups trying with little success to make major gains against the ruling party, which has the vast majority of seats in parliament. Under the PAP, Singapore has become one of the world's wealthiest societies and the party still enjoys solid support. But critics accuse them of tactics such as gerrymandering and seeking to bankrupt opponents through civil lawsuits to maintain their hold on power. Pakistan's Supreme Court will decide on January 29 whether to allow an appeal against its acquittal of a Christian woman at the centre of a blasphemy row, a lawyer involved in the case said Thursday. If the court refuses to allow the appeal, it will remove the last legal hurdle facing Asia Bibi, who is a prime target in conservative Muslim-majority Pakistan and remains in protective custody. Bibi was on death row for eight years for blasphemy, a hugely sensitive charge. The Supreme Court's decision in October last year to overturn her conviction ignited days of violent demonstrations, with enraged Islamists calling for her beheading, mutiny within the powerful military and the assassination of the country's top judges. The government has since launched a crackdown on the Tehreek-e-Labaik Pakistan (TLP) party -- the Islamist group driving the violent protests -- charging its leaders with sedition and terrorism. But authorities also struck a deal with the protesters to end the violence, forming an agreement which included allowing a final review of the Supreme Court's judgement. On January 29, "the court will determine if our appeal against her acquittal is admitted", Ghulam Mustafa Chaudhry, the lawyer who filed the petition seeking an appeal, told AFP. "Usually the court decides on the same day if the appeal is admitted or not," he added. Under Pakistan's creaky legal system any private citizen can petition the courts on any matter of public interest or human rights, as in the Bibi case. However legal experts said it would be highly unusual for the Supreme Court to overturn its own decision, especially one that as carefully drafted as the Bibi ruling. "It is very rare," lawyer Saad Rasool told AFP. The three-member bench that will hear the petition will be headed by new Chief Justice Asif Saeed Khosa, considered the country's top expert in criminal law and who helped draft the decision to acquit Bibi. Blasphemy continues to be a massively inflammatory issue in Pakistan, where even unproven accusations of insulting Islam can spark lynchings. Approximately 40 people are believed to be on death row or serving a life sentence for blasphemy, according to a 2018 report by the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom. Many cases see Muslims accusing Muslims. But rights activists have warned that minorities -- particularly Christians -- are often caught in the crossfire, with blasphemy charges used to settle personal scores. Speculation has been rife since Bibi's acquittal that an asylum deal with a European or North American country may be in the works. The allegations against her date back to 2009, when Muslim women accused her of blasphemy against the Prophet Mohammed, a charge punishable by death under the colonial-era legislation. Her case drew the attention of international rights groups and swiftly became the most high-profile in the country. Pope Benedict XVI called for her release in 2010, while in 2015 her daughter met his successor and the current head of the Catholic Church, Pope Francis. Japan's supreme court has upheld a law that effectively requires transgender people to be sterilised before their gender can be changed on official documents. The court acknowledged "doubts" were emerging over whether the rule reflects changing social values, but said the law was constitutional. The decision, issued Wednesday but published on Thursday, upholds a law that requires any individual wishing to change their documents have "no reproductive glands or reproductive glands that have permanently lost function," referring to testes or ovaries. It also requires the person to have "a body which appears to have parts that resemble the genital organs of those of the opposite gender." The appeal was filed by Takakito Usui, a transgender man who wants to change official documents that identify him as female. The panel of four justices ruled unanimously to throw out Usui's appeal, declaring the law constitutional. They said the measure was intended to prevent "problems" in parent-child relations that could lead to societal "confusion" and "abrupt changes" in society. The judges said they recognised the invasive nature of the law, adding that legislation should be regularly reviewed as social and family values change. In an additional opinion, presiding justice Mamoru Miura joined another justice to say that while the law may not violate the constitution, "doubts are undeniably emerging". "Suffering related to gender, felt by people with gender identity disorder, is also the problem of society as a whole, which should encompass the diversity of sexual identity," the additional opinion said. The ruling ends Usui's legal battle, but his lawyer said parts of the decision could boost a campaign to press lawmakers to change the rule. "In this day and age, I can't believe there is a law that requires people to have surgery," Tomoyasu Oyama told AFP. "We have been at this case for two years. And every month, every six months, we can see an improved understanding of the issue by society," Oyama said. Greece's parliament on Thursday postponed for a historic vote on a deal to change the name of neighbouring Macedonia, as protesters rallied against the agreement. Initially scheduled to be held after midnight, the vote will be held Friday from 1230 GMT onwards because some 230 lawmakers wanted to speak on the issue, the parliament speaker said. Outside parliament, where hundreds demonstrated against the agreement, riot police fired tear gas to repulse hooded youths who had earlier thrown rocks. "Tomorrow is a crucial vote... now is the time to break free of the vicious sycle of nationalism and look at... future cooperation," Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras told the chamber. Macedonia's parliament ten days ago backed a constitutional revision to change the country's name to the Republic of North Macedonia. But for the deal to go through, the change must also be approved by Greek MPs. Earlier on Thursday, Communist party activists draped giant banners outside the Acropolis, reading: "No to the Tsipras-Zaev agreement." That was a reference to the landmark compromise agreed in June between Tsipras and his Macedonian counterpart Zoran Zaev. On Sunday, clashes between police and masked protesters left around 40 people injured as tens of thousands demonstrated in Athens against the name change. According to the government, "the incidents were provoked by extremists, members of (neo-Nazi party) Golden Dawn, who attempted to enter parliament". A wide range of Greek political parties, from Golden Dawn to the Socialists, oppose the accord to rename Macedonia. But it could nonetheless be approved by the required 151 lawmakers in the 300-seat parliament. The accord aims to start unravelling one of the world's longest diplomatic disputes. The disagreement began nearly three decades ago with Macedonia's declaration of independence but its roots date back centuries. Since 1991, Athens has objected to its neighbour being called Macedonia because Greece has a northern province of the same name. In ancient times it was the cradle of Alexander the Great's empire, a source of intense pride for Greeks. But the June agreement marks a landmark shift in the dispute, with the efforts of the two prime ministers winning them a nomination for the 2019 Nobel Peace Prize. - 'Right side of history' - In addition to normalising relations between the two countries, implementation of the agreement will open the door for Macedonia to join the European Union and NATO, hitherto blocked by Athens' veto. But in Greece, the name of its neighbour continues to fuel controversy in politics and society, a few months ahead of parliamentary elections scheduled for October. Last week, Tsipras's ruling coalition fell apart as a result of the controversy but he then narrowly won a confidence vote, setting the stage for the name-change vote in parliament. His leftist Syriza party has 145 MPs and enough independent members have pledged their support to secure approval of the deal. Speaking to AFP on Thursday, Macedonia's Foreign Minister Nikola Dimitrov said supporters of the deal were "on the right side of history". He said the agreement offered a valuable model for resolving a number of complex disagreements in the Balkans. Dimitrov, who was one of the top architects of the June deal along with Nikos Kotzias, his Greek counterpart at the time, said the compromise had created "a climate (in which) the impossible is actually possible". - 'Concerns exaggerated' - On the right, New Democracy leader Kyriakos Mitsotakis said the agreement "creates new problems" and "awakens nationalism". "Your foreign policy is superficial and ignorant... you should be ashamed," he told leftist lawmakers. Conservative ex-PM Costas Karamanlis, who thwarted Macedonia's NATO entry a decade ago, said the deal talks were conducted "with unjustified haste". For many Greeks, especially in the north where the province of Macedonia is the birthplace of Alexander, the name "Macedonia" belongs to Greek historical heritage. But Tsipras insisted Thursday: "We never had a Macedonian language. Alexander the Great spoke Greek." Some even fear their neighbour has territorial designs on its namesake Greek province. "These concerns are exaggerated," Yannis Armakolas, professor of political science at the University of Thessaloniki, told AFP. He deplored what he called a lack of party consensus and "real public debate" on an issue of national importance. "If the agreement does not come into effect, the consequences of the failure will be profound and both sides might well reconsider many elements that had been agreed to," UN mediator Matthew Nimetz said in an interview with Greek news agency ANA. Nimetz said reaching a new agreement "would take years, not months, given that all the issues would once again be on the table, and given that there are likely to be different political dynamics in both countries, as well as changes in the regional and global environment." A gorilla in Limbe, Cameroon, was not interested in having any company come mealtime. Video posted on January 24 shows the gorilla climbing high up into a tree to eat alone. The Limbe Wildlife Centre shared a video on their Facebook page of one of their gorillas, climbing a tree with various plant branches, looking to eat without any interruptions. Some gorillas just want to grab their food and eat in peace, the post said. The Limbe Wildlife Centre is a rescue and rehabilitation for animals seized from the illegal wildlife trades in Cameroon. As of writing, the video has been viewed over 1,000 times. Credit: The Limbe Wildlife Centre via Storyful If you are currently a print subscriber but don't have an online account, select this option. You will need to use your 7 digit subscriber account number (with leading zeros) and your last name (in UPPERCASE). Submit an Obituary Funeral homes often submit obituaries as a service to the families they are assisting. Obituaries submitted by family members are also accepted pending proper verification of the death. Submit an Obituary Felicia Frazar is the managing editor of the Seguin Gazette. You can e-mail her at felicia.frazar@seguingazette.com WASHINGTON If Russia does not dismantle a cruise missile system that the United States believes violates the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty by Feb. 2, the U.S. will suspend compliance with the treaty and begin internal discussions on whether to declare its intent to withdraw from the 1987 pact, the undersecretary for arms control and international security said Jan. 24. During negotiations last week in Geneva, the Russians acknowledged they have fielded the 9M729 Novator missile but denied it violates the INF range limit, Andrea Thompson said. The meeting with Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov was professional, not the usual bluster, Thompson told a Defense Writers breakfast at the George Washington University. But at the end of the day, we didnt break any new ground. There was no new information. Thompson said the Russians offered to allow U.S. experts to see a static display of the Novator, which was rejected as not providing any evidence of the missiles range. The United States has shared its intelligence findings that show the missile exceeds the 500 kilometers treaty limit (about 300 miles) with Russia and with U.S. allies and partners, she said. She would not say whether U.S. intelligence has determined if the Novators are armed with nuclear or conventional warheads. The Russians have deployed five battalions of the missiles, which could hit most U.S. allies in Europe, Thompson said. This is not a test system. Soldiers in uniform are manning it, she said. The only way Russia could come back into compliance with the INF is to destroy the missile and its launchers, she said. If the U.S. terminates its commitment to the INF, it would be free to develop and field missiles that match or exceed the Novator, she said. European news services have reported that some NATO allies have expressed concern about ending the INF, fearing it would spur the Russians to field even more missiles. But Thompson said all of the allies and partners agree that Russia has violated the treaty. She said discussions on whether any of the allies would agree to field a new U.S. missile have not occurred. We are trying to get Russia back into compliance. Asked why the United States would need to develop a new missile when it already has weapons that could threaten Russia, Thompson said, we need redundant systems to defend ourselves. The Russians continue to claim that some U.S. missile defense systems, including the Aegis Ashore installations operational in Romania and under construction in Poland, violate the INF, despite their defensive nature. Thompson said Russian violation of INF should not affect other arms control agreements. Discussions continue with Moscow on extending the New Start strategic forces treaty, which expires in two years, and the United States remains in compliance with the pact that limits the number of fielded strategic nuclear weapons and warheads. Shanghai (Gasgoo)- Lynk & Co, a Chinese-Swedish automotive brand owned by Zhejiang Geely Holding Group, will launch the Lynk & Co 04 and 05 in 2019, said An Conghui, President and CEO of Geely Auto Group. Besides, the Lynk & Co 02 PHEV and the 03 PHEV will also hit the market this year, according to local media. The brand has so far rolled out four models, namely, the Lynk & Co 01, 02, 03 and the Lynk & Co 01 PHEV. As the product planning reveals, all outgoing models will have their PHEV version. It is reported that the exterior and interior of the Lynk & Co 02's and 03's PHEV are rarely changed compared to their fuel-burning versions. Both PHEV models will be powered by a hybrid powertrain that is comprised of a 1.5-litre turbocharged engine and an electric motor, mated to a hybrid 7-speed wet clutch transmission. The engine can pump out 132kW and peak torque of 256 Nm, while the electric motor generates 60kW and 160 Nm. Fuel consumption for two models may reach only 1.7 litres per 100km. The Lynk & Co 04 is expected to be a hatchback based on the Lynk & Co 01. With a wheelbase spanning over 2.7 meters, the 04 retains the family design language at the front face, yet its rear end and interior will be largely different from the existing Lynk & Co-branded models. In addition, The Lynk & Co 05 is likely to be a mid/full-sized sedan. According to sales data released by Geely Auto, Lynk & Co sold 120,414 vehicles throughout 2018 with a marvelous year-on-year surge of 1902.9% thanks to the expanding product lineup. The carmaker aims to roll out a total of 10 models in China by 2020 to form a more complete vehicle matrix. Kathmandu, Nepal: the main opposition party Nepali Congress (NC) has reached on the conclusion to present strongly against of the government if it continued exhibiting its arrogance against of the concerns raised by the opposition party over the National Medical Education Bill. A Central Working Committee meeting of the NC held its central office Sanepa concluded to present strongly against of the government if it did not maintain flexibility on its stance on the Medical Education Bill. The Main opposition NC has made the decision in the mean time when the government has already decided to endorse the Bill at any cost by Friday. Governments spokesperson Gokul Prasad Baskota asserted on Thursday that the National Medical Education Bill will be endorsed by Friday. About Me Scott Because prophetic scriptures are found throughout the bible, it is obvious that a comprehensive, systematic approach would be useful, if not necessary, for the understanding of prophecy. Past prophecies have been fulfilled in a literal manner, as confirmed by the dating of these writings and historical records of confirmation. These past prophecies also serve as a model of how to interpret future prophecies. A literal view of prophecy clearly indicates a certain sequence of events will occur within a single generation, concluding with the Tribulation and Second Advent and these events will be obvious. The prophetic signs appear to be present in this generation and we believe these signs are revealed in the news from around the world. View my complete profile January 24, 2019 in Social Networking (E) [prMac.com] Fremont, California - Chickku LLC recently launched the latest version (1.2.4) of its local social app, Chickku app. The app, which can be downloaded from Apple iTunes and Google Play Store for free, helps users connect with other people, for common causes and interests, places and businesses in their local vicinity. "Chickku app is a special platform that effectively uses location based technology to bring people together. With Chickku app, you can find like-minded friends in your area, join a local issue, discover places of interests around your location, rate and recommend restaurants and other hangouts, and even buy or sell things locally for free!," exclaims Sudeep Kaushik, CEO, Chickku LLC. The app helps users in the following ways: * Make new friends nearby: The app helps users to find people with similar interests and hobbies living in their vicinity. Like-minded people can communicate through instant messaging in the app, make introductions and meet to discuss and follow their mutual interests. * Social profile: Users can create a dedicated wall page to showcase themselves so that people in their vicinity can get to know them and connect with them. * Local causes: Every community faces some challenges and fights together to alleviate pain points. With Chickku app, users can find social causes in their area and participate in making their community a better place to live. * Local promotions: Users can find local promotions, sale, discounts on their favourite products sold by the shops in their locality. Tuning into the Chickku app helps people save money by finding instant local deals.. * Local events: The app helps users find local gigs and events. From their favourite band playing in a club to a flash sale to cultural events, users can choose to get notifications of all the events happening in their area. * Ratings & Recommendations: Users can find ratings and reviews by the neighbourhood on local restaurants, shops, and even service providers. The recommendations and reviews help users make educated purchasing. * Buy/Sell locally: The free Chickku platform helps sellers showcase their products & services, and pricing & deals, online. Buyers, on the other hand, can find products they are looking for and can look up their prices before making a purchase decision. * Instant Private Messaging: Users as well as local businesses can communicate with each easily with Instant Private Messaging feature provided inside the App. Connecting locally has never been easier. Device Requirement: * OS Requirements: iOS 9.0 or later & Android 4.1 and up * Compatible with iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch * Size: iOS - 43.9 MB & Android - 23 MB Pricing and Availability: Chickku 1.2.4 is currently available for free on the App Store under the Social Networking category and Google Play under the Dating category. Chickku LLC is a Software Development and Services company that is dedicated to providing useful Apps and Services to general consumers and businesses. At present the company has launched a product called Chickku Local, a mobile app platform that is aimed at connecting local consumers and users with local business and providing its users with enhanced local experience. All Material and Software (C) Copyright 2019 Chickku LLC. All Rights Reserved. Apple, the Apple logo, iPhone, iPod, and iPad are registered trademarks of Apple Inc. in the U.S. and/or other countries. Other trademarks and registered trademarks may be the property of their respective owners. ### 19 hours ago | June 18th | 2021 5:00 AM Nio Stock is Revving Up, But Should You Jump on Board? Its been a wild ride for electric vehicle (EV) stocks, and Nio (NYSE:NIO) has been no exception. At a quick glance, the 13% drop in NIO stock for 2021 doesnt look too bad. However, the stock is down approximately double that since reaching a high of over $60 in February. And without a rally of over 30% over the Kathmandu, Nepal: Minister for Communication and Information Technology Gokul Prasad Baskota has claimed that the parliament will endorse the Medical Education Bill on Friday. The bill will be endorsed at any cost, Baskota said while speaking at a press briefing organized in Singha Durbar on Thursday. Baskota, who is also the spokesperson of the Nepal government, claimed so in the mean time when the main opposition Nepali Congress has strongly been opposing the governments plan to pass the bill. There is no reason to protest the Medical Education Bill as it has addressed all the demands of agitating Dr Govinda KC, Baskota said. Ukrainian sailors have no complaints against detention conditions ombudsman RAPSI 17:02 24/01/2019 MOSCOW, January 24 (RAPSI) - Moscows human rights commissioner Tatiana Potyayeva visited Ukrainian sailors charged with illegal crossing of Russian borders in Lefortovo detention center and found that they did not have complaints against jail conditions, according to a statement published on the website of the countrys federal ombudsman on Thursday. According to Potyayeva, all sailors have been placed in two-man cells; they have TV sets, refrigerators and no lack of food. She also mentioned that there no conflicts between jailmates. Earlier this week, Potyayeva visited three sailors, who had received injuries during arrest, in the detention center Matrosskaya Tishina. She mentioned that health condition of three detainees became noticeably better; one of them is still receiving needed treatment and recovery procedures. On November 25, Russian border guard officers had to engage a weapon to stop unwarranted maneuvers of three Ukrainian ships in Russias territorial waters in the area of Kerch Strait. The ships were seized while 24 crew members were arrested. Three sailors were wounded. Simferopol and Kerch courts ruled the sailors be detained. On November 30, all of them were transferred to Moscow. Russias High Commissioner for Human Rights Tatiana Moskalkova said in December that the sailors rights were not violated. Their rights to a procedure and confinement conditions as well as rights to medical care are observed as required by international and Russian laws, Moskalkova told journalists. Former California Governor Jerry Brown (L) and former US Secretary of Defense William Perry unveil the Doomsday Clock during The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists news conference Information warfare is amplifying major worldwide threats like climate change and nuclear warfare, endangering the future of civilization, US experts said Thursday as the symbolic Doomsday Clock stayed at two minutes to midnight. The manipulation of facts, fake news and information overloadalong with global warming and flirting with nuclear warare all factors that have brought humans as close to destroying the planet as ever, said the non-profit Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists. "Humanity now faces two simultaneous existential threats, either of which would be cause for extreme concern and immediate attention," the group said in a statement. "These major threatsnuclear weapons and climate changewere exacerbated this past year by the increased use of information warfare to undermine democracy around the world, amplifying risk from these and other threats and putting the future of civilization in extraordinary danger." The clock did not budge from last year, but that "should not be taken as a sign of stability," said Rachel Bronson, president and CEO of the group of scholars and international experts in security, nuclear, environmental and science fields. "It is a state as worrisome as the most dangerous times of the Cold War," said Bronson at a press conference in the US capital, describing the current climate as "The New Abnormal." "The velocity of information has increased by orders of magnitude, allowing information warfare and fake news to flourish," she said. "It generates rage and polarization across the globe at a time when we need calm and unity to solve the globe's greatest problems." Doomsday Clock at 2 minutes to midnight This "New Abnormal" is "a state that features an unpredictable and shifting landscape of simmering disputes that multiply the chances for major conflict to erupt," she added. "We appear to be normalizing a very dangerous world in terms of the risks of nuclear warfare and climate change." 'Bad news, indeed' Robert Rosner, professor in astronomy and astrophysics at the University of Chicago, described this "New Abnormal" as "the disturbing reality in which things are not getting better." "The fact that the Doomsday Clock's hands did not move is bad news indeed," he said. The Doomsday Clock was created in 1947. Its time has changed on 20 occasions since then, ranging from two minutes to midnight in 1953and again in 2018to 17 minutes before midnight in 1991. Last year it moved from two-and-a-half minutes before minutes to two minutes, as near as it has ever been to the hour of the apocalypse, largely based on concerns over the possibility of nuclear war with North Korea and "unpredictability" from US President Donald Trump. Over the past year, the "rhetoric" between North Korea and the United States "has eased but remains extremely dangerous," said Bronson. A combination of file pictures shows (clockwise from top L) the Doomsday Clock on January 25, 2018; on January 26, 2017; on January 26, 2016; on January 22, 2015; on January 10, 2012; and on January 14, 2010 Meanwhile, relations between the United States and Russia "remain unacceptably strained." And on the environmental front, "carbon emissions began to rise again after a period of plateauing," Bronson added. On tensions with North Korea, former US defense secretary William Perry said the latest talks between the Washington and Pyongyang may have done "nothing" to move North Korea away from its nuclear program. "On the other hand, and this is a big other hand, it stopped the insults and threats between our two countries, and therefore reduced the chances of blundering into a war with North Korea," Perry said. Jerry Brown, executive chair of the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists and former governor of California, said world leaders are not doing enough to scale back the threat of nuclear weapons. "The blindness and stupidity of the politicians and their consultants is truly shocking in the face of nuclear catastrophe and danger," Brown said. "We are almost like travelers on the Titanic, not seeing the iceberg up ahead but enjoying the elegant dining and music." Brown also took issue with journalists who report on every word the US president utters on social media. "Journalists, yes, you love Trump's tweets. You love the news of the day. You love the leads that get the clicks but the final click could be a nuclear accident, or mistake, and that is what we all have to be worried about." 2019 AFP This April 26, 2017, file photo shows the Twitter app icon on a mobile phone in Philadelphia. According to a study released on Thursday, Jan. 24, 2019, a tiny fraction of Twitter users spread the vast majority of fake news in 2016, with conservatives and older people sharing misinformation more. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke, File) A tiny fraction of Twitter users spread the vast majority of fake news in 2016, with conservatives and older people sharing misinformation more, a new study finds. Scientists examined more than 16,000 U.S. Twitter accounts and found that 16 of themless than one-tenth of 1 percenttweeted out nearly 80 percent of the misinformation masquerading as news, according to a study Thursday in the journal Science . About 99 percent of the Twitter users spread virtually no fake information in the most heated part of the election year, said study co-author David Lazer, a Northeastern University political and computer science professor. Spreading fake information "is taking place in a very seamy, but small, corner of Twitter," Lazer said. Lazer said misinformation "super sharers" flood Twitter: an average of 308 pieces of fakery each between Aug. 1 and Dec. 6 in 2016. And it's not just few people spreading it, but few people reading it, Lazer said. "The vast majority of people are exposed to very little fake news despite the fact that there's a concerted effort to push it into the system," Lazer said. The researchers found the 16,442 accounts they analyzed by starting with a random pool of voter records, matching names to Twitter users and then screening out accounts that appeared to not be controlled by real people. Their conclusions are similar to a study earlier this month that looked at the spread of false information on Facebook. It also found that few people shared fakery, but those who did were more likely to be over 65 and conservatives. That makes this study more believable because two groups of researchers using different social media platforms, measuring political affiliation differently and with different panels of users came to the same conclusion, said Yonchai Benkler, co-director of Harvard Law School's center on the internet and society. He wasn't part of either study but praised them, saying they should reduce misguided postelection panic about how "out-of-control technological processes had rendered us as a society incapable of telling truth from fiction." Experts say a recent showdown between Kentucky Catholic school students and a Native American elder at the Lincoln Memorial seemed to be stoked by a single now-shut down Twitter account. Lazer said the account fit some characteristics of super sharers from his study but it was more left-leaning, which didn't match the study. Unlike the earlier Facebook study, Lazer didn't interview the people but ranked people's politics based on what they read and shared on Twitter. The researchers used several different sources of domains for false information masquerading as newsnot individual stories but overall sitesfrom lists compiled by other academics and BuzzFeed. While five outside experts praised the study, Kathleen Hall Jamieson, head of the public policy center at the University of Pennsylvania, found several problems, especially with how they determined fake information sites. Lazer's team found that among people they categorized as left-leaning and centrists, fewer than 5 percent shared any fake information. Among those they determined were right-leaning, 11 percent of accounts shared misinformation masquerading as news. For those on the extreme right, it was 21 percent. This study shows "most of us aren't too bad at circulating information, but some of us are determined propagandists who are trying to manipulate the public sphere," said Texas A&M University's Jennifer Mercieca, a historian of political rhetoric who wasn't part of the study. 2019 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. Gavin King and a team of University of Missouri researchers developed a theoretical model of how proteins work with cell membranes. Credit: University of Missouri-Columbia Trillions of cellsall different shapes and sizesform a human body's structure. Surrounding each cell is a membrane, jointly acting as hostess and securitywelcoming certain information into the cell while making sure its components don't spill out into the body's void. Much is known about how the individual pieces of a cell work, but a significant understanding of how proteins interact with the cell membrane has remained a mystery until now, following a recent study at the University of Missouri. "When you think about the fundamental components of living systems, proteins are among the most important, right up there with nucleic acids," said Gavin King, an associate professor of physics in the College of Arts and Science at MU, and joint associate professor of biochemistry. "Proteins execute more activity in the cell compared to DNA." Proteins are the workhorses of a cell. About 30 percent of proteins in any given cell frequently interact with membranes or reside within membranes in order to facilitate and regulate the flow of information and materials in and out of cells. Using high precision atomic force microscopy experiments, King's team measured the force required for proteins to break free from the membrane. "Imagine you are going fishing, and your fishing rod is a force microscope," King said. "At the end of our fishing rod we attached a lure, or in this case a really short protein. In a very careful and controlled manner, we lower the fishing rod to the vicinity of a membrane. In a way we can't control or directly observe, the lure is frequently bitten by the fish, which in this case is the membrane. When the fish bites, we can pull the lure back and we can ask how much force it takes to pop the lure out of the fish's mouth. What surprised us is that if you do that same experiment repeatedly, you get different results. We were struggling to find a model that could fit this complexity." To answer this question, Ioan Kosztin, a professor of physics in the College of Arts and Science at MU, partnered with King and developed a theoretical model that shows there is more than one way a protein can break free of the membrane involving several different pathways. They discovered that the protein-membrane interaction can exhibit a "catch-bond" behavior. "Catch-bond behavior is similar to a Chinese finger trap, where counterintuitively, the harder one pulls on the trap, the stronger the trap pulls back," Kosztin said. "Though similar behavior has been previously described on a cellular level, to our knowledge, this is the first report for protein-membrane interactions." The researchers hope this discovery will provide a foundation for future studies on signaling pathways in cells and how drugs vary cellular functions. The study, "Multiple stochastic pathways in forced peptide-lipid membrane detachment" was published in Scientific Reports. Explore further New insight into cell membranes could improve drug testing and design More information: Milica Utjesanovic et al. Multiple stochastic pathways in forced peptide-lipid membrane detachment, Scientific Reports (2019). Journal information: Scientific Reports Milica Utjesanovic et al. Multiple stochastic pathways in forced peptide-lipid membrane detachment,(2019). DOI: 10.1038/s41598-018-36528-4 Member of notorious Russian gang gets 17 years for murders and other serious crimes RIA Novosti 12:54 24/01/2019 MOSCOW, January 24 (RAPSI) A court in Russias Vladikavkaz has sentenced Arthur Dzhioyev, an active member of a notorious Russian gang headed by Georgian-born Aslan Gagiyev, to 17 years in high security prison, the Investigative Committees press service reports Thursday. Dzhioyev has been found guilty of organizing a criminal gang and participation in it, murder, attempted assassination, illegal deprivation of human freedom, ammunition trafficking. According to investigators, the man was a right-hand of Gagiyev, who had organized the crime syndicate suspected of multiple murders. Dzhioyev allegedly coordinated actions of the gangs units and was involved in killings and other especially grave crimes. The Investigative Committee stated that the defendant took part in one attempted assassination and five murders. Dzhioyev, who had been put on the international wanted list, was arrested in Greece in 2015. In February 2018, he was extradited to Russia. Russian investigators claim that Gagiyevs gang has been operating since 2004 and includes over 50 members. Members of the gang committed more than 60 counts of murder in Moscow, Moscow Region and North Ossetia including murders of officials, law enforcement officers and businessmen. Some members of the gang have already been convicted and are serving long prison terms. A healthy Tasmanian devil running through woodland. Credit: Dr Rodrigo Hamede A new study of Tasmanian devils has revealed that a transmissible cancer which has devastated devil populations in recent years in unlikely to cause extinction of the iconic species. New research led by Dr. Konstans Wells from Swansea University has revealed that it is more likely that the disease will fade-out or that the devils will coexist with Tasmanian Devil Facial Tumour Disease (DFTD) in future. DFTD typically kills the majority of devils it infects and has wiped out around 80% of wild devils with continuous decline of existing populations since the disease was first identified. An international team of scientists from the UK, Australia and the USA matched field epidemiological evidence from wild populations collected over a 10-year period in north-west Tasmania with simulation studies, which revealed that DFTD is unlikely to continue causing ongoing population declines of Tasmanian devils in future. They say the findings of their study, published in Ecology, offers much-needed hope that the species, which is the world's largest remaining marsupial carnivore, will not necessarily become extinct due to DFTD. First discovered in north-eastern Tasmania in 1996, DFTD causes tumours to form on the face and neck of the animal. The cancer spreads when the devils bite each other's faces during fighting, thus killing the animals within six to twenty four months. Dr. Konstans Wells, lead author of the study, said: "Our findings suggest that immediate management interventions are unlikely to be necessary to ensure the survival of Tasmanian devil populations. This is because strong population declines of devils after disease emergence do not necessarily translate into long-term population declines". To explore the long-term outcomes of DFTD and devil populations, the researchers conducted a large number of simulations of possible disease spread in devils. Based on evidence such as current infection rates in the wild, the most likely simulation scenarios were selected to explore how DFTD will affect devil populations over the next 100 years. Among the most likely scenarios were those in which DFTD faded out (57% of likely scenarios) or coexisted with devils (22% of likely scenarios). A Tasmanian devil with cancerous tumour on its face. Credit: Dr Rodrigo Hamede Co-author of the study, Dr. Rodrigo Hamede from the University of Tasmania, said: "With growing evidence that devils are showing signs of adaptation to DFTD and that so far the disease has not caused local extinctions, management actions targeted at understanding the devil's adaptive strategies to cope with DFTD should be considered. "Complete eradication of DFTD is not feasible, therefore studying the long-term interactions between devils and tumours will provide a realistic prognosis for the species and at the same time will help us to understand important evolutionary processes. This is particularly relevant given the recent outbreak of a new transmissible cancerdevil facial tumour 2affecting devil populations in south-eastern Tasmania. Devils seem to be prone to transmissible cancers, so studying epidemic dynamics and evolutionary responses to this type of diseases should be a priority". The research suggests that management efforts to maintain devil populations should be guided by the changing understanding of the long-term outcome of the disease impact on devils. Dr. Wells explained: "Management efforts in wild populations that solely aim to combat the impact of DFTD can be counterproductive if they disrupt long-term forces at work that may eventually lead to stable devil populations that are well able to persist with the cancer. "Wildlife diseases such as DFTD should not disguise the fact that sufficiently large and undisturbed natural environments are a vital prerequisite for wildlife to persist and eventually cope with obstructions such as infectious diseases without human intervention". The study Individual and temporal variation in pathogen load predicts long-term impacts of an emerging infectious disease is published in Ecology. Explore further Tasmanian devil populations continue to decline Rock wallabies have been given ice to lick at the zoo Temperatures in southern Australia topped 49 degrees Celsius on Thursday, shattering previous records as sizzling citizens received free beer and heat-stressed bats fell from trees. The Bureau of Meteorology reported temperatures of 49.5 Celsius (120 Fahrenheit) north of Adelaide, while inside the city temperatures reached 47.7 Celsius, breaking a record that had stood since 1939. Adelaide residents are used to sweltering days during the southern hemisphere summer, but even they struggled with the oppressive temperatures. More than 13 towns across South Australia have smashed their own heat records. The state's health authorities early Thursday reported that 44 people had received emergency treatment for heat-related illnesses in the past 24 hours. "Remember to check on elderly friends, relatives and neighbours, and those who are unwell," the state emergency services tweeted. Health authorities were also forced to issue a public warning to avoid contact with hundreds of heat-stressed bats falling from trees in parkland areas. Authorities in central Australia said they had to cull more than 50 feral horses, after they found 90 dead or dying wild brumbies near a dried-up water hole. Shocking images of dozens of dead horses strewn across the dry ground began to circulate on social media this week. "With climate change well and truly upon us, we expect these emergencies to occur with increasing frequency and nobody is truly prepared and resourced to respond to them," David Ross, director of indigenous representative body the Central Land Council, said in a statement. Bushfire threat While thousands of people have flocked to beaches to cool off in the surf, hundreds have taken to shopping centres to stay out of the heat. At Adelaide Zoo animals have been getting hosed down with cool water At the Red Lion Hotel in South Australia, publicans gave a free beer to each of their patrons while the temperature remained above 45 degrees. Around one hundred people lined up for their free drink for over one hour. At Adelaide Zoo tortoises have been getting cool water wipedowns, rock wallabies have been given ice to lick and hyenas have taken refreshing dips. But the temperatures are also testing municipal services, with SunCity buses forced to cut their services, leaving commuters searching for trams or trains to get home. Emergency services are on the alert as more than 13 districts are under threat of possible bushfires. Meanwhile, a total fire ban was issued further south in the island state of Tasmania, where authorities continued to battle blazes. Parts of the southeastern state of Victoria were also sweltering through temperatures above 40 degrees. The soaring temperatures follow a heatwave last week that saw Australian towns among the hottest places on Earth. As many as a million fish were discovered dead last week along the banks of a major river system in drought-battered eastern Australia, with thousands more found killed some 900 kilometres (560 miles) away in the north of New South Wales on Monday. The government has launched a review into the mass fish kill. National Broadcaster ABC reported that farmers in Western Australia have been forced to cull at least 2,500 feral camels gathering in "plague proportions" in the past month. Regarded as pests, the ABC said many have wondered onto properties where temperatures had reached 50 Celsius this summer, where they are draining valuable water supply and feed for cattle. Explore further Australian towns among hottest spots on Earth as heatwave sizzles 2019 AFP Sociology PhD student Laura Aylsworth interviewed female sex workers in Edmonton, and found a significant gap between how society and the legal system regard the profession and what the lives of sex workers actually look like. Credit: Richard Siemens First-hand accounts by female sex workers in Edmonton suggest policies meant to protect them from exploitation may be having opposite effect. Canadian sex trade policies reflect a less than adequate understanding of the lives of prostitutes, according to a new University of Alberta study of female sex workers in Edmonton. Laura Aylsworth, a doctoral student in sociology, interviewed 25 women with experience in Edmonton's street-level sex trade and found a significant gap between societal and legal understandings of the profession and what the lives of sex workers actually look like. "People have this idea that (sex workers are) out there 24/7, that it's the entirety of their lives and the only way they're supporting themselves," said Aylsworth. "For a lot of them, sex work involvement is a very small part of their day or even monthit's an additional way to secure their needs." Some participants in Aylsworth's study were critical of the Protection of Communities and Exploited Persons Act of 2014, introduced after the Supreme Court struck down Canada's prostitution laws in 2013. It offers incentives to exit the trade, she said, such as financial assistance and skills training, but makes support conditional on making a clean break with the life. "The sex workers I talked to want that support unconditionally, even those who are still involved, because their definition of involvement is much more fluid" than the legislation assumes, she said, with a wide range of working conditions, time commitments and transaction arrangements. "They would like support without a contract or promiseno strings attached," she said, adding they would also welcome more accessible housing, safe places and shelters. Aylsworth added that while exploitation and abuse are certainly a reality for many sex workers, the picture does not apply to all. In fact, none of the women she interviewed for her study discussed involvement in the sex trade as comprising the bulk of their lives in any stable or fixed way. Challenging victim narratives Aylsworth's findings support a national study in 2015 funded by the Canadian Institutes of Health Researchthe largest and most comprehensive study of the sex industry undertaken in Canadacalled Understanding Sex Work. It showed that although a minority in the sex industry "feel exploited and experience violence, many appreciated the autonomy and income their work provides and are generally satisfied with their job." It also concluded that the "violence and poor health currently experienced by some sex workers are not inherent to the workthey are the products of punitive laws and inadequate social conditions." Most in Aylsworth's study viewed "involvement" in the trade as dependent upon whether they had control over the terms of their business, including selection of clients and a degree of financial independence. They also rejected the commonly held misconception of "survival sex" as always defined by exploitation and victimhood. Those who saw themselves as less involved in sex work "were defining themselves against these dominant victim narratives," said Aylsworth. "Although pimps can be a reality for some, nobody I spoke with worked under a third party, or pimp, so they were able to have more control. And none referenced their victimization as specifically tied to, nor the result of, their involvement in the sex trade. "Instead, their involvement denotes their efforts to navigate and respond to wider structural inequalities and power relationscolonialism and racism, capitalism and poverty, patriarchy and gender inequality, and so onthat exist independent of the sex trade," she said. When asked whether sex workers supported legalized indoor venues, "Many didn't want to move to an indoor location like a brothel, because they were aware they'd be working for someone else," said Aylsworth. She said in recent years the practice of street-level solicitation has fallen sharply in Edmonton, mainly because sex workers use cellphones and the internet to talk to clients and potential clients. Missing voices Aylsworth decided to pursue her research project in 2010, after moving to Edmonton from Ottawa to continue graduate work. She noticed billboards around the city proclaiming, "This community does not tolerate prostitution." "That really sparked my interest," she said. "I noticed the voices of the sex workers themselves were lacking in all this. No one was speaking to them." She said much of the existing research on sex work focuses on the experiences of abuse that lead women into the trade, reinforcing the victim narrative. "I was trying to find something different, asking them what is important for us to know," she said. Aylsworth contacted sex work advocacy groups, putting out a call to those interested in sharing their experiences. The response was surprising, she said, as many came forward, eager to correct dominant misconceptions. She spent about five months on call, ready to conduct interviews at any time of day. "I would meet them at a central location downtownprivate nooks in public placesas a way to avoid setting up barriers," she said. "I wanted them to feel as free as possible. It was very loosely structuredI just let them talk. "What was really surprising to me was this recurring statement: 'I don't do that anymore, I'm no longer involved,' when at the same time they would describe what from the outside would seem to be still participating." Many also felt the 2014 legislation, while aiming to make sex work safer, ended up doing the opposite. By targeting those who purchase sex rather than those who sell it, the law reduced their clientele, exposing sex workers to more dangerous strangers, as opposed to safer regular clients. "It is often the good clients, the ones who have something to lose, who stop using the services of sex workers," said Aylsworth. Some of those interviewed also pointed to the often unacknowledged emotional and community benefits that derive from relationships with regular clients. "What really came out was a sense of belonging or acceptance that being a part of the community brought, that perhaps challenged a childhood characterized by lack of acceptance or being shuffled around foster homes." Aylsworth said there is a dearth of research asking sex workers for their views on designing social policy. She said she hopes her study, which she plans to finish later this year, will have some impact on future decisions. "This points out why research that seeks to privilege voices of those we talk about is so important, because they're able to point us in directions we don't even think to look." Explore further Sex workers need workplace regulations to improve safety Credit: iStock/RichVintage Alvin E. Roth, who shared the Nobel Prize in economics in 2012, has been a pioneer in applying game theory to all manner of markets. As a faculty member in the Stanford Department of Economics, he helped map out the concepts for kidney exchanges, which match volunteer donors and recipients. He has worked on strategies to improve college admissions, school choice and job placement for medical residents, law clerks and new economists. More recently, Roth has focused on so-called repugnant markets, which involve transactions that some people want to engage in but which others want to ban. Common examples include drug-trafficking and prostitution. Roth, the Craig and Susan McCaw Professor in the School of Humanities and Sciences, earned his Ph.D. in operations research at Stanford, and holds a courtesy appointment as a professor of management science and engineering. He says repugnant markets pose questions about how best to engineer complex systems that challenge societal values. For instance, when is it effective to outlaw an activity, and when does that simply foster a black market? At what point does it make more sense to focus on harm reduction than prevention? Roth expanded on these ideas in a recent interview. Are repugnant markets repugnant everywhere? Not necessarily. Public attitudes and the rules about these transactions differ between countries, and even within the United States. Prostitution is legal in Germany, but it's illegal in the United States except for certain counties in Nevada. Kidney exchanges and surrogacy are legal in the United States, but both surrogacy and kidney exchanges are illegal in Germany. In Canada, surrogacy is legal, but you can't pay a woman to be a surrogate, so there isn't much of it there, while California has become a destination for "fertility tourism." What sort of design issues are posed by repugnant markets? Let's consider just one instance that I've worked on. You can think of kidney exchangesin which volunteer donors are matched with recipients they haven't metas a market design that arose because you can't buy kidneys. If you want to give me one of your kidneys, you would be a saintly kind of guy. But if you want to sell your kidney, you'd be committing a felony. That's pretty strange, right? If you could buy kidneys, there would be a lot more kidneys available. But there's only one country in the world with a legal cash market for kidneys, and that's the Islamic Republic of Iran. What have we learned from trying to outlaw drugs? You need public support in order to create a market, but you also need public support in order to abolish a market. Marijuana offers one of the most striking current examples of how the lack of public support has undermined the laws that prohibit it. Thirty states and Washington, D.C., have now legalized marijuana in some form, in part because large parts of the public don't support or obey laws that criminalized marijuana. Marijuana is still illegal in Idaho, but its three bordering statesand Canadahave legalized it for recreational purposes. It's going to be increasingly difficult for Idaho patrolmen to feel good about busting people for having marijuana in baked goods that they legally bought in Washington State. How about addictive drugs like heroin? We can all agree that heroin is a terrible thing, and we'd certainly like a society in which there was no heroin addiction. But we've had a war on drugs for years, and it hasn't succeeded. We are filling up our prisons with drug offenders, yet almost anyone in the United States can buy heroin within 100 miles of where they live. Meanwhile, the number of deaths from overdoses is higher than ever. We had 70,000 deaths last year from overdoses. That's far more deaths than from homicidesonly 16,000. So we have to ask: Are we getting the results that we want from this market design? As a thought exercise ask yourself this: Why is it easier to buy heroin than to hire a hit man? I posed that question in a recent paper with Qingyun Wu at Stanford and Chenlin Gu at the Ecole Normale Superieure in Paris. We looked at repugnance along two dimensions: its extent and its intensity. To abolish a black market, we concluded, you need both lots of people who don't like an activity as well as lots of people who feel strongly enough to call the police about it. If either of those two things isn't true, it's really hard to wipe out a black market. Are there better and worse ways to deal with a repugnant market? I think there are. If harsh punishment isn't going to eliminate a market, it may be time to focus instead on harm reduction. Let's think about the difference between the black market for heroin and the black market for prostitution. On the one hand, we have harsh laws against heroin, but they aren't succeeding and we have some bad side effects. On the other hand, we have prostitution, which is illegal in most places but is treated like a traffic offense. We have basically given up trying to abolish prostitution, and maybe that makes sense. It would probably be a terrible idea to fill up our prisons with prostitutes and their customers. So how would you apply this thinking to heroin? We have an opioid epidemic and we are not dealing with it effectively. Incarceration isn't working. One of the costs of the opioid epidemic has been a rash of premature, avoidable deaths. Some of my Stanford colleagues recently wrote an excellent paper arguing the need to increase treatment of addiction. It's worth noting that many people become addicted to heroin after first being prescribed opioid painkillers. These aren't people who we would normally consider criminals, and medical treatment is likely to be easier to organize if we stop treating them as criminals. That's the main attraction of possibly decriminalizing heroin, as part of a shift of emphasis from incarceration to treatment. Meanwhile, some cities already have clean-needle exchanges, to prevent the spread of HIV and other diseases. Safe-injection facilities, which can help prevent overdoses, are coming into play in Europe and Canada. In this particular market, I think it's time to focus on harm reduction. If we're going to have heroin addicts for a long time to come, can we come up with a way that fewer of them die? Explore further Feds say heroin, fentanyl remain biggest drug threat to US Credit: CC0 Public Domain NASA hopes to send humans to Mars by 2030 on a round-trip mission that could take up to three yearsfar longer than any human has ever traveled in space. Such long-term spaceflights could adversely affect certain cells in the immune systems of astronauts, according to a new study led by University of Arizona researchers. "What NASA and other space agencies are concerned about is whether or not the immune system is going to be compromised during very prolonged spaceflight missions," said Richard Simpson, senior author and associate professor of nutritional sciences at the UA. "What clinical risks are there to the astronauts during these missions when they're exposed to things like microgravity, radiation and isolation stress? Could it be catastrophic to the level that the astronaut wouldn't be able to complete the mission?" Simpson and his team of researchers at the UA, the University of Houston, Louisiana State University and NASA-Johnson Space Center, studied the effects of spaceflights of six months or more on natural killer cells, or NK cells, a type of white blood cell that kills cancerous cells in the body and prevents old viruses from reactivating. "Cancer is a big risk to astronauts during very prolonged spaceflight missions because of the exposure to radiation," Simpson said. "[NK-cells] are also very important to kill off virally infected cells. When you're in the space station, it's a very sterile environmentyou're not likely to pick up the flu or a rhinovirus or some community-type infectionbut the infections that are a problem are the viruses that are already in your body. These are mostly viruses that cause things like shingles, mononucleosis or cold sores; they stay in your body for the rest of your life, and they do reactivate when you're stressed." Scientists compared blood samples of eight crewmembers who completed missions to the International Space Station with healthy individuals who remained on Earth. Blood samples were taken before launch, at several points during the mission and after the astronauts' return to Earth. The results showed that NK-cell function is impaired in astronauts as compared with pre-flight levels and ground-based controls. At flight day 90, NK-cell cytotoxic activity against leukemia cells in vitro was reduced by approximately 50 percent in International Space Station crew members. "When we look at the function of the astronaut samples during flight compared to their own samples before they flew, it goes down. When we compare them to controls who stayed on Earth, it still goes down," Simpson said. "I don't think there's any doubt that NK-cell function is decreasing in the spaceflight environment when analyzed in a cell culture system." The effect appears to be more pronounced in first-time astronauts, as opposed to those who have already been in space. "Serendipitously, we found that half our crew members had flown before, and the other half hadn't," Simpson said. "So we were able to just split them in half to see if there was an effect, and there was. The 'rookies' had greater drops in NK-cell function compared to the veterans." The differences could be chalked up to age or stress, Simpson said, assuming that rookie astronauts, who are generally younger than their veteran counterparts, would find space travel more stressful than those who had done it before. Whether the drop in NK-cell function makes astronauts more susceptible to cancer and viral reactivation remains to be seen, Simpson said. He hopes to learn more from future studies. "The next question would be, how do we mitigate these effects? How do we prevent the immune system from declining during space travel?" he said. "In order to do that, you have to first figure out what's causing the decline: Is it stress? Is it microgravity? Is it radiation? Is it a plethora of things? When we figure that out, we can try to find ways to directly target those factors and mitigate them." Simpson and his fellow researchers at NASA-Johnson Space Center, along with European and Russian scientists, are already working on potential countermeasures that could help keep astronauts healthy in space, including nutritional or pharmacological intervention and increased exercise, all of which have been shown to have a positive effect on immune system function. Studies have shown that spending extended periods of time away from Earth comes with some health risks, such as muscle and bone loss due to the effects of microgravity. But scientists didn't know whether the unique conditions encountered by astronauts had an impact on the immune system until now. The paper, Spaceflight inhibits NK-cell function, was published in the Journal of Applied Physiology. Explore further Immune health in space More information: Austin B. Bigley et al, NK-cell function is impaired during long-duration spaceflight, Journal of Applied Physiology (2018). Journal information: Journal of Applied Physiology Austin B. Bigley et al, NK-cell function is impaired during long-duration spaceflight,(2018). DOI: 10.1152/japplphysiol.00761.2018 Credit: Pacific Northwest National Laboratory Medical isotopes are used daily around the world to visualize and diagnose cancer, heart disease and other serious ailments. However, the production of these lifesaving medical isotopes can emit gases that, while posing no danger to the public, have features that look similar to those produced by a nuclear explosion. The Department of Energy's Pacific Northwest National Laboratory is working with production facilities around the world to install monitors that will help understand more about the levels and timing of these emissions. Using that information, governments and agencies watching for signatures of nuclear explosions can more easily assess their readings and ensure emissions from medical isotope production are not misinterpreted. In October, PNNL worked with the Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation to install a detector system at ANSTO's medical isotope production facility in Lucas Heights, Australia. Previously, the Institute for Radioelements in Fleurus, Belgium installed a monitor in its effluent stack. Both IRE and ANSTO produce the medical isotope Molybdenum99, or Moly-99, by irradiating uranium in a reactor. Gaseous fission products, like the isotopes of Xenon, are released in the process, increasing worldwide background levels of this gas. "These first-of-their kind sensor systems, one in each hemisphere, will help with international measurements for detecting underground nuclear explosions," said Judah Friese, principal investigator at PNNL. "While these are the first companies to install these systems, more installations are planned at locations around the globe to increase confidence in international nuclear explosion monitoring." The Preparatory Commission for the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Organization notes that four radioxenon isotopes are possible indicators of a nuclear explosion and may provide forensic evidence for analysts. CTBTO PrepCom analysts track airborne radioxenon through the International Monitoring System. PNNL scientists are experts in developing methods of detecting extremely low levels of radioactive isotopes. While the monitors being installed in the stacks are off-the-shelf devices, they've been slightly modified to PNNL specifications. "It's important to understand the levels and timing of xenon released by medical isotope facilities the world over, which is significant but relatively uncharted until now," said Friese. "Stack release data will support the job of analysts monitoring the globe for nuclear explosions." PNNL is working with the U.S. Departments of State and Defense and the National Nuclear Security Administration to install additional detectors via a project called STAX, or Source Term Analysis of Xenon. There are currently no companies in the United States that produce Moly-99 through the fission of uranium. However, approximately 40,000 Americans receive doses of Technetium-99m each day, typically to diagnose cancer, heart disease and other serious health conditions. Technetium-99m is a short-lived daughter radioisotope of Moly-99. Worldwide, there are some 40 million procedures done per year involving Technetium-99m, most of which is derived from fission-based Moly-99 that gives off radioxenon during its production process. The network of stack monitors will confidentially transmit data to a central database for compilation, analysis, and screening. Eventually, the data created by these stack monitors will be used in a model that predicts xenon levels in the atmosphere. In the event of a suspected nuclear explosion, this knowledge can quickly rule out unrelated sources of xenon. Explore further Medical isotope producers and the CTBTO join forces to reduce radioxenon emissions A simulated picture of two merging black holes, each about 30 solar masses. This is approximately what a human would see if they could travel in spaceship to take a closer look at merging black holes. Credit: SXS, the Simulating eXtreme Spacetimes (SXS) project (black-holes.org) One of the most cataclysmic events to occur in the cosmos involves the collision of two black holes. Formed from the deathly collapse of massive stars, black holes are incredibly compacta person standing near a stellar-mass black hole would feel gravity about a trillion times more strongly than they would on Earth. When two objects of this extreme density spiral together and merge, a fairly common occurrence in space, they radiate more power than all the stars in the universe. "Imagine taking 30 suns and packing them into a region the size of Hawaii. Then take two such objects and accelerate them to half the speed of light and make them collide. This is one of the most violent events in nature," says Vijay Varma, a graduate student at Caltech. In a new study in the January 11 issue of the journal Physical Review Letters, Varma and his colleagues report the most accurate computer model yet of the end stage of black hole mergers, a period when a new, more massive black hole has formed. The model, which was aided by supercomputers and machine-learning, or artificial intelligence (AI) tools, will ultimately help physicists perform more precise tests of Einstein's general theory of relativity. "We can predict what's left after a black hole mergerproperties of the final black hole such as its spin and masswith an accuracy 10 to 100 times better than what was possible before," says co-author Davide Gerosa, an Einstein Postdoctoral Fellow in Theoretical Astrophysics at Caltech. "This is important because tests of general relativity depend on how well we can predict the end states of black hole mergers." The research is related to a larger effort to study black holes with LIGO, the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-wave Observatory, which made history in 2015 by making the first direct detection of gravitational waves emitted by a black hole merger. Since then, LIGO has detected nine additional black hole mergers. Gravitational waves are ripples in space and time, first predicted by Einstein more than 100 years ago. Gravity itself, according to general relativity, is a warping of the fabric of spacetime. When massive objects like black holes accelerate through spacetime, they generate gravitational waves. One of the goals of LIGO and the thousands of scientists analyzing its data is to better understand the physics of black hole collisionsand to use these data, in turn, to assess whether Einstein's general theory of relativity still holds true under these extreme conditions. A breakdown of the theory might open the door to new types of physics not yet imagined. But creating models of colossal events like black hole collisions has proved to be a daunting task. As the colliding black holes become very close to one another, just seconds before the final merger, their gravitational fields and velocities become extreme and the math becomes far too complex for standard analytical approaches. "When it comes to modeling these sources, one can use the pen-and-paper approach to solve Einstein's equations during the early stages of the merger when the black holes are spiraling toward each other," says Varma. "However, these schemes break down near the merger. Simulations using the equations of general relativity are the only means to predict the outcome of the merger process accurately." That is where supercomputers help out. The team took advantage of nearly 900 black hole merger simulations previously run by the Simulating eXtreme Spacetimes (SXS) group using the Wheeler supercomputer at Caltech (supported by the Sherman Fairchild Foundation) and the Blue Waters supercomputer at the National Center for Supercomputing Applications (NCSA) at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. The simulations took 20,000 hours of computing time. The Caltech scientists' new machine-learning program, or algorithm, learned from the simulations and helped create the final model. "Now that we have built the new model, you don't need to take months," says Varma. "The new model can give you answers about the end state of mergers in milliseconds." The researchers say that their model will be of particular importance in a few years, as LIGO and other next-generation gravitational-wave detectors become more and more precise in their measurements. "Within the next few years or so, gravitational-wave detectors will have less noise," says Gerosa. "The current models of the final black hole properties won't be precise enough at that stage, and that's where our new model can really help out." The Physical Review Letters study is titled "High-accuracy mass, spin, and recoil predictions of generic black-hole merger remnants." Explore further Scientists detect biggest known black-hole collision More information: Vijay Varma et al. High-Accuracy Mass, Spin, and Recoil Predictions of Generic Black-Hole Merger Remnants, Physical Review Letters (2019). arxiv.org/abs/1809.09125 Journal information: Physical Review Letters Vijay Varma et al. High-Accuracy Mass, Spin, and Recoil Predictions of Generic Black-Hole Merger Remnants,(2019). DOI: 10.1103/physrevlett.122.011101 Credit: CC0 Public Domain After the Second World War of 1939-1945, Western democracies had attempted to reconcile their criminal law in democratic, "republican" terms aimed at the citizen. However, in the last two decades, new criminal law has been written that pertains not to the citizen, but to the foreigner. Writing in the International Journal of Migration and Border Studies, Alessandro Spena of the Department of Law, at the University of Palermo, Italy, discusses these new laws. The research focuses on how these new laws essentially treat foreigners as inferior to the citizen and proffer fewer human rights on those individuals when compared to the natives of a given nation. Spena describes the ephemeral, and yet legally consequential notion of good and bad citizens, good and bad foreigners and 'ugly' mass-foreigners that invokes the neologism of "crimmigration." He further explains how in contemporary criminal law, citizens have renewed importance despite the notion of globalization. Indeed, while globalization is apparent in many developed countries and those we might refer to as "developing" nations, the natural geological, geographical, and political obstacles to human mobility are becoming more apparent. Indeed, globalization and an urge to become more cosmopolitan both have their opponents and populism and nationalism are on the rise with worries among some pundits and political observers that these are beginning to lead towards fascism in some arenas. Reaction and collective anxieties about political borders, and an "us and them" attitude that has arisen in some quarters during the last two decades are growing stronger as concerns about unfettered immigration get nudged higher up the agenda by those with their own political power agenda. Of course, the notion of us and them is entirely artificial as is the notion of borders and national identity. Human mobility has been extant since we took our first steps from the cradle of humanity. Moreover, we are all the same within, there are good, bad, and ugly among us and our legal system recognize this and the humanity of us all whether "citizen" or "foreigner." Explore further Citizens can productively change politics by taking the law to court More information: Alessandro Spena. The good, the bad and the ugly: images of the foreigner in contemporary criminal law, International Journal of Migration and Border Studies (2018). Alessandro Spena. The good, the bad and the ugly: images of the foreigner in contemporary criminal law,(2018). DOI: 10.1504/IJMBS.2018.096752 Attempts to access Bing had resulted in an error message for users starting late Wednesday, as the most prominent foreign search engine available in China experienced a temporary blackout Microsoft's Bing search engine resumed service to Chinese users on Thursday, after a disruption raised fears among social media users that it was the latest foreign website to be blocked by censors. Attempts to access Bing had resulted in an error message for users starting late Wednesday, as the most prominent foreign search engine available in China experienced a temporary blackout. Microsoft's search engine was blocked due to "an accidental technical error", according to Bloomberg, citing two anonymous sourcesrather than a deliberate attempt to restrict Bing, which already complies with local censorship rules. On Weibo, China's Twitter-like social media site, people rejoiced over the return of Microsoft's search engine. "Bing has returned," wrote one user, adding three sobbing emojis. "I am moved!" "Bing seems to have resumed access!" exclaimed another. "Microsoft is great! Microsoft is awesome!" The temporary shutdown of Bing had raised concerns that Microsoft's search engine was the latest victim of online censorship in China, which has ramped up in recent years. In 2018 alone, Beijing shuttered 26,000 "illegal" websites and deleted six million online posts containing vulgar content, the official Xinhua news agency said earlier this month. China's Communist authorities also operate an online censorship apparatus known as the "Great Firewall", which blocks a slew of websites including Facebook, Twitter and several foreign media outlets. The firewall can be circumvented by using a virtual private network (VPN), which can hide a user's IP address. Late Wednesday and earlier on Thursday, Weibo users complained about the lack of access, with some speculating that Bing too had been "walled off". Others aired their dissatisfaction about having to use Baidu, China's largest domestic search service. "Our country is amazing, even the obedient Bing has been walled off, while Baidu flourishes," said another. "Thank you wise party leaders!" 2019 AFP False color electron-microscope image of a resorbed apatite crystal (green) in pitchstone glass (blue). The composition of the pitchstone glass and the characteristic mineral textures are identical in the studied pitchstone sites of the Sgurr of Eigg and Oigh-sgeir, although over 30km apart, indicating a common origin, and thus a large and geographically widespread volcanic eruption. Credit: Valentin Troll Around 56 million years ago, global temperatures spiked. Researchers at Uppsala University and in the U.K. now show that a major explosive eruption from the Red Hills on the Isle of Skye may have been a contributing factor to the massive climate disturbance. Their findings have been published in the journal Scientific Reports. Large explosive volcanic eruptions can have lasting effects on climate and have been held responsible for severe climate effects in Earth's history. One such event occurred around 56 million years ago, when global temperatures increased by five to eight degrees C. This event has been named the Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum (PETM). The warm period was associated with volcanic activity in the North Atlantic region, especially in Greenland, the British Isles and the present day North Sea region. However, until now, no large-scale explosive eruptions had been confirmed in Scotland. A team of researchers at Uppsala University, Sweden, the Universities of Durham and St Andrews in the U.K., and the Scottish Environmental Research Centre in Glasgow, now seem to have found a missing piece of the puzzle. By studying volcanic rocks called pitchstones from islands more than 30 kilometres apart in the Inner Hebrides off the west coast of Scotland, the researchers found plausible evidence of a major eruption from what is today the Isle of Skye. The researchers used several methods to compare the pitchstones recovered from the two sites (Sgurr of Eigg and Oigh-sgeir), including isotope geochemistry. Samples from the two pitchstone outcrops display identical textures and compositions in all analyses, confirming that the two outcrops represent deposits of a single, massive and explosive volcanic eruption. The geochemical data identify the Red Hills on Skye, around 40 kilometres to the north, as the most likely vent area for this large eruption. Using this vent location, a reconstruction estimates the eruption to have been similar in magnitude to the Krakatoa eruption of 1883, one of the deadliest and most destructive volcanic events in recorded history. Earth scientists have long thought that the Scottish sector of the North Atlantic Volcanic Province did not see any large explosive eruptions at the time of the PETM. This notion is now contradicted by the findings of the current study and the researchers conclude that large explosive volcanic events in the Scottish sector of the North Atlantic Volcanic Province were likely a major contributing factor to the climate disturbance of the PETM. More information: A large explosive silicic eruption in the British Palaeogene Igneous Province, Scientific Reports, DOI: 10.1038/s41598-018-35855-w Journal information: Scientific Reports A large explosive silicic eruption in the British Palaeogene Igneous Province, Ukraine's court finds ex-country's president Yanukovych guilty in treason case RIA Novosti, Andrei Mosienko 11:30 24/01/2019 MOSCOW, January 24 (RAPSI) The Obolonsky District Court of Kiev on Thursday found ex-president of Ukraine Viktor Yanukovych guilty in treason case, according to court video records. Although Yanukovych pleaded not guilty, the court questioned witnesses, examined evidence, listened arguments of defense and prosecution and then held that the defendants guilt on treason, accessory in crime and planning, preparation, initiation or waging of a war of aggression was fully proven, a judge said. The sentence is being issued for Yanukovych in absentia. On July 5, 2017, Yanukovych told Russian journalists that he refused to take part in the trial. According to Yanukovych, he does not want to participate in a trial with a predetermined outcome adding that lawyers are powerless in a country of annihilated justice. In December, Ukraines Prosecutor General Yury Lutsenko read charges against Yanukovych in a court through videoconference link. According to Lutsenko, Yanukovych, who was involved in violation of Ukraines territorial integrity, is held responsible for a 1.8-trillion-hryvnia (about $70 billion) damage caused to the country. Shortly after, the Pechersky District Court in Kiev issued an arrest warrant for Yanukovych in absentia. The Ukrainian prosecutors accuse the former president of using fire arms against protesters in Kiev in late 2013 and early 2014. Fruits' cups with a mini flags are displayed on a refreshment corner as Huawei unveils it 5G chipsets in Beijing, Thursday, Jan. 24, 2019. Chinese tech giant Huawei has announced plans to release a next-generation smartphone based on its own technology instead of U.S. components, stepping up efforts to compete with global industry leaders. (AP Photo/Andy Wong) Chinese tech giant Huawei announced plans Wednesday to release a next-generation smartphone based on its own technology instead of U.S. components, stepping up efforts to compete with Western industry leaders in the face of Washington's warnings the company might be a security risk. Huawei Technologies Ltd., the biggest global supplier of network switching gear for phone companies, is spending heavily to develop its own chip technology, an area where American vendors are global leaders. That can help reduce Huawei's multibillion-dollar annual bill for components and the risk of disruptions of U.S. supplies. The handset billed by Huawei as the first foldable fifth-generation smartphone will be unveiled next month at the industry's biggest annual event, the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, said Richard Yu, CEO of the company's consumer unit. The phone is based on Huawei's Kirin 980 chipset and Balong 5000 modem instead of components from traditional suppliers such as U.S.-based Qualcomm Inc. Sales of Huawei smartphones and other consumer products showed "no influence" from Western security warnings and rose more than 50 percent last year, Yu told reporters. He said his unit's sales topped $52 billion, or more than half the $100 billion in annual revenue the company has forecast for 2018. Huawei has yet to release 2018 financial results for the whole company. Richard Yu, CEO of Huawei Consumer Business Group, unveils the 5G modem Balong 5000 chipset in Beijing, Thursday, Jan. 24, 2019. Chinese tech giant Huawei has announced plans to release a next-generation smartphone based on its own technology instead of U.S. components, stepping up efforts to compete with global industry leaders. (AP Photo/Andy Wong) "In this complicated political environment, we still maintain strong growth," Yu said. Huawei still relies heavily on Intel Corp. and other U.S. suppliers but has developed its own increasingly powerful chips for smartphones and servers. The company uses its chipsets only in its own products. Qualcomm has a vastly larger array of products and patents for smartphone chips but Huawei is catching up, said Xi Wang of IDC. Richard Yu, CEO of Huawei Consumer Business Group speaks as he unveils the 5G modem Balong 5000 chipset in Beijing, Thursday, Jan. 24, 2019. Chinese tech giant Huawei has announced plans to release a next-generation smartphone based on its own technology instead of U.S. components, stepping up efforts to compete with global industry leaders. (AP Photo/Andy Wong) "Generally speaking, Huawei's chips are equal to Qualcomm chips in performance," said Wang. "Not only at the mid-level but at the high end, Huawei can compete with Qualcomm." Huawei's smaller Chinese rival, ZTE Corp., was nearly driven into bankruptcy last year after the Washington cut off access to U.S. technology over its exports to Iran and North Korea. President Donald Trump restored access after ZTE paid a $1 billion fine and agreed to replace its executive team and install U.S.-chosen compliance officers. Wednesday's announcement reflects mounting efforts by Chinese companies to develop technology to compete with Western rivals and reduce reliance on imported know-how. Richard Yu, CEO of Huawei Consumer Business Group, speaks as he unveils the 5G modem Balong 5000 chipset in Beijing, Thursday, Jan. 24, 2019. Chinese tech giant Huawei has announced plans to release a next-generation smartphone based on its own technology instead of U.S. components, stepping up efforts to compete with global industry leaders. (AP Photo/Andy Wong) The ruling Communist Party has targeted telecoms, along with robotics and artificial intelligence, in plans for state-led industry development that triggered the tariff war under way with Washington. Both sides have raised tariffs on tens of billions of dollars of each other's goods in the dispute over American complaints Beijing steals or pressures foreign companies to hand over technology. Washington also says Chinese technology plans violate Beijing's market-opening obligations and might erode U.S. industrial leadership. Huawei 5G modem Balong 5000 chipset is displayed after the presentation event in Beijing, Thursday, Jan. 24, 2019. Chinese tech giant Huawei has announced plans to release a next-generation smartphone based on its own technology instead of U.S. components, stepping up efforts to compete with global industry leaders. (AP Photo/Andy Wong) Huawei 5G modem Balong 5000 chipset is displayed after the presentation event in Beijing, Thursday, Jan. 24, 2019. Chinese tech giant Huawei has announced plans to release a next-generation smartphone based on its own technology instead of U.S. components, stepping up efforts to compete with global industry leaders. (AP Photo/Andy Wong) Ryan Ding, chief of Huawei's carrier business group, holds a Tiangang 5G base station chipset, speaks during a product presentation in Beijing, Thursday, Jan. 24, 2019. Chinese tech giant Huawei announced plans to release a next-generation smartphone based on its own technology instead of U.S. components, stepping up efforts to compete with global industry leaders. (AP Photo/Andy Wong) Richard Yu, CEO of the Huawei consumer business group speaks as he unveils the wireless router running with 5G modem Balong 5000 chipset in Beijing, Thursday, Jan. 24, 2019. Chinese tech giant Huawei has announced plans to release a next-generation smartphone based on its own technology instead of U.S. components, stepping up efforts to compete with global industry leaders. (AP Photo/Andy Wong) Explore further China's Huawei unveils chip for global big data market 2019 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. Researchers at the University of Liverpool have collaborated with teachers and pupils to develop practical strategies for the teaching and learning of evolution. Emeritus Professor Terry Russell and Dr. Linda McGuigan worked with schools across the North West of England on the project, which was funded by the Nuffield Foundation. Practical outcomes include a curriculum 'road map' and a website to promote pupils' evidence-based exchanges of ideas about evolution. The research responded to challenges that arose from changes to the national curriculum in England in 2015-16, including a new requirement for Year 6 primary pupils to learn about evolution and inheritance. Building confidence "We know that many primary teachers lack confidence in their science subject knowledge and secondary colleagues often struggle to ensure continuity across the primary to secondary transition," Professor Russell, a science education researcher, explained. "The developmental approaches used in our research have been warmly welcomed by teachers and could be adopted across different science curriculum content." The research was classroom-based and worked directly with teachers and pupils across Years 5-9 to ensure the practicality of the emerging guidance. The researchers, who both have a background in psychology, constructed developmental learning progressions that aim to ensure continuity and progression across primary and into secondary education. As evolution covers several foundational and interconnected ideas, a curriculum map of how and when to introduce different topics was created. This included variation within species, the idea of geological or 'deep' time, approaches to learning about fossils, and selective breeding as an introduction to natural selection. Big ideas Establishing the pupils' appreciation of macroevolution was a major target of the work. The research recommends that the 'big idea' of evolution should be introduced early on to pupils in years 5-6 using the 'tree of life' metaphor as in Darwin's notebook. "A basic understanding of the tree of life can help combat the widespread idea that one species gradually changes into another, which often results in questions such as, 'Why are there still apes if apes have changed into people?'" said Dr. McGuigan. The concept of geological or 'deep' time is not directly considered in the science curriculum, so ways of making the enormous numbers more accessible to pupils were successfully developed, including evolution trails made by scaling time in terms of distance walked. The researchers also recorded samples of pupils' interview ideas about evolution for use as a freely-available online resource to initiate classroom debate, which can be used to support a culture of 'argumentation' in lessons. "In some parts of the world, evolution is considered too 'difficult' or 'problematic' a topic to be understood by pupils, with teaching discouraged or even banned in a number of countries," added Professor Russell. "While evolutionary concepts are often complex, they are foundational to most modern biology so cannot be ignored. Our research has generated evidence-based insights and practical advice for a workable approach to the teaching and learning of a Darwinian perspective." Explore further Marrying technology and home language boosts maths and science learning The researchers determined the overall accretion or erosion rate by deploying limestone blocks like these pictured at sites 3, 10, and 25 kilometers from the shore and by measuring the change in their dry weight over time. Credit: Tane Sinclair Taylor Determining the growth dynamics of Red Sea coral reefs has enabled researchers to establish a baseline to assess the effects of environmental change. Researchers have measured the dynamics of coral reef growth in the central Red Sea, establishing a baseline that can be used to evaluate how the reefs are affected by climate change or events, such as the global bleaching event of 2015-2016. To get a complete picture of reef growth, the team measured the accretion and erosion of carbonates and estimated the ecosystem carbonate budget at various distances from the shore. The analysis showed net erosion at the nearshore site, a balance between erosion and accretion at the midshore site, and significant reef accretion offshore. The KAUST research team of two Ph.D. students and two postdocs also analyzed biotic and abiotic factors at the sites, enabling them to investigate processes contributing to the growth patterns. For example, the abundance of parrotfish near the shore was associated with a lower carbonate budget, while greater coral and coralline algae abundance at the offshore site drove greater calcification. Abiotic conditions at the nearshore site were both more extreme and more variable. "These are both challenging factors for reef organisms, in particular for reef builders," explains lead author, Anna Roik, formerly at KAUST, but now in GEOMAR Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research in Germany. A close-up of the fragile polyps of a branching coral belonging to the Acroporid coral group, a highly diverse coral genus of fast-growing corals crucial to reef growth. Acroporids form the 3D structures that offer shelter to reef organisms, but many of them are sensitive to environmental disturbances, such as the effects of climate change. Credit: Anna Roik In keeping with recent reef growth estimates elsewhere, the Red Sea rates are lower than rates measured 20 years ago, which at the time were proposed as a standard for a healthy reef. "The loss of the coral reef ecosystem translates into the loss of ecosystem services to coastal populations, including income from fisheries and tourism or protection from storms and flooding," says Roik. "The loss of the extraordinary biodiversity of coral reefs is a result of loss of the coral-reef framework. It also means that we are losing undiscovered and undescribed species, as well as yet undiscovered biologically active chemical compounds that could have medical or scientific applications and promote future technological progress." A nearshore reef site in the Red Sea with a monitoring station (left) and limestone blocks (right). At nearshore sites, the communities are dominated by soft corals, sponges and some macroalgae. Credit: Anna Roik Explore further Combination of light and temperature naturally regulate algal abundance More information: Anna Roik et al. Coral reef carbonate budgets and ecological drivers in the central Red Sea a naturally high temperature and high total alkalinity environment, Biogeosciences (2018). Journal information: Biogeosciences Anna Roik et al. Coral reef carbonate budgets and ecological drivers in the central Red Sea a naturally high temperature and high total alkalinity environment,(2018). DOI: 10.5194/bg-15-6277-2018 Shaming perpetrators of human-rights abuse and shocking audiences with visceral imagery can be an ineffectiveand counterproductiveapproach to improving humanitarian conditions, according to new research from Case Western Reserve University. The finding can help advocacy organizations navigate efforts to end or ease ongoing abuse around the world. The research, published in Human Rights Quarterlya journal published by Johns Hopkins University Presssuggests that effects of "shocking and shaming" fail to produce long-term change, can halt or reverse progress, and are often limited by a lack of strategy beyond creating immediate reactions. "Shocking populations about suffering is not always the right choice," said Sara Lahti Thiam, a visiting assistant professor of medical anthropology and global health at Case Western Reserve, who wrote the research paper. "While it's effective at getting people to feel strong emotionsat firstthose effects diminish without thoughtful and strategic follow-up efforts." The research found a lack of standards among human rights organizations to measure success of their campaigns and an absence of planning beyond initial shock-and-shame efforts. An unintended long-term backlash for victims and other vulnerable populations can also resultespecially if advocacy campaigns overestimate or inflate the problem's magnitude just to gain maximum shock value, said Lahti Thiam. "Without knowing who should be outraged and moved to act by the revelation of abuses, human-rights campaigns put their ultimate goals in jeopardy," Lahti Thiam said. Grabbing and losing attention In 2010, Human Rights Watch issued a report showing dramatic evidence of teachers of Islamic schools forcing thousands of children to beg for money in Senegal and other parts of West Africa. The children, known as taalibes, also endured violence, neglect and other exploitation. The report received media attention worldwide, and the Senegalese government banned begging by children in its capital within four months. Yet, opponents cast the ban as a rash submission to foreign pressures seeking to disfavor Islamic education, and it was reversed in just six weeks. Meanwhile, Human Rights Watch failed to offer a counter-narrative, relying on the initial disgust generated by the reportand thereby showing the limits of its technique, said Lahti Thiam. In fact, the swift ban reversal effectively legalized the practice of forced child begging in the eyes of Senegalese citizens, the paper noted. The reversal also offered credibility to religious, economic and civil rights arguments raised in its favor. "Shock and shame was not nearly enough to make a significant impact on a highly complex problem rooted in regional poverty, religious tradition and long-term power struggles," said Lahti Thiam. "The situation remained effectively unchangedor worse for some victims." After shock To improve the performance of such human rights campaigns, the paper suggests other approaches to "shocking and shaming:" Partner with local human rights advocates to ensure credibility and coordination and the efficient use of limited resources; Avoid using discourse that does not mesh with existing local customs, beliefs, history and politics; Be clear about long-term goalsfrom specific legislation to improvements in education funding, etc.in addition to short-term changes being sought; Be careful using images of suffering people, including children, which often occurs without their consent and offers easy opportunities to question a report's ethics; Define a clear audience that can help to bring about the desired changes. The paper is based on 135 interviews with taalibes, their families, Islamic school instructors, Senegalese government officials, non-government organization personnel, scholars and community members. Explore further Shaming a country for human rights abuse can have varying results Applying pressure to twisted bilayer graphene pushes the layer together, and transforms the material from a metal to a superconductor. Credit: Ella Maru Studio Teaser: A Columbia-led team has discovered a new method to manipulate the electrical conductivity of this game-changing material, the strongest known to man with applications ranging from nano-electronic devices to clean energy. Graphene has been heralded as a wonder material. Not only is it the strongest, thinnest material ever discovered, its exceptional ability to conduct heat and electricity paves the way for innovation in areas ranging from electronics to energy to medicine. Now, a Columbia University-led team has developed a new method to finely tune adjacent layers of graphenelacy, honeycomb-like sheets of carbon atomsto induce superconductivity. Their research provides new insights into the physics underlying this two-dimensional material's intriguing characteristics. The team's paper is published in the Jan. 24 issue of Science. "Our work demonstrates new ways to induce superconductivity in twisted bilayer graphene, in particular, achieved by applying pressure," said Cory Dean, assistant professor of physics at Columbia and the study's principal investigator. "It also provides critical first confirmation of last year's MIT resultsthat bilayer graphene can exhibit electronic properties when twisted at an angleand furthers our understanding of the system, which is extremely important for this new field of research." In March 2018 researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology reported a groundbreaking discovery that two graphene layers can conduct electricity without resistance when the twist angle between them is 1.1 degrees, referred to as the "magic angle." But hitting that magic angle has proven difficult. "The layers must be twisted to within roughly a tenth of a degree around 1.1, which is experimentally challenging," Dean said. "We found that very small errors in alignment could give entirely different results." So Dean and his colleagues, who include scientists from the National Institute for Materials Science and the University of California, Santa Barbara, set out to test whether magic-angle conditions could be achieved at bigger rotations. "Rather than trying to precisely control the angle, we asked whether we could instead vary the spacing between the layers," said Matthew Yankowitz, a postdoctoral research scientist in Columbia's physics department and first author on the study. "In this way any twist angle could, in principle, be turned into a magic angle." They studied a sample with twist angle of 1.3 degreesonly slightly larger than the magic angle but still far enough away to preclude superconductivity. Applying pressure transformed the material from a metal into either an insulatorin which electricity cannot flowor a superconductorwhere electrical current can pass without resistancedepending on the number of electrons in the material. "Remarkably, by applying pressure of over 10,000 atmospheres we observe the emergence of the insulating and superconducting phases," Dean said. Additionally, the superconductivity develops at the highest temperature observed in graphene so far, just over 3 degrees above absolute zero." To reach the high pressures needed to induce superconductivity the team worked closely with the National High Magnetic Field user facility, known as the Maglab, in Tallahassee, Florida. "This effort was a huge technical challenge," said Dean. "After fabricating one of most unique devices we've ever worked with, we then had to combine cryogenic temperatures, high magnetic fields, and high pressureall while measuring electrical response. Putting this all together was a daunting task and our ability to make it work is really a tribute to the fantastic expertise at the Maglab." The researchers believe it may be possible to enhance the critical temperature of the superconductivity further at even higher pressures. The ultimate goal is to one day develop a superconductor which can perform under room temperature conditions, and although this may prove challenging in graphene, it could serve as a roadmap for achieving this goal in other materials. Andrea Young, assistant professor of physics at UC Santa Barbara, a collaborator on the study, said the work clearly demonstrates that squeezing the layers has same effect as twisting them and offers an alternative paradigm for manipulating the electronic properties in graphene. "Our findings significantly relax the constraints that make it challenging to study the system and gives us new knobs to control it," Young said. Dean and Young are now twisting and squeezing a variety of atomically-thin materials in the hopes of finding superconductivity emerging in other two-dimensional systems. "Understanding 'why' any of this is happening is a formidable challenge but critical for eventually harnessing the power of this materialand our work starts unraveling the mystery,'" Dean said. Explore further Twisted electronics open the door to tunable 2-D materials Puerto Rican parrots at Iguaca Aviary in El Yunque National Forest, Puerto Rico. Puerto Rican parrots are critically endangered, with a total population of under 500. Credit: Pablo Torres-Baez, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Researchers at Oakland University led an international effort to map and analyze the DNA of three Amazon parrot species, with the goal of preserving the birds from extinction. Taras Oleksyk, Ph.D., assistant professor of biology, and Walter Wolfsberger, a Ph.D. student in biological and biomedical sciences, assembled genome maps of a Puerto Rican parrot, Cuban parrot and Hispaniolan parrot. All three species are under threats, including habitat loss and illegal trading. The work involved 16 researchers from the continental U.S., Puerto Rico, Russia, Ukraine and Germany. The findings are published in a special issue of Genes, a scientific journal focused on genomics research. View the article here. In the study, researchers used advanced molecular biology and computational techniques to create detailed genome maps. The maps were used to reconstruct the recent history of each species and calculate remaining levels of genetic diversity. Scientists have noted that a diverse gene pool is vital to the adaptation and survival of a species. "As expected, these parrots do not have much genetic variation left," said Oleksyk. "This finding stresses the need for further conservation efforts." According to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the Puerto Rican parrot is one of the 10 most endangered bird species in the world. Once numbering over a million, current estimates put the population at less than 500 individuals. The parrot has a long history on the island. It was first encountered during Columbus' second voyage in 1493 and plays a crucial role in the ecosystem, particularly in seed dispersal. Taras Oleksyk photographs a Puerto Rican parrot at Rio Abajo Aviary, Puerto Rico. Credit: Matthew Landers, University of Bergen, Norway. "These parrots are the gardeners of the island, and as they've gone, the trees that have been cut down can't come back," Oleksyk explained. "Also, the parrots can no longer stay there because the only place they can live is inside tree hallows, and to have a tree hallow you need an old tree." In collaboration with other researchers, Oleksyk and Wolfsberger used genome mapping to support recovery efforts for these birds. Mapping and interpreting a genome allows scientists to identify individual birds so that captive breeding programs can be tailored to increase genetic diversity, and thereby maintain population viability. Researchers can also trace individuals to see how they're faring in the wild and to monitor illegal trading. Beyond species conservation, genome mapping promises a number of other benefits. Once a map is assembled, researchers can use it as a starting point for mapping other genomes. Mapping also allows researchers to determine the locations and functions of genes. "The natural history of life is written in genes," said Oleksyk. "If we want to understand that history, we need to read it. Genome mapping allows us to do that." He added that commonalities between parrots and humans, such as speech, lifelong mating and longevity, have a genomic basis and are emerging as important research topics. "One of the fundamental questions people want to know is how to live a long life," Oleksyk said. "By looking at how genomic differences affect parrots, in terms of longevity for example, researchers can understand how those genes work. The next step is to search for those genes on the human genome map and examine how genomic differences may influence longevity in humans." Explore further Parrot genome analysis reveals insights into longevity, cognition More information: Sofiia Kolchanova et al. Genomes of Three Closely Related Caribbean Amazons Provide Insight for Species History and Conservation, Genes (2019). Sofiia Kolchanova et al. Genomes of Three Closely Related Caribbean Amazons Provide Insight for Species History and Conservation,(2019). DOI: 10.3390/genes10010054 Provided by Oakland University Researchers have found strong evidence that oil palm production gains in Cameroon are coming from extensification instead of intensification. Possible solutions for reversing the trend include improving crop and processing yields by using more high-yielding seed types, replanting old plantations and upgrading milling technologies. Credit: iStock Widespread cultivation of oil palm trees has been both an economic boon and an environmental disaster for tropical developing-world countries. New research points to a more sustainable path forward through engagement with small-scale producers. Nearly ubiquitous in products ranging from cookies to cosmetics, palm oil represents a bedeviling double-edged sword. Widespread cultivation of oil palm trees has been both an economic boon and an environmental disaster for tropical developing-world countries, contributing to large-scale habitat loss, among other impacts. New Stanford-led research points the way to a middle ground of sustainable development through engagement with an often overlooked segment of the supply chain. "The oil palm sector is working to achieve zero-deforestation supply chains in response to consumer-driven and regulatory pressures, but they won't be successful until we find effective ways to include small-scale producers in sustainability strategies," said Elsa Ordway, lead author of a Jan. 10 Nature Communications paper that examines the role of proliferating informal oil palm mills in African deforestation. Ordway, a postdoctoral fellow at The Harvard University Center for the Environment, did the research while a graduate student in Stanford's School of Earth, Energy & Environmental Sciences (Stanford Earth). An oil palm plantation in Cameroon. Credit: Elsa Ordway Using remote sensing tools, Ordway and her colleagues mapped deforestation due to oil palm expansion in Southwest Cameroon, a top producing region in Africa's third largest palm oil producing country. Contrary to a widely publicized narrative of deforestation driven by industrial-scale expansion, the researchers found most oil palm expansion and associated deforestation occurred outside large, company-owned concessions, and that expansion and forest clearing by small-scale, non-industrial producers was more likely near low-yielding informal mills, scattered throughout the region. This is strong evidence that oil palm production gains in Cameroon are coming from extensification instead of intensification. Possible solutions for reversing the extensification trend include improving crop and processing yields by using more high-yielding seed types, replanting old plantations, and upgrading and mechanizing milling technologies, among other approaches. To prevent intensification efforts from inciting further deforestation, they will need to be accompanied by complementary natural resource policies that include sustainability incentives for smallholders. A worker in East Kalimantan, Indonesia, loads palm fruit for transport to a factory that will process it into palm oil. Credit: Joann de Zegher In Indonesia, where a large percentage of the world's oil palm-related forest clearing has occurred, a similar focus on independent, smallholder producers could yield major benefits for both poverty alleviation and environmental conservation, according to a Jan. 4 Ambio study led by Rosamond Naylor, the William Wrigley Professor in the School of Earth, Energy & Environmental Sciences and a senior fellow at the Stanford Woods Institute for the Environment and the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies (Naylor coauthored the Cameroon study led by Ordway). Using field surveys and government data, Naylor and her colleagues analyzed the role of small producers in economic development and environmental damage through land clearing. Their research focused on how changes in legal instruments and government policies during the past two decades, including the abandonment of revenue-sharing agreements between district and central governments and conflicting land title authority among local, regional and central authorities, have fueled rapid oil palm growth and forest clearing in Indonesia. They found that Indonesia's shift toward decentralized governance since the end of the Suharto dictatorship in 1998 has simultaneously encouraged economic development through the expansion of smallholder oil palm producers (by far the fastest growing subsector of the industry since decentralization began), reduced rural poverty, and driven ecologically destructive practices such as oil palm encroachment into more than 80 percent of the country's Tesso Nilo National Park. Credit: Stanford University Among other potential solutions, Naylor and her coauthors suggest Indonesia's Village Law of 2014, which devolves authority over economic development to the local level, be re-drafted to enforce existing environmental laws explicitly. Widespread use of external facilitators could help local leaders design sustainable development strategies and allocate village funds more efficiently, according to the research. Also, economic incentives for sustainable development, such as an India program in which residents are paid to leave forests standing, could make a significant impact. There is reason for hope in recent moves by Indonesia's government, including support for initiatives that involve large oil palm companies working with smallholders to reduce fires and increase productivity; and the mapping of a national fire prevention plan that relies on financial incentives. "In all of these efforts, smallholder producers operating within a decentralized form of governance provide both the greatest challenges and the largest opportunities for enhancing rural development while minimizing environmental degradation," the researchers write. Explore further Greenpeace slams Indonesia palm oil industry on deforestation More information: Rosamond L. Naylor et al. Decentralization and the environment: Assessing smallholder oil palm development in Indonesia, Ambio (2019). Rosamond L. Naylor et al. Decentralization and the environment: Assessing smallholder oil palm development in Indonesia,(2019). DOI: 10.1007/s13280-018-1135-7 Elsa M. Ordway et al. Oil palm expansion and deforestation in Southwest Cameroon associated with proliferation of informal mills, Nature Communications (2019). DOI: 10.1038/s41467-018-07915-2 Journal information: AMBIO , Nature Communications Credit: CC0 Public Domain How close is human civilization to destroying the planet? The symbolic Doomsday Clock is still two minutes to midnight, as close as it has ever been, said the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists on Thursday. The clock did not budge from last year, but that "should not be taken as a sign of stability," said Rachel Bronson, president and CEO of the group of scholars and international experts in security, nuclear, environmental and science fields. The risk of nuclear war, the rising pace of climate change, and mounting information wars and fake news are all key concerns in what Bronson called "The New Abnormal" on Earth today. Robert Rosner, professor in astronomy and astrophysics at the University of Chicago, described this as "the disturbing reality in which things are not getting better." "The fact that the Doomsday Clock's hands did not move is bad news indeed," he said at a press conference in the US capital. The Doomsday Clock was created in 1947. Its time has changed 20 times since then, ranging from two minutes to midnight in 1953and again in 2018to 17 minutes before midnight in 1991. Last year it moved from two-and-a-half minutes before minutes to two minutes, as near as it has ever been to the hour of the apocalypse, largely based on concerns over the possibility of nuclear war with North Korea and "unpredictability" from US President Donald Trump. 2019 AFP Brazilian researchers are participating in the COSINE-100 experiment, installed 700 meters underground in South Korea. An article on the first run of data has just been published in Nature . Credit: thallium-doped sodium iodide crystals in dark matter detector / COSINE-100 Almost 20 years ago, the DAMA/LIBRA experiment at Italy's Gran Sasso National LaboratoryLNGS began publishing data showing that it had detected a signal modulation produced by an interaction with the Milky Way's dark matter halo. Dark matter is believed to constitute approximately 27 percent of the known universe, with ordinary matter accounting for only 4 percent. The remaining 69 percent is thought to be made up of dark energy. Because dark matter interacts weakly with normal matter, its presence has thus far been inferred only from gravitational effects on visible bodies such as stars, galaxies and galaxy clusters. According to the most widely accepted model, the combined motion of the Earth, the sun and the galaxy itself result in a dark matter wind for an observer on the Earthmore specifically, a wind of weakly interacting massive particles or WIMPs, hypothetical particles that are thought to constitute dark matter. During the Earth's annual orbit around the sun, signals from the detector's interaction with WIMPs increase when the planet moves in the opposite direction to the wind and decrease when they are both moving in the same direction. The fluctuation has a cosine shape. DAMA/LIBRA personnel state that it has detected signals at rates that vary according to a cosine wave during the year and that they correspond to a dark matter signature. The problem is that no such signature has been confirmed by any other experiments since this was first announced. It should be stressed that other experiments use different materials and analytical techniques. To check the discrepancy between DAMA/LIBRA's data and the data from other experiments and to look for robust evidence of dark matter, COSINE-100 was built 700 meters underground at the Yangyang Underground LaboratoryY2L in South Korea. An article presenting the results of the first 59.5 days of data from COSINE-100 was published in December 2018 in the journal Nature. Nelson Carlin Filho, Professor at the University of Sao Paulo's Physics Institute (IF-USP) and two supervisees constitute the Brazilian participation in the COSINE-100 international collaboration. "The results of the first 59.5 days of COSINE-100 failed to confirm the data from DAMA/LIBRA. The results obtained don't correspond to a signature of WIMPs," he said. Carlin stressed that this negative finding is particularly important because both DAMA/LIBRA and COSINE-100 use detectors made of sodium iodide (Nal) crystals. "It's the first published finding for a detector comprising this material with sufficient size and sensitivity to investigate the DAMA/LIBRA signal region," he said. "We're not saying the researchers at DAMA/LIBRA were wrong. They may have captured a periodic modulation in actual signals. However, unless the dark matter model is significantly modified, the signals are highly unlikely to be attributed to interactions with WIMPs. In any event, our work is only just beginning. Several years of data will be needed before the annual modulation claimed by DAMA/LIBRA can be totally confirmed or refuted." The COSINE-100 detector is made up of eight thallium-doped sodium iodide crystals with a total mass of 106 kg. Each crystal is coupled to two photomultiplier tubes to measure the amount of energy deposited in the crystal. The entire array is immersed in 2,200 liters of liquid scintillator and surrounded by copper, lead and plastic scintillator panels. The point of all this shieldingas well as the decision to install the detector 700 meters undergroundis to reduce disturbances caused by cosmic rays (muons), cosmic background radiation (photons remaining from the primordial universe, detected in the microwave band), and particles emitted by the materials of which the detector is made. "The probability of observing interactions between dark matter particles and the detector material is tiny. Apart from shielding, it's important to analyze the shape of the signals in order to rule out background contributions," Carlin said. Based on a highly sophisticated statistical treatment using the standard model for the dark matter halo, with Monte Carlo simulations and other resources, COSINE-100 defined a curve considered the "exclusion limit" for interactions between WIMPs and the nuclei in the detector material. This limit corroborated and fine-tuned the limits established by previous experiments. The curve was plotted using a two-dimensional Cartesian coordinate system. The WIMP-nucleon scattering cross-sections are shown on the Y-axis, simplistically representing the probability of interactions, while the WIMP mass is shown on the X-axis. Any event whose coordinates can be plotted below the exclusion limit is a candidate WIMP-nucleon interaction. Any event situated above it fails to meet the necessary conditions for an interaction in accordance with the model. "The DAMA/LIBRA signals are above the exclusion limit. Note that in addition to using detectors made of the same material as DAMA/LIBRA [sodium iodide crystals], COSINE-100 also used similar event selection techniques. This minimized discrepancies in results due to differences in the experiments. We didn't find dark matter and we discovered that the DAMA/LIBRA measurements aren't consistent with the standard model for the dark matter halo," Carlin said. Theories about dark matter There is now a broad consensus in the scientific community that dark matter exists. The first evidence was found in 1933 in studies of galactic rotation speeds by Swiss astronomer Fritz Zwicky (1898-1974). Zwicky realized that galactic rotation speeds were faster than they should have been according to the observed luminous mass and proposed that the gravitational contribution of another kind of matter, which he called "dunkle materie" ("dark matter" in German), must be affecting these speeds. In the 1970s, American astronomer Vera Rubin (1928-2016) confirmed Zwicky's hypothesis in a systematic study of galactic rotation speeds. Rubin's rigorous calculations, confirmed by subsequent research, showed that the galaxies concerned must contain at least five to 10 times more dark matter than normal matter. Today, based on galactic rotation speeds and other evidence such as gravitational lensing, first proposed by Einstein, and the background microwave radiation, the accepted proportions for the composition of the universe are approximately 4 percent normal matter, 27 percent dark matter and 69 percent dark energy. If the existence of dark matter is widely accepted; the point now is to determine what it is made of. The WIMP-based model is still the most widely accepted model. Such particles are believed to interact with normal matter only through gravity and the weak nuclear force. This is presumably why they have not been consistently detected. The failure to detect WIMPs has led scientists to propose alternatives such as axions and dark photons. "There's nothing to prevent dark matter from being made up of several different elements," Carlin said. "A great deal of work remains to be done. In our case, COSINE-100 is still taking its first steps. The next step, which is very important, is to try to reproduce the annual modulation or prove it can't be reproduced. This is actually in progress right now. We're also preparing phase two of the experiment, COSINE-200, with 200 kg of crystals, to be installed at a different site in South Korea." Explore further COSINE-100 experiment investigates dark matter mystery More information: An experiment to search for dark-matter interactions using sodium iodide detectors, Nature (2018). Journal information: Nature An experiment to search for dark-matter interactions using sodium iodide detectors,(2018). DOI: 10.1038/s41586-018-0739-1 Much of the Ethiopian highlands are blanketed in rich soils, but sloping land combined with an intense rainy season can cause widespread erosion. The crop in the center is probably sorghum. Credit: Michael Eggen Research performed in the Ethiopian highlands shows that even in years with above average rainfall, crops can be severely reduced by drought early in the growing season, when seeds must sprout and get established. A study by University of WisconsinMadison scientists Michael Eggen and Mutlu Ozdogan, now online at Environmental Research Letters, looked at yields of sorghum, a crop related to corn that is prized for its drought resistance. The study showed a paradoxical result: Even though climate change "will bring generally warmer and wetter seasons to the study area," the report said, droughts early in the growing season "will likely have negative impacts on sorghum yield." That phenomenon is already visible in the years with a strong El Nino, the thermal cycle in the Pacific Ocean that affects weather worldwide. As the climate as a whole warms, these droughts are likely to become both more common and more intense in Ethiopia's highlands. The study had its roots in conversations that Eggen had in 2015 while working on a larger project on the relationship of agriculture to environment and climate in Ethiopia, a project led by Ozdogan, an associate professor of forest and wildlife ecology at UWMadison. "I lucked out," says Eggen. "This was right after the strong El Nino of 2015. I was talking with farmers about the last couple of seasons, without intending to focus on extreme weather, but they all told me that 2015 was the worst year ever, worse than the major famines of 1983 and 1998. 'We have never seen sorghum fail at this scale,' they told me." Sorghum is rotated in the field with the indigenous grain tef. Tef is the favored grain for making injera, the local flatbread, seen here being cooked on wood-fired stove. Credit: Michael Eggen Sorghum is renowned in the area as a drought-resistant, subsistence crop, Eggen notes, "so when sorghum fails, it's bad for everyone." Eggen, who has now been working in Ethiopia for about 12 years and speaks "passable" Amharic, says sorghum is used for food, animal feed and brewing beer. "The farmers told us that the failure was because the rains had not come early in the growing season and the seedlings died or did not even emerge," Eggen says. While examining climate records, Eggen and Ozdogan noted that the El Nino years generally had below average rainfall during the growing season, much like the forecasts for climate changewhich also indicate that El Ninos will become either more frequent, more intense, or both. In the study, the impact of El Nino today served as a stand-in for a projected 3 to 4 degree Celsius increase in temperature later in the century, Eggen says, but El Ninos will not disappear as warming continues. "Down the line, we have two synergistic factors: the intensified El Nino, and the substantial warming. Either can cause catastrophic sorghum failure, and both of them together are much more likely to cause those failureseven before the full 3 to 4 degrees of warming is evident." A farmer plows his sorghum field to plant again after early rains failed. Credit: Ben Zaitchik Although crop yield projections based on changes in average temperature and rainfall generally forecast more declines in tropical rather than temperate regions, portions of the Ethiopian Highlands have been expected to see the opposite trend, Eggen and Ozdogan explain. In that region, a warming climate with bountiful rains at high elevation might increase yields. But that is not what the researchers found, based on using El Nino as a harbinger of a warming future. "We confidently expect hotter temperatures, and more total rainfall," says Eggen. "But if the new climate includes drought during the critical early weeks of the growing season, the result will be more crop failures, possibly famine." Explore further Long-term study suggests sorghum yields may decline due to global warming More information: Michael Eggen et al. Vulnerability of sorghum production to extreme, sub-seasonal weather under climate change, Environmental Research Letters (2019). Journal information: Environmental Research Letters Michael Eggen et al. Vulnerability of sorghum production to extreme, sub-seasonal weather under climate change,(2019). DOI: 10.1088/1748-9326/aafe19 St. Petersburg attorney gets 13 years for murder, fraud RAPSI, Vladimir Burnov 10:45 24/01/2019 MOSCOW, January 24 (RAPSI) The Moscow District Court of St. Petersburg has sentenced a local lawyer Alexander Kaidanov to 13 years in prison for murder and large-scale fraud, according to a statement published on the website of Russias Prosecutor Generals Office. The court has also deemed the attorneys guilt in intended infliction of grievous bodily harm negligently resulting in death. According to investigators, in September 2010, Kaidanov organized an assault on a local woman because of enmity. On September 30, 2010, two alleged accomplices of the lawyer fetched the woman on her head about ten times using a blunt instrument and took minimum three shots in her leg. The woman has been taken to a hospital where she died after a few days. In November 2010, Kaidanov worked out a plan of killing a local businessman in order to gain possession of his assets worth around 10 million rubles (over $150,000). He allegedly involved Police captain Yevgeny Popov in this crime promising him money reward. Popov in turn gave information about the victim to their accomplices, who later committed the murder, investigators claimed. According to the statement of the Prosecutor Generals Office, Kaidanov has pleaded guilty. A Purdue University study reveals that relationships between biodiversity and forest productivity depend strongly on climate. Credit: Purdue University Some ecologists believe that species richness is positively related to ecosystem productivity, while others conclude that the relationship is bell-shaped or they are unrelated. Using big data, Purdue University scientists now know which theory is correctall of them. Biodiversity-productivity relationships would be useful to natural resource managers who want to promote timber production or forest conservation. Some studies show a positive relationship between the number of species present and the productivity in an ecosystem. Others, however, show no correlation or a bell shape, in which productivity increases with biodiversity until a point at which more species lead to a decline. Those studies, however, have often looked at a relatively small number of plots in limited spatial extent. Songlin Fei, a forest ecologist in Purdue's Department of Forestry and Natural Resources, analyzed U.S. Forest Inventory and Analysis plant data from 2012-16 that included species composition, diameter, height, age and other attributes from more than 115,000 forest plots from the 48 contiguous states. Findings, reported in the journal Nature Communications, reveal that relationships between biodiversity and forest productivity depend strongly on climate. "There have been quite contradictory and inconsistent results reported on the relationships between biodiversity and productivity. Now we have an explanation," Fei said. "In a sense, everyone was right, but it depended on their climates." Fei and colleagues from the United States, Sweden, China and New Zealand demonstrate that there is a positive biodiversity-productivity relationship in dry, especially warm climates. In those places, productivity increases along with species richness. Forests in dry, warm climates show a positive linear relationship between biodiversity and productivity, meaning the forest becomes increasingly productive as more species are introduced. As humidity rises, the relationship changes and productivity rises and then declines as species richness increases. Credit: Purdue University But in areas that are humid, the relationship between biodiversity and productivity curves. Biodiversity and productivity increase together until a point at which more species begin to cause productivity declines. The findings are important for management, restoration and conservation of forests, many of which provide important ecosystem services but are threatened by deforestation, climate change and invasive species. "This shows that we cannot have a one-size-fits-all approach to managing forests," Fei said. "Depending on the climate, tradeoffs may need to be made when managing for species diversity or productivity. This helps to conduct localized precision forest management practices." Fei added that climate change should also be considered when making these management decisions. A cool, wet forest today could look much different in the coming decades. "Maybe you used to be able to increase both biodiversity and productivity in a given forest, but that could change," Fei said. "Climate change is going to push these forests into a different climate zone, potentially changing the biodiversity-productivity relationship." Explore further Species-rich forests store twice as much carbon as monocultures More information: Songlin Fei et al. Impacts of climate on the biodiversity-productivity relationship in natural forests, Nature Communications (2018). Journal information: Nature Communications Songlin Fei et al. Impacts of climate on the biodiversity-productivity relationship in natural forests,(2018). DOI: 10.1038/s41467-018-07880-w Cryo-EM structure of the linked complexes of CcmM (red) and rubisco (green) in liquid droplets (yellow). Formation of this network is the first step in carboxysome biogenesis in cyanobacteria. Credit: Huping Wang, Andreas Bracher/MPI of Biochemistry Photosynthesis is a fundamental biological process by which plants use light energy for growth. Most life forms on Earth are directly or indirectly dependent on photosynthesis. Researchers at the Max Planck Institute of Biochemistry in Germany have collaborated with colleagues from the Australian National University to study the formation of carboxysomes, a structure that increases the efficiency of photosynthesis in aquatic bacteria. Their results, now published in Nature, could lead to the engineering of plants with more efficient photosynthesis and thus higher crop yields. With the global population increasing by an estimated 80 million people each year, the demand for food is steadily rising. To meet this demand, scientists are working on strategies to improve the productivity of crops. Photosynthesis essential but inefficient While most organisms have to take up nutrients to generate energy for cells, plants and some microbes can fuel their cells with light energy. Via photosynthesis, they convert water and carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) to sugar and oxygen with the help of sunlight. The critical enzyme of this reaction is rubisco, which catalyzes the fixation of CO 2 from the atmosphere. However, rubisco, which is estimated to be the most abundant enzyme on Earth, works slowly and inefficiently. Instead of binding CO 2 , rubisco can also react with oxygen. Much energy is lost in this side reaction. Therefore, scientists are trying to engineer a more efficient version of rubisco to improve plant growth. A team led by Manajit Hayer-Hartl has now made an important contribution to these efforts. Cyanobacteria are aquatic microbes that perform photosynthesis. They have evolved a strategy to increase the efficiency of their rubisco enzyme. Cyanobacteria locally increase the concentration of CO 2 in specialized structures called carboxysomes and confine their rubisco to these structures. In this way, cyanobacteria reduce the energy that is lost in the side reaction with oxygen. The new study has now demonstrated how the formation of carboxysomes is initiated. Trapping rubisco for extra energy Cyanobacteria use a helper protein called CcmM to capture rubisco. CcmM is built of several repeat modules that resemble the small subunit of rubisco therefore, it has been long assumed that these modules replace the small subunits of rubisco when the proteins interact, thereby linking rubisco proteins. However, the complex between CcmM and rubisco is highly dynamic and therefore could not be solved by traditional structural biology methods. "In this study, we took advantage of the rapidly developing method of cryo-electron microscopy to capture these dynamic interactions," says Huping Wang, shared first author of the study. Using cryo-EM, the researchers showed that CcmM does not replace the small subunit of rubisco but rather links rubisco proteins together by an unexpected mechanism. The interaction between CcmM and rubisco causes de-mixing of the protein complex from other proteins in the cell. "This de-mixing of proteins is called phase separation, a process that concentrates proteins locally. In cyanobacteria, the protein shell of the carboxysome is then formed around the phase separated CcmM and rubisco to capture them," explains Xiao Yan, shared first author of the study. A similar process of phase separation also plays a role in neurodegenerative diseases such as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. The formation of carboxysomes boosts photosynthesis because these microcompartments concentrate CO 2 in the vicinity of rubisco, making the enzyme more efficient. The results of the new study greatly improve the understanding of how these CO 2 -concentrating structures are formed. Manajit Hayer-Hartl describes a potential application of the results of the study: "If we could transfer functioning carboxysomes into higher plants, this would give crops an extra boost by allowing them to fix CO 2 more efficiently. The energy, which is usually lost in the reaction of rubisco with oxygen, would go towards the production of biomass." In the long term, the insights from Hayer-Hartl's research could contribute to the generation of more efficient crops, reduce the demand for fertilizers and improve the global food supply. Explore further The future of crop engineering More information: H. Wang et al. Rubisco condensate formation by CcmM in -carboxysome biogenesis, Nature (2019). Journal information: Nature H. Wang et al. Rubisco condensate formation by CcmM in -carboxysome biogenesis,(2019). DOI: 10.1038/s41586-019-0880-5 Credit: CC0 Public Domain Educators are looking for ways to help young black women move into the growing field of science, technology, engineering and math, known as STEM. Kadri Williams, a Windsor High School senior interested in a career in science and engineering, had a quick and positive reaction to Pratt & Whitney's jet engine manufacturing plant in Middletown, Conn., during a visit last fall. "I felt at home," she said. Williams, 17, said she developed an early interest in technology as a child, asking lots of questionsWhat's that wire? What does it connect to?of electricians who worked on her parents' house. Williams, who is interested in robotics and electrical or mechanical engineering, would join a small group. Black, Hispanic and other minority women make up fewer than 5 percent of employed scientists and engineers, according to National Science Foundation data cited by the National Girls Collaborative Project, an advocacy group. Advocates of broader opportunities in education and the workforce and efforts to hire critically needed engineers, mathematicians and scientists are working to improve those numbers. "It's still predominantly male and white," said Adrienne Cochrane, chief executive officer of the YWCA Hartford Region, which is working to draw more young black women into STEM. "The future says it's STEM. Liberal arts in many ways is dying and dead." For the YWCA, which promotes social justice, working to broaden science and technology education is a natural fit by introducing young minority women to engineering, math and similar fields, opening "the door to opportunity," she said. Across the country, several groups are networking and organizing to bring more young black and Hispanic women into STEM. The efforts are helped by public service ads promoted by major corporations, Instagram and Twitter accounts called SheCanStem and even the 2016 movie "Hidden Figures," a story about three black female mathematicians who played key roles in the early years of the U.S. space program. Several Connecticut schools and United Technologies Corp. have joined the effort to broaden the workforce of engineers and others in technology, fill a much-needed workforce in aerospace and defense manufacturing, and make sure that the workforce is diverse and that youngsters have the chance to realize their potential. UTC is working with EarthEcho International, an environmental nonprofit group, to make STEM jobs appealing to young black and Hispanic women. Randy Bumps, who heads up corporate responsibility at UTC, the parent company of jet engine manufacturer Pratt & Whitney and Collins Aerospace, said the conglomerate is making a "concentrated community investment" by broadening the STEM workforce. In addition, Paul Eremenko, UTC's chief technology officer, has urged greater efforts to make the aerospace manufacturing workforce more diverse as a "talent pool" is created, Bumps said. Math and science aptitude tests show little difference between boys and girls through their senior year in high school, he said. By ninth grade, more than 20 percent of boys and about 8 percent of girls are interested in pursuing technology and engineering courses, he said. "What that demonstrates is we've got to change the perception of careers," Bumps said. "We've got to show girls ... they've got to see engineers in roles who look like them, had the same aspirations, the same background." UTC and others pushing for expanded STEM education won't stop investing in high school programs, but will reach further down into sixth through eighth grades, which Bumps called "critical junctures" of decision-making by youngsters, he said. The Young Women's Leadership Corps, a youth development program that teaches skills in personal growth, financial literacy and career and college readiness, promoted the STEM program that drew 110 teenagers. Uneeder Ruth, program director of the YWLC, said the program in Hartford area high schools has helped teach youngsters skills that lead to more confidence. "When they come in the program, they don't feel empowered, they don't feel good about themselves or comfortable speaking publicly," she said. They learn to "find their own voice," Ruth said. Maryam Kabal, who also is a senior at Windsor High School, said she got involved in the program because it's a "great way to connect with other young girls." "It's really important we have an all-female group to empower each other," Kabal, 17, said. "It makes it easier to see yourself, to relate to them." 2019 The Hartford Courant (Hartford, Conn.) Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC. New structural evidence shows that the cyanobacterial protein CcmM (orange) binds to fully assembled RuBisCo enzymes (yellow and green) without dislodging RbcS subunits (yellow). This crosslinked mixture forms the basis of the carboxysome, a compartment bacteria use to avoid photorespiration. Photorespiration is a wasteful step in photosynthesis caused when RuBisCo fixes oxygen instead of carbon dioxide, and is thought to reduce the yield of some crops by over 20%. By trapping carbon dioxide in carboxysomes, bacteria increase its concentration, helping RuBisCo correctly fix CO2. Greater insight into carboxysome assembly may help engineer higher-yield crops in the near future. This research appears in the Journal of Biological Chemistry. Credit: Ryan et al., Journal of Biological Chemistry, 2019. (DOI: 10.1074/jbc.RA118.006330) Researchers facing a future with a larger population and more uncertain climate are looking for ways to improve crop yields, and they're looking to photosynthetic bacteria for engineering solutions. In the Journal of Biological Chemistry, a Canadian research team reports on how cyanobacteria finesse one of the most wasteful steps in photosynthesis. The study investigated the assembly of carboxysomes in which the bacteria concentrate carbon dioxide, boosting the efficiency of a critical enzyme called RubisCO. "Essentially everything we eat starts with RubisCO," said Matthew Kimber, a professor at the University of Guelph in Ontario, Canada, and senior author on the recent paper. The enzyme, which is made of 16 protein subunits, is essential for photosynthesis. Using energy captured from light, it incorporates carbon dioxide into organic molecules from which the plant then builds new sugar. Unfortunately, it's not terribly efficient. Or, from Kimber's point of view, "RubisCO has a really thankless task." The enzyme evolved in an ancient world where carbon dioxide was common and oxygen was rare. As a result, it isn't very picky in discriminating between the two gases. Now that the atmospheric tables have turned, RubisCO often accidentally captures oxygen, generating a useless compound that the plant then has to invest extra energy to recycle. Compared with plants, cyanobacteria make very few such mistakes. This is because bacteria collect their RubisCO is into dense bodies known as carboxysomes. The bacteria pump bicarbonate (simply hydrated CO2) into the cell; once it gets into the carboxysome, enzymes convert the bicarbonate into carbon dioxide. Because the carbon dioxide can't escape through the protein shell surrounding the carboxysome, it builds up to high concentrations, helping RubisCO avoid costly mistakes. Kimber's interest in carboxysomes is mainly in understanding the logic of their organization. "They're actually phenomenally intricate machines," he explains. "The cyanobacterium makes eleven or so normal-looking proteins, and these somehow organize themselves into this self-regulating mega-complex that can exceed the size of a small cell." One of carboxysomes' most impressive tricks is self-assembly, which Kimber's lab set out to understand. They looked at a protein called CcmM, which corrals RubisCO enzymes into new carboxysomes. They knew that part of CcmM looks a lot like a subunit of RubisCOso much so, in fact, that researchers suspect that ancient cyanobacteria originally created CcmM by duplicating a RubisCO gene. Most scientists in the field believed that CcmM binds to the enzyme by usurping that subunit's spot. But when Kimber's lab took a detailed look at CcmM, using biophysics techniques to observe the protein's structure and binding, the results showed that received wisdom was wrong. True, CcmM was similar in shape to the small RubisCO subunit. But the complexes it formed still included all 8 small subunits, meaning that instead of stealing a spot from a RubisCO subunit, CcmM had to be binding somewhere else altogether. "This is very odd from a biological perspective, because if CcmM arose by duplicating the small subunit, it almost certainly originally bound in the same way," Kimber said. "At some point, it must have evolved to prefer a new binding site." The researchers also found that a linker between binding domains in CcmM is short enough that "instead of wrapping around RubisCO, it tethers (individual enzymes) together like beads on a string. With several such linkers binding each RubisCO at random, it crosslinks everything into this big glob; you wrap a shell around it, and this then becomes the carboxysome." Scientists at a different university reported last fall that they had succeeded in making tobacco plants with a stripped-down carboxysome in their chloroplasts. Those plants didn't grow especially well, and the authors concluded that they had taken away too many components of the carboxysome; although it could be built in the chloroplast, it was a drag on the plants instead of a help. Having a better understanding of how proteins like CcmM contribute to carboxysome construction and function could help bioengineers leverage carboxysome efficiency in the next generation of engineered plants. Explore further A boost for photosynthesis More information: Patrick Ryan et al, The small RbcS-like domains of the -carboxysome structural protein, CcmM, bind RubisCO at a site distinct from that binding the RbcS subunit, Journal of Biological Chemistry (2018). Journal information: Journal of Biological Chemistry Patrick Ryan et al, The small RbcS-like domains of the -carboxysome structural protein, CcmM, bind RubisCO at a site distinct from that binding the RbcS subunit,(2018). DOI: 10.1074/jbc.RA118.006330 Credit: James Harding New Zealand and other islands have experienced invasions of rats, Europe has seen the arrival of the spinycheek crayfish, spreading a deadly disease called crayfish plague: invasive species can put native animal and plant species on the brink of extinction. They often go undetected for a long time, or their damaging impacts are not immediately clear. This phenomenon referred to as crypticity represents a huge challenge for the management of species communities and the conservation of biodiversity. This is the conclusion of an international team of researchers involving the Czech Academy of Sciences, Berlin's Leibniz-Institute of Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries (IGB), Freie Universitat Berlin, Technische Universitat Berlin, the University of Potsdam, India's National Institute of Advanced Studies and the University of Vienna. It was impossible to foresee the devastating effects of Mediterranean mussels' (Mytilus galloprovincialis) invasion along the South African coast, where the mussels have after their introduction started to settle on the eyestalks and mouthparts of the crabs Ovalipes trimaculatus; this has caused a mass mortality of the crabs. The impacts of invasive species on native fauna and flora can be devastating. A major problem is that their introductions often go unnoticed, or their damaging effects are only detected with delay. Since these processes are often hard to predict, it is difficult to assess the extent, impacts and risks of biological invasions, and to plan effective control measures. An international team of researchers has developed a conceptual framework for dealing with these aspects of uncertainty. "Not all non-native species are problematic. In fact, we appreciate some of them, for example crop plants such as the potato, which was brought to Europe in the 16th century. Some non-native species, however, may be a threat to native species and their communities," stated Jonathan Jeschke, IGB researcher and co-author of the study, explaining the ambivalent role of alien species. Jeschke also coordinates the Invasion Dynamics Network (InDyNet), an international network of scientists studying temporal dynamics in biological invasions, from which the current study emerged. Whether an invasive species is quickly detected depends on its ecological properties, its new habitat, and the circumstances of its introduction. If, for instance, the imported species closely resembles a native species, genetic analyses are necessary to tell them apart. Many species also go undetected for a long time because they occur only rarely or populate habitats that are difficult to access examples include belowground and aquatic ecosystems. The management of alien species is already on the political agenda, e.g. in the Aichi targets, the Sustainable Development Goals, and an EU regulation (No 1143/2014) on invasive alien species. At the same time, the authors of the study believe that crypticity has received too little attention so far. "We have developed a set of research methods and tools that will enable us to determine detrimental species and properties, as well as spatial and temporal changes, more effectively. Citizen scientists, for example, can provide support by helping researchers to find invasive species; while long-term monitoring and research help us to determine critical developments in good time," stated Ivan Jaric, a researcher from the Biology Centre of the Czech Academy of Sciences and lead author of the study. Jaric and his colleagues are working to ensure that their "toolbox" helps improving concepts for the management of alien species. Explore further Mediterranean freshwater fish species susceptible to climate change More information: Ivan Jaric et al. Crypticity in Biological Invasions, Trends in Ecology & Evolution (2019). Ivan Jaric et al. Crypticity in Biological Invasions,(2019). DOI: 10.1016/j.tree.2018.12.008 Credit: University of South Florida An astonishing discovery is made by a research team including Brad Rosenheim, Ph.D., associate professor of geological oceanography in the USF College of Marine Science. He just returned from a six-week expedition to Antarctica where he lived in a tent under constant sunlight in a remote field camp roughly 500 miles from the South Pole. Rosenheim is a principal investigator of the SALSA (Subglacial Antarctic Lakes Scientific Access) project, which became first to explore Mercer Subglacial Lake. The body of water is twice the size of Manhattan and had previously been identified only via satellite. The team, successful in all aspects of their sampling, found signs of life: microbial life as well as skeletal remains of tiny crustaceans and even the carcass of an eight-legged tardigrade. Researchers are now taking environmental RNA and DNA samples to see which of the creatures were alive at the time of discovery and which are ancient fossil remains. Rosenheim and his Ph.D. student Ryan Venturelli are helping solve that mystery by using sophisticated radiocarbon dating methods pioneered at USF to put into context how the ecosystem flourishes. They gathered samples by coring six feet below the lake, some 4000 feet below the ice surface where their remote camp was located, to obtain a very rare subglacial sediment core. They hypothesize that the ice above Mercer Subglacial Lake melted at some point during the last 60,000 years, allowing ocean water and sunlight-driven photosynthetic products to be deposited in what is now fresh water Lake Mercer. Testing for the presence (or absence) of14C in this system will support (or refute) their hypothesis. Credit: University of South Florida "Finding life in such a remote, untouched place is astonishing," said Rosenheim. "We now have to figure out the structure of the ecosystem, specifically how relict carbon could be driving it energetically. Our techniques will also tell us about the history of the ice sheet over the last Ice Age, which is of significant importance to Floridians because of the threat of sea level rise. These sediments will generate much more interest when we are finished working on them because they are so rare and unique." Fifty scientists, support and technical staff from eleven institutions participated in the SALSA project, which is funded by the National Science Foundation. They'll now begin interdisciplinary analysis of water and sediment samples taken from the lake. More information will come from the skeletal remains in the lake and what was most recently alive. This research not only represents exploration of little-known parts of our own planet, but also provides a template for finding life in similar environments on other planets and moons. Credit: University of South Florida China voiced support for the increasingly isolated Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro on Thursday as the Latin American country plunged deeper into turmoil over a diplomatic showdown with the United States. As oil-rich Venezuelas main ally and creditor, China faces a dilemma caught between backing Maduro and not taking sides as it weighs the implications of a growing social and political crisis on its multibillion-dollar investment, analysts said. Chinese foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying called on all parties to remain rational and keep calm, and reach a political settlement through peaceful dialogue. Asked directly if China recognised Maduro, Hua said Beijing sent representatives to his inauguration. We respect Venezuelas efforts to uphold its sovereignty, independence and stability, she added. China opposes foreign forces from interfering into Venezuela affairs. Huas remarks came as Maduro broke off diplomatic ties with Washington after US President Donald Trump formally recognised opposition leader Juan Guaido as Venezuelas interim head of state on Wednesday. Other countries in the region, including Canada, Brazil, Argentina, Chile, Columbia and Peru, also backed Guaido, the 35-year-old president of the National Assembly who had declared himself the countrys acting president. Moscow, another key financial and military ally for Maduro, said it would continue to back the embattled leader, while the European Union called for free and credible elections. Jiang Shixue, director of the Centre for Latin American Studies at Shanghai University, said Huas remarks showed Beijing stood behind Maduro, who assumed power in 2013 after the death of Hugo Chavez and continued an anti-American policy. But it also showed Beijings deep concerns about the deepening crisis between Maduro and the Trump administration amid the trade war and tech rivalry between Beijing and Washington, he said. Despite Beijings criticism of Washingtons meddling, China is in a dilemma in Venezuela and it does not wish to take sides or intervene in its international affairs, Jiang said. Story continues He said the tensions with the US and major regional players would make Maduro more desperate for Chinas political backing, but Beijing had to weigh its options carefully. Maduro is not likely to step down voluntarily but Beijing is worried about a possible regime change, especially the prospect of Guaido not honouring deals signed between China and Maduros government. China has already loaned US$50 billion to Caracas over the last decade, which the South American nation has been repaying in oil shipments. The US is threatening new sanctions on top of years of existing ones as Venezuelas oil output has dropped to near 70-year lows. During Maduros trip to Beijing in September, President Xi Jinping and other Chinese leaders promised to provide whatever help it can offer to cash-strapped Venezuela. Maduro also secured multiple deals with China worth billions of dollars, including another US$5 billion credit line. Dong Jingsheng, deputy director of Peking Universitys Latin America Research Centre, said China was keeping an uneasy eye out for a regime change in Venezuela because it was not clear how the crisis would play out. But even if Maduro was forced out or stood down, I expect some continuity in Venezuelas economic and trade relations with China because China will remain one of Venezuelas biggest markets for its oil, Dong said. Washington has repeatedly voiced its displeasure and concerns over Beijings close political and economic ties with Maduro. But Dong said Beijing, which focused on forging close trade and investment ties with the region, had little stomach for the bigger military and security roles in Washingtons backyard that US politicians feared. China would not want to hurt its all-important ties with the US because of its economic and investment interests in Latin America, he said. Jiang and Dong urged Beijing and Chinese companies still operating in Venezuela to prepare for further chaos and unrest. They said Huas remarks also signalled Beijing shared Moscows view that Venezuelas political turmoil was another attempt by Washington to launch a colour revolution in the country. This article Wary China offers support to embattled Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro first appeared on South China Morning Post For the latest news from the South China Morning Post download our mobile app. Copyright 2019. The United States, Britain and major South American nations recognised opposition chief Juan Guaido as Venezuela's interim leader Thursday but China and Russia threw their weight behind embattled President Nicolas Maduro. Here are some of the key reactions after speaker of the Venezuelan parliament Guaido declared himself "acting president" on Wednesday. - US recognises Guaido - US President Donald Trump recognised Guaido as acting leader, declaring his National Assembly "the only legitimate branch of government duly elected by the Venezuelan people". The US said it stood ready to use "all options" if Maduro tries to quash the opposition. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo warned Maduro against use of force, saying "the time for debate is done" and calling Maduro's regime "illegitimate". - UK: Guaido 'right person' - Britain joined the US in declaring that Madura was "not the legitimate leader of Venezuela" and backing Guaido. "The United Kingdom believes Juan Guaido is the right person to take Venezuela forward. We are supporting the US, Canada, Brazil and Argentina to make that happen," Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt said in a statement -- diverting from the cautious approach of other Europe leaders. - Russia calls Maduro - Russian President Vladimir Putin called Maduro and expressed "support for the legitimate authorities of Venezuela in the context of a domestic political crisis that has been provoked from the outside," the Kremlin said. Putin said that any intervention by other countries "violates the fundamental norms of international law", according to the statement. The Russian foreign ministry warned that support for Guaido was a "direct path to lawlessness and bloodshed". - China: don't interfere - China, Venezuela's main creditor, "opposes interference in Venezuelan affairs by external forces", Chinese foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying told a news conference. She said Beijing urged calm pending a "political resolution to Venezuela's problem through peaceful dialogue within Venezuela's constitutional framework". - EU: rule of law - The European Union reacted cautiously to the fast-moving crisis in Venezuela. EU diplomatic chief Federica Mogherini in a statement stressed EU support "for the restoration of democracy and rule of law in Venezuela through a credible peaceful political process in line with the Venezuelan constitution". - France: 'restore democracy' - French President Emmanuel Macron said Europe favoured "the restoration of democracy", stressing a need for new elections, after what he called Maduro's "illegitimate" election in May last year. - Spain speaks to Guaido - Spain's Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez stressed the need for "free elections" in Venezuela in a telephone call to Guaido, the Spanish government said. Foreign Minister Josep Borrell said an election was the "only way out" of the impasse. - Neighbours: time up - Several of Venezuela's regional neighbours said Maduro's time was up. Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro said "Brazil will support politically and economically the process of transition so that democracy and social peace return to Venezuela". Colombian President Ivan Duque said his country was behind Guaido and will "accompany this process of transition to democracy so that the Venezuelan people free themselves of their dictatorship." Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Honduras, Panama, Paraguay and Peru issued a joint statement endorsing Guaido as interim president. - Cuba, Mexico: 'imperialism' - Cuba and Mexico offered Maduro support however. Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel slammed "imperialist attempts to discredit and destabilise" Venezuela. - UN: 'disaster' risk - UN head Antonio Guterres appealed for dialogue to avoid "an escalation that would lead to the kind of conflict that would be a disaster for the people of Venezuela and for the region." burs/boc/har We alighted from the bus we took straight from the airport in Vienna and had our first glimpse of Ljubljana - Slovenias capital, largest and most populous city.Present-day Slovenia shares borders with We alighted from the bus we took straight from the airport in Vienna and had our first glimpse of Ljubljana - Slovenias capital, largest and most populous city. Present-day Slovenia shares borders with Austria, Italy, Hungary and Croatia, it serves as a great base for moving around this region. Our travel-weary bodies breathed in the crisp autumn air as we made our way to our apartment near this citys most famous landmark the Dragon Bridge. The Lonely Planet website describes Ljubljana as elegant and leafy and within my first hour of arrival, I was in total agreement. It was love at first sight for me and my Lubiana (as locals pronounce it). The unearthing of the oldest musical instrument in the world a pierced cave bear bone occurred here, so I was in a place that had been inhabited in since pre-historic times. The next day, we found ourselves in a van with Barbara, our tour guide. She was handing out leaets and told us, The world has to know more about Ljubljana, as she drove us to our first stop. Vintgar Gorge Also called the Bled Gorge,this natural wonder is part of the Triglav Natural Park. It is about a mile-long walk with paths and wooden walkways (named Zumer Galleries after Mayor Jakob Zumer, who ordered its construction ), that have been continually rebuilt since 1893. Several observation bridges give you the time to stop, look and bask in the bliss of being one with nature. The stream creates pools and rapids and ends in Sum Falls, the largest river waterfall in all of Slovenia. This is one of those places where even the most beautiful photos will pale in comparison to actually being amidst it all. Like nature showing off, leaving the audience to do nothing but gasp and clap in awe. Bohinj Valley We knew we were nearing our next stop as the sheer force of autumn foliage met our eyes. Situated in the heart of the Julian Alps, this valley, in my humble opinion, is my definition of heaven on earth. Its crown jewel, Lake Bohinj, covering all of 318 hectares, is the largest permanent glacial lake in Slovenia. Story continues The sight of this mirror-like body of water glistening in the sun, ducks seemingly chasing each other near the shore and colorful boats anchored along the dock seemed to be part of an ongoing painting session. I felt like I was disturbing the peace because I lingered for awhile by the shoreline. Our guide had suggested a Vogel cable car ride up to the Ski Center, and what an experience that was! The whole brown-orange-yellow-gold-magenta-colored mountainside made the ascent so dramatic, and reaching the top, you come face to face with the Julian Alps. I really just wished we had the time to tire ourselves with the view, but alas, we were only visiting. Legend has it that if you climb the 99 stone steps to reach the Assumption of Mary Church on Bled Island, listen to the church bell, then ring it yourself, your wishes will come true. With that in mind, we found ourselves entering Villa Bled, our guides first stop and introductory point to the most photographed and most popular Slovenian tourist attraction, Bled Island. Villa Bled was constructed in 1947 and was a former summer home and royal residence and has the perfect position of directly facing Bled Island. It is a boutique hotel now, but it allows guides to bring small groups inside to get a glimpse of probably the best view one can ever get of that famous island. The greatest Slovene poet France Preseren once described Lake Bled and its surrounding areas as a second Eden, and I doubt that there is a soul who will disagree. This lake of glacial and tectonic origin is a favorite spot for international rowing competitions, and there is actually an option to rent a boat and do the rowing yourself to get to Bled Island, presuming that you have both the time and skill. The usual touristy way to get to the island is a wooden boat called pletna and the oarsmen who navigate these boats descend from families that have lived here in 1740 - when Empress Maria Theresa granted 22 families exclusive rights to ferry religious pilgrims across the lake to worship on the island. Once we got to the island, we made our way up the steps to that famous Church and were lucky since there was hardly anyone there. One by one, we waited for our turn to ring the church bell only to find out that it was quite a daunting task; when you tug on the rope, the weight of the bell catches you by surprise, but we did it! Bell rung, wish made, we were such happy pilgrims. We made it back to shore and started our ascent towards Bled Castle. A medieval castle, smaller in size than those we see in many other parts of Europe, it functioned more as a fort with fortified walls that successfully defended itself from attackers over the years. It has no luxurious halls and rooms, but the Castle Chapel, Printing Shop and paintings of coat-of-arms in fresco technique are worth the visit. Out on the terrace, there is a panoramic view of Bled Island, the lake and the countryside of the Gorenjska region. Ljubljana In a few hours, we were back at the Old Town of Ljubljana. If in the early morning the area surrounding the Dragon Bridge is foggy and eerie, after sunset it comes alive. The cafes are brimming with people, the street musicians crowd around the Triple Bridge and our favorite Food Market run by local merchants offers Asian, Spanish, Italian and local delicacies with endless rows of chocolate in all forms. Our visit to Slovenia was too short, but it was more than worth the long journey to get there. Its beauty exceeded my expectations and the people we met were very warm, spoke good English and were passionately proud of their rich history. Yes, the world will soon know about Slovenia and people will come in droves. But not too soon please, because when I return, I would like to have my moment alone with the gorge and the lake and the warmth in my heart that both bring. A Chinese woman who three years ago became the first in the country to undergo a uterus transplant has reached another medical milestone, by giving birth to a healthy baby boy. Yang Hua, 26, was almost 34 weeks pregnant when doctors at Xijing Hospital in Xian, capital of northwest Chinas Shaanxi province, delivered the child by caesarean section on Sunday. Despite his early arrival, the baby weighed in at a respectable 2kg (4.4lbs) and measured 48cm (19 inches) in length, China News Service reported. Yang became the recipient of a uterus, donated by her own mother, in November 2015. Doctors had discovered two years earlier, while trying to work out why she had not started menstruating, that she had neither a vagina nor a womb, but did have functioning ovaries, the report said. While Yang longed to have a baby, she was told her only option was to have a uterus transplant, and her mother, who was 43 at the time, agreed to be the donor. The mother, who was not named, was quoted as saying at the time that she was willing to give up her life so her daughter could have a complete life. The transplant was conducted by a team of 38 specialists led by Chen Biliang, the head of gynaecology and obstetrics at Xijing Hospital. Yang had earlier undergone surgery to create a vagina and had had 14 embryos grown from her eggs frozen for later use, the report said. At the fifth attempt to implant one of the embryos into her new womb, everything fell into place last summer and she was told she was pregnant. Doctors chose to deliver the baby by caesarean section to reduce the stress on Yangs womb, the report said. The new baby, who is currently being cared for in an incubator, is the first in China and 14th in the world to have been born from a transplanted uterus. Doctors had considered whether they needed to remove the transplanted uterus after Yang gave birth so she would not have to continue taking immunosuppressant drugs. Story continues But during the caesarean they found it was in a better condition than expected and have decided to keep it in place. Yang is now considering whether to have a second baby. Chen said the medical teams breakthrough in carrying out this highly complex procedure would offer a successful case study for future operations that could bring hope to other women in a similar predicament. The team has already carried out a second successful uterine transplant on a 29-year-old woman from the southern province of Guangdong in December 2017. The recipient, whose 51-year-old mother also donated her own uterus, is now trying to become pregnant through a course of fertility treatment at the hospital. This article Chinas first womb transplant recipient gives birth to a healthy baby boy first appeared on South China Morning Post For the latest news from the South China Morning Post download our mobile app. Copyright 2019. South Korea imported no Iranian crude oil for the fourth month in a row in December, S&P Global Platts reports, citing information from Korea National Oil Corp. During that month, one of the worlds top oil importers increased its intake of crude from Kazakhstan and the United States. Iranian oil exports to South Korea for full-2018 dived by more than 60 percent to 58.2 million barrels, according to the Korea National Oil Corp. data, from 147.87 million barrels a year earlier. At the same time, December imports of U.S. crude surged sixfold to 13.61 million barrels, with imports from Kazakhstan doubling to 6.6 million barrels. Imports from Nigeria also increased, to 1.22 million barrels in December. "We can continue buying lighter oil from Nigeria and other African counties this year as alternatives to Iranian grades because it is uncertain whether the 180-day waiver is being extended," an official from the countrys largest refiner, SK Innovation, said as quoted by S&P Global Platts. Related: Trump Takes Aim At California Emissions Laws However, earlier in January, SK Innovations CEO told Reuters South Korea will start buying Iranian crude this month or next. As South Korea received a waiver and has been in talks with Iran about the first import volume, it seems (Iran oil) could be brought in late in January or early February at the earliest, the chief executive of the company, Kim Jun said. South Korea could import up to 200,000 bpd of Iranian crude, most of it the superlight grade called condensate: the country was Irans biggest condensate buyer before the sanctions and its third-largest importer of oil. South Korea seems to be very concerned about breaching sanctions even having a waiver that allows it to import Iranian crude. It is likely that it will stock up on the attractively priced fuel this month and next, before the waivers expire, especially if Washington decides to not extend, which is widely seen as the less likely scenario. By Irina Slav for Oilprice.com More Top Reads From Oilprice.com: No one has proposed the holding of an extraordinary meeting of OPEC and its non-OPEC partners over the chaos in OPEC member Venezuela, Alexander Novak, the energy minister of the non-OPEC leader Russia, said on Thursday. Venezuelas opposition leader Juan Guaido, the president of the National Assembly, declared himself interim president on Wednesday, and the United States supported him against Nicolas Maduro, whom the U.S. Administration declared an usurper with no legitimacy to the presidency. Maduro, in turn, severed diplomatic ties with the U.S. on Wednesday and gave U.S. diplomats in Venezuela 72 hours to leave the country. Right-leaning Latin American nations, including Brazil, Colombia, and Argentina, also recognized Guaido, while leftist Cuba and Bolivia support Maduro. Russia, China, and Turkey stay by Maduro, with Russia saying Maduro is the legitimate president and warning the U.S. against a military intervention. Venezuelan state oil firm PDVSAled by oil minister Manuel Quevedo, a former army officer who holds OPECs rotating presidency for 2019said that we dont have any other president than Maduro. Asked today whether the political crisis in Venezuela could lead to higher oil prices, Russias Energy Minister Novak told news agency TASS that the oil market is very complex and it is difficult to forecast how it would react to the developments in Venezuela. According to the IMF, Venezuelas economy is expected to collapse by another 18 percent in 2019. More than 3 million Venezuelan people have fled the country amid an aggravating humanitarian crisis and an extreme poverty rate of 40 percent. The economic collapse adds to years of mismanagement and underinvestment in the oil industry to further complicate attempts in Venezuela, one of OPECs five founding members, to stop the steep decline of its oil production. OPEC figures show that Venezuelas crude oil production dropped by another 33,000 bpd from November to just 1.148 million bpd in December, compared to average 1.911 million for 2017. By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com More Top Reads From Oilprice.com: Russias government approved on Thursday a ten-year modernization program for Russian power plants, expected to attract US$28.8 billion (1.9 trillion Russian rubles) in private investments in the sector, Energy Minister Alexander Novak said. The government approved today a plan by the Russian Energy Ministry to upgrade nearly 40 gigawatts (GW) of installed capacity, which accounts for around 16 percent of Russias total installed generation capacity, Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev said. The project will run through 2031, Medvedev added, noting that Moscow plans to have long-term predictability in electricity prices to provide businesses with long-term predictability of energy costs. Novak, for his part, said that the program will run between 2022 and 2031. The first competitive selection will be held for 11 GW in April or May, with power supply expected to start in 2022-2024. Related: Aramco Ready To Pour Billions In U.S. Natural Gas Russias key selection criteria for equipment will be the low cost per kWh, Novak noted. The modernization program will also aim to have as much domestic equipment and engineering as possible, the energy minister added. According to the BP Energy Outlook 2018, natural gas will stay the leading fuel in Russias power generation through 2040. The share of natural gas, however, will drop slightly from 54 percent in 2016 to 53 percent in 2040. The share of nuclear power in Russias power mix is expected to grow to 19 percent by 2040 from 15 percent now, and the share of hydropower generation is seen flat at 15 percent. The share of coal in Russias power generation will drop from 14 percent to 8 percent in 2040, according to BP. Despite the fact that renewables will soar by more than 7,500 percent by 2040, renewable energy will contribute just 2 percent to Russias primary energy demand in 2040, compared with 17 percent on average among the other BRIC nations (Brazil, India, China). Russia will also remain one of the leading fossil fuels producers in the world through 2040, with a share of 14 percent of both global oil and gas production, BP says. By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com More Top Reads From Oilprice.com: The Venezuelan opposition staged massive protests in dozens of cities across the country on Wednesday, putting President Nicolas Maduro in jeopardy. Importantly, the protests came with the blessing of the U.S. government, which declared that President Nicolas Maduro was a usurper that had no legitimacy to the presidency. The Trump administration has decided to go all-out to support the demonstrations in a seeming effort to overthrow Maduro. Vice President Mike Pence spoke in a video addressing the Venezuelan people on Tuesday, stating that Maduro was a dictator. The United States supports the courageous decision by Juan Guaido, the president of your National Assembly, to assert that bodies constitutional powers, declare Maduro a usurper, and call for the establishment of a transitional government, Pence said. On the eve of the protests, Pence pledged U.S. support. We say to all the good people of Venezuela: Estamos con ustedes. We are with you. We stand with you. And we will stay with you until democracy is restored and you reclaim your birth right of Libertad. Muchas gracias y vayan con Dios. As the good people of Venezuela make your voices heard tomorrow, on behalf of the American people, we say: estamos con ustedes. We are with you. We stand with you, and we will stay with you until Democracy is restored and you reclaim your birthright of Libertad. pic.twitter.com/ThzIAqBoRn Vice President Mike Pence (@VP) January 22, 2019 In a separate Op-Ed for the Wall Street Journal, Pence said that the U.S. will not stand by as Venezuela crumbles. He declared his support for Guaido, before adding: Nicolas Maduro must go. The video and op-ed essentially amount to a formal declaration of support from the American government for regime change in Venezuela, although the administration wouldnt characterize it that way. Related: Private Investment In Natural Resources Hits Record High Other support came from regional powers, including Brazil, Chile and Colombia, as well as the Organization of American States (OAS). Luis Almagro, the Secretary-General of OAS, has already been calling Guaido the interim president of Venezuela. Maduro was dismissive on Tuesday. Who elects the president of Venezuela? Mike Pence? Maduro asked during a live address on state television. Guaido is now the face of the attempted overthrow, and is seeking to unite the country against Maduro. To date, the opposition has been fractured, scattered and dispirited. The silence with which the year started will become a roar of freedom, democracy and strength without precedent, Guaido declared on Tuesday. Were all immersed in this crisis except the usurper. Its notable that Guaido and Pence both used the same term for Maduro. The Washington Post reported that on Monday dozens of Venezuelan National Guard personnel stole arms from two Caracas units, kidnapped four officials, and recorded themselves in a northern slum urging people to join them in rebellion, a sign that Maduro is starting to lose his grip on his security forces. The gambit by Guaido is dangerous. It offers Maduro a pretext for a much more serious crackdown. But Maduros control is also looking increasingly fragile. The decisive factor will be whether or not the armed forces abandon Maduro. The protests on Wednesday were widespread and truly massive. Guaido declared himself the rightful president of the country. Wednesday afternoon, President Trump upped the ante by recognizing Guaido as president. It isnt clear what happens next and Maduros ouster, should it come, does not guarantee a return to stability. The U.S. has a long and disreputable track record toppling governments in Latin America, many of which were done in the name of democracy but were, in fact, anti-democratic coups that paved the way for right-wing dictatorships. The memory of this history is still alive in Latin America and the vocal support of the Venezuelan opposition by the U.S. government in January 2019 must be seen in this context. In fact, the misery in Venezuela has been made much worse by U.S. sanctions. And although Trump and Pence say that Maduro is not legitimate, Maduros recent election was made possible because the opposition boycotted the election. Its important to point out that the American government is seeking regime change, which again, does not come with a rosy track record. Related: An Unlikely New Hotspot For Energy Storage Meanwhile, the implications for the oil market are profound. The Trump administration has explored punitive measures targeting Venezuelas oil sector multiple times over the past two years, but has repeatedly held off, fearing blowback. Several U.S. refineries on the Gulf Coast still import heavy sour crude from Venezuela, and those volumes are not easily replaced by oil from Texas, which is light and sweet. Moreover, the OPEC+ production cuts are taking heavier oils off of the market, further complicating the global supply mix. Sanctions on Venezuelan oil would ensure that our US Gulf coast refiners that are optimised to run heavy crude will not have the same access to it, Geoff Moody, a VP of government relations at the American Fuel & Petrochemical Manufacturers, told Argus Media. The Trump administration is reportedly considering punitive sanctions on Venezuelas oil sector as a way to increase the pressure on Maduro, measure that could come as soon as this week. At the time of this writing, those measures were not announced. The turmoil in Venezuela could lead to unexpected and sharp supply outages. In our base case, we estimate that Venezuelas oil production will decline about 350k b/d on average in 2019, or more than 20% vs. 2018; however, considering the multiple risks factors, a decline of up to 700k b/d, to about 800k b/d, is a real possibility, Barclays said in a note last week. The investment bank added that even a sizeable disruption may not lead to a price spike because the market is still well-supplied. Though it is clear that a major disruption in Venezuelas oil flow could be ahead, the oil market may ignore the possible physical effect in the short term, Barclays wrote. By Nick Cunningham of Oilprice.com More Top Reads From Oilprice.com: Saudi Arabia is putting itself in a potentially dangerous geopolitical position as it seeks to continue its decades' long relationship with Washington while at the same time forging new ties, mostly based on oil markets cooperation, with Moscow. The latest installment in this Saudi narrative came on Tuesday when Saudi Aramco said at the yearly World Economic Forums in Davos, Switzerland that its looking to acquire natural gas assets in the U.S. and is willing to spend billions of dollars there as it aims to become a global gas player. Saudi Aramco has recently diversified its holdings in many countries by investing in downstream assets, including currently owning the Motiva complex in Texas, the biggest oil refinery in the U.S. Saudi Aramco Amin Nasser told Reuters at the forum that it intends to invest another $10 bn in the Motiva complex. He added, We do have appetite for additional investments in the United States. Aramcos international gas team has been given an open platform to look at gas acquisitions along the whole supply chain. They have been given significant financial firepower in the billions of dollars. Saudi Aramco has already indicated its interest in becoming a global gas and LNG player and one day exporting the fuel, but it has a long way to go put the infrastructure in place before they can come to fruition. Playing both sides However, despite Saudi Arabias close ties to U.S., dating back to the administration of Franklin Roosevelt during World War II and then afterwards when American oil industry know-how, management, best practices, and funds helped develop the Saudi oil industry and propelled it to where it is today, Riyadh has also been forming closer times with one-time adversary Moscow. The growing ties with Russia were born of oil market necessity. The two sides agreed to put an oil production cut deal in place in 2016 to drain down then oversupplied markets, with a downward trajectory on oil prices that saw Brent crude futures plummet from around $100 per barrel in mid-2014 to breaking below the $30 per barrel price point by early 2016. Thus was born the OPEC+ group of oil producers, led by Russia and Saudi Arabia. Related: BP Remains Bullish On Oil Demand Growth Since their first oil cut agreement in 2016, the two countries last year agreed once again to cut output to drain down oil inventories amid fears of a global oil demand slowdown due to the ongoing trade war between the U.S. and China, and weakness in emerging markets coming at the same time as record high production from the U.S., Russia and Saudi Arabia - the worlds top three oil producing nations. The Russians and Saudi are now also considering tie-ups in gas, with Saudi Arabia looking to become a major investor in Russias fledgling but forward-thinking LNG sector that Russian President Vladimir Putin claims can one day compete with Qatar, Australia and the U.S. to be the top global LNG export leader. Therein lies the rub. As Riyadh and Moscow continue to boost their oil and gas interdependence both in terms of investment in each others sectors but also in terms of controlling global oil prices, the two sides will also increasingly forge an alliance geopolitically, which includes in the always violate middle-east where the U.S. and Russia are usually at odds, including being on opposite sides in the ongoing Syrian Civil War. While it may be a number of years before it develops, there will come a time when Riyadh will be forced to choose sides between U.S. interests and Moscows growing regional hegemony ambitions and its increased influence in the middle east. At the end of the day, its a decision that no Saudi leader should be looking forward to (one that will likely fall on the shoulder of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman). Its also a decision nonetheless that could dictate both global oil and gas markets and middle eastern regional stability for decades. By Tim Daiss for Oilprice.com More Top Reads From Oilprice.com: Saudi Arabia isnt buying the peak oil demand narrative. OPECs largest producer continues to expect global oil demand to keep rising at least by 2040 and sees itself as the oil producer best equipped to continue meeting that demand, thanks to its very low production costs. Saudi Arabia will be the one to pump the last barrel of oil in the world, but it doesnt see the last barrel of oil being pumped for decades and decades to come. I dont see peak [oil] demand happening in 10 years or even by 2040, Amin Nasser, president and chief executive officer of Saudi oil giant Saudi Aramco told CNN Business Emerging Markets Editor John Defterios on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Davos this week. There will continue to be growth in oil demand We are the lowest cost producer and the last barrel will come from the region, Nasser told CNN. For several years, Nasser has been saying that peak oil demand is nowhere in sight, that petrochemicals will drive oil demand growth through 2050, and that all the peak oil demand and stranded resources talk is threatening an orderly energy transition and energy security. Saudi Arabiawhich has just announced that its huge oil reserves are slightly higher than previously estimatedlooks to diversify its economy away from heavy dependence on crude oil, but one of the goals of its Vision 2030 diversification plan is to use less oil in domestic power generation to free up more barrels for exports. Related: IEA Chief: EVs Are Not The End Of The Oil Era As the worlds top crude oil exporter, Saudi Arabia will not be giving away easily its crown and the geopolitical clout that comes with it. The Saudis have the two key ingredients to continue pumping oil till kingdom comehuge reserves and low production costs. In addition, various organizations, including OPEC, estimate that shale production in the worlds current top oil producerthe United Stateswill peak at some point in the late 2020s, reviving demand for crude oil from OPEC (and its biggest oil producer Saudi Arabia). Earlier this month, Saudi Arabia announced that an independent estimate of its oil reserves by DeGolyer and MacNaughton (D&M) showed that the Kingdoms total proven oil reserves were 268.5 billion barrels as of the end of 2017, up from around 266 billion barrels previously estimated. The BP Statistical Review of World Energy 2018 put Saudi Arabias oil reserves at 266.2 billion barrels at end-2017, or 15.7 percent of global oil reserves, second only to Venezuelas 303.2 billion barrels. DeGolyer and MacNaughton said last week that it completed the first contemporary independent assessment of reserves in Saudi Arabia, adding that at this point, it would make no further comments on this extensive project. This certification underscores why every barrel we produce is the most profitable in the world, and why we believe Saudi Aramco is the worlds most valuable company and indeed the worlds most important, Saudi Energy Minister Khalid al-Falih said in the statement released by the Saudi Press Agency. Saudi Aramcos cost of production is just $4 a barrel, al-Falih later said in a news conference, as carried by Reuters. Saudi Arabia may need oil prices higher than $80 a barrel to balance its budget because most of the income comes from oil. Yet, the Kingdom has what is probably the worlds lowest cost of pumping one barrel of oil. Related: Energy Transition Will Upend Geopolitics While surging U.S. shale production has been boosting the global oil supply which Saudi Arabia and OPEC and non-OPEC Russia are looking to drain again with a new round of production cuts, current estimates point to shale peaking in the late 2020s. According to the International Energy Agency (IEA), U.S. tight oil production will continue rising through 2025, and Thereafter, with our current estimate for recoverable resources, production starts to fall gradually. In its latest World Oil Outlook, OPEC sees non-OPEC supply peaking in the late 2020s, mainly because of expected U.S. tight oil supply peak. In the medium term, through 2023, demand for OPEC crude is seen waning to 31.6 million bpd in 2023 because of non-OPEC supply growth. But after that, with the U.S. shale peak expected in the late 2020s, OPEC forecasts that demand for its crude will start rising again, to reach nearly 40 million bpd by 2040. Will the world need oil in 2040? Saudi Aramcos answer to this question is an emphatic yes. The world will continue to need a lot more oil and a lot more exploration will be needed just to offset declining oil production at mature fields, Aramcos Nasser said in Houston last year. The energy transition is much more complex than simply replacing oil with renewables and electric vehicles (EVs), Nasser said last March and added: In other words, I am not losing any sleep over peak oil demand? or stranded resources?. By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com More Top Reads From Oilprice.com: They made over a teacher in my (and JVNs) hometown. Afterwards, a local pastor damned our city for embracing the homosexuals. Edited at 2019-01-24 02:40 am (UTC) Reply Thread Link just like jesus would have done! Reply Parent Thread Link who damns their own city?? you have to LIVE THERE enjoy sinking into the ocean or whatever, pastor dick Reply Parent Thread Expand Link The hilarious thing is that the city is literally right on the Mississippi River. During the Great Flood of 93, we were home of the levy breaker and it was baaaaad. Too bad theyve had the 100 year flood about 3-4 times since then. In all honesty, theyre a bunch of trump supporting trash sooooooo... Reply Parent Thread Link lmaoooooooo Reply Parent Thread Link he wants to be turned into salt Reply Parent Thread Link wow fuck him Reply Parent Thread Link Is this teacher going to be on Season 3 Reply Parent Thread Link Alright. Deal Reply Thread Link I met a woman a few weekends ago who has worked with JVN and basically said that he's a nightmare and loses his shit at the smallest things at people who have nothing to do with what's happening. He also, in his freakouts, says very on brand things like "if i don't get [x] when i want it, it's not gonna be cute." He's also apparently coked out a lot which should be obvious, but I didn't want to believe it. After I heard all this stuff, I had to unfollow him on insta cause it was all I could think about. Reply Thread Link JVN is the Jesus looking one right? Cause just by looking at him, I can tell that he does way too much. Reply Parent Thread Link it seems sorta true Reply Parent Thread Link Honestly he sorta turned me off on watching this how. He is way too extra and its not cute. Reply Parent Thread Link He also, in his freakouts, says very on brand things like "if i don't get [x] when i want it, it's not gonna be cute." I'm cackling at this image Reply Parent Thread Link she said that part in his voice and i was like omg noooo, i can picture it so well Reply Parent Thread Link I mean Im disappointed but not surprised (if this is true). Reply Parent Thread Link i unfollowed him on insta because he is so damn extra. none of this surprises me. Reply Parent Thread Link He is so over the top and "on brand" all the time. I still follow him on Insta because I LOOOOOOVE his ice skating videos but I could not stomach his podcast (Jimmy Fallon wishes he overtalked his guests as much) plus he's all over the place on Twitter. I don't need a cutetification of political problems. Reply Parent Thread Expand Link If this ended up to be true, I wouldn't be that surprised. I also wouldn't be surprised if it came out that Tan was a huge jerk. Reply Parent Thread Expand Link On the Nailed It episode with them he's definitely controlling himself from having a full blow meltdown. Reply Parent Thread Link he comes across this way on the show Reply Parent Thread Link Based on his podcast, he is clearly coked out most of the time. I mean I'm a fast campy talker, I've got ADHD and talk like a Gilmore Girl on Dawson's Creek, and I still find JVN goddamn exhausting. Reply Parent Thread Link I tried telling people here about JVN and people gave me the whole "do you even watch Queer eye!?" Or "do you even listen to his podcast he majored in political science!". I was like what do these things have to do with what I said haha Reply Parent Thread Link i believe this lol. most people that make for entertaining TV are not people you'd ever want to be around irl. everything always has to be 100% about them. Reply Parent Thread Link The one on the far right has gotten rough since season one. He used to look like a young John Mayer, now he looks like current John Mayer. Reply Thread Link lol Reply Parent Thread Link lmaoooo Reply Parent Thread Link JVN needs to do something with that ugly ass beard. Reply Thread Link so many people comment that it's ugly so i think he's just keeping it to piss people off. Reply Parent Thread Link Aw I miss living in Japan Reply Thread Link I'm honestly over them. With the exception of Bobby and Karamo (I think?) they all seem so thirsty for attention. Reply Thread Link Karamo comes across as one of the thirstiest to me lol Especially after his Pence apologism. Bobby is definitely the chill unsung hero of the crew though. Reply Parent Thread Link Karamo's ok, thirsty probably isn't the word I'd use to describe him. Maybe a little type-A but it comes from an understandable place it seems like. Reply Parent Thread Link Bobby is the true King Reply Parent Thread Link Bobby creates miracles every episode Reply Parent Thread Link Tan's not too bad. Bobby needs to break up with them and move to HGTV. I don't think his design style is anything new but his talents are clearly being wasted on this show. Reply Parent Thread Link they're so annoying on instagram Reply Parent Thread Link Karamo is definitely thirsty Bobby is the most "normal" but they're all doing the most on social media Reply Parent Thread Link i love bobby. he seems smart and really well spoken. Reply Parent Thread Link So they're going to Japan... Marie Kondo crossover? Reply Thread Link LOL wondering if Tan is driving because it's on the other side of the road lmfao Reply Thread Link I show this video to everyone. Love the Bobby part. King of home decor!!! Reply Parent Thread Link FLORAL PRINTED SHIRTS Reply Parent Thread Link my favorite part, something about the enunciation just kills me Reply Parent Thread Link lmaoooo i love Benny, his Antoni is SO good Reply Parent Thread Link Japanese people are so much better groomed than Americans idek what they'll do haha Reply Thread Link Stylish fashion and hairstyles are pretty different over there so I'm more wondering how they'll handle that tbh Reply Parent Thread Link Yeah for sure there are plenty of useless people who have been spoiled by their mothers who did everything for them lol Reply Parent Thread Link Can they take me. Reply Thread Link Im interested in how this will turn out. Also like if they did eps in korea the guys there are like well groomed there Reply Thread Link Former President Jerry John Rawlings says Ghanaians are going through very hard times. According to Mr. Rawlings, the situation is profound hence there is the need for all to extend a helping hand to those who are in need. We all know how hard things are in Ghana right now, he admits. Times are really hard and during critical moments such as this funeral, the expenses family incurs is a not a joke. Things are not going too well for a lot of people. So I am pleading with all of you, the way things are, we have no choice but to help one another. Rawlings who had joined other personalities for the funeral of Nana Ama Obu Derby-Michaelis, mother of Vice President of the Ship Owners and Agents Association of Ghana (SOAAG), Adam Imoru Ayarna further indicated that things are tough not only for the ordinary Ghanaian but also the rich and famous as he is unable to offer a resounding support to the bereaved. Its not easy for me. I wish I could support, he noted. Were not in crisis; but Ghanaians are in difficulty Akufo-Addo In September last year, President Akufo-Addo admitted that the average Ghanaian was in difficulty but rejected claims the country was at a crisis point. The President while delivering a speech at a Ghanaian community in New York, USA attributed the difficulties in the system to the dramatic increase in crude oil prices and the strengthening of the US dollar. He said: It is not a crisis, but the difficulties that we are going through now are difficulties that the system will be able to accommodate. It has meant some difficulties in the lives of ordinary people in Ghana, but they are events that were out of our control, which we have to find a way to accommodate. We have to approach the foreign exchange matter medium to long-term, by expanding our supply base, thats not a crisistheyre difficulties the system would be able to accommodate Source: ghanaweb.com Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video For Immediate Release Chicago, IL January 24, 2019 Today, Zacks Investment Ideas feature highlights Features: Tesla TSLA, General Motors GM, Ford F, Toyota TM and Volkswagen VWAGY. Is Tesla On Sale or In Trouble? Last Friday, electric automaker Tesla announced 3,000 employee layoffs in an attempt to lower costs, even as they attempt to increase production of the mass-market Model 3. In a letter to employees, Tesla CEO Elon Musk pointed out that although the company had made great strides in terms of the number of vehicles it is able to produce and deliver, the high prices of its cars keeps them out of reach for most consumers. Musk predicted that the company would be able to post a second consecutive profitable quarter due to continued shipment of higher priced Model 3 variants including to Europe and Asia for the first time but that future sales and profitability growth hinged on the companys ability to produce lower-cost vehicles for a wider audience. The CEO said that audited results would probably show a profit, but less than Q3, - when the company earned $2.90/share, blowing away estimates of a small loss for the period. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for Q4 earnings is $2.13/share consistent with Musks prognostications. TSLA is currently a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). The Model 3 was originally introduced with an expected base price of $35,000, but most of the cars that have been delivered so far have been long-range versions that start at $49,000 - and sold for an average price of about $60,000 during Q3. Recently, Tesla has made the mid-range level Model 3 available, starting at $44,000, but none of the $35,000 cars have yet been sold and Musk himself has admitted that the company is not currently able to turn a profit on the lowest price Model 3s. In the letter, Musk targeted May of 2019 for the first sale of $35,000 cars to all markets. Hes racing against the clock in the US due to the impeding expiration of the federal tax credit for Tesla vehicles. Through 2018, buyers of all Tesla cars received a $7,500 tax credit. In the first two quarters of 2019, the credit is reduced to $3,750, then halved again to $1,875 - during the second half of the year before being eliminated altogether in 2020. Story continues Especially in the lower price ranges, the federal tax credit is a significant component of the final price consumers pay for a Tesla. Investors were not pleased with the concept of layoffs or the indications that earnings would be lower and the shares traded sharply lower, shedding 14% since closing at $347.31/share on Thursday before the announcement. The reaction was so severe that two very positive developments for Tesla went largely ignored - the groundbreaking for a Gigafactory in China that will produce batteries and Model 3 autos, possibly within a year, and European homologation of the Model 3, approving the vehicle for sale throughout the continent. The first Model 3s left the West Coast of the US for Europe on a cargo ship last week and European customers anxiously awaiting cars they ordered have been tracking the vessels progress on an internet app. All of the 14,000 orders taken so far in Europe are for the higher-priced variants of the Model 3, a bullish sign for Q1 2019 revenues. The extreme selloff on the layoff news seems overdone, though Tesla still trades at a 12M forward P/E ratio of 52X. For reference, mature competitors in the industry like General Motors, Ford, Toyota and Volkswagen all trade at single-digit multiples. The rich multiple highlights the fact that Tesla remains under constant pressure to produce revenue and profit growth in order to deserve its share price. The bull case is that Tesla will be able to continue its growth trajectory for the foreseeable future which will translate into rising share prices, but this past week has been an indication that the markets are likely to be unforgiving of any missteps along the way. For investors who still believe in Teslas long-term prospects, recent declines offer an opportunity to purchase shares at a steep discount to where they have traded recently, but be aware that more volatility most likely lies ahead, especially around the earnings release and conference call next week. Looking for Stocks with Skyrocketing Upside? Zacks has just released a Special Report on the booming investment opportunities of legal marijuana. Ignited by new referendums and legislation, this industry is expected to blast from an already robust $6.7 billion to $20.2 billion in 2021. Early investors stand to make a killing, but you have to be ready to act and know just where to look. See the pot trades we're targeting>> Follow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/ZacksResearch Join us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ZacksInvestmentResearch Zacks Investment Research is under common control with affiliated entities (including a broker-dealer and an investment adviser), which may engage in transactions involving the foregoing securities for the clients of such affiliates. Media Contact Zacks Investment Research 800-767-3771 ext. 9339 support@zacks.com https://www.zacks.com Past performance is no guarantee of future results. Inherent in any investment is the potential for loss.This material is being provided for informational purposes only and nothing herein constitutes investment, legal, accounting or tax advice, or a recommendation to buy, sell or hold a security. No recommendation or advice is being given as to whether any investment is suitable for a particular investor. It should not be assumed that any investments in securities, companies, sectors or markets identified and described were or will be profitable. All information is current as of the date of herein and is subject to change without notice. Any views or opinions expressed may not reflect those of the firm as a whole. Zacks Investment Research does not engage in investment banking, market making or asset management activities of any securities. These returns are from hypothetical portfolios consisting of stocks with Zacks Rank = 1 that were rebalanced monthly with zero transaction costs. These are not the returns of actual portfolios of stocks. The S&P 500 is an unmanaged index. Visit https://www.zacks.com/performancefor information about the performance numbers displayed in this press release. 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 Toyota Motor Corporation (TM) : Free Stock Analysis Report Volkswagen AG (VWAGY) : Free Stock Analysis Report To read this article on Zacks.com click here. Zacks Investment Research For Immediate Release Chicago, IL January 24, 2019 Zacks Director of Research Sheraz Mian says, Total earnings for the 77 S&P 500 members that have reported Q4 results already are up +14.2% from the same period last year on +8.1% higher revenues, with 70.1% beating EPS estimates and 62.3% beating revenue estimates. Earnings Growth Slowing Down Note: The following is an excerpt from this weeks Earnings Trends report. You can access the full report that contains detailed historical actual and estimates for the current and following periods, please click here>>> Here are the key points: Total earnings for the 77 S&P 500 members that have reported Q4 results already are up +14.2% from the same period last year on +8.1% higher revenues, with 70.1% beating EPS estimates and 62.3% beating revenue estimates. The results thus far show decent momentum on the revenues side, with revenue growth broadly tracking the elevated pace of the last few quarters and positive revenue surprises starting to move towards recent quarterly trend rates after lagging earlier on. Performance metrics on the earnings front are notably on the weak side at this stage in the reporting cycle, both in terms of growth as well as the proportion of positive surprises. Estimates for Q4 had come down significantly ahead of the start of this earnings season. But the relatively low EPS beats % shows that estimates likely were not low enough. Finance sector results have been decent - neither good nor bad but they likely turned out to be better than what the market feared. Looking at Q4 as a whole, combining the actual results that have come out with estimates for the still-to-come companies, total earnings for the S&P 500 index are expected to be up +11% from the same period last year on +5.5% higher revenues. The strongest year-over-year earnings growth in Q4 is expected to come from the Energy, Transportation, Construction, Finance, and the Retail sectors. Excluding the Finance sectors strong growth, Q4 earnings growth for the rest of the index comes down to +8.9% (from +11%). Estimates for Q1 as well as full-year 2019 have been steadily coming down, with 2019 Q1 earnings growth barely in positive territory at present. For the small-cap S&P 600 index, total earnings for the 45 index members that have reported results already are up +20.2% on +7.7% higher revenues, with 46.7% beating EPS estimates and 57.8% beating revenue estimates. The small-cap indexs Q4 performance thus far is weaker than we have seen from the same group of companies in other recent periods. Looking at the small-cap index as a whole, total Q4 earnings are expected to be up +4.5% on +6.5 higher revenues. This would follow +36.5% earnings growth on +7.7% revenue growth in Q3. For full-year 2019, total earnings for the S&P 500 index are expected to be up +5.8% on +5.9% higher revenues, which would follow the +20.4% earnings growth on +6.3% higher revenues in 2018. Estimates for 2019 have been steadily coming down, with the current +5.8% growth rate down from +9.8% in early October 2018. The implied EPS for the index, calculated using current 2018 P/E of 16.8X and index close, as of January 22th, is $157.05. Using the same methodology, the index EPS works out to $166.15 for 2019 (P/E of 15.8X) and $183.78 for 2020 (P/E of 14.3X). The multiples for 2018, 2019 and 2020 have been calculated using the indexs total market cap and aggregate bottom-up earnings for each year. Q4 Earnings Season Scorecard(as of January 23rd, 2019) Story continues Total earnings for the 77 S&P 500 members that have reported Q4 results are up +14.2% on +8.1% higher revenues, with 70.1% beating EPS estimates and 62.3% beating revenue estimates. We knew that growth would be decelerating in Q4 and we are seeing that in the results thus far. But positive surprises are also tracking below what we had seen from the same group of 77 index members in other recent periods. Please note that the Q4 beats percentages started out on the low side for both EPS as well as revenues. The revenue beats percentage has since improved, but the proportion of these index members beating EPS estimates is tracking notably below what we have been seeing from the same group of companies in other recent periods. In fact, the Q4 EPS beats % is the lowest since 2016 Q4. More than positive EPS and revenue surprises for Q4, it is managements guidance for the current period that will ease the markets earnings worries. This guidance will also determine how estimates for the current period (2019 Q1) shape up as we go through the Q4 earnings season. Estimates for 2019 Q1 had already been coming down, even before the Q4 earnings season got underway and currently remain barely in positive territory. Estimates for full-year 2019 have similarly been coming down. The negative revisions trend is widespread across all the major sectors as you can see in the full-year 2019 estimate cuts to Apple AAPL, JPMorgan JPM, Micron Technology MU and many other major companies in different industries. But even these low growth expectations for the coming quarters are vulnerable to further downward revisions. In other words, it is reasonable for market participants to nurse some doubts about the current earnings backdrop. Zacks' Top 10 Stocks for 2019 In addition to the stocks discussed above, would you like to know about our 10 finest buy-and-holds for the year? Who wouldn't? Our annual Top 10s have beaten the market with amazing regularity. In 2018, while the market dropped -5.2%, the portfolio scored well into double-digits overall with individual stocks rising as high as +61.5%. And from 2012-2017, while the market boomed +126.3, Zacks' Top 10s reached an even more sensational +181.9%. See Latest Stocks Today >> Follow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/zacksresearch Join us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/home.php#/pages/Zacks-Investment-Research/57553657748?ref=ts Zacks Investment Research is under common control with affiliated entities (including a broker-dealer and an investment adviser), which may engage in transactions involving the foregoing securities for the clients of such affiliates. Media Contact Zacks Investment Research 800-767-3771 ext. 9339 support@zacks.com https://www.zacks.com Zacks.com provides investment resources and informs you of these resources, which you may choose to use in making your own investment decisions. Zacks is providing information on this resource to you subject to the Zacks "Terms and Conditions of Service" disclaimer. www.zacks.com/disclaimer. Past performance is no guarantee of future results. Inherent in any investment is the potential for loss.This material is being provided for informational purposes only and nothing herein constitutes investment, legal, accounting or tax advice, or a recommendation to buy, sell or hold a security. No recommendation or advice is being given as to whether any investment is suitable for a particular investor. It should not be assumed that any investments in securities, companies, sectors or markets identified and described were or will be profitable. All information is current as of the date of herein and is subject to change without notice. Any views or opinions expressed may not reflect those of the firm as a whole. Zacks Investment Research does not engage in investment banking, market making or asset management activities of any securities. These returns are from hypothetical portfolios consisting of stocks with Zacks Rank = 1 that were rebalanced monthly with zero transaction costs. These are not the returns of actual portfolios of stocks. The S&P 500 is an unmanaged index. Visit https://www.zacks.com/performance for information about the performance numbers displayed in this press release. 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 Micron Technology, Inc. (MU) : Free Stock Analysis Report To read this article on Zacks.com click here. Zacks Investment Research A woman walks in a snow-covered park. Photo: REUTERS/Gleb Garanich Loneliness doesnt just have an impact on someones health it has huge repercussions on the economy. In a panel session called Loneliness: An Epidemic? at the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, Switzerland, a number of experts discussed what communities can do to address the causes and impacts of loneliness, as well as how businesses and governments need to take the issue seriously. Laurie Santos, professor of psychology at Yale University, is the architect of the universitys most popular course Psychology and the Good Life (PSYC 157). In one semester it enrolled 1,200 students, but now an expanded version of the class is available for free on Coursera. As part of the course, Santos says she tries to teach students how to lead a happier and more satisfying life. This was especially pertinent after a 2013 report by the Yale College Council revealed that over half of undergraduates sought mental health care from the university during their time there. She is also the head of one of Yales residential colleges Silliman College. It is there where I saw the mental health crisis, up close and personal, she said. I saw loneliness in the trenches in a spot where students should be hanging out with each other in the dining hall. WEF found that 40% of under-25-year-old people reported that they feel lonely. Santos said that the core of how loneliness develops is actually linked to going against what our minds tell us. Laurie Santos, Professor of Psychology; Head, Silliman College, Yale University, USA. Photo: WEF All the things from the research suggests is that many of things we go after or motivated to do, our minds are lying to us about what will make us feel better. We just seek out the wrong kinds of stuff. This happens in the domain of social connection, Santos said. She used cited a famous study called Mistakenly Seeking Solitude that showed simple things, like seeing family or speaking to a stranger in a queue at the bank or on the train, has a positive impact on wellbeing. But because we dont actively seek it out, as we wouldnt think it would make us feel better, we are more predisposed to not making those connections and therefore isolating us more leading to loneliness. Story continues Were social animals but we sometimes forget that we just need to take action to talk to people and make more connections. So one of the things I see as a challenge is that even when we are feeling lonely, we dont realise the right next steps is just to reach out and make those connections, she said. The WEF panel on loneliness. Source: WEF The cost of loneliness Loneliness has been gaining prominence as an area that governments around the world are trying to address. In Britain, for example, the government appointed a minister for loneliness, Tracey Crouch, last year. The UKs Office for National Statistics (ONS) also released statistics in 2018 that showed that adults aged 16 to 24 years in England reported feeling lonely more often than those over 65. Women reported feeling lonely more frequently than men, according to the ONS. It also warned that loneliness is associated with poor life expectancy. A UK government report in 2017 showed the impact of loneliness on physical and mental health, revealing that it was as harmful as smoking 15 cigarettes a day. A scientific study also argued that loneliness is a public health issue. In terms of the economic impact, another study found that the total cost to UK employers from loneliness clocks in at 2.5bn annually, of which 2.1bn is borne by private sector employers. The London School of Economics also said in another study that for every 1 spent in preventing loneliness, there are 3 of savings because the epidemic of loneliness costs around 6,000 per person in health costs and local services pressures. Really simple interventions that leaders or organisations can say, can change how much a person can feel how they belong, Santos said. She used the example of a series of essays students write at Stanford University. At the start of every semester, the university asks students how they feel like they matter, their sense of belonging, and how they feel people care about them. Turns out, these essays can predict whether a student will feel like they belong there, months or even years later. So thats why I think belonging can be so important because its important for the whole phenomena but that could also be a spot where we can make really fast in roads to make change, Santos said. The second is to find more ways to feel socially connected finding connections with the people around us. By CCN.com: On January 23, the Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE) and VanEck officially withdrew their Bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) proposal ahead of its February deadline. Analysts expected a decline in the Bitcoin price following the withdrawal given that the CBOE/VanEck Bitcoin ETF was arguably the most highly anticipated proposal to date. No Visible Impact on the Bitcoin Price On CNBCs ETF Edge, VanEck CEO Jan van Eck stated that the shutdown of the U.S. government forced the institution to pull out its proposal. The lack of personnel at the commission prevented the continuation of discussions on various aspects of the Bitcoin ETF filing. We were engaged in discussions with the SEC about the bitcoin-related issues, custody, market manipulation, prices, and that had to stop. And so, instead of trying to slip through or something, we just had the application pulled and we will re-file when the SEC gets going again, van Eck said. Read the full story on CCN.com . WASHINGTON President Donald Trump is looking at his options. After being disinvited from giving his State of the Union address in the House chamber, Trump is scouting for a new venue to give the annual address. While the president had been planning to speak in the House as is customary his fight over funding for a border wall and the ongoing partial government shutdown led to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi revoking his invitation to address the nation on Tuesday. "I am writing to inform you that the House of Representatives will not consider a concurrent resolution authorizing the Presidents State of the Union address in the House Chamber until government has opened," the California Democrat wrote Wednesday in a letter to Trump. Pelosi had previously cited possible security concerns because authorities who were in charge of securing the event weren't being paid due to the shutdown and suggested Trump give the address from the Oval Office. The Secret Service is responsible for such events, but the agency, a part of the Department of Homeland Security, is affected by the shutdown. Here are some other options for where Trump could give his remarks: Senate floor While unprecedented in modern times, it could happen. The Constitution says the president "shall from time to time give to the Congress Information of the State of the Union," but it does not dictate where or when the address should happen. A handful of House Republicans, led by Indiana Rep. Jim Banks, have urged Vice President Mike Pence and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., to invite Trump to deliver the address from the Senate. In the spirit of the Constitution, and for the good of the Republic, we must not allow partisan politics to disrupt time honored Constitutional traditions, they wrote in a letter. Their letter, sent last week, also said House Democrats should be at the bottom of the priority for getting seats in the smaller Senate chambers, if Trump does choose that venue. Story continues It's unclear if Trump is seriously considering this as an option. If he is, space is likely to be tight as the Senate has 100 desks on the floor and the House has more than 400 seats at the ready. Banks had not received a response to the letter as of Wednesday. At the start of the Republic in the late 1700s, presidents offered annual messages on the Senate floor but that was before the messages became known as the State of the Union and before the U.S. Capitol was moved to Washington. It's become customary for the address to happen in the House chambers in either January or February. Presidents have given speeches to the Senate nine times in the past but none were considered State of the Union addresses, according to the U.S. Senate Historical Office. White House The White House itself is another option. The president earlier this month gave an address to the nation from the Oval Office about the ongoing government shutdown and immigration. He could give his State of the Union address in a similar fashion. "We always like to have a Plan B, but the president should be able to address the American people," White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders told Fox, "whether he does that from the halls of Congress or whether he does that in another location." Invitations from other states Republican lawmakers in several states have even offered up the state Capitol as the venue for the president's address. Rep. Lee Chatfield, a state lawmaker in Michigan, sent a letter to the White House offering to hold the event at the Michigan State Capitol. "There is no higher loyalty or obligation than to the people we serve and the communities we represent, and no partisan gamesmanship should stand in the way of that service," Chatfield said in the letter. "Because of that, this chamber and this speaker are willing to put people before policies for this important occasion." This content is not available due to your privacy preferences. Update your settings here to see it. Trump called to thank him for the support and decline the offer, Chatfield wrote on Twitter. Similar offers have been made in North Carolina and West Virginia. In North Carolina, state lawmaker Tim Moore invited the president to give his address at the State Capitol, and in West Virginia, Governor Jim Justice also extended an invite. It doesn't appear that the president was interested in holding the address in either state. A campaign-style rally The State of the Union has a certain sense of prestige. It helps guide the country through the president's forthcoming agenda and highlights his accomplishments over the last year. It's held in the U.S. Capitol and hosts members of Congress, both the House and Senate, the president's cabinet and all nine Supreme Court justices. But, the president could elect to hold a rally, some speculating at the border, in lieu of an official address to Congress. Several media outlets, including the New York Times and ABC News, have reported that a campaign-style rally is still on the table as an option. ABC News reported that Trump had drafted up two different versions of his speech, including rally styled remarks that cater to his supporters. Of course, the possibilities are endless. For now, Trump appears to still anticipate giving his address on Tuesday so we'll know soon enough where the event will be held. This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Where could President Trump give his State of the Union address? Here are some options West Bancorp (WTBA) came out with quarterly earnings of $0.44 per share, beating the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $0.42 per share. This compares to earnings of $0.40 per share a year ago. These figures are adjusted for non-recurring items. This quarterly report represents an earnings surprise of 4.76%. A quarter ago, it was expected that this holding company for West Bank would post earnings of $0.45 per share when it actually produced earnings of $0.43, delivering a surprise of -4.44%. Over the last four quarters, the company has surpassed consensus EPS estimates just once. West Bancorp, which belongs to the Zacks Financial - Savings and Loan industry, posted revenues of $17.36 million for the quarter ended December 2018, missing the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 0.41%. This compares to year-ago revenues of $17.45 million. The company has not been able to beat consensus revenue estimates over the last four quarters. The sustainability of the stock's immediate price movement based on the recently-released numbers and future earnings expectations will mostly depend on management's commentary on the earnings call. West Bancorp shares have added about 5.4% since the beginning of the year versus the S&P 500's gain of 5.3%. What's Next for West Bancorp? While West Bancorp has outperformed the market so far this year, the question that comes to investors' minds is: what's next for the stock? There are no easy answers to this key question, but one reliable measure that can help investors address this is the company's earnings outlook. Not only does this include current consensus earnings expectations for the coming quarter(s), but also how these expectations have changed lately. Empirical research shows a strong correlation between near-term stock movements and trends in earnings estimate revisions. Investors can track such revisions by themselves or rely on a tried-and-tested rating tool like the Zacks Rank, which has an impressive track record of harnessing the power of earnings estimate revisions. Story continues Ahead of this earnings release, the estimate revisions trend for West Bancorp was mixed. While the magnitude and direction of estimate revisions could change following the company's just-released earnings report, the current status translates into a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) for the stock. So, the shares are expected to perform in line with the market in the near future. You can see the complete list of today's Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here. It will be interesting to see how estimates for the coming quarters and current fiscal year change in the days ahead. The current consensus EPS estimate is $0.42 on $16.94 million in revenues for the coming quarter and $1.71 on $70.10 million in revenues for the current fiscal year. Investors should be mindful of the fact that the outlook for the industry can have a material impact on the performance of the stock as well. In terms of the Zacks Industry Rank, Financial - Savings and Loan is currently in the top 35% of the 250 plus Zacks industries. Our research shows that the top 50% of the Zacks-ranked industries outperform the bottom 50% by a factor of more than 2 to 1. 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 West Bancorporation (WTBA) : Free Stock Analysis Report To read this article on Zacks.com click here. Renault's board was meeting on Thursday to appoint new leadership, after Chairman and Chief Executive Carlos Ghosn resigned in the wake of a financial scandal that has rocked the French carmaker and its alliance with Japan's Nissan. The French government, Renault's biggest shareholder, confirmed the board was being asked to name outgoing Michelin boss Jean-Dominique Senard as chairman and Ghosn's deputy Thierry Bollore as chief executive. Senard and Bollore "will be presented this morning to the board of directors", government spokesman Benjamin Griveaux said before the meeting began at 0900 GMT. The widely expected appointments may begin to resolve a Renault-Nissan leadership crisis that erupted after Ghosn's Nov. 19 arrest in Japan and swift dismissal as Nissan chairman. ALSO READ:Nissan executive Jose Munoz resigns after Carlos Ghosn's arrest They also mark a clear end to one of the auto industry's most feted careers, two decades after Ghosn was despatched by former Renault CEO Louis Schweitzer to rescue newly acquired Nissan from near-bankruptcy - a feat he pulled off in two years. After 14 years as Renault CEO and a decade as chairman, Ghosn formally resigned from both roles on the eve of the board meeting, French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire said. Ghosn's arrest and indictment for financial misconduct has strained the Renault-Nissan relationship, threatening the future of the industrial partnership he transformed into a global carmaking giant over two decades. For two months, the tensions deepened as Renault and the French government stuck by Ghosn despite the revelation he had arranged to be paid tens of millions of dollars in additional income, unbeknownst to shareholders. Ghosn has been charged with failing to disclose more than $80 million in additional compensation for 2010-18 that he had agreed to be paid later. Nissan director Greg Kelly and the Japanese company itself have also been indicted. ALSO READ:IndiGo appoints Ronojoy Dutta as new CEO Both men deny the deferred pay was illegal or required disclosure, while not contesting the agreements' existence. Ghosn has denied a separate breach of trust charge over personal investment losses he temporarily transferred to Nissan in 2008. Ghosn finally agreed in recent days to step down from Renault, Reuters reported on Tuesday - but only after the French government called for leadership change and his bail requests were rejected by the Japanese courts. Senard, 65, faces the immediate task of soothing relations with Nissan, which is 43.4 percent-owned by Renault but the larger partner by sales. Following Ghosn's arrest, Nissan CEO Hiroto Saikawa had sought to weaken Renault's control and resisted its attempts to nominate new directors to the Japanese carmaker's board. In a possible sign of detente on Thursday, Nissan called an April shareholder meeting to appoint a Renault-nominated board member and formally terminate Ghosn and Kelly's directorships. It remains unclear whether Renault, as Nissan's parent, will also name its next chairman. Nissan currently owns a 15 percent non-voting stake in its French parent and 34 percent in Mitsubishi Motors, a third major partner in their manufacturing alliance. ALSO READ:Yes Bank appoints Ravneet Gill as new CEO to replace Rana Kapoor Once its new management is settled, French officials want the alliance to resume work on a new ownership structure to cement the partnership - which Ghosn had been mandated to explore when his Renault contract was renewed last year. Nissan is wary of any such move. In an interview last week, Saikawa acknowledged shareholders' concerns that the current structure undervalues their investments, but added that altering it was "really not the current priority". Jews represent Myanmars smallest religious group. The first were mainly merchants who came to the then Burma after the British conquest. At the end of the twentieth century, the community had less than 50 people. Yangon (AsiaNews/Agencies) In central Yangon, on the corner of MahaBandoola and 26th Street, stands Myanmars last Synagogue. For about 50 years, religious services have been held occasionally in the Musmeah Yeshua Synagogue (pictured) but over that same period the building has become an important tourist attraction. Sammy Samuels, leader of Myanmars Jewish community, takes care of it, helped by his sister Khana and U Myint Lwin, a local Muslim who is responsible for the buildings upkeep. Jews represent the smallest religious group in a country where Buddhists account for about 90 per cent of the population. Nine members of the community live in the nation's economic capital, to which must be added about 80 foreign Jews. Another 10 Jews are thought to live Mandalay and Pathein. The Musmeah Yeshua Synagogue was built in 1854 by an Iraqi architect to meet the religious needs of the Jews who had come to what was then called Burma following the British conquest. It was originally built out of wood but that structure burned in a fire in the 1890s. It reopened shortly after as the grand neo-classical facaded building that can be seen today. The first Jews in Myanmar were Baghdadi Jewish merchants from India and Iraq. Cochin Jews and the Bene Israel also came from India. Encouraged by British authorities, they settled mainly in Rangoon (Yangon) and Mandalay, where they started a thriving trade in rice and cotton. Success in business contributed to the growth of the Burmese Jewish population, which reached its peak in 1940 with about 3,000. In the early twentieth century, Jewish mayors governed both Pathein and Rangoon, where Yawmingyi Street, Yoaut Street and Boyarnyut Street once made up the city's "Jewish Town". With Burmas occupation by Japan, the Jewish population began to decline. During the Second World War, over 75 per cent of the community left the country. The exodus continued with independence in 1948, as many Burmese Jews could no longer benefit from the British rule. The coup de grace came with the military coup of 1962 and the subsequent economic crisis. By the end of the century, there were fewer than 50 Jews left in the whole of Myanmar. Senator Elizabeth Warren (D., Mass.) will propose a so-called wealth tax on Americans with more than $50 million in total assets, two economists helping develop the policy told the Washington Post Thursday. The proposal, developed by University of California, Berkeley economists Emmanuel Saez and Gabriel Zucman, calls for a 2 percent tax on Americans with more than $50 million in assets and a 3 percent tax on those with more than $1 billion in assets, on top of the income tax they already pay. The tax would raise $2.75 trillion over ten years and would affect just 0.1 percent of the population, or 75,000 families, according to Saez and Zucman. The Warren wealth tax is pretty big. We think it could have a significant effect on wealth concentration in the long run, Saez told the Post. This is a very interesting development with deep root causes: The fact inequality has been increasing so much, particularly in wealth, and the feeling our current tax system doesnt do a very good job taxing the very richest people. The proposal seeks to address the tax evasion that fiscal conservatives argue would reduce the efficacy of any wealth tax by allocating additional resources to the IRS, imposing a one-time penalty on Americans who renounce their citizenship to avoid the tax, and requiring that a certain percentage of those affected by the tax undergo a yearly audit. Academic critics of the wealth tax have previously called into question its constitutionality, citing the prohibition against direct taxes not apportioned by the states according to population. More from National Review Washington (AFP) - The US Senate on Thursday blocked dueling plans to reopen shuttered federal agencies, a fresh setback in efforts to end a month-long government shutdown, but President Donald Trump signaled he could back a "reasonable" proposal that includes border security. The legislative deadlock left Congress and the president grasping for a solution as thousands of federal workers, some reliant on food banks to make ends meet, are about to miss a second paycheck. But shortly after the votes, the outlines of a possible deal to end the deepening crisis began to take shape, when Senate leaders huddled in private to discuss a proposal to fund lapsed federal agencies for three weeks, to allow for negotiations over border security. Asked if he would support the plan, discussed in private by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and top Senate Democrat Chuck Schumer, Trump was noncommittal, saying he would still want funding for his wall. "If they come to a reasonable agreement, I would support it," he said, but added: "We have to have a wall in this country." But top Democrat Nancy Pelosi, the speaker of the House, said any deal that includes a down payment on Trump's wall would be a non-starter. "I hope that that doesn't mean some big downpayment for the wall," Pelosi said according to US media, adding, "I don't know if he knows what he's talking about." Trump had backed a Senate measure which would have reopened the government and funded the wall, while a competing Democratic proposal would have opened government through February 8 without funding Trump's wall, and leave room for border security negotiations. Both bills failed to reach the 60 votes needed to advance in the 100-member chamber. Trump was already smarting, after being forced into shelving his annual State of the Union address by Pelosi until the government is fully operational. Though politically bruised, Trump stood firm on his demand for billions of dollars in funding for a border wall as part of an overall budget package. Story continues "We will not Cave!" he tweeted at Pelosi before the Senate voted. - 'Nobody knows' what's next - The shutdown was to begin its 35th day Friday, with some 800,000 federal workers left unpaid across the country and in US installations abroad -- and the knock-on effects affecting millions more. As acrimony in Washington grew, lawmakers across the political spectrum were left scrambling for an exit strategy for the longest-ever halt to federal operations. "I don't know what's going to happen next. Nobody knows," warned Senate Republican Richard Shelby. But Lindsey Graham, a Republican senator who often has the president's ear, said he discussed with Trump the new proposal gaining traction: a continuing resolution that funds government for three weeks. "All of us believe that if we had three weeks with the government open, with all the discord coming from a shutdown, that we could find a way forward to produce a bill that he would sign," Graham said on the Senate floor. He added in a tweet that Democratic priorities for disaster relief were also included, "showing good faith from both sides." The White House stressed the need for at least some money for Trump's border plan. "The three-week CR would only work if there is a large down payment on the wall," press secretary Sarah Sanders said. Trump has repeatedly called for $5.7 billion in border wall funding, a demand consistently rejected by Democrats. - 'Unprecedented' - Senator Mitt Romney, the 2012 Republican presidential nominee, was one of a handful of Republicans who voted for both Senate bills, and he called on congressional leaders and the White House to thrash out their differences quickly. "We can't just have the lack of communication that prevents us from getting to a deal," Romney told reporters. McConnell emerged from his US Capitol office to signal the negotiations were ongoing. "At least we're talking," he said. Meanwhile the shutdown continued to hit American families hard, and employees and agencies have been sounding off about the potential crises ahead. The air travel industry issued dire warnings, including one from the National Air Traffic Controllers Association. "In our risk-averse industry, we cannot even calculate the level of risk currently at play, nor predict the point at which the entire system will break," NATCA president Paul Rinaldi said in a statement. "It is unprecedented." Earlier Thursday, Trump's billionaire Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross sparked a backlash by saying "I don't really quite understand why" federal workers were getting food from shelters. Pelosi pounced. "This Marie Antoinette attitude of 'Let them eat cake' is pervasive in the administration," she fumed. "The president thinks, I guess, they can call their dads for money." By Esha Vaish and Edward Taylor FRANKFURT/STOCKHOLM (Reuters) - Volvo Cars, owned by China's Geely , could in future seek external investors for its Polestar performance electric car brand and list the unit on the stock market but has no immediate plans to do so, the company said on Thursday. Germany's Capital magazine had earlier quoted Volvo Chief Executive Hakan Samuelsson as saying that Polestar could tap financial investors to help stem the costs of developing new electric powertrains as a precursor to listing. However, a spokesman for the Swedish carmaker said that while Samuelsson had "discussed the benefits of making it possible for external investors to enter Polestar in the future", he had not confirmed any plans in that regard. "(There are) no plans and no timeline for this; it was only a discussion around future possibilities," the spokesman said. Carmakers are having to strike partnerships and seek alliances to cut the burden and cost of building new electric and autonomous powertrains, even as they grapple with challenges stemming from Washington's trade war with China and new emission regulations. Volvo abandoned plans to list for an estimated valuation of between $20 billion and $30 billion in September due to trade tensions and an auto industry downturn. When putting the IPO on ice, Samuelsson had said that Volvo had "other alternatives" to raise finance. The company and parent Geely each held a 50 percent stake in Polestar since October 2017, when they agreed to jointly invest 5 billion Chinese yuan renminbi ($736 million) in the brand to fund its initial development of luxury electric cars. Geely declined to comment on Thursday. A Polestar spokesman said: "The entire Polestar Management team is focused on developing the Polestar 1 and preparations for the upcoming launch of Polestar 2." The marque is looking to roll out three models by 2021 and hit a target of 50,000 to 100,000 cars a year. It is gearing up to debut the Polestar 2, its first full-battery electric vehicle that it has widely touted as competitor to Tesla's Model 3, this quarter and also intends to launch production of its first car, the more expensive $155,000 Polestar 1 hybrid, by the middle of the year. ($1 = 6.7919 Chinese yuan renminbi) (Reporting by Edward Taylor in Frankfurt and Esha Vaish in Stockholm; Editing by Emelia Sithole-Matarise and Keith Weir) A man is being held in jail in Utah after allegedly posting online about killing as many girls as I see because he was a virgin and had never had a girlfriend. Police say Christopher Wayne Cleary, 27, wrote on Facebook about how he planned to become the next mass shooter the same weekend womens marches were being held around the US. Mr Cleary said he wanted to make the fact that so many women had turned him down right by going on a shooting spree, according to jail documents filed by Provo Police. He is said to have added that there was nothing more dangerous than a man ready to die. Mr Cleary, from Denver, Colorado, was arrested on Saturday after the states police raised the alarm with officers in Provo, Utah, where he had checked in to an Airbnb rental a day earlier. With help from the FBI officers tracked Cleary down to a restaurant, thought to be McDonalds, and arrested him on suspicion of a felony threat of terrorism charge. The Facebook posts did not mention the womens marches but investigators were said to be concerned since they were happening that same day in Provo and Salt Lake City, along with dozens of other cities. According to police, Cleary acknowledged making the posts, but said he deleted them after receiving threats in response. Cleary pictured during a review of a McDonalds meal uploaded to his YouTube channel on 19 January the same day he was arrested (Christopher Cleary/YouTube) He told investigators he had an impulse-control disorder and was suicidal. Colorado authorities said Mr Cleary was already on probation after stalking and threatening women there, according to Utah police documents. He is being held without bail in Utah, and authorities are expected to seek his extradition to Colorado. If the attack had been carried out, it could have become the latest massacre by a man linked to the Incel involuntary celibacy community. A spotlight was shone on the Incel community in May 2014 when Elliot Rodger went on a knife and gun rampage, killing six people in Isla Vista, California, before shooting himself. The London-born 22 year old, whose filmmaker father Peter Rodger was assistant director on The Hunger Games films, emailed a 137-page manifesto detailing his plans to kill some 30 people including his parents just minutes earlier. Story continues In a video uploaded to YouTube the day before the massacre, Rodger described his plans to shoot women and promised retribution for his loneliness and frustration at never having had a girlfriend and for being a virgin. In a chilling echo on 23 April 2018, 25-year-old Alek Minassian killed 10 people and injured many more after driving a van into pedestrians in Toronto, Canada. He faces 10 counts of murder and 13 counts of attempted murder at a trial expected to begin in 2020. Shortly before the 2019=8 attack, a post appeared on the suspects now-deleted Facebook profile praising Rodger. The Incel Rebellion has already begun, the post said. We will overthrow all the Chads and Stacys. Chads and Stacys are terms used within the Incel community to refer to attractive men and women. The label Incel is thought to have originated in Canada where a female college student, known only as Alana, set up a website called Alanas Involuntary Celibacy Project to discuss her sexual inactivity in 1993. In 1997 she set up a mailing list on the topic using the abbreviation Incel and a community of lonely people began. Additional reporting by Associated Press Under Armour CEO Kevin Plank and Virgin Galactic founder Richard Branson share a moment with Nick Cienski, Under Armours lead spacesuit designer. (Under Armour Photo) Virgin Galactics billionaire founder, Richard Branson, today took the wraps off a partnership with Under Armour to create the spacesuit and the footwear that he could well be wearing on a SpaceShipTwo suborbital space trip within a few months. Under Armour will also create a performance training program for Virgin Galactics hundreds of customers including the opportunity to train at Under Armours lab in Portland, Ore. The actual apparel design and other details will have to wait for a future reveal. But Branson, ever the optimist, suggested that the kickoff for Virgin Galactics commercial space operation at Spaceport America in New Mexico is coming soon. Branson gave his latest outlook today on CBS This Morning during a joint appearance with Kevin Plank, founder and CEO of Under Armour. The publicity push came six weeks after a SpaceShipTwo test flight took off from Mojave Air and Space Port in California and sent a pair of pilots above Virgin Galactics 50-mile space milestone. The British-born billionaire said he expected such flights to become routine this year. I will hope to go up in the middle of this year myself, he said. Weve got another test flight in a handful of weeks, taking place in Mojave. Then well have another one a few weeks later, then another one. And then we move everything to New Mexico, where weve got a beautiful spaceport. Over the past decade, New Mexico has invested more than $220 million to get Spaceport America ready for Virgin Galactic, and Virgin Galactic has spent millions of dollars in New Mexico on lease payments, fees and preparations for space tourism operations. Financial terms of the partnership with Under Armour have not been disclosed, but Under Armour has agreed to provide custom spacesuits and footwear for Virgin Galactic passengers and pilots, plus uniforms for the Virgin Galactic team at Spaceport America. Story continues Although the apparel designs havent yet been unveiled, theyre certain to look more stylish than the bulky spacesuits and boots that have long been associated with NASA spacewalks. The SpaceShipTwo cabin is pressurized, and the stratospheric phase of the flight lasts just a few minutes. That scenario is likely to call for safety procedures that have more in common with commercial airline flights than with shuttle-style space journeys. In addition to designing Virgin Galactics space garb, Under Armour says it will design customized programs for astronaut physical preparation and recovery, with a focus on enhancing mobility, strength, fitness, nutrition and sleep. With the astronauts, were putting together a training program for them, offering them to go to our own performance center in Portland, Oregon, to go spend and prep, getting ready to go into space, Under Armours Plank said. And when they do, they can go up and they can feel better. Plank said it was not out of the question that hed take a ride on SpaceShipTwo himself, although he noted that there are more than 600 customers ahead of him in line. Those would-be spacefliers have paid as much as $250,000 for a reservation. At that price, the spacesuit should be included for free. In any case, Branson said looking good will be part of the package. If youre going to space, its going to be youve got married, youve had your children, and the other thing youre going to remember is that day you go to space, Branson said. And its very important, therefore, that when you look in the mirror before you go to space, you feel the part. More from GeekWire: Venezuelas military chief has declared his support for president Nicolas Maduro and warned the US not to intervene a move that may be crucial if the man sworn in for a second term two weeks ago is to cling on to power. As Britain became the latest nation to recognise opposition politician Juan Guaido as the countrys president, military forces loyal to Mr Maduro took to the airwaves to declare their support for him. In a televised speech on Thursday, defence minister Vladimir Padrino Lopez said Mr Maduro was the countrys legitimate president and that the opposition was seeking to carry out a coup. I warn the people that there is a coup under way against our democracy and our president Nicolas Maduro, Mr Padrino said, according to Telesur. As soldiers, we work for peace and not for war. Those of us who lived through the coup of 2002 have it etched into our minds, we never thought wed see that again, but we saw it yesterday. The support of the military will be crucial if Mr Maduro, first elected in 2013 after the death of Hugo Chavez, sees off what is probably the sternest challenge yet to his rule, as his country reels from an economic crisis and financial sanctions. Millions of Venezuelans have fled the country, while even former supporters of Chavez have criticised his successor and accused him of incompetence and increasing authoritarianism. Shortages of basic food and medicine have become drasticm and health experts have warned about weight loss because of insufficient calories, especially among children. In the summer of 2017, Mr Maduro convened a special assembly to rewrite the countrys constitution, a move that was widely condemned. In doing so, he stripped the parliament of which Mr Guaido is head, of its powers. The move triggered widespread protests and a warning from a number of countries that Venezuelas democracy was being further eroded. This content is not available due to your privacy preferences. Update your settings here to see it. On Wednesday, the US recognised Mr Guaido as the countrys legitimate leader. Story continues In its role as the only legitimate branch of government duly elected by the Venezuelan people, the national assembly invoked the countrys constitution to declare Nicolas Maduro illegitimate, and the office of the presidency therefore vacant. The people of Venezuela have courageously spoken out against Maduro and his regime and demanded freedom and the rule of law, Mr Trump said in a statement Canada quickly followed, as did Britain Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Paraguay, Peru, Ecuador, Guatemala and the Organisation of American States. In turn, Mr Maduro cut diplomatic ties with the US and gave US diplomats 72 hours to leave. The State Department said it did not recognise the order as it had been made by Mr Maduro and not Mr Guaido. But it later ordered non-emergency US personnel to leave the country and strongly suggested all US citizens follow suit. On Thursday, tensions escalated further as Mr Maduro ordered all of Venezuelas diplomats home from the United States and closed the countrys embassy. He told US diplolats to leave Caracas. They believe they have a colonial hold in Venezuela, where they decide what they want to do, he said in a speech that was televised. You must fulfill my order from the government of Venezuela. Russia, China, Mexico and Turkey have said they still recognise Mr Maduro. Russia has accused the US of hypocrisy. The 35-year-old who has claimed to be Venezuelas president has enjoyed something of a meteoric rise. The Associated Press said his mentor was Leopoldo Lopez, Venezuelas most popular opposition leader, who is under house arrest and considered by government opponents to be a political prisoner. The government accuses Mr Lopez of taking part in a right-wing coup against Chavez that briefly unseated him in 2002. This content is not available due to your privacy preferences. Update your settings here to see it. With up to 16 people reported to be dead in protests that have taken place this week, the Vatican said Pope Francis was closely following developments in and supported all efforts that helped save the population from further suffering. A statement from Vatican spokesman Alessandro Gisotti on Thursday did not say if the Holy See recognised opposition leader Mr Guaidos claim to the interim presidency. On a visit to Washington, British foreign secretary Jeremy Hunt, said: It is clear that Nicolas Maduro is not the legitimate leader of Venezuela ... the United Kingdom believes Juan Guaido is the right person to take Venezuela forward. The US has a long history of interfering with democratically elected governments in Latin America and in Venezuela it has sought to weaken the elected governments of both Mr Maduro and Mr Chavez. Some of the effort has been in distributing funds to opposition groups through organisations such as the National Endowment for Democracy, while some has been in the form of simple propaganda. Mark Weisbrot, co-director of the Centre for Economic and Policy Research in Washington, said that for the past 20 years it had been US policy to seek a change of government in Caracas. Mr Trumps recognition of Mr Guaido was the most obvious effort to undermine the government. More than anything else, I think this was a crime of opportuity, he told The Independent. Its been trying to do this for years. Right now, the economy is in tatters and there for the first time are lot of conservative leaders in the region who support what the US has done. The US and Canada, and much of Latin America with the exception of Mexico, Cuba and Bolivia have lined up against the embattled Nicolas Maduro, now struggling to hang on as president of Venezuela. Russia which has billions invested in the country is the only world power that has come to its defence. But Mr Maduro has found an unlikely in Nato and G-20 member Turkey and its president Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who has pulled out all stops in voicing support for the government in Caracas. Our president has called [Maduro] to express Turkeys support, Mr Erdogans spokesman Ibrahim Kalin wrote on Twitter. Brother Maduro, stand tall, Turkey stands with you, he quoted Mr Erodgan as saying. With President Erdogans leadership, Turkey will maintain its principled stance against all coup attempts. The unqualified support by Mr Erdogan for a Latin American leader 6,000 miles away raised eyebrows. If you follow foreign policy, its really quite strange to see such a strong relationship between Turkey and Venezuela, said Emre Ersen, professor of international relations at Istanbuls Marmara University. Even Washingtons arch-nemesis Iran, which has ploughed billions in investments in Venezuela, took a restrained tone, calling for non-interference in the battle between Mr Maduro and the National Assembly president, Juan Guaido, who has been recognised as the countrys leader by Washington and Ottawa, as well as most of Latin America. We hope all disagreements and political problems in Venezuela are resolved as soon as possible by the people and the government of this country and through legal and peaceful methods, Iran foreign ministry spokesman Bahram Qassemi said. In contrast, Mr Erdogan and his supporters have enthusiastically supported Mr Maduro on social media. Of 137,000 tweets using the hashtag #WeAreMaduro, more than half were in Turkish. Less than a third were in Spanish, according to an analysis by the firm Spredfast. Story continues They launched a coup attempt in Turkey and spilled blood. Now the US is carrying out a coup in Venezuela and the world is watching Ersin Celik, editor of pro-government newspaper Many Turks likened the unrest in Venezuela to the 2013 coup that toppled Egyptian Islamist Mohamed Morsi, and the attempted coup against Mr Erdogan by alleged supporters of US-based cleric Fethullah Gulen in 2016. They carried out a bloody coup in Egypt, tweeted Ersin Celik, an editor of the pro-government Yeni Safak newspaper. They launched a coup attempt in Turkey and spilled blood. Now the US is carrying out a coup in Venezuela and the world is watching. In Mr Maduro, Mr Erdogan, along with Mr Putin, may see a fellow traveller. His downfall could encourage other US foreign policy gambits. If this gives the US or any other country the right to interfere in other countries leadership battles, that might be dangerous to Erdogan and others, said Mr Ersen. Personal ties might bind the two men. Mr Maduro and Mr Erdogan became close in 2016, during an energy conference in Istanbul. Like Russia and Iran, Turkey also has significant economic ties to Venezuela, which since last year began using Turkey to process and certify gold ore in the face of US sanctions. Trade between the two countries has more than doubled over the last five years. They have good relations, said Mr Ersen. There might be some type of financial deal. But experts say theres more to Mr Erdogans support for Mr Maduro than money or survival. Though Turkey is ostensibly allied with the US in Nato, Mr Erdogan has pursued a populist agenda, and his rhetorical defiance of Washington plays well both among his supporters and secular critics, who also often see the US as a bloodthirsty imperial predator. Hes trying to keep the image that hes a supporter of countries that are under pressure by the US both domestically and internationally, said Ilhan Uzgel, an Ankara-based international affairs scholar and columnist. It helps to perpetuate his image as the protector of the oppressed. Mr Erdogans supporters in Turkey and among Islamists throughout the Arab world also consider Mr Maduro and his predecessor, Hugo Chavez, to be strong backers of the Palestinian cause, which is wildly popular among rank-and-file members of the Turkish presidents Justice and Development Party (AKP). The AKP faces voters in 31 March municipal elections that will be the first since a financial meltdown last summer. Mr Erdogans support for Mr Maduro could help rally his partys voters, but unlike the US, or Venezuelas Latin American neighbours, Turkey doesnt have the ability to alter events on the ground. The support will be confined to words only, said Mr Uzgel. Turkey does not have the means, instruments of power, or capacity to support the Maduro regime. It is a policy that does not have any cost. Its easy to declare he supports Maduro, and thats all. A sampling of Orolay coat enthusiasts from @theamazoncoats Instagram account. Photo: Courtesy of @theamazoncoat Last March, contributing writer Amy Larocca appeared behind my desk. Theres this coat I need you to look into, she said. Its $89, and every woman I know on the Upper East Side has it. I reached out to a handful of women who Larocca told me owned the jacket to ask where theyd initially spotted it; a robust whisper network, I quickly discovered, had propelled the thing into dozens and dozens of well-appointed uptown closets. In the nearly one year since the article went up, the humble Orolay jacket has gone mainstream (and also up in price). Its ubiquitous here in the city, and not just between East 59th and 96th Streets: riding the F train without seeing it has become impossible, and dozens of publications have written their own reviews of the thing (stylish! cheap! cultish!). The New York Times recently referred to it simply as the Amazon jacket in an article dissecting the style preferences of Brooklyn moms. Indeed, it has amassed almost 6,000 reviews on Amazon, and even has its own Instagram account (with some 600 followers) dedicated to pictures of women and even some men wearing it across the country (from a lady sitting next to Alec Baldwin at brunch to a pair of friends in Florida). Lauren Posner, the women behind the account, says commenters have spotted the jacket in Minnesota, Detroit, Toronto; black version in Philadelphia, navy in New Jersey, army green in Atlanta. The coat is popular in Philadelphia and Detroit and Canada for the same reason it became popular uptown: it has a slightly (but only slightly) avant-garde effect (Fernanda Niven, an Upper East Sidebased creative director, told me that someone on the street once asked her if it was Sacai), it hovers at just over $100 (inexpensive for a winter coat, especially if youve ever considered purchasing a Canada Goose), and it is extremely easy to order. Plus there are the pockets. I can leave my house without a bag, Posner said, when I asked her why she started an account dedicated to it. But the account is just to show that the coat is everywhere. Commenters write me to say they saw three in a single day in some Connecticut suburb. And yet, despite its ubiquity, the coat has endured among the original Upper East Side set. Ana Maria Pimentel, the fashion director at Neiman Marcus and one of the Orolay boosters from my original story, still puts it on: The novelty has worn off, but I still get a kick out of wearing it out and getting that you have the Amazon coat, too grin from strangers. Niven does, as well. I wear my navy one daily, still, she says, and am hoping they make it in a dark gray for next year. Larocca, though, succumbed to Orolay fatigue. She started seeing so many every day 14, once, she said, on a trek from Brooklyn Heights to the Upper East Side that she abandoned hers on a recent trip to London, where she was visiting her in-laws. I couldnt take it anymore, she said. So I said to my mother-in-law, Here, wear this in London, start the trend there. More Orolay coat options get the strategist newsletter Actually good deals, smart shopping advice, and exclusive discounts. Email This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply. Terms & Privacy Notice By submitting your email, you agree to our Terms and Privacy Notice and to receive email correspondence from us. The Strategist is designed to surface the most useful, expert recommendations for things to buy across the vast e-commerce landscape. Some of our latest conquests include the best acne treatments, rolling luggage, pillows for side sleepers, natural anxiety remedies, and bath towels. We update links when possible, but note that deals can expire and all prices are subject to change. Every editorial product is independently selected. If you buy something through our links, New York may earn an affiliate commission. Washington (AFP) - US Vice President Mike Pence issued a rallying cry Tuesday to Venezuela's opposition on the eve of planned protest marches, calling President Nicolas Maduro a "dictator." "As the good people of Venezuela make your voices heard tomorrow, on behalf of the American people, we say: estamos con ustedes. We are with you," Pence said in a tweet. "We stand with you, and we will stay with you until Democracy is restored and you reclaim your birthright of Libertad." In an accompanying 100-second video, Pence branded Maduro "a dictator with no legitimate claim to power." The vocal US support for the opposition is sure to anger Maduro, whose hard-left government frequently accuses Washington of meddling in the oil-rich but economically devastated country. The opposition-controlled National Assembly -- declared invalid by the pro-Maduro Supreme Court -- has urged a day of protests on Wednesday. Tension is already high following what the government said was a failed rebellion by 27 soldiers on Monday. In the video, Pence said Maduro "never won the presidency in a free and fair election and he's maintained his grip on power by imprisoning anyone who dares oppose him." He said Washington sees the National Assembly as the "last vestige of democracy" and supports the body's "call for the establishment of a transition government." "We will stay with you until democracy is restored," Pence said. - Getty Images South America Russia accused the United States of trying to usurp power in Venezuela and warned against US military intervention there, putting it at odds with Washington and the EU which backed protests against one of Moscow's closest allies. Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido declared himself interim leader on Wednesday, winning the support of Washington and parts of Latin America and prompting Socialist President Nicolas Maduro, who has led the oil-rich nation since 2013, to sever diplomatic ties with the United States. The prospect of Maduro being ousted is a geopolitical and economic headache for Moscow which, alongside China, has become a creditor of last resort for Caracas, lending it billions of dollars as its economy implodes. Moscow has also provided support for its military and oil industry. Russia on Thursday accused Washington of stoking street protests and of trying to undermine Maduro, whom it called the country's legitimate president. "We consider the attempt to usurp sovereign authority in Venezuela to contradict and violate the basis and principles of international law," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said. He said Russia had not received a Venezuelan request for military help and declined to say how it would respond if it did. Maduro, who met President Vladimir Putin in Moscow in December, was the legitimate president, said Peskov. The Russian Foreign Ministry weighed in too, complaining that Washington was seeking to determine the fate of other nations by using a well-tried strategy of trying to depose an undesirable government. It told Washington not to intervene militarily, warning outside interference was the path to bloodshed. "We warn against such adventurism which is fraught with catastrophic consequences," it said. Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan offered support for Maduro too. A demonstrator throws back a gas canister while clashing with security forces during a rally against Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro Credit: CARLOS EDUARDO RAMIREZ/ REUTERS "My brother Maduro! Stand tall, we stand by you!" presidential spokesman Ibrahim Kalin, writing on Twitter, quoted Erdogan as saying. Story continues China, a major lender to Caracas, also voiced its support for Maduro, saying it opposed outside interference in Venezuela and supported efforts to protect its independence and stability. The European Union, which has imposed sanctions on Venezuela and boycotted Maduro's swearing-in for a second term earlier this month, took a different tack. Nicolas Maduro remained defiant, leading counter protest in Caracas Credit: Anadolu/ Anadolu Although it stopped short of following Washington and recognising Guaido as interim president, it called on the authorities in Venezuela to respect his "civil rights, freedom and safety" and appeared to support calls for a peaceful transition of power away from Maduro. "The people of Venezuela have massively called for democracy and the possibility to freely determine their own destiny. These voices cannot be ignored," the 28-nation bloc said in a statement. French President Emmanuel Macron saluted the courage of Venezuelans marching for freedom and called Maduro's 2018 election victory illegal. housands of protesters gather at Plaza Baquedano to demonstrate their support for opposition leader Juan Guaido Credit: Getty /Agencia Makro A spokesman for British Prime Minister Theresa May said the election has been neither free nor fair and expressed support for Guaido as national assembly head. Spain's Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez planned to call Guaido after talks with Latin American leaders in Davos, a government source said on Thursday. Republican senators struck down a bill that would have temporarily reopened the federal government on Thursday, falling short of the 60 votes required to defeat a GOP filibuster. The measure would have reopened federal agencies through 8 February to allow time for negotiations, an approach Republican leadership tried last month before being undercut by Donald Trump. The president is now refusing to reopen the government until he gets a deal on funding for his long-sought border wall. Polls have shown that the public is blaming Mr Trump for the shutdown and his approval numbers have sunk as the impasse drags on. The partial government shutdown is now in its 34th day. Federal workers are on the verge of missing another paycheck Friday. Democrats also blocked Mr Trumps request for $5.7bn to construct the wall, with a partisan 50-47 vote. The $350bn government-wide funding bill represented the first attempt by Republicans controlling the Senate to reopen the government since the shutdown began. The measure would have also provided three years of continued protection against deportation for 700,000 immigrants brought to the US illegally as children. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said on Thursday she was willing to meet with the president anytime to discuss ending the partial government shutdown. The California Democrat said House Democrats are putting together a new border security package that could provide a step toward a compromise. It will include money for fencing, technology, personnel and other measures, but not Mr Trumps proposed wall. The president responded in real time on Twitter saying, very simply, without a Wall it all doesnt work.... We will not Cave! Twin defeats might spur the two sides into a more serious effort to reach an agreement. With the impact of the shutdown becoming increasingly painful, lawmakers say theyre willing to compromise on border security and immigration policy. Additional reporting by AP. Read below for our live coverage on the 34th day of the US government shutdown Story continues This content is not available due to your privacy preferences. Update your settings here to see it. Please allow a moment for this live article to load. Washington (AFP) - Several hundred US federal employees who have not been paid in weeks due to the partial government shutdown protested against the impasse on Wednesday in Washington. They peacefully occupied a US congressional office building for several hours, responding to the call of several unions and organizations representing government employees and contractors. The employees protested silently for 32 minutes, symbolizing the duration in days of the shutdown sparked by a dispute over funding for President Donald Trump's border wall project, which he has demanded and Democrats have declined to provide. Some held posters or paper plates with messages including "Will work for pay" and "Do your job -- so Americans can do theirs." While government employees are to be paid retroactively, the same is not true for contractors. "It's been five weeks now and I only worked one or two days, my company called me for special events," said Claudia Martinez, who works for a catering company that has a contract with the US House of Representatives cafeteria. She has a second job with a tourism company, but "January is very slow." "This month will be very difficult," said the 43-year-old mother, who has to pay $400 per month for her child's student loan. "The shutdown affects this whole country," said Francis Nichols, an official in the American Federation of Government Employees union. "I heard many people say what bill I should we pay first," he said, while others have to choose between paying bills or fuelling their cars to come to work. The standoff between Trump and opposition Democrats over border wall funding has seen some 800,000 federal employees to go without pay. The Senate is to consider two competing bills to end the shutdown on Thursday, but the chances are slim that either will reopen federal agencies. New York (AFP) - A pair of US congressional committees now under Democratic control have begun probing Deutsche Bank's business dealings with President Donald Trump, a spokesperson for the German bank said Thursday. The inquiry is a joint effort between House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff and House Financial Services Chair Maxine Waters, two prominent Trump critics who have gained significant investigatory powers with the Democratic victory in the November midterm elections. "The Bank has received an inquiry from the House Financial Services and Intelligence Committees," a Deutsche Bank spokesperson told AFP. Deutsche Bank was one of the only large western banks to continue to lend to Trump following bankruptcies of his casinos and other businesses in the 1990s. The German bank in recent years has loaned Trump about $300 million. "The House Financial Services and Intelligence Committees are engaged in productive discussions with Deutsche Bank, and look forward to continued cooperation," Schiff and Waters said in a joint statement. The bank spokesperson declined to elaborate on the nature of the questions nor clarify if the committees had issued a subpoena, which can lead to sanctions if the recipient subject refuses to cooperate. "Deutsche Bank is engaged in a productive dialogue with those Committees to determine the best and most appropriate way of assisting them in their official oversight functions," the spokesperson said. "We remain committed to providing appropriate information to all authorized investigations." A person familiar with the matter said the lawmakers are seeking information on whether Deutsche Bank provided loans on favorable terms to the Trump organization, which now is led by the president's sons, Eric and Donald Trump Jr. Related Video: Barclays CEO Says New Deutsche Boss Is Doing the Right Thing - Growing scrutiny - The lawmakers also are seeking details on who was involved in a money laundering case in Russia that resulted in a $630 million US fine against the bank in January 2017, the source added. Story continues Democratic lawmakers in May 2017 requested information from Deutsche Bank over its dealings with the Trump family, but the German bank said at the time that it would not cooperate because the information was private. Growing scrutiny over Deutsche Bank's relationship with Trump adds to the list of concerns facing the bank. In November, German prosecutors raided several Deutsche Bank offices in the Frankfurt area over suspicions of money laundering based on revelations from the 2016 "Panama Papers" data leak. The US Federal Reserve also is investigating Deutsche Bank over billions of dollars in suspicious transactions from Denmark's Danske Bank A/S, Bloomberg News reported. In November, Deutsche Bank confirmed that it also received inquiries from German regulators over Danske. Deutsche Bank has said it had a "limited role" in relation to Danske, which has been charged in its home country over a massive money-laundering scandal. Washington (AFP) - Washington and Beijing are "miles and miles" from resolving their trade war, US Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross said Thursday. A high-level Chinese delegation is due in Washington next week for talks to resolve the dispute by March 1, when US duty rates on Chinese imports are due to rise sharply, but Ross tried to tamp down expectations to those meetings. "There's been a lot of anticipatory work done but we're miles and miles from getting a resolution and that shouldn't be too surprising," Ross told CNBC. Wall Street futures suddenly fell during his remarks, which came a day after the White House contradicted reports the trade talks had hit serious obstacles. His comments also coincided with pessimistic policy remarks from the European Central Bank. Just after the open, US stocks were in mixed territory but mostly in the red. As the world economy comes under increasing strain, the possibility of failure in the US-China talks has rattled global stock markets repeatedly over the last year. Washington accuses Beijing of a host of unfair trading practices, especially theft of American technological know-how. Ross said there was still "a fair chance" of reaching a deal with Beijing, but much work remains to be done since the dispute involves issues difficult to address in a short timeframe. "I believe China would like to make a deal. I believe we would like to make a deal but it has to be a deal that works for both parties," he said. "I'm trying to say people shouldn't think the events of next week will be the solution to all of the issues between the United States and China." Washington and Beijing last year exchanged tariffs on more than $360 billion in two-way trade, slowing the economies in both countries. Top White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow on Wednesday helped right Wall Street stock prices, denying media reports that US officials had called off a preparatory meeting this week due to a supposed lack of progress. Despite President Donald Trump's hard line tactics, the US trade deficit with China has continued to grow, underscoring the extent to which American industry has come to rely on the Asian giant's manufacturing base. Last year, China posted its slowest growth in nearly three decades, and economists say the trade war is sapping the strength of the world's second-largest economy. Davos (Switzerland) (AFP) - The US, Canada and several major South American nations recognized the head of Venezuela's opposition-controlled legislature as the country's interim leader on Wednesday, leaving President Nicolas Maduro increasingly isolated. Major regional players Brazil, Colombia, Chile and Peru all gave their backing to Juan Guaido's self-proclamation as Venezuela's acting president, which he made in front of crowd of tens of thousands of supporters in Caracas. Mexico, however, stood apart, saying it recognizes "the authorities elected in accordance with the Venezuelan constitution," seen as a lukewarm nod to Maduro. The avalanche of support for Guaido dramatically raised the stakes in Venezuela, an oil-rich nation has become deeply impoverished under Maduro. Maduro has clung to power through the support of the Venezuelan military, and he is an ally of Russia, which last month sent two nuclear-capable bombers to the country to participate in a military drill. The US said Wednesday it stood ready to us "all options" if Maduro tries to quash the opposition, in what was an implied threat of military force. US President Donald Trump said in Guaido's National Assembly was "the only legitimate branch of government duly elected by the Venezuelan people." Maduro responded by saying he was cutting off diplomatic ties with the United States, as his riot police clashed with opposition supporters in Caracas. "Out! Leave Venezuela. Here we have dignity, damn it," Maduro said, giving US diplomats 72 hours to depart. - Support from Davos - Tweeting from the Swiss ski resort of Davos, where he and other leaders were attending the World Economic Forum, Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro said: "Brazil recognizes Mr Juan Guaido as Venezuela's interim president." He added that "Brazil will support politically and economically the process of transition so that democracy and social peace return to Venezuela." Story continues Bolsonaro, a far-right former paratrooper who has set about forging close ties with Trump's administration since taking power at the beginning of January, has repeatedly vowed to challenge Maduro in any way he can. He initially said he was open to discussing Brazil hosting a US military base, before changing his mind when the idea sparked objections from his military brass. Colombian President Ivan Duque, another US ally also at Davos, told reporters his country was behind Guaido and will "accompany this process of transition to democracy so that the Venezuelan people free themselves of their dictatorship." Canadian Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland expressed her country's "full support" for Guaido, adding: "It's an important day for Venezuela and I'm grateful for the solidarity of the Lima Group in speaking out on this." The Lima Group, which is made up of 14 countries in the Americas, has taken an increasingly strident stance against Maduro, whom it sees as anti-democratic. The United States is not a member but supports the group. Juan Guaido, the head of Venezuela's national assembly, has been recognised by the US as the country's official leader - AFP The White House has recognised Venezuela's opposition leader as the country's rightful president, as the army fired tear gas at anti-government protesters in Caracas. It is a move that puts the US on collision course with Nicolas Maduro, the beleaguered Leftist president. Mr Maduro announced shortly after Mr Trump's declaration that he was ending diplomatic relations with the US and gave all US personnel 72 hours to leave the country. "The imperial government of the United States is leading a coup against us, in order to install a puppet government they can control," he said. "Get out." Mr Trump's announcement came after the opposition leader symbolically swore himself in as president. Nicolas Maduro, the embattled president of Venezuela On Wednesday Juan Guaido, the president of the Venezuelan national assembly, raised his right hand in front of tens of thousands of Venezuelans, assuming the duties of the executive branch. The move had been anticipated for weeks after Mr Guaido announced he was willing to assume the presidency on Jan 11, one day after Mr Maduro was inaugurated for a second term as president. The opposition-controlled parliament and about 60 countries have promised not to recognise Mr Maduro in his second term, and claim the 35 year-old politician should assume the presidency according to several articles of the constitution. They consider Mr Maduros May 2018 re-election a sham. Donald Trump, the US president, on Wednesday said the opposition-controlled national assembly, of which Mr Guaido is the head, was "the only legitimate branch of government duly elected by the Venezuelan people. Mr Trump said that the US did not consider Mr Maduro the legitimate ruler of the Latin American country, and deemed "the office of the presidency therefore vacant." Protests in Caracas on Wednesday After the symbolic move in Caracas, Mr Guaido turned to the crowd, urging them to raise their hands and swear to recover democracy and the constitution. Story continues The government opponents, who had urged Mr Guaido to make the move for weeks, jumped and cheered ecstatically as the lawmaker took the oath. Im just overjoyed, our country will never give up, said Helen Rodriguez through tears after she joined Mr Guaido and the crowd in singing the countrys national anthem. This day will forever be remembered as the day we recovered our democracy. But for now, the countrys armed forces remain loyal to Mr Maduro, while Mr Guaido has repeatedly said he would need the army to support him in his bid to oust the president. In a show of support for Mr Maduro, national guard troops launched tear gas at those attempting to gather in other parts of the city on Wednesday. Riot police clash with protesters in Venezuela Opposition politicians had urged those in Caracas to meet in several points around the city, but authorities only allowed demonstrators to gather in the citys east. We were just walking calmly, and we want peace and freedom, Rocio Pina said as she fled from tear gas, her face smeared with a paste to ease the effects of the chemicals. The move by Mr Guaido to symbolically assume the presidency was expected to make him a target for state security forces, who may attempt to arrest him using treason charges. Intelligence authorities had already briefly detained and released Mr Guaido on Jan 13. The thousands of Venezuelans who did arrive at the stage where Mr Guaido took the oath filled several city blocks to hear him speak, waving hundreds of Venezuelan flags in the heat of the tropical sun. Many shouted: We now have a president and: Freedom. Caracas was rocked by street barricades and protests in the two nights leading up to Wednesdays protests, with local media reporting four already killed. Following Mr Guaidos swearing in ceremony, dozens of masked men with molotov cocktails in hand could be seen heading towards main highways. Beauty giant Unilever is doubling down on transparency for consumers. The personal care company, which counts brands such as Dove, TIGI, TRESemme and Vaseline on its books, is set to list product-specific fragrance ingredients on more than 1,100 of its beauty and care products in the US. The move will allow shoppers to make informed decisions about the scented ingredients in their products, which are commonly listed merely as fragrance' in the US. The company will provide details about its ingredient lists via the digital platform SmartLabel. "We are more committed than ever to transparency and building trust in Unilever and our brands," said Amanda Sourry, president of Unilever North America, in a statement. "With the completion of our fragrance disclosure initiative, people now have access to more detailed ingredient information for the products they use and love from Unilever. We are very happy to see that other companies in the industry have announced plans to disclose fragrance ingredients in the future." The move is the latest indication that the beauty industry is adapting to calls for increased transparency from consumers. In September 2017, fellow personal care giant Procter & Gamble announced plans to share "all fragrance ingredients down to 0.01 percent" across its product portfolio in the US and Canada by the end of 2019. Last year, a global study dubbed the FIT Transparency Perception Assessment Survey found that more than 40% of beauty consumers felt that they did not get enough information from brands about ingredient safety, with 72% of respondents claiming they would like brands to explain the exact effects of the ingredients in their products. Negative Nancy. Photo: Alex Wong/Getty Images Last week, Nancy Pelosi informed Donald Trump that he was no longer welcome to deliver his State of the Union address from the House of Representatives on January 29. In a letter to the president, the Democratic Speaker cited security concerns related to the partial government shutdown. Which is to say, Pelosi made a sly ultimatum: Reopen the government or forfeit your big night in the spotlight. On Wednesday, Trump pretended to misunderstand Pelosis missive. In a letter of his own, the president reassured Pelosi that the Secret Service was comfortable with him delivering the address, and therefore, he intended to honor her original invitation. Then (in the next chapter of what would surely be the worlds worst epistolary novel), Pelosi promptly fired back another letter reiterating that she will not authorize his presence on her podium until the federal government is back up and running. Now, Trump is exploring alternative venues for his big speech next Tuesday. This morning, West Virginia governor Jim Justice offered to host the presidents address. If Trump doesnt feel like making the trek to Charleston, he could deliver the State of the Union in the Senate (which cant seat nearly as large an audience as the House) or from the Oval Office. For now, the president is focused on whining about the fact that his insistence on deliberately harming hundreds of thousands of Americans so as to coerce a coequal branch of government into passing unpopular legislation has finally had a negative consequence for him, personally. Shes afraid of the super-left Democrats, the radical Democrats, Trump said of Pelosi Wednesday, adding that her refusal to let him speak in the beautiful Capitol is a great blotch on the great country we all love. The president went on to claim that Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer is Pelosis puppet, and that Schumer is being dominated by the House speaker in negotiations. One wonders what Dr. Freud would make of these remarks. By Dmitry Zhdannikov DAVOS, Switzerland (Reuters) - When the global oil industry held its biggest annual gathering this week in the Swiss town of Davos, it invited banking bosses and fund managers to discuss two key topics - climate change and pressure from investors. The conclusion of the discussions was worrying for those present - pressure is rising and the industry is losing a battle not to be seen as one of the world's biggest evils. The answer? Lure investors with higher returns and raise the PR game. "There is no doubt - and there is a consensus coming here in various meetings in Davos - that our industry is literally under siege and the future of oil is at stake," said Mohammed Barkindo, secretary-general of oil producer group OPEC. "The industry needs to come together and respond positively with facts and figures. We are not shying away from the fact that we have not been able to communicate well," Barkindo said. The industry gathered on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum, holding a series of closed-door meetings. The chief of oil giant Chevron, Michael Wirth, had discussions with bosses from BP, Royal Dutch/Shell, Total and Aramco for the first time as U.S. companies joined European and Middle Eastern peers in debating climate change. Darren Woods, head of the biggest U.S. oil firm, Exxon Mobil, participated in the meeting via telephone. The meetings were also attended by John Flint, chief of HSBC, Ron Mock, president of Ontario Teachers Pension Plan, and executives from investment firms Canyon Partners and ValueAct, two sources present at the discussions said. The climate change debate has split the oil industry over the past decade. While U.S. majors took an initially soft approach toward global warming, Shell had urged that the industry be held responsible not only for its own emissions, but also for those of consumers. Linked to that debate was pressure from investors urging the oil industry to help tackle climate change, with some pension funds including that of Norway saying they would stop investing in the stocks of oil companies. Story continues WINNING HEARTS AND MINDS The oil industry has repeatedly tried to explain that if it stops investing in new projects, the world will face an energy shortage and price spikes because renewables and nuclear energy cannot meet rising energy demand as the global population grows. "How do you get the hearts and minds of investors back? That is a real challenge for our industry," said John Hess, the founder of independent U.S. producer Hess Corp. He said investor frustration with the oil industry was manifested by the fact that the share of energy companies in the S&P index had shrunk to 5.5 percent, from 16 percent 10 years ago. "We will have to compete against other industries in the S&P to create the value proposition that makes us more attractive. A new paradigm is coming up which is to generate free cash and share some of this cash with investors," he said. The U.S. oil industry has been booming in recent years but investors have been frustrated by heavy debts and a lack of free cash flow and dividends. However, even European oil majors such as Shell and BP, which pay billions of dollars in dividends, have struggled to remain popular with investors. "We need to engage with policymakers and the public to understand the huge task we have ahead," Hess said. TAX ON WHOLE VALUE CHAIN BP chief Bob Dudley said the industry needed to explain the challenge of producing and making energy affordable for an increasing global population, which will see energy use rising 30 percent by 2040. "You cannot just tax energy-intensive industries and not the users of energy and think you're going to solve the problem. People need to use less energy. Philosophically, trying to look at emissions across the entire value chain is critical," Dudley told Reuters. The head of state-run Saudi oil giant Aramco, Amin Nasser, said investors would ultimately differentiate between cleaner and more polluting companies. Aramco wants to list its stock sometime after 2021 in what could become the world's largest initial public offering. Nasser said the latest research by Stanford University found Aramco was the cleanest major oil company in the world thanks to zero gas flaring and modern field technology. He said oil companies could help cut emissions by end users but should not ultimately be responsible for them. "We have to look at what we control. I have control of what I send to the grid in Saudi Arabia. But we do not have control over factories in Europe," Nasser said. "However, it doesnt mean we dont care about end users. As a company we are looking at what we can do to increase the efficiency of end users," he said. Aramco invests in research to make cars more efficient, increase mileage per gallon and the use of hydrogen in cars. It recently acquired high-end rubber producer Arlanxeo to help reduce tire friction. "We need to boost efficiency or get rid of CO2 by technology," Nasser said. (Reporting by Dmitry Zhdannikov; Editing by Dale Hudson) Davos (Switzerland) (AFP) - UN chief Antonio Guterres on Thursday warned that the world is "losing the race" on climate change as he demanded that governments make bolder commitments beyond the Paris accord. "Climate change is the defining issue of our time. We are losing the race," he said on the margins of the World Economic Forum in Davos. "It is absolutely central to reverse this trend." Guterres said he was "not hopeful" that nations would find the resolve but stressed: "We need political will and we need governments who understand that this is the most important priority of our times." The Paris climate accord has been shaken by the withdrawal of the United States under President Donald Trump, and by threats to do the same by Brazil's new hard-right leader Jair Bolsonaro. The UN secretary-general said the commitments made in Paris were already "not enough". "If what we agreed in Paris would be materialised, the temperature would rise more than 3.0 degrees (Celsius)," he said on a Facebook Live broadcast from Davos. "We need countries to make stronger commitments," Guterres said, calling for more measures to mitigate against climate change, adapt to it, and financial aid for poorer countries. By Matt Spetalnick and Roberta Rampton WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Trump administration ratcheted up pressure on Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro on Wednesday, signaling potential new sanctions against the country's vital oil sector as it recognized Venezuela's opposition leader as interim president. With street protests against Maduro under way across Venezuela, President Donald Trump said the United States recognized Juan Guaido, head of the opposition-controlled National Assembly congress, as the country's leader and called socialist Maduro's government "illegitimate." In response, Maduro said he was breaking diplomatic relations with the United States and giving U.S. embassy personnel 72 hours to leave Venezuela. The United States, however, rejected Maduro's move to cut ties, saying it did not think he had the authority to sever ties and it would conduct relations with a government led by Guaido. A senior U.S. official, speaking on condition of anonymity, warned Maduro and his loyalists that Washington was ready to ramp up oil, gold and other sanctions and take unspecified actions "if they choose to harm any of the National Assembly members or any of the other duly legitimate officials of the government of Venezuela." Asked whether he was considering U.S. military intervention, Trump told reporters: "We're not considering anything, but all options are on the table." Venezuelan opposition sympathizers had been urging Guaido to assume the presidency since Maduro was inaugurated for a second term on Jan. 10, following a widely boycotted election last year that many foreign governments characterized as fraudulent. Formal U.S recognition of Guaido could be complicated, however, by questions of how to deal with Venezuela's U.S.-based diplomats and who would now control its bank accounts and other U.S. assets, which include Citgo, the U.S. refining arm of Venezuelan state-run oil company PDVSA [PDVSA.UL]. The senior administration official told reporters that Washington now regards Guaido and the National Assembly as the "legitimate decision-makers" in transactions between the United States and Venezuela and that there would be a "whole bunch of consequences," but declined to elaborate. U.S. recognition of Guaido could backfire if Maduro, who accused the opposition of attempting a coup, used it as a pretext to detain Guaido or other opposition figures. After Trump's announcement, most major Latin American countries made similar moves recognizing Guaido, and a Canadian official said Ottawa would also follow suit. But leftist-governed Mexico said it continued to recognize Maduro as president. "@NicolasMaduro has undertaken a fight with the U.S. & international community he has no chance of winning," U.S. Senator Marco Rubio said in a message on Twitter. Rubio, who led a delegation of Florida lawmakers to discuss Venezuela with fellow Republican Trump on Tuesday, is considered to have played a major role since Trump took office in convincing him to take a tougher stand against Maduro. NEW OIL SANCTIONS Multiple sources said the Trump administration could impose new U.S. sanctions on Venezuela's oil industry as soon as this week. U.S. officials are considering a range of potential measures, including restricting U.S. imports of Venezuelan oil or even a full ban, but no final decisions have been made, two people familiar with the matter told Reuters. Two other sources briefed on the matter said the Trump administration informed U.S. energy companies of its deliberations. The decision on whether to go ahead could depend on how harshly Maduro cracks down on protesters and how he responds to Guaido's swearing-in, several of the sources said. Even then, the administration would likely hold further discussions that could delay any final move, one source said. The Trump administration has been increasingly frustrated with existing sanctions on Venezuela, which have spared oil exports so far. Targeting oil shipments to the United States could choke off significant revenue to the OPEC member nation. The United States has held off on broad, oil-related measures, mindful of the potential not only for deepening the hardships of the Venezuelan people but also the risk of causing problems for U.S. companies and consumers. U.S. refiners such as Valero Energy Corp , Chevron Corp and PBF Energy Inc have had discussions about the possibility of such sanctions with the Trump administration in recent weeks. Venezuelan crude exports to the United States last year fell 15 percent to the lowest annual average in nearly three decades, according to Refinitiv Eikon data. Still, some U.S. refineries have equipment specifically designed for heavy grades of crude like those from Venezuela. They imported about 500,000 barrels per day last year, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. (Reporting by Matt Spetalnick, and Roberta Rampton; additional reporting by Lesley Wroughton, Patricia Zengerle, Jeff Mason, Arshad Mohammed and Jarrett Renshaw; editing by Rosalba O'Brien and Leslie Adler) By Heather Somerville and Jane Lanhee Lee SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Top U.S. universities are ditching telecom equipment made by Huawei Technologies and other Chinese companies to avoid losing federal funding under a new national security law backed by the Trump administration. U.S. officials allege Chinese telecom manufacturers are producing equipment that allows their government to spy on users abroad, including Western researchers working on leading-edge technologies. Beijing and the Chinese companies have repeatedly denied such claims. The University of California at Berkeley has removed a Huawei video-conferencing system, a university official said, while the UC campus in Irvine is working to replace five pieces of Chinese-made audio-video equipment. Other schools, such as the University of Wisconsin, are in the process of reviewing their suppliers. UC San Diego, meanwhile, has gone a step further. The university in August said that, for at least six months, it would not accept funding from or enter into agreements with Huawei, ZTE Corporation <000063.SZ> and other Chinese audio-video equipment providers, according to an internal memo. The document, reviewed by Reuters, said the moratorium would last through February 12, when the university would revisit its options. Out of an abundance of caution UC San Diego enacted the six-month moratorium to ensure we had adequate time to begin our assessment of the equipment on campus and to prevent the campus from entering into any agreements that could later be viewed as inconsistent with the NDAA, UC San Diego spokeswoman Michelle Franklin said in response to Reuters questions about the memo. These actions, not previously reported, signal universities' efforts to distance themselves from Chinese companies that for years have supplied them with technical equipment and sponsored academic research, but which are now in the crosshairs of the Trump administration. The moves are a response to the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), which President Donald Trump signed into law in August. A provision of that legislation bans recipients of federal funding from using telecommunications equipment, video recording services and networking components made by Huawei or ZTE. Also on the blacklist are Chinese audio-video equipment providers Hikvision, Hytera, Dahua Technology and their affiliates. Story continues U.S. authorities fear the equipment makers will leave a back door open to Chinese military and government agents seeking information. U.S. universities that fail to comply with the NDAA by August 2020 risk losing federal research grants and other government funding. That would be a blow to public institutions such as the sprawling University of California system, whose state funding has been slashed repeatedly over the last decade. In the 2016-2017 academic year, the UC system received $9.8 billion in federal money. Nearly $3 billion of that went to research, accounting for about half of all the university's research expenditures that year, according to UC budget documents. HUAWEI UNDER SIEGE The new law is part of a broader Trump administration strategy to counter what it sees as China's growing threat to U.S. economic competitiveness and national security. The president has slapped tariffs on a slew of Chinese goods and made it tougher for foreign companies to purchase minority stakes in U.S. tech companies, causing Chinese investment in Silicon Valley to plunge. In addition, Trump last year signed legislation prohibiting the U.S. government from buying certain telecom and surveillance equipment from Huawei and ZTE. And he is considering a similar ban on Chinese equipment purchases by U.S. companies. At the center of the storm is Huawei, a global behemoth in smartphones and telecom networking equipment. The company's chief financial officer has been under house arrest in Canada since December for allegedly lying about Huawei's ties to Iran. Another Huawei employee was arrested this month in Poland on espionage allegations. Huawei did not respond to a request for comment. U.S. universities have already felt the sting of Trump's China policies. The State Department shortened the length of visas for certain Chinese graduate students. And the administration is considering new restrictions on Chinese students entering the United States. Chinese students are by far the largest group of international students in the United States and provide a lucrative source of revenue for universities. Pressure to dump Huawei and other Chinese telecom suppliers is adding to the strain. In addition to the University of Wisconsin, a half dozen institutions, including UC Los Angeles, UC Davis and the University of Texas at Austin, told Reuters they were in the process of reviewing their telecommunications equipment, or had already done so and determined they were NDAA compliant. At Stanford University, Steve Eisner, the director of export compliance, told Reuters the school did a "scrub" of the campus, but "luckily" did not find any equipment that needed to be removed. But for Stanford and other academic institutions, Huawei is more than an equipment vendor. Huawei participates in research programs, often as a sponsor, at dozens of schools, including UC San Diego, the University of Texas, the University of Maryland and the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. In addition to an explicit equipment ban, the NDAA calls for creating regulations that would limit research partnerships and other agreements universities have with China. The law requires the Secretary of Defense to work with universities on ways to guard against intellectual property theft and create new regulations aimed at protecting academics from exploitation by foreign countries. Universities that fail to comply with those rules risk losing Defense Department funding. UC San Diego highlighted this section of the law in a campus newsletter in September. Fears of a more rigorous crackdown from Washington would seem to be justified. In June, 26 members of Congress sent a letter to Education Secretary Betsy DeVos, sounding an alarm over Huawei's research partnerships with more than 50 U.S. universities that "may pose a significant threat to national security." The lawmakers called on DeVos to require universities to turn over information on those agreements. Separately, a White House report from June points to a research partnership on artificial intelligence between UC Berkeley and Huawei as a potential opening for China to gather intelligence that could serve Beijing's military and strategic ambitions. That partnership started in 2016. "COOLING" RELATIONS WITH HUAWEI UC Berkeley spokesman Dan Mogulof said the university does not participate in research involving trade secrets. He said the school only enters research partnerships whose findings can be published publicly. Such open-source research is not subject to federal regulations. Mogulof said UC Berkeley has no plans to change any of the research partnerships it has with Huawei. The company is involved in at least five UC Berkeley research initiatives, including autonomous driving, augmented reality and wireless technology, in addition to artificial intelligence. Still, a person with knowledge of the matter said the university's relationship with Huawei had "cooled," and that some Berkeley researchers are choosing not to proceed with their research agreements with the company to avoid scrutiny from university and government officials. The chill is spreading. The United Kingdom's Oxford University this month cut ties with Huawei, announcing it would no longer accept funding for research or philanthropic donations. "The decision has been taken in the light of public concerns raised in recent months surrounding UK partnerships with Huawei," a university spokesman said in a statement. (Reporting by Heather Somerville and Jane Lanhee Lee; Editing by Greg Mitchell and Marla Dickerson) WASHINGTON/DAVOS, Switzerland (Reuters) - The U.S. Justice Department said on Tuesday it will pursue the extradition of the chief financial officer of China's Huawei Technologies Co Ltd's, arrested in Canada in December. The United States has accused Meng Wanzhou of misrepresenting the company's links to a firm that tried to sell equipment to Iran despite U.S. sanctions. The arrest soured ties between Canada and China, which subsequently detained two Canadians and sentenced a third to death. The U.S. statement came a day after a report that Canada's ambassador to the United States said his government was told Washington planned to proceed. "We will continue to pursue the extradition of defendant Ms. Meng Wanzhou, and will meet all deadlines set by the U.S.-Canada Extradition Treaty," Justice Department spokesman Marc Raimondi said in a statement. "We greatly appreciate Canada's continuing support of our mutual efforts to enforce the rule of law." Huawei Chairman Liang Hua told media at the World Economic Forum in Davos on Tuesday that the company was following the issue closely and wanted a quick resolution of the case, but had no direct contact with authorities. The United States must file a formal request for extradition by Jan. 30. Once it is received, a Canadian court has 30 days to determine if there is enough supporting evidence and the Canadian justice minister must issue a formal order. Canada has not asked the United States to drop its bid to have Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou extradited, Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland told Bloomberg TV in an interview. "CONTAINING" HUAWEI Huawei, the world's biggest producer of telecoms equipment, faces U.S.-led allegations that its devices present a national security risk. Huawei says such concerns are unfounded. In an editorial on Wednesday, the state-run China Daily newspaper said Canada was helping the United States try to limit China's technological advance by "containing" Huawei. Story continues "If Canada does continue to do what is required of it by the U.S., it will certainly see its relations with China, including its trade relations, further deteriorate," the newspaper warned. Canada had the choice not to carry out the extradition of Meng on what were trumped-up charges, it added. It said there was no connection between Meng's arrest and China's detention of two Canadians - Michael Kovrig, a diplomat on unpaid leave from the embassy in Beijing, and Michael Spavor, a consultant, on suspicion of endangering state security. China would "respond" to U.S. actions, foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said on Tuesday, when asked whether China would retaliate against the United States if Meng was extradited. But she did not elaborate. In an article on Monday, a former head of Canada's spy agency said the country should ban Huawei from supplying equipment to its 5G networks. China's ambassador has threatened repercussions if Ottawa blocks Huawei. "We've talked about it with Germany because we have a good relationship with Germany and our European partners generally, and Germany is having some deliberations of its own too," Freeland said on Tuesday, regarding possible curbs on Huawei's access to 5G networks. The German government is debating whether to follow the United States and allies like Australia in restricting Huawei from accessing its next-generation mobile networks, business daily Handelsblatt said. Huawei will allow foreign officials to visit its labs, Liang said on Tuesday. (Reporting by Karen Freifeld, Allison Martell in Toronto, Soyoung Kim and Leika Kihara in Davos, and Michael Martina in Beijing; Editing by Lisa Shumaker and Clarence Fernandez) By Devika Krishna Kumar and Collin Eaton (Reuters) - Potential U.S. sanctions on Venezuela's crude oil exports would cut off the nation from Gulf Coast refiners that are among its biggest customers, likely forcing it to send more crude to China, India or other Asian countries, traders said on Wednesday. U.S. refineries that depend on Venezuela's heavy crude would have even more trouble securing supplies as Canadian and Mexican crudes are often not as discounted and are limited in availability. The United States is considering moves to cripple Venezuela's oil shipments, which account for nearly all of the country's exports, in response to the reelection of President Nicolas Maduro that was widely viewed as a sham. Washington has recognized opposition leader Juan Guaido as Venezuela's president as protests against Maduro erupted across the country. It is also considering sanctions on oil deliveries, a move it has until now resisted, energy company sources told Reuters on Wednesday. Venezuela, on average, exported about 500,000 barrels of crude a day to the United States in 2018, according to U.S. Energy Department data. Those shipments fell in November to an estimated 358,000 barrels per day, however, according to a report by Caracas-based consultancy Gas Energy Latin America seen by Reuters. The U.S. share of its exports has declined in recent years with more shipments going to Russia and China. [GRAPHIC: Venezuelan crude exports to the United States: https://tmsnrt.rs/2S4YIXB] Those deliveries are being made largely through oil-for-debt repayment structures as output from state-run oil company Petroleos de Venezuela, S.A., known as PDVSA, has slumped to near 70-year lows in a nationwide economic crisis. Venezuela's output has been cut in half since 2016 to less than 1.2 million bpd, according to figures from OPEC secondary sources. Shipments to the United States account for about 75 percent of the cash Venezuela gets for crude shipments, according to a Barclays research note published last week. Story continues In the wake of sanctions, the country could seek additional deals with Turkey, India or other Asian nations, one trader of Venezuelan crude said. Gas Energy's report said India was the second-largest importer of Venezuelan crude in November. "It will be costly for Venezuela but eventually they'll be able to sell that oil to Asia at a discount. There will be a period in the middle in which they have difficulty selling those barrels," said Francisco Monaldi, fellow in Latin American Energy Policy at the Baker Institute for Public Policy at Rice University in Houston. [GRAPHIC: Top U.S. importers of Venezuelan crude: https://tmsnrt.rs/2RYGk2E] Though the United States produces nearly 12 million barrels of oil a day, complex Gulf Coast refineries need heavier crude grades to produce diesel and other high-margin products, and cannot simply sub in light crude. Prices of heavier U.S. grades like Mars Sour, an offshore medium U.S. crude, and Heavy Louisiana Sweet crude have risen as buyers scramble for supply. Mars traded at a $6.90 premium to U.S. crude on Wednesday, a five-year high, according to Refinitiv Eikon data, as bidders came into the market to secure supplies through the second quarter, traders said. "It would make a tight market even tighter. If it happens, it would be an unambiguous headwind for refiners already struggling to find supplies," said Bob McNally, president of Rapidan Energy Group, an energy consultancy in Bethesda, Maryland. [GRAPHIC: Venezuelan crude exports to U.S. refiners: https://tmsnrt.rs/2S42EI5.] Traders said the United States may need to sell oil from the U.S. Strategic Petroleum Reserve to cover supply shortfalls as additional shipments are secured via Canada or Mexico. Sanctions could also include U.S. exports of petroleum products to Venezuela, used for blending with Venezuelan heavy crude. (Reporting by Devika Krishna Kumar, Collin Eaton and Stephanie Kelly; additional reporting by Jarrett Renshaw and Luc Cohen; graphics by Stephanie Kelly; writing by David Gaffen; editing by Richard Chang and Leslie Adler) Kris Osborn Security, The U.S. Navy will launch a swarm of interconnected small attack drone boats on mock-combat missions. The U.S. Navy Is Building a Swarm "Ghost Fleet" The US Navy will launch a swarm of interconnected small attack drone boats on mock-combat missions to refine command and control technology and prepare its Ghost Fleet of autonomous, yet networked surface craft for war. Developed by the Office of Naval Research and Naval Sea Systems Command, Ghost Fleet represents a Navy strategy to surveil, counter, overwhelm and attack enemies in a coordinated fashion - all while keeping sailors on host ships at safer distances. The small boats, many of them called Unmanned Surface Vessels, are designed to conduct ISR missions, find and destroy mines and launch a range of attacks including electronic warfare and even mounted guns. The concept is to use advanced computer algorithms bringing new levels of autonomy to surface warfare, enabling ships to coordinate information exchange, operate in tandem without colliding and launch combined assaults. Ghost Fleet is really helping us in the Command and Control and coms arena. The demonstration will allow us to learn lessons about integrated payloads with USVs, Capt. Pete Small, Program Manager, Unmanned Maritime Systems, PEO Unmanned and Small Surface Combatants, told Warrior Maven. As communications and networking technologies continue to evolve rapidly, drones will increasingly be able to function in a cross-domain capacity, meaning across air, sea, land and undersea operations. A human at a control station, using a low bandwidth connection, can perform command and control functions without needing to actually drive the vessels. The Navy and ONR are already immersed in the development of a variety of USVs, including a sonar-equipped, mine-detecting Unmanned Influence Sweep System, or UISS, for the Littoral Combat Ship and other vessels. The UISS is carried by a Textron-developed Common Unmanned Surface Vehicle, or CUSV. Story continues The CUSV, in development since before 2009, can travel for more than 20-hours carrying up to 4,000-pounds at speeds of up to 20-knots, Textron information states. Also, it is engineered to withstand waves up to 20-feet. Other applications include the possible use of aerial swarms, for instance, designed to detect an enemy surface target and relay information to unmanned surface vessels or undersea drones. All of this would be designed to operate in a combat circumstance while needing little or no human intervention. Algorithms governing autonomous maritime navigation have progressed to the point where USVs can more effectively perceive and respond to their surrounding environment while in transit, program managers with the Office of Naval Research have explained. Small, high-tech autonomy kits can be integrated onto the unmanned surface vessels. The USVs are programmed with sensors linked to an established database of known threats such as enemy boats; they are also linked to one another with an ability to detect, track and trail unknown boats, ONR officials said. One area of exploration, explained to Warrior by DoD researchers, is the exploration of a biologically-based approach to swarming technology. Pentagon scientists have been examining bird swarms or bee swarms in an effort to learn more about how swarms can move quickly in unison, without running into each other. Called Bio-Memetics, this scientific approach includes studying the behavior of birds and bees as a way to develop and refine new algorithms for drone swarming. While ocean drones are rapidly gaining advanced levels of autonomy through new computer algorithms, Navy strategy emphasizes that humans will of course still be needed to fire weapons, perform command and control and make many combat-relevant decisions. While unmanned surface ships are not yet operating with weapons on board, industry and Navy developers are looking at ways to integrate guns, lasers, enemy fire interceptors or even small missiles with surface drones - to of course be controlled by human operators. Current Pentagon doctrine specifies that, when it comes to the prospect of using lethal force, a human must always be "in the loop" making the decision - regardless of how quickly autonomy is progressing. Maj. Gen. David Coffman, Director of Expeditionary Warfare for the Navy expressed significant concerns that the services countermine initiatives are extremely challenged at the moment. He recently told an audience at the Surface Naval Association Symposium that he envisions unmanned, yet networked small boats as something which, among other things, can limit risk to Marines from a range of enemy attacks such as deep-water mines. We have significant gaps in our capability to defeat 100,000 Russian and Chinese mines which will not be laid in shallow water, Coffman said. The abundance and sheer variety of mine threats, as cited by Coffman, can also make detection more challenging. Some so called bottom mines can be buried or shallow-water mines easily triggered by surface ships or submarines. Moored mines, however, often tethered to the ocean floor, can be found in deeper parts of the water column. They can linger below the surface or possibly operate at much greater depths to target deeper draft ships, according to a 2014 NATO essay called Naval Mines and Countermeasures. While deep water mines, identified as an under-recognized threat by Coffman, represent a newer concern, shallow water choke points have been a long-standing threat. They often pertain to current, highly visible hotspots known to present mine threats such as coastal areas surrounding the South China sea and the much-discussed Strait of Hormuz in the Middle East. This waterway is recognized as a potential area for Iranian threats, such as swarming small boat attacks and sea mines. Many raise the question as to whether tensions with Iran could motivate a desire on their part to try to close or threaten the strategically vital and highly-trafficked choke point." Find & Destroy Mines Small also addressed how Naval Sea Systems Command is working with industry to develop, assess and analyze mine-neutralization technologies for its emerging Mine Countermeasures Unmanned Surface Vehicle (MCM USV) -- a multi-mission surface drone countermine platform slated to be operational with the LCS. The MCM USV takes a large technical step beyond the mine-detecting Unmanned Influence Sweep System (UISS) which went through testing and builders trials, Navy developers said. Building upon these efforts, the Navy is planning for the MCM USV to incorporate an ability to "destroy" mines from USVs as well. Neutralizing mines, once they are found, is the aim of this longer-term Navy effort, service developers explained. The current exploration of mine-neutralization technology is happening alongside the ongoing integration of advanced sonar mine-hunting payloads onto the USV -- the AQS-20 and AQS-24, officials said. Modern Countermine Strategy Countermine warfare has taken on much greater urgency in recent years, given the proliferation of inexpensive sea mine technology and the range of potential adversaries who could employ them, according to a National Research Council and Naval Studies Board published text from 2001 - Naval Mine Warfare, Operational and Technical Challenges for Naval Forces. Tracing the origins of Navys massively stepped-up mine warfare emphasis as far back as the Gulf War, Naval Mine Warfare cites a growing realization that sea mines are readily available to potential US opponents. The essay specifically cites Russia as a major supplier of modern mine weapons and states that more than 50 countries possess sea mining capability. Interestingly, while written almost two decades ago, Naval Mine Warfaresucceeds in anticipating several pressing strategic considerations now inspiring Navy thinking about modern countermine technology. For instance, the Navys growing emphasis upon disaggregated operations, which of course underscores the importance of countermine missions, is specifically cited in the essay. In the future, surface warships and submarines may be dispersed throughout the theater doing key task unit operations strike, fire support, theater air defense as opposed to operating primarily in close proximity to a battle group. Warships so employed will have to provide much of their own self-protection against various threats, including mines, the Naval Mine Warfare paper writes. Osborn previously served at the Pentagon as a Highly Qualified Expert with the Office of the Assistant Secretary of the Army - Acquisition, Logistics & Technology. Osborn has also worked as an anchor and on-air military specialist at national TV networks. This first appeared in Warrior Maven here. Read full article By Michelle Nichols UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - The head of a United Nations mission tasked with overseeing a peace deal in Yemen's Hodeidah port city plans to step down next month and will be replaced with a Danish official, U.N. diplomats said on Thursday. Retired Dutch general Patrick Cammaert arrived in Hodeidah late last month to lead an advance team of monitors observing a ceasefire and redeployment of forces agreed by the Iranian-aligned Houthi group and Saudi-backed Yemen government forces. Diplomats, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the United Nations plans to replace Cammaert next month with Danish Major General Michael Anker Lollesgaard, who led a U.N. peacekeeping mission in Mali in 2015 and 2016. Lollesgaard - who, like Cammaert, will report to U.N. Yemen envoy Martin Griffiths - will oversee boosting the monitoring mission to up to 75 observers, a move that was authorized by the Security Council earlier this month. It was not immediately clear why Cammaert was stepping down. "As far as we know he is only resigning because he said he wouldn't do it very long," said a senior U.N. diplomat, speaking on condition of anonymity. The ceasefire - agreed by the warring parties at talks in Sweden last month - has largely held but sporadic skirmishes have flared. The United Nations has struggled to implement the withdrawal of forces from both sides. "If anything the ceasefire has held in substance longer than I think we might have thought, but it's obviously not easy, and it's very challenging ... because the parties have different interpretations of what was agreed in Stockholm," said the diplomat. An armored car in Cammaert's convoy was hit by a bullet last week as he was leaving a meeting with representatives of the government of Yemen. No-one was injured and the United Nations said it did not know who fired the bullet. The truce has averted a full-scale assault on Hodeidah, the entry point for the bulk of Yemen's commercial imports and vital aid supplies. It is a lifeline for millions of Yemenis facing severe hunger in the poorest Arabian Peninsula country. A military coalition led by neighboring Saudi Arabia intervened in Yemen in 2015 to back government forces. The U.N. and Western countries have criticized the coalition for killing a large number of civilians, including children. The Gulf states accuse Iran of supplying arms to the Houthis, a charge Tehran and the group deny. (Reporting by Michelle Nichols at the United Nations; Editing by James Dalgleish) Not quite prison stripes. Photo: Brendan Smialowski/AFP/Getty Images When Paul Manafort arrives in federal court Friday for a hearing regarding his alleged lies to Special Counsel Robert Mueller, hell be accompanied by his most loyal companion an expensive suit. A judge ruled on Thursday that Donald Trumps former campaign manager may wear a suit, rather than prison garb, to the hearing. Manafort is permitted to wear a suit at the January 25, 2019 hearing and any future court appearances in this matter, the judge ordered. Fridays hearing concerns Manaforts alleged dishonesty with Muellers team after he reached a plea agreement in the Russia investigation. Manaforts lawyers argue that he hasnt lied to Mueller, claiming the allegations made by the special counsels office merely amount to a lack of consistency in Mr. Manaforts recollection of certain facts and events. Manafort has asked permission to wear one his many expensive suits to court before. Last October he was denied the chance. Instead, he showed up to court in a green prison jumpsuit and one shoe. He was also in a wheelchair. This time he has a decision to make: wear his $15,000 ostrich jacket AND his $9,500 ostrich vest, or stay subtle and just wear one. By Valerie Volcovici WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The partial U.S. government shutdown is threatening to delay the roll-out of new vehicle models in the United States by stalling required certifications from the Environmental Protection Agency, automakers said. The shutdown, at 34 days the longest in history, has left over 800,000 federal agency workers without pay and had an impact on everything from access to national parks to airline security screening to the release of economic data. Some 95 percent of EPA staff has been furloughed, including those at the lab in Ann Arbor, Michigan, responsible for verifying emissions data for new automotive models to ensure they comply with clean air laws. GM has not yet had any vehicle launch delays but "like other automakers, we are currently awaiting decisions in the certification process for a few model year 2019 and 2020 vehicles," spokeswoman Jeannine Ginivan said. Fiat Chrysler Chief Executive Officer Mike Manley said at the Detroit Auto Show last week that the shutdown had delayed final certification of FCA's new RAM 3500 heavy-duty pickup truck, one of its most profitable segments. Ford Motor Co officials said some vehicles could be delayed if the government shutdown goes another 30 days. "As the shutdown continues, these certification delays will affect U.S. vehicle production. Consumers will also not have access to the latest technologies and sales could decline as a result," industry trade group Global Automakers told Reuters. The EPA declined to comment. Former acting administrator of the EPA, Stanley Meiburg, noted the agency's certification process was central to discovering Volkswagen's past efforts to cheat on emissions. Automakers tend to seek certifications well in advance of releasing them to the market - meaning a delayed certification does not always impact the roll-out schedule. But the issue could become more serious if the shutdown lingers for much longer, Meiburg said. Story continues "Any disruptions to this part of the process will disrupt the entire supply chain," he said. Republican President Donald Trump has refused to sign any legislation to fund an array of government agencies unless it includes $5.7 billion for his proposed wall on the U.S. border with Mexico. Democrats argue that a wall is costly, and there are better ways to shore up national security and curb illegal immigration. (Reporting by Valerie Volcovici; additional reporting by David Shepardson; editing by Richard Valdmanis and Sonya Hepinstall) By Michael Connor NEW YORK (Reuters) - The U.S. government's partial shutdown might be enough to tip America's economy into recession if it runs longer than another month, a former White House aide said on Thursday. SkyBridge founder and co-managing partner Anthony Scaramucci, who was the presidents communications chief for 10 days in 2017, said in an interview in the Reuters Global Markets Forum that the disruption now in its 34th day, also weighed on the president's prospects for re-election in two years. Economist at J.P. Morgan on Thursday reduced their estimate of first quarter U.S. economic growth to 1.75 percent from 2 percent because of the shutdown. The following are excerpts from the LiveChat at the World Economic Forum in Davos with Scaramucci: Question: Do you see economic fallout from the shutdown. Is it enough to push the U.S. economy into recession? Answer: (The government disruption) will lead to slower growth this year globally. It is not significant enough but, if it lasts longer than another month, it will be. Q: If the dispute between the Democrats and the president is resolved soon, what are your expectations for the U.S. economy? A: Low risk of recession (during) 2019, but goes up in mid-2020. Q: Are you making any changes in your portfolios at Skybridge because of the prospects of recession? A: No change to our portfolio. Q: Politically speaking, is the shutdown a political plus or minus for the president? A: A-minus ... They are in a Gordian knot with both sides having no face-saving way out. Q: What are the odds of the president being re-elected? A: 60/40. 60 to get re-elected. Q: Do you have any contact with the president these days? Do you have any informal role? A: Speak to him once a month. No formal role. (Reporting by Michael Connor in New York, Divya Chowdhury in Davos and Parikshit Mishra in Bengaluru; Editing by Alistair Bell) Rep. Dan Crenshaw elaborated on a recent tweet during his appearance on Fox & Friends Thursday, where he criticized the media for what he calls anti-Christian coverage, including a claim that the March For Life was hardly publicized by the media. Aside from Fox News, March For Life doesnt get a whole lot of coverage even though theres hundreds of thousands of people coming out in a positive, optimistic way, Crenshaw said. I was there. This was really a great march. It was a great group of people. Didnt really get a lot of coverage. This content is not available due to your privacy preferences. Update your settings here to see it. Crenshaw, who is perhaps most well-known for being mocked and later apologized to by SNLs Pete Davidson, points to the incident over the weekend at the Lincoln Memorial involving Covington Catholic High School students as another example of a blunder committed by the media. That story has been thoroughly debunked. Yet the mainstream media resorted to complete outrage culture, in stride, all together, lets hate these kids. Lets demean these kids. It was so wrong. It was so painful to watch, Crenshaw said, adding: Right before that Karen Pence had been attacked for just teaching at a Christian school. Weve seen the last couple months. Democrat senators, tearing apart judicial nominees because of their Christian faith. This is an ongoing crisis and its not right. We should be speaking out against it. The recently sworn-in Republican from Texas stirred up a big a reaction on Twitter, as some found these talking points sad and disappointing. This content is not available due to your privacy preferences. Update your settings here to see it. This content is not available due to your privacy preferences. Update your settings here to see it. This content is not available due to your privacy preferences. Update your settings here to see it. This content is not available due to your privacy preferences. Update your settings here to see it. This content is not available due to your privacy preferences. Update your settings here to see it. This content is not available due to your privacy preferences. Update your settings here to see it. This content is not available due to your privacy preferences. Update your settings here to see it. This content is not available due to your privacy preferences. Update your settings here to see it. However, his supporters are glad hes getting into the mix. This content is not available due to your privacy preferences. Update your settings here to see it. This content is not available due to your privacy preferences. Update your settings here to see it. This content is not available due to your privacy preferences. Update your settings here to see it. Watch Sarah Sanders go after the media in the wake of canceled press briefings at the White House: Read more from Yahoo Entertainment: Tell us what you think! Hit us up on Twitter, Facebook or Instagram, or leave your comments below. WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Donald Trump said on Wednesday he would do an alternative event to the traditional State of the Union address before the U.S. Congress after House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi sent him a letter that her chamber would not sign off on the annual speech during the partial government shutdown. "It's a disgrace," Trump said of Pelosi's decision to block the address, initially scheduled for next Tuesday, during a White House meeting on border security. (Reporting by Steve Holland; Writing by Lisa Lambert; Editing by Peter Cooney) The Supreme Court has issued a stay of injunctions on Donald Trump's ban on transgender Americans serving in the US military, allowing the White House to enforce the measure as court hearings proceed. The nation's highest court delivered the pair of orders on Tuesday morning, effectively reinstating the administrations ban on transgender military service as a lengthy court battle over its merit and legality continues. The Supreme Court issued temporary stays in both Trump v Karnoski and Trump v Stockman, two cases in which lower courts had placed halts on the ban as proceedings continued. The stays were issued along party lines, with justices Stephen Breyer, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kegan dissenting from the decision. The 5-4 decision marks a significant victory for Mr Trump, whose administration has battled for two years in court to deny transgender people the right to serve in all branches of the US military. While the stay is only temporary, it could reflect that the court which now features a Republican-majority will defer to the executive branch on matters of national security. The court also declined to take action on the administrations request to decide by early summer whether Mr Trumps bid to end the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (Daca) programme was legal. Daca has been protected by several federal courts. Based on the high courts usual practices, the earliest the justices would hear arguments in the case would be this autumn, if they decide to hear the case at all. If arguments take place in October, a decision would not be likely before 2020, when it could affect the presidential campaign. The transgender military ban came under attack from congressional Democrats and civil rights groups when it was announced by the president in the summer of 2017. House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi tweeted: No one with the strength & bravery to serve in the US military should be turned away because of who they are. This hateful ban is purpose-built to humiliate our brave transgender members of the military who serve with honor & dignity. Story continues This content is not available due to your privacy preferences. Update your settings here to see it. The Human Rights Campaign, the nations largest LGBT civil rights organisation, accused the Trump administration of pushing anti-transgender prejudices onto the military. There is simply no way to spin it, the Trump-Pence Administration is going all in on its discriminatory, unconstitutional and despicable ban on transgender troops, said HRC president Chad Griffin. Joshua Block, a senior staff attorney at the American Civil Liberties Union LGBT & HIV Project, said the policy effectively coerced transgender people who wished to serve into choosing between their humanity and their country, and made it clear that transgender service members were not welcome. The requirements make it challenging for a transgender recruit to pass through the military indusction process. Under guidelines presented in 2017, the Pentagon could disqualify potential recruits with gender dysphoria, those with a history of medical treatments associated with gender transition and those who underwent reconstruction. Such recruits could be allowed in if a medical provider certified they have been clinically stable in the preferred sex for 18 months and are free of significant distress or impairment in social, occupational or other important areas. Transgender individuals receiving hormone therapy must be stable on their medication for 18 months. Mr Trump received recommendations from former Defense Secretary Jim Mattis last February for dealing with transgender individuals serving in the military. The White House said Mr Mattis and Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen agreed with the policy. Additional reporting by AP Update 3:28p.m.: Venezuelan president Nicolas Maduro announced Wednesday that he will cut off diplomatic relations with the U.S. in response to President Trumps recognition of Juan Gaido, the president of the Venezuelan National Assembly, as interim president of the country. This content is not available due to your privacy preferences. Update your settings here to see it. President Trump on Wednesday declared Venezuelan dictator Nicolas Maduro illegitimate and officially recognized Juan Gaido, the president of the Venezuelan National Assembly and a vehement critic of Maduros government, as the countrys interim president. The people of Venezuela have courageously spoken out against Maduro and his regime and demanded freedom and the rule of law, Trump said in a White House statement. Trumps announcement came after Gaido swore himself in as president Wednesday following the National Assemblys invocation of the Venezuelan Constitution to declare Maduros recent reelection illegitimate and the presidency vacant. Venezuelans took to the streets of Caracas on Wednesday in anticipation of Gaidos swearing in to protest against Maduros consolidation of power and trampling of democracy. Gaido has successfully galvanized disparate segments of the opposition to Maduro in the wake of the strongmans reelection earlier this month, and has vowed to hold a new election once he is ousted a process opposition leaders hope will be expedited by military leaders defecting in the face of mass protests. Vice President Mike Pence issued a statement Tuesday expressing support for the anti-Maduro opposition. This content is not available due to your privacy preferences. Update your settings here to see it. A delegation of Florida lawmakers met with administration officials, including Pence and national-security adviser John Bolton, on Tuesday to ask that the president recognize Gaido as Venezuelas legitimate president. We encouraged the president today to follow through with what hes already declared, which is that Maduro is illegitimate. The next logical step is to recognize the president of the National Assembly as the rightful president, Rubio told reporters after leaving the White House Tuesday. More from National Review Curt Mills Security, Latin America Regime change in Venezuela? Trump Recognizes Maduro Opponent As Venezuelan President Today I am officially recognizing the President of the Venezuelan National Assembly, Juan Guaido, as the Interim President of Venezuela, President Donald Trump said in a statement emailed to reporters Wednesday afternoon. We encourage other Western Hemisphere governments to recognize Guaido as such, Trump continued. Trump blasted the illegitimate regime of sitting Venezuelan president Nicolas Maduro. Gaudio swiftly accepted the mantle thrust upon him by Washington, and addressed supporters in Caracas, taking an oath of office in front of a cheering crowd. The spectacle occurred as the Venezuelan capital was mobbed with protesters opposed to Maduros government. Many Latin American policy hands in Washington, accustomed to taking a backseat to the Middle East and Eurasia, were surprised at the audaciousness of the Trump move. Today marks an inflection point in efforts to restore democracy in Venezuela, Eric Farnsworth, an alumnus of the Clinton administration and vice president at the Council of Americas says. It's a bold move by the Trump administration, with bipartisan congressional backing. Such sentiment is consistent with that fact that this is no unilateral action from the president. As of Wednesday afternoon, Canada has joined the call as wellas have regional allies Peru, Brazil, Argentina, Colombia, Paraguay, Ecuador, Costa Rica and Chile. Trump has quietly cultivated allies in the hemisphere since early in his presidency, including dining with the leaders of most of Venezuelas neighbors the night before his first, fiery address to the U.N. General Assembly. Farnsworth argued that this maneuver will need to be followed up with further actions to ensure that momentum toward a democratic restoration continues and does not flag. A senior official of a major U.S. energy corporation told me he was expecting the United States to sanction Venezuelan crude. The administration has hammered Caracas with sanctions but avoided targeting the petrostates chief export. Story continues In Washington, the announcement isnt wholly surprising. The State Department, under both Mike Pompeo and Rex Tillerson, has pursued a quietly hawkish line on the country. The maneuver has just failed to capture most headlines as the administration also got tough with Iran, China and North Korea. Secretary Pompeo called for the countrys suspension from the key regional group, the Organization for American States, in the summer, although he stopped short of calling for regime change. Pompeo noted that Maduro has demonstrated unmistakable bad faith and exhausted options for dialogue under current conditions. Tillerson, before his ouster, cheered the nineteenth-century Monroe Doctrine that fiats broad U.S. authority in the region. Said Tillerson, the retired oilman, in comments that got him in hot water, the policy was clearly a success and as relevant today as it was the day it was written. Doubtless, another factor in the administrations confidence is the ascension of Brazils Jair Bolsonaro, the Trump of the Tropics. Guglielmo Picchi, a senior Italian politician and a top ally of populist star Matteo Salvini, was in Washington earlier this month arguing that Italy, under their governance, will seek to become Americas top ally in Europe. Bolsonaro, a trenchant Maduro critic, is angling for a similar role in Latin America. But Vice President Mike Pence took the matter to the next level Tuesday night, teasing Wednesdays announcement. We are with you, Pence wrote on Twitter in both Spanish and English. We stand with you, and we will stay with you until Democracy is restored and you reclaim your birthright of Libertad. But Wednesdays development is a coup for one White House influencer, in particular: Senator Marco Rubio. Former White House chief strategist Steve Bannon told me no one was more forceful in advocating for what would become the administrations hard line. Rubio messaged in unison with the White House Wednesday, with his official Twitter live streaming Guadios remarks. 61 years ago [Venezuela] overthrew a dictatorship. Today, just like January 23, 1958, is a historic day for Venezuelans marching against [Maduros] narco-terrorist tyranny and raising their voice in support of Guadio, Rubio said Wednesday. Rubio, and his allies in Congress, form the basis of a power center that presses the administration for a fiercer line on not only Venezuela, but Cuba. Their efforts have been decidedly successful, as a sizeable amount of the Obama-era detente has been rolled back. This cohort sees Venezuela as a puppet of Havana. The importance of the Cuban emigre community in Florida, of course, cannot be overstated in a Republican capture of the White House. Trump, like his now-ally Rand Paul, was originally warmer to the Obama administrations efforts to make nice with Havana. Paul has still publicly stood by his heterodox position, but Trump largely flipped. A fiercer line on Caracas divides even some realists. Some, such as Tucker Carlson, have called attention to Chinas investment in the country and in Latin America. Unlike the Middle East, this is Americas backyard and involves the United States only true geopolitical pier, the thinking goes. Chinas investiture in the country includes a recent, much-needed $5 billion credit line and the exportation of the technology behind its deeply controversial social credit system. China watchers note, however, that Beijing has cooled on the flailing Maduro and his late-2018 visit to the country garnered almost no attention. But other realists fret that an all-but-regime-change policy could be a tragic mistake, another misguided adventure. It makes sense for the United States to recognize National Assembly President Juan Guaido as Venezuelas leaderprovided his claim to the title is constitutionally-grounded, Benjamin H. Friedman at Defense Priorities told me. He added, The United States must be wary of getting pulled into regime change efforts in Venezuela. Using military force to overthrow Maduro would be foolish, not just because of the risks it entails, but because the accusation of being a tool of U.S. imperialism could damage the prospects of real democracy there. Curt Mills is the foreign-affairs reporter at the National Interest, where he covers the State Department, National Security Council and the Trump Presidency. Image: Reuters. Read full article No Paine, no gain. Photo: White House Collection; US House of Representatives; National Portrait Gallery In 1835, Alexis de Tocqueville produced one of the earliest accounts of the American dream. In his famous study of the Jacksonian U.S., the Frenchman wrote that Americans possessed the charm of anticipated success a ubiquitous optimism that he attributed to our countrys democratic character, and to the general equality of condition that prevailed among its people. On Wednesday night, Sean Hannity took de Tocqueville to task. In the Fox News hosts telling, general economic equality is not a precondition for the American dream, but rather, an insurmountable obstacle to it because the American dream is (apparently) to earn more than $10 million year without having to pay a top marginal tax rate higher than 37 percent. Of course, Hannity did not actually frame his argument as a rebuke of de Tocqueville. His true target was Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. After popularizing the idea of a 70 percent top marginal tax rate earlier this month, the freshman congresswoman recently suggested that the mere existence of billionaires was both immoral, and a threat to American democracy. I do think that a system that allows billionaires to exist when there are parts of Alabama where people are still getting ringworm because they dont have access to public health is wrong, Ocasio-Cortez told the writer Ta-Nehisi Coates, during an interview on Martin Luther King Day. One day later, the congresswoman approvingly quoted an op-ed by the economists Gabriel Zucman and Emmanuel Saez, which argued that the purpose of high taxes on the wealthy wasnt merely to generate revenue, but rather, to safeguard democracy against oligarchy. Hannitys not buying it. The Fox News host informed his audience Wednesday that Ocasio-Cortez had called the American dream immoral, and that she wants to empower the government to confiscate said dream. Better hide your nice things, Hannity advised his audience (whom he ostensibly believes to be composed primarily of billionaires), because here come the excess police. Please respect my privacy at this utterly amazing time. pic.twitter.com/eKEELqUEzw Every Billionaire Is A Policy Failure (@DanRiffle) January 24, 2019 Hannity was hardly alone in deriding AOCs antipathy for billionaires as fundamentally un-American. But in reality, theres nothing foreign or communistic about the idea that concentrated wealth is incompatible with democracy, or all-too compatible with mass poverty. Republicans might call such notions radical. But many of our republics founders would have called them common sense. Compare AOCs first argument that the simultaneous existence of billionaires and poverty is immoral, and thus justifies steeply progressive taxation with Thomas Jeffersons reflections in 1785. During a visit to the French countryside, Jefferson found himself scandalized by the condition of the labouring poor. In a letter to James Madison, Jefferson wrote that the extremity of European inequality was not only morally suspect, but economically inefficient. Aristocrats had grown so wealthy, they were happy to leave their lands uncultivated, even as masses of idle workers were eager to improve it. Thus, these proto-billionaires undermined both the peasants ability to transcend mere subsistence, and their societys capacity to develop economically: [T]he solitude of my walk led me into a train of reflections on that unequal division of property which occasions the numberless instances of wretchedness which I had observed in this country and is to be observed all over Europe. The property of this country is absolutely concentered in a very few handsI asked myself what could be the reason that so many should be permitted to beg who are willing to work, in a country where there is a very considerable proportion of uncultivated lands? These lands are kept idle mostly for the aske of game. It should seem then that it must be because of the enormous wealth of the proprietors which places them above attention to the increase of their revenues by permitting these lands to be laboured. Here is how Jefferson proposes to address the obscene coexistence of concentrated wealth and underemployed workers: I am conscious that an equal division of property is impracticable. But the consequences of this enormous inequality producing so much misery to the bulk of mankind, legislators cannot invent too many devices for subdividing property, only taking care to let their subdivisions go hand in hand with the natural affections of the human mind. The descent of property of every kind therefore to all the children, or to all the brothers and sisters, or other relations in equal degree is a politic measure, and a practicable one. Another means of silently lessening the inequality of property is to exempt all from taxation below a certain point, and to tax the higher portions of property in geometrical progression as they rise. Whenever there is in any country, uncultivated lands and unemployed poor, it is clear that the laws of property have been so far extended as to violate natural rightIt is too soon yet in our country to say that every man who cannot find employment but who can find uncultivated land, shall be at liberty to cultivate it, paying a moderate rent. But it is not too soon to provide by every possible means that as few as possible shall be without a little portion of land. The small landholders are the most precious part of a state. [Emphasis mine.] If Ocasio-Cortezs views are un-American, then surely these words from our third presidents are, as well. To be sure, Jeffersons views on the propriety of wealth redistribution were hardly consistent. And, of course, the slave owner was never concerned with minimizing the number of landless African-Americans or women in the United States. Whats more, the bulk of Americas founders regarded wealth redistribution as a species of majoritarian tyranny, and designed the Constitution to guard against such despotism. My point here isnt to suggest that AOC is channeling the sacred wisdom of our republics founding racists. Rather, its that shes channeling one deeply rooted strain of American thought on economic morality. And while that strain might have been marginal among the leaders of the American Revolution, it was pervasive among its foot soldiers (theres a reason the leading propagandist of the war effort, Thomas Paine, was one of the earliest champions of an American welfare state). Regardless, Ocasio-Cortezs second argument against the existence of billionaires that concentrated wealth is incompatible with genuine democracy was something close to conventional wisdom among the founders (including those who opposed democracy). Americas first political theorists took these truths to be self-evident: that a person could not exercise political liberty if he did not possess a modicum of economic autonomy, and that disparities in wealth inevitably produced disparities of political power. The notion that political freedom has a material basis did not originate with Karl Marx and the creed of Communism; it was a core idea of the 17th-century British political theorist James Harrington, and his formulation of classical republicanism. A man who does not own the means of his own reproduction can never exercise political freedom, Harrington argued, because the man that cannot live upon his own must be servant. Likewise, the man of immense wealth whose fortune consigns great masses of men to servitude is inevitably a kind of tyrant. After all, where there is inequality of estates, there must be inequality of power, and where there is inequality of power, there can be no commonwealth. These premises deeply informed the American founders conception of republican liberty. The Jeffersonian ideal of a yeomans republic derived from the conviction that only independent landowners were politically free and only a (very) rough equality in the distribution of land could preserve such freedom. Even a consummate elitist like Alexander Hamilton couldnt help but echo Harringtonian thinking, writing in the Federalist Papers, A power over mans subsistence amounts to a power over his will. Critically, relatively few of the founders saw these premises in a progressive light. To many 18th-century American elites, the fact that the propertyless lacked the capacity to exercise genuine political freedom was not an argument for giving them property, but rather, for denying them the franchise. Similarly, the notion that true democracy couldnt coexist with wealth inequality struck many leaders of the early republic as an argument against democracy. Power and property may be seperated for a time, by force or fraud but divorced never, Benjamin Leigh, a conservative legislator in Virginias House of Delegates, argued at that states Constitutional Convention in 1830. For, so soon as the pang of separation is felt property will purchase power, or power will take property. Being a man of property, Leigh concluded that the poor should therefore be denied political rights, saying, it does not follow that, because all men are born equal all men may rightly claim, in an established society, equal political powers. Thus, Ocasio-Cortezs belief in the moral necessity of mass democracy (and womens suffrage, and the abolition of slavery) would have struck many a Founding Father as radical. But her insistence that true democracy is incompatible with Americas present distribution of property in which the richest 0.1 percent of Americans command as much wealth as the poorest 90 percent would have struck Jefferson & Co. as tautological. And a large body of political science research suggests that their shared intuition is correct. All of which is to say: If the right to self-government is an inextricable component of the American dream, then it isnt AOC who regards that dream as immoral its Sean Hannity, and every other multimillionaire who believes that legislators should not invent many devices for subdividing property. Curt Mills Security, Latin America Regime change in Venezuela? Trump Recognizes Maduro Opponent As Venezuelan President Today I am officially recognizing the President of the Venezuelan National Assembly, Juan Guaido, as the Interim President of Venezuela, President Trump said in a statement emailed to reporters Wednesday afternoon. We encourage other Western Hemisphere governments to recognize Guaido as such, Trump continued. Trump blasted the illegitimate regime of sitting Venezuelan president Nicolas Maduro. Gaudio swiftly accepted the mantle thrust upon him by Washington, and addressed supporters in Caracas, taking an oath of office in front of a cheering crowd. The spectacle occurred as the Venezuelan capital was mobbed with protesters opposed to Maduros government. Many Latin American policy hands in Washington, accustomed to taking a backseat to the Middle East and Eurasia, were surprised at the audaciousness of the Trump move. Today marks an inflection point in efforts to restore democracy in Venezuela, Eric Farnsworth, an alumnus of the Clinton administration and vice president at the Council of Americas says. It's a bold move by the Trump administration, with bipartisan congressional backing. Such sentiment is consistent with that fact that this is no unilateral action from the president. As of Wednesday afternoon, Canada has joined the call as wellas have regional allies Peru, Brazil, Argentina, Colombia, Paraguay, Ecuador, Costa Rica and Chile. Trump has quietly cultivated allies in the hemisphere since early in his presidency, including dining with the leaders of most of Venezuelas neighbors the night before his first, fiery address to the U.N. General Assembly. Farnsworth argued that this maneuver will need to be followed up with further actions to ensure that momentum toward a democratic restoration continues and does not flag. A senior official of a major U.S. energy corporation told me he was expecting the United States to sanction Venezuelan crude. The administration has hammered Caracas with sanctions but avoided targeting the petrostates chief export. Story continues In Washington, the announcement isnt wholly surprising. The State Department, under both Mike Pompeo and Rex Tillerson, has pursued a quietly hawkish line on the country. The maneuver has just failed to capture most headlines as the administration also got tough with Iran, China and North Korea. Secretary Pompeo called for the countrys suspension from the key regional group, the Organization for American States, in the summer, although he stopped short of calling for regime change. Pompeo noted that Maduro has demonstrated unmistakable bad faith and exhausted options for dialogue under current conditions. Tillerson, before his ouster, cheered the nineteenth-century Monroe Doctrine that fiats broad U.S. authority in the region. Said Tillerson, the retired oilman, in comments that got him in hot water, the policy was clearly a success and as relevant today as it was the day it was written. Doubtless, another factor in the administrations confidence is the ascension of Brazils Jair Bolsonaro, the Trump of the Tropics. Guglielmo Picchi, a senior Italian politician and a top ally of populist star Matteo Salvini, was in Washington earlier this month arguing that Italy, under their governance, will seek to become Americas top ally in Europe. Bolsonaro, a trenchant Maduro critic, is angling for a similar role in Latin America. But Vice President Mike Pence took the matter to the next level Tuesday night, teasing Wednesdays announcement. We are with you, Pence wrote on Twitter in both Spanish and English. We stand with you, and we will stay with you until Democracy is restored and you reclaim your birthright of Libertad. But Wednesdays development is a coup for one White House influencer, in particular: Senator Marco Rubio. Former White House chief strategist Steve Bannon told me no one was more forceful in advocating for what would become the administrations hard line. Rubio messaged in unison with the White House Wednesday, with his official Twitter live streaming Guadios remarks. 61 years ago [Venezuela] overthrew a dictatorship. Today, just like January 23, 1958, is a historic day for Venezuelans marching against [Maduros] narco-terrorist tyranny and raising their voice in support of Guadio, Rubio said Wednesday. Rubio, and his allies in Congress, form the basis of a power center that presses the administration for a fiercer line on not only Venezuela, but Cuba. Their efforts have been decidedly successful, as a sizeable amount of the Obama-era detente has been rolled back. This cohort sees Venezuela as a puppet of Havana. The importance of the Cuban emigre community in Florida, of course, cannot be overstated in a Republican capture of the White House. Trump, like his now-ally Rand Paul, was originally warmer to the Obama administrations efforts to make nice with Havana. Paul has still publicly stood by his heterodox position, but Trump largely flipped. A fiercer line on Caracas divides even some realists. Some, such as Tucker Carlson, have called attention to Chinas investment in the country and in Latin America. Unlike the Middle East, this is Americas backyard and involves the United States only true geopolitical pier, the thinking goes. Chinas investiture in the country includes a recent, much-needed $5 billion credit line and the exportation of the technology behind its deeply controversial social credit system. China watchers note, however, that Beijing has cooled on the flailing Maduro and his late-2018 visit to the country garnered almost no attention. But other realists fret that an all-but-regime-change policy could be a tragic mistake, another misguided adventure. It makes sense for the United States to recognize National Assembly President Juan Guaido as Venezuelas leaderprovided his claim to the title is constitutionally-grounded, Benjamin H. Friedman at Defense Priorities told me. He added, The United States must be wary of getting pulled into regime change efforts in Venezuela. Using military force to overthrow Maduro would be foolish, not just because of the risks it entails, but because the accusation of being a tool of U.S. imperialism could damage the prospects of real democracy there. Curt Mills is the foreign-affairs reporter at the National Interest, where he covers the State Department, National Security Council and the Trump Presidency. Image: Reuters. Read full article Trump was keen for NASA to reach Mars during his first term (Getty) President Trump offered NASA all the money you could ever need if they could land a man on Mars during the first term of his presidency, a new book has revealed. The generous offer came in response to a NASA official saying that the U.S. aimed to land a man on the Red Planet by 2030. Trump replied, But is there any way we could do it by the end of my first term? Trums director of message strategy Cliff Sims revealed the conversation in his book Team of Vipers: My 500 Extraordinary Days in the Trump White House. Trump hosted a video chat with NASA astronauts (Getty) Sims says that the NASA officials were nervous as Trump had to call the Space Station minutes later and had proposed shaving 10 years off their planned timeline. But Trump continued, But what if I gave you all the money you could ever need to do it? MORE: Former Scottish first minister Alex Salmond arrested and charged by police MORE: Tory MP Michael Fabricant hits back at unknown colleague over wig jibe What if we sent NASAs budget through the roof, but focused entirely on that instead of whatever else youre doing now. Could it work then? Last year, a NASA training chief said that the first person to walk on Mars should be a woman. Only twelve people have ever walked on the surface of the moon and every single one of them was a man. Thats why it makes sense that the first person on Mars should be a woman, says Alison McIntyre, Chief of NASAs Space Vehicle Mockup Facility. McIntyre is in charge of a NASA facility with life-size replicas of space vehicles, where astronauts train before going into orbit. McIntyre, a 20-year veteran of human space flight says that women are under-represented in science and engineering both in the UK and America. Thats why it makes sense for the first person to step on Mars to be a woman, says McIntyre. Speaking to Radio Five Live, she said, My centre director is a woman, my former division chief is a woman. We have female astronauts, but we havent put a woman on the Moon yet, and I think the first person on Mars should be a woman. Watch the latest videos from Yahoo UK Washington (AFP) - President Donald Trump has intervened in an unusually forceful way in Venezuela's political crisis, but whether the United States can force a change of power remains to be seen. Trump -- who has largely shunned democracy promotion overseas and is pulling troops from Syria and Afghanistan as part of an "American First" worldview -- on Wednesday recognized opposition leader Juan Guaido as Venezuela's interim president. Backed by most but not all Latin American powers, Trump said that leftist firebrand Nicolas Maduro was illegitimate, even as the military leadership continues to support him as Venezuela's rightful leader. "Venezuela is in our hemisphere, I think we have a special responsibility here, and I think the president feels very strongly about it," Trump's national security adviser, John Bolton, said Thursday. - Why did Trump get involved? - Bolton's remark came in response to a question about why Trump had abandoned Maduro, when he has embraced other authoritarian leaders. Trump has shown no reluctance in allying the United States with countries whose human rights records are questionable such as Saudi Arabia and Egypt, and has eagerly negotiated with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. But Maduro, like his predecessor Hugo Chavez, has relished poking his finger in the eye of the United States and regularly rails against US imperialism in Latin America. A Trump administration official justified the recognition of Guaido by saying that Venezuela, whose elections last year were widely criticized as flawed, was bound by a commitment to democracy made in the 2001 Inter-American Democratic Charter. Mariano de Alba, a Venezuelan lawyer and international affairs expert based in Washington, however suggested that Trump was under pressure from Florida's large and mostly anti-Maduro Venezuelan community, which includes naturalized US citizens. The Venezuela crisis also gives Trump a way "to highlight the effects of socialism and the importance of capitalism," said De Alba, who works for the analytical news site Prodavinci. Story continues Senator Marco Rubio of Florida has taken a lead on Latin America policy in Trump's Republican Party and has pushed for a hard line both on Venezuela and Cuba. Bolton, of course, is a longtime hawk. "His administration doesn't pick and choose friends based on whether they're authoritarians," Stephen Pomper, director of the US program at the International Crisis Group and an adviser on human rights to former president Barack Obama, said of Trump. "It picks and chooses which authoritarians to criticize based on whether or not they're friends." - What more can the US do? - Bolton said that the key focus for the United States was "disconnecting the illegitimate Maduro regime from the source of its revenues." Venezuela is Latin America's largest producer of oil, whose declining price has worsened the spiraling economic crisis in the country, where many residents lack basic foods and medicine. Bolton said the United States was looking at ways for the United States to direct revenues to the "legitimate" government of Venezuela, although he acknowledged that the process was complicated. Washington is also pushing for more countries to break with Maduro. Britain said Thursday that Maduro was "not the legitimate leader of Venezuela," although other European allies have been less explicit and Maduro enjoys Russia's support. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced that the United States was preparing $20 million in emergency humanitarian aid which it would direct through the opposition-led National Assembly once it is "logistically feasible." The United States could also boost punitive sanctions, which have so far targeted Maduro rather than the broader economy. Geoff Ramsey of the Washington Office on Latin America, a human rights advocacy group, said it was critical that sanctions do not worsen the economic toll on ordinary people, saying that an oil embargo could be counterproductive. Ramsey also cautioned against "saber-rattling," which he warned could divide Venezuela's newly united opposition. Trump has openly mused of military intervention and said that "all options are on the table." - What is the endgame? Michael Shifter, president of the Inter-American Dialogue group, said that the Trump administration's actions intensify pressure on Maduro -- but also carry risks if the government clamps down. The United States has ignored Maduro's orders for its diplomats to leave within 72 hours, saying he is no longer president -- presenting an early test on whether Washington can sustain its policy. "The endgame is which entity is able to gather the strongest support to impose its statements and power in Venezuela," De Alba said. "As long as the Maduro regime has the control of the territory and cohesive support of the military, it will have the advantage," he said. As new polls showed a majority of Americans had cooled to the idea of a protracted government shutdown over his long-promised border wall, Donald Trump woke up with the same two options facing him as the past 33 days - he could fight back or concede. Or maybe he could try rhyming? BUILD A WALL & CRIME WILL FALL! Mr Trump wrote in his daily morning Twitter address. This is the new theme, for two years until the Wall is finished (under construction now), of the Republican Party. Use it and pray! Two minutes later, Mr Trump tweeted the rhyme again for emphasis. Mr Trump, a born marketing machine, brought to the White House a history of selling Americans everything from steaks to questionable real estate credentials to the catchphrase Youre Fired! And his red-and-white Make America Great Again hat is instantly associated with Mr Trump; an accessory that, as Americans were reminded last weekend, draws controversy like a laser beam. According to people who have been in the room when Mr Trump fires off a tweet, the president gets visibly excited when he comes up with a message he believes will go over well with his base he peers over his phone with a watch this expression, according to two people who have observed such a process. The wall rhyme appears to fit into that same bulls-eye category. The White House press office did not respond to a request for comment about the origin of Mr Trumps latest catchphrase. But a senior aide to the president said Mr Trump came up with it himself, and credited the new slogan to his marketing genius. There are a few hitches: Mr Trumps rhyming sales pitch that a border wall will reduce crime is not credible and the facts he uses to bolster his claims are often correctable. First, despite the presidents repeated claims, construction has not yet started on the border wall: The under construction now in his morning tweet needs more context. Customs and Border Protection has begun or completed several projects to replace old fencing with new barriers, but no additional miles of wall have been added yet. Construction to build a new levee wall system in Texas is scheduled to begin in February, the first extension of existing barriers. Story continues Second, Mr Trumps rhyme that a wall will lead to falling crime rates may be catchy, but it is at odds with what data shows about the influence immigration has on crime. Law enforcement agencies rarely release crime data that includes immigration status, but several studies have found that immigration does not lead to an increase in crime. Others have shown that immigrants including those who are in the country illegally are less likely to commit crimes than native-born Americans. Also, a border wall would not suddenly alter the population of unauthorised immigrants already in the country, as the president suggests; most of them are here because they overstayed temporary visas, not because they crossed the border illegally. The statistics Mr Trump often uses to portray a criminal threat are also misleading. He has pointed to 17,000 criminals caught trying to cross the border, omitting the fact that a majority were stopped at legal ports of entry, not wall-less areas of the border. He has recounted that officials have made 260,000-some arrests of immigrants with criminal records in the last two years, though the charges included a range of crimes, many non-violent like traffic violations or illegal entry. He has also issued baseless warnings of terrorists infiltrating the border, despite State Department and counterterrorism officials saying there is no credible threat. Mr Trump, known to be more concerned with the broad contours of his messaging than the particulars, continued to push his new slogan, targeting a segment on MSNBC that showed immigrants slipping across the border into the United States from Mexico. Even Trump Haters like (MS)NBC acknowledge you BUILD A WALL & CRIME WILL FALL!' Mr Trump wrote, his delight undimmed by his new rhyme. The New York Times Davos (Switzerland) (AFP) - Her train journey from Sweden took 32 hours, but Greta Thunberg is not tired. The teenager is dead-set in her mission to persuade the global elite in Davos to take climate action. The 16-year-old has galvanised protests by schoolchildren around the world, after delivering a fiery speech to world leaders at last month's UN climate talks in Poland. "I would like to talk to people in power," the Swedish crusader told AFP shortly after arriving in Davos for the annual World Economic Forum. Unlike many of the movers and shakers gathered in the Swiss ski resort, Thunberg has not zipped into town for a few quick meetings at luxury hotels. With the train trip from Stockholm, which took a day-and-a-half, Thunberg was making a statement in opposition to many of the Davos elite, who flew in by private jet. "I have stopped flying for climate reasons, because I don't want to say one thing and then do another thing. I want to practise as I preach," she said. "I think it is insane that people are gathered here to talk about the climate and they arrive here in private jet." In Davos, Thunberg is scheduled to speak at several side events and an official WEF discussion on Friday entitled "Preparing for Climate Disruption". But even before she arrived, accompanied by her father, the youngster unleashed a message of outrage to the Davos audience in a video message screened in the WEF Congress Centre on Tuesday. - 'Incredible' global impact - "Some people say we are not doing enough to fight climate change. That is not true, because to not do enough, you have to do something, and the truth is that we are basically not doing anything," she said. But she acknowledged she had no illusions that everyone in Davos would voluntarily heed her call to action. "They have known exactly what priceless values they have been sacrificing to continue making unimaginable amounts of money," she told AFP. Story continues She is demanding leaders do whatever it takes to adhere to the Paris climate agreement targets of limiting global temperature rises to below two degrees Celsius (3.6 Fahrenheit) -- and beneath the safer threshold of 1.5 degrees C if at all possible. "I think it is very unfair that the older generations have done this to us and future generations... and that we will have to clean up after them," she said. "Young people need to realise that their future is at risk," she said resolutely, bundled up, with her long blonde braids sticking out from under a woollen hat and scarf against the sub-zero temperatures in Davos. "They need to do something about that and get angry, and form that anger into action," she said, insisting that when children speak up they can have a "huge impact". Thunberg, who looks even younger than her 16 years, has drawn comparison with Pakistani education activist and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Malala Yousafzai. The Swede first grabbed the spotlight when she began staging "school strikes for the climate" last August, skipping school each Friday to protest in front of the Swedish parliament. "Why should I be studying for a future, which may be no more, and when no one is doing anything to save that future?" she said in Davos. "I am too young, I can't vote, but I have to go to school, so this is a way to make my voice heard," adding a measure of surprise at how far her one-girl protest has gone. "I think it is incredible and that it has spread so far, and that people in all continents except Antarctica are climate-striking from school," she said. "I didn't expect it to be that big." We often see insiders buying up shares in companies that perform well over the long term. The flip side of that is that there are more than a few examples of insiders dumping stock prior to a period of weak performance. So before you buy or sell THC Global Group Limited (ASX:THC), you may well want to know whether insiders have been buying or selling. What Is Insider Buying? Most investors know that it is quite permissible for company leaders, such as directors of the board, to buy and sell stock on the market. However, most countries require that the company discloses such transactions to the market. We dont think shareholders should simply follow insider transactions. But equally, we would consider it foolish to ignore insider transactions altogether. For example, a Harvard University study found that insider purchases earn abnormal returns of more than 6% per year. Check out our latest analysis for THC Global Group Want to help shape the future of investing tools and platforms? Take the survey and be part of one of the most advanced studies of stock market investors to date. The Last 12 Months Of Insider Transactions At THC Global Group While no particular insider transaction stood out, we can still look at the overall trading. Over the last year, we can see that insiders have bought 141.11k shares worth AU$83k. In the last twelve months there was more buying than selling by THC Global Group insiders. The average buy price was around AU$0.58. This is nice to see since it implies that insiders might see value around current prices (around AU$0.47). You can see a visual depiction of insider transactions (by individuals) over the last 12 months, below. If you click on the chart, you can see all the individual transactions, including the share price, individual, and the date! ASX:THC Insider Trading January 23rd 19 If you are like me, then you will not want to miss this free list of growing companies that insiders are buying. Insider Ownership of THC Global Group Story continues I like to look at how many shares insiders own in a company, to help inform my view of how aligned they are with insiders. A high insider ownership often makes company leadership more mindful of shareholder interests. It appears that THC Global Group insiders own 21% of the company, worth about AU$12m. Weve certainly seen higher levels of insider ownership elsewhere, but these holdings are enough to suggest alignment between insiders and the other shareholders. What Might The Insider Transactions At THC Global Group Tell Us? The fact that there have been no THC Global Group insider transactions recently certainly doesnt bother us. On a brighter note, the transactions over the last year are encouraging. Insiders own shares in THC Global Group and we see no evidence to suggest they are worried about the future. I like to dive deeper into how a company has performed in the past. You can find historic revenue and earnings in this detailed graph. If you would prefer to check out another company one with potentially superior financials then do not miss this free list of interesting companies, that have HIGH return on equity and low debt. To help readers see past 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. For errors that warrant correction please contact the editor at editorial-team@simplywallst.com. A brave Australian teen who lost her newborn son while battling cancer has died just days after being treated with a new trial drug in an attempt to beat the disease. Surrounded by loved ones, Brianna Rawlings, 19, passed away on Dec. 29 after failing to overcome NK-cell leukemia, a rare and aggressive form of blood disease. Rawlings, who was known as Bree, was diagnosed last year while 17 weeks pregnant with her first child. Because of her pregnancy, she made the decision to postpone getting aggressive treatment, thereby halving her own chances of survival in a bid to give her son the best chance of pulling through. Bree Rawlings lost her battle with cancer in December. (Photo: Courtesy of Kourt Rawlings) She delivered her son, Kyden, via C-section after 26 weeks. He died 12 days later after developing a stomach infection. While the mother and her partner were devastated, Rawlings sister, Kourt, told Australias Yahoo 7 in November that her sibling made a promise to her son to keep fighting her cancer. However, Brees condition only worsened, and a potential bone marrow transplant from her brother was ruled out by doctors. Rawlings was diagnosed with NK-cell leukemia when she was 17 weeks pregnant. (Photo: Courtesy of Kourt Rawlings) Rawlingss son, Kyden, was born premature and survived only 12 days. (Photo: Courtesy of Kourt Rawlings) In November she was given a glimmer of hope with the introduction of a trial drug to help save her life. The costly treatment prompted her family to start a GoFundMe page, which raised enough funds for Bree to start the treatment. But after two injections, she succumbed to the disease and passed away just days after her 19th birthday. Tributes flood in for inspirational woman Brees family has been left shattered by the devastating news, with her sister sharing that her death has been difficult to process. I am so lost for words. I cant think without crying, she told Yahoo. Rawlingss condition deteriorated in December. (Photo: Courtesy of Kourt Rawlings) Rawlings and her sister, Kourt, enjoy their final Christmas together. (Photo: Courtesy of Kourt Rawlings) Friends and relatives took to social media to pay tribute to the young woman and her resilience while battling leukemia. Please rest baby girl, you fought a bloody big fight, her mother, Lyn Rawlings, wrote on Facebook. You kicked its arse for a bit but it cheated and came back. You are always in my mind, etched in my memory. Story continues She added that her family will always remember what an inspiration Bree was to many people. Rawlingss family celebrated her life on Jan. 4. (Photo: Courtesy of Kourt Rawlings) Attendees released balloons in tribute to Rawlings. (Photo: via Facebook) In a celebration of her life, the family held an intimate service for Bree on Jan. 4. Attendees wore vibrant colors because the teen asked for no one to wear black. Without you even knowing it, you have made a world of difference in the way I look at life now, one relative said following the service. Her sister told Yahoo she had words of advice for other families going through the same painful journey. We just want to encourage families to be present with each other and make as many memories as possible, she said. There are so many things Bree didnt get to do, and we will now do them in her honor. Rawlings pictured with her niece before her diagnosis. (Photo: Courtesy of Kourt Rawlings) Read more from Yahoo Lifestyle: Follow us on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter for nonstop inspiration delivered fresh to your feed, every day. TE Connectivity Ltd. TEL delivered first-quarter fiscal 2019 adjusted earnings of $1.29 per share, beating the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 2 cents. However, the figure declined 9.2% year over year and was in line with the high end of the projected range of $1.25-$1.29 per share. Net sales in the quarter were up 0.3% year over year to $3.35 billion. Solid segmental performance, especially in the Industrial and Communications segments, drove top-line growth in the reported quarter. However, sales lagged the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $3.38 billion. The companys total orders declined 6% year over year and 4% sequentially. Notably, orders from China declined 22% year over year. Moreover, weakness in global oil production and lower order levels at Transportation and Communication segments in China resulted in the overall decline in total orders. Top Line in Detail TE Connectivity operates in the following three organized segments. Transportation Solutions: The segment generated $1.99 billion of sales (59.3% of net sales) in the reported quarter, down 2.3% on a year-over-year basis. The decline was primarily due to 1% organic decline in sales of automotive on lower global auto production. However, Commercial transportation witnessed 2% organic growth. Moreover, Sensor business grew 4% organically, year over year. Industrial Solutions: This segment recorded sales of $928 million (27.7% of net sales), up 5.2% from the prior-year quarter. The segment witnessed organic growth of 5% in the reported quarter. Further, orders were up 6% organically. Strength in aerospace, defense and marine led to organic growth of 13%. Moreover, 1% organic sales decline in industrial equipment was offset by strength in medical applications. Communications Solutions: This segment generated sales of $433 million (12.9% of net sales), which increased 2.6% year over year and experienced organic growth of 5%. This was driven by strong growth in data and devices due to high-speed connectivity in data center applications. Notably, Appliance business declined 2% organically due to weakness in Asia. Story continues TE Connectivity Ltd. Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise TE Connectivity Ltd. Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise | TE Connectivity Ltd. Quote Operating Details First quarter fiscal 2019 gross margin was 33.3%, which contracted 160 basis points (bps) from the year-ago quarter. Adjusted operating margin was 16.9%, down 190 bps year over year. Operating margin for Transportation solutions and Communication Solutions declined 16.4% and 5.3% year over year. However, operating margin for Industrial Solutions increased 9.5% year over year. Moreover, R&D expenses were $161 million, down 2.4% from the prior-year quarter and selling, general, and administrative expenses were $389 million, up 3.2% year over year. Given the slowdown in market conditions, the company is ramping up its efforts to reduce its fixed costs, which, in turn, is expected to have a positive impact on profitability in the near term. Notably, the company incurred an acquisition charge of $5 million compared with $2 million in the year-ago quarter. Balance Sheet & Cash Flow As of Dec 28, 2018, TE Connectivitys cash and cash equivalents was $505 million compared with $848 million as of Sep 28, 2018. The company generated free cash flow of $69 million in the reported quarter. Further, TE Connectivity paid back $645 million to its shareholders through share repurchases and dividend payments. Notably, the amount paid to the shareholders includes proceeds from the sale of the company's Subsea Communications business. Guidance For fiscal second quarter of 2019, the company expects net sales in the range of $3.3 billion and $3.4 billion, indicating decline of 6% at the mid-point. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for sales is pegged at $3.51 billion. Adjusted earnings per share are projected in the band of $1.13-$1.17. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for earnings is pegged at $1.38 per share. Additionally, for fiscal 2019, TE Connectivity anticipates net sales of $13.45 and $13.85 billion, projecting decline of 2% year over year at the mid-point. The company anticipates adjusted EPS to be within $5.35-$5.55, indicating low-single digit growth at midpoint. To Conclude TE Connectivity reported mixed first-quarter fiscal 2019 results, beating earnings estimates but missing the same for revenues. The company reduced fiscal 2019 earnings guidance and sales forecast owing to weak market conditions in China and softness in European Auto. Moreover, the company expects revenues and earnings to stay flat sequentially in the second quarter. The companys strong efforts toward business development will continue to benefit segmental performance. The Transportation Solutions segment is anticipated to witness organic growth in low single-digits, owing to global decline in auto production, primarily in Europe and China. However, the company expects margins in this segment to improve by the end of fiscal 2019 at the back of cost actions initiated by the company. The Industrial Solutions segment is also poised to grow in low-single digits with growth in aerospace, defense and medical partially offset by weakness in factory automation applications. Communications Solutions segment is also expected to grow in low-single digits. The decline will primarily be due to weakness in Asian markets for data, devices unit and appliances. Zacks Rank & Stocks to Consider TE Connectivity currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). Some better-ranked stocks in the broader computer and technology sector include SYNNEX Corporation SNX, Twitter, Inc. TWTR and Cloudera, Inc. CLDR. All the three stocks sport a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy). You can see the complete list of todays Zacks Rank #1 stocks here. Expected long-term earnings growth rate for SYNNEX, Twitter and Cloudera is 0.7%, 22.1% and 8%, respectively. More Stock News: This Is Bigger than the iPhone! It could become the mother of all technological revolutions. Apple sold a mere 1 billion iPhones in 10 years but a new breakthrough is expected to generate more than 27 billion devices in just 3 years, creating a $1.7 trillion market. Zacks has just released a Special Report that spotlights this fast-emerging phenomenon and 6 tickers for taking advantage of it. If you don't buy now, you may kick yourself in 2020. Click here for the 6 trades >> 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 SYNNEX Corporation (SNX) : Free Stock Analysis Report TE Connectivity Ltd. (TEL) : Free Stock Analysis Report Cloudera, Inc. (CLDR) : Free Stock Analysis Report To read this article on Zacks.com click here. This content is not available due to your privacy preferences. Update your settings here to see it. An ex-girlfriend of the man accused of killing five people in a Florida bank says he "always hated people" but that she thought nothing of it when he recently bought a gun. A judge on Thursday ordered former prison guard trainee Zephen Xaver, 21, held without bond, one day after he barricaded himself in a bank in Sebring and opened fire, then called 911 and announced "I have shot five people." Xaver recently relocated to central Florida from Indiana. Alex Gerlach told WSBT-TV in Indiana she had an on-and-off relationship with Xaver for two years, and had kept in contact every few months since. She said he often talked about wanting to hurt people. "I never understood where it started," she told the station. "For some reason (he) always hated people and wanted everyone to die." Five people were killed Wednesday, Jan. 23, 2019, at a SunTrust Bank branch in Sebring, Fla., on U.S. 27 after a man, identified as Zephen Xaver, entered the building and began shooting. She said he bought a gun last week, but that she and others had shrugged it off because he alway liked guns. Every single person Ive told has not taken it seriously, and its very unfortunate that it had to come to this, Gerlach said. Sebring Mayor John Shoop said his close-knit community was rocked by the attack and that "tragedies like this are not supposed to happen here." "Acts like this cannot deter us from living our lives freely from fear and deprivation," the mayor added. "The path turned dark today, but as we move on we will grow stronger." Start the day smarter: Get USA TODAY's Daily Briefing in your inbox Xaver had been hired in November to work at the nearby Avon Park Correctional Institution. Spokesman Patrick Manderfield said Xaver resigned two weeks ago without explanation. Xaver kept a minor presence on social media with a Facebook page that listed nine friends. The page shows he lived in Sebring and is single. But another Facebook Page, apparently set up when he lived in Plymouth, Indiana, shows an image of the Grim Reaper and a meme that reads, God is busy right nowmay I help you? Story continues "This individual needs to face very swift and exacting justice," said Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who joined the Wednesday afternoon news conference. He also asked the public to keep the victims and families in their prayers. The shooting took place about 150 miles north of Parkland, where 17 students and teachers were killed in a 19-year-old gunman's rampage at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School less than one year ago. David Hogg, who survived that shooting, took notice on Twitter: "Five people where killed today in Florida and our government continues to send their thoughts and prayers. #Enough" Florida shooting suspect: Who is Zephen Xaver, man accused of killing five at SunTrust Bank? Sebring Police Chief Karl Hoglund and Highlands County Sheriff Paul Blackman declined to elaborate on the motive for the shooting, which took place around noon at the SunTrust bank in Sebring, about 100 miles southeast of Tampa. The county SWAT team was sent in after the gunman, who had barricaded himself inside, refused to negotiate with officers, Blackman said. Xaver was taken into custody. Our entire team mourns this terrible loss, SunTrust Chairman and CEO Bill Rogers said in a statement. The incident marks the 19th mass shooting in 2019, according to the Gun Violence Archive, a not-for-profit organization that provides online public access to information about gun-related violence. The numbers include incidents in which four or more people were shot or killed, not including the shooters, according to the archive. Contributing: Mary Helen Moore and J.D. Gallop, Florida Today; The Associated Press This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Suntrust Bank shooting suspect 'always hated people and wanted everyone to die,' ex-girlfriend says Flooding in Somerset, England, in 2014. (Photo: Matt Cardy/Getty Images) As nations around the world awaken to the danger of climate change and seek protection from sea-level rise and extreme weather, planning agencies, fire departments and industries from real estate to insurance are looking for high-resolution data pinpointing the risks down to specific street addresses. These peril prediction models for flooding, wildfires, extreme heat, water security and similar threats could fundamentally change the way companies and governments plan for climate risks. Rich Sorkin is the founder and CEO of Jupiter Intelligence, a startup delivering hyperlocal climate predictions using cloud computing. His team of scientists and engineers are at the forefront of catastrophic-risk modeling. Sorkin, a Silicon Valley entrepreneur for the past three decades, cut his teeth on databases, advanced analytics and geographic information systems. He sold one company to HP, another to Google. He said the business side of the company is made up of more people like him: classic capitalist entrepreneurs. About two and a half years ago, they started to think about the needs of the private sector in responding to climate risks. Since then, theres been a steady but dramatic increase in the actual losses that citizens and businesses experienced as well as the perceived increase in those losses in the future. Both are important, Sorkin told Yahoo News. Jupiter was started to address a particular problem: Most models for disaster risk are based on past events and do not take the changing climate into account. This makes it difficult for anyone in business or government to plan for the future. Rob Moore, a senior policy analyst for the Natural Resources Defense Council, focuses on some of the bigger water risks associated with climate change. He said a major hurdle for addressing these problems is that the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) creates maps that are universally used by architects and engineers in the planning and construction of buildings. Panels tasked with monitoring flood zones also rely on these maps but they are fundamentally flawed. Story continues None of them are created with any projection of future flood risks and how they are changing, Moore told Yahoo News. The maps are predicated on the assumption, as many of our disaster policies are, that the past is a perfect predictor of the future, and nothing can be further from the truth when dealing with climate change. Sorkin said Jupiters predictions are different from those of any other groups in the private or public sectors because they focus on the asset level. Flood depth from tropical and nontropical storm surge with 1 percent annual probability in Charleston, S.C. (High Sea Level Rise Scenario, 2030) (Source: Jupiter) If its a house, it might be the garage and points of entry for a basement. If its a power plant, its the location of the most critical and exposed infrastructure. If its an industrial warehouse, its the points of vulnerability like the loading dock, Sorkin said. We look at the specific vulnerability for that specific asset and compare that to the risks over time from each of those individual perils. At its founding, Jupiter raised $10 million to build an interdisciplinary team of top climate scientists, weather modelers and software developers. Julie Pullen, a research scientist at Columbia Universitys Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory and climate science adviser at the Brookhaven National Laboratory, signed on as Jupiters product director. She spoke to Yahoo News at the New York offices of Jupiter, which is headquartered in San Mateo, Calif., and has another office in Boulder, Colo. Its unique to have a team of high-caliber scientists with expertise across so many components of the earth system. That combined with engineers and data scientists well-versed in the latest computing technologies and algorithms and seasoned entrepreneurs and advisers with deep experience in this space all create a dynamite environment for developing novel approaches and powerful solutions, Pullen said. At the Naval Research Laboratory, Pullen pioneered combining ocean and atmosphere models to improve calculations of resilience and sustainability in coastal environments. She was part of the National Academies committee behind the Fourth National Climate Assessment, which contained alarming predictions about the damage climate change will have on American infrastructure, public health and the economy. She also led the National Center for Maritime Security, which was funded by the Department of Homeland Security. Rich Sorkin, the founder and CEO of Jupiter, and Julie Pullen, the product director and a research scientist. (Photos: Rosdiana Ciaravolo/Getty Images for One Planet One Future) Science has shown that ensemble techniques (running more than one model result) can lead to enhanced predictability by illuminating the range of possible outcomes. This is especially important looking out to longer time horizons, and allows for a quantification of uncertainty, Pullen said. Commercially, Jupiters six-month- to 50-plus-year flood prediction service at the asset level is available throughout the Atlantic coast today: Its concentrated primarily in the New York metropolitan area, south Florida and the Carolinas, but it is steadily expanding. It intends to cover Houston soon and to have data on the top 100 global metropolitan areas within 18 months. Jupiter has a short-term service that offers one-hour to five-day flood predictions for use by emergency management and response officials. Although any property owner could find Jupiters predictions valuable, the company mostly markets to insurance companies, the real estate industry and city governments. Sorkin said state governments and industries such as chemical manufacturing are expressing interest as well. We primarily sell to large enterprises. NOAA [the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration] asked us at one point whether we could help them with something that was consumer-facing or citizen-facing, and we said wed be happy to do that, Sorkin said, adding that he could imagine partnering with internet companies such as Google, Facebook or Zillow, but were not currently set up as an individual consumer-facing service. Pullen said Jupiters customers include three of the top global insurance companies, some of the worlds largest mortgage firms, power companies, New York City, the U.S. government, Miami and a large U.S. state. In addition to our existing work in flood, extreme heat and wind, we are already expanding into several additional perils, especially fire, she said. President Trump doubts the reality of climate change and has appointed climate skeptics and deniers to prominent places in the U.S. government with tremendous power over environmental policy. By and large, Democratic politicians are pushing for the government to prioritize protecting the environment and contributing to the global effort to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Republican politicians, on the other hand, have largely been lobbying on behalf of industry, and many have fostered doubt in the scientific consensus. A thermometer in the sun on the sidewalk indicates a temperature of 120 degrees as people eat ice cream in New York City in August 2006 (Photo: Chris Hondros/Getty Images) There is contingent of Republican environmentalists who think entrepreneurship and free market forces are the answer to the climate crisis. Jupiters success shows that private industry is taking climate change seriously, and that there is a market for science-backed data about its dangers. It also provides a parallel structure, outside of government and universities, in which climate science can be pursued, without risking the ludicrous charge that its all a hoax perpetrated by a cabal of self-interested academics. The company was named after the Roman god of storms and the sky and grew out of another company that was named after Zeus, his Greek equivalent. About 10 years ago, Zeus became one of the first companies in the world to run weather-prediction models in the cloud (the internet cloud, not the kind that makes rain). The company wanted to explore the new possibilities of high-performance computing with the benefit of the cloud but was a little early. Climate change was not taken seriously enough as a significant economic issue, and the technology wasnt quite there yet. Sorkin moved to a predictive analytics company that Google bought last year and another co-founder moved to a private satellite observation company called Skybox that Google bought four years ago and was then merged into Planet Labs. The scientific co-founder of Zeus went back to academia and continued his work on cloud computing with a grant from the National Science Foundation. Sorkin said 30-day weather and one-year risk prediction is very well-covered ground but that theres little research on forecasts beyond a year. But he said when his team began to focus on perils instead of weather, things started to gel. Fast-forward a little bit, we got more done with three people in the six weeks when we started Jupiter than we had in three years with a bigger team at Zeus because the underlying platform technology was so much more robust, Sorkin said. _____ Read more from Yahoo News: Jared Kushner, right, with President Trump. Photo: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images One of the tropes of Trump-era Washington reporting is that any time President Trump is doing something unusually stupid and cruel, stories will appear in the media noting that Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump are trying to talk him out of it. But here is something new. The Washington Post reports that Kushner is talking Trump into extending the longest government shutdown in history. The presidential son-in-law is repeatedly assuring Trump that he can personally strike a deal with Democrats, reports the Post. Kushner, fired up by faith in his deal-making prowess, believes he is on the cusp of breaking apart the Democratic caucus and delivering a ransom to Trump. A person familiar with Kushners strategy i.e., Kushner himself tells the Post he has been focused on targeting Democrats who may want to break from leadership and has had positive conversations with many of them. This sounds insane. Indeed, other advisers in the White House say its insane. They cant jam Pelosi. They never will. They think Nancy Pelosi will have to eat something. Shes not going to have to eat anything. Another quote describes Kushner as delusional. Delusional, he almost certainly is. But there is a basis for Kushners delusions. At least some Democrats seem to want to give Trump his ransom. Give Trump the money. Id give him the whole thing, Representative Collin Peterson, a right-leaning Democrat from a red Minnesota district, told a local radio station Tuesday, Why are we fighting over this? Were going to build that wall anyway, at some time. We all agree its very important that we find a way to actually start talking, said New Jersey representative Josh Gottheimer, leader of the bipartisan Problem Solvers Caucus. A lot of people just want to get this resolved Theyre impatient for a lack of conversation. And Representative Kurt Schrader, a member of the Blue Dog coalition, a caucus for Democratic moderates, tells Politico, Not negotiating is not a good strategy. We lost the messaging battle over the weekend. We cant reject stuff out of hand, you have to at least consider it. The notion that Democrats are losing the battle seems totally bizarre. Trumps approval rating has fallen into the 30s. A Fox News poll shows Trumps approval on handling of border security (!) at minus ten. Trumps own economists are pleading with him through the media to end the shutdown before it triggers a recession, which of course would all but doom his already-tenuous chances of winning reelection. If this is Democrats losing, what would winning look like? The fact that Democrats are willing to rescue Trump from a self-inflicted death blow to his own presidency, by reopening the government with no strings attached, is remarkably generous. Its nothing short of astonishing that some Democrats appear willing to give Trump concessions in order to prevent Trump from committing political suicide. Presumably these are among the Democrats speaking to Kushner and feeding his confidence. Now, Kushner probably doesnt understand how much distance remains between him and his goal. First, any deal he made with Democrats would have to survive Stephen Miller, who controls the policy apparatus, and who actually does understand policy, unlike Kushner. Second, and far more importantly, Kushner would have to persuade Democrats to take the extraordinary step of stripping control of the House agenda from Speaker Nancy Pelosi. Pelosi has firmly argued against giving Trump any ransom, on the grounds that it would encourage him to take more hostages. Kushner wants to work around her by cutting a deal with some breakaway moderates. The problem, as many Democrats understood during the years of Republican House control, is that having the support of 218 House members for a bill doesnt do you any good if the Speaker keeps the bill off the House floor. So maybe Kushner can get some Democrats to agree with him, but getting them to force the deal onto the floor over Pelosis objections is a much bigger ask, and an obstacle he probably hasnt even contemplated. But the fact that these Democrats are talking to Kushner and sending receptive signals has apparently inflated his already swollen confidence in his negotiating prowess. Kushner surely grasps that telling Trump what he wants to hear that he can win the shutdown is making Trump more likely to listen to Kushner and to ignore the other, more downbeat advisers. And the longer Kushner has some reason to believe his own fairy tale, the longer the shutdown will go on. By Nivedita Balu (Reuters) - Starbucks exceeded Wall Street forecasts for quarterly sales on Thursday, led by the popularity of its holiday-themed drinks in the United States, where its growth has been cooling in an increasingly crowded market for coffee houses. The world's largest coffee chain said it listened to customers and brought back its much loved red-colored cups and holiday favorites such as Peppermint Mochas and Gingerbread Lattes during the final three months of 2018. "This comprehensive, insight-driven approach delivered results and importantly, created momentum that provides a solid foundation for future quarters," Starbucks Chief Executive Officer Kevin Johnson said on a conference call with analysts. The Seattle-headquartered company, which is battling high-end coffee houses and smaller upstarts in the United States, has rolled out promotions, especially during slow afternoons to pull in more customers. Iced beverages and its Draft Nitro cold brew which aims to create a beer-like experience have been particularly successful, and the company said its morning and afternoon sales in the December-quarter was the best in five quarters. Partnerships with food-delivery companies and an increased focus on customer service through its mobile app are also helping boost sales, Starbucks executives said. Globally, the company's same-restaurant sales rose 4 percent during the December-quarter, topping analysts' average estimate of a 2.8 percent increase, according to IBES data from Refinitiv. "Overall, we believe it was a solid quarter and this is another quarter that reinforces our view that the turnaround is showing progress and gaining some steam," Edward Jones analyst Brian Yarbrough said. Sales from Starbucks' Americas and U.S. business reached a record $4.6 billion in the three months ended Dec. 30, while same-restaurant sales in China, its second biggest market, also showed an increase. Story continues In China, where the company competes with local brands like Luckin Coffee, sales at established Starbucks cafes beat estimates, driven mainly by new store openings and its delivery program that now supports 2,000 stores across 30 Chinese cities. For a graphic on Starbucks' sales growth in China, click here: https://tmsnrt.rs/2HxDTzW Starbucks shares were last higher by 1.5 percent at $65.75 in after-hours trading on Thursday, easing from a 4 percent advance earlier. The company's quarterly net revenue climbed 9.2 percent to $6.63 billion, beating analysts' forecasts of $6.49 billion. Net earnings attributable to Starbucks fell to $760.6 million from $2.25 billion a year earlier, reflecting nearly $1.8 billion in gains last year from acquisitions and the sale of some businesses. Excluding one-time items, the company earned 68 cents per share, beating estimates by 3 cents. (Reporting by Nivedita Balu in Bengaluru; Editing by Sai Sachin Ravikumar) The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services on Wednesday granted Greenville-based Miracle Hill Ministries an exemption to continue its faith-based foster care program that works only with Christians. Miracle Hill has been operating its program for decades, but its recruiting policy came under scrutiny after the Obama administration implemented a new regulation for federal funding recipients shortly before the inauguration of President Donald Trump. The regulation prohibits groups receiving federal funding from discriminating on the basis of religion. Gov. Henry McMaster had requested an exemption on Miracle Hill's behalf in March 2018, and the issue became the focus of a national discussion on religious freedom as the ministry waited on a decision from the federal government. The Administration for Children and Families, a branch of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, granted the exemption Wednesday to protect the religious liberty of all faith-based foster care providers in South Carolina. Reid Lehman, president and chief executive officer for Miracle Hill Ministries, addresses the crowd gathered to see the medical respite program at Miracle Hill's Greenville Rescue Mission. Miracle Hill has been granted federal protection to operate as a faith-based foster care provider. "It protects minors who are in need of as many options as possible for being placed in loving foster families," Lynn Johnson, assistant secretary for the Administration of Children and Families, said in a statement. "The government should not be in the business of forcing foster care providers to close their doors because of their faith. Religious freedom is a fundamental human right. Miracle Hill, the largest provider of foster families in South Carolina for foster children who do not have significant special needs, does not allow gay couples or families that dont agree with its statement of faith to serve as foster parents through its program. However, it does direct those of different beliefs to other foster care programs. Within the past 10 months, Miracle Hill Ministries and its board members have been the target of hate mail and hate calls. Someone even threatened to burn down the organizations building, Miracle Hill President and CEO Reid Lehman said. Story continues He said he felt a mixture of relief and joy when he learned of the decision. "It was the right decision to honor the federal Religious Freedom Restoration Act," he said. "It was the right decision to keep the pool of providers for foster care as big as possible, and the right decision to make sure the needs of South Carolina children are met." The American Civil Liberties Union disagreed with the federal government's decision and considered it to be discrimination. Eight states have passed laws allowing state-contracted child agencies to exclude prospective families based on the religious beliefs of the agency, the ACLU said. This is the first action by the federal government to sanction such discrimination, the ACLU said. There are more than 400,000 children in foster care around the country, and today the Trump administration has turned its back on each of them," said Leslie Cooper, deputy director of the American Civil Liberties Unions LGBT & HIV Project. "Prospective foster and adoptive parents should be judged only on their capacity to provide love and support to a child not their faith," Cooper said. More: ACLU sues Michigan over religious exemptions for adoptions More: Reaction to Supreme Court same-sex wedding cake verdict: 'Huge win for religious freedom' Congressman Jeff Duncan said the decision is a big win for religious liberty, particularly for organizations in South Carolina who provide faith-based services. "I have been working on this issue for over two years now, and I am happy to see the Administration protect religious liberty and the children and families who rely on these services in the Upstate," Duncan said. Faith-based foster and adoption services perform amazing work for communities in South Carolina and around the country," he said. "These organizations care deeply about children and families in need, and they shouldnt be punished by the federal government because of their faith. Miracle Hill Ministries is the Upstates largest, most comprehensive provider of services to homeless children and adults, its website said. Since its start in 1937, the organization has served with programs that include rescue shelters for the homeless, residential addiction recovery, transitional housing, and shelters for children. Were clear in our identity, Lehman told The Greenville News. We look like a social service agency, but were a community of Christ followers and our faith in Christ is the most important part of who we are." Its important for Miracle Hill to partner with Christians in achieving its mission of serving the poor and especially children in the name of Christ, Lehman said. If we had to choose between compromising our spiritual beliefs or not providing these services we would hold fast to our spiritual beliefs, he said. Lehman said it has been argued that the pool of foster care families is reduced or restricted because Miracle Hill recruits just Christian families. Lehman said Miracle Hill would never deny a healthy person the chance to work with a child. Lehman said that anyone in the state who wants to foster has a choice of other agencies they could foster with, as well as with DSS. "If anyone Jewish, Muslim, atheist, any religion or no religion said 'I want to foster a child' and they looked like a healthy person, we would try to help them find someone to take them through the licensing process because kids need it," he said. The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) said HHS's decision is shameful, illegal and immoral, and that "it allows a "government funded foster care agency to openly discriminate against Jews, gay couples and others who dont follow their faith." "Allowing a taxpayer-funded agency to discriminate against Jews and other minorities is outrageous and sets a dangerous precedent for our nation. This is clearly unlawful and will not hold up in court, said Jonathan Greenblatt, CEO and national director of the Anti-Defamation League. Most of Miracle Hill's existence comes from donations, Lehman said. But some of the funds it receives from the state DSS for reimbursements about $600,000 a year comes from the federal sources, Lehman said. Amanda Tyler, executive director of the Baptist Joint Committee for Religious Liberty, said the committee opposes "government-funded religious discrimination," and said the action by HHS "signals a dramatic and troubling shift." "This waiver shows more concern for the providers than children in need and willing foster parents," Tyler said. Miracle Hill recruits families for foster children, but it doesn't actually place them in the homes of its families. That's the role and decision of the state Department of Social Services, said Sandra Furnell, spokesperson for Miracle Hill. "When DSS comes to Miracle Hill and says, 'We have this child. Do you have a home that would take this child?,' we look among the people we have," Furnell said. "If we have a family willing and able to receive that child, DSS makes that decision whether or not to place a child with our families," she said. "We dont have the authority to place those children." Rep. James E. Clyburn, U.S. House Majority Whip, is among the key house Democrats that issued a joint response condemning the waiver. I have stood against discrimination my entire career, and this waiver is unlawful discrimination based on religion and sexual orientation," Clyburn said. "The real tragedy of this situation is that federal funding is being used to keep children out of loving homes. Rep. Joe Cunningham, D-S.C., ) said the decision is "morally wrong, unconstitutional, and sets a very dangerous precedent." "More importantly, we should not be in the position of denying families that want to help vulnerable children based on criteria that in no way impacts their ability to be a loving parent or mentor," he said. The decision suggests "that it is not the children, but the social welfare agencies themselves, who require protection," said Rep. John Lewis, D-Ga., lead House Democratic sponsor of the Every Child Deserves a Family Act and member of the Ways & Means Committee, which has jurisdiction over federal policy with respect to tax-exempt organizations and child welfare. It is remarkable to me that making it easy for agencies in South Carolina to discriminate against adoptive or foster parents comes so easily to this administration, yet the emergency facing millions of vulnerable orphan or foster children falls on deaf ears," he said. Our state foster care system is facing many challenges recruiting loving and competent families," said Sue Berkowitz, director of SC Appleseed Legal Justice Center. "Allowing caring families to be discriminated against and denied the opportunity to become a foster home hurts the very children our state is charged to protect and should not be allowed. The Charleston Jewish Federation is "dismayed" to learn of the exemption, said Eileen Chepenik, president and Judi Corsaro, CEO of the federation. Jeff Ayers, executive director of SC Equality in a joint statement. "This flies in the face of the first amendment to our nations constitution," they said. "As Jews, we believe in Tikkun Olam, repair of the world, and support childrens welfare, whatever an adopting familys religion, race, or sexual orientation. " As Americans, we must work to fight against any form of discrimination that marginalizes individuals at the hands of government-funded dollars," said Jeff Ayers, executive director of SC Equality. "Right now there are children in South Carolina who could be living in stable, loving homes, with parents who just happen to be LGBT. Its disgraceful that an agency working to provide suitable homes for children would deny then access to a bright future. Colleen Condon, president of AFFA (Alliance for Full Acceptance) and a family law attorney in Charleston, said they are "so disappointed that the federal government has granted an exemption allowing religious discrimination in adoptions." "AFFA advocates for social justice for gay parents. And I work with wonderful parents seeking to care for a child who otherwise will be left in the tentative world of foster care and group homes. We will not let this stand. Federal law prohibits discrimination in federally-funded programs against foster parents on religious grounds, but 10 states permit discrimination by state-licensed foster care organizations against LGBTQ people, same-sex couples and others if doing so conflicts with the organization's beliefs, the Human Rights Campaign (HRC) said in a release Thursday. "This waiver is unconscionable, in no small part because it prioritizes federal contractors over kids in need of families," said Cathryn Oakley, HRC state legislative director and senior counsel. Follow Angelia Davis on Twitter: @NewsAngelia This article originally appeared on The Greenville News: South Carolina foster care program that only works with Christians granted religious exemption WASHINGTON The Senate Intelligence Committee on Thursday subpoenaed Michael Cohen, President Donald Trump's former lawyer and longtime fixer, to testify about his dealings with the president. The panel is investigating Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election. Wednesday, Cohen refused to testify voluntarily before a House panel because of "threats" from the president and his personal lawyer, Rudy Giuliani. Lanny Davis, one of Cohen's lawyers, confirmed Thursday that he received a subpoena to testify Feb. 12 before Cohen is due to report to federal prison. Davis told MSNBC that Cohen will honor congressional subpoenas, but any appearance would depend on lawmakers assurances that Cohen and his family would be protected. Mr. Cohen is concerned that when you are labeled a rat and you are going to federal prison, there could be some danger, Davis told MSNBC. Cohen has been a central figure in special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election and a separate inquiry into payoffs to conceal allegations that Trump carried on affairs with two women. One of the convictions for which Cohen was sentenced to three years in prison was for providing a false statement to the Senate panel about the extent of negotiations to build a proposed Trump Tower in Moscow, which continued during most of 2016. Cohen admitted he lied last year when he told House and Senate panels that Trump's private company dropped plans to build a tower in Russia before the start of the Republican presidential primaries. He later acknowledged that discussions continued into June 2016. By then, Trump was the presumptive Republican presidential nominee. Spokesmen for the Senate panel declined to comment. Cohen didn't reply to a request for comment. Cohen was sentenced to three years in prison for a series of federal crimes, including campaign finance violations, tax evasion and lying to Congress. He provided information to Mueller's investigators and to a separate team of federal prosecutors in New York examining payments he helped orchestrate to two women shortly before the 2016 election. Story continues For years, Cohen defended Trump in legal, business and political matters but turned on him as federal prosecutors honed in on his business and legal dealings. Cohen had offered to testify at the House panel voluntarily, then withdrew. The committee's chairman, Rep. Elijah Cummings, D-Md., said the panel would hear from Cohen "as sure as night becomes day," but he hadn't decided Wednesday whether to issue a subpoena. "Due to ongoing threats against his family from President Trump and Mr. Giuliani, as recently as this weekend, as well as Mr. Cohen's continued cooperation with ongoing investigations, by advice of counsel, Mr. Cohens appearance will be postponed to a later date," Davis said Wednesday about the House appearance. "This is a time when Mr. Cohen had to put his family and their safety first." Trump called Cohen a liar and said he was unaware of his criminal activities. Trump suggested investigators should look into Cohen's father-in-law. Giuliani said on CNN on Sunday that Cohen's father-in-law "may have ties to something called organized crime." Asked about Cohen's allegations Wednesday, Trump said at the White House, "He's only been threatened by the truth." Contributing: Eliza Collins This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Senate panel subpoenas Michael Cohen, President Trump's former personal lawyer For all its financial might, Silicon Valley should give back to the community more than it currently does, contends Salesforce.org CEO Rob Acker. I think that we can always be doing more, everybody, and I think there are a lot of things that people can do, Acker told Yahoo Finance anchor Julie Hyman at the World Economic Forum this week. To that end, Salesforce.org, a 20-year-old nonprofit division of Salesforce.com (CRM) with more than 900 employees, has awarded over $240 million in grants to organizations and schools worldwide. The division, which does not currently receive funding from Salesforce.com, raises grant money by selling Salesforce.com software at heavily discounted rates to nonprofit organizations and schools, including the American Red Cross, Change.org, charity: water, the Epilepsy Foundation and the Girls Scouts of the United States of America. In the case of charity: water, Salesforce.org provided Salesforce customer relationship management (CRM) software and an app called roundCause, which essentially helps charity: water manage its customer relationships with software tools, as well as raise funds. Salesforce.org is one of the higher-profile examples of philanthropy in the San Francisco Bay Area a region where the median home price in San Francisco hovers close to $1.4 million, according to Zillow, and the median family income for the area is $118,400. (The definition of low income for a household of four people living in San Francisco, San Mateo and Marin counties starts at $117,400, according to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Developments definition of low income limits.) Many of the tech industrys billionaires, including Mark Zuckerberg, Elon Musk, and Larry Page, signed the Giving Pledge, a commitment by the worlds wealthiest individuals to dedicate the majority of their wealth to philanthropic causes. Benioff and Salesforce also contributed $7 million in support of San Franciscos Proposition C, a ballot measure passed last November that taxes large businesses to bring in $300 million to fight homelessness. Story continues Still, the rest of Silicon Valley could donate more of their money and time to local causes. About 90% of philanthropic dollars from Silicon Valley, for instance, have gone to national and international causes, according to The Giving Code, a report published in 2016 about Silicon Valley philanthropy. Of the 10% donated to local organizations, much of it goes to large hospitals or universities, with less than 5% going to local community-based organizations. I think that companies have always cared, and they've wanted to give back, adds Acker, who points out that Salesforce.com employees receive seven paid days a year for volunteer work. What we're really trying to change is that I think historically, corporate giving was about writing the checks, because companies didn't know how to do anything but that, so they felt that was their value-added service. But our greatest areas of impact is either through technology or through our employee engagement. That's what really connects and bridges up the community. So I think, of course, we can always be doing more. Spoken like an ambitious philanthropist. More from JP: WASHINGTON A senior Russian official on Thursday warned the Trump administration against military intervention in Venezuela, saying it would create a "catastrophic scenario" in the region. "We warn against this," Russia's deputy foreign minister, Sergei Ryabkov, said in an interview with International Affairs magazine, a Russian media outlet. "We believe that this would be a catastrophic scenario that would shake the foundations of the development model we see in the Latin American region." On Wednesday, President Donald Trump recognized Juan Guaido, head of Venezuelas opposition-led National Assembly, as the countrys interim president Wednesday saying Nicolas Maduro is not the country's legitimate leader. The Trump administration has said it will use "all options" to pressure Maduro to relinquish power. But their comments have emphasized economic sanctions, not military force. Maduro was sworn in on Jan. 11 to a second term amid allegations of electoral fraud. With the country in upheaval, Guaido declared himself interim president on Wednesday, saying he was formally assuming the responsibility of the national executive. Thousands of Venezuelans have staged anti-Maduro protests, calling on the leader to step down as the country reels from spiraling inflation, a shortage of basic goods and a migration crisis. The Associated Press reported that at least seven protesters have been killed in the escalating confrontation with Maduro's regime. "The people of Venezuela have courageously spoken out against Maduro and his regime and demanded freedom and the rule of law," Trump said on Wednesday in recognizing Guaido as the country's legitimate leader. Maduro responded by cutting diplomatic ties with the United States and giving American diplomats stationed in the country 72 hours to leave. But Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said U.S. embassy staff would remain in Venezuela at the invitation of Guaido. Story continues "The United States does not consider former president Nicolas Maduro to have the legal authority to break diplomatic relations with the United States or to declare our diplomats persona non grata," Pompeo said in a statement Wednesday night. Canada has also declared its support for Guaido as Venezuela's leader. But Russia has staunchly backed Maduro's government, politically and militarily. The Kremlin dispatched two Russian bombers to Venezuela last month, a provocative move that raised red flags in Washington. Contributing: Doug Stanglin Anti-government protesters cheer after Juan Guaido, head of Venezuela's opposition-run congress, declares himself interim president of the South American country until a new election can be called, at a rally demanding the resignation of President Nicolas Maduro, in Caracas, Venezuela, Wednesday, Jan. 23, 2019. This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Russian official warns Trump administration against military intervention in Venezuela Class war you can believe in. Photo: Nati Harnik/AP/REX/Shutterstock A 70 percent tax on incomes over $10 million isnt cool. You know whats cool? A 2 percent tax on the wealth of all Americans who own more than $50 million in assets. Or so Elizabeth Warrens policy advisers seem to believe. Weeks after Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez brought expropriating the super-richs income back into fashion, the Massachusetts senator is preparing to hit the plutocrats where it hurts right in the assets. As the Washington Post reports: Emmanuel Saez and Gabriel Zucman, two left-leaning economists at the University of California, Berkeley, have been advising Warren on a proposal to levy a 2 percent wealth tax on Americans with assets above $50 million, as well as a 3 percent wealth tax on those who have more than $1 billion, according to Saez. Warrens proposal includes at least three new mechanisms to combat tax evasion, according to a person familiar with the plan. Those are a significant increase in funding for the Internal Revenue Service; a mandatory audit rate requiring a certain number of people who pay the wealth tax to be subject to an audit every year; and a one-time tax penalty for those who have more than $50 million and try to renounce their U.S. citizenship. Taxing assets has many advantages over (merely) taxing income. First and foremost, thats where the money is. The gap between the one-percents annual earnings and everyone elses is large. But the chasm between the formers holdings and the 99 percents is gargantuan. As of 2015, the richest one percent of Americans were bringing home 20 percent of our countrys national income but commanding 35 percent of our nations wealth. Meanwhile, the top 0.1 percent lay claim to assets as valuable as the bottom 90 percents combined. Thus, soaking the rich through wealth taxes will get you a lot of bang for their buck. According to Zucman and Saezs calculations, Warrens wealth tax would bring in $2.75 trillion during its first decade despite affecting only 75,000 of Americas families. There is no way to generate that much revenue from income taxes without digging into the middle-classs pockets. And polling data suggests that a majority of Americans are eager to support a wide variety of ambitious progressive programs like Medicare for All or a federal jobs guarantee so long as rich people pick up the tab. Further, Warrens policy makes for good messaging. As Boston University political scientist Spencer Piston documents in his recent book Class Attitudes in America, many swing voters believe that the rich get more than they deserve, and are inclined to support policies (and parties) that target the wealthy. But Democrats have often failed to capitalize on widespread resentment of the rich in the past by neglecting to deploy populist rhetoric that would convey the distributional implications of progressive policy goals. For example, Piston shows that support for the estate tax surges when voters are made to understand it as an inheritance tax on the super rich. The distributional implications of a tax on $50 million fortunes will be harder for Republicans to obfuscate than those of a 70 percent top marginal tax rate (marginal tax rates being a concept that many voters do not immediately comprehend). And yet, trying to spread the wealth around also has its downsides. First, its a lot harder to tax assets than it is to tax income because the former are easier to hide, and their value is harder for Uncle Sam to assess. In 1990, eight OECD countries had wealth taxes; today, only four do. The abandonment of such taxes may reflect a rightward drift in economic policy over the past 29 years. But its also the case that these taxes have tended to bring in less revenue than their boosters had hoped. Meanwhile, the more money the wealthy spend on tax-evasion services, the less capital they collectively invest in things that have some social utility (like enterprises that create jobs or value for consumers). All this said, the United States isnt an ordinary country. It is the wealthiest nation in human history and, for at least a few more years, the closest thing this planet has to a hegemonic power. If the U.S. took policing global tax evasion as seriously as it took policing global terrorism, its hard to believe that it couldnt make asset taxation at least somewhat viable. Amid ongoing allegations of Russian meddling in U.S. politics, a Russian business leader and ally of President Vladimir Putin said on Thursday that Russia wants the U.S. to resolve its political infighting. We hope this internal rift in the U.S. heals, Russian Direct Investment Fund CEO Kirill Dmitriev told Yahoo Finance Editor-in-Chief Andy Serwer at the World Economic Forum in Davos on Thursday. The CEO is known for attending a meeting with President Donald Trump ally Erik Prince in the Seychelles, a few days before Trump took office. The public comments from Dmitriev contrast with findings of U.S. intelligence agencies, which determined Russia meddled in the 2016 election and since has continued to sow division in the U.S. Last August, Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats said, We continue to see a pervasive messaging campaign by Russia to try to weaken and divide the United States. If the U.S. economy slows down, that affects the world Dmitriev on Thursday called for reconciliation between the United States and Russia, lamenting how infighting and internal politics in the U.S. ... affects U.S. ability to work with other nations. Responding to a question from Yahoo Finance about whether in fact Russia likes to see the U.S. in disarray, Dmitriev said: Frankly we understand if the U.S. economy slows down, that affects the world. Our view is we can be partners with Asia, we can be partners with the Middle East, Dmitriev continued. But if we can figure out a way to resume U.S-Russia cooperation there is no question that the world will be more stable, and markets would appreciate it and wed have fewer geopolitical tensions. Dmitriev has led the Russia Investment Fund since it was established in 2011 by former President Dmitry Medvedev with the express purpose of restoring confidence in Russias investment climate. The Fund has worked with foreign investors on 70 investments totaling about $25 billion, according to Dmitriev and the Funds website. Story continues Special Counsel Robert Mueller has indicted 13 Russian nationals, 12 members of Russias military intelligence agency and three Russian companies in connection with the alleged effort to interfere with the 2016 election. For his part, Dmitriev said he wants the U.S. government shutdown to end. We generally hope ... shutdown stops and federal workers get paid, he said. Max Zahn is a reporter for Yahoo Finance. More from Davos: Bill Browder: Political divisions are directly the result of Vladimir Putin Lagarde: We see risk on the horizon, and the horizon is getting closer The elite at Davos may have just destroyed the 2019 stock market rally By Tom Balmforth and Andrew Osborn MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia showed foreign military attaches on Wednesday a new cruise missile that the United States says breaches a landmark arms control pact, billing it as an exercise in transparency it hoped would persuade Washington to stay in the treaty. Washington has threatened to pull out of the 1987 Intermediate-range Nuclear Forces Treaty (INF), alleging that the new Russian missile, the Novator 9M729 (called SSC-8 by NATO), violates the pact, which bans either side from stationing short and intermediate-range, land-based missiles in Europe. Russia denies that. It says the missile's range puts it outside the treaty and has accused the United States of inventing a false pretext to exit a treaty it wants to leave anyway so as to develop new missiles. The Russian lobbying effort comes as the clock ticks down toward Feb. 2, the date when Washington has said it will begin the process of pulling out of the pact unless Russia verifiably destroys the new missile system altogether, something it has refused to do. Russia displayed the new missile system at a military theme park outside Moscow to foreign military attaches and journalists. A senior defense ministry official explained the weapon's characteristics in detail as a soldier highlighted different parts with a laser pointer. The missile has a maximum range of 480 kilometers (298 miles), which meant it was fully compliant with the INF treaty, Lieutenant-General Mikhail Matveyevsky, head of Russia's Missile Troops and Artillery, said. The United States had previously rejected a Russian offer to look at the contested missile, in what is known as a 'static display', because it said such an exercise would not allow it to verify the true range of its warheads. The Russian Defence Ministry said diplomats from the United States, Britain, France and Germany had been invited to attend the static display, but declined to attend. Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov told a news briefing before the display that the United States had made clear through diplomatic channels that its decision to exit the pact was final and that it was not open to dialogue. Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova later said that Russia had suggested the two nations hold talks on the issue on the sidelines of a meeting of the P5 nuclear powers in Beijing later this month, but had not received "a concrete reply". She said Russia remained open to talks anyway. Western diplomats have played down the chances of the two countries resolving their differences at that meeting if it takes place. (Additional reporting by Robin Emmott in Brussels; editing by Gareth Jones) Getty Images Waterloo Regional Police have issued a warning about online romance scams, revealing that multiple people, both men and women, from the southern Ontario region have been victims of this type of fraud. This content is not available due to your privacy preferences. Update your settings here to see it. Police say one woman from the Waterloo area lost $1 million over four years and one man was scammed out of US$500,000 over a three month period. According to police, both individuals said they had never met the recipient of the money in person but they communicated regularly online. This comes after a CBC News report that an Ontario senior lost $732,000 in a romance scam. The man went to his local Whitby, Ont. TD Bank branch over 19 times in an eight-month period to wire money to Malaysia. His son has accused the bank of not doing enough prevent this sort of scam. The fraudster will be very charismatic, charming, manipulative and aggressive with you in many aspects of your life. According to the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre (CAFC), a romance scam is defined as a situation where an individual communicates with someone with false romantic intentions, in order to gain their trust to obtain money, or access to their bank account or credit card. In 2018, the CAFC received 1,261 reports of romance scams, involving 887 victims and totaling close to $25 million in reported losses. Of those reports, 1,075 were made by Canadians totaling over $22.5 million in losses. In 2017, the fraud centre received 1,269 reports of romance scams, with over $21 million in reported losses. Const. Jenifferjit Sidhu with the Toronto Police Service is reminding people that not all romance scams are reported to police. It is estimated that less than 5 per cent of mass marketing frauds, including romance scams, are reported to the CAFC, according to a statement Yahoo News Canada received from the fraud centre. When these scams do occur, its the emotional trauma that makes this kind of fraud particularly upsetting for victims. In rare cases, a fraudster will target a victim with a more elaborate scheme that involves in-person meetings, Sidhu wrote in a statement to Yahoo News Canada. The fraudster may attempt to isolate the victim from their friends and family and siphon their money away. Story continues Police recommend that individuals be cautious and look for the following warning signs: Be wary of people who profess their love for you, but you havent met in real life Do an image search of any photos received from an individual to confirm its not a stock image Look for inconsistencies in online profiles that counter what people tell you about themselves If someone expresses they are in distress or severely struggling, recommend help, but do not send any money According to Sidhu, the fraudster will share intimate information about themselves and will encourage you to do the same, including asking for your full name, date of birth, address, phone numbers, banking profile, credit availability, and closeness to family and friends. The fraudster will be very charismatic, charming, manipulative and aggressive with you in many aspects of your life, Sidhu wrote in a statement. Anyone who believes theyve been a victim of a romance scam should contact police or file a report with the CAFC. Have you ever been victim of a scam online? Vote in the poll above and let us know in the comments below. Jorge Antonio Guerrero (Credit: Victor Chavez/Getty Images for NETFLIX) Jorge Antonio Guerrero, one of the stars of Oscar favourite Roma, has said that he fears he will miss the ceremony after already being denied a US visa three times. Guerrero, who plays Fermin in the movie, the boyfriend of the films breakthrough star Yalitza Aparicio, was turned down in applications to the US embassy last year. Newspaper El Sol de Tijuana questions Racism? in a headline describing the actors predicament, while in an interview with Quien, he explained that even though he had an invitation letter from the movies producers, he was still refused a visa. This content is not available due to your privacy preferences. Update your settings here to see it. The first was at the beginning of last year. At that time, I still did not have news related to the movie. At that time, my reasons were tourist only. They deny it to me, and by October or November, which had already premiered (the film) at the Festival of Morelia, is when they begin to make these invitations from Netflix, both for red carpets and Golden Globes, he said. Expressly, I took a letter that they did not want to read. In my second attempt, they said that I was going to work, and I answered no, that I was going as a guest. And this last attempt was unmemorable, it seemed that there was even an anger on the part of the young lady who interviewed me. What I want to interpret is that it is a matter of procedure. It is a procedure that I want to do and that I have been denied by the interviewers that have touched me. I want to think that, because if we could find a way for a consular officer or someone in the embassy to read those letters of invitation, one could understand the artistic figure that I have and the cultural exchange that is brewing between two nations. Roma (Credit: Netflix) What happens is that you have a questionnaire about your training, how many times have you left the country and based on that they are making a profile, I do not know. But they do not always ask you for the material that you carry. On this occasion, it was important to me that the consul could read the letter. I said all the time that I was a guest of the film that Alfonso Cuaron had made in Mexico. Story continues However, whether he gets to attend the ceremony or not, he says hes still rooting for Aparicio, whos nominated for Best Actress for Cuarons movie along with Lady Gaga, Melissa McCarthy, Olivia Colman, and Glenn Close. Im super happy. Hopefully, I hope, and I say it with all my heart, Yalitza takes the Oscar. Im thinking more about that, he said. Roma swept the board when nominations were announced this week, with the black and white period piece featuring in 10 categories, including Best Film. Its not the first time that issues surrounding visas have dogged the Oscars. In 2017, Iranian director Asghar Farhadi refused to attend the ceremony, despite being nominated for his film The Salesman, over the Trump administrations muslim ban. The film won the Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film. However, Syrian producer Kareem Abeed, who made Last Men In Aleppo about the White Helmets organisation, was granted a last minute visa to enter the US for last years ceremony, after initially being turned down. Read more Oscars nominations 2019 Netflix and Black Panther make Oscars history Oscars 2019 snubs A Republican lawmaker in Arizona has proposed an unusual albeit not entirely unprecedented proposal seeking to fund Donald Trump's border wall demands by charging tech users who wish to watch pornography online. Gail Griffin, an 84-year-old senator serving in the Arizona House of Representatives, recently unveiled House Bill 2444, a measure that, if passed, would install a block on all software sold in the state capable of accessing the internet. Consumers would be unable to access sites featuring pornography under the new legislation, unless they were willing to prove their age and pay a fee to the Arizona Commerce Authority. Users would be required to prove they are 18-years-old or above and forced to pay $20 (15) in order for the block to be removed. The money sourced from the new proposal would go towards the newly-created John McCain Human Trafficking and Child Exploitation Fund and used for one of any 10 priorities, Arizona Republic reported. The top issue on that list of priorities reads: Build a border wall between Mexico and this state or fund security. Legislation has been proposed across the country seeking to restrict or limit access to digital pornography, with bills in South Carolina, Alabama and Kentucky all seeking similar outcomes. Still, the Arizona bill is novel in that it seeks to fund the presidents border wall demands rather than simply making it more difficult for porn viewers to access content online. Ms Griffin did not respond to enquiries. The proposal has stirred headlines and controversy as the US enters another week of the government shutdown the longest in American history. Mr Trump has refused to back down from his demands for $5.7bn to be included in the next federal spending bill for his campaign promise of building a wall along the US-Mexico border. The president has walked back reports that he would invoke a national security crisis over the US-Mexico border a move that could provide Mr Trump federal funding to begin building the wall but would likely face lengthy legal challenges. By Laurence Frost and Gilles Guillaume PARIS (Reuters) - Renault's board will meet on Thursday to replace Chairman and Chief Executive Carlos Ghosn, in a move that could help ease tensions with alliance partner Nissan following Ghosn's arrest in Japan for alleged financial misconduct. The meeting will start at 0900 GMT and consider the proposed appointment of outgoing Michelin boss Jean-Dominique Senard as chairman and the promotion of Ghosn's deputy Thierry Bollore to CEO, three sources familiar with the matter have told Reuters. The French carmaker has confirmed an emergency board meeting is planned for Thursday, but declined to comment on its agenda. The decision, two months after Ghosn's Nov. 19 arrest and swift dismissal as Nissan <7201.T> chairman, turns a page on his two decades at the helm of the partnership he transformed into a global carmaking giant, following Renault's acquisition of a near-bankrupt Nissan in 1999. Ghosn has been charged with failing to disclose more than $80 million in additional Nissan compensation for 2010-18 that he had arranged to be paid later. Nissan director Greg Kelly and the Japanese company itself have also been indicted. Both men deny the deferred pay agreements were illegal or required disclosure. Ghosn has also denied a separate breach of trust charge over personal investment losses he temporarily transferred to Nissan in 2008. Nissan has said it takes the matter seriously and pledged to improve corporate governance. Ghosn has now agreed to resign from Renault, the sources said - but only after the French government, its biggest shareholder, called for leadership change and his bail requests were rejected by the Japanese courts. As of late Tuesday, however, no formal resignation had been received, Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire said. Senard, 65, faces the immediate task of soothing relations with Nissan, which is 43.4 percent-owned by Renault and the junior partner in the alliance despite making more sales. Since Ghosn's arrest, Nissan CEO Hiroto Saikawa has sought to weaken Renault's control and resisted its attempts to nominate new directors to the Japanese company's board. Nissan currently owns a 15 percent non-voting stake in its French parent and 34 percent in Mitsubishi Motors <7211.T>, a third major partner in their manufacturing alliance. (Editing by Mark Potter and Elaine Hardcastle) This article is for investors who would like to improve their understanding of price to earnings ratios (P/E ratios). Well show how you can use Prudential Financial, Inc.s (NYSE:PRU) P/E ratio to inform your assessment of the investment opportunity. Prudential Financial has a P/E ratio of 5.51, based on the last twelve months. That corresponds to an earnings yield of approximately 18%. View our latest analysis for Prudential Financial How Do You Calculate Prudential Financials P/E Ratio? The formula for price to earnings is: Price to Earnings Ratio = Share Price Earnings per Share (EPS) Or for Prudential Financial: P/E of 5.51 = $90.64 $16.45 (Based on the year to September 2018.) Is A High P/E Ratio Good? A higher P/E ratio means that buyers have to pay a higher price for each $1 the company has earned over the last year. That is not a good or a bad thing per se, but a high P/E does imply buyers are optimistic about the future. How Growth Rates Impact P/E Ratios P/E ratios primarily reflect market expectations around earnings growth rates. When earnings grow, the E increases, over time. Therefore, even if you pay a high multiple of earnings now, that multiple will become lower in the future. Then, a lower P/E should attract more buyers, pushing the share price up. Prudential Financial increased earnings per share by a whopping 63% last year. And earnings per share have improved by 37% annually, over the last five years. So wed generally expect it to have a relatively high P/E ratio. How Does Prudential Financials P/E Ratio Compare To Its Peers? The P/E ratio essentially measures market expectations of a company. If you look at the image below, you can see Prudential Financial has a lower P/E than the average (14.3) in the insurance industry classification. NYSE:PRU PE PEG Gauge January 24th 19 Prudential Financials P/E tells us that market participants think it will not fare as well as its peers in the same industry. Many investors like to buy stocks when the market is pessimistic about their prospects. If you consider the stock interesting, further research is recommended. For example, I often monitor director buying and selling. Story continues Dont Forget: The P/E Does Not Account For Debt or Bank Deposits Its important to note that the P/E ratio considers the market capitalization, not the enterprise value. That means it doesnt take debt or cash into account. Theoretically, a business can improve its earnings (and produce a lower P/E in the future), by taking on debt (or spending its remaining cash). Spending on growth might be good or bad a few years later, but the point is that the P/E ratio does not account for the option (or lack thereof). Prudential Financials Balance Sheet Net debt totals 35% of Prudential Financials market cap. This is enough debt that youd have to make some adjustments before using the P/E ratio to compare it to a company with net cash. The Verdict On Prudential Financials P/E Ratio Prudential Financial has a P/E of 5.5. Thats below the average in the US market, which is 16.9. The company hasnt stretched its balance sheet, and earnings growth was good last year. If it continues to grow, then the current low P/E may prove to be unjustified. Investors have an opportunity when market expectations about a stock are wrong. If the reality for a company is not as bad as the P/E ratio indicates, then the share price should increase as the market realizes this. So this free report on the analyst consensus forecasts could help you make a master move on this stock. Of course you might be able to find a better stock than Prudential Financial. So you may wish to see this free collection of other companies that have grown earnings strongly. To help readers see past 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. For errors that warrant correction please contact the editor at editorial-team@simplywallst.com. Photo-Illustration: Konstantin Sergeyev/Intelligencer; Photo: Saul Loeb/AFP/Getty Images Did BuzzFeed News commit one of the worst journalistic blunders of the past decade, falsely accusing the sitting president of an impeachable offense? The answer to this new question hanging over the Trump-Russia investigation might not be so simple. Last week, after the outlet published what seemed like one of the biggest scoops of the Trump era saying Donald Trump had urged his attorney Michael Cohen to lie to Congress, and that Cohen had reported this to the office of Special Counsel Robert Mueller Muellers office issued a brief public statement saying BuzzFeed had gotten parts of the story wrong. It was clear the report had hit a sensitive spot because this was the first time that Muellers team had said anything to the press in almost 20 months. Instead of issuing a correction, BuzzFeeds reporters said they received further confirmation over the weekend that their reporting was accurate. This is going to be borne out, one of the two reporters, Anthony Cormier, told CNN on Sunday. This story is accurate. But no other journalists have been able to verify the story independently. While its possible BuzzFeed is just putting up a front, it seems unlikely. A careful review of all the developments since last Thursday suggests that something more complicated is going on here more than reporters simply screwing up or fabricating information. The disconnect seems to lie elsewhere, perhaps between Muellers office and BuzzFeeds anonymous sources. Even national-security reporters dont know whom to believe. As the NYU journalism professor Jay Rosen tweeted on Sunday, Theres missing information here, and until it comes out having an opinion is hazardous. With that in mind, heres a rundown of what we do know and exactly what information might be missing: We know Cohen lied to Congress on Trumps behalf The underlying story involves Trumps negotiations to build a tower in Moscow, which was projected to be the tallest building in Europe. Congress was concerned about how much those negotiations had overlapped with Trumps presidential campaign. Slightly more than a year ago, Cohen told Congress in a statement that talks with Russia had ceased in January 2016 when records later revealed that they had gone on at least into that summer, as the same BuzzFeed duo (Cormier and his colleague Jason Leopold) reported last year. (Rudy Giuliani told NBC on Sunday that the talks may have extended all the way up to Trumps election.) Cohen also told Congress that hed never agreed to travel to Russia to work on the project and claimed hed never spoken about it with the Russian government, all of which was false. Cohen ultimately owned up to these lies, pleading in November to the charge of making false statements to Congress. In court, he said hed lied only to be consistent with Trumps political messaging and for the sake of loyalty. BuzzFeeds big scoop last week was that Trump ordered Cohen to tell the lies and that Cohen had reported this to Mueller when he pleaded guilty. A number of congressional Democrats promptly tweeted that if it proved true, it would be grounds to impeach the president, presumably on the charge of obstructing justice. We know BuzzFeed has earned the benefit of the doubt Seven years after its launch, BuzzFeed News apparently still struggles to be taken seriously. Saturday Night Live took the opportunity this weekend to repeat a tired joke about the publication. Look, BuzzFeed, we all think its great that you want to help, said Weekend Update host Michael Che, but this is not what we need from you. Yall are BuzzFeed, you do memes and lists. But the truth is that BuzzFeeds investigative outfit, which comprises about 20 reporters, is one of the most robust in the country. Cormier, a newspaper veteran, has won a Pulitzer Prize for his reporting on mental hospitals in Florida. Leopold, his partner on this story, has less impeccable credentials: His record for accuracy is checkered, by his own testimony, and he committed a number of serious errors, if not deliberate ethical breaches, early in his career. But none of his work in recent years has been seriously challenged. Along with other BuzzFeed colleagues, he was nominated for a Pulitzer last year for his work on a series on assassinations apparently linked to Vladimir Putin. Moreover, Cormier, acknowledging Leopolds spotty record, has said that he verified everything in the story himself. Leopold and Cormier have both reported extensively on Trumps business affairs in Russia and have broken numerous stories related to Muellers investigation that were later verified by other outlets meaning they seem to be as deeply sourced in this area as anyone. The two men worked on the Cohen story for months. Ben Smith, BuzzFeed Newss editor-in-chief, said he and at least two other editors read it before publication. We know the story caught Muellers office by surprise Despite their proven journalistic skills, its true that BuzzFeeds contact with Muellers office was a little cavalier this time around. Leopold emailed Muellers spokesman, Peter Carr, only hours before publication. He told Carr the story would be about Trump ordering Cohen to lie but he made no reference to the special counsels office. Carr declined to comment, but then the storys contents caught him off guard, according to the Washington Post. People familiar with the matter said Carr told others in the government that he would have more vigorously discouraged the reporters from proceeding with the story had he known it would allege Cohen had told the special counsel Trump directed him to lie or that the special counsel was said to have learned this through interviews with Trump Organization witnesses, as well as internal company emails and text messages, the Post wrote. Smith defended Leopold on Brian Stelters CNN show Sunday, saying the email had gotten to the heart of the story. It has not been our experience that the special counsel is forthcoming with information, he added. We dont know exactly what Mueller is disputing The statement from Muellers office, released on Friday, was just a single, vague, lawyerly sentence: BuzzFeeds description of specific statements to the special counsels office, and characterization of documents and testimony obtained by this office, regarding Michael Cohens congressional testimony are not accurate. Most journalists covering the aftermath believe the special counsels office is challenging BuzzFeeds main scoop. The Washington Post said this definitively, which has led to speculation that the paper confirmed it with Muellers office. But the Mueller teams statement doesnt say it outright, a point Smith harped on over the weekend. We are eager to understand which characterizations Mueller is talking about there, Smith said on Sunday. We havent heard where the gap is and where we can continue our reporting. He said BuzzFeed hadnt heard from Muellers office directly. We dont know who BuzzFeeds sources were The publication cited two federal law enforcement officials involved in an investigation of the matter. Smith noted on Sunday that reporters sometimes exaggerate the credentials of their anonymous sources, but he said BuzzFeed hadnt done that here. In this case, these are very narrow, very strong descriptors, he told Stelter. But who were they exactly? The best bet is that theyre federal prosecutors with the Southern District of New York, the court division where Cohen was sentenced. Prosecutors in that office would have been privy to details of the case and wouldnt have been subject to the gag order Mueller imposes on his own staff. Cormier also told CNN on Saturday morning that he had more sources than the two mentioned in the story. I am telling you, our sourcing goes beyond the two that I was able to put on the record, he said. However, by late Sunday morning, after one of Trumps attorneys had called for a leak investigation, Smith and Cormier had become noticeably more reserved. When Stelter asked on air whether they had additional sources, Smith replied, Reporters certainly sometimes do that, but I think that you say what you say in the story, and you stand by what you say in the story. Theres also a discrepancy about whether the reporters saw critical documents themselves or only know about them secondhand. On Sunday, Smith and Cormier declined to clear it up. There are a lot of limits around what we can say, in light of the potential leak investigation, Smith explained. We know BuzzFeed is standing behind the story Its worth remembering that Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein got a story wrong in the course of their reporting on Watergate. The way its recounted in All the Presidents Men both the book and the film it resulted partly from a misunderstanding between Bernstein and a source. This is not what happened in BuzzFeeds case, according to Cormier. I have further confirmation that this is right, he told Stelter on Sunday. Were being told to stand our ground. Our reporting is going to be borne out. We dont know exactly what Trump said to Cohen It seems possible that this is all a matter of interpretation. Stelter asked if perhaps Trump had only given Cohen vague instructions, along the line of Take care of this for me, rather than specifically telling him to lie. We dont know, Cormier replied. Were trying to get the exact language that was used in this conversation, and well get there one day. But he reiterated, What we reported that the president of the United States directed Michael Cohen to lie to Congress is accurate. We dont know why Mueller cares so much The statement marked the first time in nearly 20 months that Muellers office has made any comment regarding its investigation. Hes been silent amid the constant attacks on his credibility and character; and in fact, Carr, his spokesman, is known around Washington as Mr. No Comment. So why did this particular story provoke a response? Perhaps, as the journalist Marcy Wheeler has suggested, Mueller was afraid the story damaged his hard-earned reputation for not leaking. In that case, the statement could have blunted the damage and served as a warning to the Southern District if indeed thats where BuzzFeeds sources came from to knock it off. Whatever the case, it does seem like some kind of power play is happening here. Its possible Mueller was sending a message to the sources, not to the rest of us. If thats the case, he probably saw this widespread confusion which will likely be cleared up at some point, anyway as a necessary side effect. Principal Financial Group, Inc. PFG is slated to report fourth-quarter 2018 results on Jan 29, after market close. In the last reported quarter, the company came delivered negative surprise of 2.34%. Lets see how things are shaping up for this announcement. Factors to Consider Principal Financials fourth-quarter performance is expected to benefit from solid retirement and long-term savings, group benefits and protection in the United States, and retirement and long-term savings in Latin America and Asia. Higher fee-based revenues and an increase in investment income are likely to drive revenue improvement. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for revenues is pegged at $3.7 billion, up 11.6% from fourth-quarter 2017. A better rate environment, with four rate hikes made in 2018, is expected to boost net investment income. Extensive distribution footprint, best-in-class solutions, strategic acquisitions and operational discipline are likely to boost performance of asset management and asset accumulation segments. This, in turn, will likely drive assets under management. Continued share repurchases as well as a lower tax rate should lend additional cushion to the bottom line. The company expects share count to be 290-292 million at 2018 end. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for earnings stands at $1.33 per share, up 11.7% year over year. The company directed $0.9-$1.3 billion toward capital deployment in 2018. However, the company expects operating expenses to increase attributable to higher branding expenses, benefit costs as well as variable sales expenses. For 2018, Principal Financial estimates net revenue growth in the range of 2%-5% at Retirement and Income Solutions Fees and 5-10% at Retirement and Income Solutions Spread. Revenues are estimated to increase 4-8% at Principal Global Investors. The pre-tax return on revenue estimates is 34-38%. Principal International is expected to deliver net revenue growth between 11% and 14% in 2018. Solid sales, retention and employment recovery will drive Specialty Benefits premiums and fees by 7-9%. Loss ratio is estimated to be 62-68% on improved underwriting. Premiums and fees at Individual Life are projected to increase in the band of 3-6%. Given the companys increased digital investments, operating earnings growth in 2018 is expected to be down about two percentage points from 2017. Story continues Principal Financial Group, Inc. Price and EPS Surprise Principal Financial Group, Inc. Price and EPS Surprise | Principal Financial Group, Inc. Quote What Our Quantitative Model Predicts Our proven model does not conclusively show that Principal Financial is likely to beat on earnings this reporting season. This is because a stock needs to have both a positive Earnings ESP and a favorable Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), 2 (Buy) or 3 (Hold) for this to happen. But that is not the case here as you will see below. Earnings ESP: Principal Financial has an Earnings ESP of 0.00%. This is because both the Most Accurate Estimate and the Zacks Consensus Estimate stand at $1.33. You can uncover the best stocks to buy or sell before they are reported with our Earnings ESP Filter. Zacks Rank: Principal Financial carries a Zacks Rank #4 (Sell). We caution against Zacks Rank #4 or 5 (Strong Sell) stocks going into an earnings announcement, especially when the company is seeing negative estimate revisions. Stocks to Consider Some stocks from the finance sector with the right combination of elements to surpass estimates this time around are as follows: Axis Capital Holdings Limited AXS is set to report fourth-quarter earnings on Jan 30. The stock has an Earnings ESP of +1.31% and a Zacks Rank of 3. You can see the complete list of todays Zacks #1 Rank stocks here. Brown & Brown, Inc. BRO has an Earnings ESP of +5.38% and a Zacks Rank #2. The company is slated to release fourth-quarter earnings on Jan 28. Boston Properties, Inc. BXP has an Earnings ESP of +0.33% and a Zacks Rank of 3. The company will announce fourth-quarter earnings on Jan 29. More Stock News: This Is Bigger than the iPhone! It could become the mother of all technological revolutions. Apple sold a mere 1 billion iPhones in 10 years but a new breakthrough is expected to generate more than 27 billion devices in just 3 years, creating a $1.7 trillion market. Zacks has just released a Special Report that spotlights this fast-emerging phenomenon and 6 tickers for taking advantage of it. If you don't buy now, you may kick yourself in 2020. Click here for the 6 trades >> 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 Principal Financial Group, Inc. (PFG) : Free Stock Analysis Report Axis Capital Holdings Limited (AXS) : Free Stock Analysis Report To read this article on Zacks.com click here. Zacks Investment Research President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in Singapore in June. WASHINGTON President Donald Trump promoted his upcoming second summit with Kim Jong Un on Thursday by defending his first meeting with the North Korean leader back in June. Complaining that the news media said "little happened" at that summit in Singapore, Trump used Twitter to argue that the North Koreans appear to have stopped nuclear and missile testing, and returned hostages as well as the remains of U.S. soldiers killed during the Korean War. "This is more than has ever been accomplished with North Korea, and the Fake News knows it," Trump tweeted. "I expect another good meeting soon, much potential!" Numerous foreign policy analysts as well as some of Trump's own aides have noted that Kim has not taken any meaningful steps to end his nuclear weapons programs, as he pledged to do during the Singapore meeting. Sung-Yoon Lee, a Korea expert at the Fletcher School at Tufts University, said Trump deserves credit for pushing tough economic sanctions against North Korea. But the president has also "squandered the momentum" by his handling of Kim both before and after the Singapore meeting. "Sanctions enforcement takes time and effort, and the will to enforce sanctions has largely dissipated all around the world," he said. This content is not available due to your privacy preferences. Update your settings here to see it. This content is not available due to your privacy preferences. Update your settings here to see it. Trump spoke the morning after North Korea revealed that Kim had received a letter from Trump. The North Korean state news agency reported that "the Supreme Leader expressed great satisfaction" with Trump's message, and is also looking forward to a second summit. The White House said Trump replied to a previous letter from Kim, and did not discuss the contents. Last week, Trump announced he is planning to meet with Kim a second time in late February, with the specific date and location to be announced later. Robert E. Kelly, professor of political science at Pusan National University in South Korea, said Trump gave Kim the prestige of an international summit with the meeting in Singapore, but received little in return during what he called a "clown-show mess" of a summit. Story continues Trump cut back on U.S.-South Korean joint military exercises, at Kim's request, Kelly tweeted, "but on the strategic issues nukes, missiles, launchers T got nothing" in return. "I still can't understand why anyone thinks allowing someone this inept and ill-informed to lead the negotiations on something this important is a good idea," Kelly tweeted. This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: President Trump boosts second summit with North Korea's Kim Jong Un by defending the first SAN FRANCISCO (AP) Proposals by a U.S. judge to prevent Pacific Gas & Electric Co. equipment from causing more wildfires would endanger lives, could cost as much as $150 billion and would interfere with the work of federal and state regulators, the utility said Wednesday in a court filing urging the judge not to impose the measures. PG&E said it's committed to system upgrades and wildfire prevention but contended that a criminal case being handled by U.S. District Judge William Alsup was not the right forum to address such measures. Earlier this month, Alsup proposed ordering PG&E to remove or trim all trees that could fall onto its power lines, poles or equipment in high-wind conditions and to document its inspections and work. He also proposed ordering PG&E to reinspect its entire electric grid and to cut off power during certain wind conditions regardless of the inconvenience to customers or loss of profit. The legal arguments came as PG&E is facing hundreds of lawsuits from wildfire victims over catastrophic California wildfires in the past two years that killed scores of people and destroyed thousands of homes. The utility announced on Jan. 14 that it will file for bankruptcy protection in the face of at least $30 billion in potential liability from the fires. PG&E said in its court filing Wednesday that complying with all of Alsup's proposals could cost as much as $150 billion and require massive rate hikes. The proposals, aimed at stopping fires this year, would require the utility to remove an estimated 100 million trees, causing significant environmental consequences, PG&E said. Shutting down power affects first responders, critical medical care and phone service and is potentially fatal, the utility added. Alsup's proposals could also blackout large parts of the Western U.S. and Canada because the utility's power lines are part of a network that provides power to those massive regions, PG&E said. The judge's measures would interfere with the "role of state and federal regulators without fully accounting for the risks that some of those actions may create" or assessing whether the significant costs it would create are necessary, the legal filing said. Story continues U.S. prosecutors urged Alsup on Wednesday to work with a court-appointed monitor to determine ways PG&E could prevent its equipment from starting wildfires. In its court filing, the U.S. attorney's office in San Francisco said Alsup should refrain from immediately imposing new requirements on the utility. Alsup has scheduled a hearing on Jan. 30 to discuss his proposals. PG&E said it did not object to additional oversight by a monitor appointed by the court. Alsup is overseeing a jury verdict against PG&E involving the deadly explosion of a company gas pipeline in 2010. The judge is eyeing the wildfire requirements as part of PG&E's probation in the criminal case. Alsup has noted that California fire investigators have determined that PG&E caused 18 wildfires in 2017 12 of which could result in criminal prosecution. The truth is out there (Getty) Declassified documents have revealed that the Pentagon spent millions researching subjects which make the X-Files look tame including wormholes and alternate dimensions. The Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) released 38 research titles in January after a Freedom of Information Act request. The research included Warp Drive, Dark Energy, and the Manipulation of Extra Dimensions; Invisibility Cloaking and Traversable Wormholes, Stargates, and Negative Energy. The research was funded as part of the Advanced Aerospace Threat Identification Program (AATIP), by Americas Department of Defense. MORE: Former Scottish first minister Alex Salmond arrested and charged by police MORE: Tory MP Michael Fabricant hits back at unknown colleague over wig jibe UFO expert and former British Ministry of Defence employee Nick Pope said, The DOD and the DIA have previously sought to spin AATIP as being a program looking at foreign advanced aerospace weapon threats, but the attachment to the DIAs letter to Congress is difficult to reconcile with this. The products produced under the AATIP contract are listed as including reference papers on topics which seem more concerned with space travel. The smoking gun is the paper about the Drake Equation, which is used to estimate the number of civilizations in the universe. This supports the suggestion that AATIP was indeed a UFO program, as has been claimed, and not an aviation program looking at aircraft, drones and missiles. Watch the latest videos from Yahoo UK Shares of Papa John's International, Inc. PZZA has surged 7.7% at close on Jan 23, following a few reports about the company mulling over selling out to Restaurant Brands International QSR. Per a Deal reporter, Restaurant Brands, the parent company of Burger King, Popeye's Louisiana Kitchen and Tim Hortons, has the probability of teaming up with the former CEO John Schnatter and investment capital firm 3G Capital to make the purchase. In November 2018, Trian Fund Management LP a private equity fund discarded an offer to buy Papa Johns. Rumors have been doing the rounds that Papa Johns has been receiving takeover proposals from companies and private equity firms. Why is Papa Johns Desperate for a Sellout? Apart from witnessing a consistent decline in revenue trends, Papa Johns has been receiving negative publicity after its ex-CEO, John Schnatter has been publicly denounced for making a racist comment. Since then, Papa Johns has been relentlessly trying to distance itself from Schnatter, and craft various ways to regain its brand image and sales trend. To this end, the company was exploring various opportunities to sell out completely. Papa Johns is also said to have sought assistance from Bank of America Corporation BAC in Auguston potential buyout interests. Papa Johns also undertook an assistance program for its U.S. and Canada franchisees. Under the assistance program, it planned on reducing royalties, food-service pricing and online fees throughout the current year. Further, the company has been arranging funds for its franchises to implement marketing and reimaging initiatives. Dismal comps performance over the past couple of quarters has been the most major concern for Papa Johns. In the third quarter, comps at domestic company-owned restaurants declined 13.2% versus 1.7% comps growth in the year-ago period. Comps at franchised restaurants in North America fell 8.6% against comps growth of 0.7% in the prior-year quarter. Comps at system-wide North American franchised restaurants decreased 9.8% in contrast to 1% comps growth in the year-earlier quarter. Comps at system-wide international restaurants were down 3.3% as opposed to comps growth of 5.3% in the prior-year quarter. Story continues Apart from the bleak top-line performance, the companys earnings have also declined in the past few quarters due to weak operating results. Stiff competition from pizza chains like Dominos DPZ is also a major concern. Notably, a look at Papa Johns price trend revealed that the stock has had an unimpressive run on the bourses in the past year. Shares of the Zacks Rank #4 (Sell) have lost 32.1% against the industrys collective growth 3.9% during the same time frame. You can see the complete list of todays Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here. More Stock News: This Is Bigger than the iPhone! It could become the mother of all technological revolutions. Apple sold a mere 1 billion iPhones in 10 years but a new breakthrough is expected to generate more than 27 billion devices in just 3 years, creating a $1.7 trillion market. Zacks has just released a Special Report that spotlights this fast-emerging phenomenon and 6 tickers for taking advantage of it. If you don't buy now, you may kick yourself in 2020. Click here for the 6 trades >> 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 Papa John's International, Inc. (PZZA) : Free Stock Analysis Report To read this article on Zacks.com click here. Zacks Investment Research Arsenals Shkodran Mustafi reacts after West Hams Declan Rice scores their first goal Arsenal Central Defence Arsenal have made a solid enough start to life after Arsene Wenger to currently sit fifth, however Unai Emerys defence is a mess. Saturdays 2-0 victory over Chelsea was their first cleansheet since beating Huddersfield on December 8 and their 32 goals conceded is nine more than Tottenham and 19 more than Liverpool. Rob Holding is out long-term, while Shkodran Mustafi and Sokratis have both fallen short of expectations. Laurent Koscielnys return is a boost but if Emery wants to continue with a back three more cover is required, especially with Hector Bellerins knee injury. Who theyve been linked with: Eric Bailly, Denis Suarez, James Rodriguez READ MORE: 12 terrible free transfers that didnt live up to their billing READ MORE: The 10 worst January transfers ever READ MORE: 10 proven strikers who flopped in the Premier League Bournemouth Central Defence Only three teams have a worse defensive record than the Cherries and with Simon Francis out with an ACL injury and several teams casting admiring glances at Nathan Ake, Eddie Howe could well do with some reinforcements. Linked with: Signing Chris Mepham from Brentford was a great start Brighton and Hove Albion The Seagulls are arguably still too reliable on Glenn Murray for goals Goalscorer Brighton arent in pressing need of signing anyone but they are still reliant on Glenn Murray for goals. A striker or winger who can chip in with five or 10 goals a season would be like gold dust for Chris Hughton. Linked with: Alexis Mac Allister Burnley Midfield Creativity Burnley have struggled for goals all season and despite having four strikers on their books, injuries to Steven Defour and Robbie Brady have meant the service to them has been sorely lacking all season. Linked with: Stewart Downing, Vincent Janssen Cardiff City Fullback The Bluebirds will have hoped Emiliano Sala would have given the Bluebirds some much needed firepower up front. Salas tragic death en route from Nantes will leave a massive hole for the club, Cardiff have also signed Oumar Niasse on loan but it remains to be seen wether they will dip into the market again for another striker. Story continues Neil Warnock may turn his focus to fullback; there was a reason he was so keen on Nathaniel Clyne Lee Peltier, Greg Cunningham and Joe Bennett are hardly Premier League quality. Linked with: Adrien Tameze Striker Gonzalo Higuain has already signed for the Blues on loan Chelsea Fullback Chelseas signing of Gonzalo Higuain should solve two problems: The Argentine should score some sorely needed goals, while allowing Eden Hazard to return to his creative best on the left. Now Maurizio Sarri needs to address his unbalanced defensive line. Marcos Alonso is too attacking and defensively suspect on the left, while Cesar Azpilicueta is the opposite on the right defensively sound, but he doesnt offer enough in attack. Linked with: Leandro Paredes, Nicolo Barella Crystal Palace Striker Palaces problem hasnt changed they still lack a goal threat. Wilfried Zaha and Andros Townsend are doing their best, but imagine how much better they could be with a reliable central striker to occupy defenders and give the tricky wingers an outlet. Linked with: Cenk Tosun READ MORE: Ranked! The 10 best Premier League signings in 2018/19 so far READ MORE: Ranked! The 30 best strikers in Premier League history Everton Winger The Toffees have been busy in previous transfer windows and this January could be better spent by clearing out some of the deadwood and allowing the current starters to settle into their roles. However, a pacy winger to offer a different threat up front and help stretch Evertons attack wouldnt go amiss. Linked with: Gianluca Mancini Fulham Central Defence Claudio Ranieris squad is crying out for an experienced central defender. All season Fulham have been let down by their inability to see out a match without fatal lapses of concentration at the back. Linked with: Gary Cahill, Danny Simpson, Shinji Okazaki Fulham have won just once in the last 10 games but Ranieri is remaining upbeat and believes his side has enough quality to avoid relegation Huddersfield Town Goalscorer 13 goals in 23 games is no way to survive relegation. The Terriers are in dire need of finding some bite. Linked with: Karlan Grant Leicester City Striker Recalling Harvey Barnes from loan should help lighten the creative load on James Maddison, so Leicesters next move should be for striking cover. Kelechi Iheanacho has struggled since arriving, Shinji Okazaki may be leaving, and at 32 the Foxes may need to come up with a succession plan for Jamie Vardy. Linked with: Jarrod Bowen, Danny Drinkwater Liverpool Playmaker There are no pressing needs for the Premier League leaders, however the Reds midfield would appear overstocked with workhorse, box-to-box types. Jordan Henderson, James Milner, Giorginio Wijnaldum and Naby Keita are all similar players and at times Liverpool have lacked drive and creativity in midfield. Alex Oxlade-Chamberlains return could well help but Adam Lallana appears perpetually injured and the Reds could do with someone who can pull the strings. Linked with: Timo Werner Manchester City Holding Midfielder Man City midfielder Fernandinho plays a vital role for the Premier League champions, linking the defense and the attack and providing irreplaceable influence on a match. For all the talent Pep Guardiola has at his disposal he is lacking a like-for-like replacement for Fernandinho and it was noticeable that Citys defeats against Leicester and Palace came when the midfield lynchpin was injured. The Brazilian has been predictably excellent this season, but someone will need to help carry the central midfield load sooner rather than later. Linked with: Matthijs de Ligt, Ruben Neves, Ante Palaversa Manchester United Central Defence New manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has shown that this Manchester United squad wasnt quite as bad as Jose Mourinho made it out to be. However, a commanding centre back and a genuine midfield enforcer would not go amiss. Linked with: Toby Alderweireld, Ivan Perisic READ MORE: Solskjaer: Man Utd making progress on De Gea, Martial contracts READ MORE: Solskjaer claims Alexis will love it if Arsenal fans turn on him READ MORE: Middlesbrough sign John Obi Mikel Newcastle United A Goalscorer Its a no-brainer really. The Magpies need a new fullback or two and a midfielder who can dominate games, but their biggest issue is a lack of goals. Rafa Benitez always sets his teams up to be tough to be break down, now he needs to somehow find a reliable goalscorer to lift his team away from the relegation zone. Linked with: Jordan Lukaku, Ibrahim Amadou Southampton Central Defence With a new manager still finding his feet and a club who have made some expensive mistakes in the past couple of windows, it is hard to know what the clubs spending priorities are. However, the Saints defence would appear to be their weakest point. Linked with: Joakim Maehle Spurs are without Harry Kane until March Tottenham Hotspur Central Midfield It would be easy to say Spurs need a striker, but that issue will largely be resolved when Harry Kane and Son Heung-min both return over the next month or two. Tottenhams most pressing need now is central midfield. With Moussa Dembeles departure and Victor Wanyamas chronic injury concerns, Mauricio Pochettinos midfield options are limited to the injured Moussa Sissoko, Eric Dier, Harry Winks and 18-year-old Oliver Skipp. Linked with: Jarrod Bowen, Malcom, Steven Bergwijn Watford A Goalscorer Another team not in pressing need to add to their squad unless of course the rumours of Abdoulaye Doucoure moving to PSG come true. However, Roberto Pereyra is the only Hornets player to score to more than three goals this season so a new goalscorer would be a boost for the Hornets. Linked with: None West Ham United Striker/Fullback So much depends on what happens to Marko Arnautovic. At the beginning of January, the Hammers mot pressing need was central midfield reinforcements but Declan Rices emergence but Arnautovics mooted move to China have thrown a spanner in the works. If the Austrian does go, Manuel Pellegrini will almost certainly need to find a new target man. If he stays, would it be really that difficult to find an improvement on at least one of Aaron Cresswell, Arthur Masuaku, Pablo Zabaleta or Ryan Fredericks? Wolverhampton Wanderers Wide Player Wolves have adapted to life in the Premier League brilliantly but an injury to Jonny Otto showed they lack depth at wingback. Goals have also been a slight problem with Adama Traore and Helder Costa in particular struggling to adapt to the Premier League. If Nuno Espiritio Santo can find someone who can cover one or even both positions, Wolves could be well on their way to finishing the best of the rest. Linked with: Gelson Martins, making Raul Jimenez and Jonnys loan permanent Nathan Sutherland was arrested after his DNA was matched to the baby - Maricopa County Sheriffas Office A nurse has been charged with rape after a severely disabled woman gave birth in care home in Arizona. The 29-year-old victim stunned her caregivers and family when she gave birth to a baby boy late last month, sparking an investigation. Nathan Sutherland, a 36-year-old licensed practical nurse, was arrested Wednesday on one count of sexual assault and one count of vulnerable adult abuse, Phoenix Police Chief Jeri Williams said. Mr Sutherland was responsible for providing care to the victim during the time the assault occurred. He was arrested after his DNA was matched to that of the baby, Phoenix Police department said. The 29-year-old victim, who police said "was not in a position to give consent", has been in the care of the Hacienda Health Care facility in Phoenix, Arizona since the age of three. The victim's family described her as having "significant intellectual disabilities as a result of seizures very early in her childhood". Police collected DNA samples from male staff at the clinic Credit: CBS/Universal News And Sport (Europe) While she does not speak, she has some mobility in her limbs, head and neck. She also responds to sound and can make facial gestures, the family said in a statement. The family's lawyer, John Micheaels, said the relatives were "outraged, traumatised and in shock" at the assault. The child is now in the care of the patient's family. Court documents state that the woman is "not alert" and requires a "maximum level of care", according to the Arizona Republic. Staff at the facility said they had no idea she was pregnant and the case has triggered reviews by state agencies and highlighted safety concerns for patients who are severely disabled or incapacitated. The CEO of the nursing facility resigned following the scandal and earlier this week the clinic announced that one of the victim's doctors had resigned and another has been suspended. Phoenix Police Chief Jeri Williams announces the arrest of Nathan Sutherland Credit: AP Police are still investigating whether Mr Sutherland, who has worked at the facility since 2011, has assaulted any other patients and are encouraging anyone with information to come forward. Story continues Tommy Thompson, a spokesman for Phoenix Police, said the baby boy was "doing good". "We can't always choose how we come into this life, but what we can choose to do as a community is love this child, and that's what we have the opportunity to do," he said. The force said the case had become "the highest priority of our police department". In a press conference yesterday, Ms Williams said she had not encountered a similar case during her 30-year-career in law enforcement. "We owed this arrest to the victim. We owed this arrest to the newest member of our community - that innocent baby," the police chief added. By Jilian Mincer (Reuters) - A new not-for-profit supplier of generic drugs formed by a consortium of hospitals systems said it expects this year to be able to provide about 20 products to alleviate shortages of medicines used during surgeries and to treat life-threatening conditions, such as septic shock. Since the start-up of Civica Rx spearheaded by Intermountain Healthcare was announced last January, the Utah-based company has raised more than $160 million from its members, which include HCA Healthcare Inc hospital chain, the Mayo Clinic, the Catholic Health Initiatives and others, which together represent about 800 hospitals. Civica Rx initially expected to offer 14 drugs in 2019. It now believes it will exceed that number after forging relationships with several companies with licenses to manufacture additional medicines, company officials said in an interview. Within three-to-five years, it aims to offer up to 100 generic medicines critical to the everyday function of its member hospitals. Years of consolidation among generic drugmakers, compounded by manufacturing problems, have led to sometimes severe U.S. shortages of hundreds of commonly used treatments, from anesthetics to intravenous saline and chemotherapies. In some cases, that has spurred steep price increases from remaining manufacturers after others stopped making older drugs with minuscule profit margins. In some cases, where there is just one remaining manufacturer, prices have soared. "These are very, very old drugs that have been used not only for decades, some for almost a century," Civica Rx Chief Executive Martin VanTrieste told Reuters. "When hospitals can't have them, they are forced to cancel patient treatments or find alternative treatments. In most cases, that is suboptimal care or no care at all." More than 90 percent of U.S. hospitals said they had to "identify alternative therapies to mitigate the impact of drug price increases and shortages," according to a study conducted at the University of Chicago for three healthcare organizations and released this month. Members hospitals have agreed to pay fees to Civica based on their size, in addition to the cost of drugs purchased, the company said. Civica would not identify manufacturers it was working with, but said its first medicines would be made at locations in New Jersey, Pennsylvania and North Carolina that are already licensed to produce generic drugs. Civica said it was negotiating long-term prices with the manufacturers in exchange for commitments from its member hospitals to buy the products for five to 10 years. VanTrieste said Civica plans to buy or build its own manufacturing facilities over the next four or five years, and hopes to maintain six-month supplies of its products to ensure availability. Its business model also aims to ensure competition to keep prices low. "We want to be very competitive," he said. "We want multiple manufacturers to make the products. We want our health systems to buy only half from us. (Reporting By Jilian Mincer; Editing by Bill Berkrot) President Donald Trump agreed late Wednesday to postpone his State of the Union address after House Speaker Nancy Pelosi told him he would not be invited to give the speech to a joint session of Congress in the House of Representatives' chamber until the partial government shutdown is resolved. Although the president had considered delivering the address somewhere else, Trump said he decided to wait because "no venue that can compete with the history, tradition and importance of the House Chamber." Trump's decision was a reversal from his position earlier Wednesday when he insisted in a letter that he would deliver the speech in there despite Pelosi'ssecurity concerns. "It would be so very sad for our Country if the State of the Union were not delivered on time, on schedule, and very importantly, on location!" he wrote in the letter. Trump: I will wait until 'Shutdown is over' to give State of the Union in the House Opinion: Shutdown is no time for celebratory State of the Union. No time is. Let's scrap it. In response to Pelosi's move, many politicians and political pundits mourned the death of yet another political norm. This content is not available due to your privacy preferences. Update your settings here to see it. While this appears to be the first time a House speaker has declined to allow the president to deliver his remarks, it is far from the first time that a State of the Union address was not delivered "on schedule" and "on location." According to the House Office of the Historian and the Clerk of the House's Office of Art and Archives, in the 230 years since George Washington's first term began, only 83 State of the Union addresses were delivered in person from the floor of the House of Representatives. Here is a look at the speech's fluid history: It was postponed once before President Ronald Reagan's 1986 State of the Union address was originally scheduled to take place on Jan. 28, but that morning the Challenger space shuttle broke apart after takeoff, killing all seven people on board. Story continues In response to the tragedy, Reagan delayed his speech until Feb. 4. The New York Times reported at the time that it was the first time the State of the Union had been rescheduled. The first 12 were not delivered before the House America's first two presidents, George Washington and John Adams, delivered their messages in the Senate, not the House, chamber. And because all but one of those addresses predated the move of the capital city to Washington, they were given in New York and Philadelphia. The U.S. Capitol was open in time for Adams' 1800 address, but that was given in the old Senate chamber. It was delivered in writing for more than 100 years For more than a century, the State of the Union was submitted to Congress in writing and there was no speech given by the president. President Thomas Jefferson, elected in 1800, ended the practice of delivering the address in person before a joint session of Congress. The submission of a written message remained the norm until 1913, when Woodrow Wilson became the first president to deliver the address from the House floor. This did not end the practice of submitting the address in writing. Wilson himself did so in 1919 and 1920. President Calvin Coolidge gave his in writing from 1924 to 1928. President Herbert Hoover did the same from 1929 to 1932, as did Franklin Roosevelt in 1944 and 1945, Harry Truman in 1946 and 1953, Dwight Eisenhower in 1956 and 1961, Richard Nixon in 1973, and Jimmy Carter in 1981. For most of U.S. history, it wasn't even called the State of the Union The address was formally called the Annual Message from 1790 to 1946. It was not until 1947 that it officially became the State of the Union Address. It used to be in December Although the State of the Union is now delivered at the end of January, or sometimes in early February, it was traditionally given in December (or sometimes November, and on one occasion in October). That changed with the ratification of the 20th amendment in 1933, which moved the opening of Congress from March to January. This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: This is not the first time the State of the Union wasn't 'on schedule' or 'on location' Former Vice-President Joe Biden greets the Reverend Al Sharpton. Photo: Al Drago/Getty Images Joe Biden attended a breakfast on Monday hosted by Al Sharpton in Washington, D.C. The occasion was to mark what would have been Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.s 90th birthday, but for the former vice-president, it was also an opportunity to save face. Rumor has it that Biden is mulling a 2020 presidential bid. He remains officially undecided, but has spent much of the past two years offering explanations for why he would be an ideal candidate. His 2017 memoir, Promise Me, Dad, outlines the working-class bona fides and willingness to forego PAC money and take on Wall Street that, he believes, would have endeared him to Bernie Sanders supporters while offering Clinton backers a less compromised, more inspiring alternative in 2016. The New York Times reports that he has also built around himself a network of nonprofits and academic centers staffed by close advisers the perfect foundation for a campaign, should he choose to pursue one. Unfortunately for Biden, time has been unkind to his actual legislative record. Though he cultivated a persona during the Obama years as your affable Uncle Joe, in the United States Senate he was a tough on crime attack dog. In an address on live television, he lambasted then-President George H.W. Bush in 1989 for proposing a billion-dollar investment in the War on Drugs that, in Bidens estimation, did not include enough police officers to catch the violent thugs, enough prosecutors to convict them, enough judges to sentence them, or enough prison cells to put them away for a long time. Hillary Clinton faced criticism for her role in supporting 1994s Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act better known as the Clinton crime bill but Biden actually co-authored it. While the bill enjoyed bipartisan and multiracial support at the time, its legacy is as an accelerant for mass incarceration. Monday was Bidens closest moment yet to a public mea culpa. It was a big mistake that was made, he told those gathered, referencing sentencing disparities he supported that treated crack cocaine, which had a greater presence in poor black communities, as worthy of dramatically harsher punishment than powder cocaine. We were told by the experts that crack, you never go back, that the two were somehow fundamentally different. Its not. But its trapped an entire generation. Bidens concession that he may not have always gotten things right on criminal justice highlights a dilemma facing a handful of 2020 Democratic prospects. Though perceived as front-runners for the nomination, former legislators and prosecutors like Biden and Senator Kamala Harris of California, respectively, face the unenviable prospect of running with tough on crime credentials as baggage at a time when such policies are increasingly seen as moral atrocities. They amassed these bona fides at different times and via different means Harris, as a district attorney and attorney general in an era of falling crime rates, and Biden, as federal legislator at a time when crime was spiking. But even less enviable is the plight of the untold number of people a large share of whom are black trapped in a cycle of police station, courthouse, jail, and prison stints as a consequence of these policies. It is tempting for candidates to rewrite this past for the sake of political expediency to cast ones carceral pursuits in a more flattering light than they warrant. Here is an alternative proposal: Be honest. One of the more striking aspects of Bidens expression of regret is that he avoids taking responsibility. It was a big mistake that was made is a clinic in passive language. He doesnt fault himself, nor even the political climate, but rather his naive yet well-meaning acceptance of the faulty science of the time. In Bidens telling, the mistake was someone elses; he, too, is a victim. Harris has similarly seen fit to make amends for her past, which is marked by a mixed legacy: the progressive implementations of job-training and diversion programs for first-time offenders and implicit bias training for her staff, coexisting alongside the startlingly cruel practice of prosecuting parents of habitually truant elementary-school students. She has described herself, dubiously, as one of the original progressive prosecutors an increasingly en vogue designation today but has also been more apologetic about her past than Biden. The bottom line is the buck stops with me and I take full responsibility for what my office did, she has said. The trouble with both acknowledgments is that they are transparent efforts to woo voters. This is an admittedly difficult bind for politicians: Fixed policy stances are often valorized while evolving viewpoints are seen as pandering. Still, it remains that such concessions are to be expected when one must entice a black electorate the cornerstone of the Democratic Partys base whose denizens one has played an active role in incarcerating by the millions. As recently as April 2016, Biden insisted that he was not at all ashamed of his role in passing the Clinton crime bill. Americans are, broadly speaking, savvy enough to recognize when they are being buttered up, and that politicians are more inclined to say what voters want to hear than speak uncomfortable truths, especially about themselves. This is not to suggest that Biden and Harris have not actually changed their minds they may have. Nor is it to suggest that a mere apology and largely untested commitment to future rectification are sufficient amends in the end, only those left to languish in cells can judge that. Nor is public repentance a substitute for the type of prolonged reckoning and reparations process that Americas mass-incarceration crisis warrants. But the reality is that one of the greatest obstacles to progress is dishonesty. I do not know in detail what drove Biden and Harris in their former careers, but I do know that both have trafficked in the false notion that imprisonment solves problems it does not, and that both have thrived in a political system that treats punishing black people as currency. They are not primed to secure the Democratic presidential nomination in spite of their carceral pasts, but because of the clout they amassed as a result, and the profile it made possible. And neither has reckoned with how this system encourages its own perpetuation through political rewards. Both had difficult jobs, no doubt Harris, especially as a district attorney, was tasked with prioritizing public safety above all other concerns, a mandate that incentivizes punishment; and Biden, as a senator, was tasked with leading his partys response to rising national crime rates. But both responded with the same asymmetrical violence that has scuttled solutions to black disadvantage through U.S. history. Reckoning with this truth is a precursor to changing course. Perhaps for Biden, this looks like admitting he did not really know how to solve this particular problem, but wanted to try and keep his job in the process, and did so the only way he knew how: by beating it with a blunt tool. Perhaps for Harris, this means acknowledging that she enthusiastically pursued a career whose stock in trade was assigning guilt and determining consequences but learned, in the process, that she had believed the criminal-justice system was a solution to problems for which it actually was not. Either way, the electorate deserves to make its decisions based on an honest assessment of the costs of aggressive public-safety measures, and the incentives that drive officials to pursue them rather than be seduced by tough-guy posturing, glowing revisionism of the past, or easy answers to complex problems. This awareness might not compel voters to make more humane decisions moving forward. But at least they will be informed decisions. Abuja (AFP) - Nigeria's government wants the country's top judge to be suspended pending the outcome of his fiercely-disputed trial on corruption charges, a court was told on Tuesday. Chief Justice Walter Onnoghen went on trial last week at the Code of Conduct Tribunal where he is facing six charges relating to the non-declaration of foreign currency bank accounts. The case is politically charged as the government has been accused of trying to influence the judiciary by removing Onnoghen, who would rule on any election disputes. Africa's most populous nation goes to the polls to elect a new president and parliament on February 16. Concerns have already been expressed about attempts to rig the result. Prosecutor Aliyu Omar told the tribunal that Onnoghen had been formally served with a summons but he was not present for Tuesday's hearing. "What we are asking for is for him to step aside and we have filed an application for that," he said. "We are not asking him to resign but we are asking him to step aside for the period of this trial." Onnoghen's lawyer, Wole Olanipekun, said the hearing should be adjourned until the outcome of separate applications to halt the proceedings. But the tribunal rejected the request, adjourning the case until January 28. Ahead of the election, there have been concerns that both the ruling All Progressives Congress and the main opposition Peoples Democratic Party are looking to buy votes. But the PDP has gone further, casting doubt on the impartiality of the electoral commission, alleging some of its staff have been compromised. Buhari embarked on a high-profile anti-corruption campaign after taking office in 2015, which the PDP has criticised as a political witch-hunt. His opponents say the main opposition has been unduly targeted by means of the security agencies and courts like the Code of Conduct Tribunal. Senate leader Bukola Saraki was brought before the tribunal on charges of false declaration of assets but was ultimately cleared by the Supreme Court. Clashes broke out ahead of what are expected to be the biggest demonstrations since 2017 - REUTERS At least four people have died following overnight clashes ahead of Wednesday's rival protests in Venezuela by supporters and opponents of President Nicolas Maduro, police and a non-governmental organization said. Thousands were beginning to assemble in Caracas ahead of the rival demonstrations on Wednesday, expected to be the first mass street rallies since 125 people died during protests between April and July, 2017. A 16-year-old was among the dead overnight, having suffered "a firearm injury during a demonstration" in the capital Caracas, the Social Conflict Observatory said. Police said the other three deaths occurred during looting in Bolivar City in the southeastern Bolivar State that borders Brazil. A statue of iconic socialist revolutionary leader Hugo Chavez, Maduro's predecessor, was torched by dozens of protesters in the town of San Felix, Bolivar State. Riot police clash with anti-government demonstrators in the neighborhood of Los Mecedores Credit: FEDERICO PARRA/ AFP Photos and videos shared on social media showed the statue, which was vandalized last year, engulfed in flames. Tensions have been running high in the country since Monday when a group of soldiers took over a command post in the north of the capital and rose up against Maduro, publishing a video calling on people to come out into the streets in support. The mutineers were quickly overpowered by police and the armed forces, with 27 people arrested. But the brazen move sparked at least 30 small protests around Caracas, according to the Social Conflict Observatory, with the police firing tear gas to disperse demonstrators. Thousands were beginning to assemble in Caracas ahead of the rival demonstrations on Wednesday Credit: CARLOS GARCIA RAWLINS/REUTERS The opposition-controlled parliament had announced Wednesday's protest earlier this month as the legislature's president Juan Guaido aims to rally support behind his attempt to chase Maduro from power and set up a transitional government ahead of new elections. The government responded by announcing its own pro-Maduro demonstration on what is a hugely significant date in Venezuela since it was on January 23, 1958 that the dictatorship of Marcos Perez Jimenez fell. Story continues Opposition to Maduro's rule has been stepped up since the former bus driver was sworn in for a second term of office two weeks ago. The election he won in May was boycotted by the opposition and branded a fraud by the European Union, United States and numerous Latin American countries. Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores, attend a meeting with supporters in Caracas Credit: REUTERS The opposition protest aims to support opposition leader Juan Guaido's bid to set up a transitional government ahead of new elections. He received support on Tuesday from US Vice-President Mike Pence, whose country has sanctioned top regime figures. Pence wrote on Twitter: "As the good people of Venezuela make your voices heard tomorrow, on behalf of the American people, we say: estamos con ustedes. We are with you." This content is not available due to your privacy preferences. Update your settings here to see it. Maduro responded by accusing the US, through Pence, of trying to engineer a coup. Venezuela's government ominously predicted there would be violence against opposition protesters, although claiming it would be self-inflicted in a bid to portray the regime as brutal. Venezuela's Communications Minister Jorge Rodriguez even said Monday's mutiny, in which soldiers took over a command post in the north of Caracas and called on the public to head to the streets in repudiation of Maduro, was merely a ruse to steal weapons. An anti-government demonstrator throws a Molotov cocktail during clashes with police and troops in the surroundings of a National Guard command post in Cotiza Credit: YURI CORTEZ/ AFP US Senator Marco Rubio warned of manipulation by Venezuela's intelligence service, urging them to "reconsider the plan they have for tomorrow before it's too late." Monday's mutiny was quickly put down. Twenty-seven soldiers were arrested and Rodriguez claimed they confessed to handing out weapons to opposition activists "so they can carry out acts of violence, (cause) injuries and deaths during the protest." The mutiny sparked at least 30 small protests in different parts of Caracas, according to a non-governmental organization monitoring social conflict. Police used tear gas against some of the demonstrators. Juan Guaido speaks before a crowd of opposition supporters during an open meeting at the Central University of Caracas Credit: YURI CORTEZ/ AFP "We leave the violence to others," Mr Guaido said. "Tomorrow is about reuniting as a people to tell the world about the steps we're going to take to end the usurpation, to achieve a transitional government and a free election." Billionaire Ken Griffin has added to his pricey real estate roster. Griffin, the founder of the hedge fund Citadel, has reportedly acquired the most expensive U.S. home ever, a penthouse in New York that sold for about $238 million, according to The Wall Street Journal. The apartment, which is within the 220 Central Park high-rise and measures about 24,000 square feet, was purchased by Griffin in 2015, the Journal says. The building, located between Seventh Avenue and Broadway, is nearing completion and has led to the real estate deal's closing, the Journal says. A crane sits atop a new condominium skyscraper at 220 Central Park South in New York in 2016. Ken Griffin, the billionaire founder of the Citadel hedge fund, has purchased a penthouse in the building for about $238 million, The Wall Street Journal reported Wednesday the highest-priced home ever sold in the U.S. Citadel is expanding to new offices at 425 Park Avenue and the residence gives Griffin a place to stay there, a spokesman with the fund told the Journal. Hes definitely a global trophy hunter and he bought what would arguably be now the number one building in New York, Donna Olshan, president of Olshan Realty Inc., in New York, told Bloomberg. This news comes just two days after CNBC reported Griffin had spent $122 million to acquire the most expensive home sold in London since 2008. The mansion near Buckingham Palace had once been the home of Charles de Gaulle, a company spokesperson told CNBC. The New York and London residences bring to six the number of real estate price records Griffin has set. A year ago, Griffin paid $58.5 million for the top four floors of a Chicago condo tower, according to CNBC. He has also made major purchases in Miami and Palm Beach, Florida. Ken Griffin, Citadel founder and CEO, had a blockbuster More: Million-dollar homes: The number surges as home prices rise. Many are in California More: Dream home: This is what a $135 million Palm Beach mansion looks like Griffin, who is 50, has a fortune of $9.6 billion and holds the No. 138 spot on the Bloomberg Billionaires Index of the worlds 500 wealthiest people. While attending Harvard, Griffin started his trading career at the age of 19 from his dorm room. The hedge fund founder has dished out cash on charities, too. Last year, he donated $10 million toward the Chicago Police Department and University of Chicago Crime Lab's project to combat violent crime. Overall, he has given more than $700 million to numerous charities including the Ann & Robert Lurie Childrens Hospital, the Art Institute of Chicago, the Museum of Modern Art and the American Museum of Natural History, according to Citadel's website. Follow USA TODAY reporter Mike Snider on Twitter: @MikeSnider. This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Most expensive US home, a $238M NYC penthouse, reportedly sold to billionaire Ken Griffin The case against an American arrested in December in Moscow on spy charges for allegedly accepting a flash drive containing classified information is eerily similar with a high-tech upgrade to the arrest of U.S. journalist Nick Daniloff in the Soviet Union 32 years ago. Former Marine Paul Whelan, who said he was in Russia to attend a wedding, was grabbed by Russian security officers Dec. 28 at an upscale Moscow hotel. His lawyer, Vladimir Zherebenkov, said Tuesday that Whelan had been handed a flash drive that purportedly contained "secret" information by another person whom he declined to identify. Zherebenkov would not say whether Whelan knew the person, or why he would have passed along classified information. Paul actually was meant to receive information that was not classified from an individual, Zherebenkov told reporters before Whelan's bail hearing. He said the thumb drive was supposed to contain pictures. "These were cultural things a trip to a cathedral, Pauls holiday, he said. But as it turned out, it contained classified information. Whelan's plight follows the arrest in the United States of accused Russian spy Maria Butina, a 30-year-old, self-styled Russian gun rights activist. She was initially charged with conspiracy and acting as an agent of a foreign power. In December, she pleaded guilty to a lesser charge of conspiracy to act as a foreign agent, which could bring a maximum of five years in prison. American journalist Nicholas Daniloff poses back in the United States after his release following his arrest in Moscow on October 1986. Butina agreed to cooperate with U.S. prosecutors, likely lessening her eventual sentence. Was the Whelan arrest fabricated to match the Butina case and perhaps set up a swap? "This wasn't planned yesterday. It was probably planned back after (Butina) was arrested," Dan Hoffman, a former Moscow station chief for the CIA, tells The Daily Beast. They want to deter future U.S. actions against other private citizens." Daniloff tells USA TODAY that that's what it looked like to him. Story continues "There are a number of Russians in American jails the Russians would like to get back," Daniloff says, including a notorious arms dealer. In any case, that's how the Daniloff case played out. In 1986, Daniloff, then a Moscow-based reporter for U.S. News & World Report, was arrested in the Lenin Hills overlooking the capital. Daniloff wrote after the ordeal that he had been there to meet a friend named Misha, from the city of Frunze, and gave his copies of some Stephen King novels. Misha, in turn, handed him a bag that he said were clippings from Frunze newspapers and photos. Daniloff had gotten such clips before as a way to keep in touch with news from Central Asia. This time it was different. On the walk home, Daniloff says, a van stopped and a half-dozen men jumped out, pinned him down and cuffed him. At the KGB's feared Lefortovo prison, Daniloff recalls, the bag he had been handed was opened to reveal photos of what he said looked like amateur snapshots of soldiers and tanks, plus maps stamped "secret." One, he says appeared to be an operational military map from Afghanistan, while the other was an area map with a code name. Daniloff says he knew immediately after he was grabbed that he would be a hostage for Gennadi Zakharov, the Soviet employee of the United Nations arrested a week earlier in New York for allegedly handing over money to a contact for classified U.S. Air Force documents. In the end, that's exactly what happened. After days of intense discussions between Moscow and Washington, Daniloff was allowed to leave the Soviet Union without charges. Zakharov was allowed to leave the United States after pleading no contest to the charges against him. In addition Soviet dissident Yuri Orlov was released to the West. Daniloff's case, though, took an unexpected twist when "Misha" the man with the bag of photos in Lenin Hills emigrated to the United States. Daniloff said Misha called to renew old ties but that Daniloff refused to meet him after Misha declined to apologize for the notorious incident that landed him in Lefortovo prison. Daniloff said he learned later that Misha had been involved in a murder along the way in the Soviet Union and was no doubt vulnerable to heavy pressure. "That's the sort of thing that the KGB can have as a lever over him," says Daniloff. "And the rest is history." . . This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Moscow arrest of American on spy charges eerily similar to the 1986 case against U.S. reporter Nick Daniloff morgan stanley james gorman government shutdown By CCN.com: Morgan Stanley CEO James Gorman has expressed fears that the partial U.S. government shutdown could hurt the economy greatly if it drags on. Gorman was speaking in Davos, Switzerland at the World Economic Forum as the shutdown enters its 34th day. In an interview with the CNBC (video below), Gorman empathized with the 800,000 federal government workers who have missed several paychecks now. Gorman pointed out that this was affecting hundreds of thousands of households whose breadwinners are federal employees. Government Shutdown Makes Federal Employees Desperate This content is not available due to your privacy preferences. Update your settings here to see it. As previously reported by CCN, unpaid federal government employees have resorted to food banks and other forms of charity. It is estimated that nearly 2,000 GoFundMe pages have been created to raise money for affected federal government employees. This content is not available due to your privacy preferences. Update your settings here to see it. Read the full story on CCN.com . lola1960/Shutterstock January 24, 2019 A mother from Adelaide, Australia is fighting a public battle against internet commenters who attacked her for nursing her 7-year-old son. Linda Bridger, 46, was featured on the Australian website Kidspot last summer, sharing how she practices extended breastfeeding with her boys, 7-year-old Chase and 4-year-old Phoenix. Both of her sons have been diagnosed with autism spectrum disorders. Bridger discussed breastfeeding and her older son's autism with the site in June: "Breastfeeding has prevented him having to go on to medication because it calms him down. It calms and grounds him and is a fantastic way to reconnect, too." She shared that they had tried melatonin supplements, but Chase struggled to swallow it, so he gets the hormone, which is linked to the regulation of circadian rhythms, from breast milk. "I can shorten the meltdowns by feeding him. It is a great tool to help with autism, Bridger said at the time. It has been a long, long time feeding the 7-year-old. Some kids have blankets and dummies, and mine just feed. She shared that he used to nurse up to 20 times a day, but now he does just once or twice a day, including once just before bedtime. I have mentioned stopping a couple of times, and he gets upset about it, Bridger told Kidspot. Several months later, Bridger is speaking out about the feedback she received after the first article was published. In a post published Sunday, January 20, titled, "A letter to those of you who feel its OK to bully a stranger," Bridger shared, "The responses online to the story made me really sad. To the adults who have commented that I am sick and need to get help, there is nothing mentally wrong with me, I am only doing what is natural. It's not a sexual act, Im not a pedophile, which is what quite a few have suggested. My son is very independent, self-assured, none damaged. His friends and peers don't tease as they have been educated in the fact that what he is doing is OK." Story continues She wrote that, given how "all you adults bully and abuse me, telling me what I need to do for your comfort, overriding my child's comfort, I can see why so many children bully these days." Bridger elaborated on her son's overall wellness. Chase wont take any form of medication including pain relief, he vomits it up if I even try, she explained. He uses a cup for water, eats plenty of table foods but can be picky on textures. He uses utensils, wipes his own butt, dresses himself, can make age-appropriate food, knows how to safely cross a road on his own. Breastfeeding doesnt prevent him [from] growing. She also addressed critics who taunted her about nursing for years to come. No, he wont still be breastfeeding from me in his teens, 20 or 30s, she wrote. To those who accused Bridger of continuing to breastfeed Chase for her own benefit, the mom shared, "You can't force a baby or toddler or older child to breastfeed, in fact I'm ready for him to wean whenever as I have been for quite some time. I need to watch what I wear, what I eat as he has a cow's milk protein allergy, I can feel very touched out sometimes, it can be uncomfortable in the warm weather, I'm careful of medications (although the majority of medications are breastfeeding safe). So no, it's not for my benefit." It appears that Bridger has as many cheerleaders as she does criticsperhaps more. Many moms came out in support of Bridger on Kidspot's Facebook post of the letter. One shared, "Im glad you are meeting your childrens needs. It is understandable that children with asd need extra support and comfort and if it works for you and your children then great. Unless someone else has walked in your shoes with the meltdowns, the frustration and the anxiety... then they should not comment. Haters gonna hate!" Another wrote, "Beautiful, healthy happy child. Excellent mum award!" The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) recommends infants be exclusively breastfed for about the first six months of life, followed by breastfeeding in combination with the introduction of complementary foods until at least 12 months of age, and continuation of breastfeeding for as long as mutually desired by mother and baby. Bradford L. Smith, President and Chief Legal Officer, Microsoft. Photo: WEF Cyber attacks are one of the biggest threats to businesses, economies, and societies around the world. According to the World Economic Forum (WEF), attacks against businesses have almost doubled in five years and the costs are rising too. For example, some of the largest costs in 2017 related to ransomware attacks, which accounted for 64% of all malicious emails. Notable examples included the WannaCry attackwhich affected 300,000 computers across 150 countries and NotPetya, which caused quarterly losses of $300m for a number of affected businesses, it added. In a panel called A New Architecture for Cyber-Cooperation at the WEF in Davos, Switzerland, Samir Saran, president of the independent thinktank Observer Research Foundation (ORF) outlined how all of us are trying to respond to the digital dilemma. How do you grow the digital economy? How do you unsure personal rights and safety? And how do you ensure national security is not a victim of either of the other two?, he said. The panel included Brad Smith, president and chief legal officer, Microsoft. He outlined the two trends over the last five years that have continued to intensify. Its all about keeping the world safe. The world depends on digital infrastructure and people depend on their digital devices and what weve found is that these digital devices are under attack every single day, said Brad Smith, president and chief legal officer, Microsoft. The first biggest threat, he says, is that attacks by organised criminal enterprises are becoming more prolific and more sophisticated, often operating in jurisdictions that are more difficult to reach through the rule of law but use the internet to seek out victims literally everywhere. Smith says that the second biggest issue is the increase in nation state attacks. On certain days, acting on a global basis May 2017 there was the Wannacry attack launched by North Korea it impacted over 150 nations in a single day. Story continues WEFs Global Risks Report 2019 showed that cybersecurity risks are one of the most disruptive problems for global business. In order to solve these issues there is no single bullet, Smith said. What we are trying to do is take a multi-faceted approach. It starts with tech companies which create this technology, that have a responsibility to really keep people safe. You see across the tech sector a number of different companies constantly strengthening their security defences and constantly offering more security defences to customers. But the industry has found that we really need to act together, not just separately. 2018 was a really important year because Siemens sponsored and launched a charter of trust and Microsoft launched the tech accord. We need governments to do more as well. The Senate Intelligence Committee has subpoenad Donald Trump's former personal lawyer Michael Cohen to compel him to testify before the committee next month, CNN reports. The subpoenas come as a part of the committee's ongoing investigation into Russia's interference in the 2016 presidential election, and follow after Cohen was sentenced last month to three years in prison for several felonies including campaign finance violations, lying to Congress, and financial misdeeds. Cohen had also been expected to testify before the House Intelligence Committee next month, but postponed that appearance citing "ongoing threats against his family" from Mr Trump and his current attorney Rudy Giuliani. "Due to ongoing threats against his family from President Trump and Mr Giuliani, as recently as this weekend, as well as Mr Cohen's continued cooperation with ongoing investigations, by advice of counsel, Mr Cohen's appearance will be postponed to a later date," Lanny Davis, Cohen's attorney, said in a statement. "Mr. Cohen wishes to thank Chairman Cummings for allowing him to appear before the House Oversight Committee and looks forward to testifying at the appropriate time". That postponement has led to democrats in that committee newly in power after taking control of the House during the 2018 midterm elections to consider whether to subpoena Cohen before he reports to prison next month. The Senate Intelligence Committee refused to comment on its reported subpoena when contacted by The Independent for confirmation. Cohen was previously viewed as the president's right hand man, and pleaded guilty to having made a $130,000 payment to Stormy Daniels, the adult film actress who has claimed she had an affair with Mr Trump over a decade ago. Mr Trump has denied having had an affair with Daniels, and the two have been involved in a lenthy legal battle. The Libyan National Army (LNA), led by Eastern Libya strongman Khalifa Haftar, has called the UN Special envoy to the North African country an enemy after the UN official bashed the armys deadly actions in Southern Libya. A spokesman of the LNA, which is controlling the eastern part of the country, Wednesday said Ghassan Salame has turned himself as part of the Libyan crisis, Reuters reports. The fact is that Salame has turned into an opponent and has become part of the Libyan crisis, said Ahmed Mismari in Benghazi. Ghassan Salame should remember that this is a holy national duty and we will not leave Libya to be like Lebanon, a country of militias and multiple authorities, he added, Reuters said. The fallout came after Salame who is from Lebanon blasted the LNAs last week raid in Southern Libya which the army said was meant to flash out terrorist groups sowing havoc in that part of the oil-rich African country. Mismari also laid into Salame, saying that he was surrounded by graduates of Tora Bora, the Afghan mountain hideout once used by the late al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden, Reuters notes. Haftar has criticized UN-backed Government of National Accord (GNA) based in Tripoli for housing terror groups as well as Muslim Brothers. Salame has been seeking the military commanders endorsement for national elections. Mexicans celebrated Tuesday as "Roma" grabbed 10 Oscar nominations -- none more exuberantly than the film's breakout star, Yalitza Aparicio, who melted hearts and went viral with her ecstatic reaction to her best actress nomination. Aparicio, an indigenous schoolteacher with no acting experience who landed the part when she accompanied her sister to the audition, posted a video on Twitter of the moment she got the news. Watching the announcements on a laptop in what appeared to be her hotel room in Tijuana -- where she had traveled for a photo shoot at the US-Mexican border fence -- Aparicio let out a scream when her name popped up, then pressed her hands to her face, choking back tears, in a gesture of pure joy no actress could feign. The video went viral, garnering tens of thousands of likes and countless replays on Mexican TV. "I'm so happy. I was not expecting this news when I woke up so early today," Aparicio wrote. Filmed in Spanish and the indigenous Mixtec language, set in Mexico City in the 1970s and filmed in black and white, "Roma" is not supposed to be the kind of movie that finds huge success in the United States -- especially not in the Mexico-bashing era of President Donald Trump. But Alfonso Cuaron's intimate portrait of his childhood and the two women who raised him -- his nanny, played by Aparicio, and his mother, played by best supporting actress nominee Marina de Tavira -- garnered the most Oscar nominations of any film this year, together with Greek director Yorgos Lanthimos's "The Favourite." "Roma" scored several firsts in the process: first Spanish-language film nominated for best picture, and the first nominations for streaming giant Netflix in the directing, original screenplay, foreign language film and best picture categories, among others. For Mexico -- where the film triggered a national conversation on race, class and the traumas of the past -- the news was celebrated by figures from the president on down. Story continues Cuaron "is a first-rate filmmaker, a source of pride for Mexico. I congratulate him and all the actors and production team.... We should all see the film," said President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador -- admitting that he himself had not watched it yet. - 'Viva Alfonso!' - "We're all happy! What can I say? It's been a very intense morning," said Eugenio Caballero, the production designer on "Roma" who famously recreated Cuaron's boyhood home and street in minute detail for the film. "I'm so happy to see the nominations for Yalitza, Marina, Alfonso and the entire team," he told AFP. Mexican filmmakers have racked up an impressive string of successes at the Academy Awards in recent years. The trio of Mexican directors known as the "Three Amigos" -- Cuaron, Guillermo del Toro and Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu -- have won the best director award four of the past five years. Cuaron, who won in 2014 with "Gravity," now stands to make that five of the past six. The Mexican film community was jubilant. "VIVA ALFONSO!!" tweeted del Toro, whose film "The Shape of Water" won the most statuettes at last year's Oscars with four, including best picture and best director. "I can't believe it!! I can't take the excitement," tweeted Gael Garcia Bernal, one of Mexico's best-known actors, who became a Hollywood heartthrob after starring in Cuaron's last Spanish-language film, "Y Tu Mama Tambien" (2001). "'Roma' is making history for Mexican film, on an international level," said the president of the Mexican Academy of Film Arts and Sciences, Ernesto Contreras. Mexicans will no doubt be watching in droves when the Oscars ceremony is held on February 24. "The great value of 'Roma,' besides its visual beauty, lies in the questions it asks us as Mexicans, about who we are, where we come from and our shared wounds," said Maria Novaro, head of the Mexican Film Institute (IMCINE). The Saudi Arabian sisters whose bodies were discovered bound together on the banks of New Yorks Hudson River in October killed themselves, a medical examiner has determined. The cause of death was drowning. Rotana Farea, 23, and Tala Farea, 16, had been missing for two months when their bodies were found, duct-taped together at the feet and waist and facing each other, but with no clear sign of trauma. The case initially mystified New York police, who sent investigators to interview relatives and friends in their adopted hometown of Fairfax, Virginia, a suburb of Washington, D.C. The family settled there after moving from Saudi Arabia in 2015. Today, my office determined that the death of the Farea sisters was the result of suicide, in which the young women bound themselves together before descending into the Hudson River, Chief Medical Examiner Barbara Sampson said in a statement. The sisters fully clothed bodies were discovered near the river Oct. 24, exactly two months after they were reported missing. They had been living in a shelter in Virginia amid allegations that they were abused at home, and had a previous disappearance in December 2017. More: Secretary of State Pompeo to press Saudi Arabia to provide a 'credible narrative' on Jamal Khashoggi's murder More: Uneasy twosome: Golf and politics at Saudi Arabia tournament Police said the sisters arrived in Manhattan on Sept. 1 and enjoyed a lavish lifestyle until maxing out their credit card. The deaths shined a light on the secretive and risky journeys Saudi women take to flee their homes in the kingdom and abroad. Under the kingdoms guardianship system, women must have the approval of a male relative such as a father, husband, brother, or even a son to marry, obtain a passport or travel. In June, Saudi Arabia became the last country to lift its ban on women driving. New York City Police Chief of Detectives Dermot Shea said people who knew the Farea sisters in Virginia told investigators that they made statements within the last year indicating that they would rather inflict harm on themselves commit suicide than return to Saudi Arabia. Contributing: The Associated Press This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Medical examiner: Saudi sisters found on banks of Hudson River committed suicide Britains prime minister Theresa May sits with members of her cabinet, including chancellor Philip Hammond (right). Photo: Adrian Dennis/Pool via REUTERS/File Photo UK prime minister Theresa May and chancellor Philip Hammond are tag teaming on Thursday to try and get business leaders and worker representatives the unions on board with Mays Brexit deal. Hammond will say in a speech to the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland later that the UK is a great place to do business and that Britain is determined to make sure it remains that way after it leaves the European Union. Meanwhile, May will be speaking to workers unions Unison, the TUC, Unite, the GMB to try and drum up support for her failed deal. Last week, May suffered a devastating defeat to push through her Brexit deal in parliament. However, the following day, her government survived a no-confidence vote, meaning whilst no-one liked her deal, most were keen to keep her and her cabinet in power to get a deal done. Since then, May has tried to win over support from Tory Brexiteer politicians and Northern Irelands DUP, who lend support to her government to push through her proposals, by changing or amending backstop plans for the Irish border. That backstop plan is an insurance policy in the Brexit deal that is intended to confirm that there will be no return to a visible border between Northern Ireland and the Irish Republic after Britain leaves the EU. This content is not available due to your privacy preferences. Update your settings here to see it. However, the EUs chief Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier said on Wednesday that he wasnt interested in a Plan B from May, which suggests she will either have to try and break the political deadlock by re-trying to gain support for the existing deal or delay Brexit to restart talks with the bloc again. What do banks and businesses think? The event in Davos is used as a platform by the worlds most powerful people to deliver their company messages as well as muse on what concerns them the most and where opportunities lie. The worst case scenario for businesses and the economy is a no-deal Brexit the UK crashing out of the bloc without a deal. That would mean all rules and regulations that tied the UK and EU together would cease to exist without an infrastructure in place. Story continues On Wednesday, the boss of the industry lobby group CBI, which represents 190,000 businesses in Britain, Carolyn Fairbairn warned leaders in Davos that a no-deal Brexit wouldnt just rupture the UK economy, the damage could spread far beyond the UK. IMF chief Christine Lagarde also reiterated previous forecasts that a no-deal Brexit is a threat to the global economy. The Bank of England governor Mark Carney has previously said that a no-deal Brexit will be worse than the global financial crisis. There is a long list of companies and independent think tanks that have continually voiced concerns over Brexit and, in particular, a no-deal Brexit. Banks in particular have been putting together contingency plans for a disorderly exit and some have started to execute those including moving or expanding operations to another EU member state instead of Britain as well as curbing hiring or investment in the UK. The BOEs Carney said previously that while banks are ready for an Armageddon-style meltdown, businesses are totally unprepared. A man let an 11-year-old girl drive herself to school with a younger boy in the backseat, according to Chicago-area police, who later found out the vehicle driven by the child was stolen. Now police can't locate Khafilu Oshodi, the 31-year-old seen in the passenger seat of a vehicle pulling into Murphy Elementary School in the northern Chicago suburb of Round Lake on Jan. 9, local authorities said. The young girl who attends the school and is related to Oshodi was behind the wheel police said, citing eyewitness accounts. The kid driver had to navigate "a dozen really, really bad scenarios" in the school's vicinity before arriving safely to park in a lot near the building, said Round Lake Park Police Chief George Filenko. "Youve got parents walking kids across the street. Kids walking kids," Filenko said. "Theres crossing guards, but thats not going to do any good if someone loses control of the car." What's more, the police chief said: The neighborhood surrounding the school is uncurbed, meaning an out-of-control 11-year-old could have swerved onto a lawn and into a house or worse. After the girl parked, she exited the car and the little boy, age 9, hopped out of the backseat, witnesses told police. "He slid over as soon as the kids got out and sped away," Filenko said. Now police can't find the man. He's wanted for two counts of child endangerment and for driving himself on a suspended license. The car Oshodi let the girl drive was reported stolen by a Chicago rental car company days later, on Jan. 14, Filenko added. While police have been unable to reach Oshodi, the police chief said he's glad no accident occurred. Regardless of the fact, its irresponsible," Filenko said, saying a child's lack of reflexes could turn the car into "a several thousand-pound weapon." Follow Josh Hafner on Twitter: @joshhafner More: 'Well-respected' principal arrested for alleged sex acts with students This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Man let 11-year-old girl drive herself to school in stolen car, police say Davos (Switzerland) (AFP) - The world is "losing the race" against climate change, UN chief Antonio Guterres warned Thursday, demanding bolder action from governments to arrest runaway warming. Guterres delivered a no-holds-barred appraisal to business and political leaders gathered at the World Economic Forum in Davos, which has featured much hand-wringing on the planetary crisis this week. "In my opinion it is the most important global systemic threat in relation to the global economy," the UN secretary-general told his high-calibre audience. "Climate change is running faster than what we are," he said. "I believe we are losing the race." The business community and civil society are increasingly engaged, "but the political will is still very slow", he said, lamenting the position of climate doubters. "We are moving dramatically into a runaway climate change if we are not able to stop it." A UN summit last month in Poland, which was designed to advance the Paris climate accord, laid bare continuing fissures over the share of responsibility among countries to cap temperature rises. The Paris accord has been shaken by the withdrawal of the United States under President Donald Trump, and by threats to do the same by Brazil's new hard-right leader, Jair Bolsonaro. Guterres, on an earlier Facebook Live broadcast, said the commitments made in Paris were already "not enough" but was "not hopeful" that nations would find the necessary resolve. "If what we agreed in Paris would be materialised, the temperature would rise more than 3.0 degrees (Celsius)," he said. "We need countries to make stronger commitments," Guterres said, calling for more measures to mitigate climate change and adapt to it, along with financial aid for poorer countries. A WEF survey ahead of the Davos meeting found climate change was the leading concern of forum participants around the world, noting in particular the growing frequency of extreme weather events. Story continues Corporate executives in Davos such as Patrick Pouyanne, CEO of French energy giant Total, have been touting their own measures to transition to a greener economy. "We don't look to renewables to be green," he told the CNBC channel in Davos on Thursday, noting that electricity is the fastest-growing segment of the energy market. "We look to renewables because it's the best way to go in to this electricity market, but the electricity market will require also natural gas, so natural gas and renewables." - 'Suicide pact' - But activists say companies are not doing nearly enough. One vocal voice in Davos this week has been Swedish 16-year-old Greta Thunberg, who has inspired a wave of climate protests by schoolchildren around the world after delivering a fiery speech at the UN climate summit in Katowice, Poland last month. "They (companies) have known exactly what priceless values they have been sacrificing to continue making unimaginable amounts of money," she told AFP in an interview. Former secretary of state John Kerry, who signed the Paris accord for the United States in 2016, said 38 out of the 50 US states were implementing their own climate policies despite Trump's withdrawal and vocal scepticism on climate change. The Paris pact was based partly on the expectation that the private sector would step up with new investment in areas such as batteries and solar panels, he noted. "It's not happening enough, and even in Katowice recently, you saw the fight that was taking place, just to be able to try to be reasonable here," Kerry said in Davos on Tuesday, also on CNBC. "We're heading towards 4.0 degrees Centigrade increase in this century, and the passive indifference that most countries are accepting is basically a mutual suicide pact." Another idea long in the mix of the climate debate is a carbon tax, which would factor in the polluting price of fossil fuels so as to discourage their use over time. That has been anathema for many governments, including the United States well before Trump. But it is gaining ground anew under an initiative by the Climate Leadership Council that is backed by 27 Nobel economics laureates and four former chairs of the Federal Reserve. Ted Halstead, president of the US organisation, has been in Davos this week selling the idea of US households getting back the revenue raised, in the form of lump-sum rebates. Greenpeace welcomed the intervention by Guterres. "The UN secretary-general's speech once again drives the urgency of the climate emergency home," said the environmental group's executive director Jennifer Morgan. "Guterres' argument is compelling and has to be heard." We are in one of the busiest weeks of the current-reporting cycle, and betting on stocks based on profit numbers and earnings surprise appears trendy. But looking beyond profits and figuring out a companys cash position can be far more rewarding. This is because, even though profit is a companys goal, cash is a necessity for its existence, development and success, and indeed a measure of resiliency. In fact, even a profit-making company can face cash trouble and end up being bankrupt while meeting its obligations. But a company with a solid cash flow can endure any market mayhem besides enjoying flexibility in decision making, chasing potential investments and fueling its growth engine. To find this efficiency, one needs to consider its net cash flow figure. While in any business cash moves in and out, it is net cash flow that explains how much money the company is actually generating. If a company is experiencing a positive cash flow then it denotes an increase in its liquid assets, which gives it the means to meet debt obligations, shell out for expenses, reinvest in business, endure downturns and finally return wealth to shareholders. On the other hand, a negative cash flow indicates a decline in the companys liquidity, which in turn lowers its flexibility to support these moves. However, having a positive cash flow merely does not secure a companys future growth. To ride on the growth curve, a company must have its cash flow increasing because that indicates managements efficiency in regulating its cash movements and less dependency on outside financing for running its business. Therefore, keep yourself abreast with the following screen to bet on stocks with rising cash flows. Screening Parameters: To find stocks that have seen increasing cash flow over time, we ran the screen for those whose cash flow in the latest reported quarter was at least equal to or greater than the 5-year average cash flow per common share. This implies a positive trend and increasing cash over a period of time. In addition to this we chose: Zacks Rank 1: No matter whether market conditions are good or bad, stocks with a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) have a proven history of outperformance. You can see the complete list of todays Zacks #1 Rank stocks here. Average Broker Rating 1: This indicates that brokers are also highly hopeful about the companys future performance. Current Price greater than or equal to $5: This sieves out low-priced stocks. VGM Score of B or better: This score is also of great assistance in selecting stocks. Importantly, this scoring system helps in picking winning stocks in their individual industry categories. Here are four out of eight stocks that qualified the screening: Hitachi, Ltd. HTHIY, headquartered in Tokyo, is one of the world's leading global electronics companies, engaged in manufacturing and marketing of a wide range of products, including semiconductors, consumer products, and power and industrial equipment. The stock has a VGM Score of A. Moreover, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for fiscal 2019 earnings moved up 4.9% to $8.34 in a months time. Gray Television, Inc. GTN is a communications company headquartered in Atlanta, GA. It currently owns and operates television stations as well as digital assets in markets across the United States. The company has a VGM Score of A. Also, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for 2018 earnings moved 5.5% north to $2.30 in the last 60 days. SP Plus Corporation SP, based in Chicago, IL, provides professional parking, ground transportation, facility maintenance, security and event logistics services to property owners and managers in all markets of the real estate industry. The stock has a VGM Score of A. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for full-year 2019 earnings climbed 8.4% in two months time. Ingles Markets, Inc. IMKTA, headquartered in Black Mountain, NC, is a leading supermarket chain with operations in the Southeastern United States. The company has a VGM Score of A. The stock has experienced positive estimate revisions, with the Zacks Consensus Estimate for fiscal 2019 earnings moving 3.2% north in two months time. Get the rest of the stocks on the list and start putting this and other ideas to the test. It can all be done with the Research Wizard stock picking and back-testing software. The Research Wizard is a great place to begin. It's easy to use. Everything is in plain language. And it's very intuitive. Start your Research Wizard trial today. And the next time you read an economic report, open up the Research Wizard, plug your finds in, and see what gems come out. Click here to sign up for a free trial to the Research Wizard today. Disclosure: Officers, directors and/or employees of Zacks Investment Research may own or have sold short securities and/or hold long and/or short positions in options that are mentioned in this material. An affiliated investment advisory firm may own or have sold short securities and/or hold long and/or short positions in options that are mentioned in this material. Disclosure: Performance information for Zacks portfolios and strategies are available at: https://www.zacks.com/performance. 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 Gray Television, Inc. (GTN) : Free Stock Analysis Report Hitachi Ltd. (HTHIY) : Free Stock Analysis Report Ingles Markets, Incorporated (IMKTA) : Free Stock Analysis Report SP Plus Corporation (SP) : Free Stock Analysis Report To read this article on Zacks.com click here. Zacks Investment Research DAVOS, Switzerland (AP) The Latest on the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland (all times local): 9:25 p.m. Billionaire philanthropist George Soros says he thinks Chinese President Xi Jinping is "the most dangerous opponent of open societies." Soros said Thursday during a speech on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum that instead of "waging a trade war with practically the whole world, the U.S. should focus on China." The 88-year-old Hungarian-American said the United States "needs to crack down" on the likes of technology companies ZTE and Huawei. He argued that if "these companies came to dominate the 5G market, they would present an unacceptable security risk for the rest of the world." Soros says President Donald Trump "seems to be following a different course" that leads him to make "concessions to China and declare victory while renewing his attacks on U.S. allies." This, he added, is "liable to undermine the U.S. policy objective of curbing China's abuses and excesses." ___ 7:55 p.m. The head of the World Trade Organization has applauded signs of progress between the United States and China in their trade standoff. WTO Director-General Roberto Azevedo pointed to comments from officials that suggested "some progress has been achieved and that there is some degree of optimism in the conversation" between Washington and Beijing. The WTO chief has expressed optimism that the trade picture could be better this year than in 2018, when the Trump administration announced massive tariffs on Chinese and other goods and retaliatory action was taken by some key U.S. trading partners. Speaking Thursday to The Associated Press at the World Economic Forum, Azevedo also said that in case of a no-deal or "hard" Brexit, preferential trading conditions on about 60 percent of trade in British goods would go away, meaning that the tariff levels on them would change. Story continues Azevedo also acknowledged a critique by Japan's prime minister a day earlier was "fair." Shinzo Abe said major changes were happening in world trade, and said the WTO was "behind the curve" and not keeping pace. "The reform of WTO is precisely what we need to do to fix that," Azevedo said. ___ 7:15 p.m. Shouting "anti-capitalista" and other chants, hundreds of protesters have demonstrated in Davos insisting the elite attendees of the World Economic Forum across town were more about helping themselves than a troubled world. Socialists, environmentalists and others waved banners and signs that read "Davos Stinks" or "Let them eat money" while braving sub-zero temperatures in central Davos. Across town, business chiefs, academics, governmental officials and NGO leaders at the WEF were mostly holed up in a conference center. A 20-year-old protester from Geneva, Thomas Bruchez, said the demonstrators' message was: "We want a better world, you're not deciding for us." Thursday's demonstration was originally planned in part to protest against President Donald Trump, who had been expected in Davos this week before cancelling his trip over the U.S. government shutdown. The protest went ahead anyway, training some anger at Brazil's new nationalist President Jair Bolsonaro who did attend. ___ 7 p.m. The head of the Hong Kong stock market says the rest of the world proved ungrateful after a massive Chinese stimulus program helped revive the global economy during the Great Recession. China dumped 4 trillion yuan (now worth $590 billion) of stimulus on its economy a decade ago, helping lug the global economy out of a deep downturn. But much of the stimulus money was wasted in China, winding up as bad loans or as new or expanded factories that cranked out more aluminum, steel and other products than anyone wanted to buy. So now China is looking for help putting its capital to better use. But "the partners are not interested anymore," said Charles Li, CEO of Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Limited. "The partners are starting to say, 'We don't like you anymore. Ten years earlier, you stood up for the family, but now we want a divorce." Li didn't single out culprits. But the reference seemed clear: The United States is restricting Chinese investment and has imposed taxes on $250 billion in Chinese imports. ___ 4:35 p.m. The Congolese surgeon who won the Nobel Peace Prize last year for his work with survivors of sexual assaults committed during conflict is calling for a global fund for reparations. Dr. Denis Mukwege told a World Economic Forum audience on Thursday that such a fund is needed in case a government or even the attacker cannot offer help or apologize. He says reparations do not always involve money. They also are a chance for healing, "for leaders to apologize for what happened ... or for women to just say, 'This is enough.'" Mukwege has treated tens of thousands of women and children who were raped or sexually assaulted in eastern Congo, where conflict over the last two decades has killed millions of people. He says he is not always successful in surgery and that when he has to explain that to a patient, "I tell you, it's a torture." ___ 3:35 p.m. The U.N. chief says opponents of globalism shouldn't just be branded as "nationalists or populists or whatever," insisting "we need to show these people that we care." Secretary-General Antonio Guterres offered a message of inclusion for those in "rust belts" around the world, saying that insecurity about jobs and livelihoods being lost requires more attention. For many years, political establishments and international organizations "let these people be left behind," he said. His comments at the World Economic Forum in Davos were the latest effort to address a populist, nationalistic mood in many parts of the world that have cast a shadow over the multilateral, or globalist, movement in recent years. We need to understand their "grievances" and the "root causes" of their opposition to multilateralism championed by the United Nations, Guterres said, adding that it's "not enough to vilify those that disagree" with multilateralism. ___ 2:10 p.m. Irish Premier Leo Varadkar says Britain will face "enormous difficulties" if it crashes out of the European Union without a deal that could leave it unable to strike trade deals with other countries around the world. Speaking on the sidelines at the World Economic Forum, Varadkar said Britain would not only be outside Europe's single market in a "no deal" scenario, it would also no longer be part of the EU's trade deals with the likes of Japan, Canada and South Korea. And because the Irish border issue will still be "unresolved," he said "it'll be very difficult for them (the British) to conclude any trade deals." One of the arguments made by those wanting a "no deal" Brexit is that it would allow Britain to strike trade deals around the world immediately. As a result, Varadkar urged British lawmakers to ratify the Brexit deal Prime Minister Theresa May negotiated with the EU as it's a "solution on the table." ___ 12:20 p.m. Bank of England Governor Mark Carney says Britain's banking system is in good shape to deal with the prospect of the country crashing out of the European Union on March 29 without a deal. Speaking at the World Economic Forum, Carney said the banks have spent the last few years building up their capital buffers. That will help them to keep lending even if the British economy shrinks by 8 percent in the months after Brexit and house prices collapse by around a third, as the bank warned in its worst-case Brexit scenario. Carney said the banking system has about three times as much capital as it had prior to the financial crisis even after all post-Brexit losses are absorbed. However, Carney said many logistical issues at ports and borders will not be ready in the event of a "hard Brexit" that would see tariffs imposed on British goods and other restrictions imposed on trade. Businesses, he said, are "doing what they can but in many cases they can't do it." ___ 11:30 p.m. Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte has warned of a growing divide between north and south in the European Union if Italy is seen as violating the budget rules that govern the euro currency. Speaking at the World Economic Forum, Rutte said people in his country are asking him why the Netherlands is implementing measures to abide by budget rules when others are not. He said the dispute over Italy's budget is "creating distrust between north and south." Though the Italian government has softened its position slightly after the EU threatened it with legal action, its deficit is still higher than the EU had wanted initially to reduce Italy's overall debt. Poland's premier, Mateusz Morawiecki, agreed that the EU "should apply the same standards for different member states" but said that Italy is not being treated in the same manner that France was previously. France's relatively high deficit over the past few years was widely seen as being tolerated by the EU. ___ 11:15 a.m. The head of the World Trade Organization warned that the global economy would plunge into the "Dark Ages" without free trade. Speaking at the World Economic Forum meeting in Davos, Switzerland, WTO Director General Roberto Azevedo said: If "the WTO and the global trading system is out of the picture, we're in for the Dark Ages, I guarantee you that." U.S. President Donald Trump has disrupted the post-World War II trend toward ever-freer world trade, imposing taxes on foreign steel, aluminum and hundreds of Chinese imports. European Union Trade Commissioner Cecilia Malmstrom warned of "threats" to free trade. In a clear reference to Trump's America, she said: "We have countries who are acting on their own, disregarding global rules and undermining the global trading system." But she said the momentum toward freer trade hasn't stopped, noting that 11 Pacific Rim countries went ahead with a regional trade pact even after Trump withdrew from the deal in 2017 and that the EU has recently negotiated trade agreements with Japan, Canada and other countries. ___ 10:15 a.m. The fallout from developments in Venezuela and uncertainty over Britain's exit from the European Union are set to be key points of discussions Thursday at the World Economic Forum in the Swiss town of Davos. Following two days when much of the debate has centered on issues related to global trade, particularly the dispute between the United States and China, and climate change, the world's political and business elites are digesting what's going on in Venezuela, after the U.S. recognized opposition leader Juan Guaido as interim president. Brexit will also feature heavily, with British ministers due to address the Forum on Thursday, including Treasury chief Philip Hammond. Bank of England Governor Mark Carney is also due to appear before a panel as is World Trade Organization chief Roberto Azevedo. The European Union announced Wednesday it adopted a financial assistance package worth 305 million to Tunisia, which is the highest amount ever allocated under the European Neighborhood Instrument. The funds will assist the North African country create jobs for youth, close gaps among local communities, promote entrepreneurship and improve living conditions. This record financing reflects the EUs strong ambition to create better chances for the Tunisian youth, facilitate a more flourishing and attractive business environment and enhance the capacities of local governments to improve the living conditions of local populations, the European commission said in a press release. Support to actions that will bring economic growth and provide more job opportunities is a top priority in our newly adopted assistance to Tunisia, worth 305 million, the highest amount ever for a single year, said Johannes Hahn, Commissioner for European Neighbourhood Policy and Enlargement Negotiations. The adopted programs will facilitate access to the job market for young Tunisians, boost entrepreneurial innovation and ensure that local communities are not left behind, he added. Tunisia, the only success story of the 2011 Arab Spring that swept away several leaders, including Tunisian Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, has been repeatedly rocked by social protests demanding jobs and better living conditions for youth and underprivileged communities. After the revolution, the country slid into economic crisis that forced the government to subscript for loans from international financial donors conditioned by austerity measure. Francis himself made the announcement on the plane taking him to Panama for the 34th World Youth Day. Visiting Iraq is too dangerous at present. Vatican City (AsiaNews) Pope Francis will travel to Japan in November. Francis himself made the announcement in an answer to a Japanese reporter on the plane taking him to Panama for the 34th World Youth Day. Responding to questions by several journalist, acting Vatican Press Office director Alessandro Gisotti said that The Apostolic Journey to Japan is under study. As the Holy Father already said on other occasions, he really wishes to visit that country. Regarding a possible visit to Iraq, as the Cardinal Secretary of State Pietro Parolin already said on his return from that country last December, the conditions do not exist at present for a visit by the Holy Father. Francis has expressed a desire to visit Iraq, but local bishops told him that the country is not safe. Another reporter gave the Pope the drawing of a young migrant who died at sea with his report card sewn in his clothes. The Pope was moved, adding that he was going to talk about it upon his return. Answering a question about the walls built to stop migrants in Tijuana, on the border between Mexico and the United States, the pontiff said to read the editorial in the Osservatore Romano titled I Muri della Paura (The walls of fear). When the journalist told the Holy Father that in Tijuana, he saw a wall that reaches all the way to the ocean, Francis responded calling it madness, adding that "fear makes us crazy." The Pope left Rome this morning at 9.30 am (local time) and is scheduled to arrive in Panama at 4.30 pm (local time), 9.30 pm GMT. WASHINGTON (AP) The Latest on the decision by President Donald Trump's former personal lawyer, Michael Cohen, to postpone public testimony to Congress (all times local): 3:25 p.m. President Donald Trump claims his former personal lawyer, Michael Cohen, is postponing public testimony to Congress because Cohen has been in Trump's words "threatened by the truth." An adviser to Cohen says Cohen is delaying his Feb. 7 appearance before a House committee because Cohen continues to cooperate with special counsel Robert Mueller's Russia investigation. The adviser also says Cohen has received threats. The committee is investigating 2016 campaign-season payments to women who claimed to have had sex with Trump. Trump has denied the affairs. Prosecutors say Trump directed Cohen to pay the women to hide potential scandals during the campaign. Asked to respond to Cohen, Trump said: "I would say he's been threatened by the truth. He's only been threatened by the truth." Cohen has pleaded guilty to lying to Congress about a Trump business proposal in Russia during the campaign. Trump has said Cohen changed his story to get a lighter prison sentence. ___ 2:45 p.m. The Democratic chairmen of two House committees say they still expect President Donald Trump's former personal lawyer, Michael Cohen, to appear before Congress. Cohen is postponing his scheduled Feb. 7 appearance before one committee. Maryland Rep. Elijah Cummings leads the House Oversight and Reform Committee. California Rep. Adam Schiff is chairman of the House Intelligence Committee. They say they believe Cohen has "legitimate concerns" for his safety and security in light of threats from the president and Trump lawyer Rudy Giuliani. Cohen cited the threats against his family as well as his "ongoing" cooperation with special counsel Robert Mueller's Russia investigation as the reasons he was postponing his testimony. Story continues ___ 2:05 p.m. President Donald Trump's former personal lawyer is postponing his public testimony to Congress. Michael Cohen won't appear as scheduled before the House Oversight and Reform Committee on Feb. 7. Cohen's adviser Lanny Davis says the delay is on the advice of Cohen's lawyers because Cohen's still cooperating in special counsel Robert Mueller's Russia investigation. Davis also says Cohen has received threats. The Democratic-led committee is investigating hush-money payments during the 2016 campaign to silence women who claimed to have had sex with Trump. Prosecutors say Trump directed Cohen to make the payments as a way to quash potential scandals during the campaign. Trump's denied having an affair. Cohen has pleaded guilty to lying to Congress about his role in a Trump business proposal in Russia considered during the campaign. Lam Research Corporation (LRCX) reported second-quarter fiscal 2019 non-GAAP earnings of $3.87 per share, which beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 20 cents. The figure increased 15.2% sequentially but was down 10.8% year over year. Adjusted revenues increased 8.2% sequentially but decreased 2.2% year over year to $2.52 billion, beating the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $2.5 billion. The sequential growth is attributed to robust performance of both etch and deposition technologies, which in turn resulted in the expansion of its serviceable addressable market. Management stated that memory segments will likely weaken during this year as customers continue to reign in both NAND and DRAM spending. However, it expects non-memory segments to grow in 2019, driven by continued rise in 3D architectures, along with technology innovation for transistor, interconnect and advanced packaging applications. Following the companys strong quarterly results, share price of Lam Research was up 6.4% in the after-hour trading session. However, shares of Lam Research have lost 35% in the past 12 months compared with its industrys decline of 28.4%. Top Line in Detail In the quarter, Japan, Korea, Taiwan and China accounted for 27%, 25%, 17% and 14% of the companys total revenues. Southeast Asias contribution was 7%, while both the United States and Europe contributed 5% each. It experienced rising demand for DRAM application and NAND Flash, which led to increasing adoption of dielectric etch technology. Moreover, Lam Research benefited from its transition to new data-enabled economy, in which DRAM and NAND continue to gain from density growth. Operating Details Non-GAAP gross margin came in at 46.3%, which contracted 10 basis points (bps) on a year-over-year basis. Non-GAAP operating expenses were $440 million, reflecting a decrease of 2.4% sequentially. As a percentage of sales, research and development expenses increased, while selling, general and administrative expenditure marked a decline. Story continues Adjusted operating margin was 28.8%, expanding 180 bps sequentially. The increase was due to solid execution and operating leverage. Balance Sheet & Cash Flow At the end of the fiscal second quarter, cash and cash equivalents and short-term investments decreased to $3.6 billion from $3.9 billion in the fiscal first quarter. Cash flow from operating activities was $642 million, down from $720.3 billion in the fiscal first quarter. Capital expenditures were $106 million, up from $56 million in the fiscal first quarter. During the quarter, Lam Research paid dividends of $168 million. Guidance For third-quarter fiscal 2019, Lam Research projects revenues to be $2.4 billion (+/- $150 million). The Zacks Consensus Estimate for the same is pegged at $2.45 billion. Gross margin is predicted at around 44.5% (+/-1%) and operating margin is expected to be 25% (+/-1%). Non-GAAP earnings are projected at $3.40 (+/- 20 cents) per share on a share count of nearly 159 million. The corresponding Zacks Consensus Estimate is pegged at $3.41. Lam Research Corporation Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise Lam Research Corporation Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise | Lam Research Corporation Quote Zacks Rank & Stocks to Consider Currently, Lam Research carries a Zacks Rank #5 (Strong Sell). Some better-ranked stocks in the broader computer and technology sector include SYNNEX Corporation SNX, Twitter, Inc. TWTR and Cloudera, Inc. CLDR, each sporting a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy). You can see the complete list of todays Zacks #1 Rank stocks here. Expected long-term earnings growth rate for SYNNEX, Twitter and Cloudera is 0.7%, 22.1% and 8%, respectively. More Stock News: This Is Bigger than the iPhone! It could become the mother of all technological revolutions. Apple sold a mere 1 billion iPhones in 10 years but a new breakthrough is expected to generate more than 27 billion devices in just 3 years, creating a $1.7 trillion market. Zacks has just released a Special Report that spotlights this fast-emerging phenomenon and 6 tickers for taking advantage of it. If you don't buy now, you may kick yourself in 2020. Click here for the 6 trades >> 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 SYNNEX Corporation (SNX) : Free Stock Analysis Report Cloudera, Inc. (CLDR) : Free Stock Analysis Report To read this article on Zacks.com click here. Zacks Investment Research Yahoo News photo illustration; photos: AP, Getty Images If theres one thing we learned from Donald Trumps 2016 campaign, its that Americans are so disgusted by the predictable artifice of politics that you can say almost anything and still win a lot of votes, as long as you dont sound like youre reading from the same old meaningless talking points. So naturally a bunch of the Democratic contenders for 2020 who just marched out to declare themselves to the electorate seem determined to sound as much like every other candidate of the last 25 years as humanly possible. Brilliant plan. Julian Castro: We have always been at our best when were united by something bigger. Kamala Harris: The American public wants a fighter. Kirsten Gillibrand: I believe that what people want in our state and around the country is someone who will fight for them and someone who not only understands what their problems actually are, but then will do what it takes to solve that problem. (She also accused Trump of literally ripping apart the fabric of this country, which, you know, literally cant be, unless weve now entered A Wrinkle in Time.) I cant tell you which of the many Democrats running will emerge to challenge Trump, but it wont be the one who sounds generated by a word algorithm. Whats less predictable right now, though, and maybe more interesting, is whats happening in Trumps own party as 2020 comes into view. A lot of Republicans have considered Trump an unstoppable force in the conservative grassroots and at least a viable candidate for reelection. But recent events, mainly centered on the economy, have added some uncertainty to that. Turmoil in the markets at the end of last year, followed by the longest government shutdown in history, have some global experts predicting a painful slowdown in 2019. Polls show rising disenchantment with Trump, even among pockets of his white, working-class base. And among the Republican establishment now in exile or trying to ride out the moment, there remains a lot of resistance to key tenets of the Trump agenda, most notably his pro-Russia tilt and his ongoing trade war. (And, of course, his Gollum-like obsession with The Wall.) Story continues This week the Republican National Committee, meeting near Albuquerque, is apparently set to pass a nonbinding resolution supporting the president in the 2020 primaries. Thats not something you do when youre feel like everythings going just fine. Ive said before that I think Trump is vulnerable to a challenge from someone in his own party. And while there may be multiple Republicans considering that right now (weve heard speculation about Jeff Flake and Nikki Haley and, most recently, Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan), the most likely challenger remains John Kasich, the just-departed Ohio governor who lasted deep into the 2016 primaries, despite winning only his home state. When I caught up with Kasich in Columbus a few weeks ago now, at his last public event as governor, he was in no mood for a long discussion about a future campaign. He was busy reflecting on his frenetic and creative eight years in office, and showing me how his new, shiny white Tesla would drive itself when summoned. (Im driving the future here, Matt!) But Kasich didnt sound like a guy who was backing down from another fight. During his last speech in office, at a ceremony to name an arena at the state fairgrounds in his honor, he went out of his way to have fun at the presidents expense. It was huge! Kasich said, referring to the crowd at the fair. Bigger than any crowd in history! Later, he ticked off for me a sharp critique of the Trumpian agenda, comparing it to where Democrats are on the issues. Theyre worried about the environment we deny it, Kasich said. Theyre worried about income inequality we dont care. They want Medicare for everybody, which would bankrupt the system our view is to take health care away from 20 million people. Where are the free-market, center-right, exciting ideas about a new world? They dont exist in the Republican Party. The basic question facing Kasich right now, if he does decide to make another run against Trump, is binary, but not at all simple. Do you try to take out the incumbent president in the primaries and win back the party, or do you make an independent bid instead? I could certainly make the case for a primary campaign. As Ive said, the No. 1 reason Trump prevailed in 2016 wasnt his talk-show celebrity or his neo-nativist appeal (though all of that contributed), but because the more serious-minded field was divided a dozen different ways. The math works very differently when its mano a mano from the start, especially if Trump is carrying the weight of an uncertain economy. As we often say in politics, campaigns are choices, not referendums. Republican voters may give Trump high approval ratings compared to Democrats or (worse yet) the media, but we have no idea how theyd respond to a sustained debate between Trump and a more traditional conservative. And you only have to beat Trump in independent-heavy New Hampshire or in another early state, where losing his invincibility as an incumbent would recast the entire race. Think back to 1968, when Gene McCarthys strong showing in New Hampshire emboldened Robert Kennedy and persuaded Lyndon Johnson to step aside. But lets be real: The primary route is a tough one. The last time any major elected figure tried something like this was 1980, when Ted Kennedy tried to wrest the Democratic Party from Jimmy Carter. (My colleague Jon Ward just wrote a terrific book about this, called Camelots End, which reminds you what complex and flawed figures both men were at the time.) The lesson both parties took from that fiasco was that launching an internal bid to unseat a president usually ends up destroying the party. Which is why few Republican donors or activists are lining up to help Kasich launch what could be a kamikaze mission this time. And while a Republican renegade might get a hearing, its not clear that Kasich is the right kind of renegade. Kasich carries on passionately about leaving no one in the society behind and about the value of compassionate Christianity; he believes in the looming crisis of climate change and in global alliances. All of which might make him not really a Republican anymore. Which leads us to door No. 2: an independent campaign. Running as a third candidate, maybe on a bipartisan ticket, is one of those crazy things that only losers think about, right? I say independent and you think spoiler. Ross Perot, Ralph Nader, that guy who once ran who led a community of yogic fliers. (It happened. Im not making this up.) Except that while you were laughing, the world completely changed. The major obstacles that always stood in the way of independent campaigns money and ballot access are now eminently surmountable, thanks to the internet and super-PACs. And the advantage to an independent campaign is that you dont have to spend all this time catering to the craziness of dwindling primary electorates. You can enter late, when a lot of voters may already be soured by all the partisan nastiness between the other two candidates, and speak to the broad center of the electorate that often feels caught between impossible choices. (See 2016, for instance.) Ive argued that America will get an independent presidency sooner rather than later; decades from now, both Barack Obama and Donald Trump will be seen as transitional figures from the long age of parties to the era of personalities. Should Republicans renominate Trump and Democrats choose a more strident candidate of their own, 2020 could be the perfect moment for that evolution. And yet there are drawbacks here, too. What if an older, sometimes garbled Midwestern governor who speaks of consensus isnt the right personality to incite that kind of uprising? What if Democrats end up nominating a Joe Biden, who might be perfectly acceptable to anti-Trump centrists? A lot of people still believe that a third candidate from one party can do little more, mathematically, than throw the election to the other, which is why Michael Bloomberg stood down from an independent run in 2016. So with all that in mind, if youre Kasich or some other serious Republican whos had enough, which way do you go at Trump? Which adventure here gives you the best chance of success? Im really not sure, but I think it may depend on how youre defining success. If youre inherently a party guy, and you still believe that Reagans Republican Party exists and hasnt been permanently overrun by the forces of Trumpism, then its probably worth a primary fight. Another four years of Trump, and whatever happens to the country, I can promise you, the Republican Party we grew up with will be a curiosity of history. But if your goal is to actually win the White House, party be damned, then Id say an independent campaign is the wave of the future, and more likely to get you there. Sure, the conventional wisdom says its quixotic, but in a society barely 20 years into a massive technological and cultural transformation, a lot of 20th century conventions political parties included are fast losing their relevance. Thats another lesson we should have taken away from Trumps ascendance. And this one is literally true. _____ Read more from Yahoo News: Caracas (AFP) - Juan Guaido proudly calls himself a "survivor." He will need to be: the bold young politician, head of Venezuela's opposition-controlled legislature, became public enemy number one when he declared himself interim president Wednesday, defying embattled President Nicolas Maduro. Guaido did not set out to supplant Maduro, the socialist president who has presided over a spiraling political and economic crisis in Venezuela. But the sometimes reserved 35-year-old was thrust to the front of the Venezuelan opposition when more senior leaders were forced from the scene -- some detained, some banned from politics and some pushed into exile. Guaido brazenly called out Maduro as he took a revised oath of office before a crowd of thousands in Caracas, saying, "I swear to formally assume the national executive powers as acting president of Venezuela to end the usurpation, (install) a transitional government and hold free elections." US President Donald Trump immediately recognized him as Venezuela's interim president, followed by a string of countries across the region. Maduro, the hand-picked successor to late leftist firebrand Hugo Chavez, calls Guaido "a kid playing at politics." But the self-declared interim president, an industrial engineer by training, has shown no fear in challenging the socialist leader's election to a second term, in a May vote that was boycotted by the opposition and rejected by the United States, European Union and a dozen Latin American countries. Guaido, who became the youngest person ever to preside over the legislature on January 5, has never been a great public speaker. But he is known as a talented coalition-builder -- something Venezuela's divided and disorganized opposition badly needs. "One of his main virtues is arming teams. He understands the differing positions and does everything in his power to bring them together," 32-year-old lawmaker Juan Andres Mejia told AFP. Story continues - 'Fresh face' - In his short tenure as legislative leader, Guaido got the opposition majority to officially declare Maduro a "usurper" and his re-election a fraud, while promising an amnesty for all military and government officials who disavow the president. He has gained confidence along the way, grinning at rallies and speaking with greater ease. What he hasn't found a solution to, though, is his powerlessness in the face of a government that retains the support of the military high command and the Supreme Court. Guaido has not been shy in reaching out to the armed forces seeking the backing he would need to take power definitively. "I'm a survivor, not a victim," he has said, recalling how he survived one of Venezuela's worst natural disasters as a teenager: the Vargas tragedy of December 1999, when mudslides caused by torrential rain killed thousands of people. Back then, Guaido lived with his mother and five siblings in the coastal state of Vargas. "I know what it means to be hungry," he said. His introduction to politics came alongside the generation of students that held mass protests against Chavez in 2007. That movement inflicted Chavez's only electoral defeat, in a referendum on reforming the constitution. "Guaido is a fresh face, considered a man of consensus by the moderates and also respected by the radicals for having taken part in those protests," Diego Moya-Ocampos, an analyst at London-based IHS Markit consultants, told AFP. Guaido was a founding member of the Popular Will (VP) party in 2009 and has now become its most recognizable face. Previous leader Leopoldo Lopez is under house arrest for leading anti-Maduro protests in 2014, and his heir apparent, Freddy Guevara, fled to the Chilean embassy after he was accused of inciting violent protests in 2017. - Living dangerously - Guaido, who took part in those protests, was elected deputy for his native Vargas in 2015. He caused ripples by accusing state oil company PDVSA of corruption, but remained a relative unknown until recently. "To be honest, I didn't know who he was. Hopefully he won't prove a fraud," said Jose Hernandez, a 24-year-old administrator, at a recent rally in support of Guaido. Mejia, his legislative colleague, says Guaido is playing "a difficult game": Venezuela is "used to personality cults and authoritarian leadership, and that's placing a big burden on Juan. Change doesn't depend only on him, it's down to everyone." Guaido was briefly detained by intelligence agents on January 13. But he was released after less than an hour. The government later blamed the incident on rogue agents acting unilaterally, arresting 12 people. But Guaido has ample reason to be on the lookout. Prison service minister Iris Varela has said of him: "I've already got his jail cell prepared." Thursday, January 24, 2019 Well, it finally happened: weekly Initial Jobless Claims finally broke beneath the psychologically important 200K level, to 199K last week. This is a drop of 13K claims from the previous week, which totaled a downwardly revised 212K. We had predicted this would happen back in late summer of last year, when initial claims dwindled week over week down to the low 200s, but we never pushed below that until now. This headline number comes as somewhat of a surprise, as jobless claims had been a bit more volatile in recent weeks. Continuing Claims also crashed on the week down 24K to 1.713 million. This is not the lowest weve seen on this side of the claims data; we had been below 1.7 million for a couple weeks there in the latter section of 2018. But this also represents historical lows in particular, jobless claims are the lowest weve seen since November of 1969, nearly 50 years ago. If were seeing anything reflected on the partial U.S. government shutdown (now in its fifth week), its not apparent this morning. Perhaps some of the 800K federal employees (plus private-sector service workers reliant on federal offices being open) whove gone without a paycheck with another payday set to go unfulfilled tomorrow have found employment elsewhere, but these numbers do not expressly state anything like this. Although economists do caution that an extended shutdown will eventually create atrophy in the economy, suggesting we may be seeing peak employment right this very moment. Q4 High Flyers & More After todays closing bell, we expect to see a slew of earnings reports from microtechnology companies like Intel INTC, which take on added importance following the warnings from Apple AAPL a couple weeks ago. For this morning, however, earnings reports look a little airline-heavy. The following companies were all rated Zacks Rank #2 (Buy) prior to their Q4 releases: American Airlines AAL put up a mildly mixed report, beating estimates on the bottom line by 2 cents to $1.04 per share (as opposed to 95 cents in the year-ago quarter) while missing on revenues very slightly, to $10.94 billion. Revenue beats are not really a strength for American the company has only posted a positive surprise on the top line once in the past 4 quarters. The airline major, which also carried a Zacks Style Score (Value - Growth - Momentum) of B before the earnings release, appears to b e forgiven for this revenue miss in todays pre-market. Shares are trading up 5.8% at this hour. For more on AALs earnings, click here. Southwest LUV outperformed expectations on both top and bottom lines for its Q4: $1.17 per share easily topped the $1.06 Zacks consensus, and well ahead of last years 77 cents per share in the same quarter. Revenues of $5.70 billion in the quarter beat estimates by roughly half a percentage point. Southwest, which had already earned 9.8% year to date, is up again 5.66% at this hour in the pre-market. For more on LUVs earnings, click here. Discount airline JetBlue JBLU also beat Zacks consensus estimates on both sales and earnings: 50 cents per share surpassed the 42 cents expected, while revenues of $1.97 billion barely eked out a positive surprise of 0.13%. Shares have enjoyed a bid up year to date, +7.4%, but are yielding a tad following this Q4 report in early trading. For more on JBLUs earnings, click here. Elsewhere in Transportation, Union Pacific UNP posted $2.12 per share on revenues of $5.76 billion for its Q4 report, an improvement over $2.06 anticipated on the bottom line and +0.66% on the top. Year over year, the railway giant has grown earnings impressively, from $1.53 per share in the year-ago quarter. Shares are already up double digits to start 2019, and are climbing another 3.6% at this hour. For more on UNPs earnings, click here. And Freeport-McMoRan FCX, a mining giant carrying a Zacks Rank #5 (Strong Sell), has missed its quarterly earnings target by nearly 50% to 11 cents per share, well off the year-ago tally of 51 cents. Revenues of $3.68 billion was off more than 4% from expectations, and off the $5.04 billion the company brought in for Q4 2017. That said, shares had been up 19% year to date, but the company has so far given back 6.7% in todays pre-market. For more on FCXs earnings, click here. Mark Vickery Senior Editor Questions or comments about this article and/or its author? Click here>> Story continues Zacks' Top 10 Stocks for 2019 In addition to the stocks discussed above, wouldn't you like to know about our 10 finest buy-and-holds for the year? From more than 4,000 companies covered by the Zacks Rank, these 10 were picked by a process that consistently beats the market. Even during 2018 while the market dropped -5.2%, our Top 10s were up well into double-digits. And during bullish 2012 2017, they soared far above the market's +126.3%, reaching +181.9%. This year, the portfolio features a player that thrives on volatility, an AI comer, and a dynamic tech company that helps doctors deliver better patient outcomes at lower costs. See Stocks Today >> 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 Southwest Airlines Co. (LUV) : Free Stock Analysis Report JetBlue Airways Corporation (JBLU) : Free Stock Analysis Report Union Pacific Corporation (UNP) : Free Stock Analysis Report To read this article on Zacks.com click here. Jakarta (AFP) - Jakarta's former governor was released from prison Thursday, nearly two years after his blasphemy conviction fanned fears of religious intolerance in the world's biggest Muslim-majority nation. Basuki Tjahaja Purnama -- the Indonesian capital's first non-Muslim governor in half a century and its first ethnic Chinese leader -- left a prison outside the capital after dawn, his assistant Ima Mahdiah told AFP. Supporters of the Christian ex-governor, who is popularly known as Ahok, gathered outside the prison, chanting and cheering his new found freedom. "My dad's a free man! Thank you everyone for the support," Nicholas Sean, one of his three children, said on Twitter. The release ends one of the most tumultuous chapters in Indonesian politics in recent memory. Purnama had been a popular politician who won praise for trying to clean up the traffic-clogged megacity and clamp down on corruption before his imprisonment. But his downfall came quickly after comments he made on the campaign trail during a re-election bid saw him accused of insulting Islam. The filmed remarks, which went viral online, sparked mass protests in Jakarta, spearheaded by radical groups opposed to a non-Muslim leader and encouraged by his political rivals. Purnama had urged voters to ignore rivals who cited a Koranic verse stating they should reject non-Muslim leaders, with the then governor saying people were being manipulated into voting against him. However, judges ruled the remarks amounted to blasphemy against Islam and he was then sentenced to two years' jail in May 2017, having lost the election to a Muslim challenger. It was an unusually harsh sentence -- prosecutors had only recommended probation for the now 52-year-old. - 'Unjust conviction' - Purnama's case drew international headlines and a wave of criticism, including from the United Nations, which urged the country of 260 million to revise its decades-old blasphemy law. Story continues "Ahok's unjust conviction is a reminder that minorities in Indonesia are at risk so long as the abusive blasphemy law remains in place," said Elaine Pearson of Human Rights Watch. "Islamists will use it to bring wrongful prosecutions and even more discriminatory regulations against religious minorities." The huge demonstrations calling for Purnama's jailing fuelled concerns about the growing influence of religious hardliners and that the Southeast Asian country's much-vaunted tolerant brand of Islam was under threat. Indonesia's blasphemy law states that anyone found guilty of "expressing feelings of hostility" towards religion can be jailed for up to five years. It applies to any of the six officially recognised religions, including Christianity, Buddhism and Hinduism, but most prosecutions are brought against people accused of blaspheming Islam, which is followed by nearly 90 percent of the population. Among them was an ethnic Chinese Buddhist woman found guilty in August of insulting Islam for asking her neighbourhood mosque to lower the volume on its sound system. She was sentenced to 18 months in jail. The woman's comments about the mosque noise triggered riots in 2016 that saw angry Muslim mobs ransack Buddhist temples. Some ethnic Chinese in the area fled in fear. Total Petroleum Ghana Ltd., a locally listed oil marketing company, has opened its third solar-powered station in Ghana as part of its commitment to develop solar energy through cutting-edge technology in the West African nation. The new solar-powered station has 50 solar panel installation with about 16.35 kWp of power production. Speaking about the project, Managing Director, Eric Fanchini, said that the installation of the solar system is expected to contribute to the reduction of carbon footprints. Total Petroleum Ghana, which was adjudged Brand of the Year in Ghana for the year 2017, started the wave of renewable energy in 2015 with the introduction of 100% solar lamps, available at all Total service station shops nationwide. The company has a retail network of 251 service stations across the country. Ghana is looking to diversify its power resources, as its current reliance on hydropower makes it particularly vulnerable to droughts. As part of the renewable energy targets, the president last year, pledged to increase the contribution of solar energy to the countrys energy mix from the current 22.5MW to 250 MW in the next 12 years. Despite an abundance of sunshine in Ghana, with many parts of the country enjoying high levels of solar irradiation (5.524 kwh/m2/day), all year round, solar energy only contributes 1% to the energy mix, as opposed to 59% from fossil fuels, and 40% from hydro. By Luke Baker PARIS (Reuters) - Populists and the far-right in Italy and France are mounting a multi-pronged assault on President Emmanuel Macron, hoping to unsettle his centrist, pro-Europe agenda ahead of European Parliament elections in May, while also shoring up their own bases. Italy's two deputy prime ministers, Matteo Salvini of the right-wing League and Luigi Di Maio of the populist, anti-establishment 5-Star movement, have sought to rile Macron on a host of inflammatory issues. Salvini and Di Maio appear to believe that in attacking Macron, a strong Europhile, their core voters in Italy will be motivated. Macron has been upfront in framing the European election as a battle between anti-immigrant nationalists and pro-EU 'progressives' like himself. In the ballot, he hopes to carry the center and, along with allies, potentially build the largest bloc in the European parliament. The far-right and populists believe they may win a third or more of the vote, shattering traditional power bases. With vocal support for France's often violent "Yellow Vests" movement and suggestions that Macron's administration is driving neo-colonialism in Africa, the Italian duo have ignored the convention of not interfering in another country's politics. The rise in tension shows how divisive the May 23-26 election is set to be, and hints at shifts in Europe's political landscape that resemble populism in the United States, with fringe parties looking to overturn centrists like Macron. Macron and his ministers have mostly claimed the high ground, ignoring many of the Italian politicians' charges, while issuing flat responses to others. But on Tuesday, angered by Di Maio's accusations that Paris is worsening poverty in Africa and encouraging migration to Europe, the French foreign ministry took the unusual step of calling in Italy's ambassador. On Wednesday the foreign ministry went further, dismissing Salvini's claims that Macron is unpopular and his hope that Macron's En Marche party will lose in the European ballot. "These unfounded statements should be read in the context of domestic Italian politics," ministry spokeswoman Agnes von der Muhll said. "They are unacceptable." In the National Assembly, Europe Minister Nathalie Loiseau said Salvini was playing to a domestic audience and would have no impact in France. "We're not going to be drawn into a stupidity contest," she said. Asked if Macron had spoken about Salvini and Di Maio at the weekly cabinet meeting on Wednesday, government spokesman Benjamin Griveaux replied: "No, because we only discuss issues that are important to the country." While Salvini has long been an outspoken critic of Macron, the assault by Di Maio is relatively new and is a sign of the problems his 5-star movement is having domestically, where it has been falling in polls ahead of the EU vote. 5-Star is seeking new alliances within the European Union and sees France's "Yellow Vests", who have said they will run candidates in the election, as a potential ally. "Similar to other European governments, the French government is now mostly interested in protecting the interests of the elites and the privileged, but not of the people," Di Maio wrote earlier this month. "Yellow Vests, don't give up!" NOT ALL ABOUT MIGRANTS Yet while Macron dismisses Salvini and Di Maio as meddling outsiders, he faces a similar assault at home from Marine Le Pen, leader of the far-right Rassemblement National, who hopes to ally her party with Salvini's in the European Parliament. Le Pen, soundly defeated by Macron in the 2017 presidential vote, launched a campaign this month to turn the French against a new Franco-German treaty of unity and commitment to Europe. In videos - including one on Twitter viewed 165,000 times - Le Pen claimed the treaty would involve France surrendering territory to Germany in the Alsace and Lorraine border regions, that French citizens there would have to learn German, and that Macron was considering sharing France's permanent seat on the U.N. Security Council with Germany. The Aachen/Aix-la-Chapelle treaty signed on Tuesday included none of those things, but in an era when social media can have more impact than official documents, the Elysee Palace issued a firm rebuttal of Le Pen's claims. "NON, Alsace and Lorraine will not be transferred to Germany," it said, using capitals several times. Le Pen, whose party has taken a 9 million euro loan from a Russian bank and whose social media activity is frequently amplified by pro-Kremlin accounts, seems to be aiming to shore up her voter base, which worries about France giving up sovereignty and wants a greater emphasis on national identity. In some opinion polls, Le Pen's party is marginally ahead of Macron's on Europe. If her vote is combined with other far-right parties in France, they are several points clear. But campaigning has not properly begun. Macron is spending the next two months conducting a nationwide debate to "listen" to French voters and respond to the "Yellow Vests", the most serious challenge his presidency has faced. For Dominique Moisi, a political consultant at the Montaigne Institute, the rupture between Italy and France is not just about the May election, but a more fundamental shift in ties between neighbors who helped to found the European project. Moisi argues that France's greater closeness to Germany has left Italy feeling looked down upon, and that has fueled resentment, not just among populists and the far-right, but among Italian elites. "Seen from Rome ... there's a very emotional feeling towards France, as if it has scorned and even abandoned Italy," he wrote this month. "From the crisis in Libya, a country Italy knows well, to the migration issue, Italians feel that at each turn they have been deliberately ignored by a country that increasingly, and with less and less justification, looks down on them." If true, Salvini and Di Maio may succeed in exploiting those sentiments by bashing France in the run-up to the May vote. For Di Maio, that effort is clear in his attempts to align his movement with the "Yellow Vests". Le Pen - who like Salvini has met Steve Bannon and taken advice on how he engineered Donald Trump's presidential victory - is taking a similar tack, albeit on different issues. Where Le Pen and Salvini may fall down, according to Guillaume Liegey, a pollster who worked on Macron's 2017 campaign, is if they focus too heavily on immigration, which for Le Pen and Salvini has been a mainstay issue. In an article in the Guardian this week, Liegey said polling by his group showed that mass migration was not the main concern of voters, who ultimately want to feel a sense of security and that they are being listened to. Macron's "grand debate" may enable him to show that he is indeed listening to voters' concerns. There are already signs that his popularity ratings, once barely above 20 percent, have started to climb again although only by a few points. "If the populist danger can be averted in Europe, a key part of the solution lies not in pandering to anti-migrant slogans but in working to burst the bubbles people are all too often locked into," Liegey said. (Writing by Luke Baker; Additional reporting by Marine Pennetier and Jean-Baptiste Vey in Paris and Crispian Balmer in Rome; Editing by Giles Elgood) Gaza City (Palestinian Territories) (AFP) - Israel struck a Hamas site in the Gaza Strip late Tuesday after a day of border unrest that left a Palestinian militant dead and an Israeli soldier wounded, while also further delaying an aid transfer. The incidents signalled a rise in tensions after weeks of relative calm thanks to an informal truce between Israel and Islamist movement Hamas, which runs the Gaza Strip. An Israeli official said a transfer of cash from Qatar to Gaza via Israel as part of the truce would not occur on Wednesday because of the violence. In the first exchange of fire, an Israeli tank hit two Hamas observation points in the northern Gaza Strip after shots were fired at its soldiers near the border fence, Israeli and Hamas officials said. No one was injured. Later in the day, Israeli tank shelling killed a Hamas militant along the border in central Gaza as Israel responded to gunfire that wounded one of its soldiers, officials said. Mahmoud al-Nabaheen, 24, was killed by tank fire while four other people were hurt, a Gaza health ministry spokesman said. Hamas confirmed he was a member of its armed wing, the Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades. The Israeli army said a soldier was lightly wounded when a bullet struck his helmet, prompting its response. In a statement, it said an initial investigation found "an assailant fired at troops" during a riot that included rock-hurling. A picture published by the army on social media showed the soldier's damaged helmet. Later Tuesday, Israeli warplanes carried out a strike on a Hamas military camp in the northern Gaza Strip, the army said. There were no reports of injuries. There had been warnings of another escalation in recent days since Israel, citing border unrest, is holding up the latest cash transfer from Qatar to Gaza under the agreement. - Protests since March - The payments are controversial in Israel, where they have sparked opposition from right-wing activists and politicians. Story continues Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is campaigning for re-election in April 9 polls, and widely shared images of suitcases of cash being sent into Gaza through Israel have generated criticism of the truce. Qatar's ambassador to Gaza said Monday that the $15 million (13 million euros) in cash to pay salaries of Hamas civil servants in the enclave was expected to be delivered this week, possibly Wednesday. But after the latest violence, an Israeli official said on condition of anonymity that Netanyahu had decided not to allow the transfer on Wednesday. Israel's permission is required since the cash must be delivered via its territory. Hamas is labelled a terrorist organisation by the United States and the European Union, and banks are hesitant to make the transfer. The payment would be the third of six planned tranches, totalling $90 million, in connection with the truce. - Qatar fuel aid allowed - Israel has also allowed deliveries of Qatari-financed fuel to the blockaded enclave to help ease a severe electricity shortage. Mass protests and clashes erupted on the Gaza-Israel border in March last year. The weekly protests have been calling for Palestinian refugees in Gaza to be able to return to their former homes now inside Israel. Israel accuses Hamas of using the protests as cover to carry out violence. At least 244 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli fire since March, the majority during protests and clashes. Others have died in airstrikes or shelling. Two Israeli soldiers have been killed over the same period, one by a Palestinian sniper and another during a botched special forces operation inside Gaza. Israel and Hamas have fought three wars since 2008. By Riham Alkousaa and Tassilo Hummel BERLIN (Reuters) - The European Union's chief Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier said that the "backstop" provision in the agreement for Britain's withdrawal from the bloc could not be time-limited, since that would defeat its purpose of guaranteeing no hard Irish border. His comments, made on Germany's DLF public radio, undermine the hopes of some in London that Prime Minister Theresa May could win pro-Brexit legislators for her deal by securing a time limit to the no-border commitment. Barnier said the withdrawal agreement, roundly rejected by Britain's parliament two weeks ago, was the best one available given the "famous red lines", including an end to freedom of movement and to single market membership, that May had set out to define the future relationship. Barnier, who is due to meet German Chancellor Angela Merkel for talks in Berlin on Thursday, said that the commitment, seen by Dublin as an essential guarantor of peace on the island, had to be credible. Another option being floated by some in London, for the border issue to be regulated in a separate bilateral deal with Dublin, was also impossible, since the border between Ireland and Northern Ireland would in future be an EU frontier, he said. "We have to maintain the credibility of this reassurance," he said. "It cannot be time-limited... It's not just about Ireland." The Irish Independent newspaper said on Thursday that hundreds of Irish police officers could be deployed to guard the border if Britain left without a deal. It cited a meeting of Police Commissioner Drew Harris with senior staff on Wednesday. He added that if Britain's red lines changed, there would be scope for changes to the political declaration on the intended future relationship between Britain and the EU that accompanies the withdrawal agreement. "If something changes with the red lines, then we are ready to talk about that," he said. "We can't make any compromises on the fundamental principles. We can't dilute the single market or split the EU." (Reporting by Riham Alkousaa, Tassilo Hummel and Caroline Copley, editing by Thomas Escritt and John Stonestreet) By Ahmed Rasheed BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Iraq's parliament approved the 2019 budget early on Thursday after an hours-long vote, ending weeks of deadlock over allocations to different provinces and privatization of state projects. Parliament did not vote as planned on three cabinet posts that remain empty, however, leaving Iraq with an incomplete government months after a general election. The budget projected oil exports of 3.88 million barrels per day, up from 3.8 million bpd for the previous year, at a price of $56 per barrel, an increase from the $46 the 2018 budget was based on. Iraq's 2019 budget of 133 trillion dinars ($112 billion) included payment of salaries for the Peshmerga, the military force for the semi-autonomous Kurdish region, a move that lawmakers said might help ease tension between Baghdad and Erbil, the capital of the Kurdistan region. The 3.88 million bpd of oil exports includes 250,000 from the Kurdish region. Exports from northern Kirkuk resumed after a year-long halt in November. Iraq's oil exports from its southern Basra fields account for more than 95 percent of the OPEC producer's state revenue. Kurdish lawmakers welcomed the move to pay salaries of their forces, even though these are not under the direct command of the Baghdad government. "We are satisfied with the budget after approving the salaries for Peshmerga and the region's civil servants," Kurdish MP Aram Balati told Reuters. Last year the budget cut the semi-autonomous Kurdistan Regional Governments (KRG) share from the 17 percent the region has traditionally received since the fall of Saddam Hussein, following a failed bid at full Kurdish independence from Baghdad in October 2017. Lawmakers from southern predominantly Shi'ite Muslim provinces had bickered over budget allocations. The vote had been delayed partly by those disputes and by a face-off between two Shi'ite-dominated political groupings which still cannot agree on the remaining cabinet appointments. Lawmaker Mohammed Tamim said the budget's approval would "help stabilize Iraq's economy and pave the way for the country's rebuilding." Iraq's infrastructure is wrecked after years of war against Islamic State and alleged corruption that has left thousands of people without power and water. (Writing by John Davison; Editing by James Dalgleish) Baghdad (AFP) - Iraqi lawmakers on Thursday approved the government's 2019 budget, which at $111.8 billion is one of the largest ever for the oil-rich country. It represents a nearly 45 percent increase from last year and awards even more money for public salaries, including those of the northern Kurdish region. Nearly 90 percent of the budget comes from oil revenues. Iraq expects to export 3.9 million barrels per day in 2019, including 250,000 bpd from the Kurdish region, at an average of $56 per barrel. The current price of crude sits at $63 per barrel. The deficit is expected to more than double to $23.1 billion, while investments increase to $27.8 billion. The draft bill was originally submitted to parliament in October, but has been fiercely debated since then. MPs from provinces ravaged by the fight against the Islamic State group criticised it for not allocating enough reconstruction funds to their regions. Another debate raged over the share that would be allotted to the administratively autonomous Kurdish region. MPs had originally scheduled a session for 1:00 pm on Wednesday, but delayed it to 7:00 pm and voted article by article, finishing just after midnight. The final budget must now be signed by President Barham Saleh before being published in the government's gazette. The government proposed $52 billion in salaries, pensions, and social security for state workers -- a 15-percent jump from 2018 and more than half the total budget. - 'Allay public demands' - Iraq suffers from rampant unemployment, particularly among youth. The lack of jobs and dismal state of public services including water and electricity sparked widespread protests last summer. The government's answer to those demonstrations, said analyst Ali al-Mawlawi, appeared to lie in the 2019 budget's allocation for salaries and hundreds of millions of dollars in loans expected for service projects. "What this government is doing is basically trying to allay some of the demands from the public by increasing the size of the public sector," said Mawlawi, head of research at the Baghdad-based Bayan Center. Story continues "In the short term, it may reduce some of the pressure on the government but in the long-term, the government is committing to a bigger public sector." Notably, parliament passed a budget measure to fund salaries for the Kurdistan region's state workers and armed forces, the peshmerga. The budget also stipulates the Kurdish Regional Government must export 250,000 bpd of crude through state-owned companies and deposit the revenues in federal coffers. If it failed to do so Baghdad would continue to pay salaries, but would not disburse other funds to the Kurdish region, MP Sarkawt Shamsaddin told AFP. "The good thing is public servants' salaries and peshmerga are not subject to political disputes," said Shamsaddin, representing the northeastern Kurdish city of Sulaymaniyah. Relations between Baghdad and Arbil, the capital of the Kurdish region, soured in 2017 after Kurdish authorities held an independence referendum. Last year's budget was approved by parliament in March. Parliament had also scheduled a vote on two of the five remaining empty cabinet posts in Prime Minister Adel Abdel Mahdi's government, but adjourned without holding it. Reuters Gawdat Bahgat Middle East, Security The United States and other countries have been suspicious of Tehrans space programand for good reason. Iran's Space Odyssey Raises Red Flags for Nuclear Community In mid-January, Iran launched satellite into orbit. The launch took place at Imam Khomeini Space Center. The two-hundred-pound satellite, called Payam (message in Farsi), was designed and produced at Tehrans Amirkabir University of Technology. According to Telecommunications Minister Mohammad-Javad Azari Jahromi, the rocket carrying the Payam satellite failed to reach the necessary speed in the third stage of its launch. Iranian scientists will analyze this failed attempt and will try again. Indeed, Tehran plans to launch two satellites in 2019Payam and Doosti (friendship in Farsi). Both are intended to gather information on environmental changes in Iran. After the launch, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo stated that Irans space program could help it develop a missile capable of carrying nuclear weapons to the U.S. mainland. Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu echoed these sentiments and claimed that the satellite launch was an attempt to develop long-range missiles. The country takes significant pride in the technological advances it has made in its space program. The Islamic Republic is one of a handful of nations with indigenous space-launching capability. Since 2009, it has dedicated a National Day of Space Technology to celebrate its scientific achievements. A landmark step was taken in February 2009 when Tehran successfully used the Safir (ambassador in Farsi) space launch vehicle (SLV) to launch the Omid satellite. This rocket was designed to carry a light payload into low-earth orbit. A more powerful one, Simorgh (phoenix in Farsi), was designed to carry heavier payload into orbit. Since 2009, Tehrans space activities have slowly progressed, and it has launched other satellites into orbit, including Rassad (Observation) and Navid-e Elm-0 Sanat (Harbinger of Science and Industry). Story continues Irans interest in outer space goes back to the late 1950s when the United Nations General Assembly created the Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space (COPUOS). Iran, along with several other nations, was a founding member in this committee. The COPUOS seeks to foster international cooperation and promote the exploration and use of space for global peace, security and development. In 2003 the Iranian government established the Iran Space Agency (ISA) under the umbrella of the Ministry of Communication and Information Technology. Its mission is to coordinate all peaceful space activities. The United States and other countries have been suspicious of Tehrans space program. The opposition has argued that building and developing the capacity to place satellites into the earths orbit provides Iranian engineers with critical experience that can be used to boost their capabilities to launch long-range missiles, including intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBM). In other words, peaceful uses and military applications are inseparable. In July 2017 Iran claimed that it had successfully launched its most advanced satellite-carrying rocket, Simorgh, into space. The upgraded rocket can reach a higher altitude and carry a heavier payload. The United States National Air and Space Intelligence Center claims that the Simorgh could act as a test bed for developing the technology needed to produce ICBM. A close examination of Irans space program provides mixed results. Despite some progress, the country still has a relatively weak space industrial base. It has demonstrated the ability to launch and operate satellites, but many other technological hurdles still need to be overcome before it can fully incorporate its space program into its armed forces. On the other hand, Iran has an extensive record of using electronic forms of attack against space systems, including jamming and spoofing. In other words, Iran has demonstrated its capability to intervene with hostile satellite signals. Finally, despite some similarities between the necessary technology to manufacture satellite-carrying rockets and that is required to make ICBMs, there are fundamental differences as well. The ICBM technology has been developed since World War II. Since then, there have been several examples of states converting ICBMs into SLVs or developing the two technologies in parallel. However, it never happened that SLVs have been transformed into ICBMs. A close examination of Irans space program and the regional and global efforts to halt it suggests the following conclusions: first, the fact that Irans interests in space technology started under the Pahlavi regime suggests that the program is not driven by ideological ambition to export the Islamic Revolution or promote Shiism and destabilize or attack Sunni countries. Rather, one can argue, Iran, under any regime, perceives itself as a major regional power and missiles and space technology (and other weapon systems) play a role in power projection. Second, the available evidences do not prove the claims that Iran has ICBM. These capabilities require years of testing. If Tehran decides to develop ICBM, the international community will have enough time to address this challenge. Rather, the available evidences indicate that the missile program is conventional and seeks to deter regional powers and American forces in the Middle East. Third, the rapid advances in missile technology add more uncertainties to the regional and global efforts to address Irans missile and space program. For example, hypersonic missiles that are currently being developed primarily by the United States, Russia, and China, are considered by some military analysts as game-changers. They fly at unusual altitudes and enjoy astonishing high speed and maneuverability. These characteristics mean that hypersonic missiles can pose tremendous challenge to missile-defense systems. Iran is not known to have this hypersonic technology today, but, if history is any guide, technology does proliferate. Iran can have access to hypersonic technology and other game-changing technologies in the coming years. Finally, since the inception of the missile and space program, regional and global powers have essentially focused on restraining supplies to Iran. Equal efforts are needed to address the demand side. In other words, Tehrans determination to acquire and develop missile and space capabilitiesand its willingness to pay a high price for themneeds to be examined. The huge disparity in defense expenditure between Iran and its neighbors suggests that the broad regional military balance needs to be negotiated. Irans missile and space program cannot be separated from regional arms races and can only be adequately addressed within a broad discussion of the regional security landscape. Gawdat Bahgat is a professor of national security at the Near East South Asia Center for Strategic Studies at the National Defense University. The opinions expressed in this piece are the authors alone and do not represent the views of the U.S. government of the policies of the Department of Defense. Image: Reuters Read full article Infosys INFY recently announced that it is partnering with Hewlett Packard Enterprise HPE for using the latters GreenLake consumption model to aid clients' journey to hybrid cloud. HPE GreenLake is a new consumption-based IT model that focuses on outcome-based consumption, delivering the best aspects of both public cloud and on premises IT. Several services make up the model, including Big Data, databases, backup, storage, compute and Edge, and it is compatible with Microsoft Azure and SAP HANA. The joint efforts of the companies will ensure that enterprises make informed infrastructure investments and benefit from the security of a private cloud while enjoying the scalability and other advantages of a public cloud. Moreover, total cost of ownership will also significantly fall. Clients increasingly prefer to rely on cloud-based services as it makes the IT system more agile and productive, leading to considerable cost savings. This model helps simplify IT operations of the companies that adopt it. Narsimha Rao Mannepalli, Executive Vice President and Head, Cloud & Infrastructure Solutions Service, Infosys said, "Enterprises today are looking at optimizing their Hybrid IT investments and accelerating their digital initiatives. Our partnership with HPE will provide enterprises a compelling value proposition of a consumption-based IT model and the comfort of managed services. Strategic Partnerships Boost Growth for Infosys Infosys has been strengthening its core competencies by pursuing strategic collaborations. The companys strategy is targeted at collaborating with leading technology providers, which allows it to take advantage of emerging technologies in a mutually beneficial and cost-competitive manner. Over the past few quarters, Infosys has collaborated with many bigwigs to fortify its portfolio and market share. To boost digital, cloud, legacy modernization and automation business, Infosys has strengthened strategic partnerships with Alphabets GOOGL Google, Adobe ADBE, Microsoft, Amazon Web Services and salesforce.com. To enhance engineering services, it has partnered with General Electric to deliver solutions in the field of automation, digital trends and Internet of Things. The company had partnered with Hewlett Packard Enterprise earlier as well. In 2017, the companies joined forces to offer a joint end-to-end mainframe modernization solution to provide enterprises with robust hardware and advanced software architecture. The following year, Hewlett Packard Enterprise announced that Infosys Finacle Universal Banking Solution, hosted on HPE infrastructure, achieved a new record for business transactions per second, strengthening their business relationship. As all the industries gradually move ahead in their digital transformation journey, Infosys constant efforts to expedite the transition is commendable. In November last year, the company announced a strategic alliance with Nokia to support the digital transformation of major industries and enterprises. We believe that such continued efforts to strengthen its business segments will help the company sustain its position among the top players in the IT industry. Story continues Infosys Limited Revenue (TTM) Infosys Limited Revenue (TTM) | Infosys Limited Quote Both Infosys and Hewlett Packard Enterprise currently carry a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of todays Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here. More Stock News: This Is Bigger than the iPhone! It could become the mother of all technological revolutions. Apple sold a mere 1 billion iPhones in 10 years but a new breakthrough is expected to generate more than 27 billion devices in just 3 years, creating a $1.7 trillion market. Zacks has just released a Special Report that spotlights this fast-emerging phenomenon and 6 tickers for taking advantage of it. If you don't buy now, you may kick yourself in 2020. Click here for the 6 trades >> 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 To read this article on Zacks.com click here. Zacks Investment Research Hyundai safety engineers have invented what they are calling the world's first airbag system designed to protect people from multiple collisions. The Korean automaker said the new device is calibrated to deploy when a vehicle is hit seriously following an initial, less-serious impact that does not cause deployment. In certain instances in current vehicles, airbags won't go off after an initial impact is registered. The breakthrough occurred in part because Hyundai developed a system that can track the position of occupants following the initial impact, making it less likely the airbag deployment will injure someone. "We have not decided yet which new vehicles will receive this airbag system," Jin Cha, general manager of global public relations for Hyundai, said in an email. "However, since (the) U.S. is one of the biggest markets for Hyundai, where we sell our technologically advanced vehicles, the Hyundai vehicles sold in (the) U.S. will most likely to receive this system when it goes to production." It's also likely to make its way into vehicles under the Kia brand, which is part of the Hyundai company. The automaker described multi-collision accidents as "those in which the primary impact is followed by collisions with secondary objects, such as trees, electrical posts or other vehicles." More: Most drivers don't understand limitations of car safety systems, AAA finds More: These 30 vehicles are the safest 2019 models, car-safety group IIHS says More: Better headlights needed to improve pedestrian safety after spike in deaths, NTSB says That type of collision happens in about 3 in 10 accidents, according to National Highway Safety Traffic Administration figures. "Current airbag systems do not offer secondary protection when the initial impact is insufficient to cause them to deploy," Hyundai said. "However, the multi-collision airbag system allows airbags to deploy effectively upon a secondary impact by calibrating the status of the vehicle and the occupants." Follow USA TODAY reporter Nathan Bomey on Twitter @NathanBomey. This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Hyundai introduces groundbreaking airbag for multiple collisions South Africa plans to double the amount of energy it will buy from the Inga III dam, under construction in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Bloomberg reported. South Africa committed to purchase 2,500 megawatts from the dam, known as Inga III, in a 2013 treaty between the two countries. South African Energy Minister Jeff Radebe has notified the Congolese authorities of his governments willingness to increase the amount it will purchase, according to Bloomberg. South Africas plan to double future off-take from the dam comes as its state-owned power company, Eskom Holdings SOC Ltd., struggles to emerge from growing debt accrued from building new plants, it said. South Africas parliamentary energy committee in November cast doubt on the wisdom of the country relying on the Congolese project. It recommended that alternatives be found to replace the 2,500 megawatts. DRC, Africas biggest copper producer and the worlds largest source of cobalt, has been considering building Inga III dam for more than a decade to address a power shortage that has curbed mining-industry growth. The plant would form part of a larger Grand Inga hydropower complex spanning part of the Congo River and produce as much as 50,000 megawatts when completed, according to the World Bank. The project is worth $14 billion, with an additional cost of $4 billion for power transmission. By David Ljunggren OTTAWA (Reuters) - A top executive from Huawei Technologies Co Ltd [HWT.UL] being held in Canada can make "strong arguments" against extradition to the United States, in part due to President Donald Trump's politicization of the case, Canada's ambassador to China said. Canadian envoy John McCallum's comments to Chinese-language media, which were broadcast on Wednesday, are the most explicit sign yet from a Canadian official that Meng Wanzhou, Huawei's chief financial officer, may not be sent to the United States. Meng was detained on Dec. 1 in Vancouver at the request of the United States https://reut.rs/2HuT3WE over alleged violations of U.S. sanctions on Iran. She is currently under house arrest and China is demanding that she be freed https://reut.rs/2CDejnG. In a clip shown by the Canadian Broadcasting Corp, McCallum said Meng had "quite good arguments on her side," the first of which was "political involvement by comments from Donald Trump in her case." Trump told Reuters last month he would intervene in Meng's case if it served U.S. national security interests or helped close a trade deal with China. Canadian Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland quickly warned Washington not to politicize extradition cases. McCallum also said extradition "would not be a happy outcome," a comment that could irritate the Trump administration, which has generally cool relations with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's Liberal government. Huawei declined to comment on McCallum's remarks. The envoy's comments, which were made in English on Tuesday, are potentially awkward for Canada's government, which insists it cannot intervene because of judicial independence. Trudeau sidestepped questions about the matter on Wednesday, telling reporters in Saskatchewan that under Canadian law Meng would have a chance to mount a strong defense. Asked about McCallum's comments, China's Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said that China has always held that this is "not a normal judicial issue. It's a serious political issue." "I believe that any person with normal judgment can clearly see the true nature of this incident," she told a regular briefing. The Liberals may face a tough reelection fight this October against the opposition Conservative Party, which said McCallum's actions raised "questions of political interference." David Mulroney, an ex-Canadian ambassador to China, tweeted that McCallum's comments were "almost impossible to understand." POSSIBLE OPTIONS McCallum noted Canada has not applied the same sanctions against Iran as the United States. "Canada does not sign onto these Iran sanctions. So I think she (Meng) has some strong arguments she can make before a judge," he said. The U.S. Justice Department has until Jan. 30 to file a formal extradition request and Canadian officials will then take up to a month to decide whether an extradition hearing is warranted. Legal experts say they expect a hearing to be held. "Canada respects its international legal commitments, including by honoring its extradition treaty with the United States," Freeland spokesman Adam Austen said in an email. Meng's arrest has hurt Canada's relations with China, which subsequently detained two Canadians https://bit.ly/2Mrp80v last month, citing national security concerns. Additionally, a Chinese court later retried a Canadian who had been jailed for drug smuggling and sentenced him to death https://reut.rs/2RKgaRJ. McCallum said he saw three possible options for resolving the case. One would be Meng's extradition, which he said "would not be a happy outcome and that would take years" given that she could lodge legal appeals. The second would be for the United States to make a deal with China whereby the extradition request would be dropped. The third would be Meng's release by a Canadian court on the grounds the U.S. request was not warranted. McCallum, 68, a former Liberal cabinet minister, has made headlines in the past with offhand or colorful comments. (Reporting by David Ljunggren; Additional reporting by Tyler Choi in TORONTO, Christian Shepherd in BEIJING and Anne Marie Roantree in HONG KONG; Editing by Paul Simao and Christopher Cushing) By Jeff Mason WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Vice President Mike Pence issued a video message of support to Venezuelans on Tuesday to encourage those who are protesting against President Nicolas Maduro and underline U.S. backing for opposition leader Juan Guaido. Venezuela's opposition on Wednesday plans to hold marches nationwide as part of an annual event that marks the fall of a military government in 1958. Government critics are increasingly comparing Maduro to dictator Marcos Perez, who was pushed from power that year. In a taped video message in English https://bit.ly/2sGkcvy with a few Spanish words and phrases mixed in, Pence, who has lashed out at Maduro before, declared him a "dictator" who has no rightful claim to power. "On behalf of President Donald Trump and all the American people, let me express the unwavering support of the United States as you, the people of Venezuela, raise your voices in a call for freedom," Pence said after offering a greeting of "hola," which means "hello" in Spanish. "Nicolas Maduro is a dictator with no legitimate claim to power. He has never won the presidency in a free and fair election, and has maintained his grip of power by imprisoning anyone who dares to oppose him." Pence declared U.S. support again for Guaido, with whom he spoke by phone earlier this month, and the National Assembly, which he leads, as the "last vestige of democracy." Pence said Washington supported Guaido's decision to assert the body's powers, declare Maduro a "usurper" and push for a transitional government to be established. "As you make your voices heard tomorrow, on behalf of the American people, we say to all the good people of Venezuela: estamos con ustedes," Pence said, following up with the translation in English: "We are with you, we stand with you, and we will stay with you until democracy is restored and you reclaim your birthright of libertad." Maduro was inaugurated on Jan. 10 amid worldwide criticism that his leadership was illegitimate after a 2018 election that was widely viewed as fraudulent. In response to Pence's comments, Maduro accused him of trying to force a coup and said he had ordered a revision of Venezuela's diplomatic relations with the United States. "Never before has a high-level official said that the opposition should overthrow the government," Maduro told a news conference. The U.S. embassy in Caracas did not respond to a request to comment. Pence has largely taken the lead within the Trump administration in condemning Maduro. He called the inauguration a sham and made clear the United States did not recognize the election result. (Reporting by Jeff Mason, additional reporting by Brian Ellsworth and Angus Berwick in Caracas; Editing by Steve Orlofsky and Lisa Shumaker) Demonstrators gather at a small neo-Nazi rally held in Georgia in April 2018. (Photo: BITA HONARVAR via Getty Images) Nearly half of all Canadians believe the United States has a Nazi problem, according to a survey on Holocaust remembrance released Thursday. Its no mystery where they got that perception. Last year, a group of neo-Nazis received the red-carpet treatment from U.S. law enforcement as they traveled to Washington for a rally. A respected Holocaust scholar seriously compared certain American elected officials to those in Germany during the rise of the Nazis. And Americans re-elected a white supremacist congressman mere days after an anti-Semitic gunman murdered Jewish worshippers in Pennsylvania. According to the survey, 47 percent of Canadian respondents said there are a great deal of or many neo-Nazis in the U.S. Only 17 percent said there are a great deal of or many neo-Nazis in their own country. The Azrieli Foundation and the Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany polled Canadian adults with questions about the Holocaust and anti-Semitism, releasing the results about nine months after a similar survey of Americans. Like their northern neighbors, Americans also saw a Nazi problem in the U.S., according to the earlier survey. A total of 51 percent said there are a great deal of or many neo-Nazis in their country. The results of the U.S. survey sparked alarm, including for the finding that two-thirds of American millennials did not know what Auschwitz was. Americans as a whole did not fare much better, with 41 percent being unable to identify the Nazi concentration camp. As it turns out, Canadians knowledge of the Holocaust is not much better. According to the new survey, 52 percent of Canadian millennials and 49 percent of all Canadians could not name one Nazi concentration camp. While the results of the two surveys show an ignorance of one of Western civilizations greatest atrocities, pollsters note that at least in the U.S. Holocaust awareness has been near these levels for a couple of decades already. Story continues Perhaps recognizing the knowledge gap, large majorities in both the U.S. and Canada said they support Holocaust education in schools. The survey of Canadians was conducted Sept. 1-8, 2018, by Schoen Consulting, using a combination of phone calls and responses from an online panel. Related Coverage 1 Neo-Nazi Group. 5 Murders In 8 Months. Former Nazi SS Camp Guard, 94, Goes On Trial In Germany Wisconsin High School Students Appear To Give Nazi Salute In Junior Prom Photo Love HuffPost? Become a founding member of HuffPost Plus today. This article originally appeared on HuffPost. Paris (AFP) - French carmaker Renault named two experienced auto executives to replace arrested boss Carlos Ghosn on Thursday, signalling the start of a new era for the manufacturer and its vital but strained alliance with Nissan and Mitsubishi. Thierry Bollore, who has been running Renault since Ghosn was arrested in Japan in November, will take over as chief executive, while Jean-Dominique Senard, CEO of tyre giant Michelin, has been named its new chairman. In his first reaction to his appointment, Senard moved to reassure investors of his faith in the Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi alliance, calling it "absolutely essential". Ghosn, previously the most influential man in the global car industry, had resigned from both roles at Renault late Wednesday as he remains behind bars awaiting trial. The 64-year-old had already been sacked as chairman of Mitsubishi as well as Nissan, where Ghosn is suspected of under-reporting tens of millions of dollars in income over eight years. Nissan welcomed the Renault announcement, expressing hope for a "new chapter" in ties between the partners. "This is a big milestone that we are reaching," Nissan chief Hiroto Saikawa told reporters in Tokyo. As head of Renault since 2005, Ghosn was the keystone of its alliance with Nissan and Mitsubishi, forging an industry powerhouse which together sold more cars than any of its rivals last year. French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire said Paris would be "extremely vigilant" about the globe-trotting tycoon's severance pay. Ghosn has denied the charges, but with his release from jail unlikely anytime soon, Renault's board had been gearing up to name new directors. It had been widely expected to name Bollore, a 55-year-old at Renault since 2012, as permanent CEO and Senard as chairman. With years of experience in Asia, Bollore is seen at Renault as the right man to steer the French company forward in its Japanese alliance, which has been badly rattled by the Ghosn scandal. Story continues Senard, who will become Renault chairman while continuing to run Michelin until May, is meanwhile well-liked by the French government, Renault's biggest shareholder with a stake of more than 15 percent. Michelin, the world's second-biggest tyre maker, said Senard had its "full backing" and would ensure "the most rigorous ethical standards" while he was still working at both companies. Senard has requested a pay cut at Michelin until he steps down, the company added. - Uncertain future - The future of the Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi alliance has been thrown into doubt with the arrest of Ghosn, who is widely credited with reviving Nissan and fusing together two vastly different corporate cultures. Renault posted record sales of nearly 3.9 million vehicles last year and is in rude financial health, but it is grappling with the shift to electric cars as governments worldwide impose stricter emission cuts. E-vehicles require far fewer workers to build, and Renault has targeted four billion euros ($4.5 billion) in cost cuts by 2022. Analysts say Bollore's various positions in the car industry in Asia, including Japan, give him valuable experience that will be helpful in soothing relations with his Japanese partners. Renault owns 43 percent of Nissan, which in turn has just a 15 percent stake in its French partner -- and no voting rights. But Nissan's market value is nearly double that of Renault's, prompting some predictions that the Japanese side will seek to rebalance the terms of the relationship. It remains unclear who will replace Ghosn as head of the alliance, a role traditionally reserved for Renault's CEO, while Nissan chooses its vice president. Nissan said separately that it would hold an extraordinary shareholders' meeting by mid-April to remove Ghosn from its board, having already stripped the Franco-Lebanese-Brazilian executive of the chairmanship. - Alliance 'not in danger' - Ghosn is expected to stay behind bars for several months after seeing a second bail request denied on Tuesday. He faces three separate charges: two of under-declaring his income and another of seeking to shift personal investment losses onto Nissan. He has been seen in public only once since his arrest on November 19 stunned the business world -- a dramatic courtroom appearance where he passionately denied the charges and declared his "genuine love" for Nissan. Nissan CEO Saikawa, who oversaw his former mentor's downfall, has stressed that the alliance is "absolutely not in danger". burs-kjl/adp/rl DAVOS, Switzerland (Reuters) - French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire said on Thursday that Britain had negotiated a fair Brexit deal with the European Union that should not be up for renegotiation. If Britain wants a delay to implementing the deal, Le Maire said, the EU would want to understand the reason behind the request. There is a fair agreement that paves the way for fair Brexit, he said at the World Economic Forum in Davos. We are open for clarifications, but do not want to reopen the deal... If the British are asking for more delay, we have to understand what for? (Reporting by Alessandra Galloni, editing by Mark Trevelyan) Morocco has attracted a steady flow of foreign direct investment, unlike the rest of North Africa, which has seen a sharp decline in FDI, said the Financial Times in a story published Thursday. While many economies in North Africa have struggled to bring back foreign investors, Morocco has fared better than most. It has a diversified economy with few natural resources, added FT. It cited the remarks of Mr. James Zhan, director of investment and enterprise at UNCTAD, who described Moroccos performance as quite impressive. The traditional big investment destinations in the region are Egypt and Tunisia, but Tunisia has been in trouble and Egypt is just regaining attractiveness, he says in the 2018 World Investment Report. Compared with those two, and Algeria and others, Morocco is the most stable investment climate in the region, stressed Mr Zhan, noting that more Moroccan companies are looking to expand in sub-Saharan Africas fast-growing region. According to the FT, Morocco has sought to position itself as the portal to African markets a strategy promoted by the government in the wake of the Arab uprisings that swept across the Middle East. Foreign investments in new projects or expansions of existing ones in Morocco has grown steadily since 2013, according to fDi Intelligence, an FT sister publication. Though it dipped in 2017, it rose again the following year, with $4.2bn coming in from France, the UK, South Korea and Spain. Investment from France is up 25 per cent from 2017, led by the renewable energy and automotive sectors. Voltalia, the French renewable energy company, announced plans in February 2018 to build two hydropower plants in Morocco. Italys Enel announced five wind farms in 2016, worth a combined $1.2bn, in partnership with Siemens of Germany, while Japans Sumitomo and Saudi Arabias ACWA Power International are building solar plants. Chinese companies have been building the Noor 2 and Noor 3 solar parks near Ouarzazate, 100km south-east of Marrakesh. The multibillion-dollar project, expected to be the largest solar park in the world, is due to be completed this year. The first phase, Noor 1, has been operational since 2016. Carmakers have been attracted to Morocco by its special economic zones, tax incentives and easy access to markets in Europe and further afield, the publication notes. Former Scottish first minister Alex Salmond has said he is innocent of any criminality today after appearing in court to face two charges of attempted rape and multiple accusations of sexual assault. He arrived at Edinburgh Sheriff Court just before 2pm and made a short statement after the brief hearing. In it, he said: Now that these proceedings are live it is even more important to respect the court and therefore the only thing I can say is I refute absolutely these allegations of criminality and I will defend myself to the utmost in court. Mr Salmond was arrested on Wednesday after attending a police station in central Scotland. Mr Salmond gives a statement to the media after his brief court appearance on Thursday. (Getty) Former Scottish first minister Alex Salmond arrives at Edinburgh Sheriff Court on Thursday. (PA) A Police Scotland spokeswoman said: We can confirm that a 64-year-old man has been arrested and charged, and a report will be sent to the procurator fiscal. Proceedings are now live under the contempt of court act. Mr Salmond, from Linlithgow, West Lothian, was Scotlands first minister from 2007 to 2014. He resigned his membership of the SNP in August 2018. Mr Salmond won a procedural case against the Scottish Government over its investigation into harassment allegations brought by two women (Picture: REUTERS/Russell Cheyne) Mr Salmond guided the SNP to a narrow Scottish election win in 2007. (PA) There was a substantial police and media prescence when Mr Salmond arrived outside court on Thursday. (PA) Mr Salmond guided the party to a narrow Scottish election win in 2007 and then led a minority government as he became Scotlands first SNP First Minister. In the 2011 election, he led the party to an unprecedented victory with a majority win, meaning the SNPs manifesto pledge to hold an independence referendum could be delivered. But the result of the 2014 referendum a 55% to 45% vote to stay in the UK led to him stepping down as first minister and SNP leader. By Gina Cherelus (Reuters) - A gunman killed five people in a bank in central Florida on Wednesday, then called police himself and eventually surrendered, local authorities said. The shooting occurred at the SunTrust Bank in Sebring, a town of about 10,000 people 95 miles south of Orlando, around 12:30 p.m. ET (1730 GMT), Sebring Police Chief Karl Hoglund said at a news conference. The 21-year-old suspect, identified as Zephen Xaver, called police and said he had fired shots inside the bank, according to authorities. After negotiators failed to convince the suspect to leave the bank, the Highlands County Sheriff's Office SWAT team entered the building and continued to talk to him, police said. He eventually surrendered and is in custody. Police did not offer any details about a possible motive. "Today has been a tragic day in our community," Hoglund said. "We've suffered significant loss at the hands of a senseless criminal doing a senseless crime." No information has been released about the victims. It was not clear whether anyone was wounded. Florida Governor Ron DeSantis said he has asked the state's department of law enforcement to assist local police officials in the investigation. A spokeswoman for the bank, Sue Mallino, said, "We are working closely with officials and seeking to take care of everyone affected at our Sebring, Florida branch." (Reporting by Gina Cherelus; additional reporting by Brendan O'Brien; writing by Joseph Ax; editing by Cynthia Osterman and Sonya Hepinstall) American Airlines booted a family of three from their flight home after passengers allegedly complained about the groups body odor. On Wednesday evening, Yossi and Jennie Adler and their 19-month-old daughter were told to get off their plane from Miami to Detroit while they were in the midst of boarding. All of a sudden, as soon as they took us off, they closed the gate and then they said, Sorry, sir, some people complained you had body odor and were not letting you back on,' Adler told local Florida station WPLG. We dont have odor, OK? Yossi said to a gate agent in a cellphone video. Nobody here has odor. American Airlines booted Yossi and Jennie Adler and their 19-month-old daughter from a Miami flight because of their alleged body odor. (Photo: Screenshot via WPLG) They were supposedly promised they could collect their luggage from the departing plane; however, according to WPLG, the flight departed with their possessions. They have our car seat, stroller, everything, Jennie told the station. They said theyre taking our stuff off, and they lied, said Yossi in the video. Yahoo Lifestyle could not reach the Adlers for comment. Passenger Yossi Adler confronted an American Airlines employee in a cellphone video after he and his family were removed for their alleged body odor. (Photo: Screenshot via WPLG) An American Airlines representative tells Yahoo Lifestyle: They were asked to deplane after multiple passengers, along with our crew members and Miami airport team, were concerned about the comfort of our other passengers due to the odor. Our team members took care of the family by providing overnight accommodations and meals and rebooking them for the next available flight. The spokesperson confirms the family members were separated from their suitcases, adding, Their luggage flew on the original flight to Detroit last night and was waiting for them upon arrival this morning. On Thursday, the Adlers self-consciously boarded their rescheduled flight. We stopped several people in the airport and, its embarrassing, but we asked them, Do you think we smell? Because we just got kicked off a plane for smelling, Jennie told WPLG. Im very frustrated, Yossi told WPLG. I want them to own up to what really happened and to tell me the truth. What was it? Story continues Read more from Yahoo Lifestyle: School superintendent used her own health insurance to help a sick student and now shes facing fraud charges Follow us on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter for nonstop inspiration delivered fresh to your feed, every day. By Aftab Ahmed, Aditya Kalra and Nandita Bose NEW DELHI/NEW YORK (Reuters) - The United States government is concerned about India's revised e-commerce regulations and has told officials in New Delhi the policy will hinder the Indian investment plans of Amazon.com and Walmart Inc, three sources familiar with the talks told Reuters. The tussle marks the latest in a number of U.S. protests over Indian government policies which impact American companies and comes at a time when the two countries are trying to iron out other trade irritants. In 2017, the U.S. lodged a written protest against India's decision to cap medical device prices, which upset American companies. India's e-commerce investment rules, which kick in from Feb. 1, ban companies from selling products via firms in which they have an equity interest and also bar them from making deals with sellers to sell exclusively on their platforms. The policy has dealt a blow to Walmart, which just last year invested $16 billion in buying 77 percent of India's Flipkart, and Amazon, as it would force them to change their business structures in the country and raise their operational costs. "There is a very strong undercurrent as to how this should be made a bilateral issue," said a Washington-based industry source aware of the companies' thinking. "This has gone way beyond being a local (India) tussle." A U.S. government official earlier this month told Indian officials to protect Walmart and Flipkart's investments in the country, an Indian trade ministry official told Reuters. The U.S. government cited "good relations" between the two countries and stressed that American companies should be given concessions in the larger interest of bilateral trade, but India gave a "non-committal" response, the source added. But Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi is unlikely to delay the revised rules or amend them in any meaningful way as he is seeking the support of the tens of millions of small retailers and traders in India ahead of a general election that must be held by May. The small firms see Walmart and Amazon as a threat to their businesses. Story continues An Indian industry source said Walmart, Amazon and lobbying groups were coordinating efforts with the Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) and the local embassy to express their discontent about the policy. The USTR did not respond to a request for comment. The U.S. Embassy in New Delhi, and Indian trade ministry spokeswoman Monideepa Mukherjee, declined to comment. Asked about the Indian policy's implications, Walmart spokesman Greg Hitt said: "We certainly, as you would expect, have engaged the (United States) administration on this issue." He declined to share further details. Amazon India said it was committed to complying with local laws but it needed "adequate time to understand" the policy. GLOBAL VS LOCAL Amazon and Walmart have both made bold bets to tap India's booming e-commerce market, which Morgan Stanley had estimated, before the latest government move would grow 30 percent a year to $200 billion in the 10 years up to 2027. The companies have targeted a growing population of tech-savvy shoppers in India, luring them with deep discounts on everything from dishwashers to smartphones. India's small traders and shopkeepers had for years complained that e-commerce companies were engaging in predatory pricing and hurting the businesses of brick-and-mortar retailers. They alleged that the online retailers used their control over inventory from their affiliates to create an unfair marketplace that allowed them to sell some products at lower prices. Such arrangements would be barred under the new policy. "We are disappointed more than surprised. It makes it harder to plan things," a U.S.-based Walmart source told Reuters. "It is a serious issue. We are doing our best to work with Indian authorities and trying to explain why this is bad for business." The Confederation of All India Traders, which has supported tougher scrutiny of large e-commerce players, said the companies were acting "desperate" by pressurizing the Indian government. "Any deferment or change (in the policy) will adversely affect millions of small businesses," said the group's secretary general, Praveen Khandelwal. POLITICS, DEADLINE RISK Both Walmart-owned Flipkart and Amazon have requested the government to delay implementation of the policy, but India is unlikely to relent. Indian officials have told Reuters no relief was likely as the policy was seen helping the small trader community, who form a critical voter base for Modi. "The idea is just to win over the trading community ahead of elections and on that point the government will not budge from the deadline," a second Indian trade ministry official said. At stake are big ticket investments. When Walmart bought Flipkart last year, it said the decision underscored its "long-term commitment to India". Amazon has committed to investing $5.5 billion in the country and Modi has in recent years met its founder Jeff Bezos multiple times. In 2017, Bezos said he was "excited to keep investing and growing" in the country. That investment climate has turned sour with sudden policy changes. Prasanto Roy, a New Delhi-based consultant who closely tracks India's technology policy landscape, said the government should provide stable policies to attract investment. "You can't change policies overnight without consultation and tell companies who have invested billions to go fly a kite," Roy said. (Additional reporting by Sanjeev Miglani and Neha Dasgupta in New Delhi and Sankalp Phartiyal in Mumbai; Writing by Aditya Kalra; Edited by Martin Howell) Building up an investment case requires looking at a stock holistically. Today Ive chosen to put the spotlight on Zijin Mining Group Company Limited (HKG:2899) due to its excellent fundamentals in more than one area. 2899 is a highly-regarded dividend-paying company with a an impressive track record of delivering benchmark-beating performance. Below, Ive touched on some key aspects you should know on a high level. If youre interested in understanding beyond my broad commentary, take a look at the report on Zijin Mining Group here. Solid track record established dividend payer Over the past year, 2899 has grown its earnings by 77%, with its most recent figure exceeding its annual average over the past five years. Not only did 2899 outperformed its past performance, its growth also surpassed the Metals and Mining industry expansion, which generated a 38% earnings growth. This paints a buoyant picture for the company. SEHK:2899 Income Statement Export January 24th 19 Income investors would also be happy to know that 2899 is a great dividend company, with a current yield standing at 3.8%. 2899 has also been regularly increasing its dividend payments to shareholders over the past decade. SEHK:2899 Historical Dividend Yield January 24th 19 Next Steps: For Zijin Mining Group, Ive compiled three fundamental aspects you should further research: Future Outlook: What are well-informed industry analysts predicting for 2899s future growth? Take a look at our free research report of analyst consensus for 2899s outlook. Financial Health: Are 2899s operations financially sustainable? Balance sheets can be hard to analyze, which is why weve done it for you. Check out our financial health checks here. Other Attractive Alternatives : Are there other well-rounded stocks you could be holding instead of 2899? Explore our interactive list of stocks with large potential to get an idea of what else is out there you may be missing! To help readers see past 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. For errors that warrant correction please contact the editor at editorial-team@simplywallst.com. European trade commissioner Cecilia Malmstrom attends the World Economic Forum (WEF) annual meeting in Davos. Photo: REUTERS/Arnd Wiegmann. EU member states could face a controversial European social tax to redistribute wealth in years to come, according to a senior European official. European trade commissioner Cecilia Malstrom said that a new tax by the EU on its member states could help slice up the cake of globalisation. Malstrom was speaking at the World Economic Forum summit in Davos, Switzerland. But the Swedish official said she was personally sceptical about the idea, and gave no further details as to what shape the tax could take or who it might affect. Malstrom made the comments at an event called Putting Europes Union to the Test at the WEF conference of global business and political leaders. READ MORE: Carney warns UK borders not ready for no-deal Brexit The tax proposal came after she outlined how EU member states had lacked the strength, will, or ability to protect citizens from the damaging effects of globalisation. Its up to member states to protect citizens. They havent made necessary reforms to slice up the cake of globalisation, Malstrom said. They havent reformed social systems, tax redistribution, and invested in skill acquisition and education people need so they could move to different places. READ MORE: Japan PM offers hope in veiled attack on populism What Europe has tried to do recently is develop a social agenda. Weve set standards and targets people could move towards, but this is controversial as whos going to fund it? We dont have European taxation. Asked by the moderator if she favoured a European tax, she said, Im a bit sceptical about it. But its something that could be discussed in coming years. Its something we could look at. We could talk about a social tax it might be one way to do things. Chicago business owner Aristotle Loumis is helping a homeless transgender teen to rebound. (Photo: Facebook/Aristotle Loumis) A homeless transgender kid met a busy entrepreneur on a highway exit, and now shes getting back on her feet. On Tuesday evening, while driving home from work in 20-degree snowy weather, Chicago businessman Aristotle Loumis saw a young adult standing along a highway exit holding a sign that read Kicked Out for Coming Out. Pulled over, and to little surprise, she, Maxxi, is a transgender child who was being abused by her religious mother and stepfather, who is now for the first time homeless, on the streets going on 26 days, Loumis wrote on Facebook. In the middle of a very dangerous, and lethal, Chicago winter. What does one do? Drive by, or help. Most often I try and limit my involvement with the homeless, for obvious reasons of drugs, misuse, and those who take advantage, but its hard to look past the most vulnerable of them, pregnant women, disabled, children especially in what can be potentially deadly winter for those who are experiencing it for the first time. Loumis, 28, the founder and CEO of designer eyewear company Ellison, tells Yahoo Lifestyle that he initially drove past Maxxi but was reminded of a gay family member and turned the car around. She came up and we started talking, he says. She was homeless for the first time and trying to get to Los Angeles so she could make art and create a company. This content is not available due to your privacy preferences. Update your settings here to see it. After talking for a few minutes, they drove to a local Wendys to eat dinner and to a gas station where Loumis purchased toiletries for Maxxi. He booked a room at the Holiday Inn for Maxxi and her girlfriend, who panhandle during the day and sleep in a van, which they park in a hotel lot at night. He also gave Maxxi $200 in cash. Maxxi, who is from Elmhurst, on the outskirts of Chicago, told Loumis that she needed dental work and medical attention related to hormone therapy. With no immediate contacts, I asked her if shed like me to leverage my platform and post a picture in hopes any leaders within the LGBQT community that can reach out and provide some guidance to what I can imagine is a very frightening situation, Loumis wrote on Facebook. Story continues He continued: Her smirk and outlook on life is one that serves as a reminder to all of us that maybe we dont have it so bad. Maxxi, hate that you live a world that will turn a blind eye for who you choose to be, but I promise you that for every villain, there is a hero like you. You should never be ashamed to be yourself, ever. Keep pushing, better days ahead. Loumis wanted to help once he understood Maxxis drive. She needs a job, but shes discriminated against when she tells potential employers that shes transgender, he tells Yahoo Lifestyle. Shes not playing a victim she really wants to get back on her feet. The entrepreneur got Maxxis permission to post her photo and email address on Facebook and hopes to enlarge her social and professional circle. When they said goodbye, Maxxi was in good spirits. Im hoping that our meeting was a token of confidence that someone believed in Maxxi, Loumis tells Yahoo Lifestyle. Shes a wonderful young lady with a bright future. Read more from Yahoo Lifestyle: Follow us on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter for nonstop inspiration delivered fresh to your feed, every day. As we know, 2018 was a tumultuous year for the Energy sector, with most of the oil and gas companies taking a beating amid commodity price volatility due to supply glut, U.S.-China trade tussle, weakening demand outlook and economic headwinds. West Texas Intermediate started the year just above $60 per barrel of oil and touched multi-year highs of more than $76 in early October. However, the rally was pretty short-lived, with the commodity plunging around 30% since then. The recent weakness in the commodity prices has made the energy companies to rethink their strategies and consider capex cuts once again. Notably, after following capital discipline during the crude downturn (from mid-2014 to 2016), energy companies again resorted to boost their capital expenditure since 2017. However, pullback in the commodity price has convinced explorers and producers to take a relatively conservative approach on capital expenditure programs again this year. Instead of raising their capital outlays, the energy companies are now finding it more prudent to focus on shareholder value maximization Remodeling of portfolio and strategies undertaken during the slump period made the companies more resilient to reduced crude prices, with many firms managing to achieve break-even at a minimum oil price of $50 a barrel. However, renewed concerns regarding economic slowdown and slower U.S. shale production growth rate, along with weakening oil demand are indications that crude prices may fall further. The companies are thus looking to cut down on spending, develop sophisticated technologies and generate strong cash flow from operations. Producers in the American shale resources are not planning to allocate money for drilling new wells this year but will instead possibly allocate their capital budget for drilled but uncompleted wells. U.S. Firms Trim Capex Amid Growing Crisis Recently, two oilfield service giants Halliburton Company HAL and Schlumberger Limited SLB released weaker year-over-year earnings. In response to changing market dynamics, both the companies are looking to cut down on spending. Schlumberger has set its 2019 capital budget in the range of $1.5-$1.7 billion, lower than last years $2.2 billion. Halliburton has also slashed its 2019 capital budget by 20% and now plans to spend $1.6 billion. Drilling contractor Nabors Industries Limited NBR has also planned to restrict its 2019 capital spending at $400 million versus expected capital expenditure of $500 million in 2018. (Read More: Nabors to Cut Costs, Dividend & Capex to Reduce Debt) Permian pure-play Parsley Energy, Inc. PE also chopped its 2019 capital program to $1,350-$1,550 million, which is lower than the updated 2018 capital expenditure guidance of $1,650-$1,750 million. (Read More: What Does Parsley Energy's 2019 Capital Budget Plan Reveal?) Parsley carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of todays Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here. Anadarko Petroleum Corporation has also lowered its 2019 capex budget from the 2018 level and now expects the same within $4.3-$4.7 billion. Amid the recent oil and natural gas liquids price decline, Antero Resources Corporation has lowered its 2019 drilling and completion capital budget, and now expects the same in the range of $1.1-$1.25 billion. Oklahoma-based upstream player Gulfport Energy Corporation expects 2019 outlay in the band of $565-$600 million, lower than the 2018 level of $814 million. (Read More: Gulfport Unveils 2019 Capex & Guidance, Boosts Buyback) Very recently, EQT Corporation also estimated its 2019 capital program in the band of $1.9-$2 billion, lower than 2018s anticipated spending of $2.4 billion. Oklahoma-based upstream player Chesapeake Energy Corporation CHK also plans to trim its budget level in 2019 by reducing rig counts by more than 20% (from 18 to 14). Houston-based Goodrich Petroleum Corporation has also cut its 2019 investment by $40 million and now plans to spend roughly $90-$100 million. Canadian Firms Also Facing Capex Crunch As we know, pipeline construction in Canada has failed to keep pace with rising domestic oil, forcing producers to sell their products at a discounted rate. While oil production is surging in Canada, the country's exploration and production companies remain out of favor, primarily due to the scarcity of pipelines. Moreover, infrastructural bottlenecks have resulted in a supply glut situation. Reeling under discounted crude prices and pipeline crisis, the Canadian energy sector is struggling to find a path to growth. Considering the current state of affairs in the Canadian oil industry and Alberta governments plans to curb output, many Canadian players have slashed their capital expenditure budgets for 2019. Amid the growing crisis, one of the countrys leading energy companies, Canadian Natural Resources Limited CNQ slashed its capital budget by C$1 billion. The companys 2019 capex is now estimated at C$3.7 billion, down 20% from the projected investment in 2018 and well below its preferred range of C$4.7-C$5 billion. (Read More: Canadian Natural Slashes Capex Amid Pipeline Pinch) Soon after, Canadian integrated firm Cenovus Energy Inc. also trimmed its 2019 spending levels by 4% and now plans to invest within C$1.2-C$1.4 billion. Another integrated company Husky Energy Inc. also revised down its capex forecast to C$3.3-C$3.5 billion from prior guidance of C$3.7 billion. Calgary-based Crescent Point Energy Corporation CPG also chopped 2019 capital expenditure by around C$500 million (or 30%) from a year ago. Crescent Point now forecasts 2019 capex in the band of C$1.2-C$1.3 billion. (Read More: Crescent Point Trims 2019 Capex: What Else Should You Know?) Very recently, Canadian oil sands producer MEG Energy Corporation also halved its 2019 capex to a maximum of C$275 million. Wrapping Up With oil price volatility on the rise amid concerns over weakening demand, logistical constraints, U.S.-Sino trade tiff, global recession and financial turmoil, we appreciate the energy companies efforts to revise their strategies and slash capex budgets for 2019. The improvement in capital efficiency, directing focus toward high-margin investments and increasing shareholder value may aid the companies to stay afloat amid the blues. More Stock News: This Is Bigger than the iPhone! It could become the mother of all technological revolutions. Apple sold a mere 1 billion iPhones in 10 years but a new breakthrough is expected to generate more than 27 billion devices in just 3 years, creating a $1.7 trillion market. Zacks has just released a Special Report that spotlights this fast-emerging phenomenon and 6 tickers for taking advantage of it. If you don't buy now, you may kick yourself in 2020. Click here for the 6 trades >> 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 Canadian Natural Resources Limited (CNQ) : Free Stock Analysis Report Crescent Point Energy Corporation (CPG) : Free Stock Analysis Report To read this article on Zacks.com click here. Zacks Investment Research Norwegian authorities early this week held in the presence of Moroccos ambassador, the funerals of the 28-year old student killed mid-last month along wirh her Danish friend, in the Moroccan Atlas Mountain. Maren Ueland from the town of Time was killed in the Atlas Mountain in the night of December 16-17 in what Moroccan authorities termed terror act. The young woman and her 24-year old Danish friend Louisa Vesterager Jespersen were attacked and killed at a hiking spot in the High Atlas Mountains. Moroccos ambassador to the European country Lamia Radi joined the Norwegian health minister at a church service organized for Ueland, Norwegian media outlet The Local reported. The Moroccan diplomat read out at the service messages of sympathy from her countrys citizens who had vehemently condemned the crime. Morocco wanted to be present today to express first its solidarity, to share the sorrow of the family, she told Norways TV2 ahead of the ceremony. At the same time, (we want) to make it very clear that we strongly condemn the horrible murders of those innocent girls, she said. Authorities of the North African country have rounded 22 people in connection with the murder. Four of them have been identified as main suspects. A Spanish-Swiss man having allegedly ties with the suspects was also arrested. Denmark mourned Jespersen on January 12. SAO PAULO (Reuters) - Embraer SA has signed the "master transaction agreement" for a tie-up with Boeing Co and called a shareholder assembly for Feb. 26 to approve the partnership, the Brazilian planemaker said in a securities filing on Thursday. Brazil's government this month gave its approval for the deal in which Embraer will sell 80 percent of its commercial plane division for $4.2 billion to Boeing, which will have total control of the new venture. (Reporting by Alberto Alerigi Jr.; Writing by Anthony Boadle; Editing by Tom Brown) New York (AFP) - The sons of former drug kingpin Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman killed Mexican journalist Javier Valdez because he insisted on publishing an interview with a drug trafficker, who told of the murder in court Wednesday. Damaso Lopez Nunez, known as "The Lawyer," testified that the slain journalist -- who specialized in drug trafficking reporting -- "disobeyed the threatening orders of my compadre's children and that's why they killed him." The testimony came as part of Guzman's trial in New York, where he faces trafficking, firearms and money laundering charges. Valdez was an AFP stringer and co-founder of the weekly Riodoce de Sinaloa. One of the most prominent chroniclers of the drug war, he was gunned down in May 2017. He was 50 years old. Lopez worked for the ultra-violent Sinaloa cartel, and was convicted last year of trafficking by a federal court in Alexandria, Virginia. He had been arrested days before the journalist's murder. According to the US Department of Justice, Lopez was the deputy head of a Mexican maximum security prison in 2001 when he helped Guzman escape. He then joined the cartel as Guzman's lieutenant. He told the jury that another Mexican journalist had mentioned his name in connection with an operation against Guzman's children -- an accusation he said was "totally false." To disprove the information he decided to grant Valdez a telephone interview, which Guzman's children discovered and were against. They threatened Valdez and commanded him not to published it. "But he, complying with his ethics, published it anyway," Lopez said in court. - Daring escape plots - The witness, Guzman's former right-hand man, denied in cross-examination that he had ordered the murder after the publication of a critical article about his son. He also suggested Guzman, 61, was unaware of his sons' involvement in the killing. "The truth is that maybe my compadre didn't know," he said. "But now he knows." Story continues Valdez's murder rocked Mexico, which is considered one of the most dangerous countries in the world to be a journalist. More than 100 reporters have been killed since 2000, with most of those crimes going unpunished. Earlier in the day Lopez pointed to Guzman's much younger wife Emma Coronel as playing a role in the cartel leader's second spectacular escape from prison in 2015. He said Coronel, 29, relayed several messages from Guzman to Lopez as the drug lord plotted his breakout, as the glamorous former beauty queen listened in the courtroom. Guzman -- who is accused of trafficking more than 155 tons of cocaine and other drugs to the United States -- first was jailed in 1993 and spent eight years behind bars, where he met Lopez. After his first escape in 2001 in a dirty laundry cart, he was again arrested in February 2014 at a hotel, where he was with Coronel and their twins, born in 2011. Through Coronel he asked Lopez for help bribing prison guards, along with securing weapons and an armored truck. In other meetings the pair met with Guzman's eldest sons, who bought land close to the prison and begin constructing a tunnel measuring one mile (1.5 kilometers) into their father's cell. Lopez also spoke of Guzman's request that the sons buy a GPS watch with exact coordinates. The witness did not say who gave the device to Guzman, but Coronel had visited him at the prison. - 'I love him' - During the construction of the tunnel, the noise of drills against the jail's concrete floor "caused discomfort" to other prisoners who complained of the din, according to Lopez's account of what Guzman told him a week after the escape. Months after his stunning jailbreak Guzman was arrested again in January 2016. Immediately after, Coronel met with Lopez, saying her husband "was going to fight again to try to escape." But the drug baron was transferred to Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, and a plan to bribe an official to return him to the first prison proved unsuccessful. Guzman was then extradited in January 2017 to the United States, where he faces life imprisonment if found guilty. Lopez, 52, is hoping a judge will reduce his sentence in exchange for his cooperation in the Chapo trial. As he began his court testimony against Guzman, Lopez -- the godfather of one of Guzman's twin daughters -- looked at his former boss and fist-bumped his chest. Asked why he made the gesture, Lopez said, "Because I love him." "He and I have spent many years together, and a special affection for him has been born within me." Then why testify? "I chose to think about my family," Lopez said. By Mohamed Abdellah and Mahmoud Mourad CAIRO (Reuters) - Everyday at sunset, Ahmed Maher, one of Egypt's best known activists, says good night to his family and heads to a Cairo police station to spend the night under police watch. While what he describes as 'half an imprisonment' has disrupted his family life, career and education, Maher considers himself luckier than other activists of the 2011 uprising that ended autocratic president Hosni Mubarak's 30 years in power. Like many young Egyptians who camped out for days at Cairo's Tahrir Square in 2011, the 38-year-old Nobel Peace Prize nominee expected Mubarak's downfall to pave the way for more freedoms to allow the country to flourish. Instead, Maher and other activists say things have gotten worse. "No one imagined that the situation would be this bad," Maher, an engineer who is also studying for a degree in political science, told Reuters. "Even the right to gather in a crowd or to express an opinion is not available." President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, who came to power determined to crush the Muslim Brotherhood after a year in office that saw the economy suffer, has also targeted secular activists, including many prominent figures of the January 25 uprising. Many have fled the country, others are in prison while a third group have been cowed into silence. Maher, freed from a three-year-prison sentence in early 2017 for breaking anti-protest laws, immediately began a three-year-probation period under which he must spend the night, from 6 p.m. until 6 a.m., at a police station. Sisi supporters, who now celebrate the anniversary of the June 30, 2013 uprising that toppled Islamist President Mohamed Mursi, argue tough action was needed to rescue the economy and get rid of Islamists they accused of trying to take steps to retain power. Egypt's economy has begun to turn around since Sisi came to office in 2014, but reforms adopted under a 2016 IMF loan that included devaluing the Egyptian pound and a gradual lifting of state fuel subsidies have also deepened poverty in Egypt. WORST CRACKDOWN IN MODERN HISTORY Rights activists say that Sisi has presided over the worst crackdown on freedoms in Egypt's modern history. Thousands of activists, most of them Islamists but also including dozens of liberals and leftists, have been jailed under strict regulations imposed since 2013. Rights activists say that intellectuals, government critics and human rights campaigners have been rounded up on charges of belonging to "terrorist organisations" or publishing false news or disturbing public order. They include Wael Abbas, an award-winning journalist, Hazem Abdelazim, a well-known Sisi supporter turned critic, and Alaa Abdel Fattah, a prominent blogger jailed for five years. Ahmed Douma, another figurehead of the 2011 uprising, was sentenced to 15 years in jail earlier this month after he was convicted of rioting and attacking security forces in 2011. "Every time a human being is tortured, disappeared, extra-judicially killed, executed or arbitrarily arrested, Egypts authorities convey a clear message to their people: the change they demanded will not come," EuroMed Rights, a Copenhagen-based network seeking to bolster ties between NGOs on both sides of the Mediterranean, said in a statement. Egypt, which denies holding political prisoners, rejects abuse allegations. But Sisi's admirers say firmness has been necessary to end years of lawlessness and militants behind attacks that have killed hundreds. "The whole world had thought that the youths of the revolution would play a role in running the country, like in any country that looks for qualified youths would," said Maher, who founded the April 6 Movement, a grassroots group founded in 2008 that had campaigned against Mubarak's rule. "Sadly, there is a big hostility towards the youths," he added. Last September, 17 U.N. human rights experts criticised Egypt for its use of anti-terrorism laws to detain activists fighting for women's rights and against graft, torture and extra-judicial killings. Israa Abdel Fattah, another member of the April 6 Movement, said that Egypt was worse off now than it was before the January 25 uprising. "Egypt can change and everything will be good if it possessed one thing, and that's justice," said Abdel Fattah, who like many other activists is barred from travelling abroad. Activists say the only positive result of the revolution, a two-term limit on presidential terms, could also soon be lost if Sisi supporters pursue plans to amend the constitution. At a ceremony to mark Police Day, Sisi paid tribute to the January 25 uprising, but stayed silent when a speaker asked him to agree to remain in office for two additional four-year terms. Anwar al-Hawary, former editor of the privately-owned al-Masri al-Youm newspaper, said Sisi appears to favour staying in power beyond a second term, warning that any such move would be "illogical". "The country cannot cope with another uprising or a coup," he said. (Editing by Sami Aboudi, William Maclean) European cheese could face far greater competition from China. Photo: NurPhoto/SIPA USA/PA Images European and US consumers could be eating far more Chinese cheese in years to come, according to the head of one of Chinas leading dairy firms. Another Chinese business leader also said globalisation was unstoppable and irreversible in a bold message to the global elite gathered at the Davos summit in Switzerland. Jeffery Lu Minfang, CEO of the Mengniu Group dairy giant, said at a panel discussion on the fourth industrial revolution: China is becoming an experimental laboratory to come up with new models. If you look at the Chinese dairy industry, its already the most open in the world. READ MORE: What is Davos? The 2019 World Economic Forum explained In other countries its really protected. In Europe, New Zealand, Australia, France or the US, you produce and pasteurise milk locally, and sell in local markets. But China is such a big market, Chinas going to drive the flows of our market goods. Therell be more and more cooperation with other countries dairy industries. In terms of supply chains, its going to be more integrated. He outlined how technology had transformed Chinas dairy sector over the past decade, with unimaginable levels of digitalisation in milk pasteurisation and factories. We have 1.5m to 2m cows in China. We know where to milk them, how much each produces, where its going every day. This is going to drive changes in the global supply chain. A session on China and the fourth industrial revolution at Davos.Photo: World Economic Forum Song Zhiping, chair of the board of the China National Building Material Group Corporation, also said globalisation should be a two-way process. He said: The trend of globalisation is unstoppable. And free trade is globalisation. Free trade is irreversible. In the past we were asked to open our market. Today we are fighting unilateralism and protectionism, and calling upon others to open their markets. READ MORE: Japan PM Shinzo Abes message of hope amid populist surge He added: Over the last year, the growth of imports exceeded that of exports. So we think Chinas becoming the market of the world, its no longer just the factory of the world. We welcome multinationals, but I think multinationals need the market of China. The Hague (AFP) - Dutch hospitals warned Thursday of medical shortages that would put patients' health at risk if Britain crashes out of the European Union without a divorce deal. The warning is a sign that fears about the consequences of a no-deal Brexit are spreading from Britain to the rest of the EU, with the March 29 exit day rapidly nearing. "The future is very uncertain, we have no idea what is going to happen," Wouter van der Horst, a spokesman for the Federation of Dutch Hospitals (NVZ) told AFP. "We import tens of thousands of objects and products, notably from Britain, whose delivery could be held up. Even one screw that was supposed to be imported from Britain could hold up the treatment of a patient." The Dutch Federation of University Hospitals (NFU) gave an even stronger warning and called on the government to help. "If the British leave without a deal, the university hospitals foresee major risks for daily operations" and "put the health of patients under pressure", an NFU statement said late Wednesday. They warned of "shortages of medicines and medical equipment" and urged the Dutch health ministry to push an "emergency law" at a European level to guarantee the certification of medical products from Britain. If they failed to do so "50 percent of medical products would not be able to be imported after March 29", the federation added. "It's impossible for hospitals to prepare for the consequences of a no-deal Brexit on their own," it said. Health minister Bruno Bruins admitted there could be a risk "concerning health services that could affect citizens and patients" but said it was up to hospitals to make preparations. "Brexit is causing uncertainty and a lot of extra work and no-one is happy about that," he said in a letter to the NFU, but "hospitals are responsible for their own operations". Ironically, among a number of institutions and firms that are ditching Britain for the Netherlands is the EU's medicines agency, which will move to Amsterdam in March. The Dutch parliament was Thursday debating a controversial bill granting Prime Minister Mark Rutte's government emergency powers to deal with problems caused if a no-deal Brexit severs trade and customs ties overnight between Britain and the EU. Britain has meanwhile hired extra ferries and planes to transport critical goods including medicines in case there is no agreement. The goal of this article is to teach you how to use price to earnings ratios (P/E ratios). To keep it practical, well show how Banco Products (India) Limiteds (NSE:BANCOINDIA) P/E ratio could help you assess the value on offer. Banco Products (India) has a price to earnings ratio of 10.06, based on the last twelve months. In other words, at todays prices, investors are paying 10.06 for every 1 in prior year profit. See our latest analysis for Banco Products (India) Want to help shape the future of investing tools and platforms? Take the survey and be part of one of the most advanced studies of stock market investors to date. How Do I Calculate Banco Products (India)s Price To Earnings Ratio? The formula for P/E is: Price to Earnings Ratio = Price per Share Earnings per Share (EPS) Or for Banco Products (India): P/E of 10.06 = 174.85 17.38 (Based on the year to September 2018.) Is A High Price-to-Earnings Ratio Good? A higher P/E ratio means that buyers have to pay a higher price for each 1 the company has earned over the last year. That isnt a good or a bad thing on its own, but a high P/E means that buyers have a higher opinion of the businesss prospects, relative to stocks with a lower P/E. How Growth Rates Impact P/E Ratios Earnings growth rates have a big influence on P/E ratios. Thats because companies that grow earnings per share quickly will rapidly increase the E in the equation. That means even if the current P/E is high, it will reduce over time if the share price stays flat. Then, a lower P/E should attract more buyers, pushing the share price up. Notably, Banco Products (India) grew EPS by a whopping 44% in the last year. And its annual EPS growth rate over 5 years is 6.5%. With that performance, I would expect it to have an above average P/E ratio. How Does Banco Products (India)s P/E Ratio Compare To Its Peers? The P/E ratio essentially measures market expectations of a company. If you look at the image below, you can see Banco Products (India) has a lower P/E than the average (16.9) in the auto components industry classification. Story continues NSEI:BANCOINDIA PE PEG Gauge January 23rd 19 Banco Products (India)s P/E tells us that market participants think it will not fare as well as its peers in the same industry. Many investors like to buy stocks when the market is pessimistic about their prospects. If you consider the stock interesting, further research is recommended. For example, I often monitor director buying and selling. Remember: P/E Ratios Dont Consider The Balance Sheet Its important to note that the P/E ratio considers the market capitalization, not the enterprise value. That means it doesnt take debt or cash into account. Hypothetically, a company could reduce its future P/E ratio by spending its cash (or taking on debt) to achieve higher earnings. Such spending might be good or bad, overall, but the key point here is that you need to look at debt to understand the P/E ratio in context. How Does Banco Products (India)s Debt Impact Its P/E Ratio? Since Banco Products (India) holds net cash of 1.1b, it can spend on growth, justifying a higher P/E ratio than otherwise. The Verdict On Banco Products (India)s P/E Ratio Banco Products (India)s P/E is 10.1 which is below average (16.7) in the IN market. It grew its EPS nicely over the last year, and the healthy balance sheet implies there is more potential for growth. One might conclude that the market is a bit pessimistic, given the low P/E ratio. Investors should be looking to buy stocks that the market is wrong about. If the reality for a company is not as bad as the P/E ratio indicates, then the share price should increase as the market realizes this. So this free visualization of the analyst consensus on future earnings could help you make the right decision about whether to buy, sell, or hold. But note: Banco Products (India) may not be the best stock to buy. So take a peek at this free list of interesting companies with strong recent earnings growth (and a P/E ratio below 20). To help readers see past 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. For errors that warrant correction please contact the editor at editorial-team@simplywallst.com. By Keith Coffman DENVER (Reuters) - Public school teachers in Denver overwhelmingly voted late Tuesday to go on strike to press their demands for more money and incentive pay, after negotiations with Colorados largest school district hit an impasse last week. Having failed to reach a settlement after 15 months of talks, 93 percent of the 3,500 members of the city's largest union, Denver Classroom Teachers Association, voted to authorize their first strike in 25 years. Theyre striking for better pay, theyre striking for our profession, theyre striking for Denver students, union spokesman Rob Gould said. In all, the district employs 5,650 teachers. Unless a last-minute deal is reached, the strike could begin on Monday. The strike vote came on the same day that teachers ratified a contract deal with the Los Angeles Unified School District, the country's second-largest school district, to end a week-long walkout. The settlement provided a 6 percent pay raise as well as a plan to hire more nurses and other support staff at the district's more than 1,200 schools. Denver Public Schools Superintendent Susana Cordova has vowed to keep the districts 207 schools open during the labor dispute using substitute teachers and administrators. There are more than 92,000 students enrolled in the district. Cordova said the district offered teachers a 10 percent increase in pay for the 2019-2020 school year, among other incentives. We came to the table to bargain in good faith and offered proposal after proposal adding $26.5 million and responded to structural concerns in an attempt to reach an agreement, Cordova said in a written statement. But union leaders said the districts offer provides no incentives for longtime educators to earn raises while the union proposal rewards teachers for advancing their education during their careers. They have refused to change their ways, choosing to keep an outrageous amount of money in administration rather than keep our teachers in school, said union president Henry Roman, referring to district administrators. The two sides remain $8 million apart, he said. Story continues In Chicago on Wednesday, representatives from the Chicago Teachers Union held a news conference outside the monthly meeting of the city's board of education to repeat demands by teachers in their own contract negotiations. The union said the demands echoed what was secured in Los Angeles. "In Los Angeles, they got a nurse in every school," Chris Geovanis, a union spokeswoman, said in a telephone interview. "In Chicago, we have a nurse for every five schools if we're lucky." If Denver educators do go on strike, it would be the first teachers' strike in the city since a five-day walkout in 1994. Cordova said she will ask for the state labor board to intervene this week in an effort to break the stalemate. Denver is the latest school district to face labor troubles with its teachers in the past year. In 2018, teachers staged walkouts over salaries and school funding in several states, including West Virginia, Oklahoma and Arizona. Teachers in Oakland, California, were also expected to vote later this week on whether to strike. Davos (Switzerland) (AFP) - Touting its green credentials, the World Economic Forum has pushed back against research that said company bosses are flying to Davos in record numbers on polluting private jets. The study this week from the leasing company Air Charter Service (ACS) forecast that nearly 1,500 such flights would occur over the week of the forum, to and from four airports near Davos in the Swiss Alps. That would be higher than previous Davos meetings, it said, triggering accusations from activists that CEOs are failing to back up their talk on fighting climate change, stamping an outsized carbon footprint with their luxury aircraft. "From an environmental perspective, taking a private jet is the worst way to travel to Davos," the WEF said in a blog post. But it said one of the airports examined by ACS was not affiliated with the forum, and another was a military base used only for "public figures" such as heads of state, and that its flight operations were classified. On its own calculation using "real numbers" covering the two remaining airports, Zurich and St. Gallen, the WEF estimated there would be 14 percent fewer private jet flights this year compared to 2018, or about 270 in total. The WEF calculated private jet flights in and out of the airports over the course of three days around the forum, while the ACS study looked at six days. But the ACS study was "based on very unclear methodology and forward-looking statements", it said, attacking "a PR release from a commercial operator". The ACS issued a new statement in response, defending its calculations as based on all the airports likely to be used -- WEF-affiliated or not -- and over a longer time-frame. - 'Force for good' - It said the military base in question did have unclassified flight movements which factored into its study. "There is no available data which would lead us to predict a decline in aircraft movements, however, like with any prediction, we could be wrong," the company said. Story continues "The nature of private jet travel means travel plans can be flexible, and global events could increase or decrease the actual numbers dramatically." The private jets story made headlines this week, appearing to undermine the warm words on climate change from both the WEF and company bosses attending the elite forum. However, the forum has been emphasising its broader environmental credentials, saying it offsets the carbon emissions generated by private aviation as much as possible through its own initiatives on the ground. Dominic Waughray, head of Global Public Goods at the WEF, said most of the private flights were actually for government officials. "So that is a sort of security brief, but we still offset them," he told AFP last week. However they first reach Switzerland, plenty of CEOs still use helicopters to fly on to Davos in the Alps, and then limousines to ferry them around the crowded town, despite WEF appeals for participants to walk or take shuttle buses. "I think it is insane that people are gathered here to talk about the climate and they arrive here in private jet," 16-year-old Swedish campaigner Greta Thunberg told AFP Wednesday, after spending 32 hours on trains to reach Davos. But the ACS also defended the WEF, and conceded that many of its own customers would be bound for Davos this time of year. "Our figures are based on fact, but in no way was this an attack on the WEF, which is a force for good," a spokesman for the London-based company told AFP. Here are the companies the Yahoo Finance team is watching for you today. A strong quarter at American Airlines. Profits there beat expectations and revenue was pretty much in line. It also boosted profit expectations for the rest of the year. JetBlue is also off to a flying start this morning. The airline posted beats on profit and revenue last quarter. That's despite what the CEO called quote "significant fuel volatility" throughout 2018 and a decline in load factor, as capacity outstripped demand. Still, the airline says it's on track to meet its targets in 2019 and 2020. Apple's self-driving unit is taking a hit. The company dismissed more than 200 employees from its Project Titan autonomous car project, according to reports. An Apple spokesperson explained the changes were due to staff restructuring. In a statement, however, the company said it still sees huge opportunity in the area. General Motors is gearing up to electrify its GMC pickup trucks. Duncan Aldred, the Vice President of the GMC brand, told CNBC the automaker is seeing how it can offer an all-electric SUV. This comes after GM CEO Mary Barra set a goal of going 100% electric. GM joins a list of companies looking to electrify their vehicles. You could soon be pumping iron inside some of those closed Sears locations. Gold's Gym is taking over a former Sears in Middletown, New York, north of New York City. One executive tells Marketwatch they like the amount of space former big box stores offer, and a gym can make a mall more of a destination for high-income customers. By Herbert Lash NEW YORK (Reuters) - Ken Griffin, the billionaire founder of hedge fund Citadel, has paid $238 million for a penthouse condominium overlooking Manhattan's Central Park, a spokesman for Griffin said on Wednesday, in a deal that sets a record for a U.S. home sale. Griffin has closed on the unit in the 79-story residential tower, which is under construction for an estimated cost of $1.4 billion at 220 Central Park South. The purchase follows on the heels of reports that Griffin bought a mansion in London within sight of Buckingham Palace for 95 million pounds ($124.2 million), among other recent deals. The price paid for the New York condo eclipses the prior record for a U.S. residential purchase, set by another hedge fund billionaire, Barry Rosenstein, for a home in East Hampton, on New York's Long Island in 2014. The Griffin purchase also shatters the record for the most expensive apartment sold in New York City, which was last set by computer company founder Michael Dell's purchase last year of a condo for $100.47 million, according to published reports. Vornado Realty Trust, a real estate investment trust, is building 220 Central Park South and expects it to generate $1 billion in after-tax cash flow and net income once all condo units are sold, a regulatory filing in October showed. The building, with 397,000 "salable" square feet, was designed by Robert A.M. Stern Architects. About 83 percent of the units are under sales contracts, with closings scheduled through 2020, according to Vornado, which declined to comment on Griffin's purchase. The Wall Street Journal first reported the purchase by Griffin, who first signed a contract for the condo in 2015. Griffin, who publisher Forbes estimates is worth $9.9 billion, in November paid $58.75 million for a four-level penthouse in Chicago, the most ever for a home in that city, according to media reports. Public records show Griffin has spent close to $250 million for land in Palm Beach, Florida, the Journal said. Vornado was represented by Deborah Kern of the Corcoran Group in the transaction, while Griffin was represented by Tal and Oren Alexander of the Alexander team at Douglas Elliman. (Reporting by Herbert Lash; Editing by Leslie Adler and Tom Brown) Washington (AFP) - US President Donald Trump's administration on Wednesday said it would grant a waiver to a South Carolina ministry so it can continue to participate in a federally-funded foster care program despite refusing to work with non-Christian families. Greenville-based Miracle Hill ministries had, according to local media, refused to work with Jewish families -- violating a Barack Obama-era rule banning federally-funded organizations from discriminating on the basis of religion or sexual orientation. But South Carolina governor Henry McMaster requested that the Trump administration issue a waiver, which it did Wednesday. "The government should not be in the business of forcing foster care providers to close their doors because of their faith. Religious freedom is a fundamental human right," said Department of Health and Human Services spokeswoman Lynn Johnson. "Faith-based organizations that provide foster care services not only perform a great service for their communities, they are exercising a legally-protected right to practice their faith through good works." The decision was immediately slammed by the American Civil Liberties Union. "Prospective foster and adoptive parents should be judged only on their capacity to provide love and support to a child - not their faith," said Leslie cooper. Noting that eight states allow state-contracted child welfare agencies to exclude prospective families based on religious beliefs, she called upon Congress to intervene to avoid a "devastating domino effect" in the rest of the US. Donald Trump By CCN.com: Following a threat by U.S. President Donald Trump to slam taxes on cars and auto spares imported from the 28-member European Union, the EU has threatened a 23 billion dollar tariff spike on the United States. Speaking in Brussels to the European Parliament, the director-general for trade within the EEA, Jean-Luc Demarty, said that if Trump goes back on the trade agreement on tariffs agreed in July, the Commission would strike back. In a speech delivered on Wednesday, Demarty said: We should be ready to respond appropriately and effectively to any new trade restrictions that the U.S. administration may create for us. We have prepared a draft list of imports from the U.S. to the value of 20 billion euros [$22.7 billion] on which re-balancing action could be taken. The EU is prepared to reject any move by Trump to impose a 25 % tariff on automobiles and auto parts from Europe following similar tariffs that came into effect last year on steel and aluminum. Read the full story on CCN.com . By Linda Sieg TOKYO (Reuters) - Beijing could gain and Washington lose if feuding persists between U.S. allies Japan and South Korea, a foreign policy adviser to Japan's premier said on Thursday after the latest row involving a Japanese patrol plane and South Korean warship. Relations between Seoul and Tokyo have chilled due to intensifying rows over their wartime history, including Japan's 1910-45 colonization of the Korean peninsula, threatening regional efforts to rein in North Korea's nuclear program. Adding to the tensions are tit-for-tat allegations of risky moves by each country's military. In the latest episode, South Korea's military said on Wednesday that a Japanese military plane had made a low altitude flight over a South Korean navy vessel in waters off the Korean peninsula. Japan said Seoul's allegation was inaccurate. "The country whose national interests in the region will be most damaged if our two countries' ... bilateral ties are damaged is the United States of America," Katsuyuki Kawai, a special foreign policy adviser to Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, told Reuters. China stands to gain influence over the Korean peninsula if Seoul leaves the "liberal democratic camp" exemplified by U.S.-Japan-South Korea cooperation, Kawai said, a scenario he said was now being dubbed "Korexit". "Korexit is a nightmare," Kawai said. Wednesday's episode follows a December row over a Japanese complaint that a South Korean destroyer locked its targeting radar on a Japanese surveillance plane. Seoul rejected the accusation. Relations have also deteriorated since South Korea's top court ruled last year in favor of South Koreans seeking compensation from Japanese firms for wartime forced labor. The Japanese government says all wartime reparations were dealt with in a 1965 treaty that had normalized ties between the two neighbors. Kawai said he saw no easy solution to the tensions with Seoul, which he predicted were likely to worsen ahead of the 100th anniversary of the March First Independence Movement against Japanese colonial rule. "It's a deadlock," he said. U.S President Donald Trump's predecessor Barack Obama sought to improve ties between Seoul and Tokyo in 2014 by engineering a trilateral summit between Abe and then-South Korean president Park Geun-hye. But Kawai said changed circumstances, including Trump's focus on a planned second summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and the conservative Park's replacement by left-leaning Moon Jae-in, made a similar intervention difficult. (Reporting by Linda Sieg; editing by Darren Schuettler) In Sicily, chickpeas are the favored legume to use in soup. In this version the mild bean shares the stage with escarole. We knew that dried chickpeas were the way to go for our traditional soup because we could infuse them with lots of flavor as they cooked. For aromatics, we started with the classic flavors of the region: onion, garlic, oregano, and red pepper flakes. We also added fennel, which grows wild throughout Sicily; its mild anise bite complemented the nutty chickpeas. A strip of orange zest added a subtle citrus note, while a Parmesan rind bolstered the chickpeas' flavor with a nutty richness and complexity. When stirred in for the last 5 minutes of cooking, the escarole leaves wilted until velvety and the stems retained a slight crunch. To speed up the process if you're tight on time, you can use our quick-salt-soak method for the beans: Combine the salt, water and chickpeas in a Dutch oven and bring them to a boil over high heat. Remove the pot from the heat, cover, and let stand for 1 hour. Drain and rinse the beans and proceed with the recipe. The Parmesan rind can be replaced with a 2-inch chunk of the cheese. SICILIAN CHICKPEA AND ESCAROLE SOUP Servings: 6-8 Start to finish: 2 hours 30 minutes Salt and pepper 1 pound (2 3/4 cups) dried chickpeas, picked over and rinsed 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, plus extra for serving 2 fennel bulbs, stalks discarded, bulbs halved, cored, and chopped fine 1 small onion, chopped 5 garlic cloves, minced 2 teaspoons minced fresh oregano or 1/2 teaspoon dried 1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes 5 cups vegetable broth 1 Parmesan cheese rind, plus I cup grated Parmesan for serving 2 bay leaves 1 (3-inch) strip orange zest 1 head escarole (1 pound), trimmed and cut into 1-inch pieces 1 large tomato, cored and chopped Dissolve 3 tablespoons salt in 4 quarts cold water in large container. Add chickpeas and soak at room temperature for at least 8 hours or up to 24 hours. Drain and rinse well. Story continues Heat oil in Dutch oven over medium heat until shimmering. Add fennel, onion, and 1 teaspoon salt and cook until vegetables are softened, 7 to 10 minutes. Stir in garlic, oregano, and pepper flakes and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Stir in 7 cups water, broth, drained chickpeas, Parmesan rind, bay leaves, and orange zest and bring to boil. Reduce to gentle simmer and cook until chickpeas are tender, 1 1/4 to 1 3/4 hours. Stir in escarole and tomato and cook until escarole is wilted, 5 to 10 minutes. Off heat, remove bay leaves and Parmesan rind (scraping off any cheese that has melted and adding it back to pot). Season with salt and pepper to taste. Sprinkle individual portions with grated Parmesan, drizzle with extra oil, and serve. ___ Nutrition information per serving: 455 calories; 120 calories from fat; 13 g fat (3 g saturated; 0 g trans fats); 11 mg cholesterol; 435 mg sodium; 65 g carbohydrate; 16 g fiber; 15 g sugar; 23 g protein. ___ For more recipes, cooking tips and ingredient and product reviews, visit https://www.americastestkitchen.com. Find more recipes like Sicilian Chickpea and Escarole Soup in "All-Time Best Soups ." ___ America's Test Kitchen provided this article to The Associated Press. The Telegraph The last 15 months havent been kind to our bodies. A more sedentary lifestyle and the pursuit of something to salve the fear of the deadly pandemic raging around the globe has pushed us to the biscuit tin and takeaway delivery apps. In the first three months of the pandemic, Brits reportedly saw body weight increase by between 1.6 and 6.5lbs. Recognising the potential damage that could cause, and preparing for society reopening, weve started to take action. Six in 10 of us have made at least o Britons think Brexit is the biggest single concern for the UK (PA) Brexit is the single biggest issue Britons are worried about a new poll reveals. Britains troubled relationship with the European Union, which it is due to leave in March, trumps all other problems for the UK, an Ipsos Mori index poll shows. Britons are now more worried about Brexit than crime, the NHS or the economy. More than half of the public, 53%, cite Brexit as the single major issue for the country in December. Concern about the NHS has fallen slightly since and is now in second place with 45%, the poll reveals. Crime is joint third with immigration at 19%. Aggregated data from across 12 waves of the Ipsos MORI Issues Index shows that over half (53%) of the British public are worried about Brexit, making it the biggest issue facing the country during 2018, said the pollsters. The study also found that men, 57%, appear more worried about Brexit than women, who ranked that and the NHS equally when it came to long-term concerns. Britain could leave the EU without a deal as the March deadline approaches (PA) Regionally, it is also the biggest concern almost everywhere. It is six or more percentage points ahead of the NHS in Scotland, Wales, London, the south east and south west, east of England, West midlands, Yorkshire and Humberside and the north east of England, found Ipsos Mori. Only in the north west of England 52% to 48% was Brexit beaten as a concern by the state of the NHS. This content is not available due to your privacy preferences. Update your settings here to see it. Scotland and Wales also named Brexit as their biggest concern. The study was published on the same day as a cross-party group of MPs dropped plans for a House of Commons vote on a second referendum, claiming they do not have enough support. British MPs have still to approve a deal on Britains withdrawal and recently voted down Prime Minister Theresa Mays plans. Under current law, the UK will exit the EU on 29 March, whether or not a deal has been struck. MPs will get another chance to vote on Theresa Mays deal next week (PA)) MPs will get another chance to vote on Mrs Mays deal on January 29, but it is unclear yet that she has persuaded enough sceptics to back her plan. Amendments have tabled by MPs which could see Article 50, the process by which the UK leaves the EU, suspended by some estimates up until Christmas. If passed that amendment will be legally binding on the government For the study, Ipsos MORI interviewed 12,053 adults aged 18+ across Great Britain over the course of last year. 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. By Eric M. Johnson SEATTLE (Reuters) - Boeing Co said on Wednesday its flying car prototype hovered briefly in the air during an inaugural test flight, a small but significant step as the world's largest planemaker bids to revolutionize urban transportation and parcel delivery services. Boeing is competing with arch-rival Airbus SE and numerous other firms to introduce small self-flying vehicles capable of vertical takeoff and landing. The investments, fueled by leaps in autonomous technology as much as frustration with road congestion, could change the face of the aerospace industry within the next decade. Boeing's 30-foot-long (9 meter) aircraft - part helicopter, part drone and part fixed-wing plane - lifted a few feet off the ground and made a soft landing after less than a minute of being airborne on Tuesday at an airport in Manassas, Virginia, Boeing said. Future flights will test forward, wing-borne flight. "This is what revolution looks like, and it's because of autonomy," John Langford, president and chief executive officer of Boeing subsidiary Aurora Flight Sciences, said in a news release announcing the test flight. Major hurdles to Boeing's vision of "low-stress" mobility - as it is called in the company's marketing materials - include sorting out numerous critical safety and regulatory issues to meld traditional roadway traffic with fleets of flying cars. Boeing is working with startup SparkCognition Inc and the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration to develop a traffic-management system for three-dimensional highways, as well as the regulatory framework that will allow waves of autonomous vehicles to zip safely around buildings, the company has said. Boeing bought Manassas-based Aurora Flight Sciences last year to speed development of a fleet of autonomous air vehicles. With Aurora, Boeing is also working on Uber Technologies Inc's [UBER.UL] UberAIR service for flights that are planned to be available for order via smartphones around 2023. Story continues Boeing is looking to achieve a range of 50 miles with two flying car variants capable of carrying two and four passengers each. Tests are planned for later this year on a package-hauling version that can lift up to 500 pounds (226.8 kg). Competitors range from Airbus, which says it has already conducted numerous flying vehicle test flights, to Volocopter, which has tested drone taxis that resemble a small helicopter powered by 18 rotors, and AeroMobil, with a stretch-limousine concept that can turn into a fixed-wing aircraft. Vertical Aerospace, which completed a flight test last year, aims to offer short inter-city flights in the coming years with a piloted aircraft capable of carrying multiple passengers. The future of mobility moving goods, moving cargo moving people - that future is happening now and its going to accelerate over the next five years and ramp up even more beyond that," Dennis Muilenburg, Boeing's president, chairman and CEO, told a panel at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, on Wednesday. (Reporting by Eric M. Johnson in Seattle; Editing by Tom Brown) Cotonou (AFP) - Benin's former president Thomas Boni Yayi on Wednesday threw his weight behind the country's political opposition as they called for a united front at upcoming elections. The West African nation goes to the polls to elect a new parliament on April 28, with President Patrice Talon accused of creeping authoritarianism. His political rivals now want to join forces as a single entity for the first time, in an effort to weaken Talon's parliamentary support. The millionaire businessman was once a close advisor to Boni Yayi but was ostracised after being implicated in a suspected poisoning plot against the then-head of state. Boni Yayi later pardoned him, triggering his return from exile in 2015 and move into politics. He has been president since 2016. Addressing opposition leaders and supporters in Benin's commercial hub, Cotonou, Boni Yayi indicated that his forgiveness did not extend to political support for Talon. "The smile will come back to everyone's faces on April 28. This vote belongs to you. Take care of it. Benin must change... We are stronger together," he told the gathering. "God will give us the chance on April 28 to change our people democratically," he said, adding the election could help "end this suffering our people are living through". Also present at the meeting was another former president, Nicephore Soglo, and representatives from the party set up by former presidential candidate Sebastien Ajavon. Soglo, in power from 1991 to 1996 and now aged 83, last November accused Talon of championing a crackdown on unions and impoverishment. Ajavon, also a wealthy businessman, fled to France after he was convicted of drugs offences by a special tribunal last year. The trial -- denounced as a sham by his legal team -- was the latest in a string of court cases and legal wranglings that he has said are politically motivated. Ajavon came third behind Talon and then-prime minister Lionel Zinsou at the last presidential election. He has indicated he wants to run again next time round. Story continues Talon has vowed to stamp out corruption and mismanagement as well as implement free market social reforms, sparking a series of crippling public sector strikes. Some opposition leaders suspect the president is cracking down on opponents and that his supporters could rig the vote. "No one will allow fraud," said opposition stalwart Floriane Sohe. The vice-president of the National Assembly, Eric Houndete, said the opposition was stronger together. "We need a single list," he told several thousand supporters. He added: "We need to fight to restore Beninese democracy and restore the right of freedom and the right to life to the people." All 83 seats in the unicameral National Assembly are to be contested at the election. Deputies are elected every four years. The current parliamentary term runs out on May 15. Just over five million people are registered to vote, according to the country's electoral commission. Brussels (AFP) - British public broadcaster the BBC could open a major new European office after Brexit, perhaps in Brussels or Amsterdam, a Belgian official told AFP on Thursday. The BBC did not have any immediate comment on the report, which comes as businesses look to adapt to a future where Britain is outside the European Union. "The BBC is planning, given Brexit, to open a major base on the continent," a Belgian government source told AFP, confirming press reports. "The prime minister met BBC managers yesterday in Davos to sell them on Belgium. We know we're on the shortlist. There are two more, including Amsterdam." Belgian leader Charles Michel is at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, an annual get-together for the global business, media and political elite. "We have several trump cards," the official continued. "We're a multilingual country, we have several international institutions like the EU and NATO and we're close to London, three hours by Eurostar." The BBC already has a news bureau in Brussels for reporters covering Belgian and European stories. But, after Brexit, the corporation -- partially funded by a British TV licence fee and partly by overseas sales -- may need to retain an EU business presence. In the dock: Former global co-head of Barclays Finance Richard Boath arrives at Southwark Crown Court on January 14, 2019 in London, England. Photo: Jack Taylor/Getty Images Two former Barclays executives discussed the possibility of going to jail over a crucial funding deal with Qatar in 2008, a jury heard on Thursday. The Serious Fraud Office (SFO) presented transcripts of calls and emails from former senior Barclays bankers as part of the second day of its prosecution of four ex-Barclays executives, including ex-CEO John Varley. They all stand accused of conspiracy to commit fraud by false representation. The SFO alleges that the executives misled investors by hiding the true amount paid to Qatar for a multibillion pound investment at the height of the financial crisis. The defendants in the case are: Varley, who was CEO of Barclays between 2004 and 2011, Roger Jenkins, who formerly ran Barclays Capitals investment management business in the Middle East and North Africa, Thomas Kalaris, the former CEO of Barclays Wealth Management, and Richard Boath, the former head of European financial institutions group at Barclays Capital. Varley and Jenkins face two counts and Kalaris and Boath face one. All four defendants have pleaded not guilty. Qatar is not accused of any wrongdoing. None of us want to go to jail here On trial: Former chief executive of Barclays John Varley leaves Southwark Crown Court on January 14, 2019 in London, England. Photo: Jack Taylor/Getty Images On Thursday, the court heard a recording of a call between Kalaris and Boath in June 2008. On the call, the pair allegedly discussed getting Barclays chief lawyer at the time to sign off on documents that were to be sent to investors in the 2008 fundraising. The documents did not disclose the sums paid in the advisory deals with Qatar and the pair agreed that legal sign-off was essential. None of us wants to go to jail here, Kalaris said. It aint worth it and apparently the food sucks, so, right, Boath replied. You know, thats the purpose of the call. Yeah. No, the food sucks and the sex is worse, so, Kalaris said. READ MORE: Senior Barclays banker raised concerns about hidden commission in Qatar deal, court told Earlier in the day the jury had been presented with a transcript of a call between Boath and Kalaris where they discussed doing a a side deal with the Qataris. Story continues They all knew that publicly all the investors had to be seen to be paid the same, Brown told the jury. And it came about therefore that it was the conspirators, say the Crown, who devised the mechanism to hide, disguise, the true commission rate to be paid to the Qataris. In another recorded call played to the jury, Boath said: Frankly we all know that whatever we enter into we are entering into in exchange for the subscription agreement. The jury also heard how a member of Barclays Corporate Development division raised concerns internally about the dealings with the Qataris. READ MORE: Former Barclays execs lied about payments to Qatar, court told The SFO alleges that the four accused mislead investors by not disclosing the true nature of fees paid to Qatar in return for their 4.4bn of investment in Barclays at the height of the financial crisis. It claims the four former Barclays executives engineered advisory deals with Qatar as smokescreens for payments. There is no suggestion of any wrongdoing by Qatar. The conspirators agreed to use the ASA [Advisory Service Agreements] as the dishonest mechanism to get around the problem of how to pay the Qataris a greater fee than the other investors, Ed Brown QC, the lead lawyer for the SFO, said on Thursday. Qatar received fees totalling more than double in percentage terms what other investors received at the time, the SFO alleges. If he doesnt come through with his money, were f***** Defendant: Former Barclays head of investment banking and investment management in the Middle East, Roger Jenkins arrives at Southwark Crown Court on January 14, 2019 in London, England. Photo: Jack Taylor/Getty ImagesUSD Brown sought to show the importance of the Qataris involvement in the fundraising, which helped Barclays avoid a bailout from the UK government. The jury was presented with a transcript of a call in which Boath said: What he doesnt know, or what he doesnt realise is like if he doesnt come through with his money, were f*****. The he was understood to refer to a representative of the Qataris. In a separate transcript, Boath said Without 1bn, at the very least, from Q[sic] we are basically dead. A transcript of a call between Robert Morrice, the chief executive officer of Barclays Asia, and Boath discussing negotiations with the Qataris was also read to the jury. In it, Morrice said: Theyve got us by the balls because the price is so low, thats the problem. Morrice is not accused of any wrongdoing. READ MORE: The trial of the Barclays Four starts this week heres what you need to know When the deal was agreed, the then Barclays CEO, Varley, said in an email to then chairman Marcus Agius: These people are the new cocks of the roost, the jury heard. The case is ongoing and expected to last up to six months. Washington (AFP) - Donald Trump's billionaire commerce secretary fueled accusations Thursday that the US administration was deaf to the impact of the government shutdown after saying he didn't understand why some federal workers were turning to food banks. Wilbur Ross shrugged off the impact of the shutdown -- now in its 34th day -- saying workers should just take out loans to cover their expenses. Asked by CNBC television whether he was aware that some federal workers were getting food from homeless shelters, Ross said: "Well I know they are and I don't really quite understand why." Noting that the 800,000 federal workers currently working without pay will eventually receive their paychecks, Ross said "there's no real reason why they shouldn't be able to get a loan against it. "The idea that it's paycheck or zero is not a really valid idea," he said, while adding that he did feel "sorry for the individuals that have hardship cases." Ross' comments were ridiculed by Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who is refusing to authorize the $5.7 billion in funding Trump wants to build a wall on the border with Mexico. "They just don't understand what it means to live paycheck to paycheck," Pelosi said. "They have Wilbur Ross saying he doesn't understand why when he was asked about people going to food lines and pantries," she told reporters. "I don't know, is this the 'Let them eat cake' kind of attitude," she said. "Or 'Call your father for money.'" - 'They need that paycheck' - Senator Chuck Schumer, leader of the Democratic minority in the Senate, also lashed out at Ross, saying his comments "reveal the administration's callous indifference towards the federal workers it is treating as pawns." "Secretary Ross, they just can't call their stockbroker and ask them to sell some of their shares," he said. "They need that paycheck." Story continues It wasn't just Democrats criticizing the commerce secretary's remarks. "I don't think comments like that help," said Republican Senator Mitt Romney of Utah. Asked about Ross' remarks, Trump said his commerce secretary has done a "great job" but "perhaps he should have said it differently." Trump said his message for federal employees working without pay was "I love them. I respect them. I really appreciate the great job they are doing. "Many of those people that are not getting paid are totally in favor of what we are doing because they know the future of this country is dependent on having a strong border," he said. Ross is not the first senior Trump administration official to make comments about furloughed federal workers that have raised eyebrows. Kevin Hassett, chairman of the White House's Council of Economic Advisers, came under fire after suggesting on PBS Newshour earlier this month that federal workers were essentially getting free vacation. "A huge share of government workers were going to take vacation days, say between Christmas and New Year's," Hassett said. "And then we have a shutdown, and so they can't go to work," he said. "So then they have the vacation, but they don't have to use their vacation days. "And then they come back, and they get their back pay," he said. "Then in some sense they're better off." Democratic Senator Mark Warner of Virginia said Thursday that Trump and other top administration officials have shown a lack of "common decency" by failing to sit down with struggling federal workers. "The truth is I've never seen a president with so little empathy," Warner said. By Alex Dobuzinskis LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Thousands of teachers in Los Angeles returned to the job on Wednesday, fresh off a six-day strike against the second-largest U.S. school district that disrupted the education of half a million students. Rank-and-file members of United Teachers Los Angeles voted overwhelmingly late on Tuesday to approve a 3-1/2-year contract agreement the union and school district had reached before dawn that day, union officials said. The agreement gave teachers an immediate pay raise of 6 percent, slightly less than the 6.5 percent they had sought. It also included provisions to reduce class sizes and hire more nurses, librarians and counselors, acceding to many of the union's other demands for improving classroom conditions that all sides in the labor dispute agreed have suffered from decades of underfunding. The Los Angeles Unified School District kept schools open during the strike by its more than 30,000 teachers, staffing campuses with substitute teachers and support staff to supervise students. Students wanted to return to normal, Kelly Maloney, who teaches English at a downtown Los Angeles high school, told local television station KTLA. "They're bored," Maloney said of his students, according to KTLA. "Going back is going to be a big transition for everyone - students, administrators, teachers." On Wednesday, 93 percent of students attended classes, which was on par with average figures before the strike, district spokeswoman Barb Jones said in an email. Pupils' attendance had dropped during the walkout, costing the district more than $150 million because its funding from the state is tied to daily attendance, the district said. The teacher strike, the first in Los Angeles since 1989, began on Jan. 14, and lasted through six classroom days. Some parents had to scramble to find childcare. While the strike is over, the Los Angeles school board must still formally approve the deal when it meets on Jan. 29. Story continues United Teachers Los Angeles planned to release exact figures on the ratification vote by its members on Friday, union Vice President Gloria Martinez said at a news conference. The Los Angeles strike followed a flurry of teacher walkouts over salaries and school funding in several states last year, such as Arizona, Oklahoma and West Virginia. Labor actions were expected to continue at some U.S. school districts this year. In Denver, public school teachers voted overwhelmingly late on Tuesday to go on strike to press their demands for more money and incentive pay. (Reporting by Alex Dobuzinskis; Editing by Bill Berkrot and Peter Cooney) By Colin Packham SYDNEY (Reuters) - Australia is investigating the whereabouts of a Chinese-Australian man, the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) said on Wednesday, after a newspaper report raised fears that the dissident former diplomat has been detained in China. The Sydney Morning Herald newspaper reported on Wednesday that friends feared Yang Hengjun, an author and former Chinese diplomat who is now an Australian citizen, had been detained because he had not been reachable for several days. His disappearance comes at a time of high tension between China and some parts of the West after two Canadians, a diplomat on unpaid leave and a consultant, were arrested in China on suspicion of endangering state security. Those arrests were widely seen in the West as retaliation by Beijing for the arrest of Meng Wanzhou, a senior Huawei Technologies [HWT.UL] executive, in Canada on Dec. 1. She is accused of violating U.S. sanctions on Iran. Two friends contacted by Reuters said they had reported Yang as missing to DFAT. They said he had been missing since he flew from New York to Guangzhou in southern China on Friday. One of those friends, Feng Chongyi, an academic at the University of Technology in Sydney, said Yang had been scheduled to fly on to Shanghai but never arrived. "I believe he is in custody of the Ministry of State Security in Beijing," Feng said. China's Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying, asked about Yang's disappearance, told a regular briefing that she had "no understanding" of the situation. China's Ministry of Public Security did not respond immediately to requests for comment. A DFAT spokeswoman confirmed the department was investigating but did not identify Yang by name. "The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade is seeking information about an Australian citizen who has been reported missing in China," the spokeswoman said. A source familiar with the investigation said Australia made contact with Chinese officials overnight to ask about Yang's whereabouts. Australia joined international condemnation of the arrest of the two Canadians but Yang has long been in the sights of Chinese authorities. He has criticized what he described as Chinese interference in Australia. Chinese President Xi Jinping has presided over a sweeping crackdown on dissent since coming to power in 2012, with hundreds of rights lawyers and activists detained. Dozens have been jailed. (Reporting by Colin Packham; Additional reporting by Michael Martina in BEIJING; Editing by Paul Tait and Darren Schuettler) Shares of Athersys, Inc. (ATHX went up about 14% after the company announced positive results from its exploratory clinical study on the intravenous administration of MultiStem cell therapy to treat patients suffering from acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS). The exploratory study evaluated the impact of MultiStem treatment in subjects with acute onset of moderate to severe ARDS. The study demonstrated lower mortality of 25% in the MultiStem treatment group versus 40% in the placebo group. The results also showed that patients in the MultiStem treatment group experienced 40.2% higher ventilator-free (VF) days compared to those in the placebo group. The patients in the MultiStem treatment group also had 27.2% higher ICU-free days compared to those in the placebo group. Patients enrolled in the study were evaluated through 28 days for the primary clinical assessment and will be further assessed through a one-year follow-up period. MultiStem cell therapy is a patented regenerative medicine product in clinical development that has shown the ability to promote tissue repair and healing in a variety of ways. Per Athersys, the exploratory study met all of its key objectives, and the company believes that the therapy can be administered in another critical care area where there is substantial unmet medical need. Share price of Athersys has decreased 14.9% in the past year compared with the industrys decline of 22.8%. In addition to this ARDS study, Athersys is conducting ongoing studies in ischemic stroke (MASTERS-2 phase III study) and acute myocardial infarction. The company is planning to initiate a study to treat severe trauma patients. Athersys is also supporting studies in Japan conducted by its partner Healios K.K, targeting ischemic stroke (TREASURE study) and ARDS. Athersys, Inc. Price Athersys, Inc. Price | Athersys, Inc. Quote Zacks Rank & Stocks to Consider Athersys currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). Story continues Some better-ranked stocks worth considering are Celgene Corp. CELG, Aduro Biotech, Inc. ADRO and Axovant Sciences Ltd. AXON. All the companies sport a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy). You can see the complete list of todays Zacks #1 Rank stocks here. Celgenes earnings per share estimates have increased from $8.79 to $8.80 for 2018 in the past 90 days. The company delivered a positive earnings surprise in all the trailing four quarters, with average of 2.54%. Aduros loss per share estimates have narrowed from $1.11 to $1.06 for 2018 in the past 60 days. The company delivered a positive earnings surprise in all the trailing four quarters, with average of 5.49%. Axovants loss per share estimates have narrowed from $1.60 to $1.25 for 2019 and from $1.35 to $1.03 for 2020 in the past 90 days. More Stock News: This Is Bigger than the iPhone! It could become the mother of all technological revolutions. Apple sold a mere 1 billion iPhones in 10 years but a new breakthrough is expected to generate more than 27 billion devices in just 3 years, creating a $1.7 trillion market. Zacks has just released a Special Report that spotlights this fast-emerging phenomenon and 6 tickers for taking advantage of it. If you don't buy now, you may kick yourself in 2020. Click here for the 6 trades >> 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 Axovant Sciences Ltd. (AXON) : Free Stock Analysis Report Aduro Biotech, Inc. (ADRO) : Free Stock Analysis Report Athersys, Inc. (ATHX) : Free Stock Analysis Report To read this article on Zacks.com click here. Zacks Investment Research Photo credit: Aston Martin From Car and Driver The online car configurator has become one of the gearhead's favorite toys, both for real purchases and for indulging in the sort of money-no-object fantasies where you see what checking every box would actually cost. Despite these crisply rendered images, some of which were the result of being given the chance to specify our own Valkyrie, Aston Martin is not going to offer a web-based configurator for its forthcoming megacar. Rather, it has in mind something more exclusive and almost certainly more expensive. Every one of the 150 buyers who have managed to get their name down for what looks set to be the fastest road-legal production car in the world, a co-development of Aston Martin and Red Bull Racing under the creative leadership of RBR's Adrian Newey, will get the chance for a personal specification session with Aston's designers at the company's Gaydon HQ in the U.K. During that session, if so inclined, they will be able to add a significant premium to the $3.2 million price of the base car. Photo credit: Aston Martin While we have already told you lots about the forthcoming Valkyrie, what you see here are the first images that show it in what we are promised is its near final form. These are computer renderings created using the same CAD system that is being used to style the finished car. According to Aston's design director, Miles Nurberger, the first validation prototype hasn't been constructed yet. The Cosworth-developed naturally aspirated V-12 is being tested in the chassis of an old LMP race car, and chief test driver Chris Goodwin is making extensive use of Red Bull Racing's state-of-the-art Formula 1 simulators to work on the Valkyrie's base setup. AMR Track Package Will Markedly Improve Lap Times The new news is Aston Martin's confirmation that the Valkyrie will be sold with the option of what's described as an AMR Track Performance package. Adrian Newey hinted at this when we interviewed him at the 2018 Geneva auto show, and now we learn that the pack is going to be much more than just an modest dynamic upgrade. In fact, it is a kit of parts that will enable owners to transform the street legal Valkyrie into something with close to the circuit performance of the track-only Valkyrie AMR Pro that will ultimately follow. Story continues Photo credit: Aston Martin The package includes a separate front clamshell incorporating a far more aggressive aerodynamic setup; different suspension components, including springs and sway bars (with a 50-mm drop in ride height); lighter titanium braking components; and carbon "aero discs" that sit inside the Valkyrie's wheels to reduce drag. Swapping settings is going to involve skilled technicians and take several hours, and Aston admits that the Valkyrie will no longer be street legal once transformed. But it will produce up to an 8 percent improvement in lap time compared to the street-spec version. The official images also show that the Valkyrie has evolved a considerable way from the AM-RB 001 concept, which introduced the idea back in 2016 with what seem to be production-spec headlights and far more elaborate aerodynamic surfacing. The car is still defined almost as much by its gaps as its physical substance, with the narrowness of the passenger made obvious by the single prototype-racer-style wiper that parks centrally on the windshield. Photo credit: Aston Martin Occupants will have to sit with their knees raised high, and access through the tiny flap-style top-hinged doors looks extremely tight. (Aston allowed us to get a closer look at the digital model through a virtual-reality headset; it made the car's lowness and compact dimensions more obvious, as well as inducing slight nausea.) The seats are padded carbon shells, with the dashboard incorporating no fewer than four display screens: the two outboard are for the car's virtual mirror system, with important driving information relayed by a digital instrument pack incorporated into the center of the irregularly shaped steering wheel, which also houses almost all of the Valkyrie's modest tally of switchgear. We don't have any more technical information beyond that we have already brought you. Which, in summary, is that the Valkyrie will use a naturally aspirated 6.5-liter engine that produces 1000 horsepower at a dizzy 10,500 rpm. It will work in conjunction with a hybrid system that will add an as yet unknown amount of electrical assistance. The car's aerodynamics are promised to create huge amounts of downforce-"unbelievable quantities," according to Nurberger, although he refused to discuss an exact figure. Photo credit: Aston Martin Yet, despite its towering performance, the Valkyrie is going to be far from just a stripped-back hellion. Buyers will be offered a huge choice of colors, trims, and materials. Aston's design team has created several themed specifications designed to give owners a jumping-off point when it comes to ordering their own cars, but the anticipation is that no two Valkyries will be the same and that most will be ordered with a significant quantity of parts from Aston's in-house bespoke Q division. Buyers sharing Newey's enthusiasm for weight-saving minimalism will be able to forgo lacquer on the engine's carbon-fiber airbox, saving just under three ounces. A titanium Aston Martin badge will also be offered, or an even lighter mesh design that will sit under the top coat of the chosen paint finish. Three ultra-lightweight paint options will also be offered-blue, gray, and green-with each claimed to add just 1.5 pounds to the weight of the car's naked carbon-fiber shell. It will also be possible to specify exposed tinted-carbon bodywork, as well as a variety of different materials and surfaces including a milled carbon described as Mokume. The steering wheel can also be chosen with titanium switchgear. Alternatively, those looking for more extravagance will be able to select 24-karat-gold detailing and some considerably plusher materials for the spartan cabin than various shades of gray carbon. Photo credit: Aston Martin How We'd Spec It? Glad You Asked When given the chance to create our own Valkyrie in company with Aston's senior color and trim designer, Thomas Leget, we went for a relatively restrained specification with a blue tinted-carbon roof and a similarly discreet paint finish. Aston creative director Marek Reichmann, who seemed disappointed by our conservative choice, suggested the jazzier blended dark-to-light paint finish. The Track Pack changes most exterior body panels and therefore allows a full color makeover, so we went for an abundance of what is known as Maximum Orange to help persuade slower-moving circuit traffic out of our way. It was only later, when we looked at the rendered images Aston sent us, that we realized that we had created almost an inverse version of the Gulf GTC livery that the McLaren F1 wore in 1996. How much extra did our bespoke optioning commit us to spending? We don't know: the design team said they would have to consult with various departments to reach a figure, an exercise that would be rendered academic by our inability to afford the initial $3.2 million- or even to secure an order slot. We suspect that those who have been able to get a place on the list will have no problems swallowing the extra cost of a full options workout. ('You Might Also Like',) While some investors are already well versed in financial metrics (hat tip), this article is for those who would like to learn about Return On Equity (ROE) and why it is important. Well use ROE to examine Asian Paints Limited (NSE:ASIANPAINT), by way of a worked example. Asian Paints has a ROE of 23%, based on the last twelve months. Another way to think of that is that for every 1 worth of equity in the company, it was able to earn 0.23. Check out our latest analysis for Asian Paints Want to help shape the future of investing tools and platforms? Take the survey and be part of one of the most advanced studies of stock market investors to date. How Do I Calculate Return On Equity? The formula for return on equity is: Return on Equity = Net Profit Shareholders Equity Or for Asian Paints: 23% = 20864.1 91b (Based on the trailing twelve months to September 2018.) Most readers would understand what net profit is, but its worth explaining the concept of shareholders equity. It is the capital paid in by shareholders, plus any retained earnings. The easiest way to calculate shareholders equity is to subtract the companys total liabilities from the total assets. What Does Return On Equity Signify? ROE looks at the amount a company earns relative to the money it has kept within the business. The return is the yearly profit. The higher the ROE, the more profit the company is making. So, all else being equal, a high ROE is better than a low one. Clearly, then, one can use ROE to compare different companies. Does Asian Paints Have A Good Return On Equity? Arguably the easiest way to assess companys ROE is to compare it with the average in its industry. Importantly, this is far from a perfect measure, because companies differ significantly within the same industry classification. Pleasingly, Asian Paints has a superior ROE than the average (13%) company in the Chemicals industry. NSEI:ASIANPAINT Last Perf January 23rd 19 Thats what I like to see. We think a high ROE, alone, is usually enough to justify further research into a company. For example, I often check if insiders have been buying shares . Story continues The Importance Of Debt To Return On Equity Most companies need money from somewhere to grow their profits. That cash can come from retained earnings, issuing new shares (equity), or debt. In the first two cases, the ROE will capture this use of capital to grow. In the latter case, the use of debt will improve the returns, but will not change the equity. That will make the ROE look better than if no debt was used. Combining Asian Paintss Debt And Its 23% Return On Equity Although Asian Paints does use a little debt, its debt to equity ratio of just 0.076 is very low. The combination of modest debt and a very respectable ROE suggests this is a business worth watching. Judicious use of debt to improve returns can certainly be a good thing, although it does elevate risk slightly and reduce future optionality. The Key Takeaway Return on equity is a useful indicator of the ability of a business to generate profits and return them to shareholders. Companies that can achieve high returns on equity without too much debt are generally of good quality. All else being equal, a higher ROE is better. But when a business is high quality, the market often bids it up to a price that reflects this. Profit growth rates, versus the expectations reflected in the price of the stock, are a particularly important to consider. So I think it may be worth checking this free report on analyst forecasts for the company. But note: Asian Paints may not be the best stock to buy. So take a peek at this free list of interesting companies with high ROE and low debt. To help readers see past 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. For errors that warrant correction please contact the editor at editorial-team@simplywallst.com. By Davide Barbuscia and Hadeel Al Sayegh DUBAI (Reuters) - Saudi Aramco is seeking advisers to arrange debt financing needed for the acquisition of a stake in Saudi Arabian Basic Industries Corp (SABIC) <2010.SE>, banking sources familiar with the matter said on Thursday. The Saudi oil giant could borrow as much as $50 billion from international investors to fund the acquisition, sources previously told Reuters. A request for proposals was sent on Wednesday and banks are expected to make submissions by Monday, one of the sources said. Aramco declined to comment. Aramco, the worlds top oil producer, plans to issue its first international bonds in the second quarter of 2019, likely worth about $10 billion, Saudi Energy Minister Khalid al-Falih said this month. The bond issuance could help finance the SABIC acquisition. Aramco is looking for advisers for an international bond issue and bank financing, one of the sources said. The debt is needed to back the purchase of all, or nearly all, of the 70 percent stake in SABIC held by the Public Investment Fund (PIF), the kingdoms top sovereign wealth fund. That implies a deal value of roughly $70 billion. Aramco is working with JP Morgan and Morgan Stanley on the stake purchase, sources previously told Reuters. The two banks, along with others, were working on the planned stock market listing of Aramco before the move was put on hold. Aramcos new planned listing date is 2021, Saudi officials have said. (Reporting by Davide Barbuscia and Hadeel Al Sayegh; Editing by Jane Merriman and Dale Hudson) (Reuters) - Apple Inc has dismissed more than 200 employees from its autonomous vehicle group, Project Titan, CNBC reported on Thursday, citing people familiar with the matter. The dismissals are seen, internally, as anticipated restructuring under the relatively new leadership of Project Titan, CNBC said. Last year, the iPhone maker hired Doug Field, an Apple veteran and a Tesla engineering vice president, to lead the Project Titan team alongside Bob Mansfield. Other employees impacted by the restructuring are staying at Apple, but moving to different parts of the company, CNBC added. Apple did not immediately respond to a request for comment. (Reporting by Mekhla Raina in Bengaluru; Editing by Gopakumar Warrier) If the first meeting was about making friends, the second summit between President Donald Trump and Kim Jong Un must now get down to business. The White House announced Jan. 19 that the President and the North Korean leader will sit down again before the end of February in an attempt to inject life into a stalled denuclearization process. A location has not yet been confirmed but the smart money is on the Vietnamese capital Hanoi. The optics would seem to work for both sides: From the U.S. perspective, the authoritarian Southeast Asian powerhouse offers a political and economic model that Washington wouldnt mind North Korea following. For North Korea, Vietnam is an Asian nation riven during the Cold War but finally reunited by the Communist Norths crushing defeat of the American-backed South. Not to mention a former bitter foe of the U.S. that Washington is now desperately trying to forge better ties with to counterbalance rival superpower China. In short: North Koreas aspiration is Vietnams history. Regarding denuclearization, Trump needs Kim to offer up something real. So far, hes returned three American hostages, the remains of Korean War dead and destroyed an obsolete nuclear testing site. His nuclear and missiles programs, however, continue unabated. At the very least, Washington needs a full inventory of North Koreas ballistic missiles and nuclear, biological and chemical weapons arsenals and facilities. Ideally, the next step would then be returning International Atomic Energy Agency inspectors to those declared sites and agreeing on a firm dismantlement schedule in exchange for a phased rollback of U.N. sanctions. Any substantive agreement must be implemented on an action for action basis with verification instead of illusory concessions, says Sung-Yoon Lee, professor of Korean Studies at The Fletcher School at Tufts University. But Kim may have bigger dreams than simply slackening the economic noose. After all, sanctions enforcement by Chinaacross whose 880-mile shared border virtually all North Korean trade passeshas already crumbled amid Kims warming relations with Chinese President Xi Jinping, and Trumps trade war. Story continues Moreover, sanctions relief was always a double-edged sword for Kim. Boosting the livelihoods of his people would entail opening up North Korean society to a degree that risks unrest. He will be acutely aware of the East German example, where liberalizing reforms gave rise to mass protests and eventual absorption by democratic West Germany. Kim would much rather be Vietnam. Therein likely lies his desire for a peace deal to formally end the 1950-53 Korean War. This would undercut the justification for the U.S. forces based in South Korea and Japan, which host 28,500 and 50,000 American troops respectively, leaving the South exposed. The danger of war, paradoxically, spikes by signing on to a pleasant-sounding peace agreement, says Lee. Sean King, a former U.S. diplomat and now senior vice-president of political risk firm Park Strategies, suspects Kim will offer to dismantle his ICBMs, which can theoretically hit the continental U.S., in return for Trump removing regional strategic assets and troops. In May, Trump reportedly ordered the Pentagon to prepare options for drawing down U.S. troops in South Korea. Trumps already said he wants U.S. troops out of South Korea, so why wouldnt he jump at such an opportunity? adds King. Trump can thus redefine successful denuclearization as having secured the U.S. homeland. Already, Trump agreed at his first summit with Kim in Singapore in June to suspend joint South Korea-U.S. military drills, which was a red line for all previous administrations. And his travails at homewith the U.S. government shutdown over funding his proposed border wall a month old, and no breakthrough in trade negotiations with China in sightmay make the self-styled master dealmaker keener to secure a deal, any deal, at whatever cost. What does this mean for South Korea? Worst case scenario is that its left exposed and isolated by the U.S. with a fanatical foe just miles away. Yup, Vietnam may be the perfect place for Trump-Kim 2.0. Adds Lee: Act two of a Shakespearean tragedy-in-the-making opens next month in Hanoi. WASHINGTON Another day, another fight in Washington. Freshmen Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who is known for her feisty social media presence, got into a quarrel on Twitter with prominent, longtime Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham on Wednesday. The pair got into a back-and-forth about the government shutdown, the State of the Union and some of the Democratic socialist ideas that Ocasio-Cortez has proposed. The quarrel started after Graham issued a statement, saying that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's decision to uninvite President Donald Trump from giving his State of the Union address was a "new low for American politics." Ocasio-Cortez chimed in: "According to @LindseyGrahamSC, the President failing to condemn neo-nazis, forcing thousands of federal workers to go to food pantries,& risking all their credit scores is whatever, but not letting the President march down the House Floor until we pay people first is 'a new low.'" This content is not available due to your privacy preferences. Update your settings here to see it. The tweet got 16,000 retweets and got the attention of the prominent South Carolina Republican, who now chairs the powerful Senate Judiciary Committee. More: Ocasio-Cortez, other progressives land spots on powerful committee Graham responded in a series of tweets, mocking Ocasio-Cortez's claim that the world would end in 12 years due to climate change and her idea to hike the tax rate for the nation's wealthiest. "Lets bury the hatchet and enjoy the next 12 years because they are going to be our last, right?" Graham responded, adding in another post that Ocasio-Cortez and her "new socialist colleagues seem hell-bent on making sure that our last 12 years will be spent as Venezuelan socialists, not Americans." This content is not available due to your privacy preferences. Update your settings here to see it. Graham then questioned whether voters in 2020 would reject Ocasio-Cortez and her "socialist agenda." Ocasio-Cortez didn't reply to Graham's series of tweets. Last week, Ocasio-Cortez, who has racked up 2.6 million followers on Twitter, helped teach her Democratic colleagues about best practices on the forum. Story continues She has garnered headlines for dancing outside her office, her Instant Pot recipes and the fights she has gotten into on Twitter. Ocasio-Cortez has made a splash in the nation's capital ever since she successfully unseated Rep. Joe Crowley, the Democratic caucus chairman, in a primary. On her first day in Washington she joined climate change activists for a sit-in at Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi's office. Contributing: Eliza Collins This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: 'Lets bury the hatchet': Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Lindsey Graham trade barbs on Twitter Investors looking for stocks in the Alternative Energy - Other sector might want to consider either Ameresco (AMRC) or Covanta (CVA). But which of these two stocks presents investors with the better value opportunity right now? Let's take a closer look. There are plenty of strategies for discovering value stocks, but we have found that pairing a strong Zacks Rank with an impressive grade in the Value category of our Style Scores system produces the best returns. The Zacks Rank favors stocks with strong earnings estimate revision trends, and our Style Scores highlight companies with specific traits. Right now, both Ameresco and Covanta are sporting a Zacks Rank of # 2 (Buy). This means that both companies have witnessed positive earnings estimate revisions, so investors should feel comfortable knowing that both of these stocks have an improving earnings outlook. But this is just one piece of the puzzle for value investors. Value investors are also interested in a number of tried-and-true valuation metrics that help show when a company is undervalued at its current share price levels. The Style Score Value grade factors in a variety of key fundamental metrics, including the popular P/E ratio, P/S ratio, earnings yield, cash flow per share, and a number of other key stats that are commonly used by value investors. AMRC currently has a forward P/E ratio of 17.94, while CVA has a forward P/E of 157.30. We also note that AMRC has a PEG ratio of 1.03. This figure is similar to the commonly-used P/E ratio, with the PEG ratio also factoring in a company's expected earnings growth rate. CVA currently has a PEG ratio of 10.49. Another notable valuation metric for AMRC is its P/B ratio of 1.85. The P/B is a method of comparing a stock's market value to its book value, which is defined as total assets minus total liabilities. By comparison, CVA has a P/B of 4.08. These metrics, and several others, help AMRC earn a Value grade of B, while CVA has been given a Value grade of C. Both AMRC and CVA are impressive stocks with solid earnings outlooks, but based on these valuation figures, we feel that AMRC is the superior value option right now. 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 Ameresco, Inc. (AMRC) : Free Stock Analysis Report To read this article on Zacks.com click here. A Southfield, Michigan, family was escorted off an American Airlines plane Wednesday after passengers complained of body odor. Local 10 News in Florida reported that Yossi and Jennie Adler and their 19-month-old daughter were boarding a plane at the Miami International Airport when they were escorted off. But Yossi Adler told Local 10 News that the family did not have body odor and urged the airline to reveal the actual reason behind the family's removal from the plane. A statement from American Airlines officials to the Detroit Free Press stated, "The Adler family were asked to deplane last night after several passengers, along with our crew members, complained about their body odor. The family were provided hotel accommodations and meals, and rebooked on a flight to Detroit today." The Adler family could not be reached for comment Thursday morning. Local 10 News received confirmation via text message that the family boarded a plane Thursday morning. The family's luggage was reportedly not taken off the plane. Yossi Adler told Local 10, "They have our car seat, stroller, everything" and hoped to resolve the issue. This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: American Airlines kicks Michigan family off plane for body odor The future is now: Starting this week, Amazon amzn is testing autonomous package delivery with adorable little robot vehicles in a northern Seattle suburb. Six of the Amazon Scouts, the company announced yesterday, are now delivering packages in Snohomish County in a trial run that complements its existing delivery options. The company is hiring for 25 positions on the Scout project. The six-wheeled vehicles are fully electric and will move at walking pace, for the time being only during daylight hours on weekdays while accompanied by Amazon employees for safetys sake. Its worth noting that last year the company was working on a clothing recommendation service called Scout. These delivery robots will not be able to dress you, as far as we know. The Verge pointed out that the vehicles look almost identical to those of an Estonian startup. Starship Technologies has tested its autonomous delivery robots in a number of US cities, just this week deploying 25 vehicles to deliver food on the campus of George Mason University in partnership with Sodexho. But considering the drone delivery Prime Air program never got off the ground, Amazon Scout already seems like a more sensible solution to the last-mile problem: the time-intensive activity of getting packages from distribution centers to homes. Wired points out some particular problems, though: A delivery robot cant open gates without hands, and it cant climb steps to get right to your door. And if the robot requires the customer to enter a PIN to get the package out, how can the robot leave the package if youre not home? And compared to the orderly structure of roads, sidewalks are pure chaos, with people, pets and objects sharing the space. Whether autonomous delivery vehicles are allowed to share the sidewalks varies by state and by city too; San Francisco has severely restricted them since 2017. Amazons road test in Seattle may determine whether the delivery method finally arrives. It's estimated that this year alone, over 10 million Americans will be affected by seasonal depression, which is also known as Seasonal Affective Disorder or S.A.D for short, Liam Hackett, Founder & CEO at Ditch the Label, an anti-bullying non-profit organizations, told Yahoo Finance. We know that mental health can be difficult to protect if you are from a lower income background, he added. The cost of therapy can make it inaccessible to a lot of people. (Photo: Getty) S.A.D. is most common in the colder months, with symptoms including fatigue, feelings of worthlessness, suicidal thoughts, sleepiness, guilt, and anxiety. David Guggenheim, Chief Behavioral Health Officer at Callen-Lorde Community Health Center, suggests seeing a mental health professional if you are experiencing these symptoms. But care can be pricey, especially if you dont have health insurance. A copayment to see a therapist for someone with health insurance is approximately $10-$20/hr, whereas without insurance a 1-hour visit can be anywhere between $50 to $250. And the U.S. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration states that the most common reason for why people did not get mental health care when they needed it was because they could not afford the cost. Fortunately, with the growth of technology and communities nationwide, there are some cheaper and even free options for receiving some mental health care. There's programs like Talkspace, or other online platforms, that allow you to text or video chat with a therapist, when they're needed, Guggenheim said. Those cost, typically about $100.00 to $200.00 a month. If you're looking for no cost, and you're uninsured, there's a network of community health centers throughout the country, that can see people without payment at all, or meet you where you are, and do it on the sliding scale. WATCH MORE: The shutdown is inspiring acts of kindness for federal workers Today well look at Alliance Aviation Services Limited (ASX:AQZ) and reflect on its potential as an investment. Specifically, well consider its Return On Capital Employed (ROCE), since that will give us an insight into how efficiently the business can generate profits from the capital it requires. First of all, well work out how to calculate ROCE. Second, well look at its ROCE compared to similar companies. Then well determine how its current liabilities are affecting its ROCE. What is Return On Capital Employed (ROCE)? ROCE is a measure of a companys yearly pre-tax profit (its return), relative to the capital employed in the business. In general, businesses with a higher ROCE are usually better quality. In brief, it is a useful tool, but it is not without drawbacks. Author Edwin Whiting says to be careful when comparing the ROCE of different businesses, since No two businesses are exactly alike. How Do You Calculate Return On Capital Employed? The formula for calculating the return on capital employed is: Return on Capital Employed = Earnings Before Interest and Tax (EBIT) (Total Assets Current Liabilities) Or for Alliance Aviation Services: 0.13 = AU$29m (AU$272m AU$42m) (Based on the trailing twelve months to June 2018.) Therefore, Alliance Aviation Services has an ROCE of 13%. View our latest analysis for Alliance Aviation Services Want to help shape the future of investing tools and platforms? Take the survey and be part of one of the most advanced studies of stock market investors to date. Is Alliance Aviation Servicess ROCE Good? ROCE can be useful when making comparisons, such as between similar companies. It appears that Alliance Aviation Servicess ROCE is fairly close to the Airlines industry average of 12%. Regardless of where Alliance Aviation Services sits next to its industry, its ROCE in absolute terms appears satisfactory, and this company could be worth a closer look. Story continues Our data shows that Alliance Aviation Services currently has an ROCE of 13%, compared to its ROCE of 9.2% 3 years ago. This makes us think the business might be improving. ASX:AQZ Last Perf January 23rd 19 When considering this metric, keep in mind that it is backwards looking, and not necessarily predictive. Companies in cyclical industries can be difficult to understand using ROCE, as returns typically look high during boom times, and low during busts. This is because ROCE only looks at one year, instead of considering returns across a whole cycle. Since the future is so important for investors, you should check out our free report on analyst forecasts for Alliance Aviation Services. What Are Current Liabilities, And How Do They Affect Alliance Aviation Servicess ROCE? Current liabilities include invoices, such as supplier payments, short-term debt, or a tax bill, that need to be paid within 12 months. The ROCE equation subtracts current liabilities from capital employed, so a company with a lot of current liabilities appears to have less capital employed, and a higher ROCE than otherwise. To check the impact of this, we calculate if a company has high current liabilities relative to its total assets. Alliance Aviation Services has total liabilities of AU$42m and total assets of AU$272m. As a result, its current liabilities are equal to approximately 15% of its total assets. Current liabilities are minimal, limiting the impact on ROCE. Our Take On Alliance Aviation Servicess ROCE Overall, Alliance Aviation Services has a decent ROCE and could be worthy of further research. You might be able to find a better buy than Alliance Aviation Services. If you want a selection of possible winners, check out this free list of interesting companies that trade on a P/E below 20 (but have proven they can grow earnings). If you like to buy stocks alongside management, then you might just love this free list of companies. (Hint: insiders have been buying them). To help readers see past 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. For errors that warrant correction please contact the editor at editorial-team@simplywallst.com. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortezs proposal to raise taxes on the rich is catching fire, and the millionaires, billionaires, executives and dictators in attendance at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, are nervously tittering and possibly panicking. Its scary, Scott Minerd, global chief investment officer for Guggenheim Partners, an investment firm with more than $265 billion in assets, told CNBC in an interview from the forum, as he talked about the newly elected New York Democrats proposal. He added that hed likely be impacted. Ocasio-Cortez wants to raise the marginal tax rate to 70 percent on those who earn more than $10 million a year. The revenue, she says, would help pay for a Green New Deal, meant to avert a global climate catastrophe. I dont think it would help the growth of the U.S. economy, Michael Dell, the founder of Dell Computers who has a net worth around $30 billion, told a laughing crowd when asked about the progressive tax reform by a Washington Post reporter. Hed prefer to donate money, he said. (That move, of course, comes with a tax break.) This content is not available due to your privacy preferences. Update your settings here to see it. Ocasio-Cortez herself has been gleefully returning fire on Twitter. Is it getting hot in here, or just the elevating public consciousness around rampant wealth inequality? she tweeted this week. But this isnt about the 29-year-old political wunderkind clapping back. Ocasio-Cortez has done something even more remarkable with this tax thing shes popularized a wonky tax idea that asks the rich to pay their fair share, ending years of gaslighting from conservatives and the wealthy, whove tried to argue lowering taxes on high-income earners is good for everyone. Other progressive economic policies think the $15 an hour minimum wage or Medicare for all have captured the publics imagination over the past few years. But its hard to think of a progressive economic idea that has caught fire as quickly as this one, said Stephanie Kelton, an economist at Stony Brook University, who advised Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) during his 2016 presidential campaign. Story continues Part of that has to do with Ocasio-Cortezs undeniable star power. Theres something unique about her in this moment where shes captured the attention of so many people on the left and the right, said Kelton. So when she says something like this it just makes a splash. The idea of raising the marginal rate to 70 percent isnt new. Sen. Sanders talked about raising taxes on the rich during his campaign, though it arguably wasnt his most resonant pitch. In fact, from 1936 to 1980, the top rate never dipped below 70 percent. That changed with former President Ronald Reagan, who rode a wave of anti-tax backlash that has grown stronger with each year since, culminating when Congress passed Trumps tax cut in 2017. The fantasy that these cuts would benefit ordinary Americans is largely over, said Kelton. The policies of the last several decades going back to at least 1981 have largely decimated what was once the American dream, hollowing out communities, the middle class, she said, adding that people are now unable to afford what was once considered the essentials: healthcare and housing. Though unemployment is at record lows, ordinary Americans are feeling anxious in the face of ballooning student debt, increasingly out-of-reach real estate and the prospect of affording a secure retirement. Those anxieties are deep and very really and were ignored, Kelton said. Trump tapped into that anxiety with his rhetoric, but not his policy. Ocasio-Cortez is doing both. Shes also managed to explain marginal tax rates to the millions of Americans who likely didnt understand the concept. This content is not available due to your privacy preferences. Update your settings here to see it. While some conservatives have attempted to portray a 70 percent rate as the equivalent of you make $10 million and you pay $7 million in taxes, thats grossly incorrect. (Anti-tax activist Grover Norquist took that rationale to a wildly absurd place earlier this month, with the above tweet.) It is only the first dollar over $10 million that would be taxed at the higher rate. Ocasio-Cortez has patiently explained the concept to the country again and again. Most recently in an appearance on the The Late Show with Stephen Colbert. This has been a chance to educate people, said Dean Baker, senior economist at the professor Center for Economic and Policy Research. The confusion about marginal tax rates is pervasive. Voters, who get the concept, like the idea of raising rates. A survey conducted earlier this month found a majority of voters support raising the rate. Even hard-right conservative Ann Coulter is on board. Its important to note that there just arent many Americans who earn more than $10 million in income a year. An estimated 16,000 taxpayers would be subject to the higher tax bracket. While some conservatives argue that raising taxes on multimillionaires income would lead them to work more and create less, there isnt much evidence to support that idea. And several prestigious economists have written about and support her plan. Still, Ocasio-Cortez hasnt fleshed out the details, so its not clear if she intends to also raise taxes on unearned income, the money rich people earn from their investments. Some progressive economists believe that raising the marginal rate would just be part of the way to start getting the wealthy to pay their fair share. Ocasio-Cortezs idea then is a signal of a larger ethos thats taking hold and likely part of a bigger plan to shift economic burdens to the well off. I dont think she probably has this in mind as her singular way of addressing income and wealth inequality, Kelton said. The billionaires freaking out likely understand that the popularity of this idea is a flashing warning sign: The jig is up. By the time we get to the presidential election, this is going to gain more momentum, Minerd, the investment officer told CNBC. And I think the likelihood that a 70 percent tax rate, or something like that, becomes policy is actually very real. Love HuffPost? Become a founding member of HuffPost Plus today. This article originally appeared on HuffPost. On todays episode of Free Lunch, Ryan McQueeney recaps earnings results from Texas Instruments and airline giants American, Southwest, and JetBlue. The host also discusses the labor market on the back of historically-low jobless claims data. Want more video content from Zacks? Subscribe to Zacks Investment News now! Free Lunch is presented by Zacks Investment Research. It is streamed live, four times per week, and features breaking news and analysis from Zacks strategists. Free Lunch is available on YouTube, Twitter, and other major streaming platforms. Wall Street had another pile of fresh earnings reports to dig through this morning, including some from key industry bellwethers. Notably, chip giant Texas Instruments TXN filed its latest quarterly results yesterday afternoon. The semiconductor manufacturer managed to surpass EPS estimates, but its revenue fell short of expectations, and managements comments did not make chip bulls feel great about cyclical headwinds. On the other hand, airline earnings have been relatively strong. Southwest LUV reported better-than-expected earnings and revenue, with net sales increasing 8.5% from the year-ago period and outpacing slightly higher unit costs. The budget airline did warn, however, that the partial government shutdown has cost it up to $15 million in new revenue. Industry giant American Airlines AAL also beat estimates on the bottom line, although revenue lagged expectations a bit. Still, the company was confident that its business will grow faster than its rivals in 2019, citing an expansion of its network and new premium offerings as likely catalysts for sales growth. Meanwhile, low-fare airline JetBlue JBLU did a good job of controlling non-fuel costs en route to a solid earnings beat for the quarter. JetBlue said it hopes to expand capacity by 7.5% to 8.5% in the ongoing quarter, which could help stimulate revenue growth going forward. All of this news was being digest on Thursday morning, when investors also had another historic read on initial jobless claims to consider. The number of people filing for unemployment benefits in the U.S. last week fell below 200,000. That marked a 49-year low, providing more evidence on the strength of the domestic labor market. Story continues Join Ryan on todays episode of Free Lunch for more information about each of these stories! More Stock News: This Is Bigger than the iPhone! It could become the mother of all technological revolutions. Apple sold a mere 1 billion iPhones in 10 years but a new breakthrough is expected to generate more than 27 billion devices in just 3 years, creating a $1.7 trillion market. Zacks has just released a Special Report that spotlights this fast-emerging phenomenon and 6 tickers for taking advantage of it. If you don't buy now, you may kick yourself in 2020. Click here for the 6 trades >> 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 Texas Instruments Incorporated (TXN) : Free Stock Analysis Report To read this article on Zacks.com click here. Zacks Investment Research Abidjan (AFP) - Africa's arms market is likely to grow by 50 percent over the next five years, analyst Stephane Konan said at a four-day trade show in Ivory Coast. "The African market in defence represents only a drop of water in relation to the world market: 42.6 billion dollars out of 1,731 billion in 2017," Konan told AFP, citing figures from the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI). "But it is in steady growth and should increase by 50 percent over the next five years. That's why the principal providers of defence equipment are here," added Konan, the manager of the Shield Africa event and a key advisor to Ivory Coast's defence minister. The fifth defence trade fair in Africa has attracted 113 exhibitors from 29 countries, together with 50 official delegations. Organisers said turnout is four times that of the first show in 2013, for companies and official teams alike. Among nations leading the world's arms industry, the United States, China, France and Israel all have stands at Shield Africa, but so do vendors from smaller powers such as South Africa, Turkey, Belarus, South Korea and Australia. "Africa is undergoing strong economic growth, but also new threats. It's the continent that suffered the most terrorist attacks in 2017, and threats to the environment are increasing, like poaching and illegal fishing ... so the need for defence and security material is growing," Konan said. AECOM ACM has inked a deal with AWE plc. to be the delivery partner for the latters Nuclear Capability project. The contract, namely AECOM, will support the U.K. governments nuclear deterrence program. The companys Management Services ("MS") segment has an expertise in demonstrating project management and nuclear decommissioning across the world. Per the contract, this Los Angeles-based engineering firm will decommission as well as demolish the existing facilities, and build new ones. Also, the contract includes management and transportation of the required materials throughout the sites. The deal has an initial commitment of approximately $3 million till 2020. Moreover, the contract value is expected to rise to nearly $500 million in the next 12 years. The contract value will be added to the companys backlog in the first quarter of fiscal 2019. Over the last few quarters, AECOMs diversified business is witnessing robust prospects across the segments. Notably, as of Sep 30, 2018, the company recorded a new all-time high backlog of $54.1 billion, reflecting a 14% year-over-year increase. The solid backlog indicates robust opportunity for the company in the forthcoming quarters. New order wins in fiscal 2018 were up 23% from the prior-year quarter. Its total book-to-burn ratio was 1.3, given solid contribution from all the segments. The MS segment recorded an impressive 2.5 book-to-burn ratio. Particularly in the MS segment, a record high backlog was recorded, increasing 120% since the beginning of fiscal 2017. Meanwhile, shares of AECOM have outperformed its industry over the past three months. Earnings estimates for the to-be-reported quarter have also moved up 3.8% in the past 60 days, raising analysts optimism surrounding the companys earnings growth potential. Zacks Rank &Key Picks Currently, AECOM carries a Zacks Rank #4 (Sell). Some better-ranked stocks in the Zacks Construction sector include Gates Industrial Corporation PLC GTES, Lennox International Inc. LII, and Great Lakes Dredge & Dock Corporation GLDD, each carrying a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). You can see the complete list of todays Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here. Gates Industrial, Lennox and Great Lakes earnings for the current year are expected to increase 44.6%, 18.9% and 111%, respectively. More Stock News: This Is Bigger than the iPhone! It could become the mother of all technological revolutions. Apple sold a mere 1 billion iPhones in 10 years but a new breakthrough is expected to generate more than 27 billion devices in just 3 years, creating a $1.7 trillion market. Zacks has just released a Special Report that spotlights this fast-emerging phenomenon and 6 tickers for taking advantage of it. If you don't buy now, you may kick yourself in 2020. Click here for the 6 trades >> 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 Great Lakes Dredge & Dock Corporation (GLDD) : Free Stock Analysis Report AECOM (ACM) : Free Stock Analysis Report Gates Industrial Corporation PLC (GTES) : Free Stock Analysis Report To read this article on Zacks.com click here. Shares of VF Corp (NYSE: VFC) have ascended 17% year to date on the strength of the company's fiscal third-quarter earnings, released on Jan. 18. The fashion and outdoor-wear conglomerate issued a vigorous report, exceeding investor expectations and raising its full-year earnings outlook. But VF Corp also whetted shareholders' appetites for future earnings after the pending spinoff of the company's denim business. Below, let's evaluate two key comments that are relevant to this change made by management during the company's earnings conference call following the earnings release. A skier in high tech outerwear treks towards a mountain slope. Image source: VF Corp. Vans continues to defy gravity Revenue increased 9% on an organic basis, as our growth engines continue to fuel our results. Excluding Kontoor Brands, the VF RemainCo portfolio increased 12%. Our Big 3 brands grew at a combined rate of 16%, with our Vans brand delivering another exceptional quarter of 27% growth. Importantly, growth for the Vans brand remains well balanced across channels, geographies and product categories. -- CEO Steve Rendle VF Corp. derives the lion's share of its revenue from five major brands: the denim labels Wrangler and Lee, which will exit VF within the new company (to be named "Kontoor"), and the Vans, Timberland, and North Face brands, which will stay in VF Corp (referred to as "RemainCo" in spinoff discussions). Wrangler and Lee have seen market share declines in recent years, and management believes that placing them in their own publicly traded entity will allow a new management team to focus solely on reviving their prospects, thus unlocking shareholder value. Of the remaining top brands, which VF Corp dubs "the Big 3," Vans continues to lead sales growth, even as management has forecasted for a few quarters that expansion of the popular sneaker line, beloved in skateboard culture, must inevitably return to normalized levels. Vans' revenue has increased 33% in the Americas, 13% in EMEA (Europe, Middle East, and Africa), and 32% in APAC (Asia Pacific) in the first nine months of fiscal 2019 versus the prior year. Note that VF Corp doesn't release actual brand dollar volume on a quarterly basis. Story continues This equates to total global improvement of 29% on a constant-currency basis over the last three quarters. It's clear that the label continues to resonate across a wide demographic and geographical base. While VF Corp has signaled that Vans is too large to advance at such a pace forever, in the near term, higher digital and direct-to-consumer (DTC) sales are keeping the company's growth rate well above a long-term target of low-double-digit expansion. For comparison, Timberland and North Face expanded global sales (in constant-currency terms) by 1% and 10%, respectively, in the first three fiscal quarters of 2019. The spinoff is on schedule for the spring, with one caveat We remain on track for a public filing in early March. However, the government shutdown has the potential to delay the public filing. We will keep you posted as our timeline evolves. Both VF or Remainco and Kontoor Brands will host investor Road Shows in the coming months, leading up to our anticipated separation date at the end of April. -- CFO Scott Roe During the earnings call, both CEO Steve Rendle and CFO Scott Roe assured investors that the Kontoor spinoff is slated for the latter half of April. However, as Roe states above, this depends somewhat on external factors. As of this writing, the U.S. government shutdown is ongoing, with no clear resolution in sight. Beyond this caveat, investors should welcome the prospect of separation between Wrangler and Lee and the Big 3 brands. Shareholders will receive shares in Kontoor through a tax-free transaction, and the new denim company will have some ready money from its initial public offering to invest in marketing, research and development, and distribution to jump-start denim revenue. Kontoor will remain at VF Corp's current headquarters in Greensboro, North Carolina. As for "RemainCo," management plans to move most of its operations to Denver, Colorado, which will place it within an appropriate geographical location for innovation and test marketing in its outdoor brands like Timberland and North Face. More significant for investors, however, is the possibility that RemainCo will be able to exhibit much higher growth rates once free of the drag of Wrangler and Lee, which notched 1% constant-currency growth and negative 5% constant-currency growth, respectively, in the first three quarters of 2019 against the comparable period. Thus, if VF Corp's public split strategy pans out, current shareholders will own stakes in two companies with higher potential in separation versus their current wedded state. Projected earnings numbers for both companies should be available by March, when the respective management teams pitch the deal to institutional investors. More From The Motley Fool Asit Sharma 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. Armenia and Georgia may become models for democratic development in the wider region, the ex-EU ambassador to Armenia and Georgia Denis Corboy, the ex-US ambassador to Kazakhstan William Courtney and the ex-US ambassador to Belarus and Georgia Kenneth Yalowitz said in the article on National Interest. According to the authors, both countries seek to consolidate democratic gains and overcome poverty, while at the same time solving complex problems, starting with Russia and ending with conflicts. Even as the West keeps its primary focus on Russian aggression in Ukraine, it can encourage positive developments in the two South Caucasus countries. Georgia in 2003 and Armenia last year underwent cathartic popular uprisings via the Rose and Velvet revolutions. Frustration with entrenched politics and poor living standards helped spark public demonstrations and political changes that brought reformist leaders to power, the source noted. According to them, political factors explain some economic weakness of the two countries. So far Moscow has not intervened to stifle Armenias fledging democratic groundswell. Pashinyan has been careful to emphasize that treaty links with Russia remain firm and that his countrys economic orientation is still toward the Russian-led Eurasian Economic Union. The Kremlin has, however, expressed disquiet over corruption proceedings against former Armenian president Robert Kocharyan. Moscow does not want Armenia to move toward Georgias westward-leaning foreign policy arc, the article said. According to them, in Baku, thousands demonstrated on behalf of jailed anticorruption blogger Mehman Huseynov and other political prisoners, raising a question whether democratic gains in Armenia and Georgia are having an influence in Azerbaijan. Armenia and Georgia have a good deal of work to do to deepen reforms that will strengthen their democracies and improve living standards. While pursuing these priorities, the countries deserve continued, strong Western support. Armenia and Georgia could become models for democratic development elsewhere in the wider region, and the South Caucasus is growing in importance as a strategic and energy crossroads between Europe, the Middle East, and Eurasia, the source said. The requested page is currently unavailable on this server. Back to [RTHK News Homepage] South Africa: Tributes for legendary Oliver Tuku Mtukudzi Tributes are pouring in from across the country for the late the legendary musician, Oliver Tuku Mtukudzi. Mtukudzi passed away in Harare, Zimbabwe, on Wednesday. Reports indicate that the 66-year-old musician had been struggling with his health, particularly over the last month. He is being hailed as a cultural icon for his songs, which were usually sung in his mother tongue, Shona, which turned him to an international favourite. Some of his well known and loved songs include Todii, Neria, Ndagara Nhaka, Ndakuvara and Into yam, which featured Ringo Madlingozi. Arts and Culture Minister Nathi Mthethwa on Wednesday joined fans in paying tribute, saying Mtukudzi was a musician par excellence, philanthropist, human rights activist and UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador for the Southern Africa region. Mtukudzi is considered Zimbabwes most renowned and internationally recognised cultural icon of all time. Despite being a son of the soil of Zimbabwe, with his hauntingly beautiful and husky voice, he had over the decades become the most revered voice to emerge from that country, to being devotedly loved in South Africa, the SADC region and throughout the world, said Mthethwa. Being a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador, Mtukudzi travelled the world using his fame to promote UNICEF in Zimbabwe and other countries internationally. Mthethwa said he was not just a person with a famous or immediately recognised name, but someone who used his name for goodwill while fighting for human rights for all. Here in South Africa, Mtukudzi would consistently prove integral to the Africa Month programme as part of the Department of Arts and Cultures reference group, which comprised Salif Keita and Wally Serote, amongst others. Mtukudzi was one of the key pillars of this Africa integration programme of the continent - socially, culturally, politically and economically, said Mthethwa. Mtukudzi passed away on the same date as his friend and collaborator, jazz legend Hugh Masekela, who passed away a year ago to the day. The two legends have over the years shared a stage and have been was bestowed heaps of honour in Zimbabwe, South Africa and the continent at large. These include KORA Awards; SAMA Finalist for Best Traditional/African Adult Contemporary DVD; the M-Net Best Soundtrack Award in 1992 for Naira; the University of Zimbabwe and The International Council of Africana Womanism Award in recognition of his luminary role in uplifting African women through his artistic work. To Bra Tuku, we say, thank you for the music. You demonstrated that done best, music transcends borders, culture and ethnicities, as it is the language that is best understood with the heart, said Mthethwa. Fans across the continent also took to social media to honour and pay tribute to the fallen icon. SAnews.gov.za This story has been published on: 2019-01-24. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article. Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan held a telephone conversation with John Bolton, National Security Advisor to U.S. President. We discussed issues referring to regional situation and bilateral relations. We both emphasized the importance of Armenian-U.S. relations for our governments. We agreed to continue the discussions on the future development of our relations, he wrote on Facebook, adding that the Artsakh issue was not discussed. Kalashnikov Concern of Russia will supply Armenia new AK-12 assault rifles. The deal has been signed, company CEO Vladimir Dmitriev said. We are preparing a small batch yet, in which there are about 50 automatic weapons. They [Armenia] will look, test it in practice, and we hope they will continue to buy. Dmitriev added that Armenia will become the first foreign country to purchase the AK-12s. Armenia has re-opened a Panama Papers-related probe into the case of former MP Mihran Poghosyan who also served as Armenias Chief Compulsory Enforcement Officer, the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) reported. Armenias Special Investigative Service (SIS) is investigating Mihran Poghosyan, 42, over his interests in three offshore companies, according to correspondence seen by ICIJ, the article says. SIS is also investigating possible money laundering. Armenia's Foreign Ministry is discussing the matter of establishing a visa-free mutual travel regime with China, Foreign Minister Zohrab Mnatsakanyan said. The Chinese side has submitted to us a draft international agreement, the matter of whose signing is being considered comprehensively, and the migration flows, risk handling, and the context of other international treaties are being taken into account, he said. The Prosecutor's Office of Prague has received the inquiry of the Prosecutor General's Office of Armenia on the extradition of Narek Sargsyan, the nephew of Armenias third president Serzh Sargsyan. The Czech law enforcers will have to check the documents to announce if extradition is possible or not, representative of the Prague Prosecutor's Office said. YEREVAN.- Armenian Parliament Speaker Ararat Mirzoyan received on Thursday Ambassador of Iran to Armenia Seyed Kazem Sadjadi, the Parliament reported. During the meeting Speaker Mirzoyan attached importance to the current level of the Armenian-Iranian relations that are based on centuries-old friendship and mutual trust. Ararat Mirzoyan highly valued the Ambassadors efforts and consistent activities for making the bilateral agenda more comprehensive, assuring that the Parliament is also ready to assist any mutually beneficial initiative aimed at expending the relations. Touching upon the inter-parliamentary cooperation, the Speaker highlighted the cooperation of the friendship groups which will contribute to further intensifying the bilateral ties. In his turn the Iranian Ambassador congratulated the Speaker on assuming office and wished him good luck. He valued the effective cooperation of Iran and Armenia in international platforms, stating that Iran has always stood and stands with Armenia. Seyed Kazem Sadjadi attached importance to the high-level mutual visits, noting that they further intensify the relations between the two countries and peoples. The officials also discussed the bilateral and multilateral cooperation agenda, highlighted boosting the commercial ties and stated that there is a great potential for the development and expansion of the bilateral mutual partnership which is still not utilized. The sides expressed confidence that the deepening of the economic ties can contribute to effectively using the opportunities provided by the Meghri and Aras free trade zones. Armenias Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan continues to hold talks with the leaders of various countries and organizations, on the margins of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. Nikol Pashinyan and Swiss President Ueli Maurer hailed the current level of political relations between the two countries and touched upon the development of economic cooperation. The parties agreed to get the respective diplomatic missions to identify those economic sectors that can be promising in terms of developing cooperation. They expressed confidence that as a result, good opportunities would be provided for implementing specific investment projects. Nikol Pashinyan noted that Switzerlands track-record in the development of democracy is highly assessed, and Armenia is keen to promote bilateral cooperation with a view to implementing multifaceted reforms in the country. In turn, Ueli Maurer assured that his country is prepared to deepen respective ties with the Armenian government. Next, Nikol Pashinyan met with President Paul Kagame of Rwanda; they discussed the development of bilateral economic ties, especially in carrying out of investment programs. The parties agreed that cooperation in IT can be quite promising. Paul Kagame said his country was eager to develop cooperation in this sector. Prime Minister Pashinyan, for his part, noted that the 2019 World Congress On Information Technology will be held in Armenia this October and invited Rwandan IT companies to take part in this important event. The interlocutors touched also upon cooperation within the framework of the International Organization of La Francophonie (OIF). In this connection, Paul Kagame hailed last Octobers OIF summit in Armenias capital city of Yerevan, and noted that this event had opened a new chapter in relations between the member countries of this organization. Along the lines of the World Economic Forum, Prime Minister Pashinyan also had brief meetings with Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko and NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg. India appears to be seeking to extend its influence on the Indian Ocean region by increasing its parternships with regional countries. Therefore, India is to renew its offer of procuring the Maldives Coastal Surveillance Radar Systems (CSRS). India appears to be seeking to extend its influence on the Indian Ocean region by increasing its parternships with regional countries. Therefore, India is to renew its offer of procuring the Maldives Coastal Surveillance Radar Systems (CSRS). Coastal surveillance radar (Picture source : Maldives Times) India and the Maldives had already signed a cooperation agreement in 2016. But today, as relations between India and Male went into a freeze, and as Yameen refused to allow the installation of Indian radars (preferring to turn to China), the Indian leaders have to manage improving their relations with other countries bordering the Indian Ocean. Therefore, as the Maldives defence minister Mariya Ahmed Didi is to visit India, New Delhi is expected to renew its coastal radar offer. Moreover is India trying to convince other partners to become part of the CSRS programme, contributing to create a network of information to aid Maritime Domain Awareness (MDA) in the Indian Ocean region. Among them, we can find Myanmar, Bangladesh and even Indonesia. The CSRS already includes countries such as the Seychelles, Mauritius and Sri Lanka in which older versions of the radars had already been implemented. All of these political manoeuvres could help India finding foreign bases near the Indian Ocean, increasing their political and military presence in this region and reducing the gap between its forces and the Chinese ones. Macron urges EU to work out common rules in relations with Russia COVID-19 delta variant becoming globally dominant, says WHO official Armenia 3rd President: We will set up committee to lead probe into 44-day Artsakh war after coming to power 10-year-old boy from Armenia's Hrazdan hits fence with quadricycle, transferred to hospital with passenger 5 Karabakh residents, including children injured after major car accident in Armenia's Syunik Campaign in Armenia is over Members of "5165" Movement political party visit Armenia's Gyumri and Etchmiadzin Robert Kocharyan: We'll do everything possible to meet expectations and build Armenia of our dreams Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin calls for release of head of Izmirlian Medical Center Opposition party leader: There are 270,000 unemployed people in Armenia Flights to and from Russia and Armenia to resume on June 28 Mandate of Armenia ruling party's ex-MP transferred to next candidate on list "Armenia" bloc's march ends in Yerevan "Armenia" bloc holding march after rally at Republic Square in Yerevan Bus traveling from Artsakh to Yerevan gets into car accident, passenger in extremely critical condition Opposition party leader: If Armenia doesn't take a full step now, it will lose Syunik and Gegharkunik Provinces ARF-D member: On behalf of young soldiers saved by Armen Charchyan, we demand his immediate release Searches for remains of Armenian servicemen in Hadrut fruitless Armenia 1st President: If elections are held normally, my political party will have seats in parliament Armenia 1st President: If my proposal was accepted, Pashinyan would escape in 1-2 weeks "Armenia" bloc member: Director of Izmirlian Medical Center Armen Charchyan has been detained Bright Armenia Party holds march of solidarity in Yerevan Armenia 1st President: There will be clashes after the elections Construction underway at new residence in Karabakh's Astghashen area (PHOTOS) Soldiers bodies found in Artsakh, campaign for Armenian snap elections is over, Jun 18 digest Armenia Armed Forces' General Staff deputy chief visits MOD central recruitment station Armenia Penitentiary Service: Officers not involved in any political process Armenia MFA issues statement on inadmissibility of false charges against Armenian POWs and captured civilians Participants of "Armenia" bloc's rally heading to Republic Square in Yerevan "Armenia" bloc's rally kicks off in Yerevan (PHOTOS) Armenia "I Have the Honor" bloc member on their snap election hope: We have stable double-digit 3rd place Armenia Election Rights Watch: Some citizens attended acting PM's rally with hammers Armenia State Revenue Committee, IMF agree to continue cooperation to improve tax and customs laws One dollar drops below AMD 514 in Armenia Armenia "I Have the Honor" bloc leader: Lets choose peaceful work! Tashir company says Azerbaijan accusations against their Russian Armenian chairman are absurd Armenia ex-premier: Russians closed airspace during Artsakh war on regular basis Policemen summoning "Armenia" bloc's supporters to police stations and threatening them Nearly 47 Diaspora Armenian organizations call on voting for "Armenia" bloc during elections Armenia 2nd President Kocharyan on snap parliamentary elections: June 20 is crucial day Chinese Ambassador: China-Armenia economic relations have only intensified and achieved significant results Armenia human rights activist: 3 penitentiary institutions working to make sure convicts vote for current govt Member of European Parliament calls on stopping sham trial of 14 Armenian POWs in Baku Azerbaijan government sentences two ministers of Nakhchivan Armenia ex-PM: Azerbaijan death toll in Artsakh war is actually 18,000 Bright Armenia Party leader: If government of national accord is not formed, our agenda will be defeated Armen Gevorgyan: Our democracy must be preserved Union of Armenians of Russia: Azerbaijan Prosecutor General's Office has in fact accused Russia of illegal actions Kremlin comments on forthcoming snap elections in Armenia Head of Union of Armenians of Russia comments on information on Azerbaijan declaring him internationally wanted Peskov: Russia in close contact with Turkey, Armenia, Azerbaijan over Karabakh Kremlin: Russia closely following information about possibility of establishing Turkish military base in Azerbaijan Lavrov says information about establishment of Turkish military bases in Azerbaijan is "rumors" Gallup survey: "Armenia" bloc is ahead among respondents Armenia State Revenue Committee, Iran Customs Service officials meet Iran doesn't accept interference in its nuclear and missile programs openDemocracy: UK company makes profit from last Nagorno-Karabakh war Bright Armenia Party leader: Our country has been in skirmishes of 4 people ever since 2008 Health condition of teenager hurt in car accident in Armenia village improves Azerbaijan Prosecutor General's Office declares several Russian Armenian businessmen wanted Armenia court announces decision on acting PM Two new cases of coronavirus reported in Artsakh 86 new cases of COVID-19 confirmed in Armenia Armenia Prosecutor General to go on business trip to Russia Newspaper: All Armenia government resources used for ensuring attendance at acting PMs election campaign rally US Senate confirms Chris Inglis as first White House cyber czar Chinese apps may face US subpoenas and bans Iran presidential election voting kicks off Kuwait to allow entry of fully vaccinated foreigners as of August 1 Newspaper: Turkey shows that it is starting new chapter in its expansionist policy in region Tiger kills South Africa game park worker Putin-Biden meeting is analyzed in terms of body language Armenia acting PM: Death toll is 3,705, number of missing is 268, 60 captives, assumption on another 110 captives Armenia 1st President delivers message to citizens Armenia acting PM: Return of 15 Armenian POWs instills hope for major change in regional atmosphere White House: Biden and Erdogan fail to find solution to S-400s issue White House to consider possibility of Biden-Jinping talks Gagik Tsarukyan: Armenia needs a professional army of contractual soldiers Armenia 2nd President: If a soldier honors an MP sentenced for desertion, defeat in a war is inevitable Armenia Parliament Speaker thanks people for supporting the authorities during difficult times China's new embassy building in Armenia (an exclusive report) Armenia acting PM: After the rally, I will go to a pre-election debate Armenia's ArmEconomBank employees forced to attend ruling party's rally at Republic Square after work "Armenia" bloc member: Whole state apparatus is trying to create impression that Pashinyan has supporters "I Have the Honor" bloc's candidate for Armenia PM: To vote for current govt means to face loss of statehood Razm.info: Azeri serviceman drowns in Al lakes of Karvachar Armenia MFA's commentary on the declaration signed by the Presidents of Turkey and Azerbaijan Turkey estimates total military resources of Azerbaijani and Turkish troops Artsakh ex-PM: I call on worthy citizens of Armenia to vote for the "Armenia" bloc Robert Kocharyan: Outgoing government speaks of the past Azerbaijan trades Armenian POWs for mine maps, Putin and Biden meets in Geneva, Jun 17 digest "Armenia" bloc holding campaign meeting in Sevan (LIVE) Armenia National Democratic Axis party: We will not cooperate with former and current authorities in any format Armed man attacks office of pro-Kurdish Peoples Democratic Party in Turkey, 1 killed Russian MFA: Armenian POWs' issue remains current Zakharova: Russia sees need to demarcate and delineate Armenia-Azerbaijan borders as soon as possible Karabakh: Remains of 3 more Armenian servicemen found in territories of Artsakh seized by Azerbaijan Russia MFA Spokesperson on Erdogan's visit to Shushi EU to provide support to electoral processes in Armenia Dollar still losing value in Armenia All presidential candidates from both parties should be required to answer the following question: "Do you favor replacing the electoral college with the direct popular election of the president?" Throughout the primary season, "We the People" banners and T-shirts should appear at Democratic and Republican rallies, as well as anywhere citizens gather to express themselves on the issues at stake in the campaign. The goal is to generate and fully expose an overwhelming mandate for reform. Meanwhile, at the state level, a complementary movement, let's call it Electors for Democracy, can recruit and support electors who pledge to cast their votes for whoever wins the national popular vote. (An organized effort along these lines is already underway in several states.) There is nothing in the Constitution that requires an elector to vote for the winner in his or her state, a loophole that might offer a way around the amendment impasse. We shall see. The debate it generates will make the effort itself worthwhile. There are undoubtedly other legal and political approaches that will occur to more imaginative advocates of electoral reform once the dialogue gets going. We should be poised to try anything that works. Upending the electoral college might very well take years, but the great debate must begin now. The opportunity is ripe, the problem is serious, the solution is obvious, and, for the faint of heart, Madison is up there cheering us along. Historian Joseph J. Ellis' latest book is "American Dialogue: The Founders and Us." He wrote this for the Los Angeles Times. Unspent funds meant for housing would accumulate in city coffers, often due to local opposition to low-income housing projects. Some affluent cities were granted permission to spend low-income housing funds in other cities, so as not to disturb their upper-class residents. Meanwhile, the interaction of redevelopment, Proposition 13 and Proposition 98, a school finance law passed in 1988, meant that incremental property taxes being retained by cities not only kept them away from counties and other local governments, but also from schools and the state had to make up the revenue shortfall to school districts. Ultimately, about 10 percent of the total property pot was being retained by local governments more than $5 billion a year and the state was compelled to give schools about $2 billion to backfill their property tax losses. It all came to a screeching halt seven years ago when the Legislature and Gov. Jerry Brown abolished redevelopment and compelled cities to disburse sequestered funds and other assets to schools and other local agencies. Ever since, there have been efforts to bring back redevelopment in some form. Cities, for instance, were allowed to create Enhanced Infrastructure Financing Districts, but only three cities use them. The exact address and name of the landowner were blacked out in the report released to the public. The report did note, however, that the entrance to the property was off of a paved Bennett Lane driveway identified by an address marker labeled 1128. Both PG&E and private utility poles were on the 10.5-acre property, located about three miles north of Calistoga in a rural residential neighborhood, according to the report. Nearby homes were surrounded by vineyards, and oak and conifer woodlands. There was little ground vegetation on the property, which had a swimming pool and wine cellar. The residence was built in 1946, investigators wrote. PG&E said earlier this year in court documents that property owned by Ann Zink triggered the fire, according to a Santa Rosa Press Democrat report. The utility identified Michael Andrews as the propertys caretaker and wrote that he had no electrical training and wasnt licensed to do the work. Andrews authorized repairs to a power pole on the property in February 2017, according to the filing, but the Kelseyville-based general engineering contractor also did not have a California electrical license. Tucked away in the St. Helena firehouse is an easily overlooked museum where the history of the St. Helena Fire Department comes alive in vivid color mostly red. The small, but densely packed, museum is full of helmets, hydrants, bells, badges, photos, and a nearly complete set of posters advertising the annual Firemens Ball fundraisers of the 1950s, where $1 got you an evening of dancing to the big band stylings of Ralph Rawson and his orchestra. Now the department is looking for apparel, equipment, photos and other mementos to add to its collection. Chances are, forgotten treasures that would help tell the St. Helena Fire Departments story are locked away in attics, basements and trunks throughout St. Helena. Theyre out there in the community we just need people to dig them up, said Art Carr, a member of the department from 1961 to 1974. Carr is the collections curator, although he shies away from such a lofty title. The biggest and most recognizable item on display is the 1917 Schneer pumper truck the department still revs up for its open house and other special events. The triple combination pumper (top speed 50 mph, purchase price $5,400, capable of pumping 381 gallons a minute for 30 minutes) is believed to be the last operational Schneer in the U.S. However, even the smaller pieces have a story to tell, like the lapel pin issued to John Jacobsen, who in 1887 joined the Hook and Ladder Company No. 1 one of the precursors to the St. Helena Fire Department, which wasnt established until 1911. In the late 19th century, when most of downtown St. Helena was still made of wood and, thus, highly susceptible to fire, three independent fire companies took it upon themselves to protect the town: Hose Company No. 1, the Hook and Ladder Company No. 1, and Americus Hose Company No. 2. The museum houses the tattered old hat once worn by Philo S. Grant, foreman of Hose Company No. 1 from 1900 to 1911. Grant spent 50 years as a St. Helena firefighter and was selected as the St. Helena Fire Departments first fire chief in 1911. He served until his death in 1947, and I think if he were alive today hed still be chief, Carr said wryly. Grants chiefs badge is on display at the museum too, as well as those of his successors Joe Cheli (1947-1958), Lucas Haus (1958-1959, 1961-1965), and Gene Graff (1959-1961). Keep looking, and youll find a 1921 Lungmotor resuscitator that used to be carried on the Schneer, an 1891 fire bell that can still raise a mighty ruckus, and the fire departments old (and presumably outdated) master key to Louis M. Martini Winery. A few of the items have little or no connection to the fire department and would ideally be exhibited by the St. Helena Historical Society, if only they had their own space, Carr said. Mariam Hansen, research director for the historical society, has provided valuable help in researching the fire departments collection, Carr added. Carr hopes residents will come forward with historical memorabilia, apparel or photos related to the fire department, or even documentary evidence that so-and-so served with the department from this year to that year. Based on what he already knows, Carr has painstakingly compiled a year-by-year membership roster going back to the days of the hose companies, but there are still gaps, including in the years during and after World War I and World War II. Many of St. Helenas able-bodied men were off serving in the military during those years, but there had to have been some firefighters, and Carr wants to know their names. The society pages of the Star used to list the people who attended the Firemens Ball, and its likely that many of them were firefighters, but Carr wants proof before he adds them to his roster. The holy grail would be a record book with membership logs or minutes of old meetings. A whole stack of these were found in an elderly ladys garage, buried in a cupboard, Carr said, gesturing to some St. Helena Fire Department license plate frames. This community has changed a lot in the last 20 or 30 years, he said. A lot of homes have changed hands, and theres a possibility that a lot of this stuff has been removed. But I know there are still some older homes in the community where someone who lived there or one of their relatives had a connection to the department. I know its out there, he said. I just know it. If you have a piece of the St. Helena Fire Departments history to share, call 967-2880. Get local news delivered to your inbox! Subscribe to our Daily Headlines newsletter. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy. A trio of Kenyan-born terror suspects was on Tuesday arrested in Michigan, US for having links to the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS). The three: Muse Abdikadir Muse, Mohamud Abdikadir Muse, and Mohamed Salat Haji, were arrested by Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) agents. Mohamud Abdikadir Muse, 23, is the brother of Muse Muse. Haji, 26, is a cousin to the brothers. Mr Muse Abdikadir Muse, 20, was arrested on Monday while on transit to Somalia. He was checking in for a flight on his way to Mogadishu, Somalia when he was arrested, a statement by the FBI released on Tuesday stated. Federal agents later arrested Mohamud Abdikadir Muse and Mohamed Salat Haji. The US Department of Justice said the two co-conspirators had assisted Muse Muse in getting the ticket. They aided in the purchase of the ticket and drove Muse Abdikadir Muse to the Grand Rapids airport, each knowing the true purpose of the travel was for Muse Muse to join and fight for ISIS, read the statement. In a complaint filed in U.S. District Court in Grand Rapids, an FBI agent alleged that all three men recorded videos pledging allegiance to ISIS. Muse Muse and Haji allegedly discussed with each other their desire to join ISIS, kill non-believers and even to potentially use a car for a martyrdom operation to run down non-believers here in the United States if they could not travel overseas to fight for ISIS, according to a statement from prosecutors. The three men are charged with conspiring to provide material support to a designated foreign terrorist organization, which is punishable by a jail term of up to 20 years in federal prison. The suspects were born in Kenya but are U.S. citizens. Haji is a naturalized citizen and the brothers received citizenship as minors through the naturalization of their parents. Federal agents first began looking at the three men in April 2016 when a review of Mohamud Abdikadir Muses public Facebook page revealed frequent posts of photos, videos, and statements and commentary that were pro-ISIS in nature and what can be described as violent, extremist propaganda, the complaint states. In June 2017, an undercover FBI employee posing as an ISIS recruiter began communicating with Mohamud Abdikadir Muse via Facebook. The suspect said he wanted to join the terrorist group, was saving his money to travel to Syria and that he planned to die with a gun in his hand fighting for ISIS. Napa Special Investigations Bureau detectives say they arrested two Vacaville adults Tuesday night who were exploiting two juvenile victims for sex trafficking. Detectives followed up on recent leads provided by the Napa County Juvenile Probation Department and began investigating sex trafficking in the city of Napa, according to a bureau press release sent Wednesday. Detectives began an operation Tuesday night and determined that a female would meet with an undercover detective to exchange money for sexual favors, according to the press release. The female was brought to a meeting point by Evan Anthony Miracle, 20, and Samirah Minnae Lee, 19, of Vacaville, according to the press release. Both were arrested around 9 p.m. on suspicion of a felony charge of human trafficking of a minor, jail records show. Miracle and Lee were booked around 3 a.m. on Wednesday morning, and remained in jail Wednesday. Detectives determined that a 17-year-old Napa County teenage girl negotiated the meeting with the detective, according to the press release. She was arrested on an outstanding Napa County arrest warrant for violation of probation. She was booked into Napa County Juvenile Hall and the bureau offered her services, according to the press release. Several of the characters in this drama have died. Steven was 24, married and a father of two when he was struck by a car while riding his motorcycle home from work in Merced, in 1989. The 5-year-old boy he had saved, Timothy White, became a Los Angeles County deputy sheriff, but died of a pulmonary embolism in 2010 at age 35. Delbert Stayner died in 2013. Parnell served a prison term of only five years for those crimes; he later was convicted of trying to buy a child, sentenced to life and died of natural causes while in custody in 2008 at age 76. Yosemite sight-seers go missing Ten years after Steven Stayner was killed, Carole Sund, 42, her daughter Juli, 15, and 16-year-old Silvina Pelosso, a family friend from Argentina, went missing while touring Yosemite. Cary Stayner was a handyman at the Cedar Lodge, just outside the park in Mariposa County, and got them to open the door to their room by saying he needed to fix a plumbing leak. Four days later, Carol Sunds wallet was found in Modesto, planted there by Stayner to throw off the search. The FBI ran a command center from downtown Modestos DoubleTree hotel. San Francisco Chronicle film critic Mick LaSalle will be in Napa at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, Feb. 6, at Blue Note to discuss this years crop of Oscar contenders, his picks, pans and predictions. LaSalle will take questions from the audience, including, "Who will win best picture?" The Oscars are Feb. 24 in Los Angeles. Barry Martin, host of Morning Edition on KVON 1440 AM, will moderate LaSalle's 11th Oscar event in Napa. Tickets are $20 and are available at www.bluenotenapa.com. LaSalle has reviewed films for the San Francisco Chronicle since 1985 and was appointed the newspaper's chief film critic in 2002. He has lectured at various film festivals, including those in the Hamptons, Denver, Las Vegas and Mill Valley and at New York's Film Forum and San Francisco's Castro Theatre. For several years he taught a film course at UC Berkeley. Between 1994 and 1999, he was the on-air film critic for ABC-TV in San Francisco. He also writes the popular weekly column "Ask Mick LaSalle'' in the Chronicle's Pink section. He is the author of "Complicated Women: Sex and Power in Pre-Code Hollywood," a history/critical study of the actresses who worked during the pre-censorship "pre-Code'' era of 1929-1934. Doors open at 6 p.m. Blue Note Napa is at 1030 Main St., Napa. SDG&E and Edison's bonds have been punished in the wake of the wildfires and PG&E's planned bankruptcy. The spread on Edison's 4.125 percent notes due 2028 more than doubled to 270.9 basis points since early November, while the spread on SDG&E's 4.15 percent notes due 2048 widened by more than 40 basis points to about 135 basis points over the same period, Trace bond-price data show. The prospect of further downgrades may be increased after lawmakers didn't change the state's inverse condemnation law last year despite lobbying by the utilities and support from former Governor Jerry Brown. Changes to regulation in favor of utilities will likely be seen as a government bailout by voters, an unpopular move that makes it unlikely politicians will take immediate action. This risk of potential wildfire liabilities may cause less damage to PG&E's peers, according to Bloomberg Intelligence analyst Jaimin Patel. The majority of bonds issued by Southern California Edison and SDG&E are secured, unlike those of PG&E. Welcoming my first child was the ... Award-winning Kenyan TV, film, and stage actress Nyce Wanjeri has finally spilled the beans on her failed 9-year marriage to Titus Wainaina Tito Wagithomo. Last November, Wagithomo stirred the pot when he took to Facebook to announce the end of their marriage. He alluded that the cause of all the trouble in their relationship started when Nyces acting career took off. The announcement came just two months after Nyce Wanjeri won Best Actress-Comedy Movie/TV Series award at the 2018 Africa Magic Viewers Choice Awards (AMVCA), which in turn ushered a flurry of endorsement deals and better acting offers. While Tito may have deleted the post and indicated that they were working to fix their marriage, it appears that the damage is irreparable. Nyce Wanjeri has finally told her side of the story, accusing Tito of, among other things, disrespecting her. Speaking to Massawe Japanni on Radio Jambo, the mother of one said: It is true we broke up, just like he[Tito] said. Every marriage has its teething problems. Every partner in a relationship has a side to him or her that causes friction in the union. I do not want to say [we broke up] as a result of me challenging his position as a man in the union. I wont say much because you never know what happens in the lives of people who share a blanket together; so much goes on between them. The award-winning actress added that she started noticing serious elements of disrespect in Tito when they were seven years in the relationship. Money began flowing in; for him and I. It was at that point that I started noticing serious elements of disrespect in him. Of course, there were pockets of disrespect before, but after crossing the 7-year line, the degree of disrespect in him ballooned. I felt it was getting worse by the day, and I could feel it was weighing me down, she said. There are a lot of issues Im not ready to talk about but the first one was disrespect among other things. A lot of people handled it depending on how he (Waitomo) posted it and blamed it on my success but that is not true, money comes and goes, material things are nothing. The most important thing in a relationship is love and respect, the former Auntie Boss actress told Massawe. Nyce also revealed that they could not seek the help of their parents because Tito had never met her parents. We couldnt seek our parents intervention because he has never visited my parents, neither has he even met them. We had planned, in the course of the relationship, that he would visit my parents and formally ask them to bless our union. I asked him, several times, why he wasnt even mentioning to me about plans of visiting my parents On my end, however, he introduced me to his parents. I say when someone disrespects you today, tomorrow and the day thereafter, and he is not showing any signs of changing for the better, you would, of course, get tired of his or her disrespectful habits. And, you realise his disrespectful habits, when you mature mentally, added Wanjeri. The two were blessed with one child, a daughter. Veteran Kenyan disc jockey, Peter Chuani alias DJ Pinye, has finally acknowledged that he played a part in derailing the careers of some local music acts. Late last year, the mixmaster ruffled feathers in the music industry and beyond when he openly confessed that he never played songs by some Kenyan musicians songs on his The Beat show because their content was mediocre. He named now-established artistes such as the highflying Khaligraph Jones, while stating that he cannot play music by new age stars Ethic. There are artists whose music I did not play back in the days, including Khaligraph and DNA, but their careers have grown I cannot play Lamba Lolo or New Position. DJs shouldnt play mediocre music, said DJ Pinye in an interview with NRG radio. What followed was an uproar, with DNA, in particular, dropping a weak diss track dubbed Kapinye. DJ Pinye has since reflected on his purported wrongdoings in the industry. He took to social media yesterday as he turned 48 years to apologize to artistes who feel their careers were derailed by his influence in the industry. On my bdays, I usually reflect on alot of things about my life. Today, am thinking about my impact. My impact on other peoples lives specifically those in the music industry. One thing is clear, I am aware of my influence. I apologise to those who feel I played a part in derailing their music career. But I am not apologetic for the values and standards I uphold for our music industry. #itsmybirthday #foreveryoung #playgoodmusic, wrote DJ Pinye. The 2019 National Population and Housing Census will be digitised to enhance the quality of data, Treasury CS Henry Rotich has said. The Kenya National Bureau of Statistics is set to acquire about 165,000 mobile devices for the eighth census in Kenyas history. CS Rotich noted that paperless data collection follows UN recommendations. It has inbuilt checks, correction of inconsistent responses and cross-validation with other records, Rotich said, adding: This information will enable the government to plan its spending based on socio-economic and demographic status. The CS further said that the data will also help monitor the progress of Vision 2030 and the implementation of the Big 4 Agenda. The census will provide the much needed comprehensive data at the county and lower levels to inform development planning and programming to facilitate quality service delivery to citizens, said Rotich. This will involve determining the level of funding that is allocated to sectors such as health and education. The government will also use the exercise to monitor the level of achievement of internationally agreed programmes such as Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Recruitment for the census staff will commence in June. A total of 135, 000 enumerators, 27,000 content supervisors and 2,700 ICT supervisors will be hired. They will be assisted by security personnel, village elders and coordinators. CS Rotich cautioned the public against falling prey to fraudsters who ask applicants to send money. The government does not require individuals to pay any money to be considered for employment, he said. Any communication on the Census must come from either Treasury or KNBS websites, Rotich added. He spoke on Wednesday at a Nairobi hotel during an update on the exercise. The census is conducted every ten years. The 2009 headcount put Kenyas population at 38,610,097. The forthcoming census will be the first under the devolved system. Credit: Jourden C/public domain Researchers have long known that the quality of an adult's romantic life is closely tied to both physical and mental health in adolescence. A new longitudinal study sought to identify the factors in adolescence that best predicted who would and would not have a satisfying romantic life in their late 20s. The study found that the skills teens learn in friendships with peers of the same gender were the strongest predictors of later romantic satisfaction. The study, by researchers at the University of Virginia and James Madison University, appears in Child Development, a journal of the Society for Research in Child Development. "In spite of the emphasis teens put on adolescent romantic relationships, they turn out not to be the most important predictor of future romantic success," says Joseph P. Allen, professor of psychology at the University of Virginia, who led the study. "Instead, it's the skills learned in friendships with peers of the same genderskills such as stability, assertiveness, intimacy, and social competencethat correspond most closely to the skills needed for success in adult romantic relationships." Researchers interviewed and observed 165 adolescents from ages 13 to 30; the youth lived in suburban and urban areas in the southeastern United States and the group was racially, ethnically, and socioeconomically diverse. The study assessed teens' reports of the quality of their social and romantic relationships, as well as reports by close friends. Each year across a three-year period when the youth were in their late 20s, researchers also interviewed participants about how satisfied they were with romantic life. The study found that progress in key social developmental tasks in adolescence predicted future romantic competence at ages 27 to 30, even though the adolescent tasks were in nonromantic areas. For example: At age 13, adolescents' abilities to establish positive expectations of relationships with their peers and to be appropriately assertive with peers were the best predictors of future romantic satisfaction. At ages 15 and 16, social competencethat is, teens' ability to establish close friendships and to manage a broad array of relationships with peerswas the best predictor. And from ages 16 to 18, teens' ability to establish and maintain close, stable friendships was the best predictor of satisfaction romantically. These factors were more closely associated than anything related to romantic behavior in adolescence, such as how much teens dated, whether they were involved physically in romantic relationships, their sexual behavior, and their physical attractiveness, according to the study. The researchers note that their study did not establish causal processes. "Romantic relationships in adolescence are much more likely to be fleeting, and as such, they don't appear to be the main way teens learn skills needed for the future," suggests Rachel K. Narr, a doctoral student at the University of Virginia, who coauthored the study. Explore further Teens whose parents exert more psychological control have trouble with closeness, independence Should we rename low risk ("indolent") cancers in a bid to reduce anxiety and harm from unnecessary investigation and treatment? Experts debate the issue in The BMJ today. The clinical definition of cancer describes a disease that, if untreated, will grow relentlessly and spread to other organs, killing the host, explains Laura Esserman at the Carol Franc Buck Breast Care Center in San Francisco, California. Yet what we routinely refer to as cancer today is a disease ranging from ultra low (less than a 5% chance of progression over two decades) to extremely high (more than a 75% chance of progression over one to two years). Modern screening programmes have led to increased detection and treatment of ultra low risk cancers, including many thyroid, prostate, and breast cancers, she writes. For example, as many as 35% of all screen detected breast cancers may fall into the ultra low risk category. Yet women with low risk lesions (known as ductal carcinoma in situ or DCIS) "are being rushed to the operating room, precipitating a lifetime of anxiety," says Esserman. Investigation and invasive intervention themselves carry risk. Rather than surgery, she believes we should offer active surveillance, but says "it is difficult to encourage patients to wait and watch once they have been told they have cancer." Overtreating people who are not at risk of death "does not improve the lives of those at highest risk," she writes. "The refinement of the nomenclature for cancer is one of the most important steps we can take to improve the outcomes and quality of life of patients with cancer." But Dr. Murali Varma at the University Hospital of Wales in Cardiff warns that creating new entities risks confusion, so public education about the nature of cancer must be the priority. In practice, it is impossible to determine the natural course of any low risk tumour, he says, "because excision for definitive diagnosis alters its natural course, precluding knowledge of how the tumour would have behaved if left untreated." This uncertainty could also lead to underestimation of the frequency of overdiagnosis as some "cured cancers" would not have progressed even if untreated, he adds. Varma believes that, rather than focusing on semantics, the key is to educate everyone from the healthy public to health professionals about the meaning of a diagnosis of cancer. New terminology often leads to confusion, so an alternative approach would be to recalibrate thresholds for the diagnosis of cancer, so that some very low risk cancers are categorised as benign, he suggests. "If the public were educated that benign signifies very low risk rather than no risk at all, then anxiety inducing labels could be avoided," he concludes. In a linked patient commentary, Birte Twisselmann, an editor at The BMJ, describes the "considerable worry" of having two suspicious lesions dealt with in less than a year. Despite their low risk, she says the "confusing terminology for cancers and precancerous lesions made me anxious." Even the discharge letter "was another trigger for anxiety," she adds. The phrasing is not a label like cancer, but "it felt as if it had a hidden meaning not intended for the patient to understand." A middle-aged man is in the corridors of justice for allegedly providing police with false information about a planned terror attack in Nairobi. 29-year-old Kelvin Kitili Julius alias Omar Ali Ibrahim, was Wednesday charged in a Nairobi court for allegedly offering the false confession claiming he was a member al-Shabaab terror group. The Milimani court heard that Mr Kitili placed police on high alert on January 1 by claiming to have special information on possible attacks in the Capital City Nairobi. According to the State Prosecutor, the accused told police officers at Lehley police roadblock in Wajir on January 1 that he and other terrorists were planning to attack vital installations in Nairobi. The accused was charged with providing false information to a public officer which is classified as a misdemeanor under Section 129 of the Penal Code and offenders are liable to imprisonment for three years. Mr Kitili was also charged for claiming that he had travelled to Somalia. The suspect pleaded guilty to charges of lying to police. In his defence, Kitili told the court that he made the confession while under the influence of bhang. Police asked for more time to interrogate him before his sentencing. A 2018 Supreme Court case was framed as a debate over abortion rights, but a new analysis led by NYU College of Global Public Health published in the American Journal of Public Health finds that the Court was silent on one of the case's key issues: deceptive speech. In June 2018, the U.S. Supreme Court struck down a California law requiring clinics to provide information to pregnant women in National Institute of Family & Life Advocates (NIFLA) v. Becerra. Specifically, the law required that clinics serving pregnant women provide one of two government notices: one for licensed clinics about the availability of state health services including abortion, and one for unlicensed clinics notifying potential clients that the clinics are not licensed medical facilities and have no licensed medical professionals on site. In its decision, the Supreme Court found that both notice requirements violated the clinics' First Amendment rights. Although the law itself did not refer to the clinics at issue as crisis pregnancy centers that oppose abortion, the Court found that these clinics were targeted which in and of itself provides important lessons for policymakers. "In addition to the Court's conclusions about states' ability to regulate speech about reproductive health, the decision has broader implications for the government's ability to require factual disclosures in the commercial context," said Jennifer L. Pomeranz, assistant professor of public health policy and management at NYU College of Global Public Health and the study's author. "Becerra may be viewed as an abortion case, but I see it as a factual disclosure requirement case, akin to those concerning tobacco warning labels or nutrition labels," added Pomeranz. "The Court has always considered warning labels like those on tobacco products in the same First Amendment class as disclosure requirements. This case appears to show the Court chipping away at the government's ability to require purely factual disclosures in the commercial context." Commercial disclosure requirements are routine consumer protection and public health tools intended to prevent deception or alert consumers to potential health and safety harms. Courts routinely uphold such disclosure requirementsfor example, calorie disclosures on restaurant menusas consistent with the First Amendment under the Supreme Court's 1985 case, Zauderer v. Office of the Disciplinary Counsel. However, over the last two decades the Supreme Court has granted increased protection to businesses and decreased deference to government regulation of speechfor instance, striking down attempts to limit tobacco advertisements near schools or protect children from purchasing violent video games. In Becerra, the Court found that Zauderer did not apply to the notice requirements because the notices were not limited to "purely factual and uncontroversial information about the terms under which services will be available." Controversy aside, the Court was silent on an issue that was central to California's reasoning for the unlicensed clinic notices: deceptive commercial speech. In fact, Pomeranz noted that the Court's lead opinion appeared to strategically avoid mentioning deceptive speech, even when directly relevant. "Much of the business writings on the First Amendment argue that government cannot require disclosures unless its goal is to prevent deception. California's disclosure that a clinic does not have licensed medical providers should have been upheld according to this standard," said Pomeranz. Pomeranz wrote that the Supreme Court's opinion creates new uncertainties about the government's ability to require the disclosure of factual information in the context of reproductive health services and more broadly in the commercial context. However, the Court's silence on deceptive speech highlights a potential avenue for future regulation. "Addressing deceptive speech about products and services is an area ripe for government regulation in furthering the public's health and safety," said Pomeranz. "It may be the most effective strategy for enacting disclosure requirements that can withstand constitutional challenges." Explore further US top court to hear abortion rights info case Almost two thirds of children living with HIV in Malawi were not informed about their HIV status by their primary caregivers, new research led by Curtin University found. The research, published in the journal PLOS ONE, found that the child's lack of ability to cope with the news, a lack of knowledge on how to disclose the condition, and a fear of stigma and discrimination were the main reasons for non-disclosure by the primary caregiver. Lead author Dr. Fatch Kalembo, who completed the research as part of his Ph.D. from the School of Nursing, Midwifery and Paramedicine at Curtin University, said the prevalence of non-disclosure in Malawi was high and it was clear that primary caregivers struggled with the task. "By conducting a cross-sectional study of 429 primary caregivers of children living with HIV in Malawi and assessing certain socio-demographic, clinical and psychosocial factors, we found that 64 per cent of children living with HIV were not aware of their condition," Dr. Kalembo said. "We found that 29 per cent of primary caregivers had concerns about the child's ability to cope with the news, 19 per cent felt there was a lack of knowledge on how to disclose HIV status, and 17 per cent had fears of stigma and discrimination from the community. "Our research also showed that non-disclosure of HIV status was more common among young children aged six to eight years old, who were underweight, and in HIV clinical stage one, meaning they were not showing any symptoms. We were also able to determine that primary caregivers who were farmers, or who were living with two or fewer children older than 12, were more likely to not disclose the condition to their children." Co-author Dr. Garth Kendall, also from Curtin's School of Nursing, Midwifery and Paramedicine, said the research findings highlighted a prevalent issue in sub-Saharan African countries like Malawi. "The results indicate that providing age appropriate disclosure is a complex process for primary caregivers. There is a need for interventions to be developed to support both primary caregivers and healthcare workers in the disclosure process," Dr. Kendall said. "Further research is needed to better understand the disclosure process and identify the resources needed to help primary caregivers effectively disclose the information to their children." Explore further Study explores how to tell children they have HIV More information: Fatch Welcome Kalembo et al. Socio-demographic, clinical, and psychosocial factors associated with primary caregivers' decisions regarding HIV disclosure to their child aged between 6 and 12 years living with HIV in Malawi, PLOS ONE (2019). Journal information: PLoS ONE Fatch Welcome Kalembo et al. Socio-demographic, clinical, and psychosocial factors associated with primary caregivers' decisions regarding HIV disclosure to their child aged between 6 and 12 years living with HIV in Malawi,(2019). DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0210781 Credit: CC0 Public Domain Insurance company Aetna announced it is teaming up with the Los Angeles-based startup Heal to offer doctor house calls to the Atlanta metropolitan area. Aetna's commercial members, according to the announcement, will be able to get house calls from Heal's doctors. Heal uses board-certified family practice doctors, internists and pediatricians. "Aetnatogether with CVShas a very strong commitment and interest to meeting patients where they are, making services and health care more accessible and simple," Frank Ulibarri, Aetna market president for Georgia, Louisiana, Alabama, and Mississippi, told Home Health Care News. According to Heal's website, the service is available in Clayton, Cobb, DeKalb, Forsyth, Fulton and Gwinnett counties. To check your address specifically, they recommend downloading the app (Android, iOS) and entering your address. There is also a list of cities on their Atlanta info page. Service is available from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. every day of the year. Atlanta residents not covered by Aetna can book a house call from Heal for $150. About Heal Heal is a startup. According to Home Health Care News, it announced in May that the company had raised $20 million in funding, making $71 million raised since 2014. The value of their company, CEO Nick Desai said, is in removing all friction involved in getting good medical care. They posit that their app and ability to send doctors' to people's homes will help patients get better care. "We've removed the friction and barriers that go into people making sub-optimal choices for when they seek health carelike running to the emergency room or just ignoring the issue," Desai said. 2019 The Atlanta Journal-Constitution (Atlanta, Ga.) Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC. Credit: Louisiana State University Dr. Paul Harch, Clinical Professor and Director of Hyperbaric Medicine at LSU Health New Orleans School of Medicine, and Dr. Edward Fogarty, Chairman of Radiology at the University of North Dakota School of Medicine, report the first PET scan-documented case of improvement in brain metabolism in Alzheimer's disease in a patient treated with hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT). The report, published in the current issue of the peer-reviewed journal Medical Gas Research. The authors report the case of a 58-year-old female who had experienced five years of cognitive decline, which began accelerating rapidly. Single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) suggested Alzheimer's disease. The diagnosis was confirmed by 18Fluorodeoxyglucose (18FDG) positron emission tomography (PET) brain imaging, which revealed global and typical metabolic deficits in Alzheimer's. The patient underwent a total of 40 HBOT treatmentsfive days a week over 66 days. Each treatment consisted of 1.15 atmosphere absolute/50 minutes total treatment time. After 21 treatments, the patient reported increased energy and level of activity, better mood and ability to perform daily living activities as well as work crossword puzzles. After 40 treatments, she reported increased memory and concentration, sleep, conversation, appetite, abilityto use the computer, more good days (5/7) than bad days, resolved anxiety, and decreased disorientation and frustration. Tremor, deep knee bend, tandem gain, and motor speed were alsoimproved. Repeat 18FDG PET imaging one month post-HBOT showed global 6.5-38% improvement in brain metabolism. "We demonstrated the largest improvement in brain metabolism of any therapy for Alzheimer's disease," notes Dr. Harch. "HBOT in this patient may be the first treatment not only to halt, but temporarily reverse disease progression in Alzheimer's disease." The report also contains video imaging, including unique rotating PET 3-D Surface Reconstructions, which allow the lay person to easily see the improvements in brain function. "PET imaging is used around the world as a biomarker in oncology and cardiology to assay responses to therapy," says Dr. Fogarty. "We now have an irrefutable biomarker system that this intervention has promise where no other real hope for recovery of dementia has ever existed before." The physicians report that two months post-HBOT, the patient felt a recurrence in her symptoms. She was retreated over the next 20 months with 56 HBOTs (total 96) at the samedose, supplemental oxygen, and medications with stability of her symptoms and Folstein Mini-Mental Status exam. According to the National Institutes of Health, "Alzheimer's disease is an irreversible, progressive brain disorder that slowly destroys memory and thinking skills and, eventually, the ability to carry out the simplest tasks. It is the most common cause of dementia in older adults. Alzheimer's disease is currently ranked as the sixth leading cause of death in the United States, but recent estimates indicate that the disorder may rank third, just behind heart disease and cancer, as a cause of death for older people." The authors note that four pathological processes have been identified and primary treatment is with acetylcholinesterase inhibitors or the N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor antagonist memantine, which have been shown to have a positive impact on Alzheimer's disease progression with no significant disease-modifying effects. HBOT is an epigenetic modulation of gene expression and suppression to treat wounds and disease pathophysiology, particularly inflammation. HBOT targets all four of the pathological processes of AD by affecting the microcirculation; mitochondrial dysfunction, andbiogenesis; reducing amyloid burden and tau phosphorylation; controlling oxidative stress; and reducing inflammation. The first successful HBOT-treated case of Alzheimer's disease was published in 2001. The present case report is the first patient in a series of 11 HBOT-treated patients with Alzheimer's disease whose symptomatic improvement is documented with 18fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography (18FDG PET). "Our results suggest the possibility of treating Alzheimer's disease long-term with HBOT and pharmacotherapy," concludes Harch. Explore further Hyperbaric oxygen + standard Tx benefits sudden hearing loss More information: PaulG Harch et al, Hyperbaric oxygen therapy for Alzheimer's dementia with positron emission tomography imaging: A case report, Medical Gas Research (2018). PaulG Harch et al, Hyperbaric oxygen therapy for Alzheimer's dementia with positron emission tomography imaging: A case report,(2018). DOI: 10.4103/2045-9912.248271 Credit: CC0 Public Domain Scrolling through the GoFundMe website reveals a seemingly endless number of people who need help or community support. A common theme is the cost of health care. It didn't start out that way. In 2010, when the crowdfunding website began, it suggested fundraisers for "ideas and dreams," "wedding donations and honeymoon registry" or "special occasions." A spokeswoman said most of the collections from the first year were "related to charities and foundations." There was a category for medical needs, but it was farther down the list. In the nine years since, campaigns to pay for health care have reaped the most money. Of the $5 billion the company says it has raised, about a third has been for medical expenses in more than 250,000 medical campaigns annually. Take, for instance, the 25-year-old California woman who had a stroke and "needs financial support for rehabilitation, home nursing, medical equipment and uncovered medical expenses." Or the Tennessee couple who want a baby, but whose insurance doesn't cover the $20,000 for "medications, surgeries, scans, lab monitoring, and appointments" that will be needed to pay for in vitro fertilization. The prominence of the medical category is the symptom of a broken system, said CEO Rob Solomon. He said he never realized how hard it was for some people to pay their bills: "I needed to understand the gigantic gaps in the system. "We didn't build the platform to focus on medical expenses," Solomon said. But it turned out, he said, to be one of those "categories of need" with which many people struggle. Solomon talked to Kaiser Health News about his company's role in financing health care and what it says about the system when so many people rely on the kindness of strangers to get treatment. The conversation has been edited for length and clarity. Q: News outlets have reported that hospitals often advise patients to crowdfund their transplants. It's become almost institutionalized to use GoFundMe. How do you feel about that? A: It saddens me that this is a reality. Every single day on GoFundMe we see the huge challenges people face. Their stories are heartbreaking. Some progress has been made here and there with the Affordable Care Act, and it's under fire, but there's ever-widening gaps in coverage for treatment, for prescriptions, for everything related to health care costs. Even patients who have insurance and supposedly decent insurance ([come up short). We've become an indispensable institution, indispensable technology and indispensable platform for anyone who finds themselves needing help because there just isn't adequate coverage or assistance. I would love nothing more than for "medical" to not be a category on GoFundMe. The reality is, though, that access to health care is connected to the ability to pay for it. If you can't do that, people die. People suffer. We feel good that our platform is there when people need it. Q: Did anyone expect medical funding would become such a big part of GoFundMe? A: I don't think anyone anticipated it. What we realized early on is that medical need is a gigantic category. A lot of insurance doesn't cover clinical trials and research and things like that, where people need access to leading-edge potential treatments. We strive to fill these gaps until the institutions that are supposed to handle this handle it properly. There has to be a renaissance, a dramatic change in public policy, in how the government focuses on this and how the health care companies solve this. This is very interesting. In the places like the United Kingdom, Canada and other European countries that have some form of universal or government-sponsored health coverage, medical (costs) are still the largest category. So it's not just medical bills for treatment. There's travel and accommodations for families who have to support people when they fall ill. Q: What have you learned that you didn't know before? A: I guess what I realized (when I came) to this job is that I had no notion of how severe the problem is. You read about the debate about single-payer health care and all the issues, the partisan politics. What I really learned is the health care system in the United States is really broken. Way too many people fall through the cracks. The government is supposed to be there and sometimes they are. The health care companies are supposed to be there and sometimes they are. But for literally millions of people they're not. The only thing you can really do is rely on the kindness of friends and family and community. That's where GoFundMe comes in. I was not ready for that at all when I started at the company. When you live and breathe it every day and you see the need that exists, when you realize there are many people with rare diseases but they aren't diseases a drug company can make money from, they're just left with nothing. Q: But what does this say about the system? A: The system is terrible. It needs to be rethought and retooled. Politicians are failing us. Health care companies are failing us. Those are realities. I don't want to mince words here. We are facing a huge potential tragedy. We provide relief for a lot of people. But there are people who are not getting relief from us or from the institutions that are supposed to be there. We shouldn't be the solution to a complex set of systemic problems. They should be solved by the government working properly, and by health care companies working with their constituents. We firmly believe that access to comprehensive health care is a right and things have to be fixed at the local, state and federal levels of government to make this a reality. Q: Do you ever worry that medical fundraising on your site is taking away from other causes or other things that need to be funded? A: We have billions being raised on our platform on an annual basis. Everything from medical, memorial and emergency, to people funding Little League teams and community projects. Another thing that's happened in the last few years is we've really become the "take action button." Whenever there's a news cycle on something where people want to help, they create GoFundMe campaigns. This government shutdown, for example: We have over a thousand campaigns right now for people who have been affected by itthey're raising money for people to pay rent, mortgages, car payments while the government isn't. 2019 Kaiser Health News Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC. The murder rate in Mexico increased so dramatically between 2005 and 2015 that it partially offset expected gains in life expectancy among men there, according to a new study by a UCLA public health researcher. "It's common to see news reports about the toll that drug- and gang-related murders are taking in Mexico," said Hiram Beltran-Sanchez, co-author of the study and associate professor of community health sciences at the UCLA Fielding School of Public Health. "This study confirms that homicide is so widespread that even when considering all causes of death, it stands out as a factor in slowing growth in men's life expectancy." Using cause-of-death data from the Mexican Institute of Statistics, the researchers found that life expectancy for men at age 15 increased by more than a year from 57.08 years in 1995 to 58.25 years in 2005. But from 2005 to 2015, they found, life expectancy only increased by about a half a year, from 58.25 years to 58.80 years. According to the study, the slower growth in life expectancy for the more recent decade was mainly due to an increase in homicides and deaths from heart disease. The researchers found that the homicide rate for men in 2015 was 31.2 per 100,000 people, up from 20.4 per 100,000 in 2005an increase of 53 percent. The death rate from heart disease among men was 77.4 per 100,000 people in 2015, up from 68.6 per 100,000 in 2005an increase of 13 percent. (Those death rate statistics weren't reported in the paper but were part of an analysis conducted by the researchers based on data from the Mexican Population Council and National Institute of Statistics.) Meanwhile, average life expectancy for Mexican women at age 15 during each of the two decades increased by about a half year, from 62.75 to 63.33 from 1995 to 2005, and 63.33 to 63.90 from 2005 to 2015. The main causes for death for women during those years were traffic accidents and factors related to diabetes. Certain states in Mexico experienced especially staggering homicide rates, the paper noted. In 2010 and 2011, for example, 8,943 men aged 15 to 50 in Chihuahua, a state in northwestern Mexico, were murderedthree times the number of deaths among U.S. troops in in Iraq from 2003 and 2006, when 2,706 military members were killed. The study might actually underestimate the country's homicide rate because many murders may be unreported or are attributed to other causes of death, Beltran-Sanchez said. He added that with data about factors that led to the homicides, future research could explore how many of the homicides are directly related to drug or gang violence. (HealthDay)Height, body mass index (BMI), and physical activity are associated with longevity, with correlations differing by sex, according to research published online Jan. 21 in the Journal of Epidemiology & Community Health. Lloyd Brandts and Piet A. van den Brandt, Ph.D., from the Maastricht University Medical Centre in the Netherlands, conducted analyses using data from the Netherlands Cohort Study for 7,807 participants born in 1916 to 1917. Participants completed a questionnaire at age 68 to 70 years in 1986 and were followed up for vital status information until 2006 to 2007 (age 90 years); complete data were available for 5,479 participants. The researchers identified significant associations between reaching longevity and height (relative risk [RR], 1.05 per 5-cm increment), BMI at baseline (30 versus 18.5 to <25 kg/m: RR, 0.68), and BMI change since age 20 years (8 versus 0 to <4 kg/m: RR, 0.81) in women. Height and BMI were not associated with reaching longevity in men. There was an inverse U-shaped association for nonoccupational physical activity with reaching longevity in women, with the highest RR for around 60 minutes per day. There was a positive linear association between physical activity and reaching longevity in men. "Height, BMI at age 68 to 70 years, and BMI change since the age of 20 years were significantly associated with reaching longevity in women but not in men," the authors write. Copyright 2019 HealthDay. All rights reserved. Construction Sector in Georgia In 2014-2017, the construction sector has been the fastest growing sector (57%) of Georgias economy. On the one hand, fast growth of construction sector strengthens Georgias economy and creates additional employment opportunities, but, on the other hand, this process causes certain problems. Reasons for these problems are a high concentration of constructions (80%) only in Tbilisi and Batumi, weak regulations and bad practice of issuance of construction permits.In the first half of 2018, construction sector decreased by 0.3. Decreased number of permits issued for the increase of K2 coefficient caused this reduction. As a result, the share of the construction sector in Georgias economy has decreased from 9.3% (2017) to 8.6%.71 600 contracted employees work in GEL 1 461 is an average nominal monthly salary in the construction sector and this figure is only behind average salary in the finance sector. The fast growth of construction sector leads to higher salaries. Since 2010, an average nominal salary has doubled in this sector.The Georgian parliament approved the Code for Architecture and Construction in July 2018, which will come in full play in 2022. The Government of Georgia must adopt 14 decrees regarding the code. Local municipalities were given time until January 1, 2028 for architectural plans..According to the World Banks Doing Business Index, Georgia ranked #27 in the world in terms of construction regulations. The World Bank considers quality control of constructions the weakest sides of Georgia.At the end of 2017, Tbilisi City Halls zoning council was abolished and its functions were transferred to Urban Development Service of Tbilisi City Hall. As a result, a number of permits issued for the increase of K2 coefficient decreased. In the first half of 2018, only 53 permits were issued.In 2014-2016, compared with 2009-2013, permits for a possibility to raise K2 coefficient increases corruption risks, which is directly reflected in connections of the members of Tbilisi City Hall zoning council with the construction business and politicians increase of K2 coefficient has increased by 54%.According to the census conducted in 2014, Tbilisi was the most densely populated territory in Georgia with 2 199 persons living on one km2 on average. 79% of construction permits were issued for living purpose.There are many large, medium and small enterprises. There are 43 large, 281 medium and 6 620 small enterprises in this sector. Although 43% of employees work in small enterprises, salaries are two times higher in large enterprises construction sector. There are no signs of monopoly or oligopoly in the construction market.Real estate sales have a growth trend. In 2017, sales increased by 11%. The highest growth rate (34%) was in Adjara, mainly in Batumi.In 54% of ongoing constructions are located in these districts too. Tbilisi's 43% of real estate sales are concentrated in Saburtalo and Vake.During the last three years, real estate prices have been stable In Tbilisi. The prices in USD have increased only by 1.6% and by 7% - in GEL. In Tbilisi, the most expensive real estate (USD 1 124 per 1 m2) is in Mtatsminda district and the cheapest one is in Samgori (USD 547).Another interesting issue is In 2017, 63% of public procurement was spent on construction works. participation of large construction companies in public procurement and their links with politics, including donations made in favor of political parties.Companies connected with political donors often win public contracts through Before 2012, all large construction companies, except those that were linked with Bidzina Ivanishvili, have been donating to the UNM. Since 2012, after the change of government, construction companies have not donated anything to the UNM. However, some of them became donors of the GD - new ruling party. During 2011-2018, construction companies, which had a status of a large enterprise as of 1 November 2018, have donated up to GEL 2 million to various political parties. During the same period, these companies have received GEL 700 million from public tenders and GEL 90 million through simplified public procurement. simplified procurement process. This contains corruption risks. City Hall: 30m Hotel Not to Be Constructed in Vake Park By Gvantsa Gabekhadze Tbilisi City Hall claims they will not allow company Budapest build a 30-meter high hotel in Vake Park, Central Tbilisi.The company has the permission, issued during the previous mayor Davit Narmania in 2013.However, the City Hall says the construction will not be allowed in one of the main parks of the capital.Deputy Mayor Irakli Khmaladze says that the construction permit, issued in 2013 has no validity period and the company has the right to start the construction, but he clarified that an agreement has to be reached between the sides in order not to implement the planned construction.This is a very difficult situation. We are trying to prevent this from happening. We are categorically against building a 30-meter hotel in Vake Park. We will discuss all possible alternatives, but we have not reached an agreement yet, because the owner of the company does not agree to change the place or the parameters of the agreement, he said.Khmaladze explains that Vake Park is a unique place which needs to be protected from any such type of constructions.We will not let constructions there even if it costs us much. I hope we reach an agreement with the company, he added.On May 28, 2018, the Tbilisi Court of Appeals lifted the decision of the City Court to suspend the construction of the hotel in Vake Park.By the decree # 1592 on 24 July 2013, then Mayor of Tbilisi issued a special (zonal) agreement for the construction of the hotels which had increased construction parameters.The permission of the 30-meter hotel construction on 68, Chavchavadze Avenue in Vake Park was issued by the Architecture Service of the Mayors Office on September 20, 2018.The decision was made as a result of the protests from environmentalists. Chinas vice president took not-so-veiled shots at President Donald Trumps aggressive trade policies in a speech to global elites at a ski resort in the Swiss Alps. Vice President Wang Qishan said at the World Economic Forum that shifting blame for ones own problems onto others will not resolve the problems. The United States and China, the worlds two biggest economies, have imposed heavy taxes on each others imports in a dispute over Beijings aggressive push to challenge American technological dominance. Wang noted that expanded trade and technological innovations leave many behind. In response, he said in a clear reference to Trumps America, many countries are increasing looking inward [] barriers to international trade and investment are increasing; and unilateralism, protection and populism are spreading. He added: What we need to do is make the pie bigger while looking for ways to share it in a more equitable way. The last thing we should do is to stop making the pie and just engage in a futile debate on how to divide it. This years Macau Famine is hoping to raise a total of HKD1.1 million to be used in support of children and families in South Sudan and Syria. Amelia Che, manager of World Vision of Macau Association, told the Times at the launching ceremony that today, about 490 million people in the world are both hungry and affected by conflicts. The conflicts in South Sudan and Syria have caused refugee children and families to suffer. On the sidelines of Tuesdays ceremony of the Macau Famine 2019, Che stated the goal of this years event. Actually, each year, our goal is to raise HKD1.1 million, which can be used to help refugees who have different needs, Che said, adding that last year, we met our goal. All the money was used for helping the refugees, while other costs [involved in the donation procedures] were supported by the sponsors. This year, proceeds from Macau Famine will be used to support the associations food, security, water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) and livelihood assistance projects for children and families affected by conflicts in South Sudan and Syria. Last year, the target of Macau Famine also included Myanmar. Che explained to the Times that this year, we [will] only focus on South Sudan and Syria because their situations are the most serious. This year, Macau Famine consists of six separate events: Red Packet, Drawing Competition, Flag Day, School Famine, Charity Sale, and Skip-A-Meal. Targets of the Red Packet activity are students in primary, secondary, and tertiary education levels, as well as churches in Macau. The collection period happens between February 15 and 26. It is hoped that the activity will encourage Macau students to care for others by donating and sharing their red packets with the needy. In the Drawing Competition, participants (primary schools students in Macau) should draw a picture themed Hunger Violence in Disguise as an act to support Aluel and many other starving children. By volunteering for the Flag Day, participants (the general public) will walk through the streets of Macau raising funds for hungry children and for the alleviation of global hunger. Students and teachers in kindergartens, primary schools, secondary schools and universities can join the School Famine. Through Famine talks and workshops, students are encouraged to discuss and learn about hunger issues. By taking part in the Rich and Poors Banquet, students eat different meals to experience the gap between the rich and the poor. The Charity sale details will be announced at a later date. Corporations, organizations and churches can join Skip-A-Meal by donating MOP100 (or more) to support the projects. A documentary presenting the personal testimonies of the Macanese diaspora in North America will be presented to the Macau public today at the University of Macau (UM). The project stems from the work of journalist and researcher Joaquim Magalhaes de Castro, who traveled to several North American cities in late 2016 to collect the histories, experiences and testimonies of the Macanese who emigrated there. As a result of this work, the International Institute of Macau began to prepare a series of videos about the Macanese diaspora in North America, including the experiences of those who lived during the troubled times of the invasion of northern China by the Japanese, the withdrawal of Macanese families from Shanghai, the subsequent Pacific War, and the occupation of Hong Kong. The aim of this initiative is to preserve the memories of the Macanese communities spread throughout the world, according to the International Institute of Macau. It also serves to inform younger generations of the social changes that contributed to the great migratory flow of the Macanese to other parts of the world, and the reasons for their displacement. The documentary, titled Macaenses an Odyssey (part one), was produced based on a script by Mariana Leitao Pereira, and completed by Antonio Pinto Marques, with original music by well-known composer-musician Armando Santos, performed by Isabela Manhao Seto. The documentary showing will be held at the UMs Faculty of Business Administration today at 2:30 p.m. Admission is free and open to the public. Hospital readmissions of patients within six months of suffering a firearm injury cost taxpayers, private insurers and uninsured families an average of $86 million a year from 2010 through 2015, according to new estimates from Stanford University School of Medicine researchers. During that six-year period, the annual cost of hospitalizations for gun injuries averaged $911 million, with the government shouldering 45 percent of the bill through Medicaid and, to a lesser extent, Medicare and other public insurance programs, the researchers found. With most gunshot-wound patients surviving their initial hospital stay, the analysis, which was published online Jan. 23 in PLOS ONE, sheds new light on the chronic nature of firearm injuries and the resulting medical costs. However, the estimates offer only a piece of a larger puzzle, as the numbers do not include the costs of non-inpatient services, such as medications, rehabilitation, long-term care or home health care, said Sarabeth Spitzer, a fourth-year medical student at Stanford who is the studys lead author. So often gun injuries are talked about in terms of mortality, as one-time events for medical care, Spitzer said. What tends to be forgotten are the long-term effects these injuries have on the people who survive and the monetary costs to the health care system. Thomas Weiser, MD, associate professor of surgery, is the studys senior author. Risk of readmission for firearm injuries Examining six years of data from the Healthcare Cost and Utilization Projects Nationwide Readmissions Database, Spitzer and her colleagues found that 93 percent of the patients initially admitted to the hospital with firearm injuries survived. Of those 155,574 patients, the study showed that 15.6 percent were readmitted one or more times within six months, amounting to more than 33,000 hospital readmissions during the study period. More than half occurred within 30 days of the original discharge. We end up as a society paying a huge amount for these injuries. Risk of readmission was highest for patients who were older, suffered more severe injuries, stayed in the hospital longer during their initial admission or required surgery. Patients covered by Medicare had the highest risk of readmission, followed by patients covered by Medicaid. Self-paying patients were the least likely to be rehospitalized for ZIP codes where the population has incomes lower than average, according to the study. We do not necessarily think their injuries are less severe, Spitzer said. It could be that they dont seek care in circumstances where other patients, who are covered by insurance, would take advantage of that health insurance. Costs of hospitalization, readmission Overall, government insurance paid the most for hospitalizations related to firearm injuries during the six-year period, according to the study. Of a total $5.47 billion in costs, Medicaid contributed $2.1 billion and Medicare provided $389 million. Private insurance and self-paying patients each accounted for about $1.1 billion, while the remainder was covered by other payers. On average, the total cost of inpatient hospital care for a patient with a firearm injury was $32,700, the study found, and readmission accounted for 9.5 percent of that bill. Spitzer said she hopes the numbers help fill in a larger picture of the effects of gun violence. She is founder and co-director of the nonprofit Scrubs Addressing the Firearm Epidemic, or SAFE, which promotes research, education and evidence-based policy as a means to reduce firearm injuries. We end up as a society paying a huge amount for these injuries, Spitzer said. These numbers draw attention to the fact there are consequences we all face when people are injured by guns. Other Stanford co-authors of the study are David Spain, MD, professor of surgery; surgery resident Charlotte Rajasingh, MD; research scientist Lakshika Tennakoon; and medical student Daniel Vail. The Stanford Medical Scholars Research Program and the Department of Surgery supported the work. Macau will always have a role to play in Portugals relationship with China, as the relationship began with Macau and has become stronger through it, the new Portuguese consul-general told the Plataforma newspaper. Paulo Cunha Alves also said that China itself will have an advantage in listening to what the Macau government has to say about how to develop the relationship with Portugal and added, Macau will always have a contribution because there will be entrepreneurs, managers, lawyers involved in the business processes on both sides. The diplomat, when asked how Portugal could benefit from its inclusion in Chinas Belt & Road initiative, said that the virtue of the initiative is to be able to develop the existing privileged relationship between the two countries, deepening it in terms of economic relations and human contacts. When we talk about economic investments we have to mention the movement of communities from one country to another, and about tourism, because there will certainly be an increase, and it is these flows and human contacts that will help strengthen the bilateral relationship, and Portugal has to take advantage in various fields economic, commercial, business and tourism and language, he said. Alves also said he viewed the Greater Bay Area project as an opportunity to assert the Portuguese community and culture and stressed that the Portuguese language could be the business lifeblood of Macau. The beginning of construction of this project could lead the Portuguese community to extend the scope of its intervention and leave Macau to contribute in other cities in the region, where, although there is no significant Portuguese community, economic interests are beginning to emerge. The consul-general recalled the opening of a Portuguese consulate in Guangzhou in 2018, which will serve to develop further exchange with Macau in terms of companies, law firms and other interests. He also noted the issue of language, given the interest shown in China, as demonstrated by the number of universities with Portuguese language courses, adding that cities around Macau in Guangdong province will be interested in deepening the relationship and in hiring staff that speak the language so they can do business with the Portuguese-speaking world. Alves told the Platforma newspaper that the Portuguese expatriate community in both Macau and Hong Kong, covered by the consulate, ranges from 6,000 to 7,000 people, and the number of Portuguese passport holders in the two special administrative regions is between 165,000 and 170,000. MDT/Macauhub The Chinese model in widely derided advertisements for Italian fashion line Dolce & Gabbana has apologized for her appearance in the campaign. Zuo Ye said on her Weibo microblog that as a recent college graduate, she hadnt had time to consider the effect of the ads, in which she was filmed trying to eat pizza, spaghetti and a giant version of a cannoli pastry using chopsticks. I will grow from this experience and will better display the character of a Chinese citizen, Zuo wrote in the posting dated Monday. Following the criticism of the ads, the Milan designers canceled a Shanghai runway show last year meant as a tribute to China, as their guest list of Asian celebrities joined protests. Many Chinese social media users called the advertisements racist and based on outdated stereotypes. As retailers began pulling their wares, co-founders Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana went on camera to apologize. The pair appeared in a nearly 1 minute video posted on Weibo, saying they hoped to be forgiven and will do their best to better understand and respect Chinese culture. The advertisement controversy was aggravated by insulting remarks made on the Instagram accounts of both the company and Gabbana against China and Chinese people. The company blamed hackers for the Instagram comments. AP The second phase of renovations to the social service building on R. da Praia do Manduco is expected to be finished in the second quarter of 2020. In its reply to lawmaker Ella Leis inquiry, the Land, Public Works and Transport Bureau revealed that the penalty procedure regarding the delay of the first phase of the project is still undergoing the judicial procedure. The second phase started construction at the end of 2017, with a construction period of 630 work days. So far, the project is being carried out according to the plan. CEM to install 50 charging stations Companhia de Electricidade de Macau (CEM) expects that an additional 50 electric vehicle quick charging stations will become available this year, according to Chinese reports. Charles Leong, a senior technician of CEM Customers Services Department said that currently the company is operating 172 public electric vehicle charging stations. Before the end of January, CEM will install two charging stations in Taipa. According to Leong, for the past two years, CEM assisted approximately ten vehicle owners in installing charging stations in private buildings. The CEM staff said that the company will continue to search for suitable locations to install charging stations. The European Commission is pushing the Irish government to lay out its plans for the border in the event of a no-deal Brexit, a person familiar with the matter said. Ireland has proved elusive when the Commission has attempted to pin down the government on its plan, according to the person, who spoke on condition of anonymity. A Commission spokesman told reporters in Brussels yesterday [Macau time] that a no-deal exit would mean a return of a hard border. If the U.K. tumbles out of the bloc in March without a deal, then the question that has dogged Brexit talks how to avoid a hard border on the island of Ireland becomes an acute crisis. The Commission intervention could focus minds in Dublin on the potential consequences of sticking by the backstop, a policy which could catapult the U.K. out of the bloc without a deal. Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar said last year his government would never build a border, though appears to have stepped back from that stance after it became clear that could mean a de facto frontier emerged between Ireland and the rest of the bloc. This possibility was raised in a government briefing with opposition leaders on Tuesday, broadcaster RTE said. The EU has made clear that Ireland would be expected to police the border with the U.K. as it would become the blocs external frontier. Yesterday, in an interview with RTE, Irish Agriculture Minister Michael Creed repeatedly ruled out the return of hard border infrastructure in all circumstances. That raises the prospect of a light-touch system of checking goods, while maintaining a common travel area with the U.K. would mean people can continue to move freely across the border. Varadkar who has staked his political career on getting Brexit right said yesterday that no-deal would present a real dilemma. Varadkar already faces another dilemma: Back down on Irelands demands to make sure the Brexit deal gets approved by the U.K. Parliament, or risk the possibility of a no-deal scenario that would be almost as damaging to Ireland as it would be to the U.K. Insiders say that at one point, Varadkar had simply considered the option of refusing to police the border. Thats now been dropped. Last week, Coveney offered a clue to a potential strategy. The government would have difficult talks with the EU and U.K. about the border and the single market in a no-deal scenario, he said. That may involve Ireland arguing that the EU has clearly recognized in the Brexit process the importance of avoiding a return of a hard border, and using that as a guiding principle. In response to questions, a Commission spokesperson said as with all member states, especially after the vote, we are intensifying our no deal preparedness work. Emma Ross-Thomas, Bloomberg I work at a company with about 5,000 employees, and every day brings new faces during my in-office travels, often comparable to what it feels like on a larger college campus. Among the many thousand employees, I have been crushing on a guy not in my immediate department, but on my floor. Close enough to walk by him in a meeting, close enough to share the same coffee machine, and close enough to see into his cube. Fast forwarding through the initial creeping on the employee directory to figure out his name, I told a co-worker in my own department about the crush. She, being more aggressive than I was at the annual Christmas Party, introduced me to him as if she knew him already, and to my luck, he was there alone. Yay, I got to shake his hand! Yay, I got to tell him my name! But since then, I haven't gotten the chance for any further interaction. Unsure if he even remembers who I am from that night or cares to. I can only slightly glance over every time he walks by my aisle to see if he looks like way. The risk of making a move and it not going well is frightening, as if thats the case, I will have to face/avoid him everyday in embarrassment. I need to know the proper approach, as this is an office pursuit (while 100 percent allowed and acceptable in my company) and can come with certain risks and rewards. What is the best approach and is there anything else I should be considering? Blushing in Boston Chinese phone maker Vivo has a habit of pushing the boundaries of what we expect from a smartphone. The company was one of the first to adopt high-resolution displays, large amounts of RAM, ultra-thin bodies, in-display fingerprint sensors, and pop-out cameras. Now the company has unveiled one of the first phones with no visible buttons or ports along with a Snapdragon 855 processor, up to 12GB of RAM, up to 512GB of storage, and a 5G modem. The Vivo Apex 2019 is technically a concept device, but given the companys track record theres a good chance that some or all of its features will be included in upcoming Vivo smartphones. Like the Meizu Zero smartphone unveiled yesterday, the Vivo Apex 2019 has a seamless all-glass body with no ports or buttons on the top, bottom, left, or right sides. But while Meizus phone uses wireless charging, the Vivo Apex 2019 does not it comes with a magnetic charger that attaches to the back of the smartphone and lets you transfer data as well as power. Like the Meizu phone, the Vivo Apex 2019 has slim bezels and no visible buttons. Instead you use the touch-sensitive sides to turn the phone on and off. And neither phone has a traditional speaker/earpiece on the front. Instead the phones transmits sound to your ear by vibrating the screen. One thing that sets the Vivo Apex 2019 apart from the Meizu Zero (and every other phone released to date) is the fingerprint sensor. The phone doesnt just have an in-display fingerprint reader the whole display acts as a fingerprint sensor, which means you dont have to worry about putting your finger on a precise point. The phone doesnt appear to have any sort of front-facing camera which would be more of a problem if this werent a concept device. I suspect well see Vivo include some sort of selfie solution if and when the company releases an Apex 2019-like phone. Maybe itll have a pop-up camera or maybe itll have a second screen on the back of the phone allowing you to frame shots that you snap with the rear cameras. Heres a video from ifanr showing a working Vivo Apex 2019 concept phone in action. While the video is in Chinese, it gives a decent overview of the phones features in case youre wondering how the capacitive touch buttons, in-display fingerprint sensor, or magnetic charging adapter work. via GSM Arena, The Verge, and iThome Share this article: Share this: Facebook Twitter Reddit Pocket Tumblr Pinterest LinkedIn Email Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro has broken diplomatic relations with the United States. He has given American diplomats 72 hours to leave the country. The action came following a statement released by U.S. President Donald Trump, in which he recognized Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido as Venezuelas interim president. Maduro told a crowd of supporters at the presidential palace Wednesday: Before the people and nations of the world, and as constitutional president.....Ive decided to break diplomatic and political relations with the imperialist U.S. government. Opposition leader claims presidency Guaido declared himself interim president Wednesday before tens of thousands of cheering anti-government demonstrators in Caracas. Today, January 23, 2019, I swear to formally assume the powers of the national executive as president in charge of Venezuela, Guaido told the crowd. Guaido is the leader of the opposition-controlled Venezuelan National Assembly. He said under Venezuelas constitution, he would assume power until new elections are called. Guaido declared himself president just two weeks after Maduro began his second six-year term. Many Venezuelans believed the election should not be recognized because Maduro banned his opponents from running against him. The United States immediately recognized Guaido as interim president and said it would push for the restoration of democracy. In a statement, Trump said, The people of Venezuela have courageously spoken out against Maduro and his regime and demanded freedom and the rule of law. Trump ruled out military actions against the Maduro government but added, All options are on the table. Throughout the day thousands of Venezuelan protesters filled the streets of Caracas to demand President Maduro leave office. The country is suffering from a severe economic crisis. Large crowds waved flags and called Get out Maduro in the countrys largest demonstration since 2017. Venezuela is reborn on the streets today, searching for freedom and democracy, Guaido said on Twitter. Pro-government demonstrators dressed in red in support of Maduro were also marching in the capital. They shouted traitors at anti-government protestors when the two sides faced each other on the street. The demonstration comes after a week that saw a small military revolt, fires set during protests in poor neighborhoods and the brief arrest of Guaido. He was pulled from a car just over a week ago by intelligence agents, but was quickly released after international criticism. Protest seen as test for opposition The protest is seen as a test of Guaidos ability to unite Venezuelas opposition parties. He and his followers have appealed to the military and the poor to move their loyalties away from President Maduros socialist government. The protest takes place on a historic date for Venezuelans the anniversary of the 1958 coup that removed military dictator Marcos Perez Jimenez. In the days leading to Wednesdays protest, the 35-year-old opposition leader traveled around Caracas to attend outdoor meetings. He told the crowds that Maduro must go if democracy will return to Venezuela. Speaking on Monday from the top of a college building, Guaido cried: We are tired of this disaster. We know this isnt a fight of a single day but one that requires lots of resistance. A crowd of students answered with shouts of Freedom! and Get out, Maduro! Maduro does not come from the military like former president Hugo Chavez. But he has tried to control the military by placing generals in important jobs, such as the head of the countrys oil company. Maduro has also appeared in uniform at a military meeting with Gen. Vladimir Padrino Lopez, the defense minister. Guaido has been sending his message to Venezuelas military, which holds a lot of power in Venezuelan politics. On Monday, a small military revolt took place, but the government quickly ended it. Venezuelans showed their support for the revolt by protesting in the streets until the police pushed them back. Retired Maj. Gen. Cliver Alcala is a former aide to Chavez and now in exile. He said the opposition has found sympathy with the militarys lower ranks that are suffering from the same financial problems as regular Venezuelans. Asked about his former troops, Alcala said, hunger is the only thing that can devour fear of the government. Im Susan Shand. The Associated Press reported this story. Susan Shand adapted it for Learning English. Hai Do was the editor. _______________________________________________________________ Words in This Story interim - adj. used or accepted for a limited time imperialist - n. one who believes in a policy or practice by which a country increases its power by gaining control over other areas of the world assume - v. to take over restoration - n. to put back to a previous state courageously - adv. without fear traitor n. one who betrays his country coup - n. to overthrow a government devour v. to completely take over regular n. normal or usual In 1947, locals first found the Dead Sea Scrolls in caves near the city of Jerusalem. The scrolls contain ancient religious writings, some more than 2,000 years old. Now, in the cliffs above the Dead Sea, archaeologists are digging higher and deeper into hundreds of unexplored caves. They are hoping to find more parchments and they are racing against antiquities robbers. The writings are on animal skin, known as parchment, and old paper, called papyrus. They describe Jewish society and religion before and after the time of Jesus. Oren Gutfeld, an archaeologist at Hebrew University in Jerusalem, said, In the last few years we noticed new pieces of scrolls and parchments arrive on the black market. It drove us to return to the caves. In 2017, his team discovered remains of storage jugs in an unexplored cave, known as 52B, at Qumran. But any scrolls they may have held were missing. At about 200 meters above the level of the Dead Sea, the cave is higher than where the scrolls were first found in 1947. It is not known whether the cave may have been a good hiding place. Toward the back of the cave, volunteers sift through buckets of dirt in a narrow tunnel that could extend about 10 meters. People thought there was nothing left to find...there just wasnt incentive to do this, said Randall Price. He is a professor at Liberty University, a Christian college in the United States that helped fund the exploration. Price said 52B did not appear on previous explorations and could bring some secrets. Lost treasures In the narrow streets of Jerusalems Old City, Eitan Klein checks on dealers to make sure their goods are in an official registry and are not being traded on the black market. He is the deputy director of the Israel Antiquities Authority. In late 2016, the authority recovered part of a piece of papyrus from the 7th century B.C. with the word Jerusalem. The papyrus had been taken from a cave by antiquities robbers. Klein said, The assumption is that there are still artifacts inside the caves waiting to be found. The question is, who will discover them? In 1952, archaeologists also found what became known as the Copper Scroll in Qumran. Unlike other scrolls written on parchment or papyrus, this was a list of 64 hiding places for gold and valuables, etched on copper. Hebrew Universitys Gutfeld said the treasure referred to what may be from the ancient Jewish temple in Jerusalem. In 2006, his team found two man-made tunnels near Qumran that he believes matched a description of the Valley of Shadow in the Copper Scroll. One of the tunnels, about two meters high, extended 125 meters underground. No treasure was found, but Gutfeld promised to continue searching in new spots. He said, Im not a treasure hunter. Im an archaeologist. We hope to find any hint or relationship to what we know from the text of the Copper Scroll. New discoveries could also help solve the debate over who wrote the Dead Sea Scrolls. I'm Jonathan Evans. Hai Do adapted this story for Learning English based on a report from Reuters. Kelly Jean Kelly was the editor. Write to us in the Comments Section or on our Facebook page. _____________________________________________________________ Words in This Story cliff - n. a high, steep surface of rock, earth, or ice sift - v. to separate or remove (something) by using a sifter or sieve incentive - n. something that encourages a person to do something or to work harder etch - v. to produce a pattern or design by using a powerful liquid to cut the surface of metal or glass antiquities - n. objects from ancient times registry - n. a place where official records are kept assumption - n. something that is believed to be true or probably true but that is not known to be true temple - n. a building for worship The human rights group Amnesty International has criticized several European countries for blocking migrant rescue ships from their ports. Amnesty International called the situation shameful. The group said Europes migrant policy was putting lives in danger at sea and also in the country of Libya. Most asylum seekers leaving Africa appear to be leaving from Libya. The rights group made its statement after a migrant rescue ship was permitted to unload people in Malta after spending 19 days at sea. Almost 50 migrants were on the ship. Several European ports had refused it entry. Matteo De Bellis of Amnesty International said the problem is the result of Europes decision to let Libya deal with border security. De Bellis said that non-governmental organizations, or NGOs, are operating the rescue ships. But they face hard choices. He said, The only thing that the Libyan coast guard can tell the NGOs is to go back to Libya and disembark people there. But it is forbidden by international law to disembark people in a place where they are going to be exposed to torture. Many European countries have ended their rescue efforts in the Mediterranean Sea. Now aid groups have stepped in. Many southern European countries say it is unfair that, under EU law, they must take in the refugees. De Bellis said, There is no mechanism enabling European government, European states, to share responsibility among them for the assistance of those asylum seekers. Spain recently blocked the Proactive Open Arms rescue ship from leaving port. Italys Interior Minister Matteo Salvini praised the action. Salvini said, If the European Union and the other European countries will follow up words with actions, Europe will be rescued. But if words will not be followed by actions, Europe doesnt exist. The EU has said the flow of migrants to European countries has fallen by 92 percent from its highest levels in 2015. Amnesty International said this means that concerns about migration causing problems in Europe are false. De Bellis said there are constituencies that believe Europe is under siege from migration. Several EU member states now have anti-immigration governments making it unlikely that the EU will agree on refugee limits any time soon. Im Caty Weaver. Henry Ridgwell reported this story for VOA News. Mario Ritter adapted it for VOA Learning English. Caty Weaver was the editor. We want to hear from you. Write to us in the Comments section, and visit our Facebook page. _____________________________________________________________ Words in This Story disembark v. to leave a ship or airplane forbidden adj. not permitted mechanism n. a process or system used to produce a particular result enable v. to make something possible constituency n. a group of people who live and vote in an area Pope Francis has joined a technology tool designed to permit people to connect spiritually. The pope spoke about the Click to Pray app during his weekly Sunday religious address at St. Peters Square in Vatican City. Pope Francis, who is 82, once said he considered himself a disaster with technology. But he demonstrated the app to the crowd gathered in St. Peters Square. After launching Click to Pray from a tablet, he asked the person assisting if he had done it correctly. His helper confirmed that he had. The app was first launched in 2016, but the pope announced that he was now adding his own personal prayer profile. "Internet and social networks are a resource of our time, he told followers gathered for his message. A way to stay in touch with others, to share values and projects, and to express the desire to form a community." Today, he added, the internet can also provide a way for people across the world to pray as a community, to pray together." The announcement came as the pope prepared to visit Panama for World Youth Day 2019. The international Catholic gathering is expected to draw more than 150,000 young people from around the world. The pope said he believes the app is a good way for young Catholics and others to share their prayers through the internet and electronic devices. "I above all invite you, young people, to download the app, he told the crowd. The app will inform users what the leader of the worlds 1.3 billion Roman Catholics is praying for so they can join him. "Here I will put in requests for prayers for the Church mission," the pope said. Users can also learn what other members of the social network are praying for and join them in prayer as well. The Click to Pray website also lists worldwide prayer campaigns users can join. It said that so far in January, more than 1.4 million prayers had been added to Click to Pray. During his address, Pope Francis spoke of one world event that could unite users of the app in prayer. Last weekend, 170 migrants were feared lost in the Mediterranean after leaving in small boats from Libya and Morocco. They were looking for a future for their lives and perhaps they were victims of human traffickers, Pope Francis said. Let us pray for them and for those who are responsible for what happened. The Click to Pray app is currently available in English, Spanish, Italian, French, Portuguese and German. Versions will be launched soon in Chinese and Vietnamese. The app is available for both Android and iOS devices. Im Bryan Lynn. Bryan Lynn wrote this story for VOA Learning English, based on reports from Reuters, Agence France-Presse and online sources. Kelly Jean Kelly was the editor. We want to hear from you. Write to us in the Comments section, and visit our Facebook page. ________________________________________________________________ Quiz - Pope Goes Digital by Joining Click to Pray App Start the Quiz to find out Start Quiz _______________________________________________________________ Words in This Story app n. program for a smartphone or other device that performs a special function profile n. information about a person's life, work, interests, etc. on a social networking website network n. website or computer program permitting people to communicate and share information through the internet using a computer or mobile phone The longest government shutdown in U.S. history is guaranteed to continue at least a bit longer. On Wednesday, Nancy Pelosi, the Democratic Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, wrote to President Donald Trump that she will not permit the Presidents State of the Union address in the House Chamber until government has opened. She added, Again, I look forward to welcoming you to the House on a mutually agreeable date for this address when government has been opened. The State of the Union was to take place January 29. The letter came just hours after Trump, a Republican, dismissed Pelosis earlier suggestion that the speech should be delayed or simply sent in as a written copy. The president called the speech his Constitutional duty. He added there were no security concerns for the event. Trump ended his letter by saying, It would be so very sad for our Country if the State of the Union were not delivered on time, on schedule, and very importantly, on location! The U.S. Constitution states that the president shall from time to time give to the Congress Information of the State of the Union. Americas first president, George Washington, established the tradition with his first yearly speech to Congress on January 8, 1790. Washington made the speech in person in the Senate Chamber of Federal Hall in New York City. The city was the temporary seat of government at the time. The second U.S. president, John Adams, also gave his yearly speeches in person. But Thomas Jefferson, the nations third president, chose to send his messages to Congress in writing. That began a tradition that lasted over one hundred years. In 1913, President Woodrow Wilson personally addressed a joint session of Congress. And the tradition would become known as the State of the Union under President Franklin D. Roosevelt. By tradition, the House and the Senate must pass a resolution for a joint session of Congress to hear the presidents State of the Union. With her letter, Pelosi officially ended any chance for Trump to deliver the speech next week in the House of Representatives. When asked for his reaction to Pelosis letter, Trump blamed the Democrats for the government shutdown. He added: This will go on for a while. Ultimately, the American people will have their way, because they want to see no crime. The partial U.S. government shutdown began on December 22, 2018. It started because Trump asked for $5.7 billion in the federal spending plan to build a wall on the nations southern border with Mexico. The president said he would not sign any spending bills without money for the wall. The Republican-controlled Senate is expected to consider two spending bills to reopen the government. One bill has the money for the wall and one does not. But both bills are not expected to receive the required 60 votes. The Democratic-controlled House has so far refused to give Trump the money. Pelosi stated firmly, Were not doing a wall and called the plan immoral. About 800,000 federal government workers have been forced to stay at home or continue working without pay. Trump is now considering other places where he could deliver the speech. Hai Do wrote this story for Learning English. Ashley Thompson was the editor. Write to us in the Comments Section or on our Facebook page. _____________________________________________________________ Words in This Story location - n. a place or position ultimately - adv. at the end of the process, period of time, etc. immoral - adj. evil or wrong The regional chief of the United Nations children's agency visited children affected by the war in the Yemeni city of Hodeida. He said authorities are making it difficult to deliver food and medicine. He warned that efforts to impede relief could cause massive starvation and disease. Wednesday, January 23, 2019 The Pennsylvania Supreme Court has reinstated an attorney who had been suspended for five years with all but one year stayed for conduct described by Penn Live in reporting on a criminal matter A Lycoming County lawyer has been placed on five years' probation and fined $10,000 after admitting he illegally placed a tracking device and an audio recorder in the vehicle of a woman who had jilted him. Michael J. Casale Jr., 65, of Williamsport, Thursday pleaded guilty to charges of criminal trespass and interception of communications. He was sentenced immediately by county Judge Nancy L. Butts who commented: "I try to make the punishment fit the crime." She stressed she did not treat Casale differently because he was a lawyer and noted the victim did not oppose probation. Although Casale could have received up to 14 years in prison, the judge pointed out the low end of the standard range of the sentencing guidelines allowed for probation. Butts ordered the fine be paid to the women's program at the local YWCA. She also directed him to perform 100 hours of community and have no contact with the victim. As a convicted felon, his law license is in jeopardy and he could lose his board of directors' seat with a bank, it was pointed out. Butts explained when she accepted the sentence recommended in the plea agreement that she took into consideration the contributions Casale has made to the community over the years. Until 2011 he had been in practice in a law firm his late father, also Michael, helped form. Since then he has been in-house counsel for a land developer. Casale, who is married, admitted he broke into the woman's South Williamsport garage and installed a GPS tracking device and audio recorder in her car. She found the device in March 2016. The charges stated the two had an on-and-off four-year relationship that she broke off in September 2015. An arrest affidavit stated he had confessed to South Williamsport police telling them he placed the devices in November or December 2015 so he could find out who she was seeing. The woman, in a statement read by Deputy Attorney General William Abraham, she said she trusted Casale and she has suffered emotionally. It was the victim who recommended a large fine go to a women's center, said Butts who characterized the crime as a type of domestic violence. During the proceeding, Casale turned to woman and apologized, saying: "I am so sorry for violating your privacy. I know sorry doesn't do it." He also apologized to his wife. Since being charged more than a year ago, Casale said he has undergone a forensic evaluation that revealed he has excessive compulsory tendencies for which he has undergone counseling and is on medication. He is now subject to a four-year period of probation. Bloomberg News reported on his suspension. (Mike Frisch) https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/legal_profession/2019/01/the-pennsylvania-supreme-court-has-reinstated-an-attorney-who-had-been-suspended-for-five-years-for-conduct-described-by-penn.html Thursday, January 24, 2019 The Delaware Supreme Court has transferred an attorney from disability status to disbarred status as a result of a Tennessee disbarment. This is a lawyer disciplinary proceeding. The Office of Disciplinary Counsel initiated proceedings seeking reciprocal discipline against the respondent, Sean K. Hornbeck. The ODC asserted that Hornbeck had been disbarred by the Supreme Court of Tennessee on February 16, 2018 for numerous violations of the Tennessee Rules of Professional Conduct. This Court previously transferred Hornbeck to disability inactive status in 2009... The Court has considered the matter carefully. We find the Boards recommendation of disbarment to be appropriate. We therefore accept the Boards findings and recommendations for discipline. Hornbeck shall be removed from disability inactive status and disbarred. The Tennessee sanction is linked here. In this attorney disciplinary appeal, upon petition by the Tennessee Board of Professional Responsibility, this Court ordered the temporary suspension of the attorney from the practice of law based on the threat of substantial harm he posed to the public. For a time, the attorney was placed on disability status; later he was reinstated to suspended status. Subsequently, after an evidentiary hearing, a hearing panel found multiple acts of professional misconduct, including knowing conversion of client funds with substantial injury to clients, submitting false testimony and falsified documents in court proceedings, engaging in the unauthorized practice of law, violating Supreme Court orders, and defrauding clients. The hearing panel determined that the attorney should be disbarred. From our coverage of the Tennessee sanction A hearing panel of lawyers heard the evidence against Mr. Hornbeck. Mr. Hornbeck claimed that his mental state was affected by family crises and an injury from being hit in the head with a metal pipe. The hearing panel rejected this explanation and held that Mr. Hornbeck should be disbarred. (Mike Frisch) https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/legal_profession/2019/01/the-delaware-supreme-court-has-transferred-an-attorney-from-disability-status-to-disbarred-status-as-a-result-of-a-tennessee.html Wednesday, January 23, 2019 A recent opinion of the Florida Judicial Ethics Advisory Committee Opinion Number: 2019-02 Date of Issue: January 14, 2019 ISSUES 1. May a sitting judge film a pilot for a law-related television show? ANSWER: Yes, as long as doing so does not cast reasonable doubt on the judges capacity to act impartially, demean the judicial office, or interfere with the proper performance of judicial duties. 2. May a sitting judge participate in the taping of a television pilot if the same is being filmed in another state, and accept compensation and travel reimbursement? ANSWER: Yes, keeping in mind annual ethics disclosure requirements of compensation and/or gifts received by sitting judges. 3. May a sitting judge participate as the television judge and remain on the bench if an offer is extended by the producers of the television show? ANSWER: No. FACTS The inquiring judge has been invited to audition for a television pilot. The proposed television show will feature a judge who presides over pro se civil cases. The litigants agree to have their small claims cases resolved by the television shows presiding judge. The pilot and series will be taped and produced outside of Florida. The pilot will only be viewed by television executives and not made public. Auditioning for the one pilot would not contractually bind the inquiring judge. An offer of compensation and reimbursement for travel expenses for filming the pilot was extended. If, after reviewing the pilot, the television executives extend an offer to the inquiring judge, this would open the door for further negotiations, including compensation arrangements with the producer of the show. The inquiring judge asks whether he/she can audition for the pilot, accept payment and travel reimbursement; and if offered the television judge role, whether he/she may also remain on the judicial bench. After a lengthy discussion On the questions related to the television pilot, the Committee finds that a one-time, private audition outside of Florida and receipt of related compensation and reimbursement for travel expenses would not be prohibited. The Committee recommends however, the following if the inquiring judge elects to film the pilot: 1) to carefully consider the eight questions above as events unfold with producer of the show; 2) at all times conduct herself/himself so as to not demean the judicial office or cast reasonable doubt on her/his capacity to act impartially; 3) schedule the pilot on a week-end or when it will not adversely impact or conflict with the judges docket or impose on other colleagues to avoid interference with the proper performance of judicial duties; and 4) to comply with annual ethics disclosure requirements of compensation and/or gifts received by sitting judges. Of course, pursuant to Canon 1, the inquiring judge must at all times maintain high standards of conduct so that the integrity of the judiciary is preserved. If the producer of the show extends an offer, the Florida Code of Judicial Conduct would prevent the inquiring judge from entering into the proposed arrangement for compensation, while also serving as a sitting judge. The proposed arrangement would lend judicial prestige to the commercial interests of the producer in violation of Canon 2B; the activity could involve improper public comment upon a pending or impending proceeding in violation of Canon 3B; and the activity would cast reasonable doubt on the judges capacity to act impartially as a judge, demean the judicial office, and interfere with the proper performance of judicial duties in violation of Canons 4 and 5. (Mike Frisch) https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/legal_profession/2019/01/a-recent-opinion-of-the-florida-judicial-ethics-advisory-committee-opinion-number-2019-02date-of-issue-january-14-2019-i.html Words of the Week Ordinary and Unschooled But I Have Been with Jesus Scripture Acts 3: 13 The disciples, Peter and John, were considered ordinary men, untrained and unschooled in the perspective of the Jewish authorities of the day. Unschooled, negatively, in that those who were educated looked down on them, turned their noses up at them and even bullied them. Theres somebody who knows what it feels like when somebody is looking down on you. Knows what it feels like to not belong, dont exist, are not credible, and dont matter because you do not measure up to their standards. It did no matter what you did, what you said or what you gave. You are treated as beneath them. ADVERTISEMENT Peter and John had not attended the best universities, nor, sat under the accepted great scholars of the day. Nor, were they part of the popular fraternity or stuck-up culture. They had not been trained as the Pharisees, Sadducees, priests and Jewish religious authorities of the day. They were not tolerated or accepted in the company of the elite. These men were fishermen, who eked out their living selling what they caught. And, in this inference of the Word, they were now teaching what they had been taught. Despite warnings, despite threats, despite being looked down upon or jailed and the result were they were clearly recognized as having been with Jesus! What an honor it is, that no matter what an offender thinks about you, feels about you, puts in your way or treats you as beneath them you are still recognized as having been with Jesus! You may be labeled as less than and worse than, but theres still some evidence that you have been with Jesus. But how could you tell that somebody had been with Jesus? What distinguished them? Was it in the way they walked or talked? Was it in the way they shouted or prayed? No, none of the above. Because there are some good actors out there, both inside and outside the walls of the church! Some can say, Praise the Lord, and Thank you, Jesus, with the best of them! Wolves can come in sheeps clothing! The distinguishing factors that caused the disciples to be recognized as having been with Jesus was displayed in their attitudes and behaviors. After having spent quality time with Jesus, you probably did not show signs of pouting or feeling sorry for yourselves when things no longer went your way! You were probably not as gossipy, mean or hateful as you were once before! ADVERTISEMENT After having spent quality time with Jesus, you probably stopped backbiting and bullying when things were happening out of your control! Being with Jesus influenced the disciples to look for solutions rather than name, blame and critique things going on in the church! They were influenced to stop stirring up mess and instead collaborate and pray together to end the mess! They had been influenced to handle negative comments. They saw Jesus take five fish and two loaves of bread and feed 5,000! They saw Him turn water into wine and raise a friend from the dead! They saw Jesus crucified, pronounced dead and buried in a cold, cold tomb, yet, met them in a closed-door Upper Room! They could say, Get thee behind me, Satan! Get off my back I have been with Jesus! Their thinking was changed and rearranged from old ways to new ways and the new way was believing they could do all things through Christ which strengthened them! Circumstances were rough; situations tough, but it did not make them despondent, but instead influenced them to pray in Acts 4: 29 Lord, hear their threats and give us the boldness to preach The Word! Dont remove us from this situation give us the boldness to handle the situation! Although the disciples had been warned and threatened of loss of life, they boldly preached Jesus because they had been with Him. Being with Jesus changed their attitudes and behaviors. Willingly you will give of your time, talent, and resources for the benefit of the masses. Willingly you will sacrifice personal possessions and monies to help others in their time of need. Willingly you support rather than divide! Why? Because you have been with Jesus! Do you know anybody who has spent time with Jesus? You can test the spirit by the spirit. Somebody who shows evidence that they have been with Jesus displays a different attitude and behavior than most people around them. They speak negative you speak positive! They cry the blues you cry, The Lord will make a way, somehow! They talk down about the work of the church you proclaim, There is nothing too hard for God. My God makes a way out of no way and Opens doors no man can open and closes doors no man can close! He is the I am that I am. When negative stuff comes around the church (and it will), you remind the negating individuals that God was here before we got here and will be here long after were gone. He sits high, but He looks low and you ought not to mess with me because I have been with Jesus! Remind them that God sent His only begotten Son Jesus Christ, who was crucified, dead and buried, yet raised on the third day and sits at the right hand of God the Father Almighty from whence He should come to judge the quick and the dead and, to get His church back! I may be unschooled, and untrained, but dont mess with me, I have been with Jesus! Jesus, who walked on water; Jesus who healed the sick and raised the dead! Jesus, the Wonderful, Counselor, King of Kings, Lord of lords! And the Bright and Morning Star! The disciples had been with Jesus and despite warnings and threats they were still recognized as having been with Jesus! They had to tell somebody of the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. Jeremiah said, Its like fire shut-up in my bones. I may be ordinary; unschooled and untrained, but dont mess with me: I have been with Jesus! The Rev. Michael W. Eagle, Sr., is the senior pastor of Grant AME Church in Long Beach, CA. What Do Black Parents Want? Black parents want a quality education for their children. But countless demands that their children have a right to such an education typically fall on deaf ears, even though Black students remain disproportionately at the lowest achievement levels. Low achieving students should be the chief target of education reform, but non-English and limited English-speaking students in Los Angeles (LAUSD) receive far more resources than Black students. A few years ago, New American Media (NAM) convened a roundtable on Black parents engaging in their childrens schools in LAUSD. Issues included: Whats right and whats wrong with Black childrens education? What are parents greatest worries about their childrens schools? And what do schools need to do better? Despite overwhelming evidence that parent involvement helps improve student achievement, low income Black parents especially, are generally not really part of the school decision making process. Countless examples confirm this, like compensatory education (ESEA Title I), which mandated parent involvement in federal programs for disadvantaged students. Most often, parents were, (and are), mostly rewarded for complying with regulations, not for contributing to quality outcomes. Title I advisory councils routinely did the bidding of the principal and strong, challenging parents were treated as trouble makers. Unfortunately, things havent changed. ADVERTISEMENT External parent groups also have been largely unsuccessful. They include education committees in civil rights organizations (NAACP, SCLC, Urban League, etc.) Currently, there are a sprinkling of parent advocacy groups like the Black Parent Union in L.A. County, Parent Revolution and the statewide Title I Parent Union. Their stated goal is training and organizing parents to improve educational results for Black students. However, sustainability is a major problem, especially for poor parents who have a hard time balancing the needs of their families and everyday life with the systemic barriers to reaching their goals. Although a small cadre of committed parents will always persevere, dysfunctional school district practices continue without serious challenge. School districts seem to count on parent burnout which perpetuates the very inequities parents fight to eliminate. (Ideally, a solid cadre of committed Black parents expands and becomes a significant force for sustainable Black parent power, but this is rare. . As mentioned, New American Media called together a group of Black parents to share perspectives on a variety of issues affecting their childrens education and on the role of parents in helping to ensure that their children receive a quality education. The following are excerpts from a facilitators account of that meeting. The state of California should finance programs specifically designed to improve the academic performance of African American students; parents and community advocates need a platform, including media, to mobilize more Black parents to join efforts to improve their schools. Those recommendations topped a list of school funding priorities laid out by African American parents at the forum. The comments on education finance were in response to Californias Local Control Funding Formula (LCFF) which increased state funding to local school districts. (Under LCFF, the state is supposed to provide the greatest funding increases to schools in low-income communities and those with large numbers of students who are learning English as a second language. The parents did not feel Black children receive equitable funding. A number of participants said the state should also provide additional funding to improve English-language skills of Black students. One commented, People dont understand that Black kids are often ostracized simply because of the way they speak. Some Black organizations in Los Angeles have already supported the need for classroom instruction that addresses the linguistic divide. (The Black Community, Clergy and Labor Alliance (BCCLA) Education Committee is currently partnering with LAUSD to close the Black achievement and address the needs of Standard English Learners. Black students have unique linguistic and cultural histories and experiences that must be understood and accepted through the implementation of culturally relevant and responsive pedagogy.) A member of the California Title I Parent Union called for school district and state action that focuses attention on improving education for African American students. There is no legislation that specifically targets Black students.We have to advocate for legislation in our community. Another participant, A broader movement is needed to achieve change and a lack of parent involvement in schools, and the failure of many Black parents to hold their children accountable for their behavior, also contribute to the disproportionate number of Black male expulsions and suspensions. Another added, School districts have primary responsibility for educating students, and must be held accountable to do that. ADVERTISEMENT The LCFF requires school districts to involve parents in decision-making on how additional funds are spent and participants felt Black parents are still not encouraged to participate in local school decision-making. They also felt they needed to be more organized. Parent involvement contributes to improving education results for their children. However, they must also demand their rightful role in the school decision making process. Working collaboratively with other groups, they represent a force school officials cant afford to ignore. Black parents want their children to receive the best possible education. They and their children deserve no less. (Black Parents seeking alternatives to improve their childrens education should consider joining the Black Community, Clergy and Labor Alliance (BCCLA) Education Committee. It focuses, unapologetically, on improving Black students education. One of its primary goals is closing the African American achievement gap. Interested parents please contact Larry Aubry: 323- 308- 8837.) [email protected] VIP Reception and Dinner, Honoring The First Lady Of The Republic Of Zambia African and the African American Sister-hood in conjunction with the LA Lusaka Sister City Committee, have come together to invite business owners and individuals to welcome and honor her Excellency, Mrs. Esther Lungu, the First Lady of the Republic of Zambia. The dinner event at the Beverly Wilshire Hotel, is to support the LA Lusaka Sister City Committees efforts to finance the cost of shipping of the Fire Apparatus; donated by city of Los Angeles Fire Department, County Fire Department, and Stentorians. The Republic of Zambia offers many international business ventures and investment opportunities. ADVERTISEMENT The evening will lend opportunities to elite business networking with Zambia representatives in high value industries of; energy, agriculture, construction, and tourism.The pre-reception begins at 6:00pm with the First Lady for face-to-face time and photo opportunities with her excellency. The event is being held at the Beverly Wilshire Hotel, 9500 Wilshire Blvd. Beverly Hills, CA 90210. On Saturday, January 26, 2019. The event is from 6:00pm to 9:00pm. Pre-Reception 6:00pm 7:00pm Dinner at 7:00pm 9:00pm Tulloss Prepares to Lead Baptist Ministers Conference of L.A. and SoCal Choosing another young minister to head their organization, the Baptist Ministers Conference (BMC) of Los Angeles and Southern California elected the Rev. K.W. Tulloss as president on Jan. 14. He succeeds the Rev. Xavier L. Thompson, the pastor of Southern St. Paul Baptist Church in Los Angeles who stepped down in May 2018 after a five-year tenure as the youngest president in BMCs history. For the past seven months, the Rev. L.A. Kessee, pastor of Bethany Baptist Church of West Los Angeles, has served as interim president. Tulloss, who is the pastor of Weller Street Missionary Baptist Church in Los Angeles, has been active in the BMC for many years, serving most recently as a BMC vice president. Now, as the new BMC president, he said hes looking forward to continuing the 100-year-old organizations spiritual emphasis, ecumenical outreach and social justice platforms. ADVERTISEMENT Im so excited about the future of the Baptist conference. This is a great opportunity to continue to highlight the many happenings within the Baptist church community. So many of our efforts have gone unnoticed, said Tulloss. The conference will continue to serve as a preparation institute that will focus on building the capacity of pastors and ministers. We have an exciting agenda thats going to help preserve and build on the foundation that was laid by our previous leadership. I expect great things with God help from the Baptist Ministers Conference, he added. His presidential installation will be held on Monday, Feb. 18, at 11 a.m., at Mount Moriah Baptist Church, which is the site of the BMCs regular monthly meetings. Considering Tulloss long involvement in the faith-based, social services and political arenas, several religious leaders, community activists and elected officials are expected to participate in the celebration. In addition to serving the last 11 years as pastor of Weller Street, Tulloss has played key roles in many campaigns that captured local and national headlines. He organized demonstrations and town halls addressing issues including racist remarks by former Clipper owner, Donald Sterling, and the lack of diversity in both movie productions and the Academy Awards. Tullosss involvement led to an invitation to speak at the celebration of the 50th year anniversary of the March on Washington in D.C. in 2013. Three years later, his photo was hung in the National Museum of African American History and Culture as part of an exhibit on activism in Los Angeles. While a board member of Watts Learning Center Charter School, the Southern Christian Leadership Conference as well as many other organizations, Tulloss said he will still devote maximum efforts to the BMC. ADVERTISEMENT The Baptist Ministers Conference of Los Angeles and Southern California is one of the largest ministers conference in the world. Our history is rich with achievements that have transformed our city and church communities, said Tulloss. With the exception of my church, I plan to focus on this huge responsibility and opportunity. The Wall is an Antiquated Symbol Of Pure Racism As the Publisher / Editor of Black Business News Group and the President and CEO of the Black Business Association (BBA), I take the position that The Wall the Trump Administration is proposing to build is not the answer to our nations immigration problems. Simply put, THE PROPOSED WALL IS AN ANTIQUATED SYMBOL OF PURE RACISM. Where is the wall that protects Americans from domestic terrorist? ADVERTISEMENT Where is the wall that protects Americans, African Americans and other minorities from domestic terrorist, white supremacists, white militia groups, and white nationalist groups? The real wall we need, is the wall to end racial discriminatory ideologies; predatory lending; delivery of tainted water to Americans, especially those in the poor inner cities; unwanted and unsolicited sexual advances between men (and women); and inequality in the justice system. We need a wall to keep our children and loved ones safe from the sexual predators and human traffickers with stiffer and more severe sentencing. More recently, the President has made good on his threat to shut down the Government over funding for the Wall. This has caused over 800,000 federal government employees and contractors not to receive their paychecks, many who statistics show live paycheck-to-paycheck for their basic expenses creating an additional hardship on them. This has sadly only served to create more security problems throughout the nation in addition to alienate and frustrate more and more American citizens who rely on our Government to serve the needs of ALL of its citizens, in accordance with keeping and upholding the Constitution, whether we have a wall up or not. Neither the wall nor shutting down the Government accomplishes the core responsibilities and duties of our elected officials; however, they lead many to question the leadership (or lack thereof) of this nation. Does Americas immigration policies need to be overhauled? Yes. Is the Wall the answer? No. The Wall is no more an answer, than trying to lead and build relationships through intimidation and fear. As an American citizen and a Vietnam Veteran, I believe and understand the importance of protecting the freedoms of all citizens, and those who desire to become law-abiding citizens. However, erecting a border wall along all the Border States in the U.S. is simply not the answer. If America is ever to be great at all, it needs to deal with eradicating all symbols of racism it has all over its landscape, and not erecting more, such as the border wall the current White House Administration wants to build. Not only would funding this wall be a boondoggle, but it will not solve the problems associated with illegal immigration, especially from a humane and socially just standpoint. The idea of building a border wall is an outdated notion. We see this time and time again in our evolution as a society when an original idea mandates updating either because of advancements in the development of technologies, the economic impact, or societal views and/or legislation has changed. ADVERTISEMENT The musket rifle, used in the American Revolution in the 1700s, is no longer relevant when fighting against enemies armed with AK-47 assault rifles. In this day and age, with the advances of technology, our ability to put satellites and men in space, one would think that the current Administration would leverage its influence to involve lawmakers, technology entrepreneurs, the U.S. military and the intelligence community to develop more efficient, cost-effective, and most importantly, more humane ways of dealing with those trying to enter the U.S. legally and illegally. It is the hope of many Americans, that the President and his Cabinet engage in some genuine soul-searching to come up with other ideas to address the immigration problems. Many questions beg to be asked. For instance, what message is The Wall sending to those families seeking a better life that Americans dont want them? If America desires to tout and extol the virtues of human and civil rights, can we afford the luxury of contradiction to our citizens and global neighbors? While its important for our nation to be willing to afford opportunities to others seeking either asylum, or just better opportunities for themselves and their families, there is a way to do itby obeying our nations laws, and not breaking them. It bears repeating that our consciences have been awakened to the ugly truth that the border wall is an ANTIQUATED SYMBOL OF PURE RACISM. This Wall represents racism in the worst way and does not and will not solve Americas illegal immigration problems. Instead it will only send the loud resounding message that America is not the land of the free and the American dream has limits for poor people of color, which would be the saddest indictment on a nation which takes great pride in boasting that it is the land of opportunity, but for whom? This President, his administration and the elected Republicans in Washington, D.C, have to do a much better job on behalf of America, American Citizens and the taxpayers, if America is ever to truly become GREAT AGAIN. There is no greatness in a border wall that represents an ANTIQUATED SYSTEM OF PURE RACISM. Visit www.bbala.org The Compelling Need and Notion of Freedom: Retrieving Our Expansive Concept of Struggle As we celebrate each year our strivings and struggles through history, the Black Freedom Movement is always a central focus. But we may not call it by its rightful name, because it has been renamed by the established order as the Civil Rights Movement and this has implications for us in terms of self-determination and how we define our goals, what we count as victory, and the lessons and spirit of life and struggle we learn and absorb from this world historical struggle. Our urgent and constant call was Freedom Now! and even now, it is no less necessary. It seemed so clear to us in the midst of the historical struggle for Black freedom, that at the heart and center of all our efforts was the compelling need and notion of freedom. Even when we listed the key conceptual elements of the Black Freedom Movement, we placed freedom first. Yes, we wanted freedom, justice and equality and later added power, but freedom, everyone knew, was our most urgent and ultimate aim. And civil rights and the legislative initiatives to concede and protect them were only a part of the larger struggle for freedom. It is Min. Malcolm who reminded us continually that what we were really fighting for was human rights, not rights to be given and taken by governments, but rights we have just by being human. And the rights to life and freedom are the first of these and the two are inseparably linked. As Min. Malcolm states, Freedom is essential to life, itself. Freedom is essential to the development of the human being. Indeed, he argued If we dont have freedom, we can never have justice and equality. Only after we have freedom do justice and equality become a reality. ADVERTISEMENT Moreover, the freedom we fought for was for our people, Black people, first and foremost. We could, if we wished to put our White allies and enemies at ease, tell them, as Rev. King did, that this freedom we seek was for them also, trapped and trussed up in the tragedy of their racial hatreds, fears and illusions of superiority, of saving the world from itself, and of innocence of the awful and oppressive things theyve done and do to others. But others of us wanted to give no aid and comfort to the enemy-oppressor, no sense of security to them in their evil and injustice, and no reassurance against recurring revolt, let alone ultimate revolution. Surely, like other liberation struggles, our assumption was that our victory, as Frantz Fanon argued, would benefit not only us and U.S. society, but also the whole world, transforming the U.S. from a citadel of oppression and imperialist and colonial aggressions into a force for good and development in the world. And we assumed we would play a vanguard role in this radical transformation. Indeed, we said, We are a key people in a key country, and our liberation will not only free us and this country from the grotesque grasp of racism and capitalism, but bring the whole of humanity closer to full and final liberation. But now, the established order, with media and academy, has taken it upon itself to redefine our history and our struggle and rename the Black Freedom Movement the Civil Rights Movement. In doing this, there are several results, all negative to our interests. First, to transform the Black Freedom Movement into the Civil Rights Movement is an arrogant attempt to appropriate our right to define ourselves and speak for ourselves, in a word, our right to self-determination. Moreover, to take away the Movements defining identity as a Black and freedom movement is to erase its essential goal and fail to give due recognition to the people that suffered the savagery of unfreedom and waged the essential struggle to end it. Indeed, the struggle or Movement was not an anonymous struggle nor a general struggle of various peoples equally oppressed. On the contrary, it was a life-and-death struggle of Black people to free themselves and be themselves without racist restraint, penalty, persecution and oppression. Yes, we had allies, among whom were Whites. But it was White society we were struggling against to obtain our freedom. Indeed, the system of White supremacy and racism was supported by the majority of Whites. And even before Trump, no serious and truthful observer could claim White Americans willingness to yield in any meaningful or radical way their monopoly on wealth, power and status in race and class terms. And it is therefore dishonest and disregardful of our history and struggle to pretend they were equally burdened by oppression, similarly killed, wounded or imprisoned or made similar sacrifices as a whole. Also, such renaming redefines the focus and narrows the concept of our interests in our historical and current struggle, an unfinished and ongoing one. Our concept of struggle was an expansive one, freedom in its fullest form. We sought an inclusive freedom: freedom from domination, deprivation and degradation; and freedom to be ourselves; to realize our potential; to live good and meaningful lives; and come into the fullness of ourselves. And this required and continues to require a radical reconstruction of society in ways a simple civil rights agenda could not yield and in ways still open and urgent before us. We understood ourselves as part of the rising tide of the liberation struggles enveloping the world then. And we reached out to make alliances and to stand in solidarity with other oppressed and struggling peoples of the world. Here again the name, Civil Rights Movement, does not speak to this important aspect of the Black Freedom Movement. For it focused on winning rights granted by the state and stressed the local and national, not international linkage and common ground global issues and initiatives which are and must remain a vital part of our struggle. ADVERTISEMENT Also, in this renaming, the Civil Rights phase (1955-1965) and the Black Power phase (1965-1975) of the Black Freedom Movement are collapsed into one phase, i.e., the Civil Rights phase. Given this, the Black Power Movement is erased and Malcolm X, the symbol and fundamental reference for Black Power, is called a civil rights leader, even though he criticized focus on civil rights and called for a focus on human rights and international consciousness, linkage and initiatives, especially pan-African, Islamic and Third World ones. Even before the Black Power period, the Nation of Islam and Min. Malcolm X and other Black nationalists are a significant part of the discourse and initiatives of the Black Freedom Movement, advocating self-determination, political independence, cultural revolution, self-defense, independent institution-building, alternative religious projects, return to Africa, etc. These discourses and initiatives are embraced, continued, built on and expanded providing a rich variety of thought and practice concerning roads to Black freedom. Thus, collapsing the two phases into one, i.e., Civil Rights, hides the Black Power phase, a vital part of the Black Freedom Movement and the insights and lessons in life and struggle which it advocated, advanced and left as a legacy worthy of the most considered study. Who are these people who would erase whole periods from our history, try to rename Black History Month, Black Heritage Month, and disregard our engagement of our history as a living tradition of striving and struggle? For history, indeed, is a striving and struggle through time for human excellence and achievement, in a word, for us, an ongoing striving and struggle to free ourselves, be ourselves and flourish and make our own unique contribution to human good and the well-being of the world. And no amount of redefinitions of reality by the established order should be allowed to undermine this essential understanding and the unbreakable will to constantly strive and struggle that this understanding undergirds, informs and compels. Dr. Maulana Karenga, Professor and Chair of Africana Studies, California State University-Long Beach; Executive Director, African American Cultural Center (Us); Creator of Kwanzaa; and author of Kwanzaa: A Celebration of Family, Community and Culture, The Message and Meaning of Kwanzaa: Bringing Good Into the Worldand Essays on Struggle: Position and Analysis, www.AfricanAmericanCulturalCenter-LA.org; www.OfficialKwanzaaWebsite.org; www.MaulanaKarenga.org. WATCH: SCAQMD Hosts 6th Annual Dr. King Jr. Day of Service Forum South Coast Air Quality Management District, better known as SCAQMD hosted their 6th Annual Martin Luther King Jr. Day of Service Forum, with approximately 350 people in attendance at CAAM, on Saturday, January 19. The event gathered a diverse community for the purpose of honoring Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., and advocating for clean air for all people. Fox 11 news reporter, Leah Uko hosted the gala-like event, that included heartfelt speeches, performances, and award presentations, all supporting the observance of Dr. Kings dream and SCAQMDs mission that all people be informed about air quality and environmental health. Today, we are here to honor Dr. Martin Luther Kings legacy and celebrate the progress we have made in improving air quality, Uko said. ADVERTISEMENT Students Scott, Chloe and Gabriella, from Fresh Start Charter School, lead attendees in the Pledge of Allegiance and performed a spirited and well-received excerpt of Dr. Kings, I Have a Dream speech. The school brought close to 100 students to participate in learning about Dr. King Jr., as well as methods to ensure their environmental future. We first want to give honor to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., who was one of our forefathers who stood years ago, so we would have the opportunity to stand up for any type of equality, said Reverend Deborah Mann in her stirring evocation speech. The Greg Jones Choir complemented Reverend Manns spiritual message with crowd moving gospel songs, including Oh Happy Day. SCAQMD Governing Board member, Dr. Joseph Lyou, reminded Los Angeles Baby Boomers and Generation X attendees how dreadful air pollution was in the 70s and 80s, and to celebrate the progress made for cleaner air. Its not too different from the struggle that Dr. King faced when he was fighting for equality; we are fighting for clean air. he said. SCAQMD screened their short film, The Right to Breathe, a project spearheaded by Chairman Dr. William Burke. In the film, a transparent Burke speaks openly about his own health concerns from years of exposure to harmful air pollutants. The video depicts a Los Angeles, when rigorous activity induced chest pains from the lungs exposure to pollution, and a city constantly testing high for dangerous levels of air pollution. The film includes testimonials from victims who suffered from life-threatening exposure from cancerous poisons in the air, due to fracking and other pollutants exposed to minority communities. The Right to Breathe is a fight for equality in air pollution awareness, a celebration of the enormous progress made in reducing toxic levels today, and a desperate pledge in making a cleaner world for future generations. ADVERTISEMENT Dr. Clark E. Parker, Sr., SCAQMD vice chair of the Governing Board, shared his personal experiences with Dr. King Jr. and read excerpts from a copy of the letter Dr. King wrote while in a Birmingham Jail in 1963. Dr. Parker said Kings jailing for advocacy and justice is a guiding principle in the organizations pursuit of environmental justice. We all know that almost 72 percent of air pollution itself, comes from areas that are socially and economically disadvantaged, that is occupied by people of color, especially African Americans and Latinos, which is something SCAQMD is trying to mitigate, Dr. Parker said. He expressed optimism in current and future bills passed that allow the organization to not only report problems, but help fix them. Dr. Parker presented L.A. City Council President Herb Wesson with the Environmental Justice for All Award, for creating programs such as Recycle L.A. and for Wessons commitment to improving air quality, being a protector of justice, and for his life of public service. In Wessons fiery acceptance speech, he recognized his wife, Fabian Wesson, the SCAQMD Governing Board, and thanked his political mentor, Dr. Yvonne Brathwaite Burke, for her political guidance and inspiration. Wesson mentioned how inspired he was in 1968, in witnessing Dr. Kings adoration for then Assemblywoman Burke, when King visiting California. Dr. King would be killed three weeks later, Wesson said to the hushed listeners. On behalf of my wife and family, I am honored to accept this award today, he said. Supporters acknowledged Wesson, applauding the speech of peoples City Council president. Happy King Day! We have a lot of work to do. Let us come together and get it done. Dr. Parker introduced the keynote speaker, California Senator Steven Bradford, representing District 35. Senator Bradford recognized Dr. King and the tremendous strides in justice and equality made in America, but challenged the audience to continue to fight. Dr. King, a man as your theme says, paved the way for American justice, Dr. King spent his life paving the way for social and economic justice, racial justice, and fair housing, Bradford said. The dream lives on; the goals and objectives that Dr. King fought for live on. We have an obligation to hold true to those principles. Senator Bradford and Fox reporter Uko were awarded certificates of appreciation for their commitment and participation in the forum. The Sentinel caught up with Senator Bradford, who shared his thoughts on the Day of Service forum. According to Senator Bradford, unknown to many minorities, pollutants are harmful are in low-income minority communities and far too often, those people are not aware of the resources through SCAQMD. Bradford expressed his gratitude for the event but wasnt content. It was a fitting tribute but a clearing call that we still have work to do when it comes to environmental justice, the California senator said. In the Right to Breathe film, Burke shares his view on aiming for a healthier air environment in minority neighborhoods. Its just a horrific balancing act and we continue to try and work on it, he said, suggesting the need for more bills to be passed and more recourses allotted toward clean air equality for all people. I know that the economy has to be considered and I know you gotta put people before the economy. Omega Psi Phi, Fraternity, Inc. Tau Tau Chapter The Mighty Tau Tau, of the Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, Inc. will celebrate its 58thanniversary, on Saturday, February 2, 2019. That Tau Tau chapter was chartered on February 3, 1961 in the city of Compton, CA. Since its inception the Men of Omega have been beacons throughout Compton, and the surrounding areas, living out their cardinal principles of Manhood, Scholarship, Perseverance, and Uplift. The anniversary luncheon will take place at the Douglas Dollarhide Community Center, 301 N. Tamarind Ave, Compton, CA 90220. The celebration will begin at 1:00 pm. According to the committee chair Brother Isadore Hall, everyone in attendance is in for a great afternoon, filled with several surprises. The luncheon is free to brothers and their guests. Brother Hall concluded his remarks by saying, I am honored to be this years committee chair, and am elated by the response of the brotherhood. February 2, will be a great day in Compton, and another great day for The Mighty Tau Tau chapter. Tau Tau chapter is home to the First-Vice Grand Basileus of Omega Psi Phi, Brother Ricky Lewis. The chapter is also home to 12thDistrict First-Vice District Representative Kwame Dow, 12thDistrict Keeper of Records and Seal Brother Ronan Hill, 12thDistrict Keeper of Finance Raphael Irving, and Southern California Area Representative Ed Young. There will certainly be no shortage of dignitaries at the 58thanniversary luncheon. While Brother Hall would not disclose the name of the keynote speaker for the luncheon, he assures that he is a powerhouse in the realm of Omega, the community, and the world over. ADVERTISEMENT For further information, please contact Brother Isadore Hall, at [email protected] MLK-Themed Study Reveals States with the Most Racial Progress With Martin Luther King Jr. Day around the corner and 58 percent of Americans saying increased diversity makes the United States a better place (while only 9 percent say it makes the U.S. worse), the personal-finance website WalletHub has released its report on 2019s States with the Most Racial Progress. New Mexico, West Virginia, Hawaii, Kentucky and Texas in that order were the states listed as being the most racially integrated, while Wyoming, Texas, New Mexico, Georgia and Mississippiin that order were listed as states with the most racial progress. The District of Columbia has the lowest gap in homeownership rates between whites and blacks, at 13.41 percent while Connecticut has made the most progress in closing this gap since 1970, with a change of 8.25 percent, according to the report released on Tuesday, Jan. 15. ADVERTISEMENT Hawaii enjoys the lowest gap in median annual household incomes between whites and blacks, at 7.74 percent, and has made the most progress in closing this gap since 1979, with a change of 33.19 percent. Meanwhile, South Dakota has the lowest gap in unemployment rates between whites and blacks, at 0.85 percent and North Dakota has made the most progress in closing this gap since 1970, with a change of 12.94 percent. Hawaii has the lowest gap in poverty rates between whites and blacks, at 0.87 percent and Mississippi has made the most progress in closing this gap since 1970, with a change of 24.80 percent, according to the report. New Mexico has the lowest gap in the share of adults 25 years and over with at least a bachelors degree between whites and blacks, at 0.83 percent, and has made the most progress in closing this gap since 1970, with a change of 5.71 percent. To measure Americas progress in harmonizing racial groups, WalletHub researchers measured the gaps between blacks and whites across 22 key indicators of equality and integration in each of the 50 states and the District of Columbia. The data set ranges from median annual income to standardized-test scores to voter turnout. ADVERTISEMENT In light of the high-profile police-brutality incidents that sparked the Black Lives Matter movement and the holiday honoring Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., the report only examines the differences between blacks and whites. In overall rankings of the most racially integrated states, the District of Columbia finished last while Wisconsin, Maine, Iowa and Minnesota were among the worst five. The survey also listed those with the highest voter turnout gap in the 2016 presidential election: D.C., Connecticut, Kansas, Wisconsin, and Washington state and the states with the lowest voter turnout gap: Kentucky, Alabama, South Carolina, Nevada, Colorado and Texas. Hawaii, Wyoming, New Mexico, Texas and Maryland had the lowest poverty rate, while North Dakota, Iowa, Minnesota, Wisconsin and Maine had the highest poverty rate. The report authors wrote that in 1963, King introduced the world to his dream of a colorblind society one that focuses on character, not on complexion. However, they said, segregation and discrimination continue to persist. The authors also noted that views on systemic racism differ sharply across racial lines. According to a survey by the Pew Research Center, 92 percent of blacks said that whites benefit a great deal or a fair amount from advantages that blacks do not have. In contrast, only 46 percent of whites agreed with that statement. The racial wealth gap between blacks and whites in the U.S. is due to structural racism, which have advantaged average white families and historically restricted wealth building opportunities among blacks, said Caryn Bell, a WalletHub expert and assistant professor in the department of African American Studies at the University of Maryland. Some of these policies were color-blind but at times inadvertently and many times specifically restricted blacks from these opportunities, Bell said. Because wealth building is generational, the policies and programs of the past that advantaged whites and restricted blacks have effects today and are the root causes of the huge racial wealth gap we see today, she said. The key to addressing racial inequality is acknowledging the existence of race-based inequities, said Mamadi Corra, a professor in the sociology department at East Carolina University. But acknowledging the existence of racial inequality also requires following up with actions aimed at mitigating it, Corra said. It follows that states that have been more successful are those that acknowledge the existence of racial inequality, and also follow this acknowledgement with actions to address inequality. And, I think it begins with education. Without directly naming any states, some have actively reduced support for public education, while others have increased or, at the least, maintained support, he said. To view the full report, click here. The cause of death is undetermined at this time. However, investigators do suspect foul play. This is an ongoing homicide investigation. https://t.co/fuI8O58k9s Memphis Police Dept (@MEM_PoliceDept) January 22, 2019 L.A. City Council Addresses Government Shutdown President Trumps immigration policy, which includes a wall on the border of Mexico, is creating a barrier between federal workers and their paychecks due to the government shutdown. On Wednesday, January 17, Transportation Security Administration (TSA) officers joined with elected officials, representatives of the L.A. County Federation of Labor, American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE), other airport workers and union members at LAX Tom Bradley International Terminal. City Council president Herb Wesson, councilman Marqueece Harris-Dawson and supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas addressed the government shutdown and the negative effects its having on federal workers not just in Los Angeles but the nation. ADVERTISEMENT This is not a game, said Harris-Dawson. Here in the city of Los Angeles, this shutdown has a real impact. I am very grateful to the workers at AFGE who called together this convening but it goes much further than LAX. We have TSA workers here, we have literally, tens-of-thousands people living in the city of Los Angeles right now that are depending on the federal government to do their jobs so that they can make rent within the next month and the month after that. This is not a game and Los Angeles is not ready to play with you. I think what Id like to do first is to apologize to the over 800,000 government workers that find themselves in the middle of this madness, said Wesson. We are truly sorry that you are in a situation that you are in and its important not just to those in L.A. to see but to those in this nation to see that we stand with you in solidarity. There are individuals that cannot afford to go without their paytheyve got to pay their rent. Theyve got to feed their children and theyve got to put gas in their cars. I think that this setting, where we are today, is a perfect setting because individuals are coming in-and-out of this airport. The people that are keeping them safe are not making money and being paid but they are the ones that are making sure when you get on these flights, that you and your children, are going to be able to arrive safely. ADVERTISEMENT This is not a game, this is not chess. In December 2018, Trump threatened a government shut down if Democrats didnt include $5 billion to build the wall. Democrats said it would be ineffective and offered $1.3 billion to continue border-security funding. The president pointed out that $5.7 billion was needed for the wall. On January 4, 2019, President Trump announced he would continue the shutdown until Congress included $5.7 billion for the wall. As of January 12, it is the longest shutdown in U.S. history. Up to 800,000 federal workers are missing paychecks with some reports stating many have refused to go to work. Im here simply to stand in solidarity with working men and women, said Ridley-Thomas. The message is clearMr. President, do not starve the working men and women in this country, they want to work, it is a matter of public safety and human dignity. It is beneath the office of the Presidency to starve working men and women, who simply want to make us safe as we travel to and fro on the airways. It is irresponsible on any standard of measure that we would be in this precarious set of circumstances. We need to have a personnel change in 2020 in this nation and it starts right now. TSA officers are members of the AFGE of which Kendrick Roberson is a representative. He shared information on bills in Congress that could help government workers during the shutdown but questions why it seems no action has been taken on the Presidents part. Congress, both the House and the Senate, have passed bills, bi-partisan bills, to open up this government, yet the bills sit at the Presidents desknot getting signed, said Roberson. They even have passed bills that will allow [workers] to get back pay once the funding comes, yet still, that bill sits on the Presidents desk and we really demand to know why. As of press time, Congress looks to vote to reopen the government this week. Unless both sides come to a mutually, satisfactory outcome, the shutdown could continue. L.A.s city council have made it clear that the shutdown needs to end before it adds to an already looming issue in the city of Los Angeles. Ive got to go back to City Hall where I chair the homelessness and poverty committee, said Harris-Dawson. The city of L.A. is doing everything we can and the county of Los Angeles is doing everything they can to deal with our homelessness crisis. The last thing we need is for [President] Donald Trump to create new homeless, working people to put on the streets of Los Angeles because they cant make rent and the programs that they depend on for sustenance are not being funded. Congress, work this out, said Wesson. Let our very proud workers continue to do the job that they do so well. We support you 300 percent and we are willing to do anything that we can as your local government to try and bring this foolishnessfoolishness Mr. President, to an end. Not everybody has a support system that allows them to come back from not having pay checks, said Roberson. You have 420,000 people who have been working every day, yet they have not received a pay check. And these people that are working every day, these are the people that are border patrolthey are actually protecting the borders. To put it in perspective, the President has stopped paying the people manning the border because he wants a border wall. That makes absolutely no sense. TSA workers gathered after the press conference to fill out forms for gift cards and food to help them and their families throughout the shutdown. It can all be summed up in one simple statement made by a member of the AFGE: I ask you, Congress, do your job, so we can do ours. Kamala Harris is Right Choice to Save our Country That Democratic California Sen. Kamala Harris announced her candidacy for president on Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day is no coincidence. For her supporters and those who know her well, Harris has long been a fighter for freedom, justice and equality and shes often invoked the spirit of Dr. King in talking about Americas needs today. I think we all know when Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. talked about the Dream, it wasnt about being asleep, Harris said during the recent Congressional Black Caucus Foundation Annual Legislative Conference. It was about being awake. ADVERTISEMENT On a day to honor King, and in a brief video from her campaign that was released on social media Monday morning at the same time that she appeared on ABCs Good Morning America, Harris called on her supporters to join with her to claim our future. Justice. Decency. Equality. Freedom. Democracy. These arent just words. Theyre the values we as Americans cherish. And theyre all on the line now, Harris said in the video, teasing her official kickoff in her birthplace of Oakland next Sunday. The future of our country depends on you and millions of others lifting our voices to fight for our American values, said Harris, the first African-American woman, and the third woman overall, to announce her candidacy for the 2020 election. Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) have also announced that they will run. Harris said shes running to lift those voices, to bring our voices together. On Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day, the National Newspaper Publishers Association (NNPA) salutes the outstanding courage and leadership of Sen. Kamala Harris as she upholds and embodies the spirit and courage of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. by announcing her candidacy for President of the United States, said NNPA president and CEO Dr. Benjamin F. Chavis, Jr. ADVERTISEMENT NNPA Chair, and the editor and publisher of the Crusader newspapers in Chicago and Gary, Indiana, Dorothy R. Leavell, also applauded Harris announcement. I am excited that Kamala Harris has entered the presidential race for 2020 and look forward to her mounting a vigorous campaign, Leavell said. She is imminently qualified, having come through the ranks of politics in the Bay area and has served admirably in the United States Senate these last two years. Just last March (2018), under the leadership of Amelia Ward, who serves as Chairman of the National Newspaper Publishers Association Foundation and is the publisher of the San Francisco Sun Reporter, Harris was honored as our Newsmaker of the Year, Leavell said. She continued: She has a close relationship with the Black Press and respects its commitment as an institution of the Black community. She is energetic, smart and works hard to be prepared for the duties she undertakes. We are certain that she will be a formidable candidate and wish her the best in the campaign. It is quite appropriate that on the day that the nation honors Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., a fresh and vibrant new face announces her run for the Presidency, said Rosetta Miller Perry, Publisher of the Tennessee Tribune Newspaper. California Senator Kamala Harris is everything the current holder of the office isnt, Perry continued. She is honest, a champion of equality and opportunity, and someone who will stand up and fight against the forces of hatred and bigotry. Her candidacy is a breath of fresh air in an environment spoiled by the toxic and incompetent individual whose administration is running the country. According to CNN, Harris campaign will be headquartered in Baltimore, Maryland giving aides an East Coast hub in a racially diverse city that has struggled with wide income disparities and Oakland, where Harris was born to immigrant parents who came to the US to advance their academic careers. Harris chose to announce on Monday to honor the legacies of two of her heroes. Forty-seven years ago this week, Shirley Chisholm, the first black woman to ever run for president, launched her campaign. And Dr. King has been a role model for Harris throughout her life as a result of what she views as his aspirational fight for progress. Harris chose yellow and red for her campaign logo in a nod to Chisholms bid for president with its red and yellow campaign buttons, CNN reported. Her signs will carry her campaign theme Kamala Harris for the people, the words that she spoke each time she rose in the courtroom as a prosecutor. Meanwhile, Amelia Ward the NNPA Foundation Chair, who also counts as a personal friend of Harris, said her fellow Bay Area resident is a great choice to put the country back on solid footing. Senator Kamala Harris has long been a Champion for the people of the San Francisco Bay Area and the state of California. The Sun-Reporter has supported her since her successful run for San Francisco District Attorney in 2003, and also her campaigns for California Attorney General and U.S. Senator, Ward said. As a junior Senator, Harris hit the ground running in Washington D.C. becoming an instant force and outspoken critic of President Trump and his regime. The NNPA the Black Press of America honored her last March when the organizations Foundation awarded her our prestigious Newsmaker of the Year award, she said. Ward continued: Now is the time for a national leader like Senator Harris to come forward to help save our country. I believe that now as a candidate for President of the United States, she has the opportunity to connect with Americans across this country and emerge as the peoples choice to put our country back on track. Kamala Harris Announces Run for Presidency in 2020 Senator Kamala Harris has pretty much announced her intent to run for president in the next U.S. Government election, but she will make her formal announcement during a rally in Oakland on January 27. I love my country, Harris announced to the public via a teaser video on social media. This is a moment in time that I feel a sense of responsibility to stand up and fight for the best of who we are. My entire career has been focused on keeping people safe it is probably one of the things that has motivated me more than anything else. ADVERTISEMENT Right away, Harris raised over $1 million for her campaign. According to reporters at Politico: The first numbers are a demonstration of early strength and serve as a way to measure initial excitement for [Harris]. Harris grew the campaigns email list by 20 percent on Monday. Her video announcement teasing a Sunday rally in Oakland was viewed six million times and her Instagram account gained more than 100,000 new followers, the campaign said. The campaign also said it ran 25,000 Facebook ad variations. Kamala Harris is for the People, reads her campaign slogan for the 2020 election, something she says she has been throughout her entire political career. Harris has supported Medicare for all, legalization of recreational marijuana, sanctuary cities, passing a DREAM Act, lowering taxes for the working- and middle-class while raising taxes on corporations and the wealthy, and has disavowed most corporate donations. Earlier in her career as San Francisco District Attorney, Harris created a special Hate Crimes Unit, focusing on hate crimes against LGBT children and teens in schools. She convened a national conference to confront the gay-transgender panic defense, which has been used to justify violent hate crimes. Harris supports same-sex marriage in California and opposed both Proposition 22 and Proposition 8. As U.S. Senator, Kamala introduced or co-sponsored legislation to provide sweeping tax cuts for the middle class, address the high cost of rent, raise the minimum wage to $15 an hour, make higher education tuition-free for the vast majority of Americans, reform the cash bail system, protect the legal rights of refugees and immigrants, and expand access to affordable, quality health care with Medicare for All. Kamala has been a key voice in the fight to hold the Trump administration accountable, asking the tough questions on behalf of the American people. She serves on the Senate Judiciary Committee, Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, Select Committee On Intelligence, and the Committee On Budget, according to her campaign website. When I look at this moment in time, I know that the American people need someone who is going to fight for them, who is going to see them, who will hear them, who is going to care about them, who will be concerned about their experience, who is going to put them in front of self- interest, Harris said. ADVERTISEMENT Harris began her political career in 1990, after being admitted to Californias State Bar. She served as a deputy district attorney in Alameda County, California, from 1990 to 1998. Harris followed with a stint as District Attorney for San Francisco. In 2010, Harris became Californias attorney general, becoming the first female of color to hold the position. During that time she tackled some of the states most major issues, including police and prison reform as well as the housing and financial crisis. In 2016, she seized the opportunity to do more when Barbara Boxer announced her retirement from the Senate. As a senator Harris has continuously been a voice against President Donald Trumps policies, calling his inauguration speech dark. In early February 2017, Harris spoke in opposition to Trumps cabinet picks Betsy DeVos, for Secretary of Education, and Jeff Sessions, for United States Attorney General. Later that month, in her first speech on the senate floor, Harris spent 12 minutes critiquing Trumps immigration policies. In early March, Harris called on Attorney General Sessions to resign, after it was reported that Sessions spoke twice with Russian Ambassador to the United States Sergey Kislyak. On March 14, Harris claimed repealing the Affordable Care Act would send the message of health cares being a privilege rather than a civil right. Born in Oakland, Kamala Harris is a graduate of Howard University. She earned her law degree from the University of California, Hastings College of the Law. Those wishing to donate to her campaign should visit www.kamalaharris.org. House Oversight Committee Chair Elijah Cummings Launches Investigation of Security Clearance Problems at White House and Responds to Michael Cohen Request to Postpone Upcoming Testimony Washington, D.C. Rep. Elijah E. Cummings, the Chairman of the Committee on Oversight and Reform, announced a wide-ranging investigation into grave breaches with the security clearance process at the White House and the Transition Team. In a letter to the White House requesting a broad range of documents. Cummings next teamed up with Rep. Adam Schiff, the Chairman of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, issued the following statement in response to a request received by Michael Cohen to postpone his upcoming testimony before Congress: ADVERTISEMENT We understand that Mr. Cohens wife and other family members fear for their safety after these attacks, and we have repeatedly offered our assistance to work with law enforcement to enhance security measures for Mr. Cohen and his family. Nevertheless, when our Committees began discussions with Mr. Cohens attorney, not appearing before Congress was never an option. We will not let the Presidents tactics prevent Congress from fulfilling our constitutionally mandated oversight responsibilities. This will not stop us from getting to the truth. We expect Mr. Cohen to appear before both Committees, and we remain engaged with his counsel about his upcoming appearances. Go Fund Me Started for Cyntoia Brown A Go Fund Me drive has been established for Cyntoia Brown, the African American Tennessee woman who was finally granted clemency this month by Gov. Bill Haslam. Brown, 30, has been in prison since she was 16 when she was convicted of killing Johnny Michael Allen, whom Brown said paid her $150 to have sex. A victim of sex trafficking, Brown said she feared for her life during the encounter and she responded by shooting Allen. After repeated calls for her release including by celebrities like Rihanna and Kim Kardashian Hassan granted Brown clemency and shes scheduled for release in August. ADVERTISEMENT The fundraiser, which organizers said is to assist Brown when shes released, has raised more than $5,500 toward a $25,000 goal at the time of this writing. In a statement released by her lawyers, Brown thanked Haslam, for your act of mercy in giving me a second chance. I will do everything I can to justify your faith in me. With Gods help, I am committed to live the rest of my life helping others, especially young people. My hope is to help other young girls avoid ending up where I have been. For information or to donate, click here. FILM REVIEW: Glass After viewing Glass, there will be a great debate: Should M. Night Shyamalan stop writing scripts for his films? Should he refrain from directing them? Or maybe both! Remember The Sixth Sense? Slow, odd movie with a very shocking ending? Shyamalan has gone back to that drawing board and sketched in a hybrid movie that pulls together plotlines from two of his previous films. Unbreakable from the year 2000: David Dunn (Bruce Willis), a security guard, is involved in a catastrophic train accident that kills all onboard, except him. A stranger, Elijah Prince (Samuel L. Jackson), aka Mr. Glass, swears the event was Dunns destiny. Split in 2016: Kevin Wendell Crumb (James McAvoy), an evil man with super strength and 23 personalities, kidnaps three girls. The most venomous of his inner demons, The Beast, is vile beyond redemption. Fast forward to 2019, Philadelphia, PA., Dunn is a street vigilante with inordinate power and becomes clairvoyant when he brushes up against people. He wears a hooded raincoat to hide his identity as he stalks and annihilates criminals who prey on innocent victims. Cops hunt him. His son Joseph (Spencer Treat Clark) supports his efforts. ADVERTISEMENT Prince, a supervillain mastermind with a genetic disorder that leaves his bones so brittle they break like potato chips, is a patient/captive at the Raven Hill Memorial Psychiatric Research Hospital. Crumb? Well he has kidnapped four high school cheerleaders and is toying with them as he summons up the devil inside for a massive slaughter. After some fights, brawls and power struggles, all three wind up at Raven Hill, under the supervision of Dr. Ellie Staple (Sarah Paulson), a psychiatrist who specializes in delusional behavior particularly with people who believe they have superpowers. Shyamalan combines the two previous storylines but never ups the ante. The theme in this new venture explores people who have extraordinary abilities and use them for good or evil, a subject that is only mildly intriguing. Instead of making this premise a source of inspiration, his very clunky, heavy-handed script belabors the point. At some juncture, audiences wont welcome that silly unfulfilling thought pattern. Dunn says: You cant explain everything away. Then theres the very illogical plot pieces and improbable events that lead to a surprising but limp conclusion. Its dumb for Dr. Staple to put the three very combustible oddballs in the same facility. Dumber still to allow her staff easy access to their highly secured cells/rooms. Employees hand-deliver meals to the devious patients, fraternize and make small talk. They dont sense impending danger. Also, if the three volatile men are in a true high-security facility, escaping would not be a cakewalk and pushing a panic alarm button would be the first line of defense, not the last one. The overwritten script plods along at a snails pace. The first one hour and fifteen minutes are tedious enough to cause a group eye roll. Sloppy indecisive editing (Luke Ciarrocchi and Blu Murray) stymies any rhythm. Shyamalans spotty unimaginative direction and Mike Gioulakis dull cinematography make fight scenes a snore. None of the action is filmed from an interesting angle and the cameras placement is often quite awkward. Scenes build to a finale where the audience expects a cataclysmic, visually arresting orgy of a battle. But there is none. Compare the style, direction, cinematography and special effects of The Avengers series, Wonder Woman, The Dark Knight, Deadpool and Black Panther to that in Glass, and the latters execution looks even more pitiful. The three freaks are not all that engaging. Dunn is on the side of good, but with that constant scowl on Bruce Willis face, he is a buzzkill. Samuel L. Jackson acts like Samuel L. Jackson: Hes never met a piece of scenery he couldnt chew up. The most curious performance is that of James McAvoy as the bizarre dude with freaky personalities. McAvoy shifts through them as smoothly as a Porsche gearbox going from park to neutral to drive, to turbo. Each character is distinct: the child, the woman, the hipster and the demon god from hell. McAvoy tries hard, but the direction doesnt compliment his performance and his scenes drag on too long. Paulson walks around comatose and is asked to say dumb things and disregard the way a real shrink would deal with patients. Even though what she is doing is a complete ruse, her Dr. Staples doesnt act accordingly. Anya Taylor-Joy as a former Crumb victim and Charlayne Woodard as Prices mom fill out the supporting cast without much conviction. Two hours and nine minutes roll by, and the film is about as frustrating as standing in a TSA line at the airport. Fault the strained writing. Blame the lifeless direction. Question the injudicious editing. Abhor the clumsy cinematography. Condemn that lack of wow power special effects and dazzling action scenes. Glass might cause a stir at Comic-Con. Other audiences will likely scratch their heads in unison and hope they dont get trampled as viewers stampede towards the exits. Visit NNPA News Wire Film Critic Dwight Brown at DwightBrownInk.com and BlackPressUSA.com. Faithful Central Gives Spiritual and Tangible Support to Furloughed Federal Employees Faithful Central Bible Church is well known for its vast array of outreach ministries. So, as thousands of employees faced another week without pay due to the U.S. Government shutdown, Bishop Kenneth C. Ulmer got busy. His response was to give spiritual and tangible assistance to congregants facing immediate hardship, and on Jan. 20, he dedicated special prayer to those directly impacted and distributed $100 Ralphs gift cards to them as well. It was humbling and amazing, recalled Ulmer as he described the worship services. We had a special time of prayer and altar call for people who were government employees effected by the shut down. We called for those directly impacted who were laid off and hadnt been paid for 30 days and for immediate family members spouses, children, parents, to come forward. ADVERTISEMENT Ulmer, who joined by Senior Rabbi Steven Leder and members of the Wilshire Boulevard Temple, also asked people who were currently employed but had personally experienced an extended period of no income to participate in the corporate blessing moment. We asked the Lord to fix this! End this! Touch Hearts, change minds and bless the thousands [who are] hurting, said Ulmer. Following the prayer, he handed out more than 45 gift cards to individuals and families. Ulmer added that the Ralphs company provided considerable help and encouragement with the mass purchase. Referring to the spiritual basis for Faithful Centrals action, Ulmer said the church was inspired in by I Corinthians 12:26, which reads If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honored, every part rejoices with it (NIV). If one part of our congregation hurts, we all hurt, but we all participate in the healing and helping. We did this at each of our three services only on this day. We are praying for an end to this senseless political tactic and impacts almost a million people nationwide, insisted Ulmer. He said Faithful Central is also praying for people affected by the teachers strike and for a quick resolution in that situation. We support our educators who serve our children and our community. However, at the point where the strike begins to impact feeding your children and paying your rent, we stand prayerfully and practically with them, he declared. ADVERTISEMENT I would encourage other faith communities and spiritual leaders to join us in doing what you can at whatever level you can to stand with those who serve our community and our country. Faithful Central Bible Church is located at 321 N. Eucalyptus Ave., in Inglewood. To learn more, visit faithfulcentral.com. Experts: Suing the Government Not an Option to End Shutdown As the government shutdown enters an unprecedented fifth week, some are calling for drastic measures to end the stalemate that has 800,000 government employees either working without pay or altogether furloughed and unable to put food on the table. In a recent column, Charles Ellison, a political strategist and host of the radio program, Reality Check on WURD Radio, said Congressional Republicans could help re-open the government by simply corralling enough votes in both the House and Senate to arrive at the two-thirds majority needed to override any Presidential veto of the federal budget. But Congressional Republicans led by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) refuse to do that. McConnel claims that not only is he awaiting a deal between Congressional Democrats and the White House, but he also needs approval from the president before taking action. ADVERTISEMENT Which brings to mind three questions: Why havent Congressional Democrats sued Congressional Republicans? Could states do that instead? Why are Members of Congress still getting paid? I dont know if suing will get us anywhere in any type of manner, said Delaware County, Pennsylvania Democratic Chair Colleen Guiney. Im not sure if its an option but Democrats in Congress have seven bills to reopen the government, but McConnell is refusing to consider any of the bills. The Senate should respect the will of the people, Guiney said. U.S. Rep. Mary Gay Scanlon (D-Pennsylvania) said she and other Democrats have worked tirelessly to find and offer solutions to reopen the government as thousands of federal employees have gone without pay and are struggling to pay their bills and feed their families. What I fear is this administration and our Republican colleagues in the Senate have forgotten is that this is the peoples house, Scanlon said. We have an obligation to work for them. Refusing to uphold that commitment, that promise, is a slap in the face to the American people, she said. Former Pennsylvania Republican Rep. Alex Charlton said his guess is that if Congressional Democrats did sue Congressional Republicans it would be the nuclear option. It would significantly delay any progress towards an actual resolution, he said. ADVERTISEMENT Unlike the federal government, a state-level government shutdown in Pennsylvania is unlikely because a court decision mandates that state employees must be paid as long as the state is still collecting tax revenue, Charlton added. The Republican legislature has been diligent in ensuring that the states expenses do not outpace its revenue. Any increase beyond that would require tax increases, which the citizens of Pennsylvania do not want, he said. As to why federal lawmakers continue to draw a paycheck despite the shutdown, Charlton said the salaries of U.S. senators and representatives are paid by the treasury and are set by Congress itself. Members of Congress are paid under legislation that is separate from the appropriations bill that funds most of the government. The tax dollars that members of Congress are paid with do not come from the same budget used to pay other federal employees, Charlton said. Terry Madonna, a professor of Public Affairs and Director of the Center for Politics and Public Affairs at Franklin and Marshall College, said theres no basis for a lawsuit. Its a legislative function not a judiciary one, Madonna said. Folks injured by the shutdown might sue but the courts would get involved in the separation of powers doctrine. Thats been in the courts now, but a federal judge refused to rule on the charge, he said. More pointedly, Professor Garrett Epps whos a professor of law at the University of Baltimore, said the Constitution would not allow members of Congress to be sued for any vote or failure to vote in Congress because the Speech or Debate Clause would cover that. I also know that this shutdown only affects one-quarter of the federal budget so quite a few employees are still being paid like members of Congress, Epps said. Further, its Congress job and they make the rules so theres no legal penalty if they dont reopen the government, said Justin Levitt, a Constitutional law scholar and professor at Loyola Law School. The Constitution allows Congress to fund government, and everybody assumes that federal officials would want federal activity. But it doesnt require Congress to fund the government, Levitt said. So theres nothing to be gained by a lawsuit. It would fail, he said, noting that theres currently a federal lawsuit by federal officials who arent getting paid, saying that it violates the 13th Amendment to force them to come to work unpaid. However, the courts so far have said that because those officials could quit and get another job, they dont win either. At least so far, Levitt said. Also, another reason members of Congress continue to receive their pay despite the shutdown is that 75 percent of the government had already been funded prior to the shutdown, Levitt said. Some members have refused their salary or donated their salary, but not everybody. Ultimately, the pressure here is going to be political, rather than legal. Enough people get ticked off, and then this shutdown ends, Levitt said. Finally, Michael J. Gerhart whos the Samuel Ashe Distinguished Professor of Constitutional Law at the University of North Carolina School of Law in Chapel Hill, said the shutdown is all governed by politics. That is, McConnell remains politically accountable for his decisions, just as Trump and the Democrats are politically accountable for theirs, Gerhart said. McConnell has the power under Senate rules to block votes on legislative matters he does not wish to bring to a vote, and there is no legal basis on which Democrats could challenge his decision. Ernest Withers: Undercover Agent for FBI or Forced to be a Spy? On the eve of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.s actual birthday (Jan. 15), allegations of counterintelligence versus arguments of unwilling victim of the FBI were passionately voiced during a discussion of Preston Lauterbachs new book, Bluff City: The Secret Life of Ernest Withers. A capacity crowd filled the book-signing space at Novel Memphis for the event that yielded riveting exchanges regarding the life and actions of Withers. The late and renowned civil rights-era photographer had pretty much unfettered access to Dr. King and movement figures national and local. Lauterbachs book attempts a balanced and unbiased perspective on what Withers legacy will be: a traitorous informant who spied for the FBI or a blackmail victim forced to do as he was told. ADVERTISEMENT There is no doubt whether Withers funneled information to the FBI and was paid. But, says Lauterbach, the reasons why evolved just as the man did. It was a combination of several factors, he contends. Ernest Withers was a man with an extreme hustle bone, said the author. You have to remember that he had a wife and eight children to feed. He was paid, but Mr. Withers was doing what he needed to do to feed his family. Documents released after his death chronicled his secret relationship with the FBI. Those documents formed the basis for A Spy in Canaan: How the FBI Used a Famous Photographer to Infiltrate the Civil Rights Movement, a book by ex-newspaper investigative reporter Marc Perrusquia. On Monday night, Lauterbach talked at length about the now iconic I Am A Man sign and slogan that came to embody the 1968 sanitation workers strike in Memphis and a struggle for racial equality. The famous photo that galvanized the striking workers and turned myriad eyes on Memphis showed Withers gift for not only framing the moment, but staging a scene. His motto was, Pictures tell the story. The sticks that held the signs were used as weapons of violence in that first march. When the rioting broke out, it served the FBIs purpose of discrediting Dr. King as a nonviolent leader and to embarrass him, said Lauterbach. The Black Invaders took the blame for the violence, but they were actually there to protect Dr. King. J. Edgar Hoover needed that violence to be pinned on the Invaders. He wanted to create as much conflict between the SCLC (Southern Christian Leadership Conference]) and the black power group. Withers admitted buying the lumber for the sticks and the saw for the lumber, said Lauterbach. As the rioting began, the police swooped down on marchers with excessive force. ADVERTISEMENT A spirited exchange began between those who saw Withers actions as betrayal and others who leaned more sympathetically to characterize his actions. We marched with Dr. King. We were there, said the Rev. Dr. L. LaSimba M. Gray Jr., pastor emeritus of New Sardis Baptist Church. That is, perhaps, the most damnable revelation that those sticks were made as weapons of violence. He could have gotten us killed. The rioting started, and the police came down in force. Im wondering now if I might have been a target of the FBI. My family might have been put in danger. The Rev. Bill Adkins, pastor of Greater Imani Cathedral of Faith, recalled the day of the march. We were lining up for the march, said Adkins. And just before the march started, a pickup truck pulled up, loaded with signs. Anyone who wanted a sign could get one. After the march got started, the next thing we knew, windows were being broken, and the police moved in. I agree that we could have all been killed or seriously hurt. It never occurred to anyone, Im sure, that the sticks attached to the signs were weapons of violence. These revelations are very disturbing. While some believe that Withers was guilty of counter-spying and working against leaders of the civil rights movement, others felt the term informant simply did not apply. While the photojournalist was providing Hoover and the FBI information on everything he could, there is no proof that anyone was actually hurt by his reports, one member of the audience suggested. It could very well be that Withers didnt tell the FBI anything they didnt already know, said Lauterbach. But however one sees him as either a good man or a shadowy figure Mr. Withers endured many trials and hardships as he recorded the movement with images that really did tell the story, Lauterbach said. He was down there in Little Rock (Arkansas) when his mentor, former Tri-State Defender editor Alex Wilson, was beaten so badly that he sustained neurological damage to the head. This was a man he was very close to. Informant or not, the FBI was 100 percent the real power structure. It was Hoover who manipulated the civil rights movement. Lets not forget, Hoover tried to make Dr. King commit suicide. Withers was a victim of economic segregation. With a wife and eight children, he must have felt the pressure of financial hardship. Lauterbach explained that Withers might not have seen himself as an informant. Adkins wasnt buying that. Mr. Withers took photos of everything, including strategy meetings and closed sessions where we planned every move, said Adkins. Nobody put Mr. Withers out of those meetings. He was constantly moving around taking photos of everyone. We had no idea he was cooperating with the FBI. There is no way he didnt know that he was acting as an informant and betraying the movement. Lauterbach countered with the argument that Withers was a conservative and concerned about the communist leanings and anti-war sentiment that was ever-growing. He may not have felt he could do anything other than what he was doing reporting the actions of civil rights leaders to the FBI, said Lauterbach. There are facts to support both sides that Mr. Withers became an FBI informant for money, or he felt it was something he had to do to care for his family, said Lauterbach. Readers are left to make their own conclusions. Asked whether Withers had any regrets in his latter years, Lauterbach said he believes so, pointing to this reflection attributed to Withers: I was the cause of those signs being used as clubs. I bought the lumber and the saw to cut that lumber. I started the violence. People were hurt by the police and attacked with tear gas and billy clubs. Empowerment Congress Focuses on Transforming Communities Nearly 1,200 people came to celebrate the many ways that civic engagement can transform communities for the better during the 27th Annual Empowerment Congress Summit on Jan. 19, during the Martin Luther King Jr., weekend. The Summit, which was held at Charles R. Drew University of Medicine and Science (CDU) in Willowbrook, featured speeches from Los Angeles County Supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas, founder of the Empowerment Congress; as well as U.S. Rep. Karen Bass, chair of the Congressional Black Caucus; U.S. Rep. Nanette Barragan, whose congressional district includes Willowbrook; and Humboldt County Supervisor Virginia Bass, president of the California State Association of Counties. Dr. King stands as a global giant, one who stirred our souls and sparked our conscience to not only dream big for ourselves but to act boldly to ensure a better tomorrow, Ridley-Thomas said. By continuing to be steadfast in our efforts to spur not just change but transformative change, we will succeed in building communities of opportunity for all Angelenos. ADVERTISEMENT The beauty of the Empowerment Congress is that it is a vehicle from which people can directly and consistently participate in their government, Bass added. For years, members of the Empowerment Congress have stuck with the hard work of representing the conflicting interests in our community and working together to help our community. If this body existed around the nation, Americans everywhere would understand their responsibility to participate beyond the voting booth. Im honored to be a part of this. To produce lasting positive change in a community, its residents must first recognize their strength and power, Barragan said. Thanks to the grassroots leadership of the Empowerment Congress and Supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas, more families in the Watts-Willowbrook area are being empowered to develop solutions to our most pressing issues and leading change through action. I am glad to see this years Empowerment Congress convening hosted in my Congressional District and look forward to the positive results it produces. The theme of the Summit was Transforming Communities, and the plenary session showcased how the Empowerment Congress has supported community transformation over the years, including advocating for the rebirth of the Martin Luther King, Jr. Community Hospital, ramping up innovative solutions to homelessness, promoting workforce development in the bioscience industry, and calling for more diversity in the creative economy. The Summit also featured five interactive workshops and a bus tour of Willowbrook, a community that once reeled from civil unrest, but has since been transformed in recent years by unprecedented development that includes the Martin Luther King, Jr. Medical Campus, Metros Rosa Parks Station, Magic Johnson Park, and CDU. Dr. David Carlisle, CDU president/CEO said, As a community-founded educational institution located in an under-resourced area, we recognize the importance of formally organized civic engagement as a means of effective positive change. It was a similar dynamic that led to the creation of CDU in the wake of the Watts Revolt over five decades ago. We look forward to working with Empowerment Congress leadership and all participants to transform South LA and communities like it. ADVERTISEMENT Since 1992, the Empowerment Congress has worked to educate, engage and empower individuals and communities to take control of their futures. A precursor to neighborhood councils, it is a partnership among neighborhood groups, residents, nonprofit organizations, businesses, religious institutions, and community leaders within the diverse communities of L.A. Countys Second Supervisorial District. Community Day Brings South L.A. Together in Love From the moment that Community Day kicked-off on Jan. 19, throngs of people filled the parking lot outside Power of Love Ministries to receive free groceries, clothing, jobs information and health screenings. The 24th annual gathering, hosted by Bishop Edward Turner and members of Power of Love, attracted thousands of residents from neighborhoods surrounding the churchs Manchester and Normandie location in South Los Angeles. The activities included a gospel music stage featuring a range of talented performers along with several vendors such as the Watts Foundation, the Nation of Islam Sister Marketplace, Allmed Medical and Hope for Life, L.A. Department of Transportation and Los Angeles World Airports. Other highlights were a business expo, a prayer breakfast, a youth entrepreneur workshop as well as face painting and a block-long, multilevel slide for children. Explaining why he organized Community Day, Turner said, I think this event is necessary for our communitys viability. Its important that we come together and support one another and find out how we can advance our community at levels that will strengthen our infrastructure and our communication with each other. ADVERTISEMENT Prior to holding daylong event, Turner launched the inaugural Doers Convention on Jan. 17-18 and Jan. 20, to uplift the spiritual health of the community. Pastor Theo Wilkins of Three Oaks Baptist Church of Los Angeles, Pastor Eric Jackson of Power of Love Ministries of Antelope Valley, Margaret Cherrington of Power of Love Ministries of Las Vegas and Apostle Michael Knowles of the Wrecking Crew Church of Los Angeles preached during the worship services. In addition, Jo Evelyn Parker and Pastor Calvin B. Rhone conducted a music symposium. Pleased with the successful turnout, the bishop noted, We plan all year and we did it with a zero budget. I think we had a few thousand over the course of the day, but its not the quantity, its the quality of the event. He added, If I can help one person, my living is not in vain. I have a heart for my people. CLBC Members Kick Off MLK Celebration In Capitol City Gov. Gavin Newsom has been on the job for nearly two weeks and is already dealing with a teacher strike, a utility company that is threatening bankruptcy and the poors inability to access clean drinking water. He also released a budget proposal that would consist of nearly $145 billion in general fund spending. Wildfires, housing, cannabis programs, the criminal justice system, immigration, paying down on debts and retiree pensions were emphasized in his first state budget. ADVERTISEMENT In the midst of various activities surrounding his work, Newsom was able to give remarks at the California Legislative Black Caucus Martin Luther King Jr. Breakfast Celebration. The event was held at the Sacramento Masonic Temple. The Rev. Al Sharpton gave the keynote address. The California Legislative Black Caucus (CLBC) serves as a body to ensure that pressing issues facing Black Americans in California are brought to the forefront of policy and budgetary decisions. Newsom praised the group for its continual work. Newsom said, What you guys have accomplished in the last four or five years is extraordinary. What you guys did should be a point of pride. Its not about the legislature versus the executive. Its about reconciliation that we are all in this together. The issues that concern the Black community and California as a whole were on display and the breakfast celebration in honor of MLKs birthday was a fitting place for the governor and CLBC to solidify their partnership. Newsom said there needs to be a commitment to different levels of engagement to solve social problems. We are the most diverse state in the worlds most diverse democracy. I dont think its a gross exaggeration to say that the world looks to us and every one of you to see that its possible to live together, advance together, and prosper together, Newsom said. Sharpton, who made the trip despite airline delays and the rainy weather, spoke to the audience about the struggles and accomplishments King endured in his 39 years of life. Of the many topics that he discussed, including his thoughts of how the White House is currently running the country, Sharpton reminded the people their role in Kings dream. So, celebrating Dr. King should also be the celebrating the King in you, and the King in you is to fulfill the purpose you are here for whether it makes people comfortable or not, Sharpton said. Dont emulate a King. Be a King. ADVERTISEMENT Sharpton went on to describe exactly what it means to pattern oneself after a man who spent his lifetime fighting social injustice. Being a King means dealing with the 19 percent in poverty. Being a King means youre going to have to deal with the facts in the state of California in 2019 of people getting rashes from taking a bath. Being a King is when youre going to have to question what happened to Stephon Clark a year ago in March, he said. The MLK breakfast was the first event of the year for CLBC. We not only had members from the State Capitol, but we had members from Sacramento and up and down the state, said Assemblywoman Dr. Shirley Weber, 79th District and chair of the CLBC. The fact that we had our governor here, our Secretary of State (Alex Padilla), a Supreme Court justice (Tani Cantil-Sakauye), we also had a cross section of branches focused on King. All of the speakers focused on the issues, social justice, and us working on taking Kings message to our hearts. The program also included a presentation from Padilla. Padilla presented the CLBC with a high-resolution copy of Assembly Bill 2684, authored by Hon. Willie Brown and signed by Gov. Jerry Brown, to observe MLK as a state holiday. Padilla shared the legislative history to get a bill passed to commemorate the Kings birthday as a state holiday. It had been three attempts earlier and each one failed. It meant that the caucus didnt give up. When we put things out there that are not embraced initially, we have the responsibility to keep knocking at that door, said Weber. Chavis Delivers Keynote at Martin Luther King Jr. Celebration Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.s memory continues to inspire a new and up and coming generation of young, bold and courageous freedom fighters throughout the world, said NNPA President and CEO Dr. Benjamin F. Chavis Jr., during a powerful keynote address he delivered on Tuesday, Jan. 15 at Essex County Colleges Annual Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial. Today, in his blessed name, I challenge the youth of America and the youth of the world to rise up, speak out, and to push forward for freedom, justice and equality, said Chavis, a noted civil rights activist who counts among the famed Wilmington 10, who were falsely accused and wrongly convicted in connection with a 1970s firebombing of a grocery store in North Carolina. The firebombing happened as Black high school students protested racial discrimination. ADVERTISEMENT A federal appeals court later overturned the convictions of Chavis and his companions because the prosecutor withheld evidence that would have exonerated the group. Also, the trial judge limited cross-examination of witnesses who received favors for their tainted testimony. The Wilmington 10 received a pardon in 2012 some four decades after their wrongful convictions. These convictions were tainted by naked racism and represent an ugly stain on North Carolinas criminal system that cannot be allowed to stand any longer, said then-Gov. Beverly Purdue, who issued the pardons. Justice demands that this stain finally be removed. Chavis address invigorated the large crowd at Essex Colleges Mary Burch Theater. This is significant that we have as our keynote speaker someone of the stature of Dr. Chavis who has been in the forefront of the Civil Rights movement, Dr. Akil Khalfani, the director of the Africana Institute at Essex County College, said in a statement. With the national holiday honoring King taking place on Monday, Jan. 21, Chavis delivered another keynote address this time in Illinois at the Alpha Phi Alpha Candlelight Vigil. The program took place at the Alice Millar Chapel on the campus of Northwestern University in Evanston and include spoken work artist Timothy Mays. ADVERTISEMENT The fraternity chose Chavis to deliver the keynote, in part, because of his status as NNPA president and CEO, entrepreneur, global business leader, NAACP Life Member, journalist, educator and civil rights leader. The National Newspaper Publishes Association continues to publish in the freedom-fighting tradition of Martin Luther King Jr., said Chavis, who earned a masters degree in Divinity from Duke University and a doctorate from Howard University. I am optimistic today because I know Dr. Kings dream foreshadows the future when every child of God, without racial limitation or discrimination will be able to fulfill their God-given right to the best in education, health care, housing, wealth-sharing, economic progress, family solidarity, and beloved community empowerment. A Taste of Soul Success Story: How Self-Taught Baker Nicole Green Went From Baking in Her Home, to Owning a Mobile Dessert Truck In 2016, CoCos Lip Smacking Cupcakes made its debut appearance at the 11th annual Taste of Soul (TOS) Family Festival with hopes of creating a network opportunities and to introduce the community to her tasty desserts. Nearly two years later, business is booming with plans for expansion! Recently, the Los Angeles Sentinel Newspaper caught up with the woman behind the Black-owned cupcake business, Nicole Green, to discuss her new business ventures. Overall [Taste of Soul] was a crazy day! That was my first big event and we did very well. I made some great contacts, got my name out there, and I received an overwhelming amount of support from the community, expressed Green in regards to her first Taste of Soul. Business has been progressing rapidly since the Taste of Soul event. I have gained a wide variety of new and returning customers as well as expanded my menu. ADVERTISEMENT Prior to Taste of Soul, Green offered a select amount of cupcake flavors as well as custom designed cakes for all occasions. Now, CoCos Lip Smacking Cupcakes offers dipped treats like chocolate covered oreos and strawberries, alcohol infused desserts, custom cake and cupcake toppers. The bakerys newest edition is the smacker which is essentially a cupcake in a jar. I am constantly working to create new and fun additions that will set us apart from the competition, she said. Outside of the kitchen, Green has been focusing on expanding the business with a mobile truck, a goal that came with many challenges. It took a lot of time, money, and prayer, she said. There are so many rules and regulations to own a food truck in Los Angeles County that can sometimes be discouraging. But I knew this was my dream and I refused to give up. All my hard work has paid off because I got my dream truck. The Lip Smacking mobile truck, which serves the LA County area, offers a variety of four cupcake flavors. The more popular flavors are cinnamon toast crunch, red velvet, strawberry, oreo, snickers, and fruity pebbles. Now that Greens vision of owning a mobile truck came into fruition, she is focused on progression and building her brand. ADVERTISEMENT My goal for this year is to grow the food truck, she said. Although I have been in business for about six years now, the food truck is still very new. I want people in every city to support The Lip Smacking Truck. In addition to growing the truck, I am focused on building my brand. I havent decided yet if I want to get a second truck or if I want to open a bakery. For more information on CoCos Lipsmacking Cupcakes or to have the mobile truck cater your next event, please visit www.cocoslipsmackingcupcakes.com This article appears in the January 25, 2019 issue of Executive Intelligence Review. A Mass StrikeFor the Benefit of Mankind [Print version of this article] Jan. 18The surprise protest victory of the Brexit vote in Britain in June 2016 has been followed by uprisings out of nowhere since then: in the election of Donald Trump as U.S. President, the election of what are called populist or nationalist governments in many European countries, the sudden eruption of the yellow vest protests in France that have persisted and shown up in many other countries, and other events such as the emergence of the new Mexican Presidency, resembling the institutional revolutionary Mexican presidents of old. Above all, these are rebellions against economic austerity, against lost livelihoods. They are rebellions to protect productivity and household survival, which have been under attack for decades across Europe and North America. The question in which the Schiller Institute and the political movement of Lyndon and Helga LaRouche are involved, is whether these uprisings will lead to nations acting for the betterment of humanity as a whole; whether these rebellions will rise to a fight for a higher paradigm of human culture and artistic creativity. People enter these protests because they have a sense in this crisis for their livelihoods, that real change is not only urgent, but suddenly possible. We want these actions to lead to improvement in the condition of mankind, to the elimination of poverty, and to the creation of new capabilities. We want them to become not only political, but moral and cultural as well. The Schiller Institute is convening an international conference in February in the United States. Its first session poses the question, Can humanity govern itself to guarantee our existence as a species? Portrait by Alfred Clint, 1829 Percy Shelley A Crisis of Beneficial Innovation Just over 200 years ago, an English teenager with an intense desire to better the condition of mankind by moral and political reform, decided to write a pamphlet which he would distribute as widely as possible by his own efforts. At the center of his pamphlet, the 19-year-old statedand many times restatedan idea, which may never have been expressed by anyone in this way before. The new idea was that a crisisin that case, of a nations constitution cancelled and a peoples self-government stolencould cause an improvement in the thinking and feelings, even the morality, of large numbers of people, turning their thoughts toward the benefit of their fellow human beings even more than their own. A people so moved would not then know what to do to solve the crisis, but would want to act to benefit their nation and even all of humanity. A crisis is now arriving which shall decide your fate, the young man announced to the population to whom he addressed the pamphlet: Man cannot make occasions, but he may seize those that offer. None are more interesting to Philanthropy than those which excite the benevolent passions that generalize and expand private into public feelings, and make the hearts of individuals vibrate not merely for themselves, their families and their friends, but for posterity, for a people, till their country becomes the world and their family, the sensitive creation. . . . I perceive that the public interest is excited; I perceive that individual interest has, in a certain degree, quitted individual concern to generalize itself with universal feeling. . . . A benevolent and disinterested feeling has gone abroad, and I am willing that it should never subside. I desire that means should be taken with energy and expedition, in this important yet fleeting crisis, to feed the unpolluted flame at which nations and ages may light the torch of Liberty and Virtue! (Address to the Irish People and Postscript, 1812) The pamphleteer made it clear that he was talking about a crisis in itself uplifting popular morality: The crisis to which I allude as the period of your emancipation, is not the death of the present king, or anything which has to do with kings; it is the increase of virtue and wisdom which will lead people to find out that force and oppression is wrong and false; and this crisis, once it gains ground, will prevent government from severity. It will restore those rights which government has taken away. This teenager was Percy Shelley, famous now for his poetry. In the eleven years of life then remaining to him, he would write some of the most passionate and best known poems in the English language, such as the Ode to the West Wind, Ode to a Skylark, The Masque of Anarchy, Hymn to Intellectual Beauty, Ode to Liberty, Triumph of Life, and the bold play in verse, Prometheus Unbound. In 1812 young Percy Shelley was a pamphleteer who intervened and spoke at political meetings, a trumpeter of the American Revolution, but also influenced by the English Whig enlightenment of Charles Fox and William Godwin, which was a reaction to Americas Revolution. But he had a fundamentally new idea, unknown to such skeptical circles. This was, that a crisis of the European monarchies and aristocracies triggered by the American War of Independence, was increasing the potential intelligence and creativity of the populations of Europe and making themfor a brief political moment better people. As for poetry, then it was just one of his many hobbies, which also included conducting Benjamin Franklins electrical experiments and trying to make contact with ghosts. The teenage poems he had written were juvenile spoofs, or gestures of dislike for authority. Yet in the 1812 pamphlet that he hawked for two months in the streets of Dublin and Derry and at mass meetingsaided by his servant Daniel Hill and several contacts, and surveilled even then by British intelligence officersone could see him expressing what he would express in the searing stanzas of the famous Masque of Anarchy seven years later: Are you slaves, or are you men? If slaves, then crouch to the rod, and lick the feet of your oppressors, glory in your shame; it will become you, if brutes, to act according to your nature. But you are men. A real man is free, so far as circumstances will permit him. Then firmly, yet quietly, resist. When one cheek is struck, turn the other to the insulting coward. The discussion of any subject is a right that you have brought into the world with your heart and tongue. Resign your hearts blood before you part with this inestimable privilege of man. For it is fit that the governed should inquire into the proceedings of Government. (Address to the Irish People and Postscript) Portrait by Benjamin Haydon, 1846 Leigh Hunt The Postscript introduced a Proposal for the Formation of an Association of Philanthropists. This was the first of ten pamphlets Shelley would write and attempt to put out between 1812 and 1820, including four before his 22nd birthday. His attempts to form a political groupor as he preferred it, a philanthropical and philosophical associationbore no fruit at all in his short lifetime. His strong criticisms of the Church of England made him notorious in the British press and with the government; he became an exile in Italy; survived at least one assassination attempt there by a British army officer; helped establish two journals of art and politics edited by the literary rebel Leigh Hunt; and died when his boat sank in a storm in the Bay of Naples after being rammed under circumstances never explained. But during his few years, Shelley continued to disseminate his idea that a political crisis could take the form of new powers of thinking in the members of a large population. One aspect of what he meant was the increased power of imagination, making possible appreciation of other peoples needs and benevolence toward them. As his few years went on, he identified this power of creative and loving imagination more and more with the art of poetry. Percy Shelley in 1812 was intervening in mass meetings in Ireland over the issue of Catholic emancipation from the proscription of the Catholic religion by the British. He clearly thought the real source of this crisis was the British suppression of Irelands 1782 republican Constitution and British imposition of the 1801 Act of Union which forced Ireland back under the caprices of what was called British law. Therefore in the Appeal, he constantly stressed the consent of the governed in government. But above all, the pamphlet called on Irish people to lift up their thinking, improve the morality of their actions. I look with an eye of hope and pleasure on the present state of things, gloomy and incapable of improvement as they may appear to others. It delights me to see that men begin to think and to act for the good of others. . . . It is in vain to hope for any liberty and happiness without reason and virtue. . . . It is this work which I would earnestly recommend to you, O Irishmen: REFORM YOURSELVES . . . You can in no measure more effectually advance the cause of reform, than by employing your leisure time in reasoning, or the cultivation of your minds. Think, and talk, and discuss. The only subjects you ought to propose are those of happiness and liberty. Be free and be happy, but first be wise and good. I earnestly desire . . . that Protestants and Catholics unite in a common interest, and that whatever be the belief and principles of your countryman and fellow sufferer, you desire to benefit his cause at the same time that you vindicate your own. I look forward, then, to the redress of both these grievances; or rather, I perceive the state of the public mind that precedes them, as a crisis of beneficial innovation. And of the new association he was trying to form, Shelley wrote: That it should be an association for diffusing knowledge and virtue throughout the poorer classes of society in Ireland, for co-operating with any enlightened system of education, for discussing topics calculated to throw light on any methods of alleviation of moral and political evil, and as far as lies in its power, interesting itself in whatever occasions may arise for benefiting mankind. Within four months Shelley had written a Declaration of Rights (printed in Dublin) and then a pamphlet for freedom of the press, attacking the Lord Chief Justice, A Letter to Lord Ellenborough occasioned by the sentence which he passed on Mr. D.I. Eaton as publisher of the third part of Thomas Paines Age of Reason. This pamphlet was printed in London, but then confiscated by the printer, who was made afraid of the political statements in it. Shelley was able to salvage and distribute only 150 copies. The following year, 1813, he published a pamphlet against the death penalty, On the Punishment of Death. The Pamphleteer as a Poet But by 1815 Shelley was composing poetry of great strength and beauty expressing the potential of sudden growth in the power of human reason. That year he wrote the Hymn to Intellectual Beauty, which begins, The awful shadow of some unseen Power Floats, though unseen, among us . . . and whose final stanzas are so moving. Often a writer starts composing such a poem, with the thought by which it will end. The Hymn ends with this: The day becomes more solemn and serene When noon is pastthere is a harmony In autumn, and a lustre in its sky, Which through the summer is not heard or seen, As if it could not be, as if it had not been! Thus let thy power, which like the truth Of nature on my passive youth Descended, to my onward life supply Its calmto one who worships thee And every form containing thee, Whom, spirit fair, thy spells did bind To fear himself, and love all humankind. The final line is a surprise; a reader or listener did not expect that thought, but it belongs there. Whether the spirit Shelley is invoking here is poetry, or simply his idea of beauty as the growing power of thought and imagination in human beings, the thought of it makes him fear his own selfishness and rather love the good of humanity. It is still the idea of An Address to the Irish People. That Shelley could speak so naturally while using a very complex stanza form of poetry (known as the Spenser stanza), showed that now he was a master whenever his poetry was passionately inspired by his philosophy. By 1816, though Shelley kept writing pamphlets, no printer would take them from such a publicly notorious figure amid the officially reactionary policies of the period of the Congress of Vienna. But he could get at least some of his poetry published, and so developed the art of lengthy prefaces to major poems, which continued the appeals to the public of the pamphlets. One subject of his epic-length poem The Revolt of Islam was clearly the disastrous failure of the French Revolution to follow the upward path of the American War of Independence. (This title was a nonsensical effort by Shelleys publisher, Charles Ollier and Sons, to hide the poems content from censors; the poet had called it Laon and Cythna.) Its first canto opened with the struggle between Zeus and Prometheus. In its Preface, Shelley wrote he believed the populations of Europe were shaking off the depression among intellectuals caused by the French Revolutions terrible failure. He wrote that the poem is an experiment on the temper of the public mind, as to how far a thirst for a happier condition of moral and political society survives . . . the tempests which have shaken the age in which we live. . . . It is a succession of images illustrating the growth and progress of individual mind aspiring after excellence, and devoted to the love of mankind. And the Preface to Prometheus Unbound, written in 1818-19 but not published until 1820, included the first of several statements by Shelleyas we will seethat poetry is merely the herald of changes for the better in the minds of large numbers of people, brought on by political crisis: The great writers of our own age are, we have reason to suppose, the companions and forerunners of some unimagined change in our social condition, or the opinions which cement it. The cloud of mind is discharging its collected lightening, and the equilibrium between opinions and institutions is now restoring, or is about to be restored. The endings of many of Shelleys best poems express the same urgent desire as the Hymn to Intellectual Beauty, that his appeal to embrace the good of others should be understood by millions, through an increased power of reason among humanity. They end in a way both natural and surprising. There is the Ode to a Skylark: Teach me half the gladness That thy brain must know, Such harmonious madness From my lips would flow The world should listen thenas I am listening now. And one of the best-known final lines in all of English poetry concludes the Ode to the West Wind: Make me thy lyre, even as the forest is: What if my leaves are falling like its own! The tumult of thy mighty harmonies Will take from both a deep, autumnal tone, Sweet though in sadness. Be thou, Spirit fierce, My spirit! Be thou me, impetuous one! Drive my dead thoughts over the universe Like withered leaves to quicken a new birth! And, by the incantation of this verse, Scatter, as from an unextinguished hearth Ashes and sparks, my words among mankind! Be through my lips to unawakened earth The trumpet of a prophecy! O wind, If Winter comes, can Spring be far behind? Many people who may never have read a poem of Shelleys, repeat this last line as an aphorism, by which they mean something may be coming which is at the same time expected, hoped for, and yet also surprising. Nor does this mean that the line has been made crude by common use; it is just the way Shelley meant it, and would have wished that it be used by millions of people. A Philosophical View of Reform When he wrote Ode to the West Wind, Ode to a Skylark, The Masque of Anarchy and Prometheus Unbound in 1819-20, Shelley was still writing political pamphlets; his most interesting by far is A Philosophical View of Reform of 1819. Notes for both Ode to the West Wind, The Masque of Anarchy, and Prometheus Unbound are found on the original manuscript on which he was writing A Philosophical View of Reform. It appears that he wrote the pamphlet and The Masque of Anarchy very rapidly, almost simultaneously. The Philosophical View is one of the most extraordinary political works never publishedno one would print it for the notorious atheist poet, and it was only first printed a century after Shelleys death, in a collection. In it, the poet presented a detailed, accurate and scathing analysis of the effects upon the British economy and people, of the 1694 creation of the Bank of England, the earlier creation of the British East India Company, and of more than a century of resulting massive speculation in the countrys debt, with the creation of both ruinous taxation and masses of paper currency solely to support that speculation. He called it the creation of a second (financial, speculating) aristocracy by the first (landed, titled) aristocracy, with the latters borrowings from the former paid off by working to death the poor, the industrial workers, and their children. Anyone who has read, for example, about the causes of the mass death and emigration of the Irish peasantry in the years after Shelley wrote, knows that his description and forecast were precisely correct. Shelleys program in this pamphlet included the gradual cancellation of the British so-called public debt; regulations to limit hours and fairly reward adult labor and to end child labor; and parliamentary (electoral) reform. He wrote: Labour and skill and the immediate wages of labour and skill is a property of the most sacred and indisputable right. . . . And the right of a man to property in the exertion of his own bodily and mental faculties, or to the produce and free reward from that exertion, is the most inalienable of rights. A Philosophical View also included a blistering attack on Thomas Malthus and Malthusianism, and on the Private Vices, Public Benefits ideology then popular through Adam Smith and other British East India Company writers, claiming that the good of society resulted solely from individuals greedy pursuit of riches and pleasures. And it contained a full vindication of the American Revolution, with this statement which would come at that time only from Shelley: The just and successful Revolt of America corresponded with a state of public opinion in Europe of which it was the first result (emphasis added). But the most interesting part of the pamphlet was its second chapter, On the Sentiment of the Necessity of Changethe obsession and story of Percy Shelleys life! Here in 1819, for the first time in a pamphlet, Shelley identified this mass sentiment of the necessity of change, with poetrywhich, he meant to make clear, is not produced only by poets. This unique idea was repeated two years later in his article A Defence of Poetry, which is much better known although it, too, was never published until well after Shelleys death. But here in A Philosophical View of Reform this thought stands out like a sudden bombshell in the midst of a long and trenchant political and economic discussion: For the most unfailing herald, or companion, or follower of an universal employment of the sentiments of a nation to the production of beneficial change, is poetry, meaning by poetry an intense and impassioned power of communicating intense and impassioned impressions respecting man and nature. The persons in whom this power takes its abode may often, as far as regards many portions of their nature, have little tendency [to] the spirit of good of which it is the minister. But although they may deny and abjure, they are yet compelled to serve that which is seated on the throne of their own soul. And whatever systems they may [have] professed to support, they actually advance the interest of Liberty. It is impossible to read the productions of our most celebrated writers . . . without being startled by the electric life which there is in their words. They measure the circumference or sound the depths of human nature with a comprehensive and all-penetrating spirit at which they are themselves perhaps most sincerely astonished, for it is less their own spirit than the spirit of their age. They are the priests of an unapprehended inspiration, the mirrors of gigantic shadows which futurity casts upon the present; the words which express what they conceive not; the trumpet which sings to battle and feels not what it inspires; the influence which is moved not but moves. Poets and philosophers are the unacknowledged legislators of the world. . . . Is there not in England a desire of change arising from the profound sentiment of the exceeding inefficiency of the existing institutions to provide for the physical and intellectual happiness of the people? It is proposed in this work (1) to state and examine the present condition of this desire, (2) to elucidate its causes and its object, (3) to then show the practicability and utility, nay, the necessity of change, (4) to examine the state of parties as regards it, and (5) to state the probable, the possible, and the desirable mode in which it should be accomplished. Two circumstances arrest the attention of those who turn their regard to the present political condition of the English nationfirst, that there is an almost universal sentiment of the approach of some change to be wrought in the institutions of the government; and secondly, the necessity and desirableness of such a change. View full size Cartoon by George Cruikshank, 1819 The Masque of Anarchy Shelleys writing of this pamphlet was interrupted by his learning of an attack by British cavalry on a demonstration of some 80,000 people for reform of parliamentary representation, near Manchester, England, on Aug. 16, 1819. This savagery became known as the Peterloo Massacre, as murderous as the massacres in India for which British armed forces became notorious. Reportedly in great anger, Shelley rapidly wrote The Masque of Anarchy. It was as if he had begun to rewrite the pamphlet, but with much greater power and passion, in this amazing poem. The Masque begins in images of an England ruled by bloody Anarchy, its God and king and law worshipped by all the leaders of the two aristocracies just skewered in the pamphlet, and erupting in brutal and murderous force only to maintain Anarchy as king. The government ministers whom the poet caricatures, like Castlereagh, become the ministers of Anarchy, cheered and worshipped and fed with the hearts of the people. And then arises, first, the faint mist of hope; and somethingwhat? With step as soft as wind it passed Over the heads of menso fast That they knew the presence there, And looked,but all was empty air. As flowers beneath Mays footstep waken, As stars from Nights loose hair are shaken, As waves arise when loud winds call, Thoughts sprung whereer that step did fall. Thoughts! Reason rising among the population. This is Shelley of the crisis of beneficial innovation. Then arises a song to the men of England. If Anarchy is dead, its antidote is Liberty. What is freedom? Ye can tell that which slavery is, too welland these stanzas repeat and intensify the riot of debt-speculation and poverty described in A Philosophical View of Reform, and repeat Shelleys lifelong urging against violent protest. Freedom is bread, clothes, fire, food, Justice, Wisdom, Peace, Love. Science, poetry and thought are thy lamps. The song to the men of England moves on to its invocation to non-violent action by every part of the population, holding each others welfare in common, and concludes the poem: Let a great Assembly be Of the fearless and the free On some spot of English ground Where the plains stretch wide around. Let the blue sky overhead, The green earth on which ye tread, All that must eternal be, Witness the solemnity. From the corners uttermost Of the bounds of English coast, From every hut, village and town Where those who live and suffer moan For others misery or their own, From the workhouse and the prison Where pale as corpses newly risen, Women, children, young and old Groan for pain, and weep for cold From the haunts of daily life Where is waged the daily strife With common wants and common cares Which sows the human heart with tares Lastly from the palaces Where the murmur of distress Echoes, like the distant sound Of a wind alive around Those prison halls of wealth and fashion, Where some few feel such compassion For those who groan, and toil, and wail As must make their brethren pale Ye who suffer woes untold, Or to feel, or to behold Your lost country bought and sold With a price of blood and gold Let a vast assembly be, And with great solemnity Declare with measured words that ye Are, as God has made ye, free Be your strong and simple words Keen to wound as sharpened swords, And wide as targets let them be, With their shade to cover ye. Let the tyrants pour around With a quick and startling sound Like the loosening of a sea, Troops of armed emblazonry. Let the charged artillery drive Till the dead air seems alive With the clash of clanging wheels, And the tramp of horses heels. Let the fixed bayonet Gleam with sharp desire to wet Its bright point in English blood Looking keen as one for food. Let the horsemens scimitars Wheel and flash, like sphereless stars Thirsting to eclipse their burning In a sea of death and mourning. Stand ye calm and resolute, Like a forest close and mute, With folded arms and looks which are Weapons of unvanquished war, And let Panic, who outspeeds The career of armed steeds Pass, a disregarded shade Through your phalanx undismayed. Let the laws of your own land, Good or ill, between ye stand Hand to hand, and foot to foot, Arbiters of the dispute, The old laws of Englandthey Whose reverend heads with age are gray, Children of a wiser day; And whose solemn voice must be Thine own echoLiberty! On those who first should violate Such sacred heralds in their state Rest the blood that must ensue, And it will not rest on you. And if then the tyrants dare Let them ride among you there, Slash, and stab, and maim, and hew, What they like, that let them do. With folded arms and steady eyes, And little fear, and less surprise, Look upon them as they slay Till their rage has died away. Then they will return with shame To the place from which they came, And the blood thus shed will speak In hot blushes on their cheek. Every woman in the land Will point at them as they stand They will hardly dare to greet Their acquaintance in the street. And the bold, true warriors Who have hugged Danger in wars Will turn to those who would be free, Ashamed of such base company. And that slaughter to the Nation Shall steam up like inspiration, Eloquent, oracular; A volcano heard afar. And these words shall then become Like Oppressions thundered doom Ringing through each heart and brain, Heard againagainagain Rise like Lions after slumber In unvanquishable number Shake your chains to earth like dew Which in sleep had fallen on you Ye are manythey are few. There may have been no earlier instance in an English-speaking country, in which the action of non-violent civil disobedience was narrated, and the spontaneous shaming and discrediting precisely forecast, by which it would achieve its effect, as later seen in Indias independence struggle and Americas civil rights movement, for example. The Foundry Painter, ca.490-480 BCE The Masque has a characteristic that Gotthold Lessing ascribed to Homers Iliad, giving the example of the shield that Hephaestus, god of fire and the forge, made for Achilles. Homer did not describe what the great bronze shield looked like on Achilles arm; instead he told in rich detail how Hephaestus had forged it. The Masque is poetry of action, mental and physical, not description. Shelley wrote in the Prometheus Unbound Preface, written just after this: The imagery which I have employed will be found, in many instances, to have been drawn from the operations of the human mind, or from those external actions by which they are expressed. This is unusual in modern poetry. The stanzas have a simple ballad form, and like a ballad, the poem never stumbles or slows. The rhyming is completely persistent yet becomes almost imperceptible, because the flow of thought and speech rushes and rolls right through it, completely uncontrolled by the rhyme; it adds impulses to the readers thoughts rather than pausing them. The verse is extremely musical like that of Milton and Shakespeare. Shelleys poetry is not always so; but when inspired by his passion for justice and liberty, it has a great power. Having heard The Masque of Anarchy, you will call it up when you think of doing something for intellectual beauty, for humanity. Shelley immediately sent the Masque to his friend Leigh Hunt for publication in The Examiner, one of the magazines Shelley had supported. But the rebel Hunt, who had been imprisoned before for his publishing, this time lost his nerve. I did not insert it, he wrote in a preface when he finally published it thirteen years later, because I thought that the public at large had not become sufficiently discerning to do justice to the sincerity and kind-heartedness of the spirit that walked in this flaming robe of verse. By late 1819 the only people who wanted to publish Shelley were several leaders of the English Chartists, the very workers movement which had called the demonstration which was attacked in the Peterloo Massacre at Manchester. Among that movement some of Shelleys earlier poetry was widely read, discussed and used as an impulse for political reform. This was particularly true of his youthful poem Queen Mab, written about the same time as An Appeal to the Irish People. In fact, his pamphlet for a free press, Letter to Lord Ellenborough, suppressed by its printer in 1812, was partly reprinted by the Chartists as a preface to Queen Mab, and circulated widely among them. It is interesting to think what would have been the effect on the Chartist movement had Leigh Hunt published The Masque of Anarchy in 1819 immediately after the Peterloo Massacre. Their leaders would have become aware of it and would have found a way for its mass printing and circulation, as they had with Queen Maband as they did with selected stanzas of The Masque of Anarchy, but only in the 1840s. This is not to pass judgement on the Chartists, except as that they were mass workingmens movement for constitutional reform, and to consider here what they might have become with access to the full power of ideas in Shelleys writings, rather than just snatches of a few of his ideas. Shelleys final prose writing in 1821, A Defence of Poetry, was accepted by the magazine, Olliers Literary Miscellany, as the first part of a reply to Thomas Peacocks article, The Four Ages of Poetry. Ironically, Peacock, a former friendly acquaintance of Shelley and amateur poet, had chosen a career with that colonial looting army known as the British East India Company, and now wrote about how the utilitarian age of the early 19th century had no different use for poetry than for jewelry or other adornments. The magazine folded before it could run Shelleys Defence, so it too was not published until well after his death, and the planned second and third parts of it were never written. Nevertheless, its influence has steadily grown since its publication in 1840. The central tenet of the Defence is that poetry, and the ability to experience its intellectual beauty, is the cause of human benevolence and morality. Great poets never write poems as lessons in particular morality, but the increased power of imagination with which poetry resonates in a population, is the cause of greater love for humanity: The great secret of morals is love, or a going out of our own nature, and an identification of ourselves with the beautiful which exists in thought, action, or person not our own. A man, to be greatly good, must imagine intensely and comprehensively; he must put himself in the place of another and of many others; the pains and pleasures of his species must become his own. The great instrument of moral good is the imagination; and poetry ministers to this effect, by acting upon its cause. . . . Poetry strengthens that faculty which is the organ of the moral nature of man, in the same manner that exercise strengthens a limb. Shelley concluded the article with the same statement made in the Philosophical View of Reform of the elevated receptivity to poetic beauty in a people going through dramatic political change, and in the writers themselves who create that beauty. There are slight differences two years later; for example, now simply poets rather than philosophers and poets are the unacknowledged legislators of the world. In the Defence Shelley pronounced the truest philosophers, and specifically Plato, to be among the greatest poets. This illustrates the development of his view that poetic beauty is actually a mutual, or universal creation of an aroused population and its best thinkers. Most importantly, he now gave priority to the increased potential imaginative power of a great people in a political crisis, as being the cause of new and beneficial ideas, rather than defining poetry, which strengthened that power, as being that power itself: The most unfailing herald, companion, and follower of the awakening of a great people to work a beneficial change in opinion or institution, is Poetry. At such periods there is an accumulation of the power of communicating and receiving intense and impassioned conceptions respecting man and nature. The persons in whom this power resides may often, as far as regards many portions of their nature, have little apparent correspondence with that spirit of good of which they are the ministers. But even whilst they deny and abjure, they are yet compelled to serve the Power which is seated upon the throne of their own soul. It is impossible to read the compositions of the most celebrated writers of the present day without being startled with the electric life which burns within their words. They measure the circumference and sound the depths of human nature with a comprehensive and all-penetrating spirit, and they are themselves perhaps the most sincerely astonished at its manifestations, for it is less their spirit than the spirit of the age. Poets are the hierophants of an unapprehended inspiration; the mirrors of the gigantic shadows which futurity casts upon the present; the words which express what they understand not; the trumpets which sing to battle and feel not what they inspire; the influence which is moved not, but moves. Poets are the unacknowledged legislators of the world. CC BY-SA 3.0 DE Rosa Luxemburg, in 1915. Political Mass Strike About a century later, at the time of World War I, a young Polish revolutionary, Rosa Luxemburg, discovered the same idea Shelley had discovered. She called the rise in popular intelligence and morality in a crisis, the political mass strike. As befits human intellectual progress, Rosa Luxemburg improved upon Shelley, by describing very precisely what characterizes such a genuine uprising of popular creativity, and what distinguishes it from mere periods of unrest or public anger. The breakthrough by the pamphleteer/poet was being scientifically advanced and filled out. Another fifty years later, in 1967, the American economist and philosopher Lyndon LaRouche, knowing well both Shelleys and Luxemburgs ideas of a mass strike, employed his own ideas to start building an extraordinary political and cultural movement. LaRouche, for example, wrote a pamphlet, The Third Stage of Imperialism, which he initially circulated, with the help of a half-dozen of his students, at a huge protest in New York Citys Central Park against the Vietnam War, and afterwards at other student protests. The pamphlets central idea was that the mass student ferment against that wara British imperial project foisted on the United States to ruin itshould be transformed into a mass movement for the economic advancement and development of underdeveloped countries. Already then, the Third World was becoming a cheap-labor re-location for some European and U.S. industries, a phenomenon of deindustrialization described and denounced, probably for the first time, by LaRouche at that moment. The student protesters were becoming alienated from the American working population, which already then was facing the start of a series of currency and financial crises; yet the students were open at the same time to the highest ideas and most important missions in life. EIRNS EIRNS During the late 1960s LaRouches idea of a political mass strike was much sharper than Shelleys. He insisted thatand described howthe Vietnam War tragedy, combined with the developing financial crises and deindustrialization, were changing Americans powers of comprehension and impelling a thinking group of youth among them, to act. But there was also the danger that people could potentially be driven by crisis against each otherstudent protesters against unions and other working peoplein the direction of fascist radicalization. LaRouches Campaigner magazine explained exactly how that could happenwith Wall Streets manipulationin order to successfully fight that manipulation, and move to a higher level in which those Americans could go to each others support and embrace each others benefit. LaRouches small forces organized strike support actions bringing strikes and protests backing from other parts of the American population, showing that a political crisis could impel different groups within populations potentially to see the benefit of the others, and to act for it. They could even see the benefit of others in the world, such as the underdeveloped nationsif the policy ideas were circulated among them which made such common human benefit clear. And it was necessary, LaRouche emphasized immediately, that the instigators of such beneficial change should commit themselves to the intellectual power that comes from love of beauty and love of humanity. LaRouche debated with his own students that it was essential they immerse themselves in the music of Bach, Mozart, Beethoven, Brahms and discard the 1960s pop-rot they still tended to prefer. The performance of beautiful music and poetry gradually became a universal hallmark of his movement. Through large student strikes at Columbia University and the University of Pennsylvania and a long and controversial strike of New York City teachers, the truth of this strike support or mass strike idea was shown and LaRouches political movement grew, especially among university graduate students. During the 1968 student strike at Columbia University, LaRouche personally, briefly dominated the educational process among its student body; his associates had similar effect in other university student strikes. The method of anticipating dramatic and apparently sudden changes for the better in peoples ability to think, was shown to work. LaRouche had accurately forecast the currency crises of the late 1960s and the resulting 1971 breakup of the post-War Bretton Woods monetary system. And in the political shockwave caused by President Richard Nixons ending the Bretton Woods gold reserve system, LaRouche defeated a leading liberal academic economist in a public debate on the policies causing that crisis. LaRouches influence and movement leapt upward. CC In his writings, classes and speeches in the decades since then, Lyndon LaRouche has repeatedly cited Percy Shelleys 1821 article, A Defence of Poetry, testifying to the power of this mass strike idea; and has quoted particularly the articles concluding statement as to what poetry is, and what a crisis in human thinking is: The most unfailing herald, companion, and follower of the awakening of a great people to work a beneficial change in opinion or institution, is poetry. At such periods there is an accumulation of the power of communicating and receiving the most intense and impassioned conceptions respecting man and nature. It is up to those who know the power of LaRouches ideas, to make this a crisis of beneficial innovation. LAist only exists with reader support. If you're in a position to give, your donation powers our reporters and keeps us independent. Our reporting is free for everyone, but its not free to make. Start your day with LAist Sign up for the Morning Brief, delivered weekdays. Subscribe Los Angeles County has 88 cities, and KPCC/LAist plans to explore them all. We're recruiting listeners and readers to take us to the neighborhoods they live in and love. From Long Beach to Lancaster, follow our journey here and on the radio with Take Two. Here's your guide to... GLENDALE: A CITY OF OPPOSITES Like many parts of Southern California, Native Americans first called the land home before Spanish settlers took over. Photograph of a radial-engine airplane outside the Grand Central Airport in Glendale. (California Historical Society/USC Libraries Special Collections) It wasn't until 1884 that the city got its name. Then in the 1920s, it developed Grand Central Air Terminal, one of the the most important sites in America for the development of planes and air travel. At the same time, the population took off, transforming Glendale into a sleepy bedroom community for L.A. For a long period, it was also very white and, unfortunately, very racist. "We did have sunset laws -- unwritten sunset laws," said longtime resident Alicia Lloreda. It was also known as being a "sundown town," meaning that minorities -- mostly blacks -- were not allowed to be on the streets after sundown. On top of that, it was selected to be the West Coast headquarters of the American Nazi Party in 1964 (they moved out in 1966). But the city's demographics and values started to change in the early 1970s when migrants from Iran, Cuba, Korea and other countries were able to move in. Alicia Lloreda, photographed outside of her home in Glendale. Alicia has lived in the city since 1968 and has seen many positive changes over the years. (James Bernal for LAist) Armenian immigrants led that wave (even though decades before, some were not seen as "white enough" to escape discrimination), and now nearly 3 in 10 people identify as non-white, according to the 2010 Census. Today, Glendale is the third largest city by population in the county behind Los Angeles and Long Beach. It bustles with big industries, hosting the headquarters for DreamWorks Animation and Disney Consumer Products, along with regional offices for Whole Foods and IHOP, to name a few. It's also a powerhouse shopping area that includes the Americana and the Galleria. OUR GUIDE: LITTY MATHEW Litty Mathew, cofounder of Greenbar in DTLA and longtime resident of Glendale, photographed at her home in Glendale, on December 21, 2018 in Glendale, Los Angeles, California. (James Bernal for KPCC) (James Bernal) Years lived in the city: 24 years What led her here: When she was a USC student, her friend Melkon Khosrovian convinced Mathew to move to Glendale. "He claimed it was the best place to live," she said. "Now I understand he had some ulterior motives!" Mathew and Khorsrovian later married, and are co-founders of Greenbar Distillery in downtown L.A. "Glendale is this vibrant and, I would say, cosmopolitan and energetic city," she told KPCC's Take Two. EXPLORING THE CITY (Map created by Angie Quintaro) 1. BRAND PARK HIKING TRAIL Glendale may be a big city, but it embraces both its urban and undeveloped sides. "I love my town's proximity to nature but with sweeping views of its downtown," said Mathew. She suggests starting at the 31-acre Brand Park and taking a trail that leads up to the hillside overlooking the Valley. 2. DISCOVER ARMENIAN CULTURE ALONG ARTSAKH AVENUE One block east of the Glendale Americana is Artsakh Avenue, a street once known as Maryland Avenue that went through a name change last fall. Artsakh is a region mostly populated by Armenians, and the avenue's new name is a tribute to the large Armenian population that also calls Glendale home. Formerly known as Maryland Avenue, this two block portion of street in Glendale was recently renamed to Artsakh Avenue, in honor of Glendale's Armenian community. (James Bernal for LAist) They make up the largest ethnic group in the city, and Glendale has the biggest concentration of them in the U.S. outside of Armenia. "There are a lots of businesses that cater to Armenians and those who love Armenian things," Mathew said. Stop by Urartu Coffee for a coffee or tea. Owner Urik Ghazalian features the work of Armenian artists on the walls, and welcomes local musicians occasionally. Urik Ghazalian, owner of Urartu Coffee, an Armenian-owned cafe on Artsakh Avenue, photographed on Dec. 21, 2018 in Glendale. (James Bernal for LAist) Urartu also hosts coffee readings, where people like Ani Carla Kalafian will study the grounds at the bottom of finished cup to foretell people's futures. Then grab dinner at Raffi's Place just off Artsakh Avenue for Persian cuisine like soltani kabob and ghormesabzi, before stopping by Abril Books to pick up some Armenian reading or gifts for home. Also coming to the area will be the Armenian American Museum, which breaks ground at Central Park Paseo in 2020. It will educate the public on the story of Armenians, while also being a center for people to learn about their culture's own history. A rendering of the upcoming Armenian American Museum, scheduled to break ground in Glendale in 2020. (Alajajian Marcoosi Architects/Armenian American Museum) "We will have a world-class cultural and educational center," said the museum's development director Shant Sahakian. 3. WHERE TO SOCIALIZE AND SHOP The Americana on Dec. 21, 2018 in Glendale. (James Bernal for LAist) Glendale is no longer just a sleepy, bedroom community. While some neighborhoods are still on the quieter side, the city's bustling downtown attracts people from all over the Southland. Brand Boulevard is the epicenter of it all, with millions each year stopping by the indoor mall, The Galleria, and the mixed-use shopping complex The Americana. "The thing is, I remember this corner and it didn't look like this when I moved here in 1995," said Mathew. "There used to be smaller businesses here and parking lots, of course." But she said that there are still many small shops and restaurants nearby worth visiting. Tucked away in a shopping center is Khinkali House. Formerly known as Tumanyan Khinkali Factory, it specializes in dumplings from Georgia (the country) that the late Jonathan Gold called "your latest obsession." You can also catch a show at the iconic Alex Theatre, which many see as "the Glendale beacon," according to Mathew. The Alex Theatre in Glendale. (James Bernal for LAist) "It used to be a movie theatre, but now it's a refurbished theatre for concerts, shows and plays," she said. To taste a different side of Armenian cuisine, there's Carousel Restaurant. While Raffi's has Persian Armenian specialties that focus more on rice, Carousel has Lebanese Armenian dishes that tend to be more bread-oriented. Many different cultures call Glendale home, too, and Mathew said that you can see that in the places to get cakes and pastries. "It is the city of bakeries!" she said. Try the famous guava and cheese strudel at Porto's Bakery and Cafe, a powerhouse chain started by a Cuban family. A Swedish couple runs Berolina Bakery, where you can get your loved ones some vaniljhjartan, or Swedish custard hearts. There's also Village French Bakery, tucked away in the cute walkable area called Kenneth Village. MORE TO LOVE ABOUT GLENDALE The Museum of Neon Art - This museum has preserved some iconic neon signs and works from Southern California's past, while also featuring some of the best contemporary artists. The ceramics sale at Glendale Community College - The campus inspired the critically-acclaimed NBC sitcom Community, but Mathew especially loves it for its ceramics sale. The twice-a-year event features affordable works by students, and the proceeds go back towards classes. See the first links in the chains - The city is where Bob's Big Boy opened its first location ever in 1936. Baskin-Robbins was also founded in Glendale. So were the world's first Panda Express and Disney Store, both at The Galleria. LAist only exists with reader support. If you're in a position to give, your donation powers our reporters and keeps us independent. Start your day with LAist Sign up for the Morning Brief, delivered weekdays. Subscribe On the day Los Angeles Unified School District teachers went on strike, Mayor Eric Garcetti suggested resolving the dispute might require a small "leap of faith" by school district officials. By that, Garcetti meant it might require LAUSD officials to commit to spend more on the contract demands of the teachers union, United Teachers Los Angeles, even if they didn't yet know where the funding would come from. Two days later, the mayor announced his staff would broker new talks between UTLA and LAUSD at City Hall. Over five days of negotiations -- including a 21-hour, all-night session from Monday into Tuesday -- the parties hammered out a tentative contract agreement. Over a three-and-a-half year contract term, LAUSD officials agreed to spend more money to gradually meet several key UTLA demands: reducing class sizes and hiring more support staff. District officials say, though, that the deal will hinge on all three parties -- LAUSD, UTLA and the Mayor's Office -- finding new streams of funding for the school district. The cost of the new agreement really ramps up starting in 2021. If the district can't find new sources of revenue by 2020, both LAUSD and city officials have said the deal would likely have to be revisited. In other words, Garcetti's "leap of faith" is part of that agreement. On Wednesday morning, after Garcetti read to students in a transitional kindergarten class at Elysian Heights Elementary, KPCC/LAist sat down with Garcetti to discuss the deal. L.A. Mayor Eric Garcetti (center) reads to transitional kindergarten students at Elysian Heights Elementary School on the first day back in regular classes for United Teachers Los Angeles union members after a six-day strike, Wednesday, Jan. 23, 2019. (Photo by Kyle Stokes/KPCC) KPCC/LAist has condensed the mayor's answers below, editing for length and clarity. Quote from this readout with caution. KPCC/LAist: Before the strike, there was a question of whether you were going to get involved in the negotiations. You offered to host the talks at City Hall, but the union and the district declined at first. What was the turning point that wound up putting you and your team in the middle? Garcetti: I was never "rejected." I think that's been misreported. I've been speaking to the parties involved since August, so when the strike happened, I encouraged them to go to the table we'd already offered -- a neutral space if ever they needed mediation. I was very surprised how little communication was going on not only between the principle players, but one level down from that. We worked really hard talking to school board members, the superintendent and union leaders to say, "What can we do to help move this along?" It seemed very clear to me that that there was such frustration on both sides. KPCC/LAist: Part of the rift between the union and the district had to do with how much money LAUSD does or doesn't have. Do you think LAUSD Superintendent Austin Beutner was operating with the best motives? Do you think he's right that there's a problem with the district finances, and that there are vital questions about sustainability that need to be taken seriously? GARCETTI: Oh, I think it's his job to be stressed out about finances just as it is for me as mayor, or the governor, or any chief executive needs to make sure they aren't overpromising. But as we began to dig into the finances, we realized that there was probably some common space where the district could stretch enough. The superintendent and the union have said, in the future, we're going to probably need to go to the ballot and ask people if they want classes with 45 students in them. I tried to convince both sides to act responsibly but aggressively. In other words, this is not the time to be conservative. This is the time to look at those reserves, but not recklessly. KPCC/LAist: After the negotiations transitioned over to City Hall, talks appeared to have turned toward a three-year contract, as opposed to arguing over what will happen in the next 18 months. How did that happen? GARCETTI: I think it became clear that a lot of what we wanted couldn't be done in the life of the contract. This was really about the classroom size. Even if you snap your fingers and had all the money in the world, it takes time to hire teachers. Other things take time, too. There's a nurse shortage in this country. We have to make sure we have librarians and counselors. And green spaces. Making an agreement for the next three years was something that the union was interested in doing. The district was, I think, initially curious about whether that could be achieved. But we found that we could come up with a legally binding way forward -- a longer-term contract where nobody will feel like the rug has been pulled out from underneath them. KPCC/LAist: I'm keying in on the three-year piece as a sort of turning point in the talks, but was there some other thing that really got things rolling downhill? GARCETTI: No. I think just getting together face-to-face with a neutral party helped. They had gotten together twice already, but were in many ways still talking past each other. So when my team got involved, both Superintendent Austin Beutner and Alex Caputo-Pearl, the head of the union, sat down every day before each meeting, before the parties and the bargaining teams would get together. And at the very beginning, I said, "I just asked you to abide some rules: respect confidentiality; no surprises; stay positive -- and no matter how bad things get, we are going to finish this. Go breathe, go event, yell at me if you need to, but get back to the table." KPCC/LAist: There were some long sessions. How did everyone endure? GARCETTI: We had huge make-your-own taco platters. There was a lot of Sun Chips, a lot of coffee. My negotiating practice was to start with really good food and big rooms. And then every day the room would get smaller and the food would get worse. So by the end, you're in a closet with really crappy pizza. Interestingly enough, I might have to change that. Because I think we did the opposite. As things got better. The food got better. And it became kind of a culinary reward for progress. KPCC/LAist: You've said that these are people that are going to walk away and have a beer together. Was it pretty tense in the room? GARCETTI: I don't think people became best friends overnight. But I think there was absolute trust that was developed among people. I told everyone, "If you can create a relationship with each other, that gives me a lot of encouragement that we should all spend our political capital, our treasure, our talent in making this district better." There were human moments. KPCC/LAist: This is a deal that requires more funding in the future. How will that look? Is a parcel tax going to be on the table? Is building the airplane while attempting to fly it kind of dangerous? GARCETTI: No, I think it's absolutely necessary, because it's stayed grounded for too long, nobody's taken off at all. You have to be willing to fly. I do think we'll need state help. We saw it in the governor's budget, and I hope it continues in future budgets. And I think we will. It is substantial. But no, it's not enough. That's why I think a state measure would help us get there and a local measure should be coming. I will consider supporting either an initiative that will go to operations and allow us to continue the momentum of reducing class size or help us to build out the schools and create green spaces and really great learning environments. So much of this always comes down to dollars and policies that we forget what's it like for a kid that's in a class with 42 students in a bungalow. That isn't acceptable in our town. We need to take it from okay to good and from good to great. KPCC/LAist: Gotta ask -- can you run for president now? GARCETTI: This was not about me. This week was all about our children. This was all about a school district. You know, somebody said, I should probably go to Washington, D.C. and work on the shutdown next. I'm actually headed there in a couple hours KPCC/LAist: Just for a conference though, right? GARCETTI: Just for the Conference of Mayors. But I'm going to share this story with them, because I hope it inspires people nationally -- that this wasn't just about L.A., it's a good model for our national leaders too. KPCC/LAist: There's not a podium there with an American flag behind it and a crowd waiting? GARCETTI: No, there's no surprise in Washington, just a mayor doing his work. Editor's note: A version of this story was also on KPCC. Listen to it here. UPDATES: 5:45 p.m.: This article was updated with additional reporting about the deal. This article was originally published at 3:06 p.m. "A foreign power can easily exploit a nation's weakness for its own purpose." The recent plebiscite on the Bangsamoro Organic Law is turning out be fraught with acrimony, contrary to its intended purpose of peace and stability in the Muslim areas of Mindanao. While the early canvassing of votes showed the Yes votes having the majority, there is an outcry of alleged cheating and intimidation of voters to cast the affirmative. Cotabato City Mayor Frances Cynthia Guiani Siyadi is set to file a poll protest claiming the outcome of the plebiscite did not reflect the true will of the people. The case of the Cotabato City controversy is just one of possible conflicts of the results of the BOL plebiscite. In areas where there is preponderance of Christian population, we can expect more disputes over the outcome. How will Christians react to losing their control over areas that they used to dominate if the yes votes prevail even if the votes counted were valid? Even people in Metro Manila who are far away from the Muslim region are not pleased with the Bangsamoro appellation accorded to the BOL. They think that the word Bangsa gives the autonomous region some semblance of a separate state or a state within a state. Critics of the framers of the BOL claim the government panel did not give too much thought on the ramifications of the Bangsamoro name. The officials of the Philippine government panel included Tes Deles, UP professor Miriam Coronel Ferrer and now Supreme Court Associate Justice Marvic Leonen all key appointees of former President Benigno Aquino III. Passed by the present Congress, President Rodrigo Duterte had no choice to but submit the BOL to a plesbiscite for approval by the people. But not everything that is approved by the people necessarily translates to smooth implementation. Take the case of the British plan to leave the European Union. Approved by the British people in a referendum, Brexit met with stiff opposition in Parliament that made Prime Minister Theresa May undergo a confidence vote. While PM May survived a no-confidence vote, her power and influence in Parliament and the MPs were clearly diminished.The final outcome of the plebiscite is still under a cloud since Sulu Governor Abdulsakur Toto Tan has a pending petition before the Supreme Court to declare the BOL as unconstitutional, and its validity to have an encompassing purview over a great part of Mindanao as null and void. The Muslims in the area who voted yes will surely not accept a negative outcome after waging years of armed conflict and then painstaking peace talks with the government panel. Mindanao then will continue to be a land of promiseunfulfilled even as the largest island in the country could be a rich source of food from agriculture, lumber and minerals. Most of the big mining firms operations are in Mindanao but could not exploit its full potential because of the Muslim separatist problem. The Commission on Elections claimed it had been a generally peaceful and orderly plebiscite. The problem is the acceptance of by both the yes and no sides of the plebiscites final tabulation outcome. Canvassing of votes is not expected to be completed for another two or three days. Until then, tension will remain high in the areas under the purview of the proposed BOL. The senatorial candidates and local officials should make known their stand on the BOL so voters can determine whether they are for a unified or deeply divided country. A divided nation makes it vulnerable; a foreign power can easily exploit this weakness for its own purpose. At stake in the equation of the Bangsamoro Organic Law is our claim to Sabah against Malaysia and our territorial dispute with China on the West Philippine Sea. Will the Muslims in a Bangsamoro autonomous region yield our claim to Sabah to their fellow Muslims in Malaysia? That is a vexing question the rest of the country wants to know the answers to. LAist only exists with reader support. If you're in a position to give, your donation powers our reporters and keeps us independent. Our reporting is free for everyone, but its not free to make. Start your day with LAist Sign up for the Morning Brief, delivered weekdays. Subscribe The L.A. Art Show opens tonight and, until Sunday, tens of thousands of artists and art lovers will gather. The show started from humble beginnings a few decades ago, and it's grown to become one of the hottest events in the art world. Mat Gleason, art curator and owner of the gallery Coagula Curatorial in Chinatown, gave Take Two host A Martinez an insider's guide to why it's an international draw. 1. L.A. used to be a backwater for art shows The event may be big now, but it wasn't always that way. "The art world is an old boys' club, and you've got to pay your dues to get in," Gleason said. The first L.A. Art Show took place in 1994 with 14 galleries and 250 attendees. This weekend, more than 130 galleries and art institutions will take part, and tens of thousands are expected to attend. That growth is partly driven by the huge buying market in Los Angeles. "Behind New York, L.A can certainly say that it's the number 2 art market in the world," Gleason claimed. "Hong Kong and London would probably argue with you there, but there is a lot of evidence that L.A. has a lot of galleries, a lot of commercial activity, and is home to a lot of art production." 2. It's open to everyone, but Wednesday night's VIP event is where celebrities and buyers will snatch up pieces for their collections Buying a ticket to tonight's opening gala (starting at $125) means you'll get to rub elbows with rich people looking to do more than just get a sneak preview -- they want to buy something, too. "It's the one night where 'the money' shows up to the art world," Gleason said. "A big collector coming here buying art, or a curator for a museum -- that's a make-or-break moment." It isn't the biggest art show in the world -- events like Art Basel Miami Beach and Art Basel Hong Kong take those honors -- but it is more accessible. Sort of. "The VIP reception at Art Basel is like a billionaires' convention. The VIP reception tonight at the L.A. Art Show will be a millionaires' convention," he said. 3. There are "blue chip" artists like Andy Warhol on display to draw in traditional buyers You can see works by major artists -- and they're up for sale, too. "There's lots of Warhols in the fair," Gleason said, "but you have to have 'blue chip' art. That attracts the big collectors that maybe don't have a Warhol in their collection just yet." The side benefit: while they're at it, those buyers might snatch up some works by up-and-coming artists too. 4. There are people who mimic those artists' styles to get a sale If you don't have the money for a Warhol, you're in luck! "You'll see about 20 artists pretending to be Warhol," Gleason explained. It's a business strategy for people to capitalize on a particular artist's style at a cheaper price. 5. Pop surrealism is where it's at File: A general view of atmosphere and art at the 23rd Annual L.A. Art Show Opening Night Premiere Gala Benefiting St. Jude Children's Research Hospital at Los Angeles Convention Center on Jan. 10, 2018 in Los Angeles. (Gabriel Olsen/Getty Images) Gleason is sick of pop art personally, but excited by what he's seen so far of pop surrealism. "That's art with popular images that are easily accessible, and yet there's something weird about them," he said. "There's a great contrast between the people who are just trying to imitate Warhol, and the pop surrealists who are taking ideas of popular culture and pushing them further." "Here are three examples of LGUs that are responsive to the needs of their constituents." Local governments units or LGUs are supposed to be responsive to the needs of their constituents, and accountable as well for everything that they do while in office. The 1987 Constitution, in fact, provides that since LGUs are entitled to an equitable share in the proceeds of the utilization and development of the national wealth within their respective areas, they should share this with their constituents by way of direct benefits. So how are the LGUs in the National Capital Region performing their functions as mandated by the fundamental law? Were glad to know that at least three LGUs in Metro Manila are taking their mandate to serve their constituents seriously. In Quezon City where I live, the city government has moved to automate transactions. This is intended to help reduce corruption in government transactions by minimizing face-to-face interactions. The local government has also partnered with different departments and other agencies in a pilot project that will allow new business registrants to apply for business permits on their mobile phones. Part of the city governments efforts to reduce corruption is the use of performance indicators in government transactions. Through a new feedback system, constituents can digitally submit their feedback after completing a transaction, and outstanding and honest public servants will be given incentives. Meanwhile, in another part of Metro Manila, the Pasig city council recently passed an ordinance that ensures greater transparency in local governance. The Pasig Transparency Mechanism provides for the disclosure of the citys public records, including financial documents and contracts. This makes Pasig City the first in Metro Manila to have its version of the freedom of information bill that has long languished in Congress, and we congratulate the city council for doing so. Under the ordinance, all citizens have the right to access, examine and copy public records, as well as publish and disseminate these. Those who request documents also do not need to give a reason for doing so or even why they are interested in the records. The city government has 10 days to act on requests for documents. These will all be forwarded to an information officer to be appointed by the Pasig mayor. Each department, on the other hand, will designate a deputy information officer who will coordinate with the information officer and provide the requested records from their office.Government officials or employees who fail to comply with the provisions of the ordinance will receive a reprimand for the first violation. A second offense will be penalized by a 30-day suspension while a third violation will result in dismissal from the service. But any law or ordinance is useless without serious efforts at implementation, and we hope other cities not just in Metro Manila but also in other parts of the country will do the same thing, as we think this would boost efforts to curb corruption and ensure accountability in public office. Yet another example of local autonomy is the implementation in Paranaque City of a simplified and integrated business permit renewal system to enhance investor confidence and improve service delivery to investors, local and foreign investors. Dubbed as Project Express Lane Operation or Project ELO, this implements Republic Act 11032 or Ease of Doing Business and Efficient Government Service Delivery Act that went into effect in May last year. The local government seeks to attract more businesses to register and set up shop in the city by simplifying and integrating the steps in securing business and other permits. One salient feature of the project is eliminating the need to secure permits from the different barangays, which was a prerequisite in getting a mayors permit. With this project, claimed to be the first in the country, business owners need not go to barangay halls to apply for a barangay clearance, which will now be applied, paid and issued at city hall along with the fire safety inspection certificate, sanitary permit, certificate of conformance, from planning office and the mayors permit to operate a business. As a result of the launch of the project early this year, assessments nearly doubled to P81 million compared with the P46 million generated in the first working day of 2018. At the same time, payments ballooned to P5.5 million on the first day, up from P3.2 million last year. Last year, the local government collected P2.5-billion business taxes and fees from 23,000 business registrants in the city. This year, local authorities expect an increase of 15 percent in business applicants through the project. Im sure that there are similar initiatives in other cities throughout the country where local executives are trying to make a difference in the lives of their constituents, one step at a time. If thats the case, maybe there wont even be a need to shift to a federal system that this administration wants to fast-track despite serious misgivings by some quarters over its applicability to the countrys unique situation. WashingtonSeveral hundred US federal employees who have not been paid in weeks due to the partial government shutdown protested against the impasse on Wednesday in Washington. They peacefully occupied a US congressional office building for several hours, responding to the call of several unions and organizations representing government employees and contractors. The employees protested silently for 32 minutes, symbolizing the duration in days of the shutdown sparked by a dispute over funding for President Donald Trumps border wall project, which he has demanded and Democrats have declined to provide. Some held posters or paper plates with messages including Will work for pay and Do your job -- so Americans can do theirs. While government employees are to be paid retroactively, the same is not true for contractors. Its been five weeks now and I only worked one or two days, my company called me for special events, said Claudia Martinez, who works for a catering company that has a contract with the US House of Representatives cafeteria. She has a second job with a tourism company, but January is very slow.This month will be very difficult, said the 43-year-old mother, who has to pay $400 per month for her childs student loan. The shutdown affects this whole country, said Francis Nichols, an official in the American Federation of Government Employees union. I heard many people say what bill I should we pay first, he said, while others have to choose between paying bills or fuelling their cars to come to work. The standoff between Trump and opposition Democrats over border wall funding has seen some 800,000 federal employees to go without pay. The Senate is to consider two competing bills to end the shutdown on Thursday, but the chances are slim that either will reopen federal agencies. Putrajaya, MalaysiaDefense lawyers in the murder trial of the North Korean leaders half-brother won a challenge Thursday to get access to witness statements but the prosecution appealed, signaling more delays in the long-running case. Siti Aisyah from Indonesia and Doan Thi Huong from Vietnam have been on trial since October 2017, accused of murdering Kim Jong Nam by smearing nerve agent VX on his face at Kuala Lumpur airport. The brazen assassination in February 2017 shocked the world but the women have denied murder, saying they believed they were taking part in a prank and were tricked by North Korean agents. Proceedings in the trial of the women, in their 20s, have moved slowly due to the large numbers of witnesses and the fact that hearings are held infrequently. Aisyahs case was temporarily halted late last year after her lawyers lodged an appeal to get access to some key witness statements, which prosecutors argue should not be made public. The seven statements are from individuals including someone who drove Kim Jong Nam around in Malaysia and acquaintances of Aisyah. The Court of Appeal in the administrative capital Putrajaya ruled Thursday the statements should be given to the defense.The court of appeal has allowed our application that the statements of the seven witnesses that we were asking for must be supplied to the defence within two weeks from today, Aisyahs lawyer, Gooi Soon Seng, told reporters. But prosecutor Mohammad Dusuki Mokhtar said the prosecution would appeal to a higher court as soon as possible. The prosecution will also apply on Monday to the High Court, which is hearing the main trial of the women, for the case to be put on hold while the appeal is ongoing. Under current laws, the women will be handed a death sentence if convicted of murdering the estranged relative of the Norths leader, Kim Jong Un. Malaysias new government, which took power in May, has vowed to abolish capital punishment for all crimes and has put executions on hold before seeking to get parliament to change the law. January 18, 2019 Donation of design workstations, funding for design software and curriculum development collaboration underline the companys support for local students POCATELLO ON Semiconductor continues its support of, and collaboration with, the Idaho State University Department of Electrical Engineering by recently donating an industrial-grade Linux server, eight state-of-the-art computer workstations and associated design software. The new workstations will be used to train ISU electrical engineering students, and eventually to provide professional graduate-level education to ON Semiconductor employees. We have already started using the donated equipment for current coursework related to semiconductor design. In addition to the equipment and software donation, ON Semiconductor design engineers are working with us to create a new course that they will also help teach this spring. said Steve Chiu, director of the ISU electrical engineering program. Chiu said the workstations are powerful computers that use the Linux operating system, Cadence design software, and are also loaded with ON Semiconductors own proprietary software. They are used to design Complementary Metal-Oxide Semiconductor (CMOS) chips, a technology used in manufacturing of integrated circuits used in a wide range of analog, digital and mixed-signal applications. The ability to use such modern tools is a valuable skill for ISU students. We are thrilled by this donation from ON Semiconductor and their continued support that will benefit our students and, potentially, their own employees through enhanced professional education opportunities, Chiu said. This donation is another step in our commitment to Idaho State University STEM initiatives. We believe that by providing students hands-on learning experience in the classroom, we can help to ignite a lifelong passion and excitement about integrated circuit design, said Paul Streva, Director of the Industrial Products Business Unit at ON Semiconductor. We are excited to be able to support the next generation of engineers and look forward to the possibility of recruiting ISU engineering students in the future as we tackle the worlds challenges. ON Semiconductors Corporate Giving program focuses on disaster relief, environment, health, human services and STEM education. The company has been a proud supporter of the Idaho State University Foundation with $30,000 in donations during 2018 to help fund the Bengal STEM day, ISU Growing Together, MATH Counts and other programs. In response to this, the following morning, Israel carried out a series of airstrikes on Iranian targets in Syria. The intense 24 hours between the two countries could be just the beginning of further conflict. Iran is attacking Israel because it does not want Israel to get involved in the efforts to deter Iranian forces in Syria. Last year Iran did the same thing, for the same reason it did not want Israel to take any action against Iran in Syria so it fired 30 projectiles towards the Golan Heights. It was another attack that Israel did not let pass it carried out a huge counter-attack. Iran is desperate to construct missile bases the whole way across Syria and it is no secret that the regime wants to use the country to carry out cross-border strikes. It wants a great number of militias to be based in Syria and Iran would take advantage of land corridors that it controls to send personnel and weapons across. Then it is in a better position to attack Israel. Israel, of course, is not going to sit back and watch this happen. It has very clearly understood that a Syria controlled by Iran is not something that any country in the region wants. How the situation will evolve is not yet clear. It could continue much in the same way. In other words, Iran could continue striking Israel, which would result in further retaliatory strikes like the events of this Sunday and Monday. Israel has the upper hand in this kind of conflict because of its far superior technology and its ability to launch extremely precise strikes. However, there is also the potential that the situation escalates further and a full-blown war between the two regional enemies erupts. The likelihood of this happening is quite high and all it takes is one tiny blunder or miscalculation to start a bitter conflict. Iran is on the offensive because it is in an utterly impossible situation. Israels role in all of this is purely defensive. It is protecting itself from the threat Iran is posing and it cannot sit back and let Iran attack. The most concerning factor in all of this is Irans desperation. It is under immense pressure from the international community, in particular the United States, and the people of Iran show themselves to be determined for regime change. Becoming more and more isolated, the regime is working hard on its quests in the region. In order to appease any suspicion of an alleged miscarriage of justice, the Sandiganbayan has decided to reopen the case of Ambassador Lauro Baja for alleged misuse of funds for the repairs at the Philippine Missions townhouse in New York. In a resolution dated Jan. 10, the anti-graft courts Fourth Division granted the motion for leave to reopen the proceedings against Baja. In order to appease any suspicion of an alleged miscarriage of justice, the accused is allowed to present his additional evidence, the Sandiganbayan said. The court said Section 24, Rule 119 of the Revised Rules on Criminal Procedure allows the reopening of the case as Bajas conviction as long as it is not yet deemed final. Jurisprudence states that the only controlling guideline for the re-opening of cases is the paramount interest of justice, emphasizing that the remedy was meant to prevent a miscarriage of justice, the anti-graft court said. The anti-graft court set the presentation of evidence on March 4 and 5.Baja, in his motion, urged the Sandiganbayan to reopen the case to allow the testimony of representatives from the Commission on Audit and Lexington Insurance Corporation. Baja, a former Philippine Permanent Representative to the United Nations, was meted out with 16 to 24 years of imprisonment after the Sandiganbayan found him guilty of graft and malversation of public funds. Court records said Baja have deposited the $17,542.27 insurance money to an account to accommodate the payment made by an insurance company for the repair of the broken second floor heating system pipe at the townhouse. Baja should have deposited the money to the Philippine Missions account. But later on, Baja withdrew the insurance money he had deposited in the account he opened in several transactions. Baja said the reopening of the case will prove that he did not violate any COA rules on the disposal of the insurance proceeds and that there was no misappropriation of funds. Many times you might have found the multiple casinos available in the online market but when you are going to... In fact, Iranian money can be found in the weapons warehouses in Syria, where the mullahs are desperately trying to prop up the Bashar Assad Regime, as well as in terrorist groups like Hezbollah and Hamas in Lebanon and Gaza respectively. The increased Iranian funding for these terrorist groups is almost entirely linked to the 2015 Iran deal, otherwise known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), which opened up trading channels for Iran and unfroze Iranian assets held internationally, giving the Regime billions of dollars in one fell swoop. The deal was supposed to stop Iran from developing a nuclear weapon, but the US and Iranian Resistance have been clear that Iran has not stopped and had just moved their operations underground. The estimated breakdown of Irans terrorist sponsorship is: $4 billion to Syria $1 billion to Lebanon $70 million to the Islamic Jihad $50 million to Hamas in Gaza Hundreds of millions of dollars to Shiites in Iraq Tens of millions of dollars to Yemen In all of these cases, Iran is supporting a terrorist group that threatens Western interests, the legitimate government there, or the people of that country and potentially all three. Reportedly, the money is moved from Iran to Iraq, then across to Yemen, into Syria, and then onwards to Hezbollah. In order to stop terrorism in the Middle East, the international community must simply cut off the flow of money to Iran, which can be done easily by implementing US sanctions on the Gulf state before the situation gets worse. After all, the US already says that Iran is the largest state-sponsor of terrorism in the world. The Iranian Regime is already publically talking about training Palestinian terrorists and meeting in Tehran with high-profile terrorists from Hamas and the Islamic Jihad. How much longer can we wait? It is high time for the UNSC to recognize, the Islamic Jihad and Hezbollah as Iran-backed terrorist groups and to sanction the groups and Iran. Israeli Ambassador to the UN Danny Danon said: The worlds silence allows Iran to continue with its operations and aggression to undermine stability in the Middle East The European Union has taken a crucial step forward by imposing new sanctions against Iran. It is now the councils turn to take a leap. Pompeo explained that Iran is a truly malign actor in Yemen, Syria, Iraq and Lebanon, where the mullahs hope to destabilise the countries and reduce freedom, sovereignty and independence so that they can take control via proxy. He advised that the US needs to strengthen its Middle East coalition, which already includes Saudi Arabia, the Persian Gulf Arab states and Israel, in order to confront the Iran threat but that the US has already assembled a global coalition of nations to confront Iran and support the aspirations of the Iranian people. One important way for the US to address regional stability threats, Pompeo said, is through the Middle East Strategic Alliance (MESA), which has been nicknamed Arab NATO. Pompeo also expressed hope about a potential end to the Yemeni civil war, where a US-backed Saudi-led military coalition is supporting the legitimate government against Iran-backed Houthi militias. He said: We made a big step forward with the [peace] agreement surrounding the port of Hodeidah; we got a real commitment from all the parties. It was most unfortunate that the Houthis made a major break on January 10 to that cease-fire by using an Iranian-designed instrument of war to kill people after those agreements were reached back in December. I know that the Gulf states are committed to achieving that outcome; we are committed here in the United States. During Pompeos Middle East tour, he announced that a conference on peace and stability in the Middle East would be held in Warsaw, Poland, in mid-February. Tellingly, the Iranian Regime criticised the peace conference for being anti-Iran, criticised the US and Poland, and even summoned Polands Iranian ambassador to the Foreign Ministry in protest. The US wants Iran to alter its behaviour over things like human rights, its nuclear activity and ballistic missile programme, and its sponsorship for terrorism, but as the Iranian Resistance has said time and time again, the Iranian Regime will not change after 40 years in power. The only hope for a democratic Iran is with the overthrow of the mullahs by the Iranian people and their organised Resistance. Mahan Air had previously come under sanctions from the US for allegedly helping the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps to smuggle weapons and personnel. The absence of equivalent measures by the US governments European allies was widely recognized as one of many indicators of diverging priorities for the US and Europe with respect to Iran policy. But Germanys decision to ban Mahan from its airspace may be one of a growing number of signs that European governments are pivoting in the direction of the White Houses more assertive strategy. On the other hand, signs of this shift remain inconsistent and there is parallel evidence of the European Union digging in its heels with respect to the preservation of the 2015 Iran nuclear deal and the defiance of US sanctions that have been put into place since President Donald Trump withdrew from that agreement last May. As long European officials appear to be reaching out to their Iranian counterparts, Tehran may be justified in expecting that its public outcry over measures like the Mahan sanctions will have an effect. So far, there is little reason to believe that Germany will revise its decision regarding the heavily scrutinized commercial airline. But there is also relatively little reason to suppose that that move will spark similar measures across Europe. To the contrary, the government of France indicated on Wednesday that it and its fellow EU member states were pressing forward with plans to implement a payment mechanism to be used in evading US sanctions during transactions between Iranian and European entities. Reuters quoted French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian as saying that this Special Purpose Vehicle should be implemented in the coming days. Le Drian also went on to specifically state that the SPV was expected to give Iran the ability to benefit from the sale of some of its oil resources as well as buying goods from France, Germany, and the United Kingdom all signatories to the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action. Until recently, the EU had provided very few details about the SPV while struggling to find a country that was willing to host its operations. It now appears that France will personally fill that role, while Germany will provide its leadership personnel and representatives of all three nations will serve as shareholders. This may be surprising to some observers, because despite their commitment to the JCPOA, the thee countries have also been more vocal than many of their fellow EU member states in criticizing Tehrans regional activities, ballistic missile tests, and so on. Late last year, France and the UK joined in calling a meeting of the United Nations Security Council to discuss Irans apparent violations of the bodys Resolution 2231, which calls upon the Islamic Republic to avoid all work on weapons that are designed to be capable of carrying a nuclear warhead. And earlier in 2018, French President Emmanuel Macron took the rare step of exceeding American commitments to anti-Iran policies when he criticized the US presidents suggestion that he might pull forces out of Syria, effectively leaving Iranian influence over the war-torn country unchecked. This goes to show that while most Western powers are notably anxious about Irans activities in the Middle East and throughout the globe, this has not translated into close alignment among their various policies. To the extent that this represents a problem for American and European policymakers, it may be addressed to some extent at a conference in the Polish capital of Warsaw, which was teased by its prospective host, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, during his recent tour of the Middle East. Pompeo initially explained that the gathering would focus on Middle Eastern affairs but would give special attention to the issue of containing the Islamic Republic of Iran and convincing it to behave like a normal country. This also gave rise to predictable Iranian backlash, with some European officials joining in condemning Pompeo for overly narrow and antagonistic focus on one part of the region. Newsweek reported on Wednesday that this criticism had prompted the White House to change its approach to discussing the forthcoming conference. Iran has not been mentioned by name in recent communications, although Pompeo and other officials continue to call attention to issues like missile development and proliferation and threats posed by proxy groups across the region that are unmistakably associated with the Islamic Republic. Furthermore, the Newsweek report notes that Iran has still not been invited to take part in the conference, though its regional adversaries have been. Russia, a close ally of Iran, has declined to participate in spite of an invitation, and has questioned why Iran is not welcome at an event that is ostensibly focused on the Middle East in general. The conferences Polish hosts reportedly responded with non-committal remarks about considering the extension of an invitation, but there is no indication that Warsaw is under pressure on this matter from parties other than Russia. This may suggest that the Europeans are generally satisfied with a change in the tone of the White Houses rhetoric, even if the ensuing conference remains effectively focused on confronting Iranian threats. It is also conceivable that this is part of a broader effort to allay some of Tehrans concerns while actively pursuing consensus over more assertive policies, in line with those of the US. This may go some ways toward explaining apparent overstatements that the French Foreign Ministry made about the SPV, provided that these were made intentionally. The Reuters report on the SPV implementation noted that while EU diplomats confirmed Le Drians claim that the mechanism could launch in mere days, they also explained that there were serious barriers to its actual usage. Thus, the SPV may have little to no real effect until several months after its official launch. The same diplomats also indicated that current expectations for the SPV are considerably more subdued than they were when it was originally conceived. That is to say, it may only facilitate small-scale trade involving specific categories of products, like agricultural and humanitarian goods. This stands in contrast to French statements about some oil resources, which the EU reportedly considered dropping from SPV operations in the wake of widespread outcry against Iranian ballistic missile tests. Apart from such public statements, there is also substantive evidence that the international community is less eager to defy US sanctions than it once appeared to be. For instance, Reuters reported on Monday that Iran had failed to find any buyers after offering its oil on the stock exchange. According to the report, this tactic only led to the sale of 280,000 barrels in October, before US sanctions came back into force following withdrawal from the JCPOA. Afterward, Iran was only able to offload the rest of the one million barrels it had put on offer by reducing the price from 74 to 64 dollars per barrel. Now that the US sanctions are nearly back in full effect, Iran is compelled to look toward markets other than Europe in an effort to keep its oil-dependent economy afloat. Another Reuters report indicated on Monday that Tehran was boasting about new Japanese loadings of Iranian oil, following other such loadings from China, India, and South Korea. These four countries are the largest Asian buyers of Iranian oil and have consequently received waivers for US sanctions. However, these waivers are contingent upon the recipients taking measures to reduce their dependence on Iranian oil, and South Korea went as far as halting its Iranian oil purchases altogether for four months, before resuming them last weekend. The latest increase in purchasing activity is expected to be temporary for all parties involved, provided that Western pressure continues to escalate. The buyers responsible for the latest Japanese loadings have indicated that they may not be able to secure insurance for their transportation of Iranian oil after March, in which case they would cease imports. As long as Western pressure does remain a factor, Iran may find itself increasingly dependent upon illicit exports. But this would almost certainly add to Western scrutiny of Irans behavior, and thus to further efforts to confront that behavior. Last week, the UN Security Council released an 85-page report on the situation in Yemen, which pointed out that Iran is illegally shipping fuel to the Houthi rebels to help finance their war, thereby contributing further to a humanitarian crisis that is drawing ever louder demands for international action. The MEK members, based in a camp called Ashraf 3 in Tirana, Albania, have spent the past year using encrypted social media channels to broadcast videos of the protests that were captured on mobile devices by MEK supporters inside Iran. These protests, which began in December 2017, spread across Iran and have continued despite a violent crackdown by the Regime that killed dozens and sent thousands to jail. The Regime has tried to pretend that the protests are over, even barring state media from airing videos of the protest, so the Regime will be furious that the MEK is continuing to expose the high levels of dissent in the country. The MEK members relocated to Albania after suffering intense persecution from the Iranian Regime at Camps Ashraf and Liberty in Iraq, despite being protected persons under the Geneva Convention and assurances about their safety by the Iraqi government. The MEK was subjected to years or intimidation, harassment, and even rocket attacks in their camps influenced, which resulted in the deaths of dozens and the injury of hundreds more. Some of the MEK members at Ashraf 3 spoke to Scottish Newspaper, The National, to explain why they are keeping up this cyber campaign and unsurprising, the answer was to help bring down the Regime faster, so that a new democratic Iran could emerge. Forough Moezzi, who works in the MEKs information unit, said: We are a resistance movement so our lives and our work is part of the struggle against the Iranian regime. We live here together and plan the future. We want to go back to Iran a free Iran and I think it will be very soon because we see international sanctions and pressure on the regime. I believe freedom is very near. Moezzi joined the MEK, alongside her sister, when the MEK was still at the original Ashraf camp in Iraq. Their father, who had returned to Iran, had his home attacked and was tortured by the Regime, purely because his daughters were in the MEK. Moezzis uncle was executed by the Regime at 23 for being a MEK member. While MEK member Parvin Poureghbalie, who studied in Iran in 1980, one year after the mullahs stole power, said that the violence against dissenters started then. She said: I was in one of the smaller cities in Iran Kerman we were about 180 young girls and we were arrested. From that 180 the majority were either killed or disappeared, some went to other countries and only a small number are still in Iran. I feel I have a heavy responsibility for them. She went on to say that the situation in Iran today is untenable and must end soon. She said: The people are starving and searching the garbage for food in a very rich country. Workers have been asking why they havent had their salaries for months. Just to get their salaries they have to demonstrate. We have taken a long and hard path but now we are sure that our return is coming closer. The time we go back to a free Iran will be very soon. While Mohammad Shafaei, a member of the MEKs research team, which helps Iranians to circumvent the Regimes internet censorship, explained that he was orphaned at just eight-years-old after the Regime murdered his family. His father, a doctor, was shot for treating wounded MEK members and his brother was tortured to death in Evin prison. Shafaei also helps the MEK to identify fake apps and spyware created by the Regime to spy on the Iranian people; which the MEK broadcasts to the Iranian people so that they can stay safe. He said: What we do is provide proxies to let the people circumvent internet censorship so they can see the demonstrations and unrest in their own country. Iran uses fake applications or spyware, spreads them among users in the country to trace their connections so we try to disclose all these activities in cyberspace. On the domestic front, the people of Iran kept up the momentum with regards to the protests and anti-government demonstrations that rocked the country throughout all of 2018. The protests started in December 2017 and were dismissed by the Iranian regime as being harmless to its leadership. However, as time went on, officials in the regime began to admit that the peoples widespread discontent represented a great threat to its survival. Protests about the poor economic situation became clear, loud and determined shouts for regime change and the people challenged the regime for its costly interventions abroad at the expense of the people. They also expressed their disgust at the widespread corruption that infects leadership at all levels. The economic situation also declined throughout 2018, and the prognostic for this year is not much better. The crippling economic sanctions that the United States reapplied are really starting to take hold now. Trump explained that the aim of the sanctions is to cut the regime off from the funds it uses to support terrorism, malign acts and militias and proxy groups across the region. Next month, the Iranian regime will celebrate its 40th anniversary of the revolution. This is a major milestone for the regime four decades of rule. For the people, this marks a horrifying realisation that they have lived under oppression for four decades. Many hope to witness major changes in Iran this year, including the main opposition to the Iranian regime the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI). For decades it has been supporting the people of Iran in their quest for freedom, democracy and human rights. The opposition knows the regime more than any other group and it has revealed information about the regimes belligerence information that even foreign intelligence agencies never knew about, especially with regards to its nuclear program. The NCRI has called on the people of Iran to continue pressuring the regime and to not go silent. It is a big ask of the people because they risk so much literally arrest, imprisonment, torture and even execution, but it is something that the people are prepared to do because they know there is no other option. Moderation is a myth. The people have the support of the United States, but the European Union has been fairly silent with regards to their suffering. As recently as this week, officials in the EU have been working on options to continue trading with Iran despite the U.S. sanctions. Society in Iran is really on the verge of eruption and 2019 will be a defining year for the people. PANAMA CITY (Reuters) - Pope Francis is following the situation in Venezuela closely and the Holy See supports all efforts to spare its people from further suffering, the Vatican said on Thursday. But in its first statement on the crisis, the Vatican took no sides between Nicolas Maduro, who was elected president in a vote last year widely regarded as fraudulent, and congress leader Juan Guaido, who declared himself interim president on Wednesday. The Argentine pontiff, Latin America's first pope, is currently on a visit to Panama. "In Panama, the Holy Father has been informed of the news coming from Venezuela and is closely following the situation as it evolves," spokesman Alessandro Gisotti said. "He is praying for the victims and for all the people of Venezuela. The Holy See supports all efforts that help save the population from further suffering," he said. In 2016, the Vatican convened mediation talks between Maduro and the opposition, with little success. The United States and many Latin American countries, including Argentina, have recognised Guaido as president. (Reporting by Philip Pullella, Editing by Rosalba O'Brien) Patna: A senior RJD leader was shot dead in Bihar's Samastipur on Thursday morning when he had gone for a morning walk. According to officials, former district council vice president Raghuvar Rai was leaving for a walk when bike-borne miscreants shot him at the door of his house in district's Kalyanpur area. The leader was rushed to Darbhanga Medical College and Hospital (DMCH), where he succumbed to injuries. Enraged over the incident, Rai's supporters have blocked the Samastipur-Darbhanga highway. Police said that they are investigating the matter. Speaker Gloria Macapagal Arroyo has recommended to the Maritime Industry Authority to define as missionary route the unserved Roll-on, Roll-off or Ro-Ro ports in the country especially those ports connecting poor areas to prosperous ones. At the same time, Arroyo suggested at the House Committee on Transportation meeting during a briefing on the status of Ro-Ro projects that she sees no need for an executive order to define unserved Ro-Ro ports as missionary routes. The committee, chaired by Catanduanes Rep. Cesar Sarmiento, said the briefing on the status of the Ro-Ro system aims to determine its status and the ways to improve, expand or revive the same. This is accordance with the directive of Speaker GMA who promoted the Strong Republic Nautical Highway project since 2003 that led to lower cost of freight and passenger transport, shorter travel time, and the introduction of new inter-island connections, Sarmiento said in his opening remarks during the meeting. The Ro-RoTerminal System or Ro-Ro Project was developed pursuant to Executive Order No. 170 issued by then President Arroyo. It was developed to connect Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao to reduce the high cost of transporting people, goods and services through an integrated national highway system. MARINAs presentation of its 10-Year Maritime Industry Development Program showed that there are remaining 30 routes that are still unserved and are part of the MIDP to be covered and developed. After the presentation, the Speaker asked MARINA to go back to the 10-year plan to see what ports are involved. This plan addresses the routes without a vessel so we will see whether its because of the vessels or because of the ports not being in proper condition to receive or send off vessels, the Speaker said. She said these routes were from her time and her master plan. After a thorough review, the Speaker then recommended the exclusion from the list of unserved ports for reasons such as 1) the operation of another nearby port; 2) there is no vessel and it is more convenient for motorist to go by land; and 3) because of environmental factor like the presence of butanding in the case of Pilar, Sorsogon, among others.She told MARINA that there is no need to include these routes so as to lessen the expenditure. You might be submitting a very ambitious plan and it turns out that it does not have to be that much, the Speaker said. She also recalled when they forced an operator to take the Dumaguete - Dapitan route since nobody wanted to take it. The incentive we gave for the operator was that its a missionary route and they were given the privilege of being the sole operator for five years, she said. The Speaker said it worked because after that, there is a trip in that area every hour. Department of Transportation Undersecretary Fernando Juan Perez disclosed that they gave missionary routes before when there was no vessel plying the Manila-Davao route. Regarding the status of Ro-Ro operators, he said that from 2003 to 2010, there were 49 Ro-Ro operators but during the period 2010 to 2016, there were no new Ro-Ro operators. However, during 2016 to the present, there were new 18 operators. This brings to a total of 67 RoRo operators, he said. Philippine Inter-Island Shipping Association representative Christopher Pastrana said they have seen the contribution of the Ro-Ro project in the development, improvement and movement of people and goods. He said that in the last five years, they have deployed brand new ships in the routes that have been established during the program of Arroyo, who was then president, and have further enhanced the services of these ports. Varanasi may see a clash between Priyanka Gandhi and Narendra Modi. (File) Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who made his Lok Sabha debut from Varanasi constituency in 2014, will contest from the same seat in the upcoming general elections, BJP sources told The Indian Express. This comes on a day the Varanasi Congress unit unanimously passed a resolution demanding newly appointed Uttar Pradesh (East) general secretary Priyanka Gandhi be pitted against Modi. However, a decision on PM Modi contesting from a second seat (Vadodara was his second seat in 2014) would be taken depending on the progress of the BJP election campaign, they said. With speculation rife that Patidar quota leader Hardik Patel may also throw his hat in the ring from Varanasi, a mouth-watering contest cannot be ruled out. In 2014, Modi had won the Varanasi Lok Sabha seat by defeating AAP convenor Arvind Kejriwal by a massive margin of 3.37 lakh votes, the highest recorded in the constituency. Modi had secured 5,16,593 votes as against 1,79,739 votes for Kejriwal, while Congress, SP and BSP candidates had to forfeit their deposits. The Aam Aadmi Party has already said that Kejriwal would not be contesting from Varanasi in the coming Lok Sabha elections as he wanted to give special focus to Delhi. Meanwhile, a day after Congress chief Rahul Gandhi pulled out a surprise by naming his sister as the general secretary of UP (East), posters urging Priyanka to contest the coming general elections from Varanasi sprung up across the constituency on Thursday. The slogan "Kashi Ki Janta Kare Pukar, Priyanka Gandhi Ho Sansad Hamar" rent the air as some youth Congress workers took out a march in the Lahurbir locality. "The Congress workers are ready to make her (Priyanka) win the elections from the temple town constituency If she contests from here, the impact would be felt in the neighbouring states as well," Congress leader Ajay Rai, who had contested from Varanasi in 2014, said. Varanasi falls under East UP, which is also the political hotbed in the state as it is home to the constituency of Rajnath Singh (Lucknow) and the region around Gorakhpur is the bastion of Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath. Patel, who has made quite a few trips to the temple town in the past year to explore the ground situation, is another contender and he might contest as an independent in 2019 elections. However, in a recent trip to Varanasi, the 25-year-old PAAS convenor said he had not yet decided on contesting from Varanasi but would go by his communitys decision. Nigeria's anti-human trafficking agency says it has found around 20,000 Nigerian girls who have been forced into prostitution in neighbouring Mali. Nigeria's anti-human trafficking agency says it has found around 20,000 Nigerian girls who have been forced into prostitution in neighbouring Mali. According to the agency, NAPTIP, there are between 20,000 and 45,000 kidnapped Nigerian women in Mali. Also Read | 10 UN Peacekeepers Killed in 'Jihadist' Attack in Mali General Julie Okah-Donli, NAPTIP Director, said the women mostly came from rural areas of six different states in Nigeria. There are over one million Nigerian residents in Mali, out of which about 20,000 are trapped into forced prostitution. The conditions are horrible. They are kept in the thick of the forest where they cannot escape and with the 'madames' watching over them." The girls are reportedly lured with employment opportunities in various countries abroad such as Malaysia or Europe and then find themselves sold into prostitution in Mali. Some of the girls had even been sold as sex slaves in gold mining camps in northern parts of Mali. Also Read | Prostitution in Goa: Police Bust Sex Racket at Calangute, 2 Women Rescued The agency head said the department is working with Malian authorities, the International Organization for Migration and National Emergency Management Agency to send the girls back to Nigeria. "We brought back 104 girls just from three ramshackle brothels, and those were the ones that were even willing to come. They were mostly between the age of 13 and 25, and they had been trapped in the country for many years," NAPTIP's Arinze Osakwe said. "Since then, we have been working with local authorities and receiving reports from the Nigerian embassy in Bamako that the number of Nigerian girls trafficked to Mali has spiked tremendously," he said. According to a US State Department report on human trafficking in 2018, Nigeria is a hotbed of illegal human trade. Nigerian victims of human trafficking were found in at least 40 different countries, according to the report. The report gave another shocking statistic that 80 percent of all female Nigerian migrants in Italy are or will become sex trafficking victims". Nigerias inability to protect its girl children was highlighted when the terrorist group Boko Haram abducted 276 girls from their schools in Chibok. The girls were then married off to Boko Haram fighters. After two years some 100 girls managed to come back to their families. After its pre-poll alliance with the TDP in neighbouring Telangana came a cropper, the Congress on Wednesday, 23 January, asserted it would contest on its own in the upcoming elections in Andhra Pradesh, both to the state Assembly and the Lok Sabha. AICC General Secretary and former Kerala Chief Minister Oommen Chandy made the assertion while making it clear that the Congress will not have any alliance with the ruling Telugu Desam Party (TDP) in Andhra Pradesh. Also Read: AP CM Naidu to Provide Cars on Subsidy to Unemployed Brahmin Youth "We will contest all 175 Assembly and 25 Lok Sabha seats alone. The TDP allied with us only at the national level, so we will have no truck (with it) in the state," he maintained. Addressing a press conference after a meeting of the PCC office-bearers in Amaravati, Chandy said they would meet again on 31 January to discuss about the poll preparations. The state Congress also decided to undertake a bus yatra in all the 13 districts in February, he said. APCC President N Raghuveera Reddy said they left the decision of electoral alliances to AICC President Rahul Gandhi. However, he hastened to add that the Congress would fight the elections in Andhra Pradesh on its own. The Congress, which formed a pre-poll alliance with the TDP and two others for the recent Assembly polls in Telangana, ended up with 19 seats, down from 21 in 2014, while the TDP won two seats as against 15 last time. The Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) won 88 seats in the 119-member Assembly to retain power. . Read more on Politics by The Quint.RSS & BJPs Nehru-Netaji Cosplay: Irony Dies a Thousand DeathsWhy Popping Aspirin Might Actually Be Harmful For Your Health . Read more on Politics by The Quint. The posters put up by Congress workers in Varanasi say, 'Kashi Ki Janta Kare Pukar, Priyanka Gandhi Ho Sansad Hamaar' (It's Kashi's demand that Priyanka becomes our MP). Lucknow: Within 24 hours of Priyanka Gandhi's political debut and assuming the charge of party's UP East affairs, posters have come up in PM Modis constituency Varanasi saying that people of Kashi now want Priyanka Gandhi as its next MP. The posters carry the image of Congress President Rahul Gandhi and senior Congress leader Ajay Rai along with the picture of Priyanka Gandhi. The posters put up by Congress workers in Varanasi say Kashi Ki Janta Kare Pukar, Priyanka Gandhi Ho Sansad Hamaar also seen written at the bottom of the poster is We want Priyanka. Speaking to News18, a Congress worker putting up the poster, said, It was a long pending demand of the Congress workers that Priyanka didi should come into politics and send back Modi ji to Gujarat. We want her to contest from Kashi and we will ensure she wins by a huge margin." In Prime Minister Modis constituency Varanasi, although Arvind Kejriwal of AAP was voted runner up, Congress's Ajay Rai had won more votes than SP and BSP candidates. Rai had got above 75 thousand votes. However, there were also speculations that due to health issues of UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi, Priyanka might contest upcoming 2019 Lok Sabha elections from Rae Bareli, as she has been quite active in the constituency on her mothers behalf. It is still not clear if Priyanka will contest the 2019 Lok Sabha Elections or not, however, the decision to make General Secretary of UP East by Congress is considered as masterstroke by many as it may change political arithmetic ahead of 2019 Lok Sabha elections. Congress trump card comes only days after the Samajwadi Party and the Bahujan Samaj Party announced their alliance in a move seen as a snub to the national party. Congress previous ally in state, the Rashtriya Lok Dal, also broke ties with the party to join the BSP-SP alliance. Congress President Rahul Gandhi had at the time said that the party will be fight alone for the 80 parliamentary seats in the state and that he had a surprise in store. Photo credit: Caixin Media - Getty Images From Popular Mechanics China says its new hypersonic missile, the DF-17, can sink U.S. Navy aircraft carriers. The claim, which ran in several media outlets controlled by the Chinese Communist Party, came just hours after U.S. and British Royal Navy warships sailed through the South China Sea together. Yes, China almost certainly has such missiles. Whether the country could marshal the resources to locate a carrier at sea and then sink it is a much more open question. According to United Press International , China Times and other state-run news outlets across China reported that the DF-17 missile could sink an American aircraft carrier if fired eight times. A Chinese military commentator quoted by one of the articles further stated that it would be "impossible" for "Western missile defense" to track or intercept the DF-17. The articles made further claims that the DF-17 was capable of carrying a nuclear warhead and could hit any target in the world within an hour-with the exception of the United States. The DF-17 is a hypersonic boost glide weapon system. The main weapon is boosted aloft atop a ballistic missile to high altitudes. Traditional ballistic missiles boost their warheads into space, where they are carried on ballistic trajectories calculated to end at their targets. Hypersonic weapons, however, stop short of entering space. At very high altitudes still within Earths atmosphere, the weapons angle downward, gliding at speeds in excess of Mach 5 towards their targets. This method complicates things for anyone trying to intercept the object. Some of China Times reported claims are flatly untrue. DF-17 has an estimated range of 1,100 to 1,500 miles, meaning it is more of a regional weapon and is unable to hit targets globally. At the same time, a hypersonic weapon with a "global reach" would naturally have the ability to strike the continental United States. As for the DF-17s ability to sink an American carrier-well, it depends. China would have to find and then track an aircraft carrier through the vastness of the Pacific Ocean. A network of Chinese military ships, satellites, and aircraft, supported by secure communications, would then feed the carrier's location and heading to hypersonic missile launch units on land. At the same time, U.S. military would seek to establish a protective bubble around the carrier, jamming enemy communications and shooting down or sinking any enemy unit that came close to the giant ship. Story continues While its conceivable a hypersonic weapon could damage a carrier-and eight such missiles could sink one-we wont really know unless China tries. Hypersonic weapons pack enormous amounts of kinetic energy that is released to the target on impact, but exactly how fast a DF-17 travels and how much kinetic energy would be imparted is unknown. According to China Times, the DF-17 will be ready for operational use by 2020. ('You Might Also Like',) Gun dealers around the state have been hit with a new law that will impact more than who buys firearms. Gov. J.B. Pritzker signed Senate Bill 337 on Jan. 17, a holdover piece of legislation from the 100th General Assembly. Sen. John Cullerton placed the piece on hold March 31, shortly after the bill was approved by both chambers in the Statehouse. Cullerton removed the hold just days before the incoming Democratic governor took office, denying Gov. Bruce Rauner the opportunity to veto it as he had previously done on a similar piece of legislation. While on the campaign trail, Pritzker pledged to sign the bill if it were to reach his desk. Under the laws Firearm Dealer License Certification Act, gun shop owners will now be required to have cameras and a monitored security system in stores on or before Jan. 2, 2021, according to the statute. The cameras, along with a security system altering law enforcement of break-ins, will be required in an effort to reduce the sale of stolen firearms. Dustin Debrey, manager of Monster Guns, Arms and Ammo in Springfield, said he agrees that firearm dealers should have security systems and cameras, but he thinks some of the additional regulations are unnecessary. I dont believe for a second theyre looking at the safety of the people, Debrey said. Its just to make money. Retail locations will be required to pay up to $1,500 to receive their certification while smaller gun shops will be charged the $300 minimum. Training on so-called straw man purchases is also required by the new legislation. Debrey said the $1,500 certification fee wont have a negative impact on Monster Guns, Arms and Ammo, but some of the smaller shops around Sangamon County may find any additional fees too much to bear. A second component to the law, the Gun Trafficking Information Act, requires the Illinois State Police to maintain a database with known sellers, as well as the locations of incidents involving gun violence. Private individuals will also need to make adjustments if they plan to sell a firearm, or other defensive weapons like a stun gun. The statute requires private sellers to maintain records of the transfer for 10 years. Sen. Don Harmon, D-Oak Park, who proposed SB337, has attempted to pass similar legislation for nearly two decades. When I first introduced a version of this bill in 2003, I thought we would be having this celebration a little sooner, Harmon said in a statement after Pritzker signed the bill. Firearm advocacy groups around the state were quick to chime in with what they believe is an affront to the Second Amendment and a regulatory system already in place. The federal government already licenses gun dealers, the Illinois State Rifle Association said in a statement. There is no need to add yet another layer of bureaucracy on gun dealers. The advocacy group also said they will be challenging this new law in court after taking a swing at the bills stated purpose to curb weapons trafficking and gun violence. The action taken is another assault on our Second Amendment right. Nothing in this bill is going to enhance public safety in Illinois. The only thing that is being accomplished here is the creation of a bureaucratic nightmare for gun dealers. In addition to the Illinois State Rifle Associations opposition to the new law, some businesses are troubled by how it came about. Debrey said hes bothered with how the Democrat-controlled government placed the bill on hold until Pritzker took office, due to a similar bill being vetoed by Rauner.Thats wrong. Thats improper. They were trying to bypass the system. Lindsey Salvatelli is an editorial intern with Illinois Times as part of the Public Affairs Reporting masters degree program at University of Illinois Springfield. Contact her at intern@illinoistimes.com. Photo By Lindsey Salvatelli U.S. Rep. Rodney Davis and Teresa Haley, NAACP Illinois chapter president, share the podium to disucss the importance of recognizing the 1908 race riots. U.S. Rep. Rodney Davis, R-Taylorville, has put his name on a bill that would designate the area where remains of the 1908 Springfield race riots were uncovered as a national monument. Racial tensions hit a low point in Springfields history in mid-August of 1908. Provoked by a claim of rape that was eventually recanted two weeks later, a mob of white men burned down black-owned homes and businesses after learning the man accused of rape had been driven out of town in a vehicle owned by a white restaurant owner. Artifacts and the remains of five structures were unearthed in 2014 during excavation along the Carpenter Street segment as part of a project to consolidate the citys rail lines. Speaking at a press conference at the Springfield and Central Illinois African American History Museum on Jan. 18, Davis said recognition of the artifacts, as well as the history of Springfield and the importance the race riots had on the formation of the NAACP, is a community effort thats giving the due honor that those artifacts demand we give. The push toward having the site recognized is bipartisan, with support from U.S. Sen. Tammy Duckworth, who plans to sponsor the bill in the Senate. Davis said the National Park Service has agreed to conduct a preliminary resource assessment, a necessary step when designating a potential site as a national monument. Teresa Haley, NAACP Illinois chapter president, said the site serves as an important piece of local and national history, as well as the NAACPs. It has been a history that people in Springfield and around the country have been ashamed of, Haley said. They say, Oh, were going to bury that, were not going to talk about that. Thats the history we want to forget. But if we dont know our past, were bound to repeat it. Havent we all heard that before? The race riots of 1908 remain a scar on Springfields history, but it served as a catalyst for the formation of the NAACP after the events in Springfield made national news. Early estimates place the cost of the commemorative site construction at $5 million, with construction to take five years to complete. Mayor Jim Langfelder said the city will be contributing to the memorial site money received from the Illinois Department of Transportation but was unsure how much will be donated. State Rep. Tim Butler said he plans to introduce a resolution in the Illinois General Assembly to support the federal steps being taken to have the site recognized as a national monument. With what Congressman Davis and Sen. Duckworth are doing on the Senate side as far as legislation to make this a national monument, I think it is really a huge step forward for our community, Butler said. Davis did not mention if the partial federal government shutdown will affect the National Park Services assessment of the site, but he did share his thoughts on the gridlock between Democrats and President Donald Trumps funding for a border wall. We know, as we move forward, we all have to govern together. Weve got to make sure that even in the midst of a partial shutdown that were in, that we dont lose sight of the long-term goals of making something like this a national monument, Davis said. Were going to continue to do the work on the ground, in the House and in the Senate, regardless of whats happening outside of our control. Artifacts found at the site of the 1908 race riots will be on display at the African American History Museum until the end of February. A national federation of fishermen and fishworkers on Thursday called for a more pro-people rehabilitation of Manila Bay. Pablo Rosales, Pagkakaisa ng mga Samahan ng Mangingisda chairperson, expressed disappointment over the failure of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources to hold a dialogue with them in the P47-billion rehabilitation plan of Manila Bay. The governments plan is anchored on restoring the bays waters to pristine quality, in order to make it safe for swimming again. It wants to employ a Boracay-style clean up in a body of water that is facing much more complex challenges, he said, saying that the 190-kilometer Manila Bay is much bigger than the 1,000-hectare Boracay Island in Aklan. And more importantly, around five-million people are living in the coastal areas around the bay, their livelihoods dependent on the bays resources, he said. Gilbert Reyes, a Pangisda leader in Paranaque City, said they were never consulted. Instead of consulting us and employing our assistance in the rehabilitation efforts as key stakeholders, the communities are being threatened of evictions and demolitions, he said.Environment Secretary Roy Cimatu said the bays rehabilitation will kick off on Jan. 27. What will happen to the small fishers in Manila Bay who are dependent on fishing for their livelihoods? How will the government address the economic displacement that will result from its rehabilitation plan? Reyes asked. He, however, clarified Pangisda is not against the rehabilitation of Manila Bay. Fishers and people living along the coastline support the rehabilitation of Manila Bay. But it has to be about reviving and sustaining the life of the Bay and reviving and sustaining the livelihoods of fishers dependent on its resources, he said. Flatfoot 56, a Celtic-influenced, punk-rock band from Chicago, lands at Bar None on Friday, Jan. 25, 8pm, along with Attic Salt and No Solution. Could the worst of the winter weather be done, allowing us to resume proper attendance of live music shows? Lets hope so, because were all counting on it. The frigid temps last Sunday (yes, it was f-ing cold out, and, ahem, that stands for freezing) did not cool down the warm reception given to the WhirlWind 2018 event organized to raise funds for the victims of the tornado damage done in Taylorville this past December. On a Facebook post made Monday by Mandy Rose, the spark plug driving the charity engine, she said this: Drum roll! The numbers are in: We raised $10,040 at the WhirlWind yesterday!!! And that, my friends, is an amazing thing to do. A hearty thanks to all who participated in whatever way and heres to those dollars doing some real good to those really in need. If youre looking for something a little different, or quite a bit different than the usual band-in-a bar doings, check out the Museum After Hours event happening this Friday (and every fourth Friday through May) at the Illinois State Museum on Spring and Edwards. So the story goes that while dwelling upon the upcoming closing of the Bicentennial and Beyond exhibit on Feb. 3, folks at the museum (yeah, the one that sorry sack of a former gov closed to teach us a budget lesson through bad business tactics) decided to host a party night of live music, drinks, food and fun. They lined up Jazz by Footprints with Virgil Rhodes for music with beer from Obed and Isaacs Microbrewery and wine from Danenberger Family Vineyards, plus non-alcoholic beverages too, along with Coopers StrEATside Bistro supplying the food. Tickets are available at the door or online at the museums website. And the best news of all the proceeds support educational programs at the museum. Now thats the way to help a museum by opening up to the community, not closing down.In a different type of event, Danenberger Family Vineyards holds a fundraiser called Project Runway on Saturday from noon to 5 p.m. featuring music acts ReMix, Mike Burnett, Dallas Lee Whittaker and Rowdy Jones Band (acoustic version), in that particular order. Winemaker and co-owner of DFV, Susan Danenberger, is a breast cancer survivor chosen to walk the runway in New York City for AnaOno, a designer who creates undergarments for breast cancer patients, as explained on Susans GoFundMe site, hosted by Nicole Florence. All funds raised go to cover expenses for Susan and representatives of the SIU plastic surgery department to attend this celebration of survivorship on Feb. 10 in NYC, with any excess donated directly to metastatic breast cancer research.On Saturday night, we have our usual supply of more unusual live music happenings. George Ranks hosts their Hillbilly Hoedown featuring those wonderfully wily Wolf Crick Boys and the cool country of the Kyle Gass Band with expected hootin and hollerin and heaven knows what the heck else. Out at the Curve Inn, Rockhouse, the longtime standard bearers of local real rock and Phantom of the Lordz, a Metallica tribute band only covering songs from the bands first three albums, features a crossover of band mates to pull off this daring double bill. The Radon Lounge (on Facebook) returns with a blistering lineup of the Hollow Ends, Dandelion Pickers, Andrew Ryan and Phoenix Rise with artwork for exhibition and sale by Christy!, sure to defrost whatever winter weather comes our way.Well, that about covers that. See more listings in our Live Music section of IT. ELECTRONIC MONITORING IS A BARRIER In honoring the legacy of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., I am grateful that the civil rights movement led to the dismantling of segregation and discrimination against people of color. Nevertheless, I am troubled about a resurgence of racism in our society by which people of color still experience hate and discrimination. As a member of the Restorative Justice Task Force of the Faith Coalition for the Common Good, I am voicing our concerns with other Gamaliel affiliates across the nation about the indignity of mass supervision by means of electronic monitoring of ex-offenders on probation and parole. It impacts over five million of predominately people of color. Michelle Alexander, civil rights lawyer and advocate, maintains that electronic monitoring constitutes digital prisons that deprives individuals of their civil rights such as the right to vote and the right of due process for technical rule violations. Electronic monitoring of ex-offenders often creates a barrier to restorative justice. It limits freedom as to where a person can go to find a job, access social services, attend religious services and share in special family occasions. Electronic monitoring is like a dog leash that is a humiliating injustice. Ex-offenders must pay for the monitoring device that keeps them under restraint by law enforcement. In 1963, Dr. King issued a moral challenge to America which remains relevant: Now is the time to lift our national policy from the quicksand of racial justice to the solid rock of human dignity. Rev. David A. Anderson Springfield BASIS OF SEX WAS ACCURATE I have no idea how old Chuck Koplinski is, but this letter is in regards to his article on the movie On the Basis of Sex. He said it did not dig deep enough, and I am sorry if the facts were too much for him to bear. My sister, Mary Lee Leahy, attended the University of Chicago Law School in the mid-60s, which has always been known as one of the most liberal schools in the country. Shortly after getting married, she became pregnant and soon she began to show. The head of the law school called her into his office and told her that she must drop out because her pregnancy would be a distraction for the male students. At that time, there was only one other female in the class. She was mad, but did what was asked of her. The thought of taking the school to court was not an option. She did drop out of school for a semester, but she was not going to give up what she wanted to do, become an attorney. Our family pulled together in caring for the newborn, and she was able to attend summer school so that she would be able to graduate with her class. Margaret Cullen Springfield ITS BEEN DONE Dan Walker, and I believe the other constitutional officers, were sworn in Jan. 8, 1973, in front of the Lincoln statue at Second and Capitol streets. It was colder than a witchs breast that day. My wife, who was with me as I covered it for WAND TV, ended up in the hospital briefly with a serious cold. The ball was held just up the street at the Armory (while it was still a functioning building). I remember sitting in the south balcony and talking with Floyd Kalber, who was covering it for WMAQ - Chicago. What can you really report about an inaugural ball once you have described the lovely dresses, the music, etc.? I dont think there was any live TV coverage of either event. Carroll J. Sutton Springfield click to enlarge Valued at $20 million, the ALPLMs copy of the Gettysburg Address is one of five in existence handwritten by Abraham Lincoln. Glenn Becks been down on his luck. The talk show personality with bluster hes called Barack Obama a racist and said that relatives of 9/11 victims complain too much has been laying off staff at his Texas-based production company in recent years. Revenue, Beck has said, isnt what it used to be. But a nonprofit outfit founded by Beck called Mercury One, which bills itself a humanitarian and educational charity, got a boost last year from the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum. The ALPLM last June loaned Mercury One some of its most precious possessions, including a copy of the Gettysburg Address, a key to Lincolns house, a letter he wrote and a nameplate from his home informing passersby that A. Lincoln lived there. The 2018 loan was the third time ever that the Gettysburg Address has left the Springfield institution. It was Mercury Ones opening weekend as a museum. In 2008, armed drivers took the document to Pennsylvania in a locked truck for the opening of the Gettysburg National Military Museum and Visitors Center. ALPLM officials with keys to the trucks storage compartment followed in a rental car. In 2009, the Chicago History Museum borrowed the treasure for a month-long show. The ALPLM couldnt find the 2009 loan agreement when I asked. Unlike Mercury One or the ALPLM, the Windy City museum is accredited by the American Alliance of Museums, which certifies that institutions know how to handle priceless artifacts. ALPLM officials and staff of the Pennsylvania institution exchanged emails for nearly a year before the document left Springfield in 2008. The loan agreement was signed more than a month in advance, after ALPLM staff reviewed a National Park Service report on the building where the document would be displayed. Is the facility safe from fire and floods? Are temperatures, humidity, dust and lighting levels adequately monitored? What about insects, mold and rodents? Things were different when Mercury One borrowed the Gettysburg Address for a three-day exhibit dubbed Rights and Responsibilities that also featured such treasures as a replica pair of Dorothys ruby slippers from The Wizard of Oz, costumes from Star Wars and an exploding rat the British created during World War II, with the idea of scattering the critters in German factories in hopes that the Nazis would toss them into boilers and so blow the Third Reich to smithereens. Yes, Mercury One owns some cool stuff, and the person who keeps it safe is Courtney Mayden, who was hired in the fall of 2017 as an associate curator at the Dallas-area facility. Before that, she was a server at Pluckers Wing Bar in nearby Addison. She also has a degree in art history and had served as volunteer docent at a Fort Worth art museum and worked as a gallery attendant at a Dallas art museum. It was Maydens job to ensure that humidity, temperatures, security and other details were up to snuff to protect Abe's speech and other relics. She helped unpack the ALPLM artifacts, according to emails, and repacked them for the return trip to Springfield. ALPLM director Alan Lowe made the trip, with plans to be interviewed by Beck for a television program. The Gettysburg Address is so cherished that the five existing copies are kept in near darkness within vaults where temperatures are between 50 and 65 degrees and relative humidity is between 40 and 48 percent, according to a 2013 story in Popular Science. A fingerprint is cause for consternation because oils left from human skin attract contaminants that speed decay. The ALPLM measures its copy, according to the 2013 story, to determine how its dimensions change in different conditions. Pros at the Library of Congress say there is no hard-and-fast rule, but Elmer Eusman, chief of the librarys conservation division, says via email that most folks can learn how to safely handle historic documents in a relatively short amount of time if trained by experts. The duration will have to do with the persons abilities and the degree of fragility of the artifact, he writes. Contrary to ALPLM policy, no loan request was put in writing before artifacts were shipped to Texas -- museum officials say it was an oral request. Its not clear when it was made. The Chicago History Museum submitted its written request to borrow the Gettysburg Address one year before the 2009 show; after initial exchanges of emails, the Gettysburg museum submitted its request more than eight months before the 2008 exhibition. The Library of Congress requires that formal loan requests be made at least nine months before an exhibit opens. Acceptance of facility reports that include such things as floor plans and humidity and temperature readings is the first step of the approval process, Rachel Waldren, senior exhibits registrar for the library, wrote in an email in response to questions about standard policies and procedures for loans. Mayden sent temperature and humidity readings nine days before the exhibit opened. By then, the shipping company was already making arrangements to transport artifacts. The loan agreement with Mercury One was signed by ALPLM officials two days before the exhibit opened, the same day that Mayden informed the Springfield museum that she hadnt decided between two spots for exhibiting the document. Im leaning towards Glenns office as the display location, Mayden wrote in an email. The humidity in his office is lower, the temperature is more stable and there is the added benefit of increased security. Emails show that the display wasnt ready until four hours after the exhibit was scheduled to open. "I am finally done setting up!" Mayden emailed an ALPLM official in Springfield. "I'm attaching a picture of the display." Mayden didnt return a phone call. In an email to ALPM spokesman Chris Wills, she notes that she has a degree in art history from New York University, where she says she studied conservation techniques for paintings. She says she also learned about conservation in 2017 during a two-week internship at a Gilded Age mansion in upstate New York, where she says she learned how to care for furniture, ceramics, textiles, books and documents. Wills says via email that Lowe was present when artifacts were unpacked and put on display, and he notes that everything was returned safe and sound. We appreciate your interest in this textbook example of how to properly handle the loan of a historic document, Wills wrote. Textbook? Shipping arrangements were made before a loan agreement was signed with an outfit that had never before held an exhibition. The Mercury One website is festooned with Donate Now buttons, the charitys collection is a hodgepodge that includes Hollywood memorabilia, an exploding rat and sundry other items, with a Thomas Paine letter and a few other historic documents thrown in. Mayden seems earnest in emails, but she was just getting started as a professional conservator. It sounds like a lot of stuff got slapped together at the last minute, compared with prior loans and how they roll at the Library of Congress. Or maybe its just me. I confess: I have an issue with the Gettysburg Address gracing the office of a man who once called our only African-American president a racist. Mayden told the ALPLM that 2,316 visitors saw the exhibit. Beck, who led private tours with tickets topping out at $750, has crowed. Last fall, his charity donated $50,000 to the ALPLM, saying it wants to help retire a debt the museums private foundation incurred to buy artifacts. The press release on Mercury Ones website announcing the gift is headlined Broadcaster Helps Protect Lincoln Artifacts. Contact Bruce Rushton at brushton@illinoistimes.com. I am person who is uncompromisingly black and unapologetically gay. Deal with it. I am person who is uncompromisingly black and unapologetically gay. Deal with it. Alvin McEwen [image: juneteenth]Juneteenth Holiday: President Joe Bidens signature Thursday established Juneteenth as a federal holiday, the first new federal holiday ... Dear Readers, Stonewall Gazette is being placed on an indefinite hiatus due to my health. I have stage four peritoneal cancer. Life's journey can be a roug... from Imgflip Meme Generator The post American History appeared first on Right Wing Watch. Ever since Joe Biden humiliated Donald Trump beating him by more than seven million votes the despondent Cult of Trump has whined that Trump didnt rea... Variety reports: John Paragon, best known for his role as Jambi the Genie on the television series Pee-wees Playhouse, has died. He was 66. Paragon di... For some young dairy producers that have made the decision to return to the home farm, there is an important step that comes first. They spend time gaining knowledge from outside sources such as school or employment at another farm. I have a degree from South Dakota State University in general agriculture with an emphases in animal science, dairy production, and Spanish, shared Minnesota dairyman Chris Schulze in describing the most beneficial opportunities to prepare him for running a dairy. Additionally, I studied abroad in Guatemala during the summer of 2014. The skills I gained from that experience and the six semesters of Spanish that I took during college has helped me interact with my employees better, the co-owner of Schulze Dairy in Holland, Minn., continued. For the four young dairy producers interviewed for the Round Table These young farmers came back to the dairy, opportunities both on the home farm and nearby were important for setting up their futures. Read more on these young farmers in the December 2018 issue of Hoards Dairyman on pages 714 to 716. Heres how the other three participants answered the question What prepared you to return to the farm? Glen Meadows Farm (Clark Egelston), Fultonville, N.Y.: I majored in dairy science at Virginia Tech. For a short time, I worked on two different lab studies, one under the direction of Katharine Knowlton, the other under the direction of Mark Hannigan. While I very much appreciated what both labs were accomplishing, I quickly learned that line of work was not for me. I ended up taking a relief milking position on a 60-cow herd owned and operated by Paul and Ben White. I knew where I was headed after college, and I wanted to learn as much as I could and make new contacts. Ohlde Dairy (Justin Ohlde), Linn, Kan.: The dairy was in my plan from the beginning, but I was looking to see if there was something else I wanted to do so I worked at another dairy when I was in junior college. Slaymaker Farm (Jessica and Dan Slaymaker), Mansfield, Pa.: Jessica attended Penn State University and graduated with a bachelors degree in animal science. Although she had initially intended to study veterinary science, she changed her mind and realized in that first year how much she missed the farm. Dan, meanwhile, has an associates degree in electrical technology. He says he uses that knowledge on a daily basis with the farm. At times, it has served as a nice side income to the farm. He also did a lot of farm work for a neighbor while in high school. To comment, email your remarks to intel@hoards.com. (c) Hoard's Dairyman Intel 2019 January 21, 2019 A party-list legislator who represents the agriculture sector on Thursday assailed the Land Bank of the Philippines for granting a $85-million unsecured loan to the bankrupt Hanjin Heavy Industries and Construction Philippines. In filing a resolution seeking an investigation in the government banks grant of a massive unsecured loan to the Korean company, Party-list Rep. Cecil Chavez of Butil said the grant of such loan was a betrayal of the LandBanks mandate that was spelled out in Republic Act 10000, the law that aims to provide agriculture, fisheries and agrarian reform credit, insurance and financing system to improve the productivity of the agriculture and fisheries sectors, that was enacted in 2009. Nowhere in the original mandate of the Land Bank says that it should grant a jumbo, unsecured loan to a foreign shipbuilding entity,Chavez, vice chairman of the House committee on agriculture and food, said. She said a congressional inquiry is needed because the loan that was granted to Hanjin was done in the wake of the LandBanks wanton and brazen failure to grant just even token loans to small farmers and agrarian reform beneficiaries. Under the law, all banks are required to set aside a portion of their loanable funds for so called agri-agra loans that are meant to provide financing to the food production sector. Failure to grant such loans will subject banks to stiff fines and practically all banks, including the LandBank, that was established to provide such loans to small farmers and fishermen, have been paying fines annually. Earlier, Alvarez assailed the overall mendacity of the banking system and what she alleged as deliberate efforts of the banks to brazenly violate RA 10000 -- the law that requires banks to grant 25 percent of their yearly loan portfolio to agriculture and agrarian reform beneficiaries.The Regional Regional Trial Court in Olongapo City has already put Hanjin under receivership after the company defaulted on its debts obligations and filed for corporate rehabilitation on January 8. It was the biggest corporate bankruptcy ever in the Philippines, with $412 million (P21.5 billion) in unsecured loans owed to five banksRizal Commercial Banking Corp., LandBank, Metropolitan Bank & Trust Co., Bank of the Philippine Islands and BDO Unibank Inc. In a privileged speech, Chavez said the Philippine banking system paid more than P6 billion in penalties because of the systems deliberate decision to violate RA 10000 and pay fines just to avoid granting loans to small farmers and agrarian reform beneficiaries. Under RA 10000, the banks have several modes of alternative compliance which allow them to buy government papers and bonds and pass these off as legal compliance to the 25 percent mandate of RA 10000. Yet, after exhausting the modes of alternative compliance, the banks would then deliberately pay fines instead of lending to agriculture and small farmers, Chavez said. sonuindia88 wrote: A dishonest grocer professes to sell pure butter at cpst price, but he mixes it with adulterated fat and thereby gains 25%. Find the percentage of adulterated fat in the mixture assuming that adulterated fat is freely available? a)20% b)25% c)33.33% d)40% e)35% Ans a I am doing this by alligation using gain% On selling at CP gain %=0 On selling adulterated fat gain%=100 Required gain =25 Hence using graphical approach 0 100 \ / 25 / \ x y hence ratio of pure butter and adulterated fat x:y=75:25 or 3:1 % of adulterated fat in mixture 1/4*100=25% Please tell me where I am doing wrong? Veritas Prep GMAT Instructor Learn more about how Veritas Prep can help you achieve a great GMAT score by checking out their KarishmaVeritas Prep GMAT InstructorLearn more about how Veritas Prep can help you achieve a great GMAT score by checking out their GMAT Prep Options > Signature Read More Alligation is used to find the average value given two values and the ratio of their weights. First of all, if average profit is 25%, what is the profit on the two individual items?Profit on pure butter sold at cost price = 0%What about profit on adulterated fat which is available free of cost? How is it 100%? Since its cost price is 0 and profit % = profit/CP * 100, profit% is actually infinite.Secondly, the ratio that you get when you use alligation will be the ratio of their cost price, not the amount in which they are added. You need to be very careful about the weights you use.When you are averaging Profit%, the weight will be Cost price because Profit% = Profit/Cost Price. Since denominator has total weight, weights will be cost price. Hence, do not use alligation in this question.It can be very easily done using the method suggested above. Since profit is 25%, $4 of cost price gives $1 of profit. If cost of pure butter is $1 per gm, he used only 4 gm butter but sold 5 gm mixture. So 1 out of every 5 was adulterated fat i.e. 20%._________________ LOS ANGELES, Jan. 24, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Vitality Biopharma, Inc. (Ticker: VBIO) (Vitality Biopharma, Vitality, or the Company), a corporation dedicated to the development of cannabinoid prodrug pharmaceuticals, and to unlocking the power of cannabinoids for the treatment of serious neurological and inflammatory disorders, is pleased to announce that it has added an additional position on its board of directors and has appointed former Ohio Governor Richard F. Celeste to serve in that post. Governor Celeste has had a remarkable career in both the public and private sector. A former Rhodes Scholar, Governor Celestes lifework has included: State Representative, Ohio House of Representatives; Lt. Governor, State of Ohio; Director, United States Peace Corps (appointed by President Carter); Governor, State of Ohio (two terms); Chairman of the Government-University-Industry Research Roundtable at the National Academy of Sciences; United States Ambassador to India (appointed by President Clinton); President, Colorado College, Colorado Springs, Colorado (nine years). The Company welcomes the extensive experience in both public and private enterprise that Governor Celeste brings to his new position with Vitality Biopharma. Vitality Biopharma is at the cutting edge in the development and use of cannabis for the treatment of serious medical conditions, commented Edward Feighan, Chairman of Vitality. Governor Celestes broad experience and knowledge of public policy and healthcare dynamics will be exceedingly helpful as the Company grows and begins to commercialize its portfolio of cannabis-based therapeutics. Vitality has completed extensive development of cannabinoid pharmaceuticals targeting treatment of gastrointestinal conditions, including Crohns disease and ulcerative colitis. With positive results in preclinical studies, the Company is now planning to initiate FDA and DEA-compliant clinical trials in the United States. I am honored and enthused to serve on the Board of Vitality Biopharma, Governor Celeste said. The Company is led by a seasoned group of physicians, researchers, and executives, and we are now witnessing dramatic shifts in the understanding and acceptance of how cannabis-based medicines can be used. Vitality is clearly positioned to be one of the most consequential pioneers of these breakthroughs. In the past few months, Vitality Biopharma has made significant progress in its efforts to develop and commercialize cannabis therapeutics. The Company has raised $8.5 million dollars in additional capital, more than doubled its full-time staff including additions to its executive leadership team and initiated a new line of business focused on use of cannabinoids for opioid reduction. Vitality is a bold and creative business, fueled by a unique team and understanding of both cannabinoid science and medicine, commented CEO Robert Brooke. Governor Celestes appointment to our Board reflects both our aspiration and commitment to emerge as one of the countrys premier developers of breakthrough cannabis therapeutics and to commercialize them across the U.S. in a federally-compliant manner. About Vitality Biopharma (Ticker: VBIO) Vitality Biopharma is dedicated to unlocking the power of cannabinoids for the treatment of serious neurological and inflammatory disorders. The Companys operations include federally-compliant cannabinoid drug development and the launch of a specialty care treatment network in the United States focused on the reduction of opioid dependence. For more information, visit: www.vitality.bio . Follow us on Facebook , Twitter and LinkedIn . Notice Regarding Forward-Looking Statements This news release contains "forward-looking statements" as that term is defined in Section 27(a) of the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended and Section 21(e) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. Statements in this press release which are not purely historical are forward-looking statements and include any statements regarding beliefs, plans, expectations or intentions regarding the future. Such factors include, among others, the inherent uncertainties associated with new projects and development stage companies, Governor Celestes service on the board of directors of the Company, timing of clinical trials and product development, business strategy and new lines of business. These forward-looking statements are made as of the date of this news release, and we assume no obligation to update the forward-looking statements, or to update the reasons why actual results could differ from those projected in the forward-looking statements. Although we believe that any beliefs, plans, expectations and intentions contained in this press release are reasonable, there can be no assurance that any such beliefs, plans, expectations or intentions will prove to be accurate. Investors should consult all of the information set forth herein and should also refer to the risk factors disclosure outlined in our annual report on Form 10-K for the most recent fiscal year, our quarterly reports on Form 10-Q and other periodic reports filed from time-to-time with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Calgary, Alberta, Jan. 24, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- International food networking company Bridge2Food is joining forces with Inventures, a global innovation conference held in Calgary, Canada, June 5 to 7. Inventures, brings together the brightest ideas in emerging technologies that are transforming economies, industries and communities across the globe. Conference speakers include Temple Grandin and Clearbanc co-founder Michele Romanow. Alberta has tremendous opportunities to tap into the soaring market of plant-based foods from an ingredient perspective and manufacturing perspective, said Gerard Klein Essink, Founder and CEO of Bridge2Food. Foreign companies will experience a fantastic climate for business and investment. The Bridge2Food 12th Protein Summit 2019 runs June 3-5 in Calgary and focuses on consumer insights, retail and food service trends, and brand innovations. Bridge2Food also hosts part of the Summit in Saskatoon at the end of May. Alberta Innovates is seizing the opportunity to demonstrate what Alberta has to offer companies from around the world, says Steve Price, Executive Director, Bio-Industrial Innovation. By joining forces with the 12th Protein Summit 2019, we have an opportunity to showcase Albertas agricultural sector to a global audience. Alberta has one of the worlds most productive agricultural economies with more than 30 per cent of the total farm area in Canada. Major crops include wheat, barley and canola, and the province is one of Canadas largest potato producers. Pulse crops are also key. Canada exports pulse crops worth about CDN $4 billion annually to more than 130 countries, and one-third of Canadas pea crop comes from Alberta. To help the agriculture sector to continue to advance, Alberta Innovates develops crop varieties that resist biotic stresses like plant disease and abiotic stresses like drought and cold. The organization also works with innovators to manage an online system called BRIMS that provides comprehensive biomass, ecosystem services, and land-use data to support management and investment decisions in the sector. Innovators who work in the agriculture sector are invited to participate in an international pitch competition that is awarding CDN$10,000 to successful projects. Applying to the pitch competition is free, and submissions are due March 15. Learn more and purchase tickets at the early bird price of CDN $399: www.inventurescan.com Alberta Innovates invests in research, innovation and entrepreneurship to drive provincial economic growth and diversity. The organization provides technical expertise, entrepreneurial advice and support, opportunities for partnerships, and funding to advance the best ideas. Bridge2Food is an international food industry networking company based in The Netherlands. Its key strength is the development of specialist platforms for the food industry. Bridge2Food operates in the international food sector and organises a range of food industry summits for senior managers of food manufacturing companies in Europe, the USA and Asia. Attachment Ogletree and Five of Its Current and Former Male Leaders are Charged with Gender Discrimination Managing Shareholder Charles Keen Admits Ogletree Is Not Real Good at Practicing What We Preach SAN DIEGO, Jan. 24, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Attorneys from Sanford Heisler Sharp, LLP late yesterday filed a gender discrimination suit against Ogletree, Deakins, Nash, Smoak & Stewart, PC, (Ogletree) and five of its current and/or former male leaders in the Superior Court of California, County of San Diego. The plaintiff is former Ogletree equity partner Tracy Warren, who filed the representative action on behalf of herself and other similarly situated current or former female attorneys employed in California at the storied defense-side labor and employment firm. Ms. Warren filed the action under the California Labor Code Private Attorneys General Act of 2004 (PAGA). Ms. Warren brought additional claims of gender discrimination against Ogletree in conjunction with plaintiff Dawn Kneppers federal class and collective action now pending in the U.S. District Court in the Central District of California. Ms. Warren opted in to that federal action against Ogletree and alleged claims of gender discrimination against Ogletree as part of a proposed Second Amended Complaint in June of 2018. According to the PAGA complaint filed yesterday, Ms. Warren filed her PAGA notice with Californias Labor and Workforce Development Agency on July 3, 2018. Yesterdays state Complaint alleges only Ms. Warrens legal claims under PAGA, which are not included in the proposed Second Amended Complaint pending in the Central District. Ogletree purports to be committed to diversity and fostering inclusion as an integral part of its professional development efforts, said David Sanford. Our filings allege that Ogletrees male leadership systematically overlooks, devalues, or undermines its female attorneys. As Ogletrees managing shareholder explained, we are not real good at practicing what we preach. Ms. Warren joined Ogletree in mid-2013 as the firms only female equity shareholder in San Diego. At Ogletree, she conducted workplace investigations and counseled businesses on sexual harassment, discrimination, and fraud for clients, as well as conducted numerous local and national webinars and presentations on employment topics. The Complaint details allegations of Ogletrees history of gender discrimination, as well as the firms pattern of willfully ignoring female attorneys complaints about their treatment by male leaders and its reliance on in-house counsel to conduct investigations of these complaints. The Complaint documents Ogletrees underpayment of female shareholders relative to male shareholders with substantially similar levels of experience, as well as the firms discrimination against Ms. Warren in business development opportunities and credit allocations. The Complaint also alleges that Ogletree retaliated against Ms. Warren for her complaints of rampant gender discrimination and her outspoken advocacy for female parity and pay equity at the firm, culminating in the firms January 2018 termination of her. PAGA gives any employee in California aggrieved by an employers violation of the state Labor Code the right to file an action on behalf of other current and former employees for civil penalties established by Section 2698 and other sections. Yesterdays Complaint details the following willful, knowing and intentional PAGA violations by Ogletree, which are characterized as continuing and ongoing: deprivation of equal pay for females; retaliation for disclosure of wages and discussions regarding wages, inquiries regarding others wages, and efforts to aid other employees in exercising their rights under the California Equal Pay Act; retaliation for disclosing wages and terms and conditions of employment; retaliation for disclosing information (or because Ogletree and its agents believed aggrieved employees disclosed or may have disclosed such information) to a government or law enforcement agency; retaliation for complaining about unpaid wages and exercising rights under PAGA; and the unlawful underpayment of wages to departing female employees. The Complaint seeks recovery of penalties and unpaid wages under PAGA, as well as attorneys fees and other such relief deemed proper by the court. Ms. Warren and members of the class are represented in the matter by a Sanford Heisler Sharp team led by its Chairman and co-founder David Sanford in the firms Washington, D.C., office, partner Edward Chapin and Counsel Jill Sanford in its San Diego office, Danielle Fuschetti in San Francisco, Leigh Anne St. Charles in Nashville, and local counsel Aashish Desai of the Desai Law Firm, P.C. Defendants in the matter include Ogletrees current Managing Shareholder Charles Matthew Keen, in its Raleigh office; Kim Franklin Ebert, the firms immediate past Managing Shareholder, in its Indianapolis office; Ronald Chapman, a Dallas-based former member of the firms Board of Directors from January 2012 through 2018, shortly after the initial case was filed; Joseph Clees, a Phoenix-based former member of its Board of Directors from January 2017 through the initial filing of the complaint in 2018; and Joseph Beachboard, a current Co-Managing Director of Ogletree who oversees its California offices. These defendants are also included in the proposed Second Amended Complaint currently pending in the federal class and collective action against Ogletree, led by plaintiff Dawn Knepper. About Sanford Heisler Sharp, LLP Sanford Heisler Sharp, LLP is a public interest class-action litigation law firm with offices in New York; Washington, D.C; San Francisco; Nashville; San Diego; and Baltimore. Our attorneys have graduated from the nation's top law schools, clerked for judges throughout the United States, and amassed extensive experience litigating and trying cases that have earned over one billion dollars for our clients. The firm specializes in civil rights and general public interest cases, representing plaintiffs with claims of employment discrimination, sexual violence, labor and wage violations, predatory lending, consumer fraud, and whistleblowing, among other claims. Along with a focus on class actions, it also represents individuals and has achieved extraordinary success in the representation of executives and attorneys in employment disputes. For more information visit www.sanfordheisler.com, call (202) 499-5200 or email dsanford@sanfordheisler.com. For the latest news, visit our newsroom or follow us on Twitter at @sanfordheisler . For more information, contact Jamie Moss, newsPRos, 201-493-1027, jamie@newsPRos.com English French Sale and installation of 13 Aixplorer MACH 30 ultrasound systems in the Clalit network: leader of Israeli health insurance organisation Use of ultrasound systems in senology, gastroenterology and mainstream medicine for medical imaging AIX-EN-PROVENCE, France, Jan. 24, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- SuperSonic Imagine (Euronext: SSI, FR0010526814), a company specialising in ultrasound medical imaging, today announced the installation of 13 Aixplorer MACH 30 systems, the new, smart and leading edge ultrasound platform, in Clalits network which is the first health insurance organisation in Israel, with 52.5% of the population as members. Israel is one of the most innovative global hubs when it comes to technology around health. The Clalit health insurance organisation, a long-time client of SuperSonic Imagine, has over 1,400 medical centres including 26 medical imaging centres. SuperSonic Imagines ShearWave Elastography (SWE) is already well known and the benefits of this technology, which has been used for years in Israel, are much appreciated and recognised by the medical community. We are very honored that Clalit has chosen to put their faith in us once again and for this we thank them. Since 2015, weve had a close and trusting working relationship through our exclusive distributor Inframed and it is almost natural that our very innovative solution has found its place in this network at the forefront of medical technology innovation, explained Michele Lesieur, CEO of SuperSonic Imagine. We aim to offer the best medical service to our population. When it comes to ultrasound, MACH 30 is at the forefront of image quality or innovative user interface, as it offers the most validated ShearWave Elastography (SWE) for the liver. SWE allows us to assess the degree of liver fibrosis and cirrhosis, and therefore limits the use of invasive liver biopsy, stated the Dr. Ziv Neeman, Chairman of the Medical Imaging Institute at Haemek Hospital owned by Clalit. Aixplorer MACH 30, a new ultrasound concept: New user interface and new-generation UltraFast imaging The unique SonicPad concept is an innovative and intuitive device which revolutionises the conventional ultrasound approach. The SonicPad improves the radiologists workflow by reducing up to 77% of the users movements and up to 32% of the time for the exam. The SonicPad means the user can focus on the images rather than operating the ultrasound system. The new Aixplorer MACH 30 ultrasound system introduces new-generation UltraFast imaging, enhancing the full range of imaging modes such as ShearWave PLUS, Doppler UltraFast, Angio PL.U.S and TriVu for superior diagnostic performance. The open and upgradeable software architecture of Aixplorer MACH 30, will be enabled to integrate, in the near future, deep learning and artificial intelligence to support the radiologist in their diagnostic approach. Presented at numerous scientific congresses in France (JFR) and the United States (AASLD, RSNA) in 2018, the Aixplorer MACH 30 ultrasound system has been extremely well received by the scientific community. It will be presented again at the European Congress of Radiology to be held in Vienna, Austria, from 27 February to 3 March 2019. Learn more about Aixplorer MACH 30 at supersonicimagine.com About SuperSonic Imagine SuperSonic Imagine is a medical technology company (Medtech) specialized in ultrasound imaging. The company designs, develops and markets an ultrasound platform whose exclusive ultrafast technology (UltraFast) has given rise to new imaging methods, which have now become standards in the non-invasive care path for the characterization of breast, liver or prostate diseases. The first innovative mode UltraFast is ShearWave elastography (SWE), which allows doctors to instantly visualize and analyze tissue hardness, which is critical information for the diagnosis of many pathologies. To date, more than 600 publications have validated the benefits of its technologies. The latest addition to the Aixplorer range, Aixplorer MACH 30 introduces a new generation of imaging UltraFast allowing the optimization of all innovative imaging modes: ShearWave PLUS, UltraFast Doppler, Angio PL.U.S, TriVu. With more than 2,300 ultrasound platforms installed worldwide, SuperSonic Imagine is present in more than 80 countries and its main markets are China, the United States and France. In 2018, the company generated revenues of 24.6 million. SuperSonic Imagine is a company listed on Euronext (symbol: SSI). For more information, visit www.supersonicimagine.com. Contacts English Finnish Orkla ASA to Commence Redemption Proceedings in Respect of the Remaining Kotipizza Group Oyj Minority Shares Kotipizza Group Oyj Stock Exchange Release 24 January 2019 at 6:00 p.m. (EET) NOT FOR RELEASE, PUBLICATION OR DISTRIBUTION, IN WHOLE OR IN PART, DIRECTLY OR INDIRECTLY, IN OR INTO CANADA, JAPAN, AUSTRALIA, SOUTH AFRICA OR HONG KONG OR IN ANY OTHER JURISDICTION IN WHICH THE TENDER OFFER WOULD BE PROHIBITED BY APPLICABLE LAW. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION, SEE SECTION IMPORTANT INFORMATION BELOW. Orkla ASA to Commence Redemption Proceedings in Respect of the Remaining Kotipizza Group Oyj Minority Shares Orkla ASA (Orkla or the Offeror) announced on 17 January 2019 that it will complete the public tender offer to purchase the issued and outstanding shares of Kotipizza Group Oyj (Kotipizza). The Offeror has informed Kotipizza that on 21 January 2019 a total of 5,499,349 shares in Kotipizza were transferred to the Offeror based on completion of the tender offer. Together with the total of 763,632 shares acquired by the Offeror until 21 January 2019, the Offeror owned a total of 6,262,981 Kotipizza's shares corresponding to approximately 98.61 percent of all the shares and votes in Kotipizza. The Offeror has informed Kotipizza that the Offeror has the redemption right and obligation under Chapter 18, Section 1 the Finnish Companies Act to redeem the shares held by other Kotipizza shareholders at fair value. The Offeror has decided to exercise its redemption right pursuant to the Finnish Companies Act and to redeem all shares held by any other remaining shareholders in Kotipizza (the Shares and each of them separately, a Share). To implement the redemption of the Shares, the Offeror will initiate arbitration proceedings as soon as possible as provided in the Finnish Companies Act. In such redemption proceeding, the Offeror will demand that the redemption price for the shares is EUR 23.00 per Share, which is the same price as the consideration paid by the Offeror in the tender offer. According to the Offeror's notice, possible transfer tax collected in Finland deriving from the redemption of the shares as well as the payments and charges arising from the book-entry registrations carried out as a consequence of the redemption will be borne by the Offeror. Media Enquiries: Hakon Mageli Group Director, Corporate Communications & Corporate Affairs +47 928 45 828 hakon.mageli@orkla.no Rabbe Wikstrom Senior Advisor +358 20785 4002 rabbe.wikstrom@orkla.no Tommi Tervanen CEO, Kotipizza Group Oyj +358 207 716 743 tommi.tervanen@kotipizzagroup.com Investor Enquiries: Thomas Ljungqvist SVP Investor Relations, Orkla ASA +47 48 25 96 18 thomas.ljungqvist@orkla.no Timo Pirskanen CFO and Deputy to the CEO, Kotipizza Group Oyj +358 207 716 747 timo.pirskanen@kotipizzagroup.com ABOUT ORKLA Orkla is a leading supplier of branded consumer goods and concept solutions to the consumer, out-of-home and bakery markets in the Nordics, Baltics and selected markets in Central Europe and India. Orkla is listed on the Oslo Stock Exchange and its head office is in Oslo. In 2017, the Group had a turnover of NOK 40 billion, and approximately 18,000 employees as of 31 December 2017. ABOUT KOTIPIZZA Kotipizza is a Finnish pizza chain founded in 1987. At the end of financial year 2017, the number of restaurants stood at 266. In the financial year 2017, the total sales of Kotipizza restaurants amounted to EUR 106.3 million. The Kotipizza chain and Kotipizza Oyj operating the chain are part of the Kotipizza Group, alongside the supply and logistics company Helsinki Foodstock Oy, Chalupa Oy that operates the Mexican-style restaurant chain Chalupa, The Social Burger Joint Oy that operates the Social Burgerjoint restaurant chain, as well as the No Pizza restaurant concept, aimed for international markets, that opened its first restaurant in June 2018. In the financial year 2017, Helsinki Foodstock had net sales of EUR 64.2 million and the total sales of Chalupa restaurants were EUR 1.86 million. In the same period, the Kotipizza Group had total net sales of EUR 84.1 million with EBIT of EUR 6.4 million. IMPORTANT INFORMATION THIS RELEASE MAY NOT BE RELEASED OR OTHERWISE DISTRIBUTED, IN WHOLE OR IN PART, DIRECTLY OR INDIRECTLY, IN OR INTO, CANADA, JAPAN, AUSTRALIA, SOUTH AFRICA OR HONG KONG OR IN ANY OTHER JURISDICTION IN WHICH THE TENDER OFFER WOULD BE PROHIBITED BY APPLICABLE LAW. THIS RELEASE IS NOT A TENDER OFFER DOCUMENT AND AS SUCH DOES NOT CONSTITUTE AN OFFER OR INVITATION TO MAKE A SALES OFFER. IN PARTICULAR, THIS RELEASE IS NOT AN OFFER TO SELL OR THE SOLICITATION OF AN OFFER TO BUY ANY SECURITIES DESCRIBED HEREIN, AND IS NOT AN EXTENSION OF THE TENDER OFFER, IN, CANADA, JAPAN, AUSTRALIA, SOUTH AFRICA OR HONG KONG. INVESTORS SHALL ACCEPT THE TENDER OFFER FOR THE SHARES ONLY ON THE BASIS OF THE INFORMATION PROVIDED IN A TENDER OFFER DOCUMENT. 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IN PARTICULAR, THE TENDER OFFER IS NOT BEING MADE, DIRECTLY OR INDIRECTLY, IN OR INTO, OR BY USE OF THE POSTAL SERVICE OF, OR BY ANY MEANS OR INSTRUMENTALITY (INCLUDING, WITHOUT LIMITATION, FACSIMILE TRANSMISSION, TELEX, TELEPHONE OR THE INTERNET) OF INTERSTATE OR FOREIGN COMMERCE OF, OR ANY FACILITIES OF A NATIONAL SECURITIES EXCHANGE OF, CANADA, JAPAN, AUSTRALIA, SOUTH AFRICA OR HONG KONG. THE TENDER OFFER CANNOT BE ACCEPTED, DIRECTLY OR INDIRECTLY, BY ANY SUCH USE, MEANS OR INSTRUMENTALITY OR FROM WITHIN, CANADA, JAPAN, AUSTRALIA, SOUTH AFRICA OR HONG KONG. THIS STOCK EXCHANGE RELEASE OR ANY OTHER DOCUMENT OR MATERIALS RELATING TO THE TENDER OFFER IS NOT BEING MADE AND HAVE NOT BEEN APPROVED BY AN AUTHORISED PERSON FOR THE PURPOSES OF SECTION 21 OF THE UK FINANCIAL SERVICES AND MARKETS ACT 2000 (FSMA). ACCORDINGLY, THIS STOCK EXCHANGE RELEASE OR ANY OTHER DOCUMENT OR MATERIALS RELATING TO THE TENDER OFFER ARE NOT BEING DISTRIBUTED TO, AND MUST NOT BE PASSED ON TO, THE GENERAL PUBLIC IN THE UNITED KINGDOM. THE COMMUNICATION OF THIS STOCK EXCHANGE RELEASE OR ANY OTHER DOCUMENT OR MATERIALS RELATING TO THE TENDER OFFER IS EXEMPT FROM THE RESTRICTION ON FINANCIAL PROMOTIONS UNDER SECTION 21 OF THE FSMA ON THE BASIS THAT IT IS A COMMUNICATION BY OR ON BEHALF OF A BODY CORPORATE WHICH RELATES TO A TRANSACTION TO ACQUIRE DAY TO DAY CONTROL OF THE AFFAIRS OF A BODY CORPORATE; OR TO ACQUIRE 50 PER CENT. OR MORE OF THE VOTING SHARES IN A BODY CORPORATE, WITHIN ARTICLE 62 OF THE FINANCIAL SERVICES AND MARKETS ACT 2000 (FINANCIAL PROMOTION) ORDER 2005. Notice to U.S. Shareholders U.S. shareholders are advised that the shares of Kotipizza are not listed on a U.S. securities exchange and that Kotipizza is not subject to the periodic reporting requirements of the U.S. Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (the Exchange Act), and is not required to, and does not, file any reports with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the SEC) thereunder. The Tender Offer is made to Kotipizzas shareholders resident in the United States on the same terms and conditions as those made to all other shareholders of Kotipizza to whom an offer is made. Any information documents, including the tender offer document, are being disseminated to U.S. shareholders on a basis comparable to the method that such documents are provided to Kotipizzas other shareholders. The Tender Offer is made for the issued and outstanding shares in Kotipizza, which is domiciled in Finland. Information distributed in connection with the Tender Offer is subject to the disclosure requirements of Finland, which are different from those of the United States. In particular, the financial statements and financial information included in the tender offer document have been prepared in accordance with applicable accounting standards in Finland, which may not be comparable to the financial statements or financial information of U.S. companies. It may be difficult for Kotipizzas shareholders to enforce their rights and any claims they may have arising under the federal securities laws, since Orkla and Kotipizza are located in non-U.S. jurisdictions, and some or all of their respective officers and directors may be residents of non-U.S. jurisdictions. Kotipizzas shareholders may not be able to sue Orkla or Kotipizza or their respective officers or directors in a non-U.S. court for violations of the U.S. securities laws. It may be difficult to compel Orkla and Kotipizza and their respective affiliates to subject themselves to a U.S. courts judgment. The Tender Offer is made in the United States pursuant to Section 14(e) and Regulation 14E under the Exchange Act as a Tier II tender offer, and otherwise in accordance with the requirements of Finnish law. Accordingly, the Tender Offer will be subject to disclosure and other procedural requirements, including with respect to the offer timetable, settlement procedures and timing of payments that are different from those applicable under U.S. domestic tender offer procedures and law. To the extent permissible under applicable law or regulations, Orkla and its affiliates or brokers (acting as agents for Orkla or its affiliates, as applicable) may from time to time, and other than pursuant to the Tender Offer, directly or indirectly, purchase or arrange to purchase, the shares of Kotipizza or any securities that are convertible into, exchangeable for or exercisable for such shares of Kotipizza. To the extent information about such purchases or arrangements to purchase is made public in Finland, such information will be disclosed by means of a press release or other means reasonably calculated to inform U.S. shareholders of Kotipizza of such information. In addition, the financial advisers to Orkla may also engage in ordinary course trading activities in securities of Kotipizza, which may include purchases or arrangements to purchase such securities. Neither the SEC nor any U.S. state securities commission has approved or disapproved the Tender Offer, or passed any comment upon the adequacy or completeness of any tender offer document. Any representation to the contrary is a criminal offence in the United States. Attachment VANCOUVER, British Columbia, Jan. 24, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- ICC International Cannabis Corp. (CSE: WRLD.U) (FWB: 8K51) (OTC: WLDCF) ("ICC" or International Cannabis or the Company) is pleased to announce that as part of its Balkan Cannabis acquisition (see ICC news release dated December 21, 2018), the Company has acquired an interest in Macedonian pharmaceutical manufacturer, Alkaloid AD Skopje (Alkaloid). Alkaloid is headquartered in Skopje, Macedonia and boasts a workforce of over 1,800 employees. Skopje is Macedonias capital, as well as the countrys economic and metropolitan centre. Alkaloid maintains a network of 16 worldwide subsidiaries, located a variety of jurisdictions including the United States of America, Russia, Switzerland, Croatia, Slovenia, Bulgaria, and Turkey. Alkaloid owns and operates a consortium of pharmaceutical and cosmetics manufacturing plants, including GMP certified facilities, tailored for the production of solid oral dosage forms and generic topical pharmaceuticals. Alkaloid reported revenues of over C$171 million, according to its 2017 audited financial statements1. Alkaloid is equipped with eight decades of experience manufacturing pharmaceuticals, cosmetics, as well as processing botanical materials. Alkaloids pharmaceutical manufacturing facilities and research laboratories hold a portfolio of industry certifications including: MHRA GMP compliance certification; ISO 9001, ISO 14001, ISO 13485 certifications; HACCP certification; HALAL certification; CE marking certification; and, EU, JAS, USDA-NOP organic production certifications International Cannabis interest in Alkaloid creates material synergies with its existing Balkan-based medical cannabis and CBD license portfolio. The Company recently announced the acquisition of Macedonian medical cannabis cultivation and extraction licenses, as well as Bulgarian medical cannabis and hemp cultivation licenses. Alkaloid recently unveiled its 1,540 square meters Institute for Development and Control of Quality (the Institute). The Institute is an 8 million Euro, state-of-the-art research laboratory accoutered with revolutionary pilot-production and testing equipment. International Cannabis intends to leverage the Institute to conduct cannabinoid research and quality control testing on its Eastern European medical cannabis and CBD crops. Eugene Beukman, Chief Executive Officer and a Director of International Cannabis, stated: International Cannabis stake in Alkaloid affords the Company a dominant regional partner with over eight decades of pharmaceutical manufacturing experience. Alkaloids expansive GMP certified manufacturing footprint and state-of-the-art research facilities will allow International Cannabis to pursue its cannabinoid research initiatives and further refine its CBD processing competences. The Companys stake in Alkaloid creates material synergies with International Cannabis up-coming post-production, go-to-market roll out strategy. Over the past 12 months, International Cannabis has assembled the most comprehensive portfolio of international cannabis and CBD assets on the market; acquisitions and ownership interests such as this, signal its shift towards full-fledge operations. Alkaloid has a rich history of cosmetics manufacturing and botanical material processing. The Company is planning to draw from Alkaloids extensive operating experience to optimize its CBD processing capabilities. International Cannabis also plans to collaborate with Alkaloid to manufacture white-labelled CBD-based cosmetics and topical ointments. The global hemp market was valued at $5.7 billion in 2018 and is expected to increase to US$22 billion at a CAGR of 31 per cent by 20222. CBD, the active component from processed hemp, has many medical applications including CBD-based topical and cosmetics. ICC International Cannabis, through its subsidiaries, has operating assets and is developing a world-class platform for cultivation, extraction, formulation and distribution across the globe in the United Kingdom, Denmark, Poland, Switzerland, Germany, Macedonia, Bulgaria, Greece, Italy, Portugal, Malta, Colombia, Argentina, Australia, South Africa and Lesotho. ON BEHALF OF THE ICC INTERNATIONAL CANNABIS CORP. BOARD OF DIRECTORS Eugene Beukman Eugene Beukman CEO, Director +1 (604) 687-2038 info@intlcannabiscorp.com Learn more about ICC by visiting our website at: https://intlcannabiscorp.com/ Stay up to date with everything happening at ICC by following or liking us on: Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/ICCWRLD/ Twitter - https://twitter.com/ICC_WRLD LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/company/icc-wrld/ THE CSE HAS NOT REVIEWED AND DOES NOT ACCEPT RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE ACCURACY OR ADEQUACY OF THIS RELEASE. Notice Regarding Forward Looking Information: This news release contains certain "forward-looking information" within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities law. Forward-looking information is frequently characterized by words such as "plan", "continue", "expect", "project", "intend", "believe", "anticipate", "estimate", "may", "will", "potential", "proposed" and other similar words, or information that certain events or conditions "may" or "will" occur. This information is only a prediction. Various assumptions were used in drawing the conclusions or making the projections contained in the forward-looking information throughout this news release. Forward-looking information includes, but is not limited to: political changes in Canada and internationally, future legislative and regulatory developments involving cannabis in Canada and internationally, the Companys ability to secure distribution channels in international jurisdictions, competition and other risks affecting the Company in particular and the cannabis industry generally. The forward-looking information contained in this release is expressly qualified by the foregoing cautionary statements and is made as of the date of this release. Except as may be required by applicable securities laws, the Company does not undertake any obligation to publicly update or revise any forward- looking information to reflect events or circumstances after the date of this release or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events, whether as a result of new information, future events or results, or otherwise. 1 https://alkaloid.com.mk/content/Pdf/za-investitori/2018/Audited%20stand%20alone%20financial%20report%202017.pdf 2 Medical Marijuana Market Analysis 2017, Grand View Research Cebuano lotto player bags P63m posted January 24, 2019 at 10:40 pm by Manila Standard January 24, 2019 at 10:40 pm It is indeed a lucky start of the year for the gaming public as another Lotto millionaire was declared in just a span of 10 daysthe seventh millionaire for this year. It is a first of its kind in a span of 10 days. Our lucky millionaire guessed the correct combination of 19-01-25-43-18-39, taking home the jackpot prize of P63,810,688, in the Mega Lotto 6/45 draw, announced Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office General Manager Alexander Balutan as he described the phenomenon of the agencys lotto games this month. The winning ticket was purchased at PCSOs Small Time Lottery outlet in Gaisano Grand Mall-Talamban, Gov. Cuenco Ave., Sitio Nasipit, Brgy. Talamban, Cebu City owned by Dara Acusar.Of the seven jackpot winners, two hit the jackpot prize from the Ultra Lotto 6/58; two from Lotto 6/42; and one from Super Lotto 6/49 and Grand Lotto 6/55, and just recently from the Mega Lotto 6/45 draw. COMMENT DISCLAIMER: Reader comments posted on this Web site are not in any way endorsed by Manila Standard. Comments are views by manilastandard.net readers who exercise their right to free expression and they do not necessarily represent or reflect the position or viewpoint of manilastandard.net. While reserving this publications right to delete comments that are deemed offensive, indecent or inconsistent with Manila Standard editorial standards, Manila Standard may not be held liable for any false information posted by readers in this comments section. CGuard EPS shows encouraging interim results verses a conventional carotid stent in absence of any adverse clinical events in the CGuard arm Data presented at the LINC 2019 Congress in Leipzig, Germany TEL AVIV, Israel, Jan. 24, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- InspireMD, Inc. (NYSE American: NSPR), developer of the CGuard Embolic Prevention System (EPS) for the prevention of stroke caused by the treatment of carotid artery disease, today announced the presentation of positive interim results from an investigator-initiated study of CGuard EPS. The presentation, entitled, The SIBERIA Trial CGuard MicroNet Covered Stent vs. AcculInk: Basal, 30d DW-MRI and 1y Clinical Evaluation in 100 RandomIzed pAtients, is occurring at the Leipzig Interventional Course (LINC), which is being held January 22-25, 2019 in Leipzig Germany. Dr. A. Karpenko and Dr. P. Ignatenko from the Siberian Federal Biomedical Research Center, Russia, presented interim data from their first 50 patients in an independent, randomized clinical trial designed to ultimately include 100 consecutive patients with symptomatic and asymptomatic carotid artery disease. The patients are randomly assigned (1:1) into two treatment groups: 50 patients will receive the CGuard EPS MicroNet mesh covered stent and 50 patients will receive a conventional carotid stent. The primary endpoints are the incidence and volume of new lesions within the brain after carotid stenting using diffusion weighted magnetic resonance imaging (DW-MRI) peri-procedurally and at 30 days. At the protocol-mandated interim analysis, after recruiting the first 50 patients in the study, the results at one month show that, despite having patients with higher risk factors in the CGuard group compared to the conventional carotid stent arm, the CGuard-treated patients had a significantly lower incidence of multiple lesions in the brain (16% vs 44%), and a lower incidence of large cerebral lesions (24% vs 40%). Finally, major adverse clinical events after 30 days occurred in the conventional carotid stent arm but not in the CGuard EPS-treated patients (12% vs 0%). Dr. Karpenko commented, We are excited that despite the higher-risk patient profile in the CGuard group, the interim results show a significant reduction of cerebral embolization while patient outcomes suggest a clinically-relevant benefit of the CGuard EPS. This mandated interim analysis gives us confidence to continue enrolling patients in this trial and extending the data-set in this potentially important advancement in the stroke prevention field. About LINC LINC is a leading global forum for new methods in the field of vascular medicine. LINC brings together medical professionals from different specialties around the world who perform endovascular interventions. About InspireMD, Inc. InspireMD seeks to utilize its proprietary MicroNet technology to make its products the industry standard for treatment of carotid artery disease by providing outstanding acute results and durable stroke free long-term outcomes. InspireMDs common stock is quoted on the NYSE American under the ticker symbol NSPR and certain warrants are quoted on the NYSE American under the ticker symbol NSPR.WS. Forward-looking Statements This press release contains forward-looking statements. Such statements may be preceded by the words intends, may, will, plans, expects, anticipates, projects, predicts, estimates, aims, believes, hopes, potential or similar words. Forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance, are based on certain assumptions and are subject to various known and unknown risks and uncertainties, many of which are beyond the Companys control, and cannot be predicted or quantified and consequently, actual results may differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Such risks and uncertainties include, without limitation, risks and uncertainties associated with (i) market acceptance of our existing and new products, (ii) negative clinical trial results or lengthy product delays in key markets, (iii) an inability to secure regulatory approvals for the sale of our products, (iv) intense competition in the medical device industry from much larger, multinational companies, (v) product liability claims, (vi) product malfunctions, (vii) our limited manufacturing capabilities and reliance on subcontractors for assistance, (viii) insufficient or inadequate reimbursement by governmental and other third party payers for our products, (ix) our efforts to successfully obtain and maintain intellectual property protection covering our products, which may not be successful, (x) legislative or regulatory reform of the healthcare system in both the U.S. and foreign jurisdictions, (xi) our reliance on single suppliers for certain product components, (xii) the fact that we will need to raise additional capital to meet our business requirements in the future and that such capital raising may be costly, dilutive or difficult to obtain and (xiii) the fact that we conduct business in multiple foreign jurisdictions, exposing us to foreign currency exchange rate fluctuations, logistical and communications challenges, burdens and costs of compliance with foreign laws and political and economic instability in each jurisdiction. More detailed information about the Company and the risk factors that may affect the realization of forward looking statements is set forth in the Companys filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), including the Companys Annual Report on Form 10-K and its Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q. Investors and security holders are urged to read these documents free of charge on the SECs web site at http://www.sec.gov. The Company assumes no obligation to publicly update or revise its forward-looking statements as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. Investor Contacts: Craig Shore Chief Financial Officer InspireMD, Inc. 888-776-6804 craigs@inspiremd.com Jeremy Feffer LifeSci Advisors, LLC 212-915-2568 jeremy@lifesciadvisors.com VANCOUVER, British Columbia, Jan. 24, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The federal governments plan to lower prescription drug prices could impede access and thus limit the benefits of life-saving drugs and discourage innovation, finds a new study released today by the Fraser Institute, an independent, non-partisan Canadian public policy think-tank. The Patented Medicine Prices Review Board (PMPRB)a federal body that regulates the prices of all patented medicines in Canadais expected to implement new rules to regulate lower drug prices. Ottawas new cost-containment plans for pharmaceuticalswhile driving prices downmay also unfortunately lead to reduced access to new drugs for Canadian patients and even deter the investment by pharmaceutical companies needed to discover new medicines, said Bacchus Barua, associate director of health policy studies at the Fraser Institute and co-author of Pharmaceutical Regulation, Innovation, and Access to New Drugs: An International Perspective . The study raises serious concerns about the underlying process used to regulate drug prices including a bias towards cost savings rather than extending life. Specifically, the study finds that introducing what is known as cost-effective analysis into the pricing of new drugs may underestimate the true benefit of new drug therapies, particularly biologics and other personalized drug treatments, by narrowing the scope of potential benefits. The federal government is potentially on a path that will limit access of Canadians to new life-saving drugs, while further discouraging the discovery of new medicines, said Steven Globerman, professor emeritus at Western Washington University, Fraser Institute senior fellow and study co-author. This is the third study in a series on Canadas pharmaceutical drug-pricing policy reforms. MEDIA CONTACTS: Steven Globerman, Senior Fellow Fraser Institute Bacchus Barua, Associate Director, Health Policy Studies Fraser Institute To arrange media interviews or for more information, please contact: Bryn Weese, Media Relations Specialist, Fraser Institute (604) 688-0221 ext. 589 bryn.weese@fraserinstitute.org Follow the Fraser Institute on Twitter | Like us on Facebook Dublin, Jan. 24, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The "The Global Market for Medical Devices, 9th Edition (40+ Specific Device Markets and 50 Country Markets Forecasted to 2023)" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering. Global Market for Medical Devices provides a complete view of the medical device market and opportunity for medical device companies, competitors, and investors. As part of its coverage, this report contains market sizing and forecasts for the world medical device market and those of 50 countries, a survey of regulatory practices across the world, research and development spending, a look at the status of the hospital industry, key market drivers and limiters, and profiles of major device companies. The report's findings show that revenue growth at major companies has changed and as well most revenue forecasts. Emerging markets continue to help boost company revenues, but the double-digit growth of past years is no longer widely forecasted. Global Market for Medical Devices provides the following market data: Global Medical Device Market, 2016-2023 Global Markets for Specific Medical Devices, 2018-2023 Country Device Markets, 2018-2023 (United States, Germany, Japan, China, France, United Kingdom, Italy, Spain, Canada, Australia, India, Brazil, Netherlands, Switzerland, Taiwan, Mexico, S. Korea, Sweden, Turkey, Singapore, New Zealand, Saudi Arabia, Russia, Egypt, Malaysia, Thailand, Poland, Philippines, Indonesia, Argentina, Israel, Greece, South Africa, Chile, Vietnam, Bangladesh, Slovakia, UAE, Czech Republic, Romania, Iran, Venezuela, Slovenia, Ukraine, Lithuania, Croatia, Bulgaria, Iraq, Hungary, Serbia) Medical Device Spending as a Percentage of Total Health Spending, by Country, 2018 Estimates (United States, Canada, Germany, France, Italy, United Kingdom, Spain, Turkey, Poland, Romania, Sweden, Switzerland, Netherlands, Greece, Hungary, Russia, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech. Rep., Serbia, Ukraine, Lithuania, Slovakia, Slovenia, South Africa, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Israel, Iran, Iraq, UAE, Japan, China, Australia, Vietnam, S. Korea, Malaysia, India, Indonesia, Singapore, Brazil, Mexico, Chile, Argentina, Venezuela) Medical Device Market Distribution by Region, 2018 (%) (Northern America, EMEA, Asia Pacific, Latin America) Specific Device Markets While there are hundreds of types of products that can be classified as medical devices, a few specific categories and products make up the bulk of the market. The report addresses device category segment markets, detailing the size of the global market for specific device markets in 2018 and an estimated market for 2023, including the following: Anesthesia Monitors Blood Collection Blood Gas Analyzers Blood Pressure Monitors Cannula Respiratory Catheters Computed Tomography Coronary Stents CPAP Machines Defibrillators Dental Equipment/Devices (excluding x-ray) Dental Implants/Components Dental X-ray Dialysis Equipment & Supplies EKG/ECG Machines Electrosurgical Devices Endoscopes (excluding gastro) Gastric Banding/Bariatric Gastro Endoscopes Glucose Tests Hip implants Hypodermic Syringe Infusion Pumps Intraocular Lenses Knee implants Medical Beds Minimally Invasive Surgical Instruments MRI Neurostimulation Ostomy Care Devices Oxygen Therapy Equipment Pacemakers Personal protective equipment (gloves, masks, gowns) Spine implants Sport, Extremity and Trauma Stethoscopes Sutures, Staples, Staplers Traditional Surgical Instruments (scalpels, forceps, retractors, scissors) Ultrasound Vascular Closure Devices Wheelchairs Wound Care, Advanced X-Ray (excluding dental) Top Companies In 2018, just 15 companies earn almost 52% of the revenue in the device market. Most companies operate in just a few markets, though the top companies are multi-billion-dollar companies that operate in several categories. In each edition of this report, The publisher has looked at those companies in the industry that are large, global, and representative of different categories of medical device. The operations of these companies provide insight into the performance of the global device market and reveal trends in geographic sales distribution and research and development spending. The following companies make up the publisher's Index of Bellwether Device Companies, with details of each related to performance in 2017 and 2018 included in the report: Medtronic Johnson & Johnson Abbott Danaher Corporation Becton Dickinson & Co. (BD) Siemens Healthineers Stryker Corporation Royal Philips GE Healthcare Boston Scientific B. Braun Zimmer Biomet Baxter International Olympus Medical Systems Smith & Nephew Plc Market by Country Global Market for Medical Devices evaluates country markets for medical devices, providing market size 2018-2023, annual growth 2017-2018, and medical device market indicators (such as population, urban population (% of total) 2018, life expectancy at birth (years) 2018, total health spending (billions$), health spending % of GDP, physicians (per 1000 inhabitants), hospital beds (per 1000 inhabitants), diabetes prevalence (% of Population) 2017, and primary causes of death) for the top 20 country markets: United States Germany Japan China France United Kingdom Italy Spain Canada Australia India Brazil Netherlands Switzerland Taiwan Mexico South Korea Sweden Turkey Singapore Mergers and Acquisitions During the years 2015 through 2017 and through the first three quarters of 2018, key market players were active in M&A. Market share position has changed in the last year as several major competitors merged and others have shed medical device units. Medical device companies are seeking strategic acquisitions to fill gaps in their portfolios in a manner that will help them offer more complete solutions. There is a trend toward consolidation, driven in part by the necessity to reduce costs as pricing pressures mount from hospital customers. The report contains a select listing of major mergers and acquisitions that occurred in the medical device market in since 2015. Company Profiles Global Market for Medical Devices provides profiles not only of the 15 bellwether market companies based on revenues and diversity of medical devices produced, but also of other major concerns in the medical device market, including: 3M Health Care Access Scientific, LLC Acelity L.P. Inc. Advanced Bionics AG Angiodynamics Arjo AB Arthrex, Inc. Asahi Kasei BSN medical GmbH - Essity Cardinal Health Coloplast A/S CONMED Corporation Convatec Cook Medical Cooper Surgical Dentsply-Sirona Drgerwerk AG & Co. KGaA Drive DeVilbiss Healthcare Edwards Lifesciences Corp. Fisher & Paykel Healthcare Limited Fresenius GF Health Products Inc. Haemonetics Hill-Rom Hollister Incorporated Invacare IRadimed Corporation Masimo Corporation Mindray Bio-Medical Electronics Co., Ltd. Mlnlycke Health Care AB Nova Biomedical Paul Hartmann, AG PerkinElmer, Inc ResMed Roche Teleflex Inc Terumo Corporation Varian Medical Systems, Inc. Vyaire Medical Zyno Medical LLC For the purposes of this report, the definition of a medical device is a broad one. A medical device is a product that is used in treatment, diagnosis or injury repair in a patient that does not achieve its effect through chemical action or metabolism in the human body. Most importantly, they are devices that are regulated. Because of the broad definition, estimates of medical device markets vary, as any item from a nuclear camera or catheter to a latex glove can be considered a medical device. It is, as a result, a market in which hundreds of companies worldwide participate. For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/vjf5j8/global_medical?w=12 Research and Markets also offers Custom Research services providing focused, comprehensive and tailored research. English French TORONTO, Jan. 24, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Naomi Azrieli, Chair and CEO of the Azrieli Foundation and Julius Berman, President of the Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany (Claims Conference), jointly announced the release of a comprehensive Holocaust Knowledge and Awareness Survey of adults in Canada. Similar to the April 2018 survey in the United States , the Canadian study found critical gaps regarding awareness of basic historical facts and detailed knowledge of the Holocaust. For example, 54% of those surveyed did not know that 6 million Jews were killed during the Holocaust. Major findings from the survey include: 22% of millennials (ages 18 34) havent heard or are not sure if they have heard of the Holocaust An alarming 52% of millennials cannot name even one concentration camp or ghetto and 62% of millennials did not know that 6 million Jews were killed in the Holocaust. Nearly one quarter of all Canadians (23%) believe that substantially less than 6 million Jews were killed (two million or fewer) during the Holocaust, while another near-quarter (24%) were unsure of how many were killed. Nearly 6 out of 10 Canadians (57%) say fewer people seem to care about the Holocaust than they used to. A task force that comprised Holocaust survivors, representatives from Holocaust museums, educational institutions, and leading nonprofits in the field of Holocaust education helped develop the survey questions. Participants in the task force included: the Azrieli Foundation, Yad Vashem, the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, and the Claims Conference. Naomi Azrieli, Chair and CEO of the Azrieli Foundation, says, When we heard about the first Claims Conference study by Schoen in the U.S., we were keen to know how we were doing in Canada. I was shocked and disappointed to see the Canadian results. Clearly there are gaps in our education system that must be filled, because as it stands now, as a society, we are not preparing the next generation to learn from the past. Significant gaps in knowledge about the Holocaust that are revealed by the survey include: While there were over 40,000 camps and ghettos in Europe during the Holocaust, 49% of Canadian respondents couldnt name a single camp or ghetto, similar to the U.S. study, where 45% could not name one such place. in Europe during the Holocaust, 49% of Canadian respondents couldnt name a camp or ghetto, similar to the U.S. study, where 45% could not name one such place. 32% of respondents believed that Canada had an open immigration policy for any Jewish refugees fleeing Europe. In reality, Canada had one of the worst records of any democracy, allowing only 5,000 Jewish refugees into the country . Julius Berman, Claims Conference President, noted, Here we have yet another study showing that Holocaust education falls woefully short, and we must work together to correct this global issue. As the UN International Holocaust Remembrance Day approaches, we are reminded of how important education is if we are to ensure that the atrocities of the Holocaust will never happen again. While a significant majority of Canadian adults believe that fewer people care about the Holocaust today than they used to, there was a broad-based consensus for providing comprehensive Holocaust education in schools across the country. 82% of respondents believe all students should learn about the Holocaust in school, while 85% said it is important to keep teaching about the Holocaust so that it does not happen again. Survey Methodology and Sample The Holocaust Knowledge and Awareness Study was commissioned by the Azrieli Foundation in partnership with the Claims Conference. Data was collected in French and English and analyzed by Schoen Consulting with a representative sample of 1100 Canadian adults via landline, cell phone, and online interviews. Respondents were selected at random and constituted a demographically representative sample of the adult population in Canada. About the Azrieli Foundation For 30 years, the Azrieli Foundation has funded institutions as well as operated programs in Canada and in Israel. It supports eight priority areas, with the common thread of education running throughout its funding. Having published the stories of nearly ninety Canadian Holocaust survivors, the Azrieli Foundation has become a world leader in the publication and distribution of Holocaust memoirs in English and in French. The Azrieli Holocaust Survivor Memoirs Program connects educators and students across Canada to these first-hand accounts. The program is guided by the certainty that, when paired with a solid historical foundation, these stories told personally and intimately from the perspective of those who lives through it can have an impact on readers that history texts do not. In addition to providing Holocaust education, the Azrieli Foundation generously supports scientific and medical research, higher education, youth empowerment and school perseverance, music and the arts, architecture and quality of life initiatives for people with developmental disabilities. About the Claims Conference The Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany (Claims Conference) a nonprofit organization with offices in New York, Tel Aviv and Frankfurt, secures material compensation for Holocaust survivors around the world. Founded in 1951 by representatives of 23 major international Jewish organizations, the Claims Conference negotiates for and disburses funds to individuals and organizations, and seeks the return of Jewish property stolen during the Holocaust. As a result of negotiations with the Claims Conference since 1952, the German government has paid more than $80 billion in indemnification to individuals for suffering and losses resulting from persecution by the Nazis. In 2019, the Claims Conference will distribute approximately $350 million in direct compensation to over 60,000 survivors in 83 countries and will allocate approximately $550 million in grants to over 200 social service agencies worldwide that provide vital services for Holocaust survivors such as homecare, food and medicine. Canadian Press Contact: Abby Robins, The Azrieli Foundation, Abby@azrielifoundation.org , 416-322-5928 U.S. Press Contact: Jamie Wilson, The Claims Conference, Jamie.Schaefer-Wilson@claimscon.org A PDF file accompanying this announcement is available at http://resource.globenewswire.com/Resource/Download/cd3ecc05-0c37-4581-8907-51a857789c13 NOT FOR DISTRIBUTION TO US NEWSWIRE SERVICES OR FOR DISSEMINATION IN THE UNITED STATES TORONTO, Jan. 23, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- ProMIS Neurosciences Inc. (ProMIS or the Company) (TSX: PMN); (OTCQB:ARFXF) is pleased to announce that it has closed a private placement of 9,560,000 units (the Units) at a price of CDN$0.23 (or US$0.173) per Unit (the Offering Price) for gross proceeds of approximately CDN$2,198,800 (the Offering). We are pleased with the completion of this private placement, stated Dr. Elliot Goldstein, ProMIS President and CEO. The additional funds allow us to capitalize on the continued interest we are seeing from large pharma in our programs targeting toxic forms of alpha-synuclein for Parkinsons disease (PD) and TDP43 for ALS (amyotrophic lateral sclerosis). ProMIS will continue to generate data showing the high degree of selectivity and competitive advantages of ProMIS novel antibody programs with a view to accelerate a possible partnering deal for our PD and ALS assets. Each Unit consisted of one common share of the Company (each a Share) and one share purchase warrant of the Company (each a Warrant). Each Warrant will entitle the holder thereof to purchase one Share (a Warrant Share) at an exercise price of $0.48 per Warrant Share at any time for five years following the closing date of the Offering (the Closing Date). The expiry date of the Warrants is subject to acceleration such that if following the four month anniversary of the Closing Date, the twenty-day volume-weighted average trading price (20 day VWAP) of the Shares on the TSX is greater than $1.00, or the Company enters into a partnering deal within 18 months of the closing of the Offering with minimum proceeds of US$5 million and the 20 day VWAP is greater than $0.48 at any time following the announcement of such a partnering deal. The Company may accelerate the expiry date of the Warrants by issuing a press release announcing the reduced warrant term whereupon the Warrants will expire on a day that is not less than 30 calendar days after the date of such press release. In connection with the Offering, the Company paid to qualified finders a cash commission in the aggregate amount of $39,445 (the Finders Fee) equal to 7% of the gross proceeds from the sale of Units to purchasers introduced by such finders. The Company also issued a total of 164,500 finders warrants (the Finders Warrants) equal to 7% of the number of Units sold to purchasers introduced by such finders. The Finders Warrants will have the same terms as the Warrants that form part of the Offering. All securities issued in connection with the Offering will be subject to a statutory hold period expiring on May 23, 2019 in accordance with applicable securities laws. Net proceeds from the Offering are intended to be used for working capital and general corporate purposes. Closing of the Offering is subject to customary conditions, including TSX final approval. The Offering was offered to qualified investors in the provinces of Alberta, British Columbia and Ontario, and otherwise in those jurisdictions where the Offering can lawfully be made including the United States under applicable private placement exemptions. Three insiders of the Company subscribed for an aggregate of 556,214 units, which constitutes a related party transaction within the meaning of Multilateral Instrument 61-101 Protection of Minority Security Holders in Special Transactions (MI 61-101). The issuances to the insiders are exempt from the formal valuation and the minority shareholder approval requirements of MI 61-101 as the fair market value of the units issued to or the consideration paid by such person did not exceed 25% of the Companys market capitalization. This press release shall not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy nor shall there be any sale of the securities in any state in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful. The securities issued, or to be issued, under the Offering have not been, and will not be, registered under the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and may not be offered or sold in the United States absent registration or an applicable exemption from registration requirements. About ProMIS Neurosciences Inc. ProMIS Neurosciences, Inc. is a development stage biotechnology company focused on discovering and developing antibody therapeutics selectively targeting toxic oligomers implicated in the development and progression of neurodegenerative diseases, in particular Alzheimer's disease (AD), amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and Parkinson's disease (PD). The Company's proprietary target discovery platform is based on the use of two complementary thermodynamic, computational discovery engines -ProMIS and Collective Coordinates to predict novel targets known as Disease Specific Epitopes on the molecular surface of misfolded proteins. Using this unique precision approach, the Company is developing novel antibody therapeutics for AD, ALS and PD. ProMIS is headquartered in Toronto, Ontario, with offices in Cambridge, Massachusetts. ProMIS is listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange under the symbol PMN, and on the OTCQB Venture Market under the symbol ARFXF. The TSX has not reviewed and does not accept responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. This information release contains certain forward-looking information, including about the timing and completion of the Offering, the receipt of TSX approval and the expected use of proceeds from the Offering. Such information involves known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from those implied by statements herein, and therefore these statements should not be read as guarantees of future performance or results. All forward-looking statements are based on the Company's current beliefs as well as assumptions made by and information currently available to it as well as other factors. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date of this press release. Due to risks and uncertainties, including the risks and uncertainties identified by the Company in its public securities filings, actual events may differ materially from current expectations. The Company disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. For further information: Visit us at www.promisneurosciences.com or follow us on Twitter and LinkedIn For media inquiries, please contact: Shanti Skiffington shanti.skiffington@gmail.com Tel. 617 921-0808 For Investor Relations, please contact: Alpine Equity Advisors Nicholas Rigopulos, President nick@alpineequityadv.com Tel. 617 901-0785 Reporter Stephanie Earls is a news reporter and columnist at The Gazette. Before moving to Colorado Springs in 2012, she worked for newspapers in upstate NY, WA, OR and at her hometown weekly in Berkeley Springs, WV, where she got her start in journalism. Two high-profile families have given Colorado Springs-based FoodMaven another $10 million to make additional acquisitions and develop technology. FoodMaven employs more than 90 people to operate an online marketplace for surplus food in Colorado Springs and Denver but plans to expand to 100 cities nationwide during the next five years. The funding comes from members of the Walton family and the Pritzker family through its Tao Capital Partners investment fund. Walton Enterprises, which is the largest shareholder of retail giant Walmart, led an $8.6 million financing round a year ago and is the largest outside investor in FoodMaven. Tao Capital has invested in high-profile startups Tesla, SpaceX and Uber and is owned by members of the Pritzker family that founded Hyatt Hotels Corp. FoodMaven plans to complete another major investment round totaling up to $70 million by late in the first quarter or early in the second quarter of this year, said CEO Patrick Bultema. Both rounds will fund expansion into new markets, including Dallas and five other cities this year and 10 to 15 cities next year. FoodMaven this month acquired Anderson Boneless Beef, a Denver distributor and processor of custom, fresh beef. Bultema said FoodMaven also will use the money it has raised to develop software for logistics and efficiency, making it easier for customers to buy from the company and making its pricing more transparent. As part of Taos investment, Isaac Pritzker will join FoodMavens board as an observer; the board also includes a Walton family member and Rob Lewis, father of FoodMaven co-founder Dan Lewis. Other directors include former Whole Foods CEO Walter Robb, former Flexential and ViaWest CEO Nancy Phillips and Galvanize co-founder Chris Onan. We are deeply grateful for our investment partners who share our vision of a for-profit, for-impact company, addressing issues in the food system that leads to so much food waste, Bultema said. Its clear (that) Isaac, as well as Tao Capital, have both deep expertise and passion for transforming food for the better. Deborah Hendrix is the executive director of Parents Challenge, an organization founded by Steve and Joyce Schuck to provide greater educational opportunities to kids in the Pikes Peak region. IBM and the Bank of the Philippine Islands, the third-biggest lender in terms of assets, signed a $260-million multi-year services agreement. IBM will provide IT infrastructure services to support an agile IT and hybrid cloud, as well as digital development capabilities to accelerate BPIs digital transformation. Banks like BPI are going through a major shift and embracing a complete transformation of their business with advanced services to respond to the needs of todays connected consumer, said IBM Global Technology Services senior vice president Martin Jetter. BPI is improving the digital banking experience for customers by investing in technology, including the renewed IT services agreement with IBM, across online, mobile apps, ATMs, CAMs (cash accept machines) and branches. BPI aims to maintain a compliant IT environment to maintain leadership in the Philippine banking industry.BPI plans to leverage IT infrastructure and hybrid cloud management services from IBM that delivers seamless technology, regardless of whether it resides within BPIs existing infrastructure or its private or public cloud environments. IBM will host the banks digital solutions of today and in the coming years. As part of the digital experience solution, IBM and BPI have designed an IT environment that supports an open API economy strategy that makes the most of the banks data to create compelling customer applications and services. The agreement will help to achieve some of the banks digital transformation goals, which include the upgrades of bank branches with new technology as well as other financial services apps for customers. The services provided by IBM will have born in the cloud experiences at its core to support BPIs hybrid cloud strategy, including infrastructure as sode, and an open API consumption. U.S. Sen. Cory Gardner of Colorado hopes to help support federal workers impacted by the partial government shutdown with legislation to compensate employees. The Republican lawmaker is putting forth a bill that would appropriate funds for all federal employees to be paid their standard pay regardless of their furlough status during the shutdown. He says that with the bill, once the shutdown ends and regular appropriations are made, the amounts paid to compensate the federal employees will be deducted from the departments full-year appropriations to avoid any windfalls for the department. Ive made it clear that I do not believe government shutdowns are ever the right answer, Gardner said in a statement. We must reopen the government, and I will continue working with my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to find a solution. In the interim, our federal workers should not be deprived of their paychecks." Gardner is one of the few Republicans in the Senate who has said he favors reopening the federal government with or without action on President Donald Trump's demand for $5.7 billion in funding for a wall along the U.S.-Mexican border. Meanwhile, U.S. Rep Ed Perlmutter, D-Arvada, has joined two other House members in introducing a bill that would allow federal employees and contractors to withdraw funds from their retirement accounts without being penalized. One of my constituents mentioned this idea to me when I was in the district this past weekend, and I felt like it was a good way to help the hardworking men and women who work for our country be able to keep up with regular bills and expenses during this difficult time, the 7th District Democrat said in a statement. Missing paychecks puts a terrible strain on households, and we cannot let this continued shutdown jeopardize the livelihoods of these federal workers and their families," he said. Perlmutter joined with U.S. Reps. Pete Olson, R-Texas, and Don Beyer, D-Virginia, in introducing House Resolution 545, which they call the Financial Relief for Feds Act. For the past three years, state Sen. Lois Court has led an effort at the state Capitol to get Colorado motorists to pay more attention to their driving than to their cellphones. The Denver Democrat struck paydirt in 2017, persuading the General Assembly to pass a bill boosting the fines for texting while driving from $50 to $300 with a four-point penalty on a license. The bill was signed into law later that spring. Since then, the number of texting violations has dropped from a high of 1,473 in 2016 to 481 last year. But another effort to require drivers to keep their hands on the steering wheel instead of the cellphone failed to gain traction in that session and the one that followed. Both bills died in the Republican-controlled state Senate; at the time, Sen. Owen Hill told The Denver Post the measure went too far in replacing personal liberty with fines, fees and regulations. With Democrats now controlling both the legislative and executive branch, Court believes the third times the charm, and shes hoping lawmakers will agree to ban drivers from holding cellphones or other electronic devices while a vehicle is in motion. Senate Bill 12 doesnt ban the use of cellphones in a vehicle. It would, however, mandate that drivers use either a hands-free accessory or keep both hands on the wheel. Using a cellphone is not illegal under her bill, Court said. Its holding it while driving thats the issue shes trying to address. For example, a person could be talking on the phone and start to skid on an icy roadway, and that would likely require full attention and both hands. The same sort of distraction exists when someone is driving with a cellphone in one hand and entering a phone number with the other, she said. There are a number of ways drivers can be distracted that have nothing to do with cellphones, Court said. But the most egregious, according to the State Patrol, is cellphones. In Colorado, according to the Department of Public Safety, distracted drivers cause an average of 40 crashes a day; in 2016, 67 people died because of distracted-driving accidents. The biggest offenders are those between the ages of 21 and 30, who cause about 29 percent of the accidents. But those numbers dont represent the full picture because not every agency tracks distracted driving. State Patrol, for example, documents crashes caused by inattentive to driving but spokesman Trooper Joshua Lewis said they dont breakdown the data further to show what the distraction was. Colorado Springs police, on the other hand, dont track distracted driving. Its so hard to prove where a drivers attention actually was when they crashed that being able to identify cellphone use as the proximate cause almost never happens, spokesman Lt. Howard Black said. The bill has a number of carve-outs: if a person is a first responder, or is reporting road rage, for example, that would be OK. The measure also doesnt apply to truckers, because federal law is much tougher on this issue, Court said. Under SB 12, talking and driving could earn a motorist a $300 fine and four points on their license. A second violation could earn a fine of $500 and six points, and a third or subsequent violation could cost a driver $750 and eight points. A drivers license can be suspended in Colorado if they get 12 points in a three-year period. The bill applies to more than just cellphones; Court told Colorado Politics that some people even use laptops when driving. Thats not OK under her bill, nor is using electronic games, tablets, pagers or similar devices. Both hands should be free when a vehicle is in motion, Court said. A car is not a moving phone booth. According to the Governors Highway Safety Association, 16 states have a ban on cellphone use while driving as a primary offense, meaning a person can be pulled over for that offense alone. Court said the bill is supported by various groups representing cyclists, motorcyclists and the disabled, as well as insurance companies and AAA. The Colorado State Patrol and Department of Transportation both backed her 2018 measure but have not yet weighed in on the 2019 effort. The only outside opposition to Courts 2018 effort was from the American Civil Liberties Union. SB 12 will be heard in the Senate Transportation and Energy Committee on Thursday at 1:30 p.m. Its House sponsor is Democratic Rep. Jovan Melton of Aurora. Gazette reporter Kaitlin Durbin contributed to this report. Chris and Jim Hendren, co-owners of La-Z-Boy Furniture Galleries on North Academy Boulevard in Colorado Springs, plan to open a second La-Z-Boy store in May at the First & Main Town Center on the citys northeast side. The citys booming housing market and surging population growth are driving the expansion, they said. JERILEE BENNETT, THE GAZETTE Instead of seeking employment and chasing a career, an activist in northwestern Pakistan has dedicated himself to documenting enforced disappearances and campaigning against landmines. But the young Pashtun rights campaigner Alamzaib Khan Mehsud is now in detention and faces a police investigation for allegedly rioting and inciting hatred. Mehsud, 28, was arrested in the southern seaport city of Karachi on January 21 after local police named him and 15 other activists from the Pashtun Tahafuz Movement (PTM) in a First Information Report (FIR) the day before. Under Pakistani law, a FIR marks the formal opening of a criminal investigation. Mehsud and other PTM leaders criticized Pakistans authorities in a large protest on January 20, criticizing the countrys powerful military for not acting on their demands. As part of their year-old campaign, the PTM has called on Islamabad to end enforced disappearances, probe and end illegal killings, hold officials accountable for harassing civilians, and clear the landmines that litter their northwestern Pashtun homeland along the border with Afghanistan. The authorities deny that Pakistans security forces have been involved in any abuse. A military spokesman has reiterated that they have already addressed all PTMs demands. But amid a constant crackdown against the movement since its inception, several PTM leaders were named in numerous rioting and treason cases. Pakistani news media has largely refrained from covering the movement. Mehsuds arrest, however, has attracted considerable attention. He has earned a reputation for his dogged efforts to document enforced disappearances and highlight the plight of victims of landmines among Pakistans more than 30 million Pashtuns. The PTM maintains that the Pashtuns in northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province, particularly the former Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA), suffered disproportionally in the militant attacks and counterinsurgency operations that began in 2003. Government and independent estimates suggest more than 50,000 Pashtuns were killed in the violence while some 6 million were forced to flee their homes, many for years. Friends say Mehsuds activism was driven by this sense of victimhood, which arose from the suffering he personally endured and that which he witnessed. He is a very humble fellow and has dedicated himself to finding and contacting the families of victims of enforced disappearances, Muhammad Idrees, a friend and fellow PTM activist, told RFE/RLs Gandhara website. He says Mehsuds work incurred threats and intimidation as many of the video testimonies he obtained from victims and relatives blamed the security forces for excesses or negligence. He never succumbed to such tactics and told his family they should not worry about him if he were ever arrested or faced other problems because of his campaigning, he said. Mehsud was conscious of the sensitivity of his work. Sometimes, I am even accused of being involved in terrorism, he told VOAs Deewa Radio on January 19. I am warned that I should not campaign against landmines and for [their] victims. Mehsuds Facebook page often featured posts about peoples suffering. He regularly conducted lengthy video interviews with relatives of victims of enforced disappearances who invariably appealed to the authorities for help. The stories of landmine victims also figured prominently. A thread pinned to his Twitter account documents the stories of dozens of landmine victims in his native South Waziristan tribal district, where the Taliban insurgency first broke out in 2003. A major military operation in the region in 2009 forced his family and some half a million members of the Mehsud Pashtun tribe to move into the neighboring Tank and Dera Ismail Khan districts. He came of age in Dera Ismail Khan and joined a small group of activists under the leadership of a charismatic student, Manzoor Pashteen. In January 2018, Mehsud joined Pashteen and 20 other young activists to march on the capital, Islamabad, to protest the killing of Naqeebullah Mehsud. A Pakistani police probe later blamed a police officer for killing the aspiring model in an encounter in Karachi. Pashteens protest in Islamabad attracted thousands, and the PTM emerged as a civil rights movement demanding security and protection for Pashtuns, Pakistans largest ethnic minority in the country of 207 million people. Manzoor appointed him as the PTMs focal point on collecting the data of missing persons [as the victims of enforced disappearances are called in Pakistan], Idrees said. He gave it everything and traveled across the country to document the plight of hundreds during the next year. He added that more than a year ago, Mehsud earned a master's degree in political science but instead of looking for a job he invested all his time in campaigning. Mehsud networked widely with Pakistani and international human rights campaigners. Rather than dismantling the permissive environment for attacks on human rights defenders, the Pakistani government is arresting them on charges of incitement to hatred, rioting, and defamation, Rabia Mehmood, a South Asia researcher for Amnesty International, told RFE/RL Gandhara. She added that organizing for social justice causes and demanding rights do not amount to rioting. Pakistans government should immediately and unconditionally release Alamzaib Khan Mehsud and other PTM workers arrested for peacefully rallying in Karachi, she said. Human rights defenders and civil society should be able to express their opinion freely and dissent without fear of reprisal. Karachi police have not commented on the case. Efforts to reach police officials for comment were not successful. But Bilawal Bhutto Zardai, leader of the ruling Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) in the southern province of Sindh, where Karachi is the capital, is paying for Mehsuds lawyer. Well done PTM for the peaceful protest in Karachi today against arrest of Alamzaib Mehsud for demanding [an] end to enforced disappearances, Farhaullah Babar, a Senior PPP leader, wrote on Twitter. He was referring to the January 23 PTM protests in Karachi and across Pakistan to press the movements demands that authorities release Mehsud and address their grievances. On the first day of 2019, 42-year-old Turahon Nurmatov was out in the pastureland of southwestern Tajikistan, tending a local family's flock. Nurmatov never brought the animals back that day. Armed men from nearby Afghanistan had appeared and taken Nurmatov back across the border with them. Nurmatovs abductors want an astronomical sum -- $40,000 -- for his release. While Nurmatov might be Afghan drug traffickers' latest hostage, he is far from their first and extremely unlikely to be their last. Such hostage-taking has been going on for two decades, despite the help that Tajikistan has received over the years to improve border security. Nurmatovs case seems even more unfortunate than most. He is simply employed by the Kurbanov family as a shepherd, and the Afghan drug smugglers apparently came looking for a Kurbanov family member when they showed up at the village of Sari Chashma, some 10 kilometers from the Afghan border. The hostage-takers possibly intended to abduct Saymuddin Kurbanov. His uncle, Abdughaffor Kurbanov, told RFE/RLs Tajik Service, known locally as Ozodi, that the kidnappers phoned him from Afghanistan several times and said Saymuddin owed them $40,000 for narcotics they had passed on to him. They told him to pay the money and the shepherd would go free. However, Saymuddin Kurbanov was convicted of drug smuggling in 2015 and is serving a 17-year prison term. Nurmatov is more unfortunate than he probably knows. Abdughaffor Kurbanov told Ozodi that the Afghans came to him first. They were curious what I was doing in the pasture. I told them I lost my cow. I gave them a different name, so they did not know the flock belonged to me, he said, adding, After a while, they took the shepherd away with them. Abdughaffor Kurbanov gave the kidnappers phone number to Ozodi and, amazingly, someone answered and acknowledged he was holding the shepherd. The man on the phone did not give his name, saying that Nurmatov was not going hungry. I well understand the herd does not belong to him, the voice said. The kidnapper had his own hard-luck story. Those narcotics belonged to another person, who recently took away my house and my wife. The government of Afghanistan didnt help me, so I decided to take someone hostage, too. I dont have any other way, he said. After Nurmatov was abducted, Tajik law enforcement reportedly scoured the area but couldnt find the shepherd. Moreover, during the search, one border guard was accidentally shot dead by another border guard. Nurmatovs captor claimed to have moved to the Shahri Buzurg area in Afghanistans Badakhshan Province. The head of the police force in the Kulob region, Bahodur Vahhobzoda, told Ozodi that a rescue operation was not currently feasible. So, the tragic abduction of Tajik citizens by Afghan drug smugglers continues. In July 2001, I wrote about Afghan narcotics smugglers taking away livestock and sometimes family members in bids for payments for drugs they had often forced someone in Tajikistan to take and carry farther on the way toward a desired destination. That happened in Shuroabad, not far from Sari Chashma. At the end of September 2005, then-deputy border-guard chief Nuralisho Nazarov said 28 Tajik citizens were being held captive by drug smugglers in Afghanistan. Tajik Interior Ministry troops and border guards occasionally launched cross-border raids and freed captives. And during these years, Russia, the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO), Belarus, China, the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), the United States, NATO, the European Union, the OSCE, and others have all provided financial and material support to help Tajikistan secure its border with Afghanistan. But Afghan drug smugglers are still able to cross the border and travel several kilometers inside Tajikistan and seize livestock and villagers. The views expressed in this blog post do not necessarily reflect those of RFE/RL. Netflix Canada February 2019 Releases January 23, 2019 at 4:24pm The upcoming Netflix Canada February 2019 release schedule has been announced. These are all the big original exclusive series and movies from the streaming service for the month. They include a range of content from completely fresh concepts to exciting sequels for existing Netflix original releases. This includes series; films, comedy, documentary, for kids and anime. Beyond that are the inclusion of notable other movies that are being added onto the service. We are lucky to cover a number of these releases prior to launch and you can see a "Review" tag on what we either have reviews on or will be reviewing around launch so look forward to those. What's new on Netflix Canada February 2019 Original Series and Shows Free Rein: Valentine's Day (February 1) Nightflyers (February 1) Russian Doll (February 1) Siempre bruja (February 1) Bordertown: Season 2 (February 2) Romance is a Bonus Book (Every Sunday, 2nd) Nailed It! Mexico (February 8) One Day at a Time: Season 3 (February 8) Unauthorized Living (February 8) The Break: Season 2 (February 9) Patriot Act with Hasan Minhaj: Volume 2 (Every Sunday, 9th) Flavorful Origins: Chaoshan Cuisine (February 11) Dating Around (February 14) Dirty John (February 14) The Umbrella Academy "Review" (February 15) Chef's Table: Volume 6 (February 22) Rebellion: Season 2 (February 22) Suburra: Season 2 (February 22) The Big Family Cooking Showdown: Season 2 (February 22) Van Helsing: Season 3 (February 25) Shadowhunters: The Mortal Instruments: Season 3B (February 26) Original Film Dear Ex (February 1) Velvet Buzzsaw "Review" (February 1) El arbol de la sangre (February 8) High Flying Bird (February 8) Firebrand (February 22) Paddleton (February 22) Paris Is Us (Paris est a nous) The Photographer of Mauthausen (February 22) Comedy Ray Romano: Right Here, Around the Corner (February 5) Kevin Hart's Guide to Black History (February 8) Ken Jeong: You Complete Me, Ho (February 14) Larry Charles' Dangerous World of Comedy (February 15) Documentary ReMastered: The Two Killings of Sam Cooke (February 8) Original Series for Kids The Epic Tales of Captain Underpants: Season 2 (February 8) The Dragon Prince: Season 2 (February 15) Non-Originals Back to the Future Trilogy (February 1) E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (February 1) Horrible Bosses (February 1) Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (February 1) Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (February 1) Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 & 2(February 1) Nocturnal Animals (February 1) Schindler's List (February 1) Shrek (February 1) Snow White & the Huntsman (February 1) The LEGO Batman Movie (February 1) Won't You Be My Neighbor? (February 1) Sing (February 3) Shameless Season 8 (February 5) Jaws, all of them (February 6) The Departed (February 15) Kong: Skull Island (February 20) Read our Carmen Sandiego Season 1 Review View our Netflix Hub For Immediate Release Chicago, IL January 24, 2019 Zacks.com announces the list of stocks featured in the Analyst Blog. Every day the Zacks Equity Research analysts discuss the latest news and events impacting stocks and the financial markets. Stocks recently featured in the blog include: Amazon AMZN, Verizon VZ, AbbVie ABBV, Lowes LOW and Chubb CB. Here are highlights from Wednesdays Analyst Blog: Top Research Reports for Amazon, Verizon and AbbVie The Zacks Research Daily presents the best research output of our analyst team. Today's Research Daily features new research reports on 16 major stocks, including Amazon, Verizon and AbbVie. These research reports have been hand-picked from the roughly 70 reports published by our analyst team today. You can see all of todays research reports here >>> Buy-rankedAmazons shares have outperformed the broader market in the past year by a wide margin (the stock is up +20.3% vs. the -7.1% decline for the S&P 500 as a whole). The Zacks analyst thinks Amazons strengthening retail position, riding on its growing global footprint and distribution strength remains its key growth driver. Moreover, robust Prime and its benefits are aiding its retail business. Also, rapid expansion of Prime enabled grocery services and growing physical presence are tailwinds. Further, increasing AWS regions and its growing adoption will continue to aid Amazons cloud momentum. Also, rising number of Alexa compatible devices are a major positive. Amazon's strong holiday initiatives have boosted its holiday performance. Estimates have been going up ahead of the companys Q4 earnings release. The company has positive record of earnings surprises in recent quarters. However, its sales outlook for holiday season is weak due to changes in Indian holiday timing. Also, rising cloud battle and heavy investment in fulfillment centers are headwinds. Story continues Shares of Buy-ranked Verizon have gained +5.1% in the past year, outperforming the Zacks Wireless National industrys decline of -4.4% during the same period. The Zacks analyst thinks Verizon remains poised to benefit from the upcoming 5G boom, driven by healthy traction in the wireless business. The company is further seeking a first mover advantage in the 5G race as it plans to launch commercial 5G smartphones in the market in the first half of 2019 in collaboration with Samsung. Focus on online content delivery, mobile video and online advertising should also drive future growth. In the enterprise and the wholesale business, Verizon is changing its revenue mix toward newer growth services like cloud, security and professional services. Management is bullish on the industry's ability to grow revenues from smartphones, tablets and cloud computing and has reiterated its earlier guidance. However, Verizon continues to struggle in a competitive and saturated U.S. wireless market, where spectrum crunch has become a major issue, hurting its profitability. AbbVies shares have gained +11.6% in the past three months, outperforming the Zacks Large-Cap Pharmaceuticals industry's increase of +2%. The Zacks analyst thinks AbbVies key drug, Humira has been performing well based on strong demand trends despite new competition. Moreover, Imbruvica has multibillion dollar potential. Mavyrets launch has also been stronger than expected. AbbVie has also been successful in expanding approvals for its cancer drugs, Imbruvica and Venclexta. AbbVie has a strong late-stage pipeline comprising several products with multibillion-dollar potential expected to be launched in the near term. AbbVie expects to launch more than 20 new products or line extensions of marketed drugs before Humira biosimilar competition begins in the United States in 2023. However, direct biosimilar competition to Humira in Europe from October can erode revenues in 2019. Nonetheless, estimates have gone up ahead of Q4 earnings. AbbVie has a positive record of earnings surprises in the recent quarters. Other noteworthy reports we are featuring today include Lowes and Chubb. Zacks' Top 10 Stocks for 2019 In addition to the stocks discussed above, wouldn't you like to know about our 10 finest buy-and-holds for the year? From more than 4,000 companies covered by the Zacks Rank, these 10 were picked by a process that consistently beats the market. Even during 2018 while the market dropped -5.2%, our Top 10s were up well into double-digits. And during bullish 2012 2017, they soared far above the market's +126.3%, reaching +181.9%. This year, the portfolio features a player that thrives on volatility, an AI comer, and a dynamic tech company that helps doctors deliver better patient outcomes at lower costs. See Stocks Today >> Media Contact Zacks Investment Research 800-767-3771 ext. 9339 support@zacks.com https://www.zacks.com Past performance is no guarantee of future results. Inherent in any investment is the potential for loss. This material is being provided for informational purposes only and nothing herein constitutes investment, legal, accounting or tax advice, or a recommendation to buy, sell or hold a security. No recommendation or advice is being given as to whether any investment is suitable for a particular investor. It should not be assumed that any investments in securities, companies, sectors or markets identified and described were or will be profitable. All information is current as of the date of herein and is subject to change without notice. Any views or opinions expressed may not reflect those of the firm as a whole. Zacks Investment Research does not engage in investment banking, market making or asset management activities of any securities. These returns are from hypothetical portfolios consisting of stocks with Zacks Rank = 1 that were rebalanced monthly with zero transaction costs. These are not the returns of actual portfolios of stocks. The S&P 500 is an unmanaged index. Visit https://www.zacks.com/performance for information about the performance numbers displayed in this press release. 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 Verizon Communications Inc. (VZ) : Free Stock Analysis Report Chubb Limited (CB) : Free Stock Analysis Report To read this article on Zacks.com click here. Zacks Investment Research (Bloomberg) -- Boy do we feel dumb for missing this stock, Raymond James analyst Chris Caso said Thursday after Xilinx Inc. posted a surprising beat-and-raise third quarter. The maker of logic chips reported record revenue on 5G strength and likely market share gains from Intel Corp. in emulation, Caso wrote in a note to clients. Design wins in the data center sector have yet to translate into big revenue gains, suggesting a potential for a more significant catalyst in the future, he said. Even so, Raymond James is hesitant to chase the stock at these levels and maintained its neutral rating. Xilinx shares jumped 14 percent at 9:39 a.m. in New York to a record high, leading a rally in semiconductor stocks. Several analysts raised their price targets on Xilinx after the results, but valuation concerns are keeping many on the sidelines. Heres what other analysts are saying: Deutsche Bank, Ross Seymore Xilinx is benefiting from early 5G deployments, wins in defense and space, and leadership in the Test, Measurement & Emulation division. While these tailwinds are likely to persist for XLNX in the near-term and we continue to applaud the cos recent growth record in a volatile semiconductor environment, we retain our Hold rating as we believe this strength is already reflected in the cos valuation and fear that cyclical headwinds facing the broader semi sector will eventually impact XLNX as well. Price target raised to $90 from $80 SunTrust, William Stein Since our August 18 visit, weve noted the potential that XLNX is looking more like a structural grower -- a characteristic we associate with outperformance in a weakening cycle. While the quarter reinforced this fundamental view, we are reluctant to upgrade owing to some lingering cyclical concerns and valuation. Rates hold, price target raised to $102 from $77 Morgan Stanley, Joseph Moore Xilinx continues to outshine semiconductor peers in an increasingly uncertain demand environment for the industry. Story continues While industrial concerns will remain in the near term, we expect Xilinx to deliver another double digit growth year in FY20. Overweight, price target raised to $101 from $98 Cowen, Matthew Ramsay Xilinx reported a near perfect quarter, particularly given the weak semis backdrop. We admit to underestimating the magnitude of near-term upside driven by early 5G builds, and improved positioning vs Intels PSG, and commend mgmts execution on these fronts. We await more signs of traction in datacenter before arguing for material upside from here. Market perform, price target raised to $105 from $81 Benchmark, Gary Mobley How is XLNX posting these numbers when everything in semiconductors is supposed to be bad? Simply put, the communications end market is driving the growth and upside. XLNX results could be an indication that other companies under our coverage (e.g. MXL, MRVL & CEVA) may too start to benefit from the 5G network buildouts. Bloomberg Intelligence, Woo Jin Ho Xilinx delivered double-digit gains across all segments. But the 41% year-over-year sales improvement in communications led impressive results. As attention shifts to the 2020 sales view, we expect data-center to play a bigger role in revenue, backed by new applications and products. (Updates shares in third paragraph.) To contact the reporter on this story: Catherine Larkin in Chicago at clarkin4@bloomberg.net To contact the editors responsible for this story: Chris Nagi at chrisnagi@bloomberg.net, Steven Fromm, Brad Olesen For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com 2019 Bloomberg L.P. President Donald Trump is officially recognizing Juan Guaido, the president of Venezuelas National Assembly, as the interim leader of Venezuela Wednesday, where violent protests are underway. Guaido is the young leader of the National Assembly, an elected government body President Nicolas Maduro doesnt recognize. Since assuming this position on Jan. 5, Guaido has pushed for the military to abandon Maduro, promising amnesty for those who lay down their weapons. Maduro was sworn into office for a second term earlier this month, but the opposition and much of the international community view the elections as a sham. Under Maduros leadership, the country has seen increasingly severe economic strife. Maduro blames the countrys economic downfall on international sanctions, recently increased as a response to his grab for more power, but the much of the public wants new leadership. Thousands took to the streets Tuesday to oust him from office. Demonstrations in at least 60 working-class neighborhoods Tuesday night left four dead. Those in the southern city of Puerto Ordaz reportedly toppled a statue of the late socialist leader Hugo Chavez, Maduros predecessor. Protests continued into Wednesdaythe 61st anniversary of the fall of a military dictatorshipwhere government supporters also posed demonstrations against the oppositions overhaul. The U.S. has long been against Maduros near-dictatorship. Vice President Mike Pence voiced the position in a statement Tuesday, telling opposition protesters, We will stay with you until Democracy is restored. Among the crowds Wednesday, Guaido enacted a constitutional amendment allowing for the legislators head to lead the country until free elections could be held. I swear to formally assume the powers of the national executive as interim president of Venezuela to achieve the end of the usurpation, he told thousands of supporters from a stage in East Caracas, Bloomberg reports. Trump quickly supported Guaidos move. The people of Venezuela have courageously spoken out against Maduro and his regime and demanded freedom and the rule of law, he said in a statement. I will continue to use the full weight of United States economic and diplomatic power to press for the restoration of Venezuelan democracy. We encourage other Western Hemisphere governments to recognize National Assembly President Guaido as the Interim President of Venezuela, and we will work constructively with them in support of his efforts to restore constitutional legitimacy, he continued. In the past five trading days, telecom stocks mostly traded flat with a downward inclination owing to the continued market uncertainty triggered by a prolonged partial shutdown of the government. The downtrend was further caused by a draft executive order initiated by the Trump administration to restrain Chinese state-owned telecom firms from operating in the United States on national security concerns. The United States is reportedly mulling to seek extradition of Huawei CFO Meng Wanzhou from Canada before the Jan 30 deadline, to proceed with the legal charges. This probably added to the sector woes in the past week. On the domestic front, the Trump administration is reeling under partial shutdown by various federal agencies for an all-time record of 33 days and counting. In addition to crippling the normal functioning of the government with furloughs and pay freeze, the impasse has led to unavailability of adequate funds for the speedy deployment of 5G technologies. The shutdown has even hampered FCCs equipment authorization process, compounding industry fears that the deadlock could jeopardize the countrys edge in the upcoming 5G boom. To make matters worse, the government is supposedly preparing an executive order that could give sweeping powers to the Commerce Department to review imported products by domestic firms and ban the outright sale of such equipment on grounds of national security interests. Industry observers feel that it could ultimately serve as a death-bell to some Chinese telecom firms and make it virtually impossible for them to operate in the U.S. shores if the bill is passed by the President. Despite the conundrums, both the United States and China have continued with their trade negotiations to seek a long-term solution to the trade war. The bilateral trade talks between U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer and Chinese Vice Premier Liu is also scheduled later this month. However, the diplomatic ties continue to be under severe stress as reports emerge that the United States is considering to formally request the extradition of Meng from Canada to pursue a criminal case against her for alleged trade secret theft. Some industry experts believe that the strategic move could be a ploy by the Trump administration to seek a hard bargain from China. Although the warring countries have maintained that the issue would not deter the trade talks, there is no denying of the fact that tense undercurrents have prevailed over both sides. Regarding company-specific news, strategic corporate actions, divestments, product launches and technology collaborations took the center stage over the past five trading days. Recap of the Weeks Most Important Stories 1. AT&T Inc. T has yet again proved its unconventional out-of-the-box thinking, which helped it evolve from a telecom firm to a leading player in the U.S. communications sector, with a public view of its 5G strategy. As the first carrier in the industry, the company recently unveiled its 5G policy framework that will hinge on three pillars mobile 5G, fixed wireless and edge computing. The company aims to address the diverse needs of the business through this holistic approach and better serve the surging consumer base. At the same time, AT&T is developing a robust network to enable fiber-based connectivity and LTE to work in unison with 5G solutions and services, thereby facilitating the radical transformation of business. (Read more: AT&T Unveils Industry's First Three-Pronged 5G Strategy) 2. Frontier Communications Corporation FTR has sold a portfolio of 100 wireless communication towers primarily in Connecticut, New York and California for $80 million. The assets were sold to Everest Infrastructure Partners a Pittsburgh, PA-based investment firm specializing in infrastructure investments. The divesture is part of the long-term strategy of the company to strengthen its balance sheet as it remains significantly challenged by slow economic recovery in its service territories. Moreover, Frontier seems to be grappling with the loss of legacy fixed telephony business to wireless and other offerings. The persistent decline in access lines continues to tighten local service revenues, which accounts for the bulk of Frontiers total revenues. (Read more: Frontier Divests Communication Towers for $80 Million) 3. Telefonica S.A. TEF is reportedly considering divesting its non-core assets in Central America to reduce debt burden and focus on core businesses in other parts of the world. The relatively small business operations in the region include assets in Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Nicaragua and Panama. The continued asset sale transactions are aimed to increase liquidity and ease its burgeoning debt pile. Telefonica ended third-quarter 2018 with cash and cash equivalents of 6,138 million ($7,121.2 million) and non-current financial liabilities of 47,482 million ($55,087.9 million). In the first nine months of 2018, the company generated free cash flow of 2,957 million, down 8.3% year over year. (Read more: Telefonica Mulling Non-Core Asset Sale in Central America) 4. Windstream Holdings, Inc.s WIN business segment Windstream Enterprise & Wholesale has announced that it will utilize the existing long-haul fiber assets to augment its core network by more than 200 miles in Montreal, Quebec. Notably, this network expansion reinforces Windstreams goal to connect people and empower enterprises with a world of infinite possibilities. The network communications and technology solutions provider will offer customers up to 100 Gbps Wavelength Services and 10 Gbps Internet and Ethernet services in Montreal. This would enable access to core U.S. routes interconnecting within the major New York City locations, data centers and cable landing stations in Wall Township, NJ and Ashburn, VA. (Read more: Windstream Unit to Augment Long-Haul Core Network in Canada) 5. Nokia Corporation NOK recently announced that it has been chosen by Telefonica, S.A. as Service Operation Center provider to transform its subsidiary Telefonica UKs customer-oriented business approach. Per the agreement, the Finnish wireless equipment maker will help Telefonica UK to steadily move from a traditional network-centric operator to a customer-centric one with extensive focus on subscriber experience across the United Kingdom. (Read more: Nokia's eSOC Chosen by Telefonica to Transform U.K. Unit) Price Performance The following table shows the price movement of some of the major telecom stocks over the past week and during the past six months. Story continues In the past five trading days, Harris Corporation (HRS) was the biggest gainer with its share price increasing 3.9% while QUALCOMM Incorporated (QCOM) declined the most with its stock losing 6.8%. Over the past six months, Sprint Corporation (S) has been the best performer with its stock appreciating 12.2% while Qualcomm declined the most with its shares falling 14.8%. Over the past six months, the Zacks Telecommunications Services industry has inched up 3.4% while the S&P 500 fell 7.6%. Whats Next in the Telecom Space? In addition to continued product launches and deployment of 5G technologies, all eyes will remain glued to how the United States and China continue their negotiations for a long-term solution to the trade war amid the backdrop of Mengs extradition and criminal investigation process. More Stock News: This Is Bigger than the iPhone! It could become the mother of all technological revolutions. Apple sold a mere 1 billion iPhones in 10 years but a new breakthrough is expected to generate more than 27 billion devices in just 3 years, creating a $1.7 trillion market. Zacks has just released a Special Report that spotlights this fast-emerging phenomenon and 6 tickers for taking advantage of it. If you don't buy now, you may kick yourself in 2020. Click here for the 6 trades >> 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 Nokia Corporation (NOK) : Free Stock Analysis Report Telefonica SA (TEF) : Free Stock Analysis Report Windstream Holdings, Inc. (WIN) : Free Stock Analysis Report Frontier Communications Corporation (FTR) : Free Stock Analysis Report To read this article on Zacks.com click here. Zacks Investment Research U.S. sanctions on Russia are starting to hurt the U.S. much more than Russia, the chief executive of Russia's sovereign wealth fund told CNBC Wednesday. "Of course, we believe sanctions are wrong, and particularly U.S. sanctions, because they really undermine (the) U.S. long-term," Kirill Dmitriev, the CEO of the Russian Direct Investment Fund, said, speaking to CNBC at the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, Switzerland. U.S. sanctions on Moscow are starting to hurt America more than Russia, the chief executive of Russia's sovereign wealth fund told CNBC Wednesday. "Of course, we believe sanctions are wrong, and particularly U.S. sanctions, because they really undermine (the) U.S. long term," Kirill Dmitriev, the CEO of the Russian Direct Investment Fund said, speaking to CNBC at the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, Switzerland. "Basically, we see lots of people moving away from (the) dollar, because lots of dollar transactions are getting restricted, and I think the U.S., by focusing so much on short-term pressure, and short-term competitive pressure, on Russian gas and other things, it is really undermining its own long-term fundamentals, you know, things that held the world together, such as (the) dollar, fair trade practices, and fairness," he said. Russia has repeatedly criticized U.S. and EU sanctions placed on Russia since 2014 for a variety of reasons , ranging from its annexation of Crimea, the poisoning of an ex-spy in the U.K . and meddling in the 2016 U.S. election . VTB Bank Chairman Andrey Kostin told CNBC Tuesday that Russia shouldn't expect a new direction from the U.S. regarding sanctions over the next two years , adding that: "No one likes American sanctions." In Europe, and despite criticism from nations such as Greece and Italy, the EU extended its current set of economic sanctions on Russia in December until July 2019. The EU and U.S. sanctions target Russia's financial, energy and defense sectors in the main . Latter sanctions were also imposed on government officials, entities and institutions deemed to be close to President Vladimir Putin. Story continues Russia retaliated against sanctions with tit-for-tat measures and embarked on a policy of import substitution although it experienced recession amid an oil price slump in 2014. While a recovery in oil prices has been seen since a trough in early 2016, they remain volatile, hurting the outlook for the major oil exporter. As such, Russia's economic outlook is lackluster with 1.6 percent growth forecast by the International Monetary Fund in 2019 and 1.7 percent in 2020. Dmitriev said that Russia had adjusted to the sanctions regime. "Russia really adjusted to sanctions, the economy is growing at 2 percent and oil prices are stable. So frankly it's a way of doing business now and people are used to it," he noted. He said sanctions had not stopped foreign direct investment and economic partnerships between Russia and other countries which are overseen by RDIF which has $10 billion of reserved capital under management . "We have partnerships with 20 top sovereign wealth funds, we were able to generate teen returns (returns above 10 percent) on dollars every year for the last seven years, and they are actively investing with us. So, we'll continue to attract major investment from Asia, from Middle East, (and) U.S. businesses," he said, noting that 30 new U.S. companies had opened operations in Russia last year. "Coca Cola CCH-GB and Pepsi PEP , McDonalds MCD , all of these, they're just quietly present in the Russian market, taking advantage. So, yes, sanctions do matter, but investment flows are happening," he said. On a political level, Dmitriev said sanctions undermined attempts to weaken Putin, adding that "sanctions are actually hurting the liberal agenda in Russia." "U.S. sanctions, European sanctions, are making more conservative people in Russia stronger, and basically say, 'Why would we even want to attract foreign investment? Let's be separate.' So, frankly, sanctions are hindering the liberal agenda in Russia, and that's another example how they're really not well thought through. They don't achieve any positive result, but they have lots of negative externalities," he said. Despite his criticism of foreign sanctions, Dmitriev recognized that more needed to be done at a domestic level to improve Russia's economy, saying the country needed "to become more efficient in many industries." "The president is undertaking a number of national projects, to improve our infrastructure, our health care, to diversify our economies," he said. More From CNBC President Bolsonaro touts 'new Brazil' in Davos, says country will become more business-friendly On his first international trip since becoming president, Bolsonaro delivered the keynote speech at the World Economic Forum (WEF). "This trip is a great opportunity for me to showcase to the world the unique point in time my country is going through," Bolsonaro said. The absence of President Donald Trump at this-year's five-day event has thrust Brazil's premier into the spotlight, less than three weeks after his inauguration. Brazil's newly-elected populist President Jair Bolsonaro addressed the world's business elite in Davos on Tuesday, vowing to transform Latin America's largest economy into a more investment-friendly country. On his first international trip since becoming president, Bolsonaro delivered the keynote speech at the World Economic Forum ( WEF ). "Brazil's economy is still relatively closed to foreign trade and to change that situation is one of my administration's major commitments," Bolsonaro said, according to a WEF translation. "You can be sure that by the end of my term in office, our economic team, led by Minister of Finance Paulo Guedes, will position in the ranking of the 50 best countries in the world to do business," he added. His comments are likely to be well received by market participants, after more than a decade of interventionist policies by previous administrations. 'New Brazil' The absence of President Donald Trump at this-year's five-day event has thrust Brazil's premier into the spotlight , less than three weeks after his inauguration. The January get-together is without some of its biggest names, with several world leaders choosing to stay at home to fight domestic crises rather than be seen socializing with the rich and famous. Nonetheless, the forum is still seen as an opportunity for international heads of state to come together to put the world to rights. Bolsonaro said his trip to Switzerland was a "great opportunity" to showcase the unique point in time his country was going through. Story continues "And also an opportunity for me to introduce to all of you the new Brazil that we are building," he added. The 63-year-old nationalist secured a sweeping election victory late last year, promising to drain the political swamp and fight deep-seated corruption. The country's benchmark stock index reached an all-time high at the end of last week , amid improving investor sentiment about the new government's pension reform plans. The Bovespa, one of 2018's top performing indexes across the globe, hit a record high, crossing the 96,000 mark on Friday. It followed heightened expectations that Bolsonaro's government could reveal pension reform plans earlier-than-expected. On Tuesday, the index pared some its recent gains, standing at 95.611 at around 3:30 p.m. London time. Reform agenda "We think Jair Bolsonaro has a big chance to reform the country," Francesco Starace, chief executive at Enel, told CNBC at WEF on Tuesday. "His agenda is a reform agenda. If it is populist or not populist, we don't care it is a reform agenda that we think is good for the country and the country needs it," he added. Bolsonaro is joined at the January get-together by a number of his cabinet ministers. But, it is the presence of U.S.-trained free market advocate Paulo Guedes that has particularly enthused investors. Bolsonaro's keynote address was reportedly written and revised by Guedes. More From CNBC Username: Password: or Register Back to Forum Reply to This post Post New Thread Thread Rating: 5 Vote(s) - 2.6 Average 1 2 3 4 5 Page: 1 2 3 Pro-Kremlin Thought terrorists spin new conspiracies around the Salisbury attack spo snouou Vocem sine nomine audivit! User ID: 350320 01-24-2019 09:30 AM Posts: 66,697 Post: #1 Pro-Kremlin Thought terrorists spin new conspiracies around the Salisbury attack Advertisement Conspiracy Special: Tracking New Falsehoods Around The Salisbury Attack Details: https://euvsdisinfo.eu/%ef%bb%bfconspira...ry-attack/ Details: (This post was last modified: 01-24-2019 09:31 AM by spo snouou .) LoP Guest lop guest User ID: 485359 01-24-2019 10:32 AM Post: #2 RE: Pro-Kremlin Thought terrorists spin new conspiracies around the Salisbury attack Oh look, the liberal animals have made up a new catch phrase to brand their slaves with...1st amendment jackasses...look it up or die soon in your ignorance LoP Guest lop guest User ID: 449258 01-24-2019 11:21 AM Post: #3 RE: Pro-Kremlin Thought terrorists spin new conspiracies around the Salisbury attack We all know the UK is the US biggest puppet in the US. If there are wars to join, or Russians to attack, or Ukraine to regime change, UK is always on board and pressures the rest of Europe. So we'll have to see what happens when UK leaves EU. The thought police on the western front is/was a lot better funded then on the eastern front. LoP Guest lop guest User ID: 449258 01-24-2019 11:23 AM Post: #4 RE: Pro-Kremlin Thought terrorists spin new conspiracies around the Salisbury attack And I have not seen any news about it. But Belarus was also my logical next target for the US and allies to mess with. Georgie, Ukrain, Belarus. And if not Belarus then on the east of Russia, like the Ural. LoP Guest lop guest User ID: 449258 01-24-2019 11:32 AM Post: #5 RE: Pro-Kremlin Thought terrorists spin new conspiracies around the Salisbury attack If you so easily take on anti Russian propaganda. When it is in your face that the it all started after Russia won from the US and allies in Syria. Then how can anyone tell if this is not the same mechanism how you all take on the issue of climate change? spo snouou Vocem sine nomine audivit! User ID: 350320 01-24-2019 12:48 PM Posts: 66,697 Post: #6 RE: Pro-Kremlin Thought terrorists spin new conspiracies around the Salisbury attack LoP Guest Wrote: (01-24-2019 10:32 AM) Oh look, the liberal animals have made up a new catch phrase to brand their slaves with...1st amendment jackasses...look it up or die soon in your ignorance freedom of speech doesn't give anyone the right to lie with impunity especially after taking oaths of public office ,without accountability with an lame excuse of a endless ,bottomless pit of plausible deniability misdirection . It never has.. you anti-democracy fuckheads constantly and systematically deny me and many others on this platform freedom to speak without endless personal attacks and targeted gaslighting. freedom of speech doesn't give anyone the right to lie with impunity especially after taking oaths of public office ,without accountability with an lame excuse of a endless ,bottomless pit of plausible deniability misdirection . It never has..you anti-democracy fuckheads constantly and systematically deny me and many others on this platform freedom to speak without endless personal attacks and targeted gaslighting. spo snouou Vocem sine nomine audivit! User ID: 350320 01-24-2019 02:00 PM Posts: 66,697 Post: #7 RE: Pro-Kremlin Thought terrorists spin new conspiracies around the Salisbury attack what gives? You blokes keep telling everyone white people are going extinct.. and their survival is a existentialist crisis but clearly here they are in fine form dominating the survival of the fittest at the top of the food (stamp) chain.what gives? (This post was last modified: 01-24-2019 02:00 PM by spo snouou .) Hrd2Stbd Registered User User ID: 460812 01-24-2019 03:17 PM Posts: 3,807 Post: #8 RE: Pro-Kremlin Thought terrorists spin new conspiracies around the Salisbury attack spo snouou Wrote: (01-24-2019 12:48 PM) LoP Guest Wrote: (01-24-2019 10:32 AM) Oh look, the liberal animals have made up a new catch phrase to brand their slaves with...1st amendment jackasses...look it up or die soon in your ignorance freedom of speech doesn't give anyone the right to lie with impunity especially after taking oaths of public office ,without accountability with an lame excuse of a endless ,bottomless pit of plausible deniability misdirection . It never has.. you anti-democracy fuckheads constantly and systematically deny me and many others on this platform freedom to speak without endless personal attacks and targeted gaslighting. "The First Amendment is first for a reason. The Second Amendment is just in case the first one doesn't work out." -Dave Chappelle Be August Landmesser spo snouou Vocem sine nomine audivit! User ID: 350320 01-24-2019 03:58 PM Posts: 66,697 Post: #9 RE: Pro-Kremlin Thought terrorists spin new conspiracies around the Salisbury attack LoP Guest lop guest User ID: 471605 01-24-2019 04:25 PM Post: #10 RE: Pro-Kremlin Thought terrorists spin new conspiracies around the Salisbury attack spo snouou Wrote: (01-24-2019 12:48 PM) LoP Guest Wrote: (01-24-2019 10:32 AM) Oh look, the liberal animals have made up a new catch phrase to brand their slaves with...1st amendment jackasses...look it up or die soon in your ignorance freedom of speech doesn't give anyone the right to lie with impunity especially after taking oaths of public office ,without accountability with an lame excuse of a endless ,bottomless pit of plausible deniability misdirection . It never has.. you anti-democracy fuckheads constantly and systematically deny me and many others on this platform freedom to speak without endless personal attacks and targeted gaslighting. So you are pro Democracy and therefore support Brexit. So you are pro Democracy and therefore support Brexit. spo snouou Vocem sine nomine audivit! User ID: 350320 01-24-2019 04:31 PM Posts: 66,697 Post: #11 RE: Pro-Kremlin Thought terrorists spin new conspiracies around the Salisbury attack LoP Guest Wrote: (01-24-2019 04:25 PM) spo snouou Wrote: (01-24-2019 12:48 PM) freedom of speech doesn't give anyone the right to lie with impunity especially after taking oaths of public office ,without accountability with an lame excuse of a endless ,bottomless pit of plausible deniability misdirection . It never has.. you anti-democracy fuckheads constantly and systematically deny me and many others on this platform freedom to speak without endless personal attacks and targeted gaslighting. So you are pro Democracy and therefore support a new Brexit poll. Yes. as long as it monitored and secured from the corruption and influence and interference that was substantially exposed since the last one. is that what you were asking fucknut? Yes.as long as it monitored and secured from the corruption and influence and interference that was substantially exposed since the last one.is that what you were asking fucknut? LoP Guest lop guest User ID: 471605 01-24-2019 04:33 PM Post: #12 RE: Pro-Kremlin Thought terrorists spin new conspiracies around the Salisbury attack Then I ask why you support them attempting to subvert the vote that was already taken? You cry that people oppress you and attack you and you call a person names. Hypocrisy much? LoP Guest lop guest User ID: 483870 01-24-2019 04:35 PM Post: #13 RE: Pro-Kremlin Thought terrorists spin new conspiracies around the Salisbury attack spo snouou Wrote: (01-24-2019 04:31 PM) LoP Guest Wrote: (01-24-2019 04:25 PM) So you are pro Democracy and therefore support Brexit. No. I reject the outcome of the Brexit referendum because the British people did not vote in accordance with my wishes. Yeah I thought so. Yeah I thought so. spo snouou Vocem sine nomine audivit! User ID: 350320 01-24-2019 04:51 PM Posts: 66,697 Post: #14 RE: Pro-Kremlin Thought terrorists spin new conspiracies around the Salisbury attack LoP Guest Wrote: (01-24-2019 04:33 PM) Then I ask why you support them attempting to subvert the vote that was already taken? You cry that people oppress you and attack you and you call a person names. Hypocrisy much? tu qu0que much? It's curious you would use that word Quote: subvert /sbvt/ verb verb: subvert; 3rd person present: subverts; past tense: subverted; past participle: subverted; gerund or present participle: subverting undermine the power and authority of (an established system or institution). "an attempt to subvert democratic government" this is exactly what has been proven to have happened during the brexit referendum and 2016 US election .. something must be stopping you from seeing this.. what is it? How corporate dark money is taking power on both sides of the Atlantic (Opinion) A secretive network of business lobbyists has long held sway in US politics. Now their allies in the UK government are planning a Brexit that plays into their hands. https://amp.theguardian.com/commentisfre...sts-brexit His incoherence was not a liability, but an opening: his agenda could be shaped. And the dark money network already developed by some American corporations was perfectly positioned to shape it. In 2007, a group called the American Legislative Exchange Council (Alec) set up a sister organisation, the Atlantic Bridge Project. Alec is perhaps the most controversial corporate-funded thinktank in the US. It specialises inbringing together corporate lobbyists with state and federal legislators todevelop model bills.The legislators and their families enjoy lavish hospitality from the group, then take the model bills home with them,to promoteas if they were their own initiatives. It has been heavily funded by tobacco companies, the oil company Exxon, drug companies and Charles and David Koch the billionaires who founded the first Tea Party organisations. Pfizer, which funded Bertins post at Atlantic Bridge, sits on Alecs corporate board. Some of the most contentious legislation in recent years, such as state bills lowering the minimum wage, bills granting corporations immunity from prosecution and the ag-gag laws forbidding people to investigate factory farming practices were developed by Alec. Among themembers ofAtlantic Bridges US advisory council were the ultra-conservative senators James Inhofe, Jon Kyl and Jim DeMint. Inhofe is reported tohave received over $2m in campaign finance fromcoal andoil companies. Both Koch Industries and ExxonMobil havebeen major donors Kyl, now retired, is currently acting as the sherpa guiding Jeff Sessionss nomination as Trumps attorney general through the Senate. Jim DeMint resigned his seat in the Senate to become president of the Heritage Foundation the thinktank founded with a grant fromJoseph Coors and built up with money from the banking and oil billionaire Richard Mellon Scaife. Like Alec, it has been richly funded by the Koch brothers. Heritage, under DeMints presidency, drove the attempt to ensure that Congress blocked the federal budget, temporarily shutting down the government in 2013. Foxs former special adviser at the Ministry of Defence, an American called Luke Coffey, now works for the foundation. The Heritage Foundation is now at the heart of Trumps administration. Its board members, fellows and staff comprise a large part of his transition team. Among them are Rebekah Mercer, who sits on Trumps executive committee; Steven Groves and Jim Carafano (State Department); Curtis spam (Treasury); and Ed Meese, Paul Winfree, Russ Vought and John Gray (management and budget). CNN reports that no other Washington institution has that kind of footprint in the transition .Trumps extraordinary plan to cut federal spending by $10.5tn was drafted by the Heritage Foundation, which called it a blueprint for a new administration. Vought and Gray, who moved on to Trumps team from Heritage, are now turning this blueprint into his first budget. Trump, as you follow this story, begins to look less like a president and more like an intermediary, implementing an agenda that has been handed down to him. In July last year, soon after he became trade secretary, Liam Fox flew to Washington. One of his first stops was a place he has visited often over the past 15 years: the office of the Heritage Foundation, where he spoke to, among others, Jim DeMint. A freedom of information request reveals that one of the topics raised at the meeting was the European ban on American chicken washed in chlorine: a ban that producers hope the UK will lift under a new trade agreement. Afterwards, Fox wrote to DeMint, looking forward to working with you as the new UK government develops its trade policy priorities, including in high value areas that we discussed such as defence. How did Fox get to be in this position, after the scandal that brought him down in 2011? The scandal itself provides a clue: it involved a crossing of the boundaries between public and private interests. Werrittys work became entangled with Foxs official business as defense secretary. Werritty, who carried a business card naming him as Foxs adviser but was never employed by the Ministry of Defense, joined the secretary of state on numerous ministerial visits overseas, and made frequent visits to Foxs office. By the time details of this relationship began to leak,the charity commission had investigated Atlantic Bridge and determined that its work didnt look very charitable As the story about Werrittys unauthorized involvement in government business began to grow, Fox made a number of misleading statements. He was left with no choice but to resign. When Theresa May brought Fox back into government, it was as strong a signal as we might receive about the intentions of her government. The trade treaties that Fox is charged with developing set the limits of sovereignty. May needed someone who is unlikely to resist. She chose Fox, who has become an indispensable member of her team. The shadow diplomatic mission he developed through Atlantic Bridge plugs him straight into the Trump administration. Long before Trump won, campaign funding in the US had systematically corrupted the political system. A new analysis by US political scientists finds an almost perfect linear relationship, across 32 years, between the money gathered by the two parties for congressional elections and their share of the vote. But there has also been a shift over these years: corporate donors have come to dominate this funding. Continued: In 1997, Liam Fox founded a Think Tank called Atlantic Bridge under the patronage of Margaret Thatcher The Birth of Brexit Wherever you find groups of the far right you find money or capital, for that is what they mostly do, no hands are dirtied, no overalls for them, just money and the trappings that money can buy https://dangerousglobe.com/news/politics...ople-with/ tu qu0que much?It's curious you would use that wordthis is exactly what has been proven to have happened during the brexit referendum and 2016 US election .. something must be stopping you from seeing this.. what is it?His incoherence was not a liability, but an opening: his agenda could be shaped. And the dark money network already developed by some American corporations was perfectly positioned to shape it.In 2007, a group called the American Legislative Exchange Council (Alec) set up a sister organisation, the Atlantic Bridge Project. Alec is perhaps the most controversial corporate-funded thinktank in the US. It specialises inbringing together corporate lobbyists with state and federal legislators todevelop model bills.The legislators and their families enjoy lavish hospitality from the group, then take the model bills home with them,to promoteas if they were their own initiatives.It has been heavily funded by tobacco companies, the oil company Exxon, drug companies and Charles and David Koch the billionaires who founded the first Tea Party organisations. Pfizer, which funded Bertins post at Atlantic Bridge, sits on Alecs corporate board. Some of the most contentious legislation in recent years, such as state bills lowering the minimum wage, bills granting corporations immunity from prosecution and the ag-gag laws forbidding people to investigate factory farming practices were developed by Alec.Among themembers ofAtlantic Bridges US advisory council were the ultra-conservative senators James Inhofe, Jon Kyl and Jim DeMint. Inhofe is reported tohave received over $2m in campaign finance fromcoal andoil companies. Both Koch Industries and ExxonMobil havebeen major donorsKyl, now retired, is currently acting as the sherpa guiding Jeff Sessionss nomination as Trumps attorney general through the Senate. Jim DeMint resigned his seat in the Senate to become president of the Heritage Foundation the thinktank founded with a grant fromJoseph Coors and built up with money from the banking and oil billionaire Richard Mellon Scaife. Like Alec, it has been richly funded by the Koch brothers. Heritage, under DeMints presidency, drove the attempt to ensure that Congress blocked the federal budget, temporarily shutting down the government in 2013. Foxs former special adviser at the Ministry of Defence, an American called Luke Coffey, now works for the foundation. The Heritage Foundation is now at the heart of Trumps administration. Its board members, fellows and staff comprise a large part of his transition team. Among them are Rebekah Mercer, who sits on Trumps executive committee;Steven Groves and Jim Carafano (State Department); Curtis spam (Treasury); and Ed Meese, Paul Winfree, Russ Vought and John Gray (management and budget). CNN reports that no other Washington institution has that kind of footprint in the transition .Trumps extraordinary plan to cut federal spending by $10.5tn was drafted by the Heritage Foundation, which called it a blueprint for a new administration. Vought and Gray, who moved on to Trumps team from Heritage, are now turning this blueprint into his first budget.In July last year, soon after he became trade secretary, Liam Fox flew to Washington. One of his first stops was a place he has visited often over the past 15 years: the office of the Heritage Foundation, where he spoke to, among others, Jim DeMint. A freedom of information request reveals that one of the topics raised at the meeting was the European ban on American chicken washed in chlorine: a ban that producers hope the UK will lift under a new trade agreement.Afterwards, Fox wrote to DeMint, looking forward to working with you as the new UK government develops its trade policy priorities, including in high value areas that we discussed such as defence. How did Fox get to be in this position, after the scandal that brought him down in 2011? The scandal itself provides a clue: it involved a crossing of the boundaries between public and private interests.Werrittys work became entangled with Foxs official business as defense secretary. Werritty, who carried a business card naming him as Foxs adviser but was never employed by the Ministry of Defense, joined the secretary of state on numerous ministerial visits overseas, and made frequent visits to Foxs office. By the time details of this relationship began to leak,the charity commission had investigated Atlantic Bridge and determined that its work didnt look very charitableAs the story about Werrittys unauthorized involvement in government business began to grow, Fox made a number of misleading statements. He was left with no choice but to resign.When Theresa May brought Fox back into government, it was as strong a signal as we might receive about the intentions of her government. The trade treaties that Fox is charged with developing set the limits of sovereignty.May needed someone who is unlikely to resist. She chose Fox, who has become an indispensable member of her team. The shadow diplomatic mission he developed through Atlantic Bridge plugs him straight into the Trump administration.Long before Trump won, campaign funding in the US had systematically corrupted the political system. A new analysis by US political scientists finds an almost perfect linear relationship, across 32 years, between the money gathered by the two parties for congressional elections and their share of the vote. But there has also been a shift over these years: corporate donors have come to dominate this funding.Continued: https://twitter.com/Tentoads4truth/statu...0145441792 LoP Guest lop guest User ID: 471605 01-24-2019 05:07 PM Post: #15 RE: Pro-Kremlin Thought terrorists spin new conspiracies around the Salisbury attack That is an unfortunate result of democracy without clear limits. But as was shown in the US presidential election the amount of money spent doesn't always gurantee the outcome. And your insisting that Russia influenced the outcome by their miniscule documented social platform numbers is proof of wilfully keeping your head in the sand. Advertisement Back to Forum Reply to This post Post New Thread SEBRING, Fla. (AP) A man accused of fatally shooting five women at a small-town bank in Florida had dreamed of hurting classmates in high school and had long been fascinated with killing, police and a former girlfriend said Thursday. The slayings did not appear to be part of a robbery, and Zephen Xaver had no apparent connection to the SunTrust branch or the four employees and one customer who were killed Wednesday, police said. "We believe it was a random act," Sebring Police Chief Karl Hoglund said Thursday at a news conference. "Aside from perhaps driving by and seeing it was a bank, we have no known evidence that he targeted this bank for any particular reason." If the gunman had driven 10 seconds farther, just one more driveway, the victims might have been Carol Davis, who manages a hair salon and spa, and her staff and customers. "He could have come here. He could have gone anywhere. It could happen anywhere," Davis said. Xaver, 21, was charged Thursday with five counts of premeditated murder. Just months ago, he moved from northern Indiana to Sebring, about 80 miles southeast of Tampa. He had recently quit his job as a prison guard trainee. From police and witness accounts, he entered the bank about 12:30 p.m. when the five women were alone. The bank stands apart along U.S. 27, a busy four-lane highway in Sebring, a tourist and retirement city of 10,000 known for an annual endurance auto race that draws some of the world's top drivers. The victims were found lying face down, their bodies surrounded by shell casings, according to court documents. Six minutes after the attack began, Xaver called 911 and told dispatchers that he had killed everyone inside, Hoglund said. Davis said she looked out her window and saw police officers everywhere, many carrying rifles. "I have never seen stuff like that except in the movies." Xaver refused to surrender and would not allow officers to reach the victims, Hoglund said. After more than an hour of negotiations, a SWAT team used an armored vehicle to break through the front doors. Xaver was found in a back office, and all the victims were dead, the chief said. Story continues On Thursday, an Indiana police department released a 2014 report in which Xaver, then 16, said he had dreams of hurting other students in a classroom. The report from the Bremen Police Department said Bremen High School Principal Bruce Jennings contacted police on Feb. 20, 2014, after Xaver reported having the dream the previous night and again during a nap at school. The report said Xaver's mother agreed to take him to a behavioral health center. Police took no further action. Authorities also released log entries of other incidents involving Xaver, including one in March 2017, when Michigan State Police advised that a girl was receiving messages from Xaver that indicated he was "possibly thinking of suicide by cop and taking hostages." Alex Gerlach, who identified herself as Xaver's former girlfriend, said he's long been fascinated with the idea of killing, but no one took her warnings about him seriously. For some reason, he "always hated people and wanted everybody to die," Gerlach told WSBT-TV in South Bend, Indiana, near his former home in Plymouth, Indiana. "He got kicked out of school for having a dream that he killed everybody in his class, and he's been threatening this for so long, and he's been having dreams about it and everything," she said. "Every single person I've told has not taken it seriously, and it's very unfortunate that it had to come to this." Gerlach told The Washington Post that Xaver said he purchased a gun last week and "no one thought anything of it" because he had always liked guns. Xaver had no apparent criminal record in the areas where he's lived in Indiana and Florida. Police identified three of the victims: customer Cynthia Watson, 65, and two bank employees: 55-year-old Marisol Lopez and 38-year-old Ana Pinon Willliams, a mother of seven. Tim Williams said his sister-in-law was a devout Christian "and family to everyone she knew." She had recently started working at the bank, and she quickly came to love the job and her co-workers, he said. "We do not know what was going on in the mind of the individual who committed this atrocious act, but we do know he was influenced by the darkness in this world," Williams said. "We will not try to understand the darkness, but with God's help we will overcome it." Lopez's family posted a note on their door asking not to be disturbed. The Associated Press could find no contact information for Watson's family. A fourth victim was identified when her husband spoke with NBC News. Maine Montague said he and his wife, 31-year-old Jessica Montague, had a 3-year-old child. In compliance with a newly passed victims' rights law in Florida, police withheld the name of the fifth victim at the family's request. Xaver was arrested in a beige T-shirt depicting the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse. On Thursday, he wore a black-and-white striped prison uniform as he was appointed a public defender and ordered held without bond. His father said he's "heartbroken for the victims" and that his son "wasn't raised to be like this." "He's always been a good kid. He's had his troubles, but he has never hurt anyone ever before. This is a total shock," Josh Xaver told CNN. The AP sought interviews with both of Xaver's parents but received no immediate response. ___ Kay reported from Miami. Associated Press writers Freida Frisaro in Miami, Rick Callahan in Indianapolis and Randy Herschaft in New York contributed to this report. PHOENIX (AP) A nurse who was supposed to be looking after an incapacitated woman at a long-term health care facility was charged Wednesday with raping her, weeks after she stunned her caregivers and family by giving birth to a baby boy . Nathan Sutherland, a licensed practical nurse, has been arrested and charged with one count of sexual assault and one count of vulnerable adult abuse, according to court records. "We owed this arrest to the victim. We owed this arrest to the newest member of our community that innocent baby," Phoenix Police Chief Jeri Williams said. The surprise birth late last month triggered reviews by state agencies, highlighted safety concerns for patients who are severely disabled or incapacitated and led to disciplinary actions and resignations of staffers and managers. It also prompted authorities to test the DNA of all the men who worked at the Hacienda HealthCare facility. Sutherland, 36, submitted his DNA sample under court order Tuesday and the results came back a few hours later, showing he was a match to the baby. He declined to speak with police and invoked his Fifth Amendment rights, police spokesman Tommy Thompson said. Sutherland appeared in court Wednesday but did not enter a plea. A Maricopa County Superior Court commissioner set a $500,000 cash-only bond. If Sutherland posts bond, he would need to wear an electronic monitoring device. Defense attorney David Gregan had asked for a lower bond on the grounds that Sutherland didn't have a criminal record. He described his client as a family man with young children who has lived in Arizona since 1993. "There's no direct evidence that Mr. Sutherland has committed these acts," Gregan said. "I know at this point there's DNA. But he will have a right to his own DNA expert." Gregan did not immediately return a message seeking comment. Investigators found that Sutherland had treated the victim and spent a lot of time with her, according to a probable cause statement. Investigators believe Sutherland raped the patient sometime between February and April. Story continues A former neighbor, Esella Burr, said she lived next to Sutherland, his wife and four children for more than five years. She often saw the couple leave for church on Sundays and they would chat occasionally. "I can't believe it," Burr said. "He told me he was a nurse and he liked his job." Court records indicate his wife filed for divorce seven weeks ago. A message left at a number listed for her was not immediately returned. Hacienda officials fired Sutherland after learning of his arrest. The company said it was "troubled beyond words." Sutherland had passed an extensive background check. "Once again, we offer an apology and send our deepest sympathies to the client and her family, to the community and to our agency partners at every level," Hacienda said in a statement. The 29-year-old victim has been in long-term care since age 3 and gave birth at the facility on Dec. 29. Employees said they had no idea she was pregnant. As her guardian, the woman's mother was required to submit an annual report to the court that included results of a medical exam. The case has prompted the departure or discipline of key figures at Hacienda HealthCare, including the CEO. The provider says one doctor who had cared for the woman resigned and another had been suspended. Earlier stories had described the patient as being comatose or in a vegetative state. But her parents released a statement Tuesday disputing that characterization. They described her as intellectually disabled because of seizures in early childhood. While she doesn't speak, she has some mobility in her limbs, head and neck. She also responds to sound and can make facial gestures. The family's attorney, John Micheaels, said in a statement that they knew about the arrest but did not want to comment. Thompson said he believes the baby has since been released from the hospital. The woman's family has said they will care for him. ___ Associated Press journalists Paul Davenport, Jacques Billeaud and Brian Skoloff in Phoenix contributed to this report. FILE PHOTO: The logo of Norway's company Gassco is pictured on a water tank at the new gas import terminal of Norway's company Gassco in Emden, Germany, May 24, 2016. REUTERS/Fabian Bimmer By Vera Eckert, Christoph Steitz and Tom Kackenhoff BERLIN (Reuters) - Norway, Germany's third biggest gas supplier after Russia and the Netherlands, could make further inroads into the German market as the country phases out coal, a top executive at Norwegian oil and gas firm Equinor (EQNR.OL) said on Wednesday. "I'm sensing that there is going to be an increasing demand for gas (in Germany)," said Irene Rummelhoff, member of Equinor's executive committee. "I think it could be an increasing market for us going forward," she told Reuters at a German industry event. A commission comprising politicians, researchers and lobbyists has been tasked with setting out a shut-down schedule for German coal mining and power generation on Friday, or by Feb. 1 at the latest. This comes amid a push by Germany to cut climate-harming emissions. In 2018, coal had an 38 percent share in German power generation versus just 7.4 percent for gas. The commission is likely to propose the closure of half the nation's 43 gigawatts (GW) hard coal and lignite fleet by 2030. "The quicker the phase-out (of coal), the stronger the demand for gas as I see it because there is no other viable alternative," Rummelhoff said. She said Germany could not run on renewables alone, and it is also phasing out nuclear power by 2022, while gas offered steady supply at half the emissions of coal. Rummelhoff also saw more room for the use of gas in home heating, where it currently accounts for around 50 percent of all units but is due to take market share from more polluting heating oil, and in transport. "The heat segment is very dependent on gas and we see interesting movement in the transport sector, such as in public sector buses," she said. Germany's gas strategy is important for Norway's export success. Out of Norway's pipeline gas exports of 114 billion cubic metres (bcm) in 2018, 47 bcm went to Germany, figures from grid company Gassco showed. Rummelhoff also said she was a little puzzled by Germany's plans, under pressure from would-be supplier the United States, for a liquefied natural gas (LNG) import terminal. Story continues Existing terminals around Europe's coasts are under-utilised because LNG is more expensive than pipeline gas. But traders and customers at the conference support the new terminal as a way of opening up more shipment options and boosting liquidity. "I guess the rationale would be to have more diversification rather than more capacity," Rummelhoff said. (Additional reporting by Nerijus Adomaitis; Editing by Douglas Busvine and Mark Potter) (Bloomberg) -- Pawan Gupta wasnt having any luck finding a match. The 31-year-old MBA graduate wanted to get married and scoured dating apps and Indian matrimonial websites. Yet after four years of looking and dating, he was no closer to walking around the sacred fire typical of the Hindu marriage ceremony. So the MIT Sloan School of Management alum decided to build an AI-powered matchmaking app, one that would determine emotional, intellectual and social compatibility. Gupta teamed up with engineer Rahul Namdev to create Betterhalf, employing a wide swath of data to figure out who could be successfully matched for marriage. The service is starting to have success. Manoj Kumar Singh, 32, turned to Betterhalf after years of failures with traditional matchmaking and dating websites. He was paired up with an HSBC executive he found kind and caring; they were married within months. Over four years, I thought Id tried everything, Singh recounted telling friends when he first heard of Betterhalf. After so many frustrating attempts, an AI-based app helped find me a wife. AI systems are flourishing in dating apps the world over, using deep-learning to analyze Facebook posts or users tweets to gauge how compatible they would be for each other. Nowhere is this more significant than in India, where marriage remains a goal for many in the worlds largest youthful population of more than 400 million millennials. Local entrepreneurs, global dating apps and Indian matrimonial websites are racing to bring artificial intelligence to modernize match-making. There is, however, a lingering question. Is India culturally ready for AI matchmaking apps? said DD Mishra, a research director and analyst based in India for Gartner Inc. Guptas experiences with Indian matrimonial websites and global websites suggest young urban Indians are ready for something new. He had become increasingly distressed by the process. One match made over a site went awry when she told him she was interested only in a spouse who could get an overseas posting. On another first date, he arrived wearing a new shirt to meet a woman matched by a matrimonial website who left him stranded. And it took him months to realize that someone he was chatting with on a dating app wasnt interested yet kept him dangling. Story continues I felt rejected again and again, Gupta said. Theres a woman out there for me, but none of the dating apps or matrimonial websites was helping me find her. So he turned to algorithms and started Betterhalf. The firm, funded by 15 angel investors including half a dozen MIT alumni, puts users through several levels of verification comprising social networks, phone number, personal and work email and government ID. New registrants answer a breadth of questions including on moral values, emotions and personality traits. That information is then melded with data from married individuals, open-source data and compatibility research. After matching people, post-interaction user polls help weed out the creeps. There are thousands of dating apps around the world, Gupta said during a conversation at the Betterhalfs headquarters, a home converted into quirky office space. Theres a ready market of tens of millions of educated urban Indians seriously looking for partners so why is nobody getting it right? Betterhalf is targeted solely to serious spouse seekers. The startup has 15 employees -- 13 are single, use the app and half-mockingly refer to their office as a marriage lab. They are in the apps core demographic, ages 25 to 40. Product head Rohan Bhatore, 27, has been avidly searching for seven months. The engineer educated at the Indian Institute of Technology has been matched with a dozen prospects but hasnt yet advanced to a meeting. Searching for a marriage partner is frustrating and soul-numbing, he said. Algorithms can end up knowing a person better than friends, family or even themselves, and thats revolutionizing matchmaking, said Michal Kosinski, a computational psychologist and assistant professor at Stanford Universitys Graduate School of Business who recently signed on as an adviser to Betterhalf. Algorithms can learn from experiences of billions of others, while a typical person can only learn from their own experience and the experience of a relatively small number of friends, he said. This is a much different matrimonial approach from the ones Indians have known for centuries: Matchmakers or families find prospective spouses within their circle and then vet the duos horoscopes by astrologers to ensure that the stars are aligned for the match. Theres plenty of competition in the new AI space. Delhi-based entrepreneur Kumar Akshays AI-powered startup Truematch, which uses LinkedIn to authenticate users, is trying to dispel the idea that matchmaking apps only lead to casual relationships. We wanted our app to be as trustworthy as the family matchmaker yet as cool as a dating app, he said. Even some of Indias traditional matrimonial giants are jumping on the bandwagon. Matrimony.com, which has 3.7 million active users, is developing an AI-powered chatbot that it plans to deploy later this year. And global apps like OkCupid and Bumble, backed by Bollywood-Hollywood star Priyanka Chopra, are going beyond matching with obvious criteria like language or vocation in India, and getting in tune with cultural realities. AI works best in matchmaking when you have large volume and variation of data, which India offers, said Meenakshi Variankaval, who heads data sciences at Matrimony.com. AI capabilities also could help detect matrimonial fraud, a serious challenge in India. In one recent case, a serial con artist was arrested in Hyderabad after he created dozens of fake profiles. He married one woman, was living with another and had defrauded hundreds more of millions of rupees. AI has the processing and cognitive capabilities to help matchmaking apps carry trust indicators on particular profiles, said Mishra, the Gartner analyst. This can generate huge value as it addresses the biggest risk in matchmaking. Betterhalf has other hurdles. In a diverse country, many users come up with extraordinarily specific, inflexible partner preferences. How do you design a product for very busy professionals by giving them what they want and eventually leading them to relationship happiness? Gupta said, adding the app was at the 2 percent level of the technology it eventually wants to build. Gupta could be his own lab rodent. For a few months he has been dating a management consultant he was matched with on Betterhalf. Theyve found they are compatible in areas like managing finances and sharing household chores. Both sets of parents approve and Gupta said his search may soon be over. An invite to my own AI-engineered wedding could be around the corner, he said. (Updates with comments in 17th and 19th paragraphs.) To contact the reporter on this story: Saritha Rai in Bangalore at srai33@bloomberg.net To contact the editors responsible for this story: Robert Fenner at rfenner@bloomberg.net, ;Peter Elstrom at pelstrom@bloomberg.net, Jodi Schneider For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com 2019 Bloomberg L.P. Microsoft is investigating reports that its Bing search engine has been blocked in China Microsoft is investigating reports that its Bing search engine has been blocked in China (AFP Photo/LAURENT FIEVET) Beijing (AFP) - Microsoft's Bing search engine resumed service to Chinese users on Thursday, after a disruption raised fears among social media users that it was the latest foreign website to be blocked by censors. Attempts to access Bing had resulted in an error message for users starting late Wednesday, as the most prominent foreign search engine available in China experienced a temporary blackout. Microsoft's search engine was blocked due to "an accidental technical error", according to Bloomberg, citing two anonymous sources -- rather than a deliberate attempt to restrict Bing, which already complies with local censorship rules. On Weibo, China's Twitter-like social media site, people rejoiced over the return of Microsoft's search engine. "Bing has returned," wrote one user, adding three sobbing emojis. "I am moved!" "Bing seems to have resumed access!" exclaimed another. "Microsoft is great! Microsoft is awesome!" The temporary shutdown of Bing had raised concerns that Microsoft's search engine was the latest victim of online censorship in China, which has ramped up in recent years. In 2018 alone, Beijing shuttered 26,000 "illegal" websites and deleted six million online posts containing vulgar content, the official Xinhua news agency said earlier this month. China's Communist authorities also operate an online censorship apparatus known as the "Great Firewall", which blocks a slew of websites including Facebook, Twitter and several foreign media outlets. The firewall can be circumvented by using a virtual private network (VPN), which can hide a user's IP address. Late Wednesday and earlier on Thursday, Weibo users complained about the lack of access, with some speculating that Bing too had been "walled off". Others aired their dissatisfaction about having to use Baidu, China's largest domestic search service. "Our country is amazing, even the obedient Bing has been walled off, while Baidu flourishes," said another. "Thank you wise party leaders!" Lunaticoutpost.com is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program , anaffiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com.Amazon, the Amazon logo, MYHABIT, and the MYHABIT logo are trademarks of Amazon.com, Inc. or its affiliates.Don't be a pest to the forum.No profanity in thread-titles or usernamesNo excessive profanity in postsNo Racism, Antisemitism + HateNo calls for violence against anyone..This website exists for fun and discussion only. The reader is responsible for discerning the validity, factuality or implications of information posted here, be it fictional or based on real events. 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The material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes.In accordance with industry accepted best practices we ask that users limit their copy / paste of copyrighted material to the relevant portions of the article you wish to discuss (no more than 50% of the source material) provide a link back to the original articleIf you are a legal copyright holder or a designated agent for such and you believe a post on this website falls outside the boundaries of "Fair Use" and legitimately infringes on yours or your clients copyright please contact [email protected] This website is owned by :Marco ZwaneveldDrijfriemstraat 522516 XR The HagueNetherlands.I will not rent, sell, share or otherwise disclose your personal information to any third party.We might contact you from time to time regarding your purchases or the services (like forums and announcement lists) you have subscribed to.Some of the 3rd party advertisers on lunaticoutpost.com may use cookiesto track peformance and/or to serve relevant ads.If you wish to read more and/or opt out of such cookies, please visit: http://www.networkadvertising.org/choices/ NEW YORK, Jan. 24, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The Klein Law Firm announces that class action complaints have been filed on behalf of shareholders of the following companies. If you suffered a loss you have until the lead plaintiff deadline to request that the court appoint you as lead plaintiff. Danske Bank A/S (DNKEY) Class Period: Purchasers of American Depositary Receipts between January 9, 2014 and October 23, 2018 Lead Plaintiff Deadline: March 11, 2019 The complaint alleges that during the class period Danske Bank A/S made materially false and/or misleading statements and/or failed to disclose that: (i) Danske Banks Estonian branch was facilitating money laundering through at least March 2016; (ii) that a whistleblower had reported the Estonian money laundering to the Company in 2013; (iii) that Denmarks Financial Supervisory Authority (the DFSA) had been investigating the Estonian money laundering since 2014; (iv) that Danske Bank had concealed the results of its own internal investigation from the DFSA, further exposing it to regulatory action and fines; (v) that Danske Bank had been overstating its historical profits by including the profits derived from its illicit Estonian operations; and (vi) that Danske Bank lacked effective internal and reporting controls. Get additional information about the DNKEY lawsuit: http://www.kleinstocklaw.com/pslra-1/danske-bank-a-s-loss-submission-form?wire=3 YRC Worldwide Inc. (YRCW) Class Period: March 10, 2014 to December 14, 2018 Lead Plaintiff Deadline: March 4, 2019 The complaint alleges YRC Worldwide Inc. made materially false and/or misleading statements and/or failed to disclose that: (1) from 2005 to at least 2013, YRC's units systematically overcharged the federal government for freight carrier services; (2) this alleged misconduct caused the Department of Defense to overpay by millions of dollars for shipments that were lighter, and thus cheaper, than the weights for which the government was charged; (3) consequently, this alleged misconduct would subject YRC to enhanced government scrutiny and liabilities, including potentially owing treble damages under the False Claims Act; and (4) as a result, the Companys public statements were materially false and misleading at all relevant times. Story continues Get additional information about the YRCW lawsuit: http://www.kleinstocklaw.com/pslra-1/yrc-worldwide-inc-loss-submission-form?wire=3 Perrigo Company plc (PRGO) Class Period: November 8, 2018 to December 20, 2018 Lead Plaintiff Deadline: March 4, 2019 During the Class Period, and unbeknownst to investors, Perrigo misled investors by way of an SEC filing on November 8, 2018. On that date, Perrigo disclosed the existence of an audit finding letter from the Irish tax authorities without disclosing material details associated with the letter. Get additional information about the PRGO lawsuit: http://www.kleinstocklaw.com/pslra-1/perrigo-company-plc-loss-submission-form?wire=3 DXC Technology Company (DXC) Class Period: February 8, 2018 to November 6, 2018 Lead Plaintiff Deadline: February 25, 2019 According to the complaint, DXC Technology Company allegedly made materially false and/or misleading statements and/or failed to disclose that: (a) the Company had changed or planned to change the operations of its sales teams, deploying generalized sales teams as opposed to the specialized teams that were better capable of delivering specialized services to its clients; (b) the Companys workforce optimization strategy of sharply reducing staff while reducing costs was resulting in a shortage of sales personnel who could execute on demand for services, thereby risking and ultimately losing sales and revenue opportunities; (c) in light of the above, the Companys revenue and financial performance guidance for the fiscal year 2019 and its reaffirmation of the guidance during the Class Period was without a reasonable basis. Get additional information about the DXC lawsuit: http://www.kleinstocklaw.com/pslra-1/dxc-technology-company-loss-submission-form?wire=3 Your ability to share in any recovery doesnt require that you serve as a lead plaintiff. There is no cost or obligation to you. If you suffered a loss during the class period and wish to obtain additional information, please contact J. Klein, Esq. by telephone at 212-616-4899 or visit the webpages provided. J. Klein, Esq. represents investors and participates in securities litigations involving financial fraud throughout the nation. Attorney advertising. Prior results do not guarantee similar outcomes. Jan 24 (Reuters) - Indonesia's Go-Jek is in talks with Philippine authorities to get its ride-hailing service application reconsidered, after it was rejected this month by regulators, and hopes to be in the market soon, co-founder Kevin Aluwi said on Thursday. The startup, whose backers include Alphabet Inc's Google, suffered a setback to its regional expansion plans when its application to start ride-hailing services was rejected by Philippine authorities on the grounds that its domestic unit did not meet local ownership criteria. "We are in conversation with all government agencies and are optimistic we will be in the market soon," said Aluwi, who also serves as Go-Jek chief information officer. Having evolved from a ride-hailing service founded in 2011 to providing a one-stop app through which users can make online payments and order food and services such as massages, Go-Jek is now nursing ambitions for a larger share of the Southeast Asian market, currently dominated by Singapore-based Grab. Aluwi said Go-Jek had seen transactions worth $12.5 billion "over its whole platform" in 2018, with "consistent and explosive growth". The startup announced last week that it had acquired a majority stake in Philippine fintech company Coins.ph, which operates a mobile wallet with five million users. News website Techcrunch cited two unnamed sources as saying the investment was worth $72 million. Aluwi, who was speaking at the DealStreetAsia 2019 PE-VC Summit, declined to confirm the size of the investment, but said the firm saw "payments as a key part of the platform evolving". Go-Jek has raised billions of dollars from investors such as Tencent Holdings Ltd, JD.com Inc and Temasek Holdings (Private) Ltd in its race for market share. Sources told Reuters in November that Go-Jek's valuation was between $9 to $10 billion. The firm, which has launched its services in Singapore, Vietnam, and Thailand in 2018, is examining whether to expand to Malaysia, Aluwi said. Story continues Ride-hailing services in Southeast Asia are expected to surge to almost $30 billion by 2025 from $7.7 billion in 2018, according to a Google-Temasek report. Asked about reports that Go-Jek was mulling the purchase of JD.com's Indonesia business, Aluwi said they "had no near or medium plans to enter the e-commerce space". (Reporting by Fanny Potkin; Editing by Himani Sarkar) (Adds detail, background) MILAN, Jan 24 (Reuters) - Italian oil and gas group Eni is monitoring the situation in Venezuela very carefully but its production in the country for now is unaffected, a spokesman said on Thursday. "The situation in the fields is quiet and under control," the spokesman said. On Wednesday Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido declared himself interim president, winning the backing of Washington and many Latin American nations. His move prompted socialist President Nicolas Maduro, who has led the oil-rich nation since 2013, to break relations with the United States. OPEC oil producer Venezuela produced more than 2 million barrels per day (bpd) in 2017, but a deep economic and social crisis has seen output plummet as millions of people flee the country. Foreign oil companies operating in the area have had problems with payments in oil from Venezuela. State-controlled Eni, which has been in Venezuela since 1998, currently produces around 46,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day. It has a 50 percent stake in the giant Perla gas field, a 40 percent stake in the Junin 5 oilfield and owns 26 percent of the Corocoro oilfield. (Reporting by Stephen Jewkes; editing by Jason Neely) (Bloomberg) -- In the sparsely settled wildlands of eastern Oregon, Huawei Technologies Co. is hardly the big bad wolf of China that U.S. officials have depicted. Its a lifeline to the 21st Century. Chinas largest tech company makes high-quality networking gear that it sells to rural telecommunications operators for 20 percent to 30 percent less than its competitors do, says Joseph Franell, chief executive officer and general manager of Eastern Oregon Telecom in Hermiston, a watermelon-growing hub of 18,000 people. Huaweis equipment has helped some two dozen U.S. telecom companies provide landlines, mobile services and high-speed data to many of the poorest and most remote areas in the country. Some of these companies have received federal subsidies, but not Franells, which was spun out to senior management last year by the electric cooperative that founded it in 1999. Huawei makes the magic happen. Their equipment is very, very good, says Franell, who chairs the Oregon legislatures Broadband Advisory Council. We havent found equivalent equipment on the market. The administration of President Donald Trump is escalating a fight with a formidable adversary a face-off that intelligence and cybersecurity officials say has significant implications for the safety and security of the U.S. and its allies. Huawei has become a world leader in manufacturing networking equipment and is striving to dominate the next generation of wireless technology, known as 5G. The Trump administration, convinced Huawei is a Trojan horse for Chinese intelligence, is determined to blunt its growing sales and influence. The heightening tension, which is said to include a potential presidential order that wont name Huawei but would greatly limit its and other companies U.S. business opportunities, stems from a fundamental hardening of U.S. policy toward China that took place in 2017 during Trumps first year in office. For a decade, U.S. officials have said Huawei may be acting as an arm of the Chinese state, a private company in name only whose ulterior mission, they claim, is to steal government and corporate secrets through conventional espionage and back-door bugs in its telecom gear. The Obama administration stopped Huawei from acquiring U.S. technology assets and exerted pressure that reportedly helped nix a $5 billion equipment deal with Sprint that would have saved the struggling U.S. carrier $800 million in its first year. Last summer, Congress barred federal agencies and contractors from buying Chinese networking gear, and now the Trump administration is preparing an executive order that could significantly restrict all Chinese telecom sales in the U.S., two people familiar with the matter said earlier this month. Story continues Through it all, Huawei has prospered. The company garners about half its annual revenue of $92 billion outside China, led by Europe, the Middle East and Africa, where cutting-edge technology at affordable prices has endeared the Chinese company to budget-strapped purchasers. Huawei has also become the worlds second-biggest mobile-phone maker, after Samsung Electronics Co. and ahead of Apple Inc. In the U.S., however, the consumer market has effectively closed for Huawei. Last year, Verizon Communications Inc. and AT&T Inc. said they would no longer carry Huawei smartphones because of government pressure, after the FBI, CIA and NSA had warned that the phones were unsafe. Huawei, for its part, has repeatedly denied any kind of spying or even talking with the Chinese government, let alone acting on its behalf. Executives insist it is a private company, owned by employees, not the state. I love my country, I support the Communist Party, but I will not do anything to harm the world, said Ren Zhengfei, Huaweis founder and CEO, in a rare interview at company headquarters in Shenzhen, China, on Jan. 15. Trust us, say current and former U.S. officials: Classified information they cant discuss proves Huawei will purloin customer secrets any time it can. Out in the open, Huawei, after becoming the worlds largest telecom-equipment manufacturer, has elevated surveillance systems to be one of its strategic business lines, a phrase mentioned 23 times during an August event in Guangzhou, China, to release 30 new types of cameras, according to Jeffrey Ding of the University of Oxfords Future of Humanity Institute. Already in 230 cities including many in China as well as in Mauritius, Serbia, Kenya and elsewhere Huawei has installed what it calls its Safe City technology, which involves a network of cameras that can match faces and license plates to central databases. Cybersecurity experts from both the Obama and Trump administrations agree on the risk. These companies need to be considered as functional extensions of Chinese intelligence, says James Clapper, who served as director of national intelligence for President Barack Obama and is now a frequent Trump critic. This is one case where I agree with this administration. The difference is what to do about it. Obama pursued diplomacy to rein in Chinese cyber-theft, signing a landmark agreement in 2015 in which the U.S. and China agreed not to hack each others economic secrets. The Trump team scrapped the whole idea of engaging China and supporting its economic development as a means of moderating the countrys conduct. This administrations approach, confrontation and containment, was outlined in Trumps first National Security Strategy, published in December 2017. For decades, U.S. policy was rooted in the belief that support for Chinas rise and for its integration into the post-war international order would liberalize China. Contrary to our hopes, China expanded its power at the expense of the sovereignty of others, the document declared. We will work with our partners to contest Chinas unfair trade and economic practices and restrict its acquisition of sensitive technologies. Huawei is the tip of the spear, the administration believes. In recent months, the U.S. has dispatched lawyers, diplomats and intelligence officials to corporate and government offices around the world to press its case that Huawei must not be allowed to run their 5G networks. The technologys next generation is expected to facilitate connections that are 10 to 100 times faster than current standards allow. Everything from grocery shelves to surgical robots to supertankers on the high seas will communicate instantly via antennas, facilitating automation on a transformative scale. Driverless cars will ping each other to avoid collisions as they whiz within centimeters of one another at high speeds. Factories, drones and mobile phones will coordinate home deliveries in an algorithmic chain without a single human being. Entire movies will download onto a laptop in seconds. Digital networks will become even more integral in everyday life and more susceptible to serious mischief. A malevolent state with control over an adversarys 5G network could wreak mass industrial sabotage and social collapse, U.S. officials say. This will be the first major deployment of internet technology which creates more risk than benefit if not properly controlled, according to a memo written by retired Air Force Brigadier General Robert Spalding, who served on Trumps National Security Council when it issued the 2017 National Security Strategy. The crux of the administrations argument is that Huawei couldnt say no to demands from Chinas government, even if it wanted to. Chinas National Intelligence Law of 2017 requires all Chinese companies and citizens to "assist in and cooperate in national intelligence work" if requested. Whether Huawei or any of its employees have done so in the past is now incidental, China hawks argue, given Huaweis lead in developing 5G technologies for the future. When people realized Huawei is effectively the only provider of 5G, they had to do something, says James Mulvenon, a China specialist formerly with RAND Corp. who now works for defense contractor SOS International LLC of Reston, Virginia. "Nobody is looking for a smoking gun anymore. Theyre looking at the potentiality argument. If the [Peoples Liberation Army] comes to them, they have no way of saying no." In his interview, Huawei CEO Ren said he would decline any request from Beijing for sensitive information on clients and stressed the potential for cooperation with the U.S. and other countries on 5G and other matters. Huawei firmly stands on the side of customers when it comes to cybersecurity and privacy, he said. The executive order under consideration, for possible issuance in February, wouldnt mention specific companies like Huawei and wouldnt ban U.S. sales by the firms, according to a person familiar with the matter. But it would empower the Commerce Department to review products and purchases by companies connected to adversarial countries, including China, this person said. A bipartisan bill recently introduced in Congress would take the more draconian step of banning sales of U.S. parts to Huawei and its Chinese counterpart, ZTE Corp., which could drastically curtail their businesses. Another bill would set up a White House office to coordinate federal efforts to blunt technology threats from China. The Trump administration is also stalking Huawei in other ways. Its most provocative act so far was asking Canada to arrest Huaweis chief financial officer, Meng Wanzhou, in Vancouver last month on fraud charges linked to alleged Iran sanction violations, which Huawei denies. Meng, the daughter of Huawei founder Ren, is out on bail awaiting possible extradition to the U.S. Her arrest would never, never, ever have happened before the Trump pivot to confronting China, says Spalding, the retired Air Force general. What youre seeing is the beginning of a change in how the federal bureaucracy treats China. Elsewhere, U.S. investigators in Seattle are looking into possible criminal charges against Huawei for alleged theft of trade secrets from U.S. partner T-Mobile US Inc. The probe includes allegations that a Huawei engineer stole information when visiting a T-Mobile lab in Bellevue, Washington, to see a diagnostic robot called Tappy that simulated a persons phone use, according to one person familiar with the matter. In a 2014 lawsuit, T-Mobile alleged a Huawei engineer slipped one of the robots fingertips into his laptop bag during the visit and left with it. The jury sided with T-Mobile in 2017, saying T-Mobile should get $4.8 million in damages for breach of contract. The parties later agreed to drop the case after settlement talks. Chinas foreign ministry said on Jan. 17 that the legal dispute between Huawei and T-Mobile was resolved in court and expressed concern about the motives behind the reinvestigation. On Jan. 11, authorities in Poland arrested a former Polish intelligence official and a Chinese employee of Huawei and accused them of spying for China. Huawei fired the employee the next day and said the incident brought disrepute upon the company. In other foreign capitals, U.S. officials are playing hardball over Huawei, warning allies that the U.S. will reevaluate what intelligence it shares with them if they dont end cooperation with the company, according to an American official. U.S. officials, mindful of Huaweis market advantages, are even trying to develop packages of U.S.-made gear to provide foreign companies an alternative to buying Huawei, according to an official involved in that effort. The campaign to blunt Huaweis rise appears to be one of Trumps most successful diplomatic initiatives. Australia, New Zealand and Japan have acceded to U.S. requests to bar Huaweis 5G equipment. The allies have also banded together to provide aid to the Solomon Islands and Papua New Guinea to enable them to reject a Huawei submarine cable carrying broadband connections, saying the line represents a national security threat at its connection point in Australia. In Britain, BT Group Plc has been pulling Huawei equipment out of its core structure since the 2016 acquisition of mobile carrier EE Ltd., which used Huawei gear throughout its systems. Its also removing Huawei products from the emergency-response network that EE is building in Britain. Germany has said it is considering restricting Huaweis role in its future telecom infrastructure, while Czech officials have expressed concerns that China is preparing an economically damaging reprisal against the country after Czech authorities issued warnings about Huaweis risk to national security. Frances government has been warning about Huawei for some time, according to Orange SA CEO Stephane Richard, who said the company will work with Ericsson AB and Nokia Oyj, not Huawei, on its 4G and 5G networks. Following the arrests in Poland, officials there urged the European Union and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization to find a common approach toward Huawei, rather than leave it to each country to act alone and face possible Chinese retribution. Some apparent Huawei misconduct isnt classified. Every night for five years, equipment installed in the Chinese-built headquarters of the African Union in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, transmitted data from midnight to 2 a.m. back to servers in Shanghai, according to an investigation published a year ago in the French newspaper Le Monde. Subsequently, microphones hidden in desks and walls were stripped from the $200 million building, which was financed by China, and Huaweis servers were replaced, according to a report by the Australian Strategic Policy Institute. After the Le Monde report, China called the espionage allegations ridiculous, and Ebba Kalondo, a spokesperson for the African Union Commission, says it was a non-story. Huaweis English website still boasts of the greatly enhanced security its systems provided the Addis Ababa headquarters. The African Unions legacy PCs were proving too vulnerable to hackers, phishing, viruses, and other forms of compromise, one Huawei post explains. Bonnie Girard, who lived in China for a decade while working for a string of European telecom companies, remembers visiting a contract manufacturer in the mid-1990s and seeing Huawei engineers brazenly photographing printed circuit boards being built for Alcatel. The Huawei employees could never have accessed the facility without government approval, says Girard, who now runs consulting firm China Channel Ltd. Still, Huawei has always been completely transparent with Eastern Oregon Telecom about its hardware and software, says Frannel, the CEO. He says hes never seen a shred of evidence that would indicate to me that Huawei is a problem. And in todays global economy, U.S. and European suppliers rely on Chinese-made parts nearly as much as Huawei does, he adds. Banning a brand doesnt solve our security problem. --With assistance from Bill Allison, Margaret Talev, Alyza Sebenius, Marek Strzelecki, Natalie Obiko Pearson, Nick Wadhams and Nizar Manek. To contact the reporters on this story: Peter Waldman in San Francisco at pwaldman@bloomberg.net;Sheridan Prasso in Hong Kong at sprasso@bloomberg.net;Todd Shields in Washington at tshields3@bloomberg.net To contact the editors responsible for this story: John Voskuhl at jvoskuhl@bloomberg.net, Jillian Ward For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com 2019 Bloomberg L.P. (Bloomberg) -- Google, whose employees have captured international attention in recent months through high-profile protests of workplace policies, has been quietly urging the U.S. government to narrow legal protection for workers organizing online. During the Obama administration, the National Labor Relations Board broadened employees rights to use their workplace email system to organize around issues on the job. In a 2014 case, Purple Communications, the agency restricted companies from punishing employees for using their workplace email systems for activities like circulating petitions or fomenting walkouts, as well as trying to form a union. In filings in May 2017 and November 2018, obtained via Freedom of Information Act request, Alphabet Inc.s Google urged the National Labor Relations Board to undo that precedent. Citing dissents authored by Republican appointees, Googles attorneys wrote that the 2014 standard should be overruled and a George W. Bush-era precedentallowing companies to ban organizing on their employee email systemsshould be reinstated. In an emailed statement, a Google spokeswoman said, "We're not lobbying for changes to any rules." Rather, she said, Google's claim that the Obama-era protections should be overturned was "a legal defense that we included as one of many possible defenses" against meritless claims at the NLRB. If the Labor Board did what Google wanted, it would have a huge chilling effect, said Google employee activist Colin McMillen, one of tens of thousands around the world who participated in a November walkout following revelations about the companys handling of alleged sexual misconduct. Googles employee email system played a pivotal role in the organizing for that protest, he said, with more than a thousand workers joining an email list used to plan it. Given that employees are spread around the globe and dont have most co-workers personal emails, he said, company email is key to facilitating workers ability to mobilize. McMillen currently works at Googles Cambridge, Mass. office, but said he had quit his job and his last day is next month. Story continues "It demonstrates that Google leadership is not operating in good faith, said McMillen. "They can have a town hall and try to say soothing words and get people to not want to quit, but then if in the background theyre not just rejecting carrying out most of the demands of the walkout, but also trying to tamp down our ability to even coordinate and talk to each other about these issues, thats extremely concerning." Google has long fostered a culture of employee feedback, allowing open debate in meetings and online forums, where staff have advocated for changes to products and facilities over the company's 20-year history. But the last year has seen an unprecedented wave of concentrated and forceful advocacy from employees, often at direct odds with the positions of management. After Google was awarded a Pentagon contract for using artificial intelligence to analyze drone footage, thousands of employees signed a petition demanding Google remove itself from the business of war, nine software engineers refused to work on a security feature that could help the company win more military contracts, and in June the company said it wouldnt renew its Department of Defense deal. An employee introduced a shareholder resolution to tie executive compensation to diversity and inclusion, while others wrote a letter to their chief executive officer decrying the treatment of sub-contracted staff as part of a system of institutional racism, sexism, and discrimination. On November 1, thousands of Google employees around the world joined a mid-day walkout urging the company overhaul its handling of sexual misconduct and change its governance, including by adding an employee representative to its board. A week later, CEO Sundar Pichai announced the company would make changes including ending forced arbitration for sexual harassment and assault allegations. Even in difficult times, we are encouraged by the commitment of our colleagues to create a better workplace, Pichai wrote in an email to employees. It was three weeks later, without fanfare, and in a case unrelated to the walkout, that Googles attorneys made their latest filing urging the Labor Board undo the 2014 precedent protecting workers ability to organize.In an email to all of Google, Sundar assured us that he and Google's leadership supported the walkout. But the company's requests to the National Labor Relations Board tell a different story, organizers of the employee walkout wrote in a statement. If these protections are rolled back, Google will be complicit in limiting the rights of working people across the United States, not just us. They asked not to be named for fear of retaliation. Google is one of the most open workplaces in the world," the companys spokeswoman said. "Employees have multiple internal forums to express their views, raise concerns and connect, including thousands of internal communities and tens of thousands of email groups. Google's objections to the legal protection for employees organizing via employee email came in filings defending itself against allegations brought by a regional director of the NLRB. In a 2017 complaint, the agency had accused Google of violating federal labor law, including by maintaining workplace policies that infringe on workers rights and by making threats against employees. The complaint also alleged that Google violated the law in 2015 by issuing a warning to an employee because of comments made via email and on the company forum G+ regarding workplace diversity and social justice initiatives, workplace policy viewpoints, and regarding employees rights to express their opinion on G+. The name of the employee who was disciplined is redacted in the documents produced via FOIA. His attorney, Noah Peters, said that the employee declined to comment or to identify himself. Peters said that his client was punished by Google for dissenting from the company's "very, very left-wing office culture" and for sticking up for co-workers who didn't conform to the "tribal" political correctness there. Chris Baker, an attorney representing another worker whose claims against Google are part of the same NLRB case, declined to comment. This case is without merit and we are defending the claim vigorously," Google's spokeswoman said. Google has denied the NLRBs allegations of wrongdoing. In a filing responding to the NLRB, it says the employee it disciplined had committed misconduct which interfered with Googles lawful interest in maintaining an inclusive workplace for women and minorities that is free of unlawful bias, discrimination, and harassment. Google also wrote that the NLRB should reverse some of the legal precedents being used against it, including the Purple Communications standard. It is not uncommon for companies to challenge legal precedents being used in cases against them. The protection established in Purple Communications is pretty fundamental given the centrality of email to modern workplace communications, said Wilma Liebman, who chaired the NLRB during Obamas first term. Given Googles rhetoric about the free exchange of ideas, and itself as a purveyor of mechanisms for communications, she said, Thats an irony that Google, of all companies, would take such a narrow position. The relationship between anti-harassment policies and workplace free expression has been a flashpoint at Google, where a different employee, engineer James Damore, was dismissed in 2017 after publishing a manifesto on an internal company forum criticizing the companys diversity policies. Damore filed a complaint of his own with the NLRB, but an associate general counsel at the Labor Board concluded that while much of Damores essay was likely protected by law, Google was within its rights to terminate him over other portions of it that were so harmful, discriminatory, and disruptive as to fall outside the legal protections for collective action at work. To contact the authors of this story: Josh Eidelson in Palo Alto at jeidelson@bloomberg.netHassan Kanu in Arlington at hkanu2@bloomberg.netMark Bergen in San Francisco at mbergen10@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story: Emily Biuso at ebiuso@bloomberg.net For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com 2019 Bloomberg L.P. Billionaire hedge fund manager George Soros warned that the machine learning and artificial intelligence used in creating China's Social Credit System is creating "an unprecedented danger that is threatening the very survival of open societies." Soros, the founder of the Open Society Foundations, defines an open society as "a society in which the rule of law prevails as opposed to the rule by a single individual and where the role of the state is to protect human rights and individual freedom. " Speaking at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland on Thursday, Soros said open societies face a "mortal danger" from "the instruments of control" in the form of machine learning and artificial intelligence in the hands of repressive regimes. With the creation of the Social Credit System in China, information about a person is being consolidated into a central database. With that data, people will be evaluated by algorithms that "will determine whether they pose a threat to the one-party state. "People will then be treated accordingly," he said. "The Social Credit System is not yet fully operational, but its clear where its heading. It will subordinate the fate of the individual to the interests of the one-party state in ways unprecedented in history. Soros called the Social Credit System "frightening" and "abhorrent." "Unfortunately, some Chinese find it rather attractive because it provides information and services that arent currently available and can also protect law-abiding citizens against enemies of the state. He pointed out that China is not the only authoritarian regime in the world, but he noted that it's the most developed in machine learning and artificial intelligence. "This makes Xi Jinping the most dangerous opponent of those who believe in the concept of open society," Soros said. While his speech concentrated mostly on China, Soros noted that open societies have many more enemies, most notably Putins Russia. Story continues Billionaire investor George Soros said, on January 24, 2019 that Chinese President Xi Jinping was 'the most dangerous enemy' of free societies for presiding over a high-tech surveillance regime. (FABRICE COFFRINI/AFP/Getty Images) He said the most dangerous scenario is if these enemies conspire with, and learn from, each other on how to better oppress their people. The question poses itself: What can you do to stop them? The first step is to recognize the danger. Thats why Im speaking out tonight. Soros said Chinas Xi has declared his hostility to open society, but the Chinese people remain the "main source of hope for open society. Effective policy toward China can't be reduced to a slogan Later on, Soros said President Donald Trump is "notoriously unpredictable," but noted that his administration's China policy is the "result of a carefully prepared plan" from officials like Matt Pottinger, the White House National Security Council Senior Director for Asian Affairs, and outlined in a "seminal speech" by Vice President Mike Pence. Even so, declaring China a strategic rival is too simplistic, according to Soros. He noted that China is an important global actor. An effective policy towards China cant be reduced to a slogan, he said. He said Trump seems to be following a different course of making concessions to China and renewing attacks on U.S. allies, all of which undermines U.S. policy of curbing Chinas abuses and excesses. To conclude, let me summarize the message Im delivering tonight. My key point is that the combination of repressive regimes with IT monopolies endows those regimes with a built-in advantage over open societies. The instruments of control are useful tools in the hands of authoritarian regimes, but they pose a mortal threat to open societies. He continued: China is not the only authoritarian regime in the world but it is the wealthiest, strongest, and technologically most advanced. This makes Xi Jinping the most dangerous opponent of open societies. Thats why its so important to distinguish Xi Jinpings policies from the aspirations of the Chinese people. The social credit system, if it became operational, would give Xi total control over the people. Since Xi is the most dangerous enemy of the open society, we must pin our hopes on the Chinese people, and especially on the business community and a political elite willing to uphold the Confucian tradition. At last years World Economic Forum, the 88-year-old billionaire made headlines for slamming Facebook (FB) and Google (GOOGL), claiming that the rise and monopolistic behavior of tech platform companies has become a global problem. At the time, he accused the tech giants of exploiting social environments and causing a variety of problems, and even suggested that the companies could be tempted to compromise themselves to gain access to markets such as Russia and China. Julia La Roche is a finance reporter at Yahoo Finance. Follow her on Twitter. MORE FROM DAVOS: Username: Password: or Register Back to Forum Reply to This post Post New Thread Thread Rating: 1 Vote(s) - 1 Average 1 2 3 4 5 US Iran sanctions rendered impotent.. ROFL lop guest User ID: 485332 01-24-2019 02:33 AM Post: #1 US Iran sanctions rendered impotent.. Advertisement Paper tiger America's limp-dicked sanctions on Iran are now no longer relevant.. "A special financial mechanism aimed at maintaining trade ties between Switzerland and Iran is ready for implementation, according to Sharif Nezam-Mafi, the head of the countries joint chamber of commerce." "Swiss ambassador to Tehran, Marcos Lightner, also told the news agency that the two sides are preparing an independent payment channel in addition to the Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV). He said that, although Switzerland is not a member of the European Union, it is steadfastly following the issue of the implementation of the SPV. European countries are trying to maintain the Iran nuclear deal, the diplomat emphasized." https://www.rt.com/business/449477-iran-...t-channel/ America; cucked in 2019.. Paper tiger America's limp-dicked sanctions on Iran are now no longer relevant.."A special financial mechanism aimed at maintaining trade ties between Switzerland and Iran is ready for implementation, according to Sharif Nezam-Mafi, the head of the countries joint chamber of commerce.""Swiss ambassador to Tehran, Marcos Lightner, also told the news agency that the two sides are preparing an independent payment channel in addition to the Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV). He said that, although Switzerland is not a member of the European Union, it is steadfastly following the issue of the implementation of the SPV. European countries are trying to maintain the Iran nuclear deal, the diplomat emphasized."America; cucked in 2019.. LoP Guest lop guest User ID: 471605 01-24-2019 02:43 AM Post: #2 RE: US Iran sanctions rendered impotent.. So about that nationalism hatred... They aren't EU nor NATO members either.So about that nationalism hatred... LoP Guest lop guest User ID: 485332 01-24-2019 03:05 AM Post: #3 RE: US Iran sanctions rendered impotent.. LoP Guest Wrote: (01-24-2019 02:43 AM) They aren't EU nor NATO members either. So about that nationalism hatred... Even 5 years ago there's no way any country would openly go against US sanctions like this. It's truly a sign of the end of US influence and Hegemony. We will be seeing more and more of this in the future.. Even 5 years ago there's no way any country would openly go against US sanctions like this. It's truly a sign of the end of US influence and Hegemony. We will be seeing more and more of this in the future.. LoP Guest lop guest User ID: 485224 01-24-2019 03:22 AM Post: #4 RE: US Iran sanctions rendered impotent.. LoP Guest Wrote: (01-24-2019 03:05 AM) Even 5 years ago there's no way any country would openly go against US sanctions like this. It's truly a sign of the end of US influence and Hegemony. We will be seeing more and more of this in the future.. They Eastern alliances were sick and tired being pushed around by the local bully and his mates, so they've formed a powerful gang and are now standing up to him. Alone none of them are stronger than America, but if push comes to shove together they can beat America and they know it. and America knows it. They Eastern alliances were sick and tired being pushed around by the local bully and his mates, so they've formed a powerful gang and are now standing up to him.Alone none of them are stronger than America, but if push comes to shove together they can beat America and they know it.and America knows it. LoP Guest lop guest User ID: 485332 01-24-2019 03:34 AM Post: #5 RE: US Iran sanctions rendered impotent.. LoP Guest Wrote: (01-24-2019 03:22 AM) LoP Guest Wrote: (01-24-2019 03:05 AM) Even 5 years ago there's no way any country would openly go against US sanctions like this. It's truly a sign of the end of US influence and Hegemony. We will be seeing more and more of this in the future.. They Eastern alliances were sick and tired being pushed around by the local bully and his mates, so they've formed a powerful gang and are now standing up to him. Alone none of them are stronger than America, but if push comes to shove together they can beat America and they know it. and America knows it. True enough. It goes deeper than just defying sanctions; notice how many countries are bypassing the dollar for trade, and how treasury purchases have been dropping while gold purchases have gone way up. This is a direct attack on the dollar. Kill the dollar, kill the war machine;) True enough.It goes deeper than just defying sanctions; notice how many countries are bypassing the dollar for trade, and how treasury purchases have been dropping while gold purchases have gone way up. This is a direct attack on the dollar.Kill the dollar, kill the war machine;) LoP Guest lop guest User ID: 485332 01-24-2019 11:40 PM Post: #6 RE: US Iran sanctions rendered impotent.. LoP Guest lop guest User ID: 485332 01-24-2019 11:47 PM Post: #7 RE: US Iran sanctions rendered impotent.. First, the moron-in-chief says that the Iran deal is off and sanctions are back on.. A few days later the Cuckhouse announces that a bunch of countries are exempt.. "WASHINGTON The Trump administration will allow Japan, China, India and five other countries to escape U.S. sanctions against Iran, even as those nations continue to buy oil from Iran in defiance of the White Houses push to block all such sales." 8 nations exempt, including Iran's 6 biggest customers.. haha https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/worl...885801002/ Then Europe bypasses the US SWIFT payment system entirely, rendering the paper tiger's sanctions completely impotent.. Now that's hilarious to those of us who follow geopolitics and the end of the American empire.. The chain of events is truly cuckistan territory..First, the moron-in-chief says that the Iran deal is off and sanctions are back on..A few days later the Cuckhouse announces that a bunch of countries are exempt.."WASHINGTON The Trump administration will allow Japan, China, India and five other countries to escape U.S. sanctions against Iran, even as those nations continue to buy oil from Iran in defiance of the White Houses push to block all such sales."8 nations exempt, including Iran's 6 biggest customers.. hahaThen Europe bypasses the US SWIFT payment system entirely, rendering the paper tiger's sanctions completely impotent..Now that's hilarious to those of us who follow geopolitics and the end of the American empire.. LoP Guest lop guest User ID: 485332 01-25-2019 04:11 AM Post: #8 RE: US Iran sanctions rendered impotent.. Back to Forum Reply to This post Post New Thread The Assyrians of Eastern Anatolia in the 19th Century Assyrian Funerary Mosaic, Edessa, 3rd century. Inscriptions in Classical Assyrian. We begin by describing the 19th century Assyrian communities in Eastern Anatolia, particularly around the key locations of Jalaleddin, based on this talk by Nicholas Al-Jeloo on "The Lesser-Known Assyrian Communities to the East of Lake Van". For those who are interested in a more detailed historical coverage of Assyrian communities in the region, we suggest Al-Jeloos talk. He begins with a brief introduction to the Assyrian people: [Firstly], the name Assyrian refers to their ethnicity, whereas Syriac refers to their literary language and Christian heritage. Secondly, the name Nestorian refers to the Eastern Assyrians who adhered to the Church of the East, whereas Chaldean refers to those Assyrians who converted to Catholicism and split from the Church of the East beginning in the 16th century. Many names, but one people. The Assyrians have an ancient history in Eastern Anatolia. This is attested in early Armenian history and folklore; for example, in the story of Hayk and King Belus that describes the founding of the Armenian nation and in the story of Assyrian queen Semiramis' founding of the city of Van (which came to be the capital of the Kingdom of Ararat). Armenians throughout history have also referred to Van as Shamiramakert ("Semiramis' city"). This is the same Semiramis who features in the story Ara the Handsome (Ara the Beautiful). Following the ancient and critical presence of Assyrians in the region of Van, Al-Jeloo points to their various migrations to and from there in the Common Era. Of particular interest for this post is his description of the latest settlement of Assyrians in the 17th century, mainly in the province of Hakkari on the southern border of Van. Mar Shimun XVII Abraham (right) was himself from Hakkari. For over 200 years (17th c. to 19th c.), Armenians and Assyrians peacefully coexisted in this region and to its east (e.g., near Urmia in Persia). It is worth noting that Raffi's wife Anna was Assyrian. We also have information from this online book from 1914 on the Assyrians of Van, which explains that Armenian women who married Assyrian men were not required to become Nestorian, as [it was believed that] the Armenian Church is nearest to their own church." A map of the region surrounding Lake Van (1896), showing the close proximity of Assyrians and Armenians. The region with the crossed lines to the southeast of Lake Van (in Hakkari) had the highest density of Assyrians. Darker shades of blue represent a higher density of Armenians. Despite this peaceful coexistence, the Assyrians were already subject to Kurdish attacks soon after their 17th century resettlement: ...The oldest Assyrian manuscript [1] to survive from the Van region was copied in 1683 in a church in the village of Akhasim [Note: I thank Nicholas Al-Jeloo for clarifying the name of this village, which I was unable to decipher in the video. He notes that its present-day name is Ongun, that it is located about 20 miles to the east of Lake Van and is currently inhabited by Kurds]. A later note however mentions that the village had been attacked by Kurds and that the poverty-stricken inhabitants were forced to sell the manuscript to sell off their debts since no priests or readers remained and they were unable to maintain their church. By the first half of the 18th century, this manuscript had come into the possession of a church in Iran's Urmia region... It appears that the Assyrians of Van had strong links to the Assyrians of Iran... Mar Shimun XVII Abraham, Patriarch of the Church of the East (1820-1860). These attacks would persist more or less for 200 years, culminating with the Hamidian (1894-1896) and better-known 1915 massacres. (There is a new, highly-anticipated book about this culmination called The Thirty-Year Genocide: Turkeys Destruction of its Christian minorities, 1894-1924). Jalaleddin is set in the same location as in the above map, only about 20 years earlier, during the last Russo-Turkish War, when the Kurdish tribes of the region took to massacring the Ottoman Armenians. But what about the Assyrians? They were in the same place, at the same time, werent they? Were they also massacred? Here is Raffi's description, from Chapter 7: He [Sarhat] met with a few priests and homeowners, and tried to convince them to arm the people to preempt the impending danger. [Sheikh] Jalaleddin was at that time just beginning his incursion, but barbarity had already ensued. Sarhat's appeal drew on the neighboring Assyrians of Jolamerk (Hakkari) who were armed and prepared, and did not allow the Kurds to take a single footstep onto their soil; the government was not able to force them to surrender their arms because they responded by saying that they must protect themselves when the government does not have the ability to do so. From this excerpt, the Assyrians would seem to have successfully resisted. However, this is the only mention of Assyrians in the book. We were also unable to find any sources that describe whether the Assyrians were victim to these massacres during the Russo-Turkish War of 1877-1878. Heres our take: Hakkari is over 100 miles south of Baskale and Catak, and shielded by highlands. Therefore, as Raffi describes, it seems likely that the Assyrians of Hakkari were able to resist, especially if they had sent word that they were armed and prepared to do so. That would have been a long journey and a difficult battle for the Kurds. However, given the destruction caused by the Kurds in the areas of Van, Baskale and Catak (the points of the triangle in the map below), and the known Assyrian presence in the region, it seems likely that Assyrian villages in and even above the (shaded) area to the east of Lake Van were also destroyed. It is not clear if this has been previously documented. Thanks to a series of posts on the Assyrians of the Near East by @Extrachelle on Twitter, we discovered sources that detail earlier 19th century attacks on the Assyrians of the region. In the first of these, Reverend Thomas Laurie reported [2] a Kurdish attack "to the Nestorian village of Seel, or Seer" in 1841. The historian Hirmis Aboona located this village in Aghbak (Baskale), which readers of Jalaleddin will recognize from the opening line of the book. At the same time, another set of attacks was taking place in Hakkari. In his book, Assyrians, Kurds and Ottomans: Intercommunal Relations on the Periphery of the Ottoman Empire, Aboona cites the report of one James Brant, who was the British consul at Erzurum, and who "bore witness to the extent of the cruelty and oppression practiced against the Assyrians of the district or those of Tiyari [an Assyrian tribe in Hakkari] who were obliged to cross to other provinces." He then cites a segment from Brant's report from 1841: [t]he governor [...] is Kurdish and is depriving the Tiyari tribe from pasturing in that district. He executed 20 of them and demanded payments from the others. The Pasha of Mosul demanded their presence in his office and sent them to be detained in the Castle of [Amadiya] until they paid for their liberation. This [state of affairs] led the Tiyari tribes to take revenge on [the Kurds]. In the remainder of Chapter 10, Aboona details the 1843 massacres of the Assyrians of Hakkari by Kurdish tribes led by Bedr Khan Bey, who he argues was in cahoots with Ottoman officials. With this post we wish recognize the Assyrian genocides. Although the Armenian Genocide of 1915 is widely recognized, many people are not aware that Assyrians were also massacred on a large scale in the same event, and (like other Ottoman Christians) on-and-off for more than 200 years preceding the start of the 20th century. [1] He seems to be referring to The Book of Khudra, as described here by Robert DeKelaita, although the dates do not match. [2] The report is from his book Dr. Grant and the Mountain Nestorians, published in 1853. Fat finger blunders involving billions of dollars are not new in the market (AFP Photo/ROBYN BECK) No 'fat finger' error was involved when share prices of conglomerate Jardine Matheson Holdings Ltd plunged briefly Thursday, wiping out $41 billion in market value, Singapore's stock market regulator said. Traders had speculated that the stunning 83 percent tumble could have been caused by a keyboard mistake in which a finger hits two keys simultaneously, noting the stock's quick rebound. But the Singapore Exchange (SGX), where Jardine Matheson is listed, said its regulatory body reviewed the transactions and found no basis to cancel the trades. The plunge came after sell orders overwhelmed bids before the opening session, it said in an emailed statement. "Trading was orderly and there was no sign of manipulation," SGX said. "We have also ascertained that the orders were not due to fat finger errors or any malfunctioning systems on the part of the participants." Bloomberg News said the stock tanked just before regular trading opened Thursday, with 167,500 shares changing hands at $10.99, down sharply from Wednesday's close of $66.47, and wiping out as much as $41 billion in market value. The shares quickly rebounded, however, and the losses were recouped as Jardine Matheson ended the day 0.53 percent higher at $66.82. "Looking at the price recovery, it looks like a fat finger at the moment until we have more updates," Marc Tan, a research analyst at KGI Securities Pte, told Bloomberg before the regulator released its findings. Jardine Matheson also said it believed the decline was caused by an "an electronic trading error", before the SGX statement was released. The Jardine group has businesses in a wide range of sectors from food to cars, luxury hotels, financial services and property. Fat finger blunders involving billions of dollars are not new in the market. Bloomberg reported in April 2018 that German lender Deutsche Bank AG accidentally transferred 28 billion euros ($35 billion) to one of its outside accounts. In October 2014 hundreds of billions of dollars worth of stock orders in some of Japan's biggest firms had to be cancelled, possibly the result of a "fat finger" error. SpaceXs new Starship hopper, a prototype of the spacecraft that could one day take people to Mars, will need weeks of repairs after it was toppled by strong winds at the companys private launch site in Boca Chica, Texas, according to a tweet by CEO Elon Musk. Images posted online Wednesday show the stainless steel vehicle tipped over and laying sideways on the ground. Musk said 50 mph wind gusts broke the rockets mooring blocks late Tuesday night, prompting the its top part to tip sideways. Musk said the prototype will need weeks of repairs before SpaceX can proceed with planned test launches. The Starship Hopper prototype looks slightly different than the one SpaceX plans to use on actual missions. The Hopper prototype has the same 30-foot diameter as the future Starship, but is shorter, according to Musk. This content is not available due to your privacy preferences. Update your settings here to see it. Starship used to be known as the BFR. The spacecraft consists of a Super Heavy rocket booster and a spacecraft, the Starship, which SpaceX hopes will one day carry cargo and space tourists including Japanese billionaire Yusaku Maezawa, who was announced last year as SpaceXs first paying lunar passengerto the cosmos. Maezawa said he plans to invite a group of artists on that mission, which could happen as early as 2023. Thank you for reading! Please log in, or sign up for a new account and purchase a subscription to continue reading. BEIJING (Reuters) - China's trade with North Korea fell 51.2 percent to $2.43 billion in 2018, customs data showed on Wednesday. Imports from North Korea fell 87.7 percent to $213.15 million, while exports to North Korea dropped 31.7 percent to $2.22 billion. China's total trade with North Korea was valued at $228.89 million in December, down from $247.75 million the previous month. Exports to North Korea in December were $207.43 million, down from $227.70 million the preceding month. (Reporting by Beijing Monitoring Desk; Editing by Kim Coghill) * Bullish forecast contrasts with Apple, Samsung * Forecast comes as global market contracts * Huawei's consumer biz overtakes carrier biz for first time * Plans to introduce 5G foldable smartphone with own chip in Feb (Adds executive quotes, context) By Cate Cadell and Sijia Jiang BEIJING/HONG KONG, Jan 24 (Reuters) - China's Huawei Technologies Co Ltd on Thursday said it could become the world's biggest-selling smartphone vendor this year even without the U.S. market and as global scrutiny of the firm intensifies. The bullish forecast contrasts with those of market-leader Samsung and other rivals such as Apple Inc, both of which have flagged weakening sales in China - the largest smartphone market where demand has long been slowing, and where economic growth is at its lowest pace in nearly three decades. It comes as the United States and its allies restrict market access for Huawei, alleging its products could be used by China for espionage. Huawei has said the allegation is unfounded. Meanwhile, the firm's chief financial officer - the founder's daughter - has been arrested in Canada in relation to U.S. sanctions violations. Huawei has denied wrongdoing. "Our customers have trust and confidence in us," Richard Yu, Huawei's consumer division chief, said at a new-product news conference in Beijing. "It's only politics guys which are trying to put pressure on us." The maker of telecommunications equipment, spanning aerials to handsets, reported a 50 percent jump in consumer business revenue last year to in excess of $52 billion. It said it aimed to keep the momentum with the launch next month of a foldable smartphone powered by its new fifth-generation (5G) chipset. The jump meant the consumer business accounted for 48 percent of total revenue, contributing more than Huawei's business for telecoms network providers for the first time. "Even without the U.S. market we will be number one in the world," Yu said, referring to Huawei's smartphone division, which shipped 208 million handsets last year. "I believe at the earliest this year, and next year at the latest." Story continues Worldwide smartphone shipments likely fell 3 percent last year, returning to low single-digit growth this year and through 2022, when 5G mobile network technology is likely to give the industry a boost, showed forecasts from consultancy IDC. Yu said Huawei will launch the foldable phone at the Mobile World Congress next month with sales beginning in April at the earliest. He said its Balong 5000 chipset, a rival to Qualcomm Inc's Snapdragon X50, is the world's most powerful 5G modem and can be used in vehicles. The modem is also the first to support countries' differing 5G architecture, Huawei said. Huawei uses its own chipsets in its high-end phones and servers but said it does not intend to become a standalone chip vendor to rival the likes of Qualcomm and Intel Corp. Huawei also introduced a 5G base station chipset, dubbed Tiangang. Carrier business chief Ryan Ding said Huawei has won 30 5G contracts, including 18 in Europe, nine in the Middle East and three in the Asia-Pacific region. (Reporting by Sijia Jiang in HONG KONG and Cate Cadell in BEIJING; Editing by Christopher Cushing) China may be ready to buy more US goods but economists say that isn't what matters China has reportedly offered to buy more U.S. products in the coming years in order to reduce the imbalance in trade of goods between the two countries. But that move concerns itself with a metric the balance of bilateral trade that doesn't accurately reflect how economies are gaining or losing from those interactions, economists and trade experts told CNBC. The goods trade imbalance between the U.S. and China has grown from $6 million for the whole 1985 to $301.37 billion in the first nine months of 2018, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. Many economic experts disagree with Donald Trump's focus on the trade deficit but still support the president's push to change how China treats international companies. Amid an ongoing trade war between the world's two largest economies, reports emerged that China has offered to buy more United States products in the coming years to reduce the two countries' bilateral goods trade imbalance . Such a gesture may address one of President Donald Trump stated goals for U.S.-China trade negotiations, but experts say it's addressing a metric that doesn't matter very much. That is, a bilateral trade balance which measures the transactions between two countries is an indicator that doesn't adequately reveal who's gaining or losing in a relationship, economists and trade experts said. The arguments for and against relying on such metrics touch on multiple factors, but a frequently repeated view is that paying for goods does not automatically make the buyer a loser. Pushan Dutt, an economics professor at business school INSEAD, put it this way: "If I pay my Pilates instructor every month for Pilates classes, then I run a 'bilateral trade' deficit. But that does not mean I am losing or that my instructor is winning in this relationship. After all, I am voluntarily paying for a service that I value." The U.S. has had a goods trade deficit with China meaning a deficit for tangible products, as opposed to services for the past 33 years, according to the Census Bureau, which only shows trade data between the two countries going back that far on its website. Story continues And that imbalance has grown in a very big way. The imbalance between the two countries' flow of goods has grown from $6 million for the whole of 1985 to $301.37 billion in the first nine months of 2018, according to the Census Bureau. Trump has said that disparity is a sign the U.S. is being "ripped off," and has used that to justify additional import tariffs on Chinese products. The resulting trade war has many experts warning of a drag down global growth . Many have pointed out that Trump focuses only on the import and exports of goods, leaving out the services trade, which accounts for a larger share of the U.S. economy. Including services, the American bilateral deficit was only $275.02 billion in the first three quarters last year, data from the Census Bureau showed. The trade-deficits-are-bad argument Trump and his advisors have repeatedly argued that economic growth suffers when a country has a trade deficit. That is, when the total value of imports exceeds that of exports. When Trump was campaigning for the 2016 election, advisors Peter Navarro and Wilbur Ross wrote in a paper outlining the candidate's plan for the economy : "The growth in any nation's gross domestic product (GDP) and therefore its ability to create jobs and generate additional income and tax revenues is driven by four factors: consumption growth, the growth in government spending, investment growth, and net exports." "When net exports are negative, that is, when a country runs a trade deficit by importing more than it exports, this subtracts from growth," they added. Navarro is now a White House trade advisor, while Ross is commerce secretary. And the view that trade deficits drag down growth is not relegated to the Trump administration . For one, Michael Ivanovitch a CNBC contributor who's an independent analyst focusing on global economics, geopolitics and investment strategy said the White House is not off base in pursuing a path to significantly reduce its trade deficit with China. "Trade deficits mean that a country is spending more than it saves, and that it is increasing its indebtedness to the rest of the world," he said, adding that significant and persistent deficits could ultimately "lead to a financial crisis" when the country runs out of lenders willing to fund that transfer. Ivanovitch said trade imbalances are not always bad, but he told CNBC that the United States' persistently large deficits have reduced the country's economic growth by about 2 percentage points over the last five years. In addition, a large portion of the United States' overall goods trade deficit stems from imbalances with a small number of countries and economic blocs, added Ivanovitch, who formerly served as an economist with the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. China , Japan and a combined Europe accounted together for more than three-quarters of the $742.78 billion in Washington's goods trade deficit from January to October last year. So, those particular "systemic and excessive" distortions can justify re-examining trade relations, he said. "That is outrageous," he told CNBC. "Trump is being incredibly gentle with those free riders on the U.S. economy. He should throw the kitchen sink at them, not just empty threats while they keep laughing all the way to the bank." Ivanovitch said surplus countries should be pushed to stimulate their domestic demand and widen market access to make it possible for deficit countries to sell more. Other economists noted that trade imbalances could be symptomatic of one country seeking to cheat the international system. INSEAD's Dutt told CNBC he does not consider bilateral trade deficits to be "a good starting point for negotiations," but if an imbalance is caused by a nation breaking rules, then its actions are "fair game for negotiators." In the U.S.-China trade war, the Trump administration has accused China of "unfair" and "unreasonable" trade practices at the expense of American jobs and businesses, such as stealing intellectual property, forcing foreign companies to hand over their technology to their Chinese partners, and subsidizing Chinese industries. Beijing, for its part, has repeatedly denied those charges . Getting to the full picture Many economists, however, have disputed the arguments made in the 2016 Navarro-Ross policy paper, arguing that the relationship between net exports and GDP is not so straightforward as a direct transfer of wealth out of the country. Their argument is that the four factors that count toward GDP consumption, government spending, investment, and net exports are inter-connected in complicated ways. So, they say, simply turning net exports into a positive number may result in the other three factors going up or down and not directly add to GDP. The equation for gross domestic product: GDP = Consumer Spending + Government Spending + Investment + (Exports - Imports) In fact, economist Noah Smith argued in 2016 that the net exports portion of the gross domestic product calculation is "just to avoid bad accounting" and shouldn't be understood as an independent factor influencing a country's growth. Imports, he explained, are subtracted from the overall equation (see above) so as to prevent domestic spending on foreign-made products getting counted in the final sum, which is meant to tabulate a country's production. The argument, in other words, is that imports don't detract from growth, they just don't add to it, so economists should be determining how to boost production at home not focusing on the trade number. That's part of why many economists and trade experts told CNBC they don't usually study bilateral trade data on its own. They said they prefer assessing countries' overall import-export balances alongside other indicators such as government budgets, investment climates and savings rates. Doing that allows them to have a better idea whether an economy has a trade-related problem that needs fixing, the experts said. So, the fact that the U.S. has been running a combined goods and services trade deficit for much of the last 50 years does not immediately mean America has been hurt by its trading partners. Many economists also agree on the cause of that deficit: American consumers, businesses and governments have been spending more than the economy can produce. "The productive capacity of the economy can't meet consumption needs, so you have to import the difference," said Simon Baptist, global chief economist at the Economist Intelligence Unit in Asia. That means attempts to alter the U.S.-China bilateral trade balance through tariffs, or by forcing Beijing to buy more American products will do little to change the overall economic situation if consumption patterns stay the same, Baptist added. "It's possible that you can reduce the Chinese bilateral trade deficit but only by pushing the balloon in a certain way. It's just going to pop up somewhere else, for example, the Vietnamese or the EU surpluses with the U.S. will increase. So, bilateral can change but not the overall," he said. So, many economists say, the way the situation needs to be tackled if it needs to be addressed at all is by looking at the way the American economy is consuming and producing, and not by pressuring specific trading partners to buy up more goods. That's the argument, anyway, if other countries are giving American products a fair chance to succeed in their own marketplace. Most analysts outside of China do agree, however, that Asia's largest economy is limiting the success of foreign goods within its borders with artificial and systemic barriers such as quota systems and steep tariffs. That's why many of the same economists and analysts who disagree with Trump's focus on the trade deficit, still support his overall push to change how China treats international companies. Incomplete indicator Even when drilling down on bilateral trade balances, economists caution that the data can mislead. For one, there are discrepancies in how countries measure and record goods that cross their borders, said Stefan Legge, an economics researcher and lecturer at the University of St. Gallen in Switzerland. Citing trade data in 2017, Legge said China reported $430 billion worth of exports to the U.S. but in America, $526 billion worth of Chinese imports were recorded. So, the total trade imbalance between the two countries that year was $275 billion based on Chinese data and $396 billion according to American statistics, he told CNBC. "The difference is well known among trade economists and reflects the fact that imports are typically recorded more carefully than exports since they are potentially subject to import duties," he said. Modern, global supply chains complicate matters further. An iPhone sold to American consumers may be assembled in China and recorded by the U.S. wholly as a Chinese import but many parts of the phone are actually made in other countries and then exported to China to put into the final product, Legge said. One example is South Korean semiconductor chips sold to China to produce many consumer electronic products, he said. Those are not reflected in bilateral trade data between South Korea and the U.S., even though the final destination of those Korean chips is America, he explained. Taking all those limitations into account, Legge said trade balances if measured properly would not be as large as what Trump has claimed. "Hence, a bilateral trade deficit is not a justification for a trade dispute. It would be far better to understand the underlying causes of the trade deficit and explore whether some distortion like an overvalued dollar is in place," he said. More From CNBC (Bloomberg) -- Sign up for our new China newsletter, a weekly dispatch coming soon on where China stands now and where it's going next. Microsoft Corp.s search engine Bing was blocked in China due to an accidental technical error rather than an attempt at censorship, according to people familiar with the matter, and the search engine is once again accessible in the country. The government had no intention to block Bing when it stopped working this week, according to two people with knowledge of the matter who asked not to be identified discussing confidential information. The Cyberspace Administration of China didnt respond to faxed questions. Hua Chunying, a spokeswoman for Chinas foreign ministry, deferred comment to other relevant, competent authorities. Some reports are saying it is due to technical problems, she told reporters on Thursday. You should ask other parties. Microsoft said in a statement that Bings service has been restored in China after it had been inaccessible, without elaboration. The incident highlights the risks faced by technology companies in China, where regulatory bodies frequently ban, block and even delete popular services for a myriad of reasons. The government typically does not explain its actions or justifications. A move to block Bing would be surprising because Microsoft has sought to build a local operation on Beijings terms. Unlike Alphabet Inc.s Google, which pulled its search engine out years ago in part to avoid government censorship, Microsoft has toed the line and stops content deemed illegal from showing up in results. Other internet products such as its Azure cloud computing service remained online and available, according to some of its customers. The service outage comes as Beijing ramps up its push to scrub the domestic internet, which it sees as a growing threat to social stability. Communist leaders face a year rich with sensitive dates, including the 70th anniversary of the countrys founding on Oct. 1 and the 30th anniversary of the partys crackdown on democracy activists in Tiananmen Square on June 4. Such occasions have sometimes helped coalesce criticism of the regime, and China often rounds up dissidents in advance. Story continues Microsoft President Brad Smith said the company wasnt yet certain whether the Bing incident reflected a broader issue. Its not the first time that weve encountered issues like this for being in China. These do arise periodically, he told an audience at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. We do adhere to the global network initiative set of principles when it comes to search services in China. And that does mean that there are days when there are either difficult negotiations or even disagreements, but were not aware of any ongoing negotiation or disagreement. (Updates with Microsoft statement in fourth paragraph.) --With assistance from Nate Lanxon and Dina Bass. To contact Bloomberg News staff for this story: David Ramli in Beijing at dramli1@bloomberg.net To contact the editors responsible for this story: Robert Fenner at rfenner@bloomberg.net, Daniel Ten Kate, Edwin Chan For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com 2019 Bloomberg L.P. By Jessica DiNapoli and Soyoung Kim DAVOS, Switzerland (Reuters) - From centre-stage in Davos last year, President Donald Trump told the world's corporate bosses that America is a great place to invest. It hasn't quite turned out that way. Foreign direct investment to the United States fell in 2018, and companies gathered at the World Economic Forum in the Swiss Alps this year say they are worried Trump's trade war with China will dampen the global economy and business investments even further. One key complaint here this week: Companies increasingly reliant on consumers in China have had to lower their earnings outlooks as the world's second-largest economy cools. And while the U.S. administration has cut taxes and regulations to attract new investment, a wave of caution is rippling through many industries in the United States. "The trade war has been very damaging for the U.S. agricultural economy," said David MacLennan, chief executive of U.S. food and agricultural giant Cargill Inc, which announced worse-than-expected results out of China earlier in January. "The longer this goes on, the worse it is," he told Reuters. Foreign investment in the United States, which includes cross-border mergers and acquisitions and intra-company loans, fell about 18 percent in 2018 from the prior year, according to the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD). That is close to the 19 percent year-on-year drop in foreign investment globally. But it is notable given the deregulation and tax cuts that might have otherwise fed into inward investment. In January of last year, at Davos, many executives said they planned to spend money in the U.S. in 2018. While the U.N. trade agency attributed the global and U.S. declines to the tariffs that the United States and China have imposed on each other's imports since mid-2018, foreign investment in China actually rose 3 percent last year over the previous year. Foreign investment to India rose 7 percent. Story continues Alan Jope, chief executive of consumer goods company Unilever , said the United States remains a good market for its products, which include Dove deodorant, Magnum ice cream and Lipton tea. But it is China, where Unilever last year joined forces with ecommerce giant JD.com to move its products around the country, that has become the more resilient market. Jope said China was "one of our most reliable sources of growth. China provides the new stability in consumer consumption." RIPPLE EFFECTS The U.S.-China trade war has hit industries around the world over the past few months. Big Chinese companies such as Alibaba have shrunk their plans to invest in the United States. Taiwan-based Foxconn <2354.TW> has scaled back its plans for a Wisconsin factory, and Chinese automaker GAC Motor [GACHA.UL] has also delayed a move into the U.S. market. In September, Austria's fiber producer Lenzing halted a planned U.S. expansion, blaming rising tariffs between the United States and China. Chinese textile exports to the U.S. are among the goods facing tariffs. Lenzing mothballed a $322 million project in Alabama to focus on setting up a new production facility in Thailand. To be sure, foreign companies are still investing, particularly in the auto industry. Volkswagen said earlier this month that it would invest $800 million to build a new electric car at its plant in Chattanooga, Tennessee. Toyota and Mazda are working on a new assembly plant, and Daimler and BMW are investing in existing operations. But the economic malaise driven by the upending of trade flows is hitting tech companies hard due to both supply chain disruption and the economic slowdown in China. Apple this month warned of disappointing quarterly revenues, citing slowing iPhone demand in China. Samsung Electronics Co Ltd <005930.KS>, the world's biggest maker of smartphones and the manufacturer of chips for other smartphone makers including Apple and Huawei, said its fourth-quarter profit likely dropped 29 percent. "For the long run... I worry that the trend will expand to many other countries and industries, and at that time... we all will be negatively affected," Ken Hu, deputy chairman of China's Huawei Technologies [HWT.UL], said in Davos. Huawei, the world's biggest producer of telecommunications equipment, is "probably suffering the most right now" because it relies on heavily integrated and globalised supply chains, Hu said. TRUMP LOOMS LARGE As a result of the disruption, Trump's trade war with Chinese President Xi Jinping is looming large over Davos this year, even if neither man is here. The International Monetary Fund trimmed its global growth forecasts on Monday and a survey by auditing and accounting giant PwC of nearly 1,400 chief executives showed increasing pessimism among business chiefs. The PwC research showed 27 percent of executives from outside the United States see the United States as the number one place with the most potential for growth, down from 46 percent in 2018. It's not only economics that is clouding the skies. Foreign companies, mainly Chinese, also face tighter scrutiny when they bring deals to the United States, after the Trump administration last year strengthened the powers of the Committee on Foreign Investment (CFIUS), said Stuart Eizenstat, former U.S. ambassador to the European Union and now head of law firm Covington & Burlington LLP's international practice. CFIUS is an intra-agency panel that reviews acquisitions on national security grounds. Chinese state-owned Sinochem Group [SASADA.UL], which has been in merger talks with ChemChina to create the world's biggest industrial chemicals firm, said that it did not think it could clinch a U.S. acquisition in the current environment. "You know what's happening today, so I think you will see there will be less investment going abroad," Sinochem Chairman Ning Gaoning said. "The Chinese are getting quite confused. They thought they were welcome to invest in other countries. Now they realize they are not being welcomed all the time." Takeshi Niinami, chief executive of Japanese brewer Suntory Holdings Ltd [SUNTH.UL], told Reuters in an interview that the world has "very big emotional leaders" including one in the Washington. "Davos is a body to work on one voice, to give (a message that says): 'Come on, we have to be rational,'" he said. "Business should be the one to let them cool down." (This story was refiled to correct 'polices' to 'policies' in headline) (Reporting by Soyoung Kim and Jessica DiNapoli in DAVOS, Switzerland, Additional reporting by Leika Kihara, Tom Miles in Geneva. Editing by Alessandra Galloni and Mark Trevelyan) FILE PHOTO: A sign for BlackRock Inc hangs above their building in New York U.S., July 16, 2018. REUTERS/Lucas Jackson By Trevor Hunnicutt NEW YORK (Reuters) - BlackRock Inc (BLK.N) is planning a new fund for investors looking to park their cash safely while helping the environment, expanding options for "socially responsible" investments, a filing with U.S. market regulators showed on Tuesday. The world's largest fund manager told the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission that it wants to launch a money-market fund that will invest primarily in debt from issuers who have better-than-average environmental practices. BlackRock, which oversees nearly $6 trillion (4.6 trillion) in assets, also planned to commit 5 percent of the net revenue from its management fee on the BlackRock Liquid Environmentally Aware Fund, or LEAF, to purchase carbon offsets. Money from carbon offsets generally funds projects that reduce emissions, such as planting trees or trapping methane emissions from waste dumps in developing countries. Money-market funds invest in relatively safe short-term government or high-quality corporate-issued debt. Companies and investors treat the funds like cash and expect them to hold their value, earn income and be available at a moment's notice. It is rare for environmental factors to be taken into account as part of the investment strategy. In a statement, BlackRock said it would also make an annual payment to help the World Wildlife Fund, a conservation group. BlackRock Chief Executive Larry Fink has been under increasing pressure by activist groups to address the perceived social and environmental shortcomings of companies held by his funds. Because the company's most popular products are index funds that hold broad swaths of the market, BlackRock has a significant stake in publicly traded companies worldwide that draw ire from investors, including alcohol, tobacco and weapons manufacturers as well as fossil-fuel companies. BlackRock also has a pivotal shareholder vote in corporate-governance matters involving those companies. Story continues Last week, a hoax letter purporting to be from Fink claimed the fund manager would require companies it owns to align their businesses with measures to counter climate change. An advocacy group took credit for the fake letter. BlackRock has not asked companies to meet specific environmental standards, saying its role is not to make political judgments on its clients' behalf. But it has pressed oil-and-gas companies including Exxon Mobil Corp (XOM.N) to provide more information about how environmental regulations and related issues could affect their bottom lines. The asset manager has also unveiled new products for people focused on environmental goals. In 2017, the company hired Brian Deese, a former Obama administration official who helped negotiate the Paris agreement on climate change, to run its sustainable investing group. (Reporting by Trevor Hunnicutt; editing by Jennifer Ablan and Cynthia Osterman) An image of Apple CEO Tim Cook and Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella sitting at the same table as far-right Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro has surfaced. Bolsonaro has made derogatory statements about women, minorities and the LGBTQ community. Cook and Nadella have made statements in favor of fair treatment in the workplace that directly contradict some of Bolsonaro's past statements. Apple AAPL CEO Tim Cook and Microsoft MSFT CEO Satya Nadella were seen at the same dinner table as Brazil's far-right President Jair Bolsonaro in a picture that surfaced on Twitter. Tweet The unlikely group convened at an event on Tuesday for politicians and business leaders at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, according to Business Insider . The dinner was reportedly meant to honor Bolsonaro, who officially took office this month, BI wrote. The photo of the dinner table was widely shared after Axios reporter Felix Salmon posted it to Twitter, likely due to the seemingly conflicting views Bolsonaro holds to those of Cook and Nadella. Apple and Microsoft did not immediately return requests for comment on the image. As he rose to become the county's new leader, Bolsonaro made a number of derogatory statements about women, minorities and the LGBTQ community. According to The New York Times , which compiled several of Bolsonaro's most inflammatory statements, the Brazilian president said in 2013 he would "rather have a son who is an addict than a son who is gay," and was "proud to be homophobic." Hours after his inauguration, Bolsonaro issued an executive order that would not allow the concerns of the LGBTQ community to be considered by the new human rights ministry, according to The Associated Press . Cook, who came out as gay in 2014 in an essay published by Bloomberg , has been a vocal advocate for LGBTQ rights and equity in the workplace. "As I look at the world, many of the problems of the world come down to the lack of equality," Cook said in a June interview on Bloomberg's "David Rubenstein Show." "It's the fact that the kid that's born in one ZIP code who doesn't have a good education because they happen to be born in that ZIP code. It's someone that is maybe an LGBT community that is fired because of that. It's someone that has a different religion than the majority and therefore they're ostracized in some way." Story continues Nadella has also taken a stance for workplace equity, saying at an event hosted by the Times in 2017 that progress toward gender equity in tech was "good, but not sufficient." "We always had equal pay for equal work, but it's more about equal opportunity for equal work," he said at the event. Bolsonaro, by contrast, has said he would not employ or pay women equally to men in the workplace, although "there are a lot of competent women out there," according to the Times. He also reportedly said that having a female child is a "weakness." In 2017, Bolsonaro used a word historically used to describe the weight of cattle and agricultural products when describing the weight of Afro-Brazilian residents. According to the Times, he said: "They don't do anything. They are not even good for procreation." Subscribe to CNBC on YouTube. Watch: Bolsonaro's case for investing in Brazil is compelling, expert says More From CNBC Research involving a University of East Anglia (UEA) academic has established a link between climate change, conflict, and migration for the first time. In recent decades climatic conditions have been blamed for creating political unrest, civil war, and subsequently, waves of migration, but scientific evidence for this is limited. One major example is the ongoing conflict in Syria, which began in 2011. Many coastal Mediterranean countries in Europe have also seen the arrival of thousands of refugees fleeing conflict in Africa. Researchers from the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA) in Austria, including Dr Raya Muttarak, also of UEA's School of International Development, sought to find out whether there is a causal link between climate change and migration, and the nature of it. They found that in specific circumstances, the climate conditions do lead to increased migration, but indirectly, through causing conflict. The findings, published in the journal Global Environmental Change, suggest that climate change played a significant role in migration and asylum seeking in the period 2011-2015, with more severe droughts linked to exacerbating conflict. Dr Muttarak, a senior lecturer in geography and international development at UEA, said: "The question of how climatic conditions can contribute to political unrest and civil war has drawn attention from both the scientific community and the media. We contribute to the debate on climate-induced migration by providing new scientific evidence. "The effect of climate on conflict occurrence is particularly relevant for countries in Western Asia in the period 2010-2012, when many were undergoing political transformation during the so-called Arab Spring uprisings. This suggests that the impact of climate on conflict and asylum seeking flows is limited to specific time periods and contexts." The political uprisings of the Arab Spring occurred in countries including Tunisia, Libya and Yemen, and Syria, where the conflict led to an ongoing civil war. In Syria particularly, long-running droughts and water shortages caused by climate change resulted in repeated crop failures, with rural families eventually moving to urban areas. This in turn led to overcrowding, unemployment and political unrest, and then civil war. Similar patterns were also found in sub-Saharan Africa in the same time period. Co-author Jesus Crespo Cuaresma, of IIASA and Vienna University of Economics and Business, said: "Climate change will not cause conflict and subsequent asylum-seeking flows everywhere. But in a context of poor governance and a medium level of democracy, severe climate conditions can create conflict over scarce resources." The researchers, who also include Guy Abel (IIASA and Shanghai University) and Michael Brottrager (Johannes Kepler University Linz), say that concerns relating to climate change-induced conflict leading to migration should be considered in the context of the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). At present the link between climate change and migration is not explicit, and they are not treated as interrelated. Further research is needed to more fully understand migration flows. Asylum seekers are more likely to be influenced by conflict than usual migrants, so the researchers used data from asylum applications from 157 countries from 2006-15 to study the patterns. This data was obtained from the United Nations High Commissions for Human Rights (UNHCR). As a measure of climate conditions in the asylum seekers' original countries, the team used the Standardised Precipitation-Evapotranspiration Index (SPEI), which measures droughts, compared to normal conditions, through identifying the onset and end of droughts, and their intensity, based on precipitation, evaporation, transpiration, and climatic conditions such as temperature. To assess conflict, the team used data on battle-related deaths from the Uppsala Conflict Data Program (UCDP). These datasets were fed into the researchers' modelling framework, along with various socioeconomic and geographic datasets. These included the distance between country of origin and destination, population sizes, migrant networks, the political status of the countries, and ethnic and religious groups. ### 'Climate, conflict and forced migration', Abel GJ, Brottrager M, Crespo Cuaresma J, Muttarak R (2019), is published in Global Environmental Change. DOI:10.1016/j.gloenvcha.2018.12.003 The parties will cooperate in the field of migration, protect the rights of citizens of the state of one Party located on the territory of the state of the other Party, as well as information interaction in accordance with the legislation and international obligations of their states. GETTYIMAGESBANK AMETHI: On Wednesday, Farmers in Congress President Rahul Gandhi's parliamentary constituency Amethi shouted slogans against him demanding that either they are provided employment or the land that was given to Rajiv Gandhi Foundation should be returned to them. One of the protesters at Gauriganj town in Amethi district said that "They are very upset with Rahul Gandhi. He should go back to Italy. He does not deserve to be here. Rahul has grabbed our land.". While The Congress chief faced the anger of angry farmers during his visit to Amethi for campaigning for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections. It is to be noted that Samrat Cycle factory was inaugurated by former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi when he was the Lok Sabha MP from Amethi. In the 1980s, Over 65.57 acres of land was acquired by Jain brothers in the industrial area of Kausar to run a company but the company failed to do good business and then a land auction took place in 2014. While in 2014 records show that, The UP State Industrial Development Corporation (UPSIDC) records show that 65.57 acres of land was leased to the company in 1986 but it was auctioned by the Debts Recovery Tribunal in 2014 at Rs. 20.10 crore after the closure of the company to recover the loan. also read: After the 2021 caste-census government need to bring constitutional amendment bill to increase the reservation cap: Sushil Modi Earlier, Union Minister Smriti Irani had also accused the Congress of grabbing the land of farmers through the foundation. The land purchased in the auction was paid by the Rajiv Gandhi Charitable Trust for stamp duty of Rs. 1,50,000. But the UPSIDC then declared the land auction process as invalid after which a Gauriganj SDM Court ordered the return of the land of the Samrat Cycle Factory to UPSIDC. on papers, the land is with UPSIDC but is still occupied by the Rajiv Gandhi Charitable Trust. also read: Five people senselessly murdered by a gunman in US Amethi: Congress Persident Rahul Gandhi who is on a tour of Amethi and Rae Bareli in Uttar Pradesh, on Wednesday faced go back to Italy taunts. As per the reports Congress chief was in his parliamentary constituency of Amethi on Wednesday, farmers staged a protest against him. The protest took place in Gauriganj town in Amethi district. The farmers demanded that either the land that they had given away for the Rajiv Gandhi Foundation be returned or jobs are provided to them. Farmers told to News agency that they are very upset with Rahul Gandhi. He should go back to Italy. He does not deserve to be here. Rahul has grabbed our land." The protest was held near the Samrat Cycle factory, whose inauguration was done by former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi. Earlier, Gandhi has faced criticism from Union minister Smriti Irani and has been accused of grabbing farmers land using the foundation. However, Rahul has maintained that the party will always protect farmers' interests and waive off their loans after the party makes government. Addressing to people, Rahul said that he will stand by farmers, wherever they need him. Not only for Amethi, but in the entire country. Moscow/New Delhi: At least six Indian sailors were killed and an equal number of them went missing after two fuel ships carrying Indian and Turkish crew members caught fire in the Kerch Strait, where the blaze was still raging following the accident on Monday, officials said on Wednesday. Four Indian sailors, including a Malayali - Ashish Ashok Nair were rescued by the authorities. Russian authorities on Wednesday resumed search operation for 10 missing sailors, including four Indians, in the Kerch Strait which separates Russia from Crimea. One of the ships, the Candy, had a 17-member crew, including nine Turkish citizens and eight Indian nationals. The other one, the Maestro, had 15-member crew, including seven Turkish nationals, seven Indians and an intern from Libya. "We regret to inform that there have been causalities among Indian seamen working on these ships," the Ministry of External Affairs said in a statement in New Delhi. The deceased were identified as - Pinal Kumar Bharatbhai Tandel, Vikram Singh, Sarvanan Nagarajan, Vishal Dod, Raja Debnarayan Panigrahi and Karankumar Haribhai Tandel. Six missing Indian sailors include Siddharth Meher, Neeraj Singh, Sebastian Britto Breezlin Sahayaraj, Rushikesh Raju Sakpal, Akshay Baban Jadhav and Anandasekar Avinash. "Russian Maritime Agency and Maritime Rescue and Coordination Centre Novorossiysk are continuing efforts to locate those listed as missing," the MEA said. It said that arrangements are being made after completion of necessary formalities to bring back the bodies of the deceased to India. The repatriation of the other sailors is also being facilitated through Director General Communication Centre, Indian Registry of Shipping, Mumbai. The other three Indian sailors who were rescued by the authorities are Harish Jogi, Sachin Singh, and Kamleshbhai Gopalbhai Tandel. "The two ships are still burning, the Spasatel Demidov vessel approaches them from time to time in order to throw water on them, but it cannot stay close to the fire all the time," a Russian Federal Agency of Maritime and River Transportation official was quoted as saying by the TASS news agency. Turkey has said four of its nationals were killed, eight were rescued and four went missing after the fire. Indian authorities said the Indian embassy in Moscow was in constant touch with the concerned Russian agencies to get more information on Indian nationals. Both vessels were flying Tanzanian flags. One of them was a liquefied natural gas carrier and another one was a tanker. The fire broke out as the two ships were transferring fuel from one to the other. Turkey's Milenyum Denizcilik Gemi company is believed to own both ships. A local official of the maritime rescue service said that the Merkury tow boat, which brought the sailors to Crimea's Kerch on Tuesday, was also returning to the accident scene. "Merkury is heading to the fire scene, it will be involved in searching [for the sailors] and extinguishing the fire," a spokesperson said. A special vessel, Spasatel Demidov, is continuing the effort to put out the fire, which is still underway. The ships have not sunk because their important parts remain intact. Citing a source in the Azov-Black Sea branch of the Maritime Rescue Service, the TASS said that attempts to extinguish the fire were failing because of burning LNG. "Only LNG is burning at the moment. The fire engulfing parts of the ships has been extinguished but gas is coming out and burning, it is like a gas burner," the source said, adding that according to recent information, the Candy was carrying about 2,500 tonnes of LNG. There is no information about the amount of gas carried by the Maestro but the two ships are similar in size, so it might be the same. The condition of sailors who were rescued during the ship fire incident in the Kerch Strait causes no concern, head of Crimea's Disaster Medicine and Ambulance Center Sergei Olefirenko was quoted as saying by the TASS. "The rescued sailors are being treated at Kerch City Hospital. Their condition is fair, there are no signs of deterioration. There is no danger to their lives," he said. Meanwhile, Crimean Human Rights Ombudsperson Lyudmila Lubina said that border guards and consular workers were preparing documents for the rescued sailors. "They are Turkish and Indian nationals. Border guards and consular services are working on documents so that they can return to their home countries," the ombudsperson added. New Delhi: It was Congress president Rahul Gandhi who insisted sister Priyanka should enter active politics. Though former Congress chief Sonia Gandhi initially disagreed, she finally gave in to his decision. Priyanka's entry was confirmed after Rahuls request to have his sister by his side in the crucial state of Uttar Pradesh was gladly accepted by her. Priyanka, who inherited her grandmother and former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi's charisma, was actively involved in key decision-making in the party. She had played a pivotal role in breaking the deadlock over the selection of chief ministers for Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh recently. Another mission for Priyanka who will be in-charge in UP will be to bring Varun Gandhi, who seems unhappy with the BJP, to the Congress fold. Rahul had suggested to senior leaders that the party needed a better game plan in the state after SP and BSP joined hands. The matter was discussed in the core committee meeting held in New Delhi on January 13. Cartoon Rahul announced the decision after considering the core committees opinion appoint Priyanka in a top post and send her to UP. Sonia initially opposed the idea, unhappy with the idea of having both her children in active politics. Rahul said Priyankas presence will help the party much in a state where losing will have a huge impact in the crucial polls. It will be difficult to focus on all states alone. Priyanka can carry the big burden in UP, he insisted. Sonia finally agreed. Going for Varun Priyanka will also try to get Varun Gandhi, her cousin, to join the Congress, said party sources. His presence will boost partys chances in UP. Though Varun's mother Maneka Gandhi is not in favour of it, Varun might consider switching allegiance, sources close to the latter said. Priyanka can play a big role in persuading him. Varun Gandhi Scindia rises Jyotiraditya Scindia was promised a senior post after he agreed to let Kamal Nath become chief minister in Madhya Pradesh. Rahul and Priyanka kept the promise by elevating the young leader to AICC general secretary. Jyotiraditya Scindia Read more: Latest India news New Delhi: Rescuers have recovered a body from the site of a "rat-hole" mining accident in Meghalaya, an official said on Thursday, more than 40 days after the operation to rescue 15 miners began. The miners were trapped on December 13 when their illegal mine was flooded. The state banned unregulated mining in 2014 but it still goes on in some places. "We have recovered the body and it is heavily decomposed," said Santosh Kumar Singh, an official from the National Disaster Response Force. Thousands of workers, including children, have been killed in so-called rat-hole mines, which involve miners crawling into narrow shafts on bamboo ladders to dig for low-quality coal, in Meghalaya. Rescue officials located the body last week, but it took time to bring it to the surface from inside a crevice. The officials sought guidance from forensic experts. Families and relatives of the trapped miners have given up hope that any of them will be found alive. Navy divers detected the body using an Remotely Operated Vehicle (ROV) at a depth of around 160 feet inside the main shaft on Wednesday last. They resumed efforts to pull out the body on Tuesday on the advice of the district administration. The remains of the miner slipped away from the jaw of the ROV while attempting to pull it out of the bottom of the main shaft of the coal mine last evening, operations spokesperson R Susngi told PTI. According to five miners who had a narrow escape, one of the workers could have accidentally punctured the walls of possibly another nearby abandoned and flooded mine. The state government has announced Rs 1 lakh interim relief for families of all the trapped miners and the Supreme Court is monitoring the case on a weekly basis. The next hearing is scheduled for Monday. Make no mistake, Priyanka Gandhi has an infectious charm seeped in the reclusive legacy of the Gandhi family. With this aura, Priyanka is stepping into the minefield of active politics, thrust upon her by her brother and Congress president Rahul Gandhi. Like Priyanka and Rahul himself, their parents Rajiv and Sonia Gandhi too were reluctant entrants to the political turf. Unlike, Indira and Sanjay Gandhi. No doubt, Priyanka's dramatic political entry will galvanise the Congress cadre, or whatever remains of it, across the country. That has to be channelised to curate the minds of a majority of the nearly 90 crore voters for Priyanka to steer Congress to a pole position in national politics, from the brink of extinction the Grand Old Party was staring at. After a string of electoral debacles, the Congress has hit the revival mode by wresting power in three states Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh late in 2018. Now, the Congress sees Priyanka as a trump card which can drastically re-jig its fortunes and the political destiny of the country. Rahul Gandhi picked Priyanka Gandhi to lead Congess in UP east While Priyanka's charm is an electrifying factor, she lacks the invincibility tag of her grandmother, which probably prompted Dev Kant Barooah, who was the Congress president during the time of Emergency, to proclaim that India is Indira. Remnants of such a sycophantic approach is still running through the DNA of the Indian National Congress. Therein lies Priyanka's strength and ironically challenge too. Congressmen will obediently fall in line with the Gandhi tag she espouses. That will act as a magic wand in political landscapes where the Congress still has a connect. But Priyanka still is an untested commodity in electoral politics baring a few poll campaigns in Gandhi family strongholds of Amethi and Raebareli. Window of opportunity Her biggest challenge will be the battle ground state of Uttar Pradesh, which picks 80 lawmakers to the Lok Sabha, the lower house of Parliament. She has been anointed AICC general secretary in-charge of Eastern UP, which roughly accounts for half of UP's Lok Sabha seats including Varanasi, Prime Minister Narendra Modi's constituency, and Gorakhpur, where UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath was a five-time MP. Priyanka with mother Sonia Gandhi. The Congress aims to contest all 80 seats in Uttar Pradesh and hopes to win 30 of it. Realistically, the Congress will be fortunate enough to make an impact in 15 of the 21 seats it won in 2009 in eastern UP. This incudes Amethi and Raebareli. Uttar Pradesh is a stiff challenge for Congress. The BSP-SP combine has kept it out of the Mahagatbandhan or Grand Alliance. The BJP has come out with a 10 per cent quota for economically backward poor. The Congress can at best hope to split the upper caste votes in UP with the BJP, which could work to the advantage of the SP-BSP combine. Remember, despite keeping the Congress out of a coalition, the combine has announced it won't put up candidates in Amethi and Raebareli. This is a window of opportunity to strike post-poll alliances. Priyanka has inherited her grandmother and former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi's charisma. For the rest of the country, Priyanka's aura and Gandhi lineage could still work with the assistance of Congress governments in power in Hindi belt states of Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh. In Bihar, the party will again have to strike a seat-sharing deal with Lalu's RJD, which is now helmed by his son Tejaswi. BJP ally JD(U)'s Prashant Kishore has welcomed her entry and this will give the Congress some leeway in seat-sharing talks with RJD. In Maharashtra, the Congress and the NCP alliance seems to have stitched a seat-sharing deal and Priyanka's dramatic political foray will be a bonus. Sharad Pawar's daughter Supriya Sule has sort of welcomed Priyanka's entry. Dynasty rhetoric The BJP has echoed the dynasty politics theme while adopting a cautious approach to Priyanka's political foray. It cannot escalate the dynasty rhetoric, lest that would boomerang on many of its own leaders as well as allies. Leaders across the political spectrum have not hesitated to handhold their kith and kin to their respective political turfs. Only that the Congress could go a step further and enact this at the Centre itself, for only it has won a mandate to rule over this nation for so long. UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and Prime Minister Narendra Modi. In other words, no other party got such an opportunity to build a dynasty at the Centre. The BJP is yet to carefully weigh the impact of Priyanka's dramatic political foray. So far it has desisted from attacking Priyanka Gandhi, but her businessman husband Robert Vadra, who is facing a slew of charges, is sure to draw flak from the saffron party. In the southern horizon, Priyanka will be able to lead a charm offensive in Karnataka and Kerala, states where the Congress organisational machinery is still functional. In Tamil Nadu, it can piggyback on the DMK's shoulders to better its prospects. The DMK and the JD(S), Congress' allies in TN and Karnataka, are not averse to having Rahul as a PM candidate in case of a near certain fractured verdict. The Priyanka card played by the Congress is a virtual wakeup call for Congress activists and a puzzle for the BJP-led NDA. Rahul Gandhi can hope to delegate some of his authority to his sister while he criss-crosses the country in the run-up to polls. Priyanka Gandhi Now the electorate will decide whether to bestow a larger-than-life aura to Priyanka Gandhi, who is crossing over to a politically charged terrain. As of now, the mother of two has just made a mass entry. Read more: Latest India news New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi's ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) could lose a quarter of its seats in Lok Sabha with an electoral wipeout in Uttar Pradesh, if the Congress were to join an opposition alliance there, an opinion poll showed on Wednesday. Modi's BJP won 282 seats in the 545-seat Parliament in the last election, including 73 out of the 80 seats from Uttar Pradesh, a state of more than 200 million people. But the India Today-Karvy Insights 'Mood of the Nation' poll forecast that the number of seats held by the BJP in the state could plummet to just five, if Congress were to join an alliance set up by other opposition groups. The general election is due by May. The shock poll comes after the BJP lost elections in five state assemblies late last year, including three that it had controlled, largely because of rural anger about low farm incomes tied to weak crop prices. To achieve such a wipeout in Uttar Pradesh, the opposition parties would have to agree to field a single candidate in each constituency, according to the poll. Congress has so far ruled that out, although even without Congress the other opposition parties would still inflict a sizeable defeat on the BJP. An alliance of three Uttar Pradesh parties - Samajwadi Party (SP), Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) and Rashtriya Lok Dal - could win 58 seats without Congress, the poll showed. BJP and its ally in the state, Apna Dal, would win 18 seats in that scenario and Congress would have 4. "The Congress party will fight in all the seats on its own, but a post-poll alliance with SP-BSP is in the offing," Congress spokesman Sanjay Jha told Reuters. "We are all ideologically compatible and are committed to defeating the fascist corrupt BJP." The BJP dismissed the survey, for which a total of 2,478 people were polled in Uttar Pradesh. Opinion polls have a mixed record in the country of 1.3 billion people, where regional issues often overshadow national concerns. "Its a poll even before the election has been announced and before parties are actually involved in electioneering," BJP spokesman Nalin Kohli said. "In any case, it is painting a rather pessimistic figure for the BJP, which we believe will not be the situation in any circumstance." Political analysts, however, say the coming together of the SP and BSP, which have both separately governed Uttar Pradesh could pose a formidable challenge to the ruling party. Following the state election losses, Modi is considering a series of vote-catching measures, including directly transferring money to farmers, which may cost more than 1 trillion rupees ($14 billion), according to government sources. "It wont be possible for the BJP to fracture this alliance," said Badri Narayan Tiwari, a political analyst based in the Uttar Pradesh city of Prayagraj. On Wednesday, the government appointed Railways Minister Piyush Goyal as interim finance minister while Arun Jaitley, also a top lieutenant of Modi, receives medical treatment in the United States ahead of an interim budget on February 1. The Uttar Pradesh survey was conducted before Congress appointed its president Rahul Gandhi's charismatic elder sister, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, to a senior party position that party officials say will help to energise its campaign. Read more India News New Delhi: The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Thursday said it has arrested one of the men involved in the 2006 Kerala twin blasts from the airport here. Mohammad Ashar, who had since been absconding, was arrested on Wednesday from the Indira Gandhi International (IGI) Airport here after he arrived from Saudi Arabia, an NIA spokesperson told IANS. Ashar had escaped to the Middle East nation in 2007. He would be produced later in the day before an NIA Special Court in the national capital to obtain a transit remand to take him to Kochi for his production before the Special Court in Ernakulam. The twin blasts near the Kerala State Road Transport Corporation and Mofussil bus stands had rocked Kozhikode on March 3, 2006, and left two persons injured and a few properties damaged. The counter-terror agency had taken over the case from the Kerala Police in 2009 and filed the charge-sheet against eight accused in August 2010 under several sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), Arms Act and Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act. The NIA official said that thier probe revealed that besides Ashar, another absconder P P Yusuf, was involved in the conspiracy hatched by prime accused T Naseer and others to carry out the IED blasts after bail was denied to the accused involved in the Marad communal riots of 2003 in Kozhikode district. Ashar and Yusuf had assisted Naseer in preparing the improvised explosive devices and planting them. K C Venugopal has had an enviable rise in the Congress of late with party president Rahul Gandhi picking him for plum posts. A confidant of the party chief, Venugopal was on Wednesday appointed AICC general secretary in charge of organisation, replacing Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot. The Alappuzha MP's tactical interferences in Karnataka and Rajsthan post the assembly polls there seem to have paved way for his appointment for the key post. Venugopal speaks to Onmanorama in a brief telephonic interview from Bengaluru, his first after the crucial appointment. What's your tasks as the general secretary in charge of organisation? My primary responsibility will be to take out the message of the party president all over the country. I hope to do it with utmost responsibility. How do you look at the new post? Venugopal was appointed the general secretary in charge of organisation, the same day when Priyanka Gandhi was made the general secretary in charge of UP (east). My responsibilities in the party have increased (Venugopal is also the general secretary in charge of Karnataka). Did you have any clue about the latest appointment? Not exactly. However, I was told by the party president that he has kept something ready for me. Will you contest the Lok Sabha polls this time? My workload has actually increased. A decision on my candidature will be taken by the party president. You are in Bengaluru. What's the latest news from Karnataka's political circles? I'm here to attend a meeting about our poll preparedness. What about the seat sharing with your ally JD(S) in Karnataka? Venugopal is known as a confidant of Rahul Gandhi. We are yet to start the talks. Kozhikode: CPI(M) state secretary Kodiyeri Balakrishnan pulled strings to offer a plum government post to a man with connections to the leadership of both communist parties, Youth League state general secretary P K Firoz has said. D S Neelakandan, the son of CPI state executive committee member Damodaran Nair and the nephew of CPM state committee member Koliyakode Krishnan Nair, was appointed as a deputy director at the Information Kerala Mission (IKM) at the behest of Kodiyeri, Firoz said. The Youth League leader, who had earlier accused minister K T Jaleel of appointing a relative to a government post, also said that the minister ensured the partys support as part of a trade-off. Neelakandan was appointed to the IKM when Jaleel was in charge of the local self-government portfolio. Though there was a better candidate to the post of the deputy director (technical) in terms of experience and education, Neelakandan scored over him in the interview round, Firoz alleged. He also said that Neelakandan was given a contract of five years even though the norm was to appoint a director for a year. The post came with a payslip of Rs 1 lakh. A provision to promise a 10 percent annual increment flouted norms, he said. Firoz cited RTI replies to allege that the appointment was not vetted by the finance department. He said that the then IMK director Sambasiva Rao was also a party to the alleged scam. M Raghavan, who was Jaleels assistant private secretary at the time of the recruitment, was key to the appointment. Raghavan was a member of Kodiyeris personal staff when the CPM leader was a minister in the V S Achuthanandan government. Firoz said that Jaleel was isolated in the ruling CPM when he raised charges of nepotism but soon blackmailed Kodiyeri into supporting him by pointing out the case of Neelakandan. Jaleel is the second minister of the Pinarayi Vijayan-led LDF government being caught in the nepotism row. In October 2016, just five months after coming to power, then Industries minister E P Jayarajan had to resign on a similar charge. However, Jayarajan was reinstated as a minister in August 2018. 'Baseless' Minister K T Jaleel and Krishnan Nair rubbished the charges as baseless. Jaleel said the allegations did not warrant a reply. Nair said he had not met Kodiyeri or other leaders seeking appointment of his brother's son. Industries Minister E P Jayarajan said the allegation was baseless. Read more: Latest Kerala news Kochi: Five months after 25-year-old nurse Annliya Huygens' body was found floating in River Periyar under Vadakkekara police station limits in Kerala's Ernakulam district, an all-revealing diary and an 18-page letter she had written to the cops have shed some light on her life at her husband's home. Annliya, a cheerful nurse who wanted to do post-graduation and find a better job and life, was found dead in August, 2018. The cause of her death is yet to be ascertained. Following her father's complaint to chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan, the investigation was recently handed over to the crime branch. The police are also not sure whether she had taken her own life or she was murdered. However, a diary Annliya, who was from a well-to-do family, kept with her has come handy for the cops to find out the harassment she had suffered at her husband's home. After doing her BSc in nursing, Annliya had got a job in Saudi Arabia. Soon, her marriage was fixed with Justine from Thrissur, who was also employed in the Gulf region. However, after her marriage her husband asked her to leave the job and she retuned to India planning to join an MSc course. In her diary, she listed out her dreams like securing a good job, giving good education to her child, buying a house, a car and having some savings for the future. Alongside, she had also noted down the most memorable events in her life, like the day of her wedding, the day she realized that she was going to be a mother, incidents related to close relatives and friends and even the day she was taken to the hospital by her husband's family to admit her as a psychiatric patient. Annliya was from a well-to-do family. The diary has become a crucial piece of evidence in the probe into her mysterious death. The diary details how she was tortured at her husband's house. The police had earlier assumed that Annliya had committed suicide. But officers did not bother to probe into the role of her husband's family in the death. According to court guidelines, if a woman dies within a certain period of her marriage, the cops are legally bound to probe the husband's family's role in the death. Annliyas father Huygens Parakkal, who quit his job abroad to pursue the case, rues that the police did not consider his pleas. Annilya with her parents. Photo: Facebook Body in Aluva River Annliya was reported missing on August 25, 2018, by husband Justine. According to Justine, he had dropped Annliya at Thrissur railway station and she had boarded the train for Bengaluru, where she was studying MSc. Thrissur railway police had informed Annliyas parents, who were abroad at that time, about the missing complaint. Justine had initially said that he had seen off Annliya at the railway station. There was no trace of Annliya for three days. On August 28, the decomposed body of Annliya was found floating in Periyar near Aluva. When her parents arrived in Kerala from abroad, the autopsy had been completed. Justine and his family stayed away from the funeral. They did not show Annliyas body to her eight-month-old baby. Annilya with her husband Justine. Photo: Facebook. Her father Huygens has several suspicions about the death. He wonders why Justine did not inform him that Annliya was missing before he filed a complaint. Even Justines relatives and neighbours learnt about Annliyas death from media reports. All this secrecy points to the possibility of murder, says the father. He also asked if Annliya was travelling from Thrissur to Bengaluru, then how come her body near Aluva, which is in the opposite direction of her planned destination. Messages to brother The main pieces of evidence Huygens have submitted to the police to support his claim are the messages Annliya sent to her brother before her death. The messages described Annliyas plight at her husbands house. In the messages, she expressed her fear that Justine and his mother might kill her if she stayed with them. She also stated in the messages that her husband did not allow her to approach the police. Another message of Annliya said if anything happened to her, Justine and his family would be responsible and that they should not be spared. Though her brother asked her to postpone her Bengaluru trip and find a solution to the troubles, Annliya insisted on going to the Karnataka capital. While Justine gave a statement to the police that he had seen Annliya leaving in a train, he later stated in the complaint that she was missing from the railway station. Annilya with her family. Photo: Facebook 18-page letter Annliyas family has found a letter addressed to the Kadavanthra police describing the torture she endured. The letter was written when she was staying with her brother in a flat in Ernakulam. Her family is from Fort Kochi. In the letter, which she never filed before the Kadavanthra cops, she said Justine had married her hiding the fact that he was dismissed from his job and that he had forced her to quit her job also. When she reached his house, she was harassed, Annliya said in her 18-page letter. Though she was an educated and employed woman, Justines family was torturing her physically and mentally, said Annliya in the letter. She was also accused of holding fake degrees, added Annliya. The torture continued during her pregnancy also, the letter claimed. The situation did not improve after the birth of the child. There was an attempt to distance the baby from her, the letter stated. She was being severely tortured, but the baby needs a father and she a husband, Annliya said in the letter. She also stated that she was helpless as her parents were abroad. In her diary, she had noted down the most memorable events in her life, like the day of her wedding. Photo: Facebook Annliya was interested in drawing and her diary had an image of a girl writing a diary. There were hands around it with fingers pointing at her. Huygens plight For Huygens, Annliya was everything. Though I showed them all evidence, the police did nothing. She died 150 days ago, but the probe had reached nowhere, he said. He met Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan later and the probe was handed over to the Crime Branch. Neither Justine nor his parents have responded to the allegations. Read more: Latest Kerala news Bangalore: Kristu Jayanti College here hosted its first ever gospel fest 'Lumen Fidei' on January 16. Organised by the Jayantian Catholic Association, Lumen Fidei was inaugurated by Prof. Mariamma A Varghese. Prof. Mariamma A Varghese was the ex Vice Chancellor of SNDT Women's University and was also a part of NAAC, from 2001- 2008 . Photo: Kevin Victor Philips Like any gospel fest, all the events had a main theme 'The Joy Of Giving'. Events like 'Song of Songs' , 'Voice in the Wilderness', 'Gospel Act' , 'Trumpets of Joy' and 'Reuel', captured the attention of the audience. 'Clues to Salvation', 'Sistine Mural', 'Gifted Composition' and 'Biblos' were the other events. Photo: Kevin Victor Philips "This fest has been a dream for long and now it has come true. I am glad to have been able to head this fest along with my co coordinator Mr. Emin Pious. It was a beautiful experience and I believe we have set a platform for students to showcase their knowledge and skills, not only in the field of academics or curriculum but that of faith." said sixth sem BA student Alisha James, Lumen Fidei student coordinator Colleges from all over Bangalore, participated and won in various events. Photo: Kevin Victor Philips St. Joseph's College bagged the overalls while St. Claret College bagged the runners up trophy. Theres this totally misconceived notion that internship is a concept that is meant only for students pursuing engineering and other professional courses. In fact, there are plenty of internship opportunities in the countrys capital for students who have opted for different disciplines at the graduation and post-graduation levels. Several central government departments and constitutional bodies including Parliament are looking to hire interns where they get to do real and meaningful work. Most of these institutions offer a five-digit monthly stipend. An added advantage is that candidates can relocate to the capital city where they have a multitude of options to choose from and make the right career choice. Moreover, aspirants of civil services will be able to familiarise themselves with the culture and functioning of Union Government ministries and departments. Here are some of the central government institutions where students can find internship opportunities: The Ministry of External Affairs Interns will get the opportunity to work under Indian Foreign Service (IFS) officers for a maximum period of six months. There will be no financial remuneration. Graduates can apply at any given time. Those who have completed three years of their five-year course are also eligible to apply. Not more than thirty on-site interns will be engaged by the Ministry at a given point in time. The receipt and scrutinising of applications is the first step in the process of selection. Candidates will have to go through an interview process before being selected. For details, visit:https://www.mea.gov.in/internship-in-mea.htm Lok Sabha Secretariat Two types of internship programmes are on offer: Student internship of one-month duration for graduate students above 18 years of age and regular internship of three-month duration for those who have completed post-graduation. For the first category, a stipend of Rs 25,000 will be provided while the candidates of regular internship will be offered a remuneration of Rs 20,000 for the first two months and Rs 30,000 for the third month. The upper age limit is 30 years for both programmes. As many as 30 candidates will be selected. For details, visit: http://sri.nic.in/internship NITI Aayog The duration of the unpaid internship programme offered by NITI Aayog is between six weeks and three months. It aims at engaging students pursuing undergraduate/graduate/post-graduate degrees or are research scholars enrolled in recognised university/institution within India or abroad. The following online application link will be open from 1st to 10th of every month: https://www.niti.gov.in/career/internship Ministry of Finance PG students with degree in Economics can apply for the six-month internship programme of the Department of Economic Affairs under the Ministry of Finance. The monthly stipend is Rs 10,000 PG students pursuing Economics, Finance, Management and Law courses can do internships with the Department of Expenditure. The duration of the programme is between two to six months. Candidates are required to hold a first class Bachelor's degree from a recognised university. The monthly stipend is Rs 10,000. For details, visit: https://mofapp.nic.in/DEA_Internship/ The Department of Electronics and IT Second and third year engineering students are eligible to apply for the two-month Digital India Internship programme. The department is looking for interns with passion to work in cyber security, e-governance and software testing profiles. Application can be submitted in May and December. The monthly stipend is Rs 10,000. The National Museum Institute Graduates in science, history, architecture, design, engineering, photography, library sciences etc. can apply for the summer and winter internship programmes offered by the National Museum Institute which requires a minimum commitment of 6 weeks and maximum of 12 weeks. There will be no financial remuneration. The Reserve Bank of India Candidates with Masters in engineering, business management, economics, econometrics, finance, banking, or statistics can apply for an internship at RBI from April to July. A minimum commitment of 6 months is mandatory. Selected candidates will receive a monthly stipend of Rs 35,000. Internship opportunities are also available with the Competition Commission of India, Ministry of Law and Justice. Directorate General of Foreign Trade, and the Directorate of Economics and Statistics as well. How to apply Application form and detailed instructions can be found on the website of the ministries. Carefully read through instructions before filling out the form and provide complete and accurate information. Selection process involve security clearance and certificate verification. Certain departments would also hold interviews. The application should contain a letter of motivation. Certain departments would insist on submission of a short essay on the subject field along with the application. Also make sure you submit a clean, attractive and well-presented resume. For clearing doubts, contact the authorities concerned via the e-mail ID given on the official website. Tirurangadi: Bihar native Israel was in for a shock when he went to a shop to get the unique International Mobile Equipment Identity (IMEI) number of his stolen cell phone. To his great surprise, the robber was standing next to him at the same shop seeking help to unlock the mobile phone. Israel, who is working in a mill here in Malappuram district, lost his mobile phone, wrist watch and Rs 4,000 in cash the other day. He went to the shop at New Gulf Bazar near here from where he bought the mobile phone to get the IMEI number in order to lodge a police complaint. Thats when Nabeel, 30, the thief, came to the same shop with a request to unlock the cell phone. When the shop owner asked how the cell phone got locked, Nabeel said that it was accidentally done by his kids. Smelling something fishy, Israel took the phone from Nabeel and while unlocking it, found that it was his stolen phone. When the shop owner questioned Nabeel, the latter said that he bought the cell phone for Rs 5,000 from some persons at a festival venue. Nabeel demanded Rs 5,000 to hand over the phone, but the shop owner did not relent. Later, Nabeel took Israel on his bike under the pretext of meeting the persons who sold the cell phone. But Nabeel pushed Israel to the road when they reached a secluded place and fled the scene. When the mill owner and some local residents came to the shop to enquire about the incident, they found Nabeel in the vicinity of the shop. Nabeel took to the heels seeing them and while fleeing ran into the local police station. Police arrested Nabeel and later he was produced in a court. Srinagar: An encounter broke out on Wednesday between security forces and militants in Baramulla district of Jammu and Kashmir, police said. Security forces launched a cordon and search operation in Binner area of Baramulla district following information about presence of militants in the area, a police official said. He said the search operation turned into a gunbattle after militants opened fire on the security forces. No casualties have been reported so far in the encounter, he added. General Motors Co said on Thursday it will invest $22 million at its Tennessee plant to build fuel-efficient engines, Trend reports citing Reuters. The US automaker also said it would add more than 200 jobs at the Spring Hill plant for production of new Cadillac XT6. The plant, which also makes the popular GMC Acadia mid-size SUV, employs about 3,800 people. Five people were shot to death on Wednesday inside a SunTrust retail bank during a hostage situation that apparently went awry, police have confirmed, Trend reported citing Sputnik. The tragedy occurred in Sebring, Florida, where the population was 10,491 in the 2010 US Census. The Highlands County Sheriff's Office said a SWAT team engulfed the bank after failed negotiations with the suspect, who "eventually surrendered" and is now in police custody. "We were sorry to learn that we have at least five victims, people who were senselessly murdered as a result of his act in this bank," Sebring police chief Karl Hoglund told reporters Wednesday. Authorities arrived after the suspect called them and told them he opened fire on people inside the bank, according to police officials. US 27, a major road going through the town, was shut down due to the significant presence of law enforcement officials. The suspect and the victims have not been identified by officials yet, though Reuters reports the suspect is 21 years of age. Baku, Azerbaijan, Jan. 24 By Rufiz Hafizoglu Trend: Devlet Bahceli, leader of the opposition Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) of Turkey, has called for the complete elimination of terrorists in northern Syria, Trend reports via Turkish media. Turkey must decisively and quickly begin military operations in northern Syria, so as to eliminate PYD/YPG, the Syrian wing of the PKK. The leader of the MHP also noted that the safety zone in northern Syria, the formation of which is on the agenda, should be under the exclusive control of Turkey. The security zone in northern Syria consists of an area of 32 kilometers and a length of 460 kilometers along the Syrian-Turkish border The safety zone in the north of Syria includes a territory of 32 kilometers deep and 460 kilometers long along the Syrian border with Turkey. In the case of the creation of this zone, it will be divided into two parts, the first part will start from the Iraqi-Syrian border and will be extended to the Syrian city of Qamishli, because the Syrian government forces control this city. The second part of the safety zone will start from Qamishli and will be extended to Jarabulus city, which was liberated from the terrorists of the Islamic State (IS) as part of the Operation Euphrates Shield conducted by the Turkish Armed Forces in 2016. Manbij city, where Turkey had previously intended to conduct new anti-terrorist operations, isnt a part of the safety zone. --- Follow the author on Twitter: @rhafizoglu Russia on Thursday warned the United States not to intervene militarily in Venezuela, a close ally of Moscows, saying such a move would trigger a catastrophe, Trend reports referring to Reuters. Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido declared himself interim president on Wednesday, winning the backing of Washington and prompting socialist incumbent Nicolas Maduro, who has led the oil-rich nation since 2013, to sever diplomatic relations with the United States. In an interview with Russian journal International Affairs published on Thursday, Sergei Ryabkov, Russias Deputy Foreign Minister, said Moscow would stand with Venezuela to protect its sovereignty and the principle of non-interference in its domestic affairs. Asked about the prospect of U.S. military intervention in Venezuela, Ryabkov said Washington should steer well clear. We warn against that, he said. We consider that would be a catastrophic scenario that would shake the foundations of the development model which we see in Latin America. It was not clear when the interview was conducted. Ryabkov said Moscow expected the United States and other countries to step up pressure on Caracas. Ryabkov did not mention Maduro by name, but made clear Moscow backed his government. Venezuela is friendly to us and is our strategic partner, he said. We have supported them and will support them. Separately, Russian lawmakers said U.S. support for moves to force Maduro from power amounted to backing an illegal coup detat, underlining how worried Moscow is about one of its closest allies losing office. The prospect of Maduro being ousted is a geopolitical and economic headache for Moscow which, alongside China, has become a lender of last resort for Caracas, lending it billions of dollars as its economy implodes. It has also provided military support. Two Russian strategic bombers capable of carrying nuclear weapons landed in Venezuela last month in a show of a support that infuriated Washington. Russian lawmaker Franz Klinzevich on Thursday warned Moscow could wind up its military cooperation with Venezuela if Maduro, whom he called the legitimately-elected president, was ousted, the RIA news agency reported. Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu attended the Nefesh BNefesh and Friends of the Israel Defense Forces (FIDF) 6th annual Yom Siddurim (personal errands day) for IDF Lone Soldiers in Tel Aviv on Thursday morning, Trend reports referring to The Jerusalem Post. Netanyahu greeted over 1,600 lone soldiers from 70 different countries at the event which was organized with the IDF Human Resources Department. The lone soldiers all benefited from the various resources provided during the event. The errands day organized all of the essential civilian agencies needed by lone soldiers in one place, streamlining the effort and time required for soldiers to complete their errands. The event was held in cooperation with the Ministry of Aliyah and Integration, Ministry of Interior, The Jewish Agency for Israel, Keren Kayemeth LeIsrael, Jewish National Fund-USA and with the assistance of Yahad United for Israels Soldiers. The Greek parliament will vote on approval of the Prespa deal on Macedonia's name change on Friday, Trend reports citing Sputnik. The vote was expected to be held on Thursday, but the leaders of parliamentary groups unanimously decided to postpone it, according to the AMNA news agency. Greece and Macedonia, officially known as the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM), have been entangled in a naming dispute for years, with Athens opposing the use of "Macedonia," which is also the name of a region in Greece. The agreement on the new name for Macedonia Republic of Northern Macedonia was signed by Macedonian Foreign Minister Nikola Dimitrov and his Greek counterpart Nikos Kotzias on June 17. The deal paved the way for Macedonia to join the European Union and NATO, which had been earlier blocked by Greece over the naming issue. Earlier this month, the deal was supported by the majority of Macedonian lawmakers, while the Greek parliament is still to ratify the document. The Prespa agreement is widely criticized by various political forces in Greece, who have been staging massive protests in Athens. German car manufacturer Opel plans to drastically reduce production at its main plant in Ruesselsheim, regional newspaper the Mainzer Allgemeine reported on Thursday, Trend reports citing Xinhua. In an internal writing, workers' union IG Metall warned that only 68,000 instead of 123,000 cars compared to last year will be produced at Opel's main plant in Germany. Originally, the target number had been 90,000 units. Opel did not want to publicly comment on internal production plans and numbers on Thursday but its spokesperson Harald Hamprecht explained that production was being "continuously adapted" in order to increase the capacity utilization of all plants including Ruesselsheim. "The success of our new sales policy is demonstrated by the half-year figures," Hamprecht said. In the first six months of 2018, Opel and Vauxhall, which is marketed in Britain, achieved its "best result in decades" with an operating profit of more than 500 million euros (586 million U.S. dollars). At the moment, approximately 3,000 people are working in two shifts at the Ruesselheim plant to assemble the Insignia and Zafira car models, for which Opel just introduced a successor that will be built in Luton, north of London. Opel's management now seeks to enter into negotiations with IG Metal in order to reduce the number of production shifts in Ruesselsheim from two to one. Since being part of the French PSA group, Opel has started to implement an efficiency program and is negotiating the outsourcing of 2,000 out of 7,000 jobs in development to external service provider Segula. In November 2018, Opel announced to carry out the restructuring without plant closures and operational redundancies until 2023. France wants to push during its presidency of the Group of Seven (G7) for a global taxation system including a minimum corporate tax at world level, Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire said on Thursday, Trend reports referring to Reuters. Le Maire told the World Economic Forum in Davos this was needed to address imbalances among the taxes paid by big and small companies. He said he had discussed the idea with the United States. There is a common understanding among all G7 members that we need a new taxation system, he said. British and Israeli ministers have announced that they have agreed a post-Brexit trade agreement in principle, Trend reports referring to The Times of Israel. International Development Secretary Liam Fox, a key cabinet supporter of Brexit, made the announcement on Wednesday afternoon alongside Israels Minister of the Economy Eli Cohen. The news was welcomed by diplomats including Israeli Ambassador Mark Regev, who tweeted that it was more excellent news for the rapidly growing UK-Israel partnership, after more than 7 billion in bilateral trade was recorded in 2018. Fox and Cohen made the announcement of a trade deal agreed in principle at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. Im delighted that as Britain prepares to leave the European Union, and to ensure continuity for our businesses in both directions, weve reached agreement in principle today with our colleagues in Israel, said Fox, who is an arch Brexiteer. Israel has been one of the most cooperative and productive partners in this relationship, where our trade is already strong and set to go further, he said, adding that it was a precursor to an even more ambitious agreement in the future. Cohen said he felt the in-principle agreement would accelerate, increase and strengthen our economic relationship, with a UK-Israel trade and investment conference scheduled for London in the coming months. Shortly after taking over at the Department for International Trade in 2016, Fox set up the UK-Israel Trade Working Group designed to identify and remove barriers to trade between our two countries. Twenty British ministers have been meeting secretly to discuss plans to stop a no-deal Brexit, Trend reported citing Reuters. The group, which includes Amber Rudd, Philip Hammond, David Gauke and Claire Perry last met on Tuesday last week to discuss an amendment tabled by the Labour MP Yvette Cooper on taking no deal off the table, the Daily Telegraph newspaper said. Frances foreign minister said on Wednesday that he expected a European-backed system to facilitate non-dollar trade with Iran and circumvent U.S. sanctions would be established in the coming days, Trend reported citing Reuters. Diplomats have told Reuters the European Union is set to officially launch the mechanism this month, but the so-called special purpose vehicle (SPV) will not operate for several months because technical details still need to be worked out. The vehicle, designed to bypass fresh U.S. curbs imposed after Washington quit a landmark nuclear deal, will be registered in France, run by a German and likely to include France, Germany and Britain as shareholders. The SPV should be implemented in the coming days, Jean-Yves Le Drian told the French parliaments foreign affairs committee. It will work as a sort of clearing house that will allow in euros for Iran to benefit from some of its oil resources and at the same time buy essential products from the main three main (European) partners, Le Drian said. Under the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, Iran restricted its declared civilian nuclear power program, widely seen in the West as a front for developing the means to make atomic bombs, in exchange for an end to international sanctions against it. To circumvent renewed U.S. sanctions imposed after Washington pulled out of the deal, the SPV was conceived as a possible way to help match Iranian oil and gas exports against purchases of EU goods, an effective barter arrangement. However, those ambitions appear to have been toned down with diplomats saying the SPV could realistically only be used for smaller trade that might be tolerated by the Trump administration, for example humanitarian or farm products. China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) has received significant boost in its efforts to strengthen regional connectivity after Saudi Arabia agreed to join hands and fund a major oil refinery project, Trend reports referring to Al Arabiya. Islamabad and Beijing have both welcomed the development and, analysts say, this would enhance Saudi Arabias access to world markets. Saudi Arabia is the first country that Pakistan has invited to become a third partner in CPEC. While Pakistan and China would still be major beneficiaries of CPEC, Saudi Arabias access to the Gwadar Port would mean potential to create opportunities for the Kingdom. The partnership took shape earlier this week when it was announced that Saudi Aramco is building an oil refinery worth $10 billion in Pakistans port city of Gwadar. Local officials confirmed that an agreement will be signed during the visit of Saudi Crown Prince Muhammad bin Salman to Pakistan, scheduled in February. On January 12, a delegation led by Saudi Arabias Minister of Energy, Khalid al-Falih, visited Gwadar to witness the development work and areas allocated for the oil refinery. Chairman Gwadar Development Authority briefed the delegation. Haroon Sharif, Pakistans Minister of State and Chairman of Pakistan Board of Investment, said that the Saudi delegation was pleased with the progress made on the site allocated for refinery and expressed satisfaction over security in the area. Pakistani officials also confirmed that the MoU has been finalized and will be signed during Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salmans visit. They said the countrys foreign ministry is giving final touches to the visit in consultation with Saudi authorities. The dates of the visit are being worked out. Both sides are actively pursuing to finalize agreements/MoUs for signing during the upcoming visit of the Saudi Crown Prince, Spokesperson of Pakistan Ministry of Foreign Affairs told journalists during weekly press briefing. Civil aviation officials from Jordan visited Damascus to discuss plans to reopen Syrian airspace to its commercial flights, Jordanian state media reported, in another sign that the countrys war is winding down, Trend reports referring to Al Arabiya. Their mission was to examine technical issues around the possibility of Jordanian commercial flights resuming their use of Syrian airspace, said Haitham Mistu, the head of Jordans civil aviation authority. Before the conflict broke out in 2011, national carrier Royal Jordanian operated two flights a day to Syria one to Damascus and one to the northern city of Aleppo. In July 2012, it suspended the services as an anti-government uprising escalated into full-blown war, placing air traffic at risk. But Mistu told Jordans official Petra news agency that Wednesdays meetings were part of a risk assessment program, to be followed by a technical evaluation. Based on that evaluation, the appropriate technical decision will be taken, he said, without giving any timeframe. The meeting was the latest in a series of moves by Arab states to rebuild ties with the Syrian regime as the countrys devastating civil war draws to a close. The deputy chair of North Korean Workers' Party's central committee, Kim Yong Chol, who recently returned from the United States where he held high-level talks, handed US President Donald Trump's letter over to North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, Trend reported citing Sputnik. The statement comes after Trump held talks at the White House with visiting the North Korean vice chairman on bilateral relations and denuclearization. Having received Trump's letter, Kim expressed great satisfaction, the Korean Central News Agency reported. Kim also praised Trump's interest in holding the second North Korea-US summit, according to the news agency. Last week, Mike Pence said that Donald Trump feels optimistic about his next meeting with the North Korean leader and expects real progress on denuclearization. On June 12, 2018, Trump and Kim held their first meeting in Singapore, where a peaceful solution to the nuclear crisis on the Korean Peninsula was discussed. The US Treasury Department imposed sanctions on a company registered in Armenia, which acted as the main sales agent for Iranian Mahan Air airline in Armenia, Trend reports citing Armenian media. According to the press service of the department, Armenia based Flight Travel LLC acted on behalf of Mahan Air and fail to heed our warnings expose themselves to severe sanctions risk. Iran's Ambassador to Russia Mehdi Sanaie and Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Pankin in Moscow on Thursday discussed Tehran-Moscow economic cooperation at bilateral and regional levels, Trend reports citing IRNA. Based on Russian Customs statistics, Iran-Russia trade volume showed 28.3 percent growth in the first half of 2018, standing at $945.181 million. In the first half of 2018, Iran reserved the rank of 47 in the list of countries with which Russia had a trade which cannot be regarded an adequate position given extensive level of cooperation between the two countries internationally and in the fields of security and politics. Sanaie has over the past five years made lots of efforts to improve bilateral economic relations to remedy the backdown. The ball is now in the courtyard of the two countries' private sector and businesspersons to use opportunities available and help their officials to have the best advantage of the efforts. Ashgabat, Turkmenistan, Jan. 24 By Huseyn Hasanov Trend: Turkmenistans Turkmengas State Concern intends to participate in the Petrotech-2019 International Oil and Gas Conference and Exhibition, to be held in New Delhi, India on February 10-12, Trend reports referring to the state concern. This issue was discussed during the recent governmental meeting. Turkmen President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov instructed to organize a large-scale exposition designed to demonstrate the achievements and potential of the domestic fuel and energy complex at a high level. Such exhibitions are important, primarily in terms of sharing experience, attracting investments and new technologies, establishing direct business contacts with the world leading financial, oil and gas companies. At the national exposition stand the participants of the exhibition will be able to see the prospects of developing the country's oil and gas industry, big investment projects which are under implementation, including the construction of the Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India (TAPI) gas pipeline. Ashgabat, Turkmenistan, Jan. 24 By Huseyn Hasanov Trend: Turkmen President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov has demanded to keep under constant control the implementation of major investment projects designed to strengthen the countrys position in international energy markets, Trend reports with reference to the Turkmenistan State News Agency. The presidential appeal was addressed to Head of the Turkmengas State Concern Myrat Archayev after the report on the construction progress of the Turkmen section of the Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India (TAPI) gas pipeline. The Turkmen president reiterated that the effective use of the rich natural resources available in Turkmenistan is an essential condition for the successful implementation of large-scale programs in the country aimed at ensuring the dynamic growth of the national economy and improving the welfare of the population. According to the BP report, Turkmenistan with its natural gas reserves ranks fourth in the world and presently, the country exports gas to China and Iran. At the same time, Russia, a traditional buyer, completely stopped to buy Turkmen gas in 2016. One of the important international energy projects involving Turkmenistan is the Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India gas pipeline (TAPI). Construction of TAPI was launched in December 2015, while the Afghan section - in February 2018. Pakistan plans to start the work on its pipeline section this year. Turkmen gas is expected to be supplied through TAPI in 2020. The total length of the pipeline with a capacity of 33 billion cubic meters of gas per year will be 1,840 kilometers reaching the settlement of Fazilka on the border with India. Being the leader of the international consortium TAPI Pipeline Company Limited, "Turkmengas" - having a controlling stake - performs the functions of the main financier and manager of the project. The consortium also includes the Afghan Gas Corporation, Pakistans Inter State Gas Systems (Private) Limited Company and Indias GAIL Company. New samples of uniform for officers of internal affairs agencies of Tajikistan will be made ready by March 1, Major-General Farodbek Shodmonzoda, National Coordinator for Police Reform, told Asia-Plus in an interview, Trend reports referring to news.tj. According to him, the new samples of police uniform will be submitted for consideration to President Emomali Rahmon in early March. If the President approves new uniform, first of all traffic police officers, district police officers and Patrol-Guard Service officers will be provided with new uniform, Shodmonzoda said. Besides, Tajik law enforces are expected to be renamed from militsiya (militia) to politsiya (police). Tajik police reform is a reform aimed at improving the efficiency of Tajikistans police forces, The Police Reform Strategy in Tajikistan (Strategy) is a document, which defines the state policy on combating crime. It reflects the actions that will be implemented by the Government of Tajikistan in a mid-term on police reforming and development of Tajikistan. The Strategy has been developed by national experts in cooperation with the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) Office in Tajikistan based on the Joint Needs Assessment of the Ministry of Internal Affairs (MIA) of Tajikistan, carried out by the OSCE assessment team in 2008, as well as based on the Police Reform Assessment workshop, conducted from November 9 to 20, 2009. The Strategy is aimed at the identification of goals, priorities and measures on Police Reforming and Development, the implementation of which facilitates the solution of crucial tasks of socio-economic development of Tajikistan in the modern era. The Strategy represents a completely new approach to developing of internal affairs agencies of Tajikistan, taking into consideration the world practice on development and implementation of similar strategic documents, lessons and conclusions of past phases of Police Development, as well as the current realities and perspectives of its development. The Strategy is implemented in accordance with the Program (Strategy) of Police Development Perspectives, with the participation of the following stakeholders: the Government of the Republic of Tajikistan, internal affairs agencies, civil society institutes, the population of Tajikistan, and international organizations with donor-states. The Strategy takes into account and envisages the reforms, occurring in the key areas of the society and the state vital activity. Since 2010, Kyrgyzstan has signed 95 contracts for financial assistance, 84 percent of which were loans. An expert Elmira Imanalieva told today at a round table discussion, Trend reports referring to 24.kg. According to her, 40 percent is assistance from international organizations, 60 percent assistance provided by foreign countries. The main donors are Russia, China, Japan and the European Union. Deputy of Parliament Baktybek Turusbekov added that over the years of independence, Kyrgyzstan has received $ 9.8 billion. About 24.9 percent was spent on transport infrastructure, 21.7 percent on power industry, 5.4 percent on the social sector, 3.6 percent on agriculture. Baku, Azerbaijan, Jan. 24 By Ilhama Isabalayeva - Trend: In 2018, 2,849,600 tourists from 196 countries arrived in Azerbaijan, or this number is 5.7 percent more compared to 2017, Trend reports referring to the State Statistics Committee of Azerbaijan. Percentage of visitors by country of origin: Country Percent Russia 30.9 Georgia 21.4 Turkey 10.2 Iran 8.5 UAE 3.3 Saudi Arabia 2.6 Iraq 2.4 Ukraine 2 Israel 1.4 Other countries 17.2 Persons without citizenship 0.1 Men accounted for 66.1 percent of those who arrived in Azerbaijan, while women accounted for only 33.9 percent. Percentage of tourists by months: Months Percent January 6.5 February 5.8 March 9.7 April 7.7 May 7.3 June 9.5 July 11.6 August 11.3 September 8.1 October 7.4 November 7.5 December 7.6 In 2018, the largest increase in the number of incoming tourists was observed among the citizens of the Gulf countries (except for the UAE and Iran). Compared to 2017, the number of Saudi citizens who arrived in Azerbaijan increased 2.2 times and the number of Bahraini tourists doubled. Increase was also observed among Kuwaiti (1.8 times), Qatari (1.6) times, Iraqi (7.9 percent), Omani (7.4 percent) tourists. On the other hand, the number of arriving Iranian and Emirati tourists decreased by 33.7 and 8.3 percent, respectively. In general, 554,100 people arrived from the Gulf countries, and almost every fifth person who visited Azerbaijan in 2018 was a citizen of these countries. Compared to 2017, the number of tourists from India increased by 2.7 times, Israel - by 2.6 times, Egypt, Turkmenistan and South Korea - by 1.7 times each and from China - by 1.5 times. As for the EU citizens, in 2018 their number increased by 6.7 percent to 112,500 people, while the number of the citizens of CIS countries went up by 3.8 percent and reached 1,044,200 people. Rail and road transport were used by 57.5 percent of those who arrived in Azerbaijan in 2018, while 41.5 percent opted for air transport and only 1 percent arrived by water transport. Baku, Azerbaijan, Jan. 24 By Rashid Shirinov Trend: In the summer of this year, direct flights to Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt, will be launched from Kazakhstans Petropavl airport, Trend reports referring to the Kazakh media. "Petropavl airport together with SCAT Airlines and a local travel company have addressed the issue of opening a flight to Sharm El Sheikh for the period from July to September. I hope that we will be able to attract the border regions", said Vladimir Balakhontsev, the Chief of the Roads and Passenger Transport Department of the North Kazakhstan region. Presently, flights to Astana, Almaty and Shymkent are carried out from the Petropavl airport. The airport Director Marat Khasenov noted that flights to Almaty are almost full, and many people fly to Shymkent, and flights to Astana have become more popular. It is expected that the flow of passengers will increase in the summer. "It is necessary to increase the number of flights. The price is attractive and the aircraft occupancy is good. We need to strengthen this work. We are ready to transfer the airport under the management of companies, foreign investors," Governor of the region Kumar Aksakalov said. --- Follow the author on Twitter: @ShirinovRashid Baku, Azerbaijan, Jan. 24 By Taleh Mursagulov Trend: BP is just in the process of bringing on the next four wells in the second cluster as part of the development of the Azerbaijani Shah Deniz Stage 2 gas condensate field, Gary Jones, BPs regional president for Azerbaijan, Georgia and Turkey, said in an interview with Energy Intelligence on Jan. 24. So, there's various stages of additional gas coming through to ramp up, eventually into an additional 16 Bcm per annum, he said. The initial Shah Deniz output was about 10 Bcm per year, Jones said. Once Shah Deniz 2 is fully on, with all four clusters, we will then get an additional 16 Bcm/yr, so there will be 26 Bcm/yr of Shah Deniz capacity of which 10 Bcm/yr will eventually end up in southern Europe. We'll continue ramping up the gas due to go to Turkey, he said. There's a ramp-up schedule that goes through the next few years, building up the sales to Turkey, Jones said. We've got six wells on at the moment. We'll have another two on in February, I would think, so that'll be eight wells on, and there are 26 wells for Shah Deniz 2, a good proportion of which have already been drilled, so that gives you an idea of where we are. There is some exploration activity on Shah Deniz, he said. There is the Shah Deniz Deep prospect that we will drill in 2020. So that could open up more options for gas, especially now that we've got the infrastructure in place. Shah Deniz 2 is the starting point of the new Southern Gas Corridor, which will deliver Caspian resources directly to European gas markets for the first time. At plateau, the project is expected to add 16 billion cubic meters of gas per year (bcma) to the existing production. Total production from the Shah Deniz field will be up to 26 bcma of gas and up to 120,000 barrels of condensate a day. The contract for the development of the Shah Deniz offshore field was signed on June 4, 1996. The contract for the development of Shah Deniz field was extended from 2036 to 2048, while the shares of SOCAR and BP (project operator) in the project increased up to 16.7 percent and 28.8 percent, respectively, in accordance with the documents signed on December 17, 2013 in Baku. Share distribution among the parties to the agreement: BP (operator) -28.8 percent, AzSD - 10 percent, SGC Upstream - 6.7 percent, Petronas - 15.5 percent, Lukoil - 10 percent, NICO - 10 percent and TPAO -19 percent. The proved reserves of the field reach 1.2 trillion cubic meters of gas and 240 million tons of condensate. --- Follow the author on Twitter: @TalehMursagulov Ashgabat, Turkmenistan, Jan. 24 By Huseyn Hasanov Trend: Turkmenistan's Minister of Energy Charymyrat Purchekov presented the report on the implementation of the project for the construction of the Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan power transmission line to Turkmen President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov, Trend reports referring to the Turkmenistan TV channel. In his report Purchekov said that the construction is being carried out according to the plan. While addressing the minister via a video-conference, President Berdimuhamedov ordered to keep under strict control the terms and quality of the conducted work. The president stressed that the implementation of this project will further increase the export of Turkmen electricity, primarily to Afghanistan, where new jobs will be created as a result of the formation of the corresponding infrastructure. Earlier, a memorandum of understanding on cooperation in the implementation of this project was signed with Turkish Calik Holding A.S. to develop a legal basis for regional partnership for the construction of a 500-kilovolt transmission line along the Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India (TAPI) gas pipeline. At the same time, an agreement on the Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan power transmission line was signed between the governments of the countries participating in the project. Previously it was reported that the total volume of electricity generated in Turkmenistan by 2024 is planned to increase up to 33 billion kilowatt-hours, which is 27.2 percent more compared to the plans for 2018. Turkmenistan sells electricity to Afghanistan and Iran. Baku, Azerbaijan, Jan.24 By Leman Zeynalova Trend: Azerbaijan will be able to increase gas supplies to the Balkans, Trend reports citing Azerbaijans Ambassador to Bulgaria Nargiz Gurbanova. She noted that Balkan Gas Hub is of strategic importance not only for Bulgaria, but for the entire Balkan region and opens up opportunities for Azerbaijan to optimize its gas supplies. We expect that in the coming 5 to 10 years we will be able to export significant volumes of gas to other countries, she told The World is Business on Bloomberg TV. Gurbanova pointed out that the role of Bulgaria is not only an end-user, but also a reliable transit country and Azerbaijan is able to optimize the supply of gas not only to Bulgaria but to the whole region. Bulgaria expects to receive Azerbaijani gas through the Interconnector Greece-Bulgaria (IGB), a gas pipeline that will be connected to the Trans Adriatic Pipeline (TAP). IGB is a gas pipeline, which will allow Bulgaria to receive Azerbaijani gas, in particular, the gas produced from Azerbaijan's Shah Deniz 2 gas and condensate field. IGB is expected to be connected to TAP via which gas from the Shah Deniz field will be delivered to the European markets. The initial capacity of IGB will be 3 billion cubic meters of gas. --- Follow the author on Twitter: @Lyaman_Zeyn Baku, Azerbaijan, Jan. 24 By Sara Israfilbayova - Trend: Brexit will not affect trade and economic relations between Great Britain and Azerbaijan, Carole Crofts, the Ambassador of Great Britain to Azerbaijan, told Trend. She said the economic ties between the states are expanding, adding that work is being carried out to strengthen cooperation in such areas of the non-oil sector as agriculture, tourism, IT etc. "We have the next meeting of UK-Azerbaijan Joint Intergovernmental Commission in April, during which we will have many discussions on how we can cooperate and decide in which sectors the support might be needed," Crofts noted. The ambassador underlined that the UK is ready to cooperate with Azerbaijan in the financial sector and help the country to become a financial center of the region. "We have a wonderful Trade Envoy - Baroness Emma Nicholson, who will be in Baku on February 20 at the meeting of the Advisory Council of the Southern Gas Corridor. She will hold discussions on cooperation in this area," Crofts explained. So far, the UK has invested over $27 billion in the economy of Azerbaijan. The sides have signed about 15 bilateral agreements so far. Trade turnover between Azerbaijan and Great Britain stood at $525.2 million in 2018, according to the State Customs Committee of Azerbaijan. Around $261.4 million of this amount accounted for the export of Azerbaijani products. The trade turnover between the two countries increased by 46.5 percent as compared to the same period of 2017. Brexit is the impending withdrawal of the UK from the EU. It follows a referendum of June 23, 2016 when 51.9 percent of voters supported withdrawal. The UK will leave the EU on March 29, 2019. Last week, the British parliament rejected the draft agreement proposed by Prime Minister Theresa May, which she had previously agreed with the EU and her own cabinet of ministers. The agreement was criticized by both supporters of the tough Brexit and those who demanded a repeated referendum on EU membership and preservation of unity with Europe. --- Follow the author on Twitter: @IsrafilbekovaS Baku, Azerbaijan, January 24 Trend: JLL and Ajlan & Bros Holding companies from Saudi Arabia are planning to build a hotel chain in Uzbek regions, Trend reports via Podrobno.uz. State Tourism Committee underlined that currently companies have begun the preparation of a business plan to build 3, 4 and 5-star hotels in Bukhara, Samarkand and Khiva. JLL is a financial and integrated professional real estate services company. It is Included in the list of the largest companies in the world Fortune 500 with annual turnover of $6 billion. JLL has more than 280 corporate offices in 80 countries around the world and more than 60,000 employees. Ajlan & Brothers Group is famous for the production of men's hats and finished fabrics. It manufactures most of its products in its own factories which are then sold to wholesalers and retailers in Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Qatar and Kuwait. Ajlan & Brothers Group has opened 45 branches and 200 outlets in Saudi Arabia and the Arab States of the Persian Gulf since 1979. Uzbekistan will introduce a law in the near future where the state will reimburse investors for part of the cost of building hotels. The state budget will compensate the investor's expenses on the condition that the hotel was put into operation before January 1, 2022, with a number of rooms of at least 50 rooms for the 3-star category and at least 100 rooms for the 4-star category. Baku, Azerbaijan, Jan. 24 By Taleh Mursagulov Trend: A working group of the Azerbaijan-Israel intergovernmental commission for economic cooperation is in Israel to discuss the prospects for cooperation in industry, tourism and education, Lev Spivak, head of the Israel-Azerbaijan International Association AzIz, told Trend on Jan. 24. The visit will continue until Jan. 25. The working group includes the representatives of the Azerbaijani Ministry of Taxes, Ministry of Economy, the National Academy of Sciences of Azerbaijan, the Azerbaijan State Oil and Industry University, the Azerbaijani-French University, the Baku International Sea Port and the Sumgait Chemical Industrial Park. The Azerbaijani delegation got acquainted with the Port of Haifa, industrial zones, universities (including the Israel Institute of Technology) and the country's opportunities in tourism sector during the visit, Spivak said. During the visit, the delegation also visited one of the northernmost cities of Israel, Ma'alot-Tarshiha. In the recent municipal elections, Arkady Pomeranets, who was born in Baku, became the mayor of Ma'alot-Tarshiha. Besides the mayor, the guests were welcomed by Spivak, deputy mayor of Ma'alot-Tarshiha Hemed Naim, member of the city council Nahle Tanus, member of the city council Shimon Biton, director general of the municipality Amit Levin, heads of divisions and departments of the municipality and public representatives. During the meeting, the opportunities for further mutually beneficial cooperation in preschool education and higher education, tourism and industry were discussed. The intergovernmental commission was established in December 2016. From the Azerbaijani side, the commission is headed by Minister of Taxes Mikayil Jabbarov, while from the Israeli side by Minister of Ecology, Minister of Jerusalem Affairs and Heritage Elkin Zeev. The first meeting of the intergovernmental commission was held in May 2018 in Jerusalem. According to the Azerbaijani State Customs Committee, trade turnover between Azerbaijan and Israel amounted to $1.3 billion in 2018. Almost the entire trade turnover accounted for the export of Azerbaijani products. The trade turnover between the countries has almost doubled for the year. --- Follow the author on Twitter: @TalehMursagulov Baku, Azerbaijan, Jan. 24 By Taleh Mursagulov Trend: The manufacture of Belarusian electrobuses, buses and combine harvesters will be launched in Azerbaijan, Ganja Automobile Plan told Trend. The agreement was signed during a visit to Belarus by Niyazi Bayramov, Head of Ganja Executive Power, and Khanlar Fatiev, Chairman of the Supervisory Board of the Ganja Automobile Plant. In particular, the parties signed agreements on beginning the assembly of buses of the Minsk Automobile Plant (MAZ), the supply of component electric buses produced by OJSC Holding management company Belkommunmash and the components for combines produced at the Gomselmash factory. Ganja Automobile Plan is the largest assembly plant of Belarusian tractors outside the Eurasian Economic Union (EEU). The Belarus tractors and various special equipment of the MAZ brand are assembled at the plant. As reported earlier, an assembly line of Belarusian-Azerbaijani tractors is planned to be launched during the first quarter of 2019 in Turkey. Up to 5,000 units of tractors are planned to be manufactured in Turkey. The design capacity that will be implemented during the initial stage will be up to 2,500. Baku, Azerbaijan, Jan. 24 By Rashid Shirinov Trend: The external trade turnover of the Karaganda region of Kazakhstan amounted to $4.27 billion in 2018, which is an increase of 7 percent compared to 2017, the Economy Department of the region told Trend. "In particular, the export of goods amounted to $3.46 billion (1.5 percent up year-on-year), and imports totaled $812.1 million (40 percent up). The balance of external trade turnover was positive $2.65 billion," said the department. According to the preliminary results of 2018, as many as 269 projects in trade, services and tourism were implemented in the Karaganda region last year, 8 billion tenge were invested, and 1,247 jobs were created. In 2019, it is planned to launch 149 projects. To support entrepreneurs, programs such as the state program on support to business development Business Roadmap 2020 and the State Program of Productive Employment and Mass Entrepreneurship are being implemented in the region. The Economy Department of the Karaganda region also noted that the regions budget expenditure amounted to 307.8 billion tenge in 2018. "The regions 2019 budget is 236.4 billion tenge. These expenses are aimed at the development of the social sphere, transport infrastructure, development of the agro-industrial complex, housing and communal services," the Department informed. (378.14 KZT = 1 USD on Jan. 23) --- Follow the author on Twitter: @ShirinovRashid Baku, Azerbaijan, January 24 Trend: Uzbek Ambassador to Benelux countries, Dilyor Khakimov held a meeting in Rotterdam (Netherlands) with the leadership of IRO (Association of Dutch Suppliers in the Oil and Gas Industry and Offshore Renewable Industry), Trend reports via UzDaily. During the meeting, the head of diplomatic mission shared information on the modern development of the oil and gas industry in Uzbekistan with IRO Managing Director Sander Vergroesen and Business Development Manager Tjerk Suurenbroek. Khakimov stated that 242 deposits are successfully operating in Uzbekistan out of which 110 were discovered during the years of independence including 15 in cooperation with foreign investors. Nowadays, such large companies as Lukoil and Gazprom (Russia), Petronas (Malaysia), CNODC (PRC), KNOC (Korea) and others are represented in Uzbekistan. IRO representatives expressed readiness to establish contacts with JSC Uzbekneftegaz and promote the energy potential of Uzbekistan among the members of Association. In general, representatives of IRO confirmed their interest in organizing the visit of member companies of association to Uzbekistan to exchange views on the prospects for implementation of projects in the energy sector. Sander Vergroesen invited the relevant structures and companies of Uzbekistan to take part in the next IRO meeting which will be held in Rotterdam in October this year. Baku, Azerbaijan, Jan. 24 By Huseyn Valiyev - Trend: Low productive quality of breeding chickens grown in Azerbaijan are the main reason for poultry farms to import them, founder of Zagatala Broyler LLC Mahammad Mammadov told Trend. He said that broiler chickens and an incubation egg ROSS 308 have qualitative indicators of early maturing breeds, which have the potential for rapid weight gain. The rights for their distribution belong to the Aviagen company, which supplies its products to more than 100 countries, he noted. These broilers have a huge reserve of rapid weight gain. Unfortunately, local breeding chickens and eggs grown in Azerbaijan dont have such high indicators. We experience great difficulties here. For this reason, we have to import them from Georgia. It is necessary to hold symposia, specialized seminars and round table meetings with the participation of all interested parties to discuss and solve important problems in this industry, Mammadov says. The company earlier said that the volumes of poultry production partially cover domestic demand, and the company intends to increase the share of chicken imports in order to expand the broiler poultry production. In recent years, the company has increased the import of breeding chickens about five times. In 2017, the company imported about 100,000 chickens, while in 2018, this figure reached 120,000 chickens. --- Follow the author on Twitter: @h_veliyev Baku, Azerbaijan, Jan. 24 By Sara Israfilbayova - Trend: In 2019, Baku Shipyard LLC plans to commission two oil tankers with carrying capacity of about 8,000 tons and two RoPax vessels being built by order of Azerbaijan Caspian Shipping Company (ASCO), a source at the factory told Trend. It is assumed that these vessels will be able to transport railcars and trucks, and will operate between the countries of the Caspian Sea. The negotiations are underway with ASCO to conclude a new contract for the construction of new oil tankers. "During this year, cooperation with ASCO CJSC will continue, and contracts will be signed for the construction of new vessels, such as a 100-ton crane lifting vessel, a 50-ton crane lifting vessel DP1, a 50-ton pontoon ferry, 120-ton anchor handling tug supply vessel and oil tankers," the source said. An important task for the near future is the development of technical capabilities of the engineering department to the required level of implementing the detailed construction design, according to the source. Baku Shipyard is also in talks with shipping companies of Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan. "The Caspian region is a dynamically developing and promising area of cooperation among the five Caspian littoral states," the source noted. "In this regard, the factory is actively exploring the market and conducting search for companies to cooperate with the Caspian littoral states." Baku Shipyard LLC has been operating since September 2013. The factory has been designed for the construction of a wide range of specialized and commercial vessels, including multi-purpose naval vessels such as platform supply vessels, as well as tankers and cargo vessels. The conditions for ship repair have also been created at the enterprise. Azerbaijan Caspian Shipping Closed Joint-Stock Company plays connecting role in the Transport Corridor Europe-Caucasus-Asia (TRACECA), provides marine transportation of goods and passengers along with Trans-Caspian Sea as well as provides offshore support services for oil and gas operations. The merchant fleet consists of 51 vessels: 20 tankers, 13 ferries, 15 universal dry-cargo, 2 Ro-Ro ships as well as 1 auxiliary vessel and 1 floating workshop. The offshore support fleet is comprised of 210 vessels: 20 crane vessels, 25 supply and tug vessels, 26 passenger ships, 2 pipelay barges, 6 firefighting vessels, 7 geological survey vessels, 2 diving support vessels, and 88 other support vessels. --- Follow the author on Twitter: @IsrafilbekovaS memoriesarecaptured/iStock(WASHINGTON) -- Five former Homeland Security secretaries sent a letter to President Donald Trump and members of Congress Wednesday, on day 33 of the partial government shutdown, urging funding for the department. Former DHS secretaries Tom Ridge, Michael Chertoff, Janet Napolitano, Jeh Johnson and John Kelly, who is also the president's former chief of staff, signed the letter. They wrote that Homeland Security is no different than the Defense Department in that they work hand in hand to keep the nation safe. The department is responsible for funding agencies like the U.S. Coast Guard, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and Customs and Border Protection. "This is unconscionable." "While we are heartened to learn that communities, businesses and religious organizations around the country are providing assistance to DHS employees, this cannot and should not be the answer," the secretaries wrote. The group said that the department risks losing talented men and women, but shouldn't rely on charity from others. They also pointed out that members of the Coast Guard, by law, cannot quit or seek full-time, outside employment. "This is unconscionable," they wrote. The Senate is scheduled to hold its first votes on bills to end the government shutdown since December when the budget first ran out without a compromise reached and federal doors began to close. But the proposals -- one from Democrats and one from Republicans -- were not expected to pass. The two sides remain at a political impasse. "We call on our elected leaders to restore the funding necessary to ensure our homeland remains safe and that the Departments critical national security functions continue without compromise," the secretaries wrote. Copyright 2019, ABC Radio. All rights reserved. Baku, Azerbaijan, Jan. 24 Trend: Baku Higher Oil School (BHOS) hosted a workshop entitled New generations and the new world of learning. It was conducted with financial and organizational support from SOCAR Turkey company for the Higher School professors, teachers and administration staff members. The workshop was also attended by a group of the company representatives led by Head of HR, Group Director at SOCAR Turkey Sibel Ugur. Opening the gathering, BHOS Rector Elmar Gasimov expressed his gratitude to the SOCAR Turkey management and to Sibel Ugur personally for the continuous support and the assistance in organizing the workshop. In her turn, SOCAR Turkey HR Director spoke about fruitful cooperation between BHOS and the company. Sibel Ugur emphasized that this workshop should contribute to make the teaching process more effective and more attractive for the young generation. The presentation on the workshop subject was conducted be well-known Turkish expert Evrim Kuran. The speaker highlighted, among others, relations between teaching and learning generations at work place; the role of training in developing expertise in a world, which experiences rising levels of skills shortage; and new paradigms of learning for new generations. Special attention was paid to digital context in relation to how Generations Y and Z learn; motivation, appraisals and feedbacks at the workplace for Generation Y; and readiness of the society for Generation Z. The presentation was followed by a discussion, exchange of views, and question and answer session. Evrim Kuran has worked with many local and global employer brands in various industries. She co-founded Dinamo Consulting in 2006 and has been working on generational studies and employer branding ever since. She is the Middle East Director of Universum, the worlds leading employer branding research and consulting company. Evrim Kuran is also the creator and the curator of the regions biggest employer branding conference, People Make the Brand since 2013, and the author of the book Telgraftan Tablete (From Telegram to Tablet). Baku, Azerbaijan, Jan.24 By Leman Zeynalova Trend: Britains first use of an unexplained wealth order in October against Zamira Hajiyeva, the wife of the former head of the International Bank of Azerbaijan Jahangir Hajiyev, revealed that she had arrived in the UK on an investor visa in 2010, Trend reports citing the UK media. And on Jan.23, the European Commission said that programs of some member states to sell passports and visas to wealthy foreigners could help criminal groups infiltrate the bloc and raise the risk of money laundering, corruption, and tax evasion, according to Reuters. Britain issued 1,172 investor visas in 2014, when applicants were subject to no background checks. That number dropped to 192 in the following year, after the introduction of basic screening. And there is anecdotal evidence of golden visa beneficiaries with colourful pasts. Britains first use of an unexplained wealth order in October against Zamira Hajiyeva, the wife of an Azerbaijani banker jailed for corruption, revealed that she had arrived in the UK on an investor visa in 2010, according to the report. Zamira Hajiyeva became the first person to be served a UWO by the National Crime Agency in 2018. The UWO means she has to explain the origin of her fortune. Hajiyeva was demanded to submit a declaration for a villa worth 25 million, but she could not provide information. As a result, the property was confiscated by a court decision. Later it was revealed at Westminster Magistrates Court in London that Hajiyeva was arrested by officers from the Metropolitan Police acting on an extradition request from the authorities in the Azerbaijan capital, Baku. Soon after that she was freed on bail. --- Follow the author on Twitter: @Lyaman_Zeyn Baku, Azerbaijan, Jan. 24 By Leman Zeynalova Trend: It is very difficult to overestimate Turkeys role in the fight against terrorism, Vice-President of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE), Chairman of the Committee for International and Interparliamentary Relations of the Azerbaijani Parliament, Head of Azerbaijans Delegation to PACE Samad Seyidov said, Trend reports. Seyidov was commenting on a report at the PACE winter session in Strasbourg, France, in connection with the situation related to opposition politicians in Turkey. Today, the world is becoming safer and more stable thanks to the enormous efforts of the international community aimed at fighting the "Islamic State" and other terrorist organizations, he said. "The role we may play in this fight is enormous," Seyidov added. "It is very difficult to overestimate Turkeys role in this fight." Turkey not only spent billions of dollars to fight terrorism and help victims of terrorism, he said. Turkey not only hosted and resettled millions of refugees from Syria and Iraq. Turkey sacrificed the lives of its sons, its daughters for the sake of peace in the region. Instead of expressing gratitude to Turkey, some politicians, some so-called politicians, if I can say so, are doing their best to help those who kill us. I have a question, Seyidov said. What poses a big danger? What poses a big threat? Those who are trying to kill us using Kalashnikov rifles, or those who are trying to do everything possible to support those who are trying to kill us? There is a group of people who try to position themselves as politicians, using a certain set of immunities, privileges, mandates, but in fact, they are equal before the law, he said. If anyone stands for terrorism, if anyone openly calls for supporting violence, then they cannot remain real politicians, because politicians are those who are trying to represent the interests of their countries, their nations, Seyidov said. But these people are looking for something different. We must answer the question. Who do we support? Those who are trying to change the world or those who are trying to protect democracy, the world and Turkey? And if we cannot support Turkey, let us at least voice our position for the sake of maintaining European values, because those who are now trying to position themselves as politicians will return to your government, he said. They are doing everything possible to take your powers, your authority in the European Parliament, and they will create even more problems for you in your Europe. The PACE winter session will continue until Jan. 25. Azerbaijan's delegation headed by Chairman of the Parliamentary Committee for International and Inter-Parliamentary Ties Samad Seyidov included Head of the Committee for Culture Rafael Huseynov, MPs Sabir Hajiyev, Ganira Pashayeva, Ulviya Aghayeva, Sevinj Fataliyeva, Elshad Hasanov, Fazil Mustafa, Asim Mollazade, Chingiz Ganizade, Sahiba Gafarova and Nagif Hamzayev. --- Follow the author on Twitter: @Lyaman_Zeyn Baku, Azerbaijan, Jan. 24 By Elchin Mehdiyev Trend: The meetings of the heads of dozens of prestigious companies with Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev at the World Economic Forum in Davos are directly related to the favourable conditions for making investments in Azerbaijan, chairperson of the Nizami regional branch of the New Azerbaijan Party, MP Sadagat Valiyeva told Trend. After national leader Heydar Aliyev, who came to power in 1993, persuaded big transnational energy companies to invest in the Azerbaijani oil and gas sector, a new period began in the country, she added. After signing the "Contract of the Century" with big energy companies of the UK, the US, European countries and other countries in 1994, the stage of abrupt development of the oil and gas sector, considered to be the engine of the Azerbaijani economy, began, Valiyeva said. She said that over the past period, BP and other transnational energy companies worked effectively in Azerbaijan and investments were made in the country's economy. It was impossible to imagine that the time will come and Azerbaijan will play a significant role in the energy security of the European continent, Valiyeva said. "Today Azerbaijan through such transnational projects as Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan, Baku-Tbilisi-Erzurum, TANAP and TAP ensures effective cooperation of many countries and regions and also contributes to the preservation and strengthening of security," she said. Valiyeva stressed that Azerbaijan now has the status of a partner in the world, which has gained big confidence. "Holding the meetings by the heads of dozens of companies with President Aliyev in Davos are directly related to the stability, security and favourable conditions for making investments in our country, she said. The investments worth about $250 billion were made in the Azerbaijani economy. I think that the number of companies willing to invest in Azerbaijan in both the energy and other sectors will increase in the future and this number will increase by many times," Valiyeva said. Baku, Azerbaijan, Jan.24 By Leman Zeynalova Trend: If the Russian-Armenian relationship continues to fray, other powers, including the United States, Iran and Turkey, could make inroads in the Caucasus country and weaken Russia's position, Trend reports citing a material published by the US geopolitical intelligence platform Stratfor. This, in turn, could force Russia to focus more on bolstering ties with one of Armenia's biggest nemeses, Azerbaijan, Stratfor analysts believe. Tight ties between Armenia and Russia have long been a mainstay in the Caucasus, but rising tensions between Yerevan and Moscow could significantly undermine their relationship. The tensions especially threaten Armenia's military ties with Russia, although they could also impact natural gas flows between the countries. The authors point out that recent political shifts in Armenia have thrown the traditionally strong relationship between Yerevan and Moscow into question raising the possibility that other powers near and far could step in to fill any breach. The analytics reads that security matters have added to the tension between the countries. During a visit to Yerevan in October 2018, US national security adviser John Bolton said the United States would consider the possibility of selling weapons to Armenia. Pashinyan, meanwhile, told Bolton that Yerevan was open to discussing an arms deal. The Kremlin already supplies certain weapons to Azerbaijan, but Russia could certainly ramp up such support if Armenia actually purchased US arms. Further, the analysts note that disagreements are also brewing in other traditionally strong areas of Russian-Armenian cooperation, including the energy sector. Following recent negotiations over natural gas, Russia increased the price from $150 per thousand cubic meters (tcm) in 2018 to $165 per tcm in 2019, disappointing Armenian officials who had previously expressed hope that Russia would actually lower the cost of natural gas. Pashinyan subsequently indicated his interest in expanding natural gas imports from Iran, noting that his government would do its best to defend the country's interests. Nevertheless, Stratfor analysts believe that in the end, Armenia's continued dependence on Russia for security support and its nonexistent relations with both Azerbaijan and Turkey due to Nagorno-Karabakh means Yerevan is unlikely to make any sudden moves to end its strategic alliance with Russia. Follow the author on Twitter: @Lyaman_Zeyn Baku, Azerbaijan, Jan. 24 Elchin Mehdiyev - Trend: The importance attached to Azerbaijan at the international level is a result of the successful domestic and foreign policy of the country, a member of the Political Council of the New Azerbaijan Party, chief editor of the Iki Sahil newspaper Vugar Rahimzade said, Trend reports on Jan. 24. Azerbaijan, known as the initiator of projects aimed at peace and security in the region and the world, has created a new, completely different model of development, Rahimzade said. "The important reforms being carried out in the country, work towards the creation of flexible governance mechanisms are the main elements of this development model. Azerbaijan closely cooperates with European countries, as well as with international organizations. In this regard, it is worth emphasizing the working visit of President Ilham Aliyev to attend the annual World Economic Forum in Davos," Rahimzade said. Rahimzade noted that during his visit to Davos, the Azerbaijani president met with the head of the World Economic Forum, which indicates a high level of relations between the organization and the country. During the meeting, the head of the Forum, Borge Brende, in particular, noted that the economic cooperation of Azerbaijan with neighboring countries and states of the region plays a significant role in the development of the region as a whole, and the World Economic Forum highly values this role. Meetings were also held with leaders of reputable global companies and discussions held open up opportunities for establishing new cooperation, Rahimzade said. "Today, Azerbaijan is quite an attractive country for foreign companies in terms of investment. It is no coincidence that there are hundreds of companies in Azerbaijan, representing many foreign countries. Using the favorable conditions in the country for doing business, they take part in long-term and promising projects. There is no doubt that the meetings of the Azerbaijani president in the framework of the forum with the leaders of BP, Microsoft, Total, Lukoil and other companies, with the Executive Director of the World Bank also matter in terms of further strengthening existing ties and discussing new opportunities," he added. He noted that among the meetings held during the forum, the informal meeting between the Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and the Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan should be especially noted. "The Azerbaijani president, in all his speeches, at international stands, states that Nagorno-Karabakh is an integral part of Azerbaijan, and Armenia should immediately withdraw from our lands. Azerbaijan's position is flat and unchanged," Rahimzade said. Rahimzade noted that the leadership of the invader Armenia has realized that they have no other choice but to stop the occupation the lands. "In this regard, the informal meeting of the Azerbaijani president with the Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, the negotiations on the settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict indicate positive trends, and allow to look to the future with optimism," the chief editor said. Baku, Azerbaijan, Jan. 24 Trend: President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev has attended the inauguration of the renovated Research Institute of Vegetable Growing, and Potato and Vegetable Seeds Production complex under the Ministry of Agriculture in Pirshaghi settlement, Sabunchu district, Baku. The head of state cut the ribbon symbolizing the opening of the building. Minister of Agriculture Inam Karimov informed the head of state of the work done. President Ilham Aliyev then met with the agrarian development volunteers and posed for photographs together with them. Baku, Azerbaijan, Jan. 24 By Elkhan Alasgarov, PhD, Head of Baku Network On January 22, an informal meeting between Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan was held on the sidelines of the Davos World Economic Forum (WEF). It is obvious that at this summit the conversation was about the current state of the negotiation process on the settlement of the Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. Head of the foreign policy department of Azerbaijans Presidential Administration Hikmet Hajiyev described the meeting as continuation of unofficial meetings held earlier in Dushanbe and St. Petersburg. It is known that the meeting in Dushanbe took place on September 28 last year as part of the CIS summit, where the parties expressed their commitment to negotiating the conflicts settlement, observing ceasefire to prevent incidents on the contact line and on the border between Armenia and Azerbaijan. These two factors are closely related to each other and therefore were also in the center of attention during the meeting in St. Petersburg in December. As can be seen, the topic of the beginning of the occupied Azerbaijani territories liberation is mentioned at the most authoritative global platforms. The Azerbaijani president is methodically taking all the necessary measures so that the process of returning the occupied territories of the country would begin. The key to the success of this policy is that over the past years Azerbaijans military and financial advantage over Armenia has become noticeable, as well as the energy, transport and economic isolation of the occupier state. The meeting of the Azerbaijani and Armenian leaders on the sidelines of the WEF in Davos is obvious success of diplomacy by Ilham Aliyev, who, regardless of the mediation services of the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs, often turning into an obstacle on the path of negotiations, turned them into a bilateral format. Obviously, first of all, the case is to establish trusting relations with Pashinyan - it is easier to negotiate this way, and there are other significant reasons for this. Unlike the representatives of the Karabakh clan Serzh Sargsyan and others, Pashinyan is cooperative and is interested in solving the Karabakh problem without the participation of third forces. The most painful topic for Pashinyan is the need to withdraw the Armenian army from the occupied Azerbaijani territories, which can be implemented in response to the guarantees of providing self-government and security to the Karabakh Armenians and broad economic preferences from Baku. The new government of Pashinyan needs help, and Azerbaijan may provide it. This, in particular, refers to Azerbaijans guarantees for the non-resumption of hostilities, the opening of transport routes, and in the future - negotiations between the two Karabakh communities the Armenian and the Azerbaijani ones. The Yerevan team headed by Pashinyan understands that the Karabakh clan for the sake of its profit and ambitions with the assistance of third forces, the foreign diasporas, pulled Armenia into the Karabakh swamp, and Azerbaijan can pull Yerevan out of this swamp. Accordingly, Baku and Yerevan need to discuss in what format they can proceed to a phased settlement of the problem. The main theme is the possibility of withdrawing Armenian troops from the occupied territories in response to the creation of economic concessions from the Azerbaijani side. It seems that Pashinyan is a prudent leader and will be able to prepare the Armenian people for Armenias main achievement - reconciliation with Azerbaijan. It is noteworthy that he imprisoned a friend of the Karabakh ideologist Zori Balayan - Robert Kocharyan, who possesses the same sick imagination and who is known for his statement that Armenians and Azerbaijanis are genetically incompatible peoples. He didnt want, and most likely couldnt admit that Azerbaijanis and Armenians are quite compatible and live together not only in Georgia, Russia, Turkey, Iran, the US, the Netherlands and other countries, but even in Azerbaijan. President Ilham Aliyevs meeting in Davos with Nikol Pashinyan is much more important than we all think. In addition to the Karabakh problem, the future of Armenia is being addressed in Davos, and Armenia simply wont have it if the occupation of the Azerbaijani territories continues. The Armenian leader needs reconciliation, and it is easier for him to negotiate with Ilham Aliyev tete-a-tete, especially since the meetings take place under the conditions of the overwhelming military-political and economic advantage of Azerbaijan. The Azerbaijani people trust their president, and preparing the population for the peace process, in case if Yerevan recognizes the territorial integrity of its neighbor, will become an easy task for Baku. The danger of the Armenian-Azerbaijani confrontation for Pashinyan lies in the fact that Azerbaijani Defense Minister Zakir Hasanov is ready to execute any order of the supreme commander-in-chief of Azerbaijan. http://bakunetwork.com Join us in Twitter and on Facebook https://twitter.com/BakuNetwork https://www.facebook.com/BakuNetwork Youtube channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCp5ic7mhc6rZF6w0TQWqtmg Baku, Azerbaijan, Jan. 24 Trend: Over the past 24 hours, Armenian armed forces have 26 times violated the ceasefire along the line of contact between Azerbaijani and Armenian troops, the Azerbaijani Defense Ministry said Jan. 24, Trend reports. The Armenian armed forces were using heavy machine guns. The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. As a result of the ensuing war, in 1992 Armenian armed forces occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding districts. The 1994 ceasefire agreement was followed by peace negotiations. Armenia has not yet implemented four UN Security Council resolutions on withdrawal of its armed forces from the Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding districts. Baku, Azerbaijan, Jan. 24 Trend: The Turkish Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry has appealed to the Azerbaijani Food Safety Agency in connection with the analysis of onions grown in Azerbaijan, Trend reports referring to the Agency on Jan. 24. The corresponding analysis of onions was carried out, the results of which were sent to Turkey. According to the results of the analysis, import of onions from Azerbaijan to Turkey was permitted. The onions which are exported to Turkey must be grown in Azerbaijan. The onions must not contain stem nematodes. In this regard, the Food Safety Agency brings these requirements to the attention of Azerbaijani farmers and urges to pay maximum attention to the phytosanitary safety of the products exported to Turkey. Otherwise, the measures will be taken against those farmers in accordance with the law. By Ritah Kemigisa. The Uganda Red Cross Society has attributed the current blood shortage especially for group O negative and positive to some health facilities charging patients to get this blood. Speaking during the Commissioning of the societys Ware House Project in Makindye, the Red Cross society secretary general, Robert Kwesiga insists blood should be given out to patients at no cost. Kwesiga now asks the general public to be more vigilant and report hospital officials who sell blood to patients. Meanwhile, the Makindye Ssaabagabo municipality MP Emmanuel Ssempala blames the Uganda Blood Transfusion Service for the blood shortage saying it is not doing enough to reach out to communities to donate blood. He advises that the mandate be given to the Uganda Red Cross society. Baku, Azerbaijan, Jan. 24 Trend: Bakcell, the First Mobile Operator and the Fastest Mobile Internet Provider of Azerbaijan and Premium Bank, being one of the most prestigious banks of the country have signed a memorandum of cooperation. This document, signed with one of the largest corporate customers of Bakcell in finance and banking sector, covers organization of joint activities aiming to extend of the existing partnership between the parties, as well as execution of joint projects in various areas. After the signing ceremony, representatives of both parties have discussed possibilities of designing joint products and services in such areas as telecommunications and banking, within the frames of the memorandum of cooperation signed by Bakcell CEO Nikolai Beckers and Chairman of the Supervisory Board of Premium Bank Elchin Ahmadov. Bakcell currently serves more than 3500 business customers across different industries. Bakcell is the largest corporate telecommunications services provider in many sectors of the economy. The Company provides high-quality telecom solutions to local and international companies operating in Azerbaijan. Professional staff of Bakcell is able to provide individual assistance to companies, local government bodies and organizations in every aspect of mobile communication. Bakcell helps the business customers to collaborate more effectively, operate more efficiently and engage better with their clients connecting their people securely and reliably, thus contributing to development of economy and business sector in general. Bakcell, the First Mobile Operator and Leading Mobile Internet Provider of Azerbaijan, offers a wide range of products and Services to users of modern mobile communications Services. The company provides its customers with the best-in-class 4G mobile internet. The 4G services of Bakcell are already available in Baku and Absheron peninsula, as well as central parts of more than 40 regions of Azerbaijan. With more than 7000 base stations, Bakcell network covers 99% of the population and 93% of the land area of the country (except for the occupied territories). In 2017, Bakcell network has been recognized as the Best in Test in Azerbaijan by P3 Communications, being one of the most trusted independent authorities in mobile benchmarking. Bakcell has been recognized as the Fastest Mobile Network in Azerbaijan. This award, presented by world-famous Ookla company, recognizes Bakcells commitment to delivering fastest speeds to customers all across Azerbaijan. For more information about Bakcell products and services, please visit www.bakcell.com or call 555. For press releases please see www.bakcell.com/az/news (or www.bakcell.com/en/news for press releases in English). If you are not a Bakcell subscriber, but wish to find out about Bakcell and its products and services, please call 012 498 89 89. U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has characterized the threat from Iran in the Middle East region as "very real," adding that the United States is committed to the stability of the region. Pompeo who was speaking via satellite link to the participants of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, further toughened the U.S. position against the Islamic Republic following his recent tour of the Middle East earlier in January. Warning against Irans foreign adventurism, Pompeo said Iran is truly malign actor in Yemen, Syria, Iraq and Lebanon, where Hezbollah is a challenge. In Iraq, Iran is striving to reduce freedom, sovereignty and independence of the country, he said. Pompeo also seemed inviting more support by saying the U.S. needs to further strengthen the Middle East coalition to confront the Iran threat. Saudi Arabia, the Persian Gulf Arab states and Israel are clearly in the U.S. camp but the position of Iraq and Turkey is more neutral. According to the Arab News, the attendees at the forum include several senior figures from Saudi Arabia and the wider Middle East. More than 3,000 political, business and civil leaders have descended upon Davos in Switzerland for the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting on Tuesday. "The US will need coalitions built out to ensure that there is Middle East stability, The National quoted Pompeo as having said on Tuesday January 22. And the Arab News quoted him as having said that the U.S. has already assembled a global coalition of nations to confront Iran and support the aspirations of the Iranian people. During his recent tour of several Middle East countries, Pompeo broke the news about a summit to be held in Warsaw, Poland in mid-February "to promote peace and stability in the Middle East." Islamic Republic officials perceived the conference as an "anti-Iran" event and harshly criticized the U.S. for suggesting and Poland for hosting the conference. Subsequently, Iran summoned Poland's ambassador to Tehran to the Foreign Ministry in protest, and Poland send its deputy foreign minister to Tehran to reassure Iranian officials of Warsaw's "friendly" intentions. The success of the conference is not assured by any means as European countries are wavering and might not attend. In his speech Pompeo said that Mesa (the Middle East Strategic Alliance) program is an important component of how America will approach threats to regional stability. The concept of the program has been nicknamed in the Middle East as an "Arab Nato." Pompeo's remarks about Iran escalated the worsening of relations between Tehran and Washington to a higher level, highlighting Iran's regional threat, one day after Iranian and Israeli officials exchanged threats. The Iranian Army's air force commander renewing the threat "to wipe Israel off the planet," and the Israeli prime minister replying "Whoever tries to hurt us we hurt them. Whoever threatens to destroy us will bear the full responsibility," he said, adding that "We are acting against Iran and against the Syrian forces that abet the Iranian aggression," Haaretz quoted Netanyahu as saying on Monday after a day of Israeli attacks on Iranian military positions in Syria. Speaking about topics other than Iran, Pompeo hoped that an end to the Yemen conflict is in sight. He also spoke about the battle against ISIS, saying that "the US has defeated the ISIS in Syria and Iraq." The United States wants the Islamic Republic to change its behavior in the areas of human rights, and to stop regional adventurism, and limit its nuclear activity and ballistic missile program. In an unprecedented admission, the former Iranian ambassador to Germany has admitted that the Europeans have "evidence" of Irans involvement in "espionage and terrorism" that Tehran cannot easily deny. Speaking to the state-run Iran Students News Agency (ISNA) on Wednesday, January 23, Ali Majedi reiterated that regarding "Iran's involvement in terrorism and espionage, the European countries have tabled evidence that cannot easily be dismissed." On Thursday, the Iranian foreign ministry quickly tried to distance itself from Majedi, emphasizing that he is now retired from service and he was expressing his "personal opinions". In a statement, the ministry even tried to argue that Majedi meant anti-Islamic Republic groups were responsible for the plots. "Currently, Iran is struggling with challenges other than the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) [Tehran's nuclear deal with world powers]," in its relations with Europe, ISNA asked Majedi, who responded, "As we see, today, Albania, Denmark and Netherland have deported Islamic Republic's diplomats, claiming that they have been involved in espionage and terrorist activities. Some believe that by doing so, the European are seeking a way out of their commitment to keep JCPOA alive." Ali Majedi, Iranian ambassador to Berlin (June 2014-November 2018), was referring to a series of terrorism and espionage charges recently laid out by different European countries, including Albania, Denmark, Germany, and the Netherland, against the Islamic Republic. Since President Donald Trump dropped JCPOA last May, the nuclear deal's fate has been thrown into uncertainty. To save the deal, EU has proposed a mechanism, labeled as a Special Purpose Vehicle or SPV, to keep Tehran loyal to the agreement. The SPV is designed to act as a kind of clearinghouse that could be used to help match Iranian oil and gas exports against purchases of EU goods in an effective barter arrangement. However, no EU country has come forward as a potential host - delaying the plans. Ali Majedi believes that, contrary to many interpretations, the SPV and JCPOA are not necessarily connected to each other. Regardless of talks over SPV, relations between Iran and EU are deeply strained over the alleged espionage activities and targeting of anti-Islamic Republic dissidents in different European countries. Iranian intelligence agents in 2018 were accused of participation in plots to bomb an opposition rally in France, and to assassinate a political opponent in Denmark. However, both plots were foiled, and Tehran denied any involvement. Majedi's interview, reveals for the first time that the recent allegations against Iran cannot readily be dismissed by Tehran. "Although the Europeans cannot 'easily' prove their charges against Iran, Tehran also cannot 'easily' dismiss them," Majedi insists. Referring to President Hassan Rouhani's 2018 visit to Austria, Majedi noted, "During the visit, we witnessed some developments in Germany, while even before that, there were other cases. Europeans see a dichotomy in Iran's policy." The former ambassador was referring to Rouhani's visit to Austria last July when Just hours before welcoming its official guest, Vienna summoned Iran's ambassador and announced that an unnamed Iranian diplomat's status would be withdrawn. The diplomat based at the Iranian embassy in Austria, but detained in Germany, was believed to have been in contact a couple at the center of an alleged bomb plot against Iranian opposition exiles in Paris. For the first time, Majedi, as a prominent figure in the Islamic Republic, implicitly points to a "double layered" policy in Iran. "While we are witnessing rogue elements operating inside Iran, could we deny their operations abroad; the operations that disrupt trust?" Majedi inquires, insisting, "International relations are not based on emotional matters, they are based on the reality, and a wrong move, however small, could eliminate the sense of security." It is also for the first time that an Iranian career diplomat talks about the existence of hard evidence against Iran's illegal operations in Europe and attributing them to the Islamic Republic's so-called "rogue elements". Europe has a long list of Tehran's wrongdoings on its territory. On January 9, authorities in Holland officially accused the Islamic Republic of plotting the contract murders of two men on Dutch soil in 2015 and 2017. Two Iranian diplomats were expelled from Holland. An individual, Abdul-Majid, who was working as an interpreter and advisor for the German Army has recently been arrested and charged with spying for Iran. Tehran has denied having any connection with the suspect. Meanwhile, Albania has declared that it had expelled two Iranian diplomats for being involved in illegal activities, and threatening Albania's security. Earlier on January 8, Copenhagen accused Iran of plotting to assassinate members of a separatist group, Al Ahwaz Movement, based in Denmark. The Danish Foreign Minister said on the same day that EU has agreed to impose sanctions on one of the Islamic Republic's Intelligence apparatuses since Iran has been involved in planning terrorist operations in European territories. "EU just agreed to enact sanctions against an Iranian Intelligence Service for its assassination plots on European soil. Strong signal from the EU that we will not accept such behavior in Europe," Samuelsen twitted on Tuesday, January 8. Islamic Republic's Foreign Minister, Mohammad Javad Zarif, dismissed the allegation, describing it as a "cooked up" case by Mossad. Nevertheless, the Netherlands also accused Iran of involvement in the murder of two dissidents on Dutch soil, adding that the EU was hitting Tehran with sanctions partly as a result of the killings. The Dutch secret service "has strong indications that Iran was involved in the assassinations of two Dutch nationals of Iranian origin in Almere 2015 and in The Hague in 2017," Foreign Minister Stef Blok said in a letter to parliament. "These individuals were opponents of the Iranian regime," he said in the letter, also signed by Dutch Interior Minister Kajsa Ollongren. In another part of his comments, Ali Majedi said on Wednesday, "Iran has always proved that, whenever it is obliged and has no other choice, it yields to negotiations. But, why should it be like that?" Furthermore, Majedi has lamented that Iran has not even been successful in earning Europe's trust, "Europeans work with us, but they do not trust us." Insisting that he is reluctant to "disclose problems", Majedi regretfully says, "While we were building trust, few wrongdoings foiled our attempts. Those who believe that Iran's interest would be guaranteed through a couple of arbitrary operations should explicitly be told that they are mistaken, and their moves are against building up the country's power." Iranian Writers Association (IWA) has strongly protested the decision by judicial authorities to set huge, unaffordable bails for three of its indicted members, which has led to their detention. In a statement published on Tuesday, January 22, IWA said, the ten billion rials (roughly $240,000) bail set for Bektash Abtin, Kayvan Bazhan, and Reza Khandan Mahabadi "is unacceptable" and they should be released immediately. The large bail set for Abtin, Bazhan and Khandan Mahabadi was set after the judge rejected prominent lawyers, Nasser Zarafshan and Ms. Razieh Zaydi, to represent the indicted writers. "Immediately after rejecting the proposed lawyers, the judge raised the amount of bail tenfold, from one billion to ten billion rials, and ordered the suspects to personally defend themselves," the statement said. Dismissing the judge's decision as "violating" the rights of the trio, IWA has also protested placing its members behind bars in Tehran's infamous Evin prison. The writers were first accused of "propaganda against the regime" and then of two more serious charges, "assembly and collusion" against national security, and encouraging corruption and prostitution among women, the statement has noted. Meanwhile, the official news agency of President Hassan Rouhani's Administration (IRNA) reported on Wednesday, January 23, that another writer, Yashar Soltani, has been found guilty and sentenced to five years for reporting fake news and insulting state-run institutions. Yashar Soltani, managing director and editor-in-chief of Memari (Architecture) News website was arrested in September 2016, following publication of a set of declassified reports involving the General Inspection Office on the controversial transfer of Tehran Municipality properties to a number of individuals. Abtin, Bazhan, and Khandan Mahabadi, sued by President Rouhani's Ministry of Intelligence, reportedly have been accused of "propaganda" against the Islamic establishment and publishing an "illegal" journal and publishing its internal news bulletin "Andisheh Azad", Free Thought. Earlier, posting a photo of a man injured by police to his Instagram account had cost Iranian poet and filmmaker Baktash Abtin three months of community service at the State Welfare Organization and a fine of fifty million rials (roughly $1,200). Mazdaks face was badly bruised and he had broken cheeks and ribs, Abtin told the Center for Human Rights in Iran (CHRI) on June 7, 2018. When I posted his photo on my Instagram, it got a lot of attention and it was widely shared on the internet. A few days later, I got a summons from the Revolutionary Court in Karaj for propaganda against the state. Mazdak Zarafshan was injured by the police on December 2, 2016, when they tried to violently shut down a memorial service for Iranian authors who were murdered in 1998, CHRI reported. Mazdak Zarafshan is the son of prominent Iranian lawyer, Nasser Zarafshan, who served five years in prison in Iran for representing the families of dissidents murdered in the 1990s in what came to be known as the chain murders. Iran's Writers Association (IWA) was established in 1968, during the reign of Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi. However, after the establishment of the Islamic Republic in Iran, it has never been officially recognized, and always under pressure by intelligence agents. At least two prominent members of IWA, Mohammad Mokhtari, and Mohammad Jafar Pouyandeh were murdered by the Islamic Republic's agents during a series of killings known as chain or serial murders in 1998. Interfax-Ukraine to host press conference 'National Agency of Ukraine for Finding, Tracing and Management of Assets Derived from Corruption and Other Crimes will present new manager of Mezhyhirya Residence' On Friday, January 25, at 11.00, the press center of the Interfax-Ukraine news agency will host a press conference entitled "National Agency of Ukraine for Finding, Tracing and Management of Assets Derived from Corruption and Other Crimes (ARMA) will present new manager of Mezhyhirya Residence." Participating will be Anton Yanchuk, head of the ARMA; Andriy Potiomkin, head of the ARMA's Legal Department, and Hlib Kanevsky, chairman of the Public Council under the ARMA (8/5a Reitarska Street). Registration requires press accreditation by calling +380 44 290 0831 or writing to press@arma.gov.ua. Poroshenko, Grybauskaite in Davos note need for intl. pressure on Russia in response to aggression in Black Sea Presidents of Ukraine and Lithuania, Petro Poroshenko and Dalia Grybauskaite, have discussed the issue of continuing international pressure on the Russian Federation in connection with its aggression against Ukraine in the Black Sea. "The necessity of further consolidated international pressure on Russia in response to the act of aggression of Russian troops against Ukrainian ships and capture of Ukrainian sailors was noted," the presidential website said following a meeting of Poroshenko with Grybauskaite in the framework of the participation in the World Economic Forum in Davos on Thursday. The president thanked for the resolute position of Lithuania regarding the need to introduce a new "Azov package" of EU sanctions against Russia. The parties also discussed challenges related to Russia's interference in the electoral processes in Ukraine and Lithuania and ways to counteract the existing threats. Ex-NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen has said he supports reforms in Ukraine and the country's course towards Europe, but not specific presidential candidates. Commenting to the Pryamiy TV channel about media reports about his reported support for Batkivschyna Party leader Yuliya Tymoshenko to become Ukraine's president, Rasmussen said: No, this is not true. I never supported a candidate. I only appealed to Ukranians in a video clip saying Ukraine had chosen the path to the European Union and must conduct reforms. That was my message to all candidates. The video is available to all candidates. Media earlier reported Rasmussen had appealed to Ukrainians in light of Tymoshenko's announced presidential candidacy. The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) has supported the resolution on the escalation of tensions in the Sea of Azov and the Kerch Strait. Some 103 parliamentarians voted for this resolution, three deputies opposed and 16 abstained. The PACE resolution on Azov, on which they worked for two months, was adopted. 103 for! The text is good. I congratulate our delegation for the remarkable result," Bloc Petro Poroshenko deputy and head of Ukraine's PACE delegation Volodymyr Ariev said on Twitter on Thursday. Dr. Andreas Nick, a PACE member from Germany, was the rapporteur for the resolution. According to the draft resolution posted on the PACE website, the Assembly condemns the use of military force by Russia against Ukrainian warships and their crews, and also calls on Moscow to immediately release Ukrainian military personnel and provide them with the necessary medical, legal and/or consular assistance. The Assembly also requested to ensure freedom of passage in the Sea of Azov and the Kerch Strait in accordance with the agreement between Russia and Ukraine "On Cooperation in the Use of the Sea of Azov and the Kerch Strait" and to refrain from violence. PACE also expressed concern about the policy of Moscow on selective inspection of Ukrainian and international vessels, which may impede navigation in the Sea of Azov. The parliamentarians also support the proposal of Germany and France that observers from third countries monitor the movement of ships and guarantee freedom of navigation in the Kerch Strait. In addition, PACE called on the International Committee of the Red Cross and the Committee of the Council of Europe on the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CAT) to visit the Ukrainian POWs jailed in Moscow. Verkhovna Rada Commissioner for Human Rights Liudmyla Denisova has asked Russian Human Rights Ombudswoman Tatyana Moskalkova to help provide medical treatment for Crimean Tatar civil activist Edem Bekirov who is illegally detained in the Simferopol pretrial prison (in Crimea annexed by Russia). Denisov wrote on her Facebook page that she has received information that Bekirov's health had deteriorated. In this connection, she addressed Moskalkova in an open statement. "In our conversation on the phone, you informed me that this political prisoner would be transferred to the Simferopol Semashko hospital for medical examination and treatment that would last for two weeks. Instead, Edem Bekirov was returned to the Simferopol pretrial prison's special unit three days later. According to a lawyer who visited the political prisoner today (January 23, 2019), the Crimean Tatar has really been feeling much worse. There are no results of the medical examination that the patient so badly needs," the Verkhovna Rada's commissioner said. She said this means that Bekirov has not been provided with high-quality and effective medical treatment. "That is why I am asking you to provide Edem Bekirov and his lawyers with a copy of the medical report and help provide this citizen of Ukraine with a comprehensive treatment in accordance with medical recommendations," Denisova wrote. Earlier, MP Refat Chubarov (Bloc Petro Poroshenko faction), chairman of the Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar People, said the health condition of Crimean Tatar civic activist Edem Bekirov who has been illegitimately held at the pretrial prison in Simferopol (in Crimea annexed by Russia) abruptly deteriorated. The Russian authorities have accused Bekirov of committing a crime described under Part 2 of Article 22 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (illegal purchase, transfer, sale, possession, transportation, or carrying weapons, its major parts, cartridges). The Russian occupation authorities on December 13, 2018 arrested Bekirov for two months. Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko and United Nationals Secretary General Antonio Guterres have discussed in Davos the release by Russia of captive Ukrainian sailors, deploying a peacekeeping mission under the auspices of the UN in Donbas, ensuring free navigation in the Kerch Strait, providing humanitarian assistance to displaced people, demilitarizing the Crimea and freeing Ukrainian hostages, the president's press service said. "The interlocutors stressed the need for Russia to immediately release Ukrainian seamen, ships and ensure free navigation in the Kerch Strait in accordance with international law," the message said. Poroshenko and Guterres also discussed the development of events in the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine and the prospects for the deployment of a full-fledged multinational peacekeeping mission under the auspices of the UN in Donbas. The UN Secretary-General confirmed his readiness to continue taking measures to provide humanitarian assistance to internally displaced persons, as well as to the affected civilian population of Donbas. Poroshenko and Guterres discussed ways to ensure compliance with the relevant UN General Assembly resolutions on the human rights situation in Crimea, as well as demilitarization of the peninsula. "The President of Ukraine and the UN Secretary-General also elaborated in detail on the issues of the release of Ukrainian hostages who are illegally held in Russia and on ensuring continuous monitoring by the relevant international mechanisms of the human rights situation in Crimea," the press service said. By Ruth Anderah. The High Court in Kampala has acquitted three people who had been accused of murder following last years infamous Entebbe and Nansana women killings. The trio, Ivan Katongole; a businessman dealing in fish export at Kasenyi landing site in Katabi town council, Andrew Kizito and Hellen Nabaggala have been on trial for the murder of Rose Nakimuli, a hairdresser in Entebbe, Wakiso District. However in his ruling, the trial judge Wilson Kwesiga said all the seven prosecution witnesses presented in court did not give any substantial evidence linking the suspects to Nakimulis murder. Justice Kwesiga further noted that the DPP did shoddy work by basing on the evidence of witnesses that did not link the suspects to Nakimulis murder. Nakimulis body was discovered in a banana plantation with sticks stuffed in her private parts a day after her murder on July 24, 2017. The establishment of the High Anticorruption Court of Ukraine will be complete in February, President Petro Poroshenko of Ukraine has said. "I want to assure you that we will not be able to stop the reforms. The fight against corruption goes on. In February, the establishment of the AntiCorruption Court will be completed," the president said at a meeting of the National Investment Council at the World Economic Forum in Davos on Wednesday, January 23. The Ukrainian head of state said that the High Anticorruption Court, the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine and anticorruption prosecutors [Specialized Anticorruption Prosecutor's Office] form the basis for effective coordination of anticorruption activities. Horizon Capital, a U.S. private-equity firm investing in high growth and export-driven companies in Ukraine and the near region, has announced the final closing of its third fund, $200 million Emerging Europe Growth Fund III LP, far surpassing the $150 million target size announced in 2017. "EEGF III's investment strategy is focused on fast-growing, export-oriented companies that leverage Ukraine's cost competitive platform to generate global revenues primarily in IT, light manufacturing, food and agriculture. The Fund will also pursue investments in select, high-growth domestic market segments, including e-commerce, healthcare and pharma, consumer goods and financial services," Horizon Capital said in a report on Wednesday. According to the press release, investments will range from $5-20 million and be made over the next two or three years. Horizon Capital said that EEGF III has made six investments to date, five in the core sectors driving Ukraine's export boom and best-positioned to access global markets, including IT, light manufacturing and food and agro. The Fund has backed Genesis, global IT product company; Intellias, fast-growing large IT services company; Yarych, leading biscuits producer; MAIB, No. 1 bank in Moldova, and others. According to the press release, in what marks the largest private equity fund raised for Ukraine in a decade, Horizon's EEGF III received strong backing from existing and new investors, attracted by the excellent value, fast growth and abundance of opportunities that Ukraine offers. "Our fundraising success should send a strong signal that Ukraine offers tremendous rewards for those willing to look past the headlines," Horizon Capital's Founding Partner and CEO Lenna Koszarny said. According to the press release, EEGF III was launched with an anchor commitment from Western NIS Enterprise Fund and attracted investments from the EBRD, FMO, IFC, PROPARCO, DEG, and IFU with over one-third of capital raised from institutional investors, foundations, family offices and other private investors. Horizon Capital said that the new fund enjoys strong backing from existing investors of Horizon Capital's prior funds, who contributed over 55% of total commitments. U.S. and Europe-based investors contributed roughly 35% each of total capital raised, with the remainder from other international investors. Horizon Capital was established in 2006. It manages private equity funds Western NIS Enterprise Fund (WNISEF, established in 1994 with a seed capital of $150 million), Emerging Europe Growth Fund, L.P. (EEGF, established in 2006 with a seed capital of $132 million) and EEGF II (EEGF, established in 2008 with $370 million seed capital). The money of these funds is invested in projects in Ukraine, Moldova, and Belarus. Thanks to the policy of fulfilling commitments and the course for the implementation of reforms carried out by the current authorities of Ukraine, as well as the faith of foreign investors and international financial organizations in the prospects for the Ukrainian economy, which resulted in the financing of investment projects, 238 enterprises have been built and started to operate in Ukraine since 2014, President Petro Poroshenko of Ukraine has said. "We are the only government and the only presidential team that have fulfilled six memorandums of cooperation with international financial organizations. This has never happened in Ukraine before," Poroshenko said at a meeting of the National Investment Council at the Ukraine House on January 23 evening in Davos, Switzerland where the World Economic Forum is taking place. He stressed that the Ukrainian authorities have been fulfilling their commitments and vigorously carrying out reforms in Ukraine. The Ukrainian head of state said that in 2018 alone, 83 enterprises, which had been built from scratch, started to work in Ukraine. "Thanks to investments, we have got 238 enterprises [since 2014]. It was a difficult thing to do in 2014, it was difficult not only for me as the president of our country that is fighting, but it was also difficult for you to believe in Ukraine and maintain an open investment stance," Poroshenko told the investors on the council. An agreement was signed between the Norwegian company NBT, the French company Total-Eren and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) regarding the Syvash Project with participation of Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko and President of the EBRD Suma Chakrabarti on January 23, 2019. The signing ceremony took place in Davos (Switzerland) in the Ukrainian House before a meeting of the National Investment Council. The arrival of NBT, Total in Ukraine shows that the country is now the second largest European market, Chakrabarti said during the signing of the document. He expressed confidence that NBT will have more projects. "This shows that foreign investors are returning on the back of reform in Ukraine," he said. Head of the Office of the National Investment Council Yuliya Kovaliv wrote on her Facebook page that Total-Eren, the subsidiary of the French energy giant Total, is entering the Ukrainian market and jointly with Norway's NBT will invest in construction of a wind farm with a capacity of 250 MW in the coming 18 months. Over EUR 350 million will be invested in the project. "The project will be financed in the amount of EUR 150 million by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development together with a consortium of banks. The relevant agreement was signed today [on January 23] in Davos at a meeting of the National Investment Council," she wrote. As reported, on November 28, 2018, the EBRD approved the issue of a loan of up to EUR 150 million to Syvashenergoprom LLC (Kherson region, a subsidiary of Norway's NBT) for the construction of a wind power plant with an installed capacity of 250 MW in Kherson region. Norway's NBT bought Syvashenergoprom LLC in April 2018 (it operates a wind farm with a capacity of about 3 MW) and intends to build wind plants with an installed capacity of 250-330 MW in the adjacent territories. In 2006, Kherson Regional State Administration transferred the unfinished Syvash wind power plant to concession to Syvashenergoprom LLC until 2055. In 2011, Syvashenergoprom signed a lease agreement for land plots of 12 hectares under the concession wind farm and 1,300 hectares intended for the construction of new wind and solar generating capacities. Early September 2018, an agreement on the implementation of an international investment project to build a complex of wind farms in Kherson region with Norway's NBT to play the leading role in the project was signed. According to the agreement, by the end of 2019 a total 67 wind units will be built along the northern coast of the Syvash Lake. The total investment under the agreement is around $450 million. Drop Charges Against Rights Defender Sashik Sultanyan The Coronavirus-Related Situation in Armenia The European Union in Armenia calls all parties to contribute to a peaceful Election Day to celebrate democracy 22 ventilators to Armenia Google Ad PACE to observe the early parliamentary elections in Armenia With Ucom's level up tariff plans subscribers have unlimited access to Tiktok, Spotify and Coursera PACE rapporteur welcomes Azerbaijans release of Armenian captives and Armenias handing over of mine-maps to Azerbaijan Armenia/Azerbaijan: Statement by High Representative Josep Borrell on the latest developments Pashinyan to publicly apology to Khachatryans During EURO 2020 Ucom subscribers to take part in the uMeter voting and draw USA to continue to press for the return of Armenian prisoners of war and detainees: Philip Reeker Post-war Prospects for Nagorno-Karabakh: Crisis Groups new report Ucom-1 team was recognised the winner of the 2021 futsal tournament of the Galaxy Group of Companies: The award ceremony took place COVID 19: 11 deaths Statement of the Foreign Ministry of Armenia regarding the criminal prosecution against the Armenian prisoners of war by Azerbaijan The Coronavirus-Related Situation in Armenia Google Ad UCOM introduced new level up packages of voice service President Michel has discussions with President Aliyev of Azerbaijan and Acting Prime Minister Pashinyan of Armenia COVID19:108 new cases Ucom launches "Hello, summer" offer and presents "U!hoo" kids magazine 182 hearing aids and 2 buses by benefactor Mikayel Vardanyan for students of Special Educational Complex Statement by the Co-Chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group What our Homeland, Armenia and Artsakh will be like depends on us. President Armen Sarkissians message on the Republic Day Ucom Digital lab students keep on getting high-quality technical education Aharon Sahakyan is appointed governor of Kotayk Marz of Armenia 3503 tests were done yesterday Statement of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Armenia Covid 19: 323 recoveries and 11 deaths Efforts by prosecutors and law enforcement to address hate crime in Armenia: ODIHR seminar Drop Charges Against Rights Defender Sashik Sultanyan The Coronavirus-Related Situation in Armenia The European Union in Armenia calls all parties to contribute to a peaceful Election Day to celebrate democracy 22 ventilators to Armenia PACE to observe the early parliamentary elections in Armenia With Ucom's level up tariff plans subscribers have unlimited access to Tiktok, Spotify and Coursera PACE rapporteur welcomes Azerbaijans release of Armenian captives and Armenias handing over of mine-maps to Azerbaijan Armenia/Azerbaijan: Statement by High Representative Josep Borrell on the latest developments Pashinyan to publicly apology to Khachatryans During EURO 2020 Ucom subscribers to take part in the uMeter voting and draw USA to continue to press for the return of Armenian prisoners of war and detainees: Philip Reeker Post-war Prospects for Nagorno-Karabakh: Crisis Groups new report Ucom-1 team was recognised the winner of the 2021 futsal tournament of the Galaxy Group of Companies: The award ceremony took place COVID 19: 11 deaths Statement of the Foreign Ministry of Armenia regarding the criminal prosecution against the Armenian prisoners of war by Azerbaijan The Coronavirus-Related Situation in Armenia Google Ad UCOM introduced new level up packages of voice service President Michel has discussions with President Aliyev of Azerbaijan and Acting Prime Minister Pashinyan of Armenia COVID19:108 new cases Ucom launches "Hello, summer" offer and presents "U!hoo" kids magazine 182 hearing aids and 2 buses by benefactor Mikayel Vardanyan for students of Special Educational Complex Statement by the Co-Chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group What our Homeland, Armenia and Artsakh will be like depends on us. President Armen Sarkissians message on the Republic Day Ucom Digital lab students keep on getting high-quality technical education Aharon Sahakyan is appointed governor of Kotayk Marz of Armenia 3503 tests were done yesterday Statement of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Armenia Covid 19: 323 recoveries and 11 deaths Efforts by prosecutors and law enforcement to address hate crime in Armenia: ODIHR seminar Nikol Pashinyan agrees to meet in Singapore Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan met with Tharman Shanmugaratnam in Davos within the framework of the World Economic Forum, Pashinyans office said. During the meeting Pashinyan said that Armenia is interested in the continuous expansion of cooperation with Singapore in different spheres, and that Singapores development experience is exemplary for Armenia. The Armenian PM attached importance to deepening economic ties, the coherent development of commercial ties and partnership between businessmen. Pashinyan addressed the steps for the improvement of the business climate in Armenia and found it necessary to notify Singaporean businesses about the opportunities of making investments in Armenia. The sides namely discussed the opportunities for exporting various Armenian products to Singapore, such as brandy, wine, beer, juice and other processed goods. Shanmugaratnam noted that Singapores government is also attaching importance to developing cooperation with Armenia, taking into account the recent positive changes in the country. He conveyed the Prime Ministers invitation to Pashinyan to visit Singapore, noting that the visit may boost bilateral partnership in different directions. Shanmugaratnam added that Armenians are known in Singapore as exemplary citizens and have high reputation among Singaporeans. Singapores Deputy PM said he will present the business circles of his country the opportunities of investing in Armenia. At the same time, he found the Armenian governments anti-corruption, business climate improvement and modernization of administration system to be ambitious. Pashinyan said that Armenia will soon host the World Congress on Information Technology in October, and highlighted the participation of Singapores IT companies in the event. Tourism, environmental protection and aviation issues were also discussed. Security Council spokesman: Armen Grigoryan will be not dismissed and will not be elected CEC chairman Recently, rumors have been circulating that Secretary of the Security Council Armen Grigoryan will be dismissed from the post of Secretary of the Security Council and will be elected president of the Central Electoral Commission (CEC). That news does not correspond to reality. According to Article 195 (3) of the Constitution of the Republic of Armenia, a person who is eligible for a deputy is eligible to be elected to the CEC. Meanwhile, Secretary of the Security Council Armen Grigoryan did not take part in the parliamentary elections "My Step" in the alliance just because he does not comply with the requirements for the MP. He has not registered in the Republic of Armenia for the past 4 years (registered in the Republic of Artsakh). Minnesota Power, a utility division of ALLETE Inc. (NYSE:ALE), today (12/20/2018) received unanimous approval from the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission for its 20-year power purchase agreement with Tenaska Inc. for 250 megawatts of wind-generated electricity. The energy will be supplied by Tenaska's planned Nobles 2 wind farm in Nobles County on the Buffalo Ridge, an area of southwestern Minnesota known for its high-quality wind resource and already home to a number of operating wind farms. Finalization of the power purchase agreement is subject to a written order from the commission. Minnesota Power's wind portfolio will grow to 870 megawatts of owned and contracted wind capacity when Nobles 2 comes online, expected in October 2020. "The Nobles 2 agreement is a key component of Minnesota Power's EnergyForward strategy to transform the company's energy mix to 44 percent renewables by 2025," said Brad Oachs, ALLETE senior vice president and president of regulated operations. "Our customers will benefit from low-cost energy, our environment will benefit from lower carbon emissions and Minnesota will benefit from growth in the state's renewable energy industry and its associated tax revenue. Projects such as Nobles 2 create a sustainable future economically and environmentally for all of Minnesota Power's stakeholders." The Minnesota Public Utilities Commission also approved the certificate of need and site permit for Nobles 2 at Thursday's meeting. Stakeholders have cited benefits such as providing Minnesota Power customers with cost-competitive renewable electricity and reducing the company's carbon dioxide emissions by 772,000 tons annually, or the equivalent of removing more than 167,000 cars from the road. The commission said the Nobles 2 agreement also would contribute further to compliance with the state's renewable energy standard. Tenaska expects to begin construction at the site in 2019. The price for electricity from Nobles 2 reflects the project's qualification for 100 percent of federal renewable energy production tax credits. The site's location also adds geographic diversity to Minnesota Power's wind fleet, which is mostly in North Dakota. Minnesota Power owns and operates the 496.6-megawatt Bison Wind Energy Center and has power purchase agreements for 98.6 megawatts with the Oliver County I and II wind sites, all near Center, North Dakota. The company also owns and operates the 25-megawatt Taconite Ridge wind farm in Mt. Iron, Minnesota. Minnesota Power provides electric service within a 26,000-square-mile area in northeastern Minnesota, supporting comfort, security and quality of life for 145,000 customers, 16 municipalities and some of the largest industrial customers in the United States. More information can be found at www.mnpower.com. The statements contained in this release and statements that ALLETE may make orally in connection with this release that are not historical facts, are forward-looking statements. Actual results may differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties and investors are directed to the risks discussed in documents filed by ALLETE with the Securities and Exchange Commission. DNV GL, the world's largest independent energy advisory and certification body, has successfully completed a technical due diligence on Dundonnell Wind Farm in Australia. The project is financed by a consortium of six lenders, each with prior wind sector experience, led by National Australia Bank (NAB) and The Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ, Ltd. (MUFG). Having reached financial close in November 2018, the project is scheduled to commence construction in January 2019. When complete the project will consist of eighty 4.2 MW Vestas V150 turbines and associated infrastructure providing a total capacity of 336 MW and will make a key contribution to the regions renewable energy target. The Australian state of Victoria has set clear renewable energy targets and plans to increase renewable energy generation from 25% in 2020 to 40% by 2025. Overall investments in both wind and solar projects in Australia are currently thriving, with DNV GL providing technical due diligence services for over 1 GW of wind and solar projects in 2018 Working in close collaboration with the project developer Tilt Renewables and the group of lenders, DNV GL's wind experts worked on: Review of all major contracts associated with the development Independent wind energy and site conditions analysis of the project Incorporation of an environmental and planning review, supported by partners ERM Technical assessment of the Tilt Renewables operational portfolio Clayton Delmarter, General Manager Renewable Development, Tilt Renewables said: "We continue to enjoy our long-standing relationship with DNV GL and our ability to rely on their expertise to help us make projects like the Dundonnell Wind Farm a reality." Nicolas Renon, Executive Vice President, APAC at DNV GL - Energy said: "We are excited to support the renewable energy targets of the Victorian government with our local team of wind energy experts. Drawing on our extensive global experience of delivering technical due diligence support to renewable projects all over the world, our local team of experts is looking forward identifying risks and recommend suitable mitigations to the satisfaction of all six project lenders." About DNV GL DNV GL is a global quality assurance and risk management company. Driven by our purpose of safeguarding life, property and the environment, we enable our customers to advance the safety and sustainability of their business. We provide classification, technical assurance, software and independent expert advisory services to the maritime, oil & gas, power and renewables industries. We also provide certification and supply chain services to customers across a wide range of industries. Operating in more than 100 countries, our experts are dedicated to helping customers make the world safer, smarter and greener. DNV GL in the power and renewables industry DNV GL delivers world-renowned testing and advisory services to the energy value chain including renewables and energy management. Our expertise spans onshore and offshore wind power, solar, conventional generation, transmission and distribution, smart grids, and sustainable energy use, as well as energy markets and regulations. Our experts support customers around the globe in delivering a safe, reliable, efficient, and sustainable energy supply. A Kamstrup-Siemens consortium will deliver a smart metering solution including 250,000 electricity meters, a remote reading system and a data management system to the Irish energy company ESB Networks. The project is planned for execution during 2019-2020. ESB Networks supplies approximately 2.3 million households in Ireland with electricity and like many other energy companies in Europe, they have recently decided to roll out smart meters to the benefit of the consumers, the economy and the environment. Kamstrup joined forces with Siemens to provide a solution consisting of the state-of-the-art data collection system "Kamstrup OMNIA" combined with high quality smart meters and the independent best-of-breed meter data management solution "Siemens EnergyIP". With this end-to-end solution ESB Networks will get full flexibility and scalability for future roll outs. The Siemens-owned company OMNETRIC will be responsible for smart meter data integration with the existing communication and enterprise infrastructure. It will ensure ESB Networks and consumers can fully leverage the advantages available through the digital value chain. Together, Kamstrup and Siemens possess world class experience in designing, planning and operating advanced smart metering systems. And with a Master Alliance Agreement in place since 2012, the two companies have already worked together for several years in engaging with customers world-wide. "The joint solution is yet another example of the ability to integrate our solutions with other technology partners. Our industry leading platform OMNIA used for data collection and our smart meters OMNIPOWER are based on extensive experience and proven technology. Our solution will provide ESB Networks with accurate, reliable and secure data which is fundamental for ESB Networks to establish a stable and flexible network and provide good customer service", said Kim Lehmann, CEO Kamstrup. Kim Lehmann added, "At the same time, we are able to manage the scalability needed for ESB Networks and together with Siemens we will act as an agile partner". Gary O'Callaghan, CEO Siemens Ltd. commented, "this project marks another step forward in the Digitalisation of Ireland's energy network. The global shift towards decarbonization together with customers demanding much more active engagement with and from energy companies means our energy systems are becoming increasingly complex". "The Siemens meter data management system "EnergyIP" can process data in near real time from millions of distributed grid assets and smart devices, powering new approaches for meter data management, grid optimization and analytics, distributed energy management, energy market participation and asset management," he added. "The upgrade to modern electricity meters is an important enabler of Ireland's Climate Action Plan. To tackle climate change, the meter upgrade programme is an essential foundation to maximising the benefit from Ireland's growing renewable generation capability and supporting the electrification of transport and heat - using clean electricity to displace carbon fuels. We believe the integrated solution from Kamstrup and Siemens will support us in achieving this goal," says Eoghan Barrett, Manager Smart Metering programme, ESB Networks. This press release and press photos is available at www.siemens.com/press/PR2019010127EMEN For further information on EnergyIP, please see www.siemens.com/energyip Siemens AG (Berlin and Munich) is a global technology powerhouse that has stood for engineering excellence, innovation, quality, reliability and internationality for more than 170 years. The company is active around the globe, focusing on the areas of electrification, automation and digitalization. One of the largest producers of energy-efficient, resource-saving technologies, Siemens is a leading supplier of efficient power generation and power transmission solutions and a pioneer in infrastructure solutions as well as automation, drive and software solutions for industry. With its publicly listed subsidiary Siemens Healthineers AG, the company is also a leading provider of medical imaging equipment - such as computed tomography and magnetic resonance imaging systems - and a leader in laboratory diagnostics as well as clinical IT. In fiscal 2018, which ended on September 30, 2018, Siemens generated revenue of 83.0 billion and net income of 6.1 billion. At the end of September 2018, the company had around 379,000 employees worldwide. Further information is available on the Internet at www.siemens.com. Kamstrup is a world-leading supplier of energy and water metering solutions. Our solutions support utilities and are also applied in properties with individual metering. For 70 years, we have delivered reliable, cost-effective ways to measure and manage energy and water consumption worldwide. By anticipating our customers' challenges, we enable them to run a better business and inspire smarter, more responsible solutions for the communities they serve. Our solutions include consumption meters, smart metering systems, hosting and services, analytics and smart grid applications. All products are produced with the highest certifications for environmental safety and quality in our automated production facilities. OMNETRIC is dedicated to helping energy providers reap the benefits of the digital energy system by integrating their energy operations with IT to support their business goals. The company's global team of engineering, IT, security and data experts brings extensive industry experience to help customers discover and exploit data intelligence to capitalize on industry change and realize new business models. Helping customers since 2014, Siemens-owned OMNETRIC is an inventive, technology services company. Contact for journalists Siemens AG Michael O'Connor, phone: +353 1 2162751 E-mail: oconnor.michael@siemens.com Kamstrup Louise Vestergaard-Hansen, phone: +45 51 30 28 58 E-mail: lvh@kamstrup.com OMNETRIC Petr Nemec, phone: +43 664 88555660 E-mail: petr.nemec@omnetric.com This blog may be a labor of love for me, but it takes a lot of effort, time and money. For over 14 years and 30,000 articles I have been providing accurate, original news that would have remained unnoticed. I've written hundreds of scoops and sometimes my reporting ends up making a real difference. I appreciate any donations you can give to keep this blog going. After many meetings and debates, the Chicago delegation succeeded in working with the New York United Federation of Teachers, Local 2 (UFT) to push the AFT to take stronger stands on charter school accountability and school closings though many delegates from Chicago would have liked the language to have been even stronger. Generally speaking, the New York delegation represented organizing charters as the best model for handling their role in reshaping unions, despite the fact that according to many reports few charter schools in New York have been organized as is the case in Chicago. This logic is the same touted by the Progressive Caucus of the AFT. The few that have been organized are a part of the UFT local though they have separate contracts negotiated with the help of UFT. The Chicago delegation reflection the mindset that allowing new charters to continue to proliferate while attempting to organize existing charters is an end game in which public schools and the union lose. Jen Johnson, CTU, Local 1 in Substance Ukraine, Switzerland sign protocol on double taxation avoidance (Video) Ukrainian Finance Minister Oksana Markarova signed the document on behalf of Ukraine. If you see a spelling error on our site, select it and press Ctrl+Enter Businesses reporting real salaries brings extra UAH 1.3 bln Ukrainian budget Fiscal Service In September-December last year, employers legalized the work of 1.9 million hired workers. If you see a spelling error on our site, select it and press Ctrl+Enter Foreigners boost investments in Ukrainian bonds by another 23% Since the beginning of the year, the volume of non-residents' investments in Ukrainian government bonds increased by UAH 3.279 billion, or 1.5 times, thanks to the purchase of hryvnia government bonds. If you see a spelling error on our site, select it and press Ctrl+Enter One of Europe's biggest windfarms to be built in Ukraine Sixty-seven wind turbines will be installed along the banks of the Syvash Lake in Kherson region with a total capacity of 250MW. If you see a spelling error on our site, select it and press Ctrl+Enter Where pigs are hugged to bring home the bacon At the 43-year-old Ba Ren Market, a handful of people make a living as pig huggers who make it easy to weigh the swine. The market in Que Son District, central Quang Nam Province, 41 km south of Da Nang City, welcomes more than 100 buyers and sellers every day. Formed at the end of 1975, the one-hectare market is located off National Highway 1A and operates from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m, mainly trading in piglets 1 to 3 months old. Tran Van Tien, resident of a nearby town called Nam Phuoc has nearly 30 years of experience in pig trading. He said that every day he wakes up at 3 a.m. to buy pigs from farmers and bring them to the market. "Every day I sell more than 20 piglets, earning a few hundred thousand dong ($1 = VND23,196)." Pigs are confined in iron or bamboo cages or baskets. Each basket hosts about 7-8 piglets. One-month-old white pigs typically sell for VND250,000 to 350,000 ($10.79 - 15.11) each; two to three months old pigs between VND600,000 and 800,000 ($25.9 - 34.5). Pigs weighing over 100 kg costs from VND40,000 to 50,000 ($1.73 -2.16) per kg. Tran Thi Thao brought 12 white pigs to the market and collected over VND3 million for them ($129). Nguyen Thi Lan, who bought these two pigs for nearly VND2 million ($86), said that this is a fertile breed and have good rearing abilities. Because the pig does not stand still on the scale, the buyer pays a pig "hugger" to stand on the scale. Then the person is weighed for the buyer to determine the pig's weight. "At the market, there are about six people who specialize in 'hugging' pigs for weighing purposes. They earn VND500 for each piglet and VND1,000 (less than a cent) for each adult pig," said Tran Thi Thao, who has worked in the market for more than 20 years. After weighing the pigs, the pig huggers put them in the cage for buyers. The market has about three trucks parked outside waiting to be stocked with pigs that are then taken to mountainous districts of Quang Nam Province and some neighboring provinces. Pham Cu, the market manager, said every day about 100 people come to buy and sell nearly 1,000 pigs at the Ba Ren market. The market remains closed on the first and 15th day of every lunar month, which are auspicious days in the Buddhist calendar. U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korea's leader Kim Jong Un shake hands after signing documents during a summit at the Capella Hotel on the resort island of Sentosa, Singapore June 12, 2018. Photo by Reuters/Jonathan Ernst Vietnam is confident of its readiness to host the second Kim Jong Un-Donald Trump meeting, says Foreign Ministry spokeswoman. "We believe in our ability to organize such kind of events after our success in hosting the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) in 2017," foreign ministry spokeswoman Le Thi Thu Hang told the press Thursday. She said Vietnam is "yet to have specific information on the time and venue for the second U.S.-North Korea summit," but the nation is willing to actively contribute to building peace and stability in the Korean peninsula. The White House had said January 18 that the next meeting between U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un will take place in late February. Trump told reporters last Saturday "we picked a country" for the meeting, without giving more details. AFP earlier quoted a Vietnamese government source as saying that "logistical preparations" were under way to host the meeting, which would most likely happen in the capital Hanoi or the coastal city of Da Nang. Bloomberg has said that Ho Chi Minh City is also an option. The U.S. President joined leaders of 20 Pacific Rim economies, including Chinas president Xi Jinping and Russias Vladimir Putin, for the APEC 2017 summit in Da Nang. The South Korean ambassador to Vietnam, Kim Do-hyon, previously said that he highly regarded Vietnams contributions to denuclearization and peace on the Korean peninsula. "Vietnam has good relations with both South and North Korea and the U.S., and has experience in successfully hosting many international summits in recent years such as APEC," he said. Kim Jong Un and Trump first met in June in Singapore, where they signed a vaguely worded document in which Kim pledged to work toward the "denuclearization of the Korean peninsula." Progress stalled soon afterwards as Pyongyang and Washington, which has 28,500 troops stationed in South Korea, disagreed over what it meant. The U.S. expects Pyongyang to give up its nuclear arsenal, doggedly built by the Kim regime as a bulwark against military action by opposing countries. Police seize 42 kilos of heroin in Ha Tinh Province in north central Vietnam on Wednesday. Photo by VnExpress/Duc Hung Border police in north-central Vietnam Wednesday intercepted three Vietnamese citizens trafficking 42 kilos of heroin from Laos. The three persons were entering Vietnam in a car when they were stopped by police at the Cau Treo International Border Gate in Huong Son District, Ha Tinh Province. The drug was packed in paper boxes. One of the three was Nguyen Quang Trung, a resident of Huong Son. The other two have only been identified as locals from the neighboring province of Nghe An. The three have reportedly admitted that they were on their way to distribute the drug in Vietnam. Police are investigating the case. Vietnam has some of the worlds toughest drug laws. Those convicted of possessing or smuggling more than 600 grams of heroin or more than 2.5 kilograms of methamphetamine face the death penalty. The production or sale of 100 grams of heroin or 300 grams of other illegal narcotics is also punishable by death. Although the laws have been strictly enforced with capital punishments handed down regularly, drug crimes remain a serious problem, and transnational drug trafficking in border areas has proved to be a complicated problem with no easy solutions, officials have conceded. A 5G sign is seen at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Spain February 28, 2018. Photo by Reuters Vietnam's largest telecommunications company Viettel has received a license to trial its 5G services. The trial is licensed for a period of one year until January 21 next year. Viettel is the first company in Vietnam to receive this license. The military-owned company is allowed to trial the sevices in Hanoi and HCMC at not more than 73 locations and without charging for the services. The company had earmarked $40 million for the development of its own 5G chipset, but was also considering using technology from Ericsson and Nokia, its president and CEO Le Dang Dung told Reuters earlier this month. Viettel has around 60 million subscribers in Vietnam and over 30 million more in 10 other countries, predominantly in Asia and Africa. Speaking at a seminar on telecoms innovations at the end of 2018, Minister of Information and Communications Nguyen Manh Hung had expressed plans to introduce 5G by 2020, which would make Vietnam one of the first countries to deploy this technology. 5G is the latest generation in of mobile Internet connectivity, and should offer much faster speeds and more reliable connections on smartphones and other devices compared to the current 3G and 4G technologies. FastGo is the first Vietnamese ride-hailing service to expand to another country. Photo acquired by VnExpress Vietnamese ride-hailing company FastGo plans to enter the U.S. and Brazil this year as it seeks to quickly expand overseas. Its CEO Nguyen Huu Tuat told VnExpress International that he is keen to compete with other ride-hailing apps in foreign countries. "Our investors are located in the U.S. and Brazil, thats why we have chosen those places as the next markets," he said without disclosing who they are. The announcement comes a month after it expanded into Myanmar. FastGo now has over 1,000 partner drivers in Yangon and Tuat wants to have 2 million users in Myanmar this year. But the company wants to expand even faster to other markets this year, with Indonesia, where ride-hailing Go-Jek is based, being the first location. "We plan to start operating in Jakarta in March, and will also expand to Singapore this year," Tuat said. The investors want the company to "go global as soon as possible," he said to explain the rapid expansion plans. The company hopes to raise $50 million in the second round by June this year possibly from investors in South Korea and the U.S., he said. "Grab and Uber might have deep pockets, but FastGo wants to grab market share by offering better options to customers." FastGo does not collect commissions from drivers but instead charges them an amount of money if they earn a minimum amount per day. FastGo also claims to not increase fees during rush hour but allows users to tip drivers. It became Vietnams first home-grown ride-hailing app last June and now has 40,000 drivers in 12 cities and provinces. FastGo last August received $3 million from Vietnamese fund VinaCapital Ventures, according to reports. Global Voice Group has transferred its Telecom Traffic Monitoring System (TTMS) to the Tanzania Communications Regulatory Authority in an official ceremony. With over 40 million mobile network subscriptions reported in Tanzania, the telecom sector forms the backbone of a dynamic and inclusive digital economy. However, for this sector to fulfil its potential as a real driver of socio-economic development in Tanzania, it requires a system that can effectively oversee, protect, and promote the telecom industry to the benefits of all Tanzanians. With the official transfer of ownership of the TTMS infrastructures and systems from GVG to the TCRA, one should not forget that the TTMS project itself, and the innovative vision behind it, has always belonged to the TCRA and the government of Tanzania, James Claude, CEO of Global Voice Group (GVG). The event was attended by the President of the United Republic of Tanzania, John Magufuli, the director general of the Tanzania Communications Regulatory Authority (TCRA), James Kilaba as well as other high-ranking government officials. Speaking at the handover, Mr Kilaba revealed that through the TTMS system, the TCRA had collected over Sh93 billion in revenue over the five years from 2013 to 2018. Claude added that the benefits both immediate and long-term offered by the TTMS are vast. Overall, the TTMS provides enhanced oversight capacities that benefit Tanzania and all Tanzanians by enabling TCRA and the government to see, in real-time, what is really going on in the telecom sector in terms of quality, security, performance, and compliance, thus significantly improving the governance of a sector that plays a major role in the socio-economic development of the country. As such, the TTMS strengthens the role of the TCRA and government, not only as regulators and policy-makers, but also as well-informed promoters of ICT growth and development in Tanzania. The systems mobile money oversight component allows authorities to oversee these fast-growing services and to monitor their regulatory compliance as well as their security, reliability and quality for Tanzanians, especially the unbanked ones for whom mobile money represent essential services for their financial inclusion, added Claude. Mobile money transactions increased from Sh8.5 trillion per month recorded in 2007 to Sh11.6 trillion in 2017. Traffic measurement and anti-fraud components make networks more secure for Tanzanian consumers by effectively tracking and eliminating fraudulent traffic. This also improves quality of service on international calls, since calls going through illegal routes are of poor quality due to the VoIP compression methods used by fraudsters. According to Kilaba, international communication by-pass fraud has declined from 65% to just 10% during the 2007 to 2017 period. At least 224 million online content operators have already been successfully registered and issued with licences, he noted. Death is not as popular as it used to be. Back in 1994, Gallup found that a record 80 % of Americans favored the death penalty for people convicted of murder. By last year, however, support for executions had sunk to 56 % one of the lowest marks since the 1970s, according to Gallups polling data. It may now be time to see what Wyomingites think, as a group of lawmakers are proposing the state abolish the death penalty as a possible punishment. State Rep. Jamie Flitner, R-Greybull, is among the cosponsors of House Bill 145, and we hope other local legislators will lend their support, too. The lead sponsors of the legislation, state Rep. Jared Olsen, R-Cheyenne, and Sen. Brian Boner, R-Douglas, have framed the repeal as essentially a cost-cutting measure. While we must continue to be tough on crime and keep victims at the forefront of our minds, the death penalty has been found to be ineffective and expensive, Olsen said in statement. Many of those accused of murder lack the financial resources to hire their own defense attorney, which means theyre represented by the Wyoming Public Defenders Office an arm of state government. And according to state calculations, the public defenders office spends roughly $750,000 a year just to be ready for potential death penalty cases. Thats despite the fact that Wyoming hasnt executed anyone since 1992 and currently has no one sitting on death row. ... We continue to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars every year to maintain the death penalty, observed Sen. Boner. I believe the availability of a life without parole sentence adequately balances the need to protect public safety while recognizing the need to reduce the strain on taxpayer resources. We agree with the sponsors: The death penalty is rarely used and comes at too great a cost. There is a case to be made that, although juries and courts arent imposing it, prosecutors are still able to use the threat of execution as a tool. For instance, in 2012, Park County Attorney Bryan Skoric initially announced hed seek the death penalty for a Cody man who murdered his wife. But eventually, Skoric struck a deal: The defendant agreed to plead guilty to 2st-degree murder in exchange for a sentence of life in prison. Still, even though the case did not go to trial, it brought a high cost. With death penalty cases being different, multiple public defenders filed scores of motions and documents and ultimately performed $250,000 worth of work. Thats state money that could have been spent elsewhere. Further, even if a prosecutor is able to get a death sentence, theres no guarantee that it will stand up on appeal. The last man that a Wyoming jury sentenced to death had his sentence overturned and converted to a term of life in prison 10 years after he was sentenced. In the time in between, taxpayer-supported defense attorneys likely performed millions of dollars of work on the case. Its possible that prosecutors will again pursue the death penalty for the man, which would start the entire sentencing and appeal process all over again In the meantime, the victims family and friends must wait and endure repeated reminders of the crime. It seems that, for all practical purposes, the death penalty has already been abolished in Wyoming consider how many horrific murders have been committed in recent decades, with no executions. However, we keep paying hundreds of thousands of dollars a year to keep the death penalty alive, as not much more than an empty threat. It might be tempting to suggest that the problem lies with our court system if only judges would act more quickly and give more deference to a jurys findings, the death penalty could be effective in Wyoming. But, wed ask, can anything good come of making it easier for the government to take someones life? One factor behind the death penaltys sinking support has been the number of death row inmates proven to be innocent through DNA testing or other new evidence. Before then-Illinois Gov. George Ryan commuted all of the states death sentences to terms of life in prison in 2003, Illinois went through a spell of time in which it exonerated more death row inmates (13) than it executed (12). Its a chilling statistic. We may have a more just legal system in Wyoming, but like anything else that involves people, we will sometimes get it wrong, too. In most cases, we can make some kind of amends for a wrongful conviction releasing a person from prison or even providing them with compensation. When someone is executed, however, that mistake is irreversible. And its a risk thats not worth taking. | Report an error, an omission, a typo; suggest a story or a new angle to an existing story; submit a piece, a comment; recommend a resource; contact the webmaster, contact us: deathpenaltynews@gmail.com Opposed to Capital Punishment? Help us keep this blog up and running! DONATE! "One is absolutely sickened, not by the crimes that the wicked have committed, but by the punishments that the good have inflicted." -- Oscar Wilde Powell Tribune, Editorial, January 23, 2019 There are nearly 200 cases of Christians in Pakistan charged with blasphemy - the controversial law made famous by Asia Bibi. Father James Channon, director of the Peace Center in Lahore, which promotes inter-faith relations, said research by the Catholic Church had revealed 187 live cases of Christians charged with blasphemy which in Pakistan can carry sentences of life imprisonment or death. Added to this figure is the case of Asia Bibi, whose death penalty conviction for blasphemy was overturned last October by Pakistan's Supreme Court, a decision which created headlines around the world. Speaking in an interview with Aid to the Church in Need, Father Channon said: "Even now, after her acquittal, she is anything but safe. "Radical Islamists are trying to find her so they can kill her. That is why she is currently under state protection." He highlighted the suffering experienced by so many people accused of blasphemy, irrespective of the outcome of their cases. The priest said: "The blasphemy law destroys the lives of those who have been accused, even if they avoid being executed." He added: "Any time Christians are accused of supposed blasphemy, all Christians in the region are indicted with them. "This often leads to acts of violence against Christians." Among the 187 current cases, he highlighted that of married couple Shafqat Masih and Shagufta Bibi, on death row on charges of sending blasphemous text messages. He said: "Their prospects are very weak. Even should they be acquitted, they and their children will no longer be able to live in Pakistan. Fanatic Muslims will try to kill them." Father Channon went on to praise the work of Aid to the Church in Need, which priorities help for Pakistan Christians, such as building churches, training catechists, providing Child's Bibles and other Christian literature, support for religious Sisters, priests and seminarians. The priest especially stressed ACN's work to promote inter-faith relations in a country where Christians number 3.85 million - two percent in a country with a 186.5 million Muslim population and ongoing militant activity by extremists. He said: "The support provided by ACN plays a crucial role in ensuring that the Church in Pakistan can continue to proclaim the faith and promote a dialogue. The assistance has allowed us to build many bridges between Christians and Muslims." | Report an error, an omission, a typo; suggest a story or a new angle to an existing story; submit a piece, a comment; recommend a resource; contact the webmaster, contact us: deathpenaltynews@gmail.com Opposed to Capital Punishment? Help us keep this blog up and running! DONATE! "One is absolutely sickened, not by the crimes that the wicked have committed, but by the punishments that the good have inflicted." -- Oscar Wilde indcatholicnews.com, January 23, 2019 The controversy over the announced early release of firebrand cleric Abu Bakar Bashir, and then subsequent government backtracking on, is likely to continue for some time even after the government essentially confirmed that it wasnt going to happen yesterday One remaining source of controversy is the suggestion that Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrisons objection to the release of Bashir who was once found guilty for his involvement in the deadly 2002 Bali Bombing that killed 88 Australians was what led President Joko Widodo to cancel plans for the elderly clerics early release. RELATED | Survivors Outraged As Cleric Who Inspired 2002 Bali Bombings To Walk Free The presidents chief of staff, Moeldoko, addressed the claim today and denied that the governments decision on Bashirs release had anything to do with pressure from Australia. This is just made up. We are a sovereign state, how could we be pressured on this? Really, who is Australia? Moeldoko said at the Presidential Palace Complex in Jakarta today as quoted by CNN Indonesia Moeldoko also stressed that, in fact, no final decision on Bashirs release had yet been taken by the president. He said that all of the previous news regarding the early release of Bashir had come from Yusril Ihza Mahendra, a legal advisor to Jokowis campaign, but that his statements did not constitute official government decisions. Those were just one-sided statements from Pak Yusril, there has not been an official decision. So many misinterpret it, as if that was the final decision of the president, he said. President Jokowi spoke about Bashirs planned release for the first time yesterday, when he reiterated that the firebrand cleric had to meet certain requirements to be given early release, including signing a pledge of allegiance to the Unitary State of Indonesia (NKRI) and the state ideology of Pancasila. Last week, Yusril Ihza Mahendra, legal advisor to President Jokowis re-election campaign, said that Bashir was set to be released from prison after having received early parole with the express permission of President Jokowi Yusril said that President Jokowi supported Bashirs early release on humanitarian grounds, considering that the 80-year-old Bashir is aging and requires special medical care in prison. Bashir is known for being the spiritual leader to Jemaah Islamiyah, the regional terror group blamed for the deadly 2002 Bali bombing that killed 202 people, but his conviction in relation to that act of terrorism was overturned on appeal. He was sentenced to 15 years in prison in 2011 for providing support to a terrorist training camp in Aceh | Report an error, an omission, a typo; suggest a story or a new angle to an existing story; submit a piece, a comment; recommend a resource; contact the webmaster, contact us: deathpenaltynews@gmail.com Opposed to Capital Punishment? Help us keep this blog up and running! DONATE! A federal magistrate has ruled that Ohios lethal-injection cocktail is likely an unconstitutionally cruel and unusual punishment akin to waterboarding, but he is allowing an execution next month to proceed because the condemned didnt present a viable alternative way to die. Magistrate Michael Merz ruled last week that Ohio can move ahead with the execution of Columbus murderer Warren Keith Henness on Feb. 13 using a combination of 3 drugs: midazolam (as a sedative), a paralytic drug, and potassium chloride to stop his heart. In his decision Jan. 15, Merz singled out problems with using midazolam in executions, noting that he ruled in 2017 that the 3-drug cocktail was unconstitutional (his decision was later overturned on appeal). If Ohio executes Warren Henness under its present protocol, it will almost certainly subject him to severe pain and needless suffering, Merz wrote. Reading the plain language of the Eighth Amendment, that should be enough to constitute cruel and unusual punishment. He cited testimony from medical witnesses that high doses of midazolam and other drugs cause pulmonary edema, which he described as painful, both physically and emotionally, inducing a sense of drowning and the attendant panic and terror, much as would occur with the torture tactic known as waterboarding. However, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in 2015 that Death Row inmates challenging how they will be put to death must show that an alternative means of execution is available, feasible, and can be readily implemented. Henness proposed 2 alternatives: drinking secobarbital in a sweet liquid such as apple juice, or an oral injection of 4 drugs midazolam, digoxin, morphine sulfate, and propranolol. Merz rejected both ideas, noting that neither method has ever been used to carry out an execution. He also cited testimony that it could take more than an hour for Henness to die using either of the options he suggested and that Henness failed to show that there is a readily available source of the drugs. Merz concluded that he was not comfortable with his ruling but had to abide by the Supreme Courts ruling. Henness was convicted of murdering his drug-abuse counselor, Richard Myers, in 1992. Prosecutors said Henness kidnapped Myers, shot him 5 times at an abandoned water-treatment plant, severed Myers finger to get his wedding ring, then drove around in Myers car for several days forging his checks and using his credit cards to get cash and buy crack cocaine. Henness has maintained his innocence. Ohio, like many other states with the death penalty, has struggled to obtain lethal-injection drugs since European pharmaceutical companies cut off further sales on moral and legal grounds. After the controversial execution of killer Dennis McGuire in January 2014, Ohio imposed a 3-year moratorium on executions as it worked to find a new lethal-injection protocol and suppliers willing to sell them the drugs. Since the moratorium was lifted in 2017, Ohio has executed 3 people using the current 3-drug cocktail all without complications or unexpected problems. | Report an error, an omission, a typo; suggest a story or a new angle to an existing story; submit a piece, a comment; recommend a resource; contact the webmaster, contact us: deathpenaltynews@gmail.com Opposed to Capital Punishment? Help us keep this blog up and running! DONATE! "One is absolutely sickened, not by the crimes that the wicked have committed, but by the punishments that the good have inflicted." -- Oscar Wilde cleveland.com, January 24, 2019 Capital punishment would give the Iowa justice system another tool to use in prosecuting offenders who kidnap, rape and murder juveniles, according to proponents of reinstating the death penalty after a 54-year absence. Its one of the things I ran on in 96 and I still think its an appropriate punishment for capital murder, said Sen. Jerry Behn, R-Boone, who plans to introduce a death penalty bill for the 22nd consecutive year. He said his bill will be narrower in scope than House File 62, which was introduced Wednesday by Rep. Skyler Wheeler, R-Orange City, and would allow courts to apply the death penalty if the aggravating circumstances established beyond a reasonable doubt outweigh any mitigating circumstances in 1st-degree capital murder cases. In either case, Tom Chapman of the Iowa Catholic Conference said the state should not commit violence to protect Iowans from violence. Wheeler, Behn and Sen. Julian Garrett, R-Indianola, argue that the possibility of a death sentence would give law enforcement, prosecutors and courts more leverage in dealing with heinous crimes. Under current law, they said, the maximum penalty for kidnapping, rape and murder are all the same life without parole. Bringing the death penalty back to Iowa likely will get debated but probably not approved during the 2018 legislative session, key lawmakers say. So theres a perverse incentive for someone who kidnaps and rapes to kill their victim so there is no witness, Behn said. Sen. Kevin Kinney, D-Oxford, who is retired from a career in law enforcement, said he has no sympathy for people who kidnap, rape and murder, but I dont know if this is the right policy. | Report an error, an omission, a typo; suggest a story or a new angle to an existing story; submit a piece, a comment; recommend a resource; contact the webmaster, contact us: deathpenaltynews@gmail.com Opposed to Capital Punishment? Help us keep this blog up and running! DONATE! "One is absolutely sickened, not by the crimes that the wicked have committed, but by the punishments that the good have inflicted." -- Oscar Wilde The Gazette, January 24, 2019 A Christian leader in Pakistan has warned that radical Islamists are still trying to find Christian mother Asia Bibi 'so they can kill her'. Months after her death sentence for blasphemy was overturned by the Pakistani Supreme Court, Bibi remains in hiding and is 'anything but safe', according to the director of the Peace Center in Lahore, Fr James Channon. He told Aid to the Church in Need: 'Even now, after her acquittal, she is anything but safe. Radical Islamists are trying to find her so they can kill her. That is why she is currently under state protection.' Bibi spent eight years in prison on death row after being found guilty of blasphemy. The Christian mother-of-five had been accused by colleagues on a fruit-picking farm following a dispute over a cup of water. Pakistan is a majority-Muslim country where Christians account for less than 2% of the population. They face intense persecution for their faith, often as a result of the blasphemy laws, which carry a death penalty. Fr Channon said there were currently 187 active blasphemy cases against Christians in Pakistan. 'The blasphemy law destroys the lives of those who have been accused, even if they avoid being executed,' he said. 'Any time Christians are accused of supposed blasphemy, all Christians in the region are indicted with them. This often leads to acts of violence against Christians.' Fr Channon cited the ongoing case of Christian couple Shafqat Masih and Shagufta Bibi, who are facing the death penalty after being accused of sending blasphemous text messages. He fears the worst, even if the courts decide to free them. 'Their prospects are very weak. Even should they be acquitted, they and their children will no longer be able to live in Pakistan. Fanatic Muslims will try to kill them,' he said. Christians have raised the same concerns about Asia Bibi, who is still waiting for an offer of asylum from a Western country. The UK Government has said it is involved in discussions with Pakistan and other countries about a solution for Bibi but has so far refused to say whether an offer of asylum will be made. Questioned by Tory MP Rehman Chishti about what action the Government was taking, Prime Minister Theresa May said last week that she would not comment on the details. 'Our primary concern is for the safety and wellbeing of Asia Bibi and her family and obviously the UK High Commissioner in Islamabad is keeping me and the Government up to date with developments,' she said. 'We have been in contact with international partners about our shared desire to see a swift and positive resolution in this case, and a number of countries are in discussion about a possible alternative destination for Asia Bibi once the legal process is complete. 'I'm not going to comment on the details of that because we do not want to compromise Asia Bibi's long-term safety.' Mr Chishti, who resigned as Conservative Party Vice-Chair over the Government's handling of Bibi's asylum case, said it 'can't be right' to leave her to find asylum in another country and that it was Britain's 'moral responsibility' to take her in. | Report an error, an omission, a typo; suggest a story or a new angle to an existing story; submit a piece, a comment; recommend a resource; contact the webmaster, contact us: deathpenaltynews@gmail.com Opposed to Capital Punishment? Help us keep this blog up and running! DONATE! "One is absolutely sickened, not by the crimes that the wicked have committed, but by the punishments that the good have inflicted." -- Oscar Wilde christiantoday.com, January 24, 2019 Bihar: Conservation success story: How gharials were bought back from the brink in Bihars Gandak river by Gurvinder Singh Lalsa Yadav gushes with a big smile on his face every time he spots a gharial in the river Gandak, that flows through West Champaran district of Bihar, bordering Nepal. He tries to take his rickety boat close to the adult gharials (Gavialis gangeticus) enjoying a sun-bath in a chilly wintery afternoon, but they disappear into the deep water. He oars his boat further with the hope of seeing more of the large-sized reptiles in the river. Contrary to popular belief, they are very shy by nature and escape inside water even on slight disturbance. The river has quite a number of gharials nowadays which has made it easy to spot them. We are lucky to have them, he said with a sense of pride. Gharials are members of the crocodile family, historically found in various parts of the Indian sub-continent. The 50-year-old fisherman with a strong body and bulging muscles has every reason to feel proud. After all, he has worked tirelessly with conservation experts and administration to protect and bring back the population of gharials from the brink of extinction, in the river Gandak, a transnational river between India and Nepal and a tributary of river Ganga. We [the fishing community] have played a big role along with the authorities to save the reptiles that were in the danger of being hunted down or eggs getting washed away due to sand bank erosion. The efforts have paid off as gharials can now be easily spotted in the river because of the increase in their population, he added, pointing to two sub-adults at the far-end of the river. Indeed, the population of gharials has witnessed an upward spiral in the Gandak that now houses the second largest population in the country, after the river Chambal (National Chambal Sanctuary) stretch that covers Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh, claim those involved in its conservation. A remarkable increase Based on three surveys done by Wildlife Trust of India between 2017 and 2018, around 211 gharials of different age-groups are present in the river as compared to merely 15 recorded in 2010. The Wildlife Trust of India conducted three continuous surveys in the entire stretch of the Gandak river in 2017-18. In the survey conducted from February 4-11 2017, 119 gharials were sighted in the entire stretch of the river. In 2018, two consecutive surveys (February 9-17 and 21-27) documented 148 and 166 gharials respectively in the same stretch. Around 40 hatchlings have been sighted in 2018 after the survey so experts expect the number to increase this year. The findings have brought cheer to conservationists as the gharial is a critically endangered species. Endemic to the Indian subcontinent, the gharial is the most aquatic of all extant crocodilians and resides in flowing rivers with deep pools, high sand banks and good fish stocks. Its distribution range has shrunk significantly and currently it occupies only about two percent of the former range. Old references indicate that the gharial was widespread across the Indian subcontinent: it was common in the Indus river in Pakistan, Gandak river in Nepal (locally known as Narayani), Jumuna river in Uttar Pradesh and Kosi river in Bihar. It was also found in Burma (now Myanmar), Bhutan and Bangladesh. In India, the gharials are now found mainly in Chambal, Girwa, Ghagra and Gandak river basins. The population has registered a 98% decline between 1946 and 2006; the adult population nosedived, with a 58% reduction across its range in just nine years, starting from 1997. The reason for the decline has been attributed to over-hunting for skins and trophies, egg collection for consumption, killing for indigenous medicine and excessive and irreversible loss of the species habitat. In such a scenario, presence of the second largest population of the critically endangered gharials in the Gandak river becomes important for conservation of the species. The gharial reinforcement project Despite available knowledge about gharial population in the Gandak, little effort was made to document and implement conservation measures until the survey supported by Wildlife Trust of India and other conservation organisations documented presence of about 15 gharials in the Indian stretch of the river in 2010 and proposed conservation measures including strengthening of the remnant population, said Samir Kumar Sinha, the head of species recovery division, Wildlife Trust of India. The work for the conservation started in 2014 when Wildlife Trust of India and Bihar Forest Department jointly started the gharial reinforcement project in the river Gandak. Around 30 captive-born and reared gharials from the Sanjay Gandhi Jaivik Udyan (Patna Zoo) were released in the Gandak, followed by post-release monitoring. The release stock comprising of sub-adult individuals (three males and 27 females) was examined for health condition and acclimatised by providing live fish as food for six weeks to allow for inculcation of hunting skills in them. Prior to transportation, each individual was sexed and marked, he said. Gharials are marked by distinctive marks in the bony part of their tail. Two individuals were fitted with satellite transmitters, while VHF [Very High Frequency] tags were implanted on four individuals for remote monitoring. A VHF tag is a transmitter that sends out signals that can be picked up by a corresponding receiver. Six months after their release, monitoring results found 60% (18 out of 30) of the released gharials surviving in the wild. The team also spotted several gharials released by Nepal almost 75-100 kilometres from their release site. We also found the captive-born and released gharial had started sharing the habitat with wild individuals. This showed the presence of habitat selection instinct in the captive-born and reared gharials, said Subrat Kumar Behera, assistant manager, Wildlife Trust of India. An ideal habitat More success came in 2016 when the Wildlife Trust of India located six nests with 148 eggs in Chiurahia Reta near Ratwal Brige in Gandak. The nests were protected involving locals until successful hatching and the success was approximately 24%. The discovery made the Gandak river the fourth extant breeding site of gharial in the country, in addition to Chambal, Girwa and Ramganga rivers. In 2018, the team identified the congregation sites in the month of February and two nests with 57 eggs were found near the Ratwal Bridge. Due to bank erosion, the nests were shifted scientifically to a safe distance from the water line in the same site. About 35% eggs hatched successfully. The land-use features have also made Gandak a perfect habitat for the reptiles. The sand banks and bars that are important for basking and nesting activities constitute about 4.49% of the area. Additionally, gharials also use the sand banks or bars with temporary agriculture activity which is about 10.92% of the area. The average water depth recorded in the lean season is around 2.64 metres which is sufficient for adults and sub-adult gharials that prefer deeper areas as compared to juveniles and yearlings. Gandak also has less fishing pressure as fishing activities are not recorded in more than 55% of the stretch. Encounter rate of fishing boat and individuals involved in fishing has been 0.3 and 1 per km respectively. Moreover, the wetlands associated with the river covering 7,929 hectares area are fish breeding grounds that keep the river replenished with fish resources. The lesser human settlements within 2 km of the banks are temporary in nature and farmers undertake farming only in non-rainy seasons. HK Roy, the field director of Valmiki Tiger Reserve which covers a portion of Gandak said that the state government is serious about increasing the population of gharials and their habitats. The Bihar government has sanctioned a budget of over Rs 27 lakh for building a hatchling centre in Motihari and for creating awareness among people, particularly those living in close vicinity of the river, regarding the reptiles, he said. We are distributing pamphlets and other material to the locals to inform about gharials and crocodiles as often people get confused and consider the former as dangerous while infact gharials mainly survive on fish and have rarely attacked humans. We are also imparting training to our staff members to spot the gharials using scientific techniques. He said that the river is relatively better protected up to 40 km stretch after entering Bihar due to the location of Valmiki Tiger Reserve on the left bank and Sohagi Barwa Wildlife Sanctuary in Uttar Pradesh on the right bank for approximately eight kilometres. The need for conservation policies But everything is not hunky dory for the gharials in Gandak. Among the prominent challenges for their survival is the Gandak Barrage, as the release of excess water often creates problems for gharials. In March 2017, increased water level in the river due to opening of gates of the Gandak Barrage submerged the sand banks that destroyed the gharial nesting grounds. In rare cases, small gharials have also known to get caught in fishing nets, resulting in their death. There has to be a change in the policy level from the top and authorities must discuss with wildlife experts before releasing water from the barrage as often the nesting sites get destroyed. The nests should be shifted to a higher ground before the water is released. The community level participation is also vital as often nests get destroyed by animals, said BC Choudhury, Crocodile Specialist group member of International Union for Conservation of Nature Species Survival Commission. We have also submitted a proposal to the Bihar government to declare the stretch of the river Gandak as conservation reserve because it also houses endangered species of turtles and dolphins apart from gharials. The government can also develop eco-tourism by facilitating the sightings of gharials and dolphins. It will not only give employment to locals but will also inspire them to protect the gharials, he added. He concluded that there are several stretches where human activities prominently affect habitats of aquatic life. This needs to be managed and mitigated to ensure secured habitat to life forms of the river ecosystem. Bihar: Extends ban on AP fish January 24,2019 | Source: The Hans India The Bihar government on Wednesday decided to continue its ban on sale, storage and transportation of fish from Andhra Pradesh in Patna following lab tests that confirmed presence of high content of toxic chemical formalin. A team of officials will visit Andhra Pradesh to examine the fish, an official said. Sanjay Sinha, Principal Secretary of state health department, said a meeting called by the chief secretary on Wednesday decided that the ban will continue on fish from Andhra Pradesh. It was also decided that a team of state government officials will visit Andhra Pradesh in a day or two to examine ponds as well as wholesale markets there, Sinha said. Last week the state government had lifted the ban on sale of live fish, three days after it banned the sale, transportation and storage of all kinds of fish. After Bihar banned the fish from Andhra Pradesh in Patna, Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu urged his Bihar counterpart Nitish Kumar to take steps to restore the fish trade in the larger interest of farmers and those engaged in the trade. Andaman and Nicobar Islands: No respite from soaring fish prices for Nimbutala villagers January 24,2019 | Source: The Echo of India Routine reports in the local media notwithstanding, respite remains aloof for residents in Nimbutala from soaring prices of different varieties of fish. Sharp rise in prices of fish has been long taking a toll on sea food lovers in this region and in the absence of any regulation fixing prices of the commodity, vendors are reportedly charging exorbitantly from consumers. Despite considerable catch, retail fish vendors in the area reportedly trade the commodity at excessive prices, at occasions, even more than the prices in mainland. Prices of fish have been on the rise for the past many months. The locals here are used to consume fish on a daily basis. But with the soaring prices, many have turned vegetarians in the last few days. Fishers secure massive catch on a daily basis and prefer to sell them to exporters and only lower quality fishes are made available to vendors here, who sell it at higher prices. A ceiling rate of various varieties of fishes should be fixed and fish vendors should be instructed to strictly abide by the rates, said some villagers of Nimbutala. India: Shrimp exports up 21 pc to $3.94 bn during Apr-Jan January 24,2019 | Source: Outlook India The country's shrimp export grew 20.63 per cent during April-January of the current fiscal to USD 3.94 billion, on account of healthy demand in the US, Japan, South East Asia and the EU, as per data from the Marine Products Export Development Authority (MPEDA). India is a leading supplier of frozen shrimp and fish in the international market. The total seafood exports of the country during the first 10 months of the current financial year rose 13.27 per cent to USD 5.64 billion. According to the data, frozen shrimp continued as the top export item of the marine products basket, with a share of 42.05 per cent in terms of quantity and 69.95 per cent of the total earnings in dollar. In terms of volume, shrimp exports increased to 4,56,404 tonne during the period, against 3,78,355 tonne in April-January of 2017-18. The largest markets for India's frozen shrimp were the US (1,87,873 tonne), South East Asia (1,27,525 tonne), EU (62,164 tonne), Japan (28,064 tonne), Middle East (15,801 tonne) and China (9,533 tonne). The country's shrimp exports are growing despite a fall in global prices due to oversupply from some major shrimp-producing countries and stringent test regimes imposed by the EU to detect antibiotic residues in frozen shrimp consignments. The main seafoods being exported by India include frozen fish, frozen squid, Vannamei shrimp, and Black Tiger shrimp. The US is the major importer of Indian seafoods, with a share of about 34 per cent in dollar terms. It is followed by South East Asia, EU, Japan, Middle East nations, and China. Further, according to MPEDA, Indian ports handled a total marine cargo of 10,85,378 tonnes worth USD 5.64 billion during the period. Pipavav port handled the highest marine cargo of 2,47,873 tonne. The other major ports from where the country exports include Vizag, Jawaharlal Nehru Port, Krishnapatnam, Tuticorin, Chennai and Mangalore. The four largest shrimp-producing states are Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra, and Kerala. 1. Yes. Its important to address the problem before it gets worse. A bond is needed. 2. Yes. Its fine, as long as the bond isnt too large. The city doesnt need more debt. 3. No. A bond issue would just put the problem back on the taxpayers. Not acceptable. 4. No. Certificates of obligation, targeting the worst roads, would be a better choice. 5. Unsure. Its hard to say without knowing the details of what a bond would entail. Vote View Results A Perth woman, who was sent to Australia as a child from the UK, has revealed she was told her parents were dead - despite her mother and five siblings being alive.Yvonne Radzevicius, 76, was sent from a catholic children's home in Glasgow to a similar home in Geraldton in Western Australia when she was just 10.She has also detailed the sexual, physical and emotional abuse she suffered at the hands of nuns and other staff as part of an inquiry into child abuse in Scotland.She said as well as making her believe her mother was dead and she was alone, nuns also mocked and even injured her, with one smashing her head against a window so hard, the glass smashed.She was also sexually abused by two men who worked at the home.'You were too scared of the nuns and too scared of them (the men) to say anything,' she told the Inquiry, reports the BBC'One was a disciplinarian and the other one was nasty with her stories.'She would poke me on the shoulder and say: 'Oh, I remember when you were left outside of the gates in Glasgow in wet nappies'.'It wasn't until she received a letter more than 20 years later she discovered the truth - her family were alive.Sadly she only met her mother, an alcoholic, once before she died, and only got to see one of her sisters.Ms Radzevicius, who still lives in Australia, blames what she went through for struggling to show love to her own two daughters, as well as feeling a lack of belonging.'One nun and one mother superior told me I had no parents and no brothers and sisters before we left Glasgow at the end of 1952,' the BBC reported.'For years, when you believed she was dead. That's the emotional abuse the nuns put me through.'I found out in 1975, after getting a letter from my godmother, that my parents at that time were still alive and that I had five brothers and sisters.'I just kept swinging this letter around telling everyone I wasn't illegitimate.'Meanwhile, Yvonne's mother, who was an alcoholic, and had sent her to the home as she had six children and couldn't look after them all, was told she'd been adopted by a family in Queensland.Ms Radzevicius, who had lived at the Glasgow children's home since she was just nine months old, was put on a ship to Australia from England in 1956.She had a suitcase containing two dresses, singlets, and underwear, reported the Daily Record.It was only then she found out her name was Yvonne, not Mhairi, as she'd been told.The voyage took four weeks and the children were not looked after by anybody en route.When she arrived at Freemantle, her belongings were taken away and she was sent to Nazareth House, which was home to around 70 children.Even when she finished school, aged 14, Yvonne had to work in the institution's kitchen without pay for three years.When she finally managed to leave, she became a nurse.The continuing Scottish Child Abuse Inquiry is investigating the abuse of children in care, including those sent overseas.A similar inquiry is ongoing in England and Wales.After WW2, over 3000 children young as three were sent to Australia according to the National Archives of Australia, almost all from the UK.Many were sent thousands of miles away to a new life without their parents' knowledge or consent, while others were orphans.The practice only ended in 1970. Both the UK and Australia have since made official apologies.There were over 30 homes approved by the Commonwealth for the housing of child migrants, most run by voluntary and religious organisations.Email journalist Sarah Swain: sswain@nine.com.au American Amanda Knox has been awarded financial damages for not being provided legal assistance and a translator during a long night of questioning over the murder of her roommate in Italy in November 2007.The European Human Rights Court in Strasbourg, France ordered that Italy must pay Knox 18,400 euros ($A28,800) in damages, costs and expenses.'Ms. Knox had been particularly vulnerable, being a foreign young woman, 20 at the time, not having been in Italy for very long and not being fluent in Italian,' the court noted.Knox's defence lawyer, Carlo Dalla Vedova, said the decision 'is not a big surprise for me because the supreme court already said there were many mistakes (in the case).'It is impossible to compensate Amanda for four years in prison for a mistake. There will be no amount. We are not looking for compensation of damages. We are doing this on principle,' he said.After more than seven years of legal battles, Knox, now 31, was acquitted of Meredith Kercher's murder by Italy's highest court in March 2015.The sensational murder of 21-year-old Kercher attracted global attention, especially after suspicion fell on Knox, and Knox's then-Italian boyfriend, Raffaele Sollecito.Kercher was found nude under a blanket, with her throat slit.Knox and her former boyfriend were initially convicted in Kercher's slaying and handed hefty sentences, but both were eventually acquitted.An Ivorian immigrant is currently serving a 16-year sentence for the murder. Source: iStock/wildpixel The United Kingdom may be edging closer toward regulating cryptocurrencies with a financial watchdog indicating it is ready to act, and legislation forthcoming as early as summer this year. Per an official statement, the regulatory Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) will consult later this year on a proposed countrywide ban on derivatives linked to certain types of cryptoassets. The FCA also said it wanted to clarify which parts of the cryptoasset sector fall under FCA regulation. The watchdog says that doing so will help companies who work in the sector get a better understanding of whether they need to be authorized and ensure they are compliant and have appropriate consumer safeguards in place. The FSA has published a consultation paper, and will now hold a public consultation session until April 5 before issuing a policy statement in summer. The watchdog says it is acting in response to industry request for greater clarity, although it adds that consumers should approach cryptoassets with caution, and be prepared to lose money. Last year, the FCA participated in a taskforce project reporting on the need for regulations in what it terms as the cryptoasset sector. Also participating in the project were the UK Treasury and the Bank of England. In October 2018, the taskforce concluded that regulators should consult on implementing one of the most comprehensive responses globally to the use of cryptoassets for illicit activity, and first mooted a potential prohibition of the sale to retail consumers of derivatives referencing certain types of cryptoassets (for example, exchange tokens), including CFDs, options, futures and transferable securities. Meanwhile, yesterday, some speakers at the World Economic Forum in Davos argued that "crypto is too small for regulation." The FCA is currently investigating 18 unnamed companies involved in the sale of cryptocurrencies on suspicion of possible market irregularities. Elsewhere in the UK, Europol (The European Union Agency for Law Enforcement Cooperation) has arrested a man in Oxford on suspicion of stealing some USD 11.4 million worth of IOTA tokens from 85 people over the past 12 months. Per the BBC, the arrest came after a joint investigation involving state police from Hesse in Germany, Europol and the National Crime Agency. The suspect is aged 36, and police said they had confiscated computers, drugs and cash from a home in the city. UK investors have also been warned that the deadline for declaring cryptocurrency-related earnings is fast approaching and that tax documentation must be submitted by the end of this month. Share this: Twitter Facebook WhatsApp LinkedIn Email Telegram Berlin, January 24, 2019Greek authorities should quickly and thoroughly investigate the assault and harassment of reporters and photojournalists at a protest in Athens on January 20 and hold those responsible to account, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. Supporters of the far-right party Golden Dawn assaulted German reporter Thomas Jacobi, a correspondent for the French daily newspaper La Croix, in a central square in Athens, punching him in the face and destroying his camera, his employer reported, adding that they also demanded he erase videos of the demonstration from his phone. In another part of the square, far-right extremists kicked and punched Greek Sputnik News stringer Kostas Dadamis and stole his camera, according to news website Iefimerida. Sputnik reported that Dadamis was hospitalized with a head injury. A crew employed by the Hellenic Broadcasting Corporation, Greeces state-owned radio and television broadcaster, was also attacked by extremists, according to the daily newspaper Kathimerini. The cameraman, Costas Papadatos, told his employer that a group of extremists first verbally harassed him and reporter Elina Koliva, then they hit Papadatos on his back and in his face while the police stood by. We call on the Greek authorities to thoroughly investigate the attacks on La Croix correspondent Thomas Jacobi, Sputnik stringer Kostas Damadis, and others during last Sundays demonstration and hold those responsible to account, said CPJ Europe and Central Asia Program Coordinator Gulnoza Said in New York. Authorities should speak out forcefully against attempts to intimidate the media, and ensure that journalists can freely and safely cover events of public interest. Tens of thousands gathered in Athens on January 20 to protest the Greek governments approval of neighboring Macedonias name changing to North Macedonia, according to Al-Jazeera. The largely peaceful demonstration eventually turned violent, however, prompting the office of Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras to condemn extremists who attacked demonstrators and police officers, The New York Times reported. Jacobi was hospitalized after the assault and was released on January 21, according to his employer. La Croix also reported that Jacobi recorded audio of his attackers asking whether he was the journalist behind a documentary film critical of the Golden Dawn party. Jacobi co-produced the documentary Golden Dawn: A Personal Affair with Angelique Kourounis in 2016. The Hellenic Police Press Office did not respond to emailed questions from CPJ. In secret, behind locked gates, our Nation's Oldest City dumped a landfill in a lake (Old City Reservoir), while emitting sewage in our rivers and salt marsh. Organized citizens exposed and defeated pollution, racism and cronyism. We elected a new Mayor. We're transforming our City -- advanced citizenship. Ask questions. Make disclosures. Demand answers. Be involved. Expect democracy. Report and expose corruption. Smile! Help enact a St. Augustine National Park and Seashore. We shall overcome! STOCKHOLM (Reuters) - Sweden's Economic Crime Authority (ECA) said on Tuesday it had dropped a tax probe into the man at the center of a scandal that forced the postponement of the 2018 Nobel Prize for literature. In April last year, it launched an investigation into whether Jean-Claude Arnault, a photographer married to a member of the Swedish Academy that picks the literature prize winner, had evaded taxes. "The investigation has been closed into the person connected to the Swedish Academy as even a potential conviction would probably not have led to any increase in the sentence he has already received," the ECA said in a statement. Last year, Arnault was convicted of rape and sentenced to 2-1/2 years in prison. Last week, the Academy said his wife, poet Katarina Frostenson, had leaked the names of previous prize winners to Arnault and that she would quit. She has denied the allegation. The accusations against Arnault, who ran a cultural club with Frostenson that received money from the Academy, caused a feud among members and several have since quit. The Nobel Foundation, which controls the prize money donated by dynamite inventor Alfred Nobel, has warned it could drop the Academy from awarding the prestigious prize. The turmoil led to no Nobel Prize in literature being awarded in 2018. Two winners will be picked this year. (Reporting by Simon Johnson; Editing by Andrew Cawthorne) When oil prices started to tank in 2014, a local seismic data processing firm picked up its first contract in Colombia and Divestco Inc. hasn't looked back. More than two-thirds of the company's revenue now comes from South America. Along with those rewards, there are risks. Divestco's CEO says, for him, the move may have saved the company from financial ruin. "We were in survival mode," said Steve Popadynetz. Popadynetz says many service companies in Calgary are just a fraction of what they used to be since the downturn but thanks to the work his company is doing in Colombia, he's been able to hang onto his 110 employees, he says. "It's not so much that we're hiring people; it's that we're not laying off people." "So you can you lay off 75 per cent of your staff, or you can find other work for them," he said. He's seen a dramatic shift in where the company makes most of its money. "In 2014, 70 per cent of the revenue would have been probably coming from domestic. Today, probably 10 per cent is domestic and 70 per cent is Colombian." It's a remarkable shift. And Divestco Inc. is not alone. "I personally know of probably half a dozen companies on the exploration and production side that are actively looking for new ventures [in South America] that haven't had international ventures before," said Curtis Evert, vice-president of the Canadian Global Exploration Forum. Evert co-founded the organization a decade ago to help companies expand abroad. The pace has picked up in the past few years, he says. "There's no question that, over the last two to three years, service companies in Alberta have expanded their search internationally," said Evert. He says the region is a great fit for some companies. Evert says the geology throughout South America is quite similar to what Alberta explorers and producers are familiar with. He says Alberta has the expertise to help extract resources from mature oil fields and he says some of that technology was developed here. He says similar time zones also help. Story continues International price for oil The biggest benefit perhaps is that producers can get an international price for their oil instead of the discounted Western Canadian Select. "The internal rate of return that you can gain in some of these international ventures is higher than what we can do in Western Canada. So in order for a company to survive and to thrive, they should have a diversified portfolio," said Evert. "Alberta has about 60,000 engineers, 4,000 geologists, 1,300 geophysicists all very well trained. We have the intellectual capital to go into these countries and do good, and to make money in these mature fields," he said. Political risks Curtis Evert says companies considering doing business in Central and South America must do their research and due diligence. They need to realize that it will take time before any deals are signed, he said. "This doesn't happen overnight," said Evert. He says negotiations can take months or even a year. And companies must understand the risks brought on by political factors. "You have to know what the political risk is. You have to know what a geological risk is. And those are the two big things to understand first," he said. "When you decide to invest, look at the two-, three-, four-year time span in order to make this investment. If you go in with the idea that you're going to come out ahead within six months, you're probably not going to be successful." Current opportunities exist in a number of Central and South American countries, including Uruguay, Paraguay, Ecuador, Colombia, Brazil, Argentina and Peru. Brazil now allows private companies to help extract resources from existing fields, and the country been welcoming international firms. Brazil's oil production hit an all-time high in 2017 at 2.7 million barrels a day up almost 50 per cent in a decade, according to the International Association of Oil and Gas Producers. The group says Brazil overtook Venezuela as the region's top producer in 2016. Beyond exploration and production, the president of the Canadian Global Exploration Forum says there are more opportunities for service companies as well. "I think it would be a value to a lot of these companies to get a little bit more for their product and pay a little bit less for the services or even to bring Canadian services down there to keep the service companies from Alberta here healthy to be able to work in other countries," said Terry Strang. No corruption, no graft Popadynetz says the language barrier was probably the biggest challenge, which was overcome by hiring interpreters. He says Colombians have been straightforward to deal with. "They have a lot of anti-corruption laws in place, and most of the oil companies govern themselves much like a large oil and gas company would. So it's not subject to any kind of graft, or any kind of extra payment systems or any thing like that. It's all above board," he said. "As a result of that, you're dealing with professionals who are just evaluating your products and your services based upon the quality of the output and the quality of what you can provide them," he said. Upcoming trade mission Provincial and federal officials are putting the finishing touches on a trade mission to Colombia and Ecuador next month. A spokesperson with Alberta Economic Development and Trade says officials from Global Affairs Canada and Export Development Canada will join the mission, which will focus on showcasing Canada's mature fields technology and expertise. It's described as a department-led mission without elected officials. Part of the discussions will include an overview of how the provincial and federal governments can support Canadian companies. Meetings will also be held with Colombian business leaders. Steve Popadynetz says it was key for his company to meet with Colombian officials face to face. Bryan Labby/CBC "They don't award contracts over the phone. They don't award contracts over Skype," he said. "They need to see the whites of your eyes, and they need to meet you in person and understand what you're about. They're very much a relationship-based society," he said. "You win the bid and you win the contract, but you need to have the right people in place to provide that comfort and service level to your clients in these jurisdictions to make sure they're happy with these products," said Popadynetz. Bryan Labby is an enterprise reporter with CBC Calgary. If you have a good story idea or tip, you can reach him at bryan.labby@cbc.ca or on Twitter at @CBCBryan. A group that represents Indigenous lawyers and legal scholars is criticizing Prime Minister Justin Trudeau over his decision to move his justice minister into a new portfolio in last week's cabinet shuffle. Jody Wilson-Raybould, the first Indigenous person to serve as Justice Minister and Attorney General of Canada, was shifted out of that position and named Minister of Veteran Affairs. The Indigenous Bar Association issued a statement on Monday calling Wilson-Raybould's reassignment "poorly orchestrated," saying it "calls into question" Trudeau's commitment to the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and the principles of reconciliation. "With the federal election looming, relieving a strong Indigenous advocate from her duties as the justice minister is a monumental symbol of the Liberal government's lack of commitment to the meaningful recognition of Indigenous rights and interests," the statement said. "We felt compelled to put out a message saying, look, we're a little bit disappointed in the current government's actions," said IBA president Scott Robertson. "Obviously, the government is clear to do what it wants to do in terms of making those decisions. But from an optics perspective, we're just questioning the reasoning." 'A competent minister' Robertson regards Wilson-Raybould as a competent minister who knew her file. And he dismisses reports and rumours that emerged in the wake of last week's shuffle that Wilson-Raybould could be difficult to work with. "It always seems to be that people are difficult to work with," Robertson said. "And you know what makes them difficult? It's because people don't like the message they're saying. They don't like change." On the day of the cabinet shuffle, Wilson-Raybould brushed aside any suggestion her move from Justice to Veterans Affairs was a step down. Story continues "I can think of no world in which I would consider working for our veterans in Canada as a demotion," she said. 'Bizarre and incoherent' At the same time, Wilson-Raybould issued a lengthy statement listing her accomplishments as justice minister. In that same statement, she urged the Liberal government not to waver in its efforts at reconciliation. "While our government has taken some very important steps, and hard work is being done, the necessary shifts have not yet been fully achieved," she wrote. Trudeau has rejected any suggestion Wilson-Raybould was demoted, calling the role of Veterans Affairs minister "a deep and awesome responsibility". Trudeau has nonetheless faced criticism. Cheryl Casimer, a member of the First Nations Summit task force in B.C., echoed the IBA, saying Trudeau's promise to reforge Canada's relationship with Indigenous Peoples was starting to ring hollow. A group of Indigenous legal experts recently wrote an opinion piece in the Globe and Mail calling Wilson-Raybould's transfer "bizarre and incoherent." And Grand Chief Stewart Phillip, president of the Union of B.C. Indian Chiefs, called the move "disappointing and disturbing" in an interview with APTN, the Aboriginal People Television Network. The Liberal government is launching a new pilot program aimed at attracting and retaining skilled immigrants in Canada's rural and northern communities places that are grappling with labour gaps due to a youth exodus and aging populations. Immigration Minister Ahmed Hussen announced the pilot today in Sudbury, Ont.. About 78 per cent newcomers to Canada settle in big cities such as Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver under existing federal economic immigration programs. Hussen said this pilot will encourage skilled workers and their families to set down roots in the communities that need them most. The federal government will work directly with communities and with groups that help newcomers with employment, language training and other social assistance. That "welcoming infrastructure" will help them successfully transition to new lives in Canada, and to stay in the communities in which they arrive, Hussen said. "We know the faster newcomers get these tools, the faster they can contribute to Canada," he said. Hussen said immigrants will be chosen for the pilot based on matching their skills to the local needs of their communities, and could come from any of a number of professions, from truck drivers to teachers to lab technicians. He estimated that about 3,000 people and their families could participate in the pilot. According to statistics provided by Hussen's office, the number of potential workers in rural Canada dropped by 23 per cent between 2001 and 2016 due to an aging population. Rural Canada contributes an estimated 30 per cent to Canada's GDP. While there is nothing that would force immigrants to remain in the location because mobility rights are enshrined in the Charter, the idea is to weave them into the fabric of the community. "When the children are registered in the local school and the spouse has a job or has started a business, we've seen in Atlantic Canada, that means it's much harder later down the road for a principal applicant to decide to leave," he said. Story continues This pilot is styled after a similar program in Atlantic Canada that launched in 2017, and was deemed successful in helping to fill labour gaps across the region. Under that initiative, the four Atlantic provinces nominated about 2,500 workers in 2018 to fill labour market needs, according to a news release from Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC.) The concept aims to grow local populations by building community ties with the newcomers so they remain in the area instead of moving on to a bigger city. Hussen hinted at the possibility of expanding the immigration pilot to northern and remote communities last summer, after hearing from employers about the acute need for labour and skills during a roundtable discussion in Sudbury. Community applications open At the time, Hussen said the federal government was working to reduce wait times for immigration and visa applications and boost funding for settlement services, but was considering other measures to attract and retain skilled workers in rural and remote regions. Hussen announced that as of today, IRCC will seek applications from interested communities in Ontario, Western Canada and the territories to take part in the pilot. Quebec oversees its own economic immigration program. Communities have until March 1 to apply, and those selected can begin picking candidates for permanent residence this summer. Hussen told CBC the community links will be integral to the program. "It's not just about the government of Canada doing its part, it's the local community contributing to that retention by providing a more welcoming atmosphere and the support services these newcomers need to succeed," he said in an interview. Retention rates lowest in PEI A recently released study found immigration rates were lowest in the country on Prince Edward Island, where fewer than one in five immigrants remained on the Island after five years. The study from the Atlantic Provinces Economic Council used tax records to track whether immigrants remain in the province, and used 2016 records as the most recent ones available. Hussen was asked about the rise of pockets of anti-immigrant sentiment across the country. "To those people who would try to sow fear and division among Canadians against immigration, I think they're working against our national interest," he said. "And I wouldn't call them nationalists, I would call them by what they are: anti-immigrant people who are spreading intolerance and fear and division amongst our country." The Best Little Floorhouse in Texas Your choice for flooring in Central Texas! Your flooring is more than just the surface you walk on it's an integral part of your home. With over 35 years of flooring experience, The Best Little Floorhouse in Texas has the resources and knowled A winter storm sweeping Algeria brought snow to several areas of the country on January 24, according to local news reports. Air Algerie suspended a number of flights due to the heavy snowfall, Radio Algerie reported. This footage shows snow blanketing the northern city of El Ouricia. Credit: Abdulrahim Staifi via Storyful By John Tilak and Rod Nickel TORONTO/WINNIPEG, Manitoba (Reuters) - When the final numbers were tallied late last Wednesday for Husky Energy's hostile bid for rival Canadian oil producer MEG Energy, Husky's top executives learned they had the support of nearly 60 percent of MEG shareholders, people familiar with the situation told Reuters. That meant they easily surpassed the 50 percent threshold usually needed to extend their offer and reach the two-thirds mark necessary to win the deal. On Thursday morning, however, Husky walked away, saying it had "insufficient" support. The move shocked investors, analysts and MEG itself. It is usually a given that a company securing such significant backing would extend its bid, buying extra time to drum up remaining support. However, Husky in a statement on Thursday noted two negative developments since it made the offer in September - a lack of progress expanding pipelines in western Canada, and the province of Alberta's decision to order production cuts to drain a glut of oil in storage. The company has nothing further to add, spokesman Mel Duvall said on Tuesday. In fact, the deal began losing its financial appeal shortly after Husky made the offer, people close to Husky said. By last Wednesday, it seemed to one of the people as if Husky was hoping the bid would fail. "The economics of the transaction changed very materially since they launched the bid. It was an extremely shrewd move by Husky to launch the hostile (offer) and just as smart to let it go," said an energy M&A lawyer, who declined to be identified because of his ties to both companies. OIL PRICE SLIDE U.S. crude prices have dropped some 28 percent since Husky launched its bid. Worse for Canadian oil producers, discounts on their crude reached record-large levels less than two weeks later as pipeline congestion worsened. Husky, whose majority investor is Hong Kong tycoon Li Ka-shing, was largely immune, because it owns refineries that can handle all of its own crude. But the industry's low-price crisis pressured Alberta Premier Rachel Notley to order mandatory production cuts in early December, over opposition from Husky and a couple of other producers. Husky displayed doubts as far back as November. That month, according to MEG, it did not take up MEG's offer of signing a confidentiality agreement to take a closer look at the target. Curtailments quickly changed the economics, boosting Canadian prices and diluting a major advantage for Husky. Husky's upgrader and refineries previously insulated it nicely from deep price discounts and cheap crude fattened its margins downstream. Husky's refining capacity exceeds its own heavy oil production, and so in an over-supplied market, it bought cheap barrels from competitors with nowhere to move them, driving up Husky's margins, said Steve Kallir, senior analyst at Wood Mackenzie. But such trades became less profitable as Canadian prices rose, and the appeal of buying MEG's oil production may have also diminished, he said. Early this month, as the oil industry's ground shifted with Alberta's curtailments, Husky Chief Executive Rob Peabody did not accept an invitation from MEG CEO Derek Evans to negotiate a friendly agreement, according to MEG. But Husky's change of heart on shifting price dynamics does not satisfy everyone. MEG's assets will endure for decades, making short-term thinking less relevant, said Eric Nuttall, senior portfolio manager of Ninepoint Partners, a MEG shareholder. (Reporting by John Tilak in Toronto and Rod Nickel in Winnipeg, Manitoba; Additional reporting by David French in New York; Editing by Chris Reese) Forget about Brexit. Another tension-fuelled affair this one involving Canada, Norway and two moose battling for supremacy is being showered with international media attention. "After Norway's Storelgen stole Mac the Moose's place as world's tallest, a Canadian city hopes to 'stick it to Oslo' by increasing their statue's size," proclaimed The Guardian, of the viral battle between the two moose for the title of world's largest. The Late Show host Stephen Colbert was the latest to poke fun at the dispute in his Meanwhile segment, throwing shade at Moose Jaw's Mac the Moose in the process. He brought up side-by-side pictures of Moose Jaw's steel and concrete brown moose and Norway's more blingy, stainless steel structure and exclaimed, "What?" "Norway's got the T-1000 Terminator moose, and Canada has a papier mache dog from an abandoned theme park." YouTube/The Late Show with Stephen Colbert BBC News has chimed in on the "international faceoff" between Canada and Norway. CNN noted the ensuing crisis has led to Moose Jaw's mayor, Fraser Tolmie, promising he will "restore honor" to Canada by making its 32-foot moose statue just big enough to reclaim its crown. The New York TImes pointed out that the two countries have battled in the past. "The rivalry between Canada and Norway has always seemed to reflect the nature of their residents: mannerly," it said. But now, the NYT proclaimed, a line had been crossed. Just to rub salt in the wound, the NYT and Colbert both referenced the 2018 Winter Olympics, when Norway upset Canada in a team curling competition. "It was brutal," opined Colbert. "Tens of people were bored." Canada's pain might have been a joking matter for Colbert, but judging by the international brouhaha, this latest Norway-Canada spat is anything but boring. (Bloomberg) -- Microsoft Corp.s Bing search engine has been blocked in China, rendering yet another Western internet service inaccessible to the worlds largest online population. The search engine, allowed to operate in China because it censors results, became inaccessible to many users Wednesday. The U.S. software giant confirmed Bing could no longer be accessed in China and that it was engaged to determine next steps. The surprise move comes as tensions with the U.S. escalate and China pursues the biggest digital crackdown in its history. The service was blocked on the instructions of the government, the Financial Times cited unidentified sources as saying. Any action against Microsoft could set off alarm bells for U.S. technology giants like Apple Inc. who now rely on the Chinese market, especially amid complaints that Beijing unfairly restricts market access to promote local champions. Bing was sporadically available for some users on Thursday but still offline for others. The block comes despite Microsofts efforts to build a local operation on Beijings terms. Unlike Alphabet Inc.s Google, which pulled its search engine out years ago in part to avoid government censorship, Microsoft has toed the line and stops content deemed illegal from showing up in results. Its research division - Microsoft Research Asia - is also an established presence in Beijing with a new AI lab opening in Shanghai. It owns LinkedIn Corp., which also operates in the country by agreeing to censor content. Beijing is intensifying its campaign to scrub the domestic internet, which it perceives as a growing threat to social stability as the online ecosystem booms. Communist leaders face a year rich with sensitive dates, including the 70th anniversary of the countrys founding on Oct. 1 and the 30th anniversary of the partys crackdown on democracy activists in Tiananmen Square on June 4. Such occasions have sometimes helped coalesce criticism of the regime, and China often rounds up dissidents in advance. Story continues To contact Bloomberg News staff for this story: Dina Bass in Seattle at dbass2@bloomberg.net;David Ramli in Beijing at dramli1@bloomberg.net To contact the editors responsible for this story: Jillian Ward at jward56@bloomberg.net, ;Robert Fenner at rfenner@bloomberg.net, Edwin Chan For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com 2019 Bloomberg L.P. One of the largest pension funds in the world keeps investing in the UK in the face of Brexit risks and uncertainties. We have continued investing in the UK since the [2016] vote, said Alain Carrier, a senior managing director at the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB). Weve managed to find opportunities which we think were priced interestingly and effectively for us. The fund, which has 368bn Canadian dollars (211bn) in assets, is among the 10 largest pensions funds in the world, according to Willis Towers Watson. Carrier manages close to 80bn Canadian dollars (46bn) of investments across Europe, with about one-third of that money in the UK. The fund spreads its investments in stocks, property, private equity, and bonds, among other assets. And it focuses on long-term investments. We still dont know what the outcome is going to be [with Brexit]. We dont have a crystal ball, but we have the luxury of time, Carrier said during an exclusive interview with Yahoo Finance UK at the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, Switzerland. The CPPIB owns a range of real estate and shopping centres in the UK, including stakes in both the Grand Central Shopping Centre and Bullring centre in Birmingham. Carrier said the rising popularity of online shopping wasnt a concern for the fund. When we think about shopping malls, we actually look at destination centres. Its not just a shopping arcade. These centres have to have an attractiveness beyond just shopping: Its theatre, its food, its places where people congregate. These are the malls that will survive, he said. Grand Central Shopping Centre in Birmingham is 50% owned by the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board. Photo: Mike Kemp/Getty Images READ MORE: Coverage from the World Economic Forum READ MORE: Meet the man in charge of revamping the UKs struggling high streets Opinion / Columnist Don Chigumba is a mixed methods research specialist can be found in twitter @Donchigumba The mountain has collapsed, the nation lost one of its on songbird, icon, selfless spirit, hero and the son of Mbuya Nehanda. Just like (Ndabaningi Sithole, Lookout Masuku, Edgar Tekere, Morgan Tsvangirai) Oliver Mtukudzi qualifies to be buried at the National Heroes/Heroines' shrine in Harare. However, because the canonical rule used to declare national heroes' status is based on one's allegiance to ZANU PF, people who deserved to be awarded national heroes' status could not be declared. Whether TUKU is not declared or declared a national hero, majority of Zimbabweans believe that he is a genuine hero and saint.My first time to meet and share ideas with TUKU face to face was in Kampala-Uganda on 02 February 2010. I also had a chance to speak with Sam Mtukudzi on that day, Sam had what he called a terrible flu. We boarded the same flight from Entebbe international airport up to Nairobi before connecting to my final destination. The last time I talked to TUKU was on 03 March 2018. We talked about Shepard Mutamba's unbalanced biography about him. I had to write a piece published in March 2018 by Nehanda Radio and Zimeye attacking Mutamba following my conversation with TUKU. The title of the piece was "Shepherd Mutamba 'TUKU Backstage' a gross violation of Oliver Mtukudzi's rights"In the piece, I accused Shepard Mutamba of been a parasite, feeding on TUKU's blood. It is not a crime for anyone to write a biography about any person without a consent but unethical to violate someone's rights and privacy like what Shepard Mutamba did on TUKU. TUKU confided in me that Shepard was acting a role of a spy during the time he joined his team. He was busy collecting data for the purpose of his selfish interests.I convinced TUKU that Mutamba breached the research, media ethics and it was possible to take him to court but TUKU refused. He told me that he was leaving everything to God and was not willing to invest a lot of energy on Shepard Mutamba. He was worried about how his family was going to react on the biography. I told TUKU that I was going to write a piece, attacking Shepard Mutamba and he objected claiming that he had already forgiven him and left everything in God's hands. I therefore had to write the piece anti Shepard Mutamba against the wish of TUKU that is why I did no mention our conversation in the piece but what is in the piece was verified by TUKU.Now that TUKU is gone, Shepard Mutamba should know that TUKU was psychologically affected by his biography. He was not happy about the way some of his family members were involved in the biography. Despite the personal attack of TUKU in the biography, the good work of TUKU overshadowed his weak side. The common agreement among the Zimbabweans is that, TUKU is our hero and Shepard Mutamba's biography cannot take it away from TUKU's history. The biography of Shepard Mutamba will continue to suffer a blow within the academic fraternity.TUKU's contribution will never fade away from our minds. TUKU is sleeping but not dead, he left a legacy and history that Mutamba's biography cannot take away from us. I hope that the death of TUKU is going to bring MDC Alliance and ZANU PF together for the benefit of the suffering Zimbabwean masses. TUKU was apolitical, ED Mnangagwa and Nelson Chamisa should take this as a leverage and unite for the sake of our collapsed economy. We may differ on political lines but death will unite all of us at the end of it all. At the age of 76, ED Mnangagwa should be concerned about his legacy because there is nothing to remember him for if God takes him away to the endless sleeping'.The good side of ED Mnangagwa has been overshadowed by the evil part of him. It is not too late for ED to apologies and call for Gukurahundi reconciliation. The August 1 2018 deaths of the 6 innocent civilians under the watch of ED Mnangagwa will ever remain to hound him even beyond his death. The latest murder of the 12 innocent civilians in January 2019 could have been avoided if ED Mnangagwa could have learned from the August 1 2018 killings. It appears as if bloodshed by the government is becoming a habit during this ED Mnangagwa era.May the death of TUKU helps ED Mnangagwa to have a personal reflection about the bloodshed committed by his government during his dynasty. My his death (TUKU) helps ED Mnangagwa to give much of his attention on Gukurahundi. My the latest deaths of the 12 innocent civilians strengthen democracy in Zimbabwe. Their deaths is not in vein but has just watered the seeds of our democratic struggle. The Chinhoyi six battle ignited the struggle for Zimbabwe's independence. The struggles for democracy are inherent and part of people's lives. TUKU's death should definitely water the flowers of the struggle for democracy in Zimbabwe too. May TUKU's soul rest in power. News / National by Mandla Ndlovu Former Deputy Minister of Finance Terrence Mukupe has rubbished Presidential Spokesperson George Charamba's statements that Zimbabwe is not desperate to join the Commonwealth.Charamba was quoted by some sections of the media on Thursday saying, "Zimbabwe is not desperate to be re-admitted into the Commonwealth. Both Zimbabwe and the Commonwealth nations would benefit if Harare was re-admitted into the club of Anglophone nations."Responding to Charamba , Mukupe said, "Mugabe days of toxic comments and blaming the British and Americans for everything that's wrong with Zimbabwe's renaissance are back powered by George. We need the British and the Americans in as much as we need the Asians as shown by the re-engagement efforts of President Emmerson Mnangagwa."Charamba is alleged to be a close ally of Vice President Constantino Guvheya Chiwenga who is reported to be pushing for an impeachment on President Mnangagwa by parliament.Zimbabwe left Commonwealth in December 2003 after being suspended from the body of former British colonies.The commonwealth is yet to review Zimbabwe's eligibility to rejoin the club after the recent developments in the country which were described by Britain as gross abuse of human rights. News / National by Mandla Ndlovu The Zimbabwe National Army has condemned the acts of violence perpetrated by alleged members of the military to unsuspecting citizens.This was said in a letter signed by the Army Public Relations Director Alphios Mokotore."The Zimbabwe National Army has noted with concern allegations of violence by people purporting to be members of the organization. These actions by these bogus elements have subsequently put the image of the organization into disrepute."The army also urged members of the public to report to the military police if they are abused."In view of the foregoing, ZNA would like to urge members of the public to report any acts of misconduct by anyone purporting to be a member of the organization." Tree cutting permit only after confirming investment: Panel The parliamentary International Relations Committee has told the government to issue a forest clearance permit to the proposed airport project in Nijgadh only after making sure that investment will be forthcoming. News / National by Staff reportere Energy and Power Development Minister Dr Joram Gumbo has engaged a top petroleum products player, Fleet Energy (Pvt) Limited, as Government moves to locate lasting solutions to fuel shortages dogging the country.Dr Gumbo met officials from Fleet Energy in Dubai last week, when he was in the oil-rich Middle East country for the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA), held in Abu Dhabi, the United Arab Emirates.Fleet Energy, a top global player in the procurement and wholesale of petroleum products, is a partner of Rosneft, a Russian company whose head honchos have been keen to meet President Emmerson Mnangagwa. Dr Gumbo, who led the Zimbabwean delegation, told our Harare Bureau last week that they decided to take advantage of the Abu Dhabi conference to "engage fuel companies"."Considering the fuel challenges being experienced in Zimbabwe, and the fact that I was in the Middle East, I thought it was going to be remiss for me to return without engaging some fuel players there," said Dr Gumbo."I am glad to tell you that Fleet Energy expressed their willingness to sign a fuel supply agreement with the Government of Zimbabwe, subject to fruitful negotiations with the Ministry of Finance and the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe."In addition, the company is interested in infrastructure projects such as upgrading the fuel pipelines, storage facilities, power plants and even oil refinery."Government told Fleet Energy that despite its current fuel shortages, the country has a long-term aspiration of becoming a centre that distributes petroleum products to the Sadc region, taking advantage of its convenient location.Dr Gumbo said as efforts to tie the deal gather pace, the two parties agreed that Fleet Energy would submit a written proposal to the Ministry of Energy, with all the options on petroleum supply and payment options.Further, Fleet Energy bosses would visit Zimbabwe in the near future to meet and exchange notes with all relevant stakeholders including the Ministry of Finance and Economic Development and RBZ officials."We will also supply Fleet Energy with detailed fuel consumption figures, and discussions would be escalated to President Mnangagwa," said Dr Gumbo.Foreign currency shortages in the country have caused interruptions in fuel supply, hence Government's desire to ink a sustainable deal that does not put it under pressure.Government is also set to give Fleet Energy a brief document on the $5,2 billion rated Batoka Hydropower project.Engagements between Zimbabwe and Zambia for the implementation of the Batoka Gorge Hydropower project have seen the two countries agreeing on China Power and General Electric, as the companies that will undertake the project.This means Fleet Energy could be given a role in the mega project that is expected to generate 2 400MW to be shared between the two countries. U.S. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross is puzzled as to why 800,000 furloughed federal workers need to visit food banks to keep their families from starving, when they can simply get a loan. From Reuters: Asked about their struggles, Ross told CNBC: "I know they are, and I don't really quite understand why." "The banks and the credit unions should be making credit available to them," he said, noting that the government would give federal employees back pay. "There really is not a good excuse why there really should be a liquidity crisis." Wilbur Ross is has a net worth of around $700 million, according to Forbes. Before becoming Trump's Commerce Secretary, Ross was co-chair of the Bank of Cyprus, which is a laundromat for dirty Russian money. From The Dallas News: Naked Capitalism's John Siman reviews Joanthan Tepper and Denise Hearn's The Myth of Capitalism: Monopolies and the Death of Competition, in which Tepper (who does research that is sold to asset managers) condemns capitalism's current state while rejecting Thomas Piketty (who says that capitalism inevitably elevates the already-rich, not the people who create wealth by doing useful things) and Karl Marx. Like Piketty, though, Tepper seeks to rescue capitalism, rather than jettison it. Piketty prescribes a global wealth tax to erode inequality and make it possible for governments to create evidence-based, pluralistic policies that benefit the many, not the few, while Tepper jumps straight to those policies: specifically, Tepper wants to reinvigorate antitrust and break up monopolies and oligopolies, and ban anti-competitive behavior. This is an increasingly mainstream position, but, based on Siman's review, it's safe to say that Tepper makes it very well: from his vantage-point as a researcher serving the highest fliers of the finance industry, he is well-positioned to document the sleazy deals that monopolists make to carve up markets rather than compete in them, and the way that we all suffer as a result. Tepper catalogs the 29 worst rigged markets (while noting that there are many others), from ISPs to online services to milk to funeral homes to dialysis to eyeglasses to airlines to tax-prep to health insurance to agriculture to the media. And, contra Peter Thiel and the Chicago School, Tepper explains in fine detail how monopolies create disefficiencies of scale, performing worse than smaller companies, and retaining their position not by doing best in the market, but by rigging the market to crush new entrants. Tepper takes particular aim at California: simultaneously rich in GDP, but with worse poverty than Mississippi, and also a state dominated by monopolies who make the rich richer and everyone else poorer, and who control the state's politics. Tepper uses an analogy to "Lucky" Luciano's Mafia Commission of the 1930s to explain how contemporary American corporations divide up the turf in order to rid themselves of any real business competition (pp. 21-22). He uses an analogy to a brain-eating tapeworm to illustrate how the extreme concentration of industry has a literally parasiticeffect on our economy: "Monopolies and oligopolies won't kill the economy, but they can cripple it" (p. 36). Tepper sarcastically notes that when Walgreen's tried to buy up all of RiteAid's stores, the Department of Justice, being "unusually bold," allowed Walgreen's to acquire only half of RiteAid: "The appropriate analogy here is of disapproving parents who dislike their son's coke habit and tell him to settle for half a line" (p. 116). The title of Tepper's chapter seven is "What Trusts and Nazis Had in Common." He mentions in passing that "workers at the Securities and Exchange Commission spent their time watching porn while the economy crashed during the Financial Crisis" (p. 116). The sensitive reader will feel morally obligated bear some of Tepper's burden of exhaustively-researched outrage, but will also fear being, as I was, overwhelmed by it. My recommendation is to begin with Tepper's chapter six, felicitously entitled "Toll Roads and Robber Barons." Study chapter six. Digest chapter six. In it Tepper presents a catalog of the extent of the ubiquity of the hypertrophic concentration of industry in neoliberal America. "If you're not outraged by the time you get to the end of the chapter," Tepper writes, "you weren't reading carefully. Most industries have carved up the United States with the sole purpose of screwing the consumer" (p. 116). Seeking a Cure for Our New Gilded Age For the Total Corporate Domination of Everything [John Siman/Naked Capitalism] Libertycon is the annual conference of Students for Liberty, a libertarian youth group, held in DC; at this year's conference, Google was the $25,000 platinum sponsor, while Facebook and Microsoft were each $10,000 sponsors. Libertycon's other sponsors included three notorious climate denial groups, including the CO2 Coalition, backed by billionaire family foundations (including the Mercers' foundation and the Koch foundation), who argue that increased atmospheric CO2 is "good news" for the planet; they distributed literature to "explain how our lives and our planet Earth will be improved by additional atmospheric carbon dioxide" because "more carbon dioxide will help everyone, including future generations of our families" and the "recent increase in CO2 levels has had a measurable, positive effect on plant life." The conference featured a presentation by Caleb Rossiter, a retired stats prof who sits on the outer fringe of the climate denial movement; he praised higher atmospheric CO2 levels ("I'm cheering") and claimed that "There has been no increase in storms, in intensity or frequency." He also claimed that increased CO2 levels "improve life expectancy" The Big Tech companies claim that their sponsorship of Libertycon is part of their wider political event funding that crosses party lines and is nonpartisan in nature. But conferences that give platforms to climate deniers are not part of the normal political discourse: they are as dangerous and beyond the pale as conferences that feature eugenicists. I believe that those people should be allowed to have conferences! But I also think that anyone who gives those conferences a dime is either an immoral opportunist or a sociopath. The CO2 Coalition wasn't the only group sponsoring LibertyCon that is known for its work undermining efforts to combat climate change. Along with Facebook and Microsoft, the Heartland Institute was also a gold sponsor of the event. Heartland is a longtime player in industry-funded efforts to undermine climate science and fend off efforts to reduce carbon emissions. The conservative Heritage Foundation, which pushed the Trump administration to withdraw from the Paris climate accords and has long featured experts who argue that global warming is a myth, was also a sponsor. Google, Facebook, and Microsoft Sponsored a Conference That Promoted Climate Change Denial [Stephanie Mencimer/Mother Jones] Bada bing, bada banned. China has blocked Bing, Microsoft's search engine, tonight. Bing.com is not accessible inside China, per reports throughout the country. Microsoft says 'we've confirmed that Bing is currently inaccessible in China and are engaged to determine next steps.' The FT's @YuanfenYang reports that Bing was blocked throughout China following a government order. She cites two sources familiar with the matter. "This kind of DNS corruption is usually the very literal way in which the Chinese govt tells foreign tech companies to 'go home'," tweeted Yuan Yang. This kind of DNS corruption is usually the very literal way in which the Chinese govt tells foreign tech companies to "go home" https://t.co/CPQyO8vmkD Yuan Yang (@YuanfenYang) January 23, 2019 From her report in the Financial Times: On Wednesday, mainland Chinese users wrote on social media that their attempts to access Bing's China site, cn.bing.com, were failing. Cn.bing.com is still accessible from outside of China. Microsoft said that it was investigating the situation. Two sources familiar with the government order confirmed that Bing had been blocked. One of the sources explained that China Unicom, one of China's major state-owned telecoms companies, had confirmed the government had ordered a block on Bing. Attempts to access cn.bing.com resulted in a connection error. The connection error was caused by an inability for the Chinese nameservers address books that match up website names to their digital locations to correctly retrieve the IP address of Bing's China platform. This form of nameserver corruption has been often used by the Chinese government to block platforms. According to website visit tracker StatCounter, as of December 2018 Bing held a 2 per cent market share in China, far behind Chinese industry leader Baidu with 70 per cent. More tweets below. JUST IN: Microsoft says 'we've confirmed that Bing is currently inaccessible in China and are engaged to determine next steps' $MSFT pic.twitter.com/BGRZHCtaj3 Reuters Tech News (@ReutersTech) January 24, 2019 #Microsoft confirms to Reuters that Bing is currently inaccessible in #China@StephenNellis Vincent Lee (@Rover829) January 24, 2019 JUST IN from Microsoft: "We've confirmed that Bing is currently inaccessible in China and are engaged to determine next steps." Sarah Zheng (@_szheng) January 24, 2019 So as best I can tell, now that Bing appears to be blocked in China, the only English-language search engines still accessible to Chinese Internet users are Gibiru (which prides itself on indexing information on chemtrails and the like) and Yandex, the Russian search engine. Nathan VanderKlippe (@nvanderklippe) January 24, 2019 Then China came for Bing, and I did nothing, because I have never used Bing. https://t.co/YP6h4HRF4I Mike Forsythe (@PekingMike) January 24, 2019 Bada bing bada boom: China appears to have blocked the Microsoft search engine pic.twitter.com/pNylXTgRX9 Anna Fifield (@annafifield) January 24, 2019 Yahoo! JAPAN Yahoo! JAPAN Judges Order New Voting Districts in Virginia Judges ordered Virginia legislators to adopt new district lines that mostly likely will change the balance of political power in the state. The new districts will tip the balance in favor of Democrats, who claim in a lawsuit that the traditional boundaries diluted votes of African Americans. The U.S. Supreme Court agreed to hear the gerrymandering case late last year. With judicial oversight, lawmakers say the redistricting will change everything. It could happen even before the Supreme Court rules. Democrats Flipping Republicans currently hold 51 of the 100 seats in the House of Delegates. But Democrats expect to flip at least three seats -- and as many as eight -- under the new district map. "Democrats are clear favorites to take control of the House later this year, if the electorate looks anything like it did in 2017," said Nick Goedert, a political scientist at Virginia Tech. Under the new map, six districts will likely see the early changes. Bernard Grofman, a political scientist chosen by the court, drafted it after a court ruling last year that 11 districts were racially drawn. In November, all 100 House seats will be up for grabs. Racial Gerrymandering In Virginia House of Delegates v. Bethune-Hill, the Supreme Court agreed to hear arguments over gerrymandering. The justices took the case, but left open the possibility that Virginia would resolve the issue before the case made it to oral arguments. Another issue may still interest the judges, however. They may want to decide whether the House of Delegates had standing to sue. Related Resources: Top court gets new chief registrar The Judicial Service Commission has elevated secretary of the Judicial Council Nripadhwoj Niroula to the chief registrar of the Supreme Court. A commission meeting held on Tuesday evening under Chief Justice Cholendra Shumsher Rana also decided to appoint Devendra Raj Dhakal as secretary of the Judicial Council. Tighter checks for importers producing fake documents: Customs Department With an increasing number of traders producing fake details on imported goods, the Department of Customs has warned that it may put around 67 percent of these goods under the red customs clearance channel. On Sunday, Adam Serwer of The Atlantic wrote a piece about Rep. Steve King (R-IA), who recently did an interview with The New York Times in which he suggested that there was nothing wrong with the phrases "white supremacy" and "white nationalism." Serwer attempts to smear broad swaths of conservative policy with King's racism. Here's what he writes:This is nuts. Serwer here links illegal immigration policy, Trumpian mishandling of the Puerto Rican hurricane (much of the mishandling was due to Puerto Rican governmental failures), and most absurdly, the appointment of Justice Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court with white supremacy.Herein lies the problem: the Right and the Left have different definitions of racism. Many thoughtleaders on the Left obviously believe that racism is coincident with conservative policy - that conservative takes on illegal immigration and judicial interpretation must be spurred by white supremacy.Thoughtleaders on the Right believe that racism is about judging people solely based on race. This, by the way, is the actual definition of racism. The Left does not embrace this definition - they are happy to judge people on the basis of race, from the ideology of intersectionality to policies like affirmative action. The traditional definition of racism means that we must judge policies and statements on the basis of those policies and statements: a policy or statement may be driven by racism, or it may not be. A statement may rationally be indicative of racism, or it may not be. You can't default to a policy or statement being racist just because you disagree with it.This means that those on the Right are often skeptical about Leftist claims of racism - after all, the Left has a nasty habit of conflating charges of racism with simple conservatism. Those on the Right aren't generally willing to credit those on the Left with good faith anti-racism - nor, in many cases, should they.Here's the problem for the Left, then: the Left tends to smear conservatives with charges of racism because they don't like conservatism.Here's the problem for the Right: the Right sometimes overreacts to these attacks by granting statements open to differential interpretation the benefit of the doubt until clear evidence of racism rears its ugly head. I've been as guilty of this as anyone; Steve King is a prime example So, here's what we can do better: the Left can stop maligning everyone it doesn't like as racist, and the Right can be more willing to listen to the Left's good faith charges of racism. But that's simply not going to happen so long as the Left continues to smear conservatism itself as racism - particularly when the Right has shown itself significantly more willing to excise racism from its midst than the Left has. I have become aware that the Fake News is celebrating Speaker Pelosi's tactics in obstructing the process of governing in Washington, with the cumulative effort to effect the keeping of the federal government closed and joyfully blaming President Donald J. Trump.It is readily apparent that dishonesty coupled with an ingrained knowledge of a vapid awareness of real governing, makes good (for Liberals /Socialists), but very strange bedfellows (to the rest of us).The Democrat Media, with their celebrated Liberal /Socialist accomplices, have well proved that the dishonest /stupid loves their own kind, and make essential company to one another.And, that is a core principle of the Fake News and their core Democrat mates here in their realm of what would be perfectly ineffective and their most dishonest practice of governing.What's up with the Fake News over the last 24 hours?Does anyone with a full working brain still depend on the Fake News for real news with substantive facts?That would be sad.The Fake News will be abuzz tonight with angry rapacious reports of how President Donald J. Trump has, once again, 'overreached in his capacity as Commander-in-Chief.'The President's wise discretion to do what was well within his power was to keep key Democrats in Washington, DC to negotiate an end to the Federal Government Shutdown of 2018 /2019 by ending a Department of Defense flight to Europe and the Middle East for a congressional junket for congressional Democrats. House Democrats, in the majority, continue to keep the Federal Government shutdown by refusing to negotiate with the President over Border Security, which the leadership opposes, so that the "Resistance Movement" shall remain in tact to appease Leftist radicalsOpen Borders, with NO Border Security, is the thinly veiled platform of today's Left and their Fake News opinion makers.Why won't these congressional Democrats level with the American voters that their NO Border Security initiative is designed to win radical Latino votes? Furthermore, they should announce that it is their unrelenting desire to put all of Americans at risk to achieve their political hegemony for future generations of Liberals /Socialists in their transformation of America.An evolving issue for the Left, all Liberals at best; Socialists at the actual, is to end the Electoral College; the prescribed method to elect the President.Our Founders developed the perfect method to elect the president - the Electoral College - now the Left thinks they can gain control faster if their urban masses of mindless minions' votes count as much as the Americans that live in more rural America, where they actually work for a living, pay more property taxes, work with tools, etc.Our Founders' Constitution and its Amendments is brilliant in how it foresaw the stupidity of so many of today's Americans, many living in the more urban areas, and: Do you really want these muddle brained American impostors having as much say, or more so, as they are so easily controlled by the Fake News propagandists?I do not.Stand strong for the Electoral College, where the states continue to elect the president. Prithvi Man Shrestha is a political reporter for The Kathmandu Post, covering the governance-related issues including corruption and irregularities in the government machinery. Before joining The Kathmandu Post in 2009, he worked at nepalnews.com and Rising Nepal primarily covering the issues of political and economic affairs for three years. Recently Mother Nature has reminded us that winter is far from over here in central New York. Bitter cold weather and snow can create difficult and dangerous travel conditions. When snow and winter weather create potentially hazardous conditions on our roadways the members of our sheriff's office work to provide you with travel advisories that can help you stay safe and informed. To determine if an advisory is warranted, we monitor weather forecasts from the National Weather Service as well as local weather forecasts with the help of our local emergency management office. We also collaborate with our county and local highway departments to get real time reports of our road conditions. Patrol deputies provide information from throughout the county about travel conditions as well. Finally, we work closely with our 911 center to track real-time accident reports and calls for service that might indicate that travel conditions are becoming hazardous. If it is determined that a travel advisory should be established, one of the following three advisories is issued, depending on the severity of the weather: I've been thinking about that visit the past couple of days as I try to process the the coverage of and reactions to the incident that happened Saturday near the Lincoln Memorial. Video went viral showing a group of Catholic high school boys in town for the March for Life rally wearing pro-Trump clothing surrounding and appearing to jeer a Native American who was there for the Indigenous Peoples March. Social media blew up with hot takes condemning the students, and news media picked up the story to describe the video and the reaction. The boys' school and the local diocese sent out a statement apologizing for the incident and pledging to take action. But soon more video emerged, showing the students had been subjected to taunts and harassment from a different group, black men identifying themselves as Hebrew Israelites. And it showed the Native American man, who said he was trying to be a peacemaker in the situation, contributed to the situation by moving toward the students. Just as quickly as Saturday's hot takes condemning the students exploded onto the scene, new outrage was being expressed by people saying the media fabricated the incident, calling it "fake news" and blasting liberals for their attacks on these young Christian men who did nothing wrong. More than a handful of media stories came out about that reaction. And then people reacted to the media reaction on both sides. Politicians and PR firms dove into the fray. As I'm writing on a Wednesday afternoon, it's still a full-fledged national argument. After more than 20 years of service to Brutus' town court, Judge Robert Hook celebrated his retirement from the bench last weekend. Hook said it was while he was an Auburn City Court bailiff that Judge James G. Cuddy talked him into running for Brutus judge. Hook then became Brutus' court judge from 1996 through Jan. 18 of this year. "One of the things I think is best is if you can help others," Hook said. "Maybe if I can influence a kid more (to) get in the right directions ... that's satisfying." Hook, 84, said he enjoyed helping people and serving as judge, noting that the only reason he gave it up was due to having a heart attack last year. "It's time to slow down," Hook said. "I'm going to have to find something to do," he added, "I just can't sit and watch television, that'll drive me nuts." "This is the right thing to do," he said. Republicans opposed the bill and accused Democrats of having misplaced priorities. During the floor debate, state Sen. Fred Akshar said he surveyed his constituents on the subject and found that 85 percent oppose the DREAM Act. Most of the respondents, he said, are struggling to afford college tuition for their children. State Sen. Rob Ortt, a western New York Republican, agreed. He believes Democrats are undermining federal law by extending tuition benefits to undocumented immigrants. He also thinks there will be a budgetary impact of implementing the law. "There's no question that this will increase costs for New Yorkers," he said, adding that it may be paid for through higher taxes or increased tuition at state colleges and universities. The Republicans' objections weren't enough to derail the legislation. In past years, GOP opposition prevented the bill from advancing in the state Legislature. But that's not the case this year now that Democrats control both chambers. Support Local Journalism Your membership makes our reporting possible. {{featured_button_text}} Cuomo's office has said another reform consolidating the federal and state primary elections will save counties $25 million. The savings, they argue, can be used to fund early voting. But Susan Lerner, executive director of Common Cause/NY and founding member of the Let NY Vote Coalition, explained that for early voting to be successful there must be funding in the budget. "While the consolidation of primaries will produce a cost savings as the governor suggests, a cost savings is not the same as direct funding," Lerner said. "Additionally, primaries won't be consolidated until next year even though early voting is slated to begin this November. That would make early voting an unfunded mandate forcing counties to cover the cost." Consolidating the primaries was necessary because unlike every other state, New York had a separate federal and state primary election. Since 2012, the federal primary for congressional races has been held in late June. The state and local primary has been held in September. Under the new law signed by Cuomo, the federal and state primary election will be held on the fourth Tuesday in June. A Ukrainian court on Thursday began delivering a verdict in the case of former Ukrainian president Viktor Yanukovych who is on trial for treason for attempting to quash a 2014 pro-Western uprising. The former president has been charged with high treason for asking Russian President Vladimir Putin to send Russian troops to Ukraine after he fled the ex-Soviet country. The 68-year-old faces up to 15 years in prison but has never attended the trial and is believed to be living in Russia. The uprising ousted Yanukovych and brought to power President Petro Poroshenko, who faces an uphill battle for re-election in March. The authorities beefed up security around the court as judges took turns to read out their ruling. The court in Kiev has been holding hearings on the case since 2017. Yanukovuch faces a number of other criminal probes including over usurpation of power and using force against demonstrators. In late 2013, the Moscow-backed president sparked massive protests when he refused at the last minute to sign an association accord forging closer ties between Ukraine and the European Union. After Yanukovych fled, Putin revealed a special operation organised by Moscow exfiltrated the Ukrainian leader. Moscow annexed Ukraine's Crimea peninsula in 2014 and supported an uprising by Russian-speaking separatists in the east of the ex-Soviet country. The conflict in eastern Ukraine has clamed more than 10,000 lives despite repeated international efforts to forge a lasting ceasefire. A panel of three-judges begins to deliver the verdict in the high treason trial of former pro-Moscow president Viktor Yanukovych in Kiev No-mans-land encroached in Rautahat Both Nepali and Indian nationals living in the vicinity of the Nepal-India border in Rautahat district have encroached upon the no-mans land. The United States, Britain and major South American nations recognised opposition chief Juan Guaido as Venezuela's interim leader Thursday but China and Russia threw their weight behind embattled President Nicolas Maduro. Here are some of the key reactions after speaker of the Venezuelan parliament Guaido declared himself "acting president" on Wednesday. - US recognises Guaido - US President Donald Trump recognised Guaido as acting leader, declaring his National Assembly "the only legitimate branch of government duly elected by the Venezuelan people". The US said it stood ready to use "all options" if Maduro tries to quash the opposition. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo warned Maduro against use of force, saying "the time for debate is done" and calling Maduro's regime "illegitimate". - UK: Guaido 'right person' - Britain joined the US in declaring that Madura was "not the legitimate leader of Venezuela" and backing Guaido. "The United Kingdom believes Juan Guaido is the right person to take Venezuela forward. We are supporting the US, Canada, Brazil and Argentina to make that happen," Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt said in a statement -- diverting from the cautious approach of other Europe leaders. - Russia calls Maduro - Russian President Vladimir Putin called Maduro and expressed "support for the legitimate authorities of Venezuela in the context of a domestic political crisis that has been provoked from the outside," the Kremlin said. Putin said that any intervention by other countries "violates the fundamental norms of international law", according to the statement. The Russian foreign ministry warned that support for Guaido was a "direct path to lawlessness and bloodshed". - China: don't interfere - China, Venezuela's main creditor, "opposes interference in Venezuelan affairs by external forces", Chinese foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying told a news conference. She said Beijing urged calm pending a "political resolution to Venezuela's problem through peaceful dialogue within Venezuela's constitutional framework". - EU: rule of law - The European Union reacted cautiously to the fast-moving crisis in Venezuela. EU diplomatic chief Federica Mogherini in a statement stressed EU support "for the restoration of democracy and rule of law in Venezuela through a credible peaceful political process in line with the Venezuelan constitution". - France: 'restore democracy' - French President Emmanuel Macron said Europe favoured "the restoration of democracy", stressing a need for new elections, after what he called Maduro's "illegitimate" election in May last year. - Spain speaks to Guaido - Spain's Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez stressed the need for "free elections" in Venezuela in a telephone call to Guaido, the Spanish government said. Foreign Minister Josep Borrell said an election was the "only way out" of the impasse. - Neighbours: time up - Several of Venezuela's regional neighbours said Maduro's time was up. Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro said "Brazil will support politically and economically the process of transition so that democracy and social peace return to Venezuela". Colombian President Ivan Duque said his country was behind Guaido and will "accompany this process of transition to democracy so that the Venezuelan people free themselves of their dictatorship." Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Honduras, Panama, Paraguay and Peru issued a joint statement endorsing Guaido as interim president. - Cuba, Mexico: 'imperialism' - Cuba and Mexico offered Maduro support however. Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel slammed "imperialist attempts to discredit and destabilise" Venezuela. - UN: 'disaster' risk - UN head Antonio Guterres appealed for dialogue to avoid "an escalation that would lead to the kind of conflict that would be a disaster for the people of Venezuela and for the region." burs/boc/har Major regional players Brazil, Colombia, Chile, Peru and Argentina all gave their backing to Juan Guaido's self-proclamation as Venezuela's acting president Venezuelans in Medellin, Colombia show support for opposition leader Juan Guaido's self-proclamation as acting president Riot police clashed with opposition demonstrators in a protest in Caracas against the Maduro government on the anniversary of the 1958 uprising that overthrew the military dictatorship Juan Guaido declared himself 'acting president' during a mass opposition rally in Caracas against President Nicolas Maduro Her train journey from Sweden took 32 hours, but Greta Thunberg is not tired. The teenager is dead-set in her mission to persuade the global elite in Davos to take climate action. The 16-year-old has galvanised protests by schoolchildren around the world, after delivering a fiery speech to world leaders at last month's UN climate talks in Poland. "I would like to talk to people in power," the Swedish crusader told AFP shortly after arriving in Davos for the annual World Economic Forum. Unlike many of the movers and shakers gathered in the Swiss ski resort, Thunberg has not zipped into town for a few quick meetings at luxury hotels. With the train trip from Stockholm, which took a day-and-a-half, Thunberg was making a statement in opposition to many of the Davos elite, who flew in by private jet. "I have stopped flying for climate reasons, because I don't want to say one thing and then do another thing. I want to practise as I preach," she said. "I think it is insane that people are gathered here to talk about the climate and they arrive here in private jet." In Davos, Thunberg is scheduled to speak at several side events and an official WEF discussion on Friday entitled "Preparing for Climate Disruption". But even before she arrived, accompanied by her father, the youngster unleashed a message of outrage to the Davos audience in a video message screened in the WEF Congress Centre on Tuesday. - 'Incredible' global impact - "Some people say we are not doing enough to fight climate change. That is not true, because to not do enough, you have to do something, and the truth is that we are basically not doing anything," she said. But she acknowledged she had no illusions that everyone in Davos would voluntarily heed her call to action. "They have known exactly what priceless values they have been sacrificing to continue making unimaginable amounts of money," she told AFP. She is demanding leaders do whatever it takes to adhere to the Paris climate agreement targets of limiting global temperature rises to below two degrees Celsius (3.6 Fahrenheit) -- and beneath the safer threshold of 1.5 degrees C if at all possible. "I think it is very unfair that the older generations have done this to us and future generations... and that we will have to clean up after them," she said. "Young people need to realise that their future is at risk," she said resolutely, bundled up, with her long blonde braids sticking out from under a woollen hat and scarf against the sub-zero temperatures in Davos. "They need to do something about that and get angry, and form that anger into action," she said, insisting that when children speak up they can have a "huge impact". Thunberg, who looks even younger than her 16 years, has drawn comparison with Pakistani education activist and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Malala Yousafzai. The Swede first grabbed the spotlight when she began staging "school strikes for the climate" last August, skipping school each Friday to protest in front of the Swedish parliament. "Why should I be studying for a future, which may be no more, and when no one is doing anything to save that future?" she said in Davos. "I am too young, I can't vote, but I have to go to school, so this is a way to make my voice heard," adding a measure of surprise at how far her one-girl protest has gone. "I think it is incredible and that it has spread so far, and that people in all continents except Antarctica are climate-striking from school," she said. "I didn't expect it to be that big." The 16-year-old has galvanised protests by schoolchildren around the world, after delivering a fiery speech to world leaders at last month's UN climate talks in Poland The world is facing worrying "fragmentation", UN chief Antonio Guterres said Thursday, warning that the relationship between the United States, Russia and China was worryingly out of kilter. "The relationship between the three most important powers, Russia, the United States and China, has never been as dysfunctional as it is today," the UN secretary-general told the World Economic Forum in Davos. Guterres said the ongoing shift away from a world dominated previously by two Cold War superpowers was creating "a bit of a chaotic situation". "We no longer live in a bipolar or unipolar world, but we are not yet in a multipolar world," he said. "Power relations (are) becoming unclear," he added, urging countries to work together and support multilateralism. The United States has been locked in a trade war with China and others that has rocked the financial markets and sparked fears of a slowdown in the global economy. And US relations with Moscow have been hit by allegations of Russian meddling in US politics and a stand-off over the fate of a Cold War-era nuclear weapons treaty. The dysfunction is evident "in the economy, but it is also true in the Security Council," Guterres said, lamenting the recurring "paralysis" of the UN's top body. "We are in a world in which global challenges are more and more fragmented, and the responses are more and more fragmented," he said. "If this is not reversed, it is a recipe for disaster." He acknowledged that many around the world feel disconnected from those in power and from the work of international organisations such as the UN, fuelling nationalism and populism. "We need to demonstrate to all of those who feel that they were left behind that our ideas, our policies, our programmes aim at solving their problems or helping them to solve them," he said. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres told the World Economic Forum in Davos that the shift away from a world dominated previously by two Cold War superpowers was creating "a bit of a chaotic situation" Pakistan's Supreme Court will decide on January 29 whether to allow an appeal against its acquittal of a Christian woman at the centre of a blasphemy row, a lawyer involved in the case said Thursday. If the court refuses to allow the appeal, it will remove the last legal hurdle facing Asia Bibi, who is a prime target in conservative Muslim-majority Pakistan and remains in protective custody. Bibi was on death row for eight years for blasphemy, a hugely sensitive charge. The Supreme Court's decision in October last year to overturn her conviction ignited days of violent demonstrations, with enraged Islamists calling for her beheading, mutiny within the powerful military and the assassination of the country's top judges. The government has since launched a crackdown on the Tehreek-e-Labaik Pakistan (TLP) party -- the Islamist group driving the violent protests -- charging its leaders with sedition and terrorism. But authorities also struck a deal with the protesters to end the violence, forming an agreement which included allowing a final review of the Supreme Court's judgement. On January 29, "the court will determine if our appeal against her acquittal is admitted", Ghulam Mustafa Chaudhry, the lawyer who filed the petition seeking an appeal, told AFP. "Usually the court decides on the same day if the appeal is admitted or not," he added. Under Pakistan's creaky legal system any private citizen can petition the courts on any matter of public interest or human rights, as in the Bibi case. However legal experts said it would be highly unusual for the Supreme Court to overturn its own decision, especially one that as carefully drafted as the Bibi ruling. "It is very rare," lawyer Saad Rasool told AFP. The three-member bench that will hear the petition will be headed by new Chief Justice Asif Saeed Khosa, considered the country's top expert in criminal law and who helped draft the decision to acquit Bibi. Blasphemy continues to be a massively inflammatory issue in Pakistan, where even unproven accusations of insulting Islam can spark lynchings. Approximately 40 people are believed to be on death row or serving a life sentence for blasphemy, according to a 2018 report by the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom. Many cases see Muslims accusing Muslims. But rights activists have warned that minorities -- particularly Christians -- are often caught in the crossfire, with blasphemy charges used to settle personal scores. Speculation has been rife since Bibi's acquittal that an asylum deal with a European or North American country may be in the works. The allegations against her date back to 2009, when Muslim women accused her of blasphemy against the Prophet Mohammed, a charge punishable by death under the colonial-era legislation. Her case drew the attention of international rights groups and swiftly became the most high-profile in the country. Pope Benedict XVI called for her release in 2010, while in 2015 her daughter met his successor and the current head of the Catholic Church, Pope Francis. Asia Bibi was on death row for eight years before her death sentence was overturned A mum accused of throwing her newborn babys body in the rubbish claims she didnt realise she was pregnant until she gave birth. Samantha Vivier, 22, gave birth in the toilet while she was working at an Amazon warehouse in Arizona in south west US on January 16, local outlet Arizona Republic reported. The babys body was found wrapped in a plastic bag in the toilet rubbish bin by a cleaner and police were notified the same evening. Samantha Vivier is accused of throwing her newborn babys body in a bin. Source: WGN9 (left)/CBS5 (right) Vivier faces one count of unlawful disposal of human remains, according to the outlet. She told police that she did not know she was pregnant and panicked when the baby was born while she was on her shift, local outlet WGN9 reported. A co-worker told police that Vivier had been sick in the toilet and went home to get new pants, the outlet said. Prosecutors believe the baby was stillborn, local outlet CBS5 reported. WARNING: CONFRONTING CONTENT: Animal activist group PETA has caused fury in Sydney this morning by barbecuing a fake dog in Pitt Street Mall in a bid to stop people from eating meat this Australia Day. Demonstrators from People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals set up a model barbecue in the mall which appeared to be cooking a heavily charred dog with a slogan urging pedestrians to go vegan. PETA Australia protested in Pitt Street Mall. Source: PETA Australia If you wouldnt eat a dog, why eat a lamb? Go vegan, one slogan said. The stunt was poorly received by some passersby who said it was incredibly distressing for young children on school holidays. This content is not available due to your privacy preferences. Update your settings here to see it. PETA Spokesperson Emily Rice told Yahoo7 News that the prop was designed to be confronting in order to send a strong message. When it comes to the capacity to suffer and feel pain and fear, a dog is no different from a lamb, a pig, a chicken, or a cow, Ms Rice said. PETA cooked a fake dog on a barbecue to urge people not to eat eat. Source: PETA Australia PETA is urging anyone whos repulsed by the prospect of chowing down on dog meat to extend that compassion to all other animals and go vegan. She insisted that the demonstration would not be gory but said she expected the sight to provoke angry responses from those walking through the citys busiest mall. This content is not available due to your privacy preferences. Update your settings here to see it. Stay up to date with the latest news with Yahoo7s daily newsletter. Sign up here. Japan's supreme court has upheld a law that effectively requires transgender people to be sterilised before their gender can be changed on official documents. The court acknowledged "doubts" were emerging over whether the rule reflects changing social values, but said the law was constitutional. The decision, issued Wednesday but published on Thursday, upholds a law that requires any individual wishing to change their documents have "no reproductive glands or reproductive glands that have permanently lost function," referring to testes or ovaries. It also requires the person to have "a body which appears to have parts that resemble the genital organs of those of the opposite gender." The appeal was filed by Takakito Usui, a transgender man who wants to change official documents that identify him as female. The panel of four justices ruled unanimously to throw out Usui's appeal, declaring the law constitutional. They said the measure was intended to prevent "problems" in parent-child relations that could lead to societal "confusion" and "abrupt changes" in society. The judges said they recognised the invasive nature of the law, adding that legislation should be regularly reviewed as social and family values change. In an additional opinion, presiding justice Mamoru Miura joined another justice to say that while the law may not violate the constitution, "doubts are undeniably emerging". "Suffering related to gender, felt by people with gender identity disorder, is also the problem of society as a whole, which should encompass the diversity of sexual identity," the additional opinion said. The ruling ends Usui's legal battle, but his lawyer said parts of the decision could boost a campaign to press lawmakers to change the rule. "In this day and age, I can't believe there is a law that requires people to have surgery," Tomoyasu Oyama told AFP. "We have been at this case for two years. And every month, every six months, we can see an improved understanding of the issue by society," Oyama said. Usui's lawyer said parts of the decision could boost a campaign to press lawmakers to change the rule Italy's far-right Interior Minister Matteo Salvini on Thursday insisted the country's ports were closed to migrants, as a ship carrying 47 people rescued at sea headed for Sicily in deteriorating weather. "Umpteenth provocation: having stayed for days in Maltese waters, Sea Watch 3 with 47 on board is heading for our shores. No one will disembark in Italy," he tweeted. "Ready to send medicine, food and whatever is necessary, but Italian ports are and will remain closed." The Dutch-flagged vessel, which is operated by the German charity Sea Watch, picked up the migrants and asylum-seekers -- including eight minors -- six days ago off the coast of Libya as they made the treacherous Mediterranean crossing. Since then Malta and Italy, the nearest European Union countries, have refused to let them dock, despite an encroaching storm. "We're facing a Mediterranean cyclone, a rather rare weather phenomenon with waves of 7 metres (23 foot), rain and icy wind," the NGO tweeted on Thursday. "#SeaWatch is sailing in this storm and looking for shelter, on board are 47 people rescued out of distress last Saturday." The boat is currently headed for waters off eastern Sicily, according to maritime tracking sites, to seek shelter from the weather. Salvini's coalition partner, Luigi di Maio, head of the anti-establishment Five Star Movement (M5S) echoed his words, saying those on board would have medical assistance from Italy if necessary. "After which, I invite them to head for Marseille and disembark its passengers on French soil, rather than waiting uselessly in Italian waters for days," he said on Facebook. Twenty organisations including Amnesty International, Doctors Without Borders, Oxfam and Save the Children, reminded Italy and Europe they were legally obliged to provide a safe port for the migrants under international maritime law. "These people, especially the most vulnerable such as women and children, must not suffer further and must be guaranteed the humanitarian assistance to which they are entitled and the care they need," they said in a statement. Sea Watch 3 rescued the migrants off the coast of Libya on Saturday Supporters of Macedonia's name-change deal with Greece are "on the right side of history" and their critics will eventually agree, Macedonia's foreign minister told AFP as the accord approaches the final step of ratification. Skopje's top diplomat, Nikola Dimitrov, was speaking as the Greek parliament heads towards a tense vote this week on the agreement that would christen his Balkan country the "Republic of North Macedonia". Dimitrov and his Greek counterpart at the time, Nikos Kotzias, were among the top architects of the June 2018 deal that proposed adding "North" to Macedonia's name in an attempt to extinguish a decades-long row between the neighbours. For more than a quarter-century, Athens has blocked Skopje from organisations like NATO and the EU because it claims exclusive rights to the name Macedonia for a province in northern Greece. But the champagne the leaders popped on the day their "Prespa Agreement" was signed was in fact only a prelude to months of fraught politics at home, with nationalist critics in both countries protesting against the name change. Macedonia pushed through a series of challenging steps to ratify the deal, and now it is Greece's turn to give the final greenlight. Tens of thousands have protested in Athens ahead of the vote. Speaking to AFP in his Skopje office, Dimitrov said he believed protesters, including critics in his own country who see the name change as an embarrassing concession, would some day come around. "I feel that I am definitely on the right side of history on this one, and I think that some years from now... even those who are now angry protesters, will say: 'Looks like they were right'," he told AFP. - Eyes on EU - If Greece does approve the deal, Macedonia is expected to be swiftly accepted into NATO. Then all eyes will turn to Brussels, which last year said it would open EU accession negotiations for Macedonia in June 2019. Macedonia's government, led by Social Democrat Zoran Zaev, has heavily emphasised the prospect of an EU future in efforts to sell the name change to the public. Yet there is a sense of waning interest in enlargement among some member states, in particular France, where President Emmanuel Macron has urged new bids to be considered with "great caution and rigour". If the EU fails to make good on promises to start Macedonia's membership talks, there will be a "loss of credibility of the whole accession process," Dimitrov warned. "We will do our best to make it almost embarrassing for any member state not to join the consensus" to open Skopje's bid in June, he added. Acknowledging that Macedonia has serious reforms to undertake before it would be ready to join the bloc, he added: "What we want is to start the journey". The name agreement has been a rare positive news story in the Balkans, a region riddled with complex disagreements and tense relations between neighbours. Dimitrov urged other countries to follow the Prespa model, saying action on a host of problems from diplomatic disputes to education and health must be taken fast to curb the exodus of young people across the region. Many of the region's entrenched political rows are tied up with historical turf debates, a legacy of frequent territorial changes in a corner of Europe that has suffered numerous wars and foreign interventions. "By the time we end debate on which is the oldest nation, all of our younger generation will be in Germany and elsewhere," Dimitrov warned of the emigration crisis. Macedonia's foreign minister Nikola Dimitrov says he believes critics of the country's historic name-change deal with Greece will some day come around Tens of thousands of Greeks protested in Athens ahead of the vote For more than a quarter-century, Athens has blocked Skopje from organisations like NATO and the EU because it claims exclusive rights to the name Macedonia for a province in northern Greece Nepal Medical Association serves 72-hour ultimatum to government to hold talks with Dr KC Nepal Medical Association has served a 72-hour ultimatum to the government to form a talks committee to save the life of Dr Govinda KC, who has been staging an indefinite hunger strike for the past 16 days. The teenage girl who was abducted from her family home after her parents were killed will receive half of the $70,000 reward money that was offered after she disappeared. Jayme Closs, 13, was kidnapped from her home in Barron, Wisconsin, on October 15 after her parents were shot. In a remarkable development, the missing teen was found on January 10 after she managed to escape from a cabin where she was held for 88 days. Barron County Sheriff Chris Fitzgerald speaks during a news conference in October 2018 after Jayme Closs disappeared. Source: AP Jake Patterson, 21, was charged shortly after with kidnapping and homicide. Jaymes parents, James and Denise Closs, worked at Jennie-O, a supplier of turkey products. The company joined forces with the FBI to contribute a total of US$50,000 (AU$70,195) for information on Jaymes whereabouts. Jake Thomas Patterson, 21, is pictured in his initial court appearance on January 14 via video feed from the Barron County jail. Source: AP Jennie-O and its parent company, Hormel Foods, announced on Thursday they were working with law enforcement to get its share of the reward to Jayme. Jennie-O President Steve Lykken says in a statement he hopes a trust fund can be set up for Jaymes current and future needs. Finnish police said Thursday they were on the hunt for fraudsters who tricked the country's foreign ministry into paying about 400,000 euros ($453,500) of overseas aid money into a private bank account. Detectives in the Nordic country opened a fraud and money-laundering investigation after funds which had been paid in February 2018 to support the development of legal aid systems in Kyrgyzstan were never received by project workers, police told the Finnish news agency STT. "I can confirm the suspicion of false payments," a spokeswoman for the foreign ministry told AFP. "This is not a question of the misuse of programme funds but a suspected outside, professionally-run criminal network," a ministry statement said. Investigators believe that criminals managed to intercept emails between the Finnish ministry and its partner in the project, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). "Someone has managed to come between (Finland and the UNDP), present themselves as the UN organisation and direct the money into the wrong account," detective chief inspector Antti Perala, of Finland's National Bureau of Investigation, told STT. "It then became clear that the bank account belonged to a private individual," Perala added. Finnish authorities have since managed to recover "part" of the money, but not all, according to Perala. Police have identified three suspects accused of money laundering ? sending the stolen funds onwards ? but said they have not yet uncovered who is responsible for organising the fraud itself. Finland allocated 899 million euros to overseas aid in 2018, representing 0.38 percent of the country?s gross national income (GNI). The government had slashed Finland's aid budget in 2015 by over 40 percent as part of a series of austerity savings. Finland allocated 899 million euros to overseas aid in 2018, representing 0.38 percent of the country?s gross national income (GNI) An entry-level job to a career boasting high salaries is struggling to find applicants. Both Australia and New Zealand appear to be suffering an air traffic controller shortage. Airways in New Zealand is hoping to recruit 10 trainees in 2019 but says it is difficult to find the right people, Stuff.co.nz reports. Air traffic controller salaries in New Zealand begin at $61,000 (AUD) during the first 12 months of training. After successfully completing training a first-year air traffic controller earns $90,000. The gig also involves 7.5-hour shifts over a four-day stretch. More experienced employees earn up to $170,000. Air traffic controllers typically work 7.5-hour days with a roster of four days on, two days off rotation. Source: Getty Images (file pic) Airways air traffic services general manager Tim Boyle told Stuff while a lot of different people can fulfil what the job demands, we just dont see enough of them. However, New Zealand Air Line Pilots Association president Tim Robinson told Stuff issues with staff shortage, stress and fatigue is why no one is applying. He claims he knows controllers who have had to come in on days off to cover for staff on leave adding to an already stressful job. While the job doesnt require qualifications as such, applicants do have to undergo rigorous testing with the selection process taking up to 12 months. You also cant be an air traffic controller if youre colour blind. In Australia, the job is among one of the highest paying in the country according to the Australian Taxation Office. On average an air traffic controller in Australia earns $141,795 a year. For decades, there wasn't a coffee shop anywhere in Indonesia's Toraja region even as its high-quality beans grabbed top dollar on the international market. Locals in the lush, mountainous area on Sulawesi island used the bitter beverage in traditional ceremonies, gave away their extra beans to neighbours for free or traded them for a sack of rice and livestock. But Toraja is experiencinga mini-explosion in cafs, with dozens of shops sprouting up in the region courtesy of entrepreneurs like Suleman Miting. Coffee was introduced to the region by Islamic traders around the 18th century, but for most Torajans paying to drink it in a store was an alien idea. "If I ran out of coffee, I'd just go to my neighbour's place," Miting said from his 16-seat shop in North Toraja. "Us Torajans are not used to drinking coffee at a caf," he added. But when world coffee prices dropped several years ago, putting pressure on local farmers, Miting said it opened a window for a new business in the area that squeezed out middlemen who largely controlled prices. The situation in Toraja mirrors a coffee culture explosion across Indonesia, particularly among young people living in cities. The region mostly produces arabica beans, which have a milder taste and lower caffeine concentration than the alternative robusta beans. It's unique coffee has won devotees abroad -- particularly in Japan. The Toarco Toraja brand is well known in Tokyo and exports are mostly run by a Japanese firm that takes its beans from a 500-hectare plantation almost 2,000 metres above sea level. During harvest season between May and September, dozens of workers scuttle from plant to plant picking the ruby red beans before they are processed at a large factory in Toraja and shipped out. But Indonesia's army of small-scale coffee farmers, who have little marketing experience and can have low yields, are still struggling in a competitive global market. In recent years it has been knocked back to become the world's fourth-largest coffee exporter, behind Brazil, Vietnam and Colombia, respectively. Indonesia was previously in third spot globally until it was overtaken by Vietnam in the late Nineties. For decades, there wasn't a coffee shop anywhere in Indonesia's Toraja region even as its high-quality beans grabbed top dollar on the international market Locals in Toraja on Indonesia's Sulawesi island used the bitter beverage in traditional ceremonies, gave away their extra beans to neighbours for free or traded them for a sack of rice and livestock Indonesian Suleman Mitting demonstrates his technique on roasting beans at his cafe in Toraja, which has seen an increase in the number of coffee shops Coffee was introduced to the region by Islamic traders around the 18th century, but for most Torajans paying to drink it in a store was an alien idea John Tumaing confessed to receiving K50 from the candidate and Nixon Kavo admitted to receiving K500. It is against this backdrop that, on 3 October 2018, two election officials were convicted by the PNG national court, after they failed to report a corrupt gratification they had received from a candidate during the vote count for the Madang provincial seat. There was widespread fraud and malpractice, and extensive vote rigging says Nicole Haley, an associate professor at the Australian National University and lead author of an in-depth study into the election. Under the criminal code both men were duty bound to report this corrupt gratification to a law enforcement officer. They failed in this duty. As a result they were convicted under s97C(1) of the criminal code, and each was sentenced to nine months imprisonment. However, the candidate named by the national court as having provided this corrupt gratification, has not been charged by police. The candidate is Madang governor Peter Yama. It is highly irregular that two men who received the corrupt payments have been arrested, charged and convicted while the man alleged to have made those corrupt payments has not been arrested and charged. This it particularly galling when, according to the judge, it was the candidate who was responsible for initiating the payments and who put the two election officials in a difficult position. There is an appearance that they are scapegoats, said the judge. Mr Yama is a serial litigator whose murky past has previously featured in a five-part investigation published by PNGi. In that expose we revealed that Yama has seemingly evaded police investigation and criminal charges on a number of occasions. Indeed, in 2010, the senior Australian journalist Rowan Callick described Yama as the policeman turned security godfather turned politician who appears untouchable, capable of pulling strings in every quarter. In 2004, when the supreme court found company records produced in a court case filed by Peter Yama were forged, it recommended the matter be referred to the police for further investigation. Similarly, in 2009, the commission of inquiry into the Department of Finance recommended Peter Yama be referred to the police for making an unlawful claim. There is no evidence on the public record the police ever followed up on either matter. This stands in stark contrast to events in 2013, when Peter Yama was convicted for threatening to kill police officers in a fracas outside the Madang court house (which, incidentally, was also related to an election vote count). At his trial in this matter, several police officers gave evidence that Yama had threatened to kill them. One of them testified that Peter Yama had said if anything goes wrong, you Ramu Police will be the first guys to be held responsible. I got some high-powered firearms, which I will use to shoot you. Yama did not deny the accusations and was sentenced to six months jail. So, the RPNGC has shown before it can, when it wishes, stand up to powerful men like Yama, so why have they not done so in the current case of electoral corruption? It is time for the police to demonstrate they themselves have not been corrupted and are committed to upholding the rule of law and treating everyone equally. Yama must be arrested and charged. At stake is not only the reputation of the police force but also any faint hope that in 2022 we might see a free and fair election. The Spanish Ministry of Defense has awarded Star Defence Logistics & Engineering (SDLE) the contract for the repair and maintenance of the Armys RG-31 Armoured Mine-Protected Personnel Carrier Vehicle (MPV). RG-31 Armoured Mine-Protected Personnel Carrier Vehicle (Picture source: Spanish MoD) By order of the economic affairs section (known in Spanish as SAECO) of the Armys wheeled vehicles maintenance center (PCMVR 2), SDLE will carry out corrective and preventive maintenance (including painting) and provide technical assistance for the RG-31. The contract, with an allocation of 260,000 euros and an execution period ending in November 2019, has been awarded to SDLE for the specialization of its staff, qualified personnel with specific training on this vehicle, as well as for having the PECAL 2110 4th edition quality certificate. The repair and maintenance work of the RG-31 fleet will be carried out at SDLE facilities, in Mostoles (Madrid), and also at the PCMVR 2, in El Higueron (Cordoba). 60 of the Spanish Armys fleet of 100 RG-31s were used in Afghanistan ten years ago, replacing the BMRs whose armor provided insufficient protection against Improvised Explosive Devices (IED). Recently, SDLE has also been awarded two more contracts for the supply of spare parts for the Lince LMV (Light Multi-Purpose Vehicle) and Iveco Astra trucks of the Spanish Army. During the next three years and worth 4,5 million Euros, SDLE will provide the specific spare parts for each model of the LMV Lince. The company will also be the supplier for specific spare parts for different Iveco Astra land trucks in use with the Army. This contract, awarded in December 2018 by the Army Logistics Support Command (MALE) through a framework contract and worth 900,000 Euros, extends to 2021, like the one on the Lince LMV, taking into consideration an extension for two more years. Star Defense Logistics & Engineering (www.sdle.info) has an extensive experience as independent distributor of spare parts for military vehicles and equipment. SDLE is one of the main suppliers of the military sector in Spain, and is already exporting products and services to more than 25 countries. Its continuous growth and commitment to innovation have led the company to also be a leader in logistical and technological support services, as well as in the development of UAVs. Medical Education Bill will be endorsed: Minister Banskota The government said the Medical Education Bill will be endorsed according to the parliamentary process. YEREVAN, JANUARY 24, ARMENPRESS. John Bolton, Assistant to the U.S. President for National Security Affairs, posted a note on Twitter about his January 23 telephone conversation with Armenias Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, reports Armenpress. I called Prime Minister Pashinyan of Armenia yesterday to congratulate him on his re-appointment and applaud the Armenian people on free and fair elections in December. The U.S. supports his efforts to secure a prosperous future for Armenia, Bolton said. Earlier PM Pashinyan posted a note on the phone conversation. A while ago I had a telephone conversation with John Bolton, Assistant to the U.S. President for National Security Affairs. We discussed issues referring to regional situation and bilateral relations. We both emphasized the importance of Armenian-U.S. relations for our governments. We agreed to continue the discussions on the future development of our relations, he wrote, adding that the Artsakh issue was not discussed. Edited and translated by Aneta Harutyunyan YEREVAN, JANUARY 24, ARMENPRESS. The Davos World Economic Forum is a global springboard for small Armenia. Le Figaro French daily published an article about Armenia. The newspaper interviewed Armenias Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan in Davos on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum. This is a chance for me to present to the major foreign investors the opportunities that have been created in our country after the Velvet revolution. Its important to tell the international business-society that after the democratic revolution we are carrying out an economic revolution, Pashinyan told the newspaper. Le Figaro says Pashinyan is committed to the matters on adopting new Tax Code, eliminating monopolies and eradicating corruption in the country. The Armenian PM wants to attract investors in the field of tourism, agriculture and energys renewable sources. Pashinyan told the French daily that the World Congress on Information Technologies will be held in Yerevan in October 2019 which will be attended by thousands of peoples from all over the world. Le Figaro also informs that Pashinyan met with the leaders of eBay, Mitsubishi, Apple, as well as heads of different states, including Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev in Davos. Edited and translated by Aneta Harutyunyan YEREVAN, JANUARY 24, ARMENPRESS. Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan had a number of meetings in Davos on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum, his Office told Armenpress. Pashinyan met with President of Lithuania Dalia Grybauskaite during which issues relating to both the bilateral and multilateral cooperation were discussed. In particular, the officials touched upon the development of the Armenian-Lithuanian political and economic ties, the Armenia-EU relations, including within the framework of the Armenia-EU Comprehensive and Enhanced Partnership Agreement (CEPA). Nikol Pashinyan attached importance to the ratification of the Agreement by the EU member states within a short period of time and thanked the Lithuanian President for completing that process in the Parliament of Lithuania. Pashinyan also introduced the ongoing reforms in Armenia and stated that the December 9, 2018 snap parliamentary elections have historic significance for Armenia, because for the first time in the last decades no one has questioned the results of elections. The PM said the fact that the elections were free, fair and transparent has been proved also by the international observer organizations. In her turn the Lithuanian President welcomed Pashinyans governments actions aimed at developing and strengthening democracy and expressed her countrys readiness to support Armenia in making reforms. Nikol Pashinyan thereafter met with Prime Minister of Slovakia Peter Pellegrini during which they discussed issues on development of the bilateral relations and issues of mutual interest. The sides attached importance to boosting the mutual partnership between the governments of the two countries aimed at giving new impetus to the commercial relations. Peter Pellegrini informed that the Speaker of the Parliament of Slovakia will visit Armenia in the future which in its turn will contribute to expanding the bilateral ties. At the same time, he said the issue of the CEPA ratification is in the agenda of the Slovak Parliament, and this process will be completed in the near future. Pashinyan also had brief meetings with King Phillippe of Belgium, Prime Ministers of Spain and Georgia Pedro Sanchez and Mamuka Bakhtadze. Pashinyans visit to Switzerland has been completed. Edited and translated by Aneta Harutyunyan YEREVAN, JANUARY 24, ARMENPRESS. A Ukrainian court has found former President Viktor Yanukovych guilty of treason and sentenced him to 13 years in prison in absentia, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty reported. Yanukovych committed a crime against the foundation of Ukraine's national security, Judge Vladyslav Devyatko said. The judge said the evidence presented to the court had proved the ex-Presidents guilt. The investigation of the case launched in late 2017. Viktor Yanukovych, however, denies all the charges. Since 2014, the former Ukrainian leader is living in Russia and is considered a fugitive by Ukraine. Edited and translated by Aneta Harutyunyan YEREVAN, JANUARY 24, ARMENPRESS. Political scientist Alexander Iskandaryan predicts an official meeting between Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev in the nearest future, reports Armenpress. I think they will have an official meeting in the near future and I have reasons to think that they are already preparing for that meeting, he told reporters today. Commenting on the Pashinyan-Aliyev informal meeting in Davos on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum, the political scientist called it as unique, compared to meetings held before the revolution. Iskandaryan stated that Artsakh is the determinant of mass consciousness and political statements. Pashinyan and Aliyev met in Davos on January 22 during which they exchanged views on the current situation of the negotiation process for the Nagorno Karabakh conflict settlement and the future discussions. Edited and translated by Aneta Harutyunyan YEREVAN, JANUARY 24, ARMENPRESS. Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan attended an informal dinner titled The World in the Era of Globalization of the Global Economic Leaders on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Davos, his Office told Armenpress. During the event Klaus Schwab, founder and executive chairman of the World Economic Forum, and UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres delivered remarks. The Armenian PM also participated in the informal meeting of the Global Economic Leaders which was held under the title of Europes Turning Moment. Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez and German defense minister Ursula von der Leyen delivered reports at the event. Edited and translated by Aneta Harutyunyan YEREVAN, JANUARY 24, ARMENPRESS. Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan met with Prime Minister of Poland Mateusz Morawiecki in Davos on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum, the Armenian PMs Office told Armenpress. The officials attached importance to the development and expansion of multilateral cooperation between the two countries, highlighting the need to deepen the commercial ties. They agreed to task the economy ministers of the two countries to develop a new economic cooperation agenda. The two PMs considered it necessary to give new signal to the activities of the Armenian-Polish inter-governmental commission. Nikol Pashinyan and Mateusz Morawiecki also discussed issues relating to the mutual partnership in multilateral level, in particular within the frames of the Armenia-EU Comprehensive and Enhanced Partnership Agreement (CEPA). PM Pashinyan said Armenia carries out comprehensive reforms almost in all sectors and added that the actions envisaged by the CEPA will greatly contribute to the effective implementation of those reforms. In this context, he highlighted the CEPAs ratification by the EU member states as soon as possible. In his turn the Polish PM welcomed the ongoing democratic developments in Armenia and stated that Poland will do everything to assist the ratification of the Agreement and the reforms. At the same time, he said he is impressed with the recent events in Armenia. He invited Pashinyan to Poland to more thoroughly discuss the agenda issues of the bilateral relations. Edited and translated by Aneta Harutyunyan YEREVAN, JANUARY 24, ARMENPRESS. Creation of a single digital market is a priority for the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU), and Armenia can have its contribution here, political scientist Alexander Iskandaryan director of the Caucasus Institute, told reporters today, commenting on the upcoming speech of Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan in the headquarters of the Eurasian Economic Commission (EEC) in Moscow, reports Armenpress. The most important for the EAEU is the creation of a single digital market. This sector is quite well developed in Armenia, and in this sense our country can have its own contribution, Iskandaryan said. He said the organization, overall, will continue developing as it did till today. Talking about the relations of Russia and Armenia, he said its a normal political process. There are problems between Russia and Kazakhstan, Russia and Belarus, as well as Russia and Kyrgyzstan. These difficulties cannot be avoided. Its a normal working format in every union, he added. Edited and translated by Aneta Harutyunyan YEREVAN, 24 JANUARY, ARMENPRESS. The Central Bank of Armenia informs Armenpress that today, 24 January, USD exchange rate up by 0.60 drams to 485.78 drams. EUR exchange rate up by 0.25 drams to 551.17 drams. Russian Ruble exchange rate up by 0.03 drams to 7.36 drams. GBP exchange rate up by 3.84 drams to 633.70 drams. The Central Bank has set the following prices for precious metals. Gold price down by 11.19 drams to 19988.16 drams. Silver price up by 2.25 drams to 240.29 drams. Platinum price down by 31.56 drams to 12338.37 drams. YEREVAN, JANUARY 24, ARMENPRESS. An explosion occurred in an area near the Russian Embassy in the Syrian capital of Damascus, SANA news agency reported. According to SANA, it was a terror attack. Sputnik News reports a car bomb reportedly exploded in the al-Adawi district of Damascus, located close to the Russian Embassy. However, Syrian TV reported that there were no casualties as a result of the blast, only damages. Edited and translated by Aneta Harutyunyan Deepak Thapa has been a fortnightly columnist with The Kathmandu Post since 2009, writing on a range of topical social and political issues. YEREVAN, JANUARY 24, ARMENPRESS. Speaker of Parliament of Armenia Ararat Mirzoyan today received Ambassador of Iran to Armenia Seyed Kazem Sadjadi, the Parliament told Armenpress. During the meeting Speaker Mirzoyan attached importance to the current level of the Armenian-Iranian relations that are based on centuries-old friendship and mutual trust. Ararat Mirzoyan highly valued the Ambassadors efforts and consistent activities for making the bilateral agenda more comprehensive, assuring that the Parliament is also ready to assist any mutually beneficial initiative aimed at expending the relations. Touching upon the inter-parliamentary cooperation, the Speaker highlighted the cooperation of the friendship groups which will contribute to further intensifying the bilateral ties. In his turn the Iranian Ambassador congratulated the Speaker on assuming office and wished him good luck. He valued the effective cooperation of Iran and Armenia in international platforms, stating that Iran has always stood and stands with Armenia. Seyed Kazem Sadjadi attached importance to the high-level mutual visits, noting that they further intensify the relations between the two countries and peoples. The officials also discussed the bilateral and multilateral cooperation agenda, highlighted boosting the commercial ties and stated that there is a great potential for the development and expansion of the bilateral mutual partnership which is still not utilized. The sides expressed confidence that the deepening of the economic ties can contribute to effectively using the opportunities provided by the Meghri and Aras free trade zones. The Ambassador conveyed Speaker of Parliament Ali Larijanis greetings and invitation to Mirzoyan to visit Iran. Edited and translated by Aneta Harutyunyan YEREVAN, JANUARY 24, ARMENPRESS. Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and Prime Minister of the Netherlands Mark Rutte have held a meeting in Davos within the framework of the World Economic Forum, Pashinyans office said. During the meeting the prime ministers attached importance to developing and enhancing economic relations between the two countries and implementing actions for expanding business ties. Pashinyan and Rutte expressed conviction that great potential for economic partnership exists between Armenia and the Netherlands, the realization of which will contribute to higher commercial turnover. The Armenian and Dutch prime ministers also exchanged ideas over implementing joint programs in agriculture, tourism and infrastructure. The sides also touched upon partnership at the multilateral level, namely within the framework of the EU-Armenia CEPA deal. The PMs expressed confidence that the productive realization of CEPA will contribute to economic and justice reforms in Armenia and the development of the Armenia-EU cooperation. Edited and translated by Stepan Kocharyan YEREVAN, JANUARY 24, ARMENPRESS. 430 confirmed cases of measles have been recorded in Georgia as of January 21, mostly among people aged 30-40, Gruziya Online reported citing healthcare officials. According to the report, the countrys government has given instructions for prevening a mass outbreak of the disease. Particularly, people below the age of 19 will have to take mandatory vaccinations. School, kindergarten and university heads are entitled to expel students who will fail to submit vaccination documents. Edited and translated by Stepan Kocharyan YEREVAN, JANUARY 24, AMENPRESS. A Kiev court has found former Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych guilty of high treason in absentia. Yanukovych is considered a fugitive in Ukraine and is living in Russia since 2014. The defendants guilt in committing the crimes is proved with permissibe and approporiate evidence, the judge said. Yanukovych was charged with treason, complicity to wage war, and deliberate actions committed to alter the state border of Ukraine. He was found guilty in all three charges. The former president has repeatedly denied wrongdoing. Edited and translated by Stepan Kocharyan YEREVAN, JANUARY 24, ARMENPRESS. Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan met with Tharman Shanmugaratnam in Davos within the framework of the World Economic Forum, Pashinyans office said. During the meeting Pashinyan said that Armenia is interested in the continuous expansion of cooperation with Singapore in different spheres, and that Singapores development experience is exemplary for Armenia. The Armenian PM attached importance to deepening economic ties, the coherent development of commercial ties and partnership between businessmen. Pashinyan addressed the steps for the improvement of the business climate in Armenia and found it necessary to notify Singaporean businesses about the opportunities of making investments in Armenia. The sides namely discussed the opportunities for exporting various Armenian products to Singapore, such as brandy, wine, beer, juice and other processed goods. Shanmugaratnam noted that Singapores government is also attaching importance to developing cooperation with Armenia, taking into account the recent positive changes in the country. He conveyed the Prime Ministers invitation to Pashinyan to visit Singapore, noting that the visit may boost bilateral partnership in different directions. Shanmugaratnam added that Armenians are known in Singapore as exemplary citizens and have high reputation among Singaporeans. Singapores Deputy PM said he will present the business circles of his country the opportunities of investing in Armenia. At the same time, he found the Armenian governments anti-corruption, business climate improvement and modernization of administration system to be ambitious. Pashinyan said that Armenia will soon host the World Congress on Information Technology in October, and highlighted the participation of Singapores IT companies in the event. Tourism, environmental protection and aviation issues were also discussed. Edited and translated by Stepan Kocharyan YEREVAN, JANUARY 24, ARMENPRESS. According to a report by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists, ICIJ, former Armenian lawmaker and former Chief Compulsory Officer of Judicial Acts (chief bailiff), is again under criminal investigation by Armenian authorities regarding his involvement in the Panama Papers scandal. According to the ICIJ report, the investigation was renewed months after the new government took office. Armenias Special Investigative Service (SIS) is investigating Mihran Poghosyan, 42, over his interests in three offshore companies, according to correspondence seen by ICIJ, the report says. In his capacity of Chief Compulsory Officer of Judicial Acts, Poghosyan, a Justice Major General, was overseeing the enforcement of court rulings in Armenia. As a lawmaker, he was serving in parliament within the former ruling party, the Republican Party (HHK). The initial criminal case was dropped by the Special Investigative Service in 2017. The SIS re-opened the investigation in 2018 following the Republican Partys collapse after weeks of nonviolent protests known as the Velvet Revolution, according to the ICIJ. Poghosyan resigned as Chief Compulsory Officer of Judicial Acts in 2016 when the Panama Papers reports including his name emerged. He nevertheless continued denying wrongdoing. UPDATES: 16:44 Authorities confirm the renewal of the probe. Edited and translated by Stepan Kocharyan YEREVAN, JANUARY 24, ARMENPRESS. Armenian citizens will be enabled to visit Hong Kong visa-free from March 3. Speaking at the Cabinet meeting today, Armenias FM Zohrab Mnatsakanyan said that the draft was prepared as a result of an agreement between Armenia and Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China. The visa-free regime will function on a mutual principle. Edited and translated by Stepan Kocharyan YEREVAN, JANUARY 24, ARMENPRESS. National Security Service (NSS) Director Artur Vanetsyan has held a meeting on January 24 with his Georgian counterparts in Tbilisi. According to the NSS press service, Vanetsyan and Georgias Director of State Security Service Vakhtang Gomelarui discussed the current regional developments and a number of issues of bilateral interest. The sides also discussed issues concerning cooperation, information and experience exchange between the security agencies of both countries. Both sides appreciated and valued the meeting in terms of sustainable development of relations and a message for the future, the NSS said in the statement. Edited and translated by Stepan Kocharyan YEREVAN, JANUARY 24, ARMENPRESS. 1 person has died and 4 others have been hospitalized when a minivan with Armenian license plates collided with a bus in Russia, the Armenian embassy said. The crash happened in the Voronezh Oblast in the early morning of January 24. According to the Armenian Embassy in Russia, the victim who suffered fatal injuries is the driver of the minivan. The four injured people were his passengers. The embassy said it is currently determining the citizenship of the victims. Edited and translated by Stepan Kocharyan YEREVAN, JANUARY 24, ARMENPRESS. The government has released the draft amendments to the tax code. According to the bill published on the e-draft.am governmental online platform, the amendments envisage the creation of a new sector of economy micro-business. Enterprises or businessmen not exceeding 24 million drams in revenue in the previous tax year can be considered micro-businesses. Micro-businesses will be exempt from all kinds of taxes, according to the draft. But the businesses will pay 5000 drams monthly for every registered employee in final liabilities in terms of revenue tax. Banks, crediting organizations, insurance companies, investment companies, currency market traders, pawnshops, currency exchange offices, gambling venue operators, and other similar businesses cannot be considered micro-businesses. Edited and translated by Stepan Kocharyan International community urges Nepal government to clarify its plan for transitional justice The United Nations in Nepal together with nine foreign embassies welcomed Nepals efforts to bring the peace process to a conclusion by moving forward with a comprehensive and credible transitional justice process. YEREVAN, JANUARY 24, ARMENPRESS. Georgia has recognized Venezuelan Parliament Speaker Juan Guaido, the opposition leaders, as the interim president of the country, Georgian foreign minister David Zalkaliani said. Following the statement on non-recognition of the results of the Presidential elections held in Venezuela, Georgia recognizes Juan Guaido as an Interim President, welcomes statements of our partners & supports citizens of Venezuela in their fight 4 freedom & democracy, Zalkaliani said on Twitter. Juan Guaido on Wednesday declared himself acting president of Venezuela in a move welcomed by huge crowds of protesters and world leaders alike. The 35-year-old has been leader of the opposition and head of the National Assembly for merely three weeks but has quickly energized the movement against President Nicolas Maduro. U.S. President Donald Trump formally recognized Guaido minutes after the 35-year-old president of the Venezuela National Assembly declared himself the head of state. Countries including Canada, Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, and Panama quickly followed the U.S. lead. Edited and translated by Stepan Kocharyan YEREVAN, JANUARY 24, ARMENPRESS. Arrested Iranian TV journalist Marzieh Hashemi has been released from US custody after completing her testimony before a federal grand jury in Washington, according to the Washington Post. Hashemi, 59, is a producer and on-air-presenter for the Iranian English-language PressTV. She holds dual U.S.-Iranian citizenship. The journalist was arrested on January 13 by the FBI on a material witness. The Iranian Ministry of Foreign Affairs condemned the arrest and demanded her immediate release. PressTV had also issued a statement, expressing strong protest. Edited and translated by Stepan Kocharyan YEREVAN, JANUARY 24, ARMENPRESS. Kalashnikov Concern, the Russian defense manufacturing factory known for its iconic AK rifles, will supply 50 new AK-12 assault rifles to Armenia, according to a report by Kommersant newspaper. The contract is signed, we are now preparing a small batch that will include around 50 assault rifles. They will be tested and viewed, and hopefully they will continue buying, CEO of Kalashnikov Concern Vladimir Dmitryev told Kommersant. According to him, Armenia will be the first foreign country to buy the AK-12 assault rifles. The AK-12 is one of the modern derivatives of the Russian AK-Pattern series of assault rifles. Edited and translated by Stepan Kocharyan YEREVAN, JANUARY 24, ARMENPRESS. The most important reforms are connected with economy, and we need to transform the political revolution into an economic revolution, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said in an interview with Euronews in Davos when asked about the reforms in Armenia. Pashinyan said that his government plans to have regulatory simplifications to make any business activity in Armenia easier and also carry out reforms of the tax code, to reduce the level of income and profit tax in order to make the business environment more attractive for foreigh investments. Pashinyan also said that the Armenian government will create a new sector of the economy micro business, with the purpose of overcoming poverty, which in his words is the biggest problem in Armenia. Watch the full interview below. Edited and translated by Stepan Kocharyan YEREVAN, JANUARY 24, ARMENPRESS. Prime Minister of the Netherlands Mark Rutte has sent a congratulatory message to Nikol Pashinyan on his re-appointment as Prime Minister of the Republic of Armenia. Your Excellency, Please accept my sincere congratulations on your recent appointment as Prime Minister. The free and competitive parliamentary election was a fitting culmination to the Velvet Revolution. The peaceful and democratic changes in Armenia have not gone unnoticed. I look forward to working with you, at both bilateral and multilateral level, and I have every confidence that our countries will continue to cooperate constructively. I greatly value our cooperation as part of the EU-Armenia Comprehensive and Enhanced Partnership Agreement (CEPA), and within the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD). I am sure it will lead to positive results. I look forward to discussing these and other matters at the World Economic Forum in Davos. I wish you every success with the challenges you will face in consolidating the gains of the Velvet Revolution, the message reads, as reported by the PMs office. YEREVAN, JANUARY 24, ARMENPRESS. Manuscripts that have been damaged during recent years in Middle Eastern countries will be restored with the assistance of Armenian experts, according to Matenadaran Director Vahan Ter-Ghevondyan. Matenadaran, officially the Mesrop Mashtots Institute of Ancient Manuscripts is a museum, repository of manuscripts, and a research institute in Yerevan, Armenia. We are planning to carry out a new major project that has been initiated in 2018. With the assistance of UNESCO, nine experts on restoration of manuscripts arrived to Armenia from Lebanon and Syria, and Matenadaran experts organized a one-week training for raising qualification and deepening knowledge. Let me say that our colleagues were very pleased from the results. UNESCO found it to be one of the successful projects, Ter-Ghevondyan told ARMENPRESS. Based on the work, a larger program was initiated In recent years, cultural values in Syria and Iraq have been greatly damaged, and Ter-Ghevondyan plans to make Matenadaran a regional center for restoration of such manuscripts. The manuscripts will be brought to Armenia batch by batch, and will be returned after restoration. This, I believe, will have both cultural and political significance, he said. According to him, Armenian President Armen Sarkissian and UNESCO Director-General Audrey Azoulay have discussed this issue during their most recent meeting. We are waiting for the final confirmation of the project, Ter-Ghevondyan said. Reporting by Anna Gziryan Edited and translated by Stepan Kocharyan YEREVAN, JANUARY 24, ARMENPRESS. Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan met with Boris Titov, Commissioner for the Protection of Entrepreneurs Rights under the Russian President in Davos within the framework of the World Economic Forum, Pashinyan's Office said. During the meeting Nikol Pashinyan stressed the need for continued development of Armenian-Russian economic relations and further deepening of trade and economic exchanges. In this context, the sides discussed issues related to the strengthening of ties between the businessmen and attracting new Russian investments. Nikol Pashinyan also met with Global Energy Siemens CEO Liza Davis. The meeting touched upon the Companys investment programs implemented in Armenia and the possibilities of implementing new projects. At another meeting held with Russian VTB Bank President Andrey Kostin, Nikol Pashinyan highly valued VTB Banks involvement in Armenias financial market and in different branches of the economy. Introducing his governments priorities concerning the business environment and economic development, the PM highlighted the need for the banks, including VTB Bank, to adequately respond to the indications coming from the business sector. The sides also discussed ways of expanding VTB Banks activities in different spheres of Armenias economy. Peru y China iniciaran una serie de reuniones bilaterales para optimizar el Tratado de Libre Comercio (#TLC) entre ambos paises. China es una de las economias mas importantes del mundo y el principal socio comercial del Peru por 5to ano consecutivo. ?? ??https://t.co/dpyLXTGIeU pic.twitter.com/yDIEo0sVA9 Integrated check post hindered by bad road Nepals only integrated check post in Birgunj, Parsa district is not functioning at full capacity even one and a half years after opening due to delays in widening the road linking it to the dry port. Evgen_Prozhyrko/iStock(ST. LOUIS) -- A police officer was shot and killed in St. Louis, authorities said. The Metropolitan Police Department, City of St. Louis said via Twitter early Thursday morning that one of its officers had been hospitalized for a gunshot wound. An SLMPD officer has been transported to an area hospital suffering from a gunshot wound. no information on a condition. We will provide additional information as it comes available. St. Louis, MO Police (@SLMPD) January 24, 2019 About an hour later, the police department revealed that the female officer had died. "We are deeply saddened to announce that the officer transported to the hospital has succumbed to her injuries. We ask that you keep the officer's family and the entire SLMPD in your thoughts and prayers as we mourn the loss of our officer and friend," the department tweeted. We are deeply saddened to announce that the officer transported to the hospital has succumbed to her injuries. We ask that you keep the officers family and the entire SLMPD in your thoughts and prayers as we mourn the loss of our officer and friend. pic.twitter.com/NGcU4tpXiU St. Louis, MO Police (@SLMPD) January 24, 2019 It's the second law enforcement officer in the United States this week to die from gunfire in the line of duty. Officer Sean Tuder was shot and killed Sunday attempting to serve an arrest warrant in Mobile, Alabama. Copyright 2019, ABC Radio. All rights reserved. Health minister says government must abide by deal reached with KC At a time when the ruling party and the main opposition are at loggerheads over the National Medical Education Bill, a sitting minister in the KP Oli administration on Wednesday said that the government should abide by the agreement it had reached with Dr Govinda KC on July 26. Government mulls drafting in Army to complete the Melamchi project The government is mulling over roping in the Nepal Army to complete the remaining works of the Melamchi Water Supply Project, according to at least three sources the Post spoke with on Wednesday. Government hospital doctors to halt services except emergency from Friday Resident doctors at various government hospitals across the country have warned of halting all medical services except emergency from Friday if the government fails to hold talks with Dr Govinda KC, who has been staging a hunger strike. Get smart Kathmandu Metropolitan Citys undying infatuation for the preface smart has manifested in several glossy (and costly) infrastructural undertakingsfrom zebra crossings to dustbins and even toilets. But contrary to what smart suggests, What Dr KC says in his open letter to lawmakers Tribhuvan University Teaching Hospital senior orthopaedic surgeon Dr Govinda KC, who has been staging an indefinite hunger strike, on Thursday penned an open letter to the parliamentarians urging them to correct the provisions of the Medical Education Bill. Armed group leader killed in action A leader of an armed Tarai outfit was killed in police action at Rupani of Saptari district in the wee hours of Wednesday. Allowance provision must continue: Civil servants In May last year, the government introduced the Guidelines on Bringing Austerity and Effectiveness in Public Expenditure, and one of its provisions called for scrapping most of the incentives under various titles the civil servants were enjoying. A school too far Through a child rights perspective, the school merging programme goes against the right to education Government is forcing the construction of dry port by ignoring their plight, Chobhar residents say Local residents dismiss officials claims that the dry port will be good for the community On 29th December 2018, in a final ruling the Higher Peoples Court of Guangdong Province upheld the hefty fine of CNY 260.148 million (approximately EUR 33.3 million) for copyright infringement issued against video-sharing player QVOD (case details: Administrative Judgment No. 492 [2016], Final, the Higher Peoples Court of Guangdong Province). What is QVOD In 2007, QVOD began operating in a room in Shenzhen that was less than ten square metres in size. By 2011, it had become the market leader in the video industry, which is a highly competitive sector. In September 2012, the number of QVOD users hit 300 million. By 2014, they had increased to 500 million. Essentially, QVOD is a peer-to-peer video streaming and sharing platform. It is similar to BitTorrent in that it works through the basic principle according to which the more seeds/peers, the faster the download speed. Besides basic file transfers, QVOD also provides video playback services, such as the ability to share files whilst watching them. It is arguable that 2013 was the turning point for QVOD. That year, the company was reported for suspected video piracy approximately 100 times. Notably, in November 2013, a coalition of Chinas biggest online video providers, such as Tencent, Youku Tudou and Sohu, sued QVOD for unauthorised video sharing activities. QVOD lost several lawsuits, including the one in 2013 which also won the first place in the list of top 10 crackdowns on online piracy in 2013 announced by the National Copyright Administration of China (NCAC). Case summary In 2014, Tencent filed a complaint to the Market Supervision Administration of Shenzhen Municipality (MSA), claiming that QVOD had committed copyright infringement with regard to 24 of Tencents videos. The 24 videos, including Chinas Got Talent and Beijing Love Story, were all highly popular. Tencent, as the exclusive licensee, owned the rights of dissemination via information networks. On 26th June 2014, after investigations, the MSA decided that administrative punishment was necessary. It ordered QVOD to stop the infringements immediately and to pay a fine of CNY 260.148 million (equivalent to three times QVODs illegal turnover). Dissatisfied with the decision, QVOD applied to the Copyright Bureau of Guangdong Province for an administrative review, only to receive an unfavourable decision. QVOD then filed an administrative lawsuit with the Shenzhen Intermediate Peoples Court and, later on, to the High Peoples Court of Guangdong Province, requesting a review of the MSAs decision. Both courts affirmed the MSAs decision. QVOD referred to the safe-harbour principle as its main defence. It claimed that there had been no intent to infringe copyright law and that QVOD did not provide any direct services of video-searching or downloading: The technology itself is neutral, therefore there is no infringement whatsoever. However, its neutral technology is merely part of the story. Evidence shows that QVOD knowingly and actively redirected users to third-party websites where unauthorised videos were viewed. Moreover, QVOD assisted the copyright infringement by disguising the third-party websites as larger, well-known websites, such as Baidu or Youku. What is worse is that, after receiving the order of rectification from NCAC, alongside several cease and desist letters from Tencent, QVOD still neglected to delete the infringing links to the 24 videos. This behaviour infringed the civil rights of Tencent, and also disrupted order in the online video market and impacted negatively on public interest. In this regard, the MSA was right in issuing administrative fines on QVOD because this was aware of its copyright infringements and had continued to commit them. How was the fine calculated? Article 36 of Regulations for the Implementation of the Copyright Law of China reads as follows: Where any act of infringement is committed as enumerated in Article 48 of the Copyright Law, which also prejudices the social or public interest, and the illegal turnover is no less than CNY 50,000, the administrative department for copyright may impose a fine of no less than one time but no more than five times the illegal turnover ; if there is no illegal turnover or the illegal turnover is no more than CNY 50,000, the administrative department for copyright may impose a fine of no more than CNY 250,000 in light of the seriousness of the circumstances. (emphasis added) However, the Regulations do not define what constituted the illegal turnover. As Shenzhen is one of the special economic zones in China, a more specific local decree can be applied, namely Some Provisions of Shenzhen Special Economic Zone on Strengthening the Work of Intellectual Property Protection (, the Shenzhen Provisions). As stipulated by Article 90 of the Legislation Law of China: Where an authorized decree of a special economic zone is made in variance of provisions of national law, administrative regulations or local provisions, the provisions of the decree of the special economic zone are applied in that special economic zone. (emphasis added) With regard to the illegal turnover, the Shenzhen Provision states that: The value of infringing products sold shall be calculated at the actual sales price If no price is marked on the infringing products or the actual sales price cannot be ascertained, the said value shall be calculated at the mean market price of the product under infringement (emphasis added). As neither the illegal profit nor the actual sales price of the videos on QVOD could be determined, the MSA made its calculation based on the mean market price of the works licensing fees, i.e. CNY 86.716 million. And between one to five times of fines, the MSA took multiple factors into consideration, including QVODs degree of subjective fault, the specific circumstances and the consequences of the infringements. It eventually determined the fine should be three times the illegal earnings that QVOD made using material of Tencent. Comments This landmark case clearly shows the powerful effect of Chinas IPR enforcement and acts as a strong deterrent against infringers. However, it also brings to light a variety of concerns. First, is it reasonable to base the illegal turnover on the mean market price? The prices, in particular video material, could be significantly affected by the lifecycle of the works and by variation in local economy. It may be better to request a professional evaluation agency to calculate the fee; this might turn to be more accurate than the administrative authorities which take a very general approach. Second, when compared to judicature, administrative enforcement lacks independence. The QVOD case was handled in Shenzhen, where IPR had been actively and effectively protected by the local government. Despite the merits the administrative enforcement may have, its congenital deficiency cannot be fundamentally changed. In this regard, preventing administrative power from excessive expansion seems to be an equally important task. Furthermore, considering that staff expertise may differ, for instance from region to region, this Kat does hope the deterrent that this case provides could be applied with care in the future. WPVI-TV(PIKE CREEK, Del.) -- A Delaware school district has removed a driver from work after a 5-year-old boy was left on a school bus for seven hours Wednesday. The boy was put on the bus in the morning, according to his mother, but he apparently fell asleep and never got off when it arrived at Linden Hill Elementary School in Pike Creek, 15 miles west of Wilmington. "I didn't really know what was going on, because I know I dropped my baby off at the bus stop and he was in the bus," mother Ivana Dennis told ABC's Philadelphia station WPVI-TV. Security footage from the bus depot shows that 5-year-old Ibn Polk was not discovered until the bus driver returned to the lot in the afternoon, WPVI said. The bus was equipped with a child detector to prevent a student from being left behind, but it was not working, according to the Red Clay School District. Security footage also shows that students on the bus tried to point out the sleeping child as they were disembarking Wednesday morning. "The bus driver got out and I was crying for a bit and then I stopped crying," Polk told WPVI. "I was scared." Polk's parents were also not notified of their child's absence from classes. "We recognize that procedures in place were not followed and this was a breakdown, a failure," said Pati Nash, public information officer for the Red Clay School District. The driver, who is employed by Sutton Bus Company, will not be allowed to drive for the district anymore, WPVI reported. Luckily for Polk, the temperatures on Wednesday were higher than average. The high temperature in Wilmington was 51 degrees, about 10 degrees above average and almost 40 degrees higher than on Monday. Copyright 2019, ABC Radio. All rights reserved. C-668/17), the Advocate General (AG) Maciej Szpunar weighs in on two issues related to the genuine use requirement under EUTMR. Although the Opinion (in French but not yet available in English) only addresses trade marks for medicinal products, the observations regarding trade mark use prior to regulatory approval will no doubt be of interest to other regulated industries as well. In the first trade mark opinion of 2019, (), the Advocate General (AG) Maciej Szpunar weighs in on two issues related to the genuine use requirement under. Although the Opinion (in French but not yet available in English) only addresses trade marks for medicinal products, the observations regarding trade mark use prior to regulatory approval will no doubt be of interest to other regulated industries as well. Community Code Directive) constitutes a proper reason for non-use within the meaning of the Article. The Advocate General suggests that both questions should be answered in the negative. The questions before the Court of Justice are: (1) whether the use of a trade mark for a medicinal product in clinical trials prior to marketing authorization (MA) amounts to genuine use within the meaning of Art. 58(1)(a) EUTMR; and (2) whether, alternatively, the statutory prohibition of marketing and advertisement of drugs prior to obtaining an MA (see Art. 87(1) of the) constitutes a proper reason for non-use within the meaning of the Article. The Advocate General suggests that both questions should be answered in the negative. Boswellia Facts BOSWELAN, registered in 2007 in class 5 for pharmaceutical products and health-care products. In 2010, Viridis filed a request for authorization of a clinical trial of a medicinal product (containing boswellic acids as the active ingredient) for the treatment of multiple sclerosis in Germany. BOSWELAN-branded capsules (400,000 of them according to the allegations made before the General Court) were delivered to a hospital for the clinical trial. Nevertheless, as of the date of the Opinion, no MA has been issued for a drug under this brand nor has any seemingly been applied for. The origin of the dispute is Viridis Pharmaceuticals EU trade mark , registered in 2007 in class 5 for pharmaceutical products and health-care products. In 2010, Viridis filed a request for authorization of a clinical trial of a medicinal product (containing boswellic acids as the active ingredient) for the treatment of multiple sclerosis in Germany. BOSWELAN-branded capsules (400,000 of them according to the) were delivered to a hospital for the clinical trial. Nevertheless, as of the date of the Opinion, no MA has been issued for a drug under this brand nor has any seemingly been applied for. In 2013, Hecht-Pharma GmbH filed an application for revocation of the trade mark for lack of genuine use under Art. 58(1)(a) EUTMR. The EUIPO, the Board of Appeal and the General Court all agreed that the trade mark should be revoked for all goods. Trying is Not Using C-689/15 Gozze). Creating or preserving an outlet for the claimed goods of services is necessarily directed outwards and supposes actual or at least imminent marketing (C-40/01 Ansul). Trade mark use has been considered to be genuine if (1) the use is related to create or preserve an outlet for those goods or services for which it is registered; and (2) the mark is used in accordance with its essential function, which is to guarantee the identity of origin of the goods or services for which it is registered (). Creating or preserving an outlet for the claimed goods of services is necessarily directed outwards and supposes actual or at least imminent marketing (). But how to use a trade mark genuinely when both actual marketing and preparatory acts for future marketing are legally prohibited, such as under Art. 87(1) of the Community Code Directive? Although the Advocate General agrees that the peculiarities of the relevant industry should be taken into account, clinical trials cannot be regarded as preparatory acts of imminent marketing. They are conducted not to create or preserve an outlet, but to understand the effects of a drug and to assess efficacy and safety. Even though clinical trials involve people outside of the trade mark owners business (such as study participants and medical professionals) who may associate the drug with the corresponding trade mark, the trial does not create or preserve an outlet; in fact, many drugs in clinical trials never eventually hit the market. Thus, clinical trials do not constitute genuine use. Is the Prohibition to Use a Proper Reason for Non-Use? C-246/05 Haupl). Under the case law of the Court of Justice, an obstacle to genuine use constitutes a proper reason for non-use if it: (1) arises independently of the will of the proprietor of the mark; (2) has a sufficiently direct relationship with the trade mark; and (3) makes its use impossible or unreasonable (). If this Kat were to think of a proper reason not to use a trade mark, a statutory prohibition to use would be on the top of his list. AG Szpunar suggests a more balanced view. While conditions (2) and (3) (as set out in the paragraph above) seem a given whenever genuine use is legally prohibited, the Advocate General has some genuine doubts with regard to condition (1). Since any commercial activity must be carried out in line with specific legal constraints, proper reasons for non-use should be interpreted narrowly. In particular, if the trade mark owner can eliminate a regulatory obstacle that prevents genuine use (or at least shorten the delay it is causing), the obstacle cannot be deemed to be independent of the will of the proprietor. The rule suggested by the AG is that if a change in the commercial strategy would have allowed to circumvent or shorten a regulatory delay and thus allowed genuine use before the end of the grace period, the obstacle cannot be considered a proper reason of non-use. In the case at hand, the trade mark owner has merely invoked the on-going clinical trials, without referring to any specific circumstances independent of the trade mark owners will (in particular why the trials could not be completed faster in this case), which leads the AG to advise the Court to reject the appeal. Comment Genuine use of boswellic acid as the active ingredient of incense If clinical trials do not create or preserve an outlet for drugs, why, you may ask, would anyone apply for trade mark protection so early? The Opinion provides one possible answer: drug manufacturers wish to raise the awareness of influential circles (in particular, professionals who participate in the trials and will later publish about and/or prescribe the drugs) early and want them to remember the trade mark rather than the molecules generic name. This is at least a hint that some genuine use may actually take place long before even filing for an MA. The Advocate General suggests disregarding such practices for purposes of consistency: If marketing is prohibited under regulatory law, these acts should not count as marketing under trade mark law either. This Kat agrees that the lack of a marketing authorization should not automatically count as a proper reason for non-use. However, the retrospective analysis of whether a change in the commercial strategy would have allowed a shortening of the regulatory process may in practice prove a difficult (and subjective) test in practice, especially given its subjective nature. As such, it may not greatly decrease the uncertainty about whether the lack of use of a mark is justified in a particular case. Picture on the left from Kohlers Medizinal-Pflanzen (public domain) CCA Health Forum Bridging the Gap in Nigeria's Healthcare System Corporate Council on Africa (CCA) convened a high-level Health Forum themed ''Bridging the Gap in Nigeria's Health System'' sponsored by Gilead Sciences on November 7, 2018, in Abuja, Nigeria. The CCA Health Forum featured roundtable discussions on Healthcare Financing Solutions delivered by Gilead Sciences and on Innovations in Healthcare Service Provision delivered by DAI Global Health. The sessions highlighted strategies and social impact models focused on addressing effective healthcare financing to reduce 'out of pocket payments,' best practices for treating/preventing communicable and non-communicable diseases (NCDs), and innovative solutions for strengthening Nigeria's healthcare sector. Chairman of the Board of Directors of CCA, and President & CEO of Rabin Martin, Dr. Jeff Sturchio, highlighted the importance of partnerships while Mr. Ekenem Isichei, Country Director, Nigeria, CCA, stressed the importance of human capital development in the health sector. Mr. Olumide Okunola, Senior Health Specialist, IFC/World Bank spoke about the funds available to the Federal Government through the Basic Health Care Provision Fund (BHCPF) in the health sector and the First Lady of Kebbi State, Dr. Zainab Bagudu provided a great perspective on the health reforms in Kebbi state and recent partnerships with the private sector. During the discussions several common themes were emphasized; collaborating with the private sector to improve the outcomes of current initiatives, such as the BHCPF, aimed at strengthening primary healthcare; prioritizing cost-effectiveness in the development of Public-Private Partnerships; adopting home-grown solutions in responding to issues within the sector; approaching healthcare in a holistic manner; and finally leveraging existing technology solutions. The Forum was attended by key government and private sector stakeholders including Sen. Lanre Tejuoso, Senate Committee Chair on Health; Ben Akabueze, Director-General, DG, Budget Office of the Federation, Brent Omdahl, Commercial Counsellor US Embassy; Obinnia Abajue, CEO, Hygeia; Dr. Ogbe Oritsewegimi, Head of Health Financing, Nigeria's National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA); Azuka Okeke, Director, Resource Center, Private Sector Healthcare Alliance of Nigeria; Dr Oniyire Adetiloye, Country Director, Nigeria Jhpiego; Dr. Enoma Alade, Partner, Anadach Group; Njide Ndili, Country Director, Pharmaccess Nigeria; Chinedo Ugwu, Commercial Leader, Primary and Referral Care Africa GE Healthcare; Papa Salif Sow, Vice President, Program Development and Management Africa/Geneva, Gilead Sciences; Jirair Ratevosian, Executive Director, Government Affairs, Gilead Sciences; Dr. Joe Abah, Nigeria Country Director, DAI Global; Annie Baldridge, Senior Global Practice Specialist, DAI Global Health; Dr. Jeff Sturchio, President and CEO, Rabin Martin; and representatives from Wellbeing Foundation Africa, Future Assured, Drugstoc etc. Corporate Council on Africa (CCA) is the leading U.S. business association focused solely on connecting business interests in Africa. Established in 1993 to promote business and investment between the United States and the nations of Africa, CCA serves as a neutral, trusted intermediary connecting its member firms with the essential government and business leaders they need to do business and succeed in Africa. CCA uniquely represents a broad cross section of member companies from small and medium size businesses to multinationals as well as U.S. and African firms. Our members are invested in Africa's most promising sectors including agribusiness, energy, finance, health, ICT, infrastructure, security, tourism and trade facilitation. For media inquiries, please contact Olaotan Awoyomi at oawoyomi@corporatecounilonafrica.com Juan NavarroTory Lanez has apparently taken a page right out of Jacquees' handbook, to proclaim himself the new heir to the hip hop throne. Thursday morning, the Love Me Now lyricist took to Twitter to share the bold declaration and issue a warning to the competition. IM THE BEST RAPPER ALIVE RIGHT NOW, Lanez wrote. I WILL BODY ANY OF YALL N***** OUT ! PERIOD. He continued by claiming that a few of his rap peers are actually "afraid" to challenge him. According to Lanez, he gave the likes of J. Cole and Pusha T an "equal opportunity" to lyrically spar with him but both parties declined on his offer. "I will become the biggest artist in the world one day," Lanez added. "I will also be known as the best artist at all aspects of my craft...I dont care if u doubt me now. You will see for yourself in due time ." Despite firing off shots at his musical colleagues, Lanez is putting his ego aside long enough to tour with another artist. He and fellow Toronto rapper Drake will be heading to Europe for their upcoming Assassination Vacation tour next month. Copyright 2019, ABC Radio. All rights reserved. On Thursday, December 6, 2018, CCA launched its new High-Level Dialogue Series! This new event series will be held in Washington D.C. and exclusively feature senior American and African government as well as private sector officials discuss the latest U.S.-Africa trade and investment policies, trends, and developments. U.S. Representative Ed Royce inaugurated the Corporate Council on Africas High-Level Dialogue with a vibrant session discussing his vision for the U.S. and Africa's economic and political relationship as he retires from Congress. He began by telling the packed room that he was delighted to see so many old friends who had testified at the first hearings he held 19 years ago to talk about launching the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA). The Chairman noted AGOA has accomplished a lot, arguing that it has been a force for good in strengthening the rule of law and encouraging civil society, as well as tripling trade between the U.S. and Africa. Looking to the future, the Chairman was very pleased to have helped pass the BUILD Act, which will be a force multiplier in standing up the U.S. Development Finance Corporation. He was particularly pleased that DFC will be able to lend in local currency, and take equity stakes in positions, which in turn will bring private sector capital with it. In the question and answer session, Chairman Royce was asked what can be done to help get the word out to African companies, all too many of whom dont seem to be fully aware of the potential to ship more than 6000 goods duty-free to the U.S. over AGOAs almost 7 remaining years of eligibility. Chairman Royce thought that the Trade Hubs could do more to help get the word out, including using the internet. He also thought that Congressional delegations could do more to highlight the program on their trips to the continent. Chairman Royce stressed repeatedly that one of the best things about AGOA is that it helps justify greater regional economic integration in Africa, as well as liberalization of African trade policies and markets, both of which in turn help encourage more businesses to invest and grow. In this regard, he stressed the importance of creating regional value chains, and noted that he has a different view than USTR on the wisdom of pursuing a bilateral FTA with one country, versus trying to encourage greater integration. That said, he also agreed that it is critical to persuade African countries to reduce barriers to two-way trade and encouraged them to think about how they could help create a level playing field vis-a-vis some of American companies greatest competitors, such as European companies, which rely on the tariff concessions in the Economic Partnership Agreements. The Chairman was also asked about Chinas influence in Africa. He opined that China is selling a different idea than the U.S. on several important issues, including the value and stability of open and democratic societies, independent courts, and sole source contracts. Chairman Royce argued forcefully that African countries would enter a developmental cul de sac if they decided to move to a model of having one person make all the important decisions, undercutting decades of work to develop greater economic empowerment. Rep. Royce has played a pivotal role in U.S.-Africa relations. As the Chairman of the Subcommittee on Africa, Rep. Royce led bipartisan efforts to support African growth and development and spur greater U.S.-Africa trade and investment through a range of initiatives and laws, including improved wildlife management in Africa, the African Growth and Opportunity Act, and the Electrify Africa Act among others. Newscity PARCC Replaced The controversial Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers (PARCC) is being replaced by an older test. Earlier this month, Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham signed an executive order ending the use of PARCC, a standardized test adopted by New Mexico in 2015. The Public Education Department was tasked with finding a replacement exam that is comparable to PARCC and meets the federal Every Student Succeeds Act. Last week PED announced it would be using the New Mexico Standards-Based Transition Assessment of Mathematics and English Language Arts as the transition test replacing PARCC. This is the same test that was replaced by PARCC, but officials say it follows a new plan and meets federal requirements. Critics have pointed out that the NMSBA is outdated by several years. Outgoing Public Education Secretary Christopher Ruszkowski said it could cost around $10 million for the state to develop a new test, according to Associated Press. Educators for Elevating New Mexico reportedly called the governor's decision ill-informed and members of the New Mexico Teacher Leader Network criticized the change being made without teacher input. Authorities say a new test will be developed for the 2019-2020 school year with input from teachers and parents. Dateline: Russia A Russian man who was allegedly stabbed 13 times by his girlfriend proposed to her in court. The Daily Mirror reports the man, named only as Mr. Shakur, spoke to a judge in Nizhnekamsk, Russia, last week on behalf of his unnamed girlfriend, who was facing charges of attempted murder. According to reports, the woman stabbed Shakur at least 13 times during an altercation before he was able to escape and receive medical attention. He was hospitalized for three weeks following the incident. The woman pled guilty to assaulting Shakur, but denied that she intended to kill him. She said she was drunk and angry. A state prosecutor said the woman only failed in killing the victim due to circumstances she could hardly influence. At the trial, Shakur reportedly asked the woman to marry him and requested that the judge show leniency so they could plan a wedding date. The unnamed assailant is facing six years in prison. The judge postponed a decision until a future hearing could be arranged. It is unclear why the original altercation occurred. Dateline: Colorado A Colorado neighborhood is changing its name from Swastika Acres after 111 years. The Denver Post reports a subdivision in Cherry Hills Village has secretly retained its name, Swastika Acres, since 1908. The swastika is now associated with Nazi Germany, but at the time of the neighborhood's inception, a full 12 years before the founding of the National Socialist German Workers' Party in Germany and long before the name Adolf Hitler would mean anything to the world, the swastika was a common symbol found in numerous cultures around the world. When Swastika Acres was founded, the symbol was popular in the American Southwest due to its use in Native art and religion as a symbol for the sun and infinity. Why the name was never changed has remained a mystery, but there are reportedly no official designations of the subdivision as Swastika Acres outside of house deeds, so many residents could be unaware of the name. In 2017, members of the Cherry Hills Village Council attempted to change the name, but failed to do so in a timely manner. But last week city officials identified the lots that make up the subdivision and mailed out self-addressed stamped envelopes along with a petition to approve a renaming. To approve the name change, 30 homeowners will have to sign the petition. The council is waiting to receive a response before going forward. Dateline: California A landlord in Silicon Valley is renting a studio out to two cats for $1,500 per month. According to KPIX-5 in San Francisco, Victoria Amith, a freshman at Azusa Pacific University in Southern California wasn't allowed to bring her two pets with her to live in her college dorms. Her father was unable to keep them at his house, because they allegedly fought with his fiance's dogs, so he came up with a plan to deal with the crisis. He approached David Callisch, who owned a space for rent, and struck a deal to allow the animals to live in a studio space. The studio comes with a bathroom, shower and Apple TV. There is no kitchen area. Callisch reportedly feeds the cats every day and Amith and her father visit regularly. Silicon Valley is suffering from a public space shortage at the moment, and studio apartments can cost around $2,000 a month to rent. Amith says the situation is only temporary and she plans to live with the cats again once she finds her own place. Dateline: China A number of male Chinese pop stars have had their ears blurred on television, prompting speculation about whether the government is banning depictions of men wearing earrings. BBC News reports images of Chinese pop stars with blurred earlobes have been going viral on Weibo, China's version of Twitter. Millions of users took to the social media platform using the hashtag #MaleTVStarsCantWear Earrings to post still images of men with blurred ears and to question if Chinese authorities had explicitly ordered an earring ban. Many criticized the move as gender stereotyping. Last year China's television regulators banned the use of actors with tattoos or media that depicted hip-hop culture. The government also barred some programs for expressing overt admiration for Western lifestyles. It is unclear if the recent examples of censorship were officially sanctioned, however. A professor at the Chinese University of Hong Kong's School of Journalism and Communications, Grace Leung, told CNN that the earring ban could be influenced by the government's desire to purify their pop culture from the Western influence. Dateline: Iowa A man won $1 on a lottery scratch ticket and demanded the winnings be presented on a giant checkthe Iowa Lottery agreed. According to WHO-13 in Iowa, Tyler Heep bought the ticket with change he found in his car last week. When he scratched it and found that he'd won $1, he decided to go to the state Lottery office to cash it in. He reportedly asked that his big prize be delivered on a big check, and was surprised when Lottery officials acquiesced. Heep told reporters that he was led to an area where the check was presented to him and a photo was taken. They decided to treat me like a million dollar winner. He reportedly spent his winnings on half a gallon of gas. Public Domain There is a state Legislature here. Like many of the institutions in a world where the USA has sowed representative democracies, this one is bicameral. That is, it is split into two halves, or two chambers as it were. The Senate is the upper chamber and the House is the lower chamber. Composed of representatives we the citizens elected, a legislative body decides on the structure of the state, as represented by laws. If you follow me so far, then good. If not, I am now going to kindly suggest you inquire of your most recent civics teacher. If you didnt have a civics teacheror if they failed to imbue you with the basic tools needed to navigate this or that democratic republicyou can probably blame your state Legislature. Or you can get hep to it all by reading this. While education and education reformheck the whole of the system seems under review this yearare big on the Legislatures agenda, there are a heap of other issues that our leaders must pay attention to now in order to keep the ship of state afloat and cruising through the desert even as harsh winds buffet and seemingly idyllic shores await. With that string of complex metaphorical comparatives outta the way, but meaningfully prefaced, heres what you need to know as the SS Nuevo Mexico steams away at the merry roundhouse. This week, Weekly Alibi takes a look at legislation coming out of the lower chamber. There are 278 bills, 3 joint memorials, 5 joint resolutions, 8 memorials and 1 resolution awaiting action in the New Mexico House of Representatives. Here are some that caught our reportorial attention. One for You, 19 for Me The taxation reform bill up for review this year (HB 6) is both wide ranging and inclusive of the progressive agenda generally espoused by the Lujan Grisham administration. Sponsored by Dem stalwarts Sheryl Williams Stapleton, Antonio Moe Maestas, Javier Martinez and Susan K. Herrera this legislation would amount to a much-needed tune-up of the the N.M. tax code. HB 6 proposes providing for taxation of certain internet sellers under the gross receipts act, limiting the capital gains deduction from net income, deeper regulation of corporate tax reporting, increasing the gasoline tax in order to provide for transportation infrastructure funding, providing tax deductions for temporary services and certain nonprofits and taxation of hospitals according to the gross receipts act. Wages of Democracy Representative Patricia Roybal Caballero is sponsoring a bill that would raise the state minimum wage from $7.50 an hour to $15 by Jan. 2020. HB 46 further proposes a yearly cost of living wage increase for our states workers, based on annual consumer price indices published by the US Department of labor. A strong pro-labor statement, Caballeros legislation also calls for a 40 hour work week with additional employee hours to be compensated at one and one half of an employees hourly rate. Untroubled Lives The definition of domestic violence and abuse will be widened to include companion animals, under proposed legislation brought to the house this year by Representative Joanne J. Ferrary (D-Las Cruces). HB 52 is an act recognizing harm or threatened harm to companion animals as a form of unlawful abuse. Per the bill, Section 40-13-2 of the New Mexico state law will be amended to add pets to the list of potential victims of domestic violence, a problem that has long and consequentially plagued our state as it deals with pervasive poverty and poor educational outcomes. As Wayne Coyne once told me: We live in a brutal world, but weve made some progress. That can be measured by the fact that we now understand that animals are sentient, too. Our Land is Life The Healthy Soil Act (HB 204) and the Environmental Review Act (HB 206) both provide avenues to sustainability for our states natural resources. Further, HB 233 would appropriate funds to begin the long process of uranium mine clean up in northern New Mexico. According to the healthy soil bill, introduced by Las Cruces conservationist Nathan Small (D-Las Cruces) and Democratic Senator Liz Stefanics, healthy soil practices include maximizing biodiversity and integrating animals into land managementand that includes grazing animals and beneficial insects, too! Meanwhile HB 206 seeks funding to enact the idea that a healthful environment is of fundamental importance to the public interest of this state. Regulating the process that gets us there means requiring government agencies in the Land of Enchantment to closely compare the economic benefits of development plans to the impact on public health, ecosystems and the environment any such plans may have and to provide reasonable sustainable alternatives if environmental impacts outweigh economic value. The bill is co-sponsored by Representative Gail Chasey (D-Albuquerque) and Democratic Senator Mimi Stewart. D. Wonda Johnson, a Church Rock Democratic Representative that serves constituents in McKinley and Sandoval Countiesboth whom have areas within that are part of the Navajo Nationproposes earmarking $250,000 to begin a study by UNMs Bureau of Business and Economic Research which will aim to analyze economic effects of uranium mining as well as to determine the capacity of state agencies to begin cleaning up the poisonous aftermath as soon as possible. Smoke that Frajo! Further regulation of tobacco products in the state are also on this years legislative agenda. HB 256 would essentially ban e-cigarettes from indoor use, as like traditional cigarettes, they would be listed as part of the Clean Indoor Act. HB 259 would limit or ban the use of some tobacco products, while HB 260 calls for banning flavored tobacco products. Cigarette taxes would be increased if HB 261 gets the signature of our new governor. Better Health Significantly, the Paid Family Medical Act (HB 264) would provide an immeasurable resource to many New Mexican working families. Representative Christine Chandlers legislation would see to the creation and implementation of a permanent trust fund to administer and distribute monies to be used by workers and their families when a medical crisis, preventing normal working activities, arises. According to the language of the bill, employees and employers would both be required to contribute to the fund, with employers carrying most of the financial burden. Workers would only be charged one half of one percent of their earnings while companies would be on the hook for up to four fifths of one percent of an employees net annual earnings. Its a Crime A sweeping reform of the criminal justice system in New Mexico is also being investigated by lawmakers, thanks to HB 267 sponsors, Daymon Ely (D-Corrales) Andrea Romero (D-Santa Fe) and Senator Sander Rue (R-District 23). The massive reform bill has these essential features: The bill requires the state sentencing board to implement a data-sharing network, add three members to that commission and to share information bilaterally with the Department of Public Safety; it specifies the type of data that can be used for biometric identification and also quantifies the requirements for content and disposition of arrest records. Most importantly, Elys bill calls for more money to be spent on crime prevention by appropriating money to develop, expand and improve evidence-based treatment and supervision alternatives to incarceration and to reduce barriers to participation in such programs using pre-prosecution diversion or specialty court programs. Join us next week when Weekly Alibi takes a look at resolutions, memorials and exactly what the heck is emanatingcould it be the smell of sausage being made?from the New Mexico Senate during its ultra roomy 60-day tenure at the merry Roundhouse. Eric Williams Photography With a billion dollars up for grabs and a stinging District Court decision to live up to, education is front and center at the 2019 New Mexico Legislature. A New Mexican Problem In a milestone decision in a consolidated lawsuit case, Yazzie/Martinez et al v State of New Mexico, First Judicial District Judge Sarah Singleton ruled that New Mexico public schools violate a constitutional right to an adequate education, of a broad swath of students considered at risk, by failing to provide them with an adequate education. The 2014 lawsuit was filed by dozens of plaintiffs, including several school districts, and took on, in part, former Gov. Susanna Martinez and her public education administration for, among other things, inadequate funding for low income students, Native American students, English learners, special needs and other marginalized students. Attorneys for the New Mexico Center on Law and Poverty and the Mexican American Legal Defense and Education Fund argued the plaintiffs case during a summer of 2017 trial. Judge Singleton said many things in her July 2018 ruling, and in her December 2018 600-plus pages of Findings of Fact and Conclusions of Law. The bottom line: The state must sufficiently and comprehensively fund public schools so that every student has an equal opportunity to succeed, and she ruled that the state constitution makes it so. A sufficient education is a right protected by the New Mexico Constitution, Singleton ruled. Singleton said a plan must be in place by April 2019. Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham has said her administration will not appeal the ruling. Thats a good thing because the state has already spent more than $4 million in legal fees defending itself against the obvious. Per the Anne E. Casey Foundation, New Mexico was recently ranked as the worst state overall to be a child. One out of every 10 students is Native American, 3 out of 4 are low income, 1 in 7 are disabled, and 1 in 7 are English language learners. Legislative Remedies Hearings are underway for both House and Senate versions of an overall education bill. These two bills are bipartisan and similar. These bills, and many others, have or will be introduced to address and implement Judge Singletons rulings. With that billion dollars in new oil and gas money burning a hole in her pocket, Gov. Lujan Grisham has said she wants to increase public education spending by $500 million. This, she says, will begin to address the wide spectrum of education shortfalls across the states 89 public school districts and its 97 public charter schools. These needs include decades old crumbling infrastructure, low teacher pay, the lack of up-to-date classroom supplies like enough current textbooks and technology, and the list goes on and on. Interestingly, both bills propose trying to rein in the number of charter school students statewide. Senate Bill 1 wants to cap enrollment to 27,000 just slightly more than the approximately 26,500 currently enrolled in charter schools statewide. There are about 330,000 students total enrolled in public schools. The Senate bill also proposes to set the maximum enrollment for individual charter schools based on the schools performance. House Bill 5 proposes a moratorium on opening any new charter schools. Charter school proponents are pushing back, and say this limits viable and practical options for the very students the state is charged by the District Court to educate, within New Mexicos unique cultural and economic milieu. Opponents say charter schools get a disproportionate amount of money over other public schools. These sweeping education bills are based on the Transform Education NM Platform, a comprehensive plan devised by many stakeholders to repair our schools. The bills call for a multicultural and bilingual framework, changes in school funding formulas, look to extend state funded pre-K from half day to a full day, more funding for grades K through 5, create a longer school day overall, and these are just a few of the proposals. The bills could go through significant changes before they hear a vote in their respective houses. Plaintiff attorneys in the Singleton decision have said that these bills are a start to meeting the judges mandate. File Away! As we hit our press deadline, House and Senate members have filed at least 65 bills, memorials and resolutions that impact education. Lawmakers have until Feb. 14 to introduce bills, and the session ends March 16. Some of the other legislative proposals filed so far include: more funding for school based health centers; taking a hard look at school armed security; increased after school programs; addressing the need for seat belts in school buses; standardizing bathroom policies to incorporate all genders; medical marijuana use for students while at school; help for student diabetes management; increased funding for reading, STEM and other initiatives; Native American teacher incentive pay, and many other pieces of legislation addressing the states unique public education needs. These more peripheral bills do not include capital outlay requests that schools submit to help shore up crumbling school buildings. Capital outlay bills are usually bundled together in what is called the pork barrel bill, referencing lawmakers bringing home the bacon to their constituents. Keep Up Otto von Bismarck once said, If you like laws and sausages, you should never watch either one being made. We here at Weekly Alibi tend to disagree with the autocrat. Both need vigorous watching because you never know when something sneaky will happen. So with that in mind, the state has a user friendly website at nmlegis.gov with daily calendars, links to search legislation filed and other important information to help keep citizens informed. And of course, keep your eyes on Weekly Alibi for weekly updates. Thursday 24 The Other Two (Comedy Central 8:30pm) An aspiring actor (Drew Tarver) and his former dancer of a sister (Helene Yorke) are pushed to the side when their 13-year-old brother (actual musical.ly sensation Case Walker) becomes an internet star thanks to his viral hit I Wanna Marry U at Recess. This salty-sweet show biz comedy comes from former SNL head writers Chris Kelly and Sarah Schneider. Friday 25 Black Earth Rising (Netflix streaming anytime) After surviving the Rwandan genocide, a young African woman (Micheaela Coel) is adopted by a human rights attorney in London and grows up to become a legal investigator taking on war crimes cases. John Goodman costars in this BBC co-produced drama. Four More Shots Please! (Amazon streaming anytime) Four female friends (VJ Bani, Maanvi Gagroo, Kirti Kulhar, Sayani Gupta) deal with romance, work-life conflicts, ambitions and anxieties. Think Sex and the City if the city were Mumbai. Kingdom (Netflix streaming anytime) In this historical fantasy thriller from Korea, a medieval prince is sent on a suicide mission to investigate a mysterious plague thats spreading across the country. Zombies. The plague is zombies. Saturday 26 Slender Man Stabbing: The Untold Story (Reelz 6pm) In 2014 two preteens in Wisconsin tried to impress a fictional internet boogeyman by stabbing one of their classmates 19 times in the woods. The real question is: Do we blame todays stupid kids, the internet or just Wisconsin? Maybe this documentary special will help us decide. Valentines Day & Adoption Ever After Preview Special (Hallmark 8pm) Join Allison Sweeney from Days of Our Lives for a sneak preview of Hallmarks upcoming Valentines Day rom-coms and its first annual Cat Bowl. Unmarried, middle-aged cat ladies: This ones for you. Sunday 27 25th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards (TBS/TNT 6pm) Megan Mullally (Will & Grace) hosts. Rent: Live (KRQEDT-2 7pm) FOX does the live musical broadcast thing for Jonathan Larsons 90s-centric version of La Boheme. Producers are promising a modernized, edgier, more rock-style story. Try your best not to think of South Park when you watch it. Monday 28 I Am the Night (TNT/TBS 7pm) This six-episode crime noir drama stars Chris Pine (Star Trek) and India Eisley (The Secret Life of an American Teenager). Its directed and produced by Patty Jenkins (Wonder Woman) and Carl Franklin (Devil in a Blue Dress). Its inspired by the true story of a young woman who may (or may not) have had a connection to the infamous Black Dahlia killing. Tuesday 29 Presidents State of the Union Address 2019 (KRQEDT- 2/ KOB- 4/ KOAT- 7/ KRQE- 13 7pm) Or not. Well see. Super Bowls Greatest Commercials 2019 (KRQE-13 9pm) Member Alex from Strohs? Whatever happened to that dog? For that matter, whatever happened to Strohs? Wednesday 30 The Loch Ness Monster Lives: A Mysteries at the Museum Special (Travel 7pm) Don Wildman, host of Mysteries at the Museum, goes hunting for the Loch Ness Monster. Im confident hell succeed where the last 80-odd years worth of hunters, investigators, scientists, cryptozoologists, random tourists and TV hosts have failed. The 1999 to 2002 WB/UPN sci-fi soap Roswell returns in rebooted form as Roswell, New Mexico thanks to the folks at The CW. Like The WB before it (Dawsons Creek, 7th Heaven, Felicity, Charmed), The CW has a real taste for teen melodrama (90210, Gossip Girl, Riverdale, Charmed). And Roswell, New Mexico fits the bill quite nicely with the added genre touch of supernatural/sci-fi that The CW also loves (Supernatural/The 100). On the whole, the show reads more like a demographic checklist than an organically formed work of art, but thats probably enough to please the networks viewers and ensure a solid two to three seasons of work for New Mexican actors and film technicians. New Mexico gets more than titular credit on the re-imagined series. Unlike the original, the new version is shot right here in New Mexicoresulting in far fewer Joshua trees in the background. Although both shows borrow their inspiration from Melinda Metz young adult book series Roswell High, Roswell, New Mexico ages up the cast, subbing out teenage romance for twentysomething sex. Instead of taking place in high school, the show revisits its characters a decade after graduation. Our main character, Liz Ortecho (Jeanine Mason, winner of the fifth season of So You Think You Can Dance) is a jaded biomedical researcher (no foolin) who reluctantly returns to her hometown of Roswell after her research grants dry up because somebody needed a wall. The unsubtle dig at our current president is one of many timely sociopolitical comments in Roswell, New Mexico. The show thankfully reinstates Liz Mexican heritage. (In the 1999 series she became Liz Parker), which allows the writers to draw out all sorts of metaphors about aliensboth extraterrestrial and earthly. Although they run the local UFO-themed greasy spoon (recognizable as downtown Albuquerques Lindys Diner), Liz family are undocumented immigrants, which keeps them at arms length from local law enforcement. (We could move to a sanctuary city, says Liz, continuing the well-meaning but ham-handed political lessons.) Unfortunately, one of the main representatives of local law enforcement turns out to be Sheriffs Deputy Max Evans (Australian actor Nathan Dean Parsons). Max was Liz high school crush and vice versa. You can tell theyre still in love because they stare slack-jawed and moony-eyed at one another for minutes on end. Thats not the only thing complicating Liz homecoming, either. Turns out Max (plus his married sister and his rebellious brother) are all space aliens with miraculous powers. Theyve been hiding that secret for decades. But Max kind of spills the beans when he uses his alien healing powers to save Liz life after shes shot by a mysterious assailant at the diner. That Roswell, New Mexico wants to say something important about the age in which we live is admirable. But the message about xenophobia gets bogged down in the shows dueling ambitions. Star-crossed romance, sci-fi thriller, murder mystery: Roswell, New Mexico isnt sure which genre it wants to commit itself to. The cast (Mason in particular) is appealing and the premise is intriguing. But the overly didactic dialogue, the intimations of kinky sex and the majorly unsubtle antagonists (racists, men in black) strand the show somewhere between teenage fantasy and grown-up drama. 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!) Rob M. When I was a kid, you learned about marijuana from your drug dealerlike how to make a gravity bong or which eye drops were the best at getting rid of red-eye. Back then the idea of learning about the science behind cannabis at a real institute of learning was laughable. In Half Baked, Dave Chappelle's character asks his marijuana dealer, What? Did you go to weed college?a joke that I just realized will no longer make any sense, because cannabis classes have actually been popping up at colleges in America and Canada. Canada has seen a wild growth in job opportunities since the nation legalized recreational cannabis last October. According to The Washington Post, openings for cannabis-related positions have tripled over the past year, and Canadian schools have responded by initiating courses that teach students about the business and production of marijuana. Last week the GrowthOp published a list of colleges that are offering courses covering different aspects of the cannabis industry. There are nearly a dozen such programs being offered in spots around Canadaincluding full graduate degree programs. The US has less to offer, but it's off to a good start. The University of Denvers Daniels College of Business offers a course on the marijuana business, while its Sturm College of Law offers those on representing cannabis clients. A class called Cannabiz: Exploring the Legalized Cannabis Industry is available at Ohio State University's Moritz College of Law. Northern Michigan University is offering a four-year Medicinal Plant Chemistry undergraduate degree. A minor degree in cannabis studies can be pursued at Stockton University in New Jersey. The University of Vermont gives students the chance to take part in a cannabis science and medicine program. A medical cannabis training program for caregivers and medical professionals called Medicinal Cannabis and Chronic Pain can be taken at the University of Washington. The University of California in Los Angeles is home to the Cannabis Research Initiative. UC Davis offers an agricultural science graduate course on the marijuana plant. And even the University of New Mexicos Communication and Journalism Department will now be offering cannabis courses. Starting in 2019, students will have the opportunity to attend a course called Cannabis and Communication. The course will examine elements of intercultural communication, coverage of marijuana in the news as well as new media digital/ social as a political issue, and from a health communication perspective, said Associate Professor Tamar Ginossar, who will be teaching the course, in a statement released by the school. Students will study the impact marijuana has had on culture and how that plays out in the media. Combined with the recent legalization of hemp, I'd say this is a very good sign that things are turning around for cannabis in the US. National policy changes start in the universities, and it's starting to look like it's only a matter of time before positive views of marijuana start spilling into the streets. Is Marijuana as Safe as We Think? That was the title of a New Yorker article published earlier this month that threw many of us cannabis advocates into a monumental tizzy. The piece, written by Malcolm Gladwell, starts off reasonable enough, citing a 2017 report released by the National Academy of Medicinewhich found few conclusive answers to health questions surrounding cannabisand bemoaning the lack of research available on the effects of cannabis, but quickly turns barbed when it begins to reference the forthcoming book Tell Your Children: The Truth About Marijuana, Mental Illness, and Violence by Alex Berenson. Berenson correlates marijuana use with a supposed rise in what he says is a new kind of mental illness that seems similar to schizophrenia. He also connects a rise in cannabis use to a rise in violent crimes, presumably due to psychotic episodes that could allegedly be caused by the drug. In a Seattle Times article, a number of cannabis scientists criticized Gladwell's research. Senior research scientist at the University of Washingtons Alcohol & Drug Abuse Institute Beatriz Carlini said the violent crime statistics reported by Gladwell were misleading. He cites a 17 percent increase n violent crime in Washington between 2013 and 2017. Carlini pointed out that there was a large dip in the number of violent crimes committed in 2012, meaning that the statistic wasn't risingit was just returning to where it was before 2013. The Seattle Times article also points to FBI statistics that show that between 2007 and 2017, Washington's violent crime rates were still below the national average. A New York Times piece by Benedict Carey compares Berenson's book to Reefer Madness, taking aim at its claims that marijuana use can lead to psychosis and schizophrenia. As it points out, while there is evidence that biological mechanisms might lie behind psychotic disorders, determining whether one caused the other is hard to do. Carey also mentions a 2015 study conducted by researchers at Virginia Commonwealth University that found smoking nicotine cigarettes was a predictor for later development of schizophrenia. How many marijuana users who developed schizophrenia later in life were also cigarette smokers is unclear and unaddressed. However, most experts seem to agree that marijuana, like any psychoactive substance (including nicotine and caffeine) can trigger a psychotic episode in someone who is prone to one. Mottke Weissman / Public Domain Lets talk about James Baldwin. You know, the award-winning American novelist, playwright, essayist, intellectual and social critic. James Baldwin. And, more specifically well, no. Hang on. First, lets get the obligatory newsworthiness bit out of the way, so that I can at least pretend to be inflicting journalism upon you by giving you a timely and local reason Im presently discussing a writer who died of stomach cancer in 1987: Albuquerques KiMo Theatre will be screening director Raoul Pecks 2017 Oscar-nominated documentary about Baldwin, I Am Not Your Negro, Thursday, Jan. 24 at 7pm. The screening will be followed by a discussion with local authors about Baldwins legacy and importance. There. All done. Okay. Now then. James Baldwin. He was easily one of the best writers, social critics and intellectuals our nation has ever produced. Born in New York City in 1924, he wrote about whatever interested him, and frequently those things included the different ways people classified themselves and each other in the United States, and how those caste systems impacted the psychology of humans and the sociology within which they functioned. Baldwin, who himself was identified as bisexual and black, tackled intersectionality before it was even a thing. Hell, its barely even a thing now. He was not only ahead of his time, he was in many ways even ahead of our time too, and as such opted eventually to move to France because there he had more freedom to be seen as just a writer, no other qualifier or marginalization necessary as it seemed to be in the United States. In France, he wasnt seen as a black writer or a gay writer; he was seen as an important American writer, period. Baldwins openness about his sexuality was present from the start. His second novel, Giovannis Room, written in 1956, was about men in love with one another. It was who he was. So why, some are asking, did Peck choose in this documentary to ignore Baldwins sexuality? Why did the director choose to highlight one aspect of Baldwins self, struggles and writings (the black one) while simultaneously completely erasing another (the bisexual one)? And, more importantly, should we be offended? I Am Not Your Negro has been lauded and applauded for its many merits by mainstream critics; but others take issue with its erasure of Baldwins sexuality. An essay by Preston Mitchum in ThinkProgress blasted the documentary for failing to reflect the totality of [Baldwins] life. Many others did likewise. Interestingly, one of the nations leading LGBT publications, The Advocate, took a different approach to I Am Not Your Negro, saying that it is not only a must-see but one that should be studied and absorbed over many viewings. Critic Daniel Reynolds said outrage about Baldwins sexuality being glossed over in Pecks documentary is misplaced. But I Am Not Your Negro is not a biography, he wrote. It is a lesson, and one that is desperately needed in a world still rattled by police violence, protest, and hate crimes. As Baldwin remarked, History is not in the past. It is the present. Indeed, Reynolds seems to say, it is as unnecessary to mention Baldwins sexuality in this documentary as it would be to mention the sexuality of any other person in making a film about their writings on society, class and race. I Am Not Your Negro is a film based upon 30 pages of an unfinished manuscript Baldwin began writing about the assassinations of three of his close friends: Martin Luther King Jr., Malcom X and Medgar Evers. Narrated by Samuel L. Jackson, the film is a powerful piece that, given how long Baldwin has been gone, is nothing short of prescient, as he tells us things like People denied the American dream will wreck it. Nonetheless, there are many in the LGBT community who would have liked to see Peck make more of Baldwins sexuality. What are we to do with this documentary, then? What are we to do with its accolades and criticisms? What are we to do with the fact that all these years later, at a point in American culture when we are said to be embracing intersectionality, Peck still seems incapable of describing the black-power part of Baldwin without sweeping the openly bisexual part of Baldwin under the proverbial rug, even though Baldwin himself was very open about his sexuality, and wrote at least two books about it? It is too convenient, contextually, to dismiss the erasure of Baldwins sexuality in this documentary as an oversight or the product of focusing only on one aspect of his writings. To wit: Numerous studies, including one from Daboin, Peterson and Parrot published in the American Psychological Association journal Cultural Diversity and Ethnic Minority in 2015, have demonstrated that homophobia exists to a far greater degree in African American men than it does among white American men. The authors concluded that Blacks reported greater endorsement of religious fundamentalism and the traditional male role norm of status than Whites. The reason? A hellish combination of conservative religiosity and generalized emasculation via ostracism in the greater (read racist) society. Further complicating the issue is the fact that Peck, 65, is from Haiti, a nation that consistently ranks as among the worst in the world when it comes to the rights of LGBT people, where homophobia is even more overt than it is among African American men. That in and of itself is no reason to suspect homophobia, of course. But Peck is also the former minister of culture for Haitis governmentthe same government that in 2017 made it illegal for anyone to publicly announce support for any LGBT person. So, no, I dont think it was mere coincidence that his documentary glosses over Baldwins sexuality, and I dont think we should give him or this film a free pass on the omission. It should be impossible to speak of Baldwin and his perspective as a perpetual outsider without linking it to all the ways in which he was marginalized. Albuquerque poet Gabe Reyes, who also identifies as a bisexual man of color, said he thinks the erasure of Baldwins sexuality might also be due to his having been bisexual rather than gay or straight. Bisexuality often gets erased within our media and societal dialogues, said Reyes in an interview with Weekly Alibi. It's almost as if people consider it too complicated to display someone being attracted to people of multiple other genders. They pick and choose whatever sexuality is most convenient for the story they're trying to tell, which often is heterosexuality because that's still considered society's normal. Even within spaces occupied by people of color we still have to acknowledge prejudices that remain and open up a truly intersectional dialogue. I do wonder what Baldwin himself would make of all this. I suspect he would raise a brow and give his famous world-weary, wry, thoughtfully sad smile and say, as he once did: I am what time, circumstance, history have made of me, certainly, but I am also much more than that. So are we all. Tanner Ausome Williams The famous photographer Ansel Adams once said of New Mexico that it was the most completely beautiful place I have ever seen. Adams sentiment has been shared by other famous photographers over the years, with many coming here to shoot at one point or another, including Diane Arbus, Manuel Alvarez Bravo and Annie Liebowitz, to name a few. Tanner Ausome Williams It should come as no surprise, then, that with the radical democratization of visual art afforded by the internet, and especially by Instagram, in recent years there has been a blossoming of photographic talent native to this state, as gifted local photographers find audiences online. In the past, such photographers would have needed connections in the big art centers of the world in order to reach this sort of following. Tanner Auseome Williams What follows are short biographies and sample photos from two such photographers, the first installment in a series where well highlight local artists and photographers whove found devoted organic audiences online and without traditional management or marketing. Tanner Ausome Williams, 34 Instagram: @tannerausome You wont find Taos Tanner Ausome Williams rubbing elbows with the rich art crowd up north, or anywhere really. Where you will find him? Hanging out with his muddy three-legged dog in their tiny off-the-grid one-room adobe house with the composting toilet, on the outskirts of town; slinging beers as a barkeep at Taos Mesa Brewing, where he cheerfully gabs with the locals and rarely talks about himself or his artwork; and most of all, roaming around northern New Mexico with his camera, taking pictures. Michael Danzer The caption he wrote on a recent profile selfie he posted to Facebook summed up Williams pared-down lifestyle and artistry: All you kids need to make sure you stay in school and study hard. That way you can get a degree from a good college. Otherwise you could end up like this guy. A happy underemployed bum with too much spare time on his hands. Remember there is safety in complacency. This sort of freedom could cause the urge to strike out on dangerous adventures. Wandering aimlessly around the world like some sort of crazy person. Living in comfortable squalor on some godforsaken piece of land, all alone, and surrounded by nothing but magnificent scenery. Living in a house with no running water, and having to depend solely on the abundant rays of sunshine blasting the earth every second to power your household needs. Seldom being able to shower, and always questioning whether or not you smell good enough to go out in public. Michael Danzer The city of Taos recently caught wind of Williams work and, to his great surprise, purchased some of his photos to put on banners to hang around town. Williams shrugs off the attention, saying that his own existence is his art, and that photography is just a means for capturing parts of that deliberative performance along the way. Michael Danzer, 32 Michael Danzer Instagram: @michael.danzer.photo Rio Ranchos Michael Danzer is a home inspector by day, a job for which, yes, he sometimes has to take photos. But during his free time you will find this sensitive soul traversing the empty landscapes of New Mexico in search of the perfect moment, as he uses photography as a means of exploring the notion of time. Michael Danzer I like to take pictures because I think its important to remember the good experiences youve had, to capture that moment in time, he told Weekly Alibi in a recent interview. I like that each photo is unique, and that you can never capture the same moment twice. Like Williams, Danzer said he never really thought of himself as a photographer, more like a guy who loved to take pictures. But then people began sharing his photos and complimenting him so much he was forced to admit, yeah, he probably was a photographer after all. I only got my first camera a year-and-a-half ago, said Danzer. There is so much Im still learning about photography. At first it was a struggle just to use the camera. Now I take it everywhere I go. It has become a part of me. I believe that if you love something enough, and practice often, it sort of becomes natural. Danzer is a lover of history, and says the purpose of art is to make others happy and to inspire them. Do you have an amazing New Mexico Instagram artist you think we should know about? Please send us an email with a link to their handle, at alisa@alibi.com. 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He is now on rehabilitation, as his lawyer Oleksandr Horoshynsky, told the journalists before the court hearing in Kyiv, 112 Ukraine broadcasted it. According to the lawyer, Yanukovych was not informed about todays hearing. I can only say that Viktor Yanukovych had surgery. He is now on rehabilitation. This is all the information I have. I do not have a direct connection with Yanukovych. Therefore, we could not inform about consideration of this proceeding. The court appointed session a day before, so that the parties could not get things going so that our client could not have an opportunity to participate in the hearing, Horoshynsky said. Kyiv Obolonsky Court began announcing of the sentence for the fugitive president at 9 am on January 24. Viktor Yanukovych is accused of state treason, activities which lead to violation of Ukraines state border, supporting aggressive war against Ukraine. The Main Military Prosecutors Office passed the indictment on Yanukovychs state treason case to the court in March 2017. The accused himself did not participate in the hearings, he is not in Ukraine hiding in Russia. The prosecution asks to sentence ex-President for 15 years behind bars. Related video: The ex-President of Ukraine does not admit his guilt Ex-President of Ukraine Viktor Yanukovych was found guilty of addressing the Russian President Putin and asking him to deploy troops in Ukraine, as Vladyslav Devyatko, the judge of Kyiv Obolonsky Court, said while delivering the verdict, 112 Ukraine reported. In particular, the court ruled that on March 2014 deliberately and violating Ukraines sovereignty Yanukovych sent a statement to Putin requesting to deploy Russias Armed Forces. Though the defence did not recognize guilt, the court considers that the guilt of the accused of committing crimes provided by Ukraines Criminal Code has been proved by appropriate and admissible evidence, the judge said. The Main Military Prosecutors Office passed the indictment on Yanukovychs state treason case to the court in March 2017. The accused himself did not participate in the hearings, he is not in Ukraine hiding in Russia. The prosecution asks to sentence ex-President for 15 years behind bars. Ukraines Ombudsman Lyudmyla Denisova appealed to the Russian side demanding to provide information about the health condition of Edem Bekirov kept in Simferopol prison, as said in Denisovas published on Facebook open letter to her Russian colleague Tatyana Moskalkova. She reminded that earlier Moskalkova promised that Bekirov would be taken to Simferopol hospital for medical examination and treatment. Yet, instead of promised two weeks, he spent three days in the hospital, and then returned to Simferopol prison. As his lawyer said on January 23, he felt much worse. There are no results of the medical examination which he needs so much. It means that Edem does not receive professional medical treatment. That is why I am appealing to you and ask you to provide Edem Bekirov and his lawyers with the copy of a medical report, give him full-fledged treatment in compliance with the doctors recommendations, Denisova stated. As we reported earlier, the Russian law enforcers detained Crimean Tatar Edem Bekirov at the entrance to the occupied Crimea from Chongar. On December 12, 2018, Ukrainian citizen, a Crimean Tatar Edem Bekirov was detained at the entrance to the occupied Crimea. He was born in 1961, he lives in Novooleksiivka, Kherson region. It is known that Edem was heading to Crimea to visit his 78-year-old mother and relatives, the Chairman of Mejlis of Crimean Tatars Refat Chubarov stated. Related: EU expects Russia to immediately release Crimean Tatar Bekirov According to Chubarov, Berkirov was arrested during passport control on the territory controlled by the Russian law enforcers. Later, Chubarov noted that the detainee was taken to Russias Security Service office in the annexed Simferopol. Related video: PACE did not support the amendment on the recognition of the Ukrainian sailors as the prisoners of war Open source The status of the Ukrainian sailors detained in the Russian Federation after Kerch Strait incident would be determined by the rules of Geneva Convention as 112 Ukraine reported citing Oleksy Honcharenko, the representative of Ukraine in PACE. The Ukrainian issue has been already considered. We filed three amendments. Two of them are supported. The issue is about the references to the UN Convention on the Las of the Sea; it is very important for us in the judicial procedures, courts, which we are going to have with Russia; we will sue them and it is a very important reference for us, Honcharenko noted. According to him, the not supported amendment concerned the Ukrainian POWs. We proposed to put their status as the prisoners of war in the text. Our colleagues stood against such formulation so we reached a compromise formulation during the discussion that their status should be determined on the principles of the humanitarian law, including the Geneva Convention. Geneva Convention on the prisoners of war, he noted. There are no examples when the session hall changed the decision of the committee. So, probably, the resolution will be adopted in this formulation, he added. On November 25, the coast guard ships of the Russian Navy attacked the ships of the Ukrainian Navy, which have been carrying out a scheduled transition from Odesa port to Mariupol port in the Sea of Azov. Ukrainian ships were rejected passage via the Kerch Strait, Russian coast guards opened aimed fire on them. All 24 sailors on board were captured and delivered to Moscow 21 of them were delivered to Lefortovo remand center, another - to the hospital of Matrosskaya Tishina prison. On December 3, the Russian prosecutors officially accused Ukrainian sailors with the 'illegal crossing of the state border' during the attack in the Kerch Strait. Facing an extension of the sentence term, Ukrainian POWs detained in the Kerch Strait refused to testify in Lefortovo court. Sailors were distributed into six groups, four people in each. On January 15, 2019 Moscow's Lefortovo district court decided to keep 20 Ukrainian sailors in remand until April 24. On January 16, the court extended the detention term for another 4 sailors. Ukraines leader expressed the opinion that peace should be established on the basis of the national interests of Ukraine A lot of people promise to establish peace in Ukraine. But these are the populist promises, as presidential press service reported citing speech of President Petro Poroshenko during the Ukrainian Breakfast in Davos. "Many still do not draw conclusions and like to say that peace is around the corner. This is another populist promise: peace is around the corner; it is enough to knock on Putin's door, ask for peace and get it right away. But instead of peace, an aggressor is at hand," the President said. He emphasized that peace should be established only on the basis of the national interests, on the basis of international law, only with the return of the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine. "We will bring peace if Russia returns to the situation of 2013. The keys to peace, unfortunately, are not in Kyiv, Brussels, Ottawa or Washington. The keys to peace are in Moscow. We must use every instrument at our disposal to make Putin sit at the negotiating table. Just as we did in 2014 and 2015 during the signing of the Minsk agreements," Poroshenko noted. Earlier Petro Poroshenko stated that Ukraine is urged to find a compromise with the aggressor, but peace is possible only under Russian conditions. And the questions of sovereignty, territorial integrity cannot be the subject of the compromise. Volodymyr Aryev, the Chairman of the Ukrainian delegation for RBK-Ukraine The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) urges Russia to release the detained Ukrainian sailors. PACE adopted the relevant resolution on Thursday, January 24, as Volodymyr Aryev, the Head of the Ukrainian delegation, reported on Facebook. 103 members voted for, three against, 16 of them abstained. Aryev noted that the adopted resolution reflects all the necessary positions the Ukrainian delegation supported. Probably, in some moments as in the situation with the conventions and POWs have now a different wording, but it never changed its sense. POWs were replaced with compliance with the obligations of Geneva conventions, but it implies considering the prisoners as POWs, the Head of the Ukrainian delegation said. Earlier, German MP Andreas Nick, appointed as the reporter on Azov Crisis, had presented the first draft report on the consequences of the Russian-Ukrainian confrontation. The two-page decision of the Assembly was named Escalation of tension around Azov Sea and Kerch Strait and threatens to European security. Despite the fact that the Russian aggression is not mentioned in the name, the project generally is balanced and contains the claimants and demands to the country-aggressor. The PACE offers to approve the demands to the Russia Federation - urgently release the Ukrainian sailors; - provide them with necessary medical, judicial consular service; - provide the free passage through Kerch Strait for the Ukrainian vessels; - not to allow the use of the force even if the Russian Federation thinks that the vessels violate the territorial waters. It was proposed that PACE should state about the support of the territorial integrity of Ukraine, including Crimea and support the deployment of the international monitoring mission, which would guarantee the free passage of the vessels through Kerch Strait. Germany and France promote this initiative. Related video: He and members of his staff and many people across the community are leaning on each other to deal with the tragic loss of one of their ow Obolon District Court of Kyiv found ex-president of Ukraine Viktor Yanukovych not guilty of complicity to Russia in the attack against Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity, as Ukrainian News reported citing the verdict announced by judge Maksym Titov. According to the sentence, the court found Yanukovych guilty of committing the crimes such as state treason, complicity, planning, preparation, unleashing and holding of aggressive war. While the accusation of the attack against the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine, which led to severe consequences, was recognized as unproven. The accusation cannot be based on the assumptions, the verdict says. The court decided that the accusation did not prove Yanukovych's direct intent to change Ukrainian borders, aiming for the violation of the country's sovereignty. The court noted that the prosecution did not provide enough evidence that Yanukovych was aware of the fact that his actions would lead to the occupation of Crimea. The court was not provided with the credible evidence that Yanukovych directly acted with the aim to change the territorial borders of Ukraine, the verdict states. The court decided that the ex-president was not informed about the goals of his accomplices, the Russian authorities, on further annexation of Crimea. Thus, the court did not find Yanukovych guilty of the infliction of the harm in the sum of about $36 billion as a result of Russia's annexation of Crimea. Earlier the court found Yanukovych guilty of addressing the Russian President Putin and asking him to deploy troops in Ukraine. Yanukovych was charged with state treason, assistance in deliberate actions against Ukraines state border, sovereignty and territorial integrity and assistance in leading the aggressive war against Ukraine. Kyiv court acquitted Yanukovych in accusation of the attack against the territorial integrity of Ukraine Obolon District Court of Kyiv sentenced ex-President of Ukraine Viktor Yanukovych to 13 years of the detention for the state treason and complicity in the holding of the aggressive war against Ukraine by the Russian Federation, as Interfax-Ukraine reported. The decision was announced by a panel of judges of Obolon District Court headed by Vladyslav Deviatko. It is ordered to find Viktor F. Yanukovych guilty of the commitment of the crimes such as state treason, complicity, planning, preparation, unleashing and holding of aggressive war and sentence him to 13 years of detention due to the state treason and 12 years of detention due to other crimes. On the basis of the Article 70 of Ukraine's Criminal Code for multiple crimes and ingestion of the less severe punishment by more severe one, it is ordered to sentence him to 13 years of the detention, the presiding judge said. Besides, the court acquitted Yanukovych in accusation of the attack on the territorial integrity of Ukraine. The criminal proceeding against Yanukovych was considered on the special procedure (in absentia) as the accused person was in the territory of Russia. Yanukovych was charged with state treason, assistance in deliberate actions against Ukraines state border, sovereignty and territorial integrity and assistance in leading the aggressive war against Ukraine. As it was reported earlier, the Chief Military Prosecutors Office asks the court to sentence ex-President of Ukraine Viktor Yanukovych to 15 years of imprisonment in the case on state treason, as Prosecutor Maksym Krym said during the debates in the court on Thursday, August 16. Last year, 3647 Ukrainians stayed on the sacred land illegally, 1765 asked for political asylum, and 1569 found a life partner in the country Israeli flag Open source In 2018, 158,000 tourists from Ukraine came to Israel. 7730 of them did not pass the passport control on the border and were sent back home, as Amon Shmuel, the Head of Department of Registration and Immigration at the airport named after Ben-Gurion, said, NEWSru.co.il reports. Therefore, every 20th Ukrainian could not step on the sacred land. 49 owners of Ukrainian passports (4,9%) out of each thousand were deported right away. Visa-free regime is imposed between Ukraine and Israel since 2016. Though, many Ukrainian tourists who want to visit this country complain about unreasonable refusal to enter Israel. Israeli authorities explain this in the following way: more and more citizens of the states of the former Soviet Union, with which Israel has visa-free regime (Russia, Ukraine, Belarus and Georgia), are trying to illegally migrate to their country. This problem became urgent since Russian aggression began in Ukraine in 2014. To a certain extent, the proposal is due to Russia's development of Novator (9M729), the supersonic missile, which is considered to violate the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty Washington offers Moscow to have talks on the issue of arms control. The U.S. initiative is somewhat explained by the ongoing development of Novator (9M729), the Russia-made supersonic missile, which is considered to breach the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty. According to Reuters, White House official told the press that the negotiation would 'almost certainly would include a dispute over a Cold War-era treaty limiting intermediate-range missiles'. Under Secretary of State Andrea Thompson also said that 'the United States has presented Russia with a proposal for a verifiable test of the missiles range', a step that the Kremlin did not accept. 9M729 (NATO-class SSC-8) is the missile; experts often point out that by developing this weapon, Russia violates the Treaty on the Elimination of Intermediate-Range and Shorter-Range Missiles. Moscow denies the charges. This is a dispute in which experts point out contradictions and inconsistencies between the text of the treaty and the weapons arsenal with its technical capabilities. Ukraine's President Poroshenko with Jair Bolsonaro, the President of Brazil, in Davos, January 24, 2019 - The President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko met with his Brazilian colleague Jair Bolsonaro in Davos, as Svyatoslav Tseholko, the Press-Secretary of the Head of Ukraine, reported on Facebook. A historical meeting with the (far-right, - Ed.) President of Brazil began in Davos. The leaders of the countries are discussing the need for full-scale cooperation. It is the first meeting of the leaders of Brazil and Ukraine over past eight years, Tseholko wrote. The parties discussed prospects of intensification of trade and economic cooperation, first of all in the military-technical, investment, energy, scientific-technical and other spheres. It was also agreed to hold a regular meeting of the Intergovernmental Commission on Trade and Economic Cooperation in the near future, the Presidents Administration reports. Bolsonaro stood for the support of Ukraines sovereignty and territorial integrity. Poroshenko and Bolsonaro noted the importance of the contribution of Ukraines community in Brazil in the development of a friendly relationship and strategic partnership between Ukraine and Brazil. As it was reported, far-right Jair Bolsonaro holds the post of the President of Brazil since January 1, 2019. He has a reputation of second Trump. Viacheslav Volodin, the Chairman of State Duma, ordered to invite Google representative to the parliament to express dissatisfaction with the belonging of occupied Crimean peninsula as TASS reported. If Google reflects Crimea on its map as the territory of another country but today it is the territory of Russia, then it is the violation of the Constitution and our laws, Volodin said. The State Duma wants to invite the representative of the company to the committee on the security and express its position. We have the possibilities, so lets use them. As they can cut another part of our country and consider it to belong to another country and then they will interfere as they did in the affairs of other countries, Volodin added. Earlier, Guinness World Records called occupied Crimeas Sevastopol a Russian territory. As we reported The New York Times newspaper published a map that depicts Crimea as disputed territory. It was published in the article that Putins bridge to Crimea may carry more symbolism then traffic. The New York Times also cited Ekaterina Shulman, political expert of the Academy of the Russian president, who claims that constructing of a bridge that unites Russian and the annexed peninsula is symbolical. Heiko Maas stresses Moscow still has not done enough to ensure the due level of security foreseen by the document As Europe is concerned with U.S. possible withdrawal from the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty, Germany urges Russia to live up to its commitments in this area. DW quoted German foreign minister Heiko Maas who said 'ball is now in Russia's court'. The German outlet reminds that the treaty 'bans ground-based medium-range ballistic missiles that can carry nuclear warheads and have a range of between 500 and 5,000 kilometers (300 and 3,100 miles). The United States and the Soviet Union signed the accord in 1987'. Earlier, we reported that Washington offered Moscow to have talks on the issue of arms control. The U.S. initiative is somewhat explained by the ongoing development of Novator (9M729), the Russia-made supersonic missile, which is considered to breach the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty. The authority stressed that in most cases when the border guard denied the access for Ukrainians, it had to do with the illegal employment The Israeli embassy in Ukraine stepped up with the official statement regarding the information about Ukrainians who had access denied on the border. 'Responding to the somewhat biased information that appears in the media, the Embassy of the State of Israel in Ukraine would like to point out the following: the State of Israel is open to every true tourist who wishes to visit it; since 2011, when the visa-free regime between our countries, the number of tourists from Ukraine grew significantly, and we gladly welcome them in our country. Unfortunately, some criminal elements use the visa-free regime to bring Ukrainian citizens to Israel in order to employ them illegally', the statement says. 'Most of those who were refused in the crossing of the border of Israel are these illegal migrants. We urge the citizens of Ukraine who want to work in Israel legally... to turn to the nearby employment centers for detailed information on the opportunities and the procedure of employment in Israel. To finish with this topic, we turn to all true Ukrainian tourists: welcome to Israel!', the statement concludes. Visa-free regime between Ukraine and Israel has been effective since 2016. Though, many Ukrainian tourists who want to visit this country complain about unreasonable refusal to enter Israel. Israeli authorities explain this in the following way: more and more citizens of the states of the former Soviet Union, with which Israel has visa-free regime (Russia, Ukraine, Belarus and Georgia), are trying to illegally migrate to their country. This problem became urgent since Russian aggression began in Ukraine in 2014. The researchers face threats of Polish far-right activists; the study shows that there's a direct connection between Russian hybrid aggression and the territorial claims of Poland, Russia and Romania Foreign Research Policy Institute has begun the implementation of a survey that focuses on Russian hybrid aggression in Ukraine. Ordered by the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry, the research aims to look into the national factor as the tool for bringing the territorial claims of Poland, Russia and Romania to life. At that, the staff of the Institute stated that they face threats by the representatives of various far-right groups in Poland, specifically from Narodowe Odrodzenie Polski (National Rebirth of Poland, - 112 International). This is even more disturbing given the fact that the study is funded under the support of the European Neighborhood Policy program. 'The Polish embassy in Ukraine sent us clear signals about 'the path to the EU for a state that follows the neo-Banderite ideology being closed', reads the message. Despite the said difficulties, the researchers express their gratitude to all those who care, especially the international organizations that support this activity. Former Secretary-General of NATO Anders Fogh Rasmussen has denied information spread by media that he appealed to the Ukrainians on the occasion of the candidacy of Batkivshchyna (Fatherland) Party Yulia Tymoshenko for the post of the president of Ukraine, as Pryamy TV channel reported. No. It is not true; I do not support any of the candidates. I just appealed to the Ukrainians in the video with the statement that if a country chooses the way to the EU, it should hold the reforms. It is my message to all the candidates. This video is dedicated to all the candidates, he emphasized. Recently, the mass media spread information that ex-Secretary-General of NATO Anders Fogh Rasmussen and President of European Peoples Party Joseph Daul appealed to the Ukrainians on the occasion of the candidacy of Yulia Tymoshenko for the post of the president of Ukraine. As we reported, Yulia Tymoshenko has officially launched her third campaign for president. The Congress of the Batkivshchyna party has nominated its candidate for the post of head of state. Earlier, the Central Election Commission of Ukraine closed all polling station in Russia, particularly, Moscow, Rostov-on-Don, Saint Petersburg, Yekaterinburg, Novosibirsk. Besides, the official presidential election campaign kicked off in Ukraine on December 31, 2018. The Presidential elections will take place on March 31, 2019. The restriction will be effective for three consecutive years Eight seamen from Russia have been banned from entering the Ukrainian territory because of visiting the occupied Crimea illegally. The State Border Guard reported that on Thursday afternoon. On January 23, Odesa border guard unit checked the incoming vessel that came from Spain. There were 13 Russian nationals aboard. It appeared that last year, eight of them illegally visited the annexed Crimea. The State Border Guard decided to ban them from visiting Ukraine for three consecutive years. The detainees were brought to responsibility for violating the border crossing procedure; they are due to pay fine of USD 489.67. Over the last year, the employees of the State Border Guard completed almost 1,000 protocols on administrative violations for the illegal visits to the occupied Crimea. The Armed Forces of the country, Mexico and Bolivia are supporting the "official" Head of the State Nicolas Maduro Coup d'etat in Venezuela, Kanuary 23, 2018 Reuters Venezuelan Armed Forces support the President of the country Nicolas Maduro, but not Juan Guaido, the self-proclaimed acting head of state, the President of the National Assembly (parliament) and an oppositionist, as Vladimir Padrino Lopez, Defence Minister of the country, said, Interfax reported. The Minister assured that the army would protect the constitution of the country and provide sovereignty and would not recognize the president, who is being imposed to protect the dark interests, the one who is self-proclaimed and illegal. On Wednesday, January 23, the opposition leader and the Head of the National Assembly of Venezuela proclaimed himself a temporary President and took an oath before thousands of opposition followers. Reports from Valencia, Venezuela say that Carabobo Police forces joined protesters in the Bolivar Avenue. #23ene #venezuela #GritemosConBrio pic.twitter.com/IEfNK5yRhq Amir Richani (@amir_richani) January 23, 2019 He decided to do this on the day when mass rallies against the Head of the State Nicolas Maduro were held in the capital and other cities in Venezuela. The U.S. President Donald Trump has recognized Juan Guaido as a temporary leader of the country. Canada, EU, Brazil, Columbia, Ecuador, Peru, Chile, Argentina, Costa-Rika, Paraguay and Guatemala did so as well. Mexico and Bolivia refused to recognize the coup detat. Turkey and Ukraine are boosting their strategic cooperation in the military sphere. Last week (January 12), Ukraines President Petro Poroshenko stated that he signed an agreement on the purchase of 12 Turkish Bayraktar Tactical Block 2 (TB2) unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) for the Ukrainian military ( Hurriyet , January 12, 2019). The continued growth in bilateral military cooperation has attracted renewed attention since the Kerch Crisis, which arose between Ukraine and Russia on November 25, 2018. On that day, Russian naval and maritime border guard forces attacked several Ukrainian naval ships in the Black Sea, damaging and capturing the three vessels and their crews (see EDM, November 26, 28, 2018). Naturally, Ankara has viewed the Kerch Crisis with alarm, considering the negative impact it has on regional Black Sea security. As such, Turkey has encouraged both sides to focus on diplomatic talks to quickly resolve this issue and has expressed readiness to act as a mediator between Russia and Ukraine. Within days of the incident, on November 28, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan spoke on the phone with both Vladimir Putin and Poroshenko. Discussing the escalation of the situation between Moscow and Kyiv, he stressed the importance of a diplomatic solution. Erdogan also said that Turkey supports talks in the Normandy format, between Russia, Ukraine, France and Germany (SputnikTurkish edition, December 2, 2018). More recently, the leader of the Crimean Tatars (a Turkic ethnic group that has for centuries inhabited Crimea), Mustafa Cemilev, said in an interview to Ukrinform that Erdogan backs Ukraines position on the freedom of navigation in the Kerch Strait ( Ukrinform , December 31, 2018). Meanwhile, the Kerch Crisis has raised an uncomfortable question for Turkey and other Black Sea actors: Namely, should one now regard Russia and Ukraine as locked in an open conflict? Immediately following the incident in and around the Kerch Strait, the president of Ukraine declared martial law but allowed it to expire a month lateron December 26 (see EDM, December 12, 2018). Whereas, the commander of the Ukrainian Navy, Ihor Voronchenko, said that Kyiv wants to push for the closure of the Turkish Straits to Russian ships ( YeniCag , November 29, 2018). Article 20 of the 1936 Montreux Convention states, In a time of war, [with] Turkey being a belligerent the passage of warships (through the Turkish Straits) shall be left to the discretion of the Turkish government. Pointedly, the government in Ankara made no public statements in response to the exploratory demands coming out of Kyiv regarding the closing of the Straits. Nevertheless, a couple weeks after these events, the Turkish Navy announced it had begun construction on a new naval base in Trabzon, in the eastern part of the Black Sea (Milliyet, December 11, 2018). In an effort to further focus international attention on the volatile security situation in the Black Sea region and its possible long-term negative implications, Ukraine, together with Bulgaria, Canada, the Czech Republic (Czechia), Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Georgia, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Poland, Romania, Slovenia, Sweden, the United Kingdom and the United States, submitted a draft United Nations General Assembly resolution on The problem of militarization of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol (Ukraine), as well as parts of the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov. Turkey supported Ukraines initiative. And on December 17, the UN General Assembly adopted the resolution, urging the Russian Federation to withdraw its forces from Crimea and expressing grave concern about its rising military presence in the region (Un.org, December 17, 2018). Despite the temporary freezing of some multilateral cooperation formats in the Black Sea as a result of the Ukrainian-Russian tensions, Ankara and Kyiv continue to cooperate within the Black Sea Naval Co-Operation Task Group (BLACKSEAFOR). Additionally, Turkish marines took part in last years Sea Breeze 2018 exercise, hosted by Ukraine, along with military units from the US, UK, Moldova, Bulgaria, Romania and other Western countries (Korrespondent, July 21, 2018). Economic relations between Ukraine and Turkey are also improving. Turkish businesses invested around $6 billion (159 projects) in Ukraine last year. And in only the first five months of 2018, about 380,000 Ukrainian tourists visited Turkey. Currently, the two countries are working together on a free trade agreement, with a goal to reach an annual trade turnover of $10 billion (AA, October 26, 2018). Turkeys position on the Crimean issues remains clear: Ankara officially does not recognize the Russian occupation of the peninsula and supports the sovereignty of Ukraine in all international platforms. As for the aftermath of the Kerch Crisis, Turkey notably did not ultimately take up the role of an impartial mediator between Russia and Ukraine. Instead, Ankara has extended its support for Ukrainian initiatives in the UN General Assembly regarding defending the status of the free passage of all vessels through the Kerch Strait. In this way, Turkey is trying to balance Russia in the Black Sea region by, in part, supporting Ukraines security and territorial integrity. Read the original text at The Jamestown Foundation. The pro-Kremlin occupants did not use the prohibited weapon during the attacks Open source The pro-Russian militants shelled the Ukrainian positions once in Donbas Conflict zone during the past 24 hours as the press service of Ukraines Defense Ministry reported. The occupants attacked the Ukrainian position in the action strip of the task force Skhid. They used the grenade launchers of different system and small arms for the shelling of the Ukrainian soldiers near Avdiivka. No casualties reported in the result of the hostile attacks. The Ukrainian intelligence specifies the number of victims among the militants. As we reported a sapper of the pyrotechnic unit of the State Emergency Service of Ukraine in Donetsk region sustained injuries. On January 21, the pro-Russian militants have violated the ceasefire regime once in Donbas Conflict zone. No Ukrainian soldiers sustained injuries due to the illicit activity of the pro-Kremlin occupants. According to the data from UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission, from 12,800 up to 13,000 people died since the beginning of Donbas Conflict (April 2014 - end of 2018). VIDEO Urs de 200 de kilograme, lasat sa agonizeze timp de 12 ore, dupa ce a fost lovit de o masina "La data de 18 iunie, in jurul orei 06,00, politistii din cadrul Sectiei 7 Politie Rurala Gherla au fost sesizati de catre un tanar de 25 de ani, din municipiul Gherla, cu privire la faptul ca, [citeste mai departe] Source: Xinhua| 2019-01-24 05:11:52|Editor: Yang Yi Video Player Close In this photo released by Xinhua on Jan. 18, 2019, Nancy Pelosi speaks during a press conference on Capitol Hill in Washington D.C., the United States.(Xinhua/Ting Shen) WASHINGTON, Jan. 23 (Xinhua) -- U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Wednesday that she would not host U.S. President Donald Trump to deliver a state of union speech before government reopens, all but rejecting Trump's intent to deliver the speech on Jan. 29. "I am writing to inform you that the House of Representatives will not consider a concurrent resolution authorizing the president's state of the union address in the House chamber until the government has opened," Pelosi said. Pelosi said when she extended the invitation on Jan. 3 for Trump to deliver the speech, "there was no thought that the government would still be shut down" on Jan. 29. The partial government shutdown, triggered by a partisan impasse over Trump's demand for funding of a border wall, now stretched to the 33rd day. Pelosi's letter came in response to Trump's letter earlier on the day announcing his intent to deliver the speech in front of a joint session of Congress in the chamber of the House on Jan. 29. Pelosi on Jan. 16 asked Trump to consider postponing the speech due to the government shutdown, which has left 800,000 federal workers on furlough or working without pay. Trump said the Department of Homeland Security assured him that there will not be any security risks due to the government shutdown, as suggested by Pelosi. Trump told the press after seeing Pelosi's response that he was "not surprised." "It's really a shame what's happening with the Democrats. They've become radicalized." The back and forth casts a shadow on the prospects that Trump and congressional Democrats will strike a deal in the near future to reopen the government. The state of the union speech is an annual ritual by U.S. presidents to announce their policy goals for the coming year. It is traditionally delivered in the chamber of the House of Representatives to a joint session of Congress at the end of January, and is broadcast to the nation. Source: Xinhua| 2019-01-25 05:27:25|Editor: Mu Xuequan Video Player Close ALGIERS, Jan. 24 (Xinhua) -- Algeria and Russia on Thursday vowed to boost bilateral cooperation, particularly in the economic sector, during the visit of Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov to the North African nation. Lavrov hailed the cooperation between Algeria and Russia, saying that the next session of the Algerian-Russian Joint Economic Commission will be held in Algiers, as it will be an occasion to examine available partnership opportunities to further strengthen bilateral relations. He said his talks with his Algerian counterpart Abdelkader Messahel were fruitful. "We exchanged views on the state of bilateral relations, and we agreed to coordinate our efforts and actions in the field of energy, including in Gas Exporting Countries Forum," he said. "We have outlined concrete ways on how to implement the objectives that were set in the Joint Declaration of Strategic Partnership signed between the two countries in 2001," he explained. He further specified that trade exchange between Algeria and Russia has already exceeded the level of 4.5 billion U.S. dollars, noting that the two countries are considering to take more decision to boost investment and ultimately raise this figure. "These new decisions will be discussed during the next session of the Joint Algerian-Russian Economic Commission due in Moscow from Jan. 28 to 30, 2019," he added. According to the Russian foreign minister, "a lot of Russian companies are already working in Algeria and others want to join them." For his part, Messahel noted that "bilateral relations are characterized by dynamic trend, which is reflected through the mass exchanges of delegations at all the levels." Messahel stressed the willingness of both countries to increase trade and investment, stressing the importance of "strengthening the dialogue on energy issues," particularly with regard to price and market stability. The talks between the two sides were also an opportunity to discuss the situation in nations, including in Mali, Libya, Yemen and Syria, in addition to counterterrorism cooperation. Messahel noted in this regard that the two nations share convergence of views, as they both support political solutions and peaceful settlements of conflicts within respect of international law and principles of the United Nations Charter, including the right of peoples to self-determination without any foreign interference. The two nations are also set to discuss ways of easing the visa regime. The two nations signed an intergovernmental agreement on the cancellation of visas for holders of diplomatic and service passports. Lavrov arrived late on Wednesday to Algeria. He is set to leave Algeria late on Thursday to visit Tunisia and Morocco. File Photo: U.S. President Donald Trump signs a memorandum declaring his intention to withdraw from Iranian nuke deal at the White House in Washington D.C., the U.S., on May 8, 2018. (Xinhua/Ting Shen) WASHINGTON, Jan. 24 (Xinhua) -- The U.S. Department of the Treasury announced Thursday that the United States had imposed sanctions against two Syria-based, Iran-backed militias and two aviation entities linked to Iranian airline Mahan Air. The Treasury accused that the fighters of the two Syria-based militias, mostly Afghan and Pakistani refugees and migrants residing in Iran, are recruited by Iran's Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC). The Treasury also targeted Qeshm Fars Air and an Armenia-based Flight Travel LLC. The United States believes the two entities have a close connection with the designated Iranian airline Mahan Air, which supports the Quds Forces of the IRGC and its proxies in Syria by transporting personnel and weapons. "Treasury's targeting of Iran-backed militias and other foreign proxies is part of our ongoing pressure campaign to shut down the illicit networks the regime uses to export terrorism and unrest across the globe," Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said in a statement. According to the statement, all property and interests in property of these entities that are in the United States or in the possession or control of Americans are blocked, and Americans are generally prohibited from engaging in transactions with them. Washington has reimposed comprehensive sanctions against Tehran since U.S. withdrawal from the 2015 Iranian nuclear deal last May, seeking to curtail "Iran's malign influence across the region. " File Photo: Iranian President Hassan Rouhani speaks during a press conference in Tehran, Iran, on Feb. 6, 2018. (Xinhua/Ahmad Halabisaz) In an international conference held in Tehran last December, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani criticized the U.S. moves to exert sanctions on Iran as the "economic terrorism." "We are here to voice that if the United States thinks that it can divide us, then it is making a grave mistake," Rouhani stressed. Source: Xinhua| 2019-01-25 05:07:19|Editor: Liangyu Video Player Close Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi (R), who is currently in France for the 18th consultation of the coordinators for the China-France Strategic Dialogue, meets with Philippe Etienne, diplomatic adviser to the French President at the Elysee Palace, in Paris, France, Jan. 24, 2019. (Xinhua/Zheng Huansong) PARIS, Jan. 24 (Xinhua) -- China and France are willing to steadily promote the Sino-French comprehensive strategic partnership, visiting Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi said on Thursday. Wang made the remarks while meeting with French president's diplomatic advisor Philippe Etienne for the 18th consultation of the coordinators for the China-France Strategic Dialogue. As this year marks the 55th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations, Wang noted China and France look forward to taking it as an opportunity to deepen bilateral ties. The Chinese top diplomat said both sides should give full play to the China-France Strategic Dialogue, strive to accelerate the upgrade of Sino-French pragmatic cooperation, and insist on seeking more common interests under the principles of fairness, open, mutual benefits and win-win results. Two-way trade and investment should be boosted between China and France, Wang said, adding that China welcomes France could continue taking part in the China International Import Expo actively and is ready to import more quality French products according to market needs. China is willing to strengthen the alignment of respective policies and development strategies with France, and improve cooperation in exploring the third-party market, Wang said. China is also willing to align the Belt and Road Initiative with the European Union's Euro-Asian connectivity strategy, and conduct cooperation with the EU based on the spirit of openness, inclusiveness and transparency, Wang said. He also stressed China's readiness to strengthen communication with France within the framework of the UN, G20 and the World Trade Organization (WTO) to safeguard multilateralism and multilateral trading system together for the development of globalization in a more balanced and inclusive way. On his part, Etienne said he has had fruitful talks with Wang during the 18th consultation of the coordinators for the China-France Strategic Dialogue. France is willing to make joint efforts with China to boost bilateral comprehensive strategic partnership through the mechanism like the strategic dialogue, said Etienne. The official highlighted that France is ready to beef up the cooperation with China on trade and investment, as well as in the important fields like nuclear energy, aviation and aerospace. He noted that France is ready to strengthen cooperation with China on the fight against unilateralism, G20 agenda, realizing the Paris agreement on climate change and others, and to join hands with China to safeguard the multilateral trading system which puts the WTO at its heart. Source: Xinhua| 2019-01-25 04:57:16|Editor: Shi Yinglun Video Player Close Tijjani Muhammad-Bande, Deputy Permanent Representative of Nigeria to the United Nations, Stefania Giannini, Assistant Director-General for Education for the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) and Jens Frolich Holte, State Secretary at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Norway (from L to R) hold a press briefing on the occasion of the International Day of Education (24 January), in recognition of the role of education for peace and sustainable development, at the UN headquarters in New York, Jan. 24, 2019. The UNESCO, the permanent missions of Ireland, Nigeria, Norway, Qatar and Singapore on Thursday held a whole day event entitled "Maiden Celebration of International Day of Education" at the UN headquarters in New York. (Xinhua/Li Muzi) UNITED NATIONS, Jan. 24 (Xinhua) -- UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Thursday called on all countries to prioritize education as a public good and support it with cooperation, partnerships and funding. In his message to the first ever International Day of Education, the UN chief said that at least 262 million children, adolescents and youth are out of school. "The world cannot afford a generation of children and young people who lack the skills they need to compete in the 21st century economy, nor can we afford to leave behind half of humanity," said Guterres, adding that if all girls and boys complete secondary education, 420 million people could be lifted out of poverty. In celebration of the role of education for peace and development, the UN General Assembly in December adopted a resolution to proclaim Jan. 24 as International Day of Education. United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) Director-General Audrey Azoulay, on her message to the international day, said that the day is the occasion to "reaffirm fundamental principles." About 617 million children and adolescents cannot read and do basic math, less than 40 percent of girls in sub-Saharan Africa complete lower secondary school while some 4 million children and youth refugees are out of school, their lives disrupted by conflict and loss, said Azoulay. "Education is a human right, a public good and a public responsibility," she said, calling it "the most powerful force in our hands to ensure significant improvements in health, to stimulate economic growth, to unlock the potential and innovation we need to build more resilient and sustainable societies." Apart from these messages, the UNESCO, the permanent missions of Ireland, Nigeria, Norway, Qatar and Singapore on Thursday held a whole day event entitled "Maiden Celebration of International Day of Education" at the UN headquarters in New York. Attendants at the event expressed their concern over the lack of funding in the education, and urged the international community to make education a leading priority. Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro (C) speaks to a crowd of supporters to announce his government is breaking off diplomatic ties with the United States during a gathering in Caracas on January 23, 2019. (AFP) MOSCOW, Jan. 24 (Xinhua) -- Russian President Vladimir Putin told Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro on Thursday that he supports the legitimate authorities of the country, the Kremlin said. During a phone conversation with Maduro, Putin expressed support for the legitimate government "amid the worsening of the internal political crisis provoked from outside the country." He criticized external interference as a gross violation of the fundamental norms of international law. He suggested seeking solutions within the constitutional framework and overcoming differences in the Venezuelan society through peaceful dialogue. Maduro told Putin his assessment of the situation in Venezuela and thanked the Russian leader for his stance. The presidents agreed to continue Russian-Venezuelan cooperation in various areas. U.S. President Donald Trump said Wednesday that Washington had recognized opposition leader Juan Guaido as Venezuela's "interim president," after Maduro was inaugurated as president of the Latin American country earlier this month. Earlier on Thursday, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that Russia considers Maduro as the legitimate president of Venezuela and he warned against any outside attempts to usurp the supreme power of the country. The Russian Foreign Ministry accused Washington of totally disregarding the norms and principles of international law and attempting to play the role of "the self-proclaimed arbiter of the destinies" of other nations. Source: Xinhua| 2019-01-25 04:02:05|Editor: Mu Xuequan Video Player Close UNITED NATIONS, Jan. 24 (Xinhua) -- UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres welcomed the announced aid of 50 million U.S. dollars by Qatar for displaced Syrians to cope with the harsh winter, a UN spokesperson said Thursday. "The secretary-general welcomes the recent announcement by the emir of Qatar to allocate 50 million dollars to support Syrian refugees and displaced persons in the Middle East affected by the recent severe weather in the region," said UN deputy spokesperson Farhan Haq in a statement. He added that Guterres is grateful to the emir and the people of Qatar for their generosity. The recent harsh winter conditions in the Levant, including Syria and Lebanon, have had a horrific impact on the Syrian refugees and the communities hosting them. Published reports have said snowstorms and weeks of bad weather up till mid-January turned Lebanon's lush Bekaa Valley into an unlivable swamp for tens of thousands of Syrian refugees. Also, torrential downpours ravaged the northwestern Syrian province of Idlib in mid-January, reportedly placing at least 11,000 children living in refugee camps in a "desperate plight." Haq said humanitarian partners continue to respond to the needs of those who have been affected and are reinforcing preparedness and mitigation efforts, acknowledging "these difficult conditions make Qatar's donation extremely valuable and timely for the UN system's efforts to help vulnerable people." Source: Xinhua| 2019-01-25 04:02:04|Editor: Yang Yi Video Player Close File Photo: U.S. President Donald Trump signs a memorandum declaring his intention to withdraw from Iranian nuke deal at the White House in Washington D.C., the U.S., on May 8, 2018. (Xinhua/Ting Shen) WASHINGTON, Jan. 24 (Xinhua) -- The U.S. Department of the Treasury announced Thursday that the United States had imposed sanctions against two Syria-based, Iran-backed militias and two aviation entities linked to Iranian airline Mahan Air. The Treasury accused that the fighters of the two Syria-based militias, mostly Afghan and Pakistani refugees and migrants residing in Iran, are recruited by Iran's Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC). The Treasury also targeted Qeshm Fars Air and an Armenia-based Flight Travel LLC. The United States believes the two entities have a close connection with the designated Iranian airline Mahan Air, which supports the Quds Forces of the IRGC and its proxies in Syria by transporting personnel and weapons. "Treasury's targeting of Iran-backed militias and other foreign proxies is part of our ongoing pressure campaign to shut down the illicit networks the regime uses to export terrorism and unrest across the globe," Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said in a statement. According to the statement, all property and interests in property of these entities that are in the United States or in the possession or control of Americans are blocked, and Americans are generally prohibited from engaging in transactions with them. Washington has reimposed comprehensive sanctions against Tehran since U.S. withdrawal from the 2015 Iranian nuclear deal last May, seeking to curtail "Iran's malign influence across the region. " In an international conference held in Tehran last December, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani criticized the U.S. moves to exert sanctions on Iran as the "economic terrorism." "We are here to voice that if the United States thinks that it can divide us, then it is making a grave mistake," Rouhani stressed. Source: Xinhua| 2019-01-25 03:37:00|Editor: Mu Xuequan Video Player Close ALGIERS, Jan. 24 (Xinhua) -- Visiting Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Thursday said in Algiers that Moscow is ready to examine ways of easing the visa regime with Algeria, APS news agency reported. "As for the visa regime, we are still in favor of simplifying it, creating favorable conditions for our citizens and those of our partner countries," Lavrov told a joint press conference with his Algerian counterpart Abdelkader Messahel. The two nations signed an intergovernmental agreement in Moscow in Feb. 2018 on the cancellation of visas for holders of diplomatic and service passports. Lavrov arrived late on Wednesday to Algeria as he was welcomed by Messahel upon his arrival at the international airport of Algiers. On Thursday, Lavrov held talks with top Algerian officials, including Prime Minister Ahmed Ouyahia, about bilateral cooperation as well as the situations in Syria and Libya. The Russian foreign minister is set to leave Algeria late on Thursday for Tunisia and Morocco. Source: Xinhua| 2019-01-25 02:26:44|Editor: ZX Video Player Close HOUSTON, Jan. 24 (Xinhua) -- The Chinese Consulate General in Houston hosted a reception on Wednesday night, celebrating the upcoming Chinese Lunar New Year, which was attended by representatives from various local groups and overseas Chinese. The hall of the consulate general was decorated with red balloons and lights, showing a festive atmosphere to all the guests. Traditional Chinese cuisine was also prepared. In his speech, Chinese Consul General in Houston Li Qiangmin said that positive bilateral relations benefit people from both China and the United States as well as global development. "Now both sides would like to continue and expand cooperation," Li said. Li also extended New Year greetings to the motherland. "I wish our great motherland to prosper and China-U.S. relations to grow in the year 2019," he said. Jon R. Taylor, a political science professor at University of St. Thomas in Houston, told Xinhua that participating in local Spring Festival celebrations with his family was a unique and interesting cultural experience. "Chinese Spring Festival has been more and more popular in the past 20 years. This is directly related to China's sustainable economic development," Taylor said. "China's reform and opening up has brought more people to the United States, who also bring their own cultural traditions here." Source: Xinhua| 2019-01-25 02:21:43|Editor: Mu Xuequan Video Player Close MINSK, Jan. 24 (Xinhua) -- Belarusian Foreign Ministry said the Venezuelan people can independently cope with the difficulties that arise inside the country without external interference. The Venezuelan society should resolve the political crisis in Venezuela itself and within the legal framework, Belarusian Foreign Ministry spokesman Anatoly Glaz said on Thursday. The official said the ministry had not registered any incidents with citizens of Belarus currently in Venezuela. Many Belarusians are now in Venezuela working to fulfill the social order of the Venezuelan government, and they continue to do their job, Glaz said. Source: Xinhua| 2019-01-25 02:11:41|Editor: Mu Xuequan Video Player Close LISBON, Jan. 24 (Xinhua) -- Portugal's Minister for Justice Francisca Van Dunem appealed for calm on Thursday after a third night of violent vandalism in Lisbon and Setubal. "It's important that there is balance and sensitivity when dealing with these issues so that calm can be restored," said Van Dunem. "Public peace is essential to our way of life and to social cohesion between the different communities that comprise the national space," she added, in comments made to journalists following a Council of Ministers meeting. As Van Dunem pointed out, keeping peace is the responsibility of the Ministry of Internal Administration, rather than the Ministry of Justice. But as the first black minister in Portugal's history, her opinion was sought after, given the racial element to the unrest. There have been three nights of serious vandalism in and around the Lisbon area, much of it focused on marginalized or immigrant areas. The Public Security Police (PSP) reported that over 30 rubbish bins were set on fire in the Lisbon outskirts on Wednesday night. In Setubal, a town 50 km south of Lisbon, a municipal bus was set alight. Tensions first erupted on Monday when a demonstration in Lisbon city center ended with violent clashes between protesters and police. The protesters had gathered to demonstrate against heavy-handed policing in Seixal, a town on the opposite side of the River Tagus to Lisbon, on Sunday night. The protest and subsequent vandalism has fed into a broader debate about policing in Portugal. Whether Van Dunem's appeal for calm will be heeded on Thursday night remains to be seen. But the problem is unlikely to go away any time soon. A new protest against police aggression and inadequate social housing has been called by SOS Racismo and other groups for Friday, in front of the Seixal town hall. Source: Xinhua| 2019-01-25 01:56:36|Editor: Mu Xuequan Video Player Close ANKARA, Jan. 24 (Xinhua) -- Russia urges Ankara for dialogue and cooperation with Damascus against extremist groups in Syria, experts said. Moscow promoted rebuilding dialogue between Turkey and the Syrian regime to serve their common interests regarding "fight against terror," Kerim Has, an academician on Russia-Turkey relations, said, referring to a meeting between Erdogan and Putin that took place in Moscow on Wednesday. The issues of Idlib, the last stronghold of rebels in Syria, and establishing a constitutional committee for new Syrian charter, were priorities of Russian side during these talks, he said. Russia and Turkey agreed on a demilitarized zone between the armed opposition and the government troops in Syria's Idlib province by Oct. 15, but the obligations of the deal are not met yet. Has noted that Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), the umbrella group of the al-Qaida-linked Nusra Front, advanced its territory in Idlib. The deal proposed mobile patrol groups consisting of Turkish army units and Russian military police units to control the situation in the demilitarized zone, but such patrolling could not be realized yet. Turkey objects a possible offensive in Idlib, citing that it could cause great civilian casualties and even a humanitarian disaster. The Turkish leader's main agenda was a U.S.-proposed 32-km safe zone inside Syria, which Turkey embraces in order to protect Turkish borders from the Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG), seen by Ankara as an offshoot of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), according to the expert. In reply to a question on how Russia sees the proposed security zone at the joint press conference, Putin said: "The treaty between Syria and Turkey of the year 1998 is still valid. And it deals, in particular, with the fight against terrorism. I think this is the base that closes very many issues in terms of ensuring Turkey's security on its southern borders." Referring to Adana accord, a bilateral anti-terror protocol sealed in 1998, Putin suggested that "Ankara and Damascus can open dialogue over this security agreement and make cooperation against terror groups," he said. Elaborating on ways of suggested cooperation, Has pointed at the Syrian regime's struggle against al-Qaida-linked groups in Idlib and Turkey's security concerns against the YPG presence in northern Syria. Recalling that Russia opposed the idea of safe zone in northern Syria, Has said, "We see that Turkey and Russia could not reach consensus for establishing a safe zone in northern Syria." Russia promotes collaboration between Ankara and Damascus before U.S. realizes its pullout from Syria, and also promotes talks between Kurds and the Syrian regime to avoid a U.S.-proposed safe zone, the expert said. He reminded that Moscow is worried that the safe zone could bring stronger autonomy to Syrian Kurds at the end of the day, as it happened in northern Iraq after the war in this country. Another expert also stressed that Russia tries to establish dialogue between Ankara and Damascus to "legitimize" Syrian regime. "Moscow expects Turkey accepts legitimacy of the Syrian regime," security expert Abdullah Agar said. He underlined that Russia, Turkey and Syrian regime are all promoting Syria's territorial integrity and Moscow aims to seal this integrity through cooperation of three countries. Meanwhile, Turkey welcomed Putin's referral to Adana agreement with regards to maintaining its security along Turkish border against the YPG. "We think he referred to this (protocol), meaning that Turkey can intervene into (Syria). And this is a positive thing for us," Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said speaking in a televised interview on Friday. The minister said Turkey was in indirect contact with the Syrian government. Turkey and Russia are "on the same page" regarding a political solution in Syria besides the issue of whether President Bashar al-Assad should stay in office, he said. Turkish officials reportedly confirmed low-level contacts between Turkish and Syrian intelligence officials for operations in Syria. The Adana Protocol was signed in 1998 after Turkey threatened to intervene militarily if the Syrian government does end its support to the PKK and its sheltering for the PKK leader Abdullah Ocalan on its territories. Source: Xinhua| 2019-01-25 01:06:22|Editor: Mu Xuequan Video Player Close TIRANA, Jan. 24 (Xinhua) -- The Albanian Defense Minister Olta Xhacka and visiting NATO Commander of Allied Air Command General Tod D. Wolters discussed on Thursday the launch of NATO's investment at Kucova Air Base in lower central Albania. Xhacka and General Wolters had an official meeting in Tirana in the light of the Albania's 10th anniversary of NATO membership and NATO's investment at Kucova Air Base. "It is difficult to imagine that nearly 10 years ago, in the spring of 2009 we celebrated Albania's membership in NATO and today we are celebrating the launch of investments at the air base in Kucova," stated General Wolters during the joint press conference. According to Wolters, Kucova's Air Base represents a great opportunity for innovation to improve the control of large space structures. "This is a base that will have the opportunity to host fighter aircrafts that control space militarily," said Wolters. During her speech, minister Xhacka emphasized that NATO's investment on Albania's Air Force Base in Kucova is important for both the national and regional security. Xhacka declared that the master-plan for Kucova Air Base will be projected by NATO and will be ready in a few months. On Thursday, Wolters also had official meetings with the President of Albania Ilir Meta and the Chief of General Staff of the Armed Forces, Brigadier General, Bardhyl Kollcaku. Last year in August, Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama declared that Albania would have the first NATO air base in the Western Balkans. Albania received an invitation to join NATO at the 2008 Bucharest Summit and became a full member on April 1, 2009. Source: Xinhua| 2019-01-25 00:56:20|Editor: Mu Xuequan Video Player Close LUSAKA, Jan. 24 (Xinhua) -- Zambia is set to complete the construction of hundreds of communication towers across the country ahead of schedule, a senior government official said on Thursday. Brian Mushimba, Minister of Transport and Communication, said 400 communication towers will be constructed this year in addition to over 600 that were erected last year, translating into about 96 percent of having universal coverage of both internet and communication facilities in the southern African nation. He said in a release that the project, which was supposed to have been completed in three years' time, will be completed ahead of schedule as the government was expected to build over 1,000 communication towers at the end of the year out of 1,009 that were expected to be completed in three years. The communication towers were being constructed at a cost of 280 million U.S. dollars with support from China. The Zambian minister said some funds would be sourced from the universal access funds to complete the last mile of the project, adding that the universal coverage of both internet and telephone will enhance communication facilities and meet the needs of citizen. In August 2017, Zambia and China signed a framework agreement for the phase two of the construction of communication towers. Source: Xinhua| 2019-01-25 00:36:17|Editor: Mu Xuequan Video Player Close GAZA, Jan. 24 (Xinhua) -- Islamic Hamas movement, which rules the Gaza Strip, refused on Thursday to receive the 15-million-U.S. dollar third installment of Qatari financial grant, saying "it's because of the Israeli blackmail." Khalil al-Hayyah, deputy Hamas chief in the Gaza Strip, made the remarks in a news briefing held in Gaza city after his meeting with Mohamad el-Amadi, the Qatari envoy to Gaza and chairman of the Qatari committee to reconstruct Gaza, who arrived in the coastal enclave on Wednesday night. "We informed ambassador el-Amadi that we refuse to receive the third installment of the Qatari grant in response to the behavior of the occupation (Israel) and its attempts to escape from the clam understandings brokered by Qatar, Egypt and the UN," he said. The senior Hamas official held Israel "fully responsible for its retreat, postponement and the policy of blackmail," adding that "the Qatari official understood our position and that the occupation must be committed to our understandings." Meanwhile, he stressed that the marches of return and breaking the Israeli siege, which started in March 30, "will continue until it achieves its goals." Paying the third installment of the Qatari cash money was delayed by Israel this week following a wave of tension that mounted on the border between eastern Gaza Strip and Israel, where one Hamas militant was killed and one Israeli army officer was moderately injured. In November last year, Qatar, Egypt and the United Nations brokered a calm understanding between Israel and Hamas movement. The deal was to improve the daily living situation in the coastal enclave for achieving calm on the border with Israel. Qatar agreed to pay 15 million U.S. dollars every month for six months, pay for fuels to operate the sole Gaza power station and increase the number of electricity hours to the populations in the enclave. Since March 30, Hamas has been leading weekly anti-Israel mass protests and rallies, where 250 Palestinians were killed and 25,000 injured. Source: Xinhua| 2019-01-24 23:41:01|Editor: Li Xia Video Player Close JAKARTA, Jan. 24 (Xinhua) -- Indonesia's rising star Jonatan Christie stunned second-seeded Shi Yuqi of China 22-20, 21-6 to advance into the quarterfinals at 2019 Indonesia Masters here on Thursday. Jonatan's win was a reminiscing of the two players' clash at the 2018 Asian Games in Jakarta, which was also won by the host country's player. "I was a bit nervous at the beginning of the match as my scores were neck-to-neck to his and sometimes he led in the first game. I did not focus my thought on winning during the first game. In the second game I did not give chance for him who intended to play in rallies," Jonatan said on the sidelines in the landmark badminton arena of Istora Senayan here. The 2018 Asian Games gold medalist will take on India's eighth-seeded Srikanth Kidambi on Friday. In the another match-up, defending champion Anthony Sinisuka Ginting defeated Chinese shuttler Zhao Junpeng in two straight games 21-15, 21-12. In the quarterfinals, the number seven seed will face off Japan's world number one Kento Momota. Chen Long is the only Chinese player qualified for the quarterfinals, where he will be up against Denmark's Viktor Axelsen. The Indonesia Masters is a BWF Super 500 tournament ongoing in Jakarta from January 22 to 27. Source: Xinhua| 2019-01-24 23:25:58|Editor: Mu Xuequan Video Player Close JERUSALEM, Jan. 24 (Xinhua) -- Exports of Israeli goods to China jumped by 19.8 percent in 2018, according to an annual report published on Thursday by Israel's Central Bureau of Statistics. According to the data, the total amount of Israeli exports to China was about 9.02 billion U.S. dollars last year, compared with about 7.53 billion dollars in 2017. At the same time, there was a drop of 1.4 percent in Israeli exports to the U.S. from 17.05 billion dollars in 2017 to 16.81 billion dollars in 2018. In Israel's exports list, the U.S. and China were followed by the United Kingdom (4.42 billion dollars), the Netherlands (2.29 billion dollars), Belgium (2.19 billion dollars) and India (2.14 billion dollars). The Israeli exports worldwide totaled 62.1 billion dollars in 2018, an increase of 1.6 percent compared with 2017. The report further showed that in 2018, the total amount of Israeli imports from the U.S. rose by 25.7 percent in 2018 compared with last year. Israeli imports from China rose by 12.9 percent from 8.44 billion dollars in 2017 to 9.53 billion dollars in 2018. The total amount of Israeli imports worldwide was 80.6 billion dollars last year, up 16.5 percent compared with 2017. Source: Xinhua| 2019-01-24 23:25:58|Editor: ZX Video Player Close Yemeni President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi (C) meets with the United Nations (UN) Envoy to Yemen Martin Griffiths (3rd L) and UN cease-fire monitoring chief Patrick Cammaert (2nd L), in Riyadh, capital of Saudi Arabia, on Jan. 24, 2019. During their meeting, Hadi discussed with the UN officials the efforts being exerted to solve the country's conflict and reiterated his adherence to peaceful solutions, according to the state-run Saba news agency. (Xinhua) ADEN, Yemen, Jan. 24 (Xinhua) -- Yemeni President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi met on Thursday with the United Nations (UN) Envoy to Yemen Martin Griffiths and UN cease-fire monitoring chief Patrick Cammaert in his office in Saudi Arabia's capital of Riyadh. During their meeting, Hadi discussed with the UN officials the efforts being exerted to solve the country's conflict and reiterated his adherence to peaceful solutions, according to the state-run Saba news agency. President Hadi accused the Houthis of failing to honor promises on Hodeidah, warning that failure of Stockholm agreement will not help his country and may lead to collapse of the whole peaceful process, according to Saba. Hadi pointed out that his government is recognizing and responding in complete good faith to the Hodeidah cease-fire and the redeployment agreement brokered by the United Nations in Sweden. The Yemeni president urged the UN officials to brief the international community regarding the obstacles and challenges created by the Houthis in order to abort the peaceful process. General Patrick Cammaert, who chairs the Redeployment Coordination Committee (RCC), attended the meeting and reviewed with Hadi the practical steps he took during previous period and what challenges facing his team in Hodeidah, Saba said. Cammaert hoped to overcome the recent challenges with the arrival of new international monitors to oversee the implementation of Stockholm's agreement in Hodeidah. The fragile cease-fire was breached several times by both warring sides despite presence of the UN cease-fire monitoring team composed of representatives from the two-warring factions and commanded by Cammaert. Last week, gunfire targeted UN armored vehicles carrying Cammaert and his team members after inspecting the situation on-ground and meeting government officials in Hodeidah, but it caused no casualties. UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres's spokesman said: "We know that General Cammaert and his team left a meeting and as they were leaving one UN armoured vehicle sustained one round of small arms fire. We do not have information on the source of that fire." Leaders of the Iranian-backed Houthi group including Mohammed Abdul-Salam, spokesman of the Houthi rebel group, blamed Cammaert for failing to achieve progress in implementing the Stockholm agreement. "The lack of progress in Hodeidah in terms of the implementation of the Stockholm agreement is mainly due to the head of the UN-led RCC who steered from the course of the agreement by implementing other agendas," Abdul-Salam said on Twitter. The Saudi-backed government said that the Houthis had started to boycott meetings of the UN-backed RCC, which was set up to oversee the cease-fire, including a phased withdrawal of Houthi forces and introduction of a new security presence in Hodeidah. The cease-fire deal signed between the two-warring rivals last week in Sweden demanded full withdrawal of all armed groups from Hodeidah and its strategic seaports. According to the deal, the UN will manage the port and supervise the re-deployment of neutral forces there to prevent military escalation, while local forces will help maintain law and order in the city. Yemen has been mired in a civil war since late 2014 when the Houthi rebels overtook the capital Sanaa and toppled the government of President Abd-Rabbuh Mansour Hadi. A Saudi-led coalition has been fighting the Houthis since 2015. The war has killed more than 10,000 people and created a serious humanitarian crisis. Source: Xinhua| 2019-01-24 23:10:52|Editor: Mu Xuequan Video Player Close BEIJING, Jan. 24 (Xinhua) -- China will accelerate the establishment of the modern fiscal, taxation and financial system in Xiongan New Area to boost its development, according to a guideline on deepening reforms and expanding opening-up in Xiongan, which was issued on Thursday. The government will increase fiscal input to the Xiongan New Area for the construction and maintenance of infrastructure, interest payment on local government debt and industry fund injection. The government will also innovate taxation policies to encourage high-tech companies to move from Beijing to Xiongan, broaden channels to raise capital for Xiongan development, and establish a stable and long-term fund-raising mechanism. Greater efforts will be made to attract more Beijing-based private financial enterprises to move to Xiongan, according to the guideline. The government also supports the establishment of the Xiongan Bank and will establish a financial supervision framework consistent with international rules in Xiongan New Area, while preventing systematic and regional financial risks. In April 2017, China announced the establishment of Xiongan New Area, which, about 100 km southwest of Beijing, spans three counties in Hebei Province. Source: Xinhua| 2019-01-24 23:05:49|Editor: Mu Xuequan Video Player Close BEIJING, Jan. 24 (Xinhua) -- With the first test flight completed on Tuesday, Beijing Daxing International Airport has started a hectic flight check due to end on March 15. Within nearly two months, four runaways, six instrument landing systems, seven lighting systems, one navigation system and a flight range finder, as well as a set of flight procedures, will go through thorough checks. Upon the completion of the tests, sources with the air traffic management authority said that the airport would be ready for operation. Che Jinjun, director of the Air Traffic Management Bureau of the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC), said that the airport's air traffic control support project was the largest of its kind in China, spanning Beijing and Hebei Province. It was a tough task to build such a huge project within a short period of time, said Che, adding that both the construction and operational preparations were demanding and faced more challenges. Xiong Jie, director of the flight check center of the CAAC who led the inspection team, said it was quite rare to see four high-quality runways simultaneously constructed and tested across the world. With an advanced Chinese flight check system being used, he said China had become the sixth country capable of independently developing flight check systems. Wen Xuezheng, chief of the North China Air Traffic Management Bureau, said after the successful completion of the first test flight, the airport's operational preparations had entered a sprint period. Scheduled to open before Sept. 30, the airport sits at the junction of Beijing's Daxing District and Langfang, a city in Hebei. The new airport is expected to handle 45 million passengers annually by 2021 and 72 million by 2025. Source: Xinhua| 2019-01-24 23:00:48|Editor: ZX Video Player Close Chefs take part in a national cooking contest in the West Bank City of Nablus, Jan. 22, 2019. Although similar to the general Mediterranean gastronomical culture, the Palestinian cuisine stands out with an array of tasteful spices and herbs. The newly established master chefs' association in Palestine organized a national cooking contest, with the aim of choosing the winning chefs to join a national team that will be trained to compete internationally. Over 150 Palestinian chefs gathered at the contest for three days in West Bank's Nablus city, presenting traditional dishes, modern infusion dishes and desserts in hope of forming a national team. (Xinhua/Ayman Nobani) by Fatima Aruri NABLUS, West Bank, Jan. 24 (Xinhua) -- Although similar to the general Mediterranean gastronomical culture, the Palestinian cuisine stands out with an array of tasteful spices and herbs. The newly established master chefs' association in Palestine organized a national cooking contest, with the aim of choosing the winning chefs to join a national team that will be trained to compete internationally. Chef Samer Abu Jumaa, head of the International Association of Master Chefs in the Levant, said that over 150 Palestinian chefs gathered at the contest for three days in West Bank's Nablus city. They presented traditional dishes, modern infusion dishes and desserts in hope of forming a national team. "We are going to select a 24-member Palestinian team to compete in international platforms and present the Palestinian cuisine on the international arena," Abu Jumaa said. The competitors came from different walks of life and ages ranging between 15 to 65 years old. They were graded upon hygiene, taste and presentation by international judges from Palestine and Europe. 23-year-old Samira Shalabia won the traditional dishes competition for her presentation of "kishek dish," which is composed of yogurt preserved with bulgur and is then drained and cooked with meat. She said that her grandmother taught her this dish and she was able to present it in a modern way. "We are aspiring to develop further the traditional Palestinian dish to present it in the best form," Shalabia said. Julia Dragut, head of the Romania-based Cultural Association Euro East Alternative, said that she believes in supporting Palestinians chefs, whose contribution to gastronomical culture worldwide can help to promote dialogue and openness. She said that such competitions help to bring out the best in the local chefs. "Each and every competition can be seen as a training because chefs can contact with each other ... You can see the differences and similarities between your own cuisine and a national cuisine," Dragut said. Dragut has visited Palestine several times since 2010 and worked with different chefs. She developed a sense of the local dish and the domestic competencies. The International Association of Master Chefs in the Levant was established in 2018 during which at least 300 Palestinian chefs joined. The association is in the final stages of opening the first culinary school in Palestine, which will be based in the central West Bank Ramallah city. Source: Xinhua| 2019-01-24 23:00:47|Editor: ZX Video Player Close LOS ANGELES, Jan. 24 (Xinhua) -- Thanks to trade with China, Port of Long Beach in California, the second busiest port in the United States, concluded a record year 2018, port officials said Wednesday. For the first time in its 108-year history, Port of Long Beach handled over 8 million twenty-foot equivalent units in a year, as cargo grew more than 7 percent year-on-year, announced Mario Cordero, executive director of the Port of Long Beach. "Nearly 70 percent of our import containers come from China, and 40 percent of our exports go there," Cordero said, adding "with this trade dynamic, we moved the highest container total ever." "We've been a beneficiary in great part because of our geographical location," Cordero said. Port of Long Beach, a major gateway for trans-Pacific trade, serving 140 shipping lines with connections to 217 seaports around the world. However, the on-going tariff disputes between the United States and China still cast a shadow over the port's future growth. "This trade war has been a disaster for my clients," Kim Masumi of Customs Confidential, a customs broker who works with many import-export companies, told Xinhua. "It's disrupting their businesses, their supply-chains, and causing a lot more problems than it was supposed to fix. It's got to stop." Port officials are counting on the settlement of the conflicts to pave the way for more gains in 2019. "I'm optimistic because trade is very important to every country in the global community, but more importantly, to the United States and China," Cordero told Xinhua. Referring to trade dynamic between the United States and China as one of the most important in the world, Cordero said with so much at stake on both sides of the Pacific, it is believed the two countries can resolve their differences and keep the economies growing. Source: Xinhua| 2019-01-24 23:00:45|Editor: Mu Xuequan Video Player Close MOSCOW, Jan. 24 (Xinhua) -- The Moscow District Military Court sentenced 11 Islamic State terrorists to six to 18 years in prison on Wednesday, the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) said Thursday. The prisoners were found guilty of preparing for terrorist acts, joining terrorist organizations, training for terrorist purposes, and illegally possessing weapons and explosives. The 11 people were detained by FSB officers on Nov. 12, 2016 in Moscow and St. Petersburg. Source: Xinhua| 2019-01-24 22:40:40|Editor: Mu Xuequan Video Player Close DAR ES SALAAM, Jan. 24 (Xinhua) -- At least four passengers were killed and 42 others were injured after their bus veered off the road and overturned in Tanzania's western region of Kigoma, police said on Thursday. Martin Ottieno, the Kigoma Regional Police Commander, said the accident occurred on Wednesday at 10 p.m. local time. He said the bus was plying between Mwanza and Kigoma regions through Shinyanga and Tabora regions. Ottieno said there were three men and one woman among the dead who were yet to be identified. "All the 42 survivors are receiving treatment at Kigoma Regional Hospital and 12 of them are in critical condition," said Ottieno. He said the cause of the accident was speeding, which made the bus driver to lose control at a sharp corner. Source: Xinhua| 2019-01-24 22:35:39|Editor: Mu Xuequan Video Player Close JUBA, Jan. 24 (Xinhua) -- South Sudan said on Thursday it is working on proposal by countries within the regional trade body, the East African Community (EAC), to ease travel and cost of doing business. Paul Mayom Akech, minister of trade and EAC Affairs, disclosed that the five member countries - Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania, Rwanda and Burundi - have offered to waive visa fees to ease travel for South Sudanese within region. "We are now dealing with the visas we are yet to reciprocate," he told journalists in Juba after meeting government technocrats. "I have discussed with the ministry of foreign affairs and interior and the relevant documentation for this is in the process." Akech said his office has told technocrats within government ministries to set up offices to help coordinate and expedite EAC issues. Mou Mou Athian Kuol, Undersecretary in ministry of trade and EAC affairs, said they are committed to meeting their membership obligations within the EAC following economic hardship caused by a five-year-old conflict. "If you become a member in any organization, you have to pay your contribution; within eight months you will be asked for it but for our case it has never happened because of the conflict," he said. South Sudan applied to join the regional bloc in 2011 after winning independence from Sudan but was finally admitted into the EAC in 2016. South Sudan has started to benefit from the EAC with it's private sector being integrated into the East African Business Council, issuance of EAC digital passports and also One Stop Border Posts, which have been set up at borders with it's neighbors to eliminate trade obstacles. The regional trade bloc aims at eliminating barriers to regional trade through its various protocols like customs union, common market and later on political federation which has not yet been tackled. South Sudan descended into civil war in late 2013, and the conflict has created one of the fastest growing refugee crises in the world. The UN estimates that about 4 million South Sudanese have been displaced internally and externally. In September last year, South Sudan's conflicting parties signed a final peace deal in the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa after negotiations brokered by Sudan government with a mandate by the Inter-Governmental Authority on Development in Africa. Source: Xinhua| 2019-01-24 22:30:34|Editor: Yang Yi Video Player Close BEIJING, Jan. 24 (Xinhua) -- China on Thursday voiced support for Venezuela's efforts in safeguarding its sovereignty, independence and stability as well as opposition to foreign interference in the South American country's internal affairs. According to media reports, Juan Guaido, president of Venezuela's National Assembly, proclaimed himself "interim president" of the country on Wednesday, about which the United States, Brazil and some other countries have issued statements in recognition of his presidency. However, the country's supreme court has ruled relevant actions by the legislative power "unconstitutional," and President Nicolas Maduro has declared cutting off diplomatic ties with the United States. "We are following closely the current situation in Venezuela," Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying said at a press briefing, urging all parties to remain rational and calm and to seek a political resolution to the country's problem through peaceful dialogue within Venezuela's constitutional framework. The Chinese side supports Venezuelan government's efforts in safeguarding its sovereignty, independence and stability, Hua added. "China has consistently pursued the principle of non-interference in other countries' internal affairs, and we oppose foreign interference in the internal affairs of Venezuela," Hua said, calling on the international community to jointly contribute to achieving the goal. Related: Maduro severs ties with U.S. after Washington recognizes Guaido as interim president CARACAS, Jan. 23 (Xinhua) -- Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro on Wednesday announced he was severing "diplomatic and political" ties with the United States after the U.S. authorities recognized the opposition leader Juan Guaido as the nation's interim president. "I have decided to break diplomatic and political relations with the imperialist U.S. government," Maduro said in a speech to supporters gathered outside the presidential headquarters in Caracas. Full story U.S. recognizes Venezuelan opposition leader as nation's "interim president" WASHINGTON, Jan. 23 (Xinhua) -- U.S. President Donald Trump said Wednesday that the United States had recognized Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido as the nation's "interim president," a move that came after Nicolas Maduro was inaugurated as president of the Latin American country earlier this month. Source: Xinhua| 2019-01-24 22:20:31|Editor: xuxin Video Player Close RAMALLAH, Jan. 24 (Xinhua) -- The Palestinian ambassador to the EU said on Thursday that the representative of the Arab League (AL) at the EU has submitted a request to an EU-AL meeting held in Cairo for the EU's recognition of a Palestinian state along the 1967 borders. Abdel Rahim Al-Farra said the EU countries were requested to play a bigger role in the peace process and recognize the Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as its capital. Palestinians have repeatedly demanded the international community oversee the peace process with Israel, after U.S. President Donald Trump recognized Jerusalem as Israel's capital on Dec. 6, 2017, and moved his country's embassy in Israel to the city on May 14, 2018. Source: Xinhua| 2019-01-24 22:10:29|Editor: xuxin Video Player Close DAR ES SALAAM, Jan. 24 (Xinhua) -- At least 198 foreigners have been arrested in connection with illegal fishing in Lake Tanganyika since Tanzanian authorities launched a massive crackdown on illegal fishing in the lake, an official said on Thursday. Emmanuel Maganga, Kigoma regional commissioner, said in an interview with Xinhua that 284 Tanzanians were also arrested and 11,529 illegal fishing nets were seized during the ongoing crackdown that was launched in November last year. He said authorities were making arrangements to prosecute the suspects in courts, adding that apart from illegal fishing, the suspects will also be charged with catching undersized fish. Maganga said the impounded fishing nets included beach seine, drift nets, monofilaments and fishing solar lights. Launching the crackdown in November last year, Luhaga Mpina, the Minister for Livestock and Fisheries, said the crackdown should go in tandem with the arrest of local government officials and fisheries officers who protected syndicates of people involved in illegal fishing. "The government's position is to make sure that illegal fishing is put to an end not only in Lake Tanganyika but also in all lakes in this country," said Mpina. The minister said illegal fishing resulted in depletion of fish stocks in the country's lakes, forcing Tanzania to spend more money to import fish. In March last year, Tanzanian President John Magufuli supported ongoing crackdown on illegal fishing in Lake Victoria that was aimed at replenishing fish stocks in the lake. Magufuli's remarks came a week after the Council of Ministers of the Lake Victoria Fisheries Organization approved scaling up anti-illegal fishing operations in the lake. Source: Xinhua| 2019-01-24 21:55:20|Editor: mym Video Player Close NICOSIA, Jan. 24 (Xinhua) -- The British government has agreed to pay 1 million pounds (1.3 million U.S. dollars) to a group of 33 elderly Cypriot ex-guerrilla fighters who had sued in a British court for having been tortured during an anti-colonial insurgency some 60 years ago, one of their Cypriot lawyers confirmed on Thursday. Christos Clerides, the lawyer, said that the UK government had reached an out of court agreement with the ex-guerrillas to pay them compensation. The amount each claimant will receive will be assessed on the basis of damage to their health caused by torture. He added legal costs, estimated at about 3 million pounds, will be assessed at a later stage. The 33 claimants were among a larger group of people who claimed that they had been tortured while in detention during the 1955-1959 EOKA guerrilla campaign that led to the independence of Cyprus in 1960. There were about 100 claimants, but after vetting their number was reduced to the 35 who could prove by hard evidence that they had been tortured. Two of them died during the hearing of the case, leaving only 33 claimants. EOKA is the Greek acronym name for the much feared by British soldiers "National Organization of Cypriot Fighters", which waged a campaign from mountain hideouts against 40,000 British soldiers between 1955 and 1959. Claims of inhuman torture of those arrested were made during the guerrilla campaign, but Clerides said that hard evidence emerged only after documents of the British Ministries of Defence and Foreign Affairs were declassified. He said these documents showed that the practice of torture was not only condoned by officials of the British government but was even encouraged as a practice to discourage people joining EOKA. The British government, in agreeing to settle out of court, announced in a statement that it was made "in full settlement of the claims" and that it did not constitute any admission of liability and set no precedent in respect of any potential future claims against the UK government. It also said that it agreed to pay compensation to avoid further acrimony, turn a page in relations with Cyprus and concentrate on building good relations with its former colony. Clerides said that both sides had a reason to compromise. The lawyers of the claimants were concerned that even if the torture claims were proved by evidence, the case could be lost on legal grounds, as the appeals court had accepted an application of the British government not to try the case under British law but rather under Cypriot law, which sets a very short time of limitation for the alleged crimes, Clerides said, pointing out that the alleged crimes were committed more than 60 years ago. He added that the British government was concerned that even if it won the case on legal points, evidence of torture would be heard during the trial that would tarnish the country's image. The EOKA fighters' association said in a statement issued in Nicosia that they felt justified by the decision, as it was proof that the UK government, by agreeing to pay the claimants, had acknowledged that torture did take place. Source: Xinhua| 2019-01-24 21:05:08|Editor: Liangyu Video Player Close Chinese State Councilor Zhao Kezhi (2nd R), also minister of public security, meets with Dzhumakhon Giyosov, director of the Executive Committee of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization Regional Anti-Terrorist Structure in Beijing, capital of China, Jan. 24, 2019. (Xinhua/Liu Bin) BEIJING, Jan. 24 (Xinhua) -- Chinese State Councilor Zhao Kezhi met with Dzhumakhon Giyosov, director of the Executive Committee of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization Regional Anti-Terrorist Structure (RATS) here Thursday. Zhao, also minister of public security, said the SCO Qingdao Summit has injected dynamic impetus to the organization's development. He said China stands ready to work with the executive committee to promote a comprehensive implementation of the summit's achievements among the SCO member countries, improve cooperative mechanism, share information, enhance security of the Belt and Road construction and effectively combat the "three evil forces" of terrorism, separatism and extremism, so as to maintain regional security, stability, prosperity and development. Giyosov said the executive committee is willing to promote coordination among the SCO member countries to jointly fight the "three evil forces". This item is available in full to subscribers. Attention subscribers We have recently launched a new and improved website. To continue reading, you will need to either log into your subscriber account, or purchase a new subscription. If you are a digital subscriber with an active subscription, then you already have an account here. Just reset your password if you've not yet logged in to your account on this new site. If you are a current print subscriber, you can set up a free website account by clicking here. Otherwise, click here to view your options for subscribing. Source: Xinhua| 2019-01-24 20:55:05|Editor: mmm Video Player Close SHENZHEN, Jan. 24 (Xinhua) -- Huawei Technologies Co. Ltd. on Thursday launched the world's first core chip specifically designed for 5G base stations. The core chip, named Huawei Tiangang, will support simplified 5G networks and large-scale 5G network deployment, the company said in a press release. According to the company, the Huawei Tiangang boasts high computing capacity, with a 2.5-fold increase over previous chips. Using the latest algorithms and beam-forming technology, a Tiangang chip can control up to 64 channels, which is the industry's highest standard. The chip also supports the 200 MHz high spectral bandwidth, getting ready for future network deployment, the company said. The 5G base stations can be deployed in just half the time it takes to install a 4G base station, according to the company. "Huawei has long been committed to investing in basic science and technology. We were the first to make breakthroughs in key technologies for large-scale 5G commercial use," said Ding Yun, Huawei executive director of the Board and Carrier BG CEO. "We are also promoting the commercial rollout of 5G, and building a mature industry ecosystem." So far the company has got 30 commercial 5G contracts and shipped over 25,000 5G base stations globally. Source: Xinhua| 2019-01-24 20:50:03|Editor: mmm Video Player Close BEIJING, Jan. 24 (Xinhua) -- Trade volume between China and countries along the Belt and Road (B&R) Initiative totaled 1.3 trillion U.S. dollars last year, the Ministry of Commerce (MOC) said Thursday. This marked a year-on-year growth of 16.3 percent, 3.7 percentage points higher than China's trade growth in 2018. China exported goods worth 704.73 billion dollars to B&R countries last year, up 10.9 percent year on year, while importing goods from them worth 563.07 billion dollars, rising 23.9 percent year on year. Chinese firms invested 15.64 billion dollars in non-financial sectors in B&R countries last year, up 8.9 percent year on year, while receiving investment from them totalling 6.08 billion dollars, up 11.9 percent. China will further open up the market to share more opportunities with B&R countries and promote mutual opening-up among them, said MOC spokesperson Gao Feng. China will also promote free and facilitation of trade and investment in the region and invite more B&R firms to attend the second China International Import Expo this year, Gao added. Source: Xinhua| 2019-01-24 20:45:02|Editor: mmm Video Player Close BEIJING, Jan. 24 (Xinhua) -- The Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) has made many research advances in 2018, from the depths of the ocean, to far beyond the universe. Here are some of the highlights: 1. The CAS accomplished several key tasks for the Chang'e-4 mission. More than 20 critical instruments and materials crucial to Chang'e-4's safe landing, ongoing operation on the lunar surface and scientific exploration were developed. 2. CAS researchers cloned the world's first macaques from somatic cells by the method that made Dolly the sheep. It makes research with customizable populations of genetically uniform monkeys a possibility. 3. GV-971 drug brings hope for Alzheimer's treatment. Sodium oligomannate (GV-971), an innovative, orally administered drug for treating Alzheimer's disease, completed its phase III clinical trial, the last test before reaching the market in July 2018. It is the fruit of a 21-year research effort by a team led by the Ocean University of China, CAS and Green Valley Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. 4. Majorana Bound States in iron-based superconductor was observed. A CAS research team observed Majorana bound states in an iron-based superconductor for the first time -- a major advance for building a future stable, scalable, and fault-tolerant topological quantum computer. 5. China Spallation Neutron Source (CSNS) and Wuhan P4 Laboratory were put into service. The CSNS is the country's first and world's fourth pulsed spallation neutron source, and passed national acceptance on Aug. 1, 2018. The Wuhan P4 Laboratory is China's first national biosafety level 4 laboratory, helping the country play a more active role in global public health. 6. The world's first artificial single-chromosome eukaryotic cell were created. Qin Zhongjun, a CAS molecular biologist, together with his collaborators, created the world's first eukaryotic cell containing only a single chromosome. 7. Rice molecular design breeding helps variety upgrade in China. "Zhongke 804," a new rice variety developed by CAS academician Li Jiayang showed excellent performance in 2018. It is outstanding in yield, blast resistance, rice quality, lodging resistance and head-milled rice rate. 8. Eight new satellites joined the Beidou network. Four pairs of Beidou Navigation System satellites manufactured by the CAS were launched into space in 2018. Each pair of satellites was launched from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center by one rocket into medium Earth orbit. 9. Multiple high-end scientific instruments were developed. A series of high-performance streak cameras were developed by the CAS, a breakthrough in key technologies such as the design of electronic optical systems and the production of high-performance photocathode. 10. The earliest human occupation of the Tibetan Plateau dates to 40,000 years ago. Archaeologists from the CAS reported the oldest and highest early Stone Age archaeological site yet known anywhere in the world in November 2018. The discovery of the Nwya Devu site has yielded the earliest record of human responses to high-altitude challenges and the eventual conquest of the extreme environment. 11. A cold atomic clock in the Tiangong-2 space lab. A cold atomic space clock, developed by the CAS, was launched into space with Tiangong-2. It is the first cold atomic clock in the world operating in orbit and carrying out scientific experiments. 12. Breakthroughs in stem cell and regenerative medicine technology and equipment. Regenerative medicine experts at the CAS and doctors at Nanjing Drum Tower Hospital used human umbilical cord mesenchyme stem cells to rehabilitate a woman's damaged ovary, enabling her to give birth to a healthy boy on Jan. 12, 2018. Source: Xinhua| 2019-01-24 20:29:56|Editor: xuxin Video Player Close JAKARTA, Jan. 24 (Xinhua) -- Indonesia's National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB) said on Thursday that massive flood in Indonesia's South Sulawesi province has so far claimed 30 lives and injured 47, with 25 declared missing. Besides taking residents' lives, BNPB Spokesperson Sutopo Purwo Nugroho said huge scale of the flood has affected 5,825 people, 3,321 of whom sought refuge in shelters. The flood has submerged 2,694 houses, 11,433 hectares of rice fields, damaged nine bridges, six worship places and 13 schools, Sutopo added. At least 78 villages in 10 regencies and municipalities were affected by the flood that broke out on Tuesday following torrential rain since Monday. Cited the updated data as of 2:00 p.m. local time, Sutopo said Gowa regency saw the most severe impact from the flood, with 16 killed, 46 injured and 21 missing. Sutopo said the number of deaths may rise as the search for those affected by the flood is still in progress. The search operation was carried out by a joint team comprising military, police, disaster mitigation office personnel, volunteers, among others. He added that BNPB has handed over 1-billion-rupiahs (about 70,500 U.S. dollars) fund to finance the search operation's command post and necessities during the emergency period. "January to February is the peak of rainy season in most of Indonesia territory. People are highly advised to anticipate possible flood, landslide and whirlwind during the period," Sutopo said. Source: Xinhua| 2019-01-24 20:19:53|Editor: ZX Video Player Close Syrian refugees bid farewell to their relatives and friends before going back to Syria, in Lebanon's northern city of Tripoli, Jan. 24, 2019. Dozens of Syrian refugees returned on Thursday to their homeland from various areas in Lebanon, the National News Agency (NNA) reported. (Xinhua/Khalid) BEIRUT, Jan. 24 (Xinhua) -- Dozens of Syrian refugees returned on Thursday to their homeland from various areas in Lebanon, the National News Agency (NNA) reported. The return of refugees took place under the supervision of Lebanon's General Security in cooperation with the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), NNA reported. Khattar Nasreddine, head of the Public Security Information Division, said the return of refugees, which gained support among Arab countries after the Beirut summit, will continue in the near future. The Arab Economic and Social Development Summit concluded in the Lebanese capital on Jan. 20 with the Beirut Declaration calling on the international community to support Arab countries hosting Syrian refugees and encourage Syrian refugees to return to their country. Lebanon is hosting 976,000 registered Syrian refugees according to the UNHCR, while the government estimates the true number of Syrian refugees in the country at 1.5 million. To secure the return of 890,000 Syrian refugees to their homeland, Russia has drafted a strategy and presented it to the Lebanese authorities. Earlier in the day, Lisa Abou Khaled, spokeswoman of UNHCR, told the independent online newspaper Elnashra that 90 percent of Syrian refugees in Lebanon hope to return to their country. Source: Xinhua| 2019-01-24 20:14:50|Editor: mmm Video Player Close BEIJING, Jan. 24 (Xinhua) -- Notebooks featuring skating performances for the royal family and replicas of couplets written by emperors are among the online items the Palace Museum hopes to entice customers to buy this Spring Festival. Online buyers have snapped up more than 9,000 replicas of the Chinese character "Fu" and couplets written by emperors of the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911) over the past month on the museum's online souvenir shop. As a Spring Festival tradition, Chinese people put up "Fu" posters, which means good luck and happiness, and couplets on their gates and doors to wish for a good year. "I purchased notebooks, phone cases and other cultural products with designs inspired by the national treasure on display in the museum as New Year gifts," said Miao Yining, a Beijing-based office worker. Attracted by the online retail offering, Miao and her family plan to visit the museum and see an exhibition on about the royal Spring Festival. Museums and galleries have become more commercially minded, realizing cultural merchandise can increase their impact and online shopping can be a way of creating loyalty among a younger generation. By the end of last year, more than 10 Chinese museums including the National Museum of China, the Summer Palace, and Emperor Qinshihuang's Mausoleum Site Museum have opened shops on Alibaba's Tmall, selling original cultural products ranging from handicrafts and home supplies to stationery. Even the British Museum opened an online store on Tmall in July last year, aiming to tap the burgeoning Chinese market. The shop was inundated with orders. In the first 10 months of 2018, the number of searches for "museum" was more than double the figure in the same period of 2016 on Tmall and Taobao, two major e-commerce retail platforms in China. Four entries can be found on the official website of the Palace Museum, directing users to various stores on different Chinese social media and e-commerce platforms. The museum has been turned from a historic landmark into a consumer brand, selling various merchandise from Chinese-style paper tapes, table mats and canvas bags to lipsticks and scarves. According to Yan Hongbin, vice curator of the museum, the sales of the original cultural products on its Tmall store alone have recorded a nearly 200-percent growth every year. Museums are a key way for Chinese people to learn about the country's cultural relics. The number of museums in China has increased from 349 in 1978 to currently over 5,000. Around 1 billion trips were made to the museums each year, according to the National Cultural Heritage Administration. Thanks to people's growing enthusiasm for museums and cultural heritage, TV programs such as "National Treasure," showcasing the history of China's cultural relics, have become a huge hit. Jin Wei, researcher with culture and economics institute at the Communication University of China, said the museums could better communicate with younger consumers and promote long-neglected culture to the public via e-commerce. "The collections in the museums are not only for display. Now museums add cultural symbols to the commodities such as bookmarks and T-shirts, allowing the culture to truly integrate into people's daily life," Jin said. However, he pointed out that only a small portion of museums can stabilize revenue streams by developing and selling cultural products online. "The cultural and creative industry is complicated. What it tests is the museums' comprehensive strength involving market research, innovative designs and branding," Jin said. Chen Shaofeng, vice dean of the Institute for Cultural Industries at Peking University, has warned against overcommercialization ss museums and e-commerce platforms deepen their cooperation, saying it could affect the image of museums. File photo shows the groundbreaking ceremony of the Kafulafuta water supply system project in the Copperbelt Province, Zambia, Sept. 21, 2018. (Xinhua/Wang Yaomin) MASAITI, Zambia, Jan. 24 (Xinhua) -- Construction works of a dam in Zambia's Masaiti district on the Copperbelt Province funded by the Chinese government is on course, the contractor said on Tuesday. Construction works of the 450 million U.S. dollars Kafulafuta Dam was commissioned in October last year by President Edgar Lungu. Bruce Zhu, a business manager with the China National Complete Engineering Corporation, said about 23 percent of works have so far been done and that everything was on schedule. "We are on schedule and we expect to complete the works by 2020," he said. In remarks delivered when Copperbelt Province Minister Japhen Mwakalombe and other senior government officials inspected the construction works, the official said over 1,600 jobs have been created during the construction of the dam. The official further dispelled reports that the firm was subcontracting other foreign firms instead of empowering local firms, adding that so far four local firms have been subcontracted. On his part, the Zambian minister expressed satisfaction over the progress so far in the construction of the dam, adding that the government was committed to supporting Chinese firms working on various projects as it was meant to uplift the living standards of people. The Kafulafuta water supply system project involves the construction of a dam and other infrastructure for the supply of water to some districts of the province. It also includes the construction of two pump stations, raw water pipelines to four treatment plants as well as the extension of the pipe network to un-serviced areas and repairing of old leaking pipes. The multi-purpose dam will hold about 125 million cubic meters of water and benefit about 1 million people. Source: Xinhua| 2019-01-24 19:34:46|Editor: Liangyu Video Player Close Chinese Ambassador to Mongolia Xing Haiming (L) and Minister of Labor and Social Protection of Mongolia Sodnom Chinzorig sign documents at the handover ceremony of the China-aided development center for children with disabilities in the Mongolian capital Ulan Bator, Jan. 24, 2019. The handover ceremony of the China-aided development center for children with disabilities was held in Ulan Bator on Thursday. The comprehensive center is equipped with 250 beds and advanced medical devices, and can provide medical treatments for 250 outpatients a day. (Xinhua/A Sigang) ULAN BATOR, Jan. 24 (Xinhua) -- The handover ceremony of the China-aided development center for children with disabilities was held in the Mongolian capital Ulan Bator on Thursday. The comprehensive center is equipped with 250 beds and advanced medical devices, and can provide medical treatments for 250 outpatients a day. Senior Chinese and Mongolian officials, including Chinese Ambassador to Mongolia Xing Haiming, Chief of Staff of the President of Mongolia Zandaakhuu Enkhbold, and Minister of Labor and Social Protection of Mongolia Sodnom Chinzorig, attended the ceremony. "Sharing a 4,710-km-long borderline, China and Mongolia are long-standing close neighbors. The center for children with disabilities has become a symbol of China-Mongolia friendship," said Xing at the ceremony. This year marks the 70th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic ties between China and Mongolia, Xing added, expressing the hope that the two countries will take this opportunity to elevate the current level of bilateral relations to a new height in all areas. For his part, Enkhbold expressed gratitude to the Chinese government and people, describing the development center as one of the largest humanitarian projects in Mongolia implemented with non-refundable aid from China. Source: Xinhua| 2019-01-24 19:34:46|Editor: mmm Video Player Close MANILA, Jan. 24 (Xinhua) -- More than 1.2 million Chinese tourists visited the Philippines in 2018, making China the country's the second largest source of international tourists, the data released Thursday by the Department of Tourism (DOT) of the Philippines showed. "China recorded 1,255,258 arrivals, the most improved market at an impressive 29.62 percent growth rate," the DOT said in a statement. The DOT said a total of 7.1 million foreign tourists visited the Philippines in 2018, tallying the highest number in the country's tourism industry. The improvement came at a 7.6 percent growth rate compared to the 6.6 million recorded in 2017, the DOT added. The DOT said South Korea was the Philippines' top source market in 2018 with 1,587,959 and the United States remained at third with 1,034,396 arrivals. Tourism has become one of the most critical pillar industries in the Philippines, and it is one of the sectors that has benefited from the Philippines' renewed relationship with China. More direct air routes to the Philippines have been launched, bring a great increase in Chinese tourists over the past years. From 490,000 in 2015 and 675,000 Chinese tourists in 2016, the number posted a significant increase in 2017 with 968,000 tourist arrivals. Source: Xinhua| 2019-01-24 19:24:44|Editor: xuxin Video Player Close HANOI, Jan. 24 (Xinhua) -- Border guards and police of Vietnam's central Ha Tinh province have arrested three Vietnamese men for transporting 120 cakes of heroin from Laos to Vietnam, local media reported on Thursday. On Wednesday, when searching a suspected car with three men inside at Cau Treo international border gate in Ha Tinh, the border guards and police found heroin hidden in cartoons and then arrested the trio, online newspaper VnExpress reported. According to the Vietnamese law, those convicted of smuggling over 600 grams of heroin or more than 2.5 kg of methamphetamine are punishable by death. Making or trading 100 grams of heroin or 300 grams of other illegal drugs also faces death penalty. Source: Xinhua| 2019-01-24 19:19:43|Editor: xuxin Video Player Close KAMPALA, Jan. 24 (Xinhua) -- As the world pushes for adoption of Artificial Intelligence (AI) to fasttrack development, Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni argues that there are key bottlenecks that Africa must first address before taking on AI. Museveni, who was speaking on the sidelines of the ongoing World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, Switzerland, said a universal approach towards addressing Africa's development has proved not to work. Economic experts argue that AI will drive the next generation of industrial revolution. The WEF meeting was held under the theme, "Globalization 4.0: Shaping a Global Architecture in the Age of the Fourth Industrial Revolution." "The people excited about Artificial Intelligence are those who already have developed infrastructure and a developed human resource," Museveni said, according to a State House statement issued here on Thursday. The side meeting were attended by Rwanda President Paul Kagame, South Africa's Cyril Ramaphosa, Tunisia's President Beji Caid Essebsi and former prime minister of the United Kingdom Tony Blair, among others. The Ugandan leader said Africa needs to overcome 10 main bottlenecks including infrastructure development such as roads, rail and electricity, human resource development, market integration to lower costs of doing business and attract investments. He said the continent also needs to deal with the issue of economic and political integration for credible bargaining units in addition to an educated human resource. He said Africa is now developing partly because of governments not being hostile to the private sector. "Part of our lagging behind was the attitude governments had against the private sector, now that has changed," Museveni told the meeting organized by the Africa Strategy Group and moderated by the Executive Director of OXFAM Winnie Byanyima. Byanyima in a separate meeting with Museveni said some technologies associated with the Forth Industrial Revolution such as AI may be a challenge in countries with no infrastructure such as roads, electricity, and railway to bring the cost of doing business down. Museveni, while meeting Klaus Martin Schwab, the founder and executive chairman of the WEF, said as the world pushes for the fourth industrial revolution, there are gaps of the second and third revolutions in places like Africa that must be plugged for proper development to happen. Schwab is convinced that the world is at the beginning of the fourth industrial revolution. Source: Xinhua| 2019-01-24 18:29:34|Editor: mym Video Player Close WASHINGTON, Jan. 23 (Xinhua) -- Washington was gripped by much drama Wednesday as the White House and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi battled over the State of the Union (SOTU) address, indicating that the political divide that drove the government shutdown into an unprecedented length is as deep as ever. U.S. President Donald Trump kicked up dust Wednesday morning with a letter addressed to Pelosi, stating that he intends to "honor her invitation" to deliver the SOTU address on Jan. 29 in the House of Representatives chamber before a joint session. The move directly ran counter to a suggestion made by Pelosi on Jan. 16 for Trump to postpone the address until the government shutdown ended, or submit the address in writing to Congress. Trump, refuting the reasons Pelosi cited for postponing the address, said in his letter that he had been assured by the Department of Homeland Security that the government shutdown would not undermine security measures for the event. On Jan. 3, the day Pelosi was sworn in as the speaker of the House, Pelosi first invited Trump to deliver the speech on Jan. 29, despite the fact that the government had been shut down for almost two weeks. As the stalemate continued, Pelosi tried to persuade Trump to push back the date, an idea Trump did not respond to until Wednesday. Since Pelosi did not officially disinvite Trump in the Jan. 16 letter, it was for a moment unclear if Trump would have his way. But the suspense soon dispersed as Pelosi replied to Trump's letter, making it clear that she would not host him on Jan. 29 if the government is still in shutdown. The House speaker said she did not anticipate that the government shutdown would last until the end of the month when she extended the invitation on Jan. 3. During a press event Wednesday afternoon, Trump slammed Pelosi for denying him the opportunity, saying he was "not surprised" at Pelosi's statement and that the Democrats "have become radicalized." "It's a sad thing for our country. We'll do something in the alternative," Trump told the press, spurring rumors that he may deliver the speech on the U.S.-Mexican border, among other locations. Jim Justice, the governor of West Virginia, said in a statement that he had invited Trump to deliver the SOTU address in West Virginia's capitol building. Political leaders in the states of North Carolina and Michigan also made similar gestures. All of the rumors and speculation were put to rest late Wednesday evening, after Trump said in a two-part tweet that he had decided to concede to Pelosi's position and wait until the government reopens to deliver the SOTU address in the house chamber. "I will do the address when the shutdown is over," Trump said. "I am not looking for an alternative venue for the SOTU address because there is no venue that can compete with the history, tradition and importance of the House Chamber." The back and forth cast a shadow on prospects that both sides will strike a deal in the near future to reopen the government. The shutdown, stemming from disagreement over funding for a border wall, is about to enter its 34th day. With more votes planned for Thursday, it is unlikely that any of the bills introduced intending to end the shutdown will win enough bipartisan support. Source: Xinhua| 2019-01-24 18:29:34|Editor: mym Video Player Close CAIRO, Jan. 24 (Xinhua) -- At least 10 people were killed and 10 others wounded on Thursday when their bus collided with a car in Egypt's northern province of Beheira, official news agency MENA reported. The police said the accident at a high road was caused by poor visibility in heavy fog. Egypt suffers a high rate of traffic accidents that kill thousands of people every year over lack of highway monitoring systems, inadequate road maintenance and negligence of traffic rules. According to official statistics authority, the number of traffic accidents in Egypt reached 11,100 in 2017, leaving about 3,700 dead and 14,000 others injured. Human errors are responsible for about 80 percent of road accidents in the most populous Arab country. Source: Xinhua| 2019-01-24 18:19:31|Editor: mym Video Player Close BELGRADE, Jan. 24 (Xinhua) -- Chinese musicians and Serbia's RTS Symphony Orchestra on Wednesday performed in a concert featuring Chinese classical music here to celebrate the upcoming Chinese Spring Festival of the Year of the Pig. The gala, staged at the Kolarac Endowment, one of Belgrade's finest and oldest concert halls, opened with Chinese symphonist Lv Qiming's "Ode to the Red Flag." Along with well-known pieces of European composers such as Khachaturian, Tchaikovsky and Shostakovich, the audience of hundreds also had the chance to feel the atmosphere of the Spring Festival by enjoying some representative Chinese music pieces such as Chen Chunguang's "View of the Sea," and "Good News from Beijing" that was performed by Zheng Lu and Ma Hongye. The concert also offered a feast of traditional Chinese instrument performances by three Chinese soloists: Zhang Pei on zheng, an ancient plucked instrument with 21 or 25 strings; Tu Shanxiang on pipa, a pear-shaped fretted instrument; and Bai Yu on erhu, a two-stringed traditional Chinese instrument. Tu said that the pipa is an ancient instrument, but it has evolved and fits perfectly with Western classical music. "Together with this orchestra and conductor Miran Vaupotic, we created beautiful and attractive music," he added. The performances, which provided the audience with an interesting blend of Chinese and Serbian music, ended with loud applause. "The sound of zheng is so delicate and sensitive. It gives a whole new dimension to orchestra music. For the first time, I had the chance to enjoy Chinese classical music," said Rada Smiljanic, a student. Jelena Kovacevic, a local resident, told Xinhua that the Chinese New Year was a good occasion that enabled the audience to enjoy musical pieces of the two civilizations. "I truly enjoyed the concert. I found it really pleasant when one of the Chinese musicians invited a person from the audience to sing with him and the hall echoed with hundreds of voices, which is not typical for classical concerts," she said. The concert is one of the New Year celebrations organized by China's Ministry of Culture and Tourism, which kicked off in 2016 and had toured the Czech Republic, Croatia, Russia and Poland. Another concert will be held in Greece later this year, and there will be concerts in Australia and New Zealand next year to celebrate the Chinese Spring Festival. This year, the concert is co-organized with the Culture Office of Hebei Province. "It is a good way to promote exchanges between the Serbian and Chinese people, and has created a valuable opportunity for the Serbian people to understand more about the Chinese culture," said Ren Haifeng, director of public services at the Hebei Provincial Commission of Tourism Development. "In the upcoming years, we would like to invite more Serbian musicians to Hebei." Source: Xinhua| 2019-01-24 17:59:28|Editor: mym Video Player Close DAMASCUS, Jan. 24 (Xinhua) -- Syrian Foreign Ministry on Thursday condemned what it called the "flagrant U.S. interference" in the affairs of Venezuela, state news agency SANA reported. The ministry said it rejects the U.S. interference in Venezuelan affairs, which constitutes a violation of all norms as well as international laws and an encroachment upon the Venezuelan sovereignty. It also stressed Syria's support to the government of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro to preserve the sovereignty of Venezuela and foil the "aggressive" schemes of the U.S. government. On Wednesday, 35-year-old Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido declared himself "interim president" of the Latin American country during an opposition rally. U.S. President Donald Trump recognized Guaido as the "interim president" in a statement issued by the White House. Later, Maduro announced that he was severing "diplomatic and political" ties with the United States. Source: Xinhua| 2019-01-24 17:54:27|Editor: mym Video Player Close BEIJING, Jan. 24 (Xinhua) -- A comprehensive conservation plan has been released to establish a long-term mechanism for the conservation and utilization of the Great Wall, a senior official of the State Administration of Cultural Heritage (SACH) announced Thursday. The plan was jointly publicized by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism and the SACH on Tuesday. The government's role in protecting the Great Wall should be strengthened, said Liu Yuzhu, head of SACH, at a State Council Information Office press conference. "Individuals and relevant social organizations are encouraged to provide not-for-profit service for the Great Wall," Liu said. Liu said sections of the Great Wall built during the Qin (221 B.C. to 206 B.C.), Han (202 B.C. to 220 A.D.) and Ming (1368 A.D. to 1644 A.D.) dynasties were the key areas to be conserved. The Great Wall consists of many interconnected walls built between the seventh century B.C. and the Ming Dynasty. It was listed as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1987. Source: Xinhua| 2019-01-24 17:34:21|Editor: mym Video Player Close COLOMBO, Jan. 24 (Xinhua) -- The Maldivian President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih will be the chief guest at Sri Lanka's 71st Independence Day celebrations which will be held in Colombo on Feb. 4, local media reported Thursday. Internal and Home Affairs and Provincial Councils and Local Government Minister Vajira Abeywardana said the celebrations will be held opposite the Galle Face Green in Colombo under the patronage of President Maithripala Sirisena and Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe. This year's celebrations will include a cultural pageant comprising of 865 musicians and dancers, a special military parade by Police, Tri-forces, civil security forces and the National Cadet Corps. The religious ceremonies will be held in temples, mosques and churches. The celebrations will end with a 25-gun salute to the nation. Source: Xinhua| 2019-01-24 17:19:15|Editor: mym Video Player Close CHONGQING, Jan. 24 (Xinhua) -- Southwest China's Chongqing Municipality has closed 79 ship restaurants and rectified problems on 13 others on the Yangtze River to prevent water pollution, the municipal traffic law enforcement department said Thursday. The section of Yangtze River stretching through the main urban area of Chongqing has been plagued by ship restaurants. Sewage and waste water from these ships are directly discharged into the river, resulting in direct water pollution. To protect the environment of the Yangtze River, Chongqing launched a campaign regulating the ship restaurants in January 2018. Unapproved ship restaurants are to be closed, alongside checking and rectifying the sewage discharge of legally operated ship restaurants. So far, the campaign has effectively prevented water pollution caused by the ship restaurants on the river. The traffic law enforcement department has also busted 19 ship pollution cases where the fuel pollutant exceeded the standard level, and fined the ships accordingly. Source: Xinhua| 2019-01-24 16:44:08|Editor: mmm Video Player Close A Thai Tiger Dance team performs at a press conference on celebration of Chinese New Year held by the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) at Bangkok, Thailand, Jan. 24, 2019. Thailand's tourism body is joining hands with China's Ministry of Culture and Tourism and Chinese Embassy to launch a festive Chinese New Year celebration eve in Bangkok's China Town. (Xinhua/Zhang Keren) BANGKOK, Jan. 24 (Xinhua) -- Thailand's tourism body is joining hands with China's Ministry of Culture and Tourism and Chinese Embassy to launch a most festive Chinese New Year celebration eve in Bangkok's China Town. Yuthasak Supasorn, governor of the Tourism Authority of Thailand(TAT), said at a press conference on Thursday that the celebration this year would be distinct as it comes after Thailand welcomed 10 million Chinese tourists during 2018 for the first time. "TAT expects to welcome over 330,000 Chinese tourists during the seven-day period (Feb.4 to 10). They represent more than 30 percent of the overall total of 1.03 million international arrivals that are expected to visit Thailand over the Chinese New Year," said the governor. Yuthasak said Chinese tourists are expected to spend more than 10 billion baht (314 million U.S. dollars) out of an estimated total revenue of 24 billion baht from international visitors during the week-long period. The TAT's Chinese New Year 2019 celebrations are held in destinations popular with young Chinese tourists. Events are planned in Bangkok's famed shopping mall Siam Square, northern Thailand's Chiang Mai and the southern province Phuket. All the three destinations will feature culture performances from China and Thailand. There will be demonstrations of various Chinese art forms including paper cutting and calligraphy, fairs selling goods and auspicious food as well as performances by well-known artists and pop stars. China is sending cultural performances from seven provinces to the southeastern Asia country. The TAT is also co-organizing festivities with large Thai-Chinese communities at locations with long-standing tradition of hosting New Year activities across the country. Source: Xinhua| 2019-01-24 16:44:08|Editor: xuxin Video Player Close ALGIERS, Jan. 24 (Xinhua) -- Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov arrived in Algeria late on Wednesday for a two-day visit at the invitation of his Algerian counterpart Abdelkader Messahel, state-run television channel reported. Lavrov's visit is part of regular political dialogue between the two countries as recommended by the Joint Declaration on the Strategic Partnership signed on April 2, 2001. During his stay in the capital Algiers, Lavrov is due to hold talks with Algerian top officials to exchange views on major regional and international issues, including the situation in Libya, Mali and Syria. The visit also came on the eve of the 9th Algerian-Russian Joint Economic Commission which is set to be held in Moscow on Jan. 28-30. Unstable oil prices should also be on the agenda of Lavrov's visit, as Algeria and Russia have already underlined the necessity to continue their efforts among Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and non-OPEC members in a bid to rebalance the market. Source: Xinhua| 2019-01-24 16:44:08|Editor: mmm Video Player Close BEIJING, Jan. 24 (Xinhua) -- China has issued about 100 million credentials for exit and entry into the country since May 1, 2018, when authorities started to streamline the process, according to the National Immigration Administration. The figure increased by 12.1 percent over the same period of the previous year, the administration said. Since Sept. 1, 2018, around 15.36 million residents on the Chinese mainland have had their credentials replaced or reissued in places other than where the documents were first issued. The new move is estimated to save over 10 billion yuan (around 1.47 billion U.S. dollars) per year in travel expenses for those concerned, the administration said. Since June 18, 2018, about 299 million Chinese nationals have enjoyed fast immigration passes of no more than 30 minutes at ports across the country, and over half of the travelers went through customs formalities with the help of self-service facilities. Border inspection procedures for ships making international voyages have also been digitalized from Sept. 1, 2018, which will save over 200,000 hours a year, the administration said. Since April 18, 2018, foreign travelers from 59 countries can make visa-free trips to Hainan, China's southernmost island province. So far, about 247,000 foreigners have visited Hainan without a visa, an increase of 12.8 percent year on year, according to the administration. Source: Xinhua| 2019-01-24 16:34:05|Editor: xuxin Video Player Close JERUSALEM, Jan. 24 (Xinhua) -- Israeli security forces said on Thursday that 19 Palestinians suspected of terrorism were arrested in the West Bank. The Israel Defense Forces, the Shin Bet security service and the Border Police raided villages and towns in the Jordan Valley and elsewhere in the Israel-occupied West Bank overnight between Wednesday and Thursday. "The forces arrested 19 wanted persons who are suspected of involvement in terrorist activities, popular terror, and violent riots against civilians and soldiers," the military said in a statement. The military often uses "popular terror" to refer to stone throwing and torching tires during demonstrations. The arrests came amid the tension between Israelis and Palestinians, marked by a resurging wave of knife, car-ramming, and shooting attacks against soldiers and settlers in the West Bank. In the Gaza Strip, weekly Palestinian protests along the security fence are mounted to fight the 52-year-long Israeli occupation and the blockade imposed on the Palestinian enclave since 2007. Source: Xinhua| 2019-01-24 16:34:05|Editor: mmm Video Player Close GUANGZHOU, Jan. 24 (Xinhua) -- Foreign trade in south China's Guangdong Province rose 5.1 percent year-on-year to a historic high of 7.16 trillion yuan (about 1.05 trillion U.S. dollars) in 2018, according to figures released by Guangdong Sub-Administration of China Customs Wednesday. As China's major foreign trade hub, Guangdong Province's foreign trade volume has ranked first in the country for 33 years in a row, according to the Guangdong sub-administration. Guangdong's foreign trade volume accounted for 23.5 percent of China's total foreign trade in 2018, with the province's exports up 1.2 percent to 4.27 trillion yuan and imports up 11.3 percent to about 2.89 trillion yuan. Privately-owned enterprises in Guangdong saw rapid increase in foreign trade in 2018. A total of 63,000 privately-owned enterprises recorded exports and imports of 3.5 trillion yuan over the past year, up 11.4 percent from 2017, representing 47 percent of the province's total foreign trade volume. The official figures also showed that the exports and imports from cross-border e-commerce of Guangdong Province saw a significant increase to 75.98 billion yuan, marking a year-on-year increase of 72 percent. Meanwhile, exports of high-tech products and mobile phones have seen year-on-year increases of 5.8 percent and 18.3 percent respectively, while the imports of consumer goods hit 183 billion yuan, up 18.8 percent year on year. Source: Xinhua| 2019-01-24 16:19:02|Editor: xuxin Video Player Close MANILA, Jan. 24 (Xinhua) -- Starting this year, Philippine government officials and employees will no longer be allowed to travel abroad during disasters and emergencies such as typhoons, according to a statement released by the Philippine Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) Thursday. The statement said this move is to ensure that mayors and other local government officials would not be "missing in action" during emergencies and calamities. On Jan. 4, Philippine Interior and Local Government Secretary Eduardo Ano issued a memorandum to local government officials, saying "that their travel authorities and leave of absence are immediately recalled in case disasters strike." "As we are guided by law, we will exercise it to its full extent to ensure that local chief executives are where they are expected to be in times of disaster or calamities," Ano said. On last Monday, the DILG endorsed administrative sanctions against five town mayors from northern Philippine main island of Luzon before the Office of the Ombudsman. The DILG said they did not find their explanations for being "missing in action" during the disastrous typhoons in September 2018. Under the local government code, the provincial governor, city mayor, and municipal mayor should carry out emergency measures as necessary during and in the aftermath of man-made and natural disasters and calamities. "Local chief executives should be physically present in their respective stations especially during times of disasters. As chairpersons of their respective local disaster risk reduction and management (DRRM) committees, they must personally oversee their local disaster management preparations and operations," DILG Assistant Secretary and spokesperson Jonathan Malaya said. The Philippines is one of the most disaster-prone countries in the world. Annually, an average of 22 tropical cyclones strikes this archipelagic country, of which around six to seven cause significant damage. Also, the country is highly exposed to geologic hazards including earthquakes and volcanic eruptions. Source: Xinhua| 2019-01-24 16:19:02|Editor: xuxin Video Player Close RIO DE JANEIRO, Jan. 23 (Xinhua) -- The Brazilian government of President Jair Bolsonaro on Wednesday announced its priorities for the first 100 days of administration. Onyx Lorenzoni, the president's chief of staff, made an announcement in Brazil's capital city Brasilia during which he said priority measures will start to be implemented over the first 100 days of government, but goals will not necessarily be achieved by the end of this period. The priority measures include acting to combat social security fraud and reduce the number of appointed positions in the government, setting up a new illiteracy reduction program and taking steps to increase vaccine coverage among children, among others. Some of the announced measures have already been implemented, such as the decree to change regulations for possession of firearms, a controversial subject which was one of the president's campaign promises. However, the government did not include the reform of the social security system in the priorities for the first months of the Bolsonaro administration. Lorenzoni said the government did not want to set a deadline for the reform at this time. The social security system reform may be hard to approve, given the high level of polarization of the new Congress, which will take office in early February. The previous administration did not manage to submit it to vote. The government did not offer details about what moves are to be made to achieve the listed goals. Source: Xinhua| 2019-01-24 15:48:51|Editor: xuxin Video Player Close MOSCOW, Jan. 24 (Xinhua) -- The Russian Defense Ministry said on Thursday that a Russian Su-27 fighter jet has intercepted a Swedish Gulfstream reconnaissance plane over the Baltic Sea. "An aerial target approaching Russia's state border was spotted by Russian airspace controls. An Su-27 fighter jet from the Air Force was employed to intercept the target," the defense ministry said in a statement. The Swedish reconnaissance aircraft was flying with its transponder off, said the statement, adding that the Swedish aircraft flew away from the Russian state border after the Su-27 fighter jet approached it. Source: Xinhua| 2019-01-24 15:28:49|Editor: xuxin Video Player Close LUSAKA, Jan. 24 (Xinhua) -- Zambian President Edgar Lungu on Wednesday said he wants to accelerate the investigations into the misapplication of donor funds meant to help the vulnerable in the country. He made the statement during an annual greeting ceremony of diplomats at the State House. Lungu said he will not condone the abuse of donor funds and warned of dealing with all those found responsible in accordance with the law. He assured the diplomats that his administration will maintain transparency and accountability in the use of public resources, and said he is looking forward to working with cooperation partners in the fight against corruption. Last year, it is reported that about 4 million U.S. dollars meant to support the vulnerable had been misappropriated. Britain and Finland, among the funders of the donation, suspended their aid to Zambia after the reports. The Zambian government thereafter launched investigations into the misappropriation and fired a minister who was in charge of the funding scheme. Source: Xinhua| 2019-01-24 15:28:49|Editor: xuxin Video Player Close LUSAKA, Jan. 24 (Xinhua) -- A Zambian airline on Wednesday announced that it will suspend flights between the capitals of Zambia and Zimbabwe. Proflight Zambia said the suspension will begin on Jan. 29, 2019 and it expects to resume flights from March 1, 2019. "We regret to announce that due to the current situation in Zimbabwe and ongoing challenges with the repatriation of funds from Zimbabwe, we are temporarily suspending our Lusaka/Harare route," said Philip Lemba, the airline's director of government and industry affairs, in a statement. Lemba added that the airline will refund all passengers for tickets purchased for travel during this period. Violence recently broke out in Zimbabwe during protests against an increase in fuel prices, resulting in looting and casualties. Proflight in July last year launched the route from the Zambian capital Lusaka to the Zimbabwean capital Harare. Source: Xinhua| 2019-01-24 15:23:48|Editor: xuxin Video Player Close WASHINGTON, Jan. 23 (Xinhua) -- Five people were killed Wednesday after a shooter opened fire in a bank in the U.S. state of Florida before surrendering to law enforcement officials, according to local police. "After an assessment of the scene we were sorry to learn that we have at least five victims, people who were senselessly murdered as a result of his act in this bank," Sebring Police Chief Karl Hoglund told reporters at a press conference. Multiple people were hurt during the shooting in a SunTrust bank in the town of Sebring. Police surrounded the bank and were able to convince the suspect to surrender, according to local media. It is unclear how many people were wounded. The suspect was identified as 21-year-old Zephen Xaver, an online student of Salt Lake City-based Stevens-Henager College. Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, who also attended the press conference, vowed that the suspect would face "swift, exacting justice." DeSantis, who traveled to Sebring after the shooting, said the Florida Department of Law Enforcement would assist Sebring police in the incident. Local media reported that an FBI mobile command unit arrived at the bank Wednesday evening to join the investigation. SunTrust Chairman and CEO Bill Rogers released a short statement after the incident saying "We are working with officials and dedicating ourselves to fully addressing the needs of all the individuals and families involved." Sebring is in central Florida, about 140 km south of Orlando. Florida has been marred by mass shootings in recent years. In February 2018, a teenager killed 17 people at a high school in Parkland, and in June 2016, a gunman killed 49 people at a nightclub in Orlando. Source: Xinhua| 2019-01-24 15:18:48|Editor: xuxin Video Player Close MANILA, Jan. 24 (Xinhua) -- Three soldiers were wounded on Thursday in a fresh fighting between the government troops and remnants of a local Maute group fighters in southern Philippines Lanao del Sur province. Col. Romeo Brawner of the Philippine 103rd Infantry Brigade said the firefight broke out at around 8:00 a.m. local time when troops encountered 24 members of the so-called "Maute ISIS" remnants, a potent insurgent group that attacked Marawi City in southern Philippines in 2017. "Firefight is still on going as of this posting," Brawner said. Brawner said the Maute fighters also suffered "an undetermined number of casualties." "Casualties were immediately extracted from encounter site for medical treatment," Brawner added. Maj. Gen. Roseller Murillo, 1st Infantry Division and Joint Task Force Zampelan commander, said Thursday's "armed encounter is the result of our relentless campaign against Maute remnants and Abu Dar group." Abu Dar is allegedly the new leader of the Maute group. He has a 6 million pesos (roughly 113,697 U.S. dollars) bounty. Lanao del Sur province on Mindanao island is under martial rule. Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte imposed martial law in the entire island since Maute group attacked Marawi City in May 2017. Security forces ultimately cleared the city and eliminated much of the terrorist leadership, including the Maute brothers who founded the militant group called Islamic State Ranao. At least 1,200 people, including soldiers and terrorists, were killed in the Marawi siege that also flattened the city's business center. The government is still in the process of rebuilding the city's central business district. Philippine Congress has granted Duterte's three requests for martial law extension to quell the rebellion in the southern region. Martial law remains in the region until Dec. 31. Pgiam/iStock(WASHINGTON) -- Some Internal Revenue Service employees are claiming they can't return to work for the upcoming tax season because of financial hardship, a major union said Wednesday, warning that others could follow in their footsteps if the government shutdown continues much longer. That legions of IRS workers might refuse to show for work raises the prospect that Americans could see a significant slowdown in the agency's ability to process tax returns this year. It could also ratchet up pressure on President Donald Trump and congressional Democrats as budget talks remain at a standstill. The Trump administration has tried to mitigate much of the impact of the partial government shutdown by recalling workers for popular programs, such as employees who process federal farm loans and tax refunds, and reclassifying them as essential or "excepted." "There's been a lot of anxiety in my life and the lives of my friends," said Janet Li, an IRS researcher in Washington who before the shutdown began, was working on how the agency would handle the new tax law. With the spending lapse in its second month and employees facing their second missed paycheck, Li said that if she does receive a notice to return to work without pay, she would consider using sick leave or applying for a hardship exemption. And she knows of others who would do the same. Li was among a crowd of federal workers protesting Wednesday on Capitol Hill. "It's to be expected," she told ABC News. "It's a bit unfair to demand people come in and not get paid." The IRS announced last week that it would recall another 36,000 workers to process tax refunds in particular, bringing to 46,000 the number of agency employees required to show up without pay. Under the rules of a government shutdown, any federal workers deemed "essential" could be fired if they don't report to work. They are also prohibited from striking. The agency declined Wednesday to confirm a report by The Washington Post that "hundreds" of IRS employees have filed hardship claims. "The IRS is continuing its work in preparation for next weeks filing season," the agency said in a statement. "We are continuing our recall operations, and we continue to assess the situation at this time." The National Treasury Employees Union said it has told IRS employees not to use the financial hardship claim as a form of protest and that "tens of thousands" of agency workers have taken its advice to "answer the call and return to work" despite the prospect of working without pay. But, the union said, some employees are telling their bosses that returning to work without a paycheck isn't feasible financially. "After a month with no pay, real hardship does exist for IRS employees including not having the money needed to get back and forth to work or to pay for the child care necessary to return to work right now," said NTEU National President Tony Reardon. "Emergencies can occur at any time so the hardship exemption can be requested during a lapse in appropriations when an employee is suddenly unable to return to work. That is why the exemption exists." He added: "I believe that IRS management understands the stress that employees are under and is doing its best to accommodate the very real hardships employees are experiencing." Jenny Brown, head of a local NTEU chapter that represents some 5,000 IRS employees in Ogden, Utah, said she is getting about 10 to 15 calls a day from members asking about hardship leave, which requires a manager's approval. "Really what we're hearing is people want to get back to work, but they want to get paid," she said. Even if all 46,000 IRS workers show up for tax season -- which is expected to start officially next week -- Americans could face some frustration anyway. The 46,000 IRS employees represent less than 60 percent of it's usual workforce. And while the IRS will be adding staff to answer some questions via telephone, the agency said last week, it's warning Americans to expect "heavier call volume" and "longer wait times." Walk-in assistance centers also will remain closed, including those offices intended to help people who are victims of identity theft and are required to visit an IRS office to establish their identity. What will remain in effect is the requirement that people pay their taxes on time, although the agency said it won't conduct any audits during the spending lapse. "During this period, the IRS reminds taxpayers that the underlying tax laws remain in effect, and all taxpayers should continue to meet their tax obligations as normal," the IRS wrote on its website. "Individuals and businesses should keep filing their tax returns and making payments and deposits with the IRS, as they are required to do by law." The plan comes after the White House on Jan. 7 ordered the agency to still process tax returns starting Jan. 28 and issue tax refunds as planned. A disastrous tax season wouldn't be in Trump's best interest politically. In 2017, he signed into law a massive rewrite of the tax code and Republicans were counting on Americans seeing a bump in their refund checks. At least one top Democrat, House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, D-Maryland, has questioned whether recalling so many employees during a shutdown is legal when only the most critical employees should be called on, usually for reasons of public safety. "The president now is going to order them to do what we think is illegal to do because he wants to act like a dictator," Hoyer told reporters earlier this month. "Federal employees are being deeply damaged by this continuing long-term shutdown." The IRS has urged people to file electronically and go to its website with questions. "No live telephone customer service assistance is currently available, although the IRS will be adding staff to answer some of the telephone lines in the coming days," the agency wrote last week. "Due to the heavier call volume, taxpayers should be prepared for longer wait times." The IRS also noted earlier in the shutdown that appointments related to audits and collections would be rescheduled. The agency also said it would not process applications for groups claiming tax-exempt status. Copyright 2019, ABC Radio. All rights reserved. Source: Xinhua| 2019-01-24 14:58:44|Editor: ZX Video Player Close Cambodian Prime Minister Samdech Techo Hun Sen salutes at a ceremony in Phnom Penh Jan. 24, 2019. Cambodia on Thursday celebrated the 20th anniversary of the founding of the Royal Cambodian Army, an arm of the Royal Cambodian Armed Forces. (Xinhua/Sovannara) PHNOM PENH, Jan. 24 (Xinhua) -- Cambodia on Thursday celebrated the 20th anniversary of the founding of the Royal Cambodian Army (RCA), an arm of the Royal Cambodian Armed Forces (RCAF). Dressed in full military regalia, Prime Minister Samdech Techo Hun Sen presided over the ceremony, which was held at the RCA's headquarters on the western outskirts of Phnom Penh. Upon his arrival, Hun Sen, along with his eldest son, Lieutenant General Hun Manet, who is the RCA's commander, rode in open Jeeps to inspect troops. Travelling down a long street lined with tanks, armored vehicles, artillery, rocket launchers, and other weapons as well as military trucks, Hun Sen greeted thousands of troops and encouraged them to constantly strengthen their abilities in national defense. "The army must be ready to defend national independence, sovereignty and the people," Hun Sen said in a speech at the event. He said the army must work together with other forces to maintain peace, political stability, security, and social order. "At any cost, we do not allow anyone to destroy our hard-earned peace," Hun Sen said. He also told the troops to do their best to fight terrorism and to destroy any attempt to overthrow the government through undemocratic and unconstitutional means. "The troops must fight all forms of terrorism that is currently threatening the world. Do not let Cambodia become a shelter for any terrorist group or a base for terrorism attacks," he said. Speaking at the ceremony, Hun Manet vowed to defend the nation, religion and king, and would not allow any ill-intended group or hostile force to topple the legitimate government. "The army is committed to smashing any conspiracy or attempt to destroy peace, and any plot to launch the color revolution in Cambodia," he said. Founded in 1999, the RCA is an arm of the RCAF. The RCAF, established in 1953, is also comprised of the Royal Cambodian Navy and the Royal Cambodian Air Forces. Source: Xinhua| 2019-01-24 14:33:40|Editor: Liu Video Player Close WASHINGTON, Jan. 23 (Xinhua) -- The White House is seeking to evaluate what programs would be highly impacted if the already month-long partial government shutdown continues for weeks longer, U.S. media reported Wednesday. White House Acting Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney has asked agency leaders to provide him with a list of the programs that will be severely undermined if the shutdown extends into March and April, The Washington Post first reported, citing people familiar with the matter. The move signals that the White House is preparing for an even longer funding lapse, as the record-long shutdown, now in its 33rd day, still has no solution in sight. Mulvaney wants the list no later than Friday, the sources said. The record-long shutdown has affected a quarter of the federal government, forcing about 420,000 "essential" employees to work without pay, and 380,000 others to take unpaid leave. Federal workers gathered Wednesday at the Hart Senate Office Building to hold 33 minutes of silent protest, one minute for each day the shutdown has lasted. They also held paper signs with written messages such as "Open the government" and "Let us work." The U.S. Senate will vote on two competing bills Thursday in an attempt to end the partial government shutdown, Republican and Democratic Senate leaders said Tuesday. The two bills, however, still face uncertainty in the Senate as each bill would need to garner 60 votes required to advance. The two spending bills include one with 5.7 billion U.S. dollars to fund the U.S.-Mexico border wall demanded by President Donald Trump, and another that extends funding for closed agencies until Feb. 8. The Republicans have long sided with the president and insisted that any legislation to reopen the government include the border wall money, while the Democrats have repeatedly demanded that Congress reopen the government first, and then the two sides could discuss border security funding. Source: Xinhua| 2019-01-24 14:23:38|Editor: xuxin Video Player Close An Antarctic astronomical facility is seen at the Kunlun Station in Antarctica, Jan. 23, 2019. The Kunlun team of China's 35th Antarctic expedition withdrew from the Kunlun Station on Thursday after completing various scientific exploration projects at the peak of Antarctic's inland icecap. (Xinhua/Liu Shiping) ANTARCTICA, Jan. 24 (Xinhua) -- The Kunlun team of China's 35th Antarctic expedition withdrew from the Kunlun Station on Thursday after completing various scientific exploration projects at the peak of Antarctic's inland icecap. The 16 members, who are now on their way back to the Zhongshan Station, arrived at the Kunlun Station on Jan. 4. The Kunlun Station was erected at Dome Argus (Dome A), the South Pole's highest icecap, at 4,093 meters above sea level. During their stay at the station, the members conducted projects including maintenance of astronomical telescopes and collection of their data in past years, installation and operation of measurement equipment of astronomical sites, and measurement of GPS and gravity. The Kunlun team, facing a lowest temperature of minus 40 degrees Celsius in the station when withdrawing, brought all the garbage on its way back. The team is expected to reach the Zhongshan Station in half a month. The Kunlun Station lies at 80 degrees 25 minutes south latitude and 77 degrees 6 minutes east longitude. It is China's first science station in inland Antarctic as well as the highest science station ever built by mankind on the continent. The station, which celebrates its 10-year anniversary in 2019, has become a key scientific research base covering such areas as Antarctic astronomical observation and deep ice core drilling. Source: Xinhua| 2019-01-24 13:38:31|Editor: Yang Yi Video Player Close UNITED NATIONS, Jan. 23 (Xinhua) -- While the overall situation in Colombia is improving, the country still faces "daunting tasks," including a full implementation of the peace agreement the government signed with guerrilla fighters over two years ago, a Chinese UN envoy said Wednesday. "Thanks to the joint efforts of the Colombian government and relevant parties, the national security situation in Colombia has been generally stable with state institution being restored, economic recovery underway and peace process bearing fruits," said Wu Haitao, China's deputy permanent representative to the UN, speaking at a UN Security Council meeting on Colombia. However, Wu said that the security situation in some parts of Colombia remains fragile, and that the country still "has the daunting tasks of fully implementing the peace agreement, reintegrating former combatants, fighting organized crimes, and realizing economic and social development." Wu condemned a car bombing outside the National Police Academy in Bogota last week, which left 21 dead. He conveyed condolences and sympathy to the bereaved families and the injured. Colombia's National Liberation Army (ELN) guerrilla group has claimed responsibility for the attack. Colombia was once troubled by a long-running conflict between government security forces and various armed opposition groups, including the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC). The conflict had left more than 220,000 people killed since in 1964. The security situation in the country remains fragile despite a peace agreement signed by the Colombian government and FARC in 2016. Wu noted that the Colombian government has comprehensively assessed the situation in the country and endeavors to seek consensus with all parties in Colombia on a revision of the peace agreement. "We hope that all parties in Colombia will cherish the hard-won peace process, further solidify consensus, meet each other half-way and resolve their differences by carrying on the inclusive dialogue and negotiation," the Chinese envoy said. Wu said China will join other members of the UN Security Council to support the work of the secretary-general's special representative for Colombia, advance the Colombian peace process and contribute to an early realization of comprehensive peace and stability in the country. Source: Xinhua| 2019-01-24 13:28:29|Editor: WX Video Player Close LOS ANGELES, Jan. 23 (Xinhua) -- California citrus growers are worried that they would have a "problematic" season this spring despite foreseeable harvest amid trade disputes ignited by the White House with China, Japan and other trade partners. According to Wednesday's report of The Packer, a U.S. leading news and analysis provider in fresh fruit and vegetable industry, California growers are expected to produce 80 million cartons of navel oranges during the 2018 to 2019 season, a jump of 11 percent over last year. But Joel Nelsen, president of Exeter-based California Citrus Mutual, said that trade issues could make exports of naval oranges to China and Japan "problematic" this season. He was quoted as saying that California shippers exported about 5.5 million cartons of navel oranges to China, but the current trade dispute "eliminated a lot of marketing opportunity for our industry." As the largest fruit-producing state in the United States, California produces a wide range of citrus items. The Golden State's growers supply over 80 percent of the nation's fresh citrus and export to over 16 foreign countries. In an interview to AgAleat, a weekly newspaper run by the California Farmer Bureau Federation last December, Nelsen complained that the Trump government's buying program, which was designed to relieve farmers from the trade disputes, can not supplant the tonnage that the farmers lost in exports to China. California's citrus season typically runs until April or May, so there's still time to do business, Nelsen said, but he noted California exporters had already missed out on the Chinese New Year buying period, "a significant marketing opportunity," due to trade disputes. Source: Xinhua| 2019-01-24 13:03:25|Editor: Yamei Video Player Close WASHINGTON, Jan. 23 (Xinhua) -- U.S. President Donald Trump has sent a personal letter to Kim Jong Un, top leader of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), said the White House and DPRK media. "The President (Trump) responded to Chairman Kim's letter," CNN reported late Wednesday, citing White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders. Also on Thursday, the state-run Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) of the DPRK reported that Kim had received a personal letter written by Trump, presented by Kim Yong Chol, the vice chairman of the ruling Workers' Party of Korea (WPK) Central Committee who recently led a delegation to visit Washington and met with Trump and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. Kim "expressed great satisfaction" with the letter, the KCNA reported. Trump and Kim reportedly have exchanged letters several times this month. Early this month in a cabinet meeting, Trump told media that he had received a "great" letter from the DPRK leader. CNN then reported that a letter by Trump "was flown to Pyongyang and delivered by hand" over the weekend on Jan. 12-13. Kim Yong Chol reportedly presented a letter by the DPRK leader to Trump during their meeting on Friday. Representatives of the United States and the DPRK also held a series of talks near Stockholm, Sweden, over last weekend. Pompeo said the talks provided the opportunity for Washington and Pyongyang to discuss some of the complicated issues towards achieving what U.S. and DPRK leaders laid out during their historic first summit last June in Singapore. The talks are seen to pave the way for a possible second summit between Trump and Kim. The White House announced Friday that the second summit between Trump and Kim "will take place near the end of February." Source: Xinhua| 2019-01-24 12:48:23|Editor: Yurou Video Player Close MADRID, Jan. 24 (Xinhua) -- As millions of stargazers around the world watched the super wolf blood moon on Sunday night, some noticed a small flash on the moon's surface, which a Spanish researcher said was caused by the impact of a meteorite. "A rock hits the moon during the total eclipse," Jose Maria Madiedo, an astrophysicist of the University of Huelva in Spain, tweeted Tuesday. Attached to his tweet was a YouTube link displaying the impact flash during the lunar eclipse. In the video, the lunar impact flash was spotted on the top-left half of the moon at 0441 GMT on Jan. 21 and was captured by telescopes operating in the framework of Spain's Moons Impacts Detection and Analysis System (MIDAS) Survey. Madiedo said it's the first impact flash ever seen during a lunar eclipse, although such crater-forming impacts are common, the Associated Press reported. Griffith Observatory in Los Angeles also recorded the impact during its livestream of the eclipse. A second flash was seen a minute after the first by some observers, Anthony Cook, an astronomical observer at Griffith, told AP. The Impact of a small meteorite on the moon is generally hard to spot from the Earth as the ephemeral flash of light is often outshined by the bright moon light. Thus, Sunday's eclipse provided perfect conditions for astronomers to observe. This is the first lunar eclipse in 2019 and happened at a time when the moon was also closest to the Earth. As the moon often takes on a reddish tone during a total lunar eclipse, the celestial event on Sunday was dubbed a super wolf blood moon. According to NASA, the next total lunar eclipse won't happen until 2021. Source: Xinhua| 2019-01-24 12:08:17|Editor: Yurou Video Player Close VIENTIANE, Jan. 24 (Xinhua) -- China and Laos will launch a major campaign on Friday for boosting tourism cooperation between the two countries throughout 2019. Local daily Vientiane Times on Thursday quoted Lao tourism authorities as saying that a number of activities will be held at Lao National Culture Hall on the coming Friday to mark the launch of the year-long tourism promotion. The key activities will include cultural performances and an exhibition of Lao and Chinese tourism products. There will also be films that depict the special attractions of Laos and China, Chinese embassy in Laos told Xinhua on Thursday. More than 4.1 million visitors came to Laos in 2018, 8.2 percent increase compared to 2017. More than 800,000 tourists came from China, an increase of 26 percent, according to Lao Ministry of Information, Culture and Tourism. The Lao Ministry of Information, Culture and Tourism said that senior government officials from Laos and China will deliver speeches to officially launch Visit Laos-China Year 2019. The Lao government has high expectations for the success of the campaign and is hoping for a surge in Chinese visitors. The Lao government project is hoping to attract more than one million Chinese to visit Laos, about 4.5 million visitors in tota in 2019. Lao tourism authorities said a number of activities have been planned specifically for Chinese tourists. These include a China culture week celebrating 58 years of Laos-China diplomatic relations. There will also be a mid-autumn festival and Chinese cultural performances in Luang Prabang, northern of Laos and in capital Vientiane, while tourism authorities will hold a meeting on Laos-China tourism management in Champassak province, southern of Laos, the report said. Source: Xinhua| 2019-01-24 11:58:15|Editor: Yurou Video Player Close NEW DELHI, Jan. 24 (Xinhua) -- The number of tipsy travelers in Delhi's metro rail run by the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) went up by over three times in 2018 as compared to the previous year, according to the statistics of the DMRC. As many as 1,416 drunken passengers were fined in 2018, while the number of such fines in 2017 was 476. Most of the tipsy travelers are said to be boarding metro trains from the stations in central Delhi, which has quite a number of pubs, bars, clubs and other drinking joints. From 2014 to 2018, as many as 3,601 commuters have been fined for travelling in an intoxicated state, and a total of 1.8 million Indian Rupees collected as fines from them, each paying 500 Indian Rupees, a report in English daily The Times of India said on Thursday while quoting the DMRC data. Despite proper warning boards installed at the metro stations against travelling in drunken state, many people flout the rules, the paper quoted a DMRC spokesman as saying. While the DMRC is tasked with the maintenance of the metro infrastructure, the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) handles the law and order within the metro rail premises. According to CISF officials, there have been instances when they had to drop tipsy commuters home or to a safe location. In March last year, the personnel had to drop a woman home after she was not allowed to board the metro train at Samaipur Badli for being too drunk. A tipsy person is allowed to travel in metro rail if he or she has a friend or associate with him or her. Officials said there have been instances where drunk passengers have got into brawl with passengers and even tried to jump on the tracks. Source: Xinhua| 2019-01-24 11:53:13|Editor: Yurou Video Player Close PYONGYANG, Jan. 24 (Xinhua) -- Kim Jong Un, top leader of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), has instructed officials to make "good technical preparations" for a second DPRK-U.S. summit, the state-run Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported on Thursday. Kim met the delegation to the recent DPRK-U.S. high-level talks, led by Kim Yong Chol, vice-chairman of the Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea, and was briefed on the results and details of the visit to Washington, the report said. Kim expressed satisfaction over the results of the talks and "set forth tasks and orientation for making good technical preparations for the second DPRK-U.S. summit high on the agenda," said the KCNA report. It was the first time the DPRK media reported about the possible second DPRK-U.S. summit, which has made international headlines recently. But the KCNA did not give any further details about its timing and location. The DPRK delegation led by Kim Yong Chol visited the White House, met U.S. President Donald Trump and "discussed the issue for the second DPRK-U.S. summit and also had negotiations with the U.S. working group on a series of issues to be settled between the two countries," the report said. The DPRK delegation met with U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo last week. The U.S. side said Trump would meet the top DPRK leader again, after their first historic meeting in Singapore last June. The DPRK leader received a letter from Trump presented by Kim Yong Chol and "expressed great satisfaction" with "the good personal letter sent by President Trump." "He spoke highly of President Trump for expressing his unusual determination and will for the settlement of the issue with a great interest in the second DPRK-U.S. summit," the KCNA said. "We will believe in the positive way of thinking of President Trump, wait with patience and in good faith and, together with the U.S., advance step by step toward the goal to be reached by the two countries of the DPRK and the U.S," Kim was quoted as saying. Source: Xinhua| 2019-01-24 11:43:12|Editor: Yang Yi Video Player Close Chinese Vice President Wang Qishan addresses the 2019 annual meeting of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, on Jan. 23, 2019. (Xinhua/Huang Jingwen) DAVOS, Switzerland, Jan. 23 (Xinhua) -- After hearing Chinese Vice President Wang Qishan's latest address at Davos Wednesday afternoon, Randall Lane, chief content officer of Forbes, described the speech as "encouraging and thoughtful," with a "global and optimistic outlook of the world." Citing the Swiss proverb "torches light up each other," Wang elaborated on the Chinese leadership's vision of global governance first outlined by President Xi Jinping in a speech at Davos two years ago. Wang told the star-studded forum that in this era of unfolding economic globalization, the entire mankind has a common stake, and that only through joint efforts can a great future be created for all mankind. "I think it is an important speech in a sense that he is calling for cooperation, not calling for confrontation. His message is, let's be inclusive, let's go for cooperation, and ... that's very positive," said Ricardo Melendez-Ortiz, founder and chief executive of the International Center for Trade and Sustainable Development. "What Vice President Wang said today, I think, is a follow-up and confirmation of what President Xi said two years ago. In a way, it's an elaboration of the message of President Xi," he said. Indeed, Wang's well-received speech showed that two years after Xi's speech in Davos, the Chinese leader's vision of global governance has gained more support from the world elites amid uncertainties. The WEF annual meeting this year deals with challenges and opportunities of globalization against the backdrop of the fourth industrial revolution. It is a continuation of the Davos meeting two years ago where Xi championed globalization and multilateralism in his speech. Xi in 2017 called for joint efforts to chart the course of economic globalization and forge new models of global growth, cooperation, governance and development. "Mankind has become a close-knit community of shared future. Countries have extensive converging interests and are mutually dependent," he said. Xi's presence and the Chinese wisdom, amid rising global concerns about protectionism and anti-globalization sentiments, had tremendous "historic significance," said WEF founder and Executive Chairman Klaus Schwab. Chinese wisdom again features prominently at the meeting this year whose main theme is "Globalization 4.0" and which has drawn more than 3,000 world elites to the snow-capped Swiss town of Davos. On the first day of this year's annul meeting which runs from Jan. 22 to 25, a roster of young panelists in the opening plenary agreed that a more "human-centered globalization" is critical "for our shared prosperity and sustainable future," a message consistent with Xi's vision of a community of shared future for mankind. Michael Moller, director-general of the UN Office at Geneva, said at the forum this year that countries need to reinvent international solidarity, reinforce multilateralism, and find ways of working together better, smarter and with a much greater purpose and speed. All of the big issues, namely, climate change, migration, health and corruption, need a "collective approach" by the world, he said. According to the agenda, during this year's Davos meeting, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres will deliver a special address to "sound the alarm on the state of global collaboration." Trade protectionism, economic nationalism, populism and trade tensions have reared their heads over the past years. Xi talked in 2017 about "a world of contradictions" and warned against protectionism and trade wars. Joe Kaeser, CEO of Siemens, said during this year's China Business Night at Davos that if we failed to deal with the many problems such as populism and nationalism, the international society will further be divided. He called on the world governments and business leaders to "work together." "If you join this process I will support you, I will be your partners," he said. In an interview ahead of the 2019 Davos meeting, British scholar Martin Albrow recalled that Xi had said two years ago at Davos that the global economy is "the big ocean that you cannot escape from" and that any attempt to retreat back to isolation runs counter to the historical trend. "The Chinese leadership generally has a very clear-sighted idea of globalization which the world can benefit from," said Albrow. Albrow said a major solution offered by China to tackle global challenges and build an open and more inclusive economy is the Belt and Road Initiative, aimed at promoting inclusive growth by building a trade and infrastructure network connecting Asia with Europe and Africa along and beyond the ancient trade routes of the Silk Road. The 2019 Davos meeting also discussed on the first day how businesses and governments can ensure the success of the ambitious initiative as an engine of development and growth. Azerbaijan President Ilham Aliyev said the creation of modernist infrastructure is one of the main objectives of his government. Azerbaijan "definitely" supports the Belt and Road Initiative, he said. Related: Chinese VP calls for shaping global architecture for better future of mankind Source: Xinhua| 2019-01-24 11:43:11|Editor: Yurou Video Player Close BEIJING, Jan. 24 (Xinhua) -- China's dazzling performance in tourism development have strongly propelled travel-related industries in Asia-Pacific region and around the world in recent years, China Daily reported Thursday. In 2017, the number of inbound travelers staying overnight in China had gone up 2.5 percent compared with 2016, reaching 60.7 million, and Chinese travelers have made 140 million outbound trips in 2018, a 11 million increase from 2017, said the newspaper, citing a report by the China Tourism Academy. It said that international visitors bound for China accounted for nearly 20 percent of all travelers and 8.4 percent of the tourism revenue generated in the Asia-Pacific region. China have provided strong support to the development of tourism in other countries in the region. For example, almost 60 percent of the 4.7 billion U.S. dollars Cambodia received in the first nine months of 2018 to develop its tourism came from China. Based on the statistics, the academy projected that tourism around the world will grow steadily in 2019, with the Asia-Pacific area sees the fastest growth in inbound tourism. According to the report, China has been powering the world's tourism development since the Belt and Road Initiative was announced in 2013. Booming mobile payment services in China have also contributed to the growth of tourism industry substantially. Source: Xinhua| 2019-01-24 11:23:05|Editor: Yang Yi Video Player Close BEIJING, Jan. 24 (Xinhua) -- Academic test-takers for the International English Language Testing System (IELTS) on the Chinese mainland are shown to have improved in all four language skills of listening, speaking, reading and writing from 2012 to 2018, the China Daily reported Thursday. A new IELTS white paper said the average score for the test-takers on the mainland reached 5.72 points for the 2017-18 period, 0.16 points higher than the 2012-13 period. Reading scores improved the most, from 5.9 points in the 2012-13 period to 6.15 points in the 2017-18 period, while speaking scores only increased by 0.02 points, said the white paper released Wednesday by the British Council, co-owner of the IELTS. Candidates in Shanghai ranked first place in the four skills, said the white paper, based on the results of all mainland IELTS test-takers from June 1, 2017 to May 31, 2018. Undergraduate students continue to be the main group of IELTS test-takers on the mainland, accounting for 52 percent, while those under age 18 form the second-largest group, at 18 percent of the total, the white paper said, adding that 88.6 percent of the test-takers had overseas studies in mind. Chu Zhaohui, a senior researcher at the National Institute of Education Sciences, said the English proficiency of people in China has improved steadily thanks to education reforms adopted by the government and the opening-up of Chinese society. While he also noted the greatly varying English proficiency across the country and the challenge to "lift everybody to the same kinds of opportunities for language learning." Source: Xinhua| 2019-01-24 11:13:03|Editor: WX Video Player Close YANGON, Jan. 24 (Xinhua) -- Myanmar's fishery sector is preparing to undergo test by the Saudi Food and Drug Authority (SFDA) for probable resumption of its fishery export to Saudi Arabia which was suspended last year, the official Global New Light of Myanmar reported on Thursday. A total of 25 fish factories in Myanmar cater to the Saudi market. The inspection by the SFDA is being arranged following the negotiation between Myanmar's Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Irrigation and the SFDA in December 2018. Saudi imposed a ban on fishery import from Myanmar starting April last year along with Bangladesh and India, after its suspension of seafood import from Vietnam. The ban followed the detection of two prawn diseases during an inspection by Saudi officials. Myanmar Fishery Federation at that time urged the government to take action to get access to the market again, saying that Saudi Arabia's embargo on Myanmar seafood will affect not only the prawn but also the fish industry. Due to Saudi Arabia's suspension of Myanmar's farmed fish, fish farmers sending their produces to the local market claimed suffering loss and the volume of fish farming also declined in 2018. The Saudi market accounts for 30 percent of Myanmar's farm-raised fish exports and 40 percent of rohu exports. Source: Xinhua| 2019-01-24 10:07:53|Editor: WX Video Player Close YANGON, Jan. 24 (Xinhua) -- Myanmar is drafting a national strategy on combating money laundering and terrorism financing, Myanmar News Agency reported on Thursday. "The aim and objectives of the strategy should be practical and attainable so that we can reduce the risks outlined in the national risk assessment," Maj-Gen Aung Thu, deputy minister of home affairs and head of the draft committee, said on Wednesday. He said suggestions and advice from relevant departments and organizations will be added to the national strategy and will require actual implementation to follow. The draft national strategy will be forwarded to the government for approval. Myanmar is stepping up drive for anti-money laundering and anti-terrorism financing as part of the work procedure of Asia-Pacific Group (APG) on Money Laundering. Myanmar formed the Anti-Money Laundering Central Committee in August 2014, chaired by Minister of Home Affairs Lt-Gen Kyaw Swe, in a bid to effectively combat money laundering. Tasked to formulate policies on anti-money laundering and combating financial support for terrorism, the central board is also cooperating with international and regional organizations and neighboring countries in fight against money laundering, exchanging information on financial intelligence relating to money laundering. Source: Xinhua| 2019-01-24 08:37:41|Editor: Yamei Video Player Close ISLAMABAD, Jan. 24 (Xinhua) -- The China-Pakistan Study Center has launched a magazine with an aim to cover the entire gamut of the relationship between the two countries, including politics, economy, culture and people-to-people contacts. The launching ceremony of the inaugural edition of the quarterly magazine named "Pivot" was held Wednesday at the Institute of Strategic Studies, Islamabad, attended by Chinese Ambassador to Pakistan Yao Jing, Pakistan's Foreign Secretary Tehmina Janjua, as well as scholars, academics, authors and diplomats. In his message on the occasion, Pakistan's Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi hailed the start of the magazine and expressed his confidence that it would be a valuable resource for learning about the richness and promise of China-Pakistan relations, which are based on the unshakeable foundation of mutual trust. Qureshi said the steady and close relationship between Pakistan and China is a positive factor for the political stability of the region and its economic integration. "From politics and diplomacy to economy and defense, the countries are finding new ways to ensure the prosperity of their people," said Qureshi, adding that China-Pakistan Economic Corridor under the Belt and Road Initiative reflects the collective desire of China and Pakistan to usher the region into an era of shared prosperity. Chief Editor of the magazine Talat Shabbir said the aim of the publication is to project the all-weather, time-tested strategic partnership of the two countries and to fill the knowledge vacuum in a rapidly transforming world. On the occasion, Ambassador Yao appreciated the magazine for its prospect to help promote the Sino-Pak relations. Yao said China and Pakistan had a commitment to promoting peace and stability in the region and in the world at large, adding that China-Pakistan relations will make a new exemplary contribution to building a community with a shared future for mankind. Terming development as a key to peace, the ambassador said China would like to align the development strategies of both countries and work together to achieve the great dreams of the two countries. Tehmina Janjua said the magazine with its name "Pivot" will be the true reflection of the great relations between the two countries which stand vital for each other in their foreign policies. Janjua termed China-Pakistan relations as the anchor of the strategic stability in the region and hoped that the magazine will offer a platform for the young generation, scholars and diplomats to understand and carry on these in-depth special relations between the two countries. Source: Xinhua| 2019-01-24 07:30:06|Editor: WX Video Player Close Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte speaks during a plenary session at the 49th annual meeting of the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, Switzerland, Jan. 23, 2019. Attended by over 60 heads of state or government, 40 international organization heads and 1,700 business leaders, the four-day WEF meeting kicked off on Tuesday. (Xinhua/Xu Jinquan) Source: Xinhua| 2019-01-24 06:42:20|Editor: Mu Xuequan Video Player Close KHARTOUM, Jan. 23 (Xinhua) -- At least two children were killed and 50 people injured in an explosion south of the Sudanese capital Khartoum, Sudanese Police announced Wednesday. "An unfortunate incident took place on Tuesday evening at Jabal Awliya locality, which led to the killing of two children and injuring of 50 others, some of them with serious injuries," Hashim Abdel-Rahim, Sudanese police spokesman, said in a statement Wednesday. "The incident took place because a person threw an explosive device during a wedding ceremony at Mayo neighbourhood in Jabal Awliya locality," he noted. He said that the investigation efforts resulted in the arrest of the suspect, pointing out that a criminal case has been opened against the defendant under charges of murder as well as causing harm. Rahim said the investigation into the incident is continuing under the supervision of the prosecution, noting that evidence indicated that the reason behind the incident is related to the marriage event itself. Source: Xinhua| 2019-01-24 06:42:19|Editor: Mu Xuequan Video Player Close WASHINGTON, Jan. 23 (Xinhua) -- Five people were killed Wednesday after a shooter opened fire in a bank in the U.S. state of Florida, according to local police. "After an assessment of the scene we were sorry to learn that we have at least five victims, people who were senselessly murdered as a result of his act in this bank," Sebring Police Chief Karl Hoglund told reporters at a press conference. Previous reports indicated that multiple people were shot as the result of the attack and that the suspect surrendered after law enforcement officials surrounded the bank. It is unclear how many people were wounded. The suspect was identified as a 21-year-old Zephen Xaver, according to local media. Ron DeSantis, Florida governor who also attended the press conference, vowed that the suspect would face "swift, exacting justice." Sebring is in central Florida, about 140 kilometers south of Orlando. Florida has been marred by mass shootings in recent years. In February 2018, a teenager killed 17 people at a high school in Parkland, and in June 2016, a gunman killed 49 people at a nightclub in Orlando. The guided-missile destroyer USS Barry launches a Tomahawk cruise missile from the ship's bow in the Mediterranean Sea in this U.S. Navy handout photo taken March 29, 2011. (Reuters Photo) MOSCOW, Jan. 23 (Xinhua) -- The Russian 9M729 land-based cruise missile, contrary to the allegations of the United States, does not fall under the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty (INF), senior Russian officials said Wednesday. "Russia has fulfilled and continues to strictly observe the provisions of the treaty and does not allow any violations," said Lt.-Gen. Mikhail Matveyevsky, Chief of the Missile Troops and Artillery Branch of the Russian Armed Forces. He spoke at a news briefing on the cruise missile for military attaches and Russian and foreign media, saying that the United States uses the missile to accuse Russia of violating the 1987 treaty and threatens to abandon it. "The 9M729 missile could not be tested at the prohibited range of 500 to 5,500 km, as it was developed for other purposes," Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said at the briefing. According to Matveyevsky, the missile, which was demonstrated at the briefing in the Moscow region, is a modernized version of the 9M728 cruise missile, part of the short-range Iskander-M missile system. The 9M729 missile is 53 cm longer than its predecessor and its maximum range decreased by 10 km to 480 km, which is below the minimum 500 km range set by the treaty, Matveyevsky said. Under the INF Treaty signed between the Soviet Union and the United States, the parties committed themselves to liquidating their ground-based medium-range and shorter-range missiles, the launchers of such missiles, as well as the associated auxiliary facilities and equipment. By June 1991, the Soviet Union destroyed 1846 medium- and shorter-range missiles, as well as 106 launchers and 239 Oka missiles with a range of 400 km as a gesture of goodwill, Matveyevsky said. Meanwhile, Ryabkov said that the United States is testing drones and other systems banned by the INF treaty. He recalled that Russia, which defends the preservation of the treaty, had proposed to the United States "to jointly think over measures of transparency with regard to the means that are the subject of Russian concerns." In October, U.S. President Donald Trump said Washington would pull out of the INF Treaty on account of Russia's alleged breach of the agreement, which Moscow has repeatedly denied, saying that it has been making every effort to maintain the arms control deal. Source: Xinhua| 2019-01-24 05:01:51|Editor: Mu Xuequan Video Player Close BEIRUT, Jan. 23 (Xinhua) -- Finland donated on Wednesday 3.7 million euros (4.2 million U.S. dollars) to the "No Lost Generation" program in Lebanon by the United Nations International Children Emergency Fund (UNICEF), local media reported. The program aimed at providing children over 10 years old with access to protection, social assistance and education. "More than 7,000 children and youths, currently out of any form of learning and exposed to high risks of child labor and child marriage, will receive access to informal learning, psychosocial support, social assistance, and competency-based and life skill training," said a statement issued by the UNICEF and released by the National News Agency. The new funding will focus on the most vulnerable children in 56 municipalities in Lebanon. Finnish ambassador to Lebanon Tarja Fernandez said that supporting young people's education and vocational training gives them a chance for a better future. Violet Speek Warnery, UNICEF's deputy representative in Lebanon, said her agency will continue to support vulnerable children and adolescents with education, protection and opportunities for a better future through Finland's contribution. "We are grateful to the government of Finland for their continuous support for our work with children and families in need," she said. Source: Xinhua| 2019-01-24 04:51:50|Editor: Mu Xuequan Video Player Close JUBA, Jan. 23 (Xinhua) -- South Sudan peace monitors on Wednesday called for unification of armed forces as implementation of the revitalized peace agreement which was inked in September last year, enters crucial period. Augostino Njoroge, Interim Chairperson of the reconstituted Joint Monitoring and Evaluation Commission (JMEC) said disengagement, cantonment and unification of armed forces in South Sudan will be a decisive milestone. "It is very important that all the armed forces of South Sudan are unified," Njoroge told the opening of the third plenary of the reconstituted JMEC in Juba. "With the rapid approach of the transitional period, their unification will be a decisive milestone for this agreement, which is why no effort should be spared in achieving this," he added. The warring parties were required to disengage troops and establish assembly points and cantonment sites within 30 days of the signing of the revitalized peace deal. However, lack of funds delayed the start of the crucial exercise under security arrangements. Njoroge said he was encouraged by the Joint Defence Board's decision last week to visit and assess potential sites for pilot cantonments in Yei, Panyume and Moroto. He, however said he was unhappy to hear of field commanders who continue to obstruct verification of forces by Ceasefire and Transitional Security Arrangements Monitoring and Verification Mechanism (CTSAMMVM) as required by the Permanent Ceasefire and Transitional Security Arrangements. "I expect that the work of the security institutions and mechanisms will quickly gather momentum, and that practical steps shall be taken to expedite the disengagement, cantonment and unification of forces," said Njoroge. The unification of armed forces aims to ensure unity among the new army and prevent clashes during the 30-month transitional period which starts in May. Njoroge called on the National Pre-transitional Committee and the incumbent Transitional Government of National Unity to take the lead in mobilizing all requisite resources for implementation, establish effective mechanisms for disbursing funds, and support the other mechanisms of the Agreement to carry out their tasks without delay. "We continue our outreach to the donor community in the search for funds to support implementation, and we reiterate our heartfelt thanks for those who have already made contributions, be it financially or in-kind," said Njoroge. South Sudan's conflict that has now entered its fifth year erupted in 2013 after forces loyal to President Salva Kiir and his former deputy Riek Machar engaged in combat. Millions of South Sudanese civilians have sought refuge in neighboring countries as the conflict rages on despite attempts by international players to end it. Source: Xinhua| 2019-01-24 04:31:45|Editor: Mu Xuequan Video Player Close WASHINGTON, Jan. 23 (Xinhua) -- U.S. President Donald Trump said Wednesday that the United States had recognized Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido as the nation's "interim president," a move that came after Nicolas Maduro was inaugurated as president of the Latin American country earlier this month. "Today, I am officially recognizing the President of the Venezuelan National Assembly, Juan Guaido, as the Interim President of Venezuela," Trump said in a statement issued by the White House. Trump added that the United States would continue to use economic and diplomatic power to press for "the restoration of Venezuelan democracy." Guaido, head of the opposition-controlled National Assembly, declared himself "interim president" of Venezuela earlier Wednesday. Venezuela's incumbent President Maduro was elected last year with 67.84 percent of the votes, and he was sworn in as president on Jan. 10 for another six-year term. Also on Wednesday, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo reiterated in a statement that the United States would cooperate with other members of the international community to deal with the situation in Venezuela. Last week, Venezuela's Foreign Minister Jorge Arreaza denounced that Pompeo led "a criminal economic blockade and an operation of international aggression against Venezuela." Source: Xinhua| 2019-01-24 04:16:42|Editor: Mu Xuequan Video Player Close CAIRO, Jan. 23 (Xinhua) -- Egypt's army, backed by the police, is beefing up security presence nationwide ahead of the eighth anniversary of the Jan. 25 uprising that overthrew longtime ruler Hosni Mubarak. Field armies and military forces will be deployed to secure vital sites and major roads and thoroughfares, the army said in a statement on Wednesday. There are no official celebrations to mark the 18-day revolt of 2011, which ended Mubarak's 30-year reign. Instead, the focus has so far been on celebrating Police Day, which, before the uprising, had long been celebrated on Jan. 25 to commemorate the police's role in protecting Egyptians under the British occupation. Troops and police will be sent out on patrols to deal with any attempt to break the law, the army said. Security will be tightened along the Suez Canal, a major global shipping route, and near the country's borders to forestall infiltration or smuggling attempts, the statement added. "Combat groups will be on the streets along with rapid response units to counter any possible hostilities," the statement said. Earlier in the day, Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi said the state will continue to carry out its duties on all levels, which involve combating terrorism, reinforcing the rule of law, empowering state institutions. He made the comments in a speech at the Police Academy during a celebration on the occasion of the 67th National Police Day, which also coincides with the 8th anniversary of 25 January uprising. Sisi said that the challenges faced by Egypt in recent years have been some of the most difficult in its modern history. For the past few years, Sisi said, Egypt has faced great difficulties and challenges represented in attempts by "forces of darkness and evil groups to hinder our path and terrorize our safe society." "To these evil forces I say that the Egyptian people, through wisdom developed over thousands of years and with their trust in the efficiency of their police and Armed Forces, are able to distinguish between right and wrong," the president added. "I would like to salute on the occasion of the Jan. 25 revolution, through which the Egyptian people expressed their aspiration to build a new future for this country, where all of its people enjoy a decent life," Sisi said. Before the president's speech, Minister of Interior Mahmoud Tawfik said the police will not tolerate anyone raising arms against the Egyptian people. Source: Xinhua| 2019-01-24 04:01:38|Editor: Mu Xuequan Video Player Close CAIRO, Jan. 23 (Xinhua) -- Egypt's President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi said on Wednesday that the upcoming economic reform measures will not be as harsh as those that have already been implemented in the country. He made the comments in a speech during a celebration of the National Police Day, where he praised and saluted the Egyptian people for enduring the hardships brought about by the country's austerity measures. "The economic reform program was undoubtedly harsh, but it was a decisive response to the challenges and circumstances that had led our economy to the situation it was in," Sisi said. Sisi also said that the challenges faced by Egypt in recent years have been some of the most difficult ones in its modern history. "For the past few years, we have faced great difficulties and challenges, perhaps the most serious in our times, represented in the attempts by forces of darkness and evil groups to hinder our path and terrorize our safe society," Sisi said. He affirmed that the state will continue to carry out its duties on all levels, which involve combating terrorism, reinforcing the rule of law, empowering state institutions, achieving comprehensive development and promoting the principles of tolerance, coexistence and citizenship. The National Police Day marks a battle fought by police forces in 1952 against British occupation forces in Ismailia City on the west bank of the Suez Canal. The British occupation, which ruled Egypt from 1882 until 1956, had issued a warning to Egyptian forces to evacuate the area so they can take full control of the Canal, but the police forces stood their ground. Dozens of police personnel were killed and over 80 others were injured in the Ismailia battle. Source: Xinhua| 2019-01-24 03:41:30|Editor: Mu Xuequan Video Player Close NICOSIA, Jan. 23 (Xinhua) -- Seven southern European Union (EU) Countries will hold a summit in Nicosia on Jan. 29 to discuss issues of special interest to them, but also wider EU issues emerging from Britain's still uncertain withdrawal from the Union, Cypriot Foreign Minister Nicos Christodoulides said on Wednesday. He said that immigration, energy security, climatic changes and regional issues are of special interest to the seven countries, namely, Cyprus, Greece, Italy, Malta, France, Spain and Portugal. The heads of state or government of the seven countries will also discuss the multiannual financial framework for 2021-2017 and the upcoming EU-Arab League meeting. "Given the present state of affairs in EU as it is shaped by the exit of Britain from EU and other issues facing the Union that will be discussed at the May 9 meeting in Romania on Europe's future, the Cyprus summit is of special importance," Christodoulides said in setting out the framework of discussions. He said that a declaration will be issued after the summit. The minister said that Cyprus will lay special emphasis on the immigration problem which most southern EU countries are faced with. Cyprus has repeatedly warned the EU that it can hardly manage the large number of unregulated immigrants arriving in Cyprus. The Ministry of Interior has said that over 4,000 immigrants arrived last year in the 1.2 million population island, with their numbers going up recently to 1,000 a month. "All Mediterranean countries are faced with this problem to a much more extend than other EU countries and we aim at reaching specific proposals...The declaration will include a very concrete position on this issue," the minister added. He also said that Cypriot President Nicos Anastasiades will have scheduled bilateral meetings with the leaders of France, Portugal and Italy. Sources said that the most important of these meetings will be with France's Emmanuel Macron, as the two leaders are to discuss important cooperation agreements, including providing security to energy projects in the eastern Mediterranean. Likewise, Anastasiades will discuss with the Italian prime minister the EastMed project, a 2,000-kilometer pipe planned to carry natural gas from the eastern Mediterranean to Europe through Cyprus, Greece and Italy. Source: Xinhua| 2019-01-24 03:41:30|Editor: Mu Xuequan Video Player Close DOHA, Jan. 23 (Xinhua) -- Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir left Doha on Wednesday after a two-day visit to Qatar, the state-run Qatar news agency (QNA) reported. Bashir left the Hamad International Airport this evening and was seen off by Qatar's Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Sultan al-Merikhi, said the QNA. Bashir had a session of talks with Emir of Qatar Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani and exchanged views about developments in Sudan. The emir expressed Qatar's firm stance that is strongly keen on Sudan's unity and stability. The two sides also discussed latest developments about the peace process in Darfur and means to further bilateral ties as well as regional and international issues. The Sudanese president arrived in Doha on Tuesday, his first official visit outside Sudan after the domestic protests against the economic situation and price hikes broke out on Dec. 19, 2018. Source: Xinhua| 2019-01-24 03:11:23|Editor: Mu Xuequan Video Player Close PARIS, Jan. 23 (Xinhua) -- France has preserved its attractiveness and kept luring foreign investors despite a sometimes violent social uprising that has taken a toll on domestic economic activities, according to a document presented at a weekly Council of Ministers meeting on Wednesday. Taking into account the rolling protests staged by people angry with the high costs of living, a Kantar survey commissioned by Business France found "encouraging results": 87 percent of the economic decision-makers polled thought that France was an attractive destination for foreign investment. Furthermore, 61 percent believed that France's attractiveness had improved over the past two years, against 20 percent who said it had deteriorated. This dynamism was attributed to the "clarity and breadth of the government's reform agenda," which President Emmanuel Macron defended when he met, earlier this week, the world's leading CEOs over dinner at the iconic Chateau de Versailles near Paris. In its second year, the "Choose France" summit, which aims to shed more light on France's assets, drew investment projects worth 600 million euros (683.34 million U.S. dollars), according to local media. "The success of the Versailles summit, which brought together more than 150 French and foreign business leaders from thirty different nationalities, shows France's attractiveness," ministers of foreign affairs and finances said in joint statement. "It confirms the growth of foreign investment flows in our country ... and that the image of France is experiencing a major improvement among international economic decision-makers and in the major markets," they added. "In a context where expectations remain strong," the government intends to carry out reforms to enhance the country's attractiveness mainly by finalizing the legislative and regulatory procedures laid down in the Action Plan for Business Growth and Transformation of Enterprises (PACTE) that aims to facilitate the creation of enterprises and the provision of incentives to innovate, expand and create jobs. The government has also pledged to further decrease the tax burden on businesses, reform the pension system, introduce an unemployment insurance scheme and improve France's presence in international economic forums. Source: Xinhua| 2019-01-24 03:01:21|Editor: Mu Xuequan Video Player Close NICOSIA, Jan. 23 (Xinhua) -- Cyprus President Nicos Anastasiades on Wednesday angrily dismissed warnings by the European Commission (EC) over his country's investment for citizenship program. "Cyprus is being unjustly targeted over this issue when it issues only 0.3 percent of the passports issued by EU states to foreign citizens," Anastasiades said. He was commenting on a report by the EC warning EU countries, including Cyprus, over their programs that grant nationality and visas to wealthy foreigners. "At some point, these double standards must end... Cyprus has the strictest criteria among the 20 EU countries which offer the possibility of acquiring European citizenship," he said. The president suggested expediency and competition were the reasons why Cyprus was being singled out. Asked by Cypriot correspondents in Brussels about Anastasiades's statements, European Commissioner for Migration, Home Affairs and Citizenship, Dimitris Avramopoulos, said that the Commission report was not meant to blame any country, but to send a strong message to all EU member states that operate such schemes. The report was the first document the EU executive has produced on the so-called investor citizenship schemes, which allow rich individuals to buy citizenship or residence rights in exchange for investment. The report singled out the programs operated by Cyprus, Bulgaria and Malta, pointing out that these could help organized crime groups infiltrate the bloc and raise the risk of money laundering, alleging that they do not sufficiently check the origins of wealth of individuals and do not allow their easy identification. The Cypriot Minister of Commerce and Energy, Giorgos Lakkotrypis, who is also in charge of investment, said in a reply to a member of parliament on Wednesday that since 2013, when an economic crisis hit Cyprus, about one half of all foreign investment came from the "citizenship for investment scheme". He said that investments in the period between 2014 and 2017 totaled 9.2 billion euros (10.5 billion U.S. dollars), and investments in exchange for citizenship between 2013 and 2016 amounted to 4.8 billion euros. According to the latest available data, close to 2,400 "investment for citizenship" applications were filed between May 2013 and August 2018. However, not all applicants sought citizenship by purchasing a house, as several of them invested in large projects and businesses. Under the program, third country nationals may live in Cyprus permanently if they buy property worth 300,000 euros excluding VAT, or obtain citizenship with an investment of 2.5 million euros excluding VAT. (1 euro = 1.14 U.S. dollars) Source: Xinhua| 2019-01-24 03:01:20|Editor: WX Video Player Close Lt.Gen. Mikhail Matveyevsky (front), Chief of the Missile Troops and Artillery Branch of the Russian Armed Forces, speaks during a demonstration of the 9M729 missile at the Patriot Congress and Exhibition Center, outside Moscow, Russia, on Jan. 23, 2019. The Russian 9M729 land-based cruise missile, contrary to the allegations of the United States, does not fall under the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty (INF), senior Russian officials said Wednesday. (Xinhua/Bai Xueqi) MOSCOW, Jan. 23 (Xinhua) -- The Russian 9M729 land-based cruise missile, contrary to the allegations of the United States, does not fall under the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty (INF), senior Russian officials said Wednesday. "Russia has fulfilled and continues to strictly observe the provisions of the treaty and does not allow any violations," said Lt.-Gen. Mikhail Matveyevsky, Chief of the Missile Troops and Artillery Branch of the Russian Armed Forces. He spoke at a news briefing on the cruise missile for military attaches and Russian and foreign media, saying that the United States uses the missile to accuse Russia of violating the 1987 treaty and threatens to abandon it. "The 9M729 missile could not be tested at the prohibited range of 500 to 5,500 km, as it was developed for other purposes," Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said at the briefing. According to Matveyevsky, the missile, which was demonstrated at the briefing in the Moscow region, is a modernized version of the 9M728 cruise missile, part of the short-range Iskander-M missile system. The 9M729 missile is 53 cm longer than its predecessor and its maximum range decreased by 10 km to 480 km, which is below the minimum 500 km range set by the treaty, Matveyevsky said. Under the INF Treaty signed between the Soviet Union and the United States, the parties committed themselves to liquidating their ground-based medium-range and shorter-range missiles, the launchers of such missiles, as well as the associated auxiliary facilities and equipment. By June 1991, the Soviet Union destroyed 1846 medium- and shorter-range missiles, as well as 106 launchers and 239 Oka missiles with a range of 400 km as a gesture of goodwill, Matveyevsky said. Meanwhile, Ryabkov said that the United States is testing drones and other systems banned by the INF treaty. He recalled that Russia, which defends the preservation of the treaty, had proposed to the United States "to jointly think over measures of transparency with regard to the means that are the subject of Russian concerns." In October, U.S. President Donald Trump said Washington would pull out of the INF Treaty on account of Russia's alleged breach of the agreement, which Moscow has repeatedly denied, saying that it has been making every effort to maintain the arms control deal. Source: Xinhua| 2019-01-24 02:41:16|Editor: Mu Xuequan Video Player Close BAGHDAD, Jan. 23 (Xinhua) -- The Iraqi paramilitary Hashd Shaabi artillery on Wednesday carried out cross-border shelling on positions of the Islamic State (IS) militants inside Syria, leaving a total of 43 militants killed or wounded. "In a preemptive operation, the artillery carried out precise shelling on a hideout, where many IS militants were gathering, in al-Baghouz in Syria, killing or wounding more than 43 terrorists as well as destroying the terrorists' vehicles and fuel stores," Hashd Shaabi quoted Qasim Muslih, leader of Hashd Shaabi brigades in Iraq's western province of Anbar, as saying. "The shelling came after receiving accurate intelligence reports indicating that the Daesh (IS group) militants were preparing for an attack on (Iraqi) security forces on the border between Iraq and Syria," Muslih said. Earlier, the paramilitary Hashd Shaabi forces, deployed near the Iraqi-Syrian border, have reinforced their presence near the border line with Syria after the IS seized late last year positions of Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) on the Syrian side near the border with Iraq. The security situation in Iraq has been dramatically improved after Iraqi security forces fully defeated the extremist IS militants across the country in late 2017. However, groups and individuals of extremist militants melted or regrouped in urban and rugged areas, and are carrying out attacks against the security forces and civilians despite operations from time to time to hunt them down. Source: Xinhua| 2019-01-24 02:26:10|Editor: Mu Xuequan Video Player Close TUNIS, Jan. 23 (Xinhua) -- Hungary released a credit line of around 260 million euros (296.16 million U.S. dollars) for Tunisian companies to strengthen their export capacity, the Hungarian Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Peter Szijjarto, said Wednesday. Szijjarto said this credit line would serve Tunisian companies in difficult economic situations, to have the necessary liquidity in foreign currency, adding that these companies could establish joint partnerships to promote Tunisian-Hungarian trade. The minister, who is on a one-day visit to Tunisia, said the visit will "strengthen bilateral cooperation between Tunisia and Hungary in areas such as economy, security, culture, energy, higher education, tourism and scientific research." He stressed that his country is willing to help Tunisian authorities secure their borders with Libya, adding that Hungary is ready to offer specific training to the military, the Coast Guard agents and the Tunisian experts in the fight against terrorism and organized crimes. Source: Xinhua| 2019-01-24 00:45:52|Editor: Mu Xuequan Video Player Close HELSINKI. Jan. 23 (Xinhua) -- The Finnish Immigration Service, Migri, said on Wednesday it is prepared to start processing British citizen's residence permit applications once the UK makes its final decision on the terms of leaving the European Union (EU). "We want to ensure that we have the information about all the British people in Finland, so that we can plan follow-up measures as carefully as possible," Raimo Pyysalo, Migri deputy director general, said to the Finnish national broadcaster, Yle. According to Migri's estimates, there are about 5,000 British citizens who would need to apply for residence permits in Finland when the UK is due to exit the EU at the end of March. Pyysalo indicated that the authority is ready to start processing residence permit applications for Brits in advance, as long as the British government makes a final decision on Brexit. The agency noted that it will not begin granting the residence permits before Brexit is ensured. Pyysalo reminded that British citizens who would like to relocate to Finland will have to apply for residence permits once Brexit goes into effect. Officials have speculated that the UK's final decision on Brexit would force citizens living in Finland to seek Finnish citizenship, according to Yle. Pyysalo told Yle that the UK's referendum in 2016 that decided to withdraw from the EU resulted in an additional 153 applications for Finnish citizenship by Brits in 2017. After British Prime Minister Theresa May's Brexit deal was rejected last week, Finnish Prime Minister Juha Sipila called on British citizens living in Finland to register with the Finnish immigration authority before Brexit to ease the application process. Source: Xinhua| 2019-01-24 00:20:47|Editor: Mu Xuequan Video Player Close WASHINGTON, Jan. 23 (Xinhua) -- Blue Origin, a private American spaceflight company founded by Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos, launched its New Shepard on Wednesday, bringing NASA-sponsored payloads into suborbital space for a few minutes of microgravity testing. The rocket was launched at about 10:05 EST from Van Horn, Texas, sending a capsule to heights above 100 kilometers, crossing the space frontier. New Shepard, naming after Alan Shepard, the first American to reach space, consists of a reusable rocket and a reusable capsule, according to Blue Origin. The capsule and rocket separated several minutes after the launch. After separation, the booster flew itself back to a landing, about seven minutes later after the liftoff. The capsule reached an apogee of nearly 107 kilometers before floating back to Earth through parachutes. Among those experiments are a demonstration that measures fuel levels in microgravity, a cooling solution for tightly-packed electronics onboard a spacecraft, and an examination on how dust particles react after surface contact during exploration missions to places such as the Moon, Mars and asteroids. Testing in microgravity enables researchers to advance their technologies, readying them for future exploration and science missions, according to NASA. This flight is focused on the technologies from government, academia and industry, said Ryan Dibley from NASA's Armstrong Flight Research Center. The flight was previously scheduled last month, but scrubbed due to a ground infrastructure problem. In December, Virgin Galactic, also a private spaceflight company, lifted off its SpaceShipTwo vehicle to reach the edge of space. Both companies are planning to start sending paying people on their suborbital vehicles. Source: Xinhua| 2019-01-23 22:15:18|Editor: Yamei Video Player Close Latvian Prime Minister Krisjanis Karins (C) speaks in Riga, Latvia, on Jan. 23, 2019. Latvian lawmakers on Wednesday voted to approve the Baltic country's new center-right coalition government, the parliamentary press service informed. (Xinhua/Janis) RIGA, Jan. 23 (Xinhua) -- Latvian lawmakers on Wednesday voted to approve the Baltic country's new center-right coalition government, the parliamentary press service informed. The incoming Cabinet of Ministers, led by Prime Minister Krisjanis Karins of the center-right New Unity, was approved at an extraordinary parliament sitting by 61 votes to 39. Latvia's new five-party coalition comprises New Unity, the New Conservative Party, the liberal alliance For Development/For, the right-wing National Alliance and KPV LV. The coalition deal was struck after more than three months of negotiations, the longest since the restoration of the country's independence in the early 1990s. Two prime minister designates, Janis Bordans of the New Conservative Party and Aldis Gobzems of KPV LV, had failed the attempts to form a government after a general election in October produced a highly fragmented parliament with seven factions. Karins, however, succeeded in clinching the deal even though his New Unity party has the smallest number of seats in parliament. The centrist Union of Greens and Farmers, which used to be the leading partner in Latvia's outgoing government coalition, as well as the left-wing Harmony party, remain in opposition. Also, a group of five MPs of KPV LV party, which officially has joined the ruling coalition, said last week they would not vote for the Karins-led cabinet but would side with the opposition. HAVANA, Fla. (WTXL) -- Recent lessons about weather in the fifth-grade classes of Havana Magnet School were supplemented Thursday morning by a presentation from First Alert Weather's chief meteorologist. Casanova Nurse visited the Gadsden County school to discuss various meteorological concepts, ranging from the four seasons to the water cycle to cloud structure and atmospheric temperature profiles. TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (WTXL) - A Tallahassee man is behind bars on felony drug charges after police intercepted a package containing a pound of marijuana. According to court documents, USPS inspectors were conducting a routine drug inspection on packages at the Tallahassee Post Office on Friday morning. While conducting the inspection, they noticed a package that had a sender address coming from a place that was known for shipping drugs throughout the United States. On Tuesday, inspectors along with Tallahassee Police wanted to investigate, so they decided to personally deliver the package. Documents say the package was addressed to Fred Smith, however when they arrived at the home they ended up speaking with 36-year-old Johnathon Ross. Police say Ross told them that Fred Smith did live there, but was working and that he would accept the package for him. Police told Ross that they were suspicious of the package. Ross then changed his story and said he didn't know anything about the package and that Smith doesn't live there anymore. Documents say police asked if they could enter the home and Ross agreed. Police asked Ross if he had any illegal drugs in his room and Ross admitted that he did have some for personal use. Police say Ross showed them 57 grams of cannabis that he kept in a mason jar and a small plastic bag of cocaine. After police found out about the drugs, they arrested Ross and continued to question him about the package. Documents say after previously denying knowledge of the package, Ross finally admitted that he knew the package was coming. Ross told police that he ordered a pound of marijuana from a website. He told police that he paid $1,000 for the cannabis. Ross also admitted that he sells the cannabis to his "close personal friends" and smokes a lot of it as well. According to court documents, Ross said he also bought the marijuana in the mason jar and the small plastic bag of cocaine. After speaking with Ross, police continued investigating and found that the package Ross ordered contained 474 grams (or 1.04 pounds) of cannabis. They also found $2,624 in cash inside a safe in Ross's bedroom. According to documents, Ross was transported to the Leon County Detention Center. He is being charged with marijuana possession with the intent to sell and possession of cocaine. SEBRING, Fla. (AP) A gunman who took over a SunTrust Bank branch in Florida apparently made the five women inside lie down on the lobby floor before shooting them in the backs of their heads, police said Thursday. Sebring police Chief Karl Hoglund said theres no indication Zephen Xaver intended to rob the bank, and no apparent connection among him, the bank or the victims. Xaver, 21, has been charged with five counts of premeditated murder in the shooting deaths of the four bank employees and a customer. He overtook the bank by force. He then shot everyone in the bank, Hoglund said. After shooting them, he called 911 and told dispatchers that hed killed everyone in the bank. According to an affidavit, all the victims were found in the banks lobby, lying face down with gunshots to the backs of their heads. Shell casings from Xavers 9mm handgun were scattered on the floor. Another customer, Victor Sparks, told the Highland News-Sun that he found the door locked during the attack, peered inside, and saw people lying on the floor while someone walked around and between them. He then turned and stepped away, and heard gunfire. He said police arrived within two minutes after he and his wife called 911. Dispatchers also got a 911 call from Xaver himself, saying I have shot five people, police said. But Xaver refused to surrender, and would not allow officers to reach the victims, the chief said. After more than an hour of negotiations, the chief ordered a SWAT team in; they had to use an armored vehicle to break through the front doors. Xaver was found in an office in the rear. By then, all the victims were already dead, the chief said. Hoglund identified two of the victims: customer Cynthia Watson and bank employee Marisol Lopez. Citing Floridas version of a victims rights law, he said three of the families dont want the names released. The community is mourning the loss of our sisters, our mothers, our daughters and our co-workers, Hoglund said. Authorities ended their news conference after only a few questions and didnt respond when asked how Xaver obtained the gun. Xaver was arrested in a beige T-shirt depicting the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse. Thursday morning, he wore a black-and-white striped prison uniform as he was appointed a public defender and ordered held without bond. His father said hes heartbroken for the victims and that his son wasnt raised to be like this. Hes always been a good kid. Hes had his troubles, but he has never hurt anyone ever before. This is a total shock, Josh Xaver told CNN. The Associated Press has reached out to both parents of Zephen Xaver requesting interviews, with no immediate response. It wasnt a shock to Alex Gerlach, who identified herself as Xavers former girlfriend. She said hes long been fascinated with the idea of killing, but no one took her warnings seriously. For some reason, he always hated people and wanted everybody to die, Gerlach told WSBT-TV in South Bend, Indiana. He got kicked out of school for having a dream that he killed everybody in his class, and hes been threatening this for so long, and hes been having dreams about it and everything, she said. Every single person Ive told has not taken it seriously, and its very unfortunate that it had to come to this. Gerlach told The Washington Post that Xaver said he purchased a gun last week and no one thought anything of it because he had always liked guns. Xaver has no apparent criminal record in the areas where hes lived in Indiana and Florida, and his school records are spotty: Two school districts in northern Indiana said he attended for several years but did not graduate. Xaver also briefly studied online. Salt Lake City-based Stevens-Henager College spokeswoman Sherrie Martin confirmed that Xaver was enrolled from September to December before withdrawing last year. In Florida, he tried to be a prison guard: Department of Corrections records show he was hired as a trainee at Avon Park Correctional Institution on Nov. 2 and resigned Jan. 9. No disciplinary issues were reported. Public records and neighbors say Xaver and his mother had moved to Sebring in the fall from Plymouth, Indiana, a small city south of South Bend. They lived in a nondescript pre-fabricated home about 4 miles (6.5 kilometers) from the bank. No one answered the door Wednesday night after police finished searching the home. John Larose, who lives next door, said Xaver kept to himself, but he could hear him playing and yelling at video games in the middle of the night. This was at least the fourth mass shooting in Florida with five or more dead in the last three years. A gunman killed 49 at an Orlando nightclub in 2016, five died at the Fort Lauderdale airport in 2017, and 17 died in February at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in a Fort Lauderdale suburb. ___ AP reporter David Fischer in Miami contributed to this report. SEBRING, Florida (WFTS) At least five people are dead after a violent standoff inside a SunTrust Bank in Sebring, Florida. Officials say suspected gunman, identified as 21-year-old Zephen Xaver, barricaded himself inside the SunTrust bank on U.S. Highway 27 S in Sebring on Wednesday, and reportedly called 911 to tell dispatchers that he fired shots inside the bank, according to the Sebring Police Department. Police officers and deputies responded to the scene and established a perimeter after receiving the call at approximately 12:36 p.m. Police and deputies tried to negotiate with Xaver to get him to exit the bank, but their attempts were not successful. Highlands County Sheriff's Office SWAT team responded and entered the bank to continue negotiations. Highlands County officials confirm at least five people have died as a result of the shooting. Several more people have been transported from the scene to the hospital. The injuries are unknown at this time. The Sebring Police Department says they are not sure of a motive and the investigation is active at this time. Investigators are still processing the scene and are working to identify the victims. The front doors of the bank appear to be smashed in and ripped off the hinges. Deputies say co-workers and family members of anyone who was at the SunTrust branch during the incident should go to Inn on the Lakes. Deputies stressed that those who come to Inn on the Lakes should be "ONLY co-workers and family members." US Highway 27 is now open after being shut down in both directions from Hammock Road to Lakeview Drive for several hours. There is no threat to the schools, according to officials. The School Board of Highlands County says all controlled campuses have been lifted and the buses may be delayed as there is significant traffic congestion in the area due to the road closure. "The FBI is in coordination with local law enforcement agencies regarding a shooting at a Sun Trust Bank branch in Sebring, Florida. No further information is available at this time," the FBI said in a statement. In another statement, SunTrust said: We are working closely with officials and seeking to take care of everyone affected at our Sebring, Florida branch. We will provide more information as soon as we can. Copyright 2019 Scripps Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The suspect accused of sexually assaulting and impregnating an incapacitated woman at a Phoenix healthcare facility was a Christian rapper and has been a licensed healthcare worker in Arizona for the past 14 years. Rap songs featuring Nathan Sutherland, 36, and his group "SLEEPLESSOULJAZ" can be found in online videos. The videos give a glimpse into Sutherlands background and history. In one YouTube video, Sutherland said during an interview that he was born in Haiti and was placed in an orphanage before being adopted. My parents actually they split up in Haiti, and I remember my mom couldnt take care of us so she took us to an orphanage, Sutherland said. Scripps station KNXV in Phoenix obtained Sutherlands full file from the Arizona State Board of Nursing. The records do not indicate any discipline and confirm that he was born in La Chapelle, Haiti. According to the nursing board documents, Sutherland was first licensed in 2005 as a certified nursing assistant. In 2011, he applied and was approved for licensure as a practical nurse. In addition to Hacienda, the records show he did work in other healthcare facilities over the years. Court records show that Sutherland was divorced once in 2012, and he has another divorce pending. On Dec. 5, his current wife filed for divorce. The filing date was nearly three weeks before the victim at Hacienda Healthcare gave birth. Sutherland does not appear to have a previous criminal history. Online records show he has had a few traffic citations in Arizona and California. Contact KNXV Investigator Dave Biscobing at dave@abc15.com . TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (The News Service of Florida)- Local governments have spent $17 million the state provided to combat outbreaks of red tide and toxic blue-green algae. As red tide lingers in some Southwest Florida areas, and just $1.7 million in state funding remains unspent lawmakers have to figure out the next steps. This includes determining how much more money to pour into the problems and the best ways to reduce outbreaks, including possibly addressing human impacts through agricultural runoff and septic tanks. "We've got to address agriculture issues, we've got to address septic-to-sewer conversions, we have to address that there is a large population south of Lake Okeechobee and the human impacts on this whole thing," said State Representative, Holly Raschein. The director of the Fish and Wildlife Research Institute, said red-tide outbreaks have been recorded long before Florida's current population. Steps to control the amounts of nutrients released inshore will reduce the spread of future outbreaks. "The red tide organism is very adept at using whatever sources are available, including the very fish it kills. So, control of those excess nutrients into the inshore waters will help with the impacts of red tide once it gets there. But it will not rid us of red tide," said Gil McRae, Director of Fish and Wildlife Research Institute. The source of the red tide outbreak is the suspected bloom cycle of a single-celled organism called Karenia Brevis algae that produces toxins that kill fish, birds, sea turtles, manatees and dolphins and can cause neuro-toxic shellfish poisoning in humans. (Scripps) - A state teacher test that's already forced thousands of Florida teachers out of the classroom is under scrutiny. Now, a Florida lawmaker is promising a solution to stop effective Florida teachers from getting fired over the controversial state licensing exam. We've now learned a surge of failures on a teacher licensing exam recently forced the state of North Carolina to take a closer look at its test and what they found not only didn't fly, but now it has Florida lawmakers wondering if the same problem is causing the rise in failures here. Kevin Bastian, a researcher with the University of North Carolina, was commissioned to study the state exam after a recent surge in failures prompted education leaders there to question why. Turns out, North Carolina's teacher licensing exam is administered by for-profit testing giant, Pearson, the same company Florida is paying $58 million to, to administer its teacher licensing exam. It's a state test we've been raising questions about for two years. Since the test was revised in 2015, we found a surprising surge in failures, causing statewide fallout. This summer alone, we discovered more than 1,000 Florida teachers were fired for failing the test. It's become a statewide crisis. Florida lawmakers on both sides of the aisle say they're committed to change. "I think its critical we get this done," said Representative Byron Donalds. Representative Byron Donalds leads a state education committee and says updating Florida's exam is a top priority, from lowering it's fees to re-evaluating what's on it. "I think one of the things we do have to review is if youre going to be teaching mathematics, in all honestly, does your passage on the English language arts portion make sense if youre never going to teach English/language arts?" said Donalds. As a result of the study, North Carolina education leaders are now recommending it no longer use Pearson to administer the math section of its test. Donalds is considering a similar study on Florida's exam as the state's teacher shortage remains a crisis. "We have to make sure were doing everything we can as a state to make sure we have the most amount of teachers who are qualified to be in the classroom," Donalds said. "So if we need to make tweaks in our state to our system in order to make sure that happens, then thats exactly what we should do." A spokesperson with Florida's Department of Education confirms it has never conducted such a study on its teacher licensing exam. The department had no response to the action in North Carolina nor did the testing company, Pearson, who directed us to the state for comment. Phoenix fires up the youth of Wrexham This article is old - Published: Thursday, Jan 24th, 2019 Local youngsters from Ysgol Rhosnesni took part in North Wales Fire and Rescue Services innovative Phoenix course last week. The Phoenix project is a course designed to assist in redirecting the energy of young people towards productive and worthwhile activities that will assist in the integration of the individuals with their peers and their communities. The course was held at Chirk Fire Station. Pam Roberts, Phoenix Coordinator, said: The Fire and Rescue Service has a powerful draw for young people, which gives us the opportunity to try and influence behaviour. The Phoenix project offers a unique experience to build on qualities we as a Service work towards such as respect, communication and trust. The week has involved a blend of classroom learning where the youngsters were taught consequences of actions, then drill yard activity where we promote working together as a team, assessing risk and adhering to instructions. Skills learnt during the week are demonstrated at a ceremony of achievement with attendance of a Principal Officer, Fire Authority members, parents, guardians and staff from the school. The aim of the course is to assist the youngsters in becoming more motivated and positive about themselves, which in turn has the effect of making them better citizens. We are hoping that these young people will feel that they have gained something positive from the Phoenix project and feel that it will be of benefit to them in the future. Local MPs pay respects in support of Holocaust Memorial Day This article is old - Published: Thursday, Jan 24th, 2019 Ian Lucas MP and Susan Elan Jones MP have both been supporting Holocaust Memorial Day. Mr Lucas has attended commemorative events in Westminster and Wrexham in the lead-up to the day of remembrance, which is on January 27 every year. This included signing the Holocaust Educational Trusts Book of Commitment at the Houses of Parliament, pledging his support to remember the victims of the Holocaust. Mr Lucas is also due to speak at an event hosted by AVOW at the Memorial Hall in Wrexham on Friday, January 25th. Mr Lucas said: As the Holocaust moves from living history, to just history, it becomes ever more important that we take the time to remember the victims and also pay tribute to the survivors. I know the people of Wrexham will show their support for such an important day, as they have done so fittingly in the past. Karen Pollock MBE, chief executive of the Holocaust Educational Trust, added: We are very grateful to Mr Lucas for signing the Book of Commitment, signalling a continued commitment to remembering the victims of the Holocaust as well as challenging antisemitism, prejudice and bigotry in all its forms. Holocaust Memorial Day is marked annually on January 27th because it is the anniversary of the liberation of the former Nazi concentration and death camp Auschwitz-Birkenau. Clwyd Souths MP Susan Elan Jones has met with constituent and Holocaust Educational Trust ambassador for Wales, Rhys Wyn Jones in Parliament (pictured below). Speaking at an event to commemorate Holocaust Memorial Day, Rhys said: It is so important to be here in Parliament to remember the horrors of the past and ensure that they are never repeated again. I am pleased that my local MP came to sign the Holocaust Memorial Day Book of Commitment and show her support for this important commemoration. Susan Elan Jones MP said: I have been privileged to meet with Rhys before and I know that he and the Holocaust Educational Trust do amazing work. We must never forget the Holocaust and other genocides in a world that is still sadly tainted by racism and bigotry. At the event in Parliament, we heard the amazing testimony of a Holocaust survivor. May we never forget what happened in the Holocaust and always stand up against anti-Semitism in all its shameful manifestations as well as every other form of prejudice. Top picture: Ian Lucas MP signing the Holocaust Educational Trusts Book of Commitment. Local businesswoman hits the road as Blood Bikes first female rider in North Wales This article is old - Published: Thursday, Jan 24th, 2019 Wrexham business owner and motorbike enthusiast Maja Kenney decided to upgrade her hobby that she loves, to help give back to the local community. The charity Blood Bikes Wales is an enthusiastic team of volunteers committed to using their time and skills to help the National Health Service in Wales. It is a member of the Nationwide Association of Blood Bikes, which shares its goal to provide a reliable, free, high-quality service to health trusts throughout the country. Blood Bikes Wales provides the NHS with out-of-hours transport to move blood supplies, plasma, documents and other items between hospitals, saving substantial sums of money that can then be used for frontline care. Chris Jones from Blood Bikes Wales explains: During working hours the NHS uses its own transportation system. Outside of these hours, the NHS has to rely on the police, ambulance services, taxis and couriers to meet its needs, which can prove costly. We provide our service to them totally free and we operate throughout the year. Following extensive training, Maja passed the challenging riding test to become a fully-qualified rider for the charity. She will now be included in the rota for on-call duties, which will see her riding anywhere from Liverpool and Bangor to Newtown and further afield. Maja said, I am so proud to have passed the riding test and joined the Blood Bikes family in North Wales. The NHS in north Wales is so important to us all and I firmly believe that anything we can do to support this great institution is vital. By training to become a Blood Bikes rider I am able to help constructively, while doing something that I love at the same time. Its a win-win situation. For further information on the life saving work that the Blood Bikes carries out, visit the website at BloodBikes.wales He Xueqiang travels by high-speed train to tie the knot with his bride Zhang Ruili on Monday. [China Daily] Instead of Porsche or Maserati, groom He Xueqiang in Southwest China's Yunnan province is meeting his bride in what is likely the most expensive vehicle: a high-speed train, which has a production cost of hundreds of millions of yuan. But rather than showing off his wealth or proving the value of his love, the young man is opting for the train due to its efficiency, as his wife-to-be Zhang Ruili lives 700 kilometers away. With the train, he could get married more than five hours earlier, down from 10 hours if he was driving, even though the wedding day fell on Monday, the first day of the 2019 Spring Festival travel rush the largest annual human migration in the world. The groom carries the bride on his back, a routine in Chinese traditional weddings, upon meeting his bride at the train station. [China Daily] Friends of the couple join the special wedding by train on Jan. 21, the first day of the 2019 Spring Festival travel rush. [China Daily] (Source: chinadaily.com.cn) Australopithecus sediba: No such thing as a missing link Autralopithecus sediba is not the missing link that connects modern man to its more primitive ancestors. The fossils that were found 10 years ago by Palaeoathropologist, Professor Lee Berger of the University of the Witwatersrand, and his son Matthew, at Malapa in the Cradle of Human Kind in South Africa, has recently been described as the so-called missing link in human evolution, after the publication of new research by a team of international researchers that confirmed the unique species status of Sediba. This research has been misinterpreted by some sectors, creating the idea that Australopithecus sediba might be the missing link. This perception is incorrect, as there is no such thing as a missing link in human evolution, says Professor Berger in an informative video, released by Wits University. The image of human evolution on T-shirts is incorrect. I would prefer that we forget the term missing link, says Berger, who is currently on expedition at the Rising Star cave, also in the Cradle of Human kind, where the other famous human ancestor, Homo naledi, was found. Berger explains that human evolution is not a linear process, where one species evolve into another, but rather follows a process similar to a braided stream, or river delta, where a stream might branch off into its own direction, or later flow back and join a different stream, which might evolve into a new species. McConnell Remembers Marshall Co. Shooting By West Kentucky Star Staff FRANKFORT - U.S. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) released the following statement on Wednesday about the event from Marshall County on this date in 2018:I would like to take a moment to mark the first anniversary of the tragic shooting at Marshall County High School, which took place one year ago today in Benton, Kentucky.Bailey Holt and Preston Cope, both 15, began that morning just like any other. Their parents and friends described Bailey and Preston as bright kids with promising futures ahead. But this peaceful community was shattered when a fellow student opened fire, taking Bailey and Prestons lives, and leaving nearly 20 additional students wounded.Their families were left to grieve, and for the past year, the community has done its best to provide comfort and put the pieces back together.This evening, the Marshall County community will join together once again to remember the victims and to continue the healing. As they do, my prayers and those of all their fellow Kentuckians will be with them. Single-Digit Wind Chills This Morning By West Kentucky Star Staff PADUCAH - The National Weather Service in Paducah continues to issue a special weather statement for bitter cold conditions regionwide tonight and Friday morning.With another blast of Arctic air coming this evening, low temperatures will include some single digits possible by daybreak Friday morning in southern Illinois and southwest Indiana.Gusty north winds will plummet wind chills early Friday morning. For early Friday morning commuters to work or school, you can expect to be greeted with negative single digit wind chills for much of southern Illinois and southwest Indiana, with wind chills from near zero to the single digits across most of southeast Missouri and western Kentucky.Similar wind chill readings will be felt again next week, with yet another Arctic blast of air expected to arrive next Tuesday through Thursday morning.On the Net: Second Lawsuit Filed from Marshall Co. Shooting By West Kentucky Star Staff BENTON, KY - Exactly a year after the shooting at Marshall County High School, the parents of victim Preston Cope filed a lawsuit in Marshall Circuit Court.Documents received by West Kentucky Star indicate Brian and Teresa Cope filed a lawsuit Wednesday against the alleged shooter, Gabriel Parker, his mother, Mary Minyard, and stepfather, Justin Minyard.Parker is accused of opening fire at the school on Jan. 23, 2018, killing Bailey Holt and Preston Cope, and injuring more than a dozen others. He faces two counts of murder and 14 counts of 1st degree assault in the criminal case. His next court appearance is February 1, but a trial has not yet been set.The suit claims Parker used a 9 mm pistol that was left loaded and easily accessible in his home, and that his phone had "images, video and/or written material pertaining to school shootings." The complaint also says Parker's bedroom contained information about weapons and violence, as well as WWII and the Nazi regime.The lawsuit also claims Parker spoke openly about violence and joining the mafia, and made reference to "the kids [he] may hurt" as much as six months before the shooting.The Copes claim Parker was negligent by breaching a "duty of ordinary care" for Preston Cope, his classmates, teachers and others when he opened fire at the school.The suit also accuses the Minyards of negligence because they didn't secure the pistol that was allegedly used in the crime, and because they should have known that "Parker had a propensity for violence based on his reported obsession with guns, violence, and threats made on social media."The plaintiffs in the suit are asking for a jury trial and judgement against the defendants, reimbursement of costs, and for unspecified punitive damages as deemed reasonable by the court.The family of Bailey Holt and three victims who were injured in the shooting filed a civil lawsuit on Monday against Parker, his mom and stepdad, and at least 16 others who worked in the school system or as counselors.On the Net: Mayfield Man Charged with Raping Child By West Kentucky Star Staff MAYFIELD - A Mayfield man is charged with raping a juvenile family member. After a two week long investigation, Mayfield Police Department detectives arrested and charged 35-year-old Roderick Sherrill with three counts of 1st degree rape, victim under 12 years of age. According to police, Sherrill is accused of sexually assaulting a juvenile family member on three different occasions at their home in Mayfield. Sherrill was lodged at the GravesCounty Jail. Healing and Remembrance Event Held in Draffenville By Mike Cooper, West Kentucky Star Staff DRAFFENVILLE - The Marshall County FOCUS (Facilitators of Community Unity and Support) group held a healing and remembrance event Wednesday evening at Mike Miller Park in Draffenville, one year after the shooting at Marshall County High School.Rev. K. Alan Miller, Senior Pastor of First Missionary Baptist Church in Benton, emcee for evening, opened the event with greeting and a prayer. A large crowd braved sub-freezing wind chills to participate.Rev. Tim Bertram, with God's Graffiti Ministry, shared a scripture passage and then painted a picture of Jesus, while music was playing. Cody Myers then sang a song, "Strong Together", which he and Rev. Brian Brophy wrote. Myers is the Worship Leader for First Missionary Baptist Church in Benton, and Brophy is the Youth Minister at the Reidland Church of Christ.At the conclusion of the event, two chinese lanterns, one orange, and one blue, were released into the night sky. Rev. Miller commented as they ascended, "the smallest amount of light can penetrate the greatest amount of darkness, however the greatest amount of darkness, can never subdue the smallest amount of light." He then dismissed the crowd.Three North Marshall Middle School students, Gracie Gideon, Scout Sandlin, and Bailey Allred, spoke with West Kentucky Star about what they hope was accomplished with the event.Gideon said, "I think that with this happening, we should all come together as a community, and love each other more and more every day."Sandlin explained, "I think that after tonight's gathering, we will hug each other a little bit closer, and love each other a little bit more."Allred added, "I think the same thing, we should love each other more after everything that's happened, I think we all, the community should come closer together."Rev. Miller also spoke with West Kentucky Star about the event. He said, "it went well, and the objectives were met, to remember the precious lives of Preston Cope and Bailey Holt."After the event, local churches provided refreshments for those that attended.On the Net: Fugitive Arrested in Carlisle County By West Kentucky Star Staff CARLISLE COUNTY - A man wanted by police was arrested Wednesday in Carlisle County. According to the Carlisle County Sheriff's Office, deputies received an anonymous tip on Tuesday that a wanted man was hiding out at a home in Bardwell. Wednesday morning, deputies found 28-year-old Jeffery Sullenger at a home on Church Street in Bardwell. Sullenger was wanted out of Daviess County on a failure to appear bench warrant with an original charge of shoplifting. Sullenger was also wanted by the Kentucky Parole Board for a parole violation warrant. His parole was stemming from a 2018 3rd degree burglary conviction in Carlisle County. Sullenger was arrested without incident and taken to jail. DOE Transfers Excess Generator to PACRO By West Kentucky Star Staff DOE transferred a Caterpillar SR4 diesel generator to the Paducah Area Community Reuse Organization (PACRO). PACRO sold the generator to the Graves County Fiscal Court at a rate far below market value so that it can be used as a backup generator to power the countys government operations. The generator is an example of regional cooperation and work being accomplished through our organization, PACRO Executive Director Scott Darnell said. The excess assets from the former gaseous diffusion plant are being put to use by our local governments. We are excited to see that our efforts are ultimately saving our local communities tax dollars that can be applied by our local governments to other uses. The transfer saved Graves County thousands of dollars and fixed a problem that would have otherwise been costly to resolve, officials said. With the generator obtained from PACRO, we will be able to provide emergency power to our jail and other facilities in the event of a disaster or major weather event, Graves County Fiscal Court Commissioner Richard Galloway said. PACRO has a very good relationship with DOE and we are very fortunate to have an organization like this supporting our region. DOE excess equipment that meets the transfer criteria is offered to PACRO as it becomes available. Reuse of excess equipment saves DOE money and benefits the surrounding communities, added Jennifer Woodard, Paducah Site Lead for DOEs Portsmouth/Paducah Project Office. Graves County is one of the five counties represented by PACRO. Also represented are McCracken, Marshall and Ballard Counties in Kentucky, and Massac County in Southern Illinois. GRAVES COUNTY - A recent transfer of excess property by the U.S. Department of Energys (DOE) Paducah Site resulted in significant savings to the Graves County Fiscal Court. Six Arrested, One Cited After Drug Investigation By West Kentucky Star Staff PADUCAH - Six people were arrested and one was cited after a Wednesday night drug investigation.The McCracken County Sheriff's Department says an ongoing investigation led them to perform surveillance on a home in the 6900 block of Old U.S. Highway 45. Detectives say about 5:30 pm, they spotted 27-year-old Randall Snow leaving the home in a vehicle and they knew he was wanted on a federal warrant for trafficking in methamphetamine.When they attempted to pull over the vehicle, detectives say Snow fled, but lost control on Krebs Station Road and the vehicle left the road, hitting a utility pole and a tree. Snow and a passenger, 27-year-old Brittney Hardin of Calvert City, were injured in the crash while a dog in the vehicle was killed. Snow and Hardin were taken to a local hospital for treatment of their injuries. McCracken County Animal Control took the dog from the scene.Detectives say they found baggies of meth in the road, and believe it was thrown from Snow's vehicle prior to the crash. Snow is in custody while at the hospital. He is charged with the federal warrant for meth trafficking, and also faces charges of fleeing or evading police in a vehicle, reckless driving, assault 1st degree, tampering with physical evidence, possession of meth and marijuana, DUI 2nd offense with aggravating circumstances, and criminal mischief.Detectives then executed a search warrant at the home about 11 pm. They say the search led to seizure of meth, marijuana, digital scales, smoking pipes and other paraphernalia. Five other men at the home were arrested for felonies and one was cited to court on a misdemeanor.Detectives arrested 36-year-old Nicholas C. Roesner of Paducah for trafficking in meth and possession of drug paraphernalia.Four other men were arrested on charges of possession of meth and drug paraphernalia. They are 50-year-old William Walker of Golconda, 70-year-old Warren Johnston of Paducah, 49-year-old William S. Wooler of Paducah, and 29-year-old Joshua Coburn of Marion, Illinois.Detectives say 61-year-old David L. Slaughter of Paducah was cited to court for possession of marijuana and drug paraphernalia.The sheriff's department says the investigation is continuing. Bristol's Bridal Expo Today in Paducah By West Kentucky Star Staff PADUCAH - Bristol's Bridal Expo is today at the Schroeder Expo Center in Paducah.Brides come from as far away as Tennessee, Indiana, Illinois and Missouri to attend this special event. The event will have everything youll need to plan the wedding of your dreams, and will feature vendors from all over the area. With thousands of dollars in door prizes, and everything to do with weddings, so if you're planning, thinking about, or just hoping to get married, this event is for you.Each year, more than 500 brides from Southern Illinois, western Kentucky and northwest Tennessee have attended Bristols Bridal Expo. Why? Because they bring so many people in the wedding business together, brides feel like they have to be there. It is their goal to put together a show that everyone feels great about.Thousands of dollars in door prizes from exhibitors and from the radio stations will be given away. The largest and best of those prizes are reserved exclusively for the brides who register TODAY (January 26). Click the link below to buy tickets in advance.Presented by Celebrations Events and Tents. Bristol Broadcasting is the parent company of West Kentucky Star.For a list of vendors who will be at the expo and more information, click the link below. For more information call 270-554-TALK (8255).On the Net: If you have an event you'd like to list on the site, submit it now! Submit Commencement of BA (Hons) in Social Work The Ministry of Health, Care and Justice have announced the commencement of the BA (Hons) in Social Work in Gibraltar for the very first time. As announced in June 2018, this is the first time this degree course will be delivered locally. The course will be delivered by Kingston University London and St Georges University of London, in conjunction with the Care Agency and the Gibraltar Health Authoritys School of Health Studies. Social Work is a highly rewarding, yet highly demanding, profession, which attracts a fairly small numbers of school-leavers. It is a profession that commonly attracts more mature individuals. Locally, many individuals interested in undertaking the profession have found it difficult to leave their commitments in Gibraltar for the purpose of studying abroad. For this reason, it was felt important to deliver this course in Gibraltar, so as to provide opportunities for interested persons to venture into this valued profession. The Care Agency, through Kingston University, invited applications for the three-year course in 2018, undertaking a rigorous selection process, which resulted in eleven students meeting the required criteria to undertake the BA (Hons) in Social Work. The course programme will include learning in psychology, sociology, social policy, and law. Students are also required to undergo two placements in the social work field. Additionally, the course will bring in local experts, members of voluntary organisations and carers. The Health Care and Professions Council (HCPC), the body which is responsible for the approval of social work courses and registration of social workers travelled to Gibraltar in 2018. HCOC assessed how the course would be delivered locally and agreed it met the required standard and criteria. The eleven students commenced the programme on the 7 January 2019 and are due complete their studies in 2021. After graduating, students will become eligible to apply to the HCPC for registration and can then apply to work as qualified social workers. Care Agencys CEO (ag), Ms Natalie Tavares, said This is a fantastic opportunity for those who have been interested in becoming a social worker, but have been unable to leave Gibraltar due to personal commitments. I want to wish all our students every success in their studies and encourage them to make the most of every opportunity that will be offered. I also wish to thank all those who have been involved in this process and for the hard work they have put into this in order to make it happen. The Minister for Health, Care and Justice, the Honourable Neil F. Costa MP, added: I am very pleased to see the hugely significant development of a locally delivered Social Work Degree, for the very first time in Gibraltar. This was not an easy feat. Education in these vocational fields is essential, so as to ensure we continue to deliver social care at the highest standards. I wish to thank Natalie Tavares, Professor Ian Peate, Head of the School of Health Studies, and the team which has worked so hard to make this programme happen. Special thanks must also go to Daphne Alcantara and Jane Tunbridge, who have given up their own time to assist in the recruitment process and will continue to be involved in this programme. Wyoming Business Tips for Jan. 28-Feb. 3 A weekly look at issues facing Wyoming business owners and entrepreneurs from the Wyoming Small Business Development Center (SBDC) Network, a collection of business assistance programs at the University of Wyoming. By Jim Drever, regional director, Wyoming SBDC Network How can you tell if a business is one you want to do business with? Both businesses and consumers want to make sure the companies they choose to do business with are legitimate and wont rip them off. However, businesses dont have the same protections consumers have from consumer protection laws. Here are some steps I recommend for researching a company: -- Check with the secretary of state offices in the states in which they are located for their filings. Keep an eye out for recent major changes that signify a possible acquisition or other event. -- There are some other great sources such as the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project, a fantastic online database where you can find businesses and people worldwide through records, news archives, leaks and other sources. -- Look up businesses and employees on employment websites including LinkedIn, Indeed and Glass Door. Knowing how they treat their employees is often a good indicator of how they treat their customers. -- Their website might have some useful information, but dont be afraid to look at what their website used to look like on Archive.org. -- Then, of course, there is the Rip off Report, the Better Business Bureau and googling the business name alongside terms such as scam or class action. Take information from these results with a grain of salt, as a competitor may have complained about them. -- Finally, I suggest calling the business directly and, depending on what business you are doing with them, asking for references. There are many more resources, tools and tricks to research businesses and people online. Please contact your local Wyoming SBDC Network office for additional help at wyomingsbdc.org. You also can visit the blog section of our website to read more about this topic and find links to the resources mentioned. The Wyoming SBDC Network offers business expertise to help Wyoming residents think about, launch, grow, reinvent or exit their business. The Wyoming SBDC Network is hosted by the University of Wyoming with state funds from the Wyoming Business Council and funded, in part, through a cooperative agreement with the U.S. Small Business Administration. To ask a question, call 1-800-348-5194, email wsbdc@uwyo.edu, or write 1000 E. University Ave., Dept. 3922, Laramie, WY, 82071-3922. UWs Gomez-Murillo Receives Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute Internship Laura Gomez-Murillo, a UW masters degree student from Colombia, recently received a Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute internship, which begins Jan. 28. Here, she is in the field in Panama and holds a hummingbird that she captured using a mist net. Using a field guide, she verifies the species of hummingbird. (J. Patrick Kelley Photo) Laura Gomez-Murillo, a University of Wyoming masters degree student from Colombia, begins a research adventure in Panama Jan. 28 by virtue of receiving a Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute internship (STRI). STRI internships are for early master's students or students who have not yet started graduate school. The purpose of these internships is for such students to work on short projects that can be completed within a three-month time frame and for the interns to gain skills that will increase their likelihood of success in graduate school. This fellowship is pretty important to me, because it will enable me to finish an ongoing project evaluating the role of the age and the competition in territorial aggression in an understory tropical bird (the black-crowned antshrike) that I started with two friends (Camilo Alfonso and Megan Pendred) as an independent project while we were part of Corey's (Tarwater) project a couple of years ago, Gomez-Murillo says. It is a big deal for me, also, because it gives me the opportunity to be part of one of the biggest communities of tropical ecologists and interact with many other interns, graduate students and researchers who come to STRI from around the whole world each year to study a whole variety of subjects in ecology. Tarwater, a UW assistant professor in the Department of Zoology and Physiology, who received a STRI short-term fellowship when she was a graduate student, says Gomez-Murillo is her first student to be awarded this particular internship. Tarwater is Gomez-Murillos adviser for her masters degree program and co-adviser for the STRI internship. Laura obtained the internship because she has a vast amount of experience in tropical ecology and because there is a high probability of her being able to complete and publish the proposed project, Tarwater says. This will be highly valuable for her and help set her up for her own master's research. Tarwater adds the project will give Gomez-Murillo experience in executing and completing a short experiment and in writing up a manuscript for publication. This project is looking at the joint effects of fragmentation and precipitation on tropical bird populations, Tarwater says. The objective of this research is to examine the intrinsic and extrinsic factors that influence variation in territorial aggression in the black-crowned antshrike. Laura Gomez-Murillo will study the black-crowned antshrike (pictured) during her Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute internship. The internship will help her finish an ongoing project evaluating the role of the age and the competition in territorial aggression in this understory tropical bird (J. Patrick Kelley Photo) Territorial aggression is predicted to be an adaptive response to competitors, as it can increase access to food resources, breeding space and mates, Tarwater continues. Nevertheless, aggression may come at a cost in terms of risk of injury or increased probability of predation. Therefore, individuals must balance the costs and benefits of territorial aggression, and this balance will depend upon both intrinsic and extrinsic factors. Gomez-Murillo will use the variation in bird density and age structure they have observed across the rainfall-fragmentation gradient to examine how conspecific density, age of territory holders and the age of intruders influence the costs and benefits of territorial aggression. She will conduct a playback experiment in which she uses simulated territorial intrusions of males of different ages in sites across the Isthmus of Panama that vary in intensity of competition. In 2012, Gomez-Murillo received her bachelors degree in biology from Antioquia University in Medellin, Colombia, near where she is from. She published her undergraduate thesis on plant-pollinator interactions in two peer-reviewed journals. She has been a field technician or crew leader in the tropics for 10 years, including working with Tarwater since fall 2014 in Hawaii and Panama. She has been Tarwaters crew leader in Panama since 2016 and has been instrumental in adding a new method of aging tropical birds to Tarwaters long-term study of avian demography (population growth and survival) in Panama. In addition to Panama, Gomez-Murillo has been part of different research projects studying birds in Peru, Colombia, Hawaii and Pennsylvania. She says she has always been interested in nature, with an early dream of becoming a marine ecologist. But, once in college, I had amazing professors who made me fall in love with the forest and the terrestrial ecology. From the plants to the insects, I enjoyed learning about interactions and life history traits, she explains. I stuck with birds, probably because my country is the most diverse country in term of birds in the world (1,900-plus species). They are one of the easy models to answer many questions in ecology, and nothing is cooler than to work with modern dinosaurs. Gomez-Murillo says she has enjoyed working with Tarwater, and she expects the internship project will provide more clues about how bird fragmentation can affect competition and how the age of the intruders may influence the territorial aggression by the territory holders. The internship is for three months and I hope, at the end of that time, I have all the recordings and experiments that I need to start with the data analysis and the writing, another process that I am excited to do because, although I have worked collecting data in the field for a lot of years, it is different to have the opportunity to write your own research, Gomez-Murillo says. After the internship, Gomez-Murillo plans to stay another couple of months in Panama to collect data for her master's project. She will try to analyze how fragmentation and climate change can affect the molt patterns, molt timing and the quality of the feathers of understory birds. Cowdens research focuses on how music positively affects our physical and mental health. (Jan. 23, 2019) -- To celebrate 50 years as San Antonios urban serving university and to thank San Antonio for its support and commitment to higher education, UTSA is presenting a 50th Anniversary Scholars Speaker Series in 2019 featuring experts on a broad range of contemporary issues that impact society. All presentations in the Scholars Speaker Series will be free and open to the public. The yearlong series will begin with Music as Medicine: The Power and Influence of Music on our Health, presented by Tracy Cowden, D.M.A., Roland K. Blumberg Endowed Professor in Music and chair of the UTSA Department of Music. Cowdens research focuses on how music positively affects our physical and mental health in numerous ways, from enhancing emotional wellbeing to reducing the need for pain medication. At her presentation, she will share the latest research linking music to our health, bringing it to life with a demonstration of the power of music through live performance. While music has been used for centuries to comfort, uplift and energize us, through interdisciplinary research we are now learning the specific and awe-inspiring ways that the brain and body change in response to music, said Cowden. >> Learn more about this Scholars Speaker Series. Cowdens professional life centers around making music with others, whether in duos, chamber music or orchestral settings. Her work as a collaborative pianist includes a wide range of music and partners, from the music of Jane Austens songbook with soprano Julianne Baird, to klezmer-influenced music with clarinetist Alexander Fiterstein and cellist Nick Cannelakis, to American fiddle music with violinist Mark OConnor. Active as a clinician and lecturer, the UTSA faculty member has presented master classes and workshops on topics related to collaborative music-making and creative programming across the country. She has also been a presenter or performer at conferences including the National Opera Association, Music Teachers National Association, College Music Society, the National Conference on Keyboard Pedagogy, International Trumpet Guild, International Tuba Euphonium Conference, and the National Flute Association. Cowden is a Nationally Certified Teacher of Music through the Music Teachers National Association (MTNA) and currently serves as chair designate to the MTNA National Certification Commission as well as a visiting evaluator for the professional accrediting organization, the National Association of Schools of Music. A Michigan native, she received her D.M.A. and M.M. degrees in piano accompanying and chamber music from the Eastman School of Music, and a B.M. degree in piano performance from Western Michigan University. Music as Medicine: The Power and Influence of Music on our Health is scheduled to begin at 6:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Jan. 29 at the Radius Center, 411 E. Martin St., San Antonio, Texas 78205. Doors will open and a cash bar will be available starting at 6 p.m. A meet the speaker session will follow the presentation at 7:15 p.m. This presentation is made possible by the UTSA College of Liberal and Fine Arts. Fahmy's research focus includes assessing the implications of street and prison gang membership on reentry and recidivism. (Jan. 24, 2019) -- Chantal Fahmy is an assistant professor in the College of Public Policys Department of Criminal Justice. She earned her bachelors degree in Criminology, Law and Society from the University of California, Irvine, a masters in Criminal Justice from California State University, Long Beach and a Ph.D. in Criminology and Criminal Justice from Arizona State University. While earning her Ph.D., she received the Bureau of Justice Statistics Graduate Research Fellowship to complete her dissertation project. Fahmys primary research interests include prisoner reentry and reintegration, social support and health in institutional corrections. Her work has been published in Deviant Behavior, Environment and Behavior and the International Journal of Offender Therapy and Comparative Criminology. Recently, she has studied social supports effects on inmates physical health and just presented her work at the annual meeting of the American Society of Criminology in Atlanta. We sat down with Professor Fahmy this week to learn more about her research. Whats exciting you the most these days? The project that's most exciting to me right now is the LoneStar Project. This is a project based out of Texas prisons and funded by the National Institute of Justice that I helped manage while getting my doctorate. We interviewed over 800 male prisoners one week before their release to the community and then one month and nine months post-release. The LoneStar Project has five major research questions centered around assessing the implications of street and prison gang membership on reentry and recidivism. Specifically, my contributions focus on the physical health and social support of reentering ex-prisoners. Although we have finished collecting data, most of the major research findings have yet to be published...stay tuned! How has your personal journey influenced your work? I grew up in a non-white immigrant familywho stayed very close to their rootsin a nearly all-white, suburban school and community. Because of this, I happened to look at things differently than my friends in school. Some of the things I was taught or some of the behavioral guidelines I learned at home and at school were almost at odds with one another. I believe my upbringing forced me to question everything and my curiosity grew from there. This inevitability made my approach to research broader by trying to encompass a multitude of viewpoints on a given topic. Incorporating multiple viewpoints in research allows me to better understand issues in the criminal justice system and, consequently, has given me a keen eye to examine disparities within the criminal justice system. Whats the one thing going on in your field that nobodys talking about? I think researchers could do a better job in talking amongst ourselves about our research and its findings across disciplines such as public health, political science, economics and social work. By doing this, we could better grapple with issues that demand a comprehensive approach or solution. In other words, there are plenty of potential interdisciplinary collaborations, yet we rarely study the criminal justice system without a lens that is already inherent within the system. What drew you to UTSA? The community! It was clear to me during my campus interview that there is a real bottom-up approach to the research being done at UTSA. It is evident that faculty and students alike are permanent fixtures in San Antonio and that our research directly affects residents' and communities' well-being. It is my hope that my research will impact those in the San Antonio community through proper preparation, acceptance, and welcoming of ex-prisoners desiring to become successful residents. Any advice for this generation of students? Don't give up! Perseverance pays off! There will be some tough challenges that today's college students have to face, but the next generation of academics and policymakers is needed now more than ever in these uncertain and fearful times in our nation. David Tran/iStock(SACRAMENTO, Calif.) -- California wildfire survivors are joining environmental activist Erin Brockovich this week to voice their concerns over Pacific Gas and Electrics plans to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. Brockovich became famous for battling PG&E in the 1990s over groundwater contamination -- a move that ultimately led to the film Erin Brockovich. She is claiming that PG&E is using bankruptcy as a go-to move to decrease the its potential liability for damages in several wildfires that burned through parts of California in 2017 and 2018. According to The New York Times, fire investigators have determined that PG&E was responsible for at least 17 of the 21 major fires that occurred in Northern California in 2017. The power company is also accused of being responsible for fires in 2018, including the Camp Fire that wiped out the town of Paradise. Camp Fire was the states deadliest and most destructive wildfire ever, killing 86 people, destroying more than 18,000 homes and buildings, and scorching 153,336 acres of land. While the official cause of the Camp Fire is still under investigation, the utility company has announced its plans to file for bankruptcy, saying it cant afford to pay at least $30 billion in potential damages after the historic fire seasons the last two years. Last Thursday, a federal judge alleged that uninsulated, above-ground PG&E power conductors were responsible for many of these fires. Flanked by wildfire victims and attorneys at a press conference in front of the state capitol in Sacramento on Tuesday, Brockovich called for more state oversight on holding the utility company accountable. "We should all be beyond frustrated, Brockovich said during the press conference. Every one of us should be good and mad. And it is time for the state to get to work. They need to show us their true leadership in holding this company accountable and making these communities whole again. She also alleged that the utility company is solvent and that its simply shucking its responsibilities. How are we going to stand by and just hurl 40,000 citizens, who have been harmed -- not to mention the state of California -- into chaos? Because Pacific Gas and Electric once again doesn't want to be held accountable or pay for the damages they have caused," Brockovich said. In a response, a spokesperson for the utility company told ABC News that the company still had work to do and said that it remained focused on supporting [families impacted by the wildfires] through the recovery and rebuilding process. Chapter 11 provides a court-supervised process for fairly and efficiently assessing and resolving our wildfire liabilities, the spokesperson said. The process will allow us to fully consider these claims and, if PG&E is found to be responsible for them, the process will ensure claimants receive full compensation in a fair and efficient manner. The spokesperson also acknowledged that as California experiences more frequent and intense wildfires, it would need to be part of a broader effort to help further reduce risk. The spokesperson said PG&E was open to a range of solutions that will help make the energy system safer and that it was committed to cooperating with regulators, policymakers and stakeholders to do this. One of those solutions, Brockovich and those gathered in front of the capitol believe, should be to bury power lines underground in order to cut down on the potential for wildfires in the future. Copyright 2019, ABC Radio. All rights reserved. South Africa: Lekgotla undertakes to strengthen foundation phase education As the new school year picks up steam, Basic Education Minister Angie Motshekga says there is a need to continue to strengthen the foundations of learning, particularly in the junior grades. We need to continue with our resolve to strengthen the foundations of learning in the early grades in particular, said the Minister on Wednesday. Delivering closing remarks at the end of the three-day Basic Education Sector Lekgotla in Boksburg, Ekurhuleni, Motshekga said reading, particularly in the early grades, needs to remain a key priority going forward. What would also benefit learners early on in their school careers is the strategic introduction of coding, while teacher skills will be developed to manage the demands of a competence-based curriculum. President Cyril Ramaphosa delivered the keynote address at the opening of the Lekgotla on Monday, saying if South Africa is to play in the big league of education, it needs to work harder to improve efficiency in key subjects, especially in early schooling. On Wednesday, Motshekga said the department will explore the versioning of examination question papers into African languages and strengthen cooperation with regional, continental and international partners to consolidate education frameworks that will benefit citizens and socio-economic programmes. We must implement deliberate programmes and interventions that must promote nation-building, social cohesion, care and support, as well as safe and secure learning spaces, said the Minister. The third annual national event brought together provincial education departments, teacher unions, school governing body organisations, learner organisations, non-governmental organisations, academics, international guest speakers and other stakeholders. SAnews.gov.za This story has been published on: 2019-01-24. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article. New Delhi, Jan 24 (UNI) Chief Election Commissioner Sunil Arora on Thursday said that the Commission is always open to all kinds of feedback from all stakeholders particularly the political parties, however added that the poll body is not going to be intimidated and not going back to the ballot paper days. Mr Arora along with Election Commissioner Ashok Lavasa was talking at an international conference on 'making our elections inclusive and accessible', organised by the Election Commission on the occasion of the 9th national voters day, which is observing on January 25. "ECI is always open to all kinds of feedback in all forms from all stakeholders particularly the political parties who are the most significant stakeholders after the voters. (But) ECI is not going to be intimidated, coerced or pressurized into going back to ballot papers days", Mr Arora said in his keynote address. Mr Arora also said that the position has been consistently maintained by successive Commissions and the same will be maintained in the future. "In ballot paper era there used to be innumerable complaints about impersonation and booth capturing by anti-social elements and musclemen etc. besides the inordinate delays in declaring results which sometimes spread from three to four days", he pointed out. Referring to the allegations on the EVM tampering, he said the poll body kept a robust technical and administrative mechanism to safeguard the integrity of EVM. "VVPATs have further enhanced the transparency of votes for the voters", he said. In context of the recent aspersions cast on EVMs used in elections, Mr Arora denounced the targeting of the machines, which 'unnecessarily are being dragged into motivated slugfest'. EVMs have been in use for the last two decades. Even in several elections since 2014, the machines have given different results in different elections. Mr Arora mentioned that even in the recent elections in the five states, out of a total of 176,000 polling booths where EVMs were used, there were six incidents of violation of standard operating procedure, that too in reserved EVMs not used in the actual elections. Although the ratio is negligible but even in these cases stringent disciplinary action was taken and ECI has and always will have zero tolerance to any kind of errors in the election process, he reiterated. He also stated that free, fair, transparent, credible and ethical elections are critical to the legitimacy of a democratic government. "It is imperative that the voice of all categories of voters is included in democratic representation. Inclusive elections coupled with characteristics such as transparency, accountability and competitiveness add to the strength of democratic polity", Mr Arora added. While addressing the participants, Mr Lavasa mentioned that the Commission has played a pioneering role in organising free, fair and credible elections in a transparent manner in the largest democracy in the world and leads the way in sharing best practices and knowledge skills with fellow Election Management Bodies (EMBs). He referred to the active role played by ECI in international arena in the field of Election Management through its close association with regional and world bodies like FEMBoSA, AAEA, A-WEB and International IDEA. "In this regard, Indian Election Commission has provided technical assistance to several countries like Jordan, Maldives, Namibia, Egypt, Bhutan and Nepal; undertaken study/observation missions for elections to a number of countries abroad and exchange visits for sharing of experiences and skills as also helped with capacity building programmes", he said. Chairpersons, Chief Election Commissioners, Commissioner and senior officials from election management bodies (EMBs) from Bangladesh, Bhutan, Kazakhstan, Maldives, Russia and Sri Lanka and heads, senior representatives of international organisations like Malaysian Commonwealth Studies Centre, U.K.; International Centre for Parliamentary Studies, U.K. and International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance (IDEA) have participated in the event. On the sidelines of the conference, the poll body also renewed the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) for cooperation in the field of election management with the Election Commission of Bhutan. To mark the occasion, the Commission also released the January 2019 issue of its Quarterly Magazine VOICE International. The international delegates have also been invited to attend the National Voters Day Celebrations in the national capital on January 25. UNI KNA JW2024 Biden looking to engage with Xi, may meet at G20 summit in October 18 Jun 2021 | 7:34 PM Washington, Jun 18 (UNI) US President Joe Biden, who met Russian President Vladimir Putin this week, will seek to engage with Chinese President Xi Jinping, and the two could meet possibly during the G20 summit in Italy in October, says National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan. see more.. Iranians vote to elect a new president 18 Jun 2021 | 5:56 PM Tehran, Jun 18 (UNI) Iranian voters went to the polls on Friday in a presidential election in which ultra conservative cleric Ebrahim Raisi is seen to coast to victory over his vetted rivals. see more.. Two thousand trafficked women from India returned Bangladesh in 10 years 18 Jun 2021 | 2:28 PM Dhaka, Jun 18 (UNI) About 20,000 women trafficked to India have been repatriated through the legal process in the last ten years, as per the official figure. see more.. Former Zambia president Kenneth Kaunda dies, PM Modi mourns 18 Jun 2021 | 1:41 PM Lusaka, Jun 18 (UNI) Zambia's first president Dr Kenneth David Kaunda passed away at the age of 97. see more.. Leading international and regional players in the HVACR (heating, ventilation, air -conditioning and refrigeration) sector will be showcasing their innovative products and solutions in front of over 7,000 visitors at an upcoming industry event in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. HVAC R Expo Saudi 2019, the largest dedicated indoor climate and refrigeration event in the kingdom, will run from January 28 to 30 at the Riyadh International Convention & Exhibition Center (RICEC). This year, the event is back in the kingdom at a different venue with 35 per cent more floor space than last year, and is expected to attract over 7000 visitors, said the organisers. More than 85 exhibiting companies are set to take part in the upcoming event, while over 28 free and certified training sessions will be held for visitors, said the event organisers. Now in its fourth edition, and held alongside FM Expo Saudi and Saudi Clean Expo, the top event for HVACR industry professionals was previously held in Jeddah, they stated. Backed by the Saudi Standards, Metrology and Quality Organization (Saso), GCC Standardization Organization (GSO), and Saudi Council of Engineers (SCE), HVAC R Expo Saudi is all set to make its debut in capital Riyadh, they added. "With air conditioning systems currently consuming almost 40 per cent of power generated in the country, there is a lot of focus on energy efficiency in the HVAC R sector," remarked Roni El Haddad, the event director for HVAC R Expo Saudi. "This presents a huge opportunity for the industry to develop as growing population increases demand for cooling," he added. The exhibition will present hundreds of solutions set to address efficiency ratings in the HVAC R industry, including LG Electronics single package units which result in 30 per cent quicker cooling; VTS Clima Gulf WING Air Curtain which reduces electricity consumption by 40 per cent, HH Shaker and Midea duel-sensing technology that saves up to 58.5 per cent energy. El Haddad said: "Forecast to reach a value of up to $6.36 billion by 2022, the local HVAC R market is energised, making it the best time for professionals to network, conduct business and find new products at HVAC R Expo Saudi 2019." "We will not only host over 85 leading industry brands at the expo, but will also offer training sessions where professionals will be able to enhance their skills and get certified," he noted. Visitors to the event will benefit from free access to over 28 CPD (continuing professional development) certified training sessions sponsored by Samsung Alessa Advanced Projects, said the organisers. The agenda will include presentations by Saso, GSO and SCE, as well as Carrier, Hussein & Al Hassan G Shaker Bros, Modern Trading CO. Ltd, and Shaker Group, he stated. Sessions will run across two workshop theatres throughout the event, and will cover topics such as efficient techniques for indoor cooling, dual sensing technology, smart and digital solutions for HVAC and much more, he added.-TradeArabia News Service Dubai-based Labiba for Artificial Intelligence has partnered with Bahrain Fintech Bay, a major financial technology hub in the Middle East and Africa for the formation of Labiba Bahrain. The joint venture has been established to extend the artificial intelligence solutions specialised in conversational interface and voice-user interface (VUI) for Fintech firms in the local and regional market, said a statement from the company. The Bahrain FinTech Bay (BFB) is a part of FinTech Consortium, a FinTech Incubator working with partners and stakeholders to co-incubate insightful, impactful, and sustainable FinTech initiatives, it said. With its global network of locations in New York (US), Singapore, and now Bahrain, BFB works closely with its counterparts to promote collaboration and shared innovation. Through its subsidiary FinTech Consortium Bahrain, they have been appointed as the operator and ecosystem builder of Bahrain FinTech Bay. Labiba is an exponent of the groundbreaking AI technology that promises to be a gamechanger for marketing, customer service and support functions across industries. With a focus on the Arabic language, Labiba is dedicated to creating machines capable of understanding not just the formal Arabic, but all the different Arabic dialects used by the customers. The organisation now operates in Jordan, UAE and Bahrain, and the partnership with Bahrain Fintech Bay is certainly a giant step towards the fulfilment of their expansion plans. Ali Hajjaj, chief executive officer of Labiba, said: We are extremely pleased to be able to work closely with the Bahrain Fintech Bay (BFB) to accelerate the FinTech ecosystem in this region that has a huge potential for the future. This is a great opportunity for us to utilise our experience and expertise to strengthen the fintech landscape in the Middle East and Africa, he added. Khalid Saad, chief executive officer of Bahrain FinTech Bay, said: Our partnership with Labiba, a leading artificial intelligence and robotic process automation firm headquartered in Jordan represents our first regional partnership under our Venture Acceleration Platform. We believe that their advanced chatbot/solution/platform that understands Arabic dialects will add tremendous value to the market, he added. TradeArabia News Service MMEC Mannesmann, a leading German engineering contractor in the field of petroleum coke calcining, has partnered with Acwa Power, a leading developer and operator of power and water plants, to develop the Sohar Calciner project in Oman. The state-of-the-art plant will be the first of its kind in Oman and will aim to supply the sultanates aluminum industry with calcined coke. The Sohar Calciner project, upon completion of its first phase, will enable the production of 1.1 million tons of aluminum annually and 2.2 million tons by completion of the second phase. Combining MMEC Mannesmanns expertise and best practice in design and construction of petroleum coke calciner plants, and Acwa Powers know-how in efficiently utilising waste heat to generate power and water, the environment friendly project is expected to see remarkable results and contribute towards the countrys economic growth. The plant will also secure calcined coke supply globally and to the GCC market. The Sohar Calciner will benefit from the well-established and proven regional capability of MMEC Mannesmann through its experience in the implementation of calcination plants in Bahrain and the UAE. Sohar Calciner will create 130 job opportunities in Oman, including at least 100 for Omanis, and would employ up to 3,000 people during periods of peak construction. The project will bring the most advanced and best available calcining technologies to Oman and shall contribute to the development of Omani engineering talent, said the statement. Mohammed Abunayyan, chairman of Acwa Power, said: Acwa Power is at the heart of changing the energy landscape and remain committed to collaborating with partners and stakeholders to have positive impact on industries, particularly energy intensive industries, and in communities we invest and operate in. We are proud to be working closely with the renowned international company, MMEC Mannesmann, to expand industrial activity in Oman, and contribute towards the countrys economic growth and diversification agenda. The Sohar Calciner plant marks the development of the first industrial project in the newly reclaimed area in Sohar which enables the development of the area for future industries. Oliver Apelt, CEO of MMEC Mannesmann, said: We are delighted to work alongside Acwa Power and SIPC to create a milestone in Omans and the GCCs history making the regions aluminum industry more self-sufficient. We will bring forward our insight and expertise to build the Sohar Calciner plant to the highest standards and using the best available environmentally safe technology, delivering a cost competitive plant. - TradeArabia News Service You have reached a premium content area of TOL. To read this entire article please login if you are already a TOL subscriber. Not a subscriber? Annual membership costs only $55 per year for individuals ($33 for students) and organizational subscriptions start at $141 per year. Subscribe today for access to: Full access to the website, including premium articles videos, country reports and searchable archives (containing over 25,000 articles). A Ukrainian court on Thursday sentenced former president Viktor Yanukovich in absentia to 13 years in jail on treason charges, a judge said, saying his conduct in office had opened the door to Russia\s annexation of Crimea and conflict in eastern Ukraine. Yanukovich fled to Russia in 2014 following street protests against his rule. His successor, Petro Poroshenko, has adopted a pro-Western foreign policy, reversing Yanukovich\s tilt towards Moscow. "With his deliberate illegal actions, Yanukovich committed a crime against the foundations of the national sovereignty of Ukraine, namely state treason", judge Vladyslav Deviatko said. The judge said Yanukovich sent a letter to Russian President Vladimir Putin on March 1, 2014, asking him to use Russian army and police forces to restore order in Ukraine. "With his deliberate actions, Yanukovich committed a crime against peace, namely aiding in the conduct of an aggressive war," judge Deviatko said. Yanukovich left Ukraine after three months of protests during which more than 100 demonstrators were killed in clashes in the Ukrainian capital. Yanukovich has previously denied the allegations made by prosecutors and blamed armed nationalist radicals for fomenting violence in the 2014 Maidan protests that prompted him to flee. Yanukovich\s lawyers said they would appeal the judgement. The issue of preserving the pro-European vector of development will be one of the key debates in the upcoming presidential elections in which the current president Poroshenko and former associates of Yanukovich will most likely take part. SOURCE: REUTERS Hundreds of Syrian refugees in Lebanon went back to their war-torn country on Thursday the latest batch to return home in recent months. Thousands of Syrians have returned home from Lebanon since June as calm returns to parts of the country. The refugees had gathered since the early hours in the northern Beirut suburb of Burj Hammoud. There, they boarded buses that took them home. Hundreds of others also gathered in other parts of Lebanon from where buses took them home. Syrian state news agency SANA said buses carrying the refugees began arriving in the Syrian border villages of Jdaidet Yabous in the east and Dabousiyeh in the north in the early afternoon. The returns come as Syrian government forces have made gains in recent years, capturing nearly 60 percent of Syria. Thursday\s return was organized by Lebanon\s General Security Directorate in charge of foreigners in Lebanon. Lebanon is hosting about 950,000 registered Syrian refugees. That\s according to the U.N. refugee agency. The government estimates the true number of Syrian refugees in the country to be 1.5 million. SOURCE: AP Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan met Wednesday to coordinate their moves in Syria as their governments bargain over zones of influence in the war-torn country. The leaders share strong opposition to the U.S. military presence in Syria, seeing it as an obstacle to their clout in the country. The Kremlin meeting marked their first encounter since U.S. President Donald Trump announced the pullout of American troops in a Dec. 19 tweet. "If such plans are implemented, it will mark a positive move that would help stabilize the situation," Putin said about the planned U.S. withdrawal. Putin emphasized Moscow\s readiness to respect Turkey\s interests, but encouraged it to talk to the Syrian government to help stabilize the border areas. Turkey has pushed for the creation of a 32-kilometer (20-mile) "safe zone" in northeastern Syria to ensure that the Syrian Kurdish militia The People\s Protection Units, or YPG, which Turkey considers to be a "terrorist group" for its ties to outlawed Kurdish rebels inside Turkey is kept away from the Turkish border. The YPG is the main component of the Syrian Democratic Forces that rolled back the Islamic State group from wide parts of Syria with the help of the U.S.-led coalition. "It is of critical importance that a power vacuum that can be abused by terror groups does not emerge during the process of the U.S. withdrawal," Erdogan said. The Turkish leader noted that the U.S. has given positive signals regarding the "safe zone" and added that "there is no problem between us and Russia" in creating it. "I have stated that our only aim is our duty to clear (the region) of terror organizations such as the PYD and the YPG, and especially of Daesh," Erdogan said, referring to the Kurdish militia group\s political arm and IS. Putin, however, used the meeting to reaffirm Moscow\s support of contacts between Syrian President Bashar Assad\s government and the Kurds. "Such dialogue will help consolidation of the Syrian society and the national reconciliation," Putin said. "It will be beneficial not only to Syria but its neighbors." Russia says it expects Assad\s government to take over Kurdish-held border regions east of the Euphrates River following the planned U.S. troop withdrawal from the area, which Turkey objects to. Turkey fears any deal between the Syrian government and the YPG in the border area as well as in the strategic town of Manbij, under which the Kurdish militia would remain a threat to Turkey\s security. Putin signaled Russia\s willingness to accommodate Turkish security concerns, seeing strong ties with Turkey as an essential counterbalance to U.S. influence in the region. "We respect the interests of our Turkish friends in ensuring security," Putin said. But at the same time, he encouraged Turkey to use a 1998 treaty with Syria to help ensure border security. Russia appears eager to sponsor Damascus\ talks with the Kurds in the hope that it would extend the Syrian government\s gains and further cement its hold on the country. The U.S. plan to withdraw has further bolstered Russia\s role as the top power broker in Syria. Syrian pro-government paper Al-Watan reported Tuesday that a Kurdish delegation arrived in Moscow a day before Erdogan. There was no independent confirmation yet from Kurdish officials. Putin and Erdogan called each other "dear friend," hailing the close ties between their countries and their importance for regional security. They were accompanied by a retinue of security and military officials for detailed discussions on Syria. Russia and Iran have helped Assad to win back control of most of the country, while Turkey has backed Assad\s foes during the nearly eight-year conflict. Despite that, the three countries have teamed up to broker a peace deal for Syria, united by their shared desire to undercut the U.S. clout in the region. The agreement is now tested by Trump\s abrupt decision to withdraw from Syria, leaving Moscow, Ankara and Tehran jockeying for influence in the country. Russian and Turkish interests also collide in the northwestern province of Idlib, which is packed with 3 million people, including many who were displaced from other parts of the country. Last September, Putin and Erdogan struck a de-escalation deal on Idlib that averted the Syrian army offensive that sparked fears of a humanitarian catastrophe. The agreement created a security zone free of heavy weapons and monitored by Turkish troops to halt fighting. Turkey is pushing for that deal to stay in place, fearing the Syrian government forces are trying to undermine the agreement. Russia, in its turn, has urged Turkey to act more resolutely in reining in militants in Idlib who have launched attacks on Syrian government forces and the Russian military. Putin praised Turkey for helping stabilize Idlib, but emphasized that more joint efforts are needed to combat militants. "The cessation of hostilities mustn\t hurt the fight against terrorism that should continue," the Russian leader said. "Our fight against terror organizations in Idlib will continue jointly in the same way," Erdogan said. Both leaders boasted of their effort to produce a list of candidates for a committee that would work out Syria\s new constitution. Putin noted that its approval by the United Nations has been blocked by France, Germany and Britain, voicing hope that a compromise will be found. SOURCE: AP Russia accused the United States on Thursday of trying to usurp power in Venezuela and warned against military intervention, putting it at odds with Washington and the EU which backed protests against one of Moscow\s closest allies. Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido declared himself interim leader on Wednesday, winning the support of Washington and parts of Latin America. That prompted socialist President Nicolas Maduro, who has led the oil-rich nation since 2013, to sever diplomatic ties with the United States. The prospect of Maduro being ousted is a geopolitical and economic headache for Moscow which, alongside China, has become a creditor of last resort for Caracas, lending it billions of dollars as its economy implodes. Moscow has also helped its military and oil industry and provided wheat. Russia on Thursday accused Washington of stoking street protests and called Maduro the legitimate president. "We consider the attempt to usurp sovereign authority in Venezuela to contradict and violate the basis and principles of international law," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said. The Russian Foreign Ministry said an outside military intervention could have "catastrophic consequences." Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan offered support for Maduro too. "My brother Maduro! Stand tall, we stand by you!" presidential spokesman Ibrahim Kalin, writing on Twitter, quoted Erdogan as saying. China also said it supported efforts to protect Venezuela\s independence and stability. EU SUPPORT FOR OPPOSITION The European Union, which has imposed sanctions on Venezuela and boycotted Maduro\s swearing-in for a second term earlier this month, took a more nuanced tack. Although it stopped short of following Washington and recognising Guaido as interim president, it appealed for him to be protected and appeared to support calls for a peaceful transition of power away from Maduro. "The people of Venezuela have massively called for democracy and the possibility to freely determine their own destiny. These voices cannot be ignored," the 28-nation bloc said. The biggest group in the European Parliament, the centre-right European People\s Party, said it recognised Guaido as interim president and would call on the whole parliament to do so next week as a senior lawmaker urged Maduro to quit. French President Emmanuel Macron saluted Venezuelans marching for freedom. Germany, Switzerland and Portugal called for free elections, and Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez told Guaido he supported the Venezuelan parliament. Britain said Maduro\s 2018 election was neither free nor fair and expressed support for Guaido. There was nervousness about how far the EU could go however. "The problem is that we cant recognise somebody who was not elected democratically," said one EU diplomat. "That would create a dangerous precedent for any other person who would want to proclaim themselves the president of something." SOURCE: REUTERS After millions of dollars and countless hours spent fielding input from Lower East Side and East Village residents, the city now plans to abandon a long-in-the-works redesign of East River Park. Instead, Mayor Bill de Blasio announced via a press release in September, the city will literally raise the park, burying much of the current infrastructure under 10 feet of landfill and building it anew. The abrupt reversal was the topic of a well-attended City Council hearing on Wednesday, in which a parade of local community groups sought answers from the city about a new plan that will cut off access to much of the park between 14th Street and Corlears Hook for an estimated three-and-a-half years. "Closing the park for this long will have a devastating impact for residents and no real mitigation plan has been presented," said Naomi Schiller, a member of the LESReady! coalition, which was formed in the wake of Superstorm Sandy and now includes over two dozen community groups. We urge the City Council to do everything possible to prevent this plan that overrides years of community input from a broad range of stakeholders, that would restrict access to a critical source of recreation and open space for Lower East Side residents, and that leaves critical long-term environmental impacts inadequately addressed. The previous projectwhich involved adding a series of berms to the park, floodgates to FDR Drive, and a host of recreational benefits for parkgoershad been selected by the Rebuild By Design competition as the first phase of the city's ambitious "Big U" approach to fortifying Manhattan's lower half. Armed with hundreds of millions of dollars in federal recovery money, city officials had spent the last four years developing a plan alongside local residents that aimed to be a national model for community-driven climate resiliency. Now, Schiller says,"years of community input have basically gone out the window." A comparison of the two plans shared by the city with Community Board 3 (Mayor's Office) The recent exclusion of the public in the decision making process, and rationale the city has given, is counter to the principals of the Rebuild By Design, echoed Amy Chester, executive director of the competition, which grew out of the federal governments Hurricane Sandy Rebuilding Task Force. Pressed on this point by council members, officials admitted that their outreach efforts had fallen short. "Did we communicate the change properly? No," said Lorraine Grillo, commissioner of the city's Department of Design and Construction. "That's on me. I take responsibility for that and I apologize." Nevertheless, officials said there was little choice but to go through with the revised vision, as the previous version would leave the park vulnerable to catastrophic flooding during the next Sandy-level storm. "There are parks designed to absorb storm surge, but they don't have recreational elements inside them," explained NYC Parks Commissioner Mitchell Silver. Activists say they've been told that decision was based upon by a design study commissioned last year, which they've not yet been permitted to see. While Silver noted that many of the previous elements of the plan would be kept, the fate of some proposed additionsincluding a new harbor bath and a dedicated foraging areaas well as existing structures, like the historic amphitheater, remains uncertain. The new plan would also result in the removal of thousands of plants and trees that volunteers helped grow in the years following Sandy. "There are over 700 trees and over 350 species that call the East River Park home," said Christine Datz-Romero, the executive director of the Lower East Side Ecology Center. "This is an urban oasis for so many creatures, and there's been no compelling reason offered so far to justify destroying it." Among the benefits of the new proposal, according to officials, is the fact that the landfill approach will allow the city to avoid constructing a floodgate along the FDR Drive, which would have resulted in the closure of one lane of the highway for several years. The consideration has led some to accuse the city of appeasing drivers at the expense of local residents. By using barges to carry the landfill by day, rather than closing down part of the highway for overnight work, the new plan can be completed about two years ahead of schedule, according to Grillo. A previous plan for foldable storm barriers along FDR Drive (Rebuild By Design) But community advocates point out that the Parks Department has blown past deadlines on several neighboring projects, and the new plan is not yet funded. Previously estimated at $760 million, it will now cost $1.45 billion to complete, with the city expected to pick up the tab in next year's capital budget. (Over $150 million was spent to rehabilitate the park during the Bloomberg administration.) The federal government has so far committed $330 million to the project, around $40 million has which has already been spent on design work. While Parks officials said the remaining federal funds are not in danger, some elected officials were less confident. "The worst possible result is that we start this work and run out of money," said Councilmember Mark Levine. "It's a hostile administration in Washingtonthere have been projects a lot smaller than this that have died on the vine because we couldn't get full funding." (A spokesperson for HUD did not respond to a request for comment). Activists are also confused about the ballooning cost of the project, given years of planning dictated by what they thought were strict budget constraints. "When they say, 'Oh, by the way, we have $700 million more now,' people feel duped," Ayo Harrington, a longtime neighborhood organizer and leader of the East River Alliance, told Gothamist. "People want to know why we can't talk about ambitious infrastructure ideas like burying the highway, or adding more unique structures like they have on the [Hudson River Greenway]." At the very least, Harrington said, the city should offer residents free ferries to nearby Brooklyn Bridge Park and Governor's Island. Councilmember Carlina Rivera, who represents the area, echoed the call to provide alternative green space to local residents, particularly the thousands of NYCHA tenants who live in buildings along the waterfront. Several speakers noted the neighborhood's high asthma rates, and the fact that more than half of Lower East Side students do not get physical education in school. Many called for a phased-in approach to construction, rather than a full shutdown of the park. Beyond the community concerns, there's also the question of whether the city has a legal path to complete the project. While Grillo insists that alienationa state oversight process triggered when a municipality aims to get rid of a parkwill not be necessary, elected officials in Albany and Washington don't seem to agree. "The new plan is essentially to transform the park itself into a flood barrier," read a letter delivered on behalf of state Senator Brad Hoylman, Congressmember Carolyn Maloney, and Congressmember Nydia Velazqueza on Wednesday. "Since it is clear that the City would not be demolishing or reconstructing the park otherwise, we believe that City is not undertaking the project for a park purpose, and it therefore requires alienation." For now, Lower East Siders say they'll do everything in their power to ensure the city's new landfill plan doesn't trash years of public feedback that went into the previous plan. "We demand that the city work with us acre by acre, bench by bench, tree by tree," said Harrington. "As you know, our community is resilient, our community is just, and our community is very, very loud." MBABANE - The Central Bank of Eswatini (CBE) has filed an urgent application to interdict the Times of Swaziland from publishing a story surrounding the issuance of a licence to the Farmers Bank. The story is being pursued by the Times SUNDAY, which is a sister publication of the Times of Swaziland daily newspaper. CBE Governor Majozi Sithole contends that disclosure of such information had the potential of upsetting the banking sector and creating an adverse risk with correspondent Central Banks worldwide. The report contains opinions which are subject of debate even internally and as such, once published, may give rise to improper conclusion as to the bank licensing process and thereby jeopardise the banking sector in the country, argued Sithole. Respondents in the matter are African Echo (PTY) Limited trading as Times of Swaziland, Times SUNDAY Editor Sifiso Sibandze and Times SUNDAY Senior Journalist Welcome Dlamini. Interdicting The bank is seeking an order interdicting the respondents from publishing articles and information contained in a confidential report on Farmers Bank Licence application. The applicant (CBE) is further praying for an order interdicting and restraining the newspaper from publishing articles and/or confidential information pertaining to the employment contract of its deputy governor. Sithole submitted that Dlamini was in possession of the confidential report that was prepared by the CBEs Financial Regulation Department in connection with the processing of an application by Farmers Bank for the grant of a banking licence. The process of licensing banks, is an intricate and confidential process, which includes the financial soundness; track record, international standing and reputation of the entity seeking a licence and the screening of shareholders, said Sithole. Confidential He stated that in this connection, various submissions of a confidential nature were made by the entity that was seeking a licence and likewise, confidential assessments and evaluation were undertaken by CBE. Sithole highlighted that the above was done in order to determine the suitability of granting the banking licence. Ultimately, the decision on whether or not to grant a licence lies with the office of the governor, acting on the advice of the Financial Regulation Department. The Financial Regulation Department prepares a strictly confidential report for deliberations and for purposes of determining whether or not to grant the banking licence, submitted the governor. According to Sithole, the confidential information, which was not to be disclosed to unauthorised persons or any other person outside CBE, had apparently been unlawfully obtained by the newspaper. The governor alleged that the senior journalist had confirmed to CBE upon enquiry that he was in possession of the confidential information. He informed the court that on January 18, 2019, Dlamini sent a questionnaire to the banks communications officer requesting responses to various questions on the matter. It was apparent to me from the questionnaire that the third respondent (Dlamini) was in possession of the confidential document, said Sithole. These are allegations contained in an affidavit whose veracity is still to be tested in court and the respondents are yet to file their papers. He averred that he then brought it to the attention of Dlamini that the report was confidential in nature and that CBE had the right to protect its privacy, including confidential documents and that possession by him (Dlamini) was therefore unlawful and wholly improper. Sithole said he also informed the senior journalist that by its nature, it was apparent that the report had been obtained unlawfully and that such acquisition and disclosure of the report was in violation of Section 20 of the CBE Order. He claimed that he further informed Dlamini that the disclosure of the report was also in violation of the oath of secrecy that all employees of the bank were required to adhere to. These are averments whose veracity is yet to be tested in court. Disclose I also informed the third respondent that in terms of Section 20(3) of the Central Bank Order, it was criminal offence for him to disclose, reveal or publish any confidential material and/or any material that falls within the ambit of the secrecy provisions that are applicable at the applicants undertaking, said the governor. Sithole mentioned that he went on to tell Dlamini that the bank had a right to the protection of its confidential information. The governor contended that the bank was concerned about the continued publication of the report. In view of the foregoing, we requested Dlamini to provide us with an undertaking that he will not publish the report. Up until the signing of this affidavit, the respondents have failed to provide the undertaking, argued Sithole. The matter is pending at the High Court and will be heard tomorrow. MBABANE The Ministry of Education and Training is short-changing school head teachers as it has not released free primary education (FPE) grants to date. This follows that the Ministry of Finance has on record stated that it released money needed for the FPE grants to the ministry (of education). In yesterdays publication, it was reported that Minister of Finance Neal Rijkenberg said as means of ensuring efficiency, government planned in advance for the opening of schools and did not want to be caught off-guard. In his ministrys proactiveness, Rijkenberg said his ministry had a budget provision for schools opening. Channelled This, he said, was done by making sure that part of the Southern African Customs Union (SACU) revenue for January was channelled towards schools. He said once the SACU receipts were received, his ministry set aside a certain portion for schools as per its preparedness plan. After transferring the money to the Ministry of Education and Training, it was anticipated that the schools would be paid their grants. In defence of her ministrys slow pace and failure to make history, the Minister of Education and Training, Lady Mabuza, said since the inception of the FPE programme, the grants were never available to schools on the first day. Since FPE started, the grants have never been awarded on the first day of school; so, what is special this year? the minister asked rhetorically. Perpetuating the poor turn-around time, Mabuza blamed head teachers and claimed they were not cooperative in submitting the necessary documentation on time. The minister said this was counterproductive as it stalled the processing of the requests for the FPE funding. The politician was at pains explaining that by merely submitting their requests, they would then get the grants immediately. She admitted that no school had been paid the grants to date. The ex-head teacher of Malunge High School, claimed that some head teachers were frustrating the process of paying the FPE grants as they were not forwarding their requests. On Monday, when I made a follow-up on the number of schools that had filed requests with the office of the regional education officer (REO), I discovered that about 31 schools had not done that, Mabuza said. While these schools in Manzini had not submitted, Mabuza said it was the same case in the other regions as well. She said some schools were submitting and those that were already with the ministry were being worked on. Accountants and officers in the ministry are working around the clock to make sure that those who submitted the requests for the grants get the money. Mabuza said the money should be deposited into the account of the schools that submitted earlier by tomorrow. She said it shall be inclusive of the funding that was paid by the European Union (EU) in the past years. The EU had, since inception of the FPE programme, assisted government with a sponsorship of E140 million in the past eight years. However, that sponsorship lapsed last year. Bill This has left government having to add about E17 million annually to its bill of FPE. Yesterday, this publication reported that the Ministry of Finances Communications Officer, Setsabile Dlamini, confirmed that over E200 million had been dispatched to schools. Setsabile was responding to a question on whether the national budget presented by the erstwhile Minister of Finance, Martin Dlamini, included the grants of this academic year. She responded to the affirmative and said: Yes, it includes the grants of this academic year. The amount was E227 923 959. MBABANE Its good news for Manzini folk. Belt-tightening has come in a different way for Manzini residents as the municipality has temporarily suspended rates hike this financial year. The decision, which came as good news to the ratepayers, was confirmed by the Public Relations Officer of the municipality, Mathokoza Thwala, in an interview. Thwala said the municipalitys decision was influenced by the current state of the economy in the country. Many people have been complaining that money was scarce these days, owing to the poor economic downturn. Temporary Thwala said the temporary suspension of the rates hike would last until the next financial year where they would conduct the general evaluation roll. Thwala said the municipality was hoping that ratepayers appreciated the temporary suspension of the tariff hike. He pleaded with the residents of the city to pay their currently owed rates as soon as they received their bills, so that services could not be affected during the temporary suspension of the rates hike. Thwala stated that the 10th Parliament approved the tariff hike in user fees, something which had slightly improved the economic status of the town. He made an example of the parking fees which were increased by 100 per cent. The parking fees increased from E2.50 to E5. Other residents who would have the temporary relief are those from Vuvulane Town Board. The Town Clerk, Mandla Mhlongo, confirmed that the small town would not hike rates this financial year. Mhlongo said the towns decision was also influenced by the negative state of the economy. Rates hike is determined by the general evaluation roll. How can a tariff hike be initiated without the general evaluation roll? asked Mhlongo. The authorities of Mbabane Municipality stated that they have not yet discussed the issues of rates. The municipalitys Information and Public Relations Officer Lucky Tsabedze, said the city was only encouraging the ratepayers to pay their rates as expected. Sisengakayiteki leyo (we have not discussed that issue), he said. Tsabedze also mentioned that municipalities worked independently, which was why their decisions were not unanimous. Phindile Simelane, who is the Town Clerk at Siteki Town Council, said the town was in the process of conducting the general evaluation roll. Simelane said the issue would be decided after the completion of the general evaluation roll. Response A response from Ngwenya Town Board was that the authorities were still having internal meetings over certain issues, which included the rates hike. Meanwhile, Mbabane Businessman Walter Bennett, who is also a member of the ratepayers association, commended the Manzini Municipality for temporarily suspending the hike in rates. MBABANE MTN Mobile Money agents can now deposit, withdraw and dispatch Mobile Money (MoMo) in real time through the Swaziland Building Society (SBS) Escrow Account. The launch of the account held at the Royal Villas yesterday marked the latest in a series of strategic partnerships between MTN and SBS through which the two companies extend the latest Mobile Money innovation to their customers. This service is anticipated to guarantee customers with both convenience and a more cost-effective way to make Mobile Money transactions. It will assist Mobile Money agents to replenish their accounts in real time by enabling them to exchange Mobile Money for cash up to the tune of E20 000 per day. Introduced In order to fully benefit from the Escrow Account, SBS Managing Director Timothy Nhleko urged all MTN agents to open accounts with the society. The marriage between SBS and MTN dates back to 2015. Thereafter, both parties have introduced numerous products that they have been offering jointly. One of such products is the push/pull, which allows Mobile Money subscribers to make ATM withdrawals. SBS boasts close to 60 ATMs and branches nationwide. SBS customers can also be able to make transfers, check balances as well as purchase electricity and airtime. MTN Acting Chief Executive Officer Sibusiso Nhleko said these developments, including the launch of the Escrow Account, and many more others to come, were an expression of MTN Eswatinis commitment to work with partners and deliver innovation in the area of Information Communication Technology which takes the Kingdom of Eswatini one step closer to First World status. For the first time since 2011, the total value of Mobile Money activity has hit the E1 billion mark, and for this, we are excited beyond words. Because we refuse to be complacent due to the products groundbreaking success, we continue to look for avenues to pursue growth, and mutually beneficial partnerships. That explains why today we are raising awareness that all Mobile Money vendors can now readily get their units at any of the societys branches, real- time, he said. He said the Escrow Account would enable vendors not to lose their customers due to lack of units when the demand is high. Transactions At the same time, we dont want Mobile Money subscribers to keep moving from one agent to the next, with no means of either cashing or depositing their cash, added Nhleko. MTN Chief Consumer Officer Sam Shongwe said there was 50 per cent growth in transactions on their SBS partnership services between December and January 2018. The trend shows that SBS is a very good partner, he said. Meanwhile, he said there were currently more than 20 services available on the Mobile Money platform, and over E148 million was in circulation within the Mobile Money ecosystem. There were also over 600 000 registered subscribers. Out of these, over 400 000 were active subscribers. MTN also recently launched MoMoPay, which enables merchants to receive payment for goods and services using MTN Mobile Money. Currently, over 700 merchants accept MoMoPay. Inclusion Central Bank of Eswatini (CBE) Governor Majozi Sithole applauded the launch of the Escrow Account by the partners. This partnership will play a significant role to expand access to financial products, he said. Sithole said the launch came at an opportune time when most Emaswati were still financially excluded, while financial inclusion remains an integral element to drive sustainable growth. Governments target is to reduce financial exclusion from the current 27 per cent to at least 15 per cent, as well as increase the percentage of adults who have access to two or more formal financial products from 43 per cent to 27 per cent by 2022. Sithole said the launch of the Escrow Account would also play a significant role in bringing individuals small and medium enterprises (SMEs) to the formal financial sector. He said this is because the annual MTN deposits currently edges at just over E2 billion and the total number of annual transactions stood at over E1.6 billion. While the City Council's Transportation committee spent more than five hours on Wednesday discussing a package of legislation aimed at legalizing throttle e-bikes and electric scooters in NYC, the fate of the bills may ultimately be tied to Albany. The bills would legalize the kinds of e-bikes that are predominately used by the city's immigrant delivery cyclists, and also the e-scooters that have been popularized in San Francisco and Washington, D.C., both of which are currently illegal under New York State law. But last week, Governor Andrew Cuomo addressed the demand for the vehicles by putting a provision in his 2019 budget that would allow localities to legalize e-scooters and e-bikes. Department of Transportation Commissioner Polly Trottenberg told City Council members at Wednesday's hearing that the de Blasio administration was waiting for Cuomo's proposal to be fleshed out before embracing any legalization efforts at the city level. "We want some clarity from the state on what the legal framework would be for both e-bikes and e-scooters," Trottenberg said. Committee Chair Ydanis Rodriguez, who is co-sponsoring the legislation along with Councilmember Rafael Espinal and Councilmember Fernando Cabrera, insisted that the city could and should move forward, "The time is now to legalize e-bicycles and electric scooters," Rodriguez said. Another puzzling aspect to the legislation: one bill would legalize e-scooters, which use a throttle, while another would create a program for delivery cyclists to retrofit their bikes and remove their throttles, turning them into the same kind of pedal-assisted e-bikes that Citi Bike has on the streets. "Were asking the city to remove the throttles form the e-bikes while simultaneously legalizing e-scooters powered by electric throttles," said Brooklyn Councilmember Carlos Menchaca, who supports legalizing e-bikes but expressed deep skepticism of e-scooter companies, who are eager to drop their product onto city streets. After the hearing, a spokesperson for one co-sponsor of the legislation acknowledged that given the governor's proposal, "We might have to change our approach." In a statement, City Council Speaker Corey Johnson said that he is still weighing the legislation. "I still have concerns regarding the effects e-scooters and e-bikes could have on public safety, but as Ive said from the beginning, I am open to them in some form if we can sort out the legal issues and make it happen safely." DOT Commissioner Polly Trottenberg, NYPD Transportation Chief Thomas Chan, and NYPD head of legislative affairs Oleg Chernyavsky (Emil Cohen / City Council) For much of the day the hearing room was packed with delivery cyclists and advocates who have been urging the council to end what they say is a clear double standard in policy: pedal assist e-bikes are legal for well-off commuters, but low-income workers are pulled over and fined $500, while their e-bikes are confiscated. The NYPD's Chief of Transportation, Thomas Chan, who gave no prepared remarks, testified that the department confiscated 1,215 e-bikes in 2018, and issued 1,154 e-bike summonses to individuals, and 167 e-bike summonses to commercial businesses. (These numbers are considerably higher than those provided to Gothamist last week.) Oleg Chernyavsky, the NYPD's head of legislative affairs, said that in addition to those summonses, the department issued 1,362 moving violations to e-bike cyclists, and said this was "anecdotal" proof that police officers are targeting illegal behavior, not immigrants. "What that shows is there's no targeting of delivery individuals, it shows there's a targeting of a dangerous individuals," Chernyavsky said, though he admitted that the NYPD could not say how many of the 1,154 individual e-bike summonses came with moving violations. As for why NYPD e-bike enforcement is still so lopsided against individual delivery cyclists, when the law requires police to fine businesses, Chernyavsky said that it was challenging for officers to cite businesses. "If they are operating for commercial purposes, sometimes they're not affiliated to a particular establishment, they're independent contractors, so there isn't a business" to fine, Chernyavsky said. During the hearing, neither the DOT nor the NYPD cited any injuries resulting from e-bike riders striking pedestrians. A spokesperson for Uber Eats said that the company had received e-bike fines, but would not say how many. The company supports legalizing both e-bikes and e-scooters. Spokespeople for Seamless and Grubhub, which combined control 85 percent of New York City's food delivery market, did not return our requests for comment. Legal Aid attorney Steven Wasserman later testified that out of the dozens of e-bike delivery cyclists that he has represented over the last four months, "there were perhaps only one or two who were committing traffic infractions while they were stopped." "The police often just deploy themselves near the bike lanes and just wait for a passing bicyclist and confiscate their bikes. It's plain that they're in the process of delivering food," Wasserman said. "These workers are really helpless. It's almost impossible for themselves, within their economic situation, to bring themselves in compliance with the law." Anyone who orders delivery should watch this video. This is how New York City criminalizes its delivery workers. #DeliverJustice pic.twitter.com/99wPUYqbC8 Biking Public Project (@BikingPublic) January 23, 2019 Councilmember Margaret Chin said she was disappointed in the City's failed efforts to help delivery cyclists convert their throttle e-bikes to pedal assisted models. "Conversion should not be that difficult if we really, really, want to help these hard working people who are just trying to make a living," Chin said. Trottenberg responded that the DOT has studied how a conversion program would work, but that getting bike shops around the city to participate and convert bikes in a legal and safe way was inordinately complex. "It's not for a lack of trying," she said. Councilmember Antonio Reynoso commented that the intense debate over e-bikes and e-scooters "speaks to the car culture problem." "The administration has a backwards approach," Reynoso said. "Double parking and parking on bike lanes is dangerous. Instead of clearing their lanes, we confiscate their bikes...How many cars have killed people and how many bikes have killed people? The real danger are two ton vehicles." Clemente Rodriguez, a 45-year-old delivery cyclist from Brooklyn, attended a rally outside City Hall before the hearing in support of legalizing e-bikes. Rodriguez said he needs an e-bike to support his four children, and that his bosses require him to use it. He said he has been pulled over three times by the NYPD. "I have to work really hard to pay off the fines, because I don't want any problems with the police," Rodriguez told Gothamist, adding that it takes months for him to pay a $500 ticket. "If this legislation passes we will not be in as much fear from the police and we'll be able to do our jobs safely and efficiently." Posted Thursday, January 24, 2019 2:16 am The suspected gunman in a robbery that left a convenience store clerk dead in Kelso earlier this week has been arrested, Kelso police department announced late last night. The department stated that around 5:30 p.m. D'Anthony Leslie Williams, 19, was arrested in Camas for the murder of Kayla Chapman following a robbery at Holt's Quik Chek early Tuesday morning. Camas and Vancouver police and the Clark County Sheriff's Department assisted in the arrest and Williams was taken into custody without incident. According to Kelso police the suspect's vehicle, which had been stolen by Williams prior to the homicide, was located in Vancouver by that city's police and Clark County Sheriff's deputies. Williams was booked into the Cowlitz County Jail for first-degree murder and robbery, a drug charge and possession of a stolen vehicle. He will be held without bail until his arraignment. Kelso police are still looking for at least two other subjects that were in the vehicle at the time of the robbery/homicide. Those with information on the other subjects are asked to contact police at (360) 423-1270. No other details were released by Kelso police at this time. Southern Pines, NC (28387) Today A mix of clouds and sun in the morning followed by cloudy skies during the afternoon. Hot. High around 95F. Winds WSW at 10 to 20 mph.. Tonight Considerable cloudiness. Occasional rain showers later at night. Low around 70F. Winds WSW at 10 to 20 mph. Chance of rain 70%. "Be advised there's something on final [descent] here we don't, we thought maybe it was a drone, uh, but there's, uh, definitely, uh, something on final here," a pilot for Southwest Airlines approaching Newark airport told air traffic control on Tuesday night. When the air traffic controller asked, "And you say something on final, I'm not sure what you mean. Like an object or something?" the pilot responded, "Yes sir, an object and it definitely looks like a drone. It was pretty close. I'd say within, uh, I would say, a quarter mile at most off our right." The sighting, coupled with another pilot's report, prompted the Federal Aviation Administration to call a brief stoppage on all arriving flights at Newark Liberty International Airport. But a spokesperson for the world's biggest drone manufacturer was "deeply skeptical" that the pilots actually saw a drone. "At approximately 5 p.m. Tuesday, we received two reports from incoming flights into Newark that a drone was sighted at about 3,500 feet above Teterboro, New Jersey," an FAA spokesperson told Gothamist. "At that point, flights arriving into Newark were held for a short duration. With no further drone sightings, arrivals resumed." Adam Lisberg, the spokesman for DJI, which currently has about 74% of the drone market, counters that it's "highly unlikely that someone could fly a drone at 3,500 feet in altitude... outside on a below freezing day." Lisberg also doubts whether two separate pilotsone for Southwest Flight 476 and the other for United Flight 2335, who said the drone was 30 feet off the right wingcould have actually seen a drone while flying at extremely fast speeds. "A drone, it could be the size of a dinner plate or even smaller than that," he told ABC 7. "If I were driving at 150 miles an hour, I don't think I could spot something the size of a drone sitting by the side of the road. I think it's even harder to do that in an airplane." While there have been incidents where drones have collided with aircraftin December 2017, a Staten Island man's drone collided into a Black Hawk helicopter at just under 300 feetLisberg said, "It's far more likely it was a balloon or a bat or a plastic bagall of which have been mistaken for drones in the past." The drone spokesman also cited a study that found pilots are unable to accurately determine the distance between the aircraft and drones, claiming drones were actually much closer than they really were. "This is not a knock on the pilots," Lisberg said. "Its past the limits of human perception." Last month, Gatwick Airport near London, England, cancelled about 1,000 flights over three days before the Christmas holiday because of alleged drone sightings; the mystery is still ongoing and investigators are offering a 50,000-pound reward for information leading to an arrest. During the Newark drone panicone passenger said his pilot said they were circling because of "drone activity" and other flights' pilots commented they were low on fuelLisberg touted DJI's AeroScope technology that can locate all DJI drones within range, as well as the drones' pilots. DJI does work with some airports on drone-spotting, but the most high-profile instance of AeroScope being used to find rogue drones has been at the Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta last October450 drones illegally crossed into balloon-only, restricted airspace. There are mounting concerns about the threat posed by drones to airplane traffic (aside from homeland security worries or the possibility that one will fall from the sky, hit someone poolside, and explode into flames). John Halinski, former deputy administrator of the federal Transportation Security Administration, told the NY Times, "This is a really disturbing trend. It is a real problem because drones are multiplying every day. They really pose a threat in a number of ways to civil aviation." The Port Authority, which oversees Newark, JFK and LaGuardia Airports, said in a statement provided to the Times that "the presence of drone activity near major airports is a serious threat to public safety and can cause significant disruption to flight operations, impacting thousands of passengers." However, the agency did not disclose its approach to handling drones. The Times added, "Last week, the Port Authority said it held a meeting with local, state and federal agencies 'to review and enhance protocols for the rapid detection and interdiction of drones.'" Drone enthusiast and Gothamist co-founder Jake Dobkin, who recently passed his FAA licensing exam for unmanned aircraft systems, agrees it would be very difficult to operate a drone at 3,500 feet. "Most consumer drones have altitude limits built into the controller appsfor instance, the default on DJI's app is 360 feet above ground level," he said. "You can override it to fly up to about 1,600 feet, but there's no way to go higher than that, at least not without hacking the system." Further, there are practical challenges. "A drone can rise about 10 feet per second, so to get up to say 3,500 feet, you're talking about flying straight up for six minutes," estimated Dobkin. "Then good luck trying to control the droneit's very likely you'd lose the radio connection, especially in congested signal areas like the NYC area. Even if you maintained it, you'd be fighting really high winds and cold temperatures, both probably well outside the safe operating limits of a consumer drone." (In November, wind caused a drone to hit the side of a midtown office building, leading to the arrest of its pilot.) "Now, of course there are professional drones that can fly higher and longer than consumer drones, but they're very expensive, and the pilots who fly them are generally licensed with the FAA and not nearly stupid enough to risk their $15,000 drone, loss of license, and massive fine by flying into Class B airspace without permission," Dobkin opined. The FAA spokesperson said that small drones would not be detectable on radar. "Individuals who operate drones unsafely can face fines from the FAA of up to $1,437 per violation, while businesses that fly unsafely can face fines of up to $32,666 per violation," the spokesperson described. "On top of that, people who fly drones unsafely can face federal criminal penalties including fines of up to $250,000 and/or imprisonment for up to three years." Boeing has been experimenting with lasers to fight drones, as has China. Also, the Netherlands has trained eagles (!) to attack illegal drones: So what was it that shut down Newark airport Tuesday night if it was not a drone? That remains a mystery, along with the mystery of just what exactly those other pilots spotted at 40,000 feet over the Arizona desert . Still taken from To Live and Die in Manila Saintino Manilan that, Cassimir The portrait painted by a Boiler Room documentary (of modern Manila is terrifying. In 2016, Rodrigo Duterte was elected to become the president of the Philippines, with a major focal point of his election campaign being his promise to be merciless in a war against drugs.Any reasonable bystander would be incredulous as to how a presidential candidate can call for the death of 3 million drug users in his own nation, bringing about a comparison to Hitler, and nonetheless get elected. Since his election into office, 4,500 people have officially been killed by Filipino authorities in what they term as legal anti-drug operations, with other estimates holding that figure at closer to 20,000. And the kicker is that Duterte called for civilians, yes, civilians, to kill anybody they suspect of being drug dealers or drug users. No due process, no investigation, no presumption of innocence that we apparently take for granted in the West. Hip-hop is about strength both for the creators and the listeners. For hip-hop artists feeling the weight of the world, whether that be an oppressive government or ones inner demons, creating music is a comforting release. As Lexus, member ofrap trio Owfuck, says in the documentary:Hip-hop is so empowering since the culture is open to artists expressing whatever the fuck they want; however raw it might be. Knowingartists seek to be true to themselves, true to their situations and true to what they are going through, and have no problem showing that off to the world, even if that carries the very real threat of getting killed by an authoritarian government.Fear is a controlling, restrictive feeling. A fear of death is ordinarily stifling: why take the risk of death by continuing with a certain act, surely youd rather stay alive? The answer to this is quite simple: truth.says Paul, also of Owfuck. Nothing changes in the mindset of a society if the truth is not told. Without NWA, Public Enemy, Mobb Deep, Wu-Tang et al the reality of life in the 80s and 90s for black impoverished Americans would never have been known on the scale that it is now. The classic role of a rapper is to be a hood reporter: not necessarily glorifying the violence and the struggle, rather just shining a light on the truth, in the hopes of making people aware of what is truly going on. Still taken from To Live and Die in Manila Boiler For young people in Manila, that truth is a despondent one. They view their government as corrupt, so long as you know somebody you can tamper with votes to get elected, or you can get away with crimes that regular folk would be arrested or killed for a circle jerk, as per one of the artists in the documentary. Mental health is not taken seriously and is still seen as a joke. Experimenting with drugs can genuinely get you killed. Young people in almost all developing countries can relate to this struggle. The only difference is that the police are often lax when it comes to enforcement of drug laws, so young people are not afraid to smoke some weed, or experiment with psychedelics since the risk is not too high. The fear of death, however, changes everything. But that is what hip-hop, especially in Manila, stands for: being brave in the face of an oppressor and creating the change you want to see. The young artists highlighted in this incredible documentary are inspiring, raw and ballsy for being willing to risk their own lives to shed some light on the truth. They are the living embodiment of the spirit of hip-hop and the good that the art form can do. Rap is poetry, poetry is art, and art is an expressive release. Through rap, these artists have found an outlet for all the angst and pent-up emotion that they have harboured for so long, and not only can they get that emotion out, they can live off it. Hip-hop saves lives in the most perplexing way, as another member of Owfuck says in this documentary. Not only will it save the lives of the creatives, but the people listening, who feel the exact same way and are going through the same shit. Afterall, expression begets more expression. That is how change is brought about. That is the beauty behind the struggle and that is the essence of hip-hop: liberation. Technology and the internet have already drastically changed the shopping industry, but what does the future hold? Research has shown that between the years 2015 and 2017, there was an 85% increase in search for footwear reviews showing that buyers want to learn more before they buy. Together with Frank Wright, a British footwear brand that offers brown chukka boots, we take a look at how shopping has changed over the years and what retailers are doing about it. Image Credit: Bruce Mars on Pexels How are pre-purchase habits changing? Instead of window shopping ahead of a purchase , people are heading online for ideas. Social media was the first choice when respondents were asked where they get online inspiration from for their purchases. This behaviour has paved the way for social media influencers and celebrity endorsements too. In fact, the search term influencer marketing experienced a 325% increase in searches between 2016 and 2017 demonstrating company and agency interest in the new technique. Google has revealed that we are becoming more specific with our search terms when shopping online. Rising search terms between 2015 and 2017 included kids light up shoes and mens Italian dress shoes. This is possibly because we often know precisely what product we desire and are confident that our search will yield relevant results due to the vast amount of available information on the internet. Although consumers can now follow a simpler purchasing process by visiting a website and buying with a click of a button the customer now can interact with a retailer in an increased number of ways. This potential user-to-business engagement allows an individual to connect more with a brand, through social media contact and additional communication channels (such as live chat and 24/7 phone lines). Image Credit: RawPixel on Pexels Are fewer people, trying before buying? Although visits to physical stores were once falling, weekly bricks-and-mortar shoppers are up from 40% in 2015 to 44% in 2018. This could be due to people using shopping as a social activity. What new opportunities does this bring to retailers? Retailers with physical stores have the chance to reduce their stock levels on-site and use the newfound space to create a more enjoyable, sensory experience for shoppers. More people are picking up their phones to make their purchases too. In fact, statistics show that mobile commerce more than doubled between 2013 and 2018, rising from 7% to 17%. Its looking likely that mobile shopping sales will soon surpass PC-based buying, which is currently at 20%. The increase in mobile commerce suggests that fewer people are trying before they buy, as they would in a store. The delivery and returns process has been made so easy by many retailers in order to encourage customers to order their products first and then try them at home. Customers are getting used to convenient delivery service too. In fact, 25% of customers said that they wouldnt continue with their orders if one-day delivery wasnt available. What impact will this have on the future? Weve seen the demise of some high street stores as they struggle to keep up with the requirements of consumers of the digital age. So, what does the future look like for the shopping industry? Its possible that we could receive products even quicker than we are already. There is discussion from some online retailers of a 30-minute drone delivery almost 40% of customers would consider this as a method too! We can also expect to see more engaging stores as companies try to encourage more store visits. Its likely that influencer marketing will remain popular, and perhaps grow further with the widespread use of social media. But, due to the rapid speed of technological advancements, its hard to predict exactly whats around the corner. For more information on how technology is affecting the way we shop, visit: Think With Google, PWC, Social Media Today and Forbes. Leader Image Credit: Bruce Mars on Pexels The newly Democratic state legislature continues apace with its progressive agenda, having passed the week's second piece of legislation in rejoinder to the Trump administration's right-wing itinerary: The Jose Peralta New York DREAM Act. The Senate approved it on Wednesday, and Governor Andrew Cuomo has indicated he will sign it. Once he does, undocumented students will become eligible for state-subsidized financial aid and scholarships to pursue higher education. Meanwhile, our president continues to hold the government, arguably the whole country, hostage in his extended tantrum over border wall funding. We just passed the New York State The Dream Act. https://t.co/PQnLKlHk7N State Senator Julia Salazar (@SalazarSenate) January 23, 2019 The NY DREAM Act is a pared-back version of the federal DREAM Act, which would provide an easier path to citizenship for undocumented young people who were brought to the U.S. as minors. Federal legislation would offer the eligible green cards, so long as they are enrolled in school or members of the military. After five years, Dreamers could apply for citizenship. Congress, however, has consistently failed to pass it, even as President Donald Trump attempts to dismantle the previous administration's protections for undocumented youths. New York's version passed the Senate 40-20, and the Assembly 90-37. It focuses on education, offering state-funded tuition to undocumented students who have attended a New York high school for at least two years and graduated, or applied to an undergraduate program within five years of getting a high school diploma, or have completed an equivalency degree. It would also establish a DREAM fund to award scholarships to eligible students, which would come from private donations. As a result, an estimated 146,000 young people might now be able to get some help with the prohibitively high cost of a college education. In a statement to Gothamist, bill sponsor Sen. Luis Sepulveda called its passage "a significant step forward for hard-working undocumented students who wish to pursue our shared American dream." "For too long, financial hurdles have prevented these DREAMers from going to college," he added. "I look forward to seeing lives changed by this legislation and remain committed to fighting for every young immigrant to have an equal opportunity to succeed as part of our American family." Some Republican lawmakers, however, still balked at what a select few have interpreted as special treatment for undocumented immigrants. "How am I supposed to tell families in my Senate district that adequate state aid to help afford college isnt available for them, but it is available for others who are in this country illegally?" Republican State Sen. James Seward wondered to the NY Times. Today I met with Evelyn Peralta and the family of the late Senator Jose Peralta, champion of the Dream Act. As a key part of our Justice Agenda, we look forward to finally making it law for all New Yorkers this year, for Senator Peralta and the Dreamers. pic.twitter.com/cIwP0AM3sY Andrew Cuomo (@NYGovCuomo) January 23, 2019 "It took us almost a decade to get the Dream Act, and it's going to take another five, 10, 20 years to undo the damage that Washington is causing our families," Queens Assemblywoman Catalina Cruz, who was once an undocumented immigrant herself, told the Times. And indeed, much of this year's state-level legislative itinerary does seem intended to provide the social safeguards the Trump administration has done its damndest to dismantle. On Tuesday, for example, the legislature finally passed the Reproductive Health Act, a measure the previously Republican-controlled body repeatedly shot down for over 10 years. The RHA essentially codifies Roe v. Wade, meaning women can now obtain abortions in New York after 24 weeksnot just in the case of a life-threatening pregnancy, but also in cases of non-viable and health-threatening pregnancies. Further, the RHA also removes abortion from the penal code, meaning doctors and their patients no longer need to fear criminal prosecution for exercising the constitutional right to abortion. A smiling Cuomo signed the bill into law immediately after it passed. He is also expected to sign the long-awaited ban on gay conversion therapy, which the legislature passed last week, as well as the body's ban on discrimination based on a person's gender identity and expression. Just a few weeks ago, Governor Andrew Cuomo upended three years of transportation planning and shocked the city by announcing that L train service between Brooklyn and Manhattan would no longer need to be shut down for 15 months for repairs. "Long story short, with this design it would not be necessary to close the L train tunnel at all, which would be a phenomenal benefit to the people of New York City," Cuomo said at the press conference, flanked by his engineering experts that came up with an alternative plan. "There would need to be some night and weekend closures of only one tube, so service would still work." But under Cuomos new plan, any of the benefits of keeping the L train running during weekends would be offset by massive delays and on board crowding greater than anything ever experienced on the NYC subway system on a sustained basis, according to an internal MTA planning document obtained by Gothamist. The draft document, created by the agencys operations planning department dated January 22, 2019, makes the case that the planned 20-minute headways will result in record on-board crowding with actual wait times to board trains of 40 minutes or more. In practice, the document warns, by drawing customers to L stations, only for them to find that for all practical purposes the L will not be available to them, net travel time impacts could be worse with one-track closure than with two-track closure. The new plan would result in a best case scenario of running L trains in both directions with 20 minute headways, up from the current four-minute headways on weekends. This, the planning document notes, would put enormous strain on a line with very high weekend ridership. The MTA has said it is moving forward with Cuomos plan, which they say will take 15 to 20 months. A source familiar with the shutdown planning told Gothamist that if anything, the memo understates the impact to riders. Morale among staff at the MTA, especially in groups that are involved in planning for the L train tunnel work, is disastrously low, the source added. The Governor is stepping over sound transportation planning to make a political statement. In a statement, MTA spokesperson Shams Tarek, told Gothamist, This draft document describes the ridership scenario if there were no alternative service being taken advantage ofwhich is exactly why we are planning for alternative service. While the new plan allows us to keep the L train running, from day one we have consistently said there would be additional transportation options so that all ridership needs are met." Tarek adds, "The misleading, click-bait suggestion that the memo describes a scenario customers will experience is irresponsible and we will work to make sure New Yorkers have accurate information as we move forward with a plan that will keep the L train running 24/7 and every single customer accommodated. John Kaehny, the executive director of the good government group Reinvent Albany, said the memo raises more questions about who to trust: the governor and his experts or MTA planning staff. "Are Governor Cuomoand his MTA Chair/CEO Freddie Ferrerbeing completely honest and transparent about the true pluses and minuses of the two plans? Are two years or more of a partial closure with terrible service on weekends and nights better than 15 months of no service? Will the governor allow a truly open and public debate on this question or have professional staff within the MTA been intimidated into silence by the governor and his appointees? Kaehny added, The governor has run amok here. The public just wants to hear real facts from people they can trust." The governor's office declined to comment. Governor Andrew Cuomo with Columbia University engineering school dean Mary Boyce and Cornell engineering school dean Lance Collins, as they announce their new plan to avert a total L train shutdown earlier this month (Governor's Office) Currently, the L has up to 8,000 riders during peak weekend hours and consistently high ridership throughout the weekend. Twenty minute headways, even with perfect operational efficiencya difficulty in its own right when doing one-tunnel operation, a complicated maneuver even under ideal conditionscould accommodate a maximum of 4,800 riders per hour, or only 60 percent of actual peak ridership. As a result, the document concludes one-tunnel operation cannot handle current weekend demand. Practically, the report states, many [L riders] will be forced to wait at least another 20 minutes, meaning after letting a completely full train they cannot board pass them by, if not 40 minutes or more. Because of lower capacity and longer waits due to these conditions, the planners concluded that 70 percent of the theoretical travel time benefits of keeping one tunnel open will be negated. Because of the extreme crowding, MTA planners say the 1st and 3rd Ave stations need to be made exit-only, as there will be no room on Brooklyn-bound trains most of the day, a necessity first reported by Streetsblog. Further, the Bedford Avenue and Union Square stations would have to be metered by agency staff, restricting access to the platforms for large parts of the day to prevent dangerous crowding on the platforms and mezzanines. The document specifically warns about the lack of street space to hold waiting L riders at Bedford Avenue, where there are small sidewalks and significant construction underway to install new elevators. The time and space constraints may be too severe to let Canarsie-bound passengers off at Bedford Avenue and then bring Manhattan-bound passengers down to platform level in time for the train to depart and still accomplish 20-minute headways. This would result in the paradoxical situation where keeping the L running to benefit East Village and North Williamsburg riders would in fact make them virtually unable to board the L on weekends. The dire report calls into question the agencys apparent hesitance to provide substantive mitigation measures. A separate preliminary planning document, first obtained by Streetsblog and also reviewed by Gothamist, proposes a number of marginal efforts such as increasing M weekend service from 10 minute headways to eight minutes and running it up to 96th St via the 6th Avenue line, plus increasing G service by the same frequency. It also recommends a slight boost in planned M14 bus service, although does away completely with the 14th Street busway and Select Bus Service originally part of the full shutdown plan. Transit advocates warn that the concerns expressed in the planning document underscore the need for more robust mitigation efforts regardless of whether one or two tubes are closed on weekends. Even in the best case, L train riders and surrounding neighborhoods from Bushwick to Chelsea are going to need a Plan B during a severe, yearslong slowdown in service, said Danny Pearlstein of Riders Alliance. Even though the construction plan has changed, the mitigation plan must be robust enough to handle thousands of transit riders at a moment's notice and without clogging the most crowded areas of Brooklyn and Manhattan with cars. Jon Orcutt of TransitCenter says these warnings should perhaps start a discussion about shutting down both tubes on weekends rather than baiting potential L riders into an abysmal situation with station metering and so forth. This would hardly be an unprecedented scenario for L riders. The MTA shut down the L east of Lorimer Street seven times in recent months to prepare for the shutdown thats no longer happening. But both Pearlstein and Orcutt stressed the most important thing should be making sure people can get where they need to go whether its weekdays, weeknights, or weekends, regardless of the construction plan. Both praised the original mitigation plan in place for the full shutdown and advocated for the bulk of it to be reinstated rather than tossed out. The original plan was impeccably vetted, Pearlstein said, and would provide the kind of assurance that riders and neighbors could really use right now. UPDATE 1/25/19: In response to questions about the issues raised in the memo, NYC Transit Authority President Andy Byford said, "We are still in the very early stages of designing a customer and operational plan to serve the revised L Line project. "As the person charged with safe operation of the subway, I own the risk, so I will do whatever is needed to maintain customer service and to provide adequate, reliable operations. As such, I am ruling nothing in or out on the exact nature of that planit will be what is required to maintain safe and viable operationsperiod." You can read the text of the memo below. Customer Impacts of 20-Minute Weekend L Service Through Tunnel Record On-Board Crowding 20-Minute service on the L (theoretical capacity of 4,800 customers per hour) cannot handle current weekend demand (up to 8,000 customers in peak hour). Saturday on board crowding greater than current L weekday rush hour levels: From 9:00 AM to 11:00 PM in at least one direction From 12:00 PM to 9:00 PM in both directions. Saturday on board crowding greater than anything ever experienced on the NYC subway system on a sustained basis From 10:00 AM to 9:00 PM in at least one direction From 1:00 PM to 8:00 PM in both directions. Stations Require Metering or Must Be Shut Off Completely to Entering Passengers 1 Av and 3 Av will need to be made exit-only as there will be no room on Brooklyn-bound trains for most of the day. Bedford Avenue and Union Square would have to be metered staff would restrict access to the platforms for large parts of the day. Both stations would require a tightly controlled sequence to prevent dangerous conditions on platforms: Hold passengers off the platform in the mezzanines or street Allow trains from other side of river to arrive and wait for those passengers to exit constrained platforms Allow boarding passengers onto platform to wait for train in other direction But limited space in street and mezzanine to hold passengers due to construction At Bedford Avenue there may not be enough time to allow passengers from Canarsie-bound trains to leave the platform and then bring Manhattan-bound passengers down into the station to load Manhattan-bound trains before they have to depart. At Union Sq transferring passengers from 456NQR cannot be prevented from getting off those trains and flooding the mezzanines serving the L. Conditions in the mezzanine could quickly deteriorate. Spillover effects likely at Lorimer St and 6 Av. 6 Av construction also presents challenge to safely control flow of passengers to platform. Today, against the advice of his own attorneys, white supremacist James Harris Jackson pleaded guilty to murder as terrorism and a hate crime, and three counts of criminal possession of a weapon, for the racially-motivated murder of Timothy Caughman on a midtown Manhattan sidewalk in 2017. Jackson's plea in Manhattan Criminal Court ensures that the Baltimore-native will spend life in prison without parole. On March 20th, 2017, the now 31-year Jackson had taken a bus from Baltimore to New York City with the express purpose of killing black people, ultimately settling on Caughman, 66, and brutally stabbing him in the back and chest with a short Roman sword. It was a practice run for larger acts of terrorism, particularly directed at mixed race couples, he later confessed. Jackson had nothing to gain by pleading guilty today, though the record suggests that he may have opted out of a full trial in order to spare his family. The prosecutionled by Assistant District Attorney Dafna Yoranwill not have the opportunity to present a trove of evidence that may have shed light on the mindset of a self-described Nazi. The victim's familyelderly cousins who had trekked into the courtroom from day oneseemed noticeably relieved, while acknowledging that nothing will bring Timothy back. Throughout the hearings, the deceased's first cousins, Iris Peek and Norma Peek, had sat quietly and composed, even as Jackson demonstrated how he held the 26-inch Roman sword, one hand over the other, and plunged it into Caughman's back. "He thought it was a joke, he really thought it was a joke," Iris Peek said of the killer during the pretrial phase. Standing on line waiting to vote I love america:us::us::us: pic.twitter.com/jVAeLXtUAq timothy caughman (@timrock715) November 8, 2016 Caughman's cousins have been fixtures in the courtroom from day one, often commenting on Jackson's lack of remorse. Indeed, the police interrogation tape following the murder shows Jackson to be chillingly nonchalant as he recounts the details of his crime and reenacts the murder. On the matter of plunging a sword in Caughman's heart, Jackson said he "rolled over and struggled a little bit," adding that it was, "basically a terrorist attack essentially. He didnt know my cousinif he wanted to kill a black man, why didnt he go to Harlem? Why didnt he go to Bedford Stuyvesant? Why didnt he go to South Jamaica? Hes a cowardhes a coward cuz he stabbed him from the back, Norma Peek remarked. Indeed Jackson had commented that if he was in a cell with a black man, he was definitely was going to kill him. (Jackson has reportedly been kept isolated, primarily so that he would not get killed while waiting for the trial.). Timothy Caughman had grown up in the South Jamaica Houses, attended Brooklyn Community College with hopes to become an orthopedic doctor and later turned to the music promotion business. But on the night of his murder, he was collecting bottles and cans to turn in for deposit money. He was mistakenly reported as homeless but was in transitional housing, a point that deeply troubled his cousins. Jackson, a U.S. Army veteran who had been deployed to Afghanistan in 2010 and 2011, had attended a Baltimore Quaker school in his youth, graduating 2007. But he arrived in Manhattan with specific aspirations to find a mixed-race couple and kill the black man and "grab the girl" and just "hold her there" while the cameras rolled. He had planned to send out a document to The New York Times, a "Declaration of War," which he had prepared on a thumb drive. Jackson will be sentenced to life in prison in February. Outside the courtroom today, Manhattan DA Cy Vance said, "This was more than a murder case. This was a case of terrorism, just as any Islamic jihadist who has come to New York City and sought to kill New Yorkers in an effort to interrupt and destabilize our way of life." Longtime Caughman family friend, Portia Clark, accompanied the deceased's family today and spoke to the murderer's intent, which was to intimidate and make a select population feel afraid: "I feel like [Jackson] is sending a messageit's like we have to watch out for our brothers, nephews, uncles, cousins. Love and Kindness Look out over the playground at Springdale Elementary, and one of the first things that catches your eye is the new bright pink buddy bench. That new bench along with... Hammond student receives SCISA Bill Simpson award Blake Weinbach, a student at Hammond School, was named a 2021 SCISA Bill Simpson award recipient. This award is the highest honor bestowed upon a senior student athlete in the... A Brooklyn cyclist who was said he was shoved into a parked car by an NYPD detective in 2014 has been awarded a $2.25 million settlement, after a court ruled against the city for repeatedly failing to produce relevant evidence in a timely manner. Charles Puccio, 62, was riding his bike in Canarsie, Brooklyn in 2014, when Detective Noel Lawrence appeared to push him, as revealed in video footage later released of the incident. The contact caused Puccio to swerve and "slingshot about 10 feet over a parked car," his lawyers said. He suffered permanent injuries to his neck, back and left knee, which required three surgeries, according to attorneys. Lawrence, who was undercover at the time of the incident, reportedly denied under oath that he made any physical contact with the cyclist. A public school camera captured video evidence that appeared to show otherwise, but that footage was not provided by the city until nearly four years after litigation began. "That started a trend of bad faith efforts to turn over discovery that was, in a legal sense, discoverable," attorney Sameer Chopra, who represented the cyclist during the bench trial, told Gothamist. "They were trying to frustrate the process." As part of their defense, Chopra said, city attorneys attempted to paint Puccio as a drug dealer "because he was a white guy riding his bike through the projects." The detective also claimed that he had the right to stop Puccio because he was briefly riding on the sidewalk. There is no bike lane in the areaEast 102nd Street near Seaview Avenueand video footage shows that Puccio swerved onto the road shoulder to get around Lawrence's unmarked police vehicle. Allegations that the city was withholding evidence became an issue once again when the trial finally began this past November. According to Chopra, attorneys were not given the internal investigatory file on the incident until day three of the bench trial, by which point the detective had already been placed on the stand. Typically, such information would be provided to attorneys prior to the start of the trial. "It's extremely fishy that something shows up three days into a trial when we've been asking for it for four-and-a-half years," said Chopra. "Clearly that's something the judge would not tolerate." A spokesperson for the New York City Law Department attributed the delay to difficulty in locating the police file. "As a result of confusion over the existence of an NYPD internal investigation into the incident, documents concerning the investigation were not produced in a timely fashion and the Court struck the Citys answer, effectively resulting in a liability finding against the City," Nick Paolucci, Director of Public Affairs at the law department, said in a statement to Gothamist. "Since damages remained the only issue subject to litigation, this resolution of the case was in the best interests of the City." A spokesperson for the NYPD refused to provide an additional comment, directing us to the law department's response. Puccio, who had originally sued for $5 million, was "extremely happy" with the verdict, according to his attorney. "This was a life-changing event for him and his family," said Chopra. "He feels justice was served." Despite the boycotts engendered by its homophobic philanthropy, controversial chicken purveyor Chick-Fil-A apparently has enough capital coming in that it can afford a $2 million Manhattan rent. That is the assumption I am making based on a Crain's report, which says that the fast food chain will open a franchise in the Union Square building where Blue Water Grill lived until January. Put another way, a single Chick-Fil-A will soon take over the 11,000-square foot space that originally housed a bank. That may seem like too much space for a fast food chain, but Chick-fil-A has previously managed to fill 12,000 square feet in FiDi. What we do know is that the space in question, 31 Union Square West, has become so untenably expensive that even a billionaire restaurateur-slash-casino-owner could not afford to keep it. Announcing the coming closure in 2017, a spokesperson for Tilman Fertitta, who owned the Grill, said: "Even though this is one of New York's most successful restaurants, it can't be successful with a $2 million plus rent; therefore, we will be relocating within the next year." Blue Water's doors officially closed in January, after more than 20 years operating in that spot. "The rents get too high and you lose the interesting stores that made a neighborhood unique," retail leasing broker Brad Mendelson told Crain's. "It unfortunately happens in almost every neighborhood in the city." But Union Square in particular has recently lost a number of its culinary institutions to rent hikes: Around the time Blue Water announced its departure, Jonathan Morr, the owner of another popular restaurantRepublicterminated his lease early because it had simply become too expensive. And in October, the 28-year Union Square tenant Coffee Shop shuttered for good, having been priced out of a gentrified neighborhood. Chase Bank is rumored to be taking over the location. Chick-fil-A has overrun NYC, with six other franchises in Manhattan, as well as locations in Queens and Staten Island. According to Crain's, a Garment District Chick-fil-A sells about 3,000 sandwiches daily and makes about $13 million annually. Unrelatedly, the company itselfthe stated corporate purpose of which is to "glorify God" and to "have a positive influence on all who come into contact with Chick-fil-A," i.e., to repurpose fried chicken as an evangelical trojan horsehas poured millions into the pockets of anti-LGBTQ groups. The ties led Mayor Bill de Blasio to voice public opposition to Chick-fil-A patronage, and has prompted widespread boycotts of the chain. Just a random reminder that those are ongoing! South Australia heatwave smashes record temperatures Adelaide, Australia, Jan 24 (AFP) Jan 24, 2019 Temperatures in southern Australian neared 48 degrees on Thursday, shattering previous records as sizzling citizens received free beer to help weather heatwave of historic proportions. The Bureau of Meteorology reported temperatures of 47.9 Celsius (118 Fahrenheit) north of Adelaide, while inside the city temperatures reached 46.2 Celsius, a fraction above a record that had stood since 1939. Adelaide residents are used to sweltering days during the southern hemisphere summer, but even they could find very little relief from the oppressive temperatures. More than 13 towns across South Australia have smashed their own heat records, with some of the state forecast to see temperatures of 50 degrees by the end of the day. While thousands flocked to the beach to cool off in the surf, hundreds have taken to shopping centres to stay out of the heat. At the Red Lion Hotel, publicans gave a free beer to each of their patrons while the temperature remained above 45 degrees. Around one hundred people lined up for their free drink for over one hour. But the temperatures are also testing municipal services, with SunCity buses forced to cut their services, leaving commuters searching for trams or trains to get home. Meanwhile, emergency services are on the alert as more than 13 districts are under threat of possible bushfires. Power consumption is expected to peak in the afternoon, risking drops in voltage known as brownouts, but premier Steven Marshall insisted the grid could cope with the heat wave conditions. Thousand Oaks, California, Jan. 24, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Velt International Group Inc. (OTC Pink: VIGC) (the Company or Velt) today announced that on January 22, 2019 it has executed an agreement to acquire all of the issued and outstanding shares of THF Holdings Pty Ltd (THF), an Australian Cancer Treatment and Medical devices company. Under the agreement, Velt acquired 100% outstanding shares of THF for the aggregated amount of USD 1 Million. Velt shall issue shares equivalent to the acquisition amount based on share price closed on January 22, 2019. Rural Asset Management Services, Inc. (RAM) is the sole shareholder of THF and on December 14, 2018 RAM acquired 1,132,000 shares of Velt, which makes it a majority shareholder of the Company. Ali Kasa, the CEO and President of the Company and Director of THF Holdings Pty Ltd said, the acquisition of THF is critical for Velt future directions and business model. We are exploring the life sciences sector and perhaps consider venture into latest technology related to cancer treatment. About THF Holdings Pty Ltd THF Holdings Pty Ltd is an Australian company with investment and assets in cancer treatment medical devices and equipment. The company is fully owned by Rural Asset Management Services, Inc. that invests in biotechnology, life sciences, software and ICT. About Velt International Group Inc. Velt International Group Inc. is a Nevada based incorporated since 2011 with branch operations in California as well. Since December of 2017, the company has invested in development of mobile applications in quest to find a profitable business model. With acquisition of THF Holdings in Australia the company has decided to embark in life science as a sector to operate and cancer treatment as an area that it will develop its expertise and business. Forward-Looking Statements Certain statements in this news release may contain forward-looking information within the meaning of Rule 175 under the Securities Act of 1933, are subject to Rule 3b-6 under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, and are subject to the safe harbors created by those rules. All statements, other than statements of fact, included in this release, including, without limitation, statements regarding potential future plans and objectives of the company, are forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties. There can be no assurance that such statements will prove to be accurate and other results and further events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Future events and actual results could differ materially from those set forth in, contemplated by, or underlying the forward-looking statements. Contact information Henry Pang hpang@speedlightcs.com Tel: 323-713-3244 Genetic risk for ADHD manifest in brain structure in childhood There is only scant scientific evidence available on whether the genetic risk for developing specific psychiatric disorders or cognitive traits is manifest in brain structure from childhood and, to date, studies have focused primarily on adult populations. The question remains unanswered. New evidence has now been provided by a study led by a researcher from the Barcelona Institute for Global Health (ISGlobal), a centre supported by "la Caixa", which analysed data from a large paediatric sample. The study, which has been published in the Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, analysed data from a sample of 1,139 boys and girls aged 10 years drawn from the Dutch Generation R Study cohort. Using polygenic risk scores based on genetic data, the authors calculated each participants' genetic susceptibility to five psychiatric disorders and two cognitive traits. The polygenic scores were calculated on the basis of the most recent findings of genome-wide association studies obtained from samples including thousands of participants. Regression analysis was used to test for associations between the polygenic risk scores and the results of magnetic resonance brain imaging. The results showed that total brain volume tended to be larger in the children with higher polygenic scores related to intelligence or educational attainment. By contrast, in participants with higher polygenic risk for attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), the volume of the caudate nucleus, one of the structures that make up the brain, was smaller. ISGlobal researcher Silvia Alemany, lead author of the study, comments: "This finding is significant because, while the association between ADHD and a smaller caudate nucleus is now considered to be a consistent finding, the mechanism involved is still poorly understood. Our findings in this study indicate that the association could be explained by genetic variants related to ADHD". The analysis showed that morphological differences in the caudate nucleus could, in part, explain the association between genetic risk for ADHD and attention problems in boys; however, this association was not observed in girls. "ADHD is more prevalent among boys than girls and the reasons for this difference are still being investigated", explains Silvia Alemany. "And our findings suggest that the genetic variants associated with ADHD may act differently in the brains of boys and girls." Polygenic risk was calculated for five psychiatric disorders: ADHD, autism spectrum disorders, schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, and major depression. ADHD was the only condition found to be significantly associated with the volume of any part of the brain. "This study was based on data collected at one specific point in the lives of the participants" explains the lead author. "More research is needed involving measurement of the brain over time to determine whether the polygenic risk for psychiatric disorders or cognitive traits is related to changes in developmental trajectories." ### Reference Silvia Alemany, Philip R. Jansen, Ryan L. Muetzel, Natalia Marques, Hanan El Marroun, Vincent W.V. Jaddoe, Tinca J.C. Polderman, Henning Tiemeier, Danielle Posthuma, Tonya White. Common Polygenic Variations for Psychiatric Disorders and Cognition in Relation to Brain Morphology in the General Pediatric Population. Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry DOI: https:/ / doi. org/ 10. 1016/ j. jaac. 2018. 09. 443 This story has been published on: 2019-01-24. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article. NEW YORK, Jan. 24, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Wolf Haldenstein Adler Freeman & Herz LLP announces that a class action lawsuit has been filed in the United States District Court for Eastern District of New York on behalf of all persons or entities who purchased or otherwise acquired 22nd Century Group, Inc. (NYSE: XXII) securities between February 18, 2016 and October 25, 2018 (the Class Period), inclusive. Shareholders who purchased shares of are urged to contact the firm immediately at classmember@whafh.com or (800) 575-0735 or (212) 545-4774. You may obtain additional information concerning the action on our website, www.whafh.com. If you have incurred losses in the shares of 22nd Century Group, Inc., you may, no later than March 22, 2019, request that the Court appoint you lead plaintiff of the proposed class. Please contact Wolf Haldenstein to learn more about your rights as an investor in 22nd Century Group, Inc. ## Follow the firm and learn about newly filed cases on Twitter and Facebook. ## The filed complaint alleges that throughout the class period, defendants made false and/or misleading statements and/or failed to disclose that: 22nd Centurys stock was prone to manipulation through paid stock promotions; such conduct would subject 22nd Century to heightened regulatory scrutiny by the Securities and Exchange Commission; and consequently, 22nd Centurys public statements were materially false and misleading and/or lacked a reasonable basis at all relevant times. On February 2, 2018, Fuzzy Panda Research published an article on Seeking Alpha, asserting that 22nd Century's stock price had been inflated through various paid stock promotion articles between 2014 and 2017, some of which did not disclose the paying party and amount. On this news, 22nd Century's stock price fell $0.35 per share, or over 11%, to close at $2.73 per share on February 2, 2018. Then, on October 25, 2018, Fuzzy Panda Research reported in another Seeking Alpha article that its requests to U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC") pursuant to the Freedom of Information Act for "all documents in the possession of SEC that pertain to investigations regarding 22nd Century Group for the time period January 1, 2016 through July 16, 2018" had been denied. According to the article, the SEC denied Fuzzy Panda Research's request to release the documents because doing so could "reasonably be expected to interfere with on-going enforcement proceedings." Following this news, 22nd Century's stock price fell $0.11 per share, or over 4%, to close at $2.45 per share on October 25, 2018. Wolf Haldenstein Adler Freeman & Herz LLP has extensive experience in the prosecution of securities class actions and derivative litigation in state and federal trial and appellate courts across the country. The firm has attorneys in various practice areas; and offices in New York, Chicago and San Diego. The reputation and expertise of this firm in shareholder and other class litigation has been repeatedly recognized by the courts, which have appointed it to major positions in complex securities multi-district and consolidated litigation. If you wish to discuss this action or have any questions regarding your rights and interests in this case, please immediately contact Wolf Haldenstein by telephone at (800) 575-0735, via e-mail at classmember@whafh.com , or visit our website at www.whafh.com. Contact: Wolf Haldenstein Adler Freeman & Herz LLP Kevin Cooper, Esq. Gregory Stone, Director of Case and Financial Analysis Email: gstone@whafh.com , kcooper@whafh.com or classmember@whafh.com Tel: (800) 575-0735 or (212) 545-4774 Attorney Advertising. Prior results do not guarantee or predict a similar outcome. CALGARY, Alberta, Jan. 24, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- West High Yield (W.H.Y.) Resources Ltd. ("West High Yield" or the "Company") (TSXV: WHY) announces that it has completed the second and final tranche of its previously announced non-brokered private placement of units ("Units"). The Company issued 709,666 Units at a price of $0.30 per Unit for gross proceeds of $212,899.80 under the second tranche. In aggregate, the Company issued 1,676,332 Units for gross proceeds of $502,899.60 under the private placement. Each Unit consists of one common share in the capital of the Company (a "Common Share") and one-third of one common share purchase warrant (a "Warrant"). Each whole Warrant entitles the holder to purchase one additional Common Share at an exercise price of $0.50 for a period of one year from the date of issuance of the Warrant. All of the securities issued under the private placement are subject to a four month resale restriction. In connection with the second tranche of the private placement, the Company paid cash finder's fees of $7,950 to an eligible arm's length party. The private placement is subject to receipt of all necessary regulatory approvals including final approval of the TSX Venture Exchange. Based on the proceeds raised under the offering, approximately $275,000 of the net proceeds are expected to be used for the continuation of the environmental base line study, environmental assessment study and mine plan and permit application and Industrial Mineral Mine Permit application for the Company's Record Ridge deposit near Rossland, British Columbia and the balance of the net proceeds will be used for general corporate purposes. Although the Company intends to use the proceeds of the offering as described above, the actual allocation of proceeds may vary from the uses set out above, depending upon future operations, events or opportunities. About West High Yield West High Yield is a publicly traded junior mining exploration company focused on the acquisition, exploration and development of mineral resource properties in Canada with a primary objective to locate and develop economic gold, nickel and magnesium properties. For further information please contact: Frank Marasco President and Chief Executive Officer West High Yield (W.H.Y.) Resources Ltd. Telephone: (403) 660-3488 Facsimile: (403) 206-7159 Email: frank@whyresources.com Dwayne Vinck Chief Financial Officer West High Yield (W.H.Y.) Resources Ltd. Telephone: (403) 257-2637 Facsimile: (403) 206-7159 Email: vinck@shaw.ca Reader Advisory This press release contains forward-looking statements and forward-looking information within the meaning of applicable securities laws. The use of any of the words "expect", "anticipate", "continue", "estimate", "objective", "ongoing", "may", "will", "project", "should", "believe", "plans", "intends" and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking information or statements. More particularly and without limitation, this press release contains forward looking statements and information concerning, the proposed allocation and use of proceeds and the Company's business plans. The forward-looking statements and information are based on certain key expectations and assumptions made by the Company. Although the Company believes that the expectations and assumptions on which such forward-looking statements and information are based are reasonable, undue reliance should not be placed on the forward looking statements and information because the Company can give no assurance that they will prove to be correct. Forward-looking information is based on the opinions and estimates of management at the date the statements are made, and are subject to a variety of risks and uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual events or results to differ materially from those anticipated in the forward-looking information. Some of the risks and other factors that could cause the results to differ materially from those expressed in the forward-looking information include, but are not limited to: general economic conditions in Canada and globally; industry conditions, including governmental regulation; failure to obtain industry partner and other third party consents and approvals, if and when required; the availability of capital on acceptable terms; the need to obtain required approvals from regulatory authorities; stock market volatility; competition for, among other things, skilled personnel and supplies; changes in tax laws; and the other factors. Readers are cautioned that this list of risk factors should not be construed as exhaustive. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on this forward-looking information, which is given as of the date hereof, and to not use such forward-looking information for anything other than its intended purpose. The Company undertakes no obligation to update publicly or revise any forward-looking information, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by applicable law. Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this press release. Not for distribution in the United States. This news release does not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy any securities in the United States. The securities of the Company will not be registered under the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the "U.S. Securities Act") and may not be offered or sold within the United States or to, or for the account or benefit of U.S. persons except in certain transactions exempt from the registration requirements of the U.S. Securities Act. Welcome, DISH customer! Please note that we cannot save your viewing history due to an arrangement with DISH. Watchlist and resume progress features have been disabled. ACCEPT Letter to the Editor The efforts been renewed to bond for a new school. . Let me state the problem Everybody, including me, wants a new school, nobody wants to ... The property bubble may have burst ten years ago but the effects of the 'boom' in construction in the years before the economic crisis are still reflected in the cadastral values of properties in Malaga province. This wouldn't be that important if it were not for the fact that this variable is the one used by the authorities to decide the amount of State taxes (income and wealth), regional taxes (inheritance and transfers) and council taxes (rates and capital gains). THE CADASTRAL VALUE What is it? It is an administrative value, set objectively for each property and decided by the application of a series of criteria such as the location, size, cost of construction, age, use and the price of the land. Fiscal uses. The cadastral value is used as a reference to decide the amount to charge in municipal taxes (rates and capital gains), regional taxes (inheritance and donations) and state taxes (income and wealth). Other uses. Although the original aim of the cadastral was for tax purposes, the figure is also used by the administrations to determine the financial situation of property owners who apply for assistance such as access to subsidised housing, educational grants, subsidised meals, a place in a residence for the elderly or legal aid. Even though in recent years these have been corrected downward to adjust more to market prices, the reality is that the popularity of the Costa del Sol places Malaga third in the Spanish ranking of places with the highest cadastral values. Altogether, the 1.45 million properties in the province have a total cadastral value of 1.14 billion euros, which is an average of 78,598 euros each. This figure, which is much higher than the national average (59,424 euros), is only beaten by the Community of Madrid (115,779 euros) and the Balearic Islands (81,234). Even in Barcelona it is lower, at 76,944 euros. According to statistics from the general cadastral authority, it is also much higher than in other provinces of a similar size such as Valencia (51,172 euros), Zaragoza (66,914) and Seville (55,397), but also in other eminently tourist areas like Alicante (45,481), Las Palmas (64,054) and Tenerife (56,601). The values have mainly been adjusted downwards after hitting a ceiling of 90,770 euros on average in 2013, although the current figures are still far above the 49,921 euros in 2006. This reduction has been the result of cadastral values being updated in most municipalities, either as a matter of course because this had not been done for ten years or because town halls have requested a review after five years because the values are substantially different to market prices. The tax authority discovers more than 87,000 properties and projects Average cadastral values in Malaga have not only changed in recent years due to modifications carried out by the authorities to bring them closer to market values. It has also been due to a regularisation plan which the Cadastral Department began in 2014 for new constructions, reforms or changes of use of buildings which were previously invisible for tax purposes. Although the results for Benahavis and Campillos have not yet been finalised, so far the inspection which was carried out in four stages in the province has revealed 87,143 properties and projects which had escaped the notice of the fiscal authorities, independently of whether or not they had a licence. The review of these will bring a boost for the authorities' financial situation, because the larger the property, the higher its cadastral value. In rates alone, the average rise in the bill is 150 euros. For this year, the Council of Ministers approved the application of corrective coefficients in 31 municipalities of Malaga province, to adjust the present cadastral values to the real market situation. The five councils who last reviewed their values prior to 2004 (Nerja, Benahavis, Fuente de Piedra, Alcaucin and Periana) have increased the cadastral value of the properties with a coefficient of up to five per cent, while the other 26 which updated their figures between 2005 and 2012, during the property boom, have reduced theirs. These include Marbella and Benalmadena, where there are a great many properties: their figures have been reduced by nine and four per cent respectively. Other places where local residents will feel an easing of fiscal pressure in terms of property ownership are Colmenar, Riogordo, Manilva, Pizarra, Casarabonela and Valle de Abdalajis. Other effects The cadastral value is used as the base figure for calculating taxes such as IBI, but other variables also come into the picture including the rate of tax which is applied to the base figure. Also, when considering the impact of the cadastral values on everyday life, it should also be remembered that as well as being used for tax purposes, the cadastral value of a property is taken into account when applying for assistance such as access to subsidised housing, grants for studies, meal subsidies, places in homes for the elderly and even legal aid. The differences are notable between different areas of the country, but looking at Malaga province it is clear that there are also major differences between its 103 municipalities. The average for the province may be 78,600 euros, but on the western Costa del Sol, especially in Benahavis, the average is 154,770 euros. That is twice as high as Malaga city (70,012) and is explained when you look at La Zagaleta, the most luxurious residential development in Europe. Although obviously not all the properties in this municipality of barely 7,350 inhabitants have the same value, the total for the 14,437 properties is higher than towns like Antequera and Ronda even though they contain twice as many properties (29,415 and 25,403 respectively). Just behind Benahavis on the list is neighbouring Marbella, with an average of 125,350 euros, and others in the area such as Ojen (103,790 euros), Mijas (96,780) and Manilva (90,960). Also at the top of the list is Alhaurin de la Torre, while other municipalities on the western Costa del Sol are a step further down the ranking, such as Benalmadena (88,040), Estepona (80,440) and Fuengirola (79,090). An independent review has found bullying and harassment at all levels of the Fire and Emergency (FENZ) organisation. The review, commissioned by chief executive Rhys Jones and conducted by retired Judge Coral Shaw, found that "there is no doubt that bullying and harassment is a feature of the FENZ workplace at all levels across all regions." It was reported last December that there were 15 complaints of "inappropriate behaviour" upheld against Fire and Emergency staff in the Southland region. Bullying and harassment isn't a new issue - an internal audit of the New Zealand Fire Service found bullying and harassment were ongoing concerns. The issue was also raised at all but one of 17 forums held in 2017 by Women in Fire and Emergency New Zealand. Management were already aware of "problem areas", but wanted a better understanding, after the creation of NZ Fire and Emergency, says chief executive Rhys Jones. The organisation was formed in July 2017 from an amalgamation of the New Zealand Fire Service, the National Rural Fire Authority and 38 rural fire districts throughout the country. "This isn't finger-pointing at what the problems were, it was pointing the direction we want to go so that's the difference between this report and those previous ones," he says. The report concluded that "there are still barriers to reporting this behaviour" and that bullying and harassment policies, procedures, guidelines and other documents were "not fit-for purpose". "Managers who deal with complaints most often had little or no education or training in how to manage these often complex and troubling cases. "Processes and policies are not applied in a consistent way throughout the organisation, and lack transparency." The report also noted "there are still unacceptable levels of racism, sexism and homophobia." The organisation accepted all 33 recommendations, including the adoption of a Code of Behaviour, says Rhys. "The first step is to make sure people understand what the correct behaviour is - overtime, if people can't accept that behaviour, or don't follow that behaviour, then they need to leave - we will make them leave." Almost half of people who responded to the survey (45 per cent) reported witnessing and/or experiencing bullying or harassment in the organisation, and over half (53 per cent) of those say they did not report it. However, only 37 cases had been formally processed within the organisation since July 2017. Rhys says it was a matter of building trust so people felt comfortable to report any harassment or bullying. "The first thing is to build the confidence that people will be taken seriously. "The processes are in place where they're going to be protected, not victimised. So there's a lot of faith that's going to be built up." The Fire and Emergency department will monitor and evaluate the implementation of all 33 recommendations over the next three years. -RNZ/ Johnsen Meriana NEW YORK, Jan. 24, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Pomerantz LLP is investigating claims on behalf of investors of Markel Corporation (Markel or the Company) (NYSE: MKL). Such investors are advised to contact Robert S. Willoughby at rswilloughby@pomlaw.com or 888-476-6529, ext. 9980. The investigation concerns whether Markel and certain of its officers and/or directors have engaged in securities fraud or other unlawful business practices. [Click here to join a class action] On December 6, 2018, Markel disclosed that it had been contacted by U.S. and Bermuda authorities on November 30, 2018 regarding loss reserves recorded in late 2017 and early 2018 at Markel CATCo Investment Management Ltd, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Markel. Following this news, Markels stock price fell $99.70 per share, or 8.69%, to close at $1,048.23 per share on December 7, 2018. The Pomerantz Firm, with offices in New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, and Paris, is acknowledged as one of the premier firms in the areas of corporate, securities, and antitrust class litigation. Founded by the late Abraham L. Pomerantz, known as the dean of the class action bar, the Pomerantz Firm pioneered the field of securities class actions. Today, more than 80 years later, the Pomerantz Firm continues in the tradition he established, fighting for the rights of the victims of securities fraud, breaches of fiduciary duty, and corporate misconduct. The Firm has recovered numerous multimillion-dollar damages awards on behalf of class members. See www.pomerantzlaw.com. CONTACT: Robert S. Willoughby Pomerantz LLP rswilloughby@pomlaw.com NEW YORK, Jan. 24, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- CECPs Strategic Investor Initiative (SII) announced that the CEOs of AmerisourceBergen, APTIV PLC, Equinix, JetBlue Airways, and Nestle S.A. will present their companys long-term plans to institutional investors at the CEO Investor Forum on February 25, 2019 in New York City. The presentations will follow a keynote panel discussion on megatrends with the CEOs of Medtronic and Siemens US, and the former CEO of Aetna, moderated by the CEO of Johnson & Johnson. At previous CEO Investor Forums, the audience has collectively represented $25 trillion in assets under management and featured the CEOs of nearly 30 companies , such as Allstate, IBM, Unilever, and Voya Financial. This is SIIs sixth CEO Investor Forum and will take place: Date: Monday, February 25th Time: 12:00 p.m. 6:30 p.m. Place: The Park Hyatt, 153 West 57th Street, New York, NY 10019 Investors interested in attending may register here until the event reaches capacity. We know from our research that these presentations can move markets, said Brian Tomlinson, Research Director, SII and co-author of a recent research report created in collaboration with Professor George Serafeim, Harvard Business School and KKS Advisors. The CEO presentations uncover how and why these leaders are positioning their companies to create sustainable value over a three- to five-year period, not just quarter-to-quarter results -- and investors are responding. The research report The Economic Significance of Long-Term Plans referenced by Tomlinson found early evidence that the presentations at CEO Investor Forums triggered abnormal market returns of 1.83% and share turnover of 7.6%. Companies that communicated plans with higher-quality information particularly around the themes of Corporate Purpose and Competitive Positioning also saw higher market reactions. SIIs forthcoming white paper Methods of Production of Long-Term Plans offers a roadmap for companies to develop and deliver a long-term plan presentation. The sixth CEO Investor Forum will begin with a luncheon keynote panel on megatrends in business featuring Alex Gorsky, Chairman & CEO, Johnson & Johnson and Co-Chair, SII; Mark T. Bertolini, Former Chairman & CEO, Aetna; Omar Ishrak, CEO, Medtronic; and Barbara Humpton, US CEO, Siemens US. Immediately following the panel, the audience of institutional investors will hear long-term plan presentations from: Kevin P. Clark, President & CEO, APTIV PLC Steve Collis, Chairman, President, & CEO, AmerisourceBergen Robin Hayes, CEO, JetBlue Airways CEO, Mark Schneider, CEO, Nestle S.A. Peter Van Camp, Executive Chairman of Equinix We launched the CEO Investor Forums because 86% of CEOs told us they were too focused on short-term results, said Daryl Brewster, CEO, CECP. Through these Forums and our groundbreaking research, we are disrupting how investors and companies communicate. The goal is to shift trillions of investor capital to the companies that are best able to position themselves for sustainable, long-term value creation. CECP is a coalition of more than 200 of the worlds largest companies representing $6.6 trillion in revenues, $21.2 billion in societal investment, and 14 million employees. The Strategic Investor Initiative is a collaboration that leverages CECPs CEO network to fundamentally change the conversation between CEOs, boards of directors, and investors, from short-term profits to sustained long-term corporate performance by including financially material Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) factors. SII is co-chaired by Bill McNabb, former Chairman, Vanguard, and Alex Gorsky, Chairman & CEO, Johnson & Johnson. SII has an advisory board of leading investors that represent more than $15 trillion in assets under management. Investors and business leaders unable to attend the CEO Investor Forum can view the live webcast here . Media interested in attending should email jalbano@cecp.co for a registration code . The event is supported by KPMG, Ford Foundation, Bloomberg LP, and Heron Foundation. ABOUT CECP: THE CEO FORCE FOR GOOD CECP is a CEO-led coalition that believes that a companys social strategy how it engages with key stakeholders including employees, communities, investors, and customers determines company success. Founded in 1999 by actor and philanthropist Paul Newman and other business leaders to create a better world through business, CECP has grown to a movement of more than 200 of the worlds largest companies that represent $6.6 trillion in revenues, $21.2 billion in societal investment, 14 million employees, and $15 trillion in assets under management. CECP helps companies transform their social strategy by providing customized connections and networking, counsel and support, benchmarking and trends, and awareness building and recognition. ABOUT THE STRATEGIC INVESTOR INITIATIVE The Strategic Investor Initiative is a coalition of thought leaders committed to the long-term movement. Collectively, SII is developing a new platform for leading companies to create, convey, and deliver long-term plans to long-term investors. SIIs vision is to spark the movement of trillions of dollars of capital to companies demonstrating performance excellence over the long-term. SII provides tools and resources designed to introduce and support market behaviors that ultimately deliver sustained long-term value for all stakeholders. Contact: Jackie Albano 646.863.1926 jalbano@cecp.co English French SAINT JOHN, New Brunswick, Jan. 24, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- New Brunswickers reported losing $1.1 million to frauds and scams in 2018, with identity fraud, romance scams, and job scams having the biggest financial impact. This is according to the numbers reported to the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre, although the number of reports they received decreased from the previous year. In 2017, New Brunswickers reported losing $1.4 million to frauds and scams, said Rick Hancox, CEO of FCNB. While this years report seems like an encouraging decrease in money lost to fraud, we know that many arent reporting being victimized so the actual amount lost is likely higher. Every dollar lost to a fraud or scam is one dollar too high. According to the 2017 Canadian Securities Administrators (CSA) Investor Index for New Brunswick, seven-in-10 New Brunswickers who were approached by investment fraud did not report it. One reason people dont report is that they were too embarrassed to report the crime when it happened. However, reporting the fraud to the appropriate authorities can help raise awareness and prevent others in the community from being victimized. The red flags of fraud are common across all different types of scams, continued Hancox. The more people can recognize them, think critically and be vigilant, the fewer victims will suffer from the devastating consequences of fraud. Here were the top frauds in 2018 based on data from the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre: Identity fraud Total New Brunswick complaints: 102 Total New Brunswick victims: 100 Reported loss: $203,946 How it works: A fraudster uses your personal information to carry out fraud by obtaining credit in your name. You may be a victim if a creditor informs you it received your credit application, but you did not apply. Another red flag is if a collection agency informs you that they are collecting for a defaulted account in your name, but you never opened the account. Red flags: Unusual activity on your credit report: the scammer may use your identity to obtain a loan from a financial institution, which would reflect on your credit report. Romance fraud Total New Brunswick complaints: 20 Total New Brunswick victims: 18 Reported loss: $ 353,361 How it works: Fraudsters create fake profiles on social media and online dating websites to lure potential victims into online relationships. Once they gain the victims trust, the fraudster begins making financial requests. Red flags: No face-to-face contact: romance scammers will often ask the victim for money to make travel arrangements to meet in person, but will come up with a reason they cant come after all. As soon as the victims money is gone, so are they. Job scams Total New Brunswick complaints: 17 Total New Brunswick victims: 5 Reported loss: $ 208,643 How it works: Typically, the fraudulent job will be posted online for applicants to respond to. In some cases, an interview will take place, and the successful candidate will be asked to send a company cheque through their personal bank account as part of their initial job duties. The cheque may look real, but it is actually a fake. Since it can take up to a week for the bank to determine if a cheque is counterfeit, the person is out potentially hundreds or thousands of dollars. Red flags: Too good to be true: The opportunity is promoted as a way to get rich quickly, regardless of the candidates qualifications or experience. Paying to work: The job requires you to spend your own money to pay start-up costs. Accessing bank accounts: The job requires the employee to send or receive company money through their personal bank account. Reporting fraud to the appropriate authorities can help your family and community by making people aware of scams that are targeting them and the red flags that go with them, said Hancox. We can help New Brunswickers learn to spot the red flags and protect themselves from being victimized. The red flags of fraud are common across all scams, no matter how the scam artist approaches you. 24-01-2019 Media Contact: Sara Wilson, Senior Communications Officer, 506 643-7045 or 1 866 933-2222. sara.wilson@fcnb.ca FCNB has the mandate to protect consumers and enhance public confidence in the financial and consumer marketplace through the provision of regulatory and educational services. It is responsible for the administration and enforcement of provincial legislation regulating mortgage brokers, payday lenders, real estate, securities, insurance, pensions, credit unions, trust and loan companies, co-operatives, and a wide range of other consumer legislation. It is an independent Crown corporation funded by the regulatory fees and assessments paid by the regulated sectors. Online educational tools and resources are available at www.fcnb.ca. WEST Midlands Ambulance Service says thousands of lives could be saved in years to come with news that all secondary school children are to be taught CPR and basic first aid skills. Each year, West Midlands Ambulance Service attends about 4,000 out of hospital cardiac arrests. Sadly, only about seven per cent of those people will survive. Its a shocking figure, especially when in some countries like Denmark, the figure is around 25 per cent. The Government has announced it is planning to make health education compulsory in all state-funded schools. Under the proposed new guidance, by the end of secondary school pupils will be taught how to administer CPR, the purpose of defibrillators, and basic treatments for common injuries. WMAS community response manager, Cliff Medlicott, said: "There is no doubt that coming across a cardiac arrest is scary. Its different to a heart attack. In a cardiac arrest, the patient will be unconscious and their heart wont be beating they are clinically dead unless someone is prepared to do something. "Giving CPR buys the patient time, so the ambulance service can get there. You cant hurt the person; doing something can only help. "For every minute without life-saving treatment the chance of surviving a cardiac arrest drops by about ten per cent meaning that the time before an ambulance arrives is crucial. "I can speak from personal experience saving a life is the most incredible feeling; knowing that your actions mean someone will get to spend time with their loved ones when they wouldnt otherwise have had that chance. "A cardiac can strike anyone at any time: it could be a loved one, a friend, a complete stranger. If you know what to do, you could help save their life. Why would you not want to learn how to do CPR? It doesnt take long to learn and there are courses all over the place." NEW YORK, Jan. 24, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Pomerantz LLP is investigating claims on behalf of investors of Danske Bank A/S (Danske or the Company) (OTC MKTS: DNKEY). Such investors are advised to contact Robert S. Willoughby at rswilloughby@pomlaw.com or 888-476-6529, ext. 9980. The investigation concerns whether Danske and certain of its officers and/or directors have engaged in securities fraud or other unlawful business practices. [Click here to join a class action] On September 5, 2017, Reuters reported that Danske had hired the former head of Denmarks intelligence agency to help it in its effort to counter money-laundering claims. Then, on September 21, 2017, the Company issued a press release revealing that it had expand[ed] its ongoing investigation into the situation at its Estonian branch. Two months later, on December 21, 2017, Reuters reported that Danske had been fined 12.5 million Danish crowns ($2 million) by Denmarks Financial Supervisory Authority (the DFSA) for violating anti-money laundering rules in relation to the monitoring of transactions to and from correspondent banks, and that Danske was examining whether its Lithuanian and Latvian branches had been involved in money laundering, expanding an investigation beyond its Estonian operations. On May 3, 2018, Reuters reported the DFSA issued a report stating it had identified serious weaknesses in Danskes governance and that the Company was exposed to significantly higher compliance and reputational risks than previously assessed. On July 18, 2018, Danske stated that it wished to pay back approximately $230 million earned in connection with its alleged role in an international money laundering scheme involving illicit funds from Russia, Azerbaijan, and Moldova, calculated based on profit from Danskes Estonian office. On this news, Danskes American depositary receipt price fell $1.43, or 9.42%, to close at $13.81 on July 18, 2018. On September 14, 2018, The Wall Street Journal disclosed that a whistleblower had approached the SEC at least two years earlier, and, as a result, U.S. law enforcement agencies had begun investigating the scandal. On October 23, 2018, the full extent of the Companys misconduct was releveled when The Wall Street Journal published an article disclosing that in 2013 the whistleblower had alerted Danskes senior executives and that Danske sought to silence the whistleblower for years. Upon the full revelation of the Companys misconduct and the extent to which it relied upon the illegal profits, the price of the Companys American Depositary Receipts (ADRs) had plummeted approximately 54%, from a high of $20.90 on February 16, 2018, to a low of $9.50 on October 23, 2018. The Pomerantz Firm, with offices in New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, and Paris, is acknowledged as one of the premier firms in the areas of corporate, securities, and antitrust class litigation. Founded by the late Abraham L. Pomerantz, known as the dean of the class action bar, the Pomerantz Firm pioneered the field of securities class actions. Today, more than 80 years later, the Pomerantz Firm continues in the tradition he established, fighting for the rights of the victims of securities fraud, breaches of fiduciary duty, and corporate misconduct. The Firm has recovered numerous multimillion-dollar damages awards on behalf of class members. See www.pomerantzlaw.com. CONTACT: Robert S. Willoughby Pomerantz LLP rswilloughby@pomlaw.com 888-476-6529 ext. 9980 UNITED SIKHS San Jose, California, Jan. 24, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- UNITED SIKHS has initiated a Temporary National Assistance Program (TNAP) to assist the federal employees impacted by the government shutdown. Today is the 34th day of the shutdown when more than 1,000,000 million federal employees, their families, our fellow countrymen and countrywomen are at the mercy of our elected leaders. Inter-connected industries and society are feeling the aftermath of government inactivity. Every American no matter their race, creed and gender have all been adversely impacted by the federal shutdown. We request elected officials to diligently move forward to end the shutdown as it has dealt a severe blow to not only the economy but the social fabric of the nation. Now is the time for action. As stated by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., We are now faced with the fact that tomorrow is today. We are confronted with the fierce urgency of now. UNITED SIKHS partners - the Sikh Gurdwaras across the nation, restaurant owners, community centers and other interfaith groups will provide temporary assistance in the form of food items (perishable and non-perishable) and emergency supplies as available and needed. Case managers will be available for assistance and a review of cases on an individual basis. Our case managers can be contacted at our twitter handle @UNITEDSIKHS and by messaging us on our FACEBOOK page. Federal workers are showing up to work dutifully all the while aware they will not receive a paycheck. This is a heartbreaking situation which puts hundreds of thousands of families in peril and limbo. These consequences trickle down from consumerism to mental anguish to bearing a physical toll on one's being. We have started a National Assistance Program that will aid in easing some of the burdens that people are facing due to spillover effects onto our communities, our neighbors, our friends and our family. Click here to view our effort in New London, Connecticut. "This is a great way to carry the Guru's mission forward. We ask everyone to join us in this effort, stated UNITED SIKHS Community Empowerment Education Director, Dr. Gurparkash Singh. Gurvinder Singh, International Sikh Aid Director UNITED SIKHS said, "Our Sikh principles bound us to be involved, to watch out for our neighbors, to protect and assist anyone in need. It is in our teachings that we derive this internal and external drive to serve anywhere need is needed, it is a part of our DNA". For Assistance: CALL UNITED SIKHS AT 1-888-243-1690 How will the Temporary National Assistance Program (TNAP) campaign work? Bring your government ID to participating Gurdwaras and Sikh Food Bank locations. Contact us through UNITED SIKHS social media channels. A warm meal may be served (optional), a pre-packed nutritional care package with food may be provided (optional), some monetary assistance may be available, in certain locations sangat (Sikh community members) or vendors may be able to come drop off requested food items and at other locations fast food options may be available. We urge everyone to donate the following Monetary Donations. Non-Perishable Items. Water. Hygiene Products for Men, Women and Children. Toys. Any non-perishable items not used will be stored for unexpected disasters or donated to other agencies short of resources. Many Gurdwaras across the nation have already joined the program. If your Gurdwara, community center or restaurant is interested in joining the list please reach out to us immediately. If you are an individual that wants to help in any capacity kindly contact UNITED SIKHS by writing to sikhaid@unitedsikhs.org . Goods: Langar (Community Kitchen), Food Bank Pantry Items, Water, Pre-Paid Cards for Food, Hygiene (Men, Women, Children). Services: Case Manager, Resources (Health (Lifestyle, Fitness, Mental), Legal, Financial, Professional, Informational Services and Support). We appreciate your continued support: Any feedback, suggestions, comments are encouraged and always welcomed. Please click on the links to become a force of action today in your own city and country whether it is to volunteer or donate to our efforts. ABOUT UNITED SIKHS Associated with the United Nations Dept. of Public Information UNITED SIKHS is a global humanitarian charity that advocates for civil and human rights across 10 chapters. Our International Civil & Human Rights Advocacy helps advance the economic, social and spiritual empowerment of minorities and other marginalized groups and individuals in need, regardless of race, religion, gender, sexual orientation, social status, age or ability. We achieve this by protecting and enforcing the civil and human rights of minorities and marginalized groups in the Americas, Europe and Asia. Visit us at www.UNITEDSIKHS.org Attachment English23/01/2019 SRNA News Roundup /III/ - January 23, 2019 REPUBLIKA SRPSKA BANJALUKA - President of Republika Srpska Zeljka Cvijanovic told Srna the Party of Democratic Progress /SDA/ are dangerously toying with Bosnia and Herzegovina. When asked to comment on an SDA statement that they will launch a legal procedure with the BiH Constitutional Court through their representatives in the State institutions to re-examine the name of Republika Srpska, Cvijanovic said it might seem the SDA was attacking Republika Srpska, but that it wasnt so. BANJALUKA - Speaker of the Republika Srpska National Assembly Nedeljko Cubrilovic stated that an announcement by the Party of Democratic Progress /SDA/ that they will launch a legal procedure to re-examine the name of Republika Srpska is an attempt at dismantling the BiH Constitution and Dayton Peace Agreement. BANJALUKA - Minister of Labour and Veterans Affairs Dusko Milunovic says it is necessary to re-establish social dialogue in Republika Srpska and raise it to a higher level, announcing negotiations on the general collective bargaining agreement for February. NEVESINJE - Minister of Health and Social Welfare Alen Seranic visited the hospital in Nevesinje on Wednesday where he and the institutions management spoke about introducing palliative care in the unoccupied space of the Health Centre there. ZVORNIK - Minister of Education and Culture Natalija Trivic stated in Zvornik it is necessary to introduce dual education in the secondary school system which means merging theory and practice. BIJELJINA - Seven percent of children in Republika Srpska aged 13 to 15 smoke, which is not so bad, while the main goal of every Governments campaign in this field is for youth to never start smoking in the first place, Darko Markovic, the national coordinator for tobacco control, told Srna. SREBRENICA - The third edition of the art, science and culture journal Srebrni Vijenac which is published by the Serbian Cultural Society Prosvjeta from Srebrenica was presented at the Srebrenica National Library on Wednesday. JAHORINA - Discounts are available on Mt Jahorina during the European Youth Olympic Festival EYOF 2019 so that the visitors as well as the competitors can feel the Olympic spirit during the big sporting event. BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA SARAJEVO - Gordana Tadic was appointed the new chief prosecutor of Bosnia and Herzegovina at a session of the High Judicial and Prosecutorial Council /HJPC/ on Wednesday. SARAJEVO - Delegations of BiH and the self-declared Kosovo will meet in Sarajevo on Thursday to discuss the Pristina decision on 100 percent taxes on BiH goods, the BiH provisional Ministry of Foreign Trade and Economic Relations told Srna. SARAJEVO - Deputy Chair of the BiH House of Representatives Nebojsa Radmanovic stressed the need for stronger cooperation between BiH and Italy in a meeting with Italian Ambassador Nicola Minasi in Sarajevo. FEDERATION OF BiH SARAJEVO - The SDA reported on Wednesday they will launch a legal procedure with the BiH constitutional Court for re-examining the name of Republika Srpska. SERBIA BELGRADE- Commenting on the Croatian President Kolinda Grabar Kitarovic attending a promotion of a book on Aloysius Stepinac, Serbian Minister of Defence Aleksandar Vulin said that only those who considered Jasenovac a labour camp could consider Stepinac a saint. BELGRADE - There is an organised campaign in Croatia of revising the WWII events both by the church and by the state, which is a completely different situation than that in Serbia, the country helping revitalise the Jewish community, the newly-elected leadership of the Union of Jewish Municipalities of Serbia told a press conference on Thursday. NOVI SAD - The 77th anniversary of the infamous Novi Sad Raid, a criminal military operation of the Hungarian occupying Fascist forces in WWII, was marked in Novi Sad with a commemoration and memorial service on Wednesday. Innocent Serbs, Jews and Roma were then brutally killed and thrown into the icy Danube. REGION SKOPJE - UN Special Envoy for the naming dispute between Greece and Macedonia Matthew Nimetz warned today that a failure of Prespa Agreement would have dangerous consequences for both sides, and that a new agreement would require years, reports the European Western Balkans website. /end/ds Calgary, Alberta, Jan. 24, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Adopting business-forward policies that drive market growth, certainty and investor confidence will enable Alberta communities and households to thrive, says the Calgary Chamber in its 2019 Alberta Provincial Election Platform recommendations. Titled Businesses Drive Cities That Thrive, the platform makes nine specific recommendations under five principles for all provincial parties to adopt as they vie this spring to become the next government. Some of the Chambers recommendations the next government must adopt include: A cut to the corporate tax rate; A reduction of layered costs and regulations on business including the elimination of two regulations for every one introduced; A disciplined plan to return to balanced budgets; Adherence to contracts with business and the rule of law; and A commitment to prevent future free market intervention Successive governments have made numerous decisions that have severely impacted business confidence, investment and competitiveness. Once known as a province where risks were often rewarded, many investors now see Alberta as too risky, said Sandip Lalli, President and CEO of the Calgary Chamber. There is a path forward. Businesses are ready to grow and punch their way out of this. But they expect a lot more from governments. We, as citizens, need to vote for the policies we want to see govern our businesses and communities, said Lalli. Our citys businesses, entrepreneurs, dreamers and scientists will take care of the rest. Developed with input from business leaders the Calgary Chambers platform consists of the following five principles: I. Creating stability through fiscal responsibility II. Driving productivity through regulatory and tax reform III. Supporting growth through internal trade and access to markets IV. Increasing certainty through good governance and accountability V. Preparing for the future by developing and retaining a skilled workforce *Please see the attached Policy Platform and the Nine Recommendations for Growth or visit www.calgarychamber.com/ABelection -30- ABOUT THE CALGARY CHAMBER The Calgary Chamber is an independent non-profit, non-partisan business organization. For 128 years the Chamber has worked to build a business community that nourishes, powers, and inspires the world. Attachments English23/01/2019 KITAROVIC AND BISHOPS AGAIN GIVING LEGITIMACY TO NDH BELGRADE, January 23 /SRNA/ - Croatian President Kolinda Grabar Kitarovic and Catholic Church dignitaries, who attended the presentation of a book about controversial Cardinal Alojzije Stepinac where he was glorified, again gave legitimacy to the heritage of the Independent State of Croatia /NDH/ and confirmed that Croatia did not renounce its dark past, says the secretary-general of the Association of Serbs from Croatia, Milojko Budimir. He says that particularly ironic is a message from Zagreb Archbishop Josip Bozanic who said at the presentation of the book that blessed Alojzije Stepinac is giving a compass to his people so they could find a way. According to Budimir, if Stepinacs deed is a compass, than it is clear that Serbs must forget Croatia, that one cannot speak about normalization of relations between Serbia and Croatia or about coexistence between the two peoples. Stepinac can be the compass and the rose of the Croatian people if the goal is to cleanse Croatia from all ethnic minorities, particularly Serbs. He is more of a thorn whose ideology contributed to the events from the 1990s and which contributed that that which was started in 1941 be completed in 1995, when the whole nation disappeared from these parts, Budimir told SRNA. He says that thanks to the Serbian people and their sacrifice, Croatia was created in WWII and the stain of Ustashe crimes was removed from Croats, while Croats, instead of being grateful to Serbs for this, are today glorifying Ustashe criminals and the NDH as a graveyard of the Serbian people. Budimir says that it is sad that the EU and the IC did not react adequately to this. As long as there is no reaction from progressive forces in Croatia and the IC, Stepinac will be the rose as they represent him, Budimir says. He says that Serbian historians shed light on the person and deeds of Alojzije Stepinac using facts, and that the Serbian people do not doubt that he is a criminal. Budimir says that young generations should be educated about what happened, adding that it should be pointed out that even the Vatican has certain reservations towards Stepinac, whom the Croatian Catholic Church wants to see as a saint. Pope Francis probably estimated that Stepinac does not deserve to be beatified and this is why Croatia is in a way against him. He defends his position on the basis of facts in the possession of the Vatican, and they are certainly stronger than our facts, which is why this story cannot end with the beatification of Stepinac, Budimir says. A book by the Bishop of Mostar and Duvno, Ratko Peric, Hope that does not bring shame, published on the occasion of the 120th anniversary of the birth and the 20th anniversary of beatification of controversial Croatian Cardinal Alojzije Stepinac was presented in Zagreb in the presence of Croatian President Kolinda Grabar Kitarovic and Croatian Catholic Church dignitaries. Zagreb Archbishop Josip Bozanic has said on the occasion that Stepinac, as the most holy person in the Croatian Church, defended God and man on Earth, and that he represents a compass for the Croatian people. Archbishop Puljic has said that Stepinac is the most beautiful and the dearest Croatian rose, which testified, wrote and spoke, and that he is a spiritual prince of Croats in the 20th century because of whom the Croatian people could resurrect. /end/sg English23/01/2019 CHANCES FOR GETTING EU CANDIDATE STATUS TO BE ALSO DISCUSSED IN BRUSSELS SARAJEVO, January 23 /SRNA/ - The Chairman of the BiH Presidency, Milorad Dodik, has said that he expects to hear from European officials next week what chances are for BiH to get EU candidate status this year. He expressed regret that he will not be able to present good developments in BiH to leading EU officials. We are not bringing much to Brussels. We did not answer all the questions from the Questionnaire, and this is bad. We did not form authorities at the level of BiH, the Reform Agenda has not been fully implemented, and we have a stalemate with the International Monetary Fund and the implementation of the Letter of Intent, Dodik told Al Jazeera Balkans TV last night. He thinks that an FBiH government, which has also not been formed, as well as governments of certain Cantons, will also be discussed at a meeting in Brussels, where he will go together with the other two members of the BiH Presidency, Sefik Dzaferovic and Zeljko Komsic. I believe that we are capable of separating the European from the Atlantic path. Republika Srpska has a clear position regarding the European integration process we want it. We welcomed the establishment of the coordination mechanism within which we can arrive at solutions, as it was proven earlier, Dodik has said. He has said that an efficient Council of Ministers is needed for this, the one which should be the place of gathering and implementation of the coordination mechanism regarding all issues. Dodik is of the opinion that regional cooperation will also be discussed in Brussels, saying that it should be at a higher level and that he believes that Dzaferovic and Komsic have the same position. My politics, and I believe that of the other two members of the BiH Presidency, is to achieve as greater level of regional cooperation as possible. At one of the first sessions, and we have had four so far, we invited all heads of state from the region to visit BiH, and when it comes to the European path, we adopted a statement which clearly indicates that the new Presidency wants to work on the European integration process, Dodik has said. /end/sg by Victor Cherubim We have seen over time that human, plant and animal life have been susceptible to parasitic infestations in our land. But thankfully action is taken promptly to control it, but, often times, things get forgotten afterwards. I can remember the time when I was growing up in Ceylon that we were all concerned about hook worms, tapeworms, head lice in humans, gastro infections in cattle management particularly buffaloes, bed bugs and cockroaches, not forgetting mosquitoes in insects, and recently in the 1990s coconut mite. Problems such as the above occur because we are busier on other things than on health and hygiene. Our departments of parasitological, entomological, pest and infection control have been otherwise occupied or perhaps have been more appropriately starved of funds due to the thirty odd year war, that there was neglect unlimited. It appears that we wake up when we hear of the rumours of the khapra beetle and we go all out to eradicate this pestilence? We are a small island, surrounded by the Indian Ocean, and so are mostly protected by nature and by the way of life, culture and Buddhist and Hindu civilisation. What problems we have inherited other than from our genes, is what we have mostly, if not essentially imported stuff, including bugs and drugs. Our climate is salubrious, our soil is very fertile, our ease of life and liberty is infectious. But, unlike another large island, Australia, we are not fully immersed in health and safety, as an essential prerequisite for our own existence. We do not permanently enforce stringent health regulations of those who visit our beautiful isle. By the time we civilians come to realise, it is often too late. I also well remember my Austral tourist flight from London, Colombo landing in Sydney in November 2003. I was shocked that the plane and the passengers were fumigated minutes before landing at Sydney airport. The officials, Customs and Health staff were of course, wanting to know where I had come from, what I was bringing, whether I was carrying any infection, whether I was carrying with me any food, plants, flowers or seeds and whether I had made contact with any persons en route on any part of my journey. I was taken aback at the health questions I was interrogated, all in a very friendly, courteous atmosphere. I then knew how seriously health matters are taken in Australia. Sena destroys cabbage, nakol in Matale District? We are warned that the Army Worms (Sena) has started to spread to cabbage and nakol cultivation in some sections of the Matale District, according to farmers association reports. I remember visiting Galewela, in the Matale District,some six years ago and I was entertained right royally by my friends there. I was very much aware of the fertile soil and the luxuriant natural vegetation. I wonder what happened between then and now.? What is being done and what more can be done today? When we talk about plant infestation, our minds immediately turn to two things. First we think of plant variety resistant to infection. Secondly, plant susceptibility to parasites, fungus disease and/or its sensitivity. We know that infestations dont occur suddenly. Of course, they undoubtedly cause the lack of growth as well as the death of young plant life in a number of fields. Most infestations attack the root system. The literature on the subject, particularly on Plant Resistance is full of many contradictions. Some are hasty in observation or careless in definition and others are incomplete? What is resistance? Resistance to plant infection is dependent to a large extent on plant vigour, which in turn dependent on climate, plant nutrition and other soil conditions. Information on plant resistance is based largely on negative evidence, it requires careful examination, according to researchers. Resistance in plants is the ability to obstruct the invasion of parasites. The causes of resistance may be physical, chemical or psychological. This we are told differ with the type of plant. Many plants may at some time escape infestation, but some plants which have never been reported as a host to a parasite, say to the sena worm, may possibly indicate non resistance, or perhaps, indicate resistance? Only close examination and research can tell? What is susceptibility? Susceptibility in a plant, in its condition of being a suitable host for a given parasite has to be looked at the degree of tolerance. Tolerance is a capacity to endure without injury or the ability of a plant to continue productive growth even while it is subject to a heavy and increasing infestation, year on year. We also have to add an unknown factor. This is Immunity to infection. Immunity to infection? Immunity is freedom or exemption from disease or infestation. The word immunity has often been used loosely, meaning sometimes resistance and sometimes only tolerance or profitable growth. Complete immunity is a rare condition according to research. How could the Worm Sena have spread? Only an entomologist, a parasitologist, or a nematologist can give us a definite answer? Instead of waiting for the verdict, the All Ceylon Farmers Federation can ask the Government to be more vigilant at our borders and control the pestilence before it starts. A vigilant Border Control is the answer? It is a great comfort to know that President Maithripala Sirisena has taken measures for Border Control very seriously, not only on drugs, but also on infestation. The Government of Sri Lanka and its Opposition need to follow suit, before quibbling on other matters? The health of the nation is as important as the health of the economy, or more so. by Bill Van Auken The US recognition of Juan Guaido as the self-proclaimed and unelected interim president of Venezuela marks the initiation of a right-wing coup engineered in Washington. Guaido swore himself in Wednesday before a mass anti-government rally in Caracas. Virtually simultaneously, Donald Trump tweeted: The citizens of Venezuela have suffered for too long at the hands of the illegitimate Maduro regime. Today, I have officially recognized the President of the Venezuelan National Assembly, Juan Guaido, as the Interim President of Venezuela. This attempt at regime change by tweet has been supported by a number of right-wing governments in Latin America, including that of the fascistic former army officer, Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, who was inaugurated at the beginning of the year. Canada also quickly fell into line behind Washingtons conspiracy, while the Macron government in France has reportedly begun discussions within the European Union aimed at drumming up support for Washingtons puppet. Russia, Turkey and Mexico reiterated their recognition of Nicolas Maduro as Venezuelas constitutionally elected president, as did Cuba and Bolivia. Washingtons recognition of Guaido as president constitutes a naked intervention by US imperialism with the aim of achieving its own predatory aims in Venezuela, which boasts the worlds largest proven oil reserves. At the same time, it is aimed at rolling back the influence in the hemisphere of Russia and China, which have both established close economic and political ties with Caracas. This regime change operation has been two decades in the making, from the abortive 2002 CIA-orchestrated coup against Maduros late predecessor, Hugo Chavez, under George W. Bush, through the imposition of sanctions by the Obama administration and its designation of Venezuela as an extraordinary threat to the national security and foreign policy of the United States. By in effect throwing US support to a rival government, the Trump administration is seeking to create the conditions for a military coup or even civil war within Venezuela as well as a US military intervention from without. Venezuelan President Maduro responded to the US intervention by breaking off diplomatic relations with Washington and ordering all US diplomatic personnel to leave the country within 72 hours. Guaido, no doubt operating in close consultation with the State Department, countermanded Maduros decree, declaring that he, as interim president, was asking US officials in the country to remain in place. The State Department has responded that it will ignore Maduros order, setting the stage for a confrontation that can be used as the pretext for US intervention. In statements to reporters on Wednesday, Trump made it clear that military intervention is under active consideration. Asked by reporters whether he was contemplating sending US troops to Venezuela, he responded that all options are on the table. A US official speaking not for attribution told reporters that if the Maduro government acted against Guaido and his supporters, their days will be numbered, while media reports indicated that Washington is considering a naval blockade of Venezuela to stop its oil exports and the seizure of Venezuelan assets in the US on the supposed behalf of the interim president. Maduro, for all of the rhetoric about Bolivarian Socialism, heads a capitalist government that defends private property in Venezuela and has imposed the full burden of the countrys deep-going economic crisis onto the backs of the Venezuelan working class, whose strikes and protests have been brutally repressed. Under Maduro and his predecessor, the late Hugo Chavez, private control of the countrys economy actually grew and the profits of the financial sector soared, as the government diverted vast social wealth to meet debt payments to Wall Street and the international banks. Nonetheless, the claims from the Trump administration that this government is illegitimate and that Washington is standing for democracy are nothing short of obscene. This same administration, it should be noted, has no problem with the legitimacy of the murderous police state monarchy of Prince Mohamed bin Salman in Saudi Arabia, the dictatorship of Gen. Sisi in Egypt or the various similar regimes that constitute Washingtons principal allies in the Middle East. On less specious grounds than Washington is using to declare Maduro an usurper, any government in the world could claim that Trumps own governmentelected with less popular votes than those of his opponent and opposed by the majority of the American peopleis illegitimate and should be overthrown. Moreover, any regime that emerges from the US-backed operation in Venezuela will be a right-wing dictatorship of the banks, big business and foreign capital that will organize a bloodbath against the Venezuelan working class that will far eclipse the massacre carried out in 1989 against the Caracazo, the popular revolt of the countrys workers and poor against IMF austerity. The principal pillar of the bourgeois nationalist government headed by Chavez and Maduro has been the military, with senior officers controlling key sectors of the government and the national economy. Washington is hoping that this will become the governments Achilles Heel, with senior commanders persuaded to change sides and carry out a coup. It was revealed last year that US officials repeatedly met between the fall of 2017 and the beginning of last year with a group of Venezuelan military officers seeking US support for the overthrow of Maduro. These contacts failed to reach fruition because Washington believed that the conspiracy was insufficiently prepared. These calculations may now have changed. An isolated uprising by a group of national guardsmen who seized arms and police stations on Monday has been followed yesterday with a video statement from division Gen. Jesus Alberto Milano Mendoza, appearing together with other officers, declaring that the army should revolt against Maduro and that the high command should not serve as the armed branch of the government for its personal benefit. Milano Mendoza had previously served as the chief of Chavezs presidential guard. It is not just Trump and the CIA supporting the Venezuelan coup and the sharp lurch to the right in Latin America. This was made abundantly clear at the World Economic Forum which opened this week in the exclusive Swiss Alpine resort of Davos, bringing together global billionaire CEOs, bankers, hedge fund managers, celebrities and government leaders and officials. Davos rolled out the red carpet for Jair Bolsonaro, the fascistic ex-army officer who was inaugurated as Brazils president at the beginning of the year. Bolsonaro delivered a bizarre and stunningly short keynote speech to open the forum. Investors present were described as excited by the prospect of increased profits under a new government headed by an individual who has voiced his support for the former Brazilian military dictatorship and its murder and torture of left-wing opponents, and who has packed his government with generals and right-wing ideologues. Bolsonaro cast himself as part of a continent-wide crusade for political reaction, declaring, The left will not prevail in this region, which is good, I think, not only for South America, but also for the world. He received a positive response from the representatives of financial oligarchies and their respective governments that all feel themselves besieged by intensifying economic crisis and a resurgence of the struggle of the working class on an international scale. All of them are looking towards methods of dictatorship, authoritarianism, repression, censorship and outright fascism as a means of defending their wealth and rule. Within the United States itself, despite the internecine political warfare in Washington, there are no disagreements about the unfolding Venezuelan coup. US Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durban issued a statement Wednesday hailing the State Department stooge Guaido and his supporters as brave patriots who see a more hopeful and democratic future for the Venezuelan people. And, on the day that Guaido declared himself president, the New York Times published a glowing tribute to the right-wing political operative under the headline As Venezuela crumbles, a new voice of dissent emerges. It did not bother to inform its readership that this new voice is a paid mouthpiece for the US State Department. The same newspaper, the erstwhile voice of bourgeois establishment liberalism in the US, praised the abortive CIA coup against Chavez in 2002, declaring that Venezuelan democracy is no longer threatened after an elected president had been dragged from his office and arrested and a military-backed business association leader had been proclaimed president. The unfolding coup in Venezuela has implications for the whole of Latin America and the entire planet. It is part of the shipwreck of the so-called left turn that began at the beginning of the millennium, the advent of a number of bourgeois nationalist governments that diverted a share of booming commodity revenues into modest social welfare programs and utilized a rising China to offset US influence in the region. Promoted by Pabloite and other pseudo-left tendencies internationally as a new form of socialism, this Pink Tide only served to politically disarm the working class in the face of the inevitable turn to reaction and repression. Moreover, it is inseparable from a turn by the international bourgeoisie toward reaction and dictatorial forms of rule, from Trumps threat to impose a state of emergency, to Macrons embrace of Petain, the emergence of the fascistic AfD as the main opposition party in Germany and the consolidation of the extreme rights grip over the government in Italy. Everywhere, the domination of a narrow financial oligarchy is incompatible with democratic forms of rule. The political crisis in Venezuela can only be resolved in a progressive manner by the independent intervention of the working class. What is required is not the intervention of the military, but rather the arming of the masses. The resolution of the countrys underlying economic crisis is possible only through the seizure of bourgeois property and the placing of Venezuelas vast oil wealth under popular control. Popular assemblies must be established to carry out such a program, while appealing to the workers and oppressed throughout the Americas for support. The working class in the United States must oppose the reactionary intervention of the Trump administration and fight to unite its struggles with those of the workers in Venezuela and throughout Latin America against the common enemy, the capitalist system. A Fateful Year Can Germany's SPD Stop Its Long, Slow Decline? Germany's Social Democratic Party was once the party of the working class and knew what it stood for. Lately, though, its lack of a coherent message has left it ineffectual and unpopular. This year will be critical for the SPD's survival. Optimization Are you frustrated with a slow pc or a hard disk not performing as it should? Try SLOW-PCfighter to speed up boot time on a slow PC, or try a free scan of FULL-DISKfighter to recover space on a full disk. The latest offering is DRIVERfighter to update your driver updater. Get complete PC optimization and extend the life of your PC with these must-have software tools. NEW YORK, Jan. 24, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Pomerantz LLP is investigating claims on behalf of investors of Nissan Motor Co., Ltd. (Nissan or the Company) (OTCMKTS: NSANY). Such investors are advised to contact Robert S. Willoughby at rswilloughby@pomlaw.com or 888-476-6529, ext. 9980. The investigation concerns whether Nissan and certain of its officers and/or directors have engaged in securities fraud or other unlawful business practices. [Click here to join a class action] On November 19, 2018, media outlets reported that the Companys Chairman Carlos Ghosn had been arrested by Japanese authorities for violations of Japanese financial law. In a press release, Nissan stated that the Company has been conducting an internal investigation over the past several months regarding misconduct involving the companys Representative Director and Chairman Carlos Ghosn and Representative Director Greg Kelly, which revealed that over many years both Ghosn and Kelly have been reporting compensation amounts in the Tokyo Stock Exchange securities report that were less than the actual amount, in order to reduce the disclosed amount of Carlos Ghosns compensation. The Company further stated that in regards to Ghosn, numerous other significant acts of misconduct have been uncovered, such as personal use of company assets, and Kellys deep involvement has also been confirmed. Following this news, Nissans American depositary receipt price fell sharply during intraday trading on November 19, 2018. The Pomerantz Firm, with offices in New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, and Paris, is acknowledged as one of the premier firms in the areas of corporate, securities, and antitrust class litigation. Founded by the late Abraham L. Pomerantz, known as the dean of the class action bar, the Pomerantz Firm pioneered the field of securities class actions. Today, more than 80 years later, the Pomerantz Firm continues in the tradition he established, fighting for the rights of the victims of securities fraud, breaches of fiduciary duty, and corporate misconduct. The Firm has recovered numerous multimillion-dollar damages awards on behalf of class members. See www.pomerantzlaw.com CONTACT: Robert S. Willoughby Pomerantz LLP rswilloughby@pomlaw.com 888-476-6529 ext. 9980 WASHINGTON, Jan. 24, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Tyson Foods, Inc. (NYSE: TSN) plans to donate more than 85 tons of food or more than 685,000 meals to the Washington, D.C. area to help those in need, including federal workers affected by the partial government shutdown. Social service agencies are experiencing increased demand for assistance in the weeks after the government shutdown, so the company is making deliveries to a food bank, a community kitchen and a non-profit group that supports military service members and their families. As the largest U.S. food company, we want to do our part to help federal workers and their families who have been going without pay due to the shutdown, said Justin Whitmore, EVP continuous improvement and chief sustainability officer for Tyson Foods. We are committed to hunger relief in the United States, and whether a community is struggling with hunger, food insecurity or natural disaster, were there to help where help is needed the most. The food deliveries will include: Three truckloads of chicken to the Capital Area Food Bank over the next three weeks including one in coordination with the League of Latin American Citizens (LULAC). over the next three weeks including one in coordination with the League of Latin American Citizens (LULAC). A shipment of 14,000 pounds of chicken later this month to the DC Central Kitchen , which prepares food for people in need. , which prepares food for people in need. A 40,000-pound truckload of chicken to the USO Warrior and Family Center at Fort Belvoir, Virginia, on February 6, for distribution by the USO of Metropolitan Washington-Baltimore (USO Metro) to Coast Guard workers and their families. Tyson Foods has a history of partnering with organizations like Feeding America, Share Our Strength and Lift Up America to raise hunger awareness and help feed people in need. Since 2000, the company has donated more than 100 million pounds of protein in the United States. About Tyson Foods Tyson Foods, Inc. (NYSE: TSN) is one of the worlds largest food companies and a recognized leader in protein. Founded in 1935 by John W. Tyson and grown under three generations of family leadership, the company has a broad portfolio of products and brands like Tyson, Jimmy Dean, Hillshire Farm, Ball Park, Wright, Aidells, ibp and State Fair. Tyson Foods innovates continually to make protein more sustainable, tailor food for everywhere its available and raise the worlds expectations for how much good food can do. Headquartered in Springdale, Arkansas, the company had 121,000 team members as of September 29, 2018. Through its Core Values, Tyson Foods strives to operate with integrity, create value for its shareholders, customers, communities and team members and serve as a steward of the animals, land and environment entrusted to it. Visit WWW.TYSONFOODS.COM Category: Newsroom Announcing the fourth edition of PCR Tokyo Valves 2019, the year of Mitral -- Since the approval of MitraClip in April 2018 in Japan, the number of cases has registered a significant increase. It is therefore fundamental for the local percutaneous community to get on board with the techniques and innovations currently developing around this procedure. Hence, the Programme includes a special focus on edge-to-edge therapy with MitraClip, which is currently reaching its prime-time in the Asia Pacific region. The How should I treat and Learning sessions will offer ideal opportunities to apprehend MitraClip from A to Z, including potential complications, through a case-based approach. TAVI for beginners and advanced -- TAVI naturally continues to occupy an important place in the Course's curriculum. As the Asian Pacific experience in TAVI reaches maturity, this year's sessions are devised to explore the expansion of the treatment to more complex patients and anatomies. For those who are just entering the field, beginner sessions will bring relevant and easy-to-apply tips and tricks. Imaging techniques, key element for optimal procedures -- The Course is kicking off with an Imaging Day on Friday 15, 2:00 PM. Throughout the day, participants will be able to take part in case-based sessions exploring multi-modality imaging methods and striving to deliver key learnings on the use of such techniques in both aortic and mitral valve interventions. A relevant Programme, made By and For the Japanese Heart Team -- Interventional Cardiologists, Cardiac Surgeons, Imaging Specialists, Nurse and/or an Allied Professionals from the local percutaneous community will find relevant content within this year's comprehensive curriculum. Indeed, 35 abstracts and 86 clinical cases were submitted by community members, a great number of which were selected to be part of the Course Programme. Some sessions will even be held in the Japanese language. Yet, the international scope which characterises PCR Courses remains present. Collaborations with the European interventional field will be supported on this occasion by LIVE demonstrations transmitted from the Institut Cardiovasculaire Paris Sud - Massy in France. ### Key information: Tokyo, Japan - JP Tower Hall & Conference, Chiyoda-ku PCR Tokyo Valves - 15 - 17 February 2019 The detailed Course Programme is now available on the dedicated website http://www. pcrtokyovalves. com . You can also already join the conversation on Twitter using #PCRtokyo About PCR The mission of PCR is to serve the needs of each individual patient by helping the cardiovascular community to share knowledge, experience and practice. PCR offers a large range of many other educational meetings and resources for the continuing education of the interventional cardiovascular community. These include major annual Courses across the globe, E-Learning with high-profile PCR Webinars, Courses specifically dedicated to valvular heart disease, tailor-made PCR Seminars on specific topics, online resources and medical publications such as EuroIntervention, the official journal of the EAPCI. Gateways to all PCR activities are available on http://www. pcronline. com For further information, please contact Celia Vila: cvila@europa-group.com This story has been published on: 2019-01-24. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article. NEW YORK, Jan. 24, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Pomerantz LLP announces that a class action lawsuit has been filed against, The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (Goldman Sachs or the Company) (NYSE: GS) and certain of its officers. The class action, filed in United States District Court, Southern District of New York, and indexed under 18-cv-12084, is on behalf of a class consisting of all persons and entities, other than Defendants and their affiliates, who purchased or otherwise, acquired Goldman Sachs securities between February 28, 2014, and December 17, 2018, both dates inclusive (the Class Period), seeking to recover damages caused by Defendants violations of the federal securities laws and to pursue remedies under Sections 10(b) and 20(a) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (the Exchange Act) and Rule 10b-5 promulgated thereunder, against the Company and certain of its top officials. If you are a shareholder who purchased Goldman Sachs securities between February 28, 2014, and December 17, 2018, both dates inclusive, you have until February 19, 2019, to ask the Court to appoint you as Lead Plaintiff for the class. A copy of the Complaint can be obtained at www.pomerantzlaw.com. To discuss this action, contact Robert S. Willoughby at rswilloughby@pomlaw.com or 888.476.6529 (or 888.4-POMLAW), toll-free, Ext. 9980. Those who inquire by e-mail are encouraged to include their mailing address, telephone number, and the number of shares purchased. [Click here to join this class action] Goldman Sachs was founded in 1869 and is headquartered in New York, New York. The Company operates as an investment banking, securities, and investment management company worldwide, serving corporations, financial institutions, governments, and high-net-worth individuals. According to 2016 data compiled by Bloomberg, Goldman Sachs has worked on $18.8 billion of Malaysian mergers and acquisitions over the past five years, making it the top foreign adviser with a 20.5[%] market share. Goldman Sachss business in Malaysia included, inter alia, raising funds for 1Malaysia Development Bhd. (1MDB), a Malaysian state-owned investment fund set up in 2009, four months after Najib Razak (Razak) became Prime Minister of Malaysia. 1MDB was initially established to finance infrastructure and economic deals in Malaysia. In 2012, officials from 1MDB met with Goldman Sachs in Hong Kong to discuss a bond deal. Goldman Sachs subsequently raised $6.5 billion for 1MDB, earning approximately $600 million in fees. Since early 2015, 1MDB has been the subject of international criminal and regulatory investigations for suspected fraud and money laundering after missing $11 billion in payments owed to banks and bondholders. On June 18, 2015, The Wall Street Journal published an article entitled Fund Controversy Threatens Malaysias Leader, detailing how 1MDB indirectly funded Razaks 2013 election campaign. A probe into 1MDB subsequently followed. On July 2, 2015, The Wall Street Journal published another article, entitled Investigators Believe Money Flowed to Malaysian Leader Najibs Accounts Amid 1MDB Probe, reporting how Malaysian investigators traced nearly $700 million in deposits to what they believed to be Razaks personal bank accounts. According to the U.S. Department of Justice, high-level 1MDB officials and their associates misappropriated an estimated $4.5 billion from 1MDB between 2009 and 2014. Implicated in the 1MDB scandal were two former Goldman Sachs managing directors Tim Leissner (Leissner) and Ng Chong Hwa, also known as Roger Ng (Ng). Leissner was Chairman of South East Asia and Vice Chairman of the Investment Banking Division in Asia Ex-Japan (i.e., Asia, excluding Japan) for Goldman Sachs. Ng was a former Goldman Sachs banker, managing director, and deputy to Leissner. Ng most recently was the head of South-East Asian sales in Goldman Sachss fixed-income, currencies, and commodities unit. The complaint alleges that throughout the Class Period, Defendants made materially false and misleading statements regarding the Companys business, operational and compliance policies. Specifically, Defendants made false and/or misleading statements and/or failed to disclose that: (i) Goldman Sachs participated in a fraud and money-laundering scheme in collusion with 1MDB; (ii) the foregoing conduct, when revealed, would foreseeably subject Goldman Sachs to heightened regulatory investigation and enforcement; and (iii) as a result, Goldman Sachss public statements were materially false and misleading at all relevant times. On March 7, 2016, Bloomberg News published an article entitled Ex-Goldman Banker to Malaysia Fund Said Subpoenaed in U.S. Probe, reporting that the U.S. Justice Department had subpoenaed Leissner in late February in connection with a probe linked to 1MDB. Goldman Sachs has since been the subject of investigations by the U.S. Justice Department regarding the multibillion-dollar fraud and money-laundering scheme involving 1MDB, for which Goldman Sachs was the primary bond underwriter. Following this news, Goldman Sachss stock price fell $3.75 per share, or 2.41%, to close at $151.60 on March 8, 2016. On November 1, 2018, U.S. federal prosecutors in the Eastern District of New York (E.D.N.Y.) unsealed indictments against Leissner and Ng related to the 1MDB probe, explicitly describing them as agents acting within the scope of their employment on behalf of the Company with the intent, at least in part, to benefit Goldman Sachs. That same day, the United States Attorneys Office for the E.D.N.Y. announced that Leissners guilty plea was unsealed for a two-count criminal information charging Leissner with conspiring to launder money and conspiring to violate the FCPA [Foreign Corrupt Practices Act] by both paying bribes to various Malaysian and Abu Dhabi officials and circumventing the internal accounting controls of the Financial Institution while he was employed by it. The U.S. Attorneys Office also stated that, [a]ccording to court filings, Leissner has been ordered to forfeit $43,700,000 as a result of his crimes. On November 8, 2018, a report by Bloomberg News detailed the personal involvement of Goldman Sachss then-Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Lloyd Blankfein, in a meeting to establish ties with Malaysia and its new sovereign wealth fund that was referenced in the court documents unsealed the prior week. In a November 8, 2018 article entitled Goldmans Blankfein Said to Have Attended 2009 1MDB Meeting, Bloomberg News noted that Blankfein was the unidentified high-ranking Goldman Sachs executive referenced in U.S. court documents who attended a 2009 meeting with the former Malaysian prime minister, and that [t]he meeting was arranged with the help of men who are now tied to the subsequent plundering of the 1MDB fund[.] On this news, Goldman Sachss stock price fell by $9.00, or nearly 4%, closing at $222.65 on November 9, 2018. On November 12, 2018, Malaysian government officials denounced Goldman Sachss role in the 1MDB scandal. Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad stated that [t]here is evidence that Goldman Sachs has done things that are wrong and [o]bviously we have been cheated through the compliance by Goldman Sachs people. Meanwhile, the countrys Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng said that Malaysia would seek a full refund of the approximately $600 million in fees that the Company earned in connection with 1MDBs $6.5 billion bond deal. Following this news, Goldman Sachss stock price fell $16.60 per share, or nearly 7.5%, to close at $206.05 on November 12, 2018. The Pomerantz Firm, with offices in New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, and Paris, is acknowledged as one of the premier firms in the areas of corporate, securities, and antitrust class litigation. Founded by the late Abraham L. Pomerantz, known as the dean of the class action bar, the Pomerantz Firm pioneered the field of securities class actions. Today, more than 80 years later, the Pomerantz Firm continues in the tradition he established, fighting for the rights of the victims of securities fraud, breaches of fiduciary duty, and corporate misconduct. The Firm has recovered numerous multimillion-dollar damages awards on behalf of class members. See www.pomerantzlaw.com CONTACT: Robert S. Willoughby Pomerantz LLP rswilloughby@pomlaw.com 888-476-6529 ext. 9980 From Guterres to warning Ghosn: top quotes at Davos Davos, Switzerland, Jan 24 (AFP) Jan 24, 2019 Here are some of the top quotes from the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos on Thursday, where the business elite faced yet more accusations of inaction on climate change. "Climate change is running faster than we are. I believe we are losing the race." -- UN chief Antonio Guterres sounds the alarm on global warming at a Davos forum where the business elite faced criticisms of doing too little against the planetary crisis. "I can tell you that we will be extremely vigilant." -- French Finance Minister Bruno LeMaire says his government, as a key shareholder in carmaker Renault, will take a very close look at severance pay for Carlos Ghosn, the jailed auto tycoon who has resigned in disgrace. "What a great headline: Kerry replaces Pompeo." -- Former US secretary of state John Kerry draws a big laugh after a panel moderator thanks him for replacing the current office holder, the right-wing Mike Pompeo, at the last minute due to the government shutdown in Washington. "When institutions like the World Economic Forum fail to stand up and speak out, they become complicit." -- Amnesty International chief Kumi Naidoo sends a harsh message to Davos for allowing a large Saudi presence without devoting time to the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi. "So after a period of chaos we would perhaps end up where we are now with a very similar deal." -- Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar says a no deal Brexit is not only dangerous, but will just bring everyone back to where they started. "It is possible." -- OECD Secretary-General Angel Gurria said he hopes to lay the foundations for an international tax on digital giants such as Google and Facebook that could come into force in 2020. 'We are losing the race' on climate change: UN chief Davos, Switzerland, Jan 24 (AFP) Jan 24, 2019 The world is "losing the race" against climate change, UN chief Antonio Guterres warned Thursday, demanding bolder action from governments to arrest runaway warming. Guterres delivered a no-holds-barred appraisal to business and political leaders gathered at the World Economic Forum in Davos, which has featured much hand-wringing on the planetary crisis this week. "In my opinion it is the most important global systemic threat in relation to the global economy," the UN secretary-general told his high-calibre audience. "Climate change is running faster than what we are," he said. "I believe we are losing the race." The business community and civil society are increasingly engaged, "but the political will is still very slow", he said, lamenting the position of climate doubters. "We are moving dramatically into a runaway climate change if we are not able to stop it." A UN summit last month in Poland, which was designed to advance the Paris climate accord, laid bare continuing fissures over the share of responsibility among countries to cap temperature rises. The Paris accord has been shaken by the withdrawal of the United States under President Donald Trump, and by threats to do the same by Brazil's new hard-right leader, Jair Bolsonaro. Guterres, on an earlier Facebook Live broadcast, said the commitments made in Paris were already "not enough" but was "not hopeful" that nations would find the necessary resolve. "If what we agreed in Paris would be materialised, the temperature would rise more than 3.0 degrees (Celsius)," he said. "We need countries to make stronger commitments," Guterres said, calling for more measures to mitigate climate change and adapt to it, along with financial aid for poorer countries. A WEF survey ahead of the Davos meeting found climate change was the leading concern of forum participants around the world, noting in particular the growing frequency of extreme weather events. Corporate executives in Davos such as Patrick Pouyanne, CEO of French energy giant Total, have been touting their own measures to transition to a greener economy. "We don't look to renewables to be green," he told the CNBC channel in Davos on Thursday, noting that electricity is the fastest-growing segment of the energy market. "We look to renewables because it's the best way to go in to this electricity market, but the electricity market will require also natural gas, so natural gas and renewables." - 'Suicide pact' - But activists say companies are not doing nearly enough. One vocal voice in Davos this week has been Swedish 16-year-old Greta Thunberg, who has inspired a wave of climate protests by schoolchildren around the world after delivering a fiery speech at the UN climate summit in Katowice, Poland last month. "They (companies) have known exactly what priceless values they have been sacrificing to continue making unimaginable amounts of money," she told AFP in an interview. Former secretary of state John Kerry, who signed the Paris accord for the United States in 2016, said 38 out of the 50 US states were implementing their own climate policies despite Trump's withdrawal and vocal scepticism on climate change. The Paris pact was based partly on the expectation that the private sector would step up with new investment in areas such as batteries and solar panels, he noted. "It's not happening enough, and even in Katowice recently, you saw the fight that was taking place, just to be able to try to be reasonable here," Kerry said in Davos on Tuesday, also on CNBC. "We're heading towards 4.0 degrees Centigrade increase in this century, and the passive indifference that most countries are accepting is basically a mutual suicide pact." Another idea long in the mix of the climate debate is a carbon tax, which would factor in the polluting price of fossil fuels so as to discourage their use over time. That has been anathema for many governments, including the United States well before Trump. But it is gaining ground anew under an initiative by the Climate Leadership Council that is backed by 27 Nobel economics laureates and four former chairs of the Federal Reserve. Ted Halstead, president of the US organisation, has been in Davos this week selling the idea of US households getting back the revenue raised, in the form of lump-sum rebates. Greenpeace welcomed the intervention by Guterres. "The UN secretary-general's speech once again drives the urgency of the climate emergency home," said the environmental group's executive director Jennifer Morgan. "Guterres' argument is compelling and has to be heard." jit-nl/har/cw Facebook Is the world ready for the 'digital transformation'? Davos, Switzerland, Jan 24 (AFP) Jan 24, 2019 The annual business rendezvous in Davos is a hothouse of insider tech jargon, but this year's buzzword of "digital transformation" could translate into profound and painful changes for companies and workers. Whether through robots, automation or artificial intelligence, the impact of the transformation is heaping pressure on governments, with employees worried about their livelihoods and futures. "All these technical and non-technical companies... have a very big responsibility," Jean-Philippe Courtois, head of global sales at Microsoft, told AFP in an interview. The spoils of the digital economy "must be redistributed to a larger mass of people", he said. "This means a responsibility, for example, in education." Tech companies such as Microsoft, Amazon Web Services, Google and IBM are raking in the profits of building that transformation as client firms shed staff in favour of automation and digitising data. In a survey, corporate consultancy McKinsey found that just eight percent of companies believed their current business model would survive if their industry keeps digitising at current rates. Companies "underestimate the increasing momentum of digitisation, the behavioural changes and technology driving it, and, perhaps most of all, the scale of the disruption bearing down on them", said the report in McKinsey Quarterly. The examples of digital upheaval in the past few years have proliferated, perhaps especially in Europe, where corporate giants from Ford to Dutch bank ING have slashed payrolls. Financial services "were primarily designed to serve people who were employed at a nine-to-five job by a single employer, oftentimes for their entire careers", said Bill Ready, chief operating officer at PayPal. "But changes in the way money is earned must be accompanied by changes in the way money is paid and managed," he added, and that requires digital change. - 'Supermarket of the future' - Microsoft itself has already transitioned after its former cash cow, the Windows operating system, lost market share, turning instead to offering remote services in the computing "cloud". At a pop-up cafe on the Davos Promenade, Microsoft employees showed interactive videos, calling them "stories", illustrating the small revolutions it says its artificial intelligence can deliver. One featured "the supermarket of the future", including "digital shelves" that can show ads and change prices using a network of sensors. In one scene, a dropped carton of milk is automatically signalled to a clean-up crew. Companies can buy this technology off the shelf, "but you also need to build your own digital core (and) as a result of that, you are going to become a digital company", Courtois said. But in the urgent hunt to modernise, companies "have to be super clear about where you want to go". Data remains at the core of this technology. It can now be collected and treated in innovative and -- for some -- frightening ways, including facial recognition. But where some see a brave new world, others see chaos or disruption, with scenes of violence by taxi drivers against Uber, or city governments clamping down on Airbnb, worried for their hotel industry. - 'Too late zone' - This "fourth industrial revolution", another Davos catchphrase, "is moving faster than anyone expected", said World Economic Forum expert Murat Sonmez. "Businesses and governments are falling behind in responding to this pace, continuously operating in the 'too late zone'," he said. Governments say they are now ready to take on big tech, especially after the massive Facebook scandal that saw private data harvested for political gain by Cambridge Analytica. In an address to the Davos forum on Wednesday, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said multilateral bodies such as the World Trade Organisation should gain oversight of cross-border data flows. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe of Japan said his country would push for better oversight of data during its chairmanship of the G20 this year. The European Union has led the way to impose greater limits on how companies can use data, with strict privacy rules known as the General Data Protection Regulation. Microsoft's Courtois said that he fully backed GDPR and stressed that rules on technology should go even further. "There is a crucial human element and we must discuss this with regulators ... to ensure that together we build a democratic, accessible and fair intelligence built for society," he said. From globalism to Greta: top quotes at Davos Davos, Switzerland, Jan 23 (AFP) Jan 23, 2019 Here are some of the top quotes from the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos on Wednesday, where appeals to guard against rising populism melded with a teenage climate crusader speaking truth to power. "The Chinese and US economies are mutually indispensable." -- Chinese Vice President Wang Qishan amid a trade war between the world's two largest economies. "I think it is insane that people are gathered here to talk about the climate and they arrive here in a private jet." -- Greta Thunberg, a 16-year-old Swedish teenager whose campaign against global warming is inspiring the world's youth, on her arrival in Davos. "Capitalism is not immoral, it's amoral." -- U2 frontman Bono, a Davos regular, providing his usual dose of rock-n-roll rebellion to the forum's jet set at a panel with Rwandan President Paul Kagame and IMF chief Christine Lagarde. "Sovereignty belongs to the people." -- The only sentence spoken in Italian by Italy's Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte during a speech in English, in which he defended his populist government's economic policies, which are worrying the markets and European Union. "The way you can describe Davos is that it is an attempt to rearrange the deck chairs on the Titanic while humanity is sinking." -- Amnesty International secretary general Kumi Naidoo in an interview with AFP, echoing the doubts of critics about the rationale for the WEF. "By coming to Davos, you don't have to kiss the golden calf. I don't do that." -- EU Economics Affairs Commissioner Pierre Moscovici pushes back on talk that attending the forum is to celebrate the rich and powerful. "I don't think there is any other get-together more powerful than Davos, and more inclusive than Davos." -- Abdullah Abdullah, the de facto prime minister of Afghanistan, defending the WEF in an AFP interview as he pitched for investment in his war-torn country. NEW YORK, Jan. 24, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Pomerantz LLP announces that a class action lawsuit has been filed against, Liberty Health Science Inc. (Liberty or the Company) (OTCMKTS: LHSIF) and certain of its officers. The class action, filed in United States District Court, Southern District of New York, and indexed under 19-cv-00161, is on behalf of a class consisting of all persons and entities, other than Defendants and their affiliates, who purchased or otherwise, acquired Liberty common stock between June 28, 2018, and December 3, 2018, both dates inclusive (the Class Period), seeking to recover damages caused by Defendants violations of the federal securities laws and to pursue remedies under Sections 10(b) and 20(a) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (the Exchange Act) and Rule 10b-5 promulgated thereunder, against the Company and certain of its top officials. If you are a shareholder who purchased Liberty Class A common stock between June 28, 2018, and December 3, 2018, you have until March 8, 2019, to ask the Court to appoint you as Lead Plaintiff for the class. A copy of the Complaint can be obtained at www.pomerantzlaw.com. To discuss this action, contact Robert S. Willoughby at rswilloughby@pomlaw.com or 888.476.6529 (or 888.4-POMLAW), toll-free, Ext. 9980. Those who inquire by e-mail are encouraged to include their mailing address, telephone number, and the number of shares purchased. [Click here to join this class action] Liberty was incorporated under the Business Corporations Act (British Columbia) on November 9, 2011, as SecureCom Mobile Inc. The Companys principal business activity is the production and distribution of medical cannabis through its wholly-owned subsidiary DFMMJ LLC (d/b/a Liberty Health Sciences Florida Ltd.) Aphria Inc. (Aphria), which also produces and distributes cannabis, has had longstanding ties with Liberty, starting from the very beginning of both companies. When Aphria was founded in 2014, Victor Neufeld (Neufeld) joined the firm as CEO and co-founder. One of Aphrias other early institutional backers included The Delavaco Group, Front St. Capital, York Plains, and Broadband Capital of NYC. Neufeld became the Chairman of Liberty while Cole Cacciavillani, Aphrias chief agronomist and co-founder, also became one of the executives at Liberty. Liberty was heavily influenced by Aphria and individuals involved in the management of Aphria. Neufeld and the Serruya are large shareholders in both companies. The complaint alleges throughout the Class Period, Defendants made materially false and misleading statements regarding the Companys business, operational and compliance policies. Specifically, Defendants made false and/or misleading statements and/or failed to disclose that: (i) Liberty, in conjunction with Aphria, was involved in a scheme whereby numerous fraudulent acquisitions and transactions were made to provide undue benefits to both companies insiders; and (ii) as a result, Libertys public statements were materially false and misleading at all relevant times. In September 2018, Aphria announced that it had sold off its stake in Liberty. On December 3, 2018, Quintessential Capital Management and Hindenburg Research issued a report entitled Aphria: A Shell Game with a Cannabis Business on the Side, claiming that Aphria was part of a scheme involving the acquisition of shell companies at artificially inflated prices. Specifically, the report alleged: Aphria is part of a scheme orchestrated by a network of insiders to divert funds away from shareholders into their own pockets. The article detailed a thorough and on-the-ground investigation into Aphrias latest investments that revealed the poor quality and worth of the assets of those investments. For example, the article was accompanied by pictures showing that Aphrias latest investment in Jamaica was an abandoned building on dilapidated property. On this news, Libertys stock fell $0.36, or nearly 34%, over the next two trading days to close at $0.70 on December 4, 2018. The Pomerantz Firm, with offices in New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, and Paris, is acknowledged as one of the premier firms in the areas of corporate, securities, and antitrust class litigation. Founded by the late Abraham L. Pomerantz, known as the dean of the class action bar, the Pomerantz Firm pioneered the field of securities class actions. Today, more than 80 years later, the Pomerantz Firm continues in the tradition he established, fighting for the rights of the victims of securities fraud, breaches of fiduciary duty, and corporate misconduct. The Firm has recovered numerous multimillion-dollar damages awards on behalf of class members. See www.pomerantzlaw.com CONTACT: Robert S. Willoughby Pomerantz LLP rswilloughby@pomlaw.com 888-476-6529 ext. 9980 Videos Sorry, there are no recent results for popular videos. 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:951 /var/cache/mason/obj/1784076917/main/smetimes/dhandler.html.obj:17 /usr/local/bricolage/data/burn/stage/oc_1027/smetimes/autohandler_template.html:149 Can't call method "get_id" on an undefined value at /usr/local/bricolage/data/burn/stage/oc_1027/smetimes/dhandler.html line 25. Trace begun at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Exceptions.pm line 129 HTML::Mason::Exceptions::rethrow_exception('Can\'t call method "get_id" on an undefined value at /usr/local/bricolage/data/burn/stage/oc_1027/smetimes/dhandler.html line 25.^J') called at /usr/local/bricolage/data/burn/stage/oc_1027/smetimes/dhandler.html line 25 HTML::Mason::Commands::__ANON__ at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Component.pm line 160 HTML::Mason::Component::run_dynamic_sub('HTML::Mason::Component::FileBased=HASH(0x7fbff6270938)', 'main') called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 951 HTML::Mason::Request::call_dynamic('HTML::Mason::Request::ApacheHandler=HASH(0x7fbff6310830)', 'main') called at /var/cache/mason/obj/1784076917/main/smetimes/dhandler.html.obj line 17 HTML::Mason::Commands::__ANON__ at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Component.pm line 138 HTML::Mason::Component::run('HTML::Mason::Component::FileBased=HASH(0x7fbff6270938)') called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 1305 eval {...} at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 1295 HTML::Mason::Request::comp(undef, undef, undef) called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 958 HTML::Mason::Request::call_next('HTML::Mason::Request::ApacheHandler=HASH(0x7fbff6310830)') called at /usr/local/bricolage/data/burn/stage/oc_1027/smetimes/autohandler_template.html line 149 HTML::Mason::Commands::__ANON__ at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Component.pm line 138 HTML::Mason::Component::run('HTML::Mason::Component::FileBased=HASH(0x7fbff62559f8)') called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 1303 eval {...} at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 1295 HTML::Mason::Request::comp(undef, undef, undef) called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 484 eval {...} at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 484 eval {...} at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 436 HTML::Mason::Request::exec('HTML::Mason::Request::ApacheHandler=HASH(0x7fbff6310830)') called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/ApacheHandler.pm line 165 HTML::Mason::Request::ApacheHandler::exec('HTML::Mason::Request::ApacheHandler=HASH(0x7fbff6310830)') called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/ApacheHandler.pm line 831 HTML::Mason::ApacheHandler::handle_request('HTML::Mason::ApacheHandler=HASH(0x7fbff5955518)', 'Apache2::RequestRec=SCALAR(0x7fbff6285a00)') called at (eval 487) line 8 HTML::Mason::ApacheHandler::handler('HTML::Mason::ApacheHandler', 'Apache2::RequestRec=SCALAR(0x7fbff6285a00)') called at -e line 0 eval {...} at -e line 0 System error error: Can't call method "get_id" on an undefined value at /usr/local/bricolage/data/burn/stage/oc_1027/smetimes/dhandler.html line 25. context: ... 21: 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:951 /var/cache/mason/obj/1784076917/main/smetimes/dhandler.html.obj:17 /usr/local/bricolage/data/burn/stage/oc_1027/smetimes/autohandler_template.html:149 Can't call method "get_id" on an undefined value at /usr/local/bricolage/data/burn/stage/oc_1027/smetimes/dhandler.html line 25. Trace begun at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Exceptions.pm line 129 HTML::Mason::Exceptions::rethrow_exception('Can\'t call method "get_id" on an undefined value at /usr/local/bricolage/data/burn/stage/oc_1027/smetimes/dhandler.html line 25.^J') called at /usr/local/bricolage/data/burn/stage/oc_1027/smetimes/dhandler.html line 25 HTML::Mason::Commands::__ANON__ at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Component.pm line 160 HTML::Mason::Component::run_dynamic_sub('HTML::Mason::Component::FileBased=HASH(0x7fbff62165d8)', 'main') called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 951 HTML::Mason::Request::call_dynamic('HTML::Mason::Request::ApacheHandler=HASH(0x7fbff6281d50)', 'main') called at /var/cache/mason/obj/1784076917/main/smetimes/dhandler.html.obj line 17 HTML::Mason::Commands::__ANON__ at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Component.pm line 138 HTML::Mason::Component::run('HTML::Mason::Component::FileBased=HASH(0x7fbff62165d8)') called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 1305 eval {...} at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 1295 HTML::Mason::Request::comp(undef, undef, undef) called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 958 HTML::Mason::Request::call_next('HTML::Mason::Request::ApacheHandler=HASH(0x7fbff6281d50)') called at /usr/local/bricolage/data/burn/stage/oc_1027/smetimes/autohandler_template.html line 149 HTML::Mason::Commands::__ANON__ at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Component.pm line 138 HTML::Mason::Component::run('HTML::Mason::Component::FileBased=HASH(0x7fbff6216530)') called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 1303 eval {...} at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 1295 HTML::Mason::Request::comp(undef, undef, undef) called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 484 eval {...} at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 484 eval {...} at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 436 HTML::Mason::Request::exec('HTML::Mason::Request::ApacheHandler=HASH(0x7fbff6281d50)') called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/ApacheHandler.pm line 165 HTML::Mason::Request::ApacheHandler::exec('HTML::Mason::Request::ApacheHandler=HASH(0x7fbff6281d50)') called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/ApacheHandler.pm line 831 HTML::Mason::ApacheHandler::handle_request('HTML::Mason::ApacheHandler=HASH(0x7fbff59551e8)', 'Apache2::RequestRec=SCALAR(0x7fbff62809c0)') called at (eval 487) line 8 HTML::Mason::ApacheHandler::handler('HTML::Mason::ApacheHandler', 'Apache2::RequestRec=SCALAR(0x7fbff62809c0)') called at -e line 0 eval {...} at -e line 0 NEW YORK, Jan. 24, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Pomerantz LLP announces that a class action lawsuit has been filed against, Tenaris S.A. (Tenaris or the Company) (NYSE: TS) and certain of its officers. The class action, filed in United States District Court, Eastern District of New York, and indexed under 19-cv-00174, is on behalf of a class consisting of all persons and entities, other than Defendants and their affiliates, who purchased or otherwise, acquired Tenaris securities between May 1, 2014 through November 27, 2018, both dates inclusive (the Class Period), seeking to recover damages caused by Defendants violations of the federal securities laws and to pursue remedies under Sections 10(b) and 20(a) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (the Exchange Act) and Rule 10b-5 promulgated thereunder, against the Company and certain of its top officials. If you are a shareholder who purchased Tenaris securities between May 1, 2014, and November 27, 2018, both dates inclusive, you have until February 11, 2019, to ask the Court to appoint you as Lead Plaintiff for the class. A copy of the Complaint can be obtained at www.pomerantzlaw.com. To discuss this action, contact Robert S. Willoughby at rswilloughby@pomlaw.com or 888.476.6529 (or 888.4-POMLAW), toll-free, Ext. 9980. Those who inquire by e-mail are encouraged to include their mailing address, telephone number, and the number of shares purchased. [Click here to join this class action] Tenaris, a holding of Techint Holdings S.a.r.l., was founded in 2001. Tenaris is headquartered in Luxembourg City, Luxembourg, and produces and sells seamless and welded steel tubular products and related services for the oil and gas industry, as well as for other industrial applications. Paolo Rocca (Rocca) is Tenaris Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and Chairman of the Board (Chairman"). Rocca has also been the Chairman of Ternium S.A. (Ternium) since 2005. Ternium is also based in Luxembourg City, Luxembourg, and was formed in 2005 through the consolidation of Siderar of Argentina, Sidor of Venezuela, and Hylsa of Mexico. Ternium, through its subsidiaries, manufactures and processes various steel products in the United States and throughout Latin America. Ternium is Latin Americas leading flat steel producer with an annual crude steel production capacity of 12.4 million tons. Rocca and Tenaris have a significant investment in Ternium, holding 11.46% of Terniums share capital (including treasury shares) as of December 31, 2017. Siderurgica de Orinoco C.A. (Sidor), of which Ternium held a 59.7% stake, was nationalized by the Venezuelan government in 2008 when Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez signed a decree ordering the renationalization of Sidor. The complaint alleges that throughout the Class Period, Defendants made materially false and misleading statements regarding Tenaris business, operational and compliance policies. Specifically, Defendants made false and/or misleading statements and/or failed to disclose that: (i) Tenaris CEO and Chairman, Rocca, knew one of his companys executives was involved in a graft scheme whereby government officials were bribed for Defendants personal gain, specifically, to expedite compensation payments due from the sale of Terniums Sidor unit; (ii) the foregoing conduct foreseeably placed Tenaris, its affiliates, and executives in greater risk of heightened regulatory and criminal scrutiny and investigation, thus depreciating Tenaris stock value; and (iii) as a result, the Companys public statements were materially false and misleading at all relevant times. On November 27, 2018, in an article titled Tenaris Plunges in Italy as Billionaire Chairman Indicted, Bloomberg reported that Rocca was indicted for his role in a graft scheme. According to a Reuters from the same date, [t]he sprawling notebooks corruption case, centered on bribes allegedly paid by businesses to secure contracts from the administration of former President Cristina Fernandez, has already ensnared dozens of business owners and politicians. The article also noted that Rocca was charged with illicit association and payment of bribes. Bloomberg published an article on November 27, 2018, reporting that Rocca wanted to speed up the approximate $1.65bn compensation payments due from the Argentine government when it seized Sidor in exchange for Terniums 59.7% stake in Sidor. Tenaris was implicated because it has a significant investment in Ternium, and Rocca is Tenaris CEO and Chairman of both Tenaris and Ternium. On this news, Tenaris stock fell $2.64 per share, or nearly 10%, to close at $24.36 per share on November 27, 2018, damaging investors. The Pomerantz Firm, with offices in New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, and Paris, is acknowledged as one of the premier firms in the areas of corporate, securities, and antitrust class litigation. Founded by the late Abraham L. Pomerantz, known as the dean of the class action bar, the Pomerantz Firm pioneered the field of securities class actions. Today, more than 80 years later, the Pomerantz Firm continues in the tradition he established, fighting for the rights of the victims of securities fraud, breaches of fiduciary duty, and corporate misconduct. The Firm has recovered numerous multimillion-dollar damages awards on behalf of class members. See www.pomerantzlaw.com CONTACT: Robert S. Willoughby Pomerantz LLP rswilloughby@pomlaw.com 888-476-6529 ext. 9980 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:951 /var/cache/mason/obj/1784076917/main/smetimes/dhandler.html.obj:17 /usr/local/bricolage/data/burn/stage/oc_1027/smetimes/autohandler_template.html:149 Can't call method "get_id" on an undefined value at /usr/local/bricolage/data/burn/stage/oc_1027/smetimes/dhandler.html line 25. Trace begun at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Exceptions.pm line 129 HTML::Mason::Exceptions::rethrow_exception('Can\'t call method "get_id" on an undefined value at /usr/local/bricolage/data/burn/stage/oc_1027/smetimes/dhandler.html line 25.^J') called at /usr/local/bricolage/data/burn/stage/oc_1027/smetimes/dhandler.html line 25 HTML::Mason::Commands::__ANON__ at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Component.pm line 160 HTML::Mason::Component::run_dynamic_sub('HTML::Mason::Component::FileBased=HASH(0x7fbff62d13a8)', 'main') called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 951 HTML::Mason::Request::call_dynamic('HTML::Mason::Request::ApacheHandler=HASH(0x7fbff8ed14a0)', 'main') called at /var/cache/mason/obj/1784076917/main/smetimes/dhandler.html.obj line 17 HTML::Mason::Commands::__ANON__ at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Component.pm line 138 HTML::Mason::Component::run('HTML::Mason::Component::FileBased=HASH(0x7fbff62d13a8)') called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 1305 eval {...} at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 1295 HTML::Mason::Request::comp(undef, undef, undef) called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 958 HTML::Mason::Request::call_next('HTML::Mason::Request::ApacheHandler=HASH(0x7fbff8ed14a0)') called at /usr/local/bricolage/data/burn/stage/oc_1027/smetimes/autohandler_template.html line 149 HTML::Mason::Commands::__ANON__ at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Component.pm line 138 HTML::Mason::Component::run('HTML::Mason::Component::FileBased=HASH(0x7fbff6269048)') called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 1303 eval {...} at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 1295 HTML::Mason::Request::comp(undef, undef, undef) called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 484 eval {...} at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 484 eval {...} at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 436 HTML::Mason::Request::exec('HTML::Mason::Request::ApacheHandler=HASH(0x7fbff8ed14a0)') called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/ApacheHandler.pm line 165 HTML::Mason::Request::ApacheHandler::exec('HTML::Mason::Request::ApacheHandler=HASH(0x7fbff8ed14a0)') called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/ApacheHandler.pm line 831 HTML::Mason::ApacheHandler::handle_request('HTML::Mason::ApacheHandler=HASH(0x7fbff59548b8)', 'Apache2::RequestRec=SCALAR(0x7fbffab32800)') called at (eval 487) line 8 HTML::Mason::ApacheHandler::handler('HTML::Mason::ApacheHandler', 'Apache2::RequestRec=SCALAR(0x7fbffab32800)') called at -e line 0 eval {...} at -e line 0 System error error: Can't call method "get_id" on an undefined value at /usr/local/bricolage/data/burn/stage/oc_1027/smetimes/dhandler.html line 25. context: ... 21: 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:951 /var/cache/mason/obj/1784076917/main/smetimes/dhandler.html.obj:17 /usr/local/bricolage/data/burn/stage/oc_1027/smetimes/autohandler_template.html:149 Can't call method "get_id" on an undefined value at /usr/local/bricolage/data/burn/stage/oc_1027/smetimes/dhandler.html line 25. Trace begun at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Exceptions.pm line 129 HTML::Mason::Exceptions::rethrow_exception('Can\'t call method "get_id" on an undefined value at /usr/local/bricolage/data/burn/stage/oc_1027/smetimes/dhandler.html line 25.^J') called at /usr/local/bricolage/data/burn/stage/oc_1027/smetimes/dhandler.html line 25 HTML::Mason::Commands::__ANON__ at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Component.pm line 160 HTML::Mason::Component::run_dynamic_sub('HTML::Mason::Component::FileBased=HASH(0x7fbff62c6920)', 'main') called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 951 HTML::Mason::Request::call_dynamic('HTML::Mason::Request::ApacheHandler=HASH(0x7fbff6356900)', 'main') called at /var/cache/mason/obj/1784076917/main/smetimes/dhandler.html.obj line 17 HTML::Mason::Commands::__ANON__ at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Component.pm line 138 HTML::Mason::Component::run('HTML::Mason::Component::FileBased=HASH(0x7fbff62c6920)') called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 1305 eval {...} at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 1295 HTML::Mason::Request::comp(undef, undef, undef) called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 958 HTML::Mason::Request::call_next('HTML::Mason::Request::ApacheHandler=HASH(0x7fbff6356900)') called at /usr/local/bricolage/data/burn/stage/oc_1027/smetimes/autohandler_template.html line 149 HTML::Mason::Commands::__ANON__ at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Component.pm line 138 HTML::Mason::Component::run('HTML::Mason::Component::FileBased=HASH(0x7fbff62b0188)') called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 1303 eval {...} at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 1295 HTML::Mason::Request::comp(undef, undef, undef) called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 484 eval {...} at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 484 eval {...} at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 436 HTML::Mason::Request::exec('HTML::Mason::Request::ApacheHandler=HASH(0x7fbff6356900)') called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/ApacheHandler.pm line 165 HTML::Mason::Request::ApacheHandler::exec('HTML::Mason::Request::ApacheHandler=HASH(0x7fbff6356900)') called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/ApacheHandler.pm line 831 HTML::Mason::ApacheHandler::handle_request('HTML::Mason::ApacheHandler=HASH(0x7fbff5955020)', 'Apache2::RequestRec=SCALAR(0x7fbff6240828)') called at (eval 487) line 8 HTML::Mason::ApacheHandler::handler('HTML::Mason::ApacheHandler', 'Apache2::RequestRec=SCALAR(0x7fbff6240828)') called at -e line 0 eval {...} at -e line 0 System error error: Can't call method "get_id" on an undefined value at /usr/local/bricolage/data/burn/stage/oc_1027/smetimes/dhandler.html line 25. context: ... 21: 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:951 /var/cache/mason/obj/1784076917/main/smetimes/dhandler.html.obj:17 /usr/local/bricolage/data/burn/stage/oc_1027/smetimes/autohandler_template.html:149 Can't call method "get_id" on an undefined value at /usr/local/bricolage/data/burn/stage/oc_1027/smetimes/dhandler.html line 25. Trace begun at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Exceptions.pm line 129 HTML::Mason::Exceptions::rethrow_exception('Can\'t call method "get_id" on an undefined value at /usr/local/bricolage/data/burn/stage/oc_1027/smetimes/dhandler.html line 25.^J') called at /usr/local/bricolage/data/burn/stage/oc_1027/smetimes/dhandler.html line 25 HTML::Mason::Commands::__ANON__ at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Component.pm line 160 HTML::Mason::Component::run_dynamic_sub('HTML::Mason::Component::FileBased=HASH(0x7fbff63a5d48)', 'main') called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 951 HTML::Mason::Request::call_dynamic('HTML::Mason::Request::ApacheHandler=HASH(0x7fbff63b4998)', 'main') called at /var/cache/mason/obj/1784076917/main/smetimes/dhandler.html.obj line 17 HTML::Mason::Commands::__ANON__ at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Component.pm line 138 HTML::Mason::Component::run('HTML::Mason::Component::FileBased=HASH(0x7fbff63a5d48)') called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 1305 eval {...} at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 1295 HTML::Mason::Request::comp(undef, undef, undef) called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 958 HTML::Mason::Request::call_next('HTML::Mason::Request::ApacheHandler=HASH(0x7fbff63b4998)') called at /usr/local/bricolage/data/burn/stage/oc_1027/smetimes/autohandler_template.html line 149 HTML::Mason::Commands::__ANON__ at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Component.pm line 138 HTML::Mason::Component::run('HTML::Mason::Component::FileBased=HASH(0x7fbff63b7230)') called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 1303 eval {...} at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 1295 HTML::Mason::Request::comp(undef, undef, undef) called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 484 eval {...} at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 484 eval {...} at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 436 HTML::Mason::Request::exec('HTML::Mason::Request::ApacheHandler=HASH(0x7fbff63b4998)') called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/ApacheHandler.pm line 165 HTML::Mason::Request::ApacheHandler::exec('HTML::Mason::Request::ApacheHandler=HASH(0x7fbff63b4998)') called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/ApacheHandler.pm line 831 HTML::Mason::ApacheHandler::handle_request('HTML::Mason::ApacheHandler=HASH(0x7fbff5954d20)', 'Apache2::RequestRec=SCALAR(0x7fbff64fa890)') called at (eval 487) line 8 HTML::Mason::ApacheHandler::handler('HTML::Mason::ApacheHandler', 'Apache2::RequestRec=SCALAR(0x7fbff64fa890)') called at -e line 0 eval {...} at -e line 0 System error error: Can't call method "get_id" on an undefined value at /usr/local/bricolage/data/burn/stage/oc_1027/smetimes/dhandler.html line 25. context: ... 21: 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:951 /var/cache/mason/obj/1784076917/main/smetimes/dhandler.html.obj:17 /usr/local/bricolage/data/burn/stage/oc_1027/smetimes/autohandler_template.html:149 Can't call method "get_id" on an undefined value at /usr/local/bricolage/data/burn/stage/oc_1027/smetimes/dhandler.html line 25. Trace begun at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Exceptions.pm line 129 HTML::Mason::Exceptions::rethrow_exception('Can\'t call method "get_id" on an undefined value at /usr/local/bricolage/data/burn/stage/oc_1027/smetimes/dhandler.html line 25.^J') called at /usr/local/bricolage/data/burn/stage/oc_1027/smetimes/dhandler.html line 25 HTML::Mason::Commands::__ANON__ at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Component.pm line 160 HTML::Mason::Component::run_dynamic_sub('HTML::Mason::Component::FileBased=HASH(0x7fbff6a7ded8)', 'main') called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 951 HTML::Mason::Request::call_dynamic('HTML::Mason::Request::ApacheHandler=HASH(0x7fbff67a5a70)', 'main') called at /var/cache/mason/obj/1784076917/main/smetimes/dhandler.html.obj line 17 HTML::Mason::Commands::__ANON__ at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Component.pm line 138 HTML::Mason::Component::run('HTML::Mason::Component::FileBased=HASH(0x7fbff6a7ded8)') called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 1305 eval {...} at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 1295 HTML::Mason::Request::comp(undef, undef, undef) called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 958 HTML::Mason::Request::call_next('HTML::Mason::Request::ApacheHandler=HASH(0x7fbff67a5a70)') called at /usr/local/bricolage/data/burn/stage/oc_1027/smetimes/autohandler_template.html line 149 HTML::Mason::Commands::__ANON__ at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Component.pm line 138 HTML::Mason::Component::run('HTML::Mason::Component::FileBased=HASH(0x7fbff6277788)') called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 1303 eval {...} at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 1295 HTML::Mason::Request::comp(undef, undef, undef) called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 484 eval {...} at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 484 eval {...} at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 436 HTML::Mason::Request::exec('HTML::Mason::Request::ApacheHandler=HASH(0x7fbff67a5a70)') called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/ApacheHandler.pm line 165 HTML::Mason::Request::ApacheHandler::exec('HTML::Mason::Request::ApacheHandler=HASH(0x7fbff67a5a70)') called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/ApacheHandler.pm line 831 HTML::Mason::ApacheHandler::handle_request('HTML::Mason::ApacheHandler=HASH(0x7fbff59551e8)', 'Apache2::RequestRec=SCALAR(0x7fbff6ad8190)') called at (eval 487) line 8 HTML::Mason::ApacheHandler::handler('HTML::Mason::ApacheHandler', 'Apache2::RequestRec=SCALAR(0x7fbff6ad8190)') called at -e line 0 eval {...} at -e line 0 NEW YORK, Jan. 24, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Pomerantz LLP announces that a class action lawsuit has been filed against XPO Logistics, Inc. (XPO or the Company) (NYSE: XPO) and certain of its officers. The class action, filed in United States District Court, District of Connecticut, and indexed under 18-cv-02062, is on behalf of a class consisting of all persons and entities, other than Defendants and their affiliates, who purchased or otherwise acquired XPO securities between February 26, 2014 and December 12, 2018, both dates inclusive (the Class Period), seeking to recover damages caused by Defendants violations of the federal securities laws and to pursue remedies under Sections 10(b) and 20(a) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (the Exchange Act) and Rule 10b-5 promulgated thereunder, against the Company and certain of its top officials. If you are a shareholder who purchased XPO securities between February 26, 2014 and December 12, 2018, both dates inclusive, you have until February 12, 2019 to ask the Court to appoint you as Lead Plaintiff for the class. A copy of the Complaint can be obtained at www.pomerantzlaw.com. To discuss this action, contact Robert S. Willoughby at rswilloughby@pomlaw.com or 888.476.6529 (or 888.4-POMLAW), toll-free, Ext. 9980. Those who inquire by e-mail are encouraged to include their mailing address, telephone number, and the number of shares purchased. [Click here to join this class action] XPO provides transportation and logistics services in the United States, North America, France, the United Kingdom, Spain, Europe, Asia, and internationally through its Transportation and Logistics segments. The Company offers its services to customers in various industries, such as retail, e-commerce, food and beverage, manufacturing, technology and telecommunications, aerospace and defense, life sciences, healthcare, medical equipment, and agriculture. XPO was formerly known as Express-1 Expedited Solutions, Inc. (Express-1). On September 2, 2011, Defendant Bradley S. Jacobs (Jacobs), through an equity investment led by Jacobs Private Equity, LLC, acquired a 71% ownership interest in Express-1. Jacobs assumed the roles of Chairman of the Board of Directors and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and renamed the Company XPO Logistics, Inc. XPO has completed seventeen acquisitions since Jacobs took control of the Company, deploying $6.1 billion of capital. Prior to acquiring XPO, Jacobs had leadership roles in several other companies, having, inter alia, founded United Waste Systems, Inc. (UWS) in 1989 and co-founded United Rentals, Inc. (URI) in 1997, which eventually collapsed after an accounting scandal under Jacobs leadership. Jacobss tenure at XPO has been characterized by aggressive mergers and acquisitions (M&A) strategy. After Jacobs took control of the Company, Fortune Magazine noted that XPO has grown from $177 million in sales in 2011 to $17 billion today, thanks largely to an incredible run of acquisitions. On August 2, 2017, Jacobs announced plans to earmark up to $8 billion for additional acquisitions. The complaint alleges that, throughout the Class Period, Defendants made materially false and misleading statements regarding the Companys business, operational and compliance policies. Specifically, Defendants made false and/or misleading statements and/or failed to disclose that: (i) XPOs highly touted aggressive M&A strategy had yielded only minimal returns to the Company; (ii) XPO was utilizing improper accounting practices to mask its true financial condition, including, inter alia, under-reporting of bad debts and aggressive amortization assumptions; and (iii) as a result, the Companys public statements were materially false and misleading at all relevant times. On December 12, 2018, Spruce Point Capital Management (Spruce Point) published a report regarding XPO, entitled Trucking Ridiculous; End of the Road. The Spruce Point report asserted that a forensic investigation into XPO had revealed financial irregularities that conveniently cover [the Companys] growing financial strain and inability to complete additional acquisitions despite repeated promises. Spruce Point reported that it had uncovered, among other issues, concrete evidence to suggest dubious tax accounting, under-reporting of bad debts, phantom income through unaccountable M&A earn-out liabilities, and aggressive amortization assumptions: all designed to portray glowing Non-GAAP' results. The Spruce Point report further stated that XPO insiders have aggressively reduced their ownership interest in the Company since coming public, and recently enacted a new compensation structure tied to Adjusted Cash Flow Per Sharedefined in such a non-standard way that it is practically meaningless. Spruce Point also reported that [i]n our opinion, XPO has used a nearly identical playbook from [URI] leading up to its SEC investigation, executive felony convictions, and share price collapse. Following publication of the Spruce Point report, XPOs stock price plunged $15.77 per share, or 26.17%, to close at $44.50 on December 13, 2018. The Pomerantz Firm, with offices in New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, and Paris, is acknowledged as one of the premier firms in the areas of corporate, securities, and antitrust class litigation. Founded by the late Abraham L. Pomerantz, known as the dean of the class action bar, the Pomerantz Firm pioneered the field of securities class actions. Today, more than 80 years later, the Pomerantz Firm continues in the tradition he established, fighting for the rights of the victims of securities fraud, breaches of fiduciary duty, and corporate misconduct. The Firm has recovered numerous multimillion-dollar damages awards on behalf of class members. See www.pomerantzlaw.com. CONTACT: Robert S. Willoughby Pomerantz LLP rswilloughby@pomlaw.com 888-476-6529 ext. 9980 NEW YORK, Jan. 24, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Pomerantz LLP announces that a class action lawsuit has been filed against, Teladoc Health, Inc. (Teladoc or the Company) (NYSE: TDOC) and certain of its officers. The class action, filed in United States District Court, Southern District of New York, and indexed under 18-cv-11603, is on behalf of a class consisting of all persons and entities, other than Defendants and their affiliates, who purchased or otherwise, acquired Teladoc securities between March 3, 2016, and December 5, 2018, both dates inclusive (the Class Period), seeking to recover damages caused by Defendants violations of the federal securities laws and to pursue remedies under Sections 10(b) and 20(a) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (the Exchange Act) and Rule 10b-5 promulgated thereunder, against the Company and certain of its top officials. If you are a shareholder who purchased Teladoc securities between March 3, 2016 and December 5, 2018, both dates inclusive, you have until February 11, 2019, to ask the Court to appoint you as Lead Plaintiff for the class. A copy of the Complaint can be obtained at www.pomerantzlaw.com. To discuss this action, contact Robert S. Willoughby at rswilloughby@pomlaw.com or 888.476.6529 (or 888.4-POMLAW), toll-free, Ext. 9980. Those who inquire by e-mail are encouraged to include their mailing address, telephone number, and the number of shares purchased. [Click here to join this class action] Teladoc was founded in 2002 and is headquartered in Purchase, New York. The Company provides telehealth services worldwide. The Company offers a portfolio of services and solutions covering 450 medical subspecialties, such as flu and upper respiratory infections, cancer, and congestive heart failure. The Company provides its services through mobile devices, the Internet, video, and phone. The Company serves health plans, health systems, and other entities. Mark Hirschhorn (Hirschhorn) is Executive Vice President (EVP), Chief Operating Officer (COO), and Chief Financial Officer (CFO) of Teladoc. In those capacities, Hirschhorn is responsible for advancing the Companys financial infrastructure and strategic direction and developing Teladocs industry-leading operations. At all relevant times, the Company purported to be committed to the highest standards of integrity and ethics in the way it conducts business, and, to that end, adopted a Code of Business Conduct and Ethics, which applies to all of its employees, officers and directors, including its chief executive officer, chief financial officer, and all other executive and senior officers. The complaint alleges that, throughout the Class Period, Defendants made materially false and misleading statements regarding the Companys business, operational and compliance policies. Specifically, Defendants made false and/or misleading statements and/or failed to disclose that: (i) Hirschhorn was engaged in an inappropriate sexual relationship with a subordinate; (ii) Hirschhorn and this subordinate engaged in insider trading to provide themselves with undue benefits; (iii) Hirschhorn caused the subordinate to receive promotions for which she was unqualified, thereby negatively impacting the Companys operations; (iv) the Companys enforcement of its own purported employment and trading policies were inadequate to prevent the foregoing conduct; and (v) as a result, the Companys public statements were materially false and misleading at all relevant times. On December 5, 2018, the Southern Investigative Research Foundation (SIRF) published an article reporting that Teladocs CFO, Hirschhorn, had engaged in an affair with . . . an employee many levels below him on the companys organizational chart. The SIRF article stated that during their relationship, [the employee] received a series of promotions over colleagues with either more industry experience or better credentials that stunned her former colleagues. In addition, the SIRF article reported that the employee and Hirschhorn liked to trade Teladoc Healths stock together, with Hirschhorn tell[ing] her when he thought there were good opportunities to sell some shares. Following publication of the SIRF article, Teladocs stock price fell $4.00 per share, or 6.69%, to close at $55.81 per share on December 6, 2018. The Pomerantz Firm, with offices in New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, and Paris, is acknowledged as one of the premier firms in the areas of corporate, securities, and antitrust class litigation. Founded by the late Abraham L. Pomerantz, known as the dean of the class action bar, the Pomerantz Firm pioneered the field of securities class actions. Today, more than 80 years later, the Pomerantz Firm continues in the tradition he established, fighting for the rights of the victims of securities fraud, breaches of fiduciary duty, and corporate misconduct. The Firm has recovered numerous multimillion-dollar damages awards on behalf of class members. See www.pomerantzlaw.com CONTACT: Robert S. Willoughby Pomerantz LLP rswilloughby@pomlaw.com 888-476-6529 ext. 9980 LOS ANGELES, Jan. 24, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The Schall Law Firm , a national shareholder rights litigation firm, announces the filing of a class action lawsuit against PPDAI Group Inc. (PPDAI or the Company) (NYSE: PPDF ) for violations of 10(b) and 20(a) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and Rule 10b-5 promulgated thereunder by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Investors who purchased the Company's shares pursuant to and/or traceable to the Registration Statement and Prospectus issued in connection with the Companys initial public offering in November, 2017, are encouraged to contact the firm before January 25, 2019. If you are a shareholder who suffered a loss, click here to participate . We also encourage you to contact Brian Schall, or Sherin Mahdavian, of the Schall Law Firm, 1880 Century Park East, Suite 404, Los Angeles, CA 90067, at 424-303-1964, to discuss your rights free of charge. You can also reach us through the firm's website at www.schallfirm.com , or by email at brian@schallfirm.com . The class, in this case, has not yet been certified, and until certification occurs, you are not represented by an attorney. If you choose to take no action, you can remain an absent class member. According to the Complaint, the Company made false and misleading statements to the market. PPDAI engaged in predatory lending practices, saddling low-income borrowers with debt and interest payments they could not repay. Many of the Companys customers were using PPDAI loans to pay off other loans, raising the risk of default. PPDAI suffered from increasing delinquency rates, hurting the Companys reserves. PPDAI was also providing online loans to college students, ignoring a government ban on the practice. At the same time, the Company engaged in improper collection practices. Based on these facts, the Companys public statements at the time of its IPO were false and materially misleading. When the market learned the truth about PPDAI, investors suffered damages. Join the case to recover your losses. The Schall Law Firm represents investors around the world and specializes in securities class action lawsuits and shareholder rights litigation. This press release may be considered Attorney Advertising in some jurisdictions under the applicable law and rules of ethics. CONTACT: The Schall Law Firm Brian Schall, Esq., Sherin Mahdavian, Esq., www.schallfirm.com 310-301-3335 info@schallfirm.com SOURCE: The Schall Law Firm An electric vehicle trial Vector plans in Piha this year will help test the ability of homeowners to use a car battery to provide peak-period power or back-up supplies during an emergency. The firm has spent the past two years trialling vehicle-to-grid charging in commercial buildings but is now keen to test the technology in a residential setting. It will lend two EVs, each with a smart, one-directional vehicle-to-home power system, to a range of households and organisations in Piha during the one-year trial. While they could be used to trim peak period demand on the lines supplying the remote beach community, Vector wont be centrally controlling their use. Its all about how consumers respond to the technology and how easy they find it to use, Andre Botha, Vectors chief networks offer, told BusinessDesk. While the system is relatively expensive now, he said that cost will come down and the company believes it has a role in facilitating technology that has potential to give consumers options and control over how they use electricity. Electrification of transport is considered a key plank in New Zealands efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Network companies, many of which are already facing declining volumes, also want to encourage the uptake of EVs to sustain loads on their lines, if it can be done without increasing peak-period demand. EV batteries could also form part of a local micro-grid for isolated communities where replacing aged lines is already proving uneconomic. The trial is expected to cost about $234,000, half of which is being met by a grant from the Governments low-emission vehicle fund administered by the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Authority. Vector is the countrys biggest power distributor and already hosts close to half the countrys 11,800 EVs. Piha, on the regions wild west coast, is supplied by a single 11-kilovolt line from Henderson and was without power for days after storms last April cut supplies to thousands across the region. Vector is considering installing a battery and micro-grid there within five years to improve the resilience of supplies as building a second line through the dense bush of the Waitakere Ranges would be prohibitively expensive. Botha said vehicle-to-home power supply could be an option to help limit peak demand in remote communities like Piha, where the network was never designed for the loads it is now carrying. It could also give households an option to power some essential services if network supplies are cut. Botha said lessons from the April storms show the value of maintaining power at community centres be it the local cafe or the local school which are likely to become the base for local coordination efforts during civil emergencies or big outages. He said people also want tools so they can do something themselves to provide heating or power, without having to wait for contractors. Vector is still finalising the form of the trial to ensure it covers the right range of users and can monitor the many potential ways they may use the hardware. Botha said thats important as the trial could ultimately create a business opportunity for someone - be it Vector, a community group, or some other third party. (BusinessDesk) Comments from our readers No comments yet Add your comment: Your name: Your email: Not displayed to the public Comment: Comments to Sharechat go through an approval process. Comments which are defamatory, abusive or in some way deemed inappropriate will not be approved. It is allowable to use some form of non-de-plume for your name, however we recommend real email addresses are used. Comments from free email addresses such as Gmail, Yahoo, Hotmail, etc may not be approved. Anti-spam verification: Type the text you see in the image into the field below. You are asked to do this in order to verify that this enquiry is not being performed by an automated process. Related News: Precinct Properties New Zealand Limited (NZX: PCT) $250m Equity Raise to Fund Wellington Acquisitions 17th June 2021 Morning Report 16th June 2021 Morning Report Investore Property Limited (NZX: IPL) Divestment of Dunedin Property 15th June 2021 Morning Report 14th June 2021 Morning Report Tower Limited (NZX: TWR) Update on Financial Impact of Canterbury Floods SkyCity Entertainment Group Limited (NZX: SKC) Earnings Guidance for FY21 Result 11th June 2021 Morning Report Precinct Properties New Zealand Limited (NZX: PCT) Announces $284 Million Revaluation Uplift The government is considering adapting Australian competition law to improve local legislation barring anti-competitive conduct. Officials have proposed amending section 36 of the Commerce Act which bars firms with substantial market power from acting anti-competitively because interpretation by the courts has made it too costly and complex to be effective. They favour adapting law that Australia adopted in 2017, which puts more focus on activities that lessen competition, or are likely to lessen competition, rather than how much market power a firm has and whether it is acting deliberately to shut down competition. They observe that since Australias change, New Zealand is now the only country in the world that still requires a strict causal connection between a firms market power and the conduct in question. New Zealand has a high proportion of markets that are dominated by powerful firms, so its important we have effective laws that prevent them from misusing their power, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Kris Faafoi says. As currently drafted, section 36 has tilted the playing field in favour of powerful firms and distorted competition, he said in announcing a two-month consultation on the proposed changes. The law is difficult to enforce, and is not currently capturing a wide enough range of anti-competitive conduct. The issue is not a new one. The Commerce Commission has long complained of the difficulty in enforcing the law, introduced in 1986. In 2010, then-Attorney-General Chris Finlayson tried to get the courts to change their approach during a case involving Telecom. The Productivity Commission recommended change in 2014 and, the following year, the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment canvassed views for change in an issues paper. The ministry says the main problem is the interpretation of the act by the Privy Council and the Supreme Court. That requires courts considering such cases to test potentially anti-competitive behaviour against the way a firm may act in a hypothetical market in which they didnt have market power. There are whole categories of conduct that are harmless if a firm has no market power, but harmful if the firm has market power. This means that the current test in section 36 produces the wrong answer in these types of cases and fails to condemn all anti-competitive conduct, the ministry says in the 73-page discussion paper it issued today. Constructing such hypotheticals is also difficult and can require assumptions that are sometimes quite unrealistic. It is impossible to know beforehand which assumptions a court will choose in constructing the hypothetical market. This leads to costly, complex enforcement that reduces the incentive for businesses to comply with the law. The ministry is also recommending changes to the intellectual property provisions of the Commerce Act, and restrictions on the anti-competitive use of covenants. It estimates the cost of the changes at about $2.7 million but says there should be cost savings for the Commerce Commission from simpler enforcement. New entrants should also find it easier to enter markets and develop new businesses and the broader economy may benefit from improved competition, the ministry says. (BusinessDesk) Comments from our readers No comments yet Add your comment: Your name: Your email: Not displayed to the public Comment: Comments to Sharechat go through an approval process. Comments which are defamatory, abusive or in some way deemed inappropriate will not be approved. It is allowable to use some form of non-de-plume for your name, however we recommend real email addresses are used. Comments from free email addresses such as Gmail, Yahoo, Hotmail, etc may not be approved. Anti-spam verification: Type the text you see in the image into the field below. You are asked to do this in order to verify that this enquiry is not being performed by an automated process. Related News: Precinct Properties New Zealand Limited (NZX: PCT) $250m Equity Raise to Fund Wellington Acquisitions 17th June 2021 Morning Report 16th June 2021 Morning Report Investore Property Limited (NZX: IPL) Divestment of Dunedin Property 15th June 2021 Morning Report 14th June 2021 Morning Report Tower Limited (NZX: TWR) Update on Financial Impact of Canterbury Floods SkyCity Entertainment Group Limited (NZX: SKC) Earnings Guidance for FY21 Result 11th June 2021 Morning Report Precinct Properties New Zealand Limited (NZX: PCT) Announces $284 Million Revaluation Uplift Press Release January 24, 2019 POE: PUBLIC INTEREST SHOULD PREVAIL ON THIRD TELCO ISSUE Public interest will be of highest importance in releasing the Senate committee position on the third telco franchise row, Sen. Grace Poe said today. Poe, the public services panel chair, maintained she wants the third telco selection to "move forward for the interest of our country" of having a fast, reliable and cost-efficient telco service provider. She said her committee will come up with its position to settle the issue on the status of Mislatel's franchise that Congress had granted in 1998. "Dapat sa umpisa pa lamang noong sila ay napili, dapat mayroon na silang lehitimong prangkisa... Pero gaya nga ng sinabi ko, ang batas ay hindi perpekto, ang natutunan natin dito, kailangan nating mas linawin ang probisyon at ang iniisip ko bilang chairman ay kung anong makakabuti sa ating bayan," Poe told reporters after the hearing on the third telco on Thursday, January 24. "Ano ba ang intensyon natin? Gusto nating mura ang serbisyo pero magaling. So, anong mas malaking interes ang mananaig dito?" Poe stressed. Poe said her committee will sift through varying opinions and decide amid contentions on the vagueness of the franchise provisions, especially as regards who should decide that a franchise is valid or not. "For the interest of the public, definitely mamadaliin namin na magkaroon ng opinyon ukol dito, kung ano ba 'yung posisyon ng Senado at sana before the February 17 [deadline]," Poe said referring to the date of submission of Mislatel's documents. "Kailangang upuan ito nang mabuti ng mga miyembro ng committee on public services. Unang-una, lehitimo ba ang franchise nila? Pangalawa, kung hindi lehitimo, kanselado ba ang kanilang bid? Pangatlo, kung mag-a-apply sila at ngayon pa lang ibibigay, sapat na ba 'yun? Dahil ang ibig sabihin, noong sila ay unang nabigyan ng award nitong bid na ito, hindi pa pala sila qualified," Poe stated. At the hearing, Senate Minority Leader Franklin Drilon questioned the validity of Mislatel's franchise because of the company's failure to comply with the conditions: that a congressional approval is needed before any sale, lease, or transfer of control and that operations should commence within three years from franchise approval. For her part, Poe said it should be up to Congress because she said the one who determines whether a franchise is valid is the one who granted. Last November, the government chose Mislatel Consortium composed of Davao-based businessman Dennis A. Uy's Udenna Corp. and Chelsea Logistics and Chinese state-owned China Telecommunications Corp. Acting Sec. Eliseo Rio Jr. of the Department of Information and Communications Technology said there is an ongoing 90-day post-qualification assessment, but senators maintained the issue should have been resolved even before Mislatel was chosen as the winning bidder. Press Release January 24, 2019 Hontiveros: Whether 9 or 12 years old, lowering age of criminal liability immoral, unscientific and ineffective Akbayan Senator Risa Hontiveros today called out the "false debate" surrounding the proposal to lower the minimum age of criminal responsibility (MACR) in the country, saying that both proposals to make nine year old or twelve year old children criminally liable are "immoral, unscientific and ineffective." "There is no sense debating and choosing whether the MACR should be pegged at 12 or 9 years old. There is really no difference. Can a 12 year old compared to a 9 year old get married, get a driver's license, participate in elections, buy alcohol and watch R-16/18 films? The obvious answer is no. Minors, whether 12 or 9 years old, are not equipped with the same intellectual and mental capacities as adults," Hontiveros said. "Namimili na ba tayo kung sinong mga bata ang aalagaan at alin ang isasakripisyo ng lipunan? The real question we should ask ourselves is if it is even proper for government to place the burden of blame for criminal acts on minors used by adult criminals and who cannot even be expected to take care of themselves," she added. Hontiveros said that the latest developments on the MACR have "been saddening and alarming," given the lack of appreciation for scientific data on the incomplete mental development and faculties of young individuals below 18 years old. "We have come to a point where, without concrete and well-researched data, government is deciding whether children at 9 or 12 years old should be treated like fully-functioning adults under the law. It is a travesty for a country whose Constitution speaks of the right of children to special protection from neglect, abuse, cruelty, exploitation and other conditions prejudicial to their development," she said. Hontiveros also shot down arguments implying that the lowering of the MACR will not result in the imprisonment of children, but will merely bring them to restorative and rehabilitative programs. She said that such outcome is impossible, given the dismal condition of youth care facilities at present, as uncovered during the last Senate hearing on the MACR bill. "The reality is that if the MACR is passed without prior reforms to our rehabilitation facilities, more children will be subjected to conditions that are worse than prison. Instead of giving them the help that they need to be better citizens, we will instead bring them into an environment that further breeds unhealthy and even criminal behaviour," she said. According to Hontiveros, the solution to the cases of children in conflict with the law lies in the better and more thorough implementation of the provisions of the Juvenile Justice and Welfare Act, especially in relation to rehabilitation and restoration of the youth: "Instead of thinking about at what age children should be considered as criminals, we should instead focus our efforts on programs that will ensure that they will stay out of conflict with the law." Press Release January 24, 2019 Go after big-time drug lords, not children - De Lima Opposition Senator Leila M. de Lima has joined strong opposition to a House proposal lowering the minimum age of criminal responsibility from 15 to nine years old which she claims could further harm than protect Filipino children from exploitation. Emerging from a pre-trial hearing in one of her trumped-up drug cases last Jan. 23, De Lima said the government should go after bigtime drug lords and stop targeting children who were mere victims of the very circumstance that society levelled upon them. "Children are not criminals. They're victims too! Hindi dapat sila pinagdidiskitahan kundi yung mga big time druglords and syndicates!" said the lady Senator from Bicol who, as in previous hearings, was guarded tightly by PNP custodial personnel. The continuation of the pre-trial conference attended by De Lima at the Muntinlupa Regional Trial Court (RTC) Branch 205 under Judge Liezel Aquiatan - who replaced Judge Fabros-Corpuz-- included identification of witnesses and pieces of evidence. De Lima was reacting to the House Justice Committee's approval to House Bill No. 1505, the substitute bill that would amend the Juvenile Justice and Welfare Act of 2006 exempting children 15 years old and younger from criminal responsibility. The House proposal however has sparked public outrage and criticism from several lawmakers, the Commission and Human Rights and even from netizens who popularized the hashtag #ChildrenNotCriminals, among others. The former justice secretary further called the lawmakers who lobbied and pushed for House Bill No. 1505 as "heartless monsters" who have no qualms disregarding the welfare of the minors for political expediency. "Nasaan ang konsensya nila? (Where is your conscience?) Heartless monsters!" she said. In 2016, De Lima filed Senate Bill No. 195, which defines criminal exploitation of children and imposes stiff penalties on their adult offenders, including abusive parents and members of criminal syndicates. The bill also reiterated that a child who is 15 years old or below during the time the offense was committed is exempt from criminal liability. She likewise recommended the sending of recently-apprehended minors allegedly involved in the illegal drug trade to "Bahay Pag-asa" or a reform center for children in conflict with the law (CICLs) to ensure their rehabilitation. De Lima's case pending in Muntinlupa RTC Branch 205 stemmed from the complaint of the Volunteers Against Crime and Corruption who used the statements of convicted drug lords Hans Anton Tan and Peter Co to originally charge her with illegal drug trading in conspiracy with Jose Adrian Dera. On Oct. 20, 2017, the Prosecution filed an Amended Information that drastically changed the crime imputed against the Senator from "illegal drug trading" to "conspiracy to trade illegal drugs," a move questioned by her and her legal counsels. Press Release January 24, 2019 De Lima presses for stiff penalty vs syndicates exploiting minors Opposition Senator Leila M. de Lima has pushed anew for the immediate passage into law of her Senate Bill (SB) No. 195 which imposes stiff penalty and hefty fines against criminal syndicates and parents who exploit children in their nefarious activities. De Lima, who chairs the Senate Committee on Social Justice, Welfare and Rural Development, said she hopes her colleagues in the Senate would take a serious look at her proposed measure as a way of better protecting children from criminal exploitation. "Lowering the age of criminal liability from 15 to nine years old cannot be an effective response to fight rising criminality. Our children are not the criminals here but victims of abuses and exploitation. They don't belong in jail," she said. "I urge my colleagues to look at the Anti-Criminal Exploitation of Children Act which is one of the first bills I filed meant to ensure that criminal syndicates and abusive parents, not our children, are held accountable under our law," she added. On her first month as a senator, De Lima filed SB 195, also referred to as the Anti-Criminal Exploitation of Children Act, which defines criminal exploitation of children and imposes higher penalties for all crimes involving them. "Children are among the marginalized and most vulnerable in society. They must be protected from predators. These include parents and criminals who take advantage of their vulnerability," she said. Under SB 195, children are made victims when criminals - in any capacity or extent - involve them in the commission of offenses or obtaining of gain from a crime either as participants and/or tools to commit crimes. This bill seeks to impose stiff penalties to include imprisonment for criminal syndicates and individuals who engage, promote, facilitate or induce a child in illegal activities. It also prescribes a no-arrest policy in all cases involving children. Under her measure, a child who is 15 years old or under during the time the offense was committed is exempt from criminal liability. A child above 15 years old but below 18 years old is also exempt from criminal liability but can be subject to state intervention. "Minors should be guided, not jailed. They do not possess the same level of discernment that adults have, making them defenseless to influences that place their lives and future at risk," the former justice secretary said in her bill's explanatory note. "It is our duty to protect and take care of the psychological and physical well-being of our children. Imprisonment of children violates their human right to development," she added. The De Lima measure also seeks to task the Commission on Human Rights as the Ombudsman for Children to promote and protect the rights of children, especially against criminal exploitation by organized criminal groups and abusive parents. Visitors to the Battle Creek Veterans Administration Medical Center campus this fall will be able to go from one building to another in a new zero-emission accessible shuttle thanks to a $2.1 million grant announced Jan. 15 at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit. The custom-sized electric, self-driving vehicle is the future of the automotive industry, designers say.Technically it is called a level five self-driving car , says Christopher Andrews, Director of Mobility and Innovation Business Development at Pratt Miller Engineering of Grand Rapids, lead of the project team that designed the new vehicle. There are no pedals or steering wheels, but there will be a safety operator in the vehicle at all times who can take control if needed, Andrews says.Data show that traffic accidents can be reduced in the long run if self-driving solutions are implemented effectively, he says. Until data can prove that these solutions are safe and up to their potential, the mobility industry has agreed with local, state, and federal governments to have safety operators on board.The vehicle coming to the VA can hold four passengers at a time, or a wheelchair rider with two other passengers. We are working on a larger-scale vehicle, but we want to get the accessibility for the (wheelchair) riders correct before moving to the larger 12-person vehicle, Andrews says.The shuttle will be used for extending hours of service to veterans on the hospital campus, where there is currently a manned shuttle service that runs from 6 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. daily. The new shuttle service will address the hours after 4:30 p.m.The pilot phase service will be offered free to riders.The New Autonomous Mobility Vision for Michigan as it is known was one of scores of good ideas generated by the mobility challenge grant program, says Michigan Department of Transportation Director of Communications Jeff Cranson. It also was one of the largest projects funded in the challenge, which began with $8 million seed money.This innovative program is aimed at providing mobility access for all and is the result of a very effective partnership between the Michigan Economic Development Corporation and MDOT, Cranson says.The vehicle system has tremendous potential, says team member Zach Asher, assistant professor in the Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Department of Western Michigan University.He says that self-driving capabilities decrease the operational cost, improve safety (computers never get tired), and can even improve energy efficiency.The overall goal of this project is to progress self-driving technology towards commercial implementation while simultaneously engaging local Michigan companies in the latest automotive trends so that Michigan can remain the heart of the automotive industry, Asher says.As a researcher, I am excited about the development strategies we will cultivate and, without a doubt, this project will benefit the Western Michigan community as well the automotive industry.While the grants come from an MDOT budget appropriation, the success of the program largely depends on making transit agencies and vendors aware of the program, he says, so the partnership with the economic development arm was instrumental.The Federal Transit Administration developed the Mobility On Demand Sandbox demonstration program in 2016, and Michigan was a pioneer at the state level with the Mobility Challenge.The New Autonomous Mobility Vision for Michigan project team was made up of Pratt and Miller Engineering, Western Michigan University, the University of Michigan, Kevadiya Inc., Robotic Research, Comet Mobility, and Easterseals.Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, in her announcement of the award, says The Michigan Mobility Challenge can offer a blueprint for the rest of the nation on how to look to mobility technology to improve transportation options for citizens who need access to an affordable, reliable way to go to the bank, their doctor's appointment or the grocery store."And Asher says, WMU is committed to pushing the boundary of innovative and practical automotive research.More information about the program is available online here Backpacks filled with food items ensured that some Battle Creek students in need would not go without food over the weekend.Those backpacks 320 in all were filled by members of the Cereal City Sunrise Rotary Club, says T.R. Shaw, a member of that Rotary Club and distributed to students in the Harper Creek School District.Rotary Club also presented a check for $500 to Fred Lutzke, organizer of the Love Thy Neighbor Ministries and Food Pantry in Wattles Park. The funds are part of a $1,000 grant for the project obtained through the Rotary Foundation and matched by the local club.Lutzke, the former owner of the Wattles Park Pharmacy on East Michigan, uses the space formerly occupied by the pharmacy for his ministries, food pantry, and Bible study group. He has been a long-time member of the Harper Creek Optimist Club and has served the community through his volunteer work and was honored by the Rotary Club in 2017 with its Golden Trowel award for community service.We are honored to assist Love Thy Neighbor pantry with this grant and help the great work they are doing, says Tim Lantinga, president of the Cereal City Sunrise Rotary Club.Lutzke says the need in the Battle Creek area is great.On a weekly basis the pantry provides more than 300 backpacks of food to children in the school district. In 2018 it was 250 and the need continues to grow, Lutzke says. The food in each pack, which is mostly donated, costs about $2.75.The Rotary Clubs efforts to fill the backpack is in keeping with the organizations mission.Shaw says, Rotary is a global network of 1.2 million neighbors, friends, leaders, and problem-solvers who see a world where people unite and take action to create lasting change - across the globe, in our communities, and in ourselves.The Cereal City Sunrise Rotary Club meets weekly at 7 a.m. Thursdays at Kellogg Community College with an emphasis on fellowship. The group brings in speakers who are frequently experts in a wide variety of areas, and also hosts special meetings to engage in community service projects.Shaw says guests are always welcome.For more information or to join Rotary, visit the website www.rotary.org or contact club membership Chairman, Carlos Fontana at (269) 924-8688 or brasileiro56@gmail.com. The new 2019 Ram 1500 pick-up truck has been named the 2019 North American Truck of the Year at the North American International Auto Show (NAIAS). The Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA) light-duty truck is manufactured in Sterling Heights at 38111 Van Dyke, where the company invested $1.48 billion in 2016 to retool the facility to support the future growth of the Ram brand. The investment created an estimated 700 new jobs to support production of the truck, which officially launched in March 2018. The 2019 Ram 1500 triumphed over General Motors' Chevrolet Silverado and GMC Sierra to win at the Detroit auto show and the award is considered one of the worlds most prestigious, based on its diverse mix of 60 automotive journalists from the U.S. and Canada who serve as the judging panel. The Ram 1500 is an important product for FCA and winning this award is one of the highest honors, says Reid Bigland, Head of Ram Brand. But Bigland says it isnt just the designers who deserve credit for the win. Of course, a special recognition for all the hard-working men and women at FCA that really brought this vehicle aboutfrom our engineers to our designers to, of course, the people who are actually building this machine on the shop floor. Jurors cited the trucks ride quality, mild-hybrid technology, interior design, and touchscreen technology among their top reasons for selecting FCAs Ram 1500 over other competitors. NEW YORK, Jan. 24, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Pomerantz LLP announces that a class action lawsuit has been filed against Aphria Inc. (Aphria or the Company) (NYSE: APHA) and certain of its officers. The class action, filed in United States District Court, Southern District of New York, and indexed under 18-cv-11427, is on behalf of a class consisting of all persons and entities, other than Defendants and their affiliates, who purchased or otherwise, acquired Aphria securities between October 18, 2018, and December 3, 2018, both dates inclusive (the Class Period), seeking to recover damages caused by Defendants violations of the federal securities laws and to pursue remedies under Sections 10(b) and 20(a) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (the Exchange Act) and Rule 10b-5 promulgated thereunder, against the Company and certain of its top officials. If you are a shareholder who purchased Aphria securities between October 18, 2018, and December 3, 2018, both dates inclusive, you have until February 4, 2019, to ask the Court to appoint you as Lead Plaintiff for the class. A copy of the Complaint can be obtained at www.pomerantzlaw.com. To discuss this action, contact Robert S. Willoughby at rswilloughby@pomlaw.com or 888.476.6529 (or 888.4-POMLAW), toll-free, Ext. 9980. Those who inquire by e-mail are encouraged to include their mailing address, telephone number, and the number of shares purchased. [Click here to join this class action] Aphria is headquartered in Leamington, Canada. The Company produces and sells medical cannabis in Canada and internationally. The Company offers sativa, indica, and hybrid medical marijuana products, as well as cannabis oils. It serves patients and health professionals. The Company also sells its products online. On January 29, 2018, the Company announced its acquisition of Nuuvera Inc. (Nuuvera) for approximately C$826 million, which was completed on March 23, 2018 (at a reduced price valued at approximately C$425 million). Announcing the acquisition, the Company touted Nuuvera as a leading, global cannabis company with a strong presence in Europe, Africa and the Middle East[.] Then, on July 17, 2018, the Company issued a press release announcing its planned expansion into Latin America and the Caribbean, through a massive transaction whereby Aphria acquired Scythian Biosciences Inc. (Scythian) for approximately C$280 million, in cash and Company stock. According to various public statements by the Company and media reports, Andy DeFrancesco (DeFrancesco), controller of the Delavaco Group (Delavaco), a purported private equity fund, participated in the founding investment of Aphria. DeFrancesco and the Delavaco Group have purportedly invested or advised on every Aphria equity financing. Throughout the Class Period, Defendants made materially false and misleading statements regarding the Companys business, operational and compliance policies. Specifically, Defendants made false and/or misleading statements and/or failed to disclose that: (i) Aphria engaged in numerous fraudulent acquisitions and transactions in order to provide undisclosed benefits to its insiders; (ii) Aphria substantially overpaid for the assets it acquired in 2018, which in reality had questionable value or were worthless; (iii) Aphria acquired these assets from undisclosed related parties, including Andy DeFrancesco; and (iv) as a result, the Companys public statements were materially false and misleading at all relevant times. On December 3, 2018, Hindenburg Research (Hindenburg) published an article entitled Aphria: A Shell Game with a Cannabis Business on the Side, alleging that Aphria is part of a scheme orchestrated by a network of insiders to divert funds away from shareholders into their own pockets. The article cited a thorough, on-the-ground investigation into Aphrias latest investments and described in detail the poor quality and questionable value of those investments. Following publication of the Hindenburg article, Aphrias stock price fell $1.85 per share, or roughly 23.4%, to close at $6.05 per share on December 3, 2018. Then, on December 4, 2018, the Financial Post published an interview with DeFrancesco to address the allegations described above. DeFrancesco seemingly confirmed his participation in the transactions, stating that the use of shell companies was not unusual in private equity transactions and defending the quality of the assets. On this news, Aphrias stock price fell an additional $1.54 per share, or 25.45%, to close at $4.51 per share on December 4, 2018. The Pomerantz Firm, with offices in New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, and Paris, is acknowledged as one of the premier firms in the areas of corporate, securities, and antitrust class litigation. Founded by the late Abraham L. Pomerantz, known as the dean of the class action bar, the Pomerantz Firm pioneered the field of securities class actions. Today, more than 80 years later, the Pomerantz Firm continues in the tradition he established, fighting for the rights of the victims of securities fraud, breaches of fiduciary duty, and corporate misconduct. The Firm has recovered numerous multimillion-dollar damages awards on behalf of class members. See www.pomerantzlaw.com CONTACT: Robert S. Willoughby Pomerantz LLP rswilloughby@pomlaw.com 888-476-6529 ext. 9980 Michigan's concentration of OEMs, startups, mobility assets, and testing facilities is denser than anywhere else, says Glenn Stevens. Photo by Detroit Regional Chamber. A festival feel will allow for new ways to engage with vehicles, technologies, and mobility. It's a metro Detroit institution. Every January, the world's top automakers show off their flashiest new vehicles in the North American International Auto Show (NAIAS) at Cobo Hall.But next year, the show will be in June . It will expand outdoors beyond Cobo Hall, into Hart Plaza and beyond. And attendees are likely to start seeing more exhibitors show off more than just new car designs.It's a massive change for the popular event, and one that reflects similarly massive changes in the city of Detroit, its mobility sector, and the automotive industry at large."I've been here 30 years, and January has always worked very well for us," says NAIAS executive director Rod Alberts. "But I always say if you're anywhere long enough, things are going to change and you have to make sure you change with it to make sure you're meeting the needs of the consumer and showgoers."The biggest change affecting NAIAS is automakers' changing priorities. Audi, BMW, Mercedes-Benz, and Porsche have pulled out of NAIAS , and other automakers have ended or reduced their participation in shows worldwide. That's thanks in large part to the host of new ways automakers have to reveal new product, particularly in the social media age."I think this isn't a trend that we're going to see an end to," says Carla Bailo, president and CEO of the Center for Automotive Research . "Many automakers now are holding their own private events. They get a lot more coverage that way and they can showcase their products better."But Alberts and his team at NAIAS hardly see that as the end of their show, or the auto show model in general. Alberts says new shifts in the auto industry have helped him rethink how to better tailor NAIAS to both consumers' needs and the needs of the growing mobility industry. Two years ago NAIAS debuted AutoMobili-D , an expo featuring mobility technology startups. Alberts says he was initially concerned about having enough companies to fill the AutoMobili-D space. But this year the AutoMobili-D space is sold out, featuring over 150 companies."I had no idea how big that world was," Alberts says. "I knew it was big, but I had no idea how broad and deep it was."He describes AutoMobili-D as one of the key "stepping stones" that led the NAIAS team to a new vision of the auto show. While the rapidly growing number of mobility companies in Detroit and beyond are seeking new ways to show off their work to consumers, automakers, and suppliers, consumers themselves are also seeking something different when they're buying a car.Alberts says modern car buyers are much less concerned with aesthetic design long the focus of the lovingly lit, slowly rotating displays at NAIAS and more focused on the experience of actually driving a new vehicle. Specifically, they're focused on technology: how does the vehicle interact with a smartphone? How does connected technology allow the vehicle to perceive the world around it? And, looking further down the road, how might autonomous technology work in practice?"It's not just about a static show any more," Alberts says. "It's about engagement."In terms of the 2020 auto show, that means introducing a host of what Alberts calls "activations" opportunities for vendors to show off their products in action, and for attendees to experience them firsthand. That's why the auto show is moving onto the streets of Detroit in warm and sunny June, allowing automakers more opportunities to show their vehicles on the move (although Alberts notes that Cobo will house more activations indoors too).Alberts says mobility vendors will also likely become more incorporated into the rest of the show as they continue to draw interest from consumers, automakers, and suppliers. Glenn Stevens, executive director of MICHauto and vice president of automotive and mobility initiatives at the Detroit Regional Chamber , says that's an ideal approach in terms of reflecting Detroit's growing mobility sphere."You won't find a concentration of OEMs and suppliers and infrastructure and testing for next-generation mobility and a growing startup community ... like we have it anywhere in the world," he says. "So this is an opportunity for us to showcase that ecosystem even more."More broadly, organizers and auto industry insiders are seeing NAIAS' big shift as a way to showcase the rapidly changing city of Detroit itself. Alberts says he hopes to capture a "festival" feel along the lines of SXSW (South by Southwest), engaging attendees in the city's food and music scenes as well automotive offerings. And he says 2020 is just the first step, envisioning growing the show's outdoor footprint progressively over the next three to four years."We're kind of built for having a show in good weather and to create activations right in the heart of the city," he says. "It's a beautiful thing, but you have to actually play to your strengths, and that's what we're doing now."Photos by Steve Koss, unless otherwise indicated. The premise is simple, but the effect profound: customers are more likely to shop in stores that have the foods they want and the service to go with it. Through quality-focused initiatives, smaller grocers can gain big store training to help provide a better service for their customers. What compels a customer to take a bus 10 miles across town just to buy a certain rotisserie chicken salad? Apart from really liking this particular chicken salad, this customer knows that if the store says they have it available, then they do.Such is the case with Honeybee Market , a Southwest Detroit independent grocer that has grown in popularity and success for a number of reasons, chief among them attractive displays of meat and produce and friendly staff.Of course this kind of consistency and reliability doesnt happen all by itself. The way we train our employees, store manager Brittany Barrios says, the way that we open our store and the way that we close our store is the same thing every single dayNothing ever changes or looks differently.From checklists to daily walkthroughs by staff, processes are in place to make sure the store is in order. And more than anything, Honeybee management stresses customer service. Thats what our business thrives on, Barrios says. The word of mouth, and giving people a great customer experience where theyre always going to want to come back.Behind the scenes, Honeybee creates a better customer experience by using social media to monitor shopper concerns and engaging with their community through neighborhood meetings. They were also an early adopter of consumer-friendly programs like Double Up Food Bucks , which doubles the amount of fresh fruits and vegetables customers can get with their Bridge Cards.Although Honeybee sets a high bar, there are other stores doing good work in Detroit, like Harbortown Market on East Jefferson and Prince Valley Market on Michigan Avenue. Still, there are widespread concerns in Detroit and other Michigan cities about the quality of food and the level of customer service at urban grocery stores.Everybody wants good quality food and they want good customer service, Rachael Dombrowski, professor of Community Health Education at Wayne State University says. So, if they dont get those two things, they wont go back to the store. Its as simple as that.In order to codify some of the best practices set forth by good grocers, as well as bring a higher level of accountability into the business, The Detroit Food Policy Council and partners including Wayne State are launching the Detroit Healthy Grocer Initiative this winter to help stores meet certain standards. They will focus on availability and quality of healthy food, pricing and affordability, customer service, and community engagement. This initiative follows on the heels of a pilot program that took place in seven Detroit district focus groups among Detroits 77 independent grocers and three chain supermarkets.This innovative effort to bring accountability to the citys food economy could help improve access to quality food by making shoppers feel welcome and by ensuring they have access to the healthy foods they seek.In Flint, academics and community activists are taking a different approach by developing a smartphone app called Flint Eats that will combine academic research with community feedback on the availability of good food and customer service at markets throughout the city.These programs and initiatives are designed to give consumers a voice, but they are also designed to strengthen the business models of existing stores that often anchor the low-income neighborhoods they serve.Flint Eats and the Detroit Healthy Grocer Initiative could create a bridge between grocers and their clientele, who, in some cases, appear to operate at cross-purposes. According to Dombrowski, some grocers think that people dont want healthy food, which leads grocers to purchase low quality produce that customers in turn dont want to buy. Better communication could help change this dynamic.Detroits predominately independent grocery stores could also benefit from better training through the program. So one of the things we want to offer to the stores is some training around customer service, around produce rotation Dombrowski says. Because you would get that in a large corporate store [which would] have a whole training program set up, but for an independent or family owned store you wouldnt necessarily have all that training available.The fact that these grocers are independent stores could offer significant advantages to customers and communities. Owners might be more likely to be on the premises and available to communicate with customers and management. Dombrowski believes that people want to see these businesses remain in their communities.These are the folks who have stayed and have weathered the storm and (customers) dont want to see them close now and only have the suburban stores, she says. People will continue to shop and support their stores as long as theyre making an effort to improve and do better.Some Flint independent grocery stores also struggle to meet the needs of their customers, experts say. [There are] the same sorts of issues that you see in other communities that have a lot of disinvestment in the food system, says Richard Sadler, assistant professor with Michigan State Universitys Department of Family Medicine. The stores that are there are selling rotten meat or theres just a total absence of food products. A disproportionate pushing of the unhealthy food items. This situation led Sadler and others develop the Flint Eats app to help people find healthy food in the city, as well as to put some pressure on retailers.The app, which isnt yet fully operational, is just one of several initiatives in Flint designed to improve the way residents get their food.Ashley Sanders-Jackson, assistant professor with MSUs College of Communication Arts and Sciences has researched public health issues, and she says that the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program s efforts to improve the physical infrastructure of Flint stores by updating refrigeration and food storage capabilities have also helped. But, as in Detroit, there seems to be a mismatch between the perceptions of grocers who Sanders-Jackson says often struggle to survive in the city, and customers who didnt feel that the store owners were necessarily terribly ethical. They were sort of just passing on bad food.These perceptions affect the bottom line of neighborhood businesses, and they decrease food access when residents with limited choices choose not to return.People did identify customer service in why they didnt want to shop in stores, Sadler says, referring to a study conducted by MSU two years ago. Thats certainly an element in food access because if you dont feel comfortable shopping in a store and you have to bypass it for whatever reason, then its going to impact your ability to access food.These efforts to improve customer service in Flint and Detroit neighborhood grocery stores are certainly promising, and further analysis will help determine how the initiatives roll out. Eventually, effectiveness will be gauged by the responses from both grocers and shoppers.Whether improving existing stores through customer feedback and better business practices will be enough is an open question. A system of accountability for customer needs is certainly an important step towards healthier cities, both physically and financially.It would make sense to create a financial system that supports these people to continue to be in the communities, says Sanders- Jackson, referring to Flints grocery stores. In some ways these stores are providing a public good because theyre providing food to people who may not be able to get to other places. And to recognize that, particularly in communities that dont have a lot of other sources of food, I think is important.Photos by Steve Koss. In addition to Kim, the other four people for who arrest warrants were sought were the head of maritime affairs at Polaris Shipping, an inspector of Korean Register of Shipping (KR), and two persons of a private inspection company responsible for inspecting the hull thickness of Stellar Daisy. Update: Court rejects arrest warrant request for KR surveyor over Stellar Daisy The charges pressed against the five people are illegal modification of vessel for Polaris Shipping, and forged document by the inspection company regarding thickness of the hull. Read more: Ocean Infinity contracted to locate Stellar Daisy wreck Criminal charges for sinking and abandoning the ship and involuntary manslaughter will be investigated after the completion of deepsea search by Ocean Infinity, contracted by the Korean government. Stellar Daisys wreck is in an unknown location in the South Atlantic approximately 2,500 nm due east from Uruguay where it sank in April 2017 enroute Brazil to China. Read more: 22 seafarers missing after VLOC sinks in south Atlantic At the time of the fuel suppliers bankruptcy, which came up very suddenly, like a rogue wave, in late 2014, shipowners were not sure who they should pay, and monies went into escrow. The OW Bunkers cases are highly nuanced, with lawyers parsing the finer points of agency law, international bankruptcy law, jurisdictions and maritime liens. But the central issue in the US cases has been whether those funds should go to suppliers of the ships bunkers, or whether they should go to financial institutions who had lent money to various affiliates of OW. Read more: The latest OW Bunker ruling explained The case here concerned four Cosco vessels that received fuel (considered to be a necessary) in US Gulf ports. As detailed in court documents, the orders to actually purchase fuel for the Cosco vessels came through a lengthy chain of intermediaries, including within the OW Bunkers sphere, rather than directly from Cosco to NuStar. In an important ruling handed down in mid -January by the Fifth Circuit Appeals Court in Texas, the lenders have prevailed. In the face of challenges from Texas-based fuel supplier NuStar, the Appeals Court affirmed the ruling of the lower court- The US District Court for the Southern District of Texas, that a lender group, led by ING Bank, had valid maritime liens and that, in this case- NuStar did not. In making decisions, the various US District Courts, and the Appeals Courts will look at the facts presented, but also at the actions of courts in different US geographies. Bruce Paulsen, Partner at law firm Seward & Kissel LLP, representing ING Bank, told Seatrade Maritime, The standard has been set- this is the last appeal thats been handed down by multiple Appeals Courts- theyve all gone the same way. Paulsen explained that half a dozen courts, some rendering opinions where multiple cases have been joined together, have now ruled the same way. The bottom line, he said, is that physical suppliers who do not have a direct connection with the party ordering the necessaries do not have a lien. The law is now clear. Sloan founded USA Today's cruise sub-site, then called the CruiseLog. Name That Ship contests He oversaw the Name That Ship Contest with Royal Caribbean to name Oasis of the Seas and Allure of the Seasthen the world's biggest cruise ships. It was a USA Today reader who came up with those names. A few years later Sloan ran a similar contest to name Norwegian Cruise Line's new ships Norwegian Breakaway and Norwegian Getaway. 'It's been an honor and a pleasure to cover the cruise industry for USA Today these many years,' he said. 'It's a fascinating business ... I can think of few others that are as innovative.' Sloan joined USA Today right out of college, in the internship program at age 21, and quickly rose through the ranks, becoming a full staff reporter at 23. He started in the Life section as a general feature writer but quickly transitioned to writing about travel, which he's covered for 25 years. Pushed for cruise coverage Seeing the huge growth of cruising in the 1990s and 2000s, Sloan pushed for expansion of USA Today's coverage. The job took him to more than 80 countries and all seven continents. 'That's one of the great things about cruising. It can take you almost anywhere. Truly to the ends of the Earth,' Sloan said. Some of his most memorable trips include several recent forays into the most remote parts of the Arctic, including a four-week-long voyage this past summer across the Northeast Passage aboard Hapag-Lloyd's Bremen. 'We stopped in places that have been seen by just a few hundred people in history,' he said. Cavorting with penguins and eagle hunters On assignment for USA Today, he ogled penguins in Antarctica, rode horses with eagle hunters in Mongolia, descended into the tombs of the pharoahs in Egypt and canoed with the locals in Polynesia. The Philadelphia-based Sloan plans to continue covering the cruise world. 'How can I walk away from an industry that comes up with stuff like robot bartenders and deck-top roller-coasters?' he quipped. He'll share his plans at a later date. English French TORONTO, Jan. 24, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The Investment Funds Institute of Canada (IFIC) today launched its 2018 Investment Funds Report . The web-based year-end report provides statistics and analysis of both mutual fund and exchange traded funds (ETF) sales activity and assets under management for 2018. IFIC will now report both mutual fund and ETF data on a monthly basis. IFICs data collection and analysis are critical to the understanding of the Canadian investment funds industry to enable us to identify trends and evaluate the impact of regulatory and policy actions, said Paul Bourque, President and CEO, IFIC. Including ETF data in our reporting provides a more comprehensive view of the investment funds industry. Key highlights: At the end of 2018, Canadian investment fund assets totalled $1.58 trillion. Mutual funds accounted for $1.42 trillion and ETFs accounted for $156.7 billion. Investment fund sales were $20.6 billion in 2018. Mutual funds sales accounted for $109 million and ETF sales were $20.5 billion. In 2018, there was a negative market effect of $54 billion, representing the largest negative impact of market effect since 2008. To view IFICs 2018 Investment Funds Report, please visit IFIC.ca . About IFIC The Investment Funds Institute of Canada is the voice of Canadas investment funds industry. IFIC brings together 150 organizations, including fund managers, distributors and industry service organizations, to foster a strong, stable investment sector where investors can realize their financial goals. By connecting Canadas savers to Canadas economy, our industry contributes significantly to Canadian economic growth and job creation. To learn more about IFIC, please visit IFIC.ca . VANCOUVER, British Columbia, Jan. 24, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Squire Mining Ltd. (CSE:SQR; FRA:9SQ; OTCQB:SQRMF) (Squire or the Company) today announced effective immediately Mrs. Angela Holowaychuk, Chief Operating Officer (COO), will assume the responsibilities of Chief Executive Officer until a permanent appointment is announced. It is pleasing that we have an executive of the caliber of Mrs. Holowaychuk to step in to support and lead Squire Mining Limited during this phase of its development. Angelas track record and experience in building strong, delivery focused teams and stable operations is central to Squire Mining Limited achieving its stated objectives, Stefan Matthews, Board of Directors Chairman. Over the last 15 years, Mrs. Holowaychuk has worked at the forefront of emerging technologies, where she has held senior management positions leading day to day operations, technical development teams and global expansion projects within the fintech, regtech and most recently, blockchain and Bitcoin exchange sectors. Her expertise is building global operations and service channels from the ground up and working closely with international legal and regulatory advisers, executives and technology specialists. Mrs. Holowaychuk attended the British Columbia Institute of Technology for Operations and Supply Chain Management. About Squire Mining Ltd. Squire is a Canadian based company engaged, through its subsidiaries, in the business of developing data mining infrastructure and system technology to support global blockchain applications in the mining space including application specific integrated circuit (ASIC) chips and next generation mining rigs to mine Bitcoin SV, Bitcoin Core and other associated cryptocurrencies. For further information contact: Angela Holowaychuk, Chief Executive Officer (Interim) Telephone: 1-800-371-2809 The Canadian Securities Exchange accepts no responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. CAUTIONARY STATEMENT REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING INFORMATION: This news release includes forward-looking information under applicable Canadian securities legislation. Forward-looking information and statements include, but are not limited to, statements regarding the Companys initial ASIC chip and mining rig for Bitcoin Cash (BCH), Bitcoin Core (BTC) and other associated cryptocurrencies and the timing for development and completion thereof. Forward-looking information is necessarily based upon a number of estimates and assumptions that, while considered reasonable, are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties, and other factors which may cause the actual results and future events to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking information. Such factors include, but are not limited to: general business, economic, competitive, political and social uncertainties, uncertain and volatile equity and capital markets, lack of available capital, risks related to chip and rig design, development and manufacturing (including design flaws, software/programming errors, hardware/software integration issues, manufacturing delays, inability to source components on a timely basis or at all, etc.), technological change, obsolescence and the marketability of any chips or rigs developed by the Company. See also the Companys Form 2A Listing Statement dated July 31, 2018 (the Listing Statement) filed with the CSE and SEDAR for a more detailed discussion of risk factors facing the Company and its development and manufacture of ASIC chips and mining rigs. There are no assurances that the Company will successfully design and develop a commercially viable ASIC chip or mining rig or that such chip and rig will provide the estimated terahash to energy consumption ratio or improvement over currently available systems as contemplated. Actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such forward looking information. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking information. All forward looking information in this news release is made as of the date hereof and qualified by these cautionary statements and those in our continuous disclosure filings available on SEDAR at www.sedar.com including the Listing Statement. The Company disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise such forward-looking information, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by law. Sarasota, FL -- (SBWIRE) -- 01/24/2019 -- With the presence of a large pool of participants, the global veterinary vaccine market is displaying a highly competitive business landscape, finds a new research report by Zion Market Research (ZMR). Heska Corporation, Merck Animal Health, Boehringer Ingelheim GmbH, Bayer AG, Eli Lilly and Company, and Sanofi are some of the key vendors of veterinary vaccine across the world. These players are focusing aggressively on innovation, as well as on including advanced technologies in their existing products. Over the coming years, they are also expected to take up partnerships and mergers and acquisitions as their key strategy for business development, states the veterinary vaccine market study. Citing an instance, in July 2018, BioVetKZ announced that it will build a veterinary vaccine unit in Zhambyl region of Kazakhstan. Reportedly, the US$ 5 million Kordai-based bioplant is designed to manufacture nearly 25 million doses of veterinary vaccines each year with the future capacity of the plant projected to expand by nearly three-folds. DOWNLOAD FREE PDF BROCHURE @ https://bit.ly/2U6LM0P As estimated in this report, the global veterinary vaccine market stood at US$ 12.10 billion in 2015. Witnessing a tremendous rise during the period from 2015 to 2021, the revenue in this veterinary vaccine market is expected to reach US$ 20.60 billion by the end of the forecast period. The key products available in this market are live stock vaccine, canine vaccine, companion vaccine, poultry vaccine, feline vaccine, equine vaccine, porcine vaccine, and aquaculture vaccine. Among them, the demand for porcine vaccine is relatively higher and the trend is anticipated to remain so over the next few years, notes the veterinary vaccine market research report. "New technologies used for developing vaccines and increase in the levels of awareness pertaining to animal care activities is anticipated to hoist the growth of veterinary vaccine market in the years ahead," says the author of this study. Apart from this, evolution of new ailments in animals and growing cases of microorganisms developing resistance to the medicines in animals is predicted to further contribute towards the rampant expansion of veterinary vaccine market over the ensuing years. In addition, launching of new veterinary vaccines by the leading industry participants for combating protozoa, virus, and bacteria are anticipated to further impel veterinary vaccine market demand. Escalating costs of vaccine storage maintenance and bioethical issues related to the business, however, are projected to hinder the industry progression over the ensuing years. Nevertheless, rise in the occurrence of various ailments in animals and massive government funding for the product in the emerging economies will further enhance the scope of the business, normalizing the impact of hindrances on the veterinary vaccine market, reports the veterinary vaccine market study. Regionally, North America has been leading the worldwide veterinary vaccine market and is anticipated to continue on the dominant position in the years to come, states the veterinary vaccine market study. The burgeoning demand for dairy items and pet ownership in countries such as the U.S. are the key factors behind the dominance of the North America veterinary vaccine market. Get FREE Sample Research Report @ https://bit.ly/2FGQDmk The global veterinary vaccine market is segmented as follows: By Product Live stock Vaccine Poultry Porcine Aquaculture Companion vaccine Equine Canine Feline By Technology Attenuated vaccines DNA Vaccines Inactivated vaccines Toxoid vaccines Recombinant vaccines By Region North America The U.S. Europe UK France Germany Asia Pacific China Japan India Latin America Brazil The Middle East and Africa Valley Cottage, NY -- (SBWIRE) -- 01/24/2019 -- Silage bags are packaging and storing systems for silage, which is a green fodder stored in compact and airtight conditions. Silage bags prove to be cost-effective storage systems for farmers who require additional storage capacity. Silage bags substitute other silage storage alternatives such as piles, bunkers and silo systems which require high investment cost. The market for silage bags is driven by awareness among farmers to prevent wastage of fodder and other agricultural produce used to feed animals during the dry seasons. Silage is produced by the actions of microorganisms especially bacteria that degrades materials such as chopped feed, pressed grass and pulps, which require storage conditions with atmosphere barrier and compacting functionality. Silage bags used to store silage are made of 3 layers of coextruded polyethylene comprising of 2 white layers to make the bag weather proof and 1 black layer which protects the grain from sun light. The silage bag prevents the product from water and atmosphere contact, thereby increasing the shelf life of the product. Silage bags prove useful in the preventing the wastage of agricultural products, thus coping up the demands of increasing world population for food supply. Silage Bags Market: Dynamics Silage bags market is expected to witness hike in terms of demand due to its convenient storage qualities. Silage bags are used for the storage of agricultural products like food grains, crops, etc. apart from feed and fodder. The increasing demand of the agricultural products and reduction in the production of the feed and fodder crops is expected to fuel the demand for silage bags market. The attributes of silage bags that are support its demand includes low cost investment, minimum space requirement, ease of handling, etc. Regions with high agricultural activities like India and Australia have increasing preference for silage bags for easy and safe techniques for the storage of their farm products. Small farmers with inadequate capabilities to invest in larger silo systems prefer silage bags for their short term requirements. Silage bags, in addition, offer the comfort of storage at an appropriate location during shortage of permanent locations. However, the existing options like bunkers, ditches, containers etc., due to their greater storage capacity, appear to be the restraints in the silage bags market. Request Report for Table of Contents @ https://www.futuremarketinsights.com/toc/rep-gb-3168 Silage Bags Market: Region Wise Outlook On the basis of geographical regions, the silage bags market is divided into following regions: North America, Latin America, Europe, Asia Pacific and Middle East. Asia's large and growing population coupled with rising incomes and a rapidly growing middle class is expected to drive the demand for silage bags market. Silage bag market is therefore anticipated to be dominated by Asia Pacific region during the forecast period. The world's growing economy like India and China is also expected to boost the silage bags market in the coming years. In addition, Australia is also expected to put a positive impact on the silage bags market as the country is majorly dependent on agriculture for its economy. However, Europe and North America is going to witness slower growth than Latin America. Middle East and Africa is also going to face a sluggish growth in silage bags market throughout the forecast period. Silage Bags Market: Key Players The key players in the silage bags market includes RKW groups (Germany), Silo Bags International limited (China), Silo Bags India (India), Flex Pack (Holland), Silo bag grain (Australia), Grain Bags Canada (Canada), The Panama Group (India), Ipesa - Rio Chico S.A. (Argentina), etc. The research report presents a comprehensive assessment of the market and contains thoughtful insights, facts, historical data, and statistically supported and industry-validated market data. It also contains projections using a suitable set of assumptions and methodologies. The research report provides analysis and information according to categories such as market segments, geographies, types, technology and applications. The report is a compilation of first-hand information, qualitative and quantitative assessment by industry analysts, inputs from industry experts and industry participants across the value chain. The report provides in-depth analysis of parent market trends, macro-economic indicators and governing factors along with market attractiveness as per segments. The report also maps the qualitative impact of various market factors on market segments and geographies. Report Highlights : Detailed overview of parent market,Changing market dynamics in the industry,In-depth market segmentation,Historical, current and projected market size in terms of volume and value,Recent industry trends and developments,Competitive landscape,Strategies of key players and products offered,Potential and niche segments, geographical regions exhibiting promising growth,A neutral perspective on market performance,Must-have information for market players to sustain and enhance their market footprint Request to Sample of Report @ https://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/sample/rep-gb-3168 Tokyo, Japan -- (SBWIRE) -- 01/23/2019 -- Life insurance is a contract between a policyholder and an insurer or a guarantor, and the insurer promises to pay the insured the amount to be exchanged for the premium (insurance) Of death. Depending on the contract, other events such as terminal illness or serious illness may also trigger payments. Policyholders generally pay premiums on a regular or lump sum basis. Other benefits, such as funeral expenses, can also be included in your benefits. Life insurance is a legal contract and the terms of the contract explain the limitations of the insurance case. Certain exceptions are often recorded in the contract to limit the liability of the insurance company. Common examples are suicide, fraud, war, riot and civil disturbances. For Sample Copy of this report: https://www.reportconsultant.com/request_sample.php?id=2963 Key Companies Analyzed in this Report are: Life net Insurance Dai-ichi Life Insurance ACE Mitsui Life Insurance Manulife Financial Japan Post Insurance MetLif Avail discount on this report: https://www.reportconsultant.com/ask_for_discount.php?id=2963 a) Market penetration-In depth data on the products and services offered by top players in the Online Life Insurance market. The report analyzes the Online Life Insurance market by products, application, end user and region. b) Product development/innovation- Intricate insights on upcoming technologies, research and development activities, and new product launches in the Online Life Insurance market. c) Market development-Comprehensive information about lucrative emerging markets. The report analyzes the markets for Online Life Insurance across various regions. The current growth and development patterns of this market have also been encapsulated in this study. After studying key companies, the report focuses on the startups contributing towards the growth of the market. Possible mergers and acquisitions among the startups and key organizations are identified by the report's authors in the study. As leading companies take efforts to maintain their dominance in the global Online Life Insurance market, the right way to do so is by adopting new technologies and strategies. The report highlights major technological developments and changing trends adopted by key companies over a period of time. For a stronger and more stable business outlook, the report on the global market carries key projections that can be practically studied. Market Segment by Type, covers Normal Luxury For more enquiry: https://www.reportconsultant.com/enquiry_before_buying.php?id=2963 Highlighted key points of this market research report: -This report provides pin-point analysis for changing competitive dynamics -It provides a forward-looking perspective on different factors driving or restraining market growth -It provides seven-years forecast assessed on the basis of how the market is predicted to grow -It helps in understanding the key product segments and their future -It provides pin point analysis of changing competition dynamics and keeps you ahead of competitors -It helps in making informed business decisions by having complete insights of market and by making in-depth analysis of market segments Market Segment by Applications, can be divided into Kids Adults Table of Contents: Global Online Life Insurance Market Research Report 2019-2025 Chapter 1: Online Life Insurance Market Overview Chapter 2: Global Economic Impact on Industry Chapter 3: Online Life Insurance Market Competition by Manufacturers Chapter 4: Global Production, Revenue (Value) by Region Chapter 5: Global Supply (Production), Consumption, Export, Import by Regions Chapter 6: Global Production, Revenue (Value), Price Trend by Type Chapter 7: Global Market Analysis by Application Chapter 8: Manufacturing Cost Analysis Chapter 9: Industrial Chain, Sourcing Strategy and Downstream Buyers Chapter 10: Marketing Strategy Analysis, Distributors/Traders Chapter 11: Online Life Insurance Market Effect Factors Analysis Chapter 12: Global Online Life Insurance Market Forecast Report Consultant - A global leader in analytics, research and advisory that can assist you to renovate your business and modify your approach. With us, you will learn to take decisions intrepidly. We make sense of drawbacks, opportunities, circumstances, estimations and information using our experienced skills and verified methodologies. Our research reports will give you an exceptional experience of innovative solutions and outcomes. We have effectively steered businesses all over the world with our market research reports and are outstandingly positioned to lead digital transformations. Thus, we craft greater value for clients by presenting advanced opportunities in the global market. Albany, NY -- (SBWIRE) -- 01/24/2019 -- The Neurorehabilitation Devices Market holds a lot of potential, analysts have found. Already well-established markets in North America and Europe, coupled with immense growth opportunities in the emerging economies of Asia Pacific and Latin America indicate the favorable pace at which the global neurorehabilitation devices market is likely to grow over the coming years. The introduction of wearable technology and robotics has been having a tremendous impact on the development of neurorehabilitation devices and this push by researchers and device manufacturers alike is exactly what the global market needs. The emergence of several new therapies over the past few years and the potential presented by additional investigational treatments are anticipated to drive the value of the neurorehabilitation devices market from US$894.9 mn in 2015 to US$3.2 bn by 2024 at a 15.5% CAGR therein. The global market for neurorehabilitation devices comprises five main regional segments: North America, Asia Pacific, Europe, Latin America, and the Middle East and Africa. The alarming rise in the incidence of stroke has driven the North America neurorehabilitation devices market to account for a 42% share in 2015. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention states that almost 130,000 Americans die from stroke each year, with an average of one America dying from stroke every 4 minutes. This wide-spread prevalence of stroke, resulting in various neurological disorders, is forecast to boost the demand for neurorehabilitation devices in North America from 2016 to 2024. Neurological disorders are also brought on with age and as a result, countries with a large geriatric population base are likely to be the potential markets for neurorehabilitation devices. This is one of the key factors driving the market in Europe, especially in countries such as Spain, Germany, France, the U.K., and Italy. Request to View Sample of Report - https://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=S&rep_id=12791 Asia accounts for an estimated two-third of the worlds disabled population and the number is projected to rise in the next decade. This can be attributed to not just the growing incidence of stroke in the region but to the alarmingly high road traffic fatality rates. Asia is home to highest percentage of traumatic brain injury resulting from road traffic accidents, unintentional injuries, and falls. These patients demand the availability of neurorehabilitation devices, thereby rendering the Asia Pacific region a massively lucrative market for global as well as regional players, registering a 17.0% CAGR from 2016 to 2024. Neurorehabilitation devices include brain computer interfaces, neurorobotic systems, wearable devices, and non-invasive brain stimulators. Neurorobotic systems held the largest share in the neurorehabilitation devices market in 2015 and is likely to continue its dominance in the market over the course of the forecast period. Non-invasive brain stimulators, on the other hand, are projected to witness the highest growth rate from 2016 to 2024. The major applications of neurorehabilitation devices include traumatic brain injury, Parkinsons disease, stroke, spinal cord injury, and cerebral palsy. The demand for neurorehabilitation devices for Parkinsons disease is estimated to register the fastest growth rate during forecast period owing to the rising incidence of Parkinsons in developed countries such as the U.K., the U.S., Iceland, Finland, and Ireland. Request to View Brochure of Report - https://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=B&rep_id=12791 Valley Cottage, NY -- (SBWIRE) -- 01/22/2019 -- Single-use, also known as disposable, refers to products that are intended for one-time use. These products are made from a plastic (polyamide {PA}, polyethylene {PE}, polycarbonate {PC}, polyethersulfone {PESU}, polypropylene {PP}, polyvinyl chloride {PVC}, polytetrafluorethylene {PTFE}, cellulose acetate {CA}, and ethylene vinyl acetate {EVA}) and are disposed after use. Single-use products have revolutionized the field of bioproduction. These products are becoming popular in the biopharmaceutical arena as they reduce the risk of contamination during development and production. Various disposable products such as laboratory instruments, including petri plates, flasks, filling and tubing systems, cell culture apparatus, filters, pumps, bioreactors, are used in bioproduction. Request for sample report: https://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/samples/4220 Single-use technologies are mainly used in bio-therapeutic development and manufacturing processes. These technologies facilitate the development of small amounts of drug products for use in preclinical and clinical testing procedures. The global single-use technologies market is categorized based on technology and application. Based on technology, the report covers membrane adsorber, bioreactors, disposable mixing systems, tangential flow filtration, tubing and connectors, depth filtration, buffer containers, waste containers and media bags, and filter cartridges. The application segment is further sub-segmented into monoclonal antibodies, vaccines, gene therapy, recombinant proteins, and blood derivatives In terms of geography, North America dominates the global single-use technologies market. This is due to improved biopharmaceutical industry in the region. Moreover, increased awareness about therapeutic applications of biotherapeutics has also fueled the market in North America. The U.S. represents the largest market for single-use technologies in North America, followed by Canada. In Europe, Germany, France, and the U.K. hold major shares of the single-use technologies market. The single-use technologies market in Asia too, is expected to experience high growth rate over the next five years. This is due to improving Life Sciences arena in the region. Furthermore, increased foreign investment in this field is also supporting the growth of the single-use technologies market in the region. India, China, and Japan are expected to be the fastest growing markets for single-use technologies in Asia. Rising awareness about therapeutic applications of biotherapeutics is a key driver for the global single-use technologies market. Also, increasing demand of biologics and advancements in medical technology are fuelling the growth of this market. Low manufacturing and maintenance costs of single-use products and instruments attract end-users to adopt this technology in bioproduction. Increasing research on cell biology and stem cell is propelling the demand for single-use products. Request Report TOC @ https://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/methodology/4220 Moreover, drug pricing control is forcing large and emerging biotech companies to change their overall approach in development and production of bioproducts. This is leading to rise in demand for improved process optimization and more efficient operations such as single-use technologies and bioengineering. This is creating growth opportunities for single use-use technologies market. However, stringent regulations imposed by various governments hamper the growth of global single-use technologies market. Increasing number of mergers and acquisitions of biotech and pharmaceutical companies and rapid product launches are key trends in the global single-use technologies market. The major companies operating in this market are Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc, Applikon Biotechnology B.V., GE Healthcare, Pall Corporation, NewAge Industries, Inc., Saint-Gobain S.A., BioPure Technology Limited, Sartorius AG, RENOLIT, Novasep, W. L. Gore & Associates, Inc., EMD Millipore, and Dow Corning Corporation. English Danish Company Announcement No. 1-2019, Copenhagen Earlier today, FLSmidth signed a contract for a greenfield cement plant with Abay Industrial Development Share Company. The plant will be located near the city of Dejen in Ethiopia. The contract is valued at around EUR 100 million. The order includes design and engineering, full equipment supply, automation systems, installation and commissioning as well as training and extended supervision. Completion of the order is expected during the second quarter of 2022, and once fully operational the plant will have a capacity of 5,000 tonnes per day. The dialogue between FLSmidth and Abay Industrial Development S.C. began in November 2017 and has now led to the present order for one of the most modern cement plants on the African continent. "This greenfield plant will be utilising the most modern and energy-efficient equipment with the lowest possible environmental impact. I am also very pleased that with training and supervision included in the contract, we will help create 300 jobs in this region - as well as a source of cement for continuing regional development. This contract once again underlines our position as the preferred supplier of sustainable and productivity-enhancing solutions to the global cement industry," said Jan Kjaersgaard, President, Cement, FLSmidth. Among other conditions, the contract is subject to FLSmidth receiving the agreed down payment. Until all conditions have been met and the contract becomes effective, it will not be recognised in the order intake. A separate company announcement will be issued when the contract becomes effective. Forward-looking statements are inherently subject to risk and uncertainty. Contacts Investors Relations Nicolai Mauritzen, tel +45 36 18 18 51, nicm@flsmidth.com Contacts Media Relations Sofie Karen Lindberg, tel +45 30 93 18 77, skl@flsmidth.com FLSmidth delivers sustainable productivity to the global mining and cement industries. As the market-leading supplier of engineering, equipment and service solutions, FLSmidth improves performance, drives down costs, and reduces the environmental impact of operations. Present in more than 50 countries and headquartered in Copenhagen, Denmark, the Group and its 11,700 employees generated revenue of DKK 18 billion in 2017. www.flsmidth.com Hong Kong: CE attends Belt-Road forum in Davos Chief Executive Carrie Lam today continued attending the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting in Davos, Switzerland, where she addressed a Belt & Road forum. Speaking at the 3rd Belt & Road Davos Forum, Mrs Lam said Hong Kong has been performing unique functions in the process of the reform and opening up of the country in the past four decades. She said Hong Kong will continue to contribute proactively to the Belt & Road Initiative, including the promotion of the five areas of connectivity, namely policy co-ordination, facilities connectivity, unimpeded trade, financial integration and people-to-people bonds. Mrs Lam also attended a breakfast meeting organised by the Hong Kong Exchanges & Clearing Ltd in which she introduced the latest developments of Hong Kongs financial services to participants from investment banks and financial corporations. In a meeting with Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc, Mrs Lam said that to strengthen people-to-people bonds between Hong Kong and Vietnam, the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government has recently decided to grant visa-free access to holders of Vietnamese diplomatic and official passports. The Chief Executive hopes the Vietnamese Government would actively consider providing greater convenience to Hong Kong people travelling to Vietnam for business or vacations. Last night, Mrs Lam attended a reception on the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area. She briefed participants on the favourable conditions for the development of the bay area, especially the support of the Central Government, the closer links between cities and the people-to-people bonds in the region. This story has been published on: 2019-01-24. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article. 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. Kindness of strangers We recently took our grandson to the 20 international cottages in Balboa Park. Snacking on a bench, fiddle music erupted from the House of Ireland. Off went my grandson, grandparents trailing behind. Halfway home, I discovered my new $900 phone was missing. My husband scoffed at returning, but I believed I would get it back. I live my life with faith in people and the universe. Disgruntled, hungry and tired, we returned to where wed sat. No phone. At the House of Germany, no one had turned it in, but they took my name and home number. One of their volunteers started calling my phone, but no answer. A woman resting nearby helped canvass the cottages, directing finders to the House of Germany. Finally home, I found a note under the windshield wiper of our other car. Just got a call from your cell phone. It was turned in to the House of Poland. But I couldnt read the signature. I was jubilant that someone turned it in, supporting my faith in humanity. I drove back to the House of Poland. Three joyous volunteers handed over the phone. They had found the last number I had called. It was to Valerie Brown, a well-known local Rancho Bernardo angel. She had left the note. I wish the finders of my phone could know the happiness they brought to so many people. Nancy Canfield Rancho Bernardo Short, to the point I have just two words to say in response to the Columns disputed Jan. 3 letter from Thomas Drzeweicki: Amen, Amen! Judith Bradt Rancho Bernardo A military solution? I see that Rev. Dr. Abigail Albert is advocating military action to remove President Trump from office (Letters, Jan. 10.) She may be on to a solution for much of our border security problem. Since military dictatorships in Latin American countries cause many people to seek asylum here, if we also become a military dictatorship, there would be no incentive for people fleeing military rule to ask for refuge in the U.S Brilliant way to go to avoid building that wall. David G. Epstein Poway This is love? I am wondering if the Rev. Dr. Abigail Albert has any idea what she is suggesting by advocating a military coup against President Trump. Does she truly appreciate the type of government that is run by the whims of the military? Does she have any idea how much mayhem would be started throughout the country by an action of this type? Over 60 million citizens voted for Mr. Trump and for his agenda to make us safe and secure physically and financially. It is likely a military coup would result in a civil war costing many thousands upon thousands of lives. Is this her idea of Christian love and tolerance? Michael Vaughn Rancho Bernardo Email: editor@pomeradonews.com The people running the regions public hospital district dont seem to care much about keeping the public informed on how the district conducts its business. Case in point: The Palomar Health boards nearly hush-hush efforts to switch from electing members at-large to a new by-district system. Three public hearings have been held on two proposed maps offered by the district-hired consultant. To the best of our knowledge, no advance notice was sent to local media regarding the first two hearings, held Dec. 5 and 10 in Escondido. According to minutes of those two meetings, notice was posted on the districts website and in written form at the district office. Doing so, the minutes said, kept the district in compliance with the states open meeting law. There were no comments from the public at either of the Escondido meetings, according to official minutes. No surprise there. A third hearing was held on Monday, Jan. 14 at the districts Poway hospital. Notice to the media was sent and received about 4 p.m. Friday, Jan. 11, just before the close of the business day. Again, the date was posted on the districts website and in the office. Again, no one spoke at the meeting. District board members are looking at two possible maps generated by the consultant. Both were reproduced in last weeks newspaper and posted online at PomeradoNews.com. An interactive version is available at tinyurl.com/PHmaps. Draft Map 101 divides Poway and Rancho Bernardo among three of the proposed seven districts. Draft Map 102 splits the two communities among four districts, with Poway being distributed among four separate districts. (4S Ranch is assigned to just one district each time.) When the City of Poway and the Poway Unified School District tackled by-district mapping in recent years, each of the governing boards insisted that members of the public be allowed to submit their own proposed maps, using the same consultants proprietary software program. It should be noted the maps adopted by each agency were ones offered by the public. The Palomar Community College District is about to begin its by-district mapping process. Maps from the public will be accepted, according to a district spokeswoman. That is not the case at Palomar Health. Board members have been offered the opportunity to adjust the two consultant-submitted maps, but have yet to offer any changes. There is no software option for the public to submit maps. A Palomar Health board meeting is scheduled for Feb. 11, where board comments can be received, or one of two maps can be adopted and used for the 2020 election. The public can comment on the two proposed maps by emailing contactus@palomarhealth.org. The email address was added to the district website on Jan. 14 after officials were advised by us that there was no easily identifiable way on the website for the public to comment. Another map-related public hearing will be held at 6 p.m. Monday, Feb. 11 at the Palomar Medical Center Downtown Escondido location. The board could adopt one of the maps at that time. By the way, good luck finding anything about the issue on the districts website. Its not mentioned on the home page and a visitor must click on three links to get to the relevant information, if they can figure out where to look. Email: editor@pomeradonews.com VANCOUVER, British Columbia, Jan. 24, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Chemesis International Inc. (CSE: CSI ) (OTC: CADMF ) (FRA: CWAA ) (the Company or Chemesis), announces its subsidiary Natural Ventures will enter the CBD market. The U.S. CBD market could surge to $845 million by 2019, and over $2 billion by 20221. With the passing of the 2018 Farm Bill the federal CBD market will allow U.S. territories such as Puerto Rico to ship its hemp derived products across state lines and into markets across the US. Natural Ventures has begun cultivating high potency CBD strains, and anticipates full production capabilities by Q2 2019. The Company was able to crossbreed genetics which allowed for an increased CBD concentration and the seed strains have been fully registered with the Puerto Rican Health Department. Furthermore, the subsidiary holds all necessary licenses to cultivate and manufacture hemp derived finish goods. With infrastructure already in place, Natural Ventures will be able to effectively add CBD products alongside its currently available finished goods. The Company anticipates the roll out of products into dispensaries across Puerto Rico by Q2 2019. Initial products will include tinctures, balms, vape pens and sprays. Patients in Puerto Rico know and trust the Natural Ventures brand, said CEO, Edgar Montero. The Company believes this relationship with patients will give us a head start and allow us to enter the CBD market effectively and our existing relationships will ensure we are able to quickly get our products on the shelves of dispensaries around the island. On Behalf of The Board of Directors Edgar Montero CEO and Director About Chemesis International Inc. Chemesis International Inc. is a vertically integrated global leader in the cannabis industry, currently operating within California, Puerto Rico, and Colombia. Chemesis is developing a strong foothold in key markets, from cultivation, to manufacturing, distribution and retail. Chemesis has facilities in both Puerto Rico and California, allowing for cost effective production and distribution of its products. In addition, Chemesis leverages exclusive brands and partnerships and uses the highest quality extraction methods to provide consumers with quality cannabis products. Chemesis will add shareholder value by exploring opportunities in emerging markets while consistently delivering quality product to its consumers from seed to sale. Investor Relations: ir@chemesis.com 1 (604) 398-3378 Social Media: Chemesis.facebook Chemesis.twitter Chemesis.instagram DesertZen.instagram CaliforniaSap.instagram Jay&SB.instagram Forward-Looking Information: This news release contains "forward-looking information" within the meaning of applicable securities laws relating to statements regarding the Company's business, products and future of the Companys business, its product offerings and plans for sales and marketing, including finalizing an acquisition in Colombia. Although the Company believes that the expectations reflected in the forward-looking information are reasonable, there can be no assurance that such expectations will prove to be correct. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking information. Such forward-looking statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results, performance and developments to differ materially from those contemplated by these statements depending on, among other things, the risks that the Company's products and plan will vary from those stated in this news release and the Company may not be able to carry out its business plans as expected. Except as required by law, the Company expressly disclaims any obligation and does not intend to update any forward-looking statements or forward-looking information in this news release. Although the Company believes that the expectations reflected in the forward-looking information are reasonable, there can be no assurance that such expectations will prove to be correct and makes no reference to profitability based on sales reported. The statements in this news release are made as of the date of this release. The CSE has not reviewed, approved or disapproved the content of this press release ___________________ Palomar Community College District will hold its first public hearings on a process to switch from at-large to district elections on Saturday. There will be two hearings on Jan. 26. The 1 p.m. hearing will be held in the Palomar College South Education Centers community room, 11111 Rancho Bernardo Road in Rancho Bernardo. There will also be an 11 a.m. hearing at Palomars Governing Board Room at its San Marcos campus, 1140 W. Mission Road. During each, public comments can be made on the process Palomar College will take to change its election format. Comments can also be sent via email to Laura Gropen, Palomar Colleges director of communications, marketing and public affairs, at lgropen@palomar.edu. Palomars governing board passed a resolution at its Jan. 8 regular meeting to make the transition after it received a letter from Malibu-based attorney Kevin I. Shenkman. For the last few years, he has been mailing similar missives to various elected groups threatening a lawsuit if they do not abandon their at-large elections. The basis for his threats are that at-large elections are racially polarizing and the consequence is minority vote dilution, a violation of the California Voting Rights Act of 2001. His claim is that at-large elections impair minority groups from electing their preferred candidate or influencing the outcome of elections. The City of Poway and Poway Unified School District received similar letters in June 2017. Poway adopted an election district map in September 2017 and the school district did the same in January 2018. Last Novembers elections were based on their new maps. Both groups held several public workshops and encouraged the public to submit their own maps by utilizing the consultants online software. Palomar Health received a letter in September 2018 and has begun the process of making the transition to district elections. While 10 cities, hospital districts and school districts have fought Shenkman in court, according to National Demographics Corporation a consultant hired by the three local groups to make the switch all who have fought it have lost and been forced to pay the plaintiff attorneys $118,000 to $4.7 million. Consequently, at least 170 school districts, 28 community college districts, more than 100 cities, a county board of supervisors and 15 water, health care and other special districts have switched their election format or are in the process of doing so. Gropen said Saturdays public hearings are the first of several the college district will hold in coming months. The hearings will be held at locations throughout the district so community members can be involved throughout the process. Later hearings will include opportunities for the public to comment on draft maps before the board makes its final selection that will be used in the 2020 election. email: rbnews@pomeradonews.com A Poway church is looking for volunteers and donations to put on Night to Shine, a prom for special needs teens and adults. The event will be held on Friday, Feb. 8 at Trinity San Diego, 14047 Twin Peaks Road in Poway. This is the second year the church is hosting the event. Sponsored by the Tim Tebow Foundation, this event for people with special needs ages 14 and up includes a red carpet entrance, limo rides, hair and makeup artists and more. Todd Corrigan, pastor of Trinity San Diego, said the church is looking for honored guests, as attendees are called, for the event, as well as donations to help them put on the event. While volunteers are mostly covered, buddies for the honored guests are still being accepted for anyone wanting to join in. Corrigan said as of Tuesday, the event has about 190 registered volunteers and over 130 honored guests, which is much higher than this time last year, which had about 125 and 90, respectively. The inaugural 2018 Night to Shine had about 550 attendees overall between honored guests and volunteers, Corrigan said. This is not the only event Corrigan and Trinity San Diego holds for people with special needs during the year. The church has a special needs ministry, Corrigan said, and do a monthly event with the special needs population. Those wishing to donate can either donate to the church at its website, trinitysandiego.org, or donate directly to the event through a GoFundMe fundraiser the church is running. The GoFundMe shows about $6,500 raised out of a $20,000 as of Tuesday. Corrigan said the GoFundMe was created this year as some people are uncomfortable donating to a church, so this way they can donate directly for Night to Shine. The GoFundMe can be found at gofundme.com/night-to-shine-2019. The event, which is free for honored guests to attend, will include the guests arriving in limos and walking into the prom along a red carpet, complete with photographers and spotlights. A sensory-friendly entrance will also be available for guests for whom the flashing lights and noise might be overwhelming. Hair stylists and makeup artists will be on-site to help guests get ready for their glamorous prom night, as well shoe polishers. Chick-fil-A in Carmel Mountain Ranch will provide food for the prom. At the end of the night, all honored guests are crowned the prom kings and queens, Corrigan said. (This event) is the closest atmosphere to heaven anyone can experience, said Corrigan, as no one there cares what anyone else is wearing, how they are dancing, what they drove up in or what class the other person is. Email: news@pomeradonews.com The states new chief deputy superintendent the second in line at the California Department of Education, behind State Superintendent Tony Thurmond likes to say she flunked kindergarten. Lupita Cortez Alcalas father moved the family from Tijuana to Poway in 1977, after saving up enough from his job as a San Diego civil engineer for a down payment on a house north of the border. When Alcala enrolled in kindergarten at Midland Elementary School in the Poway Unified School District, she didnt speak English and the school lacked instruction in Spanish. They held her back for a second year. Youre listening and hearing five years or more of Spanish when you first start kindergarten, and when you start school only in English, its like youre starting all over again, Alcala said. While I received a very good public education, language 40 years ago bilingual education and dual immersion just wasnt as very prominent, particularly in Poway, she said. We were one of the only Latino families that were at that school at that time. Alcala went on to earn straight As in middle and high school, and attend UC San Diego and the Harvard University School of Education. She later worked at the department she now helps lead, working on the roll-out of the states current academic standards and developing standards for English-language learners. Before being sworn in as the states first Latina chief deputy superintendent Jan. 9, Alcala served as executive director of the California Student Aid Commission. Below is a Q&A with Alcala. Her answers have been lightly edited for brevity. Q: How did your experience as a student at schools here in the San Diego region impact you eventually getting into education and winding up where you are now? A: First and foremost, I received a really good public education and I was surrounded by other students who wanted to go to college and whose parents expected that of them, as well. My parents did, as well, but they didnt know how to navigate the education system, so they placed us in a really reputable school district because they expected the teachers and administrators to help lead us and guide us. I didnt always know I wanted to go into education. I think my experiences in elementary school with learning English and the struggles that my family and I had may have, unbeknownst to me at the time, been planting a seed in my head about what I thought maybe was missing at the time. I ended up going to UCSD and during my very first quarter, during the 92 recession, my dad lost his civil engineering job and I had to work 30 to 40 hours a week and take a full load. At that moment I had a low-income student experience, going from sort of a lower middle class experience, and I realized how hard it was. One of the jobs I had was with the early academic outreach program, and I would talk with middle and high school students about how to get into college. They would take all the requirements, they took the SAT, they filled out the FAFSA. But some of the students, they came back to me the next semester and they had Ds and Fs in every class. So that led me to think, its not good enough for me to tell them what they need to do to go to higher ed. Theres something thats happening way early on. And, interestingly, these students were low-income, mostly Latino, English learners. My passion for access and opportunity grew from my experience and the experience I had working with all these students. Informing families how to get into higher education is not where the real work is; the real work is in K-12 education. Q: The state has been working to improve the achievement gap for English-language learners, but only 12 percent met or exceeded standards on state tests in 2017, so theres still a lot of work to do. What can the state expect from you and Superintendent Thurmond to help English-language learners? A: English-learners are learning English, so theyre not going to reflect a high assessment score on English and math for three to five years, maybe seven in some cases, as research states. So where were going to look is reclassified students and how are they doing in comparison to other students, and I think we do have a good track record there. The most important piece of the puzzle is the teacher in the classroom and their ability to get the resources they need to assist the student. Theres the language acquisition and learning how to transfer skills from the students current language to English to help maximize their potential to learn, read and write. And then there are the resources that are required to assist those students that are often times low-income, refugees from other countries that have suffered some trauma. They need health services and they need support. You cant teach a child if theyre hungry. Im not generalizing, but some of these students have other factors affecting their ability to be successful. We want to focus on the whole child, and the most important part is whether the teacher has the professional development and language transitional skills they need. Q: You were previously the director of the California Student Aid Commission. Can you talk about what the state has been doing to improve college affordability and what might be on the horizon? A: College affordability does not discriminate on income. Middle-income and low-income families in California all suffer from the same concerns over being able to afford college. While the state has had a $2 billion financial aid program, which is the largest and most generous in the nation by far, that covers primarily tuition and fees and it doesnt cover living expenses in the way it could and should. Many of the students that we are encouraging to go to college, including career-technical students, are low-income. They dont stop being low-income when they turn 18. Thats why youre seeing a lot of articles and research on food and housing insecurity. Students are having to go part time and work full time. We need to consolidate Cal Grant A, B, and C. Right now, for a family of four that makes $50,000 and below, if you have a 2.0-grade point average, youre good to go. If youre a family of four and you make $60,000 and you dont have a 3.0, you get nothing. Thats a problem. You think they can go to a community college, you get the California Promise tuition assistance. But they dont offer you nearly the same package that UC or CSU would in terms of housing and food. So one of the things weve been doing is advocating for more award for living expenses. Q: What else are you looking forward to in terms of education policy? A: Were really excited about the whole spectrum, so early education to higher education and ensuring that not only the students get a high quality education and we close the achievement gap, but that teachers are prepared and provided the professional development they need, and the parents of students parent engagement is not only being active in their students education. For low-income parents, we want them to go back to school. We intend to work with the California Community College District, the Workforce Development Board and the Employment Development Department to make that happen. We intend to serve the whole family. Burks writes for KPBS. Reprinted with permission. Email: editor@pomeradonews.com The Poway City Council has decided to terminate the citys contract with the contractor building a pedestrian pathway as part of the Espola Road utility line undergrounding project. Traffic controls in place along the road will be removed and the traffic light at the roads intersection with Del Poniente and High Valley roads will be returned to its original configuration on Saturday, according to a press release distributed late Wednesday morning. The city will work with its design team and with SDG&E to thoroughly review design plans, construction schedule coordination, utility and design conflicts, potential traffic control plans and other items of concern before rebidding the remaining work, the release said. While SDG&E will begin work on its undergrounding project in the short-term, the city expects that work on its portion of the project will be on a several-month hiatus before a new contract for construction is awarded. City Manager Tina White said a preconstruction meeting with SDG&E representatives is planned for Monday. The city wasnt satisfied with the progress being made on the project, Mayor Steve Vaus said Wednesday afternoon. There is no doubt in my mind we can be more efficient and less disruptive by terminating the contract and reassessing our approach. Last November, the city disclosed that work on the 6-foot-wide pathway on the western side of Espola Road, from Mountain Road to Willow Ranch Road, had fallen significantly behind schedule. Employees of the pathways contractor, Just Construction, had found pipes coming through footings of existing walls, private irrigation lines and water meters that are in the way, White said at the time. In some cases, those discoveries required the preparation of revised construction documents, she said. Traffic control measures put up last fall as part of the pathway project snarled morning traffic, with motorists heading to schools in the area or to work encountering long waits. The signalized traffic lights were adjusted in an effort to ease the situation. Residents in the area frequently complained on social media and to City Hall of seeing very little work done on the pathway project and of long gaps between construction days. Email: editor@pomeradonews.com UPDATES: 4:15 p.m. Story updated with comments from the mayor. The pollution that flows from the Tijuana River Valley into the Pacific Ocean threatens San Diegos environment. For decades millions of gallons of sewage, sediment and trash have contaminated the waters off our southern-most beaches, prompting frustration and public health concerns. Local leaders in the U.S. and Mexico have called on federal agencies on both sides of the border to address the situation. Ive been working with officials from Washington to urge them to make this a priority. Our diplomacy has compelled the federal government to listen to us and begin preparing mitigation plans. The stage is set. Now we need to force their hand. In fall of 2017, the city attorney served notice of the citys intention to sue, and the City Council on Tuesday will have a chance to join the state attorney generals lawsuit against the U.S. government. Advertisement The deadline to join is Feb. 11. Now is the time to pursue legal action and press the federal government to fix this crisis. Kevin L. Faulconer Mayor, City of 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. San Diegos Sierra Club Chapter is celebrating 70 years in San Diego County. While unabashedly proud of our biodiversity, spectacular beaches, mountains and deserts, the adverse impacts of climate changes are already apparent in our communities, including persistent dry winds, drought, and low plant moisture. In late 2003, Santa Ana winds erupted into the Cedar Fire, the largest and most destructive wildfire in San Diego history. Then, in 2004, more abrupt changes were indicated, mature oak trees began toppling by the scores from Sudden Oak Death. In 2007, our forests were again dying and crashing down, this time due to a barely visible insect, the goldspotted oak borer. This invasive pest attacked the weakened oaks with vigor, killing 21,000 mature trees and converting almost 1,900 acres into highly flammable shrub lands. Advertisement Finally, in late 2007, the Witch and Guejito Fires exploded across the county, with 500,000 residents required to evacuate, with some going to Qualcomm Stadium and Del Mar Fairgrounds. These fires raged nearly to the coast, halted in Rancho Santa Fe only by the winds dying back. In only four years, San Diego County lost 3,373 homes to record setting fires. Fifteeen people died from the Cedar fire, including firefighter engineer Steven Rucker. The Witch and Guejito fires took two more lives and injured 40 firefighters. But threats to our flora and fauna and increased wildfires are not the only impacts of climate change. The excessive heat factor is emerging as a serious threat to human health today, according to emergency physician Dr. Marc Futernick. He states that excessive heat not only causes heat related illness, but also strokes and heart attacks. Dr. Rupa Basu of the California Environmental Protection Agency also links increased temperatures to cerebral vascular disease, respiratory ailments and negative childbirth outcomes. Ocean levels are rising and there will be increased flooding and loss of valuable coastal property, all the result of climate change caused by the great increase in release of greenhouse gas emissions (GHGs). The overwhelming consensus of the scientific community is that humanity faces catastrophic consequences unless we reduce GHG emission dramatically. Also, the economic consequences of failing to act are far greater than the costs of reducing GHGs. California and many local governments already have made the commitment to achieve aggressive emission reduction goals. These impacts will worsen dramatically unless our government agencies, and all of us, take prompt and strong action to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Unfortunately, this urgent environmental message has failed to reach the majority of our county supervisors. Advertisement The Sierra Club and many other environmental and local groups have worked for 13 years on a new general plan to guide how the county will reduce GHGs. In 2012, the county committed to adopt a Climate Action Plan (CAP) to reduce the emissions of greenhouse gases in the county. While a CAP was required, the countys first plan was found to be unenforceable in litigation brought by the club. Six years later in 2018, a CAP adopted unanimously by the board was again rejected by the Superior Court. Characteristically, the supervisors this month voted 3-2 to appeal the trial ruling, even further delaying the benefits of an enforceable and verifiable Climate Action Plan for San Diego County. Sierra Club requests our supervisors to drop their political posturing (and years of litigation) and ensure that future development does not risk the health and welfare of county residents, and our environment. Reducing air pollution and greenhouse gases is everyones responsibility and challenge. Specifically, the club asks the board to adopt a CAP that include the following land-use measures: Advertisement Reduce vehicle miles traveled (VMT), the largest contributor to air pollution, by adopting actionable smart growth policies that support infill development rather than sprawl. Stop approving massive developments in areas classified by CAL FIRE as very high fire hazard severity zones. Support smart growth and redevelopment within urban areas and rural villages and oppose sprawl development in sensitive natural habitat. Prioritize building new homes and upgrading existing buildings to be zero-emissions and climate-friendly. Advertisement The county Board of Supervisors must adopt a CAP that contains enforceable measures to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. We also urge board members to use their voice and vote at the San Diego Association of Governments to advocate and support smart regional public transportation planning. Miller is the chapter director and Courser is the conservation chair of the San Diego Sierra Club Chapter. Website: sandiegosierraclub.org In the summer of 1988, Vice President George H.W. Bush was widely seen as the underdog to his Democratic rival in the presidential race, Massachusetts Gov. Michael Dukakis. A Gallup poll done at the time showed Dukakis had a 17 percent lead. A column written that July by The Washington Posts David Broder the de facto dean of U.S. political journalism left many Republicans nervously shaking their heads. Its lead paragraph: An eerie serenity pervades the upper echelons of George Bushs presidential campaign. While Republicans across the ideological spectrum fret that prospective Democratic nominee Michael Dukakis is being allowed to set the pace and agenda of the contest for the White House, Bush and his handful of advisers seem almost nonchalant about the challenge that confronts him. Broder bought the Bushies surface reason for their confidence the idea that voters hadnt really focused on the race yet. But what he didnt know was the real reason: Legendary Bush campaign manager Lee Atwater had already developed campaign attacks that when shown to focus groups sharply lowered Dukakis approval ratings by making him seem like a feckless liberal of suspect patriotism. One was the infamous Willie Horton TV ad that described how Massachusetts prison furlough program had allowed a convicted murderer to rape a woman. A second potent theme was Dukakis veto of a bill that required teachers to lead their classes in reciting the Pledge of Allegiance. When the Bush campaign trotted out its big guns that fall, Bush quickly took the lead and went on to win 40 states. The lesson was not lost on the Democrat who would defeat Bush in 1992. Bill Clintons campaign was obsessed with digging up whatever dirt they could about their own candidate so they could try to neutralize bimbo eruptions stemming from the Arkansas governors long history of womanizing. Advertisement Now that presidential election season is again upon us, were all about to see how current candidates address their own potential shortcomings. Sen. Kamala Harris, the California Democrat who announced her candidacy for the White House on Monday, hasnt tried to neutralize hers publicly yet. As the presidential campaign progresses, she will face a buzz saw of criticism on at least two fronts that her new biography, The Truths We Hold: An American Journey, declined to engage. The first is obvious: Harris attempt to rewrite history by depicting herself as a criminal justice reformer. She may feel she has no choice; Democrats have recently lurched to the left on crime and punishment after decades in which they were nearly as likely as Republicans to back overly harsh laws that filled up prisons. But instead of doing what Gov. Jerry Brown and other Democrats have done saying theyve come to realize the counter-productivity of tough-on-crime laws Harris pretends she had reform-minded views all along. In her new book, she writes: We must speak truth about our mass incarceration system that we put more people in prison than any country on Earth, for no good reason. We must speak truth about police brutality, about racial bias, about the killing of unarmed black men. But as Lara Bazelon, a University of San Francisco law professor, wrote in a recent op-ed in The New York Times, Harris rhetoric doesnt remotely reflect her record while San Francisco district attorney and California attorney general. Time after time, when progressives urged her to embrace criminal justice reforms ... Ms. Harris opposed them or stayed silent. Most troubling, Ms. Harris fought tooth and nail to uphold wrongful convictions that had been secured through official misconduct that included evidence tampering, false testimony and the suppression of crucial information by prosecutors. Harris claim to be a reformer is also hard to square with her refusal to support or take a stand on Proposition 47, the 2014 ballot measure that limited punishment for nonviolent crimes. And her claim to be a crusader against unjustified police violence is weakened by the criticism she faced from Californias Legislative Black Caucus in 2015 and 2016 for opposing legislation that would have had her department independently investigate fatal police shootings. Harris does have some history as a reformer. While San Francisco DA, she created Back on Track, a program meant to help keep first-time nonviolent drug offenders on the straight and narrow. Advertisement But theres a good reason that Politico reported Monday that Harris Democratic opponents are already telegraphing that they plan to make her law-and-order background an enormous vulnerability with voters on the left. Its because they have a ton of ammunition. Its likely she keeps arguing that background is needed in the wake of President Donald Trumps lawlessness, so expect the scrutiny to be intense. A second issue has the potential to harm Harris as well. It may make some people uncomfortable, including the senator. That doesnt mean its not relevant. The issue is how Harris political rise was fueled by her affair with Willie Brown, the former Assembly speaker and San Francisco mayor, who was married and more than twice Harris age when they began showing up in gossip columns in 1994. No one questions that Harris is very smart and highly competent and that she didnt need Brown to have a successful career. But she didnt just date Brown. She benefited at taxpayers expense from her relationship with a slick politician long dogged by allegations of corruption and cronyism, as the San Francisco Chronicle reported in 2004. Heres what the very liberal San Francisco Weekly reported in 2003 about how Harris links to Brown a man whom many San Franciscans associate with political chicanery and self-dealing haunt her: Aside from handing her an expensive BMW, Brown appointed her to two patronage positions in state government that paid handsomely more than $400,000 over five years. In 1994, she took a six-month leave of absence from her Alameda County [deputy DA] job to join the Unemployment Insurance Appeals Board. Brown then appointed her to the California Medical Assistance Commission, where she served until 1998, attending two meetings a month for a $99,000 annual salary. Advertisement While Harris told SF Weekly that her relationship with Brown was an albatross hanging around my neck, she said it was irrational to hold it against her. But it wasnt the right-wing outrage machine that made their relationship an issue. A 1994 Los Angeles Times story raised concerns about the propriety of the Assembly speaker rewarding his frequent companion with a high-paying appointment. A Chronicle editorial the same week was even harsher about the optics of Brown helping his girlfriend and other buddies. [E]xorbitant salaries for, in some cases, work that requires little time and effort by people whose primary qualification is friendship, amounts to a thumb of the nose at California citizens, who already are disgusted with what they perceive as politics-as-usual. The Chronicle called for a crackdown on abusive uses of patronage. In real time, the Brown-Harris affair was seen as scandalous. Yet Brown goes unmentioned in Harris book. Unlike the Clinton campaign in 1991 and 1992, the Harris campaign isnt trying to proactively undercut the certain coming eruptions orchestrated by rival Democratic presidential candidates. Advertisement Will these attacks work? Maybe not. As fivethirtyeight.coms Nate Silver reported earlier this month, Harris has broad appeal across Democratic blocs. Shes generally acceptable to both Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders supporters from 2016. Thats huge. But if Harris like successful Democratic candidates Barack Obama, Jimmy Carter and John F. Kennedy before her builds her campaign on idealistic themes, the strategy of her opponents is obvious. They will say there is nothing idealistic about a hard-nosed prosecutor one who was willing to stand by tainted evidence trying to pose as a criminal justice reformer. Or about an ambitious young lawyer who benefited greatly from her intimate relationship with a married power broker and political fixer. And they will have a point. Reed is deputy editor of the editorial and opinion section. Twitter: @chrisreed99. Email: chris.reed@sduniontribune.com. Column archive: sdut.us/chrisreed. Advertisement Twitter: @sdutIdeas Facebook: San Diego Union-Tribune Ideas & Opinion Gavin Newsom won the governorship in part by touting his leadership on gun control as the architect of Proposition 63, a 2016 initiative that put him at loggerheads with the National Rifle Assn. Now, in his first weeks in office, Newsom has already moved to significantly reduce the number of Californians with firearms. Gun rights advocates are sounding almost nostalgic for his predecessor, fellow Democrat Jerry Brown, a gun owner who signed several far-reaching gun control measures, including a ban on the sale of long guns to those under age 21, but vetoed others. Gavin Newsom has demonstrated he has little to no understanding of firearms and firearms policy, said Craig J. DeLuz, a spokesman for the Firearms Policy Coalition, which has opposed many gun bills. For him this is a PR issue, meaning he will probably sign whatever is put in front of him. He wants to run for president. Advertisement In his state budget plan released days after he took the oath of office, Newsom proposed adding $5.6 million about 50% more than in Browns budget this year to seize guns from thousands more people who are ineligible to possess firearms because of criminal convictions or mental illness. The governor is also asking lawmakers to beef up a California Department of Justice unit responsible for enforcing laws on gun sales. And his budget also proposes more money for the Firearms Violence Research Center at UC Davis. At the same time, state lawmakers have cited Newsoms aggressive stance on gun control in reintroducing bills that were vetoed by Brown. Newsom made it clear that the issue would be a priority in his Jan. 7 inaugural speech, when he said there are powerful forces arrayed against us, including a gun lobby willing to sacrifice the lives of our children to line their pockets. The gun-seizure program has been underfunded in the past, resulting in a backlog of some 10,000 people who bought firearms but were later charged and convicted of a felony or found to have a serious mental illness that disqualifies them from being armed. The additional money to seize firearms is aimed at addressing longstanding issues with the gun-confiscation effort, said Jesse Melgar, a spokesman for Newsom, who added, as governor, he will continue to be a loud voice for common-sense gun safety. Newsom was the official proponent in 2016 of Proposition 63, an initiative that outlawed large ammunition magazines, mandated background checks for those who buy bullets and levied fines for failing to report when guns are stolen or lost. It also created a process for taking guns away from people when they are convicted of a felony, which puts them in the states Armed Prohibited Persons System. The system matches the names of gun buyers to a list of those who later become ineligible to own firearms because of a criminal conviction, a court judgment of serious mental illness or being subject to a domestic violence restraining order. But it currently has a backlog that could be eliminated of some 10,000 people if lawmakers approve Newsoms budget request this spring. The plan would increase resources for seizing guns from those on the list, from $11.8 million to almost $17 million, allowing the state DOJ to remove guns from about 4,500 additional people. Advertisement Newsoms budget also proposes a way to save the program from a pending legal challenge that argues the system is improperly funded with fees from gun purchasers paying for it out of the states general fund. The additional funding is significant and desperately needed, said Amanda Wilcox, a leader of the California Chapters of the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence. Wilcox, who lost a daughter to gun violence, sees the budget increase as a sign that Newsom will also sign a series of recently proposed gun bills if they reach his desk later this year. We know that Gov. Newsom shares our key goal of keeping dangerous weapons out of dangerous hands and we anticipate his support of our package of gun bills this year, she said. Newsom clashed again with the NRA this week over a lawsuit that has blocked part of Proposition 63 the ban on high-capacity ammunition magazines. The NRAs California affiliate persuaded a federal judge in 2017 to prevent it from taking effect, and an appeals court upheld the preliminary injunction in July. Advertisement A ruling on the merits of the law is expected any day, said Sean Brady, an attorney who represents the California Rifle and Pistol Assn. in the case. The NRA is doing everything in its power to overturn the will of the people, Newsom said in a social media post this week. Californians took first-in-the-nation actions against gun violence, and well keep doing what it takes to keep our families and communities safe. In arguing for more action on guns, Newsom has cited a string of mass shootings, including the 2016 terrorist attack in San Bernardino that left 14 dead and 24 injured, and last years massacre at a high school in Parkland, Fla., that claimed the lives of 17 students and employees. The focus on gun control was heightened the day after Newsom was elected in November when a gunman killed 12 people at the Borderline Bar and Grill in Thousand Oaks. One day later Newsom promised action, saying California can do more and do better on gun safety, and indicated he is open to signing bills that had been vetoed in the past. Advertisement Two days after Newsoms comments, Assemblyman Phil Ting (D-San Francisco) reintroduced a bill that had been vetoed by Brown to allow teachers, employers and co-workers to seek court orders temporarily removing guns from people thought to be a danger to themselves or others. Brown said in his veto message that the Ting bill was not necessary because state law already gives law enforcement and family members authority to seek a gun violence restraining order. But Ting said others are also in a position to identify dangerous gun owners, and Newsoms election gives him new optimism. The governor has expressed interest in doing more on gun safety than the previous administration, and were hopeful he takes a second look at our proposal, Ting said. Newsoms election has given similar hope to state Sen. Anthony Portantino (D-La Canada Flintridge), who has re-introduced a measure vetoed by Brown that would limit Californians to buying no more than one rifle or shotgun a month. Advertisement Brown vetoed similar bills, including in 2015 when he said, Given Californias stringent laws restricting gun ownership, I do not believe this additional restriction is needed. Portantino said his revived proposal is needed to prevent straw purchases, in which an eligible owner buys many guns and then sells them to people not authorized to possess firearms. In one recent year, sales to individuals ranging from five to 54 long guns per month occurred on 1,787 occasions totaling 12,090 guns, he said. California may be a Western state, but its no longer the Wild West, Portantino said. A person shouldnt be able to walk into a gun store and come out with an arsenal. This issue was just too important to not give it a fresh try with a new governor in office. Coverage of California politics Advertisement patrick.mcgreevy@latimes.com Twitter: @mcgreevy99 San Diego Assemblyman Brian Maienschein, who has served in the Legislature for six years, announced on Thursday that he has left the California Republican Party and re-registered as a Democrat in a move that further shrinks GOP influence in Sacramento. Donald Trump has led the Republican Party to the extreme on issues that divide our country, Maienschein said. But his leadership is not the only reason for my change in party affiliation. I, too, have changed. The unexpected decision, announced at a brief Capitol news conference just after the Assembly floor session, boosts the membership of the chambers Democratic caucus to 61. Republicans now hold just 19 seats. Maienschein said his votes on key issues have shifted to the left as the GOP agenda moved in the opposite direction. He cited a number of issues gun control, immigration, abortion and LGBTQ rights where he said he was no longer in sync with Republicans. Advertisement Its been something thats been happening over the course of a really long time, he said when asked whether there was a single moment that led to the decision. There wasnt a way that I could continue and feel good about myself and the choices I was making to continue as a member of the Republican Party. And it was time for me to make a change. Maienschein narrowly won reelection last November against a Democratic challenger, securing a new two-year term by just 607 votes. Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon (D-Lakewood), in welcoming a former adversary turned ally, said Maienscheins views are consistent with a majority of Californians on a number of key issues. Rendon said Maienschein had always expressed values of caring, values of sharing. And those are values that are Democratic values.. Assemblyman Chad Mayes (R-Yucca Valley), a former GOP leader in the chamber who last year launched a political action committee to elect more centrist Republicans, wrote on Twitter that he was not surprised by the decision. Hes a great legislator that represents his district well, Mayes wrote. Im sure this decision did not come easy for him. He didnt leave the Republican Party, the party left him. Others were far less complimentary. Assembly Republican Leader Marie Waldron of Escondido, whose own district sits just north of Maienscheins, took aim at the former Republicans motives for leaving the party. Its unfortunate that Brians takeaway from his extremely close reelection was that his political future depended on becoming a turncoat, Waldron said in a written statement. Unfortunately some people run for office simply because they want a job, regardless of political philosophy. It appears that Brian falls into this category. Maienschein, 49, served on the San Diego City Council for eight years, before his time in the Assembly. He has also worked for the United Way of San Diego on homelessness issues in the city. Advertisement His Assembly district, which stretches north of the city of San Diego to include Poway and Rancho Santa Fe, has seen voter registration slowly shifting toward Democrats. When Maienschein was first elected in 2012, Republicans held an 8-percentage-point lead among registered voters. By last years election, Democrats were a razor-thin plurality. Legislative staff said Thursday that Maienschein is the fifth member of the Assembly to change parties while in office since 1995. It is also not the first time the San Diego region has seen one of its Assembly members have a political change of heart. Maienschein represents some of the same communities as did Nathan Fletcher, a former Republican who became an independent in 2012 and later a Democrat. Fletcher was elected to the San Diego County Board of Supervisors in November. john.myers@latimes.com Follow @johnmyers on Twitter, sign up for our daily Essential Politics newsletter and listen to the weekly California Politics Podcast Pharmacies had combined revenue of approximately $6 million in fiscal year 2018 and are cash flow positive* Over 8,000 square feet of combined pharmacy square footage New medical clinic opportunity within larger pharmacy VANCOUVER, British Columbia, Jan. 24, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Premier Health Group (CSE: PHGI, OTCQB: PHGRF, Frankfurt: 6PH) (the Company or Premier Health), a Company focused on developing innovative approaches that combine human skill based expertise with emerging technologies for the healthcare industry, announced today that it is moving forward with a binding Letter of Intent (LOI) to acquire two Metro Vancouver based pharmacies. The pharmacies were cash flow positive and had combined annual revenue of over $6 million for the fiscal year ended May 31, 2018.* Premier Health expects the acquisition to close in or about Q2 2019. We are very excited about this opportunity to acquire two well-run and profitable pharmacies. As part of our patient centric model, fill and fulfillment is a major component of our telemedicine app. We are also pleased to have the pharmacies key management team, with over 20 years experience managing pharmacies, come on board to continue running the operations. We look forward to working together to improve fulfillment for our rapidly growing patient base, said Dr. Essam Hamza, CEO of Premier. In addition, with one of the pharmacies occupying a space of over 6000 square feet, we have a potential opportunity for a brand-new medical clinic expansion. Under the terms of the LOI, in consideration for the pharmacies, Premier will assume the net liabilities of the pharmacies estimated at $2.5 million and pay to the vendors an estimated $4.05 million as follows: (i) $1.3 in cash, (ii) $2.5 million in common shares (Consideration Shares) of Premier, based on the volume weighted average trading price of the shares for the ten (10) days prior to execution of the definitive agreement (the VWAP), and (iii) $0.25 million in performance warrants of Premier, at a price per warrant equal to the VWAP. Each warrant will vest into one share without any payment on satisfaction of certain milestones. Each share issued on closing will be subject to certain contractual restrictions on trading for a period of up to twenty-two (22) months. The acquisition is subject to various closing conditions, including execution of a definitive share purchase agreement, financing, receipt of any required exchange approvals and receipt of certain third-party consents. * Based on the unaudited financial statements of the pharmacies for the fiscal years ended May 31, 2018. ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS Dr. Essam Hamza, MD" Chief Executive Officer About Premier Health Premier Health is a Canadian company that is strategically poised to take advantage of business opportunities in the global health care industry. We are developing innovative health care approaches that combine human skill-based expertise with emerging technologies, with the goal of setting the gold standard for services in locations of interest worldwide. Premier Healths subsidiary, HealthVue is focused on developing proprietary technology to deliver quality healthcare through the combination of connected primary care clinics with telemedicine and artificial intelligence (AI). We currently have an ecosystem of over 100,000 active patients and have plans to rapidly increase that number both domestically and internationally. The HealthVue team has a strong track record of successfully creating value in healthcare and technology enterprises. The Management team has deep clinical, financial and operational expertise and a passion for improving healthcare for all patients. Cautionary Statements This news release contains forward-looking statements that are based on Premier Health's expectations, estimates and projections regarding its business and the economic environment in which it operates, including with respect to receipt of exchange approval and third-party consents, the availability of financing on terms acceptable to Premier Health, the closing of the acquisition, and the expected timing thereof, and Premier Health's expectations regarding business expansion opportunities and the current management team. Although Premier Health believes the expectations expressed in such forward-looking statements are based on reasonable assumptions, such statements are not guarantees of future performance and involve risks and uncertainties that are difficult to control or predict. Therefore, actual outcomes and results may differ materially from those expressed in these forward-looking statements and readers should not place undue reliance on such statements. These forward-looking statements speak only as of the date on which they are made, and Premier Health undertakes no obligation to update them publicly to reflect new information or the occurrence of future events or circumstances, unless otherwise required to do so by law. The Canadian Securities Exchange does not accept responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION CONTACT: Premier Health Group Inc. www.mypremierhealth.com Email: investors@mypremierhealth.com President Trump made a rare public retreat Wednesday after trying to defy Speaker Nancy Pelosis request that he delay delivering his State of the Union address in the House next week until the government is reopened. Trump began the day on offense, sending Pelosi a letter saying he intended to give the nationally televised speech on location as planned, despite her recommendation. The speaker quickly countered with a blunt refusal, making explicit what she had previously sought to convey more diplomatically. The House will not consider a concurrent resolution authorizing the Presidents State of the Union address in the House Chamber until government has opened, she wrote him. For a few hours, their conflicting statements threatened to escalate what already has been an acrimonious, month-old standoff over Trumps demand for a border wall into a balance-of-powers showdown between the heads of the executive and legislative branches. Advertisement But after a brief stare-down, Trump blinked. A visibly frustrated president said he would find some alternative to a speech in the House chamber before members of Congress, the Supreme Court, military leaders and foreign diplomats. Nancy Pelosi or Nancy, as I call her she doesnt want to know the truth, Trump said to reporters at the White House. I think thats a great blotch on the great country we all love. A speakers authority over the House is such that the president picked a fight he probably couldnt win when he sent his letter. There are no security concerns regarding the State of the Union address, Trump had written her, contradicting her reason for recommending postponement. Referring to her initial invitation on Jan. 3, he added, I will be honoring your invitation to deliver important information to the people and the Congress of the United States of America regarding the State of our Union. Their back-and-forth came amid increasing frustration on Capitol Hill as the partial government shutdown over Trumps demand for $5.7 billion for a southern border wall reached 33 days with no end in sight. Democrats argue that during the shutdown, business as usual such as the annual State of the Union speech cannot be conducted. Republicans say the impasse makes it especially important to hear from the president. The Constitution does not mandate that the president deliver an annual address to the legislative branch, a tradition that began under President Franklin D. Roosevelt, but says only that he shall from time to time report to Congress on the state of the nation and recommend any measures to take. Also, the House and Senate each must approve a resolution allowing him to speak to a joint session a requirement that reflects the constitutional separation of powers between the executive and legislative branches. Historically, Congress has jealously guarded its prerogatives. Advertisement Pelosi controls the chamber and has the authority to shut off the lights or the television cameras or potentially even have Trump physically blocked from entering the House. The speaker controls the House chamber and thats lights, security, locked doors, cameras, audience, said Rep. Gerald E. Connolly (D-Va.). We are a separate but coequal branch of government. We are not an extension of the executive office. I would hope Mr. Trump doesnt test that constitutional principle. Such a standoff between a speaker and president would have been unprecedented. One of Pelosis Democratic allies issued a warning to Trump on the issue: No one in America should underestimate Nancy DAlesandro Pelosi, said Rep. Hakeem Jeffries of New York. Trump, asked earlier about Pelosis response during an unrelated event at the White House, said, Im not surprised. Its really a shame whats happening with the Democrats. Theyve become radicalized. Advertisement In his letter, Trump referred to Pelosis initial Jan. 3 invitation to speak on Jan. 29, while ignoring her Jan.16 follow-up message requesting that, given the ongoing shutdown, he either postpone the annual address or submit his remarks in writing. I look forward to seeing you on the evening of January 29th in the chamber of the House of Representatives, Trump wrote. It would be so very sad for our Country if the State of the Union were not delivered on time, on schedule and, very importantly, on location! By late afternoon, after Pelosi had rebuffed him, Trump seemed resigned to finding an alternative venue or perhaps not giving a speech at all. Well do something in the alternative, he told reporters. Well be talking to you about that at a later date. One possible option: West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice, a Republican ally, said that he has invited Trump to deliver the speech from the state Capitol in Charleston, in a state full of people who love their country. Advertisement As Trump groused to reporters about Pelosis decision, he repeatedly mischaracterized her position, asserting that she canceled his address when she proposed to postpone it. She just went out and said, Lets cancel for the first time in the history of our country Lets cancel the State of the Union address, he said. And its a disgrace. Trump also claimed that the impasse is having a political toll for Democrats. Whats going on in that party is shocking, he said. I know many people that were Democrats and theyre switching over right now, theyre switching over quickly. In fact, recent polls show the shutdown hurting the president. His approval rating dropped 8 percentage points in the last month, to 34% from 42% in December, according to a survey for the Associated Press and NORC Center for Public Affairs Research. Advertisement That poll and others show that the shutdown and Trumps proposed wall are unpopular with a majority of Americans, and that he gets significantly more blame than Democrats for the impasse. A survey for CBS News showed that by a 71%-to-28% margin, Americans say a border wall is not worth shuttering the government. The latest from Washington Jerry Brown may be out of elected office, but he has no intention of exiting public life. On Thursday he launched the newest phase of his career in signature style standing before a giant clock in Washington to warn that the world lies dangerously close to catastrophe. The former California governor renewed his crusade for nuclear disarmament and climate action at an event hosted by the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, which unveiled the latest setting of its iconic Doomsday Clock, the hands of which sit at two minutes to midnight, a warning that the world is as close to nuclear Armageddon and climate disaster as it has ever been. The event provided a reminder that much of the work Brown and his allies have done over decades of fighting climate change and pursuing nuclear disarmament has been undermined or reversed by the Trump administration. Advertisement It was also a springboard for Brown, now the executive chairman of the Bulletin, to jump into a new phase of advocacy, attacking the administrations denial of climate change, which has helped keep emissions creeping upward, and its erratic policies toward nuclear arms including disavowing the Iran nuclear deal which have led to deep worries about proliferation. The blindness and stupidity of the politicians and their consultants is truly shocking in the face of nuclear catastrophe, Brown said. We know that thousands of these weapons on high alert could be launched by mistake. We are almost like travelers on the Titanic, seeing the iceberg up ahead but enjoying the elegant dining and the music. The danger and probability is mounting that there will be some kind of nuclear incident that will kill millions, if not initiating exchanges that will kill billions, he declared. Last year, the Bulletin set its 72-year-old clock at 11:58, and this year kept that gloomy judgment in place. The lack of movement was a warning from the scientists and policymakers on the Bulletins Science and Security Board that the outlook for human civilization remains precarious. The last time the clock was this close to doomsday was in 1953, when the United States and the Soviet Union tested their first thermonuclear weapons. Its a state as worrisome as the most dangerous times of the Cold War, a state that features a constantly shifting landscape of simmering disputes that keep the world unsettled and multiply the chances that major military conflict will erupt, said former Secretary of Defense William J. Perry. Since serving in the Clinton administration, Perry has been outspoken in warning of the increased danger that rogue nations or terrorist groups could get ahold of a nuclear device and detonate it in the United States. The Bulletin warned the planet has entered a period of prolonged instability it calls the new abnormal, where the caustic political environment, acceleration of disinformation and cyber-warfare and lack of attention to the climate and nuclear proliferation crises have put civilization on an unsustainable path. Brown said he planned to spend his next years traveling the nation and the world in a campaign to change course. He placed blame across party lines, calling out Democrats for their hostility to dialogue with Russia. Yes, the Russians have plenty of faults and sins, but we, too, have to look ourselves in the mirror, and we are not perfect, he said. Lets talk to [Vladimir] Putin. Lets talk to anybody else who can do the kind of damage you are hearing about from this panel of nuclear scientists. Advertisement And Brown had a message for the media too, which he says too often focuses on petty Washington drama and the political horse race over the increasing dangers of nuclear annihilation and environmental collapse. You love Trumps tweets, he said. You love the leads and to get the clicks. But the final click could be a nuclear accident or mistake. More stories from Evan Halper evan.halper@latimes.com | Twitter: @evanhalper A splintered Senate voted down competing Democratic and Republican plans for ending the 35-day partial government shutdown, but the twin setbacks prompted a burst of bipartisan talks aimed at temporarily halting the longest-ever closure of federal agencies and the damage its inflicting around the country. In the first serious exchange in weeks, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., quickly called Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., to his office Thursday to explore potential next steps for solving the vitriolic stalemate. Senators from both sides floated a plan to reopen agencies for three weeks and pay hundreds of thousands of beleaguered federal workers while bargainers hunt for a deal. At the White House, President Donald Trump told reporters hed support a reasonable agreement. He suggested hed also want a prorated down payment for his long-sought border wall with Mexico but didnt describe the term. He said he has other alternatives for getting wall funding, an apparent reference to his disputed claim that he could declare a national emergency and fund the walls construction using other programs in the federal budget. At least were talking about it. Thats better than it was before, McConnell told reporters in one of the most encouraging statements heard since the shutdown began Dec. 22. Advertisement Even so, it was unclear whether the flurry would produce results. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., whose relationship with Trump seems to sour daily, told reporters a big down payment would not be a reasonable agreement. Asked if she knew how much money Trump meant, Pelosi said, I dont know if he knows what hes talking about. Schumer spokesman Justin Goodman said Democrats have made clear that they will not support funding for the wall, prorated or otherwise. Contributing to the pressure on lawmakers to find a solution was the harsh reality confronting 800,000 federal workers, who on Friday face a second two-week payday with no paychecks. Underscoring the strains, Sen. Michael Bennet, D-Colo., angrily said on the Senate floor that Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, had forced a 2013 shutdown during which people were killed in Colorado from flooding and shuttered federal agencies couldnt help local emergency workers. Moments earlier, Cruz accused Democrats of blocking a separate, doomed bill to pay Coast Guard personnel during this shutdown to score political points, adding later, Just because you hate somebody doesnt mean you should shut the government down. Thursdays votes came after Vice President Mike Pence lunched privately with GOP senators, who told him they were itching for the standoff to end, participants said. Sen. Roy Blunt, R-Mo., said their message to Pence was, Find a way forward. In an embarrassment to Trump, the Democratic proposal got two more votes Thursday than the GOP plan, even though Republicans control the chamber 53-47. Six Republicans backed the Democratic plan, including freshman Sen. Mitt Romney, R-Utah, whos clashed periodically with the president. The Senate first rejected a Republican plan reopening the government through September and giving Trump the $5.7 billion hes demanded for building segments of that wall, a project that hed long promised Mexico would finance. The 50-47 vote for the measure fell 10 shy of the 60 votes needed to succeed. Advertisement Minutes later, senators voted 52-44 for a Democratic alternative that sought to open padlocked agencies through Feb. 8 with no wall money. That was eight votes short. It was aimed at giving bargainers time to seek an accord while getting paychecks to government workers who are either working wihout pay or being forced to stay home. Flustered lawmakers said Thursdays roll calls could be a reality check that would prod the start of talks. Throughout, the two sides have issued mutually exclusive demands that have blocked negotiations from even starting: Trump has refused to reopen government until Congress gives him the wall money, and congressional Democrats have rejected bargaining until he reopens government. Thursdays votes could teach us that the leaders are going to have to get together and figure out how to resolve this, said Sen. John Thune of South Dakota, the No. 2 Senate GOP leader. He added, One way or another weve got to get out of this. This is no win for anybody. Initially, partisan potshots flowed freely. Advertisement Pelosi accused Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross of a Let them eat cake kind of attitude after he said on television that he didnt understand why unpaid civil servants were resorting to homeless shelters for food. Even as Pelosi offered to meet the president anytime, Trump stood firm, tweeting, Without a Wall it all doesnt work.... We will not Cave! As the Senate debated the two dueling proposals, McConnell said the Democratic plan would let that partys lawmakers make political points and nothing else because Trump wouldnt sign it. He called Pelosis opposition unreasonable and said, Senate Democrats are not obligated to go down with her ship. Schumer criticized the GOP plan for endorsing Trumps proposal to keep the government closed until he gets what he wants. A vote for the presidents plan is an endorsement of government by extortion, Schumer said. If we let him do it today, hell do it tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow. Advertisement McConnells engagement was viewed as a constructive sign because he has a history of helping resolve partisan standoffs. For weeks, hed let Trump and Democrats try reaching an accord and, until Thursday, had barred any votes on legislation Trump would not sign. In consultation with their Senate counterparts, House Democrats were preparing a new border security package that might be rolled out Friday. Despite their pledge to not negotiate until agencies reopened, their forthcoming proposal was essentially a counteroffer to Trump. Pelosi expressed some optimism that things could break loose pretty soon in a closed-door meeting with other Democrats on Wednesday evening, said Rep. John Yarmuth, D-Ky. The Democratic package was expected to include $5.7 billion, the same amount Trump wants for his wall, but it would be used instead for fencing, technology, personnel and other measures. In a plan the rejected Senate GOP plan mirrored, Trump on Saturday proposed to reopen government if he got his wall money. He also proposed to revamp immigration laws, including new restrictions on Central American minors seeking asylum in the U.S. and temporary protections for immigrants who entered the country illegally as children. At a panel discussion held by House Democrats on the effects of the shutdown, union leaders and former Homeland Security officials said they worried about the long-term effects. Advertisement We will be lucky to get everybody back on the job without a crisis to respond to, said Tim Manning, a former Federal Emergency Management Agency official. AP Congressional Correspondent Lisa Mascaro and AP writers Catherine Lucey, Laurie Kellman, Kevin Freking and Matthew Daly contributed to this report. Dr. John Mendelsohn, a pioneering oncologist who helped UC San Diego develop one of the nations top cancer research and treatment centers and found powerful new ways to fight the pernicious disease, died in Houston on Jan. 7. He was 82. He was killed by the very malady he spent nearly 60 years battling in labs and hospitals cancer. Specifically, he passed away from glioblastoma, an aggressive form of cancer, according to the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, where he was president emeritus. Mendelsohn also spent part of his career as a scientist and administrator at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York, where he helped develop such important drugs as cetuximab (marketed as Erbitux), which is used to treat head, neck and colorectal cancer. But many of his colleagues and friends best remember Mendelsohn for the cancer center that he created at UC San Diego, less than a decade after the university opened its doors. Advertisement People used to have to leave the city to get good cancer treatment, said Ivor Royston, a La Jolla oncologist and venture capitalist. Thats no longer necessary because of the cancer center John built. The Ohio-born, Harvard-trained Mendelsohn joined the UC San Diego faculty in 1970, just two years after the campus began enrolling students in its new medical school. He immersed himself in research, and in planning the cancer center, which opened in Hillcrest in 1978. He was founding director of the center, which quickly became designated as a National Cancer Institute cancer center, positioning the program to better compete for research money. It proved to be a pivotal moment; funding soared and has continued to remain high, enabling the program to diversify and grow. In 2005, the university created the Moores Cancer Center (MCC) in La Jolla, which brought the universitys cancer research and treatment programs together under one roof. In just the past two years, MCC has brought in almost $578 million in research funding. During his years in San Diego, Mendelsohn also developed a reputation for spotting talented people and hiring them. His recruits included Royston, who co-founded San Diego Countys first biotech company in 1978. Royston strongly believed that scientists needed to speed up the process of transforming scientific discoveries into new drugs, tests or therapies. This bench to bedside mindset helped Royston find ways of using synthetic antibodies in medical diagnostic tests and, later, the creation of therapeutic drugs.. Mendelsohn shared Roystons mindset, and his interest in the emerging field of synthetic antibodies, which also are known as monoclonal antibodies. Advertisement In simple terms, antibodies are gatekeepers that work to rid the body of potentially harmful bacteria, parasites, fungi and viruses. Mendelsohn teamed up with UC San Diego biologist Gordon Sato and developed synthetic antibodies that would attack cancer cells. Its extremely difficult work; scientists often fail in their efforts to create antibodies that kill bad things without damaging or destroying good things. Their goal was to essentially neutralize proteins that help cancer spread. Speaking metaphorically, Mendelsohn told the New York Times in 2004, We just thought, Lets stick a piece of chewing gum in our lock so the key cant get in. Advertisement The painstaking research succeeded, helping lead to the development of cetuximab. Synthetic antibodies also have been used to created other important cancer drugs, incuding Avastin and Herceptin, as well as Humira, which is primarily used to treat arthritis. Mendelsohns work helped put us on the map, said Scott Lippman, director of Moores Cancer Center. He was a driving force. Relentless. Enthusiastic. Relentlessly enthusiastic. Go for it was his mantra, and he had a way of looking over the horizon, anticipating what would or should come next. Advertisement His bench to bedside thinking would influence UC San Diegos decision earlier this decade to construct a massive translational medicine research center next to the Jacobs Medical Center in La Jolla. Mendelsohn left UC San Diego in 1985 to lead the department of medicine at Memorial Sloan Kettering, a center thats helped develop effective drugs to fight such things as melanoma and lymphoma. He made another move in 1996, becoming president of MD Anderson, the renowned cancer center at the University of Texas. At the time, MD Anderson was experiencing deep financial problems and budget cuts seemed imminent. But by the time he stepped down in 2011, the cancer center had become one of the largest, most heavily funded, and most respected centers of its kind in the world. Advertisement Mendelsohn was a visionary innovator, both in science and as a founder and leader of major cancer centers said Razelle Kurzrock, senior deputy director of clinical science at Moores Cancer Center. He listened and was compassionate, but he made his own decisions, and he seemed to be able to see the future. In his last decade, he was at the forefront of precision medicine. His leadership transformed cancer care. MD Anderson said in a statement that Mendelsohn is survived by his wife, Anne, their sons Andrew and his wife, Tina, of London, England; Eric and his wife, Isabel, of Summit, New Jersey; and Jeffrey of San Francisco; and eight grandchildren. Two men who admitted they had fired at sheriffs deputies during a car chase through residential neighborhoods in Vista a little more than a year ago were sentenced to prison Wednesday. Elmer Escatel, 25, and Ixcauatzin Morales, 21, had pleaded guilty in September to assault on a peace officer and negligent discharge of a firearm in connection with the incident, which happened shortly after midnight Nov. 22, 2017. During the car chase, Escatal fired an AR-15 rifle shooting more than 30 rounds at sheriffs deputies, Deputy District Attorney Keith Watanabe has previously said. Deputies did not fire back. Advertisement As the shooter, Escatel was sentenced to 12 years in prison. Morales, who drove the red pickup that deputies chased that night, was sentenced to five years, four months in prison, Watanabe said Wednesday. The deputies were aware of, and had agreed to, the sentences when the plea deals were struck last year, he said. Watanabe said that the families of the two men met with and apologized to the deputies who had dodged bullets during the chase. The deputies, the prosecutor said, accepted their apologies. He said the deputies believe the sentence will adequately punish the defendants but still allow them a chance at rehabilitation. Were thankful that the victim deputy sheriffs were not struck or injured by this dangerous crime, Watanabe said in an email. Our law enforcement officers have a hard enough job without having to worry about being shot at. They deserve the utmost protection. We hope this sentence sends a message that this dangerous behavior will not be tolerated. Last year, Watanabe said the men had been drinking heavily before the shooting spree. The early morning chase followed reports that a gunman had shot at two homes in North Vista. The bullets hit a parked Mercedes, shredded plants and tore into a fence. Advertisement As patrol deputies were investigating that matter, they heard shots in alley on East California Avenue. They spotted a red truck and gave chase. Over the next mile and a half, a gunman fired upwards of 30 shots from the truck. Deputies soon located the red pickup parked at an apartment complex on Meadowlake Drive, not far off East Vista Way. A witness saw the trio run into an apartment, the prosecutor has said. Three men in the apartment were arrested after a stand-off. A search of a storage area turned up an AR-15 rifle and two shotguns, Watanabe said. Advertisement Prosecutors initially charged the third man but later dismissed the charges against him after finding evidence that he had been asleep in back of the truck at the time of the shooting. teri.figueroa@sduniontribune.com (760) 529-4945 Advertisement Twitter: @TeriFigueroaUT Sweetwater High School was briefly put into secure campus status early Thursday after a student reported seeing a classmate with a weapon, which turned out to be a pellet gun. National City police responded to the campus around 8 a.m. after a student told school officials a classmate had brought some kind of weapon to school, said National City police Lt. Robert Rounds. The school went into secure campus, during which teachers kept students in classrooms behind locked doors and continued with instruction, while school officials identified where the student was located, said Sweetwater Union High School District spokesman Manuel Rubio. Rubio said the student was removed from class and a pellet gun was found inside a bag or a backpack. Advertisement Rounds said it was a pistol-style pellet gun. The student, a ninth-grader, was detained and later released to his parents. Police will submit a report to the District Attorneys Office, which will determine whether criminal charges will be filed. Parents will be receiving an emailed letter from the schools principal about the incident, he said. Pellet guns and similar items are not allowed on campus. Nothing that looks like, simulates or can be potentially a threat to any other student is allowed, Rubio said. Advertisement Twitter: @karenkucher (619) 293-1350 karen.kucher@sduniontribune.com Advertisement UPDATES: 10:55 a.m.: This article was updated with additional details from National City police. This article was originally published at 10:10 a.m. National City police pulled over and arrested a suspect on Wednesday who they said had pointed a handgun at another motorist in a road-rage incident a few days earlier. With guns drawn and a police dog pulling at his leash, officers arrested the 28-year-old man on East Plaza Boulevard, east of Interstate 805, after they followed him from his home in San Diego, National City Lt. Greg Seward told OnScene TV. The man was being held in county jail on suspicion of making criminal threats and assault with a deadly weapon. He was being held in lieu of $50,000 bail. Seward said the suspect was sought in connection with a road-rage incident around 5 p.m Saturday in National City during which a man pointed a handgun at another driver. Advertisement The victim reported he was at a traffic signal when a driver behind him began to honk after the light turned green. He didnt move fast enough for the guy, Seward said. The suspect pulled alongside the other car on the drivers side and produced a handgun, which he pointed at the driver, Seward said. After detectives identified the suspect, Seward said, they followed him from his home to National City, where they made the hot stop arrest. Seward said officers found a replica handgun inside the mans vehicle. Video taken at the scene showed a police official unzipping a black case with a gun inside. Twitter: @karenkucher Advertisement (619) 293-1350 karen.kucher@sduniontribune.com A robber aimed a pistol at a worker in a City Heights Metro PCS store and demanded money Wednesday evening, San Diego police said. The worker opened the register and handed money to the gunman, who then left, police Officer Robert Heims said. Police were called about 5:20 p.m. to the store, which offers prepaid internet carrier service for cellphones, on University Avenue near 35th Street. No one was injured. Advertisement Witnesses told police the robber was a black man, possibly 20 to 30 years old, 200 pounds, with curly hair. He wore a gray hat, dark sweater and blue jeans. pauline.repard@sduniontribune.com Twitter: @pdrepard A smash-and-grab robbery at a jewelry store in San Carlos last weekend appeared to be unrelated to two similar incidents in recent weeks at other San Diego jewelry stores, police said this week. About 1:15 p.m. Saturday, three men in dark hoodies and with their faces covered walked into San Carlos Jewelers on Lake Murray Boulevard near Navajo Road and started smashing display cases, San Diego police said. When the owner came out to check on the commotion, one of the men pointed a gun and told her to get on the ground. The thieves then continued breaking cases and grabbing jewelry. They headed west when they left the store. Advertisement According to Crime Stoppers, all three thieves wore dark hooded sweatshirts. At least two had guns. Authorities released photos of the robbers, but its difficult to make out their features or any other distinguising characteristics. Police Lt. Martha Sainz said the weekend robbery does not appear to be linked to smash-and-grab robberies at two Jared jewelry stores the first in Mission Valley in December, the second in Carmel Mountain Ranch earlier this month. San Diego Crime Stoppers is also offering a reward of up to $1,000 for information that leads to an arrest in the Saturday heist . Anyone with information on the identify or location of any of the suspect was asked to call the police departments Robbery Unit at (619) 531-2299. Tipsters who wish to remain anonymous can call Crime Stoppers at (888) 580-8477 or go to sdcrimestoppers.org. Suspect 1, left, and Suspect 2 (Photos courtesy San Diego Crime Stoppers) Suspect 3 (Photo courtesy San Diego Crime Stoppers) teri.figueroa@sduniontribune.com Advertisement (760) 529-4945 Twitter: @TeriFigueroaUT Dubai, United Arab Emirates, Jan. 24, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The University are pleased to announce the partnership with Scottish and British SME corporations, public sector organisations, and innovation centers. An international digital construction trade delegation was hosted at the Dubai campus in order to exchange knowledge, develop professional training programmes and to form collaborative research and development funding opportunities. The partnerships in the construction industry include several highly prestigious organisations in private, public, academic partners and government authorities. Heriot-Watt Dubai are committed to respond to the growing demand of highly skilled professionals within digital construction technologies. This knowledge development is to promote the status of the UAE as a leading international hub of digital technology and innovative construction building and management practices. The delegation offers a number of opportunities which coincide with the regions National Strategy for Advanced Innovation. Heriot-Watt Dubai will be taking strides in collaboration with Scottish Development International (SDI), an international arm of the Scottish Government who aim to develop Scotland as a gateway to wider global markets. This is in order to create partnerships with local and regional organisations across the construction sector that can benefit from the latest market ready products, research-led innovations and disruptive digital technologies. The partnership will ultimately match necessary academic competencies with UK/UAE requirements to further develop knowledge exchange products, graduate apprenticeships, internships and employment. The structure of the delegation includes three core themes to create a Centre of Excellence which include Health and Safety, Sustainability and Enabling Technologies (AR/V/Robotics). These themes capture all cognate areas of digital construction technologies, including the opportunity to identify collaborative projects in each of the three themes. Roger Griffiths, Business Development Executive at Heriot-Watt University Dubai says: I am delighted to have welcomed a high caliber of industry officials to our symposium. We aim to channel our expertise and knowledge in line with the National Strategy, by forming strong partnerships with industry to enhance the future of knowledge and business growth in the region. Heriot-Watt University is The Times & The Sunday Times International University of the Year 2018 Founded in 1821, Heriot-Watt is a leader in ideas and solutions. With campuses and students across the entire globe we span the world, delivering innovation and educational excellence in business, engineering, design and the physical, social and life sciences. This email is generated from the Heriot-Watt University Group, which includes: Heriot-Watt University, a Scottish charity registered under number SC000278 Edinburgh Business School a Charity Registered in Scotland, SC026900. Edinburgh Business School is a company limited by guarantee, registered in Scotland with registered number SC173556 and registered office at Heriot-Watt University Finance Office, Riccarton, Currie, Midlothian, EH14 4AS Heriot- Watt Services Limited (Oriam), Scotland's national performance centre for sport. Heriot-Watt Services Limited is a private limited company registered is Scotland with registered number SC271030 and registered office at Research & Enterprise Services Heriot-Watt University, Riccarton, Edinburgh, EH14 4AS. Attachment San Diego police were investigating a shooting after a man with a gunshot wound to his foot showed up at a hospital early Thursday. The victim, believed to be in his early 40s, went to Sharp Memorial Hospital shortly after 3:30 a.m. seeking treatment for the gunshot wound. He told officers he had been shot by a man wearing a black mask as he was walking on El Cajon Boulevard near 42nd Street in City Heights, police Sgt. Michael Stirk said. The gunman fled after shooting the victim and no further description was available, Stirk said. Advertisement Officers went to that location, but were unable to find anything related to the shooting. The victim then told police he thought he had been shot near El Cajon Boulevard and 47th Street, but officers again found nothing at the scene. The mans injury was not considered life-threatening, said police Officer Sarah Foster. City News Service contributed to this report. Twitter: @karenkucher Advertisement (619) 293-1350 karen.kucher@sduniontribune.com Gov. Gavin Newsom has reversed the decision by a state parole board to release Jesus Cecena, who was convicted of murder as a teenager in 1979 for gunning down San Diego police Officer Archie Buggs. The decision made Friday marks the fourth time in the past five years that the Governors Office has reversed the decision by parole board members to allow the 57-year-old Cecena out of prison. Newsoms predecessor Gov. Jerry Brown overturned parole board rulings granting Cecena release three times, in 2014, 2016 and 2017. Cecena shot Buggs to death during a routine traffic stop the evening of Nov. 4, 1978. After being convicted of first-degree murder at a trial the following year, he was sentenced to life without parole a sentence that was modified to life with parole in 1982 after an appellate court ruled that juveniles could not be sentenced to no-parole terms. Between 1986 and 2012 he was denied parole 14 times, but in 2014 citing his turnaround in prison where he disavowed gang life, became a devout Christian and model prisoner the board cleared him for release. Under California law, parole grants to any inmate serving a life sentence are automatically reviewed by the governor, who can affirm, reverse, modify, order a new hearing with a larger panel, or take no action on the grant. Advertisement In his three-page letter, Newsom echoed many of the same arguments Brown used to keep Cecena locked up. Those include the conclusion that Newsom does not believe Cecena has sufficiently explained his callous actions on the night of this crime. The governor noted that Cecena had said at parole hearings he was fearful the night of the shooting that, after being stopped by Buggs, his father would find out he had been drinking, using drugs and was in a gang. Cecena had a fraught relationship with his father and said he was afraid of what would happen to him. Newsom rejected that reasoning. Many children have strained relationships with their parents and fear disappointing them, but exceptionally few would respond to these feelings by intentionally murdering a uniformed police officer, he wrote. He also said Cecena has continued to insist he fired repeatedly and quickly at Buggs, but has denied that he deliberately fired the final shot into Buggs head at close range, execution-style. Newsom said that both trial testimony and evidence from the San Diego County District Attorneys Office contradict that. Prosecutors say Buggs had a single, close-range wound in his head and there was blood and other evidence on the patrol car next to where Buggs fell. Mr. Cecenas unwillingness to accept responsibility for the true nature of his attack on Officer Buggs further indicates he is unsuitable for parole, Newsom wrote. In a news release, District Attorney Summer Stephan welcomed Newsoms decision. Her office and the San Diego Police Officers Association along with other law enforcement groups had pressured the governor to keep Cecena in prison. This defendant killed an on-duty police officer in cold blood and in spite of his claims to the contrary, he still lacks honest insight and remorse into this heinous crime, Stephan said in the statement. We appreciate the Governors thoughtful analysis and ultimate decision to reverse parole and safeguard the public. Cecenas parole attorney, Tracy Lum, who has convinced the board to grant release four times now, did not respond to an email requesting comment on Wednesday. However, she said in an interview last year that Cecena has done everything required of him inside prison and deserves to be released. Advertisement Psychiatric exams have concluded he is at low risk of committing another crime. Ive worked with thousands of inmates, Lum said. He is the most suitable inmate for parole now walking the yard. She also said that this time around may be Cecenas best chance for release because Brown, who had championed reform of the criminal justice system including massive changes to prisons and parole, was at the end of his term and his career in public life. Making the politically perilous decision of releasing a police officers killer could be easier for the outgoing and retiring governor. The parole board made its decision in August. Under state rules, that decision was reviewed internally by corrections officials for four months, then sent to the governor. It landed on Browns desk by Dec. 23. He had 30 days to decide what to do, but did not do so before leaving office Jan. 7. Advertisement Jack Schaeffer, president of the San Diego Police Officers Association, said Newsom made the correct decision. No one wins when the worst of the worst get let out, he said Wednesday. Cecena is next up for a parole hearing in February 2020. In a phone interview from Valley State Prison last summer, he said he was remorseful and ashamed of killing Buggs, and the pain and grief he caused the officers families and colleagues. He also said he did not execute Buggs with a final shot. Advertisement I could have said that I fired that final shot to his head, that would clear up a lot of this, he said. But that is not what happened. I am not going to change my story to make it their truth. Over the years, Cecena has completed training for jobs, received consistently laudatory assessments by prison officials and been active in prison programs. Remarkably, he has not had a disciplinary offense since 1987. That was when a religious conversion turned around his life. He dropped out of a Mexican prison gang he had joined when arriving in custody at that time and never went back, at some personal cost: at a parole hearing in 2017 it was revealed he has been stabbed at least twice in retaliation by the gang and was in protective custody. In the interview, Cecena said he wanted to be released he has married and said he would not return to San Diego, even though he has family here. He also said he was prepared to remain inside, where he participates in a variety of programs warning youths against crime and another in which he meets with spouses of murdered police officers. At this point in my life, Im not doing things for the board and not for myself, he said. Im doing things to help others and enable me to continue to be a good person. Whatever the governor decides is not going to stop me from being on the path I am on today. Advertisement Advertisement Twitter: @gregmoran greg.moran@sduniontribune.com A 27-year-old woman who was gravely injured after fighting with her younger brother last Friday has died in the hospital, Escondido police said. Police said Laura Elizabeth Bautista died around 9:40 p.m. Tuesday at Palomar Hospital. The victims 25-year-old brother, Juan Enrique Bautista, had been arrested earlier on suspicion of attempted murder and was scheduled to be arraigned Thursday. Police said the fight occurred around 12:45 a.m. on East 15th Avenue near South Juniper Street. Emergency crews responding to a call of a woman in need of medical attention found the woman unresponsive with severe, life-threatening injuries, police said. Advertisement Based on a preliminary investigation, officers learned that Bautista and his sister were involved in a fight stemming from a family argument and arrested him. Friends of the victim set up a GoFundMe page that had raised more than $1,000 as of midday Thursday. Jasmine Rocha wrote on the website that Laura Bautista was the mother of three children and said funds donated would assist her family. An undated photo posted on the account showed two young children in Santa hats and Bautista carrying a baby wearing a pink knit cap. Twitter: @karenkucher Advertisement (619) 293-1350 karen.kucher@sduniontribune.com Stronger protections for renters and better economic opportunities for low-income residents and minorities are among the priorities San Diego City Council President Georgette Gomez wants to set for 2019. Gomez unveiled a proposed work plan for the year Wednesday that also includes recruiting more minorities and local residents to the citys police force, expanding homeless outreach efforts and keeping trash out of local waterways. The plan, which the council is scheduled to discuss Tuesday, also calls for innovative housing solutions, bolstering council staff and expanding efforts to secure grants. Gomez is sending a message with the plan, the first of its kind for a council president, that the council will be setting the agenda for San Diego instead of Mayor Kevin Faulconer. That became possible in November when Gomez and the councils other Democrats secured a 6-3 majority that allows them to override vetoes by Faulconer, who is a Republican. Advertisement Were supposed to be focused on creating policies, Gomez said by phone Wednesday afternoon. Were not supposed to be just reacting to what the mayor is putting forward. I really want to start shifting us to a stronger policy arm of government. Gomez said that setting priority goals for the year will help foster the strong council form of government she envisions. Faulconer, who set his own goals for the year in his annual State of the City address last week, declined to comment on the Gomez work plan. The priorities she is proposing fit with her commitment to social justice and greater economic equity in San Diego, where she says low-income neighborhoods have been neglected. A key objective of my council presidency will be to ensure investment in under-served communities and maximize opportunities that support affordable housing and create well-paying jobs, she said. For far too long, low-income communities and communities of color have suffered from lack of infrastructure investment and have borne the brunt of environmental degradation. Gomez concedes that some of her objectives cant be achieved in just one year. It will take several years to achieve many of these efforts and our work begins today, she told her colleagues in an introduction. I look forward to hearing from you on my work plan to ensure it is aligned with your priorities for our diverse neighborhoods. Some of the goals in the plan have already been priorities of Faulconer and the council, but Gomez said the new council will likely take some different approaches to solving long-standing problems. Advertisement Examples include homelessness, where she wants a less punitive approach and more outreach efforts outside of downtown, and the citys climate action plan, where she wants more money spent on achieving its goals. Some of the goals are new priorities, such as stronger rights for tenants. We have a big tenant population in San Diego, so we need to do a bit more in that area, she said. Gomez is proposing a new rent policy for properties owned by the citys Housing Commission and creating a relocation assistance program for people displaced when low-income properties shift to market-rate rents. Advertisement On economic opportunities, Gomez wants multiple pieces of new legislation. I am going to work on a range of policies to ensure both high-quality job creation and that pathways are created for low-income workers, people of color, women, and other groups of disadvantaged workers, she said. Examples include policies ensuring people with low-incomes have equal access to city contracts, and encouraging more investment in designated areas that are blighted. On the police force, Gomez wants to recruit more minority officers and to boost accountability and transparency with greater data collection and reporting, especially on the issues of racial profiling and discriminatory policing. Advertisement In addition to accelerating efforts to implement the citys climate action plan, Gomez proposes a new approach to street sweeping focused on keeping trash and debris out of waterways, especially in low-income communities where it can cause flooding. She also wants a larger administrative staff for the council to help put the panel on equal footing with the mayor on lobbying in Sacramento and communicating the councils goals to local residents and the media. On grants, Gomez says the city must do a better job of securing state money, compared to Los Angeles and San Francisco, especially with San Diego facing significant budget deficits in coming years. Advertisement david.garrick@sduniontribune.com (619) 269-8906 Twitter:@UTDavidGarrick Attorney Cory Briggs, a frequent critic of San Diego City Hall who has won high-profile lawsuits against the city, has announced he will run for mayor in 2020. Briggs joins Councilwoman Barbara Bry and Assemblyman Todd Gloria in the race to succeed Mayor Kevin Faulconer in two years, when he must leave office because of term limits Other candidates filing papers to run for mayor so far are Tasha Williamson, an advocate for victims of police violence; Richard Hansen, Beatrice Marion, Rich Riel, Cedric Green and JErek Evans. Councilman Mark Kersey and former Police Chief Shelley Zimmerman are also potential candidates. Briggs was inspired to run last week by Faulconers annual State of the City speech, during which the mayor unveiled proposals to boost construction of affordable housing with softer regulations on parking and building heights. Advertisement Briggs said the proposals would ruin the citys neighborhoods, fail to solve the housing crisis and make developers richer. Last nights State of the City address was outrageous, Briggs said on Twitter. Using the affordable housing crisis as an excuse to remove development limits throughout the city except along the coast will only make rich developers richer while ruining all the neighborhoods and their surroundings that make San Diego a great place to live. Briggs also expressed dismay that other local leaders hadnt spoken out against the plan. I expected at least one politician to condemn the plan, point out its gross inequities, and stick up for all the hard-working San Diegans who love where they live, he said. If nobody else is gonna fight to protect San Diegos environment and our quality of life, count me in. Briggs, who says he will self-finance his campaign and not accept contributions, is also expected to focus on mismanagement at City Hall and what he has previously characterized as the fleecing of city taxpayers. Briggs, 50, has gained local prominence primarily by suing the city frequently over transparency and other issues. Briggs has lost in court many times but also has some notable victories. In 2014, a state Appeals Court ruled the citys funding plan to expand the waterfront convention center was illegal based on a lawsuit involving Briggs. The expansion has been on hold ever since. Briggs, who lives in Point Loma, was also one of the first local leaders to call for the resignation of Mayor Bob Filner in 2013 amid a sexual harassment scandal. Advertisement Most of his lawsuits are filed on behalf of the nonprofit San Diegans for Open Government. Williamson, who lives in southeastern San Diego, co-founded the San Diego Compassion Project to advocate for family members of police violence victims in the region. Williamson said on Twitter that her campaign would focus on giving more power to the citys low-income residents and neighborhood groups. People should be able to have a say! she said. Community councils will be more prevalent! Representing the people of a city shouldnt depend on your socioeconomic status! We the people can win! Advertisement Congressman Scott Peters announced last week that he wont run for mayor in 2020. Peters said it makes more sense for him to stay in Congress and try to make a difference for San Diego and the nation there. Bry, 69, was elected to the City Council in 2016 after a long career in the private sector that included founding several local high-tech companies, such as ProFlowers.com, and working as a reporter for the Los Angeles Times and other publications. Gloria, 40, served eight years on the City Council before being elected to the state Assembly in 2016. If he wins, he would be the citys first openly gay mayor. Advertisement david.garrick@sduniontribune.com (619) 269-8906 Twitter:@UTDavidGarrick Five people were gunned down Wednesday in a Florida bank by a man who barricaded himself inside the building before surrendering to a SWAT team, authorities said. Zephen Xaver, 21, called police just after noon to report that hed fired shots inside the SunTrust Bank in Sebring, in central Florida. Negotiations failed to persuade the barricaded man to leave the building. The SWAT team then entered the bank, and the gunman eventually gave up, police said. Zephen Xaver opened fire inside a Florida bank Wednesday, Jan. 23, 2019, killing several people before surrendering to a SWAT team. (AP) Todays been a tragic day in our community, Sebring Police Chief Karl Hoglund told a news conference. Weve suffered significant loss at the hands of a senseless criminal doing a senseless crime. Advertisement The identities of the victims werent immediately released, and investigators didnt offer a possible motive. 1 / 10 Sebring, Fla., police chief Karl Hoglund wipes his head as he listens to Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis speak during a news conference, on Jan. 23, 2019, in Sebring, Fla., after authorities said five people were shot and killed at a SunTrust bank branch. (Chris OMeara / AP) 2 / 10 Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis leaves a news conference with Highlands County sheriff Paul Blackman on Jan. 23, 2019, in Sebring, Fla., after authorities said five people were shot and killed at a SunTrust Bank branch. (Chris OMeara / AP) 3 / 10 Law enforcement officers stand near a Florida Department of Law Enforcement vehicle that is parked in front of SunTrust Bank branch, on Jan. 23, 2019, in Sebring, Fla., where authorities say five people were shot and killed. (Chris OMeara / AP) 4 / 10 Law enforcement officials take cover outside a SunTrust Bank branch on Jan. 23, 2019, in Sebring, Fla. Authorities say theyve arrested a man who fired shots inside the Florida bank. (The News Sun via AP) 5 / 10 A Highlands County Sheriffs SWAT vehicle is stationed out in front of a SunTrust Bank branch, on Jan. 23, 2019, in Sebring, Fla., where authorities say five people were shot and killed. (Chris OMeara / AP) 6 / 10 Law enforcement officials take cover outside a SunTrust Bank branch, Wednesday, Jan. 23, 2019, in Sebring, Fla. Authorities say theyve arrested a man who fired shots inside the Florida bank. (The News Sun via AP) 7 / 10 A Sebring, Fla., police officer stands near a Highlands County Sheriffs SWAT vehicle that is stationed in front of a SunTrust Bank branch, on Jan. 23, 2019, in Sebring, Fla., where authorities say five people were shot and killed. (Chris OMeara / AP) 8 / 10 Law enforcement officials climb out a FBI mobile command center vehicle that is parked in front of a SunTrust Bank branch on Jan. 23, 2019, in Sebring, Fla., where authorities say five people were shot and killed. (Chris OMeara / AP) 9 / 10 Law enforcement officials stand out in front of a SunTrust Bank branch on Jan. 23, 2019, in Sebring, Fla., where authorities say five people were shot and killed. (Chris OMeara / AP) 10 / 10 A Highlands County Sheriffs SWAT vehicle is stationed out in front of a SunTrust Bank branch, on Jan. 23, 2019, in Sebring, Fla., where authorities say five people were shot and killed. (Chris OMeara / AP) Gov. Ron DeSantis attended the press conference, and said the suspect is an individual who needs to face very swift and exacting justice. Florida Department of Corrections records show Xaver was hired as a trainee prison guard at Avon Park Correctional Institution on Nov. 2 and resigned Jan. 9. No disciplinary issues were reported. Hes a resident of Sebring, which is located in Highlands County about 85 miles south of Orlando. With News wire services At least five people are dead after an armed man opened fire inside a SunTrust bank in Sebring on Wednesday afternoon, prompting a standoff, authorities said. Sebring police Chief Karl Hoglund said the victims were senselessly murdered by Zephen Xaver, 21, who surrendered after a Highlands County Sheriffs Office SWAT team entered the bank. UPDATE: Police describe execution-style killings in the bank UPDATE: Officials identify two of five victims Advertisement Todays been a tragic day in our community, Hoglund said. Weve suffered a significant loss at the hands of a senseless criminal doing a senseless crime. The Highlands County Sheriffs Office released video of SunTrust bank shooting suspect Zephen Xaver being led from interviews to booking on Wednesday. Law enforcement officials said Highlands deputies and police in Sebring, about 70 miles southeast of Tampa, responded to U.S. Highway 27 about 12:30 p.m. after Xaver called and told a dispatcher he had fired shots inside the bank. Police and deputies established a perimeter but were unable to get the gunman to surrender by negotiating, authorities said. An HCSO SWAT team later entered the bank and Xaver eventually surrendered, the agency said. Investigators discovered the bodies of five victims after retaking the bank, officials said. The people of Florida stand with the community here in light of this tragic circumstance, said Gov. Ron DeSantis, who appeared alongside Hoglund and Highlands County Sheriff Paul Blackman at a press conference Wednesday afternoon. Ive asked FDLE to provide whatever resources we can at the state level to assist with the investigation and, obviously, this is an individual that needs to face very swift and exacting justice. Blackman said deputies were working alongside Sebring police to collect evidence and execute search warrants. Sebring police chief Karl Hoglund listens to Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis speak during a news conference, Wednesday, Jan. 23, 2019, in Sebring, Fla., after authorities said five people were shot and killed at a SunTrust bank branch. (Chris OMeara / AP) Advertisement He and Hoglund did not take questions from reporters but promised an update on the case Thursday morning. Hoglund asked the public to keep the victims in their prayers and thoughts. The Florida Department of Corrections said Xaver was hired as a corrections officer trainee on Nov. 2 and resigned on Jan. 9. He had no discipline history, FDOC said. An FBI mobile command unit arrived at the bank Wednesday evening to join the investigation. Meanwhile, police had wrapped up work at Xavers nicely maintained, pre-fabricated home about 4 miles from the bank. Public records and neighbors say he and his mother moved to Sebring in the fall from Plymouth, Indiana, a town south of Notre Dame University. Advertisement John Larose, who lives next door to Xavers home, said Xaver and his mother had moved in several months ago. Xaver kept to himself, but Larose said he could hear Xaver playing and yelling at video games in the middle of the night. Xaver briefly was an online student of Salt Lake City-based Stevens-Henager College. A spokeswoman for the college, Sherrie Martin, confirmed that Xaver was enrolled from September 2018 until December, when he withdrew. SunTrust Chairman and CEO Bill Rogers released a statement saying the bank is deeply saddened by the tragic shooting. We are working with officials and dedicating ourselves to fully addressing the needs of all the individuals and families involved, Rogers said. Our entire team mourns this terrible loss. Advertisement David Harris of the Sentinel staff contributed to this report. Information from The Associated Press also was used. jeweiner@orlandosentinel.com, 407-420-5171 or @JeffWeinerOS on Twitter Please consider supporting local journalism by purchasing a digital subscription to the Orlando Sentinel. Click here to get one today. Local news videos UCF head coach Josh Heupel on 2019 National Signing Day Lake Highland Prep wrestling team dominates Florida developer hopes to turn former home of Osama bin Laden's brother into lakefront apartments in west Orange Gov. Ron DeSantis' State of the State speech Florida lawmakers could reduce limitations on distilleries and allow dogs in breweries Orange teachers join statewide march for school funding Celebrity portrait murals coming to a Floyd's near you Residents ride new autonomous bus in Lake Nona First look at Disney's Galaxy's Edge in California Proposed mega-park in Horizon West could be Orange County's version of Central Park A St. Louis police officer accidentally shot and killed another officer, authorities said Thursday. The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported that the shooting happened around 1 a.m. CST when two on-duty male officers went to one of their homes during their shift. Police Chief John Hayden said during a news conference that a 24-year-old off-duty officer was shot in the chest when she stopped by the home. The male officers took her to a hospital, where she died. Mayor Lyda Krewson described the shooting as terribly sad in a tweet. No other details were immediately released, including the names of the officers or why they were at the same home when the shooting happened. Overall crime in the Carondelet neighborhood where the shooting happened has been up in recent months. Zimbabwe faces a new wave of unrest as the group representing government workers announced Wednesday that roughly 500,000 civil servants across the country will go on strike after salary negotiations failed. David Dzatsunga, secretary of the Civil Service Apex Council, said the strike will begin Friday as the southern African nations economic collapse deepens and frustration with President Emmerson Mnangagwas government grows. A crackdown on last weeks protests over a sharp rise in fuel prices continued in the courts and on the streets, where witnesses and rights groups reported abuses by the military, police and ruling party youth gangs. Mnangagwas call for national dialogue has been met with skepticism. Soldiers and police tortured and assaulted people overnight in their homes in Zimbabwes second largest city, Bulawayo, in post-protest retribution, the Zimbabwe Human Rights NGO Forum said in a statement. Advertisement A labor federation leader charged with subversion was in court along with dozens of others accused of involvement in the protests, while their lawyers accused the government of systematically denying them justice. Japhet Moyo, secretary-general of the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions, could face 20 years in prison. He is accused of inciting Zimbabweans to protest the fuel price increase by staying off the streets. Other Zimbabweans, frustrated over the long lines for fuel and other basics, demonstrated, with some looting shops in anger or desperation. The military deployed, and doctors and rights groups have documented at least 12 people killed and more than 300 wounded. Some were shot at close range. Others were pulled from hospital beds and arrested. They are probably just a fraction of the actual victims, the Zimbabwe Assn. of Doctors for Human Rights said Tuesday. Lawyers say more than 600 people have been arrested, with most of them denied bail. Those arrested, killed and wounded include ordinary citizens, including children. Some hungry Zimbabweans were picked up after venturing out in search of bread or other basics from the few shops open during the protests. The dozens in court Wednesday are accused of committing public violence. Lawyer Beatrice Mtetwa alleged a coordinated, deliberate orchestrated attempt to subvert justice. Some people were forced to stand trial without being given sufficient time to brief their lawyers, she said. We have had a pattern ... of every magistrate in different provinces doing exactly the same thing, said Mtetwa, a board member of Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights. Advertisement Responding to the presidents call for national dialogue, main opposition leader Nelson Chamisa on Tuesday called for the unconditional release of all prisoners of conscience and political detainees. In the center of the capital, Harare, and in many of its working-class and poor suburbs, armed soldiers maintained a presence and at times beat up people, according to residents, nongovernmental groups and the opposition. Zimbabwes government has provided buses with cheaper fares, and accompanied by armed soldiers, to ferry people to work. There were long lines for cooking gas and other basic items, and people elbowed one another for bread in shops that still had it in stock. A man accused of fatally shooting five women at a small-town bank in Florida had dreamed of hurting classmates in high school and had long been fascinated with killing, police and a former girlfriend said Thursday. The slayings did not appear to be part of a robbery, and Zephen Xaver had no apparent connection to the SunTrust branch or the four employees and one customer who were killed Wednesday, police said. We believe it was a random act, Sebring Police Chief Karl Hoglund said Thursday at a news conference. Aside from perhaps driving by and seeing it was a bank, we have no known evidence that he targeted this bank for any particular reason. If the gunman had driven 10 seconds farther, just one more driveway, the victims might have been Carol Davis, who manages a hair salon and spa, and her staff and customers. Advertisement He could have come here. He could have gone anywhere. It could happen anywhere, Davis said. Xaver, 21, was charged Thursday with five counts of premeditated murder. Just months ago, he moved from northern Indiana to Sebring, about 80 miles southeast of Tampa. He had recently quit his job as a prison guard trainee. From police and witness accounts, he entered the bank about 12:30 p.m. when the five women were alone. The bank stands apart along U.S. 27, a busy four-lane highway in Sebring, a tourist and retirement city of 10,000 known for an annual endurance auto race that draws some of the worlds top drivers. The victims were found lying face down, their bodies surrounded by shell casings, according to court documents. Six minutes after the attack began, Xaver called 911 and told dispatchers that he had killed everyone inside, Hoglund said. Davis said she looked out her window and saw police officers everywhere, many carrying rifles. I have never seen stuff like that except in the movies. Xaver refused to surrender and would not allow officers to reach the victims, Hoglund said. After more than an hour of negotiations, a SWAT team used an armored vehicle to break through the front doors. Xaver was found in a back office, and all the victims were dead, the chief said. On Thursday, an Indiana police department released a 2014 report in which Xaver, then 16, said he had dreams of hurting other students in a classroom. The report from the Bremen Police Department said Bremen High School Principal Bruce Jennings contacted police on Feb. 20, 2014, after Xaver reported having the dream the previous night and again during a nap at school. The report said Xavers mother agreed to take him to a behavioral health center. Police took no further action. Advertisement Authorities also released log entries of other incidents involving Xaver, including one in March 2017, when Michigan State Police advised that a girl was receiving messages from Xaver that indicated he was possibly thinking of suicide by cop and taking hostages. Alex Gerlach, who identified herself as Xavers former girlfriend, said hes long been fascinated with the idea of killing, but no one took her warnings about him seriously. For some reason, he always hated people and wanted everybody to die, Gerlach told WSBT-TV in South Bend, Indiana, near his former home in Plymouth, Indiana. He got kicked out of school for having a dream that he killed everybody in his class, and hes been threatening this for so long, and hes been having dreams about it and everything, she said. Every single person Ive told has not taken it seriously, and its very unfortunate that it had to come to this. Gerlach told The Washington Post that Xaver said he purchased a gun last week and no one thought anything of it because he had always liked guns. Advertisement Xaver had no apparent criminal record in the areas where hes lived in Indiana and Florida. Police identified three of the victims: customer Cynthia Watson, 65, and two bank employees: 55-year-old Marisol Lopez and 38-year-old Ana Pinon Willliams, a mother of seven. Tim Williams said his sister-in-law was a devout Christian and family to everyone she knew. She had recently started working at the bank, and she quickly came to love the job and her co-workers, he said. We do not know what was going on in the mind of the individual who committed this atrocious act, but we do know he was influenced by the darkness in this world, Williams said. We will not try to understand the darkness, but with Gods help we will overcome it. Advertisement Lopezs family posted a note on their door asking not to be disturbed. The Associated Press could find no contact information for Watsons family. A fourth victim was identified when her husband spoke with NBC News. Maine Montague said he and his wife, 31-year-old Jessica Montague, had a 3-year-old child. In compliance with a newly passed victims rights law in Florida, police withheld the name of the fifth victim at the familys request. A police officer stands near a SWAT vehicle that is stationed in front of a SunTrust Bank branch in Sebring, Fla., on Jan. 23, 2019. (Chris OMeara/AP) Advertisement Xaver was arrested in a beige T-shirt depicting the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse. On Thursday, he wore a black-and-white striped prison uniform as he was appointed a public defender and ordered held without bond. His father said hes heartbroken for the victims and that his son wasnt raised to be like this. Hes always been a good kid. Hes had his troubles, but he has never hurt anyone ever before. This is a total shock, Josh Xaver told CNN. The AP sought interviews with both of Xavers parents but received no immediate response. Kay reported from Miami. Associated Press writers Freida Frisaro in Miami, Rick Callahan in Indianapolis and Randy Herschaft in New York contributed to this report. Local businesses and volunteers offered federal employees Wednesday a brief reprieve from the government shutdown in the form of a free lunch. Yelp San Diego organized the event, which gathered some 500 federal employees to the San Diego Air & Space Museum. According to Yelp community director Danny Wurst, at least 10 local restaurants and dozens of community volunteers were quick to volunteer free food and assistance. Our team was just sitting together at lunch last week, talking about what a bummer [the shutdown] has been and we wanted to do something to help, Wurst said. We shot out a couple of emails, to test the waters and see who would want to put together a free lunch, and we instantly got back a bunch of responses from these really generous restaurants. The government shutdown dragged into its record-breaking 33rd day Wednesday, leaving roughly 800,000 government employees nationwide caught in a political crossfire. About 380,000 workers have been furloughed and another 420,000 are working without pay, according to the American Federation of Government Employees. Advertisement The San Diego Union-Tribune reported Wednesday that the partial shutdown is starting to affect key projects in San Diegos science and biomedical industries, including delaying at least $25 million in research projects at UC San Diego. On the one hand, it feels like a vacation, but the longer it goes on, the harder it gets to make ends meet, said Josiah Renfree, an acoustic engineer at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, or NOAA, a scientific agency in the U.S. Department of Commerce. If I miss another paycheck, Im going to have to look into other income options. Emily Gardner, a fish biologist at NOAA who attended the lunch, said she has started seeking income elsewhere. Ive been dog walking, house sitting, Gardner said. Really anything to make extra money. National Park Service ranger Amanda Gossard said the shutdown is hard on her financially but more demoralizing than anything else. She gets financial help from her family, she said, but events hosted by San Diego community members and business owners, such as Wednesdays free lunch, help boost morale. Canceling tours and school programs at the Cabrillo National Monument is the hardest part of the government shutdown for Nicole Ornelas, a science education coordinator for the park service, We see 17,000 students each year, Ornelas said. A month without any school groups affects the larger San Diego County tremendously. So far, about 40 school group events have been canceled, Ornelas said. There are about 70 students in each group. Advertisement We want to go back to work, moral of the story, she said. If we could work today, we would absolutely be there, probably an hour early because were that eager to go back. But whats happening in Washington D.C. isnt up to us. Were just byproducts of their decisions. Contact Lauryn Schroeder via Twitter or Email. A man was arrested on suspicion of attempted murder following a destructive tear through Union Station in downtown Los Angeles early Wednesday that damaged two police cars and wrecked a Metropolitan Transportation Authority vehicle, police said. Authorities allege the man smashed windows on two Los Angeles Police Department patrol cars that were parked in a lot at Union Station about 4:30 a.m. and removed property from inside. The man burglarized another car nearby where he found a bladed weapon, said LAPD Officer Sal Ramirez. Shortly after the incidents in the parking lot, the man was confronted by Metropolitan Transportation Authority security guards who used pepper spray in an effort to detain him. The man escaped capture, jumped into an MTA security vehicle and fled Union Station before crashing nearby on Vignes Street, Ramirez said. The man returned to Union Station and used the weapon to strike a security guard in the head, cutting him, Ramirez said. The security guard was taken to a hospital, where he is being treated for a non-life threatening wound. Advertisement The man, whose name has not been released, fled to the train tracks and was taken into custody by officers. hannah.fry@latimes.com Twitter: @Hannahnfry If theres one thing more romantically potent than Love Potion Number 9, it must be Smokey Joes Cafe because theaters big and small seem besotted with the idea of reviving this musical revue. And with a string of Leiber & Stoller tunes from Jailhouse Rock to Stand by Me to (yes) Potion, theres no denying the show is an audience-pleaser, too. Tony Houck directs New Village Arts visit to the Cafe, a Broadway long-runner in the 90s. His cast includes NVA returnees Natasha Baenisch, Melissa Fernandes, Jasmine January, Eboni Muse and Trevor Rex, plus first-timers Philip David Black, Kevin Blax Burroughs, Isaac Kalimo and Kyle Leatherbury. Advertisement And Houck will lead the onstage band of Benjamin Goniea on keyboards, Marc Akiyama on percussion and Kyle Bayquen on bass. Smokey Joes Cafe When: Previews begin Friday. Opens Feb. 2. 7:30 p.m. Thursdays; 8 p.m. Fridays; 3 and 8 p.m. Saturdays; 2 p.m. Sundays. Through March 10. Where: New Village Arts Theatre, 2787 State St., Carlsbad. Tickets: $25-$47 (discounts available) Phone: (760) 433-3245 Online: newvillagearts.org Advertisement jim.hebert@sduniontribune.com Twitter: @jimhebert Like many who ponder the past and plan for the future in the new year, San Diego Dance Theater artistic director Jean Isaacs follows suit with flair. She takes her inspiration from the Roman god Janus, who is depicted in ancient times with two faces, one looking back and one looking forward. In Janus III: Dancing the Future, staged this weekend at San Diego City College, dual themes dominate her modern choreography with works both historical and progressive. Isaacs annual Janus program is also a part of the San Diego Symphonys Hearing the Future festival, a monthlong series of events by music, dance and visual arts organizations. Advertisement They invited us, said Isaacs, who has planned a stirring program and, because January is her birthday month, an after-party. Basically its a chance to affiliate with the symphony and align ideas that are compatible. For me, it helped to shape what I was going to do this year. This year, Janus III: Dancing the Future includes a duet with a double bass player, a lynching scene, references to a celibate religious community, and the re-launch of a poignant work based on a radio play. Theres the ominous Lynchtown for instance, created by Charles Weidman more than a half-century ago. Weidman, a modern dance pioneer who died in 1975, witnessed a lynching as a youngster. In 1936, he created choreography that incorporates slow-motion marching, clenched hands and crouching bodies. Set to a pulsing percussive composition by Lehman Engel, the movement suggests a mob mentality and a response to violence. George Willis, a founder of San Diego Dance Theater and a former member of the Charles Weidman Theatre Dance Company, has reset the work performed by six company members and four guest artists. Its an iconic piece, Isaacs said. And Charles Weidman is the family tree of modern dance. Sometimes we judge and say, Oh, its dated. But you know what? It looks like Trump-era white nationalism. Steve Baker will play Fur Alina, the melancholy, tentative piano composition by Arvo Part, to accompany a segment from The Atlantic Man, a work Isaacs first staged in 2003. The idea was inspired by a 1982 radio play by the late French playwright/author Marguerite Duras, and it suggests a bittersweet longing for a loved one. The program also includes San Diego Dance Theater interpreting Shaker Loops, a minimalist piece of music by composer John Adams. Advertisement Adams grew up in New Hampshire near a now-defunct Shaker colony, where members of the pious and celibate Christian community would engage in frenetic dancing to achieve spiritual transcendence. His music and the dance mirror the complex emotional life of Shaker society, from shimmering violin tremolos to sounds of strain to poignant melodies. Isaacs invited creative writing professor and poet Meagan Marshall to add a spoken-word section to the piece, which helps to convey the connection between the music, the dance and the rituals of Shaker life. A lighthearted duet titled Je Ne Sais Quois features University of Hartford (The Hartt School) dance professor Katie Stevinson-Nollet and bassist Robert Black, a Bang on a Can All-Stars member who dances with his instrument. When Isaacs takes stock of nearly five decades as artistic director of San Diego Dance Theatre and then looks to the future, she considers expansion. I want to do intergenerational work that reflects not just the skinny, young, hyper-mobile dancer, she said. Modern dance requires a more mature dancer. I have three or four in their 20s, but size-wise, age-wise and ethnicity-wise, the company is as diverse as the community. My resolution is to spread it out even more. Advertisement San Diego Dance Theaters Janus III: Dancing the Future When: 2:30 p.m. Friday; 7:30 p.m. Saturday; 2:30 p.m. Sunday Where: Saville Theatre, San Diego City College, 1313 Park Blvd., San Diego Tickets: $15-$40 Phone: (619) 225-1803 Advertisement Online: ticketleap.com/Janus-2019 or sandiegodancetheater.org An after-party with the cast at 10 Barrel Brewing Co. follows Sundays performance. Tickets are an additional $25 and include bites and a beverage. Manna is a freelance writer. Although Detdrich McClure has dreams, hes more concerned with helping other people realize their aspirations. His 10th and most recent movie, Brown Paper Bag, will be the pre-opening feature of the San Diego Black Film Festival, which starts Wednesday and concludes Feb. 3. The free Wednesday event will include a community reception and a panel featuring McClure and several cast members from his movie. I really like being the initiator, helping to fulfill a lot of peoples dreams, said McClure, who wrote and directed Brown Paper Bag. I like being the guy making dreams come true. Looking back, if theres a theme in my films, it is people going for the brass ring. Whether they achieved it or not is secondary. Its going for it thats important. Advertisement Set in 1940s Los Angeles, Brown Paper Bag centers on iconic Central Avenue, a flourishing hub of African American culture. A film noir, the 91-minute feature is influenced by such films as Chinatown and the Easy Rawlins series of novels by Walter Mosley. The pre-opening festivities which are free but require online registration will be held at the newly opened Chocolate Lounge at Theatre Box in the Gaslamp Quarter. Brown Paper Bag will also be shown at 6 p.m. Friday at ArcLight Cinemas La Jolla, the festivals film hub. Even while McClure was making other movies, he created three graphic novels available on Amazon Kindle. Called the Archie Glass Mysteries, they use photographs rather than illustrations. The first was also titled Brown Paper Bag. Both the book and the movie are about an actor whose dream of becoming a star in Hollywood is thwarted at every turn by both subtle and blatant discrimination. Theres a whole generation of black people who came to L.A. for the same reasons everyone does, McClure said, adding that 30 people were in the cast. Countless people, forever unnamed and unknown, went out and tried and failed. I want to tell some of those stories. African Americans still have fewer opportunities in Hollywood. Im happy to give people those kinds of opportunities. Corny, but true. The lead actors in Brown Paper Bag will participate in Wednesdays panel with McClure. They include Tiara Parker, Caesar James and Rasheed Stephens, who plays the frustrated but determined Archie Glass. I wanted to look at the 40s as the 40s (in their own right), rather than in a nostalgic way. Nostalgia is interesting for black people. The cars and the hats are cool. On first thought, itd be cool to live back then. But do I, as a black man, really want to? Ill wear a hat or drive one of those cars, but I dont want to go back there. Other San Diego Black Film Festival attractions After McClures film noir, the festival changes mood the next day, Jan. 31, for its opening movie, 5th of July. The comedy stars Jaleel White, who is probably best known for playing Steve Urkel in Family Matters for nine years. Since then, White has continued acting in many TV series, both as a regular and as a guest. Advertisement The reception for 5th of July will begin at 6 p.m. Jan. 31, followed by a screening at 7:30 p.m. at ArcLight Cinemas La Jolla. The festival offers a wide range of cinematic selections, both shorts and features. Some of note include: Pieces of David, a dark comedy featuring four women who accidentally kill their shared paramour; Cimarronaje en Panama, a subtitled, historical film documenting the experience of Africans forcibly taken to Panama by Spanish colonialists; and The Color of Art, a documentary about the black art community in Chicago. In addition, the schedule includes several parties and panels to be held at various locations. The San Diego Black Film Festival will present its festive awards dinner and gala on Feb. 2 at the Embassy Suites La Jolla. San Diego Black Film Festival 2019 When: Various times, Wednesday through Feb. 3 Where: ArcLight Cinemas, 4425 La Jolla Village Drive, La Jolla, and other locations. Tickets: $10-$15 individual films; $60 all films; $350 pass to all films, plus social events. Prices vary for individual festival social events. Advertisement Online: sdbff.com Pre-opening community reception and panel discussion featuring Brown Paper Bag When: 6.p.m. Wednesday Where: Chocolate Lounge at Theatre Box, and Sugar Factory, 701 Fifth Ave., Gaslamp Quarter Tickets: Free, but online registration required Advertisement Brown Paper Bag will also screen Feb. 1 at 6 p.m. at ArcLight Cinemas La Jolla Wood is a freelance writer. As the beverage and wine director for the Cohn Restaurant Group, Maurice DiMarino oversees a massive inventory of wine that will be paired at the vast empires 20-plus restaurants with everything from balsamic-glazed Brussels sprouts to butternut squash risotto and bone-in ribeye. But what about pairing wine with ultra-casual food, like a burger from Hodads or fried chicken from The Crack Shack? Could DiMarino handle that? How about Grand Ole BBQ y Asados tri-tip or the tacos al pastor from Salud! or Ambrogio 15s pizza? Being a wine pro, and knowing the quality places we were sending him to, DiMarino accepted the challenge and even brought his own wines to match with the iconic San Diego flip-flop fare. Armed with a stocked cooler bag and his trusty Coravin which allows you to pour wine from a bottle without popping the cork DiMarino and his designated driver made their way from two spots in Little Italy to Barrio Logan, Ocean Beach to North Park. At nearly every one of these hip eateries, he raised some eyebrows from fellow diners wondering how come that guy got to bring his own wine. (Note: He had permission; to try this yourself, youll have to order off the wine list or get your food to-go and pair your own wine at home.) Advertisement Spiffing up the joint? Maurice DiMarino at Hodads in Ocean Beach. (Courtesy Maurice DiMarino) We know a little about wine and we chose some of the most craveable foods in town, so we thought the pairings hed make would be fairly easy Argentine asado with Argentine malbec or crispy, fried chicken with crisp Champagne, right? But DiMarino surprised us. And himself. What stood out was that my first intuitions were not the best pairings, they were good but there was always another ringer, he said. I initially relied on on sweetness and acidity to pair the wines but in the end, the slightest change in alcohol level made for the perfect pairing. For us non-wine professionals, the biggest takeaways from DiMarinos experiment is to keep an open mind when pairing food and wine and get ready to have fun. Heres his report card from this tasty assignment. The taco al pastor at Salud! paired best with a Baja red blend from Cavas Valmar. (Courtesy photo) Salud! Taco al Pastor Why that? DiMarino called the Lebanese-inspired taco al pastor the quintessential taco made of slow roasted pig smothered with guajillo chilies, garlic, adobo and chile de arbol, dripping with pig fat. Probably the best taco meat on the planet. First pairing that came to mind: My initial instinct was to bring Riesling or rose wine, but I did not want to make this exercise easy on me. What he tried: Instead, I pulled out reds to see if they could stand to the challenge. I looked to south of the border for inspiration. I grabbed a bunch of fruity Baja wines to see if I could find the ultimate Taco Wine. Advertisement How it worked: After trial and error, I landed on a match: Cavas Valmar red blend made with nebbiolo, syrah, merlot and cabernet sauvignon. It was fruit forward and juicy, which contrasted the spices of the al pastor. These Baja wines also have a salinity which naturally match the salty al pastor. The key was keeping it below 14 percent (alcohol) and serving it at a chilled temperature, 56-58 degrees. The chill helps take down the heat of the spices. Pairing bonus: I also had a (white) Gutzler sylvaner from Germany in my bag, and although it did not perform well with the taco, it was amazing with the guacamole! When DiMarino was trying the Ambrogio 15 burrata e prosciutto crudo pizza, he didnt love the wine pairings from the Little Italy Food Hall. His solution? A pairing hack in his car. (Courtesy photo) Ambrogio 15 Burrata e Prosciutto Crudo Pizza Why that? We named this crispy, thin pizza topped with delicate prosciutto and creamy burrata from Puglia one of the Top 5 bites of 2018, and it just might be the best pie in San Diego. Advertisement Foiled plans: DiMarino wasnt allowed to bring his own wine to the Little Italy Food Hall, where the newest Ambrogio 15 is located. No sweat, I ordered from their wine list several glasses of wine I thought might do the trick, he said. What he tried: Two reds from Puglia, a primitivo from Manduria, and a fiano from Salento; a sparkling rose from the baga grape, and a Tuscan-style red. Surprisingly, none of them really made a great pairing. The closest was the baga rose from Portugal, maybe because the acidity paired with the salty prosciutto and the bubbles helped scrub the rich oils of the cheese off the tongue. But it was not perfect. Shifting gears: I saved a slice of pizza and took it to my car where I sat on the corner of Fir and Columbia, reached into my bag and grabbed a vernaccia di Serrapetrona spumante. Incredible! This is a sweet red sparkling wine from the Marche region of Italy. The sweetness contrasts with the salty prosciutto, and the acidity and bubbles match the burratas richness perfectly. So, I recommend ordering take out and popping a bottle of vernaccia the pizzas are fantastic! Its not every day a wine professional of DiMarinos caliber tries to find the best pairing with a Hodads burger with the works and a side of crispy onion rings. His results were surprising. (Courtesy photo) Advertisement Hodads Bacon Cheeseburger Why that? San Diegos most famous burger always delivers he beefy goods. DiMarino ordered his with the works and a side of onion rings. Match muse: When gathering wines for this venture, my mind went to Miles in Sideways drinking (Bordeauxs Chateau) Cheval Blanc with a burger. So I brought a merlot and Argentine malbec with me. Although both were not bad, the best pairing I came across was with a white wine. Say what? I pulled out a 2007 Nicolas Joly Savennieres from the Loire, a chenin blanc, aged in oak and made as naturally as one can get. Drinking it in 2008 would have been a punch to the mouth. The wine is now in the perfect place. It is a full-bodied white, with slight honey notes, high alcohol and high acidity; how does this even happen? The sweet honey flavors were glorious with the onion rings, the weight and acidity of the wine matched the massive burger what a total unexpected trip! The wine held up, never overpowered by the food and the food never overpowered by the wine. Who says white wines are for wussies? Pairing a wine with high acidity with Crack Shack fried chicken was a no-brainer. (Courtesy photo) Advertisement Crack Shack: Fried Chicken Why that? The chicken at The Crack Shack is downright delicious. It is crunchy, salty, and fatty. Caveat: They make an array of sauces (for the chicken) so each will drastically compromise the pairing. What he tried: Naturally, I went to my bag full of high acid whites. I had an Atalier albarino, an off-dry scheurebe from the Pfalz (region in Germany), a white Burgundy from the Macon and sparkling chenin blanc. The albarino was good with the ranch dressing. The schreube had some residual sugar ... but worked great with spicy sauce. The white Burgundy clashed, the alcohol was a bit too high and intensified the spice. Its a match: DiMarino loved the sparkling wine La Taille aux Loups Triple Zero. It has aromas of yeast, sourdough and bee pollen. The acidity was lively, cutting through the grease of the fried chicken. Although the wine was dry, (the) honey taste balanced the peppery flavors of the chicken skin. The bubbles (cleansed the palate), making the next bite a whole new experience again and again. This goes to prove that one cannot go wrong with high acid bubbles and fried chicken. Advertisement San Diego barbecue and Lebanese wine who knew it could be the perfect match? DiMarino paired his asado tri tip with Chateau Musar Hochar, which melded with the spicy sauces, thanks to lower alcohol. (Courtesy photo) Grand Ole BBQ y Asado Asado Tri-tip Why that? The barbecue trend is on fire in San Diego, and this is one of the best smokehouse joints around. Food fail: I showed up at Grand Ole BBQ ready to get my pulled pork on, unfortunately or should I say fortunately they were doing Churasco (grill) Sunday with Argentinian cuts. I chose to get the tri-tip and try different barbecue sauces ranging from sweet to spicy. What he tried: In my bag, I had six wines I thought might work shiraz, South African red blends, Portuguese reds, and I threw in a wine from Lebanon for the heck of it. My bet was on the Portuguese reds. Advertisement How they paired: All six wines would have done just fine if I were eating the tri-tip, but the barbecue sauce (complicated things). One Douro red was fantastic, with pruned fruit (flavors), and a dry and tannic mouthfeel. It matched the sweet barbecue sauce but clashed with the spicy sauce. The other wines all clashed with the sauces, until I got to the dark horse, the Hochar red blend by Chateau Musar of Lebanon. Its a match: This wine was super earthy, funky, and totally dry. My intention was to match barbecue with fruit-forward styles similar to zinfandel. (But) once the wine got over 13.5 percent alcohol, it would clash with the spicy sauce. The Hochar, at 13 percent, was incredible. It was tart on the palate, which contrasted very pleasantly with the spices. The cedar, leather and other ... aromas melded perfectly with the spices in both sauces. Neither the wine nor the food were ever overpowered. The bottom line: They key again, was alcohol keep it down and if the wine has good tannins and acidity structure, then it will prevail. Advertisement michele.parente@sduniontribune.com Twitter: @sdeditgirl Hart aims for a more dramatic turn in Fatherhood, based on the true story of a father trying to raise his daughter after the death of his wife The Maxwell String Quartet frequently fields questions about being an all-male ensemble. In fact, the Scottish group had to set the record straight in its hometown Glasgow newspaper, The Herald, when asked if they were laddish. Thats British slang, explained cellist Duncan Strachan from a New York tour stop in Watertown. Were not four young men painting the town red. Laddish is being not in touch with ones emotions being pigheaded. We tend to be more sensitive. Sometimes in music, theres a vulnerability and connection with your emotions. Some people say were like four brothers. We squabble, but there is an overarching love among us all. Being four un-laddish Scottish lads, the Maxwells are known for mixing works by Haydn and other classical-music giants with pieces by living composers and arrangements of folk music from their homeland. Advertisement Theyll be performing such a mix at La Jollas Athenaeum Music & Arts Library on Tuesday as part of the quartets first U.S. tour. Strachan and violinist George Smith founded the Maxwell String Quartet in 2010 while postgraduates at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland. The group, all 30- and 40-somethings, solidified in 2014, when first violinist Colin Scobie and violist Elliott Perks (the only Brit) joined. At first, it wasnt easy establishing a reputation in the chamber-music world. But in September 2017, the quartet won both first and audience prizes at Norways prestigious Trondheim International Chamber Music Competition. That competition was a great boost for us, a way to be seen on an international level, Strachan said, adding that one indirect outcome was the U.S. tour. Weve all been to America for holiday, but never to do a tour. Were delighted. We love visiting new places we probably never would otherwise. But we were looking at weather and saying: Warm clothes for New York, but not for Florida and La Jolla. And we finish the tour in Utah. We found it quite difficult to pack. Regardless of weather, there was one required item for each musician: a kilt. The Maxwells had agreed to wear the traditional knee-length garment from the Scottish Highlands during concerts in America. We tend to wear kilts at home for special occasions, Strachan noted. But our trip to America is a special occasion. I come from the Maxwell clan, and the four of us liked the name. We wear the Maxwell tartan its vibrant red. A little bit of color makes things stand out. Also packed are pre-release copies of the quartets upcoming CD, Joseph Haydn String Quartets Op. 71, which will be available at each concert. The recording features three Scottish folk songs arranged by the Maxwells. Strachan said the folk music they grew up with and Haydns quartets theyve been playing since their school days have become inseparable. Advertisement They say that folk music came straight from the heart and spoke to it, Strachan said. And classical music does that and then takes an extra journey to the brain. The ensemble has frequently partnered with other artists, including a cinematographer, a ballet troupe, a soul duo and Scottish acoustic-electronic music composer Anna Meredith. The quartets La Jolla concert on Tuesday will include Haydns String Quartet in E-flat major, Op.71, No. 3; Scottish folk tunes (to be chosen right before the performance); Beethovens Quartet in B-flat major, Op.130; and the California premiere of Visions of Sea by Dutch composer Joey Roukens. We often collaborate with living composers, Strachan said. But we were asked to play this piece at a festival in Holland a year ago. We want the world to hear this stunning piece about the voyages of Dutch sailors in the 17th century, contending with stormy seas. The song lurches between violence and calm. It ends in something quite beautiful and peaceful. Advertisement The Maxwell String Quartet has never been to La Jolla, but its reputation precedes it. We are very excited about coming, Strachan said. We were working with the Danish String Quartet. When we talked about coming to La Jolla, the violist, Asbjrn Nrgaard, said: You are so lucky! That is one of my favorite places in the world. Athenaeum Chamber Concert Series with the Maxwell String Quartet When: 7:30 p.m. Tuesday Where: Athenaeum Music & Arts Library, 1008 Wall St., La Jolla Advertisement Tickets: $40-$45 Phone: (858) 454-5872 Online: ljathenaeum.org Wood is a freelance writer. The Neave Trio Anna Williams (violin), Eri Nakamura (piano) and Mikhail Veselov (cello) on Wednesday will perform a free concert at the Rancho Bernardo Library. The concert, sponsored by the nonprofit Friends of the Rancho Bernardo Library, will showcase a program that will include Debussys Piano Trio in G Major; Shostakovichs Piano Trio No. 2 in E minor, Op. 67; and Piazzollas Las Cuatros Estaciones Portenas (Four Seasons of Buenos Aires). Neave Trios two most recent CDs included recordings of the Debussy and Piazzolla. The groups second album 2018s French Moments features the only known piano trios by Debussy, Faure and Roussel, described by BBC Music Magazine this way: The performances balance passion with sensitivity and grace. Formed in 2010, has performed all over the world, including in San Diego, where it was the first ever Fisch/Axelrod Trio-in-Residence at San Diego State University. Advertisement Neave Trio: 6:15 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 30. Rancho Bernardo Library, 17110 Bernardo Center Drive, San Diego. Free and open to the public. Donations are accepted. friendsoftheranchobernardolibrary.org Twitter: @outdoorlivingsd michael.rocha@sduniontribune.com Dos Californias If you agree that a womans place is in the brew house, check out Dos Californias Brewsters. These female brewers from both sides of the U.S.-Mexico border will gather in Tijuana on Feb. 2 to make their second beer. The first beer debuted at the 2018 Ensenada Beer Festival, and sales funded scholarships for four women studying brewing at Tijuanas Instituto de Tecnologico de Tijuana (ITT). This endeavor has been incredibly meaningful, said Melody Crisp, one of the U.S. members, and with the current turmoil at the border, its been awesome to have a positive story of women helping women with no walls to stop us. The Brewsters current project, a pale ale, was supported by donations from San Diegos White Labs and YCH Hops of Yakima, Wash. Brewing starts 9 a.m. inside Telefonica Gastro Park, 8924 Blvd. Aguacaliente, in Tijuanas Colonia Zonaeste. Advertisement That location is a symbol of binational fermentation its the Baja California brewing site of SouthNorte, San Diegos Mexican-inspired brewery. Dos Brewsters is taking 2019 scholarship applications at doscaliforniasbrewsters.com/apply/. Brewer-Politicians You might say Tomme Arthur almost won. Arthur was among the 23 people who applied to fill the San Marcos City Council vacancy created when Rebecca Jones was elected mayor. The council last week unanimously chose Jay Petrek, known in municipal government circles as Escondidos assistant city manager. Arthur, 45, is known in beer circles for his award-winning run at Pizza Port Solana Beach and his current leadership of San Marcos The Lost Abbey Im telling people that, because the council didnt take another vote, he said, I came in second. Brewers have long sought, and occasionally won, elected office. Sam Adams, the Revolutionary figure celebrated by the Boston Beer Co., was a Continental Congress delegate and then governor of Massachusetts (1794-1797). Today, the most prominent brewer-politician is John Hickenlooper, co-founder of Denvers Wynkoop Brewing, and a former Denver mayor and Colorado governor. Advertisement Will Arthur make another bid for public office? The last time I ran for anything, he said, it was my eighth grade student council and I lost that. Re-branded A year ago, I was thrilled to see the Bell Marker open in downtown San Diego, at the corner of Broadway and 6th Avenue. Part of the Los Angeles-based Artisanal Brewers Collective, the brewpub was a airy, sun-washed space opened by Noah Regnery, a San Diegan and ABCs director of brewing. The place paired better-than-average bar food with solid San Diego beers, the latter brewed onsite by former Pizza Port ace Ignacio Nacho Cervantes. Advertisement Sounds great, right? Apparently not. While Cervantes continues to brew under the Bell Marker name, as of this week, the restaurant end of the business has been assumed by a separate and brand new firm, Owl Drug Co. Kings of Beer The Barrel Experience Journey #2: Coconut Macaroon (10.7 percent alcohol by volume) is an imperial stout, aged two years in bourbon barrels, then dosed with toasted coconut, macadamia nuts and coconut brown sugar. This barrel-aged brew from Carmel Mountains Second Chance is a liquid dessert, with a velvety texture and rich pastry flavors. Coconut Macaroon is best in small, chilled portions; as it warms, the roasted malts tend to vanish, making the sugary notes even more pronounced. This is billed as small batch beer, but tiny batch may be more accurate. Second Chance will release 80 bottles at noon Saturday, 40 at the brewery (15378 Avenue of Science, #222, San Diego) and 40 at the North Park taproom (4045 30th St., Suite A, San Diego). Each 500-ml. bottle is $17.99. Advertisement Random Questions from My Editor Q. Some beer geeks use the term crushable. What are they talking about? A. A crushable beer has low alcohol, light body and plenty of flavor. Examples: Green Flashs Sea to Sea Lager (4 percent alcohol by volume); Firestone Walkers 805 Blonde Ale (4.7 percent); Coronados Orange Ave. Wit (5.2 percent); and AleSmith X (5.25 percent). . Words to Drink By There was three kings into the east Advertisement Three kings both great and high And they hae sworn an oath John Barleycorn should die. from John Barleycorn Must Die (1782), by Robert Burns. The poem follows the life cycle of barley, from seed to mature plant, which is then cut down to make beer or whiskey. Today is the 260th anniversary of Burns birth. Advertisement Beer Videos Advertisement Twitter: @peterroweut peter.rowe@sduniontribune.com A National City woman who was forced to demolish her house is suing the city, claiming it broke the law by strictly enforcing her code violations while ignoring the violations of a local politician. The lawsuit, filed in San Diego Superior Court on Nov. 9, stems from a September 2017 incident in which National City building official Luis Sainz told Elizabeth Lopez that she needed to demolish her house immediately because of serious code violations that threatened the integrity of the property. Sainz allegedly told Lopez that if she didnt file demolition permits right away, National City would demolish the house for her and charge Lopez $30,000 on top of the demolition costs, according to the lawsuit. Lopez asked the city to give her time to hire an engineer to try to save the property, but the city wouldnt budge, according to Lopezs attorney, Francisco Javier Aldana. Advertisement My client was emotionally devastated, Aldana said. She had purchased the house two years earlier and she borrowed money for the remodeling. Lopez paid $17,000 to demolish her own home to avoid getting stuck with a $30,000 bill. She currently lives with relatives in San Diego and is still on the hook for mortgage payments and remodeling loans. Meanwhile, her lot in National City remains empty, Aldana added. Lopez didnt think the city treated her differently than anybody else until April 2018, when The San Diego Union-Tribune published a story detailing how Councilman Jerry Cano went five years without paying fines for housing violations. Cano was originally issued a notice of violation in June 2013 for building patio extensions in his back yard. The city followed up with three warning letters and even put a lien on his property in 2015. But by the spring of 2018, Canos home was still out of compliance and the councilman had not been fined. So basically, this Jerry Cano guy, the council member, got treated differently, Aldana said. He has several violations for years. Lopez was one of several National City residents who complained that Cano seemingly received preferential treatment. The citys Building Department is understaffed and lacks proper policies and protocols to follow up on cases, forcing staff to use their discretion to prioritize certain work, according to a report from third party investigators who looked into the building violations. Advertisement Cano and National Citys city attorney did not respond to requests for comment. Frank Parra, the citys top building official, referred questions about the lawsuit to the city attorney. Following the newspapers reporting, National City hired an outside law firm to investigate whether Cano broke any laws. That investigation was inconclusive because Cano refused to participate and the investigators had no subpoena power. The investigation noted that passive influencing of city staff may have happened, meaning that Councilmember Canos status as a member of the Citys City Council may have had some influence on the Citys staff exercise of its discretion, according to the report. Advertisement Cano was ultimately forced to pay late fees and eventually demolished the structures in question, Parra told the Union-Tribune Thursday. Lopezs lawsuit argues that the difference in treatment between her and Cano show how National City violated her rights. Specifically, the lawsuit claims National City violated her equal protection and due process rights. The complaint asks a judge to award compensatory damages but does not specifically provide a dollar figure. They should treat people the same, Aldana said. Advertisement Contact Gustavo Solis via Email or Twitter An entrepreneur who has been trying to open a car wash in Chula Vista for three years has a message for other business owners thinking of setting up shop in San Diegos second-largest city. I would say be very careful about doing business in Chula Vista, said Neil Capin Tuesday night after the City Council decided to hit the brakes on his project on Telegraph Canyon Road and Halecrest Drive. The City Council, after nearly two hours of deliberation, voted 4-1 to reject the recommendations of its Planning Commission and city staff to move forward with the project. Instead, they asked Capin to conduct a traffic study of the site to quell noise and traffic safety concerns brought up by the owner of a neighboring gas station that has a small car wash. Capin, who began the process in December 2015, called the gas station owners objections thinly veiled attempts to protect his business interest. Advertisement But a lawyer representing the gas station, John Moot, maintained that placing a car wash on that corner would cause traffic to back up onto Telegraph Canyon Road, one of Chula Vistas busiest roads. The council last discussed the car wash in November. It concluded that meeting by asking Caltrans to weigh in on some of its traffic concerns. During Tuesdays meeting, the citys Development Services Director Kelly Broughton told the council that Caltrans chose not to comment on the project. They concluded that they had no further comments on the project, Broughton told the mayor and council. I will remind you this is the fourth chance that Caltrans had to reply to a review of this project. Usually, when Caltrans has concerns about a project, they respond to it, Broughton added. During Tuesdays meeting, Capin and the owner of the property in question argued that there used to be a gas station on the site so a car wash would not create more traffic than a gas station. Additionally, they argued the opposition complained about existing traffic conditions in that intersection therefore it wasnt fair to penalize the proposed car wash. Don Christlock, the property owner of the proposed site for the car wash, said he plans to retire from money earned off that lot. It seems clear that the adjacent owner is raising these issues because they feel it could negatively affect their business, he said. This is just not fair. Why should my property value be negatively affected because of this? Ultimately, the City Council voted 4-1 to reject the staff recommendation and asked Caputo to pay for a traffic safety study. Advertisement The lone no vote was Councilman John McCann, who said the vote sets a poor example of how Chula Vista treats business owners. I hope that people will understand that this will become the poster child of how not to do business in Chula Vista, he said. This vote came at a time when Chula Vistas elected officials have made making the city more business friendly a top priority. Newly elected and re-elected candidates, including Council members Jill Galvez and McCann and Mayor Mary Casillas Salas campaigned on attracting more businesses to the city. Additionally, Chula Vista faces growing budget deficits and one of their strategies to balance the budget is to diversify revenue by bringing more businesses to the city. Advertisement After the vote, Capin said he will consider his options over the next couple of days and decide whether he wants to continue pursuing the project. He said hes already altered his design and business plans to appease public concerns. Specifically, he changed the height of a wall from six feet to nine feet to minimize noise pollution and he pushed back the opening of business from 7 a.m. to 8 a.m. in order to minimize the traffic impact during the morning rush hour. We were looking for ways to work with people or ways to make the situation better, Capin said. They were just looking for any reason to say no. Ultimately, council members who voted against the car wash said they were swayed by public safety concerns related to traffic on Telegraph Canyon Road. Im pro-business, I hate it when someone says theyve been doing this for four years, said Councilman Mike Diaz. But at the end of the day, the one thing that we are responsible for in our communities is public safety. Advertisement Contact Gustavo Solis via Email or Twitter The city of Carlsbads Cultural Arts Office has awarded 26 Community Arts Grants totaling $77,000, for 2019. The grants go to nonprofits, schools and school-related organizations for visual, media, literary and performing arts projects in Carlsbad. Grants are awarded in three classifications: Arts Organizations, Educational Institutions and Affiliated Groups, and Special Opportunity. The grants program supports projects and activities in all artistic disciplines. The goal is to provide arts education opportunities for all ages, and to encourage new arts programs and emerging organizations in Carlsbad. Advertisement These groups and organizations are receiving grants in 2019. Some organizations may have received more than one grant: Aviara Oaks Middle School Band Boosters Carlsbad Education Foundation Carlsbad High School Bands, Film Academy Booster Club, Musical Production and Choral Boosters Carlsbad Music Festival Carlsbad Oceanside Art League Friends of Hope School Intrepid Shakespeare Company Advertisement La Costa Canyon High School Musical Theater La Costa Heights Elementary PTA La Costa Meadows Elementary School Melissa Collins-Porter Advertisement Museum of Making Music New Village Arts North County Arts Network PGK Project; Playwrights Projects Advertisement Sage Creek High School Dance Department, Drama Department, Music Department and Visual Arts Department San Diego Dance Theater Young Audiences of San Diego Visit www.carlsbadca.gov/arts. Contact Megan Gilby at (760) 602-2081 or megan.gilby@carlsbadca.gov. Advertisement Advertisement laura.groch@sduniontribune.com Not long after Greg Evans launched his long-running comic strip Luann in 1985, he featured a brief storyline featuring fractious teen characters Luann and Brad DeGroot competing on an imaginary game show called Quibbling Siblings. These days, the now-grown cartoon siblings get along just fine. But longtime fans of the strip can relive the pairs more contentious years this week at Patio Playhouse in Escondido, which is producing the world premiere of Evans new musical Quibbling Siblings. It opens Friday and will run in alternating repertory through Feb. 17 with Evans 2014 musical A Boy and a Girl. Quibbling Siblings is the fourth musical penned by the 71-year-old San Marcos author/artist since he premiered Luann: Scenes from a Teens Life in the mid-1980s. He also wrote a musical for the senior set called Wrinkles in 2010. Still percolating in his head is an all-female show about meeting Mr. Right. All of Evans musicals and his comic strip focus on the same central theme: the dynamic of human relationships. Advertisement Ive always been interested in male-female relationships. Theyre so fascinating to me, he said. I find females particularly interesting that combination of the simplistic male and the complex female. While the new musical Quibbling Siblings is inspired by the the preteen wars waged between Luann and Brad in Luann, Evans joked that hes drawn additional inspiration for the musical in recent years from his sometimes contentious grandchildren. Luann comic strip cartoonist Greg Evans, center, on the set of his musical Quibbling Siblings with Patio Playhouses artistic manager Matt FitzGerald and publicity chair Samantha Goldstein. (Don Boomer / San Diego Union-Tribune) Evans was inspired to create his Luann strip from his own daughter, Karen Evans, who now collaborates with him three days a week on the strips ever-evolving plot. When the strip started, Luann was 13. Now shes in college and her older brother, Brad, is married. Evans said he always dreamed of being a cartoonist, but couldnt find a buyer for his hand-drawn strips in his 20s and early 30s, so he bounced around in a series of jobs high school art teacher in El Centro, TV news camera operator in Colorado Springs and talking-robot operator at the San Diego Zoo and Seaport Village. Then, one day in 1984, he saw 5-year-old Karen, the youngest of his three children with his wife, Betty, walking around their Twin Oaks Valley home dressed in her moms clothing and jewelry. I saw her and I got the idea for a strip about a little girl, and for once it struck a chord because it wasnt a contrived subject. It was drawn from real life, Evans said. The syndicated strip now runs in more than 400 newspapers and its online readership, at luanncomic.com, attracts more than 100,000 pageviews a day. In 2003, Evans won the National Cartoonists Societys prestigious Reuben Award. Advertisement The idea of creating musicals came from his shared passion for writing music and songs and a desire to see his characters come to life in front of an audience. I love to entertain people with the comic strip, but I never get to see readers reactions, he said. My job is really solitary, so being able to sit in a theater and see and hear people reacting to my work is amazing. Quibbling Siblings is directed by Amanda Frawley, who has been helping Evans develop and hone the script over the past two years. About 18 months ago, she brought the script to Patio Playhouse for a reading, where Artistic Manager Matt FitzGerald suggested producing the show this season in a repertory production. Set in a television studio with a 20-song score, Quibbling Siblings is a colorful family-friendly musical comedy with 14 actors. A Boy and a Girl, directed by Patrick OConnor, is a musical comedy-drama for a cast of eight. Its the story of a couple on their wedding day reflecting on the ups and downs of their lifelong relationship. Advertisement FitzGerald describes Quibbling Siblings as the standard cute musical that people like to see. My personal taste is for work thats more challenging but you have to give audiences candy sometimes for balance. These are candy, FitzGerald said. People will come and enjoy one of them and then hopefully come back to see the other. As part of the Evans repertory program, Patio Playhouse will be raising donations for the San Diego fire Rescue Foundation. For each show Patio produces, publicity chair Samantha Goldstein finds a charity beneficiary that fits the theme of the show. Goldstein brought Evans the idea of supporting the fire charity and he agreed it would be a great fit. After the 9/11 attacks in 2001, Evans decided to make Brad a firefighter, and in 2016, Brad married fellow firefighter Toni Daytona. Advertisement The Fire Rescue Foundation raises money for firefighting equipment that fire departments cant afford. Goldstein said donations will be collected during intermission and after each performance at a staffed information table in the lobby. Evans said that he trusts Frawley and the team at Patio so much with his script and score that he has taken a hands-off approach. He hasnt attended any rehearsals and doesnt plan to see Quibbling Siblings until opening night. Im sure it will be awesome, Evans said. Its always fun to see these characters take human form. Quibbling Siblings & A Boy and a Girl When: Opens Friday, Jan. 25, and runs in rotating repertory through Feb. 17. Showtimes, 8 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays. 2 p.m. Sundays. Advertisement Where: Patio Playhouse, 116 S. Kalmia St., Escondido Tickets: $20, adults. $17, seniors, military, students. $12 for youth 16 and under. Phone: (760) 746-6669 Online: patioplayhouse.com Advertisement pam.kragen@sduniontribune.com When owner Gabe Hogan and chef Daniel Pundik opened Local Tap House on South Coast Highway in Oceanside five years ago, their shared goal was simple. LTH was built by locals to serve locals, Pundik said. It was a place where we could feed the masses breakfast, lunch and dinner and always be there for locals to come whenever they have family in town. Now, the LTH duo is taking things up a notch. On Jan. 14, Hogan opened Exhale Restaurant, a more-elevated 200-seat restaurant and bar just across the street at Coast Highway and Michigan Avenue. Pundiks Exhale menu is inspired by the rustic cuisine of Oaxaca, Mexico, with a modern, Americanized farm-to-table approach. Were Mexican-inspired, but I wouldnt call it straight Mexican food, Pundik said. Were approaching things in a different way. This would be the kind of food youd find in a five-star resort in Oaxaca. Advertisement A selection of Oaxacan-inspired dishes on blue corn tortillas at newly opened Exhale restaurant in Oceanside. (Courtesy photo) The kitchen centerpiece is an Argentine wood-fired grill, where rib eyes, tomahawk pork chops and whole bronzino are cooked over white oak and mesquite wood. The menus signature dish is cooked-to-order tortillas made with heirloom blue corn thats grown in Oaxaca and shipped to Tortilleria Los Reyes in Vista, where its soaked and ground into masa dough. The dough is delivered daily to Exhale where tortillas are shaped, pressed and cooked on a revolving griddle in the restaurants glass-walled exhibition kitchen. Its a show. If you can catch a seat in front of the kitchen, theres always something to see, like the girls making the tortillas all day every day, said Pundik, who said the restaurants name was coined by Hogan and is meant to encourage diners to relax and let us do the rest. Chef Daniel Pundik prepares food on the wood-fired Argentine grill at Exhale Restaurant in Oceanside. (Courtesy photo) Pundik said he was inspired to create the Oaxacan-inspired menu by the cooks hes been working with since arriving in San Diego County restaurants 15 years ago. Many of the regions kitchen crew members hail from that food-centric Oaxaca region. Pundik said Oaxacan cuisine is very different in ingredients and style from the Baja cuisine thats best known around San Diego. We just wanted to dig deeper into Mexican cuisine and do something different, said Pundik. Oaxaca, a state near the southern border of Mexico, is best known for its corn, which has been cultivated in the region for more than 7,000 years. A signature Oaxacan dish is the tlayuda, a tortilla-style flatbread layered with beans, vegetables, meats and cheeses. Oaxaca is also known for its mole sauces, particularly the mole negro, a dark-colored, richly flavored sauce made with chili peppers, chocolate, garlic and onions. Advertisement Pundik said he worked closely with his kitchen crew, including his Oaxacan-born sous chef, to develop Exhales house mole negro and other sauces. Many dishes feature native Mexican herbs rarely found in other local restaurants, including epazote, known as Mexican tea and commonly used in Oaxacan bean dishes, and hoja sante, a peppery herb used in protein dishes and mole verde. The menu includes starter dishes like ceviche negro, esquites (Mexican street corn) and bacon-wrapped chile rellenos, priced from $6 to $12. Tlayudas, with choice of toppings including coffee-rubbed brisket, Spanish-aged chorizo and chapulines (fried grasshoppers), are $11 to $14. House-made taco plates range from $6 to $16. Entrees such as steaks, shellfish and banana leaf-wrapped swordfish, are $24 to $32 and include side dishes. There are also vegetarian dishes and made-to-order guacamole. Exhales bar has 10 beers on tap but it also has an extensive wine menu, 11 cocktails and a diverse selection of Mexican tequilas and mezcals. The interior of newly opened Exhale restaurant in Oceanside, which features a glass-walled kitchen in the back left corner. (Pam Kragen/San Diego Union-Tribune) Advertisement Pundik grew up in southeast Florida and moved to San Diego 16 years ago where he worked his way up in some of the citys top kitchens. He cooked for 4- and 5-year stints at now-defunct Delicias in Rancho Santa Fe, at the Rancho Valencia Resort & Spa and the Crossings at Carlsbad restaurant. He met Hogan about six years ago and was the opening chef for LTH, which has a more American comfort food-style menu and 32 beers on tap. Because Pundik was trained in French culinary techniques, he said the cooking at Exhale is both rustic in its open-flame style, but refined in its technique. As at LTH, the restaurants greens come from Specialty Produce in San Diego as well as TERI Farm, a learning-based working farm for adults with autism. Pundik said the beauty of how the dishes are presented with the colorful produce and blue tortillas is part of the dining experience at Exhale. Were presenting beautiful dishes with freshness and bright colors, he said. We always try to present food that you can eat with your eyes first. Advertisement Exhale Restaurant Hours: 4 to 10 p.m. Mondays-Fridays. 9 a.m. to 10 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays. Where: 236 S Coast Highway, Oceanside Online: exhaleoceanside.com Advertisement pam.kragen@sduniontribune.com Alpine looks primed to get its long-sought park. The San Diego County Board of Supervisors earlier this month unanimously approved the purchase of 98 acres next to Wrights Field behind Joan MacQueen Middle School to build a county-owned public park. The supervisors will decide on Feb. 13 how to pay for the property. The projected cost, according to the county, is $1.6 million, which includes the appraised value of $1.37 million for the land and $200,000 in one-time land protection costs. Land protection includes the initial stewardship featuring fencing, signage, access control measures and vegetation management. The land, along South Grade Road, is part of 140 acres owned by Texas-based Wrights Field Partnership LLC. Advertisement Unlike other county areas, such as Lakeside, Flinn Springs and Pine Valley, Alpine is without a major park. The county reports that Alpine has just 1.83 acres of park land per 1,000 residents, far less than its goal of 10 acres of parkland per 1,000 residents. The Alpine Union School District has some parkland on several of its campuses, but the parks are small in size and offer limited community access. The 230-acre Wrights Field is run by the Alpine-based Back Country Land Trust. The BCLT is a nonprofit land conservancy that preserves natural, scenic areas and watersheds in San Diegos backcountry. Wrights Field is a popular open space area off Tavern Road protected from development in perpetuity. It is used by hikers, runners, on-leash dogs and equestrians, but lacks amenities such as public washrooms, a playground area and picnic tables. The purchase of the land for the park will preserve it from residential development and will extend passive parkland to nearly 330 acres in Alpine. Back Country Land Trust has been working to save that land for decades, said BCLT program director and outreach director Jon Green. Were glad to see that its going to be saved as open space and were looking forward to seeing the countys plan for the park. I like the idea of having more county money for maintenance and I like the idea of better law enforcement with park rangers. I would like to see us all work together between the Alpine community and the county to make it the best it can be. This is a long time coming and Alpine deserves a park. Mary Harris, part of a group that calls itself A Park for Alpine that surveyed more than 500 residents about what they wanted in a park, has been campaigning for a dog park for several years. Advertisement Harris, who said she has been living in Alpine since the 1970s, said that with the upcoming development of Alpine, it is important to have a park and preserve open space. The county estimates a yearly cost of $2,500 for needs such as vector control and water for the park. Operational costs to manage the property are estimated at $73,000 annually starting in fiscal year 2019-20. This endeavor has been challenging to say the least, as weve worked roughly 20 years trying to identify a suitable piece of property that could serve the recreational needs of the community, said Supervisor Dianne Jacob. However, issue after issue location, access, price, etc. popped up and put a stop to any such efforts. But alas, we have persevered and (now) starts the process ... for future park land and recreational facilities. Jacob said the community will have opportunities to weigh in on the design and amenities of the park. The county Department of Parks and Recreation will hold public meetings to receive community input, she said. Advertisement I am thoroughly excited to get this project out of the starting gate and I look forward to bringing much-needed parkland to the community of Alpine and making it a much more livable and healthier community, Jacob said. Jacob said she is still in full support of a plan raised by the Alpine Community Planning Group to work with the county and the Alpine Union School District to make improvements at Joan MacQueen to refurbish several fields on the campus, for a more active park. There is no question in my mind that we can do both and each project can complement one another, Jacob said. There does not need to be any competition between projects. Advertisement karen.pearlman@sduniontribune.com A couple of well-known startup guys in Los Angeles have launched a new electric bike company backed with millions in venture capital dollars and theyve chosen downtown San Diego as their first market. The company has unloaded 500 electric bikes in the Gaslamp, and the founders say the adoption has been explosive. The new company is called Wheels, and their bikes are a bit different than their competitors. The startup was founded by the two brothers behind the popular dog-walking app Wag, which raised nearly $400 million and is used in over 100 cities. Theyve recruited executives from Uber, Bird and Lyft, and they just closed a $37 million round of financing to push Wheels to other cities. The brothers Jonathan and Joshua Viner quietly unloaded 100 of their electric bikes in the Gaslamp district for a test run in December. They say San Diegans immediately took to the bikes, with each unit getting more than seven rides per day. That was enough to warrant Phase 2 of their roll-out: deploying 500 bikes this week in the Gaslamp, and theyre rolling out more bikes in College Heights, Pacific Beach and Seaport Village now, a representative said. The bikes are free to unlock and cost 25 cents a minute. By comparison, their e-bike competitor, Ubers Jump brand, costs $1 to unlock and 10 cents a minute. Wheels is running a promotion from now until Feb. 1 in which users can get unlimited free rides on certain e-bikes downtown. Advertisement Whats different about Wheels? These electric bikes have a few bells and whistles like a built-in bluetooth speaker system so users can pair their phones and ride with tunes but the company says their competitive edge has more to do with their operations plan. The marketing message behind many of these e-bike and scooter companies is that theyre helping cut down on traffic and allowing users to be more eco-friendly. But most companies see their products beat up, abused and scrapped on a regular basis. That cant be sustainable, the Viner brothers said. When we evaluated this market, we identified a major opportunity to better serve cities with a sustainability-first approach to dockless electric mobility, said Jonathan Viner, president at Wheels. Weve spent countless research and development hours on new manufacturing and servicing models to afford first-ever offerings such as swappable part replacements and removable batteries. The company has its own employees in San Diego, a Wheels representative said, whose sole jobs are to maintain the bikes. They say their bike design and maintenance structure allows the dockless bikes to survive longer four times longer than their competitors bikes and scooters. Joshua Viner, who leads as CEO, said that gives Wheels compelling unit economics, which no doubt appealed to the companys new investors. Although scooters have been far more popular in San Diego than e-bikes, Wheels said they are confident theres still a place for e-bikes. Theres more city infrastructure to support bike riding, so cities are a fan of the model. Scooters, on the other hand, are often driven on sidewalks, frustrating pedestrians. And Wheels early data from their test run also showed an older demographic of customers are using the bikes, with 30 percent of riders over 35 years old. Thats a bit older than the demographic normally seen sailing through downtown San Diego on scooters. A company representative said Wheels has a warehouse in San Diego with thousands of e-bikes lying in wait. While only in San Diego for now, Wheels has plans to rapidly expand across Southern California and nationwide. Wheels will be competing with another red and black e-bike on San Diegos streets. Uber dropped 300 of its Jump e-bikes in San Diego in November. Related reading: Uber drops 300 electric bikes in San Diego. Will they last? Advertisement Scooter fatigue isnt happening. Lyft and Uber unload 500 more electric scooters Wheels e-bike comes with a built-in bluetooth speaker. (Courtesy/ Wheels) Advertisement Business brittany.meiling@sduniontribune.com 619-293-1286 Twitter: @BrittanyMeiling The millennial-packed team at tech startup Trust & Will has raised $2 million to build the most unsexy software imaginable tools to help average Joes do their estate planning online. It might sound boring, but the startup has had impressive traction since its inception. The team got their start at a San Diego pitch competition called Quick Pitch about 18 months ago, when two guys in their twenties nervously edged into a crowded room of investors to sell them a half-hatched idea theyd just cooked up weeks prior. The competition lets new companies compete for a chance to earn thousands of dollars to grow their business. Most companies who make it to the final stage of the competition have revenue, customers and prototypes already built. Trust & Will had none of these. Didnt matter. The company took third place at the biggest startup competition in San Diego. What has everyone so intrigued? The idea came to the founders piecemeal before solidifying into a startup. Daniel Goldstein, now a 30-year-old business development executive, was worrying about his cryptocurrency accounts. If he got into an accident, would his family have access to his digital assets? He shared that concern with his friend Cody Barbo, and that got Barbo thinking about the painful process of legal trusts and wills. Barbo, 29, was about to get married, and he and his fiancee were sorting through similar legal paperwork. I asked myself, why isnt there a TurboTax for legal trusts and wills? Shouldnt we be able to set this up online? Barbo said. Advertisement That was the big idea Barbo and Goldstein pitched investors at Quick Pitch. When they won their $5,000 prize, the sponsors had to write out the check directly to Daniel. Trust & Will wasnt incorporated. Taking third place at Quick Pitch is really what drove us forward, Barbo said. Angel investors were intrigued by the idea, and Ryan Kuder, the guy who heads up a popular accelerator called Techstars Anywhere, approached Barbo after the event and encouraged him to apply. They were accepted and graduated from the accelerator in 2018. Kuder said he thinks the startup could transform the industry, and he has lots of confidence in Barbo as the CEO. Being a 29-year-old serial entrepreneur Not yet 30 and Barbo already has a reputation in San Diego. He was student body president at San Diego State University, and went on to found a popular tech company called Industry Careers, a LinkedIn for the hospitality industry. Industry, which Barbo headed up as CEO, gained some limelight for attracting $2.4 million in venture money at a time when San Diego software startups were struggling to raise capital. But shortly after VCs came in, the company asked Barbo, then 27, to step out. The experience shook him up. It was an odd departure from Industry, which was a company I loved, Barbo said. I was getting married in a few months and I went through this frightening experience where I asked myself, is it time to get a regular job with a stable salary? He didnt. Goldstein and Barbo joined up with product designer Brian Lamb, 34, and the three officially founded Trust & Will in late 2017. Today, they employ 10 people at Little Italys coworking space Downtown Works. Putting the cash to work The companys new funds came from a variety of investors, including early contributors Techstars and Wolfpack Ventures (the VC firm owned by Downtown Works founder Wolf Bielas). Later, the company attracted backing from Revolutions Rise of the Rest Seed Fund, the venture cap company founded by former AOL CEO Steve Case, along with contributions from Luma Launch, Halogen Ventures, Walket Capital, Western Technology Investment and various angel investors. Trust & Will has already put the new cash to work, hiring developers and queuing up marketing campaigns and partnership deals to work on. Barbo said 10,000 users have signed up to use Trust & Will since its launch in April. Customers pay a flat fee to use the online tool to create a trust or will, and then have the option to pay an annual subscription fee that allows users to go in and modify the documents at any time. Barbo said its a feature he thinks customers will like. Advertisement If you want to make a minor update to your will, for example, you will end up paying hundreds of dollars to meet with an attorney, Barbo said. We want to allow users to manage their estates completely online. Trusts range from $399 to $499 and wills are $69 to $129. The company isnt sharing their annual subscription rate, but Barbo said its nominal. When asked how many users signed up for the annual subscription, Barbo said the company wouldnt know conversion data until the product had been live for one full year. How to disrupt an antiquated industry Creating a trust or will is sort of a macabre task for people. Will the startup be able to rope people in for this service? Barbo said its not an easy sell. Theres a reason why half of all adults havent written a will yet, Barbo said. We know that 40 percent of baby boomers, 50 percent of Gen Xers, and 80 percent of millennials dont have a will. Advertisement The company is banking on the populations increasing desire to manage their lives online. Were really targeting the digital-first demographic; people who are looking for digital options for everything, Barbo said. Theyre doing targeted social media campaigns, singling out people whove recently had a major life event, like getting married or having a child. Theyre also targeting an older demographic that might have wills on the mind. But a big funnel for future customers will likely come by way of partnerships. The startup is teaming up with big players already in touch with their potential customer pool. Haven Life, a subsidiary of MassMutual, is partnered with the company, offering Trust & Wills product for free to its customers. They also have partnerships lined up with some financial institutions, Barbo said, but wasnt quite ready to name names. Advertisement Investor Colin Greenspon, a partner at Revolution, said Trust & Wills business plan is compelling. And by the way, he likes how unsexy they are. While it is always fun to hypothesize what new markets could be created due to advances in technology, the most compelling opportunities are often in antiquated industries that have been slow to innovate for various macro, regulatory and social reasons, Greenspon said. Trust & Will is capitalizing on this insight to transform estate planning in time for the largest wealth transfer in history to current generations and beyond. Junior developers at Trust & Will, Philip Taft-Dick, foreground, Taylor Lake, left, back to camera, and Devin Ledesma, right. The startup has a space at the Little Italy coworking space Downtown Works (Howard Lipin / The San Diego Union-Tribune) Advertisement Business brittany.meiling@sduniontribune.com 619-293-1286 Twitter: @BrittanyMeiling Apple Inc. is reducing the size of its workforce assigned to self-driving-car technology as the company reorganizes amid weakening sales of iPhones, its biggest moneymaker. The tech giant acknowledged the cutbacks in a statement Thursday, without specifying the number of jobs affected. CNBC reported that more than 200 employees were dismissed from Apples self-driving-car division, known internally as Project Titan. Some of the employees who lost their jobs in the division have been reassigned to other parts of the Cupertino, Calif., company, according to Apple. Despite the reductions, Apple emphasized that it was still committed to helping build self-driving cars, something it has been working on for several years. Advertisement So far, though, Apple has lagged behind many of the other technology companies and automakers trying to catch up to the still-nascent fields early leader, Waymo, a Google spinoff still owned by parent company Alphabet Inc. that began its work on autonomous vehicles a decade ago. This week, Waymo announced plans to open a factory in the Detroit area. We continue to believe there is a huge opportunity with autonomous systems, that Apple has unique capabilities to contribute, and that this is the most ambitious machine learning project ever, the company said. Apple is reassessing its priorities as it adjusts to waning demand for iPhones, a shift that caused the company to fall shy of its own revenue projections for the quarter that included the crucial holiday shopping season. The company is scheduled to release its earnings for that quarter Tuesday. Self-driving-car industry acknowledges it has an image problem A second top credit agency in the past four months has downgraded San Diego Gas & Electrics debt rating, citing the rising risk of catastrophic wildfires and concerns about the massive liability faced by California utilities when their equipment starts a fire. S&P Global Ratings on Monday lowered SDG&Es credit rating one notch from A- to BBB+. It also cut its rating for Southern California Edison from BBB+ to BBB. We could lower our ratings on SDG&E by one or two more notches if regulators and/or politicians do not take concrete steps to explicitly address these growing risks before the start of the 2019 wildfire season, said the S&P Global ratings report. The S&P downgrade comes after Moodys Investor Services cut credit ratings for the states top three investor-owned power utilities in September -- SDG&E, SoCal Edison and Pacific Gas & Electric. Advertisement Credit agencies are weighing in as California lawmakers and regulators try to figure out how to address the states wildfire risks while fostering investment in a safe power distribution at reasonable rates for consumers. Facing $30 billion in liabilities from a half-dozen fires over the past two years most notably the deadly Camp Fire in Northern California in November -- Pacific Gas & Electric is expected to file for bankruptcy perhaps as early as next week. The pending bankruptcy loomed over S&P Globals move to downgrade the credit ratings of SDG&E and SoCal Edison. The swift deterioration of PG&Es financial health only heightens the uncertainties facing all of Californias other electrical utilities, said the credit rating agency in a report. PG&E arranged $5.5 billion in debtor-in-possession financing from banks on Monday to pay for its operations during Chapter 11 reorganization, which could take two years. Its debt now has a junk rating. Even with the downgrade, SDG&E and SoCal Edison have solid credit ratings. Still, the move likely will result in higher borrowing costs, which may lead to higher electricity rates over time. The increased credit risk surrounding Californias power utilities stems in part from the threat of climate change sparking ever more frequent catastrophic wildfires, according to S&P Global. In addition, California regulators have interpreted the legal doctrine known as inverse condemnation to mean that utilities can be held liable for damages caused by wildfires linked to their equipment even if the companies followed accepted safety procedures. Advertisement This effectively makes California utilities the insurer of last resort every time there is a devastating wildfire in their service territory, according to the S&P Global. Before utilities can pass wildfire costs onto ratepayers, they must get approval from the California Public Utility Commission. As part of its justification for potentially filing for bankruptcy, PG&E said it didnt expect the CPUC to permit the company to issue debt to cover wildfire claims quickly saying it could take years to get authorization. PG&E has a less than stellar safety record. A judge is supervising the utilitys probation term imposed in 2017 after PG&E was convicted of felony charges in connection with the 2010 San Bruno natural gas pipeline disaster, which killed eight. In addition, Cal Fire blamed PG&E equipment for a dozen 2017 Northern California fires and is investigating whether a faulty transmission tower was the cause of the Camp Fire in November that killed 86 people. Advertisement Since the 2007 catastrophic fires in San Diego County that killed two people, destroyed more than 1,300 homes and forced more than 10,000 to seek shelter at Qualcomm Stadium, SDG&E has spent more than $1 billion on fire safety. The measures, funded by ratepayers, include putting more power lines underground, replacing wooden power poles with flame-resistant steel poles, creating the nations largest utility-owned weather network in fire-prone areas, installing cameras in dangerous areas and bringing the 2,650 gallon Aircrane Helitanker to the region. While we assess SDG&Es operational management of wildfire mitigation as exceptional compared with that of its peers, the company is not immune to wildfire risks and our assessment of the insufficient regulatory protection to deal with the unique risks of inverse condemnation, said the rating agency. The downgrades of SDG&E and SoCal Edison could encourage the state legislature to take up the complex issue. Southern California Edison continues to actively engage with state leaders to develop comprehensive public policies to address statewide wildfire mitigation and liability reform, said SoCal Edison in a statement. Clearly, changes need to be made. Advertisement For now, however, there seems to be little support to ease wildfire liability for utilities by tweaking inverse condemnation, which would be seen as a bailout. I am very upset that Wall Street firms are trying to blackmail California into doing their bidding. That is what these downgrades are for, said Mark Toney, executive director of The Utility Reform Network, an advocacy group. The downgrades of these other companies are meant to create more pressure on the legislature to take action on inverse condemnation. Toney said his organization supports legislation that would provide protection to people whether a wildfire was started by utility equipment or not. He pointed to Floridas Hurricane Catastrophe Fund, which provides reimbursements to insurers for a portion of their losses in cases of severe hurricane losses. State Assemblyman Chad Mayes, R-Yucca Valley, has put forward a bill AB 235 that would create a California Wildfire Fund Authority, which would create a fund to provide coverage when wildfire costs exceed available insurance. Advertisement SDG&E urged state lawmakers and regulators to work toward wildfire and liability reform. Without an updated legislative, legal and regulatory framework to address wildfire liabilities, the impacts will likely further compromise the financial health of our state, said a company spokeswoman in a statement. Shares of Sempra Energy, SDG&Es parent company, ended trading Wednesday up 54 cents at $112.91 on the New York Stock Exchange. Advertisement Business mike.freeman@sduniontribune.com; Twitter:@TechDiego Advertisement 760-529-4973 DAVOS, Switzerland (AP) Europe's divisions were on display Thursday at the World Economic Forum as hundreds of protesters descended on the Swiss ski resort of Davos to lambast the elite attendees for caring more about their balance sheets than the state of the world. Shouting "anti-capitalista" and other chants, the gathering of socialists, environmentalists and others waved banners and signs that read "Davos Stinks" or "Let them eat money" while braving sub-zero temperatures near the Davos train station. "We want a better world, you're not deciding for us," said 20-year-old protester from Geneva, Thomas Bruchez. The demonstration was originally planned in part to protest against President Donald Trump, who had been expected in Davos this week before cancelling his trip over the U.S. government shutdown. The protest went ahead anyway, training some anger at Brazil's new nationalist President Jair Bolsonaro, who did attend. Divisions have been evident all week at the conference center a mile or two away, notably on trade. On Thursday, Europe's splits were evident and they weren't just related to Brexit. Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte was particularly pointed, arguing that the generally richer countries in the north of the EU are beginning to feel that the poorer south are getting away with not playing by the rules on an array of issues. Italy's stand against the single currency bloc's debt rules was one incident that caught his ire. The populist government in Italy, barely a year in power, has decided to ramp up spending far beyond EU expectations and only backed off slightly after the executive Commission threatened legal action. Though concerns remain that the spending plans will add to Italy's huge debt load and potentially rekindle financial jitters that have been dormant since 2015, when Greece was bailed out for a final time, the Commission has so far opted against taking action against Rome, such as imposing a fine. Rutte said people in his country are asking him why the Netherlands is implementing measures to abide by the budget rules when others like Italy are not. "We should because we want to have our house in order, not because some European treaty requires this from us but this is creating distrust between north and south and given those dividing lines, I'm not optimistic about whether we can achieve on competitiveness, on reform and on climate change," he said. Italy has also been involved in a spat with France in recent days over issues including how to handle migrants travelling to Europe by boat. Italy's interior minister, the head of one of two populist and euroskeptic parties leading the country, this month called the French leader Emmanuel Macron who is unabashedly pro-EU "a terrible president." The diplomatic spats are an unwelcome backdrop for the EU, which is due to lose key member Britain in a little more than two months. Britain's departure from the EU is laden with uncertainty after British Prime Minister Theresa May saw her Brexit deal voted down by parliament earlier this month and is now struggling to find a solution with Parliament so divided. That is raising the possibility that Britain might fall out of the EU without a deal on March 29, which could have huge repercussions for the economy as tariffs and border checks are re-established. The EU is trying its best to stay out of it but some politicians are starting to talk about extending Britain's departure date to give the country more time to come to a consensus of what to do, while others are hinting at supporting a second referendum. All are agreed though that a 'no deal' Brexit would be damaging to the EU as well as to Britain. "I think the United Kingdom in a 'no deal' scenario will face enormous difficulties," said Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar. "In a 'no deal' scenario the U.K. won't have any trade deals with anyone and I think it'll be very difficult for them to conclude any trade deals with the question of the Irish border unresolved. So given we have a solution on the table, let's ratify that." That argument stands at odds with one of the main benefits of Brexit that supporters of a 'no deal' departure have been positing of late. The Bank of England warned late last year that the British economy could shrink by 8 percent in a matter of months if the country crashes out with no deal and with no transition to any future trading arrangements with the EU. The shock could send house prices plunging by around a third. Still, Bank of England Governor Mark Carney said British banks are financially strong enough to survive such a scenario. Ports and borders will still face many logistical problems. For many firms, it's just too difficult to prepare for a "no deal" eventuality, Carney said. "Businesses are doing what they can but in many cases they can't do it," he said. WASHINGTON (AP) A tiny fraction of Twitter users spread the vast majority of fake news in 2016, with conservatives and older people sharing misinformation more, a new study finds. Scientists examined more than 16,000 U.S. Twitter accounts and found that 16 of them less than one-tenth of 1 percent tweeted out nearly 80 percent of the misinformation masquerading as news, according to a study Thursday in the journal Science . About 99 percent of the Twitter users spread virtually no fake information in the most heated part of the election year, said study co-author David Lazer, a Northeastern University political and computer science professor. Spreading fake information "is taking place in a very seamy, but small, corner of Twitter," Lazer said. Lazer said misinformation "super sharers" flood Twitter: an average of 308 pieces of fakery each between Aug. 1 and Dec. 6 in 2016. And it's not just few people spreading it, but few people reading it, Lazer said. "The vast majority of people are exposed to very little fake news despite the fact that there's a concerted effort to push it into the system," Lazer said. The researchers found the 16,442 accounts they analyzed by starting with a random pool of voter records, matching names to Twitter users and then screening out accounts that appeared to not be controlled by real people. Their conclusions are similar to a study earlier this month that looked at the spread of false information on Facebook. It also found that few people shared fakery, but those who did were more likely to be over 65 and conservatives. That makes this study more believable because two groups of researchers using different social media platforms, measuring political affiliation differently and with different panels of users came to the same conclusion, said Yonchai Benkler, co-director of Harvard Law School's center on the internet and society. He wasn't part of either study but praised them, saying they should reduce misguided postelection panic about how "out-of-control technological processes had rendered us as a society incapable of telling truth from fiction." Experts say a recent showdown between Kentucky Catholic school students and a Native American elder at the Lincoln Memorial seemed to be stoked by a single now-shut down Twitter account. Lazer said the account fit some characteristics of super sharers from his study but it was more left-leaning, which didn't match the study. Unlike the earlier Facebook study, Lazer didn't interview the people but ranked people's politics based on what they read and shared on Twitter. The researchers used several different sources of domains for false information masquerading as news not individual stories but overall sites from lists compiled by other academics and BuzzFeed. While five outside experts praised the study, Kathleen Hall Jamieson, head of the public policy center at the University of Pennsylvania, found several problems, especially with how they determined fake information sites. Lazer's team found that among people they categorized as left-leaning and centrists, fewer than 5 percent shared any fake information. Among those they determined were right-leaning, 11 percent of accounts shared misinformation masquerading as news. For those on the extreme right, it was 21 percent. This study shows "most of us aren't too bad at circulating information, but some of us are determined propagandists who are trying to manipulate the public sphere," said Texas A&M University's Jennifer Mercieca, a historian of political rhetoric who wasn't part of the study. The Ministry of Police is exploring all available options in the search for escaped convicts Pati Chong Nee and Aniseko Vaelei. Police Commissioner Fuiavailiili Egon Keil said Police Officers along with their Tactical Unit are working 24-7 to find the escapees. All our resources are spent on looking for these men as we take it very serious that these two should not be out in society. And so were doing everything we can to find them. We are not just looking for them in Upolu, but also Savaii, he said. Fuiavailiili has again appealed to members of the public to contact the police on phone number 22222 if they have any information on the whereabouts of the two convicts. According to the notice by the Police, the men are considered dangerous and members of the public have been advised not to approach them. Chong Nee and Vaelei are serving time at Tafaigata for a history of crimes including burglary, robbery and being armed with a dangerous weapon. A statement from the Ministry of Police reports that they were alerted by the Prisons and Correctional Services (SPCS) on Sunday morning. We ask members of the public to contact the Samoa Police on phone number 22222 or contact any police station near you or the Prisons Authority on phone number 23516 if you have any information of their whereabouts. In support of SPCS, the Samoa Police Service wishes to thank members of the public for their ongoing assistance. The bill to merge the Ministry of Health and the National Health Services is set to be introduced in Parliament this week. The legislation seeks to amend the Ministry of Health Act 2006 and repeal the National Health Services Act 2014 and proposes to regulate the additional functions, roles and responsibilities of the Ministry of Health. It will also give the Ministry new responsibilities, functions and duties due to the merger of the healthcare services and the administration of the health service. Furthermore, the bill seeks to provide for the functions, roles and responsibilities of a director general and deputy director general of Health. The bill also give effect to the transfer of the role of the National Health Service to the Ministry of Health. In May last year the Cabinet appointed a Commission of Inquiry to consider the proposed organisational structure of a merger between the MOH and the NHS. The inquiry found that the leaders of the health sector in Samoa exist in a state of warfare and unless reconciliation is done between leaders of the warring occupational groups, the lives of members of the public will continue to be at stake. A report to Cabinet titled A Pressing need for Grace, which questioned whether the merger can proceed under the current circumstances, has been submitted to Cabinet for its deliberation. A fundamental change in attitude of all health sector workers is the Commissions own prescription for the terminal condition which the sector is currently manifesting, an attitude of selfishness and mala fides (bad faith), which lies at the heart of the conflicts and disagreements which has paralyzed the service for many years, the report stated. At that time the Commission of Inquiry expressed serious concerns about the existing discord between senior officers within Ministry of Health and National Health Service, which it said compromised the ability of Samoas health sector to function. The use of the health sector as a battlefield amongst senior health professionals, and the long standing conflict between doctors and nurses, is an abuse of their privileged position and a chronic waste of public resources, the Inquiry found. (This comes) at a time when the public still languish for long hours to see the few overworked doctors and nurses at TT Hospital in Apia (which is apparently a luxury if you live in Savaii where there is no registered doctor available at any time). (This is also happening in) a system where there are still shortages of basic supplies, and is both disgraceful and symptomatic of managers who have misplaced their sense of responsibility and misused their time and public resources to fuel conflict rather than focus on whether the public have access to efficient, clinically safe and humane care and treatment. The Ministry of Police is working on improving its capabilities in order to communicate with the public through the media more effectively. Police Commissioner, Fuiavailiili Egon Keil, said this in response to questions from the Samoa Observer, following concerns amongst media personnel that there continued to be delays by the Police media unit in releasing information considered critical to a developing crime story. When Fuiavailiili was asked why there continued to be a lack of response to questions sent by reporters, he said the media should continue to email the Police spokesperson and Deputy Police Commissioner, Papalii Monalisa Keti. Just email in your questions and they will be referred to the media unit, he said. He was then asked for his view on the Police Minister and Prime Minister Prime Minister Tuilaepa Dr. Sailele Malielegaoi, making time for the media through weekly press briefing in his office at the Government Building. But Fuiavailiili, in response, said: As you know there are certain issues that we cannot say, and also we have the Facebook page that we update with information that is very critical, that people need to know, for instance the escapee over the weekend. He added: We immediately posted that information with their photos we feel the country needs to know, so we do everything to give out to the public as soon as possible, but there are also certain issues that we cannot discuss. Last year the Police Commissioner abandoned a weekly press conference, which was organised for local media organisations, and began using the official Facebook page of the Police to disseminate information. Prime Minister Tuilaepa Dr. Sailele Malielegaoi yesterday declined to be asked questions by Samoa Observer Reporter, Sapeer Mayron. During his weekly media programme in his office, he instead told Ms. Mayron to send questions to the Ministry of Prime Ministers Press Secretary, Nanai Laveitiga Tuiletufuga. Tuilaepa also accused the Editors of the Samoa Observer of changing his comments. He did not say which comments he was referring to. Can you please send your questions because I cannot speak to you after the programme, he said, adding that he will read them and answer in writing. Also I need evidence of what I am saying because - and it's not you - your editors are changing what I say. So you can send your questions to Lave and we will answer them. The exchange took place before his weekly programme, which is aired live on Radio 2AP. In the past, the Samoa Observer had been allowed to sit in on the programme before asking questions at the end of it. Yesterday, Ms. Mayron wanted to seek comments from the Prime Minister about the developments in Parliament this week, the bills on the agenda and how it would impact members of the public. She also wanted the Prime Minister to elaborate on the latest developments by the national airline, Samoa Airways, and how the Government plans to fund the acquisition of a new aircraft. As the Chairman of the Samoa Rugby Union, the Reporter also wanted a comment about the death of Vaimoso rugby player, Faiva Tagatauli, who died from head injuries sustained during a game last weekend. This is not the first time Prime Minister Tuilaepa has refused to be asked questions by the Samoa Observer at his weekly conferences. Questions about the issues highlighted among others were emailed to Press Secretary, Laveitiga, last night. Dear Editor, I was in Samoa last week when Tuilaepa scolded the Pulenuus and subtly attacked those voices against the government such as SSIG Global. When he insisted that they (Govt) and the Pulenuus must crawl under in service of the people (Totolo i lalo e tautua le atunuu), effectively demanding they put THE PEOPLE OF SAMOA FIRST. Those words sounded honourable but sadly, thats all they were words empty useless words untruths to be frank. Tuilaepa had said the right things to deliver his political agenda down the throats of those Pulenuus serving as his mouthpiece in the villages. On Friday (18th Jan) while waiting in our cars to be loaded on the 10am trip to Mulifanua, we witnessed the complete opposite of what Tuilaepa had asked the Pulenuus to do. A stream of flash fourwheelers made their way around the edge of the carpark into the ship. They were packed into the ship AHEAD of us waiting in line for a long time in the sun. We have CONFIRMED stamped across our yellow receipts for that trip on the Big Boat. I made the point of booking on that Big Boat because it has protection for the vehicle from the seaspray as well as an air-conditioned room upstairs. I sensed something was not right so I approached the worker directing the cars and asked him whom those vehicles belonged. He said it was the Governments and he whispered that they were booked to travel on the little boat, which was anchored around the corner. He apologised for the inconvenience and said they were just following orders. I went across and spoke to a lady who also gave the same answer. I protested profusely but she asked me to make my concerns known to the management. A Palagi gentleman joined me along with many other drivers who were at that stage getting restless and very angry. The Palagi pleaded with the staff that he had confirmed their booking a whole month earlier and they have a plane to catch that afternoon so there was a risk of them missing that. It all fell on deaf ears. She also confirmed that they were following orders and that the UNPLANNED Government trip was booked to use the little boat. Some drivers started swearing but we soon asked for calm. It was heartbreaking for me to see some elders who had sat patiently in their cars, in the sun waiting to board only to be told that the boat they were booked on was being hijacked by Tuilaepa and his Mafia. They dont give a s*** about our elders and they have no respect for anyone for that matter. They are above everyone maybe even God in their own minds. I felt betrayed by our PM Tuilaepa. Only a couple of days earlier, Tuilaepa had pledged that he, his government and the Pulenuus must Totolo i Lalo e tautua le atunuu crawl under to service the people of the country. Where was that service then? What happened to those honourable words to put the people of Samoa first? Where is the respect the courtesy? My advice to Tuilaepa and his Mafia is that: Stop fooling the people. Be honest with what you say and follow them through. A Matai should be a light of hope and a leader with integrity so behave like one with all those heavyweight Matai titles you have. No more broken promises. Stop treating our people like idiots. Have some dignity and consideration for our elders and the poor in society. The Lords gonna come tumbling down on you and soon - Mister. John MP Eds note: Attempts are being made to get a comment from the Samoa Shipping Corporation and Prime Minister Tuilaepa Sailele Malielegaoi. The first few days of Parliament for 2019 have been action-packed to say the least. The $19.4 million Supplementary budget by the Minister of Finance, Sili Epa Tuioti, which has been the focus of debate the past few days is not the biggest budget weve seen. Apart from the raising of salaries for the public service which also raised many eyebrows - and the increase of the monthly pension for pensioners, there wasnt much out of the ordinary. Really. But the debate in recent days with the petitions against the Electoral Constituencies Bill 2018 adding more flavour has been most interesting to follow. If anything, the debate speaks of the times and the general feeling surrounding a lot of these issues. It might sound bizarre and extreme to some people, but it is what it is. In hindsight, they say out of the abundance of the heart a man speaks. All you have to do is look at the first couple of pages of your Samoa Observer yesterday to get an idea into the thinking of our leaders today, which is quite bizarre if you ask me. Indeed, these are very interesting times. Take the headline What corruption? on the front page of yesterdays edition for instance. The headline was taken from Prime Minister Tuilaepa Dr. Sailele Malielegaois response to a claim about corruption in Government made by that one Opposition voice, Olo Fiti Vaai. We have so much government funds going to waste and this is because the government is being reckless, greedy and abusive, Olo said. During the past year, there have been a number of problems faced by the Government, from one Ministry to another and it all comes down to a weakness. When I consider all these actions, it is corrupt, that is whats happening in the Government. Thats all Olo needed to say to rile up Prime Minister Tuilaepa, who leapt to the defense of his Government as you would expect him to do of course. You are being rude and disrespectful, Tuilaepa said. You just blurt out such words. This M.P. has been against this Government from the beginning. Corruption is when there are laws and yet nothing is being done about it. That is not the case; there are laws in place for any illegal practices. So dont you dare level such allegations but you look within yourself and what you are doing. Tuilaepa wasnt done there. He continued to accuse the Salega M.P. of being negative about Government developments, pointing to a story in the Samoa Observer last Sunday, where Olo questioned the raising of the Chinese flag in Samoa. There are six flags at the project site, yet he targeted the flag of the Government of China, the Prime Minister said. Whats so harmful about Chinas flag? Its a sign they are providing assistance to Samoa. What about you, what are you doing? We are receiving financial support to assist with our developments and as for you, what have you done. Olo, as weve come to know him over the years, did not back down until the Speaker intervened and forced him to move away from the topic. Which was a pity. It wouldve been great if the Speaker and Parliament had allowed Olo to back up his claim about the corruption charge, by telling the public what evidence he has. After all, isnt that what transparency, accountability and good governance is all about? And what better place to exercise it than Parliament, the meeting place of Samoa? The fact is Olo is not the first Member of Parliament to highlight corruption. Weve seen many examples of corruption within the public service over the years. These instances have been exposed in reports by the Auditor General and the Audit Office as well as special committees appointed by Parliament, such as the Officers of Parliament Committee (O.P.C), which investigated and confirmed instances of corrupt practices, collusion to defraud and mismanagement. So this is nothing new. What people need to know is how the Government is planning to address it once and for all. Heres the thing, if Prime Minister Tuilaepa is proposing to use an atomic bomb to blow up petitions against the Governments Electoral Constituencies Bill 2018, why cant he do the same to corruption within the public service? The irony is that the controversial Electoral Constituencies Bill 2018 has been introduced in an attempt to address many challenges during the General Election including corruption. Which raises an important question. Which corruption deserves an atomic bomb by Prime Minister Tuilaepas administration? The one that keeps them in power or the one that hurts ordinary Samoans who are denied benefits in health, education, and other basic necessities like water, housing and food? Have a wonderful Friday Samoa, God bless! The Milly Rock Concert, headlined by the Lafaialii brothers on Saturday night at X-Club, has been hailed a success, with the brothers, Faaiuaso and SJ, vowing to return for more. Known as Danger Boe and SJ Demarco, the upcoming stars said it was amazing to perform in front of friends, families and fans in Samoa and they are extremely grateful for the opportunity. Danger Boe, whose real name is Faaiuaso Lafaialii, spoke on behalf of his brother SJ Demarco who left the country right after the concert. It was a pleasure for us to perform at home, he said. As artists who are residing overseas, we are trying to create music that will get to the world so its a privilege to start our concert in Samoa because we were born here. We are definitely performing for Samoa in the near future. We are trying to get the music to the world and if it gets the world and people love it, thats us bringing Samoa to the bigger world of music and that is our aim. Danger Boe added that in the future, they would be looking at a more open venue for their concert. We noticed from that night that most of our fans were the youngsters and it was sad for us because they were rejected given that there are rules for people to enter the nightclub, he said. It wasnt us it was our organizer but hopefully next time our organizer will get it right. People make the music and without the people we cant get paid. I acknowledge the support of everyone that came along to support us but the sad thing that was not all the people who wanted to see the show came along, but next time we will get it right. I couldnt get over the fact that the youngsters were not there that night. They are the future of our music but they werent able to come and it was really sad. That said, Danger Boe said the night overall was a great success. We acknowledge the love of our supporters who made the effort to come along and to those who couldnt for various reasons, they said. We also acknowledge the support of our sponsors including X-Club Samoa, AdAway Samoa, Best Value Supermarket Samoa, Taula Beverages Samoa, Tanoa Tusitala Hotel Samoa, TRANSAM, Duty Free Samoa, West style beauty salon, Farmer Joes Samoa, S.S.A.B, Apia Samoa and Urban Sounds. The brothers dedicated their music to Samoans all over the world. If you love our music, then it is dedicated to you. The brothers next concert will be in New Zealand, followed by Australia. A banquet to celebrate the awarding of the Samoa Emergency Fire and the Police (S.E.F.P.) 2019 Scholarships and Grant Awards was held at Travellers Point, Malifa, on Tuesday night. During the event, awards were presented to children of Fire and Emergency Services Authority workers and Police officers, commonly referred to as Samoas first responders to emergencies. Awardees for primary school level received $100 each; college level received $375 each while one award for tertiary level received $1,250. There were other awards. The Parent Award of $500 was received by Laupama Maiava while Ence Homes Honorary Award of $1,000 went to Faafouina Junior Mupo. The last award of the night was the Sione Heleti Vuki Legacy Awards worth US$200 each. Five first responders were drawn out randomly as recipients. Spokesperson for the S.E.F.P. 2019 Samoa Committee, Nanai Taofiga Tuiletufuga, said the initiative by Faalogo Sissy Vuki and her husband Tupuola Heleti Vuki, of St. George Utah, costs a total $35,000. The focus for the whole initiative is because 911 is about saving lives and thats what Faalogo and her husband are also aiming to do, he said. Last year they donated $15,000 to help the 911 national call center. They offered the scholarships and went back to do their own fund raising and collected donations. And for this round, they donated $10,500 to the 911 call center, gave out monetary grants to 20 first responder parents to help with expenses and also funded the backpacks. One of the recipients, Enleyva G. Maiava, is extremely grateful. I thank God for this opportunity. Our dad told us to start with our essays for this thing, so we tried out best to get an award. We know our dad works so hard to provide for us and given the nature of his work, its a matter of life and death, so we really tried hard for this and Im so glad it paid off. The next step for S.E.F.P.2019 is to offer five university scholarships to children of first responders. Faalogo, who is an alumnus of Texas State University back in St. George Utah, is negotiating with the University for five scholarships, said Mr. Tuiletufuga. The scholarships will cover tuition, room and board and university will also help with visa applications for successful applicants. It is still up in the air but its the next phase that this entire project is looking into. The Director of the Centre for Health and Social Justice Programme, Satish Kumar Singh, believes there is essence in engaging men to achieve gender justice. Based in Delhi, India, Mr. Singh is in Samoa this week for the Breaking the Cycle of Violence Conference being hosted by SVSG. We can understand the issue of masculinity, violence and gender roles, which many times are not supported by men but if men want to be part of the solution then they shouldnt be part of the problem, he said. With more than 35 years in the field, Mr. Singh has spent the last 20 years on one agenda which is engaging men and boys for gender justice. Men have to come out to speak loudly and take the responsibility of their own power and privilege; reflect on their power and privilege and reflect on their role also. Many men are not violent but they are maintaining silence, so thee need to openly speak to other men and boys that I am not going to support violence against women or any form of violence. A big part of his work involves providing training for men of all levels. Engaging men is the essence here, he said. If we do not; we cannot follow the confrontational path of getting the justice because men and women have to live together, they also have to love and respect women and how to listen and particularly applies to women too. Being a founding member of Men Engagement Global Alliance in 2005, Mr. Singh has built strong networks to address stereotypes regarding men and domestic violence. Men are always propagated through film and media to be macho and a violent man, neglecting and controlling man; particularly in south Asia, if the man is very silent, cooperative, supportive and emotional then theyre not considered as a good man, he told Samoa Observer. Certainly, in such sense, men are influenced to accept the toxic masculinity through performance to control the world, community, nation, families; that needs to be changed and stopped. Men need to support each other also; emotionally, ideologically, physically so they can change the social norm. Former Finance Minister P. Chidambaram (file photo) Calling the Centre's announcement of employing over four lakh people in Railways "another jumla", former Finance Minister P. Chidambaram on Thursday said the Railway Ministry has "suddenly" woken up to posts lying vacant for nearly five years. "Railways leave 2,82,976 posts vacant for nearly five years and suddenly wake up to say we will fill them in three months! Another jumla!" the Congress leader said in a tweet. "The story is the same across many departments of the government. Vacant posts on one side, unemployed youth on the other," he added. Railway Minister Piyush Goyal had on Wednesday said that the Railways would employ over four lakh people by 2021. He also said that recruitment for 2.3 lakh vacant posts will be completed in the next two years. By SA Commercial Prop News The Presidency says the South African delegation at the World Economic Forum in Davos is pleased with the economic progress the country As economic growth slows and global trade tensions continue, Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) into South Africa grew by over 400% to R98.6 billion ($7.1 billion) last year. President Cyril Ramaphosa and his team were on a charm offensive at the 2019 World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, Switzerland. WEF is a prime opportunity for top government officials to interact with potential investors, and South Africa intented on pulling out all the stops at a time when it is competing with other emerging markets. The Presidency says the South African delegation at the World Economic Forum is pleased with the economic progress the country has made in recent months, showing that their hard work is finally paying off. Foreign Direct Investment into South Africa grew by over 400% to R98.6 billion ($7.1-billion) last year, according to the UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) Global Investment Trends Monitor report, released on Monday. That's up from R17.8 billion ($1.3 billion) in 2017. The report said FDI investments were predominantly devoted to mining, petroleum refinery, food processing, information and communications technologies, and renewable energy. Last year, China committed to R193 billion in new investments in South Africa. One of the biggest Chinese investments in South Africa was the recently-opened $840 million (R11 billion) BAIC vehicle plant at the Coega harbour. Saudi Arabia said it would invest $10 billion - specifically in the energy sector, including building refineries, petrochemicals and renewable energy. Among the companies that announced they would pump new money into South Africa, was Mercedes Benz, which said it would invest R10 billion. Despite the increase in FDI, the World Bank expects that the South African economy will grow by a meagre 1.3% in 2019. The report found that African FDI grew from $13.4 billion to $13.9 billion, or 6%, predominantly helped by growth in South Africa and Egypt. Country's military capabilities develop more and more: Leader of Yemeni Revolution [24/January/2019] SANAA, Jan. 24 (Saba) - The leader of Revolution, Sayyed Abdul-Malik Badr al-Din al-Houthi, affirmed on Thursday that Yemen's military capabilities develop more and more and are on the path of growth and development at all levels, including air and naval forces. "We are ready to achieve honorable peace and we have proved this in Sweden recently and in all previous rounds," said Sayyed Abdul-Malik in a speech delivered on the occasion of the anniversary of the martyr's anniversary. He pointed out that the choice of the free from the people of Yemen was to address the aggression and this is the Islamic position of the Koran and moral right, while some of mercenaries who claim them-self Yemenis their choice was the support of aggression and stand with the oppressor. The leader of the revolution said that supporters of the aggression, even those who provide the very simple support to the enemy, they are them-self partners in the crime of shedding the blood of the Yemeni people, adding "The enemy wants us either to silence our voice or to surrender to them, so the choice of surrender is a wrong choice and does not harmonize with the divine teachings." He pointed out that the description of those who renounced their responsibility as neutrals is not true, but are surrendering to the enemy, humiliating them-self. "A large number of our people and our scholars have taken the option of steadfastness and the choice of their heroes ancestors and sacrifice in the face of aggression," he said, pointing out that many of the free tribes moved in the face of aggression. He referred for those heroes who sacrificed even their grandchildren to defend the Homeland and had a key role in the mobilization. He explained that the military officers and officers had a honorable historic stance in the face of aggression will be recorded by history and passed on to generations. "Our martyrs, on forehead of the them The Martyr Ex-President al-Sammad, express the diversity of regions and tribes and components in the option of steadfastness in the face of aggression." Sayyed Abdul-Malik pointed out that the enemy is exerting the utmost effort because he feels frustrated because of their inability to occupy Yemen and he sees the great positions of the Yemeni people. Explaining that the enemy played their game on the economic level to the maximum extent, but he saw that he failed to break the will of the Yemeni people. "The enemy is trying to use all methods to weaken the will of our countrymen in the face of the US-backed saudi-led aggression coalition, and their horns on the sites of communication and channels and through elements in the squares in order to raise doubt in our people in the option of steadfastness and confrontation" The leader of the revolution said that the enemies focus on aspects of psychological and moral corruption and the preoccupation of people with marginal issues and conflicts in order to keep them away from the basic situation. "The enemy is fed up with this aggression, lost their reputation and the reputation of Saudi regime became the worst in the world. The Saudi regime's scandals and bad reputation became clear for everyone, and crime and tyranny has become its name and description throughout the world," he said. He added: "Today, after all these sacrifices, we must become steadfast and steadfast until the aggression stops, our grievance, the right to our position and our belonging to Islam force us to continue our steadfastness until the aggression stops." The leader of the revolution stressed the importance of preserving the sacrifices of the Yemeni people by protecting the principles and morals for which the martyrs sacrificed. "The families of the martyrs should adopt the stance of steadfastness and attach to the path of truth and must serve as role models for society on the path of integrity, " he said. AA Saba Islamic Relief distributes winter supplies to 1,495 families in Taiz [24/January/2019] SANAA, Jan. 24 (Saba) - Islamic Relief Organization in Yemen said on Thursday it had distributed winter supplies to 1,495 families in Taiz province. In a statement obtained by Yemen News Agency (Saba), the organization explained that this project, which is supported by its office in Britain, had targeted the families of orphans and poor families in order to alleviate their suffering during the winter. Each family got two blankets, two mattresses, and a winter kit, which includes gloves, socks and two hats and scarves, the statement added. BA Saba Following the pullback seen in the previous session, treasuries moved back to the upside during the trading day on Thursday. Bond prices moved higher early in the session and remained firmly positive throughout the day. As a result, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, slid by 4.3 basis points to 2.712 percent. The strength among treasuries was partly due to comments by Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross, who told CNBC the U.S. is "miles and miles" from a trade deal with China. "Frankly, that shouldn't be too surprising," Ross said in an interview on CNBC's "Squawk Box," noting the U.S. and China have "lots and lots of issues." The comments from Ross come ahead of Chinese Vice Premier Liu He's trip to Washington next week for the next round of trade negotiations. On the U.S. economic front, the Conference Board released a report showing a modest decrease by its index of leading U.S. economic indicators in the month of December. The Conference Board said its leading economic index edged down by 0.1 percent in December after rising by 0.2 percent in November. The slight drop by the index matched economist estimates. "The US LEI declined slightly in December and the recent moderation in the LEI suggests that the US economic growth rate may slow down this year," said Ataman Ozyildirim, Director of Economic Research at the Conference Board. He added, "While the effects of the government shutdown are not yet reflected here, the LEI suggests that the could decelerate towards 2 percent growth by the end of 2019." Meanwhile, a separate report from the Labor Department showed initial jobless claims fell to their lowest level in almost fifty years in the week ended January 19th. The report said initial jobless claims slid to 199,000, a decrease of 13,000 from the previous week's revised level of 212,000. The drop surprised economists, who had expected jobless claims to rise to 220,000 from the 213,000 originally reported for the previous week. With the unexpected decrease, jobless claims fell to their lowest level since hitting 197,000 in November of 1969. Trading may be somewhat subdued on Friday, as no major U.S. economic data will be released as a result of the ongoing government shutdown. For comments and feedback contact: editorial@rttnews.com Market Analysis President Donald Trump said he is postponing his planned State of the Union address to Congress until the government shutdown is over. Trump announced the dramatic change of heart within hours of rejecting House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's, D-Calif., request to delay the major policy speech. "As the Shutdown was going on, Nancy Pelosi asked me to give the State of the Union Address. I agreed. She then changed her mind because of the Shutdown, suggesting a later date. This is her prerogative - I will do the Address when the Shutdown is over," Trump said on Twitter late Wednesday night. He added that he is not looking for an alternative venue for the address because there is no place that can compete with the history, tradition and importance of the House Chamber. The tweets by Trump came after Pelosi told the president House Democrats would not consider a resolution authorizing the speech. "I am writing to inform you that the House of Representatives will not consider a concurrent resolution authorizing the President's State of the Union address in the House Chamber until government has opened," Pelosi wrote in a letter to Trump on Wednesday. She added, "I look forward to welcoming you to the House on a mutually agreeable date for this address when government has been opened." The letter from Pelosi came after Trump said he still planned to deliver the speech in the House chamber on January 29th, dismissing security concerns raised by the Speaker. In a letter to Pelosi on Wednesday, Trump said he was contacted by the Department of Homeland Security and the Secret Service to explain that there would be absolutely no problem regarding security with respect to the event. They have since confirmed this publicly. Ruling out security concerns, Trump had said he would be honoring her invitation and fulfilling his Constitutional duty to deliver important information to the people and the Congress regarding the State of the Union. "It would be so very sad for our Country if the State of the Union were not delivered on time, on schedule, and very importantly, on location!" Trump wrote. Pelosi said in a letter sent to Trump last Wednesday that the speech should be postponed until after the government has re-opened or be delivered to Congress in writing. The Speaker attributed the request to security concerns, noting both the U.S. Secret Service and the Department of Homeland Security are not being funded due to the shutdown. However, Trump told Pelosi the Secret Service and Homeland Security have explained there "would be absolutely no problem regarding security with respect to the event." "Accordingly, there are no security concerns regarding the State of the Union Address," Trump wrote. "Therefore, I will be honoring your invitation, and fulfilling my Constitutional duty, to deliver important information to the people and Congress of the United States of America regarding the State of our Union." In a move that was seen by many as payback for requesting the speech be delayed, Trump postponed an overseas trip by Pelosi last Thursday. The crippling government shutdown entered its 34th day on Thursday, as a major spat between Trump and Democrats over his plan to build a controversial wall along the U.S.-Mexico border continues unabated. For comments and feedback contact: editorial@rttnews.com Business News Oil prices fell on Thursday amid fresh concerns about fuel demand after International Monetary Fund Managing Director Christine Lagarde reiterated that U.S.-China trade friction could precipitate the slowdown of the Chinese . A surprise build in U.S. crude inventories also weighed on sentiment. Global benchmark Brent crude oil dropped 0.25 percent to $60.99 a barrel, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures were little changed at $52.62 per barrel. Lagarde told delegates at the World Economic Forum in Davos that a major slowdown in China would constitute a real issue. Earlier this week, the IMF cut its world economic growth forecasts for 2019 and 2020, citing the U.S.-China trade conflict and Britain's exit from the European Union. Oil market sentiment was also hit by API data showing a large surprise crude oil inventory build of 6.6 million barrels for the week ending Jan 18. Analysts expected a decrease of 42,000 barrels for the week. For comments and feedback contact: editorial@rttnews.com Market Analysis OSRAM Licht AG (OSAGF.PK) reported that, in the first quarter of fiscal 2019, revenue from continuing operations amounted to 828 million euros according to preliminary figures compared to 939 million euros prior-year quarter, down around 15 percent on a comparable basis. The adjusted EBITDA margin is expected to be 11.3% compared to 18.5%, last year. OSRAM said the reason for the disappointing revenue development is the accelerated market decline, especially in December 2018. The company said the visibility for the quarters ahead will remain significantly low. OSRAM said the Managing Board has initiated a number of countermeasures, in particular to increase revenue; considerable structural measures have also been initiated in the Opto Semiconductors unit. For comments and feedback contact: editorial@rttnews.com Business News Hong Kong: Gov't has candid talk with pan-dems Acting Chief Executive Matthew Cheung today had a candid dialogue with pan-democratic Legislative Council members to clarify misunderstandings on the adjustment of the eligible age for elderly Comprehensive Social Security Assistance (CSSA) to 65. Responding to media enquiries on the meeting, the Government in a statement reiterated the aim of adjusting the eligible age for elderly CSSA is not to cut expenses, but to encourage able-bodied people aged up to 64 to engage in employment. The Government will introduce a new Employment Support Supplement under the CSSA scheme to provide able-bodied adult recipients aged 60 to 64 with a monthly sum of $1,060 per person to encourage them to join the labour market and remain in employment. It will closely monitor the implementation of the measure, listen to different views and explore areas for improvement. The Social Welfare Department will also assist these CSSA recipients to participate in the Integrated Employment Assistance Programme for Self-reliance operated by non-governmental organisations. These organisations will help them get access to up-to-date labour market information, arrange job matching, assess their needs and provide them with tailor-made and focused employment assistance services. Secretary for Labour & Welfare Dr Law Chi-kwong, Director of the Chief Executives Office Chan Kwok-ki and representatives from relevant government departments also attended todays meeting. This story has been published on: 2019-01-24. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article. Redeemer Broadcasting holds to the following statement of faith. The Bible is the inspired and inerrant Word of God, the only infallible rule of faith and practice. There is one God, eternal and self-existing in three persons (Father, Son and Holy Spirit) who are to be equally loved, honored, and adored. All mankind participated in Adam's fall from his original sinless state and is thus lost in sin and totally helpless. The Sovereign God, for no other reason than His own unfathomable love and mercy, has chosen lost sinners from every nation to be redeemed by the quickening power of the Holy Spirit and through the atoning death and resurrection of His son, Jesus Christ. Those sinners whom the Spirit quickens, come to believe in Christ as Savior by the Word of God, are born again, become sons of God, and will persevere to the end. Justification is by faith and through it the undeserving sinner is clothed with the righteousness of Christ. The goal of God's salvation in the life of the Christian is holiness, good works, and service for the glory of God. At death the Christian's soul passes immediately into the presence of God and the unbeliever's soul is eternally separated from God unto condemnation. Baptism is a sign and seal of God's covenant of grace. Jesus Christ will return to earth, visibly and bodily, at a time when He is not expected, to consummate history and the eternal plan of God. The Gospel of God's salvation in Jesus Christ must be published to all the world as a witness before Jesus Christ returns. We are committed to historic biblical Christianity. We seek to be thoroughly biblical, properly catholic, and true to the faith of the Protestant Reformation. We affirm the historic faith as presented in the Apostles', Nicene, and Athanasian Creeds, and in the great statements of the Reformation such as the Canons of Dordt, the Heidelberg Catechism, and the Belgic Confession and the Westminster Confession of Faith and the Larger and Shorter Catechisms. Redeemer Broadcasting joins with the historic, visible church in acknowledging the truth of the following creeds: Nicene Written during the 4th century A.D. in an attempt to unify the Christian church under emperor Constantine. It is heavily influenced by the theologian Athanasius and the work of the first two ecumenical councils of Nicaea (325) and Constantinople (381). It was adopted by the council of Chalcedon in A.D. 451. Its central doctrines are those of the Person of Jesus Christ and the reality of the Holy Spirit. It is the only creed accepted by all three major branches of Christendom including Protestant, Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox Christians. We believe in one God the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth, and of all things visible and invisible. And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the only-begotten Son of God, begotten of the Father before all worlds, God of God, Light of Light, Very God of Very God, begotten, not made, being of one substance with the Father by whom all things were made; who for us men, and for our salvation, came down from heaven, and was incarnate by the Holy Spirit of the Virgin Mary, and was made man, and was crucified also for us under Pontius Pilate. He suffered and was buried, and the third day he rose again according to the Scriptures, and ascended into heaven, and sitteth on the right hand of the Father. And he shall come again with glory to judge both the quick and the dead, whose kingdom shall have no end. And we believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord and Giver of Life, who proceedeth from the Father and the Son who with the Father and the Son together is worshipped and glorified, who spoke by the prophets. And we believe one holy catholic and apostolic Church. We acknowledge one baptism for the remission of sins. And we look for the resurrection of the dead, and the life of the world to come. Amen. The Apostles' Creed Developed between the second and ninth centuries as a baptismal creed for new Christians this is the most popular creed used in worship by Western Christians. Its central doctrines are those of the Trinity and God the Creator. I believe in God the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth. And in Jesus Christ his only Son our Lord; who was conceived by the Holy Ghost, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, dead, and buried; he descended into hell; the third day he rose again from the dead; he ascended into heaven, and sitteth on the right hand of God the Father Almighty; from thence he shall come to judge the quick and the dead. I believe in the Holy Ghost; the holy catholic Church; the communion of saints; the forgiveness of sins; the resurrection of the body; and the life everlasting. AMEN. The Athanasian Creed The Athanasian Creed is that latest of the ecumenical creeds, dating back to the early dark ages. Though seldom used in worship, it is one of the clearest definitions of the Trinity and the incarnation ever written. Whoever wills to be in a state of salvation, before all things it is necessary that he hold the catholic faith, which except everyone shall have kept whole and undefiled without doubt he will perish eternally. Now the catholic faith is that we worship One God in Trinity and Trinity in Unity, neither confounding the Persons nor dividing the substance. For there is one Person of the Father, another of the Son, another of the Holy Spirit. But the Godhead of the Father, of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, is One, the Glory equal, the Majesty coeternal. Such as the Father is, such is the Son, and such is the Holy Spirit; the Father uncreated, the Son uncreated, and the Holy Spirit uncreated; the father infinite, the Son infinite, and the Holy Spirit infinite; the Father eternal, the Son eternal, and the Holy Spirit eternal. And yet not three eternals but one eternal, as also not three infinites, nor three uncreated, but one uncreated, and one infinite. So, likewise, the Father is almighty, the Son almighty, and the Holy Spirit almighty; and yet not three almighties but one almighty. So the Father is God, the Son God, and the Holy Spirit God; and yet not three Gods but one God. So the Father is Lord, the Son Lord, and the Holy Spirit Lord; and yet not three Lords but one Lord. For like as we are compelled by Christian truth to acknowledge every Person by Himself to be both God and Lord; so are we forbidden by the catholic religion to say, there be three Gods or three Lords. The Father is made of none, neither created nor begotten. The Son is of the Father alone, not made nor created but begotten. The Holy Spirit is of the Father and the Son, not made nor created nor begotten but proceeding. So there is one Father not three Fathers, one Son not three Sons, and Holy Spirit not three Holy Spirits. And in this Trinity there is nothing before or after, nothing greater or less, but the whole three Persons are coeternal together and coequal. So that in all things, as is aforesaid, the trinity in Unity and the Unity in Trinity is to be worshipped. He therefore who wills to be in a state of salvation, let him think thus of the Trinity. But it is necessary to eternal salvation that he also believe faithfully the Incarnation of our Lord Jesus Christ. The right faith therefore is that we believe and confess that our Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, is God and Man. He is God of the substance of the Father begotten before the worlds, and He is man of the substance of His mother born in the world; perfect God, perfect man subsisting of a reasoning soul and human flesh; equal to the Father as touching His Godhead, inferior to the Father as touching His Manhood. Who although He be God and Man yet He is not two but one Christ; one however not by conversion of the GodHead in the flesh, but by taking of the Manhood in God; one altogether not by confusion of substance but by unity of Person. For as the reasoning soul and flesh is one man, so God and Man is one Christ. Who suffered for our salvation, descended into hell, rose again from the dead, ascended into heaven, sits at the right hand of the Father, from whence He shall come to judge the living and the dead. At whose coming all men shall rise again with their bodies and shall give account for their own works. And they that have done good shall go into life eternal, and they who indeed have done evil into eternal fire. Sentence tightened for ex-Russian Deputy Culture Minister in restoration embezzlement case RAPSI, Vladimir Burnov 13:30 24/01/2019 MOSCOW, December 24 (RAPSI, Kirill Ryabchikov) The Moscow City Court on Thursday toughened sentence for ex-Deputy Culture Minister Grigory Pirumov to 3 years in prison with a 1-million-ruble fine for embezzling over 100 million rubles ($1.5 million) allocated for the restoration of cultural objects, RAPSI reported from the courtroom. Prosecutors have asked to give Pirumov 5 years in prison with the fine. In December, the Supreme Court of Russia ordered reconsideration of the case. The Dorogomilovsky District Court of Moscow sentenced Pirumov to 1.5 years in a penal colony as part of the cultural object embezzlement case in October 2017. The court took into consideration the time Pirumov spent in detention and freed him in the courtroom. On December 19, the Moscow City Court toughened punishment for Pirumov. The court imposed a 1-million-ruble on ex-official and deprived him of the second-class medal of the Order of Merit for the Motherland. However, prosecutors again filed an appeal against Pirumovs sentence demanding a 5-year prison term for him. In July 2018, the Moscow City Courts Presidium refused to toughen sentence for Pirumov on the request of prosecution. Investigators claimed that between 2012 and 2016 Pirumov, ex-director of the Culture Ministrys department of property management and investment policy Boris Mazo and several other defendants embezzled over 160 million rubles ($2.4 million) allocated for restoration of the Novodevichy Convent in Moscow, Ivanovsky Convent in Moscow and other objects across Russia. Currently, Pirumov is in detention as part of a new embezzlement case launched against him. He is charged with embezzling in conspiracy with his accomplices at least 450 million rubles ($6.7 million) allocated for the construction of the Hermitage Museums buildings. Previously, his detention was extended until January 17. Pirumov was relieved of his post in December 2016 on an order Chairman of the Russian Government Dmitry Medvedev. The future is on its way in the form of advanced technologies and artificial intelligence. In some corners of West Michigan, it's already here, and it's changing the ways we connect with each other, the ways we work with each other, and the ways we write new laws. But, the question remains: Are we ready to embrace it? She may not live anywhere near Grand Rapids, but the world's first 150-year-old has likely already been born. This is what cybersecurity expert Nick Defoe tells me over a phone conversation. Between pointing out other curious facts from the timeline that stretches between today and the future, he has to restrain himself from checking other alerts on his smartphone. When the future does arrive, it very well may ask you to enable push notifications. Like many others alive today, Defoe was raised during a period of incredible technological advances. He remembers programming games on an old MS-DOS computer as a child, and followed that love for new technologies all the way to a career. And, also like many, he is both excited about the future and a little worried. Humans have been getting smarter with every passing generation. Thanks to written language, and now the internet, there's hardly an excuse nor the possibility not to be. The standardized tests given to high school students in 1960 are more in line with grade-school levels today, and this advancement in knowledge has given way to leaps forward in science and engineering. Life expectancy has more than tripled in just a few generations thanks to our mastery of modern medicine. Of course, all of those people are going to need somewhere to live, not to mention work and play. Meanwhile, the world seems to get smaller every September with new smart devices that make the computers just a few decades earlier seem like remnants of a primitive society. Consider this scenario: Through a telemedicine system, a doctor is able to offer advice and diagnose clients from anywhere on earth. Speaking with a new patient who is experiencing flu-symptoms, the doctor can prescribe the right antibiotics to treat his patient without ever meeting them "IRL." Moments later, an autonomous vehicle arrives to pick up the patient and drop her off at a the nearest pharmacy, no human skill involved. Dr. John Deveau speaks with patients over video chat. As the car leaves the ailing woman's home, location services in her smartphone trigger lights turning off in her house. Her stereo system shuts off, her front door locks, her furnace idles at a more economical temperature, and she hasn't yet lifted a finger. Behind the scenes, the doctor tags the patient's address with the symptoms she was experiencing. An artificial intelligence platform analyzes that and other similar databases to predict the flu's aggressiveness and vector, giving the doctor even more information to work with when helping the next person who calls looking for relief. In this universe, action creates data, which prepares the next action, which creates more data. Humans and technology live nearly symbiotically. In an alternate universe, the woman continues on with her life, never having called the doctor, never having revealed her suffering, prepared to weather another flu season, red-nosed and miserable. At this moment in time, we have the option to take either path. The woman in both examples could veritably come from 2019, though just a few years ago, the first example would seem like magic. Perhaps a few years from now, the second will seem masochistic. Futurism is the practice of accepting either scenarios as possible, keeping the mind open to accept what could happen, given what we already know, and even after that. Renowned futurist Ray Kurzweil predicts that artificial intelligence will soon outpace human intelligence. That's not to say we will live in a world dominated by Skynet. Alexa, Siri, and Bixby are hardly friends, let alone allied in conquest. Humans are still in charge of the machines, but that begs another question: Do they really know what they are doing? In late November 2018, a petri dish in a Chinese lab drew the attention of most every science-minded individual and medical professional in the world. Probably the eyes of a few parents, too. The scientist working in the lab had just announced something never-before thought possible. Human DNA had been successfully edited using Crispr technology. The world's first genetically edited twin girls were born that month, imbued with a genetic resistance to H.I.V. There's little proof to show the scientist's "experiment" worked, but few are denying the possibility that Crispr could be applied to other areas of the human genome, and successfully. To some, that's a man-made miracle. To others, it's horrifying. Technology can be used for good or for ill, Christian says, though it's hardly ever that simple. And, while that determination is being made, it's the responsibility of the legal field to close the gap between whats possible and whats legal. There is no law that says a scientist cannot edit the DNA of an unborn child. Not because it's perfectly fine to do, but because the law was never given a chance to consider the practice before it became a possibility. Daniel S. Christian "The pace of technological change has changed," says Daniel S. Christian, M.S. Ed., and Instructional Services Director at Western Michigan University Cooley Law School. "No longer are we on a slow, gradual slope of linear/steady change. We are now on an exponential trajectory of change." Of course, change is not easy. In many cases, it's the last thing humans want. "Here in the United States, if we were to personify things a bit, its almost like society is anxiously calling out to an older sibling (i.e., emerging technologies), 'Heh! Wait up!!!'" Christian says. "This trend has numerous ramifications." Out of those ramifications, Christian names three main points that society will have to address to fully understand, make use of, and make practical, future technologies. 1. The need for the legal/legislative side of the world to close the gap between whats possible and whats legal 2. The need for lifelong learning and to reinvent oneself 3. The need to make pulse-checking/futurism an essential tool in the toolbox of every member of the workforce today and in the future To keep up with our pace of technological change, "lawyers, judges, representatives, and senators and citizens at large actually need more resources that they can tap into in order to better understand the surrounding landscapes, and to learn more about the advantages and disadvantages (pitfalls) of the emerging technologies around us," Christian says. "Which technologies should get rolled out? Which should not? Or, on a more granular level, which features should get implemented and which features should not get implemented?" Laws are not only required in the realm of artificial intelligence, but directly impacted by it. The Lexisnexis Legal & Professional database is one of the legal profession's greatest tools, providing access to millions of court documents and articles. Being a construct of the World Wide Web, it's well suited for automation, leaving insights up to scraping algorithms, all but reducing the legal system to an app. Because those algorithms are a construct of humans, however, may mean that they lack the jurisprudence of "Law Classic." You won't find iJustice in the app store just yet, but AI is already a part of the system, taking on some of the responsibilities previously charged to a paralegal. Among them: Helping lawyers perform due diligence and research Providing additional insights through analytics Automating processes (including writing) in legal work "Emerging technologies are starting to impact employment within the legal field as well as the relevant individual job descriptions, duties, and necessary skill sets," Christian says. Future jobs Artificial intelligence, occasionally even technology in general, has long been labeled a threat to the human workforce. Today, it's also helping it thrive. Humans are not only creating new forms of work involving emerging technologies, they are using AI to predict when and where to find it. According to Linda Chamberlain, Ph.D., Endowed Chair in Entrepreneurship & Innovation, Frederik Meijer Honors College at Grand Valley State University, a group of citizens, community based organizations, businesses and educators called Future State have been working together since July 2018, focusing on convening community organizations to develop sustainable business solutions through research, dialogue, and innovation. "This is a challenge that we gave ourselves that called on workforce development or employability in the age of the artificial intelligence economy," Chamberlain said. "We are worried about employability and skills and making sure people are ready to enter the workforce, but where's the puck going? "If we look at the skills that are going to be needed 5 to 10 years from now, how are we preparing our citizens for that economy?" Artificial intelligence will likely play a large role in some of the jobs of the future. But, rather than fear which will be consumed by AI, jobseekers should rather look at the new opportunities that are being created. Using a design thinking approach, Future State explored ways in which individuals of all ages and skill could funnel their talents into those new opportunities, They interviewed CEOs. former convicts, parents, students, and anyone else who represents the Michigan workforce. "We did a lot of research on the question of 'what is AI? What does it look like? What do all the experts say about this?' And then we also went out and interviewed citizens," Chamberlain says. "So the working group of about 25 people has met every other week since September, and we were facilitated through this process." The Future State group spent its initial few months determining what new jobs we may see in Michigan, what skillsets Michigan's workforce is made up of, and where there might be gaps between the two. During the first half of 2019, they are working to fill those gaps, using an AI platform to analyze data from applicants all over Michigan. "One of the major elements of this innovation was using technology to help anybody that that really wants to determine their current status or skillset, their technology literacy, and then direct them towards appropriate training," Chamberlain says. Once applicants achieve certain skill set milestones, they are connected to jobs that require those skills while the software learns the jobseeker. The great thing about artificial intelligence or machine learning is how it makes our life more convenient, Chamberlain says. It will continue to work with you to make sure that your skills are current, you are capable, and you are prepared for new opportunities. Chamberlain says Future State has so far been a great success. The applicants and stakeholders have become invested in the process, and committed to each others success. In talking to one stakeholder, a 19-year-old with a previous criminal record, the group was astounded to learn he had advanced talents. He says, I got a record I can't get a job anywhere but I can code. Chamberlain says. And we were like, excuse me, if you can code let's talk work. But then, there are all these silly barriers we create, like he's got to have a high school diploma so an employer knows he can code. Though technology plays a starring role in the future, embracing sea changes in culture and the legal field may someday be necessary to unleash the tide of employment that could raise all ships. Some rules are meant to be broken, or at least left behind, and Future State is uncovering which may be up for revision. Future safety Working in cybersecurity gives Defoe, Senior Information Security Consultant at VDA Labs, LLC, a good picture of how often corporate data breaches and malicious hacking takes place. Many companies that rely on technology are adding advanced layers of protection to keep their records safe, but thats only a reliable solution until it isnt. For example, just over a decade ago, professors in universities around the country held the common practice of posting students grades outside their lecture halls after a quiz or test. If those universities used social security numbers as student IDs, theres a good chance those students had their personal data compromised on a regular basis. Its almost an implied guarantee that a system will eventually be hacked. If that system contains your social security details, your banking information, or even your route to work, you could find yourself trying to track down a nameless, faceless threat for who knows how long. You have to kind of assume that any data that you're providing about yourself to a third party, whether that's a company or government, or whatever that is, may likely get breached in the future, Defoe says. That's a scary thought, but something that we have get our heads around accepting and moving on from there. Security is a major concern for any conversation about the future, but it doesnt have to be the only one. Other advances are providing us with new, clean, almost inexhaustible sources of energy. More and more businesses are incorporating solar and wind energy sources, renewable building materials, and sustainable business practices to make sure that when the future arrives, its to a planet we can still live on. I'm really hopeful that that's going to continue and make a big impact in the future, Defoe says. Not only do renewable energies offer the environmental benefits, but job creation from those technologies has grown very quickly as well. Grand Rapids is on track to get 100 percent of its energy from renewable sources by 2025. Thats a remarkable achievement for any city, and GR is poised to take advantage of new technological opportunities as they arise. Future conversations Talking about the future is inherently a risk. Especially when estimating decades out, theres no small amount of divination involved. Judging from trends, we might be able to predict the cost of food and fuel will continue to go up, while that of the worlds most powerful microprocessors will go down. The worlds reliance on inorganic materials may shift as landfills are developed into sustainable business parks, and communities will be able to deliver a higher quality of life to residents by providing them with environmental data. Our reliance on technology will undoubtedly increase, but what gets much less attention is our reliance on each other. The form of communication that exists outside of a smartphone will likely still exist in the distant future. What that sounds like, we may not know until we get there. Hopefully, we live that long. Urban Innovation Exchange highlights the people and projects transforming West Michigan through sustainable efforts. Matthew Russell is the editor for UIX Grand Rapids. Contact him at [email protected]. Photography by Adam Bird of Bird + Bird Studio. This article is part of State of Health, a series examining health disparities, how they affect Michigan's children and seniors, and the innovative solutions being developed to address them. It is made possible with funding from the Michigan Health Endowment Fund. In 2016, the Otsego County Commission On Aging (OCCOA) piloted the CommunO2 SuperApp, a new online platform designed to help reconnect seniors to their communities. With a modest goal of reaching 300 older adults over six months, the program attracted 1,800 registered end users, as well as 14 partner organizations, within four months. One of those users is a homebound woman with multiple sclerosis who can now participate in her church remotely. Another is an assisted living center resident who reconnected with her sister abroad after 15 years and now video chats regularly with her through the app. Betty (in pink) connects with her sister in the old country using CommunO2 with the help of Mary, a retired senior volunteer in Otsego County. Betty had not seen her sister in about 15 years. "Some of these things were seemingly small leaps in quality of life, but when folks were reflecting that it truly made a difference in their lives, we knew we were onto something that we wanted to expand," says OCCOA executive director Dona Wishart. Studies have shown that social isolation and loneliness can have serious negative impacts on older adults' health, and many resources and programs already exist in Michigan to address isolation among seniors. But Stephanie Leibfritz, community health manager at MidMichigan Medical Center-Midland, says many residents don't know how serious isolation can be or where to look for help. "There's really a lack of knowledge about loneliness and social isolation as a social determinant of health," Leibfritz says. "It does impact a significant number of aging adults." However, new and ongoing efforts around the state are working to promote healthy aging by connecting older adults to their communities and the resources available to them. Keeping in touch Developed by Minneapolis-area entrepreneur Joel Ackerman, CommunO2 is an online platform designed to help users connect with friends and family, as well as local services, arts and cultural organizations, government offices, faith centers, and more through one central, streamlined interface. Joel Ackerman. While there's no shortage of online communication apps today, Ackerman says those apps don't necessarily work well together, provide one community standard for users, or offer much technical support. "That's a very complex environment, especially for novice users, people who may not have grown up with current technologies," he says. Wishart first learned about the platform Ackerman was developing more than 10 years ago and saw the potential it had for linking people not only to their own social network, but also plugging them back into their community and its resources. She told him: "When you're ready for pilot testing, consider Otsego County, and let's see if we can move this forward to diminish social isolation in a new way." This year, OCCOA and CommunO2 will expand the effort with a two-year pilot funded by a Michigan Health Endowment Fund grant. Work will continue in Otsego County and also extend to Traverse City and Flint with the help of local partners the Area Agency on Aging of Northwest Michigan and Valley Area Agency on Aging. Dona Wishart.The expanded pilot will also work with Michigan State University's School of Social Work to measure outcomes and social determinants of health. Organizers hope to reach 5,000 end users by the end of the pilot and 28,000 users by 2025. As the population continues to age, Wishart says a shortage of direct care workers also presents a challenge. She hopes efforts like CommunO2 can help make the connection between OCCOA's many resources and the older adults they serve. "We are going to need to provide services in a new way, and some of that can indeed be through technology," she says. "We just have to work to figure it out carefully. We have to be willing to take on some risks for innovation, and we need to find some new creative solutions to add quality and meaning to life." Reaching out In Midland, a new partnership between MidMichigan Health Foundation, Senior Services of Midland County, and Michigan 211 is forming to raise awareness of the negative health effects of social isolation for older adults. That program, called Bridge to Belonging: Partnership to End Loneliness, will also connect seniors in need to local services. Leibfritz is leading the new effort along with Katherine Dollard, director of behavioral health for MidMichigan Health. Starting with a basic survey given at the medical center's offices, staff will determine what services seniors could benefit from and refer them to services through 211, which connects Michiganders to nonprofit and government resources. Stephanie Leibfritz, community health manager at MidMichigan Medical Center-Midland, and Katherine Dollard, director of behavioral health for MidMichigan Health. The goal is to increase connections, enhance social support, and improve social skills for older adults in the region. Individuals with psychological or social barriers that can lead to chronic loneliness will be referred to a staff behavioral therapist for counseling. The program is starting in a few practices and the emergency room at MidMichigan Health Center-Midland, but the goal is to provide screenings throughout the MidMichigan Health system. MidMichigan Health serves more than 20 counties in mid- and northern Michigan. Seniors play poker at Sanford Activity and Dining Center in Midland. In addition to screenings, triage, and referrals, Bridge to Belonging will launch an education and awareness campaign on the health effects of loneliness and the need to reach out to family and friends considered at risk. Leibfritz hopes the program will not only intervene on behalf of seniors in need but also help prevent isolation to begin with. "It's really a change in the care model in the health system, to be able to work on prevention versus treatment," she says. "In my mind, that's huge." Working together This year in Washtenaw County, another unique new partnership will launch Intergenerational Solutions for Healthy Aging, a pilot program that connects seniors to members of the next generation. Working in teams, Washtenaw County Girl Scouts and older adults will examine issues and resources like transportation, access to healthy food, home visit programs, and lifelong learning opportunities in the Ann Arbor and Ypsilanti area. They'll then design and implement programs to address seniors' needs, with the additional aim of introducing a new generation to career opportunities in the fields of aging and health. The program is a collaboration between Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit Generations United (GU); GU's newly formed Michigan team, led by Ann Arbor resident and GU senior fellow Bruce Astrein; Girl Scouts Heart of Michigan; and a senior organization partner to be determined. Generations United's Michigan team. "When you think about social isolation, the two groups that report feeling the most isolated are younger people and older people, so to work together to try and address what's causing people to feel so isolated and what's preventing them from connecting, we think it's just a win-win-win way of approaching it," says GU executive director Donna Butts. Donna Butts. If it goes well, the plan is to replicate the program with other youth service organizations and senior groups in neighboring counties and, eventually, across the state. Astrein, who has a long history of working with children, families, and poverty, was inspired by past successes he'd seen with intergenerational programming. He pitched the idea to GU, which was founded in the late '80s in response to what Astrein calls the "false dichotomy" that young people and older people were taking resources away from each other. "Rather than get drawn into that argument, there are ways to think about this where we could work collectively and benefit young and old with smart policies and smart programs, and it's not about pitting one against the other," Astrein says. Astrein was also troubled by seeing family programs like the ones he had built over his career being undermined and underfunded in recent years. "Having spent a lifetime working on these programs, it was difficult to sit by and not want to help advance them," he says. Eric Gallippo is an Ypsilanti-based freelance writer. MidMichigan Health photos by Ben Tierney. History channels American Pickers will return to California to film episodes throughout the region in March and is looking to find exceptional antiques and forgotten relics. American Pickers is a documentary series that explores the fascinating world of antique picking. The show follows Mike Wolfe, Frank Fritz, two of the most skilled pickers in the business, as they hunt for Americas most valuable antiques. They are always excited to find sizeable, unique collections and learn the interesting stories behind them. American Pickers is looking for leads in California and would love to explore your hidden treasure. If you or someone you know has a large, private collection or accumulation of antiques that the Pickers can spend the better part of the day looking through, send us your name, phone number, location and description of the collection with photos to americanpickers@cineflix.com or call 855-OLD-RUST. Find the show on Facebook @GotAPickAMERICAN Welcome Guest! You Are Here: Welcome Guest! You Are Here: Home Regional News East To the editor: Lets talk about health care, capitalism and socialism. First, a little math. Think about 10 people you know. Then think about how many have health care that is in some way subsidized or administered by the government. Probably four or more. The most recent U.S. Census report (2017) found that about 40 percent of Americans have coverage through Medicare, Medicaid or the military. This same report found that between 2016 and 2017, the number of people with health insurance increased by 23 million (www.census.gov). Thats a lot more people with insurance. Now some history. Im a registered nurse, and have been in health care for 30 years, in both administrative and clinical jobs. I have seen Medicare evolve from a program that paid doctors bills based on area rates to an enormous and complex program that calculates reimbursements based on very complicated formulas. This is to contain costs and ensure that our senior citizens get the health care they need. This is socialism. The government runs the program, sets the rates, we pay taxes to finance this program. Its a huge bureaucracy. What about the Affordable Care Act or Obamacare. This is a program modeled after the one that Republican Mitt Romney came up with when he was the governor of Massachusetts.This 2006 law mandated that nearly every resident of Massachusetts obtain a minimum level of insurance coverage, provided free health care insurance for residents earning less than 150 percent of the federal poverty level, and mandated employers with more than 10 full-time employees to provide healthcare insurance. It was an attempt to work within the capitalistic economic structure and yet achieve coverage for all. People buying insurance in a marketplace environment = capitalism. People getting health care coverage from the government = socialism. Pretty simple. Well what about drug users and insurance? A study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association in 2016 found that there was a six-fold increase in opioid abuse in Medicare beneficiaries as compared to people on other insurance plans (verywellmind.com). So six times as many people on Medicare were diagnosed as drug abusers and the government is paying for it. Some folks think these drug abusers should pay more for their health care coverage, shouldnt they? Anyone who supports Medicare supports the idea of socialized medicine run by the government, even if they dont realize it. Anyone who supports Obamacare supports a capitalist plan for health care, even if they dont realize it. Whats the answer? Time.com reported in 2018 that the American Medical Association supports a single-payer plan (like Medicare for all) as the best fix for our broken medical system. These same doctors believe that health care is a universal human right. In sum, people over the age of 65 are no more entitled to government-sponsored health care than anyone else. They have the largest increase in drug abuse of any insured population. They are benefitting from an essentially socialistic program. So, should we argue against socialized medicine including Medicare? Or perhaps listen to those who actually provide medical care and come up with a fair plan that provides basic health care to everyone, something that will reduce costs for all? Be careful what labels you apply to health care programs. They may not be what you think. Isabel Francis, MSN, RN Bokeelia To the editor: January is National Human Trafficking Month in the U.S. and is defined by Wikipedia as trade of humans most commonly for the purpose of forced labor, sexual slavery or commercial sexual exploitation for the trafficker or others. According to the same source, Mexico is a large source, transit and destination country for victims of human trafficking. Also, according to the Global Human Trafficking website, the United States is the number one destination of trafficked people in the world. So, in addition to drug dealers, gang members, criminals escaping justice in their own country and terrorists entering the U.S. through Mexico, we have an open border with our neighbor to the south encouraging, aiding and abetting the continual flow of slaves, adults and children, being bought and sold for the purpose of profit. What a contrast! Our porous border and broken immigration system is promoting and enabling the very industry that we have dedicated an entire month of awareness in order to eradicate. Democrats ideals of open borders, abolishing ICE and creating more Sanctuary Cities in defiance of federal law is music to the ears of these modern-day slavers. If you are truly a supporter of human rights, wanting to help in the destruction of an industry that steals lives, demoralizes human beings and encourages sexual exploitation of our most innocent and defenseless humans, then you must stand for one and oppose the other. Max Christian St. James City The Lee County Department of Human and Veteran Services held a Community Conversation meeting last Wednesday night at the Beacon of HOPE to get feedback on community issues on Pine Island and Matlacha. Jeannie Sutton, the grants coordinator at Lee County Human and Veteran Services, addressed the crowd. These meetings offer an opportunity for people to share their opinions and offer suggestions on how to solve issues like homelessness, affordable housing, poverty and other things, Sutton said. All input from the community will be considered in the development of the 2019-2023 Consolidated Plan, 2019 Annual Action Plan, 2019 Analysis of Impediments to Fair Housing Choice and 2019-2021 Community Services Block Grant Strategic Plan. According to Lee Countys website, the Consolidated Plan covers a five-year period and provides strategies to address housing, homelessness and community development needs. The HUD program addresses mostly homelessness and low income situations, Sutton said. HUD requires the Department of Human and Veteran Services to perform a Point in Time count of homeless people in a given area to receive grants. Last month Sutton conducted Community Conversa-tion meetings in Sanibel and Fort Myers. Tonights target discussion is Pine Island and Matlacha, Sutton said. At this time were looking for homeless data. The Lee County Homeless coalition estimates there are 2,957 homeless individuals in Lee County. The federal definition of homelessness is Living in a place not intended for human habitation. Beacon Executive Director Betsy Haesemeyer estimates there may be as many as 100 homeless living in wooded camps on Pine Island. We have some couples but most are single men and some are veterans living in the woods, Haesemeyer said. What we need is some type of shelter and transportation for them. A question was raised about the requirements that must be met for a homeless person to qualify for housing. In many cases the requirement is that a person needs to be employed, Haesemeyer said. Thats difficult to do when they dont have a place to live and transportation. Lee County is moving in the direction of housing first, Sutton said. That means putting someone directly from the street into housing because the assumption is once they are in housing all those other things, jobs, transportation, etc., will follow through good case management. The amount of funding the area receives depends on an accurate accounting of the number of homeless persons on the island. The Lee County Department of Human and Veteran Services will be holding a Point in Time Count at the Pine Island Food Pantry on Jan. 31 from 8-10:30 a.m. Local agencies are encouraging Pine Island homeless to attend. Transportation will be provided by the Beacon of HOPE. Volunteers will be doing a survey with homeless people and each will receive a gift backpack with supplies. For those that dont come, we will download the application to our cell phones and go to the camps to count everyone, Haesemeyer said. The Beacon of HOPE has moved a big step forward in transporting with the recent acquisition of a shuttle bus with wheelchair accessibility. The bus was part of the Red Rose Transit system in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, Haesemeyer said. The vehicle has low mileage and was meticulously maintained so its a great find for us. Other topics discussed were housing, economic development, senior and individuals with disabilities/veterans, fair housing, and public facilities. Im really pleased with the turnout and with Lee County Department of Human and Veteran Services coming out to Pine Island with these Community Conversations, Haesemeyer said. This creates a direct line of communication that moving forward will benefit everybody. The Beacon of HOPE has been assisting Pine Islands needy since Hurricane Charlie in August 2004. TRENTON A New Jersey prosecutors office said Wednesday that it would not charge a former state official accused of sexual assault by another employee in Gov. Phil Murphys administration, citing a lack of credible evidence. Katie Brennan, who is chief of staff of the states housing finance agency, accused Albert Alvarez of sexually assaulting her in April 2017 when they were both working to get Murphy elected. Alvarez, who left as chief of staff of the Schools Development Authority in October when a news account of the accusation was about to come out, has denied the allegation through his attorney. Due to a lack of credible evidence and corroboration that a crime was committed, the Middlesex County Prosecutors Office will not be filing any criminal charges in this matter, the office said in a statement. Brennans lawyer, Katy McClure, said she was disappointed with the decision. Messages seeking comment were left with Alvarezs lawyer. Brennan is suing the state over its handling of her allegation, which she reported to law enforcement after the alleged April 2017 assault as well as to officials in the governors transition and administration. She has said the administration botched its response to her claims, which officials have testified that they found to be credible. Murphy has defended his administrations handling of the allegations, which included his chief counsels alerting the offices ethics adviser. But he also has said he wishes Alvarez had not been hired to work in the administration after the campaign. Who hired Alvarez has not been made clear. Murphys chief of staff and chief counsel asked Alvarez to leave in March and June, but they stopped short of firing him. He left when it became clear that the Wall Street Journal was about to publish an account of Brennans accusations in October. The Inquirer does not typically identify people who say they are sexual assault victims unless they grant permission or come forward publicly, as Brennan did. The fallout from the accusation has led to a legislative committee investigation into Murphys handling of Brennans allegations. It also led to the review by the Middlesex prosecutor, ordered by Attorney General Gurbir S. Grewal after the Hudson County Prosecutors Office initially failed to bring charges and after Hudson County Prosecutor Esther Suarez recused herself after she realized she knew both the accuser and accused. Suarez issued a statement Wednesday saying that she had reviewed the case file and stood by the decision not to prosecute. Today, the Middlesex County Prosecutors Office announced that their independent investigation resulted in the same determination reached by the HCPO [Hudson County Prosecutors Office] not to prosecute Albert Alvarez, the statement, posted on the offices Facebook page, said. The decision by the Middlesex County Prosecutors Office in conjunction with the earlier conclusions reached by the Office of Public Integrity and Accountability and the Attorney Generals Office should leave no room for interpretation about the independence of the Hudson County Prosecutors Office in the handling of this matter. The Middlesex office has not detailed what it did in its review, but said it conducted an independent review of criminal allegations and declined to bring charges. We are deeply disturbed and disappointed by this egregious miscarriage of justice, McClure said in a statement. The Hudson County Prosecutors Office failed Katie Brennan. The governors staff failed her. The attorney general failed her. And now the Middlesex County Prosecutors Office has failed her as well. Murphy has hired former state Supreme Court Justice Peter Verniero to review his administrations handling of the case. Murphy said Wednesday he did not know when Vernieros review would be done. I would hope its imminent, he said at an unrelated event earlier Wednesday. Since the day it opened 15 years ago, the Schuylkill River Trail has been a people magnet, attracting runners, cyclists, fishermen, and picnickers to its grassy banks. More recently, the riverfront also has become a development magnet, luring high-rise apartments, office towers, a Childrens Hospital campus, and now, a new corporate headquarters for Aramark. The expanding lineup of elegant glass buildings shows how far Philadelphia has come in its efforts to reclaim the riverfront, once home to coal depots, freight yards, and other messy industrial uses. The towers extend the life of the city right to the Schuylkills edge. In return, they get a prime public amenity as their front yard. While the riverfronts new occupants have been eager to trade on the parks ambience, they have been less willing to treat the city-funded space with the respect it deserves. There already are several long blank walls facing the park because so many of the new buildings sit on top of parking garages. Now a new intrusion threatens to diminish the park experience even more. Rather than locate the ventilation equipment for 2400 Market on the roof, the developer, PMC, has installed a noisy and unsightly array of fans and ducts at the base of the building, which houses Aramark and several other tenants. Separated by the CSX and Norfolk Southern railroad tracks, the equipment sits roughly 50 feet from the park. The noise from the ventilation equipment hits you like a punch in the face as you walk along the river. Near Chestnut Street, a long row of industrial fans whirs like a prop plane readying for takeoff. Those fans provide cooling for the CenturyLink server farm in the buildings basement. A few yards north, at the Market Street entrance to the riverfront trail, a tangle of ventilation ducts produces a constant, rattling drone. How people respond to noise varies enormously, so I downloaded a phone app developed by the National Institute for Occupational Health and Safety to measure the impact of the ground-level equipment. On three separate occasions, the readings from the bank of fans averaged about 80 decibels and went as high as 100. Thats about as loud as a tractor motor, except that these fans run nonstop morning, noon and night. The noise from the ventilation ducts was even louder, averaging 87 decibels and reaching a peak of 127. In an occupational setting, we consider anything over 85 hazardous and require protection, Chuck Kardous, a research engineer for the federal institute, told me. To be fair, the river trail isnt exactly a pristine nature spot. The Schuylkill Expressway hugs the opposite bank of the river, and the thrum of traffic is an ever-present soundtrack in the park. When the freight trains roll past the trail, the screech of metal wheels on the tracks is loud enough to drown out both the highway and the ventilation equipment. The difference is that the highway and the freight trains were already in existence when park was created. The rattling fans and ducts were imposed by PMC long after the trail had established itself as one of the citys most popular parks, used by thousands of people every week. It takes real chutzpah to degrade the amenity that made your building an attraction in the first place. Its not just the noise; its the way the fans look, too. How could the city allow such an intrusion in one of its premier parks? It turns out that no city agency regulates the placement of ventilation equipment not the Department of Licenses & Inspections, which issues building permits, nor the Office of Air Management, which administers the citys noise laws. The air management agency will investigate if someone complains, but it doesnt take preemptive action to ensure that loud noise doesnt become a problem, spokesman James Garrow explained in an email. So far, no one has complained to the agency about PMCs ventilation fans. In most office buildings, ventilation equipment is located on the roof, out of earshot of people at street level. Thats where the cooling fans were housed before PMC acquired 2400 Market in 2015. But after PMC snagged Aramark as a lead tenant, the developer agreed to add five floors to the structure, an old car factory that was previously home to the Design Marketplace. Since CenturyLink, which runs the server farm in the basement, was staying put during construction, PMC temporarily relocated its cooling fans to ground level while the work proceeded. And thats where they remain today. Although Aramark moved its 1,500 employees into the building over the Christmas holidays, there is no indication that PMC plans to return CenturyLinks cooling fans to the roof. PMC Vice President Adriano Calvanese, who oversaw the Aramark project, said that running electrical cables to the top of the building now nine stories would be a major technical challenge. There might be a way to do it, he acknowledged, but it would take a lot of money. The Schuylkill River Development Corp., which runs the park, isnt happy with PMCs decision but has no plans to protest. It would be nicer if it were quieter, but it doesnt bother me, said Joseph Syrnick, the groups president. There was already noise. The fans and ventilation ducts are unlikely to affect the hearing of anyone who occasionally runs or bikes along the Schuylkill trail, but the noise pollution certainly detracts from the experience of being near the river. Exposure to noise, however, has long been known to increase stress, said Arline Bronzaft, a New York-based environmental psychologist who is a leading expert on noise pollution. Its one the main reasons we seek out urban green spaces in the first place. If you have a park where people are trying to get away from the loud din of the city, why would you impose more noise on them? Bronzaft asked. The Schuylkill trail isnt the only park bombarded with the noise from cooling fans. The new viaduct Rail Park is sandwiched between two immense buildings that house equipment that support the internet. Theyre located near the former Reading Railroad line for the same reason CenturyLink is at 2400 Market: Most of the nations fiber optic cable runs alongside rail lines. As we store more of our information in the cloud, urban server farms are likely to proliferate. Philadelphias Rail Park has tried to mitigate the noise from the server farms. The steel panel at the entrance, which tells the story of the Reading Viaduct, doubles as a sound baffle, reducing the intrusion slightly. PMC could take some lessons from the other new corporate headquarters that just opened in Philadelphia, the Comcast Technology Center. The tech giant hired an acoustic consultant to mitigate the noise from its server floor, which vents onto Cuthbert Street. The firm, Metro Acoustics, advised Comcast to buy super-quiet fans and install baffles, said company president Felicia Doggett. We did that work pre-construction, she noted. While PMC wont be able to eliminate the ventilation noise at 2400 Market, baffling would help, Doggett believes. The mitigation effort also would benefit PMC. One of the nicest amenities PMC created at 2400 Market is a public promenade that overlooks the Schuylkill trail. PMC hopes to line the walkway with restaurants and outdoor tables. Before they sign leases, prospective tenants may want to take some decibel readings at the southern end near CenturyLinks fans. My meter showed the noise there is even worse than in the park. The Senate blocked two pieces of dueling legislation Thursday that could have brought the five-week government shutdown to an end and put 800,000 federal employees back to work, prompting Washington to look for other ways out of the impasse. The first Senate vote, on a proposal supported by President Donald Trump, failed. A Democrat-backed bill met the same fate. The legislation marked the Senates first attempts at ending the partial government shutdown since the impasse began more than a month ago. But, come Friday, the only outcome government workers are likely to see is a second missed paycheck. The White House, meanwhile, is reportedly making renewed preparations to declare a national emergency to fund Trumps demands for a border wall. Heres what you need to know. Preparing for a national emergency According to a report from CNN, the White House is preparing a draft to declare a national emergency at the U.S.-Mexico border and has found more than $7 billion in potential funding for the presidents border wall. While Trumps advisers reportedly remain divided on the proclamation, the move would bypass Congress in allowing the president to to secure funds and resources for the wall. If a national emergency is declared, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers would be deployed to the border to begin construction on the barrier, according to CNN. A prorated down payment on the wall Meeting with reporters after the Senate blocked both proposed measures to end the shutdown, Trump told the press that he would consider a prorated down payment on a border security wall as part of a three-week continuing resolution to re-open the federal government. Details were not immediately clear on how the payment would be prorated, and Pelosi dismissed the idea, telling reporters at the Capital that a down payment on the wall is not a reasonable agreement." Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R., Ky.) and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D., N.Y.) met to discuss a potential resolution. During the impromptu press conference following the Senates votes, Trump also suggested that furloughed federal workers were able to secure groceries for free. Local people know who they are, when they go for groceries and everything," the president said. "They will work along. I know banks are working along ... They know the people. Theyve been dealing with them for years. And they work along. Trumps proposal fails Failing to gather the 60 votes needed to pass, the Senate first voted 50-47 Thursday on a bill backed by Trump, which would allot $5.7 billion to fund a wall along the United States' southern border and increase spending for the detention and removal of immigrants. It would also have provided three years in protections for Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) recipients. Also known as Dreamers, their statuses have been compromised after the president sought to end the program that protects them. READ MORE: DACA recipients see little reason to hope in latest proposal The measure would also have added $12.7 billion in disaster aid and extend the Violence Against Women Act, which expired last year after government funding for the program ran out. McConnell called it the only proposal currently before us that can be signed by the president and immediately re-open the government. Democrat measure blocked Although six Republicans crossed the aisle to cast their votes Thursday for a subsequent Democrat-backed bill to reopen the government, the measure also fell short of the needed 60 votes, with a 52-44 tally. The bill would have extend funding for currently shuttered government agencies through Feb. 8. It did not include additional funds for border security. People are saying, isnt there a way out of this mess? Isnt there a way to relieve the burden on the 800,000 federal workers not getting paid? Isnt there a way to get government services open first and then debate what we should do for border security? Schumer told reporters. Well, now theres a way. The Senate approved a similar bill in December, but Trump declined to sign it until funding for a border wall was approved. Pennsylvanias senators split on the measures, with Sen. Pat Toomey, a Republican, voting for the Trump-backed bill, and Sen. Bob Casey, a Democrat, supporting the Democratic proposal. Unlikely to pass Although pressure is rising on both parties to reopen the government, both proposed bills were widely deemed nonstarters for opposing sides of the aisle and had been expected to fall short of the 60 votes needed. Although the attempts at ending the shutdown failed in the Senate, they may pave the way to opening negotiations, some political observers say. With the feud Trump and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and now-postponed State of the Union, the shutdown was in its 34th day Thursday with little sign of compromise. Before the votes Before the Senate voted, the day was filled with partisan back-and-forth about the lingering stalemate. Experiencing hardship from more than a month without pay, federal employees are turning to food banks and free help to get by. But, in an interview on CNBCs Squawk Box, Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross said he didnt understand why furloughed workers dont just take out loans. When you think about, these are basically government guaranteed loans because the government has committed these folks will get their back pay once this whole thing gets settled down, Ross said during the interview. Democrats quickly slammed his remarks. Conceding that workers might have to pay little bit of interest," Ross, a multi-millionaire by Forbes' estimate, said that "the idea that its paycheck or zero is not a really valid idea. When asked about Ross' comments at a later press conference, Trump said he understood what the secretary was saying, but perhaps he should have said it differently. Loans and financial help with utilities are available to unpaid federal workers in the Philadelphia area, but many are still scrambling to make ends meet. Also before the Senates vote Thursday, Schumer blocked a request from Sen. John Kennedy (R., La.) to pay just the Coast Guard, instead asking for a modified proposal to reopen all shuttered parts of the government. Kennedy denied Schumers ask, saying Trump would veto the measure. In the House On Wednesday, the House passed legislation that would fund the government through the end of the fiscal year. Rep. James E. Clyburn (D., S.C.) told reporters that Democrats could support up to $5.7 billion in border security measures, including refitted ports of entry and drones but no border wall. Meanwhile, 800,000 federal workers continue to feel the strain of a month without pay in the longest government shutdown in U.S. history. In Philadelphia, agencies are responding with offers of free food, medical care, transportation, and other services to government employees. READ MORE: Water ice factory frozen by government shutdown READ MORE: As government shutdown drags on, Pennsylvanians feeling the pain, Wolf says READ MORE: After her tooth pain became unbearable, furloughed federal worker received free care at Temple Four years after the City of Philadelphia first mandated a $12-an-hour minimum wage for its contractors and subcontractors, Mayor Kenney is asking for more. Councilman Mark Squilla plans to introduce a bill Thursday on the mayor's behalf to raise the minimum wage to $15 an hour incrementally over four years for its workers and city contractors and subcontractors. Kenney will formally announce the bill at a news conference Wednesday afternoon. The city does not know how many workers employed by contractors and subcontractors would be affected by this law, but mayoral spokesman Mike Dunn said most of the city's spending on professional services contracts goes to social service agencies, so the change would most likely impact those workers: For example, after-school aides and custodians. But the bill could also affect others, from the staffers at the city's animal-control contractor to, most visibly, wheelchair attendants, cabin cleaners, and baggage handlers at Philadelphia International Airport. They recently ratified a contract that would give them up to $13.60 an hour in two years. "Poverty works its way into households in insidious, subtle ways including when residents discover that their hard-earned dollar buys less," Kenney said in a statement, describing the law as a solution to the city's "pervasive poverty." He encouraged employers to follow the city's lead. Municipal socialism It's a bill that's very of the moment, coming on the heels of the nationwide, SEIU-backed "Fight for $15," which focused on fast-food workers and had a local base. This summer, Gov. Wolf raised the minimum wage for state workers and employees of state contractors to $12, with plans to increase to $15 by 2024. It also fits into a pattern of worker-oriented laws passed by City Council in the last decade, including laws mandating paid sick leave, increasing penalties for wage theft, and barring employers from asking about wage history in an effort to close the gender wage gap, a law that was challenged in court by the Chamber of Commerce. This fall, Council is also set to discuss what's been branded as the "Fair Workweek" bill, which would regulate scheduling practices for retail and fast-food businesses. On this front, Philadelphia is part of a national trend. Seattle, New York, San Francisco, and other cities are taking action to fight poverty with workplace laws in lieu of any federal movement. Seattle Councilwoman Kshama Sawant has called it "municipal socialism" and it usually comes paired with anger from the business community. In Philadelphia, it's no different. Rob Wonderling, CEO of the Greater Philadelphia Chamber of Commerce, has decried what he calls Philadelphia's antibusiness legislation and said City Hall is increasingly trying to act as the human-resources department for local businesses. Yet it's still not clear if these laws are truly driving businesses out of the city. Meanwhile, in Harrisburg, state lawmakers are considering a bill that would stop cities from creating their own workplace rules. State Rep. Seth Grove (R., York) has said these worker-oriented laws cause "multiple human-relations problems and compliance issues." Why is the city raising the minimum wage for its contractors but not doing it citywide? Philadelphia does not have the authority to raise the minimum wage citywide because of a state law, said a city spokesperson. (Though in 2014, amid a national push to raise the minimum wage in cities across the nation, advocates, with the backing of some in City Council, pushed the city to investigate the state law to see if it could raise a legal challenge on the issue.) When a minimum-wage law works, and when it doesnt If you want to see an example of the impact of this kind of legislation and also how it can fall short, the airport workers are a good place to start. Over six years, those workers, represented by union 32BJ SEIU, doubled their hourly wages to $12 in large part because of the minimum-wage legislation. (Their employers are subcontractors of American Airlines, which contracts with the city-run Philadelphia Airport.) But the legislation was not a silver bullet. When the workers' employers did not comply with the law, 32BJ and the advocacy group POWER, one of the main advocates for the $12-an-hour minimum wage and the latest $15 bill, organized protests and lobbied city government to get American Airlines to compel its subcontractors to follow the law. American Airlines said it couldn't comment on the bill until it was introduced. The airport workers' story raises questions about enforcement of the law and what happens when you don't have a team of advocates fighting for your cause. Currently, the Mayor's Office of Labor enforces the $12-an-hour law. But there are challenges: Robust enforcement requires resources and staffing. The city did not immediately answer the question of whether a list of all its subcontractors exists. It will rely on city departments to provide the rates being paid to their contractors and subcontractors, Dunn said. In an interview earlier this year, Councilwoman Helen Gym suggested that it might be time to create a new office charged with enforcing all the workplace laws on the books, instead of housing enforcement in a few different places. Philadelphia Media Network is one of 21 news organizations producing Broke in Philly, a collaborative reporting project on solutions to poverty and the city's push toward economic justice. See all of our reporting at https://brokeinphilly.org. Lets hope that Mayor Jim Kenneys planned reforms of the citys messy land disposition operation make up for the failure to stop a sweetheart deal orchestrated by a city councilman last year. Kenneys actions stopping city land transfers until he revises the system with an emphasis on competitive bidding and transparency come following a series of stories by staff writers William Bender and Mark Fazlollah exposing how Councilman Kenyatta Johnson steered property to a friendly speculator. Johnsons friend, Felton Heyman, took a $165,000 profit on a sale of city lots in the citys gentrifying Point Breeze section in 2018. WHYY recently reported about a separate, but also troubling transaction. The Vacant Property Review Committee, staffed by Council and administration appointees, which approves public land sales, ignored its own policies by failing to disclose that there were other bidders for the lots, using outdated assessments to set the prices, and not requiring the buyer to sign an Economic Opportunity Plan, which guarantees that any construction work would include minorities, women, and people with disabilities. Egregiously, the Johnson deal allowed public land to be sold without a public benefit. Kenney wants to establish new policies that will ensure competitive bidding remains fair. But the administration should also encourage people who have maintained empty lots for decades and want to take ownership of them, says Councilwoman Maria Quinones-Sanchez. She rightly argues that those people should be able to buy the lots next to their homes or businesses with a deed restriction requiring them to maintain it as promised for a fixed number of years. An administration official says that will probably happen and there will be exceptions to strict competitive bidding standards for affordable housing as well. At the same time, the administration should to use its powers to stop Council from pushing through sweetheart deals. The administration rightly plans to strengthen its role in transactions through the VPRC. The committee is composed of members from 10 administration-controlled authorities and departments including Public Property and the Philadelphia Redevelopment Authority as well as two land-oriented nonprofit groups and two City Council delegates, one of whom chairs the commission. Kenney wants to make sure that most land transactions are the result of competitive bidding and has plans to add tough language in contracts with buyers forcing them to keep their promises to develop the land in the public interest. If they dont, the city wants to take back the land. Additionally, the administration has another check on the system through the Philadelphia Redevelopment Authority, whose members are appointed by the mayor and which processes land deals. Kenney is off to a good start. He used his control of the PRA to freeze land sales in December while he attempts to clean up the system. The big question, however, is whether he has the stomach to face down City Council, which can veto land deals. Kenney should take on the fight and deserves the publics support. City land is a lucrative asset that cannot only produce tax revenue, but also be used to improve the quality of life in the neighborhoods. Before Tuesdays bigoted Supreme Court decision to restrict military service by transgender people, they was on its way toward acceptance as a third-person singular pronoun. Now we just have one more thing to fight for. Which of the following sentences upsets more people: 1) A person cant help their birth, as William Thackeray wrote in Vanity Fair? 2) The United States Government will not accept or allow Transgender individuals to serve in any capacity in the U.S. Military, as @realDonaldTrump tweeted on July 26, 2017? Youd be surprised. Many grammatical purists still cling to the absurd notion that they, them, and their should be used only when referring to plural nouns, as in, All of the Philadelphia Eagles players were OK with ending their season in New Orleans, because really, who wants to go to Georgia? Those purists claim that the sentence A person cant help their birth should be changed to something much more awkward: Traditional misogynists would say it should read, A person cant help his birth. People going out of their way to prove their feminist credentials would advocate for, A person cant help her birth. Writers who hate their readers would suggest, A person cant help his/her birth. All of these fixes are terrible. Even when Thackeray first published Vanity Fair more than 170 years ago, they, them, and their were already commonly used third-person singular pronouns. Shakespeare did it in Hamlet and The Comedy of Errors, among other places. Same with Auden and Austen and Alcott and lots of other writers whose names dont start with A. So why the pedantry? You can partly blame the stylebooks. Some, like Strunk and Whites The Elements of Style and the APA, explicitly forbid using they in the singular. Others, like Merriam-Webster and the Chicago Manual of Style, are more open-minded, but most opt for the wimpy, write around it if you can. And if you cant, try again, and then maybe you can kind of use a singular they as long as you do it under the covers with all the lights off in your apartment and promise not to make a lot of noise. Moreover, dictionaries and stylebooks take a while to catch up. Merriam-Webster added cisgender, genderqueer, and Mx. to the dictionary less than three years ago, even though Mx. had its first known usage in 1977, and cisgender and genderqueer both surfaced in the mid-90s. As popular understanding of gender fluidity grows, our language naturally but sometimes belatedly follows suit. In this context, they makes more sense than ever as a singular pronoun. Its not just the most concise solution we have; its most accurate for those who rightfully reject he and she. If the dictionaries can get there, we can only hope that the Supreme Court will, too. The Angry Grammarian looks at how language, grammar, and punctuation shape our world, and appears biweekly. Thats every other week, not twice a week, friends. Send comments, questions, and deictic pronouns to jeff@theangrygrammarian.com. The President is holding the federal government hostage for a $5 billion wall he claims will make us safer. He continues to push his false narrative that the southern border represents a crisis of the heart and a crisis of the soul. Meanwhile many local leaders across this country, Republicans and Democrats, are forced to confront a real crisis, one that grows more deadly and urgent every day. The President should drop his obsession with the wall and instead commit $5 billion to addressing an emergency he has already declared: the opioid epidemic. I was sworn into my first public office two years ago, running the largest local government in Delaware. At the time, I heard countless stories of communities impacted by opioid addiction. Local experts then called it the public health crisis of our time. It has only grown worse. In 2017, nearly 50,000 Americans died from opioid overdoses. The number of opioid deaths in the United States has more than quadrupled since 2002. In New Castle County, more of our residents died from opioid use in the first nine months of 2018 than in all of 2016. And this epidemic stresses local services like never before. New Castle County first responders administered the lifesaving medication Narcan nearly 1,200 times in 2018, a 67 percent increase over 2016. The good news is there are solutions. Last year, the Office of National Drug Control Policy awarded a federal Combating Opioid Overdose grant to our polices Hero Help initiative. The program diverts those struggling with addiction into long-term assistance in lieu of immediate arrests for lesser crimes. In 2018, Hero Help assisted hundreds facing opioid addiction. The program kept nearly all of these individuals out of prison and provided intensive case management to support their long-term recovery. This innovative program provides pre-arrest criminal justice reform, reducing public safety and health expenditures while increasing access to meaningful assistance. Our criminal justice system too often fails to provide adequate treatment to those who need it. Last month, the Liberty Mid-Atlantic High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area recognized the tremendous success of New Castle Countys Hero Help Program. They invited Hero Help to share our impressive outcomes at a national conference. In an unexpected turn, days before the conference, the federal government notified us that there was not enough funding for Hero Help in 2019. They denied our $240,000 grant request. We are collaborating with County Council and our state government to piece together funding to keep Hero Help afloat. In 2019, as our economy flourishes, we should not scale down innovative, lifesaving programs like Hero Help. There are quality underfunded governmental and nongovernmental programs that could help hundreds of thousands of those facing chemical addiction across our country. Many of these programs would save money in the long run. So the good news is there are incredible solutions to stem this epidemic, which has already grown beyond our worst nightmares. The bad news is we do not have the resources to appropriately execute such solutions. Fifteen months ago, President Trump declared the opioid epidemic a national emergency. And then nothing changed. Our first responders, public advocates, and medical professionals are working harder than everto address these incredible challenges. These solutions need funding and leadership from Washington. New Castle Countys own Joe Biden said, Don't tell me what you value; show me your budget, and Ill tell you what you value. For local leaders facing a true epidemic, an emergency declaration is meaningless without the real dollars to address it. This goes beyond emergency declarations. It is about our values. Matthew Meyer is the county executive of New Castle County, Delaware. The government shutdown is now in its 34th day. As it stretches on, more organizations and businesses are stepping forward to help furloughed workers and others affected by the shutdown. Weve got details on the assistance that is available this morning. Hoping for third parties to step in and help is something parents of the Philly school system know well, as a recent library fundraiser made all too clear. A victory for one school was a reminder of what others have lost. Reading this online? Sign up here to get this newsletter delivered to your inbox every morning. Aubrey Nagle (@aubsn, morningnewsletter@philly.com) Earlier this month, Bache-Martin Elementary in Fairmount celebrated the re-opening of its library after a $90,000 fundraising campaign. While putting books in childrens hands is always something to celebrate, for many, the occasion made plain the divisions between the haves and have-nots of Philly schools. In whiter, wealthier neighborhoods, parents fundraise for new playgrounds and to support staff salaries. Under-resourced schools are left to make do with that they have. Hundreds of thousands of federal workers across the U.S. are currently going without pay, so local organizations and businesses are providing everything from food to financial help. Some federal workers gathered quietly for emergency food distribution in South Philadelphia Wednesday, describing themselves as grateful but humiliated. The Senate will vote on legislation to end the shutdown today but are unlikely to come away in agreement. Meanwhile, President Donald Trump has agreed to postpone the State of the Union address until the government reopens. January was a good month for many working in healthcare in the Philly region. Thousands of low-wage workers got a raise and more will follow next month. That means food service staffers, custodians, and patient service reps at five area hospitals will all be making at least $15 an hour. It seems the trend has caught on so hospitals can attract workers. But theres plenty more to know about the Fight for $15. What you need to know today Through Your Eyes | #OurPhilly So. SEPTA can be cool, @sunflowrrose_. Tag your Instagram posts or tweets with #OurPhilly and well pick our favorite each day to feature in this newsletter and give you a shout out! Thats Interesting Opinions Watching the parallel paralyses of the British and U.S. governments, its easy to see why Xi Jinping or Vladimir Putin might think democracies were cooked. Columnist Trudy Rubin on the similarities between the Brexit debacle in British parliament and the U.S. government shutdown. What could the U.S. spend $5 billion on instead of a border wall? Ending the opioid epidemic, writes Matthew Meyer, County Executive of New Castle County, Delaware. The retirement security of too many working people is in danger and the government can and should step in to help, writes New Jersey U.S. Rep. Donald Norcross. What were reading Your Daily Dose of | Tall Tales Youve heard of the Jersey Devil (who hasnt?) but do you know the story of how our region became gripped with fear over the monster over a century ago? The devil is in the details. On Friday, the 35th day of the partial government shutdown and the day that 800,000 federal workers will miss their second paycheck of 2019, Philadelphia union members and labor advocates plan to rally at Philadelphia International Airport in support of Transportation Security Administration workers. The rally, at which TSA and other airport workers who are not federal employees will be joined by politicians, will begin at 11 a.m. at the bus stop area of Terminal B. Its the latest action organized by local unions to raise awareness during the shutdown of issues that workers fear can be easy to overlook by people not directly affected. Air-traffic controllers passed out leaflets to travelers in the bitter cold last week. Federal workers rallied at Independence Mall alongside politicians earlier this month. Meanwhile, offers have poured in from all corners of the region to aid federal workers: Temporary work, no-interest loans, free SEPTA rides for TSA agents, even food trucks for TSA agents bearing pizza and burgers sent by the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers. The most visible and the most vulnerable The TSA agents, who have been forced to work without pay for the entire shutdown, are the most visible and vulnerable of federal workers, said Richard Gennetti, a national representative for the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE). Gennetti, who oversees a dozen AFGE locals in the Philadelphia area, said TSA agents are the lowest-paid federal workers because theyre not on the general schedule, or GS, pay scale, as other federal employees are. Joe Shuker, who runs the Philadelphia TSA union of about 800 officers, says his members are coming to him every day with a new set of issues. One was offered a shift as a substitute teacher and wanted to know if she would be allowed off work so she could make some money. Another was worried about her car insurance payment she wasnt going to be able to afford it and feared the insurance provider would cancel immediately. We dont support a strike TSA agents have been especially visible during the shutdown, as some have not come to work, leading to seemingly interminable lines at Atlantas busy Hartsfield-Jackson airport. Miami International Airport closed one terminal early for three days one weekend in January. Philadelphia International Airport has not been affected the same way, said airport spokesperson Diane Gerace. That visibility has led some to suggest that TSA agents have the power to end the shutdown. If they went on a wildcat strike, their absence would have a large impact on travelers and the general public. TSA agents, however, are barred by law from striking. And, Shuker said, a job action would jeopardize their employment. I get it, that would end it," Shuker said. But we wouldnt be working. Shuker pointed out that President Ronald Reagan fired 11,000 air traffic controllers in 1981 and replaced them with military personnel. The specter of that time looms large. We dont support a strike, Gennetti said. Nobody is encouraging anyone to break the law. But, he said, I cant speak to what thousands of people are going to do when theyre desperate and angry. HARRISBURG Democratic Lt. Gov. John Fetterman on Thursday announced plans to hold a forum in every county in the state to test public opinion on legalizing recreational marijuana. We dont have a pre-arrived-at conclusion," Fetterman said Thursday afternoon at a news conference in the governors reception room. We are going to engage with as many Pennsylvanians as we can to hear what they have to say about this very important topic. The tour comes as an increasing number of states are either legalizing various forms of marijuana 10 states and the District of Columbia allow recreational use or inching toward such measures. Some have cited the potential to tax it and bring in extra money for various programs, while others have touted it as a way to chip away at mass incarceration. Polls conducted by Franklin and Marshall College show the percentage of Pennsylvania voters who support legalizing marijuana has more than doubled in recent years jumping from 22 percent in 2006 to 59 percent in 2017. Still, legalization would be a tough sell in the Republican-controlled legislature, where some have already expressed emphatic opposition. Fetterman was joined Thursday by Gov. Tom Wolf, who is not expected to participate in the so-called listening tour but expressed support for it. While Fetterman has long advocated for legalizing recreational marijuana, Wolf said as recently as last summer that he did not think Pennsylvania citizens are ready for it. Wolf tweeted in December that he believed it was time to take a serious and honest look at legalizing recreational use. The governor, a Democrat, said Thursday that developments in neighboring New York and New Jersey have convinced him that we need to keep our eyes open constantly. The listening tour comes almost three years after the state passed a law authorizing the use of medical marijuana to treat some ailments, following a years-long battle in the legislature. It remains illegal under federal law. Fetterman and Wolf made their announcement on the day Center City Philadelphia got its first medical marijuana dispensary. The Wolf administration did not respond to inquiries about whether the governor or Fetterman had ever personally used marijuana. Republicans in both the state House and Senate said they intend to focus their efforts on ensuring that the states medical marijuana program is properly used. House Republicans, who control the legislative schedule there, said they are open to the discussion about recreational use but dont view it as a priority. Legalizing drugs in any form right now is not on the top of anybodys agenda in our caucus, spokesperson Mike Straub said. Opposition in the Senate appears to be even stronger. Majority Leader Jake Corman (R., Centre) said last month that he believes authorizing recreational use has the makings of a catastrophe. Its interesting how much of a focal point this issue has become for this administration given that it was not something the governor addressed during the campaign, Cormans spokesperson, Jennifer Kocher, said Thursday. Its surprising that kind of transparency was missing for voters. New Jersey has progressed well beyond the listening phase in legalizing recreational pot, a priority of Gov. Phil Murphy, a Democrat. The judiciary committees in both houses of the Legislature last November passed bills to allow adults to possess and use an ounce or less of the drug. Murphy and legislative leaders are hashing out the details of what final legislation should look like. In New York, Gov. Andrew Cuomo, also a Democrat, has pledged to push for marijuana legalization this year. Cormans remarks come as Pennsylvania is trying to curb the effects of a heroin and opioid epidemic that has ranked as one of the deadliest in the nation. The Wolf administration has in recent months conducted a different listening tour to meet with families who have lost people to opioid overdoses. What we dont want to do is make the same mistake we made with the opioid crisis, and that is just stick our heads in the sand and ignore whats going on out there until its too late, Wolf said Thursday. We want to make sure we do the responsible thing here and keep our eyes open. A bill requiring proof of fire and smoke damper inspections, which critics called a jobs-creation bill to benefit the local Sheet Metal Workers union, passed Thursday. City Council voted unanimously, with Councilman Allan Domb abstaining, to require proof of inspection of fire and smoke dampers in high-rise buildings, hospitals, and hotels in Philadelphia by licensed sheet metal technicians. Domb owns several high-rise residential buildings in the city and saw the vote as a conflict of interest. Building owners have called the bill, which the Sheet Metal Workers Local 19 has tried to get passed twice before over the course of eight years, wholly unnecessary and a blatant jobs-creation move by the union, whose members would likely be the only qualified people to do the inspections. The union had argued the inspections were critical to protect larger buildings as more rise in the city. Pittsburgh recently passed a similar law. The fire code already requires damper inspections, but not proof of inspection or specific qualifications for inspectors. We call this the fire life-safety bill, as we do, for a very good reason," Gary Masino, president of the union, said during a December hearing. Its absolutely essential to protect human life in an event of a fire." Fire dampers, activated by heat, close within a buildings HVAC system to block a fire from spreading. Smoke dampers work similarly but typically are triggered by computerized sensors. The bill requires proof of fire damper inspections every four to six years and annual inspections of smoke-control systems. The inspections could be performed only by licensed sheet metal technicians who have completed a sheet metal technician apprenticeship program. The only program of the kind in Philadelphia is offered through the union, though other programs exist statewide. The inspections often require cutting into walls or HVAC systems and could run upward of $90,000 for the largest high rises, said Keli Wallace, chair of Philadelphias Building Owners and Managers Association (BOMA). In a December hearing, Masino cited the World Trade Center collapse, a 1980 fire at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, and the 1991 blaze at One Meridian Plaza in Philadelphia as places where functioning dampers could have helped. Wallace said it was misleading to cite fires from 30 years ago, where there were no dampers. And reference to the World Trade Center terrorist attack, where the towers by all accounts would have fallen with or without dampers, was simply unconscionable," she said. BOMA isnt against making proof of inspections mandatory, but has asked that the bill exempt buildings that are fully sprinklered, and allow all qualified engineers to perform the tests, not just those certified by the union. Local 19 is being completely self-serving in its pursuit of this legislation, Wallace said this week. If they were genuinely concerned about safety, they should not be opposed to the inclusion of registered professional engineers or fire alarm vendors as an alternative to perform ... these tests. Dont get me wrong.... Sheet metal workers do great work, but they are not the most qualified to conduct these inspections. The Administration had asked Councilwoman Jannie Blackwell, the bills sponsor, to consider an amendment that would exempt buildings with full sprinkler and fire alarm systems. In light of the fact the amendment was not acted on, the Administration needs to conduct further review of the legislation, Kenneys spokesperson Deana Gamble said. Debate among the administration and lobbyists for the business community and the union has been heated. The December hearing erupted into shouting from both sides. Twice before, similar bills have died in Council, but this time the measure passed. The union hired as its lobbyist Zoning Board of Adjustment Chair Frank DiCicco. The bill advanced unanimously out of committee in early December. There are political considerations, too, with a primary scheduled for May. The Sheet Metal Workers have contributed to several Council members over the years, including Blackwell. She has received at least $6,500 from the Sheet Metal Workers since 2011, according to campaign finance records. Blackwell did not return multiple requests for comments. Councilman Allan Domb, who owns several high-rise apartment buildings around the city, said he thinks all inspections from dampers to elevators should be done by independent inspectors. He stopped short of saying hed oppose the bill on Thursday, though. I havent decide how Ill vote, he said. Robert Solomon, a fire protection engineer with the National Fire Protection Association, which sets national standards for fire safety, said the association does not have a position on who conducts the inspections. From our perspective, it doesnt matter as long as its getting inspected by someone with knowledge and qualifications," he said. While he stressed that the association recommends inspections every four to six years, as the bill would mandate, he could not name an instance when a fire could have been suppressed had a faulty damper been operational. None that come to mind," he said. Typically, when weve got a case or fire investigation, we tend to see those [damper] systems werent installed at all. Pennsylvania state police are investigating after a 63-year-old man said he was shot in an arm in a possible road-rage incident on Route 309 in Whitemarsh Township. Police responding to a call found the wounded man at a parking lot near the Pennsylvania Turnpike Fort Washington interchange in Upper Dublin Township around 9:30 p.m. Wednesday, according to authorities. The Montgomery County resident told police he drove to the lot after being shot in the right arm while driving his pickup truck on Route 309, officials said. The man was taken to Abington Hospital-Jefferson Health, where he was reported to be in stable condition. Police said they were looking for a maroon sedan, possibly with New Jersey plates. Anyone with information can call state police at 215-452-5216. Just seven Philadelphia public schools now have functioning libraries with certified school librarians, down from 200 decades ago. So it was a big deal this month when the community celebrated the reopening of the library at Bache-Martin Elementary at a ceremony where politicians made speeches and TV cameras rolled. The price tag for the library and a part-time staffer was $90,000, paid through the hard work and fund-raising prowess of a nonprofit organized by parents to support the school in Fairmount, a diverse and relatively affluent section of the city. The act felt familiar, with people pitching in to pay for what the Philadelphia School District no longer could or did. But to many, the library laid bare a truth in city schools the divisions between the haves, often in whiter and wealthier neighborhoods, who can fund-raise for new playgrounds and support staff salaries, and the have-nots, in under-resourced schools mostly populated by kids of color, left to make do with whatever they can scrape together. Stephanie King, a parent at Kearny Elementary in Northern Liberties, heard the news of the Bache-Martin triumph and felt frustration, she said, in part because the district is putting the work of funding on the shoulders of parents because they cant or wont fix things themselves. (The district said it lets principals decide whether to prioritize libraries and librarians, but virtually no one has the money to pay for what is expected in most private and suburban schools.) Its absolutely not possible for a school thats got a 99 percent poverty rate to raise $90,000 for a library, or for anything, said King, president of Kearny Friends and a member of the Home and School Association for Kearny, whose student poverty rate is approaching that figure. The only way would be if we won an outside grant, or if an outside group more or less gifted it to us, like a fairy godmother. Shereda Cromwell, a parent at Kenderton Elementary in North Philadelphia, said her school is like a lot of others. Kudos to parents who can get together and advocate and raise money, but I know a lot of schools that cant even worry about fund-raising for big things, like a library," said Cromwell, who is struggling to start a parents' group at her school, where 94 percent of students live in poverty. Theyre trying to make sure that every child that comes to school has a winter coat and socks on. Thats what our school is looking at, thats where our resources have to go. The contrasts are stark. At Chester Arthur, in South Philadelphia, the community raised $1.7 million in grants and donations over five years to build a new playground and outdoor classroom; the Home and School Association at Greenfield, in Center City, has a $125,000 annual fund to spend on after-school programs, technology, and enrichment. The Friends of Bache-Martin made their library happen with crowdfunding, grants, and two years of elbow grease; their funds paid for technology, supplies, and the salary of a part-time retired teacher to staff it for at least two years. Jerilyn Dressler, the Friends of Bache president, said she hoped their communitys efforts serve as a model. But her group members know they have advantages that others dont. This shouldnt be something that takes thousands of dollars or thousands of volunteer hours, Dressler said before the librarys opening. Everyone should have the resources to do this. Superintendent William R. Hite Jr. stressed that he loved the Bache-Martin communitys coming together to rally for literacy in the form of a reopened school library, a wish-list item of school staff, but that other schools have identified upgraded technology or a new play space as their top priorities. Still, Hite acknowledged, there is an equity issue among the districts 220 schools. Everyone doesnt have a `friends of' group that can raise the types of moneys that theyve raised here, the superintendent said at the Bache-Martin library opening this month, or the type of money that was raised at Chester Arthur to do a new playground, or the types of moneys to donate instruments that some of our schools have. Hite said the district has addressed the equity issue with initiatives like a $20 million citywide classroom modernization project and turnaround programs worth millions more that give the citys most struggling schools more resources, support, and scrutiny. But those have limited scope; the modernization project revamped 250 of the citys thousands of classrooms. The turnaround efforts also target a limited number of schools, and the money that comes with them must generally be spent on district-identified priorities. The fund-raising equity issue came up this month at a school board committee meeting where officials detailed the schools' budget process. Let me get this straight, board members asked: Even though schools might start on a level playing field, those in better-resourced communities often end up with more? Essentially, thats how it works, said chief financial officer Uri Monson. If you have that kind of community, and if your school is lucky enough to have Kevin Hart as an alum, these are not funds that we can redistribute or choose who gets what, Monson said at the meeting. (Hart, a George Washington High graduate, has donated hundreds of thousands to purchase computers for district schools and also given money to put charter-school students through college.) Taggart Elementary School in South Philadelphia has a library thanks mostly to the work of its staff. Teacher David Hensel devised a system to allow students to check books out of the library, which closed years ago, when budget cuts decimated most school libraries. Each class got its own binder, and each student had a page in the class binder with space for recording the books they had checked out. Hensel, who is now the Taggart dean, devised a schedule for teachers to take their classes to the library, and he used prep periods and lunches to reshelve books. A local business, the Nelson Group, paid to renovate the Taggart library, which still operates using Hensels system. The schools reading specialist now uses the library as her home base, and though a librarian would be a dream, Hensel said, thats not happening absent district help. With a student body made up of largely poor and immigrant children, large-scale parent and community fund-raising is not something thats possible here, he said. And even if it was, I wouldnt want it. Funding things the district should, that just digs a deeper hole not just for yourself, but for everybody. Cromwell, the Kenderton parent, said that a library is a wish to a school like ours" and that she doesnt begrudge the better-off schools their bells and whistles, but it stings. I signed my kids up for the same things those parents signed their kids up for: a free public education, Cromwell said. Its sad how different it is for kids in different neighborhoods. How do you fix the chasm? Funding, officials said. At the library opening, State Rep. Donna Bullock (D., Phila.) looked around the room and alluded to the divide between what Bache-Martin could provide for its students and what others lack. What this day also reminds us is the importance of funding public education we dont fund it fairly," Bullock said. It is my responsibility to go back to the state and to make sure that we have libraries like this in each and every one of our schools. Philadelphia Media Network is one of 21 news organizations producing Broke in Philly, a collaborative reporting project on solutions to poverty and the citys push towards economic justice. See all of our reporting at https://brokeinphilly.org. Philadelphia officials have agreed to pay $127,500 to a former employee of the Sheriffs Office who last year sued the city, claiming that repeated sexual harassment by Sheriff Jewell Williams rendered her emotionally broken and caused her to quit her job. The City of Philadelphia was the defendant in this case. The decision to settle was made by the Law Department. The settlement was in the best legal interests of the city after a careful analysis of the case, a spokesperson for the Law Department said in an email Wednesday. Lauri A. Kavulich, a lawyer representing Williams, 61, said Williams had no part in the decision to settle the suit brought by Marlaina Williams (no relation), 35, who was employed in the Sheriffs Office in a variety of assignments from February 2013 to June 2017. The parties in the case decided to settle prior to the case proceeding. It does not mean that the allegations are true. The sheriff was prepared to fight this more aggressively, Kavulich said. The settlement led Mayor Jim Kenney to renew a call for Williams to resign from the office he has held since January 2012 and to which he is seeking reelection. I have previously called for the sheriff to step down following multiple credible complaints of sexual harassment. In light of this latest settlement, my position remains the same. It is extremely important that all women feel safe and respected in their workplace, Kenney said in an email Wednesday. Thats why last year I announced an update to the administrations sexual harassment prevention policy and governing executive order," he said, "as well as an expansion of the sexual harassment training program and a new online complaint form to better protect and support city employees. I urge all independently elected officials in Philadelphia to adopt policies and procedures that are just as strong. The mayor first called on Williams to step down in November 2017, when the Inquirer and Daily News reported on Marlaina Williams allegations and those of Vanessa Bines, a Sheriffs Office employee who filed a lawsuit claiming that Sheriff Williams sexually harassed her from 2013 to 2015. Bines is still employed by the office. The Law Department spokesperson declined to comment about Bines' suit, citing the ongoing litigation in this matter. The Mayors Office of Labor Relations last year substantiated Marlaina Williams' allegations following what it called a thorough investigation involving interviews with the sheriff and other witnesses. The investigation concluded that the sheriff had made inappropriate comments that violated the citys sexual harassment policy. In her statement, the sheriffs lawyer pointed to changes in department policy regarding sexual harassment. Sheriff Williams does not tolerate sexual harassment or discrimination in the Sheriffs Office. To that end, the Sheriffs Office underwent sexual harassment training in January 2018, Kavulich said. Since that time, the office has also commissioned an independent review of the policies and procedures of the Sheriffs Office to ensure the office is doing its best to protect against harassment. In response to the investigation findings, Williams issued a statement denying the allegations. I would hope that people would let due process prevail, because I am sure that I will be vindicated in the final analysis, the statement said. The lawsuits filed by Marlaina Williams and Bines followed a 2011 lawsuit filed by a woman who accused Williams of similar behavior when he was a state representative from the 197th District in North Philadelphia. The Democratic caucus of the state House settled that suit with the woman in 2012 for $30,000. In her lawsuit, Marlaina Williams said the sheriff expressed his sexual interest in her through comments and on multiple occasions summoned her to his office and tried to kiss her. She alleged that by December 2013, the harassment changed after the sheriff became aware she was in a relationship with another employee. The sheriff expressed his disapproval, she wrote, by saying, Im jealous that he gets to go home with you and not me. Other statements attributed to him included You should leave him and be with me, and I havent had sex in two years, so if Im not happy no ones gonna be happy. In a complaint filed with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission in September 2017, her lawyer, Steven Auerbach, wrote: As a result of her employers conduct, complainant suffered a panic attack in June 2016 and was rushed to Thomas Jefferson" University Hospital. "Since then, she has suffered related health issues as a consequence of the discrimination which she was forced to endure. Marlaina Williams, who is Muslim, also alleged that the sheriff made anti-Muslim statements. Bines alleges in her lawsuit that in addition to Sheriff Williams harassing her, so did Deputy Sheriff Paris Washington. She claimed Williams retaliated against her after she rejected his advances. HARRISBURG The Dauphin County District Attorneys Office has opened a criminal investigation into allegations that a Western Pennsylvania lawmaker had sex with a woman while she was incapacitated and without her consent, according to multiple sources with knowledge of the inquiry. State Rep. Brian Ellis, a Republican from Butler County, is alleged to have taken the woman to his Harrisburg residence, where the alleged assault occurred in late 2015, the sources said. Details about what triggered her incapacitation were not available. The woman, a state employee who does not work for Ellis, has alleged that the lawmaker told her the next morning that the two had had sex. Prior to that evening, she has said, Ellis had pursued her and she had made it clear she did not want to be involved with him. Ellis, 49, has not publicly responded to the allegations. He did not return multiple calls from reporters this month to his legislative offices and cell phone. He did not answer emails seeking an interview or a letter detailing the allegations against him that was delivered to his offices in the state Capitol and his district, as well as his homes in Harrisburg and Butler Township, which is near Pittsburgh. It is not known whether he has a lawyer. Reached for comment, District Attorney Fran Chardo would say only, I dont comment on criminal investigations, unless they are already publicly known." Jennifer Storm, the states victim advocate, said she was working with the victim. She declined to confirm the existence of any investigation. But Storm, whose office provides victims of crime with support and advocacy services, said the woman had given thoughtful consideration to all her options for months before making the decision to talk about what happened to her. Its an incredibly bold and courageous act to come forward when your perpetrator is powerful, said Storm, later adding: This is a very hard time for her. Top lawyers for House Republicans learned of the allegations against Ellis early last year, and told the person who reported them to contact Chardos office because they appeared criminal in nature, according to a legislative source with knowledge of the matter. They also provided information about the House Republican caucus' sexual harassment policy and the procedure for filing a complaint with them. Late Thursday afternoon, House Republicans issued a statement that did not name Ellis but restated their zero tolerance for sexual violence or harassment and a pledge to assist in any investigation related to it. Our caucus has not been contacted by any law enforcement agencies regarding any new or ongoing investigations," it said. If criminal charges related to sexual violence or harassment are filed against one of our members, we would expect an immediate resignation. The Inquirer and Daily News and the Caucus are withholding the womans name because the newspapers do not identify victims of alleged sexual assault unless they agree to be named. The alleged assault occurred in late October 2015, according to multiple interviews with people familiar with the allegations. The woman could not consent because she was severely impaired, they said. In an interview, the woman has said she had struggled emotionally with coming forward. Ellis, an advocate for business and gun-owner rights first elected to the House in 2004, is the second Republican House member in less than a year to be investigated by Chardos office on assault allegations. Last year, two women filed a complaint with House Republicans, alleging they were physically or sexually abused by then-State Rep. Nick Miccarelli (R., Delaware). House Republican lawyers investigated the claims and found the women credible. They called on Miccarelli to resign, but he denied the claims and served out his term, which ended last year. Last month, Chardo ended his investigation into those claims and announced that no charges would be filed against Miccarelli, in part because one of the accusers chose not to go forward. She said her decision was based on the emotional trauma of the process and the prospect of a long and drawn-out criminal proceeding." Mike Wereschagin of the Caucus contributed to this article. WASHINGTON (AP) A prominent American-born anchorwoman on Iranian state television who was held in the United States as a material witness was released from jail Wednesday evening. Marzieh Hashemi, 59, was released from jail in Washington after being detained for 10 days, according to Abed Ayoub, an attorney with the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee. Hashemi, who works for the Press TV networks English-language service, was detained by federal agents Jan. 13 in St. Louis, where she had filmed a Black Lives Matter documentary after visiting relatives in the New Orleans area, her son said. She was then transported to Washington and had remained behind bars since then. Hashemi appeared at least twice before a U.S. District Court judge in Washington, and court papers said she would be released immediately after her testimony before a grand jury. Court documents did not include details on the criminal case in which she was named a witness. Federal law allows judges to order witnesses to be detained if the government can prove that their testimony has extraordinary value for a criminal case and that they would be a flight risk and unlikely to respond to a subpoena. The statute generally requires those witnesses to be promptly released once they are deposed. A person familiar with the matter said Hashemi had fulfilled her obligation as a material witness and was released. The person was not authorized to discuss the matter publicly and spoke to the Associated Press on condition of anonymity. Hashemi is a U.S. citizen and was born Melanie Franklin. She lives in Tehran and comes back to the United States about once a year to see her family, usually scheduling documentary work in the country, her son said. Asked whether his mother had been involved in any criminal activity or knew anyone who might be implicated in a crime, Hossein Hashemi said, "We don't have any information along those lines." He didn't immediately respond to a call seeking comment on Wednesday. Marzieh Hashemis detention comes amid heightened tensions between Iran and the United States after President Donald Trump withdrew the United States from a nuclear deal. Iran also faces increasing criticism of its own arrests of dual citizens and other people with Western ties. Earlier Wednesday, dozens of activists protested outside the federal courthouse in Washington, where Hashemi was scheduled to appear before the grand jury. They held signs and chanted, Free, free, Marzieh! and Shame, shame, USA! NEW YORK (AP) Days after appearing as President Donald Trump in a Deal or No Deal parody on Saturday Night Live, Alec Baldwin took a deal of his own Wednesday, agreeing to attend an anger-management class to resolve a criminal case stemming from a skirmish over a parking spot. Baldwin, who was accused of striking another driver in the face during the dispute last fall outside his New York City home, pleaded guilty to harassment and will have his case record sealed once he completes the one-day class. The charge is a violation, the lowest level of offense. A misdemeanor attempted-assault charge was dropped. Prosecutors offered the compromise after reviewing video of the incident, looking at medical records, and talking with the victim and witnesses, Assistant District Attorney Ryan Lipes said. The 60-year-old Baldwin, whos had various scrapes with the law over the years, has a clean criminal record, Lipes said. Baldwin in a sport coat, black top, and black framed glasses spoke only a few words during the brief court hearing, mostly answering short questions from the judge. The Manhattan prosecutor's office declined comment. Baldwin and his lawyer didn't comment outside court, but the actor wasn't shy on Twitter, where he criticized the media for staking out his courtroom when there were more serious cases elsewhere in the building and for misreporting the allegations against him. "The press reported that I punched someone. That is untrue, and that is a serious charge. A man was punched in NY recently and died," Baldwin tweeted, along with a link to a news article about a fatal bar fight in Queens last November. "Nothing that resembles justice ever enters or leaves any courtroom in this country," he added. Baldwin was accused of trying to punch another driver during a Nov. 2 argument over a parking spot in front of his Manhattan apartment building. Police said Baldwin claimed he had a family member holding the spot for him as he attempted to park his black Cadillac Escalade when a man driving a black Saab station wagon pulled up and took it. Police said the men were arguing and pushed each other before Baldwin got more aggressive. The driver of the station wagon told police that Baldwin hit him with his hand but wasnt sure if it was a punch or a slap. Baldwin told a police officer that the other driver "stole my spot," used a vulgarity to describe him, and acknowledged pushing him, prosecutors said in court papers. Baldwins lawyer, Alan Abramson, maintained that the former 30 Rock actor would be vindicated by incontrovertible video evidence. Baldwin said on Twitter after Wednesday's hearing that there were three security cameras outside his building and that the punch "didn't happen." No video was shown in court. Baldwin, who got booted off a flight in 2011 for refusing to put his cellphone away, was playing with his phone while waiting for Wednesday's hearing to start but he didn't argue when court officers announced that phones had to be turned off and out of sight. As it was, the second-floor courtroom was already noisy with the beeping sound of inmate-transport buses backing up outside, providing a constant, if not annoying, soundtrack for his appearance. One of the nations largest predominantly African American fraternities has fired a top executive for allegedly embezzling more than $1.4 million to feed a gambling habit, and now federal authorities are investigating, according to court papers filed this week. Curtis D. Anderson, 57, of Claymont, Del., had been employed for more than 20 years as the finance director for Kappa Alpha Psi, which has its national headquarters on North Broad Street. But between June 2017 and last month, authorities say, he cashed more than 87 checks drawn on the fraternitys accounts in his own name and those of five other individuals, who he told bank tellers were fraternity employees. Anderson purportedly confessed to the theft after Santander Bank flagged his unusual transactions and alerted his bosses, U.S. Postal Inspection Service agents said in papers seeking a judges authorization to search his former office. Just two days later, John Burrell, the fraternitys executive director, and Thomas Battles, its president, spotted Anderson trying to duck out of a bank branch as they arrived to discuss their missing money with bank officials, the search warrant affidavit states. Battles called Anderson on his cell phone and asked him to return. Once he did, he allegedly admitted that he had stolen the missing money. Anderson explained to Burrell and Battles that he had a gambling and drinking problem, and that he had spent most of his money at Harrahs Casino, authorities said in court filings. As of Thursday, Anderson had not been charged. Investigators said in their filings that they continue to investigate possible crimes, including wire and bank fraud. Anderson, a Kappa Alpha Psi member since 1981, could not be reached for comment Thursday, and it was not clear whether he had retained an attorney. Delaware court records show that New Castle County police arrested him in November on charges of driving under the influence. Those charges are pending. In a statement released Thursday, Burrell avoided mentioning Anderson by name but acknowledged the federal investigation and that an employee had been terminated after discovery of financial irregularities. The fraternity is also conducting a thorough review of its financial operations to continue to enhance oversight and prevent a similar situation in the future, he wrote. Founded in 1911 at Indiana University, Kappa Alpha Psi has more than 700 chapters and more than 160,000 members, including former Philadelphia Mayors John F. Street and W. Wilson Goode Sr. The Trump administration granted a waiver to South Carolina this week allowing the state to provide federal funding to a foster care agency that works only with Protestant foster parents. In its decision, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services said it was approving the request from Gov. Henry McMaster to protect religious freedom and preserve high-quality foster care placement options for children. Lynn Johnson, assistant secretary of the HHS Administration for Children and Families, said in a statement, The government should not be in the business of forcing foster care providers to close their doors because of their faith. Religious freedom is a fundamental human right." The decision could prompt additional states to ask for exemptions for religious groups, and elevates interest in the outcome of a case in Philadelphia that ignited national conversations related to religious rights of social service agencies. The waiver allows South Carolina to continue a federally funded contract with Miracle Hill Ministries, which has worked with Protestants for 15 years and has a policy of turning away prospective parents of other religions as well as LGBTQ parents. The waiver also applies to any agency in South Carolina that uses religious criteria in selecting prospective foster care parents so long as they refer parents who dont meet their criteria to the state. The exemption was needed because of a regulation added under President Barack Obama that prohibits publicly funded foster care agencies from discriminating against people based on religion, gender identity, or sexual orientation. But the Administration for Children and Families wrote in its letter granting the waiver that the 2016 regulation was broader than a federal statute that only prohibits discrimination based on race, color, or national origin. The administration found that refusing Miracle Hill a contract violated the agencys religious freedoms and put a burden on the child welfare system, which needs good foster homes. Catholic Social Services has made the same argument in courtrooms in Philadelphia. In that case, Philadelphia suspended CSSs contract after learning the agency has a policy not to work with LGBTQ foster parents. The city has a nondiscrimination ordinance for city contractors. CSS sued the city, arguing that scrapping its contract violated its religious freedom. A federal judge found in favor of the city in July. The agency appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court, which declined to hear the case. Now, both parties are waiting on a three-member appellate panel to issue an opinion. The panel heard arguments in November. This is about a state asking to allow agencies to discriminate, said Leslie Cooper, deputy director of the ACLU LGBT & HIV Project. Philadelphia is in the opposite position. Philadelphia does not want to allow discrimination. Cooper said the waivers spillover effect for now will be minimal. The waiver does not say states must exempt religious agencies that discriminate, but does open the door to other states seeking similar waivers. Texas' attorney general already has asked for a waiver to allow exemptions for religious groups, Cooper said. The waiver is unlikely to have any affect on ongoing legal cases in Michigan and Philadelphia, Cooper said. But it could prompt legislation from Congress, either to broaden the federal nondiscrimination statute to include religion and sexual orientation, or to pass a law explicitly allowing religious providers to discriminate. A Provider Inclusion Act, introduced in the House and the Senate in 2017, would protect providers with sincerely held religious or moral convictions. Cathleen Palm, who founded the Center for Childrens Justice, said conflicts between local governments and the religious agencies that contract with them have been popping up nationwide at a time when the need for foster parents remains high. We do need as many viable and safe and protective options available to give kids as possible," Palm said. "So we do have to be careful as to how much we get ourselves dug in. Still, Palm said, the idea of compartmentalizing groups bothers her. As a parent first and an advocate second, its troubling because it really cultivates this idea that were so different from each other. So, you of Jewish faith cant come over to my Christian foster care agency, and, its like, shouldnt we fundamentally be about what we want to do on behalf of children? Palm, whose organization is based in Berks County, said she thinks a lot of eyes are now on Philadelphia. "The Philly case now has more implications because depending on what the court decides, the case could make it to the Supreme Court and really open up the door of evaluating when, and how, and if public dollars can be spent on services that are provided within the guise of we only provide these services to certain folks. It took the devastating floods from two hurricanes in the long, hot summer of 1985 to convince Wenceslaus Boyo Billiot Jr. that it was time to finally move with his wife and three children off of Louisianas Isle de Jean Charles a painful decision for a man who grew up venturing around the island in the shallow canoes called pirogues to fish or catch crabs and who would grow up to become deputy chief of his people, the Biloxi-Chitimacha-Choctaw Tribe. From the drier land of nearby Houma, La., Billiot still worries about the winter days when the northern winds push the high tides over the only road to Isle de Jean Charles, cutting off his family members whove stayed behind including his 94-year-old mom. The New York Times visited the island a couple of years ago and found kids who didnt go to school on the frequent flood days, and a family that was cooking dinner on a hot plate because their oven had become waterlogged eight years earlier. The tiny, isolated islands problems are very much a consequence of humankinds addiction to fossil fuels first from the wetlands that were destroyed by the canals that Big Oil cut through the Gulf of Mexico marshlands, and increasingly because of sea levels that are rising worldwide as a result of climate change. With an alarming 98 percent of the island vanished since 1955, Isle de Jean Charles made news in 2016 when the federal government yes, a very different federal government from the one we have now gave the island a $48 million grant to relocate everyone who lived there to safer ground. But that goal has proved easier said than done. She doesnt want to go shes not moving, Billiot told me by phone this week, referring to his nonagenarian mother and her refusal to leave the only place shes ever known. Earlier this month, tribal leaders rejected the state of Louisianas plan to move the 30 or so families still left on Isle de Jean Charles sometimes referred to as Americas first climate change refugees to a 515-acre tract of land some 40 miles to the north, citing a variety of objections. Unfortunately, the huge problems both logistical and emotional around losing a settled American community to the rising tides of global warming will not be unique to this one shrinking island off Louisiana, On the Pacific Ocean, for example, the California town of Imperial Beach, hard against the U.S. Mexico border, is finding its biggest threat isnt from undocumented immigrants but from the higher and higher king tides that swamp the small citys streets and have led to a heated debate about a managed retreat from its oceanside homes. And for your regular reminder that climate change is a global and not only a U.S. domestic problem, we take you to Australia, which is in the midst of its down-under summer and where its been so hot in recent days 117 degrees in Sydney, for example that confused, overheated bats are dropping dead by the hundreds, falling out of trees and littering roadways, their brains literally fried by global warming. I tell these stories because Im thinking maybe the images of a 94-year-old women clinging to her tribal home, or people struggling to survive amid their rusted, flooded-out appliances like characters in a Mad Max sequel, or the notion of dodging bat carcasses as they fall from the trees like a Kansas hail storm might convince America of what a king tide of major-but-ponderous scientific reports evidently has not convinced them that climate change is our most important story right now. And the other stories that drone constantly from your TV whether its Rudy Giuliani contradicting what he said the day before that contradicts what he said the day before that contradicts what he said the day before, or the latest installment of the Covington Catholic soap opera arent really a close second. Yet its a story that we not just the media but our more woke political leaders and environmental activists are still struggling with, to break through all the clutter. Consider briefly, because God knows I wouldnt want to put anyone to sleep three monumental reports that have come out just in the past 10 days or so. An important new study of the gigantic ice sheet that covers (or used to, anyway) Greenland found that with the Arctic region warming up at twice the rate of the rest of the planet melting has accelerated much faster than scientists had expected and may have crossed a tipping point that will lead to rapid sea-level rise in the next two decades. Just the week before that, a new report looking at the other side of our beleaguered globe revealed that that ice in Antarctica is ALSO melting much more rapidly than climatologists expected six times the rate of the 1980s which will also radically change the rate of our rising seas over the 21st Century. At the same time, and not unrelated to the two previous items, a study published this month in the journal Advances in Atmospheric Sciences reported that 2018 was the hottest year for the worlds oceans since we started keeping track of that 60 years ago beating out the previous record which Im sure youll be utterly shocked to learn occurred in 2017. Theres something happenin' here, and what it is aint exactly unclear: Climate change is beginning to accelerate as more and more of the greenhouse-gas pollution from our burning of fossil fuels is ringing the planet. Just like those egghead scientists had been trying to warn us for decades. But the fantastic news is that, this time, the dire reports were covered by CNN and MSNBC and even Fox News at the top of hour, squeezing President Trumps tweets from the headlines, and forcing to policy makers in Washington to... OK, who am I kidding here? Nothing happened. TV barely covered the news, and as for the federal government where the keys to U.S. Environmental Protection Agency have been flung to a coal lobbyist our national-level policy is guaranteed to go the wrong direction until at least noon on January 20, 2021. Indeed, rolling back anti-climate-change policies has arguably been the most effective measure to come from the Trump administration: U.S. carbon dioxide emissions surged by 3.4 percent in 2018, the fastest gain in eight years. If youre one of those crazy people who cares about the world were leaving for our eventual grandchildren, these are demoralizing times. The climate story isnt just depressing, but its overwhelming and too often pegged to hard-to-read reports from little-known scientists, so its no surprise that it doesnt get the kind of boffo ratings youll see from tossing an unprepared reality-TV star into the Oval Office. Im not a New Years resolution guy, but I did make one on-the-job pledge for 2019: To tell the climate change story more often at least once every calendar month, I hereby promise and, more importantly, to look for ways to tell it better, so that readers stop feeling overwhelmed and start thinking that we, both individually and as a society, can do something about climate change. Because we can. Even with Washington hopelessly gridlocked, progress-minded states, counties, cities and even small towns are adopting local policies that will reduce our greenhouse-gas emissions. Whats more, there are changes we can all make in our everyday life not just the big stuff like solar panels on the roof, although that would certainly help that can contribute to the solution. Every time I write about climate change, Ill include some small tip at the end. Call it a lagniappe thats Louisiana talk for "something a little extra in honor of the hearty spirits of Isle de Jean Charles. It is real, their tribal leader Billiot told me, as he reminisced about the town wharf he remembered as a little boy then two or three feet above the tides, now totally submerged. He marveled at his neighbors in Houma who still buy into the anti-science propaganda. If you live on the coast, you know. Lets make 2019 the year that knowing turns into action. This months action: Eat less meat. What does feasting on animal flesh have to do with the worlds climate? A lot more than youd think. Depending on how you calculate it, animal agriculture is responsible for at least 14-18 percent of greenhouse gas emissions, and some experts think the real number could be a whopping 50 percent. So every less steak in 2019 is one more ounce of prevention. And, yes, I included this one first because its one of the ones where I semi-practice what I preach. I gave up red meat except in the rare social situation (i.e., a host serves it, or I mysteriously find myself in downtown Memphis) after a health scare three years ago and I dont miss it at all. Neither does the atmosphere. Tamika Capone thought she was making a smart call by traveling to Mexico for bariatric surgery. Her doctor had urged her to have the procedure to reduce her out-of-control weight and blood pressure. But her husbands health insurance would not cover the $17,500 bill. After a friend got the surgery in Tijuana for $4,000, Capone decided to do the same. Nearly four months later, the Arkansas woman is one of at least a dozen U.S. residents who returned from surgeries in Tijuana with a rare and potentially deadly strain of bacteria resistant to virtually all antibiotics, say federal health officials. Some in the group recovered, but Capone, 40, remains seriously ill despite being treated with a barrage of drugs. If the bacteria spread to her bloodstream, doctors say, it could be fatal. Ive not yet had a patient with zero options, but this is as close as Ive had, said Ryan Dare, an infectious-disease doctor at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences College of Medicine in Little Rock who is treating her. The Tijuana outbreak, which includes one death, prompted the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to issue an unusual warning this month, urging travelers to avoid surgery at Grand View Hospital, linked to eight of the infections, until Mexican authorities confirm its safety. Hospital officials did not return calls seeking comment. Nor did the medical tourism agency Weight Loss Agents, which books procedures there and at other hospitals. A woman who answered the agencys telephone blamed reports of infections on a competitors smear campaign. She declined to give her name. Mexican authorities said they temporarily closed the hospitals operating unit in December, but the facility has since reopened and resumed surgeries, according to patients posting on its website. The Tijuana cases highlight the growing number of Americans getting antibiotic-resistant infections overseas after traveling to get medical care abroad. Some who were not traveling for medical procedures but fell ill and went to foreign hospitals have also contracted such infections. Officials say they are anxious to prevent such pathogens from gaining a foothold in the United States, because they are so difficult to treat. We pounce when we see them [extremely antibiotic-resistant infections] because we know they can smolder and spread, said Maroya Spalding Walters, an epidemiologist leading the CDC team investigating the outbreak. And no one may recognize it until this becomes an out-of-control wildfire. According to Patients Beyond Borders, a medical tourism guidebook, 1.7 million Americans traveled to other countries in 2017 for medical care, and that number is expected to increase. Many, such as Capone, travel to save money. Mexico is among the top 10 destinations. Weight-loss surgery, in vitro fertility procedures and cosmetic surgery are among the most sought treatments generally, according to the Medical Tourism Association, a U.S.-based organization whose members include hospitals, clinicians and insurance companies. There is little data about infectious diseases related to medical tourism. But the CDC has documented several outbreaks, including severe skin infections among dozens of patients who had cosmetic surgery in the Dominican Republic in 2013 and 2017. Several of the infections were drug-resistant. In 2014, five New York residents contracted Q fever, a flulike illness caused by bacteria found in goats, sheep and cows, after getting injections of fetal sheep cells in Germany. The World Health Organization considers the superbug infecting Capone carbapenem-resistant Pseudomonas aeruginosa one of its three highest priorities for new antibiotics. The organism packs a double whammy, Walters said, because it has a genetic mutationthat allows it to transmit its antibiotic-destroying gene to other bacteria to make them resistant as well. People can carry the pathogens in their bodies and not become infected. In hospitals, where the most serious infections occur, the germ can spread on the hands of health-care workers or equipment that gets contaminated and is not properly cleaned. There have been only 86 cases of the strain reported in the United States through 2017, officials said. Half of the 12 people who came back from Tijuana with confirmed cases were hospitalized once they returned home to Arkansas, Arizona, Oregon, Utah, Texas, Washington state and West Virginia, according to CDC officials. Most people had weight-loss surgery. Eight had surgery at Grand View Hospital. The remainder had surgery at other Tijuana clinics the CDC did not identify. The CDC is investigating two additional cases. Most of the patients were women in their 30s and 40s and had surgeries between August and December, the officials said. An unidentified Oregon man died in November, according to state and federal health officials. They say they do not know whether the infection caused his death, because he had other health problems. Even patients who were infected with a less resistant strain of Pseudomonas describe devastating experiences. Mindy Blohm, 45, of Riverton, Utah, said she and her husband were forced to sell their home to pay over $50,000 in hospital bills for treatment of her infection, a less resistant Pseudomonas, after her weight-loss surgery at Grand View on Oct. 31. Her wound finally healed last week, she said. Capone, whose weight-loss surgery to reduce her stomach by about 80 percent was on Oct. 8, said she is still ill. Doctors had urged her to have the procedure. At 5 foot 7 inches, she weighed 291 pounds. Her blood pressure was getting way out of control, she said. Three days after the procedure at Grand View, as she waited in the San Diego airport for her return flight, she said her main incision started to leak. Home in Jonesboro, she got worse. Over the next few weeks, she said, she was hospitalized twice and developed an abscess that doctors had to cut open and drain. By then, tests showed she had no ordinary infection. The Arkansas Department of Health told Capone it was the first time they had seen this organism. They were worried about other people catching it, especially other medical staff, Capone recalled. They told me if I see any doctor, I have to inform them. CDCs Antimicrobial Resistance Laboratory Network knew of three patients with the same infection. But there was no discernible pattern until Capones was reported in mid-November it was the second linked to Grand View Hospital. That was really the aha moment, Walters said. Within days, the agency alerted state health departments about the superbug and urged them to test antibiotic-resistant organisms in people who had traveled to Mexico for invasive procedures. Capones condition, meanwhile, grew worse. In mid-December, she was referred to Dare, the Little Rock specialist. He said her only option was colistin, an antibiotic discovered in the late 1940s that is seldom used, because it causes kidney and nerve damage. But the drug has resurfaced as a last-line treatment for multi-drug-resistant organisms. On her second day on the antibiotic, Capones lips swelled. Her tongue and face went numb. I got to the point where I could barely talk, she said. She had to stop treatment. Now she has a hole in her stomach that requires daily cleaning. Capone wears gloves to clean her wound, then throws her used bandages in the trash outside. Her husband and teenage daughter are not at risk, nor is the general public; the strain of bacteria does not spread in the air. She has incurred more than $30,000 in medical bills related to her infection. The wound has not healed, and it hurts a lot, Capone said. They told me theyve done all they could do. She has tried to warn others about her experience on a Facebook page established for bariatric patients of Grand View, but she said her posts have been quickly taken down. A few days ago, she received even more worrisome news. Health officials in Arkansas and other states are contacting infected patients to tell them they may be at risk for diseases that can be transmitted by blood or other bodily fluids, such as HIV, hepatitis B and hepatitis C, because equipment in Tijuana may not have been properly sterilized. Officials are urging patients to talk to their clinicians about additional screening or testing. Im at a breaking point, Capone said. Im so scared. I dont want to lose my life for this. I dont want to have my family suffer because I chose to go to Mexico. Alice Crites and Andrea Morales contributed to this report. If going weeks without pay wasnt bad enough, furloughed federal workers will be on the hook to pay the premiums for their dental and vision benefits, or lose coverage. Federal workers health insurance is separate from dental and vision coverage, and will remain intact throughout the partial government shutdown. But after their second missed paycheck this week, the 800,000 furloughed federal workers will be billed directly for their dental and vision premiums, which are separate from their health plan, the Washington Post reported. Insurance premiums are automatically deducted from workers paychecks, but without a paycheck, those premiums have not been paid. In a letter to the federal Office of Personnel Management (OPM), four Democratic senators from Maryland and Virginia said they are concerned that the furloughed workers could lose their dental and vision coverage if they are unable to pay their premiums. Maryland Sens. Ben Cardin and Chris Van Hollen and Virginia Sens. Tim Kaine and Mark R. Warner called on the OPM to find a way to shield furloughed workers from paying premiums until the government reopens. Furloughed workers unpaid health insurance premiums will be deducted once they are paid again. If the status quo persists, you are undoubtedly risking the health and wellness of federal workers, the senators wrote. Earlier this week, Temple University and Penn Dental Medicine began offering free emergency dental care to furloughed workers. Dennita Cunningham, a Philadelphia resident who is furloughed from her job with the Department of the Treasury, said the service was a huge help. Her regular dentist quoted $300 to treat a throbbing toothache, which was more than she could afford without a paycheck. Its a huge deal. You have a little in savings, but everything starts popping up. Its like Murphys law, Cunningham said. Main Line Health and Rutgers Health are deferring co-payment and deductible billing for furloughed workers until the government is fully reopened. Other businesses and utilities have also stepped up to help furloughed workers. Are you a furloughed federal worker concerned about covering a medical or dental expense during the shutdown? If you are willing to allow us to use your name in a story, contact staff writer Sarah Gantz at sgantz@philly.com. Wondering what to do about that guy who watches all of your Instagram stories but wont text you back? Or how to broach the topic of religious differences with someone youre dating? Maybe youre having anxiety about planning a vacation with a new partner. Whatever it is, Jordana Abraham and Jared Freid have heard it all, thanks to their popular dating podcast, U Up? Abraham, who cofounded the young-woman-centric social-media brand Betches, came up with the idea for U Up? when she realized that it would allow listeners to get male and female perspectives on their love lives at the same time. She teamed up with Freid, a stand-up comedian based in New York, and the duo launched the podcast in 2017. Last October, the podcast was streamed more than 688,000 times. Each roughly 90-minute episode addresses issues with todays unpredictable, app-centric dating climate, like ghosting and breadcrumbing. Celebrity guests such as Andy Cohen and Whitney Cummings visit occasionally to comment on topics like stalking exes on Instagram or discussing sexual histories with new partners. The cohosts come to Philadelphia on Friday evening to record a live show at Underground Arts, where audience members can ask questions and weigh in using paddles that say red flag or deal breaker. The show is sold out, but we chatted with Abraham and Freid ahead of their show about dating trends and what theyve heard about dating in the City of Brotherly Love. From my point of view, this podcast is so popular because people are always looking for places to talk about dating honestly. Why do you think it strikes such a chord with listeners? Abraham: Everyone is going through the same dating issues, and because the ways in which we date today are so new, no one really has an outlet to say what theyre really thinking yet. So I think the podcast is unique in that you get a man and a woman debating these issues. We think about these issues very differently, depending on which sector youre talking to. Freid: With dating today, you cant really ask your parents for advice. They never dealt with the reality that we live in today. Not only that, theres a lot of big issues out there such as politics and jobs that millennials are dealing with. Its hard to come to the brunch table and be like, Why didnt he text me back? to your friends sometimes. It can be hard to bring up. Thats why we take every question that we get seriously. What kinds of problems do you see people struggle with in dating over and over again? Abraham: Our parents generation dealt with way less ambiguity. They had to call someone to ask them out on a date. But with us, its like, What does it mean if hes not really texting me but watching all my Instagram stories? Why does he keep talking to me on the dating app but refuses to ask me out? There are so many different ways to interpret what people are saying. But what are the signs that someones actually interested in you? Theres so much to sift through, versus in the past, there were only so many ways to show interest. Freid: Were connected, but not connected. It can be hard to distinguish between real effort and fake effort. Theres a big difference between what you do with your fingers and what you do with your feet. Obviously the podcast is not like a one-size-fits-all kind of prescriptive thing, but if there were one behavior that you think everyone could use more of in their dating practices, what would it be? Abraham: A lot of women have issues being direct. Were so scared to seem desperate and crazy. But asking for clarity is one of the more empowering things you can do. If someone is being wishy-washy about a date, you can take charge of the situation. Have you heard anything about what its like to date in Philly? Freid: Ive heard that Philly is a very big small town. Like if you dated someone and if it ended, chances are youre going to see them out again at some point. Even though its a big city, the social circle feels very familial, whereas in New York, you can escape a little more easily. But thats also part of the charm of Philadelphia when people date, they want to know that maybe their friend can vouch for that person. Theres a little bit more accountability in that way. U Up? Podcast, 7:30 p.m. Friday, Underground Arts, 1200 Callowhill St., sold out, 215-627-1332, undergroundarts.org David Chase will keep the role of Tony Soprano all in the family in his upcoming Sopranos prequel film, The Many Saints of Newark, courtesy of Michael Gandolfini, son of late actor James Gandolfini, who will play a young version of the beloved fictional mobster. James Gandolfini, of course, famously played the Sopranos mob boss in The Sopranos original run on HBO, earning several Emmy and SAG awards, as well as Golden Globe for his work in the series. He died on a trip to Italy with his family in 2013 at age 51. As Deadline reports, son Michael will take the role of young Tony Soprano in The Many Saints of Newark, appearing onscreen alongside co-stars Corey Stoll, Alessandro Nivola, and Jon Bernthal. Gandolfini reportedly auditioned for the role, and was selected after an extensive process. Its a profound honor to continue my dads legacy while stepping into the shoes of a young Tony Soprano, Gandolfini said via a statement. Im thrilled that Im going to have the opportunity to work with David Chase and the incredible company of talent he has assembled for The Many Saints of Newark. Set in 1960s Newark, New Jersey, The Many Saints of Newark followers early versions of beloved Sopranos characters as racial tensions mount in the city. According to a plot synopsis, the film with show gangster Dickie Moltisanti showing young Tony the ropes when it comes to the mob. News of Gandolfinis addition to the films cast comes shortly after The Sopranos 20th anniversary earlier this month. Since then, co-author Alan Sepinwall, co-author of fan book The Sopranos Sessions, recently told the Inquirer, the show has become a ubiquitous cultural touchstone at least in New Jersey. And that was due in no small part to the elder Gandolfinis work as Tony. Pretty much every Italian deli in North Jersey used to have Godfather pictures up on the wall, he said. Now they have Godfather pictures next to pictures of Tony Soprano. Winter looked to Rich Trotter like a good time to buy machines until the president, seeking to reverse Congress refusal to fund barriers he promised on the Mexican border, shut down civilian U.S. government agencies in December. Winter is the slow season at the Rosatis Water Ice factory in Clifton Heights. Theres an annual cash crunch, as winter sales, even to schools in warmer states, fall below summer demand, says owner Trotter. But that makes it a good time to improve the plant, which employs 25 from seven nations, Trotter says proudly. Trotter made special plans to borrow so he could make payroll while adding $2 million worth of new equipment an automated palletizer and a flash-freezing system and a brand new room thats big enough, he says. His goal: fewer people working on clattering old machines in the plant, and more out selling water ice to supermarkets and schools. Its the kind of investment that President Donald Trump urged small businesses like Rosatis to make when he prevailed on Congress to cut business income taxes last year. Broker Ami Kassar of Multifunding Inc. in Fort Washington had arranged a Small Business Administration loan guarantee that would keep Rosatis cash flowing while Trotter upgraded. But by last week, it was starting to look like Rosatis wouldnt be able to get that guarantee approved by SBA, because the agency, run by Trumps longtime friend Linda McMahon who owns WWE, the pro wrestling circuit, with husband Vince has gone dark as part of the federal shutdown. The whole system is on ice, Kassar says. Anybody who is currently in the middle of a loan transaction, even if the lender got their approval number before the shutdown, they are on ice. And no new approvals are being issued. Frozen loans are piling up at the rate of hundreds of businesses a day, he said. Owners are delaying and extending growth plans, spending more on fees and interest for financial middlemen and less on business expansion. Trotter has borrowed through SBA before. Ordinarily, the wait on SBA takes only a couple weeks, he told me. But with the year-end backlog of unsigned loan applications, even if the agency reopens soon, my guess is the wait will be extended to a couple months at this juncture, as there will be a glut of loans in the queue to be processed. Rosatis is still making water ice, while Trotter waits for the agency to go back to work. The SBA has approved 30,000 business expansion and building purchase loans in the Philadelphia area since 1990 about 1,200 a year recently, down from over 2,000 in the early 2000s, before the last recession. The Obama administration approved the programs for larger loans; the agency puts out more cash than before, but to fewer businesses. In the Philadelphia area, the biggest borrowing categories are restaurants and bars, plus doctors' and other health-care offices. Businesses here borrowed $342 million through its major programs last year, a little over 1 percent of nationwide SBA lending (the region has almost 2 percent of the U.S. population). Many of the lenders are regional banks like Citizens and TD; others are community lenders such as Republic, WSFS, and Bryn Mawr Trust. Waiting for their loans, some business owners are borrowing against real estate, Kassar said. For projects that need to be finished on schedule, they might just go to a very expensive online lender, and the entire application could now be screwed up for a long time. Among small businesses that had been counting on the SBA are a lot of Amazon resellers, who often pay high short-term rates while payments catch up. Low-rate SBA loans make a big difference for these firms when they finally come through. There is less urgency among big businesses, says David Kotok, founder of Vineland, N.J.-based Cumberland Investments. Markets believe the shutdown is temporary. Market agents look at the childish behavior of our political leaders, roll their eyes in disdain, and move on. But small business cant afford that luxury, and if the shutdown continues, its a matter of time before the delays show up as a loss in U.S. growth and demand. Shares of Metro Bank Plc, the British bank founded by Moorestown real estate and financial mogul Vernon Hill, lost a whopping 37 percent of their value in trading Wednesday, dropping from 2,200 British pounds to 1,388, after the company admitted it had underreported the risk of its commercial mortgage loans. The stock rebounded modestly Thursday, trading around 1,480 pounds, up 10 percent, but remained far below its recent averages and has a market value far less than the $3 billion it was worth when it sold shares to the public in a 2016 initial public offering. Metro chief executive Craig Donaldson warned investors Wednesday that the company has had to double the risk-weighting of its commercial mortgage portfolio, which could slow growth unless the company raises more money from investors. Donaldson blamed Metros failure to account for risk under standard U.K. banking practices for more than the last year as "a misinterpretation of the rules, according to Bloomberg. Donaldson added that the restatement should not affect the banks reported profits, and Metro has hired an accounting firm to review what went wrong. The bank reported profits totaled around $65 million before taxes last year, below the $75 million-plus expected by analysts polled by Bloomberg. Metro, backed by Hill and a transatlantic list of fellow real estate investors (Steven A. Cohen, Bruce Toll, Richard LeFrak, Ken Moelis), in its early years chose a strategy of rapid expansion of its service-oriented branch banking network, at a time when rivals like Santander Bank have been shutting branches as more people bank by phone. Metros growth, at a time when England has been starved for business success stories, has made Hill and his wife and design partner, Shirley, celebrities in London, their second home. Hill is also chairman of Philadelphia-based Republic First Bancorp, which has followed a similar strategy. A few large banks also are adding U.S. branches. JPMorgan Chase & Co. officials plan to hold a grand opening for their Rittenhouse Square outpost in Philadelphia next week, and CEO Jamie Dimon says he will add 50 branches in the Philadelphia area and hundreds of strategic locations in other new markets over the next five years, in an attempt to sell more investments and financial services to the banks millions of credit card holders and mortgage borrowers. But as customers do more business remotely, major lenders including Bank of America, Wells Fargo, TD, and PNC have mostly been closing and consolidating offices in an attempt to cut costs. As part of its restructuring, Temple University Health System is eliminating the jobs of its chief medical officer Susan Freeman and chief administrative officer Alan Rosenberg, the systems president and chief executive Larry Kaiser said Wednesday in a letter to colleagues. Both are departing, the letter said. The letter also said Temple University Hospitals CEO Verdi DiSesa and its chief medical officer would step down from their positions, but did not specify what their new roles would be. Taking over as CEO of the hospital is Michael Young, who came to the hospital in August as chief operating officer. The health system, owned by Temple University, is working with a chief restructuring officer, Stuart McLean, of Alvarez & Marsal as part of a broad effort to make it financially sustainable. The health system reported a net loss of $11.63 million for the three months ended September 30, 2018. Temple recently announced that it was in exclusive talks with Thomas Jefferson University over the possible sale of Fox Chase Cancer Center. I ask that all of you work with me and the leadership team as we move forward with our ongoing restructuring that will allow us to continue to provide superb clinical care for the population we serve and an outstanding education for our students, Kaisers letter concluded. JPMorgan Chase & Co., the largest, most profitable, and most valuable U.S. bank, has opened the first of what it says will be dozens of new full-service branches in the Philadelphia area. The move is an attempt to corral the one million Chase credit card users and mortgage holders in the area to buy more JPMorgan products. And it will raise the local profile of a company that already ranks among the regions largest corporate employers. JPMorgans sites include a surprisingly vital financial-tech R&D department, based in a converted drug research center on Route 202 in Delaware, where the banks software architects and developers collect dozens of patents a year, and have helped give America the systems underlying E-ZPass, secure smartphone spending apps, and contact-free credit approvals. Four months after CEO Jamie Dimon detailed his plans to grow in Philly and in other places where Chase lacked branches, Mayor Jim Kenney plans on Monday to visit the companys new Chase outpost at 1636 Walnut St., near Rittenhouse Square, for its grand opening. The bank has also added branches in Villanova and Camden, and plans more at sites adjoining the University of Pennsylvania, University of Delaware, and Comcast campuses, and in the fulfillment center warehouse district of Burlington Township, among others. The bank employs more than 10,000 people in the region most in Delaware ranking JPMorgan Chase with Vanguard Group, Merck, Comcast, and Wawa among the regions largest corporate employers. JPMorgan has ties to all those companies it has served as a lead lender to Vanguard and Comcast, and as a financial adviser to Merck and credit card issuer to Wawa and will presumably target their employees. Michele Lawrence, formerly of Wells Fargo and once a Democratic candidate in Philadelphias 1st Congressional District primary, was hired as region director to lead Chase expansion in the Delaware Valley. To brace for Chase, rival Citizens Financial Group, a Providence, R.I.-based company that has the largest branch network in the city and its Pennsylvania suburbs (149 offices, including old Girard and PSFS sites), has boosted key employee pay, contacted customers it especially wants to keep, and last month moved its own Rittenhouse Square-area branch from mid-block at 214 S. 20th St. to a prime corner at 1700 Walnut. They will have a tough time peeling our customers away, Citizens CEO Bruce Van Saun boasted last week. Weve jumped on some of the best locations in Philadelphia to get ahead of their game. More Americans are doing their banking by smartphone and online or have done away with retail banks altogether, adopting fin-tech applications like Philadelphia-based Perpay, a paycheck-deduction installment-purchase system whose backers include JPMorgan. So the bank isnt carpeting all neighborhoods with its offices, as big banks used to do. Its cherry-picking high-profile locations as loan and investment centers that double as billboards for the brand. Never mind that U.S. banks have closed more than one in 10 of their once-100,000 branches one in six in the Philadelphia area in the last decade. If trends continue, JPMorgans network of more than 5,000 branches, having already passed the once-dominant Bank of America network, will replace Wells Fargos as the largest in the United States over the next few years, according to FDIC data. Branch-building is one of the projects that Dimon said he would target to invest some of the windfall billions that the company has kept as extra profits, thanks to corporate tax cuts. The bank reported after-tax profits of $32.5 billion last year or $2.7 billion a month, up from $2 billion a month in 2017. JPMorgans centers in the region include its Wilmington credit card and consumer loan operations, built partly around Philadelphia investor and potential presidential candidate Richard Vagues former First USA Bank; the 2,000-staffer tech center, built at a former AstraZeneca R&D center; plus investment, tax shelter, global account compliance, and other units around Wilmington and Newark, Del. The bank will hire add hundreds of staff, starting at $16.50 an hour (plus health care, retirement, and college tuition benefits) as it adds branches here over the next five years. JPMorgans New York rival, Citigroup, spent millions building a Philly-area network of 20 branches from a new site in King of Prussia to one in a former sex-aids shop across from the Convention Center before shutting them in 2013, calling the market unprofitable. But customers tell us they want branches, says Thasunda Duckett, head of JPMorgan Chases consumer banking group. People in their 30s visit banks about once a month, vs. once in three weeks for older people, she said. JPMorgan says its investing in poorer neighborhoods, too. Besides the Camden branch (Citi had one in Germantown), the JPMorgan Chase Foundation has committed $5 million over the next three years for mixed-use apartment and business projects in Kensington. Rival Citizens is counting on longstanding commitments to education, arts, and community-lending groups to help keep its civic credibility strong, said Van Saun. JPMorgans goals for the Philadelphia area include recruiting more software and engineering talent. A bank, managers like to say, is more and more a technology company. Already a major employer of recent University of Delaware graduates, the bank sought to raise its profile and inspire the troops last September with a Silicon Valley-style tech show in the cavernous Chase USA convention hall on Wilmingtons waterfront, showcasing its own engineers and their projects. Delaware has been a fin-tech R&D center for JPMorgan since around the time of its First USA acquisition in the late 1990s, said bank software architects Howard Spector and Craig Mullaney. Projects that Wilmington teams have worked on include the speeded-up wireless electronic code recognition that eventually became instant highway tolling services, improved RFID retail tag reading (one engineer tested upgrades with a Thomas the Tank Engine electric train set in his Wilmington office), and cooperation with Apple, Samsung, and other smartphone developers over banking apps. Those talks were so secret that Spector and Mullaney had to take calls in remote parking lots, and would disappear to California for days without telling their families what they were up to. The tech center, opened in 2015, has secure rooms and systems that make such old-fashioned spycraft obsolete. Intellectual property has become a strong driver in bank tech development, said Spector. There are people here who have a large number of issued patents." Bank software used to be bespoke, resembling custom-made suits, requiring a lot of duplication, said Mullaney. "Banks used to run reports boring! But the pace keeps quickening, he added, as customers demand moresecured services: The technology started to move. Boss stepping down from Pirate football Perryville football will have a new boss on the sideline this fall.Thats because the current one is moving on.Blane Boss, the Pirate football coach for the previous four seasons, Piranha boys win opening meet of the year, girls finish third The Perryville Piranhas kicked their first meet off with a bang Saturday.The boys earned first overall with 254 team points finishing ahead of the Ste. Genevieve Stingrays who finished with 214 We're always interested in hearing about news in our community. Let us know what's going on! Go to form Gospel musician, Diana Hamilton has donated to the New Life Nungua Children's Home to cushion the underprivileged children as they embark on their life journey. As part of her Corporate Social Responsibility and generous act of giving, the multiple award-winning gospel songstress was moved with compassion upon the children after visiting them and witnessing their conditions, and therefore pledged to assist them. She donated some foodstuffs and assorted drinks to the children on Wednesday, January 23, 2019 at Nungua - Junction Mall in Accra. The administrator of the children's home, Nii Afotey Botwe expressed gratitude to the gospel songstress for her kind donations to the home. He also used the opportunity to encourage government and other people to come to the aid of the children's home to help the children secure a better future. Diana Hamilton's donation comes ahead of her annual worship programme dubbed "The Experience with Diana Hamilton". The 2019 edition of The Experience with Diana Hamilton will happen on Sundays, 10th and 17th February, 2019 at Kumasi and capital city, Accra. The Kumasi event will be held at the Church of Pentecost, Bantama, while the Accra event goes to the ICGC Calvary Temple, Sakumono, at 4 pm each day. Tickets for both events are sold at GHC 100 (Family of five), 60 (VIP) and 30 (standard) for the Accra event, and GHC 70 (Family of five), 40 (VIP) and 20 (standard) for the Kumasi event at the various outlets; Poku Trading, Luv FM, Angel FM, Nhyira FM and Ababio Express in Kumasi while in Accra, grab your ticket at Peace FM, Joy FM, Max Mart, Koala, Airport Shell and Batsonaa Total. Diana Hamilton recently launched her iBelieve album with hit songs like Mo Ne Yo (Well Done) which have over 2 million views on YouTube and I Believe among other powerful worship and praise songs. Source: Ameyaw Adu Gyamfi/Peacefmonline.com/Ghana Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video Audio Attachment: Listen to Spio Garbrah The leadership of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) pledged to establish a "Heroes Fund" for the party to cater for the needs of their members and supporters. The fund was to take care of NDC loyalists who encounter misfortunes or become incapacitated while working for the party. It was launched in 2011 and registered as a non-governmental organization to be governed by a seven member board of trustees. Eight years down the line, it has become necessary for a probe into the functionality of the Heroes Fund by the NDC. Speaking in an exclusive interview with host Nana Yaw Kesseh on Peace FM's "Kokrokoo" on Thursday, aspiring Presidential candidate for the NDC, Ekwow Spio Garbrah lambasted the leadership of the party saying they have collapsed the initiative. The initiative perceived be a good one, according to Spio Garbrah, has hit the rocks due to "bad management". " . . the fund is now a white elephant, its a mirage...it has not worked. It has collapsed because of bad management as usual. It does not exist. We created it but it didnt work," he added. In light of this, the NDC Presidential Hopeful noted that he would set up a "Welfare Fund" to replace the "Heroes Fund" when voted by the delegates to lead the party to victory, come 2020. The welfare fund, he expounded, will be aimed at "supporting and providing health, economic, social and other benefits to the underprivileged" members and supporters of the NDC to "cushion" them in their life journey. Source: Ameyaw Adu Gyamfi/Peacefmonline.com/Ghana Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video With ex-president John Mahama, recently accusing President Akufo-Addo of running a family and friends government, the Ashanti Regional Chairman of the New Patriotic Party, has stepped in and warned him to quickly stop in his tracks before he gets bloodied in this unfriendly territory. Mr. Benard Antwi-Boasiako is of the notion that the former President has run of message and wants to just make headlines thereby raising false red flags just to grab that attention. The NPPs Ashanti Regional boss popularly referred to Chairman Wontumi, noted that unlike former President Mahama who surrounded himself with incompetent family and friends, President Akufo-Addo had carefully selected people with the requite skills to help him manage Ghana. Mr. Benard Antwi-Boasiako wondered why the former President would make this wild allegation when you (Mahama) gave 58% of Ghanas $460 billion bauxite deposit to your brother, just 9 days before handing over power to then President elect, Akufo-Addo and his incoming NPP government and you have the nerve to talk about family and friends?. He added that when Mahama was President, he together with his brother Ibrahim run the show whilst all his other appointees remained toothless bulldog. Former President John Dramani Mahama has accused President Akufo-Addo of running what he calls a family and friends government. Addressing delegates over the weekend at Akwatia in the Denkyembuor District, former President John Dramani Mahama has accused President Akufo-Addo of running what he calls a family and friends government Mr. Mahama alleged that several of President Akufo-Addos government appointees were either his relatives or his friends. The hypocrisy is frightening. Joyce Bawa is my Aunties child. Apart from her, I had no relative in government when I was in power; but they kept insisting I was running a family and friends government. Today, they have shown us that they are running a family and friends government. It is called shifting the goal post. 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 The former Member of Parliament (MP) for the Akwatia constituency in the Eastern region, Baba Jamal has stated it is important for Ghanaians not to politicise the increasing crime rate in the country. Ghana is now in a period of outcry following a series of crimes which has hit the country with the last few months. Issues of contract killings as well as the kidnapping in Takoradi has gained dominance in our country with concerns been raised about the way the police operates in an era where crime has become more sophisticated. Speaking on Adom TVs Badwam Show on Thursday, Baba Jamal described as alarming the increasing crime rate in the country. The crime we are facing now is alien to our system talk of the highway robbery, contract killings and the most recent kidnapping. Lets not politicize the issues because it can happen to anybody. However, Mr. Jamal said it is the responsibility of government ensuring security the country. We need to tell them to up their game in the security front as they promised in their manifesto because the opposition is to criticize especially when it comes to issues of national interest and that is exactly what the National Democratic Congress (NDC) is doing. Baba Jamal also urged the police and other security agencies to tighten their security intelligence to help manage the recent crime situation in the country. Source: adomnews 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 man has divorced his wife and he explained to BBC Hausa that he did so because she insists on voting for Buhari in the coming presidential election. Abdullahi Yadau, a resident of Kanam Local Government Area of Plateau State, told BBC Hausa Service on Thursday that he divorced his wife, Hafsat Suleiman, because she insisted on voting for Mr Buhari. He tried convincing his wife not to vote for the incumbent president and when he didn't succeed in convincing her, he divorced her. Yadau said he and his wife both supported president Buhari when he contested in the 2015 elections. But he feels disappointed with the administration and has decided not to vote for him again. He narrated: I told her that she must not vote for him but she insisted which led to a quarrel which attracted the attention of our neighbours, I slapped her and told her to choose between voting for Buhari and staying with me. She ran away. Later her parents called me and I narrated to them what transpired between us. But still my wife insisted on voting for Mr Buhari, thats how I divorced her in the presence of her parents. Ibrahim Suleiman, the divorced womans elder brother, said they felt disturbed over the incident between the couple. He added that the woman's family would have dealt with the husband but their father stopped them. He told BBC: He really disgraced us. They have been having issues even in the previous election. She is the one that convinced him to vote for Buhari, now he insisted on voting for Mr Atiku Abubakar. We decided that we will not allow her to go back to him again. Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video The ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP) is expected to hold a vigil this evening to honour the memory of the late Emmanuel Kyeremanteng Agyarko, former NPP Member of Parliament (MP) for Ayawaso West Wuogon Constituency. Mr. Agyarko died on November 21, 2018, in the United States of America and the remains are to be laid to rest on Saturday, January 26, 2019. His burial service, which is likely to be held in Accra, will be attended by his wives, children, friends and members of his party. The NPP, in a statement issued by its National Organizer, Sammi Awuku, extended invitations to all sympathizers and indeed the general public to take part in the vigil to pay their respects to the distinguished former parliamentarian, who contributed immensely to the development of the country. It said: The special guest of honour is his Excellency President Akufo-Addo. The Speaker of Parliament, the partys parliamentary candidate for the impending bye-election in the constituency, national officers of the party, ministers of state, Members of Parliament, MMDCEs and other government appointees, as well as scores of party loyalists would be in attendance. According to the statement, Attendees are expected to be in either red or black apparel for the occasion. The converging point is the Bawaleshie Park at 6pm on Thursday. Source: Daily Guide 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 Dr Ekwow Spio-Garbrah, flagbearer aspirant of the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) has explained why he added GHC5,000 to the GHC300,000 filing fee of the party. Dr Spio-Garbrah while, submitting his nomination forms at the partys headquarters December last year, overpaid the original filing fee of GHC300,000. At the time, reports claim he paid additional GHC5000 to prove that he was not broke. But on Thursday while speaking to Nana Yaw Kesse, sit-in host of Peace FM morning show Kokrokoo, Dr Spio-Garbrah said he paid the extra amount to show his love for the party and not to indicate that he is richer than the rest of the aspirants. we dont want the 300, 000 filing fee to be in our history for it to keep increasing anytime theres going to be an election. I paid that amount with 5000 in addition not because I have money but because of my love for the party. The party members should know that I am capable and so can trust me with their vote Source: Rebecca Addo Tetteh/Peacefmonline.com/[email protected] Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video The seven presidential candidate hopefuls of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) had their balloting yesterday, with Alban Sumana Kingsford Bagbin selecting the first slot and former President Mahama picking the third slot. The balloting followed a successful vetting process at the partys headquarters in Accra, with six of them taking turns to have a feel of the baptism of fire, as the seven-member vetting committee grilled them from Archaeology to Zoology. As it stands now, when one picks the official ballot paper on election day, Alban Bagin should come first, followed by Nurudeen Iddris, then John Dramani Mahama, Ekwow Spio-Gabrah, Augustus Goosie Tanoh, and Prof Joshua Alabi. Already, some aspirants have started to read divine meanings into their positions. According to Mr. Bagbin, he was first to be vetted so he believes he would continue to lead. Call it a coincidence if you are not divinity inclined, but Mr. Babin seems to be leading all round. After being first to be vetted, he also picked number one on the ballot paper. Lest you forget, he is also contesting for the first time. Put all these together, the candidate is very hopeful of a win, though Mahama, who he leads on the ballot paper, appears the delegates favourite. By the way, ahead of the 2016 elections, when Mr. Mahama picked number 3 on the presidential ballot, his campaign team adopted a quotation in the bible, combining his first name, the ballot number, and the year for eth election, thus John 3:16. According to the King James Version of the Bible, John 3:16 reads, For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. However, it is not readily clear if there would be another version with the new ballot number and the year for the election, which would be; John 3:16, as this is just an internal election. Again the King James Version of the above quotation reads; And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. In the interim, all the aspirants are vigorously convincing delegates across the country with their love messages, as part of their wooing techniques, just to see paradise. Whilst other aspirants believe the time had come for the party to try a different candidate, Mr. Mahama believes it would be in the interest of the party to go into the 2020 elections with a candidate who has the crowd already. Meanwhile, the NDC has set Saturday, February 23, 2019 to hold the election that would choose a candidate for the party ahead of the 2020 General Elections. The party had to postpone the date from January 26, following an injunction by two party members against election guidelines set for the primary. After agreeing to an out-of-court settlement, they deemed it prudent to allow ample time before the election, as the case delayed the original processes. A communication from the party indicated that the first notice of the poll will be made available on January 26, 2019, with the final print done on January 28, 2019, while the printing of the ballot papers will begin on February 3. According to the party, there will be 276 polling centres nationwide; a going away from the previous centralized system of voting for the nation executives, which was widely criticized. Source: The Chronicle 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 In terms of performance on the scale of 10, the Akufo Addo-led New Patriotic Party (NPP) government scored a paltry 4.5 percent in its two (2) years in office. That is the damning assertion of Hon. Mubarak Mohammed Muntaka, Member of Parliament for Asawase Constituency on the ticket of the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) on the achievements of the current administration. According to the Minority Chief Whip of Parliament, in spite of the fact that the Akufo-Addo government borrowed over $50 billion dollars in two years in office, there is nothing significant to show for it. Speaking on Okay FMs Ade Akye Abia Morning Show, Hon. Muntaka challenged the Akufo-Addo administration to show one factory which has been established under the One-District-One-Factory program by the government itself. He rather asserted that the government is only attaching itself to individual entrepreneurs establishing their businesses; claiming to be part of the One-District-One-Factory after helping to paint the factory as such. Show me one factory which has been established by this government under its One-District-One-Factory program and it has started working. The government only attaches itself to individuals establishing their own business and help in painting as One-District-One-Factory. Is that what they promised? Look at their manifesto. Let them show me only one factory and not two of which this government established as One-District-One-Factory in two years, he dared. He pontificated that the Akufo-Addos government is just using cosmetics and slogans. To him, though much effort is being put in the policies, there is little or no result to show for it. The thing is that if you lie to get power, the truth will take you back to opposition; that is what is happening to them. 2019 has just begun and so lets pray for the best under this government...I will not wish anything bad for this government, he stated. He however charged the government to wake up and work hard with the over $50 billion borrowed money despite the fact that the NPP chastised the NDC for borrowing. ...when they were in opposition they said there is money in the country and they will not borrow money outside but they have borrowed $50 billion in less than 2 years and yet there is nothing to show for it, he stated. Take whatever they have said and compare them to two years in office and see what is happening...on the scale of 10 percent of performance of this government, I will be generous to give them 4.5 percent. Enough of the efforts of this government, we want results, he added. Source: Daniel Adu Darko/Peacefmonline.com/[email protected] Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro said his government was breaking relations with the United States and gave diplomatic personnel 72 hours to leave the country after President Donald Trump on Wednesday backed the country's opposition leader, Juan Guaido, as interim president. Hours later, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo issued a statement saying the U.S. does not recognize the Maduro regime as the country's government. "Accordingly the United States does not consider former president Nicolas Maduro to have the legal authority to break diplomatic relations with the United States or to declare our diplomats persona non grata." Guaido, 35, the leader of the opposition-controlled National Assembly, had earlier declared himself interim president as hundreds of thousands marched in Caracas demanding an end to Maduro's government. In a statement, President Trump said: "In its role as the only legitimate branch of government duly elected by the Venezuelan people, the National Assembly invoked the countrys constitution to declare Nicolas Maduro illegitimate, and the office of the presidency therefore vacant. The people of Venezuela have courageously spoken out against Maduro and his regime and demanded freedom and the rule of law". Most countries in Latin America, as well as Canada, recognized Guaido as interim president after he took the oath before his supporters. Leftist allies, Cuba and Bolivia, were the only two in the region that voiced support for Maduro. Mexico's new leftist president Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said he would not take sides and said support for Guaido is a violation of sovereignty. 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 Minister for Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration, Shirley Ayorkor Botchwey, on behalf of the Republic of Ghana, has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Hungary on cooperation in the field of water management aimed at establishing a framework for swift and seamless cooperation between the parties on the basis of equality, reciprocity and mutual benefits. The signing ceremony took place on Tuesday, January 22, 2019, in Brussels, Belgium, on the sidelines of the just-ended first annual European Union (EU) African Union (AU) Ministerial meeting. Hungarys Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade, Peter Szijjarto, who initialed on behalf of his country, pledged to support the agreement in accordance with the national laws and regulations in force in the two countries. Ms Botchwey, who doubles as Member of Parliament for Anyaa-Sowutuom, also met her counterparts from Malta and Portugal to explore possibilities of further deepening bilateral relations between Ghana and the two countries. The EU-AU Ministerial meeting, the first annual intersummit forum, was an opportunity to take stock of the implementation of the outcome of the 5th AUEU Summit in Abidjan in November 2017, which was a milestone that reshaped the partnership into an even stronger and mutually beneficial one. The meeting brought together Foreign Ministers of the EU and over 50 states across Africa, including Ghana, Togo, Liberia, Senegal and Niger. Participants deliberated on peace, security and governance, trade, investment and economic integration, as well as multilateralism, which they believe is the best recipe to deepen cooperation. To solidify this agreement, the meeting adopted a communique where members confirmed their common determination to build on partnerships and move towards an even stronger, deeper and more political partnership and friendship between both continents, among others. It was co-chaired by high representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Federica Mogherini and Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation of Rwanda, Richard Sezibera. Source: Daily Guide Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video The Board Chair of the Ghana Water Company Limited, Alexander Afenyo-Markin has described as frustrating the actions of the workers union at the company. According to him, the union has always been used by individuals to retard progress at the company. The workers union last year called for the removal of the Board Chair Afenyo-Markin for instigating the removal of the workers representative on the board and signing of cheques. But MD of Ghana Water Company, Dr. Clifford Braimah, said calls for the removal of the board chairman was baseless and without merit. The Board Chair of the Ghana Water Company said the union has been used to frustrate and distract progressive thinking in the company. Anytime you want to introduce something new that will benefit the company people who are opposed to it will use the union to attack it, at Ghana Water Company all that it takes for an initiative to die is . of a union red flag and I wont hide my feelings. He called for an attitudinal change in the workers for eh company to move forward. Source: Day Break 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 Economist Professor Stephen Adei has described Menzgold Ghana Limiteds gold vault market as a Ponzi scheme which should not have been patronised by Ghanaians. The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) directed Menzgold to shut down its investment operations on 12 September 2018 for contravening the Securities Industry Act, 2016 (Act 929). The SEC order also warned Menzgold to stop advertising gold collectables investment product which officered clients between 7 and 12 per cent interest per month. The company has been unable to pay its customers extra values and principals since then, sparking several demonstrations by the aggrieved customers across the country, some of whom have appealed to the government to intervene so they can get their investments back. Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta and Information Minister Kojo Oppong Nkrumah, have said expressly that the government will not use taxpayers money to bail out the Menzgold clients whose investments have been locked-up with the company since August last year. Despite that, a private legal practitioner, Dr Nana Oppong, recently said the government must use state funds to pay part of the locked-up investments of the several thousand aggrieved clients. Dr Nana Oppong, who is the President of Distinguished Scholars of Africa said even though the government is not obliged to do so, it can make that intervention on humanitarian grounds by supplementing Menzgolds payment efforts, especially in the event that the company is unable to fully pay all its clients principal investments to them after all possible avenues have been exhausted. In his view, the government should pay a certain percentage of the locked-up investments to the victims on compassionate grounds. He told Class FM on Tuesday, 15 January 2018 that: Were a poor country, were not that rich, so, we need money for hospitals, schools. Were borrowing and, so, there is a very limited thing we can do, but we can do something. We have to sit down and see: Can we have 10 or 20 per cent or 40 per cent? How much can we bring to help these people? Then moving forward, how do we make sure that when a new company comes into town and says: I promise you this and that, we approve and monitor and make sure the people dont become victims again. Dr Oppong added: Recently, I heard there was compensation given to some victims of the shooting in Kumasi and so on. Legally, if you look at it, the government shouldnt have paid it, but, on politically or moral grounds and humanitarian grounds, it was done. Sometimes we do things not because we are legally obliged but because it is the right thing to do. As a nation, on humanitarian grounds, to show compassion, to show solidarity and to minimise injuries and the pain and suffering of people, we should think about that. The CEO of Menzgold Ghana Limited Nana Appiah Mensah (NAM1), is currently being held in Dubai for unrelated criminal offences. The Ghanaian authorities and the police are working to have him extradited to face separate criminal charges relating to fraud. 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 Asantehene Otumfuo Osei Tutu II has said managers of AngloGold Ashantis Obuasi Mine were frustrated with the invasion of their concessions by illegal miners in the past, to the extent that they offered to sell the entire mine to him at $1. The mine was shut down in 2014 due to the governments inability to secure the concession from illegal miners. There were recurrent confrontations between the miner and the galamseyers, which resulted in a fatal clash that led to the death of an AngloGold Ashanti manager. The companys Communication Director, John Owusu died when a car run him over during a swoop on the illegal miners who had invaded one of Obuasis concessions. Some soldiers stationed at the companys concession to protect life and property were also withdrawn, a situation, which, according to AngloGold Ashanti, emboldened the illegal miners who went as far as invading some parts of the underground concession of the company. Speaking at the re-opening of mine on Tuesday, 22 January 2019, Otumfuo Osei Tutu II said managers of the mine were prepared to sell it to him at one dollar out of frustration. The managers of AngloGold Ashanti offered to sell the entire mine to me for one dollar. They said theyll close the mine and hand over the keys to me for just a dollar, but I begged them not to shut it down. I even proposed that a piece of land be given to the illegal miners so that they do not encroach on the concession of AngloGold Ashanti. We did all that but it didnt work, he stated. The Asantehene expressed gratitude to President Nana Akufo-Addo for fulfilling a campaign pledge he made to the people of Obuasi on 15 July 2016, in the run-up to the 2016 general elections, to revive the mine. For his part, Nana Akufo-Addo noted that upon his assumption of office, a series of discussions and negotiations took place that resulted in the re-development of the Obuasi mine. In order to help AngloGold Ashanti secure the needed investment for this project, the government had to provide a number of fiscal incentives and guarantee the stability of the project against changes in the legal environment, especially in the early years of the mines operations, he said. The President continued, It is expected that all the agreements reached, including the vigorous implementation of domestic content policy, will be scrupulously honoured and performed. The initial investment in the redevelopment project is $881 million, with a total investment of $1.6 billion projected for the entire 22-year life of the mine. The whole investment package has been approved by Parliament. With an estimated 2,500 jobs to be created, the president was confident that Obuasi, a once vibrant town, will be brought back to life again, with an improvement in the living circumstances of its residents. Additionally, Nana Akufo-Addo noted that the government is expected to rake in some $2.16 billion in revenue over the next 22 years, in royalties and corporate and withholding taxes. Source: classfmonline.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 U.S.-Born Iranian TV Anchorwoman Released From U.S. Detention, Officials Say 01/24/19 Source: RFE/RL Iranian television anchorwoman Marzieh Hashemi has been released from U.S. detention after being held as a material witness in an unidentified case, officials concerned with her case say. U.S.-born Iranian TV news anchor Marzieh Hashemi Abed Ayoub of the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee said Hashemi was released on January 23 after being detained for more than a week in Washington. Mehdi Atefat, head of the Iranian interests section housed in the Pakistani Embassy in Washington, also said Hashemi had been released. U.S. officials have not yet commented. Her detention, which began on January 13, had concerned international journalist watchdogs and angered Tehran, which said she was being illegally held and called for her immediate release. Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif tweeted on January 21 that the U.S. government "needs to explain how Marzieh Hasehmi -- a journalist and grandmother -- is such a flight risk that she must be incarcerated until she finished her testimony to a grand jury." Iran on January 22 summoned the Swiss ambassador to Tehran over the detention of the 59-year-old U.S.-born Iranian TV anchor. The Swiss Embassy represents U.S. interests in Tehran. Foreign Ministry spokesman Bahram Qasemi said Iran asked the envoy for the immediate release of Hashemi, who works for Iran's state-run English-language Press TV news channel. Hashemi's son has said she was detained by federal agents on January 13 in St. Louis, Missouri, where she had filmed a Black Lives Matter documentary. Black Lives Matter is a movement demanding equal rights for black Americans. The 59-year-old TV anchorwoman was transported to Washington and has been in custody since then. According to federal court documents made public on January 18, Hashemi was detained as a material witness and not being charged with a crime, though it was unclear for which case. Officials said she was expected to be released immediately after her testimony was completed, but it was not clear when that would be. In a January 21 statement, Reporters Without Borders condemned the "opaqueness" surrounding Hashemi's detention. Hashemi was born as Melanie Franklin in New Orleans and became an Iranian citizen through marriage. Her son said she lives in Tehran and travels to the United States about once a year. With reporting by AP, RFE/RL's Radio Farda, IRNA, Fars, and Reuters Oh, So That's Why Kellyanne Conway Doesn't Mind It When Her Husband Bashes Trump By Lainey Bobainey | Pajiba Love | January 23, 2019 | Oooh, Sundance has a few entries Im actually looking forward to this year! - (Lainey) Ooooh, David Tennant has a new podcast that Im totally looking forward to this year! - (TMS) Nancy Pelosi is living all of our best lives. She told Twitler to sit the fuck down; hes not giving the State of the damn Union Address! - (The Root) Sounds like Kellyanne Conway doesnt have a problem with her husband Georges Tweets because she feels the same way about Trump. - (VF) Dustin continues his deep dives on True Detective, this week with a particular focus on potential killer, Amelia. (Uproxx) Gender reveal cakes/parties/announcements baffle me. If this new thing takes off and anyone I know does it, I may barf. It looks revolting. - (Dlisted) Also revolting: Burger King. I havent eaten there in 21 years, since they changed their fries. Buuuutttt, I admit Im intrigued by this new offering. - (Elite Daily) I accidentally quit drinking when I quit smoking, because drinking without also having a cigarette wasnt even fun. Anne Hathaway quit drinking for her son. I think both are equally noble reasons. - (Celebitchy) This is 100 percent getting added to my birthday wishlist! Yeah, Ill be turning 49, but I will never not love Brit Brit! - (Buzzfeed) Kit Harington looks like a 70s porno cop. - (GFY) Tori shares very good stuff with us: Halle Berry helped train her very good dogs in John Wick 3! - (Collider) The HR person in me is violently twitching, but Roxana is all, is it wrong that I would watch this movie? everyone thinks their workplace got drama but one of my coworkers' husband DIED of stress induced heart attack weeks after she told him about her affair with our BOSS n when she was on BEREAVEMENT posted pics on vacay in the BAHAMAs & boss posted separate grams OF THE SAME PLACE. lil baby mouse (@literallymeirl) January 22, 2019 Like the main character in Julia Wheelans My Oxford Year, Rachel has always wanted to visit Oxford. "The book made me want to go back in time and try a little harder in college so I could study in the city of dreaming spires." After a great start, the book took a turn for the disappointing, but the setting kept it at 4 stars. Is there a place youve always wanted to go? Register for Cannonball Read and review books about the places you wish you could visit. (Cannonball Read 11) What Does Getting 'Cozy' With Chris Pine Look Like? | Spoiler-Free Review: Matthew McConaughey And Anne Hathaway's 'Serenity' Lainey is the copy editor & linkmaster. You can Tweet at her on Twitter. Header Image Source: Getty South Africa: North West to benefit from water services lab Residents of the North West will benefit from the newly launched Magalies Water Services Laboratory which provides services ranging from water quality testing and sampling, research and other services rendered in a scientific laboratory. This is according to the Water and Sanitation Deputy Minister Pamela Tshwete who launched the state-of-the-art laboratory located in Brits on Thursday. It is important to impress upon all of us that the work of the laboratory will impact most positively on public health in the locality. This will be through the monitoring of drinking water supplies, process monitoring of water and wastewater works and environmental monitoring of rivers and dams, the Deputy Minister said. She said the laboratory comes at a time when the country is faced with challenges of not just water availability but of good quality water. As we know, the country has been affected by drought, and this region was not spared from it The lack of rainfall affected the work of the Water Board as less good quality water was abstracted from the sources. The laboratory that we see here today is therefore an intervention that was necessary in the region, the Deputy Minister said. She said the facility will ensure that there is even closer co-operation with its clients, municipalities, mines, industries and agriculture. Opportunities for the youth The Deputy Minister encouraged young people to look into opportunities in the water and sanitation sector. She said the Department of Water and Sanitation develops young people through its Learning Academy. Part of the Learning Academy Programme speaks to develop Graduate Trainees in the Department of Water and Sanitation in different disciplines relevant to the water and sanitation sector; In-Service Training in partnership with Group 5; as well as the availability of full bursaries to follow different disciplines at numerous universities in the country. The various disciplines open for study to strengthen capacity in the sector include water scientists, hydrologists, geo-hydrologists, civil, electrical and chemical engineers, environmental anthropologists, to name but a few, the Deputy Minister said. The department also offers comprehensive bursaries for the full qualification on average of R75 000 per student per annum. Register to vote Tshwete urged first time voters to register to vote this weekend, 26-27 January 2019 as it is the last voter registration weekend. I appeal to all of you to go and check and verify if you are registered especially those who relocated to other provinces. Those who need IDs must liaise with local Home Affairs offices as in most places they will be open; for further details contact the local offices of your public representatives, the Deputy Minister said. SAnews.gov.za This story has been published on: 2019-01-24. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article. Sewa International in the service of Flood-hit People A function held to distribute flood relief among the flood victims in Sri Lanka Colombo: In the last week of December, Mullaitivu and Kilinochi, the two districts in Northern province of Sri Lanka were heavily affected by rains and floods. Around 50,000 people were displaced. Sewa International Northern Province chapter planed for some relief work. A flood affected woman carrying the relief material Mosquito nets were distributed for prevention of diseases at Kanagaratnapuram Village in Mullaitivu District. In Samanankulam Village, essential materials, especially materials needed to celebrate Pongal festival (the Makar Sankranti) were distributed. Notebooks were distributed to the needy students who are entering 2019 academic session. Relief material ready for distribution among the affected people According to Pradeep Kodippili from Disaster Management Centre of Sri Lanka, more 2,661 families, totalling up to 8,539 people were displaced and they were housed in safe locations on higher ground. He said in addition to that about 150 houses were damaged, some severely, as the flash floods swept through districts of Kilinochchi, Mannar, Mullaitivu, Vavuniya and Jaffna. He said the displaced people were housed at 52 centres. Defence Scan By Defence Scan 1. VISIT OF AUSTRALIAN CHIEF OF DEFENCE FORCE TO INDIA The Australian Chief of Defence Force General Angus J Campbell, called upon General Bipin Rawat, Chief of the Army Staff and discussed issues of mutual concern, on the side lines of Raisina Dialogue. He also called on Lieutenant General Rajeshwar, Chief of Integrated Defence Staff and discussed important aspects of mutual concern. The Raisina Dialogue, a multilateral annual conference is organised by the Ministry of External Affairs in association with Indian Think TankORF. 2. RAKSHA MANTRI VISITS ANDAMAN AND NICOBAR COMMAND Raksha Mantri Smt Nirmala Sitharaman paid a two day visit to Andaman and Nicobar Islands (ANI) to review its operational readiness and witness a major joint exercise involving the Indian Army, Navy, Air Force and the Coast Guard conducted under the aegis of Andaman And Nicobar Command (ANC)an Integrated Services Command. She was given a comprehensive briefing and update on thrust areas and achievements of the Command. She showed keen interest in the amphibious exercise demonstration near Campbell Bay, the southernmost island of India conducted by 10 warships, 6 aircraft and over 700 troops. Raksha Mantri also witnessed demonstration on jungle survival skills and inaugurated the phase-II of Married Accommodation Project that includes 868 dwelling units for the troops of ANC. ANI straddles the strategic mouth of Malacca Straitsan important sea lane of communication in the Indian Ocean Region. This is her second visit to Port Blair. During her earlier visit in October 2017, she had celebrated Diwali with the troops. 3. RAKSHA MANTRI REVIEWS PROGRESS OF NATIONAL WAR MEMORIAL Raksha Mantri Smt. Nirmala Sitharaman reviewed the progress of the National War Memorial (NWM) along with the Chairman Chief of Staff Committee and other senior officers of the Ministry of Defence and Armed Forces. It is heartening to see the progress being closely monitored ever since the work began. NWM will be the first memorial to honour all martyrs since Independence. 4. IAF TREKKING TEAM RESCUES ENGINEER IN LADAKH Sagar, an engineer from Mumbai was rescued by an IAF trekking team in Ladakh from drowning when the ice under him broke and he was drowned into chilled water while returning from a trek. An IAF trekking team from Air Force Station Thoise, led by Wg Cdr Vikrant Uniyal which was on its way back after completing a trek which happened to be close by, rescued the engineer in time. 5. NEW SNIPER RIFLES FOR INDIAN ARMY Indian Army is inducting new sniper rifles, replacing good old Russian 7.62 mm Dragonov through emergency purchase. These new sniper rifles will have an effective kill range of 1,500 to 1,800 metres and will be equipped with modern telescopic sights as against the lesser kill range of 800 metre and vintage design of Dragonov. However, procurement of the entire requirement of 5719 sniper rifles under capital procurement will take time. 6. INDIA - MYANMAR BILATERAL ARMY EXERCISE IMBEX 2019 IMBEX 2018-19, the second edition of six-day India-Myanmar bilateral army exercise began at the Western Command on January 14, 2019. 15 officers each from Myanmar and Indian Army are participating in the exercise. The exercise will focus on training the Myanmar officers on various aspects of UN Peace Keeping missions while operating under the UN flag who will then form the core group of instructors to further train their own troops in UN peace keeping operations. 7.SUCCESSFULL CONDUCT OF SAHAYAK AIR DROPPABLE CONTAINERS BY INDIAN NAVY Indian Navy has successfully conducted trials of Sahayak Air Droppable Containers by IL-38 aircraft in the Arabian Sea. These containers will go a long way in boosting the Operational Logistics capability of the Indian Navy by supplying spares and stores to ships deployed well beyond 2000 Km from coast. Sahayak would reduce the need for ships to come close to the coast for replenishment and increase the duration of deployment of ships. 8. Indian Army celebrated its 71st Army Day Indian Army celebrated its 71st Army Day on January 15, 2019. General Bipin Rawat, Chief of the Army Staff reviewed the Army Day Parade at the Cariappa Parade Ground in Delhi and awarded fifteen Sena Medals (including five posthumously) for individual acts of Gallantry and seventeen COAS Unit Citations for commendable performance of their respective units. Earlier in the day, wreaths were laid at Amar Jawan Jyoti, India Gate by the three Service Chiefs to commemorate the Army Day. President Ram Nath Kovind in his message said, Citizens sleep securely knowing you are ever awake and ever vigilant. Prime Minister Narendra Modi also saluted the brave soldiers. 9. INDIA-US TALK ON COOPERATION ON DEFENCE AND FOREIGN POLICY The inaugural round of India-US 2+2 inter-sessional meeting was held in New Delhi on January 11, 2019. The Indian delegation consisted of the Joint Secretaries of the Ministry of External Affairs and the Ministry of Defence while the US side was headed jointly by Ambassador Alice Wells, Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of State and Randall Schriver, Assistant Secretary of Defence. The two sides discussed ways to expand bilateral cooperation on defence and foreign policy issues and exchanged views on regional developments in the Indo-Pacific Region. This meeting is a follow up on the decisions taken during the India-US Ministerial 2+2 Dialogue of September 2018. n #PravasiBharatiyaDivas : Indians Settled Abroad Connect to Bharat The inauguration of the 15th Pravasi Bharatiya Divas Convention 2019 in Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh The 15th Pravasi Bharatiya Divas began on January 21 in Varanasi at a time when two women of Indian origin in the United States of America are in news and being discussed world over. Gita Gopinath is the first woman of Indian origin who has taken over as Chairperson of the International Monetary Fund. The second woman is Chennai born Indira Nooyi. Once famous for heading the soft drink giant Coca Cola, Nooyi is being considered to head the World Bank. In fact these two women are just an example. Indians by dint of their merit, hard work, knowledge and dedication are moving ahead higher and higher in position of importance. Though the two women will not be present at the Sammelan due to some unavoidable circumstances, they will draw attention at the Sammelan in course of deliberations . The Pravasi Bharatiya Sammelan this year was to begin from January 9 . But due to the Kumbha Mela and Republic Day celebrations hundreds of Non-Resident Indians are coming to avail the opportunity to take part in the two national event, the Pravasi Bharatiya Divas is being held from January 21 to January 23. They will also be meeting Prime Minister Narendra Modi when he inaugurates the event on January 22. After all why the Prime Minister will not accord respect to Indians settled abroad. He is undeclared and honorary roaming ambassador of Indians in foreign land. In fact Prime Minister Modi has established rapport with Indians settled abroad in every nook and corner of the world. Whether Modi goes to Fiji or Dubai or he visits Australia or New York he makes it a point to meet Indians settled there. He would listen to the problems of Indians in foreign land he would also pay attention to the success stories of Indians there with equal interest and is generous in praising Indians there. He has tried to resolve problems of Indians by taking up the issues at bilateral level with the head of the state he visits. It has shown positive and encouraging results. People of Indian Origin in foreign countries come in large number to listen to Prime Minister Modi when he is there. Many come to listen to Modi even on working days by taking leave which is not easy in foreign countries. They come driving hundreds of miles to listen and to see Modi. He has magnetic attraction. In the beginning of last year Prime Minister Modi reached the Opera House in Dubai. He laid the foundation stone of Temple in Abu Dhabi through video conference. Lakhs of Indians in the Gulf saw and listened to Modi. Slogans of Bharat Mata ki Jai and Modi Modi rented the air when Prime Minister was at a Rock Show in Toronto in Canada. I have seen similar scene in many countries when Modi was there. Just recall had any Prime Minister of India except Atal Behari Vajpayee ever established direct rapport with Indians settled abroad. Atal Behari Vajpayee was a Yug Purush. It was at the initiative of Atal Behari Vajpayee that Prvasi Bharatiya Sammelan was started in the year 2003 when he was Prime Minister of the country. He wanted the Indians settled abroad should connect themselves directly with their nation. Before Vajpayee nobody had thought in this direction. We were though taking lead in the Non-Alignment Movement, we never gave a thought to our people settled abroad. Prime Minister Modi is carrying forward this tradition established by Vajpayee. India is getting benefit of this move. According to a World Bank report, India received some 80 billion US dollars from people of Indian origin settled abroad in the previous year 2018. The total remission from Indians settled abroad in 2017 was 69 billion US dollars. What it shows. It shows that Indians settled abroad are generously remitting money to their nation. This money is being utilized in the economic growth and in infrastructure development. Just think the number of Chinese people settled outside China is much more compared to Indians in foreign land. Yet, in 2017 the total remission from Chinese settled outside China was 64 billion US dollars. It is worth pondering why earlier the Indians settled abroad did not send this quantum of money to India. The simple answer is we never thought Indians settled in foreign land as our own. We accepted them as Indians more as a token gesture and never considered them members of our family. In the time of crisis, we turned our back. Recall the years when the dictator of Uganda Idi Amin was throwing Indians out of East Africa like cattle. But our government then did not do anything to help them. Thousands of Indians then had got shelter in Britain. Now whenever and wherever Indians are in trouble the Government of India takes immediate steps to give relief and protection them. Let us take the case of Tango. Five Indians who were in Jail there since 2013 were released with the efforts of the Indian Government. Although this news did not get prominence in the media, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj had twitted that we have rescued five Indians from Jail in Tango. Can we forget how Indians who were trapped in the cross fire in Yemen were rescued by our government. In the operation we were able to rescue more than 6 thousand Indians from the jaw of death. Beside many people of Nepal and Bangladesh who were also trapped in Yemen were rescued by India. Sushma Swaraj had entrusted Union Minister V K Singh to personally supervise the operation. It is a pleasant coincident that Prime Minister of Mauritius Pravind Jugnauth is the chief guest of the Pravasi Bharatiya Sammelan. He is a great lover of Hindi. His father and former Prime Minister of Mauritius Anerood Jugnauth has also been a great friend of India. (The writer is a Member of Parliament, Rajya Sabha) Remembering #NetajiSubhasChandraBose : PM Modi Inaugurates Subhas Chandra Bose Museum at Red Fort The Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi visiting the Museum on Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose and Indian National Army, at Red Fort, Delhi Remembering the heroes of freedom struggle, the Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi paid floral tributes and inaugurated the Subhas Chandra Bose museum at Red Fort today, to mark his 122nd birth anniversary. He visited the Museum on Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose and Indian National Army. PM said, I bow to Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose on his Jayanti. He was a stalwart who committed himself towards ensuring India is free and leads a life of dignity. We are committed to fulfilling his ideals and creating a strong India. He also added that History echoes from these walls. In this very building, brave sons of India, Colonel Prem Sahgal, Colonel Gurbaksh Singh Dhillon and Major General Shah Nawaz Khan were put on trial by the colonial rulers. He glanced over the photographs depicting a detailed account of Subhas Chandra Bose and the history of Indian National Army. PM also saw some of the artefacts associated with Netaji and INA such as wooden chair and sword used by Netaji, medals, badges and uniforms of INA. The Prime Minister browsed at the photographs, paintings and newspaper clippings depicting the authentic account of Jallianwala Bagh massacre showcased in the Yaad-e-Jallian Museum. The museum intends to take visitors through the history of Jallianwala Bagh massacre of 1919 and sacrifices made by Indian soldiers during World War-1. He also visited the Museum on 1857- Indias first war of Independence and saw the portrayal the historical narrative of 1857 war of independence, showcasing the valour and sacrifices made by Indians during the period. These museums to showcase the sacrifice of our freedom fighters. Prime Minister had a look at the Exhibition on Indian Art at the Drishyakala- Museum organized at the same venue. He said To see Gurudev Tagores works at Drishyakala is a treat for art lovers. We all know Gurudev Tagore as a prolific writer but he also had a strong link with the world or art. He produced lots of works, featuring multiple themes. Gurudevs works were also exhibited internationally. He also tweeted I would specially urge art lovers to visit Drishyakala, which will take you through the finest aspects of Indian art and culture. Works of eminent Indian artists like Raja Ravi Varma, Gurudev Tagore, Amrita Sher-Gil, Abanindranath Tagore, Nandlal Bose, Gaganendranath Tagore, Sailoz Mookherjea amd Jamini Roy are on display at the exhibition. PM while inaugurating the museums said that, it was extremely humbling to inaugurate four museums relating to India's rich history and culture. All four museums have been named as Kranti Mandir. This complex includes Museums on Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose and the Indian National Army, Yaad-e-Jallian Museum (on Jallianwala Bagh and World War 1), Museum on 1857- Indias First War of Independence and Drishyakala Museum on Indian Art, spanning three centuries, with over 450 works of art! Kranti Mandir is a tribute to the revolutionary zeal and courage of our great freedom fighters. Ahead of the Republic Day, these will deepen the connect between our glorious history and our youth as well as add to the patriotic fervour among citizens. . 2025 . , ... Judging by the crowds this past weekend at the 60th annual Cracker Day Rodeo, people really missed losing last years event to a rainout caused by Hurricane Irma. Good crowds came out on Friday and Saturday, and the families came out in full force on Sunday for the youth rodeo, a real sign that everything is back to business as usual at the Lee County Posse Arena. The rodeo, which celebrates Florida ranchers who have worked the fields and cattle of interior Florida for centuries, serves as the biggest fundraiser for the Lee County Posse Arena, which was founded in 1960 and, for most of its time, has survived as an all-volunteer group. Kathy Cross, organizer for the rodeo, said it was wonderful to be back especially for the younger kids who competed Sunday, since its home away from home for many. Its a lot of work, but were back in full swing and better than before, Cross said. The kids love the junior rodeo because they like to perform and it keeps children off the streets. Al Curry, who was the announcer for the 24th straight year, said many of the events at the rodeo are basically the same things that ranchers do all the time, such as branding, while serving as a fundraiser. When people pay their entry fees, or come in through the gate or buy at the concession stand, it helps the youth in the surrounding five counties, said Curry, who was riding Will, one of a set of twin horses born at the Sweet Cypress Ranch a decade ago. The Friday and Saturday performances were more like traditional rodeos than in the past, where other unusual contests were held. It all started with mutton bustin for the smallest athletes. Jackson Ballard, age 2, was telling everyone he was going to ride a sheep. When it came time for him to ride, it was a short one. Meanwhile, Caleb Thomason, 21, of Lake Placid, rode one of the big bulls at the end of Saturdays performance. A friend wanted me to do it so I gave it a try. Its fun. I wouldnt expect anyone to understand it until they got on one, said Thomason, who rides dozens of rodeos every year. Theyll want to do it again and again. Its an adrenaline rush. Aubrey St. Pierre, 14, of Cape Coral, has been riding at the arena since she was 4. Her parents have been involved long before that and her grandfather helped found it. Its family-oriented and everyone is cheering you on. We rarely have problems and if we do, it always gets worked out, St. Pierre said. Its a home away from home. Nicole Turner, of Arcadia, who was competing in barrel racing, grew up at the arena and looks forward to the event every year, even if she doesnt compete much now because she is now raising a family of her own. I started when I was 8 and now I only do it for fun. The arena gave me something to work toward. I looked forward to it and it probably kept me out of trouble, Turner said. I hate to admit that. Hearts are heavy in Fort Myers Beach this week as local residents remember a life cut short too soon. Dr. Leroy Hommerding, 69, was found fatally stabbed on Sunday morning in front of the library where he had served as director since 2000. According to witnesses, he was opening the library for a weekend book sale when suspect Adam M. Soules, whom some described as homeless, allegedly stabbed him. Witnesses chased Soules to the nearby Topps building, where police apprehended him. Soules, who does not have a history of violent crime, remained in custody at press time and was being held without bond. His only other arrest on record in Lee County was a loitering charge in 2014. For him to be attacked like this is just unthinkable, it really is. It breaks my heart, said Betty Simpson, Friends of the Library board member. She was planning to work the sales afternoon shift that day, and she described how Hommerding set an example of dedication for everyone who worked at the library. You did these things, even on a Sunday, when youve got family and youve got other things to be doing. But you did it, because of love for the library, and because of the devotion that he had. And he just transferred that thought to all of us, she said. This library, this was his dream. Resident Tom Babcock remembers how instrumental Hommerding was in creating the library that the community enjoys today. I had the privilege to be chair of the Local Planning Agency and a member of town council when plans for the new Fort Myers Beach Library were being approved. Dr. Leroy Hommerdings fingerprints were all over that plan. Not only was it customer focused, it was designed to be environmentally friendly. It set the bar for future development on the island. His leadership provided a plan that could be easily approved, but as a taxpayer, it was economically feasible and structured to make all islanders proud. One person can make a difference. Leroy will be remembered for that, he said. I worked with him when we built the library, said Mark La Fave, who served on the board of the library for the last decade. He had a vision that went out 50 to 100 years. Even on our basic planning, we are always on a 10- or 20-year timeline, but the long-term vision was out well up to 50 years and beyond. Very few administrators have this acumen and foresight. Ive lost a friend and a colleague, and certainly this town has lost a citizen that dedicated not only his professional life, but the last time I saw him, he was volunteering at the Kiwanis club on his day off, after working 60 hours a week, he said. Resident Fran Myers said they were fortunate to have Hommerding as director. What an extraordinarily intelligent and smart guy. He was a real true southern gentleman and truly loved our library. He always wanted to tour me around (and show me) anything new he had ordered; he was like a little child with a new toy, she said. Beach Elementary School teachers remember Hommerding for his dedication to educating their students. Every year he would give the new kindergarten class a tour of the library. He took such care and detail to welcome them and get them excited about books. He was always so excited to see us, said Heather Lodovico, the schools PE teacher. Kindergarten teacher Tina Cribbs said she learned something new about the library herself every time he took her students on a tour. He explained everything, he was so knowledgeable about that library, how it was built, and the decisions that were made in choosing the materials, she said. After a tour, her students could even explain why they chose the particular plants at the library and the function of the pavers in the parking lot. He took us all throughout that library because it just meant the world to him. And he shared it with our kids, she said. Cribbs had a personal link with Hommerding, too. They both shared a love for hand-decorated Ukranian Easter eggs, called pysanky. He made them himself. And every year he had his collection on display at the library, she said. For several years, she took her classes to the library to learn about Hommerdings eggs. The man hours to create these eggs are phenomenal. Theyre very detailed and theyre very intricate, and he would invite us every year, not only to see his display, but he would sit down with us and he would demonstrate how he did it, she said. Two years ago during one of these presentations, disaster struck. An egg accidentally rolled off the table and shattered. And my children didnt breathe. They didnt move It had just rolled off the table. And I know he was devastated. I know that man wanted to cry. But he didnt. He just looked at us and he said, you know, its OK. And he just kept right on going, Cribbs said. Im going to miss taking my kids to hear him tell how he made those eggs, and how much love he put into those eggs, and what the eggs symbolize, she said. In 2009, the Observer wrote a story about Hommerding and his eggs. In it, he explained their significance. Ukrainian tradition says that you are putting something of yourself into the egg to give a gift to someone. You are not calling attention to yourself. So, whoever makes the egg is not important. Its the story. Every color on the egg stands for something and every symbol on the egg becomes part of the story, he said. Hommerding painted brown and white eggs after his father passed away. The purpose of the brown and white is to indicate that life continues to go on, he said. It doesnt end. Cribbs hopes they continue to display Hommerdings eggs at the library in remembrance of him. Mayor Tracey Gore described Hommerding as one of the kindest humans shes ever known. He took the time to reach out to me when he thought I was down to remind me of what really matters, the things that bring us happiness. Id love to have the library renamed in his honor, she said. So many people have asked what they can do. Heres what Dr. Hommerding would want: Continue to visit our beautiful library and enjoy the special presentations, displays, and all we have to offer, and support the volunteers and staff in anyway you can, said library board member Jan Fleming. When the idea of widening Littleton Road was first brought forward, it was thought that the street that runs from Northeast 24th Avenue in Cape Coral to Business 41 in North Fort Myers, would be expanded to four lanes along its busiest portion. In the end, a far less costly alternative, that also would not displace residents or disrupt affected neighborhoods, was selected. The Lee County Board of County Commissioners last Tuesday approved a recommendation from staff to widen a 1.2 mile stretch of Littleton Road to three lanes from Corbett Road to U.S. 41. The plan would include two 11-foot travel lanes and one 12-foot bi-directional lane with on-road bike lanes and 6-foot sidewalks on both sides. A minimum right-of-way width of 92 feet is needed to accommodate these improvements. There also was the possibility of adding some medians to limit the use of the middle lane and increase safety. County Commissioner Brian Hamman said the design has not been set in stone, although the three-lane alternative rose to the top following public input. In the end, was all about safety, he said. We want to make Littleton Road safer for bikers, pedestrians and motorists. Its something we can work into the final design, Hamman said. Many people in the north Cape use Littleton to get to work, and this will make for a safer and more continuous flow for them and provide a nice amenity with the sidewalks and bike path. Funding for the design is included in the current Capital Improvement Program and construction is anticipated in FY 2020-21. The widening is part of another plan to connect Littleton Road to Kismet Boulevard in Cape Coral to create one road and another east-west corridor into Cape Coral. Currently, drivers on Littleton need to take a left and an immediate right to access Kismet. For much of its history, it has been envisioned that Littleton Road be widened to four lanes. Even as recently as last March, when the BOCC officially ratified the realignment, it was with Littleton being four lanes. However, the county was faced with a dilemma. Four lanes would have required the relocation of 36 residential units and the purchase of rights-of-way for roadway improvements, which alone would have added nearly $14 million to the cost. A four-lane highway would have cost $31.2 million, as opposed to $14.2 million for three lanes. A public meeting was held on Oct. 18 for the widening study, which 92 people attended. Of those, 17 written comments were submitted concerning the need for turn lanes, project costs and the need for school speed limit signs near the elementary school, among other things. Hamman said residents were also concerned about the impact four lanes would have on their neighborhood. Among the comments we heard was what kind of an impact a four-lane road would have on the community. Staff and engineers looked at the alternatives and we found we can have three lanes, add a central turn lane and right turn lanes into the community and still improve traffic flow and still keep the appeal, Hamman said. There was also the possible relocation of the poles alongside LCEC, which would also have come at significant cost, though there will be some impact to guy- wires and other existing utilities. Littleton Road is still in the 2040 Lee County Long Range Transportation Plan as four lanes. In a related story, motorists who use Corbett Road at night are encouraged to seek alternate routes this week as a contractor for the Lee County Department of Transportation makes improvements. Corbett Road was closed from north of Diplomat Parkway to just south of Littleton Road from 9 p.m. to 5 a.m. Tuesday and will be through Saturday morning. Electronic message boards are in place to notify motorists of the planned closure. A DOT contractor is adding a final layer of asphalt and painting roadway striping as part of a road improvement project that includes two 11-foot-wide lanes with 2-foot paved shoulders. The Rivers State Police Command has denied reports that the former governor of the State, Mr. Chibuike Amaechi was arrested on Wednesd... The Rivers State Police Command has denied reports that the former governor of the State, Mr. Chibuike Amaechi was arrested on Wednesday by the new Commissioner of Police in the state, Usman Belel, on allegations of corruption. This was disclosed in a statement signed by the Commands Public Relations Officer of Nnamdi Omoni, stating that there was neither investigation of Amaechi, who is now the Minister of Transportation, nor his arrest. The Deputy Superintendent of Police, Omoni in the statement, urged members of the public to disregard the report as it is targeted at blackmailing the CP. The statement read: The attention of the Rivers State Police Command has been drawn to an item of news making the rounds in the Social Media, credited to AIT Nigeria News, on the purported arrest of the Ex- Governor of Rivers State and Minister of Transportation, Rt. Hon. Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi in his home by the Commissioner of Police, Rivers State Police Command at the early hours of today 23/1/2019, on the allegation of corruption, directed by the Inspector General of Police. That the general public is hereby enjoined to disregard and discountenance the above news report as being mischievous, ill-conceived, diversionary and only intended to undermine the security situation in the State and harass the Nigeria Police Force and the person of the Ex-Governor and Hon. Minister of Transportation. The Commissioner of Police wishes to assure the general public that there is no cause for alarm, as the state is peaceful and all business activities are going on peacefully. The Command under the watch of the Commissioner of Police, CP Usman A. Belel is committed to ensuring that the existing peace is sustained. He further added that the Police Commissioner has ordered for thorough investigation into the said report with a view to bringing any body or group found complicit to justice. The Vice-Presidential Candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Mr Peter Obi, on Wednesday said the party would revamp the econom... The Vice-Presidential Candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Mr Peter Obi, on Wednesday said the party would revamp the economy of the country and set it on the path of growth if returned to power. Obi made the statement in Ikeja while addressing traders during his visit to the popular Computer Village. The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the partys governorship candidate in Lagos, Mr Jimi Agbaje, and his running mate, Mrs Haleemat Busari, along with other party faithful were with Obi on the visit. Obi claimed the challenges in the countrys economy were caused by the incompetence of the ruling All Progressives Congress(APC). He said the APC-led Federal Government lacked the capacity to create and grow businesses, hence the various issues bedevilling the economy. Obi said that the PDP would turn the economy around if elected, as the party had the experience and the people to do so. The PDP vice-presidential candidate said that he and Agbaje had run successful businesses and would bring their experience to bear in promoting businesses in the state and the country. How can a man who does not have a shop aspire to be the chairman of the traders in the market? I have always been a trader. You know that Jimi Agbaje too is a trader. So we understand your needs. You know that the vice president helps to run the economy. With me, you have someone who understands business and understands your needs, Obi said. The PDP vice presidential candidate described ICT as the future of the world, saying Nigerias exchange rate would regain health when the country becomes an exporter of computer technology. Also speaking, Agbaje alleged that the state government, through bottlenecks, recently discouraged Google from providing free wi-fi in all primary schools in the state. He said Google had to look in the ways of Ghana and Uganda when it could not implement its plan easily in the state. The candidate said if the plan had been implemented in the state, the Computer Village, being an ICT hub, would have benefitted. Agbaje said the APC state government had failed to provide incentives to harness the potential of ICT for development. He promised that if elected, his government would give the right support to ICT to propel development. The PDP candidate also promised to address what he called the problem of multiple tax regime in the state, to promote growth of businesses. NAN reports that Obi and Agbaje later visited the Ladipo Spare Parts Market in Mushin as well as markets in Festac Town. Speaking at Ladipo market, Agbaje said he would improve facilities at the market to ease business transactions. He said he would not shut the market as being threatened by the APC-led administration in the state. Agbaje said he would attend to all the needs of the traders and listen to their demands always. He said the refusal of President Muhammadu Buhari not to assent to the amended Electoral Act bill was not good for democracy. President Muhammadu Buhari has signed a bill protecting persons with disabilities into law. Ita Enang, senior special assistant to... President Muhammadu Buhari has signed a bill protecting persons with disabilities into law. Ita Enang, senior special assistant to the president on national assembly matters (senate), said this in a statement released on Wednesday. The development is coming about a week after the president said he had not seen the bill. Enang said the law provides for fines and jail terms for persons or corporate bodies discriminating against persons with disabilities. This act prohibits all forms of discrimination on ground of disability and imposes fine of N1, 000, 000 for corporate bodies and N100, 000 for individuals or a term of six months imprisonment for violation concurrently, he said. It guarantees right to maintain civil action for damage by the person injured against any defaulter. It provides for a five-year transitional period within which public buildings, structures or automobile are to be modified to be accessible to and usable by persons with disabilities, including those on wheelchairs. Enang said the law also provides for the establishment a commission for persons with disabilities. Before erecting any public structure, its plan shall be scrutinised by the relevant authority to ensure that the plan conforms with the building code, he said. A government or government agency, body or individual responsible for the approval of building plans shall not approve the plan of a public building if the plan does not make provision for accessibility facilities in line with the building code. An officer who approves or directs the approval of a building plan that contravenes the building code, commits an offence and is liable on conviction to a fine of at least N1, 000, 000 or a term of imprisonment of two years or both. Discrimination is prohibited in public transportation facilities and service providers are to make provision for the physically, visually and hearing impaired and all persons howsoever challenged. This applies to seaports, railways and airport facilities. South Africa: Working towards a sustainable future South Africa and Namibia have signed a rectified agreement which will see the countries working towards restoring, maintaining and conserving the biological integrity within the fisheries space. The Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) will ensure the two counties share a border and transboundary of fishing species, the co-management of shared fish stocks, environmental monitoring, biodiversity and ecosystem health, mitigation of pollution, minimising the impacts of marine diamond mining and oil and gas production. The agreement was signed by Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Minister Senzeni Zokwana and his Namibian counterpart Minister Bernard Essau on Thursday. It is with the greatest pleasure for me, on behalf of South Africa, to sign this MoU here in Namibia. Our President has made a clarion call for us To grow South Africa as part of the new dawn in our country. Growing South Africa is intertwined with our commitments to grow the region and the continent as a whole. This framework today captures this noble commitment of our country," said Minister Zokwana. South Africa and Namibia share in the productive Benguela Current Large Marine Ecosystem (BCLME) together with Angola. The Benguela current is a cold ocean stream that runs northwards from South Africa, along Namibias entire coastline, into Angola. This marine ecosystem is richly endowed with both living and non-living resources from large oil and gas reserves to abundant fisheries and unrivalled natural beauty. The relationship of the three countries has been historic with international partners funding a number of significant projects in the BCLME region. These collaborations were later formalised through the Benguela Current Commission that is now being ratified into a convention. In a statement on Thursday, the Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries said the MoU with Namibia will see collaborations in research and development for a specialised joint working group for evaluation, management and socio-economic study of shared marine resources to be established. The two countries will also partner in aquaculture and inland fisheries in which both countries will carry out joint research into cultivation of marine living resources indigenous to the Benguela Current Ecosystem and indigenous inland freshwater resources, using acquired technology as far as possible. Another segment that the MoU covers is the monitoring, control and surveillance were joint actions will be pursued in safeguarding oceans to reduce and eliminate the scourge of illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing. This will include joint surface and aerial marine fisheries surveillance patrols; share assets used for the purpose of sea patrols; joint observer programme to ensure compliance with those authorised to fish. Capacity building and development will see an extensive joint training operation on shared monitoring platforms, with a special focus on youth and women. There will be cooperation on the economic development of fisheries and blue economy. Both countries will cooperate on capacity building on compliance systems to work together on policies, regulatory frameworks and implementation of blue economy activities of mutual interest. SAnews.gov.za This story has been published on: 2019-01-24. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article. President Muhammadu Buhari took his nationwide campaign to Sokoto on Wednesday where he pledged to continue his duty of protecting the i... President Muhammadu Buhari took his nationwide campaign to Sokoto on Wednesday where he pledged to continue his duty of protecting the integrity of Nigerians as well as pursue his three cardinal programmes. Addressing a mammoth crowd of supporters of All Progressive Congress (APC), President Buhari said that his administration was successfully implementing the fight against corruption, provision of security and implementation of economic diversification. We have succeeded in fighting Boko Haram; our farming system tremendously improved; and corruption has generously been addressed. `I want to assure you that we will continue in this direction in order to ensure that we successfully protect the integrity of Nigerians and our country, he said. He thanked the people of Sokoto state for their massive turnout to welcome him to the state. Earlier, the leader of the party, Asiwaju Ahmed Bola Tinubu, assured the people that the country would remain in safe hands with President Buharis return. He said that Nigerians should continue to troop out en mass to vote all APC candidates for more development in the country. Earlier the state APC Chairman, Alhaji Sadiq Achida, assured President Buhari that the people in Sokoto state would massively vote all the partys candidates in the forthcoming election. Chief Rotimi Amaechi, the Director General of Presidential campaign Council, urged Sokotos electorate to make wise decision by voting President Buhari in 2019 election. Amaechi pledged that Buharis government would continue with the construction of rail lines linking Jibia in Katsina state, Sokoto-Illela and Kebbi state as arrangement had commenced already. He expressed happiness over the overwhelming reception accorded President Buhari and the campaign team, as the crowd on streets as well as the population at the rally, manifested APC acceptance by people of the state. I urge all eligible electorate to ensure the collection of their Permanent Voters Cards (PVCs), because voting the right candidate like Buhari will ensure the continuation of right policies for a better Nigeria. APC leader in Sokoto state, Sen. Aliyu Wamakko, urged Sokoto residents to translate their love and support for President Buhari through re-electing him along with other APC candidates in the general elections. Wamakko expressed gratitude to people that trooped in support of Buhari and APC campaign team, stressing that the achievements of APCs administration was glaring to all and sundry. He listed some areas the people benefited from the APC led Federal Government to include empowerment programmes, agricultural development, fighting insecurity, education and others. The court of appeal has ordered the Code of Conduct Tribunal (CCT) to stay proceedings in the case against Walter Onnoghen, chief ju... The court of appeal has ordered the Code of Conduct Tribunal (CCT) to stay proceedings in the case against Walter Onnoghen, chief justice of Nigeria (CJN). A panel of the Abuja division of the appeal court led by Abdul Aboki directed the tribunal to stay proceedings pending the hearing and determination of the CJNs application. Wole Olanipekun, Onnoghens counsel, had told the court that the CCT had vowed not to comply with orders from other courts which it described as court of coordinate jurisdiction except that of the court of appeal. He, however, emphasised on the issue of jurisdiction raised before the CCT, which according to him was ignored. Olanipekun argued that if the application is not granted it would affect the judiciary in totality and also pose a threat to the country and the constitution. Opposing Olanipekun, Oye Koleosho, counsel to the federal government, said the decision on whether to stay proceedings at the tribunal is at the discretion of the tribunal. He drew the courts attention to the fact that the lower tribunal adjourned the hearing of the application challenging its jurisdiction. The three-man panel led by Aboki fixed January 30 to decide whether the tribunal has jurisdiction to hear the case against the CJN. The CJN has been accused of false assets declaration, an allegation he denied. He also failed to appear before the tribunal twice to answer the charges filed against him. Although, a high court and an industrial court ordered the tribunal to stay proceedings, it went on with the case, with the last hearing being on Tuesday. The issues before the two courts are hereby discountenanced and have no binding effect on the tribunal, Umar Danladi, judge of the CCT, had ruled. The tribunal adjourned the matter till February 4 for continuation for hearing. Barely 24 hours after ex-President Olusegun Obasanjo said the Boko Haram insurgency had worsened under the current administration, Pres... Barely 24 hours after ex-President Olusegun Obasanjo said the Boko Haram insurgency had worsened under the current administration, President Muhammadu Buhari on Wednesday said his government had done well in the area of security. Buhari stated this while addressing the All Progressives Congress supporters at the partys presidential rally at Giginya Stadium, Sokoto, the Sokoto State capital. Obasanjo, had in an interview with the BBC Yoruba on Tuesday, lamented that Boko Haram insurgents were deadlier than they were before the present administration. He also criticised Buharis economic policy, saying foreign investors were shunning the country. But in Sokoto on Wednesday, Buhari said the mammoth crowd at the APC rally in Borno State on Monday was a proof of the success of his government in the area of security. He stated, When I came here in 2015 to campaign, I promised three things, to fight corruption, stop insurgency and to improve our economy. Today we can all see the results of the three. The unprecedented crowd that welcomed us in Borno was a testimony to the fact that we have done well in the area of security. The country has witnessed bumper harvest in the last two years, signifying that our economic policy is working. On corruption, I would not relent in fighting the menace. I assure you whoever is found wanting would be dealt with accordingly. The President recalled that when he led other party leaders on a campaign to the state in 2015, he was overwhelmingly received and massively voted for. The President urged the electorate to vote for only the APC candidates in the forthcoming elections, saying that they would not betray Nigerians. On his part, the national leader of the APC, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, assured the nations youths that the Buhari administration would cater for them. He also assured Nigerians of food security, saying, the country is on the path of development with a just and patriotic leader in President Buhari. The Director General of the Buhari Campaign Organisation and the Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi, also assured the people of the state that a rail project would be extended from Gusau to Sokoto, up to the border town, Illela. In his remarks, the National Chairman of the party, Adams Oshiomhole, praised the people of the state for the support given to the leader of the party in the state, Aliyu Wamakko. He also advised them to vote for all the candidates of the party in the state. Speaking earlier, Wamakko assured the President and all the party leaders of the total votes of Sokoto in the general elections. Earlier on his arrival at the Sultan Abubakar III airport, Buhari was accompanied to the Sultan of Sokotos palace by Tinubu, Amaechi, Oshiomhole, as well as the defence and interior ministers, Manir Dan-Ali and Abdulrahman Dambazau, respectively. Security agents had a hectic time in controlling the crowd. Buhari, was also in Birnin Kebbi, the capital of Kebbi State, where he addressed another APC rally. Fela Durotoye, presidential candidate of the Alliance for New Nigeria (ANN), says he is ready to withdraw from the race for a consensu... Fela Durotoye, presidential candidate of the Alliance for New Nigeria (ANN), says he is ready to withdraw from the race for a consensus candidate. In an Instagram post on Thursday, Durotoye said he is ready to support either of Omoyele Sowore, presidential candidate of African Action Congress (AAC), and Kingsley Moghalu, Young Progressive Party (YPP), to win the presidential elections for our generation. Durotoye made the remark in reaction to the withdrawal of Oby Ezekwesili, presidential candidate of the Allied Congress Party of Nigeria (ACPN). I have always believed that leadership is about service and sacrifice and today, I would like to commend Dr. (Mrs) Oby Ezekwesili @obyezeks for leading the charge to forming a viable coalition to presenting a Consensus Candidate for the 2019 Presidential elections, Durotoye said. To ensure that an alliance is formed and we present a united front, I AM READY to come into any coalition talks with my brothers Omoyele Sowore @yelesho and Prof. Kingsley Moghalu @moghalukingsley and to submit myself to any transparent process that will help us arrive at a selection of a Consensus Candidate from amongst us. To be clear, if the process produces any other candidate apart from myself, I AM READY to support whoever the Consensus Candidate is and to do all I can to support the coalition to win the 2019 Presidential elections for our generation. Once again, I implore the frontline candidates in our generation. Let us come together and seize this historic window of opportunity for our generation to select one of us to go ahead of us so that ALL OF US can come together and speak with one voice at the 2019 General Elections. Together, we can do the perceived impossible. Our generation is depending on us. We must not let them down. The presidential candidate of the African Action Congress (AAC), Mr Omoyele Sowore, has promised to pay workers 100,000 as minimum wage if... The presidential candidate of the African Action Congress (AAC), Mr Omoyele Sowore, has promised to pay workers 100,000 as minimum wage if elected as the next president of the nation on Feb. 16.Sowore made the pledge at a town hall meeting tagged: The Candidates organised by the MacArthur Foundation in collaboration with NTA and DARIA media in Abuja.He said that his administration would address the menace of ghost workers by installing technologies that would daily capture fingerprints of workers and the hours spent at work.He also said that he would ensure leakages were effectively blocked and would enthrone proper management of resources in the country if elected.The AAC presidential candidate said that his administration would ensure efficient collection of taxes, and that there would be no sacred cows.According to him, most companies in Nigeria collect tax from workers but do not remit to the government, while others are under remitting.On power supply, Sowore said when elected, he would bring in solar panels that would generate up to 4500 megawatts of electricity across the country in less than a year.He said there were investors looking for where to build power stations, saying that all that was lacking in Nigeria was good leadership.Sowore said rather than selling national power installations, license would be given to investors to come in and generate power.His running mate, Mr Rabiu Rufai, said the AAC would pay a living wage and not just a minimum wage to the Nigerian workers.Rufai said that an average Nigerian worker spent at least N1,000 daily on transportation.He said that the proposed N27,000 by the Federal Government was not enough as workers needed to feed themselves and family, pay schools fees, rents and make some savings as well.(NAN) President Muhammadu Buhari says he tried to be fair with appointments which he said was done based on merit. He said this at the p... President Muhammadu Buhari says he tried to be fair with appointments which he said was done based on merit. He said this at the palace of Nnaemeka Achebe, obi of Onitsha, in Anambra state where he had gone to campaign for reelection. Traditional rulers at the palace had alleged that the south-east states were being marginalised but the president said about five members of the federal executive cabinet are from the region. I think I tried to be fair. And you can ask these ministers. I never asked them how are they running their parastatals, the boards. I appointed them and I trust them. I allow them work, he said. I dont have to tell you what noise the other states are making especially when compared to the votes I got in 2015. So, I think I try to be fair. I think I tried to be fair. And you can ask these ministers. I never asked them how are they running their parastatals, the boards. I appointed them and I trust them. I allow them work. He said the same complaints from the South East have been coming from other parts of Nigeria but that they do not reflect the truth. I dont have to tell you what noise the other states are making especially when compared to the votes I got in 2015. So, I think I try to be fair. Those of you who were in the military even in the Biafran Army, know that the entry point is the same and you go for basic training, until you go to your formations or institutions whether it is army, navy, air force or the police. The most competent or senior person is the one that gets there. On appointment of service chiefs, Buhari said; If there are half a million soldiers, only one man can be the chief of Army staff at a time. This is so for the rest of the troop. In recruitment, we make sure that by states, people are recruited. At least, this is what I do, people are recruited from each state. For those who manage to get recruited, its up to them to get to the top if they are professional and work for it. The present chief of army staff, the chief of air staff, the chief of naval staff even the previous inspector-general of police that just left, I didnt know them personally before I appointed them. I follow records. The same thing with the IG, that one was appointed last week. I dont think I have ever seen him, I follow records. So, appointments in the Armed Forces and other law enforcement agencies depends on individual performance after recruitment not where you think you come. At least between me and God, this is what I do. = In response to Buharis claim that he had achieved security in the North-East, the Peoples Democratic Party said that the President was... In response to Buharis claim that he had achieved security in the North-East, the Peoples Democratic Party said that the President was merely talking politics. The National Chairman of the PDP, Prince Uche Secondus, who spoke to one of our correspondents, said there was no way the Governor of Borno State, Kashim Shettima, would have visited Abuja crying over the deplorable security situation in his state if things were working well. Secondus said Buhari must have also forgotten that farmers in the North-East and North-Central had been crying over their inability to return to farm because of the insecurity in their areas. He asked Nigerians to hold the President responsible for the killings of innocent Nigerians in the country. He said, Nigerians saw the governor of Borno State when he cried openly at the Presidential Villa over the deplorable security situation in his state. He said the situation was becoming unbearable and that people were being killed anyhow. Has the President forgotten that so soon? People came to see the President and waved at him to say goodbye. They came to see a man who promised so much but couldnt deliver a little. They came to see a man who said he would make life better but has succeeded in making life miserable to them. As always the time for election remains the best 'Paddy-Paddy' time when Nigerian politicians have the best interactions w... If Sanwoolu no win Lagos, the dragging go funny die. From mechanic to vulcanizer to hair dresser. fome (@fome_ekere) January 19, 2019 Hide your wives and girlfriends, Sanwoolu can also fix weave-on and set their hair. pic.twitter.com/T49H0J17EB January 18, 2019 Seems the only campaign Sanwo-Olu has not done is to project himself into our dreams. I went to buy bottled water, Sanwoolu on the "lylon".Seems the only campaign Sanwo-Olu has not done is to project himself into our dreams. pic.twitter.com/ndwixMmpoH January 18, 2019 As always the time for election remains the best 'Paddy-Paddy' time when Nigerian politicians have the best interactions with the 'common man' in a bid to solicit for votes, and the Lagos 2019 gubernetorial election is not going to be an exception.The gubernatorial candidate of the All Progressive Congress (APC) in Lagos, Mr Babajide Sanwoolu has taken his campaign to artisans across the state and has gone from working as an hairdresser, vulganizer, phone repairer to a mechanic in a space of days.The pictures of him getting hands-on have caused social media users to react. See some of the pictures below:Do you think Babajide Sanwoolu stands a chance or is this just another futile attempt for the All Progressive Congress in Lagos state? Abdullahi Baffa, former executive secretary of Tertiary Education Trust fund (TETFund), has accused Adamu Adamu, minister of education... Abdullahi Baffa, former executive secretary of Tertiary Education Trust fund (TETFund), has accused Adamu Adamu, minister of education, of being behind his sack. He said Adamu accused him of corruption and speaking to the press without permission. President Muhammadu Buhari fired Baffa on Tuesday and immediately replaced him with Suleiman Bogoro, the agencys former executive secretary. In an interview with BBC Hausa Service, Baffa said it was not the first time the minister asked the president to relive him of his duty. He said he had learnt of his removal as well as of the unfounded allegations levelled against him from presidency sources. According to him, I asked what was my offence? They alleged that the offences were inaccessibility, insubordination and speaking to the press without the ministers permission. Allegation of inaccessibility is unfounded as the minister knows that I spend more time in the ministry as his technical aide than in my TETfund office. Baffa also denied that he had ever received a contract or kickbacks from tertiary institutions in the country. He said the termination of his appointment did not surprise him because of the misunderstandings he has had with minister. The Federal High Court in Lagos on Thursday convicted a former Independent National Electoral Commission ( INEC ) Administrative Secreta... The Federal High Court in Lagos on Thursday convicted a former Independent National Electoral Commission ( INEC ) Administrative Secretary in Kwara State Mr Christian Nwosu. Justice Mohammed Idris found him guilty of laundering N264million. I find that the prosecution has proved the case beyond reasonable doubt in the manner required by law. I, therefore, find the first and second defendants guilty as charged, the judge said. The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) re-arraigned Nwosu allegedly accepting gratification from former Minister of Petroleum Resources Mrs Diezani Alison-Madueke (still at large). He was re-arraigned along with Tijani Bashir before Justice Idris. They were charged with another INEC official Yisa Adedoyin, who pleaded guilty to the offence and was convicted following a plea bargain. Nwosu had initially pleaded guilty to receiving N30million bribe from Mrs Alison-Madueke to rig the 2015 general election results, but he changed his plea to not guilty. Justice Idris has adjourned sentencing until Friday by 12noon to enable Nwosu to be present. The 12-year-old N7.65bn fraud trial of a former governor of Abia State, Dr Orji Uzor Kalu, has again been adjourned indefinitely by the ... The 12-year-old N7.65bn fraud trial of a former governor of Abia State, Dr Orji Uzor Kalu, has again been adjourned indefinitely by the Federal High Court in Lagos. The trial was fixed for Wednesday but Kalu did not show up in court. Expressing displeasure at the absence of the former governor from court to continue his trial, the prosecuting counsel for the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, Mr Rotimi Jacobs (SAN), accused Kalu of taking the court for a ride. The prosecutor recalled that Justice Mohammed Idris had on November 12, 2018 revoked Kalus bail because he was absent from court on that day too. Jacobs recalled that the judge was told at the last date that Kalu travelled to Germany for surgery without the permission of the court. He recalled further that the judge ordered that the ex-governor should submit himself to the EFCC within 24 hours of his return to the country, failing which he should be arrested. Jacobs said in view of Kalus absence from court on Wednesday, Justice Idris should invoke Section 352(4) of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act, 2015 and let the trial continue in Kalus absence. He (Kalu) kept on campaigning for his senatorial ambition, slapping the court in the face; his attitude is unbecoming, Jacobs told Justice Idris. Reacting, Kalus lawyer, Prof Awa Kalu (SAN), said he did not wish to take issue with Jacobs, except he documented his complaints in an affidavit. However, stepping in, Justice Idris noted that though the matter was adjourned till Wednesday for continuation of trial, he would not be able to go on as the fiat given to him by the President of the Court of Appeal to hear and conclude the case had lapsed. Justice Idris, who was elevated last June from the Federal High Court to the Court of Appeal, said without a renewal of the fiat by the Court of Appeal President, anything he did in the case would amount to an illegality. The judge held, This matter was listed today because it was adjourned till today for defence. What has happened is that the last fiat that was issued by the President of the Court of Appeal has expired at the end of November 2018. On the 10th of January, 2019, I received a fresh fiat in respect of some matters that I have started and some new matters but this particular case was not mentioned. For this reason, I have a strong feeling that I shouldnt continue with proceedings in this case unless there is a further directive from the President of the Court of Appeal. I should not proceed further, otherwise I might be acting without authority. In the circumstance, I am of the view that further proceedings shouldnt go on until I receive further information by way of fresh fiat from the Court of Appeal President. As soon as I receive further instruction, hearing notice will be sent to counsel. In one of the charges, the EFCC alleged that Kalu, who was Abia State Governor between 1999 and 2007, did procure Slok Nigeria Limited a company solely owned by you and members of your family to retain in its account, domiciled with the then Inland Bank Plc, Apapa branch, Lagos, an aggregate sum of N7,197,871,208.7 on your behalf. The prosecution claimed that the N7.1bn formed part of the funds illegally derived from the treasury of the Abia State Government and which was converted into several bank drafts before they were paid into the said companys account. The prosecuting counsel, Jacobs, said the ex-governor violated Section 17(c) of the Money Laundering (Prohibition) Act, 2004, and was liable to be punished under Section 16 of the same Act. Apart from the N7.1bn, which he was accused of laundering, the ex-governor and the other defendants were also accused of receiving a total of N460m allegedly stolen from the Abia State Government treasury between July and December 2002. The prosecutor said they breached Section 427 of the Criminal Code Act, Cap 77, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 1990. On their part, Jones Udeogu, Slok Nigeria Limited Second and third defendants, respectively one Emeka Abone, said to be at large, and another fellow, Michael Udo, also at large, were accused of collaborating with Kalu to conceal the genuine origin of allegedly stolen funds. The EFCC said they were liable to be punished under Section 14(1)(b) of the Money Laundering (Prohibition) Act, 2004. The presidential candidate of the PDP, Atiku Abubakar, said the President must know that the era of deceit is over. Atiku, who s... The presidential candidate of the PDP, Atiku Abubakar, said the President must know that the era of deceit is over. Atiku, who spoke through his media aide, Phrank Shaibu, said the President must come to the reality that his days are numbered as the President of the people of Nigeria. He said, President Muhammadu Buhari is being deceived by his aides. You know the President does not read and does not interact with the people. A man identified as Abdullahi Yadau, has divorced his wife after they clashed over the politics of the 2019 presidential election.in c... A man identified as Abdullahi Yadau, has divorced his wife after they clashed over the politics of the 2019 presidential election.in central Nigerias Plateau state. Abdullahi, who resides in Jos Plateau state, told the BBC Hausa that he had divorced his wife, Hafsat Suleiman, after she kept asserting that President Muhammadu Buhari will be reelected in 2019. According to him, her staunch support for President Buhari had been a source of quarrel between them. Yadua said with the consent of his parents, he decided to divorce her according to the Sharia legal system. The BBC Hausa reported that it has been trying to reach Hafsat to get her own side of the divorce story but to no avail. However her cousin, Ibrahim Suleiman, who spoke to BBC Hausa about what had happened between the couple vowed that she would not return to his (Yadaus) home. Nollywood actress Tonto Dikeh has called the attention of the Nigerian Police to a threat message from a blackmailer going by the name... Nollywood actress Tonto Dikeh has called the attention of the Nigerian Police to a threat message from a blackmailer going by the name Speakout_01. The blackmailer threatened to release Tonto Dikehs pictures and other celebrities by this weekend. The mother of one has urged them to drop the unclad pictures today, that the weekend is too far. Read her post. The Independent National Electoral Commission in Lagos State has begun training of about 1,000 Supervisory Presiding Officers in prepara... The Independent National Electoral Commission in Lagos State has begun training of about 1,000 Supervisory Presiding Officers in preparation for the forthcoming general elections. Mr Femi Akinbiyi, the INEC Public Relations Officer in Lagos State, disclosed to this on Thursday. According to Akinbiyi, the three-day training, which started on Wednesday, was a step taken by the commission to conduct flawless elections on February 16 and March 2. As part of preparations for the 2019 general elections, about 1,000 SPOs commenced training on Wednesday. These Supervisory Presiding Officers will in turn train both the Presiding Officers and Assistant Presiding Officers. The commission is not leaving any stone unturned in its preparations for the elections; we will do everything humanly possible to deliver on our mandate, said Akinbiyi. He advised political gladiators to shun the do-or-die approach to politics. According to him, the commission will commence a workshop for security personnel on Friday to ensure that INEC staff and security agents operate on the same page, on the election days. He said that the training became imperative for security agents to know the nitty-gritty of the electoral process, adding that they must understand the dos and donts of elections. Akinbiyi called on eligible voters yet to collect their permanent voter cards to do so before February 8, to be able to vote. We are still distributing the cards to their owners at INEC offices in each of the 20 local government areas in the state. We will be there until February 8, when it will be suspended until after the elections, he said. Serena Williamss bid for a record-equalling 24th Grand Slam title was brought to a halt in sensational style at the Australian Open yesterday by Karolina Pliskova, but fellow former champion Novak Djokovic cruised into the semi-finals. The American great had beaten world number one Simona Halep in the fourth round but folded against the tall Czech seventh seed, who saved four match points before winning 6-4, 4-6, 7-5 under the hot Melbourne sun. Her reward is a clash against Japans Naomi Osaka for a place in the final, after the Japanese fourth seed brutally swatted aside the injured Elina Svitolina 6-4, 6-1. World number one Djokovic enjoyed an early night when courageous Kei Nishikori retired with a thigh strain when losing 6-1, 4-1 after going through three five-set epics during the tournament. It kept the Serbs bid for a record seventh Australian title on track and he will now meet French 28th seed Lucas Pouille, who beat power-serving Canadian Milos Raonic 7-6 (7/4), 6-3, 6-7 (2/7), 6-4 to make his first Slam semi. It was a gut-wrenching defeat for Williams, who battled back from a set down and was leading 5-1 in the third and serving for the match, only to throw it away with some wild shots as frustrations bubbled to the surface. Theres nothing I did wrong on those match points. I stayed aggressive. She just literally hit the lines on some of them, said the dumbfounded 37-year-old, who rolled an ankle but refused to blame it for the defeat. Since returning last year from giving birth, Williams has made four unsuccessful attempts to match Margaret Courts longtime standing 24 Grand Slam titles, and the wait continues with the French Open in May her next chance. The big picture for me is always winning, she added. Im not going to sit here and lie about that. It hasnt happened yet, but I feel like its going to happen. For Pliskova, it is only her third semi-final at a major. She made the last four at Roland Garros in 2017 and the US Open a year earlier, where she beat Williams before losing the final to Angelique Kerber. I was almost in the locker-room but now I am standing here as a winner. It is a very good feeling, she said after depriving Williams of a US Open final rematch with Osaka. The White House said high-level trade talks with Beijing were proceeding uninterrupted, quickly rebutting media reports that progress toward resolving their trade war had faltered. Chinese Vice Premier Liu He is to meet his US counterparts in Washington next week as the two sides work to resolve their trade disagreements by March 1, when a 90-day truce is due to expire, allowing US import duties on Chinese goods to increase sharply. Washington and Beijing imposed tit-for-tat tariffs on more than $360 billion worth of goods in two-way trade last year. Trump initiated the trade war because of complaints over unfair Chinese trade practices -- concerns shared by the European Union, Japan and others. The Financial Times and CNBC both reported Tuesday afternoon that Washington had canceled a preliminary meeting set for this week ahead of Lius visit. American officials had reportedly cited a lack of progress on the most difficult issues in the trade dispute -- including allegedly forced technology transfers and far-reaching structural reforms to Chinas economy. The reports sent Wall Street even further into the red. US stocks had already opened lower on downgraded forecasts for global economic growth. But, shortly before the close of trading in New York, top White House economic aide Larry Kudlow flatly denied the reports during an appearance on CNBC. With respect, the story is not true, Kudlow said Tuesday. There was never a planned meeting that was canceled. Chinas foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying concurred yesterday at a regular press briefing, adding that she had not heard of any changes and that both sides remain in contact on China-US trade consultation issues. Stock prices recovered some of their losses following Kudlows remarks but still finished substantially lower for the day. Asian markets were mixed on Wednesday. Kudlow said the United States continued to press the Chinese on the subject of intellectual property and state intervention in markets, among other matters. He also said American officials were insisting that any agreement have teeth to ensure Beijings compliance. Enforcement is absolutely crucial to the success of these talks, Kudlow said. Will it be solved at the end of the month? I dont know. I wouldnt dare predict and want to make sure people understand how important that is to put it on the table. Three American citizens of Kenyan descent have been charged with conspiring to support the Islamic State group after an arrest at a Michigan airport foiled their alleged plot, authorities announced Tuesday. The three men, all in their 20s and related to each other, allegedly recorded videos pledging their allegiance to IS and discussed a potential car attack in the United States if one of them was unable to travel overseas to fight for the terror group. FBI agents employed undercover agents to communicate with the suspects and multiple search warrants of their social media accounts to monitor the suspects communications between each other, according to an affidavit filed in federal court. The three were arrested Monday at Gerald Ford Airport in the city of Grand Rapids as Muse Abdikadir Muse, 23, also known as Muse Muse, was going through the TSA security screening process. Authorities said he had checked in for a trip that would eventually take him to Mogadishu, Somalia, with the goal of joining IS. In an online exchange with an undercover FBI agent, Muse allegedly said he wanted to join IS in Somalia and fight in the front lines, according to the affidavit. Police also arrested at the airport terminal the men said to be Muses co-conspirators: his brother Mohamud Abdikadir Muse, 20, and another relative, Mohamed Salat Haji, 26. The two are alleged to have purchased the airline ticket and driven Muse to the airport. All three men, who are naturalized US citizens from Kenya, were charged with conspiring to provide material support or resources to a designated foreign terrorist organization. More than 20 delegates represented the Kingdoms Indian Community at the Pravasi Bharatiya Divas that was held at the Indian City of Benares. Pravasi Bharatiya Divas (PBD) is celebrated to strengthen the engagement of the overseas Indian community with the Government of India and reconnect them with their roots. The convention also honours Overseas Indians with the prestigious Pravasi Bharatiya Samman Award to recognise their contributions to various fields both in India and abroad. Bahrains Al Hilal Hospital Vice Chairman and leading businessman Dr V T Vinod was among those non-resident Indians who received the prestigious award. The PBD convention this year was held under the banner of Role of Indian Diaspora in building New India. Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi inaugurated the plenary session of the 15th edition of Pravasi Bharatiya Diwas at Deendayal Hastkala Sankul. Speaking about the welfare of Indians overseas, Mr Modi said passport and visa rules have been simplified and e visa had made it much easier for them to travel. The Daily News-Miner encourages residents to make themselves heard through the Opinion pages. Readers' letters and columns also appear online at newsminer.com. Contact the editor with questions at letters@newsminer.com or call 459-7574. Community Perspective Send Community Perspective submissions by mail (P.O. Box 70710, Fairbanks AK 99707) or via email (letters@newsminer.com). Submissions must be 500 to 750 words. Columns are welcome on a wide range of issues and should be well-written and well-researched with attribution of sources. Include a full name, email address, daytime telephone number and headshot photograph suitable for publication (email jpg or tiff files at 150 dpi.) You may also schedule a photo to be taken at the News-Miner office. The News-Miner reserves the right to edit submissions or to reject those of poor quality or taste without consulting the writer. Letters to the editor Send letters to the editor by mail (P.O. Box 70710, Fairbanks AK 99707), by fax (907-452-7917) or via email (letters@newsminer.com). Writers are limited to one letter every two weeks (14 days.) All letters must contain no more than 350 words and include a full name (no abbreviation), daytime and evening phone numbers and physical address. (If no phone, then provide a mailing address or email address.) The Daily News-Miner reserves the right to edit or reject letters without consulting the writer. Fairbanks, AK (99707) Today Cloudy this evening with showers after midnight. Low 56F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 50%.. Tonight Cloudy this evening with showers after midnight. Low 56F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 50%. (Newser) A 15-year-old boy in Virginia got his 15 minutes of fame last year when he earned a lifetime supply of peanut butter from the Lidl supermarket chain by securing 72,000 retweets of this I-love-peanut-butter post. (Author Neil Gaiman helped his cause, notes WTOP.) Now, however, Eric McKay of Woodbridge is back in the news, thanks to his gesture to furloughed federal workers. (His own father is one.) Eric has decided to share his bounty with workers going without a paycheck, reports CBS News. This week, he and his mother handed out jars at a Lidl store in Dumfries, Va., and workers who couldn't make it can pick up three jars if they stop by on their own. (Commerce chief Wilbur Ross is taking flak for his comments about furloughed workers.) (Newser) A Senate committee has subpoenaed President Trump's former personal lawyer Michael Cohen, a day after Cohen postponed his public testimony to a House committee. Word of the subpoena from the Senate Intelligence Committee comes from one of Cohen's lawyers, Lanny Davis, per the AP. He says Cohen will honor the subpoena, per Politico, "but what he will do as a result ... is a legal issue that would come down to reasonable discussions." The New York Times reports Cohen's third appearance in front of the panel investigating Russian election interference in the 2016 election campaign "will almost certainly be behind closed doors." The committee generally has held its Russia-related hearings in private. story continues below Cohen delayed his Feb. 7 appearance before the House Oversight and Reform Committee on the advice of his defense team because Cohen is still cooperating in special counsel Robert Mueller's Russia investigation. Davis also said President Trump has threatened Cohen's family. In a Thursday tweet, Trump called Cohen a "bad lawyer" and appeared to refer to Davis as an ally of Hillary Clinton, per the Times. Cohen has pleaded guilty to lying to Congress about his role in a Trump business proposal in Russia considered during the 2016 campaign. He's set to begin a three-year prison sentence next month. (The House Oversight Committee is considering a Cohen subpoena.) (Newser) Chris Brown is suing the woman who accused him of rape, resulting in his arrest in Paris Tuesday. He and the other two men arrested alongside him were released hours later with no charges filed, though sources tell TMZ the investigation is ongoing. Brown's Parisian lawyer filed a defamation complaint Thursday, and the gossip site notes it appears to be more than a civil suit, because the document cites a criminal statute regarding invasion of privacy. Per the Hollywood Reporter, Brown's lawyer wants a criminal prosecution for an alleged "slanderous accusation." The document is titled "false accusation, committed on January 18, 2019"; the woman says the assault occurred overnight Jan. 15-16, and she gave a statement to police Jan. 18. story continues below Meanwhile, the womanwho Page Six reported as being a 24-year-old French model, but whose lawyer describes her as a 23-year-old studenthas spoken out through her lawyer. He tells the AP that his client was under "great psychological pressure" at the Mandarin Oriental Hotel when "non-consensual sex" allegedly took place in Brown's hotel suite. Though she "was not pressured physically," she was in an "environment with great psychological pressure" from "buff," older men who cornered her in a locked room, he says. "There were forced sexual relations and then he went to talk to other menit was a masculine environment." Her lawyer says two other men, Brown's bodyguard and an associate of Brown's, then assaulted her on another floor of the hotel. (Read more Chris Brown stories.) (Newser) A woman who was streaming her birthday celebration on Facebook Live ended up streaming something much worse: an alleged sexual assault. She was at Atlanta's Opera nightclub early Sunday morning when, she told police, a man put drugs in her drink and then assaulted her on the dance floor. In the video, which multiple people saw on Facebook, she can be heard screaming, "No, stop!" and calling for help. Police announced this week they had identified and contacted the man seen in the video and that the investigation is ongoing, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports. story continues below An officer tells the AJC the video "appears to show a woman being sexually assaulted in a local nightclub," and that people who saw it contacted the department; one caller said the woman in the video was groped and possibly even raped. The woman had already been streaming the celebration at the time and simply continued streaming during the alleged crime. The video has since been removed, but the woman reportedly posted a later video saying she was OK. WSB-TV reports people were rallying at the nightclub Wednesday to protest the fact that the man allegedly involved has not been arrested. (Suspect may have accidentally broadcast video of fatal beating.) (Newser) After the US rejected Nicolas Maduro's demand that all American diplomats leave Venezuela, Chinaa Maduro allywarned the US against getting involved in the country's crisis. Now another Maduro supporter has done the same: US military intervention in Venezuela would lead to a "catastrophic scenario" in the region, Russia's deputy foreign minister, Sergei Ryabkov, told a Russian media outlet, as reported by USA Today. "We warn against this," Ryabkov said. "We believe that this would be a catastrophic scenario that would shake the foundations of the development model we see in the Latin American region." The US has recognized opposition leader Juan Guaido as Venezuela's interim president, and the Trump administration has vowed to use "all options" to push Maduro to give up power, though it has emphasized economic sanctions. story continues below Ryabkov, who called the US recognition of Guaido "meddling" and "pouring gas on fire," issued a similar warning in another interview with CNN, noting it applied not just to the US but to any country considering intervention; more than a dozen other nations also recognize Guaido, including the UK, Canada, Brazil, Costa Rica, Argentina, Peru, Colombia, Ecuador, Chile, and Spain. But in addition to China and Russia, Turkey, Cuba, and Syria support Maduro; in Syria, President Bashar al-Assad's government condemned "blatant interference" by the US, "which constitutes a flagrant violation of all the international norms and laws and a brazen attack against the Venezuelan sovereignty." And both Cuba and Turkey issued statements decrying any "coup" attempts, with Cuba accusing the US of attempting to "impose ... a puppet government." (Read more Venezuela stories.) (Newser) With drone delivery still a ways off, enter Amazon's self-driving delivery robot. Amazon Scout is a "cooler-sized" electric vehicle on six wheels, intended to deliver Amazon packages along a delivery route, reports the Seattle Times. A promotional video shows Scout cruising down a sidewalk, stopping in front of a home, and lifting its top to reveal a package as a woman retrieves it. Until kinks can be ironed out, however, just six Scout vehicles are roaming Washington's Snohomish County in daylight hours from Monday to Friday, each accompanied by an Amazon employee who can remove a package if the addressee isn't home. Though its unclear how such a situation would be handled later, the robots can at least "safely and efficiently navigate around pets, pedestrians and anything else," executive Sean Scout writes in a blog post. story continues below Much about the system remains secretit's unknown where exactly the robots are running, for one thingbut it "will transform our customers' experiences in ways we can't even imagine yet," the Times quotes from one of 21 Seattle job postings related to Scout. Per Wired, dodging foot traffic and crossing streets is "an incredible challenge in these early days of advanced robots," particularly for Amazon. It reports the company is "very late to this ground-based delivery robot game, which is crowded with players that already have years of real-world experience." Per the AP, Starship Technologies' six-wheeled robots already deliver hundreds of food orders across the George Mason University campus in Fairfax, Va., every day. Though delivery is "not the fastest thing in the world," as one student puts it, the robots do stop for pedestrians. (A robot waitress delivers pizzas in Pakistan.) (Newser) As Florida police attempt to piece together the events that led to a fatal shooting at a SunTrust bank on Wednesday, facts are slowly emerging about the suspected gunman. Per WSBT, Zephen Xaver, 21, who appeared in court Thursday, is accused of opening fire inside the Sebring bank after a standoff with a SWAT team. The station also quotes Alex Gerlach, who says she stayed in touch with Xaver after their two-year, on-off relationship ended. She says he was "fascinated with death and guns," adding: "For some reason [he] always hated people and wanted everyone to die. He got kicked out of school for having a dream that he killed everybody in his class." story continues below Despite this, Xaver got a job as a trainee prison guard at Avon Park Correctional Institution on Nov. 2, though he suddenly quit just over two months later, per Florida Department of Corrections records. He'd enrolled in an online course at Stevens-Henager College in Salt Lake City in September 2018, but dropped out four months later, according to a college spokesperson. Neighbors say Xaver and his mother relocated to Sebring last autumn from Plymouth, Ind., settling into a prefab housing unit some 4 miles from the bank. Neighbor John Larose said Xaver was generally reserved, but late at night could be heard screaming at video games. Xaver was denied bail by 10th Judicial Circuit Court Judge Anthony Ritenour and stands accused of five counts of premeditated murder. (Read more shooting stories.) (Newser) Donald Galleck pleaded not guilty to intentional murder and depraved indifference murder Tuesday in Bangor, Maine. Then came an unusual twist: An affidavit was unsealed, alleging the 29-year-old had in fact unintentionally broadcast the beating death of 40-year-old Jason Moody via Facebook. The musician died of "massive inflicted trauma to the brain" on Nov. 13, two days after police found him unconscious at a Bangor intersection, reports the Bangor Daily News. On Nov. 11, Galleck, of no fixed address, had been asked to leave Moody's apartment because of rowdy behavior, reports WCHS. Moody walked with him to another apartment where he hoped to stay, but no one was home, and Galleck eventually called a woman using the Facebook Messenger app, according to the affidavit. story continues below The court document suggests Galleck sent the video request by accident as he meant to end the call, placing the phone in his shirt pocket with the camera facing outward, per the Washington Post. The woman described the camera activating and capturing an altercation between the two men. Galleck punched Moody repeatedly, "grabbed the victim by the throat and bashed his head off the ground seven times then fled the scene and appeared to jump a fence," the document reads. A friend later turned over to police a bloody sweatshirt she said Galleck was wearing when he showed up at her home near the crime scene looking panicked, reports the Daily News. He's held without bail with a trial set for March 2020. He'll face unrelated charges, including for domestic violence assault, in April. (Read more murder stories.) (Newser) An "emergency search" is underway in eastern North Carolina, where a 3-year-old boy is believed to have wandered into thick woods behind his grandmother's home while playing outside with two other kids. Those two came inside the home in Ernul around 1:45pm Tuesday without Casey Lynn Hathaway, who was not properly dressed for cold weather, reports WSOC. The grandmother then fruitlessly searched the area for 45 minutes before calling 911. "We are doing everything we can to find this child, utilizing all resources at our disposal," Craven County Sheriff Chip Hughes said Wednesday, expressing concern about deep water ditches, sinkholes, and ponds in an area encompassing "extremely rough terrain" and a "lot of thorns." story continues below The FBI, Marines, and state investigators are involved in the search, which was continued overnight into Thursday morning, per WITN. Hundreds of volunteers were expected to rejoin trained searchers at 8am, per the Charlotte Observer. Up to 600 volunteers had scoured the area Wednesdayso many that authorities warned others would be turned away, per WSOC. Authorities are treating this as a missing child case, noting there's nothing to suggest the boy isn't simply lost and that family members are cooperating. Locals in the area of Toler Road are asked to check property, buildings, and vehicles for the boy, described as 25 pounds, 28 inches tall, with blond or strawberry blond hair and brown eyes. Casey was last seen wearing a blue coat and dark-colored pants. (Read more missing child stories.) (Newser) Theranos is kaput, but details of the once bankable blood-testing company are still coming to light, including in a documentary and six-part podcast from ABC News and Nightline. The first episode of The Dropout podcast, released Wednesday, dives into founder Elizabeth Holmes, particularly her desire to emulate Steve Jobs while turning Theranos into the next Apple, per Rolling Stone. After dropping out of Stanford at 19, Holmes began wearing black turtlenecks and speaking in a lower octave, sources tell Rebecca Jarvis, who spent three years investigating the woman who was once the youngest self-made female billionaire, per a release. Holmes' company touted portable devices capable of conducting 200 tests on a drop or two of blooda health care revolutionthough that wasn't the reality. In fact, one woman tells ABC News that a faulty blood test made her fear her cancer had returned. story continues below "It's probably the most interesting fraud case I've dealt with," a lawyer who sued Theranos on behalf of investors tells Jarvis. "They fooled patients, they fooled doctors." The wife of Theranos' former chief scientist, Ian Gibbons, even blames the company for his suicide, per TechCrunch. More revelations come from Holmes' never-before-aired deposition in front of the Securities and Exchange Commission, included in the podcast and a documentary of the same name (see a preview). "For the first time, you see Elizabeth having to answer questions about what the devices were really capable of," Jarvis tells TechCrunch, though "answer" is perhaps used lightly. Per Inside Edition, Holmes said "I don't know" a whopping 663 times over three days. She did, however, discuss her romantic relationship with Theranos COO Ramesh "Sunny" Balwani, Jarvis says. He, like Holmes, is facing 20 years in prison on wire fraud charges. (Meanwhile, a film is in the works.) (Newser) Disturbing allegations have emerged in the wake of Joni Ernst's divorce, thrusting her straight into the middle of the #MeToo movement. The 48-year-old Iowa senator's divorce from Gail Ernst, 65, was finalized earlier this month, and in their divorce documents, the Republican accuses her spouse of 26 years of physically assaulting her after she confronted him about a possible affair, Politico reports. In an emotional interview with Bloomberg, Ernst says that, in either 2007 or 2008, she and Gail fought about a woman, at which point "he grabbed me by the throat with his hands and threw me on the landing floor. And then he pounded my head ... on the landing. It was very sudden and very violent." Ernst says she didn't want to cause trouble for Gail and wanted to make her marriage work, so they entered counseling; she says he was never physically abusive to her again. story continues below Gail Ernst, who denied an affair in the divorce docs but didn't mention the abuse, accused his wife of having an affair with a subordinate while she served in the military. She says that's "not accurate," per the Des Moines Register. How the details broke on their troubles: Iowa law automatically makes divorce records public once the divorce is finalized; the media got its hands on the documents before the Ernsts could seal them. Ernst had another disturbing reveal for Bloomberg: She says she was raped in college by someone she was dating, and that he threatened to kill himself if she left him. She says she did leave him but didn't report that assault because she was "embarrassed" and "humiliated." "The problem is now I've been outed when I was not ready to talk about it," she says. "But now maybe it forces me to talk about it." She adds she's raring to go in her 2020 Senate reelection bid "as a single woman." (Read more Joni Ernst stories.) (Newser) An Indiana school superintendent who says she was worried about a sick student was hit with fraud charges after cops say she used her insurance to get medical treatment and meds for him. Per KTXL, court records say 48-year-old Casey Smitherman picked up the 15-year-old, who had a sore throat, on Jan. 9, took him to a clinic and signed him in under her son's name, and then filled an antibiotic prescription for him (also under her son's name) at CVS; the teen is said to have ripped off the bottle's label because he "knew it was wrong." Total insurance claim: $233, per the court docs. Cops contacted the student's guardian after a tip was called in, and Smitherman turned herself in on Jan. 17. She says she didn't call child services because she was afraid the agency would place the teen in foster care, per court records, which notes she's helped the student before with clothes and housecleaning. story continues below "In the moment, my only concern was for this childs health," Smitherman says in a statement." Charges against her include insurance fraud and identity deception, among others. "I understand it was her desire to help a young man that was in bad shape, but probably not the best example to set for young people," Madison County Prosecutor Rodney Cummings tells WXIN. Smitherman's attorney says she's been placed into a diversion program, meaning she doesn't have to plead guilty, won't have a record as a result of this incident, and can have the charges dismissed if she isn't arrested again over the next year, per the Herald Bulletin. The Elwood school board also seems in a forgiving mood, per KTXL: It issued a statement noting Smitherman "made an unfortunate mistake, but we understand that it was out of concern for this child's welfare. ... She continues to have our support." (Read more fraud stories.) (Newser) Is it still safe to fly during the government shutdown? That's a question with a potentially uncomfortable answer, at least according to the unions representing more than 130,000 pilots, flight attendants, and air traffic controllers, per the New York Times. In a statement, the presidents of the three unions say that due to the shutdown now in its 33rd day, the "air safety environment ... is deteriorating by the day," and that President Trump and Congress should work to end the shutdown ASAP. "In our risk averse industry, we cannot even calculate the level of risk currently at play, nor predict the point at which the entire system will break," the statement notes, citing security checkpoint closures at airports, a drop in the number of cybersecurity workers and safety inspectors on the job, and analysts' weakened ability to assess risks. "It is unprecedented." story continues below The statement also calls it "unconscionable" that aviation employees are being asked to punch in without pay. "This job requires 100% focus at all times," Paul Behan, an air traffic controller out of Jacksonville, Fla., tells CBS47, which adds that an ATC specialist in that area could have anywhere from five to 15 planes on his or her radar at once. "Having the added stress of not knowing when your next paycheck is coming [is] introducing risk Any lapse in judgment or focus can cause a catastrophe." But the FAA tells the station in a statement it hasn't seen an "unusual" uptick in air traffic controllers not showing up to work, nor "operational disruptions," and that "overall, the traveling public can be assured that our nation's airspace system is safe." Intelligencer, meanwhile, wonders if a "long-shot" aviation strike could end the shutdown. (This airport has the worst wait times due to the shutdown.) (Newser) Scientists prepared Thursday to embark on an unprecedented, years-long mission to explore the Indian Ocean and document changes taking place beneath the waves that could affect billions of people in the surrounding region over the coming decades. The ambitious expedition will delve into one of the last major unexplored frontiers on the planet, a vast body of water that's already feeling the effects of global warming. Understanding the Indian Ocean's ecosystem is important not just for the species that live in it, but also for an estimated 2.5 billion people at home in the regionfrom East Africa to the Arabian peninsula to South and Southeast Asia, the AP reports. story continues below The Ocean Zephyr is preparing to leave Bremerhaven, Germany, on the first leg of trip. Researchers will spend seven weeks surveying underwater life, map the sea floor, and drop sensors to depths of up to 6,560 feet in the seas around the Seychelles. The Nekton Mission, supported by over 40 organizations, will conduct further dives in other parts of the Indian Ocean over three years. The research will contribute to a summit on the state of the Indian Ocean planned for late 2021. Little is known about the watery world below depths of 100 feet, which scientists from Britain and the Seychelles will be exploring with two crewed submarines and a remotely operated submersible in March and April. Researchers expect to discover dozens of new species, from corals and sponges to larger creatures like types of dog-sharks. (Signs of a "lost continent" under the Indian Ocean island of Mauritius have been found.) (Read more Indian Ocean stories.) (Newser) A prominent American-born anchorwoman on Iranian state television who was held in the US as a material witness was released from jail Wednesday evening. Marzieh Hashemi, 59, was released from jail in Washington after being detained for 10 days, according to Abed Ayoub, an attorney with the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee. Hashemi, who works for the PressTV network's English-language service, was detained by federal agents Jan. 13 in St. Louis, Missouri, where she had filmed a Black Lives Matter documentary after visiting relatives in the New Orleans area, her son says. She was then transported to Washington and had remained behind bars since then. story continues below Hashemi appeared at least twice before a US District judge in Washington, and court papers said she would be released immediately after her testimony before a grand jury. Court documents did not include details on the criminal case in which she was named a witness. A source familiar with the matter tells the AP Hashemi had fulfilled her obligation as a material witness and was released. Hashemi is a US citizen and was born Melanie Franklin. She lives in Tehran and comes back to the United States about once a year to see her family, usually scheduling documentary work in the US, her son says. PressTV says Hashemi "will not allow this to be swept under the carpet" and will remain in Washington for a protest Friday. (Read more Iran stories.) (Newser) Spain is braced for a tragedy but praying for a miracle as the operation to rescue a 2-year-old boy from a deep borehole enters a critical phase. After numerous setbacks in the desperate effort to dig a parallel shaft next to the borehole, miners are finally preparing to dig a sloped tunnel to access the narrow shaft that Julen Rosello fell into on Jan. 13, the Local reports. Authorities say the miners, using pickaxes and their own hands, will work in teams of two in 40- to 60-minute shifts to prevent fatigue. The miners are among hundreds of workers and dozens of companies that have joined efforts to rescue the boy, who fell into the borehole while playing on a relative's property in the Malaga village of Totalan. story continues below Julen is believed to be at a depth of around 200 feet. This phase of the operation is considered the most dangerous part of an effort that lead engineer Angel Garcia Vidal describes as "not so much a rescue operation, as a work of humanitarian civil engineering," El Pais reports. The operation has moved some 40,000 tons of earth, which would have taken months under normal circumstances, La Vanguardia reports. There has been no contact with the toddler since he fell into the shaft, but hair that matched his DNA has been found inside the hole. There has been no confirmation that he is still alive, but cold weather may have slowed down his metabolism enough for it to be a possibility. (Read more missing child stories.) (Newser) Secretary of State Mike Pompeo says the US is going to ignore Nicolas Maduro's demand for all American diplomats to leave Venezuela within 72 hoursbecause the US no longer considers Maduro to be the president of Venezuela. Pompeo said in a statement after Maduro's ultimatum that the US will conduct its affairs through Juan Guaido, who declared himself to be interim president on Wednesday. Reuters reports. "The United States does not recognize the Maduro regime as the government of Venezuela," Pompeo said. "Accordingly the United States does not consider former president Nicolas Maduro to have the legal authority to break diplomatic relations." story continues below Maduro, who was inaugurated for a second term Jan. 10, said the opposition leader's claim to the presidency was part of a US plot, the New York Times reports. "I am the only president of Venezuela," Maduro said Wednesday. "We do not want to return to the 20th century of gringo interventions and coups detat." The US recognized Guaido as the troubled country's new leader Wednesday, as did Canada and numerous Latin American countries, including neighbors Colombia and Brazil. But Maduro still has the support of powerful countries including China, Turkey, Russia, and Iran, the AP reports. China urged the US to stay out of the crisis Thursday, saying it "opposes external intervention in Venezuela." (Read more Venezuela stories.) (Newser) The Today show on Wednesday aired Savannah Guthrie's interview with Nick Sandmann, the Covington Catholic High School student at the center of a controversy over a clash between students and Native American activists at the Lincoln Memorial over the weekend, and no one is happy about it. The Hill reports critics on both sides of the aisle are decrying the interview: liberals because they don't think the Kentucky teen, who was in Washington DC with his classmates for an anti-abortion rally and was wearing a Make America Great Again hat during the confrontation, should be given a national platform; conservatives because Guthrie asked Sandmann whether he thinks he should apologize to Nathan Phillips, the activist with whom he came face to face. story continues below The way she worded that question, which some criticized as a "leading" question putting words in the teen's mouth: "Do you feel from this experience that you owe anybody an apology? Do you see your own fault in any way?" Sandmann's response: "As far as standing there, I had every right to do so. My position is that I was not disrespectful to Mr. Phillips. I respect him. Id like to talk to him ... But I can't say that I'm sorry for listening to him and standing there." Both the Hill and USA Today round up appalled social media reactions to the interview from both sides. As for Phillips, Guthrie said the show had interviewed him as well and predicted viewers might hear from him on Thursday's show. The latest scrutiny around him involves his military service; the Washington Post delves into that. (Sandmann says he wishes he had walked away.) (Newser) The man who hanged himself at the age of 93 in Berlin's Spandau Prison in 1987 really was Rudolf Hess, Adolf Hitler's former deputy, DNA tests have confirmed, quashing a conspiracy theory that persisted for more than 70 years. Researchers trying to prove that the Nazi was not replaced by a doppelganger tracked down a Hess relative in Germany and compared his DNA to a blood sample provided by Spandau's Prisoner No. 7 in 1982, the New Scientist reports. Testing revealed that there was a match of almost 100%. Conspiracy theorists, including W. Hugh Thomas, one of the doctors who treated Hess in prison, had suspected that an impostor replaced Hess before he flew to Scotland in 1941 in an attempt to negotiate peace with Britain. story continues below Hess was captured on arrival in Britain. He was sentenced to life in prison at the Nuremberg trials in 1946 and transferred to Spandau in 1947. Thomas claimed that the man he treated had physical differences from Hess, the BBC reports. He also found it suspicious that the prisoner's family refused to see him for years. Former US Army pathologist Rick Wahl, one of the authors of a study in Forensic Science International Genetics, had kept the blood sample on a slide for teaching purposes and it proved to be very usefulHess' body was exhumed and cremated in 2011 to prevent his grave becoming a pilgrimage site for neo-Nazis, meaning the slide held the only known scrap of the Nazi's DNA. (A dossier that surfaced in 2013 answered questions about his 1941 mission.) 9 Went Tubing on the River. Only 4 Have Come Back The National Arts Council of Zimbabwe (NACZ) has approached the Government seeking conferment of national hero status on music icon Oliver Mtukudzi. Mtukudzi died yesterday afternoon at the Avenues Clinic in Harare where he had been admitted in the intensive care unit. He was 66. His management did not immediately disclose details about his death, but Tuku had been battling diabetes for a long time. He had been inactive in showbiz for the last couple of months as his health deteriorated. Speaking at the musicians home in Norton last night, Youth, Sport, Arts and Recreation Minister Kirsty Coventry confirmed the deliberations over Tukus status. She said the Government would consider a special honour for the legendary musician. She was among the first batch of mourners to visit Tukus home to pay their condolences. He was a legend. He is not only a music hero for the country. He is a hero of Africa. He deserves a special honour, but things will become clear in the next days, said Coventry. She said Tuku was a friend, with whom she shared numerous ideas. We had mutual respect for each other. Last year we sat on the same panel when we were talking about philanthropy work. I last spoke to him towards the end of last year when we met at the airport. He was coming from a tour and I was travelling to South Africa. We talked about the future of the arts industry and he was telling me about young people he was working with. He was indeed a legend. As Government, we are prepared to honour our legends in various sectors. NACZ director Nicholas Moyo, who was also among the mourners in Norton last night, said: We have approached the Government with our request for Tuku to be considered for national hero status. The formal procedures have started and we are here to talk to the family so that we get the ball rolling. It would be great to have him as the first artiste to get such honour. He deserves the status because of his hard work and leadership in the sector. He was a hero on his own and a hero of the people. I had the privilege to work with him personally and I am satisfied that his works deserve great honour. However, what matters to us most is not the status. What matters most is the heritage that he has left to the arts industry at large. His works will live forever. The late Mtukudzi is father of five children and has two grandchildren. Two of his children are also musicians. His son Sam Mtukudzi, a successful musician in his own right, died in a car accident in March 2010. Meanwhile, President Mnangagwa yesterday said he learnt with deep shock and great sadness of the death of international music icon Dr Oliver Tuku Mtukudzi, describing him as an expression of Zimbabwean identity and the countrys cultural ambassador. The legendary musician died at the Avenues Clinic in Harare yesterday after a long battle with diabetes. In a statement last night, President Mnangagwa said: It was with deep sense of shock and great sadness that I learnt of the death of our own legendary musician and artist, Dr Oliver Mtukudzi, who died at the Avenues Clinic, Harare, this afternoon. President Mnangagwa said Dr Mtukudzi raised Zimbabwes flag high wherever he performed. An international icon, the late Dr Mtukudzi has been our cultural ambassador throughout his illustrious musical career raising our national flag high wherever he went to perform here at home, on the African continent, and throughout the world, he said. The Head of State said Dr Mtukudzi was an expression of Zimbabwean identity. He was an expression of Zimbabwean identity, a man of humble character, very affable and engaging in his own unique way through Tuku Music, said President Mnangagwa. He said Zimbabwe was poorer with his death. The whole nation is all the poorer with his passing on. On behalf of Government, the party Zanu-PF, my family and indeed on my own behalf, I wish to extend our sincere condolences to the Mtukudzi family, especially his wife, Daisy and children during this, their dark hour of grief. May they derive comfort from the knowledge that the arts world in particular and our Nation as a whole, share their deep pain and great loss. May his dear soul rest in eternal peace, said President Mnangagwa. Information, Publicity and Broadcasting Services Minister Monica Mutsvangwa also consoled the Mtukudzi family in a statement. Government conveys its heartfelt and sincere condolences to the Mtukudzi family over the passing on of Zimbabwe and international music icon, Oliver Tuku Mtukudzi. This is not only a loss to the Mtukudzi family but a loss to our country, the whole of Africa and humanity at large. Through his music Tuku touched millions of hearts around the globe, she said. Minister Mutsvangwa said Dr Mtukudzi sang love, social justice, social trials and tribulations of human existence. Tuku Music is a global symbol of Zimbabwean art and culture. He ably represented Zimbabwe on the regional, continental and international stage, providing education through his music that was rich in social commentary and entertaining at the same time. Music never dies, and the rich legacy he has left with us is here to stay for generations. Tuku was a faithful ambassador for our country and through his music he managed to bring people together and in his death we are united in mourning, she said. Herald Secretary for Commerce & Economic Development (left) meets Korean Minister for Trade of the Ministry of Trade, Industry & Energy Kim Hyun-chong in Davos, Switzerland. Secretary for Commerce & Economic Development Edward Yau has met with trade ministers and business leaders in Davos, Switzerland to promote Hong Kong's strengths as an international trading hub and to forge closer economic ties with its trading partners. Mr Yau said it is of paramount importance that Hong Kong maintains its presence at major international forums like the World Economic Forum and the World Trade Organization meetings. He said these provide very good opportunities for Hong Kong to establish and renew close contacts with its trade counterparts and to keep the citys finger on the pulse of the global trade scene, which is conducive to maintaining Hong Kong's status as an international trade and financial centre. Mr Yau said the current-term Government is striving to strengthen bilateral ties with like-minded trading partners and deepen Hong Kong's economic integration with different parts of the world. He held a bilateral meeting with Canadian Federal Minister of International Trade Diversification James Carr to discuss the prospect of further strengthening trade co-operation between the two places. Mr Yau also met Korean Minister for Trade of the Ministry of Trade, Industry & Energy Kim Hyun-chong to exchange views on trade issues and discuss the progress in setting up an Economic & Trade Office in Seoul. Hong Kong signed Investment Promotion & Protection Agreements with Korea in 1997 and Canada in 2016. Mr Yau also joined Financial Secretary Paul Chan to meet British Secretary of State for International Trade Liam Fox on forging closer bilateral economic ties, including exploring the possibility of a free trade agreement in future. He told Mr Fox that Hong Kong welcomes more British companies setting up offices in Hong Kong and making use of the Mainland and Hong Kong Closer Economic Partnership Arrangement to enter into the Mainland market and tap the vast business opportunities there. Mr Yau also took part in the "Informal Gathering of World Economic Leaders: The End of Global Trade as We Know it?" under the World Economic Forum where participating ministers and policy makers exchanged views on the outlook for free trade and the multilateral trading system in the present era. He spoke on the challenges facing the current global economic and trade environment at the meeting. Financial Secretary Paul Chan (third right) attends a breakfast panel discussion on artificial intelligence in Davos, Switzerland. Financial Secretary Paul Chan today discussed the application of artificial intelligence and highlighted the opportunities of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area at two events while attending the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting in Davos, Switzerland. Mr Chan attended a breakfast panel discussion organised by a global consultancy firm, focusing on the impact of AI on a city's development. As one of the panelists at the session, he said that a major direction of Hong Kong's technological development would be AI, which could help promote the development of smart city and various industries. Ahead of this event, Mr Chan met its senior management to discuss views on the development of Hong Kong's finance, accounting and insurance industries. In the evening, he spoke at an event on starting businesses in the bay area and said that it offers limitless opportunities for new ideas and inventions. Hong Kong has the know-how, experience and connections to help the next generation of entrepreneurs in exploring opportunities in the bay area. Mr Chan then met the senior management of a Swiss reinsurance company with a business history of more than a century. Apart from updating them on the latest measures launched by the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government in enhancing the competitiveness of the insurance industry and strengthening Hong Kong's status as an international financial centre, he encouraged them to leverage the city's unique advantages to tap into opportunities brought about by the bay area. In the next two days in Davos, Mr Chan will meet finance officials from other countries and regions. Champaign, IL (61820) Today Partly cloudy skies early then heavy thunderstorms late. A few storms may be severe. Low 69F. Winds SW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 80%.. Tonight Partly cloudy skies early then heavy thunderstorms late. A few storms may be severe. Low 69F. Winds SW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 80%. By AFP WASHINGTON: The Republican-led US Senate on Thursday blocked President Donald Trump's plan to re-open shuttered federal agencies and fund a controversial wall on the Mexico border -- a fresh setback in efforts to end a crippling month-long government shutdown. The measure -- which also included some immigration policy changes --earned 50 votes to 47 against, but it needed 60 votes to advance. A competing proposal by Senate Democrats that would open government through February 8 without funding Trump's wall, and leave room for border security negotiations, was also expected to fail. The legislative deadlock leaves Congress and the president red-faced and adrift as hundreds of thousands of federal workers, some reliant on food banks to make ends meet, are about to miss a second paycheck. ALSO READ: Indian-American Congressman Ro Khanna asks Trump to end government shutdown Trump was already smarting, after being forced into shelving his annual State of the Union address by top Democrat Nancy Pelosi, the speaker of the House of Representatives, until the government is fully operational. Though politically bruised, Trump stood firm on his demand for billions of dollars in funding for a border wall as part of an overall budget package. "Very simply, without a Wall it all doesnt work," he tweeted at Pelosi on Thursday before the Senate votes. "We will not Cave!" Deadlock The shutdown is now in its 34th day, with federal workers left unpaid across the country and in US installations abroad -- and the knock-on effects affecting millions more. As acrimony in Washington grew, lawmakers across the political spectrum were left searching in vain for an exit strategy for the longest-ever halt to federal operations, as furloughed government employees and contractors vented their fury on Capitol Hill. "There's no excuse for Senate Republicans not to pass this legislation," Pelosi told reporters, referring to the Democratic plan. "Who can say no to that?" ALSO READ: Love amidst shutdown: Three weddings in Washington amid Donald Trump's US shutdown Opening government and negotiating later on border security, as Democrats have long argued, "is not going to cut it," Republican Senator Richard Shelby said before the votes. He then sounded an ominous note: "Is this the beginning of the end, or is it just the end of the beginning? We shall find out." The air travel industry issued dire warnings, including one from the National Air Traffic Controllers Association. "In our risk-averse industry, we cannot even calculate the level of risk currently at play, nor predict the point at which the entire system will break," NATCA president Paul Rinaldi said in a statement. "It is unprecedented." READ HERE: Sikhs in Texas feed US employees affected by government shutdown Second paycheck missed On Wednesday, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell told the chamber that "it's time to make a deal." Most Democrats oppose direct funds for wall construction, but some have begun publicly advocating for negotiating a solution that includes boosted border funding, including for border structures. And Pelosi herself said Thursday that "we will have some of our proposals for what comes next" in upcoming legislation offerings. "Look, I think physical barriers are part of the solution," Steny Hoyer, the number two House Democrat, told Fox News. READ HERE: US shutdown: Investigation in 87 major accident cases stalled "We want to make sure that people who come into the United States are authorized to do so," he added. "We're for border security and I think we can get there." The shutdown, which has seen some 800,000 federal employees left without pay for a month, was triggered by Trump's refusal to sign funding bills in December, in retaliation for Democratic opposition to funds for extending walls along the US-Mexico border. The House, now controlled by Democrats, has passed multiple bills that would open government, but the Republican-run Senate is aligned with Trump's border wall push. Birgunj, January 24 More than 88,000 trees are likely to be chopped down for the construction of the Nepal-India petroleum pipeline. Government officials have informed that total 88,163 trees will be cut down between Amalekhgunj and Pathalaiya of Bara district, in the forest area protected by Parsa National Park. The Ministry of Forest and Environment says a Cabinet meeting held last week approved the Ministrys request to fell the trees. The Cabinet has assigned Timber Corporation of Nepal to execute the decision. Accordingly, the Corporations Pathalaiya branch has issued a notice calling for tenders to chop down the trees. However, no decision has been made about removing trees from the forest area south of Pathalaiya. The construction company digging the pipeline says it will complete the assignment in 15 days once the land is cleared after chopping down the trees. By AFP DAVOS: Billionaire investor George Soros on Thursday said Chinese President Xi Jinping was "the most dangerous enemy" of free societies for presiding over a high-tech surveillance regime. "China is not the only authoritarian regime in the world but it is the wealthiest, strongest and technologically most advanced," he said, noting concerns too about Vladimir Putin's Russia. "This makes Xi Jinping the most dangerous opponent of open societies," Soros told a dinner audience on the margins of the World Economic Forum in Davos. The Hungarian-born philanthropist said US tech giants such as Facebook must be reined in by authorities for the good of democracy. He pointed "to the mortal danger facing open societies from the instruments of control that machine learning and artificial intelligence can put in the hands of repressive regimes". ALSO READ: Why Huawei arrest deepens conflict between US and China Soros dwelt on concerns in the West about Chinese tech giants ZTE and Huawei, as countries roll out next-generation 5G wireless networks. He said US President Donald Trump should crack down hard on the companies as part of a more focussed effort on China instead of taking on "practically the whole world" in trade conflicts. "If these companies came to dominate the 5G market, they would present an unacceptable security risk for the rest of the world," Soros said in a speech, copies of which were distributed in Chinese. ALSO READ: Chinese President Xi Jinping warns no one can 'dictate' China's path, 40 years on from reforms - 'Total control' - Communist China under Xi has been building a cutting-edge system including facial recognition to keep tabs on its citizens, and Soros said algorithms would calculate how dangerous a threat individuals might pose to the regime. "The 'social credit' system, if it became operational, would give Xi total control over the people," he said at the dinner, which was open to media. "Since Xi is the most dangerous enemy of the open society, we must pin our hopes on the Chinese people, and especially on the business community and a political elite willing to uphold the Confucian tradition," he said, referencing the ancient history of Chinese officials speaking truth to power, on pain of imprisonment or death. "This doesnt mean that those of us who believe in the open society should remain passive," Soros added. "The reality is that we are in a Cold War that threatens to turn into a hot one. On the other hand, if Xi and Trump were no longer in power, an opportunity would present itself to develop greater cooperation between the two cyber-superpowers." ALSO READ: Google shuts down 'censored' Chinese Search project Soros's dinner speeches are an annual tradition at the elite business forum in Davos, and this year it came after a particularly difficult period for his Open Society Foundations. Last month, the Soros-funded Central European University said it had been "forced" to move its most prestigious study programmes to Vienna after a bitter legal battle with the right-wing government of Prime Minister Viktor Orban in his native Hungary. Soros did not touch on the issue in his Davos speech, but did say: "Those of us who want to preserve the open society must work together and form an effective alliance. We have a task that cant be left to governments." By AFP ANKARA: The United States and major South American nations recognised Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido as interim leader Wednesday while the UN urged dialogue in Caracas to avoid "disaster", leaving President Nicolas Maduro increasingly isolated. Major regional players Brazil, Colombia, Chile, Peru and Argentina all gave their backing to Guaido's self-proclamation as acting president, which he made in front of crowd of tens of thousands of supporters in the capital Caracas. ALSO READ | Brexit and Venezuela set to feature heavily in Davos The European Union called for free elections to restore democracy. Russia, however, lashed out at Western countries and Cuba and Turkey expressed "solidarity" with Maduro while Mexico extended lukewarm support to him. In Moscow, foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova criticised the international community saying events in Venezuela "show clearly the attitude of the progressive international community towards international law, sovereignty and non-interference in the internal affairs of a country where it seeks a change in power." But the avalanche of support for Guaido dramatically raised the stakes in Venezuela, an oil-rich nation that has become deeply impoverished under Maduro. Maduro has clung to power through the support of the Venezuelan military, and is a socialist ally of Russia, which last month sent two nuclear-capable bombers to the country to participate in a military drill. Just minutes after Guaido's declaration, US President Donald Trump recognised him as interim leader, and declared his National Assembly was "the only legitimate branch of government duly elected by the Venezuelan people". "The people of Venezuela have courageously spoken out against Maduro and his regime and demanded freedom and the rule of law," Trump said. The US said it stood ready to use "all options" if Maduro tries to quash the opposition, in an implied threat of military force. Maduro responded saying he was cutting off diplomatic ties with Washington, as his riot police clashed with opposition supporters in Caracas. "Get Out! Leave Venezuela. Here we have dignity, damn it," Maduro said, giving US diplomats 72 hours to depart. But Guaido tweeted in response that, under him, Venezuela wants countries "to maintain their diplomatic presence in our country". And the US State Department said "former president Maduro" did not have the authority to sever relations. Avoid escalation UN chief Antonio Guterres appealed for dialogue. "What we hope is that dialogue can be possible, and that we avoid an escalation that would lead to the kind of conflict that would be a disaster for the people of Venezuela and for the region," he said at the World Economic Forum in Davos. Tweeting from the Swiss ski resort, Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro said: "Brazil recognises Mr. Juan Guaido as Venezuela's interim president." He added that "Brazil will support politically and economically the process of transition so that democracy and social peace return to Venezuela". Bolsonaro, a far-right former paratrooper who has set about forging close ties with the Trump administration since taking power at the beginning of January, has repeatedly vowed to challenge Maduro in any way he can. Colombian President Ivan Duque, another US ally also at Davos, said his country was behind Guaido and will "accompany this process of transition to democracy so that the Venezuelan people free themselves of their dictatorship". Canadian Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland expressed "full support" for Guaido, adding: "It's an important day for Venezuela and I'm grateful for the solidarity of the Lima Group in speaking out on this." Eleven members of the 14-nation Lima Group -- Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Honduras, Panama, Paraguay and Peru -- later issued a joint statement endorsing Guaido as interim president. The three holdouts included Mexico, which has maintained a principle of non-intervention under leftist President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, as well as Guyana and Saint Lucia. The United States is not a member but supports the group, which has taken an increasingly strident stance against Maduro, whom it sees as anti-democratic. The European Union did not join the countries lining up behind Guaido but called for "free and credible elections". "The EU strongly calls for the start of an immediate political process leading to free and credible elections, in conformity with the constitutional order," the bloc's diplomatic chief Federica Mogherini said in a statement. The UE member states "remain ready to support the restoration of democracy and rule of law in Venezuela through a credible peaceful political process in line with the Venezuelan constitution", she added. EU Council President Donald Tusk tweeted that "I hope that all of Europe will unite in support of democratic forces in Venezuela". He added: "Unlike Maduro, the parliamentary assembly, including Juan Guaido have a democratic mandate from Venezuelan citizens." By AFP MOSCOW: Russia on Thursday slammed what it called foreign interference in Venezuela and denounced the opposition's "usurpation of power", calling President Nicolas Maduro the crisis-hit country's legitimate leader. In a strongly-worded statement backing Moscow ally Maduro, the Russian foreign ministry warned that international support for opposition leader Juan Guaido, who declared himself interim president Wednesday, was a "direct path to lawlessness and bloodshed". "Only Venezuelans have the right to determine their future. Destructive outside interference, especially in the current extremely tense situation, is unacceptable," it said. ALSO READ | China 'opposes' foreign interference in Venezuelan crisis In a separate statement to reporters, Russian President Vladimir Putin's spokesman slammed attempts by the opposition to usurp power. "We consider the attempted usurpation of power in Venezuela as. A breach of the foundations of international law," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters during a conference call. "Maduro is the legitimate head of state," he added. On Wednesday, the United States and major South American nations recognised Venezuelan Guaido as interim leader, while the UN urged dialogue in Caracas to avoid "disaster", leaving Maduro increasingly isolated. The Kremlin has backed Maduro who has been hit by US and EU sanctions, and ostracised as a dictator by Western powers for his brutal suppression of the opposition. Moscow warned Washington against any attempts to militarily intervene in Venezuela. "We caution against any such reckless steps fraught with catastrophic consequences," the foreign ministry said. Moscow said Washington's "cavalier" actions in the country showed that the United States ignored norms of international law, claiming it wanted to push through a change of power in Venezuela. Russia has extensive economic interests in Venezuela and invested billions of dollars in its energy sector. By AFP KABUL: The Taliban "mastermind" behind an attack which left 65 dead has been killed in an airstrike, Afghanistan's intelligence agency said Wednesday -- a claim the insurgents deny. Monday's violence was the latest high-casualty assault on Afghan forces, who experts say are continuing to suffer "unsustainable" losses since NATO withdrew combat forces from the country in 2014. READ | At least 65 killed in Taliban attack on Afghan intelligence base Militants detonated a Humvee filled with explosions before three gunmen opened fire at a National Directorate of Security (NDS) intelligence agency base in central Wardak province, but further details have been difficult to independently verify. A local official told AFP at least 65 people had been killed. The NDS has given a lower toll, instead claiming 36 had been killed and 58 wounded. Afghan authorities are known to downplay casualties. The agency said an aerial bombardment in the provincial capital the following night killed eight Taliban insurgents, including the planner of the Monday attack. "Commander Noman... was killed along with seven other terrorists in an airstrike in Maidan Shar city", it said in a statement. "NDS will follow the remaining members of this terrorist network and eliminate them all," it added. The Taliban dismissed the statement as "propaganda" without providing further details. Wardak provinical council chief Akhtar Mohammad Tahiri said an aerial bombardment did take place in Maidan Shar on Tuesday, but he said it killed four civilians and happened during the day. The Wardak attack followed a flurry of diplomatic activity by the United States aimed at bringing the Taliban to the table for talks seeking an end to the 17-year war. Washington on Tuesday confirmed ongoing talks in Qatar between its envoy for Afghanistan Zalmay Khalilzad and representatives of the Taliban. President Donald Trump has ordered the withdrawal of half of the remaining 14,000 US troops in Afghanistan in a push to extricate Washington from the conflict, launched in 2001 after the September 11 attacks. By Express News Service HYDERABAD: Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) working president KT Rama Rao on Wednesday claimed that AP Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu has copied Telangana governments policies. Naidu has done a cut-and-paste job. Nothing more, he said. Addressing journalists at the felicitation ceremony of Chanti Kranthi Kiran, journalist-turned-MLA from Andhole here on Wednesday, Rao said that AP Chief Minister was now praying to god in his time of difficulty (apada mokkulu). He made these remarks when some journalists spoke of Naidus plans to provide house sites to scribes. He termed Naidus efforts as chitta suddhi leni Siva pujalu (efforts sans sincerity). The people of AP are very intelligent. They wont fall for your tricks, Rao told Naidu.Naidu is thinking that he will be elected in the next Assembly elections in AP if he copies and implements whatever Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao does in Telangana, Rao said. The TRS working president also questioned the priorities of some newspapers. Some newspapers are giving more space to Amaravati news in Telangana editions. But, the same newspapers are not carrying Telangana news in their Andhra Pradesh editions, he said and opined that it was not only a failure to acknowledge the existence of Telangana but an effort by AP media to wield control over Telangana. Rao declared that the TRS government would support newspapers which promote Telangana State and its culture. The Sircilla MLA said that the TRS government had been working for the welfare of the journalists for the last four years. The TRS government has done justice to all sections of the society which had participated in the separate Telangana movement, he said, assuring that the government would try to resolve pending issues of journalists as well. By Express News Service TIRUCHY: Declaring that 2019 parliamentary elections would be a battle between Sanatana forces and democracy, DMK president MK Stalin on Wednesday called upon people to defeat both the BJP and the AIADMK either if they come together or conspire and contest separately. Stalin, along with national leaders of Left parties and Congress spoke in VCKs State-level conference Save the Nation, which had the theme Sanatana vs Democracy. VCK chief Thol Thirumavalavan, who presided over, said the coalition led by the DMK would sweep all 40 Lok Sabha seats in Tamil Nadu and Puducherry. Addressing the gathering, Stalin said This conference is held to save the nation. Who is the threat to the nation? Is there any invasion from outside? No. The threat to our country is from within. The rulers of the nation themselves turn out to be its threat. That is why I announce the upcoming election as the second freedom struggle of India. Stalin charged BJP with branding opposition parties as anti-nationals and said he was proud to be called an anti-national if it meant opposing the BJP. Also, he lashed out at the Union government for introducing 10 per cent reservation for the Upper Caste poor, and wondered, Does (Prime Minister) Modi have any concern for the economically weaker sections among Backward Classes and Dalits? Listing the schemes passed by the Justice party and the DMK to explain to those who keep asking what the Dravidian movement has done for Dalits, Stalin recalled the appointment of first Dalit judge to the Madras High Court by the DMK government, building Samathuvapuram, naming the Law university after Ambedkar, among others. Former union minister from Congress, Kodikunil Suresh of Kerala, said Absence of Thirumavalavan in the Lok Sabha has created a vacuum in raising Dalit rights issues. I want his presence in the next Lok Sabha. Puducherry Chief Minister V Narayanasamy asserted nobody could stop Rahul Gandhi becoming the next Prime Minister. But CPM state secretary Sitaram Yechury had a different take. Like 2004, Opposition parties should now unite in defeating the BJP first and pave the way for an alternative secular government. CPI general secretary Sudhakar Reddy, TNCC chief S Thirunavukkarasar, DK president K Veeramani, IUML leader KM Kader Mohideen and MMKs MH Jawahirullah also spoke. Ajay Kanth By Express News Service KOCHI: People of Kerala can heave a sigh of relief as their ground water sources are not that polluted as expected. But warning signs are all clear as lead content in ground water sources has touched 2 mg/l which is well above the normal prescribed level of 0.001 mg/l. However, compared to immediate neighbours-Tamil Nadu and Karnataka, Keralas ground water is of better quality as per the latest findings of the National Aquifer Mapping and Management Programme (NAQUIM). Ground water in Kerala has no arsenic content while it was two mg/l in Karnataka and nine mg/l in Tamil Nadu. Similarly, flouride content in Karnataka was 30 mg/l, nitrate 29 mg/l and iron 22 mg/l, while Kerala has only flouride content of five mg/l, nitrate content of 11 mg/l and iron content of 14 mg/l. Karnataka has no lead content compared to Tamil Nadu which has a lead content of three mg/l. The NAQUIM was started with the objective to delineate the aquifers and develop plans for ground water management. The findings were documented based on information obtained from periodic monitoring of ground water quality and aquifer mapping studies in various parts of the country. Kerala State Pollution Control Board Chief Environmental Engineer M A Baiju said there was not much industrial pollution of water bodies happening in the state while more sewage was getting mixed with water bodies rampantly. We have not detected content of cadmium, chromium or arsenic in groundwater sources. But the level of e-coli bacteria and other hazardous bacteria was high. he said adding the PCB was closely monitoring industrial discharges into water bodies. Though we get many complaints about chemical pollution of water bodies, we couldnt confirm it during chemical examination, Baiju said. Environmentalist Purushan Eloor begged to differ with the findings of the NAQUIM saying the study might not have covered Aluva industrial area. Aluva river is still being polluted by industries. The situation has become worse after the flood. We should not believe these kind of findings, he said. Anil S By Express News Service THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Ten months have elapsed since Balaramapuram St Sebastians Church member Maniyan passed away at 72, but his family members still feel sad they could not give him the desired farewell. Like any faithful, they wanted a proper burial, with a mass offered in their parish church, but they could not do it. We waited, but had to bury him the next day in the church cemetery without the usual religious rites. It still pains us, laments Basanio Luis, Maniyans son-in-law. Maniyan is one among the 18 people who died in the past 10 months in the parish. The ordeal had been the same. A prolonged tussle between the Latin Catholic Diocese of Neyyattinkara and parish over the ownership of around 18 acres of land and property has been creating hardships for nearly 9,000 people belonging to 800-odd families here. Dispute over church land leads to brawl, police case The members of Balaramapuram St Sebastians Church claim the land belongs to the parish, but the Diocese says, as per law, the Latin Church owns it and hence should be under the Diocesan control. After the scuffle took a turn for the worse 10 months ago, the parish has allegedly been denied regular masses and Diocesan support at baptism, holy communion, wedding and death. The issue got murkier last month after the first holy communion of 28 kids got disrupted, leading to a brawl and the police registering a case. The church witnessed another development earlier this month when ex-priests under the Open Church Movement (OCM) --- an initiative by those who had left the Church fold earlier --- offered holy masses during the annual feast. Of the 18 who died in the past 10 months, four were buried without proper rites. The regular mass is not being held now. With the Diocese refusing to conduct it, we were forced to seek refuge in other churches. Unless we hand over the propertys ownership, the Diocese wont send priests to our church, said parish member Varghese Raj. We went to the Bishops House 13 times, but were not permitted to meet him. Fed up with the Dioceses non-cooperation, we conducted the annual feast with the help of the OCM, said parishioners body secretary M Alphonse. The OCM celebrated masses during the 10-day feast at the church this month. We intervened after feeling that justice was being denied to them, said OCM chairman Reji Njallani. By Express News Service KOCHI: Tightening its grip on Sr Lucy Kalapura, who had stood against former Jalandhar Bishop Franco Mulakkal, the Catholic Church on Wednesday sent her another letter seeking an explanation for her disobedience against the Church. This time, her violation of the rule of the cloister by allowing a journalist to stay with her, going out late in the evening and coming back late at night without permission are her newly-added sins. The letter, dated January 18 and written by Sr Ann Joseph, Superior General, Franciscan Clarist Congregation (FCC), has asked Sr Lucy to explain her actions in writing and also give reason why further canonical process not be taken against her, before February 6. ALSO READ: Church trying to suppress dissenting voices? The letter notes, You (Sr Lucy) have been repeatedly appearing on social media and before TV channels since September 20, 2018, without the knowledge of your superiors. You are belittling the Catholic Church and the FCC by making false accusations. You are going out late in the evening and are returning late at night without permission, which is against the religious disciplines of FCC. It adds: You violated the rule of the cloister by allowing a journalist to stay in your room for a night. You made monetary transactions for publishing the book which exceeds the amount even the FCC Superior General can use for extraordinary expenditure without permission. This is a grave infringement of the vows of poverty and obedience. The latest letter was sent after Sr Lucy failed to respond to a previous warning letter sent by Sr Ann earlier this month. READ HERE | A Christmas in solitude for Kerala nuns who protested against rape-accused Bishop Will reply to the letter: Nun This time, Sr Lucy has decided to reply to the Superior Generals letter. The accusations they have levelled against me are false. I will give a proper explanation. I have already started drafting it. , she said. She said the journalist was her relatives daughter who had come to see her. She could not stay in the guest room due to a miscommunication, Sr Lucy told Express. Sr Lucy said finding a lodge in the evening for the teenage girl was difficult. So, she had no other option but to stay with her. She had not said anything against the FCC or the Church. If they cite any reason for the allegations, I will believe them. I have not said or done anything against the Church and FCC. Lets see what further actions they take against me, she said. The previous letter In the previous letter, Sr Ann had accused Sr Lucy of breaking the vow of poverty for various wrongdoings, including publishing her book Snehamazhayil, taking part in TV channel discussions, buying a car and registering it in her name, taking a loan without seeking her superiors permission and publishing her articles in non-Christian weekly and daily publications. Shreepad Ayachit By Express News Service KOPPAL: Residents of 20 villages in Kushtagi taluk of Koppal district have come together to rejuvenate a 300-acre lake on their own.Drawing inspiration from a lake rejuvenation project implemented by actor Yashs Yashomarga Foundation a couple of years ago, these residents have decided to rejuvenate the lake located at Nidasheshi village by mobilising funds on their own. Yashomarga Foundation had rejuvenated a lake at Talloor village in Yelburga taluk of the district. The Nidasheshi lake with a catchment area of 7,000 acres is the only source of water for these 20 villages, including Kalakabandi, Yelaburti, Hire Aralihalli and Shakapur, in the rain-dependent Kushtagi taluk.With the farming community facing consecutive droughts, the villagers have vowed to make all-out efforts to desilt and rejuvenate the lake, said Devendrappa Balootagi, a progressive farmer. The farmers are not alone. Several local organisations have also joined them in this venture. The entire restoration project could cost about `2 crore, he said. Incidentally, Devendrappas son Ramesh Balootagi was instrumental in getting Talloor lake rejuvenated by the Yashoa Marga Foundation. A first preparatory meeting in connection with the rejuvenation project was held last week. The villagers want to ensure that the lake is rejuvenated before the commencement of the monsoon so that water can be stored to help farmers in agricultural activities. Hainan receives over 76 million tourists in 2018 From:ChinaDaily | 2019-01-23 17:57 HAIKOU - More than 76 million domestic and overseas tourists visited southern China's island province of Hainan in 2018, up 11.8 percent year-on-year, local authorities said Wednesday. Hainan's tourism revenue went up 14.5 percent over the previous year to more than 95 billion yuan ($14 billion) last year, said Sun Ying, director of the provincial department of culture, radio, television and sports. In 2018, the island registered more than 140 outbound and inbound trips of cruises and yachts, receiving about 68,000 outbound and inbound tourists. The cruises to the Xisha Islands in the South China Sea made 106 trips, up 51.4 percent, and received 33,300 domestic tourists, up 90.9 percent. The two duty-free shops, one in the provincial capital of Haikou and the other in the resort city of Sanya, received 2.88 million customers and sold over 10 billion yuan of goods, according to official data. The province has just opened two more duty-free shops, bringing the total number of offshore duty-free shops on the popular resort island to four. China plans to build Hainan into an international tourism and consumption center by 2025 and a globally influential tourism and consumption destination by 2035. By PTI NEW DELHI: With approval from the Defence Minister, it has been decided that disability or war injury pension for armed forces personnel shall be minimum Rs 18,000 per month, the ministry said Thursday. "With approval from Smt @nsitharaman, it has been decided that the disability/war injury pension, special family pension and liberalised family pension shall be minimum Rs 18,000 per month for Defence Forces pensioners/family pensioners, with effect from 1/1/2016," the Defence Ministry said in a tweet. The Defence Ministry last July had said armed forces personnel would continue to get disability pension based on percentage system till the Anomaly Committee came out with a report on the issue. There was widespread criticism from opposition parties and the military establishment over a letter issued prior to that which had introduced a slab-based system, as recommended by the 7th Pay Commission, for determining the disability pension for defence forces. Following this, the ministry had referred the matter to the Anomaly Committee. However, there was confusion as to what system would be used to determine disability pension. Till the committee comes out with a report, existing percentage system will be used to determine disability pension, defence sources said. Anand ST Das By Express News Service PATNA: A senior leader of Bihars main Opposition party RJD was on Thursday shot dead in Samastipur district by unidentified assailants. The murder, one of seven in the state in 24 hours, sparked protests and prompted RJD to blame RSS and BJP. Raghubar Rai, 50, was shot at outside his home in Kalyanpur village when he was having a morning walk, said police. Eyewitnesses said three men came on a bike and pumped six bullets into Rai before escaping. Rai, who was RJDs state general secretary and earlier served as vice-chairman of the local zila parishad, was rushed to a private nursing home in Darbhanga, where he was declared brought dead. The news of his death led hundreds of people to block the Darbhanga-Samastipur highway in protest against lawlessness in the area. Just hours earlier, a 53-year-old farmer was shot dead in nearby Bibhutipur village. Opposition leader Tejashwi Yadav of RJD attacked Chief Minister Nitish Kumar for Rais murder, asking him to rein in government-backed goons. Why do you (Kumar) cling to your chair as CM and home minister? Criminals patronized by you are selectively killing leaders of RJD and RLSP, but you have so far kept silent. Extremely condemnable, said Yadav in a tweet. RJD state president Ram Chandra Purve said Rai was a popular leader in Samastipur, Khagaria and Darbhanga and that he had arranged grand a celebration of socialist icon Karpoori Thakurs birth anniversary in the area later in the day. Rai was killed to foil the Karpoori anniversary function he was going to attend. The popular leader was on the target of RSS and BJP for quite some time, said Purve. RJD vice-president Raghuvansh Prasad Singh said Bihars NDA government has no concern for the sharply falling law and order situation in the state. RJD chief Lalu Prasad slammed Nitish Kumar in a tweet, saying: He has no shame. He says rule of law prevails in Bihar while people are being killed like insects. He is still playing the same cassette. Deputy chief minister Sushil Kumar Modi of BJP hit back at the RJD chief, saying more than 100 massacres and numerous abductions took place in Bihar during RJD rule. The convicted Lalu is trying to sully Bihars image by tweeting from jail, said Modi. Lalus twitter handle is operated by his close aides and family members. Rajesh Asnani By Express News Service JAIPUR: In a big relief to inter-caste and inter-religious couples of legal age in love and wishing to marry against the wishes of their families, the Ashok Gehlot government in Rajasthan has ordered deputy commissioners and superintendents of Police to provide them full security. A circular issued by Additional Director General of Police, Civil Rights, Junga Srinivasa Rao on Wednesday said security will be provided to couples who go for inter-caste and inter-religious marriages. The senior-most women police personnel present at the police station will be appointed nodal officers for this purpose. The guidelines were framed on Tuesday following directives from the Rajasthan High Court in the first week of January while hearing a petition by one Bajrang Lal. Hearing the petition, the HC had asked Rajasthan DGP Kapil Garg to take immediate steps for security of such couples. National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) data for 2014 had recorded 28 cases of honour killings nationwide but noted that in 2015, this rose to 251 cases due to better reporting a phenomenal 792% increase over the last year. The NCRB also noted that most such killings were carried out by family members who disapproved of inter-religious and inter-caste marriages. Rajasthan, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and Punjab led the list of such killings. n September 2018 a 15-year-old girl was burnt alive, the police report calling it an honour killing. In May the same year, a 21-year-old Muslim youngster from Bikaner was abducted, tortured and murdered by a girls family. In another case, a Gujjar girl was killed by her parents for marrying a Meena boy in September 2015. The two castes are bitter social rivals. IPS officer Lovely Katiyar, SP, Crime Branch, has been appointed the State Nodal Officer and Shalini Saxena, ASP Special Branch, has been appointed as the State Assistant Nodal Officer. A 24X7 helpline has also been set up. Rao said a WhatsApp helpline is also in the pipeline. As soon as information is received, district and state level nodal officers will co-ordinate with the respective police stations, he said. This will help couples to get married without fearing parents and society... said womens rights activist Nisha Siddhu. By PTI AMETHI: Congress president Rahul Gandhi Thursday said he has given his sister Priyanka Gandhi, newly entrusted with eastern Uttar Pradesh, the target of ensuring that the party forms the next government in the state. The Congress will also fight the coming Lok Sabha polls with full strength, he said at a public meeting in his constituency. His two-day visit to Amethi had coincided Wednesday with the formal entry of Priyanka Gandhi in politics, after years of speculation on whether she would take the plunge. She has been appointed general secretary for Uttar Pradesh East, while Jyotiraditya Scindia holds charge of UP West. "Priyanka and Scindia have been given a target. That is to form a Congress government in Uttar Pradesh in the next election by defeating and wiping out the BJP, the Congress president said. Unlike PM Modi, I do not talk of a 'BJP-mukt Bharat' but speak with respect," Gandhi said, referring to Narendra Modi's call to free India of the Congress. Whether it is Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh or Tamil Nadu, everywhere the Congress will fight with full might on the front foot, and you will see that after the Vidhan Sabha elections there will be a Congress government in the state, he said. In the Lok Sabha polls, we will contest with full strength, without taking a backward step," he said, referring to the election just months away. He criticised the Centre government over the Rafale aircraft deal and accused the prime minister of waiving industrialists' loans, charges countered earlier by the government. The watchman proved to be a thief," he said, and repeated the slogan, "Gali gali mein shor hai, chowkidar chor hai." Earlier in the morning, Gandhi visited a local Shiva temple after meeting party workers at a guesthouse. Addressing a public meeting in Salon area, he termed himself, his sister and mother Sonia Gandhi as soldiers for the people of the constituency. While Rahul Gandhi won the 2014 parliamentary elections from Amethi, Sonia Gandhi is an MP from adjacent Rae Bareli. Both fall under the turf carved out for Priyanka Gandhi. Narendra Modi's Varanasi constituency and Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath's bastion Gorakhpur are also in eastern UP. Rahul Gandhi reiterated he has full respect for leaders like Bahujan Samaj Party president Mayawati and Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav and his father Mulayam Singh Yadav. The SP and the BSP recently forged an alliance for UP in the coming Lok Sabha polls, keeping the Congress out of the pact. The Congress president said the prime minister had not kept his poll promise on creating jobs, and suggested that the Bharatiya Janata Party government had slowed development in his constituency. "You will get your food park back, not 99 per cent but 101 per cent. All development projects that have been stalled by Narendra Modi and Yogiji to hurt you will be back," he said. "The BJP people are spreading hatred in the name of religion, caste and region. They get people of UP and Bihar thrown out of Gujarat, get Hindus and Muslims fight each other,' he charged. Narendra Modi means hatred, he is the symbol of hatred, he said. We will remove Modi in 2019 and no one can stop this." By PTI NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led committee Thursday met here to decide the name of the next CBI chief, the post lying vacant following the unceremonious exit of Alok Verma early this month, officials said. The meeting was being attended by Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi and leader of the Congress in Lok Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge, they said. The panel had on January 10 removed Verma, who was engaged in a bitter fight with Gujarat-cadre IPS officer Rakesh Asthana over corruption charges. Both Verma and Asthana have accused each other of impropriety. Verma, after being removed from the post of CBI director, was named as the Director General of Fire Services, Civil Defence and Home Guards, a less significant portfolio. Verma did not accept the offer and wrote to the government, saying he should be considered as deemed superannuated as he has completed 60 year age of superannuation. He had taken over as the CBI chief on February 1, 2017 for a fixed two-year tenure. In a letter to Secretary of Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT), C Chandramouli, Verma said he has superannuated on July 31, 2017. The Centre has not yet made public its decision on Verma's letter. The Centre has appointed M Nageshwara Rao as the interim CBI chief. Verma's resignation letter led to political slugfest with the opposition parties, mainly the Congress, accusing the central government of alleged interference in public institutions. Kharge had recently written to the prime minister terming Rao's appointment as CBI's interim chief "illegal". He had asked the government to immediately convene the meeting of the panel to decide on the new CBI chief. By Express News Service NEW DELHI: Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh on Wednesday lodged a protest against Pakistans proposal to allow only Sikh pilgrims to visit the Kartarpur Sahib Gurdwara, pointing out that Guru Nanak Dev was a universal Guru, revered by followers of all religions, especially Hindus. Amarinder has urged the Union Government to take up the issue with Islamabad when the latter sends its draft agreement for regulating entry into its territory through the Kartarpur Corridor. Amarinder said while Islamabad was well within its rights to set terms and conditions relating to its territorial safety and security, it should take into consideration the fact that the first Sikh Gurus ideology is not confined to Sikhs but is emulated by people of all faiths. Sikh ethos prescribes non-discrimination, with even the concept of a langar being a service for all, said the CM, adding that all gurdwaras are open to everyone, without a religious bias. A large number of Hindus in India were ardent followers of Sri Guru Nanak Dev, and it was their cherished dream to visit the Kartarpur Sahib Gurdwara, which was closely associated with the first Sikh Guru, he added. Amarinder also objected to the condition of the number of pilgrims proposed by the neighbour. It was not correct to limit the number of people to 15 per group, he said, adding that individual pilgrims should also be permitted. Advocating khulle Darshan (Open access) for devotees, he further said that the number of pilgrims per day should not be restricted to 500 per day especially in November 2019, when the 550th birth anniversary of Guru Nanak Dev will be celebrated. By PTI MUMBAI: Maharashtra minister Chandrakant Patil Thursday said if the BJP and the Shiv Sena don't forge an alliance for the upcoming elections, the Congress-NCP combine will come to power in the state. Speaking to reporters here, he said Lok Sabha and state assembly elections will be held separately. The revenue minister said since the alliance between both the parties is very strong, it has withstood numerous "quakes" in the last four years. "Had the Congress and the NCP decided to fight the polls separately, then there was no harm in our going solo. However, even the Sena knows that in the present scenario, if we fight separately, the Congress-NCP combine will come to power," the minister said. The BJP will not be affected in case it loses, as the party will come to power at the Centre. The party is already in power in 20 states, he said. "While the BJP will win 100-110 seats and Sena 40-50 seats, it is the people who will suffer. None of the political parties will be affected," Patil said. Replying to a query, the minister said elections to the Lok Sabha and state Assembly will be held separately "without any doubt". When asked about the tremors felt in Palghar district, Patil,who also holds the relief and rehabilitation portfolio, said seismologists and experts from IIT Bombay were studying the recent incidents. "The earthquake incidents are limited to two villages in Palghar. The collector has been asked to make alternate arrangements for them to stay. We will see if they should be shifted to some other place altogether or be given new homes," Patil said. Mild tremors were felt in and around Dahanu in Palghar district on Sunday and Thursday, officials said. Santwana Bhattacharya By Express News Service NEW DELHI: Priyanka Gandhi. The news tickers finally flashed the name with a piece of news that has been long heralded, awaited, beseeched for, speculated upon, debated, decried, and denied multiple times. And the curtains have risen on a political event and perhaps a political career that has potential to be transformative and, equally, just a piece of theatre. With just three months left for a momentous general election, it was with the flourish of finally deploying his brahmastra that Congress president Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday chose his sister Priyanka as the partys general secretary for eastern Uttar Pradesh with effect from the first week of February, marking her entry into formal politics. Simultaneously, he inducted Jyotiraditya Scindia as general secretary, western UP, thus putting some big firepower into a state where the party had long attritied. Whether Priyankas arrival will galvanise the voters to the same extent as party cadre, the timing, the circumstances and the event itself are very interesting and hold significance in many ways. To begin with, Priyanka has the curious status of being both Rahuls closest ally and also, in popular perception, his antithesis. Charismatic, relatively more eloquent and less inhibited than her brother, she has often been seen as the real heir to the Indira legacy. And she was the original choice of party cadre, who have spent years wishing for her arrival on the stage during the long dry spell the Congress has had, thinking of mother Sonia Gandhi as a mere regent, and Rahul as somewhat of a dud. READ | In detail: Priyanka Gandhi Vadra's political journey in Congress so far Those days are gone. Sonia proved herself to be quite capable of steering the UPA for a decade. And now, the battle-hardened Rahul too has come into his own. Yet, in a party where dynasty is both a bane and a boon, one inevitable line of speculation is whether Priyanka at this stage can still present the spectre of a dual power centre, if not an actual rival claimant. The second is the peculiar flux pre-electoral UP politics is in. With the Mayawati-Akhilesh mahagathbandhan keeping the Congress out, will a stronger Congress actually turn it into a three-cornered contest, thereby benefiting the BJP. That may depend on which precise seats the SP and BSP fight, though its not without significance that eastern UP is a BSP stronghold. At another level, this may also be a gambit to force the SP-BSP axis into a tacit understanding with the Congress, threatening an erosion of votes if that is not forthcoming. And why did Priyanka agree? Perhaps because this is the most important political battle for her brother, and she wants him to be in the frontline for the PMs chair, not just be an adjunct to an unstable opposition coalition. READ | Priyanka Gandhi's appointment invigorates UP Congress The Congress is already threatening to wean away upper-caste votes from the BJP, and Priyankas arrival can do that project no harm. And the constituencies of both PM Modi and UP CM Adityanath fall in the east. At the same time, moulded in the old social umbrella type Congress politics, she perhaps has no real access to the complex caste matrix of UP, especially when the BJP has unleashed Mandal 2.0. And the partys footprint has been declining even in Amethi and Rae Bareli. Priyanka takes over on February 1. Expect that to be a spectacle, and the mood-lifting effect on the party will be undeniable. The biggest attendant negative is the corruption taint haunting husband Robert Vadra. Expect action on that front too, as the BJP will make a counter-move, hoping to tarnish and bog her down. By PTI NAGON: Protesters showed black flags to Assam Finance Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma who said on Wednesday some people were spreading rumours that after the passage of the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, more Bangladeshis will be allowed to come into the state. The Bill seeks to grant Indian citizenship to persecuted minorities -- Hindus, Sikhs, Jains, Buddhists and Christians -- from Bangladesh, Pakistan and Afghanistan after they have stayed in India for seven years, instead of 12 years -- the current criteria. This is applicable to those who came to India before December 31, 2014. The protesters showed black flags to Sarma while he was on his way to attend an official event. ALSO READ | Citizenship Bill: Groups, militants in Northeast call for boycott of Republic Day celebration "There isn't a single clause in the Bill that says more people will be brought in. An attempt is made to create unrest and divide Assam by spreading misinformation. Those who are opposing the Bill know nothing about it," he said. The state does not need any such agitation which creates only regressive atmosphere, the senior BJP leader said. "The Assam agitation, from 1979 to 1985, could not provide any solution to the issue. We need development for Assam to become one of the top five states in the country," he added. The Bill was passed by the Lok Sabha on January 8 and has been introduced in the Rajya Sabha. Massive protests had erupted across Assam and other parts of the Northeast after Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced in Silchar on January 4 that the Bill would be passed as soon as possible in Parliament. By Online Desk Veteran actor Moushumi Chatterjee has courted controversy after chiding a female anchor for wearing pants at an event in Surat earlier this week. "You should be careful about what you wear. You cannot wear such clothes at public events. If you have an issue, wear a saree or a salwar kameez. This is our culture. I'm telling you as a mother," Chatterjee who recently joined the BJP told her. The actor was attending an event in Surat along with other BJP leaders. The anchor reportedly refused to address media persons after the event. Chatterjee, who contested the 2004 Lok Sabha polls unsuccessfully as the Congress candidate from Kolkata North East constituency, joined the BJP earlier this year on January 2. Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha has told lawmakers there remain "huge" differences in talks between Seoul and Washington over splitting the cost of keeping the U.S. Forces Korea here. An American government official told the South Korean government that U.S. President Donald Trump's stance remains steadfast that either Seoul pay more or face prospects of a troop withdrawal. U.S. troop cost-sharing talks have always been tricky, but sticking points used to be resolved quietly behind the scenes. But now, the differences are being voiced openly to gain public support, exposing the growing fault lines between the two allies. But just ahead of a second U.S.-North Korea summit, with a volatile U.S. president given to rash decisions at the helm, it is the worst time to sow uncertainty over the USFK presence here. Last year, Korea shouldered W960.2 billion or about half of the cost of maintaining 28,500 American troops here (US$1=W1,128). The two sides have met 10 times so far this year to decide how to split the cost but failed to narrow their differences. The last meeting ended without even setting a date for the next one. Seoul told the U.S. that the South Korean public will not be able to accept paying more than W1 trillion in taxpayer's money. Citing "orders from the top," the U.S. then raised South Korea's share to US$1.2 billion but shortened the validity of the agreement from five years to just one. Washington said any amount less than $1 billion is unacceptable. U.S. President Donald Trump views the bilateral alliance purely from a financial standpoint and has often accused South Korea of getting a free ride in an appeal to his core voter base. But the second U.S.-North Korea summit is set for late February, and Seoul and Washington are still haggling. Trump will try everything during his next meeting with Kim to get some sort of deal he can sell to the American public. North Korea's demands for an easing of sanctions counters UN resolutions and are difficult to realize, so Trump could instead use the U.S. troop presence in South Korea to bargain with Kim. South Korea cannot rely on an American law that prohibits the U.S. from reducing its troop levels here to less than 22,000. If 4,500 2nd Infantry Division soldiers are recalled back to the U.S. and no replacements are sent, it still has more than 22,000 personnel but loses its punch without ground combat troops. A failure to agree on upkeep cost sharing only gives Trump a chance to consider a dangerous gamble. The problem must urgently be solved to prevent a worst-case scenario. New fellowship program will support the next generation of African scientific leaders Ten African scientists have been selected for training at the National Institutes of Health as part of a new fellowship program to build research capacity in African countries and develop ongoing scientific partnerships. NIH, the African Academy of Sciences, and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation are collaborating to establish the African Postdoctoral Training Initiative. The inaugural cohort will assume their positions in NIH host labs in early 2019. NIH will provide two years of training under principal investigators who share the fellows' research interests. The African scientists will then return to their home institutions and receive two years of support to continue the research and establish themselves as independent investigators. NIH and the Gates Foundation are together providing about $4 million for the program. "Our goal is to equip these talented African fellows with the skills to become scientific leaders, prepared to help solve their country's health challenges and train future generations of researchers," said NIH Director Francis S. Collins, M.D., Ph.D., whose intramural research lab will host one of the fellows. "By designing the African Postdoctoral Training Initiative to begin at NIH and then continue at their home institution, we aim to prevent 'brain drain,' build sustainable research capacity, and establish long-term collaborations between U.S. scientists and African investigators and research institutions." "It is imperative to strengthen African scientific leadership to advance health and development goals on the continent. We are thrilled to partner with NIH and the African Academy of Sciences to support these 10 outstanding researchers working to solve the world's greatest health challenges," said Trevor Mundel, president of the Global Health Division at the Gates Foundation. "To achieve the Sustainable Development Goals by 2030, the world needs to accelerate innovation and global scientific collaboration. Training from NIH, one of the world's foremost biomedical research institutions, will help these scientists develop the transformational solutions the world and their communities urgently need." The fellows come from six African countries: Ghana, Mali, Nigeria, Ethiopia, Kenya and Egypt. They've been matched with labs from seven institutes at NIH and will study diseases and conditions that are research priorities in their respective countries, including infectious diseases, maternal and child health, and diabetes. The fellowship program targets early career scientists who have doctoral degrees and less than five years of research experience. Candidates must also be citizens of an African country and employed at one of the continent's academic, research or government institutions. NIH's Fogarty International Center is coordinating the fellowship program. The African Academy of Sciences managed the recruitment and selection process, and plans to recruit another cohort in 2020. 2019 African Postdoctoral Training Initiative Fellows and NIH Hosts Fellow: Dr. Idowu Aimola Home institution: Ahmadu Bello University, Nigeria Host institution: National Human Genome Research Institute Research area: diabetes, maternal and child health Fellow: Dr. Nana Ama Amissah Home institution: Noguchi Memorial Institute for Medical Research, Ghana Host institution: National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Research area: infectious diseases Fellow: Dr. Thomas Hormenu Home institution: University of Cape Coast, Ghana Host institution: National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases Research area: diabetes Fellow: Dr. Musa Kana Home institution: Federal University Lafia, Nigeria Host institution: National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences Research area: tuberculosis, respiratory diseases, child health Fellow: Dr. Rania Labib Home institution: Children's Cancer Hospital, Egypt Host institution: National Cancer Institute Research area: child health Fellow: Dr. Hamma Maiga Home institution : Institut National de Recherche en Sante Publique, Mali Host institution: National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Research area: malaria, maternal and child health Fellow: Dr. Bartholomew Ondigo Home institution: Egerton University, Kenya Host institution: National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Research area: malaria Fellow: Dr. Kolapo Oyebola Home institution: University of Lagos, Nigeria Host institution: National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute Research area: sickle cell disease Fellow: Dr. Irene Offei Owusu Home institution: Noguchi Memorial Institute for Medical Research, Ghana Host institution: National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Research area: infectious diseases, viruses Fellow: Dr. Markos Tesfaye Woldeyohannes Home institution: St. Paul's Hospital Millennium Medical College, Ethiopia Host institution: National Institute of Nursing Research Research area: child health ### About the Fogarty International Center: the Center addresses global health challenges through innovative and collaborative research and training programs, and supports and advances the NIH mission through international partnerships. For more information, visit http://www. fic. nih. gov . About the National Institutes of Health (NIH): NIH, the nation's medical research agency, includes 27 Institutes and Centers and is a component of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. NIH is the primary federal agency conducting and supporting basic, clinical, and translational medical research, and is investigating the causes, treatments, and cures for both common and rare diseases. For more information about NIH and its programs, visit http://www. nih. gov . This story has been published on: 2019-01-24. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article. Harpreet Bajwa By Express News Service CHANDIGARH: Two Canadian citizens who arranged the murder of a 25-year-old woman from Punjab 18 years ago have been extradited to India to face trial. Mother and uncle of Jaswinder (Jassi) Sidhu were handed over by the Royal Canada Mounted Police in an alleged honour killing case. Sources said that mother Malkit Kaur Sandhu and uncle Surjit Singh Badesha of the 25-year old Jassi were deported to India from Canada and were received by at the IGI airport in Delhi. They were escorted from a facility in British Columbia to Vancouver airport and then from there, they boarded an Air Canada flight to Delhi. A Punjab Police team led by SP (Investigation) Sangrur Gurmeet Singh took their custody at the airport. They will be brought back to Sangrur where they will be produced before the local court and police will ask for their remand in the case, said sources. Senior Superintendent of Police of Sangrur Dr Sandeep Garg said that both accused were handed over to the Punjab Police. The deceased Jaswinder's husband Sukhwinder Singh said that he was quite hopeful that justice will be delivered. Singh has demanded death sentence for both the accused as she had dared to marry him without their consent. In September 2017, a Punjab Police team that had gone to Canada to secure the duo's custody but were stopped in the last minute at the Toronto airport and had to return empty-handed. Sources allege that it was on the orders of Malkit and her brother Surjit that Jaswinder, daughter of a multi-millionaire blueberry orchard owner in British Columbia was murdered in 2000 near Jagraon in Sangrur district for marrying against the family's wishes. In March 1999, she had secretly married Sukhwinder Singh Mithu a kabaddi player who came from a poor Jat Sikh family. Mithu was an auto driver in Punjab at Baba Bakala gurdwara in Amritsar and returned back to Canada in May that year. She first met him in December 1996 when she had come to India with her mother Malkit Kaur and the two started dating. After returning to, she stayed in touch with him. Sources say that in February 2000 Sukhwinder was falsely booked on charges of kidnapping and forcible marriage by the Punjab Police on a forged complaint given on behalf of Jassi by her relatives. But in May that year, Jassi came to India and gave the statement to the police in favour of her husband. In June that year, the hired contract killers attacked the couple when they were returning from Malerkotla. While Jassi was killed, her husband Sukhwinder survived. The Punjab Police arrested the all the seven attackers (Anil Kumar, Ashwini Kumar, Gurwinder Singh Cheema, Joginder Singh, Hardev Singh, Darshan Singh and Gursharan Singh) in July that year and it came to light that they attack was carried out on the orders of Jassis mother and maternal uncle who were both in Canada. In May 2002, the Punjab Police contacted their Canadian counterparts to extradite Malkit Kaur Sandhu and Surjit Singh Badesha, but their request was turned down. In October 2005 a court in Sangrur pronounced life imprisonment for all the seven accused in the case. It was in 2005 that again the Punjab Police sought their extradition from Canada. However, even this time, they were denied the same on the basis of the justice system in India. But in 2012, the Canadian police arrested both of them after social groups mounted pressure. Then in 2014, the Supreme Court of British Columbia in Canada ordered the extradition of both the accused to face trial in the case. Later the court blocked their extradition but on September 8, 2017, the Supreme Court of Canada finally gave its nod for their extradition. Last month, the BC Court of Appeal dismissed their applications for a judicial review. B Satyanarayana Reddy By Express News Service At a time when more and more youngsters are turning away from agriculture, engineer-turned-farmer Devarapalli Harikrishna's story stands out as a beacon of hope to young graduates who want to consider agriculture as a career option. Finding no satisfaction in his job as a software engineer in the United States, the 37-year-old software engineer Devarapalli Harikrishna had turned organic farmer and creating wonders in cultivation at Mandalapalli village in Dammapet mandal of Bhadradri Kothagudem district in Telangana. While other farmers are planning to leave cultivation due to loses at that time Harikrishna took up organic cultivation and producing more yielding. Harikrishna is now cultivating Coconut, Oil Palm and paddy in an organic system by taking inspiration through Subash Palikar who is the father for organic cultivation. Harikrishna noticed more production in organic cultivation. He observed 30 to 40 per cent different in production than fertilizer cultivation. Harikrishna completed his B Tech from Guntur in 2004 and selected for a software job in campus recruitment and he later went to the USA and worked for 4 years. Though he is getting sufficient money through the job he did not feel job satisfaction at that time he observed organic cultivation in the USA and also in India. He thought the job is not his target and immediately rushed to India and went to his native place Mandalapalli village and started organic cultivation. However, it was not so easy as his relatives and local farmers advised him to give up the idea of taking up cultivation and go back to his job. But he decided against it and started organic cultivation. Today, he is a happy man as his efforts paid off and became a role model in the district as many young farmers and educated people are looking towards organic cultivation. Harikrishna said, ''Initially I faced a lot of problem, but through hard work I overcame all the hurdles.'' He said during his childhood he used to visit fields along with grandfather and father Venkateswara Rao at that time only developed interest on cultivation. K Dora of Dammapet mandal head quarter said, ''We have doubted Harikrishna in beginning but now he is doing well and showing way to other farmers who are in losses by doing commercial crops by using fertilizers. Ashameera Aiyappan By Express News Service Director Puthiyavans Otrai Panai Maram, which talks about the plight of Sri Lankan war widows, has been featured in 37 international festivals, including Moondance international film festival. The film has also bagged a total of 12 awards across film festivals. Talking about the film, Puthiyavan says Otrai Panai Maram will be different from other Tamil films that talk about refugees as it is based on his own experience. I have seen the war from close quarters in the early stages. After it ended, I came back from the UK to work with refugees and rehabilitate them. I saw the struggles these women go through after rehabilitation. The film is based on a collation of my experiences, says the filmmaker, who made his debut in 2005 with a film named Mann. Otrai Panai Maram is expected to get a theatrical release soon. By IANS MUMBAI: Actress Kangana Ranaut, whose forthcoming film 'Manikarnika - The Queen of Jhansi' has sailed through many controversies, has said she will not apologize to rightwing Shri Rajput Karni Sena for the statement she made against them. Kangana Ranaut was interacting with the media when she unveiled first look of Amrapali X Manikarnika jewellery collection on Wednesday in Mumbai. There were reports that Shri Rajput Karni Sena opposed 'Manikarnika...' as it shows Queen Laxmibai dancing to a special number, saying it is against tradition. They asked the makers of the film to show them the movie before its release. ALSO READ: Deep-rooted sexism led to doubts on my direction, says Kangana Ranaut Reacting to their statement Kangana made a statement that "I am a Rajput and I will destroy them." But soon after that, Shri Rajput Karni Sena claimed the outfit is not involved in the protests against Kangana Ranaut starrer movie and stated that some people are using Shri Rajput Karni Sena's name for vested interests but they demanded apology from Kangana for making derogatory statement against their organization. Kangana said, "I will not apologize to anybody. I have never apologized whenever I haven't made a mistake. We have promised that we haven't shown anything wrong about Rani Laxmibai in the film so, they should support us. ALSO READ: Have been harassed by actors on sets, says Kangana Ranaut Rani Laxmibai is not my relative and I feel she is daughter of the entire country so, we all should support the film. Shri Rajput Karni Sena should not play their ego card with me because I am not here to say sorry to anyone." Kangana Ranaut shared a video where she is seen paying tribute to Shiv Sena founder Bal Thackeray on his birth anniversary on Wednesday. She paid tribute ahead of the release of 'Manikarnika..' which will be clashing with the release of the biopic 'Thackeray'. Both the films will release on January 25. "I just paid my tribute to him (Thackeray) ahead of his 93rd birth anniversary. People of Maharashtra love and respect Balasaheb Thackeray, and you see, we all have become Maharashtrian because we have been working here for many years. ALSO READ: Karni Sena threatens to ruin Kangana Ranaut's career Similarly, Rani Laxmibai belonged to Maharashtra and she was daughter of Maratha so, for both of them, there is immense amount of love and respect in our hearts." 'Manikarnika..' is an Indian historical biographical film based on the life of Rani Laxmibai of Jhansi. It stars Kangana Ranaut, Atul Kulkarni, Ankita Lokhande, Mishti, Jisshu Sengupta, Suresh Oberoi, Danny Denzongpa and Kulbhushan Kharbanda in pivotal roles. It is directed by Radha Krishna Jagarlamudi and Kangana Ranaut. The film is produced by Zee Studios in association with Kamal Jain and Nishant Pitti. The film is scheduled to be released on January 25. By IANS MUMBAI: "CityLights" actress Patralekhaa doesn't know about her future with her boyfriend and actor Rajkummar Rao, but says being together is enough for them. "I saw him for the first time on-screen when I watched LSD ('Love Sex Aur Dhokha'). I thought that the weird guy he played in the film was actually what he was like. My perception of him was already tarnished. He told me later, that he had first seen me in an ad and thought, 'I'm going to marry her'. It was so ironic," Patralekhaa said while looking back at the time when she met him for the first time. ALSO READ: Rajkummar Rao-starrer Made in Chinas release date postponed "And once we started working together, it was magic. The kind of passion he had was powerful. He would bring everyone along with him like a tornado. He made sure that not only him, but everyone did their best, and I couldn't respect him any more than I did then," she added. Patralekhaa opened up about her love story through a Facebook post on Humans of Bombay -- through their alliance with the makers of "Ek Ladki Ko Dekha Toh Aisa Laga". A Fox Star Hindi project, the film will highlight the complexities of being a homosexual in India. It stars Sonam K Ahuja, Anil Kapoor, Rajkummar Rao, Juhi Chawla, Abhishek Duhan, Seema Pahwa and Brijendra Kala. Directed by Shelly Chopra Dhar, it is co-produced by Vidhu Vinod Chopra and Fox Star Studios. It will release on February 1 next year. ALSO READ: Success of a film is not determined by its budget, says Rajkummar Rao Patralekhaa says they connected when they started talking about "work, our love for cinema, our passion". "I saw him through his struggles, never giving up. How could we not fall for each other? We wouldn't officially go on dates, but we would go for long drives, movies, or even sit at home and eat our hearts out. We would even accompany each other for auditions -- silently seeping in support. It's all we needed - that understanding," said the actress. She continued: "He would often go out of his way for me. Once, he was running late to see me, so he stopped the cab near the airport and ran all the way to Juhu! Not only that, but when we were earning very little, he surprised me with my favourite bag, which was ridiculously expensive! ALSO READ: Producers of Rajkummar Rao-starrer 'Stree' embroiled in financial dispute "Years later, when we were in London, someone stole it! I remember calling him, sobbing, while he tried to calm me down. For me, the bag was all about the memories - he had bought it for me when he didn't have much. That meant so much to me! Later, at our hotel, the exact same bag was waiting for me. These little things make me realise how lucky I am to have him." The best part, Patralekhaa says, is that Rajkummar makes her feel special. "Isn't that what a relationship needs? For two people to remind each other how grateful they are? He told me once that after I met his mom, she told him, 'I have a feeling she's the last one I'm meeting'. And she was right -- we've been together for 8 years now." She says they are "equal". "I can tell you this, when you find someone you are grateful for -- through the fights, the hurdles and the chaos, you should never forget to let them know you love them. And it doesn't have to be with expensive gifts and dates -- it can simply be with the way you hold them while they need it and when they don't. For us, we don't know what the future holds, but this, being together, is enough." Mani Prabhu By Express News Service Many a project has looked to adapt the valorous story of Jhansi Rani on screen, but somehow, has failed to take off. It has even come to be thought of as a story thats jinxed. Kangana Ranaut herself has had a rough ride trying to bring this story to theatres. She injured herself, the director left half-way, replacement directors who were to assist her quit And after all the struggle, the films finally ready for release this week, and a relieved Kangana was eager to chat about the film and what she went through to bring it to life. What made you take up Manikarnika, despite all the previous setbacks for its adaptations? At this point in my career, I believed I could pull it off. When I heard that this would be made with the biggest budget in Bollywood for a film with a female protagonist, I got more interested. Scripts based on women have historically not been given big budgets. The huge success of Tanu Weds Manu 2 gave me the confidence that I could indeed afford to try something epic. But yes, once I started work on Manikarnika, I was in for a shock as all kinds of obstacles came our way, and the entire journey turned into a struggle. I think a grand film of this stature is destined to go through such hurdles. When you got offered the titular role of the Rani of Jhansi, were you apprehensive about not being able to do justice to this larger-than-life role? No, not initially, anyway. When I heard the narration, I was quite excited. I did my homework and was looking forward to the shoot. At that time, as I didnt know that I would have to direct the film, I didnt feel the jitters. I was just thinking from the perspective of an actor and was preparing myself for that physically and mentally. But during this pre-production phase, some of my films didnt do as well as expected, and consequently, funding became a problem and the project got stalled. Even then, I was confident that it would happen somehow and continued with my preparations. Luckily, Zee Studios and Kamal Jain (the producer) came onboard, and the journey began again. You took over direction after Krish walked out. How was your experience as a debutant director? To be frank, I wasnt really sure if I could handle it. When Krish opted to leave, Prasoon Joshi sir who was in charge of the Hindi dialogues for the film suggested that it would be better if I, after the homework Id done for the project, took over the reins. At this point, Vijayendra Prasad sir, who wrote the project, also expressed confidence in my abilities as a filmmaker. For an epic historical of this magnitude, I was well-prepared to do the mental work as a director, but wasnt sure if I could afford to do the physical work, because of the need to concentrate on my acting on the sets. So, the team decided to give me two young, moderately experienced directors to collaborate with, so they could do the running around for me. Unfortunately, both ran away within a couple of days. Those who came to replace them also disappeared without a trace, when they understood that they had to film about 70 percent of the film in 40 days. So, I was left alone, and had no other choice than making myself ready for the job. So, thats that. Looking back, I feel I have done quite a good job, while also making sure that the expectations from the film in terms of grandeur, authenticity of the war scenes, patriotism, and woman empowerment are met. I also feel I have been particularly instrumental in making sure that Vijendra Prasad sirs vision is preserved in the journey. Since you mentioned Vijendra Prasad, are you aware of the comparisons with Baahubali, which he wrote earlier? Vijendra Prasad is such a great force in the industry. He has always been an inspiration. To be frank, I have learned quite a handful of screenwriting tips from him. He has a simple secret to a successful film. Nine clap moments before the interval. A powerful goosebumps interval block, and nine clap moments after the interval. Thats where the magic is, he says. After months of discussion with him, being an aspiring writer myself, I could see why he is being celebrated this much. With respect to Manikarnika, he kept saying that the story belongs to every Indian out there, and hence, our film shouldnt be something that is seen and appreciated only in festivals. So, I went about directing the film with the clarity that its primary audiences are the masses and the children. About comparisons with Baahubali, yes, I feel thrilled that my film gets compared to something so epic and innovative. But the thing is, you have the liberty to go all crazy with your imagination in a fantasy like Baahubali, but in a biopic, you are bound by facts and history. The emphasis becomes more on getting the characterisation right than bowling the audience over with visual splendour. As the story of Jhansi ki Rani is very popular, the audiences are bound to feel cheated, if the titular character or her dramatic conflicts are not presented convincingly. Even with action, we have made sure that the set-pieces are authentic to the era and the war-culture at that point of time. I had a competent action director from Hollywood, Nick Powell, who considerably reduced my burden in making the war sequences fiery, and at the same time, realistic. You are coming back to the South with the dubbed versions of Manikarnika, after quite some time. For the past few years, I have actually been camping in the South more than in Mumbai, to the extent that you can call me a South Indian (laughs). My discussion sessions with Vijendra sir, Manikarnikas cinematographer Gnana Shekar VS and Ashwini Iyer Tiwari mostly happen in the South. I also visit Sadhgurus ashram regularly. All this makes me feel closer with the people in the South and I wish to do more projects for them in the future. By Express News Service KOCHI: In a rare incident, a convict in a murder case, who is lodged in Poojappura Central prison, will appear before the Kerala High Court to argue his appeal in the case. Biju Radhakrishnan, key accused in the murder of his wife, will appear in person seeking suspension of the sentence awarded by the Kollam District Sessions Court. He will appear before the Division Bench headed by Justice A M Shaffique. The Sessions Court had awarded life imprisonment and directed Biju Radhakrishnan to pay a fine of 1 lakh in default of which he would have to undergo rigorous imprisonment of three more years. Biju Radhakrishnan sent a letter to the High Court through the jail superintendent seeking permission to argue his case as a party in person. Earlier, he had engaged several advocates, including a Supreme Court lawyer. Pleas rejected twice earlier The High Court had dismissed his similar pleas twice. In April 2015, a Division Bench had dismissed the petition stating that prima facie the court was satisfied with the conviction and sentence passed against the petitioner. The execution of the sentence imposed on the petitioner cannot be suspended, the court said. The police had stated that the accused was involved in 32 cases registered in connection with the Solar scam. He was in judicial custody during the trial of the murder case. There was every possibility of him fleeing from justice if he is permitted go on bail. If he was released, there will be a danger to the life of his child, who is the key witness in the case, the police had stated. The second petition was dismissed last year. In that petition, Biju stated he has been in jail for more than five years and no parole was given to him during the period. That apart, his mother is ailing. His family house is in a dilapidated condition and during the recent flood it got submerged. To rebuild or renovate the building, his presence was needed. He had also argued that there was no evidence to implicate him in the case. The court had held that there was no need to interfere in the order of the trial court and dismissed his petition. By PTI NEW DELHI: Two alleged Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) members have been arrested on charges of planning to carry out terror strikes in the national capital during Republic Day celebrations, Delhi Police officials said on Thursday. They were identified as Abdul Latif Ganaie (29), alias Umair alias Dilawar, and Hilal Ahmad Bhat (26) residents of Jammu and Kashmir's Wakura and Batapora areas respectively. Dilawar was arrested on the intervening night of January 20-21 after police got a tip-off from military intelligence that a house in Laxmi Nagar was frequented by suspicious persons, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Special Cell P S Kushwah said. Police learnt that Dilawar would come near Rajghat to meet someone and accordingly a team was deployed there. Subsequently, he was arrested with incriminating material, he said. A 32 bore pistol and 26 live cartridges were recovered from him. Three rubber stamps of JeM commanders and other material was also recovered from his possession, he added. It took the Delhi Police a few months to identify Dilawar, the DCP said. A team was rushed to Jammu and Kashmir to nab his other associates. Two hand grenades were recovered from his house there, Kushwah said. Bhat, who had carried out the recce of various places for terrorist strikes in Delhi, was also arrested from Bandipora, he said. During interrogation, they revealed that they were JeM members and that Dilawar is the terror outfit's Ganderbal district commander, Kushwah said. Dilawar told police that he was in touch with his Pakistan-based handler Abu Mauz through Telegram and WhatsApp, he said. He further revealed that Mauz had given him more than a dozen hand grenades, a pistol and 30 live cartridges through an Aaqib, the DCP said. Dilawar was asked to use those grenades on the armed and police forces in Jammu and Kashmir and in parts of Delhi to disrupt Republic Day celebrations, Kushwah said. He told police that he had given two grenades to one Abid in Jammu and Kashmir and he used them to attack Army personnel of 5 RR in Sumbal, Bandipora on January 4, the officer said. Dilawar also gave some grenades to one Shahbaz in Srinagar and to Bhat, Kushwah said. Jammu and Kashmir police was informed about this network, following which Shahbaz was arrested on Tuesday, he said. Dilawar came in contact with radical elements during a four-year course at a madrasa in sopore. He started chatting with these fringe elements on various social platforms, the DCP said. Impressed by Dilawar's posts, Mauz communicated with him and radicalised him by sending various audio and video clips of JeM chief Maulana Azhar Masood, Kushwah said. He said Mauz also instructed Dilawar to go to Delhi to conduct a recce of VIP areas, places of heavy footfalls in posh markets, vital places and gas pipeline to identify blast targets. Dilawar was previously arrested in two cases of stone pelting in 2016 in the area of Sadar Ganderbal police station, he said. By Express News Service CHENNAI: At the auditorium in MOP Vaishnav College for Women, 220 photographs taken by the second- and third-year Visual Communication students were displayed. The eighth edition of the exhibition, Positives 2019, contains photographs from the Vijay Vilas Palace in Gujarat to Vagator Beach in Goa. The collection of photographs is from the students visit to Gujarat, Goa and Rajasthan as part of their photography course in their second and third year. The current batch of third-year students visited Gujarat and Goa in 2017 and 2018, and the second-year students visited Rajasthan in 2018. The objective of these trips were to give students a new landscape to photograph to hone their skills. Some pictures, however, such as an extreme close-up of a water droplet taken by 20-year-old Lavanya Sai Sivalinga, were taken outside of their trip for their regular classes. I needed a macro lens, but I had a different lens. The camera couldnt shake at all. I looked it up on the Internet and took the picture with my regular camera, and then cropped the picture and zoomed in. Thats why if you see the original picture, its wider than what I took, said the third-year Visual Communication student. She took the picture using her Nikon D-7000 camera with an 18-55 mm lens, and used it to photograph a mixture of dish soap, glycerin and water. A picture of a couple in Primrose Hill, London; a picture of a cheetah jumping off a tree from Nairobi, Kenya; and a picture of the cliff on which the Paro Taktsang, a holy Buddhist site in Bhutan these are but few of the pictures the students took on their vacation or free time at Positives 2019, which was inaugurated by Indraneel Das, resident editor, The New Indian Express, in the presence of Lalitha Balakrishnan, principal of the college, and S Jayashree, HoD, Visual Communication. I never give the students any instructions. Whatever they need is already told in class, and intervention while taking a photograph is a disturbance, said Amalore Edward, who teaches the students graphic design and photography. (The exhibition is open for the public at the college till January 27. For details, call: 28330262) KV Navya By Express News Service CHENNAI: Proper roads, stormwater drains and garbage collection still remain a rarity, for the residents of Mahalingapuram in Kodambakkam. When CE visited the locality, we were welcomed by broken roads and hanging electricity wires amid heaps of garbage. I have been living in Mahalingapuram for the past six years and we have been facing the same issues. Each time we go to Corporation officials, they cite shortage of funds and suggest temporary arrangements, said Syed Ibrahim, a resident of Vijayalakshmi Street. Stormwater drain lids were broken a few months after they were constructed. When the residents asked the Corporation to replace the lids, they had covered them with concrete slabs instead. With vehicular movements, the slabs broke in no time. Also, many visit Mahalingapuram Ayyappa temple during this time of the year. Poor roads, traffic blocks have become common in the area. The residents dispose waste in the corners of the street. Birds often scatter the garbage and leave them outside homes, thereby stinking up the whole locality. The conservancy workers clear the garbage only twice or thrice in a month, said P Vidhya, another resident. Park flew to Canada in late 2017 to attend a language school and spent a year there. He decided to tour the U.S. on his way back home and made reservations through a local tour agency to visit the Grand Canyon last month, where he fell from a cliff. His younger sister, who is caring him in a U.S. hospital, posted a message on Instagram saying, "W1 billion in hospital fees and W200 million in costs to transport him to Korea are too high for an ordinary family to shoulder" (US$1=W1,128). A 25-year-old university student from Busan is in a coma after falling from a cliff in the Grand Canyon. The plight of the man, identified only by his surname Park, spread via social media on Wednesday. The exact cause of the fall remains unclear. Park has been in hospital for three weeks now. The travel agency claims that Park went to an off-limit part to take a selfie on the clifftop, denying its responsibility and arguing with the student's family. One lawyer said, "Unless you can prove that the state of Arizona, which manages the Grand Canyon national park, or the tour guide were guilty of negligence, it's impossible to get compensation." Another lawyer said, "Even if he signed up for travel insurance, the maximum coverage is between W100 million to W200 million, which is not enough for accidents like this." A message was posted on the Cheong Wa Dae petition website last Thursday appealing for help. "His family rushed to the U.S. to watch over him, but he remains in a coma in spite of several operations on his brain," the poster wrote. "His family wants to bring him back to Korea, but medical fees and legal issues with the travel agency are blocking these efforts." There has been a spate of highly publicized accidents of people taking selfies in dangerous high places and falling to their deaths. By PTI BARUN JHA: Bharti Airtel Chairman Sunil Bharti Mittal joined hands Thursday with several other global business leaders to pledge support to a 'Digital Declaration' at the WEF Annual Meeting here, committing to act ethically and responsibly in the digital age. The declaration was launched by GSMA, an industry body of mobile operators worldwide which unites more than 750 operators and over 350 companies in the broader mobile ecosystem including handset and device makers and software firms. The declaration calls for acting ethically in the digital era, helping companies deliver what matters most to digital citizens, industry and governments. The 40 business leaders who have committed to the declaration span several industry sectors and include representatives from: Bharti Airtel, China Mobile, China Telecom, Deutsche Telekom, Ericsson, IBM, KDDI, KT, LG Electronics, Mobile World Capital Barcelona, Nokia, NTT DOCOMO, Orange, Samsung Electronics, Sharp, SK Telecom, Sony Corporation, STC Group, Telefonica, Turkcell, Verizon, Vodafone and Xiaomi. It is expected that by 2022, 60 per cent of GDP will be digitised. The imminent arrival of 5G networks will further accelerate this change, the GSMA said adding that the Digital Declaration is a cross-industry movement of CEOs confronting these shared challenges. Its principles call on businesses to respect the privacy of digital citizens; handle personal data securely and transparently; take meaningful steps to mitigate cyber threats; and ensure everyone can participate in the digital economy as it develops whilst combatting online harassment. "A positive and enabling digital future is integral to a truly empowered and inclusive society," said Mittal, who was first business leader to sign the Digital Declaration. "It is imperative for industry to make the required investments to build a sustainable digital ecosystem and maintain citizen's trust through transparent and responsible conduct with regard to privacy and data," he said. "Backing The Digital Declaration, fits into our vision to enable a progressive, free and enlightened society," said Stephane Richard, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Orange, and Chair of the GSMA. Mobile is one of the most widely deployed technology platforms ever with more than 5 billion unique mobile subscribers worldwide, representing approximately two-thirds of the world's population forecast to grow to almost 6 billion (71 per cent) by 2025. As we move into an era of Intelligent Connectivity, the combination of endless connectivity enabled through 5G and the Internet of Things, with the powerful intelligence delivered by big data and artificial intelligence will further transform entire industries, the GSMA said. The GSMA invited business leaders from all sectors to join the Digital Declaration and ask themselves what role they can play in creating a better digital society. By PTI MUMBAI: Ending months of speculation over who will succeed Rana Kapoor, Yes Bank on Thursday named German lender Deutsche Bank's India head Ravneet Singh Gill as the next managing director and chief executive. Incumbent Kapoor, who is also a co-promoter of the fifth largest private sector lender, was asked to step down by the Reserve Bank by January 31 for yet unspecified reasons. The announcement sent Yes Bank stocks rallying by around 15 per cent intra-day and closed the day at Rs 213.85, up 8.4 per cent on the BSE where the benchmark gained 0.24 per cent in choppy trade. After the RBI move, the bank shares had lost more than two-thirds of its value. Even after today's rally, the stock is almost 40 per cent below its 52-week high. The bank, which has a loan book of over Rs 2.40 trillion, said it has received the RBI nod for Gill's appointment, effective on or before March 1. However, there is still suspense over who will head the bank during the interregnum. The bank board is scheduled to meet on January 29 to decide on the "interim transition", its senior group president Rajat Monga told reporters. He parried a question about a possible extension for Kapoor, saying the board will take a call on all the matters. Monga, who has been associated with the bank for the longest time, was reportedly the other candidate shortlisted by the selection panel and forwarded to the RBI. Gill has had a long career with Deutsche Bank since 1991 and was the country chief executive from 2012. While the largest German bank has 16 branches in the country, Yes Bank has 1,115. A senior banker pointed out that while heading the local operations of a very large global bank one only implements broader policies, but as the head of a domestic lender, the "buck will stop with Gill" as he will have to take all the major decisions. The second difference will be in the business outlook, as foreign lenders focus more on transactions which accrue fees, while the local ones focus on loan-book. Kapoor, along with Axis Bank's Shikha Sharma, had their terms curtailed after the RBI had found that both the lenders under-reported NPAs by a cumulative Rs 10,000 crore each for two consecutive years. It is a different matter that the regulator did not officially did not impute any reasons for its decision on these bankers. While the exit of Sharma was a smooth affair with her bank getting a new head, the same was not the case with Yes Bank, which faced several setbacks. The bank board unsuccessfully appealed to RBI for an extension to Kapoor beyond January. The rejection saw investors hammering the stock to multi-year lows and multiple directors, starting with chairman Ashok Chawla, resigning from the bank board. The lender formed a search panel headed by former IRDAI chairman TS Vijayan to look for Kapoor's successor, and the committee also received a set back with former SBI chairman OP Bhat, one of the members, resigning. The board can also suggest changes to the management structure, including the formation of new posts like that of a deputy managing director. Meanwhile, the bank on Thursday also announced appointments of Maheswar Sahu and Anil Jaggia as additional independent directors. It also appointed executive director Ashish Agarwal as chief risk officer, pending RBI approval. Multiple names were doing the rounds of speculation as the possible successors to Kapoor. The search panel gave a list of names with the help of an executive search firm to the board, which forwarded the same to the RBI. In between, there were attempts by Kapoor to make a truce with his co-promoter, the late Ashok Kapur's heirs, so that the promoter grouping can be in sync while deciding on the future at the bank. Between them, the promoters own nearly 20 percent of the bank, while the rest is well diversified. Kapoor cannot come in as a non-executive chairman of the bank either. Something he tried to push through the board. C Shivakumar By Express News Service CHENNAI: Sixteen memorandums of understanding (MoUs) have been signed between Japanese companies and the Tamil Nadu government as Japan plans to diversify its business interest in the South Indian state. It will focus on tourism and setting up of Japanese language training centres to enhance the skills of youngsters so they can be employable in Japanese companies. Tatsushi Tamoto, director general of Japan External Trade Organisation (JETRO), told Express that 14 memorandums of understanding, worth Rs 1180 crore, had been signed by Japanese companies. The Yanmar Engine Manufacturing Company, which is opening a plant in Chennai, and Yamaha Music India, which is tapping the music market in India by starting commercial operations next month, have also signed MoUs. However, the value of these deals could not be ascertained. Yanmar was targeting Chennai as the city had developed component supply chain and could be helpful in supply of engine components, said Hajime Hirai, director of Yanmar Engine Manufacturing India. The plant, which will be set up in Gummidipoondi at Mahindra Industrial Park, will not only cater to India but also to global markets, said Hirai, while refusing to provide details of the investment. "We will be starting production by 2020 and rolling out 80,000 units," said Hirai, who is also planning to tap the skilled labour force of Chennai. Katsunobu Suzuki, general manager of Yamaha Music India, said that after opening their first factory in Gurgaon, Yamaha had planned to open a plant in Chennai at One Hub. Under the Chennai factory project, musical instruments will be manufactured in India and sold in India. "By 2022, we have committed an investment of Rs 500 crore which will generate jobs to 800 people," said Suzuki, thanking the state government for helping in starting the project on schedule. Under phase I the company will be manufacturing acoustic guitars and portable keyboards. From 2020, the company will diversify to producing to portable audio speakers. The contribution of Japanese companies to Tamil Nadus economy has been huge. According to Hiroshi Shibasaki, president of the Japanese Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Japanese companies contribute about 9.22 per cent of foreign direct investment in Tamil Nadu and Puducherry. Kenji Hiramatsu, Ambassador of Japan to India, said that Japan was planning to diversify its business interest in Tamil Nadu and said that it was one of the prime reasons to have a direct flight from Chennai to Tokyo. Starting from cotton business to automobiles and spare parts, Japan is planning to diversify into food services, textiles, Information Technology and small and medium enterprises (SMEs). It is learnt that Japan is trying to lure its small and medium enterprises to invest in Tamil Nadu as there is a huge potential here with the state government creating a better atmosphere for SME investment. Interestingly, through SMEs, Japan is not only trying to tap the domestic market but also looking at exports to Africa and South East Asia, he said. By Bloomberg In a few weeks, Indias finance minister will present whats called an interim budget - the accounts of the year gone by, as well as his plans for the year to come. It isnt supposed to be a regular budget because the government faces reelection in a few months; the convention is that the next finance minister gets to make the final decisions about expenditure after a new government is formed. Hoping for a second term, Prime Minister Narendra Modi is expected to lay out ambitious spending plans anyway. The number that will draw the most attention, therefore, is the fiscal deficit: Will India stick to its plan to reduce the deficit below 3.3 percent of gross domestic product? And will it make its target for the year gone by? Modi has a reputation for fiscal prudence, so the expectation is that somehow or the other his Finance Ministry will get the numbers in line. The problem is that the number well be given is likely to be very deceptive. Thats because it wont reflect what its supposed to reflect: the degree by which the government is overspending. That, in turn, is because Indias federal government according to its own auditor, among others is concealing its expenditure in half a dozen unprecedented ways. In a report presented to Indias Parliament earlier this month, the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) argued that the cost of many subsidies, for example, was being massively understated in the budget. Payments to Indian farmers to make fertilizer affordable were being routed through special banking arrangements essentially a loan from state-owned banks to cover outstanding subsidy payments. Meanwhile, the cost of buying farmers produce, borne by the state-run Food Corporation of India, is being paid out of whats called the national small savings fund, which administers various government-run savings schemes. The pattern is repeated in the power sector and the railways, in both of which new investment is being paid for indirectly, through borrowing by government-run agencies. As the CAG says, using such off-budget financial arrangements ... increases the cost of subsidies, and understates the annual subsidy expenditure and prevents a transparent depiction of financial indicators for the relevant year. In other words, its auditor has accused the Indian government of blatantly fudging the numbers. The misuse of the small savings fund is particularly galling. This is not even public-sector earnings it is depositors hard-earned cash, which theyve given to the government to hold on their behalf. Instead of investing it responsibly, the government is giving it to the bankrupt Food Corporation of India? Worse, its handing out the cash to Indias chronically loss-making state-owned airline, Air India Ltd. Thats hardly a safe or sensible destination for a poor familys savings. This isnt the only way in which the government has sought to conceal its expenditure. For example, its forcing various public-sector enterprises to buy others essentially a way to get cash from the company in question into the governments own kitty. Some of these forced mergers make very little sense. For example, the government is selling the Rural Electrification Corporation Corp. Ltd., which focuses on creating generation assets, to the Power Finance Corp. Ltd., which finances overall electricity infrastructure. PFC has 14,000 megawatts worth of non-performing assets on its books; surely it should be using its cash to deal with that, rather than transferring it to the government? Unsurprisingly, both the markets and rating agencies have turned bearish on the companies. Other public-sector companies are being made to conduct share buy-backs especially those in various natural resource-intensive sectors such as petrochemicals and mining. Again, that shifts cash from these companies to the Finance Ministry and reduces the amount available to them for investment. It means populist spending is happening instead of investment exactly the kind of decision that should make the fiscal deficit look worse. Except this makes the deficit look deceptively better. Fiscal deficits are supposed to be more than a measure of how responsible a government is with tax money. More importantly, theyre a guide to whether government borrowing is squeezing out the private sector as a destination for savings. If government spending and borrowing is going to be concealed in this manner, then the deficit figures arent going to be useful or relevant in any way. If Modi wants to retain a reputation as a fiscal hardliner, hes going about it the wrong way. HSBCs analysts have already noted that their measure of the net supply of government paper has gone up sharply, from 6.6 per cent in 2015-16 to 8.2 per cent in 2017-18. And that doesnt take into account a lot of other off-budget borrowings thats been scaled up recently. The government would be far better advised to tell the truth about its profligacy. Populism costs money. And, just because the budget numbers arent telling you how much doesnt mean it costs any less. By PTI NEW DELHI: India has sought market access for grapes, pomegranates, pearl millets and anthurium, a kind of decorative flower, from Vietnam to boost exports. India has also sought a level-playing field for its pharmaceutical companies, easy registration approvals for meat processing units and agreement on cooperation between certification agencies in the automobile sector, the Department of Commerce said in a tweet. These issues were discussed during the fourth Joint Trade Sub Commission between India and Vietnam at Hanoi Wednesday. "Both sides have agreed to enhance the trade in agriculture, marine products, pharma, engineering, textiles and services," the department added. India is the second-largest producer of fruits and vegetables in the world after China. Vietnam, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, the US and Malaysia are the top five export destinations for Indian agricultural exports, accounting for about 80 per cent of India's exports. Importing norms for fresh fruits and vegetables are gradually becoming stringent with importers demanding less use of agrochemicals and pesticides in the produce. The Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority is taking several steps including increasing awareness among producers about these issues. Bilateral trade between India and Vietnam increased to USD 12.83 billion in 2017-18 from USD 10.10 billion in 2016-17. Winnisquam Echo Big plans underway for Belmont's 150th by Donna Rhodes write the author Belmont residents Ken Knowlton, Woody Fogg and Ron Mitchell are among the many who have been "framed" so far in the town's 150th Anniversary Photo Booth, which has been traveling to many community and school events this year. (Photo by Donna Rhodes) (click for larger version) BELMONT The Year 2019 marks the 150th Anniversary of the Town of Belmont, and many celebration plans are in the works to mark this historic day in the community known as Upper Gilmanton until it was renamed in 1869. Excitement for the anniversary was evident last fall, when kick-off events first got underway. In October an unveiling of the new flags adorning the village took place as everyone enjoyed live music by the Stolen Thunder Band, an inflatable play area for children, walking tours of the two covered bridges, a scavenger hunt and more. Then, in December, the big band sounds of the Windham Swing Band filled Belmont High School where a Holiday Gathering included a delicious Trifle Dessert Bar. Moving into the New Year, a special photo booth has been traveling the town to "frame" as many residents as possible for the celebration. Those photos are and will continue to be posted on the town's Web site, said Belmont's Special Events Coordinator Gretta Olson-Wilder. Upcoming dates for people to note on their calendars so far are an appearance by the 12th Regiment Serenade Band, performing music from Belmont's past on Sunday, March 24, at 2 p.m., as well as a Family Grilled Cheese Night on Friday, April 12. That event begins at 5:30 p.m. and, besides featuring everyone's favorite grilled sandwich, it will include a Comedy/Juggling performance by Bryson Lang. Lang's talent, humor and antics are something people of all ages are sure to enjoy. One way in which residents can help with the celebration is to send in suggestions of things that could be placed in a 25-year Time Capsule. The capsule will be buried in 2019 then reopened during the town's 175th Anniversary in the year 2044. Among the suggestions received so far are: a list of babies born in 2018; a local newspaper; the Town Report; a photo of the Gale School; a photo of the town's K-9 team, Vito and his handler Sgt. Evan Boulanger; a "Make America Great Again" hat; and an interview with Everett Weeks about his farm and his childhood memories in Belmont. Another thought is to include a current list of residents that can be compared with a list of residents in 2044. The committee continues to invite residents to take part in the planning and execution of all the events, and asks that anyone interested in participating, or those with ideas and suggestions to share, contact Olson-Wilder at Events@BelmontNH.org. More details on events and activities can also be found at BELMONT The Year 2019 marks the 150th Anniversary of the Town of Belmont, and many celebration plans are in the works to mark this historic day in the community known as Upper Gilmanton until it was renamed in 1869.Excitement for the anniversary was evident last fall, when kick-off events first got underway. In October an unveiling of the new flags adorning the village took place as everyone enjoyed live music by the Stolen Thunder Band, an inflatable play area for children, walking tours of the two covered bridges, a scavenger hunt and more. Then, in December, the big band sounds of the Windham Swing Band filled Belmont High School where a Holiday Gathering included a delicious Trifle Dessert Bar.Moving into the New Year, a special photo booth has been traveling the town to "frame" as many residents as possible for the celebration. Those photos are and will continue to be posted on the town's Web site, said Belmont's Special Events Coordinator Gretta Olson-Wilder.Upcoming dates for people to note on their calendars so far are an appearance by the 12th Regiment Serenade Band, performing music from Belmont's past on Sunday, March 24, at 2 p.m., as well as a Family Grilled Cheese Night on Friday, April 12. That event begins at 5:30 p.m. and, besides featuring everyone's favorite grilled sandwich, it will include a Comedy/Juggling performance by Bryson Lang. Lang's talent, humor and antics are something people of all ages are sure to enjoy.One way in which residents can help with the celebration is to send in suggestions of things that could be placed in a 25-year Time Capsule. The capsule will be buried in 2019 then reopened during the town's 175th Anniversary in the year 2044.Among the suggestions received so far are: a list of babies born in 2018; a local newspaper; the Town Report; a photo of the Gale School; a photo of the town's K-9 team, Vito and his handler Sgt. Evan Boulanger; a "Make America Great Again" hat; and an interview with Everett Weeks about his farm and his childhood memories in Belmont. Another thought is to include a current list of residents that can be compared with a list of residents in 2044.The committee continues to invite residents to take part in the planning and execution of all the events, and asks that anyone interested in participating, or those with ideas and suggestions to share, contact Olson-Wilder at Events@BelmontNH.org. More details on events and activities can also be found at www.belmontnh.org Newfound Landing Bristol's anniversary celebration kicks off with "Winter in the Woods" gathering by Donna Rhodes write the author A group of snowshoe enthusiasts prepared for a hike up to Inspiration Point in Bristol last Saturday during a Winter in the Woods event that helped kick off the town's bicentennial celebration in 2019. (Photo by Donna Rhodes) (click for larger version) BRISTOL The Year 2019 is an exciting time in the Town of Bristol, as it celebrates 200 years since its founding in 1819, and as a prelude to the special events that will happen throughout the year, residents were invited to attend "Winter in the Woods" at the Slim Baker Lodge last Saturday, a traditional New England day outdoors. Hosting the event were members of the Slim Baker Outdoor Education Center who also partnered with the Pasquaney Snowshoe Club for guided hikes up to Inspiration Point and through the 135-acres of wooded property on Little Round Top Mountain in Bristol. Slim Baker Lodge and the ensuing foundation were created in honor of the area's much beloved New Hampshire Fish and Game Conservation Officer Everett "Slim" Baker, who died of cancer in 1953 at the age of 42. Just after his death, members of the community convened to find a way in which to honor Baker, and through the foundation they created, his love for nature and the outdoors still lives on today. Last weekend Jen Walker, Executive Director of the center, was on hand to greet guests from not only Bristol but nearby towns who came out to enjoy the day. There was a bonfire with marshmallows for all to enjoy, snowshoeing and sledding that kept little ones entertained throughout much of the day. Those who hadn't brought sleds soon found cardboard and other old-fashioned means to go sailing down the short hill in front of the lodge. Many adults preferred a snowshoe hike to the top of Inspiration Point where an amazing view of Bristol Village can be viewed. Wishing to only give first names, Cindy of Hebron said she had once enjoyed snowshoe hikes with the Pasquaney Snowshoe Club but had lost touch with them. "When I heard they were going to be here today, I had to come out to network with them again. Plus, it's just a great day for a hike," she said. Joining her group for the short but arduous hike to Inspiration Point were two new fulltime residents to Newfound, Kate and her husband Rich. They couple said that after seasonal stays in the Bristol area they were happy to have just moved here fulltime and were excited about the day's activities. "We really like the people here, and we love being outdoors. When we heard about today, we went out and bought micro-cleats for the hike so we're ready to roll," said Kate. As they and others, including a canine companion, started their winter uphill trek, another group of all ages was gathered around a nearby crackling bonfire. Adults engaged in small talk about the community and their lives while children toasted marshmallows and tossed more sticks into the blaze. "This is great," said Garlyn Manganiello. "It lets us all get out and about and enjoy a beautiful winter day!" As squeals of delight echoed up from the sledding hill, still more people sat before a roaring fire inside the lodge where they, too, conversed and made new friends while enjoying cookies and warm beverages. There were also displays of past articles about "Slim" and the lodge along with old photos and information on current activities available at the lodge. Walker said that when her organization heard the Bicentennial committee was looking to hold events throughout 2019, they jumped on board. "They came up here looking for a winter location to hold an event and this was a natural fit," she said. "It's the perfect time to get people up here to see all we have to offer. This place is a gem and it's just outside of downtown Bristol." Assisting Walker and the board of directors for the activities were not just members of the Pasquaney Snow Shoe Club but the young Cub Scouts of Pack 59 who helped with the bonfire and other details of the day. "We've had a steady flow of people come up here today, even before the 2 p.m. start time. It's been a great day all around," said Walker. BRISTOL The Year 2019 is an exciting time in the Town of Bristol, as it celebrates 200 years since its founding in 1819, and as a prelude to the special events that will happen throughout the year, residents were invited to attend "Winter in the Woods" at the Slim Baker Lodge last Saturday, a traditional New England day outdoors.Hosting the event were members of the Slim Baker Outdoor Education Center who also partnered with the Pasquaney Snowshoe Club for guided hikes up to Inspiration Point and through the 135-acres of wooded property on Little Round Top Mountain in Bristol.Slim Baker Lodge and the ensuing foundation were created in honor of the area's much beloved New Hampshire Fish and Game Conservation Officer Everett "Slim" Baker, who died of cancer in 1953 at the age of 42. Just after his death, members of the community convened to find a way in which to honor Baker, and through the foundation they created, his love for nature and the outdoors still lives on today.Last weekend Jen Walker, Executive Director of the center, was on hand to greet guests from not only Bristol but nearby towns who came out to enjoy the day. There was a bonfire with marshmallows for all to enjoy, snowshoeing and sledding that kept little ones entertained throughout much of the day. Those who hadn't brought sleds soon found cardboard and other old-fashioned means to go sailing down the short hill in front of the lodge.Many adults preferred a snowshoe hike to the top of Inspiration Point where an amazing view of Bristol Village can be viewed. Wishing to only give first names, Cindy of Hebron said she had once enjoyed snowshoe hikes with the Pasquaney Snowshoe Club but had lost touch with them."When I heard they were going to be here today, I had to come out to network with them again. Plus, it's just a great day for a hike," she said.Joining her group for the short but arduous hike to Inspiration Point were two new fulltime residents to Newfound, Kate and her husband Rich. They couple said that after seasonal stays in the Bristol area they were happy to have just moved here fulltime and were excited about the day's activities."We really like the people here, and we love being outdoors. When we heard about today, we went out and bought micro-cleats for the hike so we're ready to roll," said Kate.As they and others, including a canine companion, started their winter uphill trek, another group of all ages was gathered around a nearby crackling bonfire.Adults engaged in small talk about the community and their lives while children toasted marshmallows and tossed more sticks into the blaze."This is great," said Garlyn Manganiello. "It lets us all get out and about and enjoy a beautiful winter day!"As squeals of delight echoed up from the sledding hill, still more people sat before a roaring fire inside the lodge where they, too, conversed and made new friends while enjoying cookies and warm beverages. There were also displays of past articles about "Slim" and the lodge along with old photos and information on current activities available at the lodge.Walker said that when her organization heard the Bicentennial committee was looking to hold events throughout 2019, they jumped on board."They came up here looking for a winter location to hold an event and this was a natural fit," she said. "It's the perfect time to get people up here to see all we have to offer. This place is a gem and it's just outside of downtown Bristol."Assisting Walker and the board of directors for the activities were not just members of the Pasquaney Snow Shoe Club but the young Cub Scouts of Pack 59 who helped with the bonfire and other details of the day."We've had a steady flow of people come up here today, even before the 2 p.m. start time. It's been a great day all around," said Walker. Newfound Landing Newfound announces top graduating seniors Newfound inducts fifth Hall of Fame class Recent Donna Rhodes Plymouth vote a rousing success 2021-Apr-21 Plymouth to hold the final session of alternative Town Meeting 2021-Apr-08 PACC fights through challenging times 2021-Mar-17 Boomerangs steps up in support of PACC 2021-Mar-10 Alexandria fishing derby draws strong turnout 2021-Mar-03 Bristol voters to decide on recycling proposal 2021-Mar-03 More... Thanks for visiting SalmonPress.com Littleton Courier School district navigates costs, cuts by Justin Roshak LITELTON"Our cost per pupil is higher than the state average," acknowledged SAU 84 Superintendent Dr. Steve Nilhas at last week's Budget-SAU 84 meeting. He observed that the gap had fallen by about $567 since the 2016/17 school year, when per pupil costs were $4,900 higher than the state average. "We will drop again next year," he predicted, citing slight declines in enrollment and a $300,000 reduction in the overall budget. Nilhas suggested that the average cost across New Hampshire were expected to rise, which would also reduce the gap between Littleton and averages. Some sources of budget crunch pressure are as clear as they are unavoidable, being state-mandated. "The cost of special education placements are a real challenge for us. And yet we recognize the need to educate all children...but it is very costly," said Nilhas, referring to those students whose needs are such that they must be tuitioned elsewhere. He added that the biggest increases in demand for services weren't necessarily from new arrivals, and observed that an existing student's medical and educational needs can change quite dramatically. The total costs of special education out-of-district placement ballooned from $90,676 in 2015-16, to $240,000 in 2018/19, and is projected to reach $400,000 in 2019/20. The number of placements has doubled, from two to four. State law mandates that districts fund those placements, a policy which met with skepticism from one member of the Budget Committee, and which Nilhas indicated might be a good topic to take up with elected officials. Also on the state side, the district has lost, and expects to lose, about $59,677 per year in stabilization aid over the next two decades, as a result of a phaseout by the state legislature. This will place more burden on local districts to fund themselves. The poorest districts are feeling the tightest pinch from this reduction. On the positive side, the district brings in about 100 students to its career and technical program, generating more than $500,000 in revenue. The CTC program offers some 21 different courses. Nonetheless, district revenues made up only four percent of total income, the majority of which came from local taxation (59 percent) followed by state sources (24 percent). Federal dollars, grants, and state education aid make up the remainder. Nilhas also expressed optimism that despite recent modest declines in enrollment, Littleton would continue to get younger and attract new families, which could reserve that trend. This past year, total enrollment was 698, down from 721 in 2017, and 710 in 2016.. Enrollment was about 850 in 2006. Total special education enrollment was up slightly, to 131 from 125 in 2017. At Lakeway Elementary, class sizes are 12.5 in grades K and 1, 19 in grade 2, 15 in grades 3 and 4, and about 17 in grades 5 and 6. At all levels except for grade 2, class sizes are below state averages, in the case of kindergarten and first grade, dramatically lower. New this year is the Above the Notch Community school, an adult education and degree recovery program, taught after hours, that has already helped residents over the age of 16 work towards their high school degrees. It is free to Littleton students under the age of 21, and charges $125 per class for those above that age. Lisbon and Profile students have already been contracted in. This year, the district will spend $25,000 on Chromebooks for seventh graders and Lakeway Elementary students. Lakeway aims to have one Chromebook per student. In all Littleton's SAU 84 plans a default budget of $16,335,130. During the current year, teachers will receive no new money to their contract. LITELTON"Our cost per pupil is higher than the state average," acknowledged SAU 84 Superintendent Dr. Steve Nilhas at last week's Budget-SAU 84 meeting.He observed that the gap had fallen by about $567 since the 2016/17 school year, when per pupil costs were $4,900 higher than the state average."We will drop again next year," he predicted, citing slight declines in enrollment and a $300,000 reduction in the overall budget.Nilhas suggested that the average cost across New Hampshire were expected to rise, which would also reduce the gap between Littleton and averages.Some sources of budget crunch pressure are as clear as they are unavoidable, being state-mandated."The cost of special education placements are a real challenge for us. And yet we recognize the need to educate all children...but it is very costly," said Nilhas, referring to those students whose needs are such that they must be tuitioned elsewhere.He added that the biggest increases in demand for services weren't necessarily from new arrivals, and observed that an existing student's medical and educational needs can change quite dramatically.The total costs of special education out-of-district placement ballooned from $90,676 in 2015-16, to $240,000 in 2018/19, and is projected to reach $400,000 in 2019/20. The number of placements has doubled, from two to four. State law mandates that districts fund those placements, a policy which met with skepticism from one member of the Budget Committee, and which Nilhas indicated might be a good topic to take up with elected officials.Also on the state side, the district has lost, and expects to lose, about $59,677 per year in stabilization aid over the next two decades, as a result of a phaseout by the state legislature. This will place more burden on local districts to fund themselves. The poorest districts are feeling the tightest pinch from this reduction.On the positive side, the district brings in about 100 students to its career and technical program, generating more than $500,000 in revenue. The CTC program offers some 21 different courses. Nonetheless, district revenues made up only four percent of total income, the majority of which came from local taxation (59 percent) followed by state sources (24 percent). Federal dollars, grants, and state education aid make up the remainder.Nilhas also expressed optimism that despite recent modest declines in enrollment, Littleton would continue to get younger and attract new families, which could reserve that trend.This past year, total enrollment was 698, down from 721 in 2017, and 710 in 2016.. Enrollment was about 850 in 2006. Total special education enrollment was up slightly, to 131 from 125 in 2017.At Lakeway Elementary, class sizes are 12.5 in grades K and 1, 19 in grade 2, 15 in grades 3 and 4, and about 17 in grades 5 and 6. At all levels except for grade 2, class sizes are below state averages, in the case of kindergarten and first grade, dramatically lower.New this year is the Above the Notch Community school, an adult education and degree recovery program, taught after hours, that has already helped residents over the age of 16 work towards their high school degrees. It is free to Littleton students under the age of 21, and charges $125 per class for those above that age. Lisbon and Profile students have already been contracted in.This year, the district will spend $25,000 on Chromebooks for seventh graders and Lakeway Elementary students. Lakeway aims to have one Chromebook per student.In all Littleton's SAU 84 plans a default budget of $16,335,130. During the current year, teachers will receive no new money to their contract. Littleton Courier Resilience celebrated at LHS graduation Bethlehem celebrates Patsie Bonardi Thanks for visiting SalmonPress.com Granite State News Gift of new bench to Libby Museum leads off a busy agenda for Wolfeboro selectmen by Elissa Paquette WOLFEBORO The Wolfeboro Board of Selectmen covered a lot of ground at their Jan. 16 meeting, from approving the Moose Mountain Regional Greenways snowshoe race at the Abenaki Ski Area on Saturday, Jan. 26, accepting the gift of a memorial bench to the Libby Museum, doubling the Josiah Brown scholarship contributions, appointing a member to the Cyanobacteria Ad Hoc Committee to engineering presentations from the Department of Public Works. There was also an announcement of this year's Independence Day Parade theme from Harold Chamberlin. Libby Museum Ex. Dir. Alana Albee spoke on behalf of Amy Martell, who offered the gift of a 60-inch granite bench with engraving in memory of her mother, Marion Chisholm, to be placed to the left of the lawn overlooking the lake. It is to be delivered in the spring. Acting Town Manager James Pineo reported that there were only two applicants this year to the town's Josiah W. Brown Scholarship fund, pointing to the need, he said, to reach out to the Kingswood Regional High School Guidance Department and review the criteria. He recommended the two continuing scholars each receive a $1,500 stipend in view of the healthy balance in the Scholarship Trust. Selectman Dave Bowers moved to increase the amount to $3,000 each, commenting that there were sufficient funds in the account and college costs are high. The motion passed. Mike Turner was appointed to the Cyanobacteria Ad Hoc Committee. A retired physician, Turner said it was a natural fit for him to participate in water monitoring, as he lives in the Winter Harbor area, and he was pleased to serve. Harold Chamberlin stepped to the microphone on behalf of the American Legion Harriman Hill Post 18 and his role as organizer of the Independence Day Parade (25 years so far). This will be the 100th anniversary of both the event and Post 18, so he would like to "see something spectacular this year." Reviewing last year's parade, he commented that he will make some modifications to reduce its length, exacerbated by a number of very long trucks and multiple vehicles. The theme, not yet carved in stone, is "something like, 100 years, The American Legion, Post 18, Still Serving the Community, State and Nation",he told the board. Frank Cartier followed with a pitch for support for future fundraising activities on behalf of the Legion to renovate the building. He said the group would like to be able to host community events. Public Works Director Dave Ford introduced representatives of Underwood Engineers (UE) for a review of 2018 water and sewer rates. Water revenues of $1,283,349 were 2.6 percent less than the revenue assumed in the rate model, but since debt will continue to fall off, UE recommends staying with the recommended 2 percent water rate increase in 2019 as projected in the July 2017 model. The estimated total of 2018 water consumption is 109,038,791 gallons. According to the UE report, 2018 sewer revenue and consumption are tracking closely to the rate model. Since 2018 revenues are estiated to be within 3 percent of the revenues assumed in the model, UE recommends staying with the recommended 2.5 percent sewer rate increase in 2019 as projected in the July, 2017 model. Estimated 2018 infiltration and inflow decreased from 2017 but was approximately 8 percent higher than 2015 and 2016. It was 4.2 percent less than 2017. The board asked Ford to distill the information presented into a one to two page summary for further review before it makes a decision on the rate increases. Ford, offering an update on the Rapid Infiltration Basin (RIB) site remediation progress, said the second full scale pilot program is underway, which involves collecting data to share with the state. The town purchased a five acre parcel in Tuftonboro affected by the previous water breakouts in order to restore the wetlands. Pipes will be installed underground. The RIB has been shut off this season. When it is operational again, the flow will be limited to no more than 340,000 gallons a day. Residents are reminded that the Deliberative Session, which offers the opportunity to examine the Town Warrant in detail and put forward amendments to a vote, is scheduled for Tuesday, Feb. 5, 7 p.m., in the Great Hall. Feb. 7 is the snow date. A preview of the warrant can be viewed on Wolfeboro Television's Channel 25. WOLFEBORO The Wolfeboro Board of Selectmen covered a lot of ground at their Jan. 16 meeting, from approving the Moose Mountain Regional Greenways snowshoe race at the Abenaki Ski Area on Saturday, Jan. 26, accepting the gift of a memorial bench to the Libby Museum, doubling the Josiah Brown scholarship contributions, appointing a member to the Cyanobacteria Ad Hoc Committee to engineering presentations from the Department of Public Works. There was also an announcement of this year's Independence Day Parade theme from Harold Chamberlin.Libby Museum Ex. Dir. Alana Albee spoke on behalf of Amy Martell, who offered the gift of a 60-inch granite bench with engraving in memory of her mother, Marion Chisholm, to be placed to the left of the lawn overlooking the lake. It is to be delivered in the spring.Acting Town Manager James Pineo reported that there were only two applicants this year to the town's Josiah W. Brown Scholarship fund, pointing to the need, he said, to reach out to the Kingswood Regional High School Guidance Department and review the criteria. He recommended the two continuing scholars each receive a $1,500 stipend in view of the healthy balance in the Scholarship Trust.Selectman Dave Bowers moved to increase the amount to $3,000 each, commenting that there were sufficient funds in the account and college costs are high. The motion passed.Mike Turner was appointed to the Cyanobacteria Ad Hoc Committee. A retired physician, Turner said it was a natural fit for him to participate in water monitoring, as he lives in the Winter Harbor area, and he was pleased to serve.Harold Chamberlin stepped to the microphone on behalf of the American Legion Harriman Hill Post 18 and his role as organizer of the Independence Day Parade (25 years so far). This will be the 100th anniversary of both the event and Post 18, so he would like to "see something spectacular this year." Reviewing last year's parade, he commented that he will make some modifications to reduce its length, exacerbated by a number of very long trucks and multiple vehicles. The theme, not yet carved in stone, is "something like, 100 years, The American Legion, Post 18, Still Serving the Community, State and Nation",he told the board.Frank Cartier followed with a pitch for support for future fundraising activities on behalf of the Legion to renovate the building. He said the group would like to be able to host community events.Public Works Director Dave Ford introduced representatives of Underwood Engineers (UE) for a review of 2018 water and sewer rates. Water revenues of $1,283,349 were 2.6 percent less than the revenue assumed in the rate model, but since debt will continue to fall off, UE recommends staying with the recommended 2 percent water rate increase in 2019 as projected in the July 2017 model.The estimated total of 2018 water consumption is 109,038,791 gallons.According to the UE report, 2018 sewer revenue and consumption are tracking closely to the rate model. Since 2018 revenues are estiated to be within 3 percent of the revenues assumed in the model, UE recommends staying with the recommended 2.5 percent sewer rate increase in 2019 as projected in the July, 2017 model.Estimated 2018 infiltration and inflow decreased from 2017 but was approximately 8 percent higher than 2015 and 2016. It was 4.2 percent less than 2017.The board asked Ford to distill the information presented into a one to two page summary for further review before it makes a decision on the rate increases.Ford, offering an update on the Rapid Infiltration Basin (RIB) site remediation progress, said the second full scale pilot program is underway, which involves collecting data to share with the state. The town purchased a five acre parcel in Tuftonboro affected by the previous water breakouts in order to restore the wetlands. Pipes will be installed underground. The RIB has been shut off this season. When it is operational again, the flow will be limited to no more than 340,000 gallons a day.Residents are reminded that the Deliberative Session, which offers the opportunity to examine the Town Warrant in detail and put forward amendments to a vote, is scheduled for Tuesday, Feb. 5, 7 p.m., in the Great Hall. Feb. 7 is the snow date.A preview of the warrant can be viewed on Wolfeboro Television's Channel 25. Granite State News Brewster Class of '21 graduates Graniteman Triathlon suspended until 2022 Recent Elissa Paquette Graniteman Triathlon suspended until 2022 2021-Jun-10 Building permit fee increases tabled for further study 2021-Jun-10 GWRSD lifts outdoor mask mandate 2021-Jun-03 GWRSD lifts outdoor mask mandate 2021-Jun-03 GWRSD lifts outdoor mask mandate 2021-Jun-03 GWRSD election, warrant results are in 2021-May-20 More... Thanks for visiting SalmonPress.com Berlin Reporter Grenier testifies in support of House Bill aimed at overturning education cuts by Jody Houle BERLIN Berlin Mayor Paul Grenier testified at the House Education Committee last Thursday during a public meeting on House Bill 177 -- a proposed bill that would overturn legislature that is phasing out state stabilization grants for education. Property-poor communities like Berlin are suffering the most due to the current law. At the meeting, Grenier represented Berlin and spoke in support of the bill. He explained that 68 percent of properties in Berlin are tax exempt due to being either state prison property, a church or part of the White Mountain National Forest. There is inequality between wealthy communities and property-poor communities like Berlin, he noted. Seventy-three percent of public education in New Hampshire is funded through local property taxes. Tax payers in property-poor communities like Berlin carry the burden of a disproportionate quantity compared to property-wealthy communities. Grenier pointed out that the current legislature goes against the New Hampshire constitution that ensures the state must support "adequate" education. The Mayor read a letter from the school board and superintendent who could not attend the meeting because they were voting on closing Brown School. School board chair Nicole Plourde wrote that the state education cuts are "beyond the scope of what rich communities can imagine." Current law reducing education stabilization grants passed in 2015 and took effect in 2016 that is set to cut, in all, $5.5 million of education aid to the city of Berlin. The bill allows the state to gradually cut the stabilization grants in districts throughout the state by 4 percent every year for 25 years ultimately eradicating the grants. Berlin is drawn against losing $220,000 annually in education aid. The state revised its adequacy formula and the stabilization grants set in 2012 were to offset the effects of the changes made. The formula decreases reimbursements for special education and eliminated money for districts that have the lowest tax base per student. The stabilization grants were mostly for towns that are property-poor and have lower incomes. HB 177 would withdraw those cuts. Berlin property owners pay taxes at $39.52 per $1,000 and pay $16,680 per pupil in the school district -- that is higher than the state average of $15,865. The equalized value, a total taxable property value divided by the number of students, is $326,000. Some property-wealthy communities have an equalized value of taxable property eight times that amount. Berlin school enrollment is declining and the school budget is about half a million dollars over budget. BERLIN Berlin Mayor Paul Grenier testified at the House Education Committee last Thursday during a public meeting on House Bill 177 -- a proposed bill that would overturn legislature that is phasing out state stabilization grants for education. Property-poor communities like Berlin are suffering the most due to the current law.At the meeting, Grenier represented Berlin and spoke in support of the bill. He explained that 68 percent of properties in Berlin are tax exempt due to being either state prison property, a church or part of the White Mountain National Forest.There is inequality between wealthy communities and property-poor communities like Berlin, he noted.Seventy-three percent of public education in New Hampshire is funded through local property taxes. Tax payers in property-poor communities like Berlin carry the burden of a disproportionate quantity compared to property-wealthy communities.Grenier pointed out that the current legislature goes against the New Hampshire constitution that ensures the state must support "adequate" education.The Mayor read a letter from the school board and superintendent who could not attend the meeting because they were voting on closing Brown School.School board chair Nicole Plourde wrote that the state education cuts are "beyond the scope of what rich communities can imagine."Current law reducing education stabilization grants passed in 2015 and took effect in 2016 that is set to cut, in all, $5.5 million of education aid to the city of Berlin. The bill allows the state to gradually cut the stabilization grants in districts throughout the state by 4 percent every year for 25 years ultimately eradicating the grants. Berlin is drawn against losing $220,000 annually in education aid. The state revised its adequacy formula and the stabilization grants set in 2012 were to offset the effects of the changes made. The formula decreases reimbursements for special education and eliminated money for districts that have the lowest tax base per student. The stabilization grants were mostly for towns that are property-poor and have lower incomes. HB 177 would withdraw those cuts.Berlin property owners pay taxes at $39.52 per $1,000 and pay $16,680 per pupil in the school district -- that is higher than the state average of $15,865. The equalized value, a total taxable property value divided by the number of students, is $326,000. Some property-wealthy communities have an equalized value of taxable property eight times that amount.Berlin school enrollment is declining and the school budget is about half a million dollars over budget. Berlin Reporter City Council discusses spending request Berlin softball rallies, but Belmont gets the win Recent Jody Houle State funding cuts force closure of Brown School 2019-Jan-23 Film made in Berlin now available for purchase 2019-Jan-17 School board continues to discuss reorganization of grades 2019-Jan-17 AVH hosting forum on addiction treatment services 2019-Jan-09 Police apprehend armed man following standoff 2019-Jan-09 More... Thanks for visiting SalmonPress.com The Korean government has shouldered an ever-increasing portion of the annual cost to maintain American troops here since the Special Measures Agreement signed with the U.S. government in 1991. The money has paid for Koreans working for the U.S. Forces Korea, maintenance and expansion of USFK facilities, and logistics. Korea covers just under 75 percent of the salaries of Koreans working at USFK bases. The country also provides ammunition storage, aircraft repair and transport support. The tab for building military installations is covered either by providing materials or in cash. Since 1991, Korea's share of the bill rose from around W107 billion to W906.2 billion last year, when W442.2 billion was spent to cover the costs of building military installations, W371 billion on workers' wages and W145 billion on logistics (US$1=W1,128). A government source admitted that more than 90 percent of the money flows back into the Korean economy since the Korean staff spend their wages here and a considerable amount of construction and logistic costs is paid to Korean builders and contractors. The U.S. government is reluctant to reveal the exact cost of maintaining the USFK, so it is unclear what proportion of the total Korea shoulders, but experts estimate it at a minimum of 50 percent. The U.S. has been unable to use hundreds of billions of won in money Korea has paid, but that is because the construction period for military installations causes a gap in payment and spending, according to a Defense Ministry official. Berlin Reporter State funding cuts force closure of Brown School by Jody Houle Hillside Elementary School students will have to share space at that building next year due to the closing of Brown School. The SAU3 school board voted to close Brown School last week because of budget issues and financial hardship. K-5 grades will be taught at Hillside Elementary and six to 12 will be at the high school building. (Courtesy Photo) (click for larger version) BERLIN Emotions were high at a public meeting held last week when the Berlin School Board voted to close Brown School, the city's last standing elementary school, due to a financial crisis triggered by cuts to state stabilization grants for education. Declining enrollment at the schools has not helped, and the district is about half a million dollars over budget. Brown School is set to close at the end of this school year and grades will be consolidated -- kindergarten through fifth grades will move to Hillside Elementary and grades six through 12 will be taught at the high school. Many parents are worried about the effects the transition will have students and on the age gap between them. The Berlin Reporter interviewed a number of parents on the matter. "Sixth to eighth graders don't belong with high school," said Louise St. Onge Dion of Berlin. "My grandkids will unfortunately be going, and I'm not happy about it at all." Other parents pointed out that other schools, like Gorham Middle High School, have a similar grading system there, and that there are no issues with that system. Another parent is concerned about the empty building at Brown School and wondered what will it will used for and if tax payers were still going to pay for the building while it's closed. A high school student, Trenity Holden, offered her input. "I am going to be a senior at BHS next year and no one seems to care what we think," she said. "Honestly, I understand the we're not getting the funding we usually have and that Brown School isn't up to code anymore. I also don't have a problem with the middle school moving into the high school. However, my biggest issue is that they're trying to do it all by next year. To do something as drastic as move an entire school into a different, preoccupied building takes time. We have to figure out the bell schedules, lunches, classrooms, teachers, and how to keep everyone separated. As a senior I can adapt to whatever change is thrown at me with the school, but, imagine the sophomore's who've only been in the school for a year and then everything is changed. Also, the sixth to eighth graders who have adjusted to their middle school life are going to be thrown into a completely different system for their education. At this point I know my opinion can't change anything so I hope they put 110 percent into making the transition as smooth and efficient as possible." School board member Scott Losier provided his stance. "It's a sad time to see this school finally close," he wrote in an email. "It breaks my heart, and I pray that everything works out in the best interest of the children. I did not vote yes for this reconfiguration, but I will stand by and support the staff and administration as they prepare for the big moves that come with this closure. I do have one thing to say and that is that parents and students need to attend school board meetings when big decisions like this are taking place and speak up in the public comment sections of the board meetings. We have a very dedicated team of teachers, administrators and board members who care so deeply and we will make this closing of Brown and transition into the other two schools as organized and with as much support as we can." BERLIN Emotions were high at a public meeting held last week when the Berlin School Board voted to close Brown School, the city's last standing elementary school, due to a financial crisis triggered by cuts to state stabilization grants for education.Declining enrollment at the schools has not helped, and the district is about half a million dollars over budget.Brown School is set to close at the end of this school year and grades will be consolidated -- kindergarten through fifth grades will move to Hillside Elementary and grades six through 12 will be taught at the high school.Many parents are worried about the effects the transition will have students and on the age gap between them. The Berlin Reporter interviewed a number of parents on the matter."Sixth to eighth graders don't belong with high school," said Louise St. Onge Dion of Berlin. "My grandkids will unfortunately be going, and I'm not happy about it at all."Other parents pointed out that other schools, like Gorham Middle High School, have a similar grading system there, and that there are no issues with that system.Another parent is concerned about the empty building at Brown School and wondered what will it will used for and if tax payers were still going to pay for the building while it's closed.A high school student, Trenity Holden, offered her input."I am going to be a senior at BHS next year and no one seems to care what we think," she said. "Honestly, I understand the we're not getting the funding we usually have and that Brown School isn't up to code anymore. I also don't have a problem with the middle school moving into the high school. However, my biggest issue is that they're trying to do it all by next year. To do something as drastic as move an entire school into a different, preoccupied building takes time. We have to figure out the bell schedules, lunches, classrooms, teachers, and how to keep everyone separated. As a senior I can adapt to whatever change is thrown at me with the school, but, imagine the sophomore's who've only been in the school for a year and then everything is changed. Also, the sixth to eighth graders who have adjusted to their middle school life are going to be thrown into a completely different system for their education. At this point I know my opinion can't change anything so I hope they put 110 percent into making the transition as smooth and efficient as possible."School board member Scott Losier provided his stance."It's a sad time to see this school finally close," he wrote in an email. "It breaks my heart, and I pray that everything works out in the best interest of the children. I did not vote yes for this reconfiguration, but I will stand by and support the staff and administration as they prepare for the big moves that come with this closure. I do have one thing to say and that is that parents and students need to attend school board meetings when big decisions like this are taking place and speak up in the public comment sections of the board meetings. We have a very dedicated team of teachers, administrators and board members who care so deeply and we will make this closing of Brown and transition into the other two schools as organized and with as much support as we can." Berlin Reporter City Council discusses spending request Berlin softball rallies, but Belmont gets the win Recent Jody Houle Grenier testifies in support of House Bill aimed at overturning education cuts 2019-Jan-23 Film made in Berlin now available for purchase 2019-Jan-17 School board continues to discuss reorganization of grades 2019-Jan-17 AVH hosting forum on addiction treatment services 2019-Jan-09 Police apprehend armed man following standoff 2019-Jan-09 More... Thanks for visiting SalmonPress.com The Defense Ministry on Wednesday condemned as "an explicit provocation" a Japanese spy plane flying too close to a 4,500-ton Korean Navy destroyer near the submerged rocks of Ieo in Korea's territorial line in the East China Sea. "Around 2:03 p.m. today, a Japanese patrol plane performed a threatening maneuver over the Daejoyoung by flying only about 540 m away and at an altitude of just 60-70 m in waters near Ieo, despite being capable of clearly identifying the warship," Suh Wook of the Joint Chiefs of Staff told reporters. A month ago, a spat erupted over a Korean Navy destroyer turning its fire radar on a Japanese surveillance plane flying overhead while the destroyer was on a mission to rescue a North Korean fishing boat, and Tokyo has since been protesting vociferously. Korea says the Japanese plane was then also flying too close and too low overhead and that the destroyer has no intention of targeting it. Automation Products; Misc. Vendor News; Political News Impacting Rates I think that keeping my personal information and passwords on my yellow note pad is safer than putting it in the cloud. More than 24 million financial and banking documents related to mortgages and other consumer loans were leaked online due to a server security lapse. Lawyer-up! Running an Elasticsearch database, the server had more than a decades worth of data, including loan and mortgage agreements, repayment schedules and financial and tax documents. And while were talking about big numbers, heres a headline for you: Bear Stearns Funds Slap Reed Smith with $500 Million Malpractice Claim for bungling the chance to seek a major recovery in the wake of the subprime mortgage meltdown. Lender Products and Services Designed to simplify the financing process for new home buyers, eliminating the need to obtain both a construction loan and permanent mortgage, AFR Wholesales streamlined One-Time Close program is now even better. The improved program offers additional significant benefits including faster turnaround times and a single construction fee, as well as the use of various down payment assistance programs. To further help brokers, correspondents, builders and MH dealers, AFR Wholesale has also announced that it will be providing personalized concierge service to guide originators and their builder/dealer partners throughout the one-time close process. From Manufactured Housing programs to Renovation products including FHA 203(k), USDA Repair Escrow and VA Renovation, AFR is dedicated to helping clients bring families home. In addition to offering unique products and services, AFR provides its business partners with industry-leading technology, professional expertise and continuous opportunities for education. For more information, email sales@afrwholesale.com, call 1-800-375-6071 or visit www.afrwholesale.com. The Community Home Lenders Association (CHLA) today released a detailed report on Ginnie Mae, urging the agency not to over-react to concerns about financial risk in its supervision of issuers, particularly smaller, community-based IMBs. The Report deals with concerns CHLA first raised last month in Congressional testimony about reports of Ginnie Mae not granting commitment authority requests and raising net worth and liquidity requirements above posted levels for individual issuers. The CHLA Report offers recommendations on how Ginnie Mae should balance its statutory access to mortgage credit responsibilities with prudent supervision. It describes how Ginnie Mae's risk is limited and its financial performance has been strong over the last decade, warning that a Ginnie Mae overreaction could significantly shrink the number of issuers and increase concentration. CHLA's report explains how this could hurt smaller issuers, reduce consumer choice, and increase Ginnie Mae's risk, by concentrating issuance among the largest issuers which pose the greatest risk. TMS has officially entered the GNMA PIIT buying program. There are less than a handful of buyers of this program in the market, and TMS is excited to add this offering for its partners, as its award-winning subservicing platform SIME enables its continued growth. Now that the new year is underway, its the perfect time to resolve to reduce loan fallout, optimize ROI and capture more closings. CloseCAPTURE, from Credit Plus, is a suite of products designed to help you do just that. And, theres no time like the present given the issues expected to impact the industry in 2019. CloseCAPTURE was developed to address head-on the five primary challenges lenders face which contribute to loan fallout: 1) reducing credit report costs; 2) qualifying more applicants with credit score issues; 3) preventing approved applicants from taking their business elsewhere; 4) finding more quality leads; and 5) retaining your portfolio. Watch this 3-minute video to learn more about the products available in CloseCAPTURE. To speak to a Credit Plus account executive about this set of solutions and how it can help your lending operation throughout the year, email info@creditplus.com. Simplify your underwriting process with Loan Product Advisor asset and income modeler (AIM). Through the expertise of third-party service providers, AIM automates the manual processes of assessing borrower assets and income. AIM reduces the burden of traditional documentation, speeds up the loan origination process and helps you close loans faster. Freddie Mac is working hard to bring you solutions that create efficiencies for your business and improve the borrower experience - giving you a competitive edge. These capabilities are available for Loan Product Advisor submissions and resubmissions on and after December 9, 2018. Gain greater efficiency in your underwriting processes with AIM get The Freddie EdgeSM. Whats the mortgage version of having your cake and eating it too? Well, thanks to United Wholesale Mortgage, it means having access to superb service, technology, partnership toolsAND price! UWM has dropped its rates across the board for conventional, government and jumbo giving the nations No. 1 wholesale lender unequaled pricing in the country, to go along with everything else that makes it the most popular wholesale lender among mortgage brokers. UWM has removed all state adjustments and all Loan Level Pricing Adjustments (LLPA) overlays, as well. Now, not only will mortgage brokers enjoy the fastest and easiest experience by working with UWM, theyll also get their customers unmatched best rates. To learn more, visit www.UWM.com/have-it-all. Deephaven Mortgage is heating things up this winter with some exciting new changes that will amplify your ability to generate new business during the historically slow winter months. Here are a few enhancements Deephaven has made: 90% & 95% Debt Consolidation options priced significantly better than Cash-out; 50% DTI on all 12 Month/1 Year Alt Doc Products including 12 Month Bank Statements and Loan Amounts to $3MM. Deephaven is in the business of helping originators understand Non-QM. Its time to get into the product line and get started with Deephaven today. Pricing engines, Identi-Fi tools, and Rate Sheets/ Matrices have been updated, and Deephaven is ready to help you. So, what are you waiting for? Get moving! Contact brokerinfo@deephavenmortgage.com (Wholesale) or sales@deephavenmortgage.com (Correspondent). As we look at the headwinds that 2019 is likely to challenge lenders with, digital mortgage providers like Maxwell can be impactful tools to drive efficiency for your team. Maxwell is specifically designed for lenders where customization is desired and personalization from the loan officer is critical to achieving a satisfied borrower. Today, the Maxwell team reports that lenders on their platform are closing loans 45% faster than the national average, collecting docs 73% faster, and driving borrower satisfaction up 25%. These numbers highlight how Maxwell increases efficiency, drives agent referrals, and offers true ROI on technology. To experience Maxwell, click here and set up time for your customized demo. Vendor Updates With over 1,400 vendors touching the mortgage process, it is hard to keep track of whos doing what. Lets take a random look. ARIVE is making waves. Again. In a new video, AIME Chairman Anthony Casa announced that the platform will support FNM 3.2 exports. Sounds like the naysayers are going to have to find a new talking point. You can view the video and learn more about ARIVE at HousingWire. With great interest in January Insellerate launched its all new standalone engagement platform with pre built borrower journeys and content that allows lenders to Automate marketing for Facebook direct mail , text messaging , email and phone calls and drive more business , more repeat customers and lowers marketing cost. Insellerate is also rolling out its first AI engagement bot to a select few lenders in February. Riivos, the mortgage cloud value chain management company that helps mortgage originators drive top financial performance, offers a mortgage pricing product that provides capital markets teams both banks and non-banks the ability to optimize their pricing strategy. You can run sensitivity analysis on existing and new programs, so users can evaluate the impact on the entire organization through different pricing strategies. Guild Mortgage has aligned with Homebot, a personalized financial dashboard that enables Guilds loan officers to provide regular, customized home finance and wealth building intelligence to homeowners. By partnering with Homebot, Guilds loan officers can now offer customers relevant data, economic insights and market intelligence and stay connected with homeowners in a meaningful, personalized way long after the mortgage transaction has closed. Homebots home digests provide homeowners with regular insights, including their current home value, how their equity is building over time, refinancing opportunities, purchasing power for buying a new home or trading up to a new home, cash flow and short-term rental opportunities. Guild Mortgage will provide the companys more than 1,100 loan officers nationwide access to Homebots Lender Base service at no cost to them. Indecomm announced the availability of AuditGenius, its next generation technology solution for automated loan audits and mortgage risk management. AuditGenius is internally used, web-based SaaS solution developed to simplify the loan audit process for effective and efficient mortgage risk management and is now available to Indecomm clients in a Software as a Service (SaaS) model. Existing clients will benefit from the updated user experience, additional audit process features, and improved performance. In addition to those benefits, existing Indecomm clients will have the opportunity to subscribe to the AuditGenius automation and business intelligence modules. Alexa, Find Me A New House." NTT DATA Services implemented Amazon Alexa technology to propel the U.S. mortgage industry forward by supporting loan officers inquiries using voice interaction. With this new application, requests can be streamlined to improve efficiency between company personnel. This service has been applied in the mortgage industry, and our experts believe there is ample opportunity for other financial institutions to implement similar applications and support innovation throughout their technology space. INTEGRA Software Systems announced that it is collaborating with New Penn Financial and government sponsored enterprise (GSE) Freddie Mac to launch a one-click submission of loan data to Loan Product Advisor, the GSEs automated underwriting system (AUS). The solution will provide seamless integration that will help New Penn increase efficiency and maximize secondary market execution by allowing data to be simultaneously submitted to both GSE AUSs at point of sale. INTEGRAs web-based Epic solution allows lenders to submit loan-data via a single click to both Freddie Mac and Fannie Maes AUSs, enabling lenders to see the full view of options available to their borrowers and ultimately leading to an improved borrower experience. Our collaboration with New Penn and Freddie Mac will increase productivity, improve accuracy in the loan decisioning and underwriting process and reduce the overall origination cycle time, said Rick Allen, Senior Vice President of Operations, INTEGRA Software. The seamless integration between our systems will allow for more efficiency, including configuration to identify loans eligible for data validation for income, assets and collateral so New Penn can identify the loan that is most favorable to the borrower. Capital Markets The continued government shutdown meant that housing starts and retail sales, both major focal points in the market, were not released. Housing has been a concern over the last few months as affordability in the form of home prices and mortgage rates has caused some potential buyers to be priced out or left on the sidelines. While homebuilder sentiment fell to a three-year low in December, it recovered slightly in January as sales expectations for the next six months increased as mortgage rates have eased. Sentiment remains well off the highs seen at the start of 2018. The shutdown has delayed the all-important December retail sales report however private reports indicate that spending this past holiday season was strong. Redbooks same-store sales reported physical stores saw a 6 percent increase each week in December. The focus now turns to the impact the shutdown will have on growth as federal workers have missed one paycheck and are closing in on missing two. Additionally, there are many contractors who rely on the federal government for work. The U.S. 10-year closed Wednesday yielding 2.76% - in fact the entire yield curve shifted. Most news of note was political rather than economic, though there are always implications from one to the other. After reports Tuesday night that President Trump is unlikely to accept a trade deal that would only reduce the trade imbalance with China without addressing intellectual property rights and forced technology transfers, the media had a field day with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi rejecting President Trump's request to hold the State of the Union address while the government remains partially closed. Ultimately, he will likely deliver the address from a different location than the House of Representatives. The other political news of note was the United States recognizing Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido as the acting president of the country as demonstrations against the government of President Nicolas Maduro continue. Argentina, Brazil, Canada, and Colombia have also recognized the interim president. Turning to today, the ECB has already come out with their latest monetary policy decision (unchanged at present levels) followed by ECB President Draghi's press conference. Weve had U.S. weekly jobless claims (expected to increase, they actually fell 13k to 199k, a 50-year low!). At 9:45AM ET Markit will release its manufacturing and services PMIs, with both expected to fall versus their respective prior readings, and well have December leading indicators (expected unchanged) an hour before January KC Fed manufacturing figures. Additionally, Treasury Secretary Mnuchin will testify before a House committee on, "The Shutdown's Impact on the Department of Treasury and American Taxpayers" at 10:30am. We begin today with Agency MBS prices +.125 versus last nights close and the 10-year yielding 2.71%. He then went on to declare that the Democrats have "become a very, very dangerous party for this country." The president said that Pelosi's decision not to allow the address to Congress until the government shutdown ends was "a great blotch on the incredible country that we all love," and her action would be remembered as "a very, very negative part of history." "She doesn't want to hear the truth," Trump told reporters. "She doesn't want the American public to hear what's going on." U.S. President Donald Trump said Wednesday that he would make an alternative speech after House Speaker Nancy Pelosi told him there would be no State of the Union address in Congress next week -- an action that he termed "a disgrace." Trump did not reveal where and when he would make his alternative address. Pelosi sent a letter to Trump on Wednesday saying the Democratically controlled House "will not consider a concurrent resolution" authorizing him to give the speech in the House chamber until the entire federal government reopens. She wrote that when she extended an invitation on Jan. 3, she had "no thought that the government will still be shut down" on Jan. 29, the mutually agreed upon date. Trump plans a more formal response to Pelosi later, but in remarks in the White House, he called the rescinded invitation "sad." He had earlier sent Pelosi letter saying, "There are no security concerns regarding the State of the Union Address. Therefore I will be honoring your invitation and fulfilling my Constitutional duty, to deliver important information to the people and Congress of the United States of America regarding the State of the Union." Earlier this month, Pelosi had invited Trump to deliver the speech on Jan. 29 but last week she urged him to postpone it or submit it to lawmakers. She expressed security concerns, noting the U.S. Secret Service and Department of Homeland Security are part of the one-quarter of the U.S. government remaining unfunded since late December. "I look forward to seeing you on the evening on January 29th in the Chamber of the House of Representatives. It would be so very sad for our Country if the State of the Union were not delivered on time, on schedule and very importantly, on location!" Trump said in his letter Wednesday. White House officials had earlier said plans were also underway for the annual address to be made from a different location -- including at a political rally -- depending on whether the partial shutdown of the U.S. government persists. The president is required to annually submit to Congress a report on the nation, but there is no requirement that it be an address before both the House and Senate. Trump's first State of the Union address a year ago lasted 80 minutes, making it one of the longest such speeches in U.S. history. Welcome to Morningstar.co.uk! You have been redirected here from Hemscott.com as we are merging our websites to provide you with a one-stop shop for all your investment research needs.To search for a security, type the name or ticker in the search box at the top of the page and select from the dropdown results.Registered Hemscott users can log in to Morningstar using the same login details. Similarly, if you are a Hemscott Premium user, you now have a Morningstar Premium account which you can access using the same login details. Chinese State Councilor and Defense Minister General Wei Fenghe (2nd, R) holds talks with his Australian counterpart Christopher Pyne (2nd, L) in Beijing on Jan. 24, 2019. (mod.gov.cn) BEIJING, Jan. 24 (ChinaMil) -- Chinese State Councilor and Defense Minister General Wei Fenghe held talks here with his Australian counterpart Christopher Pyne on Thursday afternoon. Wei said that both China and Australia are important countries in the Asia-Pacific region. To develop healthy, stable and sustainable China-Australia relations is not only in line with the fundamental interests of the two peoples, but also conducive to peace, stability and prosperity in the Asia-Pacific region. He hoped that the two countries will meet each other halfway and expand exchanges and cooperation in various fields on the basis of mutual respect, equality and mutual benefit. Wei said that in recent years, the armed forces of China and Australia have made solid progress in communication and cooperation in areas of high-level exchange of visits, consultation and dialogue, port calls by naval ships, joint training exercises and personnel training. Wei expected the two militaries, under the guidance of the important consensus reached by the leader of the two countries, to continuously deepen defense cooperation and make positive efforts for the development of China-Australia comprehensive strategic partnership. Christopher Pyne said that Australia appreciates China's important role in international and regional affairs, and in recent years, the two countries have maintained good cooperative relations between their militaries. Australia is ready to deepen mutual understanding, trust and respect with China and push forward the bilateral and military-to-military relations which is robust, friendly and full of energy, Christopher Pyne said. Before their talks, Wei held a welcoming ceremony for Christopher Pyne and accompanied him to review the guard of honor of the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA). [January 24, 2019] eBay Canada announces small business exporting initiative to help retailers stay local and grow globally Based in Halifax and supported by all three levels of government, the program aims to strengthen local retail through ecommerce and global trade TORONTO, Jan. 24, 2019 /CNW/ - Online marketplace leader, eBay Canada, together with the Halifax Regional Municipality, today announced the launch of Retail Revival, a program designed to help small and medium-sized retailers harness the power of ecommerce and global trade. This eBay program, the first of its kind in Canada, is supported by all three levels of government. The free 12-month training, support and educational program empowers small and medium-sized retailers to thrive locally by leveraging eBay's global marketplace to reach new customers around the world. The program will also include a dedicated customer service support team, digital tools and subscriptions, promotional marketing from eBay, as well as additional education and resources from participating partners focused on small business and exporting. "Small and medium-sized businesses are the backbone of the Canadian economy, and they are making valuable contributions to the economic viability of their communities," says the Honourable Mary Ng, Minister of Small Business and Export Promotion. "Through the Retail Revival program, Nova Scotia entrepreneurs will have the tools and support they need to take advantage of exporting opportunities to international customers by utilizing e-commerce." Halifax was selected for the strength and diversity of its small business community, the growth opportunity for ecommerce and exporting from the local retail sector and the region's commitment to small business and its vision for local economic growth overall. "Small and medium-sized businesses are essential to our economy, and we want to see them thrive. Nova Scotia is partnering with eBay Canada to help our smaller retailers start exporting or grow their exports through e-commerce, and we are making sure the pilot can have both a footprint in Halifax and extend its reach and benefits to retailers in communities across the province," says Nova Scotia Premier Stephen McNeil. As cross-border ecommerce continues to trend up, expected to comprise 20 percent of all worldwide ecommerce by 20221, Export Development Canada also notes that companies that export make more money, grow faster and do a better job weathering economic ups and downs including seasonality. "Strong, independent small businesses have always played an important role in our local economy and in shaping our character of place," says Halifax Mayor Mike Savage. "As Halifax and Nova Scotia are working to embrace the innovation economy, we are proud to have this partnership with eBay Canada as an opportunity to keep local retailers competitive in a global marketplace." eBay's platform connects retailers of all shapes and sizes to 177 million active buyers in 190 markets across the world. In Canada, 99 per cent of small retailers on eBay export, and to an average of 18 markets, compared to 12 per cent of traditional small businesses that engage in global trade2. "As one of the most robust online marketplaces in the world, enabling entrepreneurs and small businesses is central to eBay's business and purpose," says Andrea Stairs, General Manager, eBay Canada & Latin America. "We're thrilled to be working with partners from all three levels of government on a program that fosters inclusive trade by connecting Canadian small retailers to the global economy through eBay." This announcement follows successful Retail Revival program launches in Akron, Ohio and Lansing, Michigan during 2018. The program was also extended to Wolverhampton, United Kingdom in November 2018. Cumulatively, these three cities have already helped the small businesses involved generate millions of dollars in sales and export to over 80 international markets. For more information about the program and to apply, please visit www.ebayinc.com/halifax. About eBay eBay Inc. (NASDAQ: EBAY) is a global commerce leader including the Marketplace, StubHub and Classifieds platforms. Collectively, we connect millions of buyers and sellers around the world, empowering people and creating opportunity through Connected Commerce. Founded in 1995 in San Jose, Calif., eBay is one of the world's largest and most vibrant marketplaces for discovering great value and unique selection. In 2017, eBay enabled $88.4 billion of gross merchandise volume. eBay is visited by more than 8 million unique Canadians per month (comScore Media Metrix: November, 2018). For more information about the company and its global portfolio of online brands, visit www.ebayinc.com. ____________________________ 1 https://www.forrester.com/report/Forrester+Data+Online+CrossBorder+Retail+Forecast+2017+To+2022+Global/-/E-RES137898 2 http://www.ic.gc.ca/eic/site/061.nsf/eng/h_03018.html#toc-08 SOURCE eBay Canada [ Back To www.mobilitytechzone.com/wimax's Homepage ] Gen. Xu Qiliang (R), vice chairman of Chinas Central Military Commission (CMC), meets with the visiting Australian Defense Minister Christopher Pyne (L) in Beijing on Jan. 24, 2019. (mod.gov.cn) BEIJING, Jan 24 (ChinaMil) -- Gen. Xu Qiliang, vice chairman of Chinas Central Military Commission (CMC), met with the visiting Australian Defense Minister Christopher Pyne in Beijing on the afternoon of Thursday. Gen. Xu said that China and Australia enjoy a long history of friendship, since the establishment of diplomatic ties 47 years ago, China-Australia relations have made substantial progress. The mutually beneficial cooperation between the two countries has promoted their respective development and benefited the two peoples. Xu said that both China and Australia should review bilateral relations from the perspective of history, overall situation and development, respect each other and rationally view each other's strategic intentions. draw on each other's strength to broaden the path of China-Australia cooperation of mutual benefit and win-win progress. In recent years, the Chinese and Australian militaries have earnestly implemented the important consensus reached by the leaders of the two countries , and have witnessed constantly deepened and elevated defense exchange and cooperation in more areas, Xu said. He hoped the two militaries would work together in the same direction to continuously strengthen strategic communication and all-level contacts, deepen pragmatic exchange and cooperation, serving as a driving force for the advancement of the China-Australia comprehensive strategic partnership. Pyne said that Australia attaches great importance to developing relations with China, the military relations between the two countries have maintained a sound and stable momentum of development over the years on the basis of mutual respect. Australia is willing to work with China to enhance strategic mutual trust and push forward development of bilateral relations between the two countries and their militaries, Pyne said. In a horrifying accident, a child shot his own mother in the torso while sitting in the backseat of their car on Wednesday, police in Los Angeles have revealed. The LA County Sheriff's Office wrote on Twitter that they responded to a disturbing report of a shooting at around 3:30pm local time in Norwalk, California. The cops arrived at the shocking scene to discover a child sitting in the backseat of a four-door sedan, who had accidentally shot his mother through the drivers seat with a shotgun. She was rushed to hospital with a gunshot wound to her torso, and is described as being in fair condition. Its unclear how old the child who pulled the trigger was. However, there were reportedly three children under four in the backseat at the time of the shooting, as well as one young child in the front passenger seat. Also on rt.com Child fires gun found inside couch at Ikea store None of the children were injured in the incident. Worryingly though, it did take place just steps away from a preschool, reports ABC News. All four kids are reportedly in the care of the Department of Children and Family Services. The devastating scenario of children accidentally shooting their parents or themselves is far from unheard of in the US, including cases where kids discover weapons inside cars. According to the gun safety organization Everytown, there were at least 207 unintentional shootings by children across the US last year. Think your friends would be interested? Share this story! The trade dispute between Washington and Beijing could unlock opportunities for other players in Asia, the Indonesian minister of industry said in an interview with RT during the World Economic Forum in Davos. The world will be better if China and the US are more harmonious. There is also some blessing in disguise for a country like Indonesia, because of the option of economic growth looking into other regions, other than China, Airlangga Hartarto told RT when asked about the consequences of the trade war. The minister added that Indonesia can benefit from more investment in the country, while the whole region may even become more stable in the wake of the conflict. Also on rt.com US-China trade war could create winners in Southeast Asia report Accordingly, the Asian nations real GDP growth has risen slightly to 5.3 percent in the first half of last year while the Sino-US dispute was building up momentum. Indonesia wants to achieve an even more ambitious goal: to become one of the top 10 largest global economies by 2030, according to Hartarto. Moreover, it could become the fourth biggest economy by 2045, he added, citing a forecast by the UK-based PricewaterhouseCoopers consulting company. Earlier this month, multinational bank Standard Chartered predicted that the country would break into the top five economies over the next 11 years, taking fourth place behind China, India and the US. The US-China trade conflict started in July last year when US President Donald Trump slapped additional duties on Chinese imports, citing what he called Beijings unfair trade practices. After several rounds of tit-for-tat tariffs, $250 billion worth of Chinese goods were hit by the US, while China responded with tariffs on $110 billion worth of American goods, targeting politically important industries such as agriculture. Washington was threatening to increase the tariffs on $200 billion of Chinese imports before Trump met with his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping to pause the dispute in December. During his address to the audience at the World Economic Forum, Chinese Vice-President Wang Qishan said the worlds two biggest economies are mutually indispensable, so their relations must be mutually beneficial. This is the reality: neither side can do without the other side, Wang stated. The two countries are currently in talks to avoid further trade tensions as the 90-day truce expires on March 1. The last round of negotiations took place in Beijing on January 7-9. However, it is feared that the process could yet stall, as the Financial Times reported that Washington had turned down proposals to hold vice-ministerial talks to pave the way for the next, higher-level meeting. Beijing insists that the two sides remain in contact over trade talks, according to Chinas Foreign Ministry. For more stories on economy & finance visit RT's business section UN chief Guterres urges dialogue in Venezuela to avert disaster UN chief Guterres urges dialogue in Venezuela to avert disaster UN chief Antonio Guterres on Thursday appealed for dialogue in Venezuela to avoid the political crisis spiraling out of control. The statement came after opposition leader Juan Guaido declared himself interim president, AFP reports. What we hope is that dialogue can be possible, and that we avoid an escalation that would lead to the kind of conflict that would be a disaster for the people of Venezuela and for the region, Guterres said at the World Economic Forum in Davos. The United States, Brazil and other countries on Wednesday endorsed Guaidos declaration in repudiation of President Nicolas Maduro. Sovereign governments have the possibility to decide whatever they want, the UN secretary-general said. What we are worried [about] with the situation in Venezuela is the suffering of the people, he added.Source : RT - Daily news Turkey has capacity to create safe zone in Syria alone, but wont exclude others FM Turkey has capacity to create safe zone in Syria alone, but wont exclude others FM Ankara has the capacity to create a safe zone in Syria on its own but will not exclude the US, Russia or others if they want to cooperate, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu has said. After President Donald Trumps decision to withdraw all 2,000 US troops from Syria, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said he and Trump had discussed Turkey setting up a 20-mile-deep safe zone in Syria along the border. Cavusoglu told broadcaster A Haber on Thursday that nothing was yet certain about the planned safe zone. Ankara and Washingtons views are in line, aside from a couple of points, he added, according to Reuters. Speaking after Erdogan and Russian President Vladimir Putin met in Moscow on Wednesday, Cavusoglu said Ankara and Moscow were on the same page regarding a Syrian political solution aside from the issue of whether President Bashar Assad should stay in office.Source : RT - Daily news The UK government, led by Prime Minister Theresa May has come out in support of Venezuelas opposition leader Juan Guaido as the head of the democratically elected National Assembly, in response to the attempted coup. A spokesperson for the prime minister said that the 2018 presidential poll was neither free nor fair, stating that the UK fully backed Guaido, Reuters reports. The 2018 presidential election in Venezuela was neither free nor fair, so the regimes basis for power is deeply flawed. We fully support the democratically elected National Assembly with Juan Guaido as its president, Mays spokesperson said. In relation to the US, we think it is totally unacceptable for Venezuela to cut off diplomatic ties. The solution to this crisis lies in working to find a peaceful and diplomatic solution, not in expulsions. On Wednesday Guaido declared himself acting president after calls for a regime change from Washington. Both he and President Nicolas Maduro, who was sworn in for his second term earlier in January, have many supporters in the country, which is now apparently balancing on the brink of total chaos. The UK joins a whole host of nations who have come out in support of the opposition leader, including Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Guatemala, and the US. Also on rt.com Venezuela divide: Turkey, Russia, China stand against Washington, its Latin America allies Russia, China and NATO member Turkey are among the nations, which have rejected the attempted coup. Think your friends would be interested? Share this story! to RT newsletter to get stories the mainstream media wont tell you. One of Russias major energy projects in Turkey, the Akkuyu nuclear power plant (NPP), will soon become operational. It is expected to provide 17 percent of the countrys electricity needs. The implementation of a large-scale project for the construction of the first nuclear power plant in Turkey, Akkuyu, is under way and complies with the schedule. They are building its first power unit, which we plan to launch in 2023, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced. Also on rt.com Russia ready to complete nuclear power plant in Turkey alone Putin specified that the date was chosen by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, because the republic of Turkey will celebrate its centenary in 2023. The $20-billion project will be the first NPP in Turkey. It should enable Ankara to reduce the cost of power generation and result in lower prices for consumers. The agreement for constructing and operating the NPP was signed by the countries in 2010. The power plants first reactor is expected to begin working in 2023. The plant will have four reactors with a capacity of 4,800 MW, and a service life of 60 years. Also on rt.com Full stream ahead! Russia & Turkey officially complete construction of joint gas pipeline Russias main energy projects with Turkey involve natural gas. In November, the two countries officially completed construction on the offshore section of the Turkish Stream pipeline. The section, which is 930km (578 miles) long and runs along the bottom of the Black Sea, is designed to deliver Russian gas to the Turkish market. For more stories on economy & finance visit RT's business section Video footage of protests in the Venezuelan capital of Caracas show sporadic violence, as the city became the stage for a brutal fight for power in the impoverished country. The standoff between Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and the opposition-dominated National Assembly escalated this week after a failed mutiny by a National Guard unit. Juan Guaido, the head of the legislature, declared himself the acting president on Wednesday in front of a large crowd of supporters. He was instantly was recognized by the US and its allies across Latin America. On the same day, numerous Maduro supporters also took to the streets. Also on rt.com US refuses to withdraw diplomats from Venezuela after Maduro breaks ties As the fight for the loyalty of Venezuelans unfolded, Caracas experienced a night of violence. With the country in chaos, reports are difficult to confirm. However, Local TV said there were shootings and explosions in at least one eastern part of the city, Petare. Emerging footage shows that the unrest continued during the night in the capital. Multiple gunshots can be heard in a video circulating online. Another clip showed people running from what appears to be an armored car. Firebombs were tossed from a building at a passing car. A video purportedly shot in a different part of Caracas shows a white truck being set on fire. The situation in Venezuela escalated after years of economic hardship, which the opposition blames on the government of Maduro. He was sworn in for his second term earlier this month. The hand-picked successor to the late Venezuelan leader Hugo Chavez says the country is in such poor shape mainly because the US is stifling it with economic sanctions, and big business leaders eager to overthrow his socialist government are engaged in direct sabotage. The move by the opposition was openly encouraged by Washington, which labeled Maduro a dictator who cannot represent the people of his country. Think your friends would be interested? Share this story! Beijing may cut off all investment to Silicon Valley over Western pressure on China-based Huawei, the former deputy governor of the Peoples Bank of China has warned as business leaders gathered in Davos. I can tell you, after the Huawei events, all the Chinese money into Silicon Valley stops. And no US money will want to invest into China either, Zhu Min told CNBC on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum (WEF) on Tuesday. He did not elaborate on what should happen to bring about such an outcome. The Chinese telecoms giant, which last year even beat US-based rival Apple to become the worlds second-largest smartphone maker, has recently been targeted in the West over alleged spying and claims that it poses a security threat. Also on rt.com Huawei may pull out of markets where it is not welcome Washington banned government agencies from using Huaweis technology as well as equipment from another Chinese firm, ZTE. It is also reportedly considering fully banning US firms from using the companys products and is believed to be pushing allies to exert more pressure on the Chinese firms. Scrutiny over Huawei came amid a bitter trade war between the worlds two biggest economies that cost both US and China billions of dollars after tit-for-tat tariffs were imposed. Zhu, who also used to serve as deputy managing director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), noted that the trade conflict could turn into what he called a tech war. The psychology has really changed, because technical war is a most interconnected war, [with] US capital moving everywhere and Chinese capital moving everywhere, Zhu said. Washington is not alone in its apparent concerns and taking measures to target the Chinese tech companies. Huawei faced scrutiny in Australia and New Zealand, which last year barred it and ZTE from providing 5G technology for their networks, citing national security concerns. Despite the company repeatedly denying the spying allegations and pledging compliance with local laws, some European countries also voiced concerns over Chinas Huawei. In one of the most recent cases, Norway said it is considering taking similar steps against the tech giant, such as excluding it from being involved in the countrys 5G telecommunications infrastructure. For more stories on economy & finance visit RT's business section U.S. President Donald Trump (L) and Russian President Vladimir Putin (R) By Wang Xinyuan On January 15th, the US-Russia delegation held consultations on issues related to the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty in Geneva. But talks did not make any progress due to their disagreement. The United States and Russia are locked in a tit-for-tat situation. Meanwhile, both sides have vigorously developed and upgraded their own missile performance and have built anti-missile systems, which has intensified global tensions. If the two countries continue to do that, the security pattern may become unbalanced and the arms control system may be destroyed. Abolition of the INF treaty is a foregone conclusion Andrea L. Thompson, US Under-Secretary of State for Arms Control and International Security, told the media on January 16th that Russia must completely destroy the land-based 9M729 (known to NATO as SSC-8) cruise missiles and relevant launchers, otherwise the United States will officially withdraw from the INF Treaty. However, the Russian side said that the target missiles developed for the US anti-missile systems can be classified as intermediate-range missiles, and the MK-41 vertical launching system, which is used to launch anti-missile interceptor for the land-based Aegis Ashore missile defense system, can also launch Tomahawk cruise missiles. That is to say that the US is also actually violating the INF Treaty. At the end of the meeting, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov said that the US side hadnt been prepared to engage in specific dialogues on other issues. The United States deliberately ignores Russias concerns, showing that it has no intention to make concessions and lacks sincerity to solve the problem. Competition of the two sides in standoff aggravates The mutual accusation between the United States and Russia in terms of the INF Treaty is a microcosm of their development of advanced weapons and pursuits of relative superiority in military field. The abolition of the treaty will end up with completely ridding the two countries from the shackles to deploy the prohibited weapon systems. Consequently, the two countries will take more deterrent measures to safeguard their own security, intensifying the US-Russian arms race. To warn and regulate the US move, Russia has highlighted the asymmetric advantage of its strategic nuclear forces. Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu announced this years five major tasks of the Russian military on January 15th. The first step is to improve the combat capability of its strategic nuclear forces. The most eye-catching thing is that Russias first regiment equipped with Avangard hypersonic missile systems will be established in 2019 and assume combat duty. At the same time, the United States is seeking to expand the scope of its missile defense system at an unprecedented scale. On January 17th, the US Department of Defense announced its first Missile Defense Review (MDR) in nine years, pointing out that the United States will deploy sensors in space to advance the construction of anti-missile systems in space. In response to Russia, the United States plans to build 20 new land-based missile interception platforms in Alaska and update its anti-missile systems in Poland and Romania. The US-Russia game is getting worse At present, both the United States and Russia have relatively mature nuclear strike capabilities at strategic and tactical level to launch both nuclear and conventional missiles from land, sea, and air. Besides, the two countries have established relatively sound anti-missile systems. Land-based missiles with a range of 500 km to 5,500 km do not pose any technological difficulties to the two countries. Although the INF Treaty has existed in name only, the geostrategic significance of the treaty has been inherited since the Cold War period. The abolition of the treaty will undoubtedly make the all-round competition between the United States and Russia fiercer. As the threat to the Russian mainland is becoming more direct, Russia has placed more emphasis on the importance of the INF Treaty for arms control, and intends to seize the commanding heights from a moral point of view and in the public opinion. Some analysts pointed out that in the current atmosphere, it will be hard to renew another key arms control treatythe New Strategic Arms Reduction Treatywhen it expires in 2021. In order to ease its strategic pressure, Russia is likely to set new agendas in other aspects, which will lead to a chain reaction from these aspects. For instance, in response to the Ukrainian general election scheduled at the end of March and the withdrawal of the United States troops from Syria, Russia may further intervene in these affairs, so its strategic conflict with the United States will grow even more intense. Europe will undoubtedly become the front line of a potential military confrontation, and also the focus of wooing on the part of the United States and Russia. The real purpose of the United States to withdraw from the INF Treaty is to consolidate its European allies who are increasingly estranged from the US, while Russia is utilizing the differences between old Europe and new Europe to carry out its activities. Disclaimer:The author is Wang Xinyuan. The article was published on the China's National Defense newspaper on January 23. It is translated from Chinese into English and edited by the China Military Online. File Photo: General Qamar Javed Bajwa, Chief of Army Staff of the Pakistan Army,personally conducts a test drive of a Chinese J-10C fighter jet. Even so, it isnt easy for Pakistan to make up its mind to purchase this type of aircraft. When it comes to Chinas exporting of high-end military equipment, the exporting of J-10 fighter jets to Pakistan is an inevitable topic. Although Pakistan already offered an olive branch to Chinas J-10 fighter jets and its Chief of Army Staff Qamar Javed Bajwa even personally mounted on a J-10C during the Shaheen-VII China-Pakistan joint air exercise at the end of 2018, it remains hard for the country to make up its mind to sign the official contract to purchase J-10 aircraft. It is recently reported that two other countries are likely to purchase Chinas J-10 fighter jets before Pakistan. A sole international market for ChinasJ-10 fighter jets is taking shape. File Photos: Compared with Pakistan, Laos, from its media to individual netizen, would prefer to see the J-10 fighter jets being commissioned in its air force as soon as possible. Laos is one of the aforesaid two countries. On January 14th, the Royal Lao Air Force completed a test flight of the Yakovlev Yak-130 advanced jet trainer imported from Russia. In the past, a dominant view was that Laos would make the Yakovlev Yak-130 the main fighter jets in its air force. However, Laos domestic media recently conjectured that importing the Yakovlev Yak-130 was just a move to prepare for the purchase of new main fighter jets, which is likely to be Chinas J-10C. Moreover, Laos' netizens posted many photoshopped images of J-10C fighter jets in the digital painting of the Royal Lao Air Force. Upon analyzing the demand of the Royal Lao Air Force, it isnt totally a rumor that Laos will purchase J-10 fighter jets. File Photo: The in-service fighter jets of the Royal Lao Air Force are outdated, making the country vulnerable compared with its powerful neighbors. From both historical and geographical perspectives, Laos is a country lacking a sense of security. It borders comparatively powerful Thailand in the west and ambitious Vietnam in the east. The Royal Thai Air Force has long been equipped with US F-16 fighter jets and Swedish JAS 39 Gripen fighter jets. The Vietnamese Air Force is equipped with Su-27 and Su-30 fighter jets from Russia and is reported to purchase the latest Su-57 fighter jets. However, the main fighter jets of the Royal Lao Air Force remain the outdated MiG-21 fighters. Facing air threat in both west and east directions, Laos is in urgent need to introduce the advanced 4th-generation fighter jets to reinforce its air force. Indeed, Chinas J-10 is the best choice due to its reliable performance and stable supply. File Photo: The picture shows a Type C28A frigate purchased by Bangladesh from China, indicating that Chinese military equipment enjoys a good reputation in Bangladesh. The other country is Bangladesh. In 2018, the Bangladeshi Air Force sent a delegation to conduct a field survey of the performance of the J-10C. Then, Bangladesh became the first country to express the intention to purchase the aircraft. Of all international clients of Chinese military equipment, Bangladesh is an important but easily neglected country. In 2018, the Bangladeshi Army announced to cancel the contract of purchasing Russias T-72B3 tanks, but imported 300 heavily upgraded Type 59 tanks from China. the Bangladeshi Navy imported in 2018 two Type 053 H3 frigates from China to establish a main fleet, including five Chinese-made frigates as backbone vessels. File Photo: Facing the serious threat from Indias Rafale fighter jets, Bangladesh has an urgent demand for China's J-10 fighter jets. The Bangladeshi Air Force has realistic demand for J-10 fighters. The first batch of 36 Rafale fighter jets that India purchased will form two squadrons to be deployed near Indias borders with Pakistan and Bangladesh, respectively. Compared with that of Pakistan, the Bangladeshi Air Force is comparatively weak and lacks strong support from any third country. Facing the abruptly mounting pressure from the Indian Air Force, Bangladesh finds it necessary to commission the 4th-generation fighter jets with equal performance to the Rafale. Considering the long-standing cooperation in arms between China and Bangladesh and the maturity and outstanding performance of the J-10 series, it is necessary for Bangladesh to choose the J-10Cthe most advanced type of the J-10 seriesto reinforce its air force. File Photo: In the future, Swedens JAS 39 Gripen is likely to be a powerful rival for Chinas J-10 fighter jets whether in arms markets or in the battlefields. Even if Laos and Bangladesh sign contracts to purchase China's J-10 fighter jets, their purchased volumes will be enough to equip only 1-2 squadrons (namely, 12-24 units of aircraft) considering the limited sizes of their air forces. Moreover, it is unlikely for the two countries to build assembly lines or major overhauling facilities. Nevertheless, the export orders for J-10 fighter jets from the two countries are still very significant, which are worth seizing for China through certain compromises over price and technology. Both Laos and Bangladesh are weaker than their neighboring countries in terms of air force. The fighters equipped by their rivals are not only more advanced, but also major competitors for the J-10 in the international arms market. Therefore, the performance of the J-10 in the two countries will be crucial for the Chinese fighter jets to expand exports to foreign countries including Pakistan. File Photo: Considering their high prices and usage costs, the Eurofighters Typhoon and Rafale are not more competitive than the J-10. From the perspective of the overall development of the international warplane market, the 4th-generation aircraft remains the most popular before the 5th-generation stealth fighters are shelved. Europes Typhoon and Rafale fighters are notorious for their extremely high prices and maintenance costs (with a unit price of nearly US$100 million).Russian fighters lag behind in performance, and US fighter jets face high export barriers. Although those early aircraft models have grabbed large volumes of orders, they are considered would-be foes by latecomers, which makes it hard for them to win new clients. In this context, the J-10C fighter jets, which was born in a time when Chinas overall jet fighter R&D capacity sees exponential growth, emits unimaginable attraction and even becomes the only choice for a big proportion of customers in the international market. Against the backdrop of counter-terrorism worldwide, the US and Europe loosened restrictions on arms export, and Chinas fighter jets had yet to be mature in performance. But now the situation has changed. The contradiction between emerging demand and traditional supply in the international military aircraft market is becoming increasingly prominent, and the J-10 series has gradually become a jet fighter with global competitiveness after continuous improvements. In the future, if China's J-10 can be exported to Laos, Bangladesh, and Pakistan, it will be only a matter of time for the fighter to win more international orders. Disclaimer: The author is Liu Chang, reporter with the Opinion.Ifeng.com. The article is translated from Chinese into English by the China Military online. The information, ideas or opinions appearing in this article are those of the author from the Opinion.Ifeng.com and do not reflect the views of eng.chinamil.com.cn. Chinamil.com.cn does not assume any responsibility or liability for the same. If the article carries photographs or images, we do not vouch for their authenticity. McConnelsville Village Administrator reminds council of upcoming photo op on Main Street Village Administrator Jennifer Ponchak reminded everyone that Thursday evening, June 3, the council would be walking down Main Street, starting at the Inns at 8th and Main and continuing to the old bridge, viewing the preparation of the various businesses. A group will be coming in to take photographs on... Schaffer announces operating budget amendments to restore property tax losses in Morgan, Muskingum, and Noble Counties State Senator Tim Schaffer (RLancaster) joined his colleagues in the Ohio Senate Wednesday, June 9, for the passage of Substitute House Bill 110, which is the Senates proposal for Ohios FY 2022-2023 operating budget. Schaffer secured language in the Senate version of the bill that will restore property tax losses... Morgan County Sheriffs Office Daily Call Reports Editors Note: The following are initial incident reports from callers to a Morgan County Sheriffs Office Dispatcher. Any details, charges or situations may have been distorted by the caller, or perhaps may have been found to be different after the officer further investigated the incident. Sunday, January 24, 2021 ... Malta Village Council hears from several residents concerning Crownwood Circle Malta Village Council met in chambers June 3. Acting Mayor Terry McGrath chaired the meeting. Council members present were Tom McCoy, Leslie Robbins, and Joe Williams. Fiscal Officer Kelly Wells and Village Administrator Damon Drake were also present. Councilman Griffin had been excused from this meeting as he was attending... United Way of MPM invests $447,881 to improve health, education, and financial stability of the community United Way of Muskingum, Perry, and Morgan Counties (UWMPM) has committed $427,000 in community funding for 2021. The agency will invest $202,454 in 12 local programs in its first round of funding with an emphasis on providing safety net solutions. Over 2,000 community members will be impacted by this investment... Morgan County Sheriffs Office Daily Call Reports Editors Note: The following are initial incident reports from callers to a Morgan County Sheriffs Office Dispatcher. Any details, charges or situations may have been distorted by the caller, or perhaps may have been found to be different after the officer further investigated the incident. Monday, January 25, 2021 ... By Chai Hua Soldiers participated in the handover ceremony of the 5th batch of remains of Chinese People's Volunteer Army soldiers at the I ncheon International Airport on March 28, 2018. BEIJING, January 24 (ChinaMil) -- The 6th batch of remains of Chinese People's Volunteer Army (CPVA) soldiers killed in the 1950-1953 Korean War will be be handed over to China by the Republic of Korea (ROK) before the Qingming Festival, said Chinas Ministry of Veterans Affairs (MVA) on Wednesday. Chinas MVA held consultations with the ROK Ministry of National Defense on Wednesday morning in Beijing. The two sides reached an agreement on the handover and signed the minutes of the meeting. According to the agreement, the ROK will hand over to China another batch of remains and related relics of the CPVA soldiers in the ROK on April 3rd. Before the remains are handed over, a ceremony will be jointly held by the two sides on April 1st in the ROK. China and the ROK follow humanitarian principles and adhere to the spirit of friendly consultation and pragmatic cooperation. From 2014 to 2018, remains of 589 CPVA soldiers were handed over to China by the ROK. The ROK will continue to hand over remains of CPVA soldiers found in its territory. Source: japantoday.com TOKYO--Japan and China are set to hold a security dialogue on Feb 1 in Beijing in a bid to narrow the differences over defense issues as their relations have been improving, bilateral sources close to the matter said Wednesday. The security dialogue between senior foreign affairs and defense officials of the two countries would be the first since October 2017 when it was held in Tokyo. Japan's Senior Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs Takeo Mori, Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Kong Xuanyou and defense officials are slated to attend the dialogue. The two sides would aim to deepen mutual trust even as Chinese coast guard vessels still often sail into waters around the Japanese-administered Senkaku Islands in the East China Sea. The territorial spat over the uninhabited islands, which China calls Diaoyu, has become heated since 2012 when the Japanese government brought them under state control. The officials may exchange views on Japan's latest national defense guidelines, approved last month, including its decision to pursue the deployment of aircraft carriers for the first time since the end of World War II. Beijing has voiced strongly objected to the guidelines, which also point out that China's military activities in the East China Sea and other waters are a source of "strong concern" in the region. China has criticized Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's government for fanning the "threat of China." Mori and Kong, meanwhile, are likely to step up preparations to hold a strategic dialogue between Japanese and Chinese vice foreign ministers and a ministerial-level economic dialogue to lay the groundwork for Chinese President Xi Jinping's visit to Japan on the occasion of the Group of 20 summit to be held in Osaka in June. If realized, Xi would become the first Chinese president to make an official trip to Japan since May 2008, when Hu Jintao, Xi's immediate predecessor, visited the neighboring nation as a state guest. At a summit with Abe in Beijing last October, Xi said he will "seriously" consider visiting Japan, with both expressing willingness to promote high-level reciprocal visits. Sino-Japanese ties have been improving recently as 2018 marks the 40th anniversary of the signing and entering into force of the Treaty of Peace and Friendship between Japan and China. The two Asian countries have agreed to bolster their economic cooperation, with China engaged in a tit-for-tat tariff trade dispute with the United States. Hong Kong: James Lau visits Yuen Long Secretary for Financial Services & the Treasury James Lau visited occupational training facilities and a social service centre in Yuen Long today. Mr Lau visited the Youth College and the Hotel & Tourism Institute run by the Vocational Training Council in Tin Shui Wai where he was briefed on their teaching philosophy. He commended the teaching staff for striving to provide an interactive learning environment for students and assisting them in acquiring knowledge and skills for further studies and employment. Mr Lau also joined the students in making bread and observed a hairdressing training session. He encouraged students to make the best out of their classes and equip themselves for future career development. Mr Lau then went to the Mutual Help Child Care Centre operated by the Tin Shui Wai Women Association Limited to see the Neighbourhood Support Child Care Project provided there. He spoke with child carers, who are mainly from low-income or new-arrival families, to learn more about their training. The programme provides parents in need with flexible child care support services. Mr Lau also met District Council members to discuss the Caring & Sharing Scheme, district banking services and loan-to-value ratios for property mortgages. This story has been published on: 2019-01-24. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article. 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. If China Falls, so Will America The US and China are the worlds largest and second-largest economies. They are also entwined in so many ways that its hard to tell where one ends and the other starts. Some call it Chimerica. which is an apt description. But thats not bad. International trade promotes peace and prosperity for all. Its not always smooth, evenly distributed, or free of issues. But such is the nature of great affairs. China Is on Shaky Ground In the long run, Chinas growth has made the world better. Billions, and I mean literally billions, of people globally have been lifted out of poverty.All that said, the US and China are also separate nations with separate interests. We compete as well as cooperate. So, conflicts inevitably arise.They need to be resolved, but not in the way Trump has proposed.He fails to grasp one thing. Impairing an economy so tied to our own weakens the US as well. Trump demands China that respect intellectual property rights and compete fairly. Just as we let Chinese companies operate here. Its a legit demand. But China cant just flip a switch. Entire regions and industries are optimized for a model we want to change. However necessary, the change will take time. It will cause problems if its not managed well. Worse, Chinas economy is already on shaky ground. Its unique blend of communism, capitalism, and sheer size, has produced enviable growth. I think growth will keep up, but a slowdown is inevitable. China is still subject to the law of large numbers. It cant maintain 6% or higher GDP growth indefinitely. Weve seen hints in data for some time now. And theyre starting to add up. For one, the gap between US and China GDP growth has been shrinking in the last decade. Source: Financial Times Then automotive sales are rolling over. Thats partly due to the rise of ride-sharing services. But it also suggests the growth of Chinese middle-class prosperity has slowed. Its also a result of front-loading auto sales for the previous few years. When you pull future demand forward, the future eventually demands repayment. This Isnt Just a Chinese Problem US and European automakers export vehicles to China and own factories in China. Chinas slowdown is one reason General Motors closed several plants and laid off thousands of workers last year. Then you probably heard Apples revenue warning. It blamed weakening conditions in China. Heres the uncomfortable truth. A great deal of world growth is directly tied to Chinese growth. And not just absolute current growth, but expected future growth. Businesses have built 6% Chinese growth into their models. And compounded forever. Its baked into the forecasts and expectations. Shareholders are happy. And when that growth stutters, we get surprises. Apple is just the first of many. The US Is More Dependent on China Than You think Yes, the US has a trade deficit with China. But that doesnt mean China buys nothing from us. They indeed do. And part of our economy depends heavily on Chinese customers. Heres a chart that shows Chinas importance to top US semiconductor companies: Five major public companies got a third or more of their 2017 sales from China. A little change could wipe out all or most of their profits. Lots of smaller US companies also count on China for components that have no US alternatives. Rising costs, whether due to tariffs or anything else, hit their bottom lines, too. US Growth That Wasnt A significant part of US growth last year came from a rise in US inventories. For some arcane reason, building inventories, not actual sales, counts for GDP. Many businesses that depend on Chinese materials built inventory ahead of the feared tariff at the end of 2018. Those inventories are going to be sold in 2019 and often not replaced. So, a large part of the slowing economy in 2019 will simply be a reduction of inventories. The apparent robust growth of the last half of 2018 was simply pulling production forward from 2019. China has its own problems, like enormous debt and increasingly strapped consumers. But remember, a weak China is going to hurt the US. As well as Europe and especially Germany. Get one of the worlds most widely read investment newsletters free Sharp macroeconomic analysis, big market calls, and shrewd predictions are all in a weeks work for visionary thinker and acclaimed financial expert John Mauldin. Since 2001, investors have turned to his Thoughts from the Frontline to be informed about whats really going on in the economy. Join hundreds of thousands of readers, and get it free in your inbox every week. John Mauldin Archive 2005-2019 http://www.MarketOracle.co.uk - The Market Oracle is a FREE Daily Financial Markets Analysis & Forecasting online publication. A group of Young Pioneers of China student representatives from the Yangzhi Elementary School, Suzhou, East China's Jiangsu Province, visit Zhao Degong, a 94-year-old veteran soldier with the Eighth Route Army of the Communist Party of China on Monday, ahead of the 87th anniversary of the September 18 Incident, which marks the beginning of the 14-year-long China's war against Japanese aggression in 1931 and falls on Tuesday this year. Photo: IC China is conducting a census on the number and living conditions of its military veterans as the country strives to arrange for their settlement and improve their life. In 2018, China's Ministry of Veterans Affairs (MVA) has arranged the settlement of more than 80,000 demobilized officers and more than 400,000 demobilized soldiers, said Wang Zhiming, spokesperson of the MVA, at a press conference on Wednesday. Some 123 central enterprises were, for the first time, listed as veteran settlement companies, which provided more than 15,000 jobs in 2018, Wang said. Wang did not specify on the details of the settlement but the MVA said 2018 posed the greatest challenge in veteran settlement during China's military reform. Nearly 50,000 demobilized officers and 40,000 demobilized soldiers qualified for a job arrangement, said Bao Fengyu, head of the MVA's transfer and arrangement work. China has had 57 million veterans since the country's founding in 1949, but some of them have passed away, and an accurate number is expected to be given in May, said MCA. The country is calling on veterans to register their status at local military offices to help build a more accurate database for future assistance. Information they need to provide includes current employment condition, housing situation, social insurance situation and possible difficulties the veteran is facing, the Global Times has learned. The MVA on Wednesday also said it attaches great importance to the work of accepting petitions, and every veteran will be warmly received, said Ma Feixiong, head of the ministry's ideological, political and rights-defense work. When veterans understand the policies, there will be no need for them to lodge petitions, Ma said, noting that if petitions are made, the ministry will actively and responsibly take care of them. One of the biggest reasons for veteran petitions in the past was policies were often not properly implemented at grassroots level. A former People's Liberation Army (PLA) officer surnamed Wang told the Global Times on Wednesday that some veterans' appeals in the past did not get a response or stayed unsolved. A decommissioned soldier surnamed Dai told the Global Times on Wednesday that while the policies are often good, local authorities could not implement them due to insufficient funds or supervision. The MVA on Wednesday vowed to enhance supervision and said it has zero tolerance against those who do not put policies into practice. Sheffield B17 Bomber Crash 75th Anniversary Fly-past on 22nd February 2019 2019 marks the 75th anniversary of the crash of a US B17 Flying Fortress bomber in Endcliffe Park, Sheffield on the 22nd of February 1944 costing the lives of the 10 member crew of the "Mi Amigo". In commemoration of which a fly past is planned to take place on the 22nd of February 2019 (weather permitting) that will include an F15 fighter jet from RAF Lakenheath, other aircraft to include Ospreys, Typhoons and a Dakota. Whilst an official time for the fly past has yet to be announced, early indications are that it will take place at around 9am. By Anika Walayat http://www.walayatfamily.com Copyright 2005-2019 Marketoracle.co.uk (Market Oracle Ltd). All rights reserved. 2005-2019 http://www.MarketOracle.co.uk - The Market Oracle is a FREE Daily Financial Markets Analysis & Forecasting online publication. A Russian Air Force Sukhoi Su-57 jet flies over Red Square during the Victory Day military parade in Moscow, Russia, on May 9, 2018. Photo: AP Although many Chinese military observers are pessimistic over Russia's latest fighter jet Su-57's capability, a senior Chinese warplane designer believes the Su-57 has a very unique concept, and China should learn from it despite the country already operating the J-20 fighter. The Su-57, Russia's fifth-generation fighter jet comparable to China's J-20 and the US' F-22, is usually considered not a true fifth-generation jet because of its "below-standard" stealth capability, according to media reports. This makes it at a significant disadvantage against Chinese and US counterparts, some military observers said. China has a long tradition of purchasing Russian warplanes, recently highlighted by an Su-35 deal. But as the country developed its own fifth- generation fighter jet, it does not need to buy or even learn from the "below-standard" Su-57. However, Wang Yongqing, chief designer of the Shenyang Aircraft Design Institute (SADI) under the State-owned Aviation Industry Corporation of China (AVIC), said the Su-57's overall capability is not bad at all. The SADI has developed a variety of China's fighter jets, including the J-11, J-15 and J-16. It is currently developing the FC-31 stealth fighter, which is made-for-export but was recently reported that it could become China's next-generation aircraft carrier-based warplane. Having an innovative aerodynamic design and capable of thrust vectoring control, the Su-57 attaches strong importance to supersonic cruise capability and super-maneuverability, and stealth is intentionally a second priority, Wang wrote in February in the Aerospace Knowledge magazine. The US' concept of next-generation aerial battle stresses beyond visual range attacks, but missiles capable of delivering such attacks have to travel for a while, a time window far enough for the Su-57 to make super-maneuvers and evade them, Wang said, noting that the Russian fighter is also equipped with special radars designed to detect the precise location of incoming missiles. With long-range missiles out of the question, the final showdown will eventually take place at close range, where stealth loses its meaning and super-maneuverability thrives, Wang said. Another unique design is the world's first side-facing radars in addition to the front-facing ones, Wang said. Combined with other radars and infrared sensors, the Su-57 is expected to find enemy stealth aircraft as early as possible. Russia might be limited by its industrial capability and might not be able to rival the US aircraft in specific or overall performance, but its concept is very unique, Wang said. Lee County schools and law enforcement have a message for students and parents: Threats are not funny and will not be treated as a prank. The School District of Lee County launched a campaign on Jan. 15 in conjunction with local law enforcement agencies to warn students of the repercussions they may face if they make a fake threat against a school or fellow student. Fake ThreatReal Consequences sees the school district teaming up with the Lee County Sheriffs Office, Cape Coral Police Department, Fort Myers Police Department and Sanibel Police Department to help mitigate the number of fake threats schools receive over the course of the year. Today, the School District of Lee County and our partners in law enforcement are launching a campaign to better keep out students and staff safe, said School District of Lee County Superintendent Dr. Greg Adkins. Fake Threat Real Consequences is an intuitive to deter threats and help students realize that when they make a threat of violence, even if they do not mean it, they will face serious consequences. Adkins reported that in the 16-17 school year, 51 threats were reported in Lee County schools. That number more than tripled last year, as 164 threats were reported. Adkins said that thankfully, the majority of the threats had no true, malicious intent behind them, but jokes, students wanting a day off, or to interrupt testing periods. The message today is simple. If you make a threat, you face suspension, expulsion, arrest and a felony record, said Adkins. He said these threats, even if found not credible, take away from classroom learning and causes stress and anxiety for parents, students and staff. A lot of our students dont understand how serious these consequences can be, Adkins said. Lee County Sheriff Carmine Marceno, Cape Coral Police Deputy Chief Anthony Sizemore, Fort Myers Police Chief Derrick Diggs and Sanibel Police Chief William Dalton were all there on behalf of their agencies to help promote the initiative. Fake threat is still a real investigation, said Sizemore. Every one is treated as if it were legitimate. All the resources are expended, no stone is left unturned. Our childrens safety, our school employees safety and our school resource officers safety is paramount. Any fake threats, you will got to jail. You will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. We just want to keep a safe, welcoming learning environment for schools. Its real simple why were here today. First and foremost: zero tolerance, said Marceno. We are not going to tolerate any kind of threat whether its fake, it will be treated real. Our No. 1 goal, not only zero tolerance, but will always be the safety and security of our children in this county. And we take that to the bank. You can rest assured that we will make sure our children are safe when they come to school. A pubic service announcement video was made for all four of the partnering agencies, which will be shown across Lee County schools, along with posters about the campaign. Adkins said it will also be a topic at parent meetings. Getting the message out to students will be a top priority for officials. I think that one of the things weve seen since the tragedy over in Parkland, is weve seen an increase in activity on social media as it relates to threats because of all the attention that came to bear on that particular incident, said Adkins. We have to make sure our kids understand that with these threats come consequences. My concern just moving forward is that technology changes and is always evolving, and how are students communicate is always evolving. We have to be responsive to that and make sure we use those platforms to get the message out. The law enforcement agencies present will work cohesively to make sure any threat, be it real or fake, is fully investigated and that there are no credible threats present in schools. Its the whole team together, said Marceno. Our departments interact and communicate on a continual basis. I can assure you that our SROs although uniform and patch may be different are one team. Ive been just amazed at how (officers) are able to do their job and identify that person, said Adkins. My message would be, to students, is Please do not think that youre going to be able to get away with this type of a threat, because they have tools that you have no idea what they are, that they will use to track down who this person is, and in the investigation bring justice to that person. For students who may be using a threat as a cry for help or has mental health issues that need to be addressed, they will be done so by the schools and law enforcement agencies alike. We look at the mental health aspect, and if someone needs that help, were going to get them where they need to be, said Marceno. We also work behind the scenes-our investigators, our detectives work together with all the entities here to make sure we are sharing communication, making sure that this person, individual, whoever it may be, is now on the radar. We need to identify, and keep that person on the radar to make certain, to be proactive, so there are no incidents in the future. For more information on the campaign, visit www.leeschools.net. -Connect with this reporter on Twitter: @haddad_cj A reminder: Lee County will hold three informational meetings for Phase 3 of its post-Hurricane Irma flood-mitigation efforts. The meetings begin Thursday, with the first set for 4 to 6 p.m. at Wa-Ke Hatchee Recreation Center, 16760 Bass Road, Fort Myers. The second is scheduled for Thursday, Jan. 31, at the Bonita Springs Library, 26876 Pine Ave., Bonita Springs, with the final session to be held Thursday, Feb. 7, at Veterans Park Recreation Center, 55 Homestead Road South here in Lehigh.. The meetings are opportunities for the public to become aware of the work efforts under way, Lee County Natural Resources Director Roland Ottolini said. Staff and consultants will be available to address questions. We will also have our new website, www.leegov.com/flooding, on a computer and will be able to show attendees how they can use the website to follow the countys progress and obtain updates on Phase 3 in real time. The third phase includes the necessary evaluation to identify long-term capital projects to relieve flooding. This requires collecting additional data and survey information where needed and developing computer models that stimulate the regions response to rainfall. Once a model is developed that accurately depicts existing conditions, proposed projects can be inserted into the model to see how well they perform in reducing the level and duration of flooding, Ottolini said. The study will take approximately one year to complete. In the meantime, the county continues to use its resources to further clear obstructed waterways. Phase 3 is being conducted by local engineering firms and Lee County Natural Resources. The firms were selected through a procurement process with Lee Board of County Commissioners approval. Ottolini said numerous areas throughout Lee County were impacted by the rainfall and subsequent flooding from the August 2017 rain event and Hurricane Irma. Those hit the hardest include the communities of Lehigh Acres, the Villas, Island Park and Bonita Springs, he said. The study is comprehensive in nature and covers most of Lee County south of the Caloosahatchee River. Those areas north of the Caloosahatchee were studied more recently and the studies remain valid today. The first phase involved the initial post-storm clearing of blocked waterways where accessible, Ottolini said, adding that most of the work fell under the FEMA deadline of March 2018. Phase 2 efforts involved more in-depth field investigation and identified areas that needed additional attention, he said. Phase 2 reports documented obstructions of water flow, such as blocked culverts, downed or overgrown vegetation, and sediment build-up. Information collected included type of obstruction, specific location, size of issue and photos. Additionally, the reports included overall observations, recommendations and ideas for long-term efforts to relieve flooding. The second phase also included the continued removal of blockages by the Lee County Department of Transportation and contractor workforces. Grants from the Natural Resources Conservation Service, a division of USDA, were obtained by the county to continue the efforts. Lee County, like many other Southwest Florida communities, is subject to tropical storms and commonly receives high intensity rainfall, Ottolini said. Flooding is a natural occurrence. The ability to relive flood waters is limited due to the very flat terrain of our area. Low-lying areas will typically fill up in the rainy season and localized flooding can be expected in our neighborhoods almost annually. Our focus will be to recognize the threats to homes so that we can better plan for public safety. More meetings will be planned this year before the study concludes. Lee Board of County Commissioners and county staff efforts from the past year include: Sending regular e-blast communications on flood-mitigation efforts, which will now be replaced by the soon-to-be launched website; Creating a request-for-action process in which individual flooding situations were tracked; Continuing to clean, assess and maintain flow ways, ditches and canals; Attending community and neighborhood meetings to garner feedback; Approving an interlocal agreement with the South Florida Water Management District that helps the county and district join forces on flood-mitigation efforts. Specifically, the agreement had the district take over management and maintenance of 10 natural flow ways and waterbodies; Obtaining a U.S. Department of Agricultures Natural Resources Conservation Service grant for sediment and debris removal in areas such at Ten Mile Canal; Working with the East Mullock Drainage District to remove debris from ditches from the San Carlos Park area; and, Dedicating a Lee Department of Transportation operations crew for clearing drain impediments in The Villas. Those who need to request an auxiliary aid, or service for effective communication, or a reasonable modification to participate in meetings, can contact Joan LaGuardia at 239-533-2314, Florida Relay Service 711, or jlaguardia@leegov.com. The request should be made at least five business days in advance of the meeting and the accommodation will be provided at no cost. By MELISSA BILL news@breezenewspapers.com Faith Evangelical Lutheran Church of Lehigh Acres will host its annual Yard Sale and Chili Cook Off on Saturday, Feb. 2, from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. This is the fifth year the church has held its community event. The yard sale will feature home goods, furniture, childrens clothing, toys and much more. Those who would like to participate can rent their own space outside for $10. We encourage anyone who would like to be part of the yard sale or the cook-off to call ahead to rent a space or sign up to make their favorite chili for the cook off, said Rebecca Silva, church event coordinator. People can come in and compete by just bringing a crock pot and signing up by Jan. 28. The winner will get a prize for first place. The yard sale runs from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m., and the chili cook-off starts at 11:30 a.m. This is a great community event that we host every year. We will have food and beverages for attendees at no charge. There will be donations buckets for those who would like to contribute towards our programs, said Silva. This year all proceeds from yard sale will go to church property improvements, the Learning Village Preschool and food pantry. Our food pantry reopened in March and is by appointment only. Those who want to come to the pantry just need to be a Lehigh resident and contact the church prior to fill out paperwork and make an appointment. Then they can come and pick out items from our inventory every sixty days, said Silva. Faith Evangelical has a variety of ministries and programs including its free bread bank, which is open on Tuesdays from 7 to 9 a.m. Recently, Chuck Emery, the long-time director of the bread bank, received an award of recognition from the Lehigh Acres Community Council for his service and dedication to the bread ministry at Faith for more than 22 years. According to Silva, there are church ministries and programs for all ages going on weekly inside their main hall. We have AA groups that meet every day at various times throughout the week. The Cub, Boy and Girl Scout troops also hold their weekly meetings at the church. Those troops are open to children of all ages. Anyone interested can contact the main office and be directed to contact person for each troop, Silva said. Faith Evangelical Lutheran Church of Lehigh Acres Church has served the community for more than 60 years. Those interested in participating in the yard sale or chili cook-off can either call the churchs main office at (239)369-6177 or visit their website at www.faithlutheranla.org. The church is located at 705 Leeland Heights Blvd E, Lehigh Acres. Rep. Spencer Roach will host an open house on Wednesday, Jan. 30, from 4:30 to 7 p.m. at his new district office in North Fort Myers. Constituents are welcome to meet the representative and his staff as well as share their concerns for District 79. House District 79 is the only district in the state of Florida which is wholly unincorporated, and includes the communities of North Fort Myers, Fort Myers Shores, Olga, Alva, Lehigh Acres, and Buckingham. The office is at 3436 Marinatown Lane, Suite 6. Light refreshments will be served. A decision by Mexicos new government to liberalize entry rules for foreigners seeking humanitarian visas has in recent days sparked a new influx of Central Americans, many of them intent on making it to the United States. Most are not converging on Mexicos southern border here in organized caravans, but rather in groups drawn by news that the government is offering the one-year visas which include the right to work in Mexico, travel freely in the country, and leave Mexico and return. Although some applicants say they may consider remaining in Mexico, many acknowledge that their ultimate aim is to enter the United States and apply for political asylum. Mexico said Thursday it had received more than 12,000 applications for the new humanitarian visas here at its southern border post with Guatemala, nearly 10,000 adults and more than 2,000 minors. The number of applicants is growing each day. Advertisement The bridge spanning the Suchiate River which forms the frontier between Mexico and Guatemala is packed with hundreds of visa applicants, some sleeping on the bridge to await their turn. Thousands are waiting for visas on the Mexican side, here in Ciudad Hidalgo, and thousands more wait in the Guatemalan town of Tecun Uman. More are reportedly on the way north. The vast majority of applicants are Central Americans, mostly Hondurans, but there are also considerable numbers of Guatemalans, Salvadorans and Nicaraguans. The visas are a result of the liberalized entry policies of Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, a leftist populist who took office on Dec. 1 vowing to respect the human rights of Central American migrants seeking to enter Mexico. Previous Mexican administrations, under pressure from Washington, set up strict border controls and deported tens of thousands of undocumented Central Americans in recent years. But Lopez Obrador has signaled that he is intent on a different approach one that could draw concerns in Washington, where the Trump administration has made reducing Central American migration a priority. We heard about the opportunity for visas and decided this was our chance, said Susy Polanco, who was among an extended family of eight Nicaraguans waiting Wednesday on the bridge over the Suchiate. Among her co-travelers were her 8-year-old daughter, Genesis, and an 18-month-old niece, Gimena. Advertisement All eight plan to travel to the U.S.-Mexico border, present themselves to American authorities and seek political asylum in the United States, Polanco said. There is too much repression now in Nicaragua, added Polanco, who said her family and most of her neighborhood in Managua, the capital, were against the government led by President Daniel Ortega. The Ortega government, which has faced more than a year of opposition protests, has stepped up oppression including illegal arrests, torture and closed trials in recent months, critics say. The new influx in southern Mexico follows the arrival here last week of the most recent organized caravan of some 2,000 migrants. They were the first to be eligible for the new visas. Word that Mexico was offering caravan participants the new humanitarian visas traveled quickly through Central America and prompted others to make their way to the Mexican border bridge here, applicants said in interviews. Advertisement Central American migrants wait to enter the bridge over the Suchiate River on the border between Guatemala and Mexico. (Moises Castillo / Associated Press) Of course, we all want to go to the United States; thats where opportunity is, said Roberto Garcia, 29, one of a group of Hondurans using a towel with a U.S. flag painted on it to shade themselves from the intense midday sun on the bridge. We know Trump says he doesnt want us, but maybe he will change his mind. Last week, as the most recent caravan was entering Mexico, Trump charged in a Twitter message that Mexico was doing NOTHING to stop the Caravan, which is now fully formed and heading to the United States. Trump has described previous migrant caravans as an invasion and a threat to U.S. security, and his dispute with Congress about building a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border has resulted in an ongoing government shutdown. Advertisement Migrants seeking Mexicos new visas face at least a five-day wait here as authorities process their applications. Mexican officials have been providing food, water, medical attention and other services to applicants. As Hondurans wait to apply for humanitarian visas in Mexico, they chant for the resignation of their countrys president, Juan Orlando Hernandez. On Wednesday, Mexicos Interior secretary, Olga Sanchez Cordero, toured the Mexican immigration facilities here with other officials and received a rousing ovation from the multitudes waiting in line on the bridge. Once they receive their visas, recipients will be free to travel and work anywhere in Mexico, without a need to hunker down in caravans as protection against deportation and against gangs that often prey on Central Americans traversing Mexico illegally. Advertisement This is a great opportunity for me, said Jose Maria Perdomo, 49, who said he was deported from the United States nine months ago but would eventually like to reunite with two daughters, ages 16 and 17, who live in Iowa. Yes, maybe I will stay in Mexico for a while and work the situation here is a lot better than in Honduras. But my ultimate goal is to be with my children again in Iowa. In a Twitter message, Mexicos National Immigration Institute said authorities had received 8,727 petitions for humanitarian visas from adult migrants since last week, and 2,024 from minors. Most were from Central America, but those seeking the visas also included scattered numbers of Haitians, Brazilians and Angolans. Cecilia Sanchez of The Times Mexico City bureau and special correspondent Liliana Nieto del Rio in Ciudad Hidalgo contributed to this report. Advertisement patrick.mcdonnell@latimes.com Twitter: @PmcdonnellLAT Emma Coronel, the glamorous 29-year-old wife of Joaquin El Chapo Guzman, has perfected an unflustered courtroom demeanor: checking her nails and running her hands through her shiny black hair as details of drug world mayhem, murder and mistresses pour out in the sprawling trial against her husband. Its perhaps unsurprising, then, that the former Mexican beauty queen offered no expression Wednesday when she became the center of a courtroom bombshell. Coronel, a witness testified, was key in coordinating her kingpin husbands infamous 2015 prison escape, via a mile-long tunnel that opened through his jail cell shower and she started helping Guzman with another escape plan after his recapture in 2016. Damaso Lopez, a longtime confidant of Guzmans, offered testimony describing how Coronel sought him out in 2014, about a month after Guzman was arrested in Mazatlan, Mexico. Advertisement Through Coronel, my compadre sent a message he was thinking of taking the risk again of escaping from prison, Lopez testified in Spanish. He wanted to know if I could help. I said yes, Lopez told jurors, through an interpreter. Damaso Lopez after his arrest in Mexico City in May 2017. (AFP/Getty Images) Lopez, 52, told of how he, Coronel and Guzmans sons coordinated the escape from the Altiplano prison in central Mexico, a facility that officials had said was escape-proof. Guzman instructed them, through Coronel, to buy land near the prison. From there, they could build the tunnel. Theyd need guns, and an armored pickup truck too. Also necessary: a watch with GPS tracking for Guzman, that way the crew could locate him in the prison and figure out the right spot to dig the hole hed later crawl into. The perfect location became the floor of his jail cell shower. I dedicated myself to get what was asked from me, Lopez told jurors, testifying in navy blue prison garb. Guzmans former right-hand man is serving a life sentence for drug trafficking. His sentence could be reduced for cooperating during the trial, he testified. The process of building the tunnel took months, Lopez said, and it wasnt a stealth operation. There was so much noise from the construction beneath the prison that some inmates complained, Guzman later told them. Guzman told them, through Coronel, that the best days to break him out were Saturday or Sunday, because there were no officials at the jail on the weekends. A date was set. Advertisement On July 11, Guzman headed down into the tunnel, where a driver and a motorbike on a pulley system were waiting. There wasnt much driving to do: The motorcycle didnt even need to be turned on, so the noise from the engine wouldnt give them away. Once out of the tunnel, the drug kingpin was whisked away on an ATV driven by one of Coronels brothers, Lopez testified. From there, they headed to an airplane and flew to safety. Lopez saw his boss about seven or eight times after his escape, he said. But in January 2016, Guzman was arrested again. A month later, Lopez had another meeting with Coronel. Along with sending his regards to Lopez, Guzman needed to get him another message: He was going to make an effort to escape again, Lopez testified. Once again, Lopez said he would help. Advertisement Coronel told Lopez theyd give him $100,000 to start up the same plan: Buy a piece of land near his prison. Guzman, however, had been transferred out of Altiplano to a different prison. Coronel told him they were working on getting him switched back, with the help of a chief of prisons in Mexico. The chief was helping because Guzman was paying him $2 million, Lopez testified. That escape did not pan out, however: Guzman was later extradited to the U.S., where he has pleaded not guilty to 17 counts of drug trafficking, conspiracy to commit murder and firearms violations. Coronel has not been charged with crimes in the U.S. or Mexico. Lopezs connection to Guzman went back much further than his 2015 prison break. In fact, Lopez detailed Tuesday, the men first met in 1999, in a different prison. Advertisement At the time, Lopez took a job as the deputy director of security and custody at the Puente Grande prison; Guzman had been in jail there since 1993. Soon after they met, Lopez started doing favors for Guzman, and the kingpin would give him gifts. Those bribes included $10,000, a house worth 1.5 million pesos and help with medical bills for Lopezs son, the witness testified. In turn, hed do things for Guzman, like sneaking in a mistress and Guzmans brothers. Lopez said he left the prison in 2000, when an investigation into corruption began. A year later, Guzman managed to escape Puente Grande, without Lopezs help. In that famous escape, Guzman was rolled out in a laundry cart. Lopez testified that Guzman told him the escape was spontaneous. Guzman decided he had to leave because he heard he was going to be extradited to the U.S. Once Guzman escaped in 2001, he reached out to Lopez. Unable to get work in another prison, Lopez began working for Guzman, he testified. Advertisement Lopez, the godfather to one of Guzmans twin girls, soon became the point person for buying properties for the cartel. Later he became the go-between with contacts in the federal government for bribes, and he eventually coordinated drug deals for the cartel. He also offered up some of the trials more gruesome testimony, detailing how Guzman ordered the murders of at least five different men, several of whom the kingpin felt had betrayed the cartel. Jurors watched video of a badly bruised former cartel workers interrogation; Lopez said Guzman later ordered him killed. Text exchanges between the men read in court described one particularly harrowing death order. A mayor of La Paz, Mexico, had asked the cartel to kill a police officer who was giving her trouble. The politician, who was not named, was leading the polls in an upcoming Baja California Sur election. Advertisement She asked the favor whether that cop could be killed, Lopez wrote. Guzman agreed, seemingly because she was likely to win the election. Yes. She is the favorite and we should do her the favor, Guzman texted back, saying that the slaying should take place when the cop is leaving his house and made to look as a revenge from some gangbanger. Dont be seen. Not with a rifle, but with a pistol, so it doesnt look violent. Whether the slaying occurred was not discussed at trial. Advertisement On cross-examination, Lopezs relationship to Guzman was attacked by defense lawyers. Lopez, who always referred to Guzman as my compadre, also gave him a deferential greeting, nodding his head and placing his right arm across his chest, laying his fist on his heart. Defense attorney Eduardo Balarezo blasted Lopez for what he said was a fake gesture. It was not false, Lopez said. He greeted him with respect, he said, because I love him. Advertisement The trial is expected to continue Thursday. Plagianos is a special correspondent. For the last five decades, the rich red soil in Cyprus eerily silent demilitarized zone here has created a hospitable habitat for plants and animals found nowhere else on this divided eastern Mediterranean island. And in recent years, farmers from both sides of the U.N.-policed buffer zone the Greek-speaking Republic of Cyprus and the breakaway Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus have added organic tomatoes, cucumbers, artichokes and other crops to the flourishing flora and fauna of the 112-mile-long no-mans land. Many of these farmers, along with the mayor of the Greek Cypriot town of Deryneia, are now hoping that their efforts might sow the seeds for the eventual reunification of this beautiful 1.2-million person island. Through farming and cultivation of this land, we can bring people together, said Andros Karayiannis, mayor of the town of 8,000 that lies on the eastern edge of Cyprus just south of the U.N. partition zone, or Green Line, that has separated the two sides since 1974. Advertisement It doesnt matter if there are Greek Cypriots out here farming the land on the south side or the Turkish Cypriots farming the land over there, said Karayiannis who has actively encouraged residents to cultivate plots of land made arable again with the removal of 27,000 landmines across the buffer zone between 2004 and 2011. Before 1974, we farmed this land on both sides together. And one day well hopefully farm it together again. These days, its not easy to find ordinary folks on either side of the border who oppose further rapprochement. International ostracism in the north creates a range of problems, including depressed economic output and wages, leaving it feeling impoverished compared with the south. Greek-speaking Cypriots, meanwhile, long to travel to the north without cumbersome and time-consuming border controls. Thats a far cry from the early 1960s, when the United Nations Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus (UNIFCYP) was established to cope with deep-seated hostilities between the Greek Cypriot majority and the Turkish Cypriot minority. In 1974, Turkey invaded Cyprus, capturing the northern third of the island. The internationally recognized Republic of Cyprus is a member of the European Union, while the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus is recognized only by Turkey. Thousands were lost in the 1974 fighting, and the lasting scars have exacerbated tensions between Greece and Turkey. Over the years, hopes of reunification have waxed and waned on both sides of the border. Karayiannis enjoys taking visitors to the buffer zone and sounds encouraged by even the small steps toward peace, including the farming, the opening of additional border crossings and an increased flow of tourists. This is completely different than the division between North and South Korea or [in the past] East and West Germany, he said. This is nothing like either of those. Aleem Siddique, a spokesman for the U.N. peacekeeping force in Cyprus, calls the buffer zone a unique environment where efforts to get along are now being made by both sides. Because its stood in isolation, the fauna and flora have flourished. Youll see species of plants and animals that you wont see anywhere else on the island. Theres been a boom in farming as these previously unproductive lands are being put to use for planting crops. Its a steppingstone toward seeing this island reunited once again. Advertisement Blue-helmeted U.N. peacekeepers are a common sight throughout the buffer zone, patrolling the dusty, dirty and bumpy lanes in white pickup trucks. They keep a close watch on anyone passing the barbed wire to enter the swath of land, which is as wide as 4.6 miles in some parts but as narrow as 11 feet in the capital city of Nicosia. Heavily fortified Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot military bases sit just outside the no-mans land. A man photographs the sealed-off beach resort of Varosha from behind a fortified fence in the city of Famagusta in the self-proclaimed Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus on Jan. 6. (Iakovos Hatzistavrou / AFP/Getty Images) There are also ominous reminders of the 1974 fighting everywhere. Turkish forces have kept sealed off the beach resort of Varosha, a once-thriving suburb of Famagusta, whose 45,000 residents fled during the Turkish invasion. A ghost town ever since, Varoshas abandoned beachfront high-rise hotels and thousands of windowless buildings serve as an eyesore and open wound for Greek Cypriots. The improbable renaissance of organic farming in the last decade near towns like Deryneia has done more than nourish reunification hopes. The bountiful harvests of fruits and vegetables grown in the midst of the otherwise quiet DMZ has provided hundreds of Greek and Turkish Cypriots an important source of income and dreams for a brighter future on an island where unemployment runs higher than in most other European nations. Advertisement Karayiannis, the Deryneia mayor, said industrious farmers in his town can earn $500 to $1,200 a week selling fruit and vegetables at local farmers markets. Many unemployed or underemployed Cypriots have returned to the lands their ancestors once worked. Were farmers because we love what were doing, said Sotiris Marinu, 43, who grows organic strawberries, tomatoes and cucumbers in the buffer zone. He used to be an electrical engineer who gave up that career to become a farmer like his grandfather, who long ago tended crops here. This isnt a job where you can make a lot of money, he said. I could probably earn more as an engineer in another country. But Im a lot happier here. Marinu said that the balmy climate just a few hundred yards from the Mediterranean have proven ideal for his strawberry and tomatoes.They grow year-round, he said proudly, with the help of micro-organics to combat spiders, other insects and fungus. Advertisement Its more work, but its worth it, he said. I hope one day a door is opened for a solution to the problem so that everyone can move back and forth freely without borders. If you look at the tomatoes, they grow everywhere. They dont know where the border is. Thats the way it should be for everyone. Kirschbaum is a special correspondent. China confirmed Thursday it had arrested prominent Australian writer and blogger Yang Hengjun on suspicion of endangering national security, the identical accusation used in the recent detention of two Canadian citizens. The arrest came after Australia criticized China for detaining the Canadians and heightened suspicions that Yang was taken into custody in retaliation for the arrest of the chief financial officer of Chinese tech giant Huawei. Yang, a prominent novelist and former Chinese diplomat who gave up his nationality and moved to Australia, disappeared Friday after flying from New York where he is a visiting scholar at Columbia University to Guangzhou in southern China. He was detained before he could catch a connecting flight to Shanghai, where he was to meet up with his wife and child. He stopped posting on social media, and for four days his whereabouts were unknown. Rory Medcalf, a former Australian diplomat now at the Australian National University in Canberra, described Yangs arrest as hostage diplomacy and linked it to the arrests of the two Canadians Michael Kovrig, an analyst with International Crisis Group, and Michael Spavor, a businessman who runs a travel company in China arranging trips to North Korea. Advertisement Those arrests came after Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou, the daughter of the companys founder and one of Chinas leading tech billionaires, was detained in Canada at the request of the U.S. and as the U.S.-China trade war was deepening. Huawei chief financial officer Meng Wanzhou arrives at a parole office in Vancouver on Thursday. (Darryl Dyck / Associated Press) Yangs arrest now drags Australia into Chinas hostage diplomacy, Medcalf said in a tweet. I think its a signal that we are now not only Australia, but really all democracies, all middle powers in for a period of sustained tension with China, where the safety of our nationals in China simply cannot be assured, he said in an interview on Australian radio. Relations between China and U.S. allies including Canada and Australia have grown poisonous since Mengs arrest on charges that she committed fraud by misleading banks about Huaweis business dealings in Iran. She was ultimately released on bail but ordered to remain in Vancouver while the U.S. pursued extradition. China said Mengs arrest was politically motivated and ramped up pressure on Ottawa for her release. Then, with the incident still fresh, China arrested the two Canadian businessmen, drawing complaints that their detention was payback for Mengs arrest. Then a third Canadian, Robert Lloyd Schellenberg, had his 15-year jail sentence in China for drug trafficking converted this month to a death sentence. Advertisement As tensions build, both the U.S. and Canada have warned citizens to exercise a high degree of caution when traveling to China. Chinas rhetoric over Mengs arrest has been more directly aimed at Canada than the U.S., as it strives to reach a trade deal with the Trump administration by March 1. Pressure for the deal has grown in China as its economy has slumped. Yang, who writes spy thrillers and has been increasingly critical of China in his blogs, was detained in China in 2011 but released after two days. Asked about his disappearance Wednesday, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying confirmed the arrest but said she had no further information. Advertisement The Australian citizen Yang Jun, due to being suspected of engaging in criminal acts that endangered Chinas national security, was recently placed under coercive measures and is being investigated by the Beijing city State Security Bureau, Hua told reporters. Australian Foreign Minister Marise Payne said Australia expected China to handle Yangs case transparently and fairly. She also said there was no evidence linking his case with the Canadian arrests. Customers look over cellphones at a Huawei store in Taipei, Taiwan. (David Chang / EPA-EFE/REX) Tensions between China and the U.S. and its allies have worsened, with Washington pressing allies including Canada, Britain, Australia and New Zealand not to use Huawei technology in 5G networks, given the strategic nature of telecommunications networks. Australia, New Zealand and Japan have now blocked Huawei from their 5G networks, and Canada and Germany are considering following suit. The largest mobile providers in Britain and France also have barred Huawei equipment from their 5G networks. Advertisement Many analysts expect a prolonged power rivalry between Washington and Beijing, which would place U.S. allies who trade heavily with China such as Australia in an awkward position. Chinas state-owned Global Times newspaper warned recently that China should exact a heavy price from U.S. allies who ignored Chinas interests, for example by blocking Huawei technology. For those countries that seek to ingratiate themselves to the U.S. without regard to Chinas interests, China should firmly fight back, exacting a heavy toll, the newspaper editorial said. It said Canada crossed the line with Mengs arrest but warned that other U.S. allies could find themselves on the wrong side of China as well. Australia was the first to follow Washington in blocking Huawei devices, the editorial continued. Beijing needs to meticulously select counter-targets to really make them learn a lesson. The editorial went on to say: China is the largest trading partner of both Australia and New Zealand and the second-largest of Canada, thus the country has enough means to counter them. Advertisement Summer Lopez, PEN America director of freedom of expression, said Yangs disappearance was a terrifying sign of the Chinese governments willingness to disappear writers who criticize them, regardless of nationality. She said it appeared Yang was being held because of his past criticisms of China. Yangs seizure is yet another indicator, she said, that the Chinese governments repression of free expression extends not only to its own citizens but to citizens of other countries. robyn.dixon@latimes.com Twitter: @RobynDixon_LAT Brazils Vice President Hamilton Mourao signed an executive order Thursday altering the countrys Freedom of Information Act, a move that raises new alarms about the administrations already contentious relationship with the press. The order allows for a broader group of people to flag data and documents as ultra-secret, making them unavailable to the public for 25 years. Documents deemed secret or reserved would be classified for 15 and five years, respectively. Previously, the only people permitted to flag information as ultra-secret were the president, vice president, ministers, commanders of the armed forces and heads of diplomatic missions abroad. Now, those classified as senior management and advisory officials will also be able to keep documents secret. Transparency is maintained, insisted Mourao, who is acting president while Jair Bolsonaro attends the World Economic Forum in Davos, addressing reporters at a press conference. And things here in Brazil are rarely ultra-secret. Normally theyre military plans, some documents from Itamaraty [the ministry of foreign affairs], some signed agreements, very few things. Advertisement Mourao also said the order would reduce the bureaucracy in the FOIA process and allow it to run more smoothly by eliminating a number of documents that could have been obtained previously. But Manoel Galdino, executive director of Transparencia Brasil, a nonprofit that monitors public institutions and advocates for transparency, said the order will likely make the work of journalists more difficult. Critical information about the government could be marked as confidential because a public servant is afraid of the repercussion. And when in doubt, many public servants would rather mark something as confidential than hand over information, when it should be the opposite. The rule should always be transparency. Confidentiality should be the exception. The office of the comptroller general (CGU), which headed discussions last year on potential changes to be made to the FOIA, said the changes are intended to simplify and reduce state bureaucracy. We would also like to highlight that the changes that have been carried out are the result of intense discussion since 2018 between the CGU and several actors, among them the Cabinet for Institutional Security, showing the federal governments ongoing search for improvement in public transparency, read an office statement. But, according to Galdino, who sits on the CGU council, discussions were still ongoing and the decision to sign the order on Thursday caught us by surprise. The fact that there was no discussion with civil society, that the government wasnt transparent about its changes to the regulations of the Freedom of Information Act, is very concerning, he said. Bolsonaro and Mourao, have repeatedly been accused of a lack of transparency and the president, who took office earlier this month, regularly refers to reports in the media as fake news. Advertisement The pairs relationship with the press has been tense since they were on the campaign trail last year, when the soon-to-be president chose to forego traditional news conferences and instead spoke to voters via social media, most often through Facebook Live videos. During a speech in December, Bolsonaro said, Public power no longer needs intermediation, and that new technology allowed him to have a direct relationship with his supporters. Since his win, he has blocked several journalists from his Twitter account, which he announced would be one of his administrations official means of communication. He also barred reporters from Brazils major newspapers, as well as international news agencies, from his first news conference as president, which one of his aides later blamed on a lack of space. Langlois is a special correspondent. Access to Microsoft Bing has been restored in China a day after users reported the site was down sparking fears that it had been blocked by the government amid a crackdown on popular streaming platforms and news sites. The search engines Chinese site, cn.bing.com, went down Wednesday, but Microsoft said in a statement Thursday that access had been restored, without providing details about what had transpired. The Remond, Wash., company previously acknowledged that Bing has been temporarily taken down by the government over censorship disputes in the past. Two unnamed sources told Bloomberg, however, that the access problems were the result of an accidental technical error and the Chinese government had no intention Wednesday of blocking the site, which Microsoft has been able to operate because it complies with Chinese censorship rules. The two sources with knowledge of the matter asked not to be identified because they were discussing confidential information. Chinas cyberspace administration declined to comment Wednesday. Advertisement Concerns that the government may have been involved were heightened by an intense internet crackdown in recent weeks in tandem with continuing harsh repression of human rights activists, dissidents, writers, lawyers and others. The crackdown was launched Jan. 3 by Chinas cyberspace authority, according to a brief statement on its website Wednesday. In less than three weeks it closed down more than 700 websites, regulated or cleared more than 9,000 apps, scrubbed out more than 7 million online pages and deleted more than 308,000 accounts that it deemed illegal. The six-month campaign is focused on 12 kinds of negative information, including vulgar and crude information. One social media discussion on Chinas microblogging site Weibo, with the hashtag #BingHasBeenWalled, was deleted late Thursday. The government measures come as the Chinese economy sharply slows amid the trade dispute with the United States. The U.S. also is applying regulatory pressure on Chinese tech giants such as Huawei over fears their technology could jeopardize national security. Several days ago, President Xi Jinping warned Chinas provincial leaders and ministers at a meeting that the country was facing serious risks relating to stability and reforms. Also looming this year are several sensitive anniversaries, including the 30th anniversary of pro-democracy protests in Tiananmen Square on June 4. Microsoft President Brad Smith has acknowledged that Bing periodically goes down after disagreements with the Chinese government, which aside from the crackdown operates an Internet censorship apparatus known as the Great Firewall. Yeah, periodically there are issues that arise, and sometimes those issues do lead to our service or some other services being blocked, Smith said in a Jan. 19 interview on Fox Business News. And it is an area where we understand we dont have the same legal freedom that we do in other countries, but at the same time, we stick to our guns. Bing competes in China with other search engines, including dominant search site Baidu, which had 70% of the market in December, according to Statcounter. Bing commands only 2% of the Chinese search market, but it has a user base that relies on it for global news. Advertisement Comments on Chinese microblogging site Weibo grew as Bing users realized there was a problem, including some who said they wanted to study foreign academic research online. Do I now need to use a ladder to visit Bing? one user asked, referring to the Great Firewall and adding: I am so sick of this. No way! Has Bing been walled? another complained. You cant do this all the time! You really want to seclude the country from the outside world, another posted. Advertisement There was also speculation that Baidu or internet service providers might have something to do with the Bing outage. Baidu has faced sharp criticism from users in recent days for prominently featuring its own platforms, including content aggregator Baijiahao, in search results to drive advertising revenue to itself. Kecheng Fang, an expert on Chinas web and media at the Annenberg School for Communication at the University of Pennsylvania, published a post Tuesday titled Baidu the search engine is dead in which he complained that Baidu search results highlighted services offered by Baidu companies. Baidu dismissed the complaint, but Fangs post led many in China to link Bings shutdown with the controversy over Baidus quality. Suddenly cant visit Bing. It looks like something big is going on behind the scenes. Is Baidu doing it? one Weibo user posted Thursday morning. Advertisement Microsoft launched its search-engine website in 2009, offering results in a more logical, user-friendly format versus results based on popularity. Bing has failed to effectively compete in the United States, where its market share is 7.5%, paling in comparison with Googles 86%, according to Statista. Although Bing serves only a fraction of Chinese internet users, China has the largest number of internet users in the world more than 800 million. Rival Google operated its search engine in China, censoring its results according to Chinese government requirements, until 2010. Google abandoned the massive China market after it found the Gmail accounts of Chinese human rights activists were hacked during a cyberattack from within China. Recently, Google has been considering trying to regain access to China by agreeing to the same terms as Microsoft. But critics, including hordes of employees, have called on the company to abandon the project. Advertisement Twitter, Facebook and Google are among the services made inaccessible by Chinas Great Firewall. In 2018, Facebook obtained a license to set up an office in China after years of being closed off from the market. Facebook Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg has made attempts to appeal to the government, once braving the toxic air pollution and taking a smog jog through Tiananmen Square for a photo op in 2016. Dixon reported from Beijing and Pierson from Singapore. Times staff writer Melissa Gomez in Los Angeles contributed to this report. Twenty-seven people were sickened by LSD-laced potato and corn chips at a Marina del Rey party attended by about 200 people. Staff writer William Endicott reported in the April 6, 1970, Los Angeles Times: At least 26 persons attending a Marina del Rey singles party took an unexpected hallucinogenic drug trip early Sunday after eating food apparently spiked with LSD. Seventeen persons were hospitalized, including three women seriously ill and one man, with a heart condition, who was in a coma for several hours. Sheriffs deputies described some of the partygoers as so stoned they were unable to give their ages and said others were really climbing the walls. Many were wandering around in a daze, stumbling and falling, they said. Potato and corn chips were believed to contain the drug. Deputies said an informant told them that someone at the party was warning persons to lay off the chips. Deputies said a preliminary analysis of the chips revealed that had been sprinkled with LSD, which comes in either liquid or powdered form. . A followup story in the April 7, 1970, Los Angeles Times confirmed that the chips had been spiked with LSD. The Times followup also reported a total of 27 party-goers had been treated. See more from the Los Angeles Times archives here Celebrate St. Patricks Day in Dublin, Ireland, on a six-day tour that takes you behind the scenes of the citys world-class parade and join a private watching party in the General Post Office, one of Dublins most famous buildings. Other highlights of the tour offered by CIE Tours International include visits to the Wicklow Mountains and Irelands largest national park, the Stone Age tombs at Newgrange and the ruins of Glendalough. The General Post Office building in Dublin is illuminated in green for St. Patricks Day. (CIE Tours International) Dates: March 14-19 Advertisement Price: From $1,490 per person, double occupancy. Includes five nights accommodations, five breakfasts and two dinners, and transportation. International airfare not included. Info: CIE Tours International, (800) 243-8687 travel@latimes.com @latimestravel Humpback whales congregate in large numbers in the warm waters off Maui from December through March, with sightings peaking around Valentines Day. Nature photographer and island resident Daniel Sullivan knows the best places to spot the 40- to 50-foot mammals and offers these tips for tourists hoping to grab a memorable image or two. The tail of a humpback whale breaks the surface of the water off Maui. (Daniel Sullivan) Sullivan, who leads photo tours on land and on sea, urges travelers to look for a blow, the misty spurt of water seen when a whale comes up for air. Then get your camera ready. Advertisement If you bring your camera to that spot and you have your camera aimed, then just wait, he said. All photography is about waiting for that moment. It really is being fixated on that spot where you see the whale and hoping for a breach or a fluke to come out of the water. It takes a lot of patience. You dont need a high-end camera either, he said. Cellphones can take good photos, especially using the burst tool when trying to capture a breach that lasts only two or three seconds. Patience pays off to snap this photo of a whale breaching. (Daniel Sullivan) The humpbacks that com from Alaska each year likely were born off Hawaii and return for the warm waters that are critical for birthing calves. Humpbacks do migrate to Mexico, but most winter in Maui, making it a good spot to see and snap. So much about photographing whales is about anticipation. And a bit of it is pure luck, Sullivan said. Water streams off a whales tail as it briefly appears above the waters surface. (Daniel Sullivan) From destruction, creation: A new black sand beach is born on the island of Hawaii 1. Lahaina Many companies offer whale-watching tours during winter, but Sullivan said there are plenty of good places on land where you can photograph whales who come to mate and train their newborn calves. Advertisement Lahaina Harbor is a good place to start a whale-watching adventure. (Daniel Sullivan) One of the best places that I have found whales is in Lahaina Harbor, Sullivan said. Not so coincidentally, many of the boat tours depart from Lahaina, the West Maui town between the resorts of Kaanapali Beach and Wailea. The whales will come all the way up to the boats that are moored, he said. The waters are so warm that it has a huge amount of whales in that part of the island. Tucked away behind a break in a lava rock wall, Mauis Secret Beach is one of Daniel Sullivans favorite places to take participants on his photo tours. (Daniel Sullivan) Advertisement 2. Secret Beach and Makena Cove Within a short drive of the Wailea hotels are two more of Sullivans favorite photo stops. Heading south on the only coast road, look first for the easy-to-miss Secret Beach, also known as Paako Cove, and Makena Cove. In addition to whales, look for green sea turtles in the sheltered waters. Hawaii Island isnt itself anymore. Lava and quakes have transformed it in interesting ways La Perouse Bay in South Maui is an ideal vantage point for whales. (Daniel Sullivan) 3. La Perouse Bay Heading about 10 minutes farther south, La Perouse Bay, named for an 18th century French explorer, has a coastal trail good for spotting whales and other sea creatures. Advertisement Theres a very active spinner dolphin pod out there, and youll often see the two together hanging out, Sullivan said. As sea turtles exit the ocean, surfers prepare to enter the water at Hookipa Beach Park on Mauis North Shore. (Daniel Sullivan) 4. Hookipa Beach Park Along the islands North Shore, nine miles east of the airport at Kahului, Hookipa Beach Park near Paia is, according to Sullivan, not only popular with surfers, but also with whale watchers in the know. Thats really a great place to watch too, because youll have surfers in the foreground and whales in the background, he said. Thats always a wonderful place to sit and watch the whales on the North Shore. Advertisement Smaller, quieter inflatable boats allow visitors to see humpback whales at eye level. State law prohibits boats from getting within 300 feet. (Daniel Sullivan) Whale watching excursions are one of several photography tours that Sullivan leads. Tours start at $200 an hour, with prices higher if you want to take inflatable boats to get closer to whales. Sullivan, who has published coffee table-type books and owns Indigo, an upscale shop and photo gallery in Paia, said he also introduces tour participants to the history and culture of Maui. Photographer Daniel Sullivan (right) provides instruction during one of his photography tours on Maui. (Daniel Sullivan) Advertisement The photography tours also are about seeing Maui in a deeper way than what people often get to see when they stay at a resort, Sullivan said. Through the people and through the land, [they are] getting a deeper understanding. travel@latimes.com @latimestravel Moving to address their dearth of established right-handed hitters, the Dodgers have reached a five-year deal with free-agent center fielder A.J. Pollock, according to a person with knowledge of the situation. The potential total value of the contract is $60 million, according to multiple reports, but the pact includes a potential opt-out after the third year and a $10-million player option with a $5-million buyout for the fifth year. Because Pollock turned down a one-year qualifying offer from the Arizona Diamondbacks at the start of the offseason, the signing will also cost the Dodgers their second-highest selection in Junes draft and $500,000 from their international bonus pool for next summers signing period. The Diamondbacks will receive a pick after the first round in the upcoming draft as compensation. Pollock, 31, spent his first seven seasons in the majors with the Diamondbacks after the club selected him with the 17th overall pick in the 2009 draft. He enjoyed a career season in 2015, when he batted .315 with an .865 on-base-plus-slugging percentage, 20 home runs, six triples and 39 stolen bases. But injuries have plagued him the past three seasons and he hasnt been the same offensive threat. Last season, he batted .257 with 21 home runs and an .800 OPS in 113 games he most he played since 2015. His defense, however, remained elite in center field, according to most metrics. The contract could keep Pollock in a Dodger uniform until he was 35, but the potential opt-out after the third season, which would become a possibility if Pollock surpasses a certain number of plate appearances, and the $5-million team buyout for the fifth year reduces the chances of Pollock playing in Los Angeles through 2023. The deals structure, however, will remain $60 million over five years for competitive-balance-tax purposes, which diminishes the blow on the CBT payroll and keeps the Dodgers under the CBT threshold. Advertisement According to Cots Baseball Contracts, a $12-million addition per season would bring the clubs CBT payroll total to approximately $7.3-million below the $206-million tax line. As a result, if the objective is to remain below the CBT threshold and avoid a penalty, the Dodgers would need to shed salary to accommodate a premier free agent. The penalty for the Dodgers would be a 20% tax on all overages up to $20 million after staying below the CBT line and resetting their penalty level last season. The offseason had left the Dodgers, who are platoon loyalists, in need of a right-handed batter. They traded away Yasiel Puig and Matt Kemp both right-handed-hitting outfielders to the Cincinnati Reds last month. A couple of weeks later, Yasmani Grandal, a switch-hitting catcher, officially ended his Dodgers tenure by signing with the Milwaukee Brewers. The three each hit at least 21 home runs in 2018, combining for 67. Before adding Pollock, Justin Turner, Enrique Hernandez, Chris Taylor, David Freese, and the catching duo of Austin Barnes and Russell Martin were the right-handed hitters projected to play regularly next season. Only Hernandez and Taylor both utility players have extensive experience in the outfield. The other four outfielders on the 40-man roster Cody Bellinger, Joc Pederson, Alex Verdugo and Andrew Toles are left-handed batters. Pollocks splits have been about even for his career hes compiled a .275 batting average and .825 OPS against lefties versus a .284 batting average and .796 OPS against righties but he enjoyed considerably more success off right-handers last season. In 305 plate appearances, Pollock batted .275 with 12 home runs and an .830 OPS against righties. He batted .221 with nine home runs and a .742 OPS against left-handers. Pollock figures to be the Dodgers regular center fielder, though Bellinger could also see time there against right-handed starting pitchers. The Dodgers plan to play Bellinger every day splitting time between first base and the outfield after his struggles against lefties last season prompted the club to make him a platoon player over the final couple of months. Sign up for our daily sports newsletter jorge.castillo@latimes.com Twitter: @jorgecastillo An Alhambra man was taken into custody on Jan. 15 during a traffic stop in Glendale after police found several dozen packages of marijuana products allegedly in his possession. Felipe Talentino, 37, was arrested on suspicion of possessing marijuana for sale, driving on a suspended license and operating a vehicle without a functioning interlock device. Tahnee Lightfoot, a Glendale Police Department spokeswoman, said Talentino was stopped near the intersection of San Fernando Road and Brand Boulevard around 11:45 a.m. for an alleged tinted window violation. The officer discovered Talentinos license had been suspended, and his car was supposed to be installed with an interlock device, a type of breath-alcohol tester that prevents a car from starting if the driver has been drinking, a requirement resulting from a prior DUI conviction. During a search of the vehicle Lightfoot said an officer found a bag containing multiple packages of marijuana and marijuana-related products including candy edibles, cannabis oil and vaporizers. She also said cash, a scale and other items consistent with the sale of marijuana were found. Talentino was taken into custody and released several hours later on $2,000 bail. Marijuana edibles allegedly confiscated by Glendale police during a Jan. 15 traffic stop. (Courtesy of Glendale Police Department) Although recreational marijuana is legal in California, residents can only possess up to 28.5 grams of the herb or up to 8 grams of cannabis concentrate for personal use. They can also own up to six live plants. Legal marijuana can only be purchased from dispensaries licensed under the Bureau of Cannabis Control. Glendale has had an outright ban of marijuana dispensaries since 2011, prior to it becoming legalized for recreational use. The city also outlawed the cultivation of cannabis and the delivery of pot-related products in 2016. In 2017 the City Council voted to table any decision on allowing or banning recreational marijuana dispensaries within the city, deciding to take a wait-and-see approach with how other cities dealt with legal weed. The issue has yet to be revisited. andy.nguyen@latimes.com Twitter: @Andy_Truc There was a lot to be down about on Irelands far-flung Aran Islands in the mid-1930s. Inhabitants at the time navigated a terrain of mostly stone, mud and hard knocks. Yet Martin McDonaghs 1998 play Cripple of Inishmaan about a small community on one of the islands in that era, is a comedy albeit a pitch-black one. Effectively melding hard edge and hilarity that drew me to it, as a job to do is Steven Robman, who is directing Antaeus Theatres production of the play opening on Thursday in Glendale. He pitched the challenge to himself rhetorically: Can you make those two oddly conflicting ideas, the nastiness and the humor, work together? Driving the plays narrative is a real-life event the arrival of a Robert Flaherty-headed Hollywood film crew on a neighboring island in 1934. In Inishmaan, where a goose biting a cat counts as news, the inhabitants are consumed with excitement especially handicapped Billy Claven, who hopes he can land a part in the film and, most importantly, a ticket off the dreary island. In a recent preview performance, Ian Littleworth portrayed Claven as anything but helpless, despite his bad leg and bad arm. Like everyone else on the island, Claven uses guile, brash determination and ample expletives often at the expense of others to, if not thrive, survive. Even his affected limp has a sort of swagger to it. All Antaeus roles are double cast, and Claven is portrayed by Matthew Grondin in alternate performances. Local kid Bartley (Sebastian Fernandez) seriously deliberates over which sweeties to buy from shopkeeper Eileen (Julia Fletcher). (Geoffrey Wade Photography) Snippets of Flahertys semifictional documentary, Man of Aran, punctuate the performance. In a meta flourish, the characters arent gripped, or convinced, by whats supposed to be an authentic depiction of their lives when they finally watch the finished film. Writer McDonagh, who is British and Irish, told Bomb magazine in 1998 that he hoped his stories would one day be read as true Irish stories, but acknowledged it might take some time for people to come around. And yet truth is elusive and ever-shifting in the play, with history constantly readjusting itself depending on whos telling it and whos listening. This play is about storytelling in a lot of ways, people making up stories, misrepresenting things, mythologizing themselves, Robman said. And I found that to be a very interesting matrix on which to put a bunch of characters. Nine characters make up the cast, and sometimes theyre all on stage at once. When they are, its a full house, as Robman put it, referring to the theaters moderately sized stage. Add in the fact that those characters including an elderly, alcoholic woman and an egg-throwing school girl frequently converse in coarse, rural Irish slang (think: Ya feckin eejit!), and the production may not be be for the especially faint of heart. Clavens adoptive aunts, Kate, played by Rhonda Aldrich in the recent preview performance, and Eileen, played by Julia Fletcher, are notable for injecting a sliver of earnestness into the characters biting back-and-forths, despite having silver-tinged tongues of their own. In spite or because of all the roughness, the audience at the preview performance laughed loud and often. To make it work, Robman said rehearsals focused on building up character traits, to make actions seem natural or honest. In this case, the violence is earned, Robman said, And when its earned because its honest, the audience will understand it better and not to sort of look away and say, What are these idiots doing, bashing each other? Antaeus Theatres The Cripple of Inishmaan will run until March 11 at the Kiki & David Gindler Performing Arts Center. For more information, visit antaeus.org. lila.seidman@latimes.com Twitter: @lila_seidman Just over two years after a large majority of Laguna Beach residentsvoted against having medical marijuana dispensaries in town, the city Planning Commission on Wednesday night approved a store that plans to sell products containing cannabidiol oil, a non-psychoactive component of industrial hemp, a form of the cannabis plant. On a 4-1 vote, with member Anne Johnson dissenting, the commission approved a conditional use permit for the first location of Lagona Apothecary at 206 N. Coast Hwy. The business plans to sell skincare products, soaps and bath bombs containing CBD. At least half the stores merchandise will be devoted to owner Patrick Murphys private label, Lagona Apothecary. The name is an allusion to a post office founded in Laguna Beach in 1887, according to Murphys application. The store will not carry food items containing CBD or smoking paraphernalia such as vapes or products containing tetrahydrocannabinol, more commonly known as THC, the component of cannabis that produces a high. Murphy said the minimum age for purchasing in his store is 18, though he is willing to raise it to 21. Commissioner Ken Sadler emphasized the difference between marijuana dispensaries and a CBD shop. He noted that while there are no physical dispensaries in Laguna Beach, there are marijuana delivery services such as Bud Man. People are conflating this with marijuana, and thats just not the case, Sadler said. If they want to get high, theyre going to go to a marijuana dispensary and get marijuana. I look at this almost as a nutritional supplement. Murphy said he has used CBD to help me with my own arthritis and it has prevented me from having a hip replacement. As long as I keep my weight down and continue my treatments, I feel I may be able to avoid the surgery altogether. Im here tonight because I like Laguna Beach, he said. I enjoy the atmosphere coming here. I believe theres some magic here. In 2016, 70% of local voters rejected Measure KK, which would have repealed the citys ban on marijuana dispensaries. The following year, the City Council unanimously approved an ordinance banning commercial cultivation, distribution and sale of recreational cannabis. Johnson said she voted against the business Wednesday because of the ballot measure vote and because she felt Murphy didnt present enough evidence of the products quality. Im more interested in what our community indicated in Measure [KK] and whats been presented tonight, Johnson said. I dont think we need this in our town at this time. Commission Chairman Roger McErlane said the permit approval can be appealed to the City Council within two weeks. A few residents joined Johnson in speaking against the shop. The citizens of Laguna Beach voted loud and clear that we dont want marijuana products of any kind, said Jon Conk, whose wife, Kelly, brought letters signed from several other residents who oppose the store. Another cause for concern among residents was a lack of federal regulation on products containing CBD. Theres so much we dont know and theres so little research thats been done, resident John Thomas said. The entire field is evolving so quickly. The lack of knowledge is enormous. Murphy said that in addition to the testing done at every step of the production process, he would be willing to have independent inspectors regularly review his merchandise and submit the results to the city. Karen Levin, an activist and a friend of Murphys, said: Everything about CBD, although it is derived from the hemp plant, is different than THC. It is infuriating that in 2019 it is still being thrown around as marijuana. Putting a store in, a small store that is well-run that the person is passionate about helping people thats what youll be giving to the community. Other speakers supporting Murphys shop cited medical benefits of CBD oil. Studies have suggested it can be an effective treatment for some health conditions, such as childhood epilepsy. Sadler told of his sisters neighbor, a child who suffered from such severe epilepsy that she experienced back-to-back seizures. Her parents eventually found out about CBD oil and began treating her with it, he said, and her seizures were reduced to only a few per year. Talk about having a direct medical benefit, Sadler said. Commissioner Jorg Dubin said he is a fan of CBD oil because he knows it can help with ailments including sleep disorders, menopause, arthritis and back and joint pain. It is more like our herbal supplement, not unlike what you could go to Whole Foods and look at various vitamins and all kinds of things there, Dubin said. Art installation In other business Wednesday, the Planning Commission unanimously approved a request from Laguna Beach Cultural Arts Manager Sian Poeschl to use the City Hall lawn for a three-year art installation. The artwork has not been decided and will be reviewed by a temporary arts panel consisting of representatives of the City Council, Planning Commission, Public Works Department, Community Development Department, Cultural Arts Department and Police Department. Poeschl said there is an opportunity to receive artwork on loan from the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. There is a diversity of sites and diversity of experiences, she said. Thats what were trying to achieve. Arts studio The commission also unanimously approved a private studio for a teacher who specializes in piano, French, dance, painting and digital art. Sounds of Color will be above the Subway restaurant at 1350 S. Coast Hwy. Brianna Harb, who owns a studio in Santa Ana, wrote in her application that the Laguna Beach location will focus on students who have excelled in their fields and require a more focused one-on-one teaching approach. Fountain Valley will loan a developer $6.4 million interest-free to build a 50-unit affordable-housing complex along Harbor Boulevard. The City Council unanimously agreed Tuesday night to loan Related Cos. of California the money to buy a privately owned 2-acre site at 16790 Harbor. The parcel is currently a fenced parking lot adjacent to an auto mechanic shop. Construction could begin in late 2020 or early 2021, said City Manager Rob Houston, who described the city as a silent partner in the deal. If the developer defaults or its plans are unsuccessful, the city will take the deed to the property. Related Cos. has 60 years to pay back the loan. Related did not immediately return a call seeking comment Wednesday. The state requires cities to plan for lower-income housing using money from a locally administered low and moderate housing asset fund. Fountain Valley has about $12 million in its fund, feathered by the 2017 sale of four city-owned acres on Warner Avenue at Newhope Street. The Warner land was supposed to be used for affordable housing but hit a snag because of legal constraints on the propertys title, leading the city to look elsewhere. The Southern California Assn. of Governments determined that Fountain Valley needs 358 new housing units for all income levels built between 2014 and 2021. Of those, 207 must be for people with extremely low, very low, low and moderate incomes. Low income in Orange County is defined by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development as 80% of the area median income of $84,450 for a family of four or $58,450 for a single person living alone. At of the end of 2017, no units had been built in the extremely low to low range, and only a handful of new accessory dwelling units, or granny flats apartments attached to or within existing single-family homes and considered a type of affordable housing came online in 2018, city staff said. All of the Related projects residents will be in the extremely low to low income range, with extremely low being 30% of the area median income and very low at 59.5%. Eight of the units will be supportive housing to keep recently homeless people from going back to the streets. Celeste Brady, the citys affordable-housing legal consultant, told the council the city risks legal action by housing advocates if the city doesnt satisfy its state guidelines. Rock music and alcohol have never been strangers, but one particularly artistic instance of that union is on display at the annual National Assn. of Music Merchants conference. The NAMM Show, which runs through Sunday at the Anaheim Convention Center, brings together music technology industry experts, students and educators in a collaborative atmosphere. NAMM is a nonprofit founded in 1901, and its conference now attracts over 115,000 attendees. This year a collaboration between rum distiller Sailor Jerry and guitar maker C.F. Martin & Co. will be unveiled in the form of a special guitar series, Ink & Wood. The Martin Custom Shop approached Sailor Jerry Spiced Rum with the idea to create art-quality special edition instruments, said Ashley Thomas, a brand ambassador with Sailor Jerry. It made perfect sense to bring together the authentic voices of both brands with these special instruments. RELATED STORY: At NAMM, the 60s and Pat Quilters amps are still with us The guitars each took over 50 hours of work to create, making them not only musical instruments but artworks. The two guitars, dubbed Homeward Bound and True Love, are made from sand-shaded wood and colored pearl. They are inlaid with artwork that calls to mind the form and texture of tattoos. Each features images and stories from the life of Norman Sailor Jerry Collins, the World War II Navy man who, while stationed in Hawaii, tattooed other sailors as they made their way to and from the Pacific theater. Scott Strasser, director of the C.F Martin & Co. Custom Shop, looked at Collins numerous tattoo designs to inform the images applied to the instruments. It wasnt that I wanted to build a guitar for people who like or have tattoos, said Strasser, a recording artist in his own right. I wanted to employ a very unique and distinctly American artistic style for the project. The Ink & Wood designs, a collaboration between Sailor Jerry Spiced Rum and C.F. Martin & Co., were made from pearl and wood that is sand-shaded to mimic skin tattoos. (Photo courtesy of Sailor Jerry Spiced Rum) The artists who worked on True Love and Homeward Bound carefully removed fragments of wood from the guitars and replaced them with the designed pieces, which are made from colored pearl and wood and then sand shaded to mimic the tattoo art. Shading entails using hot sand to burn the designs into the wood to more precisely resemble the texture and gradient of the tattoos themselves. Thomas said that Sailor Jerry, the rum company named in honor of Collins, shares a creative aesthetic with C.F. Martin, the music company founded by 19th century luthier Christian Frederick Martin. Where Martin focused on the art of music, Collins turned to the art of the body, she said. Throughout their history, Collinss and Martins paths crossed in unusual ways, with Koa-wood guitars responsible for the spread of Hawaiian music and Collins island-inspired designs following soon after. The Ink & Wood series pays homage to the two men behind them. And they retail for a dollar shy of $20,000. Each. Eric Althoff is a contributor to Times Community News. Chihuahua Cerveza. With a name like that, it has to be fun. That turned out to be true of this newly opened Newport Beach brewery and taqueria, which is inspired by Southern Californias Mexican American culture. Its not hard to find. A giant blow-up chihuahua looking out onto oncoming traffic stands on the roof. Were a small brewery with a grande bark that is competing with the big dogs! the Balboa Peninsula brewery proclaims on its website. Indeed. In addition to the self-serve taps on the walls, Chihuahua Cerveza customers can also order a variety of tacos, from mahi-mahi to al pastor. (Photo courtesy of Chihuahua Cerveza) I recommend visiting for the tacos and then staying for the beer and fun vibes. These tacos are generous, far beyond what I was expecting for a place focused on beer. The largely industrial decor features homey touches, such as exposed brick, wood siding and colored-in drawings of chihuahuas. Beer flows from self-serve wall taps. Buy a drink, receive a wristband, flash the band in the right place, pour a beer. The limon, a classic Mexican lager with hints of lime and salt, hit the spot. Itll taste even better in summer. The rosado? This floral beer was different a rose lager twisted by ginger, lime and hibiscus petals and it was certainly drinkable, but too soapy for my liking. Still, the tacos were the stars, particularly when filled with mahi-mahi, which came grilled and seasoned to perfection. These were among the best fish tacos Ive had anywhere. The al pastor tacos accompanied by classic corn chips, guacamole and a few dipping salsas were stellar too. By Newport standards the tacos are affordable at around $4.50. Beers are $5, two for $9, three for $13. Nachos are $8. The Big Chihuahua Burrito, which feeds two, is $20. Another bonus is the location tucked inside The Landing shopping center anchored by Pavilions. Parking is plentiful. Gamecraft Brewing Gamecraft Brewing Co. in Laguna Hills offers a large variety of beer including lagers, IPAs and stouts. (File Photo) After getting stuffed with lager, chips and tacos at Chihuahua, I headed south to check out GameCraft Brewing in Laguna Hills, a nice spot for local brews and board games. Notable among the taps were Perfect Dark, a Munich dunkel with hints of cacao and toffee, and Where the Wheat At? an American wheat beer with tart cherry and pineapple. GameCraft has another admirable goal: steering guests from their cellphones and toward one another ideally over board games. Amen to that. RELATED STORY: Put away your screens at GameCraft Brewing in Laguna Hills GameCrafts less-obvious strength is its location near the 5 Freeways Lake Forest Drive exit. Much of the brewery scene is farther north, a hike for anyone south of Irvine. This new brewery certainly fills a niche for people looking for fun, brews and good company in South County. Bradley Zint is a contributor to Times Community News. Court Appointed Special Advocates of Orange County broke a fundraising record at its recent holiday luncheon. An impressive $425,000 was raised in support of CASA, which provides legal and counseling services to youths involved in the Orange County court system. The Dec. 13 afternoon at Monarch Beach Resort sold out, no surprise as O.C. citizens passionate about the work of CASA are front and center year after year. Regan Phillips, chief executive of CASA-OC, joined Lori Jackson, president of Friends of CASA, in producing the successful luncheon fundraiser. They welcomed some 500 guests. Melissa Rohani and Michelle Fisher co-chaired the event. Dimon Sanders, a former foster youth who became the 2017-18 Miss Outstanding Teen Arizona, fronted the gathering as keynote speaker. Her shining attitude and inspiring story received a rousing standing ovation. Local celebs spotted in the crowd included designer Barclay Butera, fashion stylist Brad Goreski, and, from The Real Housewives of Orange County, Shannon Beador and Tamra Judge. To learn more about the work of CASA, visit casaoc.org. Making a difference for O.C. youth KidWorks, which has been improving the lives of local youths through education since 1993, is another much-admired O.C. nonprofit. Like CASA, KidWorks broke fundraising records as 2018 came to a close. The annual Foundation for Success luncheon at the Doubletree Hotel in Santa Ana raised a remarkable $750,000, surely a high-water mark for an O.C. luncheon event. Late Newport Beach developer Dan Donahue was a major KidWorks benefactor. His early dedication and financial support rallied fellow community leaders to get behind the program, which was created to support children and families living in challenging neighborhoods in central Santa Ana. The goal was to provide low-income kids with tools to learn and excel from Pre-K to B.A. The annual foundation event honors founder Donahue and his extended family each year by presenting the Dan Donahue Leadership Award. 2018 honors went to dedicated KidWorks advocate Steve Craig, president and chief executive of a factory outlet development firm that operates 14 centers in nine states. Steves vision and leadership have elevated the annual luncheon to a whole new level, which has been so important as it raises the majority of KidWorks annual after school program budget, said David Benavides, executive director of KidWorks. Our future is tied to their future, Craig responded, addressing the crowd. These young people will grow up to be our fellow neighbors, friends and leaders. With KidWorks, the results speak for themselves. Additional significant support came from Kevin and Devon Martin, Todd and Natalie Pickup, representing International Bay Clubs LLC, as well as Heidi and Ruben Mendoza, Gregory and Stacey Brown family, American Career College, West Coast University, Caribou Industries, Bank of America and Donahue Schriber. To learn more, visit kidsworksoc.org. B.W. COOK is editor of the Bay Window, the official publication of the Balboa Bay Club in Newport Beach. California Sen. Kamala Harris promises to fight for the people if shes elected president. She hopes to catch fire with Democratic liberals. The word fight was mentioned four times in her brief prepared announcement of candidacy Monday. The American people need someone who is going to fight for them, she proclaimed. But her rhetoric doesnt match the record. Liberals or progressives, whatever you want to call them may be disappointed if they look closely at Harris tenure as state attorney general. She wasnt exactly a firebrand crusader for progressive causes when the slogging got tough. Advertisement Harris most striking failure to lead was her refusal to take a stand on two separate ballot measures to repeal Californias broken, expensive death penalty that exists in name only. California hasnt executed anyone since 2006, and only 13 in the last 40 years. As of last month, there were 741 convicted murderers stacked up on San Quentins death row. The primary cause of death for Californias condemned killers is old age. So whatever anyone believes about the morality of capital punishment, Californias system of nonexistent executions is a huge waste of tax money for the special treatment of first-degree murderers. In 2012 and 2016, there were initiatives on the ballot to repeal capital punishment and move everyone off death row to the general prison population for life without the possibility of parole. Harris declined to take a position on either. The first proposal failed narrowly by 4 percentage points, the second by 6.4. In 2016, there was a contrasting initiative sponsored by law enforcement groups to expedite the death penalty. Harris stayed neutral on that proposal, too. It passed by 2.2 points. Harris had a nice-sounding rationale for remaining on the sidelines: The attorney general has the ministerial duty of writing the official title and summary for ballot propositions. More from George Skelton Advertisement If she were to take sides on a measure, the argument goes, it could taint her title and summary in voters minds. Moreover, it might provide grounds for a lawsuit contending that the author of the measures description was biased. Nonsense. If the title and summary are biased and they increasingly seem to be that way theyre likely to be challenged in court, regardless of the attorney generals political position. Unfortunately, Harris successor, Democratic Atty. Gen. Xavier Becerra, also is remaining neutral on ballot measures. As did Harris predecessor, Jerry Brown. But prior to Brown, all the attorneys general took positions on propositions and wrote fairly straight-shooting descriptions of them. After all, an attorney general is elected by the people to not only be the states chief law enforcement officer, but to point the way on law enforcement and lead. Advertisement A governor or president doesnt always remain neutral on legislation, claiming he shouldnt show bias because he may eventually have to sign or veto a measure. Sometimes he embraces a bill and fights for it. Clearly, Harris motive in not fighting for the death penalty repeal was that she wanted to avoid making political enemies. California voters always have been torn about capital punishment. But more than that, an attorney general relies on a good relationship with law enforcement. And most police chiefs and sheriffs support the death penalty. Harris was politically ambitious. Coverage of California politics Advertisement Gov. Jerry Brown didnt support the repeal measures either, although a failed fight to abolish capital punishment was what first got him into politics when his father was governor in 1960. As lieutenant governor, Gov. Gavin Newsom supported both death penalty repeals. It frustrates me no end, Newsom told me in 2015, referring to those politicians who didnt utter a peep. I get the politics, but ... Advertisement Brown, when asked last month why he didnt endorse the ballot measures, told the Sacramento Press Club that the essence of leadership is knowing when to hold and when to fold, when to move forward and when to stay still. What the termed-out governor didnt say was that in 2012 his soak the rich tax increase was on the ballot, and in 2016, he was pushing a proposition to overhaul criminal sentencing by reducing prison time and allowing earlier parole for inmates who behaved. He calculated that thrusting himself into the death penalty fight might jeopardize those efforts. Harris talks about the need for criminal justice reform, but she didnt support Browns sentencing rollback, Proposition 57, which voters approved. She took no stand. Same thing in 2014 with Proposition 47, which reduced several felonies to misdemeanors. It also passed. Come on! An attorney general should speak up on important law-and-order proposals. Advertisement As San Francisco district attorney in the most liberal city of the most liberal state in the nation Harris implied that abolishing capital punishment was one of her most fervent causes. Running for office, she promised to never seek the death penalty. And she didnt, even when a gang member gunned down a cop. She considered the death penalty unjust and immoral. Lara Bazelon, a law professor and former director of the Loyola Law School Project for the Innocent, wrote in a New York Times opinion piece last week: Time after time, when progressives urged her to embrace criminal justice reforms as a district attorney and then the states attorney general, Ms. Harris opposed them or stayed silent. Its not fighting when you stay silent. george.skelton@latimes.com Advertisement Follow @LATimesSkelton on Twitter U.S. border officials finalized plans Thursday to require asylum seekers to remain in Mexico while their cases are considered in the United States, the latest escalation of the Trump administrations immigration crackdown. Border officers will start pushing asylum applicants back across the border as soon as orders become operational on Friday, beginning at the San Ysidro Port of Entry in San Diego, a Homeland Security official said on condition of anonymity to discuss internal planning. Until now, most migrants seeking asylum were released from detention into the United States while awaiting a court hearing, a process that can take years because of backlogs. Migrant advocates say implementing the plan will put asylum seekers at risk by requiring them to wait in Mexican border cities with some of the deadliest homicide rates in the world. Advertisement On Dec. 20, Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen announced the policy shift to force asylum seekers to remain in Mexico, hailing the measure as historic. Operations on the border did not change over the last month, however. On Wednesday, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services officials briefed asylum workers on how to interview individuals affected under the new policy, saying it would be rolled out quickly, according to a federal employee who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the internal planning. Arturo Rocha, a spokesman for Mexicos Foreign Ministry, said Thursday that U.S. officials had not informed his government that they were beginning to implement the policy. We have not been officially notified by the U.S. government of their intention to implement today, Rocha told The Times. Mexican officials said in December, when Nielsen announced the plan, that they would cooperate on a temporary basis, allowing non-Mexican migrants to remain in Mexico for humanitarian reasons. It wasnt clear Thursday how Mexico would respond to U.S. officials pushing asylum seekers back, however. Sen. Christopher S. Murphy (D-Conn.), who sits on the Senate Appropriations and Foreign Relations committees, said U.S. courts are likely to block the shift in asylum policy. They cant do that. The courts will stop them from doing that, he said. I think it will be short-lived. Advertisement The crackdown comes as President Trump continues to clash with Congress over his demand for $5.7 billion for a border wall, a dispute that led to a partial government shutdown on Dec. 22. On Saturday, Trump said he would consider a deal to end the impasse that would include temporary deportation relief for some immigrants already in the United States. Democrats have said they will negotiate after Trump agrees to reopen the government. The new asylum policy could directly affect thousands of migrants from Central America who are stuck on the Mexican side of the border, or are now approaching it in hopes of seeking asylum. Thousands of migrants have gathered on Mexicos southern border with Guatemala, awaiting humanitarian visas to enable them to head north, and the group continues to grow. Mexico has received more than 12,000 petitions for the visas, which are good for a year and allow recipients to work in Mexico and travel freely in the country, officials said. Advertisement Trump argued this week that Central American countries are encouraging people to leave, although no evidence suggests that is true. I actually think they encourage the caravans because they want to get rid of the people from their country, Trump said Wednesday at the White House. We have a lot of very dangerous people that want to come into our country, he added. And were not letting them in. Since December, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services personnel have been stationed at the San Ysidro crossing and other Border Patrol stations in California, and a recent recruitment effort added to their ranks. Advertisement A Homeland Security official said Customs and Border Protection agents will take applicants who they determine must wait in Mexico to a gate at San Ysidro typically used for deportations. Before asylum applicants are released from U.S. custody and returned to Mexico, they will get a notice to appear that requires them to return to the San Ysidro entry on a specific date for U.S. officials to take them to a hearing in downtown San Diego, the Homeland Security official said. The official said border personnel will set up a telephone number to call for updates on their cases. Citing Department of Justice guidance to immigration judges, the official said cases should be expedited so asylum applicants dont wait more than a year. Advertisement That would be a dramatic shift. Current cases face a wait time of nearly two years in immigration courts, according to Syracuse Universitys Transactional Access Records Clearinghouse. The policy of returning applicants to Mexico will not be applied to unaccompanied minors or other vulnerable groups, such as pregnant women or migrants who are ill, the official said. For other asylum applicants, if they do not express fear of returning to Mexico, pushing them back will be the default process. If they express a fear of returning to Mexico, this doesnt apply, the official said. Advertisement In her Dec. 20 announcement, Nielsen said the administration had decided on its own to change long-standing immigration policy that enabled most asylum seekers to be released in the U.S while awaiting a hearing. U.S. officials have provided few details about the new plan or how it will be implemented. On Wednesday, a reminder went out to Citizenship and Immigration Services employees not to leak documents or information, saying it would risk harm to our operations, create confusion, threaten the safety of the American public and law enforcement, and may even provide an opening to individuals to exploit those seeking to access our immigration system and programs, according to a BuzzFeed News report. Asylum processing at San Ysidro appeared normal early Thursday. Advertisement U.S. officials accepted 39 asylum seekers, fewer than on a typical day. Families from Mexico, a family from Russia and a man from Eritrea were among those taken in vans by Mexican officials to make their claims for asylum. Some Central Americans who were waiting for humanitarian visas at the Mexico-Guatemala border said they hadnt heard of the new Remain in Mexico mandate, nor could they believe the news. Thats a lie, said Obed Ramos, 25, a former policeman from Honduras who was among a number of young men who had just received their Mexican visas and were planning to head north. Our idea is to go to Monterrey for a while, find some work, save some money and then cross into the United States, said Ramos, referring to the northern Mexican city that is an industrial hub. Advertisement Times staff writer Patrick J. McDonnell in Ciudad Hidalgo, Mexico, and Kate Morrissey of the San Diego Union-Tribune in Tijuana contributed to this report. The Senate on Thursday voted down competing proposals to reopen the government, ensuring the increasingly bitter month-long stalemate over President Trumps wall along the southern border will extend until next week. The votes the first the Senate has held since the partial government shutdown began Dec. 22 fell largely along partisan lines, but with a few notable crossover votes on both sides. Neither proposal got the 60 votes required. For the record: An earlier version of this story said Sen. Doug Jones was from Arkansas. He represents Alabama. Democrats led the rejection of a plan outlined by Trump over the weekend that would pair border wall funding with temporary protections for some immigrants brought to the U.S. illegally as children. It failed, with 50 in favor and 47 against. Then Republicans ensured defeat of the Democrats proposal to temporarily reopen government with no funding for a wall. It failed, though with more votes, 52 to 44. Advertisement Sen. Joe Manchin III (D-W.Va.) was the only Democrat to vote in favor of Trumps plan, while two Republicans, Sens. Tom Cotton of Arkansas and Mike Lee of Utah, voted against it. Six Republicans voted in favor of the Democrats plan: Sens. Lamar Alexander of Tennessee, Susan Collins of Maine, Cory Gardner of Colorado, Johnny Isakson of Georgia, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska and Mitt Romney of Utah. No Democrats voted against it. Even though the Democratic measure proved more popular in the GOP-controlled Senate, Trump praised Republicans for holding together. Senators and House members both planned to leave Washington on Thursday with no clear path forward on how to end the standoff. But there were signs that both sides may be more willing to compromise. Trump backed off his demand to hold the State of the Union address in the House chamber next week after Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-San Francisco) said it must be postponed until the government reopens. House Democrats are preparing to release a proposal for more than $5 billion in border security measures but no wall to restart negotiations, only after the government is reopened. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky and Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer of New York met briefly after the votes failed. Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) said they were discussing a three-week funding bill that Trump could support. But the White House said it would accept the compromise only if it included a large down payment on the wall, a likely deal-breaker for Democrats. Advertisement Trump told reporters in the Oval Office he would support a reasonable agreement from McConnell and Schumer, but would not directly answer whether that deal would have to include wall funding. I have other alternatives, if I have to, he said. We have to have the wall. Just the fact that the Senate held votes gave some lawmakers reason to be optimistic. I think thats a hopeful sign in light of the fact that we havent done anything up to this point, said Sen. Richard J. Durbin of Illinois, the No. 2 Democrat in the Senate. There is a growing sentiment [by Republicans and Democrats] that the Senate will have to lead on this. Advertisement Several Republican lawmakers said they might try to build off Trumps plan a pairing of immigration and border security proposals. But Democrats would be likely to join in only if the government were reopened first. Many lawmakers fear that the politics of the shutdown is getting too tenuous to continue. Both the president and the speaker have to figure out that theyre losing, said Sen. Roy Blunt (R-Mo.). And frankly, I think they should both have figured that out by now. Manchin said his top concern was reopening the government. [T]hese votes are a start to finding a way to reopen the gov & get [West Virginians] back to work, he said on Twitter. Until recently, McConnell, who controls the Senate floor and has played a key role in nearly every major bipartisan legislative proposal over the last decade, had largely tried to stay out of the negotiations over the shutdown. But he embraced the Trump plan as a way out. Advertisement Its time to make a deal, he said Wednesday. Enough political spite. Enough showboating for the Resistance. Enough refusing to join in talks and then complaining you werent consulted. Democrats blame Trump for refusing to reopen the government unless he receives billions of taxpayer dollars for a border wall that he previously promised Mexico would fund. While Democrats have embraced the idea of granting protections to Dreamers, who were brought illegally to the country as children, they say Trumps plan is not a permanent solution and would hurt those seeking asylum from Central American countries. They want to fund the government on a temporary basis while negotiating a border plan. It simply reopens the government for three weeks and allows us to continue debating border security, Schumer said. There is nothing partisan about it. Advertisement The Senate approved a similar measure in December with the understanding that Trump would sign it into law. He reversed course, insisting that Congress pass a spending bill that included the wall funding. As more federal workers struggle without their pay, Democrats accused Trump administration officials of being out of touch. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross, a billionaire, said on CNBC that he didnt understand why federal workers who will miss a second paycheck Friday had to go to food banks. The 30 days of pay that some people will be out, theres no real reason why they shouldnt be able to get a loan against it, he said. Asked a day earlier about the 800,000 unpaid federal employees, Lara Trump, the presidents daughter-in-law, said, This is so much bigger than any one person. It is a little bit of pain. But its going to be for the future of our country. Advertisement Both the measures the Senate considered Thursday included disaster aid to address the California fires and hurricanes in Florida and Texas. Even the failed votes were viewed by some as a sign of progress. In the past, McConnell has used Senate votes that he knows will fail to send a message to the public and the White House about what his chamber can realistically pass. Meanwhile, the Democratic-controlled House has voted nearly a dozen times for measures to reopen the government. Several moderate Republicans have crossed the aisle to support those measures, including 10 on Wednesday. Advertisement The latest from Washington More stories from Jennifer Haberkorn To the editor: The story of the Covington Catholic High School students from Kentucky is a perfect example of the political climate today. When the story first broke, the mainstream media including some conservative outlets labeled the students racist. Now we know the situation was much more complex. Why such a sudden rush to judgment? Because politically we are now in such a place where our disdain for the other side disables our capability to reason. To some, media included, if a person is wearing a Make America Great Again hat, he or she must be a racist. We never ask what their reason is for wearing the hat. No reasonable discussions can take place with such assumptions. How sad for our society, and how sad that our news media have fallen so low. Advertisement Dennis Eodice, Idyllwild .. To the editor: One could spend a letter complaining about our presidents once more shameless using of people and situations for his own benefit. That, however, is not new. I watched a long section of the incident. What became clear, early on, was the rhetoric and religious bigotry of the young men involved in the African American Hebrew Israelites. They took turns verbally attacking the Native American people present and, then, the crowd of white people (judging them, it seems, for their MAGA hats). A valuable takeaway would be that we are deeply challenged in America by our resident religious bigots and that a healthy society enjoys more separation of church and state, for the benefit of church and state. Scott Hamre, Cherry Valley, Calif. .. To the editor: These high school boys displayed their lack of maturity. I noticed similar behavior coming from some young women as I was participating in the Womens March in San Diego on Jan. 19. Advertisement As we marched past a small group of anti-abortion demonstrators who had set up a display along the route, the young women marching in front of me started hurling expletives at the demonstrators. Since when do we need to start stirring up trouble just because someone looks different or has a different point of view? There is no hope for humanity if this is how we choose to operate. It starts with each one of us, in every interaction, being the change we want to see in the world. Its amazing what there is to learn when we can actually listen to one another. Joanna Ryder, Hermosa Beach Advertisement Follow the Opinion section on Twitter @latimesopinion and Facebook Is there a war on men and maleness in America? Last week, a new Gillette razor company ad inspired by the #MeToo campaign was quickly denounced for supposedly slandering men as boorish and abusive. And earlier this month, the American Psychological Assn. was attacked for its new guidelines on male mental health, which critics said were biased against masculinity. Both controversies, which are still raging, have pitted woke progressives against defenders of traditional manhood. But each side is mired in its own stereotypes while missing the complex realities. Advertisement Take the now-infamous Gillette ad, We Believe, which offers a parade of men and boys behaving badly as an unseen voice speaks of bullying, sexual harassment and toxic masculinity. A chorus of dads chimes in with Boys will be boys. Then, after a montage of #MeToo news and a call for change, the ad shifts to good men, shown caring for their children, stopping fights, standing up to the bullies and jerks. Amid cultural upheaval, there is a very real need for constructive messages about maleness. The ads defenders argue that the message is inspiring, not insulting. As the tagline puts it, its about the best men can be. Some of the angry responses to the ad were over the top, and yet the detractors have a point. Take the way the ad exhorts men to start doing and saying the right thing, and then continues: Some already are. But some is not enough. This suggests decent men are a minority while brutes are the norm. Whats more, some of the toxic behavior shown is pretty innocuous, such as teenage boys ogling bikini-clad babes on television. (Should we shame girls who drool over cute male pop stars?) The ad also blurs the line between fighting and roughhousing, implicitly condemning the physical play styles more common among boys. The APA guidelines are a more complicated story. Some of the critiques take aim at things it doesnt say such as toxic masculinity, a phrase that never appears in the document. The guidelines have also been assailed for claiming that traditional masculinity marked by stoicism, competitiveness, dominance and aggression is, on the whole, harmful. However, that statement comes not from the guidelines themselves but from an essay about them on the associations website. The actual guidelines, nonbinding recommendations to clinical practitioners, are a mixed bag. They acknowledge problems that disproportionately affect men and boys, from poor school performance to suicide, substance abuse and violence. One section extensively discusses the benefits of father involvement, including activities that promote healthy competition. While the guidelines do take a negative view of many masculine norms, they also emphasize helping patients understand diverse and healthy expressions of masculinity. Therapists are urged to be sensitive to typically male attitudes and behaviors (including how depression may manifest itself in men), but are also warned not to assume that all men fit that mold. The text even notes that men can be victims of partner abuse by women and that abused men may be denied help because of stereotypical assumptions. One problem is that while there is helpful content, it often drips with gender-studies dogma. Theres much talk about traditional masculinity ideology, sometimes questionably defined. (Religious traditionalists will be surprised to learn that traditional masculinity includes sexual promiscuity.) Sex differences in behavior are treated as entirely the product of socialization, even though the question of nature versus nurture is far from settled. Psychologists working with men and boys are advised to address male privilege and power. Advertisement This is difficult to square with the empathetic advice in other sections: Try explaining male privilege to a male spousal abuse victim whom the cops are treating as the perpetrator, or a divorced dad struggling to stay afloat and be an involved parent. Clearly, the would-be reformers of masculinity have their ideological blinders. But many of manhoods defenders have limitations too. Conservative critics such as National Review columnist David French argue that what the APA calls masculinity ideology is simply male nature. Yet, despite some constants (males are more physically aggressive than females in virtually every society and in most mammal species), norms for everything from male emotional expression to aggression levels vary tremendously among cultures and subcultures, just as actual male behavior varies among individuals. Some men are risk-takers or driven achievers; plenty are not. Even if average trends for men and women are linked to biology, thats no reason to label leadership as masculine or caring as feminine. Enter the Fray: First takes on the news of the minute Gender norms have undergone dramatic shifts in our time. Work and achievement as well as family are essential goals for both sexes now, and egalitarian marriage and involved fatherhood are widely shared ideals. Unfortunately, along with values that emphasize equal partnership, we have seen the rise of a polarizing feminism that fixates on male misconduct including such trivial offenses as sitting with knees apart while ignoring womens capacity for bad behavior. Advertisement Amid cultural upheaval, there is a very real need for constructive messages about maleness including criticism of genuinely toxic attitudes that confuse bullying with manliness or scorn help-seeking as unmanly. But the key word is constructive. The well-intentioned Gillette ad lapses into male-shaming that undercuts its positive point. The APA guidelines get bogged down in ideological shibboleths that contradict their own male-friendly language. If traditionalist claims about male nature dont capture the reality of many mens lives, neither do progressive claims about male power. Beyond the stereotypes, the simple truth is that men, like women, are human. Cathy Young is a contributing editor to Reason magazine and the author of Ceasefire: Why Women and Men Must Join Forces to Achieve True Equality. The longest government shutdown in history is almost certain to extend into its 35th day Friday, denying some 800,000 full-time federal workers their second consecutive paycheck. Its just a partial shutdown nine out of 15 government departments and dozens of agencies are affected, representing about 44% of the federal workforce but these employees will have endured nearly a month without their main source of income. Thats not counting half a million or more federal contractors whose work has also been cut off by the shutdown. Its shameful enough that hundreds of federal workers are reduced to lining up for free meals and other handouts, seeking temporary relief on their mortgages and asking for more time to pay their bills. Whats worse is that about 420,000 of them have been required to keep working throughout the shutdown, even though theyre not being paid, because their jobs are deemed essential. These include Border Patrol, Coast Guard and Transportation Security Administration employees who are defending the United States from the very threats that prompted President Trump to shut down the government in the first place. Forcing essential workers to stay on the job makes a shutdown considerably less painful and dangerous for the general public, removing much of the urgency to strike a deal. Yes, Congress has assured all these workers that they will eventually be paid the wages they didnt collect during the shutdown. But in the meantime, forcing people to work without pay week after week becomes hard to distinguish from slavery. And the money theyre not collecting is money theyre not spending, either, which is dragging down the overall economy. (And were not even focusing here on how the shutdown is affecting the general public, including diminished or canceled federal services, closed federal parks, museums and other facilities, cutbacks in environmental enforcement efforts and some food inspections, and potentially an interruption in food stamp benefits.) Forcing people to work without pay week after week becomes hard to distinguish from slavery. Advertisement You might think that the increasing desperation of federal workers and the mounting damage to the economy would prompt Congress and the president to engage in the sort of intense negotiations that ended the bitter teacher strike at Los Angeles Unified School District after six days. But weve seen no such thing in Washington, where Trump and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-San Francisco) have traded childish potshots over the State of the Union address instead of trading real proposals for ending the shutdown. The posturing reached an apex Wednesday, when Trump told Pelosi that he planned to give his speech in the House chamber on schedule Tuesday and Pelosi effectively revoked his invitation to do so until the shutdown ended. Trump then asserted to reporters that Pelosi doesnt want to hear the truth and ... more importantly, the American people to hear the truth, as if thats what he would have delivered. Lets be clear here. The president caused the shutdown by demanding $5.7 billion for a wasteful and ineffective wall along the southern border. Hes extending the shutdown by sticking stubbornly to that demand as a precondition for reopening the government. Democrats, meanwhile, are refusing to negotiate over border security issues while the government is shut down and rightly so. If they cave in to the president because he took much of the government hostage, it will set a horrible precedent. Enter the Fray: First takes on the news of the minute For their part, House Democrats have pushed multiple bills through their chamber to reopen the government, including another one Wednesday (which six Republicans voted for as well). They are also reportedly preparing to offer Trump a list of border-security improvements other than a wall that they would support once he agreed to end the shutdown. The GOP-controlled Senate, meanwhile, finally plans to get off the sidelines Thursday, taking up two bills to end the shutdown that are likely to fail. Its a largely symbolic exercise, but its a start. Perhaps public opinion will light a fire under our approval-craving president. More than half of those surveyed recently by the Pew Research Center said they dont support Trumps wall ambitions, and a steadily growing majority of Americans in a variety of polls say they disapprove of Trumps performance in office. Nevertheless, the administration appears to be digging in for the long haul on the shutdown, suggesting that Trump believes he can wear Democrats down. The real victims, though, are federal workers and those of us who are served by them. Its appalling that the shutdown has lasted so many weeks; its even more appalling that the president seems content to let it drag out even longer. Follow the Opinion section on Twitter @latimesopinionand Facebook The Mormon Church said Thursday it doesnt oppose hate-crime legislation in Utah that includes protections for LGBTQ people, an announcement that could break a longtime legislative logjam on the issue. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints sought to clarify that it has not been actively blocking hate-crime legislation and will not stand in the way if lawmakers take up the issue this year, said Marty Stephens, the faiths director of government and community relations and a lobbyist for the church. The LDS church has been a victim of hate crimes over the years and we understand the importance of this, Stephens said. All men and women are Gods sons and daughters and we think they should be treated with civility and respect, and that no group should be targeted for crime based on membership in that group. Utah has a hate-crime law, but the 1990s-era measure doesnt protect specific groups and prosecutors have said its essentially useless. Efforts to beef up the law have failed in recent years after the church said the proposal would upset a balance between religious and LGBTQ rights, according to supporters of the changes. Advertisement All but five states in the U.S. have hate-crime laws; Utah is one of 15 that have such laws that dont cover anti-LGBTQ crimes, according to the Human Rights Campaign. This is definitely a game changer, said Troy Williams, executive-director of the LGBTQ rights group Equality Utah. Latter-day Saints and LGBT people both know what its like to be the victims of hate and violence. Its a logical extension that we can all work together and pass a bill that protects all people. Mormons have long been the dominant religious community in the state, with an estimated 62% of residents belonging to the faith. At the state Legislature, 91 of 104 lawmakers are Mormons, according to a recent Salt Lake Tribune report. Republican state Sen. Daniel Thatcher, who plans to sponsor hate-crime legislation this year, told Utah news outlets that hes hopeful the statement could help the bill advance to a hearing stage for the first time since 2016. Gov. Gary Herbert, a fellow Republican, said Thursday that beefing up Utahs hate-crime law is certainly worthy of discussion and debate. He said the churchs position might not change every lawmakers mind, but it cant hurt the possibilities. The December beating of a young Latino man and his father at their Salt Lake City tire shop by an attacker who told police he targeted them because they were Mexican brought new criticism of the states hate-crime law. Salt Lake County Dist. Atty. Sim Gill said he couldnt charge the suspect with a hate crime because of shortcomings with the law. Mormon officials have routinely declined to publicly discuss the states hate-crime legislation. Stephens called it a misconception that the church has opposed recent hate-crime legislation. He said the faith only requested a one-year moratorium on hate-crime discussions in 2016 to allow a church-backed anti-discrimination law passed the year before to go into effect. Advertisement That law that made it illegal to base employment and housing decisions on sexual orientation or gender identity and also included religious protections. Gay rights advocates had tried for years to pass similar legislation but only succeeded when the religion backed the measure. The new church stance seems to fit with the faiths efforts in recent years to stake out a more welcoming stance to LGBTQ people while sticking with fundamental opposition to same-sex marriage and homosexual relationships. But Stephens declined to discuss it in those terms. I dont view this as a change, Stephens said. It is just a clarification so people know clearly that its not something were opposed to. The United States has a long history of intervening in Latin America, usually with disastrous consequences and the added burden of alienating other countries. But the Trump administrations recognition this week of an opposition leader as president of Venezuela is gathering broad support internationally and on both sides of the U.S. political divide. President Trump on Wednesday declared President Nicolas Maduro illegitimate and recognized his main opposition foe, Juan Guaido, as rightful president as tens of thousands of Venezuelans filled streets to protest the Maduro government and the socialist policies that have destroyed the economy. Trumps decision was seconded by most of the largest countries in the hemisphere, from Argentina to Canada but notably not Mexico. Several countries warned of U.S. interventions in the Cold War and before, and accused the United States of attempting to stage a coup detat. Advertisement The now-defunct Maduro regime is morally bankrupt, criminally incompetent and undemocratic to the core, Secretary of State Michael R. Pompeo told a special session of the Organization of American States in Washington on Thursday. Pompeo hoped to expand the multilateral coalition dedicated to Maduros ouster, but the hemispheres principal political body proved sharply divided. While powerhouses Brazil and Colombia, both led by right-wing governments, and Canada were solidly on board, a half-dozen Caribbean countries called for dialogue and a political solution. They argued that backing Guaido was a violation of international law. Advocating regime change or sponsoring it has long been a feature of U.S. foreign policy in Latin America. From the 1954 CIA coup in Guatemala that ousted a democratically elected leftist president, to the 1989 U.S. military invasion of Panama to capture Gen. Manuel Noriega, U.S. presidents have toppled strongmen and installed leaders sympathetic to U.S. priorities repeatedly over the decades. So Trump, whose foreign policy is anything but traditional, has followed an old game plan. Except for his recurring battle with Mexico over immigration, Trump paid little attention to Latin America in his first two years in office. Venezuela showed up on his radar in large part due to lobbying by Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), who detests leftist governments and went so far as to suggest military intervention to dump Maduro. Advertisement In March, John Bolton, another hawk, became Trumps national security adviser. He pronounced Venezuela, along with Cuba and Nicaragua, a troika of tyranny and vowed to isolate and punish them. The coalition of countries against Maduro has grown in part because several million Venezuelans have fled to neighboring states over the last few years, creating a refugee crisis. U.S. concerns are more about strategy than human rights, however. Venezuela sits on vast oil reserves yet to be tapped. It also has served as an entry point for Russia, China and Iran to expand influence in the Western hemisphere. Russia, especially, helped keep Maduro in power by granting him multibillion-dollar loans, investments in oil and gold mining, and arm deals. Last year Russia dispatched a pair of warplanes in what it described as a permanent military presence in the Americas. Advertisement As expected, Moscow was most vocal Thursday in condemning Trumps decision, accusing the president of assuming the role of the self-proclaimed arbiter of the destinies of other nations. Incitement has nothing to do with the democratic process, the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement. This is a direct path to lawlessness and bloodshed. Mexico was the biggest disappointment to Washington. Its previous government backed the anti-Maduro campaign, but voters last year elected a leftist president, Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, and he vowed to return Mexico to an inward-looking foreign policy. We must conduct foreign policy under the principles of non-intervention, self-determination and peaceful solutions to controversies, Lopez Obrador told reporters Thursday in Mexico City. Advertisement The international communitys attempt to build an alternative government in Venezuela could still turn very ugly. The international community means well, but it cant simply wish a new government into existence, said Benjamin Gedan, an expert on South America at the nonpartisan Wilson Center think tank in Washington. Venezuelas military may yet decide to intervene. The most corrupt generals are likely to stick with Maduro, but lower-level officers and the rank and file who are less involved in corruption might be willing to defect. Guaido has already offered amnesty to army officers. The clear regional shift against Maduro has provided energy and political backing to the opposition, Amanda Lapo, a defense researcher, said for an analysis by the London-based International Institute for Strategic Studies. If it can use this momentum to gain the support of Venezuelas military, it will have a decisive advantage. Advertisement The Trump administration and the embattled Maduro government were locked in a potentially dangerous showdown Thursday after Maduro ordered U.S. diplomats out of the country by Sunday and Washington refused to comply, saying they would stay put. Later Thursday, the State Department ordered all non-emergency U.S. government employees to leave Venezuela, and urged ordinary U.S. citizens living or traveling in Venezuela to consider leaving. Maduro cut diplomatic ties with the United States and ordered closed the Venezuelan embassy and all consulates in the United States. In Caracas, Maduro was drumming up his own support. He lined up institutions that he has filled with his supporters, such as the Supreme Court, to declare their loyalty. Advertisement Top military commanders also fell in line, broadcasting a communique pledging allegiance to Maduro. Several of the generals have been blacklisted by the U.S. Treasury Department over allegations of drug trafficking and other crimes. Maduro appeared at the Supreme Court, bedecked with the yellow, blue and red presidential sash, and vowed to stay in office. What is happening in Venezuela is a huge provocation directed by Donald Trump himself who wants to impose a de facto government here, in his craziness of thinking he is the policeman of the world, Maduro said. Im alive and I will never resign, he said, adding he had spent 20 minutes talking to Russian President Vladimir Putin on the telephone. Advertisement For his part, Guaido spent much of the day tweeting about support he was receiving from the regions leaders. The whole world supports us, he tweeted. Wilkinson reported from Washington and special correspondent Mogollon from Caracas. Special correspondent Sabra Ayres reported from Moscow. tracy.wilkinson@latimes.com Advertisement For more on international affairs, follow @TracyKWilkinson on Twitter Gov. Gavin Newsom has reversed the decision by a state parole board to release Jesus Cecena, who was convicted of murder as a teenager in 1979 for gunning down San Diego Police Officer Archie Buggs. The decision marks the fourth time in the last five years that the governors office has reversed the decision by parole board members to free the 57-year-old Cecena. Cecena shot Buggs to death during a routine traffic stop the evening of Nov. 4, 1978. After being convicted of first-degree murder, he was sentenced to life without parole. His sentence was modified to life with the possibility of parole in 1982 after an appellate court ruled that juveniles could not be sentenced to no-parole terms. Between 1986 and 2012 Cecena was denied parole 14 times, but in 2014 after he had disavowed gang life and become a Christian and model prisoner the board cleared him for release. Under California law, parole grants to any inmate sentenced to life are automatically reviewed by the governor. Advertisement In his three-page letter denying parole, Newsom echoed many of the arguments that former Gov. Jerry Brown, a fellow Democrat, made to keep Cecena in custody, including that Newsom does not believe Cecena has sufficiently explained his callous actions on the night of this crime. He also said Cecena continued to say that he fired repeatedly and quickly, but has denied deliberately firing the final shot into Buggs head at close range. Newsom said that trial testimony and evidence from the San Diego County district attorneys office contradict that. Mr. Cecenas unwillingness to accept responsibility for the true nature of his attack on Officer Buggs further indicates he is unsuitable for parole, Newsom wrote. Cecenas parole attorney, Tracy Lum, did not respond to an email requesting comment on Wednesday. But she said in an interview last year that Cecena had done everything required of him inside prison and deserved to be released. Ive worked with thousands of inmates, Lum said. He is the most suitable inmate for parole now walking the yard. Cecenas next parole hearing is in February 2020. In a phone interview from Valley State Prison in Chowchilla last summer, he said he was remorseful and ashamed of killing Buggs, and for the pain and grief he caused the officers families and colleagues. Greg Moran writes for the San Diego Union-Tribune. Los Angeles is often criticized for its lack of public engagement and low voter turnout, and as a place where neighborhoods have a sense of community but the city overall feels fragmented. But the nation saw a different side of L.A. when last weeks teachers strike galvanized the city. Thousands of red-clad teachers marched and rallied on the streets, drawing vocal support not just from residents and parents but from politicians and celebrities eager to back their cause. By keeping a tight message and engaging parents, the United Teachers Los Angeles union and its president, Alex Caputo-Pearl, were able to highlight issues of inequality and L.A.s struggling school system in a way that supporters hope has lasting significance. Over the six-day walkout, teachers made the strike less about their salaries than about class sizes, services for children and the future of public education. Many parents in Los Angeles have fled traditional public schools in favor of charter schools, which are expanding rapidly across the city. Advertisement The strike may not have hurt the allure of charters to parents frustrated with the Los Angeles Unified School District. But it brought attention to the financial toll that defections are having on the school system and the difficult learning conditions, especially for students from lower-income families, in L.A. Unified. The unions message was that public education is rooted in democracy and in the tradition of the school district, said Charles Kerchner, a labor relations historian and professor emeritus at Claremont Graduate University. They were actively selling this idea to parents, to the public. UTLA and Alex handled this brilliantly, he added. It almost became a movement. The long-term implications of the strike are unclear. The teachers union remains in an uncertain position, with half the current members of the L.A. Board of Education having been elected with backing from charter advocates. That could change in March with a special election for the boards seventh seat. Moreover, its hard to know whether other labor movements would have similar success without the issue of childhood education in the forefront. Some see the teachers strike as a larger increase in political engagement that began with the election of President Trump in 2016 and the many protests that came with the blue resistance in California. That continued in 2018, when Democrats took several key House seats across the state in areas once considered safely Republican. Youre having a consecutive number of events where people are in the streets or supporting people in the streets, said Jaime Regalado, professor emeritus of political science at Cal State L.A., adding that theres a spirit of resistance, a spirit of support in California in the Trump era. Time will tell how long this shift will last. Los Angeles has become notorious for its low voter turnout in local elections, which hit an all-time low of about 18% in the 2009 mayors race and was only 20% when Eric Garcetti was reelected. Advertisement Union leaders said preliminary counts show the agreement was approved by a large majority, but the contract between L.A. Unified and the teachers union wasnt universally embraced by educators, and UTLAs Facebook page was flooded with complaints Tuesday about the agreement. Some teachers complained it was vague on details and watered down. Also, gains were modest on reducing class sizes compared with what union leaders said publicly. Still, the union achieved its goal, at least temporarily, of uniting parents, educators and their supporters. Downtown rallies backing educators over the last week followed several other recent marches in Los Angeles focused on gun violence and womens rights. The strike gained momentum as images of marching teachers spread, but parents also played a key role as they picketed alongside their childrens teachers or had their kids stay home. Hollywood parent Lowell Goodman kept his kids out of school and saw the strike as a protest of the erosion of the middle class in Los Angeles, driven in large measure by rising housing costs. Advertisement Parents dont have access to the quality public education that past generations did, said Goodman, who marched alongside his kids teachers at Valley View Elementary. This was a revolt of the middle class, said Goodman, a former communications director for a city union. Middle-class people in Southern California are fed up. Still, not everyone knew of the strike, said Maisie Chin, executive director of Community Asset Development Re-defining Education, an independent group that works with parents of L.A. Unified students in South Los Angeles. She saw small numbers of parents and striking teachers in South L.A. The unification didnt reach the trenches, Chin said. It underscored the need to look in places like South L.A. and reexamine how closely parents are aware of the strike and the issues. Advertisement The question to ask, she said, is which parents are being engaged, and were the most marginalized parents being approached? And that mainly means African Americans. Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers, raised the issue of inequity when she joined marching students last week in Los Angeles. By seeking smaller class sizes and job protections for teachers, UTLA was fighting for the schools that all children deserve, not some children deserve, she said. Frankly, these are things that every middle-class or rich parent demands of the schools that their kids go to, Weingarten said. With long-term funding still an issue for L.A. Unified, money could potentially come from passage of a 2020 ballot measure that would change Proposition 13 or from a possible local parcel tax. It remains uncertain whether the publics support for public education will carry over at the polls. Advertisement Other labor strikes are on the horizon in cities including Oakland, where the local teachers union is expected next week to vote on a strike. UTLAs Caputo-Pearl said this week that labor movements across the country should take note of his unions approach. The L.A. strike was about the broader common good, and not so much about a narrow working contract, he said. Times staff writer Sonali Kohli contributed to this report. dakota.smith@latimes.com Advertisement Twitter: @dakotacdsmith An attorney from Downey was charged this week after federal prosecutors said she was selling oxycodone, heroin and other drugs online. Jackie Ferrari, a 36-year-old attorney, was arrested Friday at her home after detectives spent months following the woman and monitoring her drug sales on Craigslist, according to a federal criminal complaint. Ferrari waived the option of a preliminary hearing and was released on $25,000 bond, said Thom Mrozek, a spokesman for the U.S. attorneys office. She is charged with distributing a controlled substance. In the criminal complaint, Ferrari is accused of selling 50 oxycodone pills to a customer who was working with investigators. Advertisement Authorities began investigating Ferrari in August after the death of a 22-year-old woman who overdosed on fentanyl, a drug 50 times more powerful than heroin, according to the complaint. The young womans family members gave her cellphone to law enforcement officials, who used it to link her drug purchase to Ferrari. Investigators later determined the woman did not die from drugs allegedly purchased from Ferrari, but detectives with the Los Angeles County Sheriffs Department continued investigating the attorney. Between August and January, investigators found posts on Craigslist, where they said Ferrari advertised in code the sale of oxycodone, heroin, Adderall and other drugs, along with personal advertisements not related to drug sales. One post offered antique foxy roxy dolls with blue shorts and other blue outfits that were a size 30, meaning 30 mg of oxycodone pills for $30 each, according to investigators. An example of an advertisement Jackie Ferrari posted on Craigslist. (U.S. attorneys office) Another post advertised Chinese **White** Rice imported from CHINA! and 100% Authentic White Rice imported directly from China ona weekly basis to ensure freshness and quality of taste! Authorities said in the criminal complaint the post was advertising the sale of powdered heroin, cut with fentanyl and imported from China. In her advertisements, Ferrari noted that customers would be required to take one in front of her before the sale, prosecutors said. Advertisement Any method is acceptable, one post noted, according to the complaint. If you wont do this, I cannot selling to you. No exceptions. This allows you to find out theyre real from pharm and hopefully I can feel rest assured youre not 5-0. Sound good?? Ferrari was on law enforcements radar as far back as December 2017, the complaint said. At that time, undercover detectives with the Cypress Police Department responded to an ad but didnt complete the sale because of Ferraris requirement to take the drugs up front, prosecutors said. Sheriffs detectives visited Ferraris home several times and observed what appeared to be drug sales, according to the criminal complaint. During the exchanges, she offered items in dark bags, sometimes wearing latex gloves, to customers. She also met customers at a nearby Ralphs supermarket. Before Ferraris arrest, investigators enlisted the help of a confidential informant who had been arrested by the Costa Mesa Police Department in connection with drug trafficking offenses. Prosecutors said Ferrari sold the informant 50 oxycodone pills, receiving $1,200 for the drugs near her Beverly Hills office. Advertisement Ferrari is scheduled for arraignment on Feb. 27. alejandra.reyesvelarde@latimes.com Twitter: @r_valejandra Storms swept through California in recent weeks, drenching striking teachers and blocking roads with debris flows in recent burn areas, but they werent all bad: The states reservoirs are healthy and full, a good sign for the water supply. Nearly all California reservoirs are at or above average levels. Overall, 580 billion gallons of water were added across the state since Jan. 1. Some major water sources, such as the San Luis Reservoir in Merced County and Lake Perris in Riverside County, are near capacity. The Sierra Nevada snowpack a major source of water which state water departments monitor throughout the year is looking good, too, with snow measuring 115% of average Tuesday, compared with 26% of average the same day last year. Right now, were doing OK, said Department of Water Resources spokesman Chris Orrock. We had some good storms that pushed our totals above average. Advertisement Central Californias lakes fared particularly well. On Wednesday, the New Melones Lake was filled with nearly 1.9 million acre-feet of water and was at 131% of average, while Lake McClure had 602,219 acre-feet of water and was 126% of average compared to the same day last year. The San Luis Reservoir is 82% full, and Lake Perris is 88% full. Taken altogether, 1.8 million acre-feet of water was added between Jan. 1 and Wednesday. After a relatively dry fall, the wet weather has been welcome news. The hope is that the rain and snow will continue, topping off the year with slightly above-average water supply levels. Unfortunately, Orrock said, a high pressure zone off the coast is pushing storms to the north. That means for the next week, the forecast is dry and sunny. We dont know if were going to get any more rain the rest of the year, Orrock said. Were only halfway through. Orrock said its hard to tell what shape the states water supply will be in when the rainy season is over. The state cant only rely on a rainy January, he said, and another drought is always a possibility. The only thing thats constant about our climate is that its variable, Orrock said. We never know when that drought will come back. Advertisement After a years-long drought that sucked the states water resources dry, experts were thrilled by a miracle March in 2017, when the rain came pouring down, making it a record-breaking water year, Orrock said. That year, rain totaled 27.81 inches, making it the rainiest since 1895. But in 2018, water levels returned to below average. Its not if, its when, Orrock said of returning drought conditions. Turn off faucets. Only water your lawn every couple of days. alejandra.reyesvelarde@latimes.com Advertisement Twitter: @r_valejandra Two men walked into a Botox clinic in downtown Los Angeles this week and said, Doctor, do whatever you can to make us look beautiful. But the doctor and police are now doing whatever they can to find the men, who ran out without paying, authorities said. Benny Hau said he treated the men at Sculpt DTLA, at 705 S. Olive St., on Monday, providing $4,000 worth of Botox fillers and lip injections. Monday was a slow day at the clinic, and because it was a holiday, Hau said he had planned to close early. But then the two men one white and the other African American walked into his clinic around 3:30 p.m. Advertisement They said theyd never received treatment before, and both said they wanted to look really, really nice, Hau said. They wanted to look beautiful. Neither patient asked about the price tag, but Hau says many of his clients come in without a concern for cost, so he didnt think anything of it. He took routine before pictures so the men could see their transformation after their treatments. The white man told the doctor he was concerned about the wrinkles on his face, even though he said he was only 38. The black man, who appeared to be younger, said he wanted his lips to be more plump. Hau said the men seemed squeamish at first, noting, They said they hadnt gotten needles in their face before. But after the procedure about an hour later, both men were effusively happy. They said they would recommend us to friends, write good reviews, Hau said. It wasnt until the older man asked to use the restroom for a second time that Hau became suspicious. The customer left the clinic to walk to a public restroom down the hall, and 10 minutes later, the younger man asked to go check on his friend. Hau grew suspicious and told his receptionist to watch the pair. He thinks the men may have been scoping out their escape route during the first trip to the bathroom. I said, Just follow them, the doctor said, because its unusual for both patients to use the bathroom at one time, and we didnt want them to run off. Advertisement When the receptionist caught up with them, one of the men pushed her out of the way and darted out an emergency exit. In his 11 years in Los Angeles, nothing like this has happened, Hau said. Patients have accidentally walked out without paying before, he said, but they always came back. The clinics nurses posted surveillance video online showing the mens visit in hopes they could be identified. Police are now searching for the men, according to LAPD Det. Mike Mazzacano, who added that the departments Property Crimes Division would be interviewing Hau further on Thursday. Advertisement Yes, they took things away, but things are replaceable, the doctor said. I had patients in the other room while they were there. Im just happy my patients were safe, my nurse was safe, my receptionist was safe and nobody got hurt. alejandra.reyesvelarde@latimes.com Twitter: @r_valejandra To combat a surge in violent crime, the Los Angeles Police Department doubled the size of its elite Metropolitan Division in 2015, creating special units to swarm crime hot spots. Metro officers in unmarked, dark-gray SUVs began pulling over drivers to search cars for guns or drugs. By 2018, the number stopped by Metro was nearly 14 times greater than before the expansion. The effectiveness of the strategy is hard to assess: Crime continued to rise for several years before dipping in 2018. But it has caused a shift that some consider alarming: Metro officers stop African American drivers at a rate more than five times their share of the citys population, according to a Times analysis. Advertisement Nearly half the drivers stopped by Metro are black, which has helped drive up the share of African Americans stopped by the LAPD overall from 21% to 28% since the Metro expansion, in a city that is 9% black, according to the analysis. (Los Angeles Times) Metro makes most of its vehicle stops in South Los Angeles, which is almost one-third African American. But even there, the percentage of black drivers stopped by Metro is twice their share of the population, the analysis found. The data analyzed by The Times do not show why an officer pulled over a driver. It does not contain information about whether a driver was searched, ticketed or arrested after the stop. Nor can the data prove that Metro officers are engaged in racial profiling. But some civil rights advocates say the racial disparities revealed by The Times analysis are too extreme to be explained by other factors and troubling for a department that has spent the last quarter-century trying to repair its fractured relationship with the citys black residents. Connie Rice, a civil rights attorney who has worked closely with the LAPD on reforms in recent years, called the racial breakdown of Metro stops really off the chain. This is stop-and-frisk in a car, she said, referring to the New York Police Departments controversial practice of patting down black and Latino pedestrians, which was sharply curtailed after a legal settlement. Do you want the trust of the poorest communities, that are the root of the [1992] riots, or do you continue massive stop-policing that creates mistrust? she added. Advertisement Chief Michel Moore, an LAPD veteran who took over the department in June, said the Metro command staff is very aware of the potential of people viewing them as over-policing or being overly harsh. But he argued that intense policing is necessary in high-crime areas to keep residents safe. A person whos living in these communities is experiencing a disproportionate level of violence than other Angelenos and is suffering from that, he said. And the symptom, that means there are more police officers there. Its been my experience that thats where the community wants us. The people who are experiencing the violence are asking for us to be there to help them. He noted that LAPD officers are trained to recognize their own implicit racial bias and that the department conducts random reviews to ensure that stops are constitutional. Advertisement We can and should look at the conduct of officers that conduct frequent proactive activity to ensure that theres a fairness when theyre exercising discretion, that its not just hunch policing, that theyre not just stopping everything that moves, per se, because thats not lawful or right, Moore said. This is stop-and-frisk in a car. Connie Rice, civil rights attorney While some critics of the LAPD acknowledge that it has made important strides in improving community relations, a 2016 survey by the department showed that less than half of black residents consider the police to be honest and trustworthy a rate far lower than that of other Angelenos. This credibility gap is ingrained in history. Advertisement Memories are still strong of the Dalton Avenue raid in 1988, where phalanxes of police officers armed with sledgehammers and crowbars demolished a South L.A. apartment building, as well as the brutal beating of Rodney King and the riots that followed in 1992 after the officers were found not guilty. Recent fatal shootings of unarmed black men have contributed to the continuing distrust. Precious McLaughlin stands at the busy intersection of West 48th Street and Arlington Avenue, near her South L.A. home. (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times) Precious McLaughlin is too young to remember the riots, but her feelings about the police are complicated. She often sees unmarked police SUVs, which are typically driven by Metro, cruising near her house on Arlington Avenue near West 48th Street. Advertisement Somebody is less likely to do something theyre not supposed to, said McLaughlin, 24, a warehouse worker. The downside, she said, is that the frequent patrols open up the door for harassment, being overbearing in the community, creating distrust between the community and the police. Crips claim the north side of West 48th Street. To the south are the Van Ness Gangsters, a Bloods gang. In the surrounding blocks, Metro officers have pulled over thousands of drivers in recent years, and the proportion of African Americans is among the most skewed in the city. Advertisement In an area east of McLaughlins house, stretching from South Van Ness Avenue to Denker Avenue, 41% of residents are black, while 81% of the more than 2,000 drivers stopped by Metro officers since 2015 were black, The Times analysis found. Nearby in the Exposition Park neighborhood, a 39-year-old youth counselor said he had been pulled over by the LAPD three times in the previous month while driving home from Martin Luther King Jr. Park. Twice, the officers were in unmarked SUVs. In one encounter, officers in a gray, unmarked SUV began following him near a liquor store at West 39th Street and South Western Avenue, said the youth counselor, who did not want his name used because he fears police harassment. Initially, he stepped on the gas to avoid them. When he stopped, they said he was speeding and asked whether he had anything in his car, he said. He allowed them to search it, and they left without giving him a ticket. Advertisement The youth counselor is among the members of the Rollin 30s Harlem Crips who hang out at King Park but say they have regular jobs and no longer live the gang lifestyle. He suspects he was targeted because of his race as well as his affiliation with the gang. His black Audi has paper plates another reason why police might have singled him out. It seems like they got license to kill and harass black people, he said. I dont got nothing, so I dont get too upset, but theres an aspect of getting harassed, [messed] with all the time. Metro is less active here than in McLaughlins neighborhood, making 900 vehicle stops since 2015. But the race of the drivers who were pulled over is similarly lopsided 78% black, compared with a black population of 32%. Advertisement On another day, a 64-year-old retired water plant worker was playing pinochle at King Park with a friend. In 2016, he said, officers in an unmarked SUV stopped him near West Jefferson Boulevard and South Western Avenue, accused him of almost crashing into them, then searched his car. They think all black people have been to prison, got a record, said the man, who would not give his name and said he was not a gang member. The first thing they ask is, Are you on probation or parole? The LAPD denied The Times request to interview Metro command staff and accompany Metro officers in the field. Advertisement During a ride-along two years ago, Metro officers told a Times reporter that they try to be polite to drivers and explain the reason for each stop. They know people are watching them and judging their actions, they said. Officers from the LAPDs Metropolitan Division stop drivers and search their vehicles in 2015. (Marcus Yam / Los Angeles Times) ** In April 2015, with violent crime up 26% and shooting victims up 24%, Mayor Eric Garcetti announced the Metro expansion in his State of the City address. Advertisement Unlike regular patrol officers, Metro officers often spend their entire shifts on vehicle stops and other proactive policing tactics intended to root out violent criminals. They typically use a violation such as a broken tail light as a starting point to question the driver and potentially get inside the car a type of stop known as a pretextual stop, which Moore acknowledged is more invasive than an ordinary traffic stop. As the highly selective division which is trained in paramilitary tactics and is the only LAPD division required to pass regular physical fitness tests recruited new members, crime continued to spike. That August was the deadliest in eight years, fueled largely by gang killings in South L.A. The trend continued into 2016, with homicides surging more than 27% in the first two months of the year. Advertisement The following year, homicides and shootings went down in South L.A., decreasing again in 2018. Violent crime overall which includes homicide, rape, robbery and aggravated assault rose 22% in South L.A. in the first two years after the Metro expansion, with a modest decrease in 2018. By 2018, about 270 of Metros approximately 400 officers were assigned to crime-suppression platoons. This month, about 70 Metro officers were reassigned as part of a push to increase the LAPDs regular patrol ranks. But the division is still roughly double its original size, with a crime-suppression platoon in each of the LAPDs four geographic bureaus, Moore said. Metro officers are a tiny fraction of the LAPDs 10,000 sworn personnel, but they have an impact beyond their numbers. Advertisement As measures of success, then-Chief Charlie Beck cited felony arrests by Metro officers, which more than tripled in the initial months of the expansion, as well as arrests of gang members by the division, which increased nearly fivefold. The Times requested recent statistics for the number of guns seized by Metro, which officials have cited as a key metric, but a department spokesman was unable to provide them. (Los Angeles Times) The number of vehicle stops by Metro officers has skyrocketed from about 4,300 in 2014 to nearly 60,000, making up about 11% of all LAPD stops last year, The Times analysis showed. Even though Metro deploys a crime-suppression platoon in each geographic bureau, its vehicle stops are concentrated in South L.A. and a few other areas with relatively high crime, including Westlake and Panorama City, with wealthier, whiter parts of the city recording few Metro stops. Advertisement Where violent crime is low, Metro concentrates on property crimes such as burglaries and auto thefts, which may involve techniques other than stopping drivers. In much of Brentwood, Pacific Palisades, Silver Lake and Los Feliz, Metro officers have not stopped any drivers at all since the expansion. More than 90% of the drivers stopped by Metro citywide since the expansion have been black or Latino. Metro stops black drivers 13 times more often than white drivers. Latinos are slightly underrepresented in Metro stops, making up 49% of the population and 44% of stops. Whites, comprising 28% of the citys population, account for less than 4% of the drivers stopped by Metro, according to the analysis. Advertisement Blacks are 9% of the citys population and 49% of the drivers stopped by Metro. In South L.A., The Times analysis found that traffic officers, whose primary mission is traffic enforcement, stopped a far lower proportion of black drivers than Metro officers did. Since 2015, 45% of the drivers stopped by traffic officers were black, compared with 65% stopped by Metro, in an area where blacks are 31% of the population. Metro officers are deployed based on crime trends and sometimes come from other parts of the city to stem violence in South L.A., as in the summer of 2016, when rising homicides led LAPD brass to consider emergency solutions. Advertisement The problem here is that when you bring in outside units, they dont know who is who, said Jay Wachtel, a retired Cal State Fullerton criminal justice professor and former Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives agent. They are going to wind up stopping a lot of people who dont need to be stopped. The percentage of black drivers pulled over by Metro is astounding, said Peter Bibring, director of police practices for the ACLU of California. How do they decide who is involved in more serious criminal activity? Bibring said. That kind of extreme disproportionality on the basis of race suggests that race is playing a factor, whether consciously or not. ** Advertisement In the aftermath of the Rampart corruption scandal, federal authorities in 2000 imposed a consent decree on the LAPD to correct pervasive civil rights violations, including excessive force and unreasonable searches and seizures. Among the requirements was that the LAPD document its vehicle and pedestrian stops in detail. After the decree was lifted, the department stopped producing a racial breakdown of stops, which is a standard metric for many police departments, or documenting what happens to drivers after they are stopped. Whether a car is searched, a driver is patted down, contraband is found or an arrest is made can illuminate racial disparities and shed light on the effectiveness of the stops. Advertisement LAPD officers continued to collect information on the race of the driver, the time and location of each stop and the division of the officer who initiated it. A database available on a city website, which was used by The Times in its analysis, contains more than 5 million vehicle stops from 2010 to 2018. In July, the LAPD resumed collecting post-stop data, as required by a new state law. At a public hearing on racially biased policing in 2016, LAPD officials cited complaints filed by residents but did not include any racial data on vehicle or pedestrian stops. The department typically receives a few hundred biased-policing complaints each year, mostly from African Americans. The complaints are almost never upheld. Advertisement Moore said he did not know why the LAPD quit analyzing the stops by race or collecting post-stop data. He questioned the datas utility, citing variables such as the age of drivers or people who are passing through and do not live in the area. I dont think that that number, whether its 28%, 9% or 90%, that it informs me about the rightfulness or wrongfulness of the officer involved, Moore said of the percentage of African American drivers. Metros focus on South L.A. is a reflection of the high levels of violent crime in that area, he said. Last year, violent crime citywide decreased for the first time in five years, which Moore credited in part to crime-fighting strategies including the Metro expansion. Advertisement Steve Soboroff, president of the civilian commission that oversees the LAPD, said he believes in the mission of Metro and the expansion of Metro. The disproportionate number of black drivers stopped by Metro is cause for concern, he said. But he said he needed more information, such as why drivers were stopped and how many traffic tickets Metro writes, to draw conclusions and figure out solutions. Rice, the civil rights attorney, said the LAPD needs to conduct rigorous studies to prove that the Metro crime-suppression strategy is effective. Rather than expanding Metro, the LAPD should have put more resources into community policing programs like the one that launched in Watts housing developments and is credited with reducing homicides there, she said. Advertisement It indicates a fundamental structural problem with how they are deploying this strategy, Rice said of the racial disparities in Metro vehicle stops. They are only deploying it in areas where poor people and people of color are. ben.poston@latimes.com Follow @bposton on Twitter. At the end of our phone call for a story about drug overdoses, my source told me that she probably wouldnt be free for any follow-up questions the next day because she would be on a plane to Kansas. She explained that for the last two years, she had been flying there monthly to perform abortions and that there were other doctors from California who traveled to other states. I had read stories about abortion clinics closing and patients having to drive hours, sometimes across state lines, to seek abortions. But I had never heard of physicians commuting long distances to provide them. Once I started talking with these doctors, I noticed a tangle of pride and fear in their voices. All had trained for years to become abortion providers and wanted to share the work they believed in so strongly. Advertisement Column One: A special kind of storytelling returns But they were scared of facing violence in states that were less friendly to abortion. They repeated stories of abortion doctors who have been killed. A couple of these doctors agreed to allow our photographer, Gina Ferazzi, and me to tag along on their monthly pilgrimages if we allowed them to remain anonymous. At a clinic in Texas, I got an extraordinary glimpse into this highly charged, intimate issue. I tailed a doctor as she saw patients, positioning myself in the corner of the exam room with my notebook and pen but no phone, because anything that can record audio or take pictures makes clinic staff nervous. A few patients shooed me out of the room, but most were open to having a reporter listen to how they ended up at an abortion clinic. Some women said they were on birth control or had used a contraceptive but became pregnant anyway. Many women already had children and they were in tow in the exam rooms. (It turns out that 59% of women who get abortions have previously given birth.) I watched patients tear up looking at the ultrasound, that shifting Rorschach test, and others sigh with relief when the doctor told them she could do their procedure the next day. I learned that for some women, the decision to end a pregnancy is heart-wrenching, and for others, it isnt. I also approached demonstrators stationed outside the clinic. One man told me that he and his wife were unable to have children, so he protested outside the clinic every weekend. As he prayed, tears rolled down his cheeks. Soon after, I traveled to Arizona with another doctor who had started flying there in part because she could not find work doing abortions near her home in California. Advertisement California is home to more than a dozen residency training programs that specialize in abortions. The physicians who train at those hospitals tend to settle down in the state, creating a surplus of these doctors in some regions, including the Bay Area. So they travel. A California doctor carries a stack of paperwork after a day working at an abortion clinic in Dallas. (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles) The doctor recalled her shock the first time she visited the Arizona clinic and a patient showed up after taking a $100 Uber to get there, only to discover that she needed to wait 24 hours after her first visit with the doctor for her abortion. She broke down crying when she found out she had to come back. She couldnt afford it. More than a third of state abortion regulations passed since the Roe vs. Wade decision in 1973 were approved in the last eight years, according to the Guttmacher Institute, a research organization that supports abortion access. Mandatory waiting periods are now common. Advertisement Several states banned insurance companies from covering abortions, even in cases of rape. I witnessed women in the Texas clinics waiting room counting out $20 bills to pay for their procedures. These laws undoubtedly affect women seeking abortions, but inside the clinics walls their experiences felt far from anything happening in the outside world. Women talked about their abusive boyfriends, their dreams of going to college, their money troubles. They lay down for the procedure and wiped away tears when it was over. For them, this moment was incredibly private and personal, and I appreciate their willingness to share it with our readers. In the best actor category, Oscar got it wrong on Tuesday. It snubbed a man who should have topped the list of nominees. A man who routinely delivers polished performances at red carpet events across L.A.s celebrity-studded universe, showing up nattily attired and cleverly passing himself off as a Hollywood player. Terry Bryant, essentially unemployed and homeless for years, lives in a world of his own design in the city of make-believe, in love with an industry that cant give itself enough awards. Golden Globes, hes there. Grammys, you bet. SAG, BET, the Vanity Fair party. Theres Bryant. His social media has the proof, showing him in photos often selfies with Beyonce, Paris Hilton, Jimmy Kimmel, John Travolta, Halle Berry, Jennifer Lopez and others. Advertisement But his biggest and least welcome brush with fame came last year, when he was charged with stealing Frances McDormands best actress statue at the post-Oscars Governors Ball. Now, in the next episode of his own reality show scheduled for Thursday morning Bryant will appear in L.A. County Superior Court to try to get the case thrown out. No. 1, I didnt do what they said I did, Bryant told me Tuesday in the Santa Monica office of his lawyer, Daniel Brookman, who has counted Dr. Timothy Leary and Robert Downey Jr. among his celebrity clients. Yes, Bryant nabbed an Oscar, he told me. And yes, he immediately posted a video of himself holding the statue, accepting congratulations and saying alternately that he had won it for music and best production. But as Bryant tells it, he thought the Oscar was just a prop. And he not only didnt know it was McDormands, he didnt even know who she was. Bryant told me he is currently living in a halfway house and has been a client of Step Up on Second, a nonprofit that provides counseling, housing and other services to people with mental illness. A friend gave him a ticket to the Governors Ball last year, he said, and while there, he hung out with my crew, which included three princes. Bryant, who describes himself on his Instagram page as an A-list host, producer, ambassador, DJ and actor, among other things, said he would walk into court without fear Thursday, when Brookman argues for the felony grand theft case to be dismissed. Frances McDormand talks with actor Oscar Isaac after her Academy Award for best actress went missing last year. (Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times) Im a child of God, said Bryant, 47, who could serve three years if convicted. I have a good team of people, my rabbi and many people, praying for me. Advertisement OK, lets start with the rabbi. About eight years ago, Bryant says, he was at a low point, living in various locations on the UCLA campus and taking medication for depression. He spent time in a computer lab and in the library, and on the internet one day he saw something that lifted his spirits a video clip of services at a Brentwood Jewish congregation called Nashuva. Heres his reaction to the music and the sermon by Rabbi Naomi Levy: Oh, wow! Advertisement Bryant began attending monthly Nashuva services, held at Brentwood Presbyterian Church. You can feel the holy spirit of God there, he told me. You can feel Gods presence, and thats what I was looking for. Bryant said he grew up mostly Christian but there were strains of Judaism in the family. As an African American, one of only a handful at Nashuva, he stood out. He makes his presence known, said Levy. Hes very passionate and up on his feet and he sings along and he praises. Advertisement Little did she know when he first began coming to services, she would one day deliver a Yom Kippur sermon about Bryant. I didnt watch the Oscars and I didnt know about the Governors Ball incident, Levy told her congregation in that sermon, explaining that a member of the Nashuva group had texted her to say: Naomi, I think you may need to watch this video. She clicked on a link and there was Bryant, dressed in a tux, holding up a statue and gloating. Advertisement Lookit baby, my team got this tonight, he said. This is mine. We got it tonight, baby. Governors Ball, baby. Who wants to wish me congratulations? And I realized instantly, Levy said in her sermon, Oy, Terry, thats our Terry from Nashuva. Levy called her friend Brookman, who took the case for no pay. The two of them went to see Bryant in county lockup after his arrest. Levy said she looked into Bryants forlorn eyes and wanted him to know she was there, not because of who he pretended to be, but because of who he was. Brookman said Bryant has a record of minor offenses associated with being homeless, including trespassing and theft. But in her sermon on Yom Kippur, Levy said she considered Bryant not a thief, but a man who used Facebook as a desperate cry for attention, based on all sorts of false projections of himself as someone famous. Advertisement A few days after his arrest, Bryant was released by the court on his own recognizance pending trial. It might have helped that his rabbi was in the courtroom. Im not here to tell you he didnt do anything wrong, Levy told me when I met with her, Bryant and Brookman. You dont take whats not yours, even if you assume its a prop. I know enough about Terry to know that hes got limitations, and I really do believe his behavior is a reflection of our time, about everybody seeking attention, fame, and pretending that we are who we arent. Brookman sees it a little differently. Bryant was drinking and was caught up in the moment, he said, and was parading the Oscar around, inside and outside the Governors Ball. When a photographer became suspicious, security was flagged and the Oscar was taken from Bryant and McDormand got her trophy back, unharmed. I have to believe if you set out to steal something you dont take pictures of yourself with it, Brookman said. He was enjoying the moment. He wasnt hiding it, but the opposite. It was just part of the acting he does. Advertisement The complaint lists both McDormand and the academy as victims, but by some media accounts, McDormand has indicated she doesnt support the prosecution of Bryant. Academy attorney Steve Madison said the academy is grateful to the L.A. County district attorneys office, the L.A. city attorneys office and LAPD for vigorously investigating and prosecuting this case. The academy takes very seriously the security of the Academy Awards and the Governors Ball, and of all nominees, honorees, members and invited attendees. As weve learned from recent me-too revelations, crimes of power, abuse and cover-up have been rampant behind the curtain in Hollywood, but you arent likely to see many of the monsters do time. Now heres a guy who could have inspired sequels to Zelig, Walter Mitty and Being There getting the full prosecution for a few minutes of living every Hollywood players fantasy and pretending he won an Oscar. Advertisement Come on. Really? The D.A.s office said he was headed toward the exit, but even if he was, he didnt get there. This is a misdemeanor, if its worth prosecuting at all. Maybe the academy could lift its sagging ratings if, at the awards show next month, theres a skit with McDormand and Bryant arguing over who the real Oscar winner was. And lets not forget they dont seem to have a host yet for this years show. Oh yeah, said Bryant. Id totally be interested if they asked me. Advertisement Get more of Steve Lopezs work and follow him on Twitter @LATstevelopez Wildlife officials say a San Jose man has been sentenced to two years probation in the fatal shooting of a great white shark. The Santa Cruz Superior Court also fined 41-year-old Vinh Pham $5,000 and ordered his firearm destroyed, the California Department of Fish and Wildlife said Thursday. Wildlife officers began investigating in June after a 9-foot male shark with multiple bullet holes washed up on a beach in Aptos, near Santa Cruz. A necropsy found the shark had been killed by a .22-caliber firearm. The department said a caller on a tip line reported that a member of a commercial fishing crew may have been responsible for the animals death. Advertisement Pham confessed, officials said, admitting he shot the shark after seeing it swimming near the wings of his deployed fishing net. At lunchtime on a recent afternoon, the chain steakhouse Del Friscos at Rockefeller Center bustles with midtown office workers shouting at each other over the blare of Fleetwood Mac. For Sarah Schneider and Chris Kelly, the generic environment triggers specific memories. You know when you have a stress dream, where youre, like, one credit short of graduating? And you have to wake yourself up and remind yourself that its a dream? Thats what I feel now, says Kelly, sitting across from his writing partner, Schneider, in a U-shaped booth. During their six seasons at Saturday Night Live, the pair often came here on Monday afternoons to brainstorm for the weeks episode. But more often than not, Schneider says, theyd have three margaritas and go home, meaning theyd have to write all Tuesday night to be ready for Wednesdays traditional table read. Advertisement Their method may not have been efficient, but it seems to have worked. The writers, now 35 years old, revitalized SNL with a millennial perspective and sketches that often played to the strengths of the shows female cast members. In 2016, they became the youngest head writers in SNL history, guiding the show through its highly rated, Emmy-winning 42nd season a.k.a. the one during which Donald Trump won the election. Kelly was also the first openly gay head writer. Nearly two years after leaving the safety of 30 Rockefeller Plaza, theyre returning to television as the co-creators and executive producers of The Other Two, a comedy about the flailing adult siblings of a 13-year-old YouTube star. Premiering Jan. 24 on Comedy Central, the series may not be as overtly topical as Saturday Night Live, but as a fast-paced, biting satire of social-media celebrity, which offers both an unexpectedly poignant look at a family in mourning and a radically straightforward depiction of gay life, it is equally likely to get people talking. It is not only hilarious, it has searing social and cultural commentary thats incisive about the world were living in. Comedy Central president Kent Alterman on The Other Two The secret sauce of The Other Two is that it doesnt just lean in one direction, says Comedy Central president Kent Alterman. It is not only hilarious, it has searing social and cultural commentary thats incisive about the world were living in. But equally important it has so much heart. The series revolves around Cary (Drew Tarver), a New York waiter and frustrated actor stuck auditioning for parts such as Man at Party Who Smells Fart, and his sister, Brooke (Helene Yorke), a dancer turned leasing agent whos taken to squatting in a vacant luxury apartment. Cary, who is gay, is caught in a self-destructive hook-up cycle with his (supposedly) straight roommate, while Brooke has just ended a relationship with her sweet but dumb boyfriend. Adrift and closing in on 30, the siblings are forced to reckon with their insecurities when their adolescent brother Chase (Case Walker) becomes an overnight sensation thanks to a homemade music video, I Wanna Marry U at Recess, which goes viral. Much to their chagrin, their recently widowed mother, Pat (Molly Shannon), goes through an identity crisis of her own, transforming into an overly eager Momager. The contrast between Chases almost accidental fame and Cary and Brookes desperate struggle for meaning really made us laugh, Kelly says. And while its normal to still be figuring out the world in your late 20s, when your little brother is hitting it right out of the gate, that makes you spiral, you know? Advertisement Helene Yorke as Brooke Dubek and Drew Tarver as Cary Dubek in The Other Two. Their relationship is partly inspired by the friendship between Kelly and Schneider. (Jon Pack / Comedy Central) The central dynamic between Drew and Brooke is informed by Kelly and Schneiders easy friendship, which formed when they were newbies at SNL in 2011. Starting at SNL can be a very solitary experience, Schneider says, lifting a gooey forkful of macaroni and cheese. Its honestly like wandering the halls just to see if anyones office is open, and peeking in and being like, Hey, strangers, does anyone want to write a sketch with me? We were just sort of like, Oh, yeah, Im totally alone. Are you fully alone? Kelly recalls. Schneider continues the riff: Is it 4 a.m. and no ones talking to you? Advertisement They soon discovered a shared comedic sensibility, a love of taking tiny specific things and blowing them up, as Schneider puts it. Raised in suburbia on opposite coasts Kelly in Sacramento, Schneider in western New Jersey they had enough overlap that they felt like they were pitching from a shared background, says Kelly. Both writers had come to SNL from the world of digital comedy. Kelly, who studied improv at UCB and the Groundlings, had started as an intern and worked his way up at the Onion News Network. Schneider initially pursued a career in copywriting she sheepishly admits to having Got Milk ads on her bedroom wall in high school before pivoting into comedy at the website CollegeHumor. They arrived during a transitional period for SNL, as high-profile cast members, including Kristen Wiig and Bill Hader, exited the show. Advertisement People would be like, This show sucks now. Where the hell is Stefon? Kelly jokes, referring to Haders popular recurring character. But they soon bonded with new talent, especially Kate McKinnon and Aidy Bryant, earning a reputation for clever music videos and pop culture riffs. A major breakthrough was the spoof (Doin It In My) Twin Bed, about the indignities of getting romantic in ones childhood home. Theyre both extremely confident, not always right, but never in doubt, SNL creator Lorne Michaels says of Kelly and Schneider. (Kent Nishimura / Los Angeles Times) Theyre both extremely confident, not always right, but never in doubt, says SNL creator Lorne Michaels, who is also an executive producer on The Other Two. He recalls how the writers were always all over everything paying attention to props, costumes and graphics as well as the writing. Their pieces were always just fully realized. Advertisement Despite the shows notoriously grueling pace, they pursued side projects. Schneider wrote for Aziz Ansaris series, Master of None, while Kelly worked in the Broad City writers room. He also managed to write and direct the semi-autobiographical feature Other People, about a young, gay comedy writer (Jesse Plemons) who returns home to Sacramento to care for his cancer-stricken mother, played by Molly Shannon. (Kellys mother died in 2009.) They were also determined to come up with a show of their own, and rented a cabin in upstate New York during a dark week in early 2016 to force themselves to write. After a long weekend and countless terrible diner nachos, they had fleshed out the idea for The Other Two. A few months later, they were named co-head writers of SNL and steered the show through the raucous election and its head-spinning aftermath. The whirlwind brought a renewed cultural relevancy to the show, powered by memorable moments including Melissa McCarthy as Sean Spicer and McKinnon as a Hallelujah-singing Hillary Clinton. They did brilliant work, Michaels says. They had a really strong point of view, both in the politics and in the comedy. They didnt neglect either. Theres always a level of intelligence to what they did. Advertisement At SNL, Kelly and Schneider worked closely with Kate McKinnon, seen here as Hillary Clinton singing Leonard Cohens Hallelujah in the post-election episode of Saturday Night Live on November 12, 2016. (NBC / Will Heath/NBC) Covering the 2016 election at SNL is the coolest thing well ever be a part of, Schneider says. Even in the moment, we would talk about how lucky we felt. We ended up putting a lot of pressure on ourselves because we felt like the show was visible that year. We felt the responsibility and we wanted to make sure what we put out there felt thoughtful, fair, considerate and considered. They helped propel SNL to its most-watched season in 23 years and an Emmy win for variety sketch series plus a Peabody for political satire. But not everyone was impressed. Trump famously dissed the show which hed hosted only a year earlier as unwatchable. Even Schneiders grandma thought it got too political. Were overthinkers in general, Kelly says, and so Advertisement That year broke us, Schneider finishes the sentence. While SNL was dominating the cultural conversation, Schneider and Kelly would spend dark weeks flying to Los Angeles to work on The Other Two, which they sold to Comedy Central in late 2016. They rounded out the supporting cast with a wish list of comedic actors Shannon as Pat, Ken Marino as Chases slimy manager, Wanda Sykes as his aggressive publicist and amped up the writing, Kelly says, to make them do the things that will tickle me the most. The slow process of developing a narrative series has been quite a change from the weekly grind of SNL, but theyve enjoyed stepping away from political comedy. Advertisement Chris Kelly and Sarah Schneider pose for a portrait at the Comedy Central offices in Hollywood. (Kent Nishimura / Los Angeles Times) Theyre both extremely confident, not always right, but never in doubt. . . . They did brilliant work. SNL creator Lorne Michaels Theyre often asked whether they miss skewering Trump, but the answer is a hard no, Kelly says. We liked writing political jokes for a set amount of time, but it isnt necessarily why either of us got into comedy. And even though no one ever mentions you-know-who, The Other Two still feels relevant, particularly in its candid depiction of Carys sex life, which is groundbreaking yet never feels like its played for think-piece-generating shock value. Advertisement Its matter of fact on the screen because its matter of fact in the writers room and in our lives too, says Kelly, who also directed four episodes of The Other Two, including the pilot. Were not making a big point out of it. The Other Two also offers an acerbic take on fame in an era in which social media has supplanted pop culture. Kelly and Schneider liked to play a game with Walker, the 15-year-old who plays Chase, where theyd name people they considered very famous say, Steve Carell only to elicit blank stares. (And vice versa.) The people who are famous to Case are not the people who are famous to us, Kelly says, and it shows in the way he talks, acts, sings. They found Walker where else? on social media; his songs were popular on the site musical.ly and he currently has more than 400,000 Instagram followers. Schneider says that when Walker auditioned for The Other Two, He was already like, Yeah, its been, a crazy journey. Ive been doing this, like, eight months. Advertisement So we laughed, Kelly says, and were like, Thats going in the show for sure. See the most-read stories in Entertainment this hour meredith.blake@latimes.com Follow me @MeredithBlake Netflixs latest series of substance to drop in the middle of the night seemingly unannounced is Black Earth Rising, a British-American international thriller thats set in the wake of the Rwandan civil war. This suspenseful but uneven drama recounts the worst genocide in modern history, and the lack of international outrage, through the emotional journey of Kate Ashby (Michaela Coel, Chewing Gum). While the eight-part series deftly unpacks difficult questions about neocolonialism and the effect of geopolitics on the pursuit of justice, its less successful in forging a strong bond between viewers and the characters on screen. (I reviewed the first four episodes.) The series, which premieres Friday, follows Kate, a British millennial in present-day London who remembers little to nothing about being orphaned nearly 30 years ago. Her Tutsi family was among an estimated 800,000 people slaughtered during a 100-day, 1994 genocide orchestrated by Hutu government factions. She was adopted as a child and raised in the UK by Eve Ashby (Harriet Walter), an international prosecutor whose career is built upon seeking justice for the victims of bloody wars across Africa. Kates an emotionally unstable underachiever who has lived in her mothers shadow working as a part-time investigative assistant, but a split forms between the women when Eve takes a case prosecuting a Tutsi rebel leader who was instrumental in ending the genocide. Advertisement Kate is furious: Hes a Rwandan Tutsi who helped stop the genocide! ... Its like the Second World War is over, and were Jewish, and suddenly youve decided to prosecute Gen. Eisenhower because he tried to stop Hitler. Tragedy ensues, causing Kate to team with American human-rights attorney Michael Ennis (John Goodman). Research into her mothers unfinished case makes them targets in a dangerous, geopolitical coverup, and Kate discovers hard truths about her past. The series moves between the UK, Europe and Africa, painstakingly connecting the dots between various conflicts, international incidents and personal tragedies. Written and directed by Hugo Blick (The Honorable Woman), the first hourlong episode is riveting thanks to Walters superb performance as a woman torn between career pursuits and a needy daughter. But once shes out of the picture, the human drama meant to drive this story loses steam. The intense, embattled Kate and easygoing, rumpled attorney Ennis lack chemistry or any sort of intimate bond aside from missing Eve. Without that connection, the stakes are lowered, and their fight with assassins, spies, misleading European agents and priests are less interesting. What does hit home here is the dramatization of a war and human-rights atrocity that Americans may have missed in the early 90s when our own government was busy bombing Iraq. The accounts of characters here who survived the genocide, and the images of those who didnt, are haunting. The series, which has already aired in the UK on BBC Two, highlights how little attention globally is paid toward the suffering in Africa. Says Kate, its as if the Western world and Europe just assume that down there, genocide, war crimes, thats just what they do to each other. Rebel campaigns in the Democratic Republic of Congo, conflict-free mineral rights and court tribunals at The Hague are all subjects wrapped into Black Earth Rising. But the upshot is that no one seems to find the justice they seek when that justice isnt sought by a higher African court, or when its handed down by outside nations with outside interests. Its a no-win game, with very human consequences. This drama certainly illustrates those points, but largely without the human side needed to make the abstract real. Black Earth Rising Where: Netflix Advertisement When: Any time, starting Friday Rating: TV-MA (may be unsuitable for children under the age of 17) lorraine.ali@latimes.com @lorraineali Weezer must have been feeling nostalgic because the Grammy-winning band just dropped an eclectic covers album titled Weezer (The Teal Album) thats brimming with throwback hits. The 10-track record includes their versions of Totos Africa likely to the delight of SNLs Leslie Jones and Matt Damon TLCs No Scrubs, a-has Take on Me, Black Sabbaths Paranoid, Michael Jacksons Billie Jean and more. The Teal Album and its largely Miami Vice-inspired cover art was released digitally late Wednesday night, and, just to drive home that 20th century feeling, CD orders on their website are accompanied by velcro wallets and coasters. (Alas, theyve already sold out of the wallets.) Advertisement The album, Weezers latest with Crush Music/Atlantic Records, started coming together last summer during the groups amphitheater tour, during which they worked covers of Africa and the Turtles Happy Together into their sets. Given the tremendous response to these songs at the shows, the band was inspired to put together a covers album and thus Weezer (The Teal Album) was born, according to a statement from the band. Heres the complete track list for Weezer (The Teal Album): 1. Africa (Toto) 2. Everybody Wants to Rule the World (Tears for Fears) 3. Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This) (The Eurythmics) 4. Take on Me (a-ha) 5. Happy Together (The Turtles) Advertisement 6. Paranoid (Black Sabbath) 7. Mr. Blue Sky (Electric Light Orchestra) 8. No Scrubs (TLC) 9. Billie Jean (Michael Jackson) Advertisement 10. Stand By Me (Ben E. King) Follow me: @NardineSaad Netflix serving up the ultra-violent vengeance slog Polar the same week it scored triumphant Roma Oscar nominations is like being reminded that even your favorite mall is likely to offer both a boutique shop and an unclean restroom. Ostensibly adapted from a graphic novel, but primarily feeling like something oozing from a rusted tin, Polar stars a mustachioed Mads Mikkelsen as a grizzled cutthroat hanging up his weapons but pulled into lets say it together now one last job. If only assassin movies as a genre were closing up shop with only one more of them left, in which case, Ill take that upcoming third John Wick and pretend Polar its grisly nastiness like a case of toxic flatulence never happened. I feel bad even mentioning the brazenly enjoyable, slickly beautiful John Wick movies in an assessment of Polar, but the latters existence is not unlike acknowledging the reality that one skillful skateboarders breathtaking stunt video will invariably portend footage of a lesser imitator wiping out. Only Polar directed by Jonas Akerlund as if the takeaway from John Wick werent skillful choreography but mindless wreckage inspires no sympathy for the attempt. The least of its crimes is tarnishing Earth Wind & Fires September in a splat of an opening that vainly tries to establish bloody/raunchy bona fides with a hit squads tactical assault on a swanky Chilean compound, where soon-to-retire hit man Michael (Johnny Knoxville) is living it up poolside with a squealing, scantily clad companion (Ruby O. Fee). The only appealing aspect to this unpleasurable sequence, the first of many, is that at least Knoxvilles role is a cameo. Advertisement The job, it turns out, is at the behest of the squads and victims mutual employer, an organization called Damocles, and its cruel, hand lotion-addicted Weeble of a CEO Mr. Blut (an unfunny Matt Lucas), who requires his assassins to retire at 50 but would rather kill them first, just before that birthday, and keep the hefty pension payout. Naturally, this doesnt work on the outfits star employee, contract killer extraordinaire Duncan (Mikkelsen), two weeks from an $8-million goodbye check, wise to his boss betrayal scheme, and believing hes safe hiding out in the snowy wilds of rural Montana. While Duncan takes kindly to a lonely cabin neighbor (Vanessa Hudgens) with a tragic past the movies sensitive side, because Hudgens mostly displays tear-streaked eyes Mr. Bluts slaughter-crazed team hunts down Duncans whereabouts so Akerlund can turn perviness and sadism into pop-colored punchlines. Were we supposed to laugh when the crew had such a hard time throttling the morbidly obese guy they fired a thousand rounds into his midsection? Eventually, after Duncan is located, the vengeance plot kicks into high gear, leading to the expected torture sequence and one of those increasingly common hallway gauntlets where Mikkelsen fends off dozens of black-clad soldiers with head-shot accuracy, our CGI-spatter eras version of custard pie fights of yore. (Yawn.) As for the Danish stars involvement, his singular presence a solemn machismo fusing Robert Shaws grit and Lee Van Cleefs menace is comforting, but is the only reason he signed on to dreck like this because he knows hell come out with his screen magnetism intact? Poor Katheryn Winnick, on the other hand, as Mr. Bluts assassin point person, can barely find the fatale-ish gravitas in screenwriter Jayson Rothwells insipid dialogue to justify Akerlunds penchant for shooting her in noir-ish close-ups that accentuate her red lips, redder nail polish and glamorous features. Polar doesnt only have John Wick on its mind. The dully stylized, jokey carnage is also clearly Akerlunds play to join the same twisted-pulp, laugh-while-you-gag club frequented by Matthew Vaughn (Kick Ass, Kingsman), James Gunn (Super) and David Ayers (Suicide Squad). Too bad the only thrill you get from all the bloodletting is that you know each cartoony death brings you that much closer to the end credits. ------------ Advertisement Polar Not rated Running time: 1 hour, 58 minutes Playing: Netflix Advertisement See the most-read stories in Entertainment this hour Movie Trailers calendar@latimes.com @LATimesMovies In King of Beasts, the easy target isnt the lions tracked by American hunter Aaron Neilson; its the man himself. The documentary follows him from his home in Colorado to Tanzania, as he aims to add one more creature to his living room full of trophies. Cameras follow him on his weeks-long trip, as he and his group leave camp each morning for the hunt, a process that ultimately builds toward taking down the predator. However, the documentary lacks narrative clarity with little explanation of whos who in his hunting group, as though someone forgot to add identifications in post-production. The documentary captures amazing moments in both its animal action and its intimate access to Neilson, who is unselfconscious and frank about his hobby. With no commentary from the filmmakers until its post-script, King of Beasts doesnt take an explicit stance on the controversy of big-game hunting for most of its running time. Directors Tomer Almagor and Nadav Harel simply let the cameras roll, giving Neilson enough rope to hang himself with his actions and words. But what may surprise viewers isnt the brutality of the hunt and the casual staging of photos with the prey the type that often attract ire on social media. Instead, its the condescension he directs toward the Tanzanian people as he sees himself and his tourism dollars as the savior of the countrys residents and its economy. Advertisement ------------- King of Beasts Not rated Running time: 1 hour, 26 minutes Playing: Available Friday on VOD See the most-read stories in Entertainment this hour Movie Trailers calendar@latimes.com @LATimesMovies Had the members of Police Academy ever gone on assignment to Seoul instead of Miami and Moscow, the result might have resembled Extreme Job, an agreeably goofy if under-plotted comedy caper by South Korean filmmaker Lee Byeong-heon. After botching their latest mission, a team of gung-ho but ineffective young narcotics detectives led by the downtrodden Captain Ko (Ryu Seung-Yong) are given one more chance to come through on an undercover surveillance gig monitoring the activities of a notorious international drug gang. But when their stakeout location, a rundown fried chicken joint, is about to close down, Ko and company decide to purchase the place as a cover, with the unintended consequence of it becoming a foodie hotspot when the rib marinade they hastily improvise for a sticky chicken order goes viral. Its all quite amusing up to a point, but unfortunately that point arrives early on in this practically two-hour-long take on a one-gag premise. Advertisement Although writer-director Lee has a gift for snappy satirical banter and his energetic cast is up to the fast-paced task, he also has a weakness for slapstick action that does little to push the story forward. All too soon, it becomes apparent that those secret herbs and spices should have been attached to something with a little more meat on its bones. ------------- Extreme Job In Korean and Mandarin with English subtitles Not rated Running time: 1 hour, 51 minutes Playing: Starts Jan. 25, CGV Cinemas, Los Angeles; CGV Cinemas, Buena Park ------------ Advertisement See the most-read stories in Entertainment this hour Movie Trailers calendar@latimes.com @LATimesMovies Parsing the Oscar nominations, everyone loves to focus on the snubs, even though these omissions arent really pointed slights but just the inevitable outcomes when you have too many worthy candidates for too few spots. So instead, lets focus on the surprises, nominations we didnt see coming or if we did, they felt like an exercise in optimism. Here are my favorite five. For the record: An earlier version of this post gave the title of a Benh Zeitlin film as Beasts of No Nation. His film was Beasts of the Southern Wild. Cary Fukunaga directed Beasts of No Nation. Yalitza Aparicio / lead actress Aparicio is just the second Mexican actress and the first indigenous woman to be nominated in the lead actress category. Her soulful portrayal of Cleo, a young Mixtec woman who serves a white, middle-class family in Mexico City, conveyed the characters buoyant spirit and weary burdens with delicate stoicism. It was one of the years finest performances. Then there was also Aparicios own A Star Is Born story. The 25-year-old auditioned for Roma only at the behest of her sister, who was pregnant and insisted that Aparicio try out in her place. Aparicio had never heard of Roma filmmaker Alfonso Cuaron. When he told her she had won the role, she was happy but also a little sad because she had just earned her teaching credential and would have to delay pursuing her vocation. Advertisement Aparicio has spent the last several months attending film festivals, including Venice and Telluride, walking the red carpet at splashy movie premieres and awards ceremonies and posing for the cover of Vogue Mexico. In this process, I have tried to live it as I am I have stayed the same, Aparicio told The Times following her Oscar nomination. Ive never forgotten where I am from, because its that that has brought me to where I am. Aparicios compelling personal journey, combined with her remarkable work in Roma, made her irresistible to Oscar voters. Hearing the name of Roma co-star Marina de Tavira in the first category announced Tuesday morning gave a clear signal that shed be nominated as well. FULL COVERAGE: 2019 Oscar nominations Marina de Tavira / supporting actress So lets talk about De Tavira. Most Roma coverage focused on Cuaron and newcomer Aparicio, but De Taviras supporting turn as Sophia, the familys frustrated mother dealing with an absent husband and demanding children, was another highlight of the film. Based on Cuarons own mother, De Tavira conveyed a strength and resilience that was essential to the filmmakers tribute to women, and she did so without glossing over the pain and conflicting emotions Sophia felt. De Tavira, 44, has been a working actress, primarily in Mexican theater, for decades. This is a dream, something I never thought, never imagined would happen, she told me in November. Im enjoying every waking moment of it. Tim Blake Nelson in The Ballad of Buster Scruggs. (Netflix) Advertisement The Ballad of Buster Scruggs / adapted screenplay, original song, costume design Joel and Ethan Coens six-part western anthology, The Ballad of Buster Scruggs, premiered at the Venice Film Festival in late August, where it won the Golden Osella award for best screenplay. As with Roma, Netflix gave the movie a limited theatrical release, though smaller than that for Cuarons film. In fact, everything about the campaign for Buster Scruggs felt minuscule when compared with the massive outpouring of money and resources the streamer devoted to Roma. To put it simply: Unlike Roma, there was no $175 coffee table book for Scruggs. But the writers branch loves the Coen brothers, and Scruggs is an excellent movie, one, like so many of their classics, that just gets better upon repeated viewings. The Coens now have seven screenwriting Oscar nominations. And nearly two decades after contributing music to the brothers O Brother, Where Art Thou?, Gillian Welch has her first Oscar nomination (along with co-writer David Rawlings) for the delightful When a Cowboy Trades His Spurs for Wings, a classic singing-cowboy song. Plus Mary Zophres, first nominated for costuming the Coens last western, True Grit, earned her third nod for her extensive efforts on Scruggs, essentially designing outfits for six different movies. The trios deserved nominations are another sign that reports of Oscar voters resistance to Netflix movies is overblown. Advertisement BlacKkKlansman composer Terence Blanchard earned his first Oscar nomination for the film. (Henry Adebonojo / For The Times) BlacKkKlansman / score and editing Lost a bit in the excitement over Spike Lees first Oscar nomination as a director was the fact that his longtime collaborators composer Terence Blanchard and editor Barry Alexander Brown joined him as inaugural nominees. Voters in the music and editing branches often make odd choices, sometimes rubber-stamping past nominees when they should be looking to reward the work in front of them. Blanchard and Brown delivered the goods with BlacKkKlansman, and one of the best parts of Oscar noms morning came when voters finally gave them their due. Pawel Pawlikowski, Oscar-nominated director of Cold War. (Rick Loomis / For The Times) Pawel Pawlikowski / director In adding nearly 2,400 new members over the last three years, the motion picture academy has cast a wide net, inviting hundreds of international industry professionals. The directors branch has been particularly active in this regard; 2018s class included the likes of Hong Sang-soo, Lee Chang-dong, Chloe Zhao, Luca Guadagnino and Bela Tarr. Advertisement So the nomination of Polish filmmaker Pawlikowski doesnt rate as a shocker when you consider that inclusiveness, along with the branchs discerning history and, of course, the artful craftsmanship on display in Cold War. Bonus note for snub aficionados: If you want to consider Bradley Coopers omission from the directors race for A Star Is Born a snub, I wont hate you. It feels a little like Ben Affleck and Argo all over again, a photogenic leading man overlooked for an auteur little known to mainstream audiences. (Still hoping to someday see Benh Zeitlins follow-up to Beasts of the Southern Wild.) glenn.whipp@latimes.com Twitter: @glennwhipp John Mason, a California sculptor known for groundbreaking, large-scale, ceramic abstractions, died Sunday at his home in Carlsbad at age 91, said his wife, Vernita Mason. Mason was known for a quiet, gentle demeanor that belied a grand, daring and tenacious creative vision that detonated the conventions of ceramic art. He was a central figure in a major Southern California shift in the 1950s and 60s, when ceramics turned away from traditional craft, decorative objects and functionality and moved toward abstraction, monumentality and human emotion. John Mason was one of a small group of artists, and that included Peter Voulkos and Ken Price, who made Southern California the epicenter of the clay revolution, said Suzanne Isken, executive director of the Los Angeles museum Craft Contemporary. They forever changed the landscape for clay. Gallerist Thorsten Albertz, whose New York-based Albertz Benda gallery has represented Mason since 2016, said the artist really pushed ceramics into a new realm. Advertisement He worked with the material of clay to create sculptures, objects, art nothing that could be of use, Albertz said. They were powerful and energetic works. He took the clay and literally smashed it into the floor. And he just created abstract fields of clay that he construed as sculptural objects or wall relief. Early on, Mason drew attention for his massive walls, towers and monolithic rectangles. In the early 70s, he began creating more conceptual installations of firebrick before turning back to clay a decade later with his geometric vessels and sculptures. One of Masons best-known works is the sprawling, abstract expressionist Blue Wall (1959), considered a landmark in ceramic art. It was exhibited, among other places, at the 1962 Seattle Worlds Fair. Another key work is Red X (1966), a nearly 5-square-foot, 1-foot-thick crimson sculpture that the Los Angeles County Museum of Art owns. Combining the X-marks-the-spot finality of treasure maps with the stubborn solidity of fire hydrants, David Pagel wrote in a 2000 Times review, this snub-nosed sculpture boldly declares: This is it! Ceramics is an art form on par with any other. Other Mason works are in the collections of the Museum of Contemporary Art in L.A., the Norton Simon Museum in Pasadena and the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, among many others. John Masons sculptures, from left, Blue Spear (2000), Black Figure (1998) and Charcoal Figure (2002). (David Kordansky Gallery) Mason was born in 1927 in Madrid, Neb., and lived in North Platte when he was very young, the only son of Alva John Henry, who worked in construction, and Florence Mason. After his parents separated when he was 10, Mason moved to Hazen, Nev., with his mother. She married Albert Mason, a farmer who adopted Mason and a younger sister. Mason learned about construction from his biological father and farming from his adoptive father, but he knew he wanted to be an artist. I knew early that was the thing I preferred to do over everything else, he told The Times in 1997. Advertisement When he was 22, Mason ventured to Los Angeles to study at what later became the Otis College of Art and Design. A few years later he transferred to the Chouinard Art Institute, where he met Price and studied with the potter Susan Peterson. He returned to Otis in 1954, focused on clay and studied with Voulkos, a mentor and friend. In the late 1950s and early 60s, along with friends Price, Ed Moses and Billy Al Bengston, Mason showed at the influential Ferus Gallery, a hub for artists who shaped the burgeoning Los Angeles contemporary art scene. Mason had three solo shows there, paving the way for a solo exhibition at LACMA in 1966. To me, as a young ceramicist at the time and later, his work just left me in awe, Bengston said. He was one of the greatest and possibly most creative ceramicists of all time. Mason taught sculpture at Pomona College James Turrell was among his students and at UC Irvine, where he founded the sculpture department. He was a visiting professor at UCLA and USC. Advertisement In 1974, Mason left for New York, where he taught at Hunter College and, in 1978, produced his ambitious The Hudson River Series, organized by the Hudson River Museum. The projects 10 site-specific firebrick installations appeared in six museums. Mason returned to L.A. and to fired clay works in 1984. Mason continued to make art until he was 90. He showed in the Gettys 2011 Pacific Standard Time: Crosscurrents in L.A. Painting and Sculpture, 1950-1970, as well as in the Whitney Biennial in 2014 and at Yale University Art Gallery in 2015. John moved clay off the wheel and onto the wall, onto the floor, building sculptures that might span 30 feet, might stand 5, 6, 7 feet tall, said Kirk Delman, collections manager at the Ruth Chandler Williamson Gallery at Scripps College, which presented Masons last exhibition, Meditation on Material, in fall 2018. These were true sculptures. They just happen to be made of clay. Delman called Masons central work in Meditation on Material a diamond-shaped sculpture composed of 5,000 firebricks quiet, powerful, meditative. It was a golden tan. The bricks werent manipulated, painted, glazed or fired; they were just stacked, and they formed a quiet landscape in the gallery. Advertisement Masons connection to the raw material of clay was profound. It was more than just liking it, he told The Times. I knew I had found something important and that I would be able to realize something. It was not just sensual pleasure. It was, This is a material that has meaning for me, for a long time. That insight was important, and its what really maintained my interest. Masons sister, Barbara Ann Machado, died in 1987. He is survived by his wife and their children, Jairlyn Mason and Stuart Mason. deborah.vankin@latimes.com Advertisement Twitter: @debvankin Google, whose employees have captured international attention in recent months through high-profile protests of workplace policies, has been quietly urging the U.S. government to narrow legal protection for workers organizing online. During the Obama administration, the National Labor Relations Board broadened employees rights to use their workplace email system to organize about job issues. In a 2014 case known as Purple Communications, the NLRB restricted companies from punishing employees for using their workplace email systems for activities such as circulating petitions and planning walkouts, as well as trying to form a union. In filings in May 2017 and November 2018, obtained via a Freedom of Information Act request, Alphabet Inc.s Google urged the NLRB to undo that precedent. Citing dissents by Republican appointees to the NLRB, Googles attorneys wrote that the 2014 standard should be overruled and a George W. Bush-era precedent allowing companies to ban organizing on their employee email systems should be reinstated. In an emailed statement, a Google spokeswoman said, Were not lobbying for changes to any rules. Rather, she said, Googles claim that the Obama-era protections should be overturned was a legal defense that we included as one of many possible defenses against meritless claims at the NLRB. Advertisement If the NLRB were to do what Google wanted, it would have a huge chilling effect, said Google employee activist Colin McMillen, one of tens of thousands of Google workers around the world who participated in a November walkout following revelations about the companys handling of sexual misconduct allegations. Googles employee email system played a pivotal role in the organizing of that protest, he said, with more than a thousand workers joining an email list used to plan it. Given that employees are spread around the globe and dont have most co-workers personal email addresses, he said, company email is key to facilitating workers ability to mobilize. McMillen works at Googles Cambridge, Mass., office, but said he has quit his job and his last day is next month. Googles effort demonstrates that Google leadership is not operating in good faith, McMillen said. They can have a town hall and try to say soothing words and get people to not want to quit, but then if in the background theyre not just rejecting carrying out most of the demands of the walkout, but also trying to tamp down our ability to even coordinate and talk to each other about these issues, thats extremely concerning. Google has long fostered a culture of employee feedback, allowing open debate in meetings and online forums, where staffers have advocated for changes to products and facilities over the companys 20-year history. But the last year has seen an unprecedented wave of concentrated and forceful advocacy from employees, often at direct odds with the positions of management. After Google was awarded a Pentagon contract for using artificial intelligence to analyze drone footage, thousands of employees signed a petition demanding Google remove itself from the business of war. Nine software engineers refused to work on a security feature that could help the company win more military contracts, and in June the company said it wouldnt renew its Department of Defense deal. An employee introduced a shareholder resolution to tie executive compensation to diversity and inclusion, while others wrote a letter to their CEO decrying the treatment of subcontracted workers as part of a system of institutional racism, sexism, and discrimination. On Nov. 1, thousands of Google employees around the world conducted a walkout, urging the company overhaul its handling of sexual misconduct and change its governance, including by adding an employee representative to its board. A week later, CEO Sundar Pichai announced the company would make changes including ending forced arbitration for sexual harassment and assault allegations. Even in difficult times, we are encouraged by the commitment of our colleagues to create a better workplace, Pichai wrote in an email to employees. It was three weeks later, without fanfare, and in a case unrelated to the walkout, that Googles attorneys made their latest filing, urging the labor board to undo the 2014 precedent protecting workers ability to organize. In an email to all of Google, Sundar assured us that he and Googles leadership supported the walkout. But the companys requests to the National Labor Relations Board tell a different story, organizers of the employee walkout said in a statement. If these protections are rolled back, Google will be complicit in limiting the rights of working people across the United States, not just us. They asked not to be named for fear of retaliation. Google is one of the most open workplaces in the world, the companys spokeswoman said. Employees have multiple internal forums to express their views, raise concerns and connect, including thousands of internal communities and tens of thousands of email groups. Advertisement Googles objections to the legal protection for employees organizing via their work email came in company filings defending itself against allegations brought by a regional director of the NLRB. In a 2017 complaint, the agency had accused Google of violating federal labor law, including by maintaining workplace policies that infringe on workers rights and by making threats against employees. The complaint also alleged that Google violated the law in 2015 by issuing a warning to an employee because of comments made via email and on the company forum G Plus regarding workplace diversity and social justice initiatives, workplace policy viewpoints, and regarding employees rights to express their opinion on G+. The name of the employee who was disciplined is redacted in the documents produced via the Freedom of Information Act request. His attorney, Noah Peters, said the employee declined to comment or to identify himself. Peters said Google punished his client for dissenting from the companys very, very left-wing office culture and for sticking up for co-workers who didnt conform to the tribal political correctness there. Chris Baker, an attorney representing another worker whose claims against Google are part of the same NLRB case, declined to comment. This case is without merit and we are defending the claim vigorously, Googles spokeswoman said. Advertisement Google has denied the NLRBs allegations of wrongdoing. In a filing responding to the labor board, it says the employee it disciplined had committed misconduct that interfered with Googles lawful interest in maintaining an inclusive workplace for women and minorities that is free of unlawful bias, discrimination, and harassment. Google also wrote that the NLRB should reverse some of the legal precedents being used against it, including the Purple Communications standard. It is not uncommon for companies to challenge legal precedents being used in cases against them. The protection established in Purple Communications is pretty fundamental given the centrality of email to modern workplace communications, said Wilma Liebman, who chaired the NLRB during the Obama administration. Given Googles rhetoric about the free exchange of ideas, and itself as a purveyor of mechanisms for communications, she said, theres an irony that Google, of all companies, would take such a narrow position. The relationship between anti-harassment policies and workplace free expression has been a flash point at Google, where a different employee, engineer James Damore, was dismissed in 2017 after publishing a manifesto on an internal company forum criticizing the companys diversity policies. Damore filed a complaint of his own with the NLRB, but an associate general counsel at the NLRB concluded that, although much of Damores essay was likely protected by law, Google was within its rights to terminate him over other portions of it that were so harmful, discriminatory, and disruptive as to fall outside the legal protections for collective action at work. Eidelson, Kanu and Bergen write for Bloomberg. Californias largest power company plans to file for bankruptcy as soon as next week, in the face of wildfire liabilities that could cost tens of billions of dollars. But a growing chorus of shareholders, ratepayer advocates and lawyers for fire victims says theres no need for Pacific Gas & Electric to enter bankruptcy. UPDATE: Battered by wildfires and scandals, PG&E files for bankruptcy Those critics point to the $1.5 billion in cash or cash equivalents PG&E says it has on hand, and to the companys claim that it could raise a significant amount of additional capital even without a Chapter 11 filing. Critics also say wildfire liability is far from the urgent crisis PG&E is making it out to be because it could be years before the company is forced to pay a single penny to fire victims. Advertisement The groups questioning PG&Es decision are strange bedfellows, although many of them have a financial interest in keeping the utility out of Bankruptcy Court. One leading critic of a bankruptcy filing is BlueMountain Capital Management LLC, which owns more than 11 million shares of PG&E stock that could be wiped out. Then there are lawyers for victims of the Northern California fires, who might see court awards reduced by a bankruptcy judge. Some of those lawyers have joined forces with famed consumer advocate and PG&E foe Erin Brockovich. Ratepayer watchdog groups also suspect PG&E is seeking bankruptcy protection not out of necessity but as a business strategy. Loretta Lynch feels like shes seen this movie before. Lynch was president of the California Public Utilities Commission the last time PG&E filed for bankruptcy, during the energy crisis in 2001. At the time, the San Francisco-based utility said it needed relief from $9 billion in debt, incurred after a failed deregulation plan allowed Enron Corp. and other energy traders to manipulate markets and send prices skyrocketing. PG&E emerged from its previous bankruptcy with a reorganization plan that saw investors largely made whole. The company was also allowed to boost its regulated profits for years to come. Customers, meanwhile, were saddled with higher rates. The reorganization plan was approved by the Public Utilities Commission in a 3-2 vote, with Lynch in the minority. She called it the richest bailout Ive ever seen. PG&E was sitting in dough, the ratepayers were paying and paying, all the creditors were happy, everybody was a pig at the trough. And who paid? The California ratepayer, Lynch said. Why wouldnt you want to try that again? Californians are paying billions for power they dont need Advertisement PG&E officials say bankruptcy is the companys only option for addressing potential wildfire liabilities, especially after recent credit agency downgrades. In an emailed statement, PG&E spokeswoman Lynsey Paulo said the companys board unanimously chose to pursue a Chapter 11 filing following a comprehensive review with the assistance of outside experts and at managements recommendation. Resolving our legal liabilities and financial challenges will be enormously complex, Paulo said, and will require us to address multiple stakeholder interests, including thousands of wildfire victims and others who have already made claims and likely thousands of others we expect to make claims. Aerial view of Tubbs fire damage in the Coffey Park neighborhood of Santa Rosa, Calif., on Oct. 11, 2017. (Marcus Yam / Los Angeles Times) But Lynch thinks the main purpose of PG&Es bankruptcy filing is to frighten state officials into supporting another investor-friendly bailout. A federal judge would oversee the bankruptcy process, but the Public Utilities Commission would need to approve any reorganization plan that involved raising electricity rates. The state Legislature wouldnt have a direct role but could take steps to try to stabilize PG&E. Advertisement Theyve created this crisis as part of their corporate strategy, Lynch said. Bob Finkelstein, general counsel for the Utility Reform Network, has a similar fear. Finkelstein filed a motion with the Public Utilities Commission this week asking the commissioners to force PG&E to explain in more detail its decision to seek bankruptcy protection. He cited the companys filing to the Securities and Exchange Commission announcing its intention to file for bankruptcy, in which PG&E said it could extend its liquidity for an extended period of time by using its assets to secure the issuance of additional capital or by accessing such forms of alternative capital. What theyre very much saying is, We see a path that would allow us to stay out of bankruptcy, and were choosing door No. 2, the bankruptcy door, Finkelstein said. Finkelstein called bankruptcy an opportunity that PG&E plans to use to advance its own interest, even if its not yet clear what the company hopes to achieve. Advertisement Things that PG&E would never be able to get from the Legislature or the Public Utilities Commission, they might get from the Bankruptcy Court, Finkelstein said. We dont know what they plan to do, but were not looking forward to its unveiling. Although PG&E has said it still has access to capital, borrowing money has become much more expensive for the company since the Camp fire decimated its stock price and credit ratings. Travis Miller, director of utilities research at the investment analyst firm Morningstar, said a Chapter 11 filing was all but inevitable for PG&E at some point this year, barring fast action by state officials to stabilize the company. We didnt see a clear path to a non-bankruptcy scenario, Miller said. PG&E bankruptcy could slow Californias fight against climate change Advertisement While consumer advocates worry a bankruptcy will create losers out of ratepayers and winners out of investors, some PG&E shareholders arent happy, either. The $19-billion hedge fund BlueMountain Capital Management sent PG&Es board of directors an open letter last week, arguing that the company was solvent and that a bankruptcy filing would be an utter abdication of the boards fiduciary duty to shareholders. The hedge fund followed up with a second letter this week, urging PG&E to delay a bankruptcy decision until after the firms annual meeting in May. You have publicly stated that bankruptcy is in the best interests of all stakeholders. But you have failed to articulate a single cogent reason for why it is beneficial to any stakeholder, BlueMountain wrote in this weeks letter. PG&E shareholders are less likely to be made whole than the companys debt-holders. The investment analyst Morningstar says PG&E is one of the largest stock holdings in BlueMountains portfolio, based on the hedge funds most recent SEC filings. Advertisement The investigation continues into the origin of the Camp fire, which may have started with a faulty PG&E wire. (Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times) BlueMountain partner Omar Vaishnavi pointed out that PG&E faced no wildfire liability claims today, only potential claims in the future. And its far from clear how much those claims will ultimately cost the company. Cal Fire has concluded that PG&Es electric grid infrastructure sparked or contributed to more than a dozen fires that collectively killed 22 people in 2017. The state agency has yet to release an official cause for the deadliest blaze in recent years, the Camp fire. Cal Fire announced Thursday that the Tubbs fire, which killed an additional 22 people in 2017, was ignited by a private electrical system, not PG&Es infrastructure. That could reduce PG&Es potential liabilities from the $30 billion or more the company has estimated, because the calculation included the Tubbs fire. Advertisement PG&E Corp. shares jumped $5.96, or 75%, to $13.95 on Thursday in reaction to the announcement. Vaishnavi noted there had not been a single judgment against the company. You first have to get a court date, he said, you have to do pretrial work, then you have the trial, then the company can appeal it. Youre talking about in some cases as long as 10 years. Miller, the Morningstar analyst, said the reality wasnt so simple. Although PG&E might not have to pay out wildfire claims for years, he said, the looming threat of $30 billion in liability has already made it difficult for the company to access cheap capital. Advertisement Its pretty clear that PG&E has enough cash to operate in the near term, but recent events have closed all of its access to capital markets, Miller said. Given the amount of capital investment that its planning over the next three-plus years, it cant afford to fund all of that investment as planned for much beyond late 2019. People who lost their homes in the 2017 Northern California wildfires or the 2018 Camp fire may have the most to lose from a PG&E bankruptcy filing, if the utility is found to have sparked all those fires. A bankruptcy judge could allow PG&E to reduce its eventual payouts to wildfire victims, a scenario that experts say is likely. In a protest outside the state Capitol on Tuesday, wildfire victims stood alongside Brockovich, whose fight against PG&E over groundwater contamination was portrayed in the 2000 film Erin Brockovich, starring Julia Roberts. Brockovich urged state lawmakers to take steps that would allow PG&E to avoid filing for bankruptcy. But the Legislature cant stop PG&E from filing for bankruptcy next week if thats what the company wants, said Noreen Evans, a former state senator who is now representing thousands of wildfire victims and is working with Brockovich. Advertisement What were trying to do is point out that PG&E appears to be solvent, Evans said, and that it needs to pay the victims of its fires. sammy.roth@latimes.com @Sammy_Roth In 2009, Cassandra Smolcic walked into Pixar Animation Studios in Emeryville, Calif., a wide-eyed intern with big dreams. Five years later she walked out a frustrated, disillusioned graphic designer never to return. Smolcic said she was warned on her first day about Pixar co-founder John Lasseters sexist attitude and lewd conduct. During her time at the studio, she complained about being subjected to Lasseters leers and was told to avoid being alone in a room with the studio chief, who was ousted in June after allegations that he engaged in inappropriate workplace behavior. When the news broke Jan. 9 that Lasseter had been hired to run the fledgling animation division of film and TV production company Skydance Media, Smolcic, 35, was stunned. It was pretty shocking to hear that Skydance catapulted John back into such an important leadership role without anyone testing out his merit as a changed man or a reformed sexist on the job first, she said. Lasseter is the first prominent Hollywood executive to launch a comeback since the dawn of the #MeToo era. His emergence at Santa Monica-based Skydance Media less than a year after several women came forward to accuse him of unwanted touching and fostering a culture of systemic bias, set off a firestorm of criticism among advocates and others who say that Lasseter has yet to fully account for his behavior at Pixar. It has also raised a tangle of morally complex questions about second chances, starting with: Who deserves them? But also: What should the conditions be for redemption and who gets to set those standards? Advertisement Hollywood has long tolerated bad behavior by powerful men. Charlie Chaplins stature never diminished despite his well-known penchant for teenage girls. In the 40 years since Roman Polanski fled to Europe after his conviction for raping a minor, hes made 15 films earning three Oscar nominations, and winning for The Pianist in 2003. Five years ago, when the U.S. moved to extradite Polanski from his Swiss chateau, a host of Hollywood notables (including Harvey Weinstein) signed a petition in his defense. In 2014, despite allegations that he molested his daughter, Woody Allen, who denied the claims, received a Cecil B. DeMille Award at the Golden Globes. That was then. Over the last year, several fallen men have attempted their own comebacks, gaining little traction. Charlie Roses proposed chatfest drew derision. Louis C.K.s recent button-pushing standup sets have been met with contempt and criticism for the venues that invite him to perform. Matt Lauers efforts at a network return have yet to get off the ground. Cassandra Smolcic said she was warned on her first day about Pixar co-founder John Lasseters inappropriate behavior. (Photo courtesy of Cassandra Smolcic) With the #MeToo movement in full swing, Lasseter admitted to missteps and offered up an apology for anyone who has ever been on the receiving end of an unwanted hug or any other gesture they felt crossed the line in any way, shape or form. At the time, Pixar parent Walt Disney Co. said it was committed to maintaining an environment in which all employees are respected and empowered to do their best work. Representatives of Disney and Lasseter declined to comment for this article. In the two weeks since Lasseters new role became public, the backlash has been vocal, inside and outside Skydance, but the company and Lasseter seem prepared to weather the storm. Advertisement Inside Skydance, the mood after the announcement was one of shock and anxiety. In one account, audible gasps could be heard when the news went out, with female staffers crying in their offices. In another, Lasseters arrival was described by one employee as the end of a happy and creative work environment. In the tight-knit animation community, several female animators expressed their unwillingness to work for or with Skydance, and suggested that Skydance might have trouble attracting female animators. After Lasseters hiring, Paramount Animation chief Mireille Soria told staffers they will not be working with Skydance Animation (Paramount has a distribution deal with the company). Other animators expressed dismay about the Skydance decision. The single biggest effect of the events last year is that we saw men experiencing consequences for their bad behavior, Women in Animation President Marge Dean posted in a letter. The Lasseter decision seems to have weakened that giant step forward. Advertisement We finally have a voice to speak up, said Lee Crowe, an animator who has worked on films such as The Little Mermaid for Disney and others at DreamWorks and Warner Bros. The fact is now we have a voice and we can speak without retribution. Having a voice doesnt necessarily sway outcomes, however, and the opportunity to pick up a medium-defining talent such as Lasseter is rare. Lasseter revolutionized animation at Pixar and played a key role in reviving Disneys fortunes along the way. His films including Toy Story, Cars and Frozen have earned the studio billions of dollars and a slew of awards. Last year, Coco won the Oscar for best animated feature. In the competitive world of animation, Lasseter could be an attractive gamble for an upstart animation outfit such as Skydance. David Ellison, the son of Oracle Corp. billionaire Larry Ellison, founded Skydance Media in 2010. The company is best known for producing the Jack Reacher and Mission Impossible films. In 2017, Ellison launched an animation division and has two upcoming features scheduled: Split, directed by Vicky Jenson (co-director of Oscar-winning Shrek) and Luck, directed by Alessandro Carloni, who co-directed Kung Fu Panda. Lasseters hiring could transform David Ellisons company into a serious, bankable player. Advertisement The question, for women inside and outside Skydance, is at what cost. During a town hall at Skydance last week, Lasseter told staffers: Im not expecting anyone to forgive me in this room, before asking them to give him a chance to prove himself. A spokesperson for Skydance said Lasseter declined to be interviewed, saying his current focus was on engaging with Skydance employees. After the announcement, Ellison told the company in a memo that we have not entered into this decision lightly. Although the findings of an outside legal team looking into allegations were kept under wraps, attorneys told employees that no charges of sexual assault had been filed against Lasseter and that there were no settlements made by Lasseter or on his behalf. His contract is reported to contain punitive stipulations, including financial penalties for any sexual harassment claim, and gives the company the right to fire him. But critics noted that although the contract indemnifies Skydance, it gives few, if any, protections to Skydance employees. A company spokesperson said that the company complies with all local, state and federal laws applicable to the workplace and provides 24-hour resources for anonymous reporting of any workplace concerns. Although the attempted comebacks floated by someone such as Louis C.K. offer individuals the choice of whether to engage with his talent or decide to work with him, Skydance installed Lasseter in a position where its employees werent given that option. Advertisement This sends the message that the experience of top brass is more important than the careers of all of the people that work for them, said Karen C. Johnson, president of the Animation Guild. Some also wonder why Lasseter is more deserving of a second chance than some of the women who may have been sidelined during his tenure at Pixar. Why is the conversation about these millionaire men? asked Marie Bower, a storyboard artist who has worked at studios including Disney and Fox. Why is the focus on giving them a chance when so many people havent been given a first chance? Betsy Bauer, a Burbank visual designer, said she does not believe someones career should be ruined over a single mistake, but thats not the case with John Lasseter. This behavior has been explicit for more than 30 years, evidenced by the fact that Disney [had handlers] to prevent him from harassing anyone at company events. Lasseter was the animation industrys centrifugal force, and at Pixar, Smolcic says she experienced firsthand what she and other women have described as a toxic boys club where women were routinely disrespected and swept to the fringes. Advertisement Passing Lasseter in the campus atrium, Smolcic recalled him staring at her like a piece of meat. I wanted to crawl back into a hole and be invisible. While she was working on Cars 2, she says, a manager pulled her from the weekly art reviews, where artists pitched their ideas, explaining, John has a hard time controlling himself around young, pretty girls, so it will be better for everyone if we just keep you out of sight. Despite her experiences, Smolcic thinks Lasseter deserves another shot. Her belief stems from a single meeting she had with him to discuss her logo ideas that a male advocate arranged. Smolcic said Lasseter was engaged, inspiring and perfectly well-behaved in the presence of her colleague. Although the episode left her feeling ripped off, in retrospect, she said, it demonstrated hes not beyond repair. He knows how to behave when there are others who uphold a standard in his presence. The brass at Skydance are betting on it. Times staff writer Ryan Faughnder contributed to this report. When a new sidewalk was installed along Coast Boulevard in spring 2017, a small Native American grinding stone, aka metate, was moved to accommodate the construction. It was taken to a City storage facility, and now, almost two years later, questions remain about where it will go from there. And thats not the only mystery associated with this milling stone. The rock was located in Whale View Point Park in La Jolla, but it is unknown when, how or why the rock came to rest in La Jolla. Historically, Native Americans lived in what is known in the Spindrift Archaeological District in La Jolla Shores, but the extent of their Village has not been mapped. Artifacts that include ashes from a campfire to pottery to human remains have been found buried in piecemeal searches, and out at sea. The metate found in La Jolla is small, flat and was embedded in the grass. Ron May, architect, president and principal investigator for Legacy 106 (historic preservation consulting firm), said he has seen the metate in the park for decades, but the stone itself is unusual. Its not made from native soils, he told the Light. There are no big rocks there, so from a geological standpoint, it doesnt look like the (metate) was made there. Maybe it was made in the Mission Valley area and moved there, he said. Somebody had used the rock to grind something. The Native tribes created lots of little sites to accomplish things in their life. People may have moved it there to grind food on that stone such as little clams or dried kelp and haul it away to where they lived, if it was them that brought it there. Another theory is that the stone was moved (from private property on its native location) to La Jolla by non-Natives, but that is considered hearsay. However, the stone has yet to be inventoried as a historic artifact, with significant ties to the site. The sidewalk installation project that prompted the metate removal was finished in summer 2017, and involved the installation of 1,100 linear feet of sidewalk and two pedestrian beach-access ramps along Coast Boulevard, south of Cuvier Street. La Jolla Parks & Beaches advisory group chair Ann Dynes, who facilitated the sidewalk installation project noted: Had this thing been registered as a monument, it would not have been removed. No one had ever done the research or had it designated on a map that the City knew anything about, so it was taken away it was in the middle of the sidewalk right-of-way. The metate was moved to accommodate this sidewalk along Coast Boulevard. (Ashley Mackin-Solomon) As I understand it, the sidewalk people prepped the site and carted the stone away and put it in City storage, where it remains today. It is apparently considered a boulder of interest. City spokesperson Tim Graham confirmed (while referring to the stone as a bedrock mortar) that it is being housed in a fenced and secured area of the Citys Rose Canyon operations yard and that In January, the City met with representatives of the Kumeyaay Nation to hold a meeting at the Rose Canyon location and give tribal members the opportunity to view the bedrock mortar and perform a blessing on it. But the removal of the stone caused some heartburn in the historic and Native communities. When people realized it was gone, they contacted the Kumeyaay research association and complained, May said. Word spread in the Native community and people spoke out at the San Diego Historical Resources Board (HRB). People were really angry the metate had been moved. HRB Archaeological and Tribal Cultural Resources sub-committee chair Courtney Coyle confirmed that the concerns were heard several times, as recently as Dec. 10, 2018. The tribal community said there was supposed to be a report prepared by the City on the background of why and how the metate got moved in the first place, where we are the process, and what needs to change in the future so this kind of resource does not get put in storage (ever again), Coyle said. She added a staffer has been assigned to prepare the report, but her workload has prevented her from getting to this item quicker. Apart from the delay, Coyle said other concerns expressed were that tribal representatives felt this doesnt seem like a priority for the City and it has taken so long and weve gotten nowhere, and we were not consulted before moving the metate. May added that he has not been made aware of the Citys plan for the metate going forward: Park & Rec said its in storage, but no one has seen it. Do they plan to keep it in storage? Throw it away? Put it in someones yard? Once taken out of the context of the site itself, its just a rock with no story. It doesnt serve archaeology to have it taken from its site. There has been no analysis of it. May said there are ways of pulling remnants up from the grinding surface (little proteins or things): Its possible to get some residue. As far as inventory purposes, May said he hasnt seen any reports or documentation of measurements, photographs, etc. The parks people do not have an archaeologist on staff and did not have an archeologist evaluate it. They just had some guys move it, he said. In his mind, he wrote in an e-mail to the Light: There should have been a full environmental impact study conducted by the Development Services Department prior to any decision to remove the milling feature. And, what is more, the Mayors office has a staff person assigned to coordinate with all the appropriate Native American tribal representatives concerning sacred lands impacts. Failure to complete these requisite steps resulted in public outcry in 2018 that included an attempt to alert the Historical Resources Board, though they have no legal jurisdiction because the milling feature is not yet a designated resource. He also opined that the City should have funded a scientific investigation of the soil underneath the park lawns to determine if there is a buried archaeological site associated with the milling feature. Historical research into City files should have been conducted to determine if the milling feature had been taken from some inland location and donated to the park for interpretive purposes, or it if had been there when the City acquired the park lands. And the City should have initiated consultation with the Kumeyaay tribal representatives decades ago to determine if the milling feature is a sacred artifact. When the City does remove the stone from storage, another question remains: Where will it go? Some view the metate as a touchstone for Native heritage along the coastline, Dynes explained. Assurances have been made that it is fine, but the question is, where to put it when they put it back. Should it go back to Whale View Point or the inland area of San Diego? We want it put someplace responsible, but we are not pushing one way or another. When heard at the HRB Archaeological and Tribal Cultural Resources sub-committee, Coyle said, suggestions included returning it to tribal lands or replacing it to the area from where it was taken. The City staffer (assigned to this) said it is a City asset and part of the Citys collection and she could not just give it back, Coyle said. She said she would need to go back to her department and discuss it. This report could be produced as soon as the Feb. 11 HRB sub-committee meeting. Graham added, Initial discussions regarding next steps for the relocation or repatriation of the mortar have already begun, and while no plans have been finalized, the City will continue to consult with the members of the Kumeyaay Nation regarding potential locations for the mortar. To learn more, visit bit.ly/HRBsubcommittee KIHEI Technology entrepreneur and investor Michael Powers will be the guest speaker at the next Maui TechOhana meeting presented by Maui Economic Development Board (MEDB). The meeting, to be held at Cohana at the Maui Research and Technology Center (MRTC) on Wednesday, Feb. 6, from 5:30 to 7 p.m., offers an opportunity for Maui entrepreneurs with an interest in technology to network and to learn from invited speakers. Powers was the second product manager at YouTube, where he created the concept of YouTube Channels. He was the founder or early team member of six Internet startups, including two acquired by Google. He is currently living on Maui and continuing to act as an angel investor and advisor to companies such at TaskRabbit (gig marketplace), Turo (car sharing), TurningArt (art print rental), Insight Engines (machine learning) and Origin (blockchain open marketplaces). In addition to startups, Powers has held senior positions with Apple, Xerox and Google. Most recently, he was the SVP General Manager of GameSpot and four other gaming properties at CBS Interactive. I hope that attendees will gain a better understanding of what steps they can take to start and grow their business online from Maui how to develop ideas online, attract investment, and how take advantage of new platform technologies such as Cloud services, blockchains and mobile development innovations, said Powers. They should take away an understanding of remote job opportunities in the gig economy and ways for tech contractors here on Maui to seek additional work emanating from tech hubs such as the Bay Area. Michael Powers was a judge at our November Startup Weekend Maui, and we are grateful to have his knowledge and experience made available to Maui entrepreneurs in this forum, said Gerry Smith, MEDB director of business development. The local tech community will benefit greatly from learning about his successes and failures while having the opportunity to network with other like-minded professionals. Hosting the event at the Cohana co-working space will give people who arent familiar with co-working a chance to see what these facilities are all about. HTDCs Cohana provides premium amenities for freelancers and entrepreneurs of Maui. Over 35 Maui small business owners and entrepreneurs attended the last Maui TechOhana meeting in June. MEDBs Maui TechOhana is supported by the County of Maui Mayors Office of Economic Development. The meetings provide an informal networking opportunity open to anyone interested in Mauis innovation and business industry. Admission is free; pupus and refreshments will be served. For more information, or to register, visit www.mauitechohana.com. HONOLULU Hawaiis hospitality industry recently honored the best-of-the-best of its employees at the 29th annual Na Poe Paahana (the hard-working people) Awards. Nearly 1,000 employees, family members and industry representatives from throughout the state gathered for the luncheon ceremony sponsored by the Hawaii Lodging & Tourism Association and held at the Sheraton Waikiki. Mufi Hannemann, HLTA president & CEO, said, Were proud to recognize the hard-working individuals who are the heart and soul of our visitor industry. They number in the tens of thousands across the state, and this year weve been able to recognize more than 60 of the best across small, medium and large hotels throughout the state. All of the Na Poe Paahana honorees embody the aloha spirit at work and in the community, and we are truly grateful for their contributions to the success of our industry. Recipients of HLTAs accolades are selected based on nominations submitted by their supervisors and co-workers. They are judged on the basis of outstanding and exceptional service to lodging guests, co-workers and the community. A total of 65 awards were presented at the event, emceed by KHON2 Co-anchors Howard Dashefsky and Marisa Yamane. This years event introduced two new awards. The first, entitled Pulamahia, which means to care for and cherish Native Hawaiian culture in Hawaiian, was presented to the Kaanapali Beach Hotel and accepted by General Manager Mike White. Mike started Project Pookela in 1986, which put employees through quarterly Native Hawaiian culture classes. The Kaanapali Beach Hotel offers their staff a wide range of over 70 language and cultural classes, on paid time, which encourages the staff to create special initiatives on property, like the hotels Hula O Na Keiki competition, which just celebrated its 28th year, remarked Hannemann. The second, the Allied Individual of the Year Award, was presented to Carol Shimomura, vice president for employee benefit sales for Pacific Guardian Life. This years Na Poe Paahana award winners from Maui are: Outstanding Lodging Employee of the Year Oralani Koa, The Westin Nanea Ocean Villas, third place; Manager of the Year Tylun Pang, Fairmont Kea Lani, third place; Bell/Valet Person of the Year, Medium Property (200-450 rooms) Vance Patao, The Westin Nanea Ocean Villas, second place; Bell/Valet Person of the Year, Small Property (under 200 rooms) Mark Guerrero, Maui Beach Hotel, first place; Engineering/Maintenance Person of the Year, Large Property (over 450 rooms) Daven Arcangel, The Westin Maui Resort & Spa, second place; Engineering/Maintenance Person of the Year, Medium Property (200-450 rooms) Neal Nitta, Andaz Maui at Wailea Resort, first place; Engineering/Maintenance Person of the Year, Small Property (under 200 rooms) Juan Baptista, Aston Mahala at Kaanapali; Food & Beverage Person of the Year, Medium Property (200-450 rooms) Roger Arrieta, The Westin Nanea Ocean Villas, third place; Front Office Person of the Year, Medium Property (200-450 rooms) Samoa Leilua, The Westin Nanea Ocean Villas, first place; Housekeeping Person of the Year, Large Property (over 450 rooms) Merlita Bagalcsa, The Westin Maui Resort & Spa, second place; Security Officer of the Year, Large Property (over 450 rooms) Marcus Curimao, The Westin Maui Resort & Spa, third place; Security Officer of the Year, Medium Property (200-450 rooms) Sii Savou, The Westin Nanea Ocean Villas, second place; Hospitality Educator of the Year Lorelle Peros, University of Hawaii Maui?College. LAHAINA Lahaina will celebrate the lunar New Year of the Pig with festivities for the whole family to enjoy. Lahaina Restoration Foundation invites the public to the Wo Hing Museum & Cookhouse on Friday, Feb. 8, for an evening of cultural art activities, exciting lion dancing and historical presentations that pay tribute to Chinese New Year. The museum will be open between 10 a.m. and 7 p.m. with free admission. Lion dances with drums, gongs and cymbals will be performed in the museum yard at 858 Front St. The New Year blessing by Aus Shaolin Arts Society begins at 5 p.m. by the entrance to the Wo Hing Temple building. Lai see envelopes will be handed out to feed the lions for good luck. After firecrackers are lit in the yard, the lions will dance down Front Street, stopping in shops and restaurants. At approximately 7:30 p.m., the lions will visit the Second Friday festivities at Campbell Park. The Chinese cultural celebration at Wo Hing Museum & Cookhouse features a variety of free activities between 2 and 7 p.m. To kick-off festivities, Dr. Busaba Yip will present the history of Chinese New Year at 2 p.m., and special guest Dennis Ryan, a collector, will tell the story of the pig: The first Chinese dragon. They will do a second presentation at 6 p.m. Enjoy a musical performance from 3 to 7 p.m. by Toi Suchitra Srijantara on the Gu Zheng Chinese Harp and cimbalom. From 4 to 7 p.m. in the museum yard, kids can make Year of the Pig paper bag puppets. Cultural activities for all ages include Chinese calligraphy with Rev. Takayuki Meguro, the art of Chinese knot tying with Brenda Wong and the skill of mahjong playing with Paula Maki. In China, Chinese New Year is not only the longest celebrated event but also the most important social holiday. The lunar new year begins on the second new moon following the winter solstice and ends two weeks later on the full moon. Today, the new year is a week-long public holiday, so families can reunite and relax together, celebrating a year of hard work and offering wishes of good luck and prosperity in the coming year. The pig is the 12th of the 12 animals in the Chinese zodiac. Though sometimes thought of as short-tempered and naive, pig people are warm-hearted, good-tempered, loyal, honest and gentle. Because they harbor no harm to others and can bring affluence to people, the pig sign is regarded as one of wealth. People born in the Year of the Pig are usually considerate, independent and optimistic. They are able to endure other peoples mistakes and show mercy and generosity. Chinese New Year is sponsored by Hawaii Tourism Authority and the county Office of Economic Development. For updates, call the LRF office at 661-3262, see LahainaRestoration.org/events or visit Facebook @LahainaRestoration. After a seven-year hiatus, the Ministry of Antiquities will resume restoration work at Al-Zaher Baybars Mosque, including the pulpit. Mohamed Abdel Aziz, head of the Historic Cairo Rehabilitation Project, told Ahram Online that this is the first time to restore such a pulpit, parts of which were dismantled stored in the mosques storehouse. He explained that the projects department at the ministry will carry out the re-assembling of the dismantled parts and the restoration, and not the company in charge of the restoration of the mosque, as it was not included in the current projects tender. Abdel Aziz explained that the mosques restoration originally started in 2007, but was halted in 2011 when the committee of the Supreme Council of Antiquities (SCA) supervising the work realised that the red bricks used in the restoration did not match the originals. The Permanent Committee of Islamic Monuments had agreed to use adobe bricks in the restoration work that were similar to those originals and not mudbrick ones, Abdel-Aziz told Ahram Online. He said that the restoration was funded by the Egyptian government and the government of Kazakhstan had also contributed $4.5 million. The overall budget is LE100 million. The first phase of the project was completed in 2008, when the mosques foundations were consolidated, putting an end to the leakage of subterranean water into the foundations by installing a new drainage system. The faulty electricity system was also replaced. The second and third phases had been started and includes the restoration of the minaret, the dome and the columns. The second phase of the project will be more holistic in scope, Abdel-Aziz said. The floor of the open courtyard will be paved with tiles similar to those used in the original design, while the four halls around the open court will be covered in a manner consistent with the mosques architectural style to protect the edifice from rain. A new lighting system will be also installed. The third and final phase will include the restoration of the decorative features inside and outside the mosque building. Short link: People walk outside the Microsoft office in Beijing, China, January 24, 2019. REUTERS-Yonhap By Meng Jing , Sarah Dai Microsoft's Bing search engine has been unavailable to some mainland Chinese users since late Wednesday, triggering fears that it has become the latest American tech company to be "walled off" from the world's largest internet population. Attempts to open cn.bing.com, the company's mainland-China hosted site, return error messages, though Chinese users can still access Bing's global site using a virtual private network (VPN) which circumvents China's "Great Firewall" of censorship. It is unclear whether Bing has joined the Chinese government's long list of blocked foreign websites or if its China service is experiencing technical difficulties. Homeplus CEO Im Il-soon, left, poses with Philippe Gruyters, managing director of European Marketing Distribution, after joining the retailers' alliance in Europe at the Panorama Resort & Spa hotel in Pfaffikon, Switzerland, Wednesday. / Courtesy of Homeplus By Baek Byung-yeul Homeplus has joined the European Marketing Distribution (EMD), the largest retailers' alliance in Europe, a move to increase its volume of global sourcing, the retail outlet operator said Thursday. The country's leading outlet operator said this is the first time for an Asian supermarket chain to join the alliance. Established in 1989, the EMD is Europe's largest retail alliance. By cooperating with the member companies, Homeplus is planning to sell high-quality products from European countries at low prices here. "To offer more benefits to consumers and take the lead in global sourcing, we have pushed a plan to join the EMD, which is an unprecedented move for retail chains in Asia," Im Il-soon, CEO of Homeplus, said in a statement. "By expanding global sourcing, we are able to offer more benefits to our consumers and this could be a great opportunity for our local partners as they can expand their reach into European market via us." Homeplus said prominent supermarket chains from 20 countries both in and outside of Europe are members of the alliance. They include Markant of Germany, NorgesGruppen of Norway, Euromadi of Spain, ESD of Italy, Superunie of the Netherlands, Dagrofa of Denmark, Axfood of Sweden, Kaufland of Poland, Lenta of Russia and Woolworths of Australia. The annual sales of its members are at 258 trillion won ($229.4 billion) and this is the second-largest volume following the U.S. retail giant Walmart. With its immense buying power, those membership chains can buy quality products in bulk and distribute them at low prices. "It was not an easy decision for us to join hands with an Asian distributor for the first time, but we concluded that innovative movements Homeplus has shown will be helpful to European consumers," Philippe Gruyters, managing director of the EMD, said in a statement. As this is its first year as a member, Homeplus said it will try to build up a firm cooperative relationship with the membership companies and plan to bring grocery products such as cereal, beer, pasta, as well as other products like batteries, within 2019. "Cereal products will be the first item we will come up with for Korean consumers. They will be up to 40 percent cheaper than cereal products here," Homeplus said adding it will increase its volume of global sourcing to 1 trillion won by 2021. Presidential economic adviser Kim Hyun-chul, right, speaks during a press conference on the launch of the Business Federation for New Southern Policy at the Plaza Hotel in central Seoul, Thursday. On left is Korea International Trade Association Chairman Kim Young-ju, who was appointed as chairman of the federation. Yonhap By Nam Hyun-woo The government and private companies should make more concerted efforts to expand trade with India in order to facilitate President Moon Jae-in's New Southern Policy, presidential economic adviser Kim Hyun-chul said Thursday. Kim made the remark during the inauguration ceremony of the Business Federation for New Southern Policy, which is comprised of 21 private and government organizations and chaired by Korea International Trade Association (KITA). "India has a 1.3 billion population and an economic growth rate over 7 percent, which requires greater attention in the (Korean) government's policy and businesses' trade efforts," said Kim, who is also the chairman of the Presidential Committee on New Southern Policy. "With the launch of the federation, I hope the government and the private sector will combine efforts to expand markets available to domestic businesses to target countries with the New Southern Policy, and create new opportunities in not only the manufacturing industry but also the digital sector." The New Southern Policy refers to President Moon's initiative announced in 2017, aimed at strengthening Korea's relationship with ASEAN and India to the same level as the four main stakeholders in the Korean Peninsula the United States, China, Japan and Russia. The federation appointed KITA Chairman Kim Young-ju as its first chairman. "Korean trade is relying heavily on China and the U.S., accounting for 39 percent of Korea's total trade volume," Kim said. "Uncertainties stemming from the U.S.-China trade conflict and a no-deal Brexit are aggravating the trade environment. Thus, Korea has to diversify its trade destinations to the southern regions." The federation will focus on supporting domestic companies' entrance to the region. Also, the federation will hold a digital economy forum discussing ideas on e-commerce, mobile business and smart mobility, on the sidelines of the Korea-ASEAN Special Summit slated for later this year. "Korea is one of the countries showing the fastest economic growth and Southeast Asian countries are expected to prefer Korea's growth model," KITA Chairman Kim said. "The federation and the government will combine efforts to support companies to make the best use of the opportunity." Customers at GME Remittance's Dongdaemun branch in Jongno-gu, Seoul. Courtesy of GME Remittance By Ko Dong-hwan Banks play an important role in society, but for some people access to their services is difficult, if not impossible. This is especially so in developing regions and Third World countries. There, people do basic monetary transactions in down-to-earth ways, relying more on human hands than the computerized systems of conventional banking. Many migrant workers in Korea from such regions have opted for this method for transferring their hard-earned money home because they are unable to wire it through banks as those it is destined for do not have bank accounts. They have used "transporters," who are entrusted with cash from multiple senders to deliver it. But the carriers sometimes disappear with the money. Besides the theft risk, the delivery breaks Korean law, which requires personal effects and cash worth $10,000 or more to be declared at border custom offices. John Sung at GME Remittance's headquarters in Jongno-gu, Seoul. Korea Times photo by Ko Dong-hwan John Sung, CEO of non-bank overseas remitter Global Money Express Remittance, based in Seoul's Jongno-gu district, saw a market for his company's services in helping migrant workers send money home. The former LG Electronics overseas branch head in Australia and Malaysia said only 20 percent to 30 percent of people in Southeast Asia, where most of the workers are from, have bank accounts. "Even if a foreign worker went to one of the 16 major banks in Korea and transferred money to his family members in their homeland, chances are most of the receivers wouldn't have a bank account to receive the money," Sung told The Korea Times. "If a person living in a mountainous Himalayan region in Nepal was to visit a local bank, he would have to travel a long distance to get to the nearest city. Would he possibly care for a bank account with such a physical hassle?" GME allows money to be sent to people who do not have a bank account. Its foreign investment partners, top-tier banks in the Asian and CIS regions, have established thousands of "cash pickup points" across 24 countries. When someone comes to GME to send money, the company checks their identity before issuing them a 10-digit password. The customer tells the cash recipient the password and location of the nearest pickup point. These are set up at pawn shops, and convenience or other small local stores. After providing the password, the money is handed over. Pickup is available five minutes after the money is wired and the time of pickup is monitored in Seoul. Banks in Korea were the only channel for overseas remittance until January 2017, when the revision of Korea's Foreign Exchange Transactions Act opened the business to non-bank entities. Courtesy of BNK Kyongnam Bank Tourists also can use the service. They can send their cash to GME and withdraw it from a designated depot when they arrive at their destination. It saves them the hassle of carrying foreign currency or travelers' checks and they don't need a bank account to do it. "I call this the cash pickup service," said Sung. "It surpasses any similar service provided by current Korean banks. Ambassadors in Korea appreciate it for the safety and convenience it gives their nationals." Sung worked for more than 20 years heading the LG overseas branches and running his own telecommunications firm in Kuala Lumpur that had 300 employees. During this time, he saw how markets in other countries were more open to the world and less strapped by regulations than Korea. When he came across a mogul from the remittance industry operating across Asian countries, he learned that the service in Malaysia, Singapore, Hong Kong and other countries was provided by non-bank remitters at cheap rates, with speedy results. It was unlike Korea, where the service was exclusively offered by banks or the like with legal capital of 1 trillion won ($887 million) at least. The first day of business at GME Remittance's Dongdaemun branch in Jongno-gu, Seoul, in October 2017. Courtesy of GME Remittance "Living overseas, I saw a wide range of international remittance transactions happening globally but not in Korea," said Sung, who envisioned that if the Korean remittance market was more open to non-banks and state regulations eased, the service would thrive there. He established GME in 2016 with one employee and began searching for markets. He saw that for his company to succeed, the Foreign Exchange Transactions Act under the Ministry of Economy and Finance must be revised to allow non-banks to operate overseas remittance business. A Japanese law revision allowing this was made in 2011 and Korean fintech operators demanded lawmakers do the same. "Korea back then must have been one of the last countries in Asia to have allowed the service to non-banks," Sung said. In January 2017, the Foreign Exchange Policy Division, under the ministry's International Finance Bureau, revised the third clause of the transactions act's Article 8 about foreign currency dealers. It allowed non-financial entities to engage in the industry once they passed standards to be authorized under a presidential order. The move shattered the banks' almost 60-year monopoly in the industry. In July that year, GME passed the standard for an overseas remittance business license, becoming the country's first non-bank entity in the industry. Twenty-two other applicants failed the standard, while E9 Pay joined the field six months later. The day it opened for business in October 2017, the three GME branches were packed, accepting nearly 7,000 customers in the first month. As of January 2019, GME runs seven branches in Seoul, Gyeonggi Province and Busan. It has signed investment partnerships with Nepal's Global IME Bank, Cambodia's Wing, Sri Lanka's Commercial Bank of Ceylon, Indonesia's BNI and another top-tier bank covering the CIS region. GME splits the profits 50-50 with them. Sung is scathing of the Korean banks' role in the industry, attacking their expensive overseas remittance fees. Transferring 3 million won overseas using Korea's Woori Bank includes a telegram surcharge, remittance surcharge and post-transaction surcharge, amounting to $38. At Hana Bank, an overseas surcharge of $20 is made instead of a post-transaction surcharge. An additional "payout fee," unknown to senders and remitting banks, of around $20 is charged by the local banks when the cash is withdrawn. The total cost is nearly $60. GME simplified the fees to 5,000 won, with no hidden charges. Its app shows exactly how much the receivers will get after the fee deduction. "We've reduced the banks' egregious rates to affordable levels because we have stronger competitiveness," Sung said. Cambodian Ambassador in Korea Long Dimanche, third from left, and John Sung, third from right, and associates of Wing join the service launch ceremony in front of GME Remittance's branch on Culture Street in Ansan, Gyeonggi Province, in February 2017. The celebration came after GME signed a partnership with the Cambodian bank. Courtesy of GME Remittance Korea's finance ministry limits the amount non-bank entities can remit for each customer to $3,000 at a time, with a yearly cap of $30,000. Sung says the limits are too low. "The limits hinder college students studying abroad who need $20,000 to pay for each semester tuition and businessmen doing international trade," Sung said. "Higher limits will give more room to move even for a small-size trader as the company can wire money overseas through GME at lower fees than banks and increase its global competitiveness." With the limits in place, GME can only support migrants, who on average transfer about 1 million won a month overseas. A foreign exchange policy division official told The Korea Times that the remittance caps will remain for now as the law is relatively new. "With the growth of the Korean fintech industry backed by government support, many non-bank entities have become tech-savvy enough to process overseas remittances," the official said. "The ministry, aware of the expensive bank fees, loosened the regulations to improve consumers' convenience by allowing them to use non-bank firms, as long as the remitting amounts are small." The former Korean minister of economy and finance Kim Dong-yeon speaks during the minister-level innovative growth meeting at Seoul Government Complex in Jongno-gu, Seoul, in September 2018. Yonhap He said large sums must be remitted through banks to prevent the risk of foreign currency diversion and funds falling into the hands of terrorists. "Now is the time to monitor and fix any side effects transpiring from transactions involving non-bank companies," the official said. "The bars will eventually be raised after that verification period." Sung hopes that once the ministry increases the non-bank remittance limits, GME can better compete with the banks and achieve the goal of $3 billion of customer transactions by next year. That's 7.5 percent of the entire Korean private overseas remittance market estimated for 2017. Sung appreciates the multinational aspect of his company as only 15 of over 60 employees are Koreans, with the rest speaking 10 languages. He has put marketing managers of different nationalities in charge of their own ethnic groups, believing in the power of cultural links. "Our goal is meeting migrant workers' various demands," said Sung, who expanded GME's business in December 2018 to loans and finance as part of his mission to make his company a total fintech service provider. "To complete the objective, state hurdles must be mitigated," he said. "Global trends have been pushing national markets to follow so their global competitiveness can grow and consumers can benefit from cheaper costs and more convenience. If they aren't pursued, a few exclusive operators will go unchallenged without motivation to grow and so will eventually perish." Canadian and Chinese flags hang before a meeting between Canada's Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping at the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse in Beijing on Dec. 5, 2017. EPA Trudeau speaks during a town hall meeting at Brock University in St. Catharines, Ontario, Jan. 15. AP By Jung Min-ho Charles Burton By Abdelkader Zerougui The Arab world is caught between centrifugal forces that are undermining any possibility of renewal. The Islamists with their different brands seek to reinstate religion as a source of proper ethical conduct, which will create some form of domino effect, and root out the corrupt establishments in the region. The autocrats and dictators advocate the existence of a strong state, and say the masses cannot be trusted with democracy. Despots often accuse foreign powers and local "traitors" who seek to destabilize the region, and by that creating a conspiracy theory to legitimize their aggressive behavior toward any form of dissent. No Arab government was able to grant its people the freedom they deserve, and empower them with some form of dignity. The Arab world with all its forms of despots succeeded in adapting to the internal and external challenges. When nationalism in the 1960s and 1970s failed to deliver to the masses, new policies of privatization and controlled self-governing were introduced in the 1980s. The state redistributed parts of the wealth to the well-connected and loyal members, who established businesses and took control over large parts of the economy. Moreover, fake-parliaments, assemblies, and opposition were engineered to counter the external criticism, and propagate the myth that changes were taking place albeit slowly. The Arab world engaged in turf wars, each nation-tribe was willing to sacrifice its neighbor to deflect attention from its problems. By supporting different groups, and divergent factions, some states totally collapsed under the weight of armed groups and the fragility of their own institutions, others avoided such a collapse, but in exchange remain at the mercy of their foreign protectors. How does the exchange system operate in the Arab world? Certain individuals have access to the state's wealth. Bank loans, concessions to land, licenses for businesses, etc. are limited to a few, whom at the same redistribute jobs, and exert control over who gets what. A web of mafia-like networks that makes a large portion of the population not only alienated, but also strangers in their own countries. At the center of this tragedy is that people are dying, incarcerated in dungeons with the complicity of the Western world, which often prioritizes its own self-centered interests more than universal human rights. How can we free the Arab world from this continuous nightmare? Why do ordinary people have to endure the continuous animal-like treatment? Government and states' institutions are plagued with corruption and favoritism. Few have access to the states' favors, others are marginalized and constantly humiliated to the point of losing hope. Mohammed Bouazizi, the Tunisian vegetable vendor who set himself on fire in 2010 and died from his injuries, is a typical example of despair in these parts of the world. For an Egyptian, a Sudanese, a Yemeni or a Moroccan, it is a daily struggle for a job, for a permit to travel, for an identity card, for respect and for a basic right of every citizen. In the Western world, people commit suicide because of depression, and sometimes because of the excessive material world. In the Arab world, by committing suicide, a person defies even his/her own religion which prohibits such an act, because they see themselves becoming irrelevant, with no future, no hope and no sense in their existence. A culture of pessimism becomes the norm, as tyrants not only limit the marginalized intake of daily-calories, but colonize their dreams, and break their will to exist. People are driven to the edge, by that extraction of any form righteousness from their being. Communities disintegrate, and decent people are turned into wild wolves. A hidden battle for self-preservation allows the tyrannical regimes to continue their existence. The more inner-fighting between the impoverished masses, the more likely that the system perpetuates itself. After200 years of the French Revolution and its slogan "Liberty, Equality, Fraternity" and the Declarations of the Rights of Man and the Citizen, which asserts the political rights of citizens, due process, the right of freedom of thought and belief, the accountability of public servants. The Arab world remained caught in the trivialities of life, and mundane debates that make Europe's Dark Ages look like a Golden Age for Middle East. Authors argue that the Arab world lacks a middle class, and the ethic of mercantilism, which are essential for establishing democracy. My argument is that there is a total absence of a "political will" that is essential in any transformation. History tells us that Europe, Asia, and America had at sometime, leaders that transcended their narrow self-interests, and had pioneer-dreams to change their world, and leave a legacy as a testament to their existence. The Arab world does not have Thomas Jefferson or Napoleon Bonaparte. Leaders come and go, and yet these countries remain in the tail of history. There is a total absence of any industrial base, combined with a dismal state of education and research, an absence of transparency, and a gloomy political culture. The Arab world has been a stage of wars and destruction. The Lebanese civil war, the destruction of Iraq, Libya and Syria; the war in Yemen; and the revolts in Tunisia and Sudan are indicators of what's to come in the region. With the dwindling of natural resources, the rentier-states will eventually collapse, and as a result, the Arab world will turn into a barren land, and "war of all against all" will take place, as despots will no longer be able to maintain the system of clientelism that is the core of their authoritarianism. Abdelkader Zerougui (zerouguiabdelkader@yahoo.com) is an adjunct professor at American University. By Donald Kirk The revelation of another "undeclared" North Korean missile base should send shock waves through all those concerned about the safety and security of the region, notably South Korea. Actually, however, it's hard to find ordinary people too worried about the latest report by esteemed experts at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington (CSIS). The reasons for such widespread insouciance are familiar to all of us who have been following the ups and downs of the North Korean nuclear threat for the past few years, decades. The overwhelming sense is that it can't happen here, that Kim Jong-un may posture all he wants, but honestly he's not gonna press the button on one of those things and send it hurtling into space carrying a real live warhead, is he? The answer to that question is probably not, but then there are other reasons why it's real hard to get people too worked up about just another missile base. We've heard all that stuff before. We're getting missile-and-nuke fatigue. Yes, we know they've got these bases, we know they conducted nuclear and missile tests as recently as the year before last, and we don't seriously trust them to shut down what they've got no matter how many summits Kim has with President Donald Trump and President Moon Jae-in. But really, those who give more than a moment's thought to the CSIS report might ask: What's all the hype about a place named Sino-ri, 212 kilometers north of the Demilitarized Zone having been "undeclared"? Huh? "The Sino-ri base has never been declared by North Korea," declare the indisputably knowledgeable Victor Cha, Joseph Bermudez and Lisa Collins near the beginning of their "expose" of the base. Nor, they add ominously, does it "appear to be the subject of denuclearization negotiations between the United States and North Korea." These bases, they tell us, "would presumably have to be subject to declaration, verification, and dismantlement in any final and fully verifiable denuclearization deal." Tut tut. Those naughty North Koreans. Imagine them not letting everyone know about that base one of about 20, we're told, that they've never "declared." Look, seriously, this news is interesting, but you don't have to be a certified expert to know the North Koreans not only haven't declared a lot of what they've got, what they're doing, what they've done and will do, but have not the slightest intention of doing so. None of which means President Trump should simply say, Mr. Kim, much though I "love" you, I will not sit down with you again if you don't come clean with me. Nor does it mean President Moon should say to Kim, if you don't answer all those crazy questions the Americans keep bothering you with, how can I welcome you in Seoul or guarantee you won't have to hear the shouts of the flag-waving rightists who hate both of us? But how could Trump and Moon not make a huge issue of these secret "undeclared" bases whenever they meet Kim again? Well, maybe they should, but there's a deeper issue. Talks, negotiations, take on a life of their own. There's something to be said for momentum. It's not that North Korea will ever give up the distinction of being the world's ninth honest-to-goodness nuclear power. It's obvious they won't. It's just as obvious Kim isn't going to fire or explode anything for real. He knows perfectly well all hell would descend on him if he did. Less obvious, more difficult to explain, is that these summits add to the dynamism of incipient change. Beneath the seeming non-concern lingers a sense that South Korea is too enormous, too huge an industrial powerhouse, and North Korea is really too needy. Something's got to give. The dam on inter-Korean relations has to burst. Millions are looking to the North, waiting for the opening to get in there. Some are eagerly eyeing real estate north of Seoul, up to the DMZ, as a base for future operations. In the meantime, as long as the Americans and South Koreans don't make stupid concessions, fall for showy appearances such as an end-of-war declaration or, God forbid, a "peace treaty," summitry is needed to keep up the momentum. That's reason enough for these leaders to talk to each other even if one of them insists on draining his economy and resources with useless nukes and missiles while begging for all the help he can get. Donald Kirk (www.donaldkirk.com) has been writing about the nuclear issue and the North-South confrontation for decades. By Park Moo-jong The Constitution provides that a criminal suspect or defendant is presumed innocent until proven guilty. The presumption of innocence is an international human right under the United Nation's "Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Article 11." But the reality is different. Prosecutors here presume every suspect is guilty. They do not hesitate to use the request for an arrest warrant against suspects as a trump card to obtain the desired effect of "punishing" them before going to trial. The so-called "photo line" is also an attractive tool for prosecutors to have suspects punished by public opinion before their trial. The photo line is not an English term but a "Konglish" one, coined by Korean photographers, meaning a line marked with yellow tape in front of the prosecutors' office where the person officially summoned for questioning or examination in the case of a warrant for detention stands for a while for a photo or question-and-answer session. It is similar to the yellow-taped police line demarcating a crime or accident scene, which bystanders are not supposed to cross. The photo line was introduced by the news photographers' association in 2006 because of the overheated competition to get "better" pictures of suspects, mostly "political or economic big shots." The idea to introduce the formula came from an accident involving the late Hyundai Group founder Chung Ju-yung who suffered a piercing wound to his forehead after being hit by the camera of a photo journalist when he arrived at the prosecutors' office for questioning about his alleged violation of the Election Law in 1993. Since the debut of the photo line 12 years ago, it has been used effectively for the convenience of reporters and prosecutors, despite disputes over the human rights infringement of suspects. The practice, with no legal grounding, has caused a public stir of late over the prosecution allegedly making use of it in order to embarrass and shame the suspects. The tragic case of a retired three-star general's suicide supports the allegation. Lee Jae-soo (1958-2018), the former commander of the Defense Security Command of the Armed Forces, stood at the photo line while handcuffed, Nov. 27, before attending an examination session for an arrest warrant requested by the prosecution for his suspected surveillance of civilians with regard to the Sewol ferry sinking in 2014. Government should deal sternly with Japan's provocations Tension between Korea and Japan is escalating once again following the latest provocation by Japan this week. On Wednesday afternoon, a Japanese patrol aircraft flew over Ieodo, situated southwest of Jeju Island, according to the Ministry of National Defense. The ministry said that it perceived the low-altitude flight as an obvious provocation and lodged a complaint about it. Suh Wook, chief director of operations at the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said that the flight threatened South Korean vessels. Japan should clearly explain its intensions. The defense ministry called in the military attache at the Japanese Embassy, but this is not enough. It is the third such incident to take place this month. Earlier this month, patrol planes of Japan's Maritime Self-Defense Force flew close to South Korean Navy vessels twice on Jan. 18 and 22. The Korean government should deal sternly with Japan's military provocations. It is alarming that Japan's latest provocation Wednesday took place only four hours before the foreign ministers of the two countries were set to meet on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, Switzerland. Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha and her Japanese counterpart Taro Kono met for the first time since Korea's highest court upheld in October 2018 previous rulings ordering Japanese firms to compensate Korean plaintiffs for forced labor during the 1910-1945 Japanese occupation of Korea. The two countries had also been at odds over a recent controversy over Japan's claim that a Korean warship aimed a fire-control radar at a P-1 patrol plane that was conducting a surveillance mission last month. The radar dispute seriously hampered bilateral relations which are already aggravated by historical issues. On Jan. 21, Tokyo unilaterally stopped negotiations over the radar dispute, while saying that it still wanted to go forward with Korea-U.S.-Japan military cooperation. Just a few days later, on Wednesday, it made another provocation. This is unacceptable. Seoul should strongly demand an explanation and urge Tokyo to refrain from repeating such actions. Japan should also do its part to clear up the row surrounding the radar controversy instead of making irrational, unscientific claims against Korea. Japan is urged to take part in negotiations to settle the differences. There are a lot of factors that are hindering the two countries' relations. But the two need to stay on a future-oriented path as their cooperation is vital for the region's stability. During the foreign ministers' meeting in Switzerland, Kang reportedly expressed concern over the series flights by Japanese warplanes near South Korean Navy vessels. But she also expressed her wish for the diplomatic authorities of the two countries to be prudent in managing problems between the two countries to continuously improve bilateral relations. Tokyo should respond to Korea's goodwill and stop making provocative moves. Taxpayers' money should not be wasted on unfeasible projects Localities throughout the country are buzzing, as the government will soon announce regional development projects that will be exempted from preliminary feasibility studies. Residents are staging massive rallies, and local administrative heads are lobbying the central government to include their regional projects on the list of public works free from economic assessments. Provinces and large cities have asked for the studies to be waived for 33 projects that will cost 60 trillion won ($53 billion). The government will select one project for each province and metropolis outside of Seoul and Gyeonggi Province and announce the list of those approved next Tuesday. Already, however, concerns are mounting about the possible enormous social, political and economic backlash. The preliminary feasibility study is a system that judges the suitability of large-scale public projects by examining their commercial viability and efficiency, as well as fundraising plans. Article 38 of the National Finance Act stipulates public works that cost 50 billion won or more and receive government subsidies of 30 billion won or more should undergo a feasibility study. This is aimed at preventing the waste of taxpayers' money resulting from the excessive construction of social infrastructure. The law, however, allows the government to exempt some projects by taking into account balanced regional development and other factors. The administration's intention to waive feasibility studies is not incomprehensible, as it badly wants economic recovery but does not have many policy tools available. This notwithstanding, we cannot shake off anxiety and concern, as we have seen numerous projects ending up wasting taxpayers' money even after undergoing economic feasibility studies beforehand. Such possibilities are sure to grow if the government omits the studies. "The outcomes of projects to be exempted from feasibility study are too obvious," said the Citizens' Coalition for Economic Justice, a civic group. "Taxpayers will have to shoulder the burden of policy failures, such as the massive injection of government funds and higher public utility charges." We could hardly agree more. Bureaucrats must not squander taxpayers' money under any circumstances. In the worst-case scenario, the Moon Jae-in administration will find it hard to escape controversy over political favoritism while failing to attain the goal of regional development. Egyptian Minister of Supply Ali El-Moselhi said on Friday that a cooperation protocol will be signed on Monday with France's Rungis International Market, which is considered the largest wholesale food market in the world. The protocol, which will be inked during French President Emmanuel Macron's upcoming visit to Egypt, aims to outline a plan to develop wholesale markets in Egypt, said the minister. The minister made the remarks during his inauguration of Bonjourno instant coffee factory, which is affiliated with Nestle SA. The factory was built with investments worth EGP 250 million. Moselhi said that his ministry has worked on drawing up a strategy to develop Egypt's internal trade sector and establish trade and logistic zones nationwide. There are 100 million consumers in Egypt with only three major markets that do not utilise modern technology, Moselhi noted. Moselhi asserted that it is high time for Egypt to benefit from the successful experiences in developed countries to promote its internal trade and boost its exports through following strict rules and providing products at the highest quality. Search Keywords: Short link: In an age of instant communication, quick responses usually take precedence over careful deliberation. Hot takes are valued; "cold takes" are not a thing. But truth can be a casualty when social media hordes leap to vent anger at bits of information that look offensive. All this became apparent, not for the first time, when a video went viral showing a face-to-face encounter at the Lincoln Memorial between a 64-year-old Native American veteran and a high school boy wearing a "Make America Great Again" hat. The impression left by the clip was of an arrogant white teenager harassing a person of color for the amusement of his rowdy classmates. The Native American man, Nathan Phillips, told reporters he felt threatened by the crowd of teens and heard chants of "Build the wall." The storm of outrage that followed was something to behold. The students, a group from a Catholic boys' high school in Covington, Ky., who were in the capital for the March for Life, were denounced on Twitter as racist bullies who had no respect for their elders. Calls went out for the boy and his friends to be expelled and shamed. The archdiocese of Covington condemned the students' conduct, and the mayor disavowed it. But the reaction turns out to be a cautionary tale about jumping to conclusions. Other videos of the gathering showed the students being subjected to nasty slurs by black protesters known as the Hebrew Israelites; the teens eventually countered with chants. It was Phillips who strode up close to the boy in the MAGA hat, singing and beating a drum. Robby Soave of Reason watched two hours of footage and didn't hear a single "build the wall." The teenager, Nick Sandmann, who says he has gotten death threats, issued a statement giving his version. His classmates' chants were a response to the insults directed at them, after they got permission from an adult chaperone. Sandmann was "startled and confused" when Phillips approached him and thought that "by remaining motionless and calm, I was helping to diffuse (sic) the situation." When one of his fellow students responded to one of the people with Phillips, he said, "I motioned to my classmate and tried to get him to stop engaging with the protestor, as I was still in the mindset that we needed to calm down tensions." A segment of one video appears to support Sandmann's account. Was Sandmann's expression a smarmy smirk or a nervous smile? Was Phillips trying to calm the situation or confront some kids he regarded as Donald Trump followers? Were the students provoking antagonism or responding to it? Even all the footage that has emerged leaves considerable room for disagreement. It's not hard to believe that Phillips and Sandmann each acted in a way he thought was responsible and constructive. It was obviously a messy, confusing situation. But a couple of clear lessons can be drawn. One is that it's dangerous to reach instant judgments based on images that lack context. Sometimes, video footage is invaluable in determining the truth. At other times, it makes something complicated look simple. Another is that many Americans see their political opponents as not only mistaken but malicious, and are prone to interpret anything the other side does as damning. It's never been easy for people to see things from the point of view of those who disagree, and it's even tougher in this hyperpolarized moment. Some people who were initially furious found themselves backtracking. "If the Covington Catholic incident was a test, it's one I failed," confessed Cincinnati writer Julie Irwin Zimmerman in The Atlantic. Conservative commentator S.E. Cupp tweeted, "I wish I'd had the fuller picture before weighing in, and I'm truly sorry." Next time an upsetting video or photo goes viral, maybe some observers will wait to learn more before forming strong opinions. Sure, you can rush to judgment and tweet "Gotcha!" to your foes. But doing justice takes time. The above editorial appeared in the Chicago Tribune. It was distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC. By Andrew Hammond Brexit watchers will be forgiven for feeling like they are caught in a time loop, repeatedly living the same moments, just as in the hit 1993 movie "Groundhog Day." For on Monday, Prime Minister Theresa May delivered a "Plan B" for exiting the EU that is virtually identical to the one that last week saw her on the receiving end of the largest House of Commons defeat in the modern political era. Despite last week's high political drama in Westminster, it therefore appears "nothing has changed," to coin one of May's infamous phrases. Yet underlying her announcement Monday, and the paralysis of her U.K. government, there are potentially key developments now underway in the House of Commons. These could be very significant moving forward next week and February when the next round of votes are held. What this underlines is that, amidst growing Brexit uncertainty, one of the few likelihoods is that Parliament will increasingly take more control of the fraught EU exit process as Brexit and opposition MPs flex their muscles. Take the examples of the Brexiteers, many of whose key figures were evidently chastened by the scale of last week's loss by May. A signal of growing Brexiteer anxiety over the outcome of the process came Sunday when influential backbench MP Jacob Rees-Mogg called for right-of center Conservatives, and other leading Brexiteers from the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) and beyond, to come together in the national interest. What Rees-Mogg refers to here is a split within the ranks of pro-Brexit supporters between pragmatists such as leading Cabinet Minister Michael Gove who have backed May's deal, versus those who prefer a no-deal Brexit like Rees Mogg and Boris Johnson. Given the increasing threat that some Brexiteers now perceive as their cherished political project, it is clear that some "no-dealers" like Rees Mogg are increasingly open for compromise. As he said Sunday, "If I had to choose between no deal and May's original accord, I would have no hesitation of opting for no-deal Brexit but even Mrs. May's deal would be better than not leaving at all". This could be a crucial, beginning of a shift in position that could yet see a substantial slice of the 118 Tory MPs, plus potentially the 8 DUP MPs from Northern Ireland, who last week voted against May's deal softening their stance. In so doing, especially if May can get concessions from Brussels on the so-called "Irish backstop," there remains the remarkable prospect that her deal could yet have a second lease of life. It is this internal dynamic within the Brexiteer camp that helps explains why May's Brexit "Plan B" is virtually the same as her "Plan A." For it seems overwhelmingly likely, for now at least, that rather than reaching out to opposition MPs, May will seek again to persuade her party and the DUP of the merits of the plan, despite the uncertainty of Brussels offering up any more concessions to facilitate this. Yet, reluctance of the EU-27 to compromise further is not the only reason why May and Brexiteers now face a real battle to realize a right-of-center "hard" exit from the EU. For, as well as the uncertainty over the position of Brussels, opposition MPs are seizing the initiative. On Monday, for instance, the opposition Labour Party submitted an amendment, to be considered as soon as next week, that calls for a vote of its own "softer" Brexit plan. This includes the prospect of remaining in the European customs union, plus the later possibility of a second public vote on Brexit if no option can secure a consensus in the House of Commons in coming weeks. Amidst this uncertain battle of wills in Westminster, there is one further likelihood beyond the House of Commons taking more control of Brexit. That is, the growing likelihood that the two-year Article 50 process may need to be extended, potentially till the summer. Aside from the continuing political failure to pass a withdrawal deal, there is growing unlikelihood that London will have in place by end-March a new domestic legislative framework to enable Brexit. A backlog of at least six key U.K. exit bills covering trade, agriculture, fisheries, healthcare, financial services, and immigration must be passed before the nation can leave the EU. Yet, with only around 60 days till the nation is scheduled to leave the EU, even if MPs and lords sit at weekends, and cancel the scheduled February parliamentary recess, there may not now be enough time to pass all this key legislation before the U.K.'s scheduled end-March EU exit. Taken overall, beneath the permafrost of May's Brexit position, a thaw is underway in parliament that is seeing a rejuvenated battle of wills between Brexiteers and opposition MPs. As March's deadlines close in, this means there is growing possibility that Article 50 will be extended beyond March with the possibility of yet more Brexit Groundhog Days to come. Andrew Hammond ( ) is an associate at LSE IDEAS at the London School of Economics. By Adam Borowski I've never been to South Korea. And yet, here I am writing an article for The Korea Times. Strange, I know. How are South Koreans seen in Poland? As a hard-working, economically developed, highly intelligent people. Oh, and how could I forget Gangnam style? I worked in China, and it's my impression many Chinese people believe hierarchy and seniority are more important in Korea. It's also shameful to admit the Polish smog is sometimes worse than what I went through in China. Then, there's the North. Poland took in 2,000 North Korean orphans during the Korean War. Apparently, Russian served as the lingua franca of North Korean-Polish relations. I came across a sizeable Korean population in the Vancouver area. Intrigued, I read up on the Korean Peninsula history. Parallels can be drawn between Polish and Korean history. Japanese occupation, Koreans forced to speak Japanese, adopt Japanese names. These points mirror the Germanization and Russification policy in Poland. Poland was partitioned by Austria, Prussia, and Russia for 123 years. The country was reborn in 1918. The government had to unify railway systems, currency and the language. Poland couldn't catch a break. In September 1939, Poland was wiped off the map by Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union. Twisted Nazi ideologues recognized a substantial Aryan (the Nordic ideal, as the Nazis called it) presence in Poland. The Lebensborn program targeted racially desirable Polish children, abducting them to the German Reich. The children were given German names, adopted by German couples, speaking Polish was forbidden. Many Germanized children went through an identity crisis after the War. What happened to the children deemed "non-Aryan"? A gruesome death phenol injection into the heart. The Rising Sun flag evokes powerful emotions in Koreans Poles know exactly how it feels to be the target of another country's imperial ambitions. A Pyrrhic Polish victory in the Second World War turned the country into a Soviet Union satellite state. Stalin rejected the Marshall Plan aid for Poland. To this day, many Poles feel betrayed by the U.S. for "selling Poland to the Soviets." Polish elites were decimated by the Nazi and Soviet regimes. The Mayor of Warsaw said in September 1939 "I wanted Warsaw to be majestic." Sadly, he didn't survive the War, and Warsaw was literally burned to the ground in 1944. The Polish national psyche has been irreversibly altered. While Korea is steeped in Confucianism, where you have two Poles, you'll have three opinions. Personally, I firmly believe Polish society could use less pointless philosophizing. As Koreas work tirelessly on the Unification, Poland is divided, mired in the past. The Gdansk mayor was recently stabbed onstage during a major charity event. Dwelling on the past fuels the collective victim mentality. Dredging up old demons is the political sleight of hand, with demagogues skirting pressing national issues. On a lighter note, South Korea is replete with folklore, myths and legends. As an aficionado of all things mysterious, I look forward to my South Korean exploratory journey, and meeting fellow Korea Times contributors. Who knows, I might even venture to the North someday, although I don't think they'd like my American-accented English. Adam Borowski (adam.borowski1985@gmail.com) teaches business English to students at all levels of advancement. His short novel can be found at: https://existentialtableau.wordpress.com/2018/01/14/existential-tableau/ China is regarded as a source of the growing fine dust problem in Korea. / Yonhap By Kim Jae-heun Korea and China have agreed to establish a joint early warning system for fine dust as part of cooperation on the ever-worsening air pollution problem, the environment ministry said Thursday. "The government has told China about its concern over disastrous levels of highly concentrated fine dust here," Yoo Je-chul, a senior ministry official, said at a press briefing. "The air quality in major areas in China has improved 40 percent since 2013 and we stressed the importance of cooperation to reduce fine dust both here and there." The joint early warning system will allow the government to prepare for fine dust approaching the peninsula and issue alerts for affected areas. Beijing has agreed to provide its forecast data in real-time. "We will receive the newest long- and short-term forecast information from China and compare it with our own to improve the accuracy of forecasting air pollution here. This will allow us to issue an earlier warning on fine dust and smog two to three days in advance," Yoo said. The governments also agreed to include Tangshan and Shenyang in a joint research project to study the cause of air pollution occurring in China based on new aerial and satellite data as well as ground observation. Until now, the project, which began in May 2017, has focused on Beijing, Baoding, Qingdao and Dalian,. However, Yoo acknowledged that there was still much to be done as the governments' opinions still differ regarding the source of the growing levels of fine dust on the peninsula. In August 2017, Korea, China and Japan agreed to release a report on joint research on long-range transport pollution (LTP) in the atmosphere last year. However, China suddenly opposed publishing the report saying a further review was necessary. The ministry official said publication is likely to be in this November. More specific plans on work to reduce air pollution in Korea and China will be discussed next month and details will be announced during a minister-level meeting in the second half of the year. Recently, China has requested the government to share its knowhow and experience in reducing air pollution, the ministry noted. "China said such help can effectively reduce the fine dust that comes from the continent to Korea faster," an environment ministry official said. Despite the improvement of air quality in China, average ultrafine dust in Beijing was measured at 51 micrograms per cubic meter last year, twice the average level of that in Korea. Particulate matters violated air quality above a section of Seoul on Jan. 23, 2019. Yonhap South Korea and China have agreed to set up a joint early warning system related to fine dust, Seoul's authorities said Thursday amid desperate efforts here to counter air pollution. The neighboring countries had a series of working-level talks on environmental issues earlier this week and agreed to expand bilateral partnerships against fine dust. China is regarded as a source of the growing fine dust problem in South Korea, especially in winter and spring, given the direction of seasonal winds. South Korea proposed the exchange of information on air quality and relevant forecast technology, along with a joint study on soil pollution in mined areas. Seoul also wants to work together with Beijing for the research of environmental policies for sustainable development. Chief of the living environment policy office under the Ministry of Environment explains this year's renewed policies regarding particulate matters and how to prevent them at the ministry's office at Sejong Government Complex, Jan. 22. Yonhap A crew member of Araon watches a Korean helicopter above the Korean icebreaker ship during a rescue mission for 24 Chinese researchers isolated in Inexpressible Island in the Antarctic region on Wednesday. Yonhap The Araon, South Korea's only icebreaking vessel, has helped evacuate 24 isolated Chinese researchers in the Antarctic region, the country's ocean ministry said Thursday. The Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries said the icebreaker gave assistance to researchers on Inexpressible Island near South Korea's Jang Bogo Antarctic Research Station in the southernmost continent a day earlier. While the team originally planned to leave the island on board the Chinese icebreaker Xuelong, the vessel hit an iceberg and had to return to King George Island, stranding the group. The Chinese government requested South Korea's assistance, with the Araon embarking on the mission to Inexpressible Island earlier this week. A Korean helicopter from Jang Bogo Antarctic Research Station transports Chinese researchers isolated in Inexpressible Island in the region to Araon on Wednesday. Yonhap North Korean leader Kim Jong-un was briefed by Kim Yong-chol, vice-chairman of the Central Committee of the Workers' Party, who met U.S. President Donald Trump in Washington last week, the North's Korean Central News Agency reported Thursday. / Yonhap By Lee Min-hyung Seoul is considering introducing countermeasures against repeated maritime provocations by Tokyo amid escalating tension between the two in the wake of another Japanese aircraft's "threatening," low-level flight near a South Korean warship Wednesday. On Thursday, the South's Ministry of National Defense unveiled radar recordings showing Japan's Self-Defense Forces' P3 maritime patrol aircraft "buzzing" the Navy destroyer Dae Jo Yeong. The photos included detailed readouts indicating how close the plane was flying to the warship. The move comes at a crucial juncture when the ongoing diplomatic conflict between Seoul and Tokyo shows no signs of abating, with the latter engaging in such provocations three times in the past week. South Korea strongly condemned what it called "provocative acts intended to intimidate" by Japan, and is planning measures against these. The defense ministry considers the provocations to be political in nature because Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, and Japan's defense and foreign affairs chiefs among other high-ranking officials, are taking issue with the dispute. Some critics argue that the Abe government is seeking to raise its domestic approval rating by politicizing the issue. On Thursday, Rep. Song Young-gil of the ruling Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) argued that the Ministry of National Defense should abrogate a military information-sharing agreement between the two countries signed in November 2016, because of the latter's reluctance to unveil key information whenever its warplanes carry out low-altitude flights near South Korean vessels. Seoul maintains that Tokyo should disclose specific evidence to back up its argument that its Self-Defense Forces have not engaged in buzzing South Korean warships. "The ongoing controversy, which started Dec. 20, is getting worse," Song said. Under the current situation with both sides failing to narrow their differences over the dispute, the General Security of Military Information Agreement (GSOMIA) is completely useless, he added. A month-long "radar dispute" centers on the alleged radar "painting" of a Japanese P-1 patrol aircraft by the Navy's Gwanggaeto the Great destroyer. Tokyo claimed the warship locked its fire-control radar on the plane, which the South said was not true. Song questioned the effectiveness of the GSOMIA with Japan declining to share key data that could put an end to the dispute. Seoul wants Japan to give it the frequency of the radar waves at the exact moment when the South Korean destroyer is said to have locked on to the aircraft. "The radar dispute can be resolved if Japan shares the data according to the GSOMIA, but the country is declining to do so," Song said. The defense ministry said it was reviewing a variety of issues before pushing to revise or scrap the GSOMIA. "We will take many things into account," ministry spokeswoman Choi Hyun-soo said in a media briefing, Thursday. In efforts to prevent the recurrence of such incidents, the Joint Chiefs of Staff is planning to upgrade its warning systems to better deal with any possible threats from Japanese aircraft. Cheong Wa Dae held a National Security Council (NSC) meeting Thursday to discuss possible countermeasures to the provocative actions, but did not reveal any details. Japan denying South's claim Japan has denied South Korea's claim regarding the incident Wednesday. Tokyo's Defense Minister Takeshi Iwaya said the Japanese patrol planes were conducting surveillance and never flew within 500 meters of the South Korean vessels. "Appropriate flight operations were conducted based on international and domestic laws," Iwaya said. This is in contrast to South Korea's claim that the Japanese aircraft flew at an altitude of 60 meters to 70 meters and passed within 540 meters of the destroyer. Rep. Sohn Hye-won, center, waves to her supporters before holding a press conference in Mokpo, South Jeolla Province, Wednesday. / Yonhap By Park Ji-won President Moon Jae-in's approval rating dropped slightly this week despite a growing controversy over former Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) lawmaker Sohn Hye-won's involvement in possible property speculation, according to a poll released Thursday. In the poll conducted by Realmeter, 47.7 percent of respondents approved of Moon's performance as president, down only 1.4 percentage points from a week earlier. The survey was run from Monday through Wednesday, on 1,508 adults nationwide. Meanwhile, the DPK's approval rating dropped only one percentage point to 38.3 percent. The results show the scandal surrounding Sohn barely affected public support for Moon and the ruling party. She quit the party after being accused of playing a key role in speculative property investments in Mokpo, South Jeolla Province, by mobilizing her relatives and aides to act on insider information. The main opposition Liberty Korea Party (LKP), meanwhile, gained 1.7 percentage points to 26 percent. This was due to key conservative figures returning to the political arena for the LKP's leadership race, according to some observers. Critics say Sohn is likely attracting support from people after the LKP went all-out to raise suspicions against her and called for a thorough investigation into her connection with first lady Kim Jung-sook, calling it a political scandal. The LKP has set up a taskforce to investigate her alleged wrongdoings. Sohn held a press conference Wednesday where she claimed innocence, citing her intent to donate her entire collection of traditional lacquerware to the local government in the future. She then announced Thursday that she had received 150 million won, the annual donation limit for a lawmaker, from her supporters. Critics say the support for her was ironically inspired by the opposition camp's move to tie Sohn and the President. A political expert said when it is hard to find concrete evidence to prove the truth, in some cases, the number of hardline supporters of the lawmaker increases while fighting media outlets. Supreme Court Chief Justice Kim Myeong-su bows in apology to the public at the Supreme Court in Seocho-gu, Seoul, Thursday, after his predecessor Yang Sung-tae was arrested on charges of power abuse earlier the day. Yonhap Incumbent Supreme Court Chief Justice Kim Myeong-su apologized to the public Thursday over the unprecedented arrest of his predecessor in a massive power abuse scandal. Hours earlier, the Seoul district court approved the arrest warrant for former top court chief justice Yang Sung-tae on charges that he abused his authority to use trials as a political tool to lobby the office of the then President Park Geun-hye. "I would, again, like to apologize to the public. I feel wretched and ashamed," he told reporters outside the Supreme Court building. "I don't have the words to describe how I feel or what I could say at this stage so as to at least offer even a tiny bit of comfort to everyone." Yang is the first former South Korea's top court chief to have been questioned by prosecutors and then detained prior to indictment. The disgraced retired justice is facing a trial on more than 40 criminal charges. Yang has denied the charges and told the court on Wednesday that he was being "framed" by other judges. Chief Executive Officer of Uber Dara Khosrowshahi has said that the giant international ride-sharing company plans to further expand its services in the Egyptian market. Khosrowshahi made the comments during a Wednesday meeting with Egyptian Prime Minister Moustafa Madbouly on the sidelines of the Davos Economic Forum, which was attended by Egypt's Minister of Investment and International Cooperation Sahar Nasr. The Uber CEO said that his company has provided employment to 200,000 people in Egypt and offers easy and affordable transportation to millions of Egyptian citizens. The CEO said that Uber regards Egypt as a hub for its services in the Middle East, noting that the company has invested $100 million in establishing a customer service center in the country to serve its customers in Africa and the Middle East. Khosrowshahi also highlighted the companys launch of a new service, Uber Bus, in Cairo recently, which he said will provide affordable transportation to millions of Egyptians by using Ubers technology to enhance the popular minibus system. The CEO asserted the companys commitment to broadening access to Ubers services with a range of low-cost options that will help customers in their transportation needs and help cities tackle congestion. Prime Minister Madbouly praised Ubers work in Egypt, saying that the companys services in the congested city of Cairo have been a model of efficiency and competence, urging the company to make its Uber Bus service available to passengers travelling to the New Administrative Capital some 40km east of Cairo. In December, Uber launched its minibus service in Cairo, the first city globally to be rolling out the new service, which aims to target lower-income passengers. Short link: South Africa: Home Affairs ready for final voter registration weekend Home Affairs Minister Siyabonga Cwele says his department is ready to assist those who will require identity documentation to help them register for the upcoming elections. This weekend is the last voter registration drive for this years national and provincial elections. Cwele has been visiting Home Affairs offices to check on their readiness to assist people with their identity documentation. On Thursday, he paid a visit to the GaRankuwa Home Affairs offices in Tshwane. The Minister has been urging South Africans to collect their IDs from Home Affairs offices. We are happy that people are collecting their IDs and this will enable them to go and register or to verify their details this weekend, the Minister said. Despite challenges, Cwele assured that his department will do everything possible to assist those who go to their offices throughout the country. We do experience challenges with the network but that is a challenge we are busy addressing. During his visit to GaRankuwa, Cwele gave two elderly citizens their smart card IDs. This will enable me to vote in the upcoming elections, said 95-year-old Masemola Matsebe Johannes. Home Affairs offices will open on Saturday and Sunday from 08h00 to 17h00. This, according to the Department of Home Affairs, will afford eligible voters an opportunity to apply for their IDs to go and register. There are nearly 300 000 uncollected IDs nationally. In Gauteng, there are 55 000 uncollected IDs at Home Affairs offices. The department has urged citizens who have applied to visit Home Affairs offices to collect their IDs. SAnews.gov.za This story has been published on: 2019-01-24. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article. Yang boards a car in front of Seoul Central District Court after a court hearing on his arrest warrant, Wednesday, to be transferred to Seoul Detention Center. Korea Times photo by Seo Jae-hoon Yang to be held in same detention center as Park Geun-hye By Lee Suh-yoon The arrest of ex-Supreme Court Chief Justice Yang Sung-tae named as the principal agent of the Park Geun-hye administration's political meddling in court cases generated both shock and relief Thursday. Chief Justice Kim Myeong-su, Yang's successor, called the arrest "a tragic and shameful event," reflecting the numbing blow it dealt to the overall legitimacy of the judiciary body. The response from lawmakers across the political spectrum was divided, with the ruling Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) calling the arrest "an obvious conclusion" and "a chance to regain the public's fallen trust in the judiciary." The main conservative opposition Liberal Korea Party (LKP), however, called the arrest another form of political revenge against conservative administrations of the past. Cheong Wa Dae declined to comment on the matter. Civic groups welcomed the court's decision. "This is not the end but the beginning of the elimination of corruption in the judiciary system," a coalition of civic groups in Gwangju said in front of Gwangju District Court, Thursday. President Moon Jae-in poses with Cho Hae-ju, newly appointed commissioner of the National Election Commission, at Cheong Wa Dae, Thursday. Moon appointed Cho to the minister-level post without requesting a National Assembly hearing. The main opposition Liberty Korea Party, which has opposed Cho citing his ideological bias, vowed to boycott National Assembly sessions in February. / Yonhap By Jung Da-min North Korea's ambassador to the United Nations Kim Song criticized Israel over its illegal occupation of Palestine, in an unusual appearance at a United Nations Security Council (UNSC) meeting Tuesday. The UNSC meeting took place as prospects for a viable state of Palestine dwindled with the expansion of Israel's settlements on the West Bank amid continuing violence. About 50 speakers, including council members and non-members, attended. Kim also made a speech during the meeting. "Kim Song (Democratic People's Republic of Korea), associating himself with the Non-Aligned Movement, said Israel's settlement expansion, blockade of Gaza and suppression of peaceful Palestinian protesters are serious challenges to Palestinians' establishment of an independent state," read the of the meeting on the U.N. website. "He called for implementation of Council resolution 2334 (2016), among others adopted by the General Assembly, as well as a halt to settlement expansion." U.N. Resolution 2334 was about the Israeli settlements in "Palestinian territories occupied since 1967, including East Jerusalem," and demanded that "Israel immediately and completely cease all settlement activities." Kim said North Korea stands in solidarity with Syrians in their efforts to regain the occupied Syrian Golan. The North Korean ambassador's unusual attendance at the UNSC meeting over the issue in the Middle East is seen as the country's effort to expand its presence in international diplomacy. Kim also blamed some permanent members of the UNSC for supporting Israel, calling it a "double-standard attitude." He said the countries involved should resolve controversial issues through dialogue, without outside interference, in an apparent reference to the U.S., Israel's close ally. By Jung Da-min North Korea's top art delegation arrived in Beijing on Thursday. The state-run Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) Thursday morning reported that the delegation, led by Ri Su-yong, a member of the Political Bureau and vice chairman of the Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea, left Pyongyang Wednesday afternoon. The delegation includes the State Merited Chorus and leading artistes in Pyongyang. The official performance schedule is yet to be announced. The art troupe's visit is the first in three years after the cancellation of the Moranbong Band's performance in December 2015. Chinese President Xi Jinping is expected to watch the performance. The North's Workers' Party of Korea (WPK) newspaper Rodong Sinmun said Thursday that the visit was made at the invitation of the International Liaison Department at the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC). The art exchange is part of the two countries' efforts to boost friendship after North Korea's leader Kim Jong-un and President Xi's fourth meeting in early January. Meanwhile, the delegation was seen off by senior officials of the Central Committee of the WPK, including Kim Ki-nam, Kim Yo-jong, Kwon Hyok-bong and Ri Chang-gun, among others. As Kim Ki-nam's name came before that of Kim Yo-jong Kim Jong-un's sister in the North's media reports, it is speculated he has made a political comeback. His name was excluded in the list of the top leadership at the second plenary meeting of the seventh WPK Central Committee in October 2017. Kim, born in 1929, has worked in the media and public information fields since the days of the country's founder and first leader Kim Il-sung. In this Wednesday, Jan. 23, 2019, photo provided on Thursday, Jan. 24, 2019 by the North Korean government, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, right, meets Kim Yong-chol, who traveled to Washington to discuss denuclearization talks, in Pyongyang. AP-Yonhap North Korean leader Kim Jong-un expressed "great satisfaction" after receiving a letter from U.S. President Donald Trump and spoke highly of Trump's "determination and will" to resolve issues between the two countries, state media reported Thursday. Kim made the remark after top aide Kim Yong-chol briefed him on the results of his visit to Washington last week that included meetings with Trump and other top officials for talks about a second summit between the two countries, according to the Korean Central News Agency. "Upon receiving the good personal letter sent by President Trump, the Supreme Leader expressed great satisfaction. He spoke highly of President Trump for expressing his unusual determination and will for the settlement of the issue with a great interest in the second DPRK-U.S. summit," the KCNA said. DPRK stands for the North's official name, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea. A photo released by the official North Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) show Kim Jong-un, right, chairman of the Workers' Party of Korea, chairman of the State Affairs Commission of the DPRK and supreme commander of the Korean People's Army, as he met with the delegation to the second DPRK-US high-level talks that had visited Washington D.C. of the United States, in Pyongyang, North Korea, 23 January 2019. EPA-Yonhap Kim also said he will "believe in the positive way of thinking of President Trump, wait with patience and in good faith and, together with the U.S., advance step by step toward the goal to be reached by the two countries of the DPRK and the U.S.," according to the KCNA. It was the North's first report on Kim Yong-chol's trip to Washington. During the visit, the envoy met with Trump at the White House and delivered a personal letter from the North's leader. He also held talks with Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. Trump said after the meeting the two sides agreed to hold a second summit in late February, though the exact date and venue would be announced later. The KCNA, however, made no mention of the agreement to hold a summit next month. "Expressing satisfaction over the results of the talks and activities done by the DPRK delegation in Washington D.C., the U.S., he set forth tasks and orientation for making good technical preparations for the second DPRK-U.S. summit high on the agenda," the KCNA said. In this file photo taken on January 18, 2019 US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo welcomes North Korean Vice-Chairman Kim Yong-chol prior to a meeting in Washington, DC. AFP-Yonhap A bloomed flower lies in an empty tea cup on the rock at Geumdun Temple in South Jeolla Province, Jan. 22. Korea Times photo by Choi Won-suk Venerable Jiheo speaks of life with tea By Park Jin-hai Venerable Jiheo, 77, who has devoted his life to growing green tea plants since he became a monk at the age of 15, says the essence of Buddhist culture lies in tea. "A famous ancient book praising green tea says if one drinks seven cups of tea, that person can become a Buddha. With each cup of tea, one's thirst, loneliness and complaints gradually go away. When the person reaches the seventh cup, he can feel the clear breeze blowing underarm with no wind at all," said the former chief monk of Seonam Temple. He now runs a small temple Geumdun, just 14 kilometers south of Seonamsa (sa is Korean for temple), with some wild tea fields over 700 years old. "In practicing seon (zen), focusing on the single thought of hwadu, one's body caves in to sleep and distracting thoughts. Teas help eliminate waste matter from the body, clear one's mind and focus on the single subject of hwadu." The monk says Korean wild crafted teas, harvested in the traditional way by hand and roasted nine to ten times, are different from Chinese or Japanese teas. "Compared with China's fermented green teas or Japan's steamed tea, Korean green teas produced in the traditional way tend to have a deeper flavor. Repeatedly adding water to make more tea, the flavor and color is maintained from the first cup to the seventh." Ven. Jiheo makes tea with wild green tea leaves he cultivated and roasted himself. Korea Times photo by Choi Won-suk Malananda, a Buddhist monk from Gandhara, in modern day Pakistan, brought Buddhism to the southern Korean Peninsula in the fourth century. He came to Baekje from Jin China in 384 and green tea was also introduced then. But as they were cultured in the terrain of the Korean peninsula, Korean wild green teas came to develop unique characteristics, different from green teas grown in the vast land of China or in the sea salt containing wind of Japan. He describes the taste of Korean tea as like the blue sky in the fall. "Everybody falls in love with a clear autumn sky. For me, Korean tea's taste reminds me of the clear blue autumn sky with some thin, wispy clouds floating in it," he said. The Venerable Jiheo began his priesthood at Seonam Temple and has cultivated and made tea there for 25 years. At the age of 50, he left the temple to restore then abandoned Geumdun Temple, near Seonam Temple from 1990 until now. Living alone in Geumdun Temple, he "farms" around 6,600 square meters of wild tea trees, some that are up to 700 years old, and has planted tea plants on 33,000 square meters of land on a nearby hillside to preserve the Korean green tea tree breed. He says his wild tea plants are grown in the most natural ways that acknowledge their characteristics. Japanese green tea plants are bred to make the roots stretch sideways to produce more tea leaves and planted in shallow ground. But, Korean wild green tea plants are deep rooted the roots are two to three times longer than the height of the plant, thus they don't require fertilizers or pesticides, according to the monk. "The only maintenance they require is to give the plants the environment they love, but that is again not aimed to increase production. I cut over-grown branches and let the broad-leaved trees planted between green tea trees do the rest of growing _ giving the shade and wind required for growing green tea trees," he said. Ven. Jiheo walks through Geumdun Temple in South Jeolla Province. Korea Times photo by Choi Won-suk A statue of a family is seen beneath the Expo Digital Gallery, a massive LED showing marine life on the ceiling of the Yeosu Expo International Pavilion. / Korea Times photo by Jon Dunbar By Jon Dunbar If it were 2012, Yeosu would be at the top of your list of places to visit. That year, this cozy coastal city in South Jeolla Province hosted the 2012 Expo , and it would never be the same after. The crowds moved on as soon as the pavilions shut down, but many of the structures built specifically for the Expo remain. And many have found a new life, while others sit underutilized. Gone are the pavilions offered by companies and participating nations, leaving behind wide open spaces and large-scale structures housing cavernous exhibition rooms. Seen from the Yeosu Venezia Hotel, much of the Yeosu Expo grounds sit over water. The Theme Pavilion, center right, is locked up tight and its exterior is wasting away. / Korea Times photo by Jon Dunbar Expo sites around the world have been notorious for leaving behind structures that are useless after the big event closes. Korea already learned its lesson with the 1993 Expo in Daejeon, whose grounds were touted as a city symbol while they deteriorated gradually until demolition in 2015. Yeosu sought to create a more sustainable Expo, with attention paid to the future use of all structures. As the Expo was themed around coastal environments, it was designed to prevent environmental damage, so as to minimize hypocrisy in its ecological message. Ten years ago, this area housed a lively coastal community, with carnival rides and plenty of foot traffic. It had a similar atmosphere to Incheon's Wolmido area. Nowadays it feels more like Incheon's Songdo, a large-scale overdeveloped expensive place. Unlike Songdo, it is easily accessible by rail, with Yeosu Expo Station serving as the terminus of the Jeolla KTX route since 2011. The station opens out facing directly onto the Expo grounds. Taxis wait for passengers here but bus connections are a hike away. A turtle ship sits outside Yeosu Expo KTX Station. In the background is Sky Tower, a pair of defunct concrete silos converted into an observation deck. / Korea Times photo by Jon Dunbar A visit to the Yeosu Expo grounds in January 2019 reveals a quiet coastal zone with a small tourism and MICE industry. Certainly people are staying in the hotels and visiting other nearby tourist sites, and clearly the area can be more active week by week. The Expo grounds haven't been forgotten, just faded into the background. Places to stay The International Pavilion, in front of the station, is a ghost of its former self, with a few scattered restaurants and shops on the main floor. High up on the vast ceiling, sea creatures frolic across a massive LED screen, the Expo Digital Gallery. Take one of the few working escalators up to the third floor, and you will find the nice new glass door to Yeosu Darakhyu, a compact luxury hotel built right into the former U.S. Pavilion, filling the space after five years of vacancy with hotel units and a large common area. Walkerhill has already introduced popular Darakhyu capsule hotels at both terminals of Incheon International Airport, injecting comfort into a less-than-cozy space. "The capsule units can be recycled, allowing us to reuse the units in another place after the contract ends to minimize environmental waste," explained Park Wan-soo, assistant manager of the Darakhyu hotels. "The site near the Expo grounds had great development potential for it is a terminal station of KTX. We thought it was the hottest travel destination in Korea besides Jeju Island and Busan, as the number of people visiting Yeosu increased sharply up to 13 million a year after 2012." The sitting area of Darakhyu Yeosu, in the former USA Pavilion space, overlooks the coastal Expo grounds. / Courtesy of Darakhyu The Expo site clearly needs more creative ideas like Darakhyu's modular concept to stay relevant and be sustainable. For more upscale travelers, the towers of Yeosu Venezia Hotel & Resort and The MVL Hotel Yeosu , two local hotel brands, stand right by the water. The two towers blend into the vaguely futuristic Expo scenery, while offering guests fantastic views in all directions. Uphill from the train station is just the opposite: O Dong Jae, a hanok hotel complex offering visitors a stay in a majestic wooden building overlooking the coastal area. This corner of the Yeosu Expo International Pavilion receives few visitors on Jan. 11. / Korea Times photo by Jon Dunbar Venturing further off the tourist paths, one can find many more hotels and hostels in the vicinity. Further away, motels can be found around Yeosu Bus Terminal. A row of good new business hotels line the bay near Yeosu City Hall, conveniently located stumbling distance from the city's first microbrewery Oh Mae and brewpub Butterfly Island . What to do Up on the third floor of the International Pavilion, some of the spaces have been turned into children's playrooms. Hidden among the empty corridors and inactive escalators, one can also find the Roller On Inline Skating Rink and the Teddy Bear Museum . Out front, visitors can ride a zipline over the water. Elsewhere, the aquarium, Hanwha Aqua Planet Yeosu is as thrilling as it was in 2012, only now without the huge crowds and long lines. The highlights are the two beluga whales and Baikal seals. Its largest water tank is filled with various marine life including sharks, rays and sea turtles, and visitors can walk through a transparent tube and feel like they are among the creatures underwater. The same building also houses a Trick Eye Museum and 5D theater, and various discount packages are available for those who want to visit multiple attractions. Visitors walk through a translucent passageway leading through a water tank filled with various marine species. / Korea Times photo by Jon Dunbar Another landmark left over from 2012 is Sky Tower, an observation deck built on top of two repurposed cement silos. An external elevator whisks passengers up to the top, where a cafe is now open. Unfortunately the massive pipe organ that was once part of this attraction has been disabled. The centerpiece of the Expo remains the Big-O Show, a breathtaking multimedia showcase that is still held in warmer months, according to a sign on the site. When active it spits fire and projects holograms to a powerful soundtrack. The Big-O floats in the water among the Yeosu Expo grounds at sunset on Jan. 11. In warmer months The Big-O Show is advertised as still happening. / Korea Times photo by Jon Dunbar Export-Import Bank of Korea (Eximbank) Chairman Eun Sung-soo speaks to reporters at a press conference in Seoul, Thursday. Courtesy of Eximbank By Park Hyong-ki The state-run Export-Import Bank of Korea (Eximbank) will issue a similar amount of bonds as last year to help local companies finance their acquisitions of assets and technologies abroad, Chairman Eun Sung-soo said. The policy bank issued bonds worth $10 billion in 2018, he said. "We will issue bonds denominated in 26 currencies to provide not only export project but also acquisition financing as the bank did in 2018," the chairman said at a press conference in Seoul, Thursday. "We are a bank whose core business is lending. Since we don't have a depository business, we need to raise capital through bonds to extend loans." For example, it issued yen-denominated bonds and extended loans in yen to SK hynix for the acquisition of Toshiba's memory business last year, Eun said. A consortium consisting of SK, Bain Capital, Apple and Dell sealed this $18 billion deal in June 2018. The increased support for cross-border deals is part of the state-run bank's plan to provide 49 trillion won in loans to local companies for overseas projects such as shipbuilding and energy plant construction in 2019, up from 48.8 trillion won in 2018. Eximbank also is seeking to guarantee loans worth 13 trillion won taken out from the bank and other financial institutions by local companies for such projects, up from 9 trillion won. With the money raised from bonds, Eximbank will consider investing in equities of companies or projects in a "small and limited amount," if such a move can strategically help them move forward in winning and developing those projects, as well as entering new markets, the bank said. Eximbank can invest in convertible bonds issued by such companies. However, Eun reiterated that it is a bank, not an investor and not "Santa Claus," saying it will definitely back companies on reasonable grounds. For instance, the policy bank will not back a financial scheme called "refund guarantees" for shipbuilders that secured orders at ultra-low prices for the sake of boosting the number of their projects to more than they could handle. He referred to a past case involving Sungdong Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering, which is under court receivership. When such shipbuilders fail to complete their projects due to financial difficulties, the scheme forces Eximbank and commercial banks to pay the price to purchasers such as energy and shipping companies. Eximbank will further work with local companies to attract investment from the National Pension Service and Korea Investment Corp. for their overseas deals. "We have strengthened the bank's fundamentals. We are fully ready to back our local companies by extending our collaborative reach to the pension and sovereign wealth funds," Eun said. "No longer will the companies say they couldn't win deals because they couldn't get enough support from the policy bank." KCGI seeks to force Cho out of Hanjin management By Jhoo Dong-chan Shareholder activism has emerged as the centerpiece of the nation's capital market. A growing number of shareholders at large Korean companies or chaebol are trying to have a bigger say in their management and to influence the owner families' behavior by exercising their rights as partial owners. The move is drawing caution in the market as it is regarded as a double-edged sword for companies and their investors. On the one hand, it can provide the impetus for ensuring transparent management and enhancing shareholder value. But, on the other, it could undermine companies' bottom lines by affecting business decisions through excessive intervention. The new trend is spearheaded by the National Pension Service (NPS), Korea's largest institutional investor, which introduced a stewardship code in 2018 to strengthen its influence as a major shareholder. Similar to the concept of shareholder activism, the stewardship code, the bringing in of which was a pledge of President Moon Jae-in during his election campaign, is a set of guidelines that encourages major shareholders to push for better corporate governance and higher dividends from the companies they invest in. President Moon reiterated Wednesday that his administration wants the NPS to aggressively exercise its rights against the management of companies committing serious breaches of the law. "For a fair economy, large companies should act responsibly. The government will ask the NPS to aggressively execute its stewardship code and fulfill its responsibility as a shareholder,"?Moon said at a meeting with economic ministers Wednesday. The NPS is now mulling whether to exercise its rights against Hanjin Group led by Chairman Cho Yang-ho. With a 7.34 percent stake, the NPS is the third-largest shareholder of Hanjin Kal, the group's holding company. Following the agency's lead, asset management firms and equity funds are now actively exercising their management rights. The Korea Corporate Governance Improvement (KCGI), a homegrown private equity fund led by CEO Kang Sung-boo, recently suggested ousting Hanjin Kal's executives, including Cho, if they violate the law or hurt the firm's reputation. The KCGI is Hanjin Kal's second-largest shareholder as its Grace Holdings subsidiary now owns 9 percent of the group. It later expanded its stake to 10.81 percent and bought an 8.03 percent stake in Hanjin Transportation. Currently, Cho and his family are the firm's largest shareholders with a 28.95 percent stake. The KCGI's suggestion is seen as a de facto demand for Cho's resignation. The chairman's family has made headlines since Heather Cho, his daughter and a vice president of the firm's subsidiary Korean Air, forced an airplane to return to its departure gate because she was upset in the way her favorite nuts had been served in the cabin. Since the so-called "nut rage" incident, Cho's family members, including himself, have been involved in a series of scandals involving criminal activities such as bribery, embezzlement and smuggling. "We believe professional executives with expertise and integrity should push to clean up the group, to avoid a repetition of the owner family's illegal and abusive practices," the KCGI said in a statement Monday. It also demanded Hanjin Kal consider selling its loss-making hotel business, which includes the Wilshire Grand Hotel in Los Angeles and the Waikiki Resort Hotel in Hawaii. "Excessive expansion into the hotel business worsened the company's profitability and financial soundness. It will face more serious financial problems if it does not improve its poor risk management system," the fund said. Hanjin Group declined to comment on the KCGI's demands, but industry observers say the move is believed to be aimed at removing Cho. "The KCGI's demands are probably unacceptable to Cho," a market observer said. "The matter is likely to be raised at the shareholders' meeting scheduled for March." KB Asset Management, a subsidiary of KB Financial Group, has also taken similar action. In December, the firm demanded that Gwangju Shinsegae pay dividends. Gwangju Shinsegae is a subsidiary of retail giant Shinsegae. Chairman Chung Yong-jin owns a 62.5 percent stake in the company. The asset management firm owns a 9.76 percent stake in the subsidiary, and Gwangju Shinsegae immediately said it will gradually increase its dividends to shareholders. Macquarie Korea Asset Management (MKAM) also announced last week it will slash paying incentives to its executive members. Immediately after the announcement, the stock price of Macquarie Korea Infrastructure Fund (MKIF) closed at 9,650 won Jan. 21, up 2.22 percent from the previous session. MKAM is MKIF's management firm. It was also a record-high price since the fund was listed on the benchmark KOSPI. Platform Partners, which claimed MKAM's management fees were too high and attempted to overthrow the management firm last year, only to fail last, said Platform's efforts to improve the fund's management have come to fruition. Producer Seo Soo-min. Yonhap By Lee Min-young Former KBS television producer Seo Soo-min said she recently turned down a job offer from Cheong Wa Dae to serve as the new presidential aide for protocol. According to a local news outlet on Thursday, she confirmed an earlier report on Wednesday that she had been offered the job but declined it. She is said to have told close friends that she was honored to be considered by the top office as a possible candidate but she wanted to continue her career as a producer. She said the job is too demanding for a producer like herself and also feared she would be a burden to the government. An earlier report said Seo was named as the leading candidate for the post after Tak Hyun-min, the current presidential aide for protocol, handed in his resignation on Jan. 7. He has been on leave since Jan. 10. His resignation is known to have been accepted internally but has not been officially announced. A Cheong Wa Dae official said Seo was brought up as a possible candidate but did not confirm whether she was singled out as Tak's replacement. Seo is most famous for directing the KBS comedy show "Gag Concert" and the third season of the popular reality show "Two Days and One Night." She is now in the U.S. Egypt, the worlds largest wheat buyer, has secured $1 billion of a $3 billion Islamic Trade Finance Corporation deal to fund purchases by its state grain agency, a senior government source with direct knowledge of the matter told Reuters on Wednesday. Acute shortages of foreign currency had caused delays in past payments by Egypts General Authority for Supply commodities (GASC) to global suppliers. The new financing should ensure dollars are available for the state buyer to use on wheat. Cairo pays around $1.5 billion annually for the grain as part of a bread subsidy programme on which many of Egypts almost 100 million people depend. The financing should allow GASC to pay global suppliers more immediately, which could in turn see them offer cheaper prices in future grain tenders. GASC may also renew financing when the initial $1 billion tranche is used up so deferred payments for grain will no longer be an issue, the source said. Supply Ministry officials were not immediately available to comment. Egypt said on Monday it would pay for wheat bought in upcoming international purchase tenders by opening letters of credit on sight, instead of with payment guaranteed within 180 days, after the government gave a final sign-off on the ITFC agreement. The loan can be renewed whenever the money runs out so this is GASC turning to on-sight payments from now on, the source said. GASCs letters of credit - banking guarantees for on-time payment to sellers - were being issued prior to shipment, with payment guaranteed within 180 days. The deferred payment system was introduced at a time when foreign exchange shortages plagued Egypts economy. Its positive and implies confidence in terms of foreign exchange liquidity and visibility, Allen Sandeep, head of research at Naeem Brokerage, said about the move. The move to on-sight payment means the cost of financing deferred payment will be taken out of traders calculations when making offers to GASC at its international purchase tenders. The decision to pay on sight could cause a reduction of prices of around $3 to $4 a tonne, one Cairo-based trader said. Still, Egypt, which buys mostly Russian and Black Sea wheat, may not see an immediate difference to prices at its next tender as Russian wheat prices edge up on seasonally lower supply and a stronger rouble. nL8N1ZL2MI The seller needs to have the money to make the immediate payments though and a billion dollars could be the kick-start needed, one German trader said. Short link: Shenandoah, IA (51601) Today Partly cloudy. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. Low 68F. Winds E at 5 to 10 mph.. Tonight Partly cloudy. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. Low 68F. Winds E at 5 to 10 mph. A co-founder of the Taliban was appointed as the leader of its political office in Qatar on Thursday to strengthen its hand in peace talks with the United States as they try to establish a mechanism to end the 17-year Afghan war. Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar was released from a prison in Pakistan in October last year has been authorized to lead the political team and take decisions, two Taliban sources in Afghanistan said. The Taliban issued a statement to announce Baradars appointment and a reshuffle in their team to put senior leaders into key positions as the talks with U.S. officials gain momentum. This step has been taken to strengthen and properly handle the ongoing negotiations process with the United States, the Taliban said in statement. U.S. special peace envoy Zalmay Khalilzads meeting with the Taliban representatives, which was originally due to run over two days, entered its fourth day on Thursday. It was not clear whether the talks were to continue on Friday, or how soon Baradar could join the talks. Baradar will soon fly to Qatar. He has been given the new position because the U.S. wanted senior Taliban leadership to participate in peace talks, a senior Taliban official said. Baradar, who coordinated the insurgent groups military operations in southern Afghanistan, was arrested in 2010 by a team from Pakistans military-controlled intelligence agency, the Inter-Services Intelligence, and the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency. His release, according to security experts, was part of high-level negotiations led by Khalilzad with the Taliban. Diplomatic efforts to end the United States longest running conflict intensified last year after the appointment of the Afghan-born Khalilzad to lead direct talks with the Taliban. He has held at least four meetings with the Taliban representatives. But there has been no let up in the violence. And abiding fears about how Afghan government forces would withstand the Taliban threat without U.S. military support have been heightened by reports that U.S. President Donald Trump wants to bring home almost half of the 14,000 U.S. troops deployed in Afghanistan. POSITIVE PROGRESS But the unexpected extension of peace talks was a positive sign, according to two senior Taliban leaders in Afghanistan who have been kept informed of the progress made in Qatar. During the first two days, the talks focused on a roadmap for the withdrawal of the foreign forces and a guarantee that Afghanistan would not be used for hostile acts against the United States and its allies, according to one of Taliban leaders. The mechanism for a ceasefire and ways to enter into an intra-Afghan dialogue were the two other big topics that were supposed to be discussed on Thursday, he told Reuters, speaking on condition of anonymity. A third source based in the Gulf, who has close ties to the Taliban representatives, said the decision to extend the meeting in the Qatari capital Doha came after positive progress during the first two days. Members of Afghanistans High Peace Council (AHPC), a body which oversees peace efforts but does not represent the government said they were hoping for positive news. When talks take a long time it means the discussion is in a sensitive and important stage, and the participants are getting close to a positive result, said Sayed Ehsan Taheri, the spokesman for AHPC in Kabul. The Taliban who are fighting to oust foreign troops have repeatedly rejected the offer to hold direct talks with President Ashraf Ghanis government, which they consider an illegitimate foreign-imposed regime. The U.S. and regional powers insist that the peace process should be Afghan-led and Afghan-owned. Newly appointed Baradar will also hold the additional post of third deputy of Mullah Haibatullah Akhundzada, the leader of Taliban and work with Sher Mohammad Abbas Stanekzai, a veteran Taliban official who has been running the groups political office in Qatar since 2015 and has participated in the latest rounds of peace talks. Stanekzai was given the responsibility but he was not powerful to make all decisions, said a second Taliban official on conditions of anonymity. Short link: Members of the RCMPs Emergency Response Team guard a cab that was boxed in by police vehicles behind he CIBC branch at Orchard Park mall. A witness said four to five shots were fired about 3:15 p.m. as police launched what appeared to be a high-stakes takedown of suspects outside the bank. The provinces Independent Investigations Office is probing the incident because police fired at least one of the shots. Staff, who were told to remain inside, watched the investigation unfold from a second-floor window. Utility Stores Corporation Job 2019 For Managing Director Latest Utility Stores Corporation of Pakistan Management Posts Islamabad 2021 Government of Pakistan Utility Stores Corporation of Pakistan Pvt Limited Ministry of Industries & Production required qualified and well educated candidate for the position of Managing Director in Islamabad. How to Apply on Utility Stores Corporation of Pakistan Job Advertisement Apply as per details in job advertisement. In some cases, you may apply online at vacancies after registering at https://www.jobz.pk online. Company Address: Plot No 2039 Sector G-7 / F-7 Jinnah Avenue Blue Area Islamabad Telephone: 051-9245026 Note: Beware of Fraudulent Recruiting Activities. If the employer asks you to pay money for any purpose including processing to shortlisting, do not pay at all and report us using our contact us form. Apply as per instuctions & dates mentioned in official job ad. Govt jobs cannot be applied online here. Error & omissions excepted. Desert Group Job 2019 in UAE United Arab Emirates Latest Al Kamil Enterprises Overseas Emplyment Promoters Posts UAE 2021 Experienced and strong persons for the posts of Mali, Agriculture Worker required urgently for a leading and well known Desert Group in UAE United Arab Emirates 2019. How to Apply on Al Kamil Enterprises Overseas Emplyment Promoters Job Advertisement Apply as per details in job advertisement. In some cases, you may apply online at vacancies after registering at https://www.jobz.pk online. Telephone: 051-8442622 Note: Beware of Fraudulent Recruiting Activities. If the employer asks you to pay money for any purpose including processing to shortlisting, do not pay at all and report us using our contact us form. Apply as per instuctions & dates mentioned in official job ad. Govt jobs cannot be applied online here. Error & omissions excepted. Greek lawmakers are expected to vote Thursday on a deal to change the name of neighbouring Macedonia and end one of the world's longest diplomatic disputes. The debate began Wednesday and is to conclude late Thursday with a vote on the Prespa Agreement which was signed with Skopje in June to rename the former Yugoslav republic. Macedonia's parliament backed a constitutional revision to change the country's name to the Republic of North Macedonia 10 days ago. But for the deal to go through, the change must also be approved by Greek MPs. Greek opponents of the deal plan to protest outside parliament Thursday night to defend the "Greekness" of Macedonia. And Communist Party activists draped giant banners outside the Acropolis, reading: "No to the Tsipras-Zaev agreement" in reference to the landmark compromise agreed between Macedonia's Prime Minister Zoran Zaev and his Greek counterpart Alexis Tsipras. On Sunday, clashes between police and masked protesters left around 40 people injured as tens of thousands demonstrated in Athens against the name change. According to the government, "the incidents were provoked by extremists, members of the Golden Dawn, who attempted to enter parliament". A wide range of Greek political parties, from the far-right Golden Dawn to the Socialists, oppose the accord to rename Macedonia. But it could nonetheless be approved by the required 151 lawmakers in the 300-seat parliament. The accord aims to start unravelling one of the world's longest diplomatic disputes which began nearly three decades ago with Macedonia's declaration of independence but whose roots date back centuries. Since 1991, Athens has objected to its neighbour being called Macedonia because it has a northern province of the same name. In ancient times it was the cradle of Alexander the Great's empire, a source of intense pride for modern-day Greeks. But the June agreement marks a landmark shift in the dispute, with the efforts of the two prime ministers winning them a nomination for the 2019 Nobel Peace Prize. 'Right Side Of History' In addition to normalising relations between the two countries, implementation of the agreement will open the door for Macedonia to join the European Union and NATO, hitherto blocked by Athens' veto. But in Greece, the name of its neighbour continues to fuel controversy in politics and society, a few months ahead of parliamentary elections scheduled for October. Last week, Tsipras' ruling coalition fell apart as a result of the controversy but he then narrowly won a confidence vote, setting the stage for the name-change vote in parliament. Tsipras' leftist Syriza party has 145 MPs and enough independent members have pledged their support to secure approval of the deal. Speaking to AFP on Thursday, Macedonia's Foreign Minister Nikola Dimitrov said supporters of the deal were "on the right side of history", with the agreement offering a valuable model for resolving a number of complex disagreements in the Balkans. Dimitrov, who was one of the top architects of the June deal along with Nikos Kotzias, his Greek counterpart at the time, said the compromise had created "a climate (in which) the impossible is actually possible". 'Concerns Exaggerated' On the right, New Democracy leader Kyriakos Mitsotakis called on his MPs to denounce the "bad" agreement, accusing the government of surrendering "Macedonian identity and language" to its neighbour. For many Greeks, especially in the north where the province of Macedonia is the birthplace of Alexander, the name "Macedonia" belongs to Greek historical heritage. Some even fear their neighbour has designs on its namesake Greek province. "These concerns are exaggerated," Yannis Armakolas, professor of political science at the University of Thessaloniki, told AFP, deploring the lack of party consensus and "real public debate" on an issue of national importance. "If the Prespa Agreement does not come into effect, the consequences of the failure will be profound and both sides might well reconsider many elements that had been agreed to," UN mediator Matthew Nimetz said in an interview with Greek news agency ANA. Opposition leader Mitsotakis has been calling for early elections. He promised "a new negotiation" with Skopje if the agreement is not endorsed by parliament and if he secures victory in the upcoming elections. But Nimetz said reaching a new agreement "would take years, not months, given that all the issues would once again be on the table, and given that there are likely to be different political dynamics in both countries, as well as changes in the regional and global environment." Short link: Sonja Morgan is sharing her thoughts on Bethenny Frankels new relationship with real estate developer and film producer Paul Bernon. Im very excited that she has someone to hold hands with, thestar toldLady Morgan remained tight-lipped when asked if she has met Bernon. However, the Bravo reality star said she loves when my friends are happy.In September, multiple sources revealed that Frankel is in a relationship with Bernon. The paid made their official debut as a couple last month via Instagram while celebrating Christmas together in the Dominican Republic.In December, the Skinnygirl mogul publicly thanked Bernon for saving her life after she suffered a near-fatal allergic reaction. In response to a fan who brought up her new boyfriend, Frankel acknowledged his role in the scary incident, tweeting: He saved my life.Photo Credit: Getty Images Microsoft Office has been missing from the Mac App Store for years, but that is finally changing. Update: Microsofts Office apps are now available from the Mac App Store. You will need that Office 365 subscription to take advantage of all the features. A link to download is available at the bottom of this article. The original piece continues below. Apple confirmed that Microsofts suite of office apps would launch in the Mac App Store at some point in the future last June during the Worldwide Developers Conference. Since then, though, there hasnt been a peep on the arrival. However, it looks like the launch may be imminent. The iOS App Store in some countries is now referencing the launch of Microsoft Office in the Mac App Store, suggesting it could be right around the corner: https://twitter.com/agpiveteau/status/1088453858936872961 The tweet indicates that Microsoft is ready to launch its suite of Office apps directly into the Mac App Store very soon. However, there isnt any mention of a launch date, so nothing to circle on the calendar just yet. Its likely, though, that the software will be available in the digital store sooner rather than later now. Technically speaking, Microsoft Office has been available on Macs for years, but users have had to download the software directly from Microsoft to get it. The impending launch of Office in the Mac App Store has been a long time coming, and a welcomed addition to Apples proprietary storefront. But the subscription wont be changing just because its available in the Mac App Store, which means you will need to be subscribed to Office 365 to unlock all of the features for each individual productivity app within the suite. When Microsoft Office launches in the App Store, we will update this post to let you know its available. [via @agpiviteau Download: You have permission to edit this article. Edit Close Opinion Policies Editorials are longer opinion pieces that are written by a group of community members recruited across campus who address relevant issues on a local, national and international level. Editorials are research-based. The purpose of the Editorial Board is to promote discussion concerning relevant issues in the community while advising on possible solutions. Topics are chosen via relevancy and interests of the members, which are then discussed by the Editorial Board in order to reach a general consensus concerning the topic or issue. Feedback policy If you have a grievance concerning the content or argument of the Editorial Board, please contact either Opinion Editor Peyton Hamel (peyton.hamel@iowastatedaily.com) or the Editorial Board as a whole (editorialboard@iowastatedaily.com). Those wanting to respond to editorials can also submit a letter to the editor through the Iowa State Daily website or by emailing the letter to Opinion Editor Peyton Hamel (peyton.hamel@iowastatedaily.com) or Editor-in-Chief Sage Smith (sage.smith@iowastatedaily.com). Column Policy Columns are hyper-specific to opinion and are written by only columnists employed by the Iowa State Daily. Columnists are unique because they have a specific writing day and only publish on those writing days. Each column undergoes a thorough editing process ensuring the integrity of the writer, and their claim is maintained while remaining research-based and respectful. Columns may be submitted from community members. These are labelled as Guest Columns. These contain similar research-based content and need to be at least 400 words in length. The following requirements should be met: first and last name, email and relation or position to Iowa State. Emails must be tied to the submitted guest column or it will not be accepted or published. Pseudonyms are prohibited and the writer will be banned from submissions. Read our full Opinion Policies here. Updated on 10/7/2020 The new USMexicoCanada Agreement After multiple rounds of negotiations, on November 30 2018, the US, Mexico and Canada signed the USMCA at the G20 summit in Argentina. The USMCA, which still needs to be ratified by their corresponding governments, will replace the 24-year old North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), and will come into force three months after the last member party completes its internal approval process. The new agreement is comprised of 34 chapters (relative to the 22 chapters included in NAFTA), which overall aim to regulate intellectual property, anti-corruption, digital trade, financial services, labour rights, agricultural technology and biotechnology standards, textile production, environmental obligations, and non-discriminatory treatment, among others. Key highlights of the USMCA include: The new agreement establishes a transparent legal and commercial framework for business planning that supports further expansion of trade and investment. At the same time, it incorporates provisions to prevent technical barriers that are unnecessary or unjustified for international trade, address malpractices and acts of corruption, and enhances the involvement of small and medium sized enterprises in international trade. Cross-border services - The USMCA establishes commitments between member parties for the liberalisation of cross-border financial services and market access. Furthermore, it includes an effective competition framework for cross-border service suppliers and preserves non-discriminatory treatment. De minimis To facilitate greater cross-border trade, the USMCA will raise the de minimis shipment value levels from 7% to 10% of the transaction value for small package/express shipments. Labour A new labour chapter was included in the USMCA to enforce member parties to comply with their labour legislation, and specifically, a new annex on worker representation in collective bargaining in Mexico is included to provide for the effective recognition of the right of collective bargaining. Rules of origin The USMCAs rules of origin have been updated, and specifically for the automotive sector. The new rules establish a 75% regional value content (RVC) and labour value content (LVC) between 40-45%, which will depend on the type of vehicle, but should be manufactured by employees with wages of at least $16 dollars per hour. Certification and verification of origin The USMCA encourages the removal or reduction of the formalities required for the certification or verification of products, and enforces cooperation between customs authorities to detect and prevent customs offences and tax evasion. The formalities for the verification and certification of origin are simplified. The verification of origin may now be carried out through information requests or visits to the premises of the exporter or producer, whereas the certification of origin will not need to follow a prescribed format and may be carried out through any commercial document, to the extent it includes the information of the exporter, producer and product, and complies with the corresponding rules of origin. Furthermore, importers may claim for preferential tariff treatment, based on a certification of origin completed by the exporter, producer or importer. Energy While the USMCA was expected to include a renewed energy chapter for potential change in the energy sector due to the incoming government of Mexico's Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, such a chapter was discarded. Similar provisions to the ones established for this sector under NAFTA, which ensured Mexican sovereignty in the framework of Mexicos Energy Reform, were preserved. Currency A chapter on macroeconomic policies and exchange rate matters is included in the USMCA to address unfair currency practices. Dispute settlement mechanism The dispute settlement mechanism established under NAFTA, which allowed member parties to present allegations against other members unfair trading practices, is preserved. However, the investor-state dispute settlement mechanism, which allows investors to present allegations against member-country governments for discriminatory actions, will be limited to certain sectors for Mexico (e.g. oil and gas, power generation and telecommunication services). The USMCA will be in force for 16 years, subject to review by the member parties in the sixth year of the new agreement. Every six years, the parties shall notify their intention to automatically extend the agreement for another 16 years. This article was written by Oscar A Lopez Velarde and Daniela A Inigo Arroyo of Ritch, Mueller, Heather & Nicolau, S.C. Oscar A. Lopez Velarde (olopezvelarde@ritch.com.mx) Daniela A. Inigo Arroyo (dinigo@ritch.com.mx) Ritch, Mueller, Heather y Nicolau, S.C. www.ritch.com.mx The material on this site is for financial institutions, professional investors and their professional advisers. It is for information only. Please read our Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy before using the site. All material subject to strictly enforced copyright laws. 2021 Euromoney Institutional Investor PLC. For help please see our FAQ. Share this article The head of the Syrian Kurdish YPG militia believes talks with the government over the future of the northeast region will begin in days after a positive reaction from Damascus. Any deal between the YPG and President Bashar al-Assads state could piece together the two biggest chunks of a nation splintered by eight years of conflict. Dialogue attempts have revived in the wake of U.S. President Donald Trumps decision to withdraw troops from the Kurdish-led region. There are attempts to carry out negotiations ... the Syrian government stance was positive, the YPG commander Sipan Hemo told Reuters. We believe they will start in the coming days. In a voice recording sent from his representatives late on Wednesday, Hemo said U.S. moves to withdraw were over-hasty and could not happen while the battle against Islamic State militants still rages. Syrian Kurdish leaders have sought Russian mediation for talks with Assads state, hoping to safeguard their autonomous region when U.S. troops currently backing them pull out. They fear an attack by neighboring Turkey, which has threatened to crush the YPG. On a recent visit, U.S. envoy James Jeffrey talked to him and other officials about both satisfying Turkey and protecting northern Syria, Hemo said. U.S. arming of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), which the YPG spearheads, has infuriated NATO ally Turkey. Ankara sees the Syrian Kurdish fighters as indistinguishable from the Kurdish PKK movement that has waged an insurgency inside Turkey. The Kurdish-led authority that runs much of north and east Syria presented a road map for an agreement with Assad in recent meetings with his key ally Russia. Hemo said there had been no direct talks with the state since, but Damascus had received the proposal, which focused on preserving Kurdish and minority rights, including education, as well as self-rule. Kurdish forces and Damascus have mostly avoided combat during the war. Assad, who has vowed to recover the entire country, has long opposed Kurdish ambitions for a federal Syria. Short-lived talks between the two sides last summer went nowhere. Government officials were not immediately available for comment, but a minister last week expressed optimism. LONG WAR WITH DAESH Mixed messages from Washington have clouded Trumps abrupt announcement last month, which sparked concern among Western allies. The 2,000 American forces are still deployed in the SDF region, rich in oil, farmland and water - the biggest chunk of Syria outside state rule. Implementing this (U.S.) decision to withdraw practically is not possible in the near term, Hemo said. SDF fighters are now battling Islamic State remnants in an enclave in eastern Syria, after seizing vast swathes of land from the jihadists with U.S. help. Daesh is headed towards demise. There are many sleeper cells and there will be a long war with Daesh in this region, Hemo said, using the Arabic acronym for Islamic State. He said any safe zone in northeast Syria, which Trump mentioned on Twitter, should be under U.N. auspices. The SDF has welcomed the possibility but said any such zone must keep Turkey out. We want to be on good ties as neighbors, but the Turkish state does not accept this, Hemo said. If Turkey attacks our region, we will respond appropriately. Ankara has drawn on Syrian rebel proxies to help fight the YPG in the northwest before and has vowed to march further east. Turkeys foreign minister said on Thursday his country has the capacity to create a safe zone in Syria but would not exclude other states that want to cooperate. Short link: Presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Atiku Abubakar made headlines last week, after he said that he would sell Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC). Atiku, who says NNPC should not be run by the government, said the organisation has become a mafia organisation, thats why it must be privatized to ensure proper running. The former vice president said this, while speaking in Lagos during an interactive session with the business community on Wednesday, January 16, 2019. Let me go back to my experience. When we got into office, I walked up to my boss and said Sir, there are two mafia organisations in government: one is the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) while the other one is the National Electricity Power Authority (NEPA). I said unless we dismantle these mafia organisations, we cannot make progress. Lets privatise them the long and short of this is that I am committed to privitaisation as I have said. I swear even if they are going to kill me, I will do it (privatise NNPC). The presidential candidate of the opposition party, on Wednesday, when answering a question from a Twitter user how the Nigerian economy work without NNPC, after it is sold. Sir. You said you will sell NNPC when you voted, so how do you think Nigeria will do without NNPC and how the Nigerian economy work smoothie without NNPC? Sir. You said you will sell NNPC when you voted, so how do you think Nigeria will do without NNPC and how the Nigerian economy work smoothie without NNPC??#AskAtiku Official_mbk (@Abubakarmbk) January 24, 2019 In his response, Atiku said the petroleum corporation doesnt have to be an election slush fund for every government in power but more. NNPC needs to be more than an election slush fund for every government in power, he said. Well list part of the NNPC on the Nigerian Stock exchange, so any Nigerian has the opportunity to co-own and benefit. Well also bring in investors this will bring transparency to NNPC, make it profitable for the first time. Vanguard The presidential candidate of the Allied Congress Party of Nigeria (ACPN), Oby Ezekwesili, has withdrawn from the February 16 presidential election. Thisday The former Senate Leader, Senator Ali Ndume, has accused the Senate President, Dr. Bukola Saraki, of frustrating moves by the Senate to discuss the 2019 Appropriation Bill submitted to the National Assembly by President Muhammadu Buhari last December. The Sun The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in Lagos State has begun training of about 1,000 Supervisory Presiding Officers (SPOs) in preparation for the forthcoming general election Daily Times President Muhammadu Buhari has pledged not to compromise in providing good leadership that would guarantee better life for all Nigerians. Daily Trust Governor Mohammed Abdullahi Abubakar has appealed to eligible voters in Bauchi State to vote out politicians who failed to make positive impact on their lives despite having the opportunity. The Nation The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) is spending about $1,080,000 (about N388million) on its ongoing lobbying in the United States, The Nation has learnt. Tribune Black Cap movement, a group founded base on the political ideologies of the former pioneer Chairman of EFCC, a czar of fighting corruption, Mallam Nuhu Ribadu has revolt against him by being loyal to the Executive Governor of Adamawa state, Sen Muhammadu Umar Jibrilla Bindow. After Oby Ezekwesili, the Allied Congress Party of Nigeria (ACPN) withdrew from the 2019 presidential election, her party has announced that it had withdrawn its support for her. ACPN has now declared its support for President Muhammadu Buhari, according to a statement by the party on Thursday, signed by Gani Galadima, its national chairman and running mate to Ezekwesili. The Allied Congress Party of Nigeria (ACPN) is withdrawing support for her presidential aspiration and endorsing the second term bid of President Muhammadu Buhari to take Nigeria to the next level. The ACPN has accused Ezekwesili, of taking the decision to step down, without consulting the party. This she does not seeing fit to inform the party whose mandate she is holding, the party stated. In a statement by the party, during a press briefing in Abuja on Thursday, Ezekwesili was accused of using the partys platform to negotiate to be the countrys finance minister. I have been put into confidence by one of her aide named lyinoluwa Aboyeji that she only wanted to use the platform of the Allied Congress Party of Nigeria (ACPN) to negotiate to be Nigerias finance minister. Ezekwesili was further accused of opening several accounts in the partys name, without the party knowing about them. The party also asked the former Minister of Education to return all donations received. According to the secretary of the party, Paul Isamade, Ezekwesili admitted to the party, that she received $5000 about a month ago, and N35 million from locally. Presidential candidate of the Allied Congress Party of Nigeria,ACPN, Dr. Obiageli Ezekwesili has stepped down from the 2019 presidential race. This decision comes, after the presidential debate which held last Saturday. The debate which she participated in, alongside other younger candidates like Fela Durotoye and Kingsley Moghalu had Nigerians asking them to form a coalition rather than contest alone. In a statement on her website on Thursday, the former minister of Education and VP of the world Bank said she stepped down from the race, to help build a Coalition for a viable alternative to the APC and PDP. See full statement below Following the reactions of Nigerian citizens at home and abroad to the 2019 Presidential Debate held on Saturday 19 January 2019, and after extensive consultations with leaders from various walks of life across the country over the past few days, I have decided to step down from the presidential race and focus on helping to build a Coalition for a viable alternative to the #APCPDP in the 2019 general elections. This coalition for a viable alternative has now more than ever before become an urgent mission for and on behalf of the citizenry. Over the past three months, I have been in private extended talks with other candidates to make a coalition possible that would allow Nigerians to exercise choice without feeling helplessly saddled with the #APCPDP. In doing so, I have not hesitated to offer my willingness to step down my candidacy in order to facilitate the emergence of a strong and viable alternative behind which Nigerians can line up in our collective search for a new beginning. My commitment in this regard has been consistent and in consonance with my agreement, at the request of candidates under Presidential Aspirants Coming Together (PACT) in 2018, to supervise their internal selection process as an outside observer passionate about building this alternative force. Despite disagreements within the Allied Congress Party of Nigeria on these and other issues, I have decided that it is now necessary to show by action and example my determination on this issue by stepping down my candidacy and focusing on building the coalition once and for all. We have no right to allow citizens give in to despair. We will #Fight4Naija together, and prove to all that the mess that has now become the political class will not be allowed to destroy our spirits and the nation. We are also determined to ensure that the message keeps resonating that our beloved country deserves better and that we will get the best that we deserve. From last year, I have made it clear to the nation that Nigeria has always had a 20-year cycle of change 1959, 1979, and 1999. 2019 begins another 20-year cycle, and together with all Nigerians of good will, I stand ready to play my part to ensure that we do not miss this opportunity to sing a new song. We have no more time to waste. Lets get to work! By Finian Cunningham January 24, 2019 " Information Clearing House " - The dramatic events in Venezuela have US-orchestrated coup detat written all over them. Washington is also giving itself license for military intervention which could spark a proxy war involving Russia. Washington Orchestrates Coup in Venezuela, Incites Civil War, in Name of Democracy The sequencing leaves no doubt the US has upped the ante for regime change in the South American country. This week, Vice President Mike Pence issued a call to arms with a deft video address to the people of Venezuela to take to the streets against the elected government. Pence also urged the countrys security forces to back the protests, adding, we [the US] are with you. Next day, the opposition figure Juan Guaido holds a major rally in the capital Caracas and declares himself interim president of Venezuela while denouncing incumbent Nicolas Maduro as a usurper. Within minutes, US President Trump announces he is recognizing Guaido as the legitimate authority in Venezuela. Trumps imprimatur is swiftly followed by Canada and several right-wing South American governments allied with Washington. French President Emmanuel Macron says he supports the restoration of democracy in Venezuela and salutes the courage of the hundreds of thousands of Venezuelans marching for their freedom. President Maduro responds by cutting off diplomatic ties with the US and orders American diplomats to leave within 72 hours. Then, following the script, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo warns with classic Alice-in-Wonderland logic that since Maduro is no longer the legitimate president he has no authority to sever diplomatic ties with Washington. More sinisterly, Trump and Pompeo make the time-dishonored threat that all options are on the table meaning military action if US personnel are endangered. That means the Maduro government is forbidden from sanctioning US diplomatic properties and officials. Any move to expel American personnel could be construed as endangering their safety, which in Washingtons logic means a license to respond militarily. Are You Tired Of The Lies And Non-Stop Propaganda? Get Your FREE Daily Newsletter Washingtons self-declared license to protect its interests in Venezuela extends to the anti-Maduro opposition groups. Trump warned he would hold Maduro responsible for any acts of violence against protesters. This amounts to incitement for more violence on the streets of Caracas. Venezuelas armed forces who so far remain loyal to Maduro have also been accused of using excessive lethal force. The situation is therefore primed by Washington for escalation into a civil war. Russia has condemned the interference by the US in Venezuelas internal affairs, saying that President Maduro is the legitimate head of state. Moscow has also warned the US not to deploy military force to the country which Russia describes as our ally. Right-wing governments in the region such as Colombia and the newly elected Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, as well as Argentina, Chile, Paraguay and Peru, have backed Washingtons stance on delegitimizing Maduros administration. Colombia and Brazil have also shown preparedness to support US military intervention. In addition to Russias condemnation of US interference, China, Bolivia, Cuba, Turkey and Iran, among others, have given their support for the Maduro government, denouncing Washingtons policy of regime change. Thus, the Trump administration is not only igniting a firestorm within Venezuela, it is setting the stage for an international proxy war, not unlike the war which Washington and its allies engineered in Syria. An American-induced war in Venezuela has been a long time in the making. Ever since the South American oil giant opted for a socialist government more than 20 years ago first under Hugo Chavez then under his successor Nicolas Maduro Venezuela has been in Washingtons cross-hairs for regime. The GW Bush administration triggered a coup in 2002 against Chavez, which failed. Then Obama tightened the screws with economic sanctions on Venezuelas vital oil industry which precipitated the countrys current social crisis and discontent. Several waves of streets protests have occurred all with the signs that Washington has been a crucial instigating player. At the end of last year, the Trump administration slated the Maduro government as a national security threat, and hinted it was considering military action against Venezuela. There were even White House claims that Caracas was agitating the regime caravans through Central America, which have become a bane of Trumps fears about immigrants invading the US. But what triggered the latest push from Washington may have been Russias more open alliance with Caracas. Last month, President Maduro was hosted in Moscow by Russias Vladimir Putin, when the two countries signed multi-billion-dollar partnerships for oil exploration, mining, agricultural and other trade ties. Within days of Maduros visit to the Kremlin, the strategic alliance was given a decisive military underpinning when two Russian Tupolev Tu-160 nuclear-capable bombers flew 10,000 kilometers to Venezuela in an apparent show of Moscows support for the beleaguered country. Washingtons reaction to the Russian bombers landing in Caracas was apoplectic. Maduro was elected for the second time back in May 2018 with nearly 67 per cent of the vote. Admittedly, the turnout for the election was low at around 46 per cent. The large abstention was partly due to the ongoing economic crisis and unrest in the country, which Washingtons sanctions have played a large part in fomenting. Nevertheless, more than 9 million Venezuelans voted for Maduro and his socialist policies. The elections were documented as free and fair by international observers. They were also verified by Venezuelas National Electoral Commission. Earlier this month, on January 10, Maduro was officially inaugurated for a second term that runs until 2025. Given his consolidation of authority and the important alliance with Russia taking on international prominence, it seems that Washington decided to renew its efforts for regime change in Caracas. Vice President Mike Pence reportedly held phone calls with opposition figure Juan Guaido. Evidently, with Pences follow-up public comments backing the overthrow of Maduro, the coup was set in motion. What happens next is a high-wire act. Washington could ramp up the economic blockade of Venezuela by freezing financial assets of the countrys oil company in the US. The US could even impose a naval blockade. And if the violence escalates in Venezuela, Washington has already set the precedent for military intervention. How Russia and Venezuelas regional allies respond to that is a potential detonator of wider conflict. Whats all the more inflammatory is the flagrant illegality of Washingtons actions. The opposition figure whom the White House has anointed as acting president and the minor congressional body he controls have been declared in contempt of the constitution by Venezuelas supreme court. Juan Guaido therefore has no mandate or legitimacy to appoint himself as the countrys leader. His authority is decreed by Washington. The absurd irony of Trump and Macron, among others, backing an unconstitutional, self-declared president in Venezuela is staggering. Half the population of the US and France despise their supposed leaders. Trump is barred by opposition lawmakers from making the annual State of the Union speech for the first time in US history, while Macron is beset by nationwide protests and requires heavy police protection wherever he goes. And yet here we have Trump, Trudeau and other discredited Western figures, declaring who should rule Venezuela. Finian Cunningham has written extensively on international affairs, with articles published in several languages. He is a Masters graduate in Agricultural Chemistry and worked as a scientific editor for the Royal Society of Chemistry, Cambridge, England, before pursuing a career in newspaper journalism. He is also a musician and songwriter. For nearly 20 years, he worked as an editor and writer in major news media organisations, including The Mirror, Irish Times and Independent. This article was originally published by " RT "- Do you agree or disagree? Post your comment here ==See Also== U.S. rejects Maduro decision to sever diplomatic ties Venezuelan armed forces refuse to recognize Guaido as interim president defense minister Russia Warns US Against Military Interference in Venezuela's Affairs In case you missed it: US met with Venezuela officers plotting coup: US officials met secretly with Venezuelan military officers who were plotting a coup against Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro US Administrations Have Been Intervening in Venezuela Since at Least the Early 2000s Note To ICH Community We ask that you assist us in dissemination of the article published by ICH to your social media accounts and post links to the article from other websites. Thank you for your support. Peace and joy Home Search ICH The West's Descent into 'Cultural Revolution' By Charles Hugh Smith January 24, 2019 " Information Clearing House " - A Cultural Revolution is a movement designed to preserve the political and financial power of a ruling elite by social rather than political or financial means. Thus the primary tools of a Cultural Revolution are not redistributing power via elections (politics) or financial reforms; the primary tools are public shaming and denouncements, purges of those in positions of authority, show trials, guilt-by-association, wholesale denouncements of entire classes and widespread accusations of anti-progressive ("counter-revolutionary") tendencies in which guilt is defined by all-or-nothing litmus tests of one's loyalties to the Cultural Revolution's strict ideology. You haven't memorized Mao's Little Red Book? Off to re-education camp you go. Or house arrest, banishment, beatings, imprisonment or if the mob's blood lust demands it, execution. The key dynamic of a Cultural Revolution is the oppressors appropriate the language of liberation as their favored tool of suppressing dissent, denouncing opponents and fueling widespread purges of anyone who might harbor the slightest potential to question the social suppression of dissent. A Photographers Quest to Reverse Chinas Historical Amnesia (New York Times) Now, more than a half-century after the Cultural Revolution began, there is little public discussion of that period in China. What some have called the nations collective amnesia has only gotten worse in recent years as leaders have walked back efforts to reckon with the countrys modern history. To those launching a Cultural Revolution, the solution to a diversity of opinion is to crush dissent and narratives that threaten the ruling elites' power. This is of course the exact opposite of democracy and Enlightenment-era liberalism. But the point of a Cultural Revolution isn't to broaden political enfranchisement or representation--the point of the anti-Deplorables / anti-Brexit / anti-yellow vest campaigns is to strip dissenters (those who disagree with the ruling neoliberal elites) of political and social representation. Are You Tired Of The Lies And Non-Stop Propaganda? Get Your FREE Daily Newsletter The goal of the Cultural Revolution is to render all those who resist the ruling elites politically and socially invisible. The goal isn't to play nice and share power and wealth with the losers of financialization-globalization; the goal is to liquidate their influence in politics and society via relentless negative stereotyping by the elite-controlled mass media and an Orwellian reversal of identity that makes the dissenters into threats to democracy while elevating the elitist oppressors into selfless guardians of democracy-- the exact opposite of reality. In China's Cultural Revolution, the Red Guards mindlessly destroyed much of China's priceless cultural heritage as part of the deranged agenda of destroying whatever was traditional and valued by "counter-revolutionaries." Out with the old, in with the new--the time-honored pattern of power grabs masked by utopian goals. If in doubt, purge, destroy, denounce. This is the Inquisition nature of all Cultural Revolutions. China's ruling elites don't want any unedited history of the Cultural Revolution to leak into the public sphere because virtually everyone who was killed, tortured, imprisoned or denounced was innocent. Virtually every one of the millions of victims of the Cultural Revolution was a loyal cadre or average citizen going about their lives. "Counter-revolutionaries" were an illusory, fabricated threat. Since we have many friends in China, we've heard the reality of the Cultural Revolution in private conversations, spoken in low tones even in the U.S. Nobody dares speak openly about what happened or the Party's role. One friend's father was an officer in the People's Liberation Army, a man whose loyalty was unquestioned. He was imprisoned. Another friend's father was put in house arrest for years because he'd visited Eastern Europe (at the Party's behest, of course) and was therefore suspect. In Cultural Revolutions, the "crimes" are fabricated but the destruction is real. Take a look at the mainstream media coverage in France, the U.S. and the U.K. of the yellow vest dissenters. Make a list of all the public officials, intellectuals, actors, media pundits etc. who publicly defend the yellow vests and how many denounce them. Did you find any articles on the yellow vests on Page One? What percentage of the corporate-state media depicted the yellow vests as violent, unreasonable, and so on? If you pursue an objective survey, you'll find few public figures supporting the yellow vest movement and little mainstream media coverage that presents the yellow vest movement in a positive light. That's how Cultural Revolutions roll. The Nobility in our neofeudal system will work all the levers of power to marginalize, demonize, stereotype and disenfranchise any threats to their power. The goal of the Cultural Revolution isn't to persuade, it's to enforce compliance. Virtue-signal your compliance in social media every day (i.e. wave your Little Red Book publicly) or you become suspect. Nobody cares what you actually believe, the point is to prove your compliance and complicity to those enforcing compliance and complicity. Charles Hugh Smith is a contributing editor to PeakProsperity.com and the proprietor of the popular blog OfTwoMinds.com . He is the author of numerous books, including Why Everything Is Falling Apart: An Unconventional Guide To Investing In Troubled Times. Do you agree or disagree? Post your comment here ==See Also== Note To ICH Community We ask that you assist us in dissemination of the article published by ICH to your social media accounts and post links to the article from other websites. Thank you for your support. Peace and joy The views expressed in this article are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of Information Clearing House. Search Information Clearing House === Click Here To Support Information Clearing House Your support has kept ICH free on the Web since 2002. Click for Spanish , German , Dutch , Danish , French , translation- Note- Translation may take a moment to load. US Initiates Coup Against President Nicolas Maduro Venezuela An Appeal to Russia, China and all Unaligned Countries for Support of Sovereign Venezuela By Peter Koenig January 18, 2019 " Information Clearing House " - On 23 January 2018, the United States has initiated a coup against President Nicolas Maduro and his Government, by encouraging and fully supporting the self-proclaimed opposition leader, Juan Guaido, as interim President. Already days ago he had received the full support of President Trump, and today, in a special televised speech, US Vice-president Mike Pence declared that Venezuelas Freedom begins with the new interim president, Juan Guaido . RT reports that the Venezuelan military will not accept a president imposed by dark interests, Defense Minister Vladimir Padrino said after Washington and a number of its allies recognized a lawmaker [Juan Guaido] as the new leader in Caracas. The army will continue to defend the constitution and national sovereignty, Padrino said on Wednesday afternoon, hours after opposition lawmaker Juan Guaido was proclaimed interim president by the National Assembly, in a direct challenge to President Nicolas Maduro. Washingtons immediate recognition of Guaido as Venezuelans legitimate leader, was instantly followed by the Organization of American States (OAS), as well as Canada and France. Mexico apparently has declines to do so for now. Is the for now an indication that Lopez Obradors actions are already being controlled by Washington? This is an appeal to Russia and China and to all unaligned nations that love their freedom and sovereignty to stand up in defense of Venezuelas freedom and sovereignty. May they use their diplomatic leverage, and if that does not work on Washingtons savages use other means that the empire understands. Keeping Venezuela free from the yoke of the US and its vassal allies is essential for all the people in Latin America who have already been subjected to US implanted subjugating and abusing dictators, who not only have ruined their countries economies, but created extreme poverty where there was prosperity before, i.e. Argentina, Brazil, Ecuador, Peru, Colombia, Paraguay, Uruguay - and Chile, which is well on her way to an economic and social demise. Venezuela must stay and remain tall. President Putin and Jinping please do whatever you can and whatever you must, to stop the US bulldozer from overtaking Venezuela! Ongoing unrest in the streets of Caracas and major Venezuelan cities, all inspired and fueled on by the United States, and also the OAS (Organization of American States), the Club of Lima (except for Mexico), its European puppet allies, is confusing and dividing the people and has already killed at least 16. It is not clear who is responsible for the killing, but undoubtedly opposition forces funded by outside sources and / or the Fifth Column (inside Venezuela) have a bloody hand in the Venezuelan violence. A western instigated civil war is a real risk. Are You Tired Of The Lies And Non-Stop Propaganda? Get Your FREE Daily Newsletter --- This coup attempt is an abject illegal interference in another countrys sovereignty, with the ultimate violent and vicious goal that Washington has been practicing over the past 100 years around the globe and ever with more impunity of regime change to steel a non-conform, non-submissive governments resources, and of course, to reach eventually the ultimate goal of full spectrum world dominance. Venezuela has by far the worlds largest known hydrocarbon (petrol and gas) reserves which is two days of shipping time away from Texas oil refineries, versus the Arabian Gulf from where today the US imports 60% of its petrol a shipping time of 40-45 days, higher shipping costs, plus the risk of having to sail through the Iran-controlled Gulf of Hormuz. In addition, Washington cannot tolerate any socialist country, let alone, one that is located in what Washington considers its backyard, like Venezuela, or, for that matter Cuba, Nicaragua and Bolivia. The other left-leaning South American country, Ecuador, has recently been converted with an internal soft coup, aka fake or manipulated elections. Those are usually operated through strong Fifth Columns funded from abroad and with substantial menaces, including death threats. So, Washington is dead set, especially with Trump and Pompeo at the apparent helm, who openly propagate a US (and allied, including NATO) invasion of Venezuela to free their oppressed people; to bring them from one of the only true democracies in the world (quote by Chomsky and the international election supervising US Carter Institute, among others) under the usurping dictatorship protection of the United States of America. Venezuelans will not tolerate such a farce. The 6 million Venezuelans who stood solidly behind Nicolas Maduro when they voted for him in May 2018, have already stood up and will continue defending their freely and democratically elected President, despite the western medias fake images of tens of thousands in the streets of Caracas demonstrating against legitimate President Maduro and for the self-proclaimed interim president, Juan Guaido. He is, in fact, a criminal who acts totally against Venezuelas Constitution on which he swore his allegiance to the country when he took up a seat in the Venezuelan parliament. It is clear that this mass-movement, as depicted by western media, was organized from outside, possibly paid for by US sponsored NGOs and Venezuelan insiders, covert or openly from the opposition, trained by the CIA and other infiltrated US secret service groups. Clearly the Fifth Column is and was at work in Venezuela for years, bringing about the downfall of the economy by monetary and oil price manipulation from outside and from within; and by diverting food and medicine shipments from being delivered to supermarkets and instead being transferred as contraband into Colombia, where they are sold at dollar-manipulated inflated local currencies. ---- This coup attempt reminds so much of another US State Department instigated but failed overthrow in April 2002 against President Hugo Chavez. The coup was botched by the Venezuelan military and the people of Venezuela. President Chavez was reinstated within 2 days. And the present coup so far has also failed. President Maduros decision to break diplomatic relations with the US is therefore, not only logical, but totally legal. He has given all US diplomats 72 hours to leave the country. Now comes the other coup the US refuses to accept the legal expulsion of their diplomats from Caracas, because the self-proclaimed and US recognized interim president has called for all diplomats, first of all those from Washington, to stay in the country. Pompeo is threating Venezuela for any harm that may happen to US citizens, including diplomats during this upraising and what they consider change of government. Here is Pompeos statement with regard to diplomatic relations with Venezuela. Stay tuned to how this crisis will unfold. May Venezuelas friends and allies put all their might, diplomatic and other, at the support of Venezuelas freedom and sovereignty. Peter Koenig is an economist and geopolitical analyst. He is also a water resources and environmental specialist. He worked for over 30 years with the World Bank and the World Health Organization around the world in the fields of environment and water. He lectures at universities in the US, Europe and South America. He writes regularly for Global Research; ICH; RT; Sputnik; PressTV; The 21st Century; TeleSUR; The Vineyard of The Saker Blog, the New Eastern Outlook (NEO); and other internet sites. He is the author of Implosion An Economic Thriller about War, Environmental Destruction and Corporate Greed fiction based on facts and on 30 years of World Bank experience around the globe. He is also a co-author of The World Order and Revolution! - Essays from the Resistance. Do you agree or disagree? Post your comment here ==See Also== Trump backs Maduro rival in Venezuela U.S. rejects Maduro decision to sever diplomatic ties Venezuelan armed forces refuse to recognize Guaido as interim president defense minister Russia Warns US Against Military Interference in Venezuela's Affairs In case you missed it: US met with Venezuela officers plotting coup: US officials met secretly with Venezuelan military officers who were plotting a coup against Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro Note To ICH Community We ask that you assist us in dissemination of the article published by ICH to your social media accounts and post links to the article from other websites. Thank you for your support. Peace and joy The views expressed in this article are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of Information Clearing House. Coup in Progress in Venezuela? By The Real News Network On Wednesday, January 23, opposition leader proclaimed himself "interim president," a move which was immediately recognized by the US and regional allies. For its part, the Maduro government has called on supporters to resist what it termed a "coup attempt." Venezuelanalysis writer and editor Lucas Koerner joined TRNNs Sharmini Peries and Greg Wilpert to discuss the recent events in Venezuela. Posted January 24, 2019 Do you agree or disagree? Post your comment here Are You Tired Of The Lies And Non-Stop Propaganda? Get Your FREE Daily Newsletter ==See Also== U.S. rejects Maduro decision to sever diplomatic ties Venezuelan armed forces refuse to recognize Guaido as interim president defense minister Russia Warns US Against Military Interference in Venezuela's Affairs In case you missed it: US met with Venezuela officers plotting coup: US officials met secretly with Venezuelan military officers who were plotting a coup against Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro Note To ICH Community We ask that you assist us in dissemination of the article published by ICH to your social media accounts and post links to the article from other websites. Thank you for your support. Peace and joy Black History Month is especially memorable this year as we commemorate the Quad-Centennial of our Angolan ancestors who landed in 1619 in Jamestown, Virginia. Unlike popular perception, African and African descended people resisted their enslavement and forced immigration to foreign places like the United States. It was their faith and sense of moral indignationempowered by Gods grace and mercy that kept them alive. In the summer of 1619, after the war of resistance in Angola, 350 enslaved Angolans were robbed of their freedom. They were put on board the ship, the San Juan Bautista, which was bound for Vera Cruz, on the coast of Mexico. Their spiritual resistance kept some of them alive despite horrific torture while others perished at sea. While at sea, the ship was attacked by two English ship privateers, the White Lion and the Treasurer, and between 50 to 60 enslaved Angolans were taken. The two privateers then sailed to Virginia where the White Lion arrived at Point Comfort, or present-day Hampton, Virginia, toward the end of August. John Rolfe, a prominent planter and merchant (and formerly the husband of Pocahontas), reported that 20 and odd Negroes were bought for victuals, according to Jamestown Rediscovery, an historical preservation organization. According to the preservation organization: The majority of the Angolans were acquired by wealthy and well-connected English planters. The Angolans were sold into bondage despite Virginia having no clear-cut laws sanctioning slavery until 1704. From 1619 to 1704 the records show that Africans fought and resisted the evolution of enslavement primarily through the courts. This Black History Month invites us to honor the resilience of African people and African descendants while acknowledging how the practice and policy of slavery led to policies and practices that, to this day, are rooted in racism and exacerbate realities like malnutrition and hunger. This month, Bread for the World is honoring the work of Black leaders championing nutrition a critical but hard-to-see component of hunger. We celebrate their commitment, perseverance, and strength to dedicate their lives to dismantling racially oppressive policies and practices that lead to poor nutrition and elevate policies and practices that ensure all communities, regardless of race, can enjoy optimal, equitable nutrition. Throughout February we will also feature stories on Breads website on the importance of nutrition to end hunger and lift up the work of Pan-African leaders doing their part to champion nutrition. And in February,Lament and Hope: A Pan-African Devotional Guide Commemorating the 2019 Quad-Centennial of the Forced Transatlantic Voyage of Enslaved African Peoples to Jamestown, Virginia (USA), will be available on Breads website. Please join us in continuing the necessary work of denouncing racism still present in our policies and practices and honoring the hard work of Pan-African leaders as they champion for good nutrition, which will help end hunger! Rev. Dr. Angelique Walker-Smith is senior associate for Pan-African and Orthodox church engagement at Bread for the World in Washington, D.C. Louis Farrakhan is an irredeemable racist who hates white people especially Jews. End of story. Well, a lot of people would like for that to be the end of the story. But it isnt. As much as most white Americans would like to ignore or dismiss Minister Farrakhan, it is virtually impossible to do so. Why, they wonder, do so many African-Americans have such high regard for this purveyor of hate? The fact is that the leader of the Nation of Islam (NOI) has been around too long and has wielded too much influence for that to be a realistic goal. Black folks have a complicated relationship with Minister Farrakhan. If we are honest, we know that much of what he has said over the years especially about Jewish people is bigoted. (I wont rehash those words here; they are readily available via your favorite search engine.) Has he been quoted out of context at times? Yes. Do a lot of white people misunderstand him? Absolutely. Yet, the fact remains that Louis Farrakhan has given his enemies more than enough ammunition to attack him. So, what is his appeal? Louis Farrakhan was the principal organizer of 1995s Million Man March. (In the spirit of full disclosure, I attended both the original march and the 20th anniversary gathering.) The only event to which I can compare the first march is President Obamas first inauguration. The feeling that I had at each is nearly impossible to articulate. It is extremely unlikely that any other leader at the time could have mobilized that many Black men to come together. No civil rights leader. No politician. No celebrity. And while other prominent African-Americans were attached to the march, they were not the catalyst. Farrakhan was. Dr. Cornel West, about whom I wrote last week, has accurately referred to Minister Farrakhan as un-bought and un-bossed. While the NOI is much smaller than it was 50 years ago, it is still more than large enough to allow Farrakhan to be a genuinely independent voice a fact that is exceedingly rare for Black folks. (Remember when Barack Obama then President of the United States was forced to have a beer summit because a Boston police officer lied about Obamas friend, Henry Louis Gates?) Then again, perhaps it is Farrakhans independence that is part of the problem. No one can really challenge him, which often results in his acting on his worst impulses. Further, for many reasons, Farrakhan has not been able to get the overwhelming majority of African-Americans to convert to Islam and join the NOI. (Thats a discussion for another day.) Does any of this sound familiar? It should. Most of the above could be said about President Trump. (Go back to the first paragraph and replace Minister Farrakhan with Donald Trump, African-Americans with white Americans, and Nation of Islam with the United States.) The feeling that Minister Farrakhan gives most Black people is akin to that which President Trumps base expresses about him. For example, I recently saw a photo of a man wearing a T-shirt. The shirt read, Obama called me a clinger. Hillary called me a deplorable. Trump called me an American. For certain people, President Trump reflects their hopes, their fears, their pride and their anger. Both men are as reviled by one group as much as they are revered by another. Heres the rub: Louis Farrakhan and Donald Trump make their people feel better about themselves. The ever-sagacious Maya Angelou said, Ive learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel. Black folks must wrestle individually with Minister Farrakhans unmistakable anti-Semitism, just as white folks must wrestle individually with President Trumps racism. And all Americans must wrestle collectively with the intractable problem of race. The bottom line is that, despite their similarities, only one of these men has the power to drastically affect our lives, as well as the lives of people around the world. The other man is Louis Farrakhan. Larry Smith is a community leader. Contact him at larry@leaf-llc.com. One might have thought that last Sunday, 20 January, was a public holiday for the Turks. At least that was the impression one had from watching ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) circles and their ultranationalist allies from the Nationalist Peoples Party (MHP) as they listened to their leader, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, addressing Turkish forces in Kilis, only steps away from the Syrian border, by mobile phone. With his defence minister and other military leaders at his elbows, he boasted the great accomplishments of the Olive Branch Operation that was celebrating its first anniversary on that glorious day. What Turkey has done against terrorism in the northwest Syrian province of Afrin will occupy a central place in the Turkish collective memory, he said, as he heralded more of the same further to the east. Not a small segment of the Turkish population not least those affiliated with the opposition Republican Peoples Party (CHP) and the Peoples Democratic Party (HDP), not to mention millions of working-class people struggling to make ends meet watched the display and wondered, What glory? Ankaras long and costly adventure into Syria has drained the Turkish economy and Turkeys international reputation has sunk to a deeper nadir in light of information that has come to light on just how Turkish forces allied with notorious Grey Wolves and an assembly of jihadist militias have been conducting themselves in Afrin. Reports by international rights agencies have documented hundreds of civilian deaths, the plundering of olive groves and their produce, people forced to pay protection payments and head taxes, rampant property theft, confiscation of peoples homes to turn into military headquarters and, contrary to the pledges from Ankara, systematic attempts to bar original inhabitants from returning to their homes and pressuring those who remain to clear out. Erdogan now plans to plunge in deeper. He has his sights set on areas of northern Syria east of the Euphrates, areas with predominantly Kurdish populations but, until now, peacefully shared with many other ethnic and religious groups, as once was the case in Afrin. The first item on his Syrian agenda is the safe zone, especially now that relations are smoother with his counterpart in Washington, Donald Trump, following the US presidents announcement in December of an imminent US troop withdrawal from Syria. Of course, Ankara is not the only party concerned with territory across the border in war-ravaged Syria. Turkey may have promoted the idea of a safe zone for eight years but, as former Turkish foreign minister Yasar Yakis recently observed, Ankara had in mind a safe zone that it could control. This, he said, was more easily said than done. For one, there are a lot of people living in the towns and cities that will fall into that approximately 30-kilometre wide safe zone. Ankara envisages representative municipal councils for them, but as Yakis points out it will not want members of the predominantly Kurdish Democratic Union Party (PYD) and, even less, representatives of its military branch, the Peoples Protection Units (YPG), present in those councils. It is not easy to identify the members of such a big political party, he noted. Eventually, Yakis predicts, the security zone may become a headache for Ankara. A security zone that was created in 1991 by the United States in northern Iraq was later transformed into a no-fly zone and this is how the autonomy of the Kurdish Regional Government in the north of Iraq came into being. This is the worst-case scenario that Turkey would like to see in the north of Syria. In fact, Erdogan had precisely such a spectre in mind when, in the course of remarks at an official event in Ankara over the weekend, he said: We will never allow a safe zone that will turn into a new swamp for Turkey like the one in northern Iraq where we still experience problems. In addition to the numbers of Kurdish fighters in northern Syria there is the problem of the weapons they possess. According to Yeni Akit, a newspaper close to AKP circles, American agencies opposed to Trumps decision to withdraw US troops from Syria have furnished the YPG with a large shipment of modern weapons. The newspaper claims that the shipment included antitank missiles that Kurdish fighters would use against the Turkish regiments that are currently poised to invade Manbij. According to the report, that additional weaponry may force the Turkish army to delay its incursion. US Senator Lindsey Graham, speaking in Ankara Saturday, attempted to calm Ankaras concerns while urging the need to slow the US withdrawal from Syria until the Islamic State group is completely destroyed. He warned that if the troop pull-out were not staged carefully enough it would create an Iraq on steroids. He spoke of a plan that the chair of the US joint chiefs of staff, Joseph Dunford, was working on with the Turkish government that would involve moving Kurdish fighters away from the Turkish border. Graham added that he believed that heavy armaments should be taken from the Kurdish groups. That, too, may not be as easy as it sounds. As former Turkish foreign minister Yasar Yakis noted, the number of YPG fighters trained and equipped by the United States is supposed to be around 30,000. Together with the less trained fighters and local security officials, their number amounts to 70,000. How will it be possible to take in the weapons from such a large force? It should also be borne in mind that there are strong differences of opinion in the US both on how to handle the troop withdrawal and on Turkeys role in Syria. Brett McGurk, the former US envoy for the anti-ISIS coalition, is an outspoken critic of Trumps decision to withdraw from Syria and his reliance on Turkey to fill the gap. In an article that appeared in The Washington Post last Friday, he argued that, on Syria, Turkey is not a reliable partner. The Syrian opposition forces it backs are marbled with extremists and number too few to constitute an effective challenge to Assad or a plausible alternative to the SDF. The areas of Syria that Turkey ostensibly controls, such as Idlib province in the northwest, are increasingly dominated by Al-Qaeda. It would appear that Erdogans plans of targeting Kurdish groups in Syria that he describes as terrorists will not only drag Turkey deeper into the Syrian quagmire, but ultimately end up backfiring in the form of second Kurdistan after the one that has its capital in Irbil. * A version of this article appears in print in the 24 January, 2018 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly under the headline: Erdogans safe zone nightmare Short link: The Trump presidency has been filled with glaring rhetorical contradictions from its inception. These contradictions, often out-right lies, and fabricated bloviating easily lay the mental groundwork for the question, for even the most aloof or disinterested among political enthusiast. What is the potential long-range impact on the America citizenry from the barrage of reversals, out-right lies and contradictions done by President Donald J. Trump? From such contradictions related to who will build his campaign promised Mexican southern border wall and claims of the largest inaugural crowd-size to view an inauguration in U.S. history, to his false, promised-filled rhetoric about draining the proverbial Washington D.C. swamp, Trump has repeatedly said one thing, only to do another. As previously stated, Trumps propensity to set forth short-lived prevarications did not begin upon his ascension to the presidency. Speaking to the line of thought, a 2016 Politico Magazine article stated, Over the past four decades Trump has talked about every imaginable subject: gun rights to germs, the nature of competition to pre-nuptial agreements, love and sex, self-promotion, and politics. And on every one of those topics, he has taken positions that directly contradict exactly what he has previously said. To be sure, many Americans agree that this potentially dangerous and politically harmful trait has undoubtedly followed the 45th U.S. president into the White House. A large contingency of Americans are painfully familiar with the following list of Trumpian contradictions: 2017 Obama wire-tapping accusations, were later proven false by the FBI; 2017 Trump claims he never met indicted campaign and Russia political connect George Papadopoulos proved a lie Papadopoulos was convicted of lying and subsequently acknowledges knowing Trump and family; the firing of James Comey, Trump told FBI Director James Comey in a letter that he had received letters from Attorney General Jeff Sessions and Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein and had accepted their recommendations and you are hereby terminated and removed from office, effective immediately. Two days later Trump later told NBC News he had planned to fire Comey for months. Rosenstein recommending your dismissal as the director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. He made a recommendation but regardless of the recommendation I was going to fire Comey. Yet another contradiction. What many American are not aware of is what effect the outlandish contradictions currently have on the U.S. as they now collide with an oppositional Democratic House of Representatives, led by Nancy Pelosi. This collision has the Republican POTUS and Democratic speaker of the congressional house, two deeply dug-in political titans, poised for a historic political clash, which has already produced the longest American governmental shutdown in U.S. history. Moreover, the shutdown, owned publicly by President Trump in late December 2018, is arguably one of Trumps most blatant contradictions to date. Ironically, the foundation of this contradiction was laid four years before the Trump presidency came to fruition and has over 800,000 government employees working without pay and wondering how to make ends meet. Donald Trump became president on January 20, 2017. Four years earlier he showed a clear and distinct desire to express opinions about the drastic actions of allowing the U.S. government to be shutdown. At that time Trump stated a government shutdown shows a president is weak? In a September 2013 Fox & Friends phone interview, Trump blasted Obama for failing to get everybody in a room. Trump further explains, If you say who gets fired, it always has to be the top. Problems start from the top, and they must get solved from the top, and the presidents the leader, and hes got to get everybody in a room, and hes got to lead. And he doesnt do that, he doesnt like doing that, thats not his strength. A shutdown falls on the presidents lack of leadership. He cant even control his own party and get people together in a room. A shutdown means the president is weak. President Trumps latest contradiction could prove to be his most painful to date for the American people locked in the clutches of his desperate attempts to appease his 34 percent political base. Various economists have opined that the Trump-owned shutdown could accelerate a U.S. recession. Numerous social casualties have already emerged ranging from TSA workers calling in sick, leaving dangerous access to would-be terrorist, which creates its own irony when one considers that the shutdown is supposedly over the terrorist seeking to enter the U.S. at the southern border of Mexico, according to Trump. Multiple news agencies have reported that crime at the southern border is at its lowest in over 10 years; representing yet another Trump contradiction. There is probably no proven apparatus to gauge the long-range effect of Trumps latest contradiction. We may never know how many meals were missed by children whose parent couldnt afford groceries. We may never know how many insulin shots were missed by government workers who couldnt afford their copays. What I do know is a country whose leadership cannot be trusted to stand on or consistently tell the truth is a country that has forgotten that it is the truth that makes us free. Until greater moral expectations and a higher premium on truth is demanded by Americas citizens, a contradictory presidency will continue making a strange bedfellow in the historic Lincoln bedroom of Americas White House. Dr. Clyde Posley Jr., is a social scientist, author and pastor of Antioch Baptist Church. US President Donald Trump last week tweeted that a buffer zone would be created in northern Syria to protect the Kurds. This is not the first time that the idea of such a zone has been proposed, but Trumps proposal this time round carries more weight. The issue is a priority for Turkey, and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan quickly announced that the two powers had reached an historic understanding regarding a safe zone in northern Syria. Erdogan said he was positive about Trumps plan to create a 20-mile (32 km) safe zone in northern Syria, which can later be expanded. He said the goal was to provide security for Syrians receiving financial and logistical support from Washington and the International Coalition and noted that the safe zone would be created in consultation with the guarantors of the Astana Talks on Syria, namely Turkey, Russia and Iran. Erdogan said he had refused to accept the participation of separatist Kurdish militias in the operation, including the Kurdish Peoples Protection Units (YPG) which Ankara lists as a terrorist group. He also said he would postpone a military operation against Kurdish fighters in northern Syria after the recent US decision to withdraw its troops from Syria. The regime led by Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad rejects the Turkish presence in Syria and asserts that it is illegal, but the Turkish media has promoted the idea of a safe zone to guarantee security on the countrys southern border. The Turkish Daily Sabah newspaper quoted investors as saying that the zone would also host development projects that would provide local people with jobs and help Syrian refugees to return to their homeland. The Kurds said they were ready to support a safe zone in northern and eastern Syria, and they hope to reach an agreement with Turkey to guarantee stability and security in the border areas. They said they would provide assistance in creating a safe area with international guarantees under UN supervision. The Kurdish declaration coincided with a bomb attack in Manbij in northern Syria that killed 19 people, including four Americans. Erdogan said the bombing had aimed to put pressure on the US to keep its forces in Syria since they are the sole supporters of the Kurds. The US decision to create a 20-mile safe zone will include all the major cities under Kurdish control, which will become neutral areas not serving Kurdish interests. As a result, it seems likely that the Kurdish approval is only verbal and that the Kurds will insist on preconditions that are hard to accomplish due to the complicated situation on the ground and the presence of multiple players with contrary agendas. It is not clear who will guarantee the security of the safe zone, since while Turkey wants this area under its control, some European diplomatic circles said there might be an Arab role or direct US supervision. Ankara has been firm with Washington and will not allow Kurdish military forces to remain on its borders. Erdogan refused to meet with US National Security Adviser John Bolton on 7 January, sending a message to the US that he would not abandon his countrys security interests and hoping to exploit possibly diverging views within the administration. Turkey wants to convince the US that it is a partner in fighting the Islamic State (IS) terrorist group in Syria and that Kurdish Peshmergas forces should be deployed in the safe zone. The Peshmergas are the forces of the National Kurdish Council, which is part of Syrias political opposition, and the rivals of the separatist Kurdish militias led by the Democratic Union Party (PYD) affiliated to the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) that Turkey lists as a terrorist group. This step could pave the way to creating local councils with Syrian members in the region and guarantee stability in northern Syria. Turkey supports US plans for the east of the Euphrates River in Syria, but it wants to ensure that it has a primary role in managing the area after the US troops withdraw. The intention is to tighten the noose on the Kurdish militias and protect Turkeys national security. When the Syrian regime had free rein to use its military arsenal against the countrys opposition some years ago, creating a safe zone was one of the demands of the Syrian opposition. Turkey and members of the Friends of Syria group repeatedly made this demand, but the former US administration refused it on the pretext that terrorist groups could be encouraged to take power from the Al-Assad regime. However, in reality the US position was based on its desire to see Syria bleed, serving Washingtons interests, weakening all the parties in the war and serving Israels security interests. The US has declared the war against IS in Syria to be finished, meaning there is no justification to keep US forces on the ground in the country. As a result, it seems that the US will now delegate the safe zone in northern Syria to Turkey as well as the fight against remnants of the terrorist groups. However, US and Israeli disputes have caused confusion about the actual date of the US withdrawal and the future of a safe zone. When Erdogan declared he would bury the Kurdish militias and expel them from the area, Trump warned Turkey against attacking his Kurdish militia allies and threatened to destroy Turkeys economy. A safe zone in northern Syria will benefit Turkey because it will take control of the area. Russia now controls some areas of the country and the regime others, while Iran and its militias dominate other parts. The Syrian opposition will not have a role, whether in the proposed safe zone or elsewhere, which will likely force it to come up with plans to become a viable force or risk increasing marginalisation. The danger is that the end of the Syrian Revolution will see the division of the country among the regional and international powers at the price of nearly one million dead Syrians. * A version of this article appears in print in the 24 January, 2018 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly under the headline: Safe for non-Syrians Short link: January 24, 2019 | By The Fellowship | Israel in the News Israeli warplanes carried out more airstrikes near the Syrian capital of Damascus last weekend as part of an effort to hit Iranian targets in Syria. In retaliation, Syria fired missiles into Israel that were shot down by Israels Iron Dome missile defense system. Following last weekends airstrikes, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed that Israel will continue her efforts to combat Iranian aggression in Syria. The helmet of an IDF soldier saved his life after a Hamas sniper opened fire during a Palestinian riot against Israeli soldiers at the Israeli-Gaza border. During a visit with a group of new IDF cadets this week, Prime Minister Netanyahu praised the group for their fighting spirit and willingness to go into battle with courage and intelligence. The Fellowship recently launched its Winter Warmth initiative, helping thousands of elderly, families, and children in Israel and the former Soviet Union with heaters, clothing, shoes, subsidized utility bills, wood and coal. This weeks Israel in the News Perspective features The Fellowships Founder and President Rabbi Yechiel Eckstein on the U.N.s International Holocaust Remembrance Day. It has been seven decades since one of the darkest chapters in Jewish (and world) history was perpetrated. But given the ongoing surge in worldwide anti-Semitism, it would seem the world learned nothing from the Holocaust. JNS Deborah Fineblum writes that Yad Vashem Israels official Holocaust memorial is working to remedy this international ignorance by educating the generations of today and tomorrow about the past: Its American teachers like Lori Fulton who, with their commitment to Holocaust education, are poised to be potent forces for holding back the current tidal wave of anti-Semitism for the next generation. Many of the tools for empowering Fulton and thousands of other teachers in striving to accomplish this Herculean task come from a hillside in Jerusalem, thousands of miles from her classroom in Mattawan, Mich. Fulton, a high school English teacher who discovered the Holocaust as a teen when she happened upon The Diary of Anne Frank in her local library, spent two weeks last summer at Yad Vashem: the World Holocaust Remembrance Center. Thats where, together with dozens of other teachers, she learned how to bring these terror-filled years alive for her students. I thought I knew about the Holocaust, but I realized I was missing something, she says. Sure, we can read Wiesels Night and watch The Pianist, but only when you have the human storieswhat it was really like to live through that helldoes everything change. Not only does Yad Vashems International School for Holocaust Studies host 7,000 teachers annually in its Jerusalem center, but its programs train thousands more in 50 countries. And it provides a full menu of online teacher resources, including survivor testimonies, photos, rare film footage and lesson plans in 20 languages, destined for classrooms around the globe, in addition to resources for adults Am I the last poet singing in Europe? Am I making song now for corpses and crows? Such were the thoughts that poet Avraham Sutzkever put to paper in 1943, a year which saw his infant son killed in the Vilnius Ghetto and his mother murdered at the infamous Ponary Massacre outside the town. Sutzkever survived the Holocaust, made aliyah (immigrated to Israel), and became the Holy Lands most beloved Yiddish poet. As we prepare to observe International Holocaust Remembrance Day this Sunday, the National Library of Israels Hadar Ben-Yehuda remembers the life story of this wordsmith and survivor: Avraham Sutzkever, the sensitive poet, personally experienced both the Holocaust and the establishment of the State of Israel in all their intensity. He was an expert at summarizing emotions, feelings and thoughts and distilling them into short lines of poetry. He did all this in his own language, his mother tongue and that of his ancestors in Lithuania Yiddish. By the start of the Second World War, Avraham Sutzkever was already a published and well-known poet, one of the youngest, sharpest and most promising in the developing literary center of Vilna. During the war, Sutzkever walked along the path of suffering with the Jews of Vilna and witnessed the arrests and the executions, the deportations to the ghettos and the massacres at Paneriai. He continued to write throughout the daily struggle for survival, and took part in the ghetto theatre. Most of his time was spent documenting the life of Jews, Jewish culture and the crimes the Nazis committed against them. Sutzkever and his friends collected every note, every book and every scrap of testimony, hiding or smuggling them out of the ghetto. The poet joined the underground movement in the ghetto and wrote about the terrible things he experienced and witnessed: about his mother who was murdered in Paneriai; his baby who was born and murdered in the ghetto hospital. In September 1943, a few short days before the liquidation of the Vilna Ghetto, when Sutzkever was exhausted and despondent, his wife Freydke persuaded him to escape from the ghetto and join the partisans. Freydke, Sutzkever and his close friend Shmerke Kaczerginski walked a hundred kilometers together with the partisans, skirting non-Jewish villages and the German army, until they reached the Lake Naroch region and joined the partisan camp Nekoma [Revenge]. While he fought with the partisans, the poem Kol Nidrei which Sutzkever had written while still in the ghetto reached Russia. The poem related the tale of the aktions of Yom Kippur 5732 [1941], in which almost 4000 Jews from the Vilna Ghetto were taken to Paneriai. The poem was translated into Russian and read out in 1944 in the Central House of Writers in Moscow. It made a huge impression. The audience was astounded by the power of Sutzkevers words, which revealed the horrors of the Final Solution President Jamie Birge says the new President's Council will provide a forum for information and discussion that can be disseminated back to college employees. PreviousNext MCLA Opens 125th Year With New Strategies, Initiatives President James Birge pulls tickets for some gift certificates as a thank you to the attendees. NORTH ADAMS, Mass. Some legislators are calling it the "year of education" but for Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts, it's not about one year but about 125 years of education. The college will celebrate its quasquicentennial in 2019 with a series of events, exhibitations, signage and celebrations. President Jamie Birge announced the anniversary along with other college news as the spring semester kickoff breakfast held in the Centennial Room on Tuesday morning. Established in 1894 as the North Adams Normal School to train teachers, the college has gone through a number of names and some significant academic and physical changes over the past 125 years. It became MCLA in 1997. "Regardless of our name, MCLA over the years has reflected its historic public purpose to respond to the needs and demands of society," Birge told the gathering. "MCLA will celebrate its 125th anniversary in 2019 by inviting faculty, staff, students and alumni to form an anniversary committee." Robert Ziomek, class of 1989 and vice president of institutional advancement, will chair the committee. This year's commencement speaker will be U.S. Rep. Richard Neal, who represents the Berkshires in Congress. Neal will be presented with an honorary doctorate in public service, as will former Mayor Richard Alcombright. Also receiving an honorary doctorate, in humane letters, will be Shirley Edgerton, an alumna of MCLA and a former trustee. The college is also moving forward with a new look in branding and marketing this year. The firm SimpsonScarborough, with offices in Washington, D.C., and California, has been working with the college community, Birge said, "as part of our strategic planning goal of improving internal communications and enhancing our external reputation." The marketing firm came up with two concepts and then merged them as audience testing found preferences in both. Some of the new elements will be used almost immediately and the rest through the academic year. The estate of Helen Sinderman, class of 1944, provided the resources for this work. The website's getting a makeover as well, with iFactory of Boston developing a model more accessible on mobile and user-friendly. That should be completed by the opening of the fall semester. On a more internal note, Birge is resurrecting the President's Council, to be made up of 30 to 40 members to represent the college's more than 400 employees. The council will focus on "discussions around challenges and opportunities for MCLA. We will identify and examine policies and practices that will enhance the leraning and teaching environment we will share data and information and address rumors and misinformation eachmember will be responsible to report discussion content to their colleagues and the presidents office will post meeting notes online for everyone to read." Sometimes information can't be shared for legal reasons, or because it's incomplete or would hurt someone, he said. "I'm under no illusion this council will solve our communication deficiencies but it has the opportunity to expand the information we can share with one another," Birge said. The college is also working on its strategic plan, will open a Pittsfield location in February, and recently received a $360,000 Andrew W. Mellon Foundation grant to establish an Institute on the Arts and Humanities to explore connections that can increase diversity, equity, and inclusion. Trustees Chairwoman Denise Marshall spoke on the food pantry drive by students that raised $4,300 and the new program for students to provide income tax assistance to North Berkshire residents. He said there's a recognition that more of the burden has shifted to the local level and needs to be corrected. State Rep. Paul Mark, he pointed out, has been leading the charge against the decline in higher education fundingls. Since 2001, Massachusetts has reduced its per-student financing by $8,000, to $12,000 a year. "That's the wrong direction we should be heading in education financing," Hinds said. "We do think that this year we're going to have a very serious conversation not only of those priorities but certainly on the revenue side. ... "We have some sources of new revenue coming into the state but clearly not nearly enough." Barrett, who graduated from MCLA, said there have been similar challenges in the past in convincing lawmakers and "everyday people" that an affordable path to higher-education creates opportunities. "I'm one of 160 fighting for the smalles most remote area in the state of Massachusetts, trying to convince them that this school is important," he said. "Not only to education but for our economy and to be the catalyst for growth for many years to come." Also making brief remarks were Chairwoman of the Board of Trustees Denise Marshall, Association of City, State and Municipal Employee Local 1067 Chief Steward Elizabeth Manns, Student Government Association Executive Vice President Celine Manigbas, and Mayor Thomas Bernard. Bernard said he looked forward to continuing to work with the college. "It's time we look at small as a competitive advantage," he said. Los coronavirus son una gran familia de virus que son comunes en las personas y en muchas especies diferentes de animales Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said on Thursday it is time for an international investigation to be launched into the killing of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi, who was killed in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul. In an interview with Turkish broadcaster A Haber, Cavusoglu said President Tayyip Erdogan ordered preparations to be made to carry the case to an international level, and said a United Nations special rapporteur will be coming to Turkey. Short link: Caracas [Venezuela]: After the USA recognised opposition leader Juan Guaido as the Interim President, the beleaguered President Nicolas Maduro broke off all diplomatic ties with the USA, giving American diplomats 72 hours to leave the country. "Before the people and nations of the world, and as constitutional President...Ive decided to break diplomatic and political relations with US. Get out! Leave Venezuela. We have (our) dignity dammit!" Maduro told a crowd of red-shirted supporters gathered at the Miraflores Presidential palace on Wednesday. The President`s announcement comes amid raging protests in the South American country, with protesters demanding fresh elections to be held. "The imperial government of the United States is leading a coup attempt against us in order to install a puppet presidency that they can control Venezuela," CNN quoted Maduro as further saying from the balcony at Miraflores. The opposition-controlled National Assembly, which is presided over by Guaido, called for Wednesday`s nationwide protests on a symbolic date for the Venezuelans. Around 61 years ago on this date, a civil and military uprising in the nation had overthrown former Venezuelan dictator, General Marcos Perez Jimenez. The economic crisis in the nation, coupled with a food shortage, has strengthened an anti-Maduro sentiment across the South American nation, with the opposition accusing Maduro of "usurping power"."The citizens of Venezuela have suffered for too long at the hands of the illegitimate Maduro regime. Today, I have officially recognized the President of the Venezuelan National Assembly, Juan Guaido, as the Interim President of Venezuela," US President Donald Trump had tweeted in Guaido`s support on Wednesday (local time). Countries like Colombia have extended their support for Guaido as the Interim President of Venezuela, with the USA urging other "western hemisphere governments" to recognise Guaido`s leadership. SEOUL: North Korean leader Kim Jong Un spoke highly of US President Donald Trump, state media said on Thursday, and expressed satisfaction over the results of talks between officials from both countries about a second summit between Kim and Trump. Kim said he would trust Trump`s approach, the North`s official KCNA news agency said, weeks after Kim warned North Korea could seek a "new path" if US sanctions and pressure continued. That suggested Kim was focused on the next meeting with Trump to produce results. "Kim Jong Un said that we will believe in President Trump`s positive way of thinking, wait with patience and in good faith and, together with the US, advance step by step toward the goal to be reached by the two countries," KCNA said. It said Kim expressed "large satisfaction" at receiving a "great" letter from Trump and a briefing about the results of the negotiations from the North Korean delegation that visited Washington last week but did not elaborate. Kim ordered working-level preparations for the second North Korea-US summit to be done well, KCNA said. The White House said last week a second Trump-Kim summit would be held in late February but did not say where. That follows their landmark first summit in Singapore last June, which produced a promise to work towards the complete denuclearisation of the Korean peninsula. Progress since then has been patchy. Kim has indicated to South Korean President Moon Jae-in he would undertake a "groundbreaking" denuclearisation measure, South Korean newspaper DongA Ilbo reported on Thursday. The newspaper, citing an unidentified source with direct knowledge of the US-North Korea situation, said the same had been made clear to Trump during senior North Korean official Kim Yong Chol`s Washington visit last week. North Korea has hinted, for example, at the possibility of agreeing to the US demand for verification of denuclearisation efforts before it discards its Yongbyon nuclear facilities. In turn, the United States has mentioned potential measures such as easing limits on oil imports, a conditional restart of the Kaesong industrial zone in North Korea, and opening a liaison office in Pyongyang, DongA reported. `NO RUSH` DongA also said that, according to several South Korean government sources, talks between officials from North Korea, the United States and South Korea near Stockholm this week appeared to have been constructive in setting some of the agenda for the second Trump-Kim summit. The US State Department did not respond to a request for comment on the DongA report. The White House said after Trump met Kim Yong Chol, the North`s chief nuclear negotiator, last week that economic sanctions against Pyongyang would be maintained despite agreeing to the second summit. Trump has said there is "no rush" and "no time limit" on denuclearisation negotiations, but Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has given varying statements about the degree of Washington`s patience. Pompeo said after the Singapore summit the United States hoped to achieve "major disarmament" by North Korea by the end of Trump`s current term in office in January 2021. He has subsequently said he would not put a timeline on talks. He told Fox News in an interview broadcast on Wednesday there had been progress in stopping North Korea`s nuclear and missile-testing programmes. "Chairman Kim continues to assure the President of the United States he is intent on denuclearisation and I hope that at the end of February, when the two leaders get together, we can make a substantial step along the way," Pompeo said. He said on Tuesday he saw an important role for the private sector in helping to develop North Korea if progress was made. SYDNEY: Australian Foreign Minister Marise Payne said on Thursday there was no evidence to suggest that the detention of a dual-national writer in China was linked to the high-profile arrests of two Canadians but that Canberra was seeking urgent clarification. Officials in Canberra confirmed on Thursday Chinese-Australian Yang Hengjun, an author and former Chinese diplomat who is now an Australian citizen, had been detained shortly after he flew in to the southern city of Guangzhou from New York last week. There has so far been no comment from China about Yang. Tensions between China and some parts of the West have been heightened since two Canadians, a diplomat on unpaid leave and a consultant, were arrested in China on suspicion of endangering state security. Those arrests were widely seen in the West as retaliation by Beijing for the arrest of Meng Wanzhou, a senior Huawei Technologies executive, in Canada on Dec. 1. She is accused of violating US sanctions on Iran. Payne said staff from Australia`s embassy met Chinese officials on Thursday to seek answers and, while details were limited, she said there was no evidence that it was linked to Australia`s criticism of Beijing`s detention of two Canadians. "At this stage there is no evidence of such a connection ... but I`d be concerned if there was an indication of that," Payne told reporters in Sydney. "We are calling on the Chinese authorities to ensure this matter is dealt with transparently and fairly," she said. Feng Chongyi, an academic at the University of Technology in Sydney, said he asked Yang to avoid travelling to China because of the tensions. "I tried to persuade him not to go. I didn`t think it would be safe for him because of the situation with Huawei but he believed that he would fine as he had been there so many times," Feng said. The Australian government was first alerted that Yang had gone missing after friends said he had not been reachable for several days. CHINESE `INTERFERENCE` Australia joined international condemnation of the arrest of the two Canadians but Yang has long been in the sights of Chinese authorities. He has criticised what he described as Chinese interference in Australia. Yang was also reported missing while in China in 2011, emerging several days later. Two sources familiar with the details said he had been detained but agreed to say he was unwell. Chinese President Xi Jinping has presided over a sweeping crackdown on dissent since coming to power in 2012, with hundreds of rights lawyers and activists detained. Dozens have been jailed. Yang`s case will likely also be pressed by Australian Defence Minister Christopher Pyne, who arrived in Beijing on Thursday for previously scheduled talks with his Chinese counterpart, Wei Fenghe, and other senior officials. Pyne`s visit was arranged in a bid to repair damaged ties following Australian allegations in 2017 that China was meddling in it domestic affairs. Australia`s conservative government has sought to refrain from such public criticism in recent months, although analysts said Yang`s arrest fuels pressure on Canberra to rebuke its largest trading partner. "Australia can`t hide from this, it will need to respectfully protect its citizens," said Rory Medcalf, head of the National Security College at the Australian National University. "This detention marks the new normal in the bilateral tension, which will be constant low-level tension," he said. DAVOS: The United States has assured Afghanistan`s government that any US troop pullout would not affect the combat abilities of remaining forces, Afghan Chief Executive Abdullah Abdullah said on Wednesday. Abdullah said news last month that President Donald Trump was planning to withdraw 5,000 US troops had caused unease in the government, which is battling resurgent Taliban forces who control broad swathes of the country outside the main cities. Since then, however, US officials had told the Afghan government that no final decision had been made, and that Washington remained committed to supporting Afghan defence and security institutions, he said. "Of course initially it came with some concerns for all of us," Abdullah told Reuters on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in the Swiss resort of Davos. "Later on, through engagement with their envoys and representatives we learned that even if the (US) withdraws, it would be partial, it would not have an impact on the combat abilities," he said. He did not say how the United States, if left with fewer than 9,000 troops, would still be able to maintain multiple missions including training Afghan forces, advising them in the field and waging air strikes against the Taliban and other militants. Trump has been impatient for progress in ending the 17-year war in Afghanistan, where more than 2,400 US forces have died. The United States sent troops to Afghanistan after the al Qaeda attacks on New York and Washington on Sept. 11, 2001, and overthrew its Taliban rulers, who had hosted Osama bin Laden`s organisation. At its peak the US deployment involved more than 100,000 troops, but Washington withdrew most in 2014 and now has around 14,000 troops in the country as part of a NATO-led mission aiding Afghan security forces and hunting militants. "The presence will not come to an end - only if there is peace in Afghanistan," Abdullah said. "So those details which came out later on kept us assured to some extent." Abdullah, who is standing in Afghanistan`s presidential election in July, defended his alliance with General Abdul Rashid Dostum, who has been accused of serious human rights abuses. He said Dostum`s Junbish-i Milli party had strong support in northern Afghanistan. "You cannot ignore part of the population because there are allegations against this person or that person," he said. "We cant just wish people away." Abdullah is challenging President Ashraf Ghani, who defeated him in a 2014 election which Abdullah said was marred by fraud. They later agreed to form a national unity government with Ghani as president and Abdullah as chief executive officer. This year`s vote "has to be clean," Abdullah said. "The flaws of the previous election have to be corrected. Am I absolutely confident that this will be transparent as we would expect? Thats difficult to judge at this stage." In yet another not-so-hilarious prank by PewDiePie fans, a hacker SydeFX cracked into several Nest security systems across the world and cast 'Subscribe to PewDiePie' message. A hacker reportedly watched people through their Nest home security cameras and spoke to them, demanded that his targets subscribe to YouTuber channel PewDiePie. Can you please subscribe to PewDiePie. That's my only request, I'll go away if you do, says the hacker in a now-viral video, first posted on Reddit. People were reportedly asked to click on the subscribe button while the hacker watched them live. The hacker, who goes by the pseudonym SydeFX, told motherboard he was able to find around 300 exposed cameras within a matter of minutes, and over the course of 15 hours, he said he accessed and spoke through dozens of cameras. Till date, SydeFX has hacked into 4,000 unique Nest user accounts. In an unrelated incident, a California family was reeling after a hacker accessed their Nest surveillance camera, falsely warning them of ballistic missiles being launched from North Korea toward the United States. Both these incidents have raised several questions on cybersecurity. This is not the first instance of hacking by PewDiePie fans. During the intense T Series vs PewDiePie battle Pewds hacked printers worldwide on two different occasions asking them to subscribe to the channel. Fans also hacked into Google Chromecasts and defaced the Wall Street Journal website. The war between Indian record label T-Series and YouTuber PewDiePie intensified in 2018 after the Indian record label's fast ascent to the top. PewDiePie, known for his video-game commentary and controversial comments, has been the most-subscribed YouTube channel for last five years. However, this was challenged by T-Series, which gained over 72 million within months, thanks to India's game-changing data service penetration. An FIR was registered against former Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) MLA Vijay Yadav on Thursday for his controversial retort on BJP MLA Sadhana Singh's remark on BSP chief Mayawati. Earlier on Monday, Yadav had announced an award of Rs 50 lakh to the person who brings the BJP lawmakers head to him. BJP MLA Sadhana Singh should seek apology from Behenji (Mayawati) and women of the country, else we will protest. After collecting money from my supporters, I will give Rs 50 lakh to the person who will bring Sadhana Singhs head to me, said Yadav. The FIR has been registered against at Civil Lines Police Station in Uttar Pradesh's Moradabad. The Uttar Pradesh Police said that an investigation is currently underway. The retort followed after the BJP MLA's controversial statement calling Mayawati worse than a eunuch. Singh had last week called former Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati a blot on womankind and worse than a eunuch, while referring to the infamous incident when Mayawati was assaulted by the Samajwadi Party workers at a guest house in Lucknow in 1995. Meanwhile, the National Commission for Women (NCW) issued a notice to Sadhana Singh and sought an explanation from her for making extremely offensive and unethical remarks against Mayawati. Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav said the language being used by the ruling party leaders is the result of their frustration. Faced with criticisms from all quarters, the BJP MLA from Mughalsarai issued an apology asserting that she did not mean to hurt anyones sentiments. Hyderabad: The second phase of the panchayat polls in Telangana will be held on Friday amid tight security, the state election commission (SEC) said on Thursday. Polling would begin at 7 am and end at 1 pm even as counting would be taken up from 2 pm, the SEC said. As many as 10,668 candidates are contesting for sarpanch posts in 3,342 panchayats while 63,480 candidates are in the fray for 26,191 wards, official communication from the SEC said. About 50,000 security personnel would be deployed to ensure peaceful polling, said a police official Jitender. The first phase was held on January 21 and the third phase would be held on January 30. New Delhi: The finance ministry is looking at some of the suggestions of PFRDA including increasing upper age limit for availing Atal Pension Yojana (APY) to 50 years, Financial Services Secretary Rajiv Kumar said Wednesday. To make APY more attractive, the Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA) has sought the ministry's nod to double the guaranteed minimum pension under the scheme to Rs 10,000 per month and increase the upper age limit to avail the scheme to 50 from existing 40. "The PFRDA is also thinking of buckets of investments in which higher returns can be generated. All these are good suggestions. I can assure you that we will carefully and diligently look at all the suggestions," he said here. Kumar also exhorted banks to find innovative tools to push APY. Citing some examples, he said, banks can tap Mudra beneficiaries, Self Help Group members or Aganwadi workers. There are five crore Mudra loan beneficiaries and the target would be met even if 20 per cent of them within the age group of 18-40 years are covered under this, he said. APY is guaranteed pension scheme announced by the government on May 9, 2015. The scheme is focused on the unorganised sector workers which constitute more than 85 per cent of the workforce. During the occasion, PFRDA gave awards to top performers in achieving APY target. Central Bank of India, Indian Bank, Dena Bank, SBI, Oriental Bank of Commerce, IDBI Bank and ESAF Small Finance Bank were among others awarded. Singapore: Singapore heartthrob Aloysius Pang has died after sustaining serious injuries during an artillery gun accident in a military training exercise in New Zealand. Pang, 28, succumbed to injuries after a series of stomach operations at the Waikato Hospital in Hamilton, where he was receiving treatment, the Defence Ministry said in a statement on Wednesday night. He had been carrying out repair works inside a Singapore Self-Propelled Howitzer -- an artillery gun mounted on an armoured chassis -- with two other SAF personnel when the accident happened at the Waiouru Training area last Saturday. "Unfortunately, Corporal First Class (National Service) Pang sustained injuries when the gun barrel was lowered," said the ministry. He was on reservist duty as part of young Singaporeans commitment to be battle ready to serve in the armed forces under the compulsory National Service. Pang was evacuated to Waikato Hospital, a regional trauma centre, where he underwent a number of operations, it said. Tan Tock Seng Hospital's chief of trauma and acute care surgery Dr Teo Li Tserng was flown in from Singapore to assist the New Zealand medical team attending Pang. "Despite surgical attempts to repair damaged organs and putting him on artificial life support, CFC (NS) Pang succumbed to injuries and passed away," said the ministry. The actor grew up with local television media group, Mediacorp, starting his career as a child actor in television dramas in 1999. Pang was named one of the "8 Dukes of Caldecott Hill (the venue of television stations)" in 2014, awarded Best Newcomer at the Star Awards 2015 and became one of the Top 10 Most Popular Male Artistes at the Star Awards 2016. Over the years, he matured as an actor and was recently cast in the lead role of future Channel 8 drama My One in a Million. The role will be recast, said Mediacorp. New Delhi: The young and beautiful Sara Ali Khan, daughter of Amrita Singh and Saif Ali Khan, won hearts with her debut performance 'Kedarnath'. The film released in December 2018 and Sara was lauded for her impressive act. After the Abhishek Kapoor directorial, Sara was seen in Rohit Shetty's 'Simmba' that released the same month. The actress has received a warm welcome in Bollywood and fans can't help but wonder about her next film. Sara isn't the only star kid who made her Bollywood debut in 2018. Late actress Sridevi and Bonney Kapoor's elder daughter, Janhvi Kapoor too made her debut with Karan Johar's 'Dhadak' in July last year. The film also marked Shahid Kapoor's brother, Ishaan Khatter's Bollywood debut. Both actors were lauded for their performance. Comparisons are often drawn between Janhvi and Sara and both actresses deal maturely with it. In an interview with Filmfare, Sara was told that Janhvi finds her stunning. The actress was then asked about how she finds her fellow debutante actress. To this, Sara replied, Shes stunning as well. This whole thing (rivalry) about Janhvi and me is so funny. Were both extremely comfortable and confident in our skin. The first five times people made collages of us on Instagram asking whos better? we sent it to each other. Now we dont because it happens every week. But seriously, the industry is huge and has place for everyone. Youve got to be comfortable in your skin and respect the others job as well. I respect hers, she respects mine and at the risk of speaking for her, we respect even those people who make those collages. Their money also depends on it. Do it, we dont mind. Some days shell look better, some days Ill look better. Its all good. New Delhi: Prateik Babbar married his longtime girlfriend Sanya Sagar in a traditional ceremony in Lucknow on Wednesday. The wedding, The nuptials took place in Maharashtrian style, which was followed by a low-key reception. They will reportedly host a wedding reception for Bollywood friends in Mumbai on January 25. After the ceremonies, the couple headed back to Mumbai and were captured by the shutterbugs. And to everyone's surprise, Prateik and Sanya ditched their Indian-traditional outfits, which other star couples prefered to stick to after they got wed, and instead were seen making a super cool appearance in casuals. Prateek was seen in a white tee and black pants with a sweater, jacket and a cap while Sanya appeared in stylish flared pants and crop top. Their wedding was a private affair and was attended by only close family members and a few friends. The haldi and sangeet functions were held in a Lucknow farmhouse and pictures from the events were widely shared on the Internet. Sanya hails from a political background. The duo knew each other for over a decade before they started dating in 2017. Prateik proposed to her last year in Goa and officially announced his engagement. The actor told the media that he knew very early that Sanya was the perfect match for him. On the work front, he will next be seen in 'Chhichhore'. New Delhi: Actress Hansika Motwani, who became the latest celebrity from the film industry to have fallen prey to the hackers, on Thursday issued a statement over the recent event of her private photo being leaked on social media. A day after her pictures flooded the social media, the actress released a statement saying that her phone and Twitter accounts were hacked and warned against responding to the messages, containing her private pictures. "Phone n Twitter hacked please dont respond to any random messages. My back end team is working on getting things in control," she said in a tweet earlier in the day. Phone n Twitter hacked please dont respond to any random messages . My back end team is working on getting things in control. Hansika (@ihansika) January 23, 2019 As per reports, most of the posts, sharing her leaked pictures, were removed from Twitter. However, her pictures are still available on Instagram. The leaked pictures show Hansika dressed in swimsuits in most of them. The picture seems to have been clicked during her recent trip to New York. The incident came as a huge shock to not just the actress but also her fans. As of now, she hasn't filed any complaint on the matter. Earlier, a nude video of a lookalike of Hansika had surfaced on the internet. However, the actress had issued a statement saying that she wasn't the girl in the video and it was a case of mistaken identity. On the professional front, she is currently working on UR Jameel's directorial Tamil film 'Maha', which is also her 50th film. New Delhi: In a bid to make Pages more transparent and accountable, social media giant Facebook said that will proactively shut down fake Groups and Pages that don't meet with its Community Standards. In an official post, Facebook said people who manage a Page will see a new tab that shows when it remove certain content that goes against Facebook's Community Standards. Secondly, Facebook is updating its recidivism policy to better prevent those who have had Pages removed for violating its Community Standards from using duplicate Pages to continue the same activity. Facebook said that it will be providing more information in the Page Quality tab over time. To start, were including content removed for policies like hate speech, graphic violence, harassment and bullying, and regulated goods, nudity or sexual activity, and support or praise of people and events that are not allowed to be on Facebook, the social media giant said. Facebook said that this time around when it removes a Page or group for violating our policies, it may now also remove other Pages and Groups even if that specific Page or Group has not met the threshold to be unpublished on its own. To enforce this updated policy, well look at a broad set of information, including whether the Page has the same people administering it, or has a similar name, to one were removing, Facebook added. From INA Veterans to women leading contingent this year's Republic Day is set to witness many first. This time an aircraft AN32 will fly on biofuel. Our correspondent Sidhant Sibal spoke to Major General Rajpal Punia, Chief of Staff, HQ Delhi Area and Deputy Parade Commander, Republic day on what is special about this year's Republic Day parade. Sidhant Sibal: What will be the focus this time? Maj Gen Rajpal Punia: Well, this time for the first time Indian national army soldier will be participating in the parade. besides this we have all women contingent were in all the participants in the contingent will be women-- it is Assam Rifle contingent that will be participating. We have 4 contingent commanders who are lady officers. It will also happen for the 1st time. Because individually lady officers have commanded contingent but not in such large number. We have Make-in-India equipment K9 vajra. It is going to be pride for the nation. Also, we will be using biofuel Jatropha fuel made in India and aircraft will be flying on it for the first time. Sidhant Sibal: How much focus will be on women power? Maj Gen Rajpal Punia: I agree. No doubt. Women power is very powerful. This time we have a very large number of women participating including in motorcycle display. There is a lady officer who is commanding motorcycle display. We have all women continent. Women power this time its maximum than in previous years. Sidhant Sibal: Use of biofuel-- Jatropha, can u explain more? Maj Gen Rajpal Punia: Its a plant. We trying to extract oil for a number of years from it. We even thinking that it will be replacing oil in the coming years. Jatropha oil being used by AN 32 to fly. You can imagine, if an aircraft can fly, then for the country its a self-sufficiency. Sidhant Sibal: Indian National Army (INA) veterans are also taking part this time? Maj Gen Rajpal Punia: 4 INA soldiers who are participating. These people are-- Lalti Ram, 98 years old living in Panchkula, Hira Singh, 97, living in Narnaul, Bhagmal, 100 years living in Manesar and Parmanand Yadav, 95 from Chandigarh. Its a matter of honour. Its a great honour for the country that we have veterans of INA participating. NEW DELHI: Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) of India Sunil Arora on Thursday said that the Election Commission (EC) is not thinking to return to ballot papers at all during the upcoming Lok Sabha elections. Addressing an event in Delhi, the CEC said: "I would like to make it very clear that we are not going back to the era of ballot papers." Chief Election Commissioner of India Sunil Arora at an event in Delhi: I would like to make it very clear that we are not going back to the era of ballot papers. pic.twitter.com/60PS7tioSy ANI (@ANI) January 24, 2019 "We will continue to use EVMs & VVPATs. We are open to any criticism & feedback from any stakeholder including political parties. At the same time, we are not going to be intimidated, bullied or coerced into giving up these and start era of ballot papers," he was quoted as saying by ANI. CEC Sunil Arora in Delhi: We will continue to use EVMs & VVPATs. We are open to any criticism & feedback from any stakeholder including political parties. At the same time, we are not going to be intimidated, bullied or coerced into giving up these and start era of ballot papers. pic.twitter.com/bco5DOSfTd ANI (@ANI) January 24, 2019 On January 8, the CEC had said that electronic voting machines (EVMs) are tamper-proof and there is nothing to doubt about the integrity of the system. He had also remarked that a highly-qualified technical committee was looking after the entire functioning of EVMs. The CEC had stressed that nobody can approach, influence or coax the members of the committee. The CEC did not take the name of any political party but he did target the parties who keep raising issues about EVMs by saying that these days people are talking a lot about EVMs. Commenting on the upcoming Lok Sabha polls, the CEC had said that the EC will make all efforts to hold a free, fair, impartial and ethical election. The CEC also held a meeting with chief electoral officers (CEOs) of Punjab, Haryana and Chandigarh on January 7 to review poll preparedness for the forthcoming Lok Sabha elections. He also held a seperate meeting with top officials of the civil and police administration to hold discussions over this matter. Punjab, Haryana and Chandigarh have 13, 10 and 1 Lok Sabha seats, respectively. (with agency inputs) Minister of State for External Affairs VK Singh on Thursday took a dig at Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, who made her political debut after years of speculation. Speaking to news agency ANI, Singh said that while today Priyanka has been made the general secretary of the Congress, tomorrow her children will also be given the same post in the party. Pointing that she had not been appointed a general secretary by the people of the country, the Minister of State said that public will judge which leadership can take the country ahead. He also dismissed Priyanka as a threat to the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), saying that she has campaigned for elections earlier as well. Singh said, Priyanka Gandhi has campaigned for elections earlier as well. Today Priyanka has been made General Secretary, tomorrow her children will be made. The public hasn't made her the secretary. The public will judge which leadership can take the country ahead. On Wednesday as well, Singh had said that Priyankas political plunge would not impact the prospects of the BJP in any manner. Priyanka Gandhi Vadra has been given the charge of eastern Uttar Pradesh, which is home to several key constituencies. Apart from the Gandhi bastions of Rae Bareli and Amethi, which are represented in Lok Sabha by her mother Sonia Gandhi and brother Rahul Gandhi, respectively, Prime Minister Narendra Modis constituency Varanasi is also in the eastern Uttar Pradesh region. Also, UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanaths bastion Gorakhpur is also part of eastern UP. The BJP has, however, used Priyankas political debut as an opportunity to mock Congress president Rahul Gandhi. The party said on Wednesday that Congress has basically announced the failure of Rahul Gandhi as its leader. Prime Minister Narendra Modi had also launched a veiled attack on the Congress, saying that while for other family is party, its party is family for the BJP. He claimed that the BJP was the only party which believed in and followed true principles of democracy. JALAUN: In yet another case of medical negligence, a woman was forced to deliver her baby on road after she was denied admission at a government hospital in Jalaun district in Uttar Pradesh. The family members of the woman said that she developed labour pain at her home and they took her to government primary health centre, but the hospital staffs denied her admission asking them to come after three days. After being denied admission, the woman delivered the child on road. Other women present at the spot helped the woman by covering her with clothes when she was delivering the baby. Agitated family members later staged a protest outside the hospital over the negligence shown by the hospital in dealing with the case. Talking to ANI, Dr B M Kharre, ACMO, Jalaun said: "I've been informed that a pregnant woman was forced out by a staff nurse. I've ordered an investigation, strictest action will be taken against guilty person." Jalaun: A woman was forced to give birth on road after being forced out of a hospital. Dr B M Kharre, ACMO, Jalaun says,"I've been informed that a pregnant woman was forced out by a staff nurse. I've ordered an investigation, strictest action will be taken against guilty person." pic.twitter.com/iPXz5a0Nj6 ANI UP (@ANINewsUP) January 23, 2019 (with agency inputs) The Maharashtra Assembly election is unlikely to be held along with Lok Sabha election 2019. Sources on Thursday told Zee News that that both the elections would not be held simultaneously. According to the sources, the information was given to the Maharashtra Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) by the central leadership of the ruling party. Notably, members of the Maharashtra unit of BJP had earlier raised concerns over the possibility of the elections being held together. Some lawmakers and party leaders had also held consultations with the central BJP leadership in this regard. Members of the Maharashtra unit of the ruling party believed that Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP president Amit Shah might be in the favour of Assembly and Lok Sabha elections being held simultaneously. The central leadership has, however, clarified that the two elections will be held separately. The last Assembly election in Maharashtra was held in 2014 and the results were declared on October 19, 2014. The BJP had emerged as the single largest party, winning 122 seats, and went on to form the government in the state with the help of the Shiv Sena, which bagged 63 seats in the 288-member Assembly. The Congress and the NCP had won 42 and 41 seats respectively. The Maharashtra Assembly election in 2014 were held just months after the Lok Sabha election were held, wherein the BJP-led NDA won with a thumping majority. NEW DELHI: Justice A K Sikri recused himself from hearing the petition challenging the appointment of M Nageswara Rao as CBI interim director on Thursday. The top court bench led by Justice Sikri listed the matter for hearing on Friday before a different bench. As soon as the matter came up for hearing, Justice Sikri told senior advocate Dushyant Dave, appearing for petitioner NGO Common Cause, that he would not like to hear the matter and was recusing himself. "You understand my position. I can't hear this matter," said Justice Sikri, who was a part of the Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led high powered panel which had removed CBI Director Alok Verma. Rao was first appointed as the interim CBI Director director in October 2018. Last month, he was promoted to the rank of an additional director by the government. A 1986-batch IPS officer from the Odisha cadre, Rao's name has been cleared by the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet. The promotion of Rao, who took over as interim CBI Director amid a midnight drama on October 24, came after the government stepped in between Director CBI Alok Verma and Special Director Rakesh Asthana fight, which reached court. Immediately after his appointment, Rao transferred several top officers. On January 11, Verma was sacked after a two-hour-long meeting of the Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led Selection Committee in New Delhi. Rao was then reinstated as the interim CBI chief. Rao transferred another 20 officers on Monday in a major reshuffle. CBI sources later said that the extensive transfer and posting of officials by Rao is aimed to "cleanse" the system, "restore checks and balances" in the agency and boost manpower in units investigating crucial cases. BARAMULLA: In a major victory for security forces, Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) Director General of Police (DGP) Dilbagh Singh on Thursday announced that Baramulla district of Jammu and Kashmir is now terrorist-free. Jammu and Kashmir DGP Dilbagh Singh: Yesterday's operation in Baramulla district in which 3 militants were killed makes Baramulla the first district of Kashmir with no surviving militant, as on date. (file pic) pic.twitter.com/dhU1B1r0CC ANI (@ANI) January 24, 2019 Singh made the statement just a day after security forces eliminated three Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) terrorists during an encounter in the district. Yesterdays operation in Baramulla district in which three militants were killed makes Baramulla the first district of Kashmir with no surviving militant, as on date, ANI quoted Singh as saying. Three LeT terrorists identified as Suhaib Farooq Akhoon, Mohsin Mushtaq Bhat and Nasir Ahmad Darzi were gunned down on Wednesday in Binner area of Baramulla. Talking to PTI, a police official said that a cordon and search operation was launched by the security forces in Binner area on receiving information about the presence of militants in the area. He added that the encounter began after the terrorists opened fire at the security personnel. It is to be noted that Baramulla district has been the hotbed for terrorist activities. In 2018, security forces were involved in encounter with terrorists in 12 of the 22 districts of Jammu and Kashmir. A total of 256 militants were eliminated by security forces in Jammu and Kashmir in 2018, out of which maximum (127) were neutralised in south Kashmir. Nine terrorists were killed in Jammu region last year. According to Singh, 43 terrorists were killed in encounters in Shopian, considered the hub of terrorists in the Valley. (with agency inputs) NEW DELHI: Delhi's infamous human trafficker Sonu Punjaban was attacked by unknown assailants in east Delhi while she was returning home on Wednesday. Punjaban was cooling her heels in jail for her involvement in a case of trafficking and forcing a girl into prostitution. The police added that currently, she is out on parole. Police received information at 4 am regarding a firing near Geeta Colony Pushta and officials of Shakarpur police station immediately rushed to the spot. Punjaban told police that three men in a car forced her to stop her Honda City near Pushta in Geeta Colony and fired thrice at her. She also told police that the attackers also threatened her. She immediately called up the police control room. Police have registered a case of attempt to commit culpable homicide and criminal intimidation against the unidentified miscreants. Meanwhile, an officer probing the case said that they are verifying the claims of attack being made by Punjaban as there are 'inconsistencies in her statements'. (with agency inputs) The Indian Navy on Thursday commissioned the Naval Air Station (NAS) Shibpur as INS Kohassa in Diglipur, making it the third air base in the far-off Andaman and Nicobar islands. INS Kohassa was commissioned by Indian Navy Chief Admiral Sunil Lanba and the grand ceremony was attended by many dignitaries and senior officials. A runway strip has been upgraded and converted into a full-fledged air base in the northern part of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands and it has been named INS Kohassa. Indian Navy will have full command over the new air base, which will play an important role in strengthening the monitoring capabilities of the Indian Navy in this part of the Indian Ocean. It is noted that this region of the Indian Ocean is very critical because it has been witnessing a lot of muscle-flexing by China. INS Kohassa, about 300 km (180 miles) north of the archipelagos capital, Port Blair has been named after a White-Bellied Sea Eagle, which is a large bird of prey, endemic to Andaman and Nicobar islands. NAS Shibpur was established in 2001 as a Forward Operating Air Base (FOAB) for enhanced surveillance in North Andaman. The close proximity of Coco Islands (Myanmar) and wide expanse of Indian Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) makes the base a very vital asset. The airfield provides sustained detached operations of Indian Navy, Indian Air Force and Coast Guard aircraft. The Indian Navy decided to set-up a full-fledged naval air base in this region because all the existing air bases are far away from the North Andaman Islands. The new and extended runway will also help play an important role in improving domestic air connectivity under the Udaan scheme launched by the Narendra Modi-led government at the Centre. NAS Shibpur had been used by Dornier aircraft and Chetak helicopters to conduct surveillance and monitoring operations in the North Andaman Islands region. The facility, the third in the islands, will have a 1,000-metre runway for helicopters and Dornier surveillance aircraft. But eventually the plan is for the runway to be extended to 3,000 metres to support fighter aircraft and longer-range reconnaissance aircraft, navy spokesman Captain DK Sharma had said. The Air Station presently operates Short Range Maritime Reconnaissance (SRMR) aircraft and helicopters. These aircraft undertake EEZ Surveillance, Anti-Poaching Missions, Search and Rescue (SAR) and Humanitarian Aid and Disaster Relief (HADR) missions within the ANC Area of Responsibility. As a point of interest, during the search operations of the Malaysian Airlines Flight 370, Dornier DO 228s of the Navy and Coast Guard operated from this very base. NAS Shibpur was identified by NITI Aayog as one of the Early Bird project as part of holistic island development. Towards this, the Navy has been ready in all respects to facilitate civil flight operations from NAS Shibpur. The runway extension to 10,000 ft is also planned in the near future to facilitate operations of wide-bodied aircraft. Located in the region close to the opening of the Straits of Malacca, INS Kohassa is just 90 km from Indonesia, 45 km from Myanmar and 550 km from Thailand. It is interesting to note that around 80 per cent of all cargo going to and from China passes through the Malacca. China, historically never a naval power worth mention, has identified the Malacca Strait as a pressure point against it, and has stepped up its presence in the Indian Ocean Region. So, India is increasingly using its military presence on the Andaman and Nicobar Islands to monitor China's naval activity. PANDHARPUR: A love letter sent by an unknown stalker has led to the death of a 15-year-old girl in Pandharpur, Maharashtra. The letter sent by the unknown stalker landed in the hands of the class teacher of the girl and the class teacher scolded the girl in front of everyone. The teacher then called the parents of the girl and informed them about the letter. The whole incident left the girl so embarrassed that she decided to commit suicide by hanging herself. Talking to Zee Media, the father of the deceased girl said that he had received a call from the school and when he reached the school her daughter was in tears. The father added that class teacher then told him that they have a found a love letter in possession with the girl. For her part, the girl kept on insisting that she is not in love with anyone and she does not know who has written this love letter to her. The girl's father brought her back to the home but she was deeply upset with the whole incident. The girl ended her life in the evening when there was no one at home. The friends of the deceased girl said that she was deeply disturbed after being scolded by the class teacher. She was also upset over the fact that the teacher had called her father to the school. Hours after the girl committed suicide, people of Vakhri village - from where the girl belonged - staged a protest outside Pandharpur police station. Though the police have registered a case in this matter, it will be very tough for them to find an unknown lover. Lucknow: In a fresh development, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) has summoned former Hamirpur District Magistrate B Chandrakala for questioning in the alleged sand mining case on Thursday. Last week, the CBI had conducted raids at the residences of IAS officer Chandrakala and other officials who were accused in the case. The questioning of Chandrakala was scheduled for this week.The CBI had also conducted raids at the residences of BSP leader Satyadev Dikshit and SP MLC Ramesh Mishra in Hamirpur.It has been alleged that government officials had allocated some illegal mining sites by flouting rules and regulations between the year 2012 and 2016.Mining rights were also given in violation of NGT orders. The CBI had initiated a probe in the alleged illegal mining case in 2016 on directions of the Allahabad High Court. The cases of illegal mining were recorded from seven districts of Uttar Pradesh namely Shamli, Kaushambi, Fatehpur, Deoria, Saharanpur, Hamirpur and Siddharthnagar. The Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) on Thursday successfully test fired Long Range Surface to Air Missile (LR-SAM) from naval warship INS Chennai. The test was conducted off the coast of Odisha. The Long Range Surface to Air Missile hit a low flying aerial target during the test. Following the succesful test fire, the Defence Ministry posted on microblogging site Twitter that it was a significant milestone. Union Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman congratulated the DRDO, the Indian Navy and other stakeholders for the landmark achievement. India achieves a significant milestone with successful flight test of LRSAM on board INS Chennai. The missile direcly hit a low flying aerial target. Smt @nsitharaman congratulates @DRDO_India, @indiannavy , the industry and other stakeholders for this landmark achievement, tweeted the Union Defence Ministry. Navy Chief Admiral Sunil Lanba is set to commission (Indian Naval Station) INS Kohassa on Thursday at Diglipur on North Andaman. A runway strip has been upgraded and converted into a full-fledged airbase in the northern part of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands and it has been named INS Kohassa. Indian Navy will have full command over the new airbase, which will play an important role in strengthening the monitoring capabilities of Indian Navy in this part of the Indian Ocean. It is noted that this region of Indian Ocean is very critical because it has been witnessing a lot of muscle-flexing by China. It is to be noted that the location had earlier been the site of (Naval Air Station) NAS Shibpur, which had been used as a waystation for Dornier aircraft and Chetak helicopters. Established in 2001, NAS Shibpur had been used by Dornier aircraft and Chetak helicopters to conduct surveillance and monitoring operations in the North Andaman Islands region. The Indian Navy decided to set-up a full-fledged naval airbase in this region because all the three existing airbases are far away from the North Andaman Islands. The new and extended runway will also help play an important role in improving domestic air connectivity under the Udaan scheme launched by Narendra Modi-led government at the Centre. Located in the region close to the opening of the Straits of Malacca, INS Kohassa is just 90 km from Indonesia, 45 km from Myanmar and 550 km from Thailand. It is interesting to note that around 80 percent of all cargo going to and from China passes through the Malacca. China, historically never a naval power worth mention, has identified the Malacca Strait as a pressure point against it, and has stepped up its presence in the Indian Ocean Region. So, India is increasingly using its military presence on the Andaman and Nicobar Islands to monitor China's naval activity. Jammu: An army porter was injured on Thursday when Pakistani troops fired heavy mortar shells and small arms targeting forwards posts and civilian areas along the Line of Control (LoC) Jammu and Kashmir's in Rajouri district, officials said. A Defence spokesperson said the Pakistan Army fired small arms and mortar shells in Sunderbani Sector starting 09.15 am. In the breach of the truce, one army porter was injured in Nowshera sector this evening. He was shifted to the hospital, the official said. The spokesperson said the Indian Army was retaliating strongly and effectively. The Pakistani troops have targeted civilian areas close to the International Border and the LoC on 17 days this month. They had fired mortar bombs and small arms at forwards posts and civilian areas along the LoC in Poonch district on Wednesday. AMETHI: Farmers in Congress President Rahul Gandhi's parliamentary constituency Amethi shouted slogans against him on Wednesday demanding that either they are provided employment or the land that was given to Rajiv Gandhi Foundation should be returned to them. One of the protesters at Gauriganj town in Amethi district told ANI: "We are very upset with Rahul Gandhi. He should go back to Italy. He does not deserve to be here. Rahul has grabbed our land." The Congress chief faced the ire of angry farmers during his visit to Amethi for campaigning for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections. It is to be noted that Samrat Cycle factory was inaugurated by former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi when he was the Lok Sabha MP from Amethi. Over 65.57 acres of land was acquired by Jain brothers in the 1980s in the industrial area of Kausar to run a company but the company failed to do good business and then a land auction took place in 2014. The UP State Industrial Development Corporation (UPSIDC) records show that 65.57 acres of land was leased to the company in 1986 but it was auctioned by the Debts Recovery Tribunal in 2014 at Rs. 20.10 crore after the closure of the company to recover the loan. The land purchased in the auction was paid by the Rajiv Gandhi Charitable Trust for stamp duty of Rs. 1,50,000. But the UPSIDC then declared the land auction process as invalid after which a Gauriganj SDM Court ordered the return of the land of the Samrat Cycle Factory to UPSIDC. on papers, the land is with UPSIDC but is still occupied by the Rajiv Gandhi Charitable Trust. Earlier, Union Minister Smriti Irani had also accused the Congress of grabbing the land of farmers through the foundation. (with agency inputs) Panaji: Ailing Goa Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar will attend the entire three-day session of the state Assembly that is scheduled to begin on January 29, Speaker Pramod Sawant said on Thursday. Talking to PTI, Sawant said on the second day of session, Parrikar will present the Budget in the House and then table the vote-on-account for five months. "Parrikar will attend the Assembly session on all three days," he said. Governor Mridula Sinha will give her customary address to the House on the first day of the session, he added. Parrikar, who has been suffering from a pancreatic ailment, was admitted to hospitals in Goa, Mumbai, Delhi and America last year. Ever since his discharge from the All India Institute of Medical Science (AIIMS), New Delhi in October last year, he has been recuperating at his private residence in Goa. The former Defence minister has made a few public appearances. The CM had chaired Business Advisory Committee meeting earlier this week. Responding to a query, Sawant said BJP MLA Pandurang Madkaikar, who has also been ailing since June last year, is likely to attend the session. "We are yet to receive any communication from the Madkaikar's office that he will not be attending the Session," he said. Meanwhile, the office of the speaker has received total 419 questions for the three-day session, including 137 starred and 282 unstarred questions. It has also received three government Bills for tabling- The Goa Commission for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Amendment) Bill 2019, The Goa Goods and Services Tax (amendment) bill, 2019 and The Goa Co-operative Societies (amendment) Bill 2019. The ninth National Voters' Day will be celebrated on Friday at more than six lakh locations, covering around 10 lakh polling stations, across the country. During the function, the new voters shall be felicitated and handed over their EPIC (Elector Photo Identity Card). The event is being organised by Election Commission at Manekshaw Centre in the national capital. The Chief Guest of the function will be President Ram Nath Kovind and Union Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad will also be present. In view of the upcoming Lok Sabha Election, No Voter to be Left Behind has been selected as the theme for the event. 'My Vote Matters', a Quarterly Magazine is being launched on the occasion and the first copy shall be presented to the President. The National Awards for the Best Electoral Practices shall be conferred to officers for outstanding performance in the conduct of elections. In addition, awards are also being given to CSOs and media houses who have made an outstanding contribution in the field of voter awareness and outreach. Chief Election Commissioners and senior officials from Bangladesh, Bhutan, Kazakhstan, Maldives, Russia and Sri Lanka will also be present. Members of parties, MPs besides diplomats from various countries and representatives from national and international organisations, working in the area of democracy and elections, are also expected to attend the event. The National Voters Day is being celebrated nationwide on January 25 every year since 2011 to mark the foundation day of EC, which was established on this day in the year 1950. The main purpose of the celebration is to encourage, facilitate and maximize the enrollment, especially for the new voters. Dedicated to the voters of the country, the day is utilised to spread awareness among voters for promoting informed participation in the electoral process. Union Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Thursday approved a proposal to send five civilian officials of the Defence Ministry on compulsory retirement. According to the news agency ANI, the ministry has decided to send the officials on compulsory retirement due to poor performance in their jobs. More details are awaited. Los Angeles: Ryan Reynolds has said that "Deadpool" threequel will go in a "completely different direction". The actor, who plays the title role of Merc With a Mouth in the Marvel film franchise, said the writers are looking to shake things up with the potential sequel. "(They are) looking to go in a completely different direction" with the third installment," Reynolds told Variety. "Often, they reboot or change a character maybe like four movies too late," he added. Reynolds co-wrote "Deadpool" with Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick. The actor is currently promoting the film in China. A re-cut, PG-13 version of the 2018 film would hit Chinese screens Friday. This was the first time the franchise has passed the country's stringent censorship rules. New Delhi: Piyush Goyal is likely to present the interim Budget on February 1 as he was Wednesday given the additional charge of finance ministry as Arun Jaitley is in the US for medical treatment, sources said. Jaitley has undergone surgery at a hospital in New York on Tuesday and has been advised at least two weeks rest by the doctors, sources said. Jaitley, who had travelled to the US on January 13, has undergone tests for soft tissue cancer this week. Ahead of the interim budget scheduled to be presented on February 1, Railways Minister Piyush Goyal has been given additional charge of Finance and Corporate Affairs ministries. An official release from the Rashtrapati Bhavan Wednesday said the President, as advised by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, directed that during the period of Jaitley's indisposition, the portfolios of the Minister of Finance and the Minister of Corporate Affairs, held by him, be temporarily assigned to Goyal, in addition to his existing portfolios. Goyal is likely to present the interim Budget, according to sources. The budget comes ahead of the general elections and the government is expected to make some key announcements, including relief package for farmers, poor and sops for middle-class. Jaitley has been designated as a minister without portfolio during the period of his indisposition or till such time when he is able to resume his work as the Minister of Finance and the Minister of Corporate Affairs. Rajya Sabha Member Goyal also holds the coal portfolio. This for the second time that Goyal has been given the additional charge of the Finance Ministry. In May last year, Goyal was given the additional charge of the ministry after Jaitley underwent a kidney transplant surgery. Later after a gap of four months, Jaitley resumed the office of the Finance Minister. Jaitley had also undergone a bariatric surgery soon after the BJP government came to power at the Centre in 2014. The surgery, to treat weight gain that he suffered because of a long-standing diabetic condition, was first performed at Max Hospital, but he then had to be shifted to AIIMS because of complications. The ruling BJP has recently appointed Jaitley as in-charge of publicity for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections. Jaitley, a senior member of the ruling party, has presented five budgets of the current regime. New Delhi: The Union Cabinet has given approval for amendments to the framework on currency swap arrangement for SAARC member countries by incorporating a stand-by facility of USD 400 million. The Union Cabinet, chaired by the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has given ex-post facto approval for amendment to the 'Framework on Currency Swap Arrangement for SAARC Member Countries' to incorporate a 'Standby Swap' amounting to USD 400 million operated within the overall size of the Facility of USD 2 billion and build in flexibility with respect to modalities of its operation, such as period of swap, roll over, etc. after due consideration of conditions of requesting SAARC member countries and domestic requirements of India, an official statement said. The members of SAARC grouping are India, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Nepal and Maldives. The incorporation of 'Standby Swap' within the approved SAARC Swap Framework would provide necessary flexibility to the Framework and would enable India to provide a prompt response to the current request from SAARC member countries for availing the swap amount exceeding the present limit prescribed under the SAARC Swap Framework, government added. Cabinet had approved the Framework on Currency Swap Arrangement for SAARC Member Countries on March 1, 2012 with the intention to provide a line of funding for short term foreign exchange requirements or to meet balance of payments crises till longer term arrangements are made or the issue is resolved in the short-term itself. Under the Facility, RBI offers swaps of varying sizes in USD, Euro or INR to each SAARC member country depending on their two months import requirement and not exceeding USD 2 billion in total. The swap amount for each country has been defined in the above Facility, subject to a floor of USD 100 Million and a maximum of USD 400 Million. Each Drawal will be for three months tenor and upto maximum of two rollovers. RBI will negotiate the operational details bilaterally with the Central Banks of the SAARC countries availing the Standby Swap. Mumbai: Private sector lender Yes Bank Thursday named Ravneet Singh Gill, currently heading Deutsche Bank India, as the managing director and chief executive to succeed Rana Kapoor, whose term ends on January 31. The Reserve Bank had last September asked Kapoor, who is one of the promoters of the city-based lender along with his sister-in-law Bindu Kapur, to leave the office by the end of this month. "The bank has received Reserve Bank approval for new managing director and chief executive Ravneet Gill. He can join on or before March 1, 2019,"Yes Bank said in a statement. It further said the board will meet on January 29 to finalise the interim transition. The announcement sent the Yes Bank counter rallying by over 14.5 percent to close at Rs 225.95 on the BSE whose benchmark closed the day with around 0.24 percent gains in a choppy trade. It can be noted that after the RBI move, the bank shares had lost more than two-thirds of its value. Even after today's rally, the stock is almost 40 percent below its 52- week high. Though the RBI had not cited any specific reasons while not accepting a new three-year term for Kapoor and asked him leave latest by January 31, it is attributed to under- reporting of bad loans for two years by the bank under Kapoor's watch. Yes Bank, along with its larger rival Axis Bank, were found to have under-reported its stock of non- performing assets by a cumulative Rs 10,000 crore each for two consecutive fiscals. The RBI drove a management change at Axis Bank as well and Shikha Sharma had left the bank by the end of last month. After the RBI cut-short his term, the Yes Bank board made second request to the RBI to extend his term to March 2020. But that was also rejected by the monetary authority leading the appointment of a search panel. Following the RBI refusal to extend Kapoor's term, the bank had appointed a committee under former Irdai chairman TS Vijayan to look for a successor to Kapoor. Even the search panel had some resignations including former bureaucrat and the bank's non-executive chairman Ashok Chawla leaving the post in a hurry after being named in graft case by the CBI. Former SBI chairman OP Bhatt had also left the search panel mid-way. New Delhi: Financial creditors and home buyers of Jaypee Infratech have extended the deadline till February 15 for shortlisted bidders to submit proposals to revive the debt-ridden realty firm, according to a regulatory filing. The four shortlisted bidders, state-owned NBCC, Kotak Investment, Singapore-based Cube Highways and Suraksha group, were earlier asked to submit resolution plans by January 27 to revive Jaypee Infratech, which is undergoing insolvency proceedings in the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT). The proposal of 'Extension of last date for submission of Binding Resolution Plans by the Resolution Applicants till 15th February 2019' was approved by the Committee of Creditors (CoC) by nearly 70 percent vote, Jaypee Infratech said in a regulatory filing. In the last CoC meeting held on January 17, NBCC, Cube Highways & Infrastructure and Suraksha ARC requested for extension of timelines for submission of binding resolution plans in order to get necessary internal approvals. "CoC members deliberated on the request and decided to extend the last date for submission of Resolution Plans till February 15, 2019 so as to ensure that Resolution Plans are submitted by the Resolution Applicants," it added. The committee also approved the extension of CIRP (Corporate Insolvency Resolution Process) for further period of 90 days with a voting percentage of over 71 percent. It had last month approved the evaluation criteria to be adopted to select a bidder for taking over the realty firm. In October 2018, Jaypee Infratech's interim resolution professional (IRP) Anuj Jain started a fresh initiative to revive Jaypee Infratech on NCLT's direction after lenders rejected over Rs 7,000 crore bid of Suraksha group. He had invited companies and investors to submit resolution plans to revive Jaypee Infratech, which has many stuck housing projects in Noida and Greater Noida. In 2017, the NCLT had admitted the application by an IDBI Bank-led consortium seeking resolution for Jaypee Infratech under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC). The tribunal had appointed Jain as IRP to mange the company's business and invite bids from investors. Consequently, Lakshdeep, part of Suraksha group, had emerged as a front-runner to acquire the firm. However, in May last year, lenders rejected the Rs 7,350 crore bid by Lakshdeep as they found the amount to be inadequate. The realty firm has an outstanding debt of nearly Rs 9,800 crore, of which Rs 4,334 crore pertains to IDBI. Other lenders are IIFCL, LIC, SBI, Corporation Bank, Syndicate Bank, Bank Of Maharashtra, ICICI Bank, Union Bank, IFCI, J&K Bank, Axis Bank and Srei Equipment Finance. Jaypee Infratech, a subsidiary of Jaypee Group's flagship firm Jaiprakash Associates, is developing about 32,000 flats, of which it has delivered 9,500 units. Jaiprakash Associates had submitted Rs 750 crore in the registry of the Supreme Court for refund to buyers. However, this amount has now been transferred to NCLT as per an order of the apex court. New Delhi: To celebrate the 70th year of the Republic Day, Budget carrier GoAir announced a special sale on Thursday. Under the Republic Day bonanza, GoAir is offering air fares starting as low as Rs 999 all-inclusive of taxes across 26 destinations on its domestic and international network. The travel period is from February 09 to September 30 and the booking period starts from January 24 to January 26. Booking for travel can be made across all channels and the offer is available on first-come-first-served basis. GoAir has initiated this lowest fare offer for their customers to kick-start their travel and holiday plans for the coming year. GoAir has been consistent in providing flexibility of choice to their customers along with convenient and affordable flying experience, a company statement said. This offer is available exclusively across GoAir networks . This offer is not valid on infant bookings. Group discount is not applicable on this offer and this offer cannot be clubbed with any other on-going promotional offer. GoAir currently operates across 24 domestic and 02 international destinations, with a fleet of 49 aircraft, comprising of Airbus A320 and Airbus A320neo. It connects over 1600 weekly flights and approximately 2,000 plus connections weekly. Mumbai: In mid-February, a lobby group chose Chanda Kochhar, the then head of ICICI Bank, for an interactive session with the visiting Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau. A little over a month later, the toast of the town was battling allegations of impropriety that led to a multi-agency probe and an eventual forced leave-of-absence. The 56-year-old Kochhar, who rose to occupy the corner office at the largest private sector lender, was mired in allegations of conflicts of interest, lack of disclosures and quid pro-quo while extending loans to the now bankrupt Videocon Industries. She, in fact, was the first woman to head a large lender in the country. Kochhar, a favourite of the then group chairman KV Kamath, joined ICICI, an infrastructure lender in its earlier avatar, as a management trainee in 1984 and rose to play an important part in its transformation into a retail-focused lender and when it turned into a commercial bank in the early 1990s. After the exit of the larger-than-life KV Kamath, she was chosen in 2009 to succeed the illustrious leader as the managing director and chief executive despite a strong leadership bench. Her elevation also led to the exit of Shikha Sharma (Axis Bank chief), who was senior to her in ranking from the group. Before her elevation to the corner office, she was a key member of the bank's setting up, oversaw the retail business and was also chief financial officer. She consolidated activities at ICICI Bank, the only domestic lender to be impacted in the post-Lehman crisis, and ensured it speaks little and it is only her who does the talking all the time. While Kamath faced many bank runs during his tenure, Kochhar's brute control on the institution has led to a complete arrest of such negative press. There was just one run-on during her tenure. When an RBI review in 2015 found high amount of under-reported dud assets with the bank, she announced a new strategy of concentrating only on the well-rated borrowers. She championed many social causes but it was her inspiring rise to the top that was most admired. Yet, she perplexed many with her contrarian views that girls lack quantitative analytical skills, blaming it on the limited number of women in B-schools. Over the years her leadership of the bank became a hyphenated relationship, wherein she came to define the bank, till it was broken Thursday with the announcement of her formal exit, six months after allegations of impropriety first cropped up against her, though she has been on an indefinite leave from May after the board was forced to appoint an external probe into the entire issue. The reasons for her ouster pertain to the loan to Videocon and the business dalliances between its promoter Venugopal Dhoot and her husband Deepak Kochhar. Dhoot had invested in and subsequently exited a power company promoted by Deepak and Chanda Kochhar did not recuse herself or disclose this when a loan was granted by ICICI Bank to Videocon as part of a consortium. Initially, she enjoyed full backing of the board but lost support as the list of allegations kept growing with more names like an Essar group shell company of the Ruias also emerging among those with whom the Kochhar family had a relationships. However, the gains from the Ruia ties were only a fraction of Videocon's loan of Rs 3,250 crore in FY11 which soon turned dud. These allegations led to probes by multiple agencies, including the CBI, ED and SFIO, and also questioning of the Kochhar family members. Finally, it was a complaint by a whistleblower who is yet to be named, which proved to be her undoing. After exonerating her initially in the face of Videocon allegations, the bank launched an independent probe by retired judge BN Srikrishna and Kochhar went on indefinite leave pending the enquiry. This led to Sandeep Bakhshi being made the chief operating officer to oversee the day-to-day operations. Kochhar had six months to go before her current term expires in March 2019. Regulations allow private sector bank chiefs to continue till the age of 70. Her offer to resign was accepted with immediate effect Thursday and Bakhshi was elevated to succeed her. The probe against her will continue and its outcome will determine the compensation she gets, the bank said in a statement. In the past few months, shareholders have sought clarity on the issue at annual meetings and also raised concerns over the bank's move to appoint her as the chairman of group's securities arm. Kochhar, who maintained a huge public profile, has been away from public glare since May, since her forced leave. From a performance perspective, when she took over ICICI Bank was the second largest in the system and the largest among its private sector peers. But at the end of her actual carrier at the bank it was reduced to a distant No 3 in the system and the second largest private sector lender after HDFC Bank by a wide margin. The bank closed fiscal 2018 with advances of Rs 5.12 trillion on a deposit of Rs 56.1 trillion and net income of a paltry Rs 1,142 crore. In FY10 (her first full year at the helm), the bank had reported a net income of Rs 4,025 crore on a much smaller balance-sheet of Rs 2.02 trillion in deposits and Rs 1.81 trillion in advances. Investors cheered the announcement, probably because of the clarity it brings in. The bank scrip closed 4.07 percent up at Rs 315.95 on the BSE as against a 2.24 percent plunge in the benchmark. New Delhi: Ace Bollywood actor Shahid Kapoor is currently working on 'Kabir Singh' which happens to be the Hindi remake of 2017 superhit Telugu entertainer 'Arjun Reddy'. Kiara Advani is paired opposite the star and the fresh casting gives fans one more reason to watch this flick. The stars of the filmShahid and Kiara, who have been shooting in New Delhi, took a break from the work to head for a short bike ride session on the streets of the national capital. A video has been shared on the social media in which Shahid is seen riding the bike while Kiara, who is sitting behind, is recording the moment. Shahid, who braved the Delhi winters with a grey jacket, says, "Hello, very cold" and she replies, "Ok, bye. We have to go for our shot now." Watch the video below: However, the actors forgot to wear helmets while taking to the streets. Kabir Singh' is jointly produced by Cine1 Studios and T-Series. Shahid will reportedly be seen playing an alcoholic surgeon who goes on a self-destructive path after his ex-lover marries someone else. Earlier, actress Tara Sutaria who will make her Bollywood debut with 'Student of the Year 2' was to play the lead but she backed out of the project. To replace Tara, Kiara was roped in. The film is scheduled to hit the screens June 21, 2019. Mumbai: Amrita Rao is returning to films with "Thackeray" and the actor believes with changing dynamics in showbiz, she is ready to experiment. The actor became the epitome of 'the girl-next-door' in early 2000s with films such as "Ishq Vishq", "Main Hoon Na" and "Vivah". Her last cinematic outing was 2013's "Satyagraha" and she did musical drama "Meri Awaaz Hi Pehchaan Hai" for the small screen three years later. Rao said she turned down many big Bollywood projects as they did not meet her selection criteria. "It has been a journey of sacrificing big films because I was not comfortable with the on-screen requirements. Trends change, on-screen demand of actresses change. Cinema is a slice of reality. You have school and college kids being intimate and marriage is not even in question and that is what they show in cinema. "That kind of requirement of the character did not suit me. So I had to let go of those big offers with a heavy heart. The directors respected me and understood that I had certain restrictions which were sacred to me," she told PTI in an interview. The actor plays Meena Thackeray, wife to late Shiv Sena founder Bal Thackeray (portrayed by Nawazuddin Siddiqui) in the film. She said the makers approached her to play the role as they believed that both the women have a "pure" image. "I have earned that image in the industry. Playing a mature role was challenging for me. I have played the girl-next-door and then to portray this part, where my character spans from a 28-year-old to a 60-year-old, was not easy," she said. And now Rao wants to be part of something edgy. "Discussions are on. I want to do something that I have not done before like a thriller, murder mystery or suspense film. I would love to play a negative role... "Due to digitalisation, work opportunities and avenues have changed so much. Directors typecasting actors is passe," she said. In 2016, the actor tied the knot with radio jockey Anmol and focused on her personal life. Rao said she had hinted at the hiatus before implementing it. "I was not making presence anywhere... There are some actors who surrender themselves to the industry. I have always been a family person," she added. In a comment on India's #MeToo tsunami that has crossed the boundaries of the film industry since last September, the actor said influential people would try to get their way, but "accepting it or not" will always be a choice. "It is unfortunate when I hear about the #MeToo cases. There are girls and guys here who are ready to grab opportunities at any cost. People should respect themselves and their values," she said. Rao said she was "blessed" to never experience harassment. She believes it was because she became a star early on in her career despite being an outsider. "I had a wonderful entry into films without being a star kid. And you can't plan such things. My journey has been different. I arrived and I became a star so everybody was on their best behaviour with me. I have stuck to my personality, I have not done anything that is out of my personal zone," she said. Samastipur: Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leader and former Zila Parishad vice-president Raghuvar Rai was shot dead by unidentified assailants outside his Kalyanpur residence in Bihar's Samastipur on Thursday morning. Two bike-borne assailants shot at him while he stepped out of his house. He was immediately rushed to Darbhanga Medical College and Hospital for medical treatment. Angry locals later blocked the road near Janardanpur on the Darbhanga-Patna route. A case was registered in Kalyanpur police station. Kathmandu: A Nepal official has launched a mission to end an ancient tradition which forces menstruating women to stay in rudimentary shelters, following an incident this month when a woman and her two children were found dead in such a hut in Bajura district. "The practice of `chhaupadi` is an ill religious practice that has killed many women. This deeply entrenched belief should be ended now," Shristi Regmi, Deputy Mayor of Budinanda Municipality in Bajura district, around 720 km west of Kathmandu, told Efe news. On the night of January 8, Amba Bohara had been exiled to the windowless mud and stone hut to wait out her menstruation and had lit a fire to keep herself and her sons, aged nine and 12, warm. When Bohara`s mother in-law opened the door to the hut the next morning, all three were dead. According to the police, they died of suffocation due to lack of ventilation. Regmi, 26, will travel to every village in the remote Bajura - her own constituency and the district with the lowest human development index in Nepal - to demolish these huts. For centuries in Nepal, menstruating women and girls have been exiled from the home to separate huts although the practice was banned by the Supreme Court in 2005. In August 2017, the Nepal government criminalised the practice with a three-month jail sentence and/or a penalty of 3,000 Nepalese rupees ($30). The Deputy Mayor has so far managed to dismantle 80 menstrual huts across various municipalities. After the death of Bohara and her children, Regmi said all municipalities have been given two weeks to demolish the huts that fall within their jurisdiction. Following the death of Bohara and her sons, Nepal`s Parliamentary Hearing Committee also issued directives to the Ministry of Women, Children and Senior Citizens to book families who force girls and women to practice "chhaupadi". "It`s challenging to end this centuries-old belief within a short span of time. But it`s not impossible," Regmi added. Pakistan's jailed former prime minister Nawaz Sharif used prominent Urdu poet Mirza Ghalib's poetry to explain his condition when the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz leaders visited him in the Kot Lakhpat jail in Lahore on Thursday. Sharif, 69, who is serving a seven-year imprisonment in Lahore's Kot Lakhpat jail, was rushed to a hospital Tuesday after he complained of heart related complications. He was later discharged from the hospital and taken back to jail following the medical tests. The Jail administration has fixed Thursday as meeting day for visitors. When the visitors asked him about his heath, the incarcerated PML-N supreme leader said, "Un ke dekhey se jo ajati hai munh par rounaq, Woh samajhtey hain ke beemar ka haal achcha hai," Geo News reported. Sharif said he is not shown any list of visitors by jail administration. "I welcome anyone who comes here," he was quoted by Geo News as saying. During his conversation with the PMLN leaders, Sharif said he took measures for economic development and betterment of the country but the current situation saddens him. The three-time former prime minister said he left no stone unturned for China-Pakistan Economic Corridor for Pakistan's prosperity, adding that it would be great loss to the country if the CPEC is halted. TV reports said Sharif's mother and daughter Maryam Nawaz also visited him in the prison. A pair of 1964 films detailing the construction of Stanford Linear Accelerator Center, later renamed SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, were recently remastered and are now available for viewing on YouTube thanks to a partnership between the films producer, J. Douglas Allen, and the SLAC Archives, History & Records Office. The films provide a fascinating look back at the origins of SLAC and the history of particle physics in the United States. At the time of the production, SLAC was the largest civilian basic science project ever undertaken in the United States. The site where it was being built, along Sand Hill Road in Menlo Park, California, was then largely orchards and pasture. Today the region is known as Silicon Valley and considered an unparalleled cradle of innovation. The Worlds Within runs a little over 22 minutes and describes the Stanford linear accelerators purpose, development and early construction. Today SLAC is part of the U.S. Department of Energy, but in those days it fell under the jurisdiction of the Atomic Energy Commission, and a letter asking the AEC for permission to produce the film stated, The general objective of the film would be to make the purpose and nature of the project clear to non-technical audiences. Fabricating the Linear Accelerator runs about 41 minutes and documents everything that went into making each of the 240 40-foot modules that comprised the original 2-mile-long linear accelerator. (About one-third of the accelerator was removed in 2017 to make way for a major upgrade, but the remaining two-thirds still operates today.) Filmmaker J. Douglas Allen produced a number of films for Stanford in the 1960s and still lives near campus in Menlo Park. After a friend of his happened upon a low-quality copy of Fabricating the Linear Accelerator on YouTube, Allen reached out to SLAC to say he had master copies he could offer. SLACs Archives, History & Records Office responded and worked with him to turn his 16 mm film prints to new digital masters in full HD quality. The archives office was very excited to digitize this historic 16 mm film footage when Doug offered it to us, said SLAC archivist Dorothy Leung. We had various cuts in the archives but not the first answer print. Allen certainly didnt set out to work on films about building particle accelerators. He grew up on a ranch in Texas, and after attending Stanford as an undergraduate he went into the Navy and became a pilot. Aviation became his lifelong passion, but he returned to Stanford for business school, and after completing his MBA was awarded a one-year fellowship to the Nuffield Foundations Unit for the History of Ideas in London. The fellowship allowed him to combine his interests in geography, flight and photography and study the British documentary craft amongst leading filmmakers of the time. When he returned to Stanford, he made a few films for the University Relations Office. A neighbor who worked in public affairs at SLAC, Doug Dupen, approached him about signing on with a project that was planning to make films about the lab. Allen billed hourly for his time and had no real crew; he did all the filming and editing himself. An authorization request letter to the AEC estimated a total budget of about $10,000, an amount that would be roughly $84,000 today. The script was drafted ahead of production, and correspondence shows that even at that time, the prospect of explaining SLACs science to the public was a challenge. A letter from SLACs Bill Kirk diplomatically notes, Some few technical facts are not quite correctly put, and we shall probably have a local argument about several statements that might be felicitously phrased. Using an Arriflex 16 mm camera, Allen recorded luminary physicists of the time, like SLAC founding director W. K. H. Panofsky and accelerator pioneer Edward L. Ginzton, as well as each individual stage in the process of fabricating a section of the 2-mile linear accelerator. I remember being impressed by the size of the project and the technical detail that went into making it, Allen recalls. He would go on to devote most of his career to his interest in aviation, making films for the Hiller Aircraft Company, Evergreen Helicopters, Gates Learjet Corporation and many others, but he still recalls the SLAC project fondly. He became close personal friends with Sigurd Varian, a fellow aviation enthusiast who co-invented the klystron technology that power the linear accelerator with his brother, Russell Varian. Allen still has a lamp made from a piece of the accelerator structure in his living room (shown sitting beside him in the photo on the right). Though the films reflect how much has changed over the past half-century, Worlds Within ends with a line that shows how SLACs fundamental pursuits endure. The narrator states, Knowledge, and the fundamental understanding of nature. Products of the greatest quest in mans history: to search for truth. To forge new paths into the minute jungle, so small that most of it has not yet been conceived in the minds of man. For questions or comments, contact the SLAC Office of Communications at communications@slac.stanford.edu. SLAC is a multi-program laboratory exploring frontier questions in photon science, astrophysics, particle physics and accelerator research. Located in Menlo Park, Calif., SLAC is operated by Stanford University for the U.S. Department of Energy's Office of Science. Our directory features more than 18 million business listings from across the entire US. However, if we're missing your business, add your business by clicking on Add Your Business. Venice, FL (34285) Today Mostly cloudy skies. High around 90F. Winds SSE at 10 to 20 mph.. Tonight Mainly cloudy. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. Low 79F. Winds SSW at 10 to 15 mph. * Username This is the name that will be displayed next to your photo for comments, blog posts, and more. Choose wisely! A new record was made in the property industry with the purchase of the Juanbung and Boyong cattle stations in western New South Wales (NSW), along with their water rights. The deal was worth $55 million, making it the most valuable private conservation-focused purchase in Australias history. The move by The Nature Conservancy (TNC) Australia, in a joint venture with Tiverton Agriculture, will pave the way for the protection of almost the entire Great Cumbung Swamp from potential conversion to irrigated cropping. Today, more than ever, we need science-based, pragmatic solutions that deliver benefits for people and nature. If we are to save the basins rivers and the communities that depend on them, conservationists, irrigators and governments must come together and act with courage, urgency and optimism, said TNC Country Director Rich Gilmore. Why is this relevant to the industry? The Great Cumbung, which is one of the largest and most important wetlands in the Murray-Darling Basin, will be able to continue contributing to the economic development and jobs in the Riverina, an agricultural region of South-Western NSW. Tiverton will manage the property for the dual objectives of conservation and sustainable agriculture. We look forward to managing this outstanding property and exploring future sustainable land-use options such as carbon, biodiversity offsets and stewardship, and ecotourism, said Tiverton Director Nigel Sharp. The Great Cumbung will be supervised in conjunction with the 87,000-hectare Gayini Nimmie Caira property, which was purchased for conservation by the NSW government in 2012 and is now managed by TNC and non-profit organisation Nari Nari Tribal Council. By P.J. GLISSON [email protected] Wakefield In a special meeting Wednesday morning, the Wakefield city council voted to offer its city manager position to Robert Brown, Jr. of Belding, Mich. Brown, 36, was the first candidate to be interviewed by the council on Jan. 14. He has a Bachelor of Arts Degree in political science with a concentration in campaign leadership from Southern New Hampshire University. He works with the three-county Fred Meijer River Valley Trail in Belding while also engaging in political campaign organizing. Belding is in Ionia County and is about 100 miles west of Flint. Brown was the only city manager applicant from Michigan. According to city clerk Sue Ahonen, who spoke with the Globe by phone on Wednesday afternoon, city council member Pat Mann informed Brown of the citys interest after the morning vote, and he is reportedly open to the offer. The recommendation to support Brown came from mayor John Granato and council member Pat Mann, who composed the citys search committee for a new city manager. Mann said Brown is familiar with Michigan laws, has grant experience and had a good attitude regarding city employees I just think he will be a manager that will hit the ground running, she said. Hell do the work that needs to be done. Granato added, I think that Bob has more ties to Michigan than the rest of our candidates. Right now, he is the best candidate. I thought he was good, too, said council member Kay Wiita. She conceded that Brown has little experience with utilities, but said he has had experience with finance and five- and ten-year budget plans. Moreover, she added, He works well with the public. The vote to make the offer was unanimous, with all council members present. Prior to the vote, however, council member Jim Anderson and mayor pro tempore Amy Tarro did first speak favorably of another candidate the council interviewed by Facebook on Jan. 17. I also liked Chase Waggoner, said Tarro, who added he has had municipal experience, including in public works. Anderson added of Waggoner, who is from Osage Beach, Mo., He had a little bit of experience in all the areas we need. Granato said Waggoner did not supply references, despite the city having asked for them as part of the application process. The mayor said that after city attorney Ray ODea clears a contract for Brown, the city will include it on the agenda of the councils Jan. 28 meeting. As soon as the council then votes on the contract, it will be presented to Brown. Granato said the offer to Brown still remains contingent upon a background check. The council also interviewed Jack Ardaugh of Joliet, Ill., and Kevin Nelson of Perham, Minn. Each candidate was given the same list of predetermined questions. If for any reason Brown or any of the current candidates do not work out, council members then plan to advertise via the Michigan Municipal League. They are hoping to avoid that because of the $14,000 cost. The contract of current city manager Richard Brackney expires on May 24 when he plans to retire. We hope, Stahr said. I just wanted to make sure you are aware of it and if you so choose, we could have a letter drafted which we could send to our state senator and the governor. Although it was the Mayors Report portion of the meeting and there were no action items regarding this matter on the agenda, Councilman Clarence Hoffman made a motion that a letter be drafted to reflect the citys opposition to the proposal. That motion was seconded by Council member Sheila Hubbard. Mayor Stahr declared there was a motion and a second. He asked for further discussion there was none and then asked for the roll call. All of the council members voted in favor of Hoffmans motion. There was no mention during the meeting that formal action cannot be taken on a matter not included in the adopted agenda. After the fact, the YNT spoke with York City Attorney Charles Campbell about the matter and he said, There should have been no action taken because it was not on the agenda. However, this was an item that really didnt require any formal council action as it could have been done by the administration without council action or authorization. It is alleged that Nancy Waldron fraudulently billed two sisters, both in their 90s and living in nursing homes, while she was managing their farming assets as their attorney. An accountants review, according to court documents, says there was no oversight in place when Nancy Waldron paid herself through checks written on the farm bank account and since 2012 (the accountant) determined that she had written checks to herself with little to no oversight from the (farm) checking account, totaling $186,799. Investigators said they found discrepancies within a 19-page document Waldron provided outlining her billing for legal services many of the alleged discrepancies were that Waldron claimed to be representing the farm at a variety of meetings in a variety of locations in Nebraska and doing work for these two particular clients for hours at a time but the prosecution says she was allegedly defending other clients, in court, as her role as public defender in York County at those exact moments. Please log in to keep reading. {{featured_button_text}} Enjoy unlimited articles at one of our lowest prices ever. US President Donald Trump would only consider a Senate plan to temporarily fund the government if it included a "large down payment" on a wall along the border with Mexico, White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders said on Thursday. The White House also confirmed that Senate leaders are trying to negotiate an end to the partial government shutdown and that it had spoken to Republican Senator Lindsey Graham about the three-week continuing resolution. In recent weeks, after election polling started to emerge, an idea to unify all ultra-Orthodox parties started gaining momentum. Such a move would see the United Torah Judaism party, which represent various different Hasidic groups and the Lithuanian Orthodox public, and Shas, which represents the Mizrahi religious public, would reside under one roof. Follow Ynetnews on Facebook STRONG> and Twitter Thats not all: this newly united ultra-Orthodox party would also absorb Eli Yishai, former Shas head who formed his own party, and the ultra-Orthodox Jerusalemites. Yes, the same Jerusalemite extremists that most of the ultra-Orthodox public has shunned. Deputy Health Minister Yaakov Litzman, United Torah Judaism, and Shas leader Aryeh Deri But why unite now? Shas was initially established in the 1980s because of racism its Mizrachi public had suffered at the hands of the Ashkenazi ultra-Orthodox leadership. Knesset members from the Agudat Yisrael and Degel HaTorah factions that make up United Torah Judaism, have been repeating messages about the importance of a union over and over for the past two weeks. They tell anyone who will listen how this consolidation would bring love and fellowship in the ultra-Orthodox sector. Some even went so far as to call the prospective union the big Haredi bang, or the days of the Messiah. But behind theses slogans lies great hypocrisy, demonstrated perfectly by the October municipal elections that revealed raging racism in Haredi cities. Not to mention racism in educational institutions, that leave hundreds of Mizrahi ultra-Orthodox girls with no institution to attend until the media or Mizrahi public leaders intervene. These were the exact reasons why the Shas party was created to begin with. Racism against Sephardic Jews among the general public has lessened since the 1980s, but it never truly disappeared. In fact, among the Ashkenazi ultra-Orthodox public it only strengthened. In many Haredi cities, the Ashkenazi public prevents Mizrahi families from residing in their buildings and calls them by derogatory names. A Shas 2015 election poster: A Mizrahi votes for a Mizrahi (Photo: Shas party) As a journalist who works in the Haredi world, I experienced racism from my Ashkenazi colleagues more than once. Even when I cover Knesset events as a political writer, I am sometimes met with disrespect from public servants and their team, just because Im a modern Mizrahi, because Im not like them. It sounds bad, but unfortunately thats how things areeven if not everyone in the ultra-Orthodox public behaves like this. The horrible rift in the ultra-Orthodox world is lead by the Ashkenazis. Shas tried to thrive in spite of those elites who humiliated Sephardic Jews because of their ancestry. The idea to form a union between the two parties is only a means to remove the pesky Shas, which has been a thorn in the Ashkenazi leaders collective side for 35 years. This is an Ashkenazi initiative meant to bury the fight against the racism rooted in ultra-Orthodox society. It recently emerged that the leader of the Council of Torah Sages and Shas spiritual leader Rabbi Shalom Cohen objects to the unification between the Haredi partiesfor all the reasons I have mentioned here. I sincerely hope that the people who are leading this plot are unable to persuade him otherwise, by pretending that this would be a good move for the ultra-Orthodox public. It isnt. Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro ordered all Venezuelan diplomats home from the United States Thursday, after the US expressed its support for the opposition who leads the revolt against Maduros regime. Venezuela's crisis escalated Wednesday as opposition leader Juan Guaido declared himself interim president in a direct challenge to embattled socialist Nicolas Maduro. Increasing numbers of Venezuelans are crossing the border into Colombia to escape a worsening political crisis and economic meltdown, aid groups said on Thursday, putting more strain on social services and overcrowded shelters. Venezuelan opposition leader, Juan Guaido, swore himself in as interim head of state on Wednesday, with the support of the United States and many Latin American nations, leaving Venezuela with two presidents. Hundreds of thousands of anti-government protesters marched in Venezuela this week to demand the end of socialist President Nicolas Maduro's government. 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. A United Nations report says that a global failure to enforce environmental protection laws is exacerbating threats. The report from the United Nations Environment Program released Thursday says there is a lack of monitoring agencies capable of effectively enforcing laws. It says poor implementation is one of the "greatest challenges to mitigating climate change, reducing pollution and preventing widespread species and habitat loss." It also called attention to the "harassment, arbitrary arrests, threats, and killing of environmental defenders." Border Police undercover forces shot a Palestinian man at the Shuafat Palestinian refugee camp in East Jerusalem Thursday, after he threw a molotov cocktail at a main road. The man was severely wounded and evacuated to the Hadassah Har Hatzofim Medical Center in Jerusalem. The soldiers arrested two other Palestinian teens who are suspected of throwing molotov cocktails. US Secretary of State Pompeo has asked to brief the UN Security Council on Venezuela on Saturday, South Africa's United Nations Ambassador Jerry Matjila told reporters on Thursday. Washington on Wednesday recognized opposition leader Juan Guaido as Venezuela's interim president and has called on other countries to do the same. Venezuela's Nicolas Maduro has responded by cutting diplomatic ties with the United States and ordering the country's diplomats to leave. A Ukrainian court on Thursday sentenced former president Viktor Yanukovich in absentia to 13 years in jail on treason charges, a judge said, saying his conduct in office had opened the door to Russia's annexation of Crimea and conflict in eastern Ukraine. Yanukovich fled to Russia in 2014 following street protests against his rule. His successor, Petro Poroshenko, has adopted a pro-Western foreign policy, reversing Yanukovich's tilt towards Moscow. "With his deliberate illegal actions, Yanukovich committed a crime against the foundations of the national sovereignty of Ukraine, namely state treason", judge Vladyslav Deviatko said. Israel approved the transfer of $15 million in Qatari money to the Gaza Strip on Thursday, a source in Jerusalem said, but Hamas, the terror group that ruins the poverty-stricken coastal enclave, rejected the money. The money is the third installment of a series of payments aimed at keeping Gaza from collapsing. Follow Ynetnews on Facebook STRONG> and Twitter Israel decided to approve the Qatari money after lengthy discussions throughout Thursday. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu supported the decision, despite Tuesday evening's violent flare-up between protesters and IDF troops at the border fence between Israel and Gaza. The Qatari money is used to pay Hamas civil servants salaries, provide financial support for the needy and finance $10 million worth of diesel fuel for Gazas power station. Hamas civil servants receive salaries After Israel approved the transfer, however, Hamas decided to refuse the money. Speaking at a press conference in the Gaza Strip, Hamas official Khalil al-Hayya said the organization had spoken to Mohammed al-Emadi, the head of Qatar's Gaza Strip Reconstruction Committee, and explained their position. Al-Emadi understood why we decided to reject the funds rather than accept them under the terms decided by Israel. Gaza will not be subject to extortion by Israeli election theater, al-Hayya said, referring to the upcoming elections in Israel. Mohammed al-Emadi in Gaza (File photo) The transfer of the Qatari funds was halted after violence broke out at the Strips border on Tuesday. An IDF Paratroopers officer was lightly wounded by Palestinian gunfire, which was followed by an IAF strike on Hamas military positions in northern Gaza. Palestinian sources confirm that al-Emadi entered Gaza on Wednesday through the Erez crosspoint, but arrived without the funds. The Erez crosspoint at the Gaza Strip border (Photo: Roee Idan) In November, Qatar began a six-month, $150 million program to fund civil servant wages and shipments of fuel for power generation in Gaza, offering a measure of reprieve to the blockaded enclave under the control of the Hamas terror group. Qatar hopes the aid will ease conditions and restore stability, part of efforts to bolster its international standing amid a diplomatic dispute with Saudi Arabia and other Gulf neighbors. Emadi said earlier this week that Qatar would next push for a roughly $80 million electricity project that would have it effectively manage the strip's power supply, buying Israeli electricity in bulk and distributing it across Gaza while collecting payment from Palestinians in return. "We will fund this project but I want to make sure I have control of the electricity so I can get my money back," he said of the plan, which would see Qatar build a power substation and network to end the need for costly fuel shipments. "We need to find a solution for these 2 million peoplethis is our aim and goal. Not just to deliver money because Israel wants quiet or Hamas wants money." As fears grow of terror attacks in Turkey, one synagogue in Istanbul has come up with an unorthodox solution. Worshipers at Beth Israel Synagogue are invited to take a pew, and help themselves to the helmet placed under each seat. Follow Ynetnews on Facebook STRONG> and Twitter The Beth Israel Synagogue is the only shul in the world in which worshipers pray with helmets at hand for their protection. A member of the congregation said the helmets were introduced after the series of terror attack were carried out against the Jewish community in Istanbul in 2003. Two car bombsone near the Neve Shalom Synagogue and another near the Beth Israel Synagogue claimed the lives of 23 people in total. In addition, 303 people were wounded, 100 of whom were Jews. Helmets under the seats at Beth Israel synagogue A group of ultra-Orthodox worshipers from Israel were allowed to pray in the Beth Israel Synagogue only after undergoing a strict security inspection. When they entered the synagogue, they were amazed to see the helmets underneath every pew. Beth Israel's worshipers say that Jews in Istanbul live in fear, refraining from walking around with skullcaps. "Synagogues in Istanbul look like fortified military bases," one worshiper said. Anti-Jewish slogan at a Turkish elementary school With relations between the once-friendly Ankara and Jerusalem in decline, anti-Semitism in Turkey is on the rise. A Jewish voter casting his ballot at an elementary school in Istanbul in July 2018 was shocked to see slogans on the bulletin board that read: "Jew equals liar", "A Jew stabs people in the back," and "A Jew is a coward who kills weak people." Another poster at the school included a call to liberate Jerusalem from the Jewish state. Following the kinetic military conflict in Syria on Sunday night between Israel, the Iranian Revolutionary Guards and the Assad regime, Wednesday saw the "soft" conflict between the sides on the public diplomatic arena. This is how struggles on the international arena are managed in the second decade of the current millennium: the fighting continues, but not with violence. Follow Ynetnews on Facebook STRONG> and Twitter The Syrians started the soft war when they filed a complaint against Israel with the United Nations Security Council and demanded that Israel stop violating their sovereignty by attacking targets in their territory. Of course, Syria's UN ambassador said not a single word about the Iranian military entrenchment in his country. On Sunday and Monday, the Russian military headquarters in Syria settled for laconic statements of facts, with no condemnation or demands of Israel, and this must have angered Damascus. Russia prefers not to anger Assad, as it doesn't want him to withdraw his invitation to Moscow to keep air and naval bases along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea, for the first time since the time of the czars. IAF attack overnight Monday near Damascus (: EPA) Russia also wants to profit from the rehabilitation of Syria after the civil war, and it needs the goodwill of the regime in Damascus to reach a political agreement that would stabilize the situation in the country, following which the rehabilitation could begin in earnest. For all of these reasons, the Russian Foreign Ministry released a statement through a lower rank, its spokesperson, in which it condemned Israeli operations and demanded that it ceases its attacks in Syriajust as the Assad regime demanded. Except that the Russian Foreign Ministry's statement included an interesting sentence, calling on all sides to stop waging geo-political struggles on Syrian territory. This sentence, it appears, was not just meant for Israeli ears but also, and perhaps mostly, for the ears of the ayatollahs regime in Iran. Behind this implied message to Tehran is rather credible information published by the Kuwaiti newspaper Al Jarida. The paper's reporter in Jerusalem has good sources, and the paper has had several decent scoops about the Iranian fight against Israel on Syrian soil. A story published on Wednesday morning, which was written by the paper's correspondents in Jerusalem and Tehran, said that Qasem Soleimani, the commander of the Revolutionary Guards' elite Quds Force, toured the Syrian Golan Heights about a week ago, some 45 kilometers from the Israeli border. (Photo: ImageSat International ISI) It's safe to assume Al Jarida's credible sources meant for this information to reach the Russians. Russian President Vladimir Putin did commit to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and to US President Donald Trump that he would keep the Iranians at least 80 kilometers away from the Syria-Israel border on the Golan Heights. If Soleimani did visit that area on January 18, at such a close distance from the border with Israel, it would constitute a clear violation of the promises Moscow made to Jerusalem and Washington. It is quite possible that behind Al Jarida's credible sources were powers who sought to make it clear to the Russians that the Iranians, their so-called allies, don't care about the promises the Kremlin made. These sources wanted to show Moscow that Iran is provoking Israel, and therefore the Russians have no right to complain to the Jewish state about its attacks in Syria. It's also quite possible that Soleimani's visit to the Golan was in order to prepare the missile his men fired at Israel earlier this week. According to Al Jarida, Soleimani also met with the heads of the National Security Council in Tehran and told them Netanyahu is pushing for escalation on the Syrian front to get more votes in the upcoming Israeli elections. It's unclear whether the information about Soleimani's comments was accurate, but the very fact that he met with the heads of the Iranian National Security Council is interesting in and of itself. It appears questions are being asked in Tehran about the entanglement in Syria, and this is a positive development from an Israeli standpoint. But more importantly, Israel is signaling to Moscow that it needs to keep its word, which was probably not very pleasant for the Russian Foreign Ministry to hear. (Photo: ImageSat International ISI) Israel should nevertheless take the Russian statement seriously. It's not just lip service the Kremlin is paying to Damascus, which lost several anti-aircraft batteries in the latest round of fighting. It should be taken as serious statement of Russian intent to limit the IAF's freedom of operations in Syria, which could limit the fight against Iranian entrenchment in the country. The situation at present is delicate, and Israel's Security Cabinet will have to thoroughly discuss future moves. Life's not easy for the Russians. Everyone is constantly coming to them with complaints. The Syrians complain that Moscow isn't defending them from Israel's strikes; the Israelis complain that the Russians are not fulfilling their promise to curb the Iranians; and the Iranians claim the Russians don't sufficiently value their contribution to preserving the Assad regime. This is what it's like now that the Russians have made themselves the dominant superpower in the Middle East, and particularly in the Syrian arena. The position of dominant superpower has its pluses, but also quite a few minuses. In the wake of rising tensions on Israel's northern front, the Israeli Air Force has deployed an Iron Dome battery in the central of the country. On Monday, Israel launched a massive attack on Iranian targets in Syria, the day after Iranian fighters fired a surface-to-surface rocket at the northern Golan Heights. The IDF said its aerial bombardment targeted "Iranian Quds military sites in Syria," and was a direct response to the rocket, which was intercepted by the Iron Dome missile defense system. A federal judge lets stand an Arkansas law requiring state contractors to pledge not to boycott Israel, ruling that such a boycott is not protected by the First Amendment. US District Judge Brian Miller dismissed the lawsuit the Arkansas Times had filed challenging the 2017 law. The newspaper had asked the judge to block the law, which requires contractors with the state to reduce their fees by 20 percent if they don't sign the pledge. The Times' lawsuit said the University of Arkansas Pulaski Technical College refused to contract for advertising with the newspaper unless the Arkansas Times signed the pledge. The paper isn't engaged in a boycott against Israel. Miller wrote that refusing to purchase items isn't protected speech. He notes that the Times wouldn't be barred from other protected forms of speech, including writing or picketing against Israel policies. "It may even call upon others to boycott Israel, write in support of such boycotts, and engage in picketing and pamphleteering to that effect. This does not mean, however, that its decision to refuse to deal, or to refrain from purchasing certain goods, is protected by the First Amendment," Miller wrote. Lebanon willl be held accountable for all activity carried out on its soil, including that of Iranian-backed terror group Hezbollah, Israeli President Reuven Rivlin told his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron during a meeting in Paris on Wednesday. Follow Ynetnews on Facebook STRONG> and Twitter If we are threatened from Lebanon, we will not stand by. Lebanon bears sovereign responsibility for all Hezbollah actions," Rivlin told Macron, who is expected to visit Lebanon soon, during their meeting at the Elysee Palace. The two met at the Elysee Palace for talks that touched on the Iranian presence in Lebanon and the Islamic republic's attempts to operate against Israel through Hezbollah. President Reuven Rivlin and French President Emmanuel Macron, Elysee Palace, January 23 Two weeks ago, the Israel Defense Force announced the end of Operation Northern Shield, launched in early December to expose and neutralize terror tunnels Hezbollah has constructed along the Israel-Lebanon border since the end of the 2006 Second Lebanon War. The operation ended with discovery and destruction of a sixth attack tunnel. Pointing the finger at Lebanon for the Shiite terror organization's actions, Rivlin said, "The Lebanese president cannot wash his hands of it if Iranian missiles are fired from his country onto Israel." Furthermore, Rivlin stressed that Tehran's ballistic missile program, in addition to its nuclear program, poses a great threat to the Jewish State. President Rivlin lands in France (: ") X For us, the Iranian regime is an enemy that does not mask its intentions regarding the destruction of Israel. We must take this seriously. The Iranian threat is not restricted to its nuclear program. It continues with its missile program which represents no less serious a threat, he said. Israeli Air Force Commander Maj. Gen. Amikam Nurkin, who in an unexpected move accompanied Rivlin to Paris, briefed Macron about recent developments in Syria following the Israeli strike on Iranian targets near Damascus on Monday, a day after Iranian fighters fired a surface-to-surface rocket at the northern Golan Heights. In response, Macron reiterated his concerns regarding the recent fire on Israel from Syria. "We will continue protecting Israeli interests and will make sure that our partners do the same." Addressing Israel's southern front, Rivlin asked for Frances help in returning the bodies of fallen soldiers Oron Shaul and Hadar Goldin, who died during the 2014 Gaza war, and for the safe return of Israeli citizens Avera Mengistu and Hisham al-Sayed, who are being held captive by Hamas. President Reuven Rivlin at the Elysee Palace in Paris (Photo: GPO) This is a gross violation of international humanitarian law and Hamas does not even allow the Red Cross to visit, Rivlin said of the two captives. "A solution will only be found through dialogue and mutual respect, and I want to comment the presidents brave and pragmatic position that we must build trust between the two sides. France will do all it can to find a solution on the ground, and when it is found we will support it with all our might," Macron said in reference to the now-stalled negotiations between Israel and Hamas. He added: "I believe that from where we are standing now, we must continue to fight without compromise against anything that threatens mutual respect. The continued building of settlements delays a solution and at the same time any boycott that aims to harm Israeli interests is unacceptable to us." Earlier, the president met with the heads of the Jewish and the Muslim communities in France. Against the backdrop of recent rising tensions between both communities in France, Muslim and Jewish leaders have held several meetings to encourage dialogue between the sides. During a visit to Cairo, Lithuanian Foreign Minister Linas Linkevicius underlined the importance of Egypt hosting the Arab League-European Union summit by the end of February. The summit will take place in the Egyptian Red Sea city of Sharm El-Sheikh. Speaking to MENA before leaving Cairo on Thursday, Linkevicius said that the Arab world plays an important global role and that the EU is providing assistance to the Arab region. The minister expressed hopes that the summit will come up with positive results. As for the outcome of his Cairo visit, Linkevicius said that he agreed with Egypt that the country will send a delegation in autumn to Vilnius to hold a meeting of the Egyptian-Lithuanian trade, economic and scientific higher committee. Linkevicius said that his talks with Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry covered backing the two countries' candidates in international organisations and enhancing bilateral cooperation in communication, information technology and financial services, especially as Lithuania is known for its high-speed internet service. Around 40,000 Lithuanian tourists visit Egypt annually, and there is a high possibility that their numbers could rise with the increase in flights between the two countries. Linkevicius also talked about the possibility of signing a legal assistance agreement on criminal cases, an agreement in the field of e-services and a memorandum of understanding in the agricultural domain. He also expressed hopes of stepping up cooperation with Egypt in education, highlighting that there are 40 Egyptian students studying at Lithuanian universities. The minister also invited Egypt to participate in "Arab Culture Days," which will take place in Vilnius in the fall. The event is dedicated to Arab theatre, he said, noting that last year's activities were dedicated to the Arabic Language. Linkevicius said that a small Lithuanian-to-Arabic dictionary has been issued and gifted a copy to Shoukry. As for Syria, he said the situation is still very fragile and one of the main reasons behind the instability in the Middle East, adding that he hopes the Arab League-EU summit will come up with an agreement on how to handle the situation in the country. The minister underlined the importance of finding radical solutions to the Syrian crisis. As for the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, he said his country is committed to the two-state solution and that it will not transfer its embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. The minister said that Lithuania is trying to help push forward dialogue between the two sides given its good relations with both, adding that Egypt can also play an important role in this regard in light of its relations with both the Palestinians and Israelis Short link: British Prime Minister Theresa May slammed Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn on Wednesday, wondering why he was willing to meet with the Hamas and Hezbollah terror groups but was not willing to meet with her to discuss Brexit. Follow Ynetnews on Facebook STRONG> and Twitter He has been willing to sit down with Hamas, Hezbollah and the IRA without preconditions, but he will not meet with me to talk about Brexit, May said during a discussion in the House of Commons. Corbyn, the head of the opposition in the British Parliament, said he had "reached out" to May in September to discuss Labour's plans with her, but "It appears that, while the door to her office may well be open, the minds inside it are completely closed. She has shown no flexibility whatsoever on taking no-deal off the table." British PM Theresa May speaking in the House of Commons X Throughout the crisis over Britain's departure from the European Unionalso known as BrexitCorbyn has refused to meet with May until she commits to not withdrawing Britain from the EU without a deal. May launched a mission to resuscitate her rejected European Union divorce deal, setting out plans to get it approved by Parliament after securing changes from the EU to a contentious Irish border measure. Jeremy Corbyn; Theresa May (Photo: MCT) Outlining what she plans to do after her EU divorce deal was rejected by Parliament last week, May said that she had heeded lawmakers concerns over an insurance policy known as the backstop that is intended to guarantee there are no customs checks along the border between EU member Ireland and the UKs Northern Ireland after Brexit. The European bloc, however, insists that it wont renegotiate the withdrawal agreement. While May stuck doggedly to her deal, she also acknowledged that control over Brexit wasnt entirely in her hands. She noted that lawmakers will be able to amend her plan when it comes to a vote in the House of Commons on Jan. 29, exactly two months before Britain is due to leave the EU. The Associated Press contributed to this story. A Jewish teenager who was arrested on suspicion of throwing a rock that killed Aisha al-Rawbi was charged with manslaughter as an act of terror on Thursday after his DNA was found on the rock that hit the Palestinian woman's car. Follow Ynetnews on Facebook STRONG> and Twitter The 16-year-old teenager from the Mateh Binyamin area was also charged with throwing a stone at a vehicle under aggravated circumstances as an act of terror, and intentional vandalism of a vehicle as an act of terror. In October 2018, Rawbi, 47, was traveling on Route 60 with her husband and nine-year-old daughter when a rock allegedly thrown by Jewish youth hit the car's windshield. Rawbi was fatally wounded and died before arriving at the hospital. Aisha al-Rawbi; the passenger seat where she was when the rock hit the windshield According to the indictment, the defendant threw a rock weighing near 2 kilograms at the Rawbi family's car, which had Palestinian license plates, "out of an ideological motive of racism and hostility towards all Arabs." The defendant hurled the rock "with great force... toward the front windshield of the vehicle with the objective of hurting the passengers and with indifference to the possibility of causing their death," the indictment said. The rock hit the upper right part of the windshield, shattered it, penetrated the glass and hit Aisha's head with great force. As a result, she suffered a fatal head injury, according to the indictment. The car's shattered windshield During his interrogations, the main suspect chose to remain silent and refused to provide his own version of events. After Shin Bet investigators confronted him with the forensic evidence from the scene, the suspect agreed last week at the advice of his attorney to provide a version of events that could explain why his DNA was on the rock. According to the teenager, he and his peers hike through that area often, which could explain why his DNA was on a rock from the scene. On Wednesday, police representatives said the teenager's version was examined, but did not rule out his involvement in the crime. The suspect's father, left, with the suspect's lawyer Amir Bracha (Photo: Shaul Golan) The main suspect was arrested on December 30, 2018a month and a half after the incidentand his remand has been extended four times since. Initially, police arrested five teenagersall from the Pri Haaretz yeshiva in Rechalim, which is located near the scene of the attack on Rawbi. But ten days ago, four of the teens were put on a six-day house arrest, while the main suspect remained in custody. Students at the Pri Haaretz yeshiva A former prison guard trainee who recently moved to Florida from Indiana killed five people during a standoff at a small town bank before surrendering to a SWAT team that stormed the building, police said. Investigators said Zephen Xaver, 21, called police from inside the SunTrust Bank branch Wednesday to report that he had opened fire. He barricaded himself inside and when negotiations failed, the SWAT team burst in, capturing Xaver and discovering the bodies, police said. Investigators did not offer a possible motive, and a police spokesman said he did not know if the attack began as a robbery. The victims were not immediately identified. After years of wild conspiracy theories, Austrian scientists have proven that Nazi war criminal Rudolf Hess indeed died in prison in Berlinand was not a replaced with a doppelganger as conspiracy theorists have suggested. Follow Ynetnews on Facebook STRONG> and Twitter Hess, Hitlers Deputy Fuhrer between 1933-1941, was caught after he went to Scotland in 1941 on his own accord, reportedly to negotiate a peace treaty between the UK and Germany. During the Nuremberg trials held after the war was over, Hess was sentenced to life in prison. Nazi war criminal Rudolf Hess (Photo: Getty Images) Hess was imprisoned in several UK prisonsamong which the Tower of London. In 1947 he was transferred to Berlins Spandau Prison, where he remained until 1987when he hanged himself in his cell. Hess, who died at 93, was known as Spandau #7. He was the last prisoner in Spandau, and the prison was torn down after he died. For decades, conspiracy theories raged, saying Hess was killed by the British after he was caught in Scotland, and that a doppelganger was put in his place. According to theories, Spandau #7 looked nothing like the original Hess, and also avoided meeting the Hess family until 1969arising suspicion. Hitler and Hess, his deputy (Photo: Getty Images) One of the people who believed the rumours was Hess Spandau doctor Hugh Thomas, who pointed to doubts about his Scotland ordeal, his refusal to see relatives and his claimed amnesia. Now, an unnamed descendant of Hess who agreed to have his DNA compared to a sample taken from Spandau #7 in 1982, allowed researchers to discover the truth. No match would have supported the impostor theory, but finally we do have a match, said Prof. Jan Cemper-Kiesslich of the University of Salzburg, who was part of the research team. Results were conclusive: the two DNA samples came from two individuals who had a 99.9% chance of being related. After years of doubt it can be said for certain that Rudolf Hess, the former high-ranking Nazi, hanged himself in his cell in 1987. Haavisto estimated to Uusi Suomi on Tuesday that the setting will continue to become more difficult as the parliamentary elections edge closer. THE UPCOMING elections may take precedence over the social, health care and regional government reform in for some ruling party members, views Pekka Haavisto, the chairperson of the Green League. The long-discussed reform hit yet another obstacle on Monday. Maria Lohela, a former Speaker of the Parliament, announced she will leave the Blue Reform to join Now Movement, declaring that she will also withdraw her support for the reform. The ruling three-party coalition is thus left with the narrowest possible majority 100 out of 199 votes in the Finnish Parliament. Haavisto pointed out that the combination of an election spring and a massive reform that hinges on the support of individual lawmakers is not ideal. Its incredibly difficult to make major decisions in the last spring of [an electoral term], because preparing for the elections becomes more important for lawmakers than party allegiance. And thats precisely the kind of stage were in right now, he said. I think its increasingly unlikely the social and health care reform wont pass through this Parliament. Of course, miracles do happen. The Parliaments Constitutional Law Committee is currently reviewing expert statements regarding the constitutionality of the much-criticised reform bill, with less than three months to go until the parliamentary elections. We have so little time to carry this out. Im not sure how cohesive the government is in this regard, commented Haavisto. Elina Lepomaki (NCP) on Tuesday told Uusi Suomi that the social, health care and regional is likely to collapse. Lepomaki and her fellow member of the National Coalition, Susanna Koski, have both said they will vote against the reform bill in the Parliament. Aleksi Teivainen HT Source: Uusi Suomi 7 day print subscribers enjoy unlimited access to yakimaherald.com Enter the LAST NAME and the 7 DIGIT phone number on your print subscription account to connect your print subscription to your yakimaherald.com account. Kiev (AFP) - A Ukrainian court on Thursday began delivering a verdict in the case of former Ukrainian president Viktor Yanukovych who is on trial for treason for attempting to quash a 2014 pro-Western uprising. The former president has been charged with high treason for asking Russian President Vladimir Putin to send Russian troops to Ukraine after he fled the ex-Soviet country. The 68-year-old faces up to 15 years in prison but has never attended the trial and is believed to be living in Russia. The uprising ousted Yanukovych and brought to power President Petro Poroshenko, who faces an uphill battle for re-election in March. The authorities beefed up security around the court as judges took turns to read out their ruling. The court in Kiev has been holding hearings on the case since 2017. Yanukovuch faces a number of other criminal probes including over usurpation of power and using force against demonstrators. In late 2013, the Moscow-backed president sparked massive protests when he refused at the last minute to sign an association accord forging closer ties between Ukraine and the European Union. After Yanukovych fled, Putin revealed a special operation organised by Moscow exfiltrated the Ukrainian leader. Moscow annexed Ukraine's Crimea peninsula in 2014 and supported an uprising by Russian-speaking separatists in the east of the ex-Soviet country. The conflict in eastern Ukraine has clamed more than 10,000 lives despite repeated international efforts to forge a lasting ceasefire. You have to be more realistic about these. You have to remember that for every new car six used cars are sold in Finland. Finns drive used cars, he stated in an interview on YLE TV1 on Tuesday. This cant be a revolution. THE CHIEF of the Automobile and Touring Club of Finland (ATCF), Pasi Nieminen, has urged political parties to be more realistic about their road transport-related climate goals. Electric cars wont simply appear after it has been decided that we need this many hundreds of thousands by this year. Someone has to pay for them and bring them here, added Nieminen. Both Nieminen and Janne Peljo, the project director for climate solutions at the Finnish Innovation Fund (Sitra), reminded in an interview with the public broadcaster that climate policy making must be clear, consistent and predictable in the long term. The Social Democratic Party published its new climate policy programme last week, proposing that the next government determine a timetable for prohibiting combustion engine cars in passenger road traffic. The opposition party outlined that the number of low-emission and emission-free cars should be increased to 750,000 by 2030. A parliamentary task force on transport climate policy has previously stated that the target for electric cars should be set to 670,000 by 2030 and 2,000,000 by 2045 and that for gas-powered cars to 130,00 by 2030 and 250,000 by 2045. The goals can be met only if the charging infrastructure is developed further, according to Nieminen and Peljo. Well have to start thinking about the charging infrastructure, about how these cars will be charged, commented Nieminen. Well also need political decisions so that we can tell people how were moving forward. An own car is a substantial long-term investment for households. We have to have answers so that people can make their decisions. The National Coalition, meanwhile, revealed earlier this month that it would abolish the car tax on low-emission and emission-free cars by 2023. Peljo estimated that shifting the focus of taxation is a good idea, as the current tax system strongly encourages consumers and retailers to import used diesel cars from abroad. We should shift away from taxing purchases to taxing emissions, he said. This should take place in a way that creates a wider tax shift: wed raise taxes on emissions, meaning something we dont want, and lower taxes on what we want, meaning work and entrepreneurship. If consumers purchasing power increased as a result, itd allow consumers to make bigger investments in cars. That way it could speed up the adoption of new, low-emission cars, added Peljo. Aleksi Teivainen HT Source: Uusi Suomi By Roberta Rampton, Matt Spetalnick and Patricia Zengerle WASHINGTON (Reuters) - When U.S. national security adviser John Bolton branded Venezuela as part of a hemispheric "troika of tyranny" in a speech in November, the Trump administration was still struggling to decide how far it would go in confronting the country's socialist president, Nicolas Maduro. But what has taken shape in recent days is a sharply more aggressive approach based on President Donald Trump's full-throated backing for opposition leader Juan Guaido and bolstered by a coordinated diplomatic response with many of Venezuela's neighbors, who rapidly followed suit in withdrawing recognition of Maduro's rule. Driving this hardened U.S. stance is the growing assertiveness of more hawkish White House aides led by Bolton, Vice President Mike Pence's deep engagement on the issue, a push by anti-Maduro U.S. lawmakers and the arrival of like-minded rightist presidents in Brazil and Colombia, according to people familiar with the matter. On Wednesday, Venezuelan congress head Guaido declared himself interim president, the boldest challenge in years to Maduro's hold on power. Washington's decision to throw its weight behind Guaido, a virtual unknown in Venezuelan politics until recently, came only after it became convinced that the 35-year-old with a U.S. education was a democratic-minded leader they could trust and work with, U.S. officials said. That was the conclusion drawn from U.S. contacts with Guaido in the days ahead of his declaration, including two phone calls with Pence, officials said, asking to remain anonymous because of the sensitivity of the situation. In Pence's second call, which according to a White House official was kept under wraps for security reasons, the vice president assured Guaido: "We're praying for you, the U.S. stands with you, your bravery and courage are something we admire." "It was the U.S. position that Guaido had to have the constitutional backing," the official said. The constitutionality of Guaido's move is unclear. Venezuela's constitution says if the presidency is determined to be vacant, new elections should be called in 30 days and that the head of the congress should assume the presidency in the meantime. Maduro, who started a second term on Jan. 10 following a widely-boycotted election last year, has called Guaido's move an attempted coup. While the outcome remains uncertain and the risks are high, Trump's handling of the situation has stood in sharp contrast to his more chaotic approach to some other major foreign policy decisions, such as Iran and Syria. He has mostly stayed on message in public, consulted with his advisers and avoided antagonizing regional allies needed for their support. Senior administration officials, including Pence, Bolton and White House Latin America adviser Mauricio Claver-Carone, made a flurry of calls to Latin American leaders ahead of Guaido's announcement to ensure that many of them would join Trump in recognizing Guaido. Luis Almagro, president of the Organization of American States, Carlos Trujillo, U.S. ambassador to the OAS, and other senior State Department officials also helped secure Latin American diplomatic support, officials said. Questions remain about how the United States and other countries will now deal with the Maduro government's finances and diplomats and how events inside Venezuela will unfold if Maduro continues to show no signs of losing the vital support of Venezuela's military. "The real issue that keeps me up at nights is what do we do if Maduro manages to hold on? What do we do if there is a bloody crackdown?" said Roger Noriega, former U.S. assistant secretary of state for the Western Hemisphere under President George W. Bush. Many people, he said, were wondering whether the administration had more ideas in mind on "how to go forward." TOUGH LINE Trump so far has stopped short of taking the harshest economic measures sanctioning OPEC member Venezuela's vital oil sector but, according to people familiar with the matter, even that is under is under consideration if Maduro cracks down hard on the opposition. U.S. military intervention is widely seen in Washington as an unpalatable and unlikely option. However, Trump has taken an increasingly tough line with Venezuela since he took office in January 2017, imposing an escalating series of targeted sanctions. But there has been growing frustration within the administration that more was needed. U.S. Senator Marco Rubio is considered to have played a major role in convincing fellow Republican Trump to ratchet up pressure on Maduro, subtly reminding him of the importance of the Cuban-American vote in presidential swing state Florida. "The president's instincts have always been to do the strongest possible action (against Venezuela) that doesn't undermine the cohesion of this multilateral approach," Rubio told Reuters. Rubio led a delegation of Florida lawmakers to discuss Venezuela with Trump on Tuesday, although an aide said Trump had decided before the meeting to recognize Guaido. Bolton, known for his harsh views on the Latin American left, laid some of the groundwork well before Guaido's emergence. In a November speech in Miami, home to large numbers of immigrants from Cuba and Venezuela, Bolton pledged that the United States would crack down on what he called "the troika of tyranny" in the Western Hemisphere, naming Cuba, Venezuela and Nicaragua. Bolton also met Jair Bolsonaro, then Brazil's president-elect, in late November and discussed how the far-right leader could cooperate with the United States to pressure Venezuela. Brazil was one of the first countries to recognize Guaido. The stricter approach to Venezuela has also been pushed by Claver-Carone, named by Bolton as his top Latin American adviser after Bolton took over at the National Security Council last year. Claver-Carone is known as a hardliner on communist Cuba and outspoken critic of former President Barack Obama's rapprochement with Havana. Bolton has also worked with U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to form a united front within the administration, needed to overcome resistance from career State Department diplomats. Venezuela has long been a divisive issue in the State Department, with some diplomats pushing for dialogue and others backing deeper sanctions. The departure last year of veteran diplomat Tom Shannon, who favored dialogue with Caracas and was often dispatched for talks with Maduro, helped open the door to those who wanted a heavier-handed approach, according to U.S. officials. One senior official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said there was concern among some in the department that by recognizing Guaido the United States would divide the region, especially as Mexico's new leftist government supports Maduro. (Reporting by Roberta Rampton, Matt Spetalnick and Patricia Zengerle, Additional reporting by Lesley Wroughton; Editing by Mary Milliken and Rosalba O'Brien) Washington (AFP) - The US Treasury announced sanctions Thursday on two Iran-backed militias fighting in Syria in a move aimed at raising pressure on Tehran and the powerful Revolutionary Guard Corps. The Fatemiyoun Division, comprising Afghan nationals, and the Zaynabiyoun Brigade, consisting of Pakistanis, were placed on Treasury's financial blacklist, which aims to cut off their access to international financial networks to choke their operations. Both militias are recruited by the Revolutionary Guard, the Treasury said, from communities of refugees and migrants living inside Iran, and sent to fight for the Bashar al-Assad regime in Syria. "The brutal Iranian regime exploits refugee communities in Iran... and uses them as human shields for the Syrian conflict," Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin in a statement. "Treasury's targeting of Iran-backed militias and other foreign proxies is part of our ongoing pressure campaign to shut down the illicit networks the regime uses to export terrorism and unrest across the globe." The Treasury also designated for sanctions Qeshm Fars Air, an airline it said was controlled by already-sanctioned Mahan Air, and Armenia-based Flight Travel LLC, which markets for Mahan. Qeshm Fars was a dormant carrier until 2017, when it was revived to deliver passengers and cargo to Damascus from Iran with two B747 aircraft on behalf of the Revolutionary Guard Corps. The carrier is being staffed by Mahan Air employees and receives Mahan technical support, the Treasury said. United Nations (United States) (AFP) - The United States on Thursday called for a UN Security Council meeting on the crisis in Venezuela after it recognized opposition leader Juan Guaido as the acting president. The US mission to the United Nations said it requested that the council meet in open session at 9 am (1400 GMT) Saturday. US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is expected to attend, diplomats said. Pompeo earlier warned Venezuela's president, Nicolas Maduro, not to use force against demonstrators and called for stronger international support for the self-declared acting president. The United States has won support for the move from about a dozen Latin American countries including Brazil, Argentina and Colombia. France and Britain, which are among the five permanent council members, have also questioned Maduro's legitimacy. Russia and China, however, have thrown their weight behind Maduro. UN diplomats said Russia may try to block the meeting by calling for a procedural vote, arguing that Venezuela is not on the council's agenda. Mexico, Cuba and Bolivia have also pledged support for Maduro. US President Donald Trump recognized Guaido, the speaker of Venezuela's parliament, as acting leader, declaring his National Assembly "the only legitimate branch of government duly elected by the Venezuelan people". At a special meeting of the Organization of American States in Washington, Pompeo warned Maduro that "the time for debate is done" and called his government "illegitimate". South Africa's Ambassador to the United Nations, Jerry Matjila, told reporters that "we will listen to what Mike Pompeo has to say" but added that it was unlikely that the council could agree on a unified position. South Africa, a non-permanent council member, considers Maduro as the legitimate president. Brussels (AFP) - The United States, Britain and major South American nations recognised opposition chief Juan Guaido as Venezuela's interim leader Thursday but China and Russia threw their weight behind embattled President Nicolas Maduro. Here are some of the key reactions after parliamentary speaker Guaido declared himself "acting president" of Venezuela on Wednesday. - US recognises Guaido - US President Donald Trump recognised Guaido as acting leader, declaring his National Assembly "the only legitimate branch of government duly elected by the Venezuelan people". The US said it stood ready to use "all options" if Maduro tries to quash the opposition. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo warned Maduro against the use of force, saying "the time for debate is done" and calling the regime "illegitimate". The US has requested a UN Security Council meeting on the crisis in Veneuela. - UK: Guaido 'right person' - Britain joined the US in declaring that Maduro was "not the legitimate leader of Venezuela", and backing Guaido. "The United Kingdom believes Juan Guaido is the right person to take Venezuela forward. We are supporting the US, Canada, Brazil and Argentina to make that happen," Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt said in a statement -- diverting from the cautious approach of other Europe leaders. - Russia calls Maduro - Russian President Vladimir Putin called Maduro and expressed "support for the legitimate authorities of Venezuela in the context of a domestic political crisis that has been provoked from the outside," the Kremlin said. Putin said any intervention by other countries "violates the fundamental norms of international law", according to the statement. The Russian foreign ministry warned that support for Guaido was a "direct path to lawlessness and bloodshed". - China: Don't interfere - China, Venezuela's main creditor, "opposes interference in Venezuelan affairs by external forces", foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying told a news conference. Story continues She said Beijing urged calm pending a "political resolution to Venezuela's problem through peaceful dialogue within Venezuela's constitutional framework". - EU: Rule of law - The European Union reacted cautiously to the fast-moving crisis. EU diplomatic chief Federica Mogherini in a statement stressed EU support "for the restoration of democracy and rule of law in Venezuela through a credible peaceful political process in line with the Venezuelan constitution". - France: 'restore democracy' - French President Emmanuel Macron said Europe favoured "the restoration of democracy", stressing the need for new elections after what he called Maduro's "illegitimate" election in May last year. - Spain speaks to Guaido - Spain's Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez stressed the need for "free elections" in Venezuela in a telephone call to Guaido, the Spanish government said. Foreign Minister Josep Borrell said an election was the "only way out" of the impasse. - Neighbours: Time's up - Several of Venezuela's regional neighbours said Maduro's time was up. Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro said "Brazil will support politically and economically the process of transition so that democracy and social peace return to Venezuela". Colombian President Ivan Duque said his country was behind Guaido and will "accompany this process of transition to democracy so that the Venezuelan people free themselves of their dictatorship." Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Honduras, Panama, Paraguay, and Peru issued a joint statement endorsing Guaido as interim president. - Cuba: 'imperialism' - Cuba offered Maduro support, however. Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel slammed "imperialist attempts to discredit and destabilise" Venezuela. - Uruguay and Mexico: Dialogue - The leaders of Uruguay and Mexico urged "all parties involved, in and outside the country, to reduce tensions and avoid an escalation of violence that could worsen the situation... Both countries propose a new, inclusive and credible negotiation process, with full respect for human rights and the rule of law." - UN: 'disaster' risk - UN head Antonio Guterres appealed for dialogue to avoid "an escalation that would lead to the kind of conflict that would be a disaster for the people of Venezuela and for the region." burs/boc/mlr Kiev (AFP) - A Ukrainian court on Thursday found ex-president Viktor Yanukovych guilty of high treason and sentenced him in absentia to 13 years in prison for asking Russia's Vladimir Putin to send troops to Ukraine. In 2014, Yanukovych was ousted as a result of a bloody uprising after his attempts to quell it failed. He fled the country and asked Putin to send troops to Ukraine to help restore his control over the country. "Yanukovych committed a crime against the foundation of Ukraine's national security," judge Vladyslav Devyatko said in Kiev's Obolon district court. Yanukovych was also found guilty of "complicity in waging an aggressive war against Ukraine," Devyatko said, adding his prison term would begin "the moment he is detained." The 68-year-old former Ukrainian president did not attend the trial and is believed to be living in Russia. Earlier in the day authorities had beefed up security around the court as judges took turns reading out their ruling. The court in Kiev has held hearings on the case since 2017. Yanukovych faces a number of other criminal probes including over usurpation of power and using force against demonstrators. In late 2013, the Moscow-backed president sparked massive protests when he refused at the last minute to sign an association accord forging closer ties between Ukraine and the European Union. More than 100 people were killed in the violence when riot police cracked down on protesters in Kiev's iconic "Maidan" square in 2014. After Yanukovych fled the country, Putin revealed a special operation organised by Moscow that exfiltrated the Ukrainian leader. Moscow annexed Ukraine's Crimea peninsula in 2014 and supported Russian-speaking insurgents in the east of the ex-Soviet country. The conflict in eastern Ukraine has claimed more than 10,000 lives despite repeated international efforts to forge a lasting ceasefire. Russia views the chain of events that led to Yanukovych's ouster as a coup orchestrated by Washington. Story continues Yanukovych has all but vanished from view since his violent suppression of street protests and little is known about how Ukraine's former strongman passes his day. - From eastern Ukraine - Yanukovych was born in the now conflict-torn Donetsk region of eastern Ukraine. For two decades he served as a transport manager in Donetsk before moving into politics in the late 1990s. He became the region's governor in 1997, with close ties to local oligarchs, and eventually prime minister under president Leonid Kuchma in 2002. In 2004, he was initially proclaimed the winner of a presidential election amid allegations of vote-rigging and charges of interference from Moscow. The election triggered the pro-democracy Orange Revolution and was eventually declared fraudulent. Six years later Yanukovych returned to beat Orange Revolution co-leader Yulia Tymoshenko in a bitter presidential contest. In the years that followed, he became deeply unpopular for his corrupt, lavish lifestyle. LONDON (Reuters) - A British man who went on the run last year after killing a woman in a speedboat crash on the River Thames has been detained in the former Soviet state of Georgia, London police said on Wednesday. Jack Shepherd, 31, was convicted in his absence last July of the manslaughter by gross negligence of Charlotte Brown, 24, and sentenced to six years in jail. "We have received information from the National Crime Agency (NCA) that Jack Shepherd, who is wanted on an international arrest warrant, is in the custody of police in Georgia," Scotland Yard said in a statement. "His identity has yet to be officially confirmed," it added. "However, if the man is confirmed as Shepherd, extradition proceedings will begin immediately." Shepherd had taken Brown on a first date in December 2015 during which the couple dined at a restaurant in London's tallest building, The Shard, before he took her for a ride in a speedboat he said he owned. Prosecutors said he was drunk and that neither he nor Brown was wearing a life-jacket. Shortly before midnight, the boat hit floating debris and both were thrown into the water. Shepherd was found clinging to the hull but Brown was pulled from the water unconscious and died from cold water immersion. (Reporting by Stephen Addison; editing by Michael Holden) London (AFP) - Britain on Thursday promised to pay for the deployment of new surveillance equipment in France to fight illegal cross-Channel migration. French Interior Minister Christophe Castaner met his British counterpart Sajid Javid in London to hone police efforts to stamp out a surge in dangerous attempts by small boats to reach the United Kingdom. An action plan signed by Castaner and Javid includes broader intelligence sharing and the installation of CCTV cameras that can offer live feeds from ports and "areas where migrants may attempt to embark boats" in France. Britain will spend 7 million euros ($7.9 million) to cover the installation costs and also purchase new night goggles and cameras to capture licence plates and automatically transmit them to police. Around half this amount had already been pledged in a similar agreement signed in January 2018. "It is vital we continue to work closely with our French partners to stop vulnerable migrants making these treacherous crossings and tackle the people smugglers who are putting their lives in danger," Javid said. Castaner said the new action plan "once again shows the UKas commitment to managing our shared border along with us". - 'No Eldorado' - A total of 504 people -- the vast majority in the last two months -- attempted to cross the Channel to Britain last year. French interior ministry figures show 276 people successfully reaching British waters. There were only 13 known attempts in 2017. The crossings have received broad media attention in Britain and put pressure on Prime Minister Theresa May's Conservative government to respond. Control over borders and migration was an emotive issue that helped the Brexit-backing camp win the 2016 referendum on leaving the EU. London in December dispatched a navy ship to help existing coastguard boats watch over the 21 miles (33 kilometres) of sea that separate France and Britain at its narrowest point. Story continues France also responded by announcing broader surveillance measures in its own "action plan" in early January. Castaner said it was sheer luck that no one died making the treacherous journey in overloaded dinghies. "But if tomorrow there is a death -- just one death -- it would be our collective responsibility," he said. Castaner added that illegal migrants from troubled Middle Eastern countries who have been making the most recent journeys must know that "there is no Eldorado, no European dream" awaiting them in Britain. The number of Channel crossings was just a tiny fraction of the 55,756 successful attempts made across Mediterranean to Spain that were recorded by the UN's refugee agency in 2018. Security experts are divided about the causes of a sudden surge in illicit attempts to reach the UK that began in October. But most agree that unusually calm seas and warm weather were contributing factors. WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States on Thursday targeted two Iran-backed foreign fighter militias in Syria and two airlines that help send weapons to Syria in fresh sanctions as Washington prepares for a military withdrawal from the war-torn country. All four groups are linked to Iran's Mahan Air and Iran's elite military unit, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps-Quds Force, both of which are already blacklisted, the U.S. Treasury Department said in a statement. The Fatemiyoun Division and Zaynabiyoun Brigade are being designated for providing material support to the IRGC-QF, the statement said. "Treasurys targeting of Iran-backed militias and other foreign proxies is part of our ongoing pressure campaign to shut down the illicit networks the regime uses to export terrorism and unrest across the globe," Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said in a statement. Since President Donald Trump announced that Washington will withdraw its roughly 2,000 troops in Syria, the administration has tried to allay concerns that Islamic State militants could stage a comeback in the region, or that Iran and Russia will benefit from the U.S. departure. The United States imposed sanctions on Mahan Air in 2011, saying it provided financial and other support to Irans Islamic Revolutionary Guards. Treasury said Iran-based Qeshm Fars Air was designated for being owned or controlled by Mahan Air and for providing material support to the Quds Force. Armenia-based Flight Travel LLC acts for or on behalf of Mahan Air, which transports Iran-allied personnel and weapons to Syria, Treasury said. Sigal Mandelker, undersecretary for terrorism and financial intelligence, said Treasury is aggressively targeting groups that support Mahan air. Iran continues to leverage Mahan Air and its commercial aviation sector to transport individuals and weapons needed to carry out this tragic campaign and to fuel sectarian conflict throughout the region," she said in the statement. (Reporting by Doina Chiacu and Tim Ahmann; Editing by David Alexander and Steve Orlofsky) Lome (AFP) - Togo has elected its first female head of the National Assembly, following parliamentary elections that saw the ruling party maintain its majority. Yawa Djigbodi Tsegan, from President Faure Gnassingbe's Union for the Republic party, was chosen on Wednesday in a vote by her fellow lawmakers. The 47-year-old Tsegan, a tax inspector who previously held the position of parliamentary administrator, won 88 nominations from the 89 members of parliament who voted, an AFP reporter said. She takes over from her party colleague Dama Dramani, who has been in the post since September 2013. Togo held parliamentary elections in December last year to elect 91 new members of the National Assembly. But the main opposition coalition boycotted the vote, citing organistational "irregularities". Gnassingbe's party won 59 of the 91 seats. Observers from the African Union and the West African bloc ECOWAS said the election was "free and fair". Togo has endured nearly 18 months of political turmoil, including street protests calling for constitutional reform that have developed into a call for Gnassingbe to resign. Gnassingbe has been in power since 2005, following the death of his father, who ruled Togo for 37 years beforehand. The opposition wants a return to a limit of two terms for the president, applied retroactively, which would rule out Gnassingbe standing for re-election in 2020 and 2025. Talks with the government, brokered by ECOWAS, are in deadlock, as the ruling party refuses to apply the term limit retroactively. Another opposition protest has been scheduled for Saturday. Davos (Switzerland) (AFP) - The world is facing worrying "fragmentation", UN chief Antonio Guterres said Thursday, warning that the relationship between the United States, Russia and China was worryingly out of kilter. "The relationship between the three most important powers, Russia, the United States and China, has never been as dysfunctional as it is today," the UN secretary-general told the World Economic Forum in Davos. Guterres said the ongoing shift away from a world dominated previously by two Cold War superpowers was creating "a bit of a chaotic situation". "We no longer live in a bipolar or unipolar world, but we are not yet in a multipolar world," he said. "Power relations (are) becoming unclear," he added, urging countries to work together and support multilateralism. The United States has been locked in a trade war with China and others that has rocked the financial markets and sparked fears of a slowdown in the global economy. And US relations with Moscow have been hit by allegations of Russian meddling in US politics and a stand-off over the fate of a Cold War-era nuclear weapons treaty. The dysfunction is evident "in the economy, but it is also true in the Security Council," Guterres said, lamenting the recurring "paralysis" of the UN's top body. "We are in a world in which global challenges are more and more fragmented, and the responses are more and more fragmented," he said. "If this is not reversed, it is a recipe for disaster." He acknowledged that many around the world feel disconnected from those in power and from the work of international organisations such as the UN, fuelling nationalism and populism. "We need to demonstrate to all of those who feel that they were left behind that our ideas, our policies, our programmes aim at solving their problems or helping them to solve them," he said. Kabul (AFP) - Negotiations between the Taliban and US officials in Qatar entered a fourth straight day Thursday, the militants said, with the "unprecedented" discussions raising expectations as both sides seek a way out of the 17-year Afghan conflict. The extended talks come more than a month after President Donald Trump ordered the withdrawal of half the 14,000 US troops in Afghanistan, in a push to extricate Washington from its longest-ever war, launched in 2001 after the September 11 attacks. For months the US has been stepping up efforts for a peace deal that could pave the way for the Taliban's participation in the next government. Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid confirmed to AFP Thursday that "discussions are still ongoing". A senior Taliban commander based in Pakistan said they were discussing various aspects of a US withdrawal, and that a statement could be released later Thursday or Friday. The Pakistan foreign ministry also confirmed that talks were ongoing between the two sides. There was no confirmation from US officials or NATO in Kabul. The US last confirmed talks on Tuesday, when it said special envoy Zalmay Khalilzad was meeting Taliban representatives in Doha. Discussions could continue for a fifth day Friday, reported Afghan television channel Tolo News. However President Ashraf Ghani was reserved when asked at the World Economic Forum in Davos if there had been any breakthrough in Doha. "Not in that sense," he replied, without elaborating. "There's discussion. But this discussion needs to be shared back (with the Afghan government)", he continued, adding that if not it "will not last". Afghan officials in Kabul, who have complained previously about being cut out of the process, said they would have to wait and see if any statement was made before reacting to the talks. Afghanistan's de facto prime minister Abdullah Abdullah voiced frustration at Davos on Wednesday that the Taliban are persisting in excluding his government from negotiations. The insurgents have long branded Kabul authorities "puppets" of Washington. Story continues "(A) peace process cannot take place by proxy," he said. - 'Unprecedented' - The continuation of the talks in Doha this week represented "unprecedented" progress, Rahimullah Yusufzai, an expert on the Taliban, said earlier Thursday. "I have never seen anything like this before," he said. "This is the first serious effort. And it has continued since July... they have agreed to disagree and continued to meet. That's why it's unprecedented." Talks have primarily focused on three major points: the withdrawal of US troops, a vow to prevent Afghan soil from being a base for attacks on other countries, and a potential ceasefire, according to Yusufzai. Initial progress could come in the form of prisoners' release and the removal of Taliban officials from the UN blacklist, he said. On Thursday the Wall Street Journal cited an anonymous source as saying the Taliban had agreed to oppose Al Qaeda and the Islamic State group in Afghanistan. Afghanistan's Tolo News also reported that the insurgents had pledged not to use Afghanistan's soil against the US. There was no immediate confirmation from the militants or US officials. The US invasion of 2001 was driven by the Taliban's harbouring of Al Qaeda, but more than 17 years later the group appears diminished in the region. Islamic State, however, is a growing and potent presence in Afghanistan, where it is fighting a fierce turf war with the Taliban in some areas. The talks come after Khalilzad spent the weekend in Pakistan, where he met with Prime Minister Imran Khan as part of a regional tour that saw him shuttling between India, China and Afghanistan. Russia and Iran have also held meetings with the Taliban in recent months, while China has also made overtures. Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Pakistan are all participating in the US efforts. Rome (AFP) - A contested high-speed train line between Italy and France must go ahead, Interior Minister Matteo Salvini said Thursday, setting his party on a collision course with its governing partner. "The TAV must absolutely be built, especially as it would cost more to scrap it than to build it," the head of the far-right League said during a Rai2 programme due to air on Friday. "I'm still waiting for the damn cost-benefit analysis, of which I have yet to see one page," he added, according to quotes from the pre-recorded programme published in the Repubblica daily. The high-speed line between Turin and Lyon has become a key battleground for the populist government in Rome, with Salvini's coalition partner, the Five Star Movement (M5S), demanding the project be scrapped. The 8.6-billion euro ($9.8-billion) tunnel through the Alps, which has already been partially dug, will reduce travel time between Milan and Paris from almost seven hours to just over four. Proponents of the line, launched nearly 20 years ago and officially scheduled to be finished in 2025, argue that it will rid the roads of a million trucks and avert some three million tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions each year. But as well as being attacked by environmentalists, the line has been criticised as a misuse of public funds and the anti-establishment Five Star Movement (M5S) had pledged to block it if elected. Although the League has long favoured the venture, Salvini had said he would wait to see the cost-benefit analysis before adopting a position. The M5S fears the so-called TAV may join the growing list of promises it has been forced to break since coming to power, with analysts warning of the potential fall-out particularly for populist leader and deputy prime minister Luigi Di Maio. Davos (Switzerland) (AFP) - The United States, Canada and major South American nations recognized the head of Venezuela's opposition-controlled legislature as the country's interim leader on Wednesday, leaving President Nicolas Maduro increasingly isolated. Major regional players Brazil, Colombia, Chile, Peru and Argentina all gave their backing to Juan Guaido's self-proclamation as Venezuela's acting president, which he made in front of crowd of tens of thousands of supporters in Caracas. Mexico, however, stood apart, saying it recognizes "the authorities elected in accordance with the Venezuelan constitution," seen as a lukewarm nod to Maduro. The avalanche of support for Guaido dramatically raised the stakes in Venezuela, an oil-rich nation has become deeply impoverished under Maduro. Maduro has clung to power through the support of the Venezuelan military, and he is an ally of Russia, which last month sent two nuclear-capable bombers to the country to participate in a military drill. The United States said Wednesday it stood ready to use "all options" if Maduro tries to quash the opposition, in what was an implied threat of military force. President Donald Trump said Guaido's National Assembly was "the only legitimate branch of government duly elected by the Venezuelan people." Maduro responded by saying he was cutting off diplomatic ties with the United States, as his riot police clashed with opposition supporters in Caracas. "Get Out! Leave Venezuela. Here we have dignity, damn it," Maduro said, giving US diplomats 72 hours to depart. But Guaido tweeted in response a statement that, under him, Venezuela wants countries "to maintain their diplomatic presence in our country." - Broadening support - Tweeting from the Swiss ski resort of Davos, where he and other leaders were attending the World Economic Forum, Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro said: "Brazil recognizes Mr Juan Guaido as Venezuela's interim president." Story continues He added that "Brazil will support politically and economically the process of transition so that democracy and social peace return to Venezuela." Bolsonaro, a far-right former paratrooper who has set about forging close ties with Trump's administration since taking power at the beginning of January, has repeatedly vowed to challenge Maduro in any way he can. He initially said he was open to discussing Brazil hosting a US military base, before changing his mind when the idea sparked objections from his military brass. Colombian President Ivan Duque, another US ally also at Davos, told reporters his country was behind Guaido and will "accompany this process of transition to democracy so that the Venezuelan people free themselves of their dictatorship." Canadian Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland expressed her country's "full support" for Guaido, adding: "It's an important day for Venezuela and I'm grateful for the solidarity of the Lima Group in speaking out on this." Eleven members of the 14-nation Lima Group -- Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Honduras, Panama, Paraguay and Peru -- later issued a joint statement endorsing Guaido as interim president. The three holdouts included Mexico, which has maintained a principle of non-intervention under leftist President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, as well as Guyana and Santa Lucia. Lopez Obrador's spokesman said on Twitter that while Mexico "for the moment" was not changing its relations with Caracas, it was "analyzing the situation in Venezuela." The United States is not a member but supports the group, which has taken an increasingly strident stance against Maduro, whom it sees as anti-democratic. The European Union did not join the countries lining up behind Guaido, but EU Council President Donald Tusk tweeted that "I hope that all of Europe will united in support of democratic forces in Venezuela." Tusk added: "Unlike Maduro, the parliamentary assembly, including Juan Guaido have a democratic mandate from Venezuelan citizens." Khartoum (AFP) - One protester was killed during an anti-government demonstration in the city of Omdurman on Thursday, a senior Sudanese official told reporters. "One protester has died in Omdurman today," Amer Ibrahim, chief of a committee at the prosecutor's office that is investigating violence during nationwide demonstrations, said at a press conference. Ibrahim did not specify how the protester was killed. Ibrahim said that another demonstrator who was wounded at a demonstration on January 13 in Khartoum had also died. "Until now 29 people have died in demonstrations," Ibrahim said. Rights groups have put the overall death toll at more than 40 since protests erupted across Sudan on December 19 after a government decision to triple the price of bread. Hundreds of people took to the streets on Thursday in Omdurman, the twin city of Khartoum across the Nile, but they were confronted by riot police with tear gas, witnesses said. Apart from Omdurman, simultaneous rallies were launched across several Sudanese cities and towns. The protests that have rocked Sudan since last month have turned into nationwide anti-government demonstrations, with crowds demanding an end to President Omar al-Bashir's three decades of rule. Copenhagen (AFP) - Denmark has seized just over 25,000 euros from migrants arriving in the country in the three years since passing a controversial law allowing for the confiscation of valuables, police said Thursday. Since the law was passed on January 26, 2015, officials have seized the equivalent of some 186,800 kroner (25,000 euros/$28,400) in cash as well as a car worth around 100,000 kroner, but they have not seized any jewellery. Over that period, there have been 10 occasions when officials have applied the law, which allows for the confiscation of cash exceeding 10,000 kroner or objects of the same value. The aim is to cover the individual's costs while any asylum request is examined. The legislation is just one of several legal measures aimed at dissuading migrants from going to Denmark, but one which has been sharply criticised abroad. "It's a question of principle: if you can help pay for your own needs, you should," Immigration and Integration Minister Inger Stojberg told the Danish news agency Ritzau. "It's true for Danes and it's true for refugees who come here." Engagement and wedding rings were initially included in the law but the government backtracked after the proposal sparked uproar, with the Washington Post comparing it to the Nazis' theft of valuables from the Jewish community. In December, Denmark received some 180 asylum applications -- the lowest number since 2008. In 2018, some 3,500 people sought asylum in Denmark, compared to more than 21,000 in 2015. Abuja (AFP) - Nigeria's leading female presidential candidate Oby Ezekwesili on Thursday withdrew from the race, pledging to form an opposition coalition to defeat the ruling party. Polls to elect a new president and parliament take place on February 16, while governorship and state assembly elections take place two weeks later. A total of 73 candidates want the country's top job but it is expected to be a contest between President Muhammadu Buhari, of the All Progressives Congress (APC), and Atiku Abubakar, of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). Ezekwesili, from the Allied Congress Party of Nigeria, is a former education minister and ex-World Bank vice-president, who in recent years has campaigned for the release of Boko Haram kidnapping victims, including the Chibok schoolgirls. The 55-year-old said she decided to pull out after "extensive consultations with leaders from various walks of life across the country over the past few days". She said she would now "focus on helping to build a veritable coalition to ensure a viable alternative to the #APCPDP in the forthcoming elections". The PDP was in power from the restoration of civilian rule in 1999 to Buhari's victory in 2015. But there are few ideological differences between the main parties, candidates for whom have regularly swapped sides between elections. Both have also faced criticism about their performance in government. Ezekwesili said a "broad coalition for a viable alternative" was now needed "more than ever before". Minor parties signed an agreement known as PACT (Presidential Aspirants Coming Together) last year to have a unified candidate to challenge the main two parties. Political commentators believe only a strong coalition of minor parties can challenge the dominance of the APC and PDP. In 2015, Buhari's APC was able to defeat then ruling PDP after forming a coalition of fringe parties with the support of some leading PDP defectors. Story continues Entrepreneur and motivational speaker Fela Durotoye, 47, of the Alliance for New Nigeria, has been tipped to lead the coalition. Others include Kingsley Moghalu, 56, a former deputy governor of Nigeria's central bank, from the Young Progressives Party, and the publisher of the online news site Sahara Reporters, Omoyele Sowore. Sowore, 47, is a former pro-democracy activist and student. At an election debate on Saturday, Durotoye said the APC and PDP were "two sides of the same bad coin". Moghalu agreed: "One is a kettle and one is a pot. And they call each other black." By Alexis Akwagyiram LAGOS (Reuters) - The leading female candidate in Nigeria's presidential election said on Thursday she had withdrawn from the race weeks ahead of the poll to help build a coalition to provide a viable alternative to the country's two main parties. Former government minister Obiageli Ezekwesili, co-founder of a group to raise awareness about more than 200 girls kidnapped by the militant Islamist group Boko Haram in 2014, said on Twitter that she had been in talks for three months with other candidates about a coalition. Nigeria's presidential election is scheduled to take place on Feb. 16. The main candidates in the race to head Africa's top oil producing country are the incumbent, Muhammadu Buhari, and Atiku Abubakar, a former vice president who is representing the main opposition People's Democratic Party (PDP). "I have decided to step down from the presidential race and focus on helping to build a coalition for a viable alternative to the #APCPDP in the 2019 general," said Ezekwesili in a tweet. Ezekwesili was not considered to be among the frontrunners in the race. Analysts see Buhari and Abubakar as the only genuine contenders due to the financial power and patronage networks provided by their parties. The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) later said it was "impossible" for a candidate to withdraw at this stage. "The last day for withdrawal by candidates or replacement of withdrawn candidates by political parties was 17th November, 2018. Therefore, the deadline for Ezekwesili or any candidate in that category to withdraw or be replaced has passed," said INEC spokesman Rotimi Oyekanmi. Ezekwesili was the candidate of the Allied Congress Party of Nigeria, a little known party. Following her announcement the party said it would support Buhari's re-election bid. The PDP ruled from 1999, when civilian rule began, until Buhari's 2015 election win with his All Progressives Congress (APC) party. The main contenders ahead of February's poll have been in the public eye for decades - Buhari was a military ruler in the 1980s and Abubakar was vice president from 1999-2007. Ezekwesili, a former government minister, is known more recently for her work as co-founder of 'Bring Back Our Girls', a campaign which seeks to raise awareness about some 270 girls who were kidnapped from their school in the northeast Nigerian town of Chibok in April 2014 by Boko Haram. Many of the girls managed to escape in the hours following their abduction or have been released in the last few years, but about 100 are still missing and their condition is unknown. (Reporting by Alexis Akwagyiram; additional reporting by Camillus Eboh in Abuja, Percy Dabang in Yola and Abraham Achirga in Abuja, Editing by Gareth Jones, William Maclean) Beijing (AFP) - Microsoft's Bing search engine resumed service to Chinese users on Thursday, after a disruption raised fears among social media users that it was the latest foreign website to be blocked by censors. Attempts to access Bing had resulted in an error message for users starting late Wednesday, as the most prominent foreign search engine available in China experienced a temporary blackout. Microsoft's search engine was blocked due to "an accidental technical error", according to Bloomberg, citing two anonymous sources -- rather than a deliberate attempt to restrict Bing, which already complies with local censorship rules. On Weibo, China's Twitter-like social media site, people rejoiced over the return of Microsoft's search engine. "Bing has returned," wrote one user, adding three sobbing emojis. "I am moved!" "Bing seems to have resumed access!" exclaimed another. "Microsoft is great! Microsoft is awesome!" The temporary shutdown of Bing had raised concerns that Microsoft's search engine was the latest victim of online censorship in China, which has ramped up in recent years. In 2018 alone, Beijing shuttered 26,000 "illegal" websites and deleted six million online posts containing vulgar content, the official Xinhua news agency said earlier this month. China's Communist authorities also operate an online censorship apparatus known as the "Great Firewall", which blocks a slew of websites including Facebook, Twitter and several foreign media outlets. The firewall can be circumvented by using a virtual private network (VPN), which can hide a user's IP address. Late Wednesday and earlier on Thursday, Weibo users complained about the lack of access, with some speculating that Bing too had been "walled off". Others aired their dissatisfaction about having to use Baidu, China's largest domestic search service. "Our country is amazing, even the obedient Bing has been walled off, while Baidu flourishes," said another. "Thank you wise party leaders!" SALEM, Ore. (AP) Sen. Jeff Merkley, one of the most vocal critics of President Donald Trump's immigration policies, seemed content to meet with constituents in Oregon and did not say if he'll run for president in 2020. Merkley has been postponing a decision on a White House bid for some time. Last year, he said he'd decide soon after the November midterm election. Now, he says he'll decide before the end of this first quarter. Nine Democrats have declared their intentions to run -- the most recent was Sen. Kamala Harris from California. "One every day," Merkley said with a grin during an interview Monday before he hosted a town hall in a community college in Salem, Oregon's capital city. Deciding whether to run is a gamble as Merkley faces an ever-expanding field of Democrats and would have to abandon the option of being elected to the Senate for a third term unless the Oregon Legislature changes the law. Merkley gained some name recognition nationally last June, when he tried to enter a federal facility in Texas where immigrant children were being held. An aide videotaped the scene as he was refused entry and police were called. The video quickly gained over 1 million views in a day, and was repeated in newscasts across the country. At a town hall Monday, Merkley wearing jeans, cowboy boots and a work shirt described his efforts to stop the internment of immigrant children, including through his introduction of the "No Internment Camps Act." The Oregon Democrat said it was "spooky" that in this era, legislation in America would have internment camps in its title. Merkley, the son of a millwright, was first elected to the Senate in 2008 and handily won re-election six years later. Asked if he might prefer to be in the Senate if Democrats gain control in 2020, Merkley said: "Well I tell you, I've been in the majority, and I've been in the minority, and the majorities are better." Story continues He said senators have a huge ability to influence the direction of policy, even if they're not the chair of a committee or subcommittee. Merkley is a member of the appropriations committee; the environment and public works committee; the foreign relations committee and the budget committee. Merkley, to support Democratic candidates for other offices in key states, has hired field staff in states such as Iowa and New Hampshire. They could also assist in laying the groundwork for a presidential run. He has already visited Iowa, New Hampshire, South Carolina and Nevada, states that have early primaries and caucuses in the presidential sweepstakes. ___ Follow Andrew Selsky on Twitter at https://twitter.com/andrewselsky Harare (AFP) - The magistrates court in the Zimbabwe capital Harare is inundated with cases after hundreds of arrests over violent protests sparked by a surge in fuel prices. The crisis has seen suspects hauled into court by the truckload, then denied bail and immediately put on trial in many cases -- some before they are given access to lawyers. They are facing a slew of charges, from disorderly conduct, looting and arson to outright subversion. Speaking to AFP as he waited for his latest batch of clients to be brought into court, lawyer Paidamoyo Saurombe said: "You get here at court, you do not have any court papers and suddenly you are being told that we are going to conduct the trial today, immediately." "Cases are being fast-tracked. " The southern African country has been rocked by deadly violence after the government more than doubled fuel prices as part of a hard-hitting reform plan. A brutal crackdown on the protests by security forces shattered President Emmerson Mnangagwa's claims to have turned a fresh page after the violently repressive era of Robert Mugabe. More than 1,100 people have been arrested countrywide, according to police. Lawyers warn that judiciary procedures have been fragrantly violated, cases are being unlawfully fast-tracked, charges are being changed abruptly and people are being denied bail across the board regardless of circumstances. Human rights lawyers say this is a nationwide trend that appears to be orchestrated. Except for minors, suspects are systematically being denied bail irrespective of the severity of the charges or whether they are a flight risk, according to lawyers. All 11 of Saurombe's clients have been denied bail. "That is quite worrisome because there seems to be a blanket approach to the applications," he said. - 'The same hymnbook' - "One would think the judiciary is the last line of defence in any democracy, but our experiences over the past few days are indicating otherwise," said Saurombe, who works with the Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights to assist suspects. Story continues Internationally acclaimed rights lawyer Beatrice Mtetwa described how one lawyer from her firm watched his client being persuaded to enter a plea, without being shown court papers and before accessing legal advice. "There is no question that there has been coordination," she said, adding that suspects' rights to fair hearings have been maliciously violated. "What is the point in having a new constitution if the rights will just be suspended without a state of emergency and they ride roughshod on the people?" The judiciary became noticeably more independent during the final years of Mugabe's iron-fisted rule after the country voted in a new constitution in 2013. Mtetwa alleged that "a certain closed group of magistrates" were handling the cases. "So there can be no question that someone is manipulating the system... that somebody, somewhere is trying to subvert the rule of law," she told AFP. Alec Muchadehama, who represents detained union leader Japhet Moyo and a dozen other defendants, echoed her. "What is disturbing is that there appears to be connivance among the police, the prosecution and the courts that are dealing with these matters... as if they are singing from the same hymnbook," he told AFP. Muchadehama said some lawyers are representing up to 60 defendants, and "given either no time or a few minutes to prepare. That to me is improper." - 'Suppressing dissent' - "The courts do not seem to be acting independently... and are allowing the judicial process to be subverted as a means of suppressing dissent," said Derek Matyszak, a researcher with the Pretoria-based Institute of Security Studies. President Mnangagwa on Wednesday installed a new prosecutor general, Kumbirai Hodzi, who after his inauguration told reporters that prosecutors and government leaders had things "under control". While the justice ministry could not be reached for comment, presidential spokesman George Charamba told reporters in Harare earlier this week: "We will not have the mayhem that we saw last week -- never again. If you decide to dabble on the wrong side of the law... the law comes back to hit you." BLANTYRE (Reuters) - Malawi President Peter Mutharika urged police on Wednesday to stamp down on any "rogue elements" ahead of an election in May, especially warning against any politically motivated violence directed towards women. His calls came after suspected ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) cadets assaulted members of the newly formed opposition United Transformation Movement and forced a woman to take off a UTM-branded T-shirt on Sunday, local media reported. The president "has noted with great concern various acts of violence perpetrated with the probable intention of stirring disorder in the country as we approach the May general elections", presidential press secretary Mgeme Kalilani said. The statement said the president would not tolerate "any acts deliberately calculated at humiliating women on the political space and creating politics of anarchy". Malawians are set to go to the polls in May to elect a president, a parliament and ward councillors. Mutharika, president since 2014, has been tipped to be re-elected, but regular allegations of corruption could hobble his campaign in the impoverished southern African nation where reports of government graft have become routine. The government denies allegations of corruption. Mutharika directed the police to act decisively on "any rogue elements" who were promoting or perpetrating violence and said he would deploy "any means necessary" to ensure that the country was peaceful before and after the vote. DPP spokesman Nicholas Dausi was quoted in local media on Tuesday as saying the party was waiting for a full investigation to determine whether the perpetrators of the T-shirt incident were DPP members. "There are instances where other parties wear ruling party uniforms when perpetrating violence. So let's wait for a full investigation," he said. (Reporting by Frank Phiri; Writing by Nqobile Dludla; Editing by Alison Williams) Antananarivo (AFP) - Madagascar's new President Andry Rajoelina on Thursday unveiled his first government, a streamlined cabinet that he said would help the poor Indian Ocean state tighten its belt. The lineup includes 21 ministers and one deputy minister, compared with a 30-strong team in the previous government. "This measure was taken with a view to austerity and a reduction of public spending," Rajoelina told reporters. "The leadership should be an example for the Madagascan people." He demanded "rapid results" from the team to be led by Prime Minister Christian Ntsay, who headed an interim unity government for six months in the runup to the December election. Rajoelina, 44, said the government's work would be evaluated in six months. "And in a year, we will determine who has met the challenges and who has failed." Among the cabinet picks, Tianarivelo Razafimahefa was kept on as interior minister despite accusations of fraud by Rajoelina's campaign rival Marc Ravalomanana. Billionaire media tycoon Naina Andriatsitohaina will be Ntsay's foreign minister. Rajoelina regained power in the Indian Ocean by winning a second-round vote in December against Ravalomanana after polls in which both sides alleged ballot fraud. Rajoelina first ruled from 2009 until 2014 after he was installed by the army when then president Ravalomanana was ousted following violent protests. In his inaugural address Rajoelina pledged to fight corruption in a country where politics and business are widely seen as beset by graft. The former French colony is well known for its vanilla and precious redwood, yet is one of the world's poorest nations, according to World Bank data, with 76 percent of people living in extreme poverty. The island, which is also famed for its unique wildlife, is dependent on foreign aid and has a long history of coups and unrest. Moscow (AFP) - Russian arms manufacturer Kalashnikov said Thursday its sales rose sharply in 2018 despite Western sanctions that the firm acknowledges are causing customers to think more than twice before placing orders. "Overall, the year was rather successful for the group, which is especially important when you are working under sanctions," the group's new head Vladimir Dmitriyev said in an interview published in the Russian business daily Kommersant. Sales at the maker of the famed AK-47 assault rifle rose by 86 percent from 2017 to hit around 40 billion rubles (535 million euros, $607 million at current exchange rates) and production rose by 20 percent. The arms producer was one of the companies targeted in 2014 year by Western sanctions imposed over Moscow's role in the conflict in eastern Ukraine. However, Dmitriyev acknowledged that exports were being crimped by the sanctions, in particular in landing new contracts. "Counterparties are thinking 10 times before making a decision in our favour," he told Kommersant. Kalashnikov, part of the state-controlled military-industrial group Rostec, has also branched out into clothing and accessory lines, and is even developing an electric vehicle. Rome (AFP) - Italy's far-right Interior Minister Matteo Salvini on Thursday insisted the country's ports were closed to migrants, as a ship carrying 47 people rescued at sea headed for Sicily in deteriorating weather. "Umpteenth provocation: having stayed for days in Maltese waters, Sea Watch 3 with 47 on board is heading for our shores. No one will disembark in Italy," he tweeted. "Ready to send medicine, food and whatever is necessary, but Italian ports are and will remain closed." The Dutch-flagged vessel, which is operated by the German charity Sea Watch, picked up the migrants and asylum-seekers -- including eight minors -- six days ago off the coast of Libya as they made the treacherous Mediterranean crossing. Since then Malta and Italy, the nearest European Union countries, have refused to let them dock, despite an encroaching storm. "We're facing a Mediterranean cyclone, a rather rare weather phenomenon with waves of 7 metres (23 foot), rain and icy wind," the NGO tweeted on Thursday. "#SeaWatch is sailing in this storm and looking for shelter, on board are 47 people rescued out of distress last Saturday." The boat is currently headed for waters off eastern Sicily, according to maritime tracking sites, to seek shelter from the weather. Salvini's coalition partner, Luigi di Maio, head of the anti-establishment Five Star Movement (M5S) echoed his words, saying those on board would have medical assistance from Italy if necessary. "After which, I invite them to head for Marseille and disembark its passengers on French soil, rather than waiting uselessly in Italian waters for days," he said on Facebook. Twenty organisations including Amnesty International, Doctors Without Borders, Oxfam and Save the Children, reminded Italy and Europe they were legally obliged to provide a safe port for the migrants under international maritime law. "These people, especially the most vulnerable such as women and children, must not suffer further and must be guaranteed the humanitarian assistance to which they are entitled and the care they need," they said in a statement. Washington (AFP) - Invasive species have been around for centuries, since the beginning of international trade. But a major new trade route organized by China and spanning 123 countries could accelerate the spread of invasive species like never before, researchers warned Thursday. Officially called China's Belt and Road Initiative, the project was launched five years ago and aims to include about half the planet -- linking Asia, Europe, Africa, Central and South America. Yiming Li of the Chinese Academy of Sciences wondered years ago about Beijing's promise that the project would be a "green" initiative. In particular, what would be the consequences for amphibians, reptiles, birds and mammals? "Perhaps the focus of the authorities has been more on pests and diseases in agriculture, and invasive species is not a popular topic," he told AFP. Li and colleagues in China and Britain developed a model overlapping the regions of the world that would be linked by the new routes, based on trade values, and their climates and habitats, in order to predict where 816 types of vertebrates were most likely to be introduced and stick around. Their study, published Thursday in the journal Current Biology, identifies 14 major hotspots where there is a high risk of invasive species becoming established. On their map, these hotspots appear on all continents -- from Indonesia, Vietnam, and the Philippines to parts of the Mediterranean to southern Chile and the Caribbean. In Africa, countries like Algeria, Nigeria and Cameroon -- where the climate is favorable -- are also on the list. "What we're most concerned about is the six large economic corridors" spanning Asia and Europe, said Li. Because of the high traffic, "there is a high probability of introduction and local conditions are suitable for the survival of alien species. We refer to these places as invasive hotspots." - A 'wake-up call' - Story continues "Invasions are continually happening all over the place," said co-author Tim Blackburn, a professor of invasion biology at University College London. Europeans exported rats to the Americas. At the start of the 20th century, an Asian fungus wiped out North America's chestnut forests. New Zealand, which was home to no native land mammals before the arrival of man, now has 25 species including rats, mice, hedgehogs and ferrets. "This will be different, just because of the extent of it, and the volumes of trade potentially involved," Blackburn said. Like bugs and fungi, rats, frogs, snakes and birds can hitch a ride in trucks, trains, ships and even airplanes. So can domestic pets, which are then sometimes let go in nature. Already, a bird called the common myna (Acridotheres tristis), native to Russia and Kazakhstan, has made its way into Xinjiang in northwest China, destroying the nests of local birds. The American bullfrog (Lithobates catesbeianus) has been eating Chinese amphibians for years -- along with many elsewhere -- and is considered "the most invasive amphibian in the world," said Li. So what can be done? Researcher say the solution is biosecurity, including measures such as surveillance of containers, monitoring contents of shipments, instituting quarantines and programs designed to protect biodiversity. According to Jeffrey Dukes, a professor of forestry and natural resources at Purdue University, the analysis is "interesting" but "it's necessarily pretty coarse in some ways," since it does not go into detail about which invasive species are likely, or where they may end up. "This paper is great as a wake-up call," added Dukes, who was not involved in the study. "Invasive species are very hard to eradicate. But if you prevent them, if you prevent the problem from happening in the first place, then you save yourself not just headaches, but you know, dollars and potentially species." Hospital staff cheers as boy born with rare birth defect goes home after nearly 2 years originally appeared on abcnews.go.com Jacob Rodriguez came into this world with the odds seemingly stacked against him. The 22-month-old was born prematurely with an abdominal wall defect called omphalocele, in which an infant's intestines and other organs protrude outside the body. He has spent his entire life inside a hospital in Dallas -- until Tuesday. Jacob left the Medical City Dallas Hospital and went home with his parents for the very first time Tuesday afternoon -- exactly 686 days after he was born. PHOTO: Staff celebrates as Jacob Rodriguez leaves the Dallas hospital Medical City Dallas after spending 685 in the hospital, Jan. 22, 2019. (WFAA) (MORE: Family of premature baby struggles to change insurance due to shutdown) Doctors, nurses and staff who have been providing round-the-clock care for Jacob and his family lined the hallway in the pediatric wing to celebrate. They blew bubbles, waved and cheered as paramedics wheeled Jacob, who will still need a ventilator for some time, into the ambulance that would transport him home. "He always has the cutest little giggle and he laughs all the time," pediatric intensive care nurse Taylor Gille told ABC Dallas affiliate WFAA in a recent interview. "He just has a really good outlook on life, and I hope he keeps that and does something great in his life -- which he will, I have no doubt." Jacob's mother, Ogla Rodgriguez, said she feared this day would never come. "I really thought I would never be able to take him out of here alive," she told WFAA this week. PHOTO: Staff celebrates as Jacob Rodriguez leaves the Dallas hospital Medical City Dallas after spending 685 in the hospital, Jan. 22, 2019. (WFAA) (MORE: This baby celebrated his last day in the NICU with a touching graduation ceremony) Rodriguez recalled the "gut-wrenching feeling" when doctors informed her and her husband that something was wrong with their unborn child after the first ultrasound. It had taken her years to get pregnant. "They did tell me the risks, you know, that he would die in-utero," she said. "And of course that broke us to pieces, thinking, 'We've wanted this for so long, and there's a possibility we might lose him.'" Story continues PHOTO: Staff celebrates as Jacob Rodriguez leaves the Dallas hospital Medical City Dallas after spending 685 in the hospital, Jan. 22, 2019. (WFAA) Jacob was born at 32 weeks gestation on March 8, 2017, at the Medical City Dallas Hospital, weighing just 2 pounds and 14 ounces. His intestines, liver and parts of his stomach were outside of his body, and his lungs were severely underdeveloped. Rodriguez spent every day in the hospital with Jacob, leaving only at night when he fell asleep. This content is not available due to your privacy preferences. Update your settings here to see it. "I'm just ready for him to see the world, I want him to experience that," his mother tearfully told WFAA. "I just want him to see and experience things like a normal child." She said she wants her son to grow up knowing how strong he already is. "If he can overcome this, he can overcome anything," she said. "He's so strong." Skopje (AFP) - Supporters of Macedonia's name-change deal with Greece are "on the right side of history" and their critics will eventually agree, Macedonia's foreign minister told AFP as the accord approaches the final step of ratification. Skopje's top diplomat, Nikola Dimitrov, was speaking as the Greek parliament heads towards a tense vote this week on the agreement that would christen his Balkan country the "Republic of North Macedonia". Dimitrov and his Greek counterpart at the time, Nikos Kotzias, were among the top architects of the June 2018 deal that proposed adding "North" to Macedonia's name in an attempt to extinguish a decades-long row between the neighbours. For more than a quarter-century, Athens has blocked Skopje from organisations like NATO and the EU because it claims exclusive rights to the name Macedonia for a province in northern Greece. But the champagne the leaders popped on the day their "Prespa Agreement" was signed was in fact only a prelude to months of fraught politics at home, with nationalist critics in both countries protesting against the name change. Macedonia pushed through a series of challenging steps to ratify the deal, and now it is Greece's turn to give the final greenlight. Tens of thousands have protested in Athens ahead of the vote. Speaking to AFP in his Skopje office, Dimitrov said he believed protesters, including critics in his own country who see the name change as an embarrassing concession, would some day come around. "I feel that I am definitely on the right side of history on this one, and I think that some years from now... even those who are now angry protesters, will say: 'Looks like they were right'," he told AFP. - Eyes on EU - If Greece does approve the deal, Macedonia is expected to be swiftly accepted into NATO. Then all eyes will turn to Brussels, which last year said it would open EU accession negotiations for Macedonia in June 2019. Story continues Macedonia's government, led by Social Democrat Zoran Zaev, has heavily emphasised the prospect of an EU future in efforts to sell the name change to the public. Yet there is a sense of waning interest in enlargement among some member states, in particular France, where President Emmanuel Macron has urged new bids to be considered with "great caution and rigour". If the EU fails to make good on promises to start Macedonia's membership talks, there will be a "loss of credibility of the whole accession process," Dimitrov warned. "We will do our best to make it almost embarrassing for any member state not to join the consensus" to open Skopje's bid in June, he added. Acknowledging that Macedonia has serious reforms to undertake before it would be ready to join the bloc, he added: "What we want is to start the journey". The name agreement has been a rare positive news story in the Balkans, a region riddled with complex disagreements and tense relations between neighbours. Dimitrov urged other countries to follow the Prespa model, saying action on a host of problems from diplomatic disputes to education and health must be taken fast to curb the exodus of young people across the region. Many of the region's entrenched political rows are tied up with historical turf debates, a legacy of frequent territorial changes in a corner of Europe that has suffered numerous wars and foreign interventions. "By the time we end debate on which is the oldest nation, all of our younger generation will be in Germany and elsewhere," Dimitrov warned of the emigration crisis. Gaza City (Palestinian Territories) (AFP) - Gaza's Islamist rulers Hamas said Thursday they would not accept a fresh tranche of Qatari funds, accusing Israel of imposing new conditions on the money entering the blockaded Palestinian territory. The rejection of the expected $15 million (13.2 million euros) raised fears of fresh tensions along the Gaza-Israel border, ahead of weekly protests on Friday. "We refuse to receive the third Qatari grant in response to the (Israeli) occupation's behaviour and attempts to evade the agreement," Khalil al-Hayya, Hamas's deputy head in Gaza, told journalists. Under an informal agreement struck in November, Gulf state Qatar has sent $15 million a month into the strip. The funds to pay salaries of Hamas employees and support impoverished Gazans are in exchange for relative calm along the border, where often violent protests have taken place since March 2018. Israel's permission is required since the cash must be delivered via its territory. Hamas is labelled a terrorist organisation by the United States and the European Union, and banks are hesitant to make the transfer. The third tranche had been expected to enter this week but Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu blocked it Tuesday after two shooting incidents along the Gaza border, including one in which a soldier was lightly injured. Al-Hayya did not name specific conditions that were changed, but said Israel was playing politics with the funds ahead of upcoming general elections. The Israel Hayom newspaper reported that Netanyahu had proposed conditions on when the funds be dispersed, including a suggestion that they would be given out on Fridays before weekly protests to dampen enthusiasm for violence. Netanyahu is running for a fifth term in April elections and has faced criticism from right-wing Israelis who accuse him of being too soft on Hamas. Mohammed al-Emadi, ambassador of the Gulf state to Gaza, met Thursday in the enclave with Hamas officials, including leader Ismail Haniya. Story continues Friday's protests will be seen as a key test of whether Hamas wishes to increase tensions along the border. Loudspeakers in Gaza on Thursday evening encouraged Palestinians to go to the border after prayers the following day for the protests. At least 244 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli fire since March, mostly during border clashes but also by tank fire and air strikes. Two Israeli soldiers have been killed over the same period. Protesters are calling for Palestinian refugees in Gaza to be able to return to their former lands now inside Israel. Israel accuses Hamas of controlling the protests and using them as cover to carry out attacks. Athens (AFP) - Greece's parliament on Thursday postponed for a historic vote on a deal to change the name of neighbouring Macedonia, as protesters rallied against the agreement. Initially scheduled to be held after midnight, the vote will be held Friday from 1230 GMT onwards because some 230 lawmakers wanted to speak on the issue, the parliament speaker said. Outside parliament, where hundreds demonstrated against the agreement, riot police fired tear gas to repulse hooded youths who had earlier thrown rocks. "Tomorrow is a crucial vote... now is the time to break free of the vicious sycle of nationalism and look at... future cooperation," Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras told the chamber. Macedonia's parliament ten days ago backed a constitutional revision to change the country's name to the Republic of North Macedonia. But for the deal to go through, the change must also be approved by Greek MPs. Earlier on Thursday, Communist party activists draped giant banners outside the Acropolis, reading: "No to the Tsipras-Zaev agreement." That was a reference to the landmark compromise agreed in June between Tsipras and his Macedonian counterpart Zoran Zaev. On Sunday, clashes between police and masked protesters left around 40 people injured as tens of thousands demonstrated in Athens against the name change. According to the government, "the incidents were provoked by extremists, members of (neo-Nazi party) Golden Dawn, who attempted to enter parliament". A wide range of Greek political parties, from Golden Dawn to the Socialists, oppose the accord to rename Macedonia. But it could nonetheless be approved by the required 151 lawmakers in the 300-seat parliament. The accord aims to start unravelling one of the world's longest diplomatic disputes. The disagreement began nearly three decades ago with Macedonia's declaration of independence but its roots date back centuries. Since 1991, Athens has objected to its neighbour being called Macedonia because Greece has a northern province of the same name. In ancient times it was the cradle of Alexander the Great's empire, a source of intense pride for Greeks. Story continues But the June agreement marks a landmark shift in the dispute, with the efforts of the two prime ministers winning them a nomination for the 2019 Nobel Peace Prize. - 'Right side of history' - In addition to normalising relations between the two countries, implementation of the agreement will open the door for Macedonia to join the European Union and NATO, hitherto blocked by Athens' veto. But in Greece, the name of its neighbour continues to fuel controversy in politics and society, a few months ahead of parliamentary elections scheduled for October. Last week, Tsipras's ruling coalition fell apart as a result of the controversy but he then narrowly won a confidence vote, setting the stage for the name-change vote in parliament. His leftist Syriza party has 145 MPs and enough independent members have pledged their support to secure approval of the deal. Speaking to AFP on Thursday, Macedonia's Foreign Minister Nikola Dimitrov said supporters of the deal were "on the right side of history". He said the agreement offered a valuable model for resolving a number of complex disagreements in the Balkans. Dimitrov, who was one of the top architects of the June deal along with Nikos Kotzias, his Greek counterpart at the time, said the compromise had created "a climate (in which) the impossible is actually possible". - 'Concerns exaggerated' - On the right, New Democracy leader Kyriakos Mitsotakis said the agreement "creates new problems" and "awakens nationalism". "Your foreign policy is superficial and ignorant... you should be ashamed," he told leftist lawmakers. Conservative ex-PM Costas Karamanlis, who thwarted Macedonia's NATO entry a decade ago, said the deal talks were conducted "with unjustified haste". For many Greeks, especially in the north where the province of Macedonia is the birthplace of Alexander, the name "Macedonia" belongs to Greek historical heritage. But Tsipras insisted Thursday: "We never had a Macedonian language. Alexander the Great spoke Greek." Some even fear their neighbour has territorial designs on its namesake Greek province. "These concerns are exaggerated," Yannis Armakolas, professor of political science at the University of Thessaloniki, told AFP. He deplored what he called a lack of party consensus and "real public debate" on an issue of national importance. "If the agreement does not come into effect, the consequences of the failure will be profound and both sides might well reconsider many elements that had been agreed to," UN mediator Matthew Nimetz said in an interview with Greek news agency ANA. Nimetz said reaching a new agreement "would take years, not months, given that all the issues would once again be on the table, and given that there are likely to be different political dynamics in both countries, as well as changes in the regional and global environment." Athens (AFP) - Greek lawmakers are expected to vote Thursday on a deal to change the name of neighbouring Macedonia and end one of the world's longest diplomatic disputes. The debate began Wednesday and is to conclude late Thursday night with a vote on the Prespa Agreement with Skopje signed in June last year to rename the former Yugoslav republic as the Republic of North Macedonia. Macedonia's parliament backed a constitutional revision to change the country's name 10 days ago. But for the deal to go through, the change must also be approved by Greek MPs. Greek opponents of the deal plan to protest outside parliament Thursday night to defend the "Greekness" of Macedonia. On Sunday, clashes between police and masked protesters left several injured in Athens as tens of thousands demonstrated against the name change. According to the government, "the incidents were provoked by extremists, members of the Golden Dawn, who attempted to enter parliament". A wide range of Greek political parties, from the far-right Golden Dawn to the Socialists, oppose the accord to rename Macedonia. But it could nonetheless be approved by the required 151 lawmakers in the 300-seat parliament. The accord aims to start unravelling one of the world's longest diplomatic disputes which began nearly three decades ago with Macedonia's declaration of independence but has roots dating back centuries. Since 1991, Athens has objected to its neighbour being called Macedonia because it has a northern province of the same name. In ancient times it was the cradle of Alexander the Great's empire, a source of intense pride for modern-day Greeks. Last June, Macedonia's Prime Minister Zoran Zaev and his Greek counterpart Alexis Tsipras reached a landmark compromise over the name dispute. Their efforts brought the pair a nomination for the 2019 Nobel Peace Prize. - 'Concerns exaggerated' - In addition to normalising relations between the two countries, implementation of the agreement will open the door for Macedonia to join the European Union and NATO, hitherto blocked by Athens' veto. Story continues But in Greece, the name of its neighbour continues to fuel controversy in politics and society, a few months ahead of parliamentary elections scheduled for October. Tsipras' ruling coalition was a victim of the controversy as it fell apart last week but he then narrowly won a confidence vote, setting the stage for the name-change vote in parliament. Tsipras' leftist Syriza party has 145 MPs and enough independent members have pledged their support to secure approval of the deal. On the right, New Democracy leader Kyriakos Mitsotakis called on his MPs to denounce the "bad" agreement, accusing the government of surrendering "Macedonian identity and language" to its neighbour. For many Greeks, especially in the north where the province of Macedonia is the birthplace of Alexander, the name "Macedonia" belongs to Greek historical heritage. Some even fear the neighbouring country has designs on its namesake Greek province. "These concerns are exaggerated," Yannis Armakolas, professor of political science at the University of Thessaloniki, told AFP, deploring the lack of party consensus and "real public debate" on an issue of national importance. "If the Prespa Agreement does not come into effect, the consequences of the failure will be profound and both sides might well reconsider many elements that had been agreed to," UN mediator Matthew Nimetz said in an interview with Greek news agency ANA. Opposition leader Mitsotakis has been calling for early elections. He promised "a new negotiation" with the neighboring country if the agreement is not endorsed by parliament and in case of victory in the next elections. But Nimetz said reaching a new agreement "would take years, not months, given that all the issues would once again be on the table, and given that there are likely to be different political dynamics in both countries, as well as changes in the regional and global environment." Washington (AFP) - Germany said Wednesday that it was up to Russia to salvage a key Cold War arms treaty with days to go before the United States plans to start pulling out. On a visit to Washington, German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas appealed to both powers to save the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces treaty (INF) but pointed the finger at Russia. "The ball is still in Russia's court," he told reporters after talks with Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. While welcoming that Washington and Moscow had held talks, Maas criticized the existing Russian proposals as insufficient. Russia "so far has not been willing to establish complete transparency," Maas said. "Just looking at one missile won't be enough." The United States has declared Russia to be in violation of the treaty -- which bans ground-launched missiles with a range of between 500 and 5,500 kilometers. It last month gave a 60-day deadline, which ends on February 2, for Moscow to stop the alleged breach, saying that the United States otherwise will begin a six-month process of formally withdrawing from the treaty. Russia denies that it is violating the treaty. At a briefing Wednesday in Moscow, Russia for the first time revealed the missile in question -- the 9M729 -- but insisted that its maximum range was 480 kilometers (300 miles). The European Union has appealed for the preservation of the INF, one of the enduring security treaties in Europe, which was signed in the waning days of the Cold War by US president Ronald Reagan and Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev. Until the February 2 deadline, "all opportunities must be taken advantage of to pressure the Russian side into complying with the treaty again," Maas said. The Telegraph Rumours abounded on Friday night that China's top spycatcher had defected to the US, amid a growing focus in Washington on the theory that Covid-19 escaped from a Wuhan laboratory. Dong Jingwei, vice minister of state security, was reported to have flown from Hong Kong to the US in February with his daughter. There was no confirmation of the rumoured development from either the US or China. Dr Han Lianchao, a former Chinese foreign ministry official who is now a pro-democracy activist in the US, By Axel Threlfall DAVOS, Switzerland (Reuters) - Britain's impending departure from the European Union is not just about trade for Ireland but is an existential issue for its nearest neighbour, Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar told Reuters on Thursday. The future of the border between EU-member Ireland and Northern Ireland, which will be the United Kingdom's only land frontier with the bloc after its departure, is proving the major hurdle in the ratification of the Brexit divorce deal in London. Police on both sides of the currently seamless stretch have warned that customs posts could be a target for the small number of militant groups still active in Northern Ireland after a 1998 peace deal ended three decades of violence in the province. Speaking at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Varadkar highlighted those concerns to demonstrate his resolve in standing firm on the withdrawal agreement Britain agreed with EU leaders but is struggling to pass in its own parliament. "Often when I talk about Brexit outside of Ireland, people talk about it as if it's a trade deal, as if it's about trade and jobs and the economy and migration", Varadkar said in an interview . "All those things are important but this is different for Ireland, this is existential. We've had 20 years of peace in Ireland, increased North-South co-operation, and the foundation for all of that was the European Union. That's why for us this is a very different question. This is at a different level for us." After the "backstop" insurance policy designed to keep the border open after Brexit was met with particular opposition in the British parliament, Varadkar said any alternative solution from London would have to achieve the same outcome - providing a legal guarantee and a workable mechanism to avoid a hard border. With Ireland refusing to even countenance contingency plans for how the border would be managed in a no deal scenario, Varadkar said he believed all sides would cobble together a similar arrangement to the "backstop" given their need to abide by global trade rules and the terms of the 1998 peace deal. "I think we'd be in a position where Ireland, the UK and the European Union would have to sit down again and come up with an agreement to avoid a hard border and the only way to do that is through alignment in customs and regulations," he said "So we'd probably end up after a difficult period of, I don't like to say chaos, but certainly a difficult period of no deal with some sort of agreement that is very close to what has been rejected by the House of Commons." (Writing by Padraic Halpin in Dublin; Editing by Toby Chopra) Montreal (AFP) - Five passengers on an Air Transat vacation flight to Florida were hospitalized Thursday after falling ill just before takeoff from Quebec City, which an official blamed on a ventilation breakdown during the plane's de-icing. The jetliner immediately returned to the airport gate and 185 passengers and six crew disembarked from the Airbus A321 bound for Fort Lauderdale, airline spokeswoman Debbie Cabana told AFP. Two of the passengers complained of "vomiting, dizziness and sore eyes," and five of them were sent to hospital for tests and treatment, she said. The rest were scheduled to board another Air Transat flight in the late afternoon. Helsinki (AFP) - Finnish police said Thursday they were on the hunt for fraudsters who tricked the country's foreign ministry into paying about 400,000 euros ($453,500) of overseas aid money into a private bank account. Detectives in the Nordic country opened a fraud and money-laundering investigation after funds which had been paid in February 2018 to support the development of legal aid systems in Kyrgyzstan were never received by project workers, police told the Finnish news agency STT. "I can confirm the suspicion of false payments," a spokeswoman for the foreign ministry told AFP. "This is not a question of the misuse of programme funds but a suspected outside, professionally-run criminal network," a ministry statement said. Investigators believe that criminals managed to intercept emails between the Finnish ministry and its partner in the project, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). "Someone has managed to come between (Finland and the UNDP), present themselves as the UN organisation and direct the money into the wrong account," detective chief inspector Antti Perala, of Finland's National Bureau of Investigation, told STT. "It then became clear that the bank account belonged to a private individual," Perala added. Finnish authorities have since managed to recover "part" of the money, but not all, according to Perala. Police have identified three suspects accused of money laundering sending the stolen funds onwards but said they have not yet uncovered who is responsible for organising the fraud itself. Finland allocated 899 million euros to overseas aid in 2018, representing 0.38 percent of the countrys gross national income (GNI). The government had slashed Finland's aid budget in 2015 by over 40 percent as part of a series of austerity savings. By Abdul Qadir Sediqi and Jibran Ahmad KABUL/PESHAWAR, Pakistan (Reuters) - A co-founder of the Taliban was appointed as the leader of its political office in Qatar on Thursday to strengthen its hand in peace talks with the United States as they try to establish a mechanism to end the 17-year Afghan war. Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar was released from a prison in Pakistan in October last year has been authorized to lead the political team and take decisions, two Taliban sources in Afghanistan said. The Taliban issued a statement to announce Baradar's appointment and a reshuffle in their team to put senior leaders into key positions as the talks with U.S. officials gain momentum. "This step has been taken to strengthen and properly handle the ongoing negotiations process with the United States," the Taliban said in statement. U.S. special peace envoy Zalmay Khalilzad's meeting with the Taliban representatives, which was originally due to run over two days, entered its fourth day on Thursday. It was not clear whether the talks were to continue on Friday, or how soon Baradar could join the talks. "Baradar will soon fly to Qatar. He has been given the new position because the U.S. wanted senior Taliban leadership to participate in peace talks," a senior Taliban official said. Baradar, who coordinated the insurgent groups military operations in southern Afghanistan, was arrested in 2010 by a team from Pakistans military-controlled intelligence agency, the Inter-Services Intelligence, and the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency. His release, according to security experts, was part of high-level negotiations led by Khalilzad with the Taliban. Diplomatic efforts to end the United State's longest running conflict intensified last year after the appointment of the Afghan-born Khalilzad to lead direct talks with the Taliban. He has held at least four meetings with the Taliban representatives. But there has been no let up in the violence. And abiding fears about how Afghan government forces would withstand the Taliban threat without U.S. military support have been heightened by reports that U.S. President Donald Trump wants to bring home almost half of the 14,000 U.S. troops deployed in Afghanistan. "POSITIVE PROGRESS" But the unexpected extension of peace talks was a positive sign, according to two senior Taliban leaders in Afghanistan who have been kept informed of the progress made in Qatar. During the first two days, the talks focused on a roadmap for the withdrawal of the foreign forces and a guarantee that Afghanistan would not be used for hostile acts against the United States and its allies, according to one of Taliban leaders. "The mechanism for a ceasefire and ways to enter into an intra-Afghan dialogue were the two other big topics that were supposed to be discussed on Thursday," he told Reuters, speaking on condition of anonymity. A third source based in the Gulf, who has close ties to the Taliban representatives, said the decision to extend the meeting in the Qatari capital Doha came after "positive progress" during the first two days. Members of Afghanistans High Peace Council (AHPC), a body which oversees peace efforts but does not represent the government said they were hoping for positive news. "When talks take a long time it means the discussion is in a sensitive and important stage, and the participants are getting close to a positive result," said Sayed Ehsan Taheri, the spokesman for AHPC in Kabul. The Taliban who are fighting to oust foreign troops have repeatedly rejected the offer to hold direct talks with President Ashraf Ghanis government, which they consider an illegitimate foreign-imposed regime. The U.S. and regional powers insist that the peace process should be "Afghan-led and Afghan-owned". Newly appointed Baradar will also hold the additional post of third deputy of Mullah Haibatullah Akhundzada, the leader of Taliban and work with Sher Mohammad Abbas Stanekzai, a veteran Taliban official who has been running the group's political office in Qatar since 2015 and has participated in the latest rounds of peace talks. "Stanekzai was given the responsibility but he was not powerful to make all decisions," said a second Taliban official on conditions of anonymity. (Additional reporting and writing by Rupam Jain; Editing by Simon Cameron-Moore and Alison Williams) Strasbourg (France) (AFP) - Europe's top human rights court said Thursday Italy failed to provide adequate legal representation for Amanda Knox, an American student acquitted in 2015 of the gruesome killing of her British housemate. It ordered the Italian authorities to pay 18,400 euros ($20,900) in damages and legal costs. Knox accused the Italian police of threats and violence during questioning over the 2007 murder, when she was denied both a lawyer and a professional interpreter. The American exchange student served four years in prison after her initial conviction for participating in the killing of Meredith Kercher, before being released on appeal and then definitively acquitted. Kercher's body was found on November 2, 2007, in the apartment she and Knox shared in Perugia, where they were both foreign exchange students. The case at the European Court of Human Rights concerned Knox's claim about ill-treatment during overnight questioning by police on November 6. The court said she claimed she was slapped on the head twice, and forced to speak despite being exhausted and unable to show discernment or willpower. Knox also said she was not assisted by an independent and professional interpreter, but only a police employee who acted instead as a "mediator" who encouraged her to "imagine hypothetical scenarios". During the questioning she accused her former manager at a pub of murdering Kercher, who was later released without charge, prompting prosecutors to accuse Knox of making a "malicious accusation." The court said the Italian authorities had improperly denied access to a lawyer and failed to assess the conduct of the police interpreter, which had "compromised the fairness of the proceedings as a whole." But it said it had found no evidence of inhuman or degrading treatment during her questioning. Strasbourg (France) (AFP) - Europe's top rights court on Thursday ordered Italy to pay thousands of euros in damages to Amanda Knox, the American student acquitted in 2015 of the gruesome killing of her British housemate after spending years behind bars. The European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg, France, said Italian authorities failed to provide a lawyer for Knox in the initial days of an eight-year legal drama which made global headlines. She served four years in prison over the November 2007 killing of her roommate and British fellow exchange student Meredith Kercher. Knox and her boyfriend at the time, Raffaele Sollecito, were convicted of the murder despite their denials of any involvement. Knox's sentence was stiffened to 28 years in prison when the conviction was upheld in 2014, though both she and Sollecito were acquitted by Italy's top court the following year. That court later denounced "major flaws" in the police's handling of the investigation, as well as the absence of a "body of evidence" allowing for a safe conviction or any admissible DNA evidence linking the pair to the murder. In the meantime Knox filed a claim with the European court of unfair treatment at the hands of the Italian police, in particular during overnight questioning on November 6, 2007. She claimed she was slapped on the head twice during the interrogation, and forced to speak despite being exhausted and unable to show "discernment or willpower". Knox also said she was not assisted by an independent and professional interpreter, but only a police employee who acted instead as a "mediator" who encouraged her to "imagine hypothetical scenarios". - 'I was in shock' - Kercher's half-naked body was found on November 2, 2007, in a back room of the apartment she and Knox shared in the central city of Perugia. The 21-year-old had been stabbed 47 times and had her throat slashed. Police also found signs of sexual assault. Story continues During the initial questioning, Knox eventually accused her former manager at a pub of murdering Kercher -- a statement she signed but then withdrew. The manager was eventually released without charge, prompting prosecutors to accuse Knox of making a "malicious accusation". The rights court judges ruled that Italian authorities had improperly denied access to a lawyer and failed to assess the conduct of the police interpreter, which had "compromised the fairness of the proceedings as a whole". "I was in shock, and I volunteered to help the Perugian police in any way I could," Knox said in a statement after Thursday's ruling, citing 53 hours of questioning over five days "without a lawyer, in a language I understood maybe as well as a 10-year-old". "When I told the police I had no idea who had killed Meredith, I was slapped in the back of the head and told to 'Remember!'," she said. But while faulting Italian authorities for not investigating Knox's claims of mistreatment and violence, the court found no evidence of "inhuman or degrading treatment". Knox nonetheless thanked the court for "acknowledging the reality of false confessions". She had sought 500,000 euros in damages and an additional 2.2 million euros for legal and travel costs incurred by her and her parents, who travelled from their home in Seattle, Washington, to be at her side during the years of legal proceedings. But the court ordered Italy to pay only 18,400 euros ($20,900) in damages and legal costs. - Journalist in Seattle - While Knox and Sollecito were in jail, Italian police arrested an Ivory Coast-born drifter and small-time drug dealer named Rudy Guede over the murder. The judge in Guede's fast-track trial in 2008 ruled that he could not have acted alone, a decision which prosectors seized on to pursue the charges against Knox. Guede has insisted he is innocent, saying he had consensual sex with Kercher before going to the bathroom, where he listened to loud music on his headphones, and when he came back out she had been attacked. But an Italian court last year denied a review of his conviction, upholding his 16-year sentence. Since her release Knox has returned to Seattle, where she works as a journalist. She has also written a memoir of her ordeal, "Waiting To Be Heard". By Gabriela Baczynska and Robin Emmott BRUSSELS (Reuters) - European Union foreign ministers will discuss in February imposing more sanctions against Russia over a stand-off with Ukraine in the Azov Sea, diplomats said. The bloc will also issue a demarche -- a formal diplomatic protest note -- to Moscow as early as next week over Russia's continued detention of 24 Ukrainian sailors captured during the incident in November, they added. EU members that have long taken a hard line on Russia, including Lithuania, Sweden, Britain and Poland, are now backed in proposing more sanctions by countries like Denmark and Slovakia. They argue that pressure from France and Germany on Moscow to free the servicemen has not borne fruit. Berlin and Paris helped negotiate a stalled peace agreement for Ukraine after Russia annexed Crimea from its neighbor in 2014 and then backed rebels fighting government troops in the east of the country. In December, the two opposed new sanctions, asking for more time to negotiate the release of the Ukrainian sailors and their three ships, captured in the Kerch Strait, which links the Black Sea and the Azov Sea. With a Moscow court having extended the sailors' arrest until April, Germany and France would now be more likely to back more restrictive measures, diplomats said. "We have to apply additional sanctions," Lithuania's Foreign Minister Linas Linkevicius told Reuters this week. "Some (in the EU) say we should give dialogue with Russia a chance in the Normandy format, but I say that is not productive," he said, referring to four-way talks between Russia, Ukraine, Germany and France. Italy is among traditional opponents in the EU of sanctions against Russia, a decision that requires unanimity among all 28 member states, citing negative impact on business ties. That means any move could be limited to adding some names of Russians involved in or responsible for the Azov Sea incident off the Russian-annexed Crimea to the list of people barred from entering the EU and subject to asset freezing over their role in the turmoil in Ukraine. EU foreign ministers meet in Romania next week and are due to discuss that at their next session in Brussels on Feb. 18, though any final decision could come later. The bloc decided in December to extend its main economic sanctions on Russia and has stepped up support for Ukraine's government. Fighting between government forces and Moscow-backed separatists in eastern Ukraine has killed more than 10,000 people since 2014. Russia vows never to give Crimea back to Ukraine. It accuses Kiev of staging a provocation in the Kerch Strait and its sailors of crossing illegally into Russian waters. (Writing by Gabriela Baczynska; Editing by Catherine Evans) BRIDGETOWN, Barbados (AP) England was routed by West Indies fast bowler Kemar Roach as the tourists were bowled out for 77 on Thursday, with 18 wickets falling on day two of a remarkable first test. West Indies finished the day 339 runs ahead on 127-6 in its second innings after Ben Stokes and Moeen Ali led a spirited but seemingly hopeless fightback with the ball. It was a third batting collapse in the West Indies for England, which was skittled for 46 in Trinidad in 1994 and 51 in Jamaica a decade ago and now tumbled to the lowest ever test total at the storied Kensington Oval. Roach did most of the damage, taking five wickets for 17 runs as he wiped out Rory Burns, Jonny Bairstow, Stokes, Jos Buttler and Moeen in a glorious spell after lunch. All of his wickets were concentrated in the space of 27 deliveries. England had emerged for the afternoon on 30-1, with Keaton Jennings the man to go after spraying Jason Holder to gully. Jennings' continued struggles against seam are a lingering concern, but his 17 runs ended up being the top score of the innings. Burns added only two before he pushed forward at his first ball after the restart, allowing it to skim off the bat and into off stump, and Bairstow was next to succumb to one that spat off a length, grazed his elbow and dislodged the bails. Holder chipped in from the other end to remove rival captain Joe Root, following up 11 successive dots with a plumb lbw. Roach soon reclaimed the spotlight, revving up to strike with consecutive balls. Stokes was given lbw on the back foot, unsuccessfully reviewing a marginal decision, while Moeen's shot was a curious flap top-edged to fine leg. Roach's fifth was probably the best, Jos Buttler forced on to the back foot by a brutish steepler and feathering behind. His colleagues then finished the job, with Shannon Gabriel bouncing out Sam Curran and Alzarri Joseph teasing edges from Ben Foakes and Adil Rashid. Holder opted not to send the tourists back in despite a lead of 212, which was built on by a 52-run opening stand between John Campbell and Kraigg Brathwaite. But the West Indies managed a wobble of their own, losing five for nine once Moeen picked off Brathwaite lbw. News Experts warn India of third COVID-19 wave by October A third wave of coronavirus infections is likely to hit India by October, and although it will be better controlled than the latest outbreak the pandemic will remain a public health threat for at least another year, according to a poll of medical experts. Protesters clashed with police in the Venezuelan capital Caracas on January 23 as opposition leader Juan Guaido declared himself interim president. These videos show protesters using gas masks and other gear during the protests against incumbent president Nicolas Maduro in the citys Chacaito neighborhood. Demonstrators can be seen hiding behind boards and makeshift shields as rocks and other objects are thrown back and forth. Venezuelas opposition-held National Assembly decried the 2018 presidential elections as a fraud. Maduro was accused by the opposition, analysts, and the United States government of manipulating the election results. The assembly invoked a constitutional amendment that allows the leader of the legislature, in this case Juan Guaido, to take control of the federal government as interim president until new elections can be held. Credit: Andres Gerlotti via Storyful Davos (Switzerland) (AFP) - Kiev's leadership and Western supporters expressed fears over Russian interference in Ukrainian elections this year, at a conference on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Davos on Thursday. The spectre of a populist candidate winning the presidential vote at the end of March also figured in discussion between current and former top diplomats at the elite global event. "For Russia, this election is a final chance to get its revenge," Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko told AFP following the "Ukrainian Breakfast" event. "There is a big risk that Russia will use the experience it has gathered by interfering in foreign elections the world over to attempt to undermine the vote and destabilise the situation," he told journalists. The election comes with relations between Kiev and Moscow in tatters. Moscow annexed Ukraine's Crimea peninsula in 2014 and supported an uprising by Russian-speaking separatists in the east of the ex-Soviet country. The conflict there has since claimed more than 10,000 lives. Russia denies claims it is funnelling troops and arms across the border to fuel the conflict, despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary. - 'Bigger than just Ukraine' - Former US secretary of state John Kerry, also at the Davos event, said "this election in many ways is much bigger than just Ukraine". He said the vote would be of importance to anyone who supported free elections without interference "by (Russian President Vladimir) Putin, by Russia or any outside forces". "I hope everybody will do their fair share to contribute to the ability of the people of Ukraine to be able to make their choice," he said. Canadian Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland said Ukraine had been used as a "laboratory" to test methods for interference then used elsewhere. "By working with Ukraine on helping ukraine to have free and fair election, we're helping ourselves," she said. Story continues The Kremlin has long denied any interference in other countries' domestic affairs. Putin has accused Poroshenko of using tensions with Russia to boost his popularity ahead of the presidential election. - Populism fears - Poroshenko, who was elected in 2014 after a popular protest movement led to the ouster of his pro-Russian predecessor, is facing an uphill battle in his likely bid for re-election. In polls he is currently behind former prime minister Yulia Tymoshenko, who rose to international prominence in 2004 during the anti-corruption Orange Revolution protests. Former Swedish prime minister Carl Bildt said that populist policies such as slashing gas prices, as proposed by Tymoshenko and other candidates, were "irresponsible". "I am afraid that there will be populist policies that will derail the progress that Ukraine has done," he told AFP. The country is seeing some growth following unpopular measures to rescue an economy in freefall following the annexation of Crimea. The war in the east has been a huge burden for the country's struggling economy, with Poroshenko forced to rely on assistance from the West. "If you look at where Ukraine was in 2014, it's quite a remarkable progress that has been done. But it needs to be continued," Bildt added. Poroshenko, who has yet to officially announce his candidacy, at Davos compared Tymoshenko to Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, whose country is in long-term economic crisis. "A Maduro style of governing produces a Maduro style of results," he said in reference to his rival, who was also at the event. "I think he should compare himself to Maduro," said Tymoshenko, who accused Poroshenko of failing to fulfil previous campaign promises to take a zero-tolerance approach to corruption. The conference was organised by the Foundation of the Ukrainian oligarch Viktor Pinchuk, one of the country's richest men. WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) Injury-plagued hooker Dane Coles has re-signed with New Zealand Rugby through the 2021 season, providing some good news to the All Blacks amid a growing exodus of top players. The 32-year-old Coles missed most of the last two seasons with a variety of injuries. He had a long battle with a concussion and struggled to overcome knee and calf problems, returning late last year on the All Blacks' tour to Japan and Britain. New Zealand rugby is used to losing players near the end of the careers, when they seek the financial security of big-money contracts in Europe or Japan. But the players now leaving to play overseas are much younger, choosing large club contracts over test caps. Flyhalf Lima Sopoaga and centers Mike Proctor and Malakai Fekitoa are among players to recently depart. Coles, a veteran of 60 tests, said injuries had prevented him achieving all he hoped with the All Blacks and Wellington-based Hurricanes. "I still feel like there are things that I want to achieve in New Zealand with teams that mean a lot to me," Coles said in a statement Thursday. ____ More AP sports: https://apnews.com/apf-sports and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports Shanghai (AFP) - Chinese scientists announced Thursday they had cloned five monkeys from a single animal that was genetically engineered to have a sleep disorder, saying it could aid research into human psychological problems. The claim, detailed in two reports published in a Chinese science journal, is the latest in a series of biomedical advances in the country, some of which have fuelled medical ethics debates. Most recently a Chinese scientist claimed last year he had altered the DNA of babies to make them HIV-proof. A research team from the Institute of Neuroscience at the Chinese Academy of Sciences in Shanghai said it had altered the genes of a macaque to give it circadian rhythm disorder, in which the body's "clock" is out of sync with normal sleep times. They went on to clone five macaques from that individual, and found that the new monkeys -- born over the past six months -- show signs of mental problems associated with sleep disorders including depression, anxiety and behaviours linked to schizophrenia. The findings, published Thursday in the English-language journal National Science Review, were hailed as a world first by Chinese media. The report's authors said the findings could aid research into human psychological illnesses because scientists would be able to create animals with specific disorders. Poo Muming, the director of the neuroscience institute and the study's co-author, told state media the research team would seek to clone more monkeys with different brain disorders in hopes that future experiments on them could yield new drugs or treatment. He said this could also reduce the overall numbers of healthy macaques that are subjected to experiments around the world, in a boost for animal welfare. The same Shanghai institute previously made news in January 2018 by announcing researchers had cloned the first two monkeys using a process called somatic cell nuclear transfer. The method was the same used to produce the celebrated sheep "Dolly" more than 20 years ago. Story continues Other species were subsequently cloned via the method over the years but primates had until last year proven difficult to clone and the team's achievement was hailed as a breakthrough. But such advancements often stir controversy. Chinese researcher He Jiankui shocked the scientific community after revealing that he had successfully gene-edited twin girls born in November to prevent them from contracting HIV. He now faces a police investigation and has been dismissed from his position at the Southern University of Science and Technology in Shenzhen. Ottawa (AFP) - The publisher and editor of a Toronto newspaper were found guilty on Thursday of promoting hate over articles and images that encouraged rape and denied the Holocaust. The editor-in-chief James Sears, 55, and publisher LeRoy St. Germaine, 77, argued at trial that "Your Ward News" was satire. But, according to local reports, the judge ruled that the evidence of "unrelenting promotion of hate" in its pages was overwhelming. This included references to women as chattel and conspiracy theories about Jews. A court official confirmed the verdict to AFP. Sentencing of the pair for willfully promoting hatred against identifiable groups is scheduled for April 26. They each face a fine of Can$5,000 (US$3,750) or up to six weeks in prison. "We have Jesus on our side and we're going to appeal," Sears told reporters outside the courtroom after the verdict. "I find it very hard to believe that what we published about Jews and women, which a lot of it is right out of the Bible (sic), is hate speech in Canada," he said. Lisa Kinsella, who had complained publicly about the paper, called the verdict "historic." "It's not only the first time that a charge in Canada has been laid for the promotion of hate against women, it is also a guilty verdict," she told broadcaster CTV. The free newspaper was delivered to hundreds of thousands of households in Toronto's east end. In 2016, the Canadian government prohibited the postal service from delivering the newspaper. But the duo pressed on. Sao Paulo (AFP) - By siding with the United States in recognizing Juan Guaido as Venezuela's interim president and dismissing Nicolas Maduro as an illegitimate "dictator," Brazilian far-right leader Jair Bolsonaro is making a risky bet, analysts and former diplomats say. Firstly, he is breaking with Brazil's tradition of trying to maintain cordial relations with governments of all stripes. Secondly, he is thrusting Brazil into a showdown that, in the words of Rubens Ricupero, a former Brazilian ambassador to the US speaking to the newspaper O Globo, "could have unpredictable consequences for the region" if not quickly resolved. In a worst-case scenario, Brazil could find itself involved in military action against a neighboring country for the first time in a century and a half. Even if it does not go that far, Bolsonaro has chosen sides in a crisis that could prove intractable. "What has arrived is an impossible situation," Ricupero said. "There is no sort of solution on the horizon. Neither of the sides want dialogue." The terrain ahead has been made all the more complicated by Russia and China -- Venezuela's main creditors -- sticking by Maduro. The UN Security Council, at the United States' request, is to discuss the crisis on Saturday. - 'Crusades' - After the United States, Brazil is probably the most important country to watch in the geopolitically fuelled crisis unfolding in Venezuela. The vast nation, which borders Venezuela, is host to thousands of Venezuelans who have fled economic collapse at home. It is a leading member of the Lima Group, a regional club challenging Maduro's rule, and of the Organization of American States, a Western Hemisphere political forum. It has Latin America's biggest military. But most importantly, as of this month it is governed by Bolsonaro, a former paratrooper ferociously opposed to leftwing ideology at home and abroad who has offered himself up as US President Donald Trump's closest ally in South America. Story continues Celso Amorim, a former Brazilian foreign minister who strengthened South-South diplomatic ties under a past leftist government led by the Workers Party, told AFP: "We are embarking on crusades that have nothing to do with us.... Supporting Guaido is an intervention." The former diplomat, who later held the post of defense minister, said he favored dialogue mediated by an actor such as Mexico to defuse the situation. Mexico, alone among Latin America's biggest powers, has said it still recognizes Maduro as leader. Oliver Stuenkel, a professor in international relations at the Getulio Vargas Foundation, agreed that Brazil had cut itself off from any possibility of dialogue with Maduro's regime. But he noted that Brazil would have been "isolated" in the region if it had not gone along with recognizing Guaido. The Workers Party, now in opposition, said in a statement that Bolsonaro's government was "humiliating" itself by following Trump's foreign policy. Bolsonaro himself, in a television interview Wednesday from the Swiss ski resort of Davos, where he was attending the World Economic Forum, said Brazil was at the "limit of what we can do to restore democracy" in Venezuela, apparently discarding the possibility of Brazilian military action. But the president, who openly admires Brazil's 1964-1985 military dictatorship, said: "History has shown that dictatorships don't give up power to the opposition in a peaceful way." - 'All options' open for US - His vice president, retired general Hamilton Mourao, who was military attache in Caracas 2002-2004, stated that "our foreign policy is to not intervene in the domestic affairs of another country." The United States has said it was contemplating "all options" -- implying a military response -- if Guaido or the opposition was forcibly constrained in Venezuela. Stuenkel said Brazil remained "a secondary actor" in what was happening with Venezuela, adding that he saw Washington "forming the debate." Another international relations professor, Matias Spektor, expressed doubts about the wisdom of Brasilia backing Guaido, saying the 35-year-old speaker of Venezuela's opposition-controlled parliament had only a "vague and utopic" program. "He doesn't seem credible enough to form the sort of coalition needed to restore democracy," Spektor wrote in a column in the Folha de Sao Paulo newspaper. Brasilia (AFP) - Brazil and the United States led several regional governments in backing the head of Venezuela's opposition-controlled parliament after he declared himself interim president Wednesday in open defiance of Nicolas Maduro. "Brazil recognizes Mr Juan Guiado as Venezuela's interim president," Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro tweeted. "Brazil will support politically and economically the process of transition so that democracy and social peace return to Venezuela," he wrote. He sent the post from the Swiss ski resort of Davos, where he and other Latin American leaders were attending the World Economic Forum. Trump said in a separate statement the Guaido's National Assembly was "the only legitimate branch of government duly elected by the Venezuelan people." Canada, Colombia and Peru also gave their backing to Guaido, dramatically raising the stakes over Venezuela. The oil-rich nation that has become deeply impoverished under Maduro, who is allied with Russia. The US said it stood ready to us "all options" if Maduro tries to quash the opposition to his rule -- an implied threat of military force. Bolsonaro, a far-right former paratrooper who has set about forging close ties with US President Donald Trump's administration since taking power at the beginning of January, has repeatedly vowed to challenge Maduro in any way he can. He initially said he was open to discussing Brazil hosting a US military base, before changing his mind when the idea sparked objections from his military brass. DAVOS, Switzerland (Reuters) - Brazil's federal government will never intervene in the investigation of unusual transactions involving President Jair Bolsonaro's son Flavio and his former aides, Justice Minister Sergio Moro told Reuters on Thursday. Moro said in an interview at the World Economic Forum that the investigation was in the preliminary stages and being carried out normally by prosecutors at the state level. "They are doing their job in a regular way. The government will never interfere with the work of investigators or with the work of prosecutors," Moro said. Flavio Bolsonaro has maintained his innocence despite reports of significant cash deposits in his bank account when he served in the Rio de Janeiro state assembly and his former driver was moving millions of reais through his own account. The scandal has become a headache for President Jair Bolsonaro since he assumed office this month after a campaign pledging zero tolerance for graft. Government officials surrounding Jair Bolsonaro have attempted to distance the government from the investigation in recent days. Moro also defended a recent presidential decree making it easier for Brazilians to keep guns in their homes, saying it "does not change too much" as it maintains provisions against carrying guns in public. The Justice Ministry has no plans at the moment to make further changes to gun controls, he said. (Reporting by Simon Robinson; Writing by Jake Spring; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama, Brad Haynes and Jonathan Oatis) China said Thursday that Chinese-Australian author and democracy advocate Yang Hengjun was detained on national security grounds, becoming the latest Western citizen to face such accusations from Beijing. Yang's detention comes at a moment of heightened tension between Western countries and an increasingly muscular Beijing, which recently detained two Canadians amid a diplomatic row with Ottawa. Australia demanded that Yang -- a former Chinese diplomat -- be treated "fairly and transparently" and complained that Beijing had waited four days, instead of three as required, to notify Canberra about his detention. Yang was detained shortly after he made a rare return to China from the United States last week. "Beijing state security took compulsory measures against Australian national Yang Jun and are investigating because he is suspected of engaging in criminal activities that endanger Chinas national security," said Chinese foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying, using Yang's official name. Such accusations in China often imply espionage allegations. Similar allegations were made against the two Canadians who were detained in December. Australian Defence Minister Christopher Pyne, on an official visit to Beijing, told reporters he would be raising the issue with his Chinese counterpart later on Thursday. "As Mr Yang doesn't have a residence in Beijing, I believe he would be held in a... situation which we would describe as home detention," he said. Yang's lawyer Mo Shaoping confirmed to AFP that his client is under residential surveillance, adding that Yang Hengjun is his pen name. But Yang may not have access to his lawyer anytime soon -- a visit will require approval from the Beijing State Security Bureau, standard procedure in such cases involving national security. Australian Foreign Minister Marise Payne said earlier that diplomats met with Chinese officials in Beijing to discuss the matter and called on China to deal with the matter "transparently and fairly". Story continues Once described as China's "most influential political blogger", Yang became an Australian citizen in 2000, but is currently based at New York's Columbia University. His criticism of the Chinese government and support for democracy has in the past made him a target of Beijing's state security apparatus. He went missing during a 2011 trip to China, but resurfaced days later, describing his disappearance as a "misunderstanding". - Strained relations - Canada's arrest on December 1 of a senior executive of Chinese telecom giant Huawei at Vancouver airport was followed days later by the high profile arrests in China of the two Canadians, former diplomat Michael Kovrig and businessman Michael Spavor. Payne said there was "no evidence" Yang's arrest was part of that trend "at this stage", adding "I'd be concerned if there was an indication of that." "It only heightens the feeling that visiting China is unsafe and that the security services may increasingly be going after people for what they say outside of China," said longtime China-watcher Bill Bishop. Relations between China and Australia have likewise been strained by Canberra's decision to ban Huawei from participating in its 5G wireless network over security fears and as the two countries have vied more openly for influence in the Pacific. Yang had worked in the ministry of foreign affairs in Hainan province, but later left for Hong Kong in 1992, before writing a series of politically tinged spy novels. He became an Australian in 2000. Yang's friends first raised concerns when the 53-year-old failed to make a connecting flight from Guangzhou to Shanghai on January 19. He was reportedly travelling with family members, including his wife, who has since posted a cryptic and emotional message on her Weibo page from Beijing. In Australia there is mounting anger that China failed to quickly notify the authorities of his detention and fears that an already difficult relationship may be further damaged. "This is not the way relations between our two countries should be conducted, at all," said Australian opposition leader Bill Shorten, criticising the slow response from the Chinese authorities. Hua countered that Chinese authorities "officially notified the Australian side after taking mandatory measures" against Yang, but she did not say exactly when. Under a 2000 consular agreement between the two countries, China was obliged to notify Australia of Yang's detention within three days and allow consular visits, unless the detainee waives that right. The issue may be further complicated by China's refusal to recognise dual nationality and allegations of Chinese "hostage diplomacy". Writers' advocacy group PEN accused China of overt repression, saying: "It's obvious that Yang would not have been seized if it weren't for his previous critical writings." Federal government employees and contracted employees currently affected by the longest-running government shutdown in U.S. history are putting off doctors appointments, asking for help through online fundraisers and considering new career paths as medical bills mount. Corey Myllenbeck, a hydrologic technician for the U.S. Geological Survey who lives in the Tampa area, has an 8-month-old daughter who has had three surgeries since she was born to address a number of medical issues one for her heart, one to attach her esophagus to her stomach and another to insert a feeding tube. She had the heart surgery when she was 6 months old, and the bills for that started coming shortly before the shutdown, which began on Dec. 22, took effect. He and his wife owe about $4,800. On a GoFundMe page set up to raise money for his daughter, Myllenbeck asked for $1,500, which will cover the minimum payment for the surgery. So far, the fundraiser has earned a little more than $100. The tension of being furloughed with a sick child is taking a physical toll on the 30-year-old father. My hairs falling out, Myllenbeck says. Ive lost a lot of weight. On top of the surgery are the costs associated with just seeing a doctor. While Myllenbeck has health insurance through his employer, the new year has reset his insurance deductibles. Now, hes required to pay out of pocket until he hits a deductible of $10,000 money he most definitely does not have, especially now that he hasnt been bringing in a paycheck. We are more or less putting those appointments off, Myllenbeck says. Hes been applying for new jobs, and is open to leaving his current position if something opens up. I cant go through another shutdown. No matter what, Im looking for a new job. If it goes longer than mid-Feburary, I cant. Theres just no way. Although President Donald Trump has signed a bill that will guarantee back pay for furloughed federal workers, roughly 800,000 federal employees and potentially millions of contractors affected by the partial government shutdown are set to miss their second paycheck. That lack of income means there is no money for medical bills in the moment, and these government workers are quickly joining the ranks of Americans for whom healthcare is a significant financial burden. One in six Americans carry medical debt on their credit reports, totaling $81 billion in bills owed, according to a 2018 Health Affairs study. In a country where health care spending continues to increase, more than a quarter of Americans between the ages of 18 and 64 reported having trouble paying their medical bills, according to a 2016 survey by the Kaiser Family Foundation and the New York Times. Among those surveyed, about 20% of people who had problems making medical bills had previously declared personal bankruptcy. Financial constraints also push many Americans to delay medical care. According to an Earnin poll in 2018, 54% of Americans delayed getting treatment because they could not afford it. Story continues Putting off appointments has now become habitual for Michelle Maples, whose wife is a Department of Homeland Security employee working without pay. At the start of the shutdown, Maples told TIME she was recovering from heart surgery and could not work. Now, Maples is waiting for the shutdown to end to go ahead with surgery for lung cancer, along with blood and fluid infusions. My medical care is on hold, she says. The surgery to remove the lung cancer is on hold. Also on pause are the blood and fluid infusions Maples normally receives three times a week. The doctors and nurses are calling to ask why Im not getting them. I dont have the copay, she says. Its $40 each time. I cancelled the doctors appointments. Growing medical bills for her past procedures will remain unpaid, she says. They were the first payments Maples and her wife decided to defer, as they found it was easier to delay medical bills than it was to put off other monthly payments, like rent. For other government employees, deferring too many medical bills raises the fear of landing in debt. One Department of Justice employee currently working without pay, who declined to share her name, got her last paycheck about three weeks ago, which enabled her to pay off several bills. But in 2018, she says she underwent four surgeries. At the moment, shes on a monthly payment plan that would take care of the bills associated with all the surgeries in a timely manner. But with no salary, shes not able to make those payments in full, and is currently sticking to only putting the minimum amount down, she says. A family history of landing in medical debt has her frightened about how paying the bills in full will affect her in the long term. Im trying to not get into too much debt, she says. I dont want to go in that hole because it messes up everything. Im trying my best to make my payments. Right now, its minimum payments for everything, minus just getting the mortgage paid. Because the DOJ employee is back at work with no pay, she does not have time to look for other jobs that would provide a paycheck. Other employees who are not working under the shutdown say they have no choice but to seek out permanent opportunities elsewhere or part-time work to keep them afloat while they wait. For Karime Moasser, a furloughed remote access mobility engineer with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, a placeholder job may be the only way he can keep up with buying insulin packs for his 16-year-old granddaughter, Jordan. Moasser says Jordan was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes last March. His family is still paying the medical bills from that hospital stay, which theyve deferred during the shutdown. But the most pertinent payment for the family are the insulin packs for Jordan, which typically last for a month and cost about $450. For the moment, they are OK. A GoFundMe campaign set up by Moassers wife, Betty Kitts Moasser, brought in about $300 to help defray the insulin costs. Added to a $100 Christmas gift from his stepson, Moasser was able to buy an insulin pack for Jordan on Jan. 15 that should take her through Feb. 15. He plans to cobble together what he can through donations, a different job, paychecks coming out of his paid leave and help from his church to keep buying the medicine if the shutdown continues into mid-February. Its scary, especially with a person with a medical need, Moasser says about the shutdown. An ordinary family that doesnt have that, you dont have to worry about medical stuff. The stress levels are very high. The uni carbonara with bacon, parm, and black truffle salt. Photo: Liz Clayman New York may now be submerged in a sea of ramen, but the brothless, saucy style known as mazemen is a relatively hard find here. Its on the menu at a few places around town, like Totto (during lunch), Hinomaru, and Ivan Ramen, where the triple-pork garlic mazemen is a favorite of noodle nerds. Its most notably the specialty of Yuji Ramen, which made a splash for serving what was a novelty style in unexpected renditions like salmon cheese. While mazemen is Yujis calling card, not even that restaurant keeps it exclusive with saucy ramen these days. Now, though, New York has another mazemen specialist, called Niche, from one of the citys most talented noodle chefs. That chef is Shigetoshi Jack Nakamura, the influential ramen chef (praised by the likes of Dave Chang) behind the Lower East Sides excellent Nakamura. Hes served a jidori mazemen there for some time now, and at Niche hell take that and run with an all-mazemen menu. Niche is adjacent to Nakamura and is a similarly tiny space; unlike its sibling restaurant, theres one long, high communal table that gives it a test-kitchen feel. Theres something very New York about the space, too, with its cubby-hole size and views of the Williamsburg Bridges convergence with Delancey Street. While Nakamura has made a specialty in New York out of an ultra-old-school torigara shoyu, using a recipe thats more than a century old, hes always had an experimental streak. As hes leaned into that at his namesake restaurant, so he will at Niche, where theyre billing the mazemen as Japanese pasta. So while the dishes are made with Japanese techniques, theyre also informed by Western flavors and dishes. This is evident from the current menu, which is still being tweaked around some noodle dishes that will make up its core. Take the dashi vongole mashemen, a nest of noodles served in a light, shallow pool of dashi broth with a crown of Italian clams and cabbage. The Russ & Roe is a nod to the nearby Russ & Daughters, topped with house-made smoked salmon, salmon roe, diced cucumber, and a poached egg. For those with meatier tastes, the compelling steak mazemen comes with chunks of fire-blasted, smoky rib-eye, along with menma and spinach in pork sauce. Scallop crudo. Photo: Liz Clayman While the smoked salmon was a trademark ingredient of Yuji early on, the menu doesnt read like any other ramen shops in town. The unconventionally translates into the appetizers, too. Pork buns are absent; instead there are umami kombu fries, savory, slightly sweet, and well-fried; specials like pureed mushroom with bacon, egg, and truffle salt; and scallop crudo with roasted scallion. The smoked salmon has made its way into this section as well, like an okra caprese with burrata. One other way Niche differs from Nakamura is that along with beer and sake it serves wine, of which it offers an ample variety of with glasses of a German sparkling wine, Italian pinot grigio, and more. The dashi vongole. Photo: Liz Clayman The steak mazemen. Photo: Liz Clayman Fire! Steak being grilled for the steak mazemen. Photo: Liz Clayman The small space. Photo: Liz Clayman Niche, 172 Delancey St., nr. Clinton St.; 212-614-1810 Johannesburg (AFP) - South African prosecutors said Thursday they were temporarily setting aside prosecution of Duduzane Zuma, the son of graft-tainted former president Jacob Zuma, as they await a key witness testifying in corruption probe. The National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) filed corruption charges against Duduzane, 35, in 2015 for an alleged role in the attempted 600 million rand (about $43 million) bribery of former deputy finance minister, Mcebisi Jonas, on behalf of the wealthy Gupta family. But on Thursday, the NPA told the Specialised Crimes Court in Johannesburg that it wanted to let Jonas finish testifying at a separate inquiry into corruption before they pursued a case against Zuma. "The NPA took a decision to provisionally withdraw the charges against Duduzane Zuma, quoting reasons that one of our key witnesses (Jonas) in this matter is currently under oath at the commission for state capture," they said in a statement. "The prosecutor therefore deemed it fit to halt the prosecution up until that process is finalised." It added: "His evidence (Jonas) is not over. He must still be cross-examined." The other inquiry, called the Zondo commission, began in August. It is investigating a web of murky deals involving government officials, the wealthy Gupta family and state owned entities. Jonas testified at the Zondo commission last year that Zuma's son allegedly offered him the position of finance minister at the Gupta familys Saxonwold compound in exchange for furthering the familys business interests. Jonas is expected to be cross-examined about this encounter at the commission in coming weeks. Duduzane was previously employed by the Guptas. His father Jacob Zuma, 76, was forced to resign last February over allegations centring around the Guptas. Duduzane also appeared at the Randburg magistrates court on Thursday morning for separate charges of culpable homicide. He is accused of causing the death of a woman, Phumzile Dube, after his Porsche hit the minibus she was travelling in. Story continues Three others were injured and one passenger, Nankie Mashaba, died in hospital weeks later. The trial in this case will begin on March 26. It is not unusual for prosecuting authorities in South Africa to provisionally withdraw charges. They have temporarily withdrawn formal charges in other high-profile cases, with the intent to reinstate them at a later stage. This was the case last November, when prosecutors withdrew graft charges against some of Zuma's allies but said these would be reintroduced if more cooperation from Indian officials were forthcoming. Female breast reductions have spiked over the last few years, and its easy to understand why: breasts that are too large can be uncomfortable, painfully heavy, get in the way of a workout, and sometimes make it difficult to fit into clothing. Having large breasts can be a serious pain for many women, but did you know that a lot of men suffer from enlarged breasts, too? You May Also Like: Your Dad Might Be Interested in Plastic SurgeryHere's Why Gynecomastia, or enlarged breasts in males, is a condition many men suffer from, but rarely ever talk about. We spoke with New Jersey-based plastic surgeon, William Franckle, MD, FACS, all about the surgery, how it differs from female breast reduction surgery, and what exactly the recovery is like. NewBeauty: What exactly is gynecomastia? Dr. Franckle: Gynecomastia is a condition of enlarged breasts in men due to hormonal changes, obesity or use of certain drugs. The condition can occur in men of all ages but commonly develops during puberty. NB: How can you tell if you are suffering from gynecomastia or if your enlarged male breasts are a result of being overweight? Dr. Franckle: Gynecomastia is characterized by excess fat, skin or glandular tissue localized to the breast. An increase in the size of the male breasts, without a weight gain across the rest of the body, may indicate gynecomastia. NB: What is the procedure like for male breast reduction? Dr. Franckle: A male breast reduction can be performed under general or local anesthesia. Liposuction may be used when excess fatty tissue is the only concern. Several small incisions are created around the areola in which a cannula is inserted to loosen the excess fat, and the fat is then removed from the body by vacuum suction. When a patient is also experiencing excess skin and/or glandular tissue, an excision technique is generally preferred. During this procedure excess breast tissue, fat and skin is removed by surgical excision. The remaining skin may be tightened with use of laser liposuction, if needed, to achieve the desired chest contour. Story continues NB: What is the recovery process like? Dr. Franckle: Recovery following a gynecomastia procedure is quite tolerable. A compression vest or chest wrapping is typically worn for 7-10 days after the procedure to help reduce swelling. Most patients may return to daily activities within several days after their procedure but intense exercise or heavy lifting is typically off-limits for about 2-3 weeks. NB: Is the scar left by this procedure similar to one of a female breast reduction? Dr. Franckle: Similar to a female breast reduction, the scars from male breast reduction are permanent but generally can be hidden within the contours of the breast. Depending on what technique was used in the procedure, the incision sites may be very small resulting in small scars that will fade overtime. Generally speaking, the scars left from a female breast reduction are more prominent than those from a males breast reduction. NB: How common is this procedure? Dr. Franckle: Gynecomastia as a condition is very common with roughly two-thirds of the male population experiencing a form of gynecomastia at some point in their lives. For some men, the condition corrects itself with age and development, but for others, medications or surgical procedures are required. Because gynecomastia is a very emotional condition for men, the procedure is quite common. NB: Is gynecomastia genetic? Dr. Franckle: Genetics can be a factor for some men. Certain genetic syndromes increase the amount of estrogen in a mans body which can result in enlarged breasts (gynecomastia). NB: Are there other ways to treat gynecomastia, rather than going under the knife? Dr. Franckle: Medications have been used to treat minor cases of gynecomastia when excess fat is the main concern. When excess glandular tissue or excess skin develops, a surgical procedure is generally the only solution. Dad of Two Killed in Colorado Avalanche While on Ski Trip with Family and Friends Friends Mourn Father of Two Killed in Colorado Avalanche A Colorado town is mourning the death of a father, educator and beloved community member who died in an avalanche while on a ski trip with family and friends on Monday. Arin Trook, 48, was visiting Markley Hut in Aspen with six friends and family members when the snow tumbled down the mountain around 10 a.m., according to the Pitkin Country Sheriffs Office. He was quickly caught in the avalanche and buried under the snow. He died at the scene. Trook and one other person had been skiiing about a half-mile from the Markley Hut when the avalanche occurred, the Aspen Daily News reported. Although he was on the trip with a group, there was only one person with Trook at the time of time of the incident, according to the publication. Whoever was with him extricated him, and my understanding is they commenced CPR right away, Jesse Steindler, with the sheriffs office, told the Daily News. But they were by themselves, so that person then ran back to the hut to get help. Arin Trook RELATED STORY: Second Man, 22, Dies in Rare Avalanche at New Mexico Ski Resort: The Mountain Took His Life Trook served as education director at the Aspen Center for Environmental Studies (ACES), managing the Centers environmental science education programs at several schools, according to the Daily News. He also taught yoga at school. He leaves behind his wife, two children and a community that considered him a staple. Arin was a committed and beloved community member, who dedicated his life and career to educating both children and adults in this community and the region, ACES officials wrote in a Facebook post. Arins engaging storytelling skills helped many of us see the world in a new light. The officials have set up a GoFundMe page to benefit Trooks family. A relative shared the fundraiser on Facebook, alongside a moving tribute. He was an outdoor-lover, yoga teacher, musician, and anyone who met him would say he was an incredibly kind, gentle and humble man, Jenny Trook wrote. He was truly one of a kind. The death comes just days after two men, 22-year-old Corey Borg-Massanari and Matthew Zonghetti, 26, died following an avalanche at New Mexicos Taos Ski Valley that left them trapped under the snow for at least 20 minutes. A literary evening, a bagpipe competition, concerts and charity events will be held to mark the 260th birth anniversary of Scotlands national poet Robert Burns in Budapest between January 25 and 29, the Robert Burns International Foundation (RBIF) said. The celebration will begin with a changing of the guard at gate IX of Hungarys Parliament building with the participation of the Parliamentary Guard, a military band and a Scottish bagpipe group on Friday. It will be followed by a performance by the Budapest Scottish Dance Club, RBIF told MTI. In the evening the British Embassy will host a reception in honour of Burns. On Saturday the RBIF will host its traditional Burns Supper charity evening featuring the All Star Scottish pipe band, violinist Alison Ewan and the Hungarian Dagda band performing Celtic tunes in Hotel Corinthia. Five countries in the CEE region - namely Poland, Bulgaria, Hungary, Slovakia, and Slovenia - are driving European growth in e-retail sales, with Hungarian online customers alone spending EUR 3.2 billion in 2018, according to research by global e-commerce product content and statistics syndicator Icecat. In four of the aforementioned countries - Poland, Hungary, Slovakia, and Slovenia - the most popular product category is consumer electronics and media. In Hungary, most of the countrys web shops use some kind of marketing tool, but only half of these shops attempt to popularize themselves via offline solutions, Icecats report says. Additionally, some 80% of web shops are present on Facebook. Facebook stands tall above other social media platforms in the CEE region, with usage among firms in other CEE countries reaching 70%. Even so, Instagram is also starting to get more popular, and while most online stores also choose Youtube and Google+, a mere 10% are fully satisfied with these two platforms. A significant portion of the EUR 3.2 bln spending by Hungarian customers in 2018 was in stores abroad, with 72% of Hungarians preferring to order abroad as they consider it cheaper, the report says, citing numbers from enet.hu. Among those who ordered from foreign e-retail shops, about 79% were students, it adds. In neighboring Slovakia, around 2.3 million Slovaks used various platforms for online shopping, with the number expected to rise to 3.6 million by 2022. The size of their expenditure is expected to grow by 25%, with the total generated revenue amounting to EUR 722 mln. Most of the revenue is generated by the electronics and media category, followed by toys and DIY items. Interestingly, in Bulgaria, the most popular category at the moment seems to be fashion, accounting for EUR 201 mln of the countrys total EUR 470 mln online revenue across categories. By 2021, this figure is expected to grow to EUR 681 mln. Furthermore, the Bulgarian E-commerce Association has joined the pan-European organization Ecommerce Europe, which represents over 25,000 online retailers across Europe, a move expected to open up business opportunities in the country for online merchants from other EU members, as well as allowing the organization to fortify its regional presence. The Polish market consists of nearly 20 million online shoppers (about half of the Polish population), expected to spend EUR 366.04 online annually per capita. In the next four years, the number of Polish shoppers is expected to grow to 20.95 million, spending some EUR 482.32 per capita annually, Icecat says. In Slovenia, the number of online shoppers is predicted to reach 1.4 million by 2021, representing 83% of the total population. Summarizing the situation, the report says: "Ultimately, the direction the CEE region is heading is looking especially good for manufacturers, resellers and distributors related to this region." Unions representing employees in Hungarys cultural and academic sectors staged a demonstration demanding greater appreciation for their sectors workers in Budapest on Tuesday, the Day of Hungarian Culture. Csaba Csoti, chairman of the public museums and public cultural employees union (KKDSZ), told the event held in front of the main headquarters of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences that the sectors workers were not being paid fairly and that the sector lacked a fair partnership with the state. Hungarys cultural employees observe the Day of Hungarian Culture each year, but have been waiting for a decade to be paid fair wages, he said. Laszlo Kuti, head of white-collar union ESzT, talked about last years changes to the funding of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences, saying that the state must not be allowed to interfere in the work of research institutes. Ilona Kazinczi Korecz, head of academic and innovation workers union TUDOSZ, said academic workers were facing an existential crisis. She said researchers deserved a pay rise and better career prospects. MTI Photo: Balogh Zoltan Subtle decor inside Intersect by Lexus. Photo: Daniel Krieger/The New York Times/Redux In the history of very bad restaurant names, INTERSECT BY LEXUS NYC is right up there with the worst of them. (Possibly even worse than Brasserio Caviar & Banana.) First, there is the fact that the people who operate this cultural programming destination gratingly prefer to format the name exclusively in capital letters, as if they are shouting the name at you every time you see it. Second, there is no actual way to say this name out loud without sounding like a robot (Him: Where should we have dinner? You: How about Intersect by Lexus?). Finally and perhaps youve noticed this, too it includes the name of a luxury automobile brand. Normally, it would be easy to write off this place for guests to be entertained, inspired and educated (their words), which is located in a multistory retail space in Manhattans Meatpacking District. There are also Intersects in Tokyo and Dubai. And yet this particular Intersect has employed New Yorks own Union Square Hospitality Group a.k.a. Danny Meyers restaurant company to run its restaurant, which means, somewhat surprisingly, people have taken it very seriously. So seriously, in fact, that this week, restaurant critics from both the Times and Eater reviewed Intersect and even more surprisingly each critic seemed to kind of like it. Times critic Pete Wells writes, Id go well out of my way to eat upstairs at Intersect again. On Eater, Ryan Sutton opines that the staff can afford to experiment a bit more than an independent restaurant because Lexus and, ultimately, its parent company Toyota underwrites the whole thing. Part of the acclaim, its worth noting, is for the the food, which arrives in Manhattan care of Gregory Marchand, the talented chef behind the mini empire of Frenchie restaurants in Europe. The deal at Intersect is that a new chefs menu will roll out every few months, and the promise is this food will be capably cooked by Intersects kitchen team; the early reviews indicate that is the case with Marchands food, even if he was reportedly only in the restaurant during its first week. This is not to knock Meyer, Marchand, or anyone else who works at Intersect take Toyotas money and maybe a free car and run, I say! but there is something undeniably irritating about a major corporation co-opting the tenets of fine dining to put some added shine on its hubcaps. Intersect seems to offer a serviceable, if somewhat tame, dining experience. There are obviously talented people working there, but its a bummer to think about the original, boundary-pushing food that they might otherwise be cooking. Great restaurants tell stories. Meyers own best restaurants Union Square Cafe, Gramercy Tavern put a spotlight on comfort food and disarmingly kind service as a counterpoint to the perceived snobbery of fine dining. David Chang built Momofuku by completely stripping the restaurant experience down to its most streamlined, efficient form and emphasizing the contributions of often overlooked, overworked line cooks. More recently, chefs like JJ Johnson and DeVonn Francis have publicly and unabashedly woven deeper issues of cultural identity into their own restaurants and cooking. The only story that Intersect tells is, buy a car. Of course, Intersect is not the first business to use high-end food as a marketing gimmick. Chefs Club in Nolita began as a branded space for Food & Wine (although its worth noting that their guest chefs tend to stick around for their entire residencies, and a restaurant seems like a sensible way to market a food magazine). In Greenpoint, theres Restaurant Norman at A/D/O, which is home to a Claus Meyer cafe thats financed by Mini (whose cars are, in turn, made by BMW). And Kelloggs has opened two cafes in New York while recruiting celebrities (like Christina Tosi, Duff Goldman, and, um, Lauren Conrad) to create special cereal combinations. It has been said many times before, and it will be said many times more, that New York is a prohibitively expensive, maddeningly competitive place to do any kind of business. One imagines it will only become more difficult if restaurateurs who use their own money to finance projects must now also compete for real estate and talent with companies like Toyota and BMW. Sure, maybe this is just a case of one New Yorker bemoaning some arbitrary business that makes it feel like corporate interests continue to chip away at the real New York City. But, as Sutton writes in his review, Intersects ad-staurant is as removed from the city as an upscale airline concessioner in Denver, Las Vegas, or Cincinnati. Clearly, this concept was built to scale, and if its a hit here, its just a matter of time before a car company targets locations, and talent, in those cities, too. Hopefully if that happens, theyll at least come up with a better name. 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. Clarksburg, WV (26301) Today Mixed clouds and sun with scattered thunderstorms. Gusty winds and small hail are possible. High around 80F. Winds SW at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 70%.. Tonight Thunderstorms likely. Low 66F. Winds SW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 80%. Delivering more value Reaching more viewers Is it a waste of time for government social media managers to create content that only lasts 24 hours? The transience of Instagram Stories can make social media staff question the value of contributing their already-limited time and resources.Instagrams Stories feature isnt alone Snapchat pioneered this format, Facebook launched its own version and LinkedIn is even testing a Stories-like product for a student audience. As more social networks release features involving disappearing content, how can using this approach bring value to those who manage public-sector social media?The photos and videos shared as a part of your agencys story can contribute more value to your online presence. Instagram Stories has a significant user base of 400 million daily active users, and profile managers can see who is viewing their story. Just be sure to document the analytics from your story before it expires so you can demonstrate the success to leadership and stakeholders.Many agencies are seeing a noticeable amount of engagement from their communities on Instagram. Theres no limit to what you can post on your Instagram Story, plus there are features on the platform to help personalize the experience for your audience.When chatting about the time investment during a bi-weekly Twitter discussion for government social media managers, heres what Lauren Tibs Oxford (@the_real_tibs), the digital communications strategist for Gilbert, Ariz., said: Its totally worth it to invest the time in Instagram Stories. More and more people are spending time there, because its fun and interactive, and totally unique from other platforms. Its a great way to show behind-the-scenes, ask questions, use polls and more.Using Instagram Stories increases the likelihood that people will see your content. You can also use it to direct people to your most recent post for more information, or use the swipe up feature as a call to action that will lead viewers to your website. Covering live events using Instagram Stories is another way to keep your followers informed. For particularly meaningful stories that feature your agency or contain important news, keep in mind that you can always add it to the highlights section of your profile. This way your existing followers can view the story over again and it will stay available for any new followers.Instagram Stories is a different kind of storytelling technique that allows for more creativity and interaction with your citizens than some other platforms. While it may seem like you need to be a social media expert to master the tool, avid users typically advise that a polished piece isnt necessarily expected. If anything, spur-of-the-moment content feels more natural. It shouldnt be a struggle to come up with natural and authentic Stories content.Jon Tolbert (@TheJonTolbert), digital strategist for Columbus, Ohio, recently tweeted his advice: Stories allow more creativity from social media managers and encourage more engagement from your citizens. The time investment is not as considerable as one might expect, and the results speak for themselves for agencies that have made it work! (TNS) - At least five people are dead after an armed man opened fire inside a SunTrust bank in Sebring on Wednesday afternoon, prompting a standoff, authorities said.Sebring Police Chief Karl Hoglund said the victims were senselessly murdered by Zephen Xaver, 21, who surrendered after a Highlands County Sheriffs Office SWAT team entered the bank.Todays been a tragic day in our community, Hoglund said. Weve suffered a significant loss at the hands of a senseless criminal doing a senseless crime.Officials have not publicly identified the victims.Law enforcement officials said Highlands deputies and Sebring police responded to U.S. Highway 27 at about 12:30 p.m. after Xaver called and told a dispatcher he had fired shots inside the bank.Police and deputies established a perimeter but were unable to get the gunman to surrender by negotiating, authorities said.A sheriffs office SWAT team later entered the bank and Xaver eventually surrendered, the agency said. Investigators discovered the bodies of five victims after retaking the bank, officials said.The people of Florida stand with the community here in light of this tragic circumstance, said Gov. Ron DeSantis, who appeared alongside Hoglund and Highlands County Sheriff Paul Blackman at a press conference Wednesday afternoon. Ive asked FDLE to provide whatever resources we can at the state level to assist with the investigation and, obviously, this is an individual that needs to face very swift and exacting justice.Blackman said deputies were working alongside Sebring police to collect evidence and execute search warrants.He and Hoglund did not take questions from reporters but promised an update on the case Thursday morning. Hoglund asked the public to keep the victims in their prayers and thoughts.Sebring is a city east of Sarasota and south of Kissimmee.2019 The Orlando Sentinel (Orlando, Fla.)Visit The Orlando Sentinel (Orlando, Fla.) at www.OrlandoSentinel.comDistributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC. Charleston, WV (25301) Today A few showers early, then clouds lingering for the afternoon. High near 85F. Winds SW at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 40%.. Tonight Variable clouds with scattered thunderstorms. Low 67F. Winds SW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 50%. VICKSBURG, Miss. (AP) A volunteer firefighter in Mississippi is accused of causing a crash that killed one woman and injured another. The Vicksburg Post reports that 25-year-old Marquise Holmes was charged Tuesday with culpable negligence manslaughter and aggravated assault. A crash late Friday burned 20-year-old Marniqua Stamps and her passenger, 23-year-old Christina Howard. Both women were hospitalized. Stamps died Saturday, and Howard is recovering. Holmes appeared in court Tuesday and his bond was set at $300,000. It was not immediately clear whether he is represented by an attorney. Vicksburg Police Lt. Johnnie Edwards says Holmes was driving behind the victim's vehicle with his red lights on and attempting to pull her car over. Her car ran off the road, hit a tree and burst into flames. SPEED READ: The new Democratic and Republican governors of Kansas, Michigan, Ohio and Wisconsin signed executive orders to protect LGBT state workers from discrimination. Florida GOP Gov. Ron DeSantis signed a similar anti-discrimination order that had no mention of sexual orientation or gender identity. There are 31 states where people are not fully protected from discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity. Pushback to LGBT Protections Laura Kelly made protection of LGBT rights one of her first orders of business as governor of Kansas. The day after she took office this month, Kelly signed an executive order protecting lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people who work for or contract with the state from discrimination.As I have said numerous times before, discrimination of anyone has no place in Kansas and will not be tolerated in this administration, Kelly said in her inaugural address.A few days earlier, Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers also used his first executive order to protect LGBT state employees. And the newly elected governors of Michigan, Gretchen Whitmer, and Ohio, Mike DeWine, signed LGBT protections that renewed or expanded orders that had been issued by their outgoing predecessors.Kelly, Evers and Whitmer are Democrats, while DeWine is a Republican."LGBTQ issues are becoming much less partisan," says Elliot Imse, communications director for the Victory Fund, which supports LGBT candidates. "If you look at the four states where governors recently signed these orders, these are not hyperliberal states. They are red and purple states."Imse says the election of more openly LGBT politicians in these states was a prod toward action. Record numbers of LGBT state legislators were elected across the nation last year.But not all new governors have taken similar action.Ron DeSantis, Florida's new Republican governor, signed an order that protects people from discrimination in state employment and contracting on the basis of race, age, sex, religion, national origin or disability -- but not sexual orientation or gender identity."As governors across the country establish these critical protections for LGBTQ families, this order draws a stark contrast," said Joe Saunders, senior political director for Equality Florida, a gay rights group, in a statement. Its hard to believe that Gov. DeSantis and his staff are not aware of the LGBTQ communities' call for these protections following the Pulse tragedy, and therefore it is hard to interpret this as anything less than a purposeful omission."Not everyone is applauding the anti-discrimination protections.In Kansas, some legislators complained that Kelly overstepped her bounds by including contractors, thus imposing policy preferences on private employers. Such a move, they say, requires legislative action.The state has a history of vacillating on the issue of LGBT rights, depending on who is in power. In 2007, Kansas Democratic Gov. Kathleen Sebelius extended anti-discrimination protections to LGBT state employees. Her order was then rescinded by Republican Gov. Sam Brownback in 2015. The back and forth -- and now back again -- in Kansas shows that executive orders can't be relied upon forever."Executive orders cannot replace the permanent step of codifying protections under state law, but they are an important way to help minimize the rampant discrimination that LGBTQ people too often face," says Masen Davis, CEO of Freedom for All Americans, an LGBT rights advocacy group.There are 31 states where people are not fully protected from discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity.On Tuesday, the U.S. Supreme Court allowed the Trump administration to carry out its ban on transgender people serving in the military while the policy is being challenged in lower courts. The ruling reverses the last decade's momentum toward increased rights for LGBT people, most notably the Supreme Court's 2015 decision that legalized marriage for same-sex couples.At the state level, though, that momentum is still going."By making LGBTQ rights a priority in their first executive actions," Davis says, "governors across the country are sending the message that they value treating all their constituents with basic dignity and respect." Written, directed, and produced by Roberta Grossman Who Will Write Our History, a film about the historic Warsaw Ghetto Archive Oyneg Shabes, headed by Polish-Jewish historian Emanuel Ringelblum (1900-1944), was recently screened as part of the New York Jewish Film Festival at Lincoln Center. Roberta Grossmans film will run as well at select movie theaters in New York and Los Angeles over the next two weeks. Arte, the Franco-German television network, and German broadcaster ARD are also airing the work. Who Will Write Our History is based on the remarkable book of the same title by Professor Samuel Kassow, who teaches history at Trinity College in Hartford, Connecticut. Amid an international resurgence of the extreme right, this film about the Oyneg Shabess courageous struggle to preserve the historical truth about the political and cultural traditions of Polish Jewry and its annihilation at the hands of the Nazis is of great importance. The Oyneg Shabes [Joyful Sabbath] archive, founded by Ringelblum and compiled in the Warsaw Ghetto (which existed from October 1940 to May 1943) in the face of the constant threat of discovery and death, includes an extraordinary range of historical materials. (The documents were stored in milk cans and metal boxes, and buried in three places in the Ghetto.) Among the materials are diaries written by professional journalists and historians such as Rachel Auerbach and Ringelblum, as well as those kept by ordinary people and children who took to writing in the Ghetto to document the crimes of the Nazis; items and documents of everyday Ghetto life; documents about the destruction of Polish Jewry in the death camps and through mass shootings; dozens of newspapers, among them the only surviving documents of the Trotskyists in the Warsaw Ghetto and other political tendencies; as well as various documents about religious and cultural life in the Ghetto. The film narrates the history of the Ghetto archive through the eyes of Auerbach, a brilliant journalist, one of only three survivors of a staff of 60 people. Reenactments of the period are blended with historical footage and interviews with leading historians in the field, including Kassow, Barbara Kirshenblatt-Gimblett and Karolina Szymaniak. The viewers learn about the first months of the war in Poland, the establishment of the Warsaw Ghetto, justified to the Polish population in Nazi propaganda as a way to protect the latter from the allegedly disease-ridden Jewish population; the horrifying conditions in the Ghetto itself, the mass deportations to Treblinka in the summer of 1942; and the Warsaw Ghetto uprising and final Nazi massacre of 1943. Who Will Write Our History unfolds most of its story based on documents and diaries that were gathered through the Oyneg Shabes. Passages from the documents are read over reenactments of scenes from the Ghetto. Along with Ringelblums diaries and notes on the Ghetto we hear from Auerbach, who was working in a soup kitchen for the starving Ghetto population and was carefully taking down her observations for Ringelblum; from Hersh Wasser, who was fighting severe hunger as he continued collecting documents as one of Ringelblums executive secretaries; and from Abraham Lewin who, along with his family, fell victim to the deportations in the summer of 1942. The reenactments are well done, with Polish actors in the roles of Ringelblum (Piotr Glowacki) and his wife (Karolina Gruszka), Auerbach (Jowita Budnik), Wasser (Piotr Jankowski), Lewin (Wojciech Zielinski) and Rabbi Shimon Huberband (Gera Sandler). The performers speak both Polish and Yiddish, the native language of much of Polish Jewry at the time, to recreate the atmosphere of the period and emphasize the protagonists commitment to the Yiddish language and culture. The passages quoted in the film to illustrate both the significance of the archive and the horrors of the Ghetto are powerful and moving. However, Who Will Write Our History has serious limitations bound up with the filmmakers political and social orientation. Both artistically and in terms of the documents selected, the film focuses on appealing primarily to the moral sentiments and emotions of the viewers, without challenging their more conventional (and generally uninformed) political and ideological assumptions and prejudices. The historical context for the Holocaust as a whole is hardly touched upon, with only few of the most basic facts and dates mentioned. This is combined with an almost complete omission of the politics and traditions represented by the Oyneg Shabes and Ringelblum. The Oyneg Shabes did not arise in an intellectual and political vacuum. It grew out of a rich political and historiographical culture that had emerged in the inter-war period under the combined impact of the 1917 Russian Revolution and the rise of Jewish nationalism and Yiddish culture. The tradition within the Polish Jewish intelligentsia of fighting anti-Semitism through investigating and writing about the history of Polish Jewrya tradition explored in great detail in Kassows book and that informed the work of the Oyneg Shabesis basically not addressed in the film at all. (There are only a few minutes devoted to this issue at the beginning of Who Will Write Our History and a brief remark about the YIVO Institute, the Jewish Scientific Research Institute, which was founded in Vilna in 1925, and to which Ringelblum and many of his coworkers belonged.) Ringelblum sought to include representatives from all political and cultural tendencies in the Oyneg Shabess work to preserve historical truth, but there is no question that he and several other leading figures were socialists and Marxists. In the film, Kassow briefly mentions that Ringelblum and Wasser were members of the Left Poalei Zion (LPZ), a socialist Zionist party, and that Ringelblum was very, very Marxist, but neither the content of those political and theoretical views, nor their relation to the archivists activities in the Ghetto are discussed. Overall, three of the five figures that the film quotes at lengthRingelblum, Lewin and Wasserwere convinced socialists, yet the term socialist is not mentioned once. Instead, their project is implicitly presented as only being oriented toward the preservation of Jewish national memory. This is historically inaccurate. Ringelblum and other socialist Zionists were adherents of a specific tendency of cultural and political nationalism, but they were miles apart from the present-day, right-wing strands of Zionism and opposed to viewing the history of the Jews through a purely national lens. The orientation of Ringelblum toward the Jewish masses was informed as much by the powerful influence of socialism and the Russian Revolutionwhich, since 1905, had been closely intertwined for Eastern European Jewry with the struggle for the national, political and social emancipation of the Jewsas it was by cultural nationalism. (His party, the LPZ, had supported the October Revolution in Russia and many of its members fought in the ranks of the Red Army.) As Kassow acknowledges in his book, Ringelblum never renounced his dedication to socialist revolution and explicitly stated about the work of the Oyneg Shabes, I do not see our work as a separate project, as something that includes only Jews, that is only about Jews, and that will interest only Jews. My whole being rebels against that. I cannot agree with such an approach, as a Jew, as a socialist, or as a historian. Given the daunting complexity of social processes, where everything is interdependent, it would make no sense to see ourselves in isolation. Jewish suffering and Jewish liberation and redemption are part and parcel of the general calamity [umglik] and the universal drive to throw off the hated [Nazi] yoke. (Quoted in Kassow, Who Will Write Our History? Indiana University Press 2007, p. 387) One can imagine that the filmmakers were under considerable pressure, both financial and political, to downplay as much as possible this aspect of the work of the Oyneg Shabes and Ringelblum. However, the omission of Marxist and socialist politics from the discussion of Ringelblum and the Oyneg Shabes comes at a major cost. It not only distorts the historical picture of the archive, but also diminishes the lessons that viewers of Who Will Write Our History can draw from the work of the Oyneg Shabes for the contemporary struggle against the far right. The present-day resurgence of fascism and anti-Semitism has been facilitated by the almost willful indifference of the academic community in Europe and the United States to ongoing efforts by prominent German professors, most notably Jorg Baberowski of Berlins prestigious Humboldt University, to justify the crimes of Hitler and the Nazi regime. Underlying the silence is the fear that outspoken opposition to fascist apologetics carries with it a connotation of left-wing and socialist sympathies that academics are frequently all too anxious to avoid. Despite this weakness, Grossmans Who Will Write Our History is an important contribution to making the historic work of the Oyneg Shabes known to a mass audience. It should be seen widely and will help, one hopes, generate greater interest in Kassows book and, most importantly, a broader discussion about the significance of historical truth in the struggle against the dangers of fascism. For the German and French version of the film, click here. The film will be shown on the German public broadcaster ARD on January 25, 2019. For information on showings of the film in the United States, click here. For the review of Samuel Kassow's book, see: Samuel Kassows Who Will Write Our History? [25 July 2015] Workers at United Parcel Services (UPS) in the economically devastated Midwestern city of Rockford, Illinois, continue to speak out against the sellout contract imposed by Teamsters Local 710, an agreement that is largely indistinguishable from the concessions-filled national contract undemocratically imposed on 250,000 UPS workers last year. The contract for Teamsters Local 710 covering 6,600 UPS workers in Illinois, Iowa and Indiana was declared ratified with nearly 60 percent abstaining from voting. Teamsters Local 710 has negotiated separate contracts for nearly six decades alongside Teamsters Local 705, which covers more than 9,000 UPS workers in the Chicago area. The concessions in the Local 710 contract mirror the national contract and include the maintenance of poverty wages for part time workers, with the bulk expected to make a starting wage of $13 an hour. The contract also includes the widely hated imposition of a two-tier system establishing a new category of hybrid warehouse/driver workers, many of whom will start at a lower wage than regular full-time parcel delivery drivers at UPS. Such concessions were widely opposed; with more than 93 percent of the 250,000 UPS warehouse workers and drivers voting to authorize a strike. Instead of calling a strike, however, the Teamsters took a 54 percent majority no vote and illegitimately imposed the sellout contract on UPS workers for five years, utilizing an obscure and anti-democratic constitutional loophole. The ramming through of the contract widely discredited the Teamsters and provoked an explosion of anger that continues to this day. UPS workers across the country have spoken to the WSWS UPS Worker Newsletter about the company reign of terror that prevailed following the despotic imposition of the national contract. Workers faced grueling conditions during UPSs most profitable peak season at the end of the year, followed by firings and layoffs of workers by management. Conditions for Midwestern UPS workers are no different. Teamsters Local 710 utilized every method of dividing the workers, including creating a Letter of Agreement at the Rockford air hub which includes a $15 an hour wage for workers with senioritya poverty wage shared by many non-union Amazon workers across the country currently. While UPS is estimated to have made more than $7 billion in pretax profits last year (equivalent to nearly $30,000 for every worker), it has imposed poverty conditions on UPS part-time and full-time workers. The Teamsters have divided workers not only between cities, but also within every hub. The contract at Local 710 does not provide for any catch-up raises for existing part-timers. It has also allowed UPS to divide part-time workers through the use of temporary bonuses for some newer workers. Numerous workers have also been laid off following the ratification of the contract, while the union has not lifted a finger to protect them. Alicia, a part time worker from Rockford, spoke to the WSWS UPS Worker Newsletter about her bitter experiences with UPS and the Teamsters union. The contract sucks for anyone who has been with UPS for more than a few years, she said. I dont feel the union has done a good job educating people, they havent flexed muscle in handling the bonus payments, and they sold this contract as being so great and sent a letter with the voting instructions telling everyone they recommend a yes vote, which I think was very misleading. Rather than leveraging the strike authorization that was passed last year before peak season in order to gain some traction in negotiations and get demands met for a solid contract, they sold us out. Im not generally one for conspiracy theories, but it would appear that UPS is lining the pockets of some key Teamster execs, and we as employees are paying the price. I imagine Hoffa and the higher-ups in the Teamster organization are getting some pretty nice under the table payouts when they save companies millions by selling garbage contracts. The union has really kept people in the dark about the settlement negotiations regarding the class-action grievance filed over the bonuses. Its almost like theyve only done lip service to fight it. We were told the company offered a low amount as a settlement, which the union refused, so now its in arbitration. In the meantime, were all resentful and skeptical that well ever recoup anything. I feel UPS was hoping to drive out some of the veteran, higher paid workers in order to cut labor costs long-term. The bonus was a good way to sow discord among veterans and create confusion among the new employees. UPS wants people to be ignorant, and the union has done a poor job of educating people. I opposed the new contract in solidarity with my veteran coworkers who deserve catch-up raises, because their years of service shouldnt be disregarded. UPS has shown us through the bonus payments and the lack of pay increases for long-term employees that our work and our time is not valued. The union did a poor job of informing people in the Rockford hub about the contract and the voting process. It doesnt seem as if the union cares, and theyre allowing UPS to crap all over our contracts with no repercussions. Why would the company pay? Theyve proven they can do whatever they want and get away with it. Workers in the Rockford area confront low wage employment, backbreaking work and depressed economic conditions. Following the economic crisis of 2008, unemployment in Rockford reached a high of nearly 20 percent in 2010. Since then, while the official unemployment rate has edged back down, Rockford and the area surrounding it has become a center of low-wage jobs and social devastation, similar to cities like Gary, Indiana, and Detroit, and vast swathes of the deindustrialized Rustbelt of the Midwest. UPS workers like Alicia and others have spoken to the WSWS UPS Workers Newsletter about the physical and psychological demands they confront combined with the economic hardship of low pay and lack of full-time job opportunities. However, for workers to secure higher wages, full-time employment, safe working conditions and more, they must organize workplace committees independent of the Teamsters. We urge UPS workers to form rank-and-file committees to oppose the illegitimate and sellout contracts and begin to mount an industrial and political counteroffensive, by linking up with striking workers in Mexico, teachers, autoworkers and other logistics workers in the United States and internationally. The WSWS UPS Workers Newsletter urges workers to contact us today to learn more about forming rank-and-file committees. Teachers across the US continue to press their fight in defense of public education in the face of open sabotage by the unions. The United Teachers of Los Angeles on Wednesday precipitously shut down the powerful six-day walkout by teachers with the claimswidely disputed by educatorsthat a tentative agreement had been ratified and that it was a victory. This betrayal comes as additional contingents of educators in many states are clamoring to join in the fight for full funding for their schools and, by implication, pushing for national action. Teachers are demanding a fight against the decades-long assault on public education and instinctively seeking a means to halt the unions continual efforts to smother their struggles. Thousands of Virginia teachers are expected to walk out on Monday, January 28 and travel across the state to protest at the capitol in Richmond to further their fight for K-12 funding. In a vote over the past few days Denver educators have voted by a 93 percent margin to strike. They may also walk out next Monday. Wright State University faculty in Dayton, Ohio are currently on the picket lines. On February 4, 2,000 City College of Chicago faculty and staff are set to walk. And Oakland, California teachers have staged two sickouts and could strike at any time. Teachers are entering into struggle after decades of bipartisan defunding of public schools, accompanied by the deliberate promotion of privatization and charter schools. During this period the unions have proven themselves willing partners in every assault so long as their dues-stream is protected. As a new round of struggle ensues, teachers should forearm themselves by studying the lessons of the UTLA struggle and the teachers' rebellions of 2018. Teachers should take up the fight for independent rank and file committees in every neighborhood and school to prosecute a genuine national offensive for education. Virginia Virginia educators will conduct a mile-long march and rally in Richmond to protest some of the most inequitably funded schools in the United States. Students in the wealthy districts of Virginia receive eight percent more funding per student than do students in economically depressed areas creating palpable economic segregation. By taking the one-day action, teachers are defying anti-strike legislation in the state which is home to the national headquarters of the notorious Right-To-Work Foundation. While Virginias median income is $71,535, over $11,000 higher than the national average, the median income for teachers is $20,000 lower at $51,049. This is $8,000 below even the national average for teachers. Unsurprisingly, large numbers of teachers have found themselves unable to afford even basic necessities. Sarah Pedersen, a sixth-grade history teacher, wrote in Richmond 2Day that, with Sisyphus-like student loans, hospital bills, and living expenses, she struggles to afford diapers for her one-year-old baby. Pedersen is a dedicated teacher who has taught for eight years; she proudly describes how she is a seventh-generation public school teacher. Her stagnant salary, however, is not enough to pay off the loans she took for her education and support her family in a state where living expenses continue to soar. This will be her last year teaching in Virginia. Another teacher, Christian Peabody, an elementary school music teacher, posted a video on Facebook, in which he holds up a thermometer; the temperature inside of his home was 25 degrees Fahrenheit. Although he has given up wifi and cable television, he still cannot afford to heat his home. He has not been able to turn his heat on since December. In the wake of the 2008 recession, cuts to Virginias education budget totaled over $1 billion. In the 2016-2017 school year, the last year for which numbers were aggregated, there were at least 1,000 vacancies for teachers statewide. At the same time, K-12 enrollment has increased by 50,000. Clearly these numbers translate into overcrowded classrooms. Conditions have deteriorated to the point that many schools in predominantly poor, working class areas are now failing state accreditation. Moreover, 60 percent of Virginias school buildings are over 40 years old. Many buildings are even older and are plagued with unreliable heating and cooling systems. However, fresh from torpedoing the teachers strike in Los Angeles, both American Federation of Teachers (AFT) president Randi Weingarten and National Educators Association (NEA) president Lily Eskelsen Garcia are flying into Richmond next Monday. Their purpose has little to do with speechifying, but everything to do with trying to keep a lid on the explosive anger of Virginia teachers. The rallys organizers, the ostensibly independent Facebook group Virginia Educators United (VEU), seem prepared the reprise the rotten role of #Red4Ed in Arizona and Oklahoma last year when such Facebook groups enforced the shutdown of strikes in service to the unions and Democratic Party politicians. Already the VEU has, in partnership with the AFT and NEA, made known their opposition to an open-ended strike. On the contrary, because Governor Northam is a Democrat, VEU stated very early on that a strike would be unfair to Northam. Successive Virginia state governments, including the previous Democratic administration of Terry R. McAuliffe in which Northam served as lieutenant governor, have refused to adequately fund public schools. Denver If Denver teachers walk out on Monday as planned, it will be the first strike in the district since 1994. The Denver Classroom Teachers Association (DCTA) encompasses 5,635 educators in the Denver Public Schools (DPS) system which serves 71,000 children. The 100 school nurses in the district have pledged to join teachers, who have been in contract negotiations for over two years. The district continues to refuse to budge on teachers salary demands and has pledged to stay open, hiring substitute teachers at double the normal pay and attending job fairs in order to recruit furloughed federal workers as strikebreakers. DPS superintendent Susana Cordova met with newly-installed Democratic Governor Jared Polis Wednesday night and has formally requested the states Department of Labor and Employment intervene to prevent a strike. Polis, worth hundreds of millions of dollars, was the wealthiest Democrat in Congress in 2016. He earned his education credentials co-introducing Obamas pro-privatization legislation Race to the Top (with Joe Lieberman) and establishing the New American School, a charter school chain, as well as an urban charter in Denver, the Academy of Urban Learning. Nonetheless, he was endorsed by the teachers union. At issue in Denver is a combination of low base pay for teachers and market incentives enshrined in a series of bonuses called ProComp. This hated system was devised with the help of the union itself, alongside Colorado Democrat and educational reformer Sen. Michael Bennet. According to the Huffington Post, His [Bennets] multi-million dollar experiments helped form the basis of Arne Duncans multi-billion dollar debacles, such as the RttT [Race to the Top], the SIG [School Improvement Grants], and incentivizing states to incorporate test score growth into teacher evaluations. Both blue Colorado and purple Virginia (the governor is a Democrat, the state legislature long under Republican control) face strikes on the same day over the same issues. This underscores the fact that no matter which big business party dominates the legislature or occupies the governors chair, educators face the same political struggle; both capitalist political parties are equally hostile to the social right of the working class to high-quality public education and are equally invested in Wall Street profiteering on the backs of workers and their children. Years of drastic cuts to education has proven that the unions seek nothing more than ensuring their institutional relationships and dues income, no matter how many concessions, cutbacks and impossible living conditions are inflicted on teachers. Teachers now coming into struggle should take heed of the events of the last year. In order for their demands to be realized, they must take their struggle out of the hands of the labor police of the NEA and AFT as well as the pseudo-left apologists who orbit the unions like the VEU. Instead, teachers must connect and coordinate their struggles through the formation of independent rank and file organizations which link up the fight for fully funded, high quality public education with the many struggles of workers and young people nationally and internationally. In a tweet late Wednesday night, US President Donald Trump conceded that he would not deliver his State of the Union speech until after the partial federal shutdown is ended. The tweet acknowledged that the invitation to the president to address a joint session of Congress in the chamber of the House of Representatives is the prerogative of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. On Wednesday afternoon, Pelosi officially withdrew her invitation to Trump to deliver the State of the Union speech, as the conflict over the partial shutdown of the federal government escalated to unprecedented dimensions. Her action came in response to a letter from the White House in which Trump said he would not agree to a postponement of the State of the Union address because of the federal shutdown and would deliver the speech as scheduled on January 29. The House speaker indicated that while she had extended Trump the usual invitation to deliver the State of Union when she took office on January 3, she had not imagined that the partial shutdown of the federal government, which began on December 22, would still be ongoing at the end of January. The formal invitation to address a joint session of the House and Senate requires passage of a concurrent resolution by the Senate, now controlled by the Republican Party, and the House, where Democrats took control on January 3. Pelosis letter reads: I am writing to inform you that the House of Representatives will not consider a concurrent resolution authorizing the Presidents State of the Union address in the House Chamber until the government has opened. Trumps initial reaction was an intensification of his vindictive and authoritarian denunciations of the Democratic Party. Im not surprised, he told the press. Its really a shame whats happening with the Democrats. Theyve become radicalized. They dont want to see crime stopped. He said of Pelosi, Shes afraid of the super-left Democrats, the radical Democrats. Whats going on in that party is shocking. He added that the withdrawal of the invitation was a great blotch on the great country we all love. White House deputy press secretary Hogan Gridley, speaking on Fox News Tuesday, the day before the actual withdrawal of the invitation, implicitly compared the Democratic Party to ISIS terrorists, saying, If the Secret Service can protect the president of the United States on a trip to Iraq, chances are they can protect the American president in the halls of Congress. The cancellation of the State of the Union address would be a landmark event in American politics. These addresses have been delivered by the president to a joint session of Congress since 1913, when Woodrow Wilson broke with the previous practice of sending a written message to provide the accounting that is required by the US Constitution. Only once has a State of the Union address been postponedin 1987, when the space shuttle Challenger blew up shortly after launch only a few hours before President Ronald Reagan was to deliver the address. Reagan made remarks on the disaster from the Oval Office and delayed the State of the Union address by a week. Even after the House of Representatives had impeached President Bill Clinton in December 1998, and he was awaiting trial before the US Senate, Clinton gave a State of the Union address in January 1999 in the same House chamber where the impeachment vote had been taken only a month before. But the current crisis of the US political system has reached such a level of intensity that such rituals are now in question, as the conflict between the Trump administration and its opponents within the corporate elite heads into previously unknown territory. The cause of this conflict is not simply differences over the border wall or immigration policy as a whole. The Democratic Party is seeking to strike a compromise with the White House that will give Trump the substance of his policy, so long as he does not use the label border wall to describe it. This is indicated by the statements of House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer and Representative Bennie Thompson, chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee, that the Democrats are preparing to offer Trump the $5.7 billion he is demanding for border security, provided he agrees to reopen the federal government. Leading Democrats described the offer as including drones, reinforced security at ports of entry, and more money for sensors, fence repairs and border guards, but not a fixed structure. The number three Democrat, House Majority Whip James Clyburn, said, Using the figure the president put on the table, if his $5.7 billion is about border security, then we see ourselves fulfilling that request, only doing it with what I like to call using a smart wall. A more right-wing section of Democrats is prepared to go even further. A letter circulated by Representative Elaine Luria, a former Navy commander just elected to a House seat in Virginia, calls on Pelosi to make a deal with Trump to exchange wall funding for protections for DACA and TPS recipients, sections of immigrants whose federal protection has been lifted by Trump. The letter calls for seeking bipartisan solutions that would provide both the true needs of border security and much-needed reform to our immigration process. The House voted by 234180 Wednesday to enact legislation adding $1.5 billion more for border security, including new immigration judges and infrastructure, above the $1.3 billion already approved for the Department of Homeland Security. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has already dismissed the bill, saying he will not bring it up for a vote in the Senate unless Trump gives his backing. Democratic Representative Tom Malinowski, a former State Department official newly elected to a New Jersey congressional seat, confirmed the spinelessness of the Democrats, declaring, From my standpoint, and I think this is the consensus of the caucus, everything is negotiable. Border security is negotiable. Immigration policy is negotiable. Shutting down the government is not negotiable, and were angry about it. Trump has rejected every proposed compromise in order to press forward with the federal shutdown. In a particularly provocative move, Senator McConnell has introduced legislation that would implement Trumps offer of last Saturday, of a wall for DACA, but with significant modifications that would effectively gut the right of asylum. Under the plan, children under 18 from Central America would be barred from applying for asylum at the US-Mexico border, and would instead have to do so at US embassies in Honduras, Guatemala and El Salvador, the home countries which they are fleeing because of gang violence and state repression. The bill, which is likely to be blocked in the Senate on Thursday, would also cap child refugee admissions at 15,000 a year, no matter how many qualified. Such provocative demands suggest that Trump has no real interest in settling the conflict over immigration policy. The shutdown is not, in his view, an obstacle to be overcome, but a positive development--a tactic to be employed to bully his way to achieving many other policy objectives. Certainly from the standpoint of big business, shutting down regulatory agencies like the Environmental Protection Agency, the Food and Drug Administration, the Department of Agriculture and the Department of the Interior, or social service agencies like the Department of Housing and Urban Development, are long-sought goals. It emerged this week that the first person to give first aid to the Russian double agent Sergei Skripal and his daughter, Yuliapoisoned in still unexplained events in Salisbury last Marchwas the most senior nurse in the British Army, Alison McCourt. This adds a fresh layer to the ever-changing account cooked up by the British government and intelligence agencies, who immediately blamed Russia for the poisoning without providing any concrete information. From facts that have been made public, Sergei and Yulia were found on a bench in Salisbury town centre on March 4, 2018 in an unconscious state. One witness, Jamie Paine, told the BBC that she saw them both in a distressed state. Sergei was doing strange hand movements and looking up to the sky, while Yulia was frothing at the mouth with her eyes wide open but completely white. Paine decided not to intervene as they looked so out of it that I thought that even if I did step in, I wasnt sure how I could help. I just left them but it looked they had been taking something quite strong. It was known that a nurse did intervene, but hardly any details were made available. The Times reported last May, almost two months after the poisoning, that the first person to respond to the Skripals when they passed out was an off-duty army nurse, who had worked on the ebola outbreak in Sierra Leone. The nurse, a commissioned officer who has asked to remain anonymous, treated them before the emergency services arrived, and was vomited on but is not thought to have suffered novichok poisoning. Virtually no other details were provided. In December, the Daily Mail cited the comments of PC Alex Collins who arrived on the scene to see that The female [Yulia] was on the floor on her side. There was a member of the public, who turned out to be a doctor, helping her, maintaining her airway. I believe if that doctor hadnt done that, she would have died. The Mail added, The female doctor is believed to have placed Miss Skripal in the recovery position after discovering her vomiting and fitting on the bench and tended to her for almost 30 minutes. The fact is that the doctor/nurse was Colonel Alison McCourt, chief nursing officer in the British Army. This only emerged when her daughter, Abigail, was proposed by her mother for a lifesaver award at the local radio station for her actions in helping the pair, including helping administering CPR. According to Spire FMs report, Abigail believed Sergei Skripal was having a heart attack. The teen, who was out celebrating her brothers birthday quickly alerted her mum who is a nurse and together they gave first aid to the two Russians until paramedics arrived. Abby and her mum had to undergo hospital tests to make sure they werent contaminated with Novichok. According to an online biography, McCourt joined the Army in 1988 and became Chief Nursing Officer for the Army on February 1, 2018, just a month before the Skriprals poisoning. She received the OBE (Officer of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire) honour from the Queen in 2015. The biography, which includes a posed photo of McCourt outside the prime ministers residence 10 Downing Street, notes, Alison has deployed to Bosnia, Kosovo, Iraq and Sierra Leone. Subsequent assignments include Officer Instructor at the Defence Medical Services Training Centre and a deployment to Kosovo as the Senior Nursing Officer for 33 Field Hospital in 2001. During that operational tour she was the in-theatre lead for the establishment of the joint UK/US hospital facility at Camp Bondsteel. Camp Bondsteel is the main US army base in Kosovo and was set up as the largest from scratch foreign US military base since the Vietnam War. According to the British governments account, novichok is probably the most toxic and deadly substance ever invented. The Skripals poisoning was utilised by the May government to ratchet up tensions with Russia, with the prime minister stating in Parliament that the Putin regime had attempted to assassinate the pair using a weapons-grade nerve agent in a British town in an indiscriminate and reckless act against the United Kingdom, putting the lives of innocent civilians at risk. The BBC wrote, Novichoks were designed to be more toxic than other chemical weapons, so some versions would begin to take effect rapidlyin the order of 30 seconds to two minutes. The main route of exposure is likely to be through inhalation or ingestion, though they could also be absorbed through the skin. What then are the chances of administering CPR to someone who has supposedly been attacked by this substance only minutes previouslyand who was witnessed as frothing at the mouthwhile being able to avoid contact with the nerve agent? Only a single police officer, Nick Bailey, who had substantially less contact with the Skripals and supposedly only came into contact with the nerve agent while wearing gloves, after being sent to their home where it had been allegedly sprayed on the door handle, was affected during the initial incident. He was hospitalised for three weeks and only resumed his duties last week. On June 30 in nearby Amesbury, nearly four months after the Skripal poisonings, Dawn Sturgess sprayed a substance said to be novichock onto her wrists, thinking it was a perfume. She died in hospital days later on July 8. Her boyfriend, Charlie Rowley, has suffered ill-health ever since the incident. The more information that emerges about the Skripals case, the less there is that can be said for certain. Nothing has been heard from the Skripals since they were spirited out of hospital months ago in a military-type operation and taken to a secret location. One can only conclude that they are being prevented from speaking. At present the roof of Sergei Skripals home is being demolished and replaced, on the basis that it could be contaminated. It should be noted that one of the authors of the above-mentioned Times articles was Deborah Haynes, the newspapers defence editor. The Times has played a critical role in the anti-Russia hysteria and is a regular forum where senior British military and intelligence figures parade their views demanding an escalation of preparations for military conflict with Russia and for a vast increase in military spending. A number of Murdoch press journalists, including Haynes, were exposed in a document detailing the UK cluster of the Integrity Initiative, set up by the London-based Institute of Statecraft to spread propaganda on behalf of British imperialism. The cluster includes at least nine journalists with four from Rupert Murdochs Times/Sunday Times Haynes, David Aaronovitch, Dominic Kennedy and Edward Lucas. Also named are leading BBC, Guardian and Financial Times journalists. The Integrity Initiative has been heavily involved in the Skripal affair. The WSWS noted earlier this month, based on documents from the IoS/IIs servers made public by the Anonymous group, Just days after the poisoning of the Skripals, the IoS proposed that the Foreign and Commonwealth Office study social media activity in respect of the events that took place, how news spread, and evaluate how the incident is being perceived in various countries. Within days, the IIs Operation Iris swung into operation. As well as monitoring media coverage with its own team, it recruited the global investigative solutions firm Harod Associates to analyse social media activity related to the Skripals affair. With the governments account of how the Skripals came to be poisoned shot through with inconsistencies, and the publics scepticism in their ever-changing story growing, the II raised concerns just a week after the poisonings, that the government was far too weak, declaring, [I]ts essential the government makes a much stronger response this time. The author also recommends: UK Integrity Initiative heavily involved in Skripal affair [7 January 2019] There is growing unrest among the hundreds of thousands of unpaid federal workers and contractors as the partial shutdown continues without an end in sight. As a second missed payday approaches Friday, 800,000 government workers will have gone without their wages for a month and counting, with approximately 500,000 compelled to work without pay. The World Socialist Web Site spoke to demonstrators on Wednesday afternoon as hundreds of federal workers, contractors, and supporters gathered to protest in the atrium of the Hart Senate Office Building. Faye, a contractor for the Smithsonian for the past eight years, said she was "broken" by the shutdown and that she had "never experienced anything like this" since she first began work. "I have bills coming, I have a new apartment to pay for." Faye said that she was trying to become a substitute teacher through the county to help pay bills. Kendra, a furloughed librarian under contract with the United States Department of Agriculture explained she had been forced to borrow from family and friends, as well as seek unemployment benefits in order to make ends meet. "I'm thankful for family. My parents have helped me, but I know that it is taking money from their retirement savings." Speaking about the way forward for federal workers, she felt that a "bold strategy" was needed. When WSWS reporters raised the possibility of a strike in order to end the shutdown and guarantee back pay, she said this was a "good question," but had concerns that such an action might be isolated by the trade unions and smothered. WSWS reporters pointed to the strikes occurring around the US and the world in which workers have rebelled against the unions as well as the corporations, to which she responded, "workers need to coalesce around one another. We need to unite. I am not a part of a union because I am a contractor, but I hope something like that occurs." The event Wednesday was organized by a group of unions, including the National Federation of Federal Employees and the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE), which bargain on behalf government workers, as well as the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) and other unions representing some contractors. Union officials stood in silence for 33 minutes, one for each day of the shutdown. Following the event a group of about a dozen union bureaucrats, including AFGE President David Cox, chanted loudly outside Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell's office, leading to a staged arrest by Capitol Police. Throughout the 33-day shutdown, the unions have consciously limited their actions to impotent, scattered protests and stunts, promoting illusions in the Democratic Party, while steadfastly refusing to entertain workers demands for job action, including strikes. For out-of-work contractors like Kendra and Faye, the consequences of the shutdown and the union-imposed isolation are amplified, since they will likely not see a penny in back pay for the time they are furloughed. While Congress passed legislation ensuring that workers employed directly by the federal government eventually receive back pay after the shutdown ends, they refused to extend that benefit to the thousands of contracted museum guards, food service workers, custodians, information technology specialists, scientists and others out of work. An analysis by the Washington Postestimated that 10,000 companies holding contracts with the federal government have been affected by the partial shutdown, representing $200 million a week in value. The number of workers involved may be as high as 1.2 million according to Paul Light, a governmental studies professor at New York University. The US government as a whole employs around 3.7 million civilian contractors, nearly twice the number of federal civilian employees. The longer the shutdown drags on, the more companies are unable to pay bills and more employees are furloughed. David Berteau of the Professional Services Council, a group of 400 federal contractors, said last week during a call with reporters, we have tens of thousands of people laid off or not working in the nine cabinet agencies and other agencies shut down. Contractors are feeling more and more impact. Each day, were getting notices of stop-work orders from our member companies. For unpaid contractors and federal employees alike, going without pay for a month and counting is becoming intolerable. At the Hart Building rally Wednesday, another worker, Woby, said that federal employees "need to work." She was not interested in a hand out, she said. She felt federal workers were being held hostage "because of Trump's wall." Though Woby's husband works and she says she was okay, some of her co-workers were in "bad shape, one paycheck away from being homeless." Elizabeth, who works at the Department of Agriculture, said that she was absolutely against Trump's attacks on immigrants, calling the shutdown "self-inflicted by lawmakers." Explaining some of the functions from her job that were affected by the shutdown, she said, "the Department of Agriculture has overseas offices, whenever something like this occurs, food items sit at ports all across the world. This potentially can cause a logjam of goods which help American farmers produce crops." She also noted the "insanity" of Trump's trade war with China, which was impacting people all around the world. A growing number of workers are being compelled to find additional work in order to compensate for their lost wages. Around a hundred furloughed federal employees attended a hiring event for Fairfax County Public Schools in Virginia Wednesday. This was the third such event in which hundreds filled out applications for substitute teaching. Simone, a federal worker for 22 years currently working for the Environmental Protection Agency, told the WSWS, Its very frustrating to not know every single day what youre going to doif youre going to work. I am here a second time substituting. I substituted during the 17-day shutdown in 2012 as well. I planned ahead in early December. I had a sense this wouldnt be only a 3-day shutdown. I am here with my 10-year old daughter who is in fifth grade. She is trying to wrap her head around why mom is not going to work. She is happy that mom is home to make breakfast each morning but our food is rationed. I cut back on every single thing. Asked about the role the unions have played throughout the shutdown, she responded, I am very upset with the unions. They havent come to bat for us. I think we should take action like the Los Angeles teachers. At least four lawsuits have been filed against the Australian government and the security giant G4S, which the government contracted to guard its refugee prison camp on Papua New Guineas remote Manus Island. The former employees allege that G4S and the government deliberately put the security staff at risk, resulting in physical and psychological damage. Roderick St George, who worked as an occupational health and safety (OHS) manager, alleges that the conditions on the island were misrepresented to him. He says he was told there were approximately 130 men, women and children detained on the island and they were in good spirits. Instead, only men were imprisoned on the island. A statement of claim filed in the Victorian state Supreme Court states: Many of the male detainees at the centre were not in good spirits and some were predisposed to inflicting physical violence on themselves, on each other and on staff at the centre. The claim says G4S and the Australian government had a duty of care to provide their employees with a safe workplace, free from the risk of psychiatric injury. St Georges submission paints a picture of a tinderbox ready to explode. The camp had inadequate medical facilities, no running water, no electricity and mould forming on the tent walls. St George alleges that the staff lacked the correct training and resources to deal with the circumstances in the centre. As OHS manager, he claims he had a manifestly excessive workload, responsible for health and safety in a centre that was woefully under-equipped. Moreover, he was given further duties that included quality assurance, risk assessment and intelligence. After a disturbance broke out in April 2013, in which a number of detainees physically attacked the staff, including St George, he says he began to fear for his life due to the unpredictable and explosive tensions. In truth, the April riot was a predictable outcome of a string of events from January to April 2013, including mass hunger strikes and protests, as well as multiple self-harm incidents and suicide attempts. St George was so horrified by what he experienced while working for G4S that he resigned and became a whistle-blower. In a July 2013 interview with the Special Broadcasting Service (SBS) Dateline program, he said words really cant describe the conditions on Manus Island. I have never seen human beings so destitute, so helpless, and so hopeless before. St George said he took the job with the intention of making the place safer, but that it proved quite rapidly to be an impossibility. In Australia, the facility couldnt serve as a dog kennel. The owners would be jailed. St George told Dateline the place was a tinderbox waiting to explode. I believe its just a matter of time. Seven months later, St Georges warning came true. Three days of protests erupted in February 2014 after authorities organised a meeting of the approximately 1,300 detainees. They were informed that they would never be permitted to enter Australia and that the Papua New Guinea (PNG) government also refused to guarantee resettlement. G4S called in the notoriously brutal PNG Mobile Police Force which is Australian-funded. Joined by local thugs armed with machetes, and local security agents, they stormed the area, firing live ammunition at the detainees. More than 60 people were injured in the resulting carnage. In what amounted to a state-sanctioned murder, Iranian-Kurdish asylum seeker Reza Barati was hit twice with a block of nail-pierced wood, before a large rock was dropped on his head. Barati died from a heart attack triggered by his catastrophic head injuries. Labelled a riot by the Australian political establishment and the media, the WSWS explained at the time that the conflict bore all the hallmarks of a calculated provocation orchestrated by the Australian government. Former Prime Minister Tony Abbott and current Prime Minister Scott Morrison, who was immigration minister at the time, bear particular responsibility for these deaths, along with the previous Greens-backed Labor government that in 2012 reopened the Manus camp, and another on Nauru, an equally remote Pacific island. St George claims he suffered post-traumatic stress disorder, major depression and alcohol abuse. According to an opinion piece he wrote for the Sydney Morning Herald in March 2014, he resigned when instances of sexual abuse and torture of vulnerable inmates at the hands of fellow detainees were uncovered and the facilitys design made it impossible to protect the victims. Gregory Wisely, a former security officer, has submitted a claim that after the violence broke out in February 2014 he was struck in the head with a rock, causing a brain injury. As a result, he suffered post-traumatic stress disorder, neck and spine injuries and ongoing psychiatric problems, including depression. Wisely alleges that G4S provided him with little or no training as to the manner in which he should handle the traumatic or stressful situations and failed to listen to his complaints about the stress of the job. Wiselys submission further alleges that the Australian government failed in its duty of care to the staff at the detention centre because it failed to process detainees in a reasonable time frame, leading to high levels of stress and anxiety. Moreover, the government failed to keep detainees informed about what was happening. Another former security officer, Grant Potter, alleges that G4S knew by at least September 2013 that tensions at the centre had increased due to frustration among detainees because of the governments policies. Moreover, Potter says G4S employed incompetent and malicious security staff, who escalated the violence at the premises during the riots and contributed to the death of one transferee and the injury to other transferees. Another former officer at the centre, Peter Baehnisch, alleges he was injured during the same riots. In its defence filed to the court, G4S says it acted on behalf of the Australian government, which asserted control and direction over provision of services to detainees. These cases point to the level of prior knowledge that the government, the immigration department and G4S had about the escalating tensions on the island. The February 2014 disturbance was used as a springboard to further worsen the conditions of asylum seekers. Morrison blamed the asylum seekers and exploited the violent crackdown as a deterrent to other refugees seeking asylum in Australia. Since 2010 there have been 37 deaths in Australias detention centres, both the offshore facilities on Manus and Nauru and the onshore camps on the mainland and Christmas Island, an Indian Ocean outpost. The entire Australian political establishment is culpable for these crimes, including the Labor Party, the Greens and the Liberal-National Coalition. They pioneered the cruel treatment of refugees that was later imposed across Europe and in the United States. The author recommends: Twenty-two deaths reported in immigrant detention centers since Trump took office [8 January 2018] The US recognition of Juan Guaido as the self-proclaimed and unelected interim president of Venezuela marks the initiation of a right-wing coup engineered in Washington. Guaido swore himself in Wednesday before a mass anti-government rally in Caracas. Virtually simultaneously, Donald Trump tweeted: The citizens of Venezuela have suffered for too long at the hands of the illegitimate Maduro regime. Today, I have officially recognized the President of the Venezuelan National Assembly, Juan Guaido, as the Interim President of Venezuela. This attempt at regime change by tweet has been supported by a number of right-wing governments in Latin America, including that of the fascistic former army officer, Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, who was inaugurated at the beginning of the year. Canada also quickly fell into line behind Washingtons conspiracy, while the Macron government in France has reportedly begun discussions within the European Union aimed at drumming up support for Washingtons puppet. Russia, Turkey and Mexico reiterated their recognition of Nicolas Maduro as Venezuelas constitutionally elected president, as did Cuba and Bolivia. Washingtons recognition of Guaido as president constitutes a naked intervention by US imperialism with the aim of achieving its own predatory aims in Venezuela, which boasts the worlds largest proven oil reserves. At the same time, it is aimed at rolling back the influence in the hemisphere of Russia and China, which have both established close economic and political ties with Caracas. This regime change operation has been two decades in the making, from the abortive 2002 CIA-orchestrated coup against Maduros late predecessor, Hugo Chavez, under George W. Bush, through the imposition of sanctions by the Obama administration and its designation of Venezuela as an extraordinary threat to the national security and foreign policy of the United States. By in effect throwing US support to a rival government, the Trump administration is seeking to create the conditions for a military coup or even civil war within Venezuela as well as a US military intervention from without. Venezuelan President Maduro responded to the US intervention by breaking off diplomatic relations with Washington and ordering all US diplomatic personnel to leave the country within 72 hours. Guaido, no doubt operating in close consultation with the State Department, countermanded Maduros decree, declaring that he, as interim president, was asking US officials in the country to remain in place. The State Department has responded that it will ignore Maduros order, setting the stage for a confrontation that can be used as the pretext for US intervention. In statements to reporters on Wednesday, Trump made it clear that military intervention is under active consideration. Asked by reporters whether he was contemplating sending US troops to Venezuela, he responded that all options are on the table. A US official speaking not for attribution told reporters that if the Maduro government acted against Guaido and his supporters, their days will be numbered, while media reports indicated that Washington is considering a naval blockade of Venezuela to stop its oil exports and the seizure of Venezuelan assets in the US on the supposed behalf of the interim president. Maduro, for all of the rhetoric about Bolivarian Socialism, heads a capitalist government that defends private property in Venezuela and has imposed the full burden of the countrys deep-going economic crisis onto the backs of the Venezuelan working class, whose strikes and protests have been brutally repressed. Under Maduro and his predecessor, the late Hugo Chavez, private control of the countrys economy actually grew and the profits of the financial sector soared, as the government diverted vast social wealth to meet debt payments to Wall Street and the international banks. Nonetheless, the claims from the Trump administration that this government is illegitimate and that Washington is standing for democracy are nothing short of obscene. This same administration, it should be noted, has no problem with the legitimacy of the murderous police state monarchy of Prince Mohamed bin Salman in Saudi Arabia, the dictatorship of Gen. Sisi in Egypt or the various similar regimes that constitute Washingtons principal allies in the Middle East. On less specious grounds than Washington is using to declare Maduro an usurper, any government in the world could claim that Trumps own governmentelected with less popular votes than those of his opponent and opposed by the majority of the American peopleis illegitimate and should be overthrown. Moreover, any regime that emerges from the US-backed operation in Venezuela will be a right-wing dictatorship of the banks, big business and foreign capital that will organize a bloodbath against the Venezuelan working class that will far eclipse the massacre carried out in 1989 against the Caracazo, the popular revolt of the countrys workers and poor against IMF austerity. The principal pillar of the bourgeois nationalist government headed by Chavez and Maduro has been the military, with senior officers controlling key sectors of the government and the national economy. Washington is hoping that this will become the governments Achilles Heel, with senior commanders persuaded to change sides and carry out a coup. It was revealed last year that US officials repeatedly met between the fall of 2017 and the beginning of last year with a group of Venezuelan military officers seeking US support for the overthrow of Maduro. These contacts failed to reach fruition because Washington believed that the conspiracy was insufficiently prepared. These calculations may now have changed. An isolated uprising by a group of national guardsmen who seized arms and police stations on Monday has been followed yesterday with a video statement from division Gen. Jesus Alberto Milano Mendoza, appearing together with other officers, declaring that the army should revolt against Maduro and that the high command should not serve as the armed branch of the government for its personal benefit. Milano Mendoza had previously served as the chief of Chavezs presidential guard. It is not just Trump and the CIA supporting the Venezuelan coup and the sharp lurch to the right in Latin America. This was made abundantly clear at the World Economic Forum which opened this week in the exclusive Swiss Alpine resort of Davos, bringing together global billionaire CEOs, bankers, hedge fund managers, celebrities and government leaders and officials. Davos rolled out the red carpet for Jair Bolsonaro, the fascistic ex-army officer who was inaugurated as Brazils president at the beginning of the year. Bolsonaro delivered a bizarre and stunningly short keynote speech to open the forum. Investors present were described as excited by the prospect of increased profits under a new government headed by an individual who has voiced his support for the former Brazilian military dictatorship and its murder and torture of left-wing opponents, and who has packed his government with generals and right-wing ideologues. Bolsonaro cast himself as part of a continent-wide crusade for political reaction, declaring, The left will not prevail in this region, which is good, I think, not only for South America, but also for the world. He received a positive response from the representatives of financial oligarchies and their respective governments that all feel themselves besieged by intensifying economic crisis and a resurgence of the struggle of the working class on an international scale. All of them are looking towards methods of dictatorship, authoritarianism, repression, censorship and outright fascism as a means of defending their wealth and rule. Within the United States itself, despite the internecine political warfare in Washington, there are no disagreements about the unfolding Venezuelan coup. US Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin issued a statement Wednesday hailing the State Department stooge Guaido and his supporters as brave patriots who see a more hopeful and democratic future for the Venezuelan people. And, on the day that Guaido declared himself president, the New York Times published a glowing tribute to the right-wing political operative under the headline As Venezuela crumbles, a new voice of dissent emerges. It did not bother to inform its readership that this new voice is a paid mouthpiece for the US State Department. The same newspaper, the erstwhile voice of bourgeois establishment liberalism in the US, praised the abortive CIA coup against Chavez in 2002, declaring that Venezuelan democracy is no longer threatened after an elected president had been dragged from his office and arrested and a military-backed business association leader had been proclaimed president. The unfolding coup in Venezuela has implications for the whole of Latin America and the entire planet. It is part of the shipwreck of the so-called left turn that began at the beginning of the millennium, the advent of a number of bourgeois nationalist governments that diverted a share of booming commodity revenues into modest social welfare programs and utilized a rising China to offset US influence in the region. Promoted by Pabloite and other pseudo-left tendencies internationally as a new form of socialism, this Pink Tide only served to politically disarm the working class in the face of the inevitable turn to reaction and repression. Moreover, it is inseparable from a turn by the international bourgeoisie toward reaction and dictatorial forms of rule, from Trumps threat to impose a state of emergency, to Macrons embrace of Petain, the emergence of the fascistic AfD as the main opposition party in Germany and the consolidation of the extreme rights grip over the government in Italy. Everywhere, the domination of a narrow financial oligarchy is incompatible with democratic forms of rule. The political crisis in Venezuela can only be resolved in a progressive manner by the independent intervention of the working class. What is required is not the intervention of the military, but rather the arming of the masses. The resolution of the countrys underlying economic crisis is possible only through the seizure of bourgeois property and the placing of Venezuelas vast oil wealth under popular control. Popular assemblies must be established to carry out such a program, while appealing to the workers and oppressed throughout the Americas for support. The working class in the United States must oppose the reactionary intervention of the Trump administration and fight to unite its struggles with those of the workers in Venezuela and throughout Latin America against the common enemy, the capitalist system. Ontarios Progressive Conservative government announced last week that it is gutting funding for the Ontario Student Assistance Program (OSAP). The changes include: eliminating a free tuition program for low-income students; dramatically curtailing access to grants, meaning students and especially low-income students, will be forced to incur more debt; and eliminating a six-month grace period before university and college graduates have to begin paying back loans obtained through OSAP. Outraged students have called a rally in Toronto tomorrow to protest the gutting of student aid. Also last week, the Ford government imposed a cut in college and university budgets through the back door. In a cynical maneuver aimed at distracting attention from its OSAP cuts, the government announced that student tuition fees will be rolled back by 10 percent for the 2019-20 schoolyear. However, the government is not increasing funding to the provinces post-secondary institutions to compensate for this rollback. As a result, Ontarios universities will lose $360 million in revenues in the coming academic year a shortfall that will be made up through increased class-sizes and other cuts. The provinces 24 applied arts and technology colleges will suffer an $80 million loss. Additionally, Fullerton announced that starting next fall students will be able to choose not to pay many of the ancillary fees that are imposed on their tuition to cover campus services and student extra-curricular activities and organizations, including clubs and student unions. Student union leaders and university support workers have indicated that these opt-out provisions will cause student unions to reduce services such as food banks and legal aid clinics. The free tuition program was part of the Liberals' cynical posturing as a progressive party ahead of the 2018 Ontario provincial elections. The Liberals implemented sweeping cuts to education, healthcare, and other critical public and social services between 2010 and 2017. Then, in a desperate attempt to avert an electoral blowout, they made a feint left, by enhancing OSAP grants, modestly increasing the minimum-wage, and limiting employers ability to make last-minute changes to the schedules of workers on zero-hour contracts. The Ford government's shredding of education grants for low-income students is part of a much broader assault on working people across the province. Since coming to power last June in a landslide victory over the despised Liberals, Ford has initiated a drive to cut billions from social spending, cancelled a $1 an hour minimum increase, slashed welfare benefits, gutted protections for temporary and on-call workers, and given employers increased power to force workers to work long hours without overtime pay. Ford has combined this class-war assault with the cultivation of reaction, including a vile campaign to scapegoat refugee claimantsmany of them fleeing Trump's anti-immigrant crackdown in the USfor the lack of social housing and other services. In reality, dilapidated services, rising poverty and homelessness, and the expansion of precarious, part-time employment are the direct products of more than three decades of right-wing austerity policies implemented by all of the major parties, including the trade union-backed New Democratic Party. If students are to defeat the Ford government's assault on the right to a quality education, they must turn to the working class, the only social force with the power to break the stranglehold big business exercises over all social-economic life. There is growing opposition among working people in Ontario, across Canada and internationally to capitalist austerity and rampant social inequality. Student protests are erupting in Ontario as opposition grows among General Motors workers to the automaker's plans to axe 15,000 jobs and shut five plants in Canada and the US, and as more than 70,000 impoverished workers in Matamoros, Mexico, are in their second week of a strike for higher pay and improved working conditions. In Europe, France has been convulsed by mass Yellow Vest anti-austerity protests for the past two months. It is to this growing movement of the Canadian and international working class that students in Ontario must turn. Nothing will be gained by campus protests limited to appealing to Ford and Fullerton to retract their plans, or aimed at pressuring the pro-capitalist trade unions to fight, as advocated by the Canadian Federation of Students and pseudo-left groups like Fightback. A turn to the working class means fighting to develop an independent political movement of the working class in opposition to the trade unions, which for decades have suppressed and isolated working class resistance, while openly backing pro-austerity, and pro-war Liberal, NDP and Parti Quebecois (PQ) governments. The unions staunchly supported the Dalton McGuinty and Kathleen Wynne Ontario Liberal governments, as they outlawed strikes by school teachers and college instructors, dramatically raised tuition fees, slashed social spending, and privatized public services like Hydro One. In the seven months since Ford assumed the reins of power, the Ontario Federation of Labour (OFL) has not called a single protest demonstration, let alone sought to prepare a genuine working class counter-offensive. The unions adamant opposition to any working class challenge to the Ford government is underscored by the large countdown clock that greats visitors to the OFL's website. Measured down to the second, it informs them that there are slightly less than three-and-a-half years until the next provincial election, when Ontarians will get the chance to vote for a progressive governmentthat is for an alternative rightwing government headed by the Liberals or NDP. The unions are terrified that working class opposition to Ford will escape their control and threaten the competitive position and rule of Canadian capital. In May 2012, at precisely the point that the Quebec students militant strike against tuition fee-hikes was becoming a catalyst for a broader movement of the working class, the trade unions, under the banner After the Streets, to the Ballot Box, moved to shut it down, while diverting opposition to austerity behind the election of a big business PQ government. As for the NDP, it refused to provide even nominal support for the students and voted in favor of a federal Conservative motion upholding the Quebec Liberal governments right to criminalize the student protest. Students looking for a way to fight Fords attacks must recognize that this struggle pits them not just against his reactionary government, but against the austerity agenda of the entire ruling class. This includes the trade union-backed, Justin Trudeau-led federal Liberal government. Behind a smokescreen of vapid progressive rhetoric, the Trudeau Liberals have expanded Canadas participation in Washingtons principal military-strategic offensives, announced plans to increase military-spending by more than 70 percent by 2026, cut tens of billions from healthcare, and handed billions of dollars in new tax breaks and other subsidies to the corporate elite. And just like Harper, Trudeau has criminalized postal worker job action so Canada Post can impose further concessions and expand precarious and multi-tier jobs. The claims of the capitalist elite and their political representatives that there is no money for education and other vital public services are self-serving lies. Technology has rendered labor vastly more productive than ever before. What stands in the way of the wealth produced by the working class being used to raise living standards and better peoples lives is the subordination of social-economic life to investor profit. Students must fuse their struggle against education cuts and the gutting of student aid and for education to be a recognized social right with the resurgent movement of the working class in Canada and around the world. By so doing they can contribute to the development of an independent political movement of the working class, freed from the grip of the bureaucratic trade union apparatuses, and armed with a socialist strategy to bring to powers a workers government. Such a government would radically reorganize socio-economic life so as to make fulfilling social needs, not capitalist profit, the animating principle. The strike of tens of thousands of Matamoros maquiladora workers is set to grow on Friday as the legal cooling off deadline for a citywide strike expires, meaning many more plants will likely walk out. As workers are eager to expand the strike wave, all of the forces supporting the capitalist class are scrambling to shut the strike down. Workers are now faced with a choice: either they maintain their momentum and build their power through their emerging factory committees or they forfeit the initiative over to the government and the unions. Yesterday, Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador (AMLO) heeded the demands of the unions and corporations and addressed the strike in his morning press conference, making clear he was counting on the unions to intervene to shut the strike down: We are looking for conciliation and agreement above all in Matamoros, he said. There is inconformity, and they havent reached an agreement. It seems the workers have rebelled against their union leaders, and the matter has grown out of control. Although it is not a matter of our direct attention to put ourselves into the life of the unions, we must be respectful if we are looking for a fix and conciliation. AMLOs comments show that the unions, the Movement for National Regeneration (Morena) government and the corporations are engaged in the same conspiracy as before the strike when they robbed workers of wage hikes and bonuses. All calls for bringing the situation under control and finding conciliation mean forfeiting the 20 percent wage increase and payment of the promised bonus. It means forcing workers to give in to the demands of the companies. The threats of federal intervention heighten the possibility that the government will use violence to break the strike. Meanwhile, workers gathered in the central plaza for a mass assembly yesterday, with some carrying signs that read AMLO they say you betrayed us. Workers are correct to oppose AMLOs appeals for conciliation and must convince their coworkers that AMLO is not their ally. After all, it was AMLO who just cut the tax rate for maquiladoras from 30 to 20 percent and allowed them to slash benefits as a result of the fraudulent minimum wage bill. While AMLO appeals for conciliation, the corporations and the unions engage in threats and acts of physical violence. A striker was brutally beaten by unidentified thugs on Monday, and workers report mass firings in response to the strike. Personalities close to the union and Morena are posturing as friends of the workers while urging them to appeal to the government and the trade unions for support. This is a recipe for disaster. Labor lawyer and Morena activist Susana Prieto, who campaigned for pro-maquiladora Morena candidate Javier Gonzalez Mocken in the Ciudad Juarez mayoral election in 2018, has urged workers to trust the AMLO government. Mocken met with Maquiladora owners in June 2018 and said he wanted to make deals with the corporations, adding, I ask you to join me in constituting part of the municipal government if the election result is in our favor. At yesterdays public assembly, she told workers, I dont think the federal government is in disagreement with what were doing. Prieto speaks out of both sides of her mouth. While verbally claiming to oppose the trade union leaders as sell-outs, Prieto said she and union leader Juan Villafuerte have a congenial relationship and that he just called me to say the negotiation was continuing. She added, We have converted ourselves into caretakers of the actions of Mr. Villafuerte so that he does what the working class wants. Last week, Prieto said, Fellow workers, you have to pressure, to begin with, the union. You cannot free yourselves from Villafuerte for now. Prieto also denounced news articles workers are reading on social media. This was a clear attack on the World Socialist Web Site, the only international publication which has written about the strike. Demanding that workers follow her Facebook page and ignore all other accounts, she said, Dont follow whatever garbage you read on social media. She denounced workers for having opinionitisi.e., for forming their own political views. She previously demanded there be no politics in the strike. An anonymous Matamoros worker told the WSWS, I think [Prieto] does not want to really help. Everything is a mafia here in Mexico. Nowadays it is hard to really trust anyone that has to do with politics. The worker said she follows the WSWS coverage: It is great! Good job. Thanks for putting out the truth. At a demonstration Tuesday, Prieto invited a local figure, Mario Ramos, to launch a 15-minute diatribe against socialism and its influence in the strike. Nothing they say on social media is true, he said. This movement is not communist nor socialist. It doesnt appear to me that you can have a peaceful movement if you are socialists or communists. He asked, Do you want to be like Venezuela? Ramos said, Im a capitalist, I like money, to which Prieto nodded and said, me too. Ramos continued, saying, Im going to tell you how to organize and suggested workers take down their red and black strike flags in exchange for the religious image of the Virgin of Guadalupe. He demanded workers call the attention of President Lopez Obrador. The striking workers grew hostile and began to laugh and shout Ramos down. He continued to lecture workers on the benefits of capitalism and the evils of socialism, at which point workers angry shouts drowned him out. When he asked the crowd if he could speak later, the workers yelled No! and burst into applause when he finally stopped talking. This emerging revolutionary fighting spirit among the workers is the source of strength that workers must tap into to win their strike. Workers have broken from the pro-company trade unions and are electing their own leaders from each factory to form a citywide strike committee. They are also reportedly establishing self-defense committees to protect strikers from violence. Instead of listening to the half-truths and double-speak of Prieto the capitalist, workers must fight to ensure the independence of their committees and must not trust those who tell them to let AMLO and the unions control the situation. Matamoran workers must control the strike. They presently occupy a position of strength. Their powerful independent initiative has both shuttered sweatshop production and provoked a crisis within the US, Canadian and Mexican ruling classes. The most powerful North American auto companies are hurt by the strike. A Ford worker told the World Socialist Web Site: I work at Flat Rock Assembly and can confirm we are laid off this week due to a parts shortage, from the looks of it, it may extend longer. Tens of thousands of workers in the US and Canada are eagerly reading the coverage of the strike on the World Socialist Web Site and are sending more messages of support to their Matamorense allies: Robert, a Fiat Chrysler worker at the Jeep plant in Toledo, Ohio, said, I fully support our brothers from down south who are striking to gain fair wages and bonuses. Its a human right worth fighting for to have a living wage and to be able to raise a family without working yourself to death. To enjoy life and your family is worth workers of all countries taking a stand and fighting for living wages that make sure every worker who is putting in a week of work doesnt have to live in poverty." Robert also called on all workers to support a demonstration to be held on February 9 by autoworkers in Detroit against plans by GM to shut plants. The demonstration will call for all workers to support the Mexican strike and build links across national boundaries for a common struggle: I call on every member of the auto industry to stand and let GM know that their greed will not stand in this world one minute longer. Tommie, a skilled trades worker at Fords Woodhaven Stamping Plant, just outside of Detroit, said, Its great to know that workers south of the border are fighting the same class struggle as North American workers. The only way we can defend the working class is for all workers around the world not to bend to union complicity and corporate profits. We must stand with the Mexican walkouts. Tommie added, All workers should attend the February 9 demonstration to fight the GM plant closings. Angela, a Fiat Chrysler worker from Kokomo, Indiana and a member of the Steering Committee of the Coalition of Rank-and-File Committees, said, All workers around the world need one another. What we have in common is everything. I stand with you in solidarity because we need each other and because together we are unstoppable. In a global economy, the international unity of the working class is a strategic necessity. Workers who wish to form a common international strategy should contact us by email at autoworkers@wsws.org or via our Facebook page in order to take up these crucial steps. For more information on the February 9 rally in Detroit, visit wsws.org/aut wsws.org/aut. Stories Summary of Major Findings Data and Maps Residential segregation between blacks and whites persists today, even though Congress outlawed overt housing discrimination a half century ago. The most segregated metropolitan areas, though, are not the Southern cities that were the battlefields of the civil rights movement; they are older cities in the Northeast and Midwest that absorbed black residents during the Great Migration.But why are so many cities and metropolitan areas still split along racial lines? And what is the role of local government in reinforcing those divides?To answer those questions, Governingconducted a six-month investigation of black-white segregation in the small cities of downstate Illinois. The area is the veritable byword for Middle America, and it helped launch the political careers of Abraham Lincoln and Barack Obama. But it also includes some of the most segregated places in the country.Segregation may be more pronounced in major metropolitan areas, like Chicago and Detroit, but our investigation found that it is a common feature in smaller metro areas, too. Whats more, by looking at small cities, we were able to distill some of the common problems in local government that exacerbate segregation, in areas such as housing, schools and law enforcement.Americas racial divide runs right through the Heartland. Examining segregation in these Midwestern cities provides a lens for viewing much larger patterns in the country as a whole.The black-white divide is still a major problem. Government policies are partially to blame.Segregated schools arent just the products of segregated neighborhoods. In many cases, predominantly white schools are driving the racial divide.Decades of local zoning regulations and land use policies have kept racial segregation firmly rooted in place.Cities' efforts to get tough on crime can make it harder for low-income residents to find good jobs and housing.The Peoria area had the sixth-highest level of segregation measured between blacks and whites of any metro area in the country, while the Danville area ranked 12th nationally. Kankakee, Rockford and Springfield were similarly among the top third most segregated metro areas between black and whites.Levels of segregation within the Champaign-Urbana, Danville and Peoria areas have remained essentially unchanged since 1980, counter to prevailing national downward trends.Many areas of Illinois have experienced significant white flight over the past several decades. This pattern has continued in recent years in some urban neighborhoods. ( View map Our analysis of federal data found the Peoria metro area had the most segregated schools between black and white students of any area nationally, regardless of size. The problem is prevalent throughout the state, with black-white school segregation in eight of 10 Illinois metro areas in the top third in the U.S. Only Bloomington-Normal and Carbondale recorded lower levels of segregation.Segregation within individual school districts is much less severe than in entire metro areas, suggesting school district boundaries contribute to segregation.Over the past 15 years, nearly all large urban downstate Illinois school districts lost at least a third of white student enrollment. Suburban school districts haven't experienced nearly the same declines.Racial disparities in household incomes are severe throughout Illinois. In Springfield, differences between median black and white incomes were greater than any other metro area nationally. They were also among the top 10 percent in the Bloomington-Normal, Decatur, Kankakee and Peoria metro areas.The latest Census estimates suggest Peoria has the highest black poverty rate of any larger metro area. Several other Illinois metro areas similarly recorded among the steepest black poverty rates nationally. More than 50 students and young workers participated Tuesday in the final meeting in the campaign of the International Youth and Students for Social Equality (IYSSE) for the student parliament election at Humboldt University in Berlin. Wednesday was the last day for students to cast their vote for the socialists, who are on the ballot as List 5. The meeting was titled Socialism or barbarism: How can the rise of the far-right be stopped? It began with a speech on this question by Christoph Vandreier, the author of the book Why are They Back? and deputy leader of the Sozialistische Gleichheitspartei (Socialist Equality PartySGP). Vandreier began his speech by noting that the rise of right-wing extremist tendencies is not limited to Germany, but is an international phenomenon. In the United States, Trump is an unrestrained nationalist and is using the government shutdown to move toward a dictatorial regime. In Italy and Austria, right-wing extremists and fascists are in government. In recent days, Italys interior minister in a single decree declared 125,000 people to be illegally in the country and gave the go-ahead for their mass deportation. Such are the criminal policies that are responsible for nothing short of mass murder in the Mediterranean, said Vandreier. It is no exaggeration to speak of capitalist barbarism, he stressed, pointing out that Last weekend alone, 170 people died in the Mediterranean due to inadequate rescue services. He went on to explain that in Germany, the Alternative for Germany (AfD) was being strengthened in order to impose a right-wing agenda of military rearmament, social cutbacks and dictatorial measures. In the army, the police and intelligence agencies, right-wing extremist networks were active, he added. They were well known, tolerated and intentionally downplayed by the media. The collusion between right-wing extremists and the establishment has been on full display here at Humboldt University, he continued. Right-wing extremists tear down our placards, attack students who put them up, and try to disrupt our meetings. The university administration continues to back these forces and is taking joint action with them against the Student Council and threatening student critics. He stressed that the rise of the far-right was rooted in the historic crisis of capitalism, and that a struggle against fascism therefore had to involve a struggle against the capitalist system. The same contradictions that led to the barbarism of the 20th century are erupting today once again: social inequality, nationalism and imperialism, Vandreier said. He cited the recently published Oxfam report, which found that the wealth of the worlds billionaires grew last year by 900 billion, or 12 percent. The poorest half of humanity, some 3.8 billion people, suffered a decline of 11 percent in their wealth over the same period. This rapid growth of social inequality is destroying the foundations of all democratic structures, he said. Bourgeois rule is no longer compatible with democracy, which is why the right-wing extremists are being encouraged from above. However, there is a mounting counteroffensive, Vandreier pointed out. The growth of strikes and workers struggles in numerous countries, the Yellow Vest protests in France and other social protests were clear signs of the return of major class battles. Everything now depended on the construction of a revolutionary socialist leadership in the working class. This requires a relentless political struggle against those who call themselves lefts but pursue right-wing policies. The role of such pseudo-left forces is to suppress every working-class movement, he stated. Vandreier detailed the role played by Syriza in Greece, which, in coalition with the right-wing extremist Independent Greeks, imposed much deeper austerity than its conservative and social democratic predecessors managed to impose. In Berlin, added Vandreier, the Left Party imposed more brutal cuts in alliance with the Social Democratic Party than any other German state government. Vandreier concluded by saying: We explicitly declare that it is possible to oppose the far-right only if we criticize those in the Left Party responsible for fostering the growth of the far-right, and thereby enable the workers to conduct an independent struggle. Sven Wurm, spokesman for the IYSSE and a candidate for the student parliament, began his remarks by stating that at Humboldt University all the major political conflicts and questions were present in a concentrated form: the resurrection of right-wing ideology and the justifications for imperialist great power politics and authoritarian forms of rule. He vividly detailed the IYSSEs political struggle at HU over the past five years, which began with the question of whether the universities would remain centres of scholarship and the free exchange of ideas, or become, as they have previously in German history, state-directed training camps for militarist and right-wing ideologies? He continued: When Professor Herfried Munkler declared that it was wrong to hold Germany responsible for the crimes in World War I and the barbaric Nazi terror in World War II, and when Jorg Baberowski told Der Spiegel, Hitler was not a psychopath, he was not vicious, and defended the Nazi apologist Ernst Nolte, all that was heard from the professoriate was a deafening silence. When the IYSSE campaigned against this, Wurm continued, they came under attack from the university administration. Three years ago, Sabine Kunst, the former universities minister in Brandenburg, was hired as HU president to defend Baberowski and push ahead with the universitys transformation into a right-wing militarist think tank. Wurm explained how the IYSSE managed to develop resistance among students. It was necessary to repeatedly emphasise that the falsifications of history were directly connected with the federal governments right-wing policies and the return of German militarism, he said. Over the past week, the student parliament voted overwhelmingly in favour of the resignation of the HU presidium, composed of Kunst and Ludwig Kronthaler. That was an important step forward, Wurm declared. He posed the question, Why were we able to explain these issues so clearly at such an early stage? Why are we the only ones who explain the events at HU within their broader political context and mobilise opposition against them? It is not merely because we are especially engaged with the task, he said. Of course we are. But the real reason is our approach to political questions. We are the student and youth movement of the International Committee of the Fourth International. We are Trotskyists and base our work on the scientific foundation of Marxism. The third speech was attentively followed by the audience. Genevieve Leigh, a leading member of the IYSSE in the United States, spoke via livestream. She detailed the situation in the United States and reported that anger and disgust with Trump's attacks on refugees and immigrants is continually growing. But what is the character of the so-called opposition? she asked. The Democrats are obsessively focused on provoking a war with Russia. They have been transformed into an organisation of warmongers, she said. In the same way that the grand coalition of the Christian Democratic Union/Christian Social Union and Social Democratic Party in Germany has paved the way for the AfDs rise and adopted its policies, the Democrats in the US are Trumps trailblazers, she said. Trump is one expression of a deeply dysfunctional society in the US, and the Democrats are another. It is very important for workers and young people in Europe to understand that there are two Americas, stated Leigh. On the one side is the America of the rich with their bombs and missiles, and on the other there is the America of the working class, the vast majority of the population, which has no interest in war and global surveillance by the NSA, but fights for peace and social equality. Leigh then explained how the teachers strikes had spread across the US, and how the IYSSE had intervened in many cities to fight for a socialist and internationalist program. She reported that the IYSSE in Michigan was directly involved in preparing a workers meeting in early December at which a resolution was passed to oppose layoffs and plant shutdowns at General Motors by forming independent rank-and-file action committees. In conclusion, she noted, Political education is the most important thing for all young people and students around the world who want to fight for socialism and against war and reaction. The historical lessons contained in the Trotskyist movement in particular have to be studied, she continued. The IYSSE in the US therefore combines its interventions on university campuses and at factories with a study of the history of the Fourth International. All of the speeches evoked great interest and lively discussion. IYSSE reporters spoke with participants after the meeting. Max, who works for a commercial firm, thought the meeting was very informative. He said, I thought the speeches were very clarifying. I dont study at HU, but I was made aware of the meeting by my sister, who Im here with today. And I must say that after the speeches, I find the IYSSEs good work is very appealing. In the wake of the sharp falls in the US stock market in December, partly over concerns about the trade conflict with China, US President Trump sought to massage the markets with the message that discussions were going well and he was confident of a deal. However, in the lead up to the crucial meeting between US Trade Representative (USTR) Robert Lighthizer and Chinas Vice Premier Liu He in Washington on January 30-31, the wide gap between the sides was on view again this week. The top-level meeting will be crucial in determining whether the US proceeds to impose a 25 percent tariff of $200 billion worth of Chinese goods when a deadline for negotiations expires on March 1. The Financial Times reported earlier this week that an offer by China to send two vice ministers to prepare the way for the meeting was turned down by the US. It said the reasons for the rejection of preliminary discussions were lack of progress on US allegations of forced technology transfers and its demands for structural changes in the Chinese economy related to subsidies for state-owned enterprises. Larry Kudlow, the head of the National Economic Council, denied there had been any planned meeting and said the US was moving towards negotiations. But in an interview with the business channel CNBC on Tuesday, he emphasised the key US demands saying enforcement was crucial to the success of the talks. Promises are great but enforcement is what we wantthings like deadlines and timetables and full coverage of the various structural issues. He emphasised that the end-of-the-month meeting would be very important and determinative. According to the Financial Times, Chinese negotiators are maintaining their position that foreign companies are not forced to make technology transfers. Any agreements by US companies to do so are part of commercial agreements reached to ensure access to Chinese markets. They maintain that US demands on intellectual property should be covered by recent changes in Chinese laws. The US has made it clear, however, that it will not be satisfied with changes in Chinese regulations. It will want to establish some kind of enforcement, or even inspection regime that would amount to a significant infringement of the authority of the Chinese government. The US is also not likely to be satisfied with the recent downplaying by Beijing of its Made in China 2025 program for high-tech and industrial development which Washington regards as a threat to its economic and military dominance. In his latest comments on the negotiations, Trump said things were going very well with China on trade and a deal could very well happen by the March 1 deadline. However, US Senator Chuck Grassley, a political ally of Trump, said he had been told in a briefing by Lighthizer that there has not been any progress on the structural changes that need to be made. The demand that China roll back its state-backed industrial development was also the key issue raised in a joint report to the office of the US Trade Representative (USTR) by two major business organisations published in the Wall Street Journal on Tuesday. In their submission, the US Chamber of Commerce and the American Chamber of Commerce in China said Beijings push to become a leader in global technology was being implemented. There was a deep, concerted and continuing effort by provincial officials to pursue the Made in China 2025 plan despite the recent efforts of Chinese officials to downplay its significance. The chambers report expressed some criticism of the widespread use of tariffs, noting the importance of the Chinese market for US firms. However, it emphasised support for the findings of last years report under section 301 of the Trade Actthe basis of Trumps anti-China measureson alleged Chinese intellectual property violations, technology transfers and state interventions in the economy. It said addressing these issues required permanent, verifiable and enforceable solutions. The report said the distortionary impact of Chinas industrial policies and the subsidies that underpin them were harming US interests. It indicated that the two business bodies would not be satisfied with a commitment by China to simply increase its purchases of US products. While reducing the trade deficit and purchases of US exports may be one aspect of the negotiations, we urge the US government to prioritize outcomes that address structural challenges posed by Chinas economic policies and practices. Leading Democrats have also demanded that the Trump administration address the issue of Chinas industrial and technological development and not settle on a deal that simply increases US exports. In a statement to the Financial Times earlier this month, Richard Neal, the incoming Democratic chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, which has oversight of US trade policy, said: USTR has an obligation to look beyond the political pressures of the moment and easy, one-off transactions, and secure real and lasting change to Chinas anti-competitive behaviour. In another indication of Democrat support for the position of the most hard-line anti-China hawks within the Trump administration, Ohio Senator Sherrod Brown told the newspaper that if Trump wanted to fulfil his promise of getting tough on China, he needs to secure a deal that includes long-term structural reforms that will stop Chinas unfair trade practices. The anti-China push is extending into the criminal justice system, the most immediate expression of which has been the detention of Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou in Canada on US demands that she be extradited to face charges that the company breached US sanctions against Iran. The Wall Street Journal has reported that the US is seeking to weaponize its criminal courts against Huawei and other Chinese firms. The Trump administration is looking to use indictments, along with export controls and other policy tools, as part of an arsenal to counter Chinese theft of trade and technology secrets, which US officials increasingly view as part of national security. This is leading to a more aggressive effort to turn corporate squabbles into criminal charges. The article followed the revelation that federal authorities are investigating the bringing of charges against Huawei following a conflict, involving the filing of civil suits, between the company and T-Mobile over the robotic technology. On another front, members of the US Congress, both Democrat and Republican, have raised whether Huaweis sales of solar panel equipment in the US could threaten the American electricity grid. Tom Marino, a Pennsylvania Democrat, has written to the US Energy Secretary Rick Perry saying he was concerned that the companys entrance into large-scale and residential solar markets may pose a threat to our nations infrastructure. The deepening hostility to China across the entire US business and political establishment means that rather than the talks next week producing an agreement, they may well lead to a further escalation in the deepening economic and trade war. The ongoing strike by over 70,000 workers in Matamoros, Mexico has been met with a media blackout by the major print and broadcast outlets. The strike is a rebellion against the hated trade unions that have suppressed the workers opposition to poverty wages and slave labor conditions, and was organized and continues to be conducted by means of social media. For over a week, the New York Times, the Washington Post, CNN, PBS, ABC, CBS and NBC, together with every other large English-language media establishment, have failed to report on one of the most important and newsworthy developments of the new year. The World Socialist Web Site has been the only English-language publication to systematically cover the strike, publishing extensive reporting and interviews on the struggle every day since January 15. A search for Matamoros on Google news, for example, generates a list whose top six articles are from the WSWS, with no other English-language coverage of the strike. The World Socialist Web Sites coverage has been widely readboth in English and Spanishthroughout Mexico, in the United States and all over the world. In total, the articles have been viewed 20,000 times, and have consistently been among the most-read pages on the WSWS. The wide readership for the WSWSs coverage makes clear that reporting on the strike is not only newsworthy, but popular. Thus, the failure of the entire US media to report on the strike defies innocent explanation. One can only conclude that, at least among the major newspapers and broadcasters, a concerted decision has been taken not to cover the event. Over the same period, the media was dominated for days by a sensationalistic story posted by Buzzfeed, later disputed, regarding Donald Trumps business dealings with Russia. Other stories related to the anti-Russia campaign and the special counsels investigation of Trump have proliferated, along with the single most widely-covered topic on the evening news: the weather. The only plausible explanation for the medias systematic failure to cover the strike is fear that informing the American public about the struggles of Mexican workers will prompt sympathy and solidarity, cutting across the efforts of both factions of the American political establishment to promote national, ethnic and racial divisions. The unique role of the World Socialist Web Site in covering the strike illuminates the real aims of ongoing efforts to censor the internet, in which the WSWS has been a principal target. In April 2017, Google announced changes to its search algorithm aimed at promoting trustworthy news sources, while demoting alternative viewpoints in search results. In subsequent statements, the company made clear that the trustworthy news outlets with which it had partnered included the New York Times and the Washington Post. Since that announcement, Google search traffic for the World Socialist Web Site has fallen by over 75 percent. By contrast, search traffic for the New York Times is up by 10 percent, while the Washington Post is up by a staggering 80 percent. Google made the changes to its algorithms under the fraudulent pretext of fighting what it called fake news. This term is a media construct: a crude attempt to draw an equal sign between news and opinions critical of the government and major media outlets, on the one hand, and false statements, lies and scams, on the other. Hundreds of articles in the Post, the Times and other news outlets spun a narrative that Russians used the internet to promote untrue statements in order to stoke up political opposition and divisions within the United States, with the aim of undermining our democracy. But when the media and political commentators denouncing the phenomenon sought to give examples of fake news, they often cited factually accurate, true information. A case in point is WikiLeaks, which Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, attempting to explain away her electoral loss in 2016, declared helped accelerate the phenomenon that eventually came to be known as fake news. But despite a torrent of invective against WikiLeaks and its persecuted former editor, Julian Assange, no one has ever lodged a credible accusation that the organization published false documents. WikiLeaks helped expose Clintons own corrupt ties to Wall Street banks, the Democratic Partys attempt to undermine the primary challenge to Clinton from Bernie Sanders, and numerous criminal actions by the US government. What is called fake news, in other words, is true news that powerful forces within the ruling elite do not want the broader population to see. The campaign to legitimize censorship has targeted oppositional news websites precisely because they allow masses of people to bypass the effective censorship regime perpetuated by the major newspaper and broadcast networks. In demanding censorship, figures within the ruling elite have demanded a return to the media climate that existed during the Cold War, when a handful of newspapers and broadcasters determined what the population could and could not see. As Samantha Power, the former United States ambassador to the United Nations, put it in a column for the New York Times, During the Cold War, most Americans received their news and information via mediated platforms. Reporters and editors serving in the role of professional gatekeepers had almost full control over what appeared in the media. A foreign adversary seeking to reach American audiences did not have great options for bypassing these umpires, and Russian dezinformatsia [disinformation] rarely penetrated. It is precisely to re-establish such a mediated political climate that powerful sections of the state intelligence apparatus, together with the media outlets and technology monopolies, are working to censor the internet. The internet, and in particular social media, has been a powerful organizing tool for the Matamoros workers, who have organized strikes, rallies, and meetings via Facebook. It is precisely because of the internets vast power for mobilizing popular opposition that it has been targeted for censorship by a despised political establishment fearful of the growth of working class opposition. Social media, as one commentator put it in the New York Times, may be one of the most powerful radicalizing instruments of the 21st century. As workers enter into struggle in the United States and around the world, they must take up the fight against internet censorship. WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, whose web site is continuing to expose war crimes, coup plots and mass surveillance by Washington and its allies, has made a new legal bid to block a concerted operation to extradite him to the US, where he could be imprisoned for life, or even sentenced to death. Under intense pressure from the Trump administration, Ecuadors President Lenin Moreno has for months ramped up efforts to repudiate the political asylum that Ecuador gave Assange in 2012 to protect him from US extradition, and force or coerce him to leave its London embassy. Assanges legal team yesterday announced an urgent application to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR), based in Washington, to direct the Trump administration to unseal the charges it has secretly filed against Assange. The application also asks the IACHR to compel Ecuador to cease its intensive spying activities against Assange, stop the isolation imposed on him inside the embassy since last March and protect him from US extradition. The lawyers media statement said the 1,172-page application seeks precautionary measures from the IACHR, which monitors compliance of the US and Ecuador with their binding legal obligations. The IAHCR, an organ of the Organization of American States (OAS), is meant to promote and protect human rights in the American hemisphere, but the Trump administration has boycotted its hearings. The US government has refused to reveal details of the charges against Assange, despite sources in the US Department of Justice confirming to the Associated Press that Assange has been charged under seal. The revelation that the US has initiated a prosecution against Mr. Assange has shocked the international community, the legal submission states. The US government is required to provide information as to the criminal charges in full. The submission reveals that US prosecutors have in the past few months formally approached people in the US, Germany and Iceland and pressed them to testify against Assange in return for immunity from prosecution. Those approached are associated with WikiLeaks joint publications with other media about US diplomatic interventions, torture and indefinite detention at Americas Guantanamo Bay prison camp and war crimes in Iraq and Afghanistan. The statement notes: The joint publication effort between WikiLeaks, The New York Times, McClatchy, The Guardian, The Telegraph, the UKs Channel 4, Al Jazeera, The Bureau of Investigative Journalism, Der Spiegel, Le Monde, El Pais, The Hindu, and Reuters, among others, won numerous journalistic awards and created the collaborative model subsequently used for other large disclosures such as the Panama Papers. Many of these media organisations have since turned on Assange, propagating US intelligence-fed slanders against him and WikiLeaksranging from false accusations of sexual misconduct to involvement in a supposed conspiracy between Donald Trump and Russian authorities to steal the US presidency from the Democratic Party candidate, Hillary Clinton, in 2016. The statement warns that the operation against Assange sets a precedent to be used against other media outlets. It states: The [Trump] administration has been plagued by leaks of classified information in its first two years, and is clearly intent on using the prosecution of Julian Assange as an icebreaker to set a dangerous precedent that would enable the prosecution of most serious media organisations, such as The New York Times, the Washington Post, AP, CNN and NBC which routinely obtain and publish information from classified sources. The application by Assanges lawyers identifies a raft of legal obligations that the US and Ecuador are flouting in their treatment of Mr. Assange. Former Spanish judge, Baltasar Garzon, the international coordinator of Assanges legal team, said the violations undermine the right to asylum from political persecution. The media statement points to the real motives behind the drive to silence Assange and WikiLeakstheir ongoing publication of incriminating documents exposing US-led global spying and internet hacking operations. The lawyers document Trump administration attempts to pressure Ecuador to hand over Assange, notably recent serious overt threats against Ecuador made by senior US political figures, unlike the more veiled threats made in the past. These threats have significantly increased since WikiLeaks published the Vault 7 documents from the CIAthe largest leak of CIA classified information in history, which the US government claims were provided by a young CIA officer, Joshua Schulte. The statement reports that specialized security services contracted by Ecuador have spied on Assange and his visitors, acting as an informant to the US authorities, specifically the FBI. This followed the 2017 declaration by CIA director Mike Pompeo, now the secretary of state, that WikiLeaks is a non-state hostile intelligence service. The application denounces Ecuadors interference with his access to his lawyers, affecting his right to a legal defence. It demands the suspension of Ecuadors so-called special protocol that blocks Assanges communications with the outside world and a guarantee that his rights as an asylee will be respected in full. The statement notes that the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention last month urged all states to implement its 2016 call to set Assange free, adding: It is time that Mr. Assange, who has already paid a high price for peacefully exercising his rights to freedom of opinion, expression and information, and to promote the right to truth in the public interest, recovers his freedom. The escalating threat to Assange was underscored by a report yesterday in the Guardian that if he were to walk out on to the street, Assange is likely to face contempt of court charges for fleeing British justice. This points to the British government plotting to detain Assange for months while US extradition proceedings are conducted. Previously, the only British charge against Assange was said be a relatively minor offence of skipping bail. American prosecutors have investigated Assange since at least 2010, when a grand jury hearing was opened under the Obama administration into WikiLeaks publication of hundreds of thousands of US diplomatic cables. Special prosecutor Robert Muellers probe of alleged Russian interference in the 2016 US election has intensified these operations, under the cover of investigating WikiLeaks publication of documents that exposed aspects of Clintons Wall Street-backed campaign. Earlier this month, with Ecuadors agreement, US investigators began questioning former London embassy diplomatic staff about Assanges visitors. The US Department of Justice issued international subpoenas, supposedly probing a thoroughly discredited Guardian report that Trumps former 2016 campaign chairman Paul Manafort held secret talks in the embassy with Assange. Ecuadorian President Moreno recently launched a pseudo-legal special examination of Assanges asylum and Ecuadorian citizenship to provide a cover for his government to repudiate its protection obligations. His government has increasingly aligned itself with the Trump administration, to which it has desperately appealed for support for an International Monetary Fund bailout because of Ecuadors deepening debts, which have been fuelled by falling global oil prices and the rapacious dictates of the financial markets. These developments underline the importance of demonstrations called by the Socialist Equality Party in Sydney and Melbourne in March as part of the World Socialist Web Sites international campaign for the defence of Assange and internet freedom. Assange remains an Australian citizen. The SEP will fight to mobilise the working class around the demand that the Australian government use its diplomatic powers to secure his safe passage to Australia, if he so chooses, with an unconditional guarantee against extradition to the US. The author also recommends: Defend Julian Assange against US charges! [17 November 2018] Multimedia Producer Kara is an Emmy Award-winning digital producer. She is a Cincinnati native and an alumna of the University of South Carolina. She previously worked at WRDW-TV in Augusta, Ga., before moving to Nashville five years ago to work at WSMV-TV. The mayor of South Bend, Indiana, became the 10th Democratic candidate Wednesday to enter the 2020 race for president.Pete Buttigieg announced the launch of his exploratory committee in a video message to supporters, pledging a "fresh start" for America.For many candidates, an exploratory committee is a financial formality put in place before a formal announcement.Buttigieg was 29 when he was elected mayor of South Bend in 2011. The U.S. Navy veteran now is serving the eighth and final year of his tenure as the leader of Indiana's fourth-largest city.The nearly two-minute announcement video shows Buttigieg at home with his husband, speaking at an Iowa event and connecting with residents of his hometown."I am aware of the odds we would face if we proceed to mount a national campaign," said Buttigieg, in an email Wednesday. "But I am exploring this run because I can offer a different experience and perspective than anyone else. And I believe that at a moment like this, underdog campaigns will go further than the establishment would normally allow, when it comes to bold ideas that can truly meet the threats and opportunities coming our way."Buttigieg is the third candidate so far this year to announce his intention to challenge Republican President Donald Trump in the 2020 election. Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren launched her exploratory committee on New Year's Eve.Other members of Congress in the race include Reps. John Delaney of Maryland and Tulsi Gabbard of Hawaii. President Barack Obama's former secretary of housing and urban development, Julian Castro, also is in the race.Other candidates include New York entrepreneur Andrew Yang; author Marianne Williamson; and former state senator from West Virginia, Richard Ojeda. Former Maury County teacher Tad Cummins, who entered a guilty plea on two counts of transporting a minor for sex and destroying evidence, has filed a notice of appeal of his case in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit. Former teacher Tad Cummins sentenced to 20 years in prison Former teacher Tad Cummins was sentenced in federal court Wednesday to 20 years in prison for the cross-country trip he took with a then-15-year-old Maury County high school student. Cummins was sentenced in federal court on Jan. 16 to serve 20 years in prison in connection with the cross-country trip he took with a then-15-year-old Maury County high school student. Cummins attorney filed the notice of appeal on Wednesday in the Sixth Circuit court in Cincinnati. Only a notice that the case has been docketed and assigned to a manager has been posted. Cummins admitted he took the student on a trip in March 2017, spending 39 days on the run. Along the way they stole license plates in Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, Utah, Nevada and Oklahoma to avoid being caught. They also bought a kayak and attempted to paddle from California to Mexico, but the water was too rough. Cummins and the victim went from hotel to hotel while on the trip. Prosecutors said she was sexually-abused over-and-over. Cummins and the teen were eventually found living in a cabin at a commune in a remote area of northern California. After his arrest, Cummins admitted to having sex with the teen several times. Cummins will have to serve the full 20 years of his sentence with no possibility of parole. The victims family has also filed a civil lawsuit in federal court against Cummins and the Maury County School District. Tennessee Governor Bill Lee issued his first executive order Wednesday, requiring all 22 state executive departments to assess their current impact on distressed rural areas along with recommendations on how they will accelerate plans to serve rural Tennesseans better.The executive order represents the first action by Lee, who campaigned for governor last year pledging to step up state efforts to focus on the state's 15 economically distressed rural counties, a list that includes Grundy, Van Buren and Bledsoe counties.The 15 Tennessee counties falls within the nation's top 10 percent economically distressed counties based on an annual index of unemployment, income and poverty levels. The index is issued by the federal Appalachian Regional Commission."My administration will place a high emphasis on the development and success of our rural areas," said Lee, who was sworn into office on Saturday. "Our first executive order sends a clear message that rural areas will be prioritized across all departments as we work to improve coordination in our efforts."Noting that health outcome problems, such as shortages in primary care, remain a "challenge for rural communities," the executive order says educational attainment and labor workforce also is "continuing to lag" in the 15 counties as well when measured against the state's 95 counties."[T]his administration recognizes that achieving this policy will require a continued focus on the unique challenges and responses for rural Tennesseans," the executive order says.The order requires each department to submit a "statement of rural impact," explaining the agency's mission and how it may "uniquely impact rural Tennesseans." Departments will also be required to state the number of "taxpayers or customers" served by the agency in rural areas.Moreover, departments are to provide comprehensive descriptions of initiatives adopted or funded over the past four years to specifically address challenges unique to rural communities.Lee wants departments to report back to him with the rural impact statements by May 31 with recommendations for service improvements due by June 30."Our state has reached historic levels of prosperity and I want to ensure that the 15 distressed counties in our state benefit from a concentrated mission," Lee stated. "Each department has communicated full support as we move forward with putting this plan into motion."The other distressed counties in Tennessee are Lake, Lauderdale, Hardeman, McNairy, Perry, Jackson, Clay, Fentress, Morgan, Scott, Hancock and Cocke.Each year, the Appalachian Regional Commission (ARC) prepares an index of county economic status for every county in the U.S. We can't wait for Congress to act. States must lead in this fight. As state legislative sessions begin, we commit to supporting survivors and working to address sexual harassment and violence in our workplaces, our schools, and every place it occurs. Azerbaijan covers an area of 33,400 square miles and it is a nation situated within the South Caucasus area. Azerbaijan is often considered to be one of the wealthy nations in the world since its gross domestic product in 2017 was approximately $40.75 billion which was the 88th highest at the time. Regarding the per capita gross domestic product, Azerbaijan was ranked 72nd in the world in 2017. The Azerbaijani economy is considered to be one of the strongest economies in the region, and its economic strength can be attributed to some factors. Some of the reasons for the success of Azerbaijan include proper utilization of the country's natural resources and ambitious policies implemented by the Azerbaijani government. Azerbaijan has a wealth of natural resources that include minerals, arable land, water, and the nation's beautiful scenery. Azerbaijan's Natural Resources Arable Land Statistics from the World Bank indicated that in 2015 approximately 23.5% of Azerbaijani land was considered arable. The data suggests that the amount of arable land in Azerbaijan has been increasing steadily since 2004. A variety of crops are grown in Azerbaijan with some of the most important being potatoes, grapes, and cotton. Since the early periods of Azerbaijan's history, agriculture has been one of the country's most important economic sectors. In the 1990s, after identifying several of the primary challenges that faced the Azerbaijani agricultural sector, the government put in place some measures to increase the nation's agricultural productivity. In 1993, the Azerbaijani government set up an agricultural ministry to oversee agricultural activities in the country. The Azerbaijani government provided subsidies to the local farmers and also encouraged them to implement modern agricultural techniques. Currently, most of the Azerbaijani agricultural land is owned by either the government or by cooperatives. Cooperatives are popular in Azerbaijan because private farmers are unable to take advantage of government subsidies. Despite the measures that the Azerbaijani government has put in place the major challenge facing the country's agricultural sector is the use of child labor. Cotton Cotton has been one of the most important crops in Azerbaijan particularly during the communist era. During this period, the crop was often referred to as white gold due to its tremendous economic value. For a time, Azerbaijan was one of the most prolific cotton-producing regions as it produced nearly 400,000 tons of cotton each year. Data indicates that Azerbaijan's cotton production was at its highest in 1981 when it produced roughly 831,000 tons of cotton. Azerbaijan's cotton production began declining in the late 1980s due to the combination of several factors such as the mismanagement of cotton farms and the production of low-value cotton. Despite the decline in the quantity produced cotton was still the most vital commercial plant in Azerbaijan. A significant challenge facing the country's cotton sector is the fact that none of the cotton grown within its borders is considered to be organic. Another challenge facing Azerbaijani cotton is the fact that farmers rely on child labor to produce the crop. Grapes For a long period of Azerbaijan's history, grapes have been one of the most important crops in the country. Numerous foreign grape varieties thrive in Azerbaijan such as the Pinot noir, Pervenets Magaracha, as well as the Kishmish Moldavski. Some of the grape varieties native to the country include Ganja Pink, Black Shani, and Agdam Kechiemdzhei. Vineyards can be found in several regions of Azerbaijan such as close to the Kur River and around the base of the Caucus mountains. The Azerbaijani government estimated that close to 7% of its total agricultural area is used to grow grapes. The grapes are an essential ingredient in Azerbaijani wine which is famous around the world due to its high quality. During the Soviet era, the government invested heavily in improving grape farming in Azerbaijan and most of the wine produced in the country during this period was sold to Russia and Belarus. Water Azerbaijan has been blessed with a vast variety of water resources that range from rivers to lakes. Apart from the naturally occurring bodies of water in the country, there are also several human-made water bodies such as canals and ponds. Geographical data indicates that there are close to 8,360 rivers flowing within Azerbaijan's borders. Most of the country's rivers, close to 8,190 according to some estimates only flow for less than 16 miles. Less than 25 of Azerbaijani rivers flow for more than 62 miles. The Kur, Iori and Araz Rivers are three of the most important waterways in the country. There are several massive lakes within Azerbaijan's borders such as Lake Aggol, Lake Sarysu, and Ajinohur. Lake Sarysu, which has a surface area of roughly 25 square miles, is the largest lake within Azerbaijan. Azerbaijan's water resources are used for different purposes such as irrigation and fishing among others. Minerals Azerbaijan has several minerals of significant economic value such as iron ore, gold, and fossil fuels. Information from the mineral yearbook indicates that in 2014, mineral production was roughly 70% of the nation's industrial output. In the same period, mineral products were some of the most critical trade items from Azerbaijan. The information in the yearbook indicated that the production of several minerals such as copper ore and lime increased significantly in 2014. The largest increase was witnessed in the production of copper which increased by 135%. The production of silver declined significantly as estimates indicated that the production fell by close to 62%. Gold One of Azerbaijan's most essential minerals is gold. One of Azerbaijan's leading gold mining companies is the Anglo Asian Mining company which began mining of gold in the country in 2009. The company obtains gold from the Gedabek Mine which also produces other minerals such as silver and copper. Another gold mining site in Azerbaijan is the Gosha Mine which began producing gold in 2014. Oil Historically, Azerbaijan was a significant player in the production of oil. The oil industry in Azerbaijan dates back to 1871 when Ivan Mirzoev constructed a derrick to extract oil. In the modern era, both onshore and offshore oil fields are exploited in the country. Some of the biggest offshore fields in Azerbaijan include Sangachal-Deniz and Duvanni-Deniz. In 2013, according to data from the government, Azerbaijan produced roughly 875,000 barrels of oil each day. Economic Challenges Facing Azerbaijan The Azerbaijani economy faces numerous challenges with the most significant one being the decline in the global price of oil. The decrease in the prices of oil has caused the value of oil exports from Azerbaijan to decrease significantly. Oklahoma is the 28th most populous and 20th most extensive state of the United States. It was admitted to the Union on November 16, 1907, as the 46th state. Oklahoma is a major producer of agricultural products, oil, and natural gas. A large part of the state lies in the cross timbers, the United States interior highlands, and the Great Plains. The waterways of the state consist of more than 500 creeks and rivers. Oklahoma has the largest number of artificial reservoirs in the country. The Arkansas River is the longest in the state, followed by the Red River and Candian River. The Longest Rivers in Oklahoma Arkansas River The Arkansas River is the sixth longest river in the country. It covers 1,469 miles from the confluence of the Tennessee Creek and the East Fort Arkansas River in the rocky mountains of Colorado to the Mississippi River in Napoleon, Arkansas. The Arkansas River is a tributary of the Mississippi River and traverses the state of Colorado, Arkansas, and Kansas. Its drainage basin extends over 170,000 square miles and discharges about 40,000 cubic feet per second. Red River The Red River of the South covers 1,360 miles from Harmon County, Oklahoma to the Atchafalaya River. It was once a tributary of the Mississippi, but it is currently a tributary of the Atchafalaya River. The Red River formed part of the boundary between the United States and Mexico before the US annexation of Texas. It forms part of the Oklahoma-Texas and Texas-Arkansas borderlines. The Red River discharges over 57,000 cubic feet to the Atchafalaya River. Canadian River The Canadian River flows for 906 miles from the rocky mountains of Colorado to the Arkansas River in Haskell County, Oklahoma. It traverses across Colorado, New Mexico, Texas, and Oklahoma. It is the largest tributary of the Arkansas River. The river's main tributaries are the Deep Fork, the Little, and the North Canadian Rivers. The Canadian River is dammed severally to provide water for irrigation and domestic use including at Conchas Lake, Ute Lake, and Lake Meredith. Cimarron River The Cimarron River flows for 698 miles from the confluence of the Carrizozo Creek and the Dry Cimarron River in Cimarron County, Oklahoma to the Keystone Lake on the Arkansas River. The river flows through New Mexico, Oklahoma, Colorado, and Kansas but the largest portion lies within Oklahoma. The drainage basin of the Cimarron River is about 18,927 square miles. Water Pollution in Oklahoma Water pollution is a severe problem in the state of Oklahoma. Coal-fired power plants have been accused of discharging harmful waste and scrubber wastewater into the rivers. Fracking in the state exposes the water bodies to high levels of fossil fuels. In 2013, the state submitted a lawsuit against 50 companies for breaching fracking laws. The destruction of water catchment areas through deforestation has led to the decline in the quantity of the water while the construction of dams prevents rivers from maintaining their natural courses. Success! An email has been sent to with a link to confirm list signup. AUCKLAND, New Zealand, Jan. 23, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Leading global hemp CBD company Elixinol, has announced its entry into the New Zealand marketplace, offering its comprehensive range of cannabidiol (CBD) products to the NZ public on a prescription basis via the elixinol.com website. Colorado-based Elixinol is a wholly owned subsidiary of Australian-headquartered Elixinol Global Limited (EXL) (ASX: EXL; OTCQX: ELLXF) and has launched in New Zealand following the December 2018 passage of New Zealands Misuse of Drugs (Medicinal Cannabis) Amendment Act. The Act classifies CBD with low levels of THC (the principal psychoactive constituent of cannabis) as prescription medicine and removes CBD as a Class B1 controlled drug. The Act recognizes CBD as a substance with therapeutic value with little or no psychoactive properties. Individual customers looking for assistance in getting CBD are now able to import up to a three month supply of Elixinols CBD products, provided those products meet the medicine guidelines set forth in NZ, and enjoy the therapeutic benefits long associated with CBD. Patients in New Zealand can also enter or leave New Zealand with up to three months supply of CBD with evidence of prescription. Elixinol branded capsules, topicals, and all tinctures including liposomes meet the required standard for import into New Zealand. Elixinol has already begun to receive prescriptions and is happy to announce it has just successfully shipped its first product into the New Zealand market. As a company which meets and exceeds quality and import standards in 41 different countries, we welcome the opportunity to serve the people of New Zealand with premium quality CBD, said Gabriel Ettenson, Elixinol President. For years now, we have been receiving inquiries from people in New Zealand who want to utilise CBD for their therapeutic purposes, but until now weve been unable to assist, he continued. People interested in purchasing Elixinol CBD products should visit their GP and request the supporting material needed. They will then be able to order the products directly from the elixinol.com website. Paul Benhaim, CEO of parent company EXL, commented, Over the past few weeks, we have seen a groundswell of change in legislation related to cannabidiol. The US Farm Bill was passed in December, and through that process, CBD was de-scheduled from the Controlled Substances Act. Now, this change in New Zealand enables Elixinol to ship CBD to patients who have been requesting it for years. We are delighted to be one of the first companies to supply New Zealand patients with the range our US customers have been benefiting from for years. About Elixinol: Colorado-based Elixinol , co-founded by Paul Benhaim, hemp entrepreneur since 1991, is widely regarded as one of the most influential CBD brands in the world. With a proven track record of growing and extracting premium-quality hemp, Elixinol is one of the few CBD hemp extract brands with complete seed-to-sale control over its products. Elixinol also conducts rigorous third-party laboratory testing and quality control. Elixinol distributes hemp-derived CBD products in 41 countries globally including North and South America, throughout Europe, Asia, and the Pacific Region under its own label as well as bulk CBD and wholesale CBD. Elixinols Australia-headquartered parent company EXL ( elixinolglobal.com ) is publicly traded on the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) and on the U.S. OTC (ASX:EXL, OTCQX: ELLXF). More information is available at Elixinol.com . Media Contact: Chris Husong Elixinol +1 844-804-3504 ext 420 chris@elixinol.com A photo accompanying this announcement is available at http://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/d042013a-470f-409e-ae37-ca024a8d71f8 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. The incapacitated woman who police said was raped and gave birth at a long-term care facility in Phoenix was pregnant before, and workers missed vital warning signs, according to notice of claim against the State of Arizona. MONTICELLO, Ind. (WLFI) - A Monticello woman is making it her mission to help mothers who have children addicted to opioids. The Mothers of Hope group has only been meeting for a little over a year, but Teresa Shaffer says the group has already made an impact. It's about mothers being aware on how to know, how to know what to do, when to do it and not to be ashamed to do it," said Shaffer, founder of the support group. The state has seen a steady increase in emergency department visits due to opioid overdoses over the past decade. But sometimes, the family and loved ones of those struggling with addiction are left without help. It's like an explosion, you just don't know how to cope, you don't know what to do," she said. We are in this constant state of fear. The biggest fear being that our child will die. Shaffer works as a full-time respiratory therapist in Pulaski County. She has hosted the group once a month since October of 2017. She has also started a Facebook page where she regularly posts and creates videos for mothers who want some counseling from their own homes. "My heart and my passion is for the moms," she said. Moms who are walking down the same path that she has. "I have no letters behind my name, the only experience I have is dealing with my own children," she said. Shaffer said all three of her now-adult sons have struggled with addiction, but that they are doing better. Now, she feels she is in a place to help others. "We get caught up in the denial and our grief and we start isolating and these things start happening and we don't even really know it," she said. "There is a great need for moms to understand what's actually going on in their home, what's going on with their addicted child." She said she has the phone numbers of about 15 women who she regularly is in contact with about the meetings. However, sometimes no women show up. Shaffer said she is not deterred by this and there are several reasons why some of her meetings are empty. Its a very volatile, questionable group because their children could be doing very well at that time, and they may think that they dont need to come, she said. When your child is doing well the world is right, and when theyre not, a lot of times women wont seek help. She said part of that unwillingness to seek help may be due to stigma barriers that she is trying to break down. People really do believe that addiction only impacts the family that is dysfunctional or the family that has single mothers, she said. Mothers will look at their child who is struggling with addiction and ask themselves what did I do, or didnt do, to cause this. And it is not their fault. Shaffer said that White County has a drug task force that is working diligently to bring more resources to the county to fight their rising overdose numbers. According to the Indiana State Department of Health, the county's non-fatal overdose rates are higher than the state average. She said her group is open to anyone who can make the drive to her home for the meetings. She even said that she has talked on the phone with some women from other states. She encouraged anyone who may be struggling to reach out. Dont be afraid to stand up and get help for your child, she said. FRANKFORT, Ind (WLFI) On Tuesday Frankfort Fire Department was dispatched to 55 West Washington St. in Downtown Frankfort. This is where the T&R Pet Grooming Center is located and caught fire in the garage area of the building. The fire escalated and began to take the second building connected. These buildings have been around for decades, and fire crews were battling flames, weather, and the structural integrity of these old buildings. "You're definitely going to run into some obstacles when you're coming to an old downtown and fighting fires in old buildings." Says Chief John Kirby of the Frankfort Fire Department. Fire crews were battling to keep flames contained. Although, with high winds throughout the day it was hard for firefighters to keep flames under control. "You go down and look. Both roofs have collapsed in and on the first building, the second floor collapsed as well. So if we had firefighters in there we would be attending a funeral" Says Chief Kirby. While crews worked diligently. There were still plenty of obstacles to overcome while trying to contain the flames. Greg Miller, a 32 year veteran with the department fell through the second floor and suffered a charlie horse. "We did have a firefighter go down today. And I went to his house. He is home. And I just want everybody to know. This guy did a great job. Our guys do a great job." Says Chief Kirby. These buildings represent so much history. On the side of the building where the fire began, there was a mural that represented so much history for the city of Frankfort. That's why firefighters try their best to preserve what they can. When they can. Fire crews were on the scene until 8 am Wednesday morning. Luckily the rain that started Tuesday evening helped cool down some of the hot embers firefighters worried would spark another fire. "We will be here frequently through the night and tonight. Making sure nothing rekindles" Says Chief Kirby Investigators are still currently trying to figure out how the fire started. The Investigation began Wednesday morning around 9 a.m. Many of the businesses connected to the pet grooming service such as the karate center and boutique are still operable. Although those doors haven't been cleared to open for the public just yet. CLINTON -- A professor of Islamic studies is speaking out following the arrests of three adults and one teen accused of plotting an attack in Islamberg, a hamlet that is less than two hours from Utica in Delaware County. Professor Omid Safi made a visit to Hamilton College Wednesday to speak about Islam. He also spoke to NewsChannel 2 and gave his thoughts on the arrests. Professor Safi says this isn't about one community in particular, but the country as a whole. He says as long as any of us our targeted then no one is safe. I was really moved to find out that the reason that this attack was prevented is that one of their fellow classmates, he saw something, he heard something, he said something, Safi said. And I think that that's a responsibility for all of us." The three adults arrested were 20-year-old Brian Colaneri, 18-year-old Andrew Crysel and 19-year-old Vincent Vetromile. Each was charged with weapons possession and conspiracy. A 16-year-old student at Odyssey Academy in Greece also was charged as an adolescent offender. Three of those suspects are being held in the Monroe County jail on bail. According to the Monroe County Sheriff's Office, Crysel is no longer at the Monroe County Jail. Terms of his release are unknown at this time. Police say the attack on Islamberg was planned over the course of about a month and are calling it a serious plot. Governor Andrew Cuomo is asking the state police to increase patrols in Delaware County. Court papers say the teens had multiple, cylinder-shaped explosive devices and mason jars wrapped in duct tape. Governor Cuomo released a statement Wednesday saying: This foiled terror attack is repugnant to everything we stand for in New York. While there are those in Washington who continue to fan the flames of division and islamophobia, such hate has no home in our state. In New York, we stand with the Muslim community and we will hold those behind this thwarted plot responsible to the full extent of the law." Waters Corporation, a specialty measurement company, provides analytical workflow solutions in Asia, the Americas, and Europe. It operates through two segments, Waters and TA. The company designs, manufactures, sells, and services high and ultra-performance liquid chromatography, as well as mass spectrometry (MS) technology systems and support products, including chromatography columns, other consumable products, and post-warranty service plans. It also designs, manufactures, sells, and services thermal analysis, rheometry, and calorimetry instruments; and develops and supplies software-based products that interface with its instruments, as well as other manufacturers' instruments. Its MS technology instruments are used in drug discovery and development comprising clinical trial testing, the analysis of proteins in disease processes, nutritional safety analysis, and environmental testing. The company's offers thermal analysis, rheometry, and calorimetry instruments for use in predicting the suitability and stability of fine chemicals, pharmaceuticals, water, polymers, metals, and viscous liquids for various industrial, consumer good, and healthcare products, as well as for life science research. Its products are used by pharmaceutical, biochemical, industrial, nutritional safety, environmental, academic, and governmental customers working in research and development, quality assurance, and other laboratory applications. The company has a collaboration with Genovis AB to develop and market biopharmaceutical characterization workflows based on the its BioAccord LC-MS System, Andrew+ pipetting robot and Genovis SmartEnzymes. Waters Corporation was founded in 1958 and is headquartered in Milford, Massachusetts. Read More This Is By Far My #1 Income Stock (Ad) This company owns the bestselling drug in the world, which brought in $19.9 billion in revenue last year. 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The following companies are subsidiares of Exxon Mobil: AKG Marketing Company Limited, Aera Energy LLC, Al-Jubail Petrochemical Company, Ampolex (Cepu) Pte Ltd, Ancon Insurance Company Inc., Barnett Gathering LLC, Barzan Gas Company Limited, Caspian Pipeline Consortium, Celtic Exploration Ltd., Coral FLNG S.A., Cross Timbers Energy LLC, Ellora Energy Inc., Esmeroon Oil Transporta Imperial Oil Limited, Esso (Thailand) Public Company Limited, Esso Australia Resources Pty Ltd, Esso Deutschland GmbH, Esso Erdgas Beteiligungsgesellschaft mbH, Esso Exploration Angola (Block 15) Limited, Esso Exploration Angola (Block 17) Limited, Esso Exploration and Production Angola (Overseas) Limited, Esso Exploration and Production Chad Inc., Esso Exploration and Production Guyana Limited, Esso Exploration and Production Nigeria (Deepwater) Limited, Esso Exploration and Production Nigeria (Offshore East) Limited, Esso Exploration and Production Nigeria Limited, Esso Exploration and Production UK Limited, Esso Global Investments Ltd., Esso Italiana S.r.l., Esso Nederland B.V., Esso Norge AS, Esso Petroleum Company Limited, Esso Raffinage, Esso Societe Anonyme Francaise, Exxo Holdings Inc., Exxon Azerbaijan Limited, Exxon Chemical Arabia Inc., Exxon International Finance Company, Exxon Luxembourg Holdings LLC, Exxon Mobile Bay Limited Partnership, Exxon Neftegas Limited, Exxon Overseas Corporation, Exxon Overseas Investment Corporation, ExxonMobil (China) Investment Co. Ltd., ExxonMobil (Taicang) Petroleum Co. Ltd., ExxonMobil Abu Dhabi Offshore Petroleum Company Limited, ExxonMobil Alaska Production Inc., ExxonMobil Asia Pacific Pte. Ltd., ExxonMobil Australia Pty Ltd, ExxonMobil B Resources Company, ExxonMobil Capital Finance Company, ExxonMobil Capital Netherlands B.V., ExxonMobil Central Europe Holding GmbH, ExxonMobil Cepu Limited, ExxonMobil Chemical France, ExxonMobil Chemical Gulf Coast Investments LLC, ExxonMobil Chemical Holland B.V., ExxonMobil Chemical Services (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., ExxonMobil China Petroleum & Petrochemical Company Limited, ExxonMobil Development Africa B.V., ExxonMobil Development Company, ExxonMobil Egypt (S.A.E.), ExxonMobil Exploracao Brasil Ltda., ExxonMobil Exploration and Production Malaysia Inc., ExxonMobil Exploration and Production Norway AS, ExxonMobil Exploration and Production Romania Limited, ExxonMobil Exploration and Production Tanzania Limited, ExxonMobil Finance Company Limited, ExxonMobil Financial Investment Company Limited, ExxonMobil France Holding SAS, ExxonMobil Gas Marketing Europe Limited, ExxonMobil General Finance Company, ExxonMobil Global Services Company, ExxonMobil Golden Pass Surety LLC, ExxonMobil Holding Company Holland LLC, ExxonMobil Holding Norway AS, ExxonMobil Hong Kong Limited, ExxonMobil International Services SARL, ExxonMobil Iraq Limited, ExxonMobil Italiana Gas S.r.l., ExxonMobil Kazakhstan Inc., ExxonMobil Kazakhstan Ventures Inc., ExxonMobil LNG Services B.V., ExxonMobil Lubricants Trading Company, ExxonMobil Oil Corporation, ExxonMobil PNG Limited, ExxonMobil Petroleum & Chemical BVBA, ExxonMobil Petroleum & Chemical Holdings Inc., ExxonMobil Pipeline Company, ExxonMobil Production Deutschland GmbH, ExxonMobil Production Norway Inc., ExxonMobil Qatargas (II) Limited, ExxonMobil Qatargas Inc., ExxonMobil Ras Laffan (III) Limited, ExxonMobil Rasgas Inc., ExxonMobil Research and Engineering Company, ExxonMobil Russia Kara Sea Holdings B.V., ExxonMobil Sales and Supply LLC, ExxonMobil Technology Finance Company, ExxonMobil Ventures Finance Company, ExxonMobil Ventures Funding Ltd., Fujian Refining & Petrochemical Co. Ltd., Golden Pass LNG Terminal Investments LLC, Golden Pass LNG Terminal LLC, Gulf Coast Growth Ventures LLC, Imperial Oil Limited, Imperial Oil Resources Limited, Imperial Oil Resources N.W.T. Limited, Imperial Oil/Petroliere Imperiale, Infineum Italia s.r.I., Infineum Singapore Pte. Ltd., InterOil Corporation, Jurong Aromatics Corporation Pte Ltd, MPM Lubricants, Marine Well Containment Company LLC, Mobil Australia Resources Company Pty Limited, Mobil California Exploration & Producing Asset Company, Mobil Caspian Pipeline Company, Mobil Chemical Products International Inc., Mobil Corporation, Mobil Equatorial Guinea Inc., Mobil Erdgas Verwaltungsgesellschaft mbH, Mobil Exploration & Producing Australia Pty Ltd, Mobil International Petroleum Corporation, Mobil Oil Australia Pty Ltd, Mobil Oil Exploration & Producing Southeast Inc., Mobil Oil New Zealand Limited, Mobil Producing Nigeria Unlimited, Mobil Producing Texas & New Mexico Inc., Mobil SerLimited, Mobil Venezolana De Petroleos Inc., Mobil Yanbu Petrochemical Company Inc., Mobil Yanbu Refining Company Inc., Mountain Gathering LLC, Mozambique Rovuma Venture S.p.A., Palmetto Transoceanic LLC, Papua New Guinea Liquefied Natural Gas Global Company LDC, Permian Express Partners LLC, Phillips Exploration LLC, Qatar Liquefied Gas Company Limited, Ras Laffan Liquefied Natural Gas Company Limited, Ras Laffan Liquefied Natural Gas Company Limited (II), SPI Limited, Saudi Aramco Mobil Refinery Company Ltd., Saudi Yanbu Petrochemical Co., SeaRiver Maritime Inc., South Hook LNG Terminal Company Limited, Tengizchevroil LLP, Terminale GNL Adriatico S.r.l, Trend Gathering & Treating LLC, Wolverine Pipe Line Company, XH LLC, XTO Delaware Basin LLC, XTO Energy Canada, XTO Energy Inc., and XTO Holdings LLC. Finance PhD: Move your money BEFORE June 30th (Ad) The clock just started on the biggest financial event in 20 years. And the next months could decide your wealth in 2021. Heres what to do now. To Any American Who Owns a Cell Phone (Ad) If you own a cell phone, then mobile service providers hope you never get to see this video that could soon go viral. His experiment could strike a bad chord with mobile phone companies. But youve got to see what this man discovered and what it means for phone users in the weeks ahead. Click here to see this video before it's removed Markel Corporation, a diverse financial holding company, markets and underwrites specialty insurance products in the United States, Bermuda, the United Kingdom, rest of Europe, Canada, Latin America, the Asia Pacific, and the Middle East. Its Insurance segment offers general and professional liability, personal lines, marine and energy, specialty programs, and workers' compensation insurance products; and property coverages that include fire, allied lines, and other specialized property coverages, including catastrophe-exposed property risks, such as earthquake and wind. This segment also offers credit and surety products, and collateral protection insurance. The company's Reinsurance segment offers general liability, professional liability, medical malpractice, and environmental impairment liability; property treaty products for catastrophe, per risk, and retrocessional exposures; and specialty treaty reinsurance products comprising structured and whole turnover credit, political risk, mortgage and contract, and commercial surety reinsurance programs. Its Markel Ventures segment provides equipment used in baking systems and food processing; portable dredges; over-the-road car haulers and transportation equipment; and laminated oak and composite wood flooring, as well as ornamental plants and residential homes. This segment also provides distribution, consulting, and others types of services to businesses and consumers, including distribution of exterior building products, fire protection and life safety services, management and technology consulting, and retail intelligence services. The company's Other segment operates as an insurance and investment fund manager offering a range of investment products, including insurance-linked securities, catastrophe bonds, insurance swaps, and weather derivatives; and program services. Markel Corporation was founded in 1930 and is headquartered in Glen Allen, Virginia. Read More L3 Technologies, Inc. provides aircraft sustainment, simulation and training, night vision and image intensification equipment, and security and detection systems used on military, homeland security, and commercial platforms in the United States and internationally. It operates in three segments: Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR) Systems; Communications and Networked Systems (C&NS); and Electronic Systems. The company offers engineering, modernization and sustainment, space avionics and imaging payload, counter unmanned aircraft systems (CUAS) mission, cyber and electronic warfare, special mission command and control, modeling and simulation, and life cycle support services for ISR, airborne sensor, warrior sensor, space and sensor, aircraft, and intelligence and mission systems, as well as for military aviation services and advanced programs. It also provides network and communication systems, secure communications products, radio frequency components, satellite communication terminals and space, microwave and telemetry products, and secure data links in various business areas, such as broadband communication, naval power, space and power, and maritime sensor systems, as well as in advanced communications. In addition, the company offers components, products, subsystems, and systems, as well as related services to military and commercial customers in various business areas, including commercial aviation solutions, precision engagement systems, link training and simulation, and security and detection systems. It serves the United States (U.S.) Department of Defense and its prime contractors, the U.S. Government intelligence agencies, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, foreign governments, and commercial customers. The company was formerly known as L-3 Communications Holdings, Inc. and changed its name to L3 Technologies, Inc. in December 2016. L3 Technologies, Inc. was founded in 1997 and is headquartered in New York, New York. Read More The BIG CON Screwing Americans (Ad) The rich and powerful are thrilled... Inflation is GREAT for them. Its everyone else wholl get screwed. But according to an ex-Wall Street vet, theres actually a way for YOU to turn the tables just make this one move before July 29th. Click here to see why Since 2016, Teeka Tiwari has trumped the stock market. His investment recommendations have each averaged 281%. Thats 17 times the S&P. And 112 times the average investor, according to JPMorgan! However, one investment Teeka just uncovered could top them all It involves former President Biden, billions of dollars, several large banks, and a super-rich family. As well as a MAJOR potential upgrade to our credit cards. Teeka, who ended up correctly picking the last investment of the decade, is declaring this his top pick for the 2020s. iA Financial Corporation Inc., through its subsidiary, Industrial Alliance Insurance and Financial Services Inc., provides various life and health insurance products in Canada and the United States. The company operates through Individual Insurance, Individual Wealth Management, Group Insurance, Group Savings and Retirement, US Operations, and Auto and Home Insurance segments. It offers various individual insurance products and services, including life, car, leisure vehicle and RV, home, mortgage, critical illness and disability, personal accident, travel, and other group insurance products; residential mortgage loans, registered retirement savings plan loans, registered education savings plan loans, and investment loans; and savings and retirement products. The company also provides group insurance products and services, including medical and paramedical care, homecare, vision and dental care, life insurance and accidental death and dismemberment, short and long-term disability, and travel insurance products; distinctive and administrators services; special market solutions; group retirement plans; investment solutions; fund governance; dealer services for various insurance products; and multi-residential and commercial mortgages, as well as leases space. In addition, it offers individual insurance and individual savings financial security, group retirement plan, and securities, advisory services; group insurance advisory and brokerage services; special risk insurance and group insurance, mortgage, real estate, and deposit brokerage services; and advisory and brokerage services for lawyer or notary, and automobile and recreational vehicle dealers. The company was founded in 1892 and is headquartered in QuAbec, Canada. 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Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi has commissioned Minister of Irrigation Mohamed Abdel-Aty to attend the inauguration of Congos new president-elect, Felix Tshisekedi, Thursday. El-Sisi congratulated Tshisekedi in a letter he sent Monday, a day after a Congo court upheld the results of the countrys disputed election. El-Sisi is one of a number of African leaders who sent congratulations to the new Congolese leader Sunday and Monday, a sign that the controversial vote will not be questioned internationally. The Egyptian president hailed Tshisekedi for the confidence given to him by the people of the Democratic Republic of Congo, which demonstrates their belief in his leadership abilities and vision to achieve stability, development and prosperity in the country, Egyptian presidency spokesman Bassam Rady said in a statement. El-Sisi underlined that he is looking forward to continuing to boost bilateral ties between Egypt and Congo under Tshisekedi, adding that he hopes to meet "at the earliest opportunity," the statement said. A statement by Egypts irrigation ministry affirmed that Egypts participation the inauguration affirms Cairos keeness on achieving the mutual interests and aspirations of the people of both brotherly countries. Congos Constitutional Court confirmed the win of Tshisekedi Sunday, rejecting claims of fraud and a request by runner-up Martin Fayulu for a recount of the 30 December vote. The court's announcement came after the African Union asked for the final results to be postponed, citing serious doubts about the vote, which raised fears that the crisis could trigger unrest in the the Central African nation. Short link: South Africa: SARS concerned at tax evasion reports The South African Revenue Service (SARS) on Thursday has expressed concern at media reports on allegations of tax evasion at the various commissions of inquiry that are underway. SARS is concerned that the names of some former employees have been mentioned in alleged wrongdoing and would like to assure the South African taxpayers and public that these will be investigated without fear or favour and guilty persons will be brought to book, said the revenue service. It assured taxpayers and the public that in instances where tax rules and laws have been violated or undermined, strict measures will be applied to uphold the rule of law. SARS wishes to reiterate that the newly reconstituted Illicit Economy Unit is already hard at work and will be monitoring the developments closely and are taking the necessary steps where appropriate to ensure compliance with tax laws. SARS also drew attention to the Voluntary Disclosure Programme that is still fully operational. It urged non-compliant taxpayers and members of the public to make use of this facility where appropriate. - SAnews.gov.za This story has been published on: 2019-01-24. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article. Hong Kong: Edward Yau meets trade ministers Secretary for Commerce & Economic Development Edward Yau has met with trade ministers and business leaders in Davos, Switzerland to promote Hong Kong's strengths as an international trading hub and to forge closer economic ties with its trading partners. Mr Yau said it is of paramount importance that Hong Kong maintains its presence at major international forums like the World Economic Forum and the World Trade Organization meetings. He said these provide very good opportunities for Hong Kong to establish and renew close contacts with its trade counterparts and to keep the citys finger on the pulse of the global trade scene, which is conducive to maintaining Hong Kong's status as an international trade and financial centre. Mr Yau said the current-term Government is striving to strengthen bilateral ties with like-minded trading partners and deepen Hong Kong's economic integration with different parts of the world. He held a bilateral meeting with Canadian Federal Minister of International Trade Diversification James Carr to discuss the prospect of further strengthening trade co-operation between the two places. Mr Yau also met Korean Minister for Trade of the Ministry of Trade, Industry & Energy Kim Hyun-chong to exchange views on trade issues and discuss the progress in setting up an Economic & Trade Office in Seoul. Hong Kong signed Investment Promotion & Protection Agreements with Korea in 1997 and Canada in 2016. Mr Yau also joined Financial Secretary Paul Chan to meet British Secretary of State for International Trade Liam Fox on forging closer bilateral economic ties, including exploring the possibility of a free trade agreement in future. He told Mr Fox that Hong Kong welcomes more British companies setting up offices in Hong Kong and making use of the Mainland and Hong Kong Closer Economic Partnership Arrangement to enter into the Mainland market and tap the vast business opportunities there. Mr Yau also took part in the "Informal Gathering of World Economic Leaders: The End of Global Trade as We Know it?" under the World Economic Forum where participating ministers and policy makers exchanged views on the outlook for free trade and the multilateral trading system in the present era. He spoke on the challenges facing the current global economic and trade environment at the meeting. This story has been published on: 2019-01-24. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article.